thee and wouldst thou do it for all that whil'st I stood by thee and lookt upon thee and was present with thee as I was by extraordinary dispensation and thou knewest me to be so Here is the Scope and drift of the expression which affords us this Observation which I have now named Impudence and Boldness in sining it still aggravates and increases the guilt Thus Jer. 8.12 Were they ashamed when they committed abominations nay they were not at all ashamed neither could they blush Zeph. 3.5 The unjust knoweth no shame This is the Height of sin and when it is once come to this it is come to the top of all There are many which have corruptions in them but they bewail them and lament them and abhor them and there are some reliques of modesty in them which are a curb and restraint unto them But where this is once lost and extinct all goodness is lost with it even the Heathen themselves could conclude that that man was quite undone whom shame had no influence upon to keep from sin This is the Great misery and unhappiness of the times in which we live wherein iniquity is grown to a great height in this particular in regard of the great boldness which many people are guilty of as added to other provocations The shew of their countenance it doth witness against them and they declare their sin as Sodom and hide it not Isa 3.9 which do wickedly even in the sight of the Sun and are not ashamed of whom it may be very well said That it is a shame to speak of those things not onely as the Apostle speaks which are done of them in secret but even which are done of them in Publick The day sometime hath been when though people were no better then they should be yet they had a little tenderness and shyness upon them in regard of Discovery Si non caste tamen caute Some regard they had to Authority and Government and Age and the Eye of Relations upon them Those things which they would do in their Retirements yet they would not venture to do in their Appearances But now it is come to pass that they are vile and care not who knows it They are so and will be without Restraint and who shall forbid them This is a sad argument and Forerunner of Judgment and Ruine and Destruction if it be not the sooner prevented Where sin begins to be Impudent it begins to be Desperate and a certain token and presage of Perdition both to Persons and Places but so much for that viz. The first reference of this Expostulation here before us as it respects namely the Fact Went not my heart with thee to see it and how durst thou then to doe it The Prophet challenges Gehazi for his sinful excuse The Second is as it refers to his Lye Went not mine heart with thee to know it and how darest thou then now to deny it He calls him to an account for his Hypocrisy and Falsehood and Dissimulation and lying answer to his Question Thou sayest Gehazi thou wentest no whether why dost thou think to perswade me to that and to deceive me so to face me down in a Lye and to put me off with such an answer as this is why did I not see thee my self with mine own Eyes Did not I look upon thee and was not my Heart present with thee and how canst thou frame such a Lye and falsehood as this We see here that Lyes they shall not be able to prevail but at last will be detected The mouth of them that speake Lyes shall be stopped as the Psalmist tells us Psal 63.11 Gehazi made a full account to have smoother'd his wickedness by a Lye but it would not do His Master finds him out for all that yea finds him out in that it self The reason of it is this Because Truth it is Gods Interest It is a Branch of Himself and therefore he will take care in his Providence for the maintaining of it and will not suffer the Contrary to take place at least for any space of time but will certainly discover it He that speaketh Lyes shall not escape as it is in Prov. 19.5 Yea further as it follows in the 9. vers of the same Chap. He that speaketh Lies shall perish Therefore let none whosoever please themselves in such ways as these are it is the wretched and miserablest Condition of sinful Persons that they go from one Sin to another and to this Sin of Lying amongst others which they make to be a Cloak unto the rest But it is a Covering which shall be too short for them as the Scripture speaks and they shall lie a cold under it as the Prophet signifies to us in Esay 28.20 A notable instance hereof we have here in this story in the Text in the Example of Gehazi And so we have another in the Acts in the Example of Ananias and Saphira Acts 5.1 c. Where the Apostle Peter by a Prophetical Spirit sound out the Lying of those Persons and called them to an Account for it as a Sin not so much against Himself but against the Holy Ghost Thou hast not Lyed unto men but unto God in the 4 vers of that Chap. And so now I have done with the first General part of the Text which is the Question in its simple Proposition both referring to the Fact and to the Lye in these words Went not my c. The Second which I shall briefly dispatch is the Circumstantial Amplification in these words When the man turned again from his Chariot to meet thee This is added by the Prophet for further Evidence and Conviction of the Party because he had to deal with a bold and audacious Sinner that pleaded not guilty and pretended that he went no whether Here 's that which evinces the Contrary A most remarkable and Eminent passage and circumstance in the Business Which whilst Elisha was privy to and acquainted withall it was clear that he knew the whole matter For Gehazi might perhaps have replied so This is onely your Conjecture your Suspicion and Jealousy of me but you have no proof nor Evidence of it all yes I have proof enough and to shew it Take this Circumstance with thee The mans coming out of his Chariot to meet thee Which takes in all other Circumstances beside with it of time and place and Gesture and such appurtenances What did he meet thee No-where What did he speak to thee No-where What did he salute thee No-where Was all this for Nothing If thou hast not been guilty of what I lay to thy Charge what 's the meaning of all this Preparation This Expression of the Prophet to his Servant is as if one should say in the like case to any other whatsoever which were guilty of any the like Misdemeanors did not I see thee when it was thus and thus with thee At such a Time In such a Place In such a Company In
Thus 1 Pet. 2.5 Ye are an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Every good Christian he hath great interest in Heaven and can very much prevail with God through Christ in his approaches to the Throne of Grace And we have frequent instances and examples of it both in Scripture and in daily experience Secondly As to the keeping of themselves from the pollutions and defilements of the world The Priests they were prohibited the touching of those things which were unclean and so are Christians careful to keep themselves unspotted of the world Thirdly As to the teaching and instructing of others in the Communion of Saints The Priests lips should preserve knowledg Mal. 2.7 And so should every Christian also in his way and within his compass Parents and Masters of Families should be thus far Priests in them as with Abraham to teach their children and their housholds after them Gen. 18.19 c. Fourthly As to the offering up of themselves to God they must be Priests in this respect also The Priests they were used and imployed in the killing of beasts so should Christians be in slaying of their lusts and unruly affections And then the High-Priest especially he entered into the Sanctum Sanctorum so should every Christian have his heart always towards the Holy of Holies c. Lastly The Priests they still blest the people so would the mouths of Christians do others with whom they converse 1 Pet. 3.9 not railing but contrarily blessing c. The sum of all comes to this namely to raise the esteem and opinion of Gods people in the world and from hence to set an high price and valuation upon them The world it commonly looks upon the Saints and Servants of God as a base and contemptible generation but see here what names and titles the Spirit of God in Scripture puts upon them namely of Kings and Priests which have the greatest Dignity and Excellency in them of any other whatsoever These they are so to God and the Father howsoever they be to any other that is not only to his service but likewise to his Approbation The Father is here named as the first in order and fountain of the Godhead though the whole Trinity be included and intended in it So much for that And then there is this Use also of it in the close of the verse To him be Glory for ever and ever c. And so I have done also with the third and last Description of Christ in the execution of his Offices And hath made us Kings and Priests to God and his Father Now to him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen SERMON XLVIII Revel 22.17 And the Spirit and the Bride say Come This Text which I have now read unto you is a further improvement of that Scripture which was handled by us the last day and does contain somewhat in it as additional and accumulative thereunto For there we had propounded to us but only the hope and expectation of Christians as those which looked for the Lord Jesus Christ to come from Heaven out of that place of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians Chap. 3. ver 20. And here we have exhibited to us their desire and earnest importunity so that he comes not before he is welcome and he is not more certainly expected than he is gladly and joyfully entertained For the Spirit and the Bride say Come That is the Church by the secret suggestion and instigation of the Holy Ghost towards her does invite him and call for him and hasten him towards his second Appearing This is the scope and drift of the Text. IN the Text it self there are two General Parts considerable First The Persons mentioned Secondly The action which is attributed unto these Persons The Persons mentioned they are the Spirit and the Bride The action which is attributed to these Persons that is a calling after Christ they say to him Come We begin with the former viz. the Persons mentioned The Spirit and the Bride By the Spirit we are here to understand the Holy Ghost the Spirit of God which is called the Spirit by way of Excellency the third Person in the blessed Trinity And by the Bride we are to understand either the Church of God in general or every faithful and believing soul which is a member of Christ in particular These are the Persons here that speak And we must take them in a mutual reference and connexion of one with another The Spirit speaks in the Bride and the Bride speaks from and by the Spirit And so they both speak together and have the same action ascribed unto them First Here 's mention made of the Spirit and that as considerable of us under a twofold notion First Of his Presence and secondly of his Influence Of his Presence as join'd with the Bride of his Influence as assistant unto her and helping and enabling of her First Here 's the Spirits presence the Spirit and the Bride they are joined both together to signifie and intimate unto us that special residence which the Holy Ghost hath in all true Believers where-ever there is the Bride there 's the Spirit that is where-ever there is any true Christian there 's the Holy Ghost abiding in him And so the Scripture sets it in sundry places of it as 1 Cor. 3.16 Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you And so Chap. 6. v. 19. Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you So again Ephes 2.22 In whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit The Spirit of God resides both in the whole Church at large as also in every particular Believer as the soul is in the whole Body and also in every particular member Therefore we may accordingly know whether we are espoused to Christ or no upon this account and consideration If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 Because where ever there is the Spouse there 's the Spirit It holds both as a discovery of Churches and as a discovery of Persons As a discovery of Churches to distinguish the true from the false and as a discovery of persons to distinguish the sound from the Hypocritical Again as it is distinguishing so it is also comforting It is a great satisfaction to the Church in the present withdrawing and absentation of Christ from her that his Spirit is yet with her that he does not leave her altogether destitute in an orphan-like or fatherless condition as himself hath sometime exprest it Joh. 14.18 but that he does provide for the supply of her I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive as it is also there in that Chapter And again Chap. 16.
and then between them fratrum Concordia rara est It is a piece of that misery and unhappiness which mans Nature by reason of his fall and transgression and departure from God is so sadly degenerated into that it should be thus with him Thus Cain and Abel Isaac and Ishmael Jacob and Esau Joseph and those who were his Brethren we know what sad differences there were between them Now the Contrary is that which in this place is here commended unto us That those brethren should be unanimously affected Secondly Brethren in a Civil sense by Custom Contract or Imployment or Civil Association which is that which does more properly belong to your selves these are likewise Brethren and have Peace and Love and Unity charged upon them That they do Unite and agree together Indeed as in the former there are now and then differences here also those who are of the same Art and Trade and Profession They do not always so well sute and correspond one with another as it becomes them to doe These have their strifes and contentions But Brethren these things ought not so to be as the Apostle James speaks Jam. 3.10 There 's a great deal of sweet love and concord and agreement which is required betwixt these and it is that for which such Meetings and Assemblies as these are which we are gathered together at this time were at the first instituted and appointed as for other Considerations besides in reference to your Trade and Merchandise So especially and above all for the continuance and increase of Love They are not onely matters of Complement or formality but of Friendly Improvement Thirdly Brethren in a Spiritual sense from the Principles and Considerations of Piety and Christian Religion these are again Brethren That profess the same Faith that worship the same God that are members of the same Head that expect the same Heaven and Salvation and future Inheritance There are none who have a better Title to this Appellation of Brethren then such and consequently none who have Peace and Vnity more required of them even in that consideration likewise Such Brethren as these are they should especially live together in Vnity And the Scripture is especially inviting them and perswading them and calling them hereunto as most sutable and agreeable to the Principles of their Religion it self as I shewed before unto you Thus Eph. 4.3 When the Apostle had premised this Counsel and Exhortation unto them That they should indeavour to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace He adds these things presently as a Motive and Argument for it There is one Body and one Spirit even as ye are call'd in one hope of your calling One Lord one Faith one Baptism one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all Al which are Considerations taken from the very Nature of Christianity it self and from their Interest in it This was that which was the great Praise and Commendation of the Primitive Christians as St. Luke takes notice of it in them That the multitude of them that beleived they were of one Heart and of one Soul Acts 4.32 What a lovely thing was this And so afterwards in succeeding times also The unity of Christians was so famous that they were known by this Discription a people that agree amongst themselves and their very Enemies took notice of it so as to commend and applaud them for it being that which their very Religion and Profession carried them unto And so it does Christianity it is Spiritual Fraternity and upon that account ingages to Vnity and Concord and Correspondency and mutuall Agreement and that more then any other else besides And that 's the second particular to the Subjects of this Vnity here mentioned Namely Brethren and that in all the several Notions and Denominations of it whether of Nature or Civility or Religion The Third and Last is the Exercise or Improvement or Manifestation of this Vnity and that is in dwelling together For Brethren to dwell together in Vnity There are two words at once and both of them very significant the one is the word together and the other is the word Dwelling each of which have their proper Force and Emphasis with them and do belong to this Vnity which is here mentioned and commended in Brethren First We may take notice of the Former to wit the word Together This is much intended in the Text as appears by the word which is added to it in the Original though not exprest in our English Translation and it is Gam which signifies Even Gam jachadh even together and so it is a word of Society and mutual Converse They that dwell together they come together and they meet together that 's one thing which is implied in it as pertinent here unto Vnity it is much exprest in Communion and Sociableness of Conversation and as exprest in it so likewise preserved by it and nourished and kept up from it Those that forbear to meet in their Persons they do not so easily meet in their Affections nor in their Hearts one with another whereas that it is a very great Help and Meanes and Conducement to this It makes Friends and Christians so much the better to understand one another and to be accepted with each others Dispositions to know one anothers Natures and to discern one anothers Graces and to be sensible of one anothers Perfections and so consequently to receive the more Comfort and Benefit one from another There is a very great Advantage in such Occasions and Opportunities as these are both for the doing and receiving of Good As Iron sharpeneth Iron so a man sharpeneth the Countenance of his Friend Prov. 27.17 Therefore in Heb. 10.24.25 When the Apostle had premised this Exhortation That we should consider one another to provoke to Love and good Works he presently adds and infers upon it as belonging unto it not forsaking the Assembly of our selves together as the manner of some is Because so doing is a very great Hinderance and Impediment to such performances yea indeed a cutting off all Occasions and Opportunities for them not onely such Assemblings as are of sacred and religious Constitution but likewise which are Common and Civil which do very well go together as they do now in your own present Practise and comming together at this present time Now these are so much the more desireable and Commendable when they are in Peace and Love not onely when there is a Concurrance of Persons but a Concurrance of Hearts and those which are in the same place are of the same mind This is that which is Expresly noted of the Apostles and the Diciples who were met together on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.1 That they were all with one accord in one place and not onely in one place Horses and Beasts may be so they may sometimes stand together but in one place with one accord This was that which
it Indeed we of this City for our particular have not as yet had it which perhaps makes us for the most part somuch hardened against it but it may be here 's the more to come Let us take heed of provoking God by our miscarriages and manifold abominations Let us take heed of slighting the Trumpet of the Ministry that so we may not hear the Trumpet of the Enemy sounding amongst us Let us be awakened with these Alarums that so we may not be affrighted with these VVars Yea let us universally endeavour to meet God by speedy and unfeigned repentance which is the best improvement of such punishments and troubles as these are It is the use which the Lord himself puts us upon to make of it as we may see in Amos 4.12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel and beecause I will do thus unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel Yea let us so walk and behave our selves as if we still heard the sound of the last Trump of all sounding and alaruming in our ears Thus if we do such Doctrines as these are will have their due and proper effect and work upon us It is not for us only to hear of these things and to whine and mourn for them in a desperate and tumultuous manner no but to be reformed occasionally from them that our fear and sorrow and sad apprehensions of evil to come and threatned to us may carry us so much the more speedily to God for the prevention of it And further we should hence learn also from this Scripture to be able to give an account to our selves of our selves as the Prophet Jeremy here does before us Therefore we may observe here how he enters into a solitary discourse with himself He does not put it in the Third person Because my soul hath heard but in the Second Because thou hast heard O my soul as hereby endeavouring to satisfie his own spirit in what he did and how he stood affected for his present temper and disposition in them Thus now we have done likewise with the 2d general part of the Text which is the ground or occasion of the Prophets Complaint or Lamentation and so with the whole Text it self SERMON XLIV HOS 7.8 9. Ephraim be bath mixed himself among the People Ephraim is a cake not turned Strangers have devoured his strength and he knoweth it not yea grey hairs are here and there upon him yet he knoweth not This Portion of Scripture which I have here read unto you it hath a very good agreement in it with the state and condition of these times in which we live for which cause I have now at this present made choice of it It was written many hundred years since and then directed more immediately and particularly to the people of the Jews but it has its force likewise upon our selves and is as proper to us in the improvement and application of it yea it was written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come as the Apostle speaks The same Spirit of God that saw it fit for those times foresaw it that it would be fit for these wherein it is read that so we may not think our time lost or that we are busied and imployed in impertinencies whiles we are conversant in the handling of it That we may rightly understand the main drift and scope which it leads to we have in it briefly laid forth and exhibited to us partly the sin partly the judgment of Ephraim that is of Israel c. IN this present Text before us we have laid forth unto us partly the sin partly the judgment of Ephraim that is of Israel by a Synecdochical expression the part put for the whole and either or both of these are set down in four Branches which may make up to us the words of the division of the Text. First in their unhappy mixtures Ephraim hath mixed himself among the people Secondly in their indifferent temper Ephraim is a cake not turn'd Thirdly in their miserable captivity Strangers have devouredtheir strength And fourthly in their symptoms of approaching ruine and destruction Yea grey hairs are here and there upon him The two latter whereof especially and if we please also the two former are aggravated from their senslesness and stupidity and security and non-attendancy in this sad condition He knoweth it not yea to make it so much the more emphatical in the doubling and gemination of the words He knoweth it not These are the parts of the Text. We begin in order with the first viz. Ephraims unhappy mixture He hath mingled himself among the people that is he hath joyn'd himself with the Nations in their idolatrous and profane conversation this is that which is laid to his charge and that which the Lord by his Prophet does complain of in him that he thus mingled himself with the Heathen which is also justly taxable in any other of God's people besides it becomes not them especially to be joyned and and leavened with those which are opposites and enemies to Religion For the better opening of this Branch unto us there is a three-fold mixture which we may here conceive to be censur'd in them First a local mixture a mixture of place and company Secondly a Civil mixture a mixture of affinity and alliance Thirdly a Moral or Spiritual mixture that is a mixture in regard of Manners and Religion and Conversation Each of these mixtures are here condemn'd in Ephraim as joyn'd with the Nations though especially the last First their Local mixture that is of place and company It does not so well become the people of God to be mingled with the ungodly even thus yea the Scripture does often and frequently take them off from it as 1 Cor. 5.9 I wrote to you in an epistle not to company with fornicators So Prov. 1.15 speaking of wicked men My son walk not thou in the way with them refrain thy foot from their path c. And Prov. 4.14 Enter not into the path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil men Avoid it pass not by it turn from it and pass away It is not safe for the Servants of God so far as they can avoid it to be even in the company of evil persons There are two Moral inconveniences for the most partattending upon it First in that it is occasion of weakning and deadning their Graces Grace cannot so easily flourish or thrive in evil society but it is apt rather to languish and to decay it grieves the Spirit of God in his Servants when they give way hereunto causes him to absent himself from them and to be a stranger as it were unto them and not so manifestly to dwell and to abide in them The company of the wicked drives away the company of the holy Ghost and makes him to withdraw his presence Then secondly which we shall speak to more hereafter it does also surther expose
through their miscarriages it will likewise grieve them again by his own desertions Which made David so much to cry out as we find him to do there in the Psalm Cast me not away from thy presence and take not away thy holy Spirit from me Psal 51.11 The consideration of this should still make us so much the more wary and shy of sin and of doing any thing which is evil and unlawful forasmuch as it involves and contracts a double guilt with it not only that which is consequent and attendant upon the commission of sin but also upon the omission of duty As we must not only abstain from evil but we must also do good so as we desire to do good we must be careful to abstain from evil For these two they go together Sins of commission have sins of omission in them That 's a second observation Thirdly Observe also further this That no man can do any good till his nature be first changed and altered in him There must be a rectitude of principles before there can be a rectitude of actions we must be first of all good our selves before good can come from us This is also plainly in the Text for mark how the Prophet here sets it Can the Ethiopian change his skin c. then may ye also which are thus and thus do that which is good As who should say when those which are accustomed to the doing of evil are once changed and renewed in their natures then good may be done by them but because that is so difficult therefore this so contrary is impossible Accustomed and habituated sinners they cannot do good why because they abide still the same which they were before in their natural condition there 's no change or alteration at all which is wrougth in them And this is grounded upon that common rule and observation Orta attestantur principiis effectus non excedit virtutem suae causae No man gathers grapes of thorns or figs of thistles in the words of St. James or if ye will in the words of our Blessed Savious An evil tree bringeth not forth good fruit Whether ye take it for an evil man or an evil heart which is the condition of every one by nature Men are taught to do evil from their principles and the corruption of nature which is in them Look as created nature teaches the creatures such actions as are suitable to their particular kinds so corrupted nature teaches wicked men such actions as are suitable to their wicked condition We would wonder to see such wickedness as there is sometimes in the world and might ask who teaches it but that herein we have answer from corrupt nature it self this suggests such lewdness to them Whiles they sin against nature in the creation of it they sin from nature in the corruption of it Secondly By Doctrine Corrupt opinions cherish corrupt principles and improve them so much the more So the Apostle tells us that without Faith it is impossible to please God the work whereof does imply a change And therefore we should still look to this in all we do That our hearts be right in it and that whatever comes from us flow from a spirit and principle of Grace and regeneration in us which will make it to be of the true stamp and character indeed and also acceptable and well-pleasing to God who will still own his own work in us We should not satisfy our selves in the multitude of performances and the doing of such things which are only good in their own nature and for the matter and substance of the action but desire and endeavour that our own consciences may be upright and sincere that whatsoever we do we may do it in God's strength and likewise to his glory Otherwise they will find no acceptance or approbation with God at all but he will reject them and cast them away from him as things which he does abhor Thus we shall find him to do there in Isa 1.12 13. c. Bring no more oblations incense is an abomination unto me c. And so probably also here in this place It is likely these people in the Text that they did many good things for the matter of them and yet says the Lord here of them How can ye do any good These and the like observations may we gather from these words in general as they lye in themselves Now further We may likewise if we please look upon them reflexively and as coming from the Prophet himself And here there are these things in them which may be observed and taken notice of by us First The Prophet's confidence and assurance of that which he did deliver he speaks it with a great deal of boldness and freedom and certainty of mind in that which he speaks concerning the thraldom and captivity of accustomed sinners Therefore it seems to be a kind of challenging and triumphant expression Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard c Do ye think that to be possible did ye ever see that in all your lives can that enter into you to believe This is the force and emphasis of these expressions whereby he does as it were come upon his Hearers and surprize them before they are aware There 's somewhat more in these rhetorical interrogations than there is in bare and positive assertions to make the thing it self more effectual Secondly Here 's the Prophet's faithfulness in that he brings it home to their own particulars and expresses it as concerning themselves in the second person It is not how can they which are thus and thus but how can ye He lays it at their own doors and desires to make them sensible of it which were corrupted and polluted with it This is another thing which a Minister ought to do as he has ground and occasion for it that so his Doctrine and Reproof and Exhortation may have the more power and efficacy with it Thus does Jeremy here in this place Thirdly Here 's the Prophet's courage and undauntedness and impartiality that he speaks here absolutely and indefinitely to all which were sinners and guilty without exception As in the 18th verse before Say unto the King and the Queen humble your selves c. So also here Ye which are accustomed to do evil He spares not any whether great or small as he had no cause coming on God's errand In verse 15. Hear ye and give ear be not proud for the Lord hath spoken c. And thus now also have ye the observations collaterally and reflexively arising from this Text which we have here undertaken and so likewise with the whole Text it self Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may ye also which are c. SERMON XLVIII EZEK 21.2 3. Son of man set thy face toward Jerusalem and drop thy word toward the holy places and prophecy against the land of Israel And say to the land of Israel Thus saith the
Shulamite return return there 's a doubling still of the word The Spirit of God he speaks quick and he speaks often again and again where he would prevent from danger Thus it teaches us accordingly to submit to such quick and close admonitions as these are as we have need of them There are many that do not love to be startled they would fain go to Hell quietly without any disturbance or interruption and therefore abhor all such persons as deal roundly and tartly with them and would awaken them out of their natural condition Oh but we see there is sometimes cause for such dealings and we should not think much of them whether from Ministers in the way of their publick Ministery or from private Christians in the way of Christian converse and private admonition not to be offended with their rouzings and excitements of us which the state in which we may be in and the danger which is neer upon us may call for to be used to us That 's one intimation in this doubled and repeated expression viz. The greatness of the danger The Second is the security of the person warned Peter was not more in danger than he was insensible of his danger He thought the case to be well enough with him as he expresses it afterwards in verse 33 of this chap. Lord I am ready to go with thee both into prison and unto death He thought himself a jolly man and that he could do very great matters till it came to the trial was well perswaded of his own strength and of his ability to resist temptations Now therefore does our Saviour here awaken him out of this secure temper and disposition by this manner of expressing himself unto him As danger calls for excitement so especially there where it hath security with it As the Angel to Lot and his company when they took them and pulled them out of Sodom because of their lingring in it Even so is there need to be done with some souls from that presumption and security that possesses them Thirdly The affection of the Monitor or Person that gives the warning that 's also in the doubling of the appellation It is a sign Christ's heart was much in it and that he bore a singular love and respect to Peter in that he does thus passionately admonish him Love is full of sollicitude and carefulness for the party beloved and can never express it self as it thinks sufficiently about it for the welfare of it And this is seen in nothing more than in spiritual things It is a singular token of affection to give warning of spiritual dangers and hazards to the soul and of temptations which it is exposed unto This is that which Christ does here in the Text to the Apostle Peter and which he does also to the rest of his Servants by his Spirit still in their hearts He does secretly forewarn them of those evils which are neer unto them if-so-be they will take warning by him and that also with much importunity and vehemency as that which concerns them So much for that and so also of the First General in the Text viz. The person warned the Apostle Peter in these words repeated and doubled Simon Simon The Second is the matter of the admonition or the warning it self Behold Satan To say nothing of the word of attention Behold which yet might be inlarged upon There are two particulars here further considerable First the persons aim'd at and that is you Secondly the design upon them Satan hath desired to have you and to sift or winnow you as wheat For the First The persons aim'd at they are here said to be you He spake before to Peter in the singular Simon Simon now it is you in the plural To signify thus much unto us that there 's the same condition of all Believers as of one That which befalls one Christian it is incident to all the rest They have all the same dngers which they are exposed unto and enemies which do endeavour against them though they may not always have the like opportunity for the expressing of their enmity against them one as another Peter and the rest all alike The reason of it is this Because they all consist of the same natures and are acted by the same principles they all have the reliques of the same original corruption as yet in part abiding in them and they have all the same Spirit and work of Grace acting in them And so as to temptations they are all one and the same for the danger which they are liable unto Therefore it should work all to an holy jealousie and suspition of themselves and tenderness to others when we see any poor soul at any time exercised with Satan's temptations and it may be sometimes foyl'd with them let us not think that his case is peculiar and that we for our parts shall do well enough No but rather be so much the more watchful over our own hearts Be not high-minded but fear for that which befalls others if thou look'st not to it may befall thee And so it should teach us also bowels and compassion towards others under temptations not to be harsh with them and rigorous towards them and censorious of them but to use all kind of gentleness and tenderness to them considering that the case might be our own if God should permit it Thus the Apostle Paul improves it in his exhortation given to the Galatians Gal. 6.1 Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such an one with the spirit of meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted Which rule if it were more observ'd there would be a great deal of more Christian affection in the world than commonly there is Men look upon the temptations of others as if themselves were altogether exempt and freed from them whereas if they were in the same circumstances they would bewray the same infirmities and weaknesses that others do afore them that so they may carry the greater bowels and pitty towards them As it is an argument to remembrance of others in bonds and adversty as being your selves in the body and so ready to be bound with them Heb. 13.3 So it is an argument for compassion towards others under temptations as being your selves liable and exposed to the same condition and apt and ready to be tempted with them And indeed this is the reason why God is pleased many times to exercise sundry persons in this kind and to expose them now and then to temptations that so from hence he may teach them to be less harsh and rigorous to others in such conditions which when themselves are free they are oftentimes subject unto that they may preserve in themselves a sweet and amiable ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and tenderness of spirit to the rest of their Brethren and that their moderation may be known to all men as the Apostle requires it should be Phil. 4.5 It is
him with the brightness of his coming And so he shall and all such persons as do adhere unto him The Spirit of Christ shall scatter the spirit of Antichrist and the wind of the Holy Spirit shall confound the wind of the evil Spirit and what ever is attempted by it This is a very comfortable point in all the assaults and temptations of Satan and his endeavours either against the Church in general or against any particular member of it Every Christian is thus far secure and in good condition as he has this Wind as I may so say for him which is sure to blow him nothing but good The Reason of it is this Because he is one that belongs to Christ and has an interest in him and so consequently has an interest in the Spirit which is the Spirit of Christ and so all the motions of it subordinate and subservient to him and disposed of according to his pleasure There are different and various winds which blow now and then both upon the Church and likewise upon the Soul but they are all ordered and regulated by him Therefore we find in the Canticles how it is Christ himself that stirs up his Spirit for the good of his Spouse Awake O North-wind and come thou South and blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow out The Spirit it blows where it lists and it lists there where Christ lists too which is very satisfactory for all those that seek unto him And so I have done with the first part of the Text as to the resemblance betwixt the Spirit and the Wind in the work of Regeneration and that is the Quality of the Maker The Wind bloweth c. The Second is the Sensibleness of its effects in those words And thou hearest the sound thereof The wind it comes with a Sound and so does the Spirit of God It did so in its first coming of all when it came upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost There came suddenly a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting Acts 2.4 And so it is still to this present day in a proportion It has a sound and such as may be heard Now thus it is in a two fold consideration The one is the sound of it in the Ear and the other is the sound of it in the Conscience First There is the sound of the Spirit in the Ear and that is in the external Preaching of the Word and Ministerial Dispensation where this is performed as it should be it is no other than the sound of the Spirit and the voice of the Holy Ghost himself speaking to us Their sound is gone forth into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world Rom. 10.18 This is such a sound as may be heard and it is a mercy to hear it and to be made partakers of it and that in regard of the virtue and benefit which by the blessing of God is conveyed by it for Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God as the Apostle there tells us Rom. 10.17 Therefore accordingly we should prize it and esteem of it and apply our selves to it as that which is appointed for our good If we look upon Preaching onely as the work of men so there is but little in it and it may be rather matter of contempt in regard of the meanness of it But when we shall consider that it is the Ordinance of God and the voice and sound of the Spirit here 's that in it which commands our regard and attention to it And we should be glad of all opportunities which are at any time afforded unto us for the partaking of it that we may hear the sound of this wind blowing upon us That 's the first The sound in the Ear. But secondly that 's not all there is moreover the sound in the Conscience which is the main and chiefest of all This is that which comes home to the heart of a Christian for his conversion and the raising him from the death of sin under which he was held Like the voice of Christ to Lazarus when he bad him come forth of the grave This is that which is heard also by those persons whom it pleases God to vouchsafe it unto according to that of our blessed Saviour in Joh. 5.25 Verily verily I say unto you The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live Thus we shall find it was with the Disciples going to Emaus Luke 24.32 They said one to another Did not our bearts burn within us while he talked with us by the way and whiles he opened to us the Scripture There was a special efficacy went with his word to the hearts of his hearers And so it was with St. Peter's Converts Acts 2.37 When they heard these words they were pricked at their hearts And the Jaylor Acts 16.33 he heard not onely the sound of the wind but the sound of the Spirit and this sound of it whereof we now speak in the heart-quake as well as the earth quake which he was sensible of upon that occasion And so it has been with many more and still is they daily hear this sound made unto them they have strong and strange impressions upon their hearts and spirits to this purpose which they cannot but hear in several kinds sometimes checking them for sin and sometimes restraining them from it sometimes exciting them to good and sometimes encouraging them in it The Spirit of God in their hearts and consciences deals diversly and variously with them and it is their duty and wisdom accordingly to attend unto him They that hear thus they shall hear that is they shall hear effectually as it is intimated in the place before cited And therefore it concerns us to regard it and to give heed unto it all that possible may be There are a great many people in the world who though this sound which we now speak of in both the branches of it be continually exhibited unto them and such as may be heard yet they do not or at least will not hear it who like the deaf Adder stop their ears and will not hear the voice of the charmers charm they never so wisely as the Prophet David speaks of them in Psal 68.4 5. Now what do such as these but as much as in themselves lies hinder their own conversion and regeneration and the work of grace in their hearts which is accomplished by such ways and means as these And besides after a great indignity and disrespect to the holy Ghost himself as the Apostle Paul signifies to us in 1 Thess 4.8 He that despiseth despiseth not man but God who hath also given us his holy Spirit Whose voice as it is sensible to be heard so it ought to be heard by us as we have occasion for it And so
known The knowledge of God by Christ is not onely in Christ himself but from him imported to us for our information There is neither envy in Christ nor neglect nor affectation of reservedness in this particular but free and open dealing with a great deal of alacrity indeed His declaration is not answerable and proportionable to his apprehension we may not imagine so for that is incongruous Christ does not declare so much of the Father as he knows because we are incapable of it but so much as is fitting for us and that we can receive he does discover He declares God himself and all such Truthes as lead us to further fellowship and communion with him Thirdly He hath declared him it is a word of Perspicuity He hath not onely barely and simply propounded him in a dark and obscure manner but he hath explicated him and revealed him unto us This is emphatically signified in the Greek word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is an expression of manifestation and does imply a bringing of things to light which before were more hard and difficult to be understood And as the Criticks and Grammarians observe of it it is properly applied to Divine and Excellent matters whereas ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã does more properly belong and appertain to things vulgar and obvious This is that which Christ hath done for us as Philip sometime desired of him he hath shewn to us the Father he hath cleared to us the great Mysteries of our Salvation which were unknown unto us or which before were propounded but in a dark and enigmatical manner and with much obscurity This is the great excellency of the New Testament above the Old and of the time of the Gospel above the Law that the Vail is now taken away and we have things more clearly revealed unto us than were to them in former days There is the light of the knowledge of God now shining out unto us Christ hath cleared both the things themselves as also our minds and understandings for the conception of them and exhibited these things in reality which Moses gave an hint of but in Types and Legal adumbrations The consideration of this point makes much for our heed and attention to such things as these are and closing with them See that ye refuse not him that speaketh as it is Heb. 12.23 seeing Christ declares them let not us turn away from them we ought to give the more earnest heed unto them lest at any time we let them slip else we shall not escape if we neglect so great salvation as it is again Heb. 2.3 There is nothing which we can here plead by way of excuse and tergiversation but all the Arguments that may be to engage us Here is the knowledge of our Teacher himself here is his willingness to impart his knowledge to us and also his skill and ability for it that we may be partakers of it And so much may be spoken of this passage in its first notion to wit in its simple Proposition The second is in its Emphatical Appropriation He hath declared him that is upon the matter He alone This word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Text it is not demonstrative onely but restrictive This declaring of the Father it is restrained and appropriated to the Son as more peculiarly belonging unto him to be done by him He has declared him that is he onely has declared him Therefore it is that he is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Word not onely upon the account of his Nature or Person but upon the account of his Office he is called so upon the account of the former in regard of His Eternal Generation because as Speech is the birth of the mind so is the Son of the Father And he is called so upon account of the latter in regard of His Ministerial Dispensation because as a man remembers the meaning of his heart by the words of his mouth so God revealeth his Word by his Son He is the Interpreter of the will of his Father and the Prophet and Teacher of his Church And both of the Titles whereby Christ is here in the Text described unto us do seem especially to qualifie him for this purpose Therefore he is fittest to declare God because he is His onely-begotten Son and therefore also he is fittest to declare him because he is in the bosom of the Father Thus Heb. 1.1 2. God c. hath now spoken to us by his Son That which is our business at this time is to consider how far forth this Action is here appropriated to Christ which we may take according to this ensuing explication First it is He Primarily and by His own Authority that does declare him others have been used as Instruments but they have done it by delegation from Him who has instituted them and appointed them hereunto they have done it by his appointment and they have done it by his ennablement who has directed them and assisted them in it The Son of God first made known to his Apostles all those things that he heard of his Father as we have it in Joh. 15.15 All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you And the same Son sent his Spirit to instruct them and to bring all those things to their remembrance which he had formerly taught them as we have it also in Joh. 14.26 And so Acts 1.7 8. Ye shall have power after that the holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me c. So is Christ Primarily though it be others Ministerially that do declare him Christ does it in his own Name but the Apostles and other Ministers in the Name of Christ Secondly It is he Perfectly and Infallibly Others unless such as were immediately inspired by him they were subject to human error and infirmity and they have now and then somewhat of themselves mixt in their declarations but Christ does it without all exception and so as there is no doubt or scruple or question at all to be made of it he does it so exactly Thirdly It is he that declares it effectually and with the best success He declares the Father and perswades our hearts to the receiving of him shews us the Truth and leads us and perswades us into it inlightens our understandings and inclines our wills opens our eyes and over-powers our consciences reveals God not onely to us but reveals him in us As God does likewise his Son according to the phrase which is there used to this purpose in Gal. 2.16 Thus we see how it is He and he alone that declares the Father unto us The sum of all may be drawn up to these Heads First from hence to take notice how much we are beholding to Christ We have heard of late of many singular benefits and advantages which we have by him let us now take in this to the rest in that by him we come to have a further
which is required to such a work as that is If ye ask what is required else I answer a competent understanding in the whole Body of Divinity and Religion a Genius which I know not how to express to you a particular faculty for the understanding and interpreting of Scripture a Theological and Ministerial frame and disposition of mind a spirit of discerning in reference both to persons and truths together with a mind wholly imployed and taken up in such things as these are and given up altogether to them The whole frame and bent of a mans course is to be inclined and carried on this way and dedicated to it an ability rightly to divide the word of truth and to give every one his portion in due season as Paul to Timothy 1 Tim. 4.15 Meditate on these things give thy self wholly to them that thy preaching may appear unto all or in all things as some interpret it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã be in them wholly The work of the Ministry is such as it requires the whole man and all his time to be taken up in it or else in such things as do border and confine upon it and belong unto it at least not such as are alterius generis or do divert from it This in other and private Christians of other callings is not nor cannot be which yet is necessary to be And this we speak of the intrinsecal and immediate qualifications hereunto Besides all this to say nothing now at this time of the setting apart hereunto by the Church if there be any which have real gifts for it and approved of though of other callings I should not be sorry but close with you with all my heart but this is sooner presumed than to be hoped But so much for that And so now I have done with the first General part of the Text viz. the Counsel or Exhortation which is here given by the Apostle Covet earnestly the best gifts The second is the Additional Regulation of the said counsel and yet here the Apostle raises his note a little higher than in the former he had done He would not have the Corinthians rest in the common gifts of the Spirit of God and to content themselves only with them but to proceed somewhat further than so as he does here intimate and imply unto them that it was possible for them to do In this second Branch of the Text we have two parts more considerable First The thing propounded The more excellent may Secondly The Proposition of it I shew it unto you We have each of these observable of us First Here 's the thing it self propounded The more excellent way The more excellent way what way do ye call that why surely that will quickly appear if we do but read on to the following Chapter which there are some Interpreters of very good note that would make these words of the Text to be the beginning of And there we shall find charity to be especially commended unto us Charity it is a large word of large extent as large as the whole Decalogue no less than so It is as the Apostle calls it the fulfulling of the Law whatever we can imagine as required in Gods Commandments we have it epitomized and comprehended unto us in this one word of Charity or Love love to God and love to our neighbour and our selves in a due manner and in reference to God this is Charity And so indeed and in effect and conclusion the more excellent way it is nothing else but Piety and Religion Grace and Holiness and Goodness the sanctifying and saving gifts of Gods Spirit both for the habit and operation of them in us these are that excellent way which the Holy Ghost by this advice to the Corinthians does commend unto us There are three points especially which are here observable of us First That Religion it is a Way Secondly That it is an excellent way and more excellent than all other ways and abilities and accomplishments besides Thirdly That it is such a way as we are to pursue and follow after in the most principal manner First I say Religion it is a way and so it is here represented unto us This distinguishes it from a mere sitt or some transient act and no more which abides only for some particular time True Grace and Holiness it is not so it is not only the doing of one or two good Duties and away and for such a season as we may judg most expedient but it is a fixt and setled course through the whole time of our lives Therefore we may from hence judg and conclude of our selves what we are examine what our course is and what it is that we do for the most part apply and bend our selves to and how one part of our lives is suitable and agreeable to the other This is the best discovery of us Even Saul himself may be sometimes among the Prophets and there is not the worst man that is but he may be now and then found in a good action But this is not his way and course and so from thence he cannot be concluded to be good It is the question which Job puts about the Hypocrite Will he delight himself in the Almighty will be always call upon God no he will not in Job 27.10 Secondly As Godliness and Religion is a way so it is the most excellent way of all others it is via per eminentiam as it is here exprest unto us it 's via Regia although it be not via publica a way which has a transcendency in it above any other So the Arabick Interpreter another way which is more excellent One would have thought that when the Apostle had made mention of the best gists he could now have gone no higher for what can be the better than the best But yet he does for all that here 's a superlative beyond a superlative and that 's the most excellent way which belongs to Religion True Grace and Holiness it has an excellency and transcendency in it above all learning and common Gifts whatsoever This will be easily cleared unto us upon this account First Because it is that which does bringus into a nearer likeness and similitude to God himself that 's undoubtedly the most excellent way and carries he preheminence to all other which does make us most conformable to him who is the chiefest excellency Now this we are not so much by our gifts and parts and such accomplishments as those as we are by the work of Grace in our bearts The most exact Image of God it does consist in righteousness and true holiness as the Scripture expresses it to us Indeed it is true that we are made like unto God in some sort in the natural faculties and powers of our Soul our Reason and Understanding c. But this is not all nor the chiefest no but so far forth as we are new created and made over again by the sanctifying work
to travel with them again Alas what a pitiful thing is it to be the means of bringing those into the world which shall be enemies to Christ and to suffer the pains of travel that others may suffer the pains of hell This Parents cannot otherwise prevent than by prayers and good example and education and this they should do and say in the words of the Apostle here in my Text with which I will conclude My little children of whom I travel in birth again till Christ be formed in you SERMON XL. Gal. 5.16 This I say then Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh There 's nothing which is more ominous or pernicious to the Church of Christ than the divisions and contentions of those which are the members of it one with another being such as do threaten the ruân and consumption and destruction of the whole and there 's nothing which does more lay the way and give ground and occasion hereunto than a diversity and contrariety of Doctrine and opinion in matters of Faith This is that which the Apostle Paul does in a more especial manner take notice of in the course of this present Chapter more particularly in the Church of Galatia to which he here writes who were now at this time more especially apostatized or declined in a very great measure from their former profession and were over-grown with very strange errors which did breed strange affections amongst them Now the Apostle here does three things in reference to this present evil First He shews the nature of it Secondly He shews the danger of it Thirdly He prescribes the remedy He shews the nature of it in the 13th verse that it is namely a carnal humour and such as proceeded from the unregenerate and unsanctified pant in them therefore he bids them not to use their liberty for an occasion to the flesh He shews the danger of it in the 15th verse that it is namely a mortal disease and such as carries no other than death and desolation in the bosom of it But if ye bite and evour one another take heed ye be not consumed one of another He prescribes the remedy in this particular verse which we have now in hand the 16th verse of this Chapter whereby because that contraries are best cured by contraries he does therefore endeavour to remove carnal distempers by the provoking of spiritual performances This then I say walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh IN these present words before us we have two General Parts especially observable of us First A Preface or Introduction Secondly The Doctrine or Matter which is delivered thereupon The Preface that we have in those words This I say then The Doctrine or Matter delivered in these Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh We will a little invert the order and begin first of all with the particular Doctrine or Matter it self which we have laid down in the latter part of the verse Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill c. And here again there are two Branches more which offer themselves to us First A Precept or positive Injunction Walk in the spirit Secondly A Promise or according as some read the words a Prohibition And ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh We begin in order with the first viz. the Precept Walk in the spirit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Wherein there are two terms to be explain'd and stood upon by us First The spirit to consider what is meant by that And secondly Walking in the spirit what is the sensen and meaning of that and what we are taught and instructed from it For the first By the spirit we are here in one word to understand the spirit of God the Holy spirit And that either first of all in his Graces and Principles as subjected and radicated in us or else secondly in his motions and suggestions as objected and propounded to us either of these do imply the spirit First In his Graces and Principles as subjected and radicated in us Walk in the spirit i.e. walk after a spiritual manner And this again is done two manner of ways First When we are frequent and conversant in spiritual duties when we are much in the Exercises of Religion which are the currents and conveyances of the Spirit then we may be said in one sense to walk in the spirit which is here required of us Those which profess themselves Christians they must be much in the Duties of Christianity as Praying Reading Hearing Communion of Saints c. These are such things as they must apply themselves to with a great deal of diligence and endeavour It is true there are other things also to be done in reference to humane life and conversation here in the world as the works of our ordinary callings and imployments which belong unto us these they are not to be neglected but we must be also mindful of other and apply our selves to the performance of them even the exercises of Piety and Religion And that especially upon this consideration as being such actions wherein we have special communion with the Spirit of God and wherein he takes occasion to communicate himself unto us These they are the pleasant walks of the Spirit as I may so call them the green pastures in which he makes us to lye down and the still waters besides which he leads us for the restoring of our souls as the Prophet David there expresses it in Psal 23.23 The Galleries wherein Christ is held Cant. 7.5 and a great deal of good to be gotten by them Those which talk of the Spirit and in the mean time cry down the Word whether in the reading or preaching of it which vilifie Ordinances and Religious duties and such performances as these are they speak those things which are inconsistent and which will never hold together For these they are Pabulum animae they are the food and nourishment of the soul which it lives upon and the sweet and happy channels wherein the Spirit of God does glid into us Secondly When we are daily and continually in a spiritual frame and temper of heart This in another sense is to walk in the spirit and seems also to be laid upon us in this present Expression in the Text. We may not judg of our walking in the spirit always or only by the matter and substance of the actions themselves wherein we are imployed but rather according to our carriage and behaviour in them A man may walk in the flesh even then when he is religiously exercised as for the nature of the performance it self And again A man may walk in the spirit even then when he is about business but of common and ordinary consideration The want of right distinguishing here hath been that which hath given occasion to such mistakes especially amongst the Papists and those of that way for
away from us A Christian when he does at any time find himself in any cheerful and comfortable frame of spirit he should endeavour to keep it up and maintain it allhe can as that which is of very great consequence and importance to him not only for the sweetness and pleasingness of the condition it self but also in reference to that duty which is to be performed by him yea we must know that it is also more pleasing to God himself that his Children upon good and right grounds should walk comfortably and cheerfully before him and rather to close with the Consolations of his spirit than to lye down under the suggestions of Satan or the false and dark representations of their own sad and mis giving hearts therefore walk in the spirit also in this sense that is in the comforts and encouragements of the spirit And so much may suffice of the first term in these words to be explained by us namely what is meant by the spirit which we have shewn in a twofold Explication In the spirit that is in his Graces and Principles as subjected and radicated in us walk in the spirit that is walk after a spiritual manner and in the spirit that is according to his motions and suggestions as objected and propounded to us walk in the spirit i. e. walk according to the guidance and moderation of the Spirit of God The second Term here to be considered is walking and what is meant by that Now in this there are three particulars which seem to be intimated and implied First Here 's implied activity in opposition to bare speculation or profession or idleness in Religion Walking it is a business of motion he that walks he does not stand still Secondly Here 's implied strength in opposition to faintness or remisness he that walks he moves strongly Thirdly Here 's implied perseverance in opposition to declining or giving out he that walks he moves constantly All these particulars are in walking and so appliable to our Conversation in the spirit First Here 's implied activity in opposition to bare speculation or profession or idleness in Religion he that walks he moves himself and does not stand still And thus must it be with us in Religion an the ways of God We must be active and put forward in them it is not only have the spirit or understand it or pretend to it no but walk in it that is be careful to improve the Doctrines and Principles of it in the activity and fervency of a godly and holy Conversation This is that which is in a special manner required of us as Christians and accordingly we shall find t preach'd and urg'd upon us As in vers 25. of this present Chapter If we live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit that is if we have a principle of spiritual life in us let us carry our selves answerably thereunto Look as the soul in the body it is not there after an idle manner but it does distribute motion and vigor to the several parts and members of it even so should it be with grace in the soul it should not nor will not be there to no purpose but so as to make the man of God perfect and ready to every good work that I may use the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Tim. 3. ult And so the Apostle Peter also signifies unto us in 2 Pet. 1.8 When he had spoken of the several graces of the spirit in the words before If these things says he be in you and abound they will make you that ye shall not be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledg of our Lord Jesus Christ This life of the spirit in us should work in us a walking up to it and whiles it is said here walking we may take notice of the variation of the phrase in the Original Text for it is not only ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which latter signifies a regular and orderly walking a walking by rule so it becomes us to walk who live in the spirit so to walk as not turning either to the right hand or to the left not carried by our own corrupt lusts nor yet overswayed by the mis-guidings of others but led by the sweet conduct and inclinations of the Spirit of God in us and doing that which he requires of us In a word This is that which is commended to us in this Text that our conversation be answerable to our principles and that as we make any claim to Religion more than others so we should behave our selves suitably thereunto It is not leaves that God stands upon but fruit it is not profession but action it is not only the principles which are in us but the works and duties which come from us in a correspondency and agreement to those Principles Not every onethat saith Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven says our blessed Saviour but he that doeth the will of my father which is in Heaven Matth. 7.21 It is doing that God does principally look after And this it does sadly come home to the consciences of many people in the world which are very guilty in this particular which have a name that they live but are dead as was said of the Church of Sardis which talk much of the spirit and the gifts and graces of it but in the mean time shew but little power and efficacy of it upon their hearts by framing of their lives thereafter as it becomes them to do such as these can have but little comfort whiles they live here in the world or hope and expectation when they go out of it so remaining We see how the Scripture puâs all still upon action If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them John 13.17 And then are ye my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you John 15.14 And he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever 1 John 2.17 and many more places besides tending to this purpose Therefore we should not content our selves with any thing below this whatsoever it be First Not with agreat measure of knowledg only no more but so let not that satisfie or content us the devils themselves have this in great abundance and yet but miserable creatures they know and believe and tremble as the Apostle James speaks of them And there were many in this Church of Galatia to whom St. Paul here writes his Epistle which were very knowing and intelligent persons as to the Doctrine of Religion and Christianity which yet for all that the Apostle seems not to be satisfied with Therefore we may observe that he does not say Spiritually understand the law but walk in the spirit There have been some who have so supersticiously sought after and urged the former as that they have laid all the stress of Piety and true Religion wholly thereupon and counted them the only spiritual men which were exercised therein namely in finding out the
v. 7. If I depart I will send him unto you The Holy Ghost is the Proxy of Christ that serves to bear his Bride company in the absence of Christ himself from her And he does carefully perform this office of respect unto her It was he that made her next to God Here 's the Spirit and the Bride both together And that 's the first particular in which he is here considerable of us to wit in the notion of his Presence or Personal Concomitancy The second is in the notion of Influence or operative concomitancy As it is the Spirit join'd with the Bride so it is the Spirit that is assistant unto her and what she does she does by his helping and enabling of her This is another thing here considerable of us it is the Spirit and Bride that say Come that is which make this particular request for the hastening of Christ second appearance And so there is this in general observable from it That the prayers of Gods people they are the workings of the Holy Ghost himself in them The voice of the Spouse it is all one with the voice of the Spirit they are not two voices but one and accordingly they are here in the Text join'd in one and put in a copulative expression It it not said the Spirit says come by himself and the Bride says come by her self No but the Spirit and the Bride say come both together as having the speech or action of the one transfer'd to the other We are the subjects of those actions which God himself works in us Certum est nos velle sed Deus facit ut velimus Certum est nos facere sed Deus facit ut faciamus says Austin We will but God makes us to will we do but God makes us to do And so we pray but the Spirit enables us to do so the spirit helps our infirmities Therefore we read of praying in the spirit Ephes 6.18 and of praying in the Holy Ghost Jude 20. And of the spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father in Rom. 8.15 and Heb. 4.6 c. this is called the intercession of the spirit In Rom. 8.26 27. The spirit helpeth our infirmities for we know not what to pray for as we ought but the spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered And he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the spirit because he maketh intercession for the Saints according to the will of God c. There are two things which the Holy Ghost does for us to this purpose the one is the suggesting of the matter of our petitions by teaching us what to ask and to beg of God in prayer And the other the stirring up of holy desires and affections in us and giving us an holy boldness and confidence at the Throne of Grace and perswading us of our acceptance with God in the name of Christ He makes intercession for us by making intercession in us and helping us to make intercession The Consideration of this Point makes much for the comfort of Believers in regard of the success of their Prayers Therefore they are sure to be granted at one time or other because they are the workings and operations of the Holy Ghost himself in them whereby they are also distinguish't from the Petitions of other persons As for natural and carnal men they may sometimes cry to God out of the Dictates and suggestions of Nature or out of the Principles of custom and formality but the Holy Ghost has little influence upon them in such Applications and accordingly they cannot expect so confidently to be heard in them or to find any such benefit by them but the Prayers of the faithful being wrought in them by the Holy Ghost that does prompt them and put them upon them and help them and assist them in them they are therefore sure accordingly to have an efficacy and successfulness with them because God will be sure to hear the voice of his own Spirit and it is not so much they that speak as his Spirit that speaketh in them Where Christians pray as they should do and observe the right rules of Prayer which the Scripture does prescribe unto them their Prayers shall be followed with a blessing and good effect of them This is the confidence says the Apostle that we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us and if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we have desired of him in 1 Joh. 5.14 15. From hence also we learn to take heed of slighting such things as these are and of diminishing from them we should not think them to be of no value and to little purpose as some are ready to do But to set a price and valuation upon them there is more in the hearty prayer of the poorest and meanest Christian in the Church than the world is commonly aware of as being such as has very great Prevalence with God himself to whom it is tender'd But so much of the first of those persons which is here mentioned in the Text and that is the spirit considered both under the notion of his Presence as joyned with the Bride as also under the notion of his influence as being assistant unto her The second person is the Bride her self as she is here exprest and exhibited unto us By this title as I said we are to understand either the whole Church of Christ in General or every distinct Believer and Member of Christ in particular And according to either Consideration or Application of it it hath a twofold notion with it either of Eminency or of Diminution This word Bride as it lies before us in the Text is both a word of Excellency and a word of Extenuation It is a word of Excellency as it stands in opposition to Adultery and strange affection It is the Bride not the Whore It is a word of Extenuation as it stands in a distinction from Matrimony and compleat marriage It is the Bride not the Wife First I say The Church is here call'd the Bride as it is a title of Excellency and stands in opposition to adultery and strange affection It is the Bride not the Whore The false Church is an Harlot and a filthy and unclean adulteress it is the Whore of Babylon as she is called here in this Book of the Revelation the Mother of fornication c. And such an one as she is she never cares for the coming of Christ but rather desires he should stay away still and is glad of his staying as an Harlot is for the absence of her Husband The good man is not at home he is gone a long journey as she there expresses it Prov. 7.19 But the Bride which is the true Church as chaste and pure Virgin she longs for the coming of her beloved and calls after him as it is here declared
a state of Subjection and Obedience to Him And for Heaven He is likewise the head of all Principalities and Powers Col. 2 10. And Angels and Authorities and Powers are made subject unto him 2 Pet. 3 22. This for his Kingly Office Secondly Take it for his Priestly Office And here he is likewise like Jacobs Ladder in the work of Atonement and Reconciliation as bringing Heaven and Earth together Thus Col. 1 20. It pleased the Father by him to reconcile all things to himself whether they be things in Earth or things in Heaven And so likewise in Eph. 1 20. That in the Dispensation of the fulness of time he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in Heaven and which are in Earth Even in Him Take us what we are in our selves and there is a Disproportion betwixt God and us we are not onely Strangers but Enemies to him And he to us But now in Christ this Enmity is removed and taken away and there is perfect peace wrought according to that againe of the Apostle Col. 1 21. You that were sometimes alienated and Enemies in your minde by wicked works Yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his Flesh through Death c. And again Rom. 5 10. When we were Enemies we were reconciled unto God by the Death of his Son And not onely so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ By whom we have now received the Atonement Christ hath made God and us Friends And then again as for Reconciliation so also for Access which is the Fruit and Effect of it It is by Christ that we come unto God and have Admission unto the Throne of Grace As we have the Benefit of his Satisfaction so likewise of his Intercession and both of them consider'd as our high Priest Thus the Apostle seats it Eph. 2 18. Speaking of Jew and Gentile Through him we both have an Access by one Spirit unto the Father And so Chap. 3 12. In whome we have boldness and Access with confidence through the Faith of Him What ever intercourse there passes at any time betwixt God and us it is in all the Covenant of Grace and as it is obtained and procured by Christ And it is he alone that does effect it for us and that brings it to pass And therefore upon this Ground are we still incouraged to have recourse unto God and to perfect our Communion with him as Heb. 4 14. Seeing then that we have a great High Preist that'is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of Grace that we may obtain Mercy and find Grace to help in time of need And so again Heb. 10.19 c. Having therefore boldness to enter into the Holyest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the vayl that is to say his Flesh And having an high Preist over the House of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith And Rom. 5 1 2. Therefore being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ By whom also we have Access ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hence has he in Scripture such Names and Titles put upon him as doe import thus much when he is called the Door whereby we Enter and the Key whereby we Open and the Rock whereby we Climbe and the Ladder whereby we Ascend as it is here in the Text. A twofold Ladder as I may so express it which he hath set up for us The Ladder of his Flesh and the Ladder of his Cross both together make that New and living way for us which was mentioned in the foregoing Scripture Christ is our Conveyance to God and He alone as the Scripture again inform's us Joh. 14 6. I am the way the Truth and the Life No man Cometh unto the Father but by me As no Man come's to Christ except the Father draws him so no Man com's to the Father except Christ brings him Neither is there Salvation in any other for there is no other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved Acts 4 12. God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself 2 Cor 5 19. Therefore this by the way shews the Vanity of all such Persons which dream of any other way or Conveyance besides whether of Angels or Saints or their own Free-will and the like that neglect and lay aside Christ as in a manner Needless and Superfluous in this great Work of Salvation surely such as those they are exceedingly deceived and mistaken These that throw down the Ladder they will never be able to get up to Heaven by all the Ropes they can hoyse up to themselves He that hath the Son hath Life but he that hath not the Son hath not Life 1 Joh. 5 12. And so as for final Salvation So for Intermediate Communion likewise It is that which we partake off through Christ and him alone we cannot come into the presence of God nor offer up a Prayer before him which may be acceptable to him but through his Mediation By the Mediation of his Spirit as inabling us and by the Mediation of his Blood as purchasing acceptance for us He is the Angel namely the Angel of the Covenant who offers up the Prayers of all the Saints upon the Golden Altar is before the Throne as it is in Revel 8 v. 3. And what ever are presented otherwise they are of no Force or Validitie at all Thus is Christ our Ladder that reaches from Earth to Heaven in the Consideration of his Preistly Office in both the parts of it whether of Satisfaction or Intercession Thirdly For his Prophetical Office if we take it there also we shall finde that Christ has the notion of a Ladder And as he conveys out Prayers and Desires to God so he does likewise carrye God's words and will to us Joh. 1 18. No man hath seen God at any time The onely begotten Son who is in the bosome of the Father he hath declared him And again Joh. 3 13. No man hath ascended up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven Even the Son of man which is in Heaven He speaks concerning the knowledge of heavenly Mysteries and the Communication of them which did belong onely to Christ who though then upon Earth as Man Yet as to his Godhead was still residing in Heaven having the same Essence and Glory with the Father Matth. 11 27. All things are delivered unto me from my Father and no man knoweth the Son but the Father neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son And he to whom the Son will reveale him It is Christ that brings Heaven down to Earth in regard of discoveries And thus a Ladder in his prophetical Office also To draw up this Point to an head Take Christ in his full extent whether of Nature or Offices
the chief Plaintiff and party wrong'd by this transgression of Davids Secondly When God will give peace and quietness none can there make trouble because as he is the onely plaintiff so he is the best evidence and witness which can come in and testifie either for or against us Though a man have a quarrel against another and that deservedly which he may justly fasten upon him yet if he have no body to witness on his side the party accused will do well enough for all this especially if there be a strong witness and evidence on his side that is accused Now thus it is here with us in this particular business whiles God himself is reconciled unto us there is no witness which can come in against us of any worth or validity which might be able to cause trouble to us And besides we have a special witness on our side which does bear down all and that 's the witness of the Holy Ghost in Rom. 8 16. The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God He that is a swift witness against others Mal. 3.5 shall be a swift witness for us This is like the witness of a Prince Teste mcipso which where ever it comes there 's no further question to be made of the thing as Chrysostom speaks ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It puts the matter out of all doubt where this is exhibited All the clamors and accusations of Satan of evil men or of mis-giving spirit are not able to bear down this witness and testimony of the Holy Ghost in the heart when he will give quietness in this manner who can make trouble Thirdly He is also the Judge in whom the power of condemning and absolving does wholly lye when the Plaintiff hath done his part and when the witnesses have done theirs yet notwithstanding the Judge be a mans friend and will shew him some special curtesie and favour in such a cause he will do well for all this Now this is further the state and condition of such a person as is in good terms with God He has the Judge his friend to acquit him and absolve him and set him free so that none shall be able to trouble him Rom. 3.26 That he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus To him that believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousnes Rom. 4.5 And Rom. 8 30. Whom he called them he also justified and ver 33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect It is God that justifieth In all which places we see how God himself takes upon him to justifie and absolve and quit from condemnation The Lord is our Judge the Lord is our Lawgiver the Lord is our King he will save us as it is Isa 33.22 Lastly It is he also who hath the power as of giving the sentence so of suspending the execution He hath power to cast into hell to save or destroy all these things are in his hands So that now if he will give this same spiritual quietness none in the world can make trouble This Point for the use of it is very comfortable to the children of God in all their spiritual assaults and temptations which they are subject unto that what ever may indeavour to disturb them yet nothing shall have power over them or prevail to an absolute trouble or molestation of them A child of God may set that peace and comfort which he has in his own heart and conscience against all the sollicitations and disquietings of the whole world besides when he gives quietness who then can make trouble as against a Nation so against a man onely And so much may suffice of the first Branch of the Proposition in this second Reference in matter of peace I come now to the second In matter of trouble And when he hides his face who then can behold him who can behold him That is who can behold him comfortably so as to have any sweetness or refreshment from him This no man can have when God will hide his face Thou hidest thy face sayes David and I was troubled in Psal 30.7 For the better opening of this Point and Truth before us we must know that Gods hiding of his face as we here speak of it from a particular Person may be consider'd two manner of wayes and so we shall find it taken in Scripture and common experirience either Privatively for a meer substraction or withdrawing of the light of his countenance or positively for some evident expression and manifestation of his wrath and displeasure now either of these when God does it is full of trouble First though that be the least when he does but withdraw the light of his Countenance and that sweet communication of himself which he does sometimes afford to his children then he hides his face There 's the darkness of an Ecclipse as well as the darkness of a Night And there is a sadness from the want of Gods smilings as well as from the making of His frowns and the knitting of his brows against us And this former is that which we now speak unto as a matter of disquiet We shall find how it was thus to the Spouse in the Canticles when her beloved was gone from her which is a parable to set forth unto us the condition of Christian in this particular The case is ill with him when God does but hide his face from him there is a great deal of darknesse and deadnesse upon his soul in such an estate as upon the earth when the Sun is Eclipst and 't is that which every good heart will be easily sensible and apprehensive of As the child does not onely cry when the Nurse or Mother strikes it but as well when she hides her self from it even so is it with a child of God in this particular He does not mourn onely under terrors of Conscience and the immediate expressions of Gods anger but as well under deadness of spirit and the loss of the sense of Gods favour when there is not that sweet intercourse and familiarity betwixt God and his heart as there hath been in former times Thus it was with the Prophet David Psal 51.12 He was not satisfied with bare salvation but he calls for the joy of salvation and he was not satisfied with holy Spirit but he desires the free spirit also This arises Partly from Affection as bearing a special love to God and desires a reflection of his love back again They that love another delight to be loved by them and to have some assurance of this love to them There 's nothing more troublesome amongst lovers then not to be sensible of each others affections and so it is likewise with the soul which bears a true love to God There 's an holy jealousie which is wrought in it c. Secondly It arises from experience and the former sense of this comfortable condition They
Conscience and more immediate Impressions upon the Heart God does oftentimes so apply Himself to the Soul and Spirit of a Beleiver by inlarging it and filling it with his Grace and raising up holy motions and desires in it as from whence he may be said to bespeak as it were Communion with Himself and to say seek thou my face He knocks at the door of our Hearts and says open unto me This by the Prophet David is called a preparing of the Heart in Psal 10.17 Lor thou hast heard the desire of the humble thou wilt prepare their heart thou wilt cause thine Ear to hear Thirdly In the Dispensations of Providence and the things which God does in the World and especially to our selves here he calls to us for our seeking of his face as to instance in two or three particulars more especially above the rest First In any special business or Imployment which he puts upon us this is a sure rule That where God calls a man to any more eminent Services especially which is of more publique Concernment he does then more especially call him to seek first of all his favour towards him and acceptance of him Forasmuch as all Assistance and success comes from Him and it is he that must give a Blessing to every thing that is undertaken by us It is a very dangerous and hazzardous matter for a man to go about any busines of great importance in a state of difference and estrangement from God for then he will be ready to blast and to cross that work unto him We are apt sometimes to beg Gods Assistance but we should first of all beg his Favour which is the ground and foundation of all Assistance and Success whatsoever and without which we can never expect it Thou saydst seek my face In case of any special undertakings Secondly In case of some special outward trouble and calamity God herein sayes seek ye my face Forasmuch as this is oftentimes his very end in the sending of it He does it to bring men to Himself Because in affliction men are then apt to run God when he slew them they sought Him as it is said of the Israelits And in their affliction they will seek me early Hos 5.25 Lord in trouble they have visited thee they have poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them Isa 26.16 And it becomes us so far forth to close and to comply with Gods ends to us in this particular Thirdly In Spiritual Desertions and the withdrawings of Gods Countenance from the soul when God hides his face from us He does then more especially call upon us to seek his face As when the mother hides her self she then puts the child upon looking for her and seeking after her even so is it here A constant and continued enjoyment of Gods countenance shining upon his servants is apt now and then through their corruption to make them a little more remiss but withdrawings of it quickens them to attendance and dependance upon them as it is in Isa 8.17 I will wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the House of Jacob and will look for him Fourth In the Desertions of Friends when they shall at any time fail us or leave us and be taken away from us God then sayes to us more particularly seek ye my face when either they fail in their affections as not continuing still to be friends or when they fail in their Persons as not continuing still in the world but it may be removed and taken away out of it In either of these cases and conditions does God more especially call his servants to the perfeiting of their friendship with himself and the getting of a greater evidence of his Love and favours towards them First When they fail in their Affections as not continuing still to be friends for there 's an uncertainty in all these things There 's many a man loves to day and hates to morrow and of a Friend turns to be an enemy The Love of the world it is no Foundation for any to build on in regard of the inconstancy of it Now here 's a special call to closer intimacy and acquaintance with God Acquaint thy self now with Him and be at peace thereby good shall come unto thee when a mans ways please the Lord he will make his enemies to be at peace with Him Prov. 16.7 Therefore now seek His face whose love is unchageable whose Purpose is immutable whose Affection is alwayes the same This is one thing which calls us hereunto And so secondly As in the failing of Affections so also in the failing of Persons when friends are removed and taken out of the world and ye see their face no more why then seek ye His face who never fails but abides for ever even from one Generation to another Lastly In the hour of death and at the Time of Dissolution when men are themselves going out of the world it concerns them then especially to seek the face of God and it should qualifie the thoughts of Death unto them being such as belongs to God to think that they shall now injoy it as David I will behold thy face in righeousness when I awake I shall be satisfied with thy likeness Psal 17.15 And so Psal 16.11 In thy presence is fullness of Joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore Thus have we seen in what respects and cases God does especially call unto us to seek His face And so I have done with the first General part of the Text which is Gods invitation Thou saidest seek ye my face my heart said unto thee Thy face Lord will I seek The second is David's Answer to this Invitation of Gods as to the Acceptance and entertainment of it Thy face Lord will I seek Where before we come to speak of the main point which is here considerable of us here is somewhat to be taken notice of by us by way of Preparation As first Observe this That the Heart of a Cristian it is the Reflexion of the law of God Look what the Lord in his word does injoyn and Command to be performed that the Soul and Spirit of a Believer and regenerate Person so far forth as he is regenerate does incline and tend unto Thou saydst seek my face there was the tenor of Gods Command And thy face Lord will I seek there was the temper of Davids Spirit So Psal 40.7.8 I delight to do thy will O my God yea thy law is within my Heart And this is the difference betwixt a child of God and another person take another man and his heart rises and rebels against the word and love of God and he wishes there were no such thing as that is But a good Christian he has an agreeableness to it and from thence a Complyance with it it is as the wax answering the Seal A second Observation is this That a good and a gracious heart is carryed on to the doing
sometimes it was confin'd onely to the limits of Judea but spread abroad even to all nations which have a share and interest in the Gospel as to be preach't unto them Yet Thirdly It is excellent also in regard of the peculiarity and appropriation of it Gods loving-kindness is excellent as it is precious and so the Hebrew word signifies in the Text which is jakar that imports as much unto us There 's a specialty in this Universality All partake of the outward means but all partake not of the efficacy of those means for the success of them to themselves Here now Gods loving-kindness is excellent as well as his Wisdom we put a price upon things which are rare and more restrain'd from common use and injoyment Thus 't is now with the Grace of God To you 't is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven sayes our Saviour but to others it is not so given The Election hath obtain'd but the rest are blinded The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit but he that is spiritual judgeth all things yea the deep things of God There 's an opposition of these two to one another and a distinction of these two from one another that hereby the loving-kindness of God towards his Servants may be so much the more advanced And thus now I have done with these words as they may be consider'd absolutely in themselves and as exhibiting this simple Truth unto us That the Loving-kindness of God is most excellent whether we take it for the loving-kindness of Affection The Favour that he bears towards his people and as emminent in himself or whether we take it for the loving-kindness of Expression The goodness which he does for his people as it is transient and terminated upon them I come now to the consideration of these words after another representation and that is reflexively as coming from the Psalmist who does signifie thus much unto us As Gods loving-kindness is excellent in it self so it is so in the thoughts and apprehensions and expressions of the Prophet David And here now there are divers things very pertinently observable of us as agreeable hereunto First Here 's a sound Judgement Secondly Here 's a special favour Thirdly Here 's a gratefull acknowledgement Fourthly Here 's a joyfull Publication First I say Here 's a sound and good Judgement David is rightly opinionated and perswaded of Gods loving-kindness and thinks of it truly as it is whiles he sayes it is excellent This is the first thing to be taken care of by us to be sound and right in our understanding and apprehensions of spirituall things And amongst the rest of this more especially of the excellency of Gods loving-kindness This is that which a Godly man does It is that wich is necessary for us that so we may the more diligently pursue and seek after it our selves Forasmuch as of that which we know not or esteem not we have commonly no desire Thus it was with David somewhere else as Psal 4.7 Many will say who will shew us any good Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us as who should say there was more good in that then in any thing else besides And so also not onely in the thing it self but as well in his apprehension This is the difference now betwixt a true Christian and another man as for others men of the world they do not believe such a point as this is nor think that there is that truth in it That Gods Loving-kindness is so excellent as it is declared and said to be they think that there 's some excellency now and then in the favour of men to be well thought of and esteemed of by them but for Gods favour they do not so value it or set so high a price upon it It is not so precious or estimable with them yea but now the children of God they are of another mind they do believe and think it so indeed and that especially from the Spirit of God which does clear their minds and understanding in this particular according to that of the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 2.10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God Secondly Here 's also further considerable in this passage a special sense David does not onely speak here out of Judgment and the strength of his Understanding but out of sense and the certainty of his Experience who had found and felt the workings of this special favour and Loving-kindness upon himself in his own Heart and so accordingly speaks Gloriously and Triumphantly about it There are many which in the General notion of it are ready to acknowledg that Gods favour is most Excellent and to assent to it in the bare Proposition yea but they never knew what this meant for their own particular They never had the love of God shed abroad in their own Hearts nor were affected answerably in themselves Yea but this now is the property and Disposition of a gracious Soul which is further considerable of us to have a sense and feeling of this favour and from hence to be well perswaded of it which is that which we should all indeavour to find in our selves So to find our Sins pardon'd our Corruptions subdued our Salvation sealed and evidenced to our own Consciences as that we may say and cry out by good Experience How excellent is thy Loving-kindness O God It 's one thing for a man to say that Honey is sweet because he reads it is so and another thing to say so because he tastes it And so 't is one thing for a man to say that Gods favour is precious because he hears so in the Preaching and Ministry of the word and another thing to say because he finds it so upon his own Tryal and Experiment Now this latter is that which is here commended unto us And it is that which is especially useful and real to us at sometimes more then others This truth it is always a truth considered in it self but it is never more a truth to us then it is when we our selves seem most of all to stand in need of it or are supplyed with it As for instance in case of some special Spiritual Desertion or the Eclipses of Gods favour towards us for such a particular time when any Soul is now come out of this Condition and has Gods love renewed to it again which before it was deprived off Then how Excellent is thy Loving-kindness O God Thus indeed it does appear and shew it self to be that which it is And accordingly it is that which we should often bring to our Remembrances and have continually in our minds The frequent thoughts and Meditations upon this point aae such as may be very useful and beneficial to us and may have a very great influence upon our lives First To quicken us to Duty and to make us so
satisfie us and content us though we had nothing else but them If God will but forgive us our Sins and change our Natures and put his Grace into our Hearts and give us the Seal of his Spirit that we are his Children certainly we may very well bear with him in the denyal of many other things besides unto us and therefore let us not limit and confine God too much in this particular but let us leave it to his Holy Wisdom and providence who knows what is best for us better then we do our selves and in the supply of his own Gracious Spirit and presence with us can make up to us all things else whatsoever we can desire And further where we do injoy these Comforts let us preserve them all we can and take heed of parting with them let us not be prodigal of Spiritual Comfort or careless or negligent of it If we do herein we forsake our own Mercy and are Enemies to our own greatest Good Let us take heed of offending and displeasing the blessed Spirit of God and of grieving him whose office it is to comfort us Lastly Let us see also here what cause there is for us to look after true Godliness and Religion and to become true Christians indeed that so from hence we may come to partake of these Divine Comforts which we do no otherwise then so far forth as we have the Spirit of God in us and are become his Children Those which are Strangers in Religion they are also Strangers to the Comforts of Religion and to the sweetness which is in that Condition so that though there be Comforts Enough in God yet they have no Interest in them nor no Ability whereby to derive them and to convey them to themselves therefore let us look to that by all meanes Yea and moreover to abound in Grace and Holiness all we can for as we come to be partakers of Gods Comforts by being Godly and Religious so we partake of them the more as we are Godly and Religious in greater measure The closer we walk with God the more comfort we have from him not onely hereafter in Heaven but also now at present here upon Earth which should therefore be a further spur to incite us hereunto And so much for these Comforts in the first Notion considered absolutely and distinctly The Second is by considering them connexively in reference to what went before in the beginning of the verse In the Multitude of my thoughts The words in the Hebrew are Be-rov or as some would have it Ke-rov The one makes it to be in multidine as our Translations render it to us the other makes it to be secundum multitudines as the Vulgar Latin following the Septuagint ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It makes no great matter which there being but little difference betwixt them according as they run in the Text whether in the sound or in the sight From both together we have a singular commendation of these Divine Comforts which David was now refresht with in three particulars First For their Concomitancy Secondly For their Opportunity Thirdly For their Conveniency each of these are in this expression First Here is their Concomitancy by making in to be as much as cum In my thoughts that is altogether with them and so it does imply thus much unto us That the children of God they are never wholly and absolutely disquieted and dejected in themselves but as God does in his providences suffer them now and then to be troubled with sad thoughts so at the very same moment and instant of time does he administer comfort more or less unto them They have some light in their greatest darkness and they have some refreshment in their greatest sadness and they have some comfort in their greatest Distraction In the very midst of judgement upon them does God remember mercy towards them This is the state and condition of Gods people God does secretly uphold their hearts from sinking when it seems to be never so ill and sad with them This proceeds from his singular love and indulgence towards them who does not afflict his servants willingly nor does not desire to lay upon them any more then they may be able to bear If we should have all thoughts and no comforts there were no subsistance or holding out but God does now graciously mitigate and qualifie his dispensations towards us that so the spirit may not fail before him nor the souls which he has made as Himself gives that very reason and account of it Isa 57.16 He corrects in measure Isa 27.8 This teaches us both to expect it and also upon occasion to acknowledge it it serves both to excite our patience and thankfulness First Our patience in expecting it and making account of it when we fall at any time into trouble let us not aggravate it and make it worse then it is for it is neither so much as it might be nor yet so much as we deserve And therefore let us take heed of charging God foolishly in this particular as we are many times subject to do if we do but a little reflect and consider how it is with us we shall find that it is so as is here presented to us namely Comforts and some glimpse of mercy in the greatest sorrows And this is the great difference now betwixt the condition of men here in this world and of the damned in Hell those sad creatures there they have the thouhgts but not the comforts they have the destractions but not the qualifications there is sorrow without any refreshment but those which live here in the world especially those which are Gods children they have a mingling of some sweetness with their greatest grief And this Secondly excites our thankfulness and calls us to the acknowledgement of it upon all occasions and to bless God for it as David else-where does in Psal 119.75 I know O Lord that thy Judgements are right and that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me And that 's the first particular which is commended to us in these Comforts viz. their Concomitancy The Second is their opportunity In the Multitude of distracting thoughts That is just when they were come to their height and extremity in me The Comforts of God are seasonable and observe the proper time for their coming neither too soon nor too late not before that were too soon nor after that were too late But in That is just in the very point and nick of Time This is another thing here spoken of In the Thoughts and in the Multitude of the Thoughts not in the indifferency of thoughts but in the perplexity not in the Paucity of thoughts but in the Plurality our extremity is Gods opportunity In the mount will the Lord be seen when we have thought and thought and thought all what we could and know not what to think more then does God delight to tender and exhibit his Comforts to us There are divers instances and examples
is there will the Heart be also What 's the reason that Earthly and worldly Persons all their thoughts are taken up about the world and worldly accommodations why it is because they place their chiefest contentment in such things as these are They think of that most which they most desire and most affect In like manner is it so on the otherside with the children of God Because they look upon God as their greatest and chiefest Good and most desire the injoyment of Him therefore it is that they thus think upon him And then properly to meditate on God as mine that 's that which makes my meditation of him to be sweet as that this House is mine this Land is mine c. That 's that which puts sweetness into it and so here c This God is our God for ever and ever he will be our Guide even unto Death Psal 48.14 And so this is my Beloved and this is my Friend c. Cant. 5. last vers And then Thirdly There is much also in their Imployment and the things which they are busied about Mens Imployments have a great influence upon their thoughts for the qualifying and ordering of them It is natural for men to think of their Business and of such things wherein they are most Conversant Now thus it is with Gods Servants in this particular they are much in divine Exercises Prayers and Reading and Hearing and such as these and therefore they are also much in divine with Meditation These Performances do suggest Holy thoughts and Meditations unto them and put them as it were before they are aware upon the Exercise and upon the practise of them Lastly From the Spirit of God that dwells and abides in them Gods Children they are the Temples of the Holy Ghost which Inhabits them and takes up his special residence and Commoration in them And he is not in them to no purpose but he is a very fruitful and profitable Inhabitant who still puts them upon that which is Good and infuses Gracious thoughts into them Look as on the otherside the Devil the Spirit that rules in the Children of Disobedience he is filling them still with sinfull and evil thoughts and suggests corrupt things into them So here the Holy Ghost which is the Spirit that rules in the Children of God he does put them upon Holy Meditations and the thinking of that which is good and agreeable to Himself As he puts into them Gracious desires in reference to Prayer and teaches them what to Ask so he likewise puts into them Gracious thoughts in reference to Meditation and teaches them here what to Contemplate and so helps their Infirmities for them in this particular also Thus we see how it comes to pass in sundry respects that Gods Servants are much in the thoughts and Meditation of Him This shewes us the difference betwixt Gods Children and the men of the World As for worldly men they have this Reproach fasten'd upon them That God is not in all their thoughts Psal 10.4 No more he is not there are many men in the world that live without God in the world that pass from Day to Day without any thoughts at all of him as if there were no such one as he is or if they have some flitting thoughts of him they are not such as do stick with them and by them They do not indeed meditate upon him as is here mentioned in the Text this they are far from If ye could anatomize and rip up the Heart of a Carnal Person ye should see little of God in it but all of the world His Riches and Honours and Pleasures and Carnal Contentments as it is recorded of that worldling in the Gospel Luk. 12.17 It is said that he thought within him self and what did he think off Of his Lands and of his Fruits and his Possessions Soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years c. This was that which he contemplated upon and that alone not a thought of God which past through Him till God Himself awakned him and so is it likewise with many more whereas this is the property of Gods Servants to be very much in the Meditation of Himself and to have their thoughts pitcht upon him as is here intimated of the Prophet David And this is the first Particular viz. The Performance implyed Divine Meditation The Second is the Qualification Exprest and that is Pleasantness or Sweetness My Meditation of him shall be sweet which passage as it lies before us in the Text is capable of a threefold Emphasis or Impression which may be fastend upon it First of an Assertion Secondly of a Resolution and Thirdly of a Petition of an Assertion as signifying what it was of a Resolution as declaring what it should be of a Petition as desiring what it might be First Take it as an Assertion and as signifying what it was The Meditation which a Christian Soul has of God it is very sweet and Comfortable this is that which is here intimated unto us Meditation is very pleasing of it self considered as an Imployment of the Soul which does naturally take delight in such reflexions but it is inlarged and further advanced from the quality and Condition of the Object which it is carried unto a delightful Argument makes a delightful Meditation Now thus it is here with a Christian to God while he meditates upon Him and that in his full Extent First The Attributes of God there 's a great deal of delight in thinking upon them in their several kinds and Varieties as for example First The Power of God how much sweetness is there in that to a Christian that shall seriously consider it and think upon it that God is Almighty and Alsufficient and can do whatsoever he pleases both in Heaven and Earth as the Scripture represents him This is that which the Servants of God have been very much affected withall when they have taken it into Consideration as from whence they have been very Hopeful concerning themselves That God is able to Kill and to make alive that God is able to Help and to cast down that God is able to raise even from the Dead and the like such thoughts as these have upon occasion much delighted Gods Servants Thus the three Worthies in Daniel which were cast into the Fiery Furnace The God whom we serve is able to deliver us It was a very Comfortable Meditation to them Dan. 3.17 So Abraham being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform Rom. 4.21 And so Heb. 11.19 Accounting that God was able to raise up his Son Isaac from the Dead It was a very great Incouragement to him So Secondly The Goodness and Mercy of God there 's a great deal of sweetness in that also to be suck'd out by us in Meditation that the Lord is Gracious and Merciful and Long-suffering and Pittiful as we have lately had occasion to shew there is very much
in himself especially as revealed in his Son but we are then said to rejoyce in him when as by a Spirit of Faith we do improve him and make use of him for our Comfort and Consolation But Secondly By way of Reflexion we are then said to be glad in the Lord when we rejoyce in our Interest in Him and relation to Him when we resolve to make God our Happiness and greatest Contentment and to reckon of our selves accordingly as we have likely so to do This being glad in the Lord is opposed to being glad in the Creature as the Meditation of the Lord to a Meditation upon other things This is the Sum here of Davids Resolution and Expression of Himself in this particular that whereas Earthly and Worldly persons they had for the most part worldly Reflexions which were most pleasing and delightful to them his Meditation upon God should be the sweetest and whereas they also had many worldly Jollityes he would be glad and rejoyce in the Lord as most able to rejoyce in Him Which is that also which should be the studdy and indeavour of all other Christians and of our selves in particular amongst the rest So much for that to wit of Davids Exaltation joyned to his Contemplation and so of the whole Text before us My Meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. SERMON XXIV Psal 77.10 And I said this is mine Infirmity but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High The State and Condition of a Christian whilst he lives here below hath it's Vncertainties and Varieties with it not onely in reference to the world and the Concernments of this Natural Life but likewise in reference to Heaven and the hopes and Expectations of a better not onely as to his dealings with Men but to his Converse and Communion with God There are the Ebbings and Flowings of Grace and there are the Falling and Rising of Corruption which are by turns observable in Him as we may see here in this Instance and Example which we have here before us The Prophet David Himself who may serve as a Representation of all other Christians besides in this Particular how ever he was at other times a man fiull of Faith and Assurance yet he had now at this time a sit of Destrustfulness upon him and began to call in question the Love and Affection and Faithfulness of God Himself to him But yet through the Goodness of God he does at last work Himself out of it and he tells us here how he did it Then I said this is mine Infirmity but I will c. In the Text it self there are two General parts considerable First The Discovery of the Disease Secondly The Application of the Remedy The Discovery of the Disease that we have in these words Then I said this is mine Infirmity The Application or Resolution upon the Remedy that we have in these But I will remember the years c. We begin with the former viz. The Discovery of the Disease Then I said this is c. Wherein again we have two branches more First The simple Proposition This is mine Infirmity Secondly The Rersonal Keflexion I said this is c. It was in the thing it self and it was also in the Psalmist's own Observation First Take it simply in the Proposition and in the thing it self This is mine Infirmity wherein there are divers points included and Exhibited to us we will take them as they lie before us First We see here how the Saints and Servants of God themselves they have their Infirmities My Infirmity says David who was an Holy man a man after Gods own Heart as the Scripture sometimes describes him yet he had his weakness and Infirmities with him and so also have all others besides his ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã his often Infirmities as it is recorded of him 1 Tim. 5.23 But also Spiritual and Mental The weaknesses and Infirmities of the Soul and inward man they are those which are here mentioned in this place these are such as the Children of God have even in the Holiest and Exactest of them as it is here implyed The Ground of it is this First The reliques and remainders of the Old man still abiding in them where the Root is remaining there will be Fruit answerable to it according to the Propositions of it Now thus it is here in this particular the Children of God they are Flesh as well as Spirit and so farforth as they are Flesh there will be somewhat proceeding from them which shall savor of it The Flesh lusts against the Spirit as well as the Spirit against the Flesh as the Apostle tells us Gal. 5.17 Secondly Grace is wrought Imperfectly in them while they are here in this world so much there is of the Flesh so much the more there is to cause Infirmities and so much the less as there is of the Spirit so much the less on the otherside to prevent them I can do all things says the Apostle Paul through Christ that strengthens me A Christian is so far free from Infirmity as it pleases Christ to strengthen him but this is not absolutely and perfectly while he remains here in thi world Neither as to habitual Grace nor Auxiliary Neither as to the working of the Principles which is but in a weak measure and degree nor as to the Concurrance with the Opperations which are various and different in them also and at the best but very imperfect Therefore this teaches us to esteem of men as men not to think of them above that which is written as the Apostle advises nor to accept more from them then is indeed in them not to look for a Perfection in this Life from the best that are for it is not to be found As no man should think of himself more highly then he ought to think so neither should he think so of other men but so to Honour their Graces as withall to make account of their Infirmities The one to be pursued and imitated while the other is to be shunn'd and avoyded even David he had his Infirmities That is the First Secondly As good men have their Infirmities so commonly they have some one more especially which they are addicted and inclined unto As they have Corruption in them at large so this Corruption more particularly and especially which they are incumbred withall This is mine Infirmity says the Psalmist by way of Appropriation Original Corruption it does not run out alike in all but has it's varieties and diversities of Improvement in some after one manner and in others after another As we see it is in the Body though all men are in regard of their Nature subject to all kind of Diseases yet all do not alike partake of them some are more inclinable to one and some to another Even so is it also in the Soul and inward man every Christian has his Infirmities This should teach every
tam ubi animat quam ubi amat even so it is with a Christian towards God He is alwayes with him in regard of Disposition and Affection to Him Secondly In regard of Actual Application A Good Christian is careful still to repair to God and to draw near to him whensoever he can To raise and excite and stir up his heart to take hold upon him Thus may this passage be taken in an Indefinite and Hypothetical signification But further Secondly which I conceive most proper and pertinent to the scope of the place it may be taken more Restrainedly and Positively making Quando to be as much as Quamprimum When I awake that is as soon as I awake And so there will be this in it That it is the care of a good Christian as soon as ever he findes himself awake to be still with the Lord. And this for the Explication of the Time Designed when I awake Now for the state it self which is Being with God this remains to be unfolded by us what is to be understood by it and in what respect a Christian when he is awake may be said to be with him we may take it in three particulars especially First by Meditation Secondly By Communion 3dly By Action A Christian in each of these respects is said to awake with God First By way of Meditation A Gracious soul is with God when he awakes in this particular It is the care of a good Christian and so ought to be to have God and the things of God when he awakes still in his thoughts Our Thoughts are precious things being the immediate issue of our souls and are not to be lightly bestowed by us especial our first thoughts And on whom can we better bestow them then on him that helps us to them and without whom we are not sufficient of our selves so much as to think as the Apostle tells us 2 Cor. 3.5 My Meditation of him shall be sweet Psal 104.34 This is sutable to the Context it self in 17 verse of this Psalm How precious are thy thoughts unto me O God! where by thy Thoughts we are to understand not onely what God thought of David by taking it Subjective but also as well what David thought of God by taking it Objective How precious are thy thoughts that is the thoughts which I have of thee and whereof I have Ground and Occasion ministred to me from thee It was a great delight and refreshment to David when he first awak'd from sleep in the morning to have God still in his Thoughts And so is it likewise with every other Good man besides There 's the same desire and Disposition in him This proceeds and arises from the sutableness which is in the heart of a Christian to God Himself Every mans thoughts commonly are pitch'd according to his Inclination Because David was a man after Gods own heart therefore was Davids heart fastened upon God in Contemplation and he was ever and anon musing upon him Therefore he remembred him upon his Bed and meditated on him in the night watches as it is in Psal 63.6 This is a sure Rule That where a man's Treasure is there will also be his Heart And this is the Reason that the Worldling has his first Thoughts still upon the world The Covetuous man when he awakes he may say He is still with his Gold And the Ambitious man when he awakes he may say he is still with his Preferments And the Voluptuous man when he awakes he may say he is stil with his Recreations and Carnal Pleasures What 's the reason of this Because these are such things as such Persons do most agree with and so consequently their Thoughts and Meditations are most upon them In like manner does it hold of a good Christian in reference to God His thoughts are first upon Him because his Heart is chiefly towards Him This is to be understood especially of such thoughts as are setled and deliberate and composed such thoughts as a man sets himself to with intention and suffers to abide in him these are for the most part sutable and agreeable to the frame of his Heart Now because a Godly man has his Heart full of Heaven and God and Goodness and the Graces of the Spirit therefore are such things as these very often and early in his thoughts When he awakes he is still with God Namely in regard of Meditation That 's he First The Second is in regard of Communion that 's another ay whereby we are with God We are with him as conversing with him there is a sweet Familiarity and Entercourse of Spirit which a Godly man exercises with God in the Morning and in the Night it self as of one friend with another not only in the more solemne performance of Prayer at large but also in the more short and sudden Ejaculations of Soul or Spirit drawing as it were breath from God and sending up holy desires and affections to Him Look as Friends when they meet in a Morning they have their mutual greeting between them a loving and friendly salute one of another Even so is it with it's due proportions betwixt God and the Soul the Soul speaking to him and he returning upon it by way of Reciprocation Thus the Scripture seems it self to hint to us in divers places as in Job 35.10 None saith where is God my maker who giveth Songs in the Night Mark Songs in the Night what 's the meaning of that that is those sweet and Heavenly Conferences which are betwixt God and the Heart in those times of repose and retirement There are many who when they lie awake in the Night it is very pleasing and Comfortable to them to hear some songs and other musicall refreshments Oh but there 's no musick or Melody which is so sweet as this which is that therefore that a Christian should especially look after for this we have the example of the Church the Spouse of Christ Cant. 3.1 By Night on my Bed I sought him whom my Soul loved c. Not onely when she was up and abroad in the Streets but upon her Bed in the Night she then calls and cries for her Beloved So again in Esay 26.9 We shall find the like manner of expression the Prophet there brings in the Church thus speaking to God With my Soul have I desired thee in the Night yea with my Spirit within me will I seek the Early I have desired thee in the Night what does he understand by that There are two things which he may mean by it First By taking it Metaphorically in the Night that is in the time of Affliction that we shall find sometimes to be set forth by such an expression because it is a season of Sadness and in this does the Church most Earnestly seek unto God when she is destitute of all other helps and deprived of all other Comforts In this black and dismal Night does she then make this Application Or Secondly
of Good men and keep the paths of the Righteous Indeed I must further add thus much as concerning the further opening of this point that when we teach that the wayes of Plety are pleasant wayes First We do not deny but that Religion causes some kind of Greif and Sorrow which goes along with it It discovers sad things to the Soul concerning Sin and Hell and Damnation and wrath to come but then it discovers them so as to free those persons from them to whom it does discover them The Sun raises Vapors in the Morning but then it scatters them and dispels them by Noon and so does the Spirit of God with the Soul in this Business as our Saviour told his Disciples Ye shall indeed mourn but your sorrow shall be turned into joy Blessed are you that weep for ye shall be Comforted Godly sorrow it always ends in Heavenly Comfort and God never sadden any of his Children but he does it to this end and purpose that so occasionally from hence he may cause them the more to rejoyce and that their joy may be so much the more firm and fixt and lasting to them so that still 't is a way of pleasantness in regard of the end The more we sow in Tears the more we shall reap in joy That 's one Qualification of this point Again Secondly When we say that the wayes of Spiritual Wisdom and Grace are wayes of pleasantness we do not mean it of the mad mirth of the world which consists in nothing but Vanity and Folly and Luxuriancy of Spirit No it is not such a kind of pleasantness which is here intended but a Sanctified and Spiritual kind of pleasure A delight in Heavenly and a delight in Earthly things in an Holy and Heavenly manner For this we must know likewise that Godliness does not deny us a free and liberal use of the Creatures in the due time and measure which does therefore further take off the scandall which from hence is cast upon Religion as if it did utterly exclude all outward and worldly Joy In Friends and in Estates and in Recreations and such as these No It does not so indeed it moderats and qualifies it that it exceeds not and passes not it's Bounds A man that professes Religion though he may lawfully use the Creatures yet he may not be vain in the use of them and give himself that scope and liberty which others take to themselves in the injoyment of them Here there is a restraint upon him but for the thing it self there 's none Non Isaoc moroeter sed aries sayes Bernard sweetly It is not Isaac must Die but the Ram. Isaac in the proper notion of the word it signifies Laughter God will have us to offer it he will not have us to kill it Non peribet tibi laetitia sed Contumacia It is not thy joy it self which God will have slain but the ramishness and rankness of it the excrescency and perversness of it Take away this and Religion has as much rejoycing as any other Condition allowed unto it Again Thirdly We must take in this likewise that it pleases God to exercise his Children with Affections here in this world above many others besides Not onely with trouble for Sin but likewise with trouble from outward Crosses but still he is doing them good by them in their inward man and he follows their outward Crosses with the inward Comforts of his Spirit which does abundantly make it up Yea this is one benefit of Godliness which I named as an instance to prove the point in shewing wherein it is pleasant in that it does make even Afflictions themselves to be comfortable in the bearing of them so that take it which way we will the wayes of Wisdom will be wayes of Pleasure from whence we justly see the madness of those which think otherwise of it But against this it may be happily objected If Religion be thus pleasant as we speak off what may be the reason then that no more look after it then they do and take no more pleasure in it To this I answer First of all The reason why no more look after these pleasant wayes is indeed because they are ignorant and unacquainted with the Pleasantness of them we use to say Ignoti nulla cupido where there is no knowledg or apprehension of any good in any thing there is no desire of it and so t is for the most part here men are to seek in the Excellency of these things and therefore neglect them If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith unto thee give me to drink thou wouldst have askt of him and he would have given thee living water sayes our Saviour to the woman of Samaria John 4.10 Even so may we say in this case to Worldly men if they knew the sweetness which were in Religion they would not be void of Relgion but would by all means apply themselves to it They do not know or believe the Scriptures and the Spirit of God in the Ministry of the word which gives knowledg and intimation of these things Secondly As this proceeds from Ignorance so it likewise proceeds from un-activity and want of tryal of the sweetness of these wayes Though a man should know or at least believe that such and such a meat were sweet and pleasant yet if he did not eat it and take it into his mouth he would have no actual delight in it Delight it proceeds from operation and so here Those that are not Conversant in Religion they have no pleasure in Religion Those that doe not walk in these wayes they cannot discern how pleasant they are And thus 't is in this present business Men do not therefore take contentment in Godliness and the pathes of Spiritual Wisdom because indeed they are unacquainted and un-accustomed for the most part to them Thirdly it does likewise proceed from the want of a right principle What 's Delight but a Suteableness and Agreement of the Faculty with the Object Let the Object be never so pleasant yet if ââere be not an Eye to see it or a taste to rellish it and the like there can no delight or comfort arise from it All the sweet-meats in the world are nothing to a Distemper'd Palate All the pleasant Meadows that are they are nothing to a blind eye and so again 't is here Men are therefore not perswaded of the Sweetness and Pleasantness which is in Godliness because indeed they want such gracious Principles as should make them sensible and apprehensive of it This is the work of the Spirit of God and of him alone who therefore must be sought unto for it And this is the true account of mens carriage in this particular which yet is no disparagement to the thing it self nor any sufficient warrant for men therefore to think the worse of Religion And therefore this may be the first Use Namely as a word of Conviction and
And that Punishment which is light of it self Impenitency aggravates it And that Punishment which is passive of it self Impentence stays it Impenitency is the Cause and Ground and Occasion of the greatest and heaviest Judgments that are And the reason of it is this Because it does seem in a manner to own and justifie sin and stand in the Commission of it Where People sin of Infirmity but yet repent they do thereby in a sort and interpretatively undo what has been done by them And though the Acts of it cannot be recalled by them yet the Guilt of it is in some manner quallified by a contrary frame and temper of spirit and consequent departing from it But Impenitency does as it were repeat and renew the former miscarriage even there where for a time there may be an Actual Abstinency from it He that does not repent of Sin he commits it even then when he refrains it as to the Actual Condition of it Again further Thus is this also in Impenitency that it does in a manner trespass upon all the Attributes of God which it either questions or else vilifies and makes nothing at all of them The Omniscience of God as to the deserts of Sin Psal 94.7 Tush the Lord doth not see neither doth the God of Jacob regard it The Truth of God as to the Threats of Sin 2 Pet. 3.4 Where is the promise of his coming for since the father fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation The Justice of God as to the punishing of Sin Considering God to be all Mercy and Pitty and Indulgence c. The Power of God as to the executing of Judgment As thinking that his hands cannot reach them nor that he is able especially in some cases to be avenged upon it or to do what he threatens against it Yea the Mercy and Goodness of God which it abuses to a further Continuance and Persistency in Evil. Thus trespassing upon all God's Attributes it must needs especially draw down God's Judgments The Third and Last thing observeable in this Passage for the ground and occasion of Judgment whereupon it proceeds is their Continued Obstinacy This was that which was the unhappiness of this People here in the Text as it is also sometimes of divers others besides not only that they did not repent but moreover that they would not there was not only their Negative Remorselesness but also their Positive Perverseness Far as they did not turn to him that smote them so neither did they seek the Lord of hosts They were now so settled upon their Lees and confirmed in their wicked and sinful Courses as that they were wholly and absolutely incorrigible And this must needs now introduce and hasten and hale and pull the Judgments of God down upon our heads Therefore and therefore with a witness will God now proceed to the punishing of them The Consideration of these things should makes us so much the more wary of our selves in this Particular As we desire to avoid Punishment so to be careful to abstain from sin and to take heed of that And especially to take heed of Impenitency and persistence and abiding in sin If by chance we should fall into it not to stay and rest in it Shall we continue in sin saith the Apostle God forbid And so long as we do not repent of it God makes account that we do continue in it which we should be heedful and wary of And more especially above all of Obstinacy and Perverseness of Spirit It is bad enough to sin at first and after that to forbear to repent but to sin and to refuse to repent that is a great deal worse by far and so most of all to be declined by us And so near I have done with the First General Part of the Text which is the Ground or Occasion of God's Judgments threatned against this People included in the Particle Therefore as relating to what went before Therefore because of their impiety and Therefore because of the impenitency and Therefore because of their obstinacy The Second is The Judgment it self in these words The Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail branch and rush in one day Wherein again we have three Branches more First The Denuntiation of the Judgment Secondly The Extent of it And Thirdly The Time The Denuntiation of it The Lord will cut off from Israel The Extent of it Head and tail The Time or Season of it In one day First To speak of the former viz. The Denuntiation of the Judgment The Lord will cut off from Israel Wherein again take notice of three things further First The Author of it and that is the Lord. Secondly The Matter of it and that is Cutting off Thirdly The Subject of it or the Persons and People which are more particularly involved in it and that is Israel For the First The Author of this Judgment which is here mentioned it is expressed to be the Lord. The Expression of it is to be referred to such as themselves who took Samaria and led Israel Captive to Assyria 2 King 17.23 But the Infliction of it is to be referred to the Lord as sole in it Whoever may be the Instrument it is God alone who is the Author of Judgment The Lord will cut off take notice of that This is that which the Scripture does every where declare unto us as Isa 42.24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil and Israel to the Robbers did not I the Lord He against whom ye have sinned And so Isa 45.7 Saith the Lord of himself I form the light and create darkness I make peace and create evil I the Lord do all these things And so Isa 10.5 6. O Assyrian the rod of mine anger and the staff in their hand is my indignation I will send him against an hypocritical Nation and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil and to take the prey and to tread them down like the mire in the streets There is no evil in the City that is of punishment and the Lord hath not done it This holds good especially upon a twofold Consideration First Of the Sovereignty and Power of God It is he only that is able to punish It is he alone that hath all Men and Creatures under his Command Men are sometimes out of the reach one of another And though they have now and then a mind to punish yet they have not always an Ability or Opportunity But as for the Lord he is able and powerful As he is mighty to save where he will deliver so he is mighty to punish where he will destroy And then Secondly Upon the Account of the Holiness and Purity which is in God There are none which are so fit to punish others as those who are innocent Persons Guilty and Obnoxious Persons although sometimes they are prevailed to punish in regard of others miscarriages And although
mouth to receive it an appetite to be carryed to it and a stomach to entertain and digestit Even so the Word of God is not a perfect blessing neither except there be an Ear to hearken to it a spiritual taste to relish it and an heart to receive and digest it and to close and comply with it Now this is that which God does here in this place I say promise to his People when he says Their ears shall hear Not only a simple Partaking of the word Preacht but also an attendance upon it and obedience to it Hearing in the Language of Scripture being put for Obeying without which it is all in vain This was that Hearing which was in Lydia Act. 16.14 whose heart the Lord opened unto the things which were spoken by Paul The Things were spoken by Paul There was the word behind her Aud she attended to those things which were spoken There were her Ears hearing this word and both together made it to be a perfect and compleat blessing to her as it is also to any one else Let us therefore accordingly indeavour to find this made good in ourselves That we be hearers of that word which God does afford and vouchsafe untous And that not only with our outward ears although it were well if some would do that but also moreover with our inward affections and attentions to that which we hear seeing God follows us day after day and time after time with these advantages and opportunities which he offers unto us let not us be so far neglectfull either of him or of our own good as to divert our minds from them Considering what Solomon hath told us to this purppse Prov. 28.9 He that turns away his ear from hearing the Law even his Prayers shall be an abomination And so much of these words in their first Acceptation as they may be taken properly and in the Letter Thine Ears shall hear a word behind thee As relating to the Word of the Ministery and the Continuance of such opportunities as theâe are The Second is as they may be taken Metaphorically as relating to the word within us The inward Motions and Suggestions of the Spirit and the Dictates thereof This may be very well meant hereby likewise and as the other is not excluded So perhaps this is principally intended here in this place when it is said Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee speaking Gods Spirit speaking to our Spirit This is such as God does vouchsafe in his Church as well as the other As they have the word sounding in their Ears So they have the Spirit also whispering in their Consciences and stirring and moving in their Hearts Those that live in the Bosom of the Church within the pales and compass of it they have many such advantages and opportunities as these are which are vouchsafed and afforded unto them This as well as the former is very fitly called a word behind thee not only in all these respects which I mentioned in reference thereunto as a word pursuing recalling and provoking All which it is but also which we may moreover here take notice of in these two regards First In regard of the Privacy and Secrecy of it Look as that which is behind us we do not so easily see and discern no more do we many times so readily perceive such motions as these are God speaks once yea twice but man perceives it not as it is in Job 33.14 Hence it is called a secret word Davar laat Job 15.11 Are the Consolations of God small with thee or is there any secret word with thee And a stollen word as it is in the Hebrew Text Davar jegunnav Job 4.12 Now a word was secretly brought unto us and mine ear received a little thereof Whereby are signified the secret whisperings and murmurings of the Spirit of God in us Secondly As it is a word behind us in regard of the Seâresie and privateness of it Likewise in regard of the Proximity and Nearness The word is nigh thec as it said in another case It is but looking behind us and we have it It accompanies us and goes along with us as the shaddow with the Body That 's another thing here considerable and that in this expression of being behind Here 's the Constancy of these motions which God follows his People withall without intermission They are never free and exempt from them but they are still about them and stirring them where ever they are and whatever they are doing upon all occasions as I shall shew more anon in the following part and close of the Text. Behold I stand at the door and knock as it is in Revel 3.20 He stands which is a Posture of Perseverance This is a very great Favour as well as the Former It is not only a mercy that God gives us his word without us in the Dispensations of the Ministery but likewise his word without us in the Dispensations of the Ministery But likewise his word within us in the Dispensations of his Spirit And this is that which he annexes and joyns together with that in the promise of it This we find mention made of here in some other places of Scripture likewise These Dictates and Suggestions of the Spirit 1 Joh. 2.20 Ye have an Vnction from the Holy One and ye know all things So again in ver 27. The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and teacheth you all things So Joh. 14.26 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 c. Again Joh. 16.13 When the Spirit of Faith is come he will guide you into all truth c. Still there 's mention of these Suggestions of the Spirit The Use which we are to make of it is accordingly to bless God for it that affords these things unto us We see here the happiness of being brought forth within the compass of the Church where such means as these are vouchsafed and we should acknowledge Gods Goodness to us in this particular for though there be the stirrings of Conscience sometimes even in Civil Men in Heathens and such as these are yet these Motions of the Holy Ghost they are more proper and peculiar to the Church where there is the Ministers and Ordinances and Means of Grace in the Dispensation of them And we should not think it a small matter for our selves to enjoy them Next to God's giving of his Son to us is his giving of his Spirit and his continual Application of himself to our Hearts and Consciences But so much for that I have done now with the first General which is the Monitor here signified unto us in these words thine ears shall hear a word behind thee Understood either properly of the Word of the Ministry or metaphorically of the Suggestion of the Spirit I come now to the Second which is the matter
behind us saying This is the way walk ye in it when we turn either to the right hand or to the left But now farther if we please we may take these words a little more at large as I in part hinted before When ye turn to the right hand or to the left not as touching it of two extreams but in reference to all the passages of our lives whatsoever they be When ye turn to the right hand or to the left that is whatsoever place ye are in whatever business ye are about whatever condition befalls you ye shall have the hints of the Word and Spirit of God assistant to you This is the promise which is made to the Saints and Servants of God And it is made not only here in this Text but also in divers other places besides as Psal 37.5 Commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass So Prov. 3.6 In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy pathes So again in Prov. 16.3 Commit thy Works unto the Lord and thy Thoughts shall be Established This Disposition in God towards his People is founded on his Affection to them He loves them and therefore he Counsels them and cannot abide to see them miscarry Love it is full of direction of the party which it is placed upon and will not suffer him to go out of his way And so it is with God to us This is a great Comfort and Incouragement to us and should quicken us especially in his service wherein especially we are sure to have him to guide us and go before us and be assistant unto us And that in the darkness of this World wherein we walk If a man have a bad way yet if he have a good guide it is some Comfort to him This is the Lord to his Servants He teaches them to go taking them by the hand as it in Hos 11.3 Oh how much should we be affected herewith Especially in this Age and Time wherin we live In which we have so many Labarynths and uncertainties that a great many do not know what to do nor what way to betake themselves to We have so many humours and conceits amongst us that we know not almost what to believe nor what to practise It is the case and condition of many people that they are at a nonplus and almost at their wits ends in this particular Well in all these uncertainties and distractions Here 's the Comfort and Incouragement of Gods servants which do not provoke him to do otherwise with them from some default or miscarriage in them in which case it may be suspended to them That they shall hear a word behind them saying this is the way walk in it when they turn c. But here it may partinently be demanded How this word shall be discerned and known because there 's a great deal of deceit and mistake in the particulars many taking that to be the word and spirit of God which is no more but their own foolish fancy and the suggestions and intimation of the Devil joyning with their own corrupt hearts It is the condition of many people now in these present days and never more than now it is For this There are divers Touchstones and discoveries of it which we will briefly instance in First Let this within thee be regulated by the word without thee And the motions and suggestions of the Spirit examined by the Rule of the Scripture and the written word of God to the Law and the Testimony If they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Isa 8.20 God never speaks in the Conscience contrary to what he speaks in the Scripture for he is unchangeable and cannot deny himself If therefore we have any motions in us which are cross and opposite hereunto we have very greet cause to suspect them as coming to us from another hand yea to abandon them and to bid defiance to them For which as the Wind does not sit at the same time in two contrary corners North and South so neither does the Spirit breath in two contrary motions Good and Evil. The motions of the spirit are always suitable and agreeable to it self Secondly They are also orderly and regular They keep men within the compass of their Callings and the spheres and the place which God has set them in Motions either from mens own Spirits or the spirit of Satan acting in them they are many times out of course they carry them above their line and make them to stretch themselves beyond their measure as the Apostle speaks But those which come from God and the suggestions and inclinations of his spirit they confine them and keep them within bounds They order them and frame them and keep them within bounds suitable to their several stations and Relations and Conditions and Circumstances in the world which they have regard and heed unto So likewise which we may refer hereunto they are agreeable also to the law of Nature and Civility and ingenuity in us Therefore such motions as cross these they are not such as come from Gods spirit but from the spirit of the Devil when any are carried to such acts as are against Civility and common modesty it self Thirdly They are also mild and gentle and seasonable They are not ordinarily violent raptures but such as leave a man in a right apprehension of what he does and reflexion upon it A man knows where he is and what he does while he is followed with them which in the motions of Satan is otherwise Fourthly They are discernable also from their Effects and the ends which they tend unto all the hints and motions of Gods spirit they still tend to make us better and to carry us nearer to himself one way or other they serve to promote Piety and Holiness in us and to better us especially and above all in our Inward man whereas those which are contrary and do serve to weaken Grace in us they have another spring for them Lastly In all these Cases the Spirit commonly brings his own Conviction and Evidence with him And as he says This is the way walk ye in it so he does likewise manifest that it is he that says it from whence the Soul of a Christian may be assured that he is not mistaken or deluded in it Look as those which had the Spirit of Prophesy they did by the same light know both the truth of the things themselves which they prophesied about as also that it was from God that message which they delivered even so is it with those also still which have any motions of the Spirit of God in them they do at one and the same time know both the things themselves which they are moved unto as also the Authour and Original of them But so much for that In these hints and suggestions of the Spirit this voice behinde us may be discovered by
us Now to shut up all with a word of use and Application and so to Conclude We have heard out of the words of the Text three things that there is such a Monotor as this is A word behind us the Effect and matter of the Admonition This is the way c. and the occasion of it When we turn to c. Now what remains to ourselves to be done by us upon these considerations two things especially This observation is to be improved by us two manner of ways First In a way of Thankfulness And Secondly In a way of Obedience In a way of Thankfulness First we are to bless God that he is pleased thus Graciously to provide for us not only to instruct us by his word and his voice sounding in out Ears in the ministerial Dispensations but also to admonish us by his Spirit and the Holy Ghost moving in our Hearts in our Christian Conversation This is a matter of great Thankfulness and Acknowledgment to us A faithful Monitor is a very great advantage it is so betwixt man and man betwixt one friend and another to have one to tell them when they do amiss and to reform them in it or to direct them where they are at a loss and to instruct them about it This is that which God Himself does for his people as we have heard all this while out of the Text which is matter and occasion of great thankfulness and acknowledgment to them which their hearts should be very much taken and affected with all It is a mercy and favour that God will afford these helps unto us Secondly We are to improve it by Obedience and closing with it seeing we have this word speaking to us let us not stop our Ears against it take heed of that do not neglect the whispers of the Spirit and of the word of God set home upon thy heart How many are there in the world which have such things as these are daily and continually sounding in their Ears in case of Omission and neglect of Duty This is the way walk ye in it These things they are to be done and perform'd by you it is not safe for you to let them alone Again in case of committing of Evil and wayes of Extravagancy this is out of the way do not walk in it ye are out of your place of your Calling of your Duty which is to be done by you Nay ye walk opposite and contrary to it How many are there in the World which in their lewd and ungodly Courses of Drunkeness Filthiness Uncleanness evil Company Consuming and such practises as these have many a sad check upon their Consciences restraining of them and a voice behind them pulling them back now let all these consider how far they hearken and give ear unto it It is a dangerous thing to stifle the motions of Gods spirit or to stop their Ear against the voice of his word No but there should be a present closeing and compliance with it As young Samuel when God call'd him speak Lord thy servant heareth so should we do in these cases we should receive and entertain his motions and turn those motions into purposes and those purposes into practises in our selves we should never suffer such good hints as these are to die in us Especially considering this for our Incouragement that as Gods motions follows his Instructions so his Assistance always follows his motions in the tenders of it Look as he never shewes us the way but he does also move us to walk in it that our practises may be answerable to our knowledg so likewise he never moves us to walk in any way which he shews us but he does likewise offer us at the same time some kind of help to walk in it Therefore now not to close with him is not onely to refuse his Counsell but likewise consequently to reject his Assistance more or less which he does exhibit to us whereby we offer a double injury to the Spirit of Grace And here further let us consider the danger and hazard of such a course as this is which is manifold and various First Gods future silence where he is not regarded he will speak no more especially having spoken to us very often for some time already past and let us think with our selves what it is to be deprived of such a Blessed motion as this is But Secondly That 's not all thare's a suffering of another voice to speak in us and if we look not to it to prevail upon us they that hearken not to the voice of God in them they are many times given up to Satan and their own Corruptions to work upon them to rule and bear sway in them This is plain by that of the Prophet David speaking in the Name of God concerning Israel My people would not hearken to my Counsell and Israel would have none of me so I gave them up to their own hearts lusts and they walked in their own Imaginations Prov. 1.30.31 SERMON XL. Esay 40.31 Butthey that wait upon the Lordsh all renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint As God is a God of strength so there is nothing wherein he does appear more to be so than in the Dispensations of Himself to his people to whom he does in part Communicate of that strength which is in himself for their greater Supportment and Incouragement in the worst Conditions that may happen unto them He delights to manifest his power in their weakness and to shew his strength in their Infirmity as he sometimes elsewhere expresses it As he himself faints not neither is weary so he gives power to them that are faint and to them that have no might he increases strength as it is in 28. and 29. verses of this Chapter Yet still he does it so as may be with the greatest furtherance and advantage to themselves As it was in the Miracle of Canaan The wine which Christ produced it was the best wine of all and better then all other before it so is it indeed in every thing else which God does and amongst the rest in this particular the strength which he does vouchsafe to his Servants It is better and surer and firmer then any other strength besides That strength which comes from God directly and in the way of the new Covenant in Christ it is far surpassing and transcendant to any Natural or Corporal strength whatsoever which is that which the Holy Ghost does here signifie and Illustrate by an Elegant opposition in this Scripture which I have now read unto you Even the Youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall those which have either the advantage of Age or Exercise or Bodily temper and Constitution But they that waite upon thee c. IN the whole Verse before us we have two General Parts considerable First A Proposition
that which is implied I will speak Secondly as a matter of necessity in that which is exprest I cannot hold my peace First to speak of the former to wit the parts affected both simply propounded as also doubled and repeated My bowels my heart These though if we take them corporally and according to a Bodily Dissection or Anatomy of them they are parts distinct yet here in this Spiritual notion and consideration of them they are one and the same and do signifie no more than the Soul and inward man yet as working likewise upon the body and outward Thus have some of the antient Expositors and Interpreters of Scripture understood iâ as Gregory Nyssen upon that place of the Canticles Cant. 5.4 My bowels were moved in me he has this Gloss upon it ' H ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The belly or bowels here meant is the Intellectual and Discursive Faculty of the Soul So in like manner Gregory Nazianzen in his 17 Oration speaking of this place of the Prophet ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã meaning by his bowels his mind .. And St. Ambrose to the like purpose De Spirituali non corporeo ventre dixit propheta The Prophet did not speak of a corporal but of a spiritual belly This spiritual belly it is the Mind and Soul of Man There are three special Reasons among others which may be given by us for this expression of the Mind and Soul by the Belly or Bowels First The secrecy of it as that which is most inward and retired ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as he before Greg. Naz. The Mind and Soul it is hidden and invisible as the belly and bowels within the body Thus Prov. 20.27 The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the belly So Psal 103.1 Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy name Within me i. e. in my bowels in viscerebus as some translate it And more expresly Psal â1 6 Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom The bowels do well express the Soul in regard of their secresie That 's the first Secondly Because the Mind it does receive and digest the Thoughts as the Belly does the Meats Mens coquit curas ut venter aescas Greg. past 3. part admonit l. 3. The mind it does digest and boil out cares as the stomach does the food which is put into it and those Notions which at the first are but raw yet through meditation and often turning of them in the mind they come to be concocted Thirdly The Mind it is the Mother of Thoughts it is the fruitful Belly which doth send forth so many conceptions as the proper fruit and issue of it Vt proles in utero concepitur sic cogitatio in mente generatur says the same Author Greg. Mor. l. 12. c. 27. As the Child is conceived in the Womb so is the Thought generated in the Mind Thus in regard of this threefold Analogy and Correspondency is the Mind exprest by the Bowels or Belly so that My bowels my bowels and My heart my heart that is as much as My Soul my Soul my Spirit and my inward man There are two words here in the Text put together for the greater emphasis Bowels and Heart both the one as the explication of the other My Bowels my Heart that is My Bowel which is my Heart and indeed there is so great a nearness and affinity of these two to one another as that they are frequently put the one for the other and signifie the one by the other Thus Psal 22.14 My heart is like wax it is melted in the midst of my bowels not as if his Heart were in his Belly but in regard of the vicinity of these parts the one to the other it is thus exprest And because of this coincidency sometimes the Bowels is put for the Heart sometimes the Heart is put for the Bowels The Bowels for the Heart Jer. 31.33 I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts In their inward parts that is in their Bowels but the meaning of it is in their Hearts as the latter word explains it to us Again the the Heart is also put for the Bowels as in Jer. 48.36 compared with Isa 16.11 In Jer. 48.36 we find it thus My heart shall sound for Moab like pipes In Isa 16.11 we find it thus My bowels shall sound like an Harp for Moab and mine inward parts for Kir-hajesh There mine heart here my bowels and inward parts From both together we are to understand in one word the affections which while they are described by the Bowels it does shew 1. The retiredness of them they were such as every one did not see within the walls of the Heart Kiroth libbi as it is exprest in the Text. 2. The fixedness of them deeply rooted as low as the Bowels 3. The truth and sincerity of them without hypocrisie or dissimulation c. The second Particular in the first General is the grief of these parts both in the kinds of it My heart is pain'd and in the effect of it My heart makes a noise within me From both together we may observe thus much what work and disturbance passions and affections make in the Soul if they be not the better restrain'd they put all out of order and frame and cause great commotions of spirit in those persons which are exercised with them Indeed this of the Prophet it was not an inordinate but a regular stirring in him both because as we shall hear afterwards it was upon a just occasion as likewise that he was carried by the Spirit of God in it But yet we may occasionally from it take notice also of the tumults which do arise in the Soul from the distemper and miscarriage it self And so I say thus much How that Passion it puts all out of frame it puts the Soul out of joynt and takes off the wheels of it it is the ground of very great trouble and anguish and disquiet unto it this it is in all the kinds and specifications of it whether anger or sorrow or fear or what ever it is The excess of it is very outrageous and and such as there is no abiding or enduring of it not onely in others but in men themselves If we look into Scripture we shall find what work it has there made even in the best men in the world for example The Prophet David do but see it in him Psal 31.9 Mine eye is consumed with grief yea my soul and my belly Psal 32.3 My moisture is turned into the drought of summer Psal 38.3 No soundness in my flesh c. This extravagancy of affection it is not onely an affliction to the spirit but has also an influence upon the outward man Now there is very good use which we may make of this observation that we
may not think it needless or superfluous First We may see here how God need not go far for the punishment of wicked men for he can do it from within themselves out of their own heart and belly and bowels when he pleases they carry the matter of their judgment about them and in their own breasts that so they may so much the more tremble and stand in awe of him and take heed of provoking him Who would not fear this great God and beware of doing any thing which might offend him who is able to do thus with them who can send the plague into their bowels not onely in a bodily sense as it has been of late here in this Land and City but in a spiritual which is far worse who can punish a man with his own affections and with the very thoughts which do arise and proceed out of his own mind though there were nothing else besides Secondly We see here also what good cause we have to order and regulate our affections and to keep them within their proper bounds to take heed of Extravagancy and Extremity in any particular forasmuch as we know not what at last it may come to we know not where we shall stop and stay if we look not to our selves nor what inconveniences may follow upon it Passionate and violent persons they are the greatest enemies and adversaries to themselves if they rightly consider it neither do they need any others to torment than their own bowels Therefore let us here watch over our selves and desire of God himself to watch over us and to take care of us to quiet and pacifie and compose us and keep us in frame that so we may have a perpetual Sabbath and tranquillity in our spirits and have nothing at all exceedingly to disquiet us or put us out of that temper in which we should be So much also of the second Particular which is the grief of these parts thus affected both in the kinds and effects of it The third is the Passage or Vent I cannot hold my peace Passion where ever it is it will make way and force it self forth and so it did here in the Prophet Jeremy in speech and outward expression he spake and he could do no otherwise he was not able to be silent in the condition in which he now was This was true of him according to a double explication either first of all of the speech of discovery I cannot hold my peace that is I cannot chuse but publish it Or else secondly of the speech of lamentation I cannot hold my peace that is I cannot chuse but bemoan it and bewail it and make complaint of it Each of these is in it First the speech of descovery I cannot hold my peace that is I cannot chuse but I must publish it and declare it and signifie it abroad I find these workings in my own spirit and I cannot but I must acquaint you with them I must reveal them and make them known unto you And thus the Prophet Jeremy speaks as a Minister of the Lord and as one that was intrusted with Gods people committed unto him Those which are the Servants of God in the Ministery they find sometimes a necessity in themselves for the discovery of their own thoughts to their people and that now and then even almost whether they will or no this we find once to have been the case of this very Prophet here now before us in another place he had in a manner resolv'd in himself that he would trouble himself no more with them that he would keep his own thoughts to himself in his own mind and breast Well but see what came on 't Jer. 20.8 9. Because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me and a derision daily Then I said I will not make mention of him nor speak any more in his name But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones I was weary with forbearing and I could not stay Thus it proves likewise to be the case of many other of Gods Servants besides they are necessitated in this particular and that upon sundry considerations First from the strength of that conviction and the evidence of the things themselves to their minds whereof they are to speak Thus it was with Peter and the rest of the Apostles Acts 4.20 when the Priests and Elders there forbad them to preach any more in the name of Christ they made this return unto them We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard that is we have such manifest convictions of them and such impressions upon our spirits to declare them as that we cannot refrain and hold our peace we should herein be injurious to our selves if we should offer to do it And so Elihu in Job there is such an expression as this is from him Job 32.7 8. I said Days should speak and the multitude of years should teach wisdom But there is a spirit in man and and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding And again more fully in vers 17 c. of the same chapter I said I will answer also my part I will shew mine opinion I am full of matter the spirit within me constraineth me Behold my belly is as wine which hath no vent it is ready to burst like new bottles I will speak that I may be refreshed c. Secondly as they are necessitated to speak sometimes from the strength of their Conviction so moreover from the strength of their Affection their love constrains them hereunto and in particular their love to the people whom they speak unto that so they may not hide or conceal from them what is fitting to be made known unto them Thus St. Paul professes of himself to the Church of Ephesus that he had kept back nothing from them which was profitable to them but he had shewed it and taught it them And again that he had not shunn'd to declare unto them the whole counsel of God And speaking elsewhere to the Corinthians he tells them that there was a necessity upon him and wo unto him if he preached not the Gospel So Ezekiel God told him that he should speak and be no more dumb and that he had made him a sign unto the people so that his weeping and mourning it should be as it were a fore-runner of theirs c. 24. Where we have also a third account of it and that is the consideration of their Calling and the Office which they sustain they are Watchmen and Shepherds and Guides as ye heard in the morning and so not onely to give warnings of sin but likewise of judgment and not onely of spiritual danger but corporal and they should betray not only the souls but the lives also of the people of God if they should be silent and dumb in this respect Thus we see now how upon all these considerations there 's this necessity which we now speak
and so here again Jeremy had his Trumpet which was extrordinarily sounded in his ear as a forerunner of Judgment But secondly which I rather incline to in an extraordinary application to his mind and understanding God did now by the Spirit of Prophesie which this holy man was endued withall assure him of some grievous War which was now towards his People which he was as verily perswaded of as if he had heard the very sound of the Trumpet and alarm of War it self This was Gods manner of dealing with the Prophets he did thus communicate and dispenfe himself to them so as to acquaint them aforehad with the things which he would bring to pass in the world of any special importance as Amos 3.7 Surely the Lord will do nothing but he reveals his secrets to his servants the Prophets that is nothing which is of any great concernment as to the state and condition of his People nothing of that but he will acquaint his Prophets with it And so much of the first particular in this second General the Report it self the sound of the Trumpet the Alarm The second is the conveyance of it to the Prophet and that is by his Soul Thou hast heard O my Soul How is his Soul said to have heard it As we may conceive it briefly thus according to these explications First Originally as in forming the Organs of the body When the Ear hears it is the Soul hears as conveying its faculty by that particular part and member ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it is the mind sees and the mind hears and all things else without that are blind and deaf it was the saying of Epicharmus So then if as I hinted before we shall suppose Jeremy to have heard some sound of a Trumpet in the air and to have discern'd it by his bodily ear yet his Soul might be said to hear as having the faculty of that sense in it whose outward organ or instrument is the body and outward man Secondly The Soul immediately as being that which had particular communion with God in these impartments This was the singular priviledge of the Prophets to partake of these immediate and extraordinary communications of God to them which we in these days have now no warrant to expect for our selves Indeed God does oftentimes very graciously reveal himself to his Servants in a way of spiritual communion with them wherein he does likewise give them very strange hints oftentimes of his Providential Dispensations but these Prophetical inspirations were more peculiar both to those times and persons and so not to be expected now Thirdly The Soul Emphatically That 's spoken indeed which is spoken to the Soul and that is heard indeed which is heard with the Soul Thus was it here in the Text thus did God speak and Jeremy hear it 's well when these two go together both in speaker and hearer In these it did two things 1. God's Excellency 2. Man's Duty First I say here 's God's Excellency he speaks to this as for us which are Ministers we can go no further than the ear it is God that must speak to the heart that must work upon the mind that must perswade the Soul and when he pleases so to do he does it effectually Secondly Here 's Man's Duty in Jeremy's practise My soul hath heard that it should be with us we should hear with all our Souls when we come to such Dispensations as these are which we are now about how is that namely attentively cheerfully intelligently obedientially and so as to practise what we hear And so we have also the second Particular which is the Conveyance of all this to the Propher The third and last is the Improvement the use which the Prophet Jeremy makes of this report heard by him that is signified in the word Because which we must look upon as knitting both parts of the Text together and so carrying as it were back again to the former There is somewhat which we may observe in general and somewhat more immediately and in particular from the words themselves First observe in general thus much That then it is with us as it should be when our meditations have an influence upon our affections when what we hear with our ear or think upon in our minds it sinks down into our bowels and hearts when we are inwardly wrought upon by the good instructions which are administred to us Thus it was here with the Prophet Jeremy in this Text his soul Beard the sound of the Trumpet and his bowels were stirred and moved in him he had special revelations and he had hereupon answerable affections This was the property and disposition of a well-temper'd Soul indeed The Reason of it is this Because this is the end and aim which it tends unto every Divine Truth in the Understanding it is ordained for some betterment of the Will and Affections which are to be wrought upon by it We do not therefore reach the scope of it till we find it to have this effect upon us From hence then we should take account of our selves and see how it is with us VVe should not at any time satisfie our selves in any measure of Divine Illumination without some answerable and proportionable affection VVhen we have heard observe how we rellish And when our Judgments are inlightened consider how our bowels are moved and stirred and wrought upon in us And so in Fasting afflict our souls Again further Here 's also by the way an Item for Teachers to endeavour to work their Doctrines upon their hearts and those discoveries which God makes to them in reference to the instruction of the people to bring them down to their own spiritual improvement and advancement in the work of grace As we have here greater Revelation so from it we should have better Affection But Secondly To come more close to the particular Jeremy cries out of his bowels here he had heard the sound of the Trumpet c. These bowels I told you before were in general his Affections but I did not tell you which they were VVe may take them in these specifications First Anger Jeremy he was moved with this he was displeased when he considered the refractoriness and obstinacy of this people whom he spoke to that nothing would serve their turn but utter destruction that they should so cast away themselves as they did by their wilful provocations of God's Majesty to bring such sweeping Judgments upon them as this was There is nothing which is more apt to stir the zealand impatience of Teachers than when they see that all their Teaching and Admonishing comes to no good that people will still be that which they will be even to the utter undoing of themselves both bodies and souls Secondly Fear That was another part of these bowel The good Prohet had very strong apprehensions of this Judgment which was threatned and he was much troubled in himself as not knowing the full extent
in its severity and unsupportableness IN the Text it self there are three general Parts considerable First an awakening Commination Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord. Secondly a convincing Expostulation To what end is it for you Thirdly an express Conclusion or Determination The day of the Lord is darkness and not light We begin with the first of these Parts viz. The Commination in these words Woe unto you c. In which passage there are two terms to be explain'd by us First what is here meant by the day of the Lord. Secondly what is here meant by the desiring of this day of the Lord which is here censured and threaten'd in this people For the former the day of the Lord Jom Jehovah it may be here reduced to a threefold explication First to the day of death or personal dissolution Secondly to the day of captivity or National dissolution Thirdly to the day of Judgment or general Account Each of these are the day of the Lord and may promiscuously one with the other be understood of us here in this Scripture Now Secondly for the other term which is the desiring of this day and as it is here censured and threaten'd in this people this it may be taken three manner of ways First for their desiring of it rashly because they did not consider it Secondly for their desiring it scoffingly because they did not believe it Thirdly for their desiring it desperately because they did not fear it All these kinds of desire in reference to this day of the Lord in either of the fore-mentioned considerations are here condemned in them First Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord that is that desire it rashly and foolishly because ye do not consider it Such desires as these of this day there are sometimes to be found in the world whether in reference to death and judgment or in reference to common and publick calamity First take it in reference to death and judgment There are divers persons sometimes which we meet withal who do seem very much to desire the day of the Lord in this sense though in the mean time if they duly consider it they have little cause or ground to do so Such as Job sometimes speaks of that long for death whiles it cometh not and dig for as more than for hid treasures which rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave Job 3.21 22. Indeed there is a desire of such a day as this which in the right constitution of it is very noble and commendable and is sometimes made the character of the true servants of God to breathe after death and departure out of the world and to wait and long for the coming of Christ to Judgment Thus old Simeon when he had seen Christ come in the flesh and now had him in his arms he sings his nunc dimittas Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation Luke 2.29 30. And St. Paul he desired to depart and to be with Christ as in it self much better than to abide here in the flesh Phil. 1.23 And the Prophet Elijah as some interpret it out of an holy zeal he cryes out It is enough now Lord take away my life first for I am not better than my Fathers 1 King 19.4 Thus have the servants of God sometimes desired the day of the Lord as it concerned their own death and dissolution And this desire of theirs has been looked upon as very warrantable and commendable in them So likewise as it has concerned the last and general day of account they have desired this day of the Lord also And it hath been remarkable in them so to do Look as it was the character of the Servants of God in the days before Christ to desire and wait for his first coming his coming in the flesh Therefore Abraham is said to have seen his day and to have rejoyced and Simeon before-mentioned to have waited for the consolation of Israel So it is also now the character of God's servants in these days since Christ to desire and wait for his second coming his coming to Judgment These are compared to faithful Servants that wait for the coming of their Master and that with desire Thus Rev. 22.17 The Spirit and the Bride say come come Lord Jesus come quickly And the souls under the Altar they hasten his coming also Rev. 6.10 How long O Lord holy and true dost thou not judg and avenge our blood on them that dwell upon the earth Rev. 6.10 So St. Paul tells us that Christ will give a Crown of righteousness to him and not unto him only but also to all them that love and desire his appearing 2 Tim. 4.8 So that it seems such persons as these are there have sometimes been and are still in the world which do desire this day of the Lord and that as having no woe belonging to them neither for so doing but rather the contrary which have not been threaten'd but rather encouraged for such desires as have been in them to this purpose But yet these here in the Text they have a woe denoune'd against them for their desire of the day of the Lord and so have many others besides as those who desire it rashly and foolishly as not considering for what end they do so We may reduce it for methods sake to three Heads First from discontentedness in their own condition Secondly from presumption of their own innocency Thirdly from ignorance or misapprehension of the nature of the thing it self These people here in the Text they seemed to desire the day of the Lord thus and so are condemn'd and declared against for their desiring of it as that which is unwarrantable and unjustifiable for any to do so First They desired the day of the Lord that is the day either of death or judgment and in particular of their own personal and present departure out of a principle of discontentedness in their own conditions Because they had not all things to their mind and just as they would have therefore forsooth they would presently be gone and leave the world they wish for death and departure hence out of a spirit of impatience Thus it hath been sometimes even with some of God's Servants themselves when he has left them to themselves such fits of distemper as these have now and then discovered themselves in them Thus some have suspected it of Elijah in the place before alledged when he prayed to God to take him out of this present life it was out of the rediousness which he did conceive from Ahab and Jezebel's persecutions So Job though at other times noted for his admirable patience yet for the time he was surprized with this distemper Chap. 6.8 9. Oh that I might have my request and that God would grant me the thing that I long for even that it would please God to destroy me that he would let
for heavenly discourse He that exercises communion with God shall be better able to exercise and maintain communion with men And he that converses with his own heart shall be the better able to deal with others because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks as our Saviour tells us He that will lay out must lay up and he that will ever be profitable to others he must have a treasury and store-house within himself None can give but he that has And this is one rule to be observed by us as tending to this duty Secondly We must also have respect to the company we converse withal There 's a casting of Pearls before Swine which our Saviour has given us warning of Thirdly To time and season Every thing is beautiful in its season and a word spoken then is like apples of Gold in pictures of silver The use which we are to make of this Point is in our places to conform to this example and to study all opportunities of doing good that possibly we can Thus much for that which is here implied Christ's instruction and improving of himself whiles he was here present with them The Second is that which is exprest The different entertainment of him by these two Sisters Mary she sate at his feet and heard his word but Martha she was cumbred about much serving We 'll speak to the carriage of them both c. First Of the carriage of Mary She sate at his feet and heard his word Wherein we have divers things observable of us First here was her wise improvement of the opportunity for the good of her soul She was not sure to have Christ always therefore she would make use of him whiles she had him From whence we learn the same wisdom for our own particulars we should get as much good as we can from Ministers and other Christians whiles they abide and continue with us And we should also draw them forth and improve them Thus in all probability Mary did here Christ did not only speak to her of his own accord but she ask'd him and question'd with him Thus the Queen of Sheba did with Solomon she pursued him with hard questions 1 Kings 10.1 c. She tried him and put him to it So the Disciples to Christ upon his Ascension c. This is requisite to be done First From the proportion of gifts which God does variously distribute to his servants There are some which have knowledg in them but such as does not run out of it self till it be pumpt and drawn forth yea oftentimes the greatest abilities this way the deepest as Pearls which must be digg'd for ere they be had Prov. 20.5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep waters but a man of understanding will draw it out Secondly There is also sometimes an indisposition and retiredness in many persons which must accordingly be quickned and removed Thirdly There are particular cases wherein such and such particular persons do need advice and instruction which are best known to themselves And therefore they must be active in the expressing of them How shall a Physitian be able to apply himself to such and such Patients except themselves shew their disease This condemns the contrary course of many people Many of excellent abilities which are as good as lost for want of this That 's one thing here observable in Mary she improves the opportunity of Christ's presence to draw forth knowledg and instruction from him whiles he was with her Secondly She sate at his feet Here 's another expression of her carriage which has also its several intimations contain'd in it as especially these two First Her reverence and composedness of carriage and quietness of mind Martha she ran up and down the house as one which was distracted with business but Mary sate still at Christ's feet A composed gesture is a good argument of a composed spirit Those which cannot sit still in a place but run up and down from one to another as many do sometimes in our Assemblies they shew but little reverence and regard to the business in hand This holy woman she sate still as a note both of her inward reverence and quietness of mind free from worldly cares and distractions This is one qualification required of worthy hearers they must come as near as they can with free minds A roving and unsetled hearer can never be a good hearer Be still and know that I am Col Psal 46.10 For this purpose we should come with preparation and premeditation afore-hand labouring to disburthen our minds of those cumbrances which are apt to molest us otherwise the world will be ready to be choaked in us and become unfruitful to us And that we may the better do this disuse our selves from our worldly employment Thus when the Sabbath's approaching we should lay aside our trade betimes And on other days when we go to hearing the word we should not go immediately out of our shops but fitting our selves to it by prayer c. And that 's the first thing here observable in Mary to wit her reverence and composedness of spirit Secondly Here was her humility She sate at his feet This expression is taken from the custom of ancient times which is still continued to this present day That the Teachers were plac'd in some higher and more eminent part not only for the opportunity of speaking that so they might be the better heard but also as a Symbol of authority and eminency in regard of their Doctrine In which regard their Scholars and Disciples were said also to sit at their feet Thus Paul Act. 22.3 He is said to be brought up at the feet of Gamaliel Here in Mary it does denote that subjection and tractableness and pliableness of spirit which every hearer ought to bring with him to the word of God We are to come with meek and humble and double affections hereunto Jam. 1.21 Laying aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness receive with meekness the ingrafted word which is able to save your souls This was the commendation of Cornelius and his company Acts 10.33 Now therefore we are all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God They came with an humble and teachable spirit to the word of God as ready to yield obedience to every thing which should be made known unto them So the Thessalonians 1 Thes 2.13 c. We have many hearers sometimes which do not sit at the feet but rather at the head of their Teachers which will be teaching those which should teach them intruding into those things which they do not know vainly pust up by a fleshly mind as the Apostle's phrase is Col. 2.18 We have many captious and frivolous hearers which nothing will please or satisfy them but such as suits with their own lusts having itching ears This godly woman in the Text was otherwise disposed She sate at Christ's feet a note of
world that I should bear witness to the truth Joh. 18.37 Even so may every one say besides For this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should live according to the truth The consideration of this Point may be thus far useful to us First to teach us where especially to spend our chiefest thoughts and endeavours And that is upon this one thing which is so needful and necessary for us as we have heard it is We see here where to begin and fasten our studies First to take care of necessaries before we take care of superfluities It 's mens practice in other matters and it should be more especially so here in this We count him to be a mad-man in reference to the world who looks after flowers and pictures and musick and such things as these and in the mean time suffers himself to starve and want bread Even such a kind of mad-man is he who spends all his thoughts and time upon these outward things here below and in the mean time neglects Heaven and the salvation of his own soul Such a mad-man was he in the Gospel Luke 12.20 who laid up much goods for many years but never thought what would become of this and therefore God calls him fool for it as he very well might and tells him his following doom Thou fool this night thy soul shall be taken away from thee and then whose shall these things be which thou hast provided Certainly if there be but one thing necessary it is the greatest folly and madness that can be to neglect that of all other and such as we should especially take heed that we be not guilty of it And yet if we look abroad into the world how many shall we find to be guilty in this particular and how few careful of the contrary It is a sad and woful thing to consider what a general Atheism abounds almost in every place men live as if they had no souls to save or as if there were no such thing as salvation belonging unto them Religion is the least of their care or those things which may any way tend to the promoting of it Instead of being the one thing necessary it is with them the one thing superfluous and they think there 's the least need of it of any thing else in the World therefore it is that they so much slight it and contemn it and scoff at it and at those which do any thing mind it or regard it and look after it which themselves neglect to do That time which men should spend upon their souls they spend upon their lusts and upon their vanities and such things as tend to their utter ruine and eternal destruction So far are they from minding those things which are of better and higher concernment Well There 's a time a coming when things will appear in another kind of view than now they do when this one thing needful will appear to be needful indeed And our Saviour will justify and make good this his sentence and declaration about it when Grace shall be esteemed above all the world besides and those accounted the wisest persons who have got the greatest stock of it aforehand and have treasured it up unto themselves and therefore we should accordingly be perswaded to think and judg of it As there 's a truth in the Doctrine it self that this one thing is needful so we should for our part be convinced of the necessity of it in our own minds that from thence we may be drawn to pursue it and follow after it The reason why most men do no more regard these things than indeed they do is because they do not think them to be so needful as indeed they are They think there 's no such great matter in them as Ministers and Preachers would perswade Who hath believed our report Now therefore this is that which in the first place we should work our selves unto an apprehension of the necessity of Religion The way hereunto is first of all to get a spiritual savour and relish and appetite in us what makes men to think meat to be needful but because their stomachs call for it from them and their mouths crave it at their hands as Solomon speaks And so what is that which makes men to think Grace to be necessary It is because they have gracious dispositions in them which accordingly we must labour for This will make us with the Prophet David to think the word of God to be to us as our necessary and appointed food He that has a principle of spiritual life in him he can no more be without the Ordinances and means of spiritual nourishment than he that has natural life in him can be without bread and natural food The one will be as needful as the other with such persons as are proportionably affected and disposed unto them there being the same ground and reason for either and so likewise which is pertinent hereunto look upon things in their order and connexion and subordination and in reference to their particular ends See how Grace and Glory are linked and tied together and subordinate and subservient to each other how a man must have another kind of life when this life is gone and so we shall see how this one thing is needful and shall be perswaded the more to seek after it Secondly Labour to be convinced of the vanity and insufficiency of the creature This will make us to think one thing necessary that is Religion and nothing else For it may be we think it necessary but other things as necessary as that and this divides our cares about it Nay but nothing to speak of is needful and necessary but this as will appear from the vanity of the creature All these things here below they perish in their using The world passeth away and both the lust and the fashions of it as we have it from the testimony of two Apostles together in Scripture The creature in some conditions especially can do us no good at all at least which is able to satisfy us and give us content It cannot pacify a disquiet conscience it cannot heal a broken heart or a wounded spirit it cannot settle a mind troubled and perplext with the sight of sin This nothing can do but the Blood of Christ sprinkled upon the conscience and the testimony of God's love in them applyed by his Spirit which in part makes up this one thing here in the Text. Thirdly Get our hearts freed from those lusts and corruptions which are in them and are apt to prevail over them that 's another way to make us to mind this one thing necessary What was that which made Martha here in this Scripture to neglect the word of Christ why it was because she was a little too much addicted to the world and her secular affairs And so what was that which made the young rich man in the Gospel to despise
upon the point even eternal life it self It was because he had great possessions or rather because he had an heart too greatly set upon them and too deeply affected with them And therefore our Saviour accordingly makes that improvement of it How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God It is easier for a Camel to go thorough the eye of a needle c. Luke 18.24 25. A covetous heart will never prize this one thing nor care for attaining unto it And so for any other lust besides where it is in the tyranny and prevalency of it it scorns happiness and salvation it self Therefore I say take heed of lusts and remember to look at the main chance We should let no day pass over our heads wherein we do not do somewhat to bring us nearer to Heaven and tending to our eternal welfare We have many shifts and pretences sometimes to excuse our selves and now and then are ready to plead a necessity for it to keep us from the Word and the Ordinances and such means as these are and Satan joyning with our deceitful hearts does many times cozen and delude us But we should consider if there be any necessity like to this which we have here before us of the saving of our souls And that 's the first Vse of this Point seeing one thing is needful Therefore we see here where to place and spend our chiefest thoughts and endeavours Secondly Seeing one thing is needful we should therefore not only mind this one thing it self but also mind every thing else in reference to that one We should make all our projects and actions and undertakings subordinate and subservient hereunto what-ever we do we should examine what connexion it hath with this how it furthers our Salvation how it advances the Glory of God how it promotes our spiritual welfare We may reduce it and apply it to divers and sundry particulars wherein we may make use of this rule First In matter of Doctrine and Opinion look at the one thing needful here There are many frivolous and unnecessary disputes which the World sometimes is troubled withal which take up mens heads and minds and divert them from better things Now here this counsel and advertisement is very seasonable to remember the one thing necessary We must here distinguish betwixt Wit and Grace betwixt Fancy and Faith betwixt empty Notions and Speculations and solid and substantial Truths These Doctrines are worth the studying and striving and contending for which will make a man wise to Savlation and build one up in the fear of God which will better us in our inward man and which tends to the leading of a godly and an holy life and according hereunto are we to make proof and trial of them We may know whether they be from God or no by this discovery Whatsoever comes from him it carries to him Those opinions which are good for nothing but only to shew the wit and parts of those that vent them to set Christians at difference and variance one with another or at the best to fill their heads with fancies and subtilties and conceits Those opinions which are compliances with the principles of a carnal heart which set up Reason in the room of Faith and Nature in the room of Grace and Works in the room of Christ such as these they may be very well suspected and so consequently are to be rejected by us But those are the prime Points indeed which have a contrary efficacy with them to the changing of the soul to the discovery of a man's corrupt nature to the drawing of a man home to Christ and so thereby to bring him to Heaven And such as these should be chiefly studied and pursued by us and so the Scripture it self to this purpose gives us direction Thus 2 Tim. 2.14 16. Charge them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit but to the subverting of the hearers And again Shun profane and vain bablings for they will increase unto more ungodliness Tit. 3.9 Avoid foolish questions and genealogies c. for they are unprofitable and vain This is that which many people in the World are often times failing in as not walking by this rule here before us in this particular They never consider the influence or extent of those things which they hold as to the making of a man better or worse but indifferently rush upon them without any heed or regard at all Nay there are many which make choice of such Points as may most feed corruption in them as they do sometimes also of other occasions There are many that bring their opinions to their lusts and make their judgments to be subservient to their affections Those Points which will best consist with the following of such and such courses those are the Points which are most embraced and admired by them Those that are for loose lives they are commonly for loose opinions which may nourish and cherish and maintain those lives in them they begin not first of all in the head but rather in the heart as a faulty and corrupt stomach sends up noysome vapours into the brain For which reason heresies are by the Apostle called works of the flesh because the flesh and corrupt affections has a great stroke and predominancy in them for the managing of them Now by a regard to this one thing necessary there will be a shunning and avoiding of these things Secondly In the duties and exercises of Religion look still at the one thing which is needful and that according to the particular nature and quality of them There are many religious performances which have that which is meerly accessory to them And we are to separate and distinguish the circumstances from that which is substantial and to have our eyes chiefly to the latter as that which is most necessary not to rest our selves in the shell of duty but to look after the pith and kernel nor to perform it plausibly so much as to perform it profitably and to enjoy communion with God himself by his Spirit in the performance of it In Prayer to pray in the Holy Ghost In Hearing to receive the word with meekness In Fasting to afflict the soul In Communicating to feed upon Christ and so of the rest Still in every exercise of Religion and Christian performance not to have only the form of Godliness but to look after the power as that wherein the Kingdom of God does especially consist Thirdly In our Employments and the works of our ordinary Callings let us have an eye also still to this Consider what that is which is principally required of us There 's a double end and use of these things the one is as they are means of supportment and outward subsistence in the world and so serve to make up a livelihood And the other is as in the exercise of them men become profitable to the publick good whether in Church or
the name for good understandings now we see here how they may do so and indeed attain hereunto which is by walking in such ways as are good and which tend to everlasting life and salvation This is the great wisdom of all and most to be looked after Who is wise and he shall understand these things Prudent and he shall know them Hos 14.9 Men commonly think it a part of wisdom in them to choose such ways as are best for the world but that 's wisdom in good earnest to choose such ways as are best for Heaven and as may serve to bring a man thither Secondly It is an argument also of a gracious and savoury spirit Men choose commonly according to their affections and there 's much of their spirit in those things which they fasten upon we may see what 's within them and what principles they are acted by according to that which they make choice of A spiritual heart is most affected with spiritual objects and places its greatest delight and contentment in such things as these Thirdly It is an argument of some courage and self-denial and resolution of mind For the better part it is not commonly without opposition and resistance in the world there will still be some or other that will malign it and set themselves against it There 's hardly any man that can make choice of goodness but he shall be sure to have enemies enough for it They that hate me says David are many in number because I do the thing that good is Psal 38.20 Now therefore to make choice of it in such circumstances it argues some kind of boldness and spirit and courageousness in it Lastly It is also an argument of an elect and chosen Vessel It is a sign that God has chosen us when we choose him and such ways as these which are good and pleasing to him For there where God elects he qualifies where he makes choice of any person he does withal confer a disposition suitable and agreeable to such a choice This is that therefore which we should labour and endeavour after and be still careful of to put it in practice In every thing whereunto we apply our selves still to choose that which is best to close with the best persons to cleave to the best causes to take up the best opinions to take the best courses and ways that possibly we can that by so doing we may approve our selves the better to Christ It is the disposition of many people in the world that if there be any way worse than other they 'l be sure to make choice of that and to make it their own Now what a fondness and madness is this we see in other matters for the world how careful men are what they are able to make the best choice that may be and there 's nothing good enough for them so exact and curious are they And how much rather should they then choose the best in spiritual matters The way hereunto is first of all To beg direction of God himself for the guiding of us Alas we are but fools of our selves without his Spirit to teach us and therefore we must have recourse to him Thus the Prophet David for himself Psal 143.8 9. Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning for in thee do I trust Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk for I lift up my soul unto thee And again Teach me to do thy will for thou art my God Thy Spirit is good lead me into the land of uprightness Thus the Apostle Paul prays for the Ephesians that God would give them the spirit of revelation cap. 1. ver 17. And for the Philippians That they might abound in all judgment cap. 1. ver 9. And for the Colossians That they might be fill'd with the knowledg of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding Secondly We must also seriously weigh and compare one thing with another Good election it proceeds from good deliberation Eccles 7.27 Behold this have I found saith the Preacher counting one by one to find out the account or as some expound and read the words weighing one thing after another to find out the reason If we would choose those things that are best we must not take them in their simple proposition or have a slight and superficial view of them but examine them and dive into them and consider them in all their circumstances Thirdly Take in the advice and experience of well-grounded and experienced Christians to help us We see how men do in other matters where they have no skill or very little in such and such Commodities themselves they will take with them those that have to choose for them and so should they learn to do here It is a good rule in doubtful matters to advise with the generation of God's children which in all likelihood should know what is best and be able best to guess at it Quilibet in Arte sua credendus est Lastly To labour to be acquainted with the power of Religion our selves Those things men best choose which they are best verst in A Trades man in his own Commodities and Mysteries and so likewise a Christian And this is the first observation That it is the commendation of a Christian to make choice of such ways as are best and most approvable to Christ as Mary here did The Second is this That we are then good to purpose when we are good upon right Principles namely of judgment and consideration in us when it may be said of us as it was here said of Mary that we have chosen the better part Religion it is a matter of election it is not a business of chance but a business of choice There are many persons sometimes in the world who do not so much choose Religion as rather Religion chooses them and they stumble upon it before they are aware But this should not be sufficient for us neither should we content our selves with it but labour rather to set our selves to it upon due grounds and motives upon us Thus David concerning himself Psal 119.30 I have chosen the way of truth thy Judgments have I laid before me I have stuck unto thy Testimonies c. Beloved It is true indeed it is a great advantage to have gracious opportunities of goodness afforded unto us and we are to acknowledg God's Providence in them and to bless him for them good counsel good example good education good company and the like But yet we are not to rest our selves in these but to have somewhat further to act us We are not to be carried only by others principles but by principles of our own not only to take the better part but to choose the better part that is to take it out of a liking of it and out of an affection to it at least to do so at last and before we have done Indeed I do not deny but those helps which I mention'd before may
it and till then I shall be unable to do it There 's no teaching or converting of others till we are first wrought upon and converted our selves He that is otherwise he cannot do it Cannot do it in regard of Performance That 's the first Secondly Cannot do it in regard of Acceptance God will not take it so well from him in his mking and pretending to do it neither is it altogether so satisfactory to men To hear a man speaking against such and such corruptions in others which he does indulge in himself it has not that comeliness in it neither does God himself so approve it in him What hast thou to do to take my words into thy mouth c. Psal 50.16 when thou hatest to be reform'd Isaiah durst not go on God's message whiles he was a man of unclean lips And Paul was a chosen Vessel to God before a Vessel to bear his name before the Gentiles A Vessel of Election before a Vessel of Honour and fit for the Master's use and prepared unto every good work And so are all others else to be according to that of the Apostle 2 Tim. 2.21 Thirdly Cannot in regard of Success He that 's himself unconverted and unexperienced in his own heart he cannot speak so profitably to others and to the good of their Souls Nothing goes to the heart so much as that which comes from it When the Spirit of the Teacher goes along with his words and speeches then they are likely to be most effectual How coldly do words of consolation come from an uncomfortable spirit or words of confirmation from an unsetled spirit or words of correction from a licentious How forcible are right words says Job 6.25 And then are words right when the heart is right from whence they come Therefore this teaches us what in this case is to be done by us We see what cause Christians have among many other reasons besides to look to the frame and temper of their hearts even to the good and advantage of others among whom they live and converse withal That from hence they may be so much the more useful and beneficial in the communion of Saints and have greater success in the application of themselves to their Brethren whether as Ministers or other men For though God may sometimes do some good even by those who are themselves unconverted yet it is not so natural nor usual God first converts Peter before he strengthens others by Peter And Jeremiah must first return to God before he stand before God as serviceable to him Jer. 15.19 And when this is done then this effect follows upon it When Peter is converted then his Brethren also shall be strengthened which is another sense may be fastened upon the words by taking the Imperative for the Future which is also common and ordinary in Scripture And so here 's again not only a duty but a mercy and a priviledg which our Saviour does intimate and exhibit unto us The conversion of one Christian it is a strengthening and corroboration to the rest God's Grace and goodness to some of his Servants is an heartening and encouraging to their Brethren Thus St. Paul 1 Tim. 1.16 For this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to everlasting life God's mercy to the Apostle it was an embleme of the like mercy to be shewn to all other Believers And David Psal 34.4 5. I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears And what follows They looked unto him and were lightned and their faces were not ashamed They i. e. they which stood by which were strangers but yet observers of God's dealings and carriages to me And so again in that place before alledged which may serve as a kind of parallel to this Psal 51.12 David signifies that when God had restored to him the joy of his Salvation and had stablish'd him with his free Spirit that then as he in regard of endeavour would teach sâiâers so then also in regard of success in all likelihood and probability of dispensation sinners should be converted unto him The Use of all comes to this namely to teach us accordingly to improve the examples which are set before us in this particular The examples of our Brethren falling and overcome with temptation should make us so much the warier and more shy of being tempted our selves To be strengthened that is strengthened with Grace and ability of resistance And the examples of our Brethren rising again and recovering from temptation should make us also to be so much the cheerfuller and more hopeful of being supported our selves Strengthened that is strengthened with comfort and expectation of subsistence And in both together shall we close with God's ends in such Providences as these are before us I have done now with the Third General Head which is a Christian's Duty and so also with the whole Text it self SERMON XII JOH 3.8 The Winde bloweth where it listeth and thou hsarest the sound thereof but knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit There is nothing which is harder to deal withal than a carnal and unregenerate heart which will still have somewhat to cavil at and to object against the Truths of Christ even there where they have the greatest evidence and infallibility in them and are least of all to be questioned of all other Points besides An instance whereof we have here in this Scripture which we have now before us and the coherence of it in the discourse of our Saviour Christ with Nicodemus a Ruler of the Jews This person was somewhat convinced of the worth and excellency that was in Jesus and therefore betakes himself to him and yet he was afraid or ashamed openly to confess him and therefore comes to him by night in a private acknowledgment of him Now our Saviour presently saw what he wanted as the ground of this carriage in him and that was a serious work of the saving Grace of God upon his heart which might make him to close with him in good earnest and therefore takes occasion to discourse of this Point unto him Of the necessity of being regenerated and born again But Nicodemus understands not what he means or at least is not willing to understand it and therefore makes an exception against it from the absurdity and impossibility of it and wonders at it how it should be so Now this Text which I have here read unto you is a taking off of this wonder from him by a further discovery and explication of this Doctrine to him Marvel not says he that I said unto thee ye must be born again The winde bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest c. THis present Verse before is nothing else as I may say but a description of the work of Regeneration or of
the state of a regenerate person which is here illustrated and set forth unto us by a lively comparison or similitude taken from the Winde And that in three Particulars which may serve to make up unto us the parts of this Text. First from the quality of its motion Secondly from the sensibleness of its effects And Thirdly from the intricacy and mysteriousness of its proceeding The quality of its motion that we have in these words The winde bloweth where it listeth The sensibleness of its effects that we have in these Thou hearest the sound thereof The intricacy or mysteriousness of its proceeding in these But knowest not c. We begin in order with the First of these Parts viz. The quality of the motion The winde bloweth where it listeth Some by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is here translated the winde understand the Spirit of God in the first sense and so render it But we are rather to take it in the analogy according to our own English Translation First the Winde and then the Spirit of God as compared and likened unto it Look as it happens in the blowings of the winde so it falls out in the breathings of the Spirit where whiles it is said that it bloweth where it listeth there are three things further implyed in it First the indefiniteness of it it is not limited Secondly the freeness of it it is not engaged Thirdly the efficacy or irresistibility of it it is not hindered First Whiles it is said of the winde that it bloweth where it listeth there is hereby signified to us the indefiniteness of it in its motions that it is not determined or limited in them no more it is not The Winde it blows where and when it pleases sometimes out of one corner of the world sometimes out of another Sometimes in the East and sometimes in the West and sometimes in the North and sometimes in the South There 's no certain place for the Winde which it is tied and restrained unto but it is indifferently inclinable unto any Sometimes it rises and sometimes again it lies still it is indefinite in all respects And as it is thus with the Winde so it is thus also with the Spirit of God which is thus far here compared unto it It is indefinite and undetermined in its Applications Thus it is in regard of Nations and thus it is in regard of Persons In regard of the means of Grace which it affords And in regard of its blessing of those means which are afforded Take it in regard of Nations And this winde of the Spirit it blows where it lists here as not limited to any particular either for place or time neither where nor how long it shall do so but all is still within the compass of his own will and good pleasure Thus in Acts 16.6 It is said of the Apostles that when they had gone through-out Phrygia and the region of Galatia they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia And again in the seventh verse of the same Chapter After they were come to Mysia they assayed to go into Bythinia and the Spirit suffered them not to Preach in those places either by some express prohibition of them or by withholding of his assistance from them And that at such a time as when in other places they had more liberty and freedom The winde it serv'd them for one way when it did not serve them for another We may see this if we compare the Eastern Churches and Western together The time was when this Winde it blew more Easternly witness those famous Churches of Asia in the Apostle St. John's time which are made mention of in the Book of the Revelation they did for a time enjoy the Preaching of the Gospel in a plentiful and glorious manner whereas now they are altogether defaced and under the power of Mahometism and Turkish Tyranny Again on the other side the Winde is now come into the West and the Gospel is Preached in these parts which are more remote from the other Thus it is indifferent in regard of Nations sometimes vouchsafed to one people and sometimes vouchsafed to another though never so opposite And so as for Nations so for Persons it is unlimited here likewise God's Spirit is not always confined or determined to them He may deal with them at one time and at another time withdraw from them move in their hearts now and for hereafter be for ever silent to them and never more apply himself to them It is that which he often-times does and which many persons have the experience of in their own particulars who sometimes have gracious stirrings and excitements of them to good which at another time they may be deprived of and have no such thing in them The proper Use which we are to make of this Point is still to close with the present advantages and opportunities which are vouchsafed unto us and to take heed of the neglecting of them Be not high-minded but fear We should do in this case as it is with those who have some voyage by Sea who watch the winde when it makes for them and are careful to take hold on it so should we in this our passage to Heaven Let us not think to have the windes always at our command for we are mistaken if we think so The winde bloweth where it listeth as it is here exprest unto us And so does this winde of the Spirit and so there 's a variety and an uncertainty in it It is dangerous for any persons to neglect and especially to resist the secret and gracious motions of the Spirit whether as restraining and keeping from evils or provoking and exciting to good because it may so fall out as they may never meet with them again It is not as we list but as he lists remember that And therefore observe him and attend upon him and give heed and respect unto him all that may be It pleases God sometimes in his Providence to be more free in his dispensations than otherwise it may be occasionally from such a Sermon or such a Discourse or such a Conference more effectually to stir in the heart and to deal with such a particular person Now it is wisdom in such a case to follow it and to close with it and that upon this ground and consideration which we have now in hand as an argument and motive hereunto And that 's the first thing considerable in this motion of the winde and so consequently of the Spirit as to the quality of it Its indefiniteness that it is not limited The Second is its Freeness that it is not engaged The winde blows where it lists that is nothing moving it or enclining it thereunto but it s own proper nature and disposition And so is it also with the Spirit of God in the activity and operations thereof There 's a voluntariness and a spontaneity in it what he does in this respect he
we have also the Second part which is the sensibleness of this wind in its Effects Thou hearest the sound thereof The Third and last is the Intricacy or Mysteriousness of it in its proceedings in these words But canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth This the nature and condition of the Wind that there can but little account be given of it at least as to the manner and reason of its motions We can say It blows here or It blows there but the rise and original of it from whence it first comes and the term or end of it where it rests and stays that we are not able to discern forasmuch as at one and the same time the Winds are different on the Sea and in the Land And there is no fixedness or certainty in them We hear the noise and sound of them but we know not in the mean time what becomes of them as it is here exprest unto us by our Saviour in this present passage which we have now before us And as it is thus with the carriage of the Wind so more especially with the carriage of the Spirit and the proceeding of the Holy Ghost in us as to the work of Grace and Regeneration It is such as is not so easily perceived or discerned by us but is remote and hidden from us Therefore it is set forth to us in Scripture by such expressions as these Of the hidden Life of the hidden Manna of the mystery of Godliness and the like in regard of the great intricacy and imperceptibility which is upon it as that which is so difficultly apprehended It is such as the best that are and those who are the subjects of it do not discern or apprehend perfectly but it is such as natural and unregenerate persons do not discern at all The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned as the Apostle tells us 2 Cor. 2.14 Indeed such persons as these may discourse at random about it and speak problematically of it as the Philosophers do of the windes and they may have some common notions and apprehensions of it as far as Parts and Books will carry them but to speak distinctly and understandingly of it that they cannot do as wanting the sense and experience of it upon their own hearts And those that have this experience of it yet are they to seek of it in sundry particulars We may take notice of it in either of these persons whether those who are not regenerate or which are so and so shew you how either of them are in their kinds ignorant of this Mystery First Take it as to those who are regenerate and themselves partakers of this new-birth and work of the Spirit even such as these cannot give an account of it in some particulars which are belonging unto it as to instance a little in some few amongst the rest For the manner of working of it for the moment in which it is wrought for the growth and encrease of it for the condition of the persons wrought upon why in these and not in others These are things which are not so easily discerned or if in persons that are grown and come to years there may be some clearer footsteps of these things than in others yet for infants and younger children how it pleases God to work upon them it is a Mystery which the most intelligent Christians are not able to determine And we may apply hereunto that which the Preacher has of the natural generations As thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child even so thou knowest not the works of God that maketh all Eccl. 11.5 And the Argument it holds here in this particular business a fortiori If we cannot discover the Mysteries of Nature much less the Mysteries of Grace and if not the things of Earth how much less the things of Heaven which are so far remote from humane understanding This is the very scope and drift of our Saviour here in the Text to conclude the one from the other That because the motions of the winde were imperceptible therefore were also the motions of the Spirit And so we may reason likewise as to other things of the same nature with it As for example the soul of man and the manner of the production of that whether by creation or generation whether as infused by God himself or as resulting out of the matter prepared we know there are great disputes about it and difficulties in it Now if it be thus as to the Soul in the natural state of it how much more may it be thus with it in the spiritual This God will have to be for this reason amongst the rest that so we may the more adore him and acknowledg him in such works as these are and say that it is he that hath made us and not we our selves Not only as to our first make but as to our second Here 's that which does plainly shew how little we do confer or contribute to the work of Grace and Regeneration in our selves when-as those themselves who are regenerate can give so little account of Regeneration as it appears indeed by experience that they can What likelihood is there that they should work it that cannot know it or that it should take its rise and original from them who cannot express the conveyances of it that cannot tell of this Spirit whence it cometh or whither it goeth This should teach us all with modesty and humility and admiration to lay our hands upon our mouths and at last to break forth and cry out in the words of the Apostle Paul Oh the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledg of God! how unsearchable are his works and his ways past finding out as it is in Rom. 11.33 And thus does it hold good of the Regenerate as that which is not discerned by them But Secondly And more especially does it hold good of those who are unregenerate and at present in the state of nature such as these to be sure do not discern it or apprehend it indeed And these seem especially to be intended here in this Scripture where our Saviour applies himself in this his discourse to Nicodemus who was as yet but such a person as this though a great Master and Doctor and Teacher in Israel even he did grosly betray his ignorance in such a Doctrine and Point as this was of the new-birth And so in him we may take notice of the condition of all carnal and unregenerate persons They are such as who are very much to seek in the mysteries of Grace and Conversion and in the state and condition of a Christian in order to this Regeneration This is considerable of us in all the Parts and Branches of it and secrets which are
it is a converting and saving Doctrine it is such as in the nature of it is apt to work upon the hearts of those which are acquainted with it As he spake this they believed on him So it was in the fore-named Auditors of St. Peter Acts 2.37 When they heard this then c. Therefore it is that the Apostle Paul stands so much hereupon in all his Ministery 1 Cor. 1.22 23. The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness But unto them that are called both Jews and Gentiles Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God Christ crucified is God's wisdom and power Hence it was that the same Apostle made this the chief work of his Ministery 1 Cor. 3.2 I determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified This is the Doctrine which is most useful First as it implies in it the greatness of mans misery by reason of sin Those Doctrines are most effectual to conversion which do most discover a man to himself shew him his ill condition by Nature now such does this implicitely it discovers the grievous nature of sin which nothing would expiate but the precious Blood of the Son of God himself it shews us what we did deserve by that which He did actually endure Secondly it is the most mollifying Doctrine as it implies in it the great love and bowels of God in Christ towards us Greater love hath no man than this to lay down his life And how much is there in this to melt us and to work upon us What should we now do for him who hath done so much for us and how should we love and embrace him and entertain him with all affection that may be by way of requital Thirdly It is the most Reforming Doctrine it carries amendment it self in the very bowels of it yea it instructs us and directs us to it Christs dying for us teaches us to kill sin in our selves and to mortifie our strongest corruptions by a power fetch'd and derived from his death According to that of the Apostle in Rom 6.6 Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead is freed from sin Therefore we should study this Doctrine and be well verst and acquainted with it Ministers we should much inculcate it and People we should very much hearken and attend unto it And that was one branch of these words to wit Christs death and sufferings His lifting up c. The second was his Calling and Authority in the next words I do nothing of my self but as my Father hath taught me I speak these things and he that sent me is with me Whence we learn That the Authority and Calling of the Minister is a special ground for the success of his Doctrine When these Jews heard and heard it demonstrated that Christ came by the designation of his Father who knew him and was conversant with him now they presently believed on him Therefore we see what those who take upon them the Ministery should especially look unto viz. That they find it to be thus with themselves that they are such whom God himself does imploy and send about this work otherwise they can never expect assistance in their work nor yet success upon it Whereas thus being they may look for both And so much for the second thing the Determination of the Doctrine As he spake these words The third and last is the Determination of the Time As he spake that is in his very speaking inter loquendum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This is another thing observable of us as to the efficacy of the Ministery that though not always yet oftentimes it proves effectual in the very dispensation This preaching of the Word and the success of it they now and then go both together so they did here and so likewise in some other places as to take one for all Acts 10.44 While Peter spake these words the holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word There 's two things at once in this passage First the suddenness of this success and secondly the seasonableness The suddenness of it that it took presently The seasonableness just in the very speaking First Here 's the Suddenness presently all upon the sudden Here 's the Return as soon as the Venture Christ did no sooner preach than the Jews did believe This is one thing which God is pleased sometimes to order to give speedy success upon endeavours in the work of the Ministery Generatio fit in instanti it is so not onely in Nature but in Grace In Regeneration and the work of the New-creature nay 't is here more especially wherein many at once and without succession or leasure are brought home to God and have his image stampt upon them all in a moment Secondly Here 's the Seasonableness of this success just in the very speaking This is not so always but sometimes it pleases God now and then to concur with our Ministery in the very time and moment of its execution Look as it is on the other side in Prayer and our speaking to God God answers us whiles we are speaking to him nay in some manner before as it is exprest in Isa 5.24 And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and whiles they are yet speaking I will hear So is it likewise in Gods speaking to us he makes it to be so also with our selves that we shall hear whilst he is speaking to us His Word and his Spirit go together and the latter to put an efficacy in the former This should make us all with so much the more diligence to attend these Means of Ministerial Dispensations for they are the gales and breathings of the holy Ghost who delights for the most part to convey and communicate himself in them both in regard of his first entrance and slipping into us as also to his further progress and perseverance in us Both the beginnings and confirmations of Grace are upon such occasions So much for that And so I have done also with the second General Part of the Text which is the Occasion or Season of the success of Christs Doctrine upon these Jews in these words As he spake those words So much for this whole Verse SERMON XIV JOH 8.31 Then said Jesus to those Jems which believed on him If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed There is nothing commonly more suspitious than sudden changes from evil to good which have usually this disparagement upon them that they are not for the most part so lasting and of so long continuance But as they are fruit which are quickly blossom'd so they are likewise as quickly blasted and come to decay It is so both in Temporal and Spiritual in
hinted to us in that place before alledged Heb. 10.39 Now the Use and Improvement of all which hath been said to our selves may be drawn up to a double head of Exhortation which will follow from it The one to perswade us to be real Christians and the other to perswade us to be constant To be Disciples of Christ indeed and to continue still to be his Disciples As for the former We may be perswaded to it from the excellency of the thing it self and the consideration of the contrary disparagement Look what-ever it is which it is good to be simply it is good to be truly If we be not so we lose the excellency and perfection and commendation of it To ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã says Basil That which is done but almost it is not done And it is a known Maxim to this purpose Nihil videtur actum si quid super sit quod agatur Nothing seems to be done where any thing remains of the doing of it Let us not therefore with Agrippa be almost Christians but Christians altogether Nor Disciples in shew only and appearance and profession and common esteem but Disciples indeed And that 's the first part of the Exhortation Secondly Let us continue to be Christ's Disciples to be firm and constant to Christianity and the Principles of it That 's another thing which is here prest unto us by Christ himself in the persons of these Jews which belived on him For what he says to them he says to all others with them Constancy is that which is very comely and commendable in any thing which is good but it is so in nothing more than in Religion and in attendance upon the words of Christ Here it is most necessary As for other matters which are not of so great moment and concernment men may alter and vary in them as they please and as they shall see cause for it according as Christian prudence and discretion shall lead them But for Religion there 's no varying in that which is to be allowed or practised by us especially as to the substantials of it and those things which are essential to it we must continue in the words of Christ And this again has two things in it First A continuance in the Doctrine not to depart or to recede from that And Secondly to continue in the Practice not to depart or fall back from that either First The Doctrine of Religion To continue in the Faith that is one thing implyed in Christ's words His words so as to believe them and to give entertainment unto them we must continue in them so Those who have hitherto received the Faith of Christ they are to hold as they have been taught and not to suffer the truth of Christ to be wrested or extorted from them much less are they willing of themselves to let it go This was that which the Apostle Paul laid so deeply to charge of the Galatians Gal. 1.5 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that hath called you to another Gospel which is not another but there are some that trouble you c. And it is that which he warns the Ephesians that they would take heed of Eph. 4.13 That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every winde of Doctrine c. And it is that which had never more need to be prest than in these present days That we would hold fast that which we have received and the Doctrine which has been delivered to us from Christ himself speaking to us in the ministry of his word that we would strive together for the Faith of the Gospel and earnestly contend for the Faith which was once and once for all delivered to the Saints as the Holy Ghost expresses it Jade ver 3. Which we have transmitted to us from our Ancestors and sealed by the blood of the Martyrs it should be precious and of esteem with us and we should not easily let it slip from us Secondly As for the Doctrine of Religion so for the Principles and Pratice of it we should hold our selves constant and firm hereunto likewise This is also to continue in Christ's words namely to continue in obedience to them and practice of them The want of this as well as the other did the Apostle Paul censure in the Galatians O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth c. Gal. 3.1 Having begun in the Spirit will ye end in the Flesh c. Those that profess themselves Christ's Disciples they should adhere and stick close to Christ and persevere in a Christian Conversation yea and that so much the rather as any others depart from him The more that Hypocrites apostatize the more should true Christians persevere Forasmuch as Christ expects it from them Joh. 6.66 67. When others went back and walked no more with him Then said Jesus to the twelve Will ye also go away As who should say I hope you will tarry with me though others run away from me Though false Disciples miscarry yet who are my Disciples indeed you will I trust still continue at least all but one only amongst you To press this further upon us let us consider that we are no otherwise nor upon any other terms besides acceptable to Christ Then are ye my Disciples indeed that is then do I esteem of you as my Dsciples there may be that also in it If any man draw back my soul shall have to pleasure in him If we shall ask how we may attain to this continuance and perseverance now spoken of I briefly shew you how First of all by labouring to be well rooted and grounded in it at first these two are joyn'd together in that place Col. 1.23 The stability and continuance of any Building lies in the foundation and of any Tree in the root And so of a Christian in his bottom and grounds We must consider what we do when we take Religion upon us and then we shall hold out in it Otherwise like the foolish Builder in the Gospel we shall begin and not know how to make an end We see how many there were which made pretences of following of Christ which yet staid not nor continued with him Why because their principles were naught and corrupt in them they had some carnal end which byast them and that failing they fell away with it and so it is with many more they want rooting as the stony ground in the Gospel and therefore in time of temptation fall away When the word of Christ is once got into our hearts we shall continue then in it we shall abide in it when it abides in us and has firm hold and footing in us Secondly Let us practise Religion that will make us continue in it When people have in only in the notion and brain and speculation it withers when it is practiced then it abides Failing in the duties of Religion takes mens
the surface of things but we do not dive into the bottom and foundation of them We see things sometimes in their beginnings but we do not see what they will be in the close and latter end and conclusion of them There 's a various account which may be given of this truth and observation to us as First from the intricacy and difficulty and perplexity of the things themselves God's ways themselves many times are very dark and obscure and mysterious As there is a mystery in the truths of Christ the mystery of the Faith and the mystery of Godliness as it is sometimes call'd in Scripture so there is a mystery in the actions of Christ likewise His Providence it has secrets in it His way is in the Sea and his path in the great waters and his footsteps are not known Ps 78.19 Oh the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledg of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out for who hath known the mind of the Lord says the Apostle Rom. 11.33 And the Prophet Isaiah in Isa 55.8 9. My thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways saith the Lord For as the Heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts There 's an involution of one thing in another so that they do not presently appear what they are As in the Prophet Ezekiel there were the wheels within the wheels He does great things and unsearchable marvellous things without number Job 5.9 Secondly As there 's an intricacy in the things so there 's likewise a difficulty upon our understandings yea even the best that are they are but short-sighted in this particular And that according to a twofold principle First the dimness of natural reason and Secondly the imperfection of supernatural illumination Reason that 's blind And Grace that 's but weak and imperfectly wrought in us First There 's a dimness upon reason even in those who have the greatest measure and proportion of it from whence they are unable to reach the deep things of God either as to matter of Doctrine or Practice Worldly wisdom it counts the ways of God to be foolishness and such things as are inconsistent to themselves And Secondly As for Grace and the light of the Spirit of God himself it is but in such a measure and degree communicated to us from whence it might do this in us Therefore even holy persons such as Peter in the Text here was have been sometimes short in this particular and still are From a deficiency in their own understandings Thirdly This proceeds from special and Divine Dispensation God does of purpose order it that even his own Servants shall sometimes not be able to apprehend his own ways nor know what he does in the World And that for divers reasons also As First Because it may be they are not as yet capable of them nor sit to receive them Thus we know how in other places our Blessed Saviour forbore to discover some things to his Disciples because as yet they were not able to bear them as himself tells them Joh. 16.12 I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now It is a great part of wisdom in a Teacher to impart and communicate his notions answerably to the capacity of the Learner And so it is also with Christ in his dispensations As Paul to the Corinthians I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal even as to Babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat for hitherto ye were not able to bear it neither yet now are ye able And so to the Hebrews Heb. 5.12 Of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered seeing ye are dull of hearing God's people whiles they are here in this world have neither heads nor hearts fit for some kind of discoveries not heads sit to apprehend them nor hearts fit to digest them If they be evil they would be apt too much to be dejected if they be good they would be apt too much to be exalted and lifted up They would be ready to bear neither so as they should do And therefore does God think it fitting in wisdom to keep them ignorant of them that so as yet they might not know them or be acquainted with them That 's one reason of this concealment because as yet they are not capable of them Secondly God will not have his people presently to know what he does that so hereby he may take occasion for the better exercise and improvement of their Faith and dependance upon himself The more at any time we see the less we do commonly believe Faith it is most vigorous and conspicuous in cases of obscurity and disappearance Now blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed as our Saviour speaks Joh. 20.19 It is no great thanks to trust God when we see all clear before us But in difficulties there 's the trial As Abraham Even against hope to believe in hope And as Job Though he slay me yet will I trust in him And as Paul We despaired even of life and yet trusted in the Living God which raises from the dead And as Habakkuk Although the Figtree blossom not nor fruit be in the Vine c. yet will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation This is enough for Christians to know that they have to deal with a Gracious and All-sufficient God to whem they may with a great deal of safety and considence commit themselves in the greatest outward uncertainties And so long as they can do so they need not be any further troubled in their own thoughts as concerning future events Yea God himself delights that it should be at this pass with them as whereby himself is so much the more honoured and advanced by them Abraham whiles he was strong in Faith he is said to give Glory to God and so indeed he did Rom. 4.20 Because he stagger'd not at the promise of God through unbelief He that believeth not he makes God a liar which amongst men is counted one of the highest pieces of dishonour But he that believeth he sets to his seal that God is true for which cause God is pleased so much in the improvement of Faith He comes to see of what credit and esteem he is with us where there is a failing of outward helps Thirdly The Servants of God do not always know what he does nor he will not have them to do so for the preferring of his own liberty and soveraignty amongst them that they may not by this means teach him and follow him and set limits unto him His ways as we said are unsearchable and he delights to have them be so for his own greater glory and renown It is fit for creatures to be in the condition of creatures and to keep
advantage of them so that where they will be troubled they shall be And where he at any time discerns any proneness or inclination in them to it he is ready as much as may be to promote it and set it on further that they may be troubled more He loves to fish in troubled waters and to add sorrow to sorrow for the greater perplexity of Gods People Hence he raises a great many fears and jealousies and suspitions in them whereby the more to afflict them Thirdly From the weakness of Grace Therefore it is that Gods Children are apt and subject now and then to be inordinately troubled in themselves because Grace is but weak in them We see how it is in the Body that those who are but of weak constitutions as Children and such as they a little matter troubles them and proves offensive unto them And so it is likewise in the Soul and Spirit and inward man Where Christians are but weak they will be disquieted and easily upon every turn put out of frame Thus it was now at this present with the Disciples of Christ They were as yet but weak Christians in regard whereof he tells them elsewhere that he forbore to speak of some things unto them This is the case also with many others They are but Children and Babes in Christ and therefore apt to be troubled Nay even those who have Grace in the greatest measure if we take it comparatively yet their Grace is but weak and slender in them here in this life as a ground of this perplexity in them Their Faith and their Love and their Heavenly-mindedness and their Zeal and their Patience all in a manner but weak and therefore are their Hearts full of fears and perplexities and disquietings in themselves as a consequent of it The use which we are to make of it is accordingly to take notice of it both in our selves and others that so we may be both humbled for it and prepared against it For it is that which the best that are they are prone to if they do not the better look to themselves It is that which we have dayly and continual experience of every moment How soon we are dejected and cast down and out of heart in our selves upon any occasion such a tenderness and moleities and softness and delicateness there is upon us as that the least thing that is it troubles us and fils us with disquietness And that 's the first thing here observable from these words viz. A Christians Disposition He is apt and subject to be troubled as appears from this Caution or Prohibition of Christ to his Disciples The Second is his Duty and that is not to be troubled or afraid Christians they should by all means shun and take heed of this trouble in themselves Let not your Heart be troubled neither let it be afraid Not troubled for the evil which is present and already upon you not afraid for the evil which is expected or looked for for time to come Here 's a Caveat both against Grief and against Fear Each of which are such Passions as in the miscarriage and exorbitancy of them have much evil and sinfulness in them We 'l joyn them both together in the handling of them as coming both to one and the same effect Where that we may rightly understand the Point we may not conceive as if our Saviour did here plead for a Stoical apathy or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a senselessness and stupidity of Disposition from whence men are altogether mindless and regardless of the condition in which they are This is so far from the mind of Christ as that he does rather exceedingly abhor it and abominate it in those it is in We see how even He himself sometimes was troubled as he consesses and acknowledges it of Himself And he did so far forth express his participation of our Humane Nature in Him Therefore it is not Trouble simply which he here prohibits but the inordinacy of it which therefore we should avoid For the better opening and prosecuting of this Point which we have now before us there are two things which we shall do with Gods assistance First shew how far we may or ought to be troubled Secondly shew how far we may not or ought not to be troubled for there is somewhat considerable as to both First then how far we may and ought There are two things which are the proper objects of Trouble which it is exercised and conversant about Sin and Misery And accordingly it is not unlawful but very requisite and warrantable for a Christian in a due manner and measure to be troubled for either of these as he hath occasion for it First A Christian may be very well troubled in point of sin yea and ought so to be That which troubles all the World as to the ground and matter of trouble as sins does it ought not to be slighted by a Christian but he is much to be affected with it Whether in himself or in other men as he does discern and observe it to be in them For himself first That which He is guilty of for his own particular it ought to go very near unto him It is that which the Servants of God in Scripture have been very much troubled for when they have considered it and reflected upon it as we may see in divers instances and examples David Psal 38.3 4 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine Anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin for mine iniquities are gone over my head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me Peter Math. 27.75 When he had deny'd his Master and remembred the words of Jesus unto him He went out and wept bitterly Paul Rom. 7.24 Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Thus have the Servants of God been much troubled when they have thought of their sin First As a dishonour in reference to God and a grief unto him whose Glory is or should be very dear unto them Through breaking of the Law thou dishonourest God Rom. 2.23 And by this deed thou hast made the Enemies of the Lord to blaspheme 2 Sam. 12.14 This it should go very near to a Christian Heart If I be a father where is mine honour Can we call our selves the Children of God and have no sense of the honour of God surely this is very unsuitable No it becomes us to be much troubled for sin so far forth as it is a dishonour to God as his Name is occasionally reproach'd and blasphemed by it And then not only as a dishonour to him but likewise as a grieving of him for so it is Isa 63.10 They rebelled and vexed his holy spirit therefore he was turned to be their enemy and fought against them Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed c. Eph. 4.30 Shall sin grieve God and shall it not grieve us
shall it trouble his Spirit and shall it not trouble ours What an inconsistent thing is this Surely if there were nothing in it but this that it is a dishonour and grief to God we had great cause to be troubled with it and for it But then Secondly In reference to our selves there 's great matter of trouble in it so as a wounding of our consciences and a breaking of our peace and a darkening of our assurance and an hazarding of our salvation and a great interruption of our converse and communion with God When we shall but sit down and consider with our selves the sad effects and consequents of sin in all particulars which it does create and produce to those who make bold with it and that take scope and liberty in it we have very great reason to be very much troubled for it Thirdly In reference to our Brethren who sometimes suffer from it and are the worse for it The sins of Christians are not only terminated in themselves and rest in those who are the immediate subjects of them but extend themselves also to others who are infected with them And this is also a matter of trouble to those who are guilty in this respect when men shall consider that they make others the Children of Hell as well as themselves and sometimes more according to the improvement which may be made of it this should go very near unto them and affect them and be very irksom to them in the reflexions upon it especially as they may stand in nearer Relation to them as Children or Brethren or Servants or Friends c. Thus may and ought Christians to be troubled for their own sins and miscarriages And so likewise which is here pertinent hereunto with the sins of others a gracious heart will be much troubled for these when it takes notice of them As just Lot he was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked Sodomites That Righteons man dwelling amongst them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds As the Apostle Peter records it of him 2 Pet. 2.7 8. Though he was clear himself he was troubled for them And so Paul when he came to Athens Act. 17.16 His spirit was stirred in him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã put into a paroxysm when he saw the City there to be wholly given to Idolatry David Psal 119.158 I beheld the Transgressors and was grieved because they kept not thy Word And v. 136. of the same Psalm Rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy Laws Sin it is very just cause and ground and occasion of trouble to us whether our own or other mens Secondly As sin so also misery and affliction and calamity This is an occasion of it likewise Our strength is not the strength of stones nor our flesh of brass as Job says of himself in Job 6.12 We have sense and feeling in us as men and so accordingly may be very well troubled with that which is offensive thereunto There is no chastening of it self which is joyous but grievous Heb. 12.11 neither did our Saviour here expect that his Disciples should be altogether unsensible of their present condition which was now exceeding sad in regard that himself was departing and going away from them I might very well take occasion from hence to speak of afflictions at large how far forth they may be just grounds of trouble to Christians But I will confine my self only to the Text and that which is implyed in that as an occasion of present trouble to the Disciples to wit the taking away of Christ from them It was that which they not only might but ought to be troubled for And that in three respects especially which we may here take notice of First as it was the loss of a good Man Secondly as it was the loss of a good Friend Thirdly as it was the loss of a good Master First As it was the loss of a good Man They had great cause to be affected with that and in a sort troubled at it that they were likely to lose such a man as Christ was The loss of good men in the world is a thing which should very much affect us when it falls out to us Help Lord for the godly man ceases for the faithful fail among the children of men It was the complaint of the Prophet David Psal 12.1 And the Prophet Isaiah complains of it that there is no more trouble of mind for it Isa 57.1 The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart And merciful men are taken away none considering that c. There 's a Stake out of the Hedge a Stone out of the Building a Pearl out of the Chain For godly men and righteous men to be removed and taken away whatever the world may think of it and may sometimes rejoyce at it through the madness of it yet it is a great affliction and misery to it and such as it has cause to be much grieved and troubled at For such as these they are fences and hedges and pillars and bulwarks to the places where they are Secondly As a good Friend there was another notion of Christ to them As one whom they had special acquaintance and converse withal and interest in Goodness at a distance and in some remoteness it is not so much observed or regarded but when it comes nearer us in a companion and associate here we are commonly more sensible of it both in the enjoyment as also the deprivation As there 's no need of losing godly men so there 's no need of losing friendly men especially in a world of ungodliness and an unfriendly age and generation The loss of such it was ever troublesome and still is so even to this present day Thirdly As the loss of a good Master and Teacher and Instructer of them That dropt very sweetly upon them upon all occasions A resolver of their doubts a remover of their scruples an informer of their ignorance a comforter of their dejections to lose and let go and part with such a one as this was as Christ was now unto them It was matter of trouble indeed it was the loss and departure of Christ signanter emphatice which had the stang and grievousness and aggravation of this same trouble in it And here I might now very seasonably take an occasion to speak of desertions and the withdrawings of Christ from a Peliever what a sad condition it is and how just a ground and occasion of trouble and disquiet unto him in the thing it self simply considered In Joh. 20.13 When the Angels at the Sepulcher said to Mary Magdalen Woman why weepest thou She saith unto them Because they have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him As who should say Have I not think ye cause to weep when-as Christ himself is taken away from me yes indeed and so she had and so hath
are true Believers How should this now raise our hearts and desires and affections after it and make us to long as it were for it We call some great house and habitation here in the world very usually by the name of the Place by way of Eminency and Emphatical Denomination But certainly there is no Place like this which is of Christs preparation this is a Place which must take place of all other Places besides and as in the thing it self so also in our estimation And further as Christ has thus graciously prepared it for us so we should also be careful to prepare our selves for it that so we may have the greater benefit and advantage by it and comfort and contentment in it This is very much founded upon our sutableness and agreeableness to it All forts of Persons are not fit for all forts of Places if we should put some kinds of people into some Places here upon Earth though never so glorious and magnificent they would not take such delight in them because not fitted nor suited to them even so may we say in a sense of Heaven it self if we could by an impossible supposition imagine a wicked man to be in Heaven he would not know what to do there nor how to carry or behave himself in it because not fitted or qualified for it Therefore says the Apostle to the Colossians Giving thanks to the Father who hath made us met to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1.12 It is not onely giving thanks to the Father for the Inheritance but giving thanks to the Father for making us meet to be parakers of it An Inheritance without meetness is as good as no Inheritance at all This is that therefore we would labour in this case to be partakers of and that I say so much the rather as Christ takes care to fit the Inheritance for us as he is said here to do in this Text when he is said to prepare us a place This is done by geting our hearts to be changed and renewed in us and taken off from the ways of sin and by geting our hearts mortified in us and estranged and alienated from the world by getting heavenly minds and dispositions and affections in us answerable to that heavenly state and condition which is expected by us For nothing that is unclean or undefibed may enter into that holy place Coruption cannot inherit incoruption Those that look to rise with Christ and to be there where he now is they must seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God they must set their affections on things above and not on things on the earth Col. 3.1 2. And so now I have done with this whole Text in all the parts of it In my Fathers house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you c. SERMON XIX JOH 14.3 And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also I had almost let go this sweet Scripture which I had formerly entred upon before I was aware having diverted from it to another which I fell upon and finish'd the last day But since I looked upon it again and reviewed it in the connexions of it I have better resolved my self and concluded it necessary to joyn this Verse which I have now read the third Verse of t is Chapter to that other namely the second which was handled by me the day before It being somewhat Injurious to tell you of Christ's remove and going away from his Disciples and not withal to inform you of his return and coming again to them As likewise somewhat imperfect to acquaint you with his providing and preparing of a place for them and not withal to assure you of their entrance and sensible possession of that place which he had so prepared Now this is that which is the scope and drift and substance of these words which I have here now at this time read unto you THis Verse which we have now before us is a Narrative or Declaration to us of the consequences of Christ's Ascension and departure from his Church to his Father Consisting of two promises for their comfort made by him to them which may serve to make up to us the Parts of the Text. The one is the Antecedent or Intermediate promise And that is that he will come unto them And the other is the Subsequent or Ultimate promise And that is that he will receive them to himself Which is further amplified and illustrated from the blessed and happy end or effect of this Assumption in these words that where I am there ye may be also These ae the Branchs considerable We begin first of all with the former viz. The Antecedent or Immediate promise I will come to you again This is that wherein Christ does engage himself here to his Disciples that although for the present he did depart and go away from them yet he would at length return unto them There is a various coming of Christ which the Scripture does intimate to us First his coming in his Spirit in the Gifts and Graces and Comforts of the Holy Ghost conferr'd upon the Church This is tha which we find mentioned in the 18th verse of this present Chapter I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you Come unto you How namely in the Comforter who is the Holy Ghost whom I will send unto you When Christ withdrew his corporal presence he then was pleased to vouchsafe his spiritual By which he does still come and present himself to the hearts of all Believers Thus still in verse 22 of this Chapter He that loveth me I will love him and will manifest my self unto him And again verse 23. My Father will love him and we will come unto him and will make our abode with him Rev. 3.20 Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open unto me I will come in unto him and sup with him and he with me Thus Christ comes in his Ordinances in the assemblies of his People and in the dispensations of his Ministers Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them Matth. 18.20 Secondly There was his coming in his resurrection He came again to his Disciples so when he rose from the dead he appeared unto them and converst with them for forty days together And so likewise when he came and appeared to divers others besides as St. Paul records it of him That he was afterwards seen of above five hundred Brethren at once and at last of all of himself also 1 Cor. 15.6 7 8. This was a kind of coming of his and a coming as we may say again as of one in a swoon But this is not that coming nor coming again which is here meant in the Text. But
By me that is by my Blood and by me that is by my Spirit by my Blood in taking away of the guilt of sin And by my Spirit in subduing the power of it Jesus Christ came by both himself and we by both as consider'd in him must come to God and so to eternal life and Salvation As no man can come c. Therefore let us thus look up to him and in this way and method which he has set expect Salvation from him It is both unthankfulness and peevishness in us when it is otherwise with us when-as because there 's no other way to be saved but onely this therefore we 'll choose to be damn'd rather than to lay hold on this When if we may not be saved our own way we will not be saved by God's which is that which he hath here laid forth and exhibited to us So much for that I have done with the Second General Part which is the Additional Amplification And so with the whole Text it self now before us I am the Way and the Truth and the Life No man cometh unto the Father but by me SERMON XXII JOH 14.18 I will not leave you comfortless or Fatherless I will or do come unto you There is nothing which is pleasing in the enjoyment but it is as sad and uncomfortable in the loss and deprivation Those things which we are willing to keep we are loth to part with and lament when they are taken away from us Yea not onely in the actual deprivement but likewise as well in the fears and apprehensions and expectations aforehand This was the case at this present with the Apostles and Disciples of Christ they were now made sensible of his likeliness to remove from them which was very grievous and irksome to them in the very thoughts and reflections upon it And here now in this present Chapter does he endeavour to satisfie them about it and more particularly here in this Verse of it which I have now at this time read unto you by answering them That for his part he would not leave them altogether destitute but would comfortably provide for them to their best contentment and satisfaction I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you c. IN the Text it self there are two General Parts considerable First the Condition of the Disciples upon supposition of Christs removal from them and that was sad and comfortless Secondly the care of Christ for them in reference to such a condition and that was not to leave them but to come unto them We begin with the former viz. the Disciples condition upon supposition of Christ removal and that is here exprest to be sad or comfortless Christ foresaw that his departure from them would put them into a very uncomfortable condition and so indeed it would and had cause to do I will not leave you comfortless therefore if I should leave you you would be comfortless that 's implied in it Those that are deprived of Christ are deprived of comfort c. I will not leave you comfortless but I will come Therefore you are likely to be comfortless unless I come Those that are without the Spirit of Christ they are in a sad and comfortless condition no true comfort indeed but from the holy Ghost c. The word which is here translated Comfortless is in the Original Text Fatherless or Orphans as we have it in the margent because such persons as those commonly are so Children that are deprived of their Parents their condition is commonly sad if we look upon it simply in it self And therefore it is a very fit expression to set forth any spiritual deprivation which is taken from such a resemblance And thus was this now here in the Text of the Disciples in their deprival of Christ they were like so many poor helpless desolate and fatherless children de prived of their natural parents Look what sadness or sorrow ye would conceive in such as these the same was now likewise incident to the Disciples in this condition which was now coming upon them and likely to befall them And that especially in these following considerations First as deprived of his Doctrine and those heavenly Truths which dropt from him whiles he was resident and abiding amongst them Our blessed Lord and Saviour whiles he was conversant here upon earth with his Disciples and other men he was very full of his Divine Instructions and for his Apostles especially he did declare many mysteries to them Now therefore was it sad for them to become destitute of him as a Teacher To want the benefit and advantage of such a Master and Instructer as this was must needs very much affect them especially according to the nature and quality of the things themselves wherein they were instructed which was concerning the eternal welfare and happiness and salvation of their Souls We know how apt sometimes we are to prize it to have one to teach us but some common Art or Trade or Mystery and Profession in the world we count it a priviledge to enjoy it and an inconvenience to be deprived of it and how much more then must it needs be so here as to this Mystery of Religion and Christianity the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven which our blessed Saviour made known to his Disciples To you it is given says he to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven but to others it is not given Matth. 13.11 He spake to the multitude in parables Whiles he spake to his Disciples more plainly Secondly As by Christs removal from them they were deprived of his Doctrine so of his Counsel which he was useful in to them They needed not onely information in regard of their judgment but also direction in regard of their practise which is that also as much as the former for which Children stand in need of their Parents and which Fatherless Children are restrained of This was another thing wherein our Saviours departure was so irksome to them they were now by this means likely to be to seek in many things in which he was wont to advise them As oyntment rejoyceth the heart so doth the sweetness of a mans friend by hearty counsel says Solomon Prov. 27.9 And so no question but the counsel of our blessed Saviour did those who were about him and partakers of it It was a great comfort and refreshment to them in their doubts and scruples and troubles and the afflictions which they were subject unto to have such an one as he was to settle them and consequently the deprival of it must needs make them very sad and comfortless Thirdly The loss of his Example and the benefit which came by that likewise That was another very great evil and inconvenience to them As long as our blessed Saviour was amongst them and conversing with them he taught them not onely by his Doctrine but by his Conversation he gave them an example that they should follow his steps
Mothers or Nurses do sometimes with their children who whiles they perceive them to be loth and unwilling to let them go from them they do usually still and quiet them by perswading them that they 'll come to them again that so the hope and expectation of their return may pacifie them and satisfie them in their departure Even so does Christ here with his Disciples when he was taking his leave of them he puts in this with it I will come unto you Nay to make it so much the more emphatical and that it might work the more effectually upon them in the Original Text it is not onely in the Future but in the Present not onely in the Future I will come but in the Present I do come unto you ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that 's the word in the Greek which is of a present condition before he was as yet gone from them he makes mention to them of his coming again that so he might the better perswade them and work upon them Now in that he uses this argument to them we may learn this from it That there is nothing which will satisfie a Christian in Christs absence but onely his return again to him Thus it was here with Christ to his Apostles He does not say I will not leave you comfortless for I will leave you rich or I will leave you great or I will leave you honourable and the like it was none of these outward accommodations which could satisfie in the absence of Christ no but this I will come again to you If Christ would give them any thing and not give them Himself it would not suffice or content them Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none on earth which I desire besides thee Psal 72.26 None but Christ none but Christ as that holy Martyr at the Stake And another He is come he is come And the reason of it is this Because the Plaister must be as broad as the Sore and the Remedy must be as large as the Disease and the Comfort must be answerable to the Grief What was that which troubled these Disciples and made them at the present thus comfortless it was this that Chirst would go from them That therefore which must refresh them it must be this that Christ would come to them there 's none can supply the want of Christ but Christ himself And as there is nothing can do it indeed and in the thing it self so there is nothing neither can do it as to the sense and apprehension of a Christian he himself will not be satisfied with any thing else for his own particular As Luther spake once to God when he enjoyed some temporal refreshment from him Lord says he I will not be put off with these comforts if thou thinkest to give me these for my portion I will not be satisfied or contented with them Even so does a Believer say to Christ in such cases as these are Lord give me thy self or it will not suffice me Spiritual comforts may much uphold in temporal losses but Temporal comforts will not satissie in Spiritual deprivations So much for these words in the scope of them Now secondly to come to them more directly in themselves for the matter and substance of them I will come unto you this is that which Christ promises to his Disciples and with them also to all other Christians We may take it three manner of ways There is a three-fold coming of Christ whereby he does supply to Believers his temporary going away from them First The coming of his Resurrection I will not leave you comfortless but I will come unto you that is though for a time I shall leave the world yet within a while after I shall rise again from the dead This was such a coming as was proper onely to the Believers and to those that lived in those times to have the immediate comfort of it Though he rise to all others in the efficacy of his Resurrection yet he rose onely to the Apostles and to a certain number of other persons to converse with him after his Resurrection To whom he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs being seen of them fourty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God Acts 1.8 And this he did he came to them when they were comfortless and full of grief that they were deprived of so gracious a Master he came to them and comforted them in his Resurrection The Resurrection of Christ it was such a coming as did much comfort the Disciples and did in a manner drie up those tears which they had shed for his former departure But secondly that was not all nor that chiefly which is here intended in this Text wherein he tells them that he will return again to them I will come unto you it is not meant onely of the coming of his Resurrection but more especially of the coming of his Spirit the coming of the Holy Ghost which was also the Spirit of Christ and by him sent from the Father It was the coming of Christ himself when the one came the other came in him and so is conceived to do and interpreted This is the chief and proper meaning of this expression Now Christ is said to come in his Spirit according to a three-fold empartment and dispensation of it especially First in the Gifts of it Secondly in the Graces of it And thirdly in the Comforts First in the Gifts of it I mean the common Gifts of it These which we call for distinctions sake Gratiae gratis datae The gifts and abilities of the Ministery These were such as our Blessed Saviour upon his departure did in a large and plentiful manner effuse and pour forth upon his Church Wherefore he saith When he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men Ephes 4 8. This was that which was performed on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost came upon them in the shape of cloven and fiery tongues and they were all filled with it Acts 2.2 This was a piece of satisfaction to them for the withdrawing of his own Person they had not Himself now to instruct them but they had his Spirit to do it for them and thereby to enable them also for the teaching and instructing of others This is further considerable under a two-fold Amplification First in the variety of these gifts And secondly in the Succession In the variety and several kinds and in the succession of several persons First for the various distribution to consider it in that That Christ does sort and dispose of his gifts so as he does that one shall have an excellency in one kind and another shall have excellency in another that to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 12.8 One has a gift of Judgment another has a gift
of Vtterance a third has a gift of Interpretation one is better in the Applicatory part another is better at the Expository This diversity and variety of gifts wherein all are excellent and it is very hard to say which is best it comes from the Spirit of Christ as the same Apostle also tells us in the same Chapter All these worketh one and the self-same spirit dividing to every man severally as he pleaseth 2 Cor. 12.11 Secondly As for the various Distribution so likewise for the Succession As these gifts in several persons so likewise in Ages and Periods of Time and Generation one after another It is very considerable this That Christ does so order it in his Providence that his Church shall still one way or other be furnished and provided for in the world the Prophets in their Age the Apostles in theirs succeeding Ministers in theirs and that in each of these in the withdrawing of one there hath still been the substitution of another for the preservation and upholding of the work Elijah translated but Elisha left behind him Jeremy imprisoned but Baruch inlarged Paul in bonds but Timothy at liberty John the Baptist removed but Christ continued Christ himself departed but his Spirit coming in his room I will not leave you comfortless but I will thus come unto you The Use of all this to our selves is with thankfulness to acknowledge the love and goodness of Christ in this particular and to improve it to our best advantage not to carp or cark or quarrel with the gifts of our Ministers or to compare them or set them one against another as we are apt to do but rather to bless God for them in the various ordering and distribution of them and to partake of that good from them which God affords us for the good of our Souls which is to walk answerably to Christs dealing with us in this particular And that 's the first conveyance of Christ's Spirit to wit In the distribution of the gifts of it The second is in the Distribution of Graces Christ comes by his Spirit in them not onely in his gifts of Edification but in his gifts of Sanctification Faith and Love and Patience and Humility and the like We find that after Christs Ascension there was a greater measure and abundance of these Religion was now more Spiritualiz'd and Christians themselves were now raised to a more heavenly and spiritual frame of Soul than before they had been As the Word of God grew and multipi'd so likewise the Improvements of it and the Graces of those who had the priviledge of being partakers of it It is said of the Romans that their faith was spoken of throughout the world Rom. 1.8 Of the Corinthians that they were enriched in all graces 1 Cor. 1.4 5 c. The Apostle commends the Colossians for their faith in Christ and love to all the Saints in Col. 1.4 c. Thirdly In the distribution of Comforts Thus did Christ come by his Spirit especially not onely as he was a qualifying Spirit furnishing them with all Gifts not onely as he was a sanctifying Spirit induing them with Graces but also as he was a comforting Spirit filling their hearts with joy And thus he did This is that which is principally stood upon here in this Scripture as we may see in the Connexions of it thus in verse 16 17. I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth c. The sadness of Christs departure it was scattered by the presence of the Comforter which was interpretatively his own presence with them Thus in all these respects did Christ himself come to them by his Spirit in its Gifts and Graces and Comforts Now to improve this still so much the more and that it might be a full Argument to them for the pacifying of them I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you we may take this in further with it that it is considerable under a two-fold Emphasis the one Discretive and the other Consequential The Discretive Emphasis is this Ye have no cause to be very sad or uncomfortable for though I go from you yet I will come unto you The Consequential Emphasis is this Ye have no cause to be sad or uncomfortable for because I go from you therefore I will come unto you my coming to you is both the consequent of my departure and following upon it And again my coming to you is also the effect or result of my departure and flowing from it First Take it in the Discretive Emphasis Though I go away yet I will come There was good reason why they should be satisfied from that that he was not quite and utterly lost or gone irrecoverably but cum animo revertenti with a full purpose of coming again or if not of coming in his Person yet of coming in that which was better at least for them and that was of coming in his Spirit which he here intends and which we have spoken to all this while His going had no cause to disquiet them whiles it had his coming following upon it to them Secondly Take it in the Consequential Emphasis Because I go away therefore I will come This was that which was here also considerable as it follows afterwards Christs going in his Person was the cause at least sine qua non of his coming in his Spirit if he had not gone that way he had not come this Thus we have it in Joh. 16.6 7. Because I have said these things to you namely of my going from you therefore sorrow hath filled your hearts Nevertheless I tell you the iruth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you But if I depart I will send him unto you That is if I do not go I shall not come but if I do go I then shall And that 's the second Explication of his coming the coming of him in his Spirit To this last of all we may add a Third with which I conclude and that is his coming in Glory at the last day This is very frequently and emphatically call'd in Scripture the coming of Christ and it is that which may very much pacifie and satisfie Believers in his present absence and keep them from being sad and comfortless that he will come thus This is that which he makes mention of in the three first Verses of this Chapter and wherewith he does labour to comfort them Let not your heart be troubled c. I go to prepare a place for you And if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also This is in other words call'd his Appearing and Revelation and such like phrases as these This in the meditation of it is very comfortable to all true Saints and Members
these and the disposing of them to do all things Spirtually it is not ours but Christ's As a Trumpet that gives a sound but it is from the breath of the Man that blows through it so it is with us in this particular we perform such and such Duties materially and as to the outward substance of the action but it is Christ that chiefly and principally works in us and by us as the Apostle Paul most fully expresses it to this purpose 1 Cor. 15.10 By the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain but I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God which was with me The third thing considerable to this purpose is a Spiritual Activity or Operation which is likewise conveyed to us by Christ and by him alone he does not onely give us the life of Grace and a Power issuing from this life but he likewise gives us the very Act and Deed it self for such a particular performance There is not the best man that is and who has most of the sanctifying Grace of the Spirit of Christ in him but he needs the present and actual assistance of the same Spirit as immediately concurring to such particular good actions that is to be done by him he needs not onely preventing and operating grace but assisting and co-operating grace to be bestowed upon him and to be joyn'd with it And this is that which is here intended by our Blessed Saviour speaking to his Disciples and in them to all other Christians whiles he saâ ãâã without me ye can do nothing not onely without me as who must give the general activity but also without me as who must give the particular accomplishment If Christ does not give the actual performance as well as the general qualification there is nothing which will be done by us to any purpose This can be no wonder to us if we do but consider how it is with us even in other matters of inferiour consideration take ãâã but in common business and the transactions of our ordinary Callings and we shall find it to be so even here That we have need not onely of common and general inablement but also of special and particular assistance In the Ministery for example it is not enough to have some general qualifications and abilities for the work but there is need moreover of Gods particular assistance and immediate concurrence with us in every particular Sermon and Exercise that is undertaken by us In the Souldiery it is not enough to beat large qualified for the Wars but they need Gods assistance of them and standing by them in every Battel and Encounter And so in Physick it is not enough to have skill in general but an application of it to his particular Disease and Patient and Condition certain hints and suggestions from God himself answering to the present occasion As it is said of our Blessed Saviour himself when people came to him to be cured of their several infirmities that the power of the Lord was present with him to heal them Luke 5.17 Such a presence of Power as this is whereof we now speak is requisite for any other besides Now as it is thus in Temporals and Corporals so it holds in Spirituals and Supernaturals especially that there is required not onely Grace in the Habit and Principle but also in the very Act and Performance This is suitable and agreeable to divers other places of Scripture as Hos 14.8 it is the speech of God to Ephraim From me is thy fruit found and Isa 26 12. it is the speech of the Church to God Lord thou wilt ordain peace for us for thou also hast wrought all our works for us or in us And so Ezek. 36.27 I will cause you to walk in my statutes c. To open this Point a little further to us and speak more distinctly of it we must know that there are three things which God does work and which it is requisite for him that he should work in us in order to any Spiritual performance which is to be done by us even after the first work of Conversion and saving Grace wrought in our hearts First he strengthens and confirms the habit of them whereby he fits us and qualifies us for such a duty which he requires of us Secondly he excited and nourishes this Habit whereby he inclines us and makes us disposed to the performance of this duty Thirdly He assists and concurs with this Habit as to the act and performance it self Each of these does God do for us and it is requisite and necessary that he should do so or else otherwise there could be no good action expected from us He strengthens the Habit he inclines to the Duty and he assists the Act. First I say he strengthens the Habit whether of Faith or Love or Patience or any other Grace which might be named by us This is the spring and source of all good actions in us which therefore had need to be preserved and confirmed in us all that may be and the ' rather because it is subject to so much weakness and shaking as it is There are so many corruptions and temptations which the Servants of God are exercised withall as that they have need of daily confirmation of the Graces of the Spirit of God in them which would otherwise languish and decay and for this purpose does God do it for them This was that which the Apostle pray'd for in behalf of the Ephesians Ephes 3.16 17. That God would grant unto them according to the riches of his glory to be strengthned with might by his Spirit in the inner man that Christ might dwell in their hearts by faith c. And so likewise in behalf of the Colossians that they might be strengthned with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness strengthned with all might And this accordingly is that which the Apostle Paul professes of himself that he can do all things through Christ that strengthens him Phil. 4.13 Which words that we may rightly understand them are to be taken by us in their latitude and emphasis both Positively and also Exclusively that through Christ strengthning him he can do all things and without Christ strengthning him he was able to do nothing That 's the first thing here considerable in this business of Christ's concurrence with us in the doing of good he strengthens the Habit. Secondly As he strengthens the Habit so he likewise inclines the mind to the particular duty to be performed For though we have such and such Principles and Habits of grace conferr'd and bestowed upon us as qualifying us for such and such Duties yet we have not always and continually in us a readiness and promptness of mind for the exercise and improvement of them but we have a great deal of sluggishness and awkness upon us in this
particular Now therefore does Christ here by his Spirit awaken the Habit and provoke us and sets us on doing making us ready and prepared as the Scripture speaks to every good work Thirdly He assists the Act that is he helps and concurs with us in the very performance it self and this is that which we now especially speak of at this present time as considerable of us to this purpose For we though we have some general power and ability for such a duty and withall some kind of desire and propensity towards it yet we cannot particularly act it and bring it about without the immediate help and assistance of the Spirit of Christ carrying us bringing us through it For partly our own natural corruption which remains still in part in us does retard us and keep us back and partly Satan joyning with our corruptions does exceedingly hinder and interrupt us and therefore there must be a stronger than each come between which may scatter the power of either and may help our infirmities Hence it is that the Apostle Paul complains sometimes of himself that to will is present with him but how to perform that which is good he finds not Rom. 7.17 And speaking of acts of charity and bounty to the Corinthians he requires that as there was a readiness to will so there might be a performance also of that which they had 2 Cor. 8.11 Because these two they are such as may be possibly separated and divided the one from the other and oftentimes are But now Christ he joyns them both together wheresoever he pleases the Act with the Habit and the Performance together with the Will and it is necessary that he should do so or else they are never likely to concur or meet together Without him we can do nothing that is without him assisting of us in the very act and point of performance And God will have it thus to be upon very good ground as namely first of all That so hereby he may keep us in an humble frame and in a state of dependance and subordination He will have us to see how that all our strength lies in himself and that we are able to do nothing any further than as he is pleased to concur with us whereby we may be the more engaged unto him As the beginnings of Grace are from him so likewise the proceedings and the further actings and accomplishments of it according to that also of the Apostle speaking to the Philippians He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ yea and he must perform it too if ever it be perform'd at all or else it will never be so which the Apostle speaks with a great deal of boldness and freedom of spirit In regard of the great certainty and assurance which he had of it being confident of this very thing Phil. 1.6 Where by the way whiles it is said of God that he will perform such and such good works it is not so to be understood as the Subject of those works but onely as the Essicient not as if he himself did believe or repent or hope or any such as this but that he helps and enables us to do so which is observable in him He works in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure Phil. 2.13 And all for this purpose to make us pure in spirit and sensible of our own insufficiency For Humility it is the Beatifying Grace it is that which does adorn and set forth all other Graces in us and which God takes so much delight to see acting and flourishing in us and therefore takes such a course as this is with us Again secondly God will have it to be thus likewise that so we may relish the greater comfort and sweetness in that which we do For whilst we have strength communicated to us from Christ in every performance our hearts are so much the more cheered and enlarged in it whiles we apprehend his assistance of us to be a pledge of his special love and favour and good-will towards us This is that which makes us to be so much the more lively and comfortable in that which is undertaken by us Thirdly That hereby Christ may have the greater Honour and Glory from us as not onely the Author but Finisher of our faith as the Apostle styles him Heb. 12.2 that is not onely as of him that begins but that perfects Grace in us and the Author not onely of Salvation as the End but of Sanctification as the Way and Means that tends to it and of this sanctification of all the works and and operations of it For the better enlarging and illustrating of this Point yet still further unto us Whiles it is said that without Christ we can do nothing here is an exclusion of a three-sold strength as but weak and insufficient to this purpose First the strength of meer Natural Parts Secondly the strength of meer Habitual Graces Thirdly the strength of no more than former Assistance First I say the strength of meer Natural Parts it is not that which will do the deed We know that Natural Parts they do many times make a great shew and lustre in the world and that men may go sometimes very far with them in matter of Religion being applied unto them but yet they are able to do nothing to any purpose or so as it should be but are very defective Men may be able sometimes hereby as I shew'd you the last day to reach perhaps to the outward shell and hull of the action and carry it as it may be very gloriously and with a great deal of humane applause but to come up to the Spirituality of the Duty and to perform it so as whereby it may find acceptance with God himself this is that which such as these onely cannot reach or attain unto The Heathen Philosophers some of them though they pretended to a great degree of mortification which they could accomplish by the strength of Reason yet in truth they fell very short and wide of it Secondly the strength of meer habitual Grace it is not that which will serve the turn neither Though habitual Grace be very good and necessary also in order to Spiritual performances yet this alone and of it self is not sufficient it is requisite that we should have it but it is requisite also that we should have somewhat else with it besides that especially according as the ease and condition may be with us It is not any inherent Grace of our own which is our security in the day of trial but the assisting and strengthning and quickning Grace of Christ so far forth as he does actually excite and stir up those fruits of Grace in us which he hath already bestowed upon us It is not onely the goodness of our Principles but the Spirit of God concurring with them in us Of this we have an eminent example in the Apostle
to understand them and to know the meaning and intent of them that is to say for which cause and reason God is pleased to send and inflict them that so they may make a right use of them this they do not see which it concerns them to do To know the times and seasons thus namely in reference to God's judgments Thirdly The duties and engagement of the times it becomes us likewise to know these and it concerns us to study them to know what Israel ought to do as it is there exprest For there is a particular duty and carriage and behaviour and conversation which is proper to such a particular time which in another time is not so convenient Every thing is beautiful in its season as the Scripture tells us and that which may be a sin at one time it may be a duty at another according to the several circumstances and appurtenances which it may be clothed withal which it concerns all wise and prudent Christians to be advised of and lay to heart In Rom. 12.11 We find this advice given by the Apostle to the believing Romans and in them to all other Christians Not slothful in business fervent in spirit serving the Lord but according to some translations it is serving the time which is not to be understood by us of a base and unworthy complyance with the sins and corruptions of the time but of a careful and discreet consideration of the necessities and conditions of the time which are very much to sway and regulate those actions which are to be done by us This is to be supposed and taken for granted and laid for a rule That we may never do any thing which in its own nature is unlawful or against the word of God There 's no time for sin no not the least sin that is neither may we at all indulge our selves in it so as to frame our selves to it But for those things which are of a middle nature and in themselves consider'd indifferent there 's another account to be given of them and the time of performances here 's considerable as of very great influence both as to the honour and glory of God and as to the good and advantage of God's people And thus we have seen in what respect it may be pertinent for us to know the times and seasons whether in a natural sense or a civil sense or a spiritual sense and religious But the sense in which it is impertinent and whereof we now speak is suitable to the occasion of the Text and as we hinted before as to the time of mens particular deaths the change and alteration of affairs in Kingdoms or States the end and consummation of the world and the time of Christ's coming to judgment such times and seasons as these it is not for you to know that is it is not proper for you it is not your business nor belonging unto you Secret things belong unto the Lord our God but revealed things belong unto us and to our children for ever Deut. 30.20 Secondly It is not for you that is it is not profitable for you it is not your interest or advantage For men to know the times and seasons in this last sense as I have now explained it 's no way useful or beneficial to them neither is it any matter whether they know them and whether the time of their own particular end or of the end of the world It might please as a matter of speculation and so there are divers that busy themselves about it for the discovery of it but it cannot profit in a way of instruction neither does it tend to any true or real edification There 's no considerable advantage which can be thought to come by it nay indeed there is rather much of the contrary it is prejudicial and inconvenient Partly as it would be perplexing and distracting and partly as it would be apt to retard us and take men off from their duty and doing of such things as at present are required of them Thirdly It is not for you that is it is not possible for you it is not within your reach or compass or which you are able to attain unto The time and season of the end of the world and for Christ's coming to judgment it is not in your power to know nor comprehensible by you This agrees with that which follows in the close of the verse which we handled before where it is said that the Father hath put it in his own power and so out of the power of any other besides This agrees with that which our Saviour himself hath in another place likewise declared to this purpose in Mark 13.32 But of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the Angels in Heaven neither the Son but the Father Where there are three sorts of persons excluded from the knowledg of this time Men and Angels and the Son that is Christ himself The latter whereof especially seems to carry some difficulty with it which I shall briefly resolve how Christ who is said in another place to know all things Joh. 21.17 yet is said in this place not to know the day and hour of the last judgment And it is so much the more considerable forasmuch as it is he himself who is appointed to be the Judg as we have it in Acts 17.31 God hath appointed a day in the which he will judg the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordain'd This man is no other than Jesus Christ who is God and Man both Now that he who was to be the Judg should not know the time of the judgment seems to be a little incongruous and yet notwithstanding it is here intimated as if he did not know the day For the right explication we must consider in what sense this is spoken and we may reduce it to a threefold head First to the subject of this knowledg Secondly to the means of it Thirdly to the manner of it According to either of these he may be said to know it well First Take it as to the subject of this knowledg The Son knoweth not that day and hour But how consider'd namely not as the Son of God but as the Son of Man forasmuch as Christ doth sustain in himself both natures the Godhead and the Manhood therefore by a communication of properties what belongs but only to one nature it is attributed to the whole person As therefore Christ is said to dye not as he was God but as he was Man because the Manhood only is capable of mortality so Christ is said to be ignorant as he was the Son of Man not as he was the Son of God because the Manhood only is capable of ignorance And as he is said to know all things because he was God so on the other side not to know some things because he was Man And so some of the ancients carry it He that knew it as he was God and
the Word as he was Man he might be ignorant of it And this is one thing here considerable in order to this explication viz. the subject of this knowledg It was the same that knew or not knew it But the Son of God that knew it the Son of Man that knew it not The Second is the means or kinds of this knowledg The means whereby or the kinds according to which he is said to know it And that 's thus He knew it in his humanity but not by his humanity His humanity was not the principle of this his knowledg There 's a twofold knowledg considerable in Christ as Divines distinguish of Vision and of Action According to the former kind of knowledg namely the knowledg of vision so he knew the time of the last judgment But according to the latter knowledg namely the knowledg of action so as yet he did not know it namely so as to execute it and put it in practice Christ knew not the day of judgment in such a way and by such kind of helps as men do ordinarily attain to knowledg The Third is the manner of this knowledg Christ knew not the time of the last judgment we may take it oeconomically and by way of dispensation He knew it not so as now to reveal it or make it known for knowledg in Scripture is sometimes taken in such a sense as this is as 1 Cor. 2.2 I determined to know nothing amongst you c. The last is the time of his knowledg he knew it but he knew it not yet namely not then when he uttered those words till his resurrection and ascension For Christ as he was man was capable of improving in knowledg and so he did as we may see in Luke 2.52 And thus much for the explication of that passage which we meet withal in the Gospel wherein it is said of Christ that he knew not the day and hour of the latter judgment To return now to the Text it self which we have here before us It is not for you to know the times and seasons c. And here we may take notice of the persons which are excluded from this knowledg according to a threefold reduplication which is observable First in their Humane capacity It is not for you that is for you Men. Secondly in their Christian capacity It is not for you that is for you Believers Thirdly in their Ministerial capacity It is not for you that is for you Apostles Not as Men to know it by natural sagacity not as Christians to know it by supernatural illumination not as Apostles to know it by Divine inspiration or extraordinary revelation First It is not for you that is for you Men by the strength and power of reason or natural sagacity ye cannot know it so ye cannot find it out as the Preacher sometimes speaks by laying one thing by another to find out the account Eccl. 7.27 Reason is unable to dive into so great a depth as this is to wit the nature and quality of future times and seasons and more particularly which seems here to be related to the certain time of Christ's coming in his Kingdom And that because it is a thing which is lock'd up in the breast of God It is a path which no Fowl knoweth and which the Vulture's eye hath not seen seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living and kept close from the fowls of the air as Job speaks of heavenly wisdom in Job 28.7 21. Men may blunder and grope in the dark and make some kind of plausible guesses and conjectures at it according to their own several fancies and conceits and private imaginations but they can make no true judgment of it All the wit of man is not able to reach such a mystery nor to attain to the knowledg of it Though reason may pierce very far into the mysteries and secrets of nature and may be able to speak probably about it yet it cannot attain unto the depths and secrets of providence or predestination Secondly It is not for you that is for you Christians by supernatural illumination There are many things which are too high for reason which yet are not too high for Grace and which are not known by the light of nature which yet are known by the light of the Spirit yea but this which we now speak of it is not known by this neither The Spirit that searcheth all things even the deep things of God and accordingly reveals them to us so far forth as is convenient for us yet hath concealed this depth from us and reserved it to himself You have an unction from the holy One and know all things says the Apostle 1 Joh. 2.20 And again You need not that any one teach you but as the anointing teacheth you c. in verse 27. But these all things are all things requisite and necessary to be known by you especially in order to your Salvation whereof this is none Thirdly I is not for you that is for you Apostles by the means of Divine inspiration or extraordinary revelation As Christians have knowledg of more things than ordinary Men so Apostles had knowledg of more things than ordinary Christians and yet for all that they had not the knowledg of this neither did it become you to have even in their Ministerial and Apostolical capacity And therefore though they ask'd after it yet they were kept from it nay even St. Paul himself who had partaked of abundance of revelations and visions from the Lord as himself testifies had been caught up into the third Heaven and Paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter it is probable that he never was acquainted with this mystery What do we speak of the Apostles when-as it is above the knowledg of Angels as we have it in the place before cited out of the Gospel Which knoweth no man no not the very Angels in Heaven Thus in all these respects and according to all these capacities is this passage here made good unto us It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put into his own power Now the consideration of this Point for the use of it comes to this improvement which may be made of it First as it meets with mens vain curiosity and affectation in this particular There are a great many people in the world which do very much trouble both their own and other mens heads with such questions and enquiries as these are as to know the particular time and year of Christ's coming to judgment But this answer here of our Saviour which he makes to his Disciples puts them off from such kind of scrutinies and inquisitions for if it be not for you to know them then it is not for you to enquire or to desire to know them but to rest your selves satisfied in the present ignorance of them There are many other things besides
which are more useful and necessary for us to be known by us which we should labour to know The naughtiness and deceitfulness of our own hearts the depths and decrees of Satan the will and pleasure of the Lord and what is acceptable to him To know God and to know our selves and to know the things that concern our everlasting peace and salvation But to know the times and seasons in this sense as we have explicated it it does not concern us to know them nor to labour or endeavour to know them and to be acquainted with them And that so much the rather upon this account that so we may the more vigorously apply our selves to those other things which I have now mentioned as are more needful to be known by us For this we may observe in daily experience that superfluities and impertinencies they do usually expel necessaries whiles mens time and days is employed in those things which are of less consequence they commonly omit and neglect those things that are of greater importance And so amongst the rest it it here in this particular which is one main reason as we may conceive why Satan does oftentimes put men and fasten them hereupon that so whiles their minds are taken up about enquiries after the time they may the more easily neglect the thing and the business which the time it self does especially refer to Therefore we should from hence be awakened from the prevention of this curiosity in us and what God would not have us to know And that may be one improvement Secondly As it meets with mens curiosity so it also meets with their presumption As with their curiosity in enquiring so especially with their presumption in resolving and concluding hereupon It is not for you to know it therefore it is not for you to determine it There are a great many persons sometimes who do not only make a search into this mystery but also now and then do absolutely and positively fix it and set it to such a particular time and year of the world As to some to four some to five hundred years after Christ some to the six-thousandth year of the World and some also to this present year of sixteen hundred sixty-six after Christ And there are divers that do fasten it here but all both in one and t'other speak by rote and have no solid ground making for them It was a Point which the Church of God was troubled withal by some kind of persons even in the Apostle Paul's time as we may see by what he writes to the Thessalonians in 2 Ep. 2. ver 2. Where he beseeches them that they would not be soon shaken in their minds either by word or by spirit or by letter as from him as if the day of Christ were at hand for it was not so Where we see how both some did then suggest it as also how the minds of Believers were troubled at it And he gives them a reason against it and that was because the man of sin that is Antichrist was not yet revealed as we may see in the following verses of the Chapter Now as there were reasons against that time so there are also as good reasons against this As then that the man of sin was not yet revealed so now that he is not yet destroyed There are divers passages and providences which are necessarily antecedent to Christ's coming which are not yet accomplish'd as the fall of Antichrist the calling of the Jews the fulness of the Gentiles and the Preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom in all places of the world These and the like considerations do make against the fixing of it to this particular time And therefore it should take us off as from all curious inquisitions so all peremptery determinations Because as it is here exhibited to us It is not for us to know the times and seasons c. But yet that we may still further understand our selves in this present business It will not be amiss for us to take in these further hints and animadversions with us First It is not for you to know but it is for you to believe not to know the time but yet to believe the thing to believe that this day will come though we know not when it will come There are abundance of people in the world who are so far from fastening upon any particular time for Christ's coming to judgment as that they are ready to think with themselves that there is no time for it at all that because he is not come yet that he will come never Thus the Apostle Peter foretells us of the scoffers that should be in the last days walking after their own lusts who should say where is now the promise of his coming for since the Fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation 2 Pet. 3.3 4. And too many such scoffers as these there are in these days of ours who do not believe any such thing as this is nor are really perswaded of it but we must take heed of such a mind as that is It is not for you to know but 't is for you to believe Secondly It is not for you to know but it is for you to expect not to know justly when it will be but to wait the time for the being of it And because we do not know therefore to wait to be always upon our watch and in readiness against the coming of our Master Watch therefore because ye know not in what hour the Lord will come and ye know not the times and seasons of being called to a final account whether he will come at evening or at midnight or at morning Especially which is here very considerable as to any man's particular time and season for that cannot belong to any man whosoever he be That 's the end of the World to such a person which is the end of his particular life in it And therefore let the general day of Judgment be where it will be he may be sure the day of his particular judgment cannot be very far off And it concerns him to be always in a waiting and expectation of it As Job resolved for his part All the days of my appointed time says he will I wait till my change cometh Job 14.14 It is not for you to know when it will be but it is for you to live as if it should be out of hand This present year which is now upon us we should so order and dispose of as to our lives and conversations as if we did verily and assuredly know that Christ would this year come to judgment This Doctrine of the uncertainty of his coming is not to cherish our security but rather to provoke our affection It is to be supposed and taken for granted that he will come at last and therefore what manner of persons ought ye to be in all manner of conversation and godliness looking for and
Common-Wealth and indeed in any kind whatsoever is but a Candle lighted at his Torch It is a beam of that wisdom which is in God And that we may use it the more for him and acknowledg it the more thankfully from him it is indeed originally his thus Artaxerxes speaks to Ezra Ezr. 7.25 And thou Ezra after the wisdom of thy God that is in thine hand set Magistrates and Judges which may judg all the people in the Land The wisdom of thy God! To Joseph it is said The Spirit of God was in him in regard of his wisdom Gen. 41.38 39. And Daniel it is said of him that he was a man in whom the Spirit of the Holy Gods and wisdom like the wisdom of the Gods was found in him Dan. 5.11 Fourthly The wisdom of God is sometimes taken for the Scripture and word of God As Luke 11.49 therefore also to be said the wisdom of God I will send them Prophets and Apostles and some of them they shall slay c. The wisdom of God that is the Scripture wherein this will of God is so declared Fifthly The wisdom of God is taken more restrainedly for the Doctrine of the Gospel and the great Mysteries which are contained in that Thus 1 Cor. 2.7 We speak the wisdom of God in a Mystery And Eph. 3.10 That to Principalities and Powers might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God That is that great plot and design of saving the World by the death of Christ wherein God shewed his infinite wisdom Lastly The wisdom of God is taken for the Creation of the World that wisdom which does shine forth in the Creature and the works of God in that respect And so 't is particularly to be understood here in this place When 't is said That the world knew not God in the wisdom of God the meaning is this that they did not so improve that advantage for theknowledg of God by the Creation as indeed it became them to do This work of the Creation is fitly called the wisdom of God because the wisdom of God does therein very much appear to all such persons as will take notice of it Thus Rom. 1.20 The invisible things of him from the Creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead All the several Attributes and Excellencies and Perfections which are in God they do hereby discover themselves And amongst the rest his admirable wisdom this shews it self in the frame of Heaven and Earth Thus Psal 104.24 O Lord how manifold are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all And so Psal 136.5 To him that by wisdom made the Heavens And as the Heavens so the Earth and all things in it whether we look upon the House it self or the Furniture or the Inhabitants all are the effects of wisdom Hence it is that the Psalmist breaks so forth into the Admiration of them in another place Psal 8.1 c. O Lord our Lord how excellent is thy Name in all the earth And why Because he considered the Heavens the work of Gods fingers the Moon and the Stars which he had ordained c. As it follows in Verse 3. c. And again Psal 19.1 The Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shews his handy-work c. Surely when we look upon the Creation and consider the usefulness of the Creatures in regard of their ends and the subordination of them one to another in regard of their dependence and the exquisiteness and curiousness of them in regard of their frame and constitution we cannot but be forced to acknowledge an incomprehensible wisdom which had an hand in the disposing of these things even no other than the wisdom of God And so much for the first term The second is what 's meant by the world ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And surely here as in the first term was understood the world for the frame of it so also in this second Term is understood the world for the Inhabitants of it the men that dwell in the world and have their abode here below upon earth by a Metonymie of the Subject for the Adjunct These are in this place the world and yet not all of these neither although I may say almost all And that 's the worst part of them By the world we are here to understand the wicked of the world Mundus impiorum The world of the ungodly as they are stiled 2 Pet. 2.5 There 's a world taken out of the world and that 's the world of the Elect which is commonly called the Church a people called out from the rest that live in the world But they are not those which are meant here in this place No but meer carnal and natural men considered in their unregenerate condition and that the best of them even their learnedest and greatest Philosophers That world which is opposed to the Church and shut out of the prayer of Christ when he says I pray not for the world these are the world which the Apostle Paul points here unto in sundry respects 1. Because they are most of the world in regard of their number 2. Most in the world in regard of their interest 3. Most in regard of their affections Now these are called the World ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã First In regard of their Multitude because they are the greatest part of the World Denominatio sumitur a majori parte And so indeed it is here the greatest number of people in the World they are such as are void of true Religion and the knowledg of God the Church of Christ it is a little flock and the least society that is in the World There 's but a few to speak of of this number There 's but a little inclosure all the rest is wast and wild ground The waters where the whore sits are Peoples and Multitudes and Nations and Tongues as it is in Rev. 17.15 That is almost all the World if we divide the World into parts Christendom has the least share in it and for Christendom true and right Christians indeed have the least share in that also Universality is no note of the true Church This is one great Mistery and depth which we are unable to dive into that the greatest part of people in the world they are the least part of those which are good and which are acquainted with God the most of them they never heard of God at least to purpose and if they have yet have not closed with it the greater is Gods goodness to those with whom 't is otherwise But that 's one respect in which the wicked are called the world because they most fill the world Secondly Because they have most of the world they have their share and portion in the world and they are hereby described as Psal 17.14 Deliver me O Lord from men of the world which have their portion in this life whose
expression it is none of all these things in themselves which makes Preaching so powerful a Conveyance no but the Ordinance of God which has appointed to work by these means and the Spirit of God who is pleased to concur with it in working It is he which has made us able Ministers of the New Testament says the Apostle Paul not of the letter but of the spirit for the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life 2 Cor. 3.6 This is that which gives an efficacy to this Preaching Well for the thing it self we see 't is a blessed means to a blessed effect to wit of saving souls and that not withstanding all the low apprehensions which the world commonly has of it and the disparagement which they are apt to cast on it and upon those which are the dispensers of it after all which can be any way said against it to the extenuating and diminishing of it here is that in the Text which is able to bear it up and advance it That by it God is pleased even to save them that believe The improvement of this Point to our selves for Application may be twofold First as it concerns Ministers there 's a very good item for them to quicken us and encourage us in our work and the conscionable discharge of it without fainting and giving out For see what a work it is and what a blessed and happy end it tends to Even no less than to bring men to heaven and to make them heirs of eternal life Who would not think himself honoured in such a noble imployment as this and accordingly go thorough it with a great deal of cheerfulness and alacrity in the midst of all discouragements whatsoever which we can meet with in the world our very work it self is a reward though there were nothing else and to save a soul is more than to gain a Kingdom Let us not be ashamed of that which is the power of God to salvation as the Apostle speaks Again Let us also hence learn so much the more faithfully to discharge and make that our chief end in undertaking it which was Gods chief end in ordaining it What was Gods chiefest end here in the first appointing and instituting of this Ordinance why 't was to save them that believe let that be now our main end in taking it in hand That in this service we may be instrumental to Gods Providence in the bringing in of the number of his Elect. This should work and prevail with us above all other ends besides And this for the Ministers Secondly Here 's somewhat also for the people and that is so much the more carefully to attend upon this Ordinance of Preaching and to take heed of the despising of it as a weak and foolish thing they which despise Preaching they do in effect despise Believing yea they do despise Salvation it self And therefore let us take heed how we be guilty of such a sin as this is Do not say that Reading is as good as Hearing and a Sermon read in a mans study is as good as a Sermon preached in the Church for we are mistaken if we so think for though it be as good for the matter of it and it may be better yet it is not as good for the performance which does receive a greater efficacy from Gods Ordinance and blessing upon it And we must not be wiser than Him in such dispensations as these are Elisha's staff will do no good without Elisha's spirit to improve it and go along with it This is that which is more frequently in Preaching whereas in reading it is for the most part cold or at least not the latter in such a full and plentiful measure Besides that 's good which is seasonable and in due time And further let this teach us with what affections to come to the Ordinances the Preaching and hearing of the Word namely as those which expect and desire salvation from it as the end whereunto it is intended Let us not come to a Sermon as to a Prize or a meer trial of wits to see who can do best only to spend our verdict upon the Preacher or out of meer fashion and custom only because others come afore us but let us come to it with meekness and humility and fear and expectation as that whereby we must be judged and whereby we must be saved Jam. 1.21 And so I have done also with the third Particular viz. The means of working the foolishness of Preaching Now the fourth is the work or design it self which we have in the last words To save them that believe ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Where among many other things which might be profitably observed by us concerning Salvation in the nature of it and the causes of it and the means of it and the like I shall at this time only fasten upon that which is here especially presented unto us and that is the subjects of it Believers To save them that believe The Gospel is the power of God to salvation to them that believe This is the restriction which is put upon it Rom. 1.16 I call it a restriction and so indeed it is and that also in this present Text which we have now in hand Where this word here ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it is to be taken not only Specificativè but Exclusivè Believers and none else them that believe and them only that believe and none but them This Preaching it saves none besides in all the world whether Jew or Gentile we must take this expression here in a limited and restrained sense as pointing out a certain number of persons distinguisht from all others in this business as concerning them that believe the receiving of benefit and salvation by Preaching And here there are two things again which this restraint does extend it self to First here 's a restraint of the benefit of Preaching to Faith And secondly Here 's a restraint of the benefit of salvation to faith There 's none which have benefit by Preaching any further than they believe and there 's none which do partake of Salvation but those only which do believe neither By the foolishness of preaching he saves them that believe First I say there 's none which have benefit by Preaching any further than they believe it is Faith which makes Preaching effectual without which it is but an ordinary discourse This is clear out of that place in Heb. 4.2 The Gospel was preached to us as well as unto them but the word preached did not profit them because it was not mixt with faith in them that heard it It is faith or the want of faith which makes Preaching either profitable or not And the reason hereof is this Because that this is the Applicatory Grace which does suck and draw all to it self look as meat does no good in the stomack except it be digested so Preaching does no good in the soul except it be believed There must be a concocting faculty
the particular kinds and acts of it in different persons yet for the substance of it it is still one and the same And the Scripture hath proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin as the Apostle Paul tells us in Rom. 3.9 here we have a proof of it in this present Text in hand as concerning their receiving and entertaining of the Gospel of Christ in which either of them both one and t'other did discover the corruption of nature in a different expression The Jews they would have none of it but instead of it required a sign and the Greeks they would have none of it but instead of it sought after wisdom Betwixt both the Gospel it self was rejected and laid aside This I shewed unto you and enlarged on out of the twenty-second verse of this Chapter WE come now to that which remains in the following verse But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness In these words we have declared unto us the carriage of the Apostle Paul and the rest of the Ministers of Christ upon this request both of Jews and Gentiles the one in requiring a sign and the other in seeking after wisdom and that is that they in answer to all this did no more but preach Christ crucified But we preach Christ crucified In which passage we may take notice for orders sake of these two Particulars First The Apostles carriage as concerning the ordering of his Ministry and secondly the Apostles Doctrine as concerning the nature of those points and truths which were delivered in it First For his carriage this is very much hinted unto us in the Adversative particle But But we preach Chrst crucified where there are these things further considerable first his contrariety of spirit we see plainly that Paul and the rest of the Apostles with him they went a quite contrary way to that which was both required and expected from them both by Jews and Gentiles the one required a sign and the other sought after wisdom but they accommodated neither neither one nor t'other but instead of both or either they now preach Christ crucified What do we learn from hence in brief thus much by the way That it is the duty and wisdom of a Minister to cross mens carnal humours to go thwart and contrary to those desires which are inordinate in them when people shall affect such kind of Preaching as is unsavoury and unprofitable for them here especially to contradict them and to make them fail of their expectation The Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified It might seem to be a strange kind of course which the Apostle Paul here took that he would not condescend to these Greeks in so fair and equal a petition as to preach in the words of humane wisdom when they required it of him Nay but therefore does he the rather decline it and withdraw from it Parents when their Children cry for any thing out of wantonness they do a great deal the sooner deny it them and Physicians when their Patients are immoderate in thirsting after drink keep it from them the rather yea God himself when he sees us to be inordinate in our affections after any contentment we shall be sure to want it the longer even so it is also and should be with those likewise which are Ministers and Teachers who are the Embassadors of Christ the Spiritual Fathers the Physicians of the soul c. where they see people to be carried with an itch and humour of curiosity and affectation in hearing of the Word as much as they can to suppress it by disappointing it And the reason of it is this Because satisfying of such humours feeds them and nourishes them and adds strength unto them as it is with those which are sick of the Dropsie the more they drink the more still they may drink and their desires after drink are by this means so much the more enlarged Even so is it also here in such spiritual distempers as these are which therefore we should be sensible of This then meets with all such whose carriage is quite contrary hereunto who make not their Hearers necessities but their affection to be the rule of their teaching and if there by any crotchet or humour more than other which does prevail and abound in them they 'l be sure to apply themselves to that in the course of their Ministry this is the reason of so many strange opinions and Doctrines of looseness and liberty in these present days wherein we live because men know what those points are which are most likely to take with mens corruptions and most to please and satisfie them and those are they which they bend themselves to sow pillows under mens elbows and handkerchiefs undertheir arm-holes and cry peace peace unto them when there is no peace It is otherwise here with this blessed Apostle St. Paul they which will have wisdom he preaches to them foolishness And those which will have a sign he gives them no other than this The sign of the Prophet Jonas and the sign of the son of man the sign which is so much spoken against Luk. 2.34 and that is Christ crucified That 's one thing his contrariety of spirit Secondly We have here in this passage the Apostles humility and self-denial in that he did here lay aside those raptures and flourishes those things wherein he might otherwise have gloried and set out himself he here denied his own wisdom and learning and eloquence and such accomplishments as these are that so he might the better advance the Gospel of Christ This is much to be observed and admired in him that Paul which was so learned a man as he was one that had sate at the feet of Gamaliel one that spake with tongues more than they all one that had been caught up into Paradise and been made partaker of such admirable Mysteries as were there revealed unto him that he now should condescend to the Preaching of such familiar points and that after such a familiar manner as he does here intimate unto us This I say was a business which was very much to be taken notice of in him We preach Christ crucified There was a great matter in that for such poor creatures as we are who are so far inferior to the Apostles and come so short of those excellencies which were in them For us now to condescend in our Preaching and to deliver plain truths and in a plain fashion it may be no such great praise or wonderment in it we may perhaps do so because we can do no better and because we can do no otherwise make a vertue of necessity and therefore preach plainly because we know not how to preach aloft and in an high strain But it was not so here with the Apostle the case was now otherwise with him and far different He if he had been so minded he could have fitted both these Jews
Christ crucified But why Christ crucified rather than Christ exhibited in some other consideration why not rather Christ incarnate forasmuch as that was the first news of him or why not Christ risen again or Christ ascended which was a great deal more glorious Why does the Apostle fasten upon this mystery in Religion and Christianity above the rest Christ crucified Surely there 's very good reason to be given for it First because he would give them the worst of Christ at first that he might shew he was not ashamed of him nor of that Gospel which made him known but that hereby he might the better prepare them for other Truths and make them the welcomer to them Christs Cross is the first letter of all in a Christians Alphabet and they that can take out this lesson they will learn the other fast enough Gods beginnings with us are commonly most tedious His conclusions and closings are for the most part very sweet and comfortable and so here Secondly Because Christ crucified it is vertually and implicitly all the rest For why was Christ Incarnate it was for this end that he might be crucified therefore he was born that he might die and therefore he took flesh upon him that he might lay it down again after he had taken it Again when Christ was risen and ascended what were the terms which he was risen from was it not from death and the grave his Resurrection it pointed at his suffering and death which were conquered by him So that all upon the point is Christ crucified Thirdly This was that Mystery which did most concern us for the good and benefit which comes by it as we shall hear afterwards his death was that which pacified Gods wrath and paid the debt which was due for our sins And therefore the Apostle instances in that rather than any other Lastly Christ crucified because this was that which these people had a particular hand in as instrumental hereunto they had been active in the crucifying of Christ themselves and therefore it was most fit that they should hear of Christ crucified to chuse of any thing else Therefore accordingly we shall find that this was the practise of the Apostles in the whole course and way of their Ministry still to urge and inculcate this upon those whom they Preached unto As soon as ever they had received the Holy Ghost upon the day of Pentecost they presently fall upon this as it was that which Christ himself much spoke of That the son of man must suffer many things so it was that which the Apostles of Christ much urged as Peter in his first Sermon Act. 2.23 this was that which he inforced upon them their crucifying of Christ This was that also which he preached so boldly in the Temple Act. 5.28 insomuch as the Council told him that they intended to bring the blood of that man upon them And Act. 8.32 the Providence of God directs them to a Scripture to this purpose out of Isa 53.7 8. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before the shearer so opened be not his mouth Thus was Christ crucified the chief point which they still urged in their Ministry And so it is that which is the chief work of ours it is the Doctrine which is to be chiefly preached by us and that upon these following Considerations First As it is a Doctrine of the greatest Humiliation it is an humbling and convincing Doctrine every Evangelical Truth being set on by the Spirit of God concurring and going along with it has an answerable work upon the conscience to bring it into a spiritual frame the Incarnation to work in us desires and affections after the new Birth the Resurrection to raise us up to new activity in holy duties c. the Ascension to carry us up to Heaven and Heavenly things and so the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ to humble us and to crucifie us for sin This Doctrine rightly preached and understood and believed and imbraced has a might power and efficacy in it for Conviction and Humiliation and to cast down th strong-holds of Sin and Satan in us This you shall see in the effect which it had upon the Apostle himself Gal. 6.14 God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of the Lord Jesus whereby the world is crucified to me and I unto the world By the death of Christ was the world crucified to the Apostle And so St. Peter's Auditors Act. 2.37 When they heard this namely of Christ crucified then they were pricked at their hearts This same ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã was that which pierced them to the soul their piercing of Christ And so the Disciples which went to Emaus this made their hearts burn If we ask how this is done I answer by an Act of Reflection and special Consideration to this purpose namely as from hence taking notice of this grievous and odious nature of sin those which make nothing of sin in the commission of it and when they are set violently upon it in the strength of their lusts and temptations they may here see what it is now in the price which was paid for it and the pain which was endured to expiate it in Christ crucified And those which make a mock of a sin and sometimes of those which warn them of it they see how sad it is in those effects which it had upon the Redeemer and this is to be a means to humble them and lay them low in themselves Every nail which was struck into his Blessed Body it is here a piercing of our hearts every thorn which stuck in that opprobrous Crown it is a thorn in our sides every drop of blood which issued out of his sides it should fetch buckets of tears from us if we had not hearts harder than the flints This Doctrine of Christs Passion it is thus in this way of Proceeding a Doctrine of Humiliation and therefore fittest to be urged in the course of our Ministry And that because this is a main part of our Ministry to humble men and convince them of sin sutable and answerable to the work of the Spirit of God upon the Conscience for that 's a main work likewise of that The Spirit when he comes he shall convince the world of sin Joh. 16.9 Now thus it should be with Preaching which is a special conveyance of the Spirit the work of this is not to sooth men up to flatter them to give them scope to sin no but rather to humble them for it Secondly This Doctrine of Christ crucified as it has cause to be the chief work of our Ministry forasmuch as it is an humbling Doctrine so it has cause likewise to be so too because it is a comforting Doctrine and a Doctrine of the greatest comfort that can be We which are Ministers we are made to be the helpers of the joy of Gods people as we are called 2 Cor. 1. ult Now
at all in him and receive formally his formality weakens it and let a man have any lust at all in him and receive carelesly and his miscarriage herein increases it Those which are naught before the Sacrament they will be so much the worse after it and more hardned and confirmed in their naughtiness and wickedness than ever before as we see in the example of Judas of whom 't is said that the Devil entred into him when he had taken the sop he entred into him Why was he never in danger till then yes but now he entred more fully and took possession of him and so 't is also with other men Thus in point of Grace and sin Again likewise in point Comfort and Assurance The receiving of the Sacrament to those which come unworthily to it is a very great prejudice here also in that by this means people are exposed to greater spiritual desertions and apprehensions of the wrath of God against them Thus is it an occasion of spiritual judgment and that here in this present life And then further for eternal it is that which does expose to that also and sooner bring a man unto it A man after unworthy communicating is a child of wrath a great deal more than before Thus ye see how Christ crucified in the thing and in the word and in the seal all these ways is an offence and stumbling-block to men in their sins This proceeds first from the corruption of nature which turns every thing into a bane and a curse Vnto the pure all things are pure but unto them which are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure but even their mind and conscience is defiled says the Apostle Paul Tit. 1.15 And so in that place 1 Pet. 2.7 c. Vnto you which believe he is precious but unto them which are disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed the same is made the head of the corner A foul and naughty stomack corrupts the best meat which is put into it c. Secondly From the Judgment of God who for just reasons gives men up to this temper so as to be worse for that which should better them God makes these things stumbling-block to them according to that expression Jer. 6.21 I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them the neighbour and his friend shall perish This should therefore first be to waken all such persons as those are who are yet in their unregenerate condition and in their natural estate forasmuch as so remaining the very best things that are in Religion are an offence unto them As they have other things turning to their hurt and prejudice in a way of the world Honour and Riches and Parts and such things as these so they also stumble upon the Priviledges of Grace and Salvation the Word and the Sacraments yea Christ himself is a scandal to them And how miserable is their condition whom 't is thus withal This is not an ordinary and simple evil but an evil which has a great deal so much more sadness and aggravation in it as the sickness which is caused by Physick is the worst sickness of all Again For our selves let us be hence perswaded to use these things with the greater care and attention that so they may not prove stumbling-blocks to us which otherwise they will and in particular now the Sacrament let us not come to it out of meer course Two things here first take heed of neglecting it and secondly take heed of profaning it But so much of the first Particular wherein Christ crucified is a Doctrine of offence to wit as he is a stumbling-block to the Jews Vnto the Jews a stumbling-block The second is as he is foolishness to the Gentiles Vnto the Greeks foolishness We have already shewn unto you how the Preaching of Christ crucified is foolishness out of vers 21. of this Chapter By the foolishness of Preaching Here we have declared unto us how Christ crucified himself is foolishness taken for the matter of Preaching and the Argument Preached about This Dispensation of God in his Providence to save the World by Christ crucified seem a fond and foolish business to the proud and carnal wits of the world Therefore accordingly we shall find it to be thus received and entertained in the Preaching of it Thus Act. 2.13 when the Apostles Preached of these things they were said to be no better than drunk and full of new wine Again Act. 17.20 Thou bringest strange things to our ears we would therefore know what these things mean And Act. 26.24 Festus to Paul Thou art besides thy self too much learning hath made thee mad The Apostle Paul himself has given us an account of this business in another place in 1 Cor. 2.14 The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned c. These things they are above the reach and apprehension of carnal people which have no more but flesh and blood and the spirit of the world remaining in them There are two things commonly which make men to think any thing to be foolishness The one is when it is indeed above them and the other is when as they think it is below them And both of these are the grounds of this point here in hand why the Greeks count Christ crucified foolishness It is so high a thing as their carnality cannot reach it and so low as their wisdom cannot condescend unto it First It is a thing which is above them Scientia neminem inimicum habet praeter ignorantem we see 't is an usual practice for men to speak evil of those things which they know not and that which they have not wit to fathom they have commonly malice to disparage Thus it is here in this particular Christ crucified and the deep mysteries of Religion they are beyond the reach of carnal understandings and they know not what to make of them Secondly It is a thing which is below them at least as they take it to be in regard of the contradiction which it seems to carry to natural reason and the outward pomp and gloriousness of the world A Saviour and yet crucified was so difficult a thing in the account and apprehension of these Gentiles that as on the one side it puzled their wit so on the other side it provoked their scorn Now to open this further unto us there are three things in Christ crucified which seem foolishness to a proud carnal heart and which accordingly were so to these Gentiles First The Mystery as I said it self that he which was a Saviour should be crucified this they knew not what to make of as carrying some seeming contradiction in the thing it self Secondly That this Saviour thus crucified should be believed on and relyed upon for Salvation this their high spirits could not yield to It has
of light out of darkness c. 2 Cor. 4.6 Again secondly From the power of Satan to God Thus Act. 26.18 We have both these expressions joyned together To open their eyes to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God Men before their effectual calling they are under the power and thraldom of Satan and led captive by him at his will whithersoever he pleases But now conversion it is a recovery out of this snare as it is called 2 Tim. 2.26 This it strikes off the Fetters and Bolts and Chains which a sinner was held with as it was with him possest in the Gospel Thirdly From the world to the fellowship of Christ and the Saints 1 Cor. 1.9 By whom ye are called into the fellowship of his son A man by his effectual calling is made member of another Society and Corporation than he was of before and he has a spirit given him answerable to that Society to converse withall a natural man he is unfit for holy communion conversion it does mightily raise him up hereunto Lastly From a state of Hell and Wrath and Death to a state of Life and peace and salvation Thus as we are said in some places of Scripture to be called to grace so in others to be called to glory and such terms as these are as not to be called to uncleanness but unto holiness 1 Thes 4.7 so not to be called to wrath but to obtain salvation 1 Thess 5.9 And again 2 Thes 2.14 He hath called you by our Gospel to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ These are the terms from whence and to which And this sets forth unto us the excellency and dignity of our calling considered in it self when we are called to be Christians and Believers we do not change for the worse but for the better we are advanced and promoted and set up to a more noble condition than we were in before and accordingly does the Scripture here put such denominations upon it of an high calling Phil. 3.14 Of an holy calling 2 Rom. 1.9 Of an heavenly calling Heb. 3.1 And so much of the parties here spoken of in their personal qualifications Them which are called I come now to them in the second place in their natural qualification both Jews and Greeks this must be taken in connexion with the former and in reference to it the Apostle had in the verse before laid a disparagement upon such of these people as concerning their rejection and ill entertainment of the Gospel affirming it to be to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness Now that he might not be here mistaken as condemning these whole Nations at large he here limits and qualifies this censure But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks c. Before we come to the main point observe here first of all a profitable instruction in general and that in reference to practise which is briefly this That in the laying of censures at any time upon a generality and community of persons whether Nations or Societies of men we must take heed whiles we find fault with some that we do not indefinitely condemn all This was St. Paul's care here whiles he censured Jews and Greeks he would exempt some of them from this censure and so he does also in other places As to the Corinthians when he writes unto them and makes mention of strange kind of sinners Such were some of you 1 Cor. 6.11 He does not say all but some So 1 Cor. 4.18 Now some are puffed up as though I would not come unto you And to the Thessalonians 2 Thes 3.11 We hear that there are some among you which are disorderly c. He restrains and confines his censure to some and so our blessed Saviour to his Hearers There are some of you that believe not John 6.64 And so again more expresly John 13.18 I speak not of you all I know whom I have chosen c. This restriction and limitation is requisite First To prevent discouragement in the condemned that so we may not grieve and trouble the minds of those which are innocent and guiltless When those which are good and holy shall conceive themselves to be wrapt and involved in the same censure with those that are otherwise this is a great discouragement to them and a grieving of their spirits which we should be especially tender of Not break the bruised Reed c. Secondly To prevent scandal in the standers by and that others may not be offended at them for it when those who are strangers to the persons shall hear all at large to be condemned this may be an occasion sometimes to make them think ill of those which are blameless thereby to bescandaliz'd Thirdly To prevent injustice in our selves and that we may not give wrong judgment He that justifies the wicked and he that condemns the just both of them are an abomination to the Lord says Solomon Prov. 17.15 Now this latter we must here take heed of which we fall into by indefinite censure This does therefore meet with the reshness or malice or what you will of many persons in this particular ye shall have some people so to condemn an whole company as that they except and spare none at all in it If some are it may be many of them faulty why in this case condemn all without any exception or limitation They are all so without difference This is the practise of envy and folly In the Ministry fall upon the whole Tribe for the miscarriage of some In the Magistracy upon the whole state-Government because some are amiss in it in any Calling or undertaking whatsoever fly in the face of the whole profession for the fault of some which are irregular in it This is contrary both to Religion and Reason a senseless and a malicious business The Apostle Paul in this present Scripture gives us a better example But with them which are called both Jews and Greeks c. As who should say Though I condemn some and most yet I do not censure all and this may be observed in General But to speak more particularly to the Words To them which are called both Jews and Greeks We see here that God has his Numbers and Lot and Portion more or less in all People and Nations without any difference Jew and Gentile both may be called and so are In Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek Col. 3.11 That is there is no difference of either as concerning the priviledges of Salvation they have each of them an interest in them This is that which the Apostle Peter takes notice of in his discourse to Cornelius Acts 10.34 Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons But in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted of him This may be made good unto us from these considerations First Both Jew and Gentiles they are the subjects
is that which we have here before us Christ is to them which are called both the wisdom and power of God By Christ here we are not to understand Christ essentially and in reference to his Person although that be also a truth but Christ Ministerially and by way of Dispensation that is Christ here in this place and he is so the wisdom of God Christ in the work of his Mediatorship and Christ in the Dispensation of his Ordinances he is the wisdom and power of God to them which are called And here again there are two things more in it First That Christ is so absolutely and considered simply in himself he is the power and wisdom of God that 's here implied So secondly that Christ is so Relatively with respect had to them which are Believers to them which are called he is the wisdom and power of God more especially we may see it in both and both are here exhibited to us in this expression here in the Text. First He is so absolutely and considered simply in himself in the whole office of his Mediatorship It was falsly and injuriously attributed to Simon Magus when he gave himself out to be some great one They all gave heed unto him from the least unto the greatest saying This man is the great power of God But it is true of the Son of God indeed and particularly as the Saviour of the world Here the power and wisdom of God did abundantly shew forth it self in him and that in all the parts of it For the power of God first this shewed it self First In his Incarnation when he was born of a pure Virgin what a mighty power was this tha could so trespass upon the rules of nature for the bringing about of his purpose it was such as the Virgin Mary her self when it was first propounded could not apprehend How shall this thing be says she seeing I know not a man Luk. 1.34 Secondly In his Crucifixion and Death there was the power of God in that also which sustained him and held him up without sinking under the heavy burden of the wrath of God which was laid upon him for our sins To which we may likewise add the attendants and concomitants of his Death the vail of the Temple torn from the top to the bottom the Earth quaking the Rocks rent the Graves opened the dead appearing the Thief repenting the Centurion admiring what were all these but so many evident and underiable effects of the Power of God Thirdly In his Resurrection Christ was the Power of God there also Rom. 1.4 Declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the Resurrection from the dead So 2 Cor. 13.4 Though he was crucified through weakness yet he liveth by the power of God Fourthly In his Ascension and coming to Judgment Mark 14.62 And Mat. 24.30 Lastly As in that which was done opon him so also which was done by him in his working of Miracles Preaching sending his Disciples abroad into the world All power is given me both in Heaven and Earth c. Mat. 28.18 Thus was Christ the Power of God Secondly He was the wisdom of God as God in him did shew forth his wisdom and as in him were hid all the treasures both of wisdom and knowledg Col. 2.3 And here Christ was the wisdom of God in divers Explications As First In chusing such a fit and accommodate means for the reconciling of his Justice and Mercy both Secondly In chusing such an unlikely and unexpected means and thereby confounding the wisdom of the world Gods wisdom was much seen in that Thirdly In furnishing of Christ with all such Gifts as were fitting him to perform that office which he had laid upon him Christ was the wisdom of God also thus And thus was Christ both Gods Power and Wisdom considered absolutely in his own Office Secondly He was so also Relatively in order and reference to Believers To them which were called he was the power and wisdom of God This is somewhat more Now this again Christ was said to be in a double Explication First He was so to them Estimative in the Apprehensions which they had of him in their minds they reckoned him and accounted him and esteemed him to be Gods wisdom and power Secondly He was so to them Effectivè in the influence which he had upon them for their persons He was in all his gracious operations effectual to these purposes unto them First I say he was so Estimativè in the apprehensions and opinions which they had of him they counted him to be both the wisdom and power of God where we may observe the different apprehensions which before conversion and after conversion people have of the ways of God The Jews which were not as yet called to them Christ was a stumbling-block that is they looked upon him as weakness and the Greeks which were not yet converted to them Christ was foolishness they looked upon the Gospel as a fond and silly business But now those which were called or as some would have it the same being called Eisdem vocatis so Erasmus c. To them he is wisdom and power This I say affords us this lesson That those which are called and converted they have honourable appehensions and estimations of the things of God and Religion and do think otherwise of them than they did in their unregenerate condition So the Apostle Paul himself Act. 26.9 Gal. 1.15 Phil. 3.7 8. The reason of this Difference is this Because that now after conversion men have a new understanding put into them and see things with other eyes than they did before they have the spirit of God to enlighten them and to reveal those things unto them which others are insensible of This may therefore teach men not to be too peremptory in their contempts of the Gospel never to wonder too much at those which have other thoughts of it if ever they be that which they should be it will be so likewise with them Christ to them which are called is the power and wisdom of God Estimativè Secondly He is so to them which are called Effectivè in that he has an answerable influence upon their persons and that in each particular First He is the power of God to them 2 Cor. 13.3 Mighty in you And that again in sundry respects First In his Death the mortifying of their lusts and the crucifying of their corruptions in them by vertue of Christs Death and Crucifixion Thus Gal. 2.20 I am crucified with Christ c. And Rom. 6.6 Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him c. It is the observation of Chrysostom to this purpose that what was done in Christ by nature the same is done in us by analogy As therefore Christ died and was crucified himself so by the vertue and power of this his death is sin crucified in us not only meritoriously but effectively in that his death
as to be preferred before the other the more excellent way before the better gifts and so likewise should we upon all occasions do our selves labour for those gifts most which tend most to edification and labour more to edifiâ with our Gifts than to glory and boast of them more to profit and to advance the Church than to promote and set out our selves This is that which we should give our selves to But so much my suffice to have spoken of the first particular in this second general and that is the thing it self which is propounded to wit the more excellent may The second is the Proposition of it That we have in this word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I shew it unto you Shew it How did he shew it Two ways as we may conceive more especially First He shewed it in Thesi and Secondly he shewed it in Hypothesi First he shewed it in the Proposition and Secondly He shewed it in the practice in the Rule and in the example He shewed it in his Doctrine and Ministry declaring as much unto them and he shewed it also in his life and conversation as giving them an example of it in himself for his own particular He gave it them in the Rule and he gave it them likewise in the Pattern for the better inforcing of the Rule upon them that so he might be no ways wanting unto them for their instruction and direction herein each of these ways he shewed this way unto them First He shewed it them in his Dictrine and by way of simple proposition he publisht it and declared it unto them and that at large here in this Epistle in the Chapter immediately following he shewed it them by rhetorical inlargements and amplifications Though I should speak with the tongue of men c. And so if we please we may understand that phrase ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã here in the Text not only as referring to ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but also to ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã not to the way only but to the shewing of it According as St. Basil of Caesarea seems to carry it in his Epistle Ad Neocaesarienses ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I do in an Hyperbolical manner shew this unto you which he does indeed in the very next words that follow etsi linguis c. Here I might by the way shew you which I have also observed lately elsewhere an use of Rhetorick and Hyperboles in such discourses as these are so it be done in a grave and sober manner without ridiculousness and affectation there is good warrant and authority for it but I shall at this time pass over that The Apostle shewed unto these Corinthians the most excellent way and he shewed it first of all in his Doctrine Here are divers things which from hence I might very pertinently insist upon as First In that the Apostle speaking of Piety and Religion says here Demonstro Vobis we see here that Religion is capable of Demonstration It is such as may be clearly evidenced and demonstrated and made good to those who will not be peeâ vish and refractory and perverse A good and sound Christian he does not go upon conjectures only and meer guessings and doubtings and uncertainties but has firm footing for his treading he is sure and very well perswaded of the way in which he walks and is able to shew it to others If men will mot be peremptory and obstinate there is such an Autopistie and authority in Religion as does command their assent unto it so as they may as well deny a demonstration as they may deny that Here are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as Clemens Alexandrinus speaks Words and Reasons that do compel yieldance to them Again secondly In that the Apostle here speaking of his Preaching and Writing and Ministerial Dispensation says ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I shew it unto you We see here in what kind of way Preaching and Teaching is to be carried namely as the Apostle does also express it in another place ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In the Demonstration of the spirit and power 1 Cor. 2.4 It is not enough for us simply to propound truths but as near as we ean to evidence them and demonstrate them and make them clear and to deliver them in such a manner as whereby we may convince the gainsayer of the truth of them I shew it unto you Therefore we are here especially to take heed of any thing which may be any hinderance or prejudice hereunto and that is as the Apostle has noted an affectation of the enticing words of mans wisdom This St. Paul in that place before mention'd does oppose to this demonstration of the spirit and in the 17th verse of the first chapter he tells us that it makes the Cross of Christ to be of none effect As too many flourishes about a Letter keep the Letter it self from being discerned or as Chrysostom makes the comparison ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Look as fair and beautiful bodies when they are set out with paint and colours they do lose of their native beauty and comeliness so likewise the Word of God when 't is too much tricked up with humane illustrations it loses of that demonstrative power and efficacy which is indeed in it and becomes no more than an ordinary discourse Thirdly Here 's a further Rule likewise for Ministers in order to the matter of their Doctrine and the things themselves which are delivered by them whatever they teach men besides especially to build them up in Grace and to press such points home upon them as do tend to the furthering and promoting of a godly and holy conversation St. Paul would stir up these Corinthians to the coveting of the best gifts they could Oh! but he woule be sure in the mean time not to forget to propound unto them the most excellent way Yet I shew unto you or moreover the word in the Greek is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as who should say I have not as yet done with you I have somewhat more to say to you than so And thus he shewed it First of all in Thesi in the bare and simple Proposition Secondly He shewed it also in Hypothesi in his own practice and example this we may gather from the next Chapter Though I should speak c. without charity c. Though I should is here as much as I do not and I is not only persona supponens but persona proponens and this is another kind of shewing which does belong to all Ministers else whosoever they be Without which the other shewing will do little or no good at all The Apostle Paul as he was a sound Teacher so he was likewise a Follower of that which himself did teach This is requisite to be thereby to make our Doctrine more effectual and full of success Who will believe our report when we do not believe it our selves As we give just occasion to suspect when we report that which
ãâã ãâã ãâã thrusts them forth as it is Matt. 13.52 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you c. says St. John in 2 Joh. 1.3 But Secondly As here 's an acount of their knowledg what they did with that so here 's likewise an account of their practice what put them upon that For that 's another question which is sometimes put in such cases to those who are the servants of Christ What need ye to be so earnest and importunate and to make such a stir as ye do to persade men to this and that to look after their souls and to mind eternity and to have a regard to their future condition c What needs all this instruction and exhortation and admonition and threatning that comes from you Can't ye as well let men alone and be quiet and there 's an end No says he we cannot do so There 's very good reason for it why we should be thus earnest as we are to call upon men to leave their sins and to amend their ways and to reform their lives and that is Knowing the terror of the Lord. We cannot know that and not practice this Scientes ideo suademus there 's that also in Because we know therefore we perswade Where this knowledg as it here lies in the Text seems to carry a threefold force on Emphasis with it First As a word of discovery in opposition to ignorance knowing it that is being advised of it Secondly As a word of certainty in opposition to conjecture Knowing it that is being assured of it Thirdly As a word of consideration in opposition to forgerfulness or non attendency Knowing it that is being mindful of it The Apostle Paul and the rest of the Ministers upon the account of that knowledg which they had of the terror of the Lord in this threefold explication they were therefore thus diligent to deal with men for their hearkening unto them First Knowing it in a way of simple discovery in opposition to Ignorance Knowing it that is being advised of it it is a great advantage to any man that undertakes to speak of any thing or to perswade any other to it for himself to have an understanding of that which he speaks about to know what he says and whereof he affirms Those that are ignorant themselves will be but sorry Teachers of others So then the blind must lead the blind Teachers should be persons of knowledge 1 Tim 2.7 and those which are so will be ready to be so which St. Paul does seem to intimate and insinuate here in this place As if he had said thus much If we are ignorant we should be content to silent if we thought there would nothing come on it we should let men go on in their sins without interruption and say nothing at all to them of them let them sleep in an whole skin and go to Hell and our selves with them but as for us we know better we are not ignorant of this one thing That all men shall appear before the judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive according to that which he hath done in his body whether it be good or evil We are sensible of the thing it self the day of judgment and of the great danger which lies upon those which are neglectful of it And therefore we can't but speak of such things as these are Secondly Knowing in a way of certainty and in opposition to conjecture Knowing that is knowing perfectly of exactly fo as it is in 2 Thes 5.2 Your selves know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night c. There are many things which we have sometimes some kind of hint of but we are not altogether sure of them but only by guess we think they may be so but we are not sure they are so yea but now this business which the Apostle here speaks of was of another nature it was that which he knew that is it was that which he had a clear and manifest discovery of to him and therefore it was that he was so earnest about it For men to vent their meer fancies an conceits and speculations for Truths and to impose them upon others judgments and belief that may carry a great deal of weakness and imprudence in it to say no worse of it yea but St Paul here went upon a better ground and argument Therefore here it was as our blessed Saviour exprest himself sometimes to Nicodemus We speak that we do know and testifie that which we have seen and therefore ye are to receive our witness John 3.11 3. Knowing in a way of Consideration in opposition to forgetfulness or non-attendency There are many things which we know habitually which yet we do not know actually that is which we know but we do not remember or think of them and reflect upon them And the want of Knowledg thus is a great occasion of the neglect of our Duty in many things which are to be done by us But where this is it is a great help unto it and so it was here in this particular case with the Apostles in the discharge of their Ministry who because they did not only believe but also remember and frequently consider and meditate upon this terrour of the Lord in their own minds and spirits therefore consequently did so diligently commend it to the thoughts and hearts of Gods People and put them upon the study of it also And thus have we seen the full Emphasis of this word Knowing as it lyes here before us in the Text as a word of Intelligence as a word of Assurance as a word of Remembrance For a further account yet still of the practice of the Apostles here exprest in these words Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord we perswade men We may take notice of a threefold Illustration which is observable and considerable in it First The principle or foundation whereupon it was laid Secondly The matter or argument which it was conversant about Thirdly The method or order for the carriage of it 1. The principle and foundation whereupon this practice of the Apostles in their perswading of men was laid and that was Knowlege knowing we perswade We never do any thing as we should do at least in that manner as we should do especially in the work of the Ministry till we hold our selves to this We then perswade most effectually when we perswade knowingly Thus in the beginning of this Chapter We know c. that we have a building of God an house c. 2. Here was the matter which this his perswasion was conversant about and that was of judgment to come a principal and fundamental point of Christian Religion as we find it to be declared in Heb. 6.2 This was that which he prest upon Christians and others in the course of his Ministry as we may observe in divers instances of it Thus when he preached at Athens to the Philosophers
Thes 1.5 This is that which becomes a servant of Christ as the best principle of all to work upon namely his own knowledg and experience of those things which he speaks of But of this we may have occasion to treat more anon out of the words themselves 2. As here 's an account of his practice from the principle of it so likewise from the matter and the thing it self which was handled by him which is by beginning with terror and laying judgment before them and the last judgment in particular This is the course which is taken by him for the more effectual progress of his Ministry to lay the ground-work and foundation in this And it so was likewise with him elsewhere Thus he dealt with the men of Athens Act. 17. 30 31. And the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men every-where to repent because he bath appointed a day in which be will judg he worlds So he began likewise with Felix Act. 24.25 He reasoned before him of righteousness and temperance and judgment of come So Heb. 6.2 Amongst the rest of the first Elements of Christain Religion we find there reckoned eternal judgment as that which is mainly and principally to be known and studied by a Christian as preparatory and introductory to many other Doctrines besides 3. We may likewise here take notice of the order and method which is observed by him in all this which is first of all informing himself and then instructing of others Here 's scientes prinsquaââ suademus First Knowing and after that perswading There are some which invert this order Begin first with perswading and then come to knowing aftewards Which will be teachers before they are learners which will take upon them to instruct ere themselves are sufficiently instructed But this is not the Apostles method here in this place who begins at the right end and that which is most natural and probable to know before he makes known And thus much by way of preparation of these words in their dependance and connexion We come now closer to the parts themselves Where we have these two particulars considerable First The work it self and that is we perswade men Secondly The principle of this working or the Motive that put them upon it Knowing the terror of the Lord. We begin with the last first which is first in the order of the words as it is also in the nature of the thing and that is the nature or principle of working Knowing the terror of the Lord. Wherein again two particulars more First The object propounded and that is the terror of the Lord. Secondly The apprehension of this object in reference to the mind c. Knowing the terror of the Lord. The Vulgar Latine gives it Timorem Domini the fear of the Lord which is a little more mollified and restrained The Arabick Interpreter for fail puts them in both Timorem reverentiam Domini Terrorem takwi trabbi wa-hashaitiho Erasmus simpliciter terrorem which is also followed by our own Translators as best agreeing with the drift of the place which is that which we will now keep unto 1. I say here 's the Object propounded The terror of the Lord ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This was that which the Apostle knew and desired also to make known unto them for their edification and spiritual improvement It 's called the terror of the Lord emphatically and exclusively as hereby shutting out any other terror besides which does not so well consist with this for we must know that there are sometimes false terrors as well as true There are terrores Satanae as well as terrores Domini and these are very cautelously to be distinguish't one from the other The Devil as he has his false comforts and raptures and elevations so he has likewise his false fears and astonishments and dejections whereby he does sometimes depress and keep down the hearts of Gods People in his uncomfortable representations in his suggestions to despair in his dreadful prognostications and the like These are such kind of things as are very sad and terrible and which St. Paul also knew well enough and was sufficiently acquainted withal He was not ignorant of Satans devices whereby he labours to affright men and to take them off from doing of their duty and that work which does belong unto them through their too much attendance hereunto But he does not make any of these to be a ground for his ministerial perswasions no but the terror of the Lord those terrors which God himself makes and which are of his allowance and approbation What kind of terrors are those may it be here demanded Let us hear of them what they are and what is meant here by them in this expression which we here meet withal in the Text. For these there are divers kinds of them we may reduce them briefly to three heads which as I think will reach this phrase in the full extent and latitude of it 1. The terror of the Word in the threatnings and comminations of it wherein is revealed from Heaven the wrath of God against all unrighteousness as the Apostle speaks in Rom. 1.18 This is one terror of the Lord and a very great terror it is if it be duly considered there 's a mighty power in the work of God set on by the assistance of Gods Spirit for the terrifying of the most secure sinner and driving him out of that condition and presumption and stupidity of mind in which he lyes The Word of God is powerful sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit c. Heb. 4.12 And the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God c. says the Apostle 2 Cor. 10.4 This we see in Paul to Felix who whiles he Preach'd before him astonish'd him and caused him to tremble 2. The terror of Divine Impression upon the heart and conscience This is sometimes called in Scripture the terror of the Almighty which Joâ and David Heman and such as these did sometimes partake of when God himself appears as an Enemy and does immedlately wrestle and conflict with the inwards of any poor soul and write bitter things against it This is likewise the terror of the Lord and such as does indeed carry a great deal of terribleness with it but yet that 's not all which is meant here in this place 3. The terror of Judgment and more especially of the day of Judgment that 's likewise the terror of the Lord and it is that which is also principally intended here in this present Scripture which relates to that which was mentioned in the verse immediately preceding We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive c. Now knowing the or as some that terror of the Lord ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã with the demonstrative particle we do therefore perswade so that the terror of the Lord is as
much as the day of the Lord together with all the consequents and circumstances of it which does carry a great deal of fear and astonishment with it It does so and it deserves to do so in these respects First From the severity of the proceedings in the ordering and managing of it which shall be with a great deal of terror In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power Is not this very terrible and a dispensation of much severity it cannot be denied And therefore those that think otherwise are mistaken and exceedingly deceived of that day it is a day of wrath a day of trouble and distress a day of wastness and desolation a day of darkness and gloominess c. Zeph. 1.15 And as it is so in it self so it is especially so to all wicked and ungodly persons to them it is the terror of the Lord with a witness from the guiltiness which is upon them This is that which properly gives this denomination unto it if we take it abstractly considered in it self or in reference to the Children of God so it shall not have such terror or dreudfulness in it those alone who are reconciled to God through Christ upon them it shall have another impression and another notion as it is the day of refreshment the day of redemption the day of restitution the day of recompence and reward The second is the Apprehension of this object in reference to the mind and understanding and that is knowing ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã We see here upon what terms we proceed in Christianity and Religion not upon meerer fancies only and conjectures and bare probabilities but upon a certainty and good assurance Divinity it is a matter of Knowledg and it is the excellency of it that it is so elpecially compared with some other things in the world which are of another nature it stands upon good grounds as the bottom and foundation of it which is the Word of truth it self Thus 2 Pet. 1.16 We have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eye-witnesses of his majesty c. And v. 19. We have also a more sure word of prophesie ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place c. This is the Scripture and Word of God But how did Paul know this which he here speaks of this Terrour of the Lord and the accurateness of this judgment of Christ which he had before mentioned and here refers to He knew it divers ways First By immediate revelation and inspiration from God himself it was delivered to him from the Lord as he says elsewhere of other truths I have received from the Lord that which I have delivered unto you It pleased God from Heaven to inform him and to acquaint him with this Divine truth concerning the Judgment to come together with some circumstances which shall attend it which he does discover as a profound mystery in some other places And that which he had as it were even from Gods own mouth and intimation of that he might very well say that he knew it as here he does knowing it by revelation Secondly He knew it also by Discourse and collection of one thing from another There 's very good reason for it that there should be such a day as this is the day of Judgment and that God should call men to an account hereafter for that which they do now in the flesh It 's very agreeable to the justice of God a righteous thing with him as it is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in 2 Thes 1.6 When we shall consider that little recompence or reward is give here below either to good or bad we may from hence very rationally conclude that there is another time and place for it which shall not escape it That which seems to make most against it with carnal and secure persons is the delay and procrastination of it because it is not presently therefore they conclude that it will not be at all as those mockers in Peter Where is the promise of his coming c. But as the Apostle there resolves it Gods slackness is only long-suffering Patientia est non negligentia as Austin to the same effect Non ille potentiam perdidit sed nos ad poenitentiam reservavit c. de Verb. Apost Ser. 20. Some read it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã per ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the subjunctive and so make it a matter of counsel and exhortation ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as Oecumenius But I think we need not do that I shall rather take it as it is here offered in the Indicative It is an expression which carries a various emphasis in it Thirdly He knew it also by Experience and by some sense of it upon himself in his own heart he knew it thus As he was wrapt up into Paradise and carried unto the Third Heaven so he was likewise cited to Christs Tribunal and brought before his Judgment-seat in his own soul and consicence S. Paul did not speak of these things at random and loosely but he had some practical apprehensions of them from where he knew them and did therefore to much the more boldly and freely and confidently discourse of them to other men There 's no man that knows what sin is but he consequently knows what judgment is and by the sight of the one is lead to the preconception of the other forasuch as sin in the guilt and nature of it summons to Judgment This was the Apostles great advantage in this business which he discoursed about that he spoke of it from his own spirit with some kind of sense and feeling of it which is that which all other Ministers should labour and endeavour to do in the whole course of their Ministry and in the Doctrines which are delivered by them First to work and fasten and imprint them upon them own hearts and then from thence to commend them to their hearers with the greater efficacy and success that so even in this sense likewise as well as in regard of affection they may impart unto them not the Gospel of God only but also their own souls 1 Thes 2.8 as being sensible and really satisfied in that which they deliver And thus much of the first thing here considerable in this first General of the Ministerial performance viz. the Motive Knowing the terror c. The second is the Work it self We perswade men ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã where again four things more whereof two exprest and two implied First What. Secondly Whom Thirdly For what or what to Fourthly Upon what ground There 's the Act and the Object and the End or
Reprobates for we can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth IN these words We can do nothing but for the Truth As they are words which have a respect to the end so there is a double end which seems to be intended in them there 's finis operis and finis operantis both and so we must here take it The end both of the work and worker Truth and the edification of Gods People it was the end of the Ministry it self in its own institution and it was the end likewise of the Apostle in his discharge and execution of his Ministry he had an arm and eye to those gracious ends and purposes whereunto his Ministry and Apostleship looked in the nature of it These two they are two things and are sometimes separated one from the other there are many which the office they sustain and the Ministry wherein they are imployed that 's not against but for the truth in the nature of them but they have other kinds of ends themselves in their exercise and discharge of them Now this is that which we must be careful and mindful of whoever he be that 's a Minister or imployed in any publick service he should labour to have affections answerable to the nature of the place which he sustains or the duty which is undertaken by him even to have such ends in undertaking of it as the thing it self in its own nature respects otherwise we may do nothing against the Truth and yet do nothing for it nay we may do much for it in regard of our managing of it yea may fulfil our lusts at the same time when we perform our duties The Apostle Paul did not here who in the words here before us expresses not only to us the blessed end of his Ministry but also the gracious frame of his spirit in the exercise of it We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth There are two Motives or Reasons especially which do make for our activity for Truth the one is because it needs it and the other is because it deserves it The Text is nothing else but an account of the Apostles integrity and faithfulness in the discharge of his Ministry And it is here propounded to us two manner of ways which may serve to make up to us the two parts of the Text. First In the Negative how it is not in these words We can do nothing against the truth And secondly In the Affirmative how it is but for the truth c. We begin with the former viz. The Negative Proposition We can do nothing against the truth He speaks it of himself together with the rest of the Apostles but it is true both of all other Ministers and Christians besides it is the same case and condition which they are in they can do nothing c. Now this it may admit of a various interpretation according to the several force of the words First We cannot i. e. we may not there 's a restraint of Command Seconly We cannot i. e. we will not it is a restraint of principles Thirdly We cannot i. e. we shall not it is a restraint of Power First We cannot i. e. we may not it is a restraint of command or prohibition from God himself A Christians may-not and his cannot are all one id potest quod jure potest that which is unlawful it 's impossible to a gracious heart And so this among other things of resisting and acting against the Truth it is that which he cannot do because he is forbidden to do it and so he is God allows no man in this and least of all those who by special service draw near unto him to do any thing which may prejudice Religion or the Doctrine which is according to Godliness in any respect it is that which may not be done And the reason of it is this because Truth it is a piece of God himself it is his own natural and genuine off-spring so that to do any thing against that is consequently to do somewhat against him which is that which he cannot approve of as even Gamaliel himself said of it Act. 5.39 If it be of God ye cannot overthrow it lest happily ye be found even to fight against God God he is the first Truth and so all Truth it issues from him and is dependent upon him Therefore let none take liberty to themselves in it as too many are apt to do who make nothing of Truth nor of injuring and opposing of it think they may do with it as they please without controle no they may not do so God takes a special care of his Truth above any thing else and would have us to take care of it likewise that we do nothing offensive to it we cannot do any thing against the Truth that is we may not there 's a restraint of command Secondly We cannot i. e. we will not there 's a restraint of principles it is against the frame and temper and disposition and constitution of a Christian to do any thing against the Truth We cannot do it i. e. and be what we are or what we profess and pretend our selves to be Christians considered as Christians under that notion and reduplication are uncapable of opposing the truth it is altogether incompatible to them and inconsistent with their Christian Condition And that in sundry particulars wherein it may be laid open to us As first from the clearness of their judgments and that fulness of conviction in their undershandings there is a restraint upon them from thence The reason why many oppose Truth it is because they are ignorant of it and know not what it is They speak evil of those things which they understand not 2 Pet. 2.12 But those which do know the Truth they are much ingaged for it As Paul whiles he was in a state of ignorance he was then in a state of opposition But when it pleased God to reveal his Son in him then it was otherwise with him This now is the case of true Believers and the Servants of God The eyes of their understanding are opened and they are inlightned by the spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.10 c. Therefore if they should go against the Truth they should contradict their own light which they cannot so well do Light it has a restraining power with it and does keep men from many strange practices which they would otherwise fall into Secondly As from the clearness of their judgments so also from the Holiness of their hearts and that gracious savour and tincture in their affections this is another thing that keeps them in There are many who have pretty good judgments and their understandings are indifferently well enlightened and yet they are never a whit the freer from opposing the Truth because they have rotten and corrupt hearts and their spirits are unsound in them from whence they detain the Truth in unrighteousness and extinguish that light which is in them But
Reconciliation committed unto them For them therefore at any time to do any thing against this Truth it were very irregular and unnatural Thirdly This Evangelical Truth it is that also which is most in Gods own heart and affection There 's no Truth which he desires more to extol or advance in the world or which he is so tender and careful of as he is of this and therefore to do any thing against this were a matter of highest indignity and prosumption so that it holds good in all particulars Now that as we must do nothing against any Truth indefinitely so not against the Truth of the Gospel more especially we may not do any thing either against this Truth at all But here it may be haply demanded as pertinent to this present Discourse When and in what respect are we said to do any thing against the Truth I answer this is or may be done divers manner of ways by us First more grosly and directly by the teaching and spreading of error when any do deliver such Doctrines as are contrary to the Word of God and the Rule of Faith which is therein propounded they do then act against the Truth in a more especial manner If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholsome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Doctrine which is according to Godliness as it is in 1 Tim. 6.3 5. such an one is reckoned amongst those which are destitute of truth and as destitute of truth and as opposire to it To set up errour is to deject and pull down Truth Secondly We act against the Truth when we do any way hinder or retard the progress and propagation of it when we suffer not the Word of God to run or to have free course and be glorified which seems to be laid to the charge of unreasonable and wicked men 2 Thes 3.12 When we shall be any way guilty in this particular we shall herein be guilty of opposing the Truth and that whether we stop it as to others or else to our selves Thirdly By perverting of the Truth and abusing it to a contrary purpose and intent As when men shall make the Truths of God by a wresting and straining of them to be subservient to their own lusts they do thus far act against the Truth Thus the Apostle Peter complains of some in his time who being unlearned and unstable wrested the Epistles of Paul and other parts of holy Scripture even to their own destruction and perdition 2 Pet. 3.16 And what he complain'd of then is that also which may still be found frequent in many persons even to this present day In these ways and such as these which may be refer'd and reduced unto them may we be said to oppose the Truth Now it concerns all those who do any way profess themselves Christians and especially which are the Ministers of Christ to be wary how they be any way faulty in this regard to have this sentence here of the Apostles not only often and frequently in their mouths but really and deeply in their hearts We can do nothing against the Truth And that especially considering the great hazard and danger of doing so there 's none which do any thing against the Truth in the least kind that is but they are obnoxious to a great deal of mischief for such a miscarriage As namely first of all the having of Truth it self taken away from them God infatuates and blinds them more and takes away those remainders of Truth which are yet abiding in them when as they presume to act against it Those that receive not the love of the Truth that they might be saved God sends them strong delusions that they should believe a lye that they all might be damned that believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness as it is in 2 Thes 2.11 12. Secondly The giving up to strange and enormous practices when men do that which is destructive of Truth God does many times withdraw his restraining Grace from them and suffer them to fall into very vile and fearful lusts As it is noted of the Gentiles That because they retained not God in their knowledg nor liked not to do so therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient Being filled with all unrighteousness fornication wickedness c. as the Apostle expresses it in Rom. 1.28 29. Thirdly The following with many outward and temporal calamities this is a consequent of the departing from Truth and of opposing and acting against it The Truth it does very much secure those places and persons which maintain it and are faithful to it but those which prove opposers of it and adversaries to it they do oftentimes find the hand of God going out in revenge upon them so dangerous a thing is it to be guilty in this particular of doing any thing against the Truth And for which cause we should take heed of doing it But yet we have not as I conceive attained to the full sense and scope of this expression here before us there is somewhat yet further intended in it than as hitherto we have spoken unto when as the Apostle here says We can do nothing against the Truth and that is by taking Truth not only notionally and as limited to Doctrine and matter of judgment and opinion but also moreover as taken Practically and as extended to matter of life and conversation The Truth in the language of Scripture does seem to denote the whole business and substance of Religion in the extent and latitude of it As to instance in one or two places thus 1 Joh. 3.19 Hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him So 2 Joh. 4. I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth And 3 Joh. 12. Demetrius hath good report of all men and of the truth it self In all which places and the like the word Truth is taken not only for the Doctrine of Religion but also for the whole tenor and course of a Christian conversation And so also here in the Text We can do nothing against the Truth that is we can do nothing which may be offensive or prejudicial to Religion and the Profession of Christianity There are two things which we shall here briefly do with Gods assistance First To take notice of the phrase and manner of expression And secondly Of the thing it self First For the phrase and manner of expression we may here take notice of it That Religion and the whole business of Christianity is exprest by Truth when the Apostle would signifie that he could not do any thing against that he says He could do nothing against this We can do nothing against the truth i.e. We can do nothing against the power of Godliness and the spirit of Religion which is in the world The one expresses the other This there 's very good ground and
read these their doom in Mark 8.38 Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels Mark not only ashamed of me but ashamed of my words that is of my Doctine and Truth and the profession of it He that 's ashamed of these of him also will Christ be ashamed when he will wish to be owned by him Again Others there are who though they own Truth yet will do little for it as to the defence and preservation of it though as a ravish't Virgin it crys out for their aid and relief yet they refuse to be helpful to it but are content to see it even undone before their eyes There are few which have tender bowels towards truth or active hands for the promoting of it Now this is that which the Apostle takes upon him here in this Text in the behalf not only of himself but also of his fellow-labourers and brethren that they were such as did not only declare all actings against it but close with all opportunities for it Not any thing against the Truth but for the Truth Nay further which seems also to be included their necessary inclinations hereunto for so we must likewise take it We can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth that is we cannot but do for the Truth as there 's an Impotency to opposition so there 's an impotency likewise to neutrality and remisness and indifferency of spirit According to that of the Apostles Peter and John in their reply to the Priests and Elders which prohibits them to Preach any more in the Name of Jesus We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard Act. 4.20 This is the temper of a gracious heart that it 's all inflamed with a love to Truth and cannot as there 's occasion and opportunity administred to it but express and shew it self for it as it was sometimes with the Prophet Jeremy Jer. 20.9 His word was in his heart as a burning-fire shut up in his bones he was weary with forbearing and could not stay or as it was with the Apostle Paul when he came sometime to Athens and saw the City wholly given to Idolatry It is said his spirit was stirred in him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he was put as it were into a Fit of a Feaver through his zeal and ardency of affection upon that occasion This has been the condition of Gods Servants in such cases as these are as we may see especially in the story of the Martyrs they could not withhold but they must shew themselves for truth sometimes even in the greatest dangers and hazards which were incident unto them from that rooting and settlement and foundation which it had in their hearts But so much for that and so I have done with the Affirmative Proposition likewise But for the Truth And now that I have seemed to go through the whole Text. I might very well begin it again and make a new Sermon upon it For the Truth of it is we are not yet come to the point nor to the scope of the Holy Ghost in this place We have hitherto handled the words absolutely and in the general notion of them but there is a Relative Consideration of them which is to be observed and taken notice of by us which is yet behind and intimated in the Connexive for as to the joyning of this Verse and the former both together and to make them dependant upon one another he had said in the Verse before Now I pray to God that ye do no evil not that we should appear approved but that ye should do that which is honest though we be as reprobates Now he adds For we cannot c. He speaks it of the exercise of his ministerial authority amongst them which he signifies to be in him not for himself so much as for them nor for his own respect and advancement but for the glory of God the good of the Church and the advancement of the Truth which is chiefly and especially and principally regarded by him And therefore if at any time he were more sharp and severe with them whether in the reproving or punishing of offenders he did still desire herein to approve himself as one that aimed at Justice and Piety and Vertue in that Administration as the main ground and end for which that Power was indeed bestowed upon him This is the proper and genuine and direct sense of these words as they here lye before us We can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth which are nothing else but a limitation of the Apostolical and Ministerial Power And that again twofold First As considered in the office and Ministry it self And secondly As considered in the persons namely himself and his fellow-Apostles and Ministers which were then the subjects of it For the first viz. The office and Ministry it self There is here in these words a limitation fastened upon that whiles it is said We can do nothing c. and thereby signified thus much That Ministerial Authority is not extended beyond Christian Edification The Apostles could do nothing but what was consonant and consistent with Religiou whether consider'd in the Doctrine of it or the practice This is that which is here exhibited to us and it is agreeable likewise to other places of Scripture as in 2 Cor. 10.8 For though I should boast more of our Authority which the Lora hath given us for edification and not for your destruction This was the end for which that Authority which he had was ordained and whereunto it did tend not destruction but edification so 1 Pet. 5.3 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã not as Lords over Gods Heritage or over ruling your several lots and divisions but as ensamples to the flock that is not for our own private advantage but for the good and benefit of the Church This is true as to either parts of the Ministry whether of Doctrine or Censure First If we take it of Doctrine that is limited and bounded by this Ministers they have a Didactical Authority and authority of teaching God has committed this unto them and to them alone there 's none have authority of dispensing the Mysteries of Faith and Religion but those only who are especially called and designed thereunto But yet this Authority even to such and such persons it is limited and restrained to the Truth We can here do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth Ministers have not power to impose any Doctrine or Maxim whatsoever upon the people to be believed by them but what is agreeable to the Word of God and the Will of God laid down in the Scripture they may not make any new Article of Faith or require assent unto it Thus we have it also in 2 Cor. 1. 24. Not that we have dominion over your faith
think to escape neither And therefore ye may again take notice of it that it is not only said Besides what we have Preached but what ye have received The receiver is as bad as the thief in this particular And as it is a cursed thing to scatter Error so it is as cursed a thing to take it up and carry it home and keep it by us or nourish it with us which therefore we should now all be perswaded in the fear of God to avoid and shun what we can It is a Caution and Admonition which is not needless to us or superfluous but very necessary and seasonable especially in these days wherein we live wherein so many and never more Errors abounded than now there do to take heed and look to our selves that we be not seduced and led away with them especially in those points which are of so great concernment to us The Authority of the Scriptures The Corruption of Nature The necessity of Regeneration The freeness of Gods Grace in Conversion The Perseverance of the Saints and the like Points which have again and again been inculcated to us and from time to time through several hands delivered unto us which therefore it concerns us to hold and keep our selves to as much as we can Especially you of this City that I may bring it a little nearer to you it behoves you especially above all other places of the Nation to be mindful of this Admonition as those who have been made partakers of the Truth in a more large and ample manner than any other else besides you cannot pretend the want of Preachers as having had more in this kind than any other City in the world not only us but Angels from Heaven as I may so express it which have come to you from all quarters and dispenst the Gospel unto you in the clearness and pureness of it yea and you have received it too which is somewhat more that is welcom'd it and imbraced it and given entertainment to it and exprest your affections to those who have been the Ministers of it both in former times and of late For which cause there are great ingagements upon you to stick close unto it and not to suffer your selves by any means to be taken off from it but earnestly to contend for that faith which hath been once delivered unto you It is a dangerous thing movere terminos to remove the bounds whether in civil affairs or in spiritual but in spiritual especially Here the Apostles rule elsewhere is seasonable for us To hold fast the form of sound words c. to keep that good thing which is committed unto us and to stand fast inone spirit with one mind and to strive together for the faith of the Gospel Gregory Nazianzene tells us of Constantine that when he drew near to his end of the three things which troubled his spirit this was one ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that he had made an innovation in Religion and the Doctrine of Christ The same will likewise any other which shall in like manner be guilty of it when they come duly to reflect upon it Let us for our parts be careful to maintain the Truth which for a recompence will maintain us and let us take heed of all such Doctrines and ways which are opposite and contrary hereunto Especially which now in these days do so much prevail and take place amongst us Socinianism Pelagianism Antinomianism Libertinism and the like And especially which is fittest to take in all the rest into it Popery and the abominations of Rome Le ts us take heed of that we may perhaps be secure in this matter and think we are now least in danger of this of all others but we are not for all that and our danger is the greater for our security the mystery of iniquity works and works now and all other Errors besides they do but usher and lead on to this and make way for it if we be not the more wary and watchful over our selves The Devil knows how to go backward that he may fetch the greater leap and have us at the long run and it is wisdom for us not to be ignorant of his devices This being the great design and project which he does now lay to himself for the undermining of poor souls I shall for this purpose and all other but refer you to what hath been formerly delivered unto you which you have heard and learnt and received and had confirmed amongst you from the mouths and pens of your forefathers and Blood of the Martyrs and conclude here as I began in the words of the Apostle Paul in this present Text Though we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel to you than what we have preached unto you let him be accursed As we said before so c. SERMON XXXVII Rom. 2.4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering not known that the Goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance It is a part of the Corruption of Nature and of the misery of Man through his fall to make his remedy to be his poyson and that which should be the greatest restraint and prohibition to him from sin to make it the greatest argument and enconragement to him for it namely the grace and goodness and patience and long-suffering of God This is that which the Apostle Paul does in a special manner meet withal and fall upon in this present Scripture where having in the foregoing Chapter inveighed agains the sins of the Gentiles and the compliance of others with them occasionally from Gods goodness to them doeshere in this particular Text which we have now before us set himself with a great deal of vehemency against this distemper and as it were taking them out man by man does expostulate it and reason it with them in the former part of this present Chapter for divers and sundry verses together Our business at present is with the fourth verse of it which is more full and close than all the rest Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering c. IN the Text it self there are two General Parts considerable First The simple Expostulation And secondly The aggravating Amplification The simple Expostulation that ye have in these words Despisest thou the riches of his goodness c. The aggravating Amplification in those Not knowing c. We begin with the former viz. The simple Expostulation Despisest thou c. Wherein again we have three Particulars more First The carriage and behaviour of God towards wicked and worldly men and that is much patience and indulgence and kindness to them The riches of c. Secondly The miscarriage and unanswerable returns of wicked men back again to God and that is in much frowardness and perversness and contempt they despise this his Goodness to them Thirdly The accountableness in which they stand to God for this miscarriage of theirs Doest thou despise
he oftentimes pretends to and present as a bait to many persons to catch tem and involve them in sin the fruit and profit and benefit which they shall receive by it but in conclusion it proves none at all as both the Scripture it self here testifies and the experience likewise of all men that deal with it can bear witness thereunto Thirdly Here 's that which on the contrary does advance the ways of goodness in opposition and contrariety hereunto Here 's the great difference now betwixt Sin and Grace betwixt walking in the ways of Holiness and walking in the ways of sin And this improvement we may the rather make of it because it seems to be that which is so chiefly intended by the Spirit of God in this Chapter viz. to compare these two both together and to shew the preheminence of the one above the other in this particular as we may see in the verses both before and after the Text When ye were the servants of sin says he ye were free from righteousness what fruit had ye then c. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life This is the difference betwixt them take any man whatsoever which imploys himself in the ways of vertue and godliness and he has a great deal of benefit and profit and advantage which does redound to him therefrom peace of Conscience and tranquillity of spirit and joy in the Holy Ghost which is glorious and unspeakable as the Apostle speaks Though a man should have no fruit of it at all from the world yet he has enough within the compass of it self and that satisfaction which it gives to the mind of him that is conversant therein Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour as it is said of this spiritual wisdom in Prov. 3.16 17. Whereas on the other side for sinful courses and the ways of wickedness and ungodliness this is all a man comes off with a reproachful imputation of unprofitableness that a man gets no benefit by it in all such labour as this is especially which he has under the Sun Nay further as a man has no benefit by it or from it or after it so neither has he indeed in it which is another thing to be taken notice of by us and pertinent to the illustration of this point What fruit had ye then and what fruit had ye in there 's an Emphasis and a force in that to meet with the fond conceits and apprehensions of many people abroad which though they have no good by their Sins at all after them yet do imagin that they have some good at least in them that then when they are imployed about them and are in the actings and commissions of them that then certainly they have some advantage by them nay but not so neither they are mistaken if they think so It is not what fruit have ye from these things but what fruit have ye in them It is not what fruit have ye now but what fruit had ye then not only now when the Sins over and the commission of it is past and you find the sad effects and consequents of it in your selves but then when it was in the very best and prime and activity of it not only now when you are converted and changed and altered and of another mind what fruit have ye now but even then when you were in your natural condition when you were most eager and bent upon Sin and thought your selves the happiest people in the world if you might but obtain an opportunity for the committing of it What fruit had ye and what fruit had ye then in such things as these are This is that which the Holy Ghost would here teach us the unsatisfactoriness which is in Sin even to that mind which is most intent upon it and most vehemently carried away with it the pleasure of Sin it is a false pleasure and the delight of it is a false delight and the contentment which seems to be in it no true contentment at all which when men seriously reflect upon and consider in good earnest with themselves as St. Paul bid the Romans here to do they do easily find and observe and accordingly are perswaded of it to be so indeed The acting and committing of Sin it has no true comfort in it but much of the contrary rather an the upon a twofold account First From the disconvenience of the object the unsuitableness and unagreeableness which is in Sin to the mind of man it self which though so far forth as it is depraved and corrupted does close well enough with it yet so far forth as it has any relicks or remainders of goodness at all in it so far forth is opposite to it This we may observe sometimes in the worst men that are except it be such as are given up to a reprobate sense and to and hard and obdurate heart through the just judgment of God I say otherwise the worst men almost that are they have somewhat in them which does contradict Sin through the Law of God written in their hearts and though their corruption does carry them headlong to it yet their better principles do set them against it not only those which are truly regenerated but even natural men themselves they have some common moral principles in them which at least to some kind of Sins do make them more or less indisposed so that whensoever they come to commit them yet they do them with some kind of abhorrency and reluctancy in themselves and because they do them so therefore they do them not with full delight neither can they have that contentment in them which they might be thought to have Secondly Another thing is the rising of Conscience it self and some implicite sense and apprehension of Gods wrath and judgment and vengeance against those Sins which are committed A man have no true contentment in sin in the commission of it because at the very same time that he does indeed act and commit it his Conscience does in some degree or other check him or it and cite him to Gods Tribunal and Judgment-seat in reference to it this is not done so fully and expresly in some persons and Sins where men are transported with violence to them but yet in some weaker measure it is in all which are not exceedingly hardened and given up to the lusts of their own hearts certainly in all others besides there are more or less such stirrings and girdings of Conscience as do much imbitter the sweetness of Sin in any act or kind whatsoever especially to such kind of persons which live under godly education or powerful Preaching or in good society such as these they cannot escape now an then such workings as these as a true account of this present point in
of Faith There are many which reckon themselves in the highest form of Divinity which are in the lowest form of Christianity as having little of the true knowledg of Christ abiding in them Secondly Weaker Christians are compared to little Children as for the smallness of their growth so for the shallowness of their understanding and the weakness and feebleness of their digestion Little children they cannot digest strong meats as is before implied no more can weaker Christians stronger or higher truths There are some Truths in Religion which weaker minds are apt to abuse and to pervert to their own perdition as the Apostle Peter tells us some did with those hard things in Pauls Epistles 2 Pet. 3.16 They are too strong and difficult for them 1 Cor. 3.1 Thirdly Little children they are froward and apt to be complaining in regard of the tenderness which is in them a small matter troubles them and so it is with weak Christians there 's a peevishness and morosity upon them from whence a little thing molests them and soon puts them out of frame Fourthly and lastly as most pertinent to the Text. Little children they are not long in a mind they quickly change and alter their opinions and so it is with weaker Christians It was so in particular with these Galatians for which the Apostle indeed does here call them little children they were soon removed from him that had called them c. chap. 14. Upon this account does the Apostle also express himself after this manner to the Ephesians That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine Take little children and ye may turn them which way ye will and that which to day they play with to morrow they are ready to cast away The same desposition is there in weaker Christians both in regard of Teachers and Doctrines those Teachers which for the time they admire within a while they have enough of them and those Doctrines which now they imbrace ere long they 'l be of a contrary mind and judgment to them But so much of the first thing here considerable which is the Title or Compellation Little children c. The second is the condition in which he stood in reference to them and that we have in these words of whom I travel in birth again Wherein two particulars more First The simple Proposition of it I travel in birth Secondly The additional Reiteration I travel in birth again For the first The simple Proposition The Apostle says he travels in birth with these Galatians where having before call'd them little children he still continues the metaphor about them by resembling and comparing himself to a travelling woman and so upon occasion he is made all things to the people of God sometimes a spokes-man to betratb them 2 Cor. 11.2 I have espoused you to one husband that I might present you a chast virgin to Christ sometimes a Father to beget them 1 Cor. 4.15 For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel sometimes a Nurse to cherish them 1 Thes 2.7 We were gentle among you even as a nurse cherisheth c. sometimes a Mother to bear them My little children of whom I travel in birth And this latter is that which we are now to consider of at this present time Here 's that wonder which the Prophet Jeremy speaks of of a man travailing with child in Jer. 30.6 The Apostle Paul here assumes it to himself but he does not restrain it to himself he does by this expression signifie the condition of the Ministerial employment especially in the hands of those which are faithsul in it it is like the travel of a woman in child-birth of whom I travel in birth There are three things especially which are observable in a travailing woman and each of them appliable to a Minister and Pastor of souls First Sense of pain Secondly Desire of delivery Thirdly Fear of miscarriage First sense of pain There 's pain amd labour in travel so great as that other things which were painful are set forth and resembled by it in Scripture and a woman when she is in traved we say she is in labour as if there were no labour to speak of but only that Now this is also considerable of us in the work of the Ministry howsoever some may count it and others may make it yet in it self and in the conscionable discharge of it it is a laborious work And accordingly we shall find it in Scripture exprest in so many terms 1 Cor. 3.9 We are labourers together with God 1 Cor. 15.10 I laboured more abundantly than they all 1 Tim. 5.17 They that labour in the word and doctrine Still the work of the Ministry is represented and exhibited to us as a business of pains and labour and so indeed it is Indeed it is so differently to a difference and variety of persons as it is in the other kind of travel and bodily child-birth some have an easier pull of it than others accordingly as it please God to be assistant to them as it is noted of the Hebrew-women Exod. 1.19 So here in this spiritual travel according to different gifts and inablements the labour is different but yet all who are that which they should be have their share in this pain and labour This as it is a good Meditation to Ministers themselves to teach them with what thoughts to enter upon so weighty an employment so it is also a good item to people how to carry themselves towards them even by knowing them that labour amongst them and admonish them and to esteem them very highly in love for their works-sake as the Apostle Paul makes that use himself of it to the Thessalonians 1 Thes 5.12 13. We see what cause we have to bear a tender affection to the true Ministers of Christ to pity them and to pray for them even as we would for a woman which is drawing near the time of her travel so should we for those which are understanding such a great work as this is even seek to God earnestly for them especially considering that it is for our sakes and in reference to our good that it is undertaken by them That 's one thing which is considerable in this resemblance of the work of the Ministry to travel viz. sense of pain The second is desire of delivery A travelling-woman she longs to be eased of her burden with which she goes and waits for the times of her redemption and freedom from it and she has a great desire to bring forth what she carries into the world So also had the Apostle here of doing good to these Galatians he was with child till he had wrought some what upon them and brought them into a good temper of spirit This is another thing observable in a good Minister from whence he is said to travel in child for those which are committed unto him Thus Rom. 1.11 I
or matter of conceit but such as has a bottom with it when we become true Christians Christ is formed and framed in us Look as there 's a great deal of difference betwixt a Tympany or Mole or false conception and a true birth so is there likewise a great deal of difference betwixt a meer formal professor and a true believer for the former hath only as it were the picture and shadow of Christ upon him the other hath Christ formed in him So that as Christ sometimes replied upon his Disciples when they took him for a Ghost or Spirit Luk. 24.39 Behold says he my hands and my feet handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me to have Even so may a true Christian say to any one that shall question his condition and take him for a meer image or counterfeit in Religion Behold and see if it be not thus and thus with me He has flesh and bones as it were appearing in him there 's Christ in all his lineaments to be seen upon him and Grace it enters as we may so speak into the substance of him He is in deed and good earnest that which he makes shew of and seems to be We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works as it is in Ephes 2.10 Therefore let us according hereunto examine and search our selves see what truth of Religion there is in us There 's many which have a bare outward profession and title but that is all they have a form of godliness as form is taken for outward appearance but they have not Godliness formed in them as form is taken for the inward substance Grace it is not thoroughly rooted and incorporated into them which is here implied that it ought to be Now as long as it is so with them they cannot be that which they should be whiles Christ is said to be formed hereby is denoted the substantiality of Religion Secondly The enlargement and spreading of it as running all along which I intimated before through the whole man He that is a true Christian he has every part sanctified in him he which has not he is no better than a monster Christ has somewhat of every thing in him eyes and ears and tongue and heart and all The Apostle Paul elsewhere expresses as much unto us Rom. 6.19 For as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness Your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity there 's the old man formed in them and defiling every part of them your members servants to righteousness and holiness there 's the forming of Christ So 1 Thes 5.23 Sanctifie youwholly c. Thirdly Here 's also Activity and Operation Till Christ be formed in you that is till you be animated by Christ as producing the actions of spiritual life in you Whosoever is a true Christian he has Christ living and acting in him more or less and he brings forth answerable fruits unto Christ There 's an ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a supply of the spirit of Christ Phil. 1.19 which does actuate him and put him forward Religion is an inward business Christ in those which are his members does exert and draw forth Grace in them Lastly Here 's also permanency and inherence whiles Christ is said to be formed in us hereby is signified our constant abode and continuance in him and his in us that as the forms of things they are unseparable and unremovable from the things themselves which they are forms unto so is Christ and the Grace of Christ from the heart of a Christian and he cannot sin with a total Apostasie or falling away from Christ because the feed of God remaineth in him as the Apostle John tells us 1 Joh. 3.9 This is the difference now betwixt true and sound Christians and other men Take a worldly person and he is joined to Christ by common profession as bearing his name upon him but he is not knit and united to Christ by faith Christ has no settlement or foundation in him but for a true believer he is as it were bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh He is incorporated and ingrafted into him and formed in him And because he is so therefore he is sure never to depart or to fall away from him From all which considered by the way it will appear unto us whence all those mistakes proceed which are sometimes in the world concerning the Doctrine of Perseverance and the Saints standing or falling in point of Grace it is from hence that the nature of true Grace and Conversion is not rightly either understood or at least considered and thought upon which if it were it would soon put an end to such-like disputes as these are and of it self determine them to us As long as men shall look upon Religion as a thing meerly taken up it is no wonder that they should conclude a departure and falling away from it but when they shall consider that it is setled and rooted here they will not easily yield to a possibility of losing of it whatever is natural it is constant and permanent in the subjects of it and so it is âere with Grace which is as it were a second nature you may as soon separate light from the Sun or heat from the fire or life from the soul as you may do Grace from a Christian heart in which it is wrought and riveted and imprinted and transformed into it Thus you see how many things are at once included in this expression of Christs being formed in us But here it may be further demanded how far forth and in what manner this is done in what respects did the Apostle undestand that Christ should be formed in these Galatians and so consequently in all other Christians To this I answer in two especially First In respect of the Doctrine of Christ that they should be moulded and formed into that And secondly in respect of the Spirit of Christ that they should be also wrought upon and fashioned by that First In respect of Christs Doctrine that they should be moulded and formed into that this is one manner of way in which Christ was to be formed in them For this was that now which they were in a great measure departed from they had forsaken the Doctrine of Christ through the seducement of the false Teachers amongst them and were returned to the Law of Moses which they did expect Justification from Now the Apostle would have them to be formed and reformed in this particular He would have them to be well setled and confirmed in Evangelical Truths and the Doctrine of the Gospel of Christ This was that in the first place which we may here conceive as commended unto them so it concerns us to be in like manner who profess our selves Christians to be well acquainted and instructed and grounded in all the Articles
and Points of Religion especially such as do more concern Christ himself And not only to be acquainted with them but also changed into them which is a further thing here considerable of us to make up to us this forming of Christ so as all the several Doctrines of Christianity they may have a work upon our Hearts and Affections answerable and suitable to the nature of the Doctrines themselves Thus Rom. 6.17 Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine which was delivered unto you In the Greek it is into which ye were delivered ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This was the commendation of the Romans that as the Evangelical Doctrine was delivered to them so they also were delivered to it that is changed and transformed into the nature and condition of it and closing and complying with it This is the duty of all others besides We should not only hear the word to hear it and notionally to discourse of it but we should hear it that we may obey it and practically conform our selves unto it That 's the first Explication of this forming of Christ in us as it does relate to the Doctrine of Christ The second is as it does relate to the Spirit of Christ Till Christ be formed in you that is till ye are made conformable to Christ having the same mind and spirit in you which was first in him This is another thing which the Scripture urges upon us and makes mention of to us as Rom. 8.29 For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son Christians they must be conformed to Christ and made like unto him this is to have him formed in them Now this conformity it is of two sorts as the Scripture exhibits it First A conformity of disposition and secondly Of conversation First Of Disposition That we be like affected as he was Let the same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus Phil. 2.5 So 1 Cor. 2. ult We have the word of Christ Christ he is to have an influence upon the framing and fashioning of our spirits And that again in two Particulars First In a conformity to his Death and secondly in a conformity to his Resurrection In a conformity to his Death so we have it in Phil. 3.10 That I may know him and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable to his death How are we made conformable to his Death when as namely his Death proves effectual to the killing of sin in us and the mortifying of corrupt affections in our hearts Thus also Rom. 6.6 Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead is freed from sin Then for the conformity to his Resurrection that is when we do partake of a quickening power from Christ to enliven us in all holy performances Thus Rom. 6.4 5. Therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his Resurrection So much of the first conformity to Christ viz. the conformity of Disposition The 2d is the conformity of conversation to others when as we walk as Christ also walked 1 Joh. 2.6 And Christ is formed in our course that is made conspicuous to others from our carriage and behaviour What the carriage and behaviour of Christ was we have at large laid down to us in the Gospel which is the History of his whole Life declaring how he still went about doing good where ever he came how full he was of meekness and sweetness and gentleness and compassion and yet with it an holy zeal also against sin and sinful persons Now what 's the result of all to us as we should improve it but that accordingly in our several opportunities we should conform unto it that as he became like to us so we also should be made like unto him If we would know how this may be done by us I know no better way for it than by looking upon Christ as he is there represented unto us We know what a force there is in sight to work upon the imagination as in cattel when they conceived upon the beholding of the party coloured rods and had lambs suitable thereunto But there 's a stronger power in the eye of faith beholding Christ as he is propounded in the Gospel to change us and to make us like unto him Therefore says the Apostle elsewhere We all beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.18 The sight of Christ in the Gospel is transforming and has a power to change and assimilate those that exercise it suitably unto it This is the forming of Christ in us in reference to his Spirit which is that that is chiefly here intended in this Text. Now the Use and Improvement which we are to make of all this to our selves is to labour to find that this be so indeed with us that is that Christ be truly formed in us that we partake of his blessed Image upon us and his living Spirit in us are one with him and incorporated into him as considering that nothing less will serve our turn this is absolutely necessary for us as to all purposes and conditions whatsoever without this we can do nothing which is spiritual or in a spiritual manner we cannot please God or be accepted of him at another day He will no further own us than as he sees Christ instampt upon us Therefore let us look to this above any thing else let us not rest our selves in a bare outward profession and form of Religion which has no life nor power at all in it but let us endeavour that the life of Jesus may be manifested in us and his Spirit wrought into us or else there 's nothing in Religion will do us any good We may talk and discourse of Christs Birth and Death and Resurrection and such great Mysteries as these but alas they will be all nothing to us unless we for our particulars have a share and interest in his Person What is it for Christ to be born into the world except he be born in us to be conceived and formed and fashioned in the womb of his mother except he be also formed and fashioned in our hearts and we our selves made conformable to him as we have hitherto shewn This is that which we should principally look to Not as if there were no other forming of him but only this as some would go about to perswade us but this is chiefly to be minded by us ut quod in Christo factum est per naturam in nobis
they still put all spirituality in the outside of Duties themselves reckoning them for the only spiritual men in the world which are mured and shut up in a Cloyster and are imployed in their superstitious Devotions and practices of Will-worship and in the mean time wirhdrawing themselves from all serviceableness and usefulness to the world and places wherein they live This is not to walk in the spirit but rather in the flesh We must therefore take a further account of this business than as yet we have done and here to walk in the spirit will be as I in part intimated before to be heavenly and spiritually minded in our whole course and conversation Whatever the things themselves be so not sinful which we are occupied about let them be matters but of our ordinary callings yea even lawful recreations themselves a gracious heart will be spiritual in them and so we ought to be when we do every thing as in God's Presence to his Glory and as accountable to him for whatever we do then do we indeed walk in the spirit when we are in the fear of the Lord all the day long Prov. 23.17 Which makes up the first Explication understanding by the spirit the spirit as bestowing grace as subjected in us Secondly By the Spirit we may here understand his motions and suggestions as objected to us Walk in the spirit that is walk according to the guidance and dictate and moderation of the Spirit of God And this again in two particulars more First In the directions of the Spirit Walk as the Spirit of God inclines you Secondly In the Consolations of the Spirit Walk as the Spirit of God comforts you and gives encouragement to you First Walk in the spirit that is after the directions of the spirit as the Spirit of God inclines you be sure and careful of that It is the blessed and happy advantage of those which are the servants of God that as they have the Spirit of God working grace in them at first so they have also the same gracious spirit still exciting and provoking and stirring up that grace which he has wrought in them for following times Thou shalt hear a voice behind thee saying This is the way walk ye in it c. Isa 30.21 Now then are we said to walk in the spirit whensoever we listen and hearken hereunto and move our selves accordingly when we do that which the spirit commands us and provokes us to do and when we shun that which the spirit forbids us and takes us off from not only in the word but in the conscience wherein he does also apply himself to us and that in a suitableness and correspondency unto the word look what he commands in the one he suggests in the other and never contrary or opposite thereunto whereby it may be discerned whether it be the Spirit of God or no. There are many who sometimes pretend to follow the dictates and motions of the spirit when-as it is rather the propensities and inclinations of their own corrupt and carnal hearts but such as these delude them This is the priviledg and duty of Christians to be guided by a better spirit than their own even the Holy Spirit to suffer his motions and suggestions to take place in their hearts and to rule and bear sway in them This we should labour still to do upon all occasions whenever we find any stirrings of good in us presently to close with them and to improvethem all we can toturn the motions of the spirit to resolutions on our behalf and not only into resolutions but into practice which is the life and vigor of all This is to walk in the spirit And this is that which we should apply our selves unto in obedience to this command or counsel which is here given us in the Text especially such amongst us as have any thing more of this Spirit of God dwelling in us the more that any partake of the spirit the more it concerns them to walk in the spirit and to yield themselves up to the Power and Authority of the Spirit upon them because that such as these have greater and larger opportunities than other have As for other men which are but of common and ordinary principles yet living within the bosom of the Church and there partaking of the means of grace there are very few of them except they be such as are desperately concluded but they have now and then some kind of stirrings and workings of the Spirit of God moving in their consciences whereby he diverts them from evil and puts them on to the doing of good and it concerns such as these accordingly to walk in the spirit and to follow those motions and suggestions which are thus offer'd and tender'd unto them yea but now as for the children of God which are regenerate and born again and have saving grace wrought in their hearts such as these they are seldom without them but are frequently and continually exercised and inured unto them And therefore for them not to walk after them is a matter of great indignity which is hereby offered to so holy a Spirit and such as does not pass in them without some trouble and affliction upon their own spirit usually for it that so they may take the greater heed of being guilty or neglectful herein at another time as is manifest from the experiences of many which have made complaint in this partiular and should be a caution and warning to all the rest We should take heed of grieving the Holy Spirit of God by refusing his gracious Motions and Applications of himself to our hearts but walk in the spirit that is first after the spirits directions as the Spirit of God inclines us Secondly Walk in the spirit that is walk in the spirits Consolations as the Spirit of God comforts and incourages you This is such a kind of walking in the spirit as the Scripture does sometimes make mention of as Act. 9.31 it is said there of the Churches That they walk'd in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost This is also our duty to do and though perhaps it be not that which in this place is chiefly intended yet neither is it altogether excluded it is the special office of the spirit to be a comforter therefore to walk in the spirit is to walk in his comforts We find among other fruits of the spirit which are reckoned up here in this Chapter Joy is named for one as that which does belong thereunto and certainly we do then walk in the spirit when we do preserve this joy in our selves When we labour to keep terms of peace and reconcilement betwixt God and us from whence our hearts may be filled with comfert When the Consolations of God are not small with us but we do value them and make much of them and do not easily do any thing which may forfeit them or provoke God to take them
sense and meaning of the Scripture as they have thought after a spiritual manner and in the mean time departed from the power and scope of it by leading lives opposite and contrary thereunto But the Spirit of Christ here by the Apostle requires of us to make the Word of God the Rule of our life Secondly We may not content our selves neither with some Discourses an inlargements of speech as tending to Piety which is another thing which many are subject much to rest in and to satisfie themselves withal There are many which if out of the strength of parts or the advantage of company and education and converse they can speak commendably and plausibly in Religion that they have then discharged themselves and done all which is required of them nay but it is not this which will serve the turn neither This walking in the spirit it does imply more than simple discourse or Amplification of speech in Divine and Spiritual Points it is not talking but walking which is here commended unto us not the walking only of the tongue but of the whole man Thirdly It is not only good meanings and intentions as some please to call them which should content and satisfie us neither There are many which go no further than these pretend they have as good a mind to God-ward as any other though they do nothing which savors of so much in them promise and vow and resolve and are full of good purposes but such as at last come to nothing at all in them Now all such as these are cut off by this Exhortation Walk in the spirit It is not enough for men to have good intentions but they must have answerable actions it is not enough for men to have good purposes but they must have answerable performances they must do that which they do resolve on Indeed it is true in some cases God accepts of the will for the deed and the intention for the performance it self namely there where we are extrinsecally hinder'd and debar'd of an opportunity of performance as we may see for Abrahams offering up of his Son God was well-pleased with his willingness thereto and accordingly accepted it and so for Davids building of the Temple God took it very well from him that he had a mind and desire to do it though he did not do the thing it self as being prevented by Divine Dispensation This his Son Solomon signifies concerning him in 2 Chron. 6.8 The Lord said to David my Father Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build an house for my Name thou didst well that it was in thine heart Mark thou didst well because it was in thine heart to do so God looked upon it as well-doing good actions are good intentions incarnate because there was well-purposing and well resolving for as the thought of foolishness is sin so the thought also of goodness is grace and so to be accounted but yet where there 's opportunity for action there 's somewhat more which is required of us We must not rest our selves in good desires but endeavour to bring them into accomplishment what we can through the infirmity of the flesh and that 's the first thing implied in this walking viz. Activity c. Secondly Here 's implied strength in opposition to faintness and remisness he that walks he moves strongly so must a Christianin his course of Christianity He must labour to express some strength and vigor therein he must be able to do somewhat more than other men and the generality of people in the world in the subduing of corruptions in the bearing of afflictions in the performance of duties it does not become such an one as has the Spirit of God in him to be overcome or yield there where perhaps another would be foil'd no but as he has been made partaker of a nobler and higher principle so to put forth the vertue of it in his whole life and conversation both to the Honour and Glory of God as likewise to the greater advancement of Religion it self Thirdly Here 's implied also constancy in opposition to declining and giving back walk in the spirit that is continue and go on in goodness and proceed still from one degree of grace to another here 's improvement and perseverance in Holiness which is commended to us under this expression as it is said of the People of God Psal 84.7 That they go from strength to strength till they every one of them appear before God in Zion So it should be with us in our Christian course we shoul never give over till we come to our journeys end till we attain the end of our faith even the salvation of our souls as the Apostle Peter speaks 1 Pet. 1.9 Forgetting those things which are behind press forward Phil. 3.13 There are many which begin as it were in the spirit but they end in the stesh as the Apostle speaks of these Galatians they set upon that which is good but they do not persist and persevere in it Now this is that which he does here over and above require of them and in them of all others besides which pretend to Christianity And so now I have done with the first Particular in this first General viz The Affirmative Injunction or Precept which the Apostle here commends to these Galatians and in them to our selves Walk in the spirit The second is the Negative or Prohibition ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and do not or ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh I put them both together because the words will bear either and I find them both in our own English Translation the one in the Margent the other in the Text. According to the former so it has in it the nature of a Prohibition or Dehortation as shewing what should not be According to the latter so it has in it the nature of a Promise or comfortable intimation as shewing what shall not be We may if we please take notice of both And first of the former sense as it carries in it the nature of a Prohibition and as shewing a Christians duty Do not fulfil the lusts of the flesh the Subjunctive for the Imperative Where we may by the way observe this in the general how careful the Spirit of God is to set us and keep us right and what means he uses thereunto Here 's precept upon precept and line upon line and negative upon affirmative one thing after another to make it so much the more full and effectual to us one would have thought it might have been enough to have said this Walk in the spirit no more but so for whiles we do thus we are not likely to do much amiss as we shall hear afterwards but the Apostle is not content with that he adds this to it moreover And do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh This he does upon a two-fold ground First His own tenderness and jealousie over us Secondly Our falseness and the slipperiness of
our deceitful hearts First I say here 's the tenderness and holy jealousie of the Apostle Paul and the Spirit of God in him towards the Galatians and in them to all Christians in that he does reiterate and ingeminate his counsels to us This is still the nature of love and sincere affection that it thinks it 's never sure of the safety of the party whom it loves and therefore it repeats its admonitions and cautions again and again and is not satisfied to do it in one expression but is willing likewise to do it in another for the greater sureness and certainty of it But then secondly Here 's also the falseness and slipperiness of our deceitful hearts which stand in need of such kind of repetitions and inculcations as these are we are apt upon every turn and occasion to fall into evil and therefore we have need of all the helps against it that possibly may be not only to have our duty propounded and that which is to be done by us but likewise to be forewarned of sin and the countuary evil which we are to take heed of and avoid what we can And this by the way from the Addition of this second particular to the first But to come closely to the words themselves Do not fulfil the lusts of the flesh This is that which is in a special manner prohibited to all Christians not only here in this present Text but also in divers others besides The Scripture either in the same words or else in expressions like hereunto is very full of such Admonitions as these And accordingly it concerns us to observe them to take heed by all means that we be not guilty in this respect and to take notice of them and that especially upon these following Considerations First Because it is contrary to their professions those which are Christians have renounced the works of the flesh and vowed against them It is a part of our Covenant in Baptism wherein we are consecrated and given up to God that we will abandon such courses as these and therefore it concerns us in no hand to have to do with them If we have we transgress our Covenant and break the Bond which is betwixt us and God as an engagement to our new Obedience and Holiness of life Secondly It is contrary to our Principles and the work of Grace wrought in our hearts which in Baptism is also sealed unto us those which are true Christians they have the spirit of Christ in them which does incline them and carry them a clean direct and contrary way to these lusts of the flesh This we shall find to be the Argument of the Apostle in another place as Rom. 8.9 c. Ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you Now if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness Therefore brethren we are debters not to the flesh to live after the flesh c. Every one that has the Spirit of God in him is a debter to walk after the spirit and so therefore on the other side not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh Thirdly It is contrary to their practice and that which they have done formerly already every good Christian as he has a Principle of Mortification in him whereby he is inabled to subdue the flesh so he has in some sort put this principle into action and has actually subdued the flesh indeed They which are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts says the Apostle Paul in ver 24. of this Chapter Now therefore for them to come and fulfil them is very incongruous and unsuitable and unagreeable to their former practise it is to take sin down again from the Cross and to put life and breath as it were into it after it is once mortified than which there can be nothing more absure or unfitting to be done Thus the Apostle does abundantly reason in Rom. 6.6 Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin And again in ver 11 12. Likewise reckon ye also your selves to be dead indeed unto sin let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof And so all along in that Chapter Fourthly There is this also considerable against the fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh the great evil and danger which comes by it and that is that it brings death and destruction along with it to be carnally minded is death Rom. 8.6 And if ye live after the flesh ye shall dye Rom. 8.13 And he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption Gal. 6.8 And many such places as these which shew the deadliness and perniciousness of such courses What does all this now come to but teach us so much the rather to shame them and decline them and to abstain from them to follow and put in practice this counsel and admonition of the Apostle here in this Text Do not fulfil the lusts of the flesh For the better urging and pressing whereof it will not be amiss for us to consider the particular meaning of the terms themselves There are two Terms here to be explain'd as there were also in the former branch First What is here to be understood by the lusts of the flesh ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and what we have prohibited therein Secondly What is here to be understood by not fulfilling ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and what we have prohibited therein To speak somewhat to both First What are we here to understand by the lusts of the flesh Desideria Carnis Now for these we are hereby to understand all the motions and inclinations and actions of the unregenerate part in us of what kind soever By the lusts of the flesh we are not only to understand those sins which by an eminency are called fleshly lusts such lusts as are terminated in the body and acted by that as Drunkenness and Adultery and Fornication and Uncleanness and the like though these be so in a special manner and in that regard to be avoided but by the lusts of the flesh we are to understand all the motions and affections and emanations of corrupt nature in us not only as acted by the body but also as more immediate to the soul as pride and envy and malice and such as these these are included by the Apostle and not only included but also more especially intended as those sins which he did aim at to mortifie and subdue in these present Galatians to whom he here writes This we may observe from the context an the coherence of these words with the former He had spoken in the Verses before of using their liberty for an occasion to the flesh in uncharitable conversation and in biting and devouring one another by slanders and
rash censures c. now here he adds and do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh that is such lusts as these are this may accordingly so teach us how to understand the language of the Holy Ghost both here and in other places of Scripture when it makes mention of the lusts of the flesh not to limit and confine it with the Papists only to the sins of the outward man as if there were no other lust or flesh but that but to take in the miscarriages of spirit and mind together with them as those which are in their kind and degree as abominable to God as any other This may be useful both to order our life as also to regulate our repentance and humiliations of our selves in Gods sight that we may not think we have presently done our duty or put in practise this counsel of the Apostle when we have abstained from Corporal defilements but also when we have been careful to preserve in us a purity of spirit Let a man be never so innocent as to the former yet if he be not wary and fearful also of the latter he is a carnal person for all that Those that nourish in themselves vile affections of wrath and hatred and malice and bitterness of spirit and the like they do fulfill the lusts of the flesh though they be otherwise never so temperate and free from gross and scandalous offences and so will God one day account them and deal with them at another day Thus Jam. 3.14 15. This we may further gather from the Apostle himself here in this very Chapter in hand who is his own best Interpreter and therefore when he would explain himself to us and tell us what he means by these lusts of the flesh which he had here mentioned see what kind of sins he does enumerate and reckon up to us amongst the rest Hatred variance emulations wrath heresies and he tells us that they that do such things as these shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And that 's the first term here considerable what we are to understand by the lusts of the flesh The second is what is here meant by the accomplishing or fulfilling of them Non persicietis do not fulfill And here there are two things prohibited First the simple acting of lust do not fulfill it i.e. do not perform it Secondly The further progress in lust do not fulfill it i.e. do not perfect it or go on in the performing of it First This non perficietis it does restrain us from the simple act and execution of lust in our selves that we come not to that He does not say have not lust or flesh at all in you though that also sometimes be said by God himself he has forbidden us the very first motions and inclinations to sin in us and concupiscence no more but so it is a breach of his Divine Law But I say this is not that which the Apostle does make mention of in this place he knew that as long as they lived here in the body they would have the stirrings of corruption in them as it is Rom. 7.5 which he does therefore here suppose But he desires that whiles these were in them yet they should not favour them or give way unto them but withdraw themselves from them Though the Principles he in you yet as neer as may be suppress the actions and the working out of those Principles in you with the commissions themselves do not do the works of the flesh though ye have the lusts of it remaining in you And there 's a double reason why the Apostle should prohibit this viz. the acting of lusts by us First Because these act do increase the guilt of sin Secondly Because these acts do increase the habit of sin in us First I say they do increase the guilt the more a man is engaged in any sinful or unlawful course the more does he bring guilt and condemnation upon his own soul and expose himself to the judgment of God It is true he does it simply by having in him no more but the desires and propensities and inclinations to sin but he does it more by putting them into act For every acting of sin it is a kind of an interpretative allowance and justification of sin in us And we do thereby seem further to approve of those corrupt and vicious affections which we are already prepossest withal Secondly As these actings of sin do increase the guilt of sin in us so they do also increase the habit and they make lust to be so much the more violent and predominant in us The more that any man sins the more will he desire to sin and the more will he be carried in his affections and inclinations to sin The sinful habit will be intended by the sinful act which is another consideration to make the act so much the more odious and hateful to us and for which as we may conceive the Apostle Paul does here prohibit it in this present place Do not fulfill c. But then secondly He does here also prohibit the further progress and perseverance in sin Do not fulfill that is do not perfect it or go on in the performance of it for there 's perfectio corruption in mato even in evil And it is a if the Apostle should have exprest himself thus unto them Beloved I could wish with all mine heart that ye had no motions or stirrings of lust or sin at all in you but seeing ye are not free from them yet be careful as much as may be to abstain from the acts if by chance ye fall into them at first yet do not continue and persevere in them but put a stop to them our selves This is that which we are here prohibited in this second place a continuance in sin where through infirmity we have at any time slipt and fallen into it at first Thus the Apostle Rom. 6.1 What shall we say then shall we continue in sin God forbid And Jam. 1.15 We find the method which is there set with the character upon it Then lust when it hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished or perfected brings forth death There 's the mischief of all when ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ends in ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ends in ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã when lust in the conception is followed with sin in the consummation and the bringing forth of sin is followed with the bringing forth of death Thus it happens to be where there is this fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh and therefore we should by all means possibly avoid it and take heed of it Let not sin raign in your mortal bodies as in the place before cited Let us not make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof Rom. 13.14 He that committeth sin is of the Devil ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1 Joh 3.8 It is sometimes the suggestion of Satan and the
imagination of many a sinner that where they have once begun in any evil they had now as good to go on and to make progress in it Oh but take heed of that do not yield to such a temptation as this is it is very dangerous and pernicious to the soul and so will prove God requires we should do our utmost to the avoiding of all manner of sin in us and where we have not so much grace as to come off to such a measure and degree of mortification yet at least to go so far as we can Est aliquid prodire tenus si non datur ultra We should endeavour as much as may be to subdue the very principles and first motions of sin in us if they will still remain yet to prevent the acts If any act of sin break forth from us in the beginning and inchoation of it yet to stop it and to restrain it in the progress then shall we truly put in practise this exhortation and command of the Apostle wherein he does charge us not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh To set this home a little more fully and effectually upon us let us over and above take notice of the intention of the Prohibition in the Text it is given us in two negative Particles ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã both which carries so much the greater force with it and by the way likewise shews us how far it concerns our selves to have respect unto it it shews us how desirous God himself is that we should withdraw from such sinful courses and likewise how far of our selves we are subject unto them and therefore stand in need of such earnest and importunate prohibitions as these are and they should not be in vain to us but should work upon us to bring us to so much the more caution and heedfulness of spirit Indeed there are some spirits in the world which from hence are so much the worse and do too much make good that observation of Nitimur in vetitum Sin taking occasion by the commandment works in them all manner of concupiscence as the Apostle speaks and the more they are restrained from it the more eager and violent they are upon it There are some which let the Ministers and servants of God say what they please yet they are resolved to do what they list and the more they abound in admonition the more do these abound in transgression and purpose to do so still But this is a fearful perverting of Gods gracious dealings with us in such opportunities as these are and such as where we are guilty of it will highly aggravate our sins upon us which we should therefore especially beware of And further observe how this counsel of not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh it is indefinite and given to all sorts of persons not only to Monks and Eremites as Luther observes upon the place but to all ranks and conditions of men and as he particularly instances in to Magistrates who then put this counsel in practise when they are conscionable in the discharge of their places and careful to close with those opportunities of doing good which in those relations are afforded unto them when they watch over the temptations of their callings and the snares which they are subject unto from the corruption of men which is in them without better heed and regard to their hearts c. And so now I have done with this clause in the first acception of it viz. as it may be taken Imperatively and by way of Prohibition as denoting a Christians Duty Do not in any case fulfill the lusts of the flesh The second is as it may be taken Indicatively and Declaratively by way of Promise as shewing a Christians Priviledg which belongs to him upon his walking in the Spirit and that is that he shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh In the handling of which words in this sense we may take notice of two Particulars more First of somewhat which is implied and secondly of somewhat which is exprest That which is implied is this that it is a great priviledg and advantage to be freed and exempted from the fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh that which is exprest is this That those which are careful and industrious to walk in the Spirit they shall be made partakers of this priviledg and advantage I begin with the First namely with that which is implied That it is a great priviledg and advantage to be freed from the fulfillingof the lusts of the flesh This I gather from the scope of the words and the Apostles intent in the bringing of them in here in this place and that is to perswade the people of God to this duty of walking in the Spirit from the benefit that shoul come to them thereby We must look upon the Apostle as here speaking somewhat extraordinary when he tells them that it shall be thus and thus with them he does not simply tell it them but he tells it them as some encouragement to them which accordingly he would have them to observe and take notice of and so should we also do with them and this is that which we should take notice of That there is a great deal of benefit and advantage herein to be exempted from the fulfilling of lusts What 's the benefit of it it's manifold and various I 'le instance in one or two Particulars First Liberty and freedom of spirit that has always been counted a great advantage And so it is To be free and not subject to the tyranny of dominion of enemies why this now is the happiness of that man which does not fulfil the lusts of the flesh He is a free-man and to speak the truth there is none other which is so but he Take any other man besides which walks in base and filthy courses and he is a very vassal and slave he is in thraldom and subjection to Satan by whom he is led into captivity according to his will 2 Tim. 2. ult And Satan he 's an absolute tyrant which will be sure to exact the utmost upon those which are made subject to him He is the spirit that rules in the children of disobedience but those which have got power over their lusts they are freed from this slavery and bondage Satan hath now no more part or share in them A second Benefit is peace with God quiet and tranquillity of Conscience This is another thing that follows hereupon Those that follow the by as of their corruptions they cannot so easily or fully be assured of the love and favour of God himself towards them which will be apt to be very much darkened and obscured thereby But now those that resist and overcome them they have this a great deal more certified and confirmed unto them They have more quiet and peace and serenity in their own breasts and spirits than otherwise they would be likely to have Thirdly More expediteness
to Duty and the doing of that which God requires of them in their several places Great and strong lusts are hinderances to any noble performances and high atchievements which are to be undertaken by us The Apostle tells us in the verse immediately following to the Text vers 17. of this Chapter that from the flesh lusting against the spirit the Galatians were disinabled from doing the things which they would and so they were and all others with them whereas on the other side where these are kept down there is strength and ability thereunto namely to serve God with so much the more strength All these laid together do shew us the happiness of this particular condition and the truth of this point in hand to wit the benefit and advantage of not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh Again further we may here also take notice that as it is a benefit in it self simply considered so it is such as is apprehended and counted so by all those which have the Spirit of God in them Those which are the true children of God they look upon this as one of the greatest mercies which can happen unto them to be freed from the power of their lusts This is also implied in the Text it was not only so in the thoughts of the Apostle but also in the thoughts of the Galatians to whom he here wrote or else he had said nothing to the purpose and it had been to no end to signifie as much unto them that by walking in the spirit they should have this benefit confer'd upon them if they had not thought it to be a benefit indeed But now he uses argumentum ad homines and speaks to them in their own Element to their heart as the Hebrew phrase hath it He knew he should now please them and bring that which would be acceptable to them when he should tell them of being freed from their lusts and so he did A good and a gracious heart looks upon this as the greatest mercy and priviledg in the world which he longs for and most eagerly desires as the Apostle Paul Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord which is such as makes him willing to desire even death it self where in he shall indeed partake of this priviledg Again Moreover observe this as another thing implied in these words That the reward of Religion lyes within the compass of Religion The Apostle had stir'd up these Galatians and in them all other Christians to an holy Life and spiritual Conversation to walking in the spirit Now what does he here for their encouragement signifie to be the reward and recompence hereof unto them Why namely this that they should not fulfil the lusts of the flesh He does not say ye shall have such and such outward comforts heaped upon you riches and honours and the like nor he does not say ye shall have Heaven at last given you and ye shall be free from condemnation though this also be true no but ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh If we had no other recompence of a godly life but only that which is emergent from it and immediate to it yet this were enough to satisfie us in it and to perswade us to the leading of it And so much for that which is here supposed and implied in this expression I come now in the second place to that which is exprest which is the words of the Text And ye shall not fulfil c. This for the right handling of it we must take in its conjunction and connexion with the words before and as dependent thereupon Walk in the spirit and so ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh the one prevents the remedy against the other the more spiritual any are the less carnal and the more we are guided by the spirit the less we shall yield to the flesh This truth and expression may be made good to us according to a various explication which may be given of it First Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh that is ye shall not have so great a mind and desire to fulfil them ye shall be restrained in regard of inclination though Grace and the exercise of it does not as I said before wholly extirpate all cortuption out of us and make it cease to be whiles we live here in this world yet it does qualify the dominion of it and makes it cease to be in that measure and degree wherein it was in us before And as sinful acts do increase the habit of sin in us as we have formerly shewn in the point above so the other side do gracious acts dminish this habit and make it less It is the avantage of that man who is imploy'd and taken up in well-doing that he has not that lust and propensity in him to that which is evil as another has Godliness it puts our mouths out of taste to the pleasures of sin as on the other side sin does make goodness to be disrelish't by us Look therefore how far a man is freed from fulfilling the lusts of the flesh by having little or no desire unto them so far is he freed from them also by this course of walking in the spirit which is advantageous and effectual to this purpose to mitigate the desire of sin in them Secondly Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh that is ye shall not have temptation to fulfil them ye shall be kept from lustful and sinful suggestions and provocations The reason why many fall into sin now and then is because they have strong temptations and instigations to it because the Devil is very busie with them and it pleases God someimes in his Providence to give them up into Satans hands But now when men are careful to walk in the spirit they do very much provide for themselves in this particular Satan has not that power over them and advantage which otherwise he would have in the neglect of it nor they are not so much under the power of temptations as they would be if they did not thus walk This is true upon a ouble account both on Gods part and on Satans on Gods part who in this case does not so much give them over to temptation and on Satans who in this case has not that incouragement to fasten his temptation upon them First I say on Gods part who in this case does not so much give them over to Satan to be tempted Take a man that neglects his daily walk and converse with God that does not look so strictly and narrowly to his steps as it becomes him to do it pleases God now and then for his exercise and tryal and partly his correction to let Satan loose upon him and to suffer him to molest and trouble him with sad temptations not only for sin
but to sin also thereby to humble him and bring him low and to shew him the vanity and sinfulness of his own corrupt heart But now when a man walks in the spirit and is careful to keep close to God God will free him from such evils as these Again secondly It holds also on Satans part who in this case has not this incouragement to tempt as thinking he shall but lose his labour and do all to no purpose It is true indeed that Satan is not easily put out of heart in regard of his temptations nor yet does he always forbear men because they have more grace in them nay therefore does hereafter sometimes so much the more violently set upon them he throws his sticks the fastest at those trees which have the most fruit upon them because he thinks thereby he shall have the greater booty but yet where he sees Grace in the activity and the exercise and improvement of it in a spritual way he is not so much heartened and incouraged and provoked to tempt men as otherwise he would be Resist the Devil says St. James and he will flee from you Give him but the least advantage and he will be sure to take it and improve it to the utmost but resist him an give denial to him and then he is gone Why thus now do those that walk in the spirit they leave no hole for Satan to come in and they put on all their spiritual armour whereby they stand against the wiles of the devil Ephes 6.11 Thirdly Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh that is ye shall not have leasure or opportunity to fulfil them The more business a man has in goodness the less vacant he is to sin and has less time for the committing of it This a man shall be sure to find upon tryaland experience of it That man that truly walks in the spirit will find so much work for him to do in a spiritual course for the watching of his own heart for the getting of a farther stock of Grace for the serving of God in his relations and the place wherein God has set him as that he will find but little leasure for the lusts of the flesh at all And this is another Explication Lastly Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh that is ye shall be kept from the thing it self in regard of the immediate influence and efficacy of a spiritual Conversation which it has in the nature of it for the restraining and preserving of the heart from any sinful miscarriage This ye shall not as to actual accomplishment we shall find to be true according to all the former senses and explications which we have given of this walking in the spirit take it in which ye will and ye shall find that in the practise of it Ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh First Take it in the Graces and Principles of the spirit Walk in the spirit so and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh The more spiritual we are in our Principles the less carnal shall we be in our Conversation This is clear from the words that follow in the next verse to the Text the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to the other so that ye cannot do the thing that ye would Ye cannot do the things that ye would it holds true of either part not only as to the doing of good ye cannot do the things that ye would that is whereby ye would with your sanctified will because the flesh which is in you is an hinderance and impediment to you but also as to the doing of evil ye cannot do the things which ye would neither that is which ye would with your corrupt will because the spirit which is also in you is here a curb and restraint upon you Look as the inherence of sin and corruption remaining in us keeps us from a full and perfect walking in the spirit so the infusion of Grace and Holiness abiding in us also keeps us from an absolute fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh Again Secondly Take it also in the motions and suggestions of the spirit and they all take us from the fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh whether we understand it of the suggestions of Counsel or whether we understand it of the suggestions of Comfort they do either of them hold us back in this particular First The suggestions of Counsel the directions and excitements of the spirit they are such as if we follow them we shall be sure never to fulfil the lusts of the flesh which by the way shews the horrible blasphemy and wickedness of some persons in the world which would make their lusts of the flesh to be the motions and suggestions of the Divine Spirit What a grievous and fearful thing is this yea and how false is it too and incongruous the Spirit of God is an holy Spirit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Spirit of Holiness it self as the Scripture stiles him and therefore he does not nor cannot provoke men to that which is unholy no but it is the desperate vileness and rottenness of their own corrupt hearts together with the spirit of Satan of joyning and complying with them and improving of them Satan hath fill'd thy heart to lye against the Holy Ghost as Peter to Ananias So likewise secondly for the suggestions of Comfort which the Spirit of God does let in into us if we walk after them also we shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh spiritual comforts and consolations they do not breed security and presumption or make men the more to abound in sin as some men vainly pretend against them no but where they are in reality and good earnest they make men so much the more to avoid sin and to be more shy and fearful of it To take heed of doing any thing whereby we should deface our evidences and lose that sweet and comfortable testimony of Gods love which he does vouchsafe unto us This is the proper improvement of such experiences as these are in the hearts of those which are God's People as also the proper consequence and connexion of the things themselves The Consideration of this point in hand may be thus far useful to us as it may serve to put us upon the search and examination of our own hearts and ways we may see what our selves are according to this Doctrine There are many which pretend to the Spirit and to the walking in it Well but how are they now as to this particular whereof we now speak the fulfilling the lusts of the flesh When men give themselves over to these without any curb or restraint at all Can they say and say with any truth that they walk in the spirit Certainly no such matter He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as
he walked 1 John 2.6 And how was that why according to the Spirit the Spirit of Holiness which was in him and acted him all his whole life If it be objected that David and Peter and other of the Servants of God have sometimes turned aside to these lusts First I answer that in the strict sense they did not fulfil them which is with delight and perseverance in them without repentance Secondly That so far forth as they did any way fulfil their lusts so far forth they did decline walking after the spirit but walk c. Again Yet further We may take these words not only simply and emphatically but if we will also exclusively walking in the spirit it does prevent and restrain the fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh and upon the point nothing else but that at least so effectually and powerfully as that does There 's nothing which doe so infallibly civilize men as Grace and true Religion and the Spirit of God and the Power of Godliness This is the best means of Mortification that is in the world there are other means which are also happily used now and then as good company and fear of punishment and avoiding of occasions and the like But there 's nothing like this the living in the exercise of Religion This it makes sure work and sets our lusts at the greatest distance from us that possibly may be the best remedy against sin is duty and the best help against lust is grace every sin of commission it has commonly a sin of omission going along with it or rather going before it as the ground and occasion of it whereupon it is laid If we were but more in doing what we should do we should be less in doing what we should not therefore walk in the spirit if ever ye desire to be kept from fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh And in the spirit again in the highest and sublimest notion of it the spirit not in the natural or moral Consideration of it only the spirit of that 's his reason or ingenuity and good nature and the like though that be not excluded neither but in the spirit especially and actually in the supernatural Consideration of it The spirit of a man that 's his grace and his spirit indued with a principle coming from above it is not parts that will keep men from lusts but gracious and holy affections it is not reason but reason sanctified which will here serve the turn abstract it from this and it is too weak and feeble a Principle for such a business as this we now speak of We shall find by certain observation that men of the highest reason have been sometimes of the strongest passion and none have been worse for their Morals than those which have been most eminent and admired for their Intellectuals This I add that we may rightly understand it what spirit and in what sense it is spoken of here in this place when we are required to walk in it that we may not fulfil the lusts of the flesh And so now I have done with the first General Part of the Text which I propounded in order to be considered and that is the Doctrine or matter it self which is here delivered and propounded unto us Walk c. The second which we find to be the first in the method of the Text is the Preface or Introduction to this Doctrine and that we have in these words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This then I say This is as it were the dore in the Text and that which makes entrance into it This is such an Introduction as we oftentimes meet withal in Scripture and where we meet with it it is commonly with some special force and impression upon it Here in this present Text we may look upon it as carrying a fourfold Emphasis in it First As a word of Authority I say it that is I charge it upon you and require you to observe what I say I say it by special warrant and command mand from God himself and therefore know what I say it is not hoc dico ego non Dominus this I say and not the Lord as it was sometimes in another place 1 Cor. 7.12 But hoc dico ego quia dominus this I say because the Lord he has said it and I say it from him A Minister whiles he speaks from God he may speak boldly that which he speaks without difficulty or hesitation As Paul to Philemon I may be bold in Christ to enjoyn thee that which is convenient Philem. ver 8. When we speak purely from our selves according to the dictates of our own fancies or passions or the like here our speech may be well intercepted and hindred in us but we speak by direction from God here I say his Authority And especially may this confidence and boldness further be used when-as the things which we speak have some footing and foundation in the hearts of those whom we speak to It is great matter of confidence to a Preacher when he has the soul and conscience of the hearer bearing witness to that which he says and can say as the Apostle also does in another place concerning his Epistles We write no other things than what you read or acknowledge and I trust ye shall acknowledg even to the end in 2 Cor. 1.13 And again chap. 4.2 By the manifestation of the truth commending our selves to every mans conscience in the sight of God And again chap. 5. ver 11. We are manifest to God and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences Thus was St. Paul also here in the matter of this present Text and therefore says I say that is boldly as a word of Authority and Command And so 't is a word of Constancy I say it again and again and therefore confidently Prov. 21.28 He that heareth speaketh constantly that is he that is sure Secondly I say it is a word of experience I say it sensibly and I say it feelingly and I say it upon mine own knowledge as finding the power and efficacy of this Truth upon mine own heart from whence I may so much the more fully and freely commend it to you Thus did St. Paul say it here and thus should we also which are Ministers endeavour to say what we say upon such occasions and in such matters as these then indeed a Preacher speaks to purpose when he speaks thus When we deliver spiritual Truths out of raised and spiritual affections and more as the workings of our hearts than as the workings and inlargements of our brains it is not enough for men to speak out of Books from the spirit of other men or to speak out of themselves only out of the strength of parts and wit and invention and such kind of abilities to say what can be said of a Text in a way of logical deduction and as fetching one thing out of another by a kind of rational distillation but to spin
out in Christ which it does in so full a manner as that he that sees the one he sees the other And so Christ himself tell us Joh. 14.8 9. When Philip said unto him Lord shew us the Father and it sufficeth us Jesus saith unto him Have I been so long with you and yet hast thou not known me He that hath seen me hath seen the Father and how sayest thou then Shew us the father And again ver 11. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me In Christ who is God-man we have a full true sight and knowledg of God and no-where else So that those who deny the Doctrine of Christ they have not God First in point of Knowledg Secondly They have not God neither in point of Worship God out of Christ is an Idol as to any true adoration of him or religious service exhibited to him This is true both in regard of the object of worship as also in regard of the medium In regard of the Person worshipped as likewise in regard of the conveyance of this our worship to him For the Person worshipped it is still God in Christ from whom abstracted and divided we cannot apprehend or conceive of him in our prayers Forasmuch as in Christ all the fulness of the Godhead dwells as the Apostle speaks in Col. 2.9 therefore out of Christ there is nothing of God to be found and so consequently nothing of God to be worshipped Those that worship God out of Christ they worship they know not what as our Saviour speaks to the Woman of Samaria in Joh. 4.22 Thus it holds in regard of the Object and the Person that is worshipped It holds also in regard of the Medium and the conveyance ofthis worship to him as there 's no worshipping of God neither but in Christ so there 's no worshipping of God but by Christ in whom our worshipping and service of him is alone transmitted to him He is that Jacobs Ladder which touches Heaven Earth and whereby we ascend from Earth to Heaven No man cometh to the Father but by Him He is the way and the truth and the life Joh. 14.6 As none comes to Christ except the Father draw him so none comes to the Father except Christ bring him It is he that makes our way for us even a new and living way which he hath consecrated to this purpose as the Apostle speaks Heb. 10.20 Through him we have an access by one spirit unto the Father both Jew and Gentiles Ephes 2.18 And in him we have boldness and access and confidence through the faith of him Ephes 3.12 By him who is our high-Priest we go boldly to the Throne of Grace c. Heb. 4.16 If we pray it is in his name or else to little purpose Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he will give it you Joh. 10.23 If we give thanks it is still by him Heb. 13.15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually giving thanks to his name And Col. 3.17 Whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him So that take away Christ now and we take away all approach to God and adoration and service of him who is the only Angel that with incense offers up the Prayers of all the Saints upon the golden Altar Revel 3.8 They that have not him they have not God in point of worship neither as to the object nor medium Thirdly They have not God in point of Interest they have not that relation to God as is desirable for them They have God indeed in the common relation of a Creator and so even the Devils themselves have him but they have him not as a Father or Friend or beloved they have not God as a God in Covenant which is the right having of him indeed this being alone founded in Christ This is the misery of all those which are out of him and walk in opposition to his Doctrine that they are deprived of his sweet and comfortable relation God out of Christ is a stranger there 's no acquaintance with him and God out of Christ is an enemy there 's no standing before him But in him there is peace and agreement Col. 1.21 You that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works he hath reconciled in the body of his flesh Him hath God the Father sealed Joh. 6.27 And him hath God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood Rom. 3.25 He hath made us accepted in the beloved and him alone Ephes 1.6 He is the true mercy seat in whom we have intercourse with God the Father Those that think to come to God upon the terms of nature and common providence they will have little comfort in such approaches for God considered out of Christ he is a consuming fire and our nature is now through sin become odious to him as it is in it self There 's no coming now unto him without expecting to be devoured by him But it is Christ who assuming our nature and in that nature satisfying Gods justice who hath made our nature now amiable to him in those persons who by faith apprehend him and are united to him and in them alone We are not now acceptable to God so much as bearing the image of the first Adam but rather as bearing the image of the second by whom the image of God himself is now renewedand repaired again in us and we in a manner partaking of his likeness which is usually the ground of love and delight in several persons one to another Therefore those that have not Christ in this sense they have not God They have not God to own them nor they have not God to justifie them nor they have not God to adopt them nor to accept them and take them as his thus they have him not They are at an absolute distance from God and have no comfortable relation to him nor interest in him Lastly They have not God i.e. they have him not in point of influence this follows from the other forasmuch as all benefitfrom God proceeds from interest in him Therefore those who are strangers to Christ and his Doctrine as they have no interest in God so neither to speak of have they influence from him And that according to all these kind of influences which are to be desired and those benefits which are of the greatest concernment As first Of Grace and Holiness they have not God to sanctifie them and to communicate his holy Spirit unto them God is the God of all Grace but it is God in Christ he is the channel and conduit-pipe and conveyance of the grace of God unto us in all the several kinds and particulars of it wherein it is communicated Look as by the first Adam sin is derived unto all those who partake of him by carnal generation so by
may likewise join Gods gracious assistance of his servants as to further progress and perseverance in Grace To him that hath shall be given And the more that any abide in Christs Doctrine hitherto the more likely are they to abide in it still because God will never be wanting more or less to gracious endeavours but where he has begun a good work in any of us will there perfect it unto the day of Jesus Christ in Philip. 1.6 But yet all is not limited and confined to this present life there 's a further reach in this expression still which we have not yet spoken unto when 't is said here that he that abides in Christs Doctrine he hath God both Father and Son And that is in reference to eternal glory and that life which is to come hereafter He hath him now by Adoption and Sanctification and hereafter by Salvation and Glorification Thus when the Apostle had spoken of the Grace of God appearing to all men c. he tells us it brings Salvation And when he had spoken of living godly and holy he presently adds Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour c. Neither is this any way diminished by the word in the present tense He hath God but rather confirmed which does signifie the certainty of it as if it were done already He that abides in the Doctrine of Christ he is as sure of eternal Salvation as if he were saved already Therefore the Apostle Peter has such an expression as this is A partaker of the glory which shall be revealed 1 Pet. 5.1 The glory which shall be and yet a partaker of it already And so the Apostle Paul Ephes 2.6 He hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ. This holds good first in the faithfulness of Gods promise he has promised it and therefore it is as good as if it were actually performed And secondly in the preparations to it and anticipations of it in the first-fruits of the spirit that of God which a Believer has already it does bespeak more of him to him which he is thence assured further to injoy He hath both the Father and the Son But why is not the Holy Ghost joyned with them as which he has likewise To this I answer that he is included in the two other persons as he is also in other places of Scripture of the like expression Therefore it is a very good observation of Austins which shall shut up this discourse Cum Spiritus sanctus sit nexus Patris Filii ubicunque ponitur persona Patris persona Filii simul ibi semper intelligitur persona Spiritus sancti Forasmuch as the Holy Ghost is the band uniting Father and Son therefore wheresoever there is mention made of the Person of the Father and of the Person of the Son together there is always to be understood the Person of the Holy Ghost as included And so now I have done also with the second general part of the Text which is the Proposition in the Affirmative expression as qualifying the former He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the son And so much for this Text for this time SERMON XLVI Revel 1.5 And from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first-begotten of the dead and the Prince of the Kings of the earth unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood There is nothing more necessary for Christians in the blessings and good things that they partake of than to be fully sensible and apprehensive of the spring and fountain of them and of the conveyance of those blessings to them and this as that which is here done in this Scripture by the Aposile John in his Salutation of the seven Churches of Asia to whom he directs and inscribes this his Book of Revelation more especially He wishes them Grace and Peace and he withal informs them who it is from whom they must expect them and that is not only from God himself considered essentially From him that was and that is and that is to come but from God especially considered Dispensatively and as revealed and made known in Christ whom he adds to the other And from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness c. IN this present Text before us we have a threefold description of Christ according to his several Offices which he hath undertaken for us First From his Prophetical who is the faithful witness Secondly From his Priestly who is the first-begotten of the dead And thirdly From his Regal who is the Prince of the Kings of the Earth These are the Parts of the Text. We begin with the first of these Parts viz. the Prophetical Office of Christ exprest to us in these words wherein Jesus Christ is said to be the faithful witness There are two words here put together and both of them with their distinct Emphasis as they run in the Original Text it is the witness ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and it is the faithful ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã an Article prefixt to each First It is the witness Christ is a witness and he is a witness with a witness he is a special and singular witness so as there is none else besides that in this particular is like unto him Isa 55.4 Behold I have given him for a witness to the people it is spoken of Christ This he is said to be according to a twofold Explication First By way of Discovery and Revelation And secondly By way of Assurance and Confirmation In each of these respects is Christ a witness First By way of Discovery and Revelation as making known to us the will of his Father Thus in Matth. 11.27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father and no man knoweth the Son but the Father neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him So Joh. 1.18 No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him Christ being God's Eternal Wisdom and so always present with the Father By him as one brought up with him Prov. 8.30 He from hence knows the mind of the Father and so is able to discover it to us and make it known which accordingly is done by him In Heb. 2.3 it is said that the Gospel began to be spoken by the Lord himself And in Heb. 1.2 God hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son c. There were two ways wherein Christ did make known unto us the Gospel and the will of his Father The one was directly and mediately in his own person and the other was immediately and ministerially in the mouths and pens of his Servants who were sent and appointed by him First In his own person Isa 61.1 c. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me
tremble and quake at this coming and at the thoughts of it as malefactors at the coming of the Judg They desire that Christ would not come and where he gives any symptoms of it they cry out with the unclean spirit in the Gospel What have we to do with thee thou Son of God art thou come to torment us before our time A guilty and defiled conscience it abhors the coming of Christ and withdraws from it if it were possible it would altogether shun it and never have it to come to pass and when it does come it is matter of the greatest terror and astonishment to it that can be Therefore it is said of such persons at such a time That they shall hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and shall say unto the mountains and rocks Fall upon us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand Rev. 6.15 16 17. The ungodly shall not stand in judgment Psal 1.5 Not stand that is not stand upright but fall down before it and accordingly shall do all they can to avoid it Whereas on the other side the Children of God shall be well-pleased with it and hearty and couragious in it and very freely and cheerfully entertain it When he shall appear they shall have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming 1 Joh. 2.28 Indeed there are some cases and circumstances and times wherein the Spouse of Christ her self may not be always in such a present frame and disposition of spirit as to utter this speech here before us and to say Come even in this sense which we now speak of even the servants of God themselves may at least for such a particular season have an indisposedness upon them hereunto As namely when they have not finished their work or got their businesses ready about them but yet they have always a general and habitual preparation for it in them As a steward that is for the main faithful yet he may not always have his accounts made up and in that regard may not yet wish for the Audit And a Spouse that has a good affection for her Beloved yet may not presently have all her Ornaments upon her and in that Consideration may sometimes wish for the delay of his coming This is tha which is here chiefly considerable that God's Children they do still labour to frame themselves to an entertainment of Christ at his coming And that 's the first notion of this Expression as it may be taken for a word of simple acceptance or entertainment Come that is thou mayst come if thou so pleasest and shalt be welcom to me The second is as it may be taken as a word of desire or invitation Come that is I pray come it is my earnest suit and request that thou would'st come And here now we have a further inlargement and improvement of Grace in a Christian which is not only to be content with Christs coming and submitting unto it but also to be desirous of it and longing after it This is the temper and disposition of a good and of a gracious heart to pant and breathe and thirst for the second coming of Christ and not to be satisfied in it self till it does come The Spirit and the Bride say Come that is they say it importunately and earnestly with a great deal of affection This desire whereof we now speak it is laid and founded in sundry Considerations which do make for it As first in reference to the world it self in the present frame and constitution of it The world is at present in that condition as that the coming of Christ if very desirable in that regard And there are two particulars especially which do make up this unto us First In point of sin and wickedness And secondly in point of misery and affliction Both these two taken together do cast a disparagement upon the world and do therefore make Christians to desire the destruction of it First As it is a wicked and sinful world The world taken at the best was never over-good since it first began to be bad even presently upon the Creation of it Sin made an entrance upon it and got possession of it and not long after the whole earth had soon corrupted it self as the Scripture tells us but now as it 's grown any thing older and of longer standing so its sinfulness is so much the more improved and it grows worse every day than other The very times themselves we live in are a sufficient demonstration of it to us and we find it so by sad experience as being such wherein iniquity abounds more than ever and wicked men grow worse and worse as the Apostle speaks In these latter days and times of the world more especially as the spirit has foretold it there are the greatest incursions of wickedness of any other and that in all the kinds and degrees of it Now this is that which makes a gracious heart so to long for this second coming of Christ that so thereby he may put a period to these days of sin that God may be no longer dishonoured his Name may be no longer blasphemed his Laws may be no longer transgressed his Ordinances may be no longer despised his Spirit may be no longer grieved A good Christian has such an enmity and antipathy against sin as that he cannot but be very desirous of that which is destructive of it as the coming of Christ is not his first only but his second For this end will the Son of God be manifest that he may destroy the works of the Devil And for this end also do the Children of God so much desire the manifestation of him that so by this means sin may be destroyed and have a period and end put unto it And that both in others and also in themselves The Children of God they are both scandalized and offended at others abominations and likewise they are burdened and overprest with their own corruption and in each respect do desire that Christ would come for the remedying of either that their righteous souls with Lot's may be no longer vexed with the Conversation of the wicked and that themselves also with Paul may be delivered from the body of death that is the body of sin as we shall hear more anon in the following Explication But secondly As there is the world in the sinfulness and wickedness of it so there is the world also in the misery and afflictiveness of it which does make for this desire in them also that exceeding vanity which is upon the creature and those manifold calamities which do attend upon humane Life This is another thing here considerable in the world which does put the Church upon this Prayer for Christs coming that as God has promised he may wipe away all tears from
their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled There is a ripeness and maturity of sin which calls for the execution of judgment till which time judgment is delayed and put off and for a season procrastinated and then he that shall come will come and will not tarry Lastly This desire of the Church to Christ's coming and hastning of it it hath a respect to Christ himself who in a manneris hereby also perfected for the Church in the fulness of its Members is the fulness also of Christ and so it is called in Ephes 1.23 The fulness of him that filleth all in all We must distinguish of Christ in his person and Christ in his office If we look upon Christ as God and as the second person in the Trinity so he is absolute and compleat in himself and capable of no addition or augmentation but if we look upon Christ as he is God-man the Mediator and Head of the Church so he is so far forth perfected as the Church it self is perfected and compleated in the number of Members And as himself also has finished and compleated all the works which do belong to his Mediatorship which is coming in Glory This is the only remainder of what 's behind and lest yet undone as to the full work of our Redemption and therefore does the Church very properly call for it and put him in mind of it out of her respect unto him This if not so to be taken as if Christ himself would not come otherwise for that he would though she should be silent and never call for him nor yet if she could properly hasten it or speed it before its time for that she cannot neither God has appointed a day wherein he will judg the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained as the Apostle tells us Act. 17.31 As he has appointed the man namely Christ so he has also appointed the day which we cannot name nor it does not belong unto us It is not for us to know the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his own power Act. 1.7 But the Church prays for his coming as a testimony of her affection to him and as desiring thereby to put a respect upon him because in coming his Glory and Majesty shall be so much the more revealed and discovered And that 's the last account which may be here given of this Prayer and Petition When the Spirit and the Bride say Come namely out of respect to Christ The Vse of all to our selves serves to teach us to labout for such a frame of spirit as this is whereby we may in truth and sincerity come up to this requess and desire so as to pray and to pray heartily for the second coming of Christ and the appurtenances of it It is a request which is so much the more considerable as it is such as we are taught to make by Christ himself in that Prayer which he hath left unto us whereof one branch is this Thy Kingdom come As the Holy Ghost suggests it so Christ himself also commands it and requires it of us and accordingly we should all indeavour that it may be practised by us We should labor for the Considerations above-mentioned to say Come Lord Jesus come quickly as it follows afterwards in this Chapter Where when Christ promises it the Church presently apprehends it and returns upon him with desires answerable and suitable to so gracious an intimation For this purpose let us especially endeavour to have the Spirit of God Himself in us and to be filled with that For observe how it is said here in the Text The Spirit and the Bride say Come Nature that does not say it but rather reluctates against it and puts it off no but it is the Spirit that says it and we our selves say it to purpose so far forth as we are spiritual and act upon spiritual Grounds and Principles in the desires of it There are some kind of people who now and then in a discontent and when any thing crosses them then it may be they could wish for an end of the world and of their own lives with it But that may be perhaps from the flesh and not from the spirit and so to be suspected no but then it is so as should be when it proceeds from a work of the Holy Ghost and Spirit himself in us Now there are three ways especially whereby the Spirit of God does usually work such a desire as this in us and makes us in Truth and Reality to desire Christs second Coming First By discovering to us the vanity of all these things here below What is the reason that many people are so unwilling to think of another world It is because they think there is no other but this but place their happiness and contentment here in these poor outward things which if their hearts were taken off from it would be otherwise with them Now those whom God has a delight in he does by his Spirit convince them of the vanity and Transitoriness of this world Secondly By purging our consciences from any thing which may be burdensom to them and putting us upon duty and that work which is required of us in our present opportunities When Christians shall have this lye upon their spirits that either they have been sinful or unfruitful they cannot so easily wish for Christs coming either guilt or their work yet unfinished they are great pull-backs and retarders in this particular Now therefore does the Holy Ghost take order with them to both of these purposes by not suffering his servants to lye under the power of any known sin nor yet wilfully to omit and neglect any known Duty but to be sincere and fruitful both to such Christians as are so Christs coming will be the more acceptable to them Thirdly By manifesting unto them the Excellency which is in Christ himself and the blessed and glorious condition of God's People in another world together with their own interest and concernment in it When Christ had declared before that he was the bright and moring-star then the Spirit and the Bride say Come it is ignorance of Christ that makes men no more to breathe after him nor to be desirous of him Therefore the Spirit of God may rouse those desires in us he presents these Excellencies to us and gives us some glimpses and anticipations of that glorious condition which he has provided for us And then also which belongs hereunto vouchsafes some kind of assurance of our interest in this condition and that it belongs to us for our particular whereby the more to quicken our desires Excellency is nothing without propriety it is the Spouse of Christ alone which can with joy desire Christs coming When therefore the soul is convinced that it is so with it self that it is contracted and espoused to Christ and owned by him then the Spirit an the Bride say Come When we
or longings after it such as these they do shew themselves to be very far from spiritual thirst which is here offered unto us Thirst it is a desire with some earnestness and vehemency and unsatiableness which is in it as David Oh that one would give me of the water of Bethlehem to drink when he longed for it And Sampson though otherwise a strong man he was ready to die and perish for thirst even so is there likewise the same proportionable impetuousness in Grace as that nothing will satisfie it but a greater measure and degree of it self and of Christ himself who is the giver of it As the Hart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God My soul thirsteth for God for the living God O when shall I come and appear before God Psal 42.1 2. And so Psal 63.1 My soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is Where thirsting is explain'd by longing as pertinent to it And so I have done also with the second General part of the Text which is the Invitation of access or seasonable Application in these words And let him that is athirst come The third and last is the Intimation of acceptance or grateful entertainment in those And whosoever will let him take the water of life freely Wherein again we have three Branches more First The benefit mentioned and that is the water of life Secondly The persons to whom this benefit is offered and that is whosoever will Thirdly The offer it self let him take of it freely For the first The benefit here mentioned it is the water of life whereby we are in a word to understand the Grace of Christ according to the full latitude and extent of it whether the Grace of Justification in the pardon and forgiveness of sin or the Grace of Sanctification in the purging and washing away of sin or the Grace of Assurance in the comfort and peace of conscience either of these are implied in this expression which we have here before us and indeed all together This water of life it is the Grace of Christ with all the appurtenances that belong unto it and means that make way for it and effects which are consequent of it It is Grace and Glory both Grace as it tends to Glory and Glory as it follows upon Grace The gift of God is eternal life both in the end and in the means and this is the water of life which is here offered and propounded unto us for our receiving of it Thus it is if we take it generally and at large But if we take it more particularly and as limited and restrained so the Scripture it self is herein its own best interpreter as we have it plainly declared unto us in Joh. 7.38 39. He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water This says St. John he spake of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive For the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified So then according to this reckoning the water of life should be nothing else but the Spirit of God in the Gifts and Graces of it which indeed not excluding the other is that which is here chiefly and principally to be understood by us That reconciliation which is purchased by Christ but received and applied by Faith which is a fruit and work of the Spirit and Holy Ghost in us as all other Graces are besides and so fitly and properly exprest by living water There are two words in this Metaphor to be observed and taken notice of by us the Principal and the Accessary the Principal that is water the accessary that is the water of life and the Grace of Christ it holds its resemblance and correspondency to both First It has a resemblance to water and accordingly is compared hereunto both in this Text and other places of Scripture in regard of that Analogy and proportion which it bears thereunto in sundry particulars Look what water is as to the necessities and supplies of our humane and natural life the same is the Grace of Christ as to our Divine and Spiritual We may take it in these following instances as a taste of the rest First For purifying and cleansing Water it is eminent for that and so is the Grace of Christ for the taking away of the several spots and defilements and pollutions of sin Thus Eph. 5.25 26. it is said of Christ that he gave himself for his Church that he might sanctifie it and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word So Heb. 10.22 Let us draw near with a pure heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water The Grace of Christ is a spiritual Bath wherein the whole man of a Christian both outward and inward is purified and cleansed Secondly For cooling and refrigeration and quenching of thirst it is compared to water for that likewise This Grace of Christ as abating the heat of lust and allaying the terrors of conscience and extinguishing of the fiery darts of the devil as the Apostle calls them Thirdly For increase and fructification Water it makes plants to grow and flourish and sprout up and so does the Grace of God such persons as are endued with it They shall grow as the Lilly and cast forth their roots as Lebanon their branches shall spread and their beauty shall be as the Olive-tree and their smell as Lebanon as it s in Hos 14.5 Fourthly and lastly Grace is compared to water in its manner of operation as namely that it so runs as that it is always joyn'd unto its Principle Sic fluit ut semper sit conjunct a suo principio It is an Observation upon it out of Austin and so Grace in a Christian it so flows as that it always knits and conjoyns him to Christ Of his fulness we all receive and grace for grace as the Evangelist has it John 1.16 And then the ascent of it is answerable to the descent of it even so is it likewise with Grace which as it first of all comes from God so it carries us up again to him That 's the first part of this resemblance as Grace is compared to water for the Principal The second is as it is compared to the water of life for the accessary and the advancement of it Thus it is frequently call'd in Scripture living water ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This it is by way of Eminency as that which does tend to life in the scope and drift of it as also does end in life as the effect and that which follows upon it Indeed every thing which belongs to salvation it is usually in Scripture exprest and fet forth by life The word of life and the bread of life and the crown of life c. And so here now the
Admonition or Instruction it self both absolutely propounded as also comparatively illustrated We ought to give the more earnest heed c. The second is the Inforcement of its observation by way of Argument and this is twofold First From the equity of it in the word of connexion therefore Secondly From the danger of the contrary in the close and conclusion of the verse Lest at any time we should fail or let them slip First Here 's an Argument from the equity of it which relates to what he had said before in the precedent Chapter wherein he had fully set forth the Dignity both of Christs Office and Person which the Doctrine of the Gospel does treat of and discourse about upon those promises he does infer this conclusion therefore To speak distinctly of it there are three special Arguments which this Exhortation is founded upon why we ought more abundantly to give heed to this Doctrine of the Gospel in comparison with the Doctr. of the Law First The Authority of the speaker and minister of it which is Christ the Son of God whereas the other was Angels and men Thus in v. 2. of this Chap. it is call'd the word spoken by Angels the Law Whereas the other to wit the Gospel is said to be first of all spoken by the Lord that is Christ himself And again Chap. 1. v. 1 2. God who at sundry times c. where the Apostle lays a very great stress upon this as to the Ministry of the Gospel that it is dispenst through the hans of Christ First For the Dignity of his Person so excellent simply in himself the more eminent the Person is that speaks to us the more cause and reason we have to heed the things which are spoken for the Persons sake it being a piece of great indignity to stop our ears to any one of worth speaking to us such an one is the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory and therefore see that ye refuse not him that speaketh as it followeth also in Heb. 12.25 But then secondly There 's not only his person but also his relation that 's another thing in it which the Apostle seems to stand upon and is to be refer'd hereunto There are many eminent persons considered simply in themselves but all their eminency it is within themselves and in the compass of those persons of theirs such as they are yea but this person now which speaks to us in the Ministry of the Gospel He is not only eminent for his person but also for his relation for he is the son of God himself and so much better than the Angels even in that consideration also For unto which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee c. Heb. 1.5 Then thirdly There is also his estate there 's a great matter in that likewise we respect men much according to that if a man speak to us which is a great heir who has many lands and possessions which belong to him we are apt to give heed unto him Now for this it is also observable in Christ who speaks to us in the Gospel for he is appointed heir of all things and hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than Angels The Apostle lays a force upon that in the place before cited which is thereforemuch considerable in this business Lastly His activity for us there 's much likewise in that We have great cause to respect a Benefactor one that has done us great courtesies and favours when he speaks to us he should be hearkened to by us Now this is also remarkable in Christ for he hath himself purged our sins and upon this account to manifest the certainty and and fulness of it is set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high Heb. 1.3 So then that 's the first ground of this Attendance implied in this Therefore viz. the authority of the speaker The Lord Jesus Christ himself eminent for his 1. Person 2. for his relation 3. for his estate 4. for his activity for us The second is the excellency of the things themselves which are spoken of that 's another thing which calls for attention yea not only invites it but commands it If a man of worth shall speak to us yet if he shall not speak to us like to himself speak but of slight and trivial matters we regard him not for all that nor give heed unto him a speech is commendable not only from the speaker but the matter and in this the Gospel carries it likewise Lord to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life say the Apostles Joh. 6.68 The Gospel it treats of such points as no other word does besides as containing very great and admirable mysteries in it which we have join'd all together there in one chain 1 Tim. 3.16 God manifested in the flesh justified in the spirit seen of Angelâ preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the world received up unto glory What rare and admirable Doctrines and Dispensations these are such things as the very Angels desire to peep into 1 Pet. 1.12 If we look no further than the height and sublimity and transcendency of the points themselves they are such as may well command our heedfulness and attention to them even in that respect alone and nothing besides with it But then thirdly If we shall add to all this the circumstances attending upon it as the profitableness and advantagiousness of this Doctrine the interest which our selves have in it the sweetness which is in the observation of it this will now set it on so much the more and put an edg upon this therefore indeed to make it effectual to purpose let points be never so excellent considered simply in their own nature yet if they have not a tang of some profit or benefit in them there are some people which will never regard them What does a Merchant or Tradesman care for a discourse of Metaphysicks Very fine notions indeed and speculations which tickle the fancy yeâ but they have no gain or profit in them Dic aliquid tandem de tribus capellis as he said speak somewhat which tends to our advantage Why this now is the commendation of the Gospel that it treats not only of things which are excellent but of things which are profitable for it is the ministration of righteousness the Doctrine of Reconciliation the glad tydings of peace There is life and immortality which is brought to light by it as the Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Tim. 1.10 Look then as any would give heed when any thing is spoken of which has any profit in it in the like manner should they give heed to the Gospel which is a Doctrine so far esteemed even upon this consideration But then further there 's our own interest in it likewise that 's somewhat more profit if it belongs not to us is no such pleasing theme to hear of but
sins 296 Profaneness It s concomitancy with formality and the grounds thereof 346 Passions The evil of them 363 Professor See Hypocrite Three things carry on empty profissors of Religion 308 R Remember God what 9 Help to remember God 10 Motives to remember God 11 Riches How God gives power to get it considered 1. Positively 12 2. Negatively 13 When given in mercy 33 Religion Not a dull but a pleasant thing and thereby vindicated 216 219 Why so few delight in it 200 Two extreams in the professors of it 372 Reproof How to give it implied 29 To receive it a threefold Argument of wisdom 224 to refuse it dangerous 229 230 389 Rolling Our burthens on God what 236 Repentance Wherein it consists 290 291 293 Three things look like repentance but are not it 291 A threefold call unto it 301 Arguments to speedy repentance 182 Reason It s deficiency 287 Running See Walk The Christian race what it implies 312 S Soul Hath a threefold presence 24 The companions of wicked mens souls 204 Sin How God often discovers secret sins 26 Impudency the height of sin 28 How men hide them 72 VVhy men delight in them 75 Its evil 75 373 390 391 Against the Holy Ghost what 76 VVhy other mens sins are grievous to the godly 78 406 407 Three sorts of sins 81 Personal sins may procure publick Judgments and why 88 Sinners Present misery 56 57 176 192 263 393 Future misery 58 59 69 283 288 231 Relief to great if penitent sinners 296 God can punish them from within themselves How 361 Silence How sometimes taken 58 59 Sighing What it signifies 408 Its aggravations 122 133 263 Helps against persisting in it 126 Continuance in it dangerours 395 When a peoples sin seems to be full 133 Whence obstinacy in sin arises 388 When is sin come to an habit 396 Sensoriousness A check to it 178 247 Salvation Neglecters of the great salvations who they are implied 227 Whence the neglect of the great salvation springs Ibid. Scorner Described 227 Whence scorning springs Ibid. What danger a scorner is in 228 414 Soul How it 's said to hear 364 Stupidity Wherein it lies 382 Whence it proceeds 383 Speech Men speak two ways 388 God speaks two ways 298 Spirit How to discern between the leadings or dictates of Gods Spirit and the spirit of delusion 303 Incouragement to attend its motions 304 T Temptations How God keeps Christians from and under them 54 Thankfulness It s ground 105 Thoughts Their perplexity and inconstancy 159 Motive to watch them 160 292 The properties of Gods thoughts towards his people 169 Whence holy thoughts proceed 170 A great blessing to have them establish'd 240 Whence instability of Thoughts in business arises 240 249 250 The evil of anxious thoughts See Care Trumpet Signifies three things 363 Toleration Vniversal condemned 371 How taken 241 Touching blasphemous thoughts See Blasphemy The corruption of the Thoughts 292 Time How a Christian hides himself in evil times 261 How God hides his people in evil times 262 Trouble Christians apt to much trouble and fear with the ground thereof 117 Trouble for sin good 118 Misery the occasion of trouble 119 Trouble when unlawful 120 Why Christ would not have Christians much troubled 121 How Christians may preservs themselves from trouble 122 V Unbelief The grounds of it 98 The evil of it 102 286 Unity How the Gospel tends towards it 194 Who should especially maintain it 194 Or its extent 196 Its excellency 197 Menas to get and preserve it 199 W Walk See Way See Running Motives to circumspect Walking 8 Vpright walking what 159 Motives to diligence in our Christian course implied 207 Word Why men under the same word are not a-like wrought upon 139 The excellency of Gods Word 254 Barrenness under it a great evil 270 354 What it is to see the word of the Lord 357 Dropping of words what 404 A word behind how taken 298 299 300 Gods word powerful 299 Wound How God wounds sinners 124 Gods wounding the head what Ibid. Watch. Motives to watch the thoughts 160 See Thoughts 253 Works Arguments moving to good works See Fruitfulness See Charity VVhat and how to commit our works and ways to God 234 235 236 239 Why we should commit our ways and works to God 235 237 VVhat we may not commit to God 239 VVhat works me may commit to God 235 239 Ways See Walk Godliness a pleasant way in three particulars 219 Four things apt to make a Christian faint in his way 312 How to be kept from fainting in Gods way 312 Wicked Persons who 275 292 Wilderness VVhat it signifies in Scripture 352 War It s grievousness 365 A foreign war in some respects more grievous than a domestick one 379 Waiting See Hope Y Youth Sins of youth or youthful lusts what 84 How men possess the sins of their youth 66 VVhy sins of youth afterwards prove dreadful Ibid. Motives to early godliness 66 70 376 Lamentation over the sins of the youth of this age 68 A Table of the chief Matters contained in the Fifty Sermons on the New Testament A Afflictions QVieting considertions under them 51 See Contentment Anthropomorphites Confuted 135 Accursed VVhat it signifies 340 VVhy many in Scripture might but we must not curse others 341 Apostacy The evil of it 421 Twofold 431 B Behold How used in Scripture 65 Bosom VVhat it implies 136 C Conversion Morality accidentally may set a man further from it than profaneness 12 See Morality VVhether Cornelius Nathaniel the Eunuch Lidia c. were converted or not 13 A twofold conversion 79 How men may be said to convert themselves how not 79 Labour to convert others why 81 By what means to endeavour others conversion 82 Cannot be promerited 86 156 How far we may how we cannot resist it 87 Touching knowing the moment of it 89 Counsel or advice How to be given 41 Christian Vnprofitable Christians hurtful to others 32 Christians should improve one another 37 Take heed of discouraging young Christians 54 His choice justified See Election Support to weak Christians 69 Lawful for them to eye the recompence of reward 423 In what respects Kings and Priests 444 Their excellency 445 Why they desire Christs second coming 449 Censoriousness or evil surmisings A check to it 14 39 57 61 63 64 73 Children How the word is taken 364 Weak Christians compared to children 365 Calling Over-doing in a mans particular calling whence it springs 44 How men offend in their particular callings 44 A double end of particular callings 50 Touching effectual calling 286 Christs inviting those that thirst is favour and honour 455 Care The evil the causes the remedies of distracting cares See Thoughts Conversion Travails in conversion what 365 Its nature 368 Why God converts by the word preached 93 285 Both Jews and fulness of the Gentiles shall be converted 288 We should labour to convert others 429 Church What and why so called 286 How its censures
done by a man 's own skill and power it is a work of Heaven Secondly Can he do it i. e. can he easily do it It is not done with a meer sleight or turn of the hand it is a work of difficulty Each of these limitations are implyed And First of the former He cannot do it that is he cannot do it of himself An unregenerate person or such an one as is accustomed to evil he cannot alter his own heart or course This is one thing here implyed as the same Prophet also else-where O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himself it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps Jer. 10.23 We see here the impotency of nature and the inability of free-will to the doing of any thing which is good It is possible for the heart to be chang'd but this is not within its own power Therefore it is worth our observing that it is not said here Can the Ethiopian's skin be changed in a passive expression but can the Ethiopian change his skin in an active that is can he do it himself and by his own power No he cannot do it We are not able to think any thing of our selves our sufficiency is of God in 2 Cor. 3.5 And it is he which worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure Phil. 2.13 We can no more alter our corrupted nature than we can our created no more make our selves of bad good than we can of men Angels We can no more convert our selves than we can create our selves give our selves a spiritual being than we can a natural nor raise our selves from the death of sin than we can from the death of the grave That 's the first limitation Secondly He cannot do it that is he cannot easily do it it is a business of some work and labour and which carries some difficulty in it the reclaiming of such an one which is used and accustomed to any sin yea and that even there where there is some work of Grace wrought in the heart and so some ability conferr'd and bestowed in order hereunto yet the thing is not so easily brought to pass Those that let themselves loose to any evil or vitious custom it costs them a great deal of pains with their hearts ere they recover and get up again Naturam expellas furca licet usque recurret Still there will somewhat arise and bubble up of the old corruption in them The ground of this difficulty if we would know it lies in this First because Satan will be very busy in the presenting of his temptations where he has a long time conquered and prevailed he will not easily there go over his hold but will keep his ground as long as he can and will not endure to be dispossest without a great deal of trouble Secondly Lust in the heart of man will also have its course and vent and being unhappily wrought into the soul will work forth and shew it self as there is any occasion for it so to do especially when the object is strong and enticing which is propounded unto it The flesh lusts against the spirit c. says the Apostle Gal. 5.17 Thirdly Grace is oftentimes asleep which should suppress and keep sin down and restrain it from breaking forth And when that is so sin and the flesh takes occasion to work in the room and place of it These are the reasons why sin where 't is rooted and habituated is not so easily removed And thus much of those Points and Doctrines which are mainly intended as the chief scope of the Text. Now besides these there are divers others which are collaterally observable from it and which do also implicitly lye in it As to instance in one or two of them First observe here thus much that it is not enough for us to abstain from evil but we must likewise do good This we may gather from the manner of the expression here before us According to the proper manner of speaking the words should have run thus How then can those which are accustomed to do evil cease to do evil but the Holy Ghost was not content with that to say no more but so and therefore he adds likewise further to do good why and upon what account namely that hence he might teach us what is required and expected from us This we shall find also in other Scriptures as Psal 34.14 Depart from evil and do good c. Isa 16.17 Cease to do evil learn to do well Rom. 12.9 Abhor that which is evil cleave to that which is good c. Still we are put upon this practice of vertue as well as upon the abstaining from vice and doing good as avoiding of evil Therefore this meets with your negative Christians which are always harping upon this that they are inoffensive and do no no hurt like the Pharisee there in the Gospel that he was not as other men no Extortioner no Thief no Adulterer nor even as the Publican Well but what are they in the mean time and what good do they do according to those abilities and opportunities which are afforded unto them This would be demanded of them as being that which God himself does look for That 's one thing which we may here observe by the way Again Secondly observe thus much That sins of commission they have sins of omission in them They that do that which they should not they neglect to do that which they should This is also in the Text for ye see here that they which are accustomed to do evil they are taken off from doing good the one it still follows upon the other and ye shall always observe it And that upon a threefold account which may be rendred as an occasion of it First they want the opportunity Secondly they lose the ability Thirdly they betray the assistance They want the opportunity First we may observe that Those which are much in sin they have little leisure to any thing else they are so addicted and given to their vile and vicious courses that they have no time for any thing besides they are so hot in the pursuit of their lusts that they cannot mind those things which are better and contrary to them Hence it is that evil men do so delay and put off their repentance or any other good work which is to be done by them Secondly They lose the ability If they had time and leisure for good yet they have little strength or power unto it which is eaten out by the strength and prevalency of lust and corruption in them as I in part intimated in a point before Every new sin as it encreases the habit of evil so it weakens the habit of good in us Thirdly They betray their assistance for God himself in such cases does withdraw his Grace from them which should be helpful to them in that which they undertake The Spirit of God being grieved by them
does it freely and willingly and of his own accord without any thing in us either to move him or mind him of it or to perswade him and engage him to it There 's nothing so free as Grace in the Collations and Distributions of it It is bestowed without any worth or Dignity in us at all to Promerit it This may appear if we shall consider but the Persons upon whom it is bestowed who are often times such as have nothing in them tending hereunto whether we take it as to worldly qualifications or else to moral It is very free in either Consideration As to worldly Qualifications first of all the Aposte Paul has here informed us how that not many wise men after the Flesh not many mighty not many noble are called But God hath chosen the foolish things of the World to confound the wise c. And Secondly as for moral Qualifications God sometimes makes choice of such as are the greatest Sinners where he passes by some other Persons of greater Civility Matthew the Publican Mary Magdalen the Harlot Saul the Persecutor the Barbarian Jaylor That Gods Spirit should blow upon these whiles it blew over others which were better what does this speak unto us but that it bloweth there where it listeth Into what can we possibly resolve it but into the will and good pleasure of God! Look what St. Paul says sometimes of the common gifts the same may we say also of the sanctifying But all these worketh that one and the self-same spirit dividing to every man severally as he will 1 Cor. 12.11 And again Vnto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gist of Christ Whatever Grace any man partakes of he has it purely from the Spirit of God who of his own accord bestows it upon them And therefore it is said in 1 Cor. 2.12 We have received the Spirit of God that we might know the things that are freely given us of God All we have it is of free grace and it is freely given and conferred upon us The consideration of this point may be thus far useful to us First as it may teach us where to acknowledge all that we receive If any have more Grace than others let them see here how they came by it not by Merit but by Gift not by any thing as deserving it in themselves but from the goodness of the Spirit of Godas bestowing it upon them and therefore not to attribute it to themselves but to Him who is the Author and Giver of it as St. Paul himself gives us an example in 2 Cor. 15.10 By the Grace of God I am that I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain Yet not I but the grace of God which was with me Secondly We have here an account of the difference and variety of Christians both from one another and from themselves we see why one Christian abounds in Grace more than another and we see also why the same Christian is better at one time than he is at another Both are from this ground in the Text because the Spirit bloweth there where it listeth And every one to this purpose should rest satisfied in this equal dispensation God may do with his own as he pleases and he pleases thus to do with it that so hereby he may shew his own liberty and freedom in this particular We are able to move no farther in good than the Spirit of God helps us so to do As ye know it was in the Vision in Ezekiel as the Spirit moved the living Creatures which were in the wheels so the wheels went when that went they went and when that stood still they stood still with it Ezek. 1.2 Even so is it here in these motions of the Soul we are so far forth more lively in regard either of Grace or Comfort as the Spirit of God is pleased to breathe and to infuse either of them into us And without Him we are able to do nothing as may be worth any thing to us Therefore thirdly Let us also make this use of it To be depending upon him for it If we cannot do any thing without his blowing and his blowing be onely there where he pleases we see what cause we have to keep in good terms with him and to do nothing which may be displeasing to him for if we lose his favour we lose his influence and his assistance which is the effect of it it is where he lists and onely there where he blows And therefore make much of him and wait upon him take heed of grieving so good and so gracious a Spirit as this is and besides who is so useful to us and necessary for us And further Fourthly let it teach us also tenderness and compassion towards others who it may be do not partake of so much grace or comfort as our selves For it is God and his Spirit who makes this difference betwixt us it is not we our selves Let us take heed of insulting too much over others weaknesses forasmuch as it is that Grace that distinguishes us and makes that difference that is betwixt us And that 's the second thing also in this motion its freeness that it is not engaged The third and last is its Efficacy or unresistableness that it is not nor cannot be hindred Whereever the Spirit of God will blow there is no standing out against it it blows where it lists that is it obtains whatsoever it endeavours Who hath resisted his will Surely none at all to any purpose Indeed corrupt Nature sometimes opposes the motions of Gods Spirit and that even Conversion in it self reluctates and strives against it but all in vain where he sets to the work Look as it is not in the power of a Child to hinder his own first birth even so it is not in the power of a sinner to hinder his own new birth where God undertakes and sets himself to it because his Spirit it does effect whatsoever he pleases Who hath gathered the wind in his fist as Agur makes the question in Prov. 30.4 Surely it is not Man but God Look as no man can hinder the wind or stop the blowings and motions thereof so neither can any man hinder the Spirit and stop the motions and influences thereof that they should not prove effectual This is a comfortable point in all contrary blasts whatsoever Satan who is the evil Spirit he has his blowings too and he oftentimes blows very hard ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as St. Chrysostom speaks but yet he does not blow where he lists nor can his blowings prevail against this blowing which we have here before us in this present Text which carries all before it and shall overturn and overthrow whatsoever stands in opposition to it It is said of Antichrist the man of sin and who is a great instrument of Satan that the Lord shall consume him with the spirit of his mouth and destroy