Sanctification and therefore being not able to distinguish betwixt them they doe confound them together And a third reason is because man naturally sees no other way to be justified and saved but onely by his own workes and performances for as Luther saith It is the generall opinion of the whole world that righteousnesse is gotten by the workes of the Law and thus have I also shewed you the second sort of them that confound this two-fold righteousnesse and how they doe it Sim. But Sir as I doe conceive he that doth confound this two-fold righteousnesse this latter way doth not so ill nor is not in so bad a condition as he that doth it by the former way Min. Yea indeed for ought I see he doth even every whit as ill and is every whit in as bad a condition as the other for as he that confounds the righteousnesse of Sanctification with the righteousnesse of Justification doth thereby destroy them both to himselfe and so indeed hath neither of them so he that confounds the righteousnesse of Justification with the righteousnesse of Sanctification doth thereby destroy them both to himselfe and so indeed hath neither of them Sim. Indeed Sir it is evident to me that he who hath not the righteousnesse of sanctification hath not the righteousnesse of Justification and so indeed hath neither of them but Sir me thinkes he who hath the righteousnesse of Sanctification should also have the righteousnesse of Justification and so indeed have both of them Min. No you are deceived it is not so for as he that thinkes he beleeves and so hath the Righteousnesse of Christ imputed unto him for his Justification deceives himselfe except the righteousnesse of the Spirit of Christ be afterwards infused into him for his sanctification even so he that thinkes he leades a godly and righteous course of life and so hath the righteousnesse of the Spirit of Christ infused into him for his sanctification deceives himselfe except the Righteousnesse of Christ hath been before imputed unto him for his justification Sim. Sir I grant it that a man may thinke he doth beleeve when he doth not and therein deceive himselfe because that he cannot see his faith but me thinkes a man should not thinke he lives a godly and righteous course of life when he doth not because that is to be seene Min. O but let me tell you as there is a forme of faith without the power of faith which caused the Apostle to pray for the Thessalonians that God 2 Thess 1. 11. would grant unto them the worke of faith with power even so is there a forme of godlinesse without the power of godlinesse as you may see 2 Tim. 3. 5. And as this forme of faith is nothing else but a faith of a mans owne hammering or of his owne acquiring and so is but an acquired faith and not an infused faith even so this forme of godlinesse is nothing else but a godlinesse of a mans owne hammering or of his owne acquiring gotten by the improvement of his Naturall and Morall abilities and so indeed is but a godlinesse acquired and not a godlinesse infused Sim. Then Sir it seems that a man cannot by having the one be assured that he hath also the other Min. No indeed if he have them not both he hath neither of them for as there is no imputed righteousnesse going before where infused righteousnesse followeth not after so is there no infused righteousnesse following after where imputed righteousnesse hath not gone before so that if either of them be wanting and beare not witnesse to the other and that in its due place according to Gods owne order and as his owne distinct actions they are neither of them true Sim. Then Sir I pray you tell me how a man may know that he hath them both and that they doe beare witnesse either to other and that in their due place according to Gods owne order and as his owne distinct actions Min. Why if a man have truly seene and considered that in regard the Lord did in Adam Create all men righteous and able to yeeld perfect obedience to his Law they having all of them in him transgressed his Law it is a righteous thing with God to require a full satisfaction to be made to his Justice by a perfect obedience to his Law both actively and passively before he doe forgive any mans iniquity or cover any mans sinne and so pronounce him just And that in regard of the infinite exactnesse the glorious purity and absolute perfection of the Law of God he see an utter impossibility in himselfe to yeeld a perfect active obedience unto it and that in regard of that infinite Majesty that is offended there is an infinite suffering required which must either be an eternall punishment or that which is equivolent to eternall And that man being a finit Creature can doe it no way but by an eternall punishment and that therefore he sees no way for himselfe but Hell and Damnation and if then it hath been revealed unto him that Jesus Christ the Sonne of God and of the Virgin Mary was both God and Man in one Person and that therefore his Divine nature did so sanctifie his humane nature and did adde such dignity worth and excellency to it that he was thereby made a person of infinite value and so by his holy and righteous course of life in the dayes of his flesh he fulfilled the Law perfectly and by his Death and Blood-shed made an infinite satisfaction to divine Justice and all this as a Surety and in the place and stead of all those that truly beleeve on his name and if he have thereupon truly beleeved that all this was as truly done and suffered for him as if he himselfe had done and suffered it in his owne Person and that he is thereby justified in the sight of God then may he be sure that the righteousnesse that is inherent in Christ hath been imputed unto him and apprehended by faith and so hath gone before as an Antecedent And if he have thereupon seene considered and felt the great and free love and Rom. 5. 5. favour of God in Christ shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost then given unto him so as that his heart hath been thereby moved yea and constrained to love God 1 John 4. 19. because he hath loved him first and out of love to desire and endeavour to keepe his Commandments so that whereas before this time he either lived a prophane and sinfull course of life or a meere civill honest course of life aiming onely or chiefly at his owne credit and profit in this world or a religious honest course of life onely or chiefly for his owne eternall welfare in the life to come If this grace of God or this free love and favour of Tit. 2. 11 12. God in Christ hath so appeared unto him as that it hath taught him to deny ungodlinesse and worldly
lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world not for faith and justification but from faith and justification then may he be assured that inherent righteousnesse wrought by the Spirit of Christ hath followed as a consequent and so consequently that he hath both the righteousnesse of justification and the righteousnesse of sanctification bearing witnesse either to other in their due place according to Gods owne order and as his owne distinct actions And now neighbour Simon I beseech you try your selfe by these things and know that if it hath been in any measure thus with you then you may be assured that you have truly beleeved on the name of Jesus Christ and are justified freely by his grace and sanctified by his Spirit and so are no formall or legall Professor but if it hath been in no measure thus with you but that you have laboured and endeavoured to live a godly and righteous course of life that so you might have a ground to build your faith upon that is upon your owne righteousnesse and performances if you have been ignorant of Gods righteousnesse as the Apostle Rom. 10. 3. saith the Jewes were and have gone about to stablish your owne righteousnesse as they did then you may be assured that you have not truly beleeved on the name of Jesus Christ neither are you justified nor sanctified but are in plaine tearmes a meere legall Professor Sim. Sir I must confesse that I have not heretofore been acquainted with these things and therefore I cannot truly say that I have done thus or that it hath been so with me but yet I cannot be perswaded that I have gone about to stablish mine owne righteousnesse for I know right well that when we have done all that we can we are but unprofitable servants and that a man is to be justified by the mercies of God and the merits of Christ and not by his owne workes and merits as the Papists hold Min. I but neighbour Simon I must tell you that it is one thing to say thus in words and to hold thus in judgement and another thing to doe it in effect and practice I meane in heart and conscience it is not enough for a man to thinke and be of opinion that he cannot be justified by his owne righteousnesse and performances for that is onely a worke of the judgement rightly informed and not a worke of the heart rightly reformed wherefore I doe admonish you to take heed that whilst you are a Protestant in opinion and profession you be not a Papist in effect and practice I meane in the inward disposition of your heart as I feare me too many both men and women in this City are for if I be not mistaken their very speeches and behaviour doe testifie that because they know and doe more then they do conceive others know and doe or because they are members of such a mans Congregation and so in a Church way as they call it therefore they trust in themselves that they are righteous as our Saviour said the Pharisees did Luke 18. 9. and yet if a man should say unto them as our Saviour did to the Pharisees Luke 16. 15. Ye are they which justifie your selves they would utterly deny it as you doe but to tell you plainly neighbour Simon your speeches and behaviour when you were with me the other day made me to feare that you were but a kind of a Pharisaicall Professor furely in your crowing over and undervaluing your honest neighbour Zacheus in comparison of your selfe you did too nearely resemble the proud Pharisee crowing over and undervaluing the humble Publican Luke 18. and in judging of him to be unfit and unworthy to come to the Lords Table you did too nearely resemble Simon the Pharisee mentioned Luke the 7. who when he saw that sinfull yet penitent and beleeving woman washing our Saviours feet with her teares and wiping them with the haires of her head he spake within himselfe saying This man if he were a Prophet would have knowne who and what manner of woman this is that hath touched him for she is a sinner and therefore I pray you consider of it Sim. But Sir this is somewhat strange that a man should put confidence in his owne righteousnesse and thinke he is thereby justified and yet not know it I would you could give me some signes of a mans doing so that so I may know whether I doe so or no. Min. Why truly I can give you no more evidenter a signe of it then that which I have already given you and that is in plaine termes a proud spirit for those men and women that doe truly beleeve that they are justified Rom. 3. 24 freely by Gods grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ they are the humblest people and the most free from spirituall pride of any people in the world and therefore the Apostle having fully proved free justification in respect of a mans selfe Rom. 3. 21 22 23 24 25 26. he breakes out in the next verse into this patheticall expression saying Where is boasting then it is excluded by what law of workes nay but by the law of faith I tell you neighbour Simon if a true Beleevers heart doe begin to swell because of his excelling others in gifts and parts he doth ere long give it a vent by saying to it in the words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 4. 7. Who maketh thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it But yet to the intent you may be the more fully convinced that you have put confidence in your owne righteousnesse I pray you answer me this question Did you ever finde it a hard matter to deny your owne righteousnesse to become truly poore in spirit to be broken off from confidence in your owne performances and to passe through them all to Jesus Christ I beseech you answer me truly from your heart Sim. Why truly Sir I must confesse I never thought my selfe guilty of any such thing Min. Why then beleeve it you are guilty of it for it is naturall for every man and woman when they leave off plodding towards Hell in the dirty path of sinne yet to goe on thitherward in the cleaner path of duty rested in when Satan cannot keepe a man from Christ by sinne then he labours to keep him from him by selfe if he cannot keep a man with his sinnes from flesh-pots in Aegypt then he labours to keep him from Canaan by losing himselfe and his soule in the wildernesse of his owne performances rested in assure your selfe that there is in all men naturally this frame of spirit never to come to Christ whilst they have any hopes that their owne performances will heale them therefore here they rest untill they see it bewaile it and pray against it and therefore if you never
truly have you ever gone to the Lord in prayer about your sins Mat. Yea indeed Sir I have of late divers times gone privately to prayer and have besought the Lord that he would be pleased for Jesus Christs sake to pardon my former sins and give me power to overcome my present corruptions but yet alas all in vaine for they doe still remaine with me Min. But doe you beleeve that your former sins are pardoned Mat. No surely Sir I cannot beleeve that so so long as my present corruptions doe still remaine unsubdued Min. Weepe not I pray you but consider that you have gone a wrong way to worke you would have your sinnes subdued before they be pardoned whereas the Lord doth first pardon sinne and then he gives power against sinne Mat. But Sir I have thought with my selfe that as when I was a childe and had by the committing of any fault displeased my Father he would at my intreating forgive me upon condition that I did so no more but if I committed the like fault againe then he would not forgive the former but reckon with me for them both even so I did conceive the Lord would deale with me Min. But did not you tell me that you did beseech the Lord to forgive you your sins for Christ Jesus sake Mat. Yea indeed Min. And why have you asked it for Christs sake Mat. Because he hath suffered death for my sinnes Min. And doe you noâ— beleeve that Christ by his death hath fully satisfied the Justice of God for all your sins Mat. Yea Sir I doe beleeve he hath Min. Why then doe you not beleeve that God for his satisfaction sake hath forgiven your sins Mat. Why Sir I doe beleeve it so long as I doe continue obedient unto God in doing his Will and not transgressing his Commandments Min. And can you not beleeve it any longer then you doe so Mat. No indeed Sir Min. Why then you doe not beleeve that God pardoneth your sins for Christs sake but for your owne sake not for Christs obedience sake but for your owne obedience sake Mat. Indeed Sir I cannot tell what to say to that Min. Well neighbour Mathias as you have besought the Lord to pardon and forgive you your sinnes for Christ Jesus sake doe so still but withall beleeve that he hath done so according to your Petition yea and that absolutely and not conditionally as you have done and answerably as you doe so you shall be sure to finde and feele your sinnes mortified and subdued doe but beleeve that you are washt by the Blood of Christ from the guilt of sinne and you shall be sure to finde that you are cleansed by the Blood of Christ from the filth of sinne let a man saith Doctor Preston but beleeve the On the new Cov. the promise of pardon in the Blood of Christ and the very beleeving the pardon will be able to cleanse his heart from dead workes for that faith which doth lay hold on Christ crucified saith another godly Divine doth Dyke on the Sacrâ—ment p. 292. fetch a Crucifying vertue from him whereby the body of corruption is enfeebled and weakned Mat. O but Sir I feare I shall not beleeve that my sins are pardoned so long as they remaine unsubdued Min. If you will not beleeve that your sins are pardoned till they are quite subdued then will you not beleeve it whilst you live for so long as you live here you shall finde and feele some remainders of sinfull corruptions unsubdued though you doe beleeve and if you doe not beleeve you shall not have them subdued at all by the sanctifying Spirit of Christ Indeed it is possible that after much striving against your corruptions in your owne strength you may see there is no strength in you to subdue them as you would and may thereupon goe unto Christ by Prayer for grace and power to leave sinne and doe better and so live upon Christ that you may live upon your selfe I say you may goe unto Christ for power to doe your worke that so you may earne your wages and it is possible you may hereupon grow in legall righteousnesse as the stony and thorny ground seed sprung up and increased much and came neare unto maturity and yet this not be the worke of the sanctifying Spirit of Jesus Christ wherefore I beseech you goe not this way to worke doe not seeke to have the righteousnesse of sanctification infused into you before you seeke to have the righteousnesse of Justification imputed unto you and so as much as in you lyeth to goe about to pervert the Lords owne order and method Doe you not remember how I told my neighbour Simon that the Lords order and method in justifying and sanctifying a sinner is First to justifie him by imputing the righteousnesse that is inherent in Christ unto him and enabling him to apprehend it by faith and then to sanctifie him by infusing of righteousnesse into him by his Spirit and this is the method which the Prophet Micah proclaimes by way of admiration saying Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgressions of the remnant of his heritage he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy Here is the righteousnesse Micah 7. 18. of Justification and then in the next Verse he proclaimes the righteousnesse of Sanctification saying He will turne againe he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities c. And this method the Prophet David was well acquainted with and therefore in the first Verse of the 51. Psalme he beseeches the Lord According to the multitude of his mercies to blot out his transgressions and then in the tenth ver he saith Create in me a cleane heart O God and renew a right spirit within me Wherefore I beseech you againe and againe to acquit your selfe with this way and endeavour to goe on in it Mat. O Sir that I could doe so for surely I should thinke my selfe a happy man if the Lord would both pardon mine iniquities and subdue them for truly Sir I have lately had in my heart such a deale of feare terrour of the direfull displeasure of God and of Death and Hell for want of being assured that my sinnes are pardoned and I doe so hate loath and abhor those corruptions which are still in me that I verily thinke I shall never be quiet in my minde whilst they and I live together Min. Weep not I pray you except it be for joy for surely this feare is a worke of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus for ordinarily after conviction he lets into the hearts of his Elect such feares as these for although t is true there may be in a meare naturall man certaine naturall feares arising from the accusation of his naturall conscience yet they never affect his heart so as to worke a separation betwixt his heart and his sinnes but your feares doe so affect
hath counted his owne righteousnesse and performancers to be gaine that is to say that he hath hitherto rested and put confidence in them and expected to be justified in the sight of God by them but now with him he counted them losse for Christ and desired to be found in him not having his owne righteousnesse which is of the Law but Phil. 3. 9. that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousnesse which is of God through faith then doe wee willingly open the doore and let him in otherwise we send not for him againe and even so are we like to deale by you Sim. Well Sir you have answered me fully and I hope I shall thinke of it but Sir suppose that an Antinomisticall Professor should come before you how would you deale with him Min. Why though a man be accused to be an Antimonian yet if upon examination we finde that he hath a competent measure of knowledge and we neither know nor can heare but that he leades an honest and religious course of life though he seeme to hold that the Law is not to be a rule of life to a Beleever and that God can see no sin in a justified person and that God is neither angry nor doth afflict his people for sinne and that Christs inherent righteousnesse is both the righteousnesse of a Beleevers justification and sanctification yet if we perceive that he doth not peremptorily and obstinately hold and maintaine these points but is rather induced to hold them because such a Minister or such a religious man whom he doth reverence and hath a good opinion of is that judgement and be willing to be instructed in the truth then doe we hope that notwithstanding all this he hath true faith in Christ and therefore doe open the gate to him and let him in but if upon information and examination we finde a man to hold and maintaine these points obstinately and doe either certainely know or heare that his conversion is not such as becommeth the Gospell of Christ then we doe very much suspect him though he have a great measure of knowledge and therefore doe not presently open the gate unto him but pray him to hearken to the truth and consider of it when he commeth home and then if afterwards he come to us againe and acknowledge his errours and professe his griefe and sorrow for the same then doe we willingly open the doore unto him otherwise we send not for him Sim. Well Sir if you be so carefull and so strict whom you doe admit to the Sacrament then me thinkes some in this City yea some in this Parish that I know should come in amongst you and not goe the Independant way as they have a mitde to doe for they tell me that the reason why they have no minde to come in amongst you is because you doe admit such to the Sacrament as are not fit to be admitted and to tell you the truth I my selfe also had some thoughts of going that way onely I resolved to stay and see what your way would be and what you would doe Min. Surely neighbour Simon though I am verily perswaded there be many men and women goe that way who doe truly feare the Lord yet am I jealous that there are divers taken in amongst them that are as unfit and as unmeet to be admitted to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper as any that we have hitherto admitted and therefore I see no reason that any Christian hath to leave us and goe to them for any such cause Sim. I pray you Sir tell me what you thinke of the Independant way for I would faine heare your judgement concerning it Min. Truly neighbour Simon I have neither minde nor time to fall upon any such discourse neither would I advise you to trouble your selfe nor spend your time about any such circumstantiall matters as I doe conceive that is but give rather diligence to make your calling and election sure as the Apostle Peter exhorts us labour to know Jesus Christ and him Crucified and to know your selfe and whether you be in the faith or no. There are too many people that doe spend too much time about such needlesse matters and too many wrangling disputes have been thereby occasioned I wish with all my heart there might be no more and I wish with all my heart that all who are truly godly either amongst them or us had such humble loving hearts as Christians ought to have that we might neither speake nor thinke evill one of another but rather study and endeavour to make up the breaches which are needlesly made betwixt us that so if it were the Lords will we might all speake the same thing and that there might be no divisions amongst us but that we might be perfectly joyned together in the same minde and in the same judgement according to the Apostles exhortation 1 Cor. 1. 10. and that we might with one minde and with one mouth glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Apostle exhorts Rom. 15. 6. and so have more neare and sweet communion together in all the Lords holy Ordinances for the edifying and building up one another in our most holy faith and thus you see what my minde and desire is touching these things Sim. Then Sir it seemeth to me that you doe not onely desire that all those that are godly and have a minde to goe the Independant way should come to you and joyne with you in your way but also that all those who are already joyned in the Independant way should returne to you Min. That is my desire indeed and I doubt not but that it would be very well pleasing and acceptable to the Lord if all that are truly godly amongst them whether they be Ministers or people would come in amongst us for truly I can see no warrant they have from the Word of God to separate from us and to gather Churches out of Churches as they doe surely me thinkes if they would but read that learned and moderate Tract called Jus Divinum with an indifferent judgement and moderate spirit without prejudice they should see that our way touching Church-Government commeth as neare the minde and will of Christ as can be found out in his Word But what said a godly judicious and moderate Minister of the Gospell in the Pulpit not long since in my hearing I am perswaded said he and it is not onely my judgement but also the judgement of a grave gody and learned Divine who had long studied the point that there is not to be found in all the whole New Testament a perfect Plat-forme of Church-Government which makes me thinke said he that it is not the mind of Christ that Christians under the New Testament should much busie or trouble themselves about such matters These words as neare as I can remember he uttered and truly I thinke it were well if we were all of his mind that so
is soundnesse of minde in thee if thy knowledge be sound though weake let it not discourage thee and there may be soundnesse of minde as well in a little knowledge as in much Mat. I Sir it is like that there may be so in others but how shall I be sure there is so in me Min. It is very cleare and evident to me that your knowledge is sound though weake and that you have a sound minde in that you know your selfe your nature and your sinnes and are thereupon humbled for unsound knowledge puffeth up 1 Cor. 8. 1. But your knowledge hath discovered to you your ignorance and so hath abased you in your owne eyes and cast you downe and therefore doubtlesse your minde is sound Mat. I but Sir I told you that I also feared that I was never yet truly humbled I pray you tell me what you say to that Min. And the reason why you feare it as you say is for that you have not renounced your owne righteousnesse Mat. Yea indeed Sir that is the reason of it Min. Why I pray you tell me truly have you any hopes to be justified or accepted in the sight of God for your owne performances Mat. Yea indeed Sir I told you that I have had hopes that if I sinned no more then the Lord would forgive my former sins and accept of me Min. But I doe not aske you what you have done formerly but what you doe now Mat. Why truly Sir you have this day made it so evident and cleare to me that it is onely the Righteousnesse of Jesus Christ received by faith that procures acceptance in the sight of God that I see it is my onely way to beleeve on his name and as I told you I doe desire so to doe Mat. Then beleeve it you are truly humbled which is a very good and sure foundation and therefore you are like to erect a good and sure building though it may be it may not goe on so fast nor make so glorious a shew as some others doe Mat. But alas Sir I am so ashamed and troubled in my minde when I consider how farre other men doe out-strip me both in knowledge and other graces that I know not what to doe Min. But surely you have no cause at all to be troubled at that for it is to be feared there are some Professors that grow up quickly and flourish abundantly in a legall way they are not troubled with inward heart corruptions as other poore soules are they are full of parts gifts abilities and duties which others want and are very glorious Christians in outward appearance and yet for lack of an humble foundation they are but flittering fleeting motions windy conceptions whereas you or rather the Spirit of Christ in you hath laid such an humble foundation that questionlesse there shall be built upon it a gracious building composed of many Evangelicall Graces and therefore I pray you be not dismayed though you come farre short of many vaine glorious high-spirited Professors it is like the Lord sees though it may be you doe not that if you had such parts gifts and abilities which some others have and had not some sinfull corruptions in you which it may be others have not that then you would he lifted up above that which is meet and be kept in your selfe from Christ therefore it is the Lords glorious wisdome and gracious goodnesse to you to let some of your sinfull corruptions remaine in you especially to open your eyes to see them and to affect your heart with them and to let you come behinde others in gifts and parts that so your soule may sink in holy despaire of any helpe in your selfe and rest in nothing till it come to Christ Crucified and the eternall sweet promise in him howbeit this you may be assured of that if you be carefull to use the good meanes to this end appointed you shall have such a measure of faith and all other graces of the Spirit of Christ as shall be most fit for you Mat. O blessed be the Lord if this be true but I pray you Sir what are the meanes which you would have me to use Min. Why I meane hearing and reading the Word of God meditation prayer and receiving the Sacrament Mat. Why Sir I pray you doe you thinke me sit to come to the Sacrament Min. Yea indeed do I. Mat. Surely Sir I am altogether unworthy Min. And why doe you thinke your selfe unworthy Mat. Why because of my ignorance and sinfulnesse Min. Then belike you thinke that knowledge and righteousnesse makes a man worthy to come to the Sacrament Mat. Yes indeed Sir I have had such thoughts and therefore when I heard you question whether my neighbour Simon were worthy to be admitted to the Sacrament I did much admire at it for that I know he is a man of great knowledge and godly life but I doe much more admire that you should thinke me to be worthy Min. Indeed if wee were to understand these words worthy and unworthy by way of meriting and deserving then he in regard he hath more knowledge then you and it may be is more free from some inward corruptions then you and doth more frequently performe religious actions then you were more worthy then you but as I told him not long since we are not to understand words worthy and unworthy by way of meriting and deserving but by way of fitnesse and sutablenesse of disposition to receive Christ and taking them in this sence I say that your ignorance and sinfulnesse have occasionally through the working of GODS Spirit wrought in you such a fit and sutable disposition for the receiving of Christ that I doe pronounce you worthy to be admitted to the Lords Table Mat. O blessed be God if this be true but Sir I pray you what is this fit and sutable disposition which you say the Spirit of God hath by occasion of my ignorance and sinfulnesse wrought in me or wherein doth it consist Min. This fit and sutable disposition which the Spirit of God hath wrought in you consists in that sight and sence of your owne ignorant sinfull miserable and helplesse condition as hath made you see your need of Jesus Christ to be made unto you of God wisdome 1 Cor. 1. 30 righteousnesse sanctification and redemption Mat. But Sir I pray you how can such a disposition be said to make me worthy to be admitted to the Lords Table Min. Why even as we when we see a miserable poore hungry man that is senceable of his owne miserable and helplesse condition crave an Almes with earnest desire and intreating we doe conceive he is in a fit and sutable disposition to receive it and account him worthy to have an Almes bestowed upon him Even so when the Lord sees a man so sensible of his owne miserable and helplesse condition that he sees and feeles his need of Jesus Christ and therefore doth earnestly desire him
diseased soule Now these being the ends for which Christ did institute and ordaine the Sacrament I beseech you let your comming thereunto be to obtaine these ends and doe not you come for forme and custome sake neither yet for your credit sake amongst your neighbours neither yet out of a conceit that your very presence there and your very performance of the outward acts is well pleasing and acceptable to the Lord as I feare me many ignorant people have thought in former times neither yet doe you conceive that for your so doing the Lord is ingaged to forgive you your sinnes and give you eternall life neither yet doe you imagine that the bare outward actions and elements are able to sanctifie you in a word beware of conceiving too highly of the outward acts and outward elements but rather look to the inward invisible matter and vertue of the Sacrament which is Jesus Christ alwayes remembring that he is all in all in every action and in every element and therefore when you are at the Lords Table as I hope you will be very shortly and there see the Bread and Wine separated by consecration unto this holy use and these blessed ends then remember Christ and thinke how he was fore-ordained and Pemble on the Sacraments p. 8 fore-appointed by his Father from everlasting unto the accomplishing of our redemption by his death and blood-sheding and when you see the Bread broken and the Wine poured forth then remember Christ and thinke how he was torne and rent in his precious Body with stripes and wounds and pained even to the death in his most holy Soule full of the wrath of God and the indignation of the Almighty by whom he was smitten for your sinnes and plagued for your transgressions and when the Minister offereth unto you the Bread and Wine then remember Christ and thinke how he is given to you of God freely yea and freely gives himselfe to you if you will receive him and when you receive the Bread and drinke the Wine then remember Christ that living Bread and thinke how he himself hath said Ioh. 6. 5. 5. My flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drinke indeed and beleeve that thereby hee gives life unto your soule and will preserve it to all eternity in a word consider how God the Father did by this death and bloodshed of his Sonne thus represented in the Sacrament fully answer and satisfie his owne justice to the end he might set open a doore of mercy to all humble penitent hearted sinners yea and doe you thereupon assuredly beleeve that you have thereby tendered unto the Justice of God a full and perfect satisfaction for all your sinnes and that therefore now it is a meet and equall thing with God he having received and accepted this full satisfaction to pardon and forgive you all your sinnes according to his promise Mat. 26. 28. yea doe you beleeve and assuredly perswade your heart that for this satisfaction sake you are reconciled unto God according to his promise Col. 1. 21 22. yea doe you beleeve and assuredly perswade your owne soule that for the obedience and satisfaction sake of Christ you are justified in the sight of God according to his promise Rom. 5. 9. yea and doe you then beleeve and make no doubt of it but that for this satisfaction sake of Jesus Christ you shall be sanctified by his Spirit according to his promise Hebr. 13. 12. and have your heart of stone taken out of your bowels and a heart of flesh given unto you according as it is promised Ezek. 36. 26. and have strength and vigour to all holy performances according to that promise Heb. 13. 20 21. yea doe you beleeve and make no question of it but that for this satisfaction sake of Christ you shall have eternall life according to Christs owne promise Ioh. 6. 51. This you see is the Covenant of promise this is Christs last Will and Testament these are the riches which he hath left and bequeathed to all such as you are this is Christs owne hand and deed and by the Sacrament duly administred and rightly received he sets too his seale and so confirmes it fully wherefore I beseech you when you are at the Sacrament yea as oft as you shall be there present at any time hereafter speake to your faith as Deborah did to her self Iudg. 5. 12. and say Awake awake O my faith and now bestir and rouze thy selfe up to do thine office in receiving Christ now offered in whom all these â— Cor. 1. â—0 promises are Yea and Amen Lift up thine eye to see Christ reach forth thine hand and lay hold on him and receive him set thy mouth to him and feed on him eat and drink Christ by sucking these breasts of consolation and thus would I have you in the act of receiving the Sacrament by Faith to knit your heart unto Christ and throw your selfe into his armes stretched out on the crosse to imbrace you and wash your soule in his Blood that you may be cleane and by Faith apply his Blood to your soule for the healing of all your infirmities say in your heart Hath my Saviour died for my sinnes and shall not I die unto sinne shall I live any longer therein Rom. 6. 2. no God forbid and by this meanes ye shall finde your sinnes weakned and the graces of Gods Spirit revived and strengthned yea you shall finde the Sacrament to become a good corasive to eat out your corruptions and as physicke to heale and cure you of all your infirmities yea you shall finde it to be by meanes of the acting of your faith as a Conduit pipe which being set to the Fountaine of grace Christ Jesus shall convey grace from that holy Fountaine Christ into the cisterne of your soule and like a soveraigne medicine you shall finde it to become beneficiall to all the parts of your soule making you apt and ready to every good worke and therefore I beseech you to receive it often Mat. Truly Sir by meanes of these your speeches my judgement is much better informed touching the use and end of the Sacrament and I am hereby much incouraged to approach thereunto but Sir because you doe exhort me to receive it often I would gladly know the reason why we must receive that Sacrament of the Lords Supper often seeing we are to receive the Sacrament of Baptisme but once in all our lives Min. The Reason is because the sacrament of Rogers on the Sacrament p. 360. Baptisme is the sacrament of our Regeneration or new birth and the sacrament of the Lords Supper is the sacrament of our spirituall nourishment and growth and therefore we are to be baptized but once because we are borne but once but we are to receive the sacrament of the LORDS Supper often because that after wee are borne wee stand in need to be often nourished and fed that so we may grow in grace for
and the rest to be admitted Min. Why truly neighbor Simon the best counsell that I can give you is to labour to become truly poore in spirit that is to say labour to see in your selfe a want of all good as of your selfe that so you may see your need or Jesus Christ and to this end I pray you consider that Shepherds â—ound beleever p. 145. as a godly writer saith Not onely some sinne but some good that a man thinkes he hath and resteth in without Christ may as easily prove his ruine because a mans owne righteousnesse rested in doth not onely hide mens sinnes but strengthens them in some sinne by which men perish Trusting in a mans own righteousnes and committing iniquity being couples Ezek. 33. 13. and therfore though you have forsaken all other sinnes yet if you doe still with the Scribes and Pharisees and with zealous Paul before his conversion retaine this sin you undoe your selfe Cast away therefore from you all your transgressions and confidence in your owne righteousnesse amongst the rest and with Paul after his conversion reckon it all but losse for Christ yea and Phil. 3. 8 9 judge it to be dung that you may win Christ and be found in him not having your owne righteousnesse which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousnesse which is of God by faith for God as a Creator Sincere Convert p. 108. saith that godly writer in another place having made a Law will not forgive one sin without the Blood of Christ Nay saith hee further Christs Blood will not do it neither if thou dost joyne never so little that thou hast or dost unto Jesus Christ and makest thy selfe or any of thy duties co-partners in that great work of saving thee Cry out therefore as that blessed Martyr did None but Christ None but Christ yea and as Richel cryed out Give me children or Gen. 30. 1. else Idie even so do you cry out Give me Christ or else I die For as hee that hath the Sonne hath life so he that hath not the Sonne hath not life 1 Joh. 5. 12. But for as much as you of your selfe have no power to do this I beseech you be earnest with God in prayer to make you see and feele your owne sinfulnesse and helplesnesse and so your great need of Jesus Christ who is that mighty one upon whom the Lord hath laid Act. 4. 12. help Psal 89. 19. Neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby wee must be saved wherefore saith the holy Ghost He Heb. 9. 25. is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing hee ever liveth to make intercession for them so that you may assure your selfe there is no need of any of your own righteousnesse or performances in the case of Justification or Salvation and therefore I pray you come empty handed to Christ who doth not require you to bring any thing at all to him to enrich him but would have you come poore and then will he inrich you and so shall you be fit to be admitted to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper and then if you come in to us when we meet together and make it appeare to us that your heart is so qualified we shall willingly set open the gate to you and let you in and so beseeching the LORD to worke this in you by the power of his owne Spirit I will for this time take my leave of you commiting you to God and to the word of his grace Sim. Sir I could willingly have tarried longer with you but it may be your occasions doe now call you away from mee and therefore I will at this time take my leave of you giving you many thanks for the great pains you have taken with me and I beseech you Sir pray for mee and before long God willing I will make bold to come to you againe for truly I am perswaded I shall never be well till I have further conference with you but no more at this time FINIS