hear I take it for granted you will hear I hope you will for brown bread is better then none and a little is better then none at all yet I intreat you take these two words of Direction First Try the word you hear by the Truth Secondly Try your selves by the Truth First Try the word you hear by the Truth if it be not consonant to that believe it not let who will preâ—ch it Paul exhorteth the Galatians so to do Chap. 1.8 9. But though we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other doctrine unto you then that which we have preached unto you let him he accursed How Paul accursed sure you speak too high what if an Angel must he be accursed Sure you will câ—ll in your words again nay instead thereof he repeats them over again as we said before so I say again if any one preach any other Gospel then that which you have received let him be accursed If any man pretend a Revelation from Heaven and cannot bring Scripture for what he saith do not believe one syllable Take the noble Bereans for your example they would nor believe Pauls doctrine until they had searched to see whether it were so or no but then as you are to tâ—y the word you hear by the truth so try your selves by the word you hear as a truth that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit Now try your selves by this truth and see whether or no you walk after the flesh or after the Spirit I have likewise two Directions about the preaching the Word First Do not you receive the Word for the persons sake that brings it I am apt to think that many of you will receive a Truth of one mans bringing which you would not receive of anothers and thus ye receive the Word of God with respect of persons which you ought not but first receive the Word for its own sake and secondly receive the person for the Words sake 1 Thes 5.12 13. we beseech you brethren to know them which are over you to 〈◊〉 monish you and labour among you in the Lord and to esteem of 〈◊〉 very highly in love for their works sake Sixthly My direction in the sixth place shall be concerning 〈◊〉 times we live in and I shall tell you how you ought to behave 〈◊〉 selves in two particulars First Blame thy self most that the times are so bad there is a general complaint about the sadnesse of the times but no particular every one puts the cause away from him and instead of accusing themselves are alwayes accusing others Ahab he said to Elisha Thou art he that troubled Israel Elisha said to Ahab Thou art he that troubled Israel Adam said to God The Woman which thou gavest me did give to me and I did eat The woman she said The Serpent beguiled her Thus do we put it off from our selves to others No man saith with Jonas for my sake is this come upon you I am the cause of all this No man saith what have I done would you have the times mend Oh then every soul of you condemn your selves and amend your wayes the times would not be so bad if we were not so bad would you have the effect cease then seek to remove the cause But then Secondly Pray not so much for better times as better hearts for had you never so good times and not good hearts your blessings would be cursings good times without good hearts will but fatten you the sooner to the slaughter Seventhly If you cannot do the good you would then do the good you can many people are so sullen that because they cannot do all they would do they will do none at all I beseech you be not of this temper what though you cannot serve God in publick will you not therefore serve him in private why may you not do as S. Austin was bid to do tolle legit take up and read this will be a reading and praying time with you and now you cannot hear as formerly you have done oh pray more and read more and the less you have in Publick the more you may have in private you may read and pray we are not forbidden that yet let us then make use of them Eightly My intreaty is unto you all that you would be careful and circumspect in your conversation Ephes 5.15.16 See then that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise redeeming the time because the dayes are evil Walk as becometh the Professiors of the Cospel and labour to be blameless towards God and man Oâ— what notice will there be taken when any Professor doth but 〈◊〉 aside and do any thing amiss it is the joy of wicked mens hearts to see it and how diligently do they watch for it and often wish iâ— We have a Proverb That one man may better steal a Horse then â—â—â—ther look on I am sure a wicked man may better commit sevon sins then a Professor one for it is the failings the bad lives of Professors that makes Religion ill spoken of and hinders many a weak soul from closing with it sure think they their Religion cannot be good their conversations are so bad let us therefore be wary and careful in all our actions Ninthly Mourn and lament for the sin you cannot hinder it was â—â—id of Lot 2 Pet. 2.8 that his righteous soul was vexed with the wicked conversations of the Sodomites Oh that we were but so good as we should be then sure it would grieve us more then it doth to see the wicked and abominable lives of those among whom we live though thou dost not blaspheme God thy self yet it is thy God that is blasphemed and shall not that trouble thee how canst thou but reprove them whoever they be When a sick man seeth his Wife Children Friends and Physician lamenting his condition sure it will make him think his condition is worse then he thought iâ— or very bad at least or else why do they take on so if there was no cause of fear Thus it may be thy reproof may work upon a wicked man if when thou hearest him blaspheme God thou lamentest his condition and puts him in mind of his sad estate it may make him lay that to heart then which he never did before Tenthly The last thing that I have to beseech of you is That you would love one another I have not at all sought to proselyte you to my way but whatever you see in whoever it be that is of God oh love it be he of what profession he will he is a godly man Oh then love him you cannot love God if you do not love his people let brotherly love continue your Minister must not continue oh then let brotherly love continue 1 John 1.20 If any man saith he loveth God and hateth his Brother he is a lyar and the truth is not in him for if he
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the Doctrine of Christ hath not God therefore he cannot be saved he that abideth in the Doctrine hath the Father and the Son Therefore as you would be saved hold fast the Truths you have received Now here but I have not time to speak to it is a Case of Conscience Whether every errour doth cut a man off from God Answer No God forbid But this we cannot speak to now Fourthly They that hold not fast the Truth of God are injurious to their Posterity Our Fore-Fathers holding fast the Truth of God in the day of their Trial and sealing it with their Bloud was the means of transmitting the purity of the Gâ—spel to us their Posterity and if we in our Generation hold no fast the Truth of God but carry it loose in our Consciences and Judgments and we let it fall out of our hands and hearts we forfeit the Truths of God not onely from ouâ— selves but also from our Posterity Thus you see we shall wrong the God of Truth and the Truth of God we shall wrong our selves and our Posterity if we hold not fast the Truth we have received Thus we have the Reasons of the Doctrine Application For Application here first I might bewail the general want of the care of the performance of this Duty which hath appeared many years in this Land We have had little care of holding fast the Truths we have received For holding fast the Truth in our Judgments How many are there whose Judgments have been perverted with many Errours This is that which the Apostle calls A turning aside to another Gospel in the first of the Galathians and the sixth Verse And so for holding fast the Truth in the love of it How many are there that have failed in that which Christ calls 〈◊〉 forsaking of the first Love Revelations the secoâ—â— and the fourth Verse And we should hold fast the Truth in the Profession of it and how many are there that have failed in that This the Apostle calls in the tenth of the Hebrews A drawing back unto Perdition And for holding fast the Truth in the Practice of it How many have failed in that that have been Professors and now are grown loose and debauched This the Apostle Peter calls A turning aside from the Holy Commandement All these things call for our Lamentation Exhortation But the whole Work that I will apply my self to is to exhort every one of you to the care of this Duty To hold fast the Truths that you have heard and received Hold them fast in your Judgment hold them fast in your Will and Affections hold them fast in your Lives and Conversations hold the Truths you have received constantly and hold them against all opposition on the right hand and on the left from Friends and Foes To press this upon you I think I shall need use no other Motive then what I have laid down before you in the Doctrinal Part onely this one thing more and that is Take notice how urgent the Spirit of God is in pressing this in Scripture Now saith M â— Hildersham If in those days when the Apostles were yeâ— living who taught thâ— People of GOD with more Power and Demonstration of the Spirit then any of us do or can Yet if then they had need of such Exhortations to continue in the Doctrine and to abide in it to stand fast and hold fast the Word and Truth of God How much more needful are these Exhortations in our days If any say No There is not more cause for then the Magistrate was a Mortal Enemy to the Gospel and the Professors of it but we are thanks be to God under a Christian Magistrate who doth not oppose but countenance the Gospel and the Profeffors of it If any makes this Objection I will give you Mr. Hildersham's Answer to it which I find in a Sermon of his Printed in the Year One Thousand Six Hundred Thirty and one which is now One and Thirty Years agone saith he Though through the great mercy of GOD we in this Land enjoy the Gospel in great Peace and have it countenanced by Authority and though through the Religious Disposition of the KING we may have great hopes of the continuance of the true Religion and seem to be freed from all fear of the altering of it Yet says he there is need of this Exhortation even in these days and that for these Reasons REAS. I. First Because of the great danger we are in of being over-run or over-spread with Popery and the Fiery Tryal before we are aware For says he The great increase of Papists that we daily hear of and the great declining of many who are ready to receive any Errour that shall be offered to them These things give us just cause to fear the danger of Popery over-spreading us And Brethren If it were so in his time so many years ago What is it now REAS. II. Secondly says he If he there were no danger oâ— Popery yet says he there are so many Errours newly sprung up that do shew how needful this Exhortation is REAS. III. Thirdly says he There is such a general decay of the love of Religion in all places and amongst all sorts of People and so much irreligiousness every where that it is the general Disease of the Nation Therefore he concludes That in these Times of ours though Religion hath the Magistrate to countenance it yet there is as much need of pressing this Exhortation as ever there was namely To hold fast the Truths that we have heard and received Now if you ask What you shall do that you may be able to hold fast the Truths that you have received I will give you some Directions First If you would hold fast the Truths that you have heard and received get into Christ rooted and established in him Brethren It is not all the Learning in the World and Abilities that man can have that will inable him to hold out and hold fast the Truths that he hath received If a time of Tryal come unless Christ be his Bottom and Foundation unless Christ be his strength if a man stands upon his own legs his own Parts and Abilities to argue and dispute and repel Objections alas these things will fall in a day of Tryal Prison and Death and a Stake are such Arguments Brethren that all the Learning and Parts in the World cannot answer but onely Christ and his Spirit and Grace in the Heart Therefore if you would hold fast the Truths which you have received and heard and not be beaten off from them in the day of Tryal get into Christ rooted and established in him then shall you stand not else 2. If you would hold fast the truths that you have heard and received then take nothing upon trust in matters of Religion what ever Preachers you hear or what ever Books you read take not things upon trust but examine them and prove
comfort yet you have little in comparison of what you may have if you seek for it 2 Study the excellent nature of the comfort how little soever a man hath of this spiritual comfort it will sweeâ— his condition be it what it will be When a man hath communion with the Spirit of God he hath comfort in all conditions then though a mans condition be never so bad yet it is very good Hab. 2.17 Though the Fig-tree shall not blossome though the fruit be not in the Vines the labour of the Olive shall cease and the fields shall yield no meat the flock shall be cut off from the Fold and there shall be no Herd in the stalls yet will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation He can fetch hope and ground his faith upon the Promises though the Providences and Dispensations of God be never so mysterious the comfort of the Spirit doth make up the want of all other comforts the comforts of Ordinances are sweet comforts Sermons-comforts are sweet comforts Sacraments-comforts are sweet comforts Ah but the comfort of the Spirit can supply the want of all these all outward crosses do not hinder these inward comforts a man that hath these comforts may have a feast with bread and water a little of this comfort is able to sweeten a whole Ocean of sorrow In the multitude of the thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul Psal 94.10 So that when the hearts of Gods people are filled with sad thoughts what will become of themselves What will become of their Families what will become of the Church of God what will become of the Ministry of the Gospel and of the Ordinances of Christ they are full of sad fears and distracting thoughts when they have a multitude of thoughts in the midst of all these spiritual comforts can comfort and refresh the soul Oh labour after a greater share of this comfort God hath cast us upon sad times wherein we shall have need of more than ordinary comfort we are like to have troubles without if we have not peace within it will be very sad we are like to lose much of Christ bodily presence I mean in his Ordinances many of those Messengers that represent the person of Christ and stand in his stead if we should not enjoy the other Comforter our estates would be doleful If we have darkness without and darkness within how sad will that darkness be 3. Labour to get more communion from the Spirit of God This will raise and sublimate your natural comforts and turn them into spiritual comforts A man never relisheth these outward comforts till he come to taste the ravishment and sweetness of the holy Ghost till he taste the love of God these give them a higher lustre than the men of the world though they enjoy much comfort yet they do not enjoy half that a Child of God doth the litttle that the righteous hath is better than the great revenues of the wicked to a Child of God a Dinner of green hearbs is more savory and pleasant to him than the stalled Oxe because a Child of God hath better sauce with it Worldly men they smell to their flowers it is only the godly man that sucks out the honey that all things are given to him in love out of this he sucks comfort A gracious heart sees all these outward comforts that they are purchased with the blood of Christ and therefore these should do him good and he may take comfort that he hopes for what he hath not as well as for what he may have and he may take comfort in his condition be it what it will he sees all is for his good such a one believeth what he feeth not So he believeth Gods wayes are wayes of truth though some more sweet and some more bitter Labour after communion with the Spirit in his comforting work is another This is the best preservative against all intanglements of sin whatsoever It is a great hour of temptation and if our comforts do not lie above the world we shall be greatly ensnared by the world If a man 〈◊〉 sweet meats he cannot relish ordinary food so while these sweet comforts lie upon the soul he cannot relish these ordinary things in the world What do ye tempt me with these things sayes a Child of God what are these to the comforts of the Holy Ghost The heart of man will seek comfort one way or another and if he hath it not from the Spirit of God he will seek it some other way it he hath not comfort from the Spirit of God he will seek somâ— sparks of his own kindling rather then they will sit in darkness without comfort they will light their candle at the Devils sire And as he delivereth from temptation on the right so he delivereth from temptation on the left hand he that is filled with the comforts of the holy Ghost what are sufferings to such a man He hath that within him that wil carry him through all danger here is that comfort and that life by Christ which may ease us in our greatest crosses this will make a child of God speak of the sufferings of this World as a light matter Our light affliction which is but for a moment shall work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory they took joyfully the spoyling of their goods because in heaven they had a better and more enduring substance Heb. 11.35 Some were tortured receiving no deliverance because in heaven they had a better substance Oh if you would be kept from the snares of the world let your comforts be above the power and danger of temptation from any thing here below 3 By way of Direction How shall we have communion and act Faith upon the holy Ghost as our Comforter The holy Ghost is designed and appointed by God the Father to this Office Now you know none love to be slighted in their office and if we do not act Faith upon the holy Ghost we slight his Office therefore we should have recourse to him in a way of believing As we should act Faith upon Christ for the pardon of sin so we should act Faith upon the holy Ghost for a sense of that pardon 2 Go often to Jesus Christ and beg him and beseech him to intreat the Father for you Go to God the Father in the name of Christ and beg it upon the account of Christs prayer and intercession that he would send the Comforter and you have good argument to enforce the Petition the very same as the Disciples That Christ would when he wâ—â—â— away pray the Father and he should send you another Comforter Christ tells them that some there were that would kill theâ— and in so doing think they did God good service therefore Christ in compassion to them in the state that he left them in prayes the Father that he would send the Comforter So now we
and 't is in vain for us to build on any Foundation but this for 't is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure c. Col. 2.12 through the Faith of the operation of God working in you or doing in you or causing in you or making in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight Our work is to depend on God's work our outward working depends on God's inward working Again that which is acceptable in God's sight but 't is only through Jesus Christ Good works themselves though never so good agreeable to the Law and Gospel yet if God look not on our persons and works through Christ they will not serve the turn ye cannot be accepted working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ Will God be pleased with nothing but onely for Christ Jesus his sake and if it do not please Christ will it not please God 'T is truly plainly verily so That which God cannot accept of through Christ he doth not accept of at all But now things are so ordered that God hath put all things into Christ's hands Christ Jesus hath the ordering of the Worship and Government of the Church he hath the making of all the Articles of the Christian's Creed a Christian is bound to believe nothing but what Christ teaches as necessary to Salvation so that in Christ we are compleat if we believe as he teaches us to believe and if we worship God as he teaches us to worship God and have such order and government concerning his house and walk so as we desire in all things to please our Lord and Master and have him before our eye then are we returned unto Christ the Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls But if we present God with any kind of Creed Model of Worship 〈◊〉 Government that hath not Christ's Image and Stamp upon it God will say as Christ concerning the Money Whose Image or Superscription doth it bear If we can say Christ's the way of Worship we have learn'd from Christ that Order and Government in the Church we have learn'd from Christ then the Father and Son will own it If it have Man's Superscription on it not God's or Christ's I cannot tell how we should presume it can be acceptable to God through Christ for God hath so confin'd himself he will not be pleased but through Christ and that all Matters of Religion in the New Testament should be ordered according to Christ's mind as the Old according to Moses ' This necessary we enquire after Christ's mind in what we do If we can do any thing and in doing it are sure it will be acceptable to God through Christ well and good otherwise not This is the Apostle's Prayer That God would make them perfect in every good work to do his will working in them that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ The Doxology Whether we refer it to God or Christ 't is all one we have no body to honour and glorifie in the Church but God through Christ We cannot tell how to divide those that are so nearly united Therefore when we glorifie God we glorifie Christ And this we must observe God hath ordered all man's Concernments so that we have nothing to plead for our Souls Salvation but God's Grace the Rule is his Word his Gospel that he hath made known to us and therefore Let the Word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom There is a great deal of Do in God's Church about This and That he that must determine the business is Christ and there are but two ways the determining of things for the present and for the time to come hereafter by questioning the matter of fact for the present by making of your Rule When the question comes concerning the Matter of Fact these he receives our Rule What hath Christ said How hath Christ provided in things of this nature It 's plainly so and so but in dubious Matter and Customs and the like I know not how to answer them when we come to answer Christ when he shall put the Question Did you not know whom you was bound to fear Did I not speak nothing at all in the Case neither generally not particularly Could you not by any means come to understand my mind I doubt we shall not be able to answer this But we must say we found a certain state in the Word but having Laws and Customs among our selves therein were at a stand Why saith Christ was your Laws and Customs above or below my Word Must your Law be ruled by my Word or my Word by your Doctrine Did not all Christians hold out this that the Word of Christ was above all Authority in the Matters of Christ Shall the Members of the Body become greater then the Head Therefore you could not be ignorant in this Case your own professing me to be so great in all my Natures and Offices but when you come to practice then you will deny me Shall we be able to answer this We must consider of this that if we would please God it must be through Christ and then we must carry our selves as directed by Christ Jesus in his Word and nothing can take us off that Principle no pretence whatsoever for Christian Religion is such a thing in the nature and substance of it as Jesus Christ is the Author of Therefore if Christ be the Author all that belongs to Christian Religion as to its substance we should-account nothing â—â—moment in Reâ—gion but onely that which we can â—â—â—lbe to Christ 〈◊〉 the Author of it The care of 〈◊〉 Church is in thâ— hand of Christ whatsoever Providences are let in on thâ— Church to exercise or try the 〈◊〉 all must be boâ—â— patiently but every Member muâ—â—â—orship him God hath made Jesus Christ a Shepherd c. In what he findâ— fault we must not justifie what he commands we must approve what he calls to be done we must practise what is not his we must not own as his Much may be drawn from this both for Instruction and Consolation that Christ is the great Shepherd Though he dye in his Members he shall rise in his Members I may say though he dye in his Ministers he shall rise in his Minsters Isa 59.21 As for me this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord My Spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever This is a part of the Covenant that the Word and Spirit of Christ shall be continued among the Members throughout all Ages God will provide his Children shall not live without a Spirit neither without his Word God hath engaged himself for both for the one as well for the other that there shall be a super-addition
is the season for God to feed him with heavenly Manna Jacob had glorious Visions while he was flying from the wrath of his Brother when he had nothing but a heap of stones for his Pillow It was in the wilderness that God speakes to his Church Thus I told you of Mr. Glover a Prisoner who found no comfort in the time of his imprisonment but when he was going to the stake he cryed out He is come he is come meaning the Spirit the Comforter 4. Another Season of Comfort is after some special exercise of Grace godly sorrow for sin fresh actings in the pardon of sin and new engagements and Resolutions and Promises of more close walking with God after declining from him 5. Another Season of Comfort is After some great Trials and afflictions Light is then most pleasant when we new are come out of a dark place after Thunder comes Lightâ—ing after a storme comes a calm God led his people first into the Wilderness and then into the Land of Canuâ—◠〈◊〉 is often so in Godâ— Dispensations towards his people thâ—â— greatest afflictions go before their greatest deliverance and therefore let not the Saints of God despair when they are at the lowest when they walk in darkness and see no light yet set them trust in the Lord. 6 Another Season of Comfort is When men are conscientiously diligent in their particular Callings then they walk with God To this I gave you an instance in the Shepherds they were faithful and diligent in their callings they were watching over their flocks by night and then the Angel comes and tells them Lo you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord Luk. 2.11 A company of poor Shepherds keeping of their Sheep God appears unto them and manifesteth his comforting presence when the Scribes and Pharisees notwithstanding all their long prayers and their strict Rites and Ceremonies hear not a word of him 7 Another Season of Comfort is When we are either preparing for or in the spiritual act of some duty When grace is exercised to prepare the heart to pray and in attendance upon such an Ordinance then often times the Spirit of God is with them to let poor souls in their endeayours find acceptance with God Hannah had been praying to God but what melody did she find in her heart When Mary sate at Christs feet how doth Christ fill her heart with comfort sealing up her salvation to her I now come to close with some application Use of Information Use If it be the work of the Spirit of God to comfort the beaâ— of Christs Disciples then by way of Information I gather this That a poor soul is very hardly setled and satisfied in 〈◊〉 of comfort Sure it is a hard matter to comfort a poor 〈◊〉 when one of the persons of the blessed Trinity must be â—â—ployed on purpose to do it This is an Office belongâ—â—â— the Holy Ghost when he is to be the Paraclete the comâ—â—â— of the Holy Ghost This sure is a hard matter to comâ—â—â— the wounded spirit when the soul is fully 〈…〉 spirâ—◠〈◊〉 bondage Oh! the hesitancies the jealousies the doâ—â—â— and fears the objections that a poor soul makes against 〈◊〉 spiritual peace and comfort now it begins to take comfort then it doubts again now he believeth and takes courage but anon he is afraid there is a great deal adoe to fasten comfort upon a poor soul 2 Cor. 1.21 22. What a heap of words are there together and it is all little enough to comfort a poor soul Now he that establisheth us with you on Christ and hath annointed us is God and hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts It is not without much tugging and drawing that the soul is first brought to beleeve and then when it doth believe it is a hard thing to perswade it that it doth believe There is a strange kind of squemishness upon the heart he thinks that there is no comfort to be taken that doth belong to him Luther says It is a harder thing to comfort a troubled Conscience than to raise the dead Surely it must be as hard when nothing but the sauâ—â— power must do it The soul is hardly convinced but all the glad ridings of the Gospel are golden streams and all the Promises are 〈◊〉 pleasant Fancies without any Reality but that these things should belong to him this he cannot believe for want of Faith So that the Spirit of God is fain to come in and end the controversie before the soul will be satisfied 2. If it be the work of the Spirit of God to comfort the hearts of his people then all the comfort of Christless and graceless souls is nothing worth there is no true peace for they are not the Disciples of Christ which are the propâ—â— subjects of this comfort they will not hearken to 〈◊〉 nor learn of Christ but they cast his words behind their back and break his bands a sunder Those that do not learn Christs precepts and follow Christs Canons and obey Christs Commands they are none of Christs Disciples and to be sure they have not the 〈◊〉 of Christ which is the Efficient â—n this 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 the root there cannot be the fruit for this inward peace 〈◊〉 the fruit of the spirit And therefore what comfort they have it is either a sinful comfort which to be sure will end in sorrow or else at best it is but a carnal comfort which wil soon vanish like the crackling of thorns under a Pot There is no peace saith God to the wicked there is no peace with God as long as you are at peace with sin 3. Here they are stumbled with the riddle that the people of God should be sorrowing yet always rejoycing as sorrowing yet always rejoycing the carnal world think this to be a contradiction though they be troubled without yet they have peace within though they have matter of sorrow in respect of outward affliction yet they have fellowship with the holy Ghost the Comforter which gives peace in affliction joy in sorrow light in darkness which fils them with joy unspeakable and full of glory Secondly If the holy Ghost be the only Comforter of the hearts of Gods people then let me exhort every one of you to labour for an interest in this Comforter Friends I beseech you be restless till you have got some evidence of the Comforter in your souls by the inhabitation of the Spirit in your hearts without you have an interest in Christ there is no comfort no true comfort to be expected no comfort in prosperity no comfort in adversity no comfort in life nor in death no peace with your consciences Men may make a shift to keep themselves at quiet for the present by lulling conscience they may have a kind of peace from a false principle Ah but what wil you do when storms arise whâ—â— wil you do
must go to God those Ministers that were wont to comfort us are now to be taken from us our Barnabaâ—'s Sons of consolation their mouths are to be stopped though Ordinances are now to be dammed up the houses of God made places of defilement our Teachers are removed into corners our troubles increase and we have none to tell us how long the light of our eys the comfort of our hearts in respect of the outward means are going from us whither shall we go we want bread for our souls we want cordials for our hearts blessed Saviour pity us and since thou wilt not come to us in thy own presence as thy Ambassadors do come to us by thy Spirit do now in heaven as thou didst on earth pray the Father for us do not leave us as so many Orphans without father or mother but send thy Spirit to refresh our souls see how we are hated and reviled and we must suffer these things now Let us have thy spirit 3 If you would have communion with the Spirit of Christ in his comforting work Take heed that you do not lay up your comforts in the creature This is for to seek for the living among the dead those that rejoyce in the creature rejoyce in a thing of nought and you that have an interest in God God will not take it well at your hands to seek it any where else no not in Ordinances though God would have you to seek comfort in Ordinances yet he would not have you to seek comfort from Ordinances 4 Sit down and be much in duty Psal 63.5 6. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches If you look at the beginning of the Psalm you shall find this Psalm was penn'd when David was deprived of the Ordinances of God Many a man complains that he lives uncomfortably no wonder when he little thinks on Christ 5 Be much in the exercise of grace Then they walked in the fear of the Lord when they walked in the comfort of the Holy Ghost 6. Take heed of quenching and grieving the Spirit your Comforter by neglecting his motions or by acting any thing against the mind of the Spirit Do not sin against him as your enlightning Spirit that will hinder him as your Comforter I close with a word of Comfort to the people of God If it be one of the great works of the Spirit of God here is matter of great comfort to those that stick close to Jesus Christ 1. Sure your comforts will be satisfying Comforts sufficient because they are comforts of the Spirits working The Lord Jesus hath promised to make up the want of his bodily presence by sending his Spirit He was now going from them and tells them That he could not stay and this was sad newes to the Disciples who where ready to break their hearts and the best comfort that he could afford them was to tell them That he would send the Comforter If Christ can comfort his people in the absence of himself surely he can comfort them in the want of all other comforts that relate either to soul or body and so in the want of mercies in the want of outward Ordinances he can comfort the soul It is the Spirit of God that can comfort in the use of these and if he will he can do it in the want of them he can comfort us in the wildernesse where no water is when he doth deny the meanes he can cumfort us without where he denies the stream he can make us drink out at the Fountain 7. And Lastly The people of God find hereby that their comforts are abiding Your liberty your friends ah Ordinances and Ministers may be taken from you your Ministers may be banish'd your Ministers may be imprison'd but here is a Comforter that abides for ever And though they may keep your Ministers out of the Pulpit yet they shall not take the Comforter out of your hearts So that when I shall not Preach any more to you I shall Pray the Father that he would send you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever Mr. Bull of Newington-Green His Farewel Sermon in the afternoon Acts 20.32 And now Brethren I commend you to God and to the word of his Grace who is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified THe words are part of S. Pauls Farewel-Sermon or discourse to the Elders of the Church of Ephesus one of those famous seven Churches of Asia that we read of in the book of the Revelations It is not to be doubted as Calvin doth Comment upon the place that though the Apostle speaks immediately to the Elders yet he doth comprehenâ— the whole Church in the Speech Our holy Apostle had been a long time with the Church preaching among them taking pains with them both in publick and private as you may see in the 20 verse and declares to them the whole Counsel of God verse 27. and now being called away taken off by divine Providence by the will of his Master the last and best office that he thought he could do for them was to commit them to the care of God and to leave them in his arms and to recommend them to his Grace It would be more then the time would permit to look over the whole Apostles Sermon which is partly Narrative and partly Consolatory Narrative to put them in mind in what manner he had preached to them from verse 17. to verse 27. And it s partly Consolatory from the 27. to the Text wherein the Apostle could hold no longer but his love constrains him and makes him to break forth into this pathetical wish or rather prayer And now Brethren I commend you to his grace As if he had said I am just now going 〈◊〉 you not knowing that I shall see your face any more now I am a dying man as to my conversing with you anâ— more now I am departing this is the best Legacie I can bequeath unto To commend you to God and to his grace And he speaks to persons as standing in the same relation with God and Christ and having the same Father and the same elder Brother As if he should have said you are as dear to me as my own flesh as if you were my brethren by consanguinity and it is my sorrow that I must leave you but as it is my greatest grief to part with you yet I must leave you and this is the comfort that I shall leave you in safe hands I do not leave you to the wide world I do not leave you as Orphans without a Father as Sheep without a Shepherd but I commend you to God and to his grace O happy word Though I must leave you yet I trust God who is able will keep you as God is present every-where
by his Essence so by his gracious presence more especially God is present with his people I commit you I commend you to God I commit you to his care to his keeping so the word signifies so Ravanelus interprets the words I trust you with God I leave you as a depositum in Gods hands as a dying man leaves his children in a friends hands to look after them as Christ did his Mother in Johns hands so the Apostle leaves the Ephesians in the hands of God and to the word of his grace that is the Gospel that he had declared to them The Word of God in Scripture is often called his grace 2 Cor. 6. Eph. 3.5 because it is a declaration of the free grace of God to poor souls and because it is the Spirits instrument to work grace in the hearts of sinners This is remarkable that after the Apostle had recommended them to God he adds one word of his grace He doth not think it enough to mention recommending them to God but to the word of his grace The expression is not for Euphoniae gratia it is no Tautologie it is noâ— for more then needs but to shew how needful and how necessary the word of Gods grace is as well to the building up as for the converting of poor sinners and though God can build up a Saint immediately yet ordinarily he doth it not but through the word of his grace which is able to build you Beza and Calvin refer this Clause to God answering to that of the Apostle 2 Cor. 9.18 God is able to cause all grace to abound in you But Erasmus refers this word to the words of Gods grace which is able to build you up And this construction is favoured by those two places of Scripture and may very well be meant both in 2 Tim. 3 15. and Jam. 1 21. both which places attribute to the Word of God as this doth and in the second place Receive with meekenesse the ingrafted word which is able to save your souls So that both these words may be referred to this Clause The Word of God and The Word of his grace to God as the Principle and to the word of his grace as the instrumental cause to build them up as much as if he had said I commend you to the grace of God which is able to build you up The Apostle tels them that he left them to such a God as through the Gospeâ— was sufficient to build them up till he brought them to the full fruition of the Saints in light The Apostle commends this to his Church that were ready to weep and say at his departure O Paul God hath made thee a happy instrument of laying a good foundation among us of doing a great deal of good to our souls and we may blesse God that we ever saw thy face but now alas thou art going from us we are afraid all thy pains will come to nothing we should hope that if God had pleased to continue thee amongst us then we should have been built up and surely if God had intended good to us and brought us to Heaven at last he would not have taken thee from us No sayes the Apostle be not discouraged though I leave you yet I commit you to God and to the word of his grace If I be here it is God alone that must build you up I am but a poor weak instrument in the hand of God and when I am gone God can build you up by some means or other and carry you over or thorow all oppositions temptations and discouragements till he hath fitted you for himself and given you an inheritance amongst them that are sanctified Thus you have the words explained in that familiar Pâ—raphrase and being thus opened you may take notice that The words hold forth the special care of this blessed Apostle of Jesus Christ though he must leave them yet he takes care to leave them in safe hands that was able to give a good account of them You have the Apostle making a deed of trust for the securement of the Saints at Ephesus after his departure or if you will you have the Apostles last Will and Testament 1 You have the Person making over this trust St. Paul 2 You have the Trust it self and those were the Saints of Ephesus 3 You have the Trustees those to whom this trust is committed and they are two fold 1 To God 2 To the Word of his grace 3 Here is the time of making this Test now I am ledving of you 4 Here is the commendation of the Trustee from the power and ability of him to manage this trust and this is expressed in two particulars 1 He is able to build you up and then 2 To give you an inheritance as if he should have said I will leave you with such who are able to build you up I might raise a multitude of observations from the words as first of all Doct. 1. Thas it should be the care of a faithful Minister when he is by the providence of God taken from a people to recommend them to God and to the word of his grace 2 As it is the duty of a faithful Minister to do it so it is his comfort that he may do it that he may leave his people in the hand of God who is able to build them up in grace 3 It may be the comfort of any Church of Christ that when they are deprived of faithful Ministers that yet they are left in the hands of God 4 Though God can by his infinite power perfect grace and bring men to heaven without the use of means yet we have no ground or warrant to expect one or other but through the Word of Gods grace 5. And lastly Though their be a glorious inheritance purchased and prepared by Jesus Christ yet it is to be expected by none but those that are built up sanctified Or thus None must look for an inheritance hereafter but such as are born of the Spirit and built up in grace I might speak to many more but I shall gather all that I have said into this one general Proposition which is this Doct. That the best Farewel that a Gospel-Minister can give to his people that he loves and labours amongst when he by the providence of God is taken from them is to commend them to the Gospel and to the word of his grace Thus doth our holy Apostle when he was taken from his people and left to preach to them no more he recommends them to the hands of God And thus doth a greater then St. Paul even Jesus Christ himself the great shepherd of the Sheep as St. Peter calls him when he was leaving of the world and could no longer preach to them he commends them to God Joh. 17.11 And now says Christ to his Father I am no more in the world but these are in the world and I come to thee Holy Father keep through
burden any where else God will not lend you a finger to help you but if you place your hope in God God will help you your extremity shall be his opportunity 4 You must take God to be the guide of your hearts if you would have the priviledge of Gods guard you must keep in Gods way keep in Gods way and you will be sure of Gods protection do you keep Gods precepts and God will keep your person do what God commands and avoid what God for bids and then you need not fear what will become of you Let the World frown and Friends forsake you resolve that you will follow God wheresoever he leads you then he will be your God all your dayes and he will guide you here by his counsel till at last he bring you to his glory And this leads me to the second Exhortation in respect to the Gospel Secondly Brethren I commend you to the word of Gods grace I commend you to the Precepts of God to be obeyed by them I commend you to the Promises of God to be believed by you 1 Keep them and hold them fast carefully it is your treasure it is your life keep it and it will keep you it is all that you can shew for Heaven I leave it as a Depositum if you part with it take heed how you will answer it at the last day it is the talent which God hath committed to you for which you will be commended for keeping at the great day Hold fast the word of Gods grace there is old tugging by the Devil and his Instruments either to pull you from the word or the word from you Let any thing go rather than the Gospel let your Friends your Estates your Lives rather than let go the Gospel Study Gods word do not keep them by for no purpose Search the Scriptures for in them you hope for eternall life There 's the pearl of great price there is direction there is comfort this book of God will make you wise unto salvation If you never hear Sermon more you have enough by the use of the Bible to carry you to Heaven There 's Divinity there is holinesse and heaven almost in every syllable when you cannot have it preached to you Be much in the study of it Then practice it conscionably Be not only hearers but doers of it let your conversation be such as becomes the Gospel It was the Apostles advice to the Philippians and it 's mine to you Let your conversation be such as becomes the Gospel Let your conversation become the Precepts the Priviledges the Promises of the Gospel Having then thus commended you to God give me leave before we part to commend God and his Gospel to you 1. Make it your daily business to walk with God make him the companion of your lives converse with God every day in the inward of your hearts He that is a stranger with God God will soon be a stranger to him and if you neglect God one day you may be to seek him when you may most need him 2. Live in the daily exercise of grace and godlinesse 1. Live in the continual exercise of Faith live by it you have need of the exercise of that grace every day you caâ— as well live without food as live without faith it is that grace which feeds upon Christ 2 Be much in the exercise of the fear of the Lord all the day long be afraid to sin against God in the secret of your souls mind his presence in all places in all company in all businesses 3 Be much in the exercise of Humility live humbly and think better of others then your selves Humility will exceedingly adorn your profession 4 Be much in the exercise of Repentance Be frequent and constant in prayer Pray continually do it spiritually and do it exactly as to the season of it 5 Be fervent in spirit serving the Lord. Whatever you do for God do it with all your might do not put off God with the skin but give him the marrow 6 Be careful not onely to keep up secret but Family-worship the less preaching there is in publick the more catechising and instructing there should be in private I know no more likely means then the setting up the worship of God in private families 7. Prize the Sabbath be strict and exact in the observation of the Lords day I have shewed you many times wherein the spiritual observation of it doth consist it is your seed-time your market-day it is a sign you shall one day celebrate an everlasting Sabbath with God in the highest heavens 8 Be stedfast in the ways of God in a back-sliding age Keep your ground while others fall away stand fast in faith be not ashamed to own Christ before all the World teckon upon the reproaches of Christ and count them greater riches then the Treasures in Egypt Do not place Religion in a few shadows when the substance is neglected do not think that God will be put off with the skin without the substance and by your holy conversation labour to put to filence the foolishness and ignorance of wicked men that â—en may have nothing to accuse you but in the maâ—â—ers of Jesus Christ that you may cut off occasion from them that seek occasion Let no reproach make you lay aside holiness and say If this be to be vile I will be vile still And love all those that have been instrumental for your spiritual comfort Forget not to contribute to the necessities of the poor Saints think that God hath given you your Estates for such a time as this for this is acceptable to God Blesse them that curse you pray for them that despightfully use you so shall you heap coals of fire upon their heads when you are reviled revile not again Do your duty to your Superiours to those that God hath set over you and so carry your selves as it was in the case of Daniel that they may find nothing against you save in the matter of your God In all things let your conversation be as becomes the Gospel of Jesus Christ That I may rejoyce in the day of the Lord Jesus that we have not run in vain and laboured in vain And labour to keep up that Christian love which in this place hath been more eminent than any where I know I would preach St. Johns Doctrine Little children love one another And that my expression may be pathetical I shall speak it in the words of the Apostle in Phil. 2.1 2 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind I now have but a word more speaking of yours and mine own comfort under this sad Dispensation 1. It is a Ministers comfort that when he is taken from his people he can yet Commend them to
desire this is the Fourth beware of covetousnesse Fifthly You that have not taken warning yet I beseech you take warning now have a care and avoid evil company Ephes 5.11 Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darknesse but rather reprove them come out from among them and be serarated from them Never go into a wicked mans company if before you go you have not a probability of doing good or getting good Consider with thy self is there any likelyhood that thou by thy wholesome reproofs may do him any good if there be then go onâ— if not draw back avoid them fly from them for their steps tend to perdition By wicked company those two things have been effected Good men made bad Bad men made worse Good men have been made bad by wicked company Jehosaphat that good King is in an example of this who by the company of wicked Ahab was drawn to fight against those whom God favoured and to help Ahab in his wicked enterprise Bad men have made those worse by evil company Ahab was made worse by the instigation of his wicked wise Jezabel Oh can you bear when you are in their company to hear them blaspheme the holy name of God and not repove them Truly if you can it is a sign you are not so good as you should bâ— Sixthly my sixth Caution is this Oh have a care of having the least finger on your hand against a Saint it is dangerous to have a thought word or act against the people of God it is dangerous to have a thought amisse of them Psal 62.3 They imagine mischief against a man that is against a Saint therefore they shall all be slain for their bare imagination they shall be cut off It is dangerous to speak against them How durst thou saith God to Miram to speak against my servant Moses and immediately he smote her with leprosie as white as Snow It is dangerous to act against them and it is forbidden by God Psal 105.5 Touch not my anointed nor do my Prophets no harm Perhaps you would say you would not do them any harm if you thought they were Gods people Oh but take heed lest they prove Gods people and then it were better for you if a milstone were hung about your neck and you cast into the Sea than to offend the least of them Seventhly Let me beseech you all to take heed of complying with this sinful world whoever doth do not you but take up that good resolution of Joshua's As for me and my House we will serve the Lord. Though all else forsake God yet will not I yet let not us I beseech you saith he that you would not conform your selves to the fashions and manners of this wicked world Oh take heed of conforming your selves to the Conversation of this world but walk harmlesse and shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation if we will comply with the world I mean to be as most of the world are that is temporizers timeâ—servers preferring the pleasing of a man before the pleasing of God then we must lie in wickednesse as all the world doth 1 John 2.10 for all that in the world is either the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye or the pride of life and these are not of the Father but abideth in the wicked one the Prince of the power of the air after whom the men of the world walk This is the seventh take heed of Conforming your selves to this world Eightly Take heed of a hasty spirit when you are under sad dispensations when you are under sufferings you are apt to seek and 〈◊〉 with relief come it which way it will and on what terms it will 〈◊〉 spirit Esay 26. v. 18. He that believeth maketh not haste hat is he maketh not haste to get out of his afflictions the people of Israel was of hasty spirits and murmured because they were kept so long in the wilderness for which God slew an innumerable company of them Saul was of a hasty spirit and by it lost his life and Kingdom Jacob's Mother no sooner told him his Fathers intent but he was resolved to have the first blessing though he cheated his Brother and lyed for it and so told his Father that he was his eldest Son but he himself was afterward deceived by a lye with having the eldest daughter given him instead of the younger Take David for your example he waited Gods time the Kingdome was promised to him after Sauls death and when Saul persued him you know David had him twice in his power and with ease might have destroyed him but he would not â—ar be it from me saith he that I should touch the Lords annointed Let God smite him by the hands of his enemies I will not it is far better to be Gods Bond-stave then the Devils Free-man do not use any the least action whatever in an indirect way to deliver thy self but patiently set down and wait Gods good time which when once come thy deliverance will assuredly come with it Take heed then of a hasty and suâ—len spirit under afflictions Some men when God takes away any comfort from them are of so sullen a spirit there is no pacifying of them God will now this day take something from you which I believe you would willingly keep will you therefore be of so sullen a spirit that because you cannot enjoy all you will not enjoy any but will rob your selves of all what though you cannot enjoy your Minister any longer will you not make use of the Ordinances of God I beseech you refrain this spirit and let the deprivation of one mercy be a means to make you make better use of those that are left Ninthly My ninth Caution is this take heed of an ungodly Minister I speak not to any mans person in particular neither can I because I know not as yet who will succeed me but whosoever he be if he be wicked beware of him for if he be ungodly the people will follow him for like Priest like people and I pray God deliver you from such Ministers as for doctrine do teach the traditions of men and cry peace peace when sudden destruction hangâ— over their heads such Ministers may please you but believe me they will never profit you but at last you will find that through the â—ale of Security you are led to the pit of Perdition They will tell you you need not be so strict and diligent in your conversations nor Heaven is not so hard aâ—d difficult to gain as some would make you believe believe them not but remember that without holiness none shall see God and that neither Fornicators Adulterers Idolaters Thieves Murderers Covetous persons Drunkards Reviâ—era nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven Gospel only Christ when he was preaching to a throng of People as I am here this day said unto them Take â—eed and beware of the leaven of the
Regeneration 1. A Christian may know his real Conversion and Translation to eternal life Such a great and real change is there wrought in every Beleever at his Conversion and this wrought by such a great efficient and infinite cause the Spirit of God and this cause working by such real and powerful means and instruments the great Word of God and this done notwithstanding the great opposition that is made by a poor sinner against the word and when wrought it hath such real and grand effects upon a Beleever that 't is impossible but a Beleever must needs know this his transition from death to life Secondly Love to the Brethren is the great symptome of mens Regeneration Love to the Brethren not taken solely singly as if this was the onely Character but concomitantly taken with others but beyond and above all others this is the privy seal of God on the soul if yee have inflamed it with love hee may know hee is passed from death to life The Use was of Confutation of the Papists those grand enemies to Gospel-Truths and Beleevers peace They abhor this Doctrine of Assurance by it their Purgatory would fall down their Popes Kitchin would grow cold They tell us Beleevers cannot attain Assurance in this world no. 1. Why hath God commanded us to make our Calling and Election sure and will God command impossibilities such as cannot be wrought by our or his own power 2. Other Saints have attained this Assurance this New Name and White Stone within them Obj. That 's by extraordinary Revelation Answ This is not upon proof was not the Assurance of Gods people in Scripture grounded upon general promises Had they many of them either extrinsecal signs or marks to assure them of it did it not spring from principles common to all Beleevers Obj. But suppose they have Assurance to day they may lose it to morrow man is a mutable creature hee may be a Childe of God in the morning and a brat of Hell in the evening Answ 'T is true man is a mutable creature yet is hee preserved by an immutable God man is a weak creature but yet is preserved by the power of God unto salvation man as a Creature is no less mutable in Heaven than upon Earth there preserved by God therefore why not here Obj. This is a doctrine that tends to looseness Answ Not so it did not work looseness in Paul Job c. I labour more than they all Nothing under Heaven so soveraign to stave off and preserve from lust as the assurance of Gods love to the soul Such assurance comes from the highest act of faith and one of the great things of Faith is to purifie the heart and life Such an Assurance must needs constrain the soul The love of Christ constraintâ—is Nay so far is it from inclining to looseness that it casts the soul upon its knees lifts up the souls hands sends him to Heaven continually constantly arms it with petitions resolutions never to let the Lord of Heaven and Earth alone gives him no rest begging of him as for other things so especially for this Lord as thou art pleased to give mee the priviledge of enjoying promises so give mee the power to perform duty Thus saith hee thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven And so I am come as far as The Sixth Sermon Matth. 6.10 Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven THere is a twofold Will of God 1. Preceptive to be done by us 2. Providential to be done upon us The Minister carried the words in the last sense the will of God be done upon us hence 't was observed Gods Children must not only do but submit to their heavenly Fathers providential will They must not onely do his will the will of his precepts but they must submit to his will the will of his providence Let God do what hee will they must lay down their head upon the block and with patience and resignation say Thy will be done There are two grand Instances wherein Saints ought to shew this submission First When God deprives them of spiritual priviledges and enjoyments they must submit now they must not murmure then and that upon these considerations 1. Suppose a deprivation of publick Ordinances yet the holy Scriptures are left 2. The holy Spirit too that shall bring home the Scriptures to the conscience 3. There are old experiences of former love to live upon 4. Yet none can detain or debar us from making secret addresses unto God 5. 'T is a most noble thing it becomes a Christian exceedingly to live upon pulse yet thrive 6. By the want of such publick Ordinances God thinks fit to convince his people of their folly in sinning away the Gospel Secondly When the Lord makes a breach upon our temporal comforts and estates now for submission and that upon these accounts 1. Come what will come yet no strange thing is or can happen to us no temptation but what is common to man 2. With what comely submission have those old Beleevers behaved themselves to the will of God Eliah Job Samuel Daniel and the Captain of our salvation our blessed Saviour not my will but thy will be done 3. There 's a glorious day coming when God will unriddle all his dark providences and shew you that there is love in the bowels of them 4. God hath made a breach upon some of thy comforts how many comforts hath hee yet left thee 5. Thou art now deprived of thy comforts thou hast enjoyed twenty years thou hast reason to be thankful it was continued so long and not to murmure that 't was taken away now 6. Thou hast some goods the best of goods there 's no plundring a man of his grace no putting of him out of Gods favour 7. God doth thee a kindness in this were it good for thee it should be continued to thee Hee with-holds no good thing hee takes away nothing but what is evil or would be so this life is a transitory vapour and hadst thou enjoyed it thou couldst not long 8. Compare thy self with thy self and others the other day thou was a pittiful poor brat and what shalt thou bee compare thy self with others wee are low how many thousands far beneath us 9. All outward things are not properly formally good or evil as wee fancy them to be good or evil so they are they are but fancies Use Labour after this submissive frame of Spirit get but this and this will evidence that though hee frowns yet hee favours thee this will make thy Faith appear to bee a glorious Faith it will shew that the Kingdome of God is not only come to thee but in thee and rules in thy heart to that end But what shall I do to submit 1. Let not a day of adversity take thee unawares 2. Do not over-value thy self do not think too great of thy self that the wind must not blow onthee 3. Retract the superlative of
that Ring As if a man in a Pulpit should come to shew what a brave Scholler he is this is to over-value Reason 2. Do not under-value Reason We have had a strange fancy that if a man that could not read English would but come and talke and preach to us he was far more desirable then a Black-Coat that hath been at University and learnt his root there as they say you will be glad of such as these This Learning hath spoiled all the world do you not know how many Schollers are Atheists and their learning made them the worse c. This is not the fault of their Reason had they more Reason they would improve it better It is want of Reason that makes them not Crucifie their Lusts Because corrupt men many times reprove that which is good will you therefore cast it off 2. For the Matter of Pauls Preaching and here observe 1. 'T is suitable to his hearers Faelix was a Judge though a corrupt one and so he reasons of Righteousnesse He and his Whore lived in Adultery and so he preaches of Temperance of Judgement to come know God will call thee to judgement Hence observe The Gospel is then preached aright when suted to hearers hearts conditions constitutions A man in the Pulpit ought not to shoot at random Paul speaks ad rem to his hearers suitably tells them of Righteousnesse Temperance Judgement to come 2. Consider it with Relation to his Scope which was to bring them unto Christ and what doth hee do He Preaches Grace Mercy and Peace no not a word of that but Righteousness Temperance Judgment to come Paul was a convincing Preacher hee knows his way to bring home Faelix and Drusilla to Christ was first to convince them of their sin and the wrath of God due to sin The whole summe of Pauls preaching is a preaching by way of conviction Sin and misery must be preached for this end that it may bring men unto Christ wee must not make men half dead and there leave them but bring them to the Chirurgion all our conviction is only for this end that you might be brought to Christ by Grace to Glory 3. For the Effects of Pauls preaching Paul preached and Faelix trembled doth not Drusylla tremble 'T is more then probable shee brought Paul to preach there that Drusylla had a months mind to hear what he had to say but Faelix trembled Hence observe Those that are first in enjoying may be last in receiving the Gospel Drusylla was a yet turns a wicked Apostate yet when come to hear a Sermon her Heathenish Husband Faelix that served the Devil instead of God trembled but not she Back-sliding Professors from the Truth are infinitely farther from melting under the Gospel then profane sinners that never heard of it A man had far better go and preach to Heathens then Apostates Then for the words Faelix Trembled Why There was Righteousness prosecuted and convinced Judgement to come threatned against him Now his knees begin to smite together now the Writing on the Wall now Faelix trembles Oh! poor soul wouldst thou not tremble at the hearing of the Preaching of Judgement to come submit to the Judge before he come wouldst thou not have thy Judge to condemn thee then Let him be now thy King to Rule thy Prophet to instruct thy Priest to reconcile Would you avoid the terrour of a Judgement to come Accept of the offer of a Christ coming coming did I say Nay he is come already Do but lay your ear close to that third of the Revelations and the twentieth you shall hear your Judge knocking which brings mee to The one and twentieth Sermon Rev. 3.20 Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voyce and open the Door I will come in to him and will Sup with him and he with mee THese are the words of our blessed Saviour words Coyned as it were for the close of the morning Exercise A continued metaphor wherein you have 1. An Important thing of weight intimated in that particle Behold 2. The state of men in the visible Church implied though they profess a Christ high thoughts of him and obedience to him yet many most of them keep their hearts shut against him behold I stand without at the door 3. Christs dealing or transaction with the poor Creatures for opening their hearts to him and that in four things 1. His standing waiting or dancing attendance on the soul and the place where I stand at the door 2. His earnest desire and importunity of entrance and knock 3. His call and Invitation for where a hearing is injoyned there must needs bee a calling implyed 4. The Argument or Motive he uses to perswade poor Creatures to let him in 1. Ab honesto If he will but open I will come in and take my abode An admirable thing to have such a Tennant 2. A Jucundo I will sup with him I will vouchsafe him fellowship and communion 3. He shall sup with mee There shall bee mutual fellowship between him and mee what I have shall be his and what he hath shall be mine we will walk love and lodge together I will lodge with him and he shall lodge with mee 4. To whom this invitation is made to every one all if any man or woman that â—ave sleighted my Ministers voyce months or years if 〈◊〉 he will open I will come in 5. The Sinners Duty and Interest 1. The opening the heart when Christ knocks that 's his duty because Christs Invitation is his command 2. His Interest because then Christ will come in c. The Doctrine was When Christ knocks and calls at the doors of our hearts 't is our Duty and Interest to open admit and let him in These two questions were proposed and prosecuted 1. When or now is Christ said to knock and call at the hearts of sinners 2. How sinners are said to hear and open 1. How is Christ said to knock and call at the hearts of sinners 1. If you regard the means whereby hee knocks i. e. by natural light of conscience within or by the light of the Ministry and Gospel without 2. If you regard the manner of Christs knocking or calling 't is either externally by the Word Ordinances Providences his Rod hath a voice as well as his Word or internally by the Spirit of God that accompanies that Word by the means of Grace by the motions of his Spirit 2. How are sinners said to hear his voice and open 1. For hearing it must not be an external but an internal hearing a hearing of the heart through the heart it must be a particular distinguishing hearing it must know the voice of Christ it must be a sensible an humble satisfying hearing 2. For opening it is either 1. Spâ—â—â—al opening at first when the door is shut those everlasting doors are at first open to entertain the King of Glory in our first Conversion 2. Progressive i.