there and goes away and that draws them and when they grow wet they return back again Now the sea ebbs and flows not from any principle in it self but by vertue of the Moon so the heart of a poor creature is like the water unable to move towards heaven but the Spirit of the Lord doth bring in its beams and leaves a supernatural vertue by them upon the soul and thereby draws it to it self Hence an Use of Instruction This may shew us that the sins of the faithful are grievous to the blessed Spirit not onely because of mercies bonds and engagements which the believer hath received but because a man is come so neer to Christ and the Spirit to be one Spirit with Christ Should a wife not onely entertain a whoremonger into the house but also lodge him in the same bed with her husband this were not to be endured and wilt thou receive a company of base lusts and that in the very face and sight of the Lord Jesus Christ What lodge an unclean spirit with the clean Spirit of the Lord the holy Ghost cannot endure this Let no filthy communication come out of your mouth Ephes. 4. 29. What if there do you may say what a Christian and a Lyar a Christian and a Swearer O grieve not the holy Spirit of God because by it you are sealed unto the day of Redemption The good Spirit of the Lord hath sealed you unto Redemption and knit you unto himself and will you rend your selves from him and grieve him O grieve not the holy Spirit 2. For Examination If thy heart be therefore estranged from such as walk exactly before God because they are humble and faithful it is an ill sign when they are made one spirit with Christ wilt thou be of two spirits with them I confess a godly heart wil have his fits and excursions now and then but all this while this is poyson and the soul of a godly man sees this and is weary of it and is marvellously burthened with it and saith O vile wretch that I am what would I have and what is he that I cannot love him Is it because the good Spirit of the Lord is there shall I resist the good spirit of the Lord and so commit the sin against the holy Ghost away thou vile wretched heart I will love him Thus the soul labors and strives for that exactness and would fain have that goodness which he sees in another Secondly as there is an Vnion with Christ so there is a conveyance of all spiritual grace from Christ to all those that believe in him If you would know the Tenure of this Covenant and how Christ conveyeth these spiritual graces unto us it discovers it self in these Particulars 1. There is fully enough in the Lord Jesus Christ for every faithful soul 2. As there is enough in Christ so Christ doth supply or communicate whatsoever is most fit 3. As the Lord doth communicate what is fit so he doth preserve what he doth bestow and communicate 4. As the Lord doth preserve what he communicates so he quickens the grace that he now doth preserve 5. As the Lord quickens what he preserves so he never leaves till he perfects what he quickens 6. As the Lord perfects what he quickens so in the end he crowns all the grrace he hath perfected And now may I read your Feoffment to you You poor Saints of God you live beggarly and basely here Oh! if you have a Savior you are made for ever it is that which will maintain you not onely Christianly but Triumphantly what you want Christ hath and what is fit Christ will bestow if you cannot keep it he will preserve it for you if you be sluggish he will quicken it in you what would you have more he will perfect what he quickens and lastly he will crown that he perfects he will give you an immortal Crown of Glory for ever and ever Hence we see whether the Saints of God should go to fetch succor and supply of whatsoever grace they want yea increase and perfection of what they have already Christ is made all in all to his Servants why then away to the Lord Jesus he calls and invites I counsel thee to buy of me eye-salve if thou be an accursed man buy of Christ Justification if thou be a polluted creature buy of Christ Sanctification With thee is the well-spring of life saith David and in thy light we shall onely see light it is not with us but with thee it is not in our heads or hearts or performances 't is onely in Christ to be found onely from Christ to be fetched I deny not but we should improve all means and use all helps but in the use of all seek onely to a Christ with him is the well of life away to Christ wisdom righteousness c. all is in him and there we must have them You will say What are the means to obtain these graces from Christ I answer First eye the Promise daily and keep it within view Secondly yield thy self and give way to the stroak of the Promise and to the power of the Spirit for instance Imagine thy heart begins to be pestered with vain thoughts or with a proud haughty spirit or some base lusts and privy haunts of heart how would you be rid of these you must not quarrel and contend and be discouraged No but eye the promise and hold fast thereupon and say Lord Thou hast promised all grace unto thy Servants take therefore this heart and this minde and these affections and let thy spirit frame them aright according to thine own good will by that spirit of wisdom Lord inform me by that spirit of Sanctification Lord cleanse me from all my corruptions by that spirit of grace Lord quicken and inable me to the discharge of every holy service Thus carry thy self and convey thy soul by the power of the Spirit of the Lord and thou shalt finde thy heart strengthned and succoured by the vertue thereof upon all occasions For conclusion to dart this use deeper into your hearts If every believer be joyned with Christ and from Christ there be a conveyance of all spiritual graces unto every believer then above all labor for a Christ in all things Never let thy heart be quieted never let thy soul be contented until thou hast obtained Christ Take a Malefactor on whom Sentence is passed and execution to be administred suggest to him how to be rich or how to be pardoned how to be honored or how to be pardoned he will tell you Riches are good and honors are good but O a pardon or nothing Ah but then should you say he must leave all for a pardon he will answer again Take all and give me a pardon that I may live though in poverty that I may live though in misery So it is with a poor believing soul Every man that hath
the secrets of Nature to know the motions of the Stars to speak with the tongues of men and Angels and yet know nothing belonging to his peace what avails it Why do we value a Mine but because of the gold in it or a Cabinet but because of the Pearl in it O this is that pearl we sell all for Wouldst thou know whether thou art carnal or spiritual observe then if thou hast the Spirit it ever came with the Gospel See then how the soul stands affected with the Gospel and so it stands affected to the Spirit Is it so may every soul reason with it self that I will not suffer the word to prevail with me then shall I miss of the Spirit then will Christ none of me O remember the time will come when you must dye as well as your neighbors and then you will say Lord Jesus forgive my sins Lord Jesus receive my soul But Christ will answer Away be gone you are none of mine I know you not Any man whether noble or ignoble let him be what he will be if he hath not the Spirit he is none of Christs His you are to whom you obey but Pride and Covetousness you obey Pride therefore will say This heart is mine Lord I have domineered over it and I will torment it Corruptions will say We have owned this soul and we will damn it You therefore that have made a tush at the Word This wind shakes no corn and these words break no bones little do you think that you have opposed the Spirit What resist the Spirit me-thinks it is enough to sink any soul under heaven Hereafter therefore think this with thy self Were he but a man that speaks yet would I not despise him but that is not all there goeth Gods Spirit with the Word and shall I despise it There is but one step between this and that unpardonable sin against the holy Ghost onely adding Malice to my Rage I oppose the Father perhaps the Son mediates for me I despise the Son perhaps the holy Ghost pleads for me but if I oppose the Spirit none can succor me CHAP. VI SECT. 1. The Answer on mans part for the Soul to close with and to relye on Christ HItherto of the Call on Gods part now we are come to the Answer on mans part No sooner hath the Gospel and Gods Spirit clearly revealed the fulness of Gods mercy in Christ but then the whole soul both the Minde that discovers mercy and Hope that expects it and Desire that pursues it and Love that entertains it and the Will that rests on it gives answer to the Call of God therein Mercy is a proper object of all these of the Minde to be illightned of Hope to be sustained of Desire to be supported of Love to be cheared Nay there is a full satisfactory sufficiency of all good in Christ that so the will of man may take full repose and rest in him therefore the Lord saith Come unto me all that are weary and heavy laden Come Minde and Hope and Desire and Love and Will and Heart they all answer We come The Minde saith Let me know this Mercy above all and desire to know nothing but Christ and him crucified Let me expect this Mercy saith Hope that belongs to me and will befal me Desire saith Let me long after it O saith Love let me embrace and welcome it O saith the Heart let me lay hold on the handle of Salvation here we will live and here we will dye at the footstool of Gods Mercy Thus all go Minde Hope Desire Love Joy the Will and all lay hold upon the Promise and say Let us make the Promise a prey let us prey upon mercy as the wilde Beasts do upon their provision Thus the faculties of the soul hunt and pursue this mercy and lay hold thereupon and satisfie themselves herein SECT. 2. A sight of Christ or of mercy in Christ BUt for a further discovery of these works of the soul we shall now enter into particulars And for their order First the Lord lets a light into the minde for what the eye never seeth the heart never desireth hope never expecteth the soul never imbraceth If the soul then seems to hang afar off and dares not believe that Christ will have mercy on him in this case the Spirit lets in a light into his heart and discovers unto him that God will deal graciously with him It is with a sinner as with a man that sits in darkness haply he seeth a light in the street out of a window but he sits still in darkness and is in the dungeon all the while and he thinks How good were it if a man might enjoy that light So many a poor humble-hearted broken sinner seeth and hath an inckling of Gods mercies he heareth the Saints speak of Gods love and his goodness and compassion Ah thinks he how happy are they blessed are they what an excellent condition are they in but I am in darkness still and never had a drop of mercy vouchsafed unto me At last the Lord sets a light in his house and puts the candle into his own hand and makes him see by particular evidence Thou shalt be pardoned and thou shalt be saved The maner how the Spirit works this is discovered in three passages First the Spirit of the Lord meeting with an humble broken lowly self-denying sinner he that is a proud stout-hearted wretch knows nothing of this matter it opens the eye and now the humbled sinner begins to see like the man in the Gospel some light and glimmering about his understanding that he can look into and discern the spiritual things of God 2. Then the Lord says before him all the riches of the treasure of his grace no sooner hath he given him an eye but then he lays colours before him the unsearchable riches of Christ that he may see and look and fall in love with those sweet treasures and then saith the soul O that mercy and grace and pardon were mine O that my sins were done away the Lord saith I will refresh them that are heavy laden then saith the soul O that I had that refreshing you shall have rest saith God O that I had rest too saith the soul And now the soul begins to look after the mercy and compassion which is laid afore it 3. The Spirit of the Lord doth witness or certifie throughly and effectually to the soul that this mercy in Christ belongs unto him and without this the soul of an humble broken-hearted sinner hath no ground to go unto Christ what good doth it an hungry stomack to hear that there is a great deal of cheer and dainties provided for such and such men and he have no part therein Take a Beggar that hath a thousand pounds told before him he may apprehend the sum of so much gold and so much silver but what is all that to me saith he if in the
Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ doth thus he gives a peremptory charge to keep watch and ward and gives a charge to hope and desire and love and joy and the minde and all not to grieve and molest the good Spirit of God Let there be no motion but to entertain it no advise but to receive it and do nothing that may work the least kinde of dislike unto it 4. He that truly entertains Christ rejoyceth in the good and glory of Christ When Mephibosheth had been wrongfully accused to David and when David who had taken away all the inheritance from him was returned in safety Then said David to comfort him Thou and Ziba divide the land nay said Mephibosheth Let him take all forasmuch as my Lord the King is come again in peace it matters not for inheritance and for my self and my life I pass not sith the King is returned in peace it is enough that I enjoy thy presence which is better to me then goods life or liberty So it is with a kinde loving heart which cannot endure to see Christs honor and glory layed in the dust but if his praise be advanced then is he glad Lord I have enough saith the soul that Christ is mine and that his honor and glory is magnified whatsoever becomes of me it matters not let the world take all if I may have Christ and see him praised and magnified Let this try any mans spirit under heaven and labor to bring the soul to this pitch A Minister in his place and a Master in his place and every Christian in his place let it be our care to honor God not our selves and let it be our comfort if God may be better honored by others then by our selves This is our baseness of spirit we can be content to lift up Christ upon our shoulders that we may lift up our selves by it but we should be content to lie in the dust that the Lord may be praised and if any of Gods people thrive and prosper more then thou let that be thy joy 5. He that welcomes Christ truly covets a neerer union with Christ Love is of a linking and gluing nature and will carry the soul with some kinde of strength and earnestness to enjoy full possession and fellowship of the thing that is loved it cannot have enough of it Nothing saith the soul but Christ still I desire more of that mercy and holiness and grace and love in Christ Jesus As it is with parties that have lived long together in one house and their affections are linkt together in way of marriage they will ever desire to be talking together and to be drawing on the marriage so the soul that loves Christ Jesus and hath his holy affection kindled and his spirit enlarged therein when the Lord hath let in some glimpse of his love he thinks the hour sweet when he prayed to the Lord Christ he thinks the Lords-day sweet wherein God revealed by the power of his holy Ordinances any of that rich grace and mercy of his it is admirable to see how the heart will be delighted to recover the time and place and means when and where the Lord did reveal it Oh this is good saith the soul Oh that I might ever be thus cleared and refreshed Or as the spouse contracted thinks every day a year till she enjoy her beloved and take satisfaction to her soul in him So the soul that hath been truly humbled and enlightened and is now contracted to Christ Jesus Oh when will that day be saith it that I shall ever be with my Jesus he takes hold of every word he hears every promise that reveals any thing of Christ But oh when will that day be that I shall ever be with Christ and be full of his fulness for ever And now let me prevail with your hearts and work your souls to this duty Love the Lord all ye his Saints whom will you love if you love not him Oh you poor ones love you the Lord for you have need and all you rich ones love you the Lord for you have cause and you little ones too if there be any such in the Congregation he knocks at every mans heart and perswades every mans soul Love ye the Lord The means are these 1. Labor to give attendance daily to the promise of grace and Christ drive away all other suitors from the soul and let nothing come between the promise and it forbid all other bands that is let the promise confer daily with thy heart and be expressing and telling of that good that is in Christ to thy own soul If all things be agreed between parties to be married and there wants nothing but mutual affection the only way to fix their affections upon one another is to keep company together so as they meet wisely and holily So let the soul daily keep company with the promise and this is the first way 2. Labor to be throughly acquainted with the beauty and sweetness of Christ in the promise Now there are three things in the promise we must eye and apprehend that our hearts may be kindled with love in the Lord 1. The worth of the party in himself Christ is worthy of it 2. The desert of the party in regard Christ deserves it 3. The readiness of the party in himself to seek our good Christ seeks it 1. Christ is worthy in himself if we had a thousand hearts to bestow upon him we were never able to love him sufficiently as Nehemiah said The name of the Lord is above all praise will you let out your love and affections you may lay them out here with good advantage what would you love wouldst thou have beauty then thy Savior is beautiful Thou art fairer then the children of men Psal. 45. 2. Wouldst thou have strength then is thy Savior strong Gird thy sword upon thy thigh O most mighty Psal. 45. 3. Wouldst thou have riches thy Savior is more rich if it be possible then he is strong He is heir of all things Heb. 1. 2. Wouldst thou have wisdom then thy Savior is wise yea wisdom it self In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge Col. 2. 3. Wouldst thou have life eternal Christ is the Author of life and happiness to all that have him and he hath not onely these in himself but he will infeoff thee in them if thou wilt but match with him 2. Christ deserves our love in regard of benefits to us be man never so worthy in himself yet if he have wronged or exprest the part of an Enemy a woman saith I will not have him though he had all the world this takes off the affections it is not so with the Lord Jesus as he is worthy of all love in himself so he hath dealt mercifully and graciously with you In your sickness who helped you in wants who supplied you in anguish of heart who
the Tide the other puts his Boat upon the stream and sets up his sail and then he may sit still in his Boat and the wind will carry him whither he is to go Just thus it is with a faithful soul and an unbeliever all the care of the faithful soul is to put himself upon the stream of Gods Provividence and to set up the sail of Faith and to take the gale of Gods Mercy and Providence and so he goes on chearfully because it is not he that carries him but the Lord Jesus Christ whereas every unfaithful soul tugs and pulls at the business and can finde neither ease nor success Alas he thinks by his own wits and power to do what he would 2. Because faith sweetens all other afflictions even those that are most hard and full of tediousness and howsoever it apprehends all troubles and afflictions yet withal it apprehends the faithfulness of God ordering all for our good and that 's the reason why all our troubles are digested comfortably without any harshness at all When the Patient takes better Pills if they be well sugered they go down the easier and the bitterness never troubles him So it is with Faith it takes away the harshness of all inconveniencies which are bitter Pills in themselves but they are sweetned and sugered over by the faithfulness of God for the good of the soul and therefore it goes on cheerfully You will say if faith bring such ease how may a man that hath faith improve it to have such comfort by it I answer the rules are four 1. Labor to gain some evidence to thy own soul that thou hast a title to the promise The reason why poor Christians go drooping and are overwhelmed with their sins and miseries is because they see not their title to mercy nor their evidence of Gods love To the word and to the Testimonies Take one evidence from the word 't is as good as a thousand if thou hast but one promise for thee thou hast all in truth though all be not so fully and cleerly perceived 2. Labor to set an high price on the promises of God One promise and the sweetness of Gods mercy in Christ is better then all the honors or riches in the world Prize these at this rate and thou canst not choose but finde ease and be contented therewith 3. Labor to keep thy promises ever at hand what is it to me if I have a thing in the house if I have it not at my need If a man ready to sound and dye say I have as good cordial water as any in the world but I know not where it is he may sound and dye before he can finde it So when misery comes and thy heart is surcharged O then some promise some comfort to bear up a poor fainting drooping soul my troubles are many and I cannot bear them Why now Christ and a promise would have done it but thou hast thrown them in a corner and they are not to be found Now for the Lords sake let me intreat thee be wise for thy poor soul there is many a fainting and aguish fit and qualm comes over the heart of many a poor Christian persecutions without and sorrows and corruptions within therefore keep thy cordials about thee and be sure that thou hast them within reach take one and bring another and be refreshed by another and go singing to thy grave and to heaven for ever 4. Labor to drink in hearty draught of the promise bestow thy self upon the promise every hour whensoever thou dost finde the fit coming and this is the way to finde comfort Eat O friends and drink ye abundantly O welbeloved The Original is in drinking drink ye cannot be drunken with the Spirit as you may with wine drink abundantly were dainties prepared If an hunger-starved man comes in and takes onely a bit and away he must needs go away an hungred Think of it sadly you faithful Saints of God you may come now and then and take a snatch of the promise and then comes fear and temptation and persecution and all quiet is gone again it is your own fault brethren you come thirsty and go away thirsty you come discomforted and so you go away Many times it thus befals us Ministers when we preach of consolation and when we pray and confer we think we are beyond all trouble but by and by we are full of fears and troubles and sorrows because we take not full contentment in the promise we drink not a deep draught of it of this take heed too 1. Of Cavilling and Quarelling with carnal reason 2. Of attending to the parlies of Satans temptations if we listen to this chat he will make us forget all our comfort CHAP. VII The growing of the soul with Christ HItherto of the first part of the souls implantation to wit of the putting of the soul into Christ We are now come to the second which is The growing of the soul with Christ These two take up the nature of ingrafting a sinner into the stock Christ Jesus Now this growing together is accomplished by two means 1. By an union of the soul with Christ 2. By a conveyance of sap or sweetness all the treasures of grace and happiness that is in Christ to the soul First Every believer is joyned unto Christ and so joyned or knit that he becomes one spirit 1. He is joyned as a friend to a friend as a father to a childe as an husband to a wife as a graft to a tree as the soul to a body So is Christ to a believer I live not I but the Lord Jesus liveth in me Hence the body of the faithful is called Christ 1 Cor. 12. 12. 2. So joyned that the believer comes to be one spirit with Christ this mystery is great and beyond the reach of that little light I injoy Onely I shall communicate what I conceive in these three following Conclusions 1. That the Spirit of God the third person in the Trinity doth really accompany the whole Word but more especially the precious promises of the Gospel 2. The Spirit accompanying the promise of grace and salvation it doth therein and thereby leave a supernatural dint and power a spiritual and over-powering vertue upon the soul and thereby carries it and brings it unto Christ it is not so much any thing in the soul as a spiritual assisting and moving and working upon the soul by vertue whereof it is moved and carried to the Lord Jesus Christ 3. The Spirit of grace in the promise working thus upon the heart it causeth the heart to close with the promise and with it self in the promise and this is to be one spirit As it is with the Moon the Philosopher observes That the ebbing and flowing of the Sea is by vertue of the Moon she flings her beams into the sea and not being able to exhale as the Sun doth she leaves them
his Sin in regard of the profit of it you that are such the time will come when you must dye and then consider what good these sinful courses will do you How will you judge of Sin then when it shall leave a blot on your Souls and a guilt on your Consciences 2. A man must look on Sin in the venom of it and that you may do partly if you compare it with other things and partly if you look at it in regard of it self 1. Compare Sin with those things that are most fearful and horrible as suppose any soul here present were to behold the damned in Hell if the Lord should give any one of you a little peep-hole into Hell that you saw the horror of the damned then propound this to your heart What are those pains which the damned endure and your heart will shake and quake at it yet the least Sin that ever you did commit is a greater evil in its own nature then the greatest pains of the damned in Hell 2. Look at Sin simply as it is in it self what is it but a profest opposing of God himself A sinful creature joyns side with the Devil and comes in battel Array against the Lord and flies in the face of the Lord God of Hosts I pray you in cold blood consider this and say Good Lord what a sinful wretch am I that a poor damned wretch of the earth should stand in defiance against God! that I should submit my self to the Devil and oppose the Lord God of Hosts Secondly Convictingly that Sin may be so to us as it is in it self and that discovers it self in these two particulars 1. When we have a particular apprehension in our own person that whatsoever Sin is in general we confess it the same in our own souls It is the cursed distemper of our hearts howsoever we hold the Truth in general yet when we come to our own Sins to deny the particulars The Adulterer confesseth the danger and filthiness of that Sin in gross but he will not apply it to himself The Rule therefore is Arrest thy soul whosoever thou art of those sins particularly whereof thou standest guilty To this purpose say Is Murther and Pride and Drunkenness and Vncleanness such horrible sins O Lord it was my Heart that was proud and vain it was my Tongue that did speak filthily and blasphemously my Hand that wrought wickedness my Eye that was wanton and my Heart that was unclean and filthy Lord here they are Thus bring thy Heart before God 2. When the soul sits down with the audience of Truth and seeks no shift to oppose Truth revealed when the Lord comes to make racks in the hearts of such as he means to do good to the Text saith He will reprove the world of sin that is He will convince the world of wickedness he will set the soul in such a stand that it shall have nothing to say for it self he cannot shift it off The Minister saith God hates such and such a sinner And the Lord hates me too saith the soul for I am guilty of that sin Thus many time when a sinner comes into the Congregation if the Lord please to work on him the minde is illightned and the Minister meets with his corruptions as if he were in his bosom and he answers all his cavils and takes away all his objections with that the soul begins to be in a maze and saith If this be so as it is for ought I know and if all be true that the Minister saith then the Lord be merciful unto my soul I am the most miserable sinner that ever was born You that know not your sins that you may see them Convictingly get you home to the Law and look into the glass thereof and then bundle up all your sins thus So many sins against God himself in the first Commandment against his Worship in the second against his Name in the third against his Sabbath in the fourth Nay all our Thoughts Words and Actions all of them have been sins able to sink our souls to the bottom of Hell And secondly that you may see them clearly consider of their effect both in their Doom and in the Execution Onely to instance in their Doom Me thinks I see the Lord of heaven and earth and the Attributes of God appearing before him The Mercy of God the Goodness of God and the Wisdom of God the Power of God the Patience and Long-suffering of God and they come all to a sinner an hypocrite or to a carnal professor and say Mercy hath relieved you Goodness hath succored you Wisdom hath instructed you Power hath defended you Patience hath born with you Long-suffering hath indured you now all these comfortable Attributes will bid you adieu and say Farewel damned souls you must go hence to Hell to have your fellowship with damned ghosts Mercy shall never more relieve you Goodness shall never more succor you Wisdom shall no more instruct you Power shall never more defend you Patience shall never more bear with you Long-suffering shall never more indure you and then shall you to endless easeless and remediless torments where you will ever remember your sins and say My Covetousness and Pride was the cause of this I may thank my sins for this Think of these things I beseech you seriously and see your sins here to prevent this sight hereafter SECT. 3. Sense of Divine Wrath. THe sinner by this time having his eyes so far opened that he beholds his Sins he begins then to consider That God hath him in chase And this sense of Divine Wrath discovers it self in these two particulars 1. It works a fear of some evil to come 2. It possesseth the soul with a feeling of this evil First the soul considers That the punishment which God hath threatned shall be executed on him sooner or later he cryes therefore What if God should damn me God may do it And what if God should execute his vengeance upon me Thus the soul fears that the evil discovered will fall upon him This is the reason of those phrases of Scripture We have not received the spirit of bondage to fear again the Spirit shews our bondage and thence comes this fear Again God hath not given us the spirit of fear that is the spirit of bondage that works fear It is with a soul in this fear as it was with Belshazzar when he commanded the Cups to be brought out of the House of the Lord An hand-writing came against him on the wall and when he saw it his thoughts troubled him and his face began to gather paleness and his knees knocked against one another as if he should say Surely there is some strange evil appointed for me and with that his heart began to tremble and shake just so it is with this fear he that runs ryot in the way of wickedness and thinks to despise Gods Spirit and to hate
the City the famine is there and if we sit here we dye also now therefore let us fall into the hands of our enemies and if they save us alive we shall live and if they kill us we shall but dye They had but one means to succor themselves withal and that was to go into the Camp of the enemies and there as it hapned they were relieved Thus is the lively picture of a poor sinner in this despairing condition when he seeth the wrath of God pursuing him and that the Lord hath beset him on every side at last he resolves thus with himself If I go and rest on my priviledges there is nothing but emptiness and if I rest in my natural condition I perish there also let me therefore fall into the hands of the Lord of Hosts I confess he hath been provoked by me and for ought I see he is mine enemy I am now a damned man and if the Lord cast me out of his presence I can be but damned And then he comes to the Lord and he falls down before the footstool of a consuming God and saith as Job did What shall I say unto thee O thou Preserver of men I have no reason to plead for my self and I have no power to succor my self my accusations are my best excuse all the priviledges in the world cannot justific me and all my Duties cannot save me if there be any mercy left O succor a poor distressed sinner in the very gall of bitterness This is the behavior of the soul in this work of Subjection The second part of Humiliation is Contentedness to be at the Lords disposal and this point is of an higher pitch then the former For example Take a debtor who hath used all means to avoid the creditor in the end he seeth he cannot avoid the Suit and to bear it he is not able therefore the onely way is to come in and to yield himself into his creditors hands but suppose the creditor should exact the utmost and throw him into prison to be content now to undergo the hardest dealing it is an hard matter and a further degree So when the soul hath offered himself and he seeth that Gods Writs are out against him and he is not able whensoever the Judgement comes to avoid it nor to bear it therefore he submits himself and saith Lord whether shall I go thy anger is heavy and unavoidable nay whatsoever God requires the soul lays his hand on his mouth and goes away contented and well satisfied and hath nothing at all to say against the Lord This is the nature of Contentedness Or for a further light this Contentedness discovers it self in these three following particulars First the Soul reflects on Gods Mercy which though he begg'd when he submitted yet now he seeth so much corruption and unworthiness in himself that he acknowledgeth himself unfit for Mercy O Mercy mercy Lord What saith the Lord I had thought your own Duties would have purchased mercy O no saith the Soul it is onely Mercy that must relieve and succor me but such is my vileness that I am not fit for the least mercy and favor and such is the wickedness of this wretched heart of mine that whatsoever are the greatest plagues I am worthy of them all though never so insupportable All the Judgements that God hath threatned and prepared for the Devil and his Angels they are all due to my wretched soul O saith the Soul had the Devils the like hopes and means and patience that I have enjoyed for ought I know they would have been better then I am It is that which shames the Soul in all his sorrows and makes him say Had they the like Mercy O those sweet Comforts and those precious Promises that I have had How many heavy journeys hath the Lord Jesus made to me How often hath he knock'd at my heart and said Come to me ye rebellious children turn ye turn ye why will ye dye O that Mercy that hath followed me from my house to my walk and from thence to my closet here Mercy hath conferred with me and there Mercy hath wooed me yea in my night-thoughts when I awaked Mercy kneeled down before me and besought me to renounce my bad courses yet I refused Mercy and would needs have mine own will had the Devil but such hopes and such offers of Mercy they that tremble now for want of Mercy they would for ought I know have given entertainment to it and what do I seek for Mercy shall I talk of Mercy What I Mercy the least of Gods Mercies are too good for me and the heaviest of Gods Plagues are too little for me I suppose for so is my opinion that God cannot do more against me then I have justly deserved but be sure God will not lay more upon me then I am justly worthy of Nay sure it is the Soul cannot bear nor suffer so much as he hath deserved if God should proceed in rigor with him therefore it reasons thus I onely for one sin deserve eternal condemnation for the wages of all sin is death being committed against Divine Justice and against an Infinite Majesty and then what do all these my sins deserve committed and continued in against all checks of Conscience and Corrections and the light of Gods Word Hell is too good and ten thousand hells too little to torment such a wretch as I am What I mercy I am ashamed to expect it With what heart I pray you can I beg this Mercy which I have trodden under my feet The Lord hath often wooed me and when his wounds were bleeding and his side gored and his hideous cryes coming into mine ears My God my God why hast thou forsaken me then even then this Christ have I slighted and made nothing of his Blood and can this blood of Christ do me now any service Indeed I crave grace but how do I think to receive any All the Pillars of the Church can testifie how often Grace and Mercy have been offered and offered but I have ever refused How then can I beg any grace O this stubbornness and villany and this wretchedness of mine What I mercy it is more then I can expect I am not worthy of any Oh no I am onely worthy to be cast out for ever Secondly the Soul reflects on Justice and now it acknowledgeth the Equity of Gods dealings be they never so harsh he confesseth that he is as clay in the hands of the Potter and the Lord may deal with him as he will yea the Soul is driven to an amazement at the Lords patience and that he hath been pleased to reprieve him so long that God hath not cast him out of his presence and sent him down to hell long ago It is the frame of the Spirit which the poor lamenting Church had It is the Lords mercy that we are not confounded because his compassions fail not When the Lord hath humbled
the heart of a Drunkard or Adulterer he begins thus to think with himself The Lord saw all the evils I committed and what then O then the Soul admires that ever Gods Justice was able to bear with such a monster and that God did not confound him in his drunkenness or burning lusts and cast him down into hell Oh saith he it is because his mercies fail not that my life and all have not failed long ago Hence it is that the Soul will not maintain any kinde of murmuring or heart-rising against the Lords dealings or if Nature and Corruption will be striving sometimes and say Why are not my prayers answered I know such a soul humbled and I see such a foul comforted and why not I as well as he then the Soul stifles and crusheth and choaks these wretched distempers and doth also abase it self before the Lord saying What if God will not hear my prayers What if God will not pacifie my Conscience doth the Lord do me any wrong Vile Hell-hound that I am I have my sin and my shame Wrath is my portion and Hell is my place thither may I go when I will it is mercy that God thus deals with me And now the Soul clears God in his Justice and saith It is just with God that all the prayers which comes from this filthy heart of mine should be abhorred and that all my labors in holy Duties should never be blessed It is I that have sinned against checks of Conscience against Knowledge against Heaven and therefore it is just that I should carry this horror of heart with me to the Grave it is I that have abused Mercy and therefore it is just that I should go with a tormenting Conscience down into hell And O that if I be in hell I might have a spirit to glorifie and justifie thy Name there and say Now I am come down to hell amongst you damned creatures but the Lord is righteous and blessed for ever in all his doings and dealings and I am justly condemned Thirdly hence the Soul comes to be quiet and frameable under the heavy hand of God in that helpless condition wherein he is it takes the blow and lies under the burthen and goes away quietly and patiently O this is an heart worth gold O saith he it is fit that God should glorifie himself though I be damned for ever for I deserve the worst Whatsoever I have it is the reward of my own works and the end of my own ways if I be damned I may thank my pride and my stubbornness and my peevishness of spirit What shall I repine against the Lord because his wrath and his displeasure lies heavy upon me Oh no! let me repine against my sin the cause of all let me grudge against my base heart that hath nourished these Adders in my bosom but let me bless the Lord and not speak one word against him Thus David I held my tongue saith he and spake nothing because thou Lord hast done it So the Soul when the Sentence of condemnation is even seizing upon him and God seems to cast him out of his favor then he cryes I confess God is just and therefore I bless his Name and yield unto him but sin sin is the worker of all this misery on me Jeremiah pleading the case of the Church now going to Captivity Wo is me for my hurt saith he my wound is grievous but I said Truly this is my grief and I must bear it Such is the frame of an heart truly humbled it is content to take all to it self and so to be quiet saying This is my wound and I must bear it this is my sorrow and I will suffer it Thus you see what is the behavior of the Soul in this Contentedness to be at the Lords disposal Object But some may object Must the soul or ought the soul to be thus content to be left in this damnable condition Ans. For answer This Contentedness implyes two things First a carnal security and a regardlesness of a mans estate and and this is a most cursed sin Secondly a calmness of Soul not murmuring against the Lords dispensation towards him and this Contentedness is ever accompanyed with the Sight of a mans sin and Suing for Mercy It ever improves all means and helps that may bring him nearer to God but if Mercy shall deny it the Soul is satisfied and rests well apaid And this Contentedness opposed against quarrelling with the Almighty every humbled Soul doth attain to although in every one it is not so plainly seen To give it in a Comparison A Thief taken for Robbery on whom the Sentence of Death hath passed he should not neglect the means to get a Pardon and yet if he cannot procure it he must not murmure against the Judge for condemning him to death because he hath done nothing but Law So we should not be careless in using all means for our good but still seek to God for Mercy yet thus we must be and thus we ought to be contented with whatsoever Mercy shall deny because we are not worthy of any favor The Soul in a depth of Humiliation it first stoops to the condition that the Lord will appoint he dares not fly away from God nor repine against the Lord but he lies down meekly 2. As he is content with the hardest measure so he is content with the longest time he will stay for mercy be it never so long I will wait upon the Lord saith Isaiah that hath hid his face from Jacob and I will look for him so the humbled sinner Although the Lord hide his face and turn away his loving countenance from me yet I will look towards Heaven so long as I have an eye to see and a hand to lift up the Lord may take his own time it is maners for me to wait nay the poor broken heart resolves thus If I lie and lick the dust all my days and cry for mercy all my life long if my last words might be Mercy mercy it were well I might get mercy at my last gasp Thirdly as he is content to stay the longest time so is he content with the least pittance of mercy Let my condition be never so hard saith the soul do Lord what thou wilt for me let the fire of thy wrath consume me here onely recover me hereafter if I finde mercy at the last I am content and whatsoever thou givest I bless thy name for it he quarrels not saying Why are not my graces increased and why am I not thus and thus comforted No he looks for mercy and if he have but a crum of mercy he is comforted and quieted for ever And now you may suppose the heart is brought very low Hence we collect 1. That they which have the greatest parts and gifts and ability and honor are for the most part hardly brought home to the Lord Jesus Christ they that are most hardly humbled are
mean time I dye and starve It falls out in this case with a broken-hearted sinner as with a prodigal childe The Prodigal he hath spent his means and abused his Father and now is there a Famine in the Land and poverty is befallen him he knows indeed there is meat and cloaths enough in his Fathers House but alas what can he expect thence but his Fathers heavy displeasure if a man should say Go to your Father he will give you a portion again would he think you believe this No would he say it is my Father I have offended and will he now receive me yet should a man come and tell him that he heard his Father say so and then shew him a Certificate under his Fathers hand that it was so this would sure draw him into some hope that his Father meant well towards him So it is with a sinner when he is apprehensive of all his rebellions if a man should tell such a soul Go to God and he will give you abundance of mercy and compassion the soul cannot believe it but thinks What I mercy no no Blessed are they that walk humbly before God and conform their lives to his word let them take it but for me it is mercy I have opposed it is grace I have rejected no mercy no grace for me But now if God send a Messenger from Heaven or if it come under the hand of his Spirit that he will accept of him and pass by all his sins this makes the soul grow into some hopes and upon this ground it goes unto the Lord But here observe me that none either in heaven or in earth but onely Gods Spirit can make this Certificate when it is night all the candles in the world cannot take away the darkness so all the means of grace and salvation all the candle-light of the Ministry they are all good helps but the darkness of the night will not be gone before the Sun of Righteousness arise in our hearts Hence it is that it proves so difficult a matter to comfort a distressed soul I shall one day perish saith David I shall one day go down to hell saith the soul Let all the Ministers under heaven cry Comfort ye comfort ye still he replyes I mercy and I comfort will the Lord pardon me It is mercy I have despised and trampled under my feet and I mercy no no Thus we Ministers observe by experience Some that in their own apprehensions are gone to the bottom of hell we make known to them Reasons and Arguments and Promises but nothing takes place what 's the Reason O none but Gods Spirit can do it he must either come from Heaven and say Comfort ye comfort ye my people or it will never prevail let me speak therefore to you that are Ministers you do well to labor to give comfort to a poor fainting soul but always say Comfort Lord O Lord say unto this poor soul that thou art his salvation SECT. 3. Hope in Christ THe minde being thus illightned the Lord calls on the affections Come desire Come love but the first voice is to Hope now Hope is a faculty of the soul that looks out for mercy and waits for the same So the Apostle Phil. 1. 20. According to my earnest expectation It is a similitude taken from a man that looks after another and lifts up himself as high as he may to see if any be coming after him so here the soul stands as it were a tip toe expecting when the Lord comes he hath heard the Lord say Mercy is coming towards thee mercy is provided for thee now this affection is set out to meet mercy afar off it is the looking out of the soul O when will it be Lord Thou sayest mercy is prepared thou sayest mercy is approaching the soul standeth a tip-toe O when will it come Lord here is the voyce of Hope This sinful soul of mine it may through Gods mercy be sanctified this troubled perplexed soul of mine it may through Gods mercy be pacified this evil and corruption which harbors in me and hath taken possession of me it may through Gods mercy be removed and when will it be Lord The maner how Gods Spirit works this is discerned in three particulars 1. The Lord doth sweetly stay the heart and fully perswade the soul that a mans sins are pardonable and that all his sins may be pardoned and that all the good things he wanteth they may be bestowed this is a great sustainer of the soul when a poor sinner seeth his sins in their number nature when he seeth no rest in the creature nor in himself though all means all help all men all Angels should joyn together yet they cannot pardon one sin of his then the Lord lifteth up his voyce and saith from Heaven Thy sins are pardonable in the Lord Jesus Christ 2. The Lord doth sweetly perswade the soul that all his sins shall be pardoned the Lord makes this appear and perswades his heart that he intendeth mercy that Christ hath procured pardon for the soul of a broken-hearted sinner in special and that he cannot but come unto it by this means Hope comes to be assured and certainly perswaded to look out knowing the Promise shall be at the last accomplished the former onely sustained the heart and provoked it to look for mercy but this comforts the soul that undoubtedly it shall have mercy The Lord Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost now saith the broken and humble sinner I am lost Did Christ come to save sinners Christ must fail of his end or I of my comfort God saith Come unto me all you that are weary and heavy laden I am weary and unless the Lord intend good unto me why should he invite me and bid me come surely he means to shew me mercy nay he promiseth to relieve me when I come therefore he will do good unto me 3. The Lord lets in some relish and taste of the sweetness of his love some scent and savor of it so that the soul is deeply affected with it and carryed mightily unto it that it cannot be severed it is the letting in the riches of his love that turneth the expectation of the soul another way yea it turneth the whole stream of the soul thitherward This Reproves 1. Those that cast off all Hope 2. Those that without ground will do nothing but Hope 1. If the Lord stir up the heart of his to hope for his Mercy then take heed of that fearful sin of Despair Despair we must in our selves and that is good but this Despair we speak of is hainous in the eyes of God and hurtful to thee 1. Injurious to God thou goest to the deep dungeon of thy Corruption and there thou sayest These sins can never be pardoned I am still proud and more stubborn this distress God seeth not God succors not his hand cannot reach his Mercy cannot save Now mark
what the Prophet saith to such a perplexed soul Why sayest thou thy way is hid from the Lord the Lord saith Why sayest thou is any thing too hard for the Lord O you wrong God exceedingly you think it a matter of humility when you account so vilely of your selves Can God pardon sin to such unworthy creatures It is true saith the soul Manasses was pardoned Paul was converted Gods Saints have been received to mercy But can my sins be pardoned can my soul be quickned No no my sins are greater then can be forgiven Why then poor soul Satan is stronger to overthrow thee then God to save thee and thus you make God to be no God nay you make him to be weaker then Sin then Hell then the Devil 2. This sin is dangerous to thy own soul it is that which taketh up the bridge and cutteth off all passages nay it plucks up a mans Endeavors as it were quite by the roots Alas saith he what skilleth for a man to pray what profits it a man to read what benefit in all the means of grace The stone is rolled upon me and my Condemnation sealed for ever I will never look after Christ Grace Salvation any more the time of grace is past the day is gone And thus the soul sinketh in it self Will the Lord cast me off for ever and will he shew no favor I said saith David this is my infirmity the word in the Original is This is my sickness as who should say What is mercy gone for ever this will be my death then is life gone 2. This Reproves and Condemns that great sin of Presumption a sin more frequent and if possibly may be more dangerous as they said Saul had slain his thousands and David his ten thousands So hath Despair slain his thousands but Presumption his ten thousands It is the counsel of Peter That every man should be ready to give an account of his faith and hope that is in him Let us see the Reasons that perswade you to these groundless foolish Hopes you say You hope to be saved and you hope to go to heaven and you hope to see Gods face with comfort and have you no grounds it is a foolish hope an unreasonable hope But comfort ye comfort ye poor drooping spirits They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength you say You cannot do this and you cannot do that I say If you can but hope and wait for the Mercy of the Lord you are rich Christians If a man have many Reversions they that judge of his Estate will not judge him for his present Estate but for the Reversions he shall have Haply thou hast not for the present the sense and feeling of Gods love and assurance away with that feeling do not dote upon it thou hast Reversions of old Leases ancient Mercies old Compassions such as have been reserved from the beginning of the world and know thou hast a fair Inheritance You will say Were my hopes of the right stamp then might I comfort my self but there are many false flashy hopes and how should I know that my hope is sound and good I answer you may know it by these particulars 1. A grounded hope hath a peculiar certainty in it it doth bring home unto the soul in special maner the goodness of God and the riches of his love in Christ Jesus It stands not on Is's and And's but saith It must undoubtedly it must certainly be mine and good Reason for this hope hath a Word to hang and hold upon What is that I will wait upon the Lord and I hope in his Word it is a Scripture-hope a Word hope the Word saith The Lord came to save those that were lost why I finde my self to be lost saith the soul and therefore I hope The Lord will seek me though I cannot seek him I hope the Lord will finde me though I cannot finde my self I hope the Lord will save me though I cannot save my self So the Word saith He appointeth them that mourn in Sion to give unto them beauty for ashes will you have a Legacy of Joy Mercy and Pity here it is the Lord Christ left it you I bequeath and leave this to all broken-hearted sinners to all you humble mourning sinners this is your Legacy sue for it in the Court and you shall have it for ever 2. A grounded hope is ever of great power and strength to hold the soul to the truth of the Promise hence take a poor sinner when he is at the weakest under water when all Temptations Oppositions Corruptions grow strong against him and he saith I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul this proud foolish filthy heart of mine will be my bane I shall never get power strength and grace against these sins Here is the lowest under of a poor soul If a man should now reply Then cast off all hope and confidence reject the means and turn to your sins Mark how Hope steppeth in and saith Nay whatsoever I am and do whatsoever my condition is I will use the means I am sure all my help is in Christ all my hope is in the Lord Jesus and if I must perish I will perish seeking him and waiting upon him Why this is Hope and I warrant that soul shall never go to hell I will wait for the Lord yea though he hath hid himself from the house of Jacob The last Use is of Exhortation I desire you I intreat you I will not say I command you though this may be enjoyned if you have any hope of Heaven if you have any treasure in Christ labor to quicken this affection above all The means are these 1. Labor to be much acquainted with the precious Promises of God to have them at hand and upon all occasions These are thy comforts and will support thy soul as the body without comfort is unfit for any thing so it is here unless a man hath that provision of Gods Promises and have them at hand daily and have them dished out and fitted for him his heart will fail 2. Maintain in thy heart a deep and serious acknowledgement of that supreme Authority of the Lord to do what he will and how he will according to his pleasure Alas we think too often to bring God to our bow We have hoped thus long and God hath not answered and shall we wait still Wait Ah wait and bless God that you may wait If you may lie at Gods feet and put your mouthes in the dust and at the end of your days have one crum of Mercy it is enough therefore check those distempers Shall I wait still It is a most admirable strange thing that a poor worm worthy of hell should take up state and stand upon terms with God He will not wait upon God Who must wait then must God wait or man wait It was the Apostles question Wilt
thou now restore the Kingdom of Israel to whom our Savior answered It is not for you to know the times and seasons as who should say Hands off it is for you to wait and to expect mercy it is not for you to know If you begin to wrangle and say How long Lord When Lord And why not now Lord Why not I Lord now check thy own heart and say It is not for me to know it is for me to be humble abased and to wait for mercy SECT. 4. A desire after Christ VVHen the soul is humbled and the eye opened then he begins thus to reason O happy I that see mercy but miserable I if I come to see this and never have a share in it O why not I Lord why not my sins pardoned and why not my eorruptions subdued my soul now thirsteth after thee as a thirsty Land my affections now hunger after righteousness both infused and imputed Now this desire is begotten thus When the soul is come so far that after a through conviction of sin and sound humiliation under Gods mighty hand it hath a timely and seasonable revelation of the glorious mysteries of Christ of his excellencies invitations truth tender-heartedness c. of the heavenly splendor and riches of the pearl of great price then doth the soul conceive by the help of the Holy Ghost this desire and vehement longing And least any couzen themselves by any misconceits about it as the notorious sinner the meer civil man and the formal Professor it is then known to be saving 1. When it is joyned with an hearty willingness and unfeigned resolution to sell all to part with all sin to bid adieu for ever to our darling-delight it is not an effect of self-love not an ordinary wish of natural appetite like Balaams Numb. 23. 10. of those who desire to be happy but are unwilling to be holy who would gladly be saved but are loth to be sanctified no if thou desirest earnestly thou wilt work accordingly for as the desire is so will the endeavor be 2. When it is earnest eager vehement extreamly thirsting after Christ as the parched earth for refreshing showers or the hunted Hart for the Water-brooks We read of a Scotish Penitent who a little before his confession freely confessed his fault to the shame as he said of himself and to the shame of the Devil but to the glory of God he acknowledged it to be so heynous and horrible that had he a thousand lives and could he dye Ten thousand deaths he could not make satisfaction Notwithstanding said he Lord thou hast left me this comfort in thy word that thou hast said Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will refresh you Lord I am weary Lord I am heavy laden with my sins which are innumerable I am ready to sink Lord even into hell unless thou in thy mercy put to thine hand and deliver me Lord thou hast promised by thine own word out of thy own mouth that thou wilt refresh the weary soul And with that he thrust out one of his hands and reaching as high as he could towards Heaven with a louder voyce and a streined he cryed I challenge thee Lord by that word and by that promise which thou hast made that thou perform and make it good to me that call for ease and mercy at thy hands c. Proportionably when heavy-heartedness for sin hath so dryed up the bones and the angry countenance of God so parched the heart that the poor soul begins now to gasp for grace as the thirsty Land for drops of rain then the poor sinner though dust and ashes with an holy humility thus speaks unto Christ O merciful Lord God Thou art Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end Thou sayest it is done of things that are yet to come so faithful and true are thy Decrees and Promises That thou hast promised by thine own word out of thy own mouth that unto him that is a thirst thou wilt give him of the fountain of the water of life freely O Lord I thirst I faint I languish I long for one drop of mercy As the Hart panteth for the water-brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God and after the yearning bowels of thy wonted compassions Had I now in possession the glory the wealth and pleasures of the whole world nay had I Ten thousand lives joyfully would I lay them all down and part with them to have this poor trembling soul of mine received into the bleeding arms of my blessed Redeemer O Lord my spirit within me is melted into tears of blood my heart is shivered into pieces out of the very place of Dragons and shadow of death do I lift up my thoughts heavy and sad before thee the remembrance of my former vanities and pollutions is a very vomit to my soul and it is sorely wounded with the grievous representation thereof The very flames of Hell Lord the fury of thy just wrath the scorchings of my own conscience have so wasted and parched mine heart that my thirst is insatiable my bowels are hot within me my desire after Jesus Christ pardon and grace is greedy as the grave the coals thereof are coals of fire which hath a most vehement flame And Lord in thy blessed Book thou callest and cryest Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters In that great day of the feast thou stoodest and cryed'st with thine own mouth If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink and these are thine own words Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled I challenge thee Lord in this my extreamest thirst after thine own blessed self and spiritual life in thee by that Word and by that Promise which thou hast made that thou perform and make it good to me that lie grovelling in the dust and trembling at thy feet Oh! open now that promised well of life for I must drink or else I dye The means to obtain this desire are these three 1. Be acquainted throughly with thine own necessities and wants with that nothingness and emptiness that is in thy self a groundless presumption makes a man careless see into thine own necessities confess the want of this desire after the Lord Jesus Christ 2. Labor to spread forth the excellency of all the beauty and surpassing glory that is in the Promises of God Couldst thou but view them in their proper colours they would even ravish thee and quicken thy desires 3. After all this know it is not in thy power to bring thy heart to desire Christ thou canst not hammer out a desire upon thine own Anvil dig thy own pit and hew thy own rock as long as thou wilt nay let all the Angels in Heaven and all the Ministers on Earth provoke thee yet if the hand of the Lord be wanting thou shalt not lift up thine heart nor
step one step towards Heaven then go to him who is able to work this desire in thy soul It is the complaint of a Christian O they are troubled because they cannot fetch a good desire from their own souls and one falls another sinks a third shakes and they are overwhelmed with discouragement What a wretched heart have I faith one I grace No no the world I can desire the life of my childe I long for and I say with Rachel Let me have honor or else I dye but I cannot long for the unconceivable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ and will the Lord shew any mercy upon me Is it thus remember now desires grow not in thy garden they spring not from the root of thy abilities O seek unto God and confess In truth Lord it is thou from whom come all our desires it is thou must work them in us as thou hast promised them to us and therefore Lord quicken thou this soul and inlarge this heart of mine for thou onely art the God of this desire Thus hale down a desire from the Lord and from the Promise for there onely must thou have it The smoaking flax God will not quench flax will not smoak but a spark must come into it and that will make it catch fire and smoak thus lay your hearts before the Lord and say Good Lord here is onely flax here is onely a stubborn heart but strike thou by thy Promise one spark from heaven that I may have a smoaking desire after Christ and after grace SECT. 5. A Love of Christ VVE have run through two affections Hope Desire and the next is Love A possible good stirs up Hope a necessary excellency in that good setleth Desire and a rellish in that good setled kindles Love Thus is the order of Gods work If the good be absent the understanding saith It is to be desired O that I had it then it sends out Hope and that waits for that good and stays till it can see it and yet if that good cannot come then Desire hath another proper work and it goes up and down wandring and seeketh and sueth for Christ Jesus After this if the Lord Jesus be pleased to come himself into the view of the heart which longeth thus after him then Love leads him into the soul and tells the Will of him saying Lo here is Jesus Christ the Messiah that hath ordered these great things for his Saints and people The Motive or ground of this Love is Gods Spirit in the Promise letting in some intimation of Gods love into the soul thus Psal. 42. 8. The Lord will command his loving kindeness in the day time This is a phrase taken from Kings and Princes and great Commanders in the field whose words of Command stand for Laws so the Lord sends out his loving kindeness and saith Go out my everlasting love and kindeness take a Commission from me and to go that humble thirsty and hunger-bitten sinner and go and prosper and prevail and settle my love effectually upon him and fasten my mercy upon him I command my loving kindeness to do it Thus the Lord doth put a Commission into the hands of his loving kindeness that it shall do good to the poor soul yea though it withdraw it self saying What I mercy will Christ Jesus accept of me No no there is no hope of mercy for me indeed if I could pray thus hear thus and perform Duties with that enlargement and had those parts and abilities then there were some comfort but now there is no hope of mercy for me We demand Is this your case is it thus and thus are you thus humbled and have you thus longed for the riches of his Mercy in Christ Lo then the Lord hath put a Commission into the hands of his loving kindeness saying Go to that poor soul and break open the doors upon that weary weltering heart and break off all those bolts and rend off that veil of ignorance and carnal Reason and all those Arguments Go I say to that soul and chear it and warm it and tell it from me That his sins are pardoned and his soul shall be saved and his sighs and prayers are heard in heaven and I charge you do the work before you come again Here is the ground of Love Gods love affecting the heart and setled upon it it breeds a love to God again We love him because he loved us first The burning-glass must receive heat of the beams of the Sun before it burn any thing so there must be a beam of Gods love to fall upon the soul before it can love God again I drew them with the cords of a man even with the bands of love God lets in the cords of love into the soul and that draws love again to God He brought me into the banqueting-house and his banner over me was love stay me with flaggons comfort me with apples for I am sick of love When the banner of Christs love is spread over the soul the soul comes to be sick in love with Christ Now this love of God doth beget our love in three particulars First there is a sweetness and a rellish which Gods love lets into the soul and warms the heart with you shall see how the fire is kindled by and by As when a man is fainting we give him Aqua-vitae so a fainting sinner is cold at the heart and therefore the Lord lets in a drop of his loving kindeness and this warms the heart and the soul is even filled with the happiness of the mercy of God Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth saith the Spouse in the Canticles for his love is better then wine The kisses of his mouth are the comforts of his Word and Spirit the soul saith O let the Lord refresh me with the kisses of his mouth let the Lord speak comfort to my heart and this is better then wine Secondly as that sweetness warms the heart so the freeness of the love of God let in and intimated begins even to kindle this love in the soul that it sparkles again God setteth out his love towards us seeing that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us This commends the love of God the Lord sends to poor and miserable sinful broken-hearted sinners and saith Commend my mercy to such a one and tell him That though he hath been an enemy to me yet I am a friend to him and though he hath been rebellious against me yet I am a God and Father to him When the poor sinner considers this with himself he saith Is the Lord so merciful to me I that loved my sins and continued in them had it not been just that I should have perished in them but will the Lord not onely spare his enemy but give his Son for him O let my soul for ever rejoyce in this unconceiveable goodness of God! Be thy heart never so hard
if it have but the sense of this it cannot but stir thee to Humiliation Thirdly the greatness of the freeness of this mercy of God being setled upon the heart enflames it the sweetness warms the heart this freeness kindles the fire and when the greatness of the sweetness comes to be valued this sets the heart all on a flame the Apostle desires that the Ephesians being rooted and grounded in love might be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and height of the love of God in Christ as if he had said The unmeasureablenes of Gods mercy will blow up the soul and enflame the heart with admirable love of God again and will make the soul say What I that have done all that I could against this good God O it breaks my heart to think of it there was no Name under heaven that I did blaspheme and tear in pieces more then this Name no Command under heaven I so much despised as the Command of God and of Christ no Spirit that I grieved so much as the good Spirit of God and therefore had the Lord onely given me a look or spoken a word to me it had been an infinite Mercy but to send a Son to save me it is incomparable I could not conceive to do so much evil against him as he hath done good to me O the breadth of that Mercy beyond all limits O the length of that Mercy beyond all time O the depth of that Mercy below a mans misery O the height of that Mercy above the height of my understanding If my hands were all love that I could work nothing but love if mine eyes were able to see nothing but love and my minde to think of nothing but love and if I had a thousand bodies they were all too little to love that God that hath thus unmeasureably loved me a poor sinful Hell-hound I will love the Lord dearly saith David O Lord my strength Have I gotten the Lord Jesus to be my comfort my buckler and my shield if I have any good he begins it if I have any comfort he blesseth it Therefore I will love thee dearly O Lord my strength O how should I but love thee Me thinks there is a poor sincere soul that saith My understanding are not so deep as others my tongue runs not so glib as such and such I cannot talk so freely of the things of grace and salvation I have meaner parts and cannot inlarge my self in holy Duties and holy Services I cannot dispute for a Savior or perform such Duties as others can do yet sweet soul canst thou love Christ Jesus and rejoyce in him O yes I bless the Name of the Lord that all I have all my friends and parts and means and abilities are but as dung and dross in comparison of Christ Jesus it were the comfort of my soul if I might be ever with him Say you so Go thy way and the God of heaven go with thee This is a work of God that will never leave thee it is a badge and proper livery that the Lord Jesus gives onely to his Saints never a meer Professor under heaven ever wore it never any Hypocrite under heaven to whom God did intend it but onely to those whom he hath effectually called and whom he will save therefore though thou wantst all thou hast this to comfort thee in the want of all and thou mayest say I can say little for Christ my tongue faulters and my memory is weak yet the Lord knows I love the Lord Jesus This is enough David desired no more but what God was wont to do to his children that loved his name Do to me saith the text as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name I know thou lovest them that love thee and wilt save and glorifie them in the end I desire no more but this do as thou usest to do to those that love thy name And doth David a King desire no more sure then if thou poor soul hast so much as he had it is enough be quiet with thy childes part Thy lot is faln into a marvellous fair ground Some may say this is all the difficult How may I know whether my love be a true love or a false love How may I know that my love is of the right stamp Let every man put his love upon the trial and examine thus Whether doest thou welcome Christ and grace according to the worth of them if thou doest it will appear in these particulars 1. Observe the root and rise from whence thy love came canst thou say I love the Lord because he hath loved me then thy love is of the right mettle and know it for ever that that God which cannot but love himself he cannot but like that love which came from himself is thy soul affected and enlarged in love to the Lord because thou hast felt and retained the relish and sweetness of his grace canst thou say The Lord hath let in a glimpse of his favor and the Lord hath said in his truth he looks to him that trembles at his word the Minister said it and the Spirit saith it that my mercy is registred in heaven Oh how should I love the Lord my sins are many which I have bewailed my sighs and sobs I have put up to heaven and at the last the Lord hath given me a gracious answer Oh how should I love the Lord my strength dearly If it be thus with thee thy love is sound and will never fail 2. If thou entertain thy Savior as it beseems him thou must entertain him as a King and that is thus give up all to him and entertain none with him upon terms of honor but such as retain to him or be attendants upon him love all in Christ and for Christ but express thy love and joy to Christ above all He is as a King and all the rest are but as retainers he that loves any thing equal with a Christ it is certain he did never love Christ to set up any thing cheek by jole with Christ it is all one as if a man did put a slave into the same Chamber with the King which is upon the point to drive him away 3. The soul that rightly entertains Christ and studies wholly to give him contentment he is marvellous wary and watchful that he may not sad that good Spirit of God to grieve him and cause him to go away as displeased See this Cant. 3. 4 5. the Spouse sought long for her beloved and at last brought him home and when she had welcomed him she gives a charge to all the house not to stir nor awaken her love till he please When a Prince comes unto the house of a great man what charge is there given to make no noise in the night lest such and such a man be awakened before his time the soul when it hath received the
the Lord Almighty and to resist the work of his Grace now it may be there comes this fear and hand-writing against him and then he cryes These are my sins and these are the Plagues and Judgements threatned against them and therefore why may not I be damned why may not I be plagued Secondly the Lord pursues the soul and discharges that evil upon him which was formerly feared and now his Conscience is all on a flame and he saith to himself O I have sinned and offended a just God and therefore I must be damned and to Hell I must go Now the soul shakes and is driven beyond it self and would utterly faint but that the Lord upholds it with one hand as he beats it down with the other he thinks every thing is against him he thinks the fire burns to consume him and that the ayr will poyson him and that Hell-mouth gapes under him and that Gods wrath hangs over him and if now the Lord should but take away his life that he should tumble down headlong into the bottomless Hell Should any man or Minister perswade the soul in this case to go to Heaven for Mercy it replies in this maner Shall I repair to God O that 's my trouble Is not he that great God whose Justice and Mercy and Patience I have abused And is not he the great God of Heaven and Earth that hath been incensed against me Oh with what a face can I appear before him and with what heart can I look for any mercy from him I have wronged his Justice and can his Justice pardon me I have abused his Mercy and can his Mercy pity me What such a wretch as I am If I had never enjoyed the means of mercy I might have had some plea for my self but Oh I have refused that mercy and have trampled the Blood of Christ under my feet and can I look for any mercy No no I see the wrath of the Lord incensed against me and that 's all I look for SECT. 4. Sorrow for Sin THe next step is Sorrow for Sin concerning which are two questions 1. Whether it be a work of saving grace 2. Whether God work it in all alike To the first I answer There is a double Sorrow one in Preparation the other in Sanctification They differ thus Sorrow in Preparation is when the word of God leaves an impression upon the heart of a man so that the heart of it self is as it were a Patient and onely bears the blow of the Spirit and hence come all those phrases of Scripture as wounded pierced pricked in the passive voyce So that this Sorrow is rather a Sorrow wrought on me then any work coming from any Spiritual ability in me But Sorrow in Sanctification flows from a Spiritual principle of Grace and from that power which the heart hath formerly received from Gods Spirit so that in this a man is a free worker Now both these are saving Sorrows but they differ marvellously many think that every saving work is a sanctifying work which is false Those whom he calleth saith the Apostle them he also justifies and whom he justifies he glorifies You may observe That Glorification in this place implyes Sanctification here and glory hereafter now before Glorification you see there is Justification and Vocation and both these are saving To the second I answer Howsoever this work is the same in all for substance yet in a different maner it is wrought in most Two men are pricked the one with a pin the other with a spear two men are cut the one with a pen-knife the other with a sword so the Lord deals kindely and gently with one soul and roughly with another There is the melting of a thing and the breaking of it with hammers so there is a difference in persons for instance if the person be a scandalous liver and an opposer of God and his Grace Secondly if a man have harbored a filthy heart and continues long in Sin Thirdly if a man have been confident in a formal civil course Fourthly if God purpose by some man to do some extraordinary great work In all these four cases he lays an heavy blow on the heart the Lord will bruise them and rend the kall of their hearts and make them seek to a faithful Minister for direction and to a poor Christian for counsel whom before they despised But if the soul be trained up among godly Parents and live under a soul-saving Ministery the Lord may reform this man and cut him off from his corruptions kindely and break his heart secretly in the apprehension of his Sins and yet the world never see it In both these we have an example in Lydia and the Jaylor Lydia was a sinful woman and God opened her eyes and melted her heart kindely and brought her to a taste of his goodness here and glory hereafter But the Jaylor was an outragious rebellious wretch for when the Apostles were committed to prison he laid them up in stocks and whipped them sore now there was much work to bring this man home when the Apostles were singing Psalms there came an Earthquake which made the prison doors flie open and the prisoners fetters to fall off but yet the Jaylors heart would not shake at last the Lord did shake his heart too and he came trembling and was ready to lay violent hands upon himself because he thought the prisoners had been fled but the Apostles cryed to him Do thy self no harm for we are all here with that he fell down before them and said Men and brethren what shall I do to be saved For Conclusion give me a Christian that God doth please to work upon in this extraordinary maner and to break his heart soundly and to throw him down to purpose though it cost him full dear this man walks ordinarily with more care and conscience and hath more comfort coming to himself and gives more glory unto God Is it so that the soul of a man is thus pierced to the quick and run through by the wrath of the Almighty then let this teach all how to carry themselves towards such as God hath thus dealt withal Are they pierced men O pity them let our souls O let the bowels of commiseration and compassion be let out towards them let us never cease to do good to them to the very uttermost of our powers And to the performance of this Reason and Religion and pity me-thinks should move us Hear the cry Oh saith the poor soul will these and these sins never be pardoned Will this proud heart never be humbled Thus the soul sighs and mourns and says O Lord I see this sin and feel the burthen of it and yet I have not an heart to be humbled for it nor to be freed from it O when will it once be Did you but know this it would make your hearts bleed to hear him Oh! the sword of the Almighty hath pierced