never be blessed for I have had these ends and by respects in all my duties it is I that have sinned against checks of conscience and against knowledge and therfore it is just that I should carry this horror of heart with mee to my grave it is I that have abused mercy and therefore it is just and righteous with God that I should goe with a tormenting conscience downe to hell Oh that if I be in hell I might have a Spirit to glorifie and justifie thy name there and say Now I am come downe to hell amongst you damned creatures but the Lord is righteous and blessed for ever in all his dealings and I am justly condemned Thirdly Hence the Soule comes to be quiet and frameable under the heavy hand of God in that helplesse condition wherein he is so that the Soule having beene thus framed aforehand it comes to this that it takes the blow and lyes under the burthen and goes away quietly and patiently hee is quiet and saith not a word more oh this is a heart worth gold He accounts Gods dealing and Gods way to bee the fittest and most reasonable of all Oh saith he it is fit that God should glorifie himselfe though I be damned for ever for I deserve the worst whatsoever I have it is the reward of my owne workes and the end of my owne way if I be damned I may thanke my pride my stubbornnesse my peevishnesse of Spirit and all my base corruptions what shall I repine against the Lord because his wrath and his displeasure lyes heavy upon mee let mee repine against my sinne that made him do it Let me grudge against my base heart that hath nourished these adders in my bosome shall I bee unquiet and murmure against the Lord because this horror of heart doth vexe mee oh noe let mee blesse the Lord and not Speake one word against him but let mee repine against my sin as the holy prophet David saith Psal 39.9 I held my tongue and Spake nothing because thou Lord haddest done it So the Soule saith when the sentence of condemnation is even seazing upon him and God seemes to cast him out of his favour then he saith I confesse God is just and therefore I blesse his name and yeild to him but sinne is the worker of all this misery that hath befallen mee The holy Prophet Ieremy pleading of the great extremity that had befallen the people of God saith woe is mee for my hurt Ier. 10.19 my wound is grievous but I said truly this is my griefe and I must beare it This is the frame of a heart that is truly humbled it is content to take all to it self and so to be quiet saying this is my wound and I must beare it this is my sorrow and I will suffer it thus you see what the behaviour of the heart is in this contentednesse Hold these well for they are of marveilous difficultie and great use Quest But what is the dealing of the Lord that the Soule must be contented with Answ The behaviour of the Lord towards the Soule in this kind discovers it selfe in two things First In what hee will do to the Soule Secondly in the manner of his dealing how hee will deale with the Soule and the heart must bee contented with both these Sometimes a man will beare a thing but not the manner of it that kills him but God will make a sinner wayt upon God for mercy and beg againe and againe and bee content with the harshest of his dealings and glad he may have it so too The first thing that God will have the Soule contented with 1. First thing that God will doe to the Soule and which the Soule must be contented with is that salvation and happinesse and the acceptation of a mans person now must be no more in a mans own hands nor in his owne abilitie the Lord hath taken the staffe out of his hand and salvation must bee no more put in his owne power Here is a wonderfull height of pride exprest before the Soule will yield to this When Adam was created in his innocency the Lord put a faire stocke into his hand and hee might have traded for himselfe and he had libertie of will and power of grace so that he might have gotten the favour of God by that which he could doe if hee would have done hee might have lived But when Adam had betrayed that trust which God committed to him in the state of Paradise because hee had forfeited this trust the Lord tooke all away from him and nothing shall be in him or from him any more in the point of Iustification or acceptation as any way meritorious Adam in his innocency might have required mercy by vertue of a Covenant from God but Adam shall now have nothing in his owne power any more but he shall have his Iustification and acceptation not in himselfe but in another even Iesus Christ So that the reason why any Soule is justified and accepted with the Lord it is meerely in an other not in himselfe It is a great matter to bring the heart to this for the Soule to see nothing in himselfe but all in and through Christ Oh this is a difficult worke The Lord will not trust him with a farthing token There are two passages marveilous usefull this way and therein you shall see the exceeding pride of a mans heart and it is very common One passage is in the Romanes Where the text saith Rom. 9.31.32 The Iew and the Gentiles sought for righteousnesse that is how they might finde acceptance and righteousnesse in the sight of God The Iew sought this by the works of the Law that is by himself by his sacrifices and washing and the like and he thought these would have acquitted him in the sight of God But the text saith Israel which followed after the Law of righteousnesse hath not attained it that is they have not attained it because they sought it not by faith and from Christ but in and of themselves and therefore they never came to attaine it But most pregnant is that other place Rom. 10 2 3. where the Apostle saith I beare them record that they have the zeale of God but not according to knowledge for they being ignorant of Gods righteousnesse and going about to establish their owne righteousnesse have not submitted themselves to Gods righteousnesse the cause why any man is acquitted of God it is not because of any thing that he hath or doth but it is from anothers righteousnesse But what a great matter is this The text faith That going about to establish their owne righteousnesse they have not submitted c. here in this place there is this remarkable They thought to establish their owne righteousnesse that is their owne duties and services their owne parts and abilities and because they thought to find acceptance for what they did they did not submit Submission argues
satisfie of himselfe he cannot and his friends will not and he knowes that the bonds are still in force and his creditor will sue him avoyd the suit he cannot and to beare it he is not able and therefore he comes in freely and offers himselfe and his person and gives up himselfe into his creditors hands onely he beseecheth him to remit that which he can never pay Iust so it is with the soule of a poore sinner The Soule is the Debtor and Divine Iustice is the Creditor When the poore sinner hath used all meanes to save and succour himselfe and to make payment and he hath as it were made a gathering of prayers all the Countrey over and yet he seeth that there is a controversie betweene God and him and yet his sinne is not pardoned and God is Iust and will have his honour and he is not able to avoyd the suite nor to beare it Psal 139.7 8. and the Soule saith as David did Whither shall I goe from thy spirit and whither shall I flye from thy presence if I ascend up into heaven thou art there c. So the Soule saith God will have his payment from this heart blood of mine if I goe into the East the Lord will follow mee and bid his Serjeant Conscience to arrest mee and I shall lye and rot in the Prison of hell for ever Now the Soule offers himselfe before the Lord and saith Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee Oh shew mercy if it be possible to this poore distressed Soule of mine thus the Prodigall did An other Similitude is this Me thinks the picture of those foure famished Lepers may fitly resemble this poore sinner When the famine was great in Samaria 2 King 7.3.8 9 c. There were foure leprous men sate in the gate of the Citie and they said Why sit we here untill we die If wee enter into the Citie the famine is there and if we sit here wee dye also Now let us therefore fall into the hands of our enemies if they save us alive we shall live and if they kill us we shall but die They had but one meanes to succour themselves withall and that was to goe into the Campe of their enemies come said they we will put it to the venture and so they did and were relieved This is the lively picture of a poore sinner in this despairing condition When the Soule of a poore Leprous sinner is famished for want of comfort and hee seeth the wrath of God pursuing of him and the Lord besets him on every side at last he resolves thus with himselfe I say when he hath used all meanes and finds succour in none hee resolves thus with himselfe and saith if I goe and rest upon my priviledges there is nothing but emptinesse and weakenesse if I trust in them and if I rest in my naturall condition I perish there also Let mee therefore fall into the hands of the Lord of Hosts who I confesse hath beene provoked by mee and for ought I see is mine enemy I am now a damned man and if the Lord cast me out of his presence I can but be damned that way and then hee comes to the Lord and falls downe before the footstoole of a consuming God and saith as Iob did What shall I say unto thee oh thou preserver of men I have no reason to plead for my self withall and I have no power to succour my selfe my accusations are my best excuse all the priviledges in the world cannot justifie me and all my duties cannot save me if there be any mercy left Oh succour a poore distressed sinner in the very gall of bitternesse This is the behaviour of the Soule in this work of subjection The reason why the Lord deales thus with the Soule and why hee plucks a sinner upon his knees there is great reason why he should doe it The reason is two-fold First That the Lord may herein expresse and glorifie the greatnesse of his power And secondly To shew forth the glory of his mercy Reason 1 First the glory of his power is mervailously magnified in that the Lord shewes that hee is able to pull downe the proudest heart and to lay low the haughtiest spirit under heaven and those that have out-braved the God of heaven and beene opposite to him and despised the glory of his name For herein is the glory of his name greatly exalted that hee makes a poore wretch to come and creepe and crawle before him and begge for mercy at his hands and to be at his dispose Exod. 9.27 It is a fine passage You know how Pharaoh would out-face the Lord saying Who is the Lord that I should obey him And as the Master sometimes saith to his servant You shall And you shall doe this saith the husband to his wife This is the sturdy fiercenesse of a company of wretches Well the Lord let him alone for the while but in the 27. verse when the Lord had freed and delivered his servants and had plagued the Aegyptians with the haile then Pharaoh said Now I know that the Lord is greater then all Gods and that he is righteous but I and my people are wicked Where is Pharaoh and Nimrod and all the rest of those mighty ones of the world they are all gone downe to hell and God hath destroyed them for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly hee was above them Herein is the glory of Gods power So it is here As we use to say Doe you know such a man Yes What was he A profest drunkard and a desperate despiser of God and his grace and one that did hate the very face of an honest man Oh the Lord hath brought him upon his knees Oh admirable saith he what is he humbled and is his heart broken Oh yes the Lord hath dejected him in that wherein he was proud As it is amongst men If two men be in controversie and the one enters into suit with the other and before a man will submit and yeeld himselfe hee will dye and rather spend all that he hath then to want his will and he will make that tongue denie what it hath spoken He thinks this his excellencie So it is with our God Herein is the power of the Almighty magnified that he hath brought downe those great Leviathans and all those Nimrods and great Kings which said Who is the Lord hee hath made such as these are to come in and to submit unto him Secondly The second Meanes by this meanes the Lord doth mervailously promote the praise of his mercy First Partly for the greatnesse of it And secondly partly for the freedome of it First in that the Lord helps a poore sinner at a dead lift and when all prayers and hearings prevailed not and when all priviledges were not able to purchase mercy and favour then the Lord shewes mercy Doth not this argue the excellencie of that Balme that will cure
when all other meanes cannot doe the deede that the Lord should then I say looke upon a poore sinner and refresh him with one drop of mercy Oh this is unspeakable mercy As the Prophet David saith All my bones can say Lord who is like unto thee as if hee had said This eye that hath wept for my sinnes this tongue that hath confest my sinnes and this heart that hath grieved for sinne all these have beene refreshed by thee This prayer is not like to thee this fasting and these priviledges are not like to thee for these could not succour mee but thou art the Lord that didst deliver and succour thy poore servant And secondly herein is also admirable freenesse of mercy that when the Lords mercy was but lightly looked after that then the Lord should give mercy and that to an enemie For the Soule can say if any thing in the world would have saved mee I should not have gone to the Lord for mercy and yet when all would not doe and when I did not thinke of any such matter then the Lord saved mee This is free mercy The hope of Israel is not like others and the God of Iacob is not like other Gods You distressed Soules did not you know the time when God terrified you and then offered mercy and you would none but you would scramble for mercy and shift for your owne comfort and yet the Lord brought downe those proud hearts of yours and when you were at a dead lift and could find comfort no where else then did the Lord shew mercy to your Soules Was not this free mercy wonder at it and give God glory for it even for ever Vse 1 This being so that the Soule that is throughly humbled yields to submit it self to the Lord Then this is like a Bill of inditement against all the stout ones of the world This shewes how unworthy they are of any mercy Nay how unfit they are for mercy They are so farre from partaking of Gods mercy that they will not be humbled and therefore they cannot be exalted Nay they have a base esteeme of it and so they hate their everlasting salvation For looke how farre they are from submission so farre they are from the comfort and happinesse of the Lord. He that will enter in at this strait gate of subjection is so farre from ever going in the way to life that he never set one foot yet in this way Let me speake as once the Prophet did Heare and tremble all you stout ones of the earth you that account it a matter of credit to cast off the Commandements of God and that you can lift up your selves against the Almightie Good Lord is it possible you know what I say there is many one here and if they be not here as commonly they are not let them heare of it How is it that men slight all corrections and snap all Gods Commandements in sunder as Samson did the Cords and they say their tongues are their owne and their lusts are the commands that carry them Nay is it not come to this passe now adayes for the Lords sake thinke of it that men account it a matter of basenesse of spirit to be such childish babes and to be so womannish as to stoope at every command Oh you must not be drunke saith one it is a hot argument and are you such a childe as to yield to it No let us follow our owne wayes is it not thus I appeale to your owne Soules there are too many guiltie in this place Doe you thinke to out-brave the Almightie in this manner doe you provoke the Lord to wrath and doe you not provoke your Soules to your owne confusion Doest thou thinke to goe to heaven thus bolt upright the Lord cannot endure thee here and will Hee suffer thee to dwell with himselfe for ever in heaven What thou to heaven upon these termes Nay thou must not thinke to out-brave the Lord in this manner and to goe to heaven too How did the Lord deale with Lucifer and all those glorious spirits He sent them all downe to hell for their pride Let all such spirits heare and know their misery I doe not trouble my selfe with any matter of indignation it is no trouble to me but onely because of your sinnes for you are the greatest objects of pitty under heaven You that know such and have such husbands oh mourne for them exceedingly The Lord doth detest their persons As the Wise man saith Prov. 11.20 The froward in heart are an abhomination to the Lord. The Lord doth abhorre that heart of thine And shall God abhominate that proud heart of thine and yet blesse it and save it and will He dwell with such a heart in heaven No he hath some body else to give heaven to Secondly thy estate is desperate here and marvellous unrecoverable As the same Wise man saith He that being often reprooved hardneth his necke and will not stoope to any counsels nor reproofes but saith Who meddles with you and I know what I have to doe and let every Tub stand uppon his owne bottome How many of you here have beene reprooved for your swearing but you leave it not How many of you have beene reprooved for your prophaning of the Lords Day doe you withdraw your selves from it Oh no such matter Goe your wayes then and mourne over those hard hearts of yours and in private say thus This is my sentence right The Lord be mercifull to my father saith the child and the Lord be mercifull to my proud husband saith the wife and to my wife saith the husband are not we they that have beene often reprooved have not we had such exhortations as have made the Church to shake the divels would have gotten more good if they had had them and yet we have cast of all and we would not come in we doe not yet pray in our Families but we throw away all the Lord hath said it hee that being often reprooved hardeneth his necke and will not come in shall perish hee is gone then and therefore thou may say Oh my husband is but a dead man and my childe is a dead childe he shall perish but is there no remedy may some say No the text saith so he shall suddainly be destroyed and that without remedy The truth is I need say no more but you that know your owne hearts bewaile those hard hearts of yours that as the water by continuall dropping at last melts the flint so if it be possible those proud hearts of yours may be brought downe If a drunkard or an adulterer will submit to the Word there is remedy for them but there is no remedy for him that will not yield to the Spirit of God The Lord bee mercifull to the Soules of them Will you see your sturdy hearted husbands and children perish the Lord in mercy set this home to your hearts at last and prevaile with them Will you perish
and that suddenly Oh let us pitie them will you not yield now but you will stand it out to the last man The Lord comes out in battell aray against a proud person and singles him out from all the rest and when the vyalls of his wrath are poured out upon all wicked ones mee thinks the Lord saith Let that drunkard and that swearer alone a while but let mee destroy that proud heart for ever You shall submit in spite of your teeth when the great God of heaven and earth shall come to execute vengeance and doe not think to scarre God with your mocks you that wil sweare a man out of your company Consider that place in Iob and see how the Lord comes with all his full might against a proud man Iob 15.25.26 27. It is good to read this place often that God may pull downe our proud hearts For he stretcheth out his hands against the Almighty saith the text and strengtheneth himselfe against God and he saith I will do it though my life lie at the stake for it he strengthens himselfe and will doe it Surely God is afraid of him he comes so well mann'd the Lord must deale some way with him to overthrow him Mark what the text saith The Lord runnes upon him even on his neck upon the thick bosses of his bucklers because hee covereth his face with his fatnesse and maketh collops of fat upon his flankes the Lord comes upon him not at the advantage but in the height of his pride and in the rage of his malice the Lord will come upon him and ruinate him for ever Those that now stand it out and cast off all carelesly throwing away the commandements of God I would have them at the day of their death to out-stand the curse of God The Lord God commands to sanctifie his Sabbaths and to love his truth and his children yet you will not but you will strive against all I would haue you to out-stand the curse of God in the day of judgement and when the Lord Iesus shall say Depart from me yee cursed into everlasting fire stand it out now and say I will not goe to hell Lord I will not be damned No no you broke the cords here but the Lord will binde you in chaines of darknesse for ever remove those chaines if you can No Esay 2.17 the haughtinesse of men shall be brought low and the loftinesse of men shall be abased and the Lord shall onely be exalted in that day Vse 2 The second Use is for instruction to shew unto us that an humble Soule is mervailous teachable and tractable and is willing to yeeld unto and to be guided by any truth it submits and there is no quarrelling against the commandements of God one word of Gods mouth is enough If the Lord reproves it takes the same home to it selfe if the Lord promiseth it beleeves and if the Lord threatens it trembles It is easie to be convinced of whatsoever it is informed if it have no good reason to gaine-say it It is not of that wayward and pettish disposition that it will not be satisfied though all his reasons be answered and all objections taken away It is not led by his owne humours as many a man is though his conceits be against reason and opposite against God and his grace Nay it is content to yeeld to the authority of the truth and to take the impression of every truth it heares and yields Iob 34.32 and obeyes and frames it selfe answerably As Iob saith That which I know not teach thou mee and if I have done any iniquity I will doe so no more The humble Soule is content to confesse his ignorance and to submit to any truth that may enforme him and it is content to receive that mercy and grace that is offered by what meanes soever God seeth best to Communicate it Nay the heart that is truly submissive is as willing to take comfort when it is offered upon good grounds as it is to performe dutie enjoyned By a foolish pettishnesse the divell withdrawes the hearts of Gods owne people from much comfort that God hath dished out of purpose for their benefit For howsoever the Soule of a poore sinner be truly touched yet for want of this lowlinesse and this teachablenesse and submission it refuseth that sap and sweet that it should take and receive from the Lord. Take a poore sinner that hath many sinnes burthening of him and hee is crushed with them and that in truth he desires comfort but receives none Let the Minister of God come and answer all his arguments and satisfie all his quarrels that he can make and set him on a cleare boord and tell him that the work of grace is cleare and mercy is appointed for him Now marke how he flyes of through that sullennesse and untoward peevishnesse and pride of Spirit hee casts away the mercy and yields not to the comfort offered though he is content to yield to the duties enjoyned and so he deprives himselfe of that mercy and comfort that is offered and thus when all is done time after time the Soule saith I see it not and I perceive it not and all the world shall not perswade me of it Why what are you wiser then all the world what a pride of heart is this Oh saith he another man may be cozened and deceived but I know my owne heart better then any Minister doth But you tell the Minister what your condition is and so what you know hee knowes and hee hath more judgement to enforme you then you have of your selfe Then saith the Minister all your cavils and objections are answered and remooved and all that worke of grace that God hath wrought you have made it knowne and revealed and all this is made good by the Word of God now if all these quarrels be answered and if all the reasons and evidences of the worke of grace be made cleare that you cannot deny them then why may not you take comfort Downe with that proud heart of yours that will not beleeve whatsoever the Minister saith Oh the height of pride and haughtinesse of heart in this case I speake to you to whom comfort and mercy is impropriated downe with those proud spirits I say It is not because you cannot but because you will not It is said in Esay God prepares the garment of gladnesse for the spirit of heavinesse When the Lord seeth the soule prepared and humbled Esa 61.3 he takes measure of it and disheth out a comfort answerable he prepares a consolation as fit as may be and yet the Soule will not put it on nor be warned and refreshed with it as it is with some way-ward untoward childe who when his father hath prepared a suit of cloathes fitting for him because he hath not such and such a lace hee will not put it on but throwes all away Oh it is marvellous pride of spirit a rod
THE SOVLES HVMILIATION Iob 22. vers 29. And he shall save the humble Person LONDON Printed by I. L. for Andrew Crooke at the signe of the Beare in Pauls Church-yard 1637. THE SOVLES HVMILIATION Luke 15. vers 14 15 16 17 18 c. 14. And when he had spent all there arose a mightie famine in that land and he began to be in want 15. And he went and joyned himself to a citizen of that countrey and he sent him into his fields to feed swine 16. And he would faine have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eate and no man gave unto him 17. And when he came to himselfe he said How many hired servants in my fathers have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger 18. I will arise and goe to my father and will say unto him Father I have sinned c. THAT a poore sinner might come and be partaker of the precious merits and death of our Saviour and receive comfort thereby There are two things considerable First a fitting and enabling of the soule for Christ Secondly an inplantation of the Soule into Christ For howsoever it is true there is aboundance of mercy and infinite merit in Christ yet unlesse the Soule be fitted and enabled by the hand of faith to lay hold upon Christ he shall never receive comfort from him be his necessities never so many and his misery never so grievous Therefore Iohn Baptist was sent to prepare the way that all those mountaines of pride might be laid low and all the ditches filled up and all the crooked things might be made strieght and all rough things might be made smooth that there might be a way for Christ The meaning is this The heart of a man is the high way wherein Christ comes Now there are mountaines of pride and untoward stoutnesse of heart and many windings and turnings and devices which the heart hath by reason of many lusts that are in it This fitting and preparing is nothing else but the taking away of that knotty knarlinesse of the heart and that pride and all such cursed corruptions that the doore may be set open and the heart made ready that the King of glory may come in The heart being thus fitted and enabled then followes humiliation for the breaking of the heart is not all that God hath to doe with a poore sinner though the Lord wound the heart of a sinner and run him through yet the heart will be starting aside and will not goe out to Christ Therefore I shall now speake of humiliation of the spirit yet before I come to it give me leave to lay open two passages 1. The necessity of this worke it must needs be 2. The nature of this worke First it is necessary that the soule should be thus humbled for humiliation pares away all selfe-sufficiency from the soule by compunction the Lord breakes the heart and wearies it with sinne and then the soule will be no more drunke nor loose nor vaine no more foolish nor dissembling nor hating of Gods servants nor use no more false weights by humiliation the Lord plucks away the confidence in a mans priviledges and all his good performances and all his duties by which he is ready to shelter himselfe and by which he thinks to get some succour and comfort to his owne soule Now as sinne shall not rule in the heart so the Lord will make the sinner see that whatsoever he hath and doth can never helpe him except the Lord Iesus come downe from heaven by his mightie power For the further opening of these you must know that there are these two maine lets which hinder the comming of faith into the soule and which keepe a man from beleeving in Christ that Christ may have possession of him First 1. Let of Faith when the soule is taken up with a secure course and rests it selfe well apaide in his owne practises and therefore it never seeth any need of a change nor never goes out for a change now while he lives thus and blesseth himselfe in his sinne it is impossible that ever the soule should receive faith or ever by the power of faith repaire to Christ upon these termes for ever where faith comes it works a change all the old things are done away and become new he is new in heart and life now the secure sinner that seeth no need of a change will never see need of faith nor labour for it and if the Ministers of God bid such a man to leave his sinne and to pray in his family and forsake his sinfull practises and to sanctifie the Lords day and take up new courses he thinkes they bid him to his losse now by that time the Lord hath taken away this let and burthened the soule marvellous extreamely and saith is it well that you live in drunkennesse and in covetousnesse in cheating in lying and the like then take your sinnes and get you downe to hell with them thus the Lord is forced to breake the heart then a poore sinner begins to see where he is and now he saith and is this true then I am the most miserable creature under heaven and except I be otherwise it had beene good for mee if I had never beene borne by this time the soule sees need of a change Therefore as they said Men and brethren what shall we doe Acts 2.37 we have beene thus and thus but if we rest here it will be our ruine for ever oh what shall we doe Thus the soule comes to a restlesse dislike of it selfe and saith I must either be otherwise or else I am but a damned man for ever When the soule is thus resolved that it must of necessitie change and there is no dallying with the Lord nor with himselfe and this heart must be altered and this course must be amended When it sees that it must change it begins to improve all meanes to see if he can possibly doe it by his owne strength and by his meanes using as if the soule did say good Lord cannot my wit compasse it and cannot my prayers worke it and though I am a sinfull wretched man yet I will be no more drunke nor uncleane nor the like but by prayer and hearing and fasting I will labour to mend all in this kinde will not these duties doe the deed this very resting in a mans selfe-sufficiency doth marveilously crosse and hinder the worke of Faith for this is the nature of Faith It goes out of it selfe and fetcheth a principle of life grace and power from another The soule apprehends it selfe miserable and it falls upon the arme of Gods mercy and meerely goes out to God for succour Now for a man to fetch all from without and yet to seeke for sufficiency from himselfe these two cannot stand together they are professely crosse one to another and therefore after the Lord hath made the soule see an absolute necessitie of a
when your hearts are hankering after these crazie holds stay them and deale by your hearts as the Lord sometimes did with the people of Iuda In their distresse they did not goe to the Lord but they went to Egypt and Nilus â—eremie 2.18 and therefore the Lord saith unto them What hast thou to doe in the way of Egypt to drinke downe the waters of Nilus c. When they were thus ranging for their owne reliefe in the time of their trouble the Lord as it were cals after them and saith you will downe to Egypt what have you to doe there Deale so by your owne Soules when thou findest thine heart hammering helpe from itselfe and catching it out of the fire thou seest thy sinnes and art troubled and now to quiet all thou wilt heare and pray and performe duties and thus thou thinkest to forge comfort out of thine owne shop therefore call upon thy owne heart and say what hast thou to doe to rest upon these broken staves upon thy praying and hearing and professing these if not accompanied with faith in Christs merits will lay thee in the dust and if thou makest Gods of them the Lord will plucke them away Iudas prayed and preached and heard and received the Sacraments too and yet hee is a divell in hell this day and except thou have more then he had thou wilt be no better then he was and therefore thinke thus with thy selfe what have I to doe to stand here in these duties I may be deluded by these but saved and comforted by them I cannot be therefore use these I will but rest upon them I will not If I could looke up to heaven and speake to Abraham and Paul and David and say how were you saved they would all make answer and say oh away to the Lord Christ it is he that saved us or else we had never come here and he will save you too if you flye to him Therefore brethren bring backe your hearts from these and dreame not to receive any saving succour from what you have or what you doe unlesse you relye on Christ But mee thinkes I heare some say Oh Question it is marvellous difficult and hard wee hang upon every hedge and we are ready to thinke that it is enough if wee can but take up a taske in holy duties How shall we pluck our hearts from resting upon them Answer For the answer to this question suffer mee to answer two things First I will shew the meanes whereby wee may find all these hopeles and helpelesse resting upon them Secondly I will shew when these meanes drive the heart truly to despaire of all succour in them Now that we may find these meanes to bee so to us as they are in themselves and that our Soules may be able to say It is true these are the holy Ordinances of God but it is in vaine to expect any salvation or justification from them alone I say the meanes are mainely foure and I will handle them something largely because if I bee not deceived here is the maine sett of a Christian and herein appeares the root of old Adam we will not part with our selves the meanes are foure First consider seriously with thy selfe and bee convictingly settled and perswaded of the unconceiveable wretchednesse of thy naturall condition If thou canst but see this throughly it will make thee see how vaine it is to look for any succour from thy selfe labour to see the depth of thine own misery because of thy sin and to see how thou hast sunke thy selfe into such a desperate gulfe of misery that all the meanes under heaven will bee short to succour thee unlesse the Lord Iesus come downe from heaven and his infinite power bee let downe to plucke up thy Soule from that misery wherein thou art there thou lyest and there thou art like to perish for ever if God in mercy succour not Now that I may pul down the pride of every vile wretch give mee leave to discover the depth of our miserie in these foure degrees Foure degrees of our misery by nature First consider that by nature thou art wholly deprived of all that abilitie which God formerly gave thee to performe service Whatsoever is borne of the flesh Ioh. 3.6 Rom. 7.18 is flesh saith our Saviour and therefore the Apostle Paul saith I know that in mee that is in my flesh dwells no good thing All men by nature are flesh and therefore thinke thus with thy selfe and say there was never good thought in my heart nor good action done by mee for in mee dwells no spirituall good thing there may bee morall good in us but though we are good morally yet we are nought spiritually howsoever you pranke up your selves and thinke your selves some body yet there is no spirituall good in you unlesse God worke upon your hearts whatsoever you have thought or done is all in vaine Secondly thou art not onely deprived of all spirituall abilitie 2. Degree of our misery Ephes 2.1 but thou art dead in trespasses and sinnes What is that a man is wholly possessed with a body of corruption and the Spawne of all abhomination hath overspread the whole man and it leavens all the whol lump of body and mind You often read this phrase in Scripture but you perceive it not as it is with a dead body being deprived of the Soule which did quicken it and enable it to doe the workes of a reasonable man there comes a kind of sencelesnesse and after that all noysome humours breed in the body and all filthy vermin come from the body and therefore a man may bury it but hee cannot quicken it any more Iust so it is with the Soule that is deprived of the glorious presence of Gods Spirit and grace which Adam had in his innocency For looke what the Soule is to the body the same is the grace of Gods Spirit to the Soule When the Soule is deprived of Gods Spirit there followes a senselesse stupidnesse upon the hart of a man and all noysome lusts abound in the Soule and take possession of it and rule in it and are fed there and appeare in a mans course in this kind There is no carrion in a ditch smels more loathsomely in the nostrills of man then a naturall mans workes doe in the nostrills of the Almightie There are some workes of a dead body it rots and stinkes and consumes so all the workes of a naturall man are dead workes nay all the prayers of the wicked are an abhomination to the Lord. If you can but say over the Lords Prayer you think you do a great piece of worke but though thesr are good in themselves yet because they come from a corrupt heart they are dead and loathsome prayers in the nostrils of the Almightie as the wise man saith Hee that turneth his eare from hearing the Law Prov. 28.9 even his prayer is abhominable The prayers of a drunkard
despaire I would not have you go away and say the minister saith we must despaire It s true you must despaire of all saving succour in your selves but you must not despaire of all mercy in Christ Answer For the answer to this question you must know that there are three particular trialls of our owne hearts whereby wee shall know when the Lord is pleased to deale so kindly and sweetly with us as to drive us from our selves to Christ The first triall First the Soule of a poore sinner that seeth all meanes helplesse and hopelesse in themselves will freely confesse and acknowledge and that openly that the worke of salvation is of an unconceiveable difficulty and he seeth an utter insufficiencie and impossibility in himselfe and in any meanes in the world to be saved of himselfe He seeth that it is beyond his power and the staffe is out of his owne hand and the Soule almost sinks under it and conceives it almost impossible to come out of it in regard of that which it apprehends Hee seeth now that all those broken reedes and rotten props and all that boldnesse whereby the heart did beare up it selfe they are all broken in peeces and all those Castles which he hath built in the ayre wherein hee comforted himselfe with dreames of consolation they are all throwne downe to the ground and battered about his eares and now the Soule wonders how he was so deluded to trust to such lying vanities and to such deceitfull shadowes This is the difference that the Soule will finde in it selfe before this worke of conversion and after it is wrought Before a man thinks it an easie matter to come to heaven and judgeth it a foolishnesse in people to be cast downe and discouraged in the hardnesse and difficultie of the worke of salvation and hee conceives it to be a foolish conceit in the frantick braine of some precise Ministers Oh saith he God blesse us if none be saved but such as these whatsoever he saith a man may goe to heaven and repent and get the pardon of his sinnes it is nothing but confessing his sinnes before God and craving mercy in the pardon of them and is this such a hard matter this man in the dayes of his vanitie thinks he hath heaven in a string and mercy at command and he can come to heaven and breake his heart at halfe an houres warning but take this man when the Lord hath awakened his conscience and put him to the triall when he seeth that after all his prayers and teares yet his conscience is not quieted and his sinnes are not pardoned and the guilt still remaines now he is of another minde now he wonders at himselfe that he was so deluded and now he saith where is the deluded heart that did thinke it and the mouth that did speake it Nay he thinks it a great mercy of God that he is not in hell long agoe and he stands and wonders that ever any man comes to heaven and he saith certainly their hearts are not like mine and their sinnes are not so great as mine good Lord who can ever be saved such a divell to tempt and such a world to allure and such corruptions boyling within He wonders how Abraham got to heaven beyond the Starres and Moses but above all Manasses yet he saith blessed be God that ever he did this for them but for my selfe all things considered I thinke it a matter impossible how I nay how can I ever be wrought upon shall ever any mercy comfort mee and shall ever any meanes doe mee good Why have not all those meanes that I have had done mee good I shall never have power to pray better then I have done and I shall never be able to wrestle with God more earnestly then I have done and yet I see all meanes profit not therefore I am but a gone man I am but lost and I know not which way my soule should be saved When our Saviour Christ was discovering the difficultie of the way to Salvation His Disciples said Good Lord who then shall be saved So the poore Soule saith Oh the meanes that I have had and the prayers that I have made So that I have thought the heavens did even shake againe and yet Good Lord my heart did never stirre at all and therefore how can I be saved And as the Prophet Ieremy saith Shame hath eaten up the labours of our fathers and we lye downe in our shame c. They had the meanes of grace and the ordinances of God and shame hath eaten up all and where are their Temples and Priviledges now Shame hath consumed them to nothing So it is with a poore feeble fainting Soule he saith shame hath eaten up all my labours I have laboured in prayer in hearing and in fasting yet I have no pardon sealed nor no mercy granted I am as much troubled as ever I see as much evill as ever I did hell is gaping for mee and so soone as life is gone from my body the divell will have my Soule This is the nature of despaire to put an impossibilitie in the thing that it despaires of and to say can it be and will it be and will it ever be Nay it is impossible for ought I know Where is the man now that thought it an easie matter to goe to heaven he is in an other minde and his heart is of an other frame now he hath found by woefull experience that there is no hope nor helpe in himselfe nor in the creature Secondly The second Triall this followes from the former disposition of spirit the Soule is restlesse and remaines unsatisfied in what he hath and what he doth The heart cannot be supported and therefore it growes to be marveilously troubled and it is not able to stay it selfe There is nothing that can satisfie the Soule of a man but it must be some good No man is satisfied with evill but rather more troubled with it It must be some good either in hand and in present possession or else in expectation of some good that he may have and he saith it may be and it will be But when he seeth the emptinesse of all his priviledges and the weakenesse of all his duties when these failes his heart and all must needs sinke because he seeth no other good but them for the while As it is with the building of a house if the bottome and foundation be brittle and rotten and begin to shake all the whole building must needs shake So the Soule that sought for comfort mercy and salvation from his outward priviledges and duties when all these begin to shake under him and to breake in sunder and he seeth no helpe thereby and that it can receive no ease therein hence it is that Soule thus troubled and despairing is in such an estate that if all the Ministers under heaven should come to flatter him and to daube him up with untempered mortar
a point of subjection and the want of this horrible pride This is marveilous divellish pride that a man should set up the lusts of his owne righteousnesse and duties and thinke to finde acceptance and reconciliation with and pardon from the Lord because of these So that now the Soule is nothing and the Lord saith unto him thou shalt goe in ragges all thy dayes that Christ may be thy righteousnesse Thou shalt be a foole that Christ may be thy wisedome and thou shalt be weake that Christ may be all thy strength and I will make the submit to that righteousnesse of Christ Nay the Lord saith further if you thinke to finde acceptance and to purchase mercy by what you can doe then come your way and bring all those prayers and duties and see if they can all answer my exact Law of righteousnesse and satisfie my Iustice Thus the Lord is faine to emptie a man of himselfe this is an admirable worke of the Spirit when the heart is thus content to be at Gods carving and to have nothing of its owne to be ignorant weake and meane and to have all from a Christ This is considerable every man would faine bring something with him even where God hath wrought grace and then we are all dead in the nest and all amort when we find it not and we are ready to say if I had these and these enlargements then God would accept mee but because I have not the Lord will reject mee What is this but to set up the merits of a mans parts and duties therefore it is that the Lord will bring the Soule to this to be content to be justified not for what he hath but for something in another besides what hee can doe to entitle himselfe to heaven and happinesse Therefore the Apostle saith Rom. 4.5 To him that worketh not but beleeveth on him that justifieth the ungodly is faith accounted for righteousnesse This is our nature We would faine be Ioynt-purchasers with Christ and have something of our owne of merit to make us finde acceptance with God as well as Iesus Christ in the point of Iustification But the Lord will bring the heart to this it shall come as an ungodly wretched traitor that the Lord may Iustifie him in Christ Why dare not a poore sinner sometimes come to Christ and looke to him for mercy Oh he is not worthy But art thou not content to see thy unworthinesse Yes saith he but I see such pride such lithernesse in holy duties and such corruption that I dare not goe to Christ for mercy If this be a burthen to thee and if thou art content to be rid of this then Christ hath prepared mercy for thee and thou maist take it the Lord will make thee know that thou art not accepted because thou art worthy but through Christ The Lord justifies the ungodly The second thing that the Soule must be content with The second part of the Lords dispose that hee brings the Soule unto it is this As the Soule must looke for what it hath from another so in the second place it must be content to take what mercy and what that other will give Not what the Soule thinkes fitting but what mercy accounts the best for him Now see this blessed frame of heart in these three particulars First The Soule is content that mercy shall deny what it will to the Soule and the Soule is content and calmed with whatsoever mercy denyes If the Lord will not heare his prayers and if the Lord will cast him away because hee hath cast away the Lords kindnesse and if the Lord will leave him in that miserable and damnable condition which hee hath brought himselfe into by the stubbornesse of his heart the Soule is quiet Though I confesse it is harsh and tedious and long it is ere the Soule be thus framed yet the heart truly abased is content to beare the estate of damnation because hee hath brought this misery and damnation upon himselfe In a word the Soule seeth that it deserves nothing at Gods hands and therefore he is content if God deny him any thing 2 Sam. 15.25.26 and it befals the Soule in this case as it did David See how willingly hee takes whatsoever the Lord shall allow him Where hee saith Carry backe the Arke of God into the Citie if I shall finde favour in the eyes of the Lord hee will bring mee againe and shew mee both it and his habitation but if he shall say I have no delight in David Behold here I am let him doe whatsoever is good in his eyes As it was with David for a Temporall Kingdome So it is with the Soule for a Spiritual Mercy The Soule saith if there be any mercy for a poore rebellious creature the Lord may looke graciously upon mee but if the Lord shall say thou hast brought damnation to thy selfe therefore I will leave thee in it Behold here I am let the Lord doe with mee what hee will Object But some may here object and say Must the Soule can the Soule or ought it to be thus content to be left in this damnable condition Answ For the answer hereof Know that this contentednesse implies two things and it may be taken in a double sense First Contentednesse sometimes implies nothing else but a carnall securitie and a regardlesnesse of a mans estate he regards not his owne Soule what he is nor what he hath nor what shall become of him This is a most cursed sinne and this contentednesse is nothing else but a marveilous negligence either of Gods glory or his owne good and it is a sinne to give way to it and it is a fore-runner of damnation to that man which entertaines it The Soule that is truly humbled and abased cannot nay it dare not say so in cold blood setting aside passions and temptations Nay this contentednesse argues damnation for ever This is not meant in this place neither is it lawfull to give way to it and it is certaine upon these termes the Soule shall never be saved God will make him prize mercy and care for it too before he have it But then Secondly it implyes a calmenesse of Soule not murmuring against the Lords dispensation towards him and this contentednesse is ever accompanied with the sight of a mans sinne and the following of God for mercy The Soule that is thus contented to bee at Gods disposing it is ever improving all meanes and helpes that may bring him nearer to God but if mercy shal deny it the Soule is satisfied and rests well apaid this every Soule that is truly humbled may have and hath in some measure Yet you must not throw all at sixe and seavens no it is a cursed distemper of Spirit that you must hate as hell it self But this contentednesse is opposed against quarrelling with the Almighty and this every humbled Soule doth attaine unto though it bee not soe plainly seene As it is with
some theife that is taken for a robbery and the sentence of death hath past against him he should not neglect the using of meanes for to save his life and to get a pardon and yet if he cannot get a pardon he must not murmure against the Iudge for condemning of him because he hath done nothing but Law This theefe should use means for a pardon but if he cannot get one he should be contented though the sentence passe against him So wee should not be carelesse in using all meanes for our good but still seeke to God for mercy yet thus we must be and thus we ought to be contented with whatsoever mercy shall deny because wee are not worthy of any favour and the humble Soule reasons thus with it selfe and saith my owne sinne and my abhominations have brought mee into this damnable condition wherein I am and I have neglected that mercy which might have brought mee from it therfore why should I murmure against mercy though it deny me mercy and if mercy leave me in that miserable estate which I have brought my selfe into A Sillogisme I have but the reward of my owne workes Marke this well He that is not willing to acknowledge the freenesse of the course of mercy is not worthy nay it is not fit to receive any mercy but that Soule which is not content that mercy deny him what it will hee doth not give way to the freenesse of the Lords grace and mercy therfore that Soule is not fit for mercy I conclude all thus Iudge with your selves whether this bee not a marvellous hideous pride of heart or no that the sinner doth murmure because the Lord will not dispence of mercy as hee will himselfe either the sinner thinkes that he hath deserved mercy and therefore he is angry with God because he gives it not or els he thinkes himselfe wiser to dispose of mercy then God both which are most devilish pride of heart and arguments of a haughty heart that is not yet fit for mercy nay if this be in the heart and if the heart allow of this and continue in this distemper the Soule cannot receive mercy Object 2 But some may object Can a man feele this frame of heart to be content that mercy should have him in hell doe the Saints of God finde this and can any man know this in his heart Answ To this I answer Many of Gods servants have beene driven to this and have attained to it and have laid open the simplicitie of their Soules in being content with this But the secret passage of the Soule is most subtle here and hard it is to finde this and clearely to discerne this frame of spirit this way but the best way to guesse it and to be able to discern it is this For this end you must know these three things First that the Soule out of the nature of it and in nature cannot but desire the preservation of it selfe and it is a rule that God hath stamped in the creature and therefore we must not thinke that nature must or should or can goe further then nature and it is not the fault of nature that it is carried in this kinde But secondly the Soule being humbled cannot but yield it selfe to be disposed of by the Lord as he will yea if the Lord will bring destruction upon it Thirdly though the Soule sometimes finde a secret rebelling against God and a grudging against the Lords dealings and the sinner begins to say these are my corruptions and still my sinnes prevaile against mee and I shall one day perish and the Lord seemes not to looke at mee and with that the Soule sometimes grudgeth and repines at the providence of God yet the heart that is truly humbled grudgeth at himselfe because he hath such a quarrelling heart against the Lords dealing with him in this kinde Nay I have knowne many in the anguish of heart when they have thus quarrelled with the Almightie they have falne into a desperate extremity and thought they had committed that sinne against the holy Ghost Insomuch that it hath made them to walke more humbly before God all their dayes but I say when the Soule finds these distempers it labours to undermine them and it dares not quarrell against God it dare not but yield and this is an argument that the Soule is content Secondly The Soule that is contented comes to be well apaid with this that mercy shall take away from him what it will friends and meanes and ease and liberty and credit and whatsoever it is that the heart hath loved most It is content that God should strip him naked of all And hence it is that we shall observe it in experience and in practice A broken battered Soule that hath beene long overwhelmed with the weight of his corruptions the Lord brings him to a marveilous desperate low ebbe You may see a man sometimes in the torment of Conscience that nature and naturall parts begin to decay his understanding growes weake and his memory failes him and he growes to be marveilously distracted and besides himselfe so that the partie which was before a man of great reach and of able parts and was admired and wondred at for his wisedome and government he is now accounted a silly sot and a mad man in regard of the horror of heart that hath possessed him in so much that the husband saith Oh my wife is undone and the father saith my childe is undone he was a fine witty childe before but now hee is a very sot Yea the mercy of God will not leave a man before he be content to be a despised man that hee may finde mercy and be saved and mercy will plucke away all those parts and gifts from him and make him glad to have salvation and all in another And in conclusion when God cheeres up his heart againe hee is more wise than ever and more able than ever both for temporall and spirituall affaires Ioh. 5.44 How can you beleeve saith our Saviour that seeke honour one of another Without this dealing of God no man would ever come to heaven though the Lord sometimes abates some measure of it It may be before this worke the Soule saith if I may have honours and ease and libertie and credit so it is I care not whether ever I have drop of mercy or no But the text saith How can you beleeve which seeke honour one of another and not that honour that comes from God onely Mercy will bring you downe upon your knees and you shall not be content with the honours of the world No no mercy will make you content to be fooles and to take that honour onely which is from God though you be abased and hated and persecuted in the world It is against reason that the Soule can beleeve except this be in the heart An humble Soule is content that mercy shall rule him As the humbled soule is content
for the other haply they come to quicken up their hearts and to renew that which they knew before What swayes our Reasons First Let us try whether we submit in our judgements or no Here is a maine breach contrary to this submission is a mans carnall reason and that marvellous height of our conceits when we raise up our owne carnall reasonings as so many holds and we maintaine them against the truth of Christ and wheresoever this frame of minde is there this worke of Humiliation was never wrought And this is in too many When a man swels in his owne conceits against the truth of Christ That 's a sweet place to this end in the Romans Where the text saith The Wisedome of the flesh or as it is in the Originall The carnall minde is enmitie against God Rom. 8.7 for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be The carnall minde and all the reasonings and wisedome of it is not onely an enemy but it is enmitie against God The Apostle doth not say that a carnall mans wisedome and reason doth not obey but he is not able to beare the truth he as it were sets himselfe in battle aray against it it cannot be subject to the Law of God This is a maine wound in all the sonnes of Adam That a man as it were deifies himselfe and his owne dreames and devices and makes his owne conceit a line and levell to all his conversation So that the carnall minde will bend the truth to his minde though he breake it Here is the marvellous pride of a mans minde Hence it is that the Apostle adviseth us to be wise with sobrietie Rom. 12.3 As if he had said a man may be drunke with his owne conceits as when a drunkard hath gotten his braines well steeped in Wine and Beare then whatsoever he conceits in his minde must needs be as true as Gospel So it is with a carnall minde Though arguments be never so plaine and Scriptures never so pregnant yet a carnall wretch will carry himselfe against all and say it is not my Iudgement I am not of that minde This is the height of our minde as if he did say I doe not thinke it let the word of God and his Ministers say what they will to the contrary they shall not perswade mee of it Doest thou finde this in thy selfe then it is an undoubted argument thou never hadst a heart truly humbled See what the Apostle saith If a man thinks that hee knowes any thing 1 Cor. 8.2 he knowes nothing as he ought to doe You thinke you are as wise as you need to be and you are not children yet You that thus lift and set up your selves in your owne conceits whatsoever you bee you know nothing as you ought to do And therefore the Apostle speaks of some that were puft up in their owne conceits Colloss 2.18 intruding into those things which they have not seene vainely puft up in their owne minds You conceive and imagine thus and thus and will not beleeve the Minister of God whatsoever he saith therefore you are puft up and this is not a heart truely humbled and kindly wrought upon A carnall man presseth into some imagination as to his owne propper possession As the old proverbe is The foole will not leave his bable for all the Citie of London So a carnall heart saith I cannot be otherwise perswaded I say then the case is cleare is it so with thy judgement and carnall reason then as yet thou wert never under the power of this truth thou shuttest up doores against Iesus Christ he cannot come in to informe thee thou art so full of thy selfe Object But some will say how doth this carnall reasoning lift up it selfe against the truth of Iesus Christ Answ To this I answer the lifting up of my carnall reason makes it selfe knowne in three particulars and by these you shall know when your conceits carrie you aloft from the truth of Christ First A carnall reason being thus puft up it is not willing to know the word of God nor his truth especially those truthes that are troublesome and tedious to him preach and speake what you will but preach not that Hee either wisheth himselfe deafe that hee could not heare or the Minister dumbe that hee could not deliver those truthes The Lord sent the Prophet Esay to preach to the people and yet to seale them downe to eternall destruction Esay 6.9 10. and therefore the Lord saith Goe tell this people heare but understand not see but perceive not make the heart of this people fat they winke with their eyes As it is with a bleare eye that is not able to looke against the Sunne but shuts for feare the Sunne should hurt it So a carnall proud minde is not able to looke into the truthes that may trouble it and that would awaken his bleare eye And in another place the people doe intreate the Prophet Esay to goe out of the way and to turne aside out of that path Esay 30.11 cause the holy one of Israel to cease from before us As if they had said We cannot endure this holinesse wee cannot brooke this exactnesse you bid us to be holy or else God will destroy us get you out of that path they were weary of those blessed truthes A double example we have of this distemper of spirit in holy Scriptures As in Iob Where the wicked say to God depart from us for wee desire not the knowledge of thy wayes The drunkard desires not to heare of any horror of heart for his sinne and the hypocrite desires not to heare that he must be sound and sincere and keepe touch with God in every thing and so all vngodly men goe against the truth of God which crosseth their lusts and corruptions And in Timothy it was the tange of a cursed distemper of spirit in a company of wretches in this age The text saith The time shall come when they shall not endure sound doctrine Tim. 4.3 And here it is to be noted that a company of carnall Gentlemen and base refuse people of other degrees are come to this passe that let a plain searching truth be discovered they turne away from it and cannot heare it with patience but if any man will tell them some fine stories Oh this pleaseth them admirably they cannot endure sound doctrine that searcheth the heart and awakens the conscience they cannot brooke that now an humble heart is of another minde it is willing to heare any thing from the Lord and any message from heaven and the humble Soule saith Speake on Lord thy servant desires to heare the word never so troublesome and the truth never so much crossing his lusts hee is well content to heare it Nay hee desires that especially and hee is calmed with it Marke what Eli said Sam. 3.17 Keepe not back from me but let mee heare whatsoever
againe the second time Well Christ opens the mystery of regeneration and the secrecy of it the second time and when Nichodemus could not comprehend what Christ had spoken yet hee would hold his owne and said how can this be I cannot conceive it because he could not comprehend it therefore he throwes all away Marke how Christ hits him in the right veine and strikes him to the bottome and see how hee tames him Art thou a Master in Israel and a Doctor in Law and yet art such a novice in this worke of regeneration downe with that proud heart of thine Lay downe all thy carnall reasoning and become a foole and so thou may understand this truth that is communicated to thee This is ordinary amongst us for a man to say I cannot beleeve it I see it not and I thinke not so and yet they have no reason at all to carry them but because they cannot comprehend it by that light which they have therefore they will not yeild to any reason because they cannot see it by their owne light they will not use Gods spectacles as I may so say looke how much of this carnall reasoning thou hast so much pride thou haste and this is very much specially in the most ignorantest Soules Secondly because of the weakenesse and feeblenesse of their judgements which are not able to hold a truth when they have it in their hands but it goes away like lightening and because the minds of these poore creatures are over-worne with many thoughts and cursed reasonings and troubled therewith they grow unable to helpe themselves against those distempers And hence it is that though the Word of God be let in and made cleare yet a man stoopes to those conceits and cursed reasonings that have beene attended to so that they take of the power of the truth As it is with a Ferriman hee applyes the Oare and lookes home-ward to the Shore where he would be yet there comes a gust of winde that carryes him backe againe whether he will or no So many a poore humbled creature that is truly wrought upon and hath a true title to Christ he applyes his Oare and would have assurance of mercy from Christ yet the over-whelming of carnall reasonings and cursed suggestions that are either cast in or stirred up in his heart throwes him backe againe and take of the power of the truth insomuch that he can see nothing nor yeild to any thing for the good and comfort of his Soule I take this to be the ground of all the trouble that befals a broken heart Let any man under heaven give mee the reason of this why any Soule that is truely burthened for sinnes as sinne and hath found God marvellous gracious to him this way why I say after all his cavils are remooved and all his objections are fully answered and all controversies are ended and this often done yet a poore broken hearted creature will still recoyle to his former carnall reasonings againe the reason is because all the answers that were given are now forgotten and all his cavils and carnall conceits will be fresh in his minde as ever they were partly from the haunt they have had in his minde and partly from that selfe-willy waywardnesse of the heart that is content to goe that way They that have beene long over-whelmed with these cursed carnall cavellings they will rather labour to oppose a direction then to hold it and to walke in the comfort of it onely because of the weakenesse of their understandings and their carnall reasonings are so violent against them Vpon this hindge it is that as I take it all the objections of a company of poore broken hearted doe hang and by this meanes they keepe out that comfort which they might have and in the strength whereof they might walke all their dayes I might propound many instances as thus come to a contrite Soule and say to him why walkest thou so uncomfortably seeing thou hast now a title to mercy and salvation in Christ see what he replies I a title to mercy nay I am utterly unworthy of that title it is a great gift and few have it and I have beene a vile wretch and an enemy to God and his glory what I a title to mercy we reply againe God gives grace to the unworthy he justifies the ungodly and not the godly and if he will give you mercy too what then hee replyes againe What mercy to me Nay it is prepared for those that are fitted for it had I such a measure of humiliation and so much grace if I were so and so fitted and if my heart were thus disposed then I might have some hope to receive it wee reply againe But have not you beene weary of your corruptions and are you not content that God should doe that for you which you cannot doe for your selves this is the qualification which God accepts and requires and by which hee fits the Soule for mercy unlesse you have that other of your own conceits you will have none and so you deprive your selves of mercy you have a childs part and a good portion too if your proud hearts would suffer you to see it Then the Soule saith I would have the Lord say to my Soule be of good comfort I am thy Salvation if the Lord would witnesse this to mee by his Spirit then I could beleeve it content then only let us agree upon the manner how it must be done and how God shall speake it Will you then yeild it Yes then know this what the Word saith the Spirit saith for the hand and the sword the Word and the Spirit goe both together For as the text saith My Word and my Spirit are one Then take the Word and lay thy heart levell to it and see it The Word saith Every one that is wearie shall be refreshed Hast not thou beene weary and hast not thou seene sin worse then hell it selfe The Text the Word the Lord and his Spirit saith Thou shouldst come and the Spirit saith thou shalt be refreshed Oh saith the sinner I cannot finde this assurance and this witnesse of Gods Spirit I cannot see it and I cannot beleeve it Thus he leaves the judgement of the Word and Spirit and cleaves to the judgement of his finding and feeling and thus he judgeth Gods favour in regard of his own imaginations and not according to the witnesse of the Word and Spirit the Spirit saith Thou art fitted for mercy but because thy ignorant blinde minde conceives it not hence it is that thou shuttest the doore against the mercy of God revealed and that would be setled upon thy Soule for thy everlasting comfort Thinke of this and say Whether is it fit that my wit should determine my estate or the word of God Will you determine the cause and perke into the place of judgement and say I feele it not and I feare it Is not all this carnall reason Here they runne amaine even
a-breast against their owne comfort and will not receive the Word that might convey what comfort is needfull for them I charge every poore Soule to make conscience of resisting the word of God as you desire to make conscience of lying and stealing This is a sinne though not so great as the other Make conscience of this carnall cavelling pull downe those proud hearts lay downe all those carnall reasonings and let the word of God rule you then comfort will come amaine I take this for a truth That when the heart is truly humbled and prepared for mercie and rightly informed and conuicted of the way to salvation the cause why the heart cannot receive comfort it is meere pride of a mans spirit one way or other it is not because he will not nor because God will not but because hee listens to what his carnall reason saith and not to the plaine will and word of God I say make conscience of it and then comfort will come amaine into your Soules The second triall of the degree of humiliation The second triall of the measure of our humiliation is this Looke to thy discouragements For as the discouragements of thy course are so is the pride of thy heart If the stream run amain here there is much pride if little discouragement then there is little pride This is nothing else but when the Soule out of the feare of evill that it either feeles or expects and the price that it puts upon it selfe and that it lookes for from it selfe it is nothing else but the sinking of the soule below it selfe As the Author to the Hebrewes saith Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himselfe Heb. 12.3 least you grow weary and faint in your owne mindes The word in the Originall is as if their sinewes were shrunke This is an undoubted argument and evidence of so much pride as this doth appeare When a man is driven to a desperate stand and comes to lay a dispondencie and to lay himselfe too low and is not able to beare the blow that God layes upon him for were the Soule as willing to take the want of good if God denie it as to take good when God gives it it would not be so discouraged The heart is content to have good but if God take away this good hee is not content to be at Gods disposing therein but if this good goe away hee sinks and is discouraged and this argues pride The heart desires to have riches and especially honours in the world happily God denies this throwes filth and disgrace upon his person and now the Soule is desperatly downe and forlorne in himselfe So much as thou hast of this so much pride thou hast Why art thou not content that God take away any thing the truth is thou wouldest be at thine owne disposing and that which thou wouldst have thou art not able to want Now because this is a thing that wee must take speciall notice of know therefore that this discouragement appeares in these severall passages and pride vents it selfe in them all First This keepes a man from comming to the worke when he is called to it Signes of a discouraged heart Though the Word of God is never so plaine and his calling to it never so cleare yet he is loath to come in at Gods call and when he is come hee is quickly weary and saith what doe I heare Aske God that because he thinks he shall not finde the successe that he desires therefore he is loath to come to it this is horrible pride Thus it was with Ionah he was sent to Nineveh and because hee thought God would shew mercy to them and he should be accounted a false Prophet therefore he would not goe but turnes to Tarshish hee was not able to beare the crossing of himselfe Secondly It damps the Soule and as I may so say it knocks of the wheeles of a mans endeavours when hee sets upon the worke and it kils him at the roote As the Prophet David saith Why art thou cast downe within mee oh my soule Psal 43.5 why art thou so disquieted within me As a man that awakens from a swound he wonders at himselfe so did this Holy man Thus it comes to passe that the Soule recoyles upon it selfe and the heart gives in and he as it were trips up his owne heeles that howsoever a man is able to doe duties yet by reason of discouragements he is not able to put forth that which he can doe for feare he should not doe that which he would Thirdly this discouragement marvellously distempers a man after the worke When the worke is done by others if they finde acceptance and have good successe this comes like cold water upon the Soule and then hee goes away and saith Oh hee is fit for nothing and hee is unable to doe any thing as if a man should say Hee hath no light because another mans candle burnes clearer then his but after his owne worke all his care is what will become of the businesse and how his labour and how his Sermon tooke what approvement of his gifts and what admiration of his parts and if the acceptation of others answer not his desires then his Soule sinks downe and hee is even weary of himselfe his worke and all If no man commend him and the worke is not approved then hee complaines of himselfe this way and that way and begins to disparage himselfe onely to fish out commendation from others and to see what they will say if they commend him then hee goes away rejoycing if not then he sinks specially if hee have not grace to goe in secret by prayer to quicken up himselfe with some promise after that drunken fit So the truth is plaine it is wonderfull to see what pride there is One man is sicke of the sullen because the breath of men departs and hee falls short of that which he expected Though I should prepare my selfe never so well yet if the Lord did stop my mouth now in the pulpit let me be humbled but comforted and contented therewith The third Triall of the measure of our humiliation is this discontentednesse in a mans occasions The third triall of the measure of our Humiliation and so much of this as there is so much pride thou hast in thy heart where this discontentednesse growes there is this bitter roote of pride also The nature of a proud heart is not able to beare any superiour and if it be checked it falles to strange murmuring and gaine-saying This discontentednesse lets out it selfe in five particulars and there is a world of pride in them all First the Soule will grudge at the dispensation of God and snarle at the providence of the Almightie as if God had forgotten himselfe He quarrels exceedingly with the Almightie if God answer not his will and his hearts desire When the Lord had prevailed with the peoples hearts
true the Saints of God are sometimes discontented and discouraged but when they see it they are content that the Word should worke upon them against it and they complaine of these wretched hearts and when they finde this discontentednesse they quarrell with themselves for it and a good man would even pull out that heart which quarrels against the Word of God and he saith is not this the Word of God by which we must be saved and is not this the power of Christ and shall I be angry with it God forbid But these distempers are naturall in a carnall man and though he be reprooved for a foolish fashion yet hee will hold his corruptions still he puls and the Minister puls the Minister would pull downe his proud heart and take away his corruptions but he will have his pride and foolish fashions and his corruptions still then keepe them and perish with them and know that thou art a wretched man the humble heart contends with his corruptions and sinfull distempers and hee is not quiet therewith As it is with a treason If it be revealed to a Traitor and a good Subject the Traitor keeps it secret but the true Subject reveales it and complaines of the Traitor and the Treason and calles for justice against them so it is with a gracious good heart Hee seeth these cursed distempers and sometimes finds bublings of heart against the Word of God and this shakes his Free-hold yet when a good heart seeeth the Treason he doth not joyne with it but he complaines to the Lord of it and saith Oh treason Lord this vile heart will bee my destruction good Lord reveale it yet more to mee and take away all these corruptions take thou the possession of mee that I may serve thee here and be with thee for ever hereafter Thus much for the use of Examination Vse 3 Is it so that the heart truly humbled and prepared for mercy is content to be at Gods disposing as you have heard then what shall wee say of those that lift up themselves against the Almightie this discovers the fearefull condition of every such Soule It is certaine the haughtie Soule is furthest of all from Salvation how proove you that hee that is furthest of from Humiliation he is furthest of from the beginning of grace here and from perfection afterward the gate of grace is meerely here for except you become as little children that is except you be humbled you cannot enter into the Kingdome of Heaven a proud heart is farre from grace now and from happinesse in the end of his dayes For the discovery of this mans misery let mee lay open foure particulars and I would have my selfe and you to consider them that our proud hearts may be puld downe First Foure degrees of a proud mans misery Pride is professely against God and is the most directly contrary to the whole beeing of God and that in the whole man Indeed Pride opposeth God all sinnes are nothing else but a kinde of crossenesse to the Lord of Hosts and a kinde of thwarting of some Attribute or other in God As falshood crosseth the Truth of God impatience crosseth the patience of God and injustice crosseth the Iustice of God So that these sinnes goe against the Almightie in their measure some against one Attribute some against another but a proud heart smites at the whole Essence and Being of God Nay he doth as much as in him lyeth labour to take God out of the world and he would be God himselfe and have no God but himselfe The Lord doth principally Attribute two things to himselfe which can bee in none but himselfe God is the first of all causes and the last End of all All things were created by him for himselfe He made all by his Will and Wisedome and by his Wisedome and Providence he governes all for himselfe Before any thing was God was and all must returne tribute of praise and thankesgiving to God A man may be like God in Mercy and in Iustice though not so perfectly yet sincerely and a man may be like God in other of his glorious Attributes but God onely is first and last If it bee a creature then it was made but here is the venome of a proud heart he would be first and last He doth all by his owne power and hee will promote his owne praise in all that he doth As the great King Nebuchadnezzar saith Dan. 4.30 Is not this great Babel that I have built by the might of my power I built it there is the first for the honour of my Majestie there was the last So it is not the wisedome and pleasure of God that must stand but his owne proud heart it must not be what God commands but what he would have all of a proud man is against the Almighty The Saints of God have wondered that the Lord is able to beare a proud man that thus out braves God in regard of his speciall prerogatives it is a wonder that God sends not some lightning from heaven and even stamp them to pouder and send them downe packing to hell suddainely I take this to be the sinne of the devills that are now chayned up in eternall darknesse untill the judgement of the great day nay I take this pride of a mans Spirit of his minde his reason his will and affections to bee an other old man of sinne Drunkennesse is a lymme of this old man and so is adultery and other sinnes but pride is as it were the old man it selfe This is the broader the Spawne and the very mother from whence the sinne against the Holy-ghost growes and there wants nothing but the illumination of the truth to come in upon the heart when a mans understanding is enlightned and this Illumination comes upon the heart and hee is violently carried against the truth with indignation this is the sin against the holy ghost 2. Pride opposeth the covenant of grace Secondly as Pride is opposite to God himselfe so it is opposite to the covenant of grace beleive and live for the truth is that which wee call infidelitie and the ingredients of it are pride as the Apostle saith Rom. 3.7.7 Where is boasting then it is excluded by what Law by the Law of workes no but by the Law of faith If there be beleeving then away with carnall reasoning and with pride Therefore I may say by collection if faith exclude all boasting then pride or boasting opposeth the covenant of faith Faith is excluded by this pride of a mans Spirit and by this swelling of heart and the holy Prophet Habakkuk saith Habak 2.4 the Soule that is lifted up himself is not not upright within him hee that swells and bubles up in his heart and puffes up himselfe against the word of God hee hath no upright Spirit within him but the just man shall live by his faith above all see that place in Esay hearken to
so forth You must not thinke that God will bring you to heaven before you be aware of it and that a humble heart will drop into your mouthes The Saints of God have alwayes had it before they received Christ and thou must have it too if ever thou wilt have him therefore make it a chiefe part of thy daily taske to get it And suffer not thine eyes to sleepe nor thine eye lids to slumber nor the temples of thy head to take any rest before thou hast this gracious disposition of spirit You see the price the worth and excellency of this blessed grace doe not now let this grace lye lay cast it not into a bye corner but in all your desires covet this and in all your hunting up and downe after commodities prize this more then all and labour to get it above all I know one man hath his eye upon the world and another on his pleasures and every man saith what shall we eate and drinke and wherewith shall we be cloathed but doe not thou say how shall I be rich or honourable but how shall I get this humble heart What 's that to thy Soule that thou art rich and a reprobate and that thou art honourable and damned If thou bee once humbled then thou art past the worst It is the choisest good and the chiefe of thy desires should be for an humble heart Now to draw our hearts to this there are three considerations that may be seasonable and serviceable to this end And they are these First Consider that it is possible to have an humble heart Secondly Consider the danger if you have it not I will not give a rush for all that you can doe without it though you live Methuselahs dayes Thirdly Consider the exceeding benefit that will come by this grace For the first 1. Motive It is possible for any Soule present for ought I know or that he knowes to get an humble heart This may be a provocation to us to set upon this dutie If a man had no hope to get this desire he would have no heart to use any meanes for it A man had as good sit still as rise up and fall as the Proverbe is But seeing it is possible why may not thou and I or any man here get an humble heart and therefore seeke to the Lord for it and say there hath beene many as proud hearts and as stout as mine though I have beene like a divell for my pride yet they have had this grace and therefore Lord why may not I have it as well as they who knowes but God may give mee an humble heart too though my heart be now stout and stubborne and rebellious yet Lord I see no command that forbids mee not to expect this mercy and I see no truth that excludes mee no the Lord saith in his command humble your selves under the mightie hand of God Yea the Lord hath appointed meanes for the working of this grace and hath ever blessed those meanes for the good of others and why not mee Lord Lord hast thou blessed these meanes to others and made them stoope and yeild why wilt thou not blesse them to mee too Lord who knowes but God will doe it for mee as well as hee hath done it for others Therefore goe thou to God and say The truth is Lord I confesse this haughty and this rebellious heart of mine will not come downe it is not in mans power to pull downe my proud heart No it is not in the power of Angels to humble a proud heart Lord now take this stout heart and humble it and doe what thou wilt with it didst not thou tame the heart of Manasses that Witch and bloud-sucker that made the streetes of Ierusalem to swim with blood didst not thou humble him and didst not thou bring downe the proud heart of that sturdy Iaylor and didst not thou tame the heart of proud persecuting Saul Didst not thou make him come creeping in upon his knees Lord thus thou hast done Lord humble me too Thus importune the God of heaven Nay presse God with his promise and with that engagement whereby hee hath tyed himselfe The day of the Lord of Hoasts shall be upon every one that is lifted up Esa 2.12 and that is proud and lofty saith the text and he shall be brought low and upon all the Cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up and upon all the Oaks of Bashan That is upon all mighty vile sturdy and unreasonable men and what then they shall be brought full low and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day The day of the Lord shall be upon all flesh presse God with this promise and entreate the Lord to remember it and say Lord make all those sturdy hearts yield Oh that this may be the day and that I may be the man and that my heart may be the heart that thy mercy and grace may onely be admired and wondered at Thus you see that God may doe as much for you as he hath done for others and it is possible to get an humble heart therefore labour for it Secondly as it is possible to get an humble heart 2. Motive So consider that if you mistake your selves and faile here the danger is wonderfull desperate and fearefull and therfore use so much more care and diligence not to be deceived therein If you misse here never looke to be saved nor recovered hereafter Misse now and you are undone for ever it s as much as your soules be worth as your Humiliation is so your Faith so your Sanctification and your obedience will be If that be naught all will be naught It is observed by Philosophers and Physicians that if there be any fault in the first disgesture it cannot be amended in the next if the stomacke disgest the meate ill the Liver can never make good blood So a wound here can never be amended If the bottome and foundation of a building be not sound and substantiall though the frame be never so neate and handsome yet there is no mending of it it must be all puld down and the ground-worke made more sure and therefore when men set up some maine pillars to uphold a house they digge deepe and low and set them strong So if this worke of Humiliation be not deepe and low enough all the frames of a mans profession will fall downe there is no mending of it If the foundation of the house be sound though the thatch and sparres flye of there is some helpe but if that be naught the house will downe whatsoever the other be So many weakenesses may be succoured and the heart may be sustained under them all if this worke of Humiliation be good but if a man once prove false here thy faith and obedience will be naught and the Spirit of God will never dwell in thee nor quicken thee See what our blessed Saviour saith Math. 7.13 Strive to enter
in at the straite gate c. This gate or this entrance into life is Humiliation of heart When the Soule is loosened from and bids farewell to sinne and himselfe then the gate is opened And as it is in other wayes If there be but one way or gate into an house and the traveller misseth that gate he looseth all his labour and must goe backe againe but if he once get in at this gate he is safe enough then So it is here There is a most narrow way of Gods Commandements and there is but one way or gate into this happinesse it is narrow and a little gate and a man must be nothing in his owne eyes and if you misse this gate you loose all your labour and shall never come to Salvation If a man could heare and pray all his dayes yet if his heart be not humbled he and his profession shall goe to hell together In Saint Matthew the conclusion is very peremptory when the Disciples were contending who should be highest Christ set a childe in the middest of them and said Except you become as little children Math. 18.3 you cannot enter into the Kingdome of heaven You may doe any thing with Infants and all that they have to doe is to cry Vnlesse you have humble hearts you cannot enter into heaven Hee doth not say You cannot be great men or you cannot goe farre into heaven but he saith You cannot enter So then the danger being so great and the mistaking so full of hazard and seeing it is possible to have it therefore let us use all diligence to make this worke sure Thirdly 3. Motive consider the mervailous good that God hath promised and which hee will bestow upon all that are truly humbled And let all these be as so many cords to draw us to looke for this blessed frame of heart Wee have need of all the motives in the world I know it is a hard matter for a man to lay downe himselfe and his parts and all his priviledges in the dust I say it is mervailous irksome and tedious to the nature of a carnall man but it will quit all his cost in the end When wee shall tast of those sweet benefits that come by a humble heart and have gotten Iesus Christ and mercy from him then it will never repent us that wee have spent so many teares and made so many prayers and used so many meanes to pull downe the pride of our hearts Oh brethren thinke of it See and consider the admirable benefits and the exceeding great good that will come to you thereby The good things that come by a heart that is truly humbled they are specially foure and with those the truth and substance of whatsoever the heart can crave and desire The first benefit of an humble heart is this by this meanes wee come to be made capable of all those riches of the treasure of wisedome and grace and mercy that are in Christ and not onely of the blessings for a better life but of all things in this life so farre as they are good for us First wee are made capable of all those treasures of wisedome grace and mercy that are in Christ and for this cause was Christ sent to preach glad tidings to the meeke as you heard before all the Gospell and all the glad tidings of it doe belong to an humble soule And the Prophet Malachy saith Malac. 3.1 Behold I will send my messenger to prepare the way before mee and the Lord whom you seeke shall suddainly come into his Temple Iohn Baptist was Christs harbenger and hee made way for Christ and when the way was prepared Christ came immediatly Wee are the Temple of the holy Ghost saith the Apostle Now if the heart bee once prepared and humbled looke then immediatly for Christ Are you not content to have Christ dwell in your hearts If you will be humbled and so prepared there is neither want of love nor speed on his part This should mervailously lift up the heart of every man to seeke for this blessed grace If thou art truly humbled care not for the love of men the love of Christ will satisfie thee And though thy father and mother cast thee out of doores and thy husband tumble thee out of his bed yet if thou be truly humbled Christ will be in stead of father and husband and all comforts to thee God hath but two thrones the humble heart is one So the Text saith Esa 57.15 I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit c. If the Lord Iesus come to dwell in thy heart and that hee will doe if thou be truly humbled then certainly hee will provide for thee all needfull comforts for this life See what Zephany saith Zeph. 2.3 Seeke yee the Lord all yee meeke of the earth which have wrought his judgement seeke righteousnesse seeke meekenesse it may be you shall be hid in the day of the Lords anger When all things threatned desolation and destruction see who they were that had safety promised onely the meeke Object But some will say Is it not better for a man to be proud with the proud and to play the Beare amongst Beares and the Lyon amongst Lyons and to shift for one Answ No saith the text seeke meekenesse The humble Soule may take this to himselfe as his part and portion If there should be desolation amongst us as there is in Bohemia in the Palatinate and in other Countries the humble Soule shall be hid When the mightie tall trees are blowne downe by strong winds the little shrubs may be shaken a little but they stand still they are safe and sure when the mighty Oakes are either horribly shaken or puld up by the roots So if ever you will seeke safetie and deliverance seeke meekenesse and then you shall be hidden When the proud heart shall be weltering in his blood the Lord will provide a shadow to succour and to comfort you If Christ dwell in your hearts he is bound to all reparations 2. Benefit Secondly as Humiliation of heart doth estate a man into Christ and his merits and all provision in this kinde so it gives him the comfort of all that good which hee hath in Christ There are many that have a right to Christ and are deare to God and yet they want much sweet refreshing that they might have and as the Proverbe is They never see their owne because they want this Humiliation of heart in some measure To be truly humbled is the next way to be truly comforted The Lord will looke to him that hath an humble contrite heart Esay 62.8 and trembles at his word that is an humble Soule a poore Soule a very beggar at the gate of mercy the Lord will not onely know him for he knowes the wicked too in a generall manner but hee will give him such a gracious looke