of his Holiness in my Text. Now he is so termed in opposition to the unclean Spirit Matth. 12.43 or evil Spirit and Spirit of Devils which are in some men as the Holy Spirit is in others For as the Heathens imagined that every man had his good Genius or his bad his good or bad Angel so the Holy Scripture expresseth the Motions of men to be from the Spirit of God's Holiness in them who are sanctified and from Satan in them who are unholy as in Cain and Judas Now the Spirit of God is sometimes spoke of as God's Instrument by which he works in the works of Creation Psal 104.30 Thou sendest forth thy Spirit they are created and thou renewest the face of the Earth Job 33.4 The Spirit of God hath made me and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life When God bringeth any great thing to pass he doth it by his Spirit Zech. 4.6 Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit That which is in Matth. 12.28 If I cast out Devils by the Spirit of God is in Luk. 11.20 If I with the finger of God cast out Devils whence it appears that the Spirit of God is Digitus Dei God's Hand or Finger whereby he works But especially the works God doeth in and for the Saints are ascribed to the Spirit of God All these things worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every man severally even as he will 1 Cor. 12.11 All those precious Qualities and Operations whereby we please God are termed Fruits of the Spirit Gal. 5.22 23. 2. This helps us to understand how the Holy Spirit may be taken from a person to wit by withdrawing from him those Operations of the Holy Spirit which are amiable to God or comfortable to us Now in this Petition it is to be considered that notwithstanding David's Sins he was not utterly bereft of God's Spirit for in this Psalm his humble Confession his ardent Supplication shew that there was some fire of God's Spirit remaining in him all the sparks were not gone out Yet he felt so little of the Vigour and Consolation of the Spirit that he feared its utter Extinction And because this would leave him in utter Darkness therefore he is importunate with God that he would not take his Holy Spirit from him but as it is in the next verse restore unto him the joy of his Salvation and uphold him with his free Spirit The Petition thus opened yields us these Observations 1. That the having of God's Spirit in us and with us is the most beneficial Gift which God gives to a Repenting Sinner 2. That great Transgressions endanger the Loss of God's Spirit 3. That a Repenting Sinner is an earnest Suitour to God for the Continuance of it to him Of these in their order I. OBSERVATION That God's Spirit is the most beneficial Gift that God bestows on a Repenting Sinner This is manifest from the words of Christ Luk. 11.13 If ye then being evil know how to give good Gifts to your Children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him Which shews that the Gift of the Holy Spirit is a greater Gift and far better then that which earthly Parents give to their Children as bodily Food and the like and that God in giving his Holy Spirit to those that ask him shews an Affection far exceeding that which Parents have for their Children when they supply them with Corporall sustenance Adde hereunto that the Apostle 2 Cor. 13.14 in his Benediction of the Corinthians prays thus for them The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all Amen Whereby it is manifest that the Communion of the Holy Spirit is ranked among the best things he could beg for that people to wit the Grace of Christ and the Love of God Nor is this without reason for the Spirit of God removes all that Evil which is odious to God and noisome to our selves it washes away that Filthiness of flesh and spirit which is loathsome to God it cures that Blindness of Mind that Hardness of Heart that Perverseness of Soul that Impotency of Faculties which make us unable to doe any thing that may please God or rectify our own Actions It is this clean Water which being sprinkled on us by God makes us clean in his eyes so as to cleanse us from all our Filthiness and all our Evils It is that by giving of which we have a new heart and a new spirit is put within us God takes away the stony heart out of our flesh and gives us an heart of flesh which causeth us to walk in God's Statutes and to keep his Judgments and doe them Ezek. 11.19 20. In whom the Spirit of God dwells not there is a Spirit of Slumber Eyes that they should not see and Ears that they do not hear even the Gospel is hid to them the God of this world blinds their minds lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image God should shine unto them they are held in the Snare of the Devil and are taken captive by him at his will An evil Spirit possesseth them so that they want the Consolations of God the Peace which passeth understanding which guards the minds of them that believe through Christ Jesus they are filled with Horrour of Conscience are under the spirit of Bondage they sow to the Flesh and of the Flesh reap Corruption On the other side where the Spirit of God inhabits it renews a man in the spirit of his mind so that he knows the things that are freely given him of God spiritually discerns the hidden wisedom of God in a mystery which God hath ordained before the world to our glory even those things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him Even to Babes are these things revealed by God's Spirit which the Princes of the world knew not but they were hid from the wise and prudent Matth. 11.25 Whence it is that they are made the Epistle of Christ written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God not in Tables of Stone but in fleshly Tables of the Heart with open face beholding as in a glass the Glory of the Lord they are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.3 18. By which means they are made the Temple of God in that the Spirit of God dwelleth in them vers 16. and holy unto God an habitation of God through the Spirit they are joyned to the Lord one Spirit with him new Creatures in Christ and conformed to him Whence it is that Sin bath not dominion over them nor the Wicked one toucheth them They are delivered from the Law that being dead wherein they were held
13.22 Which is the great Scope of him that walks in his Uprightness and consequently a proof of his owning God's Sovereignty and uniting of his Heart to fear his Name 3. A man's Walking in his Uprightness proceeds from that Faith whereby the Believer presents God to himself sets him before his face sees him that is invisible as Moses did Heb. 11.27 which begets Fear of God takes away servile Fear of others keeps him in even and constant Obedience as Enoch Noah Abraham and all the Holy Patriarchs who walked with and before God without Fear of their Enemies in the Fear of God depending on his Protection and subjecting themselves to his Direction which engaged the Lord to be their God III. What Advantage accrues to him that walketh in his Vprightness and feareth the Lord. Of which very briefly The Psalmist tells us in few words Psal 84.11 that the Lord God is a Sun and a Shield the Lord will give Grace and Glory no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly Psal 97.11 Light is sown for the Righteous and Gladness for the Vpright in heart And after him the Apostle Gal. 6.16 As many as walk according to the Rule of the new Creature in Christ Jesus Peace be on them and Mercy and on the Israel of God Whence it is rightly inferred that all such as walk in their Uprightness out of a Fear of the Lord are assured of Light to guide them Protection to preserve them Peace to quiet them Supply of good things to chear them Assistence to help them Favour to comfort them and Glory to advance them APPLICATION And now what remains but that each of us as the Prophet minds the Jews Hag. 1.5 consider our Ways whether we have chosen the Way that leads to Life or that which is the Path to Destruction whether we walk uprightly in the Fear of God or perversly in Compliance with Satan All of us have a Journey to goe here we have no continuing City We may say as David 1 Chron. 29.15 We are Strangers before God as were all our Fathers our days on the Earth are as a Shadow and there is none abiding no expectation of a settled Mansion here We must arise and depart for this is not our Rest because it is polluted Mic. 2.10 Oh then how much doth it concern us to heed which Way we take whether the tendence of our Course of life be to walk in our Vprightness as those that fear the Lord or our Conversation be in the Lusts of our Flesh fulfilling the desires of the Flesh and of the Mind whether we devote our selves to the Fear of God spend our lives imploy our time and estate to please him to doe his Will or our Walking be according to the course of this World according to the Prince of the power of the Air the Spirit that worketh in the children of Disobedience If you say you fear God and expect Heaven you must manifest it by departing from your sinfull Ways by serving him in Holiness and Righteousness before him all the days of your life They must walk before God in their Uprightness here who would stand before God in Happiness hereafter Not Words but Works not a Form of Godliness but the Power of it prevails with God Be not deceived saith the Apostle Gal. 6.7 8. God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap For he that soweth to his Flesh shall of the Flesh reap Corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life everlasting Follow therefore Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Walk with that Company here with which you would have your Lot hereafter Walk not in the way with them with whom you dread to be associated at last Take heed of Complying with the World in your Life with whom you would not be condemned at your Death Consider the End of your Life and follow their Faith whose End you would purchase at the greatest rate Remember the Advice of the Prophet Jerem. 6.16 Thus saith the Lord Stand in the ways and see and ask for the old Paths where is the good Way and walk therein and ye shall find Rest for your Souls I direct you not to follow any New Lights neither to seek any new Ways but I advise you to goe to Christ that you may find Rest for your Souls to take his Yoke upon you and to learn of him to receive him and to walk in him rooted and built up in him and established in the Faith as he hath taught you abounding therein with thanksgiving Believe in the Light that ye may be the Children of Light Walk as Children of Light and walk as such while you have the Light Casting off the works of Darkness and putting on the Armour of Light walk honestly as in the day not in Rioting and Drunkenness not in Chambering and Wantonness not in Strife and Envying But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the Flesh to fulfill the Lusts thereof To all which let me adde that of the Apostle Eph. 5.1 2. Be followers of God as dear Children and walk in Love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour Amen LAVS DEO THE IMPIOUS CONTEMPT Part II. The Twenty-eighth SERMON PROVERBS xiv 2. But he that is perverse in his Ways despiseth him OF all Points of Wisedom this is the Inlet and as it were the Door to fear the Lord and of all Ways of Folly this is the greatest to despise him The one is demonstrated by a man's walking in his Vprightness of which I have already spoken the other by Perverseness in a man's Ways which is now to be considered II. PROPOSITION He that is perverse in his Ways despiseth the Lord. Concerning this three Quaere's are to be answered like as there were in handling the former Proposition 1. Who is meant by him that is perverse in his Ways and when a man is said to be so 2. How such an one despiseth the Lord. 3. What is the Evil of such Despising the Lord. Of which in their order I. Who is meant by him that is perverse in his Ways By Ways as hath been already said are meant the Actions of a Man as he is a Rational Being whose Motions should be ordered by such a Rule as his Creatour hath made known and should tend to his Maker's Honour For God at first made Man upright or simple so as that he had no other Way but that which was God's but they have sought out many Inventions saith Solomon Eccles. 7.29 Whence it comes to pass that there are many and various Ways in which men now walk contrary to God's Way that is his prescribed Will which is the Way that every man should walk in and then he walketh in his Vprightness But when he chuseth any Invention of his own to direct the
that they might bring forth fruit unto God serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the Letter For though the Letter of the Law killeth being the ministration of Condemnation yet the Spirit giveth Life being the ministration of Righteousness which exceeds in glory And consequently they have liberty by the Spirit of God are beautified by it so as that Christ is formed in them They live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit The mind of the Spirit is to them life and peace They have access by one Spirit unto the Father The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Adoption whereby they cry Abba Father The Spirit it self beareth witness with their spirit that they are the Children of God and if Children then Heirs heirs of God and joynt-heirs with Christ that suffering with him they may be glorified together They are led by the Spirit sow to the Spirit and of the Spirit reap life everlasting through the Spirit wait for the hope of Righteousness which is by Faith In a word that Life that Holiness that Beauty that Liberty that Joy that Hope that Fruit which a Christian hath from Christ is communicated by the Spirit and that Glory of Soul and Body which is expected hereafter that Quietness and Rest in life and death which is desirable is from the Spirit of God If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of Christ's But if Christ be in us the Body is dead because of Sin but the Spirit is life because of Righteousness And if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in us he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies by the Spirit that dwelleth in us Rom. 8.9 10 11. So that I may safely infer from this enumeration of Benefits even the most precious Riches that a Spirit is capable of that the Gift of God's Spirit to a man is the greatest Commodity the Jewel of Heaven What Solomon saith of Wisedom is true of God's Spirit It is a Gift more precious then Rubies and all the things we can desire are not to be compared to it And therefore the Loss of it is the greatest Loss Which brings me to the Enquiry what endangers the Privation of it and that was asserted in the Second Proposition to be great Transgressions II. OBSERVATION That great Transgressions endanger the Loss of God's Spirit This is manifest from David's Petition in that by reason of his Sins he was afraid of its Loss and therefore begs the Continuance of it notwithstanding his foul Trespasses It is I confess a great Dispute Whether a person once regenerated by the Spirit washed sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God can totally and finally lose its Continuance with him I will not meddle with that Point But this is out of question That some Gifts of the Spirit may be lost else the Apostle 1 Thess 5.19 would not have premonished the Thessalonians that they should not quench the Spirit Such Gifts of the Spirit as are for others good to which the Salvation of a person is not promised may undoubtedly be totally lost by great Transgressions So Saul lost the Royal Magnanimity and other Princely Endowments which he had before by sparing Agag and by usurping the Priestly Office in offering Sacrifice Judas lost the Gift of Healing which he had with the rest of the Apostles and other Abilities to preach the Gospell by his traitourous Selling of his Master he fell from the Apostleship and Ministry by his Transgression Nor is it denied but that some who were once enlightned and had tasted of the heavenly Gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and had tasted of the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come might fall away and not be renewed again by Repentance that they might crucifie the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame that they might tread under foot the Son of God and count the Bloud of the Covernant wherewith they were sanctified an unholy thing and doe despite to the Spirit of grace Heb. 6.4 5 6. and 10.29 Yea those of whom God gave testimony that they did that which was right in the eyes of God as did David yet even they fell so foully as that they lost the Fruits and Comforts of the Spirit so as not to regain them in that degree they once had them Of Asa it is said that his Heart was perfect with the Lord all his days 1 King 15.14 and yet he put the Seer in prison being in a rage with him for reproving his Relying on the King of Syria 2 Chron. 16.7 10. and even in his Disease he sought not to the Lord but to the physicians vers 12. And Hezekiah though he walked before God in truth and with a perfect Heart and did that which was good in his sight yet when God left him to try him that he might know all that was in his Heart he rendred not again according to the benefit done unto him for his Heart was lifted up 2 Chron. 32.25 31. Certain it is by David's and other Holy mens example that God doth sometimes leave men to themselves for a time so as to fall into such Sins as deprive them of the Joy of God's Salvation and the establishing virtue of God's Spirit so as not to be so active and constant in the exercise of Godliness as formerly at least for a time else why doth David pray in the next verse to my Text Restore unto me the Joy of thy Salvation and uphold me with thy free Spirit And however the event be yet there is great danger of an utter Loss of the Spirit of God not onely in respect of its Comforts and Motions but also of its inexistence and quickening virtue when men are so overcome by Lust as Solomon and David or Fear as Peter or other Temptations to sin so foully as they did The Reason whereof is because such Sins do grieve and vex the Holy Spirit For though the Spirit of God be not subject to humane Passions yet the Holy Scripture as it ascribes Repentance and some other Affections of men to God so doth it attribute Grief to the Holy Spirit Eph. 4.30 where it minds us that we grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption in respect of the effect that Grief hath in man which makes him withdraw from that which grieves him And so saith the Book intituled the Wisedom of Solomon Chap. 1.4 5. For into a malicious Soul Wisedom shall not enter nor dwell in the body that is subject to Sin For the holy Spirit of discipline will fly deceit and remove from thoughts that are without understanding and will not abide where Vnrighteousness cometh in Contraria se invicem expellunt There is a Contrariety between God's Spirit of Holiness and man's spirit that
gave it Which He grant c. Amen LAVS DEO THE WEAKNESSE OF A Wounded Spirit Part II. The Ninth SERMON PROV xviij 14. But a wounded Spirit who can bear THE Life of man on Earth consists of Action and Passion of Doing his Work and Bearing his Condition And in both these there are innumerable Difficulties so that it becomes a hard Task either to doe what we ought or to suffer as it becometh us In Doing our Work we are commonly unskilfull and slothfull In Bearing our Burthens we are querulous and unquiet Man is born like a wild Asse's Coli saith Zophar Job 11.12 If you drive him he will not goe rightly if you put Burthens on him he will throw them off if he can if he cannot remove them he will wince and kick especially when his Back is sore his Mind galled in which case this of Solomon is by much experience found true A wounded Spirit who can bear So we reade but the Vulgar Latin hath it Who shall be able to sustain the Spirit that is easy to be angry But the word is more general and signifies not so much the Passions of one to be born by another in which case it is a truth That the Wrath Envy Insolency of some mens Spirits is intolerable as it is Prov. 27.4 Wrath is cruel and Anger is outrageous but who is able to stand before Envy But it is rather to be understood of the person's Spirit who is to bear Who of all men can bear his own Spirit when it is wounded or broken so as in that case his own Ability and all other mens is insufficient to bear up such a wounded Spirit Such a man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Greek expresseth it one that hath but a little life in him It is onely God that revives the Spirit of the humble and revives the Heart of the contrite ones Isa 57.15 Now the Spirit is wounded or broken either by worldly Sorrows By Sorrow of the heart the Spirit is broken saith Solomon Prov. 15.13 and S. Paul 2 Cor. 7.10 Worldly Sorrow causeth death or else it is broken by the sense of Guilt and the fear of Wrath. In respect of which David complains that his Bones were broken Psal 51.8 and more fully Psal 38.2 c. Thine Arrows stick fast in me and thy Hand presseth me sore There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine Anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my Sin For mine Iniquities are gone over my head as an heavy burthen they are too heavy for me to bear My Wounds stink and are corrupt through my foolishness I am troubled I am bowed down greatly I goe mourning all the day long For my Loyns are filled with a loathsome disease and there is no soundness in my flesh I am feeble and sore broken I have roared by reason of the Disquietness of my heart In both these sorts of Wounds Experience hath proved the Imbecillity of mens Spirits to bear them or of any other man to keep them from falling untill there appear Deus è machina Divine help from Heaven So that I am to demonstrate to you That in the great Pressures of Spirit either through worldly Afflictions or by reason of the Conscience of Sin no man is able to hold up himself from sinking nor can any other support him besides God with the Reason hereof That God onely makes up the breach and closes the Wounds in the Spirit and how he doeth it That worldly Crosses break mens Spirits so as that they are weary of their Lives is evident in the instance of Ahitophel who was counted so wise a man that his Counsel was reputed as if a man had inquired of the Oracle of God yet barely because he saw his Counsell was not followed by Absalom God so over-ruling the heart of Absalom that he hearkened to Hushai rather then to himself his Spirit could not bear this Disappointment of his Design to be the grand Minister of State under Absalom but in stead of dissembling his Grievance he saddled his Ass got him home to his City put his house in order hanged himself died and was buried in the Sepulchre of his Fathers 2 Sam. 17.23 Many more such Examples of men eminent in respect of Wisedome Dignity Power Wealth who upon some unexpected Loss Fear perhaps but the angry Looks of a Prince the Expulsion from Court or Deprivation of an Office have been impatient of their Lives and turned Executioners of themselves may be found in Histories or known by our own Experience And the Reason hereof is from the extreme Folly that is in men who lay so great a stress of their Happiness upon worldly things that when they fail them their case seems deplorable they have no Buttress to keep up their Spirits How great a number are there that trust in uncertain Riches and not in the living God And therefore when the Prop of their Wealth is gone then all is gone with them their Hearts are faint and they cast away their Life as if it were an unsupportable Burthen to them How many are there that depend on the Prince's Favour and make such account of Preferment by it that all their study is to get and keep it though with the loss of God's Favour But that being changeable and their Hopes thereupon frustrated there is no Acquiescence in God's Will but violent Impatience till they have dispatcht themselves How many have so set their Affections on some particular person as Amnon on Tamar that they wax lean from day to day because they cannot obtain their desire Yea the Inconstancy of their Mistress the miss of the hoped Match shortens their Lives brings down their heads with Sorrow to the Grave And it is just with God it should be so that those things should be cursed to us be as blasted Trees from which we seek that Fruit that Content and those Enjoyments which alone are to be had in God's Favour When our Hearts wander after some Creature and make it as our God love it trust in it in stead of God himself he will not brook it but remove it or make it our Vexation make it become our Perdition which was the means of our Corruption This is much more true when the Spirit is wounded by the Conscience of Sin against God In the former there is defect of Love to God in this express Enmity against him and therefore it is more intolerable Cain's Complaint Gen. 4.13 verifies this whether we reade My Punishment is greater then I can bear or Mine Iniquity is greater then that it may be forgiven How dolefull was his complaint when he said Behold thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth and from thy Face shall I be hid and I shall be a Fugitive and a Vagabond in the earth and it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me vers 14. How terribly did the Sting of
the Wicked beareth rule in Times of Anarchy or Tyranny there is not this Security to them that follow Good but the people mourn There is a Just man that perisheth in his Righteousness and there is a Wicked man that prolongeth his life in his Wickedness Eccles. 7.15 When cedunt Armis Togae men of the long Robe are awed by men of the long Sword the people are hurried up and down by popular Oratours Demagogues sway with them and they controll their Governours when an Usurper gets into the Throne and to strengthen his Party suppresseth the best and wisest when thundring Cannons are heard and just Laws are silenc'd when the Magistrate's Sword submits to the Souldier's the Judges yield to the Commanders of forces when the Preachers lead the People not by the Word of God but by the Ordinances of Men then it is likely in such an Iron Age wherein non Hospes ab Hospite tutus to follow that which is Good may be a man's greatest Danger to speak truth may be his Ruine When the wicked rise men hide themselves Prov. 28.28 Bene qui latuit bene vixit He is the wisest that lives most retired The like may be said of Times of Persecution when God will have his people to be under fiery Trialls that their Faith and Patience may appear when God will be glorified in their Sufferings as well as honoured by their Doings Yet in these cases he keeps them in perfect Peace whose Mind is stayed on God because they trust in him Isa 26.3 While they hold Faith and a good Conscience and make no shipwreck of them the Peace of God which passeth all understanding guards their hearts and minds through Christ Jesus Hic Murus aheneus Yea even in time of universal Loss in such Sufferings as Job's they find an hundred-fold advantage with Persecution and in the end everlasting Life so that they who kill the Body hasten the Salvation of their Souls and by dispatching them hence they speed them in their flight to Heaven Of which yet they are not the proper Cause but there is an higher Cause who is able to bring Good out of Evil. Which was the last thing to be considered VI. Why they are thus secured It is God's Eye and his Hand that do secure and indemnifie those that are Followers of that which is Good This Reason of their Security the Coherence of my Text with the words next before yields me for having said The Eyes of the Lord are over the Righteous and his Ears are open unto their Prayers but the Face of the Lord is against them that doe Evil he subjoyns my Text And who is he that will I had rather say shall harm you if ye be Followers of that which is Good While you are in his Service God counts himself engaged to take you into his Protection And therefore he will either change the Hearts of your Adversaries that they shall not mind the harming of you as he promised the Israelites Exod. 34.24 that no man should desire their Land when they should goe up to appear before the Lord thrice in the year though then were in the eye of Reason a fit season for them to make an hostile and successfull Invasion or else he will divert them as he did Saul 1 Sam. 23.28 or disable them as he did Pharaoh or if they be permitted to harm you outwardly God will comfort you inwardly and in fine all things shall work together for good to those that love God and are Followers of that which is Good And thus they shall be as the Three Children in the midst of the fiery Furnace and yet have no Harm And in this respect the Conclusion is made good None doth none will or none shall harm them that are Followers of that which is Good APPLICATION 1. This may be a good Encouragement to you all to follow that which is Good to exercise your selves as S. Paul did Act. 24.16 to have always a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards Men. At all times specially in troublous Times every man is busie in projecting and contriving how to find an Asylum or Sanctuary where he may be safe from Danger and find Shelter from the Enemy and Avenger One fortifies his House another strengthens himself by Alliances another arms himself and gets into the field another relies on the Favour of the Grandees in Court or Army or City another gets together what Gold or Silver he can to procure his Peace at home or provide for Subsistence abroad But alas all these are but vain Contrivances Sometimes yea very often that which men trust upon is but as a broken Reed which if a man lean upon it will run into his hand Those very things which he thinks to find Protection by become his Ruine and that which he devised to be his Welfare becomes a Trap to him Nor is it any marvel if Woe befalls men when they take Counsell but not of God and cover with a Covering but not of his Spirit that they may adde Sin to Sin as the Prophet speaks Isa 30.1 The best way is to sow in Righteousness and then we shall reap in Mercy to follow that which is Good and then we shall be kept from that which doth harm If our Innocency defend us not from mens Attempts against us yet the Faithfulness and Truth of God shall be our Shield and Buckler Men might live better under the Protection of Laws and Government were it not for their contentious Spirits and unruly Tongues Did every one study to be quiet and to doe his own business did they not render Evil to any man but ever follow that which is Good both among themselves and to all men as S. Paul admonisheth 1 Thess 4.11 and 5.15 they might live more safely and die more happily Were men contented with their own did they defraud none but apply themselves to works of Righteousness and Mercy they might enjoy themselves and God with more freedom Did they not seek to climbe ambitiously or hunt after Vain-glory did they lay up their Treasure in Heaven they should have Rixae multò minus Invidiaeque fare better here and speed better hereafter Oh that you would seriously bethink your selves and apply your Endeavours to doe that which may save you from the Condemnation of your own Conscience the Sting of Death and the Damnation of Hell and learn to commit the keeping of your Souls in well-doing unto God as unto a faithfull Creatour 2. Nevertheless I would not have you to neglect lawfull Means for your Safety Christ would have his Disciples wise as Serpents though innocent as Doves Matth. 10.16 Faith and Prayer exclude not honest Prudence Integrity is not always sufficient to ward off the Blows of malicious Accusers False Witnesses stone Naboth and Envy crucifieth Christ S. Paul is not blamed for Appealing to Caesar or making use of the Difference between the Sadducees and Pharisees nor for discovering of the
right wits is always desired Now Joys are of several sorts according to the variety of the Objects Motives and Means of Rejoycing There are Objects of Joy within us and without us matters carnal or spiritual temporal or eternal present or future from faith or sight hoping or feeling natural and acquired longer or shorter in duration which make our Joys either more pure or mixed greater or lesser with great difference in degrees upon variation of Circumstances different apprehensions of the Object and the Good that accrues by it either comparatively with the precedent Evil felt or feared or absolutely as the thing is good in it self and its own nature or in respect of our Interest in it good to us Should I here make a Philosophical discourse of this Affection and exhibit to you a Scheme of the several kinds degrees properties and effects of this one Affection I might spend more then an hour upon this Subject But I pass to the next Head II. What Joys are in the Presence of God Those Joys are the best which spring from the embracing of the best and most lasting Good with least Defectiveness and greatest Latitude And such are the Joys that are in the Presence of God or with his Face and Countenance For therein there is 1. a perfect Freedom from all Evil 2. an entire Enjoyment of all Good in its Purity and Resplendency 1. The Evils a man is delivered from do much enhaunse his Joys He that is delivered from Dangers and Fears doth rejoyce and the Joy is the more if the Dangers were great and apparent the Fears of Evil imminent and oppressing still more when the Evils have been felt and that with much Anguish and long Continuance How do men rejoyce when they have overthrown their Adversary in a Law-suit in which if they had been cast they had been undone in their Estates How do men rejoyce when they have overcome their Enemies in Battel to whom if they had been Captives they had been led into Exile from their own Country How do Slaves rejoyce when they are redeemed from Turkish Bondage and in stead of rowing in their Gallies are returned to live with their own Masters in their own Families How do Prisoners condemned to the Gallows rejoyce when the King sends them a Pardon and they escape the hands of the Executioner These Deliverances do cause much Joy and Exultation in men and sometimes much Glorying though perhaps they be not long free from the Fear and Danger of their Evils but in the Change of Fortune fall into the same or greater Mischiess or if they escape them yet their Victory Pardon or Redemption though it bring them Liberty perhaps reduces them to Poverty and a low estate And which is worst although they overcome their Adversary on Earth yet the Devil their Adversary prevails against them though they get the Victory against their other Enemies yet they are led captive by their own Lusts which sight against their Souls though they be without Wounds by a Sword in their Bodies yet they have sore Wounds in their Consciences by their Sins though they be pardoned by the King yet they are condemned by the King of Kings though they are redeemed from Turks yet not from Hell And sure a Holy heart that prospers in the one and not in the other finds his Joys damped so as that he can scarce think those Deliverances worth the rejoycing in A Holy heart rejoyceth indeed with hearty Joy when he prevails against his Adversary the Devil and his Temptations when he is cured of the Wounds of his Spirit when he hath gotten power over that Body of death that makes him cry out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from it They are the Desertions of God the Domineering of his Corruption the Absence of God's Spirit his Decay in Prayer his Doubts of his Interest in God's Grace his Backslidings Inconstancy in good and such like Spiritual Evils that do most annoy him eclipse his Joys beget in him Lipothymies Fainting fits cold Sweats Trembling of Heart Fearfulness and Dejection of Spirit These break his Bones envenome his Spirits make him loathsome to himself as a man whose Wounds stink and are corrupt And therefore there is no Joy to such an one till he have the Joy of Salvation from God till in the multitude of the thoughts of his Heart the Comforts of God refresh his Soul till he finds the Presence of God accepting him till he sfinds that God prepares his Heart to Prayer and then inclines his Ear to hear till God speaks Peace to him sprinkles the Bloud of Christ on his Conscience and frees him from his Fear of God's Wrath and Condemnation till there be a Messenger an Interpreter one among a thousand to shew unto him his Righteousness till God be gracious unto him and saith Deliver him from going down to the Pit I have found a ransome till he pray unto God and he be favourable unto him and he see his Face with Joy as Elihu speaks Job 33.23 24 26. He is not till then free from Anguish of Spirit and Anxiety of Soul In the day of my Trouble saith Asaph Psal 77.2 3 7 8 9. I sought the Lord my Sore ran in the night and ceased not my Soul refused to be comforted I remembred God and was troubled I complained and my Spirit was overwhelmed Will the Lord cast off for ever and will he be favourable no more Is his Mercy clean gone for ever doth his Promise fail for evermore Hath God forgotten to be gracious hath he in anger shut up his tender Mercies Thus mournfully also speaks Heman the Ezrahite Psal 88.3 6 7. My Soul is full of Troubles and my life draweth nigh unto the Grave Thou hast laid me in the lowest Pit in darkness in the deeps Thy Wrath lieth hard upon me and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves And then expostulates vers 14 c. Lord why castest thou off my Soul why hidest thou thy face from me I am afflicted and ready to die while I suffer thy Terrours I am distracted Thy fierce Wrath goeth over me thy Terrours have cut me off They come round about me daily like water they compassed me about together Such Complaints are frequent in the Psalms Job and Hezekiah's Song In the Penitentials of Holy men in the Relation of the Lives of Godly persons of tender Consciences Men and Women of former and later days we meet with such Apprehensions of their Sins dangers of Temptations want of God's Spirit hiding of his Face as benight their Souls take away their Joys fill them with Pensiveness Horrour and Fear of Divine Vengeance of Hell-sire of Apparitions of Devils that they can neither feed pleasantly in the day nor rest quietly in the night but look ghastly with dejected Countenances and goe mourning in the bitterness of their Spirit all their days But when these Clouds are seattered this Darkness taken away so as that
they can say with that Martyr He is come He is come Glover in Queen Mary's days burnt at Coventry when they can discern the Light of God's Countenance shining upon them can see him reconciled in Christ can hear the voice of Christ speaking to them Son be of good chear thy Sins are forgiven thee when they find the Spirit enabling them to pour out their Souls before the Lord when their Souls can send this Challenge to the Gates of Hell Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect it is God that justifieth Who shall condemn it is Christ that died or rather is risen again who also sitteth at the right hand of God making Intercession for us Who shall separate us from the Love of God Then there is rejoycing indeed then they rejoyce with Joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1.8 Though they be in much Affliction they can sing in the Fire and clap their hands at the Stake in a poor Cottage in a Prison they can be as merry as if they were in a stately Palace for then they are delivered from their greatest Enemies and their greatest Fears Now the Joys that are in the Presence of God are for Deliverance from these Evils from all of them bodily and spiritual from unrighteous Sentences of men violent Captivity forcible restraint of Liberty Sickness Losses Sorrows Death and which is more from all Corruptions within Temptations to Sin from without from the Malice of men the Power of Satan the Hiding of God's Countenance the Absence of his Spirit the Fear of Hell They that are with God in his Presence doe as the Children of Israel did when they saw the Egyptians dead on the Sea-shore they triumphantly glory in their Deliverance they sing as it were a new Song before the Throne they sing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb with the Harps of God saying Great and marvellous are thy works Lord God Almighty just and true are thy Ways thou King of Saints Rev. 15. v. 3. There they with the greatest glorying and magnanimity of Spirit take up the speech of the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.55 56 57. O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory The Sting of Death is Sin and the Strength of Sin is the Law But thanks be to God that giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 2. The Joys that Believers have in God's Presence are not onely because of Freedom from all the Evils which in their life-time did annoy them but also by reason of the entire injoyment of all Good in its Purity and Resplendency Many things there are which men rejoyce in on Earth and if but in one single Excellency they find themselves goe beyond others how do they glory in it as if others were not to be named the same day with them Some rejoyce in their Descent and Parentage as Pharaoh I am the son of the wise the son of ancient Kings Isa 19.11 Some in their Beauty as Absalom that gloried in his unblemished Body and goodly Head of hair Some in their Wisedom and Skill their Riches and Prosperity as the King of Tyrus that had his Heart lifted up and said I am a God I sit in the Seat of God in the midst of the Seas Behold thou art wiser then Daniel there is no Secret that they can hide from thee With thy Wisedom and with thy Vnderstanding thou hast gotten thee Riches and hast gotten Gold and Silver into thy Treasures and thine Heart is lifted up because of thy Riches Ezek. 28.2 3 4 5. Some in their Honours as Haman did in King Ahasuerus his promoting him Esther 5.11 Some in their Righteousness as the Pharisee that boasted he was not as other men are nor as the Publican Luk. 18.11 Yea some can rejoyce in their unsociable Cynical sowr austere Deportment though it be but a Delusion if they conceive Holiness in it as Monks Anchorets Quakers and such like have done and doe at this day All these and many more things the Hearts of men can rejoyce in though they be some of them but vain things some but petty good things yea if they were enjoyed in their Confluence as Solomon enjoyed them who had Wealth and Wisedom and Beauty and Dominion and what-ever the carnal Heart of man affects and yet after his ample experience of the Sweetness of them gives this account of them Eccles. 1.2 Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity yea Vexation of Spirit they produce but a forced Mirth Sardonium Risum notwithstanding which in the midst of Laughter the Heart is sorrowfull and the end of their Mirth is Heaviness As it was with Belshazzar Dan. 5.6 He was in his Royall Palace at Babylon carousing in gold and silver with his Wives and Concubines praising his Gods when on a sudden upon a Hand 's writing on the Wall the King's Countenance was changed and his Thoughts troubled him so that the Joynts of his Loins were loosed and his Knees smote one against another That which is worth rejoycing at indeed as begetting a permanent and genuine Joy sutable to the Spirit of a man is his Acquaintance with God his Knowledge of him God's Adopting him to an Inheritance with him his Relation to the Son of God the Habitation of his Blessed Spirit in him the Holiness of his Heart the Beauty that is in the hidden man of the Heart which is in the sight of God of great Price the hearing of his Prayers the accepting of his Works the glorifying of his God the Love of his Saviour In these things are the Joys of the Saints So saith S. Paul We are they that rejoyce in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh Phil. 3.3 God forbid that I should rejoyce in any thing save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ whereby the World is crucified unto me and I unto the World saith the same S. Paul Gal. 6.14 Many there be that say Who will shew us any Good Lord lift thou up the light of thy Countenance upon us Thou hast put Gladness in my heart more then in the time that their Corn and their Wine increased saith David Psal 4.6 7. And again I have rejoyced in the way of thy Testimonies as much as in all Riches Psal 119.14 These things do indeed beget the most solid Joys which enlighten the Eyes and chear the Heart under many Wants many Dangers many Persecutions many Expectations of future Evils And yet these Joys are eclipsed to the most Holy man Sometimes by his own Sins and the Withdrawing of God's Spirit from him as the case was with David Sometimes by reason of Calamities and the sinfull Practices of his Children as it was also with him Sometimes from his Doubting of his own spiritual Estate from the want of such Feeling as once he had of the Efficacy of God's Grace in his Heart by the Motions of it to holy Exercises to Prayer Praising God and heavenly Meditations in the