satisfieth not And Ioh. 6. 27. Labour not for the meat that perisheth but for that meat which indureth to everlasting life And partly as it ingageth to Constancy in Obedience for it must last as long as our Rule lasteth You are eternally bound to love God and Fear him and Obey him We must not only begin well or serve him now and then in a good Mood but so love God as to love him for ever so cleave to him as never to depart from him For his Law is an eternal obligation you must never cease your work till you receive your wages and that is when you enter into Eternity Yea much of our work is wages Loving Praising God all Duties that do not imply weakness are a part of our Happiness Thus it hath a greater influence upon our Obedience then we were at first aware of 3. Because it conduceth much to our Comfort The Apostle telleth us that the Comfort of Believers is built upon two immutable grounds therefore 't is so strong Heb. 6. 18. Now this Everlasting Righteousness of Gods Testimonies is a comfort to us 1 In all the changes of Mens Affections towards us sometimes they smile and sometimes they frown but the Promises ever remain the same There is yea and nay with men but not with the Promises they are all yea and amen in Christ. 2 Cor. 1. 20. Times alter and change but the tenour of the Covenant is always the same 2 It Comforts us in the changes of Gods dispensations to us God may change his dispensations yet his purposes of Grace stand firm and are carried on unalterably by various and contrary means We must interpret Providence by the Covenant not the Covenant by Providence We know the meaning of his works best by going into his Sanctuary The World misconstrueth his work and dealing to his Children many times if it be rightly interpreted you will find Gods Righteousness is an Everlasting Righteousness Sometimes Gods Providence is dark but always just Psal. 97. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him Righteousness and Iudgment are the Habitation of his throne Hab. 1. 12. Art not thou from everlasting O Lord my God That was the Prophet's support in those sad times when a Treacherous people were exalted when he was imbrangled and lost about Gods dispensations this was his comfort and support Gods Eternal Immutability in the Covenant He is always the same loveth his People as much as ever as faithful and mindful of his Covenant as ever only a vail of sense covereth our eyes that we cannot see it 3 It Comforts us against the difficulties of Obedience when it groweth Irksome to us The difficulty and trouble is but for a while but we shall everlastingly have the Comfort of it 2 Cor. 4. 17. For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory Then 't will be no grief of heart to us to have watched prayed striven against sin suffered continued with him notwithstanding all Temptations Rom. 2. 7. To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory Honour and Immortality eternal Life 4 'T is a Comfort in Death We change and are changed but God is always the same the Righteousness of Christ will bear weight for ever Dan. 9. 24. to bring in an everlasting Righteousness The fruits of Obedience last for ever Psal. 112. 7. His Righteousness endureth for ever How Comfortable is this to remember that we may appear before God with this Confidence which he hath wrought in us that the Covenant of Grace is an everlasting Charter that shall never be out of Date nor wax old Use. Let it be thus with us let it be so deeply imprinted upon our Minds that it may leave an Everlastingness there upon the frame of our Spirits for then we are transformed by the Word and cast into the Mould of it Now who are they that have an Everlasting Righteous frame of heart 1. Such as Act out of an everlasting Principle or the new Nature which worketh above the World The Word ingrafted is called an Incorruptible seed or the seed of God 1 Pet. 1. 23. that abideth in us 1 Ioh. 3. 9. when there is a Divine Principle in us such a Principle as is the seed and beginning of Eternal Life when the Word hath rooted it self in our hearts 2. Such as by their constant progress towards an Everlasting estate are going from strength to strength serving God and cleaving to him in a uniform constant Course of Holiness not by fits and starts but unchangeably Act. 24. 16. to have always a Conscience void of offence Again when you are in such an estate wherein you can bear the Trial of those everlasting Rules Gal. 6. 8. He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap Corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life Everlasting Rom. 8. 13. If ye live after the Flesh ye shall die but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live In short If you have everlasting Ends 2 Cor. 4. 18. While we look not at the things that are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal Not making things Temporal our scope and aim that will not satisfie us when we are deeply possessed with the thoughts of the other World 1 Cor. 2. 12. We have not received the Spirit of the World and look upon all other things by the by and use the World as if we used it not 1 Cor. 7. 29 30. Secondly I come now to the Prayer Give me understanding and I shall live I. Here is the benefit asked Understanding II. The Person asking David Give me III. The Person from whom it is asked from God I. The Benefit asked give me Understanding that is the saving knowledge of Gods Testimonies Doctrine One great request that we have to put up to God should be for the saving knowledge of his Testimonies The Reasons why this should be our great Request to God First The necessity of Understanding that will appear 1. Because of our Ignorance and Folly which is the cause of all our sin Tit. 3. 3. We our selves were sometimes foolish and disobedient Therefore Disobedient because Foolish Every natural man is a Fool blind in spiritual things whatever understanding or quickness of Judgment he hath in other things In all things that relate to God and Heaven Blind and Foolish and cannot see afar off 2 Pet. 1. 9. He that lacketh these things is blind And you shall find that sinners are called Fools Prov. 1. 22. How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity And scorners delight in scorning and Fools hate knowledge Psal. 75. 4. I said unto the Fools deal not foolishly and to the wicked lift not up the Horn. They follow their own Wit and Will to the
to you as bodily refreshment to a weary panting Traveller or water to one that is in a great thirst This is that the heart mindeth most studieth most remembreth most that you never have enough of it and are longing for more If there be such an affection it is a good sign for sensitive stirring is not so great an evidence as a setled constitution of Spirit 3. These holy desires as they have something of burthen so something of pleasure in them Though the absence of the thing desired be a trouble yet the exercise of holy desire is a pleasure to us because it is an act of love the more our hearts are enlarged in them the greater it is even before satisfaction While we are hungring and thirsting we are blessed It is a blessed thing to be a Desirer Matth. 5. 6. Blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled 3. This is a desire which God will satisfie Psal. 81. 10. Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it Isai. 44. 3. I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground This insatiate thirst of Grace and comfort shall be satisfied Iohn 7. 37 38. In the last day the great day of the feast Iesus stood and cryed saying If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink He that believeth on me as the Scripture saith out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of living water The soul is prepared by it for fruition Isai. 55. 1. Hoe every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price If we would get it First We must get a new heart which is the soul of these desires and is Gods promised gift in the Covenant Ezek. 36. 26. A new heart will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh Secondly Mortifie and moderate your affections to the World and worldly things and meddle sparingly with the comforts thereof otherwise your hearts will be apt immoderately to leak out after them to the interruption of the spiritual life SERMON CXLV PSAL. CXIX VER 132. Look thou upon me and be merciful unto me as thou usest to do to those that love thy name THE Prophet having praised the Word and expressed his affection to it presents his Petition to God for a favourable look from him upon the account of his Grace and mercy according to the manner and law of his dispensations towards others of his people They that love the word may with the like confidence expect the Grace of God Observe in the Words I. The Petition or favour asked Look thou upon me II. The ground of asking or the cause of that favour And be merciful unto me III. The terms according to which it is dispensed As thou usest to do secundum judicium according to the Law or according to thy custome towards those that love thy Name IV. The description of Gods people They love his name These are the especial objects of Grace and Favour I shall explain the words as I go over the several Branches I. I begin with the Petition Look thou upon me The Septuagint reads it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Other Translations Aspice me or respice me Ainsworth Turn thy face unto me Psal. 26. 16. Turn thou unto me and have mercy upon me for I am desolate and afflicted God seemeth now and then to turn away from his people in their distresses to turn the back upon them and not the face as it is Ier. 18. 17. I will scatter them as with an East-wind before the enemy I will shew them the back and not the face in the day of their calamity They had dealt so first with God Ier. 2. 17. Hast thou not procured this unto thy self in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God when he led thee by the way So David God might have seemed to have turned the back upon him Our Translation cometh to the same effect Look upon me Gods looking implyeth two things viz. His Favour and his Providence First His Favour as Isai. 66. 2. To this man will I look that is of a contrite heart that is I will be gracious unto him smile upon him give him evidences of my love Secondly His Providence The Providence of God is usually set forth by his eye Prov. 12. 3. The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good Now God hath a double eye an avenging eye and a gracious eye The avenging eye Amos 9. 4. I will set mine eyes upon them for evil and not for good The other 2 Chr. 16. 9. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole Earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him Accordingly this act of looking is either First With a revengeful eye So upon their enemies 1 Chron. 12. 17. The God of our fathers look thereon and rebuke it 2 Chron. 24. 22. The Lord look thereon and requite it said Zachary the Son of Iehojadah the Priest This is the look of anger But Secondly There is the look of love and benign Aspect as Astrologers speak So Exod. 3. 7. I have surely seen the affliction of iny people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their task-masters for I know their sorrows And Lam. 3. 50. Till the Lord look down and behold from heaven So doth he beg here that God would look upon him with a gracious eye In this gracious Aspect two things are notable viz. His observation and his compassion First His observation He taketh notice of their condition and oppressed innocency Neh. 1. 6. Let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant which I pray before thee now day and night What have eyes to do with hearing To behold their pitiful and desolate condition So 2 Sam. 16. 12. It may be that the Lord will look upon mine affliction and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day Secondly His compassion God doth take to heart the distresses of his people and hath a tender pity and compassion over them Psal. 25. 18. Look upon mine affliction and my pain He doth not only take notice of but take to heart their sorrows as appeareth by some gracious effect and deliverance wrought for them So looking implieth both his affection and actual Providence for them Doctr. The Children of God apprehend it as a great favour if he will but look upon them So saith David Look thou upon me Which request expresseth his modesty one short glimpse of Gods favour a look of kindness would be a great matter to him in this vale of tears A look is welcome to a broken and
keeping their Fathers command Ier. 35. Set pots before them c. no our Father hath forbidden us to drink wine Their Fathers were dead but ours is living will you that are sons renounce God and side with the Devils party and commit sin you to whom the Father hath shewed such love that you should be called his children Then 't is a wrong to Iesus Christ to his Merit to his Example To his Merit Christ came to take away sin and will you bind those cords the faster which Christ came to loosen Then you go about to defeat the purpose of his death and put your Redeemer to shame You seek to make void the great end for which Christ came which was to dissolve sin And besides you disparage the worth of the price he paid down you make the blood of Christ a cheap thing when you despise grace and holiness you make nothing of that which cost him so dear you lessen the greatness of his sufferings And it is a wrong to his Pattern You should be pure as Christ is pure 1 Joh. 1. 3. and v. 5. be righteous as he is righteous You should discover what a holy person Christ was by a conformity to him in your conversation Now will you dishonour him What a strange Christ will you hold forth to the world when his Name is upon you will you give way to sin and folly And it is a wrong to God the Spirit a grief to him His great and first work was to wash us from sin Tit. 3. 5. You forget that such a work was past upon your hearts and that you have been purged from your old sins when you return to them again 2 Pet. 1. 9. and his constant residence in the heart is to check the lusts of the flesh to prevent the actings of sin If ye through the Spirit mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live Rom. 8. 13. therefore you go about to make void his personal operation Thus 't is a wrong to God 2. By an argument drawn from our selves it is very unsuitable to you We profess our selves to be regenerate and born of God 1 Joh. 3. 9. He that is born of God cannot sin It is not only contrary to thy duty but to thy nature as thou art a new creature It were monstrous for the egg of one creature to bring forth a brood of another kind for a Crow or a Kite to come from the Egg of a Hen It is as unnatural a production for a new-creature to sin therefore you that are born of God it is very uncomely and unsuitable Do not dishonour your high birth 3. Consider the nature of Sin if you give way to it it will encroach further Sins steal into the Throne insensibly and being habituated in us by long custom we cannot easily shake off the yoke or redeem our selves from their tyranny They go on from little to little and get strength by multiplied acts Therefore we should be very careful to avoid all sin The second part of the Caution is Beware of gross sins committed against light and conscience When we are tempted to sin say with Ioseph Gen. 39. 9. How can I do this wickedness and sin against God The more of deliberation and will there is in any action the sin is the fouler Consider foul sins are a blot that will stick long by us See 1 King 15. 5. it is said David walked in all the ways of the Lord and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite Why there were many other things wherein David failed you read of his diffidence and distrust in God I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul We read of his dissimulation and feigning himself mad in the company of the Philistines We read of his injustice to Mephibosheth his fond affection to Absolom his indulgence to Amnon we read of his numbering the people which cost the lives of thousands all on a sudden all these are great failings but these are not taken notice of but the matter of Uriah left a scar and blot that was not easily washt off Thirdly Bewarē of continuance in sin How may we continue in sin In what sense Three things I shall take notice of in sin culpa reatus macula there 's the fault the guilt the blot and then we continue in sin when the fault the guilt or blot is continued upon us 1. The fault is continued when the acts of it are repeated when we fall into the same sin again and again Relapses are very dangerous as a bone often broken in the same place you are in danger of this before the breach be well made up between God and you as Lot doubling his Incest to venture once and again is very dangerous 2. The guilt doth continue upon a man till serious and solemn repentance till we sue out our pardon in the name of Christ. Though a man should forbear the act never commit it more yet unless he retracts it by a serious remorse and humbleth himself before God and sueth out his pardon in a repenting way the guilt continues If we confess he speaks to believers then sin is forgiven not otherwise 3. There 's the macula the blot by which the School-men understand an inclination to sin again the evil influence of the sin continueth until we use serious endeavours to mortifie the root of it When we have been foiled by any lust that lust must be more mortified For instance Ionah he repented for forsaking his call when he was cast into the Whale's belly but the sin broke out again because he did not mortifie the root what was that his pride So that it is not enough to bewail the sin but we must launce the sore and discover the root and core of it before all will be well A man may repent of the eruption of sin the former act but the inclination to sin again is not taken off Iudges 16. 2. Sampson loves a woman of Gaza and she had betray'd him but by carrying away the Gates of the City he saves his life possibly upon that experience he might repent of his folly and inordinate love to that woman I but the root remains therefore he falls in love with another woman with Delilah Therefore if you would do what is your duty you must look to the fault that that be not renewed the guilt that that be not continued by omission of repentance and that the blot also do not remain upon you by not searching to the root of the distemper the cause of that sin by which we have been foiled So much for the first part of the Text They do no iniquity The Second note is They walk in his ways This is the positive part not only avoiding of sin but practice of holiness is implyed Observe Doct. 2. It is not enough only to avoid evil but we must do good
cannot find such easie entrance when the Word is hid in our hearts and made use of pertinently 1 Ioh. 2. 14. I write to you young men because ye are strong where lies their strength and the word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one O it is a great advantage when we have the Word not only by us but in us ingrafted in the heart when it is present with us we are more able to resist the assaults of Satan Either a man forgets the Word or hath lost his affection to it before he can be drawn to sin The Word of God when it hath gotten into the heart it will furnish us with seasonable thoughts 6. It is a great relief in troubles and afflictions Our faintings come from ignorance or our forgetfulness Heb. 12. 5. Ye have forgotten the consolation which speaketh unto you as unto children My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him If we had an herb growing in our Gardens that would ease our smart what are we the better if we know it not There is no malady but what hath its remedy in the Word To have a comfort ready is a great relief 7. It makes our conference and conversation with others more gracious Mat. 12. 34. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks When we have a great deal of hidden treasure in the soul it will get out at the tongue for there 's a quick intercourse between the heart and the tongue The Tap runs according to the Liquor wherewith the Vessel is filled come to men of an unsavoury spirit pierce them broach them give them occasion again and again for discourse and you get nothing but frothy communication from them and vain talk But now a man that hath stored his heart with the Word he is ever and anon interposing for God Like a bottle filled with wine he must have vent As the Spouses lips are said to drop as honey-combs They are ever putting forth savoury expressions in their converse with others Col. 3. 16. Let the word of God dwell in you richly teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs It will burst out presently if the Word of God dwell in your hearts Before I go to the second Reason let me answer an Objection But is not this to take from the Spirit and to give it to the Word and that to the Word not as written in Gods Book but as it is in our hearts will not this be to ascribe all to created Grace I Answer 1. Questionless it is the office of the Spirit to bring things to our remembrance and the great help of the Spirit of God is by suggesting such passages as may be of most seasonable relief to the soul in Temptations in Prayer and in Business Ioh. 14. 16. But what is given to the Scriptures and Grace is not to the wrong of the Spirit for the Scripture is of his inditeing and Grace is of his working yea we still reserve the chief honour to the Holy Ghost for he not only worketh grace but worketh by grace he not only indites the Scripture but works by it it is he that quickneth prayer and therefore it is ill trusting to our own understanding and memory for it is the Spirit that is the great remembrancer and impresseth upon the mind savoury and seasonable thoughts 2. I grant further The Children of God are subject to much forgetfulness of the truth that is impressed upon their hearts partly through the present cloud and mist which the temptation raiseth The Psalmist had truths enough to support him Psal. 73. 17. yet he saith Until I went into the Sanctuary of God I was foolish and ignorant I was as a beast before thee There is so much dullness upon the Children of God that they cannot remember seasonable thoughts as Hagar had a fountain by her yet she did not see it till God opened her eyes Gen. 21. So under the temptation all is benighted and the light that is in the understanding is obscured And partly through the little sense they have for the present of the need of the comforts which the Word propoundeth few so wise as to lay up for a dear year and partly through sloth and negligence being taken up with other things It is possible sometimes that we may be guided by the Spirit and act right meerly by the guidance of the Holy Ghost without any interposing and concurrence of our own understandings as Ioh. 12. 10. compared with the 14 and 15. They took branches of Palm-trees and went forth to meet him and cried Hosanna blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. These things understood not his Disciples at the first but when Iesus was glorified then remembred they that these things were written of him and that they had done these things unto him Mark they were guided by the Spirit to do that they knew not for the present they had only a back-look but not a fore-sight they were ignorant of what they were doing until afterward thoughts came not in their mind but only in the review Ioh. 2. 22. When he was risen from the dead his disciples remembred that he had said this unto them They did not take up the meaning of them yet they were guided aright They did not carp against Christ as the Iews did They were guided by the Spirit in a case they were wholly ignorant 3. The Holy Ghost makes use of a sanctified memory bringing Scriptures to our remembrance as we have need It is made their act because the Holy Ghost made use of their memories They remembred that it was written The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up Joh. 2. 17. They that neglect to search and hide the Word in their hearts they have not such seasonable refreshment for God works more strongly with the strongest graces there where there is the greater receptivity there 's the greater influence those that are ignorant cannot expect such help as those that have the Word dwell richly in their hearts The second Reason is Therefore should we hide the Word in our hearts because God doth so in the work of Conversion Heb. 8. 10. I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts The mind is compared to tables of stone and the heart to the Ark and so this is required of us to write them upon the table of our heart Prov. 7. 3. and here I have hidden thy word in my heart How doth this follow because God doth so in conversion therefore it is our duty I answer 1 God requires what he works to shew the Creatures duty as well as the power of his own grace God is to convert and turn yet do you turn Circumcise your heart and I will circumcise Mortifie your members c. and yet If ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body
our greatest Distresses Sorrow worketh Death but Joy is the Life of the Soul Now when dead in all sense and seeling the just shall live by faith Hab. 2. 4. and the Hope wrought in us by the Scriptures is a lively hope 1 Pet. 1. 3. Other things skin the Wound but our Sore breaketh out again and runneth Faith penetrateth into the Inwards of a Man doth us good to the Heart and the Soul reviveth by waiting upon God and gets Life and Strength 2. The Provision which the Word hath made for our Comfort It might be referred to four Heads 1. Its Commands 1. Provisionally and by way of anticipation The whole Scripture is framed so that it still carrieth on its great End of making Man subject to God and comfortable in himself Our first Lesson in the School of Christ is Self-denial Mat. 16. 24. If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me Now this seemeth to be grievous but provideth for Comfort For Self-denial plucketh up all Trouble by the Root the Cross will not be very grievous to a self-denying Spirit Epictetus summed up all the Wisdom that he could learn by the Light of Nature in these two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bear and forbear to which answereth the Apostle's Temperance patience 2 Pet. 1. 6. Certainly were we more mortified and weaned from the World and could we deny our selves in things grateful to Sense we should not lie open to the stroke of Troubles so often as we do The greatness of our Affections causeth the greatness of our Afflictions Did we possess Earthly things with less Love we should lose them with less Grief Had we more intirely resigned our selves to God and did love Carnal Self less we should less be troubled when we are lessened in the World Thus Provisionally and by way of anticipation doth the Word of God provide against our Sorrows The Wheels of a Watch do one protrude and thrust forward another so one part of Christian Doctrine doth help another Take any piece asunder and then it is hard to be practised Patience is hard if there be no thorow Resignation to God no Temperance and command of our Affections But Christianity is all of a piece one part well received and digested befriendeth another 2. Directly and by way of express Charge the Scripture requireth us to moderate our Sorrow to cast all our Care upon God to look above Temporal things and hath expresly forbidden distracting Cares and Doubts and inordinate Sorrows 1 Pet. 5. 7. Cast all your care upon God for he careth for you and Phil. 4. 6. Be careful for nothing We have a Religion that maketh it unlawful to be sad and miserable and to grieve our selves inordinately Care Fear and Anguish of Mind are forbidden and no Sorrow allowed us but what tendeth to our Joy Isa. 35. 4. Say to them that are of fearful hearts Be strong fear not Isa. 41. 10. Fear not I am with thee be not dismayed I am thy God To fear the Rage and Power and Violence of Enemies is cotrary to the Religion which we do profess Fear not them which can kill the body Mat. 10. 26 28. Now surely the Word which is full fraught with Precepts of this nature must needs comfort and stay the Heart 2. The Doctrines of the Word do quicken and comfort us in our greatest Distresses all of them concerning Justification and Salvation by Christ they serve to deaden the Heart to present things and lift it up to better and so to beget a kind of dedolency and insensibility of this Worlds Crosses But especially four Doctrines we have in the Word of God that are very comforting 1. The Doctrine concerning particular Providence That nothing falleth out without God's Appointment and that he looketh after every individual Person as if none else to care for This is a mighty ground of comfort for nothing can befal me but what my Father wills and he is mindful of me in the condition wherein I am knoweth what things I stand in need of and nothing is exempted from his care ordering and disposal This is a ground both of Patience and Comfort Psal. 39. 8. I was dumb and opened not my mouth because thou didst it So Hezekiah Isa. 38. 15. What shall I say he hath both spoken unto me and himself hath done it It is time to cease or say no more why should we contend with the Lord Is it a Sickness or grievous Bodily Pain What difference is there between a Man that owneth it as a Chance or natural Accident and one that seeth God's Hand in it We storm if we look no further than second Causes but one that looketh on it as an immediate stroke of God's Providence hath nothing to reply by way of murmuring and expostulation So in loss of good Children how do we rave against Instruments if we look no further but if we consider the Providence of God Iob 1. 23. not Dominus dedit Diabolus abstulit but The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. So for Contumely and Reproches if God let loose a barking Shimei upon us 2 Sam. 16. 11. The Lord bid him curse To resist a lower Officer is to resist the Authority with which he is armed So in all other cases it is a ground of Patience and Comfort to see God in the Providence 2. His Fatherly Care over his People He hath taken them into his Family and all his doings with them are Paternal and Fatherly It allayeth our Cares Mat. 6. 32. Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things Our Sorrows in Affliction are lessened by considering they come from our Father Heb. 12. 5 6 7. Ye have forgotten the exhortation that speaketh unto you as unto children My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth If ye endure chastening God dealeth with you as with sons for what son is that whom the Father chasteneth not but if ye be without chastisement whereof all are partakers then are ye bastards and not sons and so those whom God doth love tenderly he doth correct severely 3. His unchangeable Love to his People God remaineth unchangeably the same When our outward Condition doth vary and alter we have the same Blessed God as a Rock to stand upon and to derive our Comforts from that we had before he is the God of the Valleys as well as of the Hills Christ in his Desertion saith My God My God Matt. 27. 46. surely we deserve that the Creature should be taken from us if we cannot find Comfort in God Hab. 3. 18. Although the Fig-tree should not blossom neither shall fruit be in the vine c. yet will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation Nothing can
Psal. 11. 6. Upon the wicked he will rain Snares fire and brimstone and an horrible Tempest this shall be the portion of their Cup They may flourish for a time yet at length sudden terrible and irremediless Destruction shall be the portion of their Cup. God's Judgments are terrible and unavoidable both here and hereafter Eph. 5. 6. For these things cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of Disobedience Rom. 2. 4. Tribulation Wrath and Anguish upon the Soul of Man that doth evil Alas these things are slighted by wicked Men or else they would not venture as they do you cannot drive a dull Ass into the Fire that is kindled before him Prov. 1. 17. In vain is the Snare laid in the sight of any Bird and would a Reasonable Creature wilfully run into such a danger if he were sensible of it and venture upon so dreadfull threatnings if he did believe them no they think it is but a vain Scare-crow a deceitfull Terrour or a false flash of Fire and therefore embolden themselves in their Rebellion But God's People that know the certainty of these things they cannot but conceive a great horrour at it when they think of the end of these Men their Judgments in this World but especially their eternal Condemnation in the World to come Well then forsaking the Law despising the Precept and slighting the Sanction should be a matter of great Horrour to a tender and gracious Spirit 2. It argueth that they have a due sense of things though others have not 1. They have a due sense of the Evil of Sin Prov. 14. 9. Fools make a mock of sin They sport at it and jeast at it and count it nothing but gracious and tender Hearts have other Apprehensions they know that this is a Violation of the holy and righteous and good Law of God and that it will be bitter in the issue and that they which had pleasure in unrighteousness shall be damned They look upon it with sad Hearts though it be committed by others that the Wicked goe dancing to Hell and are angry with those who mourn for them and dislike that vain Course which they affect 2. They have a due sense of the Wrath of God the Prophet that threatned it saith That rottenness entred into his bones and his bowels quivered Hab. 3. 16. A Lyon trembleth to see a Dog beaten before him It is a trouble to the Godly to think of the horrible punishments of the Wicked which they dread not nor dream of But the Saints have a Reverence for their Fathers Anger Search the Scriptures and you shall find that the Godly are more troubled at God's Judgments then the Wicked themselves who are to feel them Dan. 4. 19. Daniel was astonished for an hour and his thoughts troubled him when he was to reveale God's Iudgments against Nebuchadnezzar So the Prophet Ier. 4. 19. My bowels my bowels I am pained at the very heart verse 22. But my people is foolish they are sottish Children they that brought the Evil upon themselves are senseless and stupid Psal. 90. 11. Who knows the power of thine Anger according to thy fear so is thy wrath Few lay to heart the terrible effects of God's heavy wrath but the Righteous doe they are truly affected with it and with the Cause of it which is Sin God's Wrath affects Men according to the Reverence and Fear wherewith they entertain it but to the Wicked it is but a vain and empty Terrour 3. The certainty of the Threatnings God's People see Wrath and Judgment in the face of Sin whereas those who are drowned in Sensuality and carnal Delights scoff at God's Menaces and jeast at his Judgments neither crediting the one nor expecting the other as if it were but a meer Mockery Isai. 5. 19. Come say they let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it In their security they will believe nothing but what they feel 4. The Bane which cometh to Communities and Societies from the increase of the Wicked especially when their Wickedness groweth to an height that is when it is committed with boldness Isai. 3. 9. They declare their sin as Sodom they hide it not when Men have lost all shame and modesty and will not be restrained by any Law Surely if we know the evil of Sin the terribleness of God's Wrath believe the Truth of his Threatnings and then consider the danger that will come to our dearest Country we cannot but be greatly moved If a Man were sailing in a Bark and see it guided so that it must necessarily run against a Rock and suffer Shipwrack he would be sorry and deeply affected 3. It cometh from a good Cause 1. In the general it argueth a good Constitution of Soul 2 Pet. 2. 8. For that righteous man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous Soul from day to day with their unlawfull deeds Passively he was vexed with the impurity of the Sodomites and actively he vexed himself So far as we are Carnal we are pleased with Sin so far as we are Spiritual we are vexed with it Isai. 63. 10. They rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit The better any are the more affected with publick Sins and Judgments Christ weepeth over Ierusalem for their Impenitency and approaching Desolation Luke 19. 41 42. As he came near he beheld the City and wept over it saying If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes This was in the midst of the Acclamations and Hosannahs of the Multitude when he was welcomed with a Triumph Paul telleth the Corinthians 2 Cor. 12. 21. I am afraid when I come among you my God will humble me and I shall bewaile many which have not repented of the Fornication Lasciviousness and uncleanness which they have committed The more holy any one is the more he is affected and struck at heart with the Sins of others 2. A deep Resentment of God's Dishonour When his Glory is obscured it is a wound to the Hearts of his Children As a Child cannot endure to hear or see his Father disgraced Surely God's Glory is dear to the Saints Psal. 69. 9. The Reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me Injuries done to God and Religion affect them no less nearly then Personal Injuries which are done to themselves So affectionately zealous are they for God's Honour which is obscured by the wickedness of the Wicked who forsake the perfect Righteous Law of God and usurping God's Authority make a new Law to themselves 3. Compassion to Men. Though they are Wicked men yet they are Men made after God's Image remotely capable to know and love God and live with him for ever whom they should otherwise embrace as Brethren to see them treasure up Wrath against the day of Wrath should be a grief and a trouble to us To think of the everlasting Destruction
God and then a Man is safe whatever happens nothing can befall him that doth endanger his hopes or endamage his interest in Christ if they kill him they do but put him there where he would be he hath secured his great interest Persecutors cannot reach the better part Luke 12. 4. They kill the body after that they can do no more A good Man let them do what they can can come to no hurt he is indeed like a Die cast him high or low still he falls upon his square he hath a bottom to stand upon hopes to support him 2. Because he hath fitted his spirit for all kind of conditions A Man that is to go a long Journey must prepare for all weathers so a Christian must learn to be abased as well as to abound Phil. 4. Now a mortifi'd Man hath the advantage of all the World a Man that is dead to worldly interests hath the advantage of all others for doing and suffering for God and in noble and generous actions It is our affections that increase our afflictions that make us so base and pusillanimous 1 Cor. 7. 31. Rejoice as if you rejoiced not weep as though ye wept not If our hearts did not rejoice so much in the Creature if we were in a greater indifferency to worldly things the loss and miscarriage of them would not surprize us with so great terror A mortified Man is wiser than other Men because he hath plucked out the root of all trouble which is an inordinate affection and then let his condition be never so bad he is fortified temperance makes way for patience 2 Pet. 1. 6. Add to temperance patience Temperance or a moderation in the enjoyment of all things tends to Patience in the loss of them A Man that possesseth them without love can lose them without grief They may lessen his Estate but cannot lessen his comfort therefore this is the Man that can pray always rejoice evermore in every thing give thanks for giving and taking for the Word of God hath taught him this holy weanedness from worldly things 3. He can look to the end of all things not only to the present but the future Heb. 11. 1. Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen He can see Victories in a downfall and this is a wisdom proper to Faith to see the overthrow of the Churches Enemies when they rise up and prosper A natural Man may look above his condition as long as he seeth any probability in second causes but Faith is the evidence of things not seen When there is no probable way then it can look above them Reason usually is short-fighted it cannot see afar off 2 Pet. 1. 9. It cannot look beyond the cloud and vail of present discouragement But now Faith can see one contrary in another see a good end in bad means and those things that make against them to make for them and what in itself is hurtful is altogether temper'd by God's hand and to the greatest good Rom. 8. 28. Psal. 37. 37 38. Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace But the end of the wicked shall be cut off And Psal. 73. 17. I went into the Sanctuary and there I understood their end Those that are governed by Sense Will and Passion cannot be wise for they do not see to the end but he that lives by Faith looks not to appearances but seeth the end therefore this Man can bear up with hope and courage in the midst of all difficulties and troubles Use 1. Caution against two things Carnal Fear and Carnal Policy 1. Against Carnal Fear Many are troubled when they consider the power and cunning of the enemies of God's People I but you need not be dismay'd when you do in the simplicity of your hearts give up your selves to the direction of God's Word you need not fear all their craft when they are confounded and broken to pieces by their own devices you shall stand firm It seemeth to be the greatest folly in the World to keep at a distance from the rising side in time 't will be found to be the greatest wisdom You think they carry their matters with a great deal of cunning whil'st they slight God and tread the unquestionable interests of Christ under foot and that the Cause of God will never get up again Since they reject the Word of God what wisdom have they Ier. 8. 9. When you fail will you believe the Word of God or the doubtful face of outward things Be sure once you are in God's way and then you cannot miscarry finally Will not Christ uphold the Ministry in despight of the Devil and evil Men Have we not the Word of God to secure these hopes for us therefore what need we fear what wicked Wretches attempt against us Doth not God love Righteousness Will he not take vengeance And in their highest prosperity may not we see their downfall Therefore why should we be afraid 2. Then take heed of Carnal Policy for we are made wiser than our Enemies through the Commandment We must not oppose craft with craft for so Satan will be too hard for us in the use of his own Weapons that 's not wisdom to run to shifts and to carnal and sinful devices There is a wisdom that is necessary for the Children of God Mat. 10. 16. I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves be wise as serpents simple as doves ever it was so with God's People they are as Sheep in the midst of Wolves destitute of all outward supports Be ye therefore wise as Serpents and harmless as Doves Carry your selves prudently and holily in my service that wisdom and knowledge which doth not agree with justice but puts upon doing things that are unjust that 's craft not wisdom Now though Christ hath bid us be wise yet he hath forbidden us to be crafty when you run to carnal shifts you think to be wiser than God All the mischiefs of the present Age have meerly been occasioned by unbelief we durst not trust God in his own way but will run to carnal practices meerly to prevent evil and you see how we are entangled in all manner of confusion Ieroboam would be wiser than God God would have setled the Kingdom upon him but he ran to a way of his own and that was his undoing Take heed of this fleshly wisdom 2 Cor. 1. 12. Not in fleshly wisdom but in simplicity and godly wisdom The more simple and plain a Christian walks according to the direct Letter of the Scripture the more safe he is but when he doth run to those baser courses meerly out of distrust to God all things come to ruine Carnal Policy never succeeds well with the Children of God never did a Christian thrive by carnal Policy or using carnal Fetches for carnal Ends God crosseth them A man that will walk by the light of his own
climb up a Ladder for execution or are carried to the top of a Rock that they may be thrown down from thence to be broken in pieces Psal. 73. 18. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places thou castedst them down into destruction II. That the wicked of the earth are as dross They are so in these respects 1. As to external shew they seem to be a part of the substance or metal but indeed they are but the filth of the metal which is wont to be consumed with fire that the metal may be purged This is fitly applied to the degenerate members of the visible Church that have only a shew of the purity of Religion but are corrupt in Faith and manners ungodly and unrighteous There are Disciples in shew and Disciples in deed Iohn 8. 31. some that live and some only that have a name to live but indeed are dead Revel 3. 4. There is a Jew outwardly and inwardly of the Letter and of the spirit Rom. 2. 28 29. there are branches in Christ by an external visible union that bring forth no fruit Iohn 15. 2. Some are Christians in name by external visible Communion others by real implantation into Christ. It concerneth us to see whether we be dross or metal living members of Christs mystical Body or only equivocally called Christians because of some loose proâ—…sion of Christs name 2. Dross is intermingled with purer metal and maketh one mass with it The wicked and the godly live together in the visible Church they are never totally severed till the great day of separation or general Judgment when the Sheep and the Goats are put apart some on Christs right hand and some on his left Here in the world as in the finest metal there is some dross and in the same field there is Chaff and Corn Matth. 13. 29. We should not leave the flowr for the Chaff but leave the Chaff that we may be pure Grain 3. In Gods esteem they are refuse drossy worthless things Ezek. 22. 19. Thus saith the Lord because ye are become dross poor unprofitable Creatures The Church and people of God because of their excellency are compared to Gold and Silver so Rev. 21. The seven golden Candlesticks As Gold is the most precious metal so is the Church much esteemed by God called Gods Jewels Mal. 3. 17. as a Diamond among an heap of Pebbles Gods Jewels of whom the world is not worthy Heb. 11. 38. his peculiar people Tit. 2. 14. God maketh no such reckoning of wicked men dross is cast away as good for nothing and all the wicked of the Earth are but as dross to so much good metal But all his Saints are much set by as the filings of Silver and Gold are precious What a difference is there between the Judgment of God and the Judgment of the world The men of the world esteem the Saints to be 1 Cor. 4. 13. the off-scowring and filth of all things as the sweeping of the City to be cast forth to the Dung-hill Whereas themselves are so indeed in Gods account but reprobate Silver Jer. 6. 30. or rather dross which is the refuse of Gold and Silver Therefore their contempt is not to be regarded how great soever they be though Potentates high in honour and place yet if ungodly and wicked God reckons them to be vile persons Dan. 11. 21. dross worthless souls Men are not valued by God for their secular interests but moral qualifications The Potentates of the Earth are not valued as his princely but holy ones The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour Prov. 12. 26. God puts the highest price upon them they are Coin and Medal who bear his own Image 4. They are consumed in tryals as Dross consumeth in the fining and trying of metals solid metal endureth but the dross is consumed which holdeth true of wicked men in two respects First Their seeming goodness is lost and the difference is seen between them and those that are sincere sound and searching Judgments discover Hypocrites as the lightness of a building is seen in a storm Matth. 7. 27. When the Rain descended and the Floods came and the Winds blew the house fell and great was the fall of it So God in the Metaphor of the Text is often said to melt and try his people Ier. 9. 7. to discover the dross from pure Gold Hirelings will soon prove Changelings when God tryeth them to purpose Secondly Their imaginary felicity vanisheth into smoke they perish the meanest as well as the greatest Thou puttest away all the wicked of the Earth like dross they are consumed in the fire of Gods wrath and destroyed Ezek. 22. 20. As they gather Silver and Brass and Iron and Lead and Tin into the midst of the furnace to blow the fire upon it to melt it so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury and I will leave you there and melt you but of this by and by Use. Let us see what we are real members of Christs Mystical Body yea or no. The wicked of the earth are as dross and the godly are the finest sort of metals To move you to consider what you are 1. Ordinarily the visible Church is so mixed that the generality thereof is unsound Zach. 13. 8. Two parts thereof shall be cut off and dye and I will bring the third part through the fire and refine them as silver is refined and try them as gold is tryed There is but one part in three sound and it were well the proportion were found every where and therefore we had need to consider who shall be saved and found faithful Luke 13. 23 24. And one said unto him Lord are there few that shall be saved and he said unto them Strive to enter in at the strait gate for many shall seek to enter and shall not be able We had need be the more earnest because the most miscarry 2. The tryals will be searching we must pass through the fire and then what will become of the dross Rev. 3. 10. An hour of temptation shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon earth And alas are we able to brook the fiery tryal 1 Pet. 4. 10. Few Professours will be able to abide it when we are to part with the sweetest of our earthly comforts yea and it may be life it self which maketh us capable to enjoy them 't is no strange thing that it should happen to us 1 Pet. 4. 12. 't is as usual as violent storms at Sea or tempestuous weather in winter when God is upon reckoning with his people such things may be expected 3. The best of us will be found but dross if God would deal with us in extremity so much of corruption cleaveth to us and so many hidden lusts do we cherish and indulge that would soon become a root of apostasie if God did not hold an hand of Grace over us but God will not be extream Isai.
maintaining Communion with us then let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit Col. 1. 10. that ye might walk worthy of the Lord to all pleasing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If you do not consent to keep all you can keep none for the same reasons that move us to break one will move us to break all Herod that heard Iohn gladly when his lust moved him to it put him to death To be sure it must be total Reasons of this esteem 1. From the excellency of Gods Law The Law of God deserves it Deut. 4. 6. Keep therefore and do them for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the Nations which shall hear all these Statutes and say Surely this great Nation is a wise and understanding people We should esteem the Law because it doth not infringe our Natures but makes them perfect puts an excellency upon us But of this in other Verses 2. This esteem and approbation is the ground of practice When we are convinced of the ways of God and the excellency that is in them the heart consenteth and embraceth them and then followeth a ready practice we will observe what we do approve Whereas on the contrary if we have no esteem for the ways of God we shall take no care to walk in them but could wish such Laws expunged for still these two go together hearty embracing and diligent practice The will is the great master wheel Now esteem implieth the bent of the will or heart it implieth consent and election 't is the act of the will is the act of the man Prov. 23. 26. My Son give me thy heart The man is never overcome till then You may kill him but you cannot conquer him till he give his consent There may be a kind of force and violence offered to the other faculties the understanding may be overcome with light which though it would it cannot keep out The Conscience may be awakened though men endeavour to lull it asleep but the will is free and is not conquered but by his own consent and choice The Lord will not force himself upon any he dealeth with the reasonable Creatures in a Covenant-way to which our consent is required It only bindeth as a Law till we consent to yield to it as a Covenant 2 Chron. 30. 8. Yield your selves to the Lord. Now bring your hearts once to consent and heartily approve of the ways of God and the rest will succeed without difficulty 'T will not be hard to give a Law to the tongue to restrain the hand govern the body our affections will more easily come to hand if we have a will to the things of God The smallest matters against our wills are grievous to us 'T was no great matter for Haman to lead Mordecai's Horse but 't was an unwelcome and unpleasant service he had no mind to it 'T is no great matter for men to do the things that God requireth but they have no mind to it and therefore are off and on Iames 1. 8. The double-minded man is unstable in all his ways 3. This is some comfort to a Child of God that though he faileth in some part of his Duty yet he esteemeth all for where this approbation is you may use the Apostles Plea Not I but sin that dwelleth in me Rom. 7. 15. For that which I do I allow not for what I would that do I not but what I hate that do I. The allowance or approbation of the will is there spoken of he speaketh of willing and nilling loving delighting and hating Though you cannot do that good you would in that purity and perfection which love requireth and the renewed heart intendeth yet your hearts are upon your work The evil which I hate I do The new Nature hates and dislikes what the carnal part prompts to Use. Learn to approve the Law of God in all things as right and good for you 1. Do not dispense with your selves in any thing In two Cases we are apt to do so First In small things it is nothing we think 't is but a little one Nothing that cometh from God should be light and contemptible though the matter be never so small if God hath interposed it should be regarded by us There may be great obstinacy in small sins as a slender Line may be very crooked or as in some Cases the Die is more than the Cloath Will you break with God in a small matter If some great matter were required would you not have done it as 2 Kings 5. 13. Dare you offend this holy God for trifles Again Do not dispense with your selves though never so contrary to your humour and interest This is to set up a toleration in your own hearts or a Court of Faculties without Gods leave God be merciful to me if I bow in the house of Rimmon 2. Do not so much as wish there were no such Law 'T is a contradiction of the Law when you could wish there were no Law to put a restraint upon your beloved lusts and darling corruptions Carnal men wish there were no God not as a Creator and Preserver but as a Lawgiver There may be much enmity in such a thought every thought must be brought into subjection to Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 10. 5. Not a disallowing thought of Gods Government but doth much prejudice your hearts God hath given such Laws that if all things were left to our own option and choice nothing better could be devised to preserve the liberty and perfection of the humane Nature 'T is an ill note to count the Command grievous Holiness is so amiable in it self that men are not frightned unto Gods Laws but chuse them 3. Bring thy heart to approve the Law by mortifying that distemper that ariseth against it Be it pride and self-conceit sensuality covetousness appetite that is lost to wholesome food is restored by purging the stomach there is a preparation of mind required to receiving of moral things So in Divine things 1 Cor. 2. 14. But the natural man recâ—…veth not the things of the Spirit We are prepossessed Intus existens prohibet extium Therefore bring your heart to approve Gods removendo prohibens by mortifying those corruptions that rise against it 4. When you see no other reason to yield to Gods Law let his will and Sovereign Authority be reason enough to you This is reason enough for God to use to his Creatures I am the Lord Levit. 18. 4 5. Ye shall do my Iudgments and keep mine Ordinances to walk therein I am the Lord your God Ye shall therefore keep my Statutes and my Iudgments which if a man do he shall live in them I am the Lord. This is the will of God We owe God blind obedience This should silence all perverse reasonings against God both as to his Laws and Providence His Will is supream and our will must be yielded up to his II. We come to the
and serve him Not to pluck the Stars from the Sky or to guide the Chariot of the Sun not such sublimity of Knowledg and Learning nor such a quantity and proportion of Alms nor to lance thy self or offer thy first-born nor Rivers of Oyl nor thousands of Rams for a burnt-Offering Mic. 6. 8. He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God The Lords Commands are not rigid and severe and unreasonable but sweet and desirable that we should do wrong to none do good to all and maintain communion with him and is this burthensome Go try the Drunkards life and the Adulterers life you will see the temperate the chast have much the sweeter life of it Therefore let there not be one disallowing thought of what God hath required Could we bring you to esteem the Word other things would come on more easily 3. Owne it and improve it as a faithful Word building upon the promises fearing the threats thereof The Word will not deceive them that are ruled by it Consider your condition and what will be the event of things There is a curiosity in men to know their own destiny We may easily know what shall become of us by the Word of God and if men were not more curious to know their end than careful to amend their lives they need not seek any other Oracle Rom. 8. 13. For if ye live after the Flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live So for the end of any action if the word of God say it will be bitter in the latter end though it bring profit and pleasure for a while believe it against all the wicked men in the World and say I do more believe this one Text and place of Scripture than all that men can do and say Mind the great Duties of the Gospel and venture your souls in Christs hands upon these terms 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation That Christ Iesus came into the world to save Sinners of whom I am chief I have nothing but God's Word yet I will venture my salvation my All upon it upon his bare word Comfort your selves in the midst of difficulties with the truth of Gods Word when all sense and outward seeming is contrary to the promise Before a promise be accomplished there will be unlikelihoods I will instance in Paul's Prediction Acts 27. 24 25 26. Lo God hath given thee all them that sail with thee wherefore Sirs be of good cheer for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain Island c. Yet how many difficulties came to pass First No Isle appeareth they are tossed in the Adriatick Sea for fourteen days together they knew not where they were nor whither they did go Thus doth God delay the accomplishment of the promise they know not how nor which way it shall be made good Another difficulty was That meeting with some Isle it fell out in the night-time they deemed they drew near to some Country but yet feared they should be split upon the Rocks ver 30. the Ship-men were ready to flee out of the Ship leave Paul and his Fellows in danger upon pretence of casting out Anchors out of the Fore-stern and so they were ready to miscarry in the Haven When this difficulty was over and it was day they were not able to row to Land because of their long fasting having eaten little or nothing for fourteen days Another difficulty was When they would have thrust the Ship ashore it was broken all in pieces what with high Banks and two Seas meeting Another difficulty was When they were to swim to Land they think of killing the Prisoners and the Captain willing to save Paul kept them from their purpose and so they escaped all to Land Therefore do not distrust the Word but especially bear up with the hope of eternal life though remote and in another World which we never saw Heb. 11. 13. These all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them Rom. 2. 7. To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for life and glory and immortality eternal life You will meet with bitter conflicts heavy troubles sad desertions yet remember Gods Word is a faithful Word and let this cheer and revive you Use 2. Express these Vertues of the Word We must be righteous and true if the Word of God be so for the Impression must answer the Seal and Stamp Rom. 6. 12. But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine which was delivered you 2 Cor. 3. 3. Ye are declared to be the Epistle of Christ ministred by us written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God not in Tables of Stone but in fleshly Tables of the heart Phil. 3. 16. Holding fast the word of life that I may rejoyce in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain neither laboured in vain A Christian is the Bible exemplified such a conformity there must be there to the Law of God the same light that shineth forth in Scripture should shine forth in the lives of the godly so it was in Hezekiah Isai. 38. 3. Remember O Lord how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight And of David it is said 1 Kings 3. 6. Thy servant David walked before thee in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart First For righteousness A Christians business is to give to every man his due to do what he is bound to do to God and man Matth. 22. 21. to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's Whether by the Law of Nature 1 Tim. 5. 8. If any provide not for his own and especially for them of his own house he hath denied the faith and is worse than an Infidel Or by relation as Boaz did the part of a Kinsman to Ruth Ruth 3. 13. Tarry this night and it shall be in the morning that if he will perform unto thee the part of a Kinsman well let him do the Kinsmans part but if he will not do the part of a Kinsman then will I do the part of a Kinsman to thee as the Lord liveth Or by place or station Neh. 6. 11. And I said Should such a man as I flee and who is there that being as I am would go into the Temple to save his life I will not go in Or by paction or agreement Col. 4. 1. Masters give to your Servants that which is just and equal Or according to rules of prudence equity
purpose Acts 11. 23. if thy purposes were more full and strong and throughly bent against sin they would sooner succeed Is it the fixed decree and determination of thy Will When you are firmly resolved your Affections will be sincere and stedfast you will pursue this work close not be off and on hot and cold unstable in all your wayes your full purpose or the habitual bent of your hearts are known by your drift and scope Or it may be this purpose may be extorted not the effect of thy Judgment and Will but only thy Conscience awakened by some present fear Many are by some pangs and qualmes of Conscience frighted into some Religiousness but this humour lasts not long Psal. 78. 35 36 37. And they remembered that God was their rock and the most high their redeemer Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth and they lyed to him with their tongues for their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant In their dangers they remembered God but their hearts were not right with him Ahab in his fears had some relentings So had Pharaoh The Israelites turned to the Lord in their distress but they turned as fast from him afterwards Resolves not of love but fear So are these resolutions wrested from you by some present Terrours which when they cease no wonder that they are where they were before Violent things never hold long they will hold as long as the principle of their violence lasteth Or it may be you rest in the strength of your own Resolutions now God will be owned as the Author of all Grace who reneweth and quickeneth every Affection in us still we must have a sense of our own insufficiency and resolve more in the strength and power of God and relie upon the Grace of Jesus Christ by his Spirit mortifying the deeds of the Body as knowing that without him you can do nothing neither continue nor perform our Resolutions Men fall again as often as they think to stand by their own power there is much Guile and Falshood in our own hearts we cannot trust them the Saints still resolve God assisting Psal. 119. 8. I will keep thy precepts O forsake me not utterly Verse 32. I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt inlarge my heart They beg God to keep up their Inclination and Bent against Sin Verse 36. Incline my heart to thy Testimonies and not to Covetousnâ—…ss 2. As to Sriving let us examine that a little if it be so serious so diligent so circumspect as it should be Certainly that is no effectual striving when you are disheartned with every difficulty for Difficulties do but influence a resolved Spirit as stirring doth the fire No question but it will be hard to enter in at the streight Gate or walk in the narrow way God hath made the way to Heaven so narrow and streight that we may the more strive to enter in thereat Luk. 13. 24. Now shall we sit down and complain when we succeed not upon every faint attempt Who then can be saved This is to cry out with the Sluggard There is a Lion in the way Should a Mariner as soon as the Waves arise and strong gusts of Wind blow give over all guiding of the Ship No he is resolved upon his Voyage To give out upon every difficulty is against all the experience and wont of Mankind Again this striving and opposing is but slight not accompanied with that Watchfulness and Resolution which is necessary Many pretend to watch against sin yet abstain not from all occasions of sin if we play about the Cockatrice hole no wonder we are bitten Never think to turn from thy sin if thou dost not turn from the occasion of them Prov. 4. 15. Go not in the way of evil men avoid it pass not by it turn from it and pass away This is a practice becoming the hatred of sin Evil Company is a Snare if thou hast not strength to avoid the occasion which is less how canst thou avoid the sin which is greater He that resolveth not to be burnt in the Fire must not come near the Flames Iob made a Covenant with his Eyes Iob 31. 1. Our Saviour taught us to pray lead us not into temptation he doth not say into sin Temptation openeth the gate to it Certainly it argueth an hanckering of mind when we dally with Temptations as the Raven when he is driven from the Carrion loveth to abide within the sent of it so they have an inclination to sin when they forbear the the practice of it 3. For Praying we oftener pray from our Memories than from our Consciences and from our Consciences Enlightened than Hearts Renewed by Grace Prayer as it is the fruit of Memory and Invention is but a few slight and formal Words said of Course a Body without a Soul As dictated by Conscience it may be retracted by the Will at noli modo Austin when he prayed against his Youthful Lusts timeâ—… ne me excluderet Deus was afraid left he should be heard too soon at best but half desires faint wishes like Balaams wish to die the death of the Righteous The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing God never made Promise that lazy wishes should be satisfied if you pray against sin with your whole heart he will hear you The great fault is the want of this thorough hatred of Sin Use. Take heed of two things 1. A secret Love to your Sins 2. A remiss Hatred against them 1. A secret Love to Sin Iob speaketh of some that hid sin as a sweet Morsel under their Tongues Iob 20. 12. loth to let a Lust go And David of regarding iniquity in our heart Psal. 66. 18. First there is a secret liking of sin which in time will prove baneful to the Soul some Lust is spared and continueth unmortified It doth not remain so much as it is reserved and there keepeth Possession for Satan This will in time eat out all our other Vertues and bring a stain upon those good properties wherewith God hath indowed us Sin was never heartily cast out therefore they are in time insnared again and drawn away by some sensitive Lure 2. A remiss Hatred of sin no there must be a Total and full Aversion Hatred and Indignation is the souls expulsive Faculty it cannot be kept in good plight without it 'T is the lively and active principle which sets the soul awork in avoiding what is hurtful to the spiritual Life it concerneth us to keep it up in strength and vigour The Reason why even Believers do so often sin through weakness is because the Will doth not so strongly dissent as it should though we do not deliberately give our assent it should more potently awaken our displeasure but certainly the reason of wilful sin is want of a strong hatred Though Convinced of Evil yet we go on like a fool to the Correction of the Stocks Prov.
God yea the very Deed of praising him 5. Partly Because temporal favours may be given in Anger but the graces of the Spirit are never given in Anger God may give an Estate in Judgment and indulge large pastures to Beasts fitted for destruction but he giveth not an inlightened Mind and a renewed Heart in Anger 't is a token of his special love To you 't is given to know the misteries of the Kingdom of God Mat. 13. 11. Well then for all these things should we praise God We have a quick sense in bodily Mercies but in Soul concernments we are not alike affected IV. That among spiritual Blessings Divine Illumination is a very great gift and accordingly should be acknowledged by us To make this evident I shall 1. Open the nature of this Divine Illumination 2. Shew you the worth of it and how much it should be valued by us 1. For the Nature of it There is a twofold Wisdom and Knowledge of Divine Misteries 1. One which is only a gift 1 Cor. 8. 1. We know that we all have knowledge knowledge puffeth up but charity edifieth This is an excellent gift but yet it floweth from the common influence of the Spirit and puffeth up the party because 't is apprehended only such an excellency as conduceth to the Interests of the flesh and to attain esteem in the World and because he hath not thereby a deep and piercing knowledge of his Misery but is cold and weak and doth not warm the heart with love to the thing known therefore we should see to it what kind of knowledge we have whether it be a gift or a grace whether we use it to exalt God or our selves the bare gift puffeth us up with a lofty Conceit of our selves and a disclain of others but grace keepeth us humble for the more we know that way the more we see our defects and what little reason we have to glory in our knowledge or any other grace and besides by it we are suitably affected to what we know 2. There is a special knowledge of Divine Mysteries wrought in us by the special and sanctifying work of the Holy-Ghost this is the wisdom which cometh from above which is first pure and then peaceable Iam. 3. 17. which humbleth the man that hath it for the more he knoweth of God the more his own opinion and estimation of himself is lessened Iob 42. 5 6. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee therefore I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes I have spoken unadvisedly of God This knowledge also maketh him serious and is operative upon the heart and worketh love to the thing known Ioh. 4. 10. If thou knewest the gift c. and maketh us to know God in Christ so as to acknowledge him and give him due Honour Respect and Reverence 'T is a knowledge joined with oblectation and affection This knowledge is considerable as to its beginning and increase 1 Its beginning the first removing of the natural blindness and darkness of our understandings so that we have a clear discerning of the things of God when the Scales fall from our eyes Naturally we were ignorant of God and the way to heaven but now brought to the saving knowledge of God in Christ we are acquainted with both The first Creature which God made was light so in the new Creation the new Creature is illuminated with an heavenly light and cured of its former blindness that we see things in another manner than ever we saw them before 1 Pet. 2. 9. Called out of darkness into his marvellous light as a man brought out of a dark Dungeon into an open Light And Acts 26. 18. To open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God So Eph. 5. 8. Ye were sometimes darkness but now light in the Lord. To be seeing is better than to be blind to be in light than to be in darkness This is Gods first work and it is marvellous in our eves 't is double when we first begin to have a clear knowledge of our own misery Rev. 3. 18. Whereas before we lived in gross ignorance of our own condition So when we begin to see the remedy as well as our Misery 2 Cor. 4. 6. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Iesus Christ The first thing that God convinceth us off is our own Sin Guilt and Misery So that those things that either we knew not or did swim loose in the Brain we begin now to be affected with them We talked before of sin as a thing of course and were wont to marvel why men-kept such a deal ado about sin but now the case is altered God hath opened his eyes and therefore he complaineth of it as the greatest burden and fain would be rid of it at any rate He beginneth to seek after Christ as his only remedy and nothing will satisfie him but Christ and all things are but dung and dross in comparison of the excellency of Christ and that he may be found in him He lamenteth his case and can trust himself no where but in Christs hands a natural man slippeth into an heedless credulity and either doth not look upon the Gospel as a real truth or else is not affected with it so as to venture his Salvation in that bottom 2 As to the increase and progress and so those that are taught of God need to be taught of God again and to seek a further increase of spiritual Wisdom or a further degree of the saving knowledge of Divine Misteries As the Apostle prayeth for the Ephesians towards whom he acknowledgeth God had abounded in all Wisdom and Prudence yet prayeth that God would give them the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation that the eyes of their Understandings might be opened Eph. 1. 17 18. with the 8th verse we are yet ignorant in many things for we know but in part not fully rooted in the knowledge of these things which we know they need to be refreshed with new illumination from God that our knowledge may be active and lively and stand out against new and daily Temptations And that oblivion and forgetfulness which is a kind of ignorance and is apt ever and anon to creep upon us may be prevented and Truths may be ready at hand for our use Iam. 1. 5. And this is that which David beggeth an increase of knowledge for he being an holy man and a Prophet needed not the first illumination and every degree is a great favour to be acknowledged with praise Secondly Let me speak of the worth of this Divine Illumination in its self the worth of it appeareth in four things I. Its Author God by his efficacious teaching doth cure the blindness of our minds and doth open and incline our
they can bear the open dishonouring and blaspheming of God This is the true sense but because the heart is deceitful First Be sure your Cause be good your Adversaries evil that ye may say Psal. 74. 22. Arise O Lord plead thine own Cause 'T is not for your sins but your sins but your righteousness the hatred is not against the body Indeed they pretend some little faults 'T is as if a Leper should hate a man because he hath some pimples in his face Something they would lay to their charge Secondly That we use all means with God and Men to reclaim them praying for them Matth. 6. 44. Pray for them that despightfully use you Mourning for their sins Ier. 23. 19. My soul shall weep in secret for your pride Heaping Coals of fire upon their heads by all acts of kindness condescending to them as far as possibly we can Rom. 12. 18. These arts become his Kingdome that is not to be planted by force but consent them that would have the zeal of God not of a party Thirdly Be sure your principle be zeal for Gods Glory not a desire to establish your own interest and to see revenge on a party that differeth from you Luke 9. 54 55. You know not what spirit you are of Religious affections overset us and fleshly zeal puts on a holy spiritual Guise and Mask and we think 't is for the honour of Christ. Fourthly Not against particular persons but the opposite faction to godliness In general destroy all the enemies of Christ c. Secondly For the manner How We must seek to God first with submission not prescribing to God nor making a snare to our selves We that have short and revengeful Spirits cannot judge aright of Gods patience which is infinite out of fleshliness and affection to our own ease And so our times Iohn 7. 6. your time is always ready if none of these be yet we are limited Creatures and great is the wisdom of God and his power admirable it doth not belong to us to guide the affairs of the world Psal. 78. 41. We must not prescribe opportunity to him fixing times Besides that it argueth a spirit too much addicted to and eying of temporal happiness It doth much unsettle us and harden others The Devil maketh advantage of our disappointment Therefore not only when it seemeth seasonable to us we may seek to him for deliverance Once more there are other things concurr besides the enemies ripeness for Judgment preparing his peoples hearts fitting those instruments for his work therefore all is left to Gods will and let him take his time Use of all is to teach us how to behave our selves in these times with patience and yet with hope and waiting 'T is the time of Iacob's trouble but there will be a time of deliverance Ier. 30. 7. With patience God will have a time to chastise his people We must bear it patiently it will make Crosses sit easie they may be greater and longer than our joys Psal. 90. 15. Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein we have seen evil Secondly With hope let us expect it Certainly it will not exceed the time limited by God That time is not long Isai. 13. 22. Her time is near to come and her days shall not be prolonged Ezek. 12. 21. to 28. And the word of the Lord came unto me saying Son of man what is that Proverb that ye have in the land of Israel saying The days are prolonged and every vision faileth Tell them therefore Thus saith the Lord I will make this Proverb to cease and they shall no more use it as a Proverb in Israel but say unto them The days are at hand and the effect of every vision for there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel for I am the Lord. I will speak and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass it shall be no more prolonged Faith should see it as present approaching and then let us wait his leisure minding God in prayer SERMON CXXXIX PSAL. CXIX VER 127. Therefore I love thy Commandments above Gold yea above fine Gold IN the Words we have I. A Note of inference Therefore II. The Duty inferred I love thy Commandments III. The degree of that love Above Gold amplified by the repetition with some advantage in the expression Yea above fine Gold III. Gold by a Senechdoche is put for all worldly things the comforts and profits of this life as in many other places as Psal. 19. 10. More to be desired are they than Gold yea than much fine Gold sweeter also than Honey and the Honey Comb. The two Bastard Goods with which the World is inchanted are pleasure and profit Old people are all for profit young people are all for pleasure Now both these truly so called are found in the Word of God So in Prov. 8. 10 11. Receive my instruction and not silver and knowledge rather than choise gold for Wisdom is better than Rubies and all the things that are to be desired are not to be compared to it So Prov. 8. 19. My fruit is better than gold yea than fine gold and my revenues than choise silver So Prov. 3. 14. For the merchandise thereof is better than gold and the gain thereof than fine gold So Prov. 16. 16. How much better is it to get Wisdom than Gold and to get Understanding rather to be chosen than silver This Comparison is used so often for two Reasons 1. Because it is more prized in the World All things that have a goodness in them have a certain Bait suitable to the several Appetites of men but in most mens opinions Gold seemeth chiefly to be desired partly for its beauty but chiefly for its use it being the great instrument of Commerce that doth all things in the world The corruption of mans heart addeth a greater price to it and therefore is the thirst of it so unsatisfied Now the Word and that wisdom and godliness which it teacheth is far above Gold and fine Gold 2. Because it is the usual temptation to draw off men from the love and study and obedience of the Word Babylon's abominations are offered to the world in a golden Cup Rev. 17. 4. And the Woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour and decked with Gold and precious Stones and Pearls having a golden Cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication Preferments are the Baits of that black Religion True Christianity consists in sound Graces Pseudo-Christianity in pomp and state and worldly advantages and the Apostle telleth us 1 Tim. 6. 10. That the love of money is the root of all evil which while some have coveted after they have erred from the faith Therefore doth the spirit of God so often compare spiritual things to Gold and here David preferreth his love to the Word before Worldlings love to
Gold yea fine Gold for mark it is not more than I love Gold but more than any man some have an ardent desire of it however it be mortified in Gods Children I. For the Note of inference together with the Duty inferred Therefore I love thy Commandments Some refer it to Gods taking his time to work as the Judg of the world in punishing the wicked for their disobedience and contempt of his Law as if he had said Lord though thou dost connive and hold thy hands for a time yet I know thou wilt undertake the defence of the righteous and not let the wickedness of the wicked go unpunished it will cost them dear in the issue therefore I love thy Commandments c. This sense I cannot exclude If I thought fit to prosecute it it would yield this Doctrine That a little faith would help us to continue our affection to the word of God notwithstanding the wickedness of those that oppose it For in truth here this wickedness doth soon come to an end Psal. 73. 18. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places thou castedst them down into destruction But I rather referr it to the latter Clause They have made void thy Law therefore I love thy commandments Doctr. The more others despise the ways and laws of God the more should a gracious heart love and esteem them So doth David profess that his love to Gods ways was so far from ceasing that he found it encreased rather Reasons 1. Because the ways of God are still the same they were before if there be any difference they only need to be more owned by us with greater zeal and cheerfulness because they are despised and forsaken by others God is the same still Heaven the same and the Scriptures the same whether we have Company to walk with us in heaven-way yea or no and therefore why should not a Christian be the same he was before Their contempt and hatred of Gods ways doth not make void our obligation to God and the Bonds of our Duty to him If God had only required us to be good when we may be so with safety and ease and would dispense with us at other times when Religion is in disgrace then indeed a Christian might change his course and run with the Cry as others do but God hath required in the worst times we should take Gods part and stand for him in the worst places and keep his Name even there where Satans Throne is Rev. 2. 13. and be Saints though in Nero's Houshold Phil. 4. 22. under the nose of a raging Persecutor And as God is the same so his ways are the same Their contempt and hatred of holiness doth not hinder the loveliness of it to a spiritual eye There is a beauty in Gods despised ways Heb. 11. 25. Chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season He saw more excellency in the Tents of Iacob than in the Courts of Pharaoh When the outward Glory of his wâ—…ys is darkened and they are put under reproach and trouble yet their inward beauty still remaineth and may be seen by a spiritual though not by a carnal eye by those that will not judge according to appearance but judge righteous judgment Iohn 7. 24. The external Glory which is the favour of the World outward prosperity and Countenance is foreign and accidental but this is essential and ever remaineth And as holiness is the same so the Scriptures are the same they do not speak one thing to day and another to morrow and leave us at a latitude to put our selves into all changes and postures 2 Cor. 1. 19. For the son of God Iesus Christ who was preached among you by us was not yea and nay saith the Apostle but in him was yea The Scripture doth not allow saying and unsaying and building again the things which we have destroyed Gal. 2. 18. For if I build again the things which I have destroyed I make my self a transgressor Truth is the same in all Ages not like an Almanack to be changed every Year or calculated peculiarly for one Meridian Nor is it always the same Indeed in some lesser things that serve only for the conveniency of Religion we may upon weighty grounds change practice and do that which is good where best may not be had So Heaven is the same still it not only serveth us as an Antidote in Prosperity but as a Cordial in Adversity and is at all times to be regarded Well then since God and Holiness and Scripture and Heaven are always the same why should not we If there be change it should be in the degree of our love that it be greater than it was before to repair God in point of Honour and to testifie against the defection of others that we are not of their stamp who do not see by their eyes nor walk by their principles nor allow of their warpings 2. God expects more from gracious hearts because of their relation to him and acquaintance with him and therefore if others despise the Laws of God they should esteem them the more Iohn 6. 66 67. From that time many of his Disciples went back and walked no more with him Then said Iesus unto the twelve Will you also go away It goeth nearer to Christs heart that those should forsake him that are trained up in his bosome that the Devil should steal away souls under his own arm Whatever defection others make yet that those who have tasted of his mercy drunk of his Cup feasted with his lâ—…aves have had experinence of his Grace will ye also He stood not upon the multitudes going so much as his Disciples Therefore they should rowze up themselves in evil times 3. The good and the bad do exercise and keep one another in breath and vigour When there are but two factions that stand in opposition to one another one apparently for God the other apparently for Satan it addeth zeal and indignation to both sides and they mutually inflame one another and are as Ieremiah's two Baskets of Figgs the good Figgs very good and the evil Figgs very evil Ier. 24. 3. When others are so very bad it should not quench zeal but inflame it we should be not only good but very good Corruption the more it is opposed the more it stormeth and groweth outragious as a River swelleth by opposing Damms and Banks against it they rage upon restraints now the floods break loose So on the other side should Grace be more earnestly and zealously exercised the more it is opposed as the casting on of water sets the Lime on fire To be sure their malice will put us to a great deal of trouble and trouble is a time to exercise Grace To be much in prayer and faith and patience and mortifying corruptions and watchfulness and wary walking that we may neither take infection our selves nor give occasion to others to stumble at