there is one and but one Eternal Infinite Unchangeable and Invisible God from whom all things were are for evermore who is alone to be feared and obeyed and to be worshipped in spirit and in truth and to be had in especial reverence of all that come about him But I shall say no more to this trusting none of you will deny it but shall come in the next place to shew you that what is Attributed unto the true God and that which in a proper sence is only meet to be ascribed unto him is also ascribed both unto the Lord Jesus and also to the Holy Spirit Now therefore for the first of these you shall see how pregnant and plainly the Scriptures do acknowledg the Lord Jesus to be God and do give as much honour unto him as is or as can be given to the Father look Isai 6.9 the words are these For unto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given and the Government shall be upon his shoulders Here you see plainly that this is spoken of the Lord Jesus and can be applyed to no other Now you shall see what is there further said of him and what Names and Titles are Attributed to him in the following words and his Name shall be called wonderful Counsellor the mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace now tell me I pray you what ever was or can be ascribed to the Father more than this to call him The mighty God what can be in that word less than this the acknowledging of him to be the Author and Fountain of might and power likewise to call him The everlasting Father what can it signifie less than his being the first cause of all things and he that by himself alone and his own might and power hath produced them and brought them forth Again look Rev. 1.8 I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty I pray you think of it for my part I cannot see that in these termes beginning and ending first and last as it follows in verse 11. there can be less than the magnifying of himself to be the first cause of all things and the upholder of them to all Eternity and the manifester of himself in them to be even from eternity the only true God for if there had been any other either before him or together with him from Eternity then could he not be called the first and for this word the Almighty it is so full a word to express the Godhead by that I cannot tell where you can find a fuller for if in him be all might then no part of this Almightiness can be found in any other and so much this word the Almighty must needs signifie now if you compare this with vers 17 18. you will clearly see that all this the Lord Jesus speaks of himself and therefore he cannot be less than God Again if you please to look Phil. 2.6 there you will find the Apostle saying that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God but if he had not been truly God indeed it could not have been less than robbery either so to speak or so to think for it is impossible for any created Being that is the Off-spring of God to reckon it self equal with God without committing those most horrible great sins of Pride and Blasphemy and therefore it is most evident that he that thinks it no Robbery to be equal with God cannot be less than God himself and if you please to look in the first Epistle of John chap. 5. Verse 20. there you shall find the name of the True God ascribed to Jefus Christ but no where in all the Scriptures shall you find that the name of the true God is used in a figurative sence but he to whom this honour is given must needs be the most high God Further in John 20.28 there you shall find Thomas acknowledging of him to be both his Lord and his God but if it had not been a Title fully due unto the Lord Jesus both he and Thomas had greatly failed the one in giving and the other in taking this great glory to himself Now I shall come in the next place to shew you that the Holy Spirit also is God and that that which is ascribed unto him in the Scriptures could not be ascribed to him if he were not God First consider what Names and Titles the Holy Spirit taketh unto himself Isai 57.15 Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose Name is holy Mark it spray you for any Man to call himself by the Name of the most High and lofty One that is inferior to the most High it is impossible or to ascribe to himself Eternity or the Name of the Holy One that is not the most High and Eternal God it cannot be but this is spoken by the Spirit and that of himself as you may see by that which follows in the next words I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Here you see by the gracious work and Office here undertaken who it is that speaks for it is granted of all men that it is the proper work and office of the Spirit to be the Sanctifier and comforter of the people of God and that it is he which doth refresh and revive and comfort the hearts of poor humble contrite sinners but if men should deny it yet the Scriptures do clearly witness it I will name you but one Text for this Iohn 14.16 17 18. there Christ tells his Disciples That he will pray the Father to send them this Comforter this holy Spirit that should abide with them for ever and dwell both in them and with them and they should not be left comfortless whence you see plainly that the in-dwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart is that which doth support and comfort and revive it and he that doth this gracious work for and in the souls of Gods poor people is that high and lofty one that inhabiteth Eternity which must needs be the only true God But some men may say how can the Holy Spirit be God seeing Christ saith that he will pray the Father to send him and when he comes he shall not speak of himself can he be the Messenger of the Father or of Christ to bring their minds unto the understandings of men and yet be the same true and only God For answer unto this you must know that all the mercy that is or that can be extended unto the sons of Men comes unto them through the mediation of the Lord Jesus and therefore it was necessary that Christ should dye and rise and ascend yea I must tell you if Christ had not gone on and finished the work of
Redemption as well as undertook it I say if Christ should have left the work in the midst as his poor Disciples through their ignorance would have had him there could never have been so great a mercy extended neither to them not to any others as the coming of the Holy Spirit and therefore our Lord tells them he must go or else the Comforter will not come now the reason wherefore the Spirit is said to be sent to do so many good Offices for the Saints is not to make us think that he is an inferior Messenger but to let us know that all that joy and comfort peace and sanctification and in a word all that Grace that is extended through the Divine operation of the Holy Spirit it all comes unto us through the blood-shedding of our Lord Jesus Christ and truly my Brethren if you do but consider the work of the Spirit in the hearts of Men me thinks it is enough to convince you or any knowing men in the world that he that doth it must needs be God If a man be but an experienced man and doth but mind the great blindness that is in the mind and the hardness that is in the heart and doth but consider how the soul is in slaved under the power of sin and Sathan living in the love and service of Wickedness being alienated from the life of God being far from the fear and love of him having no delight in his Commandements but being ungodly and graceless dead in trespasses and sins and then on the other hand considers what an Estate the soul must be brought unto before it can be fit for eternal communion with God If a person do but thus mind the greatness of the work the Spirit is to do in taking away the filth and pollution of the heart and cleansing the whole man from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and the renuing of the soul in knowledg and holiness and making it meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the Saints in light Now I say what man that hath Prayed and fasted and watched and used all the means he can and yet finds in what a frame his heart continueth how far from that purity and God-like-ness that one day he hopeth to enjoy but now which way could a man expect it if he that had undertaken the work were not infinite in Power Wisdom and Goodness for my part I look upon this work as the greatest of all those wonderful works that God hath done or hath promised to do and therefore it is not likely that the greatest of all works should be laid upon the shoulders of him that is less than God Again if you look Psalm 139. there you shall find that the Prophet ascribes both Omni-presence and the searching of the heart unto the Holy Spirit which plainly speaks out his being God and Rom. 9 1. you find Paul calling the Holy Ghost to bear witness of the truth of his heart sorrow for his Brethren the Israelites which plainly proves that he is God See two Texts for this 1 King 8.39 For thou even thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men the same words you have in 2 Chron. 6.30 in both which places you see it is the peculiar prerogative of the only true God to know the hearts of the sons of men and I think no man is or at least should be so weak as to think the Apostle would call him to bear witness of the truth of the heart that doth not understand and know the heart I shall name you but one Text more for this and that is Luke 1.35 And the Angel answered and said unto her the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God Here you see that the Holy Spirit is called the highest and I think a title beyond this is not given any where nor cannot be given to the only true God but besides the Angel tells Mary that the Holy Ghost shall come upon her and by the power of him she should conceive and therefore this Son of hers should be called the Son of God Now therefore me thinks this should put the business beyond all dispute for if the Holy Spirit be the Father of our Lord Jesus sure he cannot be less than the only true God But it may be you will say unto me How shall all this that I have said be reconciled Can the Father be God and the Son be God and the Holy Spirit be God and yet there be but one only true God Beloved I pray you do not cast away an Opinion because it is old neither do I perswade you to receive it therefore but measure all Opinions both old and new by the measuring line of Truth the Word of God unto which I shall leave you for the tryal of this great mystery of godliness and shall commend two Texts more unto you for the reconciling of what hath been said the one is in 1 Tim. 3.16 Great is the mysterie of godliness God was manifest in the flesh Here me thinks the Apostle shews you how all this is reconcileable God was manifest in the flesh saith he not the Godhead of Christ without the Father and without the Spirit but God saith He was manifested in the flesh that is the God-head as it is written Iohn 10.30 I and my Father are one not only in communion as some may think but also in union and One-ness as it is plain Iohn 14 9 10 11. another Text you have in Col. 2.3 9. In whom speaking of Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledg Mark it I pray you if all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledg be hid in Christ then are you like to find none of them out of him but all the wisdom of the Father and of the Spirit it will be all found in Christ as it followeth here in verse 9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the God head bodily I know not how you can have more express and plain words all the fulness of the Father and of the Spirit if that be the fulness of the God-head you see dwells in Christ that is it hath such a real union an One-ness with the humane nature of the Lord Jesus that in Act. 20.28 his Blood is there called the Blood of God I shall leave these Texts of Scriptures to your serious consideration and proceed no further at this time but leave the Application till the Afternoon THE FIFTH EXERCISE John 17.3 This is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent I Have in the morning from these words as you know opened the Doctrine of the God-head unto you a work which I have not been forward in nor should I have medled with it being a work of an high nature and requireth the
easily he is tempted finding his own heart alwayes ready to betray him into the Tempters hands this is indeed enough to work amazing thoughts and to drive a person to utter despair if it were not for that ground of hope we have in Jesus Christ but here is a strong ground of considence in this that Christ hath undertaken to save men from sin and to subdue it and that he hath provided weapons to pull down Sathans strongest holds and to bring under every lust though never so strong and high so that there shall not be an imagination or a thought but Christ can and will conquer and bring into subjection by the power of his Spirit yea his business into the world was to purge the Conscience from dead works and to cleanse and purifie the soul from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and to purge us from our very Idols Now therefore consider how great the goodness of God is to put this work into the hands of Christ alass if it had been left in our hands it would never have been done but he hath undertaken it himself and therefore it will prosper Again another end of our Lord Jesus his coming into the world is to comunicate the graces of his Spirit to all that come to him for them John 1.16 and Luke 11.13 How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him saith the Text here you see upon what terms you may obtain the Holy Spirit it is but going to Christ to ask it he hath promised it and he cannot deny it for he is truth it self and cannot deny himself it is impossible Again Jesus Christ came to bring life and immortality to light through the Gospel 1 Tim. 1.10 Mark it I pray you his coming hath brought life and immortality that is as much as to say he hath brought an immortal crown of life and glory yea may some poor soul say it is a good portion indeed if a man knew which way to come to inherit it but alass I do not know which way I can come by this blessed inheritance that is answered in the next words he hath brought it to light through the Gospel that is as much as if he should say he came also to bring a Gospel that should bring light with it unto the understandings and souls of men Beloved it is not promised to men whether they attend to the Gospel or no therefore deceive not your own hearts but if you do attend on the Gospel and take its direction it will bring that light into thy soul that will bring thee to see how to come to enjoy this blessed inheritance there be many precious promises of the like nature in the Scriptures look Prov. 2.6 first verses and do but consider them there is a plain promise that if you use the same diligence in praying and seeking for this spiritual riches as men use to do for temporal Riches you shall be sure to find it and the ground of this is because that out of the mouth of the Lord cometh knowledg and understanding it is not therefore because a man makes diligent search and so deserveth it no nor yet because it lyeth either in his diligence or the Ordinances unavoidably but because the grace and love of God is such that he sent Jesus Christ for that very end that whosoever would be but perswaded to wait upon him in the use of the means appointed by him for that end and purpose should not miss of that grace and sweet advantage to his poor soul another end of his coming is to tread down Sathan under our feet so that although he be full of subtilty and craft and strength and makes use of all the means and instruments he can yet shall he never be too hard for that soul that comes to Christ for Refuge no although the poor soul be laden with ignorance lust hardness of heart and unbelief too and never so many sinful and soul-destroying diseases if he do but come to Christ in good earnest and desire him to deliver him he wil certainly do it nay if when Christ knocks at the door of a sinners heart to bid him stand up from the dead and he will deliver him out of the paw of the Devil if then I say you shut not Christ out of door and bid him depart from thee and tell him thou desirest not the knowledg of his wayes I say again if thou deal not thus with him it is the proper work for which Christ came to seek out lost sinners and to save them and therefore he will not be wanting to do it again he came to be a fellow-feeler of our infirmities that he might know what it is to suffer adversity and to be tempted to the end he might be a merciful High Priest and might minister that help comfort and strength which would be needful upon all occasion therefore you may be sure that whatever your souls distress is whether it be sin sorrow temptation or of what kind soever there is help for you in Christ if you do not neglect it or refuse it but you must know also that Christ came to command sinners to Repent and Beleeve and obey him and if you shall for the love of pleasure or profit wilfully refuse the offers of his Grace you must know he came with Authority to execute judgement in all such cases and thus much for this present THE SEVENTH EXERCISE John 17.3 This is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent YOu know that in the morning I came to speak to this third general head of Doctrine in the Text namely the sending of Jesus Christ and I have shewed you who sent him and from whence he came and what he was sent to do all that I shall now add to that I have said already is only this that as the Father hath sent him to take upon him these three great Offices King Priest and Prophet so he hath furnished him with power and ability to do all the work that doth belong unto these Offices therefore you need not fear to cast your burthen upon the Lord for God hath laid help upon one that is mighty Psalm 89.19 Isai 63.1 one strong enough to break down the power of all your enemies sin lust snare temptation or whatever else lies in the way of your peace he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him Heb. 7 25. Now the reason of this wherefore it was necessary for Christ to be sent of the Father for the doing of this great work is this such is the helplesness of poor fallen man he is so dead in Trespasses and sins and in so miserable and lost a condition that nothing but the free Grace of God in Christ can possibly help him for he in himself is so utterly unworthy of any mercy that there is no other way to
MEANES TO PREVENT PERISHING OR THE USEFULNESSE OF The Saving Knowledge OF GOD. Discovered in these Particulars I. The blessed tendency the Knowledg of God hath to bring Men to Salvation II. The One-ness of the Father Son and Spirit III. The excellency of Christs Person IV. The excellent nature of Eternal Life By W S. a Servant of the Lord Jesus Hos 4.6 My people are destroyed for lack of Knowledge LONDON Printed and are to be sold by Fr. Smith in Flying-Horse Court in Fleet-street 1658. To the READER Courteous Reader THese following lines are brought to thy view through the desire of some that heard them Preached and could not be satisfied till others had a taste of them as well as themselves It grieves me for thy sake that a subject of this worth hath not been brought forth by some better abilities but seeing it is my lot to be the instrument of its birth I must present a few requests to thee And the first is this that thou wouldst consider the usefulness of these most precious truths how much they will contribute toward the attainment of thine eternal peace Knowledge in general is justified of all her Sons to be of excellent worth but amongst all Knowledge the knowledg of God in Jesus Christ must be confess'd to be a jewel of the choicest worth it is the Corner Stone of all Religion and piety that tends to set thy judgement right in all other points and an excellent guide to the right interpretation of the holy Scriptures It hath likewise a great command over the Conscience and hath a blessed tendence to keep thee from prophaneness unrighteousness and negligence when once thou comest to know God in Christ thou canst not well through despair want incouragement to serve God nor yet through presumption take the boldness to wander from his Commandements but this Grace is such a help to keep thy heart and life in an upright frame that without very much wilfulness thou canst not well go out of thy way to happiness And likewise the knowledge of the worth of Eternal Life tends much to draw thy mind from Eartly vanities to those things that be above A second desire I have to thee is this That thou wilt lay aside that overliness and formality of Spirit wherewith Books of this nature are oftentimes read as if they were things that concerned us not but be so faithful to thy Souls interest as to read this without prejudice partiality and slightness of spirit lay up these truths in thine heart and bring forth the fruit of them and doubtless they will make thy conversation to shine to the praise of the Grace of God in this life and also make thee a meet heir of that glorious inheritance prepared for all them that love the appearing of our Lord Jesus Thirdly I beseech thee if thou meetest with Edification and Comfort as I trust thou wilt in the reading of this Book when thine heart is warm present a request to the Throne of Grace for the Author thereof that he may never be so unhappy as to carve all these sweet dainties away to others from himself but that he may be through Grace inabled to take his own share of them for his saving advantage So commending my poor yet faithful Labours to thy serious consideration and to the blessing of the great God of Heaven and Earth I remain thine in the Lord Jesus W. S. MEANES TO PREVENT PERISHING THE FIRST EXERCISE John 17.3 And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent IN the words immediately going before you may observe that our Lord Jesus is a speaking by way of acknowledgment unto his Father of that authority and power that he had given him over all Flesh And in particular to give eternal life to a certain number there specified Which words I shall not speak further to now having opened them the last time I spake unto you In the words now read unto you you are to consider in what sence the knowledg of God and of Christ is Eternal Life I shall apply my self to this only at this time and not stand to shew you what is here meant by Eternal Life having done it so lately nor yet stand to shew you in what sence the Father sent Christ nor what to do nor wherefore he is said to be the only true God But I shall leave all this till another time and come to this particular only at this time to consider how the knowledg of God and of Christ is Eternal Life First then let us consider whether the meaning of the words be this That the persons that know the Father and Jesus Christ do indeed possess Eternal Life Or Secondly Whether they that know God and Christ are thereby assured of Eternal Life Or Thirdly Whether those that know the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ have thereby a very excellent means that hath a very gracious tendency in it to bring the persons in whom this knowledg is to Eternal Life Now I shall not stand to oppose the two former Expositions nor undertake to say that in no sence or degree they might be granted to be true yet the latter I take to be the meaning of the words namely this That the knowledg of God and of Jesus Christ is a means of Eternal Life Beloved I pray you observe it when the Scripture saith the knowledg of God is eternal life less than this cannot be in it that it is a means thereof Now therefore I pray you observe this general Conclusion from the words Doct. 1. That the knowledg of God and of his Son Jesus Christ is a glorious means of Eternal Life that hath a very gracious tendency in it to bring persons in whom this knowledg is to that happy enjoyment I shall name you two or three Texts more that speak the same language the first is in the 9 of Ier. 23 24. verses Let not the wise man glory in his wisdome nor the mighty in his might let not the rich man glory in his riches but let him that gloryeth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me Mark it beloved let not the wise man glory in his wisdom and yet wisdom is a most excellent gift that might better be gloried in then riches or strenth or any gift of that like nature and yet the spirit of God grants no liberty to glory in it but in this saith the Lord let him glory that he understandeth and knoweth me Now if in this you may so freely glory by the allowance of the Holy Spirit and yet neither in gifts nor parts surely this knowledg is of a most excellent tendency to bring much advantage and good to the Soul Another text you shall find in the 1 of Cor. the 1.21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
knowledge of God for if you would have grace and strength to mortifie sin you must go to Christ for it and if you go to him it must be by faith and if that be gotten it must be by the knowledg of God Secondly you will never get such a faith as will stand you in any stead or do you any good in the day of temptation without it for it must be the knowledge of the nature of God that is a God of love and of Free-grace and one that can abound in pardoning and that he sent Jesus Christ to save sinners till a man knows that Christ is a Saviour that he layes both the first and the last stone thereof and that a man cannot be one hairs breadth better then he is by nature till the Spirit of Christ hath mended him and that the first work that a man can do acceptably is to come to Christ for a cure both for his heart and life I say till a man knows this he can never be established in beleeving you shall see the reason of it presently a man that wants this knowledge he gathers such grounds to build his confidence upon that are swept away in the day of temptation it is with his faith just as it is with a house that is built upon the sands where the tide comes when the wind and the tide comes strong away goes the ground and the house together even so is it with an ignorant mans faith for this is one of his best incouragments to beleeve when he considers that his former sinfull prophane life is the road way to hell then he endeavours to leave those courses and falls to prayer and to reading and hearing and this he takes to be such a change that now he thinks he is a child of God and that all the promses belong unto him but then when his old lusts appear again and take hold on him then he falls to utter dispair and concludes that he was but an hypocrite at the best and that there is no hope for him and one day he thinks it is a duty to beleeve and another day he thinks there is no ground for him so to do and thus the poot soul is unstable and tossed like a ship in a tempest one while mounted up to heaven and another while thrown down into the deep and melted a way with trouble But now the soul that knows God and did see in him a ground to beleeve at the first without any works of righteousness done before-hand and that knew Jesus Christ came to save from sin and to give repentance as well as eternall life and did at the first cast himself upon him not as a saint but as a sinner this man if he should fall as low as he was before yet he will see at least the same ground to beleeve us he did see at the first I speak not this to incourage any any to renew there sins I hope you wil not make so bad a use of it but if any should yet is the doctrin of grace a truth that must be preached though some should wrest it to their own destruction Thirdly the knowledge of God will carry a man through the worst of troubles if he should come into Jobs case that his wife should be strange and his children and estate swept away and his godly friends turned his enemies yet would he be able to say with him though he kill me yet I will and I can trust in him for I know my Redeemer liveth Thus when a man can say with Paul I know whom I have beleeved by being able to see the power wisdom truth and goodness of God it will be such a rock for him to set his feet upon that will keep him from sinking in the worst of times Fourthly a man that knows God will serve him with that delight that another man cannot do an ignorant man may be convinced that it is a duty to hear and to pray and the like but he hath no comfort in these ordinances but yet he uses them because he dares do no otherwise but a man that knows God sees such a beauty in God that he goes to seek him with much delight he knows they be means appointed of God to bring him into neerer communion with him and to give him a more glorious sight of God and therefore it is a work well peasing to him and he goes about it with as much content as men use to go to their recreations but the other goes to the same work as one goes to a trade that he is set to against his will he does it untowardly and unwillingly and will get from it if he can and so wil the man from duties that knows not God if he can but find a way to escape the rebukes of his own conscience Now therefore I pray you make it your first greatest work to get the knowledg of God with all diligence seek for it for the prise thereof is greater then silver choice gold or rubies therefore search for it more then for hidden treasures There is two means that I will direct you to make use of for the getting of this knowledge The first is the consideration of the works of God if a man do but humbly and wisely observe his great works they will shew forth much of his glory if you look to the heavens and consider what a great distance they are spread above the earth and compassing it round about and see those glorious creatures the Sun Moon and Stars roul about to serve poor worms and lumps of clay how plainly will they teach you that the creator of them is a God of infinite goodness for before ever he did create either them or the men for whose sakes they were created the Lord did perfectly understand all the wickedness that would in time be commited by every one of them and yet it did not hinder him in this great worke but he hath done it and continues to uphold it notwithstanding all that unworthiness that is found among the children of men and if you look to the Earth and the Seas and see them hang in a round lump in the midst of the heavens cleaving together and the waters not over-flowing the earth this great work will tell you that the Creator thereof is infinite in power wisdom and goodness and if you consider how the Earth and the Seas are stored with variety of Creatures with severall hosts of creatures and yet not a man nor a beast nor a fish nor a fowl no worm nor any creature more nor less but God takes care every day how they shall be fed the wild beasts of the wilderness that no man takes care of have there meat and there drink every day from the hand of God Oh how do these gracious acts of his every day preach the glory of his great name to all considering men that will but set themselves to mind the great wisdom patience power truth
not unlawful such a reward may be received neither do I speak as if there were no lawfulness in any remove I know it is lawful when a mans work and not his wages is the cause thereof I shall say no more to this because I am not speaking to an Auditory of Preachers but I intreat you al to look to your hearts that you use your knowledg not for the advancing of your selves in the world but for the glory of God the good of your own souls and the good of the souls of others learn by it more to fear and to trust in the Lord dayly learn to delight in him by it and let it be a means of bringing you into a neerer communion with him every day and forget not to communicate your knowledge to others but be distilling of it dayly into their souls it is true ignorant ones should be asking their fathers and their elders and such as can teach them Deut. 32.7 but seeing they are commonly backward to their duty therefore every knowing person should be wisely and humbly forward to draw them to the knowledg of him Another duty you must be intreated to take special notice of is this if you professe to know God remember to live holily you are ingaged to it eminently therefore I yray you above all things let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel and let every one of you that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity 2 Tim 2.19 The Apostle Titus 1.16 speaks of a sort of men that professe to know God but in works they deny him being abominable saith he and well may he say so for it is abominable indeed to know God and to carry ones self as if they had never heard or known that there is a God I beseech you take heed that none of you be found among that abominable nūber but let your works manifest that you are such as doe indeed know the Lord it concerns every one of you to shine as lights in this present evil world you have no other way to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men at lest no way without this although you speak never so knowingly and holily that will not serve the turn actions speak lowder then words therefore I pray you let us study holiness without it we cannot see the Lord hereafter nor please him here without it we shall do no good in the world nor draw any ignorant ones to the knowledg of God or love of his truth but contrarily you will be a means to drive men from Christ and to cause them to abhor his truth without holiness you neither will nor can be of any better use in the world then to be stumbling blocks for blind men to tumble over into hell therefore let us cast away every work of darkness and put on the whole armor of light studying to be holy in all manner of conversation and bring forth those fruits of humility patience justice mercifulness love self-denial and the rest of the fruits of the spirit that the world may see that God is in you of a truth and that they may be able to say these men do indeed direct us into the path that leads to eternal life but if you walk contrary to holiness you will do no good but hurt with all your knowledg the better you talk the more mischief you will do the world will be apt to think there is no beleeving you whatever you say but the better you speak of God the more they will question whether there be a God or no for say they if these men did beleeve as they speak would they live as they do therefore if you would not be instruments to bring the world into stark Atheisme live holily if this follow not namely there turning Atheists yet that wil follow which is bad enough the world wil certainly conclude that you are hypocrites and that you have your bad ends in all your good words and so they will be brought to have an evil opinion of all your undertakings and so you will be in no capacity to do them any good therefore I pray you consider and beware of all those sins that will procure so much mischief especially beware of those sins the World is so apt to charge upon you it is a charge the World hath had against professors this thirty years and more in my knowledg that they are a proud people and none so covetous as they and that they be uncharitable and do no good in the World Now I pray you Brethren consider whether this be true or no if this be a slander then you may bear it the better but if your proud carriage covetous words or actions close-fistedness and the like have procured this report then I beseech you repent and let your attire be below your Rank rather than above it let your words and actions be free from Covetousness give not the World occasion any more to speak or to think so hardly of you abound more in doing good according unto your ability and let no more such complaints be heard by your means it were better a great deal that you were out of the World than that you should live in it to bring forth such fruit as will cause the Gospel to have an evill savour in the World There is one duty more that I would intreat you to mind if the knowledg of God and of Christ be of so great use then let us not forget to be thankful that he is pleased to afford us such a gracious means of knowledg as the Word of Truth is Oh consider of the greatness of his Mercy that the Lord should be pleased to write so many plain and gracious characters of his great and glorious Name and send it to us and that we should at least see so much of his back parts as may incourage and inable us to beleeve and that he should so preserve the Scriptures as he hath done although they have gone through so many foul hands and he hath very plainly manifested the ends of our Lord Jesus Christs coming into the World and thereby opened a door of Salvation unto us poor unworthy sinners this should cause us to exalt his Name and tell forth his praises and wonderful works with rejoycing that we may affect the hearts of others and cause them to love the Lord and to trust in him for ever Vse 5. I have but one Use more to make of this Point and that is a word to Men that know not God I must let you know that it is your duty to be thankful also and although you do not know the Father nor the Son yet that you might have known them and may yet possibly come to know them it is a great mercy and although you care not to know him yet it is his mercy nevertheless in affording you so gracious a means of knowledg I say although you neither do nor will know him yet is he merciful
best abilities that these times do afford but only for these reasons I have now done it First I find some such motions flying abroad both in discourse and in print about this subject which in my judgement savours not well Secondly I do not find able men men of knowledg such as I would be glad to provoke to this work so forward to bring forth light as others to bring forth darkness and if they have it is more than I know Thirdly the matter I have spoken to fell in my way and I thought I might do well and it was my duty to bring forth my Mite in such a time as this wherein I find so many casting vails over the Name of Christ and of the Holy Spirit now therefore I do beseech you seriously to consider of that which hath been said unto you take heed of looking upon our Lord Jesus as a meer Creature lest your Faith fail you in the day of Temptation if the work of Redemption be but considered how great it is what a price must be laid down before this work could be done and that Law which in that condition in which man once stood would have been his life now he cannot expect nothing from it as the case standeth but only death but all the life and pardoning Grace that now cometh to poor man comes only through the Blood of the Lord Jesus now except a man know the worth and all-sufficiency of Christ that he is perfectly able to remove all the Curses which his sins have deserved and also able to procure him all the blessings his soul stands in need of it will be very hard if not altogether impossible to rest upon him in the day of tryal and so likewise when a man shall come to see what a great work it is to change the heart of man to subdue sin and to sanctifie the soul and when he shall see the barrenness of his heart in the graces and fruits of the Spirit of Christ also and withall considers what a degree of perfection all those are brought unto that inherit Eternal life and then minds that the Spirit of God is he that hath undertaken to carry on this hard and to man this impossible work If now he be not established in the knowledg and firm belief of this that the Holy Spirit that carries on this work is the only true God I say except a man beleeve and know this he can have little ground to hope or beleeve that ever it will come to perfection but wherefore should any men be so hardly brought to beleeve this me thinks it is for want of consideration the scriptures you know speaks of the Spirit of God in some places and in other places of the Spirit of Christ should we therefore be so weak as to think that the Father hath one Spirit Christ another but now if we must needs understand that the Spirit of God the Spirit of Christ is but one Spirit wherefore should we not as well believe that God the Spirit of God are all one likewise then Beloved if the Spirit of Christ and the Father be one and God and the Spirit of God one then wherefore should we think that the Godhead of Christ and of the Father are more than one but I shall press this no further but come now to make some Use of it Vse 1. And if it be so that there is one and but one only true God who is the fountain and perfection of all Power Wisdom Truth and goodness who alone made Heaven and Earth the seas and all the Hosts of Creatures that are contained in them and on whose meet grace and love depends the happiness and well-being of all things whatsoever whos 's all seeing eye beholds all the secrets of all hearts and whose Eternal invisible unchangeable Almighty and Omni-present Being fills the whole Creation but is not contained in it who is worthy of all honour service praise and worship from all Creatures for evermore I say if this be so then let this God be our God let us have no other but him alone to be our God I shall not trouble you nor my self with that foolish Generation of men that use to picture him up and to set him forth by such vain Images as their hands can make I hope you are past this absurd and foolish practice but I pray you beware that you set up no. Idols of him in your minds Oh do not suffer any thought or imagination of him to come or to rest within your hearts that is low or carnall take heed that you do not liken him to any thing that ever your eyes have seen but let your thoughts be of him acording unto that glorious discription that his own boly records give of him let high reverence and honour love and holy fear accompany every thought that comes into your minds of his most excellent and glorious Name be sure you chuse him for your chiefest good let him be your only Diadem and the Crown which your hearts have chosen for your chiefest treasure be sure that you do not esteem love nor honour any relation or thing whatsoever as you do this most High and only true God for if you do you commit Idolatry against him who is a jealous God and will not give his glory to another and therefore beware for whatsoever any man doth set up and in heart esteeme love or honour above God or equall with him sets up another God and shall be reckoned amongst Idolaters and such as have committed spiritual whoredom against him when Christ shall come to judg every man according to his works But I shall more particularly come to shew you something of the honour that is due to this only true God in setting some of those duties before you which in especial you owe to him First then give him this honour to yeeld up your hearts unto him to love him above all things whatsoever this use Moses makes of this point Deut. 6.45 hear O Israel saith he the Lord our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might Here you see what is due to God even love in the very height of it the whole heart soul might is all little enough for God no creature must come between the heart and God neither wife nor child nor pleasure nor profit for if there be any thing in the world that a man loves better than God or as well as he this is no less a sin than the setting up of another God therefore look to your hearts in these two special cases when the glory of God comes in competition either with a mans beloved relations or his beloved sins if he cannot cast them both away for the honour of his God he is unworthy of him see I pray you what our Lord Jesus saith to this point Luke 14.26 If any man come
man can never be disappointed by trnsting in him for he is a Rock on whom you may rest with full assurance all those that trust in him shall never be ashamed therefore trust in him at all times and for all things that your souls stand in need of you may go to him for it not only by Prayer but also by dependance whatever your wants be whether you want pardoning or purging mercy or sanctifying grace or outward things in all cases whatsoever trust perfectly and fully upon him without fear for a supply of all your wants for he is the only true God that is to say he is the fulness and perfection of all power wisdom mercy truth and goodness whatsoever and one that can no more disappoint the soul that trusteth in him than he can cease to be God but I beseech you take heed that you trust in no other person nor thing whatsoever but only in him for if you do you commit Idolatry against him therefore set up no other gods to your selves I pray you see what the Prophet saith to this case Jer. 17.5 Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord here you may see how this sin is cursed of trusting in man it would make one tremble to fall under the curse of the Holy Spirit what is the matter that procureth this Curse why the sin is trusting in man and that is a very grievous sin for it is a making flesh his arm that is his strength and that is to set up another god as you may see in the words following and whose heart departeth from the Lord mark it I pray you when a man depends upon the Creature for any thing that is proper for God to give this is to ascribe that to the Creature which is due to God and it is a very high degree of sin to depart from the Lord and that in heart and to rest upon the Creature for help instead of God it is plainly to deny him and to honour the Crearure and that in heart with the greatest honour that can be given to the Lord for it is to acknowledg the Creature to have both power and mercy to help in time of need and to deny it to be found in God see Psalm 62.10 11 12. If riches encrease set not your hearts upon them but what if we should wherein lies the sin note it I pray you the sin is great and lies in this that a man saith in his heart there is both power and mercy in Riches to help me and this saith the Prophet only belongeth unto God as it followeth in the next words Now therefore I pray you trust in nothing but in the living God neither for spiritual nor for temporal things Oh I depend neither upon Friends nor Riches no nor yet upon wisdom nor strength nor trade nor any thing in the world that is below the only true God But you will say what is it to trust in these things I would not willingly do it for I know it is a sin I answer when a man promiseth himself comfort from any thing whatsoever he trusteth in it let him say what he will to the contrary as for example when a man thinketh thus in his heart I have a Friend that will not see me want or I have a good Trade or so much Riches or Land therefore it shall go well with me this man trusteth in these things or whosoever promiseth himself Bread to eat or Clothes to put on from any other ground save only this the power mercy and truth of God he having undertaken to provide for him trusteth in that thing whatever it is therefore let Rich men especially remember Pauls charge in 1 Tim. 6.17 and look well to their hearts that they do not trust in their Riches no not for Bread for to morrow but only in the promises of the living and only true God The fourth duty that you owe to this only true God is obedience this use Moses makes of this point Deut. 4.39.40 the Lord saith he s God both in Heaven and in earth there is none else and what follows Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes and his Commandements I pray you observe it his Commandements must be obeyed that is all of them you must obey for if you should obey some of them and leave the rest undone the Lord would never take it well at your hands no Beloved you must give up your selves to walk universally obedient unto all the Commandements He that shall break one of the least of them Mat. 5.19 shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven that is that shall allowedly and wilfully break the least of them God looks to be obeyed in all things whatsoever you know to be a duty although it be never so small or never so contemptible you must yeild obedience to it or whatever you can come to know to be a duty hereafter you must have your hearts in a ready frame to obey when you do come to know or can come to know more or whatever you know or can come to know to be a sin you must avoid and mortifie there must be no bearing with any sin no nor with any corruption if it bring never so much profit or never so much pleasure all must be cast away that is contrary to his most holy will and all this is to be done willingly or else the Lord accepteth it not the Lord looks for the whole heart and therefore if you do dot willingly and in love to God yeild up your selves to live to him in all things he will not account it sincere obedience And as you must take heed you obey no sin so likewise you must obey no Creature but in the Lord therefore if the Magistrate or thy Husband Master or Father Landlord or whosoever commandeth thee to do any thing that is not according to the will of God let this be an everlasting Law to thee in all such cases obey God rather than men but if any that hath authority over thee shall command any thing which is lawful and may be done without scruple of Conscience in all such cases thou art to yeild ready and willing obedience unto them as unto Christ And the last but not the least duty that I shall now press upon you is this Take heed that you learn of no man or men what worship you must give unto God nor after what manner it must be performed but learn all this of the Lord himself get a ground from the Scriptures for all the Doctrines that you receive for truth I say get a ground for them in your own understandings and all the wo ship of God both for matter and manner and all the circumstances thereof see that it be grounded upon the word of truth if you would be sure not to commit Idolatry then take heed of being lead by the judgements of men in any of
from heaven but must have been as truly of the earth as he is man as all other men be but it is very plain that the man-hood of Christ is from heaven as you may see also 1 Cor. 15.47 The second man is the Lord from heaven the owrds be so plain that I need not urge them look also John 6.38 For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me Note it I pray you as he is God he doth his own will but he came down from heaven and yet not to do his own will therefore he speaks here as man it is clear and so in the 62 verses What and if ye shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before How evident is this that the son of man was in heaven before and was sent from thence into the world and Iohn 16.28 Christ saith I came forth from the Father and am come into the world again I leave the world and go to the Father and in this same Iohn 17.5 how earnestly doth our Lord pray the Father to let him enjoy that same glory that he had with him before the world was Now it is very clear this he did not now enjoy at this time that glory that he had enjoyed before the world was and this is now earnestly expected and prayed for as you see a case incedent to the man-hood of Christ but it is that which can never befall the God-head for there is nothing more obsurd and senseless than for a man to think that the God-head can ever be deprived of the full enjoyment of it self now that he took upon him our nature is plain Heb. 2.16 and many other places might be aledged to prove this if need were But I shall now come to the third particular to shew you the ends of our Lords coming into the world and the first end of his coming is to teach us the will of his Father and to manifest his great love to the sons of men according to that promise Deut. 18.15 18 19. and Acts 3.22 and 7.37 Iohn 3.16 17. and 12 16. to the end Secondly he came to be the true High-Priest of which all the other were types and to offer up himself for sinners and to bear all there infirmities according as that whole epistle to the Hebrews witnesseth and many other places also might be aledged to prove it if it were needful Thirdly Christ came to reign over all men yea to reign in the consciences of men and hath power of judging and condemning all those that be found disobedient unto him Psalm 2.8 to the end Luke 19 14 27. Romans 14.9 and 15.12 Iohn 5.22 23 27 29 30. But I shall take a little time more particularly to open some of these things unto you and to shew you what a sweet advantage we have by the coming of the Lord Jesus First he came to redeem us from the curse of the Law and hath born the curse for us and by this means will deliver all the sons of Adam from the misery that the first sin brought upon them yea and from the curses of the Law in general even from the paws of death it self and from all the miseries that procure it so that the ungodliest of men shall rise again from the dead and thus farr he is the Saviour of all men what ever he doth more for them and if they perish eternally it is for sinning against the Gospel either for neglecting their own salvation or for turning the grace of God into wantonness or for some such-like evills as these be Now I beseech you consider by what means Christ is thus a Saviour to you Beloved it is by bearing the Curse for you and undergoing those miseries that are due to you for your offences by his poverty you are rich by his stripes we are healed by his sorrows we have joy and by his death we have life He was made sin for us though in himself he knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him although in our selves we are unrighteous also Jesus Christ hath by his Blood and sufferings for the sons of men purchased a just authority and dominion over them all so that if they refuse to come unto him and when light comes chuse darkness rather and when he calls them to Repent and beleeve the Gospel and sayes look to me and be ye saved all ye the ends of the earth if then I say they shall refuse to come unto him for life yet shall they never be able to refuse to come before his Judgement-seat to receive the just reward of that disobedience but on the other hand the Lord Jesus came to be a Saviour to all those that come unto him yea that when he calls refuse not to hear but are willing to suffer the reproofs of wisdom to enter into their souls yea he will save all these with an everlasting salvation Beloved he came to bring salvation to such in all the parts of it First he justifieth such from all that from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses yea he hath power to forgive sins and he will justifie them freely through the work of Redemption But further I pray you observe the Lord Jesus will give Repentance to and graciously melt and soften the hearts of poor sinners if they do but hearken to his voice it is the very end of his coming to give Repentance as well as Remission of sins and he will work your hearts to Repentance if you do not oppose the work of his grace and continue to do it yea although you have hearts never so hard he will soften them himself by his own Spirit if you do not harden your own beares but wait at wisdoms gate then shall you see how graciously he will manifest himself at last indeed if so be that a soul were to work Repentance in his own heart or must see that it is wrought there before he might either go for mercy or had a ground to expect it that were enough to break the heart indeed and to discourage a man for ever hoping after mercy but the case is far otherwise for Christ came to work Repentance and to seek and save that which was lost and therefore although a person be never so hard-hearted and unbelieving and although he be never so dead if he have never a spark of life in him if he will but hearken to the voice of Christ Christ will give him life again another work that Christ came to do is to subdue sin and although it be never so strong he will subdue it it can never be too strong for him when a poor soul looks about him and sees a multitude of strong corruptions within him and then looks again and sees another multitude of strong temptations and snares without him round about and withall discerns the weakness of his own heart and sees how
bring him into acceptation with God but only through the worthiness of the Lord Jesus Again there is that weakness in poor man that he is no way able to help himself he can neither repent beleeve nor obey no nor get any Grace into his own heart nor mortifie any Corruption nor of himself find out the way by which any of all these great works should be done but for ought that he can do for himself he is in a necessity of perishing for ever there is no help for him but only in Jesus Christ and if the Lord had not in the riches of his free Grace provided such a Mediator as was able to save to the uttermost sinful man had never been recovered and therefore the Father sent him that was fully able both to justifie and to sanctifie to open the blind eyes and to purge the Conscience and in a word to lay the first and the last stone in the building of Salvation and if God would any way shew his love to poor lost fallen man then must he take this course for there was no other way to do it let us now come to make some use of this Point And in the first place let it serve to provoke the very worst and wickedest of sinners to come to Christ for help and deliverance Beloved you have heard what a Saviour he is therefore I beseech you do not stand to dispute your own badness but how bad soever you be cast your selves upon him for help and to that end that this work may be done throughly and as it ought to be done labour in the first place to know the worst of your own hearts there is many a poor Soul that is afraid to think the worst of himself for fear he should see so much badness as should take off his hopes and discourage him for going to Christ for mercy But I pray you learn to be wiser than so search your hearts to the very bottom and how bad soever that thou findest it yet be sure that thou dost not fail to go to Christ for a cure although thou hast been never so bad worse than Manasseh or any wretch that ever thou readest of or ever heardest of if thou findest thy self upon due search to be the veriest Hypocrite or the veriest enemy to God and godliness that is in the whole world yet let it not keep thee from going to Christ but make so much the more hast by how much thou findest thy self the more wicked and although thy sins be never so great and never so many there is no sin but he can pardon yea and he will pardon it if thou come unto him I say again there is no sin nor sinners if they come to Christ but he will surely be gracious unto them He that comes to me will I in no wise cast out saith the Lord John 6.37 therefore go unto him and be assured he will receive you whatever your Souls diseases be sear not to go unto him with them for he cures all that come unto him see what woful diseases Christ was sent to cure Luke 4.18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty them that are bruised Now I pray you let us a little consider of this text he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel and what is the Gospel why the Gospel is free mercy through the blood of Christ pardon regeneration and salvation yea all the happness that comes to a soul by Jesus Christ this is the Gospel and this Christ was anointed to preach and therefore doing it by the spirit it must needs be truth that he preacheth other men may preach lies but so doth not the fountain of truth you may be sure But who is all this mercy to be preached to saith Christ it is to be preached to the poor and who is poor a man is not accounted poor if he have either land or goods or mony and so it is in spiritual things also one altogether destitude of whatsoever might commend him to God one that hath no purity neither in heart nor life no faith no love no knowledg no mortification nor renewing of mind no delight in God nor his word nor having the light of his countenance shining upon the soul now one that hath none of all this spiritual riches he is poor but he that is inriched with any of these spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ is not poor now I hope you see who Christ was anointed with the spirit to teach the Gospel to but see what follows in the next words to heal the broken hearted saith he and who is that why one that hides his head for debt and owes more then he is worth this man we account a broken man So likewise when a man is through the sight of his undone condition afraid of Arrests and executions from God dayly and knows not where to hide his head being in fear and anguish of spirit Christ was sent you see to heal this spiritually broken estate In the next place he came to preach deliverance to the captives and this is a worse degree of evil when a man is the divils prisoner taken and kept in his snare this is a very sad condition indeed when a man can do nothing but as the devil his keeper will give him leave how can his condition be worse except he were in hell and yet if such a man will but hearken to the word of Christ he shall be sure to be delivered yea but my case is worse then all this may some poor soul say for I am not only the divels prisoner but I have given my self up so to his will and suffered him so to blind mine understanding that now if Christ should come and throw open the prison doors yet shall I never find my way out Yea saith Christ in the next words but I came to open the blind eyes also and although the divell have put them quite out yet suffer me to put but some spitle and clay upon them and I will recover them again take but my direction turn at my reproof at left do not despise it and set it at nought and then be sure I will poure out my spirit and that will fully cure thee Yea but the soul may further object and say I have waited on the Ordinances and endeavoured to get out of the snare of the divel and he hath fetcht me back and beaten me sore when I have but asseyed to get from him so that I see the more I strive the worse I am bruised and therefore there is no hope for me yes saith Christ I came to set at liberty such bruised ones and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord as it follows in the next words and although thou hast waited