Nothing that Jacob meets withal in this World should trouble his Heart but his Sin and that no further neither than is necessary to his thorow-forsaking of it it being only that which hinders the shining of the face of his God upon him and grieves the Spirit of the Lord causing him to withdraw his sweet Influences and leave us to feed upon the Husks of our Gifts and Parts till we are become sensible of the want of that True Bread which is to be enjoyed in our Father's House by those who forsake their Sin and this World with the things therein How many strong Obligations doth the Heart and Hand of God working thus graciously for us lay upon us to be Examining and Trying our Wayes and diligently searching out what that is which stands as a Partition Wall between us and those Everlasting Kindnesses that Glory which shall never be removed which the Lord is waiting a fit time to bestow upon us and to wash and cleanse our selves from it And now give me leave to take a little liberty to warn you of a few things which surely if among us at this time very much grieve the Holy Spirit of God 1. Take heed our Tongue of Profession run not beyond our Feet of Practice Let us not outbid our selves lest when we come to perform we have neither Strength nor Heart to follow our Tongue and so dishonour the Lord that bought us with so great a Price putting him to open-shame by whose Name we are called giving the world of Unbelievers occasion to think him not a sufficient Saviour able to save us from the Power of Sin and Temptation That Sin of the Scribes and Pharisees which our Lord while on Earth was so severe against and Austeer in Reprehending was of the like nature with this speaking great Words but doing little when it came to practice it was but tything Mint and Cummin small things and leaving the weightier things undone The Sad and woful Effects this Sin hath brought forth amongst us for many years past are too too evident 2. Take heed lest shunning that you fall not into another Sinful Extream almost as bad which is Not making an Open Profession of the Truth we believe lest we should not be able to walk answerable to it Knowing that which is convenient and lawful for one man to do is no way lawful nor convenient for another who makes a greater and higher Profession Now lest we should not have strength to come up to that strict Circumspection such a Profession requires to the honouring of it we hide our Light put not our hand to the work our Light would lead us to sit still out of a fear of our own weakness and infirmities this is a subtile Temptation and refined Snare of the Evil One. He that hath had experience of this Evil can tell you that it is of a pernicious nature it not only clearly speaks forth a secret liking of and unwillingness to part with some Beloved Sin that such a degree of owning Truth would necessitate the mortifying of but by this means every Sin that Nature is propense to gets a greater latitude to exercise it self in the whole Man Corruptions grow strong and stout and the Man careless by a mis-use of that Word that tells him That is Lawful and Convenient for him which is Not for another to do and this hinders that Fellowship and Communion with the Father and the Son through the Spirit which otherwayes he might attain unto This is of the same nature with that Temptation Moses himself was troubled with a sinful sense of his own VVeakness and of that Failing of his if it may be so called in the manner of putting his hand to the Work God had ordained him to when he slew the Egyptian Send I pray thee saith he to the Lord by the hand of him whom thou wilt or shouldest send as if he had blamed the VVisdom of God in pitching upon such an unfit and unworthy an Instrument as he was which kindled the Anger of the Lord against him Exod. 4.13 14. and had it not been for the Riches of the Grace of God to him-ward it had lost him the Happiness and Glory he afterward enjoyed in doing the Will and Work of God Our Sin should not hinder but provoke us to honour the Lord more by our Obedience than we have dishonoured him by our Disobedience If any man Sin saith the Apostle we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and this he writes unto us that we sin not 1 Joh. 2.1 And may I say that we sin not a Sin of this nature but looking upon and considering the Advocateship of Jesus Christ on our behalf we take courage and run the Race that is set before us by the Command of God our Father 3. Take heed lest that you upon whom the Extremity of Affliction is not yet come after the measure it is fallen upon others that you do not adde Affliction to the Affliction of your Brethren by your Slighting Undervaluing and Brow-beating them Look over all the Scriptures that relate the sad Condition of Distressed Jacob and see how unkindly God takes this kind of dealing at the hands of any he finds thus exercising themselves and how Severely he threatens to deal with them know of a Truth that before the VVheel of Affliction hath turned round it shall reach you also and it may be the heaviest Spoak may light on you This Sin is of the same nature with that the Lord was so wroth with Amos 6.1 and so on to the 7th verse VVo to them saith God that are at Ease in Sion c. But they are not grieved for the Affliction of Joseph Therefore now shall they go Captive with the first that go Captive How uncomly and unnatural a thing is it for him that professes to participate of the New Nature to make the Rule and Standard of his Valuation of and Respect to his Brother and so it is lesse or more according to his Enjoyment of the Good things of this life I am sure the Apostle James abhorred this Jam. 2.2 3 4 5 6. and upon this account as well as upon any other he cryes Chap. 5.1 Go to now ye Rich men Rich Professors for to such he writ Weep and Howl for your Miseries that shall come upon you I shall adde no further but intreat a serious Consideration of the following Treatise and if the Lord administer any Benefit or Comfort by it to any of Jacob's Afflicted Children or any Glory redound to the Name of God thereby I have my End I proposed to my self both in Writing and Printing this Discourse The good Lord make it fruitful to his Glory and the Good and Comfort of Distressed Jacob. Farewell READER AMong several other lesser Faults escaped the Press thou art desired to take notice of these more Material VIZ. Pag. 8. line 29. for him read them P. 13. l. 17. r. is done
is under sore rebuke and trouble as the preceding 17. Verse manifests The Lord waits that he may be gracious Heaven is ready to Save if Earth were but as ready to be Saved There 's no Obligation no tye upon God to shorten his hand to hinder it from Saving if Jacob were but prepared and ready to receive Salvation Therefore saith the Prophet will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you How will the Lord exalt himself that he may have mercy In Judgement for the Lord is a God of Judgement The Lord will exalt himself and his Glory by his judging of Jacob and while this correcting Judgement is working its natural Effect by the help of the co-working of the mighty Spirit of God in the heart of Jacob he waits to be gracious waits to Save he waits the good hour wherein his Corrections having wrought the desired Effect he may be gracious his Grace may abound above Jacob's Sin in delivering him out of the hands of all his Enemies that he may serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness before him all his dayes Thus was it with Jacob in the Wilderness of Old The Lord was ready to give him the Promised Land the Time was come for him to possess it the Iniquity of the Amorites was full the Enemy was ripe for Judgement yea the Lord told him so by the mouth of his two faithful Witnesses Caleb and Joshua Num. 14.8 9. They are bread for us their defence is departed from them and the Lord is with us But Jacob was not ready to receive it his Sin hinders his Possession This is our Case It 's our own Sin and not anothers that hath hindered our Salvation and brought a sore Affliction upon us And that too at a Time when the Lord's hand was not nor is not shortened by any Consideration of a Time or any thing else on his part but is prepared ready to Save It 's only our own Sin that stands in the way of our Salvation it 's that that Causes the present Hidings of the face of our God from us by it we have as it were Caused God to go out of that path of Salvation he was graciously and wonderfully going on in and to steer another course that he may take away our Sin that which hinders his saving of us and to wait till this Let be taken out of the way that he may be gratious unto us and Save us Q. It may be asked What are those sins which have hindered our Salvation by which we have provoked the Lord our Father so severely to chastise us An. I had thoughts to have enlarged upon this Subject but lest I should grieve the Spirits of any and hoping that a word a hint may prove sufficient I shall do no more This SIN which hath brought Affliction upon us which hath provoked the Father of mercies to chastise us with bloody stripes to take it away is that which hath made us both unfit for God to use in and unable to do the Work the Lord hath appointed to be done by his People Any Sin less than such Sin the Lord would have born with and the Intercession of our Mediator would have prevailed for us as the Children of Israel of old in the Wilderness through the Intercession of their Mediator were many times born with and found favour and grace from God till they came to sin that Sin which unfitted them and put them out of a capacity to receive that great Gift of his Grace and favour he was in a readiness to bestow upon them and to do that Work the Lord had to do by them Now I would only Query whether some parts and parcels of this provoking Sin be not these First Love of this Old World This is a killing Sin most pernitious to Jacob's Happiness while this remains he cannot be a fit Instrument for the Lord to use and so not fit for Deliverance See what the Apostle John saith of it 1 Joh. 2.15 Love not the World neither the things that are in the World If any man love the World the Love of the Father is not in him The reason of this the Apostle James tells us Jam. 4.4 The friendship of this VVorld is enmity with God whosoever therefore will be a friend to the VVorld is the Enemy of God How much and how powerful this Sin hath prevailed amongst us and how far it hath hurried us into other provoking Evils every seeing eye and discerning spirit cannot but be sensible of The reasons why I put it upon the Query whether this hath not provoked the Lord to chastise us are 1. Because our Lord Christ doth so severely warn us to take heed of it Luke 21.34 Take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be over-charged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this Life and so that day come upon you unawares In these words he hath relation to the two extream conditions men are in in this World Full or Empty either in a full possession of it and so out of abundance of Love and Delight they have to it and take in it they drown themselves therein Or being Empty out of a Love to it they are carefully reaching after the possession of it This he equally warns us of and commands us to watch and pray against upon no less penalty than being not accounted worthy to escape the Judgements of God and to stand before the Son of man when he Comes for when he Comes he will neither have the surfeiting drunken Lover nor the careful Lover of this World to be his Follower This is clearly imployed in the 36. Verse 2. Because our Lord Jesus to express his hatred of this Sin sets forth the wickedness of the VVorld at that Day when he comes in Judgement to it by this Love of this VVorld Luke 17. from the 26. to the 30. V. As it was in the dayes of Noah so shall it be also in the dayes of the Son of man They did eat they drank they married VVives they were given in Marriage until the day that Noah entered into the Ark and the Flood came and destroyed them all Likewise also as it was in the dayes of Lot they did eat they drank they bought they sold they planted they builded but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from Heaven and destroyed them all The bare being exercised about these things Christ here reckons up as the sinful state of the World cannot be his meaning for all these things are either necessary to our Being as eating and drinking or else to our Well-Being in this Life They are such things as at his coming he finds also those exercising themselves about whom yet he takes to himself to follow him leaving the rest to Iudgement They were all eating and drinking and marrying and at the Mill and in the field together as well those that he takes to himself as his own Peculiars
World for himself and for his Sake that this State shall be unto us as the Holy of Holies comparatively wherein he will speak Comfortably unto us And speak Comfortably unto her Better words than ever we heard before from him such as shall make us forget all our Trouble and Sorrow And he will not only give Good Words but Gracious Gifts too And it shall be at that day saith the Lord that thou shalt call me Ishi my Husband and shalt call me no more Baali my Lord. Behold he hath been a Gracious Lord but now he will be a Tender Loving Husband unto us he will bring us into more Near and Intimate Converse and Communion and Fellowship with himself than ever we enjoyed all our Days before And this Grace extends not only to our Inward Man but to our Outward Man also I will give her Vineyards from thence Whatsoever we forsake for his Sake to follow him and keep close to him he will not suffer us to be losers by it if we lose a Vineyard any possession in this world to follow him to keep him company in the Wilderness he will give it us again there with advantage according to the Promise of our Lord Jesus Every one that hath forsaken houses or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for my Names sake shall receive an hundred fold and shall inherit Everlasting life Mat. 19.29 Yea so great shall be the manifestation of the Love of God and so abundant shall be the Gifts of God to us there as shall Cause our Exceeding Rejoycing She shall sing there as in the Daies of her youth and as in the Day when she came up out of the Land of Egypt Though this Day of Wilderness-Troubles and Straits brings Sorrowes hard to be undergone yet such shall be the Gracious dealings of the Lord with us as that we shall be made to forget all our Sorrows there 's no Day that ever we yet enjoyed yeelding so much cause of Joy as this shall do the Lord will make us Sing for Joy And now who would not rather choose the Trouble of this Day the very Wilderness of this Wilderness State than the Serenity and Glory which the Children of this world are drowned in which shall be consumed by the burning like the burning of a fire which the Lord of Hosts the Light of the Holy one of Israel shall kindle under it POSTSCRIPT NO thing can Provoke the God of Jacob the God and Father of Mercies to throw him into the Furnace of Affliction and to pour down his Fury upon him but such a degree of Sin as will either being let alone Destroy Jacob seperate him from his God or Deprive God of his Glory even the Glory of those Great and Wonderful things he hath done for his Jacob and even then when he is thus provoked to deal with him in wrath and anger his Eternal Love is at the Bottome of all to draw Jacob Neerer to himself and to make him the People of his Praise and Glory I have Refined thee but not with Silver I have Chosen thee in the Furnace of Affliction for mine own sake even for mine own sake will I do it For how should my Name be Polluted and I will not give my Glory to another Isa 48.10 11. Therefore it is that when these Effects are wrought the Lord so often speaks of Burning the Rod wherewith he Corrects them and punishing their Persecutors and Afflictors Now that the Dealings of the Lord with us may not seem too hard nor discouraging but just and righteous and full of Grace and Love I would mind you of two Scriptures the first is Num. 14. from 20. to 26. And the Lord said I have pardoned according to thy word But as truly as I live all the Earth shall be filled with the Glory of the Lord because all those men which have seen my Glory and my Miracles which I did in Egypt and in the Wilderness and have tempted me now these ten times and have not hearkned to my voice surely they shall not see the Land which I sware unto their Fathers neither shall any of them which provoked me see it but my servant Caleb because he had another Spirit with him and hath followed me fully him will I bring into the Land whereinto he went and his Seed shall possess it Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the Valley To morrow turn you and get you into the Wilderness by the way of the Red Sea We find these Children of Israel in the Wilderness very near Canaan very neer their journies End when these words were spoken unto them They were very neer going out of their Wandering Wilderness State into Canaan a setled happy Condition setled upon the Lords Foundation but their unbelief brought forth Rebellion against the Lord and his Messengers Caleb and Joshuah which hurryed them back into their Wilderness State by the way of the Red Sea the same way by which they came out of Bondage that must be the way now by which they return into Misery These words are the Lords answer to Moses upon his Intercession on behalf of Provoking Israel God had said in his Wrath he would Smite this People and Disinherit them and make of Moses a greater and a mightier Nation than they but upon Moses his Earnest Intercession who was the Mediator of that outward Covenant that was between the Lord and this People as a Nation the Lord is Pacified he grants him his request as far as would stand with his Glory saith the Lord I have pardoned according to thy word but as truly as I live all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord c. as if he should have said to spare all this People the Rebbels as well as the Innocent will not stand with the Glory of my Name thou so much pleadest to me but I will do so and so and by this means will I glorifie my Name this Evil Congregation have Dispised I would but take notice of a few things in the words which I conceive are worth your observing 1. The SIN which thus provokes the Lord. It 's no Common Ordinary Sin for such Moses their Mediator would have prevailed for pardon this People had Sinned against the Lord nine times before and all that was pardoned but this Sin is such a Sin as touches the Lords Glory the Glory of his Name that he had gotten to himself by all those Woundrous Works he had done for them It was Unbelief to such a Degree as was Despising the voice of the Lord in the mouth of his faithful Witnesses and running back towards Egypt towards that State and Condition to Deliver them out of which the Lord had wrought so wonderfully thereby despising that Blessed State and Condition the Lord had Promised and was Ready to bring them into This touches the Eyes of Gods Glory to the quick and brings down Devouring Judgements
GOOD NEVVS OR Wine and Oyle Poured into the Wounds of SINNING and DISTRESSED JACOB In some Meditations on Isa 27.6 7 8 9 verses Directing to the Cause wherefore and the End for which The present Affliction is come upon him Hinting at the Means by which his Deliverance will be wrought And Comforting him against the Extremity of Affliction come and coming upon him By PAIN LuMLE A WELCH christian Jer. 30.7 Alas for that day is great so that none is like it it is even the time of Jacob's Trouble but he shall be saved out of it Lam. 2.1 3.18 21 22 31 32. How hath the Lord covered the Daughter of Sion with a Cloud in his Anger and cast down from Heaven unto the Earth the Beauty of Israel and remembred not his footstool in the day of his Anger I said My Strength and my Hope is perished from the Lord. It is of the Lord's Mercy 's that we are not consumed because his Compassions fail not â— for the Lord will not cast off for ever but though he cause grief yet will be have Compassion according to the multitude of his Mercies Isa 61.9 All that see them shall ACKNOWLEDGE THEM that they are the SEED which the Lord hath BLESSED London Printed in the Year 1661. TO Sinning and Distressed JACOB LEt not your Heart be troubled saith our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to his Disciples when they were going through the withdrawing of his blessed bodily Presence into a scattered persecuted desolate helpless Condition full of Sorrows Now with what doth he fortifie their Heart against Trouble With his Gracious Ends in going away from them which were first To Prepare a Place for them in his Father's House In my Father's House are many Mansions I go to prepare a Place for you there a better State and Condition than I can either fit you for or bring you into while I am present with you here on Earth and then I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also And secondly after I am glorified I will pray the Father and he shall in the mean time give you another Comforter even the Spirit of Truth who will be a greater Comfort unto you than either I have been or can be or you can be able to receive I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now till I have carried your Nature the humane Nature which I have assumed into the Same Glory I had with the Father before the World was Therefore it is Expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you and he shall guide you into all Truth He shall receive of mine and shall shew it unto you and all things that the Father hath are mine Joh. 17.5 and 16.7 13 14 15. verses Strongly inculcating not only his Gracious Ends for their Eternal Good but the Necessity of his going away to accomplish those Ends which would not nor could not be effected except he withdrew from them Therefore Let not your Heart be Troubled but Believe in Me that I will do these things for you As the Lord Jesus had these Glorious Ends at Thâ—â— Time in his leaving and withdrawing from his Disciples So he hath Glorious Ends in all his Dealings with his Chosen to the End of the World the Consideration of which should fortifie the Hearts of the distressed and peeled People of Jacob against all Heart-trouble What 's the Meaning of all that Chequer-work between Christ and his Spouse in the Canticles a Prophecy that reaches through many various Dispensations to the coming of our Lord to work a Total Deliverance for his Chosen as is asserted by Persons of no mean repute in the Church of Christ for Piety and Learning Sometimes hiding himself from her making her sick of Love and sometimes in the strength of his affection towards his Spouse He is Leaping and Skipping towards her Sometimes he Hides himself behind the Wall and again shews himself forth at the Window discovers himself through the Latess Sometimes he quite withdraws himself and is gone yet at last after she had undergone very hard usage from the hands of men the Smitings and Woundings of the Watchmen and the Insulting Robberies of the Keepers of the Wall he meets her and comforts her in his Garden among the beds of Spices What is the Reason of these various Becloudings of his so often hiding and withdrawing himself from his Beloved Surely it's to No other End as the whole current of the Prophecy and the Advantages the Spouse gaines after every casting down will tell us it is but to carry her from Glory to Glory from one Degree of Glory unto another until she be fitted for such a Total Deliverance and Salvation as shall never be clouded more and then the cry is Who is this that cometh up from the Wilderness out of all her Trouble and Wilderness-straits leaning upon her Beloved And now at this time O thou Afflicted tossed with Tempests the fury of men and not yet comforted though the Cloud that is over thee grow darker and darker and this terrible Storm shake all the Pillars of thy fleshly Building yet let it not touch thy Heart with anxious trouble only Believe thy God is the same to thee that ever he was if he withdraw himself it is that he may come again and shew thee greater Mercy 's such as shall never be taken from thee if he hide his face from thee it is that he may fit thee for and shew thee more of his Glory than ever he did before if thine Enemy weaken thee it is that by waiting upon the Lord forsaking thy Idols thou mayest renew thy strength if he Imprison thee in Holes and Corners it is that the Lord may be glorified in fitting thee for it hearing thy Groanings if he appoint thee to Death it is that the Lord may be glorious at the appointed time in loosing those that are appointed to death Nay surely the Lord hath this Gracious End in Afflicting thee at this time viz. To fit thee for a Compleat Salvation that Manifestation of the Sons of God that Glorious Liberty of the Children of God which the Creature Earnestly Expects and the whole Creation Groaneth and Travelleth after yea which the Saints of God who have received the first fruits of the Spirit Groan within themselves for waiting for the Adoption to wit the Redemption of our Bodies Rom. 8.19 21 22 23 v. that being fitted for that Work the Lord hath purposed to do by thee thou mayest go forth to it thrive and prosper in it both in Soul and Body and grow up to a compleat preparation to meet Our Lord when he shall come again without Sin unto Salvation All God's Ends towards thee in all his Dispensations are full of Glory to himself and Salvation to thee Therefore
the prevalent remainders of this Carnal-mindedness in the Lords own people unfits them for the Lords work makes them uncapable of doing it or being used in it for this keeps them from being subject to the Law of God the Rule of the Lord by which he will square his work which he hath said he will Magnify and make Honorable Isa 42.21 By this we come to Dye and to be Dead to the Work of God If we would live to the Work of the Lord we must be Spiritually minded to be spiritual minded is Life and Peace ver 6. this is that must enable Jacob to take root and Israel to blossome and bud and fill the Face of the World with fruit Carnal-mindedness is Death to Jacob by it he becomes as a withered branch bringing forth no fruit to the Lord for while he is in that mind he is not neither can he be subject to the Law of his Work This Carnality of spirit respects either Natural worldly flesh as Paul tels us Rom. 8. minding the things of the flesh this world and the good things thereof which are not of the Father but of the VVorld for all that is in the VVorld The lust of the flesh the lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life is not of the Father but of the World which whosoever loves the love of the Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2.15 16. of which the Apostle Paul saith the world is crucified to me and I unto the world Gal. 6.14 otherwise he could not have been an Apostle of Christ Or it respects Religious flesh such a frame of Spirit in matters of Religion and Worship as is Fleshly and Carnal The more gross of this Sort the Apostle Paul complains of as those that would make a fair shew in the Flesh that they might glory in the Flesh and that to this unworthy end to avoid persecution for the Crosse of Christ Gal. 6.12 13. But saith he God forbid that I should Glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world ver 14. This was Pauls frame of spirit and such only are fit Christians for Christs service There are a more refined sort of these Carnal-minded Christians to cure whom the Apostle Paul takes a a great deal of pains in his three first Chapters of his first Epistle to the Corrinthians to the 8th verse of the fourth Chapter These Corinthians were Christians of such a high pitch of such high attainments as the Apostle saith of them In every thing ye are enriched in all Utterance and in all Knowledge so that ye come behind in no gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Notwithstanding all this they are yet Carnal I could not saith he speak unto you as unto Spiritual but as unto Carnal for ye are yet Carnal See what Fruit this Carnal frame of Spirit brought forth in these Corinthians and then we shall know what it is to be Carnal to be a Carnal Christian 1. PRIDE Proud boasting of their attainments a puffing up in the conceit of their own Opinion to be more truth and higher truth than others vainly glorying in that wherein they differ'd from others as if they received it not but had it of themselves and from themselves exalting themselves above their Brethren as full and rich reigning as Kings looking upon themselves as wise as strong as honorable whilst others yea Apostles themselves are accounted foolish and weak and are despised and that by themselves judged of of them This the Apostle tells them of and rebukes them for Chap. 4.3 6 7 8 and 10. verses A Spiritual mind would never have brought such Fruit but this was the fruit of their Carnallity by this Carnal wisdom the Apostle tels them they deceived themselves if we will indeed become wise we must deny our selves in this and become fools that we may be wise this is but the worlds wisdom which is vain and foolish with the Lord therefore let none glory with this glorying Chapt. 3.18 19 20 21. verses 2. ENVY I am for Paul saith one I am for Appollo saith another and he envies him that is for Paul I am for Caephas saith another and he envies the rest I But I am for Christ saith another and he Envies all because they are more for men than for Christ as he thinks I am for this saith one and I am for that saith another and he envies his Brother because he differs from him because he is not of his Opinion of his Judgement of his way not considering that what he hath is but received from another and therefore he hath not whereof to glory nor to exult over his Brother much less should he envy him while enviously one saith I am of Paul and another I am of Apollo are ye not Carnal 3. STRIFE These several parties Strive against each other for their Opinions those things wherein they differ from each other which of them should be most received and honoured as the ritchest truth as the highest attainment Striving and contending about whose Parts and Gifts are most deserving and worthy of honour to be followed after and hearkned to 4. DIVISIONS Chapt. 1.11 12. and Chap. 3.3 4. verses It hath been declared unto me of you my Brethren by them which are of the house of Cloe that there are contentions among you Now this I say that every one of you saith I am of Paul and I of Apollo and I of Caephas and I of Christ ye are yet Carnal for whereas there is among you Envy and Strife and Division are ye not Carnal and walk as Men For while one saith I am of Paul and another I am of Apollo are ye not Carnal The Apostle blames them not for being for Paul or for Apollo or for Caephas or for Christ or for being for them all for saith he Let men so account of us as of the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God Chap. 4.1 we are to be accounted of you ought to honour us as such But in this they were blame-worthy in this they transgressed that they were Enviously Dividingly Factiously for one against another and he that is thus for Christ Sins as well as he that is so for the Ministers of Christ his being for Christ will not excuse him while he is in this Frame and Temper of Spirit Are not these things a knowing Men and Christ after the flesh of which the Apostle tels these very Corinthians they for their parts they Apostles would not be guilty Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the Flesh yea though we have known Christ after the Flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more 2 Cor. 5.16 The Flesh profiteth nothing It s the Spirit that quickneth John 16.63 This Fruit a Carnal mind brings forth those who are Spiritual as Paul and others brought forth better Fruit giving every one their Due Christ his Due and his
Ministers their Due and every member of the Body its Due notwithstanding the Differences wherein every Member Differed from another by this keeping the Body perfectly joined together Paul being Spiritual tells them he planted and Apollo watered but God gave the increase and that neither he that planteth nor he that watereth is any thing but God is all he is to have the honour of all Chap. 3.6 7. He tells them also that Christ cannot be Divided he is not for those that are for Apollo more than for them that are for Paul nor for any party of them in contradiction to the rest though by this their Carnal Spirit they would Divide him into Parts and Parties He tels them further that they were to be only for him who was crucified for them and into whose Name they were Baptized This is the true import of the words Chap. 1.13 and 15. verses 5. VVALKING LIKE MEN Are ye not Carnal and walk as Men the works of the Flesh of the fleshly Man of the Men of the VVorld are Hatred Variance Emulation VVrath Strife Sedition Envy and such like Gal. 5.19 20 21. Now while we walk thus Carnally we walk like Men such Men the Men of the world not as Christians as those that are Spiritual that have the Spirit of Christ in them For they that are Christs have crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts thereof if we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit let us not be desirous of vain-glory provoking one another envying one another 24 25 26. verses 6. UNFITNESS to receive such Truths a making them not able to bear such discoveries of God and Christ and his Glory as Christ hath given him from the Father to discover unto and bestow upon his People I could not speak unto you as unto Spiritual but as unto Carnal even as unto Babes in Christ I have fed you with Milk and not with Meat for hitherto ye were not able to bear it neither yet now are ye able for ye are yet Carnal Chap. 3.1 2 3. These Corinthians that were enriched in all utterance and all knowledge that came behind in no gift are yet Carnal which hinders them that they cannot as the Apostles did with open face behold as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord and be as they were changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.18 No by this Carnality of mind they become as Babes not able to bear strong meat and so not fit for strong work that VVork which to enable his people to do it s absolutely necessary that the Lord give unto them such a full and large discovery of himself as this Carnality of spirit will not admit them to receive From these things Obs 1. This Carnality of Spirit bringing forth these Fruits is such a Distemper as the Highest Christians Christians of the Richest attainments that are enriched in every thing yea waiting for the coming of the Lord are too much and too too often troubled with to the great unhappiness of their own Souls hindring the Work of the Lord that is to be done in them and by them Of this Sort were those whom the Author to the Hebrews rebukes VVhen for the time ye ought to be Teachers ye need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the Oracles of God and are become such as have need of Milk and not of strong meat Heb. 5.12 Obs 2. This Carnality of Spirit opposes not Gifts but Grace All Gifts all Utterance all Knowledge may be in a Christian together with this Carnality So that Christians may think themselves fully prepared to meet the Lord be waiting for his coming and be yet Carnal But it hinders receiving of Grace it keeps them from being of and submitting to such a frame of Spirit as is absolutely necessary to enable them to grow from Glory to Glory to follow Christ whithersoever he will please to lead them Therefore saith the Apostle unto these Corinthians Chapt. 1.10 I beseech you Brethren by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you but that ye be perfectly Joined together in the same mind and in the same Judgement This Same thing this Sameness of mind and this Sameness of Judgement which the Apostle exhorteth and beseeches them to cannot be that nor in that which any one of these Parties strove for against the other that wherein any of them Differed from the other for he rebukes them all for their Striving for and their vain glorying in that wherein they Differed He takes not Part with any One of their Opinions nor Waies but keeps close to his own Way and his own Judgement which was indeed that which he had Planted them in and upon from the Simplicity of which they through Carnality had strayed and that was Jesus Christ the only true foundation Therefore saith he Chap. 2.2 I determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified for other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ Chap. 3.11 Paul had planted them in this Foundation this is that Same thing he would have them all to speak of and towards which he would have them all joined together in the same mind and of this he would have them all of the Same Judgement It 's impossible he could mean by this Same thing this Sameness of mind and Sameness of Judgement in it any One of the Parties they were Divided into for he rebukes them all a like as well he that was for Christ who its the most probable was the best and surely was of the best side as he that was for any of the other and it 's as irrational to conclude he was for any particular Opinion of any of the Parties wherein they differed from each other and so beseeches them all to be of the Same mind and Judgement with them For as the Differences were not such as were inconsistant with the Foundation so he seems to give them all an equal Allowance as being such things as they had received from the same Fountain from God But saith he If any man build on this Foundation Gold Silver Precious Stones Wood Hay Stubble every mans work shall be made manifest for the Day the further revelation of the Lord shall declare it is because it shall be revealed by Fire and the Fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is and that which is right shall abide and that which is wrong shall be burnt therefore Judge nothing before the time vers 12 13 14 15. with the 5th verse of the 4th Chapt. Look to the Foundation whereon ye are planted Jesus Christ him that was Crucified for you him into whose name ye were Baptized speak all the Same thing be ye all in this in the Same mind and in the Same Judgement
Lords own People whom he hath ordained to be his Instrument by which he will do the great Work of his terrible Day that except this be done that cannot be done a Curse will come upon the Earth instead of a Blessing Quest What Curse is this the Earth must be Smitten with in case this Reconciliation between the Fathers and the Children be not wrought Answ It cannot be those Judgements of God which he will pour down upon the World by the hand of his People in this terrible day for though that day Begin with Jndgement it Ends with Blessing Now a Curse is pure Judgement without mixture of Blessing pure wrath without mixture of Mercy and this Curse being put in Opposition to those Blessings which these people reconciled shall obtain it 's as much as if the Lord had said If these Fathers and Children will be Reconciled and Turn their Hearts to each other I will Bless them to the enabling them to goe forth and grow up as Calves of the Stall in treading down the wicked that they shall be as Ashes under the Soals of their Feet But if not I will Smite all with a Curse not only the Wicked but they themselves too all shall be Cursed and Perish together as that Generation that Sinned against me in the Wilderness were Cursed and Perished Mount Ebal shall be their portion not Mount Garizim The Lord will Turn the Heart of the Fathers to the Children and the Heart of the Children to their Fathers As at the first he took away the Partition Wall between Jew and Gentile between those sheep of his Fold So now he will again take away the Partition-wall that Carnal Dividing Spirit that is among the Sheep of his Fold at this Day As then he made of Twain One New man so now of many he will make One Rev. 14.1 Ps 2.6 Isa 24.23 Mic. 4.7 Isa 18.7 8 18. 31.4 Obed. 17 21. Psal 48.2 Heb. 12 22. Hill One Mount for Christ to stand upon and sit on as King and Reign and that for ever this is the Place of the Name of the Lord of Hosts the Place where he dwells it 's when his People come into this state that the Lord will fight for them it 's upon the People of God in this state that Deliverance shall be upon this State upon Mount Sion shall come Saviours it's this state of Jacob that makes him the Joy of the whole Earth the Joy of the whole Earth is Mount Sion and this is that state the People of God in this Gospel Day are to come unto By this we see what fruit the Lord expects his present Afflicting hand upon us should bring forth in us what it is he expects from us before he will judge us fit for Deliverance and Bestow it upon us A forsaking our Carnal Envying and Striving and Dividing and the Turning of our Hearts to each other in a true sincere Love uniting upon the One True Foundation Jesus Christ Other than which no man can lay Abundance more might be said to prove this both from the Old and New Testament Pauls Epistles yield plentiful proof that this frame of Spirit is the Onely true Gospel frame But I forbear If it be objected That we are Commanded in several Scriptures in the Old and New Testament to be separate and not touch the unclean thing and to come out of Babylon upon the penalty of being partaker of her Sins and so of her Plagues therefore how can this union pleaded for be according to the mind of God I Answer It s a certain truth that touching the unclean thing and abiding in Babylon are inconfistant with this Union pleaded for A Holy Separation from the unclean thing and coming out of Babylon of necessity must precede this Union otherwise it cannot be for in a Defiled house the Lord will not dwell But yet we must be careful lest we call that unclean which the Lord doth not account so and so cast away that which the Lord will gather up as his and call that Babylon which the Lord looks upon as belonging to his Sion though weak and infirm Therefore it 's necessary to resolve this Case that we consider what is to be understood by this unclean thing and by coming out of Babylon 1. By coming out of Babylon we must of necessity understand coming out of whole Babylon her Civil Tyrannical State and her Religious Idolatrous State otherwise we shall neither be fit for nor can we come unto this Union To prove this a multitude of Arguments and Scriptures might be brought but taking it for granted I would onely caution this There are Tyrrannies and Idolatries which are not Properly her's for every thing that is like Babylon is not Babylon and we must be careful lest we mistake one for the other by which many Erring Inconveniences may follow 2. By the unclean thing I conceive we are to understand 1. What soever is inconsistant with the only true Foundation Jesus Christ laid by the Apostles That we must not touch with have any fellowship with or be united unto for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteonsness what concord hath Christ with Belial 2 Cor. 6.14 15. Now those Petty Differences I call them Petty because they cannot so much as move the Spiritual Man he sees them what they are and lives above them they are onely great and powerful to the disturbance onely of the Weak and Carnal Christian I say those Petty Differences that are among the People of God who are planted in and built upon this true Foundation are so far from being to be cast off as not agreeing with the Foundation as that they are not to be Judged Judge nothing before the time saith the Apostle but to be let alone to be born with till the Day declare of what sort they are The Apostle reckons up many several sorts Gold Silver Precious Stone Wood Hay Stubble 1 Cor. 3.12 the Carnal Christian looking upon these as very Heterogenious matter such an Impure mixture as is not to be suffered would burn up the Wood the Hay and the Stubble in the Fire of his own Spirit not considering that thereby he would rob the Gold and Silver and the Precious Stone of some part of their Glory by the smutting smoke of his wrathful Fire by this manifesting himself to be one Spirit with that combustible matter which yet he would destroy seeing he is so easily set on fire but saith the Apostle the Spiritual man Judge nothing before the time let them alone till the Day declares and tryes of what sort every mans work is till the Lord clearly manifests to the sincere in heart who are yet otherwise minded who yet Differ about and are not able to Distinguish between these things what he will have to Abide and what he will have to be Burnt 13. and 15. verses compared with Phil. 3.15 2. The meer Natural Man who hath never passed through the New Birth the
from Saving and his eare from Hearing our cry If we would but turn from our Sin which brought the Rod upon us the Lord would Hear and Save us immediately The Lord is so ready to save that he is waiting upon his watch to see when we will return to him that he may save us Deliverance is fixed to no Time but only to the Time of our Turning from our Sin the sooner we Turn from it the sooner we shall be Saved till we turn from it we shall not be Saved for the Rod is brought upon our back to Turn us from it till which is done it will not be taken off and as soon as ever we Turn from our Sin the Lord will take that oportunity that Time to shew forth his Almighty power and get him self a Name and a Praise in the Earth in Saving of his People 5. From hence we may behold The Exceeding Riches of the Grace and Love of God to his People Though Jacob Sin and Sin at such a rate that compels the Father of Mercies who had rather be giving men for him and people for his life giving them as the dust to his sword and as the driven Stubble to his Bow for precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints notwithstanding this Father of Mercies is so highly provoked as that he is compelled to give up Jacob into the hand of his Enemies that so by such a sever Correction we may be brought to return to the Rock of his Salvation which he hath lightly esteemed then the remnant shall return even the remnant of Jacob unto the Mighty God Isa 10.21 yet through this dark cloud of displeasure he manifests a Fathers Love to uphold the drooping Spirits of Sinning Jacob In measure when it shooteth forth thou wilt debate with it c. as if the Lord had said Fear not Jacob though I deal thus sharply with thee know it 's only to Purge and Cleanse thee from thine Iniquities and Sin to Cut out the remainders of that rotten Core of Iniquity that is in thee to Lance those Boils of Corruption that are yet in thy flesh unbroken this Smiting and Cutting Dispensation shall proceed no farther My Rough Wind shall only blow away thy Chaff and then will I debate with it put a Stop to its rigorous proceedings I have an East-wind in my hand ready as soon as ever this potion I have given thee hath done its work for which I intend it to send forth to Turn this Rough Wind backward and make a way for thee to escape for this is all the fruit to take away thy Sin Thou wouldest not give me that Praise which was my due and I expected from thee for former kindnesses therefore thou hast compelled me to gain that Praise by making use of the Wrath of Man to Correct thee but the Remainder of wrath will I restrain Psal 76.10 They are only the Bryars and the Thornes in the midst of thee that set themselves against me in Battel that oppose my Work and my Intendments that I would bring to passe to get my self a Name and a Glory in the Earth it 's only these that I would Destroy and Burn together but my End in all this is to fit thee for that I may bestow upon thee Salvation therefore take hold of my strength and make peace with me and thou shalt make peace with me as it is in the 4th and 5th verses 6. Though the Immediate Minute of the Time of Jacobs Comfort is not yet come the Time wherein Jerusalem can say her warfare is accomplished Isa 40.1 2. Mal. 3.2 Isa 27. compared with Cant. 5.7 she hath received of the Lords hand double for all her Sins notwithstanding this terrible tryal may be as Hot as the Refiners Fire and as sharp as the Fullers Sope this Smiting may be to Wounding and Blood yet do not despond let not thy heart sink under it for the Lord hath not only said he will measure it out for thy good but he hath also said there is Hope in thine End This Affliction though it may be Sore and Terrible Smarting and Bloody yet it shall not make an End of Jacob. †Jer. 31.16 17 and 30.10 11. and 46.27 28 and 4.27 and 5.10 18. Fear thou not O my Servant Jacob saith the Lord neither be dismaid O Israel for loe I will save thee for I am with thee saith the Lord to save thee though I make a full End of all Nations yet will I not make a full End of thee though I leave thee not wholly unpunished yet will I Correct thee but in measure though the whole Land be desolate yet will I not make a full end though I command the Enemy to goe upon thy Walls and destroy yet not to make a full End yea in those daies saith the Lord I will not make a full End with you Though these Scriptures speak but Colaterally to us yet they speak as fully and as strongly to us as they did to them in the same Condition For if the Lord under the Old-Testament Administration bore so much Love to his Servant Jacob as not to suffer the punishment of his Sin to make a full End of him in that day much more will he not suffer the punishment of our Iniquities to make a full End of us in this day of the punishment of our transgressions under the New-Testament Adminstration Therefore let not our Hearts sinck under our Affliction but let us lift up our heads for our Redemption draweth nigh there is Hope in our End the Lord will yet Cause them that come of Jacob to take Root Israel shall Blossome and Bud and fill the face of the World with fruit though to Cause us to * Isa 10.21 Deu. 32.15 36. compared with Isa 59.16 return to the mighty God the Rock of our Salvation which we have lightly esteemed to bring us quite home to himself the Lord may fuffer the Afflictton to arise so high that it may be even ready to overwhelm us that there is no man left to stand up for us no Intercessor to plead on our behalf No Saviour our power is gone and there is none shut up or left then will the Lord repent himself for his Servants and his own Arme shall bring Salvation 7. As the Great End of the Lord in all is GOOD to Jacob all things the Smitings the Woundings the Slayings of his Enemies work together for good to Jacob So the Lord hath engaged to debate with and stay his Rough-wind the Smitings and Slayings of the Enemy the Present Affliction when it hath shot forth to that measure to that degree to the bringing forth of that Good he intends to Jacob by it it shall proceed no further if the Enemy of Jacobs Happiness offer to carry it on further to Jacobs hurt the Lord will by his East-wind that he hath in readiness for that purpose put a stop to it He stayeth
his Rongh-wind in the Day of the East-wind Though our Sin and Perversness in it compel the Lord for our Good to suffer the †Isa 10.24 25 26. Deut. 32.37 41 42 43. verses Assyrian to Smite us with a Rod and to lift up his Staff against us after the manner of Egypt yet saith the Lord O my People be not afraid of the Assyrian for yet a very little while and the Indignation shall cease and mine anger in their Destruction The Lord of Hosts shall stir up a Scourge for him according to the Slaughter of Midian at the Rock of Oreb and as his Rod was upon the Sea so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt Though we by our Stubborness force the Lord to afflict us after the manner of Egypt to Purge us and Cleanse us from that which keeps us from him and him from us to do which his Glory engages him yet when that is done as our Affliction is so shall our Deliverance be after the manner of Egypt a stronger hand shall come to Deliver us than came to Afflict us What though the Assrrian our Enemy think not so but exalt himself saying where are their Gods their Rock in whom they trusted The Lord saith If I whet my glittering Sword and mine hand take hold of Judgement I will render vengeance to my Enemies and will reward them that hate me I will make mine Arrowes drunk with Blood and my Sword shall devour flesh and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives from the beginning of revenges upon the Enemy Rejoice O ye Nations with his People for he will avenge the blood of his Servants and will render vengeance to his adversaries and will be merciful to his People 8. Let us not say with Gideon Judg. 6.13 If the Lord be with us why then is all this befaln us Now the Lord hath forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of the Midianites But as our Lord Jesus Christ said of himself to his Disciples Luke 24.26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and so to enter into his Glory So Consider all the Prophesies in the Old and New-Testament that concern these last Daies and then judge whether the body of Christ his Members Distressed Jacob at this Day ought not to suffer these things to undergoe this Trial the Refiners Fire the Fullers Sope the Smitings and Slayings of their Enemies now at last to fit them for Glory If this be the way through which Christ entred into his Glory surely his Members his Followers must enter the same way into their Glory Yea this is the Great End wherefore the Lord is Afflicting Jacob that he may become glorious with such a Glory as may Deserve and upon which he will Create a Defence such a Defence as shall never be taken away as all their Enemies shall never be able to rob them of And the Lord is Waiting the Time wherein he may be thus Gracious he desires only our Acknowledgement of our Sins and then he will work his Great Work Jer. 3.13 14 15. Return thon Back-sliding Israel saith the Lord and I will not cause mine Anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and I will not keep Anger for ever only ACKNOWLEDG thine Iniquity that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God and hast scattered thy waies to the Strangers under every green Tree and ye have not obeyed my voice saith the Lord. Turn O back-sliding Children saith the Lord for I am married unto you and I will take you one of a City and two of a Family and I will bring you to Sion and I will give you Pastors according to my heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding Lastly this Prophesie and what hath been drawn from it doth Earnestly Call upon Sinning and distressed Jacob to †Isa 1.19 Za. 8.12 Isa 10.21 37.32 66.19 24.15 Joel 2.32 Isa 1.20 Mal. 4.6 wash and Cleanse himself from all these Evils laid down before him If thou dost hearken and do thou shalt live and eat the good of the land partake of those Blessings the Lord hath in store for the Remnant that by a true and through Repentance shall escape the Evil of the Day returning from their Idols unto the Mighty God shall again take root down-ward and bear fruit upward declare the Glory of the Lord glorify the Name of the Lord God of Israel in or among whom shall be Salvation But if thou wilt not but dost resuse and rebel know of a truth this present Affliction shall devour thee If the Hearts of the Fathers and Children in Jacob will be still stubborn against and not be turned to each other the Lord will Curse instead of Bless the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it the Glory of the Lord is engaged in it Know of a truth that till you come into your Cleansed Undefiled United Sate you will not be a fit Instrument for the Lords Work Surely Jesus Christ had much of this in his Eye when he prayed so earnestly to his Father that they all might be †Joh. 17.20.21 22 23. verses One not only his then Disciples but those also that should Believe on him through their word and that he would give so great a price for it as the Glory which the Father gave him and that he should lay so much Stress upon this as that which is Necessary to make it manifest to the World that he was Sent of God and that God bears the Same Love to his People that he doth to Him I shall conclude this Discourse with this Word As an Afflicting Wilderness State is that into which the Lord will bring his People to Plead with them face to face as he Pleaded with them in the Wilderness of Old causing them to pass under the Rod to Purge out from among them the Rebbels and the Transgressors Ezek. 20.35 36 37 38. verses So it 's that State into which he will bring them in the last Daies and give them as a DOOR OF HOPE I will give her the valley of Achor for a Door of Hope The valley of Achor this Day of Trouble this State of Lowness and Affliction which Achans Sin hath brought upon us is given to us as a Door of Hope under the New Covenant in these last Daies of Jacobs Affliction in New-Testament Times a Ground to Hope the Lord hath Smiles for us after these Strokes the fruits and tokens of a Fathers Love after these Stripes of his Fatherly Displeasure a morning of Joy after this evening of Trouble he only waits till we have done Justice upon Achan that Sin that hath Troubled Israel and then I will allure her and bring her into the Wilderness Into the Wilderness of this Wilderness State He will Allure us by the Glorious manifestations of himself by the Mighty Workings of his Spirit into such through forsakings of all things of all of this