and actings of pride Remedy 6. and also over the root of it 1. We should mourn over the ebullitions and actings of pride in us It is said of Hezekiah That he humbled himself for the pride of his heart When that good man shewed his riches and treasures to the Embassadors of the King of Babylon there was pride in it and God made him sensible of it and he humbled himself for the actings of pride We ought to be sensible of all the buddings and puttings forth of pride and to be humbled for it And as we should be sensible of the buddings and puttings forth of pride so 2. We should be humbled over the root it self O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death When we do not find these sensible actings and stirrings of pride in us yet the root of it is there Now we should be humbled that there is such a root in us Pride was the first venom or poyson that was breathed by the old serpent into our nature Pride is most contrary to the glory of God and it is the core and heart of all sin As the Naturalists say of the heart It is the first thing that lives and the last thing that dies so we may say of Pride It is the first sin that lives and the last sin that dies This should be matter of humiliation to us that we have such a bitter root as pride in us The 7. Remedy 7. Remedy against pride is this The more we find the stirrings of pride in us the more should we labour to abound in humility Be ye cloathed with humility 1 Pet. 5.5 The more we find the stirrings of pride in us the more should we labour to put on humility It 's one good means to mortifie a lust to labour to abound in the contrary grace to live in the exercise of the contrary grace this the Apostle teacheth us in Gal. 5.16 Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh The way for us not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh is to walk in the spirit The way to keep down corruption is to live in the exercise of grace When we find our hearts inclined to pride we should pray for grace that we may find our hearts so much the more humble 8. Let us be sure to give God the glory of what he hath done for us Remedy 8. and bestowed upon us Herod is condemned for this that he gave not God the glory Acts 12.23 We are apt to pore upon what God hath done for us and to forget the giver whereas we should reflect all upon God and say Not I but the grace of God in me Lastly Let us labour for a holy magnanimity and greatness of spirit Remedy 9. There is that which some of the ancients call a holy pride Sancta superbia that is this when the soul having a sense of its own excellency and nobleness thinks that it is beneath it self to prostitute it self to these inferiour things Nullum nisi omnipotentissimum sapientissimum pulcherrimum super omnia amare dignatur It would be joyned and united to the highest thing It thinks that 't is beneath it self to be joyned to any thing but the highest good It can vouchsafe to love none above all things but he that is most omnipotent most wise most beautiful This is holy pride when the soul ceaseth to admire every thing but God when it ceaseth to admire it self and all creatures and is wholly taken up in the admiration of God who is the first supream infinite and eternal perfection This is holy pride in the soul when it self and all the creatures seem vile and base to it in comparison of God This is a great but a good pride Magna sed bona superbia as one of the Ancients calls it This holy magnanimity of spirit is in the Angels and glorified Saints to whom not only all creatures but they themselves seem to be vile to themselves in comparison of God whom they love The end of the Fifth Sermon SERMON VI. 2 Cor. 12.7 8 9. And lest I should be exalteu above measure through the abundance of revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me And he said unto me My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness 3. Observ Observ 3. THE Observation that next comes in order to be handled is this That the principal end why God permits and orders it to be so that his people should be tempted and undergo sore conflicts it is to keep them from being lifted up Lest I should be exalted above measure there was given to me a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet me It is very observable that the end of this exercise and conflict of Paul is twice repeated in the text in the beginning and end of the verse 1. It is mentioned in the beginning of the verse Lest I should be exalted above measure And then it is repeated again in the close of the verse Lest I should be exalted above measure So that clear it is that the main and principal end of God in bringing his servant under this exercise it was to suppress spiritual pride in him to keep his spirit low and humble This therefore is the point that now I shall speak something to Doctrine That the principal end why God permits and orders it to be so that his people should be tempted and undergo sore conflicts it is to keep them from being lifted up And here I shall first lay down some propositions for the clearing of the point And then make some application I shall lay down two or three propositions for the clearing of the doctrine The first is this Propos 1. Pride is such a sin that God cannot bear with in his Children God indeed can bear with no sin for he is of purer eyes than to behold the least iniquity as the Prophet speaks Hab. 1.13 And evil shall not dwell with him Psal 5.4 God cannot bear with any sin But of all sins God doth in a more peculiar manner set himself against the sin of Pride Pride is such a sin as doth in a peculiar manner strike at the glory of God and therefore God in a peculiar manner sets himself against that sin Hence it is said That God resists the proud 1 Pet. 5.5 God is the professed enemy of Pride and proud persons God saith Luther Is the God of humble persons he cannot bear with pride Deus est humilium Deus non potest feire supâ—rbiam vult salvam esse suam Majestatem Luth. God will have his own glory and Majesty kept safe and inviolable My glory I will not give to another Now a
find to be in God Therefore let us labour to have our mind and affections elevated to God the morewe have our minds and affections elevated to God the less will temptations prevail over us The second Use is this Use 2. Is it so that it is the lot of the holiest men and of the most eminent servants of God to be exercised with grievous and sore temptations This may inform us how much carnal people are mistaken who think their conditions to be therefore good because they meet with no temptations This is a great mistake they know not what conflicts and temptations mean All things are quiet and in peace with them They think they are a company of melancholy timorous people only that speak of inward troubles and are vexed and disquieted with temptations But such temptations are never the less because they are not sensible of them The greatest temptation of all other is to have no sense of temptation To this end let me propound to you these two Considerations 1. When men are without sense of temptations it is a sign they are taken captive by the Devil at his will It is the expression of the Apostle 2 Tim. 2.26 When the strong man armed keeps the house all things are in peace It is a sign men are fast bound in Satans chains when they are not sensible of his temptations It is certain that Satan is always restless in his malice still laying snares and baits to tempt men to sin and the world is full of baits and snares therefore when men think that they are most secure they are most in danger Satans temptations are always nearest to a man when he thinks them farthest off 2. When men have no sense of temptations it is a sign they are destitute of a principle of grace that should oppose temptation It is said of a Godly man that he doth not commit sin because his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God 1 John 3.9 A regenerate person may be tempted to sin as other men but there is the seed of God and of grace in him that makes head against temptation The spirit lusteth against the flesh Gal. 5.17 and the flesh against the spirit Now when men are sensible of no such conflict as this is it is a sign they have not the seed of God in them that they want a principlc of grace It is true There may be a conflict between conscience and sin in the heart of a carnal man I speak this that we may not be mistaken in our judgement concerning the spiritual conflict Every conflict is not the conflict between sin and grace in a mans heart There may be a conflict between Conscience and sin in the heart of a carnal man A carnal man hath a mind to such a sin Conscience warns him of it will not suffer him to sin unchecked unreproved so that here is a conflict about sin but all this while there may be no opposition in his will against sin But now in a regenerate person there is a will and a will a will inclining to sin and a will opposing that inclination But now there is no principle of opposition against sin in the will of an unregenerate man the full bent of his will is carried out towards sin though there be a fight in his Conscience against it Therefore when men are sensible of no temptations neither from Satan nor from their own hearts it is a sign there is but one principle in them and that is flesh and corruption only Sunt in nobis duo contrarii Duces caro spiritus Luther There are saith Luther in a Godly man two contrary Leaders or Commanders the flesh and the spirit Therefore when a man is sensible of no temptation feels no warfare no conflict with sin it is a sign there is but one principle in him and that is a principle of flesh and corruption Therefore carnal men have no reason to please themselves that they are not so melancholy and dejected as others are who are under temptations certainly it is a sign that when all things are in peace with them the strong man armed keeps the house A third Use is an Use of Direction to teach us how to carry it when we are under Temptation If it be so Use 3. That it is the lot of the holiest men and of the most eminent servants of God to be exercised with grievous and sore Temptations Then let us labour for the spiritual skill how to manage temptations and to carry it aright under temptation Here I shall propound four or five Directions to shew how we ought to carry it under temptations Direction 1. Direct 1. If we would carry it aright under temptations Let us study what Gods ends are in permitting such a temptation especially great and notable temptation to come upon us Affliction comes not out of the dust Satan could not annoy or infest us but by Gods permission Satan is held in Gods chain he can go no further than God permits him Therefore when we find Satan let loose upon us and our peace is disturbed let us consider what Gods ends are in permitting such a temptation why God le ts loose that cruel wolf to worry us Consider if you have not been too remiss in prayer let fall your watch been too confident of your own strength wisely search out the matter why God suffers such a temptation to come upon you Direct Direct 2. 2. Study also Satans ends As God hath his ends in permitting us to be tempted so Satan hath his ends in tempting of us Gods ends in permitting us to be tempted are always good he doth it to humble us to quicken us to prayer to keep us in dependance to search more into our own hearts to see what is amiss there Satans end is usually to disturb our peace to weaken our hearts and our hands in the ways of God or to draw us into some plain sin now we ought not to be ignorant of Satans devices If Satan Tempt thee to unbelief to question all to question whether thou art sincere whether thou art in a state of grace and have a right to salvation make use of the temptation so far as to examine thy evidences a fresh But do not presently let go thy hold My integrity saith Job will I hold fast till I die This I speak to such as are real Christians few others I conceive are troubled with that Temptation to doubt and question their state but the children of God Now to such I would say do not presently let go your integrity when you are tempted to question your sincerity and then do not let go your hold of the promises This a true proposition He that believeth shall be saved All the Devils in Hell cannot overthrow that truth Therefore keep thy hold of the promise still let not Satan be able to beat thee off from the promise Whether
For as we may not do evil that good may come of it so neither may we desire evil that good may come of it But this we may safely say when God permits it to be so that a man is in great danger to be lifted up with spiritual pride and he is overtaken with some other sin we may then conclude that Gods intention in such a permission it was to cure a greater evil and so in the event it turns to good Let us not mistake here that sin proves medicinal to any to heal them this is not from the nature of sin the nature of sin is quite contrary the nature of sin is to harden and to damn Therefore when at any time sin doth prove medicinal this is from the power of Divine grace that knows how to turn that which is a disease in it self into a remedy yet this is a trembling consideration that so great is the evil of pride that God suffers his children to fall into other diseases to cure this disease which is most pernicious of all other 7. To shew the evil of pride consider that pride is such a sin that hinders and puts a stop to the communication of Divine grace Vas Gratiarum God gives grace to the humble 1 Pet. 5. Look as it is said that humility is the vessel that receives and contains other graces So pride is that which excludes other graces When a man hath a self-fulness he is not prepared to take in Divine grace God fills the hungry with good things but the rich he sends empty away we must be empty of self before we can be capable of receiving Divine grace Some of the schoolmen conceive that the cause of the Angels sin was that they thought to attain the lasi happiness which was the vision of God Per virtutem naturae suae absque gratiâ alicajus superioris by vertue of their own nature without the grace and help of any superior to themselves This conceit of their own sufficiency was the occasion of their fall When a man supposeth he hath some vertue or root in himself to resist temptation and carry him forth to any holy action this is such a thing as is exclusive of Divine grace He that supposeth that he hath a self-sufficiency cannot see the need he hath of Divine grace Therefore pride puts a stop to the communication of Divine grace 8. Pride is a sin that is most contrary to our communion with God Isa 57.15 Thus saith the high and lofty one whose name is holy who dwells in the high and holy place with him also that is of an humble and contrite spirit God dwells with humble and contrite souls unto such he delights to manifest himself A man must be reduced to nothing in himself before he be fit to receive divine manifestations It is the usual method of God to bring his people to great abasement in themselves before he manifests himself to them It is a great Scripture Psal 138.6 Though the Lord be high yet he hath respect to the lowly but he beholds the proud afar off God keeps himself at a distance from proud persons but if he observe any in the world it is the humble lowly soul that is the soul he delights in Though the Lord be high yet he hath respect to the lowly Nothing indangers a mans spiritual comforts more than pride when a man hath had the comforts of the spirit of God and God hath been affable and familiar with him and he begins to be lifted up in himself this causeth God to suspend his comforts When a man is proud of those things that are meerly the gift of God this causeth God to take away his gifts from him and so shews him what a poor and empty creature he is in himself when the gifts of God are withdrawn 9. Consider pride makes a man to forget himself pride transports and carries a man beyond himself pride makes a man forget his own frailty pride makes a man forget that he is a mutable creature Every man at his best state is altogether vanity Take a man in his best state and he is subject to changes and death Should a piece of clay be proud You must shortly be turned into a clod of earth and be crumbled into dust Pride makes us forget that we are mortal Whatever external excellencies men are proud of they are fading and withering All flesh is grass and the glory of it as the flower of the grass And if a man have some spiritual excellency and be proud of some gifts and graces of the spirit of God let God but withdraw his spirit and he shall soon see that he is nothing 10. Pride causeth a man to break off his dependance upon God and deny subjection to him The perfection of the creature lies in dependance upon God and subjection to him The perfection of a thing is to remain in the condition in which it was naturally set Now the creature is placed from the very frame and constitution of its being in a condition of dependance upon God and subjection to him Now pride causeth a man to cast off his dependance upon God and subjection to him A proud person thinks he hath all of himself and from himself and therefore seeth no need of dependance A proud person makes himself his last end and so refuseth to be subject to another 11. Pride maketh a man to stick at no sin pride is the mother and root of other sins A proud person that makes himself his own end will stick at nothing to serve himself and accomplish his own ends These and many more are the evils of pride Now it concerns us greatly to watch against this sin and that for these two Reasons 1. Because pride is apt to arise secretly and insensibly in us The root of pride is ever budding and putting forth it self There are many risings and ebullitions of pride that arise and spring out of our hearts before we are aware Pride bubbles up in our duties services and actions before we think or are aware of it it is a thing that grows up secretly Then 2. If we do not watch against it we may soon grieve the spirit of God and cause it to retire There is no sin causeth the spirit of God to withdraw and retire from a child of God more than spiritual pride Now pride being so incident to our nature and so apt to rise upon all occasions we may too soon lose the presence and familiarity of the spirit of God unless we narrowly watch against this fin The end of the Fourth Sermon SERMON V. 2 Cor. 12.7 8 9. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me And he said unto me My grace is sufficient
for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness I Come now to propoun some remedies against this sin The disease of pride is such a disease as is hardly cured nay it is not wholly cured in the best of the Saints while they live in the body and all the remedies we can think of are little enough to heal this disease 1. Remedy Let us study much our own infirmities and imperfections It is a sure rule The foundation of humility F adamentum humilitatis cogni io proprii def ctus is the knowledge of our own defects Nothing laies so great a foundation of humility in us as the knowledge of our own defects We keep our eyes and pore upon our own supposed perfections but we sorget our infirmities and imperfections The true sense of our infirmities would strike a holy shame into us As the apprehension of what is good and excellent in us is apt to lift us up in pride So in order to the suppressing and keeping down our pride it is good to consider our natural infirmities and our sinful infirmities 1. Let us consider our natural infirmities we are but mutable dying creatures at best we are but poor pieces of clay What little reason hath he to be proud that remembers he is mortal and must shortly be turned into rottenness and dust We may say to every one that finds his heart lifted up in pride as one did that was appointed to come to Alexander and use these words Remember that thou art a man so may we say Remember that thou art a mortal creature As high as thou art and as much lifted up as thou art in thy own apprehension thou must shortly be turned into rottenness worms must feed upon thee 2. Let us consider our sinful infirmities 1. Consider our great defects in grace consider our great defects in knowledge 1 Cor. 8.2 If any man think he knows any thing he knows nothing as he ought to know How little is it that the best of us do know concerning the nature of God Concerning the Divine nature and attributes How little do we know concerning the Mysterie of the Trinity How little do we know concerning the union of the two natures in Christ the Hypostatical union as it is commonly called How little do we know of the mystical union the union of believers with Christ how little are we acquainted with any of these Articles of Faith In all these respects we may say with him I am more bruitish than any man I have not the understanding of a man Prov. 30.2 And as we are desective in knowledge so we are defective in faith in love in self-denial in heavenly mindedness and many other graces If some graces may seem to flourish in us yet are we not greatly defective in other graces And if there be some good in us is there not a great deal of evil mixed with that little good Are there not many sinful circumstances that do attend the best of our actions It was the speech of an eminently holy man There was not the best action that ever I did in my life but God shewed me some sinful circumstance attending it Consider what the wise man saith Eccles 10.1 Dead Flies cause the ointment of the Apothecary to send forth a stinking savour A little sin is like a little poyson mixed with the greatest delicacies it mars and spoils all It is true God out of his grace forgets the sinful circumstances that attend his peoples services but sin is of that nature that the least mixture of it is enough to stain and blemish the best action 2. Consider as there are great defects of grace in us so we all carry about with us the body of sin and death O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Rom. 7. In me that is in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing Rom. 7.18 There is nothing that is truly and spiritually good that proceeds from our nature Whatsoever is good proceeds from the spirit of God and the grace of the spirit in us Corrupt nature that is in us is prone to evil and nothing else but evil and if we do not always perceive the buddings and puttings forth of this root yet it is in us that evil root sticks in us when it doth not always act in that sensible manner Now what a humbling consideration is this that we should carry such a root of evil in us that bears such a contrariety in it to the holiness of God The holy Angels never had such a root in them they never had their natures vitiated and tainted as we have and the glorified Saints though sometimes they had the root of original sin in them as we have yet now they have no such root remaining in them What matter of humiliation is this to us that we have that root remaining in us that is so contrary to the holiness of God The holy Angels have it not in them and the glorified Saints are delivered from it There is little cause for any creature the most perfect and innocent creature to be proud because he is but a creature and a dependant thing But how much less cause is there of pride in a sinful creature that carries the marks of his shame about him and hath lost that purity that was stampt upon him in his first creation When we have attained the highest measure of holiness upon earth yet remember it is not with us as in innocency we have the root of original sin still remaining in us 3. Consider what great eruptions of sin and corruption there have been in us Whatever we are at present we are by the grace of God It is by grace that we are what we are But whatever we are at present hath not the time been when there hath been great breakings out of corruption in us I was saith Paul a Blasphemer and a Persecutor 1 Tim. 1.16 Thou that thinkest thou hast received most grace and hast attained most holiness hast thou not been so and so If thou hast not been guilty of scandalous sins yet have there not many things fallen out in the course of thy conversation which thou hast cause to be asbamed of What fruit Rom. 7.21 saith the Apostle had ye in those things whereof you are now ashamed Let us remember the things that have fallen out in our conversation they will be matter of humiliation to us all our days This is the first Remedy against pride to study our own defects and imperfections The 2. great Remedy against pride and that which I take to be the main of all is this Let us study the humility of God-incarnate This is certain no such remedy against pride as the study of the humility of God incarnate Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart Matth. 11.29 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus Phil. 2.5 6. What was the mind
proud person would take from God the glory of his Majesty He would take that from God which is due to God only A proud person would seem great and excellent himself and he cares not how the glory of God is eclipsed so he may seem great and excellent therefore God sets himself against pride above all other sins 2. Propos 2. Temptations when they are sanctified are a proper means to suppress and take down pride in us And the Reason is because temptations are a means to humble us and shew us what is in our own hearts Temptations shew us our own weakness and infirmity yea not only so Temptations do not only shew us our weakness and infirmity but they oftentimes shew us the pravity and malignity of our hearts that was latent and undiscovered before Now temptations discovering to us our infirmities and corruptions are a great means to humble us For this is a sure rule The foundation of humility is the knowledge of our own infirmity Nothing doth so naturally beget humility as the sight and knowledge of our own infirmity and corruption Now God by temptation shews us our own weakness and infirmity yea the pravity and malignity of our hearts and this is a means to humble us That temptations are a means to discover to us our infirmity may be clear to us by an induction of the several sorts and kinds of temptations I have shewed in the opening the Doctrine of Temptations that there are Divine Temptations Fleshly or Carnal Temptations Worldly Temptations and Satanical Temptation Now it may be clearly evinced that all these sorts and kinds of Temptations when God exerciseth us with them are a means to discover to us our infirmity and weakness 1. Divine Temptations will do this By Divine Temptations we are not to understand temptations to sin The Apostle is express for this Let no man say when he is tempted he is tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man Jam. 1.13 But by Divine Temptations we mean some notable trial which God brings upon his Children When God brings his children into great streights difficulties and afflictions that they know not which way to turn themselves this is properly a Divine Temptation Now these Divine Temptations are a means to shew us our infirmitie for this is certain The least affliction which God exerciseth us with when we are left to our selves is enough to sink and discourage us If thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small Now herein have we experience of our own infirmity that a little affliction when we are not supported by Divine Grace will make us faint It is true a great affliction when we have supportation by Divine grace will not make us sink the power of Divine grace is such that it will bear us up under great afflictions But on the other hand the least affliction will overset us when we are not supported by Divine grace and we shall be ready to cry out no sorrow like to our sorrow though there be thousands that have far greatet afflictions than we have And if God bring us under any great and remarkable trial then to be sure we fall and miscarry without Divine grace Psal 30.6 7. In my prosperity I said I shall never be moved Lord by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled When we are in prosperity we think we shall never despond more we think we shall go on triumphing to the end of our days but God brings a little affliction upon us and then we begin to pine and droop this shews us our infirmity When Job was in his prosperity sperity he said he should die in his nest Job 29.18 but when God brought that sore trial upon him he cursed the day of his birth 2. There are Carnal or Fleshly Temptations By carnal Temptations we understand the temptations that arise out of our own hearts unto sin In me that is my flesh there dwells no good thing Rom. 7.18 Corrupt nature that is in us is prone to every sin it is a great expression that of the Apostle James 4.5 The spirit that is in us lusteth to envy that is corrupt nature lusteth to envy and not only to envy but to revenge vain glory and every evil thing Now these inward inclinations of the heart unto sin and the lustings after it do shew us the deep corruption of our nature We could not imagine that our hearts were so vile and so bad as indeed they are did we not find such corrupt inclinations and lustings in them What is thy servant a Dog saith Hazael to the Prophet We are apt to think with our selves Is it possible that ever I should feel such sinful thoughts and motions as I feel No one would believe saith Luther how great and deep the corruption of the flesh is till he be tempted and tried Temptation draws forth that corruption and makes it to appear in our hearts that we would not think were there Temptation shews the blackness and soulness of our hearts Now this is a means to humble us God by temptation represents to us the true hue and pourtraicture of our hearts and this makes us ashamed 3. There are Worldly Temptations By Worldly Temptations we understand such temptations as are offered to us by external objects 1 John 2.15 All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life The world represents variety of objects to us that are occasions of temptation to us The world sets before us the allurement of profit pleasure and honour and when these baits are set before us then we have too sad experience how little we are able to withstand them Eve her self when she was in innocency when she saw that the Tree was pleasant to the eye and good for food she took thereof The spirit of God takes notice of that as an occasion of temptation to her when she saw that the Tree was pleasant to the eye c. Now if she in innocency was led aside by a Temptation from an external object much more prone are we in our lapsed and fallen state to be carried away by external objects When Achan saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment and a wedge of gold then he coveted them and took them Jos 7.21 Worldly Temptations are too strong for us to withstand and overcome unless we have Divine grace to help us Some of the sounder Schoolmen among the Papists tell us That man in his lapsed state hath not power to withstand any considerable temptation when it is offered Truly our own experience may tell us more that we are not able to withstand the least temptation without Divine grace help us therefore these shew us our infirmity 4. There are Satanical Temptations and these are temptations that Satan himself suggests and do immediately proceed from
efficacy of assisting grace is seen in two things 1. In making us to resist or repel evil 2. In inabling us to perform that which is good The Apostle Paul speaks of both these together 2 Cor. 13.7 Now saith he I pray to God that you do no evil but that ye should do that which is honest Austin observes from this Text That the Apostle prayed for these Saints Inspirationem boâ—ae vobmtatis operis the inspiration of a good will that God would inspire into them a good will and also that he would give them ability to perform what was good For what need had the Apostle to pray for them that they might do no evil but do that which was honest if so be that the will of it self were sufficiently fortified against evil and sufficiently inclined to do that which was good without Divine grace Prayer supposeth a need of that we pray for a man will not pray for that he supposeth he hath not a need of Therefore when the Apostle prays for these Saints that they might not do evil but do that which is good he supposed they needed both otherwise his prayer was needless Now Divine assisting grace helps as to both these as to the repelling of evil and as to performing that which is good 1. By assisting grace it is that we repel evil by the help of assisting grace it is that we do repel Satans Temptations from without And that we do conflict with the evil motions of sin that arise from our own hearts within 1. By Divine grace it is that we resist Satans Temptations 1 Pet. 5.9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith We are not called here to resist Satans temptations as if it were supposed we could resist temptation by our own strength For confider what is said 1 Sam. 2.9 By strength no man shall prevail that is by his own strength no man shall prevail Therefore when we are bid to resist Satans temptations it is supposed that it is by Divine grace and Divine assistance that we must resist his temptations When Satan desired to have Peter to winnow him as wheat how was it that Peter overcame Satan Truly it was not by his own strength but by Christs praying for him I have prayed for thee saith our Saviour Luke 22.32 And what was it that Christ prayed for Peter Why he prayed that his faith might not fail Austin observes that in this prayer is implied thus much When Christ prayed that Peters faith might not fail Ut haberet in fide liberrimam fortissimam invictissimam perseverantissimam vol mtatem Aug. he prayed that Peter might have a most free a most strong a most invincible and a most persevering will in the faith Peter had not this will of his own Peter had not so firm so resolved so invincible so persevering a will of his own Peter did sufficiently shew his own infirmity what the impotency of his own free-will was when left to himself in that he denied his Master when the temptation came Therefore it was Christs prayer for Peter that caused him that his faith did not fail Truly if Peter had been left to himself as he failed in that particular act so his faith would have failed totally and finally It was Christs prayer and not the strength of Peters will that kept his faith from failing totally 2. It is by the help of Divine grace that we conflict with the motions of sin from within our selves It is a known Text Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have dominion over you because ye are not under the law but under grace That sin hath not dominion over us we may thank Divine grace for it The Law shews us indeed what we ought to do but gives us no power to do what it commands us the Law shews us what sins we ought to refrain from but gives us no power to abstain from them No it is Divine grace that keeps us from the dominion of sin Sin therefore hath not dominion over us because we are not under the law but under grace Were we left without Divine grace sin certainly would have dominion So likewise it is said The spirit lusteth against the flesh Gal. 5.16 By the spirit there we are to understand the regenerate part in a Saint as by the flesh we are to understand the unregenerate part that is in him This the Apostle in another place calls the law of sin I my self serve the law of God but with the flesh the law of sin Rom. 7. last There is the law of sin and the law of the spirit of life in us Now the spirit lusteth against the flesh that is that habitual grace that is in the heart of a godly man quickned excited and assisted by actual grace this wars against the flesh against the unregenerate part that is in him and what then These two are contrary one to the other It is an expression I remember Luther hath Sant in nobis duo contrarii da es caro spiritus There are two contrary Captains Leaders or Commanders in us the flesh and the spirit The flesh and the spirit oppose one another And what is the result of this combate and opposition Ye cannot do the thing that ye would The flesh or the carnal part in a Believer oftentimes hinders the spiritual part from doing what it would And the spiritual part keeps the flesh from doing what it hath a mind to do Thus Divine assisting grace helps us to resist and to repel evil 2. By the help of assisting grace it is that we are carried out to the performance of what is good and acceptable in the sight of God It is a great Scripture to illustrate this Heb. 13.20 The God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepheard of the sheep make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight by Jesus Christ We may observe here 1. It is the same power that is put forth for the producing of grace in us that was put forth in raising Christ from the dead Why doth the Apostle else usher in his prayer with this preface The God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ c. This intimates that there is the same power put forth in working grace in the hearts of the Saints that was put forth in raising Christ from the dead And there is another Scripture that speaks fully to this 1 Eph. 19.20 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward that believe according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places So that there is the same power put forth upon Believers for working faith and grace in their hearts as was put forth in Christ in raising him from the dead 2. The Apostle shews
us we must be made perfect in every good work make you perfect the Greek word is a very emphatical and significant word and we may not let it pass without a particular examination of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make you perfect this word as it appears both from the Criticks in the Greek tongue and also from the use of it in the New-Testament hath two principal significations 1. It signifies to Adapt to frame 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to dispose a thing thus the antient Criticks render this word by a word that signifies to frame to fit to square to polish to adapt a thing And thus we find the word used in the New Testament It is said of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a body hast thou prepared for me or as it may be rendred a body thou hast fitted or adapted for me Thus we read of the vessels adapted for destruction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 9.22 What if God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known indureth with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction 2. The word signifies to repair the defects of a thing that were in it before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phavorious and thus the Greek Criticks render this word by a word that signifies to perfect and consummate thus it is used in the New Testament Night and day praying that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith 1 Tim. 3.10 There is the same word that is in the Text. Now both these significations are of great use in this place The God of peace make you perfect in every good work 1. It is Divine grace that must prepare adapt fit polish us that we may be ready to do a good work We are not suited to good works we are not fitted to put forth one act of faith or obedience It is Divine grace that fits us for the acting of faith and obedience 2. It is Divine grace that must repair the defects of grace that are in us and fill up what is wanting in us Divine grace must begin and Divine grace must consummate every good work in us So that by this one word the God of peace make you perfect there is a double error confuted The error of the Pelagians and Semipelagians The Pelagians held that the beginning of faith and good works was from nature and the consummation and perfection of them was from grace On the contrary the Semipelagians distinguish between faith and works they affirm the beginning of faith was from our selves but the beginning of good works was from grace but yet that this grace was obtained by the merit of our saith and so by consequence held the beginning of faith and good works was from our selves though the consummation of them was from grace But now this one word in the Text confutes both these errors for the Text shews that the beginning and perfection of good works are all from Divine grace It is Divine grace that must begin good works and it is grace that must perfect and finish good works in us It is Divine grace that must begin every good work it is Divine grace that must frame and compose us to good works We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to good works 2 Ephes 10. So that we are created to good works 3. It is Divine grace that perfects good works in us when they are begun The God of peace make you perfect in every good work Hence it is that Christ is said to be not only the Author but Finisher of our faith Heb. 12.3 Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith what more clear than these things 4. The Apostle is not content to say make you perfect but he amplifieth and expresseth himself yet farther Working in you that which is pleasing in his sight by Jesus Christ Here he plainly affirms that it is God that works in us what ever is good and pleasing to him So that it is clear and evident that the Apostle ascribes the honour of all to Divine grace It is Divine grace assists us not only to resist evil but also to perform what is good and acceptable in the sight of God vers 26 27. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes Observe it It is we that belive and obey Oh but it is the spirit of God that is put into us that causeth us to believe and obey It is a known speech of Austin It is certain saith he that we will what we do will it is we that believe and obey there is the act of our wills in these things but it is as certain that it is by the power of Divine grace that we are inabled to will graciously As it is certain that we will what we do will and as it is certain that we do believe and obey so it is as certain that it is by the power of Divine grace that we do thus believe and obey I will put my spirit 〈◊〉 you and cause you to walk in my statutes So that though we walk in Gods statutes yet it is the Spirit put within us that causeth us to walk in Gods statutes and to will and do what we do will and do It is God that worketh in us both to will and to do Phil. 2.13 The 2. Particular thing to be spoken to is this How grace is said to be sufficient for us My grace shall be sufficient for thee Grace may be said to be sufficient for the Saints upon several accounts There are these things implied in this Phrase 1. When God promiseth that his grace shall be sufficient for us his meaning is that he will not leave his people to themselves but give them Divine aid help succour and assistance in their temptations This the following words make out to be the meaning My grace is sufficient for thee why so For my strength is made perfect in weakness As much as if it had been said The grace of God shall be sufficient for his people so as that he will not fail to give Divine strength and assistance to them according to their necessities Therefore when the Lord promiseth a sufficiency of grace the meaning is he will not leave us to our selves but he will give Divine aid and help and assistance of grace to us so that we shall have grace to help in time of need that is the expression Heb. 4. last Let us come holdly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need then is Divine grace said to be sufficient when we have Divine help and assistance given to us in every time of need It is a sweet and precious promise Isa 41.17 When the poor and needy seek water and there is none and their tongue faileth for thirst I the Lord will hear them I the God of Israel will not
supernatural grace that a man is carried forth to such acts as these so that grace carries a man above the sphere of nature 2. To shew the excellency of Divine grace Consid 2. consider that it is Divine grace that enables us to resist and overcome temptation We should be ready to yield to the first touch and impress of a temptation had we not aid and affistance from Divine grace to refist it Free-will as hath been hinted before was soon overcome in the first Adam by the first temptation that offered it self But now Divine grace in the second Adam overcame all temptations So that by comparing the two Adams together the first and the second Adam we may see the plain difference between the vertue or power of free-will and the vertue and efficacy of Divine grace Free-will in the first Adam was overcome by the first temptation Divine grace in Christ the second Adam overcame all temptations So that if we would be superior to all temptations we must be sure to subject our selves to that grace that raigns in the second Adam All those habitual gifts that the first Adam was endowed with did not make him superior to one temptation though Adam in innocency was possessed of the image of God yet all those habitual gifts that were in the first Adam did not make him superiour to one temptation But yet that actual grace that is conveyed to us by Christ the second Adam can set us up above all temptations How little taking and prevalent are the strongest temptations when Divine grace is present Joseph that was solicited by his Mistress from day to day yea who had violent hands laid upon him to have forced him to yield to her yet having the presence of Divine grace with him overcame all these temptations On the other hand if we have not the assistance of Divine grace a less temptation will prevail David and Sampson were carried away by the bare aspect of a temptation so vast a difference is there in us when we have the presence of Divine grace to help us and when we have Divine grace withdrawn from us 3. To shew us the excellency of Divine grace Consid 3. consider Divine grace is that which doth facilitate the acts of obedience Grace makes a man to act with ease and facility in the ways of God and whereas without divine grace every act of obedience would not only be hard but impossible by the presence and assistance of Divine grace the acts of obedience are made facile and easie The moral Philosophers say of habits that they do facilitate the Power to act and render the faculty more apt and ready for action He that hath acquired an habit of temperance it is more easie for him to deny himself and abstain from what is pleasing and may be tendred to him Thus Divine grace facilitates the ways of God it renders the duties of Religion more sweet and easie his commandments are not grievous 1 John 5.3 The reason why holy duties seem hard and difficult to us and the reason why we do not know how to wade through them it is because we have no more experience of Divine grace The assistance of Divine grace renders duties that seem very hard and difficult in themselves to be very facile and easie Psal 119.32 I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart 4. To shew the excellency of Divine grace Consid 4. consider it is actual grace that quickens and excites habitual grace Although we have the habits of grace in us yet we cannot exert and put forth these habits into act without actual grace John 15.5 without me ye can do nothing Believers that are in Christ that have the habits of grace cannot perform any act of obedience without actual grace and present influence from Christ Awake O North wind come thou South blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out Cant. 4.16 The Saints graces which are here compared to spices they will not be in exercise and so yield a pleasant fragrant savour unless there be fresh gales of the spirit to blow upon them As we are beholding to Divine grace for planting the habits of grace in us first of all so we are beholding to Divine grace for every new act of race we put forth For it is God that works in us both to will and to do Phil. 2.13 5. It is by the help of Divine grace that we mortisie corruption Consid 5. and repress the nutions of sin that are within us Rom. 8.13 If ye by the spirit mortifie the deeds of the flesh It is by the spirit that we must mortifie the deeds of the flesh Mortification is a duty enjoyned upon us we are commanded to mortifie sin Col. 3.5 Mortifie your members which are upon the earth Oh but though Mortification is a duty incumbent upon us yet it is by the help of the Spirit and the assistance of Divine grace that we perform this duty Certain it is saith Austin Certurn est nos facere com facimus sed ille facit ut faciamus praebendo vires efficacissimas voluntati August that we do what we do but it is as certain that it is God that enables us to do what we do by affording most effectual strength to the will When corruption moves and stirs in us we should soon yield and consent did not the Spirit of God give us efficacious power to resist Our hearts are as weak and unstable as water we are unable of our selves to resist the least motion of sin but by Divine grace it is that we repress the impetuous and violent motions of sin What is the reason that corruption at some times so soon riseth up and gets head and bears us down and transports us in an uncomely manner whereas at another time we are able to check the first risings and motions of corruption What is the reason of this difference but that at one time we have the assistance of Divine grace and God leaves us at another time to our selves but for our humiliation 6. It is Divine grace that doth recover and restore us after our relapses and falls into sin Consid 6. As it is Divine grace that prevents and keeps us from falling so far as we are kept from falling so it is Divine grace that recovers us out of our falls 1. It is Divine grace that keeps us from falling into sin so far as we are kept Jude 24. To him that is able to keep you from falling We should fall foully we should fall scandalously did not Divine grace keep us Oh it becomes us to love Divine grace greatly There is not the holiest person that could keep himself from falling into a gross and scandalous sin did not Divine grace keep him Some of the Saints have fallen into foul and scandalous sins David did so and others of the Saints have done so and did not Divine grace keep
us we should certainly do as they have done Our Saviour bids us pray Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil and what is the meaning of those two Petitions but that we might have grace to keep us from temptation and grace to deliver us from evil Now if we ought to pray to be delivered from evil certainly we cannot keep our selves from the evil of sin without the power of Divine grace therefore if we are kept from the like falls wherewith others are overtaken let us not be high-minded but fear let us remember that it is by grace that we stand 2. As Divine grace keeps us from falling so far as we are kept so it is Divine grace that recovers us out of our falls We should remain long enough under our falls did not Divine grace raise us up and recover us out of them It is conceived by Divines that David did continue some time under his fall before he was recovered out of it Look as when God leaves us to our selves first of all our own hearts will hurry us to the greatest exorbitancies so if God continue to leave us to our selves we shall pine and languish under our distempers our own corruptions will tumultuate more and more For though corruption cannot not reign in a godly man as it doth in a wicked man it is inconsistent with grace for sin to reign in any that have grace yet it may rage in him for a time and Luther hath a saying to this purpose That sin may rage in a godly man for a time more than in a wicked man Oh but how very sad and bitter is it where God permits and suffers corruption thus to tumultuate and rage in us Truly till Divine grace do recover us corruption will have its raging fits It is Divine grace that doth recover us He restoreth my soul saith David Oh until Divine grace do restore us it will be long enough till we restore our selves nay we shall never be restored Not that we are to sit still but the more we find corruption to rage the more ought we to groan to Heaven and cry out so much the louder for Divine grace but this is certain till Divine grace recover us we shall never be recovered When Peter was left to himself left by Divine grace he denied his Master the first second and third time and there was no sign of his recovery till Christ gave him a look with his eye It must be some powerful touch of Divine grace that must recover us when we are fallen by corruption and temptation 7. It is Divine grace that quickens Consid 7. enlivens and raises the affections after they have been flat and dead Holy men persons that have walked with God do often complain of damps and deadnesses that they feel coming upon themselves It is not so with them as sometimes it hath been with them They do not feel that fervency in prayer that liveliness in holy duties that activity for God those meltÃngs in their affections as sometimes they have found Oftentimes there is great listlesness to holy duties much coldness and deadness in their hearts much streightness in their affections in their performance of holy duties David prays in Psal 119. Uphold me that I may live that was an argument that he was sensible that his spiritual life was greatly decayed that he was grown dead and heavy and lumpish in the ways of God that he had lost that quickness and liveliness of his affections that once he had Thus is it with others of the people of God they find deadness coldness lumpishness too often coming upon them and the cause of this spiritual deadness is commonly one of these things either 1. Unthankfulness for former quicknings or else 2. Presumption of our selves and our own strength and thinking that we had quickning and inlargement at command Or else 3. Neglect of some of the means of grace publick or private Or else 4. Some inordinate affection springing up in the soul Or else 5. Some secret indulgence to some sin that grieves the Spirit and causeth the Spirit to withdraw from us These are ordinarily the causes of those deadnesses that fall upon the Saints Now when the Saints fall under these deadnesses it is Divine grace must quicken them they cannot raise themselves from under these deadnesses they cannot get from under them We may think to rise and shake our selves and do as at other times but believe it if the Spirit of God be departed from us as from Sampson we shall fall flat to the ground as a man that is wounded may essay to rise up and to walk but presently falls down to the earth again But now Divine grace that puts new life and strength into the soul a fresh gale of the Spirit elevates and raises a dead soul Look as a ship when it is becalmed and there is no wind stirring can make no way but then a fresh gale comes and then it sails amain So when a soul hath received a fresh gale of Divine grace then it begins to move afresh then it can act afresh whereas before it was becalmed and found littie stirring little motion Godward Draw me saith the Church and then we will run after thee Cant. 1.4 8. The excellency of divine grace appears in this Consid 8. that it elevates a man above the world What is it that makes some of the Saints to contemn the world when others do so much admire it it is the the power of Divine grace that elevates and raiseth their hearts above the world It is grace that makes the world seem a little thing Grace shews a man something higher than the world and causeth a man to look down upon the world with a holy disdain and contempt as a thing that is much beneath him Gal. 6.14 I am crucified to the world saith the Apostle and we look not to the things that are seen 2 Cor. 4.18 Grace carries up the soul above temporal things Grace causeth a man to look upon the things of this world as mean and of short continuance Other men admire the world and pursue it as their chief good but now a man that is acted by Divine grace doth not so he hath no such admiring thoughts of it he doth not apprehend so much good so much excellency in it but his heart is carried out to something higher 9. Grace Consid 9. it enables a man to bear afflictions grace quiets the soul under affliction and strengthens it to bear up with patience under it 1 Col. 7. Strengthned unto all patience It is Divine grace that strengthens us to bear afflictions with patience we should sink and succumb and despond did not Divine grace strengthen us to bear up under affliction Isa 40. last He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increaseth strength Truly a little affliction will sink us if Divine grace do not help us whereas on the
washed my hands in innocency saith that holy man When he was under the power of temptation he was ready to give off his obedience to give up the course of his walking with God he began to repent he had been religious and walked with God But now it is by the help of Divine grace that we are kept from fainting in the course of our obedience The Lord hath promised that he will put his fear in our hearts that we shall not depart from him Jer. 32.40 Did not God put his fear into our hearts we should be ready to depart from him He also leadeth us in the paths of righteousness for his names sake Psal 23.3 It is grace causeth us to persevere It is Austins observation That grace is necessary for the elect when they are converted first of all Sive cum convertâ—ntur sive cum praeliantur sive cum coroâ—antur It is necessary for them when they war and combat and it is necessary for them when they are crowned at last It is Divine grace that converts and turns our hearts to God first of all It is grace upholds us in the spiritual conflict and enables us to sight the good fight of faith otherwise we thould be weary and faint in our minds and we should be ready to give up the field And then it is grace that crowns us at last so that all is of grace And it is another memorable speech of Austin After mans fall God would have it appertain to nothing but his grace that man should come to him at first and it doth also appertain to the same grace only to keep him that he should not depart from him So that after mans fall it is Divine grace that first brings man back to God and it is the same grace that holds man close to him in the course of obedience so that he never depart from God again but goes on to persevere in the way of faith and obedience to the end 9. Partic. 9. The Excellency of Divine grace appears in this that it carries a man above the sears of death It is grace only that carries a man above the fears of death and makes him willing to lay down this life and cauâ—eth him sweetly and placidly to resign up his soul into Gods hands Father into thy hands saith Christ I commit my spirit Act. 7 59. Lord Jesus saith Stephen receive my spirit Nature abhors the thoughts of dissolution nature cannot indure to think of parting with this life Not that we would be uncloathed saith Paul but that mortality might be swallowed up of life 2 Cor. 5.4 Paul himself found in himself an abhorrence in nature as to dissolution O but then the power of Divine grace in him made him to speak otherwise I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Here we see the different language of nature and grace in the same person Nature makes him say not that I would be uncloathed but grace makes him say I desire to be dissolved so that grace overcomes nature When nature abhors nothing more than death and dissolution yet such is the power of Divine grace that it makes a man freely to lay down his life and to surrender up his soul sweetly into the hands of God Lastly Partic. 10. The last particular I shall mention to shew the excellency of Divine grace is this It is the happiness of Heaven to be always acted by Divine grace to think to love to desire to will to speak to act nothing but as Divine grace would teach and incline us to do this is the perfection of Heaven it self What is the perfection of Heaven but that we shall be full of grace and of the spirit of God The perfection of Heaven consists in this that grace and the spirit of God shall act us universally always and in all things The happiness of Heaven is described by this that God shall be all in all 1 Cor. 15. And one way by which God is all in all is this that in Heaven we shall be full of the spirit of God and that we shall be purely and perfectly and eternally acted by the spirit of God Here nature and self sway us very much but the perfection of Heaven is this that we shall be purely and solely acted by the spirit of God and flesh and nature shall no more have the sway in us but we shall do every thing as the spirit of God acts us How excellent is a Saint here on earth What a beauty and majesty doth there appear in him here on earth so far as he is acted by the spirit of God and by Divine grace That which makes any thing uncomely in a Christian is that nature and corruption and self appears in him But so far as grace and the spirit of God acts him there is nothing but beauty loveliness and comeliness that appears in him How excellent I say is a Saint so far as he is acted by the grace of God here on earth Oh but there are many mixtures of corruption and imperfections in the best of the Saints here on earth there is none of the Saints so perfectly acted by Divine grace but something of self and corruption interposeth O but in Heaven he shall be purely and perfectly and eternally acted by the spirit of God nothing shall come from him then but what savours of the spirit of God Now if the perfection of grace be the perfection of Heaven it self how excellent then is Divine grace that brings us near to the life of Heaven Thus have I shewn the excellency of Divine grace in several particulars And what should all that that we have heard concerning the Doctrine of grace and the excellency of it teach us 1. It should cause us to love Divine grace to prize it and long after it more to covet it and pray for it more than we do for temporal things Had we spiritual eyes to see the beauty and excellency of Divine grace we should not be so fond of other things and neglect grace our main desires would run out after grace 2. We should make this Use from what we have heard of the Doctrine of Divine grace we should pray that we may feel the operations and effects of Divine grace put forth in our souls We have heard how that grace causeth a man to deny his own wisdom will affections inclinations and to resign himself wholly to Gods will We have heard how grace causeth a man to be satisfied in God and with God in the want of other things We have heard how grace elevates the soul to the desire of the Heavenly Country how it causeth a man to persevere in faith and obedience to the end to lay down this life when God calls him thereunto Now we should pray to seel and find that presence of Divine grace in our souls that we may be carried forth to all these things then and never till then shall we know the
To know God in the unity and simplicity of his essence to know God in the Trinity of persons is so great a mysterie as we shall never be fully able to understand in this life 2. We ought to be sensible of our impotency to resist temptations We think we are strong and can resist any temptation but when some great and prevailing temptation comes and bears us down then we see how weak we are Peter said though all denied Christ yet he would not but yet by sad experience he found the temptation too strong for him we ought to be sensible that the many temptations we meet with in our course will be too strong and too hard for us if we be left to our selves 3. We ought to be sensible of the great corruption of our natures and of that great proneness and proclivity that is in us unto evil Rom. 7. In me that is in my flesh there dwells no good thing saith Paul Nay it may be said in our flesh there dwells every evil thing The spirit that is in us lusteth to envy James 4.5 If we observe our own hearts we may see in them the seeds and principles of all evil out of the heart Matth. 15.19 saith our Saviour proceed evil thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts there is the root of all sin to be found in our hearts This sense of the corruption of our own hearts and proclivity that is in them to evil will be of great use to us 1. This will be a means to make us so much the more jealous over our own hearts He that trusts in his own heart is a fool saith Solomon and the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked Jerem. 17.9 who can know it So deceitful and wicked are our hearts that they will soon betray us to sin if we be left to our selves 2. As this sense of the corruption of our nature will make us so much the more jealous over our own hearts so this will make us see the daily need we have of Divine grace the more experience we have of our own corruption the more we see our need of Divine grace to keep us for whither would our corruptions hurry us if Divine grace did not keep us 4. We ought to be sensible of our inability to perform difficult services yea our utter insufficiency to do the least thing that is good without Divine grace Without me saith our Saviour ye can do nothing John 15.5 Our Saviour doth not say without me ye can do no great thing but he saith without me you can do nothing just nothing not the least thing we have not sufficiency of our selves saith the Apostle to think any thing What is less than a thought O what should humble us more than this to think that we cannot command a good thought We must be beholding to Divine grace for every holy thought This sense of our infirmity is that which makes way for the illustration of Christs strength My strength is perfected in infirmity It was the speech of one Persici non potest home qui se non satcatur infirmum that man cannot be perfected who doth not confess himself to be infirm Our highest perfection in this life it is to be sensible of our imperfection It is another speech of one of the antients if I misremember not it was Jeroms Hancunam praesentis vitae persectionem esse ut te imo rsectum agnoscas This is the only perfection attainable in this life that thou acknowledge thy self to be imperfect 5. Lastly We ought to keep up a sense of the many trials afflictions changes and vicissitudes that we must expect to pass through in our present state and our own inability to stand up under them without Divine grace without Divine help and aid If we be now in prosperity and think it shall be always thus and never otherwise with us this is a means to lift us up whereas if we be still in expectation of affliction and also are sensible of our own inability to undergo the least affliction without Divine help and assistance this will be a means to humble us It was the speech of a wise and experienced Christian When I rise in the morning I expect what God will exercise me with before night It is good to be under the expectation of some new trials and exercises this will be a means to keep us humble and this will be a means to preserve in us a sense of our infirmity and make us see our constant need of Divine grace If we think to live without afflictions we shall but deceive our selves so much the more for afflictions will come whether we think of them or no. But if we be in a constant expectation of afflictions this will be a means to humble us and to bring us to a sense of our own infirmity and when we are most humble and have the greatest sense of our own infirmity then are we most prepared to receive Divine grace for Christs strength is perfected in our infirmity that is in the sense of our infirmity the more sensible therefore we are of our infirmity the more are we prepared to receive Divine grace The 3. and Last Use is this Use 3. Is it so that Christs strength is perfected in our infirmity This should teach us to pray much that we may have more experience of Christs power resting upon us in our infirmity This was Pauls ambition here in the Text My strength is made perfect in infirmity what follows The next words are most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmity that the power of Christ may rest upon me The words in the original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are very significant that the vertue of Christ may inhabit in me or that the strength of Christ may pitch it self upon me or as the word signifies that the strength of Christ may tabernacle upon me ut tanquam in tabernaculo inbab tet in me potentia Christi therefore Beza renders it that the power of Christ may inhabit in me as in a Tent or Tabernacle To open this expression two things seem to be intimated in it 1. That we are poor weak frail vessels that our bodies are like to Tents or Tabernacles the body is often compared to a Tabernacle 2 Cor. 5.1 For we know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens Here the body is compared to a tabernacle and so the Apostle Peter useth the same expression As long as I am in this my tabernacle and in the very next verse knowing shortly that I must put off this my Tabernacle 2 Pet. 1.13 14. The body is like a poor Tent or Tabernacle the stakes of it are not so strong and deeply fixt but it may soon be taken down soon removed 2. The expression intimates the need we
the Apostle to the things which are seen for they are temporal but we look unto the things which are not seen for they are eternal 2 Cor. 4.18 When a man by the eye of Faith hath a little prospect of the Heavenly Country and and when he beholds the perfect serenity the tranquillity the unchangeableness the blessedness the joy the satisfaction the delights that are in that Country this must needs attract and allure the soul to the desire and love of these things because these things do far excel any thing that is to be found in this world Who would not prefer an unchangeable state before a changeable perfect serenity and tranquillity before constant trouble perfect joy and satisfaction before a state of grief and sorrow Therefore when the soul hath a little prospect by Faith of that blessed life and state that is above this must needs attract the desires of the soul to desire the happiness and blessedness of this state infinitely above all other things In his presence is fulness of joy at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 This is certain the clearer apprehensions we have of the excellency of the divine presence the more shall we thirst and long after it this is evident from the Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 5.8 We are confident and willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord we delight most to be present with the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as much as if he should say we are at the present confined to the body we are as prisoners in the body But that we could take most delight in Gratius est no◠his Beza that which would be most acceptable to us is to be absent from the body and present with the Lord the thoughts and apprehensions we have of the divine presence makes it most delightful to us to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. Thus God by letting down something of the glory of the heavenly Country and giving the soul a little apprehension what the excellency and ravishing sweetness of the divine presence is like to be doth attract the souls of his people to himself The end of the Seventeenth Sermon SERMON XVIII Solomon's Song 1.4 Draw me we will run after thee THere are as we have heard several waies and means by which God is wont to draw the hearts of his people to himself I have mentioned five already There is one thing more which indeed is one of the principal means by which God draws the hearts of his people to himself I shall speak to that and then come to the Use and Application of the Point 6. The sixth means therefore is this God draws his people by the secret touches of his Spirit and by the impression of divine power upon their hearts Cant. 5.4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door and my bowels were moved for him My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door that is he gave me a secret touch by the finger of his Spirit The Spirit of God is sometimes called the finger of God and that plainly appears if we compare two Scriptures together Luke 11.20 with Matth. 12.28 in one place it is said If I by the finger of God cast out Devils In the other place it is said If I cast out Devils by the Spirit of God The Spirit of God then is called the finger of God So likewise the hand of God denotes the power of God Exod. 15.11 Thy right hand O Lord is become glorious in power And this expression the hand of God is sometimes used to set forth the cause of mens conversion together with the effect of it the saving work of the Spirit of God upon the hearts of men Acts 11.21 And the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. So that this is the plain meaning Christ put forth his hand by the hole of the door that is he gave the Church a secret touch by the finger of his Spirit What followed upon this what was the effect of this that which followed was this My bowels were moved for him the Churches affections were presently quickened and raised by this touch though she was dead listless and indisposed before one touch of the Spirit quickened and raised her affections Ezek. 36.27 I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes The Lord had promised to give a new heart and a new spirit before this in the Verse before it is said Verse 26. A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and yet over and above this the Lord promiseth I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes When God promiseth to give a new Heart and a new Spirit that which is intended by it is the work of the Spirit upon the heart framing the New creature in us Joh. 3.5 Unless a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God and yet although there be a new heart and a new spirit given to us and formed in us by the Spirit of God yet over and above this God must put his Spirit into us and cause us to walk in his Statutes and this plainly shews that the habits of Grace are not sufficient of themselves without actual grace to carry us forth to any act of obedience for what need is there that God should promise to put his Spirit into us and cause us to walk in his Statutes after he had before promised the new heart and new spirit if the habits of grace of themselves had been sufficient to carry us out to all spiritual actions But now the Lord promiseth to put his Spirit within us and cause us to walk in his Statutes and that we shall keep his Judgements and doe them and what doth he intend by all this Certainly thus much that he will not only give us the habits of grace but he will put his Spirit into us as a constant Spring to seed and maintain his own grace in us and that he will act us by his Spirit He will give us that actual grace by his Spirit that shall help us to make use of those habits of grace that he hath planted in us Rom. 8.14 As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the Children of God The Children of God then are led by the Spirit of God the Spirit of God is no stranger in the hearts of the Children of God No as many as are the Children of God are guided led and acted by the Spirit of God Hence is it that we read of the power that worketh in us Ephes 3.20 according to the power that worketh in us There is a power that is continually working in the heart of the Saints and by this power it is that they are drawn to God
going backward he is declining Now a Christian ought to run that is he ought to make a farther progress Add to your Faith vertue and to your vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance Pet. 2.15 and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity So likewise Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before Phil. 3.13 Nothing hinders our spiritual growth more than a vain conceit in us that we know as much already as need to be known and that we have attained already as much as we need to attain unto Paul was of another temper when he saies Not as if I had already attained either were already perfect but I press towards the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3.12 14. To run therefore is to make a progress not to take up with any measures of grace already received but to press forwards to that which we have not attained unto 3. Running notes diligence and activity in the waies of God 1 Cor. 9.24 So run that ye may obtain that is run with care and diligence put forth your utmost vigour and activity in the waies of God Psal 119.32 I will run the waies of thy Commandments when thou shalt inlarge my heart that is I shall be diligent and active in thy waies when I have derived grace from thee 4. Running notes strength and courage in him that runs Dan. 8.6 The He-goat is said to run to the Ram in the fury of his power Running therefore notes strength and courage so the Saints running in the waies of God notes their strength and courage in the waies of God Isa 40.31 They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint 5. And lastly Running notes perseverance in our Christian course to the end Heb. 12.1 Let us run with patience the race that is set before us The second thing to be spoken to is this How it is that the Saints have their hearts carryed out after God The end why they desire divine grace is That they may run in a spiritual manner and that their hearts may be carryed after God Now how is it that the Saints have their hearts carryed out after God 1. The Saints have their hearts carryed out after God by desires and longings after him Psal 63.1 My soul thirsteth after thee my flesh longeth for thee Isa 26.8 9. The desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee and in the next Verse With my soul have I desired thee in the night yea with my spirit within me will I seek thee early Whilest other men do mainly and principally thirst and cover after the creature holy souls do mainly and principally thirst after God himself Psal 42.1 As the Hart panteth after the water brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God The Hart is a thirsty creature by nature and when it is hunted its thirst is greater such is the thirst of holy souls after God But it may be said What is that thirst that holy souls have after God It lies eminently in two things and it will be good for us to observe them because we may know much what the measure of our grace is by these two things Holy souls thirst after Gods gracious presence here on earth and they thirst after Gods glorious presence in Heaven 1. Holy souls thirst after Gods gracious presence here on earth Psal 42.2 My soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God When shall I come and appear before God that is when shall I see the face of God in his Ordinances Psal 101.2 When wilt thou come unto me Nothing more proper to grace than this to carry out the soul in longings after communion with God If you feel nothing of this in your selves if you do not find ardent strong breathings and longings in your souls after God you have reason to suspect your selves that all is not well with you Unless the soul be under Temptation or under the prevalency of some corruption at the present or under the withdrawings of the influences of the Spirit of God in some time of Desertion I say unless it be in such cases as these the pulse of the soul will beat this way viz. in ardent breathings after God and communion with him and if we do not find it to be thus with us we have reason to fear the state of our own souls for thus it will be if grace act like it self in our hearts 2. The Saints have great longings after the sight of God and the glorious presence of God in Heaven Come come is the language of the Church in general The Spirit and the Bride say come Revel 22.17 Being confident and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Come Lord Jesus come quickly is the language of particular Saints Certainly the pulse of grace if I may so express it beats mainly these two waies In longing after a sense of Gods presence in our souls here on earth and in longing after the perfect injoyment of God in Heaven 2. The Saints have their hearts carryed out to God by Love Love is the motion of the soul to the thing beloved The soul naturally moves towards that it loves Love is the weight or ballance of the soul Amor meus est pondus meum eò feror quò amo the soul is carryed where it loves Now the souls of the Saints are carryed towards God by Love Psal 73.25 Whom have I in Heaven but thee And I will love thee O Lord my strength Psal 18.1 God himself is the great thing in the eye of holy souls though friends be dear relations dear yet God himself is most dear O Lord saith Austin thou art not only dearer to me than this earth and all things that are in it but thou art more acceptable to me than Heaven it self and all the things that are in it Hence is that of David in Psal 43.4 I will go to God my exceeding joy The joy of my joy Laetitia â—etitiarum that is the top of my joy Though other things may be amiable to a godly man in their place yet God himself is most amiable to an holy soul 3. The Saints have their hearts carryed out to God by Admiration that which we call admiration is the fixing or staying of the mind upon some excellent object the minds fixing or staying it self with delight upon some object which it is pleased with Admiration takes in a double act of the soul 1. It takes in an act of the mind or understanding what we admire the mind fixeth and dwells upon admiration detains and holds the mind fixt in the contemplation of a thing what we