I have at last done with my first use of Instruction I proceed now to a second and that shall bee of examination Vse 2 Are you willing now to know Christians whether Jesus Christ cares for you yea or no whether you be desirable in his eyes yea or no heaven and hell hang upon this thing Trie whether you have forgotten your owne people and your fathers house The most men and women are afraid of the touchstone and are willing rather to take heaven for granted though they find hell for certaine but this is not safe with you Trie your selves then Christians I will helpe you a little in so good a work 1. If you have forgotten your fathers house you have first seene a great deale of folly and vanity in it Man is a reasonable creature and will never leave any thing but he will see some cause to leave it Did the Lord ever yet convince you throughly not with a Notionall but an heart conviction of the folly of your fathers house Did the Lord ever throughly convince you of your evill wayes the sinnes of your natures the customary sinnes of your lives of your education sinnes and your beloved sinnes Had you ever a through conviction of the vanity of your evill company the vanity of your pleasures and carnall delights Did your soules ever tast a reall bitternesse in them if not I feare me you have not left them 2. Have you had another excellency discovered to your soules Had your souls ever yet a reall discovery made to you of the excellency of the wayes of holines these wayes that you once hated Doe you now see a beauty a glory in them so much that you can even stand and hold up your hands and admire that you should be blind so long A present pleasant thing will scarce bee left but upon a discovery of and an obtaining of something more excellent Christians under what notion do you look upon Christ and his wayes Do you look upon them as excellent the wayes of strictnesse as excellent sanctifying a Sabboth praying the frequenting of the communion of Saints Doe you look upon them as excellent If you doe not I feare mee you but cheat your selves with a conceit that you have forgot your fathers house 3. If you have parted with them I am afraid it cost you some teares you did not part with so many friends with drie eyes friends cannot ordinarily pats without teares but your weeping hath not beene such a weeping if it hath been true it hath not been because you have parted with them but because you abode with them so long it hath for measure been like the mourning of him that hath lost his onely begotten sonne Zach. 12. 10. but not upon the same account not because you must now part with them but because you embraced them so long See the effects of godly sorrow 2 Cor. 7. 11. it worketh carefulnesse and indignation c. Were your soules ever in such a true bitternesse for sinne that it wrought in thee an indignation against your selves that you could even eat your owne flesh to think you should ever have been such a vaine wanton wretch such a proud sinner as you have been This is a good signe you and your fathers house are parted and that at the parting you sorrowed after a godly sort 4. If ever you truly parted with it both at the parting and since too you have found something to doe with your owne spirit some struglings and combatings with your selfe Before you parted you were at a dispute with your soules shall I leave this or that corruption or shall I not and since you have been at some debates with your spirit shall I goe home againe shall I returne to such a vomit to such a wallowing in the mire even Paul himselfe found the law in his members warring against the law of his mind and bringing him into captivity to the law of sinne Rom. 7. 23. the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these contrary one to another Gal. 5. 17. I dare almost say that that soule never conquerd sinne that is not yet in combate with it never truly overcame it that is not still in combate never yet forgot its fathers house that hath not some strong inclinations sometimes to be going to its old home againe and sometimes finds not that it hath something to doe to keep his heart from a second time embracing what it hath beene once ashamed of 5. Doe you make Christ all your delight and your sole delight is hee to you solus desideria totus desideria Are your hearts taken more with Christ than with all the world besides and so taken with your husband that nothing of him nor from him displeaseth you can you bee content with Christ alone and say with David to the Lord Thou art my portion could you quest all things else for him and is there nothing of him but seemes lovely to you doe his strictest lawes seem excellent to you Is hee excellent to you in the intent of his Kingly office as well as in the comfort of his Priestly office doth his very yoke seem easie and his burthen seem light to you 6. Do you abide with Christ as the wife abides with the husband and the branch abides in the vine every true branch abides in him Joh. 15. 4. is your dwelling with him or are you onely religious by fits the hypocrite may bee so religions but the Saint makes the Lord his dwelling place Which is that which you count your home the best of Gods Saints may have some inclinations to vanity and be sometimes trading with the world Ah! but Christ is his home Christ is his dwelling place hee thinkes himselfe in a strange place when he is not with Christ in duties of holy communion Christian which is thy element Is your soule in its element when it is conversing with things below Christ that 's an ill signe by these things you may take a scantling of your owne haarts The Lord help you in applying these things to your soules I proceed to a 3d use Here 's comfort to the Saints joy to the upright in heart especially 1. Against all the uncomelinesse and indesireablenesse the Saint apprehends in himselfe There 's none so comely as the Saint in Christs eyes nor any so uncomely and ugly in their owne eyes Paul cries out O wretched man that I am Rom. 7. 24. and againe I am as one borne out of due time the least of the Apostles not worthy to be call'd an Apostle 1 Cor. 15. 8 9. It is an usuall account the Saints give of themselves ah wretched creatures poore indesireable wretches hard-hearted sinners vile persons c. Bee of good cheare Christian The King hath desired thy beauty thou art black in thine owne eyes but comely in Christs eyes Black in respect of thy merit but comely in respect of imputation comely through the comlinesse that
also see Hearing is not enough He that beleeveth not is damned already Seeing may bee of experience As wee have heard so have we seene in the City of our God The soule that heares well shall see Iohn 1. 50. Because I said unto thee I saw thee under the Fig-tree beleevest thou thou shalt see greater things than these Faith must goe before Sight but Sight shall succeed faith yet Faith is a Sight though not of experience And incline thine eare Expositors make this Phrase to containe three things 1. A Repetition of the first Branch Hearken It is a difficult duty the word is doubled that it may bee inforced the Psalmist speaks twice considering our deafnesse yet he speaks louder in this than in the other phrase Secondly therefore To incline the eare is more than to heare it doth argue a notable stirring of Attention Hee that inclines his eare affert alâ—quem animi motum propensionem quickens up his minde and brings with him to the duty a readinesse of Spirit and an intentnesse of minde 3. Inclining the Eare say some is Nota demissionis a Note of that subjection and obedience which should bee found in the Spouse of the Lord Jesus Christ toward him It followeth in the Text And forget thine owne people and thy Fathers house Here are two things to be enquired into 1. What is meant by her owne People and her Fathers House 2. What is meant by forgetting of them For the first we must be guided by the Knowledge of the Spouse to whom these words are spoken if you look upon 1. The Church of the Jewes as the Spouse meant here to be married to Christ without question it is meant of the Jewish Worship the Ceremoniall Law and Worship and their Traditions they were to bee forgotten and the Gospell-worship to be embraced the worship of Christs Institution consonant to that of Christ to the Woman of Samarta John 4. 21 22 23. 2. If you understond by the Spouse the Church of the Gentiles then the Fathers house is all the Gentile worship and Paganish Idolatry which must all be left upon their turning to Christ 3. If you understand by the Spouse the particular beleeving soule the Fathers house is old Adams house all sinnne and wickednesse all traditionall worshipping Renounce the Per patris domum intelligo quicquid corruptionis ex utero afferimus aut quaecunque ex prava institutione nobis adhaerent quasi ad nos haereditario jure aut educatione transfusa Rivet ad loc World saith Deodate and cleave to Christ It is a Lesson of Selfe-Denyall consonant to that of Christ Matth. 10. 37. By Fathers house saith Doctor Rivet wee may understand whatever corruption wee either brought out of the wombe with us or have contracted by ill education or custome so that they cleave to us as our inheritance And by People saith he I understand ea quae ex mala consuetudine conversatione cum impiis acquisita nos a Deo abducunt quae omnia nobis sunt deponenda all those Corruptions and whatever they be which we have contracted by ill acquaintance and conversing amongst the wicked which estrange us from God these must all bee laid downe Luke 9. 23. Luke 14. 26. I shall anon in the opening of the Doctrine open this tearm more fully I now proceed So shall the King desire thy Beauty Some read it Quia concupivit because the King hath desired thy beauty making it a motive to induce her to forget her fathers house So August Cyprian c. Others read it according to our Translation The King The King of Glory the King of Peace Christ that King I have set my King upon my holy Hill of Zion Hee is the King Greatly desire Out of his love to thee his great love to thee he shall desire it not onely love thee but desire thee yea not onely desire thee but greatly desire thee He speaks after the manner of men whose desire is to the women they love Gen. 4. 7. Vnto thee shall be his desire And so Deut. 21. 11. If thou seest amongst the Captives a beautifull woman and thou hast a desire to her to make her thy wife Christs Love is such to the soule that he hath a desire to her yea not a desire barely but a passionate desire he shall greatly desire he shall be in love with the soule He shall greatly desire thy Beauty What Beauty Pulchritudo est in mente credentium saith Musculus it is meant not of a face Beauty but an heart Beauty Decor Ecclesiae saith Mollerus est in fide obedientia dilectione In the graces of the soule it is a Beauty that the Lord Christ puts upon the soule it is not a Beauty of nature but of grace that is the Saints Beauty Sanctitas Ecclesiae est pulchritudo Ecclesia saith Piscator the holinesse of the Church is the Churches beauty and so the holines of the soul is the souls beauty This is the fairenes this the Beauty that is meant in those places of Solomons Song Cant. 1. 10 11. Cant. 4. 1. Cant. 6. 1. Cant. 7. 1. This is the Beauty that the Lord Jesus Christ the great King shall so desire in the soule this is the comelinesse that shall make any poore soule desireable in the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ This is the Beauty which will make the King of Glory rest and content himselfe in his Love to the soule that hath it and make him bee delighted with the acquaintance of the soule and in conversing and having Communion with the soule This is it that which where it is found will so ravish Christs heart that he will never part from the soule as Mollerus expounds that phrase greatly desire Thus as shortly as I could dispatch it you have the sense of the Text. Now in it there lyes these truths 1. That the gracious soule by marriage to Jesus Christ becomes his Daughter as well as his Spouse Hee will not onely love her as a Wife but care for her as a Daughter 2 Cor. 6. 16. 2 That it is a great piece of the Daughters worke to hearken to Christ in his Word It is no height of Saintship to be beyond Ordinances if wee be out of Heaven It is a note of a Reprobate being once enlightned to fall back but it is a new degree of Saintship they are deafe Adders that have lived thus long no Saints Children of the Devill not of God his Daughters must hearken Hearken O Daughter 3. Christs Daughter must and shall see as well as heare Hearing is not enough the soule must be open to receive Christ as well as the eare to heare his voice and if they will heare they shall see Hearken O Daughter and see 4. Christs Daughters must incline their eare as well as heare and see Obedience must bee joyn'd to Faith and Worship Inward affection and intention of minde must bee joyned with outward hearing 5. Which is the
Company of our Fathers House Gods Commands doe not enterfiere nor will the Gospell in that case give a supersedeas to the Law But 1. if God and they draw severall wayes if the Parents commands crosse Gods then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is better to obey God than men The Parent is to command for God not against him subordinately not supremely he must be obeyed for Gods sake and God too for his sake as by his command he seconds God but Parents can as little yea less discharge the child of its duty to God than the Pope can discharge the Subject of his Allegiance to his Prince 2. If their love becken us out of the way when God calls us or would intice us to make halts in our running through fire and water to him then wee must forget them I have somewhere met with a Speech of St. Hierome to that purpose Saith hee If the Lord Christ should call me to him though my Father should lye in my way and my Mother should hang about my neck I would goe over my Father and shake off my Mother and runne to my Christ Shetterden a Martyr as it is storied of him writ to his Mother thus Dear Mother imbrace the Counsell of Gods Word with Heart and Affection read it with obedienee so shall we meet in joy at the last day Or else I bid you farewell for ever In these now and such like cases that soule that would make its beauty desireable in the eyes of Jesus Christ must like Levi say to his Father and his Mother I have not seen you in these cases he must not acknowledge his Brethren nor know his owne Children They stand in Christs way and Christ calls hastily The Saint must spare no time to parley Naturall affection with them he must forget his Fathers house the deare company of it his Relations Secondly all sinfull Company is the Company of our Fathers house The Company of fooles as Solomon calls it Now all this must be forgotten or else in stead of being saved thy soule will bee destroied Prov. 13. 20. A Companion of fooles shall bee destroied Psalme 119. 63. I am a companion saith David of those that fear thee You must leave your swearing Company and your drinking Company and your vain Company or the King will never desire your beauty The soul that would render it selfe desireable in the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ must make all its delight with David in those that excell in vertue the Saints upon the earth Saul before his Conversion was a companion of those that stoned Stephen and persecuted the Saints Like to like for himselfe consented to his death and was a Persecutor but no sooner had the Lord made his Motion to him but he forgat this company and assayed to joyne himselfe to the Church Thirdly the soule that would render its beauty desireable in Jesus Christs eyes must forget the Honour and Pompe and Riches and Greatnesse of his Fathers house all the high-Towers and Treasures of it c. They that will be Christs Disciples must not take up Crownes and advance themselves and follow him No they must deny themselves and take up the crosse and follow him their Crownes must be of Thornes made after their Masters Coppy They must not be such as love the uppermost roomes at Feasts and the chiefe seats of the Synagogues and Greetings in the Market and to be called of men Rabbi Rabbi Bee not yee call'd Rabbi saith Christ for one is your Master even Christ and all yee are brethren Hee that is greatest amongst them that are Saints must be as a Servant Matth. 23. 7 8 9 10. They must forget that naturall it ching which is in the children of Adam usually and must be scratched with Madam or Rabbi or some high-swelling words of vanity they must not bee such as will swell like that Toad Haman if Mordecay give him not the knee or if their Brother give them not the wall or the way Saints are no such creatures they are such as are not at all taken with any such high titles but Rom. 12. 10. In honour they prefer one before another And they must look upon it as the greatest honor in the world not that they are masters and descended atavis Regibus of great Parentage c. but that they are servants of Jesus Christ the name of Christian the badge of honour first created at Antioch must appeare to them better than the names of Lord or Lady Theodosius was wont they say more to glory that hee was a servant of Christ than that hee was Emperour of the East Now I say That soule that would make its beauty desirable to Christ must forget all these not affect any of them not value them for hee that exalteth himselfe shall bee abased and he that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted Behold a miracle saith Mat. 23. 12. saith Augustine God is an high God yea the most high yet the higher thou liftest up thy selfe the further thou art off him the lower thou humblest thy selfe the nearer he drawes to thee he looks neare to the humble that he may raise them up but sees the proud afarre off that hee may depresse them The proud Pharisee prest as neare God as hee could the poore Publican durst not but stood afarre off God was farre from the one and neare to the other The high towers of the fathers house must bee forgotten yea and so must all the rich coffins and chests of it these are part of the furniture of our fathers house You know what Christ said to the young man when he seemed to bee in love with Christ Matth. 19. 21. If thou wilt be perfect if thou wilt make thy beauty a desirable beauty Goe and sell all that thou hast and give to the poore and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow mee and againe v. 24. It is easier for a camell to goe through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdome of God You know what Christ saies Mat. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the poore are those that are gospellized But to proceed yet The soule that would render its beauty desirable in Christs eyes must forget the pleasures and vanities of its fathers house all that is in the world 1 Joh. 2. 16. whether it be the lust of the eyes or the lust of the flesh or the pride of life When the Apostle speaks of lovers of pleasures he puts in more than lovers of God 2 Tim. 3. 4. Jude tels us such as are sensuall have not the spirit Jude 18. 19. Iob in the description of the wicked Job 21. 12 13. tels us that they are such as take up the tymbrell and harpe and rejoyce at the sound of the Organ their children dance they spend their dayes in wealth c. These are they that say unto God Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of his wayes What