Psal 32. 5. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin And this confession hath been full and free and without any covers for he there saith Mine iniquity have I not hid It is a false heart that petitions help against sin and in praying for it pleads excuses and extenuations This proceeds from â— spirit of bondage and not from a spirit of Adopâ—ion 5. Have you humbled your selves to Gods foot in your Prayers to him A spirit of Prayer is a Soul humbling a Soul-abasing spirit hence that Psal 9. 12. He forgetteth not the cry of the humble and 10. 17. Lord thou hast heard the desire of the humble thou wilt prepare their heart thou wilt cause thine ear to hear He that prays as he ought to God for pardon and acceptance in Christ is deeply sensible of his great vileness by reason of sin and of his utter unworthiness of mercy and hence he goes with â— rope on his head and sackcloth on his loyns i. e. He reâ—â—gns himself to God with all the Testimonials of his acknowledging that he hath no dependence on any thing but free Grace that he hath nothing of his own nor can he oblige God he therefore carries that with him in Dan. 9. 8. 9. To us belongs confusion of face to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses And his address is in that form Psal 25. 11. For thy name sake O Lord pardon mine iniquity for it is great 6. Have you Prayed for the Purging as well as earnestly as for Pardon Doubtless he that knows what it is to be Guilty before God will be very importunate in asking forgiveness and well he may for who can stand before Gods angâ— But a kindly resentment of Guilt so as to justify God who condemns will be accompanied with an apprehension of the vileness of sin and that will make us weary of the presence of it and to loath our selves for it which will draw out our cryes to have it taken away both these therefore are included in that Hoâ— 14 2. Take away all iniquity 7. Are your Prayers importunate or in good earnest There are many that pray in good words and it may be with much of noise too and yet not from a Spirit of Supplication they are not importunate and cordial requests which they put up He that is in earnest will take no denial but will press with greatest urgency and resolution One of the Ancients complains of himself that when he prayed against his Lusts he was afraid lest God should answer him this was not from the Spirit of Grace and if you are in good â—arnest you will watch the answer of your prayers to see what return there is of them Psal 85. 10. I will hear what God the Lord will say 1â—0 5. My Soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning 8. Do you persevere in Prayer As it is the duty of all Gods People so to do Eph. 6. 18. Praying always c. watching thereunto with all perseverance So it is one property of the Spirit of Prayer and there is a double perseverance to be eyed in this you are constant and unwearied in your duty you pray without ceasing 1 Thes 5. 17. You resolve as Psal 116 2. I will call upon him as long as I live And you hold on in it against all that would discourage you If you have not a present answer according to desire it doth not beat you off but quickens your ardour and you say as Isa 8. 17. I will wait on the Lord who hideth his face If he repulse you you turn his very repulses into arguments as that poor woman did Mat. 15. 25 26. 9 And doth the sense of sin always drive you to Prayer Do your Consciences at any time reflect and charge Guilt on you Doth this always bring you upon your knees and cause you to pour out your hearts in supplication Do you find the stirrings of inward Concupiscence and the Law in your members warring against the law of your mind What course do you take to get it mortified Is prayer now not neglected These are the motions of a Spirit of Supplication in a Child of God This course we find David is on all occasions taking in the Psalms USE III. For Exhortation in several particulars 1. Let this point awakened Sinners in what way to seek after Christ Certainly when God sets Sin home upon the Conscience of a Sinner it calls aloud to him to repair to the fountain And would you go to it so as to participate in the saving efficacy of it then 1. Do it mournfully Dry addresses to God are insignificant things and will find no acceptance Beg of God then to bestow such a Spirit upon you and labour to express it with all suitable deportment Labour therefore to embitter your Sin to your selves with all the proper considerations that may make it vile and fill you with the deepest sense of your misery by reason of it This is the only way for you to give God his glory both of his Righteousness in condemning you and his rich mercy in pardoning and healing you You will never come humbly unless you come mourning and this is the way to obtain the blessing from him God takes distinct notice of this and he is pleased with it see Jer. 31. 18 with 20. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself c. Is Ephraim my dear Son c. And we find that Christ was anointed purposely for the relief of such Isa 61. begin 2. Do it with Supplications If ever God giveth you the experience of the vertue of the Fountain in you for the taking away of your Sin and Uncleanness he will make you to pray for it he hath said Ezek. 36. 37. I will be sought to c. Seek his face and favour confess your sins and keep not silence seek to him in Christ's name and present your petition before him this is the right returning to God Joel 2. 12. By thus doing you will acknowledge Christ to be the Fountain of Grace when you do seek it of him and call upon him for it And for your encouragement know it that if you do indeed thus seek him you shall find him If a persecuting Saul prays to him he observes it and accepts it of him Acts 9 11. Behold he prayeth Yea he hath said Psal 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me 2. Let this stir up mourners to pray Are there any whose sins are made their burden and they are in bitterness by reason of them instead of nourishing despondent and despairing thoughts in you and making you to hide away from God let it drive you to him to seek his face and favour his pity and pardon let it draw forth that request from you in Psa 41. 4. Heal my Soul for I have sinned against
there is a Legal Repentance before Conversion yet that which is Evangelical follows upon it and is no further pleasing to God than as it is exercised by faith but in respect to order of time the man repents and believes at once and so they are together It is a penitent Faith and a believing Repentance that is exerted they are therefore conjoyned Acts 20. 21. Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ 7. For the right exerting of these Graces there is the exercise of a Spirit of Mourning and of Supplication There is a principle of this or there is such a Spirit habitually put into the man when he is new made but the improvement of it is in the practising of Faith and Repentance Here then 1. For the exerting of true Repentance he draws out a Spirit of mourning In Repentance we turn from sin to God in which turning there is not only an abstinence from the outward acts but a cordial renouncing and forsaking of those sins which we rightly repent of and for that end we must be made to see them to be evil and mischievous and that we have foolishly turned from God to them the genuine effect whereof upon the heart is to bemoan our selves by reason of them and hence the Scripture annexeth mourning unto Repentance as an inseparable concomitant of â— hence that in Jer. 31. 18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning of himself c. And for the producing of this mourning God offers the conviction of the evil and bitterness then is in our sins Jer. 2 19. Know and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God c. Now there are two passages to be observed in this mourning 1. He bewails all his Sins Godly Sorrow is for Sin that is the procuring cause of all the sorrows that poor man is exposed unto and is therefore that which peculiarly calls for our mourning and this belongs to that sorrow which the Apostle tells us is so serviceable to true Repentance 2 Cor. 7. 10 Godly sorrow worketh repentance not to be repented of It is by this that we embitter sin to our selves and stir up in us an hatred of it for though sorrow be a mixt Affection yet it mainly partakes of hatred which is a separating affection and makes us to reject the Object of it Now if this sorrow be genuine it is universal it bears a respect to all sin because if it be right it is excited by the apprehension of the great evil there is in sin in the nature as well as in the effects of it which evil being in all sin it must needs extend to all hence that Psalm 119. 104. I hate every false way and where this hatred is there will be Sorrow for our having hurt our selves by it and therein dishonoured God 2. He more peculiarly laments the affronts that be hath offered to Christ who hath been set before him in the tenders of Grace This therefore is peculiarly remarked in Zech. 12. 10. They shall 〈◊〉 upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for an only Son and be in bitterness for him as one is in bitterness for his first born Where the Gospel comes and Christ is exhibited together with the need that men have of him by reason of â—in the convictions whereof are laid before men to perswade them of the necessity they stand in of having him to be their Saviour and men have made light of these invitations which have been given them they have not been perswaded of their misery by Sin and brought to accept of Christ to rescue them from it and have accordingly despised him neglected him chosen lying vanities before him and remained in their unbelief This is the great provocation under the Gospel Joh. 3. 19. This is the Condemnation that light is come into the world and men chuse darkness rather than light This Sin therefore they shall peculiarly mourn for and resent with the greatest sorrow 2. For the exercising of Faith this Spirit of mourning is ever accompanied with a Spirit of Supplication The first breathings and breakings forth of faith are in prayer When once Paul was Converted that is the next news we hear of him Acts 9. 11. Behold he prayeth This is the first sign by which the new born Christian discovers that he hath life in him True Prayer supposeth a principle of faith in the man â—or only such a prayer as is spirited with it is acceptable to and prevalent with God Jam. 5. 16. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much compare Chap. 1. 5 6. Let him ask of God but let him ask â—â— faith God hath therefore made it a medium for our participation in the blessings engaged in the New Covenant Ezek. 36. 37. I will yet be enquired of for this by the House of Israel to do it for them In which prayer 1. He confesseth and bewaileth his sins before God Confession of sin is if not an essential part yet an inseparable adjunct of prayer by which sinful man addresseth God for mercy hence the promise so runs Prov. 28. 13. He that confesseth and forsaketh shall find mercy And for this reason when God invites back sliders to return and promiseth them acceptance he enters that caution Jer. 3. 13. Only acknowledge thine iniquity Nor indeed can we rightly come to Christ for a pardon and cleansing unless we lay open our malady before him so that there is a tacit confession of Sin in the very petitions that are put up on this account but God expects that in our solemn addressing of him we be explicit in it Levit. 26. 40. If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers with their tresâ—oss c. 2. He requests his Converting Grace There must be a root of Conversion in the man before he can sincerely desire or petition to be Converted and indeed gracious mourning confession and supplication do follow after that inward and transforming work of the Spirit in the man Jer. 31. 19. After that I was turned I repented and after that I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed c However in the actual turning of the Soul to God the man finds that it is not in his own power to turn himself but that he must have it given him of God and accordingly he asks it of him thus did Ephraim verse 18. Turn thou me and I shall be turned and God directs Israel to use such words Hos 14. 2. Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously and these cries are drawn forth by the efficacâ— oâ— preventing Grace 3 He professeth his acceptance of and reliancâ— upon Christ for Salvation He acknowledge thâ— that Christ is an All sufficient Saviour that there is a fulness of vertue in this founâ—ain to take away all Sin and Uncleanness from
him he answers the Call of the Spirit in the Word and embraceth the promise annexed to it and Echo's back to it with acceptance and gratitude as Psal 27. 8. When then saidst seek ye my face â—ine heart said unto thee thy face Lord will I seek Jer 3 22 Return ye baâ—ksâ—iding Children and I will heal your backslidngs â—â—hold we come unto thee fâ—r thou art the Lord our God And tâ—us is the Everlasting Covenant past between God and him now is he Unitâ—d with the Fountain or Grace and all thâ— saving vertue oâ— it is derived to him and this is the usual method of Divine Grace iâ— bringing a Sinner to participate in the saving Benefits which were purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ for him USE I. For Information in two or threâ— particulars 1. We have here a Rule to judge of the Efficacy of the Gospel in the dispensation of it Theâ— is a great deal of reasoâ— why the People â— God should observe not only who enjo◠〈◊〉 Gospel in which Christ is opened to men â—â—d where it is that Christ is most clearly and â—stinctly declared in his whole work but alâ— what fruit or efficacy there is of it how â—r the vertue of this fountain for the ends of â—â— being opened is made evident by the effects â—f it upon men and though the work of Apâ—â—cation wherein Christ is made to us Righâ—â—ousness and Sanctification for the pardoning â—â—d cleansing of our sin be a secret work and â— man can certainly know it of another exâ—pt by extraordinary Revelation and though â—â— things which are the concomitants of this â—â—d evidence to it viz. A spirit of mourning â—â—d supplication are not so obvious but that â—â— may be mistaken about them inasmuch â— there may be secret Prayer and bewailing â— sin that is sincere and accepted with God â—hich makes no noise and there may be a â—ew of much of this but whether it be sincere â—â—d proceeds from such a spirit given to us â—â— be judged of only Charitably yet there â— usually so much to be discerned on â—is account by such as observe the times as â—ay make the hearts of such as fear God Glad â— Sad and many times there are too awful â—idences of the general prevailing of the conâ—ary spirit by the notorious appearance of â—ch things as are inconsistent with this If â—e speak on a publick account when God inâ—â—ds to pour out much grace upon a People he will give a spirit of mourning and prayer and therefore when there is but a little of thiâ— and much of the contrary to be observeâ— when it is as Isa 22. 12 13. In that day diâ— the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourâ—ing and to baldness and to girding with sackcloth and behold joy and gladness sâ—aying of oxen anâ— killing of sheep eating flesh and drinking wiâ—e â— let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dyâ— When instead of reforming the sins that aâ— among men there is nothing mended but theâ— rather grow worse it saith that if there wâ—â— a spirit of mourning it would not be so Aâ—â— when Prayer is neglected particularly in Families and there are so many houses withouâ— it as is complained it is to be supposed tâ—â— secret Prayer is neglected too and mucâ— more that the spirit of Supplication is greatlâ— wanting Nay though there be many Fasâ— kept for the bemoaning of the prevailing sâ—â— making of humble confessions of them uâ—â— God and asking of his pardon and healing â— yet if this be all and there is nothing amendeâ— nor is the work of the present day in this râ—gard pursued it will bespeak that the day â—oâ— the plentiful accomplishment of this promiâ— that we have under our present consideratioâ— doth not as yet commence And let serioâ— Christians judge by such Rules and say whâ—ther they do not see great occasion for Lamâ—â—tation on this account The same observatioâ— is also applicable to particular persons 2. We may hence learn what little reason the â—ost have to boast of Christ as a Fountain of Salvation to them It must needs be a sad sight â—o see with what security and confidence the generality do nourish themselves as if they â—othing doubted of a title to Christ and life â—y him and take it amiss to have the reality â—f it so much as questioned who yet cannot â—ear the test of the truth in hand but must â—â—eds fall before it and stand condemned by it â—â— it be as it is a great truth that where God â—pplies Christ to men in the benefits which he â—â—th purchased for Sinners he pours out upon â—em a spirit of mourning and supplication â—ertainly then all such as are without such a â—irit must needs be strangers to such an Apâ—lication and without doubt where such a â—irit is put into men there will be the exerting â—f it in their lives and practices When thereâ—ore there is nothing of this but the quite â—ontrary notoriously appearing such mens â—ith must needs be presumption and their â—oasting is of a false gift Think of this then â—l you who are so far from mourning for â—our sins that you can live in them quietly â—ontentedly nay you Rejoyce in iniquity and â—ke the greatest Satisfaction in gratifying of â—our carnal lusts who are never well but when â—ou are Devising mischief on your beds and putâ—ng it in practice as soon as opportunity affords you that can make a mock of sin that can Drink your stollen waters and eat your bread in secret and wipe your mouths and say we have done no wickedness You that can boast of your lewd pranks and shew your sin as Sodom and hide it not you that joyâ— hand in hand with your lewd companions and encourage one another in your wicked courses surely you never had the healing vertue of this fountain applied to you and to hope to have your sins pardoned and yet not cleansed is a vain hope Think of this also all you Prayerless ones who instead of calling upon Gods name abuse it and take it in vain by your profane taking it into your mouths who can live days and mouths and years without so much as a formal addressing of God whose houses will one day rise up against you and testify that you never Prayed in them either by your selves or with your families who never carried your iniquities to God as a burden too heavy for you to bear and with strong cryes besought him to take them away by a free pardon and powerful purging Let all such know that how presumptuously soever you may now cry Lord Lord there is a time coming if mercy prevent not when he will say I never knew you depart from me all ye workers of iniquity And be not deceived for God is not mocked 3. This shews us who they are that are like to enjoy the clearest discoveries and most plentiful applications of Christ to them certainly they are such unto
quiet or satisfaction 6. There are many who cheat themselves with false hopes on this account The natural security in sinful man makes him ready to take easy satisfaction about his good estate and the delusions of Satan and the false reports of a carnal mind and the fair shews which there are in a common work of the Spirit aâ— snares which they are entangled by there â— upon this account great need to be cautioneâ— against rash presumption lest otherwise you labour of a pernicious mistake thus the Apostle to them 1 Cor. 6. 9. Be not deceived 7. The Doctrine in hand affords you a sure Rule of Trial. Whatsoever difference there may be in the manner or degree of mourning oâ— of the impressions which are made on thâ— Conscience by the Terrors of the Lord yet when God makes the Gospel effectual for the application of the vertue of this Fountain to a Sinner he always gives a Spirit of Mourning and Prayer i. e. He gives Grace to mourn and pray after a Godly manner If therefore you can discover this to be in you and are not mistaken about it you have an evidence that will not deceive you Put your selves then upon the trial of them severally and that by such Rules as follow 1. Hath God poured upon you a Spirit of mourning for Sin have you received the Grace of God by sorrow And for proof of this 1. Did you ever mourn at all for Sin if not this Trial is resolved at once He that never mourned for sin did never partake in the saving vertue of this fountain and it is to be feared that a great many forward Professors will fall at this first Trial. There are many that build high but did never dig for a founâ—tion The stony ground hearers Religion â—egins with joy as Mat. 13. 20. He heareth â—e word and anon with joy receiveth it It may â—e you have mourned for the fruits of sin for â—our outward losses bereavements reproachâ—s pains c. but it hath not been the Sin that procured them but the things themselves â—hat stirred up your sorrow and if the Sin it â—elf was not bitter to you you never repaired â—o the Grace of Christ to take it away 2. Have you mourned after a Godly sort It may be you have been touched with remorâ—es of Conscience Sin hath been set home upon you with terror but that may be and yet be only a part of the punishment of Sin in this life there is therefore a double sorrow for sin Godly and Worldly 2 Cor. 7. 10. And is yours a Godly one Try it by these things 1. Have you ever felt the bitterness of Sin it self Many an one finds sorrow by his sins and is forced to acknowledge that his Sin hath brought it upon him who yet is not led by it to see and believe that Sin is in its own nature so vile and evil as to be odious It may be he only reads it in the Law and he sees that God will maintain his own Law but mean while he lays the blame not on the sin that procured his sorrow but on the Law that had such a Sanction in it and he is therefore sorry for his sin only because he is sorry that there is such a Law that will not suffer him to siâ— with impunity this is no Godly Sorrow it â—â— not acted by Humility but by pride anâ— prejudice and he saith as they Ezek. 33. 10 If our transgressions and our sins be upon us anâ— we pine away in them how shall we then live 2. Have you been deeply oppressed with the burden of siri so as thereby to be made weary of it Though God improves the troubles and mischiefs procured by Sin to bring us to see the evil of it and cry out by reason of thâ— bitterness there is in it yet in a kindly mourning sin it self is made to be a burden that we cannot tell how to bear and hereupon we long to be rid of it and earnestly seek after a freedom from it thus it was with Paul Rom. 7 24. Oh wretcheâ— man that I am whâ— shall deliver the from the body of this death We seek a parâ—â—â— for we are undone without it but we â—eek the death of Sin too nor can we be at quieâ— but in the assurance and experience of the beginning of it in us and a comfortable perswaâ—â—on that it will ere long be wholly destroyed hence that groan of his Psal 38. 4. Mine iniquities are gone over mine heaâ— as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me 3. Hath your mourning reached to and fined upon the sin of your nature It is not enough to have bewailed this or that particular actual Sin although God usually makes the conviction â—f and the sorrow for such to be leading to â—he other but he that hath truly mourned for Sin hath been led up from thence to the fountain of corruption which is within and that hath driven him to seek after the Fountain of Grace which is in Christ and always true mourning ceaseth not till it cometh hither and lays out its greatest lamentations here thus it did in David in the forecited Psal 51. 5. And in the Church Isa 64. 6. We are all as an unclean thing and in Paul Rom. 7. 21. I find a law that when I would do good evil is present with me 4. Hath this sorrow wrought in you unto a true Repentance from Sin Repentance is one of the saving works of the Spirit wrought in Application and wherever Christ is communicated to any as a fountain of Grace there will be this effect of it Now Godly Sorrow is an ingredient of this Repentance and therefore if it be right it will ever accompany such a thing Repentance is a cordial turning from Sin to God Sorrow for sin is that which helps and promoves this turning if it be kindly for it is a separating Affection and as it derives from hatred of that which procures our trouble so it will express it in carrying us away from it hence that 2 Cor. 7. 9. Ye sorrowed to Repentance for ye were made sorry after a godly manner Iâ— then ye have mourned never so bitterly for Sin yet if you have not reached to such a Repentance it hath not been right nor will it evidence your being in Christ 5. Hath this sorrow kindled in you an universal hatred of Sin When God embitters sin to us it is to make us to loath it and if this hatred be of the right stamp it will not only be against that one sin that hath done us the present sensible harm but all of the kind but every thing that bears the nature of sin on it we can say as he Psal 119. 104. I hate every false way And the reason is because if we mourned for sin under the consideration of its being sin we shall be engaged against every other sin in which we see the same grounds of hatred or
detestation He that mourns for one sin and can in the mean while hug another in his bosome and dally with it doth not mourn aright for any 6. Hath your sorrow lookt back to the sins of Youth Where God doth indeed give a spirit of mourning he will make a thorough work of it he will lead the Soul into a soaking consideration of all that hath been grievous to his holy spirit he will bring to mind old sins those that had been forgotten before and embitter them to us and the reason is because those sins also must be repented of for which there must be a suitable sorrow Time will not wear off the Guilt of any sin but Christ must cleanse it with his blood and in order thereto we must carry it to him for cleansing and we cannot do so aright but by bemoaning our selves before him for it David therefore in his address to God runs up hither Psal 25 7. Remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions 7. Have you in you an habitual frame of spiriâ—â—al mourning Godly sorrow is not a land-flood that is raised by some storm and is dried up again soon after that is over but it is a living spring it is an habitual Grace in the Soul and for that reason it is called a Spirit of Grace Chap. 12. 10. And this appears in a constant promptitude to mourn for sin upon every occasion Every sight of sin stirs up this Godly sorrow When ever you feel any stirrings of Concupiscence within it makes you to cry out Oh wretched man who shall deliver me Rom. 7. 24. If at any time you are over taken with any sin it makes you to groan and bewail your selves and say as he Psal 38. 18. I will declare mine iniquity I will be sorry for my sin Nay if you see others to sin though they commit it without remorse yet you cannot but mourn for it as he Psal 119. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy law And Verse 158. I beheld the transgressours and was grieved because they kept not thy word 8. Have you been duly affected in particular with the Affronts which you have offered to Jesus Christ This is specifyed Chap. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son and be in bitterness for him as one that is iâ— bitterness for his first born There is nothing more bitter to one that is truly Converted than the ill entertainment that he hath given to a Saviour who came to him and offered himself to be one to him It may be you have led a sober life and cannot charge your selves with the immoralities which others have fallen into but you have lived under the Calls of the Gospel and have been many a time invited and sollicited to come to Christ to take him for a Saviour but you have made light of it neglected him been content without him you have often been inwardly striven with by the motions of the Spirit but you have quenched them and grieved him thereby You have lived in your unbelief and been contented so to do you have had a low esteem of him and of his Salvation you have relied on your own Righteousness and not submitted to his you sought him not would not come to him for life and thus you went on from year to year till he came to awaken and bring you home to himself Now all these things come to mind and they carry an emphatical consideration in them to make you vile in your own eyes and bewail your impenicence If ever you looked to Chrisâ— with an eye of faith it hath been with a mournful eye 2. Have you experienced a spirit of Supplicatiâ— We observed that it is inseparable from â— former and would you be rightly inâ—med about this prove your selves by these â—ings 1. Have you found kindled in you a restless â—esire to be delivered from Sin True prayers â—e the offering up of our real and cordial deâ—es unto God and hence by discovering the â—uth of our desires we may come to know â—hat our Prayers are Now there is none â—at prays aright against sin but he that longs â—satiably to be rid of it There are many 〈◊〉 pray to have those miseries removed which â—ey undergo for sin but this is but Howling â—d not Praying that is a right expressing of â—ur request on this account Hos 14. 2. Take â—ay all iniquity But the heart must go with â—â— which it will never do till we are weary â—â— sin and the presence of it is an heavy burâ—en to us 2. Have you found that this deliverance is no â—here else to be had The right prayer which â—od hears and accepts is the prayer of the â—edy the poor and the destitute Psal 102. 17. Christs Office is to Succour him that hath no â—elper Psal 72. 12. As such therefore he exâ—cts that we come saying as Hos 14. 3. Ashur all not save us c. For in thee the fatherless â—leth mercy And that we may thus pray it requisite that we have a deep sence imprinted on us that this is our condition God makes the Soul to despair of any succour from any other hand he is not only in a pit where therâ— is no water but his eyes fail him Isa 41. 17. He finds himself to be engulphed in the waves oâ— destruction and cryes out as they when jusâ— ready to be swallowed up Math 8. 25. Lord save us we perish 3. Have you been encouraged to go to God Iâ— Prayer for this with hope A spirit of Supplication is a gracious frame that is put into the heart by the spirit of God and there are the Graces that are used in the exerting of it the principal of these is Faith and the first stirring of it is usually in Hope which hope is alwayâ— at work and moveth in the genuine prayers oâ— the people of God This hope hath not always alike strength in it but yet it hath thaâ— degree of it whereby we are enabled to looâ— with some expectation of receiving the good we ask for at the hands of God In youâ— distress by reason of sin you resolved to go to God for help against it and what was it thaâ— drew out this resolution was it not an apprehension that Christ was such a â—ountain foâ— sin and at least a resolve that the thing iâ— not impossible thus therefore he argued Jâ—â— 3 9. Who can tell if God will turn and repent turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not 4. Have you freely confessed your sins in the Aggravations of them Right conâ—ession alwayâ— â—â—ows from a spirit of Prayer God expects it Jer. 3. 13. Only acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God c. David therefore tells us in what way he went for and how he obtained a pardon and the healing of his sins
not ly 5. These happy Times are to be ushered in by Prayer God is well pleased in our Praying for them Psal 122. 6. Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love thee And he hath told us that such a spirit shall be preparatory to that happy day and help to bring it in Isa 62 6 7. I have set watchmen upoâ— they walls O Jerusalem which shall never hold their peace day nor night ye that make mention of the Lord keep not silence and give him no rest till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth When therefore God shall pour out such a spirit of Prayer on his people in this regard it will be a blessed Prognostick of that glorious time hastening 2. Let it encourage all that are Godly to leaâ—e their Children behind them with Faith and Comfort We are some of us going off the stage and are very sollicitous what shall become of ours when we are gone There are many sadning considerations that appear in our view which do sometimes fill us with perplexity but let such as fear God look through and beyond the present discouragments and comfort themselves with such thoughts as these not only do we leave our Children to a good God a Covenant keeping God whose truth and faithfulness we may safely rely upon but it is comfort for us to think that that day is not far off and though we may not live to see the dawnings of it yet our Posterity may see the breaking of it and partake in the happy benefits that it shall bring to the Church of God to nourish our â—aiâ—h with the contemplation of the glorious dispensations which there shall be in that day when God will bring his Church out of darkness into light and take them out of the horrible pit and set their feet upon the â—ock and then to remember that the Children of the faithful have a special interest in the blessings of that day according to the promise Isa 54. 13. All thy Children shall be taught of God great shall be the Peace of thy Children Let us then in faith do our duty to them whiles we live and when we dy let us rejoyce in this hope that there are better times coming on when God shall bring back his peoples Captivity when he who cannot ly will give being to that precious word in which he hath made us to hope Psal 69. 35 36. God will save Zion and will build the Cities of Judah that they may dwell there and have it in possession the seed also of his Servants shall inherit it and they that fear his Name shall dwell therein DOCTRINE VI. When God hath brought his Chosen to bewail their Sins especially the Affronts which they have Offered to Christ and to Pray to him for Mercy he will then make a gracious Discovery of this Fountain to them THE rise of this Doctrine is from the Coherence of the Text with that which went before God had promised to pour out such a spirit upon them Chap. 12. 10 c. And here he tells us that in that day this Fountain shall be Opened In the former Doctrine we considered this benefit as it refers to the Church in general and particularly to Gods Ancient people considered as a People In this we come to take an account of it as it refers to Persons and is applyed to men in Conversion which we are to suppose to be included in the former as the spiritual aim of it And that we may come at the right sense of this Doctrine observe these Conclusions 1. That there are those whom God hath choseâ— in Christ to be made partakers in his saving beâ—fits We before observed that if we would take the Consideraâ—ion of the great affair of Gods grace appearing in the good will that he manifests to sinful man at the rise of it we must follow it up to the eternal purpose oâ— God in which the whole Scheam of it was laid out Now in this purpose of his there was a designation of them that should be the subjects in whom this Grace was to shine forth and accordingly all was accommodated for the illustraâ—ion of it in such a subjâ—ct When therefore the Apostle discourseth of these Spiritual Blessings he runneth them up hither Eph. 1. 3 4 According aâ— he hath chosen us in Christ c. 2. That Christ must be Opened to these as a Fountain for Sin and Uncleanness in order to their being Saved by him Salvation supposeth something that they are to be Saved from which is their present misery He that is under no evil needeth no Salvation they are only the distressed that want it or will be advantaged by it And this Salvation must be applyed to the removal of that from which the evil derives now that which is mans inâ—â—liciâ—y derives from Sin and Uncleanness it is the Guilt and the Pollution of sin that hurts them As therefore Christ is appointed for this so he must be discovered to them as such a one how else shall they accept of and entertain him as â—o which they must do if ever he profit them for it is by faith that they receive him and so are advantaged by him 3. That there is a time when God will Open and Apply Christ to these They are born in their natural estate strangers to Christ and far from Salvation Eph 2. 3. We were Children of wrath even as others They may live a great while in their Alienation from him and refuse him though he offers himself unto them they ever do so till he comes with power But because he hath chosen them to obtain Salvation by Christ he will therefore bring them to this Fountain and make them to partake in a title to it and effectual influences of it upon them Our Saviour hath plumply asserted that in Joh. 6. 37. All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me Iâ— Election hath pitched upon a person Vocation will without fail sooner or later find him out and bring him home 4. That in order to his so Opening this Fountain he will produce the fore cited effects in them by the power of his Spirit viz. a spirit of Mourning and a spirit of Supplication This is the way in which he makes Christ Effectual in men for the ends of his being a fountain to them Now for our right taking up of this order Let us observe in general That we are considering of such as are converted to God under and by the dispensation of the Gospel and Ordinances and the effectual applicatioâ— of them As for Gods proceeding with Electâ— Infants who dy before they are capable oâ— being so treated we are not now enquiring after that Here then more particularly 〈◊〉 these things be considered 1. That we must distinguish between the Opâ—â—ing of the Fountain Doctrinally and Savingly As to the outward discoveries of Christ which are made in the Gospel and Ordinances
they are made to all promiscuously to whom thâ— means of Grace are sent and the great truthâ— which concern Christ and Salvation by him are urged upon them but where the Spiriâ— of God doth inwardly reveal Christ in thâ— Souls of any and makes them sharers in hiâ— Salvation he always brings them to such â— frame such therefore are the only blesseâ— ones Mat 5. 4 Blessed are they that mourn fâ—â— they shall be comforted 2. That we must distinguish between Passiâ— â—nd Active Conversion This distinction is generally received among the Orthodox and â—y all them who acknowledge that there are the Habits of Saving Grace infused into us in order to our being able to exert Grace in our lives and the Apostle plainly shews the difference Gal. 5. 25. If we live in the Spirit let us walk in the Spirit Passive Conversion then is that Change which is made in us in Regenera 〈◊〉 by the infusion of all saving Graces into 〈◊〉 of which it is said 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any â—â—n be in Christ Jesus he is a new Creaturâ— Active Conversion consists in the exerting and â—â—ercising of these Graces The former is â—â—one by the Spirit alone in the latter he â—â— operates with us And we may take from â—â—nce this brief accouâ—t of the present affair 1. That Gods Elect do many times long despise the offers of Christ that are made to them â—â— the Gospel God will have his own to know that their Conversion as well as their Salvation is of Grace and that they have a nature in them as full of obstinacy and enmity as others he therefore leaves them for a season to resist his Spirit and to shew the desperate malignity that is in them and they neglect the things of their peace â—witâ—stand the offers of a Saviour and quench the motions of the Spirit in them that accompany the Calls of the Gospel This Ephraim confesseth of himself Jer. 31. 18. Thou hast chastized me and I was chastized as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke Yea sometimes violently to oppose and persecute his Church Such an one was Paul when a Pharisee Phil. 3. 6. Touching zeal persecuting the Church 2. That there are some common legal works wrought in the Elect antecedent to their Regeneration or Passive Conversion The Spirit of God is wont to begin with men by Convictions and Terrors by setting the Law home on their Consciences which make them afraid and those are wrought not only in Gods Children but in others also and the Elect themselves do too frequently stifle these motions out grow these awakenings and retâ—â—â— again to their former security the time of their new birth is not yet come and God hereby lets them see what enemies they are to their own Salvation and that if he had not come with Almighty Efficacy to them they had refused him to their destruction as well as others How many such common works have some out grown and become worse after them and yet they have had their months in which God hath taken them because he had an Immutable love for them See for this Isa 57. 17 18. I hid me and was wroth and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart I have seen his ways and will heal him 3. That all saving qualifications are wrought in them at once in Passive Conversion When the Spirit of God comes to produce this great Change in the Sinner he infuseth into him all his Sanctifying Graces there is a new man created in him Eph. 4. 24. There is a perfection of parts though not of degrees Sanctification is throughout 1 Thes 5. 23. There is therefore no order in the production of these saving qualities in the Soul but they come in all at once In Conversion whole Christ is put â—â— it is therefore called a new birth Joh. 3. 3. And it is the babe of Grace which is born and it hath all its members entire 4. That God draws the man to exert these Graces in Active Conversion after the manner of a Rational Agent In the exerting of Grace the man is not only active but voluntary too he acts as a cause by Counsel As therefore there is the Co operation of God in this as well as his operation in the former according to Phil. 2. 13. It is God which worketh in you to will and to do of his own good pleasure So he works upon the Rational Faculties or Powers that are put into man and having sanctified them he draws them forth to put the new nature into act upon sight deliberation and with perswasion He is not drawn to it by meer instinct but he knows what he doth and why he doth it he hath a foundation on which he acts every Grace he knows whom he believes in and why he so doth 2 Tim. 1. 12. I know whom I have believed and am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day and so of the rest God is therefore said to draw â—s with the cords of a man Hos 11. 4. 5. In this Conversion the Soul betakes it self to Christ by faith as to a Fountain opened for Sin and for Uncleanness The great Grace celebrated in the Gospel is Faith by which we close with Christ for life wherein we comply with the main Article of the New-Covenant and therefore Salvation is ascertained to it Joh. 3. 16. Whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life This Grace is not before the others in being though it leads in the exercise and doth indeed influence all the other being that which fetcheth in help from Christ for the acting of them Now Christ is the immediate Object on whom Faith fiâ—eth it believes in him for all the good that it wants and seeth to be stored in him and that which draws it so to rely on him is the discovery it hath made of his sufficiency and readiness to answer its great necessity which is to be delivered from the guilt and defilement of sin and thaâ— because it apprehends all this to be fountained in him that it may be communicated by him to all those that stand in need of it and this it doth upon the invitation given in the Gospel to all that are oppressed with the burden of sin to come to him for succour against it 6. This Faith is always accompanied with true Repentance In active Conversion these two Graces are in conjunction I shall not here meddle with the disputes which of these two Graces is the first if we speak of their production they are together and so there is no priority of any Grace they being created in the same instant if we speak of thâ—ir production they are together and so there is no priority of any Grace they being created in the same instant if we speak of the order of nature in their activity Faith must have the precedency because it influenceth all the other for though