tree yet behold the wind of the Lord may arise that shall drive you away take your soul from these things and then whose shall they be If you will not fear temporal judgements yet I pray you fear eternal fear hell May not the Lord shake you off this tree of time and take you out of the land of the living to receive your portion There is not only an universal deadness of spirit on the land but a prophane spirit Iniquities abominable sins abound Every Congregation is overgrown with scandals and for you None may more justly complain we are all unclean sin is not in corners but men declare their sin as Sodom sin is come to the Maturity Defection and Apostacy is the temper of all Spirits and above all the general contempt and slighting of this glorious gospel is the iniquity of Scotland so that we wonder that the withered leaves yet stick to that the storm is not yet raised and we blown away Now you are like stones your hearts as Adamants and cannot be moved with his threatnings the voice of the Lords word doth not once move you you sin and are not afraid Nay but when Gods anger shall joyn with iniquity and the voice of his rod and displeasure roar this shall make the mountains to tremble the rocks to move and how much more shall it drive away a leaf You seem now mountains but when God shall plead you shall be like the chaff driven too and fro O how easy a matter shall it be to God to blow a man out of his dwelling place sin hath prepared you for it he needeth no more but blow by his Spirit or look upon you and you will not be You who now are lofty and proud and maintain your self against the word when you come to reckon with God and he entereth in judgement you shall not stand you will consume as before the moth your hearts will fail you Who may abide the day of his coming It will be so terrible and so much the more terrible that you never dreamed of it If the example of this people will not move you do but cast your eyes on Ireland who all do fade as a leaf and their iniquities have taken them away out of their own Land Shall not the seeing of the eye nor the hearing of the ear teach you What security do you promise to your selves Have not we sinned as much as they Were not they his people as we Certainly since God waiteth longer on you the stroak must be the greater provoked patience must turn fury If you would then prevent this peoples complaint go about such a serious acknowledgement of your sins search your wayes and turn again to the Lord. And let not every man sit down in a general notion of sin but unbowel it until you see uncleanness go up to the fountain head Original corruption go down to all the streams even the iniquity of holy things let every man be particular in the search of his own provocations personal and every one be publick in the general sins of the Land that you may confesse out of knowledge and sense we are all unclean c. SERMON XVIII Isai 64. 7. And there is none that calleth upon thy Name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee c. THey go on in the Confession of their sins Many a man hath soon done with that A general notion of sin is the highest advancement in repentance that many attain to You may see here Sin and Judgement mixed in thorow other in their complaint They do not so fix their eyes upon their desolat estate of captivity as to forget their provocations Many a man would spend more affection and be more pathetick in the expression of his misery when it is pungent nor he can do when he speaketh of his sins We would observe from the nature of this confession something to be a patern of your repentance And it is this When the spirit convinceth and men are serious in repentance then the soul is more searching more universal more particular in acknowledgement of sins These are characters of the Spirits work First The Spirit discovereth unto men not only sin but the loathsomeness of sin its hainous nature how offensive it is to Gods holy eye Many of you know abundance of evil deeds and call them sins but you have never taken up sins ugly face never seen it in the glasse of the holy Law uncleannesse it self because you do not abhore your selves poor and low thoughts of God maketh mean and shallow thoughts of sin You would be as Job vile ch 40. 4. And abhore your selves in dust and ashes ch 42. 6. As Gods holiness grew great in your eyes Sins uncleanness would grow proportionably Is 6. 3. 5. And here your repentance halteth in the very entry But Secondly The Spirit discovereth not only the uncleanness of mens natures and leadeth them up to original corruption but the Spirit also leadeth men alongs all the streams not only these that break out but those who go under ground and have a more secret and subtil conveyance It concludeth not only open breaches of the command under filthiness but also all a mans own righteousness though never so refined it concludeth it also a defiled garment so that the Soul can look no where but see sin and uncleanness in its ornaments and duties And thus it appeareth before God without such a covering openeth up its Soul hideth not sin with the covering of duties but seeth a necessity of another covering for all Now therefore let the most part of you conclude that you have never yet gotteh your eyes open to see sin or confesse it because when you sit down to compt your sins there are many things that you call not sin you use not to reckon your praying and repentance among sins Nay because you have so much confidence in your repentance and confession you have never repented you must see a necessity of a covering of Christs righteousness above all Faith in Jesus must cover repentance and it self both with the glorious object of it But alas how soon are many at an end of confession some particular grosse actions may come in remembrance but no more Sum up al your confessions they have never yet pitched on the thousand part of your guiltiness no not in kinds let be in number But thirdly The Spirit convinceth spiritually and particularly both it convinceth of Spiritual sins as we said last of the iniquity of holy things and especially of the most substantial duties faith and prayer John 16. 8 9. there are not many of you have come this length to see your want of prayer No your own words do witness against you for you use to say I pray day and night I believe in God with all my heart Now therefore out of your own mouth shall you be condemned when the spirit convinceth you of Sin you will see no faith no prayer at the first
your prayers a delight be upright in the thing you seek and see that you intertain no known sin give it no heart allowance Thirdly There are many prayers not heard not known because the mouth outcryeth the heart It is the sacrifice of the contrite heart that God despiseth not The prayers of this people were such Isai 29. 13. They drew near with the mouth but the heaâ—t was far away It is worship in spirit and truth that God loveth Joh 4. 23. Since Prayer is a communion of God with the Creature a meeting of one with God and speaking face to face God who is a Spirit and immortal must have a spirit to meet with a soul to speak to him Now do you not find your hearts gading abroad even in duty Is it not most about your Corns and Lands in the time of solemn worship Therefore God getteth no more but a carcasse to keep communion with He may have as much fellowship with the stones of the wall and timber of the house as he can have with your ears and mouths while you remove your hearts to attend other things And I would say more if your mind be present yet your heart is gone sometimes yea often both are gone abroad Sometimes the mind and thought stayeth but the affection and heart is not with it and so the minds residence is not constant Your thought may come in as a wayfaring man but tarrieth not all night dwelleth not Now speak to it even Christians may not your Prayers often have a contrary interpretation to what they pretend You pray so coldrifely and formally as God will interpret you have no mind to it we ask as we seemed indifferent whether our petition be granted or not Should the Lord be affected with your petitions when you your selves are not affected much Should his bowels of zeal sound within him when yours are silent It is fervent prayer availeth much Isai 5. 16. A heart sent out with the petition and gone up to Heaven cannot but bring back an answer If Prayer carry not the seal of the heart and soul in it God cannot own it or send it back with his seal of acceptation Fourthly Many Prayers are not calling on Gods Name And no wonder that when people pray yet the Spirit say None calleth on thy Name for Prayer is made as to an unknown God and God is not taken up according to his Name which are his glorious Attributes whereby he manifesteth himself in his Word To call on Gods Name is so to pray to God as to take him up as he hath revealed himself And what is the Lords Name Hear himself speak to Moses Exod. 33. 19. and 34. 6 7. The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin and that will by no means clear the guilty Now to call on this Name is for the soul in Prayer to have a suitable stamp on it every Attribute of God taking deep impression in the heart And so Gods Name to be written on the very petitions And shortly we may say the Spirit should have the impression of Gods greatnesse and Majesty of his goodnesse and mercy of his terriblenesse and justice This is the order that God proclaimeth his Name into In the entry the supplicant should behold the glorious Soveraignty and infinite distance between God and the Creature that he may have the stamp of reverence and abasement upon his spirit and may speak out of the dust as it becometh the dust of the ballance and footstool to do to him who sitteth on the circle of the Heaven as his Throne And this I must say there is little Religion and Godlinesse among us because every man is ignorant of God Even Gods children do more study themselves and their condition then Gods greatnesse and absolutenesse Who searches Gods infinitnesse in his Word and Works till he behold a wonder and be drowned in a mystery O but the Saints of old did take up God at a greater distance from the Creatures they waded far into this boundlesse Ocean of Gods Majesty till they were over head and ears and werâ— forced to cry out Who can find out the Almighty to perfection All these are but parts of him his back-parts There is more real Divinity and knowledge of God in one of Jobs friends discourses one of Davids prayerâ— then now in twenty Sermons of gracious men or many prayers or conferences of Saints But withal you must study his goodnesse and mercy and this maketh up the most part of his Name The definition of God hath most of this so that it may be said truly that mercy is his delight mercy as it were swelleth over the rest God were not accessible unlesse mercy did temper it Behold then greatnesse to humble and goodness to make bold that you may have accesse As greatness should leave the stamp of reverence on your petitions so should mercy and goodnesse imprint them with faith and confidence And that the rather because as Christ is said to be the Fathers Face and tâ— image of his Person 2 Cor. 4. 6. and Heb. 1. â— So may he be called the Fathers Name and â— doth God himself call him Exod. 23. 20 21. Tâ— Angel that went before them in the wilderness wâ—â— voice they ought to obey his Name is in him aâ— this Angel is Christ Jesus Acts 7. 37 38. â— then Christ Jesus is Gods Name God as â— revealeth himself in the Word is God in Châ— reconciling the world unto himself 2 Cor. 5. â— And therefore Christians you ought to prâ— alwayes in Christs Name and this is to call â— his Name Not only encourage your selves â— come to God because of a Mediator becaâ— he is God in Christ but also offer up all yoâ— prayers in Jesus his Name that his Name caâ—led on them may sanctifie them otherwise yoâ— affection at prayers cannot be acceptable â— God for he loveth nothing but what comâ— thorow the Son Prayer must have an evil sâ—vour when it is not put in the Golden Censâ— that this Angel hath to offâ—r up incense with tâ— prayers of the Saints And likewise you woâ— know Gods justice and wrath that you mâ— serve in fear and trembling And when treâ—bling is joyned with the rejoycing of faith thâ— is acceptable service You ought to fear to â—fend his holiness while you are before him Lâ— Gods terribleness have a deep impression â— your spirit both to make sin bitter and to maâ— mercy more sweet Thus should Prayer asceâ— with the seal of Gods Attributes and then is a calling on his Name Now is there any câ—ling on his Name among us Who maketh â—udy to take up God in his glorious Names â—herefore you call not on a known God and â—nnot name him Now all of you take this â—le to judge your prayers by Think you not â—at you make many prayers You both think and
with their oath and curse and they never trouble themselves more Oh what mocking of God is this Now al 's long as it is thus there is no imployment for the Son of Gods Blood they can do their own turn Men will not come to Christ because it is the best way if they see any else beside None will come till he see it is the only way None can wash in Christ except they wash all If ye have any thing that needs not washing his Blood is not for you his righteousnesse is not known when ye establish all or a part of your own I fear the most part of you have no imployment for Christ Ye have extream need of him but ye know it not For there are many things which ye will not number among your sins your Prayers your Hearing Reading Singing publick and private Worship giving Alms c. How many of you were never convinced of any sin in these Do ye not conceive God is well pleased with you for them Your Conscience hath convinced you it may be of grosse sins as drunkennesse filthinesse swearing c. But ye are not convinced for your well doing Ye find not a necessity of a Mediator for these I think many of you never confessed any such thing except in a general notion Alas how ignorant are men of themselves We are unclean how can any thing we do cleanse us Are not we unclean and do not our hands touch our own works Shall not then our own uncleannesse defile our good Actions more then they can cleanse us Hag. 2. 13. The ignorance of this makes men go about to build up their old ruined righteousnesse and still seek something in themselves to make up wants in themselves Always when the Light of God hath discovered you to your selves so that ye can turn your eye no where but uncleannesse fills it though your Conversation be blamelesse in the world so as men can challenge nothing yet ye have found within and without nothing but matter of mourning I say this is an evidence that the Spirit hath shined and inlightened thy darknesse Now when thou hath fled unto Jesus Christ for a covering to thy righteousnesse al 's well as unrighteousnesse it remains that thou now put away the evil of thy doings Put not away thy doings but the evil of them We challenge your Prayers Services and publick Duties even as the Prophet did We declare unto you that God is as evil pleased with them as your drunkennesse whoreing intemperance c. The most part of you are no more acceptable when ye come to the Church then when ye go to the Tavern your praying and cursing is almost all one What shall we do then say ye Shall we pray no more and hear no more No say I put not away your Prayers and Ordinances but put away the evil of them from before his sight Rather multiplie your doings but destroy the evil and iniquity of your doings And there is one evil or two above all that makes them hateful to him Ye trust to much in them Here is the iniquitie ye idol of jealousie set up ye make your doings your righteousnesse and in that notion they are abomination There is nothing makes your worship of God so hateful as this ye think so much of it and justifies your self by it And then God knows what it is that ye so magnifie and makes the ground of your claim to Salvation it is even an empty ceremony a shadow without substance a body without a Soul You speak and look and hear you exercise some outward Senses but no inward Affections And what should that be to him who is a Spirit They did not observe the Iniquity of their Holy things and therefore are they marked by him they are in his sight They did not see so many faults in their Prayers and Services They wondered why God did chide them so much But God marks what we misse he remembers when we forget We cover our selves with a Vail of External Duties and think to hide all the Rottennesse of our Hearts but it will not be hid from him before whom Hell hath no covering all hearts are open and naked before him Your secret sins are in the sight of his Countenance Men hear you Pray see you present at Worship they know no more at least they see no more Nay but the formâ—lity of thy Worship the wanderings of thy Mind are in his sight And O! how excellent a Rule of walking were this to do all in his sight and presence Oh that ye were perswaded in your hearts of his All-seing All-searching Eye and All-knowing Mind VVould ye not be more sollicitous and anxious anent the frame of your hearts then the liberty of your speech or External gesture Oh how would men retire within themselves to fashion their Spirits before this All-searching and All-knowing Spirit If ye do not observe the evils of your hearts and ways they are in his sight and this will spoil all acceptance of the good of them If ye observe the evils of your well doing and bring these also to the Fountain to wash them and be about this earnest indeavour of perfecting Holinesse of perfecting well-doings in the Power and Fear of God then certainly he will not set your sins in the Light of his Countenance the good of your way shall come before him and the evil of it Christ shall take away Cease to do evil c. These are the two Leggs a Christian walks on if he want any of them he is lame and cannot go equally ceasing from evil and doing good Nay they are so united that the one cannot subsist without the other If a man do not cease from evil and his former lusts he cannot do well or perfite Holiness There are many different Dispositions and Conditions of men There are generally one of two Some have a kind of abstinence from many grosse sins and are called civil honest men they can abide an inquest and censure of all their Neighbours they can say no ill of them But alas there is al 's little good to be said He drinks not swears not whores not steals not Nay but what doth he well Alas the World cannot tell what he doth for he prays not in secret nor in his family he is void of some offences towards men but there are many duties called to towards both God and men he is a stranger to He oppresses not the poor nay but he is not charitable either to give to them He defrauds no man but whom helps he by his means Again there are others they will boast of some things done they pray they keep the Church well they do many good turns and yet for all that they do not cease to do evil They were drunkards so they are They can swear for all their prayers are given to contention to lying to filthiness c. Now I say neither of these Religions is pure and undefiled Religion
of Israel by this Redeemer But now we are surrounded with Consolation before and behind Christ already come so that we may in joy say lo this is our God we have waited for him others waited and longed and we see him and Christ shortly to come again without sin to our Salvation And what could be able to take our Joy from us if we had one Eye always back to his first coming and another always forward to his comeing again SERMON XV. Isai 64. 6 7. But we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses as filthy raggs c. THis peoples condition aggreeth well with ours though the Lords dealing be very different The Confessory part of this Prayer belongeth to us now And strange it is that there is such odds of the Lords Dispensations when there is no difference in our Cohditions Always we know not how soon the complaint may be ours also This Prayer was prayed long before the Judgment and Captivity came one so that it had a Prophesy in the bosome of it Nay it was the most kindly and affectionat way of warning the people could get for Isaiah to pour forth such a prayer as if he beheld with his Eyes the Calamity as already come And indeed it becometh us so to look on the Word as if it gave a present beeing to things al 's certain and sensible as if they were really What strange stupidity must be in us when present things inflicted Judgments committed sins do not so much affect us as the forefight of them did move Isaiah Always as this was registrat for the peoples use to cause them still look on Judgements threatned as performed and present and anticipat the day of Affliction by repentance and also to be a Patern to them how to deal with God and plead with him from such grounds of Mercy and Covenant Interest So it may be to us a warning especially when sin is come to the Maturity and our secure backsliding Condition is with Child of sad Judgements when the harvest seemeth ripe to put the sickle in to it There is in these two Verses a confession of their own sinfulness from which grounds they justify Gods proceeding with them They take the cause upon themselves and justify him in his Judging whither Temporal or Spiritual Plagues were inflicted In this Verse they take a general survey of their sinful Estate concluding themselves unclean and all their performances and commanded Duties which they counted once their righteousness And from this ground they clear Gods dealing with them and put their mouth in the Dust and so from the Lords Judgment they are forced to enter into a search of the Cause so much sin and from discovered sin they pronounce God righteous in his Judgment perceiving a great difference in the Lords manner of dealing with them and their fathers they do not refound it upon God who is righteous in all his ways but retort it upon themselves and find a vast discrepance between themselves and their fathers Verse 5. And so it was no wonder that Gods Dispensation changed upon them God was wont to meet others to shew himself gracious even to prevent stroaks But now he was wroth with them Nay but there is good cause for it They rejoyced and wrought righteousness but we have sinned And this may be said in the general never one needeth to quarrel God for severe dealing If he deal worse with one then with another let every man look into his own bosome and see reason sufficient yea more provocation in themselves then others Always in this Verse they come to a more distinct veiw of their loathsome condition Any body may wrap up their repentance in a general notion of sin but they declare themselves to be more touched with it and condescend on particulars yet such particulars as comprehend many others And in this Confession you may look on the Spirits work having some Characters of the spirit in it First they take a general view of their uncleannesse and loathsome Estate by sin Not only do they see sin but sin in the sinfulnesse of it and uncleannesse of it Secondly They not only conclude so of the Natural Estate they were born into and the loathsomnesse of their many foul scandals among them But they go a further length to passe al 's severe a sentence on their Duties and Ordinances as God hath done Isai 1. and 66. The spirit convinceth according to Scriptures Light and not according to the dark spark of Natures Light and so that which Nature would have busked it self with as its Ornament that which they had covered themselves with as their Garment had spread their Duties as robs of Righteousnesse over their sins to hide them all this now goeth under the name of filthinesse and sin They see themselves wrapt up in as vile raggs as they covered and hid Commanded Duties and manifest Breaches come in one Category And not only is it some of them which their own Conscience could challenge in the time but all of them and all kinds of them Moral and Ceremohial Duties that were most sincere had most Affection in them all of them are filthy raggs now which but of late were their righteousnesle Thirdly there is an universality not only of the Actions but of Persons not only all the Peoples or Multitudes performances are abomination but all of them Isaiah and one and other the holiest of them come in in this Category and Rank we are all unclean c. Though the people it may be could not joyn Holy Isaiah with themselves yet humble Isaiah will joyn himself with the people and come in in one prayer And no doubt he was al 's sensible of sin now as when he began to prophecy and growing in holinesse he must grow also in sense of sinfulnesse Seing at the first sight of Gods Holinesse and Glory he cryed unclean c. Isai 6. 5. Certainly he doth so now from such a principle of accesse to Gods Holinesse which maketh him abhore himself in Dust and Ashes Fourthly They are not content with such a general but condescend to two special things two spiritual sins to wit Omission or shifting of spiritual Duties which contained the substance of Worship None calleth one thee few or none none to count upon calleth on thee that is careth for immediat accesse and approaching unto God in prayer and meditation c. Albeit External and Temple Duties be frequent yet who prayeth in secret or if any pray that cannot come in compt the Lord knoweth them not because they want the Spirits stamp on them This must be some other thing nor the general conviction of sin which the world hath who think they pray all their days Here people who though they make many prayers Isai 1. Yet they see them no prayers and no calling on Gods Name now But Fifthly to make the challenge the more and the confession more spiritual and compleat there is discovered
opening of the eyes But I add there is no true confession but it is particular the Spirit useth not to be wilder mens spirits in a general notion only and a wild field of unknown sins And such are many of your convictions You mourn for sin as you say and yet you cannot condescend on a particular that burdeneth your conscience you grant you have many sins but sit down to compt them and there is a short compt of them Now do you not reflect back upon former humiliations in publick and former acknowledgements of sins in private do you not yet return upon your own hearts to lay home this sad challenge I have never repented I do not yet repent must not all your solemn approaches be iniquity and abomination while your souls are not afflicted for sin while you can see so few sins c. The fasting dayes of Scotland will be numbered in the roll of greatest provocations because there is no real and spiritual conviction of sin among us Custom now hath taken away the solemnity and there remaineth nothing but the very name Is this the fast that the Lord chooseth No believe it this shall add to your provocation and rather hasten lingering judgement then keep it off we would beseech you this day pray for pardon of former abused fasts If you had no more to mourn for this might spend the day and our spirits both and exhaust all our present supplications even the wall of partition that stands between God and Scotland which all our former solemn humiliations hath built up a great deal higher then other sins could reach There is none that calleth upon thy Name Did not this people make many prayers Isai 1. 15. before the captivity And did they not cry which noteth some fervency in it And fast a little before it in Jeremiahs time Chap. 11. 11. and 14. 12. in the time of it Ezek. 8. 18. Mic. 3. 4. Zech 7. 3. How then is it that the Prophet now on the watch-tower looking round about him to take up the peoples condition and being led by the Spirit so far as to the case of the captives in Babel can find no prayer no calling And was not Daniel so too Dan. 9. 13. Lo then here is the construction that the Spirit of God putteth on many prayers and fastings in a Land There is none calleth on thy Name there is none that prayeth faithfully and fervently few to count upon that prayeth any It may be there are many publick prayers but who prayeth in secret and mourneth to God alone There are many prayers but the inscription is To the unknown God to a nameless God your praying is not a calling on his Name as a known God and revealed in the Word This then we would say unto you that there may be many prayers in your account and none in Gods There are many prayers of men that God counteth no more of then the howling of a dog First The cry of mens practices is often louder then their prayers and goeth up to Heaven that the cry of prayer cannot be heard When mens conversation is flat contrary to their supplications supplication is no calling on his Name but charming rather Sodoms abominations had a cry up to God Gen. 18. 21. So Ahels blood had a cry for vengeance which Cains prayers could not out-cry Thus the Lord would not hear many prayers Isa 1. 15. because hands and practices were polluted you that know no worship of God but in such a solemn duty your religion is summed up and confined within the limits of Temple-worship Family exercise and prayer Certainly the rest of your conversation must speak more God will not heat but such as worship him and do his will Joh. 4. 31. Your prayer is a dark parable if your conversation expone it not This I speak for this end to put many of you out of your false ground of Confidence you have nothing but your prayers to trust unto And for your conversation you never go about it effectually to reform it but goeth on in that which you pray against we declare unto you the truth your prayers are Abomination Pro. 28. 9. The wicked may have prayers And therefore think not to please God and flatter him with your mouths when your conversation is rebellion since you hear not him in his commands God will not hear you in your petitions Pro. 1. 24. 28. You stopped your ear at his reproof God will stop his ear at your request If you will go to heaven by your own righteousness I pray you follow more after it make the garment more to cover your nakedness the skirt of a duty is not sufficient Secondly When iniquity is regarded in the heart and idols set up in Gods place God will not own such a worship but sendeth a man to the Idols he serveth Psa 66. 18. Ezek. 14. 3. 4. Do you not often pray to God against a corruption when your heart cleaveth unto it and what your mouth saith your heart contradicteth Light and Conscience often extort a confession of beloved sins while the temper of the heart hath this language Lord grant not my request And therefore if there be a prayer for pardon of guilt yet there is no through resolution to quite the sin And as long â—â— a soul is not resolved to quite the sin there can be no ingenuous confession of it and no prayer for removing the guilt can be heard You cannot imploy Christ in his office of Mediatorship as a Priest to interceed and offer sacrifice for sin unlesse you as sincerely imploy him as a sanctifier and Redeemer And therefore prayer that separateth Christs offices and calleth not on whole Christ calleth not on his name for his name is Lord Jesus Christ How can the Lord be inquired of by such a one who cometh to mock him puteth up an Idol in the heart and yet prayeth against it or some other sin while he is not resolved to quite it Shall God be resolute to help when we are noâ— earnest in seeking it No wonder God answer you according to the Idol No wonder you be given up to serve Idols and your sin grow upon you as a plague for your hypocrisy when you ingadge your heart too much to any creature and comes to pray and inquire of the Lord in your necessity shall it not be righteousness with him to send you to your God when thou cryest let thy companies deliver thee Isa 57. 13. O man cry unto thy bosome idol and let it help thee since thou trustest to it and spendeth thy heart on it Deut. 32. 37 38. Where is the God that drunk the Wine of your offerings and eat the fat of your sacrifices where is the creature that you have made your heart an altar to to send up the flames of your choicest thoughts and affections to it let this rise up and help you now saith the Lord. Therefore we exhort you if you would have
Binnings Miscellany Sermons August 23. 1670. IT is Ordered by the Lords of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council That none shall Re-print or Import this Book of Miscellany Sermons by Mr. Hugh Binning nor any other of the said Authors Books for the space of 19. years to come without licence of the Printers hereof A. G. HEART-HUMILIATION OR Miscellany Sermons Preached upon some choice Texts at several Solemn occasions Never before Printed By that eminent Preacher of the Gospel Mr. Hugh Binning late Minister at Govan Jer. 4. 14. O Jerusalem wash thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved c. EDINBURGH Printed by James Glen Anno DOM. 1676. Christian Reader THis holy Preacher of the Gospel had so many convictions upon his spirit of the necessity of the duties of humiliation and mourning and of peoples securing the eternal interest of their souls for the life to come by fleeing in to Jesus Christ for remission of sins in his blood that he made these the very scope of his Sermons in many publick Humiliations as if it had been the one thing which he conceived the Lord was calling for in his dayes A clear evidence whereof thou shalt find manifested in these following Sermons upon choice Texts wherein the Author endeavoureth not only to lay before thee the necessity of these duties of soul-humiliation but also sheweth thee the Gospel-manner of performing them the many soul-advantages flowing from the serious exercise of them and the many soul-destroying prejudices following upon the neglect of them But above all thou shalt find him so fully setting forth the sinfulness of sin and the utter emptiness of self as may convince the most Pharisaically elated spirits and make them cry out with Ezra Chap. 9. 6. O my God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God for our iniquities are increased over our head and our trespass is grown up unto the Heavens Here thou mayst read such pregnant demonstrations of the righteousness and equity of the Lords dealing even in his severest punishments inflicted upon the children of men as may silence every whisperer against providence and make them say as Lam. 3. 22. It is of the Lords mercies we are not consumed even because his compassions sail not And lastly thou shalt perceive the inconceivable fitness and fulness of Christ as a Saviour and his never enough to be admired tenderness and condescending willingness to accept of humble heart-broken and heart-panting sinners after him with such plainness of speech demonstrat as may enable the most bruised reed to quench all the fiery darts of the devil whereby he laboureth to affright them from making application to Jesus for salvation Now that the Lord would make those and such like labours of his faithful servants useful and advantagious to thy soul Christian Reader is the prayer of Thy Servant in the Gospel of our dearest Lord and Saviour A. S. At a publick Fast in July first Sabbath 1650. SERMON I. Deut. 32. 4 5 6 7. He is the Rock his Work is perfect for all his wayes are judgement c. THere are two things may comprehend all Religion the knowledge of God and of our selves these are the principles of Religion and are so nearly conjoyned together that the one cannot be truely without the other much lesse savingly It is no wonder that Moses crave attention and to the end he may attain it from an hard hearted deaf People that he turns to the Heavens and to the Earth as it were to make them the more inexcuseable The matter of his Song is both divine and necessary throughout it all he insists upon these two to discover what they were to themselves and what God was to them he paralels their way with his way that they finding the infinite distance might have other thoughts of themselves and of him both It is a Song it is true but a sad Song The people of Gods mourning should be of this nature mixed not pure sorrow It s hard to determine whither there be more matter of Consolation or Lamentation when such a comparison is made to the life when God's goodness and our evils are set before our eyes which may most work the heart to such affections Nay I think it is possible they may both contribute to both these Is there any more abasing and humbling principle then Love How shall the sinner loath it self in his glorious presence will not so much kindnesse and mercy so often repeated as oft as it is mentioned wound the heart in which there is any tendernesse And again when a soul beholds its own ingratitude and evil requital of the Lords kindness how vile and how perverse it is how must it loath it self in dust and ashes yet is not all ground of hope removed such a sad fight may make mixed affections if we be so perverse and evil then he is infinitely good and his mercy and goodnesse is above our evils if we have dealt so with him yet is he the Rock that changes not he is a God of Truth and will not fail in his Promise Nay though it be sad to be so evil void of all goodness yet may the soul blesse him for evermore that hath chosen this way to glorifie his Name to build up his praise upon our ruine May not a soul thus glory in sad infirmities because his strength is perfected iâ— them and made manifest May not a souâ— choose emptinesse in it self that it may be behold en to his Fulnesse How refreshing a view might the sadest look on our misery and emptiness be if we did behold his purpose of manifesting his Glory in it Ye see here a comparisâ— instituted between two very unequal partieâ— God and Man there is no likenesse let be equality in it yet there is almost an equality in unliknesse The one is infinitely good and perfect well what shall we compare to him who is like thee O God among the gods Angels goodnesse their perfection and innocency hath not such a name and appearance in his sight so then there can be no comparison made this way let no flesh glory in his sight in any thing but let him that glorieth glory in the Lord for in the sight of the glorious Lord all things do disappear and evanish But surely nothing though most perfect can once come within termes of reckoning beside him for any worth Moses sees nothing to set beside God that will appear in its own greatnesse and native colours but the Creatures evil and sin and if this be not infinite absolutely or equal to his goodnesse yet it comes nearest the borders of infinitenesse so then is God most perfect is he infinite in Goodness in Truth in Righteousnesse c And so infinite that before him nothing appeares good none good save one that is God Yet we may find another infinite and it is in evil sinful man and these two contraries set beside other do much
he vvill do next vvait till the due time and vvhen ye see a better piece of workmanship on that ground ye shall absolve him Though God often change his work do not think he changes his Counsel and Purposes as men do No he is in one mind and who can turn him therefore he had that change in his mind when he made the work when he erected such a throne he had this in his mind to cast it down within such a space and so his change his throwing down is as perfect in his mind as his building up Ye have large and big apprehensions of temporal Kingdoms and Crowns of Government and such like as if they were great yea only things but they are not so to him all this world and its standing all the Kingdoms and their affairs are not his great work and businesse he hath an great work the bringing of many sons to Glory and compleating of Jesus Christ building of that glorious mystical building the holy Temple made up of living stones of which Christ is the foundation and chief corner stone both and it s this that he attends to most other works among men though they have more noise they are lesse concerned all these are but in the by and subservient to his great designe and like the Scaffolds of a building that are it may be sometime very needful Nay but when the building is compleated he shall remove all these he hath no more use of them Kings shall he thy nurse-fathers Kings shall bow to thee He is not much concerned in government nor in Governours but for his little flocks sake and if these were gathered all these shall have an end and the flock alone abide for ever And all his ways are Judgement This is to the same purpose his ways and his works are one and this is the perfection of his work that it is all right and equal whether they be in Justice or mercy they are all righteous and holy no iniquity in them his ways are straight and equal exact as if they were measured by an exact even rule but because we make application of a crooked rule to them we do imagine that they are crooked as the blind man judges no light to be because he sees it not How may the Lord contend and plead with us as with that people Ezek. 18. 25. Is it possible that any can challeâ—ge him and clear themselves Who will be Justified of all when he is judged and before whom no flesh can be Justified and yet behold the iniquity of mens hearts there is a secret reflection of our spirits upon his majesty as if his ways were not equal when ever we repine against them and when we do not take with our iniquity and stop our mouth with dust Behold the Lord will assert his own wayes and plead with all flesh this controversie that all his proceedings are full of equity he walks according to a rule though he be not tyed to a rule he walks according to the rules of Wisdom Justice and Mercy though his illimited soveraignty might be a sufficient ground of clearing of all his proceedings But we walk not according to a rule though we be bound to a rule and a rule full of equity Here is the equity and justnesse of his ways the Gospel holds it forth in a twofold consideration First If any man turn from his iniquity and flie unto my Son as the City of refuge he shall live he hath eternal life iniquity shall not be his ruine although he hath done iniquity O who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity Is not this compleat mercy whatever iniquity hath been aggravat it as ye can though it could have ruined a world yet it could not have ruined thee that turns in to Jesus Christ from iniquity What exception can all the world have against this or his walking according to it And on the other hand whosoever continueth in sin though he appear to himself and others never so righteous if he entertain and love any known sin and will not part with it for Jesus Christ shall not he dye in his iniquity Is there any iniquity in this that he receive the wages of his works his reward that he eat of the fruit of his own wayes and drink of his own devices But how many hearts censure this way as a rigid and strick severe dealing the multitude think it cruelty to condemne any Christened soul to put so many in hell the civil man will think it 's too hard measure that he should be ranked in hell with the prophane But certainly all mouths shall be stopped one day and he shall be justified when he judges Ye that will not justifie him in his sayings and set to your seal to the truth of the word you shall be constrained to justify him when he executs that sentence ye shall precipitat your own sentence and rather wonder at his clemency in suffering you so long This way of the Lord is equal and right in it self but it is not so to every one the just man shall walk in it and not stumble as in an even way nothing shall offend him Hosea 14. last V. Yet for as equal and straight as it is many other transgressors shall fall therein they stumble even in the noon day and high way where no offence is It 's true often his own people stumble in it as David Psal 73. and 94. Davids foot was slipping yet a secret hold was by mercy It often requires a wise and prudent man to understand it because his footsteps are in the deep waters Psa 77. 19. his way is in the depths of the sea his paths in great waters so that men must wait till the Lord expound his own wayes till he come out of the waters and make them a dry plain and this is our advantage the word sayes he is near thee in thy mouth and neither above nor beneath in the depths that thou needs neither descend nor ascend to know it Deut. 30. 11 12 13 14. But his way is in the depths and his footsteps are not known so that we ought to hold us by the word till he expound his vvork his vvord vvill teach us our duty and vve may commit unto him his ovvn vvay the vvord is a commentary to expound his vvays David lost the sight of Gods footsteps and vvas like to wander till he came to the Sanctuary and this shined as a Candle in a dark place he learned there to know the unknown footsteps and to follow them By all means embrace the Word and be satisfied with it when ye do not comprehend his Work it teaches as much in general as may put us to quietnesse all his wayes are Judgement Just and True in all his Wayes is the King of Saints If I do not comprehend how it is no wonder for he makes darknesse his covering he spreads over his most curious Engines and Pieces of
Workmanship a vail of darknesse for a season and who can behold him when he hides himself sayes Job and though he withdraw the Covering yet what am I Who can by searching find out God If I shall examine his way what rule shall I take to try it by If I measure by my shallow capacity or by my crooked way shall I have any just account of it will my Arm measure the Heavens as his doth If I examine it or try it by himself He is high as Heaven and unsearchable Therefore it becomes us to hearken to his Word and believe its sentence of his Work when reason cannot comprehend it One thing if it were deeply engraven on our hearts would be a principle of setling our spirits in all the mysteries and riddles of providence the knowledge and faith of his Soveraignty of his Highnesse and of his Wisdome should he give account of his Matters to us He is wise and knowes his Works but is he bound to make us know them His wayes are above our thoughts and wayes as Heaven above the Earth Is 55. And therefore O Grashopper in the Earth that dwells in Tabernacles of Clay do not presume to model his ways according to thy conceptions One thing is certain this is enough for Faith all his wayes are mercy and truth to these that keep his Covenant and his Testimonies Psal 25. 10. And there is no Way or Path of God so far above our reach and unsearchable as his Mercy in pardoning sin and this is only the satisfying answer to all your objections and scruples in these ye do but vent your own thoughts but sayes the Lord my thoughts are above youâ— thoughts as Heaven above Earth Ye but speak of your own wayes but my wayes are far above yours they are not measured by your iniquity and therefore David subjoyns Psal 25. Verse 11. pardon my iniquity for it is great SERMON III. Deuter. 32. 4 5. He is the Rock his work is perfect for all his ways are Judgement a God of truth and without iniquity Just and Right is he 5. They have corrupted themselves their spot is not the spot of his Children they are a perverse and crooked generation ALL his wayes are Judgement both the wayes of his Commandments and the ways of his Providence both his Word which he hath given as a Lanthorn to mens paths and his Works among men And this were the blessednesse of men to be found both walking in his wayes and waiting on him in his wayes having respect to all his Commandments and respect to himself in all his Works We all know in general that he doth all well â—nd that all his Comandments are Holy and Just â—ay but our practice and affections belie our knowledge and for the most part we stand crosse in our humours and affections and conversation both to his Word and Providence and this is our misery Great peace have they that love thy Law VVhat peace then can keep that heart and mind that is dayly at variance with his Statuts and Judgements when the heart would wish such a Command were not when it is an eye sore to look upon it Blessed are the meek it is good for a man both quietly to wait and hope and keep silence How then must that spirit be miserable that stands crosse unto Gods Dispensations and would limit the Holy One Do not often our hearts say I do well to be angry why is it thus with me But who hath hardened himself against him and prospered his counsel must stand and you may vex your self and disquiet your soul in the mean time by impatience but you cannot by your thought add one cubit to your stature you may make your case worse nor Providence hath made it but you cannot make it better by so doing so that at length you must bow to him or be broken Oh then that this were engraven on our hearts with the point of a Diamond All his wayes are Judgement that ye might be overcome with the equity of his Command and Dispensation and your heart and tongue might not move against them It was enough of old with the Saints It is the Lord let him do what seems good in hâ—s eyes Gods Soveraignty alone pondered may stop our mouth but if ye withal consider it is perfect Equity that rules all it is Divinâ— Wisdome thaâ— is the square of his Works theâ— how ought we to stoop chearfully unto them One thing ye would remember his wayes and paths are Judgement and if ye judge aright of him ye must judge his Way and not his single Footsteps ye will not discern Equity and Judgement in one step or two but consider his Way joyn adversity with prosperity humbleing with exalting take along the Threed of his Providence and one part shall help you to understand another There is reason in all but the reason is not visible to us in so small parts of his Way and Work A God of Truth Strange it is that his Majesty is pleased to cloath himself with so many Titles and Names for us He considers what our necessity is and accordingly expresses his own Name I think nothing doth more hold forth the unbelief of men and Atheism of our hearts nor the many several Titles God takes in Scripture There is a necessity of a multitude of them to make us take up God because we staying upon a general notion of God rather frame in our imaginations an Idol then the true God As there is nothing doth more lively represent the unbelief of our hearts then the multitude of Promises Men that consider such frequent repetitions of one thing in Scripture so many diverse expressions of one God may retire into their own hearts and find the cause of it even the necessity of it But while we look so slightly on these we must judge it superfluous and vain Needed there any more to be said but I am your God I am God if our spirits were not so far degenerated unto Atheism and unbelief Certainly that word Jehovah holds forth more to Angels then all the inculcated Names and Titles of God to us because we are dull and slow of heart Therefore wonder at these two when ye read the Scriptures Gods Condescendency to us and our Atheism and Unbelief of him they are both mysteries and exceeding broad There is not a Name of God but it gives us a Name and that of reproach and dishonour so that for every one some evil may be written down and it is to this purpose Moses draws them out in length that in the Glasse of his glorious Name the people might behold their own ugly face This Name is clear He is a God of Truth not only a true God but Truth it self to note his Excellency and Eminency in it It is Christs Name I am the Truth the substantial Truth in whom all the Promises are Truth are Yea and Amen His Truth is his Faithfulnesse in performing his Promises
but fall into the Lake that is below us if we were to aim so high But the Lord hath been pleased to descend to us in our mean capacity in the Flesh and fill up that immensurable gulfe of Justice by the infinite merits and sufferrings of his Son in our Flesh And now he invites us be requests us to come to him in his Son and have life VVe are not come to Mount Sinai that might not be touched that burnt with Fire and Tempest where there were terrible sights and intollerable noises I say such a God we might have had to do with â— consuming fire instead of instructing light A devouring fire instead of a healing Sun of Righteousnesse considering that there is nothing in us which is not fit and prepared fuel for everlasting burnings But we are come and that is the eternal wonder of Angels unto Mounâ— Sion to be Citizens in the City of God and fellow citizens with blessed Angels and glorified Spirits to Peace and Reconciliation with him who was our Judge And if you ask how this may be I answer because we have one Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant tâ— come to whose Blood cryeth louder for pardon of sinners then all mens transgression can cry for punishment of sinners Heb. 12. 18 19. 20. c. Let us then Consider the first step and deareâ— of Union with God it consists in Faith in Jesus Christ This is the first motion of the Souâ— in drawing near to God For as there is nâ— remission without Blood So no accesse to Goâ— without a Mediator For if you consider whaâ— is in Jesus Christ you will find that which wilâ— engage the desire of the heart as also thaâ— which will give boldnesse and confidence to acâ— that desire Eternal Life is promised and proposed in him he offers rest to weary souls anâ— hath it to give That which we ignorantly anâ—vainly seek elswhere here it is to be found For Personal Excellencies he is the chief infinitely beyond comparison And for Sutablenesse to us and our necessities all the Gospel an expression of it So that he is presented the most attractive drawing manner that can be imagined And then when the desires are inflamed yet if there be no Oyl of hope to feed it it will soon cool again Therefore take a view again and you may have boldnesse to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus There was some kind of distance kept in the Old Testament none but the High Priest might enter into the Holiest Place But the entry of our High Priest into it that is into Heaven hath made it patent to all that come to him and apply his Blood There is a new and living way by the holy flesh of Christ consecrated and made of infinite value and use by the Divinity of his Person And therefore having such a one of our kindred so great with God we may draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith having our consciences sprinkled c. Heb. 10 18. 19 20. c. Now since the way is made plain to you and the entry is opened up in the Gospel Do you not find your hearts stir with in you to draw near to him Do you not find a necessity of making peace by such a Mediator O! that you knew the great distance between God and your Natures and what the hazard is Loe they that are far from thee shall perish Then certainly you would take hold of this invitation and be easily drawn unto Jesus Christ But unto you who have adventured to draw near for pardon of sin in Christ I would recommend unto you that you would draw yet nearer to God After that the partition wall of wrath and condemnation is removed yet there is much darknesse in your minds and corruption in our natures that separats from him I mean intercepts and disturbs that blessed communion you are called unto Therefore I would exhort you as James draw near to God and he will draw near to you ch 4. 8. And that wherein this most consists is in studying that purification of our natures that cleansing of our hearts from guile and our hands from offences by which our Souls may draw towards a resemblance of God This accesse and drawing near to God in assimilation and conformity of nature is the great designe of the Gospel Be ye holy for I am holy Now ye are agreed walk with him Amos 3. 3. As Enoch walked with God Gen. 5. 24. That is labour in all your conversation to set him before your eyes and to study to be well pleased with him in all things and to please him in all to conform your selves to his pleasure in every thing And this Communion in walking especially consists in that Communication of the Spirit with God in prayer This is the nearest and sweatest approach when the Soul is lifted up to God and is almost out of it self in him And this being the ordinary exercise and motion of the Soul it exceedingly advances in the first point of nearnesse that is in conformity with God Drawing often near in Communion with him in prayer makes the Souldraw towards his likenesse even as much converse of men together will make them like one another Now for the commendation of this It is good What greater evil can be imagined then separation from the greatest Good And what greater good then accession to the greatest Good Every thing is in so far happy and well as it is joyned with and enjoyeth that which is convenient for it Light is the perfection of the Earth remove it and what a disconsolat and unpleasant thing is it Now truely there is nothing suitable to the immortal Spirit of man but God And therefore all its happinesse or misery must be measured by the accesse or recesse Nearnesse or distance of that infinite Goodnesse Therefore is it any wonder that all they that go a whoring from him perish as every mans heart doeth For we are infinitly bound by Creation by many other bonds stronger then wedlock to consecrat and devote our selves wholly to God but this is treacherously broken Every man turns aside to vanity and lies and is guilty of heart whoredome from God and spiritual idolatry because the Affection that should be preserved chast for him is prostitute to every base object So then this divorcement of the Soul from God cannot but follow thereupon even an eternal ecclipse of true and real life and comfort And whoever draw back from the Fountain of Life and Salvation cannot but find elsewhere perdition and destruction Heb. 10. ult My beloved let us set this aside all other things which are the pursuites and endeavours of the most part of men Mens natural desires are carried towards Health Food Raiment Life and Liberty Peace and such like But the more rational sort of men seek after some shadow of Wisdom and Virtue Yet the generality of men both high and low have extravagant
into it thaâ— if none of the world should be of that mind he would not change it Though all should walk in other ways he would choose to be rather alone in this then in the greatest croud of company in any other Now I say when we have such a Coppy cast us a man of excellenâ— parts in sobriety and sadnesse choosing that way which all in words confesse to be the best should not this awake us out of our dreams and raise us up to some more attention and consideration of what we are doing The words you see are the holy resolution of a holy heart concerning that which is the chiefest Good You see the way to happinesse and you find the particular application of that to Davids Soul or of his Soul to it We shall speak a word of the thing it self then of the commendation of it then of the application of it For the thing it self drawing near to God it gives us some ground to take a view of the posture in which men are found by nature far off from God Our condition by nature I cannot so fitly expresse as in the Apostles words Epâ— 2. 12. Without Christ Aliens from the commoâ— wealth of Israel strangers from the Covenant of Promise having no hope and without God in the World A deplorable estate indeed hopelessâ— and helplesse No hope in it that is the extremity of misery the refuse of all conditions Without Christ and without God O! these are words of infinite weight Without those without whom iâ— is simply impossible to be happy and without whom it is not possible but to be miserable without the Fountain of Light Life and Consolation without which there is nothing but pure darknesse without any beam of light Nothing but death without the least breathing of life Nothing but vexation without the least drop of consolation In a word without these and wanting these whom if you want it were good to be spoyled of all beeing to be nothing if that could be or never to have been any thing Men will seek death and cannot find it O! what a losse and deprivement is the losse of God which makes death more desireable then life and not to be at all infinitly preferable to any beeing Now it is true that the bringing in of multitudes within the pale of the Visible Church is some degree of accesse and nearnesse to God for then they bâ—come Citizens as to external right in the Common-wealth of the Church and have the offers of the Promises made to them in respect of which visible standing the Apostle speaks of the whole Church of Ephesus But now ye are made near who were far off v. 13. notwithstanding that many of them were found afterwards to have left their first Love Rev. 2. But yet Beloved to speak more inwardly and as your Souls stand in the sight of God The generality of those who are near hand in outward Ordinances are yet far off from God in reality without God and without Christ as really as touching any Soul feeling as those who are altogether without The bond of Peace and Union was broken in Paradise sin dissolved it and broke off that nearnesse and friendship with God and from that day to this day there hath been an infinite distance and separation betwixt Man and God The steps and degrees of it are many There is darknesse and blindnesse in mens minds Such ignorance naturally possesseth the multitude so that it wholly Alienats them from the Life of God Eph. 4. 18. For what fellowship can Light that pure Light have with such grosse Darknesse as is among us This certainly is the removal of that Sun of Righteousnesse from our Souls or the imposition of the Clouds of transgression that makes it so dark a night in the Souls of Men. And then there is nothing but enmity and desperate wickednesse in the heart of man and this keeps the strong hold of the Affections Rom. 8. Jer. 17. There cannot be a further elongation or separation of the Soul from God then to turn so opposite in all inclinations and dispositions to his Holy Will For the distance between God and us is not local in the point of place For whither shall we go from him who is every where And thus he is near hand every one of us but it is also real in the difformity and repugnancy of our Natures to his Holy Will But add unto this that being thus separated in Affection and disjoyned as it were in natural Dispositions we cannot draw near to God in any Ordinance as the Word Prayer c Though we may as that People draw near with out lips and ask of him our duty and seem to delight to know him Yet there is this natural incapacity and crookednesse in the heart of man that it cannot truely approach unto the Father of Spirits with any Soul desire and delight But their hearts are removed far from me Isa 6. 9. Mat. 4. 12. I think men might observe that their Souls act not in Religious businesse as they should but that they remove their Souls many Myles distant from their Bodies and they cannot keep any constancy in this approach of Prayer to God cannot walk with him in their Conversation or carry him along in their Meditation But there is one point of estrangement and separation superadded to all that there is no man can come near to God without an Oblation and Offering of Peace That there is no approaching to him but as to a consuming Fire except we can bring a Sacrifice to appease and a Present to please him for our infinite offences There the difference stands we cannot draw near to walk together till we be agreed And truely this unto man is impossible for we have nothing so precious as the Redemption of our Souls nothing can compense infinite Wrongs or satisfie infinite Justice Now this seems to make our nearnesse again desperate and to put men furthest off from Hope Notwithstanding this is the very purpose of the Gospel Preached from the beginning of the World to remove that distance and to take impediments of meeting out of the way For that great obstruction the want of a Sacrifice and Ransome the Lord hath supplied it he himself hath furnished it And it was the great designe carried on from the beginning of the World But as the Sun the nearer he is the more the Earth is Enlightened so here first some dawning of Light appears as a Messenger of Hope to tell that the Redeemer shall come that the True Sacrifice shall be slain then still the nearer his own appearing the clearer are the Manifestations of him and the great designe is more opened up till at length he breaks out in Glory from under a Cloud and shews himself to the World to be that Lamb of God that should take away the sins of the World And now as the Apostle to the Hebrewes speaks Chap. 7. 19. The Law made nothing perfect but
Direction and so a ground of Consolation How inexcuseable are we who have all these expressed unto us and often inculcated line upon line and precept upon precept and yet so often divides the Word of Truth or neglects it â—â—together Most part fancy a belief of the Promises and neither consider Threatnings nor Commands Some believing the Threatnings are not so wise for their own Salvation as to consider what God sayes more but takes it for his last word Shall not Niniveh rise up in Judgement against this Generation They repented at one Preaching and that a short one and in appearance very defective And yet we have many Preachings of the Son of God and his Apostles in this Bible both Law and Gospel holden forth distinctly and these spoken dayly in our audience and yet we repent not This is a strange Preface going before this Preaching and more strange in that it is before the first Preaching of a young Prophet He speakes both to Rulers and People but he gives them a name such as certainly they would not take to themselves but seing he is to speak the Word of the Lord he must not flatter them as they did themselves Is not this the Lords people his Portion and Inheritance which he chose out of the Nations Are not these Rulers the Princes of Judah and the Lords Anoynted Were they not both in Covenant with God and separated from the Nations both in Priviledges and Profession How then are they Rulers of Sodom and People of Gomorrah Likned to the worst of the Nations And not likened to them but spoken off as if they were indeed all one When ye hear the Preface ye would think that the Prophet were about to direct his speech to Sodom and Gomorrah But when ye look upon the Preaching ye find he means by Judah and Jerusalem and these are the Rulers and People he speaks of Certainly according as men walk so shall they be named and ranked External priviledges and profession may give a Name before men and separate men from men before the World But they give no Name make no difference before God if all other things be not suitable to these He is not a Jew saith Paul who is not one inwardly but be who hath that Circumcision in the heart in the Spiâ—it and not in the Letter Outward profession and signs may have praise of men but it is this that hath praise of God Rom. 2. 28 29. Circumcision and uncercumcision baptisme or unbaptisme availeth nothing but a new creature A baptizâ—d Christian and an unbaptized Turk are alike before God if their hearts and wayes be one Gal. 6. 15. All Christians professe Faith and glory in Baptisme but it avails nothing except it work by love Gal. 5. 6. Now what Name shall we give you How shall our Rulers be called How shall ye the People be called If we shall speak the truth we feat it instruct you not but irritate you Yet the truth we must speak whether ye chuse or whether ye refuse Ye would all be called Christians the people of God But we may not call you so except we would flatter you and deceive you by flattering and murder you by deceiving We would gladly Name you Christians in the Spirit Saints chosen and precious Oh that we might speak so to Rulers and people But alas we may not call you so except ye were so indeed We may not call you Christians least ye believe your selves to be so And yet alas ye will think your selves such speak what we can Would ye know your Name then I perceive you listen to heat what it is But understand that it is your Name before God which bears his accompt of you What matter of a Name among men It is often a shadow without substance a Name without the thing If God Name you other wayes you shall have little either Honour or Comfort in it When men blesse you and praise you if the Lord reckon the among the beasts that perish are ye honoured indeed Well then hear your Name before God what accompt hath he of you Ye Rulers are Rulers of Sodom and ye people are people of Gomoâ—rah And if ye think this a hard saying I desire you will notice the way that the Prophet Isaiah takes to prove his challenge against them and the same may be allâ—dged against Rulers and people now VVe need no proof but one of both See Vers 23. Thy Princes are rebellious because though they hear much against their sins yet they never amend them they pull away the shoulder If they hear yet they harden their heart Is there any of them hath set too to pray in their Families though earnestly pressed VVell what follows Every one loves Gifts Covetousnesse then and Oppression proves Rulers to be Rulers of Sodom Shall their houses stand Shalt thou reign because thou closest thy self with cedar Jer. 22. 15. No certainly men shall one day take up a proverb against them woe to him that encreafes that which is not his and loadeth himself with thick clay they shall be for booties to the Lords spoylers Hab. 2. 6. VVoe to them for they have consulted shame to their houses and sinned against their own Soul Their designe is to establish their House and make it Eminent but they take a compendious way to shame and ruine it Alas it is too publick that Rulers seek their own things for themselves and their freinds And for Jesus and his Interests they are not concerned But are ye the people any whit better Oh that it were so But alas when ye are involved in the same guiltinesse I fear ye partake of their plagues VVhat are ye then People of Gomorrab Is not the Name of God blasphemed dayly because of you Are not the abominations of the Gentiles the common disease of the multitude and the very reproach of Christianity Set apart your publick services and professions and is there any thing behind in your Conversation but Drunkenesse Lying Swearing Contention Envy Deceit VVrath Covetousnesse and such like Have not the multitude of them been al 's civil and carried themselves al 's blamelesly and without Offence as the throng of our Visible Church What have ye more then they It is true ye are caled Christians and ye boast in it Ye know his will and can speak of points of Religion can Teach and Instruct others and so hath as it were in your minds a form and method of Knowledge the best of you are but such But I ask as Paul did the Jews in such a case Thou that teachest another teachest thou not thy self thou that makest a boast of the Law throw breaking of it dishonourest thou God Rom. 2. 17. c. 23. Why then certainly all thy profession and baptism avails nothing and will never extract the from the Pagans with whom thou art one in Conversation Thy profession is so far from helping thee in such a case that it shall be the most bitter
ingredient in thy Cup of Judgment for it is the greatest Aggravation of thy sin for through it Gods Name is Blasphemed If they had not known they had not had sin Pagans sin is no sin in respect of Christians If ye consider Christs Sermon Matth. 11. Ye will say Isaiah is a meak and moderate man in regard of him Isaiah calls them people of Gomorrah but Christ will have them worse and their Judgment more intolerable then theirs And that not only the profane of them but the civil and Religious like who believed not in him VVell then here is the advantage ye get of your Name of Christianity of your priviledge of hearing his VVord dayly Ye who never ponder it to tremble at it or to rejoyce in it who cannot be moved either to joy or grief for Spiritual things Neither Law nor Gospel moves the most part of you I say here is all your gain ye shall receive a reward with Gentiles and Pagans Yea ye shall be in a worse case nor they in the Day of the Lord. The civil Christian shall be worse then the profane Turke and ye shall not then boast that ye were Christians but shall desire that ye had dwelt in the place where the Gospel had never been preached It is a Character of the Nations that they call not on God and of Heathen Families that they pray not to him Jer. 10. 25. And wrath must be poured on them VVhat then are the most part of you Ye neither bow a Knee in secret nor in your Families to God your time is otherwayes employed ye have no leisure to pray twice or thrice a day alone except when ye put on your Cloathes ye utter some ordinary bâ—blings Ye cannot be driven to Family worship shall not God rank you in Judgement with these Heathen Families Or shall it not be more tolerable for them nor for you And are not the most part of you every one given to Covetousnesse your heart and eye after it seeking Gain and Advantage more then the Kingdome of Heaven Doth not every one of you as you have power in your hand oppresse one another wrong one another Now our end in speaking thus to you is not to drive you to desparation No indeed but as there was a word of the Lord sent to such by Isaiah so we bring a word unto you That which ruines you is your carnal confidence Ye are presumptuous as this people and cryes the Temple of the Lord the VVork of the Lord c. as if these would save you Know therefore that all these will never cover you in the day of wrath Know there is a necessity to make peace with God and your righteousnesse must exceed the righteousnesse of a profession and external priviledges and duties or else ye shall be as far from the Kingdome of Heaven as Sodom and Gomorrah VVe speak of Rulers sins that ye may mourn for them lest ye be Judged with them If ye do not mourn for them in secret know that they are your sins Ye are Companions with them Many fret grudge and cry out against Oppression but who weeps in secret Who prayes and deprecats Gods wrath least it come upon them And while it is so The Oppression of Rulelers becomes the sin of the oppressed themselves Hear the Word of the Lord It were a suitable preparation for any Word that is spoken to make it take imprâ—ssion if it were looked on as the Word of the Lord and Law of our God And truely no man can hâ—ar aright unlesse he hear it so Why doth not this Word of the Lord return with more Fruit Why doth not men tremble or rejoyce at it Certainly because it is not received as Gods Word There is a practical Heresie in our hearts which rather may be called Atheism VVe do not believe the Scriptures I do not say men call it in question but I say ye believe them not It is one thing to believe with the heart another thing not to doubt of it Ye doubt not of it not because ye do indeed believe it but because ye do not at all consider it It is one thing to confesse with the Mouth and another thing to believe with the Heart For ye confesse the Scriptures to be Gods VVord not because ye believe them but because ye have received such a Tradition from your Fathers have heard it from the womb unquestioned Oh that this were engraven on your Heart thaâ— these Commands these Curses these Promises are Divine Truthes the VVords and thâ— Oath of the Holy One. If every word oâ— Truth came stamped with his Authority and were received in the Name of God himself what influence would it have on the Spirits and the practices of men This would be a great Reformer would Reform more in a Moneth then Church and Staâ—e hath done these many Years VVhy are Rulers and People not Converted and Healed for all that is spoken Here it is Who believes our report VVho believes that our report is thy own Testimony O Lord When Ministers threaten you in Gods Name if his Authority were stamped on the Threatning if men did seriously apprehend it were Gods own Voice would they not tremble When the Gospel and the joyful Sound comes forth if ye apprehended that same Authority upon it which ye who are Convinced believes in the Law would ye not be comforted Finally I may fay it is this point of Atheisme of Inconsideration and Brutishnesse that destroys the multitude makes all Means Ineffectual to them and retards the progresse of Christians Men do not consider that this word is the word of the Eternal and True and Faithful God and that not one Jot of it will faill Here is a Poynt of Reformation I would put you to If ye mind indeed to Reform let this enter into your Hearts and sink down that the Law and Gospel is the Word of God and resolve to come and hear Preachings so as the Voice of Jesus Christ the true and faithful witnesse If ye do not take it so now yet God will Judge you so at the end He that despiseth you despiseth me and he that hears not you heares not me If ye thought ye had to do with God every Sabbath would ye come so carelesly and be so stupid and inconsiderate before the Judge of all the Earth But ye will find in the end that it was God whom ye knew not SERMON IX Isai 1. 11. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me saith the Lord c. THis is the Word he calls them to hear and a strange Word Isaiah asks what means your sacrifices God will not have them I think the people would say in their own hearts what means the Prophet What would the Lord be at Do we any thing but what he Commanded us Is he angry at us for Obeying him What means this Word Is he not repealing the Statute and Ordinance he had made in Israel If
he had reproved us for breach of Commands for Omission and Neglect of Sacrifices we would have taken with it But what means this reproof for well doing The Lord is a hard Master if we neglect Sacrifices and offer up the worst of the Flock he is angry If we have a care of them and offer them punctually and keep appoynted days precisely he is angry what shall we do to please him I think many of you are put to as great a Non-plus when your prayers and repentance and fasting is quarreled Do ye not say in your hearts we know not what to do Ministers are angry at us if we pray not and ouâ— praying they cry out against They command us to Repent and Fast and yet say that God will abhore both these This is a Mystery and we shall endeavour to unfold it to you from the World It concerns us to know how God is pleased with our publick Services and Fastings For the most part of people have no more Religion Ye all I know desire to know what True Religion is Consult the Scriptures and search them for there ye shall find Eternal Life We frame to our self a wrong Patern and Coppy of it and so we judge our selves wrong Our narrow Spirits do not take in the Latitude of the Scriptures Religion but taking in one part it excludes another and thinks God rigid if it be not taken of our hand so But I pray consider these three things which seem to make up the good Old Way the Religion of the Old and New Testament First Religion takes in all the Commands it is universal hath respect to all the Commandments Psal 119. 6. It carries the two Tables in both-hands the first Table in the right hand and the second in the left These are so intirely conjoyned that if ye receive not both ye cannot receive any truely Secondly it takes in all the man his Soul and Spirit al 's well as his Body Nay it principally includes that which is principal in the man his Soul and Spirit his Mind and Affections If ye divide these ye have not a man present but a body And what fellowship can bodies have with him who in a Spirit If ye divide these among themselves ye have not a Spirit indeed present If the mind be not present surely the heart cannot but if the mind be and the heart away Religion is not Religion but some empty Speculation The mind cannot serve but by the heart Where the heart is there a man is reckoned to be Thirdly it takes in Jesus Christ as all and excludes altogether a mans self He worships God in the Spirit but he rejoyces not in himself and in his spirit but in Jesus Christ and hath no confidence in himself or the flesh phil 3. 3 8. It includes the Soul and Spirit and all the Commands but it denyes them all and embraces Jesus Christ by Faith as the only Object of glorying into and trusting into All a mans self becomes dross in this Consideration Now the first of these is drawn from the last therefore it appears first I say an indeavour in walking in every thing Commanded of conforming our way to the present rule and patern is a stream flowing from the pure heart within A mans Soul and Affections must once be purified or it send out such Streams in Conversation And from whence doth that pure heart come Is it the Fountain and Original No certainly The heart is desperately wicked above all things and how will it cleanse it self But this purity proceeds from another Fountain from Faith in Jesus Christ And it is this that lies nearest the uncreated Fountain Christ himself it is the most immediat Conduit the Mouth of the Fountain or the Bucket to draw out of the deep Wells of Salvation All these are conjoyned in this order 1 Tim. 1. 5. The end of the Command is love Ye know Love is said elsewhere to be the fulfilling of the Law And when we say Love we mean all Duties to God and man which Love ought immediately to principle Now this Love proceeds from a pure Heart cleansed and sanctified which pure heart proceeds from Faith unfeigned So then we must go up in our searching from external obedience all alongs till we arrive at the inward Fountain of Christ dwelling in us by Faith And then have ye found true Religion indeed Now ye may think possibly we have used too much circumlocution What is all this to the present purpose Yes very much Ye shall find the Lord rejecting this peoples publick Worship and solemn Ordinances upon these three grounds either they did not joyn with them the observation of weightier Commands or they did not worship him in them with their Spirits had not Souls present or they knew not the end and use for which God had appoynted these Sacrifices and Ceremonies they did not see to the end of all which was Jesus Christ First then I say the people was much in exâ—ernal Sacrifices and Ceremonies Commanded of God but they were ignorant of the end of â—is Commands and of the use of them Ye now in themselves they had no goodness but â—nly in relation to such an end as he pleased they â—ould lead to But they stayed upon the Ceâ—emony and shadow and were not led to use it â—s a means for such an end And so though â—ey fancied that they obeyed and pleased God â—et really they wholly perverted his meaning and intention in the Command Therefore doth the Lord plead wâ—th them in this place for their Sacrificeing as if it had been Murther They used to object his Commands What sayes the Lord did I command these things Who required them Meaning eertainly who required them for such an end to take away your sin who required them but as a shadow of the substance to come Who required them but as signes of that Lamb and Sacrifice to be offered up in the fullnesse of time And for asmuch as ye passe over all these and think to please me with the external Ceremony was that ever my intent or meaning Certainly ye have fancied a new Law of your own I never gave such a Law Therefore it is said Psal 50. 13. God pleads just after this manner Will I eat the flesh of Bulls or drink the blood of Goats c. And Micah 6. 7. Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rammes or with ten thousands of rivers of oyl He who hath no pleasure in sinful men what pleasure can he have in beasts Therefore it was to signify to them who thought God would be pleased with them for their offering that he could not endure them it was worse to him to offer him such a recompense then if they had done none at all Hâ— is only well pleased in his well beloved Son And when they separat a Lamb or a Bullocâ— from the well bâ—loved what was it to him morâ— nor a dogs neck or swines flesh It was
is a through and intire change It is like a new Creation that must destroy the first Subject to get place for that which is to come It is a putting off old Garments to put one new The putting off an old form and engraven Image to make place for a new engraving Men do not put a Seal above a Seal but deface the old and so put on the new Men do not put new Cloaths upon the old but put the old off and so they have place for the new Religion must have a naked man Godlinesse is a new Suit that will not go on upon so many Lusts No no it is more meet and more conformed unto the inwards of the Soul then so The cold must go out as the heat comes in Many men do not change their Garments but mends them puts some new pieces into them They retain their old lusts their heart idols and they will add unto these a patch of some External Obedience But alas is this godlinesse Hypocrisie will be content of a mixture sin is the harlot whose heart could endure to see the Child parted It can give God a part to get leave to brook the most part Sin will give God liberty to take some of the outward man if it keep the heart and soul But God will not reckon on these terms he will have all the man or nothing for he is the Righteous Owner True godlinesse cannot mix so but false and counterfeit may do it well Other men again possibly uncloaths themselves of some practices but they put on no new cloathing They reform some passages for fear of censure or shame or such like They are found it may be blamelesse either because so Educated or their Disposition is against particular grosse sins But they are not cloathed upon with Holinesse and well doing and so they are but naked and bare in Gods sight not beautiful They have sweept their house and some Devil put out or kept out but because the good Spirit enters not ordinarily seven worse enter again into-such men There is a great moment of perswasion in this order of the Exhortation Wash you and then put away the evil of your doings and cease to do evil Do not continue in your former customs It is strange how contrary our hearts are to God We use to turn Grace unto wantonnesse We use to take more liberty to sin when we conceive we are pardoned But I do not know any more strong and constraining perswasion to forsake sin then the consideration of the forgiving of it might yeild Oh what an inducement and grand Argument to renouncing of evils is the consideration of the remission of them This is even that ye are now called unto who have fled to Jesus to escape Wrath What should ye be taken up with in all the World but this to live to him henceforth who died for us To forsake our own old way and that from the constraining principle of Love to him 2 Cor. 5. 14 15. Oh that ye would enforce your own hearts with such a thought when there are any solicitations to sin to former lusts Should I that am dead to sin lâ—ve any longer therein Rom. 6. Should I who am washed from such pollutions return again to the pollutions of the World Should I again defile my self who am cleansed by so precious Blood And forget him that washed me Should I return with the dog to the vomit and with the sow to the puddle God forbid I pray you consider if you be Christians indeed give a proof of it What hath Jesus Christ done for you He hath given himself his own precious Blood a Ransom for us will ye not give up your selves to him Will not ye give him your sins and lusts which are not your self but enemies to your self Will not ye put away these ills that he came in this world to destroy Art thou a Christian and are there yet so many sins and works of the Devil raigning in thee and set up in Gods sight VVhat an inconsistency is this If thou be his follower thou must put these away Give them a bill of divorcement never to turn again Many a man parts with his sin because it leaves him he puts it not away Temptation goes and occasion goes away but the root of it abids within him Many men have particular jarrs with their corruptions but they reconcile again as differences between married persons They do not arise to hate their sin in its sinful Nature But if thou hate it then put it away And who would not hate it that Christ so hated that he came to destroy it 1 Jo. 3. 5. What a great indignity must it be to the Gospel to make that the ground of living in sin which is pressed in it as the grand perswasion to forsake it Seing we are washed from the guilt of it Oh let us not love to keep the stain and filth of it Why are we washen Was it not Christs great intendment and purpose to purifie to himself a Holy People We are washen from the guilt of our sins and is it to defile again Is it not rather to keep our selves henceforth clean that we may be presented holy and unblameable in his sight That we may seek to be al 's like Heaven as may be But who ceases to do these evils that he says are pardoned Who puts away the evils of these doings the guilt whereof he thinks God hath put away Could ye find in your hearts to intertain those evils so familiarly to pour out your Souls unto them if that Peace of God were indeed spoken unto you Would not he reflex of his Love prove more constraining on your hears Were it possible that if ye did indeed consider that your lusts cost Christ a dear price to shed his Blood that your pleasures made his Soul heavy to death and that he hath laid down his Life to Ransom you from Hell were it possible I say that ye would live still in these lusts and choose these pleasurs of sin which were so bitter to our Lord Jesus I beseech you be not deceived if ye love the puddle still that ye cannot live out of it do not say that ye are washed Ye may have washen your selves with Sope and Nitre but the Blood of Christ hath not cleansed For if that Blood sprinkled your Conscience once to give you an answer to all challenges it could not but send forth Streams to purifie the heart and so the whole man The Blood and VVater might be joyned the Justifying Saviour and the Sanctifying Spirit For both these are in this Gospel washing 1 Cor. 6. 11. 1 Jo 5. 6. This is be that came by water and blood even Jesus Christ not by water only but by water and blood Not by water only but by blood also and I say not by blood only but by water also The very purpose of forgivenesse is not to lay a foundation for more sin but that men
thou hast spent thy substance on the Physicians and in vain come to me I can heal that desperate Disease by a word I create peace when natural Causes have given it over I create it of nothing I will keep you in perfect peace You have then here three things of special concernment in these times and all times â— blessednesse a perfect peace attainable the way of it and the Fountain of it The Fountaiâ— of it the preserver of it is God himself Thâ— way to attain it is trusting in God and stayinâ— on him This sweetnesse of peace is in Goâ— the Tree of Life Faith puts to its hand anâ— plucks the Fruit of the Tree Hope and Dependance on God is a kind of tasting of thaâ— Fruit and eating of it and then followeth thiâ— perfect peace as the delightful relish and sweetnesse that the Soul finds in God upon tastinâ— how gracious he is God himself is the life oâ— our souls the fountain of living waters the life anâ— light of men Faith and trusting in God drawâ— out of this Fountain out of this deep well oâ— Salvation and staying on God drinks of it tilâ— the soul be refreshed with peace and tranquility such as passeth Natural Understanding Christ Jesus is the Tree of Life that grows iâ— the Gaâ—den of God trusting in him by Faith implants a Soul in him roots a Soul in him bâ— vertue of which Union it springs up and grow into a living Branch by staying and depending upon him we live by him and hence spring this blessed and sweet Fruit of peace of soul anâ— conseience which grows upon the confidencâ— of the soul placed in God as the stalk by whicâ— it is united to the Tree Trusting and stayinâ— upon God is the souls casting its Anchor upon him in the midst of the waves and storms of sin wrath and trouble The poor beaten sinner casts an Anchor within the Vail on that sure ground of immutable Promises in Jesus Christ And then it rests and quiets it self at that Anchor enjoyes peace in the midst of the storm there is a great calm it is not moved or not greatly moved as if it were a fair day David flieth unto God as his refuge Anchor 's upon the Name of the Lord Psal 62. 1 2. And so he enjoys a perfect calm and tranquillity I shall not be moved because he is united to the Rock he is tyed to the firm Foundation Jesus Christ and no storm can dissolve this Union not because of the strength of that Rope of Faith it is but a weak Cord if Omnipotency did not compasse it about also And so we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation The poor wearied Traveller the Pilgrime sits down under the shadow of a Rock and this peace is his rest under it Faith lays him down and peace is his rest and sleep Faith in Jesus Christ is a motion towards him as the soulâ— proper place and center and therefore it is called a coming to him flying to him as the City of refuge It is the Souls flight out of it self and misery and sin within to apprehended Mercy and Grace and happinesse in Christ Now Hope is the Conjunction or Union of the Soul with him the Soul then staying and resting on him as in its proper place And so it enjoys perfect peace and rest in its place so that if ye remove it thence then ye offer violence to it These two things are of greatest importance to you to know What this perfect Peace is and what is the way to attain it The one is the Priviledge and Dignity the other is the Duty of a Christian and these two make him up what he is I would think that man perfectly blessed who is at peace with two things God and himself If a man be at peace with Creatures without him and be not at peace with himself but have warr within his own Mind that mans Peace is no Peace let be perfect peace A mans greatest enemy is within his own house And within indeed when it is in his bosome and soul When a mans Conscience is against him it is worse then a world beside Conscientia mille testes so I say it is mille hostes It is a thousand witnesses and a thousand enemies It were better to endure condemnation of any Judge of many Judges in the world then to sustain the conviction of a mans own Conscience When it accuseth who shall excuse Joh. 8. 9. Rom 2. 15. A merry spirit saith Solomon is a continual feast Prov. 15. 15. And what must a heart be which hath such a gnawing worm within it as an accusing Conscience to eat it out This is the worm of Hell that dies not out which makes Hâ—ll Hell indeed This indeed will be a painful Consumption a broken spirit dryeth up the bones it will eat up the marrow of the spirit and body Pro. 17. 22. What infirmity is there which a man cannot bear Poverty Famine Warr Pestilence Sickness name what you will but a wounded Spirit who can bear Prov. 18. 14. And there is reason for it for there is none to bear it A sound and whole Spirit can sustain infirmities but when that is wounded which should bear all the rest what is behind to bear it It is a burden to it self If a man have trouble and warr in this world yet there is often escaping from it A man may fly from his enemy but when thy enemy is within thee whither shall thou fly Thou cannot go from thy self thou carries about thee thy enemy thy tormenter But suppose a man were at peace within himself and cryed peace peace to himself yet if he be not at peace with God shall his peace be called peace Shall it not rather be named supine security If a man be at variance with himself and his Soul disquieted within there is more fear then danger if he be at peace with God It is but a false Alarme that shall end well But if he have peace in his owâ— bosom and yâ—t no agreement with God then destructions are certainly coming his dream of peace will have a terrible wakâ—ning A man may sleep soundly and his enemies round about him because he knoweth noâ— of it but he is in a worse estate â—or he that is in great fear and his enemies either none or far distant The one hath present dangâ—r â—â—d no 〈◊〉 the other present fear and no daâ—geâ— and which of these think ye bâ—st Sudden destruction awakes the one from sleep Ezâ—k 7 25. Their fear and destruction come both at once when it is now in vain to fear because it is past Hope Prov. 1. 27. Therefore the Lord swears thaâ— there is no peace to the wicked Isai 48. 22. What Do not they often cry peace to themselves and put the evil day far off No men are so without Bands in life and death as they they have made agâ—eement with Hell and Death and their
ingageth both to give a shelter and refuge to the poor sinner Would a Soul be any more tossed would there be any place for wavering and doubting if Souls considered his excellent loveing kindness and great goodness laid up and treasured with him for these that trust in him Psal 36. 7. Who would not put their trust under the shadow of his wings and think themselves safe Again if his eternal power were pondered how he is able to effectuat whatever he pleaseth what everlasting Armes he hath that by a word supports the frame of the world what he can do if he stretch out his Arm And then if these two immutable things Heb. 6. 18. His Promise and his Oath were looked upon how he hath ingaged himself in his Truth and sworn in his Holiness Would not a Soul ly safely between these three what strong consolation would such a threefold consideration yield Would any wind or tempest blow within these Walls mounted up to Heaven Stayedness on God is nothing else but the fixedness of believing and trusting Psal 112. 7 8. His heart is fixed trusting in God hiâ—â—eart is established It is even the mature and ripe age of Faith Fâ—ith while it is yet in infancy in its tender years it neither can endure storms nor can it confirm us in them But when it hath sprung up and grown in that root of Jesse wheâ— it is rooted and established in Jesus Christ then it establisheth the Soul Faith abiding in him and taking root groweth confirmed as a Tree that cannot easily be moved and if you establish Faith you shall be established There are two particulars which I conceive the trusting Soul is stayed on First in the meditation of God Secondly in expectation from him of all good things When I say the Meditation of God I take in both Contemplation and Affection The most part of men have but few thoughts of God at all even those who trust in him do not consider sufficiently what a One he is in whom they believe If Faith were vigorous and lively it would put men to often thinking on him seeking to know him in his glorious Names the mind would be stayed upon this glorious object as the most Mysterious and Wonderful One How throng are mens minds with their vanities When they awake they are not still with God The Meditation of him is a burden to them Any other thing geteth more time and thoughts But Meditation addeth Affection to Contemplation Men may think long upon the Heavens and their Course but their Affections are not ravished with them But this is the Soul stayed on God when the Souls desires are towards the remembrance of his Name then Affection stayeth the mind upon what it pitcheth one And certainly the mind giveth but passing looks constrained thoughts where the heart is not Here is Davids Meditation Psal 1. My delight is in the law of the Lord. The Soul of a Believer should be constant and fixed in the consideration of God till he be wholly ingaged to admiration and wondering O Lord how excellent is thy Name Ps 8. 1. And who is like unto thee You all say that you believe in God and know his Power you know he is Good he is Merciful Just Long suffering Faithful c. But what is all this knowledge but ignorance and your light darkness when it doth not press you to put your trust in his Name You know Nay but you consider not what you know This is trusting when the mind is stayed on what it knoweth when all the scattered thoughts and affections are called home and united in one to be exercised about this comprehensive Object The Lord our God It is not want of knowledge destroyeth you but want of consideration of what you know and this is brutishness Mens hearts do not carry Seal and Stamp of their knowledge because thoughts of God and his word are but as passengers that go thorow a Land as lightning going thorow the mind but warms it not And so their practice carrieth no impression of it either How base is it for those who have God for their God to be so ignorant of him Would not any man willingly travel about his own possessions Have you such a large portion Believers and should you be taken up with other vanities Should your hearts minds be stayed on them more then the living God There is a great vanity and levity in mens minds The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men that they are vanity There is aâ— unsetledness of Spirit we cannot pitch upon that on which we may be stayed And so all the spirits of men are in a continual motion from one thing to another for nothing giveth compleat satisfaction and therefore it must go and try one after another to see if it can find in it what iâ— found not in the former And such is the inconstancy of the Spirit that it licketh up its vomit and what thing it refused it eateth it up as itâ— meat The time is spent in choosing and refusing rejecting one thing and taking another and again returning to what you have rejected Thus are men tossed up and down and unstablâ— in all their ways as a Ship without ballasting Now Faith and trusting in God is the ballasâ— and weight of this inconstant Ship It is the Anchor to stay it from being driven to and fro once men would pitch upon this one Lord wiâ— hath in himself eminently all the scattered perfections of Creatures and infinitely more if you would consider him and meditate on him till your Souls loved him would you not be ravished with him Would you not build your house beside him and dwell in the meditation of his Name This would fix and establish you in duties when I awake I am still with thee A little searching and experience discovereth emptiness in all beside and therefore is it that the Soul removeth sooner from such a particular Creature then it expected but here is one that is past finding out The more I search and find I find him the more above what I can search and find The Creatures are but painted and fair in mens apprehension and at a distance but the near injoyment of them discovereth the delusion and sendeth a man away ashamed because he trusted But the Lord God is and there is no other he is not as waters that fail no liar he is an everlasting Fountain the more you dig and draw it runs the faster he will never send any away ashamed that trust in him because they shall find more then they expected Therefore the Soul that is stayed on meditation of God and knoweth him certainly will be fixed in expectation from him Our expectation from the Creatures changeth because it is oft frustrat disappoyntment meets it it is above what is in the Creature and so it must meet with disappoyntment But as he is above our meditation so is he far above our expectation And if a mans experience answer
he is our kinsman nearest of blood to us Now you know â—he right of Redemption belonged to the kinsâ—an Lev. 25. 25. And therefore when the nearest kinsman â—ould not redeem Naomi and Ruths parcel of â—and Booz he did it as being next And â—uitable to this our Lord Jesus when others as â—ear could not and were not able He hath â—one it and taken Men and Angels to witnesse that he hath first Redeemed us that he miâ— Marry us as Eph. 5. That he hath purchâ—ed us to be his Wife And indeed the vâ— word imports this Goel a Redeemer â— Kinsman passing under one word So Iâ— I know that my redeemer or my kins-man live And because our Kins-man therefore nâ— interested in our Redemption For for end he became partaker of flash and blood with children that be might destroy our greatest enâ— Satan and redeem us Heb. 2. 14. And besiâ— he hath right to Redemption as the Churcâ— Husband because he must mediat between and all others none can reach her except please or prosecure a plea against her as in case of the Wifes making a vow if her â—band consented not it was void Num. â— But if he heard of it and held his peace it â— confirmed Now the Lord Jesus hath knâ— this Deplorable Estate we are Captives iâ— And he hath testified his utter dislike of binding over our selves to Death and reâ—ing our selves to Satan And therefore â— bondage in which we are detained is not â—firmed and ratified but he hath right remâ—ing to Redeem us from the hand of all our â—mies But then he alone hath Might â— Power to do it for God hath laid help on â— and made him able and mighty to save â— the uttermost It was not Gold or Silver â— Corruptible things Suppose the whole â—â— were turned into Gold or precious Stones â— must give person for person and one persoâ— quivalent to all his own Life his own Blâ— for us And the value of this was infinitely raised by thâ— stamp of his Divinity put upon it the King for the Servant one that knew no sin for sinners yea God for man This superads infinit Worth and makes it an over-ransom and over-purchase a ransom to buy our persons from Hell a purchase to redeem us to our Inheritance Heaven that we had lost and these two stiles it gets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now you see the great Difficulty is overcome and taken out of the way Christ being made a Curse hath purchased a redemption from the Curse of the Law Gal. 4. 13. But yet there is another poynt of vast distance I may say con trariety and enmity between us and him he is Holy and undefiled all fair and no spot in him We are wholly defiled and depraved by sin our Souls are become the habitation of Devils and a Cage of every unclean and hateful Bird In a word he hath not only our Enemies to overcome but our own hearts to conquer and our Enmity to take away This makes the widest separation from him Now he filled up much of the Distance with his taking our flesh and he removed the great Difficulty by dying in our flesh his Humiliation to be a Man brought him nearer us And his further Humiliation to be a Dying Crucified and Buried Man brought him yet a step nearer us But nearer he cannot come for lower he cannot be except he were a sinner which would marr the whole design and take away all the Comfort of his liknesse to us Therefore since he hath come so low down to us it is suitable we be raised up one step to meet him And so the Exaltation of sinners shall make up all the Distance and bring the two parties to that long since designed and long desired meeting Now for this end and purpose the Son undertakes the Redemption of his Church from sin and ungodliness al 's well as wrath And therefore you have that which is expressed as the Character of the redeemed in this Vers It is exponed as the great point or part of the Redemption it self by the Apostle Rom. 11. The Redeemer shall come to Sion to turn all ungodliness from Jacob. And so his end was not only to be partaker of our Nature but to make us partakers of the Divine Nature And therefore the Father out of his Love to this businesse he promiseth to send his Spirit to dwell in our hearts to make the Word sound in our Mouths and Ears and the Spirit to work in our hearts and this Exaltation of sinners to the participation of the Holy Spirit together with Christs Humiliation to partake of our Flesh makes up the full Distance and bringeth Christ and his Church to that holy patient Impatience and longing for the day when it shall be Solemnized in Heaven The Spirit within us sayes come and the bride sayes come even so come Lord Jesus And he waits for nothing but the Compleating and Adorning of all the rest that there may be one Jubilee for all and for ever Now I wish we could understand the Absolute and free Tenor of Gods Covenant There is much controversy speculative about the Condition of the Covenant about the Promises whither Absolute or Conditional And there is too much practical Debate in perplexed Consciences about this how to find something in themselvs to fit and fashion them for the Redemption But truely if we would not disjoyn and dismember the Truth of God but take it all intirely as one great design of Love and Metcy revealed to sinners and so conjoyn the Promises of the Covenant into one bundle we would certainly find that it hath the Voice of Jacob though it seem to have the Hand of Esau we find an absolute most free and inconditioned sense when there is a conditional strain and shadow of words in some places The truth is the turning of souls from ungodliness is not properly a Condition exacted from us as a Promise to be performed in us and the chiefest part of Christs Redemption And though some abuse the grace of God and turn it into wantonness and liberty Yet certainly this Doctrine that makes the greatest part of the glad news of the Gospel to be Redemption from sin and the pouring out of the Spirit is the greatest perswasive to a godly Conversation and the most deadly enemy to all ungodliness I thought to have spoken more of that third thing I proponed but take it in a word This was always proponed to the Church as the strongest Cordial it was given here as the greatest Consolation in all their long Captivity that this Redeemer was after wards to come whose Vertue was then living and present to the quickning and comforting of souls It was thought enough to uphold in a most desperat strait To us a child is born Isai 8. I wish we could take it so Certainly it was the Character of a Believer before Christs coming that he was one that was looking and waiting for the Salvation
outward Dispensation can fall on that can affect this generation We know not what the Lord can have behind that can work on us Judgement hath had as much terror Mercies as much sweetness and as much of God in the one and the other as readily hath been since the beginning of the world Only this we know all things are possible to him which are impossible to us And if the Spirit work to sanctifie the Rod a more gentle Rod shall work more effectually his Word shall do as much as his Rod. The case we are now into is just this None calleth on thee It is a terrible one whither our condition be good or bad outwardly our peace hath put us asleep and the Word cannot put men to prayers Now the Lord hath begun to threaten as you have been still in fear of new troubles and a revolution of affairs again yet I challenge your own Consciences and appeal to them whom hath the Word prevailed with to put to prayer Whom hath the rumour of approaching trouble put to their prayers Whose spirit hath been affected with Goâ— fâ—ouning on the Land And this yet more aâ— gravateth your laziness In the time that Goâ— doth shew terrible things to his people in Irelaâ— giveth them a cup of wormwood and to drink â— wine of astonishment Are not you yet at eâ—â— when your brethren and fellow saints are scaâ—tered among you as strangers yet your heaâ— bleed not Well behold the end of it you case is a sad prognostick of the Lords hideing hiâ— Face and consuming us Nay it is a sure token that his Face is hid already When Jâ— friends would aggravate his misery they sumâ— it up in this thou restrainest prayer from God Iâ— is more wrath to be kept from much praying nor to be scattered from your own house Therefore if you would have the cloud of Godâ— anger that covereth the Land with blackneâ— go over you and pour out it self on others you would prevent the Rod hearken to thâ— Word and stirr up your selves to much prayeâ— that you may be called his remembrancers Oâ— how long shall prayer be banished this Kingdom The Lords controversie must be greaâ— with us for since the days of our first love therâ— hath been great decay of the spirit of prayer The Children of God should be so much in it as they might be one with it David was so much in prayer as he in a manner defined himself by it Psal 109. 4. I gave my self unto prayer In the original there is no more but â— prayer I was all prayer It was my Work my Element my Affection my Action Nay to speak the truth it is the decay of prayer that hath made all this defection in the Land Would you know the original of many a publick mans Apostacy and backsliding in the cause of God what maketh them so soon forget their solemn ingagements and grow particular seeking their own things untender in seeking the things of God Would you trace back the Desertion up to the Fountain head Then come and see Look upon such a mans walking with God in private such a mans praying and you shall find matters have been first wrong there Alienation and estrangement from God himself in immediat Duties and secret approaches hath made mâ—ns Affections cooll to his interest in publick Duties And believe it the reason why so few great men or none are so cordial constant and through in Gods Matters is this they pray not in secret They come to Parliament or Council where publick Matters concerning the Honour of God are to be debated as any Stas-man of Venice would come to the Senate They have no dependence on God to be guided in these Matters They are much in publick Duties but little in secret with God Believe it any mans private walking with God shall be read upon his publick carriage whither he be Minister or Ruler There is yet another thing we would have you consider to endear this Duty unto you and bind upon your Consciences an absolute necessity of being much in it and it is this Prayer and calling on his Name is often put for all immediat Worship of God especially the more substantial and moral part of Service This people was much in Ceremonials and they made these their righteousness Nay but there was little secret conversing with God walking humbly with him loving him believing in him Well then prayer is as it were a compend and summ of all Duties It contains in it Faith Love Repentance all these should breath out in prayer In a word if we say to you be much in prayer we have said all and it is more then all the rest because it is a more near and immediat approach to God having more solid Religion in it If you be lively in this you are thriving Christians if you wither here all must decay for prayer sappeth and watereth all othes Duties with the influence of Heaven That stirreth up himself to take hold on thee This expresseth more of their condition under the Rod and while God was threatning to depart and leave them none took so much notice of it as to awake out of his dream to take a fast hold of God It was but like the grip a man taketh in his slumbering that he soon quiteth in his sleep None awaketh himself as a bird stirreth up it self with its wings to flight None do so spread out their sails to meet the wind This importeth a great security and negligence a careless stupidity To take hold to grip strongly and violently importeth both Faith acted on God and Communion with God so that the sense is no body careth whither thou go there is none that stirreth up himself to take violent hold of thee Men ly louse in their interest and indifferent in the one thing necessary do not strongly grip to it No body keepeth thee by prayer and intercession so that there is no diligence added to diligence there is no stirring up of our selves in security First when the Lord seemeth to withdraw and when he is angry it is our duty to take hold the more on him and not only to act Faith and call on him by prayer but to add to ordinary diligence it should be extraordinary First then I say when the Lord is withdrawing and seemeth angry we ought not to withdraw from him by unbelief but to draw near and take hold on him And the Lord giveth a reason of this himself Isai 26. 4 5. because fury is not in me It is but a moments anger it is not hatred of your persons but sins it is not fury that hath no discretion in it to difference between a friend and an enemy It is but at least a fathers anger that is not for destruction but correction The Lord is not implacable come to him and win him let bim take hold of me and let him make peace with me if he will make peace He is a God whose
in God in the worst case and then ye might lay hold on him though he seemed a consuming fire It is then a time that calleth most for secureing your interest in him a time when there is no external advantage to beguile you a time when the only happiness is to be one with God Therefore the man who in such Calamities and Judgements is not a waked to put his eternal Estate out of question he is in a dangerous case For do not most part drive over their dayes and have no assurance of Salvation they dare not say either pro or contra It may be and it may not be And this is the length that the most part come a negative Peace No positive Confidence No clear concluding on sure grounds an Interest Alwayes ye are most called to this when God afflicteth the Land or you If ye do not then make Peace it is most dangerous 3. The Lord loveth Faith in a difficulty best it is the singlest and the cleanliest it is that which most honoureth him and glorifieth his Truth and Faithfulnesse and Sufficiency and Mercy for then it is most purely Elevated above Creatures and pitcheth most on God And therefore bringeth men to this No help for my soul but thou art my portion And this commendeth God most when he is set alone Prosperity bringeth him down among Creatures and secure Faith maketh little distinction But awakening Faith grippeth strongly and singly puteth God alone Secondly Oftentimes when God is departing none stirreth up himself to lay hold on him Although there may be praying and doing of many duties yet there is nothing beyond ordinary The varieties and accessions of new grounds of supplications doth neither make greater frequency nor more fervency This our experience may clear unto us both in duties and faith First There is very little diligence in seeking of God in the way and means appointed even when God seemeth to bid farewel to the Land and go away No body cometh in as an intercessor Men keep on their old way of praying and never addeth to it come what like Who is it that riseth above his ordinary as the Tide of Gods dispensation is There ought to be such an impression made by the changes of Gods countenance as might be read on the duties of his people There should be such a distance between your ordinary and such times as between a sleeping man and a waking man that whatever your attainment of access to God be ye might stir up and go beyond it according as matters call Will God count your publick Fasts a performance of this duty Alas we fast sleeping and none stirreth up himself to these things Is there any difference betwixt your solemn Humiliation and another Sabbath And is there any difference between a Sabbath and a week day save the external duty Is not this palpably our case Is there any wakening among us No security is both the universal disease and complaint And it is become an incurable disease since it became a complaint Doth any of you pray more in private then ye used Or what edge is on your prayers Alas the Lord will get good leave to go from us It feareth me that we would give Christ a Testimonial to go over Seas Hold him hold him Nay the multitude would be gladly quite of him they cannot abide his yoke his work is a burden his word is a torment his discipline is bands and cords And what heart can ye then have to keep Christ What violence can ye offer to him to hold him still All your intreaties may be fair complements but they would never rent his garment Secondly There is no up-stirring to faith among us and laying hold on Jesus Christ albeit all his dispensations warn us that it is now high time There are not many who are about this point effectually to stir up their faith or to secure their interest Think ye that conjectures will carry you thorow difficulties The multitude think they believe much but any temptation proveth their mistake The most part of Scotland would deny God and his Son Jesus Christ if they were put to it Alwayes it is a time ye would not ly out from your strong hold faith only uniteth you to Christ and if ye would be kept in any trial stir up faitâ— Thirdly Prayer and Faith diligence and laying hold on God must go together and help one another Not calling on his Name and not laying hold on him go together and have influence oâ—e upon another First Faith hath influence on Prayer Laying hold on God in Christ will make right calling on his Name it learneth men how to call God to call him Abba Father Faith useth to vent iâ— self in Prayer I say much consideration of God and claiming in to him and to the grounds of confidence in him must both make Prayer acceptable and carry the stamp and impression of Gods Name or Christâ— Nâ—mâ— oâ— it and also make much prayer for when a soul hath pitched on God as its only felicity and thus made choice of him it findeth in him all-sufficiency all things for all things There is no necessiâ—y but it findeth a supply in his fulness for it And therefore it applyeth a man to the fountain to draw out of the wells of salvation There is nothing can be so sweet and refreshing as for such a soul to pour out it sâ—lf every day in him to talk with him face to face Faith ingageth the heart to come to God with all things whereas many difficulties would have been and the secure or unsettled heart would have gone as many different wayes to help them Faith laying hold on God knoweth but one and bringeth all here And therefore access to God is a fruit of it access unto the grace wherein we stand by faith And again how can Prayer be acceptable as long as Faith doth not principle it It is but like a beasts groaning under a burden Laying hold on God himself makes a mans duties acceptable because he speaks and asks believing that he shall receive he trusteth God and doth not tempt him Where lively faith is not intertained there cannot be much affection which is the oyl of the wheels There may be in some bitterness of spirit much vehemency but that is not a pure flame of divine love that burneth upward to him and it is soon extinguished and lasteth no longer nor present sense and then the soul groweth harder as iron that had been in the fire Secondly when there is not much prayer and calling faith cannot be strong and violent for prayer is even the exercise of faith if you wear out of that faith rusteth There may be much quietness with little prayer but there cannot be much and strong and lively faith for where it getteth not continual imployment it faggs And indeed prayer is a special point of holding God fast and keeping him Therefore joyn these if ye would thrive in any one of
them Your unbelieving complaints are not prayers and calling on his Name because they are not mixed with faith As the Apostle said of the Word so may it be said of Prayer your prayers are not profitable are not heardâ— because not mixed with faith Ye use to doubt that ye may be fervent to question your interest that ye may stir up your spirits to prayer But alas what a simple grosse mistake is that Poor soul though thou get more liberty shall it be counted access to God Though you have more grief and your bitterness doth indite more eloquence shall God be moved with it Know ye not that you should ask without wavering and lift up pure hands without wrath and doubting and yet both are there Fourthly The duty we are called to in such a time when God is angry is to lay hold on him We would speak a word more of it And first we ought to hold a departing Lord by wrestling with him in supplication not to let bim depart till he bless Hos 12. 3 4. The application of Jacobs victory over the Angel is thus Turn ye to the Lord and wait on him c. How had Jacob power over the Angel By supplication and weeping So that prayer is a victory over God even the Lord God of Hosts We ought as it were to strive against outward dispensation when it saith He is gone when our condition saith He is gone or going we ought to wrestle with it No submission to such a departing I mean no submission that sitteth down with it and is not careful how it be Now this time calleth you to such an exercise The Lord seemeth to be angry with us there is a strong cloud over the Land and like to pour down upon us the Lord is drawing a sword again and beginning now to lay on Many threatnings would not put us to supplication Now what will the laying on of the rod do If the former dayes be returning wherein ye saw much sorrow Is it not then high time for the Lords remembrancers and for the Lords children to wrestle with God As Esau was coming on Jacob so hath God armed men and such desperate men as he hath made a rod to us before If we be twice beaten with it it is very just for before we did not seek in to him who smote us You would know this that the Lord is but seeking imployment and if ye would deal with him ye may make advantage of the present and future calamities And look to this laying hold on him This is the chief thing ye should now heed It is God himself that should be your principal object Praying should be a laying hold on God it should meet with himself For the most part in the time of prosperity we cannot meet with God singlely we have so much to do with creatures we keep trysts so punctually with them so that we cannot keep with God We have so many things in our affections and thoughts that God cannot get place he cannot get us at leisure for the throng of our business we loss God by catching at shadows Well then we are called in such a time of difficulty to come in to God himself to draw by the vail of Ordinances that we may have Communion with God himself And this is right praying when the soul getteth such immediate access to God as it were to handle him and see him and taste him to exercise its senses on him Ordinances have been of a long time a covering of his face and he useth not now to unvail himself in the Sanctuary and let us see his glory God is departed from preaching and praying and the solemn meeting so that we meet not with God we lay hold on a shadow of an outward Ordinance but not on God himself Therefore Christians make advantage of this time you may be brought to want Ordinances then lay hold on himself who is the substance and marrow of them you may be denuded of outward comforts and accommodation here then lay hold on himself in much prayer If affliction would blow away the cloud on his face or would scatter our idols from us and make us single alone with God as Jacob was it were well sent Secondly Your exercise should be to take hold on God by faith And first ye would make peace with God be much in direct acts of apprehending God himself in Jesus Christ And this is according as ye take up your selves in your own misery and nâ—câ—ssity Do but travel continually between your own misery and something answerable in God The first thing we would have you do now when God frowns upon us find out your own lost condition and how great strangers you have beâ—n to him even when ye have appâ—oached in many Oâ—dinances And find a necessity of making peace with God and atonement Now from this lay hold on Christ as the hope set before you look upon that in him which will answer all your necâ—ssities and be suitable to them It is not matters of outward lot that should go nearest your heart Let the world go where it will that which concerneth you most in such a time is the securing your soul for if ye loss it what gain you What keep you Your houses and lands and lives may be in hazard Nay but one thing is more worth then all these and in more hazard Begin at spiritual things and ask how matters stand between God and thee Secondly Not only would ye be much in immediat application unto Jesus Christ but ye would so take hold of him as ye may be sure ye have him Make peace and know that ye have made it and then shall ye be kept in perfect peace You would never rest until you can on solid grounds answer the question And this duty is called for from you at such a time for the just shall live by faith in a troublesome time Hab. 2. 4. And as ye ought to keep and hold fast confidence and not cast it away in such a time so should ye all seek after it Do not only rest in this I know not but I may belong to Christ I dar not say against it O no Christians you should have positive clear grounds of assurance I am his and he is mine I know that my Redeemer liveth God is my portion And if ye conclude this solidly I defy all the world to shake and trouble your peace this is perfect peace peace peace double peace How can you choose but be shaken at every blast of temptation when you are not thus solidly grounded when you hold not at your Anchor And Thirdly Having thus laid hold on Christ as your own lay hold on all in him as yours and for your use Whatever difficulty the present time or your own condition afford search but as much in God as may counterballance it Answer all objections from his Mercy Goodnesse Power Wisdom Unchangableness And this shall be more nor the trouble
God himself laid hold upon and made ours is more nor removing a temporal Calamitv It is an eternal weight to weigh down all Crosses and Disapointments For what can present things be Is there not in the favour of his countenance that which may drown them in Oblivion Are ye like to sink here Is not God a sure Anchor to hold by And if you do not this your trouble is nothing in respect of the danger of your Soul Secure and loose lying out of God not putting this matter to a full poynt is worse nor all your outward fading Therefore we exhort you in the Lords Name to fly in to this Name of the Lord as a strong tower to run to and be safe When the Lord seemeth now to be angry with us run not away from him though he should yet cloath himself with vengeance as a Garment But First O ye poor people who have never asked this Question whether have I any Interest in Jesus Ask it now and resolve it in time If trouble come on if scattering and desolation come on and our Land fade as a Leaf certainly the Lords anger will drive you away What will ye do in the time of his Indignation All of you put this to the tryal how matters stand between God and you And Secondly if ye find all wrong do not sink in discouragement All may be amended while it is seen wrong in time Nay God taketh away outward Accomodation to make you more serious in this And it is the very voice of Rods every one fly in to your hold every one make peace with me You may take hold and do it feckfully Thirdly You who have fled to Jesus take more hold of him you are called also to renew your Faith and begin again Make peace with God let your confidence be kept fast and thus shall ye be immoveable because he changeth not God will not go from you if ye believe hold him by Faith Christ could not do great things in Galilee because of their unbelief and so be departed from them As unbelief maketh an evil heart to depart from the God of all Life and Consolation So doth it make Goâ— depart from us But Faith casteth a knot upoâ— him to speak with reverence it fasteneth hiâ— by his own Word and Promise and he cannot go by it It is a violent hand laid oâ— God I will not let thee go till thou blesâ— me Fourthly Faith and Prayer or holding oâ— God by believing in him and much imploying him needeth much stirring up unto and awaking That stirreth up himself to take hold oâ— thee Security is the moth of both these and eateth out the life of Faith and Supplication It maketh Prayer so coldrife that it it cannoâ— prevail and Faith so weake that it cannot usâ— violence Fâ—â—st security apprehendeth no evil no need A secure condition is a dream that one is eating and yet his Soul is empty Looâ— how the people of Laish were quiet and secure apprehending no evil Destruction cometh then on as an armed man Always it is much necessity that administers fewel to a mans Faith and Supplication David Psal 30. 7. I saiâ— in my prosperity I shall not be moved Nay but many say in adversity and cry peace peace where no peace is Security pleadeth innocency and then believeth immunity I am innocent therefore shall his anger turn away Jer. 2. 35. Security applyeth not sin and so refuseth the curse of sin and wages of it And thus is a man in his own eyes a lord and then he will come no more to God Jer. 2. 31. It is almost impossible to awake men by general Judgments â—o apprehend personal danger and men never stirr out of their nest till it be on fire We can behold or hear of our neighbours spoyling and violence done to them but till the voice of a cry be heard in our own Streets and Fields no body will take the Judgement to themselves It is well said that which is spoken to all is spoken to none so what is done to all in generall is done to hone The voice of a general Rod speaketh not particularly and maketh not men apprehensive of sad things and thus men are not pressed unto prayer are not put out of themselves It is onely necessity that sapps the roots of it and makes it green Secondly Security is lazy and not active putteth not forth its hand to work and so dieth a beggar for onely the hand of the diligent maketh rich Laying hold on God is a duty that requireth much spirit in it Men do not grip things well in their slumbering There is no Duty that needeth so spiritual and lively Principles If a man do not put on such a peece of resolution and edge upon him he cannot come to the wrestling of Prayer and violence of Faith Although the exercise and acting of Grace dependeth more upon the Spirit of God his present Influence then upon the Soul of man yet this is the way the Lord communicateth his Influence by stirring up and exciting the Creature to its duty as if it could do it alone Grace is one thing and the stirring up of it is another thing For when we ly by and sleep over our time and go not about tâ— matter so seriously as it were life aâ— death it is but a weak hold we can takeâ— God According to the measure of a mâ— apprehending necessity and according the measure of his seriousness in these thinâ— so will the hand of Faith grip and lay hoâ— with more or lesse violence As a mâ— drowning will be put from sleeping aâ— when one is in extreem hazard all his strengâ— will unite together in one to do that whiâ— at any ordinary time it could not do so ougâ— it to be here A Christian assaulted wiâ— many temptations should unite his strengâ— and try the yondmost O but your whoâ— spirits would run together to the saving â— your self if ye were very apprehensive of necessity The exercise of Faith is a dead griâ— that cannot part with what it grippetâ— Therefore first we must say to you it is 〈◊〉 so easy a thing as you believe to lay hold â— God there must be stirring up to it Aâ— when the Lord speaketh of our stirring our selves certainly he meaneth this like wayeâ— that he must stirr us ere we stirr our selveâ— Secondly above all be afraid of a secure condition It is the enemy of Communioâ— with God and spiritual Life therefore look about you and apprehend more your necessity and then give no rest and quietness to your self till you have imployed and engaged him Be as men flying to lay hold on the refuge set before you Thirdly It must be a time of little accesse to God and little Faith when we are all secure and no body goeth about Religion as their work and business We allow our self in it Therefore we do exhort you first to purpose this as your end to aim at and
purpose by Gods Grace to take more hold of God There is little minding of Duty and that maketh little doing of it Once ingage your hearts to a love and desire of more of this come to a point of resolution I must know him more and trust more in him be more acquant with him And Secondly Put your self in the way of Duty It is God that only can stirr you up or apply your hearts to the using of violence to God But ye would be found in the outward means much and in these ways God will meet with you if you wait on him in them For thou hast bid thy face from us Here is the greatest plague a spiritual plague The last Verse was but the beginning of sorrows We all do fade c. But lo here the accomplishnent of Misery God hiding his face and consuming them in the hand of their sins First The Lords hiding of his Face and giving up a people to melt away in their sins punishing with judicial blindness and security is the worst Judgment it filleth the Cup full This complaint goeth on still worse And certainly it is worse nor their fading as a leaf and exile out of their Land It is not without reason that great troubles and afflictions are so expressed thou hid thy face As David said thou hidst thy face and I was troubled importing as much as it â— not trouble that doth trouble but Gods hideing of his Face that maketh trouble troublâ— It is in so far trouble as it is a sign of his displeasure and as the frowns of his Countenance are upon it Therefore the Sainâ— aggravating their Affliction say thou hideâ— thy face You know the face is the placâ— wherinto either kindness or unkindness appeareth The Lords Countenance or Face is a refreshful sweet manifestation of himself to a Soul It is the Lord using familiarity with a spirit and this made David more glad nor Corn and Wine Now the hideing of the Face the withdrawing of his Countenance is when the Lord in his Dispensation and dealing doth withhold the manifestation of himself either in life or consolation When he covereth himself with Clouds round about that neither can a soul see in to the backside of it into his own warm heart nor can the Sun-beames shine thorow to quicken and refresh the soul The Lord draweth over his Face a Vail of a crossing dispensation or such like There is a desertion of the soul in the point of life and spiritual action and there is a desertion in regard of consolation The varieties of the Lords desertions run upon these two As a Christians life is action or consolation and the Lords influence is either quickening or comforting so his withdrawing is either a prejudice to the one or the other Sometimes he goeth mourning all the day nay but he is sick of love Sometime he is a bottle dryed in the smoak and his moisture dried up The Christians consolation may be substracted and his life abide but he cannot have spiritual consolation if he be not lively This life is more substantial comfort is more refreshful life is more solid comfort sweet that is true growing â—olid meat â—his but sawce to eat it with The hiding here meant is certainly a spiritual punishment The Lord denying unto this people grace to understand the voice of the rod he appearing as a party against them leaving them to their own carnal and lazie temper and thus they lay still under Gods displeasure Now there is nothing like this first because it is a spiritual punishment and estates are not to be valued and laid in the ballance with the soul Albeit men are become so brutish as to abase their souls and prostitute them to any thing yet all a man hath is not considerable to it Secondly It is a more excellent thing is removed by it In his favour is life all felicity and happiness is in Gods countenance If a man have not this what hath he else Losses are according as the thing is Nay but here is more My Lord is taken from me my God hath forgotten me And indeed if mans true happiness be in communion with God certainly any interruption coming in must be sad and make a man more miserable then the world knoweth There is a greater emphasis in that word Thou hast bid thy face then if he had said All the world hideth their face and maketh a scorn oâ— us Therefore first know what is the worsâ— thing of the times Many of you think sword and pestilence and the burdens of the time the worst things and if you were now to complain the saddest complaint would be Affliction is laid on our loins But know this if your Cities were desolate if your Land were made a wilderness and we captives in another Land there is yet a worse thing then all these and think you not this strange Nay I say there is something worse already in us that we know not of and it is this Make the hearts of this people hard A spirit of slumber and deadness from the Lord upon the Land There are multitudes he will never shew his face unto it is still vailed from them and they know him not Ye that think all were well if ye had peace and prosperity and know no hiding of Gods countenance no anger but when he striketh certainly you know not what his countenance is by all these things men neither know love nor hatred Secondly Whatever calamity come upon you outwardly deprecat most spiritual plagues and Gods deserting If you have Gods countenance it may make you glad in much sadness You would be most careful lest any partition-wall come in lest his countenance change on you if you grieve his spirit and break his heart Seek to have his face to shine and this shall be a Sun with healing under his wings O but Christs countenance is comely when it is seen without clouds but ofteâ— it is overclouded with much provocation Secondly The Lords hiding of his face hath influence on the temper of spirits and disposition in duties The truth is in general In him we live and move and â—ave our beeing And more especially in many things that is spiritual we are of our selves able to do nothing The creatures holiness and especially our life is but as the rayes that the Sun of Righteousness sendeth forth round about him and if any thing come between it evanisheth As the Marigold that openeth itâ— leaves when the Sun riseth and closeth when it goeth down again so exactly doth our spiritual constitution follow the motions of his countenance and depend wholly on them Thou hides thy face and they are troubled Psal 104. 9. The Lord needeth no more but discountenance us and we are gone Alwayes first be more dependent creatures we use to act as from habits within without any subordination to the Lords grace without us but we find that our sufficiency is not of our self How often doth your spiritual condition change on you in an hour You cannot command one thought of God or act from any habit of grace even then when you can bring forth other gifts in exercise Ye find that grace findeth more difficulties moe interruptions therefore learn to attend the changes and motions of his countenance Secondly When you find your heart dead and you concluded under an impossibility of taking hold on God in a lively manner then I pray you look unto the Lords suspending of his influence and let your whole endeavours be at the Throne of Grace to help it It will not be vour own provoking of your self to your duty but you must put your self upon God that he may cause his face to shine Thirdly Though the Lords hiding his face be often a cause of our deadness and his desertion maketh all to wither yet we have often a culpable hand in it And he hides his â—â—ce being provoked so to do One thing we may mention Grieving of the Holy Ghost whereby we are sealed quenching the motions of the Spirit maketh the Spirit cover his face with a vail and hide it There is here ordinarily a reciprocal or mutual influence Our grieving him makes him withdraw his countenance and his withdrawing his countenance maketh us to wither and grow barren Fourthly The most sure and infallible token of the Lords hiding his face is security and a spirit of deadness and laziness when folk go about duties dreaming and do all as it were thorow their sleep Therefore we may conclude sad things on this Land that the Lord hideth his face from us And therefore arise and do not settle and quiet your selves in such a condition The Lord is angry needeth any more be said No more needeth to kind children but the rod must follow this to make anger sensible FINIS