worthy of this advancement it is the use that the Apostle makes Walke worthie of the calling whereunto the Lord hath called you are ye the members of Christ why then behave your selves as the members of Christ are you joyned thou neerly to Christ then carrie your selves as beseemes you let the dog returne to his vomit and the sow to the wallowing in the mire but let the Saints that are knit unto a Saviour walke worthy of that mercie and union and prerogative that God hath vouchsafed unto them it is a shame to see that servants of Christs family and the plants of his vineyard doe walke after the conversation of the world what manner of persons ought wee to bee in all manner of holinesse of conversation we are knit unto Christ and therefore ought to be holy as he is holy pure as he is pure wee ought to doe nothing but that which may beseeme and content a Saviour but ye will say the world will hold up their hands at us and their mouths will bee open against us why God hates the world and ye are redeemed from the world yee are called out of the world therefore live not as if ye were in the world but as God hath called you to live with himselfe in heaven your conversation should be such as if yee were in heaven I would not have a Saint of God tamper with the least distemper or be addicted to any base course but walke exactly before the Lord. Thus wee see a faithfull soule is knit unto Christ now that which followes is this it is so knit that it is made one Spirit The point we named before it is this Doct. 2 The faithfull injoy such a union with our Saviour that they are one Spirit with him The point is difficult and the mysterie great and beyond the reach and roome of that little light I injoy onely wee shall bee desirous with sobrietie and modestie to communicate what shall be most sutable to the minde of God not being unwilling but desirous to heare any advice from another concerning the same the doctrine then is a beleever is so knit to Christ that he becomes one Spirit for the opening whereof because it is a deepe mysterie suffer mee to deale plainly and punctually and that I may expresse my thoughts and communicate what I conceive suffer mee to discover two particulars First the manner how the soule comes to be one Spirit with Christ Secondly the order thereof These two we will labour to cleare so farre as we are able First for the former the manner how the soule◠com 〈…〉 be one Spirit with Christ it is an undeniable principle and confessed by Divines on all parts that the soule comes to be one Spirit by the power of the Spirit on Gods part and by the power of faith on the beleevers part they confesse that the Spirit of God workes upon a beleever and the beleever goes out againe to God by faith but wee have now onely the termes in the generall if we come to the particular examining of these and aske a weake soule how the soule comes to be one Spirt by the Spirit on Gods part and by faith on our part wee are as far to seeke as wee were before and most of the congregation can understand little of it This is our misery we content our selves with termes in the generall and never cracke the shell that wee may see the kernell wee never dive into the truth that wee may see the intent of the Spirit therein therefore for the opening of the point viz. the manner how the soule coms so to be knit to Christ as to be made one Spirit not denying any thing of the former truth but holding thereto wee will open it so far as our light serves us Quest If the question then be how the soule by the spirit on Gods part and faith on the soules part comes to be one spirit Answ That which I intend to speake I will cast into three particulars or three conclusions Conclus 1 The first conclusion is this know that the spirit of God the holy Ghost the third Person in the glorious Trinitie he doth really and inseparably accompany the whole word that is the generall but he doth more specially accompany the pretious promises of the Gospell the Spirit of the Lord is in these in a more speciall manner though he be a God every where in regard of his providence yet hee is in a more speciall manner going with and accompanying of his Word and in a more speciall and particular fort hee is in the promises the soule comes to bee one with Christ and to bee knit unto him principally by the promise the law prepares the soule and the promise that calls the soule and knits it unto Christ God hath appointed his Word and specially the promise for the converting of a sinner and therefore the Spirit of God goes therewith and workes thereby and gives a blessing thereunto according as hee in his wisedome thinkes fit for he is a voluntary agent and therefore may use the word as he will and when hee will the Spirit doth alwayes worke in the word but not alwayes after the same manner You make nothing of the Gospell and of the Scripture I tell you the Spirit of the Lord God blessed for ever is there after an extraordinary manner and hardens the hearts of the reprobates and humbles and converts and comforts the soules of his servants and when not when I will or you will but when the Spirit of the Lord will This is that I take to be the best expression of it looke as it was with the brasen Serpent set up in the wildernesse there was an healing vertue inseperably accompanying of that brazen Serpent and it was as possible that hardnes should be separated from the brasse as his healing vertue for whosoever lookt upon it healing vertue did undoubtedly and inseparably goe with it because God had appointed this therefore hee did blesse this and undoubtedly worke by this Just so it is with the good Word of the Lord the Spirit of the Lord though he be God every where yet hee doth blesse this Word especially and goes with it and hath appointed it for the salvation of his servants therefore when the sound comes to the eare and the sense to the minde the Spirit goes with the Word when thou hearest it either to convert thee or to confound thee therefore the text saith ye stiffe necked and hard hearted ye have resisted the Spirit of the Lord they would have pluckt Christ out of Heaven and the Spirit and all Now that this is a case undeniable I prove it thus that word which is able to discover the thoughts of the heart and to raise the dead to life and can comfort a distressed soule and perswade the soule of Gods everlasting favour that word must needs have a supernaturall power goe with it for no created power can doe the former things
the Word tels the deepe things of God the Word saith I am sanctified therefore I am justified therefore called therefore elected the Word reveals these deepe things of God therefore the spirit must needs goe inseparably with it this is an undoubted conclusion Conclus 2 The second is this and I take it to bee somewhat difficult the Spirit of grace the holy Ghost the third Person in Trinitie working with and accompanying of the promise of grace and salvation it doth therein and thereby leave a supernaturall dint and power and a spirituall and overpowring vertue upon the soule and thereby carries it and brings it unto Christ and there lieth a great weight and observe it The principall and efficient cause in the worke of the soule to bring it to beleeving it is not so much any thing in the soule as a spirituall assisting and moving and working upon the soule by vertue of which working and motion it is moved and carried to the Lord Iesus Christ as thus the spirit let in a power to stirre hope and it is stirred and moved it lets in a power to quicken desire and it goes it lets in a power to kindle love and it flames it lets in a power to perswade the will and it takes and chuses the Spirit moves upon these faculties and by vertue thereof they are moved and carried to the Lord therefore I conceive the maine principall cause of faith is rather an assisting power working upon than any inward principall put into the soule to worke of it selfe but the worke is upon the soule the soule by that power and assistance is conveyed and carried home to Christ observe it I will expresse it in severall passages because here lies the difficulty of the point Then know that the Spirit of God doth in the first stroke of faith as the Spirit of God did upon the waters Gen. 1.2 the text saith there 〈◊〉 confused lumpe and the Spirit moved upon the 〈◊〉 and set upon that confused lumpe fasâ—â—◠〈…〉 the creature out thereof so it is with the Siprit and when I speake of the Spirit I intend the promise too the Spirit in the promise meeting with an humbled soule now abased and staggering and quarrelling with himselfe he is in a confused estate hee knowes not what to make of himselfe nor of his confused condition now the good Spirit of the Lord moves upon the soule and leaves a spirituall dint and supernaturall work upon it and the soule by vertue thereof is carried and fitted and fashioned to goe to Christ this I take to bee the meaning of that place Acts 26 18. Saint Paul was sent to turne men from darknesse to light Now it is a confession amongst all Protestant Divines that the first stroke of the Spirit is upon the soule there is nothing in the soule that can drive sinne from the soule and plucke the soule from sinne but the Spirit works this and the soule takes this blow and by vertue of that Spirit the soule is pulled from corruption and turned from sinne this is a confessed truth that the first stroke in conversion is not from any thing within the soule but it is from the Spirit nay the same stroke doth two things it turnes from darknesse to light the same hand and the same stroke doth both these as for example when you teare one thing from another as you reare it from the other you pull it to your selfe he that puls a bough from a tree as he pulls it from the tree hee pluckes it to himselfe so the same Spirit that workes upon the soule in calling it from sinne it doth worke upon the soule in drawing it to Christ it pulls off hope from the world and makes it expect a Christ it pulls off desire from the world and makes it long for Christ it pulls off love from the world and makes it entertaine a Christ it pulls off the will from the world and makes it chuse a Christ so that one stroke doth both and it is plaine therefore the worke of the Spirit upon the soule must bring it unto Christ The like phrase wee have Iohn 15.19 I have called you out of the world therefore the world hates you so that it is there the same voyce the same spirit that calls a man from sin as that is not the way thou poore sinner the way of pride and idlenesse c. that is not the way to Heaven Now that call as it pulls the soule from sinne so that motion and moving and supernaturall worke that it leaves upon the soule the soule thereby being moved and drawne it is comming to the Lord the soule hath not so much the worke of the Spirit of grane in him as the work of the spirit of grace working upon him to draw him from evill and to turne him to the Lord and by vertue of the same worke hee is drawne from the one and brought to the other this I conceive to be the great difference between the union that Adam had with God and that which the faithfull have Adam had a stocke in his owne hand God made him wise and holy and righteous this was his stocke he had a principle within himselfe either to hang upon God and so to bee sustained or to slide and withdraw himselfe from God he had power either to hold or to let goe he had the staffe in his owne hand he might turne unto God and close with the command if he would or he might depart from God and withdraw himselfe from the assistance which hee lent him as he did but now here is a maine difference in the bringing of the heart home to Christ in this union because the first stroke that drawes the soule and brings the soule to Christ is not from any thing within so much as from the spirit without the hand of Christ it layes hold upon the heart and workes upon the heart and brings him home to himselfe this first stroke is from without wee doe beleeve being framed thereunto and drawne by the Spirit of the Father the everlasting arme of the Lord that appeares in the Gospell hee lets it downe and workes upon the soule and brings the heart to himselfe and so the heart is brought to Christ not from any Principle first in it selfe but by the Spirit that workes upon it when the Word of God comes to the soule the Spirit of God accompanies that Word and puls the earthly minde from earthlinesse and the uncleane heart from his lusts and saith Come out thou poore soule this is the way to a Christ that will pardon thee this is the way to a Christ that will purge thee so that my soule moves but it is because it is moved my will closeth but it is because it is perswaded so that the first stroke of this union is not from my selfe but it comes from Christ the hand of the Spirit layes hold on me and drawes me to him hence in the third place
the union drawes somewhat neerer so that wee see first there is a holy Ghost in the promise and secondly wee see that the Holy Ghost leaves a supernaturall worke upon the soule and brings it home to Christ Conclus 3 The third conclusion is this the Spirit of grace in the promise working thus upon the heart it causeth the heart to close with it selfe in the promise the Spirit of God by the promise so works upon the soule that it makes the soule close with the promise and with it selfe in the promise and this is to be one Spirit and this I take to bee the meaning of that place Philippians 3.12 Paul saith that he was apprehended of Christ as if he should say I was not so much apprehending as apprehended not so much that he did it but Christ in him and upon him and by him for I told you the worke of the Lord in the worke of conversion is upon us by us to bring us to himselfe The Spirit of the Lord is in heaven and it is in the promise and that Spirit in the promise comes to the soule of a beleever and leaves a spirituall worke upon the soule of a beleever and the soule is moved by vertue of that Spirit to close with that promise and with that Spirit that is in the promise I would expresse my selfe by these two comparisons looke as it is with the moone the naturall Philosopher observes that the ebbing and flowing of the sea is by vertue of the moone she flings her beames into the sea and not being able to exhale as the sunne doth shee leaves them there and goes away and that drawes them and when they grow wet they returne backe againe now the sea ebs and flowes not from any principle in it selfe but by vertue of the moone being moved it goes being drawne it comes the moone casting her beames upon the waters it moves the sea and so drawes it selfe unto it selfe and the sea with it so the heart of a poore creature is like the water unable to move towards heaven but the Spirit of the Lord doth bring in its beames and leaves a supernaturall vertue by them upon the soule and thereby drawes it to it selfe or looke as it is with a claspe and a keeper take a great claspe put it thorow the keeper and being brought thorow it closeth with it selfe so it is with an humble broken heart it is like this keeper the good Spirit of the Lord is like this claspe the Spirit workes upon the soule and leaves a supernaturall vertue upon the soule and goeth with that vertue and puls the soule by the power of it selfe and knits it to its selfe it workes upon the heart in this manner and clasps the humbled sinner and brings him home and holds him to the promise and to it selfe in the promise Now I would contract these three conclusions in the former sermons into three questions to make them so familiar that weake ones which have any spirituall grace may be able to come to aprehend and understand them Quest 1 I aske therefore what is there in the promise of the Gospell or what is there in the Word of God is there nothing but letters and sillables and sentences Answ I answer Yes humane Authours have words and sentences but oh the glorious God the third person of the Trinitie the blessed Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ is inseparably present with and accompanying of the promises of God the words are but the shell but the substance is the Spirit of grace how were your hearts comforted in the time of trouble and how were your hearts broken and brought out from your lusts Oh it was the Spirit for man was never able to doe it but Lord thy almighty hand came downe from heaven and broke this heart of mine and if Christ that Lion of the tribe of Judah had not come downe from heaven this lion-like heart of mine would never have yeelded nor come downe this is the answer to the first question Quest 2 What doth the beleever doe aske your owne hearts doe your hearts close and meet with the good Word of the Lord and doe you say Oh it is the good Word of the Lord my heart consented to it and closed with it thus Answ Oh yes saith the soule me thought I was even knit to the Word then I aske againe was thy heart knit to the Word onely and the sillable only and did thy heart close with the sentences only the soule answers No the truth is my eare did receive the sound and my minde the sense but my soule received the Lord Jesus Christ To as many as received him to them he gave power to become the sonnes of God 1 Iohn 12. the words are but only as the conduit to convey the water of life and the Spirit of grace but they lay hold upon Christ there and that it is so I prove it thus did not you finde your hearts comforted at such a time Oh yes saith the soule me thinks I see the Ministers face still and when he came to such a point and such a passage good Lord mee thought I was in heaven could words and reasons and sentences have done it No surely the Spirit of grace was there and my heart did close with the same the stomack receives not meat as the dish or vessell doth but the stomack doth receive it and is fastned to it and hath the sweetnesse of it and is made one with it Iohn 6.63 The words that I speake they are Spirit and life and this is the excellencie of the Word when all the learned Doctors and Schoolemasters shall have the tongues but shall never humble one soule nor purge nor convert one heart yet the Word and the Spirit in it will doe that which is usefull and helpfull for thee in this kinde the Words that I speake they are Spirit and they are life saith our Saviour so then you see you that are ignorant and weake you say to your selfe how shall I come to be knit to the Lord Jesus Christ seeing hee is in heaven and I am on earth Oh but quiet thy selfe in this he is in a most speciall manner in the preaching of the Word and if thou cleavest to the Word aright then thou cleavest to the Spirit of Christ Quest 3 In the third place I aske how doth the Spirit of man come to close and to be one with the Spirit of Christ in the promise Answ I answer are your owne hearts able to doe this or is nature or your wits or parts able to doe this for you No the good Spirit of the Lord wrought upon and fitted and framed the hearâ— hereunto and put this temper upon it as the workman gives a temper to the knife and another makes iron draw iron and he doth it thus he drawes the magnet or load-stone over the iron and the vertue thereof makes it able to draw iron to it selfe so the soule saith
onely because of mercies bonds and engagements which the beleever hath received but because a man is come so neere to Christ and now to commit sinne and vex him it must needs bee a marvellous provocation to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his good Spirit he that should entertaine a friend into his family or the King into his house or a woman to entertaine a loving husband in matrimony with her all base dealing by any of these a man can hardly brooke it It was one of my own subjects saith the King it was my wife saith the husband and it was my friend as David saith that did eat at my table but now to entertaine a profest enemy or a traytor into the bed-chamber with the King and to lodge them both in one bed this were abominable and so the wife not onely to entertaine a whoremonger into the house but also to lodge him in the same bed this were not to be endured Oh how his blood would rise against it as the King said of Haman Hester 7.8 What will hee force the Queene before my face Now therefore brethren goe home to your owne soules and behaviours in particular dost thou through Gods grace and mercy receive this favour at the hands of God that thou art become one Spirit with the Lord Jesus Christ and wilt thou then receive a company of base lusts and that in the very face and sight of the Lord Iesus Christ and lodge an uncleane spirit with the cleane Spirit of the Lord the holy God cannot endure this nay he will not beare it at the hands of those that belong to the election of grace 1 Sam. 2.17 The sonnes of Ely were great sinners before the Lord saith the text and why because they waited upon the Lord to doe the worke of the Sanctuarie for where the ordinances of the Lord are there is God himselfe therefore Cain in the apprehension hereof said I am cast out from the presence of the Lord that is from the powerfull beautie of the Lord in his ordinances Now because they were the Priests and Leaders and they were greater sinners they would out-brave the Lord with their sinnes and commit them in the sight of God therefore their sin was the greater as in Ezechiel 8.3 The Lord brought the Prophet to behold the abominations of the Elders of Israel he brought him into a secret place and shewed him the image of jealousie which provoked to jealousie they did it in the sight of the Sun to provoke him to anger therefore it is called the image of jealousie as if he had said Let your idols goe to the land of Vrre but will you dare to set up idols in the sight of God to provoke him to jealousie I beseech you apply this to your selves are not wee Priests and the very Spouse of Christ and not onely the outward Sanctuary but the Temple of the Lord it selfe is with us as the Apostle saith Ye are the temples of the living God Now wilt thou set up an idol lust and an idolatrous selfe seeking heart and set it up by the Lord Iesus Christ â— this is a horrible crying sin and it provokes the Lord marvellous fiercely it was the collection which the Apostle made a little before the text in 1 Cor. â— where he saith speaking concerning adultery and fornication he comes with a glrâ— and a gall to the hearts of beleevers saying What shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid that 's carefull Doe you not know that he which coupleth himselfe to an harlot is one body shall I doe thus no the Lord forbid I am neere to Christ let the members of Satan bee made the members of a harlot if they will but you that are the members of Christ will you doe so Consider it wilt thou take the head of Christ and contrive wickednesse with it and wilt thou take the heart of Christ and make it a cage of uncleane lusts and wilt thou take the tongue of Christ and make it speake wickedly and wilt thou take the foot of Christ and make it run to all wickednesse what a fearfull thing is this shall the uncleane spirit be put to the cleane spirit shall the motions of the Devill be here and the motions of the good Spirit of the Lord too the Lord in mercy keepe you off from this Ephes 4.29 Let no filthy communication come out of your mouth why what if there doe If there were no greater sinnes than these I hope I should doe well enough What saith the Apostle A Christian and a lier a Christian and a swearer a Christian and a base vile wretch Oh grieve not the good Spirit of God why because by it yee are sealed up unto the day of redemption the good Spirit of the Lord hath sealed you up unto redemption and knit you unto him and will you rend your selves from him and grieve him if you were not sealed up and if you had none of the Spirit of Christ it were no great matter but now Oh grieve not the holy Spirit if you doe you have no salvation by it away to hell if you will grieve the good Spirit of the Lord if the Lord doe bestow his Spirit upon thee wilt thou then grieve his good Spirit how canst thou or how darest thou doe thus and dishonour the Name of God looke that place Matthew 12.44 When the uncleane spirit returnes againe to his rest hee findeth it empty swept and garnished then hee taketh to himselfe seven other spirits worse than himselfe and they enter in and dwell there the end of that man is worse than the beginning It is well observed by one that pride and idlenesse sweeps the house for the devill a proud heart which stayes it selfe up upon its owne abilities and so growes idle and lazie and secure if it be a Minister or Magistrate this makes cleane worke for the Devill you cannot doe this but you will grieve the good Spirit of the Lord Now looke to this when a man stayes himselfe upon his parts and gifts he doth little good you sweep the house for the Devill whereas a watchfull painfull heart doth wonderfully please God it is a good and a pure meeke and holy Spirit which God accepts of therefore be thou so too now you that are Christians doe not goe away and thinke that you have warrant to be idle and carelesse take heed of such cursed distempers of heart if thou art a Christian thou darest not doe or say as others dare for the sinne of a Christian is abominable in the eyes of God because he is so neerly united to his blessed Spirit this is the first use of the point Vse 2 Againe in the second place here is a word of examination and triall here a man may see of what spirit the most men of the world are You know not of what Spirit you are saith Christ looke how the soule closeth with
and receives those that are most exact in a Christian course if thy heart be estranged from such as doe walke exactly before God either because he hath given them parts and gifts or because he hath made them humble and faithfull if the Spirit of the Lord be in the Saints then the Spirit of malice and of the Devill is in thee Gods Spirit closeth with all the faithfull ones but thy Spirit cannot close with them when they are made one Spirit with Christ wilt thou be of two Spirits with them then either Christ is to bee blamed or else thou art to be condemned for this basenesse of thine either Christ knowes not how to chuse a good Spirit or else thou art a base vilde spirit this is the great sinne of this last age of the world men are lovers of themselves and not lovers of God nor his grace nor Spirit it is admirable to see how every one that is wicked findes favours in the world but only those that are holy and gracious and one spirit with Christ a drunkard is no mans enemie but his owne and with adulterers you can make matches and if they were murtherers or theeves wee have a kinde of lamentation for them but when it comes to a sincere soule their hearts rise up against him with a desperate spleene and they say these are the holy brethren why what are they Oh saith the Father he is quite spoild I had a sonne which I had some hopes of but now he is gone downe the winde and he will never be good for any thing and then saith the drunkard hee was as good a companion as ever lived and had â—s brave jests to make us merrie withall but now he is quite spoild then thy meaning is that when hee had an uncleane spirit thou didst love him but now because he is come to have a neere union with the Lord Jesus Christ therefore thou art estranged from him then cursed be thy wrath for it is fierce and thy rage for it is cruell if the Spirit of God be holy and good to which hee is united then thou art a vilde unholy wretch I hope now you may know what will become of such and such in the townes and places where you live such I meane as are holy and gracious and yet are hated and despised even those poore creatures are glued to the Lord Christ nay they are holy spirited men which the Spirit of God delights in therefore thy spirit is of Sathan that thou doest thus malice him I confesse a godly heart will have his sits and excursions now and then like an unruly colt and may run wildly into sinne this may befall a godly gracious heart but all this while this is poison and the soule of a godly man sees this and is wearie of it and is marvellously burthened with it and saith Oh vilde wretch that I am what would I have and what is he that I cannot love him is it because the good Spirit of the Lord is there â— shall I resist the good Spirit of the Lord and so commit the sinne against the holy Ghost away thou vilde wretched heart I will love him thus the soule labours and strives for that exactnesse and would faine have that goodnesse which hee sees in other it is in this thing as it is in a mans meat he that hath an unwholesome stomack and seeth that the meat is good and knowne not but that he may eat it he will not blame the meat if hee be ill after it but his stomack but there are some that love to bee cating lome wals and such trash as is naught for them for the stomack is vilde within and would have as bad as himselfe so out of the pride of nature and self-confidence these distempers will bee rising in us but a gracious soule is even sick at the heart and weary of his life and he is never well untill he hath gotten a purge but he that hath the disease and is sick of hatred and malice looke how his heart is so is his tongue and as his heart is so is his carriage Oh poore wretched creature what God may doe for him I know not but for the present he hath the spirit of the Devill in him he is no man but a toad that can live of poison and make a meale of it and yet his heart never be affected with it Vse 3 In the third place is man a sociable creature and must he have some to keepe company with him then in the next place be exhorted to close with such as Christ himselfe doth close withall chuse such companions as the good Spirit of the Lord doth meet withall doest thou see a gracious sincere hearted Christian that is one spirit with the Lord love him and let thy heart be one Spirit with him too and not only the rich but the poore too it is that which we have in nature every man desires to have one that is of a faire nature and a loving disposition he is a â—â— man to make a friend of and these things are not discommendable it is strange to see when God hath cut the 〈◊〉 of these wolves how taâ—â— and quiet they are but would you have a man of a good nature indeed for as one saith hee that hath no more than restraining grace is no more than a tame Devill but would you have a friend of a good nature indeed for this is the maine of all then chuse such as are one with Christ and remember that place in 2 Peter 1.4 Wee are partakers of the divine nature he that is one Spirit with Christ he is partaker of the divine nature even the nature of God himselfe the Spirit of God and the Spirit of meeknesse and self-deniall is in him therefore let thy heart be inlarged towards him and joyne thou side with him which is joyned so neerely to the Lord it was the old practice of those in Zach. 8.22 when God shall honour the Jewes and make them glorious in sanctification and holinesse and they shall goe to market and buy and doe all things holily then shall ten men take hold of the skirt of him that is a Iew and shall say We will goe with you for wee have heard that God is with you would you not goe with the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ Yes Oh then get you to the Saints of God and get them to your houses and lay hold upon gracious Christians and say I will live and converse with you for the Spirit of Christ is with you THE SOVLES BENEFIT FROM VNION WITH CHRIST By T. H. LONDON Printed by Iohn Haviland for Andrew Crooke and are to be sold at the Black Beare in S. Pauls Church-yard 1638. THE SOVLES BENEFIT from Vnion with CHRIST 1 CORIN 1.30 But of him are yee in Christ Jesus who is made unto us wisdome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption HOw the soule of a sinner should be prepared for our Saviour and
looke up to God from whence it comes looke to those mountaines of mercy that will succour you look up to a Lord Jesus that will supply all your wants that will furnish you with all grace looke onely to him for all for he onely is the Author and giver of all looke as I have observed it there is a foolish conceit that hath beene bred by some curious nice brains that they have perswaded themselves they can make the Philosophers stone the nature of which is to turne all metall into gold which is utterly impossible for the Mines of gold are in the earth and God continueth them by an ordinary course of his providence but all the men upon earth can never make gold by any Art or means in the world To turne the nature of one metall into the nature of another it is a kinde of creation therefore beyond the reach of any man to doe it they may trie and trie and spend their heart blood and all but it is all but lost labour So it is with our foolish blinde deluded hearts and distracted spirits we thinke to make gold and to coine grace out of our owne powers and parts and abilities I tell you you can never doe it while the world stands no no you doe but lose your labour goe to the Mine of gold the Mine of grace goe to the God of all mercy away to the Lord Jesus Christ I say he is made unto us wisedome and hee will informe us hee is made unto us righteousnesse and hee will acquit us hee is made unto us grace goe to him therefore and hee will communicate all grace unto our soules Looke as Iacob said to his sonnes when the famine was sore in the Land of Canaan hee sent his sonnes into Egypt to buy corne that they and their little ones might not famish and marke how hee calls upon them Why stand you here gazing one upon another I doubt not but then they were laying their heads together and plotting and conferring saying the famine is great and the times dangerous and wee are miserable now but oh what will become of us afterwards if these times last now the Lord help us now the Lord bee mercifull to us and deliver us what meanes shall wee use what course were wee best to take In the mean time Iacob calls upon them Why stand you here gazing one upon another away get you downe to Egypt presently and buy us food you will never get provision to sustaine us by plotting and talking one with another you will never get any come to sustaine you by looking and gazing one upon another no no downe to Egypt with all speed there corne is to be had that we and those that belong unto us may live and not die so it is with the soules of Gods children the poore distressed heart partly through the Devils cunning and subtiltie partly also through our owne ignorance and folly wee stand gazing at our corruptions and it begin to thinke and wonder what will become of us no means prevaile no mercies melt no judgements humble no reproofs awe us the famine growes strong my corruptions fierce and my case heavie that I know not almost what course to take why stand you thus gazing after this fashion what doe you thinke to get grace upon these termes by discouragements and disquieting your selves and vexing your owne hearts thus No no away to Egypt to the promise of life to the Lord Iesus for help and assistance and then you shall have mercy and grace abundantly bestowed upon you and that freely with your money in the mouth of your sacks againe you shall have grace that you need and sufficiently bestowed upon you Looke as it is with Eliah when he was to depart from Elisha and bee taken up into Heaven Elisha craves one thing of him and that was this 1 Kings 2.9 That the Spirit of Elias might he doubled upon Elisha now marke how Eliah answered Thou hast asked a hard thing saith hee neverthelesse if thou canst see mee when I am taken from thee it shall bee granted to thee Now some Interpreters have observed and that very wisely that it was not so much the sight of Elias as the sight of God taking up of Elias that should doe this as if hee had said wouldst thou have a double portion of Gods Spirit vouchsafed unto thee because many miseries are like to come in upon thee great and heavie troubles and sore persecution is approching what course then is to bee taken why see God taking up of Elias that God that tooke up Elias and that God that wrought grace in the heart of Elias see that God and be within the view of that God and thy request shall be granted to thee the collection is faire so I say here if thou wouldst have a double portion of grace doe not goe to prayer onely doe not goe to hearing onely doe not goe to the Sacraments onely and barely but oh see a Christ and looke upon a promise and then thou shalt have a double portion of wisedome to informe thee a double portion of sanctification to cleanse thee a double portion of grace and power and strength against thy corruptions from Christ conveyed and communicated to thy soule and this is the first rule The second rule is this as we must have an eye dayly upon the promise so wee must labour to yeeld the soule to the power of that Spirit and to the vertue of that Grace which is in Christ and would worke upon thee doe not onely eye a Saviour and behold grace in the promise but yeeld thy selfe and give way to the stroke of the promise and to the power of the spirit that by the power thereof thou maist bee inabled to doe what God requires 2 Cor. 3.18 The holy Apostle disputing there how men should bee transformed into the glorious Image of God or as the word is metamorphosed from one degree of glorious grace unto another more holy and more meeke and more patient and more heavenly minded Hee that was cold before should now become more zealous he that was faint hearted before should now become more couragious how is this done even as by the Spirit of the Lord saith the Text as if he had said it is not by your spirits that this must or can be done doe not thinke that you can master your owne corruptions or that you can pull downe the distempers of your owne hearts and get what grace you list no no it is not your spirits can doe this it must bee the Spirit of Christ as by the Spirit of the Lord so the Apostle The phrase of the Prophet David is sweet in his kinde Teach me the way unto thee thy Spirit is good as who should say O Lord my spirit is a naughtie spirit my spirit is a proud spirit my spirit is a prophane spirit my spirit is a weake spirit my spirit is an ignorant and a blind spirit but oh
thy Spirit is a good Spirit thy Spirit is a blessed Spirit by the vertue of that Spirit Lord teach me the way to thee and let it lead me into the land of uprightnesse We know a child that hath his hand to write if he will not be ruled by him that teacheth him but will take the pen into his owne hand and write after his owne scauching fashion he will never write well nor make a letter handsomly as he should do but let his hand write by the mans hand and that will guide him and that will teach him quickly to write well in a short time so wouldst thou have thy heart framed aright why then keep thy soule under the hand of the Spirit and thou shalt bee guided by the vertue of that Spirit of God and moved and inabled to accomplish the good pleasure of the Lord and receive what ever grace thou standest in need of I have observed it sometimes upon the Sea looke as it is with the mariner that is going downe the streame if the winde bee faire will any man pull downe his saile and set it up againe why no for he doth but trouble himselfe and turmoyle and wearieth himselfe and troubleth the boat too with keeping such a pudder and misseth the gale of winde and all therefore a wise mariner he will set up his saile and hold out his sail that it may take the gale of winde fully and so goe on speedily all that he hath to doe is to keep his sail spred and to catch the winde your only course is to set up the saile and attend the gale of the Spirit to comfort you attend the gale of the Spirit to assist you hold thy heart and spread to the Spirit that it may catch the gale of grace that it may blow upon thy soule and by the vertue and power thereof thou shalt bee transported comfortably and carried on cheerfully to walke in that way which God chalks out before thee as for examples sake Imagine thy heart begins to be pestered with vaine thoughts or with a proud haughtie spirit or some base lusts and privy haunts of heart how would you bee rid of these why you must not set up and pull downe and set up and pull downe quarrell and contend and bee discouraged no but eye the promise and hold fast thereupon and say Lord thou hast promised all grace unto thy servants why therefore take this heart and take this minde and take these affections and let thy Spirit frame them aright according to thine owne good will by that Spirit of wisedome Lord informe mee by that Spirit of sanctification Lord cleanse mee from all my corruptions by that Spirit of grace Lord quicken and enable me to the discharge of every holy service thus carry thy selfe and convey thy soule by the power of the Spirit of the Lord and thou shalt finde thy heart strengthned and succoured by the vertue thereof upon all occasions Rom. 8.26 the Text saith The Law of the Spirit of life hath freed mee from the law of sinne and death the meaning is this you must know that sinne is a tyrant now a tyrant when he wins a citie hee swears all to his lawes so sinne will swear thy soule to his lawes pride saith I will have thee proud I will have thy heart unchaste saith uncleannesse I will have thee intemperate saith drunkennesse now by the Law of the Spirit of life God will free us from the law of sinne the Spirit of Christ in the promise it takes away the power of the law of sinne the Law of the Spirit of meeknesse takes away the law of the spirit of pride the Law of the Spirit of puritie takes away the law of the spirit of uncleannesse the Law of the Spirit of holinesse takes away the law of the spirit of prophanenesse and so in all other distempers of this nature this onely shewes us how to run over all Gather up now and so conclude this passage Eye the promise daily yeeld thy soule to the Spirit of the Lord in the promise let that have his full sway resist not those good motions the holy Spirit puts into thee and that is the way to have all grace and help and assistance communicated unto thee and thus much may suffice to have beene spoken in the generall touching this conveiance of grace into the heart we come now to the scanning of the particulars This conveyance it is of two kindes both in the Text Christ conveyes his grace two wayes partly by imputing partly by imparting they are the termes of Divines and I know not how to expresse my selfe better but thus if you will partly by imputation partly by communication This is that I would have you to take notice of in the generall they are both reall but one is habituall both these both imputation and communication expresse a reall worke of God upon the soule but the last onely leaves a frame and a spirituall abilitie and qualitie in the soule the conveyance by imputation doth not it leaves a thing morall as we use to terme it These two imputation communication are both in the Text Christ is made righteousnesse or justice that is hee doth justifie a sinner by imputation and hee doth sanctifie and redeeme a sinner by communication hee conveyes and workes some Spirituall abilitie and leaves a Physicall change when the Apostle saith Christ is made Iustice that is hee doth justifie a sinner by imputation when hee saith Christ is made Sanctification and Redemption that is by way of communication hee delivers the soule from the pollution of sinne that is sanctification hee delivers the soule from the power and dominion of sinne that is redemption This communication it is a Spirituall habit or a spirituall power or a spirituall qualitie or abilitie take which you will left upon the soule We will begin with the former touching the imputation of Christs righteousnesse to a soule whereby the sinner comes to bee justified this is a point then which I take it none more necessary and yet none lesse understood none lesse studied none more mistaken than these two great workes of justification and sanctification I speake it by experience Christians aged and experienced yet here they faile in the very catecheticall points and it drives many of our best Divines to a stand we will open it a little this justification wee terme a conveyance of the merits of Christ by way of imputation but what is the meaning of this word by way of imputation Thus you must conceive it this is the main thing I would have you looke unto Imputation is this when that which another hath that which another doth is accounted mine is set upon my score as though I had it as though I had done it this is Imputation I have it not I doe it not another hath it another doth it and it is accounted mine and reckoned mine in course of justice Now in the point of communication
us and pronounceth us righteous by a legall course of proceeding as in these words That we might bee made the righteousnesse of God in him such a righteousnesse as God the Father will worke in us and will accept of us As when the wife is betrothed and married to a man all her old debts are laid upon her husband and the law meddles no more with her and secondly all his lands at least the third part of them are made over to her What shee hath in point of debt is put over to him so all our sinnes and debts of corruptions are laid upon Christ and all the rich fefments of grace and mercy in Christ are made over to a beleever and hence a beleever comes to be acquitted and justified before God From the first part of this description the point is this Doctrine Iustification is an act of God the Father upon the beleever It is an act that passeth from God the Father upon the beleever For the proofe of this point there are three verses in the same Chapter which make it good the 18 19 20. verses and so on to the end of the Text in the 18. verse hee saith All things are of God which hath reconciled us unto himselfe by Iesus Christ of God that is of God the Father and yet more plainly in the 19. verse God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himselfe not imputing their sinnes to them Now what is meant by God in these two verses the old rule of Divines is this that wheresoever you finde the Name of God put in opposition to Iesus Christ it must not be taken essentially but personally for the Father For it were almost an absurd thing to say that Christ were in Christ reconciling the world unto himselfe therefore the Apostle implies thus much God the Father was in Christ reconciling and God the Father by Christ reconciled the world unto himselfe and then in the 20. and 21. verses he saith Now then we are Ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you through us we pray you in Christs stead that yee be reconciled to God that is to God the Father for he hath made him sinne for us which knew no sinne and another proofe is in the 3. of Saint Iohn 14.15 and so to the end of the 18. verse it is an observation of wise Divines and good Interpreters when our Saviour comes to trade with Nichodemus about eternall life hee doth not onely content himselfe to speake of himselfe alone as he was Christ the Redeemer of the world but he sets him yet a little higher in the 14. verse hee saith As Moses lifted up the brasen Serpent in the wildernesse so must the Sonne of Man bee lifted up that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have eternall life A man would have thought that this had beene enough but hee stayes not here but he puts him one pin above all these and saith For God so loved the world that hee gave his onely begotten Sonne for it that whosoever beleeveth on him might not perish but have everlasting life as if hee had said there is not only a Christ prepared and sent but God the Father also loved the world here is the highest staire to stay up the heart so that the point is plaine and sure enough Now let us make it cleare and that I shall doe by answering two questions Quest. 1 First why it is called an act of God the Father Quest. 2 Secondly why an act of the Father upon the beleever Quest. 1 For the former why doth the description say it is an act of God the Father Answer I answer it is an act of the Father not excluding the Sonne or the worke of the holy Ghost which must both bee understood it is an act of God the Father upon the beleever but it is through Christ there are these two grounds or reasons why it is given to the Father Reason 1 First because the Father was the party that was properly offended the Father is the first person in the Trinitie and he was directly offended by Adams sinne it is true the Sonne and the holy Ghost were offended too as being friends with the Father and having a relation to the Father and a sweet fellowship with the Father but the sinne was directly against the Father and indirectly against the Son and the holy Ghost The groūd of the point is this it wronged that worke of Creation wherein the manner of the worke of the Father appeared in a speciall manner and the manner of the worke of the Son appeared in redemption and the manner of the worke of the holy Ghost appeared in sanctification so that God the Father was the first in the worke of the Creation the Sonne second in the worke of redemption the holy Ghost third in the worke of sanctification Now creation being the worke wherein the power of the Father did most shew it selfe Adam falling away from this did principally wrong the Father for his manner of worke appearing herein therefore Adam did herein goe directly crosse to God Excellent is that phrase 1 Iohn 2.1 Little children these things write I unto you that ye sinne not but some may say what if we doe sinne why saith hee we have an Advocate with the Father even Iesus Christ the Iust. Now no man saith wee have an Advocate with an advocate no for that were absurd for no advocate pleads to another advocate but he pleads to the partie offended for the partie which hath offended now in that the Apostle saith We have an Advocate with the Father even Iesus Christ It is plaine that God the Father was the Person directly offended the issue then is thus much The Father being the Creditor and the Person directly offended the Lord Iesus Christ became our Suretie and the creditor doth require the debt at the hands of our Suretie and acquits the debtor the creditor requires this but the acquittance comes mainly and properly from the Father because the debt was due to him so that God the Father is the Creditor the Sonne is the Suretie the poore sinner is the debtor the holy Spirit is the messenger that brings the acquittance from God the Father and saith loe the Father hath accepted of thee in his Sonne the Suretie hath paid the debt for thee and see here is the acquittance for thee so that though the holy Ghost doth bring the acquittance yet the Father must give it This is the first reason Reason 2 Secondly wee say that Iustification is an act of God the Father because the Father is the fountaine in the Deity as Divines use to say in all the workes that are done by the Deitie the Father is the first for as the Persons are in their being so they are in their working The Father in order workes before the Son and the holy Ghost the Sonne workes not before the Father hath wrought and the holy Ghost workes not before the Father
justified him Now the ground of this comfort lieth in three particulars or it affords a threefold consolation First because God the Father hath all things to doe with the soule of a beleever all the suits that are to bee made against a poore soule they come from God and if hee will cease the suit who can follow it if he will say hee is satisfied and well apaid then who can take any advantage against the soule Looke as it is with the Lord of a manour haply hee hath an ill neighbour lives under him and doth him much damage many wayes and the Noble man at last is resolved to follow the law against him therefore the poore man comes in and desires pardon of all that hee hath done amisse and promiseth never to doe the like and the Gentleman out of his noble disposition acquits him and forgives all now imagine some of the servants come in and raise clamours and complaints against him and all the servants of the family are against him well the poore man makes them this answer I have wronged none of you therefore if your Lord bee contented to acquit me I care not what you say I have not wronged you neither doe I feare you this is that which should chear up our hearts infinitely that God the Father is the Lord of the mannour even the Lord of the whole world and if there be any transgression done against thy neighbour whatsoever hee is the Lord of the manour it were no offence to steale but that he hath forbidden it and it were no offence to be disobedient to Parents but that hee hath said Honour thy father and mother c. The goods of thy neighbour are the Lords and the dammage that is done is against the Lord Now if God the Father doe mercifully acquit you and saith hee will pardon the breach of all his Commandements if God acquit us what need wee feare or care what the Devill sayes against us it may bee the Devill will come in and commence a suit against us and say what you be saved yes that 's a likely matter are you not guiltie of this and that well brethren we have done the Devill no wrong against thee onely have I sinned saith David it was against the commands of my good God and his holy Spirit it was against my Father and my Redeemer and they will pardon my sinne God saith I will forgive all that wrong done to me then let the Devill goe and shake his ears looke as it is with a creditor if he hath gotten the suretie in suit he will acquit the debtor and if the debtor be acquitted all the bailiffes in the world can doe him no hurt and hee saith I am out of your debt and danger so it is here God the Father is the Creditor wee have wronged God most infinitely wee owe unto God all that wee have but yet hee hath blotted out all our iniquities therefore if the Devill follow the suit it matters not The Lord saith I will remember his sinnes no more therefore the Devill can pursue him no further Secondly there can bee no court in the world can alter our justification if a man be righted in a lower court a higher court may call it over againe and overthrow it but this is admirable consolation doth God the Father acquit us in Heaven then let the Devill goe and appeale where he will A man never appeals from a higher court to a lower but from a lower court to a higher now all your sinnes are pardoned and you are acquitted in Heaven therefore goe your way comforted and let the Devill appeale where he will no man can reverse it The mercy of the Lord and his sentence endureth for ever you know it was Saint Pauls plea when hee saw that the Jewes were maliciously bent against him to have his life he said No man may deliver me unto them I appeale unto Cesar he saw hee should have hard dealing there if hee were committed to them therefore he appeals unto Cesar so we we have had our case tried in Heaven wee have Cesars judgement seat to goe unto the first person of the Trinitie is our Father the Creditor hath made it good unto us by the witnesse of the Spirit that our iniquities are pardoned and that he will heare no more of them therefore goe away for ever cheared and comforted Vse 2 Again in the second place we have here a word of direction Is God the Father the Judge of the Court then let me speak a word to all hūble broken hearted sinners when you have many Judges to sit upon you in your owne heart bee sure that you bee not judged by them but repaire unto God the Father and get his sentence upon them and whatsoever hee speakes submit unto it and bee contented to judge your selves and your estates answerable by it This is the great misery of many poore creatures that as many miseries as they have so many Judges they have sometimes their feare sits upon them and then they are damped sometimes their suspition sits upon them and then they are marvellously disquieted and sometimes hope sits upon them and then they are a little comforted Oh brethren and beloved in the Lord bee wise now for your soules and put your case to be tried onely by the Lord and not by every one Wee would count him a mad man that having a case of weight to bee tried should commit it to an enemy that hates him or else to an ignorant man that hath no skill at all in the businesse no wise man will doe it but hee appeales to the Judge of the court and lets him cast the cause just so it is here there are many of you some there are I am sure that have a sight of your sinnes and sometimes you thinke that God will certainly commence the suit against you what so many sinnes within mee and so many corruptions to follow mee and oppresse mee certainly my heart is naught are you so ignorant to commit your cause to bee judged by them your carnall reason is an enemie and your owne hearts are weake and not able to understand therefore go to a higher court and say with your selves I care not what the world saith and what carnall reason saith I passe not speake thou Lord a word of comfort to my soule and if his word bee for you then bee for ever comforted and quieted and looke onely to the judgement of the Lord and to none other it is in his hands onely to passe sentence and to condemne as hee seeth fit in his righteous judgement therefore stand to the sentence of him whose Word must stand and shall stand for ever as mount Zion If a plaintiffe have a case to be tried in the court of justice he cares not what the dispute of the lawyers be One man thinkes thus another thinkes thus another would be passing sentēce and saith thus it must be he cares not
the soule with his indignation his heart would sinke but that a little leane starved hope supports him and he sees than Gods will is not yet fully revealed but that he may be saved and he saith this conscience may bee quieted and this soule may be saved and these sins may bee pardoned now despaire is the quite contrary when the soule hath no good in expectation and that which cuts the heart strings of a mans consolation and plucke a mans comforts up by the roots as hee hath nothing for the present so all means and wayes of getting any good are cut off and then he casts off hope and never lookes to God more because he never lookes for mercy from God and then hope goes out and saith Oh when will it once be cannot these sinnes bee pardoned c And at last hee sees there is no way of getting any good and therefore hee never lookes for mercy more but expects hell and damnation and cries out I am damned I am damned This is despaire and this is the nature of it Secondly this despaire is not any part or essentiall property appertaining to the pains of the second death whether we looke at the withdrawing of the sweetnesse of Gods love or whether wee looke at the inflicting of the wrath of God upon the soule this is no part of them for besides that which Divines will observe namely that all punishments are passions and they suffer them but despaire is a worke of the creature and it issues from himselfe and the creature doth it and therefore it cannot properly bee a punishment nor any part of the second death but besides all this which they observe this desperation so opened it is so farre from being any part of the second death as that it is not a consequent which nextly followes from the second death but from the weaknesse and sinfulnesse of the creature Desperation is not any effect flowing immediatly from the wrath of God upon the creature but it proceeds and comes directly and immediatly from the weaknesse and sinfulnes of the creature Imagine that yee saw the Lord Iesus Christ comming in the clouds with thousand thousands of his holy Angels and the thrones were set up and all flesh appeared the sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left hand and the Lord Iesus Christ passeth the doome and the sentence against them saying Goe yee cursed into everlasting fire Now when a poore damned creature seeth that the sentence is gone and seeth the good wil of God pass'd upon him and the power of his wrath now to bee exprest to the full against him and he apprehends the will of God now fulfild never to be crost more and the decree of God is now exprest never to bee altered more and hee seeth the gates of hell now sealed upon him and that the Lord hath cast upon him the tombstone of his wrath and that he is buried under the power of the second death and now he seeth the time is gone and the justice of God can never bee satisfied more and this power of the Lords wrath can never be removed Oh the time was that I had the word and the power of into quicken me and to informe me and the Spirit of God to strive with me and then there was some hope but now the decree of God is maâ—e unrevokable and this wrath I shall never beare nor never remove There is now to word no praying no hearing no conference no mercy nor salvation to bee hoped for and so the soule lookes no more for any good because the Lord hath so peremptorily set downe his doâ—me thus the soule breaks under the wrath of God and is not able to satisfie and the wrath of God can never bee removed the fire will ever burne and the worme will ever gnaw and now the soule casts off all hope and this is the meaning of those phrases 2 Pet. 3.7 and in the 6. verse of the Epistle of Iude where speaking of the devils the text saith They are reserved in everlasting chains under darknes to the judgement of the great day the devill is hopelesse he hath no hope of good nor shall never receive any good but our Saviour Christ that was able by the power of his God-head to suffer this wrath of God and to satisfie justice and to support himselfe under this wrath and to come out from it he hath a certaine hope to please God the Father and to have everlasting blisse and happinesse with him there is hope with our Saviour because he can beare and satisfie and come from under this wrath Take a bason of water and cast it upon a few coales of fire and it will put them clean out but throw the same boson full upon a great fire and though it may damp it a little at first yet it cannot quench it but rather increaseth the flame and makes it burne the faster what 's the reason of this that it quenched the little fire and not the great fâ—re it was not firstly and nextly because of the coldnesse and crosnesse of the water to the fire for the same water was as cold upon the great fire and as crosseâ— the nature of the great fire but the little fire was rob weake of it selfe to beare the coldnesse of the water and therefore it was quenched but the great fire was able to beare the coldnesse of the water and therefore it was not quenched so it is here the wrath of God is like this water as David saith All thy waves and billowes have passed over me that is the waves of Gods indignation and the ocean sea of Gods wrath â—hen this fals upon a poore weake sinfull creature that cannot beare this but breakes under this wrath and cannot take off the vengeance of the Lord but sinkes under it this creature despaires of all helpe not because of the wrath of the Lord firstly but because of the weaknesse and the sinfulnesse of the creature that could not beare the wrath of the Lord and hence he despaires and the soule saith alas I am weake and a poore sinne creature and this wrath of the Lord is of an infinite vigour I shall never be able to beare it nor to get from under it therefore I despair and cast away all hope of helpe but the Lord Jesus Christ being perfect God and perfect man having a great flame of holy affections kindled in him by the spirit of the Father this did assist him hereby to beare the wrath of God in his soule and not onely was hee able to beare it but to overcome it and although hee were tossed up and downe in the sea of Gods wrath yet he was not drowned and though hee sipped of the poyson yet he was not poysoned therefore he bore the paines of the second death and overcame them and did not despaire he expected to receive good because he knew he should have good thus our Saviour Iohn 19.30 when