detestation He that mourns for one sin and can in the mean while hug another in his bosome and dally with it doth not mourn aright for any 6. Hath your sorrow lookt back to the sins of Youth Where God doth indeed give a spirit of mourning he will make a thorough work of it he will lead the Soul into a soaking consideration of all that hath been grievous to his holy spirit he will bring to mind old sins those that had been forgotten before and embitter them to us and the reason is because those sins also must be repented of for which there must be a suitable sorrow Time will not wear off the Guilt of any sin but Christ must cleanse it with his blood and in order thereto we must carry it to him for cleansing and we cannot do so aright but by bemoaning our selves before him for it David therefore in his address to God runs up hither Psal 25 7. Remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions 7. Have you in you an habitual frame of spiriâ—â—al mourning Godly sorrow is not a land-flood that is raised by some storm and is dried up again soon after that is over but it is a living spring it is an habitual Grace in the Soul and for that reason it is called a Spirit of Grace Chap. 12. 10. And this appears in a constant promptitude to mourn for sin upon every occasion Every sight of sin stirs up this Godly sorrow When ever you feel any stirrings of Concupiscence within it makes you to cry out Oh wretched man who shall deliver me Rom. 7. 24. If at any time you are over taken with any sin it makes you to groan and bewail your selves and say as he Psal 38. 18. I will declare mine iniquity I will be sorry for my sin Nay if you see others to sin though they commit it without remorse yet you cannot but mourn for it as he Psal 119. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy law And Verse 158. I beheld the transgressours and was grieved because they kept not thy word 8. Have you been duly affected in particular with the Affronts which you have offered to Jesus Christ This is specifyed Chap. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son and be in bitterness for him as one that is iâ— bitterness for his first born There is nothing more bitter to one that is truly Converted than the ill entertainment that he hath given to a Saviour who came to him and offered himself to be one to him It may be you have led a sober life and cannot charge your selves with the immoralities which others have fallen into but you have lived under the Calls of the Gospel and have been many a time invited and sollicited to come to Christ to take him for a Saviour but you have made light of it neglected him been content without him you have often been inwardly striven with by the motions of the Spirit but you have quenched them and grieved him thereby You have lived in your unbelief and been contented so to do you have had a low esteem of him and of his Salvation you have relied on your own Righteousness and not submitted to his you sought him not would not come to him for life and thus you went on from year to year till he came to awaken and bring you home to himself Now all these things come to mind and they carry an emphatical consideration in them to make you vile in your own eyes and bewail your impenicence If ever you looked to Chrisâ— with an eye of faith it hath been with a mournful eye 2. Have you experienced a spirit of Supplicatiâ— We observed that it is inseparable from â— former and would you be rightly inâ—med about this prove your selves by these â—ings 1. Have you found kindled in you a restless â—esire to be delivered from Sin True prayers â—e the offering up of our real and cordial deâ—es unto God and hence by discovering the â—uth of our desires we may come to know â—hat our Prayers are Now there is none â—at prays aright against sin but he that longs â—satiably to be rid of it There are many 〈◊〉 pray to have those miseries removed which â—ey undergo for sin but this is but Howling â—d not Praying that is a right expressing of â—ur request on this account Hos 14. 2. Take â—ay all iniquity But the heart must go with â—â— which it will never do till we are weary â—â— sin and the presence of it is an heavy burâ—en to us 2. Have you found that this deliverance is no â—here else to be had The right prayer which â—od hears and accepts is the prayer of the â—edy the poor and the destitute Psal 102. 17. Christs Office is to Succour him that hath no â—elper Psal 72. 12. As such therefore he exâ—cts that we come saying as Hos 14. 3. Ashur all not save us c. For in thee the fatherless â—leth mercy And that we may thus pray it requisite that we have a deep sence imprinted on us that this is our condition God makes the Soul to despair of any succour from any other hand he is not only in a pit where therâ— is no water but his eyes fail him Isa 41. 17. He finds himself to be engulphed in the waves oâ— destruction and cryes out as they when jusâ— ready to be swallowed up Math 8. 25. Lord save us we perish 3. Have you been encouraged to go to God Iâ— Prayer for this with hope A spirit of Supplication is a gracious frame that is put into the heart by the spirit of God and there are the Graces that are used in the exerting of it the principal of these is Faith and the first stirring of it is usually in Hope which hope is alwayâ— at work and moveth in the genuine prayers oâ— the people of God This hope hath not always alike strength in it but yet it hath thaâ— degree of it whereby we are enabled to looâ— with some expectation of receiving the good we ask for at the hands of God In youâ— distress by reason of sin you resolved to go to God for help against it and what was it thaâ— drew out this resolution was it not an apprehension that Christ was such a â—ountain foâ— sin and at least a resolve that the thing iâ— not impossible thus therefore he argued Jâ—â— 3 9. Who can tell if God will turn and repent turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not 4. Have you freely confessed your sins in the Aggravations of them Right conâ—ession alwayâ— â—â—ows from a spirit of Prayer God expects it Jer. 3. 13. Only acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God c. David therefore tells us in what way he went for and how he obtained a pardon and the healing of his sins
they are made to all promiscuously to whom thâ— means of Grace are sent and the great truthâ— which concern Christ and Salvation by him are urged upon them but where the Spiriâ— of God doth inwardly reveal Christ in thâ— Souls of any and makes them sharers in hiâ— Salvation he always brings them to such â— frame such therefore are the only blesseâ— ones Mat 5. 4 Blessed are they that mourn fâ—â— they shall be comforted 2. That we must distinguish between Passiâ— â—nd Active Conversion This distinction is generally received among the Orthodox and â—y all them who acknowledge that there are the Habits of Saving Grace infused into us in order to our being able to exert Grace in our lives and the Apostle plainly shews the difference Gal. 5. 25. If we live in the Spirit let us walk in the Spirit Passive Conversion then is that Change which is made in us in Regenera 〈◊〉 by the infusion of all saving Graces into 〈◊〉 of which it is said 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any â—â—n be in Christ Jesus he is a new Creaturâ— Active Conversion consists in the exerting and â—â—ercising of these Graces The former is â—â—one by the Spirit alone in the latter he â—â— operates with us And we may take from â—â—nce this brief accouâ—t of the present affair 1. That Gods Elect do many times long despise the offers of Christ that are made to them â—â— the Gospel God will have his own to know that their Conversion as well as their Salvation is of Grace and that they have a nature in them as full of obstinacy and enmity as others he therefore leaves them for a season to resist his Spirit and to shew the desperate malignity that is in them and they neglect the things of their peace â—witâ—stand the offers of a Saviour and quench the motions of the Spirit in them that accompany the Calls of the Gospel This Ephraim confesseth of himself Jer. 31. 18. Thou hast chastized me and I was chastized as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke Yea sometimes violently to oppose and persecute his Church Such an one was Paul when a Pharisee Phil. 3. 6. Touching zeal persecuting the Church 2. That there are some common legal works wrought in the Elect antecedent to their Regeneration or Passive Conversion The Spirit of God is wont to begin with men by Convictions and Terrors by setting the Law home on their Consciences which make them afraid and those are wrought not only in Gods Children but in others also and the Elect themselves do too frequently stifle these motions out grow these awakenings and retâ—â—â— again to their former security the time of their new birth is not yet come and God hereby lets them see what enemies they are to their own Salvation and that if he had not come with Almighty Efficacy to them they had refused him to their destruction as well as others How many such common works have some out grown and become worse after them and yet they have had their months in which God hath taken them because he had an Immutable love for them See for this Isa 57. 17 18. I hid me and was wroth and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart I have seen his ways and will heal him 3. That all saving qualifications are wrought in them at once in Passive Conversion When the Spirit of God comes to produce this great Change in the Sinner he infuseth into him all his Sanctifying Graces there is a new man created in him Eph. 4. 24. There is a perfection of parts though not of degrees Sanctification is throughout 1 Thes 5. 23. There is therefore no order in the production of these saving qualities in the Soul but they come in all at once In Conversion whole Christ is put â—â— it is therefore called a new birth Joh. 3. 3. And it is the babe of Grace which is born and it hath all its members entire 4. That God draws the man to exert these Graces in Active Conversion after the manner of a Rational Agent In the exerting of Grace the man is not only active but voluntary too he acts as a cause by Counsel As therefore there is the Co operation of God in this as well as his operation in the former according to Phil. 2. 13. It is God which worketh in you to will and to do of his own good pleasure So he works upon the Rational Faculties or Powers that are put into man and having sanctified them he draws them forth to put the new nature into act upon sight deliberation and with perswasion He is not drawn to it by meer instinct but he knows what he doth and why he doth it he hath a foundation on which he acts every Grace he knows whom he believes in and why he so doth 2 Tim. 1. 12. I know whom I have believed and am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day and so of the rest God is therefore said to draw â—s with the cords of a man Hos 11. 4. 5. In this Conversion the Soul betakes it self to Christ by faith as to a Fountain opened for Sin and for Uncleanness The great Grace celebrated in the Gospel is Faith by which we close with Christ for life wherein we comply with the main Article of the New-Covenant and therefore Salvation is ascertained to it Joh. 3. 16. Whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life This Grace is not before the others in being though it leads in the exercise and doth indeed influence all the other being that which fetcheth in help from Christ for the acting of them Now Christ is the immediate Object on whom Faith fiâ—eth it believes in him for all the good that it wants and seeth to be stored in him and that which draws it so to rely on him is the discovery it hath made of his sufficiency and readiness to answer its great necessity which is to be delivered from the guilt and defilement of sin and thaâ— because it apprehends all this to be fountained in him that it may be communicated by him to all those that stand in need of it and this it doth upon the invitation given in the Gospel to all that are oppressed with the burden of sin to come to him for succour against it 6. This Faith is always accompanied with true Repentance In active Conversion these two Graces are in conjunction I shall not here meddle with the disputes which of these two Graces is the first if we speak of their production they are together and so there is no priority of any Grace they being created in the same instant if we speak of thâ—ir production they are together and so there is no priority of any Grace they being created in the same instant if we speak of the order of nature in their activity Faith must have the precedency because it influenceth all the other for though
moral impurity The Command is the Rule of our Holiness and if so then the perfection of our Holiness must consist in our being commensurate to that Rule and whatsoever is contraty to Holiness is impurity and consequently in what degree soever we come short of this measure it is by reason of a moral deficiency in us with respect to this Rule and that can proceed from nothing but sinful imperfection which must needs render us so far impure Now the Holy God who loves Holiness cannot be well pleased with any thing that he seeth in us that is of another tincture He may and doth love our persons in Christ which love of his is unchangeable and nothing in us shall ever be able to separate us from it He also loveth his Graces which are in us they being the fruits of his own Holy Spirit and so far as they are exercised by us so far he smells a sweet savour in the Services that we do But for all this so far as we come short by reason of sin in us and the mixture of it with any thing that we engage in so far is there something in us which is not grateful to him according to Heb. 1. 13. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity Which must needs intend a look of approbation for his Infinite Omniscience cannot but behold it so as to know it And certainly it concerns us not to rest or be satisfied so long as there remains any thing in us which is ingrateful to this Holy God which there will be so long as we abide short of sinless perfection 2. That sincere Christians are commanded to grow in Grace This is a Gospel precept enjoyned us by the Spirit of God 2 Pet. 3. â—8 But grow in Grace Now this command presumes that there is truth and uprightness in us that there is a new principle of Holiness infused into us for we must have Grace in us before we can grow in it Where there is not life there cannot be growth there must be a beginning in order to a progress and as this is a duty of all new Converts in whom the Seeds of all the Graces of the Spirit are sown as 1 Pet. 2. 2. As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby It is no less expected of all Gods people in this life to whatsoever degree they have already attained and the reason is because they are not yet arrived at perfection so the Apostle argueth Phil. 3. 12. Not as though I had already attained either were already perfect but I follow after if that I may apprehend that which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus So that though sincerity be accepted in Christ yet we are not to rest in it but to labour after more strength more victory over corruption more holiness and when we have reached to any further degree in this than we had before we are not now to sit still but to aspire after more and more and not to cease till it comes to be perfect This use we are directed to make of the promises 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God And if it be enquired how long we are to pursue this business we are told Eph. 4. 13. Till we all come unâ—o a perfect man unto the measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ Now the reason of the imperfection of Grace is the remains of sin in us and it is by the decrease of that in us that our Grace grows 3. That all the short comings in regard of his people are displeasing to God True they do not shut them out of his favour for as he hath accepted them in Christ as to their persons so he hath cast the robe of his Righteousness over them under which he hath covered all their obliquities and therefore as a Judge he sees no iniquity in them Numb 23. 21. He hath seen no iniquity in Jacob nor perverseness in Israel But yet as they have their failings by reason of that sin which remaineth in them so by these follies of theirs they do sometimes stir up his anger as he is their father and he discovers it in some awful effects of it we read 2 Sam. 11. ult The thing which David did displeased the Lord and we see how severely he treated him Chap. 12. For these follies of theirs it is that they are so often corrected and that sometimes with severity for these it is that so many afflictions are brought upon them in the course of Gods Providence who hath assured us that he doth not afflict willingly Lam. 3. 33. And on this account holy men have so often complained of the bitter sense they have had of his anger Psal 28. 3 4. There is no soundess in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin For mine iniquities are gone over mine head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me And see Psal 32. 3 4. 88. 7. c. And though God doth not always chide for every defect that he discovers in his Children for then their Spirit would fail since there is nothing they do which hath not this short coming in it whereas he knows our frame and remembers we are but dust Psal 103. 14. Yet even these unavoidable infirmities which attend upon the best duties that ever we do are things which he takes no pleasure in and that he animadverts not upon them is because of his pity Psal 103. 13. Like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him 4. There is a Sacrifice of Atonement appointed even for these defects The Sacrifices of old were Typical and had a spiritual aim which was to be apprehended in them and it is certain that where there was required by the Ceremonial Law a Sacrifice of Expiation it signified that there had been something which was offensive to God for which there must be a satisfaction made to him there must be something to reconcile him if ever the person hoped to have him Atoned to him but for which there had been no need of such a Sacrifice Whatsoever therefore required such a Sacrifice to be offered up for it must needs intimate that it had some ill thing adhering to it that was offensive to God and must be removed Now the very duties that Gods people do wherein they do sincerely serve him and express the greatest endeavour after holiness in them must have the vertue of Christs oblation applyed to them for the expiation of the defects that accompany them this was aimed at in that Levitical Law Levit. 16. 33. He shall make an Atonement for the holy Sanctuary and he shall make an Atonement for the Tabernacle of the Congregation and for the Altar and he shall make an Atonement for the
is promised A Fountain 2. The singular mercy that should be discovered in regard of this benefit it shall be Opened 3. The Subjects to whom this benefit should be applied to the House of David and to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem 4. The design of it or that wherein the great usefulness of it should appear it is for Sin and for Uncleanness 5. The time when this should be in that Day Give me leave to make a brief paraphrase on this sweet Text which comprehends in it the summe and substance of all Gospel Grace In that day i. e. The day which is once and again mentioned in the foregoing Chapter The day wherein God will return to Zion and have mercy upon her and build up her waste places It is true this benefit hath belonged to the true Church of God ever since the Promise of the Seed of the Woman was made but there are special times wherein there are more eminent manifestations of Divine favours to the people of God which God would have remarked by them and so this hath a respect to that happy time which is expected by the Church of God when all Israel shall be saved But that which I would more peculiarly observe for our own improvement is it is the day wherein the Spirit of mourning and Supplication shall be poured upon them when God shall bring them to true sorrow for Sin and penitent addresses unto him for peace and pardon and so it shews the order and way of Gods communicating of this great favour to them There shall be a Fountain The word fountain cometh of a root that signifies to dig for a spring of water and in one Conjugation to flow over abundantly and doubtless Christ himself in respect of his blood or obedience and me it is intended by it as will afterwards be observed Opened A thing is said to be opened that was before shut or covered the word is also used for the making of a thing manifest which was before hidden or not known we therefore read of the opening of waters the opening of treasures or the unlocking of them the opening of doors and a noun from this root signifieth a door In summe a thing is then opened when it is exposed and laid before persons and they have the free liberty given them to come and make use of it We are not here told who will open it but it must needs intend a work of the Spirit of God who is the revealer and applier of Christ and his benefits unto men To the House of David and to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem By these we may understand those that are the people of God the seed of Christ for he is the true David and the Members of the Mystical Body of Christ for these are the Inhabitants of Jerusalem It may also intend all ranks of men the House of David may have respect to the Rulers and Nobles the Inhabitants of Jerusalem to the meaner sort For Sin and for Uncleanness The word Sin signifies any Error or turning out of the right way The word Uncleanness properly signifies something that is removed and is used in the Levetical Law for such things are were separaâ—ed by reason of Ceremonial pollution and might not be touched When he saith this â—â—untain is for sin and for uncleanness he intends that it is designed for the taking of them away and this is done both in Justification and â—n Sanctification as will afterward be observed And under these two words are comprehended â—ll sorts and degrees of sin the least errour â—ands in need of it and the greatest Pollution may be cleansed by it There are several precious truths contained â— this portion of Scripture which I shall make â—ome remarks upon DOCTRINE I. That Jesus Christ is a Fountain of saving Good WHat is nextly intended by this fountain Commentators do variously guess â—ome apply it to the Grace of God some to â—e Holy Ghost some to the Gospel it self â—nd some to Baptism or to both of the Sacraments of the New Testament But all agree â—hat it ultimately refers to Christ as he in whom all that Grace which is provided for â—he relief of sinful man is treasured up as in a â—untain according to Col 1. 19. It pleased the â—ather that in him should all fulness dwell This â—en is one of the precious Titles of Christ it is Metaphorical or allusive pointing us to thâ— consideration of an earthly thing and such aâ— is well known for our help in the contemplation of him and the great benefit that accrueth by him to his people In the dearing up of this Doctrine three things may be inquired into viz. 1. In what respect Christ is a fountain 2. What is that saving good that is fountaineâ— in him 3. How he comes to be such a fountain 1. In what respect Christ is a fountain A. The word fountain may be considereâ— in a double sense either only as a Metaphoâ— alluding to the repository in which waters aâ— contained and from which they issue or elsâ— with the addition of a Metonymie with respecâ— unto the waters that are contained in it anâ— both these are applicable to the Text Thâ— former of these belongs to this enquiry anâ— the latter to the next As then a fountain is â— repository which God hath in the work oâ— Creation provided for the treasuring up oâ— waters in so is Christ a Store-house of alâ— Grace in whom it is laid up And there anâ— several respects in which he is thus compareâ— to a fountain and hath this Title put upoâ— him more especially 1. A fountain is so called from the Plenty of wâ—ters that are in it There is a great fulness iâ— a Fountain Cisterns have but a little in them small Springs that are but little veins in the earth do vent but a little water because they have not much in them but a fountain hath abundance in it it is a vast treasury there is no want in a fountain but there may come as many as will to it and have a full supply of water from it and such a fountain of Grace is Jesus Christ to his people for this reason is he said to be full of Grace and Truth Joh. 1. 14. And all the people of God are said to receive out of his Fulness verse 16. and because of this abounding sufficiency of his those that fear him are said to have no want of any good thing Psal 34. 9. And believers are said to receive abundance of grace from him Rom. 5. 17. Hence we are told in Isa 33. 21. The glorious Lord will be to us a place of broad rivers and streams 2. A fountain is so called from the Quality of the waters in it The waters of a fountain are very much different from those that are in a pool or cistern and there are two titles that are put upon them in this regard 1. They are called living waters Hence we have such allusive expressions
Cant. 4. 15. A Well of living waters Rev. 7. 17. And shall lead them to living fountains of water Not that they properly have a principle of life or a living Soul in them for they are not in the order of Animates but Metaphorically in that they have something resembling life because they run and overflow and purgâ— themselves and have a continual motion Aâ— also from the efficacy of them because they are salubrious and very serviceable for the preservation of the life of the Creature Thus is Christ in respect of his Graces compared to a fountain Jer. 2. 13. Ye have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and the Graces which he communicates from himself to such as come unto him have that Epithet given to them because they do revive or give and continue life to them who partake in them see for this Joh. 4. 10. He would have given thee living water and 7. 38. He that believeth in me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water and on this account the Psalmist ascâ—ibes that to him Psal 36 9. With thee is the fountain of life 2. They are called clear and pure waters And this follows from the former for being living they purge themselves and alwaâ—s keep clean A Ciâ—tern or pond or Well are apâ— to gather filth by standing and to grow corrupt and to be often disturbed but a Fountain is clean and pure Accordingly we have the Spirit of God in aâ—â—usion to this describing the fountain oâ— Grace which God hath provided for his Church Rev. 22 1 He shewed me a pure river of 〈◊〉 of liâ—e clear as crystal Such iâ— Christ and 〈◊〉 aâ—e all his benefits 〈◊〉 are holy and there is no defilement in them 3. A fountain is so called from the Diffusiveness of its waters The waters in a Well or a Pond are shut up and they move not but are confined to one place they are standing but a fountain is ever running over its banks and spreading it self far and near imparting of it self in its streams Hence we so often read of running waters in the Scriptures Such also is Christ in respect of his Grace We have an Allegorical description given of this in Ezek. 47. begin in those waters of the Sanctuary which ran from the south side of the Altar and encreased as they went along which point â—o that we are now considering of A founâ—ain may be conveyed in streams to many plaâ—es for the supply of such as want it and Christ conveys his Grace here and there and â—here is never a street in the City of God but â— abundantly refreshed with it 4. A fountain is so called from the Perennity of â— The waters in a Cistern or pool waste â—ith using and may be emptied in time if â—onstantly repaired to yea and the waters in â—hem will dry up by degrees but a fountain â—ever full and hath a fresh supply coming in â— fast as any is drawn out of it or conveyed â—â—om it if ten thousand should come to it â—â—ey may fill all their vessels and yet there is â—o want nor any missing but ten thousand â—ore may come after them and have equal â—pply Such is Christ in respect to his Grace hence all that are a thirst are invited to him Isa 55. 1. Ho every one that thirsteth come to the waters and we are bidden to enlarge our vessels and yet we shall be replenished Psal 81. 9. Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it and God hath assured us Isa 45. 19 I said not to the Seed of Jacob Seek ye me in vain 2. What is that saving good that is fountained in him A. We observed that a fountain is properly a receptacle of waters and therefore is Meâ—onymically put for the waters themselves that are in it and we may here keep to the allusion Water is one of those things that are necessary for the life of man and afford a manifold benefit unto it it quencheth the thirst it revives the spirits it comforts the man it cools and refresheth the body it is of use also for cleansing or purisying both the body and such things as are for its use and comfort and indeed such is the usefulness of this Element that the want of it makes the man miserable and if he be not supplied with it he will unavoidably perish It is therefore reckoned for a singular advantage and happiness to dwell near a fountain of water as Isa 33. 16. Hiâ— waters shall be sure and Chap. 32. 20. Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters Now that which is here alluded to in this comparison is whatsoever benefit derives from Christ to the Souls of men for the helping them to obtain Eternal Life These waters comprehend under them Grace and Glory and every good thing Psal 84. 11. peculiarly the Graces of his Spirit are here pointed to and therefore we have such an expression in Joh. 1. 16. Of his fulness we have all received and grace for grace The benefit of which is excellent and manifold without it we must needs perish from and by it derives to us all that is necessary or desirable There is pardon of Sin peace with God Sonship Sanctification and Consolation the most comprehensive of which will be particularly considered of under a following Doctrine But it is certain that all these are laid up in Christ and flow from him to his People as waters do out of a fountain and are no where else to be had 3. How he came to be such a fountain A. This flows from his Mediator-ship and may be traced in these four particulars 1. Mans Apostasy had cut him off from God as the fountain of life to him All mans happiness is fountained in God and must derive from him by way of participation He was at first in his state of Integrity planted by this fountain had free access to it and could refresh himself at all times with it the streams of it ran down freely on him but when he sinned against God â—hat made a woful separation so God tells them Isa 59. 2. Your sins have separated between you and your God and since then that is a proper 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 men in their natural state Psal 73 27. They that are far from thee God is no longer his portion of a friend he is become his enemy all those Glorious Attributes which when for him would have filled him with satisfaction are now armed against him and become a terror to him being ready to destroy him and if this be not retrieved he cannot escape perdition 2. Gods free Grace constituted Christ in the Office of a Mediator that he might procure life and happiness again for man Sin had brought man under the Guilt of Death binding him over to suffer-eternal vengeance Gods Justice was now engaged to execute an holy revenge upon him for the affront which he had offered to his Law This Justice must be satisfied man can no more approach
the world 2. That the great usefulness of this Fountain is to take away the Sin and Uncleanness which man had contracted It is certain that Christ is a fountain of all Saving good to sinful man as hath been already observed but the Spirit of God doth point us here to some peculiar benefit that it was designed for and for that reason do require our particular consideration of Here then we may enquire 1. What we are here to understand by Sin and Uncleanness 2. In what respect Sin and Uncleanness may be said to be taken away 3. What is the usefulness of this Fountain for such an end Of these in order 1. What are we here to understand by Sin and Uncleanness A. There are some who take these two words to be Synonymical and to intend one and the same thing only allowing an Emphasis in the ingemination of things they suppose them to include all sorts and degrees of Sin Some by Sin understand those errors or ordinary transgressions which men live in the Commission of by Uncleanness the more enormâ—â—s and Conscience wasting sins which they defile themselves withall sâ—me again by Sin understand Actual Sin and by Uncleanness â—riginal Sin which is the root of defilement â—â— man and makes all the actions which he doth polluted But there is yet another sense which is more generally entertained and seems morâ— appositely to belong to the meaning of the Text and recommends to us the excellent vertue of this fountain and its extensive usefullness viz that by Sin we are to understand the Guilt and by Uncleanness the Defilement that â— contracted by Sin There are two wofull pâ—â—perties of sin recorded in the word of Goâ— in which the misery of sinful mâ—n is comprehended 1. There is a Guilt that is contracted by it which is properly a respect that it beaâ—s to the Covenant of works or the Sanction which was added to the Law which God at first gave unto man Expressed in Gen. â— 17 In the â—â— thou â—atest thereof thou shalt surâ—ly dy Expounded in Ezek. 18. 4. The soul that Sinneth it shalâ— Dy. This word is therefore used for the punishment of sin or rather for the Guilt by whicâ— the man lâ—eth obnoxious unto punishmenâ— Gen. 4. 7. If thou dost not well Sin lyeth at tâ—â— door Levit. 20. 20. They shall bear their siâ— And in the Levitical Law it is often used fâ—â— the Sacrifice that was offered for sin for thâ— expiation of the Guilt of it Lev. 4 20. 2â— And frequently else where 2. There is also a defilement which the Sin leavâ—s behind it upon the man and that in respect both of Original and Actual Sin Original sin is the very pollution of our nature which makes us unclean things and hence it is Allegorically and Emphatically set forth by the condition of a New-born Infant in Ezek. 16. begin And every actual sin leaves a spot a stain a filthiness behind it upon the man that commits it Ezek. 20. 43. Ye shall remember your wars and all your doings wherein ye have been defiled And this ariseth from the moral respect which sin bears to the Law of God which is an holy Law and men are said to be holy when they observe it and for this reason sin is said to be an aboâ—iâ—able thing Jer. 44 4. 2. In what respect this Sin and Uncleanness â—â—y be said to be taken away A. This will be evident from the former for in what respect Sin and Uncleanness cleaveth to the man in the same it must be removed There is therefore a double taking away of â—â—â— answerable to the twofold miscâ—iâ—f which it doth the man bâ— its adhesion to him tâ—â— former is by Justification the latter by Sanctification And theâ—e are two great and comprehensive benefiâ—s which the Gospel tells us do derive from Christ to us These were in the old Mosaick Law represented the one by the Sacrifices of Aâ—â—ement in which the blood oâ— the offering was made uâ—e oâ— hence that Heb. 9. 22. Without the shedding of blood there is no remession The other by the many washingâ— and puâ—ifications that men were appointed to make use of And some think these two were Emblematized in the blood and water which issued from the body of Christ when he was pierced Here then 1. Sin is taken away by Justification when the Atonement being accepted for the Sinner he is pardoned and his Guilt removed As long as the Law makes its demands of the sinner personally so long his sin lyeth upon him he is Guilty but when this pardon is bestowed he ceaseth legally to be a Sinner i. e. He is not a Guilty one because he is discharged from the Sentence that was out against him his sin is in that regard as if it had never been we read in Jer. 50. 20. In those days and in that time saith the Lord the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and thâ—re shall be none and the sins of Judah and they shall not be found for I will pardon c. And this is done by Gods accepting of aâ— Atonement when he saith as Job 33. 24 Deliver him from going down to the pit I have found a ransome 2. Sin is taken away by Sanctification when God by his Spirit applies â—is Grace to the Soul by which he mortifyeth sin and cleanseth it of the defilement which â—â—eâ—vâ—th to it This is called the purgiâ—g away oâ— iniquity Isa 27. 9. By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged And thâ— purifying of our hearts Acts 15. 9. And we are allâ—sively told how it is done Ezek. 36. 25. I will sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be cleansed from all your filthiness And this is nextly applied to Original sin by the mortification whereof we are Sanctified and as sin decreaseth so Grace encreaseth which is our purity 3. What is the Usefulness of this Fountain for such an end A. There are two things to be considered in the Lord Jesus Christ as a Fountain or a Treasury in whom they are laid up which do suitably and sufficiently Answer these two occasions of Sinful men viz. his Merit and his Grace I shall give some general glances at each of these 1. There is an Infinite Merit fountained in Christ for the taking away the Guilt of Sin the Justifiâ—ation of the Sinner We observed that this Guilt is an obligation lying upon the Sinner by reason of the threatning to suffer the penalty menaced by the Law The Removal of this Guilt with respect to the Sinner himself can be only by a free pardon for he haâ—h nothing of his own to make compensation to the Law withal But the removal of it with reference to the Covenant of works and the Established Rule of Relative Justice in it mâ—st be by Justification God as a Judge must either Justify or Condemn him upon his Trial and yet in Justifying him he must also pardon him These two are inconsistent in
work and let this make you fixedly to resolve that you will go no whither else but that you will wait upon him till he shall give you the experience of his love to you in this regard USE IV For Exhortation to the Children of God who are already made partakers of an Interest in this fountain in two particulars 1. Acknowledge the rich Grace of God to you in that he hath not only opened this fountain before you but in you The former indeed is a great favour and so to be confessed by all that partake in it those that have it are highly advantaged had they but an heart to make a right improvement of it and if they do not so they will bring great Guilt upon themselves by their contempt How great a kindness then is this that you share in and do you endeavour to entertain it with suitable resentments and there are among others these two considerations which will greatly help you in your gratitude 1. Had not God thus done for you you had perished in your Sins You were under the efficacy of sin and uncleanness in your natural Estate and that held you under Guilt and Defilement and these would have wrought out your certain destruction if they had not been remedied There must be a fountain for this else it could never have been taken away â— fountain of blood for the removal of your Guilâ— and a fountain of grace for the purging away of yoâ—r pollution None else but Christ could possibly be such a fountain to you there is an infinite value and vertue requisite to be found in that which can do this for you which no meerly created being could ever attain unto If this Fountain had not been revealed to you you could not have partaken in the saving vertue of it because it is applied by faith they that live out of the reach of the Gospel Dispensation die without knowledge and if it had not been opened in you yoâ— had still died in your sins there are multitudes that do so who have heard of it with the hearing of the ear because they have not cordially embraced it if he had not savingly applied it to you you had refused it as well as others for you had as great a natural malignity in you against it as any in the world 2. What are you better than others who are not thus favoured The difference that is put between you and them is very great but who hath made it When he brought this grace of his unto you you were dead in trespasses and sins Eph. 2. 1. When he offered it to you you regarded it not but bad him to depart from you you sought it not of him but he â—ought you up that he might bestow it upon you you gave him all the resistance that an heart full of enmity could do It was Almighty power that brought you unto it yea possibly you more dishonoured God by peculiar wickedness and scandalous provocations before such time as he thus appeared to you than a great many have done whom he yet hath not so favoured Can you then sufficiciently celebrate his praise 2. Be sure to make continual use of it You will always stand in need of it and it ever stands open for you to repair unto and there is a double usefulness which it serves unto 1. Repair constantly to it for renewed pardon It was not sufficient that you did so apply to it in your first Conversion for though it was then applied to you for the Justification of your persons yet 1. You Sin daily Though lust be mortified as to the Dominion of it yet it is not abolished in you but hath its dayly breakings out there is a contrary part in you that is ever and anon bringing you into captivity We are told in Eccles 7. 20. There is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not and the reason of it is because there is a Flesh in us that is always lusting against the Spirit Gal. 5. 17. 2. Every Sin offers matter of provoâ—atinn to God It is a Transgression of his holy Law it is an abominable thing to him Jer. 44. 4. It is that which he cannot endure Hab. 1. 13. And though he knows our frame and will not be always contending with us or break out in his severity for every frailty of ours yet there is occasion offered him for his anger and we must confess with him Psalm 130. 3. If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquities Oh Lord who should stand 3. Hence it calls on you to seek of him Forgiveness And this is at least one main reason why we are daily and on all occasions to renew that petition Mat. 6. 12. Forgive us oâ— debts And hence how often have we David asking pardon of God though he was in a state of Justification 4. Here only can you obtain it You must come to the fountain for it Whensoever Gods ancient people fell into any sin there was a Sacrifice presently to be offered for Atonement in order to its being forgiven and if we sin we must go to this Advocate and make use of him as our Propitiation 1 John 2. 1 2. 2. Address him continually for the washing of Sanctification They that are Sanctified must be Sanctified again they were so for whom the Apostle prays 1 Thes 5. 23. The very God of peace Sanctifie you wholly c. There is yet a body of death in you a fountain of uncleanness and there are the eruptions of it in your actions which deâ—ile you and you want washing Hence 1. Come hither by the Repentance of faith upon every notable defilement Are you overtaken with any Temptation which draws you into the mire let this drive you to the fountain for cleansing and this must be by the renewal of Repentance thus did David Psal 51. 7. And this is the only way to purifie your selves which is the care of every believer 1 Joh 3. 3. He that hath this hope in him puriâ—ieth himself as he is pure 2. Wash in it dayly for your daily pollution There is a defilement that cleaves to every thing we do when we are never so careful to our selves Sin in us will pollute our best Services Paul complains Rom. 7. 21. I find a lâ—w that when I would do good evil is present with me This therefore should bring you to Christ continually for cleansing 3. Be evermore fetching from hence all the Grace you need to perfect you in Holiness Let the sense of remaining corruption put you upon the exercise of renewed and progressive Sanctification for which you must repair to this fountain of Grace and apply the promises by which you partake in it to this end according to 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God And never cease from the pursuit of this work till sin be no more in you and grace be
there is a Legal Repentance before Conversion yet that which is Evangelical follows upon it and is no further pleasing to God than as it is exercised by faith but in respect to order of time the man repents and believes at once and so they are together It is a penitent Faith and a believing Repentance that is exerted they are therefore conjoyned Acts 20. 21. Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ 7. For the right exerting of these Graces there is the exercise of a Spirit of Mourning and of Supplication There is a principle of this or there is such a Spirit habitually put into the man when he is new made but the improvement of it is in the practising of Faith and Repentance Here then 1. For the exerting of true Repentance he draws out a Spirit of mourning In Repentance we turn from sin to God in which turning there is not only an abstinence from the outward acts but a cordial renouncing and forsaking of those sins which we rightly repent of and for that end we must be made to see them to be evil and mischievous and that we have foolishly turned from God to them the genuine effect whereof upon the heart is to bemoan our selves by reason of them and hence the Scripture annexeth mourning unto Repentance as an inseparable concomitant of â— hence that in Jer. 31. 18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning of himself c. And for the producing of this mourning God offers the conviction of the evil and bitterness then is in our sins Jer. 2 19. Know and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God c. Now there are two passages to be observed in this mourning 1. He bewails all his Sins Godly Sorrow is for Sin that is the procuring cause of all the sorrows that poor man is exposed unto and is therefore that which peculiarly calls for our mourning and this belongs to that sorrow which the Apostle tells us is so serviceable to true Repentance 2 Cor. 7. 10 Godly sorrow worketh repentance not to be repented of It is by this that we embitter sin to our selves and stir up in us an hatred of it for though sorrow be a mixt Affection yet it mainly partakes of hatred which is a separating affection and makes us to reject the Object of it Now if this sorrow be genuine it is universal it bears a respect to all sin because if it be right it is excited by the apprehension of the great evil there is in sin in the nature as well as in the effects of it which evil being in all sin it must needs extend to all hence that Psalm 119. 104. I hate every false way and where this hatred is there will be Sorrow for our having hurt our selves by it and therein dishonoured God 2. He more peculiarly laments the affronts that be hath offered to Christ who hath been set before him in the tenders of Grace This therefore is peculiarly remarked in Zech. 12. 10. They shall 〈◊〉 upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for an only Son and be in bitterness for him as one is in bitterness for his first born Where the Gospel comes and Christ is exhibited together with the need that men have of him by reason of â—in the convictions whereof are laid before men to perswade them of the necessity they stand in of having him to be their Saviour and men have made light of these invitations which have been given them they have not been perswaded of their misery by Sin and brought to accept of Christ to rescue them from it and have accordingly despised him neglected him chosen lying vanities before him and remained in their unbelief This is the great provocation under the Gospel Joh. 3. 19. This is the Condemnation that light is come into the world and men chuse darkness rather than light This Sin therefore they shall peculiarly mourn for and resent with the greatest sorrow 2. For the exercising of Faith this Spirit of mourning is ever accompanied with a Spirit of Supplication The first breathings and breakings forth of faith are in prayer When once Paul was Converted that is the next news we hear of him Acts 9. 11. Behold he prayeth This is the first sign by which the new born Christian discovers that he hath life in him True Prayer supposeth a principle of faith in the man â—or only such a prayer as is spirited with it is acceptable to and prevalent with God Jam. 5. 16. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much compare Chap. 1. 5 6. Let him ask of God but let him ask â—â— faith God hath therefore made it a medium for our participation in the blessings engaged in the New Covenant Ezek. 36. 37. I will yet be enquired of for this by the House of Israel to do it for them In which prayer 1. He confesseth and bewaileth his sins before God Confession of sin is if not an essential part yet an inseparable adjunct of prayer by which sinful man addresseth God for mercy hence the promise so runs Prov. 28. 13. He that confesseth and forsaketh shall find mercy And for this reason when God invites back sliders to return and promiseth them acceptance he enters that caution Jer. 3. 13. Only acknowledge thine iniquity Nor indeed can we rightly come to Christ for a pardon and cleansing unless we lay open our malady before him so that there is a tacit confession of Sin in the very petitions that are put up on this account but God expects that in our solemn addressing of him we be explicit in it Levit. 26. 40. If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers with their tresâ—oss c. 2. He requests his Converting Grace There must be a root of Conversion in the man before he can sincerely desire or petition to be Converted and indeed gracious mourning confession and supplication do follow after that inward and transforming work of the Spirit in the man Jer. 31. 19. After that I was turned I repented and after that I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed c However in the actual turning of the Soul to God the man finds that it is not in his own power to turn himself but that he must have it given him of God and accordingly he asks it of him thus did Ephraim verse 18. Turn thou me and I shall be turned and God directs Israel to use such words Hos 14. 2. Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously and these cries are drawn forth by the efficacâ— oâ— preventing Grace 3 He professeth his acceptance of and reliancâ— upon Christ for Salvation He acknowledge thâ— that Christ is an All sufficient Saviour that there is a fulness of vertue in this founâ—ain to take away all Sin and Uncleanness from
whom God imparts the largest measure of a spirit of mourning and supplication Where God intends to build highest he will lay the foundation lowest The greatest spiritual mouâ—ners are appointed for the more abundant consolations They are the humble and contrite whom God delights to dwell with and to revive Isa 57. 15. Christs anointing had a special regard for such as these and therefore his applications will be eminently made to them Isa 61. begin The Lord hath anointed me c. to bind â—â— the broken hearted to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyl of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness c. Doth God then bring you into Godly Sorrow Doth he make Sin bitter to you Doth he fill you with grief at and cause you deeply to bewail your Sins before him be not discouraged but take iâ— as a good Omen and wait for the Consolations of his Spirit remember what he hath said Psal 126. 5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy It is also certain that when God excites in us an heart to pray to him and fills us with ardent desires and groans unutterable after him for his grace for his pardoning for his cleansing of us and we cannot let him alone it is a sign that he hath great mercies to bestow on us which in this way he will communicate to us God who hath promised that his shall pray unto him and it is he who giveth prayer to his own hath assured us of a gracious audience and a good return to our prayers Jer. 29. 12 13 14. Then shall ye call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you and ye shall seek me and find me c. Be not then discouraged and though you may not at present experience those sensible apprehensions of the efficacy of the Fountain for the taking away of your Sin yet doubt not that God will in the best way do it for you and give you the experience of it to your abundant Consolation God will exalt his Grace on you in this way and make it to appear how great is his kindness to you in taking off your Guilt and washing away your pollution And when you are suitably prepared so to glorifie him he will fill you with the discoveries of his love for which you shall admire him for ever USE II. For Examination Let us hereby prove whether ever this Fountain were savingly Opened to us and it concerns all to put themselves upon this Trial. For Motive then Consider 1. You are all by Nature under the guilt and defilement of Sin Sin and Uncleanness are hereditary to all Adams Children and they derive to them in the Channel of Natural Generation for this we are told Eph. 2. 3. We â—e Children of wrath even as others and he demands and resolves Job 144 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one This then is the condition in which every one is born Adams First Transgression was ours by a legal Imputation and his corrupt Image which he contracted instead of Gods Image which he lost is ours by Propagation and thus we come into the world guilty and filthy Creatures Psal 51. 5. Behold I was shapen in â—â—iquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me And this Guilt and Defilement are encreased by all the actual sins that we have committed since we came into the World 2. Except this be done away it will be your ruine All Sin in its own nature and operation is deadly Sin and Death are closely connected each with the other Rom. 5. 12. By one man sin came into the world and death by sin The guilt that ahderes to sin binds the man under the Curse and that is Death Ezek. 18. 4. The Soul that sinneth it shall dy The Law â—â—ath already past the Sentence upon the man and unless it be removed it will without fail take place on him and the defilement of sin is it self the very spiritual death of the Soul it hath deprived the man of the life of Sanctification and he can no more perform a gracious action than a dead man can a life action hence that expression Eph. 2 1. Ye were dead in trespasses and sins So that as long as it abides on him he cannot at all answer the end of his Creation 3. Nothing else can do it for you but this Fountain There is a sufficiency of vertue in it for this end God provided it for this very purpose and he doth nothing in vain it therefore never failed of producing this effect where it was savingly applied But except you repair hither all your other attempts will prove lost labour this Salvation is no where else to be had Acts 4. 12. There is nothing else that can expiate the Guilt of sin or make atonement to the Justice of God for the remission of it but this one Sacrifice of Christ thousands of rams will not procure it God therefore blows upon them with contempt Mic. 6. 6 7 8. Nor will all the waters of Abana and Pharpar cleanse this Leprosy it is only the Blood of Christ is cleansing and that Blood doth cleanse from all sin 1 Joh 1. 7. 4. Except it be applied to you it will not have this saving efficacy Christ doth not profit all although his vertue be sufficient yet all are not pardoned and healed by him there are multitudes that perish in their sins notwithstanding and that not only of those to whom he was never revealed in the Gospel but of such also who have been told of and invited to come to him and whence is this but because application hath not been made of him to them for this end Sinners that are outwardly called perish as well as others and the reason â— because they do not answer the Call and come to the waters the threatning is therefore declared against such Prov. 1. 24. c. Because I have called and ye refused c. I will also laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear 〈◊〉 c. 5. Till then you know that he hath been thus applied to you your condition must needs be dubious It is from the work of Application that we â—â—e to fetch our evidence of our safe estate It is not enough that there is a Christ and that he is a Fountain of Salvation but is he â—â—rs for this reason Professors are put upon it to prove and try themselves and the enquiry is not whether there be such a Fountain and there be a fulness in it but whether Christ be in us 2 Cor. 13. 5. Know ye not your own selves how that Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates And hence we have such an expression Col. 1. 27. Christ in you the hope of Glory And though if the thing be so your state is out of danger yet till you know that it is so you cannot enjoy inward
quiet or satisfaction 6. There are many who cheat themselves with false hopes on this account The natural security in sinful man makes him ready to take easy satisfaction about his good estate and the delusions of Satan and the false reports of a carnal mind and the fair shews which there are in a common work of the Spirit aâ— snares which they are entangled by there â— upon this account great need to be cautioneâ— against rash presumption lest otherwise you labour of a pernicious mistake thus the Apostle to them 1 Cor. 6. 9. Be not deceived 7. The Doctrine in hand affords you a sure Rule of Trial. Whatsoever difference there may be in the manner or degree of mourning oâ— of the impressions which are made on thâ— Conscience by the Terrors of the Lord yet when God makes the Gospel effectual for the application of the vertue of this Fountain to a Sinner he always gives a Spirit of Mourning and Prayer i. e. He gives Grace to mourn and pray after a Godly manner If therefore you can discover this to be in you and are not mistaken about it you have an evidence that will not deceive you Put your selves then upon the trial of them severally and that by such Rules as follow 1. Hath God poured upon you a Spirit of mourning for Sin have you received the Grace of God by sorrow And for proof of this 1. Did you ever mourn at all for Sin if not this Trial is resolved at once He that never mourned for sin did never partake in the saving vertue of this fountain and it is to be feared that a great many forward Professors will fall at this first Trial. There are many that build high but did never dig for a founâ—tion The stony ground hearers Religion â—egins with joy as Mat. 13. 20. He heareth â—e word and anon with joy receiveth it It may â—e you have mourned for the fruits of sin for â—our outward losses bereavements reproachâ—s pains c. but it hath not been the Sin that procured them but the things themselves â—hat stirred up your sorrow and if the Sin it â—elf was not bitter to you you never repaired â—o the Grace of Christ to take it away 2. Have you mourned after a Godly sort It may be you have been touched with remorâ—es of Conscience Sin hath been set home upon you with terror but that may be and yet be only a part of the punishment of Sin in this life there is therefore a double sorrow for sin Godly and Worldly 2 Cor. 7. 10. And is yours a Godly one Try it by these things 1. Have you ever felt the bitterness of Sin it self Many an one finds sorrow by his sins and is forced to acknowledge that his Sin hath brought it upon him who yet is not led by it to see and believe that Sin is in its own nature so vile and evil as to be odious It may be he only reads it in the Law and he sees that God will maintain his own Law but mean while he lays the blame not on the sin that procured his sorrow but on the Law that had such a Sanction in it and he is therefore sorry for his sin only because he is sorry that there is such a Law that will not suffer him to siâ— with impunity this is no Godly Sorrow it â—â— not acted by Humility but by pride anâ— prejudice and he saith as they Ezek. 33. 10 If our transgressions and our sins be upon us anâ— we pine away in them how shall we then live 2. Have you been deeply oppressed with the burden of siri so as thereby to be made weary of it Though God improves the troubles and mischiefs procured by Sin to bring us to see the evil of it and cry out by reason of thâ— bitterness there is in it yet in a kindly mourning sin it self is made to be a burden that we cannot tell how to bear and hereupon we long to be rid of it and earnestly seek after a freedom from it thus it was with Paul Rom. 7 24. Oh wretcheâ— man that I am whâ— shall deliver the from the body of this death We seek a parâ—â—â— for we are undone without it but we â—eek the death of Sin too nor can we be at quieâ— but in the assurance and experience of the beginning of it in us and a comfortable perswaâ—â—on that it will ere long be wholly destroyed hence that groan of his Psal 38. 4. Mine iniquities are gone over mine heaâ— as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me 3. Hath your mourning reached to and fined upon the sin of your nature It is not enough to have bewailed this or that particular actual Sin although God usually makes the conviction â—f and the sorrow for such to be leading to â—he other but he that hath truly mourned for Sin hath been led up from thence to the fountain of corruption which is within and that hath driven him to seek after the Fountain of Grace which is in Christ and always true mourning ceaseth not till it cometh hither and lays out its greatest lamentations here thus it did in David in the forecited Psal 51. 5. And in the Church Isa 64. 6. We are all as an unclean thing and in Paul Rom. 7. 21. I find a law that when I would do good evil is present with me 4. Hath this sorrow wrought in you unto a true Repentance from Sin Repentance is one of the saving works of the Spirit wrought in Application and wherever Christ is communicated to any as a fountain of Grace there will be this effect of it Now Godly Sorrow is an ingredient of this Repentance and therefore if it be right it will ever accompany such a thing Repentance is a cordial turning from Sin to God Sorrow for sin is that which helps and promoves this turning if it be kindly for it is a separating Affection and as it derives from hatred of that which procures our trouble so it will express it in carrying us away from it hence that 2 Cor. 7. 9. Ye sorrowed to Repentance for ye were made sorry after a godly manner Iâ— then ye have mourned never so bitterly for Sin yet if you have not reached to such a Repentance it hath not been right nor will it evidence your being in Christ 5. Hath this sorrow kindled in you an universal hatred of Sin When God embitters sin to us it is to make us to loath it and if this hatred be of the right stamp it will not only be against that one sin that hath done us the present sensible harm but all of the kind but every thing that bears the nature of sin on it we can say as he Psal 119. 104. I hate every false way And the reason is because if we mourned for sin under the consideration of its being sin we shall be engaged against every other sin in which we see the same grounds of hatred or
Psal 32. 5. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin And this confession hath been full and free and without any covers for he there saith Mine iniquity have I not hid It is a false heart that petitions help against sin and in praying for it pleads excuses and extenuations This proceeds from â— spirit of bondage and not from a spirit of Adopâ—ion 5. Have you humbled your selves to Gods foot in your Prayers to him A spirit of Prayer is a Soul humbling a Soul-abasing spirit hence that Psal 9. 12. He forgetteth not the cry of the humble and 10. 17. Lord thou hast heard the desire of the humble thou wilt prepare their heart thou wilt cause thine ear to hear He that prays as he ought to God for pardon and acceptance in Christ is deeply sensible of his great vileness by reason of sin and of his utter unworthiness of mercy and hence he goes with â— rope on his head and sackcloth on his loyns i. e. He reâ—â—gns himself to God with all the Testimonials of his acknowledging that he hath no dependence on any thing but free Grace that he hath nothing of his own nor can he oblige God he therefore carries that with him in Dan. 9. 8. 9. To us belongs confusion of face to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses And his address is in that form Psal 25. 11. For thy name sake O Lord pardon mine iniquity for it is great 6. Have you Prayed for the Purging as well as earnestly as for Pardon Doubtless he that knows what it is to be Guilty before God will be very importunate in asking forgiveness and well he may for who can stand before Gods angâ— But a kindly resentment of Guilt so as to justify God who condemns will be accompanied with an apprehension of the vileness of sin and that will make us weary of the presence of it and to loath our selves for it which will draw out our cryes to have it taken away both these therefore are included in that Hoâ— 14 2. Take away all iniquity 7. Are your Prayers importunate or in good earnest There are many that pray in good words and it may be with much of noise too and yet not from a Spirit of Supplication they are not importunate and cordial requests which they put up He that is in earnest will take no denial but will press with greatest urgency and resolution One of the Ancients complains of himself that when he prayed against his Lusts he was afraid lest God should answer him this was not from the Spirit of Grace and if you are in good â—arnest you will watch the answer of your prayers to see what return there is of them Psal 85. 10. I will hear what God the Lord will say 1â—0 5. My Soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning 8. Do you persevere in Prayer As it is the duty of all Gods People so to do Eph. 6. 18. Praying always c. watching thereunto with all perseverance So it is one property of the Spirit of Prayer and there is a double perseverance to be eyed in this you are constant and unwearied in your duty you pray without ceasing 1 Thes 5. 17. You resolve as Psal 116 2. I will call upon him as long as I live And you hold on in it against all that would discourage you If you have not a present answer according to desire it doth not beat you off but quickens your ardour and you say as Isa 8. 17. I will wait on the Lord who hideth his face If he repulse you you turn his very repulses into arguments as that poor woman did Mat. 15. 25 26. 9 And doth the sense of sin always drive you to Prayer Do your Consciences at any time reflect and charge Guilt on you Doth this always bring you upon your knees and cause you to pour out your hearts in supplication Do you find the stirrings of inward Concupiscence and the Law in your members warring against the law of your mind What course do you take to get it mortified Is prayer now not neglected These are the motions of a Spirit of Supplication in a Child of God This course we find David is on all occasions taking in the Psalms USE III. For Exhortation in several particulars 1. Let this point awakened Sinners in what way to seek after Christ Certainly when God sets Sin home upon the Conscience of a Sinner it calls aloud to him to repair to the fountain And would you go to it so as to participate in the saving efficacy of it then 1. Do it mournfully Dry addresses to God are insignificant things and will find no acceptance Beg of God then to bestow such a Spirit upon you and labour to express it with all suitable deportment Labour therefore to embitter your Sin to your selves with all the proper considerations that may make it vile and fill you with the deepest sense of your misery by reason of it This is the only way for you to give God his glory both of his Righteousness in condemning you and his rich mercy in pardoning and healing you You will never come humbly unless you come mourning and this is the way to obtain the blessing from him God takes distinct notice of this and he is pleased with it see Jer. 31. 18 with 20. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself c. Is Ephraim my dear Son c. And we find that Christ was anointed purposely for the relief of such Isa 61. begin 2. Do it with Supplications If ever God giveth you the experience of the vertue of the Fountain in you for the taking away of your Sin and Uncleanness he will make you to pray for it he hath said Ezek. 36. 37. I will be sought to c. Seek his face and favour confess your sins and keep not silence seek to him in Christ's name and present your petition before him this is the right returning to God Joel 2. 12. By thus doing you will acknowledge Christ to be the Fountain of Grace when you do seek it of him and call upon him for it And for your encouragement know it that if you do indeed thus seek him you shall find him If a persecuting Saul prays to him he observes it and accepts it of him Acts 9 11. Behold he prayeth Yea he hath said Psal 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me 2. Let this stir up mourners to pray Are there any whose sins are made their burden and they are in bitterness by reason of them instead of nourishing despondent and despairing thoughts in you and making you to hide away from God let it drive you to him to seek his face and favour his pity and pardon let it draw forth that request from you in Psa 41. 4. Heal my Soul for I have sinned against
thee This is the fittest posture to pray in and God is ready to hear such in their Souls distress that cry unto him for his help David puts both together Psal 6. 8 9. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping the Lord hath heard my supplication It is good to come unto God in such a case and make an argument of it as he did Isa 38. 14. Oh Lord I am oppressed undertake for me 3. Let the Children of God nourish this spirit in them A Spirit of mourning and of supplication is the proper Evangelical Spirit it is therefore one of the properties that belong to them whom Christ hath pronounced blessed Mat. 5. 4. Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Nor is it only proper in our first returning to God but you will have occasion to use it as long as you live while you carry about with you a body of death you will never be without occasion for bitter mourning and lamentation you will see reason to go softly all your days and as long as Sin stirs in you and leads you into Captivity you will need the pity and help of God the vertue and efficacy of the fountain to derive fresh supplies of pardon and healing to you and therefore prayer is a duty that you cannot do without and no prayer is acceptable to God but what proceeds from such a spirit 4. Be we here directed what to pray for and endeavour to promote in others We ought to seek and use means for the Salvation of Sinners and peculiarly for those to whom we are tied by the bonds of near relation and if ever they be saved they must repair to this fountain for it and if they so do and succeed it must be with mourning and supplication Let us then use means to bring them to this by shewing them their need and shewing them where their help is and how it is alone to be obtained and let us bring them to God and ask for them this grace and if we see them brought into distress and made to enquire how they may find redress let us nourish this in them and not go about to suppress or stifle it 5. This calls all those on whom God hath poured such a Spirit to Thankfulness to him for it Hath God given us truly to mourn and pray by reason of Sin he hath done us an unconceivable kindness there is no greater token of his Everlasting Love it saith that he hath been laying a foundation for eternal life in us these tears and these cries have solid consolation in them they are his gift and he gave them to us that so he might bring us to himself and put us into the way of blessedness Let this then be one thing for which we praise him and let this nourish and strengthen such a frame in us to consider that eternal joy is secured to it for we are assured in Psal 126. 5 6. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again rejoycing bringing his sheaves with him FINIS Rather than this Page should stand Empty the Reader may be gratified with the last Clause of Dr. Thomas Goodwin's Exposition of the Revelation which is as followeth AND for the JEWS Call which is conjunct with this Killing Rising of the Witnesses As it depends not upon ordinary Means to effect it so there are like to be no Preparations at all unto it until it comes as there are not for Things extraordinary but a Nation shall bring forth in a Day as the Prophet speaks And so in the very Year before it there will be no more outward Appearrances or Probabilities of it than there are now or than there have been many hundred Years since And therefore our Faith need not be put off from this by the seeing as yet no Stirrings or Motions at all unto it or towards it And the Truth is both the Killing and Rising of the Witnesses and also the Calling of the JEWS may fall out sooner than we are aware of Evangelical Perfection OR How far the Gospel requires Believers to Aspire after being compleatly Perfect As it was Delivered on a Lecture at Boston on June 10th 1694. By Samuel Willard Teacher of a Church in Boston MATH V. 48. Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect IN this Chapter with the two following an account is given of the substance or heads of a Sermon which Christ preached to his Disciples in the audience of a multitude soon after he had called them The matters contained in this fifth Chapter may be reduced to three heads 1. He points the way to true Blessedness by describing the subjects of it in several distinguishing Characters of them and declaring wherein theâ— appear to be really happy Verse 3. to 13 2. He lays open the Office and Duty oâ— such as would approve themselves to be faithful and edifying Ministers of the Gospel to Verse 17. 3. He asserts the great usefulness of the Moral Law under the Gospel assuring us that his design was not to Abolish but Establish it and thereupon proceeds to Vindicate the true sense of it from the corrupt and false glosses of the Jewish Doctors to the end of the Chapter In which he insists upon severaâ— Articles which had been more especially depraved by them and the words of our Text are an Exhortation which he draws from the whole foregoing discourse though I know there are some who needlesly restrain it to the next foregoing duty of expressing our cordial love to our enemies in opposition to the Doctrine of the Scribes who taught that we should love our neighbour and hate our enemy I know the words are expressed in the Future tense Ye shall be perfect but yet they are noâ— to bâ— understood Promissorily as some do interpret them but Preceptively as an injunctâ—on laid upon us And we have several like instances in this Chapter yea it is frequenâ— in all languages to use the Future for the Imperative You shall do thus or so intending require or command you so to do In the words besides thâ— Illation therefore which refers to the foregoing discourse there â—e two parts 1. A duty enjoyned Be ye perfect The â—bject of this command are Christs Disciples â—rse 1. The thing required is perfection which what it is will be afterward considerâ— 2. The Pattern which is set before us to â—llow in our essayes after this perfection â—â— your Father which is in heaven is perfect So â—at here the Divine perfection is proposed to â—â— for our imitation and an argument is used â—o urge it from the consideration of that relaâ—ion which he bears to us he is our Father in â—eaven and Children are apt to take after â—heir Parents Hence that 1 Pet. 1. 15 16. As he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy â—â— all manner of conversation because it is
writâ—en be ye Holy for I am Holy Here is not an â—quality intended but a similitude together with such a measure as the Creature is capable â—f attaining unto for the greatest perfections â—f the most excellent Creatures are imperfeâ—â—ions compared with God Nor are all the Divine Perfections here intended there are â—hose that are by Divines called Incommunicable â—hich we are to admire but not to aspire afâ—er and there are those which are said to be Communicable Namely such whereof there may be an Image oâ—â—dark representation iâ— us and these aâ—â—here aimed at These perfections consist in that Holiness and Righteousness whiâ—â— are required in the Moral Law uâ—â— to which we are enabled by the Sanctificatioâ— of the Spirit the Graces whereof in us arâ— called the Image of God by which we imitate him in his Holiness and Righteousness That the Duty here required is Evangelical therein appears because Christ enjoynâ—th â—â— on his Disciples and such as can call God then Father by vertue of the Adoption which wâ— are told cometh in upon believing Gal. 3. 26 For we are the Children of God through faith iâ— Jesus Christ The only matter of difficulty before us is to know what is the perfection intended by Christ in this precept and which he requiretâ— and expecteth that all those who approvâ— themselves to be his Disciples should be alwayâ— aspiring after And that which makes it thâ— more difficult is because the word is variously used in the Scriptures and differently applieâ— by Expositors to this Text. The word signifyeth that which hath attained its end and because when a thing hath so done it haâ—â— reached its perfection according to its capacity it is Metonymically used for it and so one thaâ— is adult or grown up to his full Stature is said to be a perfect man Eph. 4. 13. And theâ— whose Grace is arrived to its fulness in Glory are called Just men made perfect Heb. 12. 23. Divines distinguish perfection into Legal and Evangelical which is a true distinction if taken in a sound sense but is warâ—â— to be understood They tell us also that there is a perfection of parts which is called Integrality and so an infant is a perfect man because he hath all the parts which belong to that Speciâ—â— and of Degrees when these parts are compleated and come to the just measure which nature aspired unto They speak also of a Relative or Comparative perfection when though a thing be in it self defective yet when it is compared with another of its own kind it doth very much exceed or go beyond it and that which is Absolute which is when it is improved to its utmost capacity they observe that perfection is sometimes used for Sincerity in opposition to Hypocrisy when a man not only professeth Godliness but is the man he pretends to be such an one is sound or perfect whereas the other is unsound and so imperfect Now all these distinctions have their foundation in the word of God nor without distinguishing can we be able to reconcile those Texts which assert the present perfection of the people of God even in this life with those that do deny any here to be perfect which would else be contradictions whereas we are assured that the spirit of God doth not contradict himself in his word Now though it be â—â—sily granted on all hands that Christ â—quires Sincerity or an Upright Heart of â—s yea and Integrity too or a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be expressed to all his Commands and he will accept of such sincerity and integrity at the hands of his people in these duties which they perform in faith seeking for their acceptance in Christ in which respect I suppose Evangelical Obedienâ—â— doth mainly differ from that which is Legaâ— and God is pleased with it when he rejects the other yet how far absolute perfection is comprized in the precept here given by Christ is a matter of doubt and debate among many There are and those not a few who with greatest confidence do assert that God doth not expect or require of his people under the Gospel Covenant that perfection in their Obedience to him which he did under the Covenant of Works but hath abated of the strictness of the Command and if we do our best there is no more required of us Which assertion though I believe that many who use it do mean well and intend nothing else in it than is acknowledged by all the Orthodox yet it is a very unsafe assertion in the letter of it and is one foundation on which the Papists do build their Doctrines of mens merits and works of supererogation yea and many Protestants do also introduce that absurd and dangerous notion of making our Obedience to be of the matter of our Justification because being upon a New Covenant account we do fulfil the Obedience that is in it required of us and so by that Covenant it bespeaks our Justification Loose Professors also are hurt by this opinion they think they are sincere and because of this indulgence are too negligent in their duty and fail in that true Repentance which they ought every day to be in the renewed exercises of It may then be of present use to discuss this Case viz. Quest Whether that Personal Perfection which God requires of his people under the Covenant of Grace be the same for kind and degree with that which was required in the Covenant of Works or any thing short of it A. For the more distinct opening and reâ—olving this important Case let these things â—e observed 1. That the question is not concerning Unconâ—erted Ones who are under the outward Dispensaâ—ion of the Gospel but those that are under Grace â— e. those that are truly Converted to God â—ouching the former of these it is to be well â—bserved that notwithstanding the offer they â—ave made to them and standing which they â—ave under the Covenant and Promises exhiâ—ited by the Gospel to men in which life and Salvation is hypothetically promised unto them and invitations are urged upon them to entertain it on the terms proposed yet before such time as they have actually embraced the offered Grace they are truly under the Law as a Covenant of Works and because they are so it demands of them personal perfection both habitual and actual and that on paiâ— of death for we are told in Gal. 3. 10. Aâ— many as are of the works of the Law are undâ—â— the Curse for it is written Cursed is every 〈◊〉 that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them Hence as of old God gave the Moral Law a new Sanction on Mount Sinai with thundrings and lightnings and great terrors as we are informed Exod. 19 20 So to make way foâ— the veiled Gospel which was afterwards giveâ— to Moses and by him to Israel in those Ordâ—nances or Ceremonial Institutions which werâ— delivered to him so under the Gospel tâ— those