God in prosperity yet would worldly prosperity be a comfortlesse condition should not Christ by his Spirit come to them Riches and honours together with all other delights of the Sonnes of Men they are as the white of an Egge things without savour unlesse Christ come along with them to us they tyre and weary prick distract and vex a man they rob him of his sleepe and many times of his wits nay of his precious life they drowne mens soules in pride voluptuousnesse security and so set them in the next way to Hell This snare waits at every ungodly mans table which makes prosperity to him comfortlesse This Snare that it may not catch the godly Christ comes to them by his Spirit and sanctifies prosperity to them he teaches them how to a bound that is how so to use the creature as to enjoy service and comfort from it and to bring honour and glory to God by it The creature is empty of what it promiseth and entising with what it hath and this makes prosperity to every carnall man a comfortlesse condition Now to take off both these Christ comes to his children which enjoy the creature plenteously he comes in the creature and so cures the emptinesse of it that is by his blessing he makes it satisfiable and contentfull to the enjoyer which it is not of it selfe this is the peculiar gaine that attends the godly Christ comes in the creature to them and so cures the emptinesse of it and puts such a supernaturall vertue and sweetnesse in it that they are therewith contented And as Christ comes in the creature to cure the emptinesse of it so hee comes with the creature to cure the entising of it He doth by the creature leade the soules of his children to the Creator by the sweet of the one he lifts up their soules to Heaven to admire the sweetness of the other so that that which others are entised and besotted with and rest in that they take wing from to flee to Heaven from whence comes every good and perfect gift which is that indeed that makes prosperity a comfortable condition which otherwise is comfortlesse enough the Lord knowes Secondly adversity would be a comfortlesse condition to the godly if Christ by his Spirit did not come to them This I suppose none will deny for no affliction in it selfe is comfortable or joyfull but comfort lesse if Christ by his Spirit do not come to us Corporall affliction is a comfortlesse condition unlesse Christ come to us and be our Physitian Spirituall affliction is a more comfortlesse condition if Christ do not come to us Here these two questions are necessary to be answered First how doth Christ come to us in corporall affliction Secondly how doth Christ come to us in spirituall affliction To these questions both together I thus answer Christ the Physitian of soule and body comes to both with comfort in one way and that is by helping the soule to apply the promises of God which are suitable to his distresse If a childe of God be sad and sorrowfull because of corporall affliction Christ comes to him by his Spirit with this comfortable language I am all-sufficient Christ by his Spirit spreads abroad this Cardinall promise before the sad soule and shewes him what a depth of mercy is foulded up in it There is a sufficiency of wisdome in me to find out wayes and means to deliver thee though never so low brought There is likewise a sufficiency of power to prosecute right meanes to accomplish their right end Nay there is a sufficiency of power in me to work about good for thee O sad soule without meanes There 's a sufficiency of affection and will to declare power and wisdome with every Attribute else for thy good If for all this application and amplification of a generall promise the soule still droope under some corporall calamity Christ doth then in such a soule as Iacobs sons and daughters did for him They all rose up saith the Text and comforted him Gen. 37.35 so Christ by his Spirit after a lively manner indeed rises up in such a soule to comfort him and now hee leads this mourning Christian to some particular promise that is such a promise as speaks not of deliverance in generall but of deliverance in particular out of this or that kinde of distresse which he groanes under As to give you an instance suppose a Christian be sad take thought as Christ saith what he shall eat what he shall drinke and wherewithall he shall be cloathed then the Comforter comes with this particular promise which speakes of deliverance out of this particular distresse First seeke the Kingdome of God and his righteousnesse and all these things shall be added unto you take therefore no thought for to morrow for to morrow shall take thought for the things of it selfe Mat. 6.33,34 If yet for all this the spirit of a Christian still complaine as one fearing he shall want daily bread for him and his then the Comforter comes and perswades the soule to rest quietly upon the promise of God Hee speakes now to the complaining Christian as the Levits father in law did to him Comfort thy selfe I pray thee with a morsell of bread Iudges 19. Comfort thy selfe O mourning soule I pray thee with this particular promise which is but a morsell of that bread which came downe from Heaven one of the least favours that Christ hath procured for thee to wit a right and interest in the creature with this perswasive language doth Christ follow the complaining soule untill he hath perswaded him to own his own mercy and so he keeps his children in poverty from being comfortlesse As Christ in corporall afflictions comes to his children and keeps them from being comfortlesse so likewise he comes to them in spirituall afflictions that they may not be left comfortlesse If a childe of God be sad and sorrowfull because of this or that strong temptation the Comforter then comes to him with this sweet language My grace is sufficient for thee Thou prayest and Satan tempts thee thou doest fast and pray and yet Satan and thy lusts are more violent upon thee thou doest all this with bitter teares and Satan is the more bitterly bent against thee and thou art foil'd every moment By this O winnowed soule Christ would shew thee that thou wilt bee comfortlesse in the midst of all thy sore soule-labour unlesse he come to thee This same shall comfort us concerning the work and toile of our hands said Lamech of Noah so may we say of Christ this same must comfort us concerning the labour and toile of our soules with any temptation or else we shall be comfortlesse though we labour never so much and this Christ doth and will do I will not leave you comfortlesse I will come to you If a Christian lye languishing because of Satans prevailing upon him by temptation that hee may not be comfortlesse in this
throughly thou must to finde out what evill deprived thee of so great a good and in serious soule searching God will speak to thy conscience and conscience will speak plainly to thee and tell thee wherein thou didst give distaste to thy Comforter and what was the cause he forsook thy soule And when thou hast found out that evill which conscience tels thee deprived thee of so great a good thou must fall very foule with it how sweet soever it hath been unto thee Thy great worke must be to bring thy heart to a holy revenge upon this sin to abhorre it and thy selfe because of it and to become very vile as Iob saith and very low in thine owne eyes Bring thy heart to admire the infinite patience and mercy of God that things are no worse with thy soule That God had not cut thee off in the acting of that sinne for which he deserted thee that he hath left any place for repentance and given the least desire to set about this work And when thou art come thus farre possibly the light of Gods countenance may begin now and then to glance into thy soul as at some little cranny or at least some more then ordinary lightsomnesse may appear in thy dark dull soul as there doth in the dark morning some space of time before the Sun appears that had left this Horizon Now this beame of light or this little lightsomenesse of soule thou must much admire and acknowledge an unfathomed depth of love in it that God should so much as once stoope to cast an eye after thee more to give thy soule the least refreshing that did abuse flagons of love By this glimpse of light or glimmering light you are to strengthen your faith in the beliefe of this that light will more and more appeare as the light of the morning unto the perfect day and so consequently to follow God with so much the more fervency of prayer for the returne of his wonted kindnesse Toseph you know carried himselfe very roughly to his brethren which had abused him for some space of time and put them in great feare of the losse of their lives told them they were Spies and many harsh words he gave them and harsh looks but at last when his Brethren had brought to him Benjamin and discoursed a while Iosephs bowels began to work and he could no longer with-hold his brotherly love Come neare to me I pray you I am Ioseph your brother c. Gen. 45.4 Thus Christ our elder Brother deales with us who do unkindly unbrotherly use him he will handle us very roughly and put us in fear of the losse of our best lives he will make our consciences speake bitter things against us and let loose the Devill to tell us that we are Spies hypocrites and false friends to Christ in this distracted affrighted perplexed state hee may hold us many dayes many weeks many moneths but hee cannot hold in his brotherly love alwayes if wee patiently beare his frownes and kindly intreat him and bring Benjamin to him his own blood and merits this will make his bowels worke and make him unmask himselfe and say come neare to me O mourning soules tossed and not comforted I am Christ your elder brother whom yee unkindly used in a little wrath I hid my face from you but now with everlasting kindnesse will I embrace you Trinuni Deo gloria FINIS CHRISTS COMMUNION with his Church Militant 2. Tim. 4. verse 22. The Lord Iesus Christ bee with thy spirit THis Text is Pauls sweet affectionate farwell to Timothy Many grave and gracious instructions Paul had given Timothy but 't is not so much what man saith to the eare as as what Christ saith to the heart that workes effectually to set man about his duty and therefore doth Paul in the conclusion of all his Christian counsell to Timothy pathetically pray That the Lord Iesus Christ would be with his Spirit The best teaching of man is but as water spilt on the ground unlesse Christ inwardly teach the spirit If I am taught my duty by a Paul one in gifts not inferiour to the chiefest Apostles yet unlesse Christ bee with my spirit to make things take roote there all will die and wither like good seed cast into bad ground And therefore Paul saw it but needfull as to teach the eare so to intreate the Lord to teach and strengthen the spirit The Lord Iesus Christ bee with thy Spirit There is a great distance you know betweene the eare and the heart it is an easie thing for man to bring home things unto the one but no lesse then the Al-mighty power of Christ will bring home things unto the other There is an incomparable hardnesse upon the heart of man naturally it is harder then an Adamant now though a child with his little finger may make a dint upon dow yet a Gyant with all his strength cannot make dints upon an Adamant much lesse can all created strength make divine impressions upon the spirit of man and therefore it is that Paul doth implore an Almighty strength to doe this The Lord Iesus Christ bee with thy Spirit Why doth not Paul here wish riches and honours pleasures unto Timothy Is the bare presence of Christ with a mans spirit such a blessing To this I answer riches and honours c. they are bona but not optima good things but not the best things Earthly things though good in themselves yet are no further forth good to mee then as the Lord Jesus Christ is with my spirit to guide it to use them and therefore Paul as one truly wise prayed for the prime good for Timothy for that good which makes all other things worke together for good to wit That the Lord Iesus Christ would bee with his Spirit The point I intend to stand on is this That to have the Lord Iesus Christ with our spirits is a prime and principall blessing Paul here wisheth it to Timothy as a cardinall blessing The Lord Iesus Christ bee with thy spirit Enucleatio propositionis To have Christ with our spirits c. How can Christ bee present with man upon Earth who is now ascended and sitteth at the right Hand of his Father in Heaven The Apostle doth hint an answer to this question in the forme of his Prayer if you observe it The Lord Iesus Christ saith hee be with thy spirit Hee speakes of such a presence as will fitly yeeld Communion and fellowship to the spirit of man There is a double presence of Christ with man corporall and spirituall joyntly or meerly spirituall With just men made perfect in glory Christ is corporally present they behold his wounded Body made a glorious Body as a continuall assurance of the Resurrection of their owne vile bodies unto the same similitude And with them Christ is present spiritually filling them with those joyes the tast of which upon Earth is called unspeakable and full of
glory Of this communion speakes Christ himselfe I in them and thou in mee that they may bee made perfect in one Iohn 17.23 As the soule is tota in toto tota in qualibet parte according to the whole in that whole which is lesse noble then it selfe according to the whole that is according to that full force and energy which the soule hath it actuates and organizeth every member of the body the least as well as the greatest So Christ in the mysticall body of Saints glorified is as I may say Totus in toto totus in qualibet parte Whole Christ doth wholy exercise dominion in every glorified soule hence it is that all such souls are wholly holy and wholy happy that is perfectly holy and perfectly happy for as much as Christ who is the fulnesse of his Fathers glory is fully present with them Secondly there is a presence of Christ with man meerly spirituall that is such a presence as whereby not the person but the providence of Christ may bee seene Such a presence as superiora have with inferiora not a contiguall but a vertuall presence a presence of influence and governance as the Sunne hath with us by his rayes and beames And this presence is either commune or speciall The Commune presence of Christ with man is that wherby man is upheld and guided according to the being of a rationall creature Of this presence of Christ with man speakes the Apostle that they should seeke the Lord if happily they might feele after him and sinde him though hee bee not farre from every one of us for in him we live move and have our being Acts 17.27.28 Christ as an upholder of each creature is not far from every one of us that is hee is still present with us thus and with all Nations of men which hee hath made of one bloud to dwell upon the face of the Earth This presence of Christ with man therefore cannot properly bee called a prime and principall blessing a choise and speciall favour because it is Commune to man-kinde in generall yea Commune to all Creatures below man for God is with all the workes of his Handes to uphold every Creature according to its proper species Secondly there is a speciall presence of Christ with man which is that efficacious working of the Spirit of Christ in the spirit of man whereby it is made one spirit with the Spirit of Christ in willing and nilling according to that of the Apostle Hee that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit There is a speciall presence of Christ with the bodies of men for the good of them which the Psalmist intimates where hee saith that hee knowes our frame and remembers that wee are but dust and that the Angells of the Lord pitch their Tents about the righteous And Iacob found the truth of this by experience when hee fled before Esan and slept so sweetly upon a stone But this tender and speciall presence and providence of Christ respecting the outward man is comprehended under the other which respects the inward man as quid minus sub majori a lesse blessing under a greater For if God bee in a speciall manner present with my spirit to guide and order that unto all Holy wayes my spirit will command my body to walke in them too and so consequently Christ cannot chuse but be tenderly present with my body also for the good of that whilst every member thereof is actuated by a spirit of his owne ordering to his owne honour as weapons of Righteousnesse And therefore doth Paul pithily to speake much in few silently passe over that which is necessarily presupposed praying that Christ would bee with Timothies spirit and then he was sure Christ would bee after a speciall manner present with his body too for the good of that The Lord Iesus Christ bee with thy spirit That is the Lord Iesus Christ exercise a speciall dominion in thy spirit for the guiding and ordering of it unto the avoyding of all evill and to the performing of all good whereby Christ may have all the glory due to his Name Now that thus to have Christ present with a mans spirit is a prime and principall blessing I will plainely demonstrate to you by a triple argument ab effectu Thus to have Christ present with our spirits is the ready way to all temporall spirituall and eternall good and therefore must needes bee a prime and principall blessing Thus to have Christ present with a mans spirit is the ready way unto all temporall good Men whose spirits Christ doth after a speciall manner order to avoid sinne and to keepe themselves pure as Paul here useth the expression to Timothy all temporall good things so farre forth as may be good for them belong unto them by promise For godlinesse hath the promise of this life It shall come to passe saith the Lord if you walke in my wayes that I will blesse you in the fruite of the Wombe in the fruit of the Field in the basket and store c. If you walke in my wayes I will doe this c. Why they with whose spirits Christ is after a speciall manner present this is their high way as Salomon saith to depart from evill that is this is their daily endevour to walke in all the wayes of the Lord and so consequently all temporall good of right belongs unto them But you will say how is it then that those with whose spirits Christ is most present to make most tender for his honour have usually least of all temporall good things To this the answer is easie and manifold Men with whose spirits Christ is most present to make them most tender to avoide sinne and to keepe themselves pureâ— these the Divell doth most of all maligne and sets his limmes to spoile them of their goods as the Author to the Hebrewes saith to keepe them from that which Christ would have them advanced to or else to strip them of that which Christ hath conferred on them by imprisonment banishment and the like and so make such live in Dens and Holes and Caves of the Earth to wander in Deserts and Wildernesses wearing Sheeps-skins and Goates-skins of whom the World is not worthy Where a spirit of malice and confusion rules t is no marvell to see servants set on horse-back and Princes goe on foote Secondly men with whose spirit Christ is after a speciall manner present he takes special notice to what evill the spirit is most enclined so answerably gives of these outward things unto them A wise Father hath his eye upon the disposition of his child and to what exorbitancy he finds him enclined he labours to prevent all occasions to it and so keeps his child short of what hee could otherwise liberally allow him And thus 't is with our heavenly Father respecting his children he eyes strictly their spirits and if he see them inclined to pride covetousnesse or any
other scandalous vice hee shortens them in that which may foment these At this I thinke Iames may point where he saith Let the rich rejoyce in that he is made low Iames 1.10 God out of tender love to his children oft times makes them poore in purse that they may become poore in spirit and so capable of the Kingdome of Heaven Which rightly weighed is not matter of sorrow but matter of joy as Iames saith Thirdly those with whose spirits Christ is after a speciall manner present to guide them to walke in his wayes and to keepe themselves pure Christ doth prove them by poverty as by other things and hence it may come to passe that Christians very holy may yet notwithstanding be very destitute of the things of this life Thus you know the Lord dealt with Iob. Christ was after a speciall manner present with his Spirit to guide him to walke uprightly above many in his time now to make knowne this to the world to his own glory and Iobs eternall honour he stript Iob of all and set him upon a dunghill who before sat with the chiefest in seats of honour God will have the world know that those with whose spirits hee is after a special manner present to guide and order them are not as those with whose spirits the devill is in a speciall manner present to guide and order to wit such as will winde and turne every way when put to it Lastly those with whose spirits Christ is after a speciall manner present they desire but little of the things of this life and therefore 't is no marvell to see Christians very holy yet not very wealthy Christians with whose spirit Christ is after a speciall manner present they only desire daily bread Agurs portion food convenient and this the Lord gives them and with this they are contented which is the only wealthy estate Christians with whose spirit Christ is after a speciall manner present they hunger and thirst after righteousnesse not after riches in the world they covet the best gifts the unsearchable riches of Christ and not the fading riches of this life Now Christ applyes himselfe to be most liberall in the distribution of that which the spirits of men most bend after in mercy or in justice Christians whose spirits most strongly bend after grace to these Christ in mercy doth most bountifully apply himselfe to give grace according to that of Christ Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse for they shall bee filled Christians whose spirits most strongly bend after worldly riches to these oft times Christ in justice most liberally applies himselfe to give those according to that of the Psalmist Whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure Psal 17.14 According likewise to that of Solomon There is a sore evill which I have seene under the Sun namely riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt Eccl. 5.13 The objection being thus answered the argument is still of force That to have Christ with our spirits is the way to all temporall good and so consequently a prime and principall blessing But that I may yet more fully speak in this argument note that temporall good is either positive or privative if I may for illustrations sake so distinguish Temporall good in a positive sense is that secular thing which is in it selfe good as bread and cloathing and the like of which we have already spoken Temporall good privatively so called is affliction ordered to a mans good which in it selfe is not so Now all those with whose spirits Christ is present are partakers of this temporall good All outward losses and crosses tend to their inward gaine because Christ is with their spirits For all outward troubles are heavier or lighter more hurtfull or more profitable still to a man as Christ is pleased to order his Spirit under them A little outward trouble if Christ let it seize upon a mans spirit he quickly sinks and dyes under his burthen according to that of the Apostle worldly sorrow causeth death The losse of a wife or husband nay the losse of a child or friend nay the losse of the least outward content if Christ stand aloofe from a mans spirit and let it fasten upon him hee will soone languish and bleed inwardly to death whereas all outward afflictions meeting together upon the outward man if Christ be with the spirit to support and beare up that a Christian sweetly submits and keeps on his way according to that of the Apostle Rejoycing in hope patient in tribulation continuing instant in prayer Rom. 12.12 Now Christ tenderly watches when outward troubles begin to take hold of that Spirit with whom he is specially present and then he quickly releeves and eases it and not only so but sanctifies it to the drawing of such a spirit nearer to God in love according to that of David I love the Lord because hee hath heard my voice and my supplications because he hath inclined his eare unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live Psal 116.1,2 Adde this to the former that to have Christ with our spirits is the ready way to all temporall good whether positive or privative and you must needs grant it to be a prime and principall blessing Secondly those with whose spirits Christ is specially present are in the ready way to all spirituall good and therefore thus to have Christ present with our spirits must needs be counted a prime and principall blessing Christ is the Author and worker of all grace and therefore such spirits must needs be very gracious with whom Christ is The places are holy whereunto the Ark of the Lord hath come saith Solomon 2 Chron. 8.11 I may truly say it of Christ which the Ark typified The Spirits are holy with whom Christ is and where holy Christ comes They are at the Well-head for holinesse which have holy Christ with their spirits They that have Christ with their spirits are in the ready way to the very heigth of heavenly wisdome for there is no such teacher of wisdome as Christ is With him are all the treasures of wisdome He that lyes in thy bosome teaching thee wisdome secretly came out of the very bosome of the Almighty knowes all things and he gives such an unction to that Spirit which he teaches that he makes it know and discerne all things too They that have Christ with their spirits are in the ready way to the very height of love which is the glory of all graces in the sight of God and man for there is no such worker and winner of love as Christ is If he doe but put in his finger by the hole of the dore hee will make a mans bowels melt after him If hee doe but reveale his love to our spirits a little our spirits grow sick of love unto him He will wound us with one of his eyes so full of beauty is he Let
imparting divine mysteries if thou follow on to know as the Prophet speaks if thou humbly forget look over all thou hast presse hard after more the things thou knowest not Christ will teach thy spirit morning by morning as by the learned Christ hath taught thy spirit many truths why he will leade thy spirit into all truth if thou urge his promise and beleeve He will fill thee with the knowledge of his will in all wisdome and spirituall understanding If thou pray for it as Paul did for the Colossians Thou findest Christ with thy spirit as a Comforter why thou maist have yet much more consolation from him if thou study to be more pliable to him Thou hast Christ distilling drops of consolation into thy spirit now and then why thou maist have Christ powring in flagons of love into thy soule filling thee with joy unspeakable and full of glory if thou bring thy spirit to bee more lowly and meek for such find most rest to their soules if thou carefully keep comming to Christ still in every pressure of spirit for such finde most ease that is renewing faith still as thou renewest thy sins Thou findest Christ with thy spirit as a quickner strengthner to duty why thou maist find him yet more mighty with thy spirit this way if thou powre out thy spirit often with David for quickning grace and if thou more deny thine own strength and cast thy self more upon his Could we but attain Pauls height in selfe-denyall to bee nothing in our selvs though I am nothing saith he 2 Cor. 12.11 we should finde Christ gloriously present still with our spirits and be more constant in zeale strength to every good work then we are I conclude this thus bee so tractable to Christ that thou maist with Mary winne upon Christ still and think that thou canst never bee neere enough to him nor intimate enough with him and this is the ready way to have a heaven upon earth for the more we get Christ to be with our spirits the more truly may wee bee said to be in Heaven The last thing that I have to say to you that find Christ with your spirits is matter of consolation Here is comfort for you against famine When thy body wants food Christ that is with thy spirit will give that meat to eat which the world knowes not off so that when others repine and curse God and their King in their extremity as the Prophet speaks thou shalt bee patient in this tribulation and instant in prayer to him who can command Ravens to bring thee bread and flesh to feed on and will rather then thou shalt starve if thy life may bee more to his glory then thy death Here 's comfort for you against the sword In the midst of all troubles and fears Christ that is with thy spirit will beare thee up admirably What is the face of an enemy to terrifie if Christ be with thy spirit What is the spoiling of thy goods nay what is the spoiling of thy body if Christ bee with thy soule A Mountaine of misery is but as a Mole-hill if Christ support the spirit To think of the Sword is a naked reference to flesh and blood and so nothing is more terrible but let us that feare the Loro think of it in reference to Christ that is with our spirits then wee shall not be troubled though we heare of warres and rumours of warres no more then at the rumours of any other calamity Here is coÌ„fort for you against the Plague which is here and there scatterd in the Kingdome What is any disease to the body if Christ bee with thy soule As the outward man decayeth the inward man shall be renewed daily because Christ is with thy spirit When thy body is full of paine thy soule shall be full of comfort because Christ is with thy spirit When thy body is sealed with spots for death thy soule shall be sealed with the Holy Ghost unto eternall life because Christ is with thy spirit The plague of the body is nothing if this plague of plagues bee not upon the spirit to wit destitute of Christ Here is comfort for you against persecution When men frowne upon thee without Christ will smile upon thy spirit within when men lade thy outward man w th reproaches Christ will fill thy inward man with comforts when men shut up thy body from the communion of Saints Christ will give thy spirit a large freedome of communion with himself When men strike thy body Christ will stroke thy soule when men kill thy body Christ will save thy soule In a word as the afflictions of Christ abound in thy body so the consolations of Christ shall abound in thy soule because Christ is with thy spirit Name any misery that is incident to man and here 's comfort to be suckt out of this point to oppose unto it Finally in life in death eternally after death Christ that is with thy spirit will be gaine unto thee Thy life he will make comfortable thy death hopefull and thy being after death eternally joyfull Wherefore I will conclude my Sermon for the good of you as S. Paul doth his Epistle for the good of Timothy The Lord Iesus Christ bee with your spirits Trinuni Deo gloria Errata Pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 leg 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 7. For say read saw p. 39. l. 6. pro pereunte solep eâ—…nt omnia lege pereunte sole pereunt omnia p. 114. Marg. For I do conceive r. I do not conceive p. 169. l. 7. FINIS
CHRISTS COMMVNION WITH HIS Church Militant First preached and now published for the good of Gods Church in generall By. Nicholas Lockyer Mr. of Arts. Cant. 1.13 A bundle of Myrrhe is my well-beloved unto me he shall lye all night betwixt my breasts LONDON Printed by E. G. for Iohn Rotâ—wâ—ll at the Sunne in S. Pauls Church-yard 1640. TO The vertuous Lady Aunt SUSAN CECILL Grace and peace be multiplyed by Iesus Christ MAdam The sweet taste I have had of your Ladyships love to the best things hath encouraged me humbly to present this little tract unto you What Solomon speakes from experience that you upon triall have found true That the most promising contents of this life are vanity and vexation of Spirit Our wise and mercifull Father doth usually thus imbitter the sweetest things of this world to us that we may the more cordially rellish and fervently seek after that full satisfying and everlasting sweetnesse and comfort which is in communion with Christ our heavenly Husband in whom all fulnesse of consolation dwels A drop of this transcendant fulnesse your Ladyship I hope shall finde distilled into your soule by reading this little worke now come to your hands which like Aqua Vitae shall cheere and revive your sad spirit when ready to faint Fainting persons carry little bottles of reviving liquids alwayes about them if your Ladyship shal think fit to make this little Tract your pocket-companion and peruse a little of it still when you feele soule-qualmes to seaze upon you you shall finde I trust through the blessing of Christ much ease and comfort and so spend and end your aged dayes in more true solace of heart then you have done your primest dayes of flourishing youth The accomplishing of this is the sincere and holy aime of your much obliged Nephew in this his first offering to publick view Which simple aime that the Lord may graciously answer to your Ladyships comfort here and eternall happinesse hereafter I shall still continue my prayer though here I end my Epistle that the Lord will still attend this my poore endeavour with his rich blessing to all the partakers thereof and in speciall to you Your much obliged Nephew Nicholas Lockyer Christian Reader COmmunion with Christ is our happines in this world and in the world to come that which makes every bitter thing sweet and every sweet thing sweeter With this sweet subject is this little tract now come to thy hand taken up Poore fallen man is still complaining of one want or other and when the thing is given which he longed for yet his soule is as far from content as before like to a childe that cries for this and that and yet when he hath what he cryed for continues crying still and cannot tell well what he would have All our want is this the want of Communion with Christ this is the cause of all complaints the infelicity of the soule the summe of mans misery here and hereafter but poore blind-man sees it not and therefore complaines of twenty things twenty miles a this side his disease and so spends his dayes in labour and sorrow and yet loses happinesse both here and hereafter too A full fruition of Christ is full felicity a full fruition of any thing below Christ without Christ is but vanity and vexation of spirit The more then O fallen man thou canst get into communion with thy God the more will thy great losse bee repaired thy complaining soule satisfied thy tranquillity setled upon thee againe Hunt not then after riches honours pleasures and suchlike low delights of the sonnes of men with this deluded mistaken world which lyes in wickednesse for felicity is not in these but study and strive after a nearer communion with Christ the next way to get most in with him is the speedy way unto all happinesse so much as thou canst get of his company so much art thou in Heaven How precious are thy thoughts unto mee O God saith David how great is the summe of them If I should count them they are more in number then the sand when I awake I am still with thee Psal 139.17,18 This is Heaven upon Earth and that true nobility and honour which wee should all bee ambitious after to lose our spirits in God What an unspeakable felicity is it to bee still with God in our thoughts This ennobles the spirit of man and makes it a companion to the King of Kings this gives evennesse and steadinesse to a mans course and makes him walke in all the wayes of God blamelesse this gives transcendant peace tranquility to a mans spirit and makes him unmoveable in the midst of feares this gives bread in famine drink in drought peace in warre health in sicknesse life in death Devote thy selfe therefore to Christ that he may devote himselfe to thee and as a poore medium of communion make use if you please of this ensuing Treatise If thou get any good give glory to God and make the poore Pen-man a constant sharer in thy prayers Thine in Christ Theophilus Philanthropus The Principall Heads handled in this Tract THat the Church of Christ Militant shall not bee left comfortlesse because Christ will come to her Pag. 9 That Christ doth come to his Church Milit. pag 10 11. How Christ doth come to his Church Militant to comfort her in all conditions p. 18 19 When Christ comes to his disconsolate Church as a Comforter pag. 41 42 c. Why Christ will come to his Church upon earth as Comforter pag. 51 52 c. Wicked men shall live and dye comfortless because Christ as a Comforter will never come to them p. 57 58 c. Laughter is one thing and spirituall consolation another p. 59 How Christ doth come to the wicked in this life p. 61 Christ will come to the wicked neither in prosperity nor in adversity as a Comforter p. 62 63 c. How wicked men may get Christ as a Comforter to come to them p. 66 67 c. Vsefull instructions to strong men and to babes in Christ p. 68 Strong men in Christ that say Christ as a Comforter is come to them should make it sure to themselves that they are not deluded p. 65. The great need of this p 69 How a man may know that it is Christ indeed and no spirit of delusion which is come to him with consolatioÌ„ p. 73 74 Strong men in Christ after they have made it sure to themselves that the true Comforter is come to them should so walk that they may ever injoy his sweet company p. 80 How Christians may so walk as to enjoy Christ as a Comforter continually p. 81 82 c. Babes in Christ which never found Christ as a Comforter to come to them should beleeve that Christ will come to them p. 93 Their objections against Christ comming to them as a Comforter answered p. 93 94 Babes in Christ that never found Christ as a Comforter
of the night distilled upon his locks ere thou wouldst give him house roome in thy heart how many mercies how many corrections were all spilt upon thee ere Christ could win thee to respect him canst thou tell if thou canst not think not much if Christ make thee shed a few teares and breathe out a few groanes ere he bring glad tydings of peace unto thee Secondly if thou consider Christ thy visitour there is all the reason that can be that thou shouldst wait patiently till hee come to thee Christ will certainly come to thee Christ will come to thee at the fittest time Christ will come richly when he doth come which are all speciall grounds of patience Christ will certainly come to thee O comfortlesse soule though it may seeme to thee something long first Thou doest not wait for one that will not come at all as the Turk waiteth for Mahomet nay thou doest not wait for one that will frivolously delay the time of his comming Thou doest not wait for one that will deceive thee Christ hath promised to come to thee and he is faithfull and cannot deny himselfe There is two things in faithfulnesse first that a man should own what he hath said then secondly that he should make it good Now both these will Christ do Christ will not eat his words as we say what he hath promised he will confesse and will make good whatsoever labour or losse he be at to do it Christ is not mutable as we are to promise one thing to day and recall it againe to morrow he is immutable and changeth not therfore we are not consumed Thou doest not wait for one that will frivolously delay the time of his comming Christ will not deale with thy comfortlesse soule as those sorry ghests dealt with Christ make excuses one had bought a yoke of Oxen and therefore could not come an other a Farm c. Christ will not tell thee as Abrahā Dives in hell between thy soul him is a great gulfe so that there can be no intercourse between them Nor that from Heaven to Earth is too long a journey for him to make He will not tell thee that the place where thy sick comfortlesse soule lyes is filthy and altogether unfit for him to come to Hee will not tell thee that thy soule is so far gone in griefe and desperate sorrow that 't is in vain for him to come to thee Christ puts none of these delayes upon any of his patients No the ground why Christ stayes is that hee may come at the fittest time and then he will come with healing in his wings if all the Devils in Hell should oppose him which me thinks should be a satisfactory ground of patience to any disconsolate soule If a Physitian yet apply this and that for further evacuation rather then cordials as knowing the body not yet fit for cordials will not any wise man submit patiently to his way so if Christ for bear giving thy sick soule cordials as hee that well knowes thy soule not fit yet for such luscious things wilt not thou with much thankfulnesse acknowledge his great care over thy soule and with all patience waite his leasure I patiently undergoe the paine of drawing plaisters when I know my sore is not fit for healing thus should it be in spirituall distresses wee should patiently undergoe griefe and sorrow untill our soules bee fit for consolation and then we shall bee sure to have it Finally bee sure of this O mourning soule that Christ will come richly when hee doth come and therefore methinkes thou should'st waite patiently for him what Merchant but would waite patiently the returne of his Ship in the longest voiage if hee were sure that it would richly returne at last Christ will come very richly furnished with the comforts of the Holy Ghost which are unspeakable and glorious to your soules that mourne after him and waite for him What the Apostle once spake of himselfe in relation to the Romans that may I truely say of Christ in relation to all that mourne after him And I am sure that when I come unto you I shall come saith he in the fulnesse of the blessing of the Gospell of Christ Rom 15.29 Christ I am sure O mourning soule when he doth come unto thee hee wilt come in the fulnesse of the blessing of the Holy Ghost thou shalt have joy in the Holy Ghost unspeakable and glorious Thou by long waiting art made a more vast Vessell to hold the precious waters of consolation and Christ by long staying doth as I may say the more furnish himselfe with these waters of life to refresh fill and satisfy thy thirsty soule when he comes to thee Christ will heale throughly thy broken heart and binde up all thy woundes he will answer all thy doubts and cleare all thy scruples hee will quiet thy quarrelling conscience and still thy complaining Spirit he will fill thy sadde soule with joy and gladnesse and thy dejected spirit with Songs of thankes giving If these things O mourning soule will not make thee waite patiently till thy Comforter come to thee but thou wilt murmure and repine and fall upon indirect wayes to get consolation know that by this practice thou wilt make thy condition more miserable then at present it is Thou wilt grieve him that should come as a comforter to thee and if thou by sinne make Christ grieve how can Christ by his Spirit make thee rejoyce and if thou set him a mourning that can onely comfort thee by whom wilt thou bee comforted Dost thou thinke to winne Christ to thee by a dogged disposition Christ may pitty and cure thy humours but t' will never bee by consolation He will bring thee to bee lowly and meeke ere thou shalt find rest to thy soule hee will make thee willing to lye under his Feete glad of crummes of comfort and willing to waite for them till Christ hath dined and every Child served If thy corrupt soule hanker after the pleasure of sinne againe because Christ as a comforter doth not come to thee and thou bee resolved to picke and chuse amongst all the sins thy soule knowes to finde out one that thy soule most loves to make a comforter to thee as the Israelites in their dogged humour made them a Captaine to returne to Aegypt againe know this that what sinne thou pitchest upon to make a comforter that sinne will Christ make a Divell to torture thee Christ will make thee know by woefull experience that the sweetest sinne is a bitter and miserable comforter that the least sinne is too great an evill truly to comfort the soule that to goe to the Divell for consolation is to make faster hast for comfort then good speed that neither sinne nor any thing in the world beside sin shall comfort thy soule when he himselfe will not The last Instruction that I have to commend to thee O comfortlesse soule that did'st never yet
finde Christ as a comforter come to thee is this observe how Christ comes and do not put him off Christ comes to comfortlesse soules with comfort in a promise as I have at large shewed you T is with many Christians in their minority as t was with Samuel theâ— doe not know the voyce of the Lord speaking â—n a promise therefore I thought good to note this last instruction The promise Christ opens before the soule that hee may see the blessing wrapt up in it which he needes and then often repeates it to the soule that he may rely upon it instances to illustrate this way of Christ I have given you things must not bee here againe repeated That which here I would presse by way of application is that you which are comfortlesse soules would observe this secret way of the comforter and meet him Art thou tempted and dost thou now heare a sweet still voyce as it were behind thee saying My grace shall bee sufficient for thee Why this is the voyce of thy beloved that is come to thee embrace what hee saith rest upon it turne not thy comforter away now by unbeliefe and peevish pettish humours Hast thou fallen into sinne by the strength of temptation and thine owne corruption and dost thou heare such a sweete voyce behind thee as this The bloud of Iesus Christ cleanseth us from all sinne 1 Ioh 1.7 Why this is the language of thy beloved hee is come to comfort thee O mourning soule doe not thrust him away by unkinde language of unbeliefe and passion Heare what he saith for it is sweete strive to believe what he saith for it is sure As Isaac said unto Jacob his Sonne after hee had had some discourse at a distance with him Come neere now and kisse mee my Sonne Gen. 27.26 So should such comfortlesse soules say to Christ when they heare Christ speaking as it were at a distance softly and coldly to them the sweet promises of his word come heere now O my beloved and kisse mee with these kisses of thy lippes for thy love is better then Wine what thou sayest to my soule say it with such life that my heart may no longer be faithlesse but believe and give glory to thee I have now done speaking to you who never yet had the comforter come to you I come now in the last place to speake a word or two particularly to such of GODS people who can tell mee that they have found Christ as a comforter come to them but now have lost Him Three things I have to say to these First labour to bee sensible of thy losse Secondly blame not Christ for departing from thee Thirdly use all holy meanes to get him to returne to thee againe First I would have thee O deserted soule to labour to bee truly sensible of thy losse Though it bee that some are deeply sensible of this great losse yet others are as deeply stupid which moves mee to note this instruction For a man to bee stupid and senselesse under corporall afflictions argues a very ill temper of spirit but for a man to bee stupid and senselesse under spirituall affliction under such a spirituall affliction as this the losse of the Sunne the losse of Christ as a comforter argues a very ill temper of spirit indeed Strive therefore O deserted stupid soule to affect thine heart throughly with thy losse Thou hast lost more then Iob when hee had lost Children substance health honours and friends nay thou hast lost more then if thou hadst lost this World nay thou hast lost more then if thou hadst lost thy life which is of more worth then the World thou hast lost Christ which is richer then this World and sweeter then thy life What an infinite losse were it to this World to lose the Sunne 't were at once to loose all Pereunte solep ereunt omnia for all things serviceable for the use of man depend upon the motion and influence of that glorious Body What a losse then is it to the lesser World to loose Christ the Sunne of Righteousnesse 'T is to loose all good at once for soule and body All graces close and wither when Christ departs as all fragrant flowers when the Sunne withdrawes his influence And when these flowers wither in the soul a man is a moving Dung-hill that stinkes in the Nostrils of God and man where ever hee comes A man that hath lost Christ may truely say as shee when the Arke was lost that his glory is departed As the Sunne is the glory of the greater World so Christ the Sunne of righteousnesse is the glory of the lesser World to wit man Thou hast lost that in the world that is more worth then the world and which all the world can never helpe thee to Thou hast lost that which would have made the worst condition in this life a Heaven whereas the best without it is but a hell Thou hast lost that which would have beene to thy soule a continuall feast whereas now thy soul is in a continual famine and leannesse Thou hast lost thy spirits and thy soule is in a dead Palsie so that thou art a living dead man fit for no spirituall service Thou hast lost thy head thou hast lost thy eyes thou hast lost thy hands thou hast lost thy feet thou hast lost thy bread thou hast lost thy cloathing nay thou hast lost thy best father thy best husband thy best friend all this and much more comfort is Christ to man Thou hast great reason then O deserted soule to lay to heart thy losse 2. Lay to heart thy losse this is comely but do not blame Christ for departing from thee this is uncomely and unrighteous Uncomely for it doth not suit with wisdomes children to lay folly to their Maker Unrighteous for thou constrainst him to depart from thee otherwise he had never left thee thou didst sin again and again of weaknesse and yet Christ as a Comforter did not depart from thee untill thou beganst to take pleasure in unrighteousnesse and to make sin a custome a right eye a very serviceable thing unto thee Christ did not leave thee Thou beganst to wax wanton against Christ and then Christ cast thee off Thou beganst to play the Apostate and to backslide in heart from Christ and then he fell off from thee and filled thee with thine owne wayes Now these things seriously considered hast thou any cause to blame Christ for departing from thee It is a comely and a very righteous thing for Wisdomes children to justifie wisdome in all his waies as to others so to our selves Wherefore thus do O deserted soule say righteous art thou O Christ in departing from me and righteous mayst thou be if thou never returne to me so unkindly have I dealt with thee 3. Then set thy selfe seriously to the use of all holy meanes whereby thou maist get thy Comforter to returne to thee Examine thy soule
a mans spirit bee never so cold yet if Christ be with it hee is in the ready way to burne with love to Christ as strong as death which many waters cannot quench They that have Christ with their spirits are in the ready way to the very heigth of joy consolation they are in the ready way to joy unspeakable and full of glory These things have I spoken unto you that your joy may be full said Christ to his Disciples Christ speaks such things to the spirits of those with whom hee is present as fils their spirits with joy to the very brim and this oft times in the very depth of all outward extremity The Church doth darkly hint this The Comforter which should relieve my soule is far from me Lam. 1.16 As if the Church had said though my outward misery bee exceeding great yet if the Comforter did but keepe close to my spirit I should have as much consolation as my heart could hold in the midst of all my misery but this is my misery of miseries that the Comforter which should relieve my soule is far from me out of the hearing of sighes and groanes nay out of the hearing of strong cryes he is angry against my prayers In a word a Christian which hath Christ with his spirit is in the ready way to excell in vertue as David sayes to excell in all vertue to be wiser then his teachers more excellent in all grace then his neighbours And therefore to have Christ present with our spirits must needs be counted and called A prime and principall blessing Lastly to have Christ with our spirits is the ready way unto eternall good and therefore a prime and principall blessing As a stone carries with it whatsoever light thing be fastned to it unto its own center so Christ whose proper place of residence is Heaven carries with him thither all such spirits as to whom he is united on earth If we have a speciall friend at Court wee count that wee are in a ready way to see all the pompe of the Prince Christ hath the Keyes of Heaven and Hell hee opens and no man shuts shuts and no man can open all with whose spirits he hath dwelt and beene kindly used upon earth hee knowes and when they shall knock at those everlasting gates hee will open and let them in to every roome in his royall dwelling and shew them all the glory which he had with his Father before the world was 'T is betweene Christ and that spirit with whom he lives as between Naomi and Ruth where the one lives the other will Whilest such spirits live in the body Christ will live with them there when they remove out of the body Christ will not leave them death cannot separate but commands his Angels to bring them to eternall mansions with himself Christ which is lifted up to glory himselfe will draw all such unto him as in whose spirits he dwels and no strength shall bee able to withstand him none shall pluck such out of his hand Vnio cum Christo est unio inunibilis If to have Christ with our spirits bee a grand favour not to have him with our spirits must needs be a grand evill A spirit without Christ is naked as a body without cloathes Many things may make cloathing and defence for the body but only Christ that best garment as the Father of the Prodigall cals him can make cloathing and munition for the soule A mans spirit without Christ is as a naked body amongst thorns every thorne pierceth and every bryer scratcheth and fetcheth blood from such a body so worldly cares and worldly fears when strong will pierce such a naked spirit thorow and thorow and make him runne mad if God unsought do not seasonably step in and bridle the Bedlam A mans spirit without Christ is as a naked body amongst Serpents every Serpent stings and venomes such a naked body to death so every seed of the Serpent stings and poysons to death such naked soules by their threatnings flatteries examples and the like A mans spirit without Christ is as a naked body in great blasts of lightning such bodies are suddenly scorcht and consumed so such naked soules are suddenly blasted by the fiery darts of the Devill and so suddenly oft times goe from burning to burning from burning in sin to burning in hell A mans spirit without Christ is not only naked but blind too A naked man having his sight may make some shift but a man naked and blind too is in a miserable helpelesse state indeed and just such is the state and condition of every mans spirit that hath not Christ with it for as the Sunne in the Heavens is the eye and light of the greater World so the Sunne of righteousnesse Christ is the eye light of the lesser world man Now doe but imagine what a darke dolorous condition wee should all bee in if the Sunne were darkned or had utterly forsaken our Horizon or doe but thinke of that darknesse which was upon the Aegyptians for a little time when no man could stirre out of his place and such and much worse is the darke dolorous condition of a spirit without Christ not able to see the least beame of saving light not able to stir a steppe out of his place in the way that leads to life A mans spirit without Christ is not onely blind but dumme too A man that is blind yet if he can speake can begge for that which hee cannot see to worke But when a man is blind and dumme too that hee can neither helpe himselfe nor beg others hee is in a dolefull condition indeed and just such is the condition of every mans spirit that hath not Christ with it For as Christ is Eyes to the soule so hee is a Mouth and Tongue enabling it to cry Abba Father Unlesse the spirit of Christ be with our spirits helping our infirmities who are godly we are dumme and not able to speake to our owne Father as adopted children for daily Bread much more unable to begge for life to the dreadfull Judge of all the World must all ungodly persons needes bee whose spirits are altogether without Christ as an helper I would have all men that live in their sinnes thinke seriously of this when Christ as the dreadfull Judge of all the World at the great day shall aske you what you have to say for your selves that you should not eternally die for your sinnes in which you have lived you will bee like that man which was without his wedding garment dumme and not able to say a word for your selves because Christ is not with your spirits 'T is impossible that a mans own guilty spirit should bee able to looke the terrible judge of men and divells in the face much lesse speake a word for mercy unlesse the Al-mighty spirit of Christ be with it to aid it Many ignorant wretches sooth themselves with this that they will
yeares end to yeares end they tell you that you are so leane and feeble that you need the benefit of all the spirits that every dish at wisdoms table can yeeld to strengthen you and recover you and yet every dish almost goes against your stomacks and that you doe eat is without savour or any other vertue and so you languish with al dainties before you and thus you will goe on languishing untill you quite consume perish eternally unlesse Christ be with your spirits You see I suppose plainly by this time that as it is a prime and principall happinesse to have Christ with our spirits so it is a prime and principall evill and unhappines not to have Christ with our spirits Wherefore having laid open both before you let mee entreat you all to looke in upon your spirits and see who keeps company with them Christ or the divell one of these two is with all our spirits If Christ bee not with our spirits the divellis and wil be If Christ be with your spirits according to the sense and meaning of the Apostle in my text you shall find it by these two things the body is dead because of sin and the spirit is life because of righteousnes 'T is Pauls Character of Christs speciall presence in the soule of man upon earth and therefore of strong authority And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sinne but the spirit is life because of Righteousnesse Rom. 8.10 The body is dead because of sinne that is the body of corruption is destroyed as in respect of the guilt of it so in respect of the dominion of it And the spirit is life because of righteousnesse that is the regenerate part is vigerous in reference to all righteous wayes And if therefore you would know whether Christ bee with your spirits see whether your bodies bee dead because of sin whether you labour to bring every thought into subjection to Christ or whether you doe not allow your selves liberty to some evill out of love to some pleasure or profit which is that principally wherein the dominion of sinne consisteth as Paul hints unto us where he saith the evill which I doe I allow not That is I doe not approve of it in my heart nor plead for it with my tongue but strive against it with all my strength and it would be more joy to me to be rid of it then if I had a Kingdome conferred on me This is the language right of one that hath Christ with his spirit Secondly see whether your spirits be alive because of righteousnesse if you would know whether Christ be with your spirits or not See whether holy wayes doe heartily affect you I rejoyced when they said come let us goe to the house of the Lord saith the Psalmist He spake like a man having Christ indeed with his spirit his spirit leapt within him like the Babe in Elizabeths Wombe when they spake of drawing neere to God in the duties of his worship A Christian that hath Christ with his spirit sees a taking transcendant beauty in all wisedomes wayes they are all wayes of pleasure and pathes of peace which is spoken in reference to such as have Christ with their spirits for others finde no such thing in them And his spirit opens in them like flowers in the Sunne and smelles fragrantly he bends and cleaves to them in love to that soule sweetnesse which he findes in them And if you finde these things in you I thinke I may safely tell you to your comfort that Christ is with your spirits I may turne this Character into another forme as Paul doth and tell you in his words that hee which is joyned to the Lord is one spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 They that have Christ with their spirits are one spirit with Christ This expression I conceive is something explained by these following words And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soule 4 Acts v. 32. or as the originall hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heart and soule one They that have Christ with their spirits are heart and soule one with Christ They doe idem velle idem nolle What Christ loves they love and what Christ hates they hate Christ loves righteousnesse and hates iniquity Thou hast loved righteousnesse and hated iniquity c. Psal 45.7 They that have Christ with their spirits are heart and soule one with Christ in this They love righteousnesse that is all righteous wayes and hate iniquity that is all that Gods Word condemnes 'T was Christs meate and drinke to doe his Fathers Will they that have Christ with their spirits are one spirit with Christ in this 'T is joy to the just to doe judgement saith Salomon Christ was tender about keeping the least Commandement as well as about keeping the greatest Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandements and teach men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdome of Heaven Mat. 5.19 They that have Christ with their spirits are heart and soule one with Christ in this they are tender to keepe all Gods Commandements least as well as greatest So shall I not be confounded whil'st I have refpect unto all thy Commandements saith David I doe conceive the place forecited so as if Christ did account of one part of his Fathers wil above another I rather thinke that hee there speakes Pharisaeorum more in the Pharises dialect who would make the world believe that they mightily laboured to keepe some precepts but others they thought as many of us now doe that they need not to bee so strict about Now Christs tender Spirit for his Fathers honour could not brooke this halting in religion and they that have Christ with their spirits are heart and soule one with Christ in this That Commandement which the most say is one of the least and may be dispensed with all or at least need not bee so strictly look't unto that as well as any other whil'st a precious part of Christs will a man that hath Christ with his spirit will bee tender to observe Davids spirit smote him for cutting off the lap of Sauls garment as wel as for cutting off the life of Vrijah which plainly shewes that men which have Christ with their spirits are tender about the avoiding of small sins as well as great Now possibly some of you by what hath beene said may see that as yet you have not Christ with your spirits I shall addresse my selfe in the first place particularly to speake to you and then in the second place I shall addresse my selfe particularly to speake to such of you as have by what hath beene said discerned that Christ is indeed with your spirits To you which by what hath been said see that as yet Christ is not with your spirits I have only these two things to say labour to bewaile your great want as persons deeply sensible of it and
dull spirits to magnifie the free goodnesse of the Lord for 't is a worke of all workes that God loves I was a man of a very proud passionate malicious uncleane spirit and yet I obtained mercy God hath given Christ to be with this depraved spirit and in a little time he hath done very much and made a manifest change in my spirit of very proud he hath made it in some measure humble of very passionate in some measure patient of very malicious in some measure loving of very uncleane in some measure continent O! the riches of his love how unsearchable is his mercy and his love past finding out Secondly as I would have you thankfully acknowledge this great favour so I would have you carefully labour to preserve it You find that you have Christ with your spirits take heed you do not lose him Thou wert better lose thy life then lose the speciall presence of Christ with thy spirit 'T is a prime and prinpall blessing as thou hast heard a blessing of more worth then this world nay of more worth then thy soule which Christ values above the world Now choice things we are usually very carefull of and keepe them choicely Christ totally I know can no man lose which hath him after a speciall manner present with his spirit but according to some prime principall operations he may according to others very far though not totally A man may lose the presence of Christ with his spirit totally as a Comforter The Comforter which should relieve my soule is far frō me saith Ieremiah in the person of the afflicted Church Lam. 1.16 'T is probable enough that Davids spirit was thus stript of Christ by his dolorous complaints which frequently wee reade of Is his mercy cleane gone for ever doth his promise faile for evermore Hath God forgotten to be gracious hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies Will the Lord cast off for ever and will he be favourable no more Psal 77.7,8,9 Some carriages in Christians towards Christ make Christ totally alter his carriage towards thē though for his promise sake he will never totally remove himselfe from them As when Christians doe not keep their watch strictly against sinne in all the occasions of it then Christ instead of being a Comforter becomes a convincer and instead of speaking sweet things hee speakes very bitter unto the soule This was the case of David and Peter Or when Christians are carelesse and sluggish to maintaine and encrease their sweet Communion with Christ unyeelding to the sweet motions of the spirit of Christ and turning oft times the deafe eare against the still voice behind them which saith this is the way walke in it Then Christ drawes a curtaine betweene the spirit of man and himselfe and leaves the spirit of man in the darke and full of feares This is notably illustrated by that language of the Spouse It is the voyce of my beloved that knocketh saying open to me my Sister my Love my Dove my underfiled for my head is filled with dew and my locks with the drops of the night The Church was convinced of this that it was her beloved seeking neerer communion with her and yet observe how she replyes I have put off my coat how shall I put it on I have washed my feet how shall I defile them I opened to my beloved but my beloved had withdrawne himselfe and was gone my soule failed when he spake I sought him but I could not finde him I called him but he gave me no answer Cant. 5. You that finde the presence of Christ with your spirits as a Comforter make Christian use of what I have said that you may still enjoy so great a mercy And if you lose the Lord Jesus Christ as a Comforter to your spirits miserable comforters will all other things prove unto you You will mourne and none will bee able to comfort you if Christ as a Comforter forsake your spirits Secondly as a leader a man may very far lose the communion of Christ with his spirit As if a Christian take liberty to sinne against that light which Christ hath set up in his spirit this will make Christ first or last if not timely lookt unto leave a man to his owne understanding to steare his course and then will such a man declare himselfe quickly to be a foole and a beast in many points as David saith Have you not seene Christians of great light erre injudgement and erre in practise Whence comes this weaknesse but from hence that Christ as a leader stands aloofe from their spirits which is a plaine demonstration that a man may lose the presence of Christ with his spirit as a leader David I beleeve found the truth of this as well as of the former by wofull experience A man may collect so much cleerely from his owne words Cast mee not away from thy presence and take not thy holy spirit from me Psal 51.11 The Spirit of God is therefore called by David a holy Spirit because holy in himselfe the Spirit of the holy God as hee said to Daniel but principally here as I conceive Abofficio because the worker of holinesse in us David doubtlesse by his fall found an exceeding weaknesse in his Spirit unto all good over what formerly hee did and a strong propensity againe to erre as every act of sin leaves seed and spawn upon the spirit to bring forth more to cover the first or to commit the like againe But more then all this he found Christ to stand aloofe from his spirit not exercising that speciall dominion in his spirit as before for the subduing of lust and suggesting of holy motions and desires but leaving him as it were to himselfe as one with whom hee would have no more to do And therefore doth David so dolefully complaine Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me you therefore which finde Christ with your spirits as a tender leader take heed of sinning against any part of that light which he sets up in your understandings or against any motions of his spirit which he suggests unto you lest he leave you to your own light and to your own strength and then will you run from lesse sins to greater from one sin to another like David and Peter to the scandalizing of the Gospell and the desperate wounding of your own soules The third and last thing that I would commend unto you by way of counsell is this labour to augment this great favour You finde Christ with your spirits labour industriously to have Christ more and more with your spirits 'T is a prime and principall blessing as you have heard to have Christ with your spirits therefore labour to get as much of this favour happinesse as possibly you can Thou hast Christ with thy spirit as a teacher why thou maist have him yet more intimate with thee and open unto thee in