for eyes They that see pitty the blinde Wee have a little Sister that hath no breasts wee have a poor Brother yea a world of them that have no eyes What shall we do for our poor brethren in the day that they shall bee spoken for Oh! bee eyes to thy blinde bee a light to thy dark souls let them that dwell in darkness see thy great light Sinners those whom you persecute do thus pitty do thus pray for you Lord that their eyes might bee opened will you say Amen to their prayers or will you say Lord regard not their word wee desire not the knowledge of thy waies Christians bee marvels You that have seen marvellous things bee marvellous persons set the world a wondring for some thing Let your light shine let the light which hath shined into your hearts shine forth in all your paths let the Spirit of Light within you bee a Spirit of Glory resting upon you Once you were darkness but now are yee light in the Lord Walk as Children of the light Bee yee holy harmless the Children of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked Generation amongst whom yee shine as lights in the World Beclouded Christian thou goest on bemoaning and bewailing thy self complaining that thou art still blinde the light hath shined into thy darkness but thy darkness comprehendeth it not thine eye is yet but tender at least and thou canst see but little but little of Christ the Sun is but as a sparke to thee but little of sin that Mountain looks yet but as a Mole hill It is neither clear nor dark neither night nor perfect day thou hopeedst that long e're this thy scales would have fallen off the vail would have been removed but they abide upon thee thou waitest for light but behold obscurity for brightness but thou walkest in darkness thou goest on adding darkness to darkness the darkness of sorrow to the dimness of sight Thou fearest that the Gospel is hid from thee thou doubtest 't is still night because 't is not yet noon with thee But hearken as little as thou seest of Christ doest thou see so much that thou prizest and lovest and cleavest to him above all as little as thou seest of sin doest thou see so much that thou loathest and shunnest it above all things doest thou walke in that little light thou hast dost thou love long wait cry for the light Send forth thy light and thy truth lift up the light of thy countenance Sun of Righteousness shine upon mee why are the wheels of thy Chariots so long a coming when Lord Make haste my Beloved O might I once see thy face as the Sun looking over the Mountains Is this thy voice are these the breathings of thy soul Bee of good comfort these are the glimmerings and groanings of that Holy Spirit within thee which hath already delivered thee from darkness and will bring thee forth into his marvellous light thou shalt know if thou follow on to know the Lord. Arise shine thy light is come the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee Though yet as to thy sense it bee neither clear nor dark neither night nor perfect day in the evening there shall bee light 2 As a Spirit of Holiness and Sanctification hee is given as an Holy Spirit and as a Sanctifying Spirit therefore Sanctification is called the Sanctification of the Spirit 2 Thes 2.13 he comes to change us into his own nature to make us partakers of his holiness hee is a Refiner's fire and Fullers sope Mal. 3.2 to purge and work and wash off the filth and corruption of our natures What it is said hee shall bee to the Church Isa 4.4 A Spirit of Judgement and a Spirit of Burning to wash away the filth of the Daughters of Zion and to purge the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof a Spirit of Judgement that is in the Rulers of Israel stirring them up to do Justice and execute Judgement that so the guilt of blood may bee taken away Isa 32.15,16 and a Spirit of Burning that is in the hearts of the people of Israel to consume and destroying the inward lusts of their hearts that no more such wickedness bee committed amongst them This hee is to every Saint A Spirit of Judgement to give Sentence against their Lusts to condemn them to the fire these must bee cast out to the fire with them away with them get yee hence yee Sons of the Bond-woman you may not bee Heirs with the Sons of the Free-woman The Spirit of the Lord first discovers and convinces of sin judges betwixt light and darkness grace and sin and then gives sentence away with these Lusts they may not bee suffered to live A Spirit of Burning to execute the sentence to consume them in the fire The Spirit of Sanctification is a spirit of Mortification Rom. 8.13 If yee through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body It is the Spirit that kills the Flesh profiteth nothing The Spirit implants the Soul into Christ gives it an Interest in his death brings it under the influence of his death Christus crucifixus est Christus crucifigens 'T is the death of Christ that is the death of sin these Theeves are Crucified with him Rom. 6.6 Our old man is Crucified with Christ that the body of sin might bee destroyed that henceforth wee should no longer serve sin Hell knew not what they did when they Crucified Christ Death with all its Armies were put to death with him The Spirit raises up another party in the soul a party against a party an army against an army brings Grace in to take up arms against sin Grace doth not onely fight against sinne but is in the very nature of it the death of sinne as the Generation of a new is the Corruption of the old form Humility is pride dead meekness is sinful passion and frowardnesse dead patience is impatience slain The Spirit excites and stirs up the soul against sin sets it a praying against it the Spirit of Grace is a Spirit of Supplication fetches down Hail-stones and Thunder bolts from Heaven to destroy these Amorites sets a watch against it presses the soul to deal wisely with it to keep it low by cutting off all provision from the flesh restraining and keeping it short of all those fleshly objects which would keep it in heart and so it 's starved to death It is true our greatest wisdome watchfulness abstinence self-denial and all external means alone will fall short of killing one lust it is the Spirit that killeth without it the flesh profiteth nothing all external attempts for the mortification of the flesh are but a fleshly mortification but if yee through the Spirit do mortifie pray in the Spirit watch in the Spirit curbe and keep short and keep under this body still taking in the assistance of the Spirit then it shall dye Christian thou livest in a weary Land and thou hast but a weary
established in Heaven and in the Volume of the Book it is written of me My evidence cannot be lost It is recorded in the Court above and enrolled in the sacred leaves of the Word and entred upon the Book of my Conscience and herein I do and will rejoyce Now my soul wipe up thine eyes and go away with Hannah and be no more sad What though mine House be not so with God so happy so prosperous as I could wish What though they be encreased that trouble me and my temptations and afflictions be like the rolling Billows riding on one anothers backs for haste Yet shall my soul be as a rock unmoved and sit down satisfied in the security and amplitude of my portion For God hath made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure and herein is all my salvation and all my desire And now what remaineth O Lord but that I should spend the remainder of my daies in loving praising and admiring thee But wherewith shall I come before the Lord or bow my self to the most High God What shall I give thee to express my thankfulness though not to requite thy bounty Alas my poor little soul Alas that thou art so little How narrow are thy capacities How disproportionate are thy powers Alas that my voice can reach to no higher a note But shall I do nothing because I cannot do all Lord I resign to thee With the poor Widow I cast my two mites my soul and body into thy Treasury All my powers shall love and serve thee All my members shall be weapons of Righteousness for thee Here is my good will Behold my substance is thy stock mine interest is for thy service I lay all at thy feet There thou hast them they are thine My Children I enter as thy Servants My possessions I resign as thy right I will call nothing mine but thee All mine are thine I can say My Lord and my God and that is enough I thankfully quit my claim to all things else I will no more say My House is mine or my Estate mine I my self am not mine own Yet it is infinitely better for me to be thine then if I were mine own This is my happiness that I can say my own God my own Father And O what a blessed exchange hast thou made with me to give me thy Self who art an infinite Sum for my self who am but an insignificant Cypher And now Lord do thou accept and own my claim I am not worthy of any thing of thine much less of thee But sith I have a Deed to shew I bring thy Word in my hand and am bold to take possession Dost thou not know this hand wilt thou not own this name wilt thou not confirm thine own grant It were infidelity to doubt it I will not disparage the faithfulness of my Lord nor be afraid to averre and stand to what he hath said and sworn Hast thou said Thou art my God and shall I fear thou art mine enemy Hast thou told me Thou art my Father and shall I stand aloof as if I were a stranger I will believe Lord silence my fears and as thou hast given me the claim and title of a Child so give me the confidence of a Child Let my heart be daily kept alive by thy promises and with this staffe let me pass over Jordan May these be my undivided companions and comforters When I go let them lead me when I sleep let them keep me when I awake let them talk with me And do thou keep these things for ever upon the imaginations of the thoughts of the hearts of thy people and prepare their hearts unto thee And let the heart of thy Servant be the Ark of thy Testament wherein the sacred records of what hath passed between thee and my soul may for ever be preserved Amen Thus far my Friend So be it CHAP. XIX An Exhortation to Sinners O Earth earth earth hear the word of the Lord Ye men of this world ye spirits that are in Prison held captive to iniquity under the Prince of this world in a Covenant with Death at an agreement with Hell without Christ Alians from the Commonwealth of Israel strangers from the Covenant of Promise having no hope without God in the world who have said We will not have this man to rule over us let us break his Bonds asunder and cast his Cords from us who are joyned to Idols have chosen you other gods are following after other Lovers who walk after the course of this world according to the Prince of the Power of the Ayr the spirit that now worketh in the children of Disobedience having your conversation in the Lusts of the flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and being still as you were by nature the children of Wrath in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity O ye sons of death ye children of the night and of darkness Hear and your souls shal live to you also is the word of this salvation sent even the strangers and those that are afar off that will lay hold on the Covenant and chuse the thing that pleaseth God these also shal have a name in his house even the glorious name of Sons and Daughters The Lord hath sent a word into Jacob and it shal light upon Edom and Amaleck and the uncircumcised Philistines even as many of them as the Lord our God shal call Act. 2.39 Hearken O people you that are polluted in your blood written in the Earth free among the dead come in let your Covenant with death be made void and your agreement with Hell be disanulled strike a League with the Almighty and your names also shal be written amongst the living in Jerusalem Stand ye before the Lord come and let us reason together Where are you What is your Portion and Inheritance Ye are cursed with a Curse Fire and Brimstone and an horrible Tempest this shall be the portion of your cup Psal 11.6 What are you seeking whither are you travelling After a few years of your vanity are over where must your dwelling be Who can dwell with the devouring fire Who can dwell with everlasting burnings Look before you behold that smoaking Furnace that burning Lake that bottomless Pit that 's gaping for you and at your next step may swallow you up Escape for your lives why will ye dye Turn and live Do you believe the Resurrection from the dead the Judgment to come and the invisible World Is it to the spirit of a man as to the spirit of a beast Doth it perish with his carkase Dieth a Man as a Dogg dieth Dieth a wise man as a fool dieth Fall all things alike to all just and unjust good and bad after this life as well as in it Do you believe the Scriptures Are they but a Fable If you hope they are are you sure they are Dare you venture your souls upon it Whilest the Saints
from falling by the presence of his Grace till he present them faultless before the presence of his Glory O its good being with Christ any where Tell me O thou whom my soul loveth where thou feedest and causest thy flocks to rest at noon Where thou feedest yea where thou art whether feeding or fasting whether rejoycing or mourning where thou causest thy flocks to rest at noon yea and where thou sufferest thy flocks to be scattered in the night Where thy flocks are thou art not far away tell mee where thou feedest tell mee where thou art My beloved that feedeth among the lillies feedeth sometimes among the thorns When his love is a lilly among thorns there hee feedeth Hee feedeth among the thorns he feedeth with his sheep he feedeth with his Lambs where ever they feed when darkness and desolation and devils and death feed upon them even then he feedeth them and takes his feeding with them O where ever my Lord is there let my lot fall Let me dwell amongst the thorns so my dwelling be with my Lord amongst the lillies Let me wander amongst the mountains whilest he is with me telling all my wandrings Let me be scourged so he will wash my stripes let me weep so he will wipe off my tears I would not want wounds whilest I have such oyl to pour in Come all yee thieves and robbers I fear you not my dear Samaritan comes by come yee bulls of Bashan yee boars of the forest let my beloved kiss mee with the kisses of his mouth and I regard it not though you kick me with the heel O my Lord bring me where thou feedest let me live in thy face let me feel thy smiles upon my heart let me love thee tell me thou lovest me remembrest pittiest acceptest takest care for me and then chuse my condition my dwelling and entertainment for me Fainting Christian lift up thine eyes comfort thine heart here 's that thou fearest and tormentest thy self withall Here is the inside of that formidable cross the light side of those dark clouds the sunny side of that shady thorny hedge that so wounds and afflicts thine heart Fear not bee strong and of a good courage Thou still sayest woe is me I can find no such thing Ah Lord God doth he not speak parables O that I were assured it might be thus with me why art thou in Covenant believe and all is thine I believe and therefore have I spoken believe and thou shalt see the salvation of God as sure as the cross is thine all the comforts of the cross are setled upon thee Read over all the gracious words thou hast before thine eyes view over all the instances of suffering Saints that have gone before thee on whom these good words have been made good in conspicuous increases of divine grace in the signal discoveries of divine love in the clearest and fullest revelation of divine glory in the intimate sense of the divine presence quickning enlarging encouraging supporting their spirits in the darkest dens in the sharpest conflicts with reproaches mockings bonds banishments torments and deaths and know that all these things are written for thy learning that thou through patience and comfort of the Scriptures maist have hope Read over Isa 51. Hearken to mee yee that follow after righteousness yee that seek the Lord look unto the Rock whence ye are hewen and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged for the Lord shall comfort Zion hee will comfort all her wast places hee will make her wildernesse like Eden and all her desarts like the Garden of the Lord joy and gladness shall bee found therein thanksgiving and the voice of melody lift up your eyes to the Heavens c. Verse 7 8 12 13. Hearken unto me ye that know righteousness the people in whose heart is my Law fear yee not the reproach of men neither bee ye afraid of their revilings for the Moth shall eat them up like a Garment and the worm shall eat them like wool but my Righteousness shall bee for ever and my salvation from Generation to Generation I even I am hee that comforteth you who art thou that thou shouldest bee afraid of a man that shall dye and of the Son of man which shall bee made as grass and forgettest the Lord thy maker that hath stretched forth the heavens and layd the foundations of the earth and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressour as if he were ready to destroy and where is the fury of the oppressour I even I am he c. and where is the fury of the oppressour where is the fury of the oppressour where is it not rather is it not in the house and in the field is it not in the City and in the Villages is it not upon my Cattel upon my Purse upon my body upon my Children upon my friends where is not the fury of the oppressour I but when thou remembrest the Lord thy maker the Oath the Promise and Covenant of God the Presence Protection and Comfort of thy God when thou remembrest this then where is the fury of the Oppressour CHAP. V. The Angels of Light in the Covenant 5. THe Angels of Light are in the Covenant Heb. 1.14 are they not all Ministring Spirits sent forth for them who shall bee Heirs of Salvation Whilest our Lord himself was sent down to Minister behold his servants are to bee ministred unto the Angels are made their Ministers Psal 91.11 Hee shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy waies they have received a charge and they have great advantages for the keeping the charge of the Lord. 1. They are mighty Psal 103.20 Bless the Lord yee his Angels that excel in strength an Angel is more than an Armie what slaughters have the Angels made in the Armies of the Aliens an hundred fourscore and five thousand Assyrians are slain by one Angel of the Lord when encamped against Judah Isa 37.36 It is hard service indeed that is too hard for an Angel 2 They are numerous there are great multitudes of them Psal 68.17 Thousands of Angels a multitude of the Heavenly Host Luke 2.13 An Angel is more than an army but what then are an Army of Angels 3. They are faithful They can do much for the Saints but will they do it yes they are faithful They do the Commandements of God Psal 103.20 God bids them keep and they are faithful they will keep his sheep wee are taught to pray that the will of God may bee done on earth as it is in Heaven that men may bee faithful as the Angels of God 4. They are Favourites they behold the face of God they dwell in his presence they are admitted to stand before his Throne they can bee heard they have favour in Heaven and therefore such power on earth Mat. 18.10 Take heed yee despise not one of these little ones for I say unto you that in Heaven
get it Why have recourse to the Covenant there it lies for thee But how shall I get it thence why hath the Lord promised to give it thee take the word from his mouth and put it into thine own turn the word of promise into a prayer Doth he say I will give let thy soul answer give Lord give me this new heart I am weary Lord and thou art weary also of this wicked heart at once ease thy self and me Take away this and give me a better heart Turn the word of promise into a prayer and then turn the word of Prayer into a word of Faith He says I will give let thy Faith say thou wilt give I shall have it since thou hast said thy servant also may boldly say Thou wilt do it Thou wilt give me a better heart Farewell my old sins lusts and companions farewell mine old pleasures and ways now for heaven in earnest now welcome the strait gate the new and living way Old things are past away all things shall become new Turn the word of promise into a prayer turn thy prayer into a word of Faith and God will turn the word of Faith into a word of Command Bee it according to thy word Let there be a new light let there bee a new law let there bee a new power let there no more bee a spirit of fear in this heart but a spirit of power of love and of a sound mind And as when he said in the creation of the great world Let there bee light let there bee a Firmament let there bee a Sun and Moon It was so so when he shall say in the new creation of this little world let there bee light let there bee love let there bee power let us again make man in our image after our own likeness It shall be so The Lord hath said I will let thy Prayer say Do it Lord let thy Faith say thou wilt do it and God will say Amen so be it CHAP. X. An heart to know the Lord. 2. AN heart to know the Lord Jer. 24.7 I will give them an heart to know me The knowledge of God is the first excellency of the new heart As in the old so in the new creation as was said before the first word is let there bee light There is not so glorious a preheminence of day above night as of the knowledge above the ignorance of God As the Firmament without a Sun as the body without an eye so is the soul without knowledge What this knowledge of God here promised is will appear if wee consider It s Object Act. 1. The Object of this Knowledge is God not only the Nature or being of God manifested in his Essential Perfections his Glorious Attributes his Infiniteness Eternity Omnipotency c. In his Personal Relations the Subsistences in the Godhead but God in Christ God in Covenant yea the whole Minde and Will of God all that which God hath revealed to us as our Duty or Happinesse God known in the heart is the whole Bible opened The Law opened the Gospel opened Duties Comforts Priviledges made manifest Christ opened in his Sufferings in his Satisfaction in his Spirit in all the Riches of his Glory the whole mystery of Godliness revealed The Heart opened man made known to himself all the depths of the heart all the deceits of the heart all the faculties and powers of the heart with their motions operations inclinations the rectitude or obliquities of them Heaven opened the Crown the Kingdome known everlasting rest glory honour immortality brought to light Hell opened sin known the devil known wrath temptations the curse eternal fire known All this even all that God is and all that hee hath revealed in his Word and Works are the object of this Knowledge of God 2. The Act. To know is to apprehend or understand God and the things of God Jer. 9.24 Let him that glorieth glory in this that hee understandeth and knoweth mee Ephes 3.18,19 That yee may comprehend with all Saints what is the heighth and length and breadth and depth that yee may know the love of Christ This apprehension of God doth not barely note our having received some natural or metaphysical Notions of God and the Truths that are in him But farther it notes 1. An Approbation of him an approving or liking the things that are excellent Phil. 1.9,10 That your love may abound more and more in knowledge and in all Judgement that yee may approve the things that are excellent 2. Appropriation The knowing of God as a reconciled God a God and a God to mee good and good to mee wise and wise for mee My Lord and my God To know God in Christ reconciled through Christ propitious through Christ this is saving knowledge To know and not possess to see and not eat to know an angry God a wrathful God a God lost to know goodness mercy loving-kindness compassion alsufficiency and to have the heart recurre what is this to thee this is none of thine the damned thus know and dye 3 Affection As Psal 9.10 Those that know thy Name shall trust in thee So those that know thy Name will love thee and fear thee and rejoyce in thee and bless thy Name to know and hate God to know and contemn God to know and fly from God to know and Blaspheme and curse God the Devils thus know and tremble But especially that which distinguishes this saving from common knowledge is Its Power Savour 1. It s Power the Knowledge of God is mighty my preaching was not weak but mighty in you 2 Cor. 13. It hath A Transforming A Fructifying Power 1. A Transforming Power 2 Cor. 3.18 Wee all with open face beholding as in a glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image Rom. 12.2 Bee yee not conformed to this present world but bee yee transformed by the renewing of your mindes by the renewing of your mindes the renovation of the minde both is this change and works it farther upon the whole soul this new light is the new creature old things pass away all things become new where the minde is savingly enlightned God known in the soul is God united to the soul Christ revealed in the heart is Christ formed upon the heart there 's life in this light it is no other than the light of life The Knowledge of God comprehends in it and is involved in and Spirits and animates every grace and duty as the same soul in the eye sees in the ear hears in the palate tastes as the same juyce which is in the Olive fatness in the Fig-Tree sweetness in the Oake strength in the Rose fragrancy in the Lillie beauty So the same grace which in the minde is light in the heart is love holy desire holy fear holy joy and one says that as feeling is inseparable to all the Organs of sense the eye feels and sees the ear feels and hears the palate feels and tastes
't is a nicety 't is but a punctilio 't is meere folly and preciseness and there will bee no end of standing upon such small matters see to it 't is thy duty beware thou neglect it not the baulking of the least duty is the neglecting of the great God of Glory 2. In giving warning of Sin Take heed to thy self sin lyes at the door thou art under a temptation the Devil is entring upon thee do not say 't is but a little sin as little as 't is there 's Death and Hell in the bowels of it look to it 't is sin have thou nothing to do with it keep thy self pure and though it run upon thee shake it off 3. After commission it gives check for it reproving judging and lashing the soul for it where hast thou been Gehazi say not thou hast been no where went not this heart with thee and saw thee running out after thy covetousnesse gadding after thy pleasures feeding thy pride dandling thy lusts playing the Hypocrite playing the Harlot from thy God pampring thy flesh pleasing thine appetite and where hast thou been What hast thou done soul think not to excuse or mince the matter it cannot be excused thou hast sinned against thy God and now bear thy shame This is our heart smiting of us 2 Sam. 24. Our hearts condemning of us 1 John 3.20 If our hearts condemn us God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things 2. Tendernesse of the Will that stands in its flexiblenesse and pliableness unto the Will of God And this is that tenderness wherein chiefly stands the blessing of a soft heart an hard heart is stubborn and obstinate thy neck is as an Iron sinew and thy brow Brasse Thou wilt not bee rul'd there 's no bending thee or turning thee out of thy course thy Iron is too hard for the fire it will not bee melted and for the Hammer it will not bee broken there 's no dealing with thee thou art an untractable piece thou wilt go neither led nor driven thine heart is set in thee to do evil thy will is set upon sin and thou art set upon thine own will The word which thou hast spoken to us in the Name of the Lord wee will not do but wee will do whatever proceeds out of our own mouth Jer. 44.16,17 Wee will do what we will do who is Lord over us Psal 12. and Jer. 2.25 Thou saidst there is no hope no for wee have loved strangers and after them we will go come what will of it say what thou wilt against it Be silent Scriptures hold thy peace Conscience 't is to no purpose to speak more there is no hope of prevailing wee are at a point wee will take our own course These are hard hearts stubborn obstinate hearts When the Iron sinew is broken when the rebellion and stubbornnesse of the Spirit is subdued and tamed and made gentle and pliable then it becomes a tender heart There may bee some tenderness in the Conscience and yet the will bee a very stone and as long as the will stands out there is no broken heart Conscience may bee scared and frighted Conscience may fly upon the Sinner what dost thou mean soul whither are thy rebellions carrying thee look to thy self hearken or thou wilt bee lost e're thou art aware But however God hath gotten conscience on his side yet the Devil still rides the Will and there sin takes up its rest There 's a double resting of sin in the soul In Peace In Power 1. In Peace when it dwells and rules in the soul without disturbance or contradiction when it carries all smoothly before it when God lets it alone and conscience speaks not a word against it When notwithstanding those Armies of lusts fighting against the soul there 's not so much as one weapon lift up against them not a prayer nor a tear nor a wish for freedome nor the least fear concerning the issue this is the most dreadful hardness 2. In Power When though it can have no Peace yet it hath still a Place in the heart Though it can have no quiet but conscience is still quarrelling with it and warning it away yet it still holds its power over the Will the Master of the house is content to bee its Servant O how many persons are there even amongst the Professors of Religion who cannot sin in quiet they are proud or passionate or intemperate or covetous or false in their words in their dealings they are formal and hypocritical and slight in their duties but they cannot go out with it with any quiet Conscience smites them for it they feel many a pang and deadly twinge in their heart insomuch that sometimes they cry and groan and roar in their spirits O for redemption O for deliverance from this false this proud this covetous and wicked heart and yet after all this the Will remains a captive still Sin holds its power there though it cannot carry it on in peace though it cannot bee proud or play the Hypocrite or be covetous or an oppressour without some galls and gripes in the soul yet on it goes the same trade is kept up the same course is held on God commands cast yee out cast yee out come off from all your wickednesse and evil waies and I will receive you No though Conscience would the Will cannot come whatever rendings and tearings whatever terrours and torments and worryings such souls are at any time under whatever stings and plagues and fires they find their sins to be in their souls and bones what-ever wishings and wouldings they wring forth that they were well rid of these plagues whilest the will is still for them there 's an hard heart damnably hard there 's none of this heart of flesh When the will is once broken loose from sin when it will be content to let all go and give up its self to the dominion of the Lord there 's a broken heart Now speak Lord and I will hear Now call Lord and I will answer Now command me impose on mee what thou wilt I will submit None but the Lord none but Christ no other Lord nor lover I am thine Lord thine own do with thine own demand of thine own what-ever thou pleasest What God will have mee bee vvhat God vvill have mee do that vvill I do and bee No longer vvhat I vvill but the Will of the Lord bee done When 't is come to this there 's a tender heart there 's the blessing of a broken spirit the stone hee hath taken away hee hath given an heart of flesh Christians never trust to tears never talk of terrours trouble of conscience of the passionate workings and meltings which at any time you feel upon your spirits though there be something in these as you shall see more by and by yet these are not the things you are to look at A subdued tractable willing obedient heart that 's the tender heart Isa 1.19 If yee
Let the fear of the Lord be in thee habitually in thy heart but actuate and stir up this holy fear keep up an holy awe a deep sence of God alwaies upon thee let the fear of the Lord be before thine eyes be possessed and swallowed up of this fear all the day long where ever thou art with whomsoever thou hast to do remember thou hast still to do with God A Christian should stand alwaies pro tribunali every day should be as the last day the day of judgment to him So speak ye and so do as those that shall be judged Jam. 2.12 The Judge stands at the door yea and thou mayest see him through every window yea through every wall every wall is a window through which God may see and be seen A Christian when he is as he should be cannot wink God out of sight can look no where but he beholds that eye that strikes an awe upon his spirit This abiding reverence of God what an influence will it have upon the whole course we shall then serve God acceptably when we fear we shall please God That we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear We shall then serve God universally in every thing When we fear we shall watch unto every duty against every sin Gen. 42,18 This do and live for I fear God said Joseph to his brethren as if he should have said Do not you fear to find falshood or any evil dealing from me for I fear God I dare not be false to you you may trust me you may take my word for I fear God We shall then walk before the Lord steadily When we fear we shall fix and hold in an even frame and course Fear will be our Ballast whilest Love fills our Sails Fear will Ballast our Vessell How are slight and frothy spirits tossed up and down Whither do they wander How many hearts and faces and frames have they every day What contradictions are they to themselves The reverence of God upon them would fix them and hold them in a more even and equal poise We should then serve the Lord more Honourably When we fear we shall shew forth the vertues of God before the world so much of the reverence so much of the holiness of God upon us The presence of a Christian walking in the fear of the Lord is as the presence of God the reverence of God upon his heart casts a beam of Divine Majesty into his face and oftentimes begets an awe and reverence of him in the hearts of the worst of sinners they reverence even whilest they revile and persecute him Iohn Baptist who was a man of a just and holy and austere life 't is said of him Mark 6,20 That Herod feared him and observed him The austerity and holiness of his life commanded a respect from an Herods heart Such Christians their waies are a conviction and their very countenances are a rebuke to the wanton world they speak with authority they exhort with authority they reprove with authority and sin often hides it self from them even as from the face of God 2 Especially in our drawing nigh to God Psal 89.7 God is greatly to be feared in the Assembly of the Saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him I will be sanctified in them that draw nigh me He that fears God trembles at the word of God And God loves he should Isa 26.2 To this man will I look that trembles at my word That which makes him tremble is that he sees the Word carrying upon it The Holiness The Authority of God He reads the word as the Epistle of God sent down to the world his Epistle Commendatory that sets forth the Excellency and the Glory of God and his Letters Mandatory that charge subjection and obedience upon him he takes every word as comming from the mouth of the holy One of Israel he lies prostrate before the Lord his soul bowes the knee his heart falls down at the feet of the Almighty The word by how much the more it 's considered as the word of God by so much the more awe it works upon him Every look he casts upon his Bible is a looking into Heaven He that fears God fears when he comes to worship reverences his Sanctuary In thy fear will I worship Psal 5.7 That which works this fear is that he looks upon the Duties and Ordinances of worship as The Institutions of God His Application unto God This is that which the Lord hath sanctified behold his Image and Superscription here he hath appointed me to wait for him here he hath appointed to meet my soul now I am going up to the Mount of God the Mount of God is every where where the worship of God is My soul where art thou I am before the Lord of the whole Earth Put off thy shoes from off thy feet the place where thou standest is holy ground I am before the High and holy One the God of all the Earth and upon transactions of Eternal consequence to do my homage to the everlasting King to kneel before the Lord my maker to kiss the golden Scepter to begg my life at his hands to behold his goings in his Sanctuary his wisdom and his mercy and his goodness are all passing before me How dreadfull is this place This is none other but the House of God and the gate of Heaven Gen. 28.17 How dreadfull is this word This is none other but the word of God How dreadfull is this Ordinance This is no other but the door of glory Tremble thou heart at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the God of Jacob. 2. Abhorrence of evill for the Lords sake Here we shall consider its Object Ground 1. The Object of this abhorrence in general is evill Rom. 12.9 Abhorre that which is evil cleave to that which is good Good is the Object of Love evill of Fear Evill is twofold Present or to come The former is the Object of Grief the latter of Fear Particularly the Object of this abhorrence is The wrong of God The loss of God 1. The wrong of God The great and onely wrong of God is sin Sin is the turning away of the heart from God The great thing in all the world which God respects and requires as his own is Hearts My son give me thiâ—e heart Keep thine heart with all diligence Prov. 4.23 Keep thine heart that is Keep it for me keep it clean for God and keep it safe for God see that it be not defiled nor carried away When the heart 's gone all 's gone with it If the VVorld hath gotten hearts if Satan hath gotten hearts let them take all saith God let me have either an heart or nothing and all they are like to have that have the heart The heart where-ever it goes carries all with it VVhere we bestow our hearts we bestow all that we have Sin is the turning away
the latter dayes But how can goodness be the Object of fear We fear evill and not good The meaning is they shall fear to wrong or abuse goodness They shall fear to wrong the Lord because he is good in the latter dayes These latter dayes that this Promise refers to shall be dayes of more grace wherein there shall be not onely a more clear revelation of the goodness of God they shall know the Lord and his goodness But a more plentifull communication and diffusion of the goodness of God they shall love the Lord and his goodness They shall see themselves both more obliged by goodness and shall feel themselves more seasoned with goodness By grace they shall be better natured Religion doth not make morose but more generous free and ingenuous There 's nothing more abhorrent to an ingenuous spirit then to be base and unworthy Abuse of goodness is an unworthiness which an ingenuous nature abhors as death to be guilty of 't is its destruction 't is disingenuity The abuse of the goodness of God is great unthankfulness and unthankfulness is great disingenuity Ingratum si dixeris omnia dixeris Call me unthankfull and you call me all that 's naught Call me any thing else but unthankfull Indeed were I all thanks I should still be unthankfull I should still be behind-hand with the goodness of the Lord my debt is greater then I can pay yea greater then I can acknowledge but shall I return evil for his good If I cannot pay should I deny my Debt He that is unthankfull whatever God requires of him saies wickedly this is more then I owe thee God I owe thee nothing I care not for thee Oh this is dreadfull to a gratious heart If this be in sin for all sin is unthankfulness if this be in sin if this be the signification of all my neglects of God and my duty to him then the Lord forbid what ever I suffer that I should yeeld to sin How shall I do this wickedness How shall I neglect this duty and sin against God How should I look my God or my own soul in the face should I be so unworthy For thy sake Lord let me not sin against thee thou art good thou art kind thou art gracious thou art holy O let me not be a Devil what heart where a Devill is not but such goodness will charm it into love Shall I sin Shall I rebell For thy sake Lord I will not do it I will not for mine own sake for where then shall I appear In sinning against God I sin against mine own soul I dare not for my life sin and Death sin and Hell are link'd together but were it not so might I sin and escape sin and not die yet for thy sake Lord I will not do it Thou art good good in thy self good to me thou att my God thou art my Father love care tenderness compassion kindness is all that is in thine heart towards me what I am what I have what I hope for that I breathe that I live all is thy goodness thy bounty to me Oh let me not rise up against the Womb that bare me and the Paps that give me suck I would not to my childe to my servant to my friend but Oh let me never to my Father to my God return evill for good and hatred for his good will Let not this evill which I fear ever come upon me put thy fear into mine heart O Lord that I may not sin against thee CHAP. XV. Obedience in the Covenant 7. OBedience Ezek. 36.27 I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them Obedience is either of the Heart or of the Life In this Scripture God undertakes for both 1. For the obedience of the Heart he undertakes in the former words I will put my Spirit in your heart where the Spirit dwells be rules Where Satan dwells he rules and where the Spirit of the Lord dwells there God rules the Spirit in the heart is the Law in the heart Those two Promises I will put my Spirit in your hearts and I will write my Law in your hearts signifie the same thing The Law in the heart is the will of man melted into the will of God The Law of God may be in the mouth and the heart a Rebel its reception into the heart notes the hearts subjection to it The Obedience of the heart includes two things 1. The opening of the heart to the Word 2. The resolution of the heart for the Work of the Lord. 1. The opening of the heart to the Word What wilt thou have me to do Lord That 's the voice of an obedient heart Veniat verbum submittemus Speak Lord command Lord what wilt thou And when he speaks whatever it be the word is embraced and accepted of the heart Dan. 4.27 Let my counsel be acceptable to thee The acceptance of the word in the heart is signified by its hearkening to it To hearken is more then to hear though they sometimes note the same thing yet ordinarily hearing is of the ear hearkening of the heart Psal 81.11 Israel would not hearken my people would none of me They heard what the Lord spake but they would not hearken that is as t is there interpreted they would none of the Lord. They rejected the word of the Lord which he spake unto them When the word is let come in with Authority suffered to rule in the soul when the heart gives up it self unto it then it is accepted there 's its hearkening to it 2 The resolution of the heart for the work of the Lord Psal 110.106 I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments I have vowed and I will perform I have covenanted and I am determined to keep thy statutes The word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord we will not do that 's the rebellious Whatsoever the Lord shall speak we will do that 's the obedient heart Where the heart is thus resolved to obey this is that obedience which shall be accepted unto salvation Where this resolution is as there is opportunity there will be practice and where there 's not opportunity in Gods account this is it This is Praying this is Hearing this is giving and feeding and cloathing and visiting this is walking circumspectly working righteousness shewing mercy exercising Faith and Patience and Repentance this is our keeping the Commandments of God and walking in his Statutes an heart to obey is our obeying an heart to do is our doing an heart to suffer in Gods account is our suffering for his Name But here it must be carefully noted that though sincere resolution for Obedience be Obedience yet every resolution is not that resolution Resolution for Obedience is then sincere where 1. It flowes from an inward and rooted inclination 2. It 's bottomed on a
its full weight makes the strength of it appear it layes all things in the Ballance it s the comparing of Reasons for and against the weighing of Arguments and Objections encouragements and discouragements casting the cost as well as the gain particularly In this deliberation there must be a considering 1. What there is in this Obedience 2. What it is attended with that may discourage 1. There must be a considering What there is in this Obedience Or otherwise we resolve upon we know not what Now there are five things in this Obedience Subjection Activity and Industry Integrity Circumspection Spirituality 1. Subjection Servants must be subject must not be at their own wills but at the will of another The heart of man naturally affects Dominion that 's the great controversie of sinners with God Who shall be Lord We are Lords we would be at least we will come no more unto thee Jer. 2.31 Obedience yields that God should be Lord yea and all others also whom he hath made Lords over us The servants of Christ must not be and yet must be the servants of men they must not serve the lusts but must be subject to their righteous Lawes and Commands God must be obeyed and Magistrates Ministers Masters Parents must be obeyed in the Lord and for the Lord yea and they must be when God will have it so the Servants of servants While they must not serve the humours of the greatest they must serve the necessities of the meanest must stoop to the lowest of Offices even to the washing of the feet of the least Disciple All this the Lord expects of them and they must be subject They must not dispute but do his will onely it must be considered that there is a double disputing the will of God There is a disputing whether that which is pretended to be the wil of God be so or no this ought to be done And there is a disputing or questioning that which is granted to be the will of God whether it be fit to be done or safe to be done Is it not better to let it alone What advantage is there in it What reason is there for it No they must not thus dispute this is Reason enough God will have it so Gods will is ever Reason and it must be our Reason It 's enough for thee to say This is that which the Lord hath commanded and I must be subject This is one thing that must be considered I will Obey but can I be Subject 2. Activity and Industry The servant of the Lord must be Active and Industrious Whom he sends into the Vineyard he sends to work and not to sleep The life of a Christian is laborious whilest others are in their beds he must be on his knees whilest others take their Pleasure he must take Pains whilest others take their times now a little and then a little he must sit at it be ever about his Masters business An active spirit is an excellent spirit and t is necessary in a Christian 1. An Active spirit is an Excellent spirit Sluggards are the refuse of the Earth But here it must be considered that there is a double Activity Naturall and Gracious 1. Natural which arises from an innate vigour and vivacity of some mens spirits There needs not industry in such to bring forth action 't is but leaving nature to its course and that will fly high enough of it self It requires more Industry to regulate and sometimes to restrain then to put forth into Action It s more labour for them to rest then to be doing 2. Gracious Which is either Natural Activity managed and improved for God turn'd into a right course running in a right Channel or a Naturally Unactive spirit raised and quickened by grace and Religious Industry This gracious this holy Activity this is the Excellency it is the extract of the spirits and life of all our Parts and graces and will go further and do more high Honour and more abundant service to God and his Gospel then is done by a thousand others An Active Sinner is by accident the worst of men How much service for the Devil will he dispatch in a little time An Active sinner is life and death met together He is all life and yet dead and the more he hath of death because so much of life like poyson in Wine he destroyes the more effectually Yet the evill is not in his Activity but in the matters wherein he is imployed the good mettal or keenes of a Weapon is its Excellency but in a mad mans hand better a wooden then an iron sword An Active Spirit is so Excellent that its pity that ever sin should have the using of it 't were well for Religion if the Devil were a Drone and had no other servants but the Sluggards of the Earth But Activity when set right is of great price in the sight of God It is of great price in the sight of God because it sets a great price upon God Slothfulness puts a slight upon God when the Scriptures have set forth the Magnalia Dei the great things and the deep things of God when the Lord Jesus is evidently set forth as crucified before our eyes as the Propitiation for sin when the preciousness of his blood the tenderness of his bowels the riches of his grace the sufficiency of his righteousness his satisfaction and pardons are all held forth in open sight when the beauties of holiness the joyes of the spirit that peace which passeth all understanding are laid forth to view when the most glorious things are spoken of the City of God Jerusalem which is above when God in his word calls to us Awake sleepers arise sluggards see what 's before you all this may be yours if you will Sloathfulness puts this slight upon all Tush all this is not worth the breaking my sleep for 't is not all worth my labour to seek after my ease and my quiet is better to me then God and all his glory We may best understand the value we put on things by the pains and the cost we are content to be at to purchase them When sinners bestow themselves so upon the world will bear such labour and travell are so constantly so indefatigably industrious in the pursuance of it and withall run such hazards and dangers for it they make it evident enough what rate they put upon it he whose time and his strength whose days and his nights yea whose soul and his hopes must all be laid out in a purchase must all go for a piece of Land or a little money or pleasure we need no other proof what a bargain he thinks this world to be I care not much for this world 't is a vanity a shadow the fashion of it passeth away I hope t is far enough off my heart how ever I am charged with greediness after it But what then mean all the expences of thy time of thy strength
will they not prove themselves so to be but specially graces will be their own evidence Things outward fall alike to all No man knowes love or hatred by ought that befalls him Eccles 9.1 Thou mayest be a son or a bastard notwithstanding all that thou enjoyest or sufferest here but not one of the fore-mentioned graces but is a childes portion Gods mark upon the heart to distinguish children from strangers Prove that thou truly knowest the Lord hast one heart a tender heart c. and thou therein provest thy self to be a child of Promise Read over the descriptions that have been given of these graces observe diligently where the main differenâ—e lyes betwixt common and special grace compare thine heart with it and thereby thou mayest give a judgement of thy state If it be yet questionable whether it be sound or no sit not down till thou hast obtained but having obtained 2. Keep your evidences clear Have you peace maintain it carefully The hidden Manna will never breed worms by long keeping Content not your selves that you once had peace 't will be but a poor livelihood you will get out of what 's wasted and lost Get you good evidences that God is yours and keep them by you till you need them no more Grace is your best evidence cherish and preserve it Get a seeing eye and keep your eye open get a single heart and let it not be again divided get a tender heart and keep it tender let the love and fear of God be acted in holy Obedience An obedient gracious watchful active life will keep grace in heart and flourishing grace will speak for it self and you Look not that the Lord should so far countenance your declinings to a more fleshly careless state as to smile upon you in such a state God will not be an Abettor to sin Count upon it that your grace and peace your duty and comfort will rise and fall together suspect those comforts that accompany you into the tents of wickedness and forsake you not when you forsake your God Keep up your spirits and then lift up your heads keep heedfully on your way and your joy shal no man take from you Particularly 1. Keep close by God 2. Keep hold on Christ 3. Keep touch with the Spirit 4. Keep in with Conscience 1. Keep close to God Keep thy self under his eye and influences Both thy grace and thy comforts as they had their birth so must they have their nourishment from Heaven Lose the sight of the Sun and darkness follows Let thine eyes be towards the hills Let divine love be the pleasure of thy life Let it be thy Lords cord upon thine heart let it binde thee to him be loves Captive let thine ear be bor'd to the threshold be familiar in Heaven keep thine acquaintance there and be at peace chide back thy gadding heart Soul whither art thou going who hath the words of eternal life let the interviews of love betwixt thy Lord and thee be constant let them not be onely on some few holy days of thy life Count not thou hast lived that day in which thou hast not liv'd with God Keep close to God by keeping close to duty Keep close to duty and keep close to God in duty Call not that a duty which thou canst not call communion with God Make not duty to do the work of sin to take God out of sight Let not Prayer or Hearing or Sacraments be instead of a God to thee Such praying and hearing there is amonst many but know not thou any thing for Religion wherein thou meetest not with God Behold the face of God but behold his face in righteousness Psal 17.15 'T is ill looking on God with a blood-shot eye Guilt upon the heart will be a cloud that will make the Sun as darkness to thee Walk in the light of the Lord. Walk in the light as he is in the light In thy light the holiness of thy life thou shalt see his light The light of his holiness in thee will be attended with the light of his countenance upon thee By the light of his countenance thou wilt both see thy self in thy way to thine hopes and learn thy way more perfectly Psal 119.135 Make thy face to shine upon thy Servant and teach me thy statutes God hath many ways of teaching he teaches by Book he teaches by his Finger he teaches by his Rod but his most comfortable and effectual teaching is by the light of his Eye Send forth thy light and thy truth let them lead me let them bring me to thy holy Hill 2. Keep hold on Christ He is thy peace Appear not before God but in the blood of the Lamb let him carry up thy duties and own not that for a comfort which is not brought thee by his hand Let him be thy way to the Father and thy Fathers way to thee Keep fresh upon thine heart the memory of his death and satisfaction and let that be thy life and thine hope Hast thou cast Anchor on this Rock lose not thy hold hang upon the horns of the Altar Thou canst not live but there if thou must dye say but I will dye here Put forth fresh Acts of faith everyday and hour Believe believe believe and thou shalt be established Fall not into Unbelief then thou art gone thou departest from the living God Heb. 3.12 3. Keep touch with the Spirit Observe and obey his motions when he excites get thee on when he checks get thee back know the holy from the evil spirit by its according or differing with the Scriptures reject that spirit in the heart that is not the same with the Spirit in the word Try the Wind what and whence it is by thy Card and Gompass To the Law and to the Testimony And when thou perceivest it s from above hoise up thy sails and get thee on Quench not the Spirit Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby thou art sealed to the day of Redemption 4. Keep in with Conscience Make not thy witness thine enemy Deal friendly with it thou wilt need its good word which thou canst not have if it receive blowes from thee it will not learn this Lesson to speak good for evil or if thou shouldest beat it into it thou art undone if an abuse conscience speak peace it becomes thy Traytor Give due respect to Conscience Let it abide with thee in Peace and in Power Keep up its Authority as Gods Vicegerent Next under God commit the keeping of thy soul to conscience as the Lord hath so do thou make it superintendent in thy soul the Judge and Over-seer of all thy motions and actions Let conscience counsell thee and tell thee thy way let conscience quicken thee and put thee on in thy way let conscience watch thee that thou turn not out of thy way let conscience check thee and reduce thee into thy way Whither ever thou goest carry conscence along with thee carry
lie fallow like the field of the Sluggard all overgrown with thorns and nettles when both thine heart and thine house are so much out of order when thy Wife and thy Children and thy Servants are left at randome to do all what 's right in their own eyes when more care is taken for the Asses then for thy Sons and Daughters when thy house is a very hospital of blind and lame and sick Souls ready to die for want of instruction and good discipline where is thy Conscience and if Conscience be not where is thy Covenant and if thy Covenant be not oh where is thy God and thy peace Ah Conscience where art thou become what is become of that good thing committed to thee yea what is become of thee Ah Soul where is thy peace how is the keeper of thy peace laid low and the covenant of thy peace broken what peace whilst no Conscience and what hast thou left whilst no peace Ah Lord thy treacherous dealers how treacherously have they dealt with thee thy Children have forgotten thee thy Servants are run-awayes from thee thou art our Father but where is thine honour thou art our Master but where is thy fear we are thy Servants but where is our faith Ah Lord we have dealt falsly in thy Covenant Return O Lord return repair thy watches recover thine honours reduce thy wanderers restore conscience revive our peace cause us to return and renew our covenant and remember break not thou thy covenant with us Christians let us bewail lost conscience and let it be recovered let us weep over our dead and let their souls return into them Let those of us that have obtained grace to be faithful and watchful and tender rejoyce and take heed let him that standeth take heed lest he fall Go on in the Name of the Lord Remember his counsels keep close by God keep hold on Christ keep touch with the Spirit keep in with Conscience keep thine heart keep thy garments keep up thy watch keep on thy way finish thy course keep the faith and then let the devil do his worst thy peace shall be extended to thee as a River and established as a Rock and thou shalt be able to say in the words and in the faith of the Apostle Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which God the righteous Judge shall give unto me at that day and not to me onely but to all that love his appearing 3. Adde to your covenant your sacrifice Psa 50.5 Gather my Saints together unto me those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice God hath made with you and he expects that you make covenant with him by sacrifice Sacrifices were seals of the Covenant As Gods part of the Covenant so our part also must be sealed and sealed with blood his with the blood of his Son ours with the blood of our sins Rom. 12.1 I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy acceptable to God The sacrificing of our selves to the Lord conprehends in it three things Alienation Dedication Oblation 1. Alienation or the passing away of our selves from our selves Ye are not your own you are bought with a price Thus he hath said and he expects that we should say also True Lord I am not mine own 2. Dedication or the passing over our selves to the Lord 2 Chron. 29.35 Ye have consecrated your selves to the Lord. His we are by purchase but he expects that we be his also by donation his we are by conquest but he expects we should be his by consent also Though he may challenge us as his right yet the most acceptable claim is when he hath us by gift When our hearts say I am thine Lord then his heart will answer Soul thou art mine 3. Oblation or the actual surrender or offering up our selves to him In the offering this sacrifice is included the Immolation or slaying of it We must slay our selves in a spiritual sense be mortified be crucified with Christ and so offered up a sacrifice to him You will say How is it then required that we offer up our selves a living sacrifice Answ We are never truly alive till we are dead Col. 3.3 Ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God When our flesh is dead our spirit is life Rom. 8. As the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. that which thou sowest so that which thou sacrificest is not quickened except it die Mortificatio est mors viva Alapid 'T is onely the mortified Christian that is a living sacrifice Christians come and sacrifice your selves to the Lord. Come and slay your sacrifices and so offer them up Your sacrifice is then slain as before 't is intimaed when your carnal self your old man is crucified with Christ and the body of sin destroyed Rom. 6. when the wisdome of the flesh is crucified and made to vanish before the wisdome of God when the will of the flesh is subdued and swallowed up of the Will of God when the lusts of the flesh are vanquished and made captives by the Law of God Christians It may be you are willing to make your claim to the Covenant of God but have you made covenant with him you have entred into covenant with God but will you confirm your covenant by sacrifice you will give your selves a sacrifice to the Lord but is your sacrifice slain Is the wisdome of the flesh made foolishness How is it with your carnal wills Is the will of the flesh broken and brought into subjection yielding it self up to the Lord O for an exinanition of wills an emptying them into the Will of God! What wilt thou do What wilt thou have nothing but what God will What the Lord will have me do or avoid or suffer I can no longer say him nay Is this the Will of God my sanctification so 't is mine Is this the Will of God my humiliation so 't is mine Is this the Will of God my tribulation so 't is mine Is God for holiness through Grace so am I. Is God for his own Will so am I this is all the Will I have that the Lord may have his Will of me may be all to me have all from me rule all in me and dispose of all that concerns me How is it with your carnal affections and fleshly lusts are these slain Is your covetousness your sensuality your pride and envy are your carnal joyes and fears and worldly sorrows are these destroyed those wild-fires of passion and fury and rage are these quenched Come put the Knife to the throat of all these and then there 's a sacrifice for God Go and offer it up and let it be A Free-will-offering A Thank-offering 1. A Freewil-offering Offer your selves willingly to the Lord Psal 110. Thy people shal be willing in the day of thy Power O may that glorious day dawn upon us God loves a chearful giver offer