where the benefit so far exceeds all possible thankfulness Ought you to serve and obey him Doubtless he hath for that purpose redeemed you with his precious Blood And truly there is no obedience nor service so full and so cheerful as that which flows from love Should you study conformity to Christ and labour to be like him Yes for this is to walk worthy of Christ then there is nothing assimulates so much as Love Men delight in their society whom they love and by their society they do insensibly contract their customs and become like them These Virgins that love Christ for his Graces they love to converse with him and by conversing with him they receive of his Graces and have a smell of his Persumes Not only do they by the smell of his Garments or such imposed Rights obtain the blessing but likewise smell like him by the participation of sanctifying Grace of his Wisdom and Holiness in a pure and godly Conversation abstaining from the impure Lusts and Pollutions of the World of his Meekness and Humility Never think that one and the same Soul can have much Pride and much of Christ ever the more Grace a man hath the more sense hath he likewise of his own unworthiness and Gods free mercy and consequently the more humility If you love Christ you cannot chuse but be like him in love to your Brethren This is expresly compared by the Psalmist to the precious Ointment poured upon Aaron's head that ran down to the very skirts of his Garments Our Head and High Priest the Lord Jesus hath incomparably testified his love to Believers whom he is pleased to call his Brethren they are far from equalling him either in love to him or one to another but they do imitate him in both This is his great Commandment That we love one another even as he loved us which is exprest both as a strange motive and a high example 'T is not possible that a Spirit of Malice and implacable Hatred can consist with the love of Christ. Finally should you be ready to suffer for Christ Yes Then love is that which will enable you and if you were inflamed with this fire then though burned for him that fire would only consume your dross and be soon extinguished but this would endure for ever By these and the like Evidences try whether you indeed love the Lord Jesus Christ and by these fruits You that profess to love him testifie the sincerity of your love and be assured that if you be now found amongst these Virgins that love him you shall one day be of the number of those Virgins that are spoken of Rev. 14. 3 4. that sing a new Song before the Throne of God If you hate the defilements of the World and be not polluted with inordinate affection to the Creature it shall never repent you to have made choice of Christ he shall fill your hearts with peace and joy in believing When you come to his House and Table he shall lend you home with Joy and sweet Consolation such as you would not exchange with Crowns and Scepters and after some few of these running Banquets here below you shall enter into the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb where Faith shall end in sight and Hope in possession and Love continue in perpetual and full Enjoyment where you shall be never weary but for ever happy in beholding the face of the Blessed Trinity To whom be Glory Amen SERMON IX PREFACE HOW true is that word of our Saviour who is truth it self Without me ye can do nothing severed from me as that branch that is not in me They that are altogether out of Christ in Spiritual Exercises do nothing at all 'T is true they may Pray and hear the Word yea and Preach it too and yet in so doing they do nothing nothing in effect They have the matter of good actions but it is the eternal Form gives being to things they are but a number of empty words and a dead service to a living God for all our outward performances and worship of the Body is nothing but the body of worship and therefore nothing but a Carkass except the Lord Jesus by his Spirit breath upon it the breath of life Yea the Worshipper himself is Spiritually Dead till he receive Life from Jesus and be quickned by his Spirit If this be true then it will follow necessarily That where numbers are met together as here pretending to serve and worship God yet he hath very few that do so indeed the greatest part being out of Christ and such being without him they can do nothing in his service Rom. VIII 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be THE ordinary workings and actions of Creatures are suitable to their Naure as the ascending of light things and the moving of heavy things downwards so the vital and sensitive actions of things that have life and sense The reasonable Creature 't is true hath more liberty in its actions freely chusing one thing and rejecting another yet it cannot be denied that in acting of that liberty their choice and refusal follow the sway of their nature and condition as the Angels and glorified Souls their nature being perfectly holy and unalterably such They cannot sin they can delight in nothing but in obeying and praising that God in the enjoyment of whom their happiness consisteth still ravish'd in beholding his face The Saints again that have not yet reach'd that home and are but on their Journey they are not fully defecated and refined from the dross of Sin there are in them two parties Natural Corruption and Supernatural Grace and these keep a strugling within them but the younger shall supplant the elder Grace shall in the end overcome and in the mean while though it be not free from mixture yet it is predominant The main bent of a renewed Man is Obedience and Holiness and any action of that kind he rejoyces in but the Sin that escapes him he cannot look upon but with regret and discontent But alas they that be so minded are very thin sown in the World even in Gods peculiar Fields where the Labourage of the Gospel is and the outward profession of true Religion unanimously received Yet the number of true Converts Spiritual-minded Persons is very small the greatest part acting Sin with delight and taking pleasure in Unrighteousness living in disobedience to God as in their proper Element and the reason is The contrariety of their Nature to our Holy Lord. The carnal mind is enmity against God The mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some render it the Prudence or Wisdom of the Flesh. Here you have it The Carnal Mind but the word signifies indeed an act of the mind rather than either the faculty it self or the habit of Prudence in it so as it discovers what is the frame of both those The minding as it
as a House covers all for so it signifies doth not blaze abroad the failingâ— of men yea it hides much covers a multitude of sins not only from the eyes of others but even from a mans own eyes makes him not behold and look on those things that might provoke him yea it is Ingenious and Inventive of the fairest Constructions of things to take them by the best side in the favourablest sense and so long as there is any agreeable way to Interpret any thing favourably will not have a hard thought of it Thinks no ill as there it is not only hath not active evil thoughts of Revenge or returning Evil but willingly doth not judge ill of what is done by others and that might be so lookt on as to provoke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not reckon wrongs so high as want of Charity moves the most to do sets them low and as a healthful Constitution is sweet it self and relishes all things right there is more true pleasure and content of mind in forgiving than ever any man found in revenge that is but a Feverish delight that Malice and Anger hath wrought working perhaps greedily but is indeed a Distemper This Love is the very root of Peace and Concord a humble Grace that is not lifted up and Insolent as the word there is and so doth not breed Jars about Punctiliâ—e esteems so well of others and so meanly of it self that it cannot well be crost by any in that matter of under valuing But vain Spirits are puft up with a little approbation and as easily kindled up with any affront or apprehended disgrace Love is not lightly put out of temper as sickly Constitutions a Fit of a Fever or Ague with any blast or wrong touch of Diet it is of a stronger digestion and firmer health Then for that Not commit Adultery All things of that kind though they spring from a kind of Love yet not from this Love from above but as the Apostle James distinguishes wisdom from the Love that is sensual and devilish Love is not the true name of it but base and brutish Lust and generally all prophane Societies and sortings of men one with another are most contrary to this pure Love The Drunkards that are Cup-friends as they are full of Jars and have no constancy but are unstable as that wherein their Friendship lies their Liquor are a vile despicable Society not worthy of Men much less of Christians This sin hath affininity with Uncleanness and is usually ranked there Right Love to a Tipler is not to sit down and guzzle with him but to reprove and labour to reclaim him and where that cannot be done to avoid him To wicked persons we owe not a complacency or delight which is most contrary to this Love but hating their Sin we owe them Love and the desiring and as far as Love can the procuring their Conversion and Salvation Wicked Converse cannot consist with this Love which is the fulfilling of the Law and a Combination for the breaking of it and the joining their strength together for that end Love rejoiceth not in Iniquity but in the Truth makes not men rejoice together in Sin So foul unclean Affections and a Society in order to the gratiâ—ying them is most contrary to it true Love is most tender of the Chastity of others and cannot abide an impute thought in it self So in not Stealing Love would be loth to enrich or advantage it self upon the damage of others in any kind it doth most faithfully â—nd singly seek the profit and prosperity of our Neighbour even as our own And iâ— this took place of how much use were it in the World But oh it is rare This meum and tuum is the grand Cause of the ill understanding and discords that are amongst men when it is not managed by this Love but by Self-love And the tendering and preserving of the good name of our Brethren is a proper and very remarkable fruit of this Love which is so far from forging false defaming Stories that it will rather excuse if it may be done or if not will pity the real failings of men that tend to their reproach and on the contrary will teach men to rejoice in the good carriage and good esteem of their Brethren as of their own In the end Love works such a Complacency in the good of others and such a Contentation with our own Estate that it most powerfully banishes that unruly humour of Coveting which looks on the condition of others with envy and on our own with grudging and discontent This Law of Love written within doth not only rectifie and order the Hands and Tongue but the Jealousies the very stirrings of the Heart it corrects the usual disorder of its motion and bars those uncharitable inordinate thoughts that do so abound and swarm in Carnal minds 3. The Original of this Love is that other Love which corresponds to the other part the first and chief point of the Law our Duty towards God Love to him is the sum and source of all Obedience when the whole Soul and Mind is possest with that then all is acceptable and sweet that he commands first what he commands as immediately referrable to himself and then what is the Rule of our Carriage to men as being prescrib'd and commanded by him For so and no otherwise is this Love the fulfilling of the Law when it flows from that first Love Love to God whose Law it is that commands this other Love to Men. Some may have somewhat like it by a mildness and ingenuity of Nature being inoffensive and well-willing towards all but then only doth it fulfil the Law when out of regard to the Law of God it obeys and obeys out of love to him whose Law it is So then the Love of God in the heart is the Spring of right and holy Love to our Neighbour both 1 because in obedience to him whom we love soveraignly we will love even sincerely because he will have it so That is reason enough to the Soul possest and taken up with his Love It loves nothing how lovely soever but in him and for him in order and subordination to his Love and in respect to his Will and it loves any thing how unlovely soever taking it in that Contemplation It loves not the dearest Friend but in God and can love the hatefullest Enemy for him Amicum in Deo inimicum propter Deum Aug. His love can beautifie the most unamiable Object and make it lovely He saith of a worthless undeserving Man or thy most undeserving Enemy Love him for my sake because it pleases me that 's reason enough to one that loves him 2 There is that dilateing sweetning Vertue in love to God that it can act no other way to men but as becomes Love Base self-love contracts the heart and is the very root of all Sin the chief wickedness in our corrupt Nature but the Love of God
Archbishop LEIGHTON'S SERMONS SERMONS Preached by Dr. Robert Leighton Late Archbishop of GLASGOW PUBLISHED At the desire of his Friends after his Death from his Papers written with his own hand He was a burning and a shining Light and ye were willing for a Season to rejoyce in his Light St. Job 5. 35. He being dead yet speaketh Heb. 11. 4. LONDON Printed for S. K. and are to be sold by Awnsham and John Churchill at the Black-Swan in Pater-Noster Row MDCXCII TO THE PIOUS and DEVOUT READER THE Discourses here published are but a small taste of a great many more that were written by the same most Reverend Author A Judgment will be made from the reception these meet with concerning the Publishing other Discourses by the same Pen. His Composures in Latin which appear to have been written and delivered when he was Principal of the Colledge of Edinburgh are also Transcribing for the Press and may in a convenient time see the light for they need not fear it He never appeared in Print upon any occasion in his whole Life and thâ— few Men have been more sollidly Learned in the whole compass of Learning then he was to which he had added a perfect Command of the purity of the Latin Tongue and a more than ordinary knowledge of the Greek Hebrew and other Oriental Languages yet he never once broke through that profound humility which made him judge himself neither fit to write nor speak tho he did both to a great perfection Some words that dropt from him occasionally some time before his Death against the Publishing of his Papers put those in whose hands they were under no small difficulties what to do with them till they maturely considered the difference there ought to be made between a settled resolute purpose and an humble Answer to a Question put to him concerning them Which was considered only as an Effect of that modesty which was eminent in him to a very high degree and which gave a peculiar Luster to all his other Excellencies The Author was so averse to all Controversies that he thought the best way to refine some low Notions was to graft great and high thoughts on them And therefore instead of attacking them or disputing about them he study'd to improve them to some pious Reflection If he went along with some of the received Notions of that Age and Place he lived in he made them much brighter and less offencive by his way of handling them If the meanness of Stile which then prevailed threw him into a little more Art than agrees with that chastness of Stile which now takes place it is what all Men who have raised the strain of their Language have fallen into at first But I will not pretend to excuse that which I confess I admire and by which I my self have been so sensibly Edifi'd that I have been at some pains to cause to be coppied out for the Press what the Author writ in so neglected a manner with his own hand The Author was the delight and wonder of all that knew him his Thoughts were Noble and his Expressions Beautiful his Gesture and pronounciation peculiar to himself had a Gravity a Majesty and yet a sweetness in them that many severe Judges have often said were beyond all that they had ever seen at home or abroad That which gave the greatest authority to all he said was that his Life was such a continued course of Sublimest Vertue and the most elevated Piety that has appeared in this Age. Those who have known him the most and the longest have often said that in a course of many years acquaintance they scarcely ever saw him once out of that deeply serious State in which they themselves wish'd to be found in their last minutes This may look somewhat high to those who knew him not But those who did know him and are yet alive will I am confident justifie the truth of this short Character A fuller Account of his Life is promised by a better Pen and therefore I will say no more on a Subject that I am very sensible is too high for me to manage To Conclude I who reckon that the knowledge I had of him for some years the few Sermons I heard him preach and the many of his Composing which I have read will be no small Article of the Accompt I must render at the last and dreadful Day have thought it one part of my Duty to be Instrumental to communicate these to others who I hope will profit more by them than I my self have been able yet to do And in this hope and assurance I recommend those Discourses and the Readers of them to the Blessing and Grace of Almighty God through his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. SERMON I. PREFACE MAny and great are the Evils that lodge within the heart of man and they come forth abundantly both by the Tongue and by the Hand yet the heart is not emptied of them yea the more it vent them outwardly the more they increase within Well might he that knew the heart so well call it an evil Treasure We find the Prophet Ezekiel in his 8 Chap. Led by the Lord in vision to Jerusalem to view the sins of the Jews that remained in time of the Captivity when he had shewed him one abomination he caused him to dig through the Wall to enter and discover more and so directed him several times from one place to another and still said I will shew thee yet greater abominations Thus is it with those whom the Lord leads into an Examination of their own hearts for men are usually strangers to themselves by the light of his Word and Spirit going before them he lets them see heaps of abominations in every Room and the vilâ—st in the most retired and darkest corners and truly should he leave them there they would despair of remedy no he makes this discovery on purpose that they should sue to him for help Do so then as many as have taken any notice of the evils of your own hearts tell the Lord they 're is own works he formed the heart of man within him and they are his own choice too My Son give me thy heart Intreat him to redress all those abuses wherewith Satan and Sin have filled it and then to take possession of it himself for therein consists its happiness This is or should be a main end of our resortings to his House and Service Wrong not your selves so far as to turn these serious exercises of Religion into an idle divertisement What a happiness were it if every time you come to his solemn worship some of your strongest sins did receive a new wound and some of your weakest graces a new strength James III. 17. But the Wisdom that is from above is first Pure then Peaceable Gentle and easie to be intreated full of Mercy and good Fruits without Partiality and without Hypocrisie GOD doth know that in the day that
that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if there be any that think to shroud unpunished amongst the thickets of ignorance especially amidst the means of knowledge take notice of this though it may hide the deformity of Sin from your own sight for a time it cannot palliate it from the piercing eye nor cover it from the revenging hand of Divine Justice As you would escape then that wrath to come come to Wisdom's School and how simple soever ye be as to this World if you would not perish with the World learn to be wise unto Salvation And truly its mainly important for this effect That the Ministers of the Gospel be active and dexterous in imparting this Wisdom to their people If they would have their Conversation to be Holy and Peaceable and Fruitful c. The most expedient way is once to principle them well in the fundamentals of Religion for therein is their great defect how can they walk evenly and regularly so long as they are in the dark one main thing is to be often pointing at the way to Christ the Fountain of this Wisdom you bid them be Cloathed and Cloath them not How needful then is it that Pastors themselves be Seers indeed as the Prophets were called of old not only Faithful but wise dispensers as our Saviour speaks St. Luk. 12. 42. That they be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 able and apt to Teach 1 Tim. 3. 2. Laudible is the prudence that trys much the Churches Store houses the Seminaries of Learning but withal it is not to be forgot that as a due Furniture of Learning is very requisite for this employment so it is not sufficient When one is duly enriched that way there is yet one thing wanting that grows not in Schools except this infused Wisdom from above season and sanctifie all other endowments they remain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common and unholy and therefore unfit for the Sanctuary amongst other weak pretences to Christs favour in the last day This is one We have Preached in thy name yet says Christ I never knew you surely then they knew not him and yet they Preacht him Cold and Lifeless though never so fine and well contrived must those Discourses be that are of an unknown Christ. Pastors are called Angels and therefore though they use the secondary helps of knowledge they are mainly to bring their message from above from the Fountain the head of this pure Wisdom Pure If it come from above it must needs be pure originally yea it is formally pure too being a main treat of God's renewed Image in the Soul By this Wisdom the Understanding is both resigned and strengthened to entertain right conceptions of God in his nature and works And this is primarily necessary that the mind be not infected with false opinions in Religion if the Spring-head be polluted the Streams cannot be pure it s more important then men usually think for a good life But that which I suppose is here chiefly intended is that its effectively and practically pure it purifies the heart Act. 15. 9. said of Faith which in some sense and acceptation differs not much from this Wisdom and consequently the Words and Actions that flow from the heart This Purity some render Chastity The Wisdom from above is chaste 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word is indeed often so taken and includes that here but it is too narrow a sense to restrict it to that only It is here an universal detestation of all impurity both of Flesh and Spirit as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 7. 1. Pride Selflove Profanness of Spirit and Irreligion though they do not so properly pollute the Body as carnal uncleaneness yet they do less defile the Soul and make it abominable in the sight of God Those Apostate Angels called unclean Spirits are uncapable of bodily defilement tho'indeed they tempt and inveigle Man to it their own inherent pollutions must need be spiritual for they are Spirits Idolatry in Scripture goes often under the name of Fornication and Adultery and indeed these Sins may mutually borrow and lend their names the one to the other Idolatry may well be called Spiritual unchastity and unchaste Love carnal Idolatry earthly mindedness likewise is an impurity of the Soul in the Apostles phrase Covetousness is Idolatry and so a spiritual pollution yea it may well share with Idolatry in its borrowed name and be called Adultery too for it misbestows the Souls prime affection upon the Creature which by right is God's peculiar This Purity that true Wisdom works is contrary to all pollution We know then in some measure what it is it rests to enquire where it is and there is the difficulty it is far easier to design it in it self then to find it among men Who can say I have made my heart clean Prov. 20. 9. Look upon the greatest part of Mankind and you may know at first sight that Purity is not to be lookt for among them they suffer it not to come near them much less do dwell with them and within them they hate the very semblance of it in others and themselves delight in Intemperance and all manner of Licentiousness like foolish Children striving who shall go furthest into the mire these cannot say they have made clean their hearts for all their Words and Actions will bely them If you come to the meer Moralist the World 's honest man and ask him it may be he will tell you he hath cleansed his heart but believe him not It will appear he is not yet cleansed because he says he has done it himself for you know there must be some other besides man at this Work Again he rising no higher than Nature hath none of this Heavenly Wisdom in him and therefore is without this Purity too But if you chance to take notice of some well skilled Hypocrite every thing you meet with makes you almost confident that there is Purity yet if he be strictly put to 't he may make some good account of the pains he hath taken to refine his Tongue and his publick Actions but he dare not say he hath made claan his heart it troubles his peace to be askt the question He never intended to banish Sin but to retire it to his innermost and best room that so it might ewell unseen within him and where then should it lodge but in his heart yet possibly because what 's outward is so fair and Man cannot look deeper to contradict him he may embolden himself to say he 's inwardly suitable to his appearance But there is a day at hand that shall to his endless shame at once discover both his secret impurity and his impudence in denying it After these there follows a few despised and melancholly persons at least as to outward appearance who are almost always hanging down their heads and complaining of abundant sinfulness And sure Purity cannot be expected in these who are so far from it
not only those hidden from Men but even from my self as is clearly his meaning by the words precedeing who knows the errors of his Life Therefore is it necessary that we desire light of God The Spirit of a Man is the Candle of the Lord says Solomon searching the innermost parts of the Belly But it is a Candle unlighted when he does not illuminate it for that search Oh! What a deal of Vanity and love of this World Envy and secret Pride lurks in many of our hearts that we do not at all perceive till God causeth us to see it leading us in as he did the Prophet in the Vision to see the Idolatry of the Jews in his very Temple by which they had provoked him to forsake it and go far from his sanctuary and having discovered one parcel leads him in further and makes him enter through the Wall and adds often Son of Man hast thou seen these I will cause thee see yet more abominations and yet more abominations Thus is it within many of us that should be his Temples but we have multitude of Images of Jealousie one lying hid behind another till he thus discover them to us Oh! What need have we to entreat him thus What I see not shew thou me Now in both these both in the knowledge of our Rule and of our selves though there may be some useful subserviency of the Ministry of Men yet the great Teacher of the true knowledge of his Law and of himself and of our selves is God Men may speak to the Ear but his Chair is in Heaven that Teaches hearts Cathedram habet in caelo Matchless Teacher that Teacheth more in one hour than Men can do in a whole Age That can cure the invincible unteachableness of the dullest heart Gives understanding to the simple and opens the eyes of the Blind So then would we be made wise wise for Eternity learned in real living Divinity Let us sit down at his feet and make this our continual request What I see not teach thou me And if I have done c. That 's any iniquity that I yet know not of any hidden Sin let me but once see it and I hope thou shalt see it no more within me not willingly lodged and entertained This speaks an entire total giving up all Sin and proclaming utter defiance and enmity against it casting out what is already found out without delay and resolving that still in further search as it shall be more discovered it shall be forthwith dislodged without a thought of sparing or partial indulgence to any thing that is Sin or like it or may any way befriend it or be an occasion and incentive of it This is that absolute renouncing of Sin and surrender of the whole Soul and our whole selves to God which whosoever do not heartily consent to and resolve on their Religion is in vain and which is here the point their Affliction is in vain whatsoever they have suffered they have gained nothing by all their sufferings if their hearts remain still Selfwill'd Stubborn Untamed and unpliable to God And this makes their miseries out of measure miserable and their sins out of measure sinful whereas were it thus qualify'd and had it any operation this way towards the subjecting of their hearts unto God Affliction were not to be called misery but would go under the Title of a blessedness Blessed is the Man whom thou correctest and teachest him out of thy Law That suiting with this here desired I have born Chastisement What I see not teach thou me and if I have done iniquity I will do it no more Oh! Were it thus with us M. B. how might we rejoyce and insert into our Praises all that is come upon us if it had wrought or advanced any thing of this kind within us this blessed compliance with the will of God not entertaining any thing knowingly that displeases him finding a pleasure in the denial and destruction of our own most beloved pleasures at his appointment and for his sake whatsoever is in us and dearest to us that would offend us that would draw us to offend him were it the right hand let it be cut off or the right eye let it be pluckt out Or to make shorter work let the whole Man die at once Crucified with Jesus That we may be henceforth dead to Sin dead to the World dead to our selves and alive only to God SERMON III. PREFACE THere is no Exercise so delightful to those that are truly godly as the solemn Worship of God if they find his powerful and sensible presence in it and indeed there is nothing on earth more like to Heaven than that is But when he withdraws himself and witholds the influence and breathings of his Spirit in his service then good Souls find nothing more lifeless and uncomfortable but there is this difference even at such a time betwixt them and those that have no Spiritual life in them at all that they find and are sensible of this difference whereas the other know not what it means And for the most part the greatest number of those that meet together with a profession to Worship God yet are such as do not understand this difference Custom and formality draws many to the ordinary places of publick Worship and fills too much of the Room And somtimes Novelty and Curiosity to places not ordinary has a large share But how few are there that come on purpose to meet with God in his Worship and to find his power in it strengthning their weak Faith and weakning their strong Corruptious affording them provision of Spiritual strength and comfort against times of trial And in a word advancing them some steps forward in their Journey towards Heaven where Happiness and Perfection dwells Certainly these sweet effects are to be found in these Ordinances if we would look after them let it grieve us then that we have so often lost our labour in the Worship of God through our own neglect and intreat the Lord that at this time he would not send us away empty for how weak so ever the means be if he put his strength the work shall be done in some measure to his Glory and our Edification Now that he may be pleased to do so to leave ablessing behind him let us Pray c. Isaiah XXVIII 5 6. In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a Crown of Glory and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of his People And for a spirit of judgment to him that sittest in judgment and for strength to them that turn the battel to the gate ALL the Works of Divine Providence are full of Wisdom and Justice even every one severally considered yet we observe them best to be such when we take notice of their order and mutual aspect one to another whether in the succession of times or such passages as are contemporary and fall in together at one and the same time
than the perversest sinner yea than the Prince of darkness himself over whom his banners are always victorious and purer than to be in danger of pollution his precious blood is a Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness sinners are purified by it and it is not defiled by them Thousands have washt in it yet it shall abide and always shall be most perfectly pure And such a high Priest was needful for us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 undefiled and though conversant with sinners to communicate to them his goodness yet separate from sinners in immunity from their evil Heb. 7. 26. To this agrees well that Title the Prophet Malachi gives him when he calls him the Son of Righteousness full of Purity and Righteousness as the Sun is of Light all luminous without spot subject to no Eclipse in himself his Light being his own Though our sins interposed may hide him sometimes from us as those real Eclipses in the Sun are rather ours for we are deprived of Light but not the Sun Christ is many ways most fitly called the Sun for since all created Light falls infinitely short of his worth the Prince and Cheif of them the Sun cannot but suit best so far as may be to set forth his excellency The Light of the Sun is neither parted nor diminished by being imparted to many several People and Nations that behold it at one time nor is the Righteousness of this Sun of Righteousness either lessened to himself or to several Believers by many partaking of it at once it is wholly conferred upon each one of them and remains whole in himself Hence it is that not only Christ invites so liberally sinners to come to him but even justified persons would so gladly draw all others to lay hold on this Righteousness of their Redeemer knowing well that if all the world were inriched by it they themselves would be no whit the poorer Again the Sun hath a vivifying Power not only of Plants and Vegetables but if Philosophers be right Sol homo generant hominem it hath a special influence in the Generation of Man but is both more certainly and more eminently true of this Sun we speak of in Mans Regeneration that he is the proper and principal Efficient of it The Evangelist calls him at once The Light and the Life of Men John 1. 4. To say nothing of him as Treasure He is the source of our spiritual Life and Motion When the Sun takes its course towards us in the season of the year it drives away the sharp Frosts and the heavy Fogs of Winter it clears the Heavens decks the Earth with variety of Plants and Flowers and awakes the Birds to the pleasant strains of their natural Musick When Christ after a kind of Winter absence returns to visit a declining Church admirable is the change that be produces all begins to flourish by his sweet influence his House his Worship his people are all Cloathed with a new beauty but it 's spiritual and therefore none but spiritual eyes can discern it When he will thus return all the power and policy of Man can no more hinder him than it could stay the course of the Sun in its circle In like manner a deserted forsaken Soul that can do nothing but languish and droop while Christ withdraws himself what inexpressible vigour and alacrity finds it at his returning Then those Graces that while they lurkt seem'd to have been lost and quite extinguished bud forth anew with pleasant colour and fragrant smell 'T is the Light of his Countenance that banisheth their false fears that strengthens their Faith and cures their spiritual infirmities This Sun is indeed the sovereign Physician Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing under his wings Mal. 4. 2. Finally All darkness flees away before him 'T was his arising in the World that made the day break and the shadows flee away The Types and Shadows of the Law were then abolished It was his Light that dispelled the mists of Ignorance and Idolatry and he alone delivers the Soul from the night of sin and misery procured by it All the Stars and the Moon with them cannot make it day in the World this is the Suns peculiar nor can Natures highest Light the most refined Science and Morality make it day in the Soul for this is Christs The common Light of Reason every Man that comes into the World hath from him as his Creator but the special Light of Grace they alone that are born again have from him as their Saviour Gross is the darkness of every natural mind till Christ enlighten it It can neither discern nor receive the things of God Ye were darkness says the Apostle but now are you light in the Lord it 's nothing else but a mass of darkness and the companion of darkness is confusion as it was in the mass of the World before Light was Created and what is there under Heaven more confused than a carnal mind The affections quite out of order and though all naught yet sometimes fighting one with another and continually hurrying the Judgment whither they please Now to dissipate this darkness and remedy this confusion Christ shines externally in his Word but too much daily experience testifies that this is not sufficient Therefore to those whom he will make Children of the Light to meet with this outward Light of his Word he gives another internal by the Spirit The Sun can make dark things clear but it cannot make a blind Man see them but herein is the excellency of this Sun that he illuminates not only the object but the faculty doth not only reveal the mysteries of his Kingdom but opens blind eyes to behold them and the first lineament of the renewed Image of God in Man is that Light in the understanding removing not only that simple Ignorance of Divine things but these misconceits likewise and false principles and that wicked pertinacy whereof Mans mind is naturally full he that at first commanded Light to shine out of Darkness infuseth saving Knowledge and Light into the dark Soul of Man And this Light as was said kindles Love It is Vehiculum caloris hath a powerful influence begetting heat in the affections Nor can this Divine Light be ever again fully extinguished but conducts the Soul that hath received it till it be received to the Land of Light and perfect happiness Thus in our Redeemer is the Fountain of Life as the Psalmist speaks And in his Light do we see Light Psal. 36. 9. He is likewise here stiled The Glory of the Lord. In the 2d of Sam. 4 Chap. The Ark of God is called the glory but it enjoyeth that name as a Type of Christ in whom that now which the Ark contained was fulfilled The Tabernacle is called the dwelling of God's glory Psal. 26. 8. Likewise typifying him in the Tabernacle in whose humane nature that glory dwells far more excellently Joh.
1. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he dwelt in a Tabernacle among us and we saw his glory as the glory of the only begotten Son of God full of Grace and Truth The Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the brightness of his Fathers glory and the Character of his Person And under these expressions lies that remarkable mystery of the Sons Eternal relation to the Father which is rather humbly to be adored than boldly to be explained either by God's perfect understanding of his own Essence or by any other notion It is true he is called the Wisdom of the Father but this Wisdom is too wonderful for us He is called the Word but what this Word means I think we shall not well know till we see him Face to Face and contemplate him in the Light of Glory mean while we may see him to be the Glory of the Lord in a safer way and sufficient measure to guide us on to that clear vision reserved above for us We saw his glory says that sublime Evangelist but how could this excellent glory be seen by sinful Men and not astonish and strike dead the beholders He was made Flesh and dwelt among us says he and so we saw his glory That Majesty that we could never have lookt upon he veiled with humane flesh that we might not die yea live by seeing him There he stood behind the wall and shewed himself through the Trellis In him dwelt the fulness of the Godhead Col. 2. 9. But it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bodily for who could have endured the splendor of the Godheads fulness if that Cloud of his Body had not been drawn betwixt And through it did shine that Grace and Truth that Wisdom and Power in the work of our Redemption whereby he was clearly manifested to be the glory of the Lord. Surely we need not now ask the Church or a believing Soul what is her beloved more than another or if we do well may she answer He is the chiefest among Ten Thousand and altogether lovely for he is the Light of the World and the glory of the Lord. Let not the numerous Titles of Earthly Potentates be once admitted into comparison with these If we believe David in his 62 Psal. 9. verse the stateliest things and persons in the World being Ballanced with vanity it self are found lighter than it and shall we offer to weigh them with Christ. If we knew him righly we would not sell the least glance or beam of this Light of his Countenance for the highest favour of mortal Men though it were constant and unchangeable which it is not it is ignorance of Christ that maintains the credit of those vanities we admire The Christian that is truly acquainted with him enamoured with the brightness of his beauty can generously trample upon the smilings of the World with the one foot and her frownings with the other if he be rich or honourable or both yet he glories not in that but Christ who is the glory of the Lord is even then his chiefest glory And the Light of Christ obscures that Worldly splendor in his estimation and as the enjoyment of Christ overtops all his other joys so it overcomes his griefs as that great Light drowns the Light of prosperity it shines bright in the darkness of Affliction no dungeon so close that can keep out the rays of Christ's love from his beloved Prisoners The World can no more take away this Light than it can give it Unto the just ariseth Light in Darkness sayeth the Psalmist and When I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a Light unto me says the Church in the 7th of Micah 8 verse And as this Light is a Comfort so it is likewise a Defence that suffers no more of distress to come near the godly than is profitable for them Therefore we find very frequently in Scripture where this Light and Glory is mentioned Protection and Safety joyntly spoken of The Lord is my Light and withal my Salvation whom shall I fear says David Psal 27. 1. The Lord is a Sun and he is a Shield too Psal. 84. 21. And truly I think him Shot-proof that hath the Sun for his Buckler And for glory Upon all the Glory shall be a Defence says our Prophet in his 4. Chapter 5. verse And the Prophet Zach. where he calls the Lord the Churches Glory in the midst of her he calls him likewise a Wall of fire round about her Zach. 2. 4. The only way then to he safe is to keep this Light and this Glory intire to part with any part of this glory is to make a breach in that Wall of fire and if that be a means of safety let all Men judge No keep it whole and then they must come through the fire that will assault you Nor is this Light only defensive of the Church that embraceth it but likewise destructive of all adverse powers see a clear Testimony for this in the 10. of Isaiah 17 18. verses And the Light of Israel shall be for a fire and his holy one for a flame speaking there of the Assyrians and it shall burn and devour his Thorns and his Briers in one day and shall consume the glory of his Forrest and of his Fruitful Field both Soul and Body and they shall be as when a Standard bearer fainteth c. Let ever then the Church of God entirely observe this Light and Glory of the Lord and she shall undoubtedly be preserved by it But to close in a word first to those that know this Light and then to those that are yet strangers to it You who know Christ glory in him perpetually well may he be your glory when he is the Glory of the Lord There are some that pretend love to Christ and yet a taunting word of some profane miscreant will almost make them ashamed of him how would they die for Christ that are so tender as not to endure a Scoff for him Where is that Spirit of Moses that accounted the very reproaches of Christ greater riches than the Treasures of Egypt O learn to glory in Christ think highly of him and speak so too Methinks it is the Discourse in the World becomes Christians best to be speaking one to another honorably of Jesus Christ and of all Men the Preachers of his Gospel should be most frequent in this Subject This should be their great Theam to extol and commend the Lord Jesus that they may enflame many hearts with his love and best can they do this who are most strongly taken with this love themselves Such will most gladly abase themselves that Christ may be magnified and whatsoever be their excellencies they still account Christ their glory and they are richly repayed for he accounts them his glory this would seem a strange word if it were not the Apostles They are the Messengers of the Churches and the Glory of Christ 2 Cor. 8. 23.
c. And having done this he sends his Word the Message of Reconciliation to Rebels and sends his Spirit into the hearts of these whom he hath appointed to Salvation to change their Spirits that they perish not in Disobedience he brings them near that were far off having slain this enmity by the Death of his Son As many of you then as have hitherto heard this Message of Reconcilement in vain be perswaded at last to give ear to it This is all that Gods Ambassadours require according to their Instructions from himself That men would lay down that enmity against him and not be so foolish as wilfully to perish in it 2 Cor. 5. 20. Consider that this enmity is 1 Unjust 2 Unhappy Unjust it is being against him who is the chief object of Love who is altogether Goodness both in himself and towards his Creatures it is too much not to love him with most ardent and superlative affection but to entertain enmity against him is madness as he said to one who asked why are the beautiful loved it is a blind man's question Certainly we are blind if we see not cause enough not only to desist from enmity but to be inflamed with his love one glance of his amiable countenance is sufficient to cause the most rebellious heart to yield and lay down arms and for ever devote themselves to his service No we know him not and therefore it is we hold out against him is he not the living spring of all our comforts Have we not from him life and breath and all things And is he not ready to forgive Iniquity Transgression and Sin Let mercy melt our hearts to him those sweet rays of love Let his loving kindness overcome these stubborn Hearts or Spirits of ours among Enemies the weaker usually seeks first for Peace but here the Mighty Almighty God comes to intreat agreement with sinful Clay But if this prevail not then think how unhappy this enmity is you that are so afraid of men and these weak men of men like your selves whose breath is in their Nostrils will ye not tremble at his power and be afraid to continue in terms of Hostility against him who is the Lord of Hosts who hath power of the Soul and Body both to kill both and cast them into Hell What is the stoutest of men but as Stubble to the flame of his Wrath Our God is a consuming fire the sinners in Zion are afraid says the Prophet who shall dwell say they with devouring fire and everlasting burnings Then if you would not perish when his wrath is kindled take that word of Eliphaz Job 22. 21. Acquaint now thy self with him and be at peace thereby good shall come unto thee And to you so many as he hath taken into friendship with himself look backward to the gulf you have escaped and forward to the happiness you are appointed too and let the joynt-consideration of both awaken your Hearts and Tongues to Praises How can your Hearts contain such a wonder of Love as he hath manifested to you and not run over in Songs and Praise And as you owe him praises so study being made his friends to become more like him that same idem velle idem nolle to love and hate the same things with him will be a sure testimony of friendship And because carnality or fleshly and earthly mindedness is here made the Character of Enmity mortifie these affections nail them to that Cross of Christ whereby the enmity was taken away And further being once admitted into friendship labour for a further degree of Intimacy with him and forbear every thing that may hinder that use frequent converse with him for that both entertains and increases friendship If any thing fall out on your part as it too often does that may occasion any strangeness betwixt you and your God rest not till it be removed and if you walk in this way it shall undoubtedly at length bring you where you shall abide in his presence for ever and shall no more fear any breach or interruption of enjoying him To him be praise Amen SERMON X. Rom. XIII 5. Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for Wrath but also for Conscience sake THE Wisdom and Goodness of God that shines in the natural order and dependence of things in the frame of the great World appears likewise and commends it self to us in the civil order he hath instituted in the Societies of Men the lesser World As out of the same Mass he made the Heaven and the Earth and the other Elements betwixt them one higher than another and gave them different Stations and Qualities yet so different as to be linkt and concatenated together Concordia Discordia and all for the concern and benefit of the whole Thus for the good of Men hath the Lord assigned these different Stations of Rule and Subjection though all of one Race Acts 17. Raising from among Men some above the rest and Cloathed them with such Authority as hath some representment of himself and accordingly communicating to them his own Name I have said you are Gods And the very power that is in Magistracy to curb and punish these that despise it the Apostle useth as a strong and hard Cord to bind on the duty of Obedience a Cord of Necessity but he adds another of a higher Necessity that binds more strongly and yet more sweetly that of Conscience wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake Observe 1. This is the main consideration that closes the discourse the great Cord that binds on and fastens all the rest all the arguments foregoing therefore are mainly here to be prest Have a reverent and conscientious respect to the Ordinance of God in the Institution of Government and to the Providence of God in his choice of those particular persons whom he calls to it Contain thy self in thy own Station and submit to those set higher by the Lord in obedience to him This indeed is the only true Spring of all obedience both to God and to Men for him and according to his Ordinance to regulate the outward carriage without the living principle of an enlightned and sanctified conscience within is to build without a Foundation This is the thing God eyes most he looks through the surface of Mens Actions to the bottom follows them into their source examines from what perswasives and reasons they flow he sees not only the handle of the Dial but all the Wheels and Weights of the Clock that are the cause of its motion and accordingly judges both Men and their Actions to be good or evil as the inward frame and secret motions of the heart are in his own Worship the outside of it may have the same visage and plausable appearance in a multitude conven'd to it and concurring in it and no humane eye can trace a difference and yet oh what vast difference doth Gods eye discover
This is the great point we ought to examine it for much is sowen and little brought forth our God hath done much for us what more could be done Yet when Grapes were expected wild Grapes produced what becomes of all Who grow to be more spiritual more humble and meek more like Christ more self-denying fuller of love to God and one to another Some but alas few All the Land is sowen and that plentifully with the good Seed But what comes for the most paâ—t Cockle and no Grain In felix lolium We would do all other things to purpose and not willingly lose our end not Trade and gain nothing buy and sell and live by the loss not plow and sow and reap nothing How sensible do we feel one ill year and shall this alone be lost Labour that well improv'd were worth all the rest Oh! how much more worth than all Shall we only do the greatest business to the least purpose Bethink your selves what do we here why come we here if we still remain as proud and passionate and as self-will'd as before what will all great Bargains and good Years and full Barns avail within a while That word Thou Fool this night shall they fetch away thy Soul how terrible will it be We think we are wise in not losing our labour in other things why 't is all lost even where most gained What amounts it to Cast up Vanity and vexation of Spirit is the total sum and in all our projecting and bussling what do we but sow the Wind and reap the Whirl-wind Sow Vanity and reap Vexation This Seed alone being fruitful makes rich and happy springs up to eternal life Oh that we were wise and that we would at length learn to hear every Sermon as on the utmost edge of time at the very brink of Eternity for any thing we know for our selves or any of us may be really so however it is wise and safe to do as if it were so Will you be perswaded of this It were a happy Sermon if it could prevail for the more fruitful hearing of all the rest henceforward we have lost too much of our little time and thus with the Apostle I beseech you I beseech you receive not the grace of God in vain Now that you may be fruitful examine well your own hearts pluck up weed out for there are still Thorns some will grow but he is the happiest man that hath the sharpest eye and the busiest hand spying them out and plucking them up Take heed how you hear think it not so easie a matter Plow up and sow not among Thorns Jeremiah 4. And above all Pray Pray before after and in hearing dart up desires to God he is the Lord of the Harvest whose influence doth all the difference of the Soil makes indeed the difference of success but the Lord hath the priviledge of bettering the Soil He that framed the heart changes it when and how he will There is a curse on all grounds naturally that fell on the Earth for mans sake but fell more on the ground of mans own heart within him Thorns and Briars shalt thou bring forth Now 't is he that denounc'd that Curse that alone hath power to remove it he is both the Soveraign owner of the Seed and changer of the Soil turns a Wilderness into Carmel by his Spirit and no ground no heart can be good till he change it And being changed much care must be had still of manuring for still that is in it that will bring forth many Weeds is a Mother to them and but a Step-mother to this Seed Therefore Consider it if you think this concerns you â—e that hath an ear to hear as our Saviour closes let him hear The Lord apply your hearts to this work and though discouragements arise without or within and little present Fruit appear but Corruption is rather stronger and greater yet watch and pray wait on it shall be better this Fruit is to be brought forth with patience as St Luke hath it And this Seed this Word the Lord calls by that very name the very Word of his patience keep it hide it in thy heart and in due time it shall spring up And this patience shall be put to it but for a little while the day of Harvest is at hand when all in any measure fruitful in Grace shall be gathered into Glory SERMON XIV 2 Cor. VII 1. Having therefore these promises dearly beloved Let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God IT is a thing both of unspeakable sweetness and usefulness for a Christian often to consider the excellency of that estate to which he is called It cannot fail to put him upon very high resolutions and carry him on in the divine ambition of being daily more suitable to his high calling and hopes Therefore these are often set before Christians in the Scripture and are prest here by the Apostle upon a particular occasion of the avoidance of near Combinements with Unbelievers He mentions some choice promises that God makes to his own people and of their near Relatition to and communion with himself And upon these he enlarges and raises the exhortation to the universal indeavour of all holiness and that as 〈…〉 hi 〈…〉 In the words are 1. The Thing to which he would perswade 2. The Motive The Thing Holiness in its full extension and intension Purging our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness in the fear of God The purging out of filthiness and perfecting of holiness expâ—est as usually they are distinguisht those two parts of renewing grace Mortification and Vivification But I conceive they are not so truely different parts as a different notion of the same thing the decrease of sin and increase of grace being truely one thing as the dispelling of darkness and augmenting of Light So here the one rendred as the necessary result yea as the equivalent of the other the same thing indeed purging from filthiness and in so doing perfecting holiness perfecting holiness and in so doing purging from filthiness That Perfection by which is meant a growing progressive advance towards perfection The words without straining gives us as it were the several dimensions of Holiness The breadth purging all filthiness the length parallel to Mans composure running all along through his Soul and Body purging filthiness of the flesh and spirit the highth perfecting holiness the depth that which is the bottom whence it rises up a deep impress of the fear of God Perfecting holiness in the fear of God Cleanse our selves It is the Lord that is the sanctifier of his people he purges away their dross and tin he pours clean water according to his promises yet doth he call to us to cleanse our selves even having such promises Let us cleanse our selves He puts a new life into us and causes us to act and excites us
And never cease in this work for still there is â—eed of more purging one dayes work in this disposes for and engages to a further to the next for as sin is purged out Light comes in and more clear discoveries are made of remaining pollutions So then still there must be progress less of the World and more of God in the heart every day Oh this is a sweet course of Life what gain what preferment to be compared to it And in this 't is good to have our ambition growing the higher we rise to aspire still the higher looking farther than before even toward the perfection of holiness it is not much we can here attain to but sure 't is commonly far less than we might we improve not our condition and advantages as we might do the world is busie driving forewards their designs Men of spirit are animated both by better and worse success if any thing miscarry it sets them on the more eagerly to make it up in the right management of some other design and when they prosper in one thing that enables and incourages them to attempt further shall all things seem worth our pains are only Grace and Glory so cheap in our account that the least diligence of all goes that way Oh! strange delusion Now our cleansing is to be managed by all holy means Word and Sacrament more wisely and spiritually used than commonly with us and private Prayer that purifies and elevates the Soul takes it up into the Mount and makes it shine and particularly supplicating for the Spirit of holiness and victory over sin is not in vain it obtains its desires of God the Soul becoming that which it is fixedly set upon Holy resolution Christians much wanting in this faint and loose in their purposes The consideration of Divine Truths the mysteries of the Kingdom the hope of Christians yea rich and great Promises that is particularly here the motive these are all the means holy means they are as their end is the perfection of holiness Having these Promises Now consider whether it is better to be the Slaves of Satan or the Sons of God measure delight in God with the low base pleasures of sense Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God these gradually go on together and are perfected together Why then is there such an invincible love of sin in the hearts of Men at least why so little love of holiness and endeavour after it so mean thoughts of it as a thing either indecent or unpleasant when 't is the only noble and the only delightful thing in the World the Soul by other things is drawn below it self but by holiness it is raised above it self and made Divine Pleasures of sin for a season the pleasure of a moment exchanged for those of Eternity But even in the mean time in this season the Soul is fed with Communion with God one hour of which is more worth than the longest Life of the highest of the Worlds delights SERMON XV. Psal. CXIX 32. I will run the way of thy Commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart TO desire ease and happiness under a general representation of it is a thing of more easie and general perswasion There is somewhat in Nature to help the argument but to find beauty in and be taken with the very way of holiness that leads to it is more rare and depends on a higher principle Self-love inclines a man to desire the rest of Love but to love and desire the labour of Love is love of a higher and purer strain To delight and be chearful in obedience argues much love as the spring of it that is the thing the holy Psalmist doth so plentifully express in this Psalm and he is still desiring more of that sweet and lively affection that might make him yet more abundant in action Thus here I will run c. He presents his desire and purpose together the more of this Grace thou bestowest on me the more service shall I be able to do thee This is the top of his ambition while others are seeking to enlarge their Barns their Lands or Estates or Titles Kings to enlarge their Territories or Authority to incroach on Neighbouring Kingdoms or be more absolute in their own instead of all such Enlargements this is David's great desire An enlarged heart to run the way of Gods Commandments And these other how big soever they sound are poor narrow desires this one is larger and higher than them all and gives evidence of a heart already large but as it is miserably in those 't is happy in this much would still have more Let others seek more Money or more Honour Oh the blessed choice of that Soul that is still seeking more Love to God more affection and more ability to do him service that counts all days and hours for lost that are not employed to this improvement that hears the Word in publick and reads it in private for this purpose to kindle this love or to blow the sparkable if any there be already in the heart to raise it to a clear flame and from a little flame to make it burn yet hotter and purer and rise higher But above all means is often presenting this in Prayer to him on whose influence all depends in whose hand our hearts are much more than in our own it follows him with this desire and works on him by his own interest though there can be really no accession of gain to him by our services yet he is pleased so to account with us as if there were therefore we may urge this Lord give more and receive more I will run the way of thy Commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart We have here in the words a required disposition and a suitable resolution The disposition relates to the resolution as the means of fulfilling it and the resolution relates to the disposition both as the end of desiring it and as the motive of obtaining it The resolution occurs first in the words I will run c. The way resolved on is that of Gods Commandments not the road of the polluted World not the crooked ways of his own heart but the High way the Royal way the straight way of the Kingdom and that in the Notion of Subjection and Obedience the way of thy Commandments This man naturally struggles against and repines at to be limited and bounded by a Law is a restraint and a vain man could possibly find in his heart to do many of the same things that are commanded but he would not be ty'd would have his liberty and do 't of his own choice This is the enmity of the carnal mind against God as the Apostle expresses it it is not subject to the Law of God neither can it be it breaks these Bonds and casts away the Cords of his Authority This is Sin the transgression of a Law and this made the first Sin so great though in a
humble Christian is better taught his falls teach him indeed to abhor himself they discover his own weakness to him and empty him of Self-trust but they do not dismay him to get up and go on not boldly and carelessly forgetting his fall but in the humble sense of it walking the more warily but not the less swiftly yea the more swiftly too making the more haste to regain the time lost by the fall So then if you would run in this way depend on the strength of God and on his Spirit leading thee that so thou mayest not fall and yet if thou dost fall arise and if thou art plunged in the mire go to the Fountain opened for Sin and Uncleanness and wash there bemoan thy self before thy Lord and if hurt and bleeding by thy fall yet look to him desire Jesus to pity thee and bind up and cure thy Wound washing off thy Blood and pouring in of his own However it is with thee give not over faint not run on and that thou mayest run the more easily and expeditely make thy self as light as may be lay aside every weight Heb. 12. 1 2. Clog not thy self with unnecessary burdens of Earth and especially lay aside that that of all other things weighs the heaviest and cleaves the closest the Sin that so easily besets us and is so hardly put off us that folds so connaturally to us and we therefore think will not hinder us much And not only the Sins that are more outward but the inner close-cleaving Sins the sin that most of all sits easily to us not only our Cloak but our inner Coat away with that too as our Saviour says in another case and run the race set before us our appointed Stage and that with patience under all oppositions and discouragements from the World without and Sin within And to encourage thee in this look to such a Cloud of Witnesses that compasseth us about to further us as Troubles Tentations and Sin do to hinder us they encountered the like sufferings and were encounter'd with the like sins and yet they run on and got home Alexander would have run in the Olympick Games if he had had Kings to run with now in this race Kings and Prophets and Righteous Persons run yea all are indeed a Kingly Generation each one Heir to a Crown as the prize of this Race And if these encourage thee but little then look beyond them above that Cloud of Witnesses to the Son the Son of Righteousness looking off from all things here that would either entangle thee or discourage thee taking thine eye off from them and looking to him that will powerfully draw thee and animate thee Look to Jesus not only as thy Fore-runner in this Race but also as thy Undertaker in it the Author and Finisher of our Faith his attaining the end of the Race is the pledg of thy attaining if thou follow him chearfully on the same encouragements that he lookt to who for the Joy that was set before him endured the Cross and despised the Shame and is now set down at the Right Hand of God When thou shalt enlarge my heart In all beings Nature is the principle of motion and according as it is more or less perfect in its kind those motions that flow from it are more or less vigorous Therefore hath the Psalmist good reason to the end his Spiritual Course may be the stedfaster and the faster to desire that the principle of it the heart may be more enabled and disposed which here he expresses by its being enlarged What this enlargement of the heart is a mans own inward sense should easily explain to him sure it would did men reflect on it and were they acquainted with their own hearts but the most are not they would find the Carnal natural heart a narrow contracted hampered thing bound with Cords and Chains of its own twisting and forging and so incapable of walking much less of running in this way of Gods Commandments till it be freed and enlarged The Heart is taken generally in Scripture for the whole Soul the Understanding and Will in its several affections and motions and the speech being here of an enlarged heart it seems very congruous to take it in the most enlarged sense It is said of Solomon that he had a large heart the same word that 's here as the sand of the Sea shoar that is a vast comprehensive Spirit that could fathom so much of Nature greater and lesser things He spoke of Trees from the Cedar in Lebanon to the Hysop in the Wall and of great Beasts and small creeping things Thus I conceive the enlargement of the heart compriseth the inlightning of the Understanding there arises a clearer light there to discern Spiritual things in a more Spiritual manner to see the vast difference betwixt the vain things the World goes after and the true solid delight that is in the way of Gods Commandments to know the false blush of the pleasures of Sin and what deformity is under that painted Mask and not be allured by it to have enlarged apprehensions of God his excellency and greatness and goodness how worthy he is to be obeyed and served This is the great dignity and happiness of the Soul all other pretensions are low and poor in respect of this Here then is enlargement to see the purity and beauty of his Law how just and reasonable yea how pleasant and amiable it is that his Commandments are not grievous that they are Beds of Spices the more we walk in them still the more of their fragrant smell and sweetness we find And then consequently upon the larger and clearer knowledge of these things the heart dilates it self in affection the more it knows of God still the more it loves him and the less it loves this present World Love is the great enlarger of the heart to all obedience Then nothing is hard yea the harder things become the more delightful All love of other things doth pinch and contract the heart for they are all narrower than it self it is framed to that wideness in its first Creation capable of enjoying God though not of a full comprehending him therefore all other things gather it in and straighten it from its natural size only the Love of God stretches and dilates it he is large enough for it yea it in its fullest enlargement is infinitely too narrow for him Do not all find it if they will ask themselves that in all other loves and pursuits in this World there is still somewhat that pinches The Soul is not at its full size but as a Foot in a straight Shoe is somewhere bound and pained and cannot go freely much less run though another that looks on cannot tell where yet each one feels it But when the Soul is set free from these narrow things and is raised to the love of God then is it at ease and at large and hath room enough 't is both elevated
and dilated And this word signifies both a high raised Soul and is sometimes taken for proud and lofty but there is a greatness and height of Spirit in the Love of God and Union with him that doth not vainly swell and lift it up but with the deepest humility joins the highest and truest Magnanimity it sets the Soul above the Snares that lie here below in which most men creep and are intangled in that way of life that is on high to the Just as Solomon speaks Good reason hath David to join these together and to desire the one as the spring and cause of the other An enlarged heart that he might run the way of Gods Commandments Sensible Joys and Consolations in God do encourage and enlarge the heart but these are not so general to all nor so constant to any Love is the abounding fixed spring of ready Obedience and will make the heart chearful in serving God even without those felt comforts when he is pleased to deny or withdraw them In that course or race is understood constancy activity and alacrity and all these flow from the enlargement of the heart 1. Constancy A narrow enthralled heart fetter'd with the love of lower things and cleaving to some particular sins or but some one and that secret may keep foot a while in the way of Gods Commandments in some steps of them but it must give up quickly is not able to run on to the end of the Goal but a heart that hath laid aside every weight and the most close-cleaving and besetting sin as it is in that place to the Hebrews hath stript it self of all that may faulter or intangle it it runs and runs on without fainting or wearying 't is at large hath nothing that pains it in the race 2. Activity Not only holding on but running which is a swift nimble race it stands not bargaining and disputing but once knowing Gods mind there is no more question or demur I made haste and delayed not as in this Psalm the word is Did not stay upon why and wherefore he stood not to reason the matter but run on And this love enlarging the heart makes it abundant in the work of the Lord quick and active dispatching much in a little time 3. Alacrity All done with chearfulnes so no other constraint is needful where this over-powering sweet constraint of love is I will run not be hail'd and drawn as by force but skip and leap as the Evangelick promise is that the Lame shall leap as an Hart and the tongue of the dumb sing for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desart Isaiah 35. 6. The Spouse desires her Beloved to hasten as a Roe and Hind on the mountains of Spices and she doth so and each faithful Soul runs towards him to meet him in his way It is a sad heavy thing to do any thing as in obedience to God while the heart is straightned not enlarged towards him by his Divine Love but that once taking possession and enlarging the heart that inward principle of obedience makes the outward obedience sweet 't is then a natural motion indeed the Soul runs in the ways of God as the Sun in his course which finds no difficulty being naturally fitted and carried to that motion he goes forth as a Bridegroom and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race This is the great point that our Souls should be studious of to attain more evenness and nimbleness and chearfulness in the ways of God and for this end we ought to seek above all things this enlarged heart 't is want of this makes us bog and drive heavily and run long upon little ground Oh! my Beloved how shallow and narrow are our thoughts of God Most even of those that are truly Godly yet are led on by a kind of instinct and carried they scarce know how to give some attendance on Gods Worship and to the avoidance of gross Sin and go on in a blameless course 't is better thus than to run to excess of Riot and open Wickedness with the Ungodly World But alas this is but a dull heavy and Languid motion where the heart is not enlarged by the daily growing Love of God few few are acquainted with that delightful Contemplation of God that ventilates and raises this flame of Love petty things bind and contract our Spirits so that they feel little joy in God little ardent active desire to do him Service to Crucifie Sin to break and undo Self-love within us to root up our own Wills to make room for his that his alone may be ours that we may have no Will of our own that our daily work may be to grow more like him in the Beauty of Holiness You think it a hard saying to part with your Carnal Lusts and Delights and the common ways of the World and to be ty'd to a strict exact Conversation all your days But oh the reason of this is because the heart is yet straightned and enthralled by the base Love of these mean things and that is from the ignorance of things higher and better One glance of God a touch of his love will free and enlarge the heart so that it can deny all and part with all and make an entire renouncing of all to follow Him it sees enough in Him and in Him alone and therefore can neither quietly rest on nor earnestly desire any thing beside Him Oh! that you would apply your hearts to consider the excellency of this way of Gods Commandments our wretched hearts are prejudiced they think it melancholy and sad Oh! there is no way truly joyous but this They shall sing in the ways of the Lord says the Prophet Do not Men when their eyes are opened see a beauty in Meekness and Temperance and Humility a present delightfulness and quietness in them whereas in Pride and Passion and Intemperance there is nothing but vexation and disquiet And then consider the end of this way and this race in it rest and peace for ever 't is the way of peace both in its own nature and in respect of its end Did you believe that Joy and Glory that is set before you in this way you would not any of you defer a day longer but forthwith you 'd break from all that holds you back and enter into this way and run on chearfully in it the perswasion of these great things above would enlarge and greaten the heart and make the greatest things here very little in your eyes But would you attain to this enlarged heart for this race as you ought to apply your thoughts to these Divine things and stretch them on the promises made in the Word above all take Davids course seek this enlargement of heart from Gods own hand for it is here propounded and said before God by way of request see what is my desire I would gladly serve thee better and advance more in the way of thy
Commandments Now this I cannot do till my heart be more enlarged and that cannot be but by thy hand When thou shalt enlarge my heart Present this suit often 't is in his power to do it for thee he can stretch and expand thy straitened heart can spread and hoyse the Sails within thee and then carry thee on swiftly filling them not with the vain air of Mans applaufe which readily run a Soul upon Rocks and splits it but with the sweet breathings and soft gales of his own Spirit that carry it straight to the desired Haven Findest thou Sin cleaving to thee and clogging thee cry to him help Lord set me free from my narrow heart I strive but in vain without thee still it continues so I know little of thee my affections are dead and cold towards thee Lord I desire to love thee here is my heart and least it fly out lay hold on it and take thine own way with it though it should be in a painful way yet draw it forth yea draw it that it may run after thee All is his own working and all his motive is his own free Grace Let who will fancy themselves Masters of their own hearts and think to enlarge them by the strength of their own stretches of speculation they alone they alone are in the sure and happy way of attaining it that humbly suit and wait for this enlargement of heart from his hand that made it SERMON XVI Rom. VIII 33 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect It is God that justifieth c. OTher Men may fancy and boast as they please but there are none in the World but the Godly alone that are furnisht with sufficiency strong supports and comforts against all possible hazards and of these doth the Apostle treat most freely sweetly and plentifully in this Chapter He secures Believers in their Christ touching these two great evils After Condemnation and present Affliction that the one cannot befal them and the other cannot hurt them For their immunity from the former they have the clear Word of the Gospel and the Seal of the Spirit and that former Priviledg made sure as the far greater doth secure the other as the lesser They are freed from Condemnation and not only so but entitled and insured to a Kingdom and what hurt then can affliction do yea it doth good yea not only it cannot rob them of their Crown but it carries them on towards it is their High way to it if we suffer with him we shall also be glorified together Yea all things to the Children of God do prove advantage severally taken in their present sense they may seem evil but taken jointly in their after issue their working together are all for good In their simple Nature possibly they are Poison yet contempered and prepared they shall prove Medicinal All these things are against me said old Jocoh and yet he lived to see even all these were for him The Children of God are indeed so happy that the harshest things in their way change their nature and become sweet and profitable This much by their Prayers that have a Divine Incantation in them they breath forth the expressions of that their Love to God by which they are Character'd them that Love God And that is put on their hearts the impression of his Love to them to which they are here led by the Apostle as to the Spring-head of all all their Comforts and Priviledges flow thence yea all their Love and their Faith appropriating those Comforts and Priviledges Yea the very Treasury of all together Jesus Christ himself is the free Gift of this free Love he as the greatest ascertains all things besides an unspeakably less verse 32. These two are such mighty Arguments that no difficulty nor grief can stand before them The Love of God He is with us who then against us All the World it may be but that all is nothing once it was nothing it was that God that is our God that loves us and is for us that made it something and if he will it may again be nothing and as it is at its best it is nothing being compared with an other gift that he hath bestowed on us and having bestowed that sure if there be any thing in this World can do us any good we shall not want it He that spared not his own Son but gave him to the Death for us will he not with him give us all things And to close all he makes these two great Immunities good to us in Christ he fixes there we are freed from all fear of Condemnation or of being hurt by Affliction No Accusation nor Guiltiness can Annul the Righteousness of Christ and that is made ours no Distress nor Suffering can cut us off from the Love of God and if it cannot do that we need not fear it all other hazards are no hazard that being sure And in confidence of this the Apostle gives the Defiance casts a Challenge to Angels to Men to all the World upon these two points Who shall Accuse Who shall Separate Accuse to God or Separate from him Whatsoever times may come the hardest that any can apprehend or foretel i◠these two be not sufficient furniture against them I know not what is Men are commonly busied about other events concerning them and theirs what shall become of this or the other and what if this or that fall out but the Conscience once raised to this enquiry the Soul being awake to discern the hazard of Eternal Death all other fears and questions are drowned and lost in this great Question Am I Condemned or not Is my Sin Pardon'd or no And then a satisfying Answer received concerning this all is quiet the Soul reposes sweetly on God and puts all its other concernments into his hands Let him make me poor and despised let him smite and chastise me he hath forgiven my Sin all is well That burden taken off the Soul can go light yea can leap and dance under all other burdens Oh! how it feels it self nimble as a man eased of a load that he was even fainting under Oh! Blessed the man whose Sin is taken off lifted from his shoulders that 's the word Psal. 32. 1. laid over upon Christ who could bear the whole load and take it away take it out of sight which we could never have done they 'd have sunk us for ever That one word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jo. 1. signifies both and answers to the two Isai. 53. He hath born our grief and carried our sorrows lifted them away Oh! how sweet a burden instead of this is that ingagement of Obedience and Love to him as our Redeemer and that is all he lays on us if we follow him and bear his Cross he is our strength and bears both it and us So then this is the great point the hearts ease to be Delivered from the Condemning weight of Sin And
Delight who will either in sloth and ignorance on the one hand or in vain speculations and strains of frothy wit on the other Surely those Preachers shall only be approved in the great day who have constantly endeavoured in their measure to speak the best and fittest they could for their Masters advantage and happy these Christians of what estate soever that in all estates make Christ their glory and in all Actions have their eye fixed upon his glory who is their Light and the Glory of the Lord. Now to those that are strangers to him would to God none that are to be spoken to were such To them I say notice would be given both of the excellency and necessity of Christ. Though it were possibly to grop the way to happiness in the dark yea none will deny but to be conducted thither by a constant Light is both more safe and more delightful But were there any possibility to attain that end without this Light the neglect of it were not altogether so strange The wonder of all is this That Christ alone being both that Life and the way to it and the Truth or Light that guides in that way yet Christians so called should esteem and look after him as little as if he were wholly needless What meanest thou O besotted sinner is it so light a thing to die in thy sins and eternally for them that thou wilt not so much as open and admit the Light of Salvation what shalt thou pretend in that terrible day Though all other kind of people should offer some excuse thou who hast heard the Gospel shall be speechless For not only shall the rigour of justice condemn thee but Mercy it self shalt plead against thee for thou hast despised it That Light did come and was not embraced shall be the main condemnation How many thousands that make no doubt of Heaven yet shall then fall short of it It is not a superficial profession that will then pass current It is not some publick sighs and groans from an unsanctified heart which either come from custom or some present touch of the Word nor yet is it some sudden risings of inward affection towards Christ upon the report of his worth that shall then serve the turn The intellective knowledge of Christ the distinct understanding yea the Orthodox Preaching of his Gospel the maintaining of his publick cause and suffering for it shall not then be found sufficient only that peculiar apprehension of Christ those constant flames of spiritual love that even course of holy walking in his Light shall be these Characters whereby Christ shall own his Children and admit them into the inheritance of perfect Light One of the speakers in the Book of Job discoursing of the prosperity of the ungodly calls it but his Candle and tells how long it can last His Candle says he shall be put out with him and that 's the longest term of it if it last his life time it shall convey him no further he goes into eternity in the dark and therefore as St. John says he knows not whither he goeth Quo nunc abibis said that Emperor to his Soul is it not a sad thing when the Soul that knows no other but worldly Light must take leave of it and enter into eternal darkness there to be uncessantly tormented with present anguish and the frightful expectation of the last Judgment where it must take again that Body which was the complice of its wickedness to be partaker of its punishment where it shall have a double misery to behold Crowns of Immortality distributed to the godly after the short combates of this Life and it self thrust out among the Devils then shall all Men be some way sensible what is the worth of this now contemned light the Lord Jesus Christ the greatest number too late for they shall be banisht from it for ever but the Righteous shall then most perfectly know and for ever enjoy this Light and Glory of the Lord To whom with the Father of Lights and Spirit of Grace be eternity of Praise and Honour SERMON VI. PREFACE WHat shall it profit a Man if he gain the whole World and lose his own Soul said our Saviour who was to lay down a ransom for it and knew well that it would cost infinitely more than the World was worth yet the most of Men value their own Souls at a far lower rate than the whole World losing them for broken morsels of it yea many times for vain hopes that are never accomplished And as these Men make a miserable bargain so by the contrary they that lose the World or any thing Worldly yea though it were the whole to save their Souls make a profitable loss of it Nature teaches Men to hazard and lose all for the life of the Body rather than lose it Although it prove many times very uncomfortable by the lose of these outward things and yet the most part of Men pass their whole life-time without one serious thought of the exellency and importance of their Souls whose life and Happiness is of a higher nature and neither consists in nor depends upon any thing here below Hence it is that while they use the helps of this present life and the defences of it when it is in danger and use them with so much diligence and attention The means of that better life of their better part their Souls they either use not at all or so slightly and coldly that they never find Salvation in them You may find it some way in your selves the threatnings and preparations of Men against you have awakened and rowsed you more to think upon means of your temporal safety but how few are sensible and afraid of the wrath of God who as our Saviour tells us can kill both Body and Soul and cast them into Hell you want not freequent advertisement from the Word of God so plentifully Preacht that many are perishing one part in gross Ignorance of God another in Profane and Licentious living and the greatest part in a formal and lifeless profession of Religion without the power of it and yet where are they that lay it to heart and bestir themselves to rescue their Souls from destruction Certainly whatsoever Men profess it is unbelief that is the cause of Impenitence Men are not convinced of the purity of Gods nature nor sensible of the impurity of their own therefore they apply not themselves in good earnest to the work of Repentance and Reformation the liveliest part of it Labour then for a more active and practical knowledge of God and Divine truths such as may humble and renew your Souls not only that you may be delivered from outward troubles that threaten you but much more that you may escape the wrath to come And because neither the Word Preached nor Judgments nor Mercies that are set before you are sufficient to quicken a dead Soul or soften a hard Heart without the effectual concourse of
the Spirit of God let us have recourse to the Throne of Grace by humble and earnest Prayer in the Name and Mediation of Jesus Christ. Psal. XLII 8. Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the day time and in the night his Song shall be with me and my prayer unto the God of my life MAN is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards saith Eliphaz Job 5. 7. And as it is the corruption and sinfulness of his Birth and Nature that has exposed him to trouble so Nature usually sets him at work to look out for such things as may preserve and deliver him from trouble or at least mitigate and temper the bitterness of it And because there is not any one worldly thing that hath either certainty or sufficiency enough to serve at all times therefore worldly and natural men are forced to make use of variety and are but badly served with them all The believing Soul hath but one comfort whereon he relies but it 's a great one which alone weighs down all the rest Bread strengthens and Wine makes glad the heart of Man Psal. 104. 15. But God is the strength of my heart says the Psalmist Psal. 73. 20. and the gladness of it too Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than they have when their corn and wine increaseth and therefore while the rest are seeking after some scattered crumbs of goodness in the Creatures Who will shew us any good He fixes his choice upon this one thing The light of God's countenance and it is the constant assurance of this that upholds him waves beat upon him yea and go over him yet the Lord will command his loving kindness to shine upon him In this Psalm we may perceive the Psalmist full of perplexed thoughts and that betwixt strong desires and griefs and yet in the midst of them now and then some advantage and intermixing strains of Hope with his sad complaints for immediately before we heard nothing but the impetuous noise of many waters deep calling unto deep In the former verse we have there as it were a touch of the sweet sound of David's Harp Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the day time In the words we have David's confidence and David's purpose the one suiting very well with the other His Confidence in God's loving kindness Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness And his purpose And in the night his song shall be with me It is true those words in the night his song shall be with me may be taken as a part of the expression of his confidence taking his Song for the matter or subject of the Song the goodness of God as if he should say both in the day and in the night I shall find the sweet fruits of God's favour and loving kindness But not excluding that I rather take it intended as his resolution that it should be his custom in the quiet Season of the Night to look back upon God's goodness manifested to him in the actions and occurrences of the Day and thus encertaining his Soul with that secret discourse he would stir it up to the praises of his God and withal would joyn Prayer for the continuance and further manifestation of it David as is hinted before intermixing strains of Hope not that faint and common hope of possibility or probability that after stormy days it may be better with him but a certain hope that shall never make ashamed such a hope as springs from faith yea in effect is one with it Faith rests upon the goodness and truth of Him that hath promised and Hope raising it self upon Faith so established stands up and looks out to the future accomplishment of the promise Therefore the Apostle Heb. 11. 1. calls Faith The substance of things hoped for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the evidence of things not seen of all other wavering hope here 's they say true Spes est nomen boni incerti But this can say The Lord will command his loving kindness c. The Lord will command What a sudden change is here Would you think this were the same man that was even now almost overwhelmed Thus Faith always conquers though seldom or never without hard conflict not only assaulted by troubles without but which is worse by Incredulity within nor assaulted only but many times brought under yet does it not succumb and give over knowing that even after many foils yet in the end it shall overcome His confidence you may consider first oppositely and then positively or simply in it self Oppositely both to his present trouble and to his complaints wherein this trouble is exprest and that is fitly implyed though it be not in the Original Though the multitude and weight of Jobs Afflictions did force out of him some bitter words and made him look back upon the day of his Birth and curse it yet Faith recovers him from his distemper and makes him look forward with joy even as far as to the blessed day of his Resurrection Job 19. 25. I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth And though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God The former words of impatience he spake indeed but he adheres to these and wishes that they were written with an Iron Pen and Engraven to abide for ever Therefore we hear of him again in Scripture as a righteous and patient man but of these words of his impatience not a word In the 77 Psalm what sad Expostulations are these the Psalmist uses Will he be favourable no more Is his mercy clean gone for ever Doth his promise fail for evermore Hath God forgotten to be gracious Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies But see how he corrects them ver 10. Then I said this is my Infirmity but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High Thus Jonah 2 Chap. ver 3 4. much like this but there literally true And here deep calls unto deep yet in the midst of those deeps Faith is not drowned you see it lifts up its head above water Yet the Lord will command c. Yea though it takes particular notice of God's hand in the affliction yet it goes not to another hand for comfort Thy Waves and thy Billows yet that same God whose Waves are like to destroy me will ere long command his loving kindness to shine upon me Though he slay me yet will I trust in him A wonderful expression of Faith He says not though he afflict me sore but though he slay me not though evil men or Satan should do it but though he slay me yet will I trust in him What troubled mind can imagine any thing harder against it self than this 1. Learn then to check these excessive doubts and fears by some such resolute word as this Turn the promise first upon thy self and then upon God