and see what we are according to our care and indeavour in this particular If we shall go from day to day and never care to improve in Grace and the strengthning of our inward man but rather by wilfull neglect and carelesness weaken it and diminish from it this does too palpably discover that we are not that which we ought to be in Christianity For if we we we should find this disposition working in us to abound more and more as the Apostle Paul speaks to the Thessalonians 1 Thes 4.1 we should still find our selves getting up in spiritual strength Look as it is with a man which is in part cured and recovered out of some bodily distemper by how much the disease weakens the man strenthens as that looses of its power so he gains and gets more in his Even so it is also with that person which is brought out of his natural condition when the sinfull corruption of nature is healed in him Look how that does any thing decay so does Grace flourish in him and increase As it was in those two opposites for the Kingdom Saul and David David waxed stronger and stronger and the house of Saul waxt weaker 2 Sam. 3.1 Even so is it likewise here As Grace weakens so corruption does more and more increase and as Grace encreases so does Corruption loose of its strength These two they are like a pair of ballances when the one goes up the other is sure to go down and so contrarily That heart which has the work of Grace truly and indeed wrought in it it will be desirous and indeavouring after improvement and settlement of it self Let none therefore plead weakness and justifie and allow themselves in such a condition as that is for it is not sutable to a Christian temper The best Christians that are they may have weaknesses in them but they do not content themselves with those weaknesses They have so much strength in them as to be sensible and apprehensive of their weakness and so much Grace in them as to labour as soon as may be to come out of it and to gather strength And where we find it otherwise with our selves we have cause to bewail our selves and to be truly humbled for it As for those which have no strength at all they do not care for the renewing of strength nay indeed they cannot they are uncapable of it The renewing of strength does suppose the having of some strength allready to be renewed Carnal and natural men which have no work of Grace in their hearts nor the Spirit of Christ stirring in them they are not weak but dead and so uncapable of getting more strength The Impotency of corrupt Nature it is not weakness but wickedness and so to be accounted but where there 's weakness there is in part some strength which is mingled with it and where there is this strength there 's an indeavour to work out that weakness and to recover after some former abatings and diminishings of Grace in it self That 's the second particular viz. A Christians Disposition joyn'd with his Duty They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength that 's their Inclination The Third is their Priviledge what they may do or does indeed actually befall them They shall renew their strength that is This happiness belongs unto them This is their state and condition And this indeed seems to be the proper sense and meaning of the Text to express thus much to us wherein the Spirit of God shewes us the difference between these and others in a way of opposition The youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength The word which is here rendred Renew is in the Hebrew Text. Jachalifu which signifies properly they exchange it commut abunt vires that is they shall have another kind of strength bestowed upon them then that which they formerly had For there is a double kind of change to be observed and taken notice of by us There 's a change in Quality of the worse for the better And there 's a change in Quantity of the less for the Greater Now both of these Changes are in a Christian as to spiritual strength First They have a change in Quality Another sort and kind of strength then what they had before Conversion And Secondly A change in Quantity more strength then at their first Conversion First I say there 's a change in Quality They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength that is they shall have a new kind of strength bestowed upon them over what they had before Conversion as Caleb had another Spirit and Saul another heart For we must know that even before Conversion in natural and unregenerate persons there is a kind of strength which does appear in them and that also in reference to Religion and the Duties of it but it is not such a strength as is here meant in this present Text nor yet such as any are to satisfie and to rest themselves contented withal To explain it a little unto you ye may take it in these particulars First There 's the strength of temper and natural Constitution Secondly There 's the strength of Custome and Religious Education Thirdly There 's the strength of Civility and Moral principles Each of these kinds of strength there are and that also before Conversion First I say There 's the strength of Temper and natural Constitution this is such as may go very far and a man may be able both to do and suffer very much by it This is that which does for the most part extend it self to the outside and form of Religion and in those performances which belong to that Men by a natural strength may be very much in them whether a strength of bodily frame or a strength of Natural parts but it is not this which is sufficient and yet it is that which many rest themselves in and are contented withal The strength of Wit and Reason and Vnderstanding and Memory and the like whiles their heart and will and Affections have no saving work at all upon them Secondly There 's the strength of Custom and Religious Education This it will go very far likewise many which have been piously Educated and brought up and accustomed to such and such Performances they through Vse and Exercise contract some kind of strength to themselves for the doing of them and become strong in the outward bulk of Religion This was such a strength as was in Joash whiles his Uncle Jebojada liv'd He did that which was good and right in the sight of the Lord though afterwards he departed from it And so 't is also with many others besides They have nothing which does so much act them and put them forward to any thing which is good but as it is that which they have been alwayes used and accustom'd unto Thirdly There 's the strength of
First Vanity both of Spirit and Conversation That 's one kind of Distemper which this Age is Exposed unto so the Preacher has told us Eccl. 11.10 Childhood and Youth are Vanity Not onely Vain but Vanity it self in regard of that frame and temper of Spirit which is upon them They mind and imploy themselves chiefly about Toys and Trifles and Superfluities but in the mean time neglect Solider matters and those things which are more Real and Substancial How much part of men's time even the prime and floure of their Age is as Samuel speaks to the People 1 Sam. 12.1 Carryed after vain things which cannot profit nor content in the latter end because they are Vain Pastimes and Pleasures and Sports and Gaming 's and such things as these are they are made not onely the Play and Recreation and Refreshment but even the Work and Business and Imployment oftentimes of that Age. Lovers of Pleasures more then lovers of God 2 Tim. 3.4 Secondly Flexibility to Evil that 's another Evil in Youth easily wrought upon and drawn away and intised to that which is Evil. The very Heathen Poet Himself couldtake notice of it Cereus in vitium Flecti Like wax to any sinful impression which shall be fasten'd upon them Like dry Tinder to Sparks of Fire thus is Youth for the most part to Temptation quickly takes no sooner can they meet with any Persons which are willing to Corrupt them but they are presently Corrupted by them In matter of Judgment to such in any new Opinion though never so Gross In matte of Practise to conform to any sinful Course though never so vile this is that which is very much incident to the Age of Youth A Flexibility to that which is Evil. Thirdly Unteachableness and Untractableness and Uncapableness of Admonition that 's another thing in Youth Monitoribus asper that Age does disrellish such as would reform them and bring them into rights so deferring of Repentance c. Wax to Temptation and Flint to Admonition and the means of Reforming These and the like are the Distempers which that Age is subject unto in regard of the frame of their Spirit Now as for outward Practises and the actings of Sin so Impetuousness and Intemperance and Violence and Uncleaness and such Bodily Lusts they are such as though all are not guilty of which is not the meaning of this Discourse yet the Age it self is exposed unto which accordingly does give this Denomination of the Sins of Youth that is as it is First of all to be understood by way of Specification as denoting the kind of Sin The Second is as denoting the Time Thus a Sin may be in some sense call'd the Sin of a mans Youth when it has been committed by him in his Youth though it may be as to the Quality of it it was a Sin of riper years There are some kind of People in the World which do Antedate their Age to themselves as in other things so in matter of Sins in which they grow old betimes and make hast unto it As there are some which are guilty of the Sins of Youth in the time of Age so there are others which are guilty of the Sins of Age in the time of Youth Malitia supplet aetatem Their Wickedness it makes up their years when they were Defectives Now these also are as well as the other the Sins of Youth what ever Sins men committed in the time of their Youth they are to them Youthful sins by way of Denomination And so much briefly of the first Particular Considerable in this first General viz. The sin he Sins of his Youth The Second is the Punishment of his sin which is exprest and propounded in those words where it is said that his Bones are full of them Thus although it may be very well applyed as to the matter of Guilt as we shall hear more anon Forasmuch as Sin does as it were Incorporate it self into Wicked men and is as a part of their Substance yet as I conceive in this place it does refer Especially rather to the Punishment The Spirit of God would hereby signify to us the sad and miserable Condition of an obdurate impenitent sinner that has Especially lived for a long time in a Course of sin That he possesses the iniquities of his Youth as it is Exprest in another place of this Book His bones are full of it This word Bones it may be taken here in this Text two manner of ways either in a Corporal sense or in a Spiritual Either proper in a Literal or in a Mystical If we take it in the next and Literal sense Corporally so it does denote the Body and outward man If we take it in the Remote and Qualified sense Spiritually so it does denote the Soul and the more particularly the Conscience each of these are full c. First The Bones that is the Body and Flesh and outward man taken it Literally There are many which in old Age feel the sins of their youth in their Bones according to this Interpretation which mourn at last when their Flesh and Body is Consumed Prov. 5.11 And which receive in themselves that recompence of their Errour which is meet as the Apostle speaks Rom. 1.27 Namely in regard of those Diseases which does attend their Vicious Courses and hasten their Bodily Destuction There are some kind of Sins which God does punish even in this present Life and as they are committed with the Body so are they avenged upon the Body which is made the Subject of Punishment as it has been before of Miscarriage and all little enough to take off such Persons from them as are addicted and given up unto them Secondly By Bones here we are to understand not onely the Flesh but the Spirit and more particularly the Conscience Thus we shall find the phrase used in some other places besides of Scripture As Psal 6.2 Have Mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my Bones are vexed So Psal 38.3 There is no Soundness in my Flesh because of thine Anger There 's the remembrance of sin in the Body Neither it ther any rest in my Bones because of my Sin There 's the remembrance of sin in the Soul So again Psal 51.8 Make me to hear Joy and Gladness that the Bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce The broken-Bones i. e. The broken Spirit and that occasion'd from the sense of sin Sin it will stick in the Conscience for a long while after the Commission of it And when men are grown old they then pay for the Sins of their Youth in the reflections of them God charges the Guilt of them upon their Souls when the things themselves are past and gone Thus it hath several ways and degrees whereby it does proceed First In rubbing up their Memories and bringing their sins to Remembrance There are many which in the heat of their Lusts and while they are in the full
Prosecution of their wicked Courses little think of them or call themselves to an account for them who yet afterwards when the sin is over and past have leasure to be think themselves and to Consider what they have done Yea God himself does by his Spirit oftentimes suggest it to them and suffers even Satan also though for no good to do it for them When men are past the time of Committing sin then he thinks he may very safely remember of it that he may drive them to dispair about it which is all the thanks they have from him for hearkning to Him Secondly As there 's an Exciting of the Memory for the calling of such sins to mind which have been committed in Youth so there is likewise a Convincing of the Judgment in the nature of the sins themselves how grievous and notorious they are that those which have been formerly slighted and neglected and made nothing of as no more but tricks of youth it may indeed appear in their colours to be breaches of the Law of God And that in all the several Circumstances and Aggravations of them and especially in that amongst the rest of sinning against all the Counsel and Admonition which has been given to the Contrary by Ministers and Masters and Parents and Christian Friends as we find an Expression to that purpose in Prov. 5.12.13 Thou shalt say How have I hated Instruction and my Heart dispised Reproof I have not obeyed the voyce of my Teachers nor inclined mine Ear to them that instructed me Thus will God not onely remember men but convince them of the sins of their youth And then Thirdly Afflict them also for them That 's like wise in this filling of the Bones The Conscience made sensible of sin and perplext for it which is done in succeeding times When God deals Effectually with men's Hearts and calls them to an Account for their Miscarriages he does not onely set home upon them their present iniquities but also their former Miscarriages This he does both in order to true and real Conviction as also upon any other occasion Yea and those sins also which have been most secret as I shewed the last day at large upon another Scripture the same word which is here used in the Text for the sins of the Youth it signifies in the Hebrew Language secret sins which such sins oftentimes are and so we find it to be taken in Psal 90.8 Thou hast set our secret sins in the light of thy Countenance Gnalâmeni The reason why God does proceed against sins of Youth and set them home a great while afterwards First Because he will maintain his own Right and Interest in the world we use to say Nullum tempus occurrit Regi There 's no time which is slipt which can prejudice a Prince in his due no more can God Himself who is the cheif of all Sins of Youth they are sins still in their own Nature and so to be accounted Time does not alter the quality of them though it alters the Apprehensions of them through the weakness of our mindes Nay the longer agoe that sins have been committed by any the more they stand in Arrears to God Old and Ancient Debts they are the Greatest Debts of all because they have been so long without payment and satisfaction for them And so it is likewise to this purpose with old and Antient sins Continuance and Perseverance in sin for a long while and time together without reformation and renewing to God it becomes a further advancement and aggravation of it Secondly Because sins of youth they are commonly acted with greater Violence and vehemency of spirit It is observed by the Philosopher of Young-men ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They do every thing with much intention in that which they do Quicquid volun Valde volunt Now sin by how much men's Spirits are more intent and carried out in it by so much the worse it is and more provoking of the Majesty of God who is offended by it Thirdly It is a Foundation of more Sin the sins of Youth There 's a Ground work laid for sin in after times and succeeding Generations where Youth is naught there is a great hazard upon old Age which is very difficulty reclaimed and reduced in such cases Therefore says the Young-man in the Proverbs being overtaken with Wantonness I was almost in all Evil in the midst of the Congregation and the Assembly Prov. 5.14 A Vessell what Liquour it receives at first into it it long retains the savour and relish of it And so it is likewise with the Heart and the Life and the Conversation It is much what it was at first The Consideration of this present point in hand is of Various Improvement to us First To those which are Young that from hence they would be so much the more careful and watchful of themselves and take heed of doing any thing which may stain and defile their first years and the Flower of their Age for if they do so they wlll find enough of it in following times and when as they think the worst is past Their Bones shall be full of the sins of their youth Perhaps their Bodies and outward man through Corruption and rotting Diseases which shall cleave unto them or if not so yet at least their Consciences either here or in a worse place And therefore let them not be secure and vainly flatter themselves as for the most part they are ready to do Youth is commonly full of Hopes and sometimes of Presumpteous hopes which have little ground or bottom for them and so in this amongst the rest of escaping the Alarms of sin But let none deceive themselves in this particular as Moses once told the Israelites in Numb 32.23 Be sure your sin will find you out Find you out to discover you and to manifest what you are And find you out to punish you and to afflict you for being so bad And the longer time of Intermission the Heavier the Account when it comes Beloved we should all study to Consecrate and devote our best time to God and to his Service And that is the time of our Youth while it lasts to any of us when we have health and strength and parts in the Vigor and Activity of them Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth before he Evil days come and the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them Eccl. 12.1 And thus as for the thing it self so moreover in reference to old Age that so if we live unto it it may be so much the more Comfortable to us and free from Disturbance it is observed as to matter of the Body and Corporal strength and it holds as well in regard of the Soul that an orderly and well-temper'd youth it breeds an Easy and pleasing old Age and so the Contrary Moderata juventus efficit senectutem facillem Immoderata Gravem Oh it is a Blessed thing when Old
day of our Visitation lasts and continues to us And more particularly that we may speak still to the Scope and Sense of the Text and my Drift and End in the undertaking and handling of it in the Time of Youth and tender years That so hereafter we may reap the fruit of a timely and early conversion in a sweet and comfortable old Age. That we may end our dayes in peace which at length must be ended and having been long acquainted with God may be the more willing to go to Him and to resign our Souls into His hands as into the Hands of a Faithful Creatour So much may suffice to have spoken of the second General part of the Text viz. The condition in the Extent of it And so likewise both of this whole verse and for this present time His Bones are full of the sins of his youth which shall shall lye down with him in the dust ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã SERMON X. Job 20.12 13.14 Though Wickedness be sweet in his mouth though he hide it under his Tongue Though he spare it and forsake it not but keep it still within his mouth Yet his meat in his Bowels is turned it is the gall of Asps within him There can never be said too much nor enough against the ways of Sin whether we look upon it in it own Nature and Consider the Miseries which are in it or whether we look upon it in our Nature and consider the propensities which are to it When one would think we had said all we can and almost all we need there is still somewhat yet remaining behind as very pertinent and sutable hereunto The last day wee took occasion to speak of the Sins of Youth and the Impressions which they made upon Age and riper Years and the Extent of them even to Death it self and after Death out of the 11th vers of this Chap. where Zapher describing the Estate of an ungodly Person gives the Character of it That his Bones are full of the sins of his Youth which shall lye c. Now in these following verses before us he does further proceed in the Amplification of this Argument to us by preventing of an Objection which might be made by the Patrons of Wickedness as to the Heartning and Incouraging both of themselves and others to it and that as taken from the present sweetness and Contentment in it and the cunning Carriage and Contrivance of it which he removes and takes away by shewing the sad Effects which notwithstanding are consequent upon it Though wickedness be sweet c. IN this present Text before us there are two General parts considerable of us First The Disposition of a Wicked man in regard of sin Secondly The Effect of Sin to a Wicked man The Disposition of a Wicked man in regard of sin that is laid down in verses 12.13 Though Wickedness c. The Effect of sin to a Wicked man that 's exprest in vers 14. His meat c. We begin with the First viz. A Wicked man's Disposition in regard of sin and that is here Exhibited to us in four particular Branches First His Complacency in it It is sweet to his mouth Secondly His Concealment of it he hides it under his Tongue Thirdly His Favourableness towards it He spares it c. Lastly His Thraldom to it He keeps it c. First This is Considerable in the Disposition of a Wicked man to sin his Delight and Complacency in it Wickedness it is sweet to his mouth This Expression together with the rest is a Metaphor taken from Natural and Corporal Food which is pleasing and delightful to the taste which is seated in the Mouth or Palate as the proper Organ or Subject of it so is sin to a carnal Heart it is very sweet and relishing to it Especially in the first imbracing and entertaining of it There is no Glutton or Master of Appetite as he is called there by Solomon in Prov. 23.2 Bagnal Nefesh Which takes more Contentment in his Delicacyes and Corporal Daintyes then a Carnal and unregenerate Person takes in his Lust It is sweeter to Him then Honey it self as the Philosopher speaks of Revenge to a Malicious man It is so with all kind of sin whatsoever to those which are addicted to it it has a kind of false sweetness with it in regard whereof we read in Scripture of the pleasures of sin The Ground hereof is this Because it is sutable and Connatural to Him Delight it is founded in Convenience and an Agreeableness of the Faculty with the Object And so it is here with a Wicked man in regard of his Lust he has an Heart fitted to it That which is in the Temptation without Him it is in the Spirit within Him and the one it is the Counterpain of the other as the Wax answering to the Seal We may judg of the Delight which a Wicked Person has in Sin according to the Proportion of a Gracious Person delighting in Goodness what is the reason that those which are Godly delight in the ways of Godliness and look upon them still as those which are ways of Pleasantness How sweet is thy word unto my mouth even as Honey unto my taste It is because they have a renewed Spirit which is fitted and qualified thereunto I delight to do thy will O my God and thy Law is within my Heart Psal 40.8 While God's Law is in our Hearts our delight will be in God's will and his Commandments will not be grievous to us but exceeding pleasant and so it is also on the Contrary in regard of Sin And then again Satan who is the great promoter of sin he inlarges and advances things to them and makes them seem greater then they are The Pleasure of Sin and the delight which is taken in that it is for the most part a matter of Fancy and Imagination Now the Devil he has a very Great stroke in working upon that He presents things more Amiable then they are and thereby does intangle and insnare foolish men and make them to be pleased with those things which have little pleasingness in them The Desires of People to sins they are Diseases rather then Desires they are Extravagances and Distempers in them and do proceed from somewhat which is amiss in the Frame and Disposition of their Spirits as we see it is in the Body what 's the reason here that some delight in Coles and Ashes and Walls and such trash as that Why it is because they have a distempered palate and a distempered Stomack and they are under the power of a Disease this makes those things sweet unto them which another Body cannot indure even so it also with the Souls of Wicked men they take pleasure in Sin which is odius to a Gracious Heart because they are overtaken with Lust and have a Spiritual Distemper upon them The Consideration of this point may serve to give us an account of the Difficulty of
they do improve their wickedness as much as they are able to their own Contentment and Satisfaction or advantage and they suck all the pleasures out of it that they can perfectly find and meet withall in it Thus they do and they have a particular Art and skill and Ability in them to this purpose Look as Godly men do with a promise and some parcel of the word of God or as they do with a gracious Frame and Temper of Spirit when they have found it they preserve it all they can and make much of it Keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people and prepare their heart unto thee 1 Chron. 29.18 Even so do wicked men with their sins when it is said here they spare it we must understand it n that sense it is spoken which is not as to matter of commission but rather as to matter of Mortification a covetous man spares his money but he does not spare his sin They do not spare to act it but they spare to kill it and to crucifie it and to subdue it in themselves As to the Acting and exercising of it this they do and do not spare but lay on as much as they can like some hunger-starved person at a feast they feed and do not spare they commit all uncleanness with greediness as the Apostle speaks in Eph. 4.18 But they spare it as to the resisting of it and as to the doing of any hurt unto it A wicked man spares his lusts as Saul did the cattel of the Amalekites which he reserved for himself 1 Sam. 15.9 or as David spared rebellious Absalom whom he desired should be dealt tenderly withall Deal Gently with the young man Absalom for my sake this he gave in command to Joab the Captain of the Host 2 Sam. 18.5 Even so do such men say in their hearts as to their sins To Governours and Friends and Ministers O spare my lusts deal gently with such a sin and corruption for my sake Therefore sparing and not forsaking are very pertinently joyn'd together in the Text the one explaining the other He spares it and does not forsake it that is he spares to forsake it sake it He does favour and allow and indulge corruption and sin in himself This a wicked man does And it is here made to be a property so to do of him But because there are two several words which are here used sparing and not forsaking we will therefore take them asunder and consider them severally and distinctly And first of sparing which as in part I hinted before does imply that Indulgence which such persons give to their corruptions shewing them all the favour that may be And it is exprest in these particulars First As to matter of search and inquiry into them A wicked man he spares his sins thus so as to examine his heart about them David sayes He communed with his own heart and his spirit made dilligent search Psal 77.6 And he perswades others to do so likewise Psal 4.4 Stand in awe and sin not commune with your own heart and be still But men commonly delight not so to do which have any guilt lying upon them They do not love to to look much into it or to be inquisitive what it is Bad Husbands they do not love to cast up their accounts nor to see what their estate is because they are afraid they shall meet with somewhat which will be displeasing to them And so it is also with bad hearts and false spirits in Religion they do not love to consider their wayes for fear their sins should fly in their faces and gall them for them They spare their sins that so their sins may spare them Spare their sins to search them that so their sins may spare them to torment them and to vex them for them Secondly As this sparing is observable as to matter of inquiry so also as to matter of resistance and opposition they are very sparing in this likewise they do as little as may be to restrain and hinder sin in the onsets of it Take a Godly man and one whose heart is taken off from sin and he hath no mercy at all for it but deals as boysterously with it as may be he desires to shew it no favour or kindness or respect at all but is most cross and opposite to it Whereas now on the otherside a wicked man he is tender of making any resistance but gives way to it as much as may be and so he spares it Thirdly As to matter of Expulsion and Ejection and Mortification they spare it so The Scripture requires men to pluck out their right eyes to cut off their right hands c. that is to destroy their dearest lusts and those corruptions which are nearest to them Now an Hypocrite he will not do this by any means perhaps he will be content to part with somewhat which he does not much care for and be willing to abstain from it but his Absaloms and Dalilahs and his Herodiasses and such sins as these Oh by all means let them alone destroy them not for there 's some sweetness to be found in them Thus he is said to spare it which is the first expression which is here considerable Secondly He does not forsake it he doth not leave it nor bid adieu unto it he never forsakes his sin till his sin forsake him and he can keep it no longer as sometimes it does in age and sickness and death Men have not then those opportunities of sin which they have had at other times for the acting and committing of them and so they forsake them But otherwise as to the Heart and Affection they forsake them never As friends they may be kept from one another by violence though never so dear but yet their spirits are still the same to each other and so it is with a sinner to his lusts he bears the same affection to them now in his restraint from them as he did before in his injoyment of them and what he cannot attain in Accomplishment he makes up in desire There 's no man can be said to forsake any sin in particular which does not forsake the way of sin for the General That is which is not converted and regulated and brought home to God As for another man let his condition be what it will be yet his corruption is still the same he is prodigal in a poor estate and he is proud in a low estate and he is Lascivious in a decrepit estate when his body withers yet his lusts flourishes and he never forsakes his sin till he forsakes himself and has any Being continued to him Now to lay both these together a sinners not forsaking but rather sparing sin in himself as we have hitherto heard and consider'd how much it makes to the aggravation of his sinful condition and misery likewise attending thereupon There 's no Greater mischief or cruelty which a
not our God we have then a great deal too little what ever we have besides And if God be our God we have then more then enough even when we want every thing else This is the utmost bounds and perfection of all happiness whatsoever For God to be our God it is to be all things whatsoever we want or desire to injoy Grace and Glory both as it is exprest Psal 84.11 A son and shield all things requisite and convenient whether for this or a better life not onely the blessings of the womb and the blessings of the breast but which is also further added as the accomplishment of the blessings of Joseph The Blessings of heaven above and the blessings of the deep that lye under This is to be our God But how did David know that God was his God that he should here thus claim interest in him Surely he had some ground to say so or else he would have said ât and such as we also must have if we say with any comfort There are many which scrape acquaintance with God which yet he will never own at another day Not every one that said Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven nor every one that saith My God had God for their God indeed No there 's somewhat more belongs to it than meerly so David said God was his God because he found himself to be his servant Beloved if God be our God then certainly we are his people that 's out of all controversie To be our God is a word of relation and implyes as somewhat on Gods part so likewise somewhat on ours That namely we have given up our selves to His holy Guidance and Government to be ruled and ordered by him in all whatsover we do Those whom God is a God to he hath put his Spirit into them and transforming them and chang'd them into a likeness to his Divine Nature And by this may we now discover whether it be so indeed with our selves yea or no. Have we taken Christ upon those terms and conditions as he is propounded in the Gospel not onely to be a Saviour to save us but also to be a Lord to rule us Have we done so indeed and in good earnest and do we find such principles in us as do sute hereunto Do we love God Do we delight in God Do we fear God Do we stand in awe of him and hate every thing which stands in opposition and contrariety to him Do we love the Cause of God Do we love the word of God Do we love the people of God Every thing that savors of Him Every thing that has interest in Him Every thing that has Relation to Him And that purely for Himself Eo nomine and in that consideration These things would be sought and inquired into for the satisfaction of our selves in this particular that God is our God indeed Which as t is the greatest Happiness to be right in so t is the greatest Misery that can be to mistake I am sorry I have not time to prosecute this argument so as I could wish which requires as much time to handle and to give the full explication of it as the extent of the benefit it self which is to all Eternity So much briefly of the first thing as carryes in it an Implication of Interest Thou art my God i. e. There is a Covenant betwixt us Secondly It carryes in it also an Implication of Activity Thou art my God That is thou art one who art Active for me For God to be our God is not a meer Title and Relation but withall a matter of Improvement And this is that which David likewise here implies in this Expression Thou hast showen thy self as a God unto me in all thy dealings and carriages towards me Those whom God is a God to he does Improve Himself to the utmost to them in all things which they stand in need of from Him I shall but name some particulars unto you As First My God to preserve me and defend me and keep me from Evil. This carryes a reference to what he had said before in the former Clauses concerning Gods Providence over him in regard of Birth and Sustentation Those whom God is a God too he does undertake so far forth to preserve them as may be good and convenient for them they had the benefit of his Power and strength And this had David experience of for his particular in sundry examples God had kept him from the Bear and from the Lyon and from the Philistins and from the hands of Saul c. Secondly My God to Direct me and Counsel me in cases of Uncertainty When I know not what to do nor whether to betake my self for Succor then art thou near me to advise me and to teach me what I shall do Thirdly My God to assist me and strengthen me in matter of Duty and Performance By thee I have run'd through a Troup and by my God I have leaped over a Wall Psal 18.29 Those whom God is a God too they partake of his inabling Grace which is more or less Auxiliary to them Lastly My God to fill me with a greater measure and degree of Grace and Holiness here and who will likewise bestow upon me Glory and full Happiness hereafter In all these particulars have those to which God is a God too and in Covenant with them the improvement of his Deity for them And thus much of the Blessing it self which he here mentions Thou art my God Now the Second so the last thing That 's the extent of this Blessing From my Mothers Belly Where by the way This phrase from my Mothers Belly it is not here to be taken Causative but Terminative It does not denote unto us the Conveyance of Sanctification and the Covenant of Free-Grace but rather the first moment and beginning of it Every man by Nature is in a state of Contrariety and Alienation We are Strangers to God from the Womb yea Enemies against him And so he cannot be said to be our God from our Mothers Belly in this respect Our Mothers Belly is the place rather wherein God and we first fall out and differ from one another This is the Sum of all That Parents they convey Sin but they do not convey Grace Religion it goes not by Birth and carnal Propagation Christiani non noscuntur sed fiunt We are not born Christians but made so and that by a Supernatural work of the Spirit of God upon our Hearts Therefore those words are not to be taken in this Explication as denoting the Cause from whence David was a Child of God but rather as denoting the time and season from whence God was his God and so the further duration and continuance of it all along from that time to this present moment wherein he wrote And so he does in this Expression bless God for two things at once First For being his God so Early And Secondly For being
Apostle Peter declares it of him in 2. Pet. 2.7.8 Now this is that which we may here observe to be the Temper of the Prophet David in this present Scripture and Psalm which we have now before us The Scope whereof being nothing else but to declare and protest against the Sinfulness of wicked and prophane Athestical persons this he does in sundry particulars as we may observe n the preceeding verses And here now in this verse which I have read he shuts up all with a serious inquiry into the Cause of so much Wickedness in them with the Aggravations of it Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God He hath said in his heart c. IN the Text it self there are two General parts considerable First A Question propounded Secondly The Ground or occasion which is given for the propounding of this Question The Question that we have in these words Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God The occasion of it that we have in these He hath said c. We begin with the first of these parts viz. The Question or Expostulation Wherefore doth the c. Wherein again two particulars more First Somewhat which is implyed And Secondly Somewhat which is Exprest That which is implyed is this That the wicked doth contemn God The thing it self in General which he is charged withall and that which is exprest is this That he hath no Cause or Ground to do so The Absurdity and Unreasonableness of it Wherefore does he do it First For that which is here implyed the thing it self which is laid as a charge The wicked does contemn God This is not to be understood of one wicked man alone either this man or that but of the whole Race and Company and Generation of wicked men in the world in all times and ages and places and distinctions of it by taking the word Collectively Wicked men they do very much Scorn and Slight and Despise even the great God himself This is the Point which we have here now before us This is a very great and heavy charge which is laid upon such Persons but it is such as even the same God Himself who is so concern'd in it lays upon them And therefore can be no other then Truth There are three manner of ways especially for the Illustration of this point unto us wherein wicked men may be said to contemn God In his Ordinances in his Providences and in his Servants First In his Ordinances they contemn him and despise him there his Word and his Sacraments and his Sabbaths and such things as these Those that neglect and undervalue these they do no less then contemn God The word of God when men come not at it or profit not by it or yield not to it it comes within the compass of this Censure especially the last which I have now named The not yielding unto it Disobedience to the Commands of God is a Contempt of the Person of God and so is taken and Interpreted by Him He so reckons and esteems of it when men shall fully understand Gods pleasure in such and such particulars Either as restraining them from such and such Courses or requiring of them such and such Performances and yet shall walk contrary hereunto It is a fearful and horrible despising of the Majesty of God we know how we count it amongst men and in the affairs of the World In Masters towards their Servants in Magistrates towards their Subjects in Parents towards their Children and the like The wilful refusing of their Commands is esteemed for Contempt and it holds betwixt God and man more especially It is a slighting of that Soveraiguty and Authority which God hath over them and setting light by it And so as for the more express Commands of God which he has laid down in his word so for the Motions of his Spirit in the Heart and suggestions to the Conscience this belongs to the same Head likewise Every motion of Gods Spirit which is discern'd and yet resisted and suppressed by us it amounts to the resisting and slighting of God Himself and shews what Entertainment we would be ready to give to his own Person if he were more visibly resident amongst us that we may so much the more take heed of such Miscarriages And so as for the word of God so for the Sacraments There is a Contemning of God in them likewise when we neglect to partake of them or are careless as to the manner of our partaking Baptism when we rather wholly omit it or too long defer it or make it onely a matter of fashion and Custom and complement and formality and not improving of it to those ends for which it was first intended It is a contemning and a disposing of the great love and goodness of God in the Justification of it and providing it for our sakes And the Lords Supper when we come Carelesly to it not discerning our selves not discerning the Lords Body but Eating and Drinking unworthily it is a Contemning of such a Divine Ordinance as that indeed is It is a saying that the Table of the Lord is Contemptable and so a profaning of God Himself Who yet will be Sanctifyed in all those that draw near unto him in Malach. 1.7.12 and Levit. 10.3 Again for the Sabbath which is another Ordinance of God and keeps up the life of all the rest The Lords day when people shall make nothing of this to Sanctify it and keep it Holy whom do they Contemn in such cases What onely Men and Magistrates and Ministers and good Lawes no but even God Himself I cannot stand to insist upon all particulars ye may inlarge them in your own Meditations but take it in what ever you will of this Nature whether Gods word and Contemn or Gods Sacrament and Divine Institutions and Gods Sabbath and times of Worshiping and Serving of Him That Disrespect which is given at any time to these or any of them it does reflect upon God himself and does redound to his disesteem in those which are guilty of it and that 's one explication of it wherein wicked men do contemn God they contemn God in his Ordinances in his Word and Sacraments and Sabbaths Secondly In his Providences they contemn him also here they take no notice of God in his Dealings and Dispensations in the World whether in a way of Favour or Wrath. For Favour they slight him in his Mercies and for Wrath they regard him not in his Judgements and so each way contemn him First Take it as to his Mercies they do contemn and despise God here Thus Esay 26.10 Let Favour be shown to the Wicked yet will he not learn Righteousness in the Land of Vprightness will he deal unjustly and will not behold the Majesty of the Lord. So Rom. 2.4 Despisest thou the Riches of his goodness and Forbearance and Long-suffering not knowing that the Goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance Gods goodness and Favour is much extended towards Wicked men
Conscience and more immediate Impressions upon the Heart God does oftentimes so apply Himself to the Soul and Spirit of a Beleiver by inlarging it and filling it with his Grace and raising up holy motions and desires in it as from whence he may be said to bespeak as it were Communion with Himself and to say seek thou my face He knocks at the door of our Hearts and says open unto me This by the Prophet David is called a preparing of the Heart in Psal 10.17 Lor thou hast heard the desire of the humble thou wilt prepare their heart thou wilt cause thine Ear to hear Thirdly In the Dispensations of Providence and the things which God does in the World and especially to our selves here he calls to us for our seeking of his face as to instance in two or three particulars more especially above the rest First In any special business or Imployment which he puts upon us this is a sure rule That where God calls a man to any more eminent Services especially which is of more publique Concernment he does then more especially call him to seek first of all his favour towards him and acceptance of him Forasmuch as all Assistance and success comes from Him and it is he that must give a Blessing to every thing that is undertaken by us It is a very dangerous and hazzardous matter for a man to go about any busines of great importance in a state of difference and estrangement from God for then he will be ready to blast and to cross that work unto him We are apt sometimes to beg Gods Assistance but we should first of all beg his Favour which is the ground and foundation of all Assistance and Success whatsoever and without which we can never expect it Thou saydst seek my face In case of any special undertakings Secondly In case of some special outward trouble and calamity God herein sayes seek ye my face Forasmuch as this is oftentimes his very end in the sending of it He does it to bring men to Himself Because in affliction men are then apt to run God when he slew them they sought Him as it is said of the Israelits And in their affliction they will seek me early Hos 5.25 Lord in trouble they have visited thee they have poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them Isa 26.16 And it becomes us so far forth to close and to comply with Gods ends to us in this particular Thirdly In Spiritual Desertions and the withdrawings of Gods Countenance from the soul when God hides his face from us He does then more especially call upon us to seek his face As when the mother hides her self she then puts the child upon looking for her and seeking after her even so is it here A constant and continued enjoyment of Gods countenance shining upon his servants is apt now and then through their corruption to make them a little more remiss but withdrawings of it quickens them to attendance and dependance upon them as it is in Isa 8.17 I will wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the House of Jacob and will look for him Fourth In the Desertions of Friends when they shall at any time fail us or leave us and be taken away from us God then sayes to us more particularly seek ye my face when either they fail in their affections as not continuing still to be friends or when they fail in their Persons as not continuing still in the world but it may be removed and taken away out of it In either of these cases and conditions does God more especially call his servants to the perfeiting of their friendship with himself and the getting of a greater evidence of his Love and favours towards them First When they fail in their Affections as not continuing still to be friends for there 's an uncertainty in all these things There 's many a man loves to day and hates to morrow and of a Friend turns to be an enemy The Love of the world it is no Foundation for any to build on in regard of the inconstancy of it Now here 's a special call to closer intimacy and acquaintance with God Acquaint thy self now with Him and be at peace thereby good shall come unto thee when a mans ways please the Lord he will make his enemies to be at peace with Him Prov. 16.7 Therefore now seek His face whose love is unchageable whose Purpose is immutable whose Affection is alwayes the same This is one thing which calls us hereunto And so secondly As in the failing of Affections so also in the failing of Persons when friends are removed and taken out of the world and ye see their face no more why then seek ye His face who never fails but abides for ever even from one Generation to another Lastly In the hour of death and at the Time of Dissolution when men are themselves going out of the world it concerns them then especially to seek the face of God and it should qualifie the thoughts of Death unto them being such as belongs to God to think that they shall now injoy it as David I will behold thy face in righeousness when I awake I shall be satisfied with thy likeness Psal 17.15 And so Psal 16.11 In thy presence is fullness of Joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore Thus have we seen in what respects and cases God does especially call unto us to seek His face And so I have done with the first General part of the Text which is Gods invitation Thou saidest seek ye my face my heart said unto thee Thy face Lord will I seek The second is David's Answer to this Invitation of Gods as to the Acceptance and entertainment of it Thy face Lord will I seek Where before we come to speak of the main point which is here considerable of us here is somewhat to be taken notice of by us by way of Preparation As first Observe this That the Heart of a Cristian it is the Reflexion of the law of God Look what the Lord in his word does injoyn and Command to be performed that the Soul and Spirit of a Believer and regenerate Person so far forth as he is regenerate does incline and tend unto Thou saydst seek my face there was the tenor of Gods Command And thy face Lord will I seek there was the temper of Davids Spirit So Psal 40.7.8 I delight to do thy will O my God yea thy law is within my Heart And this is the difference betwixt a child of God and another person take another man and his heart rises and rebels against the word and love of God and he wishes there were no such thing as that is But a good Christian he has an agreeableness to it and from thence a Complyance with it it is as the wax answering the Seal A second Observation is this That a good and a gracious heart is carryed on to the doing
of its Duty more especially upon Gods Command as imposing it upon him Davids heart inclined to seeking of God from that principle of Grace that was in it But now when moreover God Himself requires him to do so this makes him to be so much the more determined and resolved about it When thou saidest seek my face then I sought thy face indeed The Ground hereof may be thus laid forth unto us First That holy Reverence and awe which they have of Gods Majesty Fear it works obedience and where we stand in awe of the Person we do more readily submit to the Command now thus is it with the children of God Secondly Their Love to God There 's nothing so complying as Love it is the most yielding Affection of any and so here in our carriage to God If we love him we will keep his Commandments And thus do all who are his true servants and therefore run at his call Thirdly There is this also considerable in it that Gods Power goes along with his Command This it did here as to Davids heart when God said seek my face he did cause him to seek it whiles he said it And so he does likewise with the rest of His servants which he does not with other persons And it is the true account of so much difference as is betwixt them that whiles they both receive the same word yet they are not alike wrought upon by it because in the one there 's the command in the bare proposal but in the other there 's the Spirit going along with it to make it Effectual In the Covenant of Grace God performs that in us which he requires of us which is the Great Advantage of all true Believers Thirdly Observe in General thus much That a Good and Conscientious Hearer is careful to apply the word of God to his own particular God spake it here at large and in the General seek ye my face in the Plural but David brings it home to himself and fastens upon it This is the Duty of all others besides Thus we find it to have been sometime with St. Peters Auditors in Act. 2.37 The word was spoke to the whole company at large This Jesus whom ye have crucified is Lord and Christ But those that were converted they applyed it and appropriated it to themselves And therefore it is said that when they heard it they were pricked at the heart And there is this Considerable that makes for it First Because the Particular is still comprehended in the General as the part 's in the whole That which is said to all it does respect whosoever are contained and comprized in that number and that successively in all Ages of the world that which was said to Moses and Joshua and David is said also to us The precepts of Religion they do indifferently extend themselves to all sorts of Persons When God says seek ye my face he says it to me and to thee and to a Third and so to all the world over Indeed there are some Positive particular Commands which are now and then given to such and such persons distinctly and so do reach onely to them in such and such Circumstances But the common Duties and Practises of Godliness they are promiscuously imposed upon all Secondly This is the very Life and Power of all kind of Teaching whatsoever to bring it home to a mans own Particular As the benefit of Meat in the Stomach is the degesting of it and sending its Nourishment into every particular part Aures omnium pulso sed Conscientias quorundam Convenio c. Says St. Austin the Parson he delivers things in General but it is every mans Conscience that must make the particular Application And accordingly it concerns us to do so upon all occasions The Neglect and want hereof is the cause why there is oftentimes no more good got by the Ministry and the Preaching of it because men think what is said to all is said to none when as indeed it is said to every one if they had Grace to apply it to themselves and every one is particularly interested and concern'd in it according to the particular occasions in which they are and the Circumstances which may be upon them And that in points also of all sorts and natures and qualities whether of Information or Direction or Reprehension or Consolation or Command Indeed ye shall have some kind of people who it may be will be pritty forward in Application but it is to others not to themselves They are ready to say that such an one had his Lesson and Instruction given him but in the mean time they pass over their own Now it is the Duty of every good Christian here with David to apply the Doctrine to Himself And so he shall close with Gods Intentions in the Discovery and Proposal of it and so much may be spoken of the points observable in General and Preparatory We come now more particularly and closely to the words of the Text it self Thy face Lord will I seek And here again I shall with Gods Assistance take notice of two things more First The Substantials of the Text. And Secondly The Circumstantials First To look upon the Substantials and that is as it does exhibit to us the main Duty which is here required of us which is the seeking of the Face of God for that which was Davids Practise is our Duty and is accordingly required of us we have heard out of the words before that it is that which God himself does invite us to Here now we shall see likewise that it is that which we our selves are bound too in acceptance of this Invitation which we shall the better be able to do if we do but consider what it is which is here Commended to us and what we are to understand by this expression The seeking of the face of God it does imply divers things in it and all such as is required by us we may take it in these following Explications First To labour for the knowledge of God and more intimate acquaintance with him because we know a man usually by his Face and outward countenance therefore our knowing of God is set forth to us by this expression of seeking his face and it is that which lies upon all men especially to do those that are absolutely ignorant of him to know him at first those that know him in part already to indeavour to know him more and still to increase in the knowledg of him And that we may do it indeed the more effectually to look upon him in that Glass wherein he has presented himself unto us which is the Lord Jesus Christ Take God consider'd in Himself and his Face is very terrible and dreadful as I told them before there is no seeking for us of it but rather seeking how to avoid it and to run away from it but in Christ here it is Lovely and Amiable In John 14.8.9 When Philip said
to it how can they expect to be in good terms with God to whom Sin is so Loathsom and Abominable and Odious as nothing more it cannot be These do thwart and contradict one another as we have it most clearly there in that Scripture Psal 54.5 Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in Wickedness neither shall Evil dwell with thee The foolish shall not stand in thy sight thou hatest all the workers of Iniquity God will not favour those that favour themselves in any Evil or sinful course Secondly We must also walk fruitfully in regard of Performances it is not enough for us to eschew Evil but we must also do Good and that good which God requires at our hands we see how it is amongst men that they keep up their terms of favour and respect by Obsequiousness to one another and so we likewise in our dealings with God as we would preserve our selves in good terms with him be active in our Duties but so much may suffice to have spoken of Gods Loving-kindness in the first Notion or Acceptation of it as it may be taken Secundum Affectum as an eminent Act in Himself the Loving-kindness of Affection The Second is as it may be taken Secundum Affectum as it is a Transient act upon us the Loving-kindness of Expression How Excellent is thy Loving-kindness O God That is how Excellent art thou O God in thy favourable Manisestations of thy self towards thy People So that the Psalmist blesses God in this sense for his Activity of Goodness to his Church for that Loving-kindness which does put it self forth in his proceedings and Dispensations to them Now this also as well as the former is very Excellent and that in these regards First In regard of the Substance of it and the Materials whereof it consists which are sundry and various God has shewn his Loving-kindness to his Church in divers Expressions First In giving them his Son for their Redemption and Reconciliation to Himself how Excellent is his Loving-kindness here in that he spared not him for our sakes but delivered him to Death for us as the Apostle speaks Rom. 8.32 This was certainly a great piece of favour especially if we shall consider what a kind of Son this was and the great Benefits which are purchased by Him The Apostle reckons them up 1 Cor. 1.30 Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption Christ is of God made these unto us look what excellency there is in any of these there is answerable excellency in Christ and look what excellency there is in Christ himself there is answerable excellency in that loving-kindness which hath bestowed Christ upon us Secondly Gods loving-kindness is excellent in the Ordinances and means of Grace which he hath also given for the furtherance of our acquaintance and communion with Christ the Gospel it is a great part of Gods good-will and loving-kindness not onely in the matter of it which is Christ himself but in the Ministery of it which is the discovery of Christ and the Publication of these glad tidings to the world Therefore we shall find the Angel to Proclaim upon this first occasion Luk. 2.14 Glory to God on the Highest on earth peace Good will unto men God does as a special piece of favour if we could think it so to vouchsafe us the Ministery of his word and those Heavenly Doctrines which are contained in the Dispensation of it as being such as the very Angels themselves desire to peep and look into 1 Pet. 1.12 And the Ministers themselves in a diversity of gifts and Ministerial qualifications but upon some in one kind and some in another which by the way should make us so much the more carefuller to attend hereupon That we may not despise the loving-kindness of the Lord what does God in so much love and bowels as indeed he does afford us his Word and Ordinances and shall we in the mean time slight them and make nothing of them oh by all means take heed of that It is a dangerous thing to trespass upon so much favour Sins against loving-kindness do provoke the greater judgements and in nothing more then that of loving-kindness which God hath shewn in his Word and Ministery Thirdly Gods loving-kindness is excellent towards his Church in his Spirit and the workings thereof whereby His Ordinances and Ministery are made effectual to those which injoy them and this indeed is that wherein it does chiefly shew it self Here 's the heigth and breadth and depth of Gods favour and loving-kindness towards us in shewing us the wretchedness and miserableness of our natural condition and in bringing us out of the same by the powerful work of his Spirit changing and altering our natures and putting another and new frame and disposition of heart into us Oh how excellent is this loving-kindness if we do but duely and thoroughly consider it for God to open our eyes to turn us from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God as it is in Act. 26.18 And so as for the Graces of the Spirit so for the Comforts of the Spirit likewise Gods loving-kindness is wonderfull here in the for-tastes and first-fruits of the Spirit which the Servants of God do here injoy and partake of even in this present life as a pledge of what they shall have more of hereafter These are so many love tokens from God which he gives us to satisfie us withall whiles we are here below Lastly Gods loving-kindness is excellent towards his Church in his care of it and Providence towards it in reference to this present world and this is that which not excluding the former seems here principally to be understood by the Psalmist in this present place who having in the verses before spoken of Gods General Providence over all his creatures preserving man and beast Here in this present Text before us does more particularly apply himself to Gods special Providence over His Church where he breaks forth into this expression of admiration How excellent is thy Loving-kindness O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings Gods dispensations here are very admirable and much to be observed in this Protection and Defence of His Church in the midst of so many enemies which it is incompast about with that all the power of Hell and darkness cannot prevail against it nor be able by any means to extinguish it Secondly Gods Loving-kindness to His Church is excellent in regard of the extent of it inlarging and diffusing it self It is manifold-wisdom ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And it is manifold loving-kindness ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã so the Septuagint Translation reads it How hast thou multiplyed thy loving-kindness O God! It is multiplyed in regard of the parts of it as I shewed in the Illustration before and it is multiplyed also in regard of the persons which are made partakers of it being now under the Gospel more inlarged It is not now as
upon them Thirdly Here was the Ingenuity of his Spirit I said this is mine Infirmity namely in a way of humble Confession and Acknowledgment it was in the thing it self and I signified it and declared it to be so I said it not onely to my self and in mine own Heart but as there was occasion for it I said it to others also and acknowledged it likewise to them This is another Disposition in Gods Children in regard of that Corruption which is in them to be willing to take shame to themselves that so they may give Glory to God and to acknowledg their own Infirmities that so they may manifest and more advance his Power The same words may be spoken and utter'd with a different Affection if we listen abroad in the world we shall many times heare such words as these are This is mine Infirmity But how and with what Spirit are they spoken and uttered for the most part Surely very Carelesly and Customarily and Formally and Corruptly Tell some men of such and such Sins and Miscarriages which they are guilty off they think to put off all with this by saying it is their Infirmity though perhaps it be never so Gross and Hanious a Transgression yet all is one with them it goes under the name of an Infirmity and so they think thereby to salve and make up the matter but Gods Children they speak of their Miscarriages with another frame and temper of Heart not as to Justify them but as to bewayl them not as to Extenuate them and make them less but to fasten a due Impression upon them as David here does as Loathing and abhorring them in themselves This Expression here in the Text it is not a word of Apology but rather a word of Aggravation and it further shews the Ingenuity of Gods Children not onely as to Confession it self but also as to the Nature and Quality and Condition of the Sins themselves which are confessed by them A Good and a Gracious Heart it bewails not onely its Iniquities but also its Infirmites and not onely open and Scandalous Sins which every Body sees and takes notice of but even secret and hidden faylings and the more inward Deflexions of Spirit Deadness and Hardness and Unprofitableness and Impatience and Unbelief These are the things which go near to the Soul of a good Christian as well as publique and more Notorious Offences as well as Gross and more Grivious Miscarriages Thus we see it was with David in another place as in Psal 73.22 When he was Envious at the Foolish and was troubled at the Prosperity of the Wicked these thoughts they were afterwards upon Consideration troublesom to him and he was geived in himself for them So foolish was I says he and Ignorant I was as a Beast before thee He befooles himself for his sinister thought such a Sin as if he had kept his own Counsell we should never have known he had been guilty of it The Ground hereof in the Servants of God is First That Wonderful Exactness and Curiousness and Sincerity which is remarkable in them see how it is in the Body Curious and Exact persons which are trim and neat Indeed they are affected with the least Spot or Blemish which is in their Garments not onely with Greater and wider Rents but with smaller and lesser Slits which may happen unto them Even so is it also in the Soul and as to the Concernments of the Inward man there 's the like Trimness and Neatness here also in a Proportionableness thereunto and so as to the Covering of the Body so likewise as to the Healing of it there is some which make as much of a Scratch as another would do of a deep wound as being of a far more tender and delicate Temper even so it is also here Tender Consciences they lament even Infirmities whilst hardned Hearts go away with Greater Sins Secondly It proceeds from that Love and intireness of Affection which a good Christian bears to God Love it is shy of any thing which may be offensive to the party Beloved not onely of Greater Injuryes but of smaller Vnkindnesses It 's troubled when it 's any thing defective in the Expressions of Love where it is due and it concerns it to be so and so it is also here A Godly man he has his Heart and his Soul full of the love of Christ and therefore is troubled for any thing which is displeasing to Christ not onely for unsavory Speeches but for unruly Affections not onely for ungodly Deeds but for ungodly Thoughts which have a mark also of Sinfulness upon them The Affection of a Christian is answerable to the Jealousie which is in God Now the Lord being a jealous God he does take notice even of lighter miscarriages even so does a Christian heart accordly bewail them in himself and is humbled and troubled for them Thirdly It arises also from Christian Prudence as considering whither infirmities tend and what they will come to if they be not better prevented As we see it is again in the body smaller matters being neglected and let alone they come to greater a lighter scratch it may chance to prove a mortal wound if there be not some care taken of it whereas those that complain betimes they doe thereby prevent and keep off more dangerous and pernicious distempers Even so it is in the Soul weaknesse it turns to wickedness if there be not the more heed and regard had of it by us Therefore a Gracious heart thinks it wisdom to complain of this and is sensible and apprehensive of it Now therefore accordingly it teaches us to be so likewise and that betimes Principiis obsta stop these very first Beginnings and Eruptions of sins in us Stifle these sins in the Conception before they come so far as the Birth and break forth into the outward expression Remember this that the very thought of foolishness is sin as Solomon tells us As it is the Advantage of a man above a Beast that he can reflect upon his own Actions so it is the praise of a Christian above other men that he does censure his own evil thoughts and findes fault with himself for those matters which no body blames besides And further observe here how he does more especially charge himself in this particular This Trouble which he had now about Gods Providence it was in part a Temptation of Satan who had injected this into his mind and had suggested it to him but yet he does principally and especially take the blame of it in his own particular as being likewise guilty of it This is mine infirmity it Satans malice as to the suggestion but it is my infidelity and unbelief as to the closing and complying with it The Devil could have no advantage against us as to the fastening of Temptations upon us if it were not for the falseness naughtiness and corruption of our own sinfull hearts which do in some sort yield and
of Gods servants in this regard who dare not trust him with their lives and the preservation of them notwithstanding so many Gracious Promises and experiences which they have received from him As David he was but just before delivered out of his enemies hands and he presently cryes I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul even so it is with many others besides who as the Apostle speaks through fear of death are all their life-time subject to bondage Heb 2.15 Now for such as these they may be here said from this passage before us though God may bring them to danger yet as he sees cause he will deliver them from it as he did here with this servant David The Lord hath chastened me sore but he hath not given me over to death Secondly Where we partake of this mercy let us acknowlelge it with all thankfulness Thus does David do here we are to take notice not onely of his words but also of his Affection which is signified in them and the Spirit from whence they came from him he utters them with a great deal of feeling and sensibleness of Gods goodness to him And so they are not onely a narration of his present condition but an acknowledgement of Gods favour to himself to an answerable temper and disposition which he does here Express by the words which came from Him He hath not given me over to Death They are not words of Boasting and Vanity and Ostentation and Carnal Rejoyceing but the words of Soberness and Piety and Discretion And there are divers things intended by them First He would make it an Argument for Patience The escaping greater Evils should breed Contentation under less That as God afflicts us below our Deserts so also below our Capacities that he does not afflict us in the utmost Extremity and so to this purpose should we argue and reason with our selves he has taken away my Health but he hath not taken away my Life He hath exercised me in my Body but he has spared my Soul He hath deprived me of Earthly Comforts but he hath not deprived me of Heavenly of the Graces of his Spirit of the assurance of his Love of the Communion with himself of his own blessed and Gracious presence these he hath not denyed me but continued them still in the midst of all other Discouragements Secondly He would hereby silence the false rumours which were to the Contrary and the Insultations of his Enemies from them for their mouthes were full to this purpose and delighted to be so as these which spake according as they would have it as in the place before alledged Psal 41.6.7 And if he come to see me he speaketh Vanity his Heart gathereth Iniquity to it self when he goeth abroad he telleth it all that hate me whisper together against me against me do they devise my hurt This was the Condition of David in regard of his Enemies They Tryumpht before the Victory and pleased themselves both in the thoughts and speeches of his supposed Ruine and Destruction now by this Expression here in the Text he does in an holy and Humble manner signifie their Mistake and Disappointment as if he had said unto them it is not so bad as ye thought it nor so bad as ye hoped it nor so bad as ye talked it I am through Gods goodness alive still for all the surmises The Lord hath Chastened me sore but he hath not given me over to Death Thirdly Which is here namely Considerable David I say would hereby express his Thankfulness to God for this Mercy they are words of Praise and spiritual Rejoyceing as appears by those that follow in the 19 verse of this Psalm Open to me the Gates of Righteousness and I will go into them and will praise the Lord namely for this his Goodness to me This is that which we all should do as we have occasion for it and indeed there 's none of us all but have so one way or other though some more then other either by way of prevention in keeping of Evils from us or by way of recovery in delivering us out of those Evils and especially in these late Distempers which have been so rife and frequent amongst us for this year now last past wherein Death hath come up into our Windows as the Scripture speaks that we should not be given over to it is matter of due praise unto us and to be acknowledged by us And we cannot better nenew the year unto us then by such performances as these are And further stir up others to do so occasionally from our Example which is another thing here intended by David in this Expression he does not onely hereby signify his own Thankfulness but also excite and stir up others to praise God both for him and themselves upon the like occasion as we find him in another place Psal 34.2.3 My Soul shall make her boast of God the humble shall hear thereof and be glad O magnify the Lord with me and let us Exalt his name together But especially as a third Improvement of this point let us be careful to use our lives well which God has given us to his Glory and so give them back to him again who has first given them too us Life it is a Blessing as it used and ordered by us For men to live onely a Natural Life here in the word to Eat and Drink and take their pleasures like brute Beasts Alas what a poor thing is that for men to live onely for such a purpose as this is to fiill up the measure of their Sins and to aggravate their Account at another Day by thinking that they are delivered to commit such and such Abominations this is very sad and Miserable but then is Life indeed when it is improved to Gods Glory The doing of good in our several Opportunities the Furtherance both of our own and others Salvation and laying up in store a good Foundation against the time to come laying hold on Eternal Life Therefore I beseech ye let us be careful especially to look to this and that likewise those which are in the prime of their Years and Health and Strength let them not neglect so Blessed an Opportunity as that is those that are past it let them indeavour to redeem it for time to Come We should labour to find our lives given us and continued to us in Mercy and Love which we may know to be no otherwise then accordingly as we have hearts given us with them for the improvement of them as we may do any other Mercy besides where it has the stamp of Gods love upon it it makes us to serve him better with it and our selves to be really and indeed so much the better for it whereas when it is otherwise it is a fign it is in wrath and to harden us so much the more in Evil There 's none are so bad as those who are bad after Mercies Received both as having
us as there must first be the sight prepared before the eye can take notice of it And here this Behold it seems to carry a threefold force or Emphasis with it First As an excitement of Faith Behold it to believe it Secondly As an Ingagement of Affection Behold it to admire it Thirdly As a Provocation to Obedience Behold it to practise it and to imitate it and to conform unto it All these three several intimations may be beheld in this word Behold First I say as an Excitement of Faith behold it to believe it and to give your assent unto it This Ecce here it is Ecce Demonstrationum The Psalmist delivered this Truth with so much Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit as that there is no denyal of it and therefore confidently points unto it as this is that which we may conclude on for a Truth and which upon Experience we shall find to be so if we put our selves upon it There are many things which go sometimes for good which yet do not prove so in Conclusion and there are many things which are thought to be pleasant which yrt have bitterness in the end But this Concord and Agreement of Brethren it is good and it is pleasant unquestionably that so we may believe it Secondly As an Ingagement of Affection behold it to admire it and to be very much taken with it Goodness and Beauty they are such things as are atractive of respect and men do not usually behold them but they are ravished and overcome with them and so should we now here be in the Contemplation of this Heavenly Virtue and Grace which is here commended unto us and of this Spectacle which is set here before us we know how much commonly men are taken with other sights in the World as the Disciples were to our Saviour Maâer see what goodly buildings are here why here is such a sight as deserves our just Applause and Admiration this dwelling of Brethren together in Unity And this is also hinted to us in the very form and manner of Expression which carries some kind of Astonishment and Admiration in the very words themselves Therefore it is not onely Ecce quod Bonum or Ecce quod juecundum behold that it is good or behold that it is pleasant in the positive Declaration But Ecce quam Bonum Ecce quam juecundum as it were in the Superlative How good and how pleasant a thing it is as being unable to Express it or to say how much it is so indeed Thirdly It is a provocation to Obedience behold it to practise it and imitate it and to conform unto it there are many who perhaps will be ready to acknowledg it in the Notion that it is a good and pleasant thing to live friendly and peaceably together and he were not worthy of the name of a Christian or a man that should deny it Yea but when it comes to the performance there they desert it and fall from it it is good for others as they are ready to think but not for themselves Good in Thesi but not good in Hypothesi Pax ab omnibus Laudatur a paucis servatur Peace it is commendable of all men but it 's followed and imbraced but of a few Now therefore give me leave to commend this excellent Duty to your practise and Christian observation not as if I did any thing doubt of it or would make any question of it amongst your selves but that upon this occasion I might so much the more quicken you and excite you and stir you up to it as a Grace which has so much Excellency and Commendableness in it Let us therefore follow after things which make for peace and things wherewith one may Edify another as the Apostle Paul speaks in Rom. 14.19 What may some say are they I can but name them unto you First Meekness and Humbleness of mind it is a great Advancement of Peace Onely by Pride comes Contention says Solomon Prov. 13.10 And Phil. 2.3 Let nothing be done through strife or Vain Glory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better then themselves An humble mind will be peaceable Secondly Patience and mutual forbearing and forgiving one of another take heed of Jealousness and causeless Suspicions and misprissions one towards another The Devil does hereby much promote discord and Contention and so hinders this fraternal Agreement Make not the worst of every thing but put the best and most favourable construction and Interpretation upon it which the nature of the thing it self will bear and when it is Capable Thirdly Justice and Righteous dealing there 's no such preservation of Vnity as when every one knows what it is his own and what belongs to him for his particular Opus Justitice pax The work of Righteousnrss shall be peace and the Effect of Righteousness shall be Quietness and assurance for ever as the Prophet Esay tells us Esay 33.17 To set home all this the more fully and successfully upon us let us be sure especially to keep in good terms with God preserve our peace with him When a man's ways pleases the Lord he will make his Enemies to be at peace with him and he that is able to make Enemies to be Friends He is able accordingly to keep Friends from being Enemies As it is he that makes men to be of one mind in one House as shew'd before so in a Church in a City in a Company or in any Corporation and accordingly he must be sought unto and call'd upon for it without him it is not to be Expected I beseech ye beloved Brethren that this Discourse it may not prove in vain unto you but may take deep impression upon you in every one of your Hearts If there be any motive or argument in Profit you have it there for it is that which is good or if there be any motive or argument in Pleasure you have it there for it is sweet also Let this twofold Cord unite you and knit you together which is not easily broken It is no uncomly sight to behold you here sitting together in your Civil Ornaments and Qualifications as you now appear at this time in this your solemn Assembly in your Ranks and Orders and Habits and such like Accomplishments these have an outward Decency and Comeliness in them Oh but that which will especially commend you to the Eyes and the Hearts of all spectators and which will prove your greatest Honour and Glory indeed is to see you sit together in Unity This is that which is the best and truest Confirmation of your Officers This is that which sets the Garland upon their Heads c. This and Health is that which you should affect so much the rather c. It is a Mercy to sit together in Peace but it is a Grace to sit together in Vnity and Love There 's a threefold Gradation in this Spectacle to see Brethren to see Brethren together and to
of the words and the Connexion of them with that which went before Solomon in 8 9. verses of this Chapter had said Rebuke a wise man and he will love thee Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser And here now adds If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thy self he does not say If thou hearnest to reproof and good instruction though that he means by it But if thou be wise Hereby implying that so to do is a part of very great wisdom and so it is He that 's a Teachable man is a wise man He that has so much understanding in him as to give ear to good Counsel when it is given him he is a wise man indeed He is so and so he is said to be in Scripture especially in this book of the Proverbs in sundry places of it I shall not need to instance in them we do frequently meet with in them almost in every page tending to this purpose Not to stand upon this point which I onely take notice of by the by this will appear to be so in these following respects First It is a part of wisdom for a man to suspect his own wisdom and to think that it is possible for him to deceive himself He that trusts in his own heart is a fool Prov. 28.26 And so he that mistrusts it is a wise man Now this does such an one as gives attendance to good Advice he does thereby question and suspect himself and give more to the judgement of others then he does to his own which for the most part does carry a note of wisdom with it Secondly It is a part of wisdom to discern between good and evil to know what is to be left and what is to be imbraced Now this is in hearkening to good Counsel there 's a distinguishing spirit to put a differnce betwixt good and bad Bet wixt the motions os Lust and the Suggestions of Piety and Vertue The ear tryeth words as the mouth tasteth meat Job 34.3 Now as a good and well temper'd Palate relishes good and wholsom Food which it is supplyed withal so a Gracious and Savory spirit closes and complyes with good Counsel and Advice which is administred to it and there 's wisdom in that Thirdly It is a part of wisdom to know ones best friends and to give them all incouragement of being further Friendly to us now thus 't is with those which doe yield to seasonable Admonitions they doe hereby discern their Friends they consider who wishes them best and incourage them in so doing Oyntment and perfume rejoyce the heart so doth the sweetness of a mans friend by hearty counsel Prov. 27.9 Thus in all these considerations is wisdom to hearken to good Counsel and he is a wise man that does so even in the Judgement of the Spirit of God who is wisdom it self We see then what to think of all those which are otherwise affected If it be wisdom to be admonished it is then folly to reject and refuse admonition And those that are guilty of doing so they are in this no better then fools Indeed they doe not alwayes think so which makes their foolishness to be so much the more The sluggard's wiser in his own conceit then seven men that can render a reason Prov. 26.16 But yet for all that he is not wise indeed and good earnest neither does God Himself so esteem it who is best able to judge of them with Him a wise man and an Obedient are all one He that hearkens to the voice of wisdom crying to Him and inviting to her self as it is here in this Chapter such as these are wise with Him and none but such So much for that first particular to wit The Title or Denomination put upon a Tractable Person of one that is wise If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thy self The second is the Benefit that acrues to this this wise man Thou shalt be wise for thy self which passage again hath a double Emphasis with it and may be taken two manner of wayes Either first of all simply in its latitude Or secondly Exclusively with its restriction simply consider'd and in the Latitude so it does denote unto us the great happiness which does attend upon Godliness If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thy self that is if thou best good and gracious and walk'st in the wayes of Heavenly wisdom thou shalt be no looser but a gainer thereby exclusively taken and with restriction so it doth denote unto us that whatever benefit does at tend upon Godliness it does belong especially and chiefly to those persons who are themselves the Subjects of it more then to any other besides If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thy self That is if thou hearken'st to good Counsel and walkest in such wayes as are good thou thy self wilt be the greatest gainer and thriver by so doing of any other whatsoever First Take it in the Latitude and simple consideration of the words If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thy self That is if thou be godly and Religious and walkest in the wayes of Piety and Holiness thou shalt be no looser but a Gainer thereby This wisdom of thine it shall redound to thine own greater Furtherance and Account Thou shalt be so much the better for it every way this is one thing which is here implyed in these words and it is sutable to other Scriptures wherein we have this often exprest as the condition of Godly men that it shall be well with them Psal 128.1 2. Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord Happy shalt thou be and it shall be well with thee So Eccles 8.12 I know that it shall be well with them that fear before Him Again Isa 3.10 Say ye to the Righteous that it shall be well with him for they shall eat the fruit of their doings So here now Thou shalt be wise for thy self That is thy wisdom and Grace which is in thee shall be advantagious to thee Godliness it is great Gain as the Apostle Paul expresses it to us in 1 Tim. 6.6 There 's much good which is coming by it This is true in the whole Latitude and Extent of it First For thy self in thy inward man Thou shalt be wise for thy self in that and therein especially This is not the least part of our selves yea indeed the chiefest of all Animus cujusque est Quisque Every mans mind is himself Look then what it is which does advance and promote that by that is a mans self truly better'd and is not this now by spiritual wisdom and by this especially Surely so it is There is an accomplishment in humane wisdom which does adorn and beautifie the minds of those which have it but in heavenly wisdom above any other This makes us wise to salvation and does raise the soul to a nobler pitch and frame of Spirit then any thing else does If thou be
Fining Pot is for Silver and the Furnace for Gold but the Lord tryeth the Hearts Those things which we look upon as matter of Greatest Consequence we think we have need to exercise the Greatest Care and Caution about them Hence it is that in Civil Affairs and Businesses of our ordinary Concern our Gold and Silver and Coin And such things as these they do not usually pass us without some tryal and probation of them We have our Touch-Stone for the discovery of the Truth of them and our Ballance for the discovery of the Weight of them and our Furnace for the separating of the Dross Neither does it less behove us to be wary in Spiritual Matters where by how much the greater is our Concernment by so much the more dangerous is our Miscarriage and the better the things themselves are in their own nature the worse will it be for us to mistake about them For this reason does the Spirit of God in this Scripture which we have now before us lead us from the one to the other and from the care which is used about our Metals carry us to the care of our Minds yea God himself his care for us The Fining Pot is for Silver and the Furnace for Gold but the Lord tryeth the Hearts THe Text is a Parabolical Description of God's Almighty Power and Wisdom for the discovery and Reformation of the closest and subtilest and perfectest thing in the World which is the Heart of Man set forth by a Similitude taken from things of ordinary use amongst us The refining of Silver and the purging and purifying of Gold The words they do at the first hearing carry in them the form of an Opposition but they have indeed the force of a Comparison wherein the Lord 's dealing with the hearts and spirits of men as to the tryal of them is resembled and illustrated by the Gold-Smith's dealing with his Silver and Gold And we may in the for Order's sake take notice of these two general Parts the Proposition the Reddition The Proposition in the first part The fining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold The Reddition in the latter But the Lord tryeth the hearts We begin with the First viz. The Proposition in these words The fining pot is for silver and the furnace for Gold but the Lord tryeth the hearts Wherein two things more First The Metals mentioned and they are Silver and Gold Secondly The Instruments which are made use of in reference to them and they are the Fining Pot and the Furnace Each of these have their proportionable resemblance First For the Metals here mentioned we have Silver and Gold which hold analogy and correspondency with the hearts of the Sons of Men which follows afterwards in the Text they are set out very properly and fitly by these expressions and that especially in regard of the price and value of them we know that these are for the most part of greatest esteem of any thing else What ever is of Account in the World it is commonly set forth by these two Silver and Gold as ye may see in divers instances The Excellency of Seasonable Language it is like apples of gold in pictures of silver Prov. 25.11 The several Gifts and Graces of the Church Borders of Gold with Studs of Silver The Return of the Churches Captivity Wings of Silver and Feathers of Gold Psal 68.13 Sacred and substantial Doctrine is called Gold and Silver and Precious Stones 1 Cor. 2.12 And so here the hearts of men silver and gold This it is true of all men's hearts whatsoever considered at large in the natural consideration of them being of a finer and purer frame than the rest of the Creatures But it is tue of those who are gracious and regenerate especially above the rest The tongue of the just is as choice silver whilst the heart of the wicked is nothing worth Prov. 10.20 Good men they are like Gold and Silver in sundry regards First From the Solidity and Substantialness of their Principles They are such as have some strength in them Take some men in the World and consider them in reference to Religion and they have no bottom nor weight in them at all they are flashy and empty Christians who have nothing at all in them but Profession But the Saints and Servants of God they are solid and substantial which makes them so much the better to persist and to hold out to the end They are like Gold and Silver thus which are the solidest Metals of any other Secondly From the Purity and Sincerity of their Conversation They have not those Mixtures and Adulterations which many others have There are divers which as God calls them by his Prophet Jeremy Jer. 6. ult Reprobate silver Their silver is become âroâ Isa 1.22 If they have any seeming good in them it is daubed and very much defiled little of that plain-heartedness and simplicity of Christ which the Scripture here commends unto us But for Good Christians this is their Character that they are pure and undefiled in their way Psal 119.2 Thirdly From the Splendor of their Example Gold and Silver they are such Metals as which does carry the greatest lustre in them of any other besides And so do good Christians They shine like lights in the world in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom they live And Their light so shines before men as that they seeing their good works are hence provoked to glorifie their Father which is in heaven And so much briefly of the first Particular in this first General viz. The Metals here mentioned Silver and Gold The Second is the Instruments which are made use of in reference to them and they are the Fining Pot and the Furnace Whereby is signified to us the state and condition of the best men that are Their hearts are like Gold and Silver but it is like Gold and Silver in the Ore which has a great deal of Dross mingled with it and must be separated from it by God's Instruments of Purification which he has appointed for such a purpose as this is There is nothing almost in nature which is presented to us with that perfection but that it is a fit Subject for Art and Skill to work it self upon Even the best Metals that are they are not right till such time as they are refined nor the most precious Stones that are they do not attain to their splendor till they be polished And if it be so in Naturals it is so in Spirituals more especially Take those persons which for the present are the best and holyest that are and look upon them in massa corrupta in the principles of their unregenerate condition and there is little or no loveliness in them in the midst of the best natural Parts and Qualifications Besides we are all by nature the Children of Wrath and Bond-slaves of Sin till God puts us into his Fining Pot and his
Furnace This we may be sure and take notice of for our instruction we are not born Christians but made so Christiani Non nasciuntur sed siunt It is not a business of Nature but a business of Art Nor of Humane Art neither but Divine as we shall see more hereafter out of the following words of the Text The Lord tryeth the hearts And therefore this may discover to us the vanity of all such persons as have other conceits of it which think to be Gold and Silver as they come out of the impure Earth without refining in their pure Naturals No it will not be If we have no other Principles in us than which we brought with us into the World we shall never be Currant Coin in God's Account no such as he will one day take or accept from us But he will reject us and cast us away at the Great Day and time of Payment Therefore I say let us here take notice of our Conditions in this particular and see what we are Take the best of us by nature and there we are nothing but Dross no Gold nor Silver at all in us but such as is counterfeit And take us when Grace has refined us and we have many gross and drossy Intermixtures still adhering to us which will not be removed but by those means which God has sanctified and set apart for such a purpose a these here before us in the Text. These are here under a Double Specification The Fining Pot and the Furnace which have their answerable Preparations even in Spirituals The Fining Pot that is the Word of God And the Furnace that is the Rod of God Either of these does the Lord as he sees sitting take an occasion to purifie his Servants by First By his Word he desires to begin with that The word of the Lord tryed him Psal 105.29 And so it does many more besides This it has a Special Vertue through the power of God's Spirit joyning with it to reform and better the heart and to purge away its dross from it Heb. 4.12 For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joynts and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart This it will shew a man his Corruption of Nature and discover to him the wickedness which is in his heart As we have divers instances hereof in the Disciples that went to Emmaus Did not our hearts burn within us And St. Peter's Converts When they heard it they wee pricked at their hearts And so the Jayâoâ and divers others to whom the Word of God has been instead of a Fining Pot to separate their Corruption from them as to discover it to them Secondly By Affliction that is his Furnace Isa 58.10 I have refined thee but not with silver I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction Affliction is God's Furnace wherein he purges and purifies his Gold and takes away the dross of it And accordingly does the Scripture represent it Therefore it is called the Fiery Tryal which is to try us 1 Pet. 4.12 And the tryal of our faith which is much more precious than the gold that perisheth though it be tryed with fire c. 1 Pet. 1.7 Therefore we should so look upon it and be perswaded of it and of God's Intendments in the imposing of it The Furnace it is not for the hurt of the Gold but for the advantage to make it more pure and useful and precious to form it in some Vessel of Service and Honour sit for the Master's use and so are Troubles and Afflictions to the people of God which should make them the more patiently to bear them when he lays them upon them It is true that this is an harsh Doctrine to Flesh and Blood and we are all ready to shrink at it but Grace it will close with it so far forth as it is prevailing in any measure in us And so it should We should look upon the Furnace not so much in the heat of it but in the improvement the end of setting it up and the effect which follows upon it and then we shall be satisfied exceedingly by it as the Apostle intimates to us Heb. 12.11 There is no chastisement which for the present is joyous but grievous nevertheless afterwards it brings forth the peaceable fruit of Righteousness to those which are excercised thereby This is that which we should look upon such Dispensations as these in the love and Wisdom of God which does appoint them and the blessed and happy Fruit which does arise from them And further labor also to be bettered by every hand of God upon us that so therein we may close with his gracious Ends If God casts us into the Furnace to come out of it better then we went in be sure of that otherwise it will be so much the worse for us Yea if we be true Gold indeed it will be so with us Corruption it is hardened by Affliction but Grace it is refined Take a man that has a wicked heart and crosses they do not make him better but make him worse more impatient and obstinate and Rebellious and standing out against God and contesting with him like that wretched Jehoram 2 Kings 6 ult But a man that hath a true work of Grace wrought upon his Spirit he will be so much the better more wary of himself more compassionate to others more meek and humble tractable and obedient and thankfull These things will follow with it But so much for this as also of the First General in the Text viz. The Propsition The Fining pot c. The Second follows which is the Reddition But the Lord Tryeth c. According to the usual manner of Speech it should not be but but so But we will take it as lies before us where this Adversative Particle hath a Threefold Emphasis in it First an Emphasis of Proportion Secondly an Emphasis of Exception Thirdly an Emphasis of Designment or of Appropriation An Emphasis of Proportion First by taking but for so And so it signifies thus much unto us that the Lord is no less able or carefull to try the hearts of the Sons of men then the Goldsmith is his Silver and Gold As that does the one so does this also the other so the Lord tryeth the hearts When we speak of Gods trying of the heart it may be taken two manner of ways Either first of all in a way of Discovery or Secondly in a way of Purification He tries them to make known what is in them and he tries them to remove that which is corrupt and amiss from them to each purposes he tries them First In a way of Discovery He tries them so as to discern them and make known what they are This the Lord does and this he is said to do in Scripture not only here but elsewhere Thus Exod. 16.4 I
establishing of his own Counsels Thus it was said to be as concerning the Betraying of Christ He was delivered by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God Act. 2.23 Though it was also by the wicked plottings and contriving of Men. And again Act. 4.27 28. Against this holy Child Jesus were Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people gathered together To do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done Their malice did but further God's design So the Egyptians and Pharaoh for the diminishing and destroying of the Israelites The more they conspired to lessen them and thought they did wisely in doing so the more their number multiplyed and increased And so Haman instead of destroying the Jews he confirmed their Peace and Liberties to them so much the more I might be infinite in Examples in this kind wherein God has over-ruled Men's Devices by the Accomplishments of his own Purposes And the more that they have had their Will the more at last has he come to have had his occasionally from it But To shut up all which hath been spoken with a Word of Application and to conclude These Points thus opened unto us may be drawn forth in a Various Improvement First As matter of Conviction to all such persons as walk contrary hereunto And they are of two sorts especially First That Device without God And Secondly That Device aginst Him That Devise without him first They herein come to be censured and so to be awakened Alas it is but a vain and foolish thing for them so to do as neglecting that which is principally to be looked after by them for the prospering of their Counsels to them that they may be successful Woe be to the rebellious children saith the Lord that take counsel but not of me and that come with a covering but not by my spirit that they may add sin to sin as it is in Isa 30.1 That advice of Solomon is rather better which he gives unto us in Prov. 3.5 6. Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not unto thine own understanding In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths Secondly As which devise without God so also which devise against him These are far more vile than the other and their case is desperate for Did ever any man harden himself against God and prosper as Job expostulates Job 9.4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength Saul Saul why persecutest thou me it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks in Act. 9.5 Surely there is no wisdom nor conscience nor understanding against the Lord in Prov. 21.30 Therefore the Church of God has sometimes upon this Account triumphed over her greatest Enemies whether for Wisdom or Power as we have a notable place to this purpose Isa 8.9 10. Associate your selves O ye people and ye shall be broken in pieces and give ear O ye of far Countries Gird your selves and ye shall be broken in pieces gird your selves and ye shall be broken in pieces Take counsel together and it shall come to naught speak the word and it shall not stand for Immanuel or God is with us In which excellent portion of Scripture the Spirit of God seems to come home to the disposition and practice of men to this purpose in all particulars Men are apt to think with themselves that if they cannot obtain a thing one way they may haply do it another if they cannot do it at this time they may haply do it hereafter if they cannot do it themselves yet they may perhaps do it if they take in other if they cannot do it upon the suddain yet they may do it upon deliberation advice and consultation Well but here is signified that none of these things shall prevail Not Combination not Strength not Counsel nor all these matters reiterated and repeated again If there be a mistake in the End all the means are frustrate that lead and carry unto it But Secondly Here is likewise a Word of comfort to the Church it self and to every true member of it Here is the Encouragement and Security of a good Christian and that in all Varieties and Changes and Uncertainties and Revolutions that are in the World Whosoever belongs to God he may be sure it shall go well with him for his particular because The counsel of the Lord shall stand We know saith the Apostle that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose We know not what things shall be nor we know not what time shall be But what ever either times or things happen to be we know they shall all be for the good of Gods People to the best for them that own him and are saved by him Those who are the called of his Purpose his Purposes shall be sure to be establisht to them and for them There is none besides in the world who can have this promised to them Eccles 8.12 Though a sinner c. Yet I know it shall be well with them that fear the Lord but it shall not be well with the sinner c. It is the Blessed and Happy Privilege of all those that are in Covenant with God that God does nothing in the World but he does it for there sakes and they have a share and interest in the Good and Benefit of it both because they are mainly and principally intended in it as also have hearts in themselves to improve it to their own Advantage All the paths of the Lord are mercy and Truth to them that keep his Covenants and his Testimonies So that the Firmness of his Counsel is by Consequent likewise the firmness of their Conditions Lastly Here 's a Word of Direction how to carry and behave our selves in answerableness to these Truths here propounded and premised Seeing after all the Devices of Man the Counsel of the Lord shall stand as we have all this while heard there are therefore three things especially which do lye upon us to be done by us in reference and order to this Counsel First To be carefull to know it Secondly To be carefull to own it Thirdly To be carefull to improve it and to have recourse unto it First To endeavour to know it let us be carefull of that To know it How can we do that Who hath known the mind of the Lord Or who hath been of his Counsel says the Prophet first and then the Apostle And so it is true in regard of an absolute knowledge and discovery of it His ways are unsearchable and his Judgments are past finding out His way is in the Sea and his path in the great Waters and his footsteps are not known There is a depth in the riches both of the Wisdom and knowledge of God as the Scripture tells us But yet so far as he reveals it us we may be acquainted with it and it concerns us so to be Be
they are sometimes called to Punishment in regard of their own places yet they cannot so freely do it from their own guilt which wholly flies in their faces does frequently obstruct Justice in their hands and stops them from the Execution of that Punishment which is otherwise done to Offenders But now for God he is free from all Tainture in this regard He is upright and no Vnrighteousness is found in him And because he is so he is therefore so much the freer and fitter for Punishing This should therefore teach us upon all occasions to have special recourse to him and to acknowledge his Hand in these matters the nature whereof was the particular Guilt of these people here in the Text as it is noted of them in the Verse immediately preceding that they turned not their eyes to him indeed that smot them It may be they might have some reflection upon their Enemies and such Persons as were Instruments of their Affliction but they did not look to him who was the Main and Principal Cause of it namely the Lord himself And therefore does the Prophet here admonish them and mind them of it and us in them That in any thing which is given to us whether War or Sickness or Want or Captivity or whatever it be that we do not pore so much upon Second Causes as to have our eyes carried to the Lord. Look as in Mercies we should look upon God as the Principal Doner so likewise in Judgments we should look upon God as the Principal Sender and Inflicter of them And this will have this happy Issue and Effect consequent upon it as that it will make us occasionally so much the better by God's dealings with us These Afflictions which we look upon as coming more directly from God they will carry us so much the readier to God both as expecting Deliverarice from him and yielding Obedience to him As we have an Expression plain to this purpose in Hos 6.1 Come let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn us and he will heal us he hath smitten us and he will bind us up And that is the first thing here considerable to wit the Author of this Judgment It was the Lord. The Second is the Nature of it And that is signified in these words The Lord will cut off Wherein again two things more First The nature of the Thing Secondly The nature of the Expression The nature of the Thing that is Cutting off The nature of the Expression that is by way of Production and Declaration of somewhat as future and as yet to come The Lord will cut off First To speak of the nature of the thing which is Cutting off This is that which the Lord here threatens against this People in these present Circumstances and Conditions That for as much as they were no better by his dealings with them hitherto he would now make an utter End and Consummation and Riddance of them He would now no longer spare them or forbear them but would cut them off He had told us that he had smitten them before by the same token that they did not turn to him that smot them And now he tells us that instead of smiting them he will now absolutely destroy them This is the method which God usually observes with People in this Particular That when they are not bettered by lesser Judgments he then commonly proceeds to greater From Correction he passes to Destruction First he cuts them short and if that will do no good upon them he cuts them off First he makes use of his Pruning Knife whereby he lops them and then he makes use of his Axe whereby he fells them And this is that which we may observe him to do here in this place with this People which we have here before us and is signified here unto us in this threatning which is denounced against them The Lord will cut off from Israel There is a twosold Sword which God makes use of for cutting with before he proceeds to cutting off The one is the Sword of his Mouth and the other is the Sword of his Hand The Sword of his Mouth that is the Word of God which is the Sword of the Spirit in the Voice of his Ministers The Sword of his hand that is the Rod of God which is the Sword of his Wrath in the hand of his Enemies First he does it Gladio oris and then he does it Ore gladii And when neither of those do prevail he then comes with his Hatchet and Axe Which we may here take notice of in the occasion of this present Scripture which we have now before us First I say God is pleased to begin with the Sword of his mouth and to strike with that before he proceeds to final and absolute Destruction The Sword of Elisha goes before the Sword of Jehu I have hewen them by my prophets I have slain them by the words of my mouth Hos 6.5 Thus it was here in this present Chapter and upon this present occasion The Lord sent a Word into Jacob and it hath lighted upon Isael Isa 9.8 The word of God is powerful and sharper than a two-edged Sword Heb. 4.12 But now when this Word and Sword does not prevail and take effect he then takes up the others Those that are not bettered by God's Gracious Admonitions they shall be sensible of his destructions Again Secondly God takes up his other Sword which is the Sword of his hand But he does not make use of that presently in the greatest security He does at the first but only brandish it and as it were flourish with it or at the most he does but only strike he does not kill he cuts but he does not cut off Yea but when the former does not succeed he proceeds to the latter And this is that which we are more especially to take notice of here in this place that is Preparatively Judgments neglected and not improved they do provoke God to proceed to Destruction They which are not bettered by Smiting they are exposed to Cutting off And there is very great reason for it First As frustrating the pains and labour which hath been taken about them The Fig-tree whereupon the Husbandman had bestowed many Years cost and care for the bettering of it and yet was not bettered it was cut down as altogether unprofitable Unprofitableness under God's Judgments is a kind of slighting of him that sends them And then Secondly They do but cumber the places where they are and hinder others Cut it down says the Master of the Vineyard why cumbereth it the ground And besides that It does often times much hurt to the rest which are near unto it Immedicabile valens en se recidendum est ne pars sincera trahatur And so much of the first thing which is here considerable to wit the nature of the thing which is Cutting off The Second is The nature of the Expression or the Form of Speech
but the Thought and the Practise in Thought And so we may see by our Saviours Sermon upon the Mount where undertaking the Exposition of the Law he carries the Breach of it not to the outward Acts only but also to the Thoughts Secondly The Thoughts of men are the proper Issue and Emanation of their Souls and so for that reason more especially to be rectifyed in them There 's nothing so much a man as his Mind Nor there is nothing so much of a mans Mind as his Thoughts that do spring from it Look therefore how much a man is to be judged of so much is he to be judged of by his Thoughts Thirdly The Thoughts are such as whereto the Gospel and Ministery of the Word does especially and in a singular manner extend it self Heb. 4.12 The word of God is powerfull and quick and sharper than any two-edged Sword peircing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the joynts and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart And so 2 Cor. 10.5 Bringing into Captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ Now so far forth as the Ministery does extend so far does Religion extend and the ordering and framing of a Christian Fourthly and Lastly God himself is a Searcher and Trier of the Thoughts and Inward man And therefore is regard to be had still to them Look how far he hath an Influence so far accordingly should we have a Care and Respect to our selves Now thus he has to the Thoughts and Cogitations and therefore he is usually described by such a Title as this is of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That searcheth the heart and tryeth the reins Men may sometimes ghess and conjecture but God he has absolute and certain knowledge He knows what is in man as was said of Christ All this shews how Religion does reach it self and extend to the Thoughts This therefore meets with the conceits of such Persons as confine it only to the Outward man who think that Thoughts are free as they express it and that they may think what they please without any care to give any account of it First It is not so The unrighteous man must forsake his Thoughts Not only his evil wicked ways whereby he is odious and abominable to men but also his Evil Affections wherein God Himself takes notice of him If ye shall ask now in particular what those Thoughts are which an unrighteous man is to forsake I Answer in a word all such as are proper and peculiar to a man in the state of Nature To a carnal and unregenerate Person precisely so taken who is here Emphatically called as I hinted before a man of Iniquity such an one as the Scripture tells us his Thoughts are wholly Evil Gen. 6.5 Col jetser The whole Frame of the Thoughts of the heart of man is only Evil and that continually And 2 Cor. 3.5 We are not sufficient of our selves to think any thing that is good as of our selves c. Now these Evil thoughts which we now speak of an which accordingly are to be forsaken they may be ranked into three sorts especially 1. As to matter of Opinion 2. Of Contemplation 3. Of Designs First As to matter of Opinion Take a man in his natural Condition and he has many strange conceits in his head whilst he so remains as it is said concerning the Gentiles Rom. 1.21 They became vain in their Imaginations and their foolish heart was darkned Even so is it with such Persons They bring Religion oftentimes to their Carnal and Corrupt Reason and confine it to that But now Converting Grace where it comes it overthrows them all Casting down Imaginations c. 2 Cor. 10.5 To instance in some few particulars First The Thoughts of sin when a man 's converted he forsakes these and it concerns him to do so Take a man in his Natural Condition and he many times makes nothing of Sin He thinks it a very trifle and bauble and there 's no great matter in it why a man should trouble himself for it He thinks that there is no great hurt which can come to him by it Nay he thinks it the greatest delight and contentment that may be Fools make a mock of Sin and it is a sport unto them to do evil as Solomon tells us Yea but when God opens their eyes and begins a little to awaken Conscience and to reduce them and bring them home to himself then they come to be of another mind and it concerns them to be so To look upon Sin as the basest and vilest thing in the world and as carrying the greatest evil and malignity in it in the midst of all the appearing pleasures and contentments of it It alters a mans thoughts of Sin So again also his Thoughts of Grace and Godliness and Godly men When a man is in his Vnregenerate State he has low Thoughts and Conceits of Goodness and of those who are the followers of it Thinks Religion to be an empty business and strictness and exactness of Conversation to be meer folly and Godly men themselves to be so many Fools and Idiots That it is in vain to serve God and no profit to walk mournfulty before him as they said of it in Malach. 3.14 And in Job 21.15 Thus it was with Paul himself before his Conversion Act. 26.9 I verily thought with my self says he that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazzareth And so our Saviour tells his Disciples that there were some who would think that they should do God service to kill them Joh. 16.2 These are the Thoughts which men are subject unto in their Natural Estate But now in Conversion they must be all un-thought and laid aside So again farther For his Thoughts of God himself he must forsake these also and think otherwise of him What Thoughts have men commonly of God in such a Condition Surely such as are very strange and irregular and that in reference to any of his Attributes whether one or other Wee 'l but instance these two amongst the rest His Justice and His Mercy They have very sinister Apprehensions here sometimes they question his Justice and think he has little of that in him Think him to be an indulgent God and one that will let them do as they list without Controul as it is in Psal 50.21 Thou thinkest that I was altogether such an one as thy self God speaks there to an unrighteous Person who presumed upon his Patience towards him but withall he tells him that in the Event he should find it otherwise But I will reprove thee and will set thy sins in order before thine eyes So again on the other side for Gods Mercy there is sometimes in another extream now and then questioning of that and a thinking that it is no purpose for them to repent and be better for it shall notwithstanding be as bad with them for time
they might magnifie Gods Grace and Goodness and Bounty in the amendment and recovery of them as it is noted of Mary Magdalen afore-mentioned that Because her many sins were forgiven her she loved much These words here in the Text Let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy they are still to be taken in an Exclusive Sense He will so have mercy upon him if he return as he will not have mercy upon him if he doth not Whosoever he be that goes on in sin without Repentance let God be as merciful as he may be yet such a person will not be the better for it whilst he so remains but rather the worse He that despises the Riches of God's Goodness and Patience and Long-suffering he does but treasure up unto himself Wrath against the day of Wrath and the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God Rev. 8.24 Let us therefore lay all these things now together and take them in the right Sense and Construction and make a right Improvement of them neither giving our selves liberty in sin nor yet doubting or Despairing of Mercy The one being a Trespass upon God's Justice and the other upon his Goodness and both together upon his Truth Which hints the contrary to us in this Text which we have now handled and dispatched Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon SERMON XXXIX Isa 30.21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying This is the way walk ye in it when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left God never makes account he does good enough to his People till he does them good in their Souls and in their inward man in reference to their Eternal Salvation and their Estate in a better Life Spiritual Blessings being the chiefest Blessings of all And such as in the injoyment of them do serve to recompense and to make amends to them for any other wants or exigences what soever which are upon them And this does the Prophet Esay here signifie to these present People whom he had to deal withall where he tells them that though God did exercise them in other respects feed them with the bread of adversity and drench them in the water of Affliction yet he did graciously provide for them as to the Spiritual and Evangelical Dispensations which in a large and plentifull manner should be imparted and communicated to them upon all occasions Forasmuch as their ears should hear a word behind them saying This is the way walk in it when they turned either to the right hand or to the left This is the Coherence of the Words with those which went before IN the Text it self we have three General Parts Considerable of us First The Monitor Secondly The Admonition it self And Thirdly The Occasion The Monitor in these words Thine ears shall hear a Word c. The Admonition it self This is the way walk ye in it The Occasion When ye turn to the right hand c. We begin in order with the First viz. The Monitor Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee This it may be taken by us two manner of ways Either in the proper sense or the Metaphorical The proper sense that relates to the word which is without us The word of the Ministery The Metaphorical sense that relates to the word which is within us the Dictates of the Spirit Now either of these may be very well understood here in this place when as the Lord signifies to his people that their ears shall hear a word behind them It is either a Promise to them of the Continuance of Ministerial Opportunities or else it is a promise to them of the Continuance of Spiritual Suggestions First We may take it in the first sense as it relates to the Opportunities of the Ministery which God promises here to this People to continue still unto them Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee that is the Ministerial Word And thus it sutes with the words which went before in the precedent verse the latter clause of it Thy Teachers shall not be removed into a corner any more but thine eyes shall see thy teachers Now it follows And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee Here 's an Accommodation of both senses as to this particular The Eye and the Ear. The Eye in reference to the Person and the Ear in reference to the Duty In reference to the Person First Thine Eyes shall see thy Teachers this was a great mercy and so to be accounted although it is not always so The World does not usually so esteem it whatever it be in it self care not much sometimes whethey see their Teachers or no or their Teachers them But yet it is not so simply in it self a very great mercy It is a favour when God does vouchsafe Teachers to us and when he vouchsafes us likewise an opportunity of beholding them when they are not removed into a corner but our eyes may look upon them But Secondly That 's not all there 's somewhat more in it besides all this Not only the advantage of the eye but the advantage of the Ear And thine Ears shall hear a word behind thee c. It is not only to see but to hear them It is not only to see that we have Teachers and to hear them but when we list or not at all But to see and to hear them to It is a mercy to see them it is a Duty to hear them Yea it is a Duty and a Mercy both where we are sensible and capable of it and therefore does the spirit of God here join them both together to make it the more full and compleat Thine Eyes shall see thy Teachers in the former Verse And thine Ears shall hear a word behind thee saying Here in this Now this latter is that which we are to speak to with Gods Assistance at this present time viz. The hearing of the Ear. That God will vouchsafe to this People this Opportunity of being made partakers of his Word and Heavenly Doctrine This is that which he here promises to them as a part of that blessing which he has reserved in store for them He had in the 18th of this Chapter signified that he would wait that he might be gracious and that he would be exalted that he might have mercy upon them This was a promise of Mercy in General But now in the Verses following he does bring it down to the particulars and to this amongst the rest o injoying the Ministery of the Word Now there two things at once which are involv'd and imply'd in this Expression First Here 's the opportunity it self A word behind thee Secondly Here 's the imbracing or closing with this Opportunity Thine ears shall hear it First Isay Here 's the Opportunity itself A word behind
thee He sheweth his word unto Jacob his Statutes and his Judgments unto Israel Psal 147.19 It is spoken as a great Priviledge and Mercy towards them And so it is for God to give us his word to acquaint us with his divine Will and Truth in all the Parts of it there is more in it than we are always aware of or do indeed seriously consider and lay to heart There is more in it then in the injoying of any outward or temporal Blessing whatsoever which yet notwithstanding we do commonly more take notice of And so does the Prophet seem to imply here in the Text. These Words in the foregoing Verses are according to some Translations rendred thus Thy rains shall be no more kept back and thine eyes shall see thy rain then it follows And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee According to which Exposition the sense seems to be this That he would not only give them temporal Blessings but also that he would heap upon them Spiritual That he would not only give them rain upon their fields which they were now sensible of as being a great while kept from them as it has been of late from us But likewise that he would give them rain upon their hearts and the showres of Heavenly Doctrine falling upon them he leads them from the one to the other that so thereby he might the more ease their Affections in it Now this word It is here Emphatically said to be behind them A word behind thee Davarme acharika Wherein the Lord does as it were compare himself to a Shepherd that puts his Sheep before him Or to a School-master that will have his Schollers in his sight that so he may the better regulate them and keep them in order To open it a little unto us It seems to carry a various Notion in it First it is a pursuing and overtaking Word a Word that follows us and comes at our heels There are many people in the World which think to escape the Lashes of the Word in the Terrors and Threatnings of it by shunning it and running away from it But the Word it is a Word behind them for all that They cannot run so fast from that as that runs fast after them and persecutes them to their very Doors and comes home to them in their very Bosoms through the power and efficacy of it It makes Hue and Cry after them when they think most of all to avoid it Thus Heb. 4.12 The word of God is quick and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joynts and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Where God is pleased at any time to set home his Word by his Spirit and to give Wings and Legs unto it as he can and often times does it will follow men and pursue them to the uttermost so that they shall not escape And though it meets not with them at one time yet it will be sure to meet with them at another Ye shall have some kind of people sometimes which are afraid to hear such kind of Preachers which deal closely and roundly with them or such kind of Doctrines which do come close to their Hearts and Consciences because they would not be troubled and molested and interrupted in their sins but they are met withal sooner or later now and then before they are aware especially if God have any pleasure or delight in them or any intent towards them for Good He will not leave them so but his word shall find them out in their greatest shunning and avoidings of it That 's one thing which it is so called A word behind thee i.e. A pursuing and overtaking word Secondly A word behind thee that is a Revoking and Recalling Word A word of Restraint when any are going on headlong in the ways and courses of sin without any heed or regard at all This word it comes behind them and fetches them back As Paul when he was riding Post to Damasous with Letters against the Church he heard a word behind him saying Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Act. 9.4 The word of God it serves to this purpose to curb men and to put a check upon them in all their loose and exorbitant courses and to recall them in all their extravagancies Like the Shepherds whistle that does call back the straying sheep from its wandring from the flock It is said of Christ that he can have compassion on the ignorant and on them which are out of the way Heb. 5.2 And this Compassion he does manifest in the revoking and reducing of them and bring them right again It is a main End and Intent of the Ministery To recover men out of the snare of the Devil who are taken captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2.26 And it is a mercy to enjoy it to such a purpose as this is Thirdly a word behind thee that is An Impulsive and Provoking Word A word that puts thee forward that furthers thee and promotes thee in thy way There 's a great deal of slackness and sluggishness oftentimes in Christians from whence they are more remiss and negligent in their Duties than it becomes them to be For which cause they have need of some body to excite them and to put them on Now the Ministery of the Word it is here exhibited and represented to us under this Notion likewise It is a word behind thee So as there where thou keepest behind to set thee on going This it is in the several Doctrines and Instructions of it where it shews our several Duties and the things that God requires at our hands which so lay as we see we cannot for shame be neglectfull of them Thus in all these considerations is the Word of God a Word behind us And this for the Opportunity it self Now the Second thing is the closing with it Thine ears shall hear it Though the word be behind us yet we must not put it Behind us we must take heed of that we find a censure laid upon this in Psal 50.17 Seeing thou hatest Instruction and casteth my words behind thee It is the Character of a Wicked person and such an one as God will can to an account Therefore t is added here Thine ears shall hear this word God must not only provide a Word but he must likewise provide Ears or else there will no good at all come of it let his word be what it will be This is that therefore which he does here graciously undertake for his people Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee which is not only to be understood of the advantage and opportunity it self but likewise as well of the improvement and closing with it This Hearing it is to be understood Emphatically cum effectu without which the Blessing is not full and compleat Look as meat is not a perfect Blessing except there be a
mouth to receive it an appetite to be carryed to it and a stomach to entertain and digestit Even so the Word of God is not a perfect blessing neither except there be an Ear to hearken to it a spiritual taste to relish it and an heart to receive and digest it and to close and comply with it Now this is that which God does here in this place I say promise to his People when he says Their ears shall hear Not only a simple Partaking of the word Preacht but also an attendance upon it and obedience to it Hearing in the Language of Scripture being put for Obeying without which it is all in vain This was that Hearing which was in Lydia Act. 16.14 whose heart the Lord opened unto the things which were spoken by Paul The Things were spoken by Paul There was the word behind her Aud she attended to those things which were spoken There were her Ears hearing this word and both together made it to be a perfect and compleat blessing to her as it is also to any one else Let us therefore accordingly indeavour to find this made good in ourselves That we be hearers of that word which God does afford and vouchsafe untous And that not only with our outward ears although it were well if some would do that but also moreover with our inward affections and attentions to that which we hear seeing God follows us day after day and time after time with these advantages and opportunities which he offers unto us let not us be so far neglectfull either of him or of our own good as to divert our minds from them Considering what Solomon hath told us to this purppse Prov. 28.9 He that turns away his ear from hearing the Law even his Prayers shall be an abomination And so much of these words in their first Acceptation as they may be taken properly and in the Letter Thine Ears shall hear a word behind thee As relating to the Word of the Ministery and the Continuance of such opportunities as theâe are The Second is as they may be taken Metaphorically as relating to the word within us The inward Motions and Suggestions of the Spirit and the Dictates thereof This may be very well meant hereby likewise and as the other is not excluded So perhaps this is principally intended here in this place when it is said Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee speaking Gods Spirit speaking to our Spirit This is such as God does vouchsafe in his Church as well as the other As they have the word sounding in their Ears So they have the Spirit also whispering in their Consciences and stirring and moving in their Hearts Those that live in the Bosom of the Church within the pales and compass of it they have many such advantages and opportunities as these are which are vouchsafed and afforded unto them This as well as the former is very fitly called a word behind thee not only in all these respects which I mentioned in reference thereunto as a word pursuing recalling and provoking All which it is but also which we may moreover here take notice of in these two regards First In regard of the Privacy and Secrecy of it Look as that which is behind us we do not so easily see and discern no more do we many times so readily perceive such motions as these are God speaks once yea twice but man perceives it not as it is in Job 33.14 Hence it is called a secret word Davar laat Job 15.11 Are the Consolations of God small with thee or is there any secret word with thee And a stollen word as it is in the Hebrew Text Davar jegunnav Job 4.12 Now a word was secretly brought unto us and mine ear received a little thereof Whereby are signified the secret whisperings and murmurings of the Spirit of God in us Secondly As it is a word behind us in regard of the Seâresie and privateness of it Likewise in regard of the Proximity and Nearness The word is nigh thec as it said in another case It is but looking behind us and we have it It accompanies us and goes along with us as the shaddow with the Body That 's another thing here considerable and that in this expression of being behind Here 's the Constancy of these motions which God follows his People withall without intermission They are never free and exempt from them but they are still about them and stirring them where ever they are and whatever they are doing upon all occasions as I shall shew more anon in the following part and close of the Text. Behold I stand at the door and knock as it is in Revel 3.20 He stands which is a Posture of Perseverance This is a very great Favour as well as the Former It is not only a mercy that God gives us his word without us in the Dispensations of the Ministery but likewise his word without us in the Dispensations of the Ministery But likewise his word within us in the Dispensations of his Spirit And this is that which he annexes and joyns together with that in the promise of it This we find mention made of here in some other places of Scripture likewise These Dictates and Suggestions of the Spirit 1 Joh. 2.20 Ye have an Vnction from the Holy One and ye know all things So again in ver 27. The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and teacheth you all things So Joh. 14.26 The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance c. Again Joh. 16.13 When the Spirit of Faith is come he will guide you into all truth c. Still there 's mention of these Suggestions of the Spirit The Use which we are to make of it is accordingly to bless God for it that affords these things unto us We see here the happiness of being brought forth within the compass of the Church where such means as these are vouchsafed and we should acknowledge Gods Goodness to us in this particular for though there be the stirrings of Conscience sometimes even in Civil Men in Heathens and such as these are yet these Motions of the Holy Ghost they are more proper and peculiar to the Church where there is the Ministers and Ordinances and Means of Grace in the Dispensation of them And we should not think it a small matter for our selves to enjoy them Next to God's giving of his Son to us is his giving of his Spirit and his continual Application of himself to our Hearts and Consciences But so much for that I have done now with the first General which is the Monitor here signified unto us in these words thine ears shall hear a word behind thee Understood either properly of the Word of the Ministry or metaphorically of the Suggestion of the Spirit I come now to the Second which is the matter
of the Admonition it self saying This is the way walk ye in it Now this in a Suitableness and Correspondency to what went before may be taken three manner of ways and may seem to carry a threefold Impression upon it First As a word of Correction and Reformation in case of Miscarriage This is the way walk ye in it It is very fitly said to those which wander and are out of the way to reduce them and to bring them again into it Secondly As a word of Direction and Instruction in case of Ignorance This is the way walk ye in it It is very properly said to those which are to seek and know not what to betake themselves to nor which way to turn them to shew it and to chalk it out to them Thirdly It is a word of Strengthening and Confirmation in case of Unsettledness This is the way walk ye in it It is very suitably said to those who are doubtful and wavering and uncertain in themselves whether they be right in the way or no to encourage them to persevere and go on in those good Ways which they have made entrance upon All these Emphasis are in this Expression First I say It is a word of Correction and Reformation in case of Miscarriage This is the way walk ye in it It is very fitly said to those which wander and are out of the way to reduce them and to bring them into the way again And to them it is said God doth not only by his Word but by his Spirit admonish them of the evil Courses which they are in and turn them from them That Way which you are in is not that wherein you should walk No it is this and therefore walk ye in it Thus we have it in Ezek. 33.11 Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die O house of Israel The Lord calls upon men dayly to Repentance and Amendment and Reformation of their Lives Not only in the way of his Providence and the things which he does in the World as Grounds and Motives to them for it but likewise in the Work of the Ministry and the stirrings of his Spirit in the heart as enforcing those Occasions upon them This he does as we may conceive especially upon a twofold Consideration First Out of Mercy to them that so by this means he might at last recover them God delight not in the death of a sinner as he hath said and sworn about it It is no pleasure to him that men should sin and live wickedly and damn their Souls He desires rather their Amendment and Salvation And because indeed he does so therefore as a means tending hereunto does he admonish them and check them upon their Miscarriages and Goings astray Secondly In Judgment and Aggravation against them that so hereby he may leave them inexcusable and that they may have nothing to say for themselves that they may not plead they wanted memory that they had no body to rectifie them and set them right He himself does therefore undertake to do it for them They shall hear a word behind them saying this is the way walk ye in it It is a word of Correction and Reformation to them in case of Miscarriage And that is the first Emphasis or Impressions which is upon it wherein we may consider it Secondly It is a word of Direction and Instruction in case of Ignorance This is the way walk ye in it It is very properly said to those which are to seek and know not which way to turn themselves And to them also is it said especially so far forth as they do any thing seek unto him and depend upon him for it Those which desire Direction from God in those Ways which are to be taken by them they shall receive Direction from him The meek will he guide in judgment and the meek will he teach his way Psal 25.9 This is true and may be made good unto us according to a double Explication whether we take it in reference to Civil things and the Affairs of this present Life Or whether we take it in reference to Spirituals and things of a better First Take it in reference to Civil things and the Affairs of this present Life So there are very Gracious Hints which are sometimes given to the Servants of God for their direction in this particular In Businesses of any great Concernment and Moment and Importance to them where they are ignorant and know not what to do it pleases him to advise them This is the way walk ye in it And they may very well satisfie themselves in this respect when it is so with them Though it be that which is not chiefly intended here in the Text yet it is not excluded and therefore we may very seasonably observe it and take notice of it Secondly In reference to Spirituals and the Affairs of a better life Here those that wait upon him shall not want Direction from him but he will advise them and by counselling to them For which purpose they do with a great deal of confidence betake themselves to him as the Prophet David says in sundry places Thus in Psal 25.4 5. Shew me thy ways O Lord and teach me thy paths Lead me in thy truth and teach me for thou art the God of my salvation on thee do I wait all the day So again Psal 86.11 Teach me thy way O Lord I will walk in thy truth make my heart to fear thy name So again Psal 143.8 Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning for in thee do I put my trust cause me to know the way wherein I should walk for I lift up my soul unto thee Now in answer to such Prayers and Requests as these are does the Lord accordingly very graciously instruct them and give direction to them And they shall hear a word behind them saying this is the way walk ye in it That is Secondly A word of Direction and Instruction in case of Ignorance Thirdly It is a word of Confirmation in case of Unsettledness This is the way walk ye in it It is spoken very suitable to those which are somewhat doubtful whether they be in the way or no by way of Encouragement God will Graciously provide for the Settlement and Constancy and Perseverance of his People that they may not depart of start aside from him And this is another kind of Word which is as useful and necessary as the other We have not more need to be diverted from those ways which are evil and to be directed to those which are good then when we are in good wayes already to be settled and confirm'd in them that we do not forsake and leave them This is that which is in this Supplication Least that which is lame be not turned out of the way but that it rather be healed as it is in Heb. 12.13 There 's hardly any can be in a good way but as soon as ever they
appear to be in it there are indeavours to put them out of it and to discourage them in it Satan and his Instruments are ready presently to do all they can to this purpose by their Inchantments and Seducements and Inticements Well but see here now how God orders it to his People Thou shalt hear a word behind thee c. There is none which are in any good way but as they had a word behind them which first brought them into it so there 's none which are in that way neither but they have a word behind them to continue them in it if they would hearken and listen unto it And if at any time they swerve from it it is because they are either wilful or negligent in this particular not attending to the Gracious strivings of Gods spirit in their Hearts as we shall have occasion to shew more hereafter For as God himself he does not neglect to speak unto them and that daily this word it is still sounding in their Eares And this God does as a part of his Covenant with them which is to perfect what he begins and to preserve that work of Grace in them which he has in part bestowed upon them Psal 1.6 And so now I have done also with the Second general part of the Text which is the matter of the Admonition it self This is the way walk ye in it as a word of Correction as a word of Direction as a word of Incouragement or Confirmation The Third and Last is the Occasion of it that we have Exprest in those words When ye hear c. This at the first hearing may seem to carry some difficulty in it Forasmuch as Moses when he is to instruct the people of Israel which way they should go he wishes them to turn neither to the right hand nor to the left Deut. 5.32 And Deut. 17.20 What then is the meaning of the Prophet here in this place that the word of God shall incourage them saying This is the way walk in it when they turn to either hand To this I answer that he means thus much That the word of God does reclaim and reform them in either of these alterrations when they turn to the right hand and so go out of the way in that then he shews them this is the way and orders them aright So again when they turn to the left hand and go out of the way so then he shews them this is the way and orders them aright so so that in whatsoever Errour they are whether upon the right hand or upon the left is he pleased graciously to reduce them This is the meaning of the Prophet Esay here in these words When ye turn to the right hand c. And that 's this which is here mainly Considerable Observe us here somewhat by the way that there are Errours on both hands upon the right as well as upon the left That 's here implied while 's the Prophet tells us that there is a Word behind us Correcting and Reforming us in Each And so indeed there is Virtue it consists in the middle betwixt two Extreams but partakes of neither It is not medium Particepationis but Negationis as we use to distinguish it This is that which is Considerable in it Now an Errour on the right hand is properly such an Errour as does least of all depart from the right Yea does resemble it and appear like unto it As to instance in a particular by way of Explication The doing of any thing which we have a mind to though never so Unlawful without any scruple that 's an Errour on the left hand Again the scrupling of the doing of some things which are indifferent and may be Lawfully done by us That 's an Errour on the right hand The just and direct way is betwixt them both which is to obstain from that which is sinfully and prudently to use our Liberty in things Indifferent Now here we have the word of God both in the Ministry and the Dictates of the Spirit guiding and directing of us that we fall into neither of these Extreams but walk in that path and way which is to be trodden by us when we turn either to the right hand or to the left Those which waite and depend upon him and are careful to lesten to him he will take care that they may be upright and sincere in each Particular This is the Blessing which God promises in this place and it is to be observ'd and regarded by us It is a great favour and mercy to be kept from the Extreams of any thing that we fall not into them Thus it is upon this account namely in regard of the hazard and danger of them for that there is There 's danger in every Errour whether it be on the left hand or on the right and so to be made account of by us Danger as to all those particulars wherein Sin it self is dangerous As First To the dishonour of God God may as truly though not as much be dishonoured by a Sinner on the right hand as on the left and that because even that also is a Breach and Transgression of his Law who in the places before used in Deuterenomie has commanded us to turn aside unto neither The Holy Law and Commandment of God it does not only proceed against sins of Presumption but as well also against sins of Infirmity not only against sins of knowledge but against sins of ignorance not only against errors on the left hand but on the right And where the Law of God is any where broken the honor of God is there dishonoured There 's danger in it therefore in that Secondly As to our own prejudice we may hurt and disaccommodate our selves by sins on one hand as well as on t'other contract a guilt to our own Souls and deprive our selves of many comforts which otherwise we might be partakers of whether temporal or spiritual Thirdly Wrong our Neighbours There may be injury done also to them in such cases as these are by Errors on the right hand as well as on the left And if left hand errors are more dangerous than when they are fallen into Yet right-hand errors are thus far here dangerous as that we easier fall into them and for want of heed are become the sooner guilty of them That which lies upon us is as much as may be to avoid them both And to this purpose to listen to the word behind us speaking to us Otherwise we shall hardly of our selves be able to do it In vitium ducit culpe fuga si caret arte as the Heathen man observed The avoiding of Error if there be not art and skill in it leads into more And again Stulti dum vitant vita in contra corruit Fools whiles they avoid one sin they commonly run into another But here the Word and Spirit of God does arm and prepare us with wisdom in this particular in that it speaks
behind us saying This is the way walk ye in it when we turn either to the right hand or to the left But now farther if we please we may take these words a little more at large as I in part hinted before When ye turn to the right hand or to the left not as touching it of two extreams but in reference to all the passages of our lives whatsoever they be When ye turn to the right hand or to the left that is whatsoever place ye are in whatever business ye are about whatever condition befalls you ye shall have the hints of the Word and Spirit of God assistant to you This is the promise which is made to the Saints and Servants of God And it is made not only here in this Text but also in divers other places besides as Psal 37.5 Commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass So Prov. 3.6 In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy pathes So again in Prov. 16.3 Commit thy Works unto the Lord and thy Thoughts shall be Established This Disposition in God towards his People is founded on his Affection to them He loves them and therefore he Counsels them and cannot abide to see them miscarry Love it is full of direction of the party which it is placed upon and will not suffer him to go out of his way And so it is with God to us This is a great Comfort and Incouragement to us and should quicken us especially in his service wherein especially we are sure to have him to guide us and go before us and be assistant unto us And that in the darkness of this World wherein we walk If a man have a bad way yet if he have a good guide it is some Comfort to him This is the Lord to his Servants He teaches them to go taking them by the hand as it in Hos 11.3 Oh how much should we be affected herewith Especially in this Age and Time wherin we live In which we have so many Labarynths and uncertainties that a great many do not know what to do nor what way to betake themselves to We have so many humours and conceits amongst us that we know not almost what to believe nor what to practise It is the case and condition of many people that they are at a nonplus and almost at their wits ends in this particular Well in all these uncertainties and distractions Here 's the Comfort and Incouragement of Gods servants which do not provoke him to do otherwise with them from some default or miscarriage in them in which case it may be suspended to them That they shall hear a word behind them saying this is the way walk in it when they turn c. But here it may partinently be demanded How this word shall be discerned and known because there 's a great deal of deceit and mistake in the particulars many taking that to be the word and spirit of God which is no more but their own foolish fancy and the suggestions and intimation of the Devil joyning with their own corrupt hearts It is the condition of many people now in these present days and never more than now it is For this There are divers Touchstones and discoveries of it which we will briefly instance in First Let this within thee be regulated by the word without thee And the motions and suggestions of the Spirit examined by the Rule of the Scripture and the written word of God to the Law and the Testimony If they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Isa 8.20 God never speaks in the Conscience contrary to what he speaks in the Scripture for he is unchangeable and cannot deny himself If therefore we have any motions in us which are cross and opposite hereunto we have very greet cause to suspect them as coming to us from another hand yea to abandon them and to bid defiance to them For which as the Wind does not sit at the same time in two contrary corners North and South so neither does the Spirit breath in two contrary motions Good and Evil. The motions of the spirit are always suitable and agreeable to it self Secondly They are also orderly and regular They keep men within the compass of their Callings and the spheres and the place which God has set them in Motions either from mens own Spirits or the spirit of Satan acting in them they are many times out of course they carry them above their line and make them to stretch themselves beyond their measure as the Apostle speaks But those which come from God and the suggestions and inclinations of his spirit they confine them and keep them within bounds They order them and frame them and keep them within bounds suitable to their several stations and Relations and Conditions and Circumstances in the world which they have regard and heed unto So likewise which we may refer hereunto they are agreeable also to the law of Nature and Civility and ingenuity in us Therefore such motions as cross these they are not such as come from Gods spirit but from the spirit of the Devil when any are carried to such acts as are against Civility and common modesty it self Thirdly They are also mild and gentle and seasonable They are not ordinarily violent raptures but such as leave a man in a right apprehension of what he does and reflexion upon it A man knows where he is and what he does while he is followed with them which in the motions of Satan is otherwise Fourthly They are discernable also from their Effects and the ends which they tend unto all the hints and motions of Gods spirit they still tend to make us better and to carry us nearer to himself one way or other they serve to promote Piety and Holiness in us and to better us especially and above all in our Inward man whereas those which are contrary and do serve to weaken Grace in us they have another spring for them Lastly In all these Cases the Spirit commonly brings his own Conviction and Evidence with him And as he says This is the way walk ye in it so he does likewise manifest that it is he that says it from whence the Soul of a Christian may be assured that he is not mistaken or deluded in it Look as those which had the Spirit of Prophesy they did by the same light know both the truth of the things themselves which they prophesied about as also that it was from God that message which they delivered even so is it with those also still which have any motions of the Spirit of God in them they do at one and the same time know both the things themselves which they are moved unto as also the Authour and Original of them But so much for that In these hints and suggestions of the Spirit this voice behinde us may be discovered by
us Now to shut up all with a word of use and Application and so to Conclude We have heard out of the words of the Text three things that there is such a Monotor as this is A word behind us the Effect and matter of the Admonition This is the way c. and the occasion of it When we turn to c. Now what remains to ourselves to be done by us upon these considerations two things especially This observation is to be improved by us two manner of ways First In a way of Thankfulness And Secondly In a way of Obedience In a way of Thankfulness First we are to bless God that he is pleased thus Graciously to provide for us not only to instruct us by his word and his voice sounding in out Ears in the ministerial Dispensations but also to admonish us by his Spirit and the Holy Ghost moving in our Hearts in our Christian Conversation This is a matter of great Thankfulness and Acknowledgment to us A faithful Monitor is a very great advantage it is so betwixt man and man betwixt one friend and another to have one to tell them when they do amiss and to reform them in it or to direct them where they are at a loss and to instruct them about it This is that which God Himself does for his people as we have heard all this while out of the Text which is matter and occasion of great thankfulness and acknowledgment to them which their hearts should be very much taken and affected with all It is a mercy and favour that God will afford these helps unto us Secondly We are to improve it by Obedience and closing with it seeing we have this word speaking to us let us not stop our Ears against it take heed of that do not neglect the whispers of the Spirit and of the word of God set home upon thy heart How many are there in the world which have such things as these are daily and continually sounding in their Ears in case of Omission and neglect of Duty This is the way walk ye in it These things they are to be done and perform'd by you it is not safe for you to let them alone Again in case of committing of Evil and wayes of Extravagancy this is out of the way do not walk in it ye are out of your place of your Calling of your Duty which is to be done by you Nay ye walk opposite and contrary to it How many are there in the World which in their lewd and ungodly Courses of Drunkeness Filthiness Uncleanness evil Company Consuming and such practises as these have many a sad check upon their Consciences restraining of them and a voice behind them pulling them back now let all these consider how far they hearken and give ear unto it It is a dangerous thing to stifle the motions of Gods spirit or to stop their Ear against the voice of his word No but there should be a present closeing and compliance with it As young Samuel when God call'd him speak Lord thy servant heareth so should we do in these cases we should receive and entertain his motions and turn those motions into purposes and those purposes into practises in our selves we should never suffer such good hints as these are to die in us Especially considering this for our Incouragement that as Gods motions follows his Instructions so his Assistance always follows his motions in the tenders of it Look as he never shewes us the way but he does also move us to walk in it that our practises may be answerable to our knowledg so likewise he never moves us to walk in any way which he shews us but he does likewise offer us at the same time some kind of help to walk in it Therefore now not to close with him is not onely to refuse his Counsell but likewise consequently to reject his Assistance more or less which he does exhibit to us whereby we offer a double injury to the Spirit of Grace And here further let us consider the danger and hazard of such a course as this is which is manifold and various First Gods future silence where he is not regarded he will speak no more especially having spoken to us very often for some time already past and let us think with our selves what it is to be deprived of such a Blessed motion as this is But Secondly That 's not all thare's a suffering of another voice to speak in us and if we look not to it to prevail upon us they that hearken not to the voice of God in them they are many times given up to Satan and their own Corruptions to work upon them to rule and bear sway in them This is plain by that of the Prophet David speaking in the Name of God concerning Israel My people would not hearken to my Counsell and Israel would have none of me so I gave them up to their own hearts lusts and they walked in their own Imaginations Prov. 1.30.31 SERMON XL. Esay 40.31 Butthey that wait upon the Lordsh all renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint As God is a God of strength so there is nothing wherein he does appear more to be so than in the Dispensations of Himself to his people to whom he does in part Communicate of that strength which is in himself for their greater Supportment and Incouragement in the worst Conditions that may happen unto them He delights to manifest his power in their weakness and to shew his strength in their Infirmity as he sometimes elsewhere expresses it As he himself faints not neither is weary so he gives power to them that are faint and to them that have no might he increases strength as it is in 28. and 29. verses of this Chapter Yet still he does it so as may be with the greatest furtherance and advantage to themselves As it was in the Miracle of Canaan The wine which Christ produced it was the best wine of all and better then all other before it so is it indeed in every thing else which God does and amongst the rest in this particular the strength which he does vouchsafe to his Servants It is better and surer and firmer then any other strength besides That strength which comes from God directly and in the way of the new Covenant in Christ it is far surpassing and transcendant to any Natural or Corporal strength whatsoever which is that which the Holy Ghost does here signifie and Illustrate by an Elegant opposition in this Scripture which I have now read unto you Even the Youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall those which have either the advantage of Age or Exercise or Bodily temper and Constitution But they that waite upon thee c. IN the whole Verse before us we have two General Parts considerable First A Proposition
seemed to be guilty of and to be charged withal from God himself But they are reducible to two main heads The one is in the denial of their address And the other is in the discontinuance of it The denial of their address was this That they would not simply come unto God The discontinuance of their address was this That they would no more come unto him First Their simple denial of address We will not come unto thee There was a great matter of iniquity and miscarriage in them as to this That they refused to do thus First their disrespect and want of due affection to God The want of address is usually interpreted the want of observance And so it is in men to God when they come not at him it is a sign they do not love him nor regard him so as they should do This is that which is justly chargable upon all profane and atheistical persons that live without God in the world that never call upon him never pray unto him never exercise any communion with him it is an argument that they have not any respect or affection for him for if they had they would have more delight in his company and converse with him than commonly they have We will not come unto thee It had the guilt of disrespect Secondly their ingratitude and unthankfulness God had done very much for them he had not been a barren wilderness to them and yet they would not come unto him God charges them also with this God deserves to be sought to for himself and those excellencies which are in his own Blessed Majesty one would come unto him for this though there were nothing else But now when moreover we shall consider the good things which he does for us and which we daily receive from him this is a further engagement upon us and makes the sin to be so much the greater when we neglect to do so And this was the case of this people which made the Lord so much to wonder at them and to be offended with them For a child not to come at his Father or a servant at his Master upon the account of his meer relation it is a thing which is not justifiable but not to come to them when they are used kindly by them and when they receive so many courtesies from them this is very abominable God's mercies should be great provocations of our attendance upon him Thirdly their stubbornness and obstinacy We would not come unto thee No not even then when thou callest us and envitest us this sets it on a little more You know how ill Ahasuerus took it when he call'd for Vashti to come to him and she refused And how may the Lord then take it when his people refuse to come to him upon his invitation when he calls to them in the ministry of his Word in the dispensations of his Providence in the voice of his Spirit speaking not only to their ears but also to their hearts and consciences and for all that they hold off from him How can he possibly take this well at their hands and not be avenged upon them for it And that 's the First thing here considerable to wit Their denial of address The Second is their discontinuance of address We will come no more unto thee This is another thing wherewith they are charged and there are two things further included in this First their self-sufficiency and confidence in their own present condition Secondly their apostacy and declining and falling off from God and their former carriage First Here was their self-sufficiency and carnal confidence they said We are Lords that is we are able now to shift for our selves and so we will come no longer to thee for supplies from thee This is the temper and disposition of most kind of people besides As long as they think they can any thing subsist without God they never care for coming unto him Thus it was here with these Israelites God had heaped many mercies upon them and blest them on every side And this was the use which they now made of it even to neglect him so much the more that had done thus much for them To forsake the Fountain of living waters and to seek to themselves broken and empty Cisterns which would hold no water as he tells them in the 12th verse of this present Chapter Thus as it was with the Prodigal in the Gospel who so long as he was any thing well abroad never cared to come home to his Father's house Even so is it also with many more As it was with the Church of Laodicea Rev. 3.17 18. Which said she was full and encreased with goods and had need of nothing not knowing that she was wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked and had need to come to Christ and to buy of him Gold and white Rayment and Ointment and such things as these The temper and disposition in God's people is that which oftentimes provokes him to take such a course with them as he does for the bringing of them home to him And that is to exercise them with various crosses and afflictions to convince them of their own insufficiency and of their necessary dependance upon him Thus he speaks of his Church there in Hosea in chap. 2. ver 6 7. That he would hedg up her way with thorns and make a wall that she should not find her paths Then shall she say I will go and return to my first Husband for then it was better with me than now God would make her come again unto him though she thought to have come to him no more as being able to shift well enough without him Oh 't is good for every one to live in a constant dependance upon God and to see their need and necessity of him in whom they live move and have their being They that do otherwise God will take some course or other whereby to reduce them and to bring them again unto him as without whom they cannot be able to subsist or hold out That 's the first thing implyed in this expression No more to wit their self-sufficiency Though formerly we came to thee when we had some need of thee yet now we are able to shift for our selves The Second is their Apostacy and falling off from God This was another thing which he took so ill from them that though they had come to him heretofore yet now they would do so no longer This was that which was most odious to God of any thing else a cooling of their affections towards him and an intermission of their servings of him as it is in any other besides It is that as I have shewn you of late which God did so much lay to the charge of the Galatians and reproach them for it That having begun in the Spirit they should end in the Flesh that is that having formerly come to him they should now in the words of the Text
begin in order with the first viz. the Persons mentioned those that sigh and cry c. from whence we may observe thus much That such persons there are that do so and it is their duty so to do even to sigh and cry for the abominations all of them that are done in the midst of the City We read of divers in Scripture which have been noted for this disposition in them Thus it is said of just Lot that he was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked For that righteous man dwelling amongst them in seeing and hearing vext his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds as it is in 2 Pet. 2.7 8. David he beheld the transgressors and was grieved because they kept not Gods word Psal 119.158 and rivers of water ran down his eyes because they kept not his law in verse 136. of the same Psalm Jeremy his soul wept in secret places for their pride c. Jer. 13.17 And Paul his spirit was stirred in him at Athens when he saw the City to be wholly given to idolatry Acts 17.16 Thus have the Servants of God been still affected with the abominations of the places and people whom they have lived withall and amongst whom they have at any time converst And this it hath proceeded thus in them upon divers and sundry considerations First out of their inward hatred and antipathy even to sin it self The children of God being born again and become new creatures and having grace in their hearts they cannot but abhor any thing which is opposite and contrary hereunto from that new nature and spirit which is in them Look as on the other side wicked men they are troubled at the slourishing of Religion where they see any to improve in goodness and to be any thing more forward in piety their hearts and spirits rise as it were against them and boil in them from the devilish disposition which is in them and hatred even of goodness it self So here those that fear the Lord they are as much troubled at the improvements of sin from that work of Regeneration which is in their hearts Secondly Out of love to God and a tenderness of his honour and glory Where abominations are at any time committed there God is exceedingly dishonour'd his Laws are slighted his Attributes are question'd his Name is blasphem'd Now those that are good themselves they have a great regard hereunto Those that are Gods children they are very jealous of Gods honour as any other children besides are of the honour of their earthly Parents and so accordingly they cannot but grieve when there is any trespass at any time upon it Those that areotherwise they shew but little love and affection which they bear unto him Thirdly Out of respect to themselves and their own advantage The more sin there is abroad the more are all men concerned in it not evil men but good who are from hence in so much the greater danger and that in a twofold respect both as to matter of defilement and of punishment They are more in danger from hence to be polluted and they are more in danger from hence to be afflicted and this makes them to be so much troubled at it First In order to Defilement they are more in danger from hence to be polluted Great and reigning sins and abominations are usually great temptations which do hazard the souls of many persons that converse amongst them and therefore there is cause to be grieved for them What is it that which makes men now so troubled to hear of the spreading of certain sicknesses and diseases Why it is because they think that themselves may haply come to feel them and to be infected with them that which befalls others they think at last it may light upon them And so is it likewise with gracious persons as to spiritual distempers when they hear of such corruptions and wickedness which are abroad in the world they are therefore much afflicted with them because they fear lest they themselves should be any thing defiled from them they are jealous of their own hearts in case of the prevailing of such sins and so do grieve and mourn for and under them And this they do it in order to defilement as being in danger to be polluted Secondly In order also to Punishment as being in danger to be afflicted Common and publick abominations they beget common and publick plagues and judgments which follow thereupon This those that are wise and prudent Christians know and discern well enough Evil men understand not judgment but they that seek the Lord understand all things says Solomon Prov. 28.5 Fools make a mock of sin and those that are wicked and ungodly they are commonly hardned and secure in the midst of the greatest wickednesses that are commited Because they do not suffer for them presently therefore they think they shall not suffer at all Yea but the children of God they are otherwise perswaded they know that sin will sooner or later come to a reckoning and when they see it to increase in the world they foresee the judgments that attend it and therefore tremble at the sight of it as knowing that God is so much the more provoked by it and so will at length proceed to the punishment of it There are two things in the increase of sin and the spreading of more nauseous abominations which to this purpose do very much affect the children and servants of God the one is they are conscious of Gods anger and displeasure in the cause of them And the other is as they are prognosticks of Gods wrath and judgment in the effects First I say as they ar consequents of his anger and displeasure for so they are There is nothing which is more redious to Gods children than the anger and displeasure of God Now reigning abominations they are a symptom and discovery of that they are a sign that God is very much offended with those places and persons where he suffers them and permits them to be in them and gives them up to them We many times make light of it but believe it for any people to be given up to more notorious wickedness is the greatest argument of Gods anger that can be and in that regard a special ground for mercy to those that are good As it is a sign of God's anger against a person to be given up to strong and strange lusts An whore is a deep ditch and he that is abhorred of God shall fall into it so it is a sign of Gods anger against a Nation when he gives them up to more eminent sins and abominations in any kind whatsoever And so there is very great cause to grieve at it But secondly As those raging abominations they are the consequents of Gods anger in the causes of them so they are the Prognosticks of Gods wrath in the effects they do as good as foretell some judgment ere long to be brought upon
wantonly and they desire sawcily and they desire it perversly as it seems here to be intended Well but what 's the lot and condition of such kind of Persons Here 's a Woe denounced against them as signifying them to be miserable creatures and such as are most deeply involv'd in Gods judgments of any others besides Those who to the rest of their wickedness add this of scoffing at Gods judgments either in this world or that which is to come they are such as are exposed to the greatest tuine and destruction that can be and whomsoever God spares else he will be sure not to spare them Now therefore be not Mockers lest your bands be made strong says he Isa 28.22 Surely he scorneth scorners Prov. 3.34 And those that despise him shall be lightly esteemed 2 Sam. 2.30 God will judge them though they scorn him and he will judge them because they scorn him their scorning it shall promote their condemnation and hasten that really which they desire should be hastned feignedly We see here there is nothing which the nature of man does commonly more abominate than contempt and how can we think then that the Lord himself will put it up How will he endure to be contemned either in himself or else in his Servants and not rather pour forth the fiercest of his wrath upon such kind of persons As he threatens there in that place Prov. 1.24 25 26. Because I have called and ye have refused I have stretched out mine hand and no man regarded But ye have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my reproof I will also laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh As wicked men mock at Gods threatnings so he also mocks at their punishments and as they laugh at his intimations so he laughs at their destruction He that sits in heaven shall laugh the Lord shall have them in derision Psal 2.4 The Lord shall laugh at them because he sees their day is coming Psal 37. 13. Be not deceived says the Apostle God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap Gal. 6.7 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã not sneered at as the word properly signifies it is an expression of scorn which cannot be fastned upon God He is not mocked that is he is not mock'd effectually nor he is not mocked that is he is not mock'd securely mock'd he is in regard of mens endeavour he is mock'd on their part but he is not mock'd on his own part and in regard of the thing it self Those that mock him they do not escape or go away with their mockery of him This is a point which falls heavy upon the times in which we live from the great guilt which is in them in this particular in that there are so many people that make a scoff of the most serious things that are in the world that make no other use of the Word of the Lord than to despise it not of the Judgment of the Lord than to deny it nor of the day of the Lord than to deride it and to scoff at it which seem with these people here in the Text to desire indeed the day of the Lord but with a tang of Atheism and Profaneness putting it far from them at such time as they draw it near unto them drawing it near with their lips when-as their hearts in the mean time are far enough from it or rather drawing up the lip against it in a kind of scorn and detestation of it Well let all such as these look to it in time lest they hasten Gods judgments upon themselves a great deal sooner than themselves are aware of which such courses as these do tend to And that 's now the second explication of the passage here before us Wo unto you that desire the day of the Lord that is that desire it scoffingly because ye do not believe it Thirdly Wo unto you that desire the day of the Lord that is that desire it desperately because ye do not fear it And here now the word desire is to be taken in a qualified sense and not so much actively as passively Ye desire the day of the Lord that is ye care not though that day should be not that they did absolutely wish for it but out of an hardned and obdurate and desperate spirit which was in them they did not matter it though it were but were content to run the hazard of it This is another sense which we may likewise put upon this present expression There are some people who are so far addicted and given up to their lusts which do possess them and prevail upon them especially some kinds of them above the rest as Voluptuousness and Sensuality and Intemperance and love of the World that for the injoyment of them they care not what becomes of themselves but are content to venture even the loss of their Souls for ever which defie the judgments of God shoot up arrows of provocation against Heaven sell themselves to do wickedly commit all uncleanness with greediness and resolve to do whatever they have a mind to in despight of Hell it self yea even of God himself who threatens them with it which cry God damn them and let him do so it is all one to them These are sad and lamentable creatures as any alive monsters rather than men yet such as this latter age of the world hath more especially brought forth which accordingly may be taken notice of by us This woe here in the Text it reaches such as these especially in the fullest latitude and extent of it being such as of all others are most irrecoverable inasmuch as they cast away the means of recovery from them and choose death rather than life to be administred unto them Such as these they are in the nearest condition even to the Devils themselves and are in a manner even in Hell it self before their time from the beginnings and initiations of it And thus we have had the threefold explication of this present expression and a threefold wo which is here denounc'd against three sorts of persons Wo wo wo to such inhabitants of the earth To those that desire the day of the Lord rashly because they do not consider it And to those that desire the day of the Lord scoffingly because they do not believe it And to those that desire the day of the Lord desperately because they do not fear it To those which desire it either in jest or desire it in earnest which desire it in jest because they mistrust it and which desire it in earnest because they mistake it And so now I have done with the First General Part of the Text which is the awaking Commination in these words Wo unto you that c. The Second is the convincing Expostulation in these To what end is it for you Lamah-zeh lakem Ad quid hoc verbis And there are two things especially here in this First here
endless darkness Lastly By way of extent or explication to shew unto us the full nature of this business wherein it does consist There are two Branches of the sentence of condemnation and which the judgment of the great day does extend unto The one is positive to the punishment of sense and the enduring of exquisite torments and so in that consideration it is called darkness The other is privative in the punishment of loss and expulsion from God's glorious presence and the comfort of his countenance and so in that consideration it is said to be no light And thus we have seen this passage in each expression of it both Affirmative and Negative darkness and not light And so much may be also spoken of it as consider'd simply and absolutely in its general Proposition We may further Secondly look upon it relatively and in its particular scope as directed more especially to the persons above mentioned who desired this day of the Lord. To these the Prophet Amos here declares that this day it is darkness and not light And here again in this reference it carries a threefold force or emphasis with it First an emphasis of Information to those which were ignorant and did not know that this day was Secondly an emphasis of Conviction to those which were obstinate and would not know what this day was Thirdly an emphasis of Astonishment to those which were desperate which knew it but laid aside the thoughts and considerations of it and would put it to the venture First I say This expression The day of the Lord is darkness and not light it has an emphasis of information to those who were ignorant and which did not know it as if he had said thus unto them You seem to desire the coming of the day of the Lord as if thereby you should get some great good to your selves but alas as the case stands with you you have no cause at all to do so for there will be no advantage from it to you The proper object of desire it is good and not evil it is light and not darkness But this day of the Lord as it is circumstanced it is that which is quite contrary it is evil and not good it is darkness and not light that ye may rightly understand it The world has other notions commonly of death and judgment than those which they should have but the Scripture and word of God is the best instructer of them in this particular and that gives them a true account and estimate of such things as these are if they will hearken unto it Secondly An emphasis of Conviction to those which were obstinate and would not know it Profane persons as I shewed before they laugh'd at those things thought there was no such thing indeed as the day of the Lord and therefore scoffingly and in scorn call'd for it Well let it come We would fain see this day that you speak of and threaten us withal Well says the Prophet to these ye have no great cause to be so full of this confidence and security if ye consider all for I can tell you there is somewhat more in this day than you are aware of there 's no playing or jesting with it This day of the Lord it is darkness and not light what ever you may think of it it is so and so you will find it The word of God is powerful sharper than a two-edged Sword and the threatenings of the word having the spirit of God going along with them and setting them home upon the conscience have an ability in them to conquer and confound the most impartial mockers Thirdly An emphasis of Astonishment to those which were desperate and though they knew and in some sort believed such a day as this was yet did not fear it but were hardened in their hearts against it To such as these the Prophet here declares the horridness and unsupportableness of it That though they may think they could grapple with it and hold out against the extremities of it yet in conclusion and when it comes to the trial they will find it to be too heavy for them and above their strength whether the day of common and publick calamity or the day of trial and general judgment Who may abide the day of his coming or who shall stand when he shall appear as it is Mal. 3.2 And again Rev. 6.16 17. They shall call to the mountains to hide them from the face of him that sitteth upon the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand Take this day in reference to the Jews for their particular and it was full of astonishment in each acception whether we take it for the day of their Captivity or for the day of their Messias The day of their Captivity it was a doleful day unto them insomuch as the Prophet Jeremy made it the sole matter of his Book of Lamentations And the day of the Messias that was an heavy day like wise that it proved their final rejection for since that time they are mark'd out to the world for a persidious people and hardly known for a people The Vse of all to our selves and so to draw to a conclusion comes to this We have heard how the day of the Lord is darkness and not light that is terrible and full of horror in the whole latitude and extent of it whether we take it for the day of death and general judgment or whether we take it for the day of captivity and National visitation Now what remains but that accordingly we should be sensible and apprehensive of it in this representation and from thence to prevent the terribleness of it to our selves For this is the nature of such things as these are that the terribleness of them encreases with the security about them and the less grievous they are thought to be afore-hand the more heavy are they when they happen and come to pass And on the other side preparations for them do take off from the dreadfulness of them We should therefore labour to get a stock of Grace against such times as these are and in this day of the Lord's mercy and respite and intermission prepare for the day of his wrath and judgment and visitation We should labour and endeavour to make our peace with God in Christ who alone can take off the terribleness of that day from us and make it of a day of darkness to be a day of light We should cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light in the abandoning of all wicked and sinful courses and in the practice of all spiritual and heavenly Graces We should walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness not in strife and envying but putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and making no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof as
measure and degree of goodness which might be desired can hardly be perswaded to acknowledg any good in them at all but set them at an absolute distance and remoteness from the Kingdom of God and as having nothing to do with it This we must take heed we do not do as carrying too much rigour and severity in it Indeed we must be careful we do not sow pillows under mens elbows and nourish them in a course of security perswade them that it is well with them and in good case when 't is no such matter but on the other side we must not blemish their Graces nor deny the work of God in their hearts Woe unto them which call either evil good or good evil which put darkness for light or light for darkness which put bitter for sweet or sweet for bitter as the Prophet speaks there in that place in Isa 5.20 That 's the first Notion in this expression as it is a word of commendation and so has with it the force of encouragement Secondly It is also a word of diminution Thou art not far from that is thou art not quite at home thou hast somewhat further yet to go and so now it is a word of excitement Christ by shewing him his distance does perswade him to go a little further He takes him as it were by the hand and directs him to a further pitch in Christianity which he would have him to attain unto Thus should we do likewise so acknowledg beginnings of goodness as to carry on to further progress that so as on the one side we may not dishearten them or discourage goodness in them so on the other side we may not flatter them or sooth them up in a more remiss condition and so make them contented with less Grace instead of labouring to attain to greater This we learn here from our Saviour's practice whose drift was to carry on this Scribe to further perfection And this speech of our Saviours it was effectual to him hereunto in sundry respects First as it shewed him his defects and imperfections for which he had need to go forward and proceed a little further whiles he says he is not far from it he does imply he has not fully attain'd it There 's nothing which is at any time a greater hindrance and impediment to improvement than an apprehension and conceit of perfection when men shalll think they are at their journeys end they will not step any further but when they shall be perswaded and consider that they are not yet at home this will set them upon going This now is the speech of Christ to this person before us thou hast not absolutely come to the mark and therefore go on It was the text which wrought upon St. Paul as himself relates it to us Phil. 3.12 13. Not as though I had already attain'd or were already perfect but I follow after c. Brethren I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before I press c. Secondly It shew'd him also his hopes and possibilities that 's another encouragement and excitement and provocation to endeavour Those which think they shall never attain they will never undertake But this expression thou art not far off it takes off that there is hope of coming thither for you are almost there already Do not give over now in the very end and close of all He that has begun a good work in you will perfect it unto the day of Jesus Christ as the Apostle Paul speaks in Phil. 1.6 Thirdly It shewed him also his engagements from what he had done already to proceed Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God that is thou hast hitherto made some endeavour after it do not now decline and grow worse There 's no greater engagement to perfect goodness than this consideration that we have begun it that so we may not lose the labour of all our former undertakings and attempts We should imitate this example of Christ in helping others forward in Religion as Aquila and Priscilla did Apollos And thus has this expression in it the force of a peroration and an excitement not only shewing what now was but what ought to be for time to come in pursuit of what was already We might here now further look upon these words not only consider'd in themselves and as declaring the state and condition of this Scribe to whom they are spoken but also reslexively as coming from our Saviour the Speaker of them and that as the words of judgment and discretion Whiles our Saviour passes this censure upon this person he does it out of a spirit of discerning and as one that knew what was in man as it is said of him in Joh. 2.25 Now although we cannot expect to reach to this in the perfection of it yet we may and ought to imitate it in a degree as much as may be namely to discern and distinguish of persons that so we may be able to pass true and right judgment upon them and what verdict we give of them we may give it out of a sound understanding Our Blessed Lord and Saviour he did not converse with men carelesly or heedlesly without any regard but he did mind them and took notice of them and observ'd what they were He discerned the Pharisees and Sadducees in the foregoing part of the Chapter as to their hypocrisy and dissimulation and treachery against him and here now he discerns the Scribe in his sincerity and honesty and plain-dealing and the integrity that was in his heart together with the weakness and imperfection of Grace within Thus it should be with us proportionably in our conversation in the world as Politicians study men so also should Christians especially those above others who live in places of society and converse and have many persons to deal withal Here it is very useful and necessary in sundry regards that so according to variety of circumstances and occasions which are upon us and the difference of dispositions and affections we may either learn or teach or rebuke or encourage or decline or close withal and that we may neither wrong our selves nor other men This is another thing which we gather from this practice and example of Christ And so now I have done with the first General Part of the Text which was the censure at first in these words Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God The second General is the occasion whereupon this censure was past that we have in the words before When Jesus saw that he answer'd discreetly Where again there are two things more considerable of us First the thing it self in the simple proposition and that is that he answer'd discreetly Secondly the Inference which is made hereupon in the connexion and that is that therefore he was not far c. First for the thing it self simply propounded it
for heavenly discourse He that exercises communion with God shall be better able to exercise and maintain communion with men And he that converses with his own heart shall be the better able to deal with others because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks as our Saviour tells us He that will lay out must lay up and he that will ever be profitable to others he must have a treasury and store-house within himself None can give but he that has And this is one rule to be observed by us as tending to this duty Secondly We must also have respect to the company we converse withal There 's a casting of Pearls before Swine which our Saviour has given us warning of Thirdly To time and season Every thing is beautiful in its season and a word spoken then is like apples of Gold in pictures of silver The use which we are to make of this Point is in our places to conform to this example and to study all opportunities of doing good that possibly we can Thus much for that which is here implied Christ's instruction and improving of himself whiles he was here present with them The Second is that which is exprest The different entertainment of him by these two Sisters Mary she sate at his feet and heard his word but Martha she was cumbred about much serving We 'll speak to the carriage of them both c. First Of the carriage of Mary She sate at his feet and heard his word Wherein we have divers things observable of us First here was her wise improvement of the opportunity for the good of her soul She was not sure to have Christ always therefore she would make use of him whiles she had him From whence we learn the same wisdom for our own particulars we should get as much good as we can from Ministers and other Christians whiles they abide and continue with us And we should also draw them forth and improve them Thus in all probability Mary did here Christ did not only speak to her of his own accord but she ask'd him and question'd with him Thus the Queen of Sheba did with Solomon she pursued him with hard questions 1 Kings 10.1 c. She tried him and put him to it So the Disciples to Christ upon his Ascension c. This is requisite to be done First From the proportion of gifts which God does variously distribute to his servants There are some which have knowledg in them but such as does not run out of it self till it be pumpt and drawn forth yea oftentimes the greatest abilities this way the deepest as Pearls which must be digg'd for ere they be had Prov. 20.5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep waters but a man of understanding will draw it out Secondly There is also sometimes an indisposition and retiredness in many persons which must accordingly be quickned and removed Thirdly There are particular cases wherein such and such particular persons do need advice and instruction which are best known to themselves And therefore they must be active in the expressing of them How shall a Physitian be able to apply himself to such and such Patients except themselves shew their disease This condemns the contrary course of many people Many of excellent abilities which are as good as lost for want of this That 's one thing here observable in Mary she improves the opportunity of Christ's presence to draw forth knowledg and instruction from him whiles he was with her Secondly She sate at his feet Here 's another expression of her carriage which has also its several intimations contain'd in it as especially these two First Her reverence and composedness of carriage and quietness of mind Martha she ran up and down the house as one which was distracted with business but Mary sate still at Christ's feet A composed gesture is a good argument of a composed spirit Those which cannot sit still in a place but run up and down from one to another as many do sometimes in our Assemblies they shew but little reverence and regard to the business in hand This holy woman she sate still as a note both of her inward reverence and quietness of mind free from worldly cares and distractions This is one qualification required of worthy hearers they must come as near as they can with free minds A roving and unsetled hearer can never be a good hearer Be still and know that I am Col Psal 46.10 For this purpose we should come with preparation and premeditation afore-hand labouring to disburthen our minds of those cumbrances which are apt to molest us otherwise the world will be ready to be choaked in us and become unfruitful to us And that we may the better do this disuse our selves from our worldly employment Thus when the Sabbath's approaching we should lay aside our trade betimes And on other days when we go to hearing the word we should not go immediately out of our shops but fitting our selves to it by prayer c. And that 's the first thing here observable in Mary to wit her reverence and composedness of spirit Secondly Here was her humility She sate at his feet This expression is taken from the custom of ancient times which is still continued to this present day That the Teachers were plac'd in some higher and more eminent part not only for the opportunity of speaking that so they might be the better heard but also as a Symbol of authority and eminency in regard of their Doctrine In which regard their Scholars and Disciples were said also to sit at their feet Thus Paul Act. 22.3 He is said to be brought up at the feet of Gamaliel Here in Mary it does denote that subjection and tractableness and pliableness of spirit which every hearer ought to bring with him to the word of God We are to come with meek and humble and double affections hereunto Jam. 1.21 Laying aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness receive with meekness the ingrafted word which is able to save your souls This was the commendation of Cornelius and his company Acts 10.33 Now therefore we are all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God They came with an humble and teachable spirit to the word of God as ready to yield obedience to every thing which should be made known unto them So the Thessalonians 1 Thes 2.13 c. We have many hearers sometimes which do not sit at the feet but rather at the head of their Teachers which will be teaching those which should teach them intruding into those things which they do not know vainly pust up by a fleshly mind as the Apostle's phrase is Col. 2.18 We have many captious and frivolous hearers which nothing will please or satisfy them but such as suits with their own lusts having itching ears This godly woman in the Text was otherwise disposed She sate at Christ's feet a note of
in Martha was as a mis-apprehension of Christ so a misplacing of her own affections She look'd after that which was but trivial and nothing to speak of the providing of her fââst c. and neglected the main chance of all which was the word of Christ This is intimated in this expression Thou art careful and troubled about many things where that which expresses many things is in the Greek ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is ordinary and common and vulgar things ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã So if we please we may render it and very suitable to the scope of the place And here we learn thus much that it is a great fault in Christians and those who are professors of Religion to have their minds and thoughts taken up about slight and trivial matters Coloss 3. verse 2. Set your affection on things above and not on things on the earth And it is a character of evil persons that they are minding of earthly things Phil. 3.29 And Matth. 13.22 He is condemned in the thorny ground that the care of this World and the deceitfulness of riches choaked the word that it became unfruitful This minding of such things is very unfitting in these respects First In regard of the unsuitableness of these things to their minds they are things below a Christian's spirit It is true that so far forth as we are men and consist of slesh and blood as others do so far forth we have need of those things which do tend to the sustenance and preservation of this our natural life and so far forth they may also in good sort and in a degree be tended by us but take them simply in themselves and they are exceedingly inferior and below a Christian's spirit there 's no agreement or correspondency betwixt them Take an heart which is sanctified by Grace sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ has the Spirit of God dwelling in it and how far are these outward things inferior to it as much and a great deal more than the sports and pastimes of children are to the thoughts of grown and grave men Secondly Because they have better and other things to take their minds up If Christians had nothing else to think of they might be perhaps excused for being so busy and careful about these because the mind of man must have somewhat to exercise and employ it self in But now there are other matters of greater and higher consequence and of better concernment There 's God and Christ and Grace and Glory to be revealed There 's one thing which is necessary which makes these many things which are superfluous to be out of date This was the fault here of Martha in the Text that she was so taken up in these trifles when she had the word of Christ to be exercised in That 's another thing which makes them unfitting Thirdly Because they little conduce to that end to which themselves are appointed Every wise man has his eye still upon his end and that scope which he propounds to himself to have a care of that Now what are all these things to that any further than as so many encouragements to carry us chearfully through our way Our main end is a better life and to be fitted and prepared for that And therefore accordingly our thoughts and affections should be pitcht on such things as do most conduce hereunto other matters are little to the purpose and sometimes do very much lead another way Ye cannot serve two Masters God and Mammon both He that will love the one must forsake the other And we see here again in the Text that Martha whiles she looked after many things she was so much the more remiss about one and that which of all other could least and worst be neglected Thus we see upon what grounds it is blameable in Christians to be intent upon trivial things This therefore justly meets with the distemper of many Christians in this particular whose thoughts are too much taken up about the world and the things thereof It is true that God does both allow and command us a moderate regard of these things as we intimated before but that these should have our hearts and affections this is that which he takes very ill from us and it is justly taxable in us when-ever it is so that these poor and empty things should possess us and have the mastery of us that Martha a godly woman and one that profest Religion that she should now be thus taken up was very irregular And so is it also for any other Christians besides and a dishonour upon Christianity it self therefore it deserved a chiding and a very tart and sharp one too as here it found from Christ for there was more in these words than is exprest there 's an Emphasis in the very naming an recital of them which Christ contents himself here withal in his dealing with Martha He does not give her any harsh language and tell her she is thus and thus that she is a worldling or a muck-worm or so only names her sin to her which was enough to an ingenious spirit Thou art careful and troubled about many things And this indeed shewed the greatness and heinousness of the offence That 's a great miscarriage indeed which the naming of it is enough to reprove And so was this here in the Text. And that 's the Second the misplacing of her affections about many things c. The Third and last thing which Christ seems here to tax in Martha is her sollicitude and distraction of spirit and excess in this business Here were two faults involved in one and so we 'll take them together First here was her excess and superfluity in the word many things as it is a note of variety And Secondly here was her perplexity and distraction in the word troubled First Here was her excess and superfluity in the word many things as a note of variety Christ did not find fault with her hospitality but she was too curious and superfluous in it From whence we may note thus much That we may over-do there where it would be a fault not to do at all we may do more than we need to do and we may do more than we should do where we should sin except we did somewhat Yea further we are apt and prone hereunto take notice of that We are very ready and subject to over-shoot our selves in things lawful and necessary and to go beyond our bounds in them licitis perimus omnes we are all undone by lawful things as by apparel by meats and drinks by traffick and commerce those things which are indulged to us and which we cannot well be without yet we sin oftentimes in the enjoyment and use of them The ground hereof is First of all The general corruption of our nature which taints the best things in us To the pure all things are pure but to them which are defiled is nothing pure c. says the
Apostle Tit. 1.15 Things are better or worse to us as we are commonly our selves Now we are all by nature corrupt and stark nought So far forth are other things sanctified to us but so far forth as there are any reliques or remainders of corruption in us as there are in the best that are so far forth the best things that are are corrupted to us Secondly The nature of the things themselves as being least of all feared and suspected That 's another ground of this also where things are in their own nature lawful we do very readily venture upon them and are bold with them whereas other things stick a little with us No man surfeits of poison but of good and wholsome food and of that which is taken for granted to be no other than such as is good And so 't is also here in these matters We are satisfied in the matter and hence we come to exceed in the measure This should teach us to be so much the more watchful over our own hearts and to this purpose to beg assistance of God for the guiding and directing of us Take heed of our selves in things lawful Satan is there vigilant over us and we are apt soonest to be abused let us not rest upon the matter and nature of the things we are employed in but observe and take notice of our own hearts and affections in it and as I said desire God himself to watch over us We stand not by our own strength and are safe no further than a better hand keeps us than our own To speak more particularly to the present Point and business in the Text This work of Martha in her feasting and entertaining of Christ it is considerable under a double notion either as a part of her particular Calling as it was a piece of good housewifery in her and looking to the affairs of her Family or as a part of her general Calling as it was a piece of hospitality in her and kindness which she shewed to Christ And according to each of these there is somewhat observable from them From the First we learn thus much That men and women may sin and offend even in the pursuit of their lawful Calling Thus did Martha here This looking after houshold affairs it was a part of her Calling The Apostle in 1 Tim. 5.14 lays it down as a part of the duty which belongs to that Sex ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to guide the house This in it self consider'd was very lawful and commendable in her yet in the managing and carriage of it there was a great abuse This offending in point of our Callings may be explain'd divers âays First when men have sinister aims and âas in the following of them when men aim only at wealth and increase of their estates and not to do service by their Callings either âââhe Church or Common-wealth or when they improve their Callings to bad and unwarrantable purposes Ministers when they preach false Doctrine Souldiers when they fight in bad causes Magistrates when they pervert righteous judgment c. Secondly When mens particular Callings prove hinderances and imediments to their general when men are so intent upon these that they are neglectful of those This is another miscarriage likewise this was the fault here in the Text and so it is of many others besides Their Callings intrench upon the Sabbaths and the Lord's day Their Callings hinder them from duties of Religion and Christianity both publick and private They cannot hear nor pray nor meditate nor do any thing of a Christain And what 's the excuse of all They have so much business in their particular Callings This is a very great abuse and miscarriage and so to be accounted That man which has not leisure to be saved he wants leisure indeed But of this we shall have occasion to speak more hereafter This may suffice for the present that that is a great offence in our Callings when they make us neglect our souls Thirdly when men undo their bodies and prejudice their health by them There are many so intent upon their Callings as that they wholly neglect their health This if it be any way tolerable it is in our Calling of the Ministery where yet also there must be a regard And this now leads us to the Second thing which is the last observable in this verse and that is Martha's sollicitude and distraction This was that which Christ did chiefly and principally tax in her which we may further consider in reference to the second notion also of her employment which we may take in with it as a part of her general Calling in the entertainment of Christ In a word this is the summ Martha's entertainment of Christ and giving this respect to him It was a very noble and honourable work and performance in her and such as undoubtedly proceeded from her special love and affection to him but this was that which was blamable in her that she was too anxious and sollicitous about it which we have exprest in three words First she was cumbred Secondly she was careful Thirdly she was troubled All expressing her distraction and all expressing her miscarriage in this business The Point we may take notice of is this That a Christian should have a free and quiet spirit and mind in those businesses which are undertaken by him whatsoever they are whether matters of his particular Calling or general he should still be careful to attend upon the Lord without distraction Martha is here censured because she was careful and troubled This is a temper ill-becoming a Christian It was the counsel of Christ to his Disciples that they should not be too carking and caring And Paul to the Philippians Be careful for nothing c. Phil. 4.6 First Distraction it does no way further or promote Which of you by taking care can add one cubit to his stature Mat. 6.27 Moderate care it furthereth so far forth as means conducing to such an end but anxiousness it does not further at all it carries no influence at all upon the producing of such and such effects Secondly Distraction it does very much hinder and put back both formally and demeritoriously forasmuch as it weakens the mind and makes it unfit for service and also moreover procures some displeasure from God himself It is that which is displeasing to God when we so far distrust his providence as to be inordinately careful and sollicitous about any thing we take in hand Thirdly Distraction it does contract a great deal of guilt with it It is very sinful in the nature of the thing and therefore to be avoided It 's a very vicious and inordinate affection as that which casts a disparagement upon his promises and care over his people This should teach us all we can to labour and strive against it It is that which ill-becomes a wise and prudent man and the Heathen Philosophers had great victory over themselves in this particular but it
again So Grace in the greatest decayings it has still a root at the bottom And there 's life at the heart when all the rest of the body is as 't were dead That 's the first thing here considerable It shall not be lost or taken away in regard of its root and principle The Second is in regard of its operations and effects which it works in the heart The better part shall not be taken away thus it still leaves somewhat behind it which is sure to stick fast Those who are conversant in holy duties and well employ'd in the exercises of Religion they still get somewhat or other which hereupon cleaves unto them either more knowledg or more favour or more affection or more comfort or somewhat There 's a better tincture and impression upon them than was before and so it continues Other things as the vanities of the world they pass with the very acting of them and they leave nothing at all upon the heart but that which iâ naught like themselves when they are over there 's an end of them But it is not so now in the hearing of the word and in sitting at the feet of Christ with Mary here in the Text. This in regard of the influence and efficacy which it leaves behind it it abides and remains still When the Ordinances cease yet the effects of them still continue And when the Bible it self is lost yet the benefit which comes by reading of it shall not be lost nor taken away with it it holds in regard of its effects Thirdly In regard of its reward and recompence both here in this life and in another world it shall not be taken away so neither There 's no man that shall lose any thing by his diligence and constancy in Religion but shall be sure to have it abundantly supplied and made up unto him He shall be sure not to lose his reward Godliness it hath the promise of this life and of that which is to come as the Apostle tells us 1 Tim. 4.8 It has the promise and it has also the performance of what is promised together with it First Even here in this life There 's a reward of Piety here especially within the compass of it self in the peace of a good conscience and that quietness and tranquillity of spirit which is consequent upon it Duty conscientiously performed is thus far a reward to it self and carries the fruits and effects in its own bosome In the keeping of thy Commandments is great reward Psal 19.12 And then Secondly For the life to come there it shall be sure to be rewarded to purpose even where at present it seems to be neglected This better part does not appear to be the better part yet at least to some kind of eyes and apprehensions nay it rather seems to be the contrary To be lost and taken away in regard of any good that comes by it oh but there 's a time a coming when it shall appear and be made good abundantly God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love Heb. 6.10 And Gal. 6.9 Let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not And what shall we reap why he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting as it follows there in the same place And in 2 Joh. 8. There 's mention made of a full reward The consideration of this Point may be thus far useful to us First as it may shew us the difference betwixt Religion and other things There 's nothing here below that we can absolutely and peremptorily conclude that it shall not be taken away from us there being a great uncertainty upon it All the Goods of this present world they are movables as I may so express it Health and Strength and Favour and Riches and Honour they are all easily taken away we have frequent experience of it upon every occasion And life it self which is the foundation of them all and whereupon they depend that 's soon and quickly at an end with those that enjoy it the longest But this now is the excellency of Grace and Piety that it is of eternal continuance The world passeth away and the lust thereof but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever 1 Joh. 2.17 Secondly This may serve also to encourage us and provoke us to the practice of Religion and to an attendance upon those duties and exercises which are pertinent thereunto of reading and hearing and meditation and holy conference and the like such as these as this gracious woman here was employed in Forasmuch as we shall not be losers but gainers by them in our spiritual part And besides we shall have an eternal reward which shall hereafter be bestowed upon us for them in the conscientious performance of them What-ever diligence and industry is used by us herein and to this purpose it will be our own another day as we use to express it And we shall find the benefit of it in our own experience it will stick by us when-as every thing else will give us the slip and be removed and taken away from us as I said before Yea when the duties themselves are at an end as Christ hereafter shall be all in all yet the fruit and benefit and comfort of them shall yet abide and continue still for ever And further Let us remember to be conversant in these duties of Piety and Religion after a spiritual manner which is here implyed and supposed when it is said that Mary chose the better part she did not only sit at Christ's feet and hear his word with her outward cars but she closed with Christ's Spirit and her heart opened unto him And so we should be careful to have it with us in such performances To choose the better part of the better part For as the duties of Piety and Religion have an excellency consider'd in themselves above common and worldly performances and so are the better part in comparison of them So the spiritual performance of these duties have an excellency consider'd in it self above the external performance of the same duties and is the better part in comparison of that And we are to take it here in the Text in this comprehensive notion of it or else we shall come short of the true sense and meaning of it Our Saviour does not here commend Mary only from the nature of her employment but also moreover from her carriage and behaviour in it This is that therefore I say which we should have a regard to in such things as these are even to be spiritual in spiritual duties and to have a frame of heart answerable to the nature and quality of the performances wherein we are employ'd that so we may be both the better in them and the better for them For it is the Spirit that quickeneth the Flesh profiteth nothing If it had not been for this Martha had
Shulamite return return there 's a doubling still of the word The Spirit of God he speaks quick and he speaks often again and again where he would prevent from danger Thus it teaches us accordingly to submit to such quick and close admonitions as these are as we have need of them There are many that do not love to be startled they would fain go to Hell quietly without any disturbance or interruption and therefore abhor all such persons as deal roundly and tartly with them and would awaken them out of their natural condition Oh but we see there is sometimes cause for such dealings and we should not think much of them whether from Ministers in the way of their publick Ministery or from private Christians in the way of Christian converse and private admonition not to be offended with their rouzings and excitements of us which the state in which we may be in and the danger which is neer upon us may call for to be used to us That 's one intimation in this doubled and repeated expression viz. The greatness of the danger The Second is the security of the person warned Peter was not more in danger than he was insensible of his danger He thought the case to be well enough with him as he expresses it afterwards in verse 33 of this chap. Lord I am ready to go with thee both into prison and unto death He thought himself a jolly man and that he could do very great matters till it came to the trial was well perswaded of his own strength and of his ability to resist temptations Now therefore does our Saviour here awaken him out of this secure temper and disposition by this manner of expressing himself unto him As danger calls for excitement so especially there where it hath security with it As the Angel to Lot and his company when they took them and pulled them out of Sodom because of their lingring in it Even so is there need to be done with some souls from that presumption and security that possesses them Thirdly The affection of the Monitor or Person that gives the warning that 's also in the doubling of the appellation It is a sign Christ's heart was much in it and that he bore a singular love and respect to Peter in that he does thus passionately admonish him Love is full of sollicitude and carefulness for the party beloved and can never express it self as it thinks sufficiently about it for the welfare of it And this is seen in nothing more than in spiritual things It is a singular token of affection to give warning of spiritual dangers and hazards to the soul and of temptations which it is exposed unto This is that which Christ does here in the Text to the Apostle Peter and which he does also to the rest of his Servants by his Spirit still in their hearts He does secretly forewarn them of those evils which are neer unto them if-so-be they will take warning by him and that also with much importunity and vehemency as that which concerns them So much for that and so also of the First General in the Text viz. The person warned the Apostle Peter in these words repeated and doubled Simon Simon The Second is the matter of the admonition or the warning it self Behold Satan To say nothing of the word of attention Behold which yet might be inlarged upon There are two particulars here further considerable First the persons aim'd at and that is you Secondly the design upon them Satan hath desired to have you and to sift or winnow you as wheat For the First The persons aim'd at they are here said to be you He spake before to Peter in the singular Simon Simon now it is you in the plural To signify thus much unto us that there 's the same condition of all Believers as of one That which befalls one Christian it is incident to all the rest They have all the same dngers which they are exposed unto and enemies which do endeavour against them though they may not always have the like opportunity for the expressing of their enmity against them one as another Peter and the rest all alike The reason of it is this Because they all consist of the same natures and are acted by the same principles they all have the reliques of the same original corruption as yet in part abiding in them and they have all the same Spirit and work of Grace acting in them And so as to temptations they are all one and the same for the danger which they are liable unto Therefore it should work all to an holy jealousie and suspition of themselves and tenderness to others when we see any poor soul at any time exercised with Satan's temptations and it may be sometimes foyl'd with them let us not think that his case is peculiar and that we for our parts shall do well enough No but rather be so much the more watchful over our own hearts Be not high-minded but fear for that which befalls others if thou look'st not to it may befall thee And so it should teach us also bowels and compassion towards others under temptations not to be harsh with them and rigorous towards them and censorious of them but to use all kind of gentleness and tenderness to them considering that the case might be our own if God should permit it Thus the Apostle Paul improves it in his exhortation given to the Galatians Gal. 6.1 Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such an one with the spirit of meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted Which rule if it were more observ'd there would be a great deal of more Christian affection in the world than commonly there is Men look upon the temptations of others as if themselves were altogether exempt and freed from them whereas if they were in the same circumstances they would bewray the same infirmities and weaknesses that others do afore them that so they may carry the greater bowels and pitty towards them As it is an argument to remembrance of others in bonds and adversty as being your selves in the body and so ready to be bound with them Heb. 13.3 So it is an argument for compassion towards others under temptations as being your selves liable and exposed to the same condition and apt and ready to be tempted with them And indeed this is the reason why God is pleased many times to exercise sundry persons in this kind and to expose them now and then to temptations that so from hence he may teach them to be less harsh and rigorous to others in such conditions which when themselves are free they are oftentimes subject unto that they may preserve in themselves a sweet and amiable ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and tenderness of spirit to the rest of their Brethren and that their moderation may be known to all men as the Apostle requires it should be Phil. 4.5 It is
was this that his Servant Job was a perfect and upright man one that feared God and eschewed evil and still held fast his integrity It was le-balgno chinnam To swallow him up without cause and therefore it was that he could not perswade him to it We should all endeavour that it may be so with us That though God may always find cause himself to destroy us and swallow us up yet that Satan may never find cause to provoke him and perswade him thereto from careless and uneven walking and conversing before him And that may be the first thing considerable in this expression of desire viz. Satan's restraint He was limited and confined by God whose leave must first be ask'd in this particular Secondly As here 's Satan's restraint so moreover his malice and boldness of attempt Magnis tamen excidit âusis He ventures high Two things there are that do commonly encourage men in asking and in putting up their requests the acceptableness of the thing ask'd and the acceptableness of the person that asks it neither of these are here in Satan in asking of God his children and therefore a bold request It is not only a bare and single desire but this desire drawn out into a Prayer which is somewhat more Even Satan himself prays take notice of that So sometimes may those also which are Instruments of Satan as to the outward action and substance of the performance But what kind of prayer is it and what does it tend unto That he may have Peter and the rest of the Apostles and do what he pleaseth with them He desires of God that he would give up these his Servants into his power This was a very insolent request As if a man should ask leave of a Father that he might cut his child's throat Such was this desire here of Satan So it was also there concerning Job Thou movedst me against him Job 2.3 This I say was a very great boldness yet such as was in Satan towards God in regard of Job as here in regard of Peter and the rest One may desire that which he is loth to signify that he desires Many an one desires that which he is ashamed to ask And many an one desires that which he scorns to ask especially if he must ask it of an enemy And yet thus does Satan here of God He asks his servants of him This is a sign he has a good mind to you and it should teach us the more to look to our selves and to overcome desires with desires impudence with prayers How much more reason and encouragement have God's children to pray to God for themselves than Satan to pray against them But so much also for this Before we proceed any further we may here take notice of one thing more which is The word of attention Behold This is ordinary and frequent in Scripture by way of Preface and Introduction But here as I conceive it hath some further Emphasis with it which is to excite and awaken Peter and to make him the more look about him in his present condition And there are these things observable from it First here is implyed Peter's ignorance and present unadvisedness He was not aware of this attempt of Satan So is it likewise with many others of God's servants Satan does secretly lay siege unto their souls and they do not discern it It is a great piece of skill to know indeed when we are tempted and to be apprehensive that we are under a temptation There are a great many persons which are so which yet do not perceive it nay there are many which think the quite contrary which are very secure in this particular and so secure as that they take and interpret Satan's temptations even for the motions of God himself This is a very dangerous condition and such as these have need to be admonished and warned most of all and therefore here Behold Secondly We see here also the love of Christ who helps our ignorance in this particular and advises us where we are less regardful This as he did then by word of mouth so as I said before he does still likewise by his Spirit in our hearts if we will but hearken and listen to him in those suggestions Thirdly Here 's also as sometimes the eminency and conspicuousness of the temptation It is such as is very obnoxious and open to all mens eyes so that one may easily see and behold it if they will but give heed unto it But so much also for that It is a sign he hath a mind to you and some hope of you or else he would never do as he does To come now to the object it self of this desire To have you he hath desired this this is I say very pertinently added to make up the fulness of the sense and accordingly we may take notice of it There are two sorts of Satan's temptations and so answerably there 's a double having of them which may be here understood by us First there are temptations to sin And Secondly there are temptations for sin and both here included And so to have you two manner of ways To have you to corrupt you To have you to afflict you First To have you to corrupt you Satan has desired this To have you so to have interest in you to have influece upon you to have service from you Satan has much wish'd for this To have you that is to have you for his turn This is that which as near as he could he would obtain of the servants of Christ he would have them out of the hands of Christ in his own enjoyment and possession This is that which he would fain have if he might have what he desired It is not that he would have your estates or your liberties or your lives only No but he would have your selves and he would have your souls He would have you and the best part of you He would have you and all of you at his command You and you indefinitely that is every one of you one as well as another And you and you extensively that is you in every part of you your whole soul and body and spirit There is nothing which God has of you but Satan would have of you too He would corrupt and defile your whole man This may serve as a very good item and caution to the servants of God in regard of the temptations of Satan and their own yieldings to them to be well advised and consider of them The Devil in the baits which he lays whereby to catch and insnare poor souls he makes them often to believe as if he were very modest in his requests and demands of them only that they should do such and such actions for such a particular time and that 's all that he would ask of them Nay but that 's not all which will content him he desires to have them themselves with the whole bent and inclination of their souls
in their several temptations When I said my foot slippeth thy mercy O Lord held me up says David Psal 94.18 And Psal 73.23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee Thou hast holden me by my right-hand Still it was God's holding of him Secondly The Servants of God do sometimes happily light upon careful and skilful persons whether Ministers or other Christians which herein are very helpful unto them When a man has broken or put out of joynt a leg or an arm if he meet with a skilful Chirurgeon or Bone-setter it is a great advantage to him in that respect Why thus now does it happen sometimes to the people of God in temptation they meet with friends skilful to this purpose ãâã Intercessor one of a thousand who has the tongue of the learned and is able to speak a word in season to the weary soul a spiritual man which can restore them and put them in joynt again by a spirit of meekness And now whiles it is thus with them they do in such cases more easily recover This was the case of David who when he was fallen in his great temptations had this advantage of the Prophet Nathan for his conversion and turning again And this was the case of Eli who when he had trespast against the Lord by his indulgence to his wicked Sons had the advantage of young Samuel to admonish him and put him in mind of it And this was the case of Hezekiah who being tempted to pride and vain-glory and carnal confidence in his treasures and possessions had the advantage of the Prophet Isaiah to awaken him in it And this was here now the advantage of Peter when he was drawn aside to the denial of his Master that he had the seasonable eye of Christ to look upon him and thereby to reduce him and to bring him to repentance as we find him to have done Thirdly There is in the servants of God a Principle of spiritual life which does conduce hereunto There 's a great deal of difference betwixt a dead man and a man in a swoon A man which is stark dead there 's no recovery of him again because a privatione ad habitum non datur regressus from an absolute and total privation there is no return again to the habit But it is otherwise here with the children of God in temptation they are not dead but sleep Grace it is not absolutely lost or extinguisht but only stunned in them And from hence it is that they do at the last return to their former condition This is signified in the connexion of these words with the words going before I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not And when thou art converted So long as a man's Faith fails not so long is there hope of his conversion in the sense which is here spoken of The Servants of God their Principles are still sound in them and this is very advantageous to them in this particular As ye see in other matters when a man has a strong nature and a good temper and constitution of body it will easily work out some distempers in him which another lies under Even so is it here in these spiritual things where a man has a gracious frame and temper of heart for the general this will conquer and overcome some occasional weaknesses in him Lastly which I will here but only name because we shall speak to it more hereafter the children of God they are also careful of themselves When men are sick and distemper'd and take no care for their recovery or amendment they may dye of the distemper but by good heed health is often restored And so here God's Servants when they fall into temptation they take care of themselves in it and so at last get out of it and are freed from the inconveniencies of it which are appertaining to it Thus we see an account of this business how God's people after temptations are restored The Use of this Point to our selves is not from hence to make us so much the more bold and busy with temptations in hope of being at last delivered and freed from them which is an ill improvement of such Truths as these are but rather as a word of comfort to good Christians against Satan's assaults and attempts upon them The Devil when at any time he sets upon any poor soul his desire and intent is to undo it and to take it off wholly from God that it should never return to him more But yet he is herein disappointed and frustrated of his expectation so as he shall not prevail so much against it and therefore may every good Christian in this case triumph with the Church in Mic. 7.8 Rejoyce not against me O mine enemy when I fall I shall rise again when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me As God sets bounds to his people's afflictions so to their corruptions also and temptations that they shall not too long lye upon them Peter though for a while tempted yet shall at length be restored and converted And thus much of the words in the first sense as they may be taken by way of supposition and as the intimation of a Priviledg When thou art converted The Second is by way of imposition or command and as they have in them the intimation of a Duty Return or convert thy self Thus the two ancient Eastern Translations both Syriack and Arabick carry it and that not altogether unagreeable to the Original Text It being ordinary in the Greek Language to turn the Imperative into the Participle As Matth. 28.19 Go teach all Nations baptizing them i. e. Teach them and Baptize them So here having converted strengthen i. e. Convert and strengthen And this sense is also further justified from the Participle in the Active signification We will therefore not excluding the former take it in this construction also So there is further in it That Christians when they are fallen through temptation ought as soon as may be to return and restore and recover and convert themselves from it Having first converted thy self which it concerns thee to endeavour then do so also to thy brethren For the better opening of this present Point unto us we must remember that there 's a double Conversion there 's a conversion from the state of Nature to the state of Grace and there 's a conversion from some decay or weakenings of Grace to the renewings and strengthening of it There 's repentance as to the state and also to the act Now it is not the former Conversion but the latter which is here intended in this Scripture As for Conversion in the former sense wherein indeed the word is commonly and most usually taken that Peter did partake of already and was not at all fallen from it that is from the general work of Regeneration and the new creature But as to the latter of that he was capable And Christ here warns him as occasion should serve
lose nothing by such improvements as these are but gain by them rather and they return upon us with so much the greater advantage that so we may be encouraged thereunto in the practice of them This Oyl it encreases in the spending and this Bread in the breaking of it And to him that thus hath it shall be given We should therefore be perswaded to put this duty in practice upon all occasions God has made and appointed us for the good one of another and not only for our selves therefore as we have any thing our selves we should mind one anothers good in it As the Ministerial official parts of the body The heart and liver and stomach they do not only receive nourishment for themselves but for the whole body So should we which are Christians in spiritual things As the Heavens what light and influence they have in themselves they bestow upon the earth even so should we do to those which are below us especially in these places of society We see how active evil men are in that which is evil Those which are themselves perverted they 'll be sure to pervert their Brethren and make others as bad or perhaps a great deal worse than themselves And why should not we then do the contrary in matters of goodness What a shame is it for the children of this world to be in this sense also wiser in their generation than the children of light Oh! let us cast off this sluggishness and remisness from us let us make it our business to make others partakers of the same Grace and comfort with our selves This is done divers ways as First by discovering and laying open the flights of sin and the subtilties of the spiritual enemy The reason why many miscarry and are surprized with spiritual evils is because they are not aware of the danger which is incident to them and which themselves are subject unto They are apt to think that there is no such great hazard in such ways as are undertaken by them as indeed there is Now here it concerns us being our selves converted to admonish them and warn them of it Peter who had now unadvisedly gone into the High Priest's Hall and mingled himself with the evil company which he met withal there in that place he was better fitted to advise others to take heed of such kind of temptations Exhort one another daily whiles it is called to day lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin Heb. 3.13 Secondly By quickening and exciting and stirring up one another to good we do hereby strengthen our Brethren There 's nothing does more strengthen men in goodness than the practice of goodness And there is nothing which does more promote and advance this practice in them than the quickening and exciting of them Therefore it is the Apostle's Exhortation in Heb. 10.24 Let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works We should be putting one another upon good as much as we can and thereby settle them in it yea we should encourage them and hearten them in it by convincing them of the great good and advantage which comes by it This is a means to confirm and strengthen them What strengthens men at any time in evil why it is the apprehension of little hurt in it and as they conceit a great deal of contentment The same would also confirm men in good if it were truly and really understood which we should therefore labour and endeavour to assure them and perswade them of and to fasten upon them Thirdly By imparting and communicating of our own Experiences we do hereby likewise strengthen our Brethren when we shall shew them what good we our selves have found by such and such good courses This is a means not onely to draw on but to confirm others with us And so when we shall shew what comfort we have felt in such and such like cases our selves this is a means to comfort our Brethren and to give satisfaction to them Therefore we shall find the Prophet David to be mindful of this practise in Psal 66.16 Come and hear all ye that fear God and I will declare what he hath done for my Soul As persons which are themselves recovered of such and such a sickness or distemper they are apt to tell what has done them good and thereby to refresh their Neighbours which are exercised with the like infirmities Even so should it be also with Christians in their spiritual conditions In case of temptation to sin I have found benefit by such a word of Command which has restrain'd me from it And in case of temptation for sin I have found benefit by such a word of Promise which has comforted me in it When I have been ready almost to sink in my self an to faint under such an affliction such a Divine Truth or such a Divine Attribute has been a Cordial and a Relief unto me and kept me up When Christians do thus mutually impart and communicate their Experiments to each other they do hereby wonderfully establish and confirm each other in good whether as to point of Grace or of Comfort And then further Not onely by imparting but by comparing these Experiences together one with another I was just in such a case my self and found these workings in me as you have done for your particulaâ Why this is now a great Confirmation It appears from hence that Religion is no matter of meer fancy or imagination but has a Truth and Reality in it because it is thus uniform and consistent to it self as it is in one man as well as another Thus we see what ways those which are themselves converted may strengthen their Brethren To help us and enable us hereunto we must labour especially for such Graces as are conducing to the practise of it As first A Spirit of Discerning whereby to judge aright of the case and condition which our Brethren are in It is a great part of skill in a Physician to be able to find out the Disease and to know the just temper and constitution of his Patients Body and so is it also for an Healer of Souls All kinds of Remedies are not to be used to all kind of Persons some have need of one kind of help and others have need of another which is a piece of spiritual wisdom and prudence in our selves to be able to discover There is a word in season which must be spoken to the weary Soul or else it will do no good Isa 50.4 Secondly A spirit of love and tenderness and condescention There is a great deal of meekness required in a Spiritual Strengthner and Restorer Gal. 6.2 Restore with the spirit of meekness Men which are rough and austere and which stand too much upon their own terms they 'll never do good to others No there must be a yielding and bearing and pitying in such works and ways as those are There must be a putting on of the
it and till then I shall be unable to do it There 's no teaching or converting of others till we are first wrought upon and converted our selves He that is otherwise he cannot do it Cannot do it in regard of Performance That 's the first Secondly Cannot do it in regard of Acceptance God will not take it so well from him in his mking and pretending to do it neither is it altogether so satisfactory to men To hear a man speaking against such and such corruptions in others which he does indulge in himself it has not that comeliness in it neither does God himself so approve it in him What hast thou to do to take my words into thy mouth c. Psal 50.16 when thou hatest to be reform'd Isaiah durst not go on God's message whiles he was a man of unclean lips And Paul was a chosen Vessel to God before a Vessel to bear his name before the Gentiles A Vessel of Election before a Vessel of Honour and fit for the Master's use and prepared unto every good work And so are all others else to be according to that of the Apostle 2 Tim. 2.21 Thirdly Cannot in regard of Success He that 's himself unconverted and unexperienced in his own heart he cannot speak so profitably to others and to the good of their Souls Nothing goes to the heart so much as that which comes from it When the Spirit of the Teacher goes along with his words and speeches then they are likely to be most effectual How coldly do words of consolation come from an uncomfortable spirit or words of confirmation from an unsetled spirit or words of correction from a licentious How forcible are right words says Job 6.25 And then are words right when the heart is right from whence they come Therefore this teaches us what in this case is to be done by us We see what cause Christians have among many other reasons besides to look to the frame and temper of their hearts even to the good and advantage of others among whom they live and converse withal That from hence they may be so much the more useful and beneficial in the communion of Saints and have greater success in the application of themselves to their Brethren whether as Ministers or other men For though God may sometimes do some good even by those who are themselves unconverted yet it is not so natural nor usual God first converts Peter before he strengthens others by Peter And Jeremiah must first return to God before he stand before God as serviceable to him Jer. 15.19 And when this is done then this effect follows upon it When Peter is converted then his Brethren also shall be strengthened which is another sense may be fastened upon the words by taking the Imperative for the Future which is also common and ordinary in Scripture And so here 's again not only a duty but a mercy and a priviledg which our Saviour does intimate and exhibit unto us The conversion of one Christian it is a strengthening and corroboration to the rest God's Grace and goodness to some of his Servants is an heartening and encouraging to their Brethren Thus St. Paul 1 Tim. 1.16 For this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to everlasting life God's mercy to the Apostle it was an embleme of the like mercy to be shewn to all other Believers And David Psal 34.4 5. I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears And what follows They looked unto him and were lightned and their faces were not ashamed They i. e. they which stood by which were strangers but yet observers of God's dealings and carriages to me And so again in that place before alledged which may serve as a kind of parallel to this Psal 51.12 David signifies that when God had restored to him the joy of his Salvation and had stablish'd him with his free Spirit that then as he in regard of endeavour would teach sâiâers so then also in regard of success in all likelihood and probability of dispensation sinners should be converted unto him The Use of all comes to this namely to teach us accordingly to improve the examples which are set before us in this particular The examples of our Brethren falling and overcome with temptation should make us so much the warier and more shy of being tempted our selves To be strengthened that is strengthened with Grace and ability of resistance And the examples of our Brethren rising again and recovering from temptation should make us also to be so much the cheerfuller and more hopeful of being supported our selves Strengthened that is strengthened with comfort and expectation of subsistence And in both together shall we close with God's ends in such Providences as these are before us I have done now with the Third General Head which is a Christian's Duty and so also with the whole Text it self SERMON XII JOH 3.8 The Winde bloweth where it listeth and thou hsarest the sound thereof but knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit There is nothing which is harder to deal withal than a carnal and unregenerate heart which will still have somewhat to cavil at and to object against the Truths of Christ even there where they have the greatest evidence and infallibility in them and are least of all to be questioned of all other Points besides An instance whereof we have here in this Scripture which we have now before us and the coherence of it in the discourse of our Saviour Christ with Nicodemus a Ruler of the Jews This person was somewhat convinced of the worth and excellency that was in Jesus and therefore betakes himself to him and yet he was afraid or ashamed openly to confess him and therefore comes to him by night in a private acknowledgment of him Now our Saviour presently saw what he wanted as the ground of this carriage in him and that was a serious work of the saving Grace of God upon his heart which might make him to close with him in good earnest and therefore takes occasion to discourse of this Point unto him Of the necessity of being regenerated and born again But Nicodemus understands not what he means or at least is not willing to understand it and therefore makes an exception against it from the absurdity and impossibility of it and wonders at it how it should be so Now this Text which I have here read unto you is a taking off of this wonder from him by a further discovery and explication of this Doctrine to him Marvel not says he that I said unto thee ye must be born again The winde bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest c. THis present Verse before is nothing else as I may say but a description of the work of Regeneration or of
the state of a regenerate person which is here illustrated and set forth unto us by a lively comparison or similitude taken from the Winde And that in three Particulars which may serve to make up unto us the parts of this Text. First from the quality of its motion Secondly from the sensibleness of its effects And Thirdly from the intricacy and mysteriousness of its proceeding The quality of its motion that we have in these words The winde bloweth where it listeth The sensibleness of its effects that we have in these Thou hearest the sound thereof The intricacy or mysteriousness of its proceeding in these But knowest not c. We begin in order with the First of these Parts viz. The quality of the motion The winde bloweth where it listeth Some by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is here translated the winde understand the Spirit of God in the first sense and so render it But we are rather to take it in the analogy according to our own English Translation First the Winde and then the Spirit of God as compared and likened unto it Look as it happens in the blowings of the winde so it falls out in the breathings of the Spirit where whiles it is said that it bloweth where it listeth there are three things further implyed in it First the indefiniteness of it it is not limited Secondly the freeness of it it is not engaged Thirdly the efficacy or irresistibility of it it is not hindered First Whiles it is said of the winde that it bloweth where it listeth there is hereby signified to us the indefiniteness of it in its motions that it is not determined or limited in them no more it is not The Winde it blows where and when it pleases sometimes out of one corner of the world sometimes out of another Sometimes in the East and sometimes in the West and sometimes in the North and sometimes in the South There 's no certain place for the Winde which it is tied and restrained unto but it is indifferently inclinable unto any Sometimes it rises and sometimes again it lies still it is indefinite in all respects And as it is thus with the Winde so it is thus also with the Spirit of God which is thus far here compared unto it It is indefinite and undetermined in its Applications Thus it is in regard of Nations and thus it is in regard of Persons In regard of the means of Grace which it affords And in regard of its blessing of those means which are afforded Take it in regard of Nations And this winde of the Spirit it blows where it lists here as not limited to any particular either for place or time neither where nor how long it shall do so but all is still within the compass of his own will and good pleasure Thus in Acts 16.6 It is said of the Apostles that when they had gone through-out Phrygia and the region of Galatia they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia And again in the seventh verse of the same Chapter After they were come to Mysia they assayed to go into Bythinia and the Spirit suffered them not to Preach in those places either by some express prohibition of them or by withholding of his assistance from them And that at such a time as when in other places they had more liberty and freedom The winde it serv'd them for one way when it did not serve them for another We may see this if we compare the Eastern Churches and Western together The time was when this Winde it blew more Easternly witness those famous Churches of Asia in the Apostle St. John's time which are made mention of in the Book of the Revelation they did for a time enjoy the Preaching of the Gospel in a plentiful and glorious manner whereas now they are altogether defaced and under the power of Mahometism and Turkish Tyranny Again on the other side the Winde is now come into the West and the Gospel is Preached in these parts which are more remote from the other Thus it is indifferent in regard of Nations sometimes vouchsafed to one people and sometimes vouchsafed to another though never so opposite And so as for Nations so for Persons it is unlimited here likewise God's Spirit is not always confined or determined to them He may deal with them at one time and at another time withdraw from them move in their hearts now and for hereafter be for ever silent to them and never more apply himself to them It is that which he often-times does and which many persons have the experience of in their own particulars who sometimes have gracious stirrings and excitements of them to good which at another time they may be deprived of and have no such thing in them The proper Use which we are to make of this Point is still to close with the present advantages and opportunities which are vouchsafed unto us and to take heed of the neglecting of them Be not high-minded but fear We should do in this case as it is with those who have some voyage by Sea who watch the winde when it makes for them and are careful to take hold on it so should we in this our passage to Heaven Let us not think to have the windes always at our command for we are mistaken if we think so The winde bloweth where it listeth as it is here exprest unto us And so does this winde of the Spirit and so there 's a variety and an uncertainty in it It is dangerous for any persons to neglect and especially to resist the secret and gracious motions of the Spirit whether as restraining and keeping from evils or provoking and exciting to good because it may so fall out as they may never meet with them again It is not as we list but as he lists remember that And therefore observe him and attend upon him and give heed and respect unto him all that may be It pleases God sometimes in his Providence to be more free in his dispensations than otherwise it may be occasionally from such a Sermon or such a Discourse or such a Conference more effectually to stir in the heart and to deal with such a particular person Now it is wisdom in such a case to follow it and to close with it and that upon this ground and consideration which we have now in hand as an argument and motive hereunto And that 's the first thing considerable in this motion of the winde and so consequently of the Spirit as to the quality of it Its indefiniteness that it is not limited The Second is its Freeness that it is not engaged The winde blows where it lists that is nothing moving it or enclining it thereunto but it s own proper nature and disposition And so is it also with the Spirit of God in the activity and operations thereof There 's a voluntariness and a spontaneity in it what he does in this respect he
him with the brightness of his coming And so he shall and all such persons as do adhere unto him The Spirit of Christ shall scatter the spirit of Antichrist and the wind of the Holy Spirit shall confound the wind of the evil Spirit and what ever is attempted by it This is a very comfortable point in all the assaults and temptations of Satan and his endeavours either against the Church in general or against any particular member of it Every Christian is thus far secure and in good condition as he has this Wind as I may so say for him which is sure to blow him nothing but good The Reason of it is this Because he is one that belongs to Christ and has an interest in him and so consequently has an interest in the Spirit which is the Spirit of Christ and so all the motions of it subordinate and subservient to him and disposed of according to his pleasure There are different and various winds which blow now and then both upon the Church and likewise upon the Soul but they are all ordered and regulated by him Therefore we find in the Canticles how it is Christ himself that stirs up his Spirit for the good of his Spouse Awake O North-wind and come thou South and blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow out The Spirit it blows where it lists and it lists there where Christ lists too which is very satisfactory for all those that seek unto him And so I have done with the first part of the Text as to the resemblance betwixt the Spirit and the Wind in the work of Regeneration and that is the Quality of the Maker The Wind bloweth c. The Second is the Sensibleness of its effects in those words And thou hearest the sound thereof The wind it comes with a Sound and so does the Spirit of God It did so in its first coming of all when it came upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost There came suddenly a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting Acts 2.4 And so it is still to this present day in a proportion It has a sound and such as may be heard Now thus it is in a two fold consideration The one is the sound of it in the Ear and the other is the sound of it in the Conscience First There is the sound of the Spirit in the Ear and that is in the external Preaching of the Word and Ministerial Dispensation where this is performed as it should be it is no other than the sound of the Spirit and the voice of the Holy Ghost himself speaking to us Their sound is gone forth into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world Rom. 10.18 This is such a sound as may be heard and it is a mercy to hear it and to be made partakers of it and that in regard of the virtue and benefit which by the blessing of God is conveyed by it for Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God as the Apostle there tells us Rom. 10.17 Therefore accordingly we should prize it and esteem of it and apply our selves to it as that which is appointed for our good If we look upon Preaching onely as the work of men so there is but little in it and it may be rather matter of contempt in regard of the meanness of it But when we shall consider that it is the Ordinance of God and the voice and sound of the Spirit here 's that in it which commands our regard and attention to it And we should be glad of all opportunities which are at any time afforded unto us for the partaking of it that we may hear the sound of this wind blowing upon us That 's the first The sound in the Ear. But secondly that 's not all there is moreover the sound in the Conscience which is the main and chiefest of all This is that which comes home to the heart of a Christian for his conversion and the raising him from the death of sin under which he was held Like the voice of Christ to Lazarus when he bad him come forth of the grave This is that which is heard also by those persons whom it pleases God to vouchsafe it unto according to that of our blessed Saviour in Joh. 5.25 Verily verily I say unto you The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live Thus we shall find it was with the Disciples going to Emaus Luke 24.32 They said one to another Did not our bearts burn within us while he talked with us by the way and whiles he opened to us the Scripture There was a special efficacy went with his word to the hearts of his hearers And so it was with St. Peter's Converts Acts 2.37 When they heard these words they were pricked at their hearts And the Jaylor Acts 16.33 he heard not onely the sound of the wind but the sound of the Spirit and this sound of it whereof we now speak in the heart-quake as well as the earth quake which he was sensible of upon that occasion And so it has been with many more and still is they daily hear this sound made unto them they have strong and strange impressions upon their hearts and spirits to this purpose which they cannot but hear in several kinds sometimes checking them for sin and sometimes restraining them from it sometimes exciting them to good and sometimes encouraging them in it The Spirit of God in their hearts and consciences deals diversly and variously with them and it is their duty and wisdom accordingly to attend unto him They that hear thus they shall hear that is they shall hear effectually as it is intimated in the place before cited And therefore it concerns us to regard it and to give heed unto it all that possible may be There are a great many people in the world who though this sound which we now speak of in both the branches of it be continually exhibited unto them and such as may be heard yet they do not or at least will not hear it who like the deaf Adder stop their ears and will not hear the voice of the charmers charm they never so wisely as the Prophet David speaks of them in Psal 68.4 5. Now what do such as these but as much as in themselves lies hinder their own conversion and regeneration and the work of grace in their hearts which is accomplished by such ways and means as these And besides after a great indignity and disrespect to the holy Ghost himself as the Apostle Paul signifies to us in 1 Thess 4.8 He that despiseth despiseth not man but God who hath also given us his holy Spirit Whose voice as it is sensible to be heard so it ought to be heard by us as we have occasion for it And so
in this particular They have not all obeyed the Gospel for Isaias saith Who hath believed our report Rom. 10.16 This is the greater ground and argument of thankfulness to those who do believe indeed and may put all upon the serious search and examination of themselves Seeing Faith is not common to all let us be sure that it does belong at least to us and that our selves have a share in it for our particular It is that which many presume upon and take for granted but it concerns us to be upon certain terms in a point of so great importance and consequence as that is how we should find our selves in the number of those Believers That 's the first thing the Emphasis of Restriction The second is the Emphasis of Enlargement Many and not a Few and so it shews us the multitude of Converts which were made by Christs Sermon This is that which God is pleased sometimes in his wisdom and goodness to dispose that many shall be brought home unto him We have it often signified unto us in Joh. 2.23 Joh. 4.39 Joh. 7.31 Joh. 10.42 Joh. 12.42 and many more which might be added The Acts of the Apostles are full of the number of people which were brought to the knowledge and faith of Christ There was cause for it in the first layings of the Church especially for the founding and making of it and the spreading of Christs truth through the world and therefore it pleased God so to order it As also for the better encouragement of one another that Christians might not think themselves solitary and lest alone from the paucity of them therefore would God have many to be converted But this will admit of a further Illustration if we shall consider not onely the Number but the Quality of these persons here converted and the disposition which was remarkable in them For many pliable and tractable and ingenuous and good natur'd persons such as these to yield to Christs Doctrine might not seem to be so strange a business but these people here in this Chapter they were of another temper obstinate and captious and quarrelsome and malicious persons and yet for all this wrought upon by him We see here there 's no standing out against the Word and Spirit of Christ when he is pleased to put forth himself The most obstinate and refractory that are shall be brought in unto him Who would ever have thought that such a stubborn barbarous fellow as the Jaylor should have been a Disciple of Christ and yet you see how it proved to be with him Acts 16.33 and so it has been with divers others besides These Jews here in the Text they were full of opposition and contradiction nay they were set on purpose to quarrel with his Doctrine and they never exprest more spite and malice than they did here in this Chapter all along through the course of it and yet for all that there were many of them taken with Christs Doctrine which he preached unto them What 's the use which we may make hereof to our selves It comes briefly to this First from hence to take men off from too much confidence and applauding of themselves in their sinful courses and hardning of themselves against the Ministery There are many which are so setled in their wickedness as that they seem with themselves to scorn and to despise all admonitions and to be Armour of proof against the Word of God What they afraid of a Preacher and thought to be such as should yield to the Ministery of a weak man like themselves They scorn it and disdain to think of it Well but let them not be too self-confident for all that they know not how it may be with them if ever God awaken their Consciences and set his word effectually upon their hearts they will be then as those converted Jews who before some of them were full of perversness Secondly Here is still encouragement to Ministers to hearten them and quicken them in their work that they be not dejected and cast down in themselves for there 's none too stiff for the Grace and Spirit of Christ As it is Ezek. 2.6 Son of man though they be briers and thorns and a rebellious house yet be not afraid thou salt speak my word unto them God has his number even among such as these yea and a great number too Many believed on him even of perverse and obstinate Jews which were prejudiced against him But farther to take in all with us we may look upon these persons here converted not onely as the persons whom Christ directed his speech unto especially but also such as came in and were Auditors and Hearers by the by many of these believed on him And so there 's another Point in it which is this That occasional Hearers are sometimes wrought upon in the Ministerial Dispensations There were many of these persons which little thought of Conversion when they came hither to this present Assembly and Discourse of Christ which came onely out of novelty and curiosity and affectation to hear what was said Now many of these were caught at the Sermon This is not to justifie such kind of comings as those are but to shew Gods Wisdom and Providence in the ordering and disposing of them that those who many times come to Church for nothing less than to get good by the Word but rather to see such a face or such a fashion yet now and then before they are aware have their Consciences touch'd and strucken by it It is that which is greatly taken notice of by many persons even now at this day amongst Believers We have divers who when they see the Church open come into it to see onely what is done and run from one Church-door to another and gaze about them and stay for a while but sometimes it pleases God to meet with them by some word which is spoken here unto them He is found of them that sought him not and manifest to them that asked not after him Isa 45.1 So much for that And so I have done with the first part of the Text viz. the Success of Christs Ministery Many c. The second is the Occasion or Season of this Success As he spake these words I call it the Occasion and Season both because indeed there is both in it and both observable of us But we may draw it out into three branches There are three things here observable of us First the determination of the Performance and that was Preaching Discoursing or Arguing As he spake Secondly the determination of the Doctrine those words in particular which then came from him As he spake those words Thirdly the determination of the Time and Instant of it As he spake in the very moment of speaking First Here 's the determination of the Performance As he spake for the Honour of Preaching The Miracles of Christ did no good upon them they had seen his mighty works and not a whit the
it is a converting and saving Doctrine it is such as in the nature of it is apt to work upon the hearts of those which are acquainted with it As he spake this they believed on him So it was in the fore-named Auditors of St. Peter Acts 2.37 When they heard this then c. Therefore it is that the Apostle Paul stands so much hereupon in all his Ministery 1 Cor. 1.22 23. The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness But unto them that are called both Jews and Gentiles Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God Christ crucified is God's wisdom and power Hence it was that the same Apostle made this the chief work of his Ministery 1 Cor. 3.2 I determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified This is the Doctrine which is most useful First as it implies in it the greatness of mans misery by reason of sin Those Doctrines are most effectual to conversion which do most discover a man to himself shew him his ill condition by Nature now such does this implicitely it discovers the grievous nature of sin which nothing would expiate but the precious Blood of the Son of God himself it shews us what we did deserve by that which He did actually endure Secondly it is the most mollifying Doctrine as it implies in it the great love and bowels of God in Christ towards us Greater love hath no man than this to lay down his life And how much is there in this to melt us and to work upon us What should we now do for him who hath done so much for us and how should we love and embrace him and entertain him with all affection that may be by way of requital Thirdly It is the most Reforming Doctrine it carries amendment it self in the very bowels of it yea it instructs us and directs us to it Christs dying for us teaches us to kill sin in our selves and to mortifie our strongest corruptions by a power fetch'd and derived from his death According to that of the Apostle in Rom 6.6 Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead is freed from sin Therefore we should study this Doctrine and be well verst and acquainted with it Ministers we should much inculcate it and People we should very much hearken and attend unto it And that was one branch of these words to wit Christs death and sufferings His lifting up c. The second was his Calling and Authority in the next words I do nothing of my self but as my Father hath taught me I speak these things and he that sent me is with me Whence we learn That the Authority and Calling of the Minister is a special ground for the success of his Doctrine When these Jews heard and heard it demonstrated that Christ came by the designation of his Father who knew him and was conversant with him now they presently believed on him Therefore we see what those who take upon them the Ministery should especially look unto viz. That they find it to be thus with themselves that they are such whom God himself does imploy and send about this work otherwise they can never expect assistance in their work nor yet success upon it Whereas thus being they may look for both And so much for the second thing the Determination of the Doctrine As he spake these words The third and last is the Determination of the Time As he spake that is in his very speaking inter loquendum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This is another thing observable of us as to the efficacy of the Ministery that though not always yet oftentimes it proves effectual in the very dispensation This preaching of the Word and the success of it they now and then go both together so they did here and so likewise in some other places as to take one for all Acts 10.44 While Peter spake these words the holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word There 's two things at once in this passage First the suddenness of this success and secondly the seasonableness The suddenness of it that it took presently The seasonableness just in the very speaking First Here 's the Suddenness presently all upon the sudden Here 's the Return as soon as the Venture Christ did no sooner preach than the Jews did believe This is one thing which God is pleased sometimes to order to give speedy success upon endeavours in the work of the Ministery Generatio fit in instanti it is so not onely in Nature but in Grace In Regeneration and the work of the New-creature nay 't is here more especially wherein many at once and without succession or leasure are brought home to God and have his image stampt upon them all in a moment Secondly Here 's the Seasonableness of this success just in the very speaking This is not so always but sometimes it pleases God now and then to concur with our Ministery in the very time and moment of its execution Look as it is on the other side in Prayer and our speaking to God God answers us whiles we are speaking to him nay in some manner before as it is exprest in Isa 5.24 And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and whiles they are yet speaking I will hear So is it likewise in Gods speaking to us he makes it to be so also with our selves that we shall hear whilst he is speaking to us His Word and his Spirit go together and the latter to put an efficacy in the former This should make us all with so much the more diligence to attend these Means of Ministerial Dispensations for they are the gales and breathings of the holy Ghost who delights for the most part to convey and communicate himself in them both in regard of his first entrance and slipping into us as also to his further progress and perseverance in us Both the beginnings and confirmations of Grace are upon such occasions So much for that And so I have done also with the second General Part of the Text which is the Occasion or Season of the success of Christs Doctrine upon these Jews in these words As he spake those words So much for this whole Verse SERMON XIV JOH 8.31 Then said Jesus to those Jems which believed on him If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed There is nothing commonly more suspitious than sudden changes from evil to good which have usually this disparagement upon them that they are not for the most part so lasting and of so long continuance But as they are fruit which are quickly blossom'd so they are likewise as quickly blasted and come to decay It is so both in Temporal and Spiritual in
Mothers or Nurses do sometimes with their children who whiles they perceive them to be loth and unwilling to let them go from them they do usually still and quiet them by perswading them that they 'll come to them again that so the hope and expectation of their return may pacifie them and satisfie them in their departure Even so does Christ here with his Disciples when he was taking his leave of them he puts in this with it I will come unto you Nay to make it so much the more emphatical and that it might work the more effectually upon them in the Original Text it is not onely in the Future but in the Present not onely in the Future I will come but in the Present I do come unto you ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that 's the word in the Greek which is of a present condition before he was as yet gone from them he makes mention to them of his coming again that so he might the better perswade them and work upon them Now in that he uses this argument to them we may learn this from it That there is nothing which will satisfie a Christian in Christs absence but onely his return again to him Thus it was here with Christ to his Apostles He does not say I will not leave you comfortless for I will leave you rich or I will leave you great or I will leave you honourable and the like it was none of these outward accommodations which could satisfie in the absence of Christ no but this I will come again to you If Christ would give them any thing and not give them Himself it would not suffice or content them Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none on earth which I desire besides thee Psal 72.26 None but Christ none but Christ as that holy Martyr at the Stake And another He is come he is come And the reason of it is this Because the Plaister must be as broad as the Sore and the Remedy must be as large as the Disease and the Comfort must be answerable to the Grief What was that which troubled these Disciples and made them at the present thus comfortless it was this that Chirst would go from them That therefore which must refresh them it must be this that Christ would come to them there 's none can supply the want of Christ but Christ himself And as there is nothing can do it indeed and in the thing it self so there is nothing neither can do it as to the sense and apprehension of a Christian he himself will not be satisfied with any thing else for his own particular As Luther spake once to God when he enjoyed some temporal refreshment from him Lord says he I will not be put off with these comforts if thou thinkest to give me these for my portion I will not be satisfied or contented with them Even so does a Believer say to Christ in such cases as these are Lord give me thy self or it will not suffice me Spiritual comforts may much uphold in temporal losses but Temporal comforts will not satissie in Spiritual deprivations So much for these words in the scope of them Now secondly to come to them more directly in themselves for the matter and substance of them I will come unto you this is that which Christ promises to his Disciples and with them also to all other Christians We may take it three manner of ways There is a three-fold coming of Christ whereby he does supply to Believers his temporary going away from them First The coming of his Resurrection I will not leave you comfortless but I will come unto you that is though for a time I shall leave the world yet within a while after I shall rise again from the dead This was such a coming as was proper onely to the Believers and to those that lived in those times to have the immediate comfort of it Though he rise to all others in the efficacy of his Resurrection yet he rose onely to the Apostles and to a certain number of other persons to converse with him after his Resurrection To whom he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs being seen of them fourty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God Acts 1.8 And this he did he came to them when they were comfortless and full of grief that they were deprived of so gracious a Master he came to them and comforted them in his Resurrection The Resurrection of Christ it was such a coming as did much comfort the Disciples and did in a manner drie up those tears which they had shed for his former departure But secondly that was not all nor that chiefly which is here intended in this Text wherein he tells them that he will return again to them I will come unto you it is not meant onely of the coming of his Resurrection but more especially of the coming of his Spirit the coming of the Holy Ghost which was also the Spirit of Christ and by him sent from the Father It was the coming of Christ himself when the one came the other came in him and so is conceived to do and interpreted This is the chief and proper meaning of this expression Now Christ is said to come in his Spirit according to a three-fold empartment and dispensation of it especially First in the Gifts of it Secondly in the Graces of it And thirdly in the Comforts First in the Gifts of it I mean the common Gifts of it These which we call for distinctions sake Gratiae gratis datae The gifts and abilities of the Ministery These were such as our Blessed Saviour upon his departure did in a large and plentiful manner effuse and pour forth upon his Church Wherefore he saith When he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men Ephes 4 8. This was that which was performed on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost came upon them in the shape of cloven and fiery tongues and they were all filled with it Acts 2.2 This was a piece of satisfaction to them for the withdrawing of his own Person they had not Himself now to instruct them but they had his Spirit to do it for them and thereby to enable them also for the teaching and instructing of others This is further considerable under a two-fold Amplification First in the variety of these gifts And secondly in the Succession In the variety and several kinds and in the succession of several persons First for the various distribution to consider it in that That Christ does sort and dispose of his gifts so as he does that one shall have an excellency in one kind and another shall have excellency in another that to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 12.8 One has a gift of Judgment another has a gift
and acknowledged on both parts whether orthodox or heterodox in this business whether of the right or of the contrary judgment Secondly by shewing what it is that the former do deny to the latter and wherein they do dissent from this First then by way of concession and acknowledgment as to the first term in the Proposition which is a man fallen and lapst in Adam it is granted that even such an one when he once comes to be restored by Grace and to be renewed in the Spirit of his mind that then he hath some power even of his own to such a work as is truly and spiritually good Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty says the Apostle 2 Cor. 3.17 And again Being made free from sin ye became the servants of righteousness c. Rom. 6.18 When God hath once changed us and converted us and brought us home to himself there is then restored unto us that freedom and liberty to good which we once lost by our fall God that in our first creation did put into the will an habitual inclination to good he hath also in our new creation restored unto us an habitual conversion to the same good The will being freed by Grace becomes free Secondly As to that term of free-will If by freedom of will be meant no more than a freedom from natural necessity or extrinsecal violence and coaction so that a man does will and choose and do that which he does upon counsel and reason and advice leading him thereto there is no controversy at all in this business For freedom of will in this sense does as essentially belong unto a man as reason it self and to strip him or spoyl him of it were to turn him into a very beast We do will indeed we do will freely neither can we otherwise will any thing Therefore it is one thing to enquire of the nature and another thing to dispute of the power and ability of free-will in us Which latter especially taken in the active sense of it we say is wholly lost and extinguisht in man by his fall as to the performing of such things as do belong to eternal Salvation It is true that in the will of man fallen there is a passive power for the receiving of a supernatural being which by God shall be conferred upon it but there is not an active power for the producing of such a being as this is either of it self or with any thing else That Speech of St. Austin's is very significant to this purpose and which all must yield unto Libere velle est opus naturae bene velle gratiae male velle corruptionis To will freely is the work of nature to will well of grace to will ill of corruption As also that of Tapperus Opus pium quatenus opus ab arbitrio est quatenus pium a sola gratia quatenus opus pium ab arbitrio gratia simul A good work as it it a work it is from free-will as it is good from grace as it is a work and good from free-will and grace both Thus free-will in the true and right notion and acception of it is not rejected by us Thirdly As to the last term which is here exprest in the Text by nothing If we speak of that which is evil here we have freedom of will more than enough our corrupt nature carrying us too readily and freely hereunto But therefore we are here to understand it only of that which is good we are naturally prone to evil but to good we have no mind And here again there are divers particulars which we do further yield and acknowledg as First that a man in the state of nature and out of Christ may be able to do that which is good as to the matter and substance of the action By taking this word doing for the bare and simple effecting of the work in it self consider'd without any respect had either to the principle from whence it is produced or to the end whereunto it is directed Secondly A natural man he may be able to perform a work morally good according to a kind of moral honesty and the conditions of a virtuous action as prescrib'd by moral Philosophy not only as to the substance and matter of the action it self but also as to the very circumstances and manner of doing of it namely such as moral Philosophy does teach and require as honouring of Parents giving of alms and the like Thus the Apostle Paul tells us that the Gentiles which have not the Law they do by nature the things centained in the Law Rom. 2.14 Thirdly We also grant that the Grace of Sanctification and the power of living holily is not infused into any persons living idly and taking no care of any thing but in the diligent use of such means as God has appointed and sanctified to this purpose as coming to Church waiting upon the Ministry hearing the word of God both read and preach'd c. God will not save us ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as St. Chrysostom speaks nor sleeping and snoring and doing nothing but in our conscionable endeavours And so far forth as any one hath power to move and walk so far forth has he power to those things also as are ordinarily consequent and following thereupon in a way of ordinary providence Fourthly It is also acknowledged that an unregenerate person and as yet unconverted may be able to perform not only those outward good actions but some even inward good actions likewise As he may be able to have some kind of knowledg and apprehension of the will of God he may be able to meditate of God and of the things of God He may consider his own sins reflect upon his own guilt and have some kind of fear and horror in him upon the reflexions of it and much desire to be delivered from it These and many such things as are previous and antecedent to Faith and true repentance are required of men before the infusion of sanctifying Grace and accordingly may be performed by them Fifthly We likewise yield that in the Church of God where the word of God is ordinarily preach'd and the means of regeneration are ordinarily administred this Grace which does make men able to do such good works as are truly spiritual and saving is not denied to any before the repulse of initial Grace that is before they have resisted the Spirit of God in his preparatory works and refused those free and gracious offers and invitations which he has made unto them Lastly It cannot be denied but that some of the ancient Fathers did sometimes let fall some speeches and passages in their writings which at the first hearing or reading of them do seem somewhat to encline to this Doctrine of free-will whereof we now speak And thus have we seen what is granted and acknowledged on all hands by way of concession Now further it remains we should shew wherein the difference and
of persons amongst the rest as Pharisees and Justiciaries and the like which boast of their legal righteousness and of the good works which are done by them as having some great matter in them Indeed when it comes to the point and trial it is just nothing at all Hoc aliquid nihil est Without me that is out of me says Christ ye can do nothing at all And we may take it in a threefold gradation First nothing really Secondly nothing acceptably Thirdly nothing comfortably and to your final satisfaction First nothing really and to purpose and good carnest ye can do nothing so The vertues and good works of carnal persons they are but shadows and pictures and skeletons as it were of vertues they are not the true vertues themselves like a body without a soul as being devoid of a principle of spiritual life What a vanity and fondness is it for men to make a great stir and noise as if some great and mighty matters were done by them when-as up starts nothing at all Parturiunt montes like clouds and wind without rain Secondly ye can do nothing acceptably That 's done to purpose which is done to the mind and liking of him that employs us and sets us on work Now this is that which all natural persons are failing in that which is done by them whatever they do in matters of Religion though never so specious and glorious in outward appearance yet it is all but loathsome and irksome to God He quarrels with all their services and can take no contentment in them As we may see a pregnant place to this purpose Isa 1.11 12 c. Where God tells them that their Incense is an abomination and that their sacrifices he cannot away with and that their assemblies are a loathing to him he cannot endure them Those things wherein such persons do sometimes most please themselves they are such wherein they least please him Thirdly ye can do nothing comfortably or profitably or with advantage to your selves ye shall get nothing by that which is done by you no reward for it at all which is that which follows consequently upon the former And serves to make such kind of persons perfectly miserable as whereby they are hereupon excluded from eternal Salvation As he that does any thing and does it not so as he should do he loses his aim and end which he propounds to himself Because as good never a-whit as never the better And further there is this use likewise of it which follows from the former even to perswade all men which are out of Christ as soon as may be to get into him which is the only way to attain to such a freedom of will which we speak of as may carry them to spiritual good actions If the Son shill mike ye free says he himself ye are free indeed Joh. 8.36 And till he shall please to make ye so ye cannot be so And he makes you so no otherwise than by union and conjunction with him and incorporation into him which accordingly should be the endeavour of all such persons in the use of such means as he has sanctified to this purpose Lastly Let this Doctrine serve as an antidote against all contrary errors whereby the power of nature and man's free-will is advanced and the power of Grace and God's Spirit is weaken'd and disparaged in the world It is true indeed that God in Scripture does call upon men for the doing and performing of such and such actions not as implying that they have power in themselves of their own ability to do them but by convincing them of their won weakness and insufficiency to provoke them to fly to Christ for his assistance And likewise sometimes moreover as medium's and conveyances of his vertue and power into them As when Christ call'd dead Lazarus out of the Grave he did not suppose that Lazarus of himself could hear him but by calling him he made him to hear together with the voice of Christ in speaking to him there went forth the power of Christ for the enlivening of him Even so likewise is it here in this particular Whiles in the Ministry of the word Christ bids men that are spiritually dead to do such good duties he does by his Spirit in his word put a strength and ability into them whereby they may do them As when Paul preached to Lydia God opened the heart of Lydia that she attended to the things that were spoken by Paul And whiles Paul as the Minister of Christ required such things of her Christ himself by his Spirit in Paul's Ministry enabled her to do those things which were so required So much for that and so of this expression Without Christ as it may be taken for an exclusion of interest c. Without me that is without union to me It may be also taken as an exclusion of influence without me i. e. without assistance from me SERMON XXIV JOH 15.5 For without me ye can do nothing There is nothing more necessary for Christians in order to their Christian course and conversation than to be well advised and informed in themselves where their strength or weakness lies as to Christian and Spiritual Duties and Performances which are required of them that so accordingly they may be the better able either to improve and make use of the one or to supply and make up the other Now this is that which is here the scope and drift of this present Scripture which I have once again read unto you namely by taking us off from our selves and the confidence of our own Personal Abilities in regard whereof we are very short and insufficient and by pitching and fastning upon Christ and his Fulness in whom as the Apostle teaches us whiles we have his Power resting upon us when we are weak even then are we strong For so indeed we have it here told us even from the mouth also of Christ himself who knew it best That without him we can do nothing THis Text which we have still here before us is as I have formerly delivered unto you a discovery of the necessity which we have of Christ as to any Spiritual Performance which is such as without him as it is here exprest unto us we are able to do nothing of that nature And this expression without him as I have also already hinted unto you may be taken two manner of ways First Without me that is without interest in me or ingrasture into me sever'd or separated from me Secondly Without me that is wthout influence from me or dependance upon me whether you neglected by me in regard of giving it or I neglected by you in regard of fetching it and drawing it from me As for the former of these senses viz. without me as it is an exclusion of Interest or Incision and Ingrasture into Christ of this we spake to at large the last day where we shewed you That all such persons as are still remaining
which are more useful and necessary for us to be known by us which we should labour to know The naughtiness and deceitfulness of our own hearts the depths and decrees of Satan the will and pleasure of the Lord and what is acceptable to him To know God and to know our selves and to know the things that concern our everlasting peace and salvation But to know the times and seasons in this sense as we have explicated it it does not concern us to know them nor to labour or endeavour to know them and to be acquainted with them And that so much the rather upon this account that so we may the more vigorously apply our selves to those other things which I have now mentioned as are more needful to be known by us For this we may observe in daily experience that superfluities and impertinencies they do usually expel necessaries whiles mens time and days is employed in those things which are of less consequence they commonly omit and neglect those things that are of greater importance And so amongst the rest it it here in this particular which is one main reason as we may conceive why Satan does oftentimes put men and fasten them hereupon that so whiles their minds are taken up about enquiries after the time they may the more easily neglect the thing and the business which the time it self does especially refer to Therefore we should from hence be awakened from the prevention of this curiosity in us and what God would not have us to know And that may be one improvement Secondly As it meets with mens curiosity so it also meets with their presumption As with their curiosity in enquiring so especially with their presumption in resolving and concluding hereupon It is not for you to know it therefore it is not for you to determine it There are a great many persons sometimes who do not only make a search into this mystery but also now and then do absolutely and positively fix it and set it to such a particular time and year of the world As to some to four some to five hundred years after Christ some to the six-thousandth year of the World and some also to this present year of sixteen hundred sixty-six after Christ And there are divers that do fasten it here but all both in one and t'other speak by rote and have no solid ground making for them It was a Point which the Church of God was troubled withal by some kind of persons even in the Apostle Paul's time as we may see by what he writes to the Thessalonians in 2 Ep. 2. ver 2. Where he beseeches them that they would not be soon shaken in their minds either by word or by spirit or by letter as from him as if the day of Christ were at hand for it was not so Where we see how both some did then suggest it as also how the minds of Believers were troubled at it And he gives them a reason against it and that was because the man of sin that is Antichrist was not yet revealed as we may see in the following verses of the Chapter Now as there were reasons against that time so there are also as good reasons against this As then that the man of sin was not yet revealed so now that he is not yet destroyed There are divers passages and providences which are necessarily antecedent to Christ's coming which are not yet accomplish'd as the fall of Antichrist the calling of the Jews the fulness of the Gentiles and the Preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom in all places of the world These and the like considerations do make against the fixing of it to this particular time And therefore it should take us off as from all curious inquisitions so all peremptery determinations Because as it is here exhibited to us It is not for us to know the times and seasons c. But yet that we may still further understand our selves in this present business It will not be amiss for us to take in these further hints and animadversions with us First It is not for you to know but it is for you to believe not to know the time but yet to believe the thing to believe that this day will come though we know not when it will come There are abundance of people in the world who are so far from fastening upon any particular time for Christ's coming to judgment as that they are ready to think with themselves that there is no time for it at all that because he is not come yet that he will come never Thus the Apostle Peter foretells us of the scoffers that should be in the last days walking after their own lusts who should say where is now the promise of his coming for since the Fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation 2 Pet. 3.3 4. And too many such scoffers as these there are in these days of ours who do not believe any such thing as this is nor are really perswaded of it but we must take heed of such a mind as that is It is not for you to know but 't is for you to believe Secondly It is not for you to know but it is for you to expect not to know justly when it will be but to wait the time for the being of it And because we do not know therefore to wait to be always upon our watch and in readiness against the coming of our Master Watch therefore because ye know not in what hour the Lord will come and ye know not the times and seasons of being called to a final account whether he will come at evening or at midnight or at morning Especially which is here very considerable as to any man's particular time and season for that cannot belong to any man whosoever he be That 's the end of the World to such a person which is the end of his particular life in it And therefore let the general day of Judgment be where it will be he may be sure the day of his particular judgment cannot be very far off And it concerns him to be always in a waiting and expectation of it As Job resolved for his part All the days of my appointed time says he will I wait till my change cometh Job 14.14 It is not for you to know when it will be but it is for you to live as if it should be out of hand This present year which is now upon us we should so order and dispose of as to our lives and conversations as if we did verily and assuredly know that Christ would this year come to judgment This Doctrine of the uncertainty of his coming is not to cherish our security but rather to provoke our affection It is to be supposed and taken for granted that he will come at last and therefore what manner of persons ought ye to be in all manner of conversation and godliness looking for and
to digest every truth which we hear and to make it our own or else we can have no benefit by it There must be a turning of our spiritual nourishment into the substance of our souls as of our corporal nourishment into the substance of our bodies and that suitable to the several parts of it now this is the work of Faith Faith it makes every truth ours by appropriating it and bringing it home to our selves And that in a proportion suitable to the nature of the Doctrine it self If it be a Doctrine of Information Faith makes it ours by framing and conforming our judgments thereunto and setling us there If it be a Doctrine of Consolation Faith makes it ours by closing and complying with it and so drawing comfort from it If it be a Doctrine of Threatning Faith makes it ours by trembling at it and reforming for it Thus Faith is active in all as that Grace which does apply all to us The consideration hereof may be thus far useful to us As first It may teach us how to address our selves to the hearing of the Word namely by labouring to prepare our hearts by a spirit of faith Oportet discentem credere we must come with a resolution to imbrace every truth of God which he propounds unto us Preaching will do us no good without believing if we had all the Preaching in the world without it we make the Ordinance but a Complement and meer word of course unto us Why but then may some say If Preaching does no good without believing why then we should preach only to Believers and none but them To this I answer No for by Preaching we make them Believers through Gods blessing upon it Preaching is a means to work that Faith which does improve it self and without which it is ineffectual as wine enables the stomack to work it self to the good of the body Secondly Seeing Preaching does no good without believing let us here then see why there 's no more good done by Preaching many times than there is we are apt when we profit not by the Word to lay the fault on other things the Doctrine and the Preacher and the like but we should confider whether it lyes not in our selves in our own hearts It may be we come not to the Word with that faith and expectation from God as it becomes us to do and then no wonder if we profit not by it Thirdly Let us hence not glory in the means that we have the Ordinances and the Word Preached unto us but let us consider what faith our selves have for the receiving and entertainment of them And that 's the first restraint None have benefit by Preaching but Believers The second restraint is this That none have the benefit of Salvation but Believers Salvation is restrained to Faith He that believes shall be saved but he that believes not shall be damned Mark 16.16 No Faith no Salvation They could not enter in because of unbelief Heb. 3.19 Of them that believe to the saving of the soul Heb. 10.39 Faith is the saving Grace as infidelity is the damning sin Not but that there are other saving Graces and other damning Sins but those which are so they are in the strength of these as being prinoipal and most effectual hereunto These are so by a special quality and property in them either to save or damn And for saving because that 's to our purpose faith has it here attributed to it self First as the radical and fundamental Grace and that which puts a life and vigor into all the rest And therefore ye shall find in the Eleventh Chapter of the Hebrews how all 's ascribed to this By faith they had a good report for every thing else which deserved good report If they had love or patience or humility or self-denial or zeal all was from faith In Enoch in Noah in Abraham in Moses and the like By faith they are said to do all whatsoever they did Secondly Faith has it attributed to it because it is that whereby we please God Without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11.6 Thirdly It is Faith which lays hold upon Christ who is the Author of Eternal Salvation Gal. 2.20 I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me c. This knits and unites us to him asour Head and when he is saved we are saved too by this union Fourthly It is Faith which gives most glory to God Rom. 4.20 Giving glory to God And 2 Thes 1.10 To be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe Fifthly Faith is that which does most conquer temptations and subdue all the enemies and adversaries of our salvation Ephes 6.16 Lastly Faith is said to save as the condition which God requires and will have in them which shall be saved and this were enough though nothing else to give account of it In all these respects is Salvation attributed hereunto But what is this Faith which we speak of all this while and wherein does it consist Sure it is not a meer assent to the truth revealed though that be somewhat which belongs thereunto yet this is not all the Devils thus believe which yet tremble as knowing that they are sons of wrath Jam. 2.19 But saving faith is quieting faith too Being justified by faith we have peace with God Rom. 5.1 Now what faith is this this is no other than a taking and receiving of Christ upon those terms in which he is offered in the Gospel for a Saviour and Lord too To as many as received him c. Joh. 1.12 As we must be willing to be saved by Christ's Blood so we must be willing to be ruled by Christ's Spirit Now this Faith has this also in it an assent to the whole truth of God which is revealed unto us Historical faith is comprehended in Justifying-faith as the less in the greater as the Vegetative and Sensitive soul in the Rational But the proper act of Justifying-faith is to lay hold on Christ Ens incomplexum est object um sidei justificantis Thus we see what Believing it self is The close of all for our selves is but to find this in our selves for our own particular And as we love Salvation accordingly to make good our Faith This we may discern and discover by the rise and fruits and workings of it For the rise of it it comes by Preaching and is suitable to the Doctrine of the Word Those which contemn the Ordinance they have none of the Grace For the fruits of it it works by love p1 It makes us afraid to displease God p2 It makes us couragious for God p3 It makes us love the Children of God p4 It quite changes and alters our converse from evil to good And so I have done with the fourth particular the extent of the work it self To save them that believe And so likewise with the second General in the Text Gods supply of the worlds defect
and Greeks to an hair in all which they desired When the Jews required a sign he was able if he had pleased to have wrought it And when the Greeks sought after wisdom he was able if he had pleased to have tendered it and to have complied with them in those ways which either of them were ambitious of And yet we see here how purposely he declines it and balks it and withdraws from it We preach Christ crucified What does this now teach us but thus much That plain and familiar kind of Teaching and laying down the Mysteries of Religion in easie and perspicuous manner is that which may well become the greatest and learnedest that are it is no shame nor disparagement for any Teacher let him be qualified how he will be or can be to apply himself to such kind of Doctrine as may suit with the lowest capacities and apprehensions that are and to preach so as to be understood by them Thus it was here with the Apostles and so likewise with Christ himself whose Apostles they were he gave them a good pattern hereof in the course of his Ministry who in this manner taught the people which sometime he had to deal withal And truly why not if indeed we consider all for first there 's a great deal more of art and skill sometimes in it than otherwise to preach Christ crucified and such fundamental Truths of Religion as these are and in that manner as they ought to be Preached requires a great deal more of wisdom and cunning as belonging unto it than many other points besides which it may be to some vain kind of minds seem far above them It is an easier matter to preach fancies and notions than it is to preach solid truths it is an easier matter to preach in the inticing words of mans wisdom than to preach in he powerful evidence and demonstration of the Spirit of God Therefore the Apostle Paul makes this to be the very master-piece of the whole work of the Ministry 1 Cor. 3.10 According to the Grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master-builder I have laid the foundation He that can well lay the foundation can tell them he is a master-builder indeed and that in Religion as well as any thing else And in the building of the Church as well as in any other building besides This does he that does labour to frame himself to such kind of Doctrines as these are in the Text. Secondly As there 's more skill in it so there 's likewise more modesty and less temptation and danger of miscarriage the venting of strange Speculations and the Preaching plausibly to mens humours and affections in this respect is not without some hazard of pride and self-applause in those that shall do it And men had need to be very watchful over their hearts which are carried out hereunto now in the plainer points of Religion there temptations are more easily avoided and shunned by us Thirdly There 's also profit and advantage hereby to our Hearer as concerning the good of their souls It is the charge which the Apostle gives to Timothy that he should not give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions rather than edifying Again 2 Tim. 2.14 Of these things put them in remembrance that they strive not about words to no prosit but to the subverting of the heart Now that best becomes any Preacher which is most to the prosit of the Hearer and the benefit of those which in Preaching he hath dealt withal The Consideration of this present point shews us how much they are mistaken who think otherwise in this particular there are many Preachers sometimes of this opinion that they think it stands not so well with their credit to condescend to the plain Truths of Religion and to stand upon them Alas these are ordinary businesses such as are fit for novices and those which are but beginners in the work but for them they think they must do somewhat which is singular and out of the way or else they shall suffer in their repute and estimation in point of learning they shall be counted no Scholars and the like and no more but common and ordinary fellows Well let such look here upon the Apostle and see how it was with him He 's not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ no more should they but think it their greatest honour the more they are able to impart and communicate such things as these are which are of such singular use and necessity He is learned indeed that can make another learned and learned in the highest pieces of learning and such is this which we are now speaking about The foundation of Religion Besides if we speak of humane learning and eloquence it self we must know that this does not cross nor contradict plain kind of Preaching There may be a great deal of learning sometimes in a plain Sermon and in the opening of a plain truth in that Sermon We use to say that Artis est ulare Artem it is a piece of Art to hide Art And so indeed it is when 't is more wrought into the substance of the performance than lyes in the meer top and surface of it And that 's the second thing in the Apostles carriage for his Ministry it 's humility and self-denial in laying aside of his own wit and parts and condescending to the plain points of Christianity We preach Christ crucified Thirdly Here 's his faithfulness and indifferency and impartiality to either part in the indefiniteness of the Subjects which this his Doctrine extends unto to Jew and Gentile both alike he preaches Christ crucified to either as a Doctrine which might well fit them both And in particular not only the Jews which were a people of more low capacities but likewise as well to the Greeks which were a people of more raised apprehensions Now that which we may note hence is this That the Doctrines and Principles of Religion they are such points as may very well become the learnedst Audience that is not the Jews only but the Greeks This is another thing which we here note from the Apostles carriage Some might have thought that though the Apostle Paul in his Preaching taught such things as these to the Jews yet for the Greeks he should have had somewhat else as they sometime expected it from him no but is all one with him for that whether Jew or Gentile Christ crucified and such Doctrines as these he thinks fit enough for them This we find to be his practise in another place Act. 17.19 They there brought him into Mars-hill at Athens or into the Court of the Areopagites and there made account to have heard some fine things from him but he for his part Preaches nothing but Jesus and the Resurrection these he thought were such Doctrines as might well sute the learnedst of them all And so indeed they are And a Minister does not wrong his Hearers with
this that we should Preach of no other subject but only of the death of Christ for there are many other points besides which it is necessary for a Minister to speak of and for a Christian likewise to hear of But when we are commanded to Preach Christ crucified and to make this the object of our Ministry there are these things included and involved in this expression as to be understood by us First For the matter of our Preaching as I have already shewn that we are to preach this principally and to make people sensible of this point more especially above any other because the hinge of the Gospel turns upon this point and we are Ministers of the Gospel therefore to beat more upon this than any other Secondly For the order of our Preaching to do all in reference to this then we preach Christ crucified not only when we discourse of this Argument for the particular subject of it but likewise when we preach of such points as are introductive and preparatory hereunto or which are superstructed and founded hereupon When we shew men their own corruption by nature and the necessity which they have of a Saviour And when we teach men to live holy lives and to be crucified in their affections and lusts then we preach Christ crucified as well as when we discourse of the thing Thirdly For the manner of our Preaching we then Preach Christ crucified when we Preach Christ and the Doctrine of Christ in a grave and sober fashion this is clear by the opposition which the Apostle Paul himself there sets 1 Cor. 2.2 where he sets this Preaching of Christ crucified as opposite to the excellency of humane speech I came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God For I de termined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified As who should say the one would not consist with the other They that profess themselves to be Preachers of Christ crucified they should abstain from all kind of looseness and affectation and flanting in their Preaching as a manner which does not agree with the matter Suppose now that any one were to paint a dying or crucified man would he paint him in a garment of colours or in a garment of black surely in the most grave and solemn attire that could be even so it should be likewise with us whiles we Preach Christ crucified we should endeavour to set him out after a crucified manner not in the wisdom of words lest we make the Cross of Christ of none effect but in the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit which may have conviction and power with it And thus we see what it is to preach Christ crucified Again further Here 's that which may satisfie Ministers as for those things which oftentimes they are subject unto and that scorn and ignominy which is many times cast upon them it is but futable to the Doctrine it self which they teach namely Christ crucified and therefore it should satisfie them in it and make them more willing to endure and to bear with them whiles they Preach Christ crucified to be content to be crucified and to meet with the same entertainment which he did in the world The Disciple is not above his Master nor the servant above his Lord. Besides The Doctrine it self is odious A stumbling-block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles as we shall hear God willing hereafter And therefore they must be needs odious that bring it and so for the most part they are as the Apostle professes of himself 1 Cor. 4.9 c. But then secondly Here 's somewhat not only for Ministers but people and not only for Preachers but hearers as first to teach them what Points and Doctrines they should chiefly affect and look afer We live in such an age at this present as tha the wholsome and savoury points of Religion are of no esteem with us but we loath them and are weary of them but we must have every day some new-nothing to be brought unto us we do not like this Doctrine of Christ crucified but must have somewhat else given us for our lusts as the Israelites for their bodily food Now here we are better instructed in this present passage of the Apostle wherein he tells us That he preached Christ crucified That which is the main object of the Ministers Preaching is the main of our hearing also And therefore let us take heed of this same itch which is abroad in the world in this kind I hope I shall not need to say much here in this place to this purpose but only this in a word First This is a cause why many people are so formal in Religion and have so little of the power of Godliness in them because they look rather after notions and speculations than solid Truths Their strength is according to their sustenance Secondly This is the cause of so many Errors and false Doctrines amongst us men first turn their ears from the truth and then are turned unto fables as it is in 2 Tim. 4.3 4. Thirdly This is the cause of so much strife and division amongst us because every one stands more for the devices of their own brains than they do for the Truths of Christ Now there 's this Use which may be made of this Point to all Christians namely that seeing Christ crucified is the chief Argument of a Ministers Preaching it should be also accordingly the chief rule of a Christians practice The Preaching of Christ crucified should teach us to be crucified with Christ that so the labours of the Ministers may be digested into our lives When we preach Christ crucified it is not only by way of narration to tell you that such a thing is done but it is rather by way of information to perswade and work upon you for living answerably hereunto And 't is not only to work upon mens fancies and to stir their passion a little for a while in a Frier-like manner but to mollifie and soften their hearts and to bring their spirits into a temper suitable hereunto This Doctrine of Christ crucified it should crucifie us more to sin to the world and to our own selves as we shall have occasion hereafter to show And as this Point should always take with us so especially should we now more meditate and think upon it as is that which is especially tendered and exhibited to us in the Sacrament which we have so often partak'd of The Sacrament of the Lords Supper it was instituted in remembrance of Christs death and to assure us of the great love of Christ to us in this particular This is not only to be thought of us at the very instant and time of receiving but upon all occasions all the days of our life which we are to regulate and to frame hereunto And so I have done with the Apostles Doctrine it self Christ crucified How farther this
take which he Preaches is to be earnest especially with God to go along with it and to bless him in it otherwise he may lose all his labour Again further The life and conversation of the Preacher there 's great matter in that also There are many Doctrines sometimes delivered which if we consider them in their own nature and for the matte of the things themselves which are spoken they have a great deal of weight in them yet as coming from such and such mouths they lose that efficacy and vertue which is in them He that 's a loose and scandalous liver can never look to be a profitable and successful Preacher nor to have any good at all come by any Doctrine which at any time he delivers I say he cannot expect or look for it Perhaps he may do some good by chance and unawares as God in providence may order it but he cannot expect or look for it and that indeed because he takes the quite contrary way hereunto For who will ever believe that that man is serious and in good earnest whose Doctrine tends one way and his life quite carries another way Nay further let me add this also That it is a great matter as concerning the efficacy and success of a mans Doctrine and Ministry not only how he orders his life and outward conversation but also how he orders his heart and inward disposition It is a duty which much lyes upon us as we desire that any Truth we deliver should take with our Auditory to labour to bring our own hearts and consciences to a conformity to it There 's nothing which goes to the heart so much as that which comes from it And when the words of a Preacher are the expressions of his own experiences and impressions and the working of his spirit within him We imparted unto you not the Gospel of God only but also our own souls because ye were dear unto us 1 Thes 2.8 Thus do we see how this difference lyes in the Preacher himself and that 's the first Consideration The second lies in the qualification of the hearers We use say Quicquid recipitur recipitur ad modum recipientis What ever is received it is received answerably to the modification of that which receives it And so is it indeed among other things with the Word and Truth of God it has a different and various effect according to a difference in the Hearers and a disposition in their hearts It is the Comparison which is used in this case by Clemens Alexandrinus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Look says he as it is at Tennis It is a plain and homely similitude but it serves to illustrate the thing As it is in playing of Ball ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. It does not depend alone upon the skill of the first striker but also as well upon the taker to keep the Game up Though he which begins behave himself never so skilfully yet if the other do but bungle with him if he mind not or mark not the business there will nothing be done to any purpose because those imployments they are actions of mutual dependance and reciprocation Even so also for the transmission of the Gospel and Divine Truths though the Doctrine it self be delivered with all the care and endeavour that can be yet if it be not carefully received there will no success follow upon it Thus Heb. 4.3 The Gospel was Preached to them as well as unto us but the word Preached did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith in them that heard it This is set forth to us by the Parable in the Gospel where that which fell in the High-way had not the efficacy of that which was sown in the good Ground Non impotentia seminis sed vino telluris as Athanasius well expresses it not from the weakness of the seed but from a defect in the Earth it self where there is not a good capacity in the Hearer the Word Preached will be there of no effect Now an indisposition here may be laid forth as consisting in divers things which concur hereunto First Prejudice and forestallment of Opinion and Apprehension in regard of the Preacher where people have at any time sinister and wrong conceits of those tha teach them they can never so kindly entertain the Doctrine which is delivered by them as when a Patient does not fancy the Physitian the Physick will not likely do him good This was that which made the Word of God to be no more received in former times We see how it was with the very Apostles themselves and amongst the rest more particularly St. Paul how the prejudices against his Person were sometimes great impediments to his Doctrine and the progress of his Ministry amongst them And therefore it is most necessary thing for all kind of Hearers to take heed of this Not to be rash in admitting any misprisions in this regard as Satan is most ready to breed them so should we be the readier to avoid them And again which we may take in here also as prejudice in an ill sense so prejudging also in a good there may be a danger in that also when people come to the hearing of the Word with too much expectation from the Preachers too and as trusting to their Gifts and Abilities this may be a cause of not profiting likewise when we shall have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ in respect of Persons It comes hence to pass that we are many times frustrated and disappointed and are sent empty away c. as Naaman to Elisha he thought the man of God would have come down c. 2 King 1. Secondly Another Hindrance in the Hearers is a want of due fitting and preparing of themselves for the publick Ordinances We see in other matters how preparation goes before the thing it self in Physick there 's a preparing of the body beforehand ere the principal Physick be administred and in Diet there 's preparation by exercise before the receiving of the meat even so is it requisite to be here in Divine matters likewise in our coming to the Sacrament and in our coming to the Preaching of the Word as we desire to get profit by these Duties so we must prepare our selves for them when we come to such things as these are immediately from our worldly imployments with our minds and thoughts full of the world we cannot ordinarily receive so much advantage and benefit by them Intus prohibet alienum Thirdly Some reigning sin and lust which prevails upon the heart that 's another impediment likewise in the behalf of the Hearer Look as it is in the body if any man have any constant weakness or sickness and infirmity about him that sustenance which he receives it does not commonly thrive with him but rather feeds and strengthens his disease than any thing else even so is it also here for the soul where there 's any corruption which is
allowed in the heart it stops and hinders the profiting by the Word or any Ordinance whatsoever And these things they tend rather to the strengthning of this corruption than to the taking of it away The word of God is the savour of death c. And that 's the second account of this Point which is taken from the Qualification of the Hearer The third is from the different assistance and cooperation of the Spirit of God He bloweth where he listeth and he makes his Word efficacious and successful where himself pleaseth The election hath obtained it saith St. Paul but the rest were hardened Rom. 11.7 And the Apostle here in this Text makes the different entertainment of the Gospel to arise from their effectual calling Vnto them which are called it is the power of God c. Again 1 Pet. 2.8 A stone of stumbling to them which are disobedient whereunto they were also appointed Look as God himself is pleased more or less to concur with his own Ordinance and to make it successful so much more or less shall be the efficacy and successfulness of it It is Paul that plants and Apollos that waters but it is still God that gives the increase Look as it is in our corporal food so it holds in our spiritual food likewise Man lives not by bread but by every word which comes out of the mouth of God Not the word which comes out of the mouth of the Minister but the word which comes out of the mouth of God that 's the word which man indeed lives by Take all the means in the world if the Lord do not concur with them they are all in vain Except the Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it It is true of the House of God the spiritual building as well as of any other and this is that which experience does too often make good What 's the reason that many people living under powerful means yet do no more profit under those means why 't is because the Lord himself does not bless the means unto them There 's many a soul in the world which God has pronounced a curse of barrenness upon it as he did sometime upon the barren figtree in the Gospel Never fruit grow upon thee more and that for the same reason as we see he did it there namely because he came to find fruit thereon and found none When men have enjoyed Preaching a long while and are still unfruitful under Preaching God does then in just judgment pronounce them to be unfruitful still and all the Preaching in the world in such cases will do them no good Thus we see an account of the Point from whence it so happens and comes to pass That the same kind of Preaching has not always the same kind of success but it is an offence to some whilst of others it is entertained Now the Improvement hereof to our selves may be drawn up to this Application First In a way of Caution that we take heed from hence of resting our selves satisfied in the enjoyment of the publick Ordinances and means of Grace They are things which we are to be thankful for but they are not things which we are to be satisfied with nor to rest our selves contented in alone in the bare enjoyment of them These people here in the Text they had the means in plenty enough The Apostles were not wanting in their work We preach Christ crucified But yet notwithstanding these means did not work any thing upon them to any good but rather the contrary The preaching of the Cross it is to them that perish foolishness but unto them which are saved it is the power of God The more spiritual and convincing truths we have at any time preached unto us and we not the better by them the more will it aggravate our judgment and condemnation at another day For this is the nature of these things that their miscarriage is there most dangerous where their success is most sweet and comfortable When ever men come to die their comfort then will not be this that they have enjoyed such and such means but that they have profited and thrived by them and where they have not done so their comfort will be so much the less Secondly We see from hence who are the truest objects of pity and compassion and cmmiseration namely such kind of Creatures as these are we pity those commonly who consume and pine away under the enjoyments of bodily sustenance but how much more are they to be pitied which wither in soul But so much for the general Doctrine which arises from these words as implying the different success in the Preaching of the Word We come now to the words more particularly and distinctly as they lye here before us where we find that this Doctrine of the Apostles it proved a cross and contrary Doctrine to two sorts of Persons to Jews and Gentiles both Vnto the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness We begin with the first Vnto the Jews a stumbling-block or scandal ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Greek word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is here translated a stumbling-block it is commonly rendered an offence It signifies properly as Suidas and Hesychius and some other Criticks tell us a crooked piece with a bait on it in Instruments to catch Wolves or Foxes or Mice ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and it is derived as some would have it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifies to halt in regard of the effect which it produces In Religion it is translated to any thing whereby a man is said to fall or stand still which hinders him and interrupts him in his way and is so in that respect prejudicial to him In a word there are three things which are briefly included in it and all applicable to our present purpose First Matter of Exception Secondly Matter of Temptation Thirdly Matter of Destruction All of these was Christ crucified to the unconverted Jews a scandal or stumbling-block in each of these respects as we shall see now made good unto us in the particular Explication of them to you yet passively all First He was matter of Exception Christ was a stumbling-block to the Jews that is he was an offence unto them he was one against whom they were prejudiced and took exception against him In Mark 6.3 it is said They were offended at him And this they were for sundry things As first for the meanness of his Birth and Parentage Christ he was an offence unto them here and so there in that place Is not this the Carpenter the son of Mary are not his sisters here with us c. If Christ had been some great Earthly Prince then it may be they would have looked after him but being such an one as he was they from hence came to despise him and to think meanly and scornfully of him Secondly the poorness of his Person and outward condition as he was one in
from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive Now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it When men shall consider that that which they have they have by free gift here is that which may pull down their pride and prevent them from that haughtiness of spirit whereunto they are otherwise too much addicted and inclined So likewise further it holds well for the improvement and exercise of these gifts which God hath given us that we be no niggards or restrainers of them but good stewards of the manifold Grace of God as the Apostle Peter admonishes and as our Saviour exhorts his Disciples and in them all others Freely ye have received freely give And thus much briefly of the phrase or expression which is here used by the Apostle and that is Gifts Now in the next place for the thing it self this is that which is here commended to these Corinthians to look after these free endowments and to endeavour to partake of them themselves for their own particular and so are we from them desired to do the same also to covet earnestly these best gifts not only the saving and sanctifying Gifts of the Spirit which we shall have occasion to speak of more hereafter but also the common and ordinary common and ordinary in one sense though in another sense more peculiar and restrained Such Gifts as we mentioned before Knowledg and Language and Eloquence and such as these these are better gifts and have especial dignity and excellency in them The Dignity and excellency of them may be briefly laid forth unto us in three Particulars First From their original and conveyance when we shall consider how we come by them and how they are indeed derived and transmitted unto us there is somewhat in that and that is not only from God and his Spirit from whom all good things come to our hands but likewise as a special fruit and consequent of Christs Ascension These gifts they are as it were the legacy of Christ and the relict which he dropt and left behind him when he went up into heaven According to that of the Psalmist Psal 68.18 repeated again by the Apostle Ephes 4.8 When he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men See how these gifts did follow upon Christs Ascension and did take their first rise from that as the occasion of them Now if there were no more but this in it there were very good reason certainly why we should a little look after them The gifts of dying friends they are for the most part in very great account and valuation with us let them be but what they will for the substance of them yet we esteem them in regard of the circumstances and the relation which is upon them And so it should be with us here in regard of these several gifts we should prize them in reference hereunto Forasmuch as Christ when he took his leave of the world and was now gloriously ascended to his Father did pour forth these his gifts upon his Church as a special testimony of his love unto it He received them of his Father that he might bestow them upon us And therefore that which in one place of Scripture is accepit in another place of Scripture is dedit id est accepit ut daret So that we have cause to regard these gifts first of all in the notion of their original and conveyance But secondly That 's not all there 's a further ground for our embracing them besides and that is by considering them substantially what they are in their own nature and that impression which they leave upon the subject in which they are these gifts if we do but consider them in themslves they are very amiable and lovely and so make those persons further to be who are endowed with them They are special ornaments and beautifyings to them and do much raise them above other men not only those extraordinary perfections which were conferred upon the Apostles themselves in the Primitive times of the Church but even likewise those more ordinary and common gifts which men receive even now in these days They are such as do much adorn and advance and set a luster upon those which have them and are partakers of them Thirdly And especially for their use and improvement and those gracious ends which they lead unto And that is as the Apostle himself does express it to us in so many words for the work of the Ministry for the perfecting of the Saints for the edifying of the body of Christ These gifts they reach to these ends Ephes 4.11 12. Every thing is so far forth desirable as it serves to better purposes and designs Now this is the advantage of spiritual gifts especially there where they are drawn out into their full extent that they do at least for a very great part of them serve to build up the Church of Christ The manifestation of the spirit is given to every one to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 But of this we shall speak more anon So much therefore now for that viz. the first particular considerable in this first General and that is the object propounded Gifts The second is the qualification of this object by way of comparison or distinction and that is the best or better gifts ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Where we may observe two things more First that which is implied And secondly that which is exprest That which is implied is this That there are some Gifts better than others That which is exprest is this that if there be any Gifts better than others those are they which we for our particulars of all others are to apply our selves to First For that which is implied there are some gifts which are better than others this is here supposed and taken for granted whiles the Apostle propounds the better gifts to be coveted after he does thereby imply that there is a distinction of gifts and that there are some of them which are better than the rest and so there are though all in their kind very good as proceeding each of them from one and the self-same spirit yet there is a difference and a distinction amongst them according to that which we have in the fourth verse of this present Chapter Distinctiones sunt donorum sed idem spiritus There are diversities or distinctions of gifts so some render the words but the same spirit For the better opening of this present point it will not be amiss for us to consider wherein this distinction does consist namely in what respect some gifts are said to be better than others and do partake of this better denomination First Gifts sometimes are counted better as they are any thing more rare and unusual Those which can do somewhat which few else can do besides they do from hence for the most part esteem themselves to be better qualified and think that therefore
of expression there 's an inlargement of common natural affection these are the better gifts But then again there 's a spirit of Adoption there 's a crying of Abba Father there 's a childlike and a filial boldness and closing with God in the duty There 's a making known of our requests to God as the Scripture calls it Phil. 4.6 that 's the more excellent way So in like manner take it in Preaching There 's a good invention and a good composure and a good memory and a voluble tongue and a pleasing delivery c. These are the better gifts but then there 's a word in season there 's a speaking to the conscience there 's a savory spirit there 's an heart transform'd into he nature and power of those things which are utter'd and deliver'd by the mouth that 's the most excellent way And so I might likewise instance in divers others of the same nature with them There are gifts and there are graces both which are ingredients unto them as a Religious duty as a means to salvation and such Considerations of it as these c. and that which concerns us is not only to look after the former but also the latter and to the latter more than the former In all performances of this nature whatsoever we undertake we should make it our chiefest study and business to excell in the most excellent way and to abound in those gifts especially above all other which do savour most and come nearest to Religion and the truth of Grace wrought in the heart And we should not satisfie our selves in the one without the other Again yet further which is also pertinent and proper to the matter in hand we should be careful so to order and dispose of our gifts for the getting and improving of them as that withal we do not prejudice our Graces and hinder and obstruct them we should take heed of losing our selves in our Studies as concerning the frame and temper of our be arts For this is that by the way which we may take notice of and shall find to be most true by certain experience that though there be no kind of learning which considered simply in it self does carry an absolute repugnancy and opposition and contradiction to the work of Grace in the Soul but such as is very well consistent and agreeable with it in the thing and that also in some measure and degree yet there are some kind of studies especially above the rest which by too much intention upon them and not watching over the heart in them may much indispose the Soul to that gracious and heavenly disposition and present frame of heart which is desirable in it in regard of the subject This is too clear and evident by divers instances of it in sundry particulars some by too much ingagement in Controversies and Philosophical disputes others by too much ingagement in Criticisms and Rabbinical observations others by too much ingagement in Histories and Chronologies and the like are not only oftentimes lost to the World and to civil converse amongst men but are likewise much lost to Heaven and to spiritual communion with Christ This proceeds not from the things themselves which are all of them as I said before very good in their several kinds and agree well together but only from our corruption and the weakness of our nature which cannot so easily in an high degree attend two things at once in diverso genere At least it proceeds from our carelesness and non-attendancy and inconsiderateness in not carrying such a narrow watch and circumspection over our own souls as indeed it becomes us to do Like Martha we are troubled about many things and neglect that one thing which is needful and the choosing of that better part which shall not be taken away from us for there may be a kind of worldliness and covetousness to excess as I may so call it even in our professions and callings as well as in other mens although it be of a little finer nature than the others are Therefore we should here look to our selves Covet earnestly the best gifts and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way Labour to advance in Learning but still remember to keep up in Grace And here I might take occasion again to commend the work of Preaching unto you upon another ground and consideration than as yet I have mentioned and spoken of and that is as it is so much the freer of all other works from this danger nay as it is a good remedy and prevention against it which being performed so it should be as a great help and advantage to the heart to bring it and keep it in frame and to fit it for communion with God to sanctisie a Sabbath and to dispose us to all the duties of Religion according to that expression in Psal 23.23 He maketh me to lye down in green pastures He leadeth me beside the still waters He restoreth my soul he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his names sake Lastly This excellent way it does not only refer to the getting of Grace our selves but likewise to the promoting of it in others And this was that which the Apostle Paul in this place did seem especially to aim at in these Corinthians they were of that humour and disposition at least for a great many amongst them that they looked more after the credit and honour of their gifts and such gifts as were of greatest applause than they did after the good and benefit of their gifts and such Gifts as were of greatest profit Now this is that therefore which he does occasionally propound and commend unto them not only a simple qualification but likewise a concomitant edification not only to have better Gifts but also to do more good with them this is the most excellent way Humility and Thankfulness in the injoyment of Gifts and charity and faithfulness in the improvement of Gifts is the most excellent way in order to the Gifts themselves This is that which St. Paul as he does especially intend in this Text so he does also further urge and prosecute in the following Chapter and that particularly from his own example in the 14th chapter of this Epistle the 18 and 19 verses where he speaks to this purpose I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all Yet in the Church I had rather speak five words with my understanding that by my voice I might teach others also than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue Where ye may observe that he still principally drives at edification with those Gifts which he partaked to have spoken ten thousand words in an unknown tongue that had been more for his own credit and admiration and applause in the world yea but to speak but five words with his understanding that by his voyce he might teach others also That was more for the good of the Church And he made choice of this
as to be preferred before the other the more excellent way before the better gifts and so likewise should we upon all occasions do our selves labour for those gifts most which tend most to edification and labour more to edifiâ with our Gifts than to glory and boast of them more to profit and to advance the Church than to promote and set out our selves This is that which we should give our selves to But so much my suffice to have spoken of the first particular in this second general and that is the thing it self which is propounded to wit the more excellent may The second is the Proposition of it That we have in this word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I shew it unto you Shew it How did he shew it Two ways as we may conceive more especially First He shewed it in Thesi and Secondly he shewed it in Hypothesi First he shewed it in the Proposition and Secondly He shewed it in the practice in the Rule and in the example He shewed it in his Doctrine and Ministry declaring as much unto them and he shewed it also in his life and conversation as giving them an example of it in himself for his own particular He gave it them in the Rule and he gave it them likewise in the Pattern for the better inforcing of the Rule upon them that so he might be no ways wanting unto them for their instruction and direction herein each of these ways he shewed this way unto them First He shewed it them in his Dictrine and by way of simple proposition he publisht it and declared it unto them and that at large here in this Epistle in the Chapter immediately following he shewed it them by rhetorical inlargements and amplifications Though I should speak with the tongue of men c. And so if we please we may understand that phrase ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã here in the Text not only as referring to ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but also to ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã not to the way only but to the shewing of it According as St. Basil of Caesarea seems to carry it in his Epistle Ad Neocaesarienses ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I do in an Hyperbolical manner shew this unto you which he does indeed in the very next words that follow etsi linguis c. Here I might by the way shew you which I have also observed lately elsewhere an use of Rhetorick and Hyperboles in such discourses as these are so it be done in a grave and sober manner without ridiculousness and affectation there is good warrant and authority for it but I shall at this time pass over that The Apostle shewed unto these Corinthians the most excellent way and he shewed it first of all in his Doctrine Here are divers things which from hence I might very pertinently insist upon as First In that the Apostle speaking of Piety and Religion says here Demonstro Vobis we see here that Religion is capable of Demonstration It is such as may be clearly evidenced and demonstrated and made good to those who will not be peeâ vish and refractory and perverse A good and sound Christian he does not go upon conjectures only and meer guessings and doubtings and uncertainties but has firm footing for his treading he is sure and very well perswaded of the way in which he walks and is able to shew it to others If men will mot be peremptory and obstinate there is such an Autopistie and authority in Religion as does command their assent unto it so as they may as well deny a demonstration as they may deny that Here are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as Clemens Alexandrinus speaks Words and Reasons that do compel yieldance to them Again secondly In that the Apostle here speaking of his Preaching and Writing and Ministerial Dispensation says ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I shew it unto you We see here in what kind of way Preaching and Teaching is to be carried namely as the Apostle does also express it in another place ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In the Demonstration of the spirit and power 1 Cor. 2.4 It is not enough for us simply to propound truths but as near as we ean to evidence them and demonstrate them and make them clear and to deliver them in such a manner as whereby we may convince the gainsayer of the truth of them I shew it unto you Therefore we are here especially to take heed of any thing which may be any hinderance or prejudice hereunto and that is as the Apostle has noted an affectation of the enticing words of mans wisdom This St. Paul in that place before mention'd does oppose to this demonstration of the spirit and in the 17th verse of the first chapter he tells us that it makes the Cross of Christ to be of none effect As too many flourishes about a Letter keep the Letter it self from being discerned or as Chrysostom makes the comparison ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Look as fair and beautiful bodies when they are set out with paint and colours they do lose of their native beauty and comeliness so likewise the Word of God when 't is too much tricked up with humane illustrations it loses of that demonstrative power and efficacy which is indeed in it and becomes no more than an ordinary discourse Thirdly Here 's a further Rule likewise for Ministers in order to the matter of their Doctrine and the things themselves which are delivered by them whatever they teach men besides especially to build them up in Grace and to press such points home upon them as do tend to the furthering and promoting of a godly and holy conversation St. Paul would stir up these Corinthians to the coveting of the best gifts they could Oh! but he woule be sure in the mean time not to forget to propound unto them the most excellent way Yet I shew unto you or moreover the word in the Greek is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as who should say I have not as yet done with you I have somewhat more to say to you than so And thus he shewed it First of all in Thesi in the bare and simple Proposition Secondly He shewed it also in Hypothesi in his own practice and example this we may gather from the next Chapter Though I should speak c. without charity c. Though I should is here as much as I do not and I is not only persona supponens but persona proponens and this is another kind of shewing which does belong to all Ministers else whosoever they be Without which the other shewing will do little or no good at all The Apostle Paul as he was a sound Teacher so he was likewise a Follower of that which himself did teach This is requisite to be thereby to make our Doctrine more effectual and full of success Who will believe our report when we do not believe it our selves As we give just occasion to suspect when we report that which
Thes 1.5 This is that which becomes a servant of Christ as the best principle of all to work upon namely his own knowledg and experience of those things which he speaks of But of this we may have occasion to treat more anon out of the words themselves 2. As here 's an account of his practice from the principle of it so likewise from the matter and the thing it self which was handled by him which is by beginning with terror and laying judgment before them and the last judgment in particular This is the course which is taken by him for the more effectual progress of his Ministry to lay the ground-work and foundation in this And it so was likewise with him elsewhere Thus he dealt with the men of Athens Act. 17. 30 31. And the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men every-where to repent because he bath appointed a day in which be will judg he worlds So he began likewise with Felix Act. 24.25 He reasoned before him of righteousness and temperance and judgment of come So Heb. 6.2 Amongst the rest of the first Elements of Christain Religion we find there reckoned eternal judgment as that which is mainly and principally to be known and studied by a Christian as preparatory and introductory to many other Doctrines besides 3. We may likewise here take notice of the order and method which is observed by him in all this which is first of all informing himself and then instructing of others Here 's scientes prinsquaââ suademus First Knowing and after that perswading There are some which invert this order Begin first with perswading and then come to knowing aftewards Which will be teachers before they are learners which will take upon them to instruct ere themselves are sufficiently instructed But this is not the Apostles method here in this place who begins at the right end and that which is most natural and probable to know before he makes known And thus much by way of preparation of these words in their dependance and connexion We come now closer to the parts themselves Where we have these two particulars considerable First The work it self and that is we perswade men Secondly The principle of this working or the Motive that put them upon it Knowing the terror of the Lord. We begin with the last first which is first in the order of the words as it is also in the nature of the thing and that is the nature or principle of working Knowing the terror of the Lord. Wherein again two particulars more First The object propounded and that is the terror of the Lord. Secondly The apprehension of this object in reference to the mind c. Knowing the terror of the Lord. The Vulgar Latine gives it Timorem Domini the fear of the Lord which is a little more mollified and restrained The Arabick Interpreter for fail puts them in both Timorem reverentiam Domini Terrorem takwi trabbi wa-hashaitiho Erasmus simpliciter terrorem which is also followed by our own Translators as best agreeing with the drift of the place which is that which we will now keep unto 1. I say here 's the Object propounded The terror of the Lord ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This was that which the Apostle knew and desired also to make known unto them for their edification and spiritual improvement It 's called the terror of the Lord emphatically and exclusively as hereby shutting out any other terror besides which does not so well consist with this for we must know that there are sometimes false terrors as well as true There are terrores Satanae as well as terrores Domini and these are very cautelously to be distinguish't one from the other The Devil as he has his false comforts and raptures and elevations so he has likewise his false fears and astonishments and dejections whereby he does sometimes depress and keep down the hearts of Gods People in his uncomfortable representations in his suggestions to despair in his dreadful prognostications and the like These are such kind of things as are very sad and terrible and which St. Paul also knew well enough and was sufficiently acquainted withal He was not ignorant of Satans devices whereby he labours to affright men and to take them off from doing of their duty and that work which does belong unto them through their too much attendance hereunto But he does not make any of these to be a ground for his ministerial perswasions no but the terror of the Lord those terrors which God himself makes and which are of his allowance and approbation What kind of terrors are those may it be here demanded Let us hear of them what they are and what is meant here by them in this expression which we here meet withal in the Text. For these there are divers kinds of them we may reduce them briefly to three heads which as I think will reach this phrase in the full extent and latitude of it 1. The terror of the Word in the threatnings and comminations of it wherein is revealed from Heaven the wrath of God against all unrighteousness as the Apostle speaks in Rom. 1.18 This is one terror of the Lord and a very great terror it is if it be duly considered there 's a mighty power in the work of God set on by the assistance of Gods Spirit for the terrifying of the most secure sinner and driving him out of that condition and presumption and stupidity of mind in which he lyes The Word of God is powerful sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit c. Heb. 4.12 And the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God c. says the Apostle 2 Cor. 10.4 This we see in Paul to Felix who whiles he Preach'd before him astonish'd him and caused him to tremble 2. The terror of Divine Impression upon the heart and conscience This is sometimes called in Scripture the terror of the Almighty which Joâ and David Heman and such as these did sometimes partake of when God himself appears as an Enemy and does immedlately wrestle and conflict with the inwards of any poor soul and write bitter things against it This is likewise the terror of the Lord and such as does indeed carry a great deal of terribleness with it but yet that 's not all which is meant here in this place 3. The terror of Judgment and more especially of the day of Judgment that 's likewise the terror of the Lord and it is that which is also principally intended here in this present Scripture which relates to that which was mentioned in the verse immediately preceding We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive c. Now knowing the or as some that terror of the Lord ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã with the demonstrative particle we do therefore perswade so that the terror of the Lord is as
the matter which the Act is exercised about and conversant in towards this object and the Argument whereby or whereupon we proceed in dealing with them First For the Act or what it is which is done it is perswading We perswade ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã some read it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã per ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This is an expression which carries a various Emphasis First It is a word of endeavour we perswade that is we labour to do so Indeed if we speak of it as to the event so we do not always do it it is our misery and our great unhappiness that we cannot and more ours than any ones else Non suadebis etiamsi persuaseris as he said That that though we have as much cause and more than any others besides to perswade in that which we undertake to perswade men of yet we cannot so readily effect it men will not be perswaded by us even in such things as does concern them very nearly to be convinced and perswaded of Yet who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed we may complain with that Evangelical Prophet Isa 53.1 As for some other kind of persons that come with their fables and fancies and fopperies and delusions and Astrological Predictions these can perswade when they list to put an whole City into a fright for I know not what But we which bring news and tidings of the wrath of God against sin of judgment and eternal condemnation We which mention the terrour of the Lord yea and that upon knowledg too not meer guesses or conjectures but have good ground for that which we say We cannot stir men nor in the leaft manner perswade them they will not believe what we say as having any reality or certainty in it Well but for all that says the Apostle we perswade and so we do namely as I said in regard of our endeavour and application of our selves hereunto We in the execution of our Ministry do labour and study to perswade men if they will be perswaded by us and it is our duty so to do To do all that in us lies to convince men of that wretched condition which they are in by reason of sin and the danger which they are exposed unto for it This is that work which is proper to us and we do not go out of our way when we are conversant in it Secondly It is a word of mollification We perswade men we do not compel them Fides non cogenda sed suadenda It is a rule of ancient observation and it hath its truth in it according to a due explication and right apprehension which is in regard of the inward acts of the mind and the ultimate resolution of the understanding considered immediately Indeed there may be some kind of compulsion to the outward means and the attending upon them and likewise an use of such means extrinsecally as may cause men to set their understandings on work and to give heed to that which is spoken but directly and immediately to force it this is not agreeable to it as I may force a man to look though I cannot force him to see The work of the Ministry it is not a Physical work but a Moral and so is to be looked upon by us This sutes with the word that follows namely Men We perswade men men must be dealt withal as men and that is by perswasion Hos 11.4 I drew them with the cords of a man What are they namely sound and convincing arguments which might perswade and bring off their understandings to those things which were propounded unto them This is that which we are to do in the Ministry and which God himself likewise does in Regeneration and the conversion of a sinner he does here perswade Indeed when we speak of God he does so and somewhat else that we may not mistake he does not only propound arguments and barely offer such considerations to our understandings but he does likewise forcibly incline them and irresistibly bring them off to those things which he offers and propounds he draws us and makes us to run after him whereby he doth at the same time both preserve the faculties of the soul in that nature which is proper unto them and likewise maintain the efficacy and soveraignty of his own Grace But for us in the Ministry of the Word we do no more than only tender and exhibit such truths to the mind and leave it to God himself to inforce them and set them upon it It is not all the reason or argument in the world which is able to convince and perswade a man without the influence of the Spirit of God When therefore it is said here We perswade you must remember in what sense it is spoken namely by way of Preparation and proposition of such and such truths and arguments which in their own nature are apt so to do It is not in the power of all the Ministers nor men in the world to perswade the hearts and conscience properly and directly and absolutely in the strict sense and notion of the word No this is no work of ours but of God alone God shall perswade Japhet to dwell in the tents of Shem Gen. 9.27 The good old man his Father Noah the Preacher of Righteousness both by his Doctrine and likewise by his Life he had endeavoured it often but in vain and could not do it he could not perswade him by all the Logick and Rhetorick which he had used unto him there was no moving of him only by himself no but he leaves it to God to do it for him and commits it to his transaction as that which was most likely to succeed and to take effect And so must it be also with us which are Ministers as to our performances expect and desire that God may perswade by us but not to think that we of our selves shall be ever able to perswade We do but perswade almost as Paul sometimes did Agrippa Almost thou perswadest me to be a Christian. It is God that must perswade altogether But yet thirdly this expression We perswade it is moreover a word of efficacy too and that likewise in reference to us in our dispensations though not in regard of the effect of our Ministry yet at least in regard of the performance and manner of ordering it so we perswade effectually when as namely we so handle the word in the preaching and publishing of it as that it may carry some life and power with it This was that which was observable in our Saviour He taught as one having authority and not as the Scribs Mat. 7.29 My speech and my preaching says he it was not with the enticing words of mans wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and with power that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God 1 Cor. 2.8 Not in enticing words or not in the perswading words
Reprobates for we can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth IN these words We can do nothing but for the Truth As they are words which have a respect to the end so there is a double end which seems to be intended in them there 's finis operis and finis operantis both and so we must here take it The end both of the work and worker Truth and the edification of Gods People it was the end of the Ministry it self in its own institution and it was the end likewise of the Apostle in his discharge and execution of his Ministry he had an arm and eye to those gracious ends and purposes whereunto his Ministry and Apostleship looked in the nature of it These two they are two things and are sometimes separated one from the other there are many which the office they sustain and the Ministry wherein they are imployed that 's not against but for the truth in the nature of them but they have other kinds of ends themselves in their exercise and discharge of them Now this is that which we must be careful and mindful of whoever he be that 's a Minister or imployed in any publick service he should labour to have affections answerable to the nature of the place which he sustains or the duty which is undertaken by him even to have such ends in undertaking of it as the thing it self in its own nature respects otherwise we may do nothing against the Truth and yet do nothing for it nay we may do much for it in regard of our managing of it yea may fulfil our lusts at the same time when we perform our duties The Apostle Paul did not here who in the words here before us expresses not only to us the blessed end of his Ministry but also the gracious frame of his spirit in the exercise of it We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth There are two Motives or Reasons especially which do make for our activity for Truth the one is because it needs it and the other is because it deserves it The Text is nothing else but an account of the Apostles integrity and faithfulness in the discharge of his Ministry And it is here propounded to us two manner of ways which may serve to make up to us the two parts of the Text. First In the Negative how it is not in these words We can do nothing against the truth And secondly In the Affirmative how it is but for the truth c. We begin with the former viz. The Negative Proposition We can do nothing against the truth He speaks it of himself together with the rest of the Apostles but it is true both of all other Ministers and Christians besides it is the same case and condition which they are in they can do nothing c. Now this it may admit of a various interpretation according to the several force of the words First We cannot i. e. we may not there 's a restraint of Command Seconly We cannot i. e. we will not it is a restraint of principles Thirdly We cannot i. e. we shall not it is a restraint of Power First We cannot i. e. we may not it is a restraint of command or prohibition from God himself A Christians may-not and his cannot are all one id potest quod jure potest that which is unlawful it 's impossible to a gracious heart And so this among other things of resisting and acting against the Truth it is that which he cannot do because he is forbidden to do it and so he is God allows no man in this and least of all those who by special service draw near unto him to do any thing which may prejudice Religion or the Doctrine which is according to Godliness in any respect it is that which may not be done And the reason of it is this because Truth it is a piece of God himself it is his own natural and genuine off-spring so that to do any thing against that is consequently to do somewhat against him which is that which he cannot approve of as even Gamaliel himself said of it Act. 5.39 If it be of God ye cannot overthrow it lest happily ye be found even to fight against God God he is the first Truth and so all Truth it issues from him and is dependent upon him Therefore let none take liberty to themselves in it as too many are apt to do who make nothing of Truth nor of injuring and opposing of it think they may do with it as they please without controle no they may not do so God takes a special care of his Truth above any thing else and would have us to take care of it likewise that we do nothing offensive to it we cannot do any thing against the Truth that is we may not there 's a restraint of command Secondly We cannot i. e. we will not there 's a restraint of principles it is against the frame and temper and disposition and constitution of a Christian to do any thing against the Truth We cannot do it i. e. and be what we are or what we profess and pretend our selves to be Christians considered as Christians under that notion and reduplication are uncapable of opposing the truth it is altogether incompatible to them and inconsistent with their Christian Condition And that in sundry particulars wherein it may be laid open to us As first from the clearness of their judgments and that fulness of conviction in their undershandings there is a restraint upon them from thence The reason why many oppose Truth it is because they are ignorant of it and know not what it is They speak evil of those things which they understand not 2 Pet. 2.12 But those which do know the Truth they are much ingaged for it As Paul whiles he was in a state of ignorance he was then in a state of opposition But when it pleased God to reveal his Son in him then it was otherwise with him This now is the case of true Believers and the Servants of God The eyes of their understanding are opened and they are inlightned by the spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.10 c. Therefore if they should go against the Truth they should contradict their own light which they cannot so well do Light it has a restraining power with it and does keep men from many strange practices which they would otherwise fall into Secondly As from the clearness of their judgments so also from the Holiness of their hearts and that gracious savour and tincture in their affections this is another thing that keeps them in There are many who have pretty good judgments and their understandings are indifferently well enlightened and yet they are never a whit the freer from opposing the Truth because they have rotten and corrupt hearts and their spirits are unsound in them from whence they detain the Truth in unrighteousness and extinguish that light which is in them But
read these their doom in Mark 8.38 Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels Mark not only ashamed of me but ashamed of my words that is of my Doctine and Truth and the profession of it He that 's ashamed of these of him also will Christ be ashamed when he will wish to be owned by him Again Others there are who though they own Truth yet will do little for it as to the defence and preservation of it though as a ravish't Virgin it crys out for their aid and relief yet they refuse to be helpful to it but are content to see it even undone before their eyes There are few which have tender bowels towards truth or active hands for the promoting of it Now this is that which the Apostle takes upon him here in this Text in the behalf not only of himself but also of his fellow-labourers and brethren that they were such as did not only declare all actings against it but close with all opportunities for it Not any thing against the Truth but for the Truth Nay further which seems also to be included their necessary inclinations hereunto for so we must likewise take it We can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth that is we cannot but do for the Truth as there 's an Impotency to opposition so there 's an impotency likewise to neutrality and remisness and indifferency of spirit According to that of the Apostles Peter and John in their reply to the Priests and Elders which prohibits them to Preach any more in the Name of Jesus We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard Act. 4.20 This is the temper of a gracious heart that it 's all inflamed with a love to Truth and cannot as there 's occasion and opportunity administred to it but express and shew it self for it as it was sometimes with the Prophet Jeremy Jer. 20.9 His word was in his heart as a burning-fire shut up in his bones he was weary with forbearing and could not stay or as it was with the Apostle Paul when he came sometime to Athens and saw the City wholly given to Idolatry It is said his spirit was stirred in him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he was put as it were into a Fit of a Feaver through his zeal and ardency of affection upon that occasion This has been the condition of Gods Servants in such cases as these are as we may see especially in the story of the Martyrs they could not withhold but they must shew themselves for truth sometimes even in the greatest dangers and hazards which were incident unto them from that rooting and settlement and foundation which it had in their hearts But so much for that and so I have done with the Affirmative Proposition likewise But for the Truth And now that I have seemed to go through the whole Text. I might very well begin it again and make a new Sermon upon it For the Truth of it is we are not yet come to the point nor to the scope of the Holy Ghost in this place We have hitherto handled the words absolutely and in the general notion of them but there is a Relative Consideration of them which is to be observed and taken notice of by us which is yet behind and intimated in the Connexive for as to the joyning of this Verse and the former both together and to make them dependant upon one another he had said in the Verse before Now I pray to God that ye do no evil not that we should appear approved but that ye should do that which is honest though we be as reprobates Now he adds For we cannot c. He speaks it of the exercise of his ministerial authority amongst them which he signifies to be in him not for himself so much as for them nor for his own respect and advancement but for the glory of God the good of the Church and the advancement of the Truth which is chiefly and especially and principally regarded by him And therefore if at any time he were more sharp and severe with them whether in the reproving or punishing of offenders he did still desire herein to approve himself as one that aimed at Justice and Piety and Vertue in that Administration as the main ground and end for which that Power was indeed bestowed upon him This is the proper and genuine and direct sense of these words as they here lye before us We can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth which are nothing else but a limitation of the Apostolical and Ministerial Power And that again twofold First As considered in the office and Ministry it self And secondly As considered in the persons namely himself and his fellow-Apostles and Ministers which were then the subjects of it For the first viz. The office and Ministry it self There is here in these words a limitation fastened upon that whiles it is said We can do nothing c. and thereby signified thus much That Ministerial Authority is not extended beyond Christian Edification The Apostles could do nothing but what was consonant and consistent with Religiou whether consider'd in the Doctrine of it or the practice This is that which is here exhibited to us and it is agreeable likewise to other places of Scripture as in 2 Cor. 10.8 For though I should boast more of our Authority which the Lora hath given us for edification and not for your destruction This was the end for which that Authority which he had was ordained and whereunto it did tend not destruction but edification so 1 Pet. 5.3 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã not as Lords over Gods Heritage or over ruling your several lots and divisions but as ensamples to the flock that is not for our own private advantage but for the good and benefit of the Church This is true as to either parts of the Ministry whether of Doctrine or Censure First If we take it of Doctrine that is limited and bounded by this Ministers they have a Didactical Authority and authority of teaching God has committed this unto them and to them alone there 's none have authority of dispensing the Mysteries of Faith and Religion but those only who are especially called and designed thereunto But yet this Authority even to such and such persons it is limited and restrained to the Truth We can here do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth Ministers have not power to impose any Doctrine or Maxim whatsoever upon the people to be believed by them but what is agreeable to the Word of God and the Will of God laid down in the Scripture they may not make any new Article of Faith or require assent unto it Thus we have it also in 2 Cor. 1. 24. Not that we have dominion over your faith
think to escape neither And therefore ye may again take notice of it that it is not only said Besides what we have Preached but what ye have received The receiver is as bad as the thief in this particular And as it is a cursed thing to scatter Error so it is as cursed a thing to take it up and carry it home and keep it by us or nourish it with us which therefore we should now all be perswaded in the fear of God to avoid and shun what we can It is a Caution and Admonition which is not needless to us or superfluous but very necessary and seasonable especially in these days wherein we live wherein so many and never more Errors abounded than now there do to take heed and look to our selves that we be not seduced and led away with them especially in those points which are of so great concernment to us The Authority of the Scriptures The Corruption of Nature The necessity of Regeneration The freeness of Gods Grace in Conversion The Perseverance of the Saints and the like Points which have again and again been inculcated to us and from time to time through several hands delivered unto us which therefore it concerns us to hold and keep our selves to as much as we can Especially you of this City that I may bring it a little nearer to you it behoves you especially above all other places of the Nation to be mindful of this Admonition as those who have been made partakers of the Truth in a more large and ample manner than any other else besides you cannot pretend the want of Preachers as having had more in this kind than any other City in the world not only us but Angels from Heaven as I may so express it which have come to you from all quarters and dispenst the Gospel unto you in the clearness and pureness of it yea and you have received it too which is somewhat more that is welcom'd it and imbraced it and given entertainment to it and exprest your affections to those who have been the Ministers of it both in former times and of late For which cause there are great ingagements upon you to stick close unto it and not to suffer your selves by any means to be taken off from it but earnestly to contend for that faith which hath been once delivered unto you It is a dangerous thing movere terminos to remove the bounds whether in civil affairs or in spiritual but in spiritual especially Here the Apostles rule elsewhere is seasonable for us To hold fast the form of sound words c. to keep that good thing which is committed unto us and to stand fast inone spirit with one mind and to strive together for the faith of the Gospel Gregory Nazianzene tells us of Constantine that when he drew near to his end of the three things which troubled his spirit this was one ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that he had made an innovation in Religion and the Doctrine of Christ The same will likewise any other which shall in like manner be guilty of it when they come duly to reflect upon it Let us for our parts be careful to maintain the Truth which for a recompence will maintain us and let us take heed of all such Doctrines and ways which are opposite and contrary hereunto Especially which now in these days do so much prevail and take place amongst us Socinianism Pelagianism Antinomianism Libertinism and the like And especially which is fittest to take in all the rest into it Popery and the abominations of Rome Le ts us take heed of that we may perhaps be secure in this matter and think we are now least in danger of this of all others but we are not for all that and our danger is the greater for our security the mystery of iniquity works and works now and all other Errors besides they do but usher and lead on to this and make way for it if we be not the more wary and watchful over our selves The Devil knows how to go backward that he may fetch the greater leap and have us at the long run and it is wisdom for us not to be ignorant of his devices This being the great design and project which he does now lay to himself for the undermining of poor souls I shall for this purpose and all other but refer you to what hath been formerly delivered unto you which you have heard and learnt and received and had confirmed amongst you from the mouths and pens of your forefathers and Blood of the Martyrs and conclude here as I began in the words of the Apostle Paul in this present Text Though we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel to you than what we have preached unto you let him be accursed As we said before so c. SERMON XXXVII Rom. 2.4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering not known that the Goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance It is a part of the Corruption of Nature and of the misery of Man through his fall to make his remedy to be his poyson and that which should be the greatest restraint and prohibition to him from sin to make it the greatest argument and enconragement to him for it namely the grace and goodness and patience and long-suffering of God This is that which the Apostle Paul does in a special manner meet withal and fall upon in this present Scripture where having in the foregoing Chapter inveighed agains the sins of the Gentiles and the compliance of others with them occasionally from Gods goodness to them doeshere in this particular Text which we have now before us set himself with a great deal of vehemency against this distemper and as it were taking them out man by man does expostulate it and reason it with them in the former part of this present Chapter for divers and sundry verses together Our business at present is with the fourth verse of it which is more full and close than all the rest Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering c. IN the Text it self there are two General Parts considerable First The simple Expostulation And secondly The aggravating Amplification The simple Expostulation that ye have in these words Despisest thou the riches of his goodness c. The aggravating Amplification in those Not knowing c. We begin with the former viz. The simple Expostulation Despisest thou c. Wherein again we have three Particulars more First The carriage and behaviour of God towards wicked and worldly men and that is much patience and indulgence and kindness to them The riches of c. Secondly The miscarriage and unanswerable returns of wicked men back again to God and that is in much frowardness and perversness and contempt they despise this his Goodness to them Thirdly The accountableness in which they stand to God for this miscarriage of theirs Doest thou despise
despise not the chastening of the Lord c. Heb. 12.5 But to have his goodness and his mercy despised and to have his patience and long-suffering abused this is the worst of all Patientia laesa fit furor Patience when it is once abused it turns into fury and wrath And so will the Patience of God when it is exercised by the Provocations of men There 's a time a coming when Mercy will be worth the owning and will not be despised There are divers evils consequent upon this despising of the mercies of God First The removal and taking away of the mercies themselves When God bestows good things upon them and they make nothing of them or pervert them to a contrary use God does then justly deprive them of them and bestows them sometimes upon those which will better deserve them Thus Hos 2.8 9. She did not know that is consider that I gave her corn and wine and oyl and multiplied her silver and gold which they prepared for Baal And what then Therefore will I return and take away my corn in the time thereof and my wine in the season thereof and I will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness There 's no better way to secure and to preserve any comfort to us which at any time we enjoy than by thankful and fruitful improving it to Gods glory and the doing of good with it whereas the contrary it does plainly forfeit and expose it to ruin and loss Secondly Vpon despising of Gods mercies there follows not only a removal of them but also a perverting of them and turning them to evil God as I said before is able to curse mens blessings and so oftentimes he does upon this account wherein he deals with them suitably to themselves For they do for their parts use his blessings to a contrary purpose and he does dispose his blessings to have a contrary issue to them that what is comfortable in its own nature shall be to them matter of disquiet Thirdly He does also hereupon inflict heavy judgments and absolute punishments when mercy will do no good he then takes another curse and proceeds to destruction especially where mercy is presumed on As Dent. 29.19 20. He that blesses himself in his heart and says He shall have peace although he does thus and thus the Lord will not spare him c. The Consideration of these things should make us therefore to be shy and careful in this particular Oh take heed of despising the riches of Gods goodness and patience And the greater mercies they are that God follows thee withal be so much the more tender of them because himself is more tender of them also and those are spiritual mercies and which concern our spiritual welfare do not neglect or despise them of any other besides the Gospel and Ordinances and Ministry and Dispensations of the Spirit the motions and stirrings and checkings of Conscience in the soul which I spake of before take heed of despising of these for it is a despising even of God himself and his goodness He that ââââseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me Luk. 10.16 And so 1 Thes 4.8 He that despiseth despiseth not man but God who hath also given us his holy Spirit says the Apostle to the Thessalonians There are many which are apt to think well themselves that when they reject the Ministry of the Word and slight such performances as these are that they despise but the pains and labours of some weak and frail man Oh but there 's more in it than so it is a despising of the Goodness of God even the riches of his Goodness as it is here exprest in the Text and of his chiefest goodness of all the riches of his grace which he most delights and takes pleasure in and would magnifie above all his works Before I pass this Head let me take notice of one thing more and that is the phrase and manner of expression Thon and thou O man by way of particular designation which shews the nature and property of the Ministry in the exercise of it which is to come home to mens particular consciences and to deal effectually with them in particular It is both an indefinite word and a restrained it is indefinite in regard of the Preacher but it is restrained in regard of the Hearer for the Ministers they cannot always know who are guilty of these and these miscarriages therefore they speak at random and in generalities they know not to whom But the Spirit of God in mens consciences brings it home to the particular persons of those which are concerned in it As St. Austin has it to this purpose Aures omnium pulso sed conscienties quorundam convenio c. I speak says he to al mens ears but I meet but with some mens consciences I do not say Thou such an one who art thus guilty amend thy self but whosoever in this auditory is thus guilty let him amend himself Publica est correctio sed peccata corrigit And so I have one with the first General Part of the Text which is the simple expostulation Despisest thou the riches of his Goodness and long-suffering c. The second is the aggravating amplification in these Not knowing that the Goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance Wherein again we have two Branches more First The truth asserted And secondly The truth questioned The truth asserted that 's on the Apostles part in these words The Goodness of God leadeth thee c. The truth questioned that 's on the Sinners part in these words Not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance c. We begin with the former viz. The truth asserted The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance Now this will require a little Explication from us how it is to be understood by us and it may be taken three manner of ways First Occasionally as it gives the opportunity Secondly Argumentatively as it gives the Motive and Ingagement Thirdly In a sense also effectively and operatively as it gives the very thing it self First I say Occasionally as it gives the opportunity the Goodness of God does so far forth lead to repentanceâââs it affords time and space for repentance for so it does If God should deal strictly with men in rigour of justice and cut them off presently in their very sins they would then find no place for repentance But now his patience and long-suffering towards them is in this respect an advantage to them as a Creditor that spares his Debtor and does not instantly fall upon him he gives him time to pay his Debts which otherwise he could not do Thus does God with the sons of men by his indulgence and forbearance of them he does hereby give them respite for this that they may consider their ways that they may bethink themselves that they may return and make their peace with him in the blood of
and Points of Religion especially such as do more concern Christ himself And not only to be acquainted with them but also changed into them which is a further thing here considerable of us to make up to us this forming of Christ so as all the several Doctrines of Christianity they may have a work upon our Hearts and Affections answerable and suitable to the nature of the Doctrines themselves Thus Rom. 6.17 Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine which was delivered unto you In the Greek it is into which ye were delivered ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This was the commendation of the Romans that as the Evangelical Doctrine was delivered to them so they also were delivered to it that is changed and transformed into the nature and condition of it and closing and complying with it This is the duty of all others besides We should not only hear the word to hear it and notionally to discourse of it but we should hear it that we may obey it and practically conform our selves unto it That 's the first Explication of this forming of Christ in us as it does relate to the Doctrine of Christ The second is as it does relate to the Spirit of Christ Till Christ be formed in you that is till ye are made conformable to Christ having the same mind and spirit in you which was first in him This is another thing which the Scripture urges upon us and makes mention of to us as Rom. 8.29 For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son Christians they must be conformed to Christ and made like unto him this is to have him formed in them Now this conformity it is of two sorts as the Scripture exhibits it First A conformity of disposition and secondly Of conversation First Of Disposition That we be like affected as he was Let the same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus Phil. 2.5 So 1 Cor. 2. ult We have the word of Christ Christ he is to have an influence upon the framing and fashioning of our spirits And that again in two Particulars First In a conformity to his Death and secondly in a conformity to his Resurrection In a conformity to his Death so we have it in Phil. 3.10 That I may know him and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable to his death How are we made conformable to his Death when as namely his Death proves effectual to the killing of sin in us and the mortifying of corrupt affections in our hearts Thus also Rom. 6.6 Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead is freed from sin Then for the conformity to his Resurrection that is when we do partake of a quickening power from Christ to enliven us in all holy performances Thus Rom. 6.4 5. Therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his Resurrection So much of the first conformity to Christ viz. the conformity of Disposition The 2d is the conformity of conversation to others when as we walk as Christ also walked 1 Joh. 2.6 And Christ is formed in our course that is made conspicuous to others from our carriage and behaviour What the carriage and behaviour of Christ was we have at large laid down to us in the Gospel which is the History of his whole Life declaring how he still went about doing good where ever he came how full he was of meekness and sweetness and gentleness and compassion and yet with it an holy zeal also against sin and sinful persons Now what 's the result of all to us as we should improve it but that accordingly in our several opportunities we should conform unto it that as he became like to us so we also should be made like unto him If we would know how this may be done by us I know no better way for it than by looking upon Christ as he is there represented unto us We know what a force there is in sight to work upon the imagination as in cattel when they conceived upon the beholding of the party coloured rods and had lambs suitable thereunto But there 's a stronger power in the eye of faith beholding Christ as he is propounded in the Gospel to change us and to make us like unto him Therefore says the Apostle elsewhere We all beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.18 The sight of Christ in the Gospel is transforming and has a power to change and assimilate those that exercise it suitably unto it This is the forming of Christ in us in reference to his Spirit which is that that is chiefly here intended in this Text. Now the Use and Improvement which we are to make of all this to our selves is to labour to find that this be so indeed with us that is that Christ be truly formed in us that we partake of his blessed Image upon us and his living Spirit in us are one with him and incorporated into him as considering that nothing less will serve our turn this is absolutely necessary for us as to all purposes and conditions whatsoever without this we can do nothing which is spiritual or in a spiritual manner we cannot please God or be accepted of him at another day He will no further own us than as he sees Christ instampt upon us Therefore let us look to this above any thing else let us not rest our selves in a bare outward profession and form of Religion which has no life nor power at all in it but let us endeavour that the life of Jesus may be manifested in us and his Spirit wrought into us or else there 's nothing in Religion will do us any good We may talk and discourse of Christs Birth and Death and Resurrection and such great Mysteries as these but alas they will be all nothing to us unless we for our particulars have a share and interest in his Person What is it for Christ to be born into the world except he be born in us to be conceived and formed and fashioned in the womb of his mother except he be also formed and fashioned in our hearts and we our selves made conformable to him as we have hitherto shewn This is that which we should principally look to Not as if there were no other forming of him but only this as some would go about to perswade us but this is chiefly to be minded by us ut quod in Christo factum est per naturam in nobis
to travel with them again Alas what a pitiful thing is it to be the means of bringing those into the world which shall be enemies to Christ and to suffer the pains of travel that others may suffer the pains of hell This Parents cannot otherwise prevent than by prayers and good example and education and this they should do and say in the words of the Apostle here in my Text with which I will conclude My little children of whom I travel in birth again till Christ be formed in you SERMON XL. Gal. 5.16 This I say then Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh There 's nothing which is more ominous or pernicious to the Church of Christ than the divisions and contentions of those which are the members of it one with another being such as do threaten the ruân and consumption and destruction of the whole and there 's nothing which does more lay the way and give ground and occasion hereunto than a diversity and contrariety of Doctrine and opinion in matters of Faith This is that which the Apostle Paul does in a more especial manner take notice of in the course of this present Chapter more particularly in the Church of Galatia to which he here writes who were now at this time more especially apostatized or declined in a very great measure from their former profession and were over-grown with very strange errors which did breed strange affections amongst them Now the Apostle here does three things in reference to this present evil First He shews the nature of it Secondly He shews the danger of it Thirdly He prescribes the remedy He shews the nature of it in the 13th verse that it is namely a carnal humour and such as proceeded from the unregenerate and unsanctified pant in them therefore he bids them not to use their liberty for an occasion to the flesh He shews the danger of it in the 15th verse that it is namely a mortal disease and such as carries no other than death and desolation in the bosom of it But if ye bite and evour one another take heed ye be not consumed one of another He prescribes the remedy in this particular verse which we have now in hand the 16th verse of this Chapter whereby because that contraries are best cured by contraries he does therefore endeavour to remove carnal distempers by the provoking of spiritual performances This then I say walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh IN these present words before us we have two General Parts especially observable of us First A Preface or Introduction Secondly The Doctrine or Matter which is delivered thereupon The Preface that we have in those words This I say then The Doctrine or Matter delivered in these Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh We will a little invert the order and begin first of all with the particular Doctrine or Matter it self which we have laid down in the latter part of the verse Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill c. And here again there are two Branches more which offer themselves to us First A Precept or positive Injunction Walk in the spirit Secondly A Promise or according as some read the words a Prohibition And ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh We begin in order with the first viz. the Precept Walk in the spirit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Wherein there are two terms to be explain'd and stood upon by us First The spirit to consider what is meant by that And secondly Walking in the spirit what is the sensen and meaning of that and what we are taught and instructed from it For the first By the spirit we are here in one word to understand the spirit of God the Holy spirit And that either first of all in his Graces and Principles as subjected and radicated in us or else secondly in his motions and suggestions as objected and propounded to us either of these do imply the spirit First In his Graces and Principles as subjected and radicated in us Walk in the spirit i.e. walk after a spiritual manner And this again is done two manner of ways First When we are frequent and conversant in spiritual duties when we are much in the Exercises of Religion which are the currents and conveyances of the Spirit then we may be said in one sense to walk in the spirit which is here required of us Those which profess themselves Christians they must be much in the Duties of Christianity as Praying Reading Hearing Communion of Saints c. These are such things as they must apply themselves to with a great deal of diligence and endeavour It is true there are other things also to be done in reference to humane life and conversation here in the world as the works of our ordinary callings and imployments which belong unto us these they are not to be neglected but we must be also mindful of other and apply our selves to the performance of them even the exercises of Piety and Religion And that especially upon this consideration as being such actions wherein we have special communion with the Spirit of God and wherein he takes occasion to communicate himself unto us These they are the pleasant walks of the Spirit as I may so call them the green pastures in which he makes us to lye down and the still waters besides which he leads us for the restoring of our souls as the Prophet David there expresses it in Psal 23.23 The Galleries wherein Christ is held Cant. 7.5 and a great deal of good to be gotten by them Those which talk of the Spirit and in the mean time cry down the Word whether in the reading or preaching of it which vilifie Ordinances and Religious duties and such performances as these are they speak those things which are inconsistent and which will never hold together For these they are Pabulum animae they are the food and nourishment of the soul which it lives upon and the sweet and happy channels wherein the Spirit of God does glid into us Secondly When we are daily and continually in a spiritual frame and temper of heart This in another sense is to walk in the spirit and seems also to be laid upon us in this present Expression in the Text. We may not judg of our walking in the spirit always or only by the matter and substance of the actions themselves wherein we are imployed but rather according to our carriage and behaviour in them A man may walk in the flesh even then when he is religiously exercised as for the nature of the performance it self And again A man may walk in the spirit even then when he is about business but of common and ordinary consideration The want of right distinguishing here hath been that which hath given occasion to such mistakes especially amongst the Papists and those of that way for
they still put all spirituality in the outside of Duties themselves reckoning them for the only spiritual men in the world which are mured and shut up in a Cloyster and are imployed in their superstitious Devotions and practices of Will-worship and in the mean time wirhdrawing themselves from all serviceableness and usefulness to the world and places wherein they live This is not to walk in the spirit but rather in the flesh We must therefore take a further account of this business than as yet we have done and here to walk in the spirit will be as I in part intimated before to be heavenly and spiritually minded in our whole course and conversation Whatever the things themselves be so not sinful which we are occupied about let them be matters but of our ordinary callings yea even lawful recreations themselves a gracious heart will be spiritual in them and so we ought to be when we do every thing as in God's Presence to his Glory and as accountable to him for whatever we do then do we indeed walk in the spirit when we are in the fear of the Lord all the day long Prov. 23.17 Which makes up the first Explication understanding by the spirit the spirit as bestowing grace as subjected in us Secondly By the Spirit we may here understand his motions and suggestions as objected to us Walk in the spirit that is walk according to the guidance and dictate and moderation of the Spirit of God And this again in two particulars more First In the directions of the Spirit Walk as the Spirit of God inclines you Secondly In the Consolations of the Spirit Walk as the Spirit of God comforts you and gives encouragement to you First Walk in the spirit that is after the directions of the spirit as the Spirit of God inclines you be sure and careful of that It is the blessed and happy advantage of those which are the servants of God that as they have the Spirit of God working grace in them at first so they have also the same gracious spirit still exciting and provoking and stirring up that grace which he has wrought in them for following times Thou shalt hear a voice behind thee saying This is the way walk ye in it c. Isa 30.21 Now then are we said to walk in the spirit whensoever we listen and hearken hereunto and move our selves accordingly when we do that which the spirit commands us and provokes us to do and when we shun that which the spirit forbids us and takes us off from not only in the word but in the conscience wherein he does also apply himself to us and that in a suitableness and correspondency unto the word look what he commands in the one he suggests in the other and never contrary or opposite thereunto whereby it may be discerned whether it be the Spirit of God or no. There are many who sometimes pretend to follow the dictates and motions of the spirit when-as it is rather the propensities and inclinations of their own corrupt and carnal hearts but such as these delude them This is the priviledg and duty of Christians to be guided by a better spirit than their own even the Holy Spirit to suffer his motions and suggestions to take place in their hearts and to rule and bear sway in them This we should labour still to do upon all occasions whenever we find any stirrings of good in us presently to close with them and to improvethem all we can toturn the motions of the spirit to resolutions on our behalf and not only into resolutions but into practice which is the life and vigor of all This is to walk in the spirit And this is that which we should apply our selves unto in obedience to this command or counsel which is here given us in the Text especially such amongst us as have any thing more of this Spirit of God dwelling in us the more that any partake of the spirit the more it concerns them to walk in the spirit and to yield themselves up to the Power and Authority of the Spirit upon them because that such as these have greater and larger opportunities than other have As for other men which are but of common and ordinary principles yet living within the bosom of the Church and there partaking of the means of grace there are very few of them except they be such as are desperately concluded but they have now and then some kind of stirrings and workings of the Spirit of God moving in their consciences whereby he diverts them from evil and puts them on to the doing of good and it concerns such as these accordingly to walk in the spirit and to follow those motions and suggestions which are thus offer'd and tender'd unto them yea but now as for the children of God which are regenerate and born again and have saving grace wrought in their hearts such as these they are seldom without them but are frequently and continually exercised and inured unto them And therefore for them not to walk after them is a matter of great indignity which is hereby offered to so holy a Spirit and such as does not pass in them without some trouble and affliction upon their own spirit usually for it that so they may take the greater heed of being guilty or neglectful herein at another time as is manifest from the experiences of many which have made complaint in this partiular and should be a caution and warning to all the rest We should take heed of grieving the Holy Spirit of God by refusing his gracious Motions and Applications of himself to our hearts but walk in the spirit that is first after the spirits directions as the Spirit of God inclines us Secondly Walk in the spirit that is walk in the spirits Consolations as the Spirit of God comforts and incourages you This is such a kind of walking in the spirit as the Scripture does sometimes make mention of as Act. 9.31 it is said there of the Churches That they walk'd in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost This is also our duty to do and though perhaps it be not that which in this place is chiefly intended yet neither is it altogether excluded it is the special office of the spirit to be a comforter therefore to walk in the spirit is to walk in his comforts We find among other fruits of the spirit which are reckoned up here in this Chapter Joy is named for one as that which does belong thereunto and certainly we do then walk in the spirit when we do preserve this joy in our selves When we labour to keep terms of peace and reconcilement betwixt God and us from whence our hearts may be filled with comfert When the Consolations of God are not small with us but we do value them and make much of them and do not easily do any thing which may forfeit them or provoke God to take them
away from us A Christian when he does at any time find himself in any cheerful and comfortable frame of spirit he should endeavour to keep it up and maintain it allhe can as that which is of very great consequence and importance to him not only for the sweetness and pleasingness of the condition it self but also in reference to that duty which is to be performed by him yea we must know that it is also more pleasing to God himself that his Children upon good and right grounds should walk comfortably and cheerfully before him and rather to close with the Consolations of his spirit than to lye down under the suggestions of Satan or the false and dark representations of their own sad and mis giving hearts therefore walk in the spirit also in this sense that is in the comforts and encouragements of the spirit And so much may suffice of the first term in these words to be explained by us namely what is meant by the spirit which we have shewn in a twofold Explication In the spirit that is in his Graces and Principles as subjected and radicated in us walk in the spirit that is walk after a spiritual manner and in the spirit that is according to his motions and suggestions as objected and propounded to us walk in the spirit i. e. walk according to the guidance and moderation of the Spirit of God The second Term here to be considered is walking and what is meant by that Now in this there are three particulars which seem to be intimated and implied First Here 's implied activity in opposition to bare speculation or profession or idleness in Religion Walking it is a business of motion he that walks he does not stand still Secondly Here 's implied strength in opposition to faintness or remisness he that walks he moves strongly Thirdly Here 's implied perseverance in opposition to declining or giving out he that walks he moves constantly All these particulars are in walking and so appliable to our Conversation in the spirit First Here 's implied activity in opposition to bare speculation or profession or idleness in Religion he that walks he moves himself and does not stand still And thus must it be with us in Religion an the ways of God We must be active and put forward in them it is not only have the spirit or understand it or pretend to it no but walk in it that is be careful to improve the Doctrines and Principles of it in the activity and fervency of a godly and holy Conversation This is that which is in a special manner required of us as Christians and accordingly we shall find t preach'd and urg'd upon us As in vers 25. of this present Chapter If we live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit that is if we have a principle of spiritual life in us let us carry our selves answerably thereunto Look as the soul in the body it is not there after an idle manner but it does distribute motion and vigor to the several parts and members of it even so should it be with grace in the soul it should not nor will not be there to no purpose but so as to make the man of God perfect and ready to every good work that I may use the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Tim. 3. ult And so the Apostle Peter also signifies unto us in 2 Pet. 1.8 When he had spoken of the several graces of the spirit in the words before If these things says he be in you and abound they will make you that ye shall not be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledg of our Lord Jesus Christ This life of the spirit in us should work in us a walking up to it and whiles it is said here walking we may take notice of the variation of the phrase in the Original Text for it is not only ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which latter signifies a regular and orderly walking a walking by rule so it becomes us to walk who live in the spirit so to walk as not turning either to the right hand or to the left not carried by our own corrupt lusts nor yet overswayed by the mis-guidings of others but led by the sweet conduct and inclinations of the Spirit of God in us and doing that which he requires of us In a word This is that which is commended to us in this Text that our conversation be answerable to our principles and that as we make any claim to Religion more than others so we should behave our selves suitably thereunto It is not leaves that God stands upon but fruit it is not profession but action it is not only the principles which are in us but the works and duties which come from us in a correspondency and agreement to those Principles Not every onethat saith Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven says our blessed Saviour but he that doeth the will of my father which is in Heaven Matth. 7.21 It is doing that God does principally look after And this it does sadly come home to the consciences of many people in the world which are very guilty in this particular which have a name that they live but are dead as was said of the Church of Sardis which talk much of the spirit and the gifts and graces of it but in the mean time shew but little power and efficacy of it upon their hearts by framing of their lives thereafter as it becomes them to do such as these can have but little comfort whiles they live here in the world or hope and expectation when they go out of it so remaining We see how the Scripture puâs all still upon action If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them John 13.17 And then are ye my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you John 15.14 And he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever 1 John 2.17 and many more places besides tending to this purpose Therefore we should not content our selves with any thing below this whatsoever it be First Not with agreat measure of knowledg only no more but so let not that satisfie or content us the devils themselves have this in great abundance and yet but miserable creatures they know and believe and tremble as the Apostle James speaks of them And there were many in this Church of Galatia to whom St. Paul here writes his Epistle which were very knowing and intelligent persons as to the Doctrine of Religion and Christianity which yet for all that the Apostle seems not to be satisfied with Therefore we may observe that he does not say Spiritually understand the law but walk in the spirit There have been some who have so supersticiously sought after and urged the former as that they have laid all the stress of Piety and true Religion wholly thereupon and counted them the only spiritual men which were exercised therein namely in finding out the
imagination of many a sinner that where they have once begun in any evil they had now as good to go on and to make progress in it Oh but take heed of that do not yield to such a temptation as this is it is very dangerous and pernicious to the soul and so will prove God requires we should do our utmost to the avoiding of all manner of sin in us and where we have not so much grace as to come off to such a measure and degree of mortification yet at least to go so far as we can Est aliquid prodire tenus si non datur ultra We should endeavour as much as may be to subdue the very principles and first motions of sin in us if they will still remain yet to prevent the acts If any act of sin break forth from us in the beginning and inchoation of it yet to stop it and to restrain it in the progress then shall we truly put in practise this exhortation and command of the Apostle wherein he does charge us not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh To set this home a little more fully and effectually upon us let us over and above take notice of the intention of the Prohibition in the Text it is given us in two negative Particles ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã both which carries so much the greater force with it and by the way likewise shews us how far it concerns our selves to have respect unto it it shews us how desirous God himself is that we should withdraw from such sinful courses and likewise how far of our selves we are subject unto them and therefore stand in need of such earnest and importunate prohibitions as these are and they should not be in vain to us but should work upon us to bring us to so much the more caution and heedfulness of spirit Indeed there are some spirits in the world which from hence are so much the worse and do too much make good that observation of Nitimur in vetitum Sin taking occasion by the commandment works in them all manner of concupiscence as the Apostle speaks and the more they are restrained from it the more eager and violent they are upon it There are some which let the Ministers and servants of God say what they please yet they are resolved to do what they list and the more they abound in admonition the more do these abound in transgression and purpose to do so still But this is a fearful perverting of Gods gracious dealings with us in such opportunities as these are and such as where we are guilty of it will highly aggravate our sins upon us which we should therefore especially beware of And further observe how this counsel of not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh it is indefinite and given to all sorts of persons not only to Monks and Eremites as Luther observes upon the place but to all ranks and conditions of men and as he particularly instances in to Magistrates who then put this counsel in practise when they are conscionable in the discharge of their places and careful to close with those opportunities of doing good which in those relations are afforded unto them when they watch over the temptations of their callings and the snares which they are subject unto from the corruption of men which is in them without better heed and regard to their hearts c. And so now I have done with this clause in the first acception of it viz. as it may be taken Imperatively and by way of Prohibition as denoting a Christians Duty Do not in any case fulfill the lusts of the flesh The second is as it may be taken Indicatively and Declaratively by way of Promise as shewing a Christians Priviledg which belongs to him upon his walking in the Spirit and that is that he shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh In the handling of which words in this sense we may take notice of two Particulars more First of somewhat which is implied and secondly of somewhat which is exprest That which is implied is this that it is a great priviledg and advantage to be freed and exempted from the fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh that which is exprest is this That those which are careful and industrious to walk in the Spirit they shall be made partakers of this priviledg and advantage I begin with the First namely with that which is implied That it is a great priviledg and advantage to be freed from the fulfillingof the lusts of the flesh This I gather from the scope of the words and the Apostles intent in the bringing of them in here in this place and that is to perswade the people of God to this duty of walking in the Spirit from the benefit that shoul come to them thereby We must look upon the Apostle as here speaking somewhat extraordinary when he tells them that it shall be thus and thus with them he does not simply tell it them but he tells it them as some encouragement to them which accordingly he would have them to observe and take notice of and so should we also do with them and this is that which we should take notice of That there is a great deal of benefit and advantage herein to be exempted from the fulfilling of lusts What 's the benefit of it it's manifold and various I 'le instance in one or two Particulars First Liberty and freedom of spirit that has always been counted a great advantage And so it is To be free and not subject to the tyranny of dominion of enemies why this now is the happiness of that man which does not fulfil the lusts of the flesh He is a free-man and to speak the truth there is none other which is so but he Take any other man besides which walks in base and filthy courses and he is a very vassal and slave he is in thraldom and subjection to Satan by whom he is led into captivity according to his will 2 Tim. 2. ult And Satan he 's an absolute tyrant which will be sure to exact the utmost upon those which are made subject to him He is the spirit that rules in the children of disobedience but those which have got power over their lusts they are freed from this slavery and bondage Satan hath now no more part or share in them A second Benefit is peace with God quiet and tranquillity of Conscience This is another thing that follows hereupon Those that follow the by as of their corruptions they cannot so easily or fully be assured of the love and favour of God himself towards them which will be apt to be very much darkened and obscured thereby But now those that resist and overcome them they have this a great deal more certified and confirmed unto them They have more quiet and peace and serenity in their own breasts and spirits than otherwise they would be likely to have Thirdly More expediteness
to Duty and the doing of that which God requires of them in their several places Great and strong lusts are hinderances to any noble performances and high atchievements which are to be undertaken by us The Apostle tells us in the verse immediately following to the Text vers 17. of this Chapter that from the flesh lusting against the spirit the Galatians were disinabled from doing the things which they would and so they were and all others with them whereas on the other side where these are kept down there is strength and ability thereunto namely to serve God with so much the more strength All these laid together do shew us the happiness of this particular condition and the truth of this point in hand to wit the benefit and advantage of not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh Again further we may here also take notice that as it is a benefit in it self simply considered so it is such as is apprehended and counted so by all those which have the Spirit of God in them Those which are the true children of God they look upon this as one of the greatest mercies which can happen unto them to be freed from the power of their lusts This is also implied in the Text it was not only so in the thoughts of the Apostle but also in the thoughts of the Galatians to whom he here wrote or else he had said nothing to the purpose and it had been to no end to signifie as much unto them that by walking in the spirit they should have this benefit confer'd upon them if they had not thought it to be a benefit indeed But now he uses argumentum ad homines and speaks to them in their own Element to their heart as the Hebrew phrase hath it He knew he should now please them and bring that which would be acceptable to them when he should tell them of being freed from their lusts and so he did A good and a gracious heart looks upon this as the greatest mercy and priviledg in the world which he longs for and most eagerly desires as the Apostle Paul Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord which is such as makes him willing to desire even death it self where in he shall indeed partake of this priviledg Again Moreover observe this as another thing implied in these words That the reward of Religion lyes within the compass of Religion The Apostle had stir'd up these Galatians and in them all other Christians to an holy Life and spiritual Conversation to walking in the spirit Now what does he here for their encouragement signifie to be the reward and recompence hereof unto them Why namely this that they should not fulfil the lusts of the flesh He does not say ye shall have such and such outward comforts heaped upon you riches and honours and the like nor he does not say ye shall have Heaven at last given you and ye shall be free from condemnation though this also be true no but ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh If we had no other recompence of a godly life but only that which is emergent from it and immediate to it yet this were enough to satisfie us in it and to perswade us to the leading of it And so much for that which is here supposed and implied in this expression I come now in the second place to that which is exprest which is the words of the Text And ye shall not fulfil c. This for the right handling of it we must take in its conjunction and connexion with the words before and as dependent thereupon Walk in the spirit and so ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh the one prevents the remedy against the other the more spiritual any are the less carnal and the more we are guided by the spirit the less we shall yield to the flesh This truth and expression may be made good to us according to a various explication which may be given of it First Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh that is ye shall not have so great a mind and desire to fulfil them ye shall be restrained in regard of inclination though Grace and the exercise of it does not as I said before wholly extirpate all cortuption out of us and make it cease to be whiles we live here in this world yet it does qualify the dominion of it and makes it cease to be in that measure and degree wherein it was in us before And as sinful acts do increase the habit of sin in us as we have formerly shewn in the point above so the other side do gracious acts dminish this habit and make it less It is the avantage of that man who is imploy'd and taken up in well-doing that he has not that lust and propensity in him to that which is evil as another has Godliness it puts our mouths out of taste to the pleasures of sin as on the other side sin does make goodness to be disrelish't by us Look therefore how far a man is freed from fulfilling the lusts of the flesh by having little or no desire unto them so far is he freed from them also by this course of walking in the spirit which is advantageous and effectual to this purpose to mitigate the desire of sin in them Secondly Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh that is ye shall not have temptation to fulfil them ye shall be kept from lustful and sinful suggestions and provocations The reason why many fall into sin now and then is because they have strong temptations and instigations to it because the Devil is very busie with them and it pleases God someimes in his Providence to give them up into Satans hands But now when men are careful to walk in the spirit they do very much provide for themselves in this particular Satan has not that power over them and advantage which otherwise he would have in the neglect of it nor they are not so much under the power of temptations as they would be if they did not thus walk This is true upon a ouble account both on Gods part and on Satans on Gods part who in this case does not so much give them over to temptation and on Satans who in this case has not that incouragement to fasten his temptation upon them First I say on Gods part who in this case does not so much give them over to Satan to be tempted Take a man that neglects his daily walk and converse with God that does not look so strictly and narrowly to his steps as it becomes him to do it pleases God now and then for his exercise and tryal and partly his correction to let Satan loose upon him and to suffer him to molest and trouble him with sad temptations not only for sin
but to sin also thereby to humble him and bring him low and to shew him the vanity and sinfulness of his own corrupt heart But now when a man walks in the spirit and is careful to keep close to God God will free him from such evils as these Again secondly It holds also on Satans part who in this case has not this incouragement to tempt as thinking he shall but lose his labour and do all to no purpose It is true indeed that Satan is not easily put out of heart in regard of his temptations nor yet does he always forbear men because they have more grace in them nay therefore does hereafter sometimes so much the more violently set upon them he throws his sticks the fastest at those trees which have the most fruit upon them because he thinks thereby he shall have the greater booty but yet where he sees Grace in the activity and the exercise and improvement of it in a spritual way he is not so much heartened and incouraged and provoked to tempt men as otherwise he would be Resist the Devil says St. James and he will flee from you Give him but the least advantage and he will be sure to take it and improve it to the utmost but resist him an give denial to him and then he is gone Why thus now do those that walk in the spirit they leave no hole for Satan to come in and they put on all their spiritual armour whereby they stand against the wiles of the devil Ephes 6.11 Thirdly Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh that is ye shall not have leasure or opportunity to fulfil them The more business a man has in goodness the less vacant he is to sin and has less time for the committing of it This a man shall be sure to find upon tryaland experience of it That man that truly walks in the spirit will find so much work for him to do in a spiritual course for the watching of his own heart for the getting of a farther stock of Grace for the serving of God in his relations and the place wherein God has set him as that he will find but little leasure for the lusts of the flesh at all And this is another Explication Lastly Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh that is ye shall be kept from the thing it self in regard of the immediate influence and efficacy of a spiritual Conversation which it has in the nature of it for the restraining and preserving of the heart from any sinful miscarriage This ye shall not as to actual accomplishment we shall find to be true according to all the former senses and explications which we have given of this walking in the spirit take it in which ye will and ye shall find that in the practise of it Ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh First Take it in the Graces and Principles of the spirit Walk in the spirit so and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh The more spiritual we are in our Principles the less carnal shall we be in our Conversation This is clear from the words that follow in the next verse to the Text the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to the other so that ye cannot do the thing that ye would Ye cannot do the things that ye would it holds true of either part not only as to the doing of good ye cannot do the things that ye would that is whereby ye would with your sanctified will because the flesh which is in you is an hinderance and impediment to you but also as to the doing of evil ye cannot do the things which ye would neither that is which ye would with your corrupt will because the spirit which is also in you is here a curb and restraint upon you Look as the inherence of sin and corruption remaining in us keeps us from a full and perfect walking in the spirit so the infusion of Grace and Holiness abiding in us also keeps us from an absolute fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh Again Secondly Take it also in the motions and suggestions of the spirit and they all take us from the fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh whether we understand it of the suggestions of Counsel or whether we understand it of the suggestions of Comfort they do either of them hold us back in this particular First The suggestions of Counsel the directions and excitements of the spirit they are such as if we follow them we shall be sure never to fulfil the lusts of the flesh which by the way shews the horrible blasphemy and wickedness of some persons in the world which would make their lusts of the flesh to be the motions and suggestions of the Divine Spirit What a grievous and fearful thing is this yea and how false is it too and incongruous the Spirit of God is an holy Spirit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Spirit of Holiness it self as the Scripture stiles him and therefore he does not nor cannot provoke men to that which is unholy no but it is the desperate vileness and rottenness of their own corrupt hearts together with the spirit of Satan of joyning and complying with them and improving of them Satan hath fill'd thy heart to lye against the Holy Ghost as Peter to Ananias So likewise secondly for the suggestions of Comfort which the Spirit of God does let in into us if we walk after them also we shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh spiritual comforts and consolations they do not breed security and presumption or make men the more to abound in sin as some men vainly pretend against them no but where they are in reality and good earnest they make men so much the more to avoid sin and to be more shy and fearful of it To take heed of doing any thing whereby we should deface our evidences and lose that sweet and comfortable testimony of Gods love which he does vouchsafe unto us This is the proper improvement of such experiences as these are in the hearts of those which are God's People as also the proper consequence and connexion of the things themselves The Consideration of this point in hand may be thus far useful to us as it may serve to put us upon the search and examination of our own hearts and ways we may see what our selves are according to this Doctrine There are many which pretend to the Spirit and to the walking in it Well but how are they now as to this particular whereof we now speak the fulfilling the lusts of the flesh When men give themselves over to these without any curb or restraint at all Can they say and say with any truth that they walk in the spirit Certainly no such matter He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as
he walked 1 John 2.6 And how was that why according to the Spirit the Spirit of Holiness which was in him and acted him all his whole life If it be objected that David and Peter and other of the Servants of God have sometimes turned aside to these lusts First I answer that in the strict sense they did not fulfil them which is with delight and perseverance in them without repentance Secondly That so far forth as they did any way fulfil their lusts so far forth they did decline walking after the spirit but walk c. Again Yet further We may take these words not only simply and emphatically but if we will also exclusively walking in the spirit it does prevent and restrain the fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh and upon the point nothing else but that at least so effectually and powerfully as that does There 's nothing which doe so infallibly civilize men as Grace and true Religion and the Spirit of God and the Power of Godliness This is the best means of Mortification that is in the world there are other means which are also happily used now and then as good company and fear of punishment and avoiding of occasions and the like But there 's nothing like this the living in the exercise of Religion This it makes sure work and sets our lusts at the greatest distance from us that possibly may be the best remedy against sin is duty and the best help against lust is grace every sin of commission it has commonly a sin of omission going along with it or rather going before it as the ground and occasion of it whereupon it is laid If we were but more in doing what we should do we should be less in doing what we should not therefore walk in the spirit if ever ye desire to be kept from fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh And in the spirit again in the highest and sublimest notion of it the spirit not in the natural or moral Consideration of it only the spirit of that 's his reason or ingenuity and good nature and the like though that be not excluded neither but in the spirit especially and actually in the supernatural Consideration of it The spirit of a man that 's his grace and his spirit indued with a principle coming from above it is not parts that will keep men from lusts but gracious and holy affections it is not reason but reason sanctified which will here serve the turn abstract it from this and it is too weak and feeble a Principle for such a business as this we now speak of We shall find by certain observation that men of the highest reason have been sometimes of the strongest passion and none have been worse for their Morals than those which have been most eminent and admired for their Intellectuals This I add that we may rightly understand it what spirit and in what sense it is spoken of here in this place when we are required to walk in it that we may not fulfil the lusts of the flesh And so now I have done with the first General Part of the Text which I propounded in order to be considered and that is the Doctrine or matter it self which is here delivered and propounded unto us Walk c. The second which we find to be the first in the method of the Text is the Preface or Introduction to this Doctrine and that we have in these words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This then I say This is as it were the dore in the Text and that which makes entrance into it This is such an Introduction as we oftentimes meet withal in Scripture and where we meet with it it is commonly with some special force and impression upon it Here in this present Text we may look upon it as carrying a fourfold Emphasis in it First As a word of Authority I say it that is I charge it upon you and require you to observe what I say I say it by special warrant and command mand from God himself and therefore know what I say it is not hoc dico ego non Dominus this I say and not the Lord as it was sometimes in another place 1 Cor. 7.12 But hoc dico ego quia dominus this I say because the Lord he has said it and I say it from him A Minister whiles he speaks from God he may speak boldly that which he speaks without difficulty or hesitation As Paul to Philemon I may be bold in Christ to enjoyn thee that which is convenient Philem. ver 8. When we speak purely from our selves according to the dictates of our own fancies or passions or the like here our speech may be well intercepted and hindred in us but we speak by direction from God here I say his Authority And especially may this confidence and boldness further be used when-as the things which we speak have some footing and foundation in the hearts of those whom we speak to It is great matter of confidence to a Preacher when he has the soul and conscience of the hearer bearing witness to that which he says and can say as the Apostle also does in another place concerning his Epistles We write no other things than what you read or acknowledge and I trust ye shall acknowledg even to the end in 2 Cor. 1.13 And again chap. 4.2 By the manifestation of the truth commending our selves to every mans conscience in the sight of God And again chap. 5. ver 11. We are manifest to God and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences Thus was St. Paul also here in the matter of this present Text and therefore says I say that is boldly as a word of Authority and Command And so 't is a word of Constancy I say it again and again and therefore confidently Prov. 21.28 He that heareth speaketh constantly that is he that is sure Secondly I say it is a word of experience I say it sensibly and I say it feelingly and I say it upon mine own knowledge as finding the power and efficacy of this Truth upon mine own heart from whence I may so much the more fully and freely commend it to you Thus did St. Paul say it here and thus should we also which are Ministers endeavour to say what we say upon such occasions and in such matters as these then indeed a Preacher speaks to purpose when he speaks thus When we deliver spiritual Truths out of raised and spiritual affections and more as the workings of our hearts than as the workings and inlargements of our brains it is not enough for men to speak out of Books from the spirit of other men or to speak out of themselves only out of the strength of parts and wit and invention and such kind of abilities to say what can be said of a Text in a way of logical deduction and as fetching one thing out of another by a kind of rational distillation but to spin
because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek c. And we see it fulfill'd in Luk. 4.18 so Ephes 2.17 He came and preached peace to them that were a far off and to them that were near that no man may think meanly or scornfully of this work of Preaching and publishing of the Gospel it was the work and business and employment even of Christ himself in his own person But secondly He did it also and still does in his servants who were sent and appointed by him Thus 1 Pet. 1.10 11. Of which salvation the Prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signifie when it testified before-hand the sufferings of Christ c. And so St. Paul in 2 Cor. 13.3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me c. It is Christ that speaks to us in his Ministers who have his Spirit given them to this purpose Thus is Christ a witness by way of Discovery and Revelation which is the first Explication Secondly By way of assurance and confirmation not only so far forth as he reveals to us those things which we knew not but also as he does further settle us in these things which we know in part already he is a witness in this respect likewise And that by virtue of his Spirit that dwelleth in us God hath revealed these things to us by his Spirit For the Spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God And as he reveals them so also he confirms them and gives us a further assurance of them as it is also intimated to us 2 Cor. 2.10 Now there are two things which Christ by his Spirit doth thus witness to all those that are members of him First The Truths and Doctrines of Christianity and Religion it self And secondly Their own spiritual condition and state in Grace as having such truths belonging to them First For the Truths and Doctrines of Religion Christ is a witness in regard of these namely so far forth as he does illustrate them and shine upon them and open our minds and understandings for the conceiving and apprehending of them As it is said of the Disciples in the general in Luk. 24.45 He opened their understandings that they might understand the Scriptures The Spirit of Christ in his children witnesses Divine Truths not only to their heads but to their hearts and gives them a further savour and rellish of those things which they know in part already which is the great difference betwixt them and other men Take common and ordinary persons who have no work of Grace at all in them and they have many times a great deal of knowledg in the Doctrines and Points of Religion so far as belongs to the brain and are able to discourse it may be pretty largely and plausibly of them But now a good Christian indeed he has another kind of knowledg of them He sees spiritual Truths by a spiritual light that which others discourse of he feels and has his heart transformed and changed into the nature of them Thus he knows the Scripture and written Word to be the Word of God not only from the testimony of the Church but from the testimony of the Spirit and as finding in his own soul the workings and impressions of it as Austin sometimes professes it for his own particular This is that accordingly which we should labour to find in our selves as being that which will be of greatest use and benefit to us and most likely to hold out with us It is the best and readiest way to perseverance and continuance and abidance in the truth when it is thus wrought and riveted into us When the Doctrines of Religion are meerly notional and speculative as swiming and floating in the understanding men do more easily let them go and part with them but when Christ by his Spirit does seal them and engrave them upon the heart then they are sure and certain and we shall constantly hold them out even to the end Again for a further explication of this Point as Christ may be said to be a witness of the Truths of Religion by his Spirit so also by his life and his whole conversation Joh. 18.27 For this end says he was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness to the truth Christs actions they gave a testimony to his Doctrine and to the truth and reality of it That which was done by him it was a manifestation of that which was said which is indeed the best witness of truth that can be given unto it And it teaches us the same likewise in some kind of conformity unto him We ought thus far to be fellow-helpers to the truth and promoters of it all that may be And so as by doing so by suffering likewise Christ was a witness to the truth also thus and enables all his servants where they are called unto it to be so likewise He is in a sense the first Martyr and all others take it from him that have any ability to be so That 's the first Branch of this witness as to the matter of it as extending to the Truths of Christianity The second is as to Christians own condition and state of Grace Christ is a witness likewise thus as he witnesses by his spirit to their spirits that they are his children Rom. 8.16 Thus 1 Joh. 5.10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself that is wrought and imprinted upon his heart by the Spirit of Christ which dwelleth in him and certifies him in this particular and that against all false witnesses and objections to the contrary When Satan or a mans own misgiving heart shall be ready sometimes to accuse him and fly in his face here 's the witness and testimony of Christ himself which will carry all down before it And so again when a man 's own heart acquits him and speaks comfortably to him here 's the witness of Christ also to confirm it and to add strength unto it which is the chiefest of all As Peter sometime to Christ Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee Christ is not only a Judg but a Witness and accordingly we may appeal unto him for the clearing and justifying of us upon any occasion as this Disciple here does and he will be ready accordingly to give in witness to us and for us as it is proper unto him my witness is in heaven and my record on high Job 16.19 Yea and to give witness in us too within our own breasts Christ he can speak peace to the Conscience and make it speak peace to it self which no other witness can do besides He can so enlighten and over-power the Conscience as thereby to enable it to give a right judgment of it self which oftentimes
are upon good Grounds perswaded of our interest and relation to Christ who is so desirable and again also perswaded of his acceptance and imbracement of us as so related to him We shall then with a great deal of earnestness long after him So much for that and so much for this present Text. SERMON XLIX Revel 22.17 And let him that heareth say Come and let him that is athirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely I made choice of this Verse at first but in reference to the former part of it as that which was most consonant and agreeable to the Scripture immediately preceding in the course of our Ministry And this as ye know we dispatch't the last day But I have thought it since in a manner necessary or at least very convenient to take in this part to the other to be handled with it as containing the second Branch of that Communion which does mutually pass betwixt Christ and the Church The Application of the Church to Christ that we had exprest in those words The Spirit and the Bride say Come And here now in the words that follow at this time with Gos gracious assistance to be explained by us we have the reflexious of Christ upon the Church and his desires of further fellowship and communion with her in those words which I have now read unto you And let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely Which besides other conveniencies and correspondencies which are observable in it carries a very good agreement with that other Ordinance which has already this day been dispensed amongst us in our approaches to the table of the Lord. IN the Text it self there are three General Parts considerable First A provocation of desire or longing affection Let him that heareth say Come Secondly An invitation of access or seasonable application Let him that is athirst come Thirdly An intimation of acceptance or grateful entertainment And whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely We begin with the first of those Parts viz. The provocation of desire in those words Let him that heareth say Come Where the subject mentioned and called upon He that heareth is indefinitely exprest but the expression is to be limited according to the proper references of it which as they lye in the Context are reducible to a three-fold Object or voice to be heard First To the voice of Christ in the Ministry Secondly To the voice of the Spirit in the Conscience And Thirdly To the voice of the Spouse in the Church He that heareth that is that heareth either of these Let him that heareth c. First To the voice of Christ in the Ministry This hearing it refers to this this we have signisied to us in the verse immediately preceding the Text viz. ver 16. of this Chapter I Jesus have sent mine Angel to testifie these things unto you c. Now he that heareth this Testimony or Prophetical and Ministerial voice and that heareth it in good earnest and to purpose let him shew that he indeed does so by this influence and effect of it upon him so as to desire this coming of Christ and so there is this in it That those that are partakers of the Doctrine of Christ they should labour to be affected to the person of Christ those that have notice given them of his coming they should accordingly desire that he would come those that hear his voice they should desire to see his countenance This is one thing which seems here to be hinted to us in this present expression There are two things which the Word of God does in the Ministry of it which are especially available for the provoking of our desires after Christ The one is as it propounds the excellency of Christ and shews us what he is and the other as it reveals the purposes of Christ and tells us what he intends and both of these are joyned here together in this present Chapter the former we have in these words I am the root and off-spring of David and the bright and morning-star in the clause immediately foregoing Here is a proposal of Christ in his Excellencies and the good that comes by him the latter we have in these words wherein he sigaifies that he is minded to come in the 7th and 12th verses of this Chapter Behold I come quickly c. I come that is I mean to come here 's a discovery of interests desires and resolutions in himself Now take these two I say both together Christs Excellency and his own offer and voluntary exhibition of himself and here we cannot now but close with him Those that partake of such gracious opportunities afforded unto them they are engaged to all suitable affection for the compliance with them those that thus hear must say Come Therefore this justly meets with all such persons as are otherwise affected There are a great many of people in the world who do sometimes hear tydings of Christ and do sometimes seem to be well pleased with such points as are discoveries of him but yet in the mean time how little succour or relish of him or love and affection unto him but are as carnal and sensual and worldly and earthly minded as ever Now such as these do plainly declare that their hearing it is to little or no purpose for if it were that which it should be it would have an answerable effect with it so as to work them to some gracious breathings and longings after him Every good and right hearer of Christ is more or less inflamed with affections and desires unto Christ and is in a manner restless till he attains to some enjoyment of him And so indeed it is required and expected of him that he should be as the Text here seems to import in the carriage and laying of it which does infer the one upon the other crying and calling after Christ upon the mentioning and hearing of Christ Every one that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh to me says Christ and so desires that I should come to him which is all one Joh. 6.45 He that hath heard and learned that is that hath heard profitably and to purpose This is the effect that followeth upon it and it is hereby evidenced and demonstrated to be that which it is So then this is that which we should look after in all our approaches to the hearing of the Word namely to examine what work and operation it has upon our hearts and to see that the working of it be answerable to the nature of the Doctrine which is delivered unto us If it be a word of threatning that it work in us a trembling frame and disposition of spirit if it be a word of command an obedient if it be a word of promise a comfortable if it be a word of excitement an awakening still what the
of God in Christ These are the things which he means the particulars are not set down but we are to take them under this general expression whereby he intends the Doctrin of the Gospel and that in all the Branches and Parts of it these are the things which we have heard and these are the things which we ought to give heed unto and that to several purposes and intents as we may take them in this following Explication First We are to take care that we understand them we have heard them but that 's not all which is required of us we must in some manner comprehend them likewise The Gospel calls for this from us in the hearing of it Vnderstandest thou what thou readest says Philip to the Eunuch of Ethiopia Act. 8.30 when he read a piece of the Gospel so say I here Understandest thou what thou hearest also we must be careful to hear with understanding in Matth. 13.19 When any one hears the word of the kingdom and understands it not then comes the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart this is he which received the seed by the way side So then we must take heed that we understand it that 's one Branch of the Caution here propounded Secondly We must also believe it that 's another thing which this our heed and carefulness must extend unto likewise as conceive of it so assent unto it The Gospel it calls for this to make it effectual as we may see by the opposite miscarriage Heb. 4.2 Vnto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them but the word preached did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith in them that heard it or because they were not by faith united to it without faith no prosit at all by the word Preached or heard by us Thirdly Remeber it take care of that also we must lay it up in our memories and minds Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it Luk. 11.28 Look as it is with meat in the stomach if it be not there kept and retained it will not do any good as to the nourishment of him that receives it even so is it likewise with the Word of God in the mind where it is not in some manner remembred it will not be improved Fourthly Be ingrafted into it that 's the head which is here principally required We must take care that the things which we have heard be wrought and riveted into us and digested in us and made our own it is not enough for us to hear the word nor understand it nor to yield assent unto it nor to remember it in a notional manner no but it must as it were be incorporated an naturalized into our hearts our souls must do with it as nature does with meat in the stomach sucking out a strength suitable to every part and member of the body we should never leave thinking of it till we are changed and transformed into it and have the proper impressions of it fastned upon our souls and spirits This is that which we must take care of and apply our selves unto and which as I conceive is chiefly here meant by the Apostle when he here tells us That we ought to give heed to the things c. So to hear them as to close with them and to be changed and wrought upon by them This is to give heed as we ought And observe that we ought to do it likewise Take notice of that it is not a matter of advice only but a matter of command it is not arbitrary only but necessary there 's an oportet in it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã We must give heed It is our duty and concernment so to do that which God requires of us and that which he will call us to an account for if we neglect to do it that we may not think our selves at liberty in this particular We ought to give this earnest heed that those things which we have heard be imprinted and fastned upon our hearts But how may some say may this be done what course shall we take for the effecting and doing of it Now for this there are four Helps which do very much conduce hereunto The first is Meditation upon them that 's a good means to fasten them and to make them to take rooting in us when we revolve them and turn them in our minds when we are often thinking of them those things which are much in the thoughts will be much in the affections consequently which do follow from them As on the other side take it in evil What 's the reason that carnal persons are many times so ill disposed and affected in their carnal way It is because they have answerable musings and workings and meditations in their own minds they have naughty thoughts and devices and accordingly have naughty practises suitable to them even so is it also here in Goodness Those that have gracious and holy Meditations they are in a fair way for holy Affections Those which are much in thinking of the word they are likely to have much benefit by it For this we have an example in the Prophet David who made the Law and Word of God his continual Meditation and we see what he got by it It is this ruminating and chewing of the cud which is most beneficial as it is the third concoction which causes nourishment Therefore let us look to that it is a great means to make us to profit and benefit by the word this Meditation The second is Conference that 's another help likewise as working them in our own thoughts so discoursing with others likewise about them that 's a good means to imprint them and to get them written in the tables of our hearts therefore we find them both joyn'd together Meditation and Discourse Deut. 6.6 7. These words which I command thee this day they shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the may when thou lyest down and when thou risest up Whiles we speak of these things to others we do hereby the better work them into our selves that 's the second The third is Prayer and calling upon God for his blessing of them to us As it is not our meat eating that nourishes us but the blessing of God upon it so it is not the word of God heard that profits us any further than as he concurs with it Therefore we should thus far also take heed to the things that we have heard as to beg the influence of his Spirit upon us that we may reap benefit by them we should desire him to set home every Truth most effectually upon us and to give us affections in our selves answerable to the nature of it humble spirits from Truths of Conviction and cheerful spirits from Truths of Consolation and setled spirits from Truths
Admonition or Instruction it self both absolutely propounded as also comparatively illustrated We ought to give the more earnest heed c. The second is the Inforcement of its observation by way of Argument and this is twofold First From the equity of it in the word of connexion therefore Secondly From the danger of the contrary in the close and conclusion of the verse Lest at any time we should fail or let them slip First Here 's an Argument from the equity of it which relates to what he had said before in the precedent Chapter wherein he had fully set forth the Dignity both of Christs Office and Person which the Doctrine of the Gospel does treat of and discourse about upon those promises he does infer this conclusion therefore To speak distinctly of it there are three special Arguments which this Exhortation is founded upon why we ought more abundantly to give heed to this Doctrine of the Gospel in comparison with the Doctr. of the Law First The Authority of the speaker and minister of it which is Christ the Son of God whereas the other was Angels and men Thus in v. 2. of this Chap. it is call'd the word spoken by Angels the Law Whereas the other to wit the Gospel is said to be first of all spoken by the Lord that is Christ himself And again Chap. 1. v. 1 2. God who at sundry times c. where the Apostle lays a very great stress upon this as to the Ministry of the Gospel that it is dispenst through the hans of Christ First For the Dignity of his Person so excellent simply in himself the more eminent the Person is that speaks to us the more cause and reason we have to heed the things which are spoken for the Persons sake it being a piece of great indignity to stop our ears to any one of worth speaking to us such an one is the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory and therefore see that ye refuse not him that speaketh as it followeth also in Heb. 12.25 But then secondly There 's not only his person but also his relation that 's another thing in it which the Apostle seems to stand upon and is to be refer'd hereunto There are many eminent persons considered simply in themselves but all their eminency it is within themselves and in the compass of those persons of theirs such as they are yea but this person now which speaks to us in the Ministry of the Gospel He is not only eminent for his person but also for his relation for he is the son of God himself and so much better than the Angels even in that consideration also For unto which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee c. Heb. 1.5 Then thirdly There is also his estate there 's a great matter in that likewise we respect men much according to that if a man speak to us which is a great heir who has many lands and possessions which belong to him we are apt to give heed unto him Now for this it is also observable in Christ who speaks to us in the Gospel for he is appointed heir of all things and hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than Angels The Apostle lays a force upon that in the place before cited which is thereforemuch considerable in this business Lastly His activity for us there 's much likewise in that We have great cause to respect a Benefactor one that has done us great courtesies and favours when he speaks to us he should be hearkened to by us Now this is also remarkable in Christ for he hath himself purged our sins and upon this account to manifest the certainty and and fulness of it is set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high Heb. 1.3 So then that 's the first ground of this Attendance implied in this Therefore viz. the authority of the speaker The Lord Jesus Christ himself eminent for his 1. Person 2. for his relation 3. for his estate 4. for his activity for us The second is the excellency of the things themselves which are spoken of that 's another thing which calls for attention yea not only invites it but commands it If a man of worth shall speak to us yet if he shall not speak to us like to himself speak but of slight and trivial matters we regard him not for all that nor give heed unto him a speech is commendable not only from the speaker but the matter and in this the Gospel carries it likewise Lord to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life say the Apostles Joh. 6.68 The Gospel it treats of such points as no other word does besides as containing very great and admirable mysteries in it which we have join'd all together there in one chain 1 Tim. 3.16 God manifested in the flesh justified in the spirit seen of Angelâ preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the world received up unto glory What rare and admirable Doctrines and Dispensations these are such things as the very Angels desire to peep into 1 Pet. 1.12 If we look no further than the height and sublimity and transcendency of the points themselves they are such as may well command our heedfulness and attention to them even in that respect alone and nothing besides with it But then thirdly If we shall add to all this the circumstances attending upon it as the profitableness and advantagiousness of this Doctrine the interest which our selves have in it the sweetness which is in the observation of it this will now set it on so much the more and put an edg upon this therefore indeed to make it effectual to purpose let points be never so excellent considered simply in their own nature yet if they have not a tang of some profit or benefit in them there are some people which will never regard them What does a Merchant or Tradesman care for a discourse of Metaphysicks Very fine notions indeed and speculations which tickle the fancy yeâ but they have no gain or profit in them Dic aliquid tandem de tribus capellis as he said speak somewhat which tends to our advantage Why this now is the commendation of the Gospel that it treats not only of things which are excellent but of things which are profitable for it is the ministration of righteousness the Doctrine of Reconciliation the glad tydings of peace There is life and immortality which is brought to light by it as the Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Tim. 1.10 Look then as any would give heed when any thing is spoken of which has any profit in it in the like manner should they give heed to the Gospel which is a Doctrine so far esteemed even upon this consideration But then further there 's our own interest in it likewise that 's somewhat more profit if it belongs not to us is no such pleasing theme to hear of but
All things disparaged in comparison of the one thing necessary 51 58 59 To chuse the one thing necessary an argument of four things 55 Natural ability See free-will and free-grace What it may what it cannot do 155 Pelaginas confuted 166 Natural condition A miserable condition 159 160 O Ordinances Touching those who are without Gospel-ordinances 9 Whence their efficacy arises 31 P Pharisee What their righteousness was 1 Touching Pharisaical righteousness See Rightousness Prodigies and signs 266 Punishments Degrees of punishments 4 Peace What peace Christs death obtains 275 What it implies 406 Patience Of God 29 Why God bears long Ibid Pride How it discovers it self 39 430 Proveing How taken 385 Prayer Satan sometimes prays 65 Comfort when we cannot pray See Comfort VVhy Christ prayed although he could do all things without it 72 Incouragement to it 446 Papist And Jew wherein a like 266 Transubstantiation 267 269 Against their Tradition 339 Perseverance True Christians shall persevere 76 87 369 See Grace Persevere in two things 103 Helps to it Ibid VVhence the opinion of falling away arises 369 Motives to it 408 Providence Our ignorance touching Providence twofold 111 The intricacies of Providence and the reason thereof 112 Not for us to foretell its future events 113 VVhat in Providence God will at last make manifest 114 The properties of Gods Providence Ibid. VVhen God will vindicate his Providence 115 Prophesie See Enthusiasts Not for its to foretell future events of Providence 174 213 Imagainary Revelations censured 337 Opposers of Christs prophetical office 436 Perswading How taken 305 Preaching How men come to count it foolishness 261 VVhat it is 261 337 VVhence its efficacy arises 261 VVhy it profits not without faith 263 Directions touching it 270 271 298 350 274 278 437 382 301 VVhat it is to preach Christ crucified 276 VVhence it becomes unprofitable 263 279 280 Parents Duty to their Children 266 R Pighteousness OF Scribeds and Pharisees what 12 Defectiveness of the righteousness of Scribes and Pharisees 3 10 The Principles of Pharisaical righteousness 3 VVhy Pharisaical righteousness cannot bring to Heaven Ibid. Pharisaical righteousness in a sense worse than notorious sins 4 Civil righteousness commended 5 The righteousness exceeding that of Scribes and Pharisees Ibid. Moral righteousness not meritorious of saving-grave 11 Reproof How to be administred 41 46 The best of Christians ought to be reproved 41 Cautions to be observed in reproving a good man 42 Riches Their vanity 25 Resurrection VVhy Christ is so called 144 Religion The one thing necessary 47 Motives to diligence in it See Diligence VVhat required unto being acceptably religous 56 VVhence staggering in it arises Ibid. Religion justified 59 47 91 VVhat in it chiefly to be minded 296 Relations VVhence discord between nearest relations especially arises 53 Comfort under the loss of them 132 450 Reason The impotency of humane reason 90 91 112 173 254 255 259 269 How it discovers God 133 A check to the Contemners of it 269 Rehearsed In Scripture of the same words what it implies 341 Repentance How the goodness of God leads unto it how not 353 Reward Touching it 423 S Scribes Their office 1 Stumling-block 281 Satan Why he most tempts the godly and those especially most godly 62 Why most of all be iempts Ministers 64 His winnowings what 67 Sincerity A double effect of it 101 Sinner In what respects a fool 19 His danger and misery in this life 24 426 His ignorance 90 Incouragement ot prosligate sinners to repent 108 His impotency 163 Different sinners have their different corruptions whence it is 265 Why God bestows many good things on them and bears long with them 347 How without God in the world 426 Spirit Of God why compared to wind 85 How to get its supplies 168 What it is to walk in it See Walk How it witnesseth the Truth of Scripture 435 Scepticism The danger of it 266 Scandal VVhat it is implied 281 Lords-Supper What eating and drinking damnation signifies 282 Sin An umprofitable thing in what respects 356 Whence men come to be ashamed of it 359 Its aggravations 422 Its heinous nature discovered 442 How men sin against the blood of Christ 443 Speaking A threefold speaking 411 Security The danger of it 416 417 Salvation A Christians certainty of it 433 In what sense it 's said a Child of God cannot sin 325 T Thoughts Vanity of them 18 The evil of distraction in them 45 50 Causes of distraction in them 45 52 Remedies against their distraction 45 52 Taking freely what it imports 458 Temptations Why Satan must tempts the godly and those especially most godly 62 Why he most of all tempts Ministers 64 Support under Temptation 65 72 75 79 87 Walk against them 66 74 Why God suffers his to fall into them 73 How faith helps under them 75 Whence Christians come to recover out of them 78 The evil that comes by them 80 The good that comes by them 62 Time What knowledg of the times concerns us what not 113 130 171 What times it 's not fur us to know 169 Terrors Of the Lord what 303 Thirst spiritual what it implies 455 The excellency of spiritual thirst 456 Teason Gun-powder Treason 317 Truth How taken in Scripture 328 Toleration Against universal toleration 337 Tradition When equalized with Scripture condenned 339 V Vanity OF Thoughts See Thoughts Unity Among Christians 408 409 Bounded 409 Unbelief The hainousness of it 436 Voice of Christ in the Ministry the voice of the spirit in the conscience and the voice of the spirit in the Spouse to be heard 453 454 W Way Incourage any coming on in the Ways of God why 14 Word Ingemindation of words its end 41 60 World Take heed of worldly-mindedness See Mind Why continued 106 How taken in Scripture 152 Watch. Against temptation why 66 67 Motives to it 418 Work How Christ helps to the performance of a good work 164 Good works in what respects disparaged 156 Wisdom Humance in what respects disparaged 156 Walk To walk in the spirit what 372 373 What it implies 374 400 How walking in it secures against sin 380 Touching a Christians rule to walk by 403 404 Water of life what understood by it 456 What understood by Whosoever will let him take of the water of life Y Youth Motives to early Godliness 52 Good education a great blessing 266 Z Zeal How Christians come to decay in it 421 FINIS