duty you do to him can be accepted 4. You can hope for no pardon of sin 5. Cannot come to God with boldness 124. What meant by the only true God p. 126. viz. the whole Essence of the Godhead 3. Doctr. That the Father Son and Holy Ghost is the only true God p. 128. Reason For he only hath being of himself 2. He is the living God 3. None can do that which he doth 4. He only is Eternal 1. Vse Be stirred up to confirm your faith of this Motives 1. For then the more and better we shall walk with him 2. Serve and obey him p. 130. Direct 1. Give full assent to the Scriptures 2. Know him to be above all other Gods 3. Be resolved not doubtful of this point 4. Pray for faith in this particular p. 133. 2. Vse Obey serve and honour him as the true God p. 134. 3. Vse Let us have no other God but him only p. 135. Serve the Lord and not Idols p. 136. Times p 138. Lusts neither your own nor that of others p. 139. 2. Fear none but him 3. Trust in him alone p. 140. 4. Vse Learn from hence to be at unity among our selves 5. Learn to see our happiness of having chosen him for our God p. 141. 4. Doctr. That Christ is the Apostle or Messenger of God p. 142. Explication 1. Sent from God and from heaven How possible p. 143. 2. Into the world 3. The errand on which he was sent viz. to make peace preach peace 4. Therefore fitly qualified with 1. Authority 2. Ability Fulness of Merit to make peace p. 145. Spirit to preach peace p. 145. 1. Vse Admire the mercy of the sender 2. Of him that would be sent Void of fear and constraint p. 147 2. Be all intreated to receive and entertain him For 1. His errand is your business 2. It 's for your good and advantage 3. The Father expects you should honour his Embassadour and Son 4. He will avenge the refusers of him 5. This Messenger can prevail with God for you p. 149. Direction 1. Receive him so as to hearken to him 2. To believe in him 3. To obey him p. 150. 5. Doct. Whoever wil be glorified with God in heaven must glorifie him first on earth p. 152 Reason It is the everlasting counsel and decree of God Vse 1. Against vain expecters of future glory p. 153. 2. Vse Learn to glorifie God here 1. By a vocal declaration 2. By a real representation in what you 1. are p. 154. 2. do p. 154. Gods glory how to be our aim in all Ver. 4 1. Doctr. That Christ was ordered by his Father in the work he did in this world p. 156. Expl. Christ was so ordered in his works of Satisfaction His obedience Active p. 157. Passive p. 158. Application p. 158. As by the 1. Promulgation of the Word 2. Internal operation of the Spirit p. 159. Reas 1. Christ was the Fathers creature 2. The Fathers servant p. 160. 1. Vse Admire the humble condescension of Christ 2. Learn to be humbled in like manner and to suffer willingly p. 161. 3. Vse Some do the good others the evil which God hath not given them to do p. 162. Danger of neglecting Gods order p. 164. How Christ had finished the work before his Passion p. 165. 2. Doct. Christ did not do his work by halves but went through with it p. 166. Sufferings of Christs body Natural Mystical 1. Vse Who guilty of adding to the works of Christ 2. Let us persevere in our work and finish it Five Motives hereunto p. 169. Ver. 5 What glory Christ prayed for Doct. Christ as Man in some measure partaker of the divine glory 1. By the grace of union 2. By the grace of dispensation from the Father p. 173. 1. Vse Know the advancement of our nature in the Person of Christ 2. Their personal advancement that belong to Christ partly in 1. Fruition 2. Assured expectation 3. This should make us despise the shame of this world 2. So to walk as not to be a shame to Christ p. 174. Ver. 6 How Christ had manifested Gods Name Doct. Christ made an absolute and compleat discovery of his Father to the people 1. By his Personal appearance in the flesh 2. By his Word and Gospel 3. By his Spirit p. 178. 2. Q. Why Christ only makes this discovery R. 1. None but he is able 2. None but he is fit to make this discovery p. 180. 3. Q. Why the discovery he makes is so full and absolute R. 1. As being the faithful Prophet of his Church 2. That the discovery may be effectual 1. Vse The ignorant inexcusable 2. Learn to bless his Name for this discovery 3. Grow up in the knowledge of this Name made known p. 182. 4. Vse Be satisfied with the discovery which Christ hath made search not beyond it Pride Sin Danger vanity thereof p. 184. 5. Vse Walk worthy of this discovery i. e. Despair not under sin or misery p. 185. 2. Doct. Some the Father giveth to Christ out of the world 2. A certain number of them 3. Being once the Lords they are no longer of the world Confirm 1. The actual members of Christ are dead with Christ and of another world as are their kindred and alliance p. 190. 3. Their habitation is spiritual so is their action and traffique 1. Vse Therefore the world storms and rageth at mens being given up to Christ 2. Examin Are we given up to Christ p. 192. Marks 1. They are not conformable to this present world 2. They speak the language of another world p. 193. 3. They dearly affect their Countreymen 3. Vse Think not strange of ill usage in the world p. 194. 4. Vse Regard not the things of this world 5. Follow not a multitude to sin It s safe and honorable to be retired 6. Be not troubled at worldly troubles 3. Doct. All Christs people were first belonging to the Father p. 197. 1. The Father essentially taken 2. All belonged to God 1. By Creation 2. By Election 3. Christs people not so his as not the Fathers 1 Vse Christ will tenderly keep those that are so given him Word of God Inward and Essential p. 202. Outward and Declaratory p. 202. 4. Doct. They whom the Father gives to Christ keep his word p. 203. Christs Word is kept In the memory by retaining In the heart by believing In the affections by loving In the life by obeying with obedience Active Passive Vse Exam. Are we so given up to Christ that we keep his Word p. 205. 2. Vse Direct For helping memory 1. Be intent and fix your mind on the Word 2. Get a good understanding 3. Value the Word 4. Strengthen the memory by meditation repetition conference 5. Set instantly to practice the truth you hear 6. Pray for the Spirit to do his Office 3. Vse of Examination Do we keep Christs word by Faith Some believe none of it 2. Some but part of it
the world There will be some elect continually to be brought in by this means Some to be added to the Church some to be joyned to the body mystical untill the dispensation of the fullness of time which the Apostle mentions Eph. 1.10 when all things shall be gathered into one which are in heaven and which are on earth So that you see my brethren Jesus Christ will be continually making further declarations of his Fathers Name to other Nations and to other persons But how will he make these further declarations Brethren he will not do it in his own person or by his own immediate voyce But he will do it other wayes 1. By his written word and Ministers in all ages for that which they declare in his name and by authority from him Jesus Christ himself declares To this end Christ hath set some in the Church some Ministers of all sorts as the Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 12.28 And that is out of all dispute in the universal Church which is not limited to any Countrey or to any age That so there might be continually some in all Churches and in all ages to publish what is to be manifested of his Father And hence said Christ to his Apostles Mat. 28.20 Lo I am with you to the end of the world They were not to continue for their own parts by many hundred years so long And therefore it must also stretch to those who were to follow them in the office and the work of Gospel preaching till it be published universally to all Nations in the outward promulgation and in the inward and effectual revelation to all persons to whom it is appointed so to be revealed Which was not done you know by the Apostles it was but begun by them and must be carrried on till it be finished by other Ministers to the end of the world And therefore when our Saviour Christ ascended and consequently could no longer teach his Church immediately in his own person he gave gifts unto men such gifts as he never gave before And he gave some Apostles Prophets Evangelists Some temporary some perpetual for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry How long Till we all come all that are chosen whether Jews or Gentiles in the unity of the Faith unto a perfect man So that the Ministry shall be continued till all be gathered into Christ that shall be gathered and that is till the end of the world 2. Christ makes these further declarations of his Fathers name in every age by his spirit As he declares it outwardly to other persons by his word so he declares it inwardly to other persons by his spirit to his elect in every age to the end of the world And therefore when our Saviour Christ withdrew his corporal and fleshly presence he sent his spirit down to teach his people to lead them into all truth And by that spirit he declares his Fathers name and will do to the worlds end And he assured his Apostles in the place even now alledged Mat. 28.20 when he was even about to leave them as to his fleshly presence with them Lo I am with you alwayes viz. by my spirit to the end of the world That is with you and such as you are with you and your Successors still in every age as long as the world endureth Go ye therefore and teach all Nations and my spirit shall be with you So that what you teach all without he shall teach my elect within powerfully and with success till the last man be gathered in And then shall the end come Is it so that Jesus Christ will be continually making further declarations of his Fathers name to other Nations and to other persons to the end of the world Vse Then let us seriously consider what our dutie is in reference to this work which will be beautifull and glorious beyond all comparison and what Christ expects of us If he will do as he hath said let us examine what we are to do and what duty lyeth upon us relating to it in the mean time And here I shall propound a few things 1. Let us give him so much credit as to believe what he hath spoken And though it seem improbable that Christ should manifest his Fathers name to all Nations That all the Countreyes in the world should come to know him and to be acquainted with him yet seeing Christ hath undertaken it and bound himself by faithfull promise to his Father that as he hath declared his name already so he will be continually making further declarations of it to other persons and to other Nations let us say Amen to it As Mary sometimes when she had staggerd at the difficulty of the Promise at length recovered out of that fit of unbelief and set the seal of faith to it Be it according to thy word 2. Let our hearts be full of hope in reference to this business Since Christ hath undertaken it let us expect the execution of it Our Saviours words my brethren are a promise to the Father what he will do in after times for his people Saith he I will declare thy name to them And therefore as it is our duty to believe the promise so to expect the good things promised To be continually in a waiting frame looking and harkning after the accomplishment of this eximious work of his spying if we can see the day break and the Fathers name shine forth to other Nations who never had a glimsp of it by any Gospel Revelation till in the end from the rising of the Sun unto the going down of the same his name be great among the Gentiles according to that Prophesie relating to these latter times and ages of the world Mal. 1.11 3. Let us strive with Christ in prayer that he would make good the word that he hath spoken to the Father before so many witnesses Oh my beloved when ye look on many Heathen Nations that yet are overwhelmed in ignorance and Egyptian darkness that yet know nothing of the Fathers name when you look on many Christians in profession that yet are even in as bad a case as they some of which it may be have relation to your selves go to Jesus Christ and say O Lord thou hast professed that thou wilt declare thy Fathers name to other persons and to other Nations to the end of the world Lord there are such Nations there are such persons who yet are strangers to the Father who know no more of God in Christ then the very beasts that perish O be intreated to declare thy Fathers name to them Lord manifest the Father to them that they may know him to salvation 4. Let our hearts be full of joy while we are looking forward to the accomplishment of this work O let it chear our spirits under all the sinking damps and deep discouragements that are upon them in relation to the Church to think in what a blessed state and glorious
p. 208. 3. Some believe not the threatnings Marks They that believe the threatnings quake and tremble at them 2. Take some course to avert them 4. Some believe not the promises 1. The sad and fearful 2. They that are troubled with doubts cares distractions 3. The wavering and inconstant 4. They that will suffer nothing for it Cautions 1. You are not to believe all that is presented under the title of Gods Word 2. It 's no sign of Infidelity to move questions 3. Nor to have some doubtful thoughts concerning clear truth p. 212. 3. Exam. Have we kept the Word in our affections by loving it p. 213. Marks 1. Lovers of the Word desire on all occasions to converse with it 2. Hear as often as they may 3. Exercise themselves in the reading and meditation of it 4. Endeavour to be inwardly acquainted with it 5. Will not easily quarrel with and disobey it 6. Will hardly part with it p. 216. 4. Motives to love the Word As being 1. the means of conversion 2. A light of direction 3. A Teacher to inform you 4. Means to confirm you 5. To comfort 6. To save you p. 218. 5. You must keep the word by obeying it 1. Not by partial but by a total obedience p. 220. 2. With a cordial obedience 3. Constantly to the end Directions 1. Pray God to teach you 2. Find out and mortifie the lusts that hinder you p. 223. 5. Doctr. To entertain the Word as we ought we must know for certain that it is the Word of God p. 224. Reason 1. Then we shall receive it with holy fear 2. That we may give it full credit and belief 3. That we may yield full resignation and submission 4. That we may allow it absolute and universal obedience 1. Vse See the cause of mens slighting and disobeying the Word p. 229. 2. Vse Learn how to entertain the Word aright viz. By believing that it is Gods Scriptures proved to be the Word of God 1. By the evident accomplishment of promises 2. By the joynt testimony of the Church 3. By consent of the Writers 4. By the effectual and mighty working of it on mens hearts and souls 5. By the blood of many Martyrs sealing it with their lives p. 231. 2. The Spirit of God assures us that the Scripture is Gods Word 1. By removing impediments 2. By giving grace fitting us to receive Ver. 7 Doctr. Christ hath approved himself a faithful Prophet and Messenger to his Church p. 234. Confirm 1. As having added nothing to his message 2. That he hath taken nothing from it How Christ did and did not tell them all p. 236. 1. Vse Diligently observe and hear this Prophet 2. Trust him 3. Try other Prophets p. 237. 4. Vse Not a word of his must be nelected or slighted 5. Seek no further for direction in matters of Salvation p. 239. 6. Let Ministers learn to be so faithful 1. Adding nothing as doth 1. the superstitious 2. Sceptick 3. vain-glorious Teacher p. 241. 2. Not mincing or diminishing the Word 1. Otherwise they are guilty of the blood of souls 2. Diminish their own mercy 3. Expose themselves to the ignominy and contempt of men 4. To the injuries of men Q Why ungodly men have prevailed p. 243. Ver. 8 2. Doctr. The faithfulness of Gods Messenger availeth much to commend him and his message to the people p. 244. Vse Hence so many Ministers slighted because unfaithful 2. A Minister shews himself faithful 1. In the right delivery of his message 2. To a right end Not satisfying their own passions nor aiming at their own respects 3. In a passive way 3. Doctr. The good reception of the message depends upon the peoples good opinion of the Messenger p. 247. Vse Do not rashly judge of Gods Messengers You may judge of him 1. by his entrance 2 By his ability 3. By his readiness to love Ver. 9 1. Doctr. Christ intercedes for none but his own people p. 250. Reas He is a Priest and Mediator only for them 1. Vse Christ died not for all without limitation 2. Vse The sad condition of those without the Church 3. Vse Happiness of those that belong to Christ Having union with him that is so near to God 2. Son near to you 3. That can never dye p. 253. This gives us boldness in address 2. Supports us in the sense of our imperfections 3. Assures the success of our Petitions 4. Keeps from despair under sin 2. Doctr. That all Christs people belong to God the Father Confirm As being more his by being Christs 1. For he hath none to share with him but Christ 2. His title to them being strengthned and enlarged 3. By unity 1. Vse Therefore Christs people excellent and precious 2. Walk worthy of such a relation For 1. your sins dishonour him more 2. They are sharply and sooner chastised for their sins p. 257. 2. Vse The Saints comfort 1. They shall be the more surely heard 2. God doth more dearly love them 3. God will tender their wrong either 1. Defending Or 2. Avenging them 4. God will provide for them 5. He will not lose them p. 257. Ver. 10 1. Doctr. Christ is glorified in all that belong to him Confirm For the present life he is glorified in their Grace p. 261. future he is glorified in their Glory p. 261. 1. Vse They who live to Christs dishonour are none of his 2. It should quicken and stir us up to labour 1. For grace and holiness here 2. After glory hereafter p. 263. How Christ absent from the Father p. 265. 2. Doctr. Christ as Man is gone out of this world to the immediate presence of his Father p. 266. Reas 1. That his humiliation might be recompensed with honour 2. Because he hath no more to do here 3. Hath much to do there 1. He was to triumph there over his enemies and ours 2. That he might send down his Spirit to his people 3. Intercede for them 4. To prepare a place and make heaven ready for us 5. Christ is gone that he may now virtually draw us after him 1. Vse Expect him not here till he return from heaven 2. Make much of his spiritual presence among us Therefore 1. take heed of grieving his Spirit Either by unkinde slighting or stubborn resistance 2. Take singular and mighty comfort in his Spirit 3. Receive and entertain the graces of this Spirit p. 271. 3. Vse Follow Christ in our spirits As 1. by our thoughts and meditations 2. By our affections 3. By our desires and anhelations of the Spirit p. 273. 3. Doct. The world alwayes an uncomfortable place to Christs Disciples p. 274. 1. Here they are continually exposed to many tryals and troubles 2. Vexed with the sins of others but chiefly their own 3. Banished from Christ p 273. 1. Vse Look not for joy and quietness from the world but provide for evil 2. Think it not strange 3. Love not the world nor to continue
you resemble God your Father Jesus Christ his eldest son is the very picture of him as we are wont to say the express of his fathers person They are so like in all respects that he that knoweth one of them cannot but know the other too The resemblance is so perfect and so absolute in all respects that in seeing one of them you see the other And hence said Christ to Philip John 14 19. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father also And truly we that are the younger sons of God though we be not so like him yet we are very much like him And therefore we are said to be renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created us Col. 3.10 And the new man is said to be renewed after God in holiness Ephes 4.24 And are you thus conformed to God do you bear his Image so that every one that sees you and observes you may judge who is your father Are you holy as God is and are you mercifull as God is and are you perfect in desire and endeavour as your Father that is in Heaven is perfect do you love your enemies do you bless them that curse you and pray for them that despitefully use you that you may shew your selves to be the children of your Father who makes his Sun to shine his rain to fall upon the evil and the good Mat. 5.44 are you freely merciful lending and doing good to those where there is nothing to be hoped for but unkindness for your good will that you may make it to appear you are the children of the highest who is kind to the unthankfull and unkinde Luk. 6.35 These are good evidences of your interest in the Father-hood of God But if you be prophane and vicious and cruel and unmerciful as the greater number are I may say to such as you are as once our Saviour to the wicked Jews You are of your Father the Devil and his works you do If God be your Father as you bear your Fathers Image see you have your Fathers Spirit The Spirit of the Father is that which the Apostle calls the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Rom. 8.15 So that if we be Sons we have this Spirit poured out upon us But you will say that every one almost pretendeth to the Spirit and it is evident that many are deceived in this particular How shall we know infallibly whether the spirit which we think we have be the spirit of the Father yea or no Why my beloved the Spirit of the Father iâ— an active Spirit where it is it leadeth men even where it will it carries them and guides them in its own way And as many as are led by this Spirit they are Sons of God Rom. 8.14 Well then thus far we are clear if we be the Sons of God as we have his spirit so we are led by his Spirit we walk not after the flesh but after the spirit The flesh calls and the spirit calls This is the way walk in it The flesh would have us follow it the spirit would have us follow it And the event is this if we be the Sons of God we leave the flesh and go after Gods Spirit We walk not after c. So then if you would know whether you be the Sons of God examine whether you be guided by his spirit yea or no And this may be discovered by the course you take and by the path in which you walk Gods Spirit guides and leads you always in the way of God which is prescribed and chalked out before you in the word of God And this is clearly and expresly taught us in that alledgement of the Covenant mentioned Exod. 36.27 I will put my Spirit upon you saith the Lord to his people And what shall this Spirit do it shall cause you to walk in my Statutes and to keep my Commandments and do them It shall not give you new directions it shall not shew you new ways and new paths other then those which are beaten out in Scripture but it shall cause you to walk in my Statutes If then you err and wander from the ways of Gods Statutes and walk on in your own ways as the Apostle speaketh of the Gentiles the way of your own hearts which of your selves you choose and follow your ways of drunkenness uncleanness prophanation of Gods holy day c. if you walk in the way of Cain a way of cruelty and malice and run greedily after the error of Balaam for a reward as Jude speaks ver 11. A way of covetousness and unlawfull gain you are not guided by the Spirit of the Father but by the spirit of the wicked one which ruleth in the children of disobedience But if you keep the ways of God the ways of truth and love and holiness and peace the way that is so evilly spoken of by lewd prophane and vitious men And are no sooner swerved from it in the least degree but you are crying to the Lord with Moses Lord shew us thy way with David I am gone astray Lord seek thy servant enquiring of your brethren to direct you and striving to get in again you are guided by the spirit of your father and may be confident that you are the sons of God If God be your Father and you be his children you are a company of singular and choice people As you are like your Father and consequently like your brethren too so you are unlike other men you dwell alone and are not like to other people And as the sons of Kings and Nobles differ from the sons of other men they have another kinde of garb and habit and behaviour Even so the Sons of God the King of Kings do manifestly differ from the children of the world The Lord hath singled them and drawn them out and put them in another way so that they are men of wonder in the world their ways are of another fashion And this declareth them to be the children of the High God he owns them only upon this condition as you may see 2 Cor. 6.17 18. Come out saith God and be ye separate and I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord God almighty Now my beloved are you thus come out and separated from the world which lies in wickedness as the Apostle speaks have you left your old haunts your old courses your old Companions and Associates with whom you ran out formerly to the same excess of riot are you accounted gazing stocks and wonders to the world because you are so different from them in all your ways And can you say in the uprightness of your hearts that this your singular and holy walking is not in shew and in hypocrisie but in sincerity and truth you may assure your selves you are the sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty But if you walk according to the course and fashion of the world if
is the Gospel the Ministry of life 2 Cor. 3.7 in opposition to the Law which is the Ministry of death and condemnation And which way doth the Gospel work life but by instilling knowledge into men by making them to understand that which they never knew before that they are naturally dead in trespasses and sins that they are in a state of death and condemnation that there is life enough in Jesus Christ that he is ready to dispense and give it out to all that come to him for it And so convincing them that it is necessary for them to go to him that they may have Life Till they come to know this there is no life of Grace in them And it is by Gospel-Teaching that this life is infused into them It will appear unto you that the life of Grace is begun in holy Knowledge if you consider with what part the Lord begins when he puts this Life into us He begins not with the members he begins not with the will but he begins with the mind and understanding by Illuminating that and by endewing that with saving knowledge And therefore we are said to be transformed or to be changed from the state or life of nature to the state or life of Grace by the renewing of the mind Rom. 12.2 No doubt the will and members are renewed too for the change is universal But there the work begins my Brethren in the mind and understanding we are renewed first in the spirit of the mind Eph. 4.23 and from that it goes on to the inferiour faculties and to the outward conversation And consequently it begins in knowledge of which the mind is capable which is the proper object of it And therefore saith our Saviour sanctifie them with thy Truth Renew them make them holy work the life of Grace in them by revealing Truth to them It is apparent that the life of Grace begins in Knowledge because all other grace is brought into the soul by it and therefore this must be the first Grace The first I mean in order and in course of nature not of time As long as there is no knowledge there is no grace at all and so no Life in such a person But when knowledge once comes in I speak of sanctified Knowledge it brings all saving Grace with it This is the prime work of Grace and the Foundation of the rest The New man is renewed in Knowledge Col. 3.10 why so it is in Faith and Love and other graces But it is first renewed in knowledge there is the rise the original of all And even as in the first the old Creation the Lord began with natural Light Gen 1.3 so in the second or the New Creation he begins with spiritual Light with super-natural and saving Knowledge and gives us other graces by this means To which effect is the Apostles prayer 2 Pet. 1.2 3. Grace be multiplyed upon you through the knowledge of God and after more expresly to our purpose As he hath given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him So that we have this Life the life of holiness and grace through knowledge without it we have no Grace but with it all Grace It is the seed from whence all other graces grow it is the means by which they are begotten in the soul Holy Knowledge will bring forth heavenly Affections and desires If a man know God and know Christ his will shall close with him and his affections shall be carried out to him it will effectually restrain a man from sin and reform the Conversation They shall not hurt neither destroy in all my holy Mountain saith the Lord Isa 11.9 And why so for the earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the Lord. If you have been taught by him as the Truth is in Jesus why then you will put off the old man It will draw a man to practice and obedience if it be sound and saving Knowledge as holy David intimates in that request of his Psalm 119.34 Give me understanding saith he And what then why I shall keep thy Law yea I shall observe it with my whole heart So that you see all holiness and Grace is brought into the soul by Knowledge and therefore certainly the life of Grace begins in it Use 1 Now is it so that life Eternal or the life of Grace which is Eternal is begun in holy Knowledge This then may serve to teach us in the first place how to value Knowledge and what account and estimate to put upon it Why truly as we value life yea everlasting Life so we ought to value Knowledge at the very same rate For this is life Eternal to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent We all of us do make a very great account even of our temporary Lives which yet when all is done must perish and decay and come ro nothing we are ready to Redeem them if there be no other way with the loss of all things else Though yet even then when all is done we know we can enjoy them but a few years and are not certain to enjoy them one hour How is it then that we despise and undervalue holy Knowledge in which Eternal life consists which if we can attain we have Eternal life abiding in us a life which is above the power of death and dissolution Alas how miserably is it slighted by the greater part of men yea by the greater part of Christians Christians I mean in name and in profession Though it be offered them they will not take it but say in effect to God Depart from us for we will not have the knowledge of thy wayes When light is tendered them they even shut their eyes against it that they may not see So that it may be said of such as God complains of some in Israel their eyes have they closed lest they should see with their eyes and understand with their hearts and be converted and be healed And the Apostle Peters charge must needs fall home upon them they are wilfully ignorant They enjoy the means of Knowledge but they will not wait upon them they take no care at all to profit by them They need not to ascend up into heaven to bring Christ down from above nor to descend into the deep to bring up Christ again from the dead as the Apostle speaks Rom. 10.6 that they may be acquainted with him the word is nigh them as it is added there in that place The Word that manifesteth and revealeth God and Christ is nigh to them They need not to go far to hear it and to hear of God in it But many will not spend an hour they will not step without their doors to meet with God and to be acquainted with him as if the Knowledge of the Lord were worth nothing as if it were of no value Ah my Beloved do you know what it is that you despise and
intent upon the business of saving the poor woman of Samaria to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work John 4.34 2. Jesus Christ was ordered by his Father as in his works of active so in his works of passive obedience He did what he would have him do in both these And therefore when he was about to suffer and when the nature which he had assumed was averse he came at length to this Conclusion not my will but thine be done Mat. 26.39 Father if it be possible saith he let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt Here it is evident he did his Fathers will and not his own And therefore it is said He became obedient to the death even the death of the Cross Phil. 2.8 To shew that he submitted to it in obedience to the Father And therefore when the Article of death was come which was the complement of his passive obedience he cried out It is finished The work which I have undertaken and which the Father imposed upon me is accomplished and dispatched Just as he tels the Father in my Text when he was about to suffer I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do In this respect is that expression of our Saviour John 16.10 The Spirit saith he will convince the world of righteousness that is full and perfect righteousness wrought out by me for all my people And why so because saith he I go to my Father and ye see me no more If I had not performed the work of my obedience absolutely and compleatly if I had not done enough to satisfie the justice of my Father for the sins of all my Members and so to justifie them and to make them fully righteous you should be sure to see me again If I had not done and suffered all that I was appointed and designed to do before my going up to God the Father he would be sure to send me down again among you But now because I go and stay with him because I go to my Father and you see me no more you may be confident that all is well that I have ended all the business that my Father hath ordered me to finish and dispatch in this world So that you see my brethren Christ was ordered by his Father in his works of satisfaction whether they were works of active or whether they were works of passive obedience Christ was ordered by his Father as in his works of satisfaction so in works of application I mean in those works of his by which that satisfaction came to be applyed and so accordingly to be effectual Now this he doth I mean he makes it applicable and effectuall for he doth all in this business by working faith in the hearts of his people And faith he works First By the outward promulgation of the Word and Secondly By the inward operation of the Spirit In both of which while he was conversant upon the Earth he was ordered by his Father 1. First In his outward promulgation of the Word or in his preaching Jesus Christ was wholly ordered by his Father He appointed him precisely both to whom he should preach and what he should preach First He appointed him to whom he should preach and that was not to the Gentiles but to the people of the Jews only And hence said Christ to the woman of Canaan Mat. 15.24 I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel As he was sent by God the Father so he appointed him to whom he should go and what he should say He was the Fathers Messenger the Fathers spokesman to the world and therefore he put words into his mouth In which respect it is that God is said to speak unto us by the Son Heb. 1.2 The Son doth not speak himself he doth not speak his own thoughts as he is man and Mediator but God speaks to us by him So that he speaks his Fathers mind he publishes his Fathers will and pleasure to the world In which respect our Saviour saith my doctrine is not mine but his that sent me John 7.16 See how the Father orders him in this business Mat. 12.18 A bruised reed shall he not break and smoaking flax shall he not quench until he send forth judgement into victory And so accordingly our Saviour tels us that his Father had appointed him both that he should preach and what he should preach He hath anointed me to preach saith he Isa 61.1 to preach what good tydings to the meek to proclaim liberty to the Captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And this order of the Fathers he obeyed and therefore it is much to be observed that he begun his publike Ministry with this The first Sermon he preached in Nazareth his own Country was upon this Text as you may see Luke 4.18 2. Secondly Jesus Christ was ordered by his Father as in that work of application of his satisfaction which is done in the external promulgation of the Word so in that work of application of it which is done by the internal operation of the Spirit He did not by his Spirit draw any to himself nor work faith in the hearts of any that so his satisfaction might be actually applyed to them but only those that were appointed to it by his Father Those whom his Father gave hm by Election whom he designed him to justifie and sanctifie and save those he saved and no others Our Saviour Christ as he was man was not to choose whom he would make partakers of his satisfaction to whom he would apply the merits of his passion no he must take such as his Father was contented to bestow upon him That place is notable to this purpose John 6.37 38. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and I will raise them up and give them everlasting life all them and only them And why so For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me My own will as I am man would carry me to justifie and save a greater number But in this I must be ordered I must remember I am come to do my Fathers will and not my own and therefore I must be contented with those whom he is pleased to allot me I am come that they might have life saith Jesus Christ John 10.10 They who why his sheep as he explains it both before and after I am the doâ—r of the sheep and I am come that they may have life And at verse 27. My sheep hear my voice and I give unto them eternal life But how comes Christ by these sheep why by his Fathers own gift And therefore it is added in the very next words My Father which gave them me is greater than all So that it is as if our Saviour Christ had said I am dispatched into
them up again with joy unspeakable and glorious How it hath altered them and changed them and turned them clean about and made them to renounce their pleasures and delights their wills their reasons their desires yea to deny themselves that they might walk by this Rule 5. The blood of many Martyrs gives testimony to the Scripture that it is the word of God who but for this divine and saving Truth and by his power and might whose Truth it is would hardly have endured the rage and fury of the flames the violence of the tormentors We read indeed that divers Hereticks have suffered exquisite and horrid tortures for their gross opinions and conceits as we have many instances in Church story But it is to be considered that they did it for the Scripture though falsely and corruptly apprehended and applyed Where hath been the Jew or Turk who for his Talmud or his Alchoran which are the Scriptures they receive and use hath put himself into the hands of the Tormentors These and such things as these do make it in it self extremely credible that that which is delivered in the Scripture is the word of God But yet they may not so take hold upon us to convince us notwithstanding they may not chase our scruples all away nor clear up all doubts unless some further thing be done to make it credited by us and to make us know for certain that it is the word of God This is the proper and peculiar work of Gods Spirit The self same Spirit which delivered it to the Apostles and the Prophets who were the Scribes and Pen-men of the Scripture and made them know that it was the word of God which they delivered must satisfie us and convince us also that it is the word of God which we receive No other means will do without this but this and this alone will do it This is an absolute and satisfying testimony of it self which carries all before it and puts the matter out of question where it comes Other things may make it credible but this and this alone will make it clearly and demonstratively sure to us that it is in deed and truth the word of God Now if you ask me how the Holy Spirit doth this great work which nothing else besides can do I answer that it doth it principally two ways First by removing those impediments which hinder this assurance And secondly by giving us those gifts and graces which make us able to receive it First by removing those impediments that hinder this assurance There is a double hinderance or impediment in every man by nature First ignorance whereby our eyes are closed as it were The word hath light enough my Brethren in and of it self to shew it self to us to manifest it self to us as it is indeed but we are blind and cannot see it The second hinderance is corruption by means of which although we see it we cannot of our selves but hate it and dislike it and reject it These two the Holy Spirit cureth and removeth by a double remedy The first illumination restoring our decayed understandings to some degrees and measures of their first light opening our eyes that we may see the wonders of the word and so be satisfied that it is the word of God The next Sanctification infusing into our desires and our affections some degrees and measures of their first holiness And by this work of Gods Spirit opening the eyes of our blind minds that we may understand the Scriptures and see those admirable rays and beams of divine and heavenly light that shine in them And also rectifying our corrupt affections that we may love them and embrace them we come to be assured that the Scripture is indeed and truth the word of God So that you see the Spirit works not this assurance in us by adding any thing to Gods word by curing any failing or defect in it but only by bringing it into the light and representing it unto us as indeed it is The Spirit doth not make it credible for it is so in it self abundantly beyond all possibility even of the best addition but it makes it so to us by curing and removing the impediments and supplying the defects which are in us by means of which we cannot apprehend it as it is And I mention this the rather because some have been apt to say of late the Word without the Spirit is no more to them then any other Book or any other piece of writing Now if their meaning be to blame themselves in this and to import that their corruption and their ignorance is such that unless the Spirit help them they cannot come to understand it or look upon it as better then another Book it may receive a pretty fair construction But if their intention be to undervalue and abase the Scripture as if the proper and innate and real worth thereof depended wholly on the Spirits revelation it is a horrid derogation from the pretious Word of God It 's true indeed without the Spirit it may be no more to us then any other book such is the darkness and prophaness of our hearts but yet it is more in it self whether the Spirit shew it us or no. The Spirit in this work of his doth not make it in it self to be the Word of God but only to appear so It makes no alteration in the Word but in our selves When first it tells us and assures us that it is the Word of God it was clearly so before or else it certifies us of a falsehood and untruth only it was not apprehended and believed to be so This is indeed the Spirits work to make us know for certain that it is the Word of God it is not to be done without it And therefore that we may attain to this perswasion we must do these two things 1. We must cry to God to send down his Holy Spirit to give in this assurance to us To set his seal and testimony to it that it is the Word of God and so to put the matter out of all question to satisfie us without any further scruple that all that is delivered in it is of God 2. We must take in and cherish all the light that from the Spirit shines upon the soul Sometimes a beam breaks in upon us on a sudden it makes us see and know for certain that it is the Word of God so that all doubt is banished quite in that particular But we neglect it and permit our thoughts to be misled to other things before we fix and settle upon this perswasion and so our assurance fails and our doubts return again The Spirit offers clear illumination and conviction and we take no notice of it and therefore it is just it should be withdrawn again And thus far of our Saviours declaration of his Apostles and Disciples due and ready entertainment of the Word which he delivered together with the ground of it as it is
was desirous to be gone and to return to him that sent him And therefore this he urgeth very hard when he enrreats his Father to receive him to him self I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do Joh. 17.4 q. d. If I had not done the work for which thou hast dispatched me down into this lower world I should be willing to continue here But I have gone through with it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have made an end of it so that I have no more to do in this world and therefore I beseech thee let me come away to thee Jesus Christ as he is man is gone c. because as he hath no more to Reason 3 do here so he hath very much to do there and therefore is gone thither where his business lies He is called his Fathers servant very often in the Scripture And truly my Brethren he is a diligent and faithful one assoon as he hath done his work in one place away goes he unto another he doth not love to stay and idle there where he hath no work to do but where his business and employment is there is the place that he desires to be And hence it is my Brethren that he went away into the other world because he had much work to do there But you will ask me what that work was I answer 1. He was to triumph there over his Enemies and ours This was a necessary and important business and it was not to be done compleatly here in this world at least not till and in the very act of his departure and this is that which the Apostle pointeth at Ephes 4.8 When he ascended up on high he led Captivity captive He did it not before or after but in that article of time when he ascended when he returned to his own Countrey then he led his Captives with him Even as those Conquerers of old among the Romans when they returned back to Rome after some glorious victory were wont to bring their Captives with them which they had taken in the wars and to lead them by their Chariots in a victorious and triumphant way So Jesus Christ when he had conquered Sin and Death and Hell and was returning out of this world to the immediate presence of his Father to the Country whence he came he did it in a glorious and triumphant way He did not steal away out of the world as if he had ashamed of that which he had done or suffered there as if he had been overcome No he went away triumphing as one that having absolutely conquered and beaten all that stood against him brings along his prisoners with him 2. Jesus Christ is gone away c. that he might send down his Spirit to his people That was another work he had to do the Spirit was not to come down till he came up and therefore he ascended that the Spirit might descend abundantly upon his people And this is that of which he mindeth his Apostles and Disciples when he was about to leave them Joh. 16.7 It is expedient for you that I go away and why so For if I do not go away the Comforter the Holy Spirit will not come While I am with you in the flesh you are so taken up with carnal and fleshly apprehensions of me that you are made incapable of great degrees measures of the Spirit And therefore I must even go away from you that I may send the Spirit to you And so accordingly he did as the Prophet David takes notice Psal 68.18 He ascended upon high and he received gifts for men gifts to bestow on men that the Lord God might dwell among them A strange expression he ascended from them to this end that he might remain and dwell among them Yes he ascended from them in his body that he might dwell among them by his Spirit or by those gifts which he received for men in the preceding words Well then you see he is departed from us not to forsake us but to dwell among us He hath withdrawn the presence of his Body that he might dwell among us by the presence of his Spirit According to that sweet and pretious promise made to his Disciples when he was ready to depart from them Mat. 20.28 Behold I am with you always c. 3. Jesus Christ gone away c. that he might intercede for his people Why you will tell me so he might and so he did while he was resident in this world he offered up strong cries to God and that not for himself alone but for his Church and members too Yea the Chapter we are handling is the Prayer of our Saviour in the behalf of his people so that he might have interceded for them by vocal supplication had he remained still in this world and had he never gone hence Yea but he could not then have interceded for them by personal appearance as he doth now And therefore he is gone to heaven that he may appear in the presence of God for us Heb. 9.24 And is it not a comfort to us to consider that we have such a choise and pretious friend there That we have such an Advocate in Court continually at all times and in all causes That he is always by his Father in his Body and his humane Nature wherein he suffered for his people You know he bare our sins in his body on the tree and in that crucified body he appeareth in the presence of his Father So that he is at hand on all occasions to shew his Father all his wounds and all his scars all the prints and all the marks of his bitter bloody sufferings Oh Father may he say when there is any thing in agitation for his people any supplication for them or any accusation laid against them remember what I have endured for them in this flesh of mine what I have suffered for them in this body here before thee look upon these wounds and scars and for my sake be gratious to them do not deny them their Petitions do not reject them for their unallowed and bewailed imperfections 4. Jesus Christ is gone away c. to make heaven ready for us that so we may be presently admitted when we come And this our Saviour Christ himself who best knows yeelds as the reason of his departure from his Apostles and Disciples when he was about to leave them saith he I go to prepare a place for you Joh. 14.2 when our Saviour Christ entred heaven and passed into the immediate presence of his Father he took possession of it in our name and stead and left it open after him to all his Members He hath in this respect prepared it for us that he hath made it ready to receive us And when we are ready too he will come and receive us to himself that where he is there may we be also as it is added in the fore-alleadged place Joh. 14.3 5. Jesus Christ is gone away
c. that in the mean time till he take us up to him to heaven personally he may draw us up to heaven virtually That till we follow him in person we may follow him in heart and in affection that may set them on the things that are above where Christ also fits on the right hand of God If Christ were still among us in the body and in a visible and fleshly way you are not able to imagine how much it would detain us here We should not care much to look higher then the place where Christ is But now he is departed from us into heaven this draws up our affections after him who is so infinitely dear pretious to us for where the treasure is there will the heart be also This makes us to desire with the Apostle to be with him to be dissolved and to be with Christ This makes us keep him company though at a distance It makes us heavenly in our discourses meditations conversations as the Apostle was Phil. 3.30 Our conversation is in heaven from whence we look for the Saviour even the Lord Jesus Christ JOHN 17.11 And now I am no more in the world IS it so that Jesus Christ as he is man is gone away out of this Vse 1 lower world c. Then let us not expect to see him here till he return again from heaven It 's true he shall so come again from heaven as the Apostles saw him going into heaven as you may see Act. 1.11 He shall come down again in a remarkable observable and visible way Behold he cometh with the clouds and every eye shall see him Apoc. 1.7 And in the mean time my Beloved the heavens must contain him or confine him as to his bodily or fleshly presence he must be comprehended there Act. 3.21 I say then as our Saviour Christ himself upon the like occasion Mat. 24.4 Take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ And though it seem so gross a business that there can be no danger in it yet it is added presently and they shall deceive many so that there may be need of this Caveat And therefore I beseech you my Brethren lay it up against the time of trial come if it ever come upon you For there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets as the true Christs tell us Mat. 24.24 insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very Elect. And therefore if they say unto you Lo here is Christ or there believe them not If they say he is in the Desert go not forth he is in the secret chambers believe it not as Christ addes in that place If a seducing spirit tell you Christ is in such or such a place such or such a one is Christ as some have been so grossly impudent in these times believe him not If a Papist or Ubiquitary tell you Lo here is Christ lo he is corporally present in the Sacrament the bread is really and truly chang'd into his body believe him not No my Beloved do you depend on that which Christ himself affirmeth in my Text and now I am no more in the world as to my bodily and fleshly presence untill you see him come again as the Apostles saw him go away for every eye shall see him when he comes be confident he is not here in this world I say as Christ in the fore-alleadged place Take heed I have foretold you Vse 2 Is it so that Jesus Christ as he is man is gone away c. and that he hath withdrawn his corporal and fleshly presence from us Then let us make the more of the presence of his Spirit by which he is still among us If he be absent from us one way it is good reason that we should the more improve his presence with us in another The chief comfort of the soul consisteth in Communion with the Lord Christ in having fellowship with him Now Christ as he is man is ascended into heaven and so in that respect he is no more in the world We cannot yet go up to him though we would gladly die and be dissolved that we might be with Christ yet it cannot yet be But which way then shall we enjoy Communion with him Why my Beloved because we are not able to go up to him the Spirit will do so much for us that he will bring him down to us and thus though he be absent from us in the body yet he is present with us in the Spirit and will be to the worlds end according to his own promise Matth. 28.20 Lo I am with you always to the end of the world They are the last words of the Chapter and the last words of the Book and there is nothing added but Amen Let it be so and sure it is a sweet close Well then my Brethren let our work and business be to consider with our selves how we may the more enjoy him in the Spirit because we can no longer now enjoy him in the body How we may make the most of that we have And I shall give you the best advise that I am able in this great business If you desire to make the most of the presence of your Saviour in the Spirit now he is absent from you in the body you must be infinitely cautious that you do not grieve that Spirit by which he is present with you If you grieve and trouble him he will withdraw and hide himself from you and then Christ is wholly gone both in the Body and the Spirit too you do not sensibly enjoy him neither one way nor the other and so are in a very sad case Since the presence of the Spirit is all that you enjoy of Christ so that if he be gone my Brethren all is gone you must be very wary that you do not vex the Spirit and cause him to depart from you But you will ask me Which way do we vex and grieve the Spirit we would know it that so we might be careful to avoid it I might speak much of this Subject and draw out my discourse into abundance of particulars but I will say it in a word you grieve the Spirit when you deal unkindly with him any away This is the specal thing that grieves friends when one of them deals unkindely with another and so it is between the Spirit and the soul He comes to us from Christ in much love and much kindness to supply his absence from us and we are unkind to him and this grieves him out of measure Now we are unkind to him especially two ways and that is either when we slight him or resist him 1. When we slight him this is a very great unkindness and that which friends can very ill bear He makes tenders of himself and we take no notice of him he stands knocking at our doors or rather Jesus Christ by him and we let him knock still He would be
he did so he had his reasons in his own breast and in his own bosom Only this is probable that he did it that he might be an Example and a president to us that we might learn of him to do as he did That when we are approaching to the Throne of Grace we might be very much possessed with deep and serious contemplations of the holiness of God I shall adde no more for proof but hasten to the Application Now is it so that even as God is holy in himself so Jesus Christ came Vse 1 to him as a holy God and looked c. Then let us learn of Jesus Christ how to behave our selves when we are making our addresses to the Majesty of God and pouring out prayers to him We are exhorted very often in the Scripture to be followers of Christ and so to walk and act as we have him for an Example In all his imitable ways and actions his practice ought to be a rule to us And therefore let us labour to conform our selves to Jesus Christ in this particular when we are drawing nigh to God in prayer let our thoughts be taken up with meditations of his holiness let them work much upon this attribute of his Indeed the Saints of the Old Testament when they set God upon his Throne and clothe him with his Majesty and glory as they use to do in the beginnings of their prayers do seem to take more notice of other attributes of God of his power of his dreadfulness his righteousness his faithfulness his truth his mercy then his holiness But under the New Testament you know God hath been served worshipped in a more spiritual way and here we have the High Priest of our profession Jesus Christ the most unparalleld and matchless pattern teaching us by his example to exercise our thoughts upon the holiness of God when we are making our approaches to him And therefore when at any time we set our selves to pray let us endevour to affect our selves and to be taken up with deep considerations of this attribute of his Let our most working apprehensions fix upon his holiness and make a deep impression of it in our hearts that we may carry it along throughout from the beginning of our supplications to the end It will be singularly useful to us as I shall shew you in a few particulars 1. It will help exceedingly to frame our hearts to put them into such a posture as the Lord delights in It 's true the meditation of other of the attributes of God hath its work upon our spirits when we are drawing nigh unto him But this me thinks hath somewhat proper and peculiar to it self further and beyond the rest It 's true the apprehension of the Mercy of the Lord will make us to have comfortable cheerful hearts the apprehension of his truth and faithfulness will make us to have bold couragious hearts the apprehension of his power and greatness will make us to have trembling and awful hearts But now the apprehension of his holiness will make us to have holy hearts that so we may be like him whom we are making our addresses to And holiness alone comprises all that hath been said and much more our cheerfulness our confidence our reverence in prayer are all but parts of holiness A holy frame of heart involves and comprehendeth in it all this and more besides then we are able to express Indeed what ever God takes pleasure in as to the temper of his people when they are pouring out their prayers to him is all contained under holiness Let them come with holy hearts and all is well and this they shall the better do if they consider with what an infinitely holy God they have to do Oh this will raise the heart if it be duly weighed to such a sweet and pretious frame that it will be no longer earthly it will be fit to have Communion with the holy God And therefore David presses the Consideration of this attribute of God in those whom he exhorts to worship him by way of preparation to that great business Psal 99.9 Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy hill for the Lord our God is holy 2. The meditation of the holiness of God will quicken us and stir us up as far as it is possible to cleanse our selves from every sin when we are making our approaches to him For sin my Brethren is against his holiness yea in directest opposition And therefore it is known by the name of filthiness and uncleanness in the Scripture Not only whoredom and adultery and fornication and sins of that kind are unclean as they are called uncleanness in the abstract but sin is generally so as you may see that place for instance 2 Cor. 7.1 And hence it is my Brethren that it is so odious to the Lord there being nothing in the world so contrary and so opposite to him and to his Nature as sin is No man in the world hates any thing no mans heart abhors and loaths and rises against any thing as the Lords against sin By reason of his pureness and his holiness he cannot brook it Hab. 1.13 he is not able to endure it He seems me thinks to shut his eyes and to cry out to his people Oh do not this abominable thing which I hate And therefore when men will not hold but commit it the infinitely holy God is vexed and troubled out of all measure so he is represented in the Scripture Isa 63.10 They rebelled against him saith the Prophet and they vexed his holy Spirit Because he was so holy he was vext the more at sin which was so filthy And truly my Beloved if we did seriously consider the holiness of God when we are about to pray we would not dare to bring this filthy thing into his presence which is so contrary to this attribute of his and consequently is so odious and detestable to him At least we would endeavour to the utmost of our power to cleanse our selves from all the filthiness of flesh and spirit to wash our hands and hearts in Innocency with holy David and so to compass Gods Atar to offer up the Incense of our prayers to him Oh we would shake and quiver every joint to think of coming to the Holy God in the midst of our pollutions unpurged and unhumbled for We would consider with our selves What will the Lord say to me when he sees me in his presence so defiled How will he look on such a filthy and abominable wretch as I am how is it possible but he should hide his eyes from me when he perceives the hands that I spread forth before him are so full of gore and blood how can he choose but loath me and abhor me Do I expect to find favour in his eyes and come before him with that which he so abhors as if I meant to vex him and provoke him And therefore if we ever look to speed
Christ And therefore it is called his joy because originally it is his and comes from him to them by way of dispensation and communication that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves So in another place he tells his Apostles and Disciples that if they were obedient to him they should abide in his love And adds immediately these things have I spoken to you that my joy might remain in you that is to say the joy that I give you John 15.11 Indeed it is the fruit and the effect of Christs kingdom erected in the hearts of his people as the Apostle shews us Rom. 14.17 His Kingdom is not meat and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost You shall be sorrowfull saith Christ to his Disciples but your sorrow shall be turned into joy John 16.20 And who can turn it into joy but Christ only But you will ask me how and in what respect is Christ the Author of the joy of his people Beloved I might instance in a multitude of things but I shall draw them all to three heads Christ is the Author of the joy of his people As he is their Prophet to instruct them The state of ignorance my brethren is a state of darkness so it is often stiled in Scripture And that is an uncomfortable state full of fear and full of sorrow But when Christ comes with light and information and instruction when he becomes a Prophet to them he gives them extraordinary comfort In that he gives them light he gives them joy for both of them are joyned together Psal 97.11 Light is sown for the righteous and joy for them that are upright in heart As he is their King to rule them you heard but now that his kingdom stands in joy And hence his subjects are exhorted to rejoyce in him Psal 149.2 Let the Children of Zion be joyful in their King Now as a King my brethren he is many wayes the author of the joy of his people I will name a few of them 1. As he subdues their enemies and gives them peace And this he doth my brethren for he is the King of Salem and the Prince of peace And when he doth it he is an extraordinary comfort to his people When he subdues their enemies within them and so gives them inward peace When he masters and brings under their stubborn and rebellious Lusts and strong corruptions which are such a daily trouble and vexation to them O what a joy is it to his people when according to his Covenant he saves them from those enemies then they serve him without fear Luke 1.75 and if without fear then certainly with great joy So when he saves them from their enemies without them and so gives them outward peace then he gives them joy too Such times have still been celebrated and observed with extraordinary gladness and rejoycing Especially when Babylon goes down the arch-enemy of his Church and his people then Christ hears many Halelujahs for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth Then they that stand upon the glassie sea are in a very chearie frame They sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb Just and true are thy wayes O thou King of Saints 2. As a King Christ is the Author of the joy of his people as he gives them his spirit For this he doth under the notion of a King and when he doth it then he fils them full of joy The Spirit is the Comforter that is his name so he is stiled very often to shew us what his Office work and business is And therefore joy is made a companion of the Spirit to shew us that they use to go together Act. 13.52 The Disciples saith the Text were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost and the Apostle tells us that joy is one especial fruit of the Spirit Gal. 5.22 The fruit of the Spirit is live joy And hence the Holy Ghost is called the Oyl of gladness Isa 45.7 As it is the Oyl of gladness it makes glad the heart of man and it makes his face to shine And consequently when our King pours out this Oyl upon his people he pours out joy and gladness with it Then his joy is fulfilled in them because they have this oyl from him He is anointed with it above his fellows it flows down from him the head even to the lowest members of his body 3. As a King Christ is the Author of the joy of his people as he dispenses recompences and rewards to them For this he must do as a King too and when he doth it he makes them overflow with joy and therefore he will have them to be out of measure glad even in the expectation of it Luk. 6.23 Rejoyce and leap for joy saith he and why so for great is your reward in heaven And if they have such cause to be transported in the expectation how much more in the fruition When Christ shall say to every one of his as Mat. 25.21 Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord into the self-same joy which I thy Lord and Master entred first into and took possession of before thee Then indeed the joy of Christ shall be communicated to them Then they shall have his joy fulfilled in them to the very utmost Christ is the Author of the joy of his people as he is their Priest to sacrifice and intercede for them Both ways he is the Fountain of their comfort I shall a little touch them in their order 1. As he is their Priest to sacrifice he is the Author of their joy for by this means he satisfies the justice of his Father for them he frees them from the guilt of all their sins he reconcileth them to God And is he not in this respect the cause of extraordinary comfort to his people Is it not a sad thing for a person to live at enmity with God who made him and will judge him in the great day If peace with God be so infinitely sweet is not enmity with God full of fear and full of horror is it not a doleful thing for any person to be dead in Law bound over to the everlasting wrath and vengeance of the great God in danger every hour to be haled and dragged away to execution and to be cast into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone and is it not a joyful thing to be delivered out of such a state as this is Now this our Saviour as a Priest hath done for his people in a way of satisfaction and so hath given them cause of exceeding great joy as the Angel intimates when he informs the Shepherds where he was born and what he was to do Luk. 2.10 Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy 2. As Christ is his peoples Priest to intercede for them he is the Author of their joy It is an extraordinary comfort to them that Christ appears in heaven for them in all causes to offer up and to
truth thy word is truth And here we have two things to be considered A Supplication and an Explication First We have here our Saviours Supplication to his Father in behalf of his Apostles and Disciples Sanctifie them through thy truth And then we have this Explication in which he shews what he intends by truth viz. the word of God Sanctifie them with thy truth thy word is truth Begin we with the Supplication in which you may take notice with me of these two particulars First the thing desired Sanctification Sanctifie them saith our Saviour And then the outward instrumental means by which he prayes they may be sanctified the truth of God that is the word as he explains it afterwards Sanctifie them through thy truth Both yeild us our this Observation DOCTRINE The word of God is the ordinary Means by which he Sanctifies his people It is the instrument in Gods hands by which he doth this great work He sanctifies them he is the God of all grace he calleth and he makes perfect stablisheth strengthneth settleth them But he doth it by this means according to our Saviours prayer here Sanctifie them through thy truth And here I shall distinctly cleer these two things First that the word of God is the ordinary Means by which he sanctifies his people in a way of inchoation by which he begins that work in them by which he converteth them regenerates them and makes them to become new creatures And this we find abundantly exemplified in the times of the Apostle how mightily the word of God prevailed to the Conversion of their hearers and to the working of unfeigned faith and grace in them You may behold three thousand sinners wrought upon by one Sermon Acts 2.41 And yet again as if these had been a few five thousand by another Sermon Acts 4.4 And hence it is my brethren that the word is called the word of grace because it works grace in Gods people But whether this be the work of the Law or of the Gospel whether one or both of them be the ordinary means by which God sanctifies his people will need to be a little further opened and resolved And I shall shew you from the Scripture that both of them are instruments in Gods hand by which he sanctifies his people 1. God sanctifies his people preparatively by the Law The Law converts and worketh grace by way of preparation It shews a man his sin and his trangression it emptieth him of all opinion of himself it humbles him and layes him low in apprehension of his own unworthiness And so indeed it makes him fit to entertain the grace of God for he will give his grace unto the humble John Baptists rough and rigid preaching of the Law you know my brethren must prepare the way for Christ He must be like a Pioner to go before him to bring down every high exalted thought to make the Mountains levell with the Valleyes He must be like a Harbinger to ride before and take up room for Jesus Christ to write his name upon the heart This heart is taken up for Christ To cause these everlasting doors to be set open to him when he comes And when the heart is thus prepared thus emptied and thus opened once then it is fit for Jesus Christ with all the graces of his spirit to enter in and dwell there And this is all that God doth by the Law he sanctifieth men by way of preparation and predisposition only But 2. The means by which he sanctifieth them indeed and works the truth and the reality of saving grace in them is the preaching of the Gospel and therefore the Apostle puts the question to the renewed Galathians Gal. 3.2 This only would I learn of you saith he received ye the spirit by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith q. d. for this I appeal to you I put the matter to your consciences whether the saving graces of the spirit were not first wrote in you by the hearing of faith that is by hearing the doctrine of faith which is the Gospel And hence the Gospel is sometimes called the grace of God as you may see that place for instance Titus 2.11 and that not formaliter for so the Gospel is not neither can it be the grace of God neither that grace which is in God I mean his free and undeserved favour nor yet that grace which is communicated and dispensed from him to us I mean the gifts of his spirit whether they be such as appertain to edification or sanctification but effective as the School-men speak the Gospel is the grace of God because the grace of God is the effect and issue of the Gospel The Gospel is the instrumental means of grace and holiness which it effecteth under God and worketh in the hearts of his people And under this expression it is set in opposition to the Law For as the Law doth not reveal the grace of God in Jesus Christ the Mediator and Redeemer as the Gospel doth so neither doth it work the grace of God I mean the saving gifts of his spirit and therefore it is called the Ministration of the Letter and not the Ministration of the Spirit because there goes no spirit with it Or if it carry any of the spirit with it it is the spirit of fear and bondage and legal humiliation and not the spirit of adoption and sanctification But on the other side the Gospel carries spirit in the ministration of it which it conveyes into the heart of those that hear it and embrace it as they ought to do It operateth and begetteth the endowments of the spirit and worketh grace and sanctification And as the word of God is the ordinary means by which he begins the work of Sanctification So it is the means also by which he carries on the same work to further measures and degrees They were sanctified already for whom our Saviour makes this prayer in my text the work was begun in them they were his own Apostles and Disciples and yet for them he prays sanctifie them with thy Truth q. d. Sanctifie them yet more fully make them yet more gratious and more humble and more holy by a more full discovery of the Truth revealed in thy Word to them Sanctifie them with thy truth thy Word is truth Indeed the Word my Brethren as it is incorruptible seed by which men are regenerate and born again to God as the Apostle shews 1 Pet. 1.23 Being born again not of corruptible but incorruptible seed by the Word of God so it is milk which nourishes and makes them thrive and grow while they are but babes in Christ and it is also strong meat on which they feed until they come ad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ This for clearing of the point proceed we to the Application Vse 1 Is it so That the Word of God is
opinion But you will interpose and ask me then What are not private Christians to imploy their gifts for the common benefit Yes to the very utmost my Beloved As every man hath received the gift so let him minister the same one to the other as good stewards of the manifold graces of God 1 Pet. 4.16 Their gift they have received to profit withal and that not themselves alone but others also But still within their own sphere within compass of their own calling They may and ought as they are able to teach c. as the Apostle speaks Col. 2.12 in a way of conference and this lies as a duty on them all in some degree For this is no Evangelical counsel but an Evangelical precept it is not permitted only but required But none of them may take upon him to be the publick Teacher of the whole without a due Vocation and Ordination thereunto How shall they preach except they be sent saith the Apostle Rom. 11.15 How shall they do it lawfully He doth not say except they be gifted but except they be sent Qualification is not enough without mission he must not go forth of himself but must be sent forth by Christ Is it so That the Apostles and Ministers of Christ are sent by him Vse 2 This then may serve to let us see how far the power and the authority of Ministers extends in binding and in loosing and in proclaming either war or peace They do it but as servants in a ministerial way and by a delegated power and in the execution of it they must exactly keep them by the rule and the directions which they have received from him that sent them They may not act according to their own discretion and as it seemeth good to them but must proceed in every thing according to the orders and instructions of their Master Or if they swerve a jot from these they stray beyond the bounds of their Commission and their authority is void So that the power of Ministers in this regard is Ministerial and declarative Yet this I add because they do it by Commission from the Lord and as Messengers of Christ it comes from them by reason of his Ordinance with more assurance to the Conscience then from any private person Vse 3 Is it so that the Apostles c. This then may serve to mind them what their duty is and I shall give it you in two words 1. They must do his work and deliver his message the errand which he sends them in They must not bring their own devices to the people their own fancies and conceits the issue of their own brains the froth of their own spirits as many do in these times No they must speak the words of Christ and speak them fully and compleatly They must fulfill the word of God as the Apostle speaks Col. 1.25 They must without respect or fear deliver all their Masters message to any man to whom he sends them how great soever he may be They must not out of base and servile dread of any suppress or mince their errand in the least degree or deal so mannerly with men that they become unfaithfull to the Lord Christ No they must seriously consider that though themselves be mean and despicable persons yet they are Ministers and Messengers of Christ himself who is higher then the highest among men And therefore as the Noble Roman said non ita memor sum dignitatis vestrae ut obliviscar me esse consulem So they must say when they are dealing with the great ones of the world I am not mindfull of dignity so far as to forget that I am the Embassador and Messenger of Jesus Christ They must be bold and resolute with this assurance that he that sendeth them will bear them out according to his many pretious promises which he hath made for their encouragement to faithfulness in his service 2. And as they must deliver Christs errand and not their own so for Christs ends and not their own they must not seek their own profit or their own honour but the honour of their Master As Christ who was the Fathers messenger glorified not himself as the Apostle speaks but him that sent him Heb. 5.5 so they that are the messengers of Christ must not glorifie themselves but Christ that sent them They must act for him and wooe for him and win the souls of men to him Their work must be to set him up and to advance him that he may appear They must with John the Baptist be contented to decrease to wither in their reputation and esteem so Christ may be in the increasing hand They must not endeavour to take such a course in the work of the Ministry that they may seem witty and learned and eloquent that men may admire them and applaud their abilities but that they may admire Christ that the thoughts and affections of men may be carried to him They must not preach themselves but the Lord Jesus Christ as the Apostle did 2 Cor. 4 5. Vse 4 Is it so that Apostles Ministers c. Then let the Church be here directed and advised to prove those that pretend they are the Ministers of Jesus Christ whether they be sent by Christ or no. The Church of Ephesus is much commended for her care and diligence in this regard Apoc. 2.2 I know thy works saith Christ there and thy labour and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil c. And thou hast tried them who say they are Apostles and are not and hast found them lyers They said they were the Messengers of Christ and that they were sent by Christ for that 's the meaning of the word Apostle but indeed they were not The Church did not give them credit till she tried them and so discovered them to be impostors and deceivers And truly there are many such in these times who say they come from Jesus Christ when indeed he never sent them They are Messengers of Satan and not of Christ and therefore it concerns the Church to prove them well who come with these pretences and to sift them to the bottome that they may know not the speech of these men only but the power as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 4 19. And here you are not only to consider whether they have obtained the election and ordination of the Church or no for many reach to this who are never sent by Christ But there are other things to be observed I shall lay them down in order They that are sent by Jesus Christ are furnished with competent ability at least for the delivery of their message You must not think that Christ will send by the hand of a fool No if there be a Messenger of Christ he is one of a thousand for gifts and abilities In the time of the Law when he raised up Prophets what spirit what power what understanding was there in them And is his hand shortned
A wicked wretch may touch another man indeed and yet never touch God because he is without God there is no union between God and him But whosoever touches him that is in God must touch God in touching him And hence saith the Lord himself Zac. 2.8 He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye In touching you he toucheth me and that in the most tender place the very apple of mine eye And do you think that God will ever suffer such audacious boldness as this is That he will quietly sit still and let ungodly wretches thrust their fingers into his eyes and pluck the very apples of his eyes out of his head Take this and take all If true believers be in God you then that are out of God endeavour Vse 3 to keep in with them In any case make them your friends and keep them so and do not fall at any difference or odds with them You know not what you lose when you lose their love and their friendship A friend in place they say is worth something And certainly they are in place that are in God the best place that can be And therefore it is good for those that are without and live abroad to have some friends in this place you may fare the better for them and they may do you a good turn and a good office there when time serves Wicked men have had advantage oftentimes by the friendship of believers Moses did a good turn for Pharaoh more then once when he knew not what to do and when he could not help himself Alas poor miserable man he was an alien he lived without God in the world and therefore sends for Moses still who was in God to speak a word for him and he was ready to sollicite hard in his behalf and divers times prevailed for mercy till in the end his heart was hardned to his utter ruine And therefore if you love your selves make much of such friends as these are And thus far of the application of the first branch of the Explication of the point I shall be briefer on the other two Is it the will of Jesus Christ that true believers should be one in God Vse in the Father and himself by dear affection You then that are believers let your hearts be knit to God and Jesus Christ by this indissoluble bond Let love make you all one And as the Father and the Son are one among themselves so be you one in them by love Let your affections to them be so high as to unite you to the Father and the Son And even as dear affection joyns you to your fellow-Saints that you are knit in love as the Apostle Pauls expression is so let it joyn you much more to the Father and the Son for they are infinitely more to be beloved Oh let your hearts no longer live in creature comforts and in creature satisfactions which do so often fail you and deceive you but let them live in God by inexpressable and choice love There live and there rest and there dwell and there nestle as it were in the bosome of the Father and the Son Mark that expression of the Apostle John 1.4.16 God is love and he that dwelleth in Love dewelleth in God and God in him God is love essentially for whatsoever is attributed to God is God And he is the Original and fountain of the love that is Communicated to the Creature All the Love with which we love him or the Creature regularly comes from him It is a ray of the divinity a beam of God a part of the divine nature And seeing God is love in the sence before expressed essentially originally it follows thence as the Apostle John infers that he that dwells in love must dwell in God He that dwells that is continues and abides in love to fellow Saints and fellow-members dwels in God But he that dwells in love to God himself dwells in God much more And therefore I beseech you let your hearts set up their rest in love to God and Jesus Christ there let them fix and dwell let not your love be scattered up and down among the creatures as it is but let it be united all in God and let it joyn and unite you all to God that nothing in the world may ever separate you or divide you from him Brethren you may be the losers by Love of other things or other friends For after your affections and your hearts are set upon them they may forsake you and be unfaithfull and unkind to you And besides you must bestow some pains and travail and expence on those who are indeed beloved by you Or else it is but a dissembling feigned love for love where it is sound and real is very bountiful and very active And hence it is my brethren that there is so little true affection in the world The love of men is for the greater part in complement in shew and in appearance only they will do nothing they will part with nothing for those whom they are pleased to call their friends as they must do if they love in deed and truth But now in loving God my brethren though I acknowledge you must part with all for him yet you shall be no losers by it Though you forgo your friends your houses and estates and all for him you shall have him instead of all Yea you shall not have him only but you shall be in him by this means And therefore I beseech you my beloved grow up into this uniting grace in these divided and distracted times which will not only make you one among your selves but one in God But you will ask me how may this be done I will give you some directions 1. Let prayer struggle for it at the throne of grace It cannot choose but be a pleasing lovely suit indeed to be importunate with God to make us love him and to draw up our hearts to him A man would think that such a sweet request as this should not be turned off with a denial It s true that prayer is the great Catholicon and universal means in all cases But yet it is expedient in a special manner to the attainment and enlargement of this grace of love which is a special gift of the spirit It is the great work of the spirit of God to make us love God and to endear our hearts to him I know that Hope and Patience c. are graces of the Spirit but Love is a prime grace It is a grace of the first magnitude and therefore placed first by the Apostle in that Catalogue of his Gal. 5.22 The Love of God is shed abroad into our hearts saith the Apostle Rom. 5.5 how so by the Holy Ghost that he hath given us And in another place he tells the Saints Ye are taught of God saith he to love one another 1 Thes 4.1 None in the world can teach you this but God only And if none but he
thus he dealt you know with Saul and Judas But he chose Christ out of a special and peculiar love never to be reversed again And just so he chose us in and by and through Christ out of the very same love and with the very same intentions in reference to revocation that he chose Christ And what will God cast away his people whom he hath foreknown from everlasting whom he hath chosen in his Son Christ before the foundation of the world was laid as the Apostle speaks Eph. 1.4 No no his choice of us is as unalterable as his choice of Christ himself And when he casts away Christ then and not till then my brethren will he cast away us Doth God the Father love believers as his servants even as he loves Christ Then surely he will deal with us in this regard much as he dealt with Christ as I shall shew you in a few particulars 1. He will uphold us as he did uphold Christ A Master will uphold his servant in any business or employment that he setteth him about Especially a servant that he loves So did God uphold Christ and he seems to glory in it and to call us to observe it Isa 42.1 Behold my Servant whom I uphold I am resolved to bear him out meddle with him he that dare Indeed when the appointed time was come he gave him up to suffer what he had designed him to But in the interim he bore him out so that no projects no attempts could take against him they could not seize upon him they could not hurt him saith the Gospel story because his hour was not yet come Even so will God uphold us untill our hour be come too For we are servants whom he loves even as he loved Christ And as he is a loving so he is an al-sufficient and almighty Master as he said to Abraham when he took him to be a Covenant-servant to him Gen. 17.1 And therefore he will be not only a reward but a shield to his servants a shield and an exceeding great reward as his own expression is Gen. 15.1 A reward for their salvation and a shield for their protection 2. God will assist us in his service as he did assist Christ Christ had a piece of work you know in hand that was very difficult so that he sweat and that not ordinary sweat but drops of blood trickling down upon the earth Yea more then so he fainted while he was about it But God his Master that employed him took a special care of him and sent an Angel down from heaven of purpose to comfort him and strengthen him Luke 22.43 And when as man he feared how he should hold out and how he should go through with the business as to any self sufficiency as a Creature and so wept and cried to God he had a very sweet return as you may see Heb. 5.7 When in the dayes of his flesh he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to him that was able to save him he was heard in that he feared Just so doth God support us in the work he calls us to for we are servants whom he loves even as he loved Christ If he perceive the service that we have in hand to be too difficult and hard for us then in comes God and puts his own hand to the work What canst thou not go through with it Come let me help thee saith the Lord. It is observed of the Levites that God helped them 1 Chron. 15.26 And the Apostle tells us that the spirit helpeth our infirmities Rom. 8.26 he stands against us and bears up the burthen with us So that the weakest servants of the Lord need not fear the hardest service or the heaviest burthen when he hath such a one to help him and when those everlasting arms are underneath him as the Prophet speaks Deut. 33.27 What said the Lord to Paul when he was hard bestead and when he was about to faint My grace is sufficient for thee And this made Paul to say I can do all things through Christ that strengthneth me Phil. 4.13 3. Out of this love God will reward us for the service that he enables us to do as he did reward Christ As soon as he had done his work he had his wages down upon the nail for he was heard in that prayer John 15.4 I have glorified thee upon earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do and now Oh Father glorifie me with thy self And so as soon as we have ended and dispatched the business that God hath put into our hands we shall receive our own reward according to our own labour Having had the fruit to holiness we shall receive the end eternal life If we be faithfull to the death we shall receive the Crown of life Apoc. 2.10 If we continue in the Vineyard to the Evening we shall have our penny If we hold out to the period of our lives when we shall come to dye we may conclude with God as Christ doth in the forealledged place We have glorified thee on earth we have finished the work which thou gavest us to do and now O Father glorifie us with thy self and we may sing our dying Song with the Apostle 1 Tim. 4.7 We have fought a good fight we have finished our Course henceforth there is laid up for us a Crown of righteousness which God the righteous Judge will give us Doth God the Father love believers as his Children even as he loves Christ doth he affect them under that relation too and that as he doth Christ Then surely he will shew him self a loving Father to them as he doth to Christ and that especially in two respects 1. He will hear them as he doth hear Christ You know it is but ask and have with Christ Thou art my Son saith God the Father to our Saviour Psa 2.6 this day I have begotten thee And what follows Ask of me and I will give thee And this is that which Christ himself acknowledges John 11.42 Father I thank thee because thou hast heard me Yea so he might in that particular and yet he might deny him in another But mark what followes presently and I know thou hearest me alwayes Thou art my Father and I am thy Son and hence it is that thou art so inclinable to hear me to let me have my own asking Even so will God hear us in every thing that we desire according to his will for we are Children also whom he loves even as he loves Christ And therefore as it was but ask and have with Christ just so it is with us too Ask and it shall be given you Mat. 7.7 And that because he is our loving Father as he is Christs Our heavenly Father will undoubtedly give good things to them that ask him 2. He will provide for us as he doth for Christ You know he hath provided well for Christ He is not his Son
God saith he my heart is fixed I will sing and give praise Psal 57.7 There hath been much talk of late concerning fixing arms but surely this of fixing hearts is the most necessary business 4. That our hearts may be prepared they must be awakened they are naturally dead and dull and sleepy especially at sometimes by means of some corporal or spiritual distemper They cannot watch to prayer one hour and though the spirit is ready yet the flesh is weak And therefore we must quicken them and rouse them up from drowsiness before we set about the duty and while we are in the performance of it we must call upon our hearts as Deborah Judg. 5.12 Awake awake Deborah awake awake utter a song And as David on his Harp Awake Harp so we awake heart I my self will awake early Psal 108.2 You see in brief the Rule of Christ in reference to preparation Now let us see what he prescribes both for the matter the manner and the end of prayer As for the matter of your prayers you must search the promises You are to pray for nothing but only what you have a promise for not what you have a mind to but what you have a promise for It is the business and the work of prayer to put the promises of God in suit not our desires but his promises And therefore we must study promises if we would know how to make prayers or how to judge of prayers after we have made them If they agree not with the promises they are but rash and inconsiderate desires they are the sacrifice of fools as they are called Eccles 5.1 And God will never look after them nor shew respect to them as Elibu teaches us Job 35.13 Surely God will not hear vanity neither will the Almighty regard it As for the manner of our prayers the rule of Christ is very large here and so accordingly directions might be copious both how to form our supplications which we are about to tender and having tendred them how to resolve whether they have been according to the will of Christ or no. I shall but touch upon the principal 1. It is in the will of Christ that we pray without wrath for so is the express direction 1 Tim. 2.8 I will therefore that men may pray every-where lifting up pure hands without wrath We must not come to God with hearts distracted and disturbed with passion but with composed meek and quiet spirits It was the fault of James and John who when a certain Town of the Samaritans repelled Christ and refused to receive him would in a fit of rage and anger have prayed for fire to come down from heaven to consume them Luk. 9.54 And so when the malitious enemies of Christ have done his cause or people any great mischief it may be we are ready in a heat to call for vengeance out of heaven upon them But if we pray in such a manner we may look for such a censure as James and John had in the fore-alleadged Text Ye know not what spirit ye are of You think it may be you are zealous but you are very much mistaken you are cholerick and angry you do know not the temper and disposition of your spirits Brethren we must not go to prayer in a fit of anger and a pang of discontent as it seems Eliah did 1 King 14.4 It is enough Lord take away my life for I am not better then my Fathers And as it seems Job did Job 6.8 Oh that I might have my request and that God would grant me the thing that I long for Even that it would please God to destroy me that he would let loose his hand and cut me off And as it is extreamly probable that Moses did when he conceived his burthen was too heavy for him Numb 11.10 15. For it is said he was displeased and in that angry mood he said to God Wherefore hast thou afflicted me You see he calls the Lord to coram to see how he can answer his proceedings Wherefore c. I am not able to bear all this alone And if thou deal thus with me kill me I pray thee out of the way and do not let me see my wretchedness And thus it is apparent Jonah did who being crost in a punctilio in a point of honour out of a pettish childish humor will go die God must take away his life We must not come to God in such a temper to empty and disgorge our choler and to vent our passions to him No Tempus mansuetudinis est tempus orationis The time of meekness is the time of prayer 2. It is the will of Christ that we pray without doubtings and this is also added in the Text before alledged 1 Tim. 2.8 Pray lifting up pure hands without wrath or doubting He would have us come to God with confidence and strong assurance as it beseemeth those to do who are indeed in Covenant with him You know a houshold servant that is in Covenant with his Master cals confidently for his break-fast and his dinner and his Supper whereas a beggar or a stranger doth not so So he that is in Covenant with the Lord should come with boldness to the Throne of Grace relying formerly on the promises of God as David did I cryed and I hoped in thy Word Psal 119.147 Lord I want faith give it me I want patience let me have it I find my heart is out of order joynt it mend it unite it to thy self It is for those that are without and that are strangers to the Lord that live on nothing else but common providence to come doubtfully to God when their distresses force them to his presence But if those that are his friends and that are in Covenant with him come in such a posture to him he may justly say to such Why what 's the matter that you are so strange and that you are not bold with me as you have wont to be you shall fare neer a whit the better for coming to me after such a manner And verily my Brethren unless we draw nigh to God in faith well grounded on the promises we can have no hopes to speed in our petitions He that would ask any thing of God saith the Apostle James chap. 1.6 7 let him come in faith nothing doubting Otherwise let him not think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 3. It is the will of Christ that we pray with much zeal that our Petitions be not formal cold and drowsie prayers but that there be some heat and fervour in them You know the prayers of Gods people are compared to Incense Psal 141.2 And Incense sends up no sweet savour till the fire come to it It is the fervent prayer only that is effectual with the Lord as the Apostle teaches us Jam. 5.16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much And hence saith David Hear me O Lord and why so I cry with my
shall live so long on earth till he be full of days even as the stomack that is full of meat till he desire to live no longer till nature be spun out to the uttermost extent and after I will shew him my salvation I will bring him to the place where he shall live for evermore And hence it is because continuance here is properly and in it self a blessing as on the other side the contrary thereto the rooting out of the land of the living is properly and in it self a curse that holyest Saints have deprecated taking hence They have been so far from praying that God would take them out of the world that they have rather prayed against it Lord take me not away in the midst of my days Psal 102.24 How did they plead sometimes for their indangered lives as a prisoner at the bar and when the Lord was pleased to leave them in the world a little longer they were exceedingly affected and enlarged to thankfulness As Hezekiah was you know who penned a Psalm of praise on this occasion and this was the burthen of it The living the living they shall praise thee as I do this day Object But you will interpose and say perhaps Some of the choicest Saints of God have prayed expresly to be taken hence and therefore it should seem to be the proper subject matter of Petition Answ 1. To this I answer such as prayed aright did not make their removal hence by death the proper subject matter of their prayers They did not seek it simply and abstractly by and for it self but in relation to some other thing which they could not have without it It 's true indeed that the Apostle Paul desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ he could not be with Christ he knew unless he were dissolved first and therefore that he might injoy him he was contented to be dissolved for that end Or otherwise he would have been far enough from desiring dissolution And therefore in another place he speaks clearly We would not be unclothed saith he viz. of life and of the body 2 Cor. 5.4 that is not properly the thing that we desire But we would be clothed upon with immortality in heaven If it might be possible we would be clothed upon with that without the putting off of this Indeed he saith before in the Name of all the Saints We that are in this Tabernacle do groan being burthened But yet it was not life considered in it self that was their burthen but with its evil adjuncts and associates which do continually cleave to it and which cannot be severed from it in this world So that if you take life you must take that which comes with it In this respect indeed it is a burthen to the holyest Saints because it is accompanyed with such a burthen of corruption as makes them groan and faint under it But if it be considered simply and abstractly in it self it is not a burthen from which the Saints do groan to be delivered no it is a blessing rather of which they groan to be deprived 2. Most of the Saints who have desired God to take them hence have failed and sinned in those desires of theirs It was their weakness and infirmity they did it out of fear and despondency of Spirit out of passion and impatience And thus it seems Eliah did when he fled from Jezabel 1 King 19.4 And thus it is extreamly probable that Moses did Num. 11.10 15. For it is said he was displeased and in that angry fit he said to God Wherefore hast thou afflicted me If thou deal thus with me kill me I pray thee out of hand and do not let me see my wretchedness And thus it is apparent Jonas did who being crost in a punctilio in a point of honor out of a pettish foolish childish humour will go die forsooth God must take away his life These imperfections of the Saints are left upon record in Scripture not as marks to be aimed at but as rocks to be declined Vse Now to proceed to make some Application of the point My Brethren is it so that removal out of this world is not the proper subject matter of Petition Then let not any of us make it so when we are putting up our supplications and requests to God When we consider how the world hates us how it pours contempt upon us how it follows us with troubles persecutions and afflictions so that we see but little hope that we should ever live contentedly and quietly and freely here it may be we are weary of it and ever ready to desire the Lord that he would remove us from it To wish with Israel in a pang of discontent Numb 11.1 Would God we were dead And with Eliah It is enough Lord take away our lives 1 King 14.4 It 's that which many of us are too apt to do when we are over-loaden with the cares and troubles of this world to reach after deliverance and redress and ease by this means And therefore when we find our hearts are running out in such a way as this is let us call them in again let us correct our selves and say as our Saviour in my Text O Lord we pray not that thou wouldst take us out of the world we are far from such impatience we are content to wait thy leisure to tarry till thy time come And here to keep you from such extravagancies and irregular desires I shall present you with a few things It is a special mercy of the Lord to give us life and to continue us in this world though in a comfortless and sad condition David was in a sorry case afflicted persecuted and oppressed when he put up that prayer to the Lord Deal bountifully with thy servant or be beneficial to thy servant that I may live and keep thy Word Psal 119.17 He counted it a benefit to live how troublesome soever his condition were It 's that which even Nature teaches us to reach after Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life And yet a life with nothing else some will count worth nothing You know my Brethren all that God himself did promise to some very gratious men in times of common trouble and calamity was only this they should have their lives for a prey and that was all for great things were not to be looked for Jer. 39.38 and 45.5 And yet that was a great mercy If we be not taken hence perhaps we may enjoy the mercy to out-live troubles It is mercy to live in them but it is greater mercy to live beyond them and this if we be quiet and content and patient for ought we know may be our portion And this was that which David promised to himself when he was almost over-come and over-whelmed with his afflictions and distresses I shall not die but live saith he and declare the works of the Lord Psal 118.17 Me thinks he gathers up
his spirits when he was about to faint why yet saith he I shall not dye but live for all this as near as I am brought yea I shall live to glory and triumph in Gods works in that which he shall do for me to live in dangerous times and to get through them though but with an escape is mercy But to get through them with a conquest is far greater mercy To live in troubles though in the end they overcome us is an honor But to live in them so as in the end to overcome them to be as the Apostle was in deaths often and yet to live and to triumph this is happiness indeed Consider in the worst of times and in the midst of greatest troubles you may be serviceable to the Church of Christ Perhaps more serviceable then in better times because the Church may need you more This caused Paul who else had certainly desired dissolution to pitch upon continuance in the body For me saith he to die is gain it is best to be dissolved and to be with Christ But to abide in the flesh is more needful for you Phil. 1.24 And therefore that I shall resolve upon as David once I shall prefer the Church before my own joy yea before my chief joy And as you may be serviceable to the Church in the midst of greatest troubles so you may be instrumental to the glory of the Lord perhaps more instrumental then in better times It was the weakness of Eliah that God must take away his life when by his own confession there was none almost to stand up and appear for God and for his Truth against the great corruptions in those times but he only Then should he have desired to have lived when God had greatest need of him It 's true that death in such a case would be a benefit and ease to us yea but our life would be a glory to the Lord and this we should desire before the other This world is the proper place where we bring glory to the Lord in the world that is to come we are glorified by him Oh let us be so ingenuous to desire to be a while where we may bring God glory rather then where we may have glory from him Let us not be so eager for our wages for our rest till we have finished our work and served our generations and when we have done so then God will glorifie us with himself for ever And thus far of the first part of our Saviours Explication in which he tells his Father plainly and expresly what he doth not pray for I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world The second follows now in order to be handled in which he tells him what he doth pray for But that thou shouldst keep them from the evil There is no difficulty in the terms requiring any tedious Explication Some dispute indeed there is about the meaning of the word Evil from which our Saviour prays his Father to keep those that belong to him There want not some Expositors who understand this Evil here to be the world it self which indeed is very evill which lies in wickedness as the Apostle speaks 1 Joh. 5.19 As if our Saviour should have said I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world but that thou shouldst keep them from the world which is evil in it self and which will surely draw them into evil too by her temptations and her sugred baits unless thou keep a watchful eye upon them and take them into thy tuition Others take evil in the ordinary notion of it and so it comprehendeth and involveth in it all sin and all affliction according to the known distinction of it into the evil of fault and the evil of pain whereof the latter is the fruit and issue of the former So that our Saviour in their apprehension prays his Father that he would keep his Apostles and Disciples from all the evil in the world For all may be reduced to these two heads Not that he would remove them from it but that he would preserve them from the evill in it Others conceive the Evil mentioned in my Text to be the Devil For he is often called the evil one in Scripture as you may see that place for instance 1 Joh. 5.18 Beza is very resolute for this interpretation For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he conceives is rather taken for a person then a thing And besides the Article saith he which is adjoyned puts the matter out of question That thou wouldst keep them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is from the wicked one And so we find the same expression used by the Apostle 1 Joh. 2.13 I write unto you young men because you have overcome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the wicked one that is the Devil As for my own part I see no reason to reject this or either of the other Expositions but to take our Saviours prayer in the largest and most comprehensive sense which will be most for the support and comfort of the Church And so accordingly the Observation shall be this DOCTRINE God can and will preserve those that belong to Jesus Christ from all evil as long as they remain in this world Whether the evil be the evil of corruption or the evil of affliction the evil of sin or the evil of punishment Whether the evil be the world as some conceive or the Devil as others think God can and will preserve those that belong to Jesus Christ from all these in such a sense as I shall open to you by and by Both these are manifest in this Petition of our Saviours here I pray saith he that thou wouldst keep them from the evil From what evil none is excepted and therefore out of doubt he means from all evil He prays that God would so preserve them that nothing that is really and truly evil not in it self and in its nature only but to them nothing that is so to them might come upon them And seeing Jesus Christ desires it of his Father it is very evident that he is able so to keep them or else it were a vain Prayer and it is as manifest that he will keep them so or else it were a fruitless and an ineffectual prayer God can and will preserve those that belong to Jesus Christ from all evil For clearing of the observation I shall shew you particularly and distinctly that God can and will preserve them from the evil of temptation and from the evil of corruption and from the evil of affliction And if he keep from these he keeps from all from the world and Devil too though neither of them be expresly mentioned for if the world or Devil hurt us it must be either by temptation or affliction God can and will preserve those that belong to Jesus Christ from the evil of temptation Whether you understand it of the temptation of the world or the temptation of the Devil