from secret Sins Which Petition implys that Sin though never so secret defiles the Soul moreover the holy Prophet hath not only regard in the word secret to those Sins which the Eye of man had not seen but to those Sins which were secret to himself which in thought Word or deed he had perpetrated and yet not observed Psal 51.2 Wash me throughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my Sin vers 7. Purge me with hysop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter then Snow Which Scripture doth evince that Sin doth defile and therefore the Soul needs cleansing which cannot be done but by the Blood of Jesus Christ 1 Jo. 1.7 The Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin The Prophet Isaiah witnesseth this truth when he beheld the glory of the Lord Jesus Isa 6. proved by Jo. 12.41 he cryed Wo is me for I am undone because I am a Man of unclean Lips Isa 6.5 When he had a vision of the Lord Jesus and was nigh unto him then he exclaims that he is unclean so it is with thee if thou art come to Christ thou art convinced that Sin hath polluted and defiled thee the conviction of which drives thee to that Fountain viz. the Blood of Christ laid open for Sin and for uncleanness Every Sin commited is against the blessed Trinity and the goodness love wisdom and Patience of God Zach. 13 1. 4ly Thou art convinced that Sin is against God Psal 51.4 Against thee thee only have I Sinned and done evil in thy sight Agreeable to this is that of the Prodigal Luk. 15.18 I will arise and go to my Father and say unto him Father I have Sinned against Heaven and before thee Thou art convinced that every Sin is against the Essence and Being of God contrary to his nature and to his revealed will I leave thee to inlarge upon this in thy private meditation 5ly Thou art convinced of the dangerous consequences and effects of Sin if persisted in for then there is nothing to be expected but wrath confusion and eternal destruction wher 's Malum culpae the Evil of guilt preceeds and goes before Malum penae the Evil of punishment follows after If the preceeding sins be not repented of and the Soul washed with and justifyed through the blood of Jesus Ro. 2.8 9. To them who are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every Soul of man that doth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile Ro. 1.18 The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodlyness and unrighteousness of Men who hold the truth in unrighteousness here is nothing but wrath upon wrath threatned against disobedient Sinners 6ly Thou art convinced of Righteousness as Jo. 16.8 When be it come he shall convince the World of Righteousness Thou art convinced that a righteousness thou needest a righteousness thou must have both internal which is wrought by the Spirit and external which is wrought by Christ God is a righteous God and his Law is righteous and there is no standing the tryal without a compleat and perfect righteousness the Law will admit of no repentance as the gospel doth it requires full satisfaction in point of suffering or compleat and perfect performance in point of doing if the offence be but one and against one clause of the Law there is a breach of the whole Jam. 2.10 and how shall the poor Sinner do now who hath broken all the Spirit convinces the Sinner of the righteousness of Christ which is apprehended by faith and he inables the Sinner to lay hold of it and to say Christ was made Sin for me who knew no Sin that I might become the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5.21 Paul was thus convinced when he said I would not be found in my own righteousness but in the righteousness of God which is by Faith in Christ Phil. 3.8 9. Thou art convinced of the necessity of a perfect righteousness if thou art truely come unto and hast closed with Christ 7ly and Lastly thou art convinced of Judgment Jo. 16.8 he convinces of Judgment Heb. 9.27 It is appointed for Men once to dye and after death comes judgment a particular as well as a universal and it shall be a righteous judgment Rom. 2.5 speaking of the Sinner who is impenitent Thou treasurest up wrath against the day of wrath and Revelation of the righteous judgment of God now being convinced of this thou expectest preparest dayly for it because it is the day in which thou shalt be acquitted but the enemys of Christ condemned For there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus Rom 8 1 But there is no standing forth ungodly in Judgment Psal 1.5 That which is the ground of terror to the wicked scil the day of judgment is a ground of comfort and consolation to the righteous the Apostle James doth exhort the afflicted Brethren to be patient upon this consideration that the coming of the Lord was at hand the Judge standeth before the Door Jam. 5.7.8 9. 3ly If thou art come to the Lord Jesus then the holy Spirit hath inclined thy will and made it flexible Psal 110.3 They shall be a willing People in the day of thy Power Cantic 6.12 The Margent of some Bibles read it thus My Soul set me on the Chariots of my willing People It is true that the will remains still in Man Wollebius Mansit quidem arbitrium hominis liberum à coactione sed non ad bonum malum idem but it is as true that it is depraved as one saith Mansit Voluntas sed depravata the Spirit doth not coact or inforce the will for the will of Man remains free from compulsion but yet not equally so both to good and evil for it is free only to evil Now I say the Spirit hath not drawn compulsively but willingly lead thee unto the Lord Jesus of unwilling by nature he hath made thee abundantly willing through the Work of grace 1. Thou art made willing to part with thy Sins to shake hands with them and bid adieu to all thy former vanitys which by nature thou art Prone to there is a purging out of the old leaven For the Temple of God is holy 1 Cor. 3.16 17. And believers are that Temple it is inconsistant for Sin and Christ to dwell together for Christ came to destroy Sin and to redeem his People from it Tit. 2.14 2ly Thou art made willing by the holy Spirit to renounce thy own ragged and imperfect righteousness for as I have declared before this keeps back many from coming fully to the Lord Jesus but there must not only be Sin cast away but self-righteousness also for it is the ruin of many and hath been so that they relye more upon their own righteousness then on Christs righteousness the Jews lost themselves by this Rom.
BLESSED REST FOR THE Burthened Sinner London Printed for Benj. Harris BLESSED REST FOR THE Burthened Sinner Or the only Center of the Soul Wherein is Discovered 1. Who he is that invites and calls Sinners to this Rest 2. The encouragements to come unto him for Rest 3. Many Obstructions and Impediments which keep back Sinners With their unreasonableness Answered 4. The rest that every one shall have that comes unto Christ Delivered in some Sermons at first yet since some Addition and Enlargement has been made to them By John Hopwood Preacher of the Gospel Tu es recreator omnium qui dixisti venite ad me omnes qui laboratis c. anima enim quae est in te radicata in centro suo recreata quieta est quae vero in te non est multis vanis phantasmatibus fatigatur Tu sufficientissimus es qui te habet totum habet qui non mendicus est pauper Quïa quicquid praeter te est non reficit non sufficit Gerson Part. 3. Alphabet Amoris Divini c. 14. London Printed for Benj. Harris at the Stationers Arms in Sweethings Rents in Cornhil 1676. IMPRIMATUR ANTHONY SAUNDERS Ex Aedibus Lambethanis Reverend Arch. Episc Cant. à Sacris Domesticis Jan. 18. 1675. To the Reverend Mr. Nathaniel Vincent Minister of the Gospel and my much Esteemed FRIEND Worthy Sir IT is well known that that famous Lacedemonian Legislator would not establish among all others a Law against Ingratitude Quòd prodigiosa res esset benificium non rependere and of all ingenious spirits it was ever accounted monstrous to make slight of favours and easily forget Pristine benefits for neglect of favours makes all favour void and should I come under this sensure by my dis-ingenuous and impolite carriage I might from you justly incur the ignominious title of an ingrateful person Your complicated kindnesses conferred upon me do perpetually oblige me whilst not being capable of sutable returns yet to publish my humble acknowledgements of them and if the Laws of God and Nature injoyne and require the homage of due respects to be given unto our earthly Parents I know no Reason or Law which exempts from attributing the like to our Spiritual It was the saying of Alexander that as we have our being from our Parents we have our well being from our instructors and if he could esteem himself happy for terrene knowledge how much more then ought I for that Divine in which you have been my Teacher and if that earthy knowledge may so much conduce to a well being here what will Celestial Science do but safely carry the Soul to an everlasting Weal a happy being which never knows end to terminate its satiateing and abounding comforts Sir I shall not blush to own or be timerous to declare that which I know to you is matter of joy although I have had many Instructors you are he that has begotten me unto Christ and I may truly call you as Cyprian did Cecilius Vitae novae patrem your sweet invitations and divine Rhetorick being accompanied with the blessed influences of Heaven drew me out of the Womb of this world and from the power of Satan into the gracious imbraces of the Lord Jesus it was eternally the design of the Father but you were the Instrument by the Word and Spirit in time to call me home to Christ Moreover you did not only beget me to a second birth but also constantly entertained me with those heavenly dainties with which Christ does nourish his beloved ones But to add to these the remembrance of your private instructions and care for me are not to be obliterated by Times swift Motion or Diurnal vicissitudes and mutations But Sir as an addition to the former favours I have here presumed to prefix your Name and make a-Dedication of this little Treatise to your self not for your Instruction but a manifestation of my submissive respects due to you I know that I have here exposed my self and labours to the view of no less a censuring than a sinning Generation therefore by your favourable Aspect it may in some measure abate if not altogether prevent the hard speeches of a calumniating world It is too perspicuous that our Age abounds with such who study more to carpe at than gather the sweet fruits of the Gospel but Momo satisfacere would be an endless work therefore if I can but exalt the Lord Jesus and help immortal Souls to glory I shall not value the foul aspersions of a dirty World for in this Generation there are such who will not spare the tallest Cedars in the Lebanon of God much less the lowest shrubs Therefore I will not fondly promise my self better entertainment then Christ and his Apostles and his faithful Labourers have ever met with Neither do I so much address my self unto you to shroud me from the frowns or hereby to silence the perverse sayings of Men as that I would study to declare my gratitude in humble acknowledgements and thankful returns like gliding streams that swiftly move toward the abounding Ocean from whence their original sprang I am not ignorant that the world is copiously furnished with Books yet these Muti Magistri as Alphonsus called them are not totally in vain for I have extracted benefit from some of them which I hope others may do from this I have adventured to cast my might into the Treasury and my grain into the field leaving the increase unto God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Book I may call my Primitiee for when the Lord first called me forth to publish the Gospel he sent me with this Message to call and invite Sinners unto Christ which found entertainment with some then wherefore it gives me some matter of encouragement that it will not prove now as water spilt upon the ground I was unwilling for a time to suffer it to see the light being conscious of my own defections and imperfections but at last being prevailed with by some and having it long by me I was willing to send it forth into the world although not invested with splendid cloathing of rhetorical Phrases yet I trust like pure Gold it will bear the Touchstone of Divine verity and so prove for the advancement of Gods glory the exaltation of the Lord Jesus and the Salvation of immortal Souls All which I am certain are the ardent desires of your Soul and that these may receive a gracious answer with all true prosperity to you and yours shall be the sincere and constant requests of him who will for ever acknowledge a firm obligation to subscribe himself SIR Your obliged Friend and Servant JOHN HOPWOOD To The Unprejudiced Reader I Here present unto thy view what for the most part I some time delivered to the Ear that thou by Divine Benediction mayest through the Reading gain more then some others did by hearing and obtain an eternal emolument to thy immortal Soul expect not here to drink of those
a slave to men well but come unto him and he will exalt thee even to his own throne Rev. 3.21 8. Motive To excite poor Creatures to come unto Christ who invites them is this consider what you shall have if you come unto him but hear I may say with the Apostle in another case Who is sufficient for these things I want understanding to conceive it 1 Cor. 2.9 and words to express it For as the Apostle saith Eye hath not seen Ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love him I may as well think to number the days of eternity as Imagin to declare all the Immunities Priviledges and Benefits those will Partake of who come unto the Lord Jesus Christ they shall know more fully when they come to glory but I will lay some of them before thee 1. If thou comest unto Christ thou shalt have Pardon for thy Sins Act. 13.38 39. Through this man is Preached the Forgiveness of Sin That is through the man Christ Jesus vers 39. And by him all that believe are justified from all things O Sinner here is pardon and justification if thou wilt but come to and believe in him and how desirable is a pardon to a condemned Malefactor thou art undon for ever if thou art not pardoned now it is alone by Christ Exod. 34.6 and upon his account that thou caust expect to obtain it the Lord is a sin-pardoning God but there is no man can come to the Father for this Pardon but in and through Christ Jo. 2.1 If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous 2ly Thou shalt have peace for thy Conscience not such peace as the World gives but the peace of God God is called The God of Peace 2 Cor. 13.11 Because he gives peace to his People thou shalt be at peace with God at peace with thine own Conscience and what would a wounded Conscience give for this peace but it is too pretious to purchase for Silver or Gold My peace saith Christ I give unto you not as the World giveth give I unto you Jo. 14.27 The World can afford no such fruit for it is brought forth by the Spirit in the heart of the believer Gal. 6.22 This peace is permanent Isa 26.3 I will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayd upon me now Worldly peace is deceitful it is uncertain but this is true and abiding because rt is from God at peace with God upon the account of the Lord Jesus But I intend not to be large in these particulars only my great desire is Sinner that I might induce thee to come unto Christ 3. Thou shalt have Grace in abundance and what can be more desireable or what dost thou need more on this side Eternity it will beautify and make thee lovely in the sight of God Virtus clara aeternaque habetur Salust Angels and Saints Thy Soul is deformed by Sin but this will make thee comly Grace will inrich thee with a Divine treasure as Christ said to the Church of Smyrna Rev. 2.9 Virtus intaminatis fulget honoribus Hor. Thou art Rich Rich in Grace although poor in worldly Treasure as Jam. 2.5 Poor in the world yet rich in faith now these riches come from the fulness of Christ Joh. 1.16 Out of his fulness have we all received and grace for grace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isocrates It will establish the Soul in shaking times Heb. 13.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is an excellent and good thing to have the heart established with Grace I should burthen you and prevent my self if I should here treat of the Excellencies of the graces as faith love hope patience and all the other graces which are the golden Chains and Pearls which adorn the Soul of a Believer only consider this that all grace is from God through Christ by the Spirit conveyed and wrought in the Soul 4. If thou comest to Christ thou shalt have life so saith Christ I am come that you may have life and have it more abundantly Life naturally is much desirable but how much more life spiritual and life eternal Thou art spiritually dead Eph. 2.5 and it is from him thou must receive quickning Joh. 11.25 Jesus saith unto her I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live Vers 26. And he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die Here Soul is spiritual and eternal life for thee and wilt thou not come unto Christ for this what dost thou not reguard life life everlasting Mat. 25.46 the righteous shall go into life everlasting O let the consideration of this excite and stir up thy Soul to come unto Christ for all those that come unto him shall obtain this blessed priviledge of living for evermore Our days here are but a shaddow Vita ipsa qua fruimur brevis est Salust Pulvis umbra sumus we soon pass away into Eternity and is not life eternal much more to be esteemed of then to be everlastly in a dying state of misery and yet never die 5ly Thou shalt have joy Rom. 15.13 Act. 16 25. The God of peace fill you with all joy in believing In the midst of outward troubles and afflictions this joy will keep thee company as it did Paul and Silas in Fetters they Sung praises to God this joy will be strength to thee Neh. 8.10 The joy of the Lord is our strength It is not like the worldlings joy which is transient and momentary but it is everlasting joy Isa 35.10 The Ransomed of the Lord shall return to Zion with Songs and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Indeed after thou dost come to Christ Psal 42.5 and hast tasted of this joy whilest thou art here Sinning God may for a time hide his Face but when thou dost return again by repentance and humiliation he will again lift up the light of his countenance upon thee and put more gladness into thy Soul then all sublimary consolations can Psal 4.6.7 and when thou dost come above the Clouds thou shalt then rejoice for ever Psal 16.11 In thy presence is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Satietas laetitiarum fullness of joys or as the Word sinifies fullness to Satiety Thou wilt have it in abundance then therefore defer not thy coming to Christ 6ly If thou comest unto him thou shalt have a Crown and Kingdom Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand come ye blessed of my Father Mat. 25.34 inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World Christ has prepared the Kingdom for you and by your coming to him he prepares you for the Kingdom I say from the word of God thou shalt have a Kingdome
Rev. 3.21 He that overcometh shall sit down with me in my Throne Thou shalt Raign with Christ in that Kingdom for ever now this Kingdom is a transcendently glorious Kingdom it is the Court of the great Jehova it is a rich Kingdom full of treasure no want there read but Rev. 21. It is an invincible Kingdom all the Black Regiments of the infernal Prince cannot overcome it Lastly it is an everlasting Kingdom it will abide as long as God is and that will be to all Eternity and thou shalt be Crowned with a Crown of Righteousness 2 Tim. 4.8 I could be much larger in every one of these Particulars but I have much exceeded what I intended being desirous to exalt Christ in thine estimation and allure thee to come to and close with him seeing he so graciously invites thee 7. Thou shalt have God Christ and the blessed Spirit and what a priviledg is this to have God to be thy God this is the great blessing of the new covenant Jer. 31.33 This shall be the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my People See hear Soul what a blessing thou wilt obtain God will be thine what canst thou desire if he be thine then his power is ingaged to defend and protect thee Psal 84.11 Psal 73.24 Psal 103.13 Exod. 34.36 I will be a Sun and a Shield saith God to those that walk uprightly And such are the Souls who come unto Christ his wisdom shall direct thee his love Pity thee his Mercy pardon thee but what shall I say I might run through all the Attributes of God for some way or other they are imployed for thy good Happy is that Soul whose God is the Lord for he can bring good out of Evil to thee he can make all things work together for thy good I cannot number up all the mercys which are contained in this one but let me tell thee in a word it is the Mercy of Mercys for if we seriously consider that those people ever since the lapsation of Adam were looked upon as the most miserable who were said to be without God as the Apostle speaks of the condition of the Gentiles before the Gospel came among them Eph. 2.12 They were without God in the World i. e. They had no saving knowledg of God as Christ saith Jo. 17.3 This is Life eternal to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent They had no knowledg of God in Christ moreover the words implys they had no God in covenant with them they were Aliens to the commonwealth of Israel now seeing this is so miserable a condition to be without God to have no interest in him no access unto him no smiles from him it must on the contrary be granted that it is a signal blessing to have God to be our God now this inestimable benefit is confered upon the Soul in and by the Lord Jesus as in Rom. 5.1.2 Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus vers 2. By whom also we have access unto that grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God Thus we see when the Soul comes to Christ by Faith then it is justifyed and hath free access to God which before it had not It now can cry Abba Father Rom. 8.15 2. Christ himself will be thine and thou shalt be his 1 Cor. 3.23 Ye are Christs and Christ is Gods Christ will be a head to communicate Life unto thee and also to rule thee he will be a Mediator and Intercessor at the Right hand of the Father in thy behalf 1 Jo. 2.1 O consider what it is to have Christ to be thine for if he be thine he will be a hiding place for thee from all those tempestuous storms that may arise against thee Isa 8.14 He is called a Sanctuary this must be for his own Isa 22.2 A man shall be for a hiding place and for a Covert from the Storm this Man is the Lord Jesus Col. 3.3 Our Life is hid with Christ in God Now Christ will be a hiding place a sanctuary From 1. The wrath of Men that may be inraged against his Servants Pro. 18.19 The name of the Lord is a strong Tower the Righteous flee into it and are safe Thus he defended Luther from all malice of the Pope and his Emissaries and many more instances I could give out of History the word of God but I should be too prolix and tedious then but as he has been to his Servants so he will be to thee if thou comest unto him 2. From the wrath of God which will inevitably destroy and consume all those who are out of Christ 1 Thes 1.10 Jesus who redeemeth us from wrath to come It must be Christ alone that can hide thee and defend thee from the wrath of God 1 Pet. 5.8 3. From the wrath and malice of Satan who goes about like a Roaring Lyon Christ keeps his Sheep from being destroyed by him Jo. 10.28 I give unto them Eternal Life and they shall never Perish neither shall any pluck them out of my hands 2. If thou hast Christ he will be a Redeemer to thee Rev. 5.9 Who has redeemed us with his Blood he paid a sufficient price 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 1.18.19 Tit. 2.14 Gal. 3.13 Jo. 15.19 Jo. 14.16 it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with his own pretious Blood He is a Redeemer from Sin from the World and from the Curse of the Law and he hath redeemed thee for everlasting Glory 3. He will be a Mediator between God and thee he will Mediate for Pardon for thy Sins for acceptance with God for grace for thy Soul for his Spirit to guide thee for perseverance that thou mayst hold out to the end Jo. 17.15 Christ prayed that Peters Faith might not fail lastly Jo. 6.35 he mediates for a Crown of Righteousness what priviledges are all these wilt thou not come to Christ upon these terms if thou hast Christ he will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 food for thy Soul he will be Righteousness to thee 1 Cor. 1.30 God has made him to be wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption unto every one that believeth in him In a word Christ is all and in all Col. 3.11 Therefore thou wilt be no looser but an infinite gainer if thou hast the Lord Jesus for thy Portion for he is the Eternal delight of the Father the glory of Angells the admiration of Saints 2 Thes 1.10 3. The holy Spirit will be thine saith Christ Jo. 14.16 I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever ver 17. Even the spirit of truth whom the World cannot receive because it seeth
do therfore do never so much I must relye wholly upon another and it t is uncertain whether he can or will save me therefore I will not go unto him These are the Obstacles that lies in sinners ways and keeps them from coming unto Christ I come now to the second outward Obstacle or Impediment of the sinners coming unto Christ Imped 2. and that is Satan that Arch-Enemy of poor souls who goes about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom and how he may devour 1 Pet. 5.8 The great Apostle tells us of the Wiles and fiery darts of Satan Eph. 6.11.16 and if his Engines of Craft and subtilty will not do he will then throw forth his fire-balls and shoot his fiery darts and all to keep poor miserable Creatures from coming unto Christ I shall indeavour to discover some of his subtilties and lay them open to the view of sinners that they may not be so easily deluded and deceived by him * 2 Cor. 2.11 and be ignorant of his devices for he is always waiting and watching to take advantages of sinners 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Satan is altogether evill therefore he can bring forth nothing that is good he is the Father of Lyes Jo. 8.44 He is called in the same verse a Murderer and so he may well even in the worst sence for he loves to Murder Souls t is thy life not thy living the Jewel not the Cabinet he desires and aims at therefore seriously peruse these following particulars wherein is discovered what stratagems Satan useth to keep the soul if he can from coming to Christ 1. By his power not that Satan is stronger than God or can do any thing more than what God permits him for God has him in a Chain and can curb him when he pleases but when man rebelliously fell from God and refused him for his Guardian and Protector God most justly for his sin and iniquity permited him to be under the Dominion and power of a most tyranical Lord scil Satan who ever since has held him in slavery till God by Christ did redeem him and by his Spirit does convert him He is called Eph. 2.2 The Prince of the power of the Air the Spirit who worketh in the Children of disobedience And it is very observable that the Apostle there speaks of Believers and converted ones we had our conversation according to this world those who are the elect ones of God are under this power of Satan till God by his own Almighty power delivers them from the jaws of this roaring Lyon and from the paw of this devouring Bear Acts 26.18 To turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God Satan raignes in Elect ones before conversion but when converted Christ erects and sets up his Throne in their hearts The Apostle exhorts the Ephesians to put on the whole Armour of God Eph. 6.11 But why must they do it In the 12 vers saith he We wrestle not against Flesh and Blood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but against Principalitys against Powers against the Rulers of the darkness of this World against wicked Spirits as it may be red in high places i. e. in the air they are the enemys which was against poor Souls and do their utmost to deter and hinder them from coming to the Lord Jesus 2. Satan doth it by casting a mist before their eyes so that they cannot perceive their own misery nor the necessity of a Saviour 2 Cor. 4.4 The God of this world i. e. Satan hath blinded the eyes of them who believe not lest the light of this Glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them The sinner is blinded by Satan he thinks not his condition so bad as it is therefore he sees no necessity of coming to Christ thus he did by the Jews they thought themselves happy they were the Children of Abraham so it could not but go well with them They perceived not that they were under the curse notwithstanding they were Abrahams natural offspring Gal. 3.10 Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them They were to fulfill all the Commandments both externally and internally and continually without any omission of Good or commission of evil or else they lay under the curse but they understood not this their misery therefore they came not to Jesus Christ Thus it was with the Laodicean Church she thought she was rich and increased in goods and had need of nothing and knew not that she was miserable Rev. 3.17 poor blind and naked but what was the cause of all this it was her blindness she knew not as the Text saith her Misery Poverty and Nakedness therefore Christ exhorts her to come unto him in the 18. v. for it was her keeping away from him put her in this low condition for had her eyes been open to have seen her deplorable condition without Christ shee would speedily have gon unto him but till the Mask of ignorance be taken off from the Soul it will never see the excellency or necessity of the Son of Righteousness Act. 26.18 They must be turned from darkness to light before they can come to Christ who is the bright morning Star 3ly If the Conscience be awakened and the eyes a little inlightned then he raises doubts in the Soul as 1. Whether the Scriptures are the word of God Thus he has done by many and so made them turn out of the way which leads to Christ and the knowledg of him and run into horrid Atheism and Blasphemy against the God who made them and the Christ who alone can save them Jo. 5.39 Christ saith search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they who testify of me That is the true way to come unto the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ by the assistance of the holy Spirit which Satan is not ignorant of therefore it is his policy to bring the Soul to doubt this as he did Eve concerning the strict Command of God and the punishment threatned Gen. 3. So at last she stretches forth her hand to the forbiden fruit Thus he doth bring them to doubt the certainty and the truth of the word of God and then causeth them to stretch forth their hand to all manner of wickedness and wholly to neglect the saviour the Lord Jesus 2. To doubt of Christ whether he be the son of God Thus he did by the Jews of old when Christ asserted so frequently that he was the Messiah that he was one with the Father Jo. 10.30 That he came forth from God He made them doubt it therefore it is so often mentioned in the four Evangelists that they inquired of him whether he was the Christ the son of God Jo. 1. There they send to John Baptist to inquire of him whether he was the Christ they expected a Messiah but doubted whether
sâ—t down on the Right hand of God Which Scripture declares that the finiteness of Christs suffering in the reguard of the time made in finite satisfaction and it is proved from the particle after which implys the work first done and then after that he sate down for ever on the Right hand of God the Father 14. v. By one offering he hath Perfected for ever them which are sanctified That is to say really and effectually purge from all their Sins reconcile to God and justify all Gods Children 2dly The Person that suffered was an infinite Person therefore his suffering Proved above because he is God although but for a Time was infinite and made compleat satisfaction for it is as Rational to conclude that the sufferings of an infinite Person though but temporal should satisfy for infinite Transgressions as that one offence of a finite Person done against an infinite God should merit and deserve infinite Punishment for as the offence is according to the greatness of the circumstance and the Person offended Had Christ always suffered then he could never be satisfied so is the suffering accounted according to the magnitude of the Circumstance and the Person who suffers I shall further illustrate and make this plain by this Simile suppose a person lies in Prison for ten thousand Tallents of Gold and there he is to remain till the Law be satisfied and the Debt Paid but he is no way solvent or able to discharge himself or make satisfaction Reason will here conclude it to be no injustice in the Creditor to keep this man in Prison though it were to eternity because he cannot pay the Debt but if in the interim a Man comes who is sufficiently able and with all freely willing although no way obliged to pay this great Sum in the behalf of the Debtor common Reason will here also conclude it most equal that the man should be set at liberty because the Law is satisfied and the Creditor has his full Debt and yet the man that discharges the Debt doth not lye in Prison one Minute but will reason apprehend and conclude this most equitable and not the former which is as clear and evident as this for thus I apply it the Debtor is the Sinner who has contracted an infinite Debt and is liable to infinite punishments because he cannot himself any way pay it and it is most just with God to inflict condign punishment and exact infinite satisfaction and lay eternal torments upon him but Christ who is able and willing to discharge the Debt and satisfie the Law in all its demands pays the uttermost Farthing and contents the Creditor scil God much more then if the Sinner had suffered to all eternity for the Damn'd in Hell are suffering but can never satisfie the justice of God but Christ hath done it compleatly for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the price he paid was his Life Mat. 20.28 The Blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Therefore let not this ungrounded reason keep thee from coming unto the Lord Jesus 3ly I cannot understand how the Righteousness of another can be made mine and that by imputative Righteousness I shall stand Righteous and justified in the Sight of God must not every one have his own personal Righteousness for according to the works will God judg and it cannot be the Righteousness of another imputed to me that can save me I shall not stand long in answering this because it it learnedly handled and answered by our Divines But know this that thy own personal Righteousness will not save thee nor justify thee in the Sight of God for it is imperfect 1. In that all thou dost is mixed with Sin the very good as Eccle. 7.20 There is not a just man upon the Earth that doth good and Sinneth not Even in his doing of good as one excellently observes Dr. Manton But let us observe this Scripture well and we shall find enough in it to confute the self-justiciaries and perfectionists in the World both Papists and Quakers 1. It is to be granted that the Pen-man of this Scripture was guided by an Infallible Spirit for all Scripture was given by divine inspiration 2 Tim. 3.16 and 2 Pet. 1.21 and if so then the true explication of it is to be believed 2. He doth not say there is not a Man or there is not an ungodly Person upon Earth that doth good and Sinneth not but there is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Just or a Righteous man as in Isa 41.26 these just and righteous men called Dr. Kinchi * Tsadikim * where such ‑ who gave themselves to the study of the Scriptures 2ly Psal 103.17 They would conform to what the Law required as to the external Part of it I think these went as far as any who pretend to perfection and yet they came short of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they Sinned notwithstanding they were such whom the Lord is said to Love Psal 146.8 for the same word is used for a righteous Man 3. Here is this also to be taken notice of Not a just Man upon Earth which must not be taken only for that present time in which Solomon wrote this for that would be to limit the Text to too narrow a compass but it must be taken for all those who are numbred among the Righteous ones ever since Adam throughout all generations Christ only excepted that none of them do good and Sin not 4. Doth Good The word sometimes signifies to prepare as if he had said there is no just Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 although he prepares himself with great diligence to do good that doth it and yet Sinneth not in the doing of it from which we gather this That there is no meer Man who hath a compleat personal righteousness by and for which he shall be justified in the sight of God Therefore there is need of a more perfect and compleat Righteousness adequate and commensurate to the whole Law of God and there is none other that is perfect but the Righteousness of the Lord Jesus which must by imputation of God and apprehension of Faith be made thine or else thou art miserable for ever 2. It must not be by the Works of the Law that thou canst be justifyed as the Apostle asserts Gal. 2.16 By the Works of the Law shall no Flesh be justified Here he is peremptory he excepts not any one let him be who or what he will Jew or Gentile there is no hopes of being justified by his own Righteousness which can be no other but the deeds of the Law I question not but those Jews the Apostle mentioneth Rom. 9.31 who followed after the Law of Righteousness Do but watch and examine thy heart one quarter of an hour every day for a Moneth and then tell me whether thy own Righteousness is not imperfectt so as to be justified by it were as exact circumspect and upright in
them unto Christ vers 37.39 All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me Eph. 1.4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the Foundation of the World so 1 Pet. 1.2 God hath elected and made choice of thee if thou art come to Christ Jer. 31.3 I have loved thee with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee Gods Love was fixed from all Eternity and he manifests it in time unto the Soul in drawing it unto Christ Jo. 6.37 All that the Father hath given him shall come unto him God hath chosen them and given them to his Son therefore he draws them to him Sinners are not able to move hand nor foot Zyon-ward unless God draws them they cannot come unto Christ 2ly If thou art come unto Christ the holy Spirit hath been at work upon thy Soul 1. To illuminate and inlighten thy understanding 2. Convince thy Conscience 3. Incline thy will 4. Sanctify thy affections 5. Work grace in the inward Man 1. The Spirit doth inlighten the understanding By nature Man is darkness Eph. 5.8 Therefore he must be turned from darkness to light Act. 26.18 And this is done by the Spirit of God he opens the Sinners Eyes that he may know himself Know thy self descended from Heaven it is said concerning the Prodigal Luk. 15.17 When he came to himself then he thought of returning home to his Father not before so it must be with every Sinner he must come to himself to know what he is before he will come to Christ if thou art come to the Lord Jesus thou hast been made to see thy miserable and deplorable condition by nature that thou art a Child of wrath Eph. 2.3 subject and obnoctious to the wrath of God deservest nothing but wrath and it were justice in God to execute wrath upon thee even for thy natural pollution and defilement much more for that contracted filth and impurity in thy conversation that thou art lost and shalt perish for ever without a Redeemer a Jesus to save thee that thou art an enemy to God Rom. 5.10 and needest reconciliation with him through the Blood of Christ that thou art unregenerate and without regeneration no seeing the Kingdom of God Jo. 3.3 miserable all over nothing but Wounds and Bruises and Putrifying Sores miserable because in thy flesh Rom. 7.18 dwelleth no good thing Sin Raigning Satan Captivating at his will the World allureing and perswading and thou art without strength or ability to resist and overcome these and many more I might number up are the evils which in Puris naturalibus in thy Natural condition make it deplorable therefore the holy Spirit brings thee first to know thy self before thou comest unto Christ 2ly To know and understand the Scriptures is another effect of the Spirit upon the understanding of those who are come to and have closed with the Lord Jesus As it is said Luk. 24.45 He opened their understandings that they might understand the Scriptures Therein all things concerning Christ are revealed Jo. 5.39 Search the Scriptures for in them ye think to have eternal Life i. e. the knowledge of eternal Life and they are they which testify of me Now the Spirit doth open the Eye of the understanding that it may in the glass of the Scriptures see those things clearly which are necessary to Salvation to wit repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Act. 20.21 it declares the mind and will of God fully and directs poor Sinners who are stung in the Wilderness to look up to the BrazenSerpent scil the Lord Jesus Jo. 3.14 it declares that there is Salvation in none other I do not here say Act. 4.12 that the Spirit teaches all to read the Scriptures who are adult and grown into a capacity of exercising their Reason for there are many who I am perswaded have closed with Christ Luther Tertullian and others were converted from Papism and Gentilism by being brought to understand the Scriptures that could not read the Scriptures but this I assert that the understanding is inlightened by the Spirit to discern the things of God and Christ when preached or read to them out of the holy Scriptures for without a right understanding of the Scriptures there can be no apprehending the right way of Salvation All the Phylosophers of old with all their profound Learning Arts Sciences did not know Christ so consequently they were ignorant of the way of Salvation because Christ is the only way 3ly Thou art brought to understand and know thy duty in a great measure thy duty towards God thy duty towards thy Neighbour and thy duty towards thy self 1. Towards God that thou oughtest to Love him for himself to Love him as thy Creator and as a bountiful Benefactor to thee to Love him primarily superlatively and above all as the Text saith Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Mind and with all thy Strength Deut. 6.5 To love him fervently and permanently if thou art not come to Christ besure there is none of this sincere love in thee for as God loves not the Sinner but as chosen in Christ Eph. 1.4 so the Sinner can never love God as he ought but in and through Christ and as God sees no lovelyness in the Sinner considered out of Christ so the Sinner perceives no amiableneness in God but in the Face of Jesus Christ for God is a consuming fire to Sinners if they be seperate from Christ so that I say Heb. 12. ult thou art taught to love God as an infinite good 2. To fear him not with a Bondage Slavish fear Rom. 8.15 but with a Filial and Holy fear such a fear as becometh Gods Children a reverential fear a fearing to displease him such a fear Christ Jesus had in his humiliation state Heb. 5.7.8 and such a fear have all his members who are come unto him and are implanted in him 3. Taught to serve him before thou wast the Servant of Sin and Satan but now the Servant of the living God Rom. 6. now thou desirest and indeavourest to obey him constantly as to the time fervently faithfully as to the manner and universally as to the Practice of them in all holy dutys as it was said of Zachary and Elizabeth They walked in all the Commandments of God Luk. 1.6 So it is thy care and Study to obey him in all things he requires from thee 4. Thou art taught to glorify God as being the chief end of thy Creation For he hath made all things for himself Psal 16.4 Thou indeavourest to glorify thy Soul and Body which are his according to that command 1 Cor. 6.20 Glorify God in your Bodys and in your Spirits which are Gods Thus Christ Jesus did as he saith Jo. 17.4 I have glorified thee on Earth so he saith of his Disciples Jo 15.8 Herein is my Father glorified that ye bare much Fruit so
9.13 but if thou art come to Christ thou willingly say'st with the Apostle Paul Phil. 3.9 And be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by Faith Thou lookest upon thy own as indeed it is imperfect and insufficient in point of justification and that it must by no meanes stand in competition with Christ and his righteousness 3ly Thou art made willing to accept and imbrace a whole Christ upon Gospel Termes Christ on the Throne as well as at the Altar Christ in his Kingly office to rule and govern thee to impose Laws and institutions which thou must obey as well as Christ a Priest to sacrifice himself that he might appease the Wrath of God satisfie his divine justice extinguish those flames with his Blood which sin had incendiated that he might procure Salvation for poor Sinners Christ in his prophetick office to teach and reveal his Fathers will to thee for no man can know the Father or his will as he ought but he to whom the Son will reveal them by his holy Spirit Mat. 11.27 Neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him 1 Cor. 2.11 The things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God I say thou art willing to receive a whole Christ as the Gospel tenders and offers him to poor Sinners to be Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption 1 Cor. 1.20 Christ will either be a whole Saviour or none he will raign in the heart alone or not at all 4thly Thou art willing to obey the Lord Jesus in all his divine Institutions and commands and not say as those Disciples Joh. 6.60 This is a hard saying who can bear it thou dost not look upon his commands as grievous for his Yoak is easie and his Burthen is light Mat. 11.30 To will is present with thee although how to perform thou knowest not Rom. 7 18. Thy great desire is to walk in his Precepts and The Spirit is willing although the flesh is weak Mat. 26.41 Indeed this is the great tryal and touchstone by which we may know what Metal we are of If thou art not fruitful in obedience to Christ thou art none of his Disciples John 15.8 as the Apostle saith Know ye not to whom ye yield your selves servants to obey his servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness Rom. 6 16. it doth not trouble thee that his Laws are strict holy and good but thou art grieved that thy power is but imbecility and weakness so that thou canst not do that good which thou wouldest Rom. 7 15. Believers are the only persons that yield obedience to the Lord Jesus they follow him wheresoever he goeth Rev. 14 4. To all his commands thou art willingly subject and in all his Ordinances thou wouldst willingly be active Fifthly and lastly Thou art willing to deny thy self and follow Christ to the end notwithstanding those Mountains of difficulties that may oppose thee in thy Christian course both external and internal Luk. 14 26. If any man come unto me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple Verse 27. And whosoever doth not bear his Cross and come after me cannot be my Disciple Self-denial is a special lesson to be learned in the school of Christ he was frequently when he was upon earth instructing his Disciples in this kind of Literature Christs Cross is to be learned even in the A B C of Christianity and Christians are daily to exercise themselves in the study of it that they may be good Proficients The Apostle Paul had made a fair Progress and was got to the highest Forme in Christs School when he could say God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world Gal. 6.14 This was a brave spirit in him that he could glory and boast of his afflictions and sufferings for the Lord Jesus Enemies and afflictions must be expected in the narrow way which leads to life and those who follow the Lord Jesus to the end will be followed by Satan and Temptation and yet for all these things the Spirit maketh the Soul willing to keep close to the Lord Jesus and once having chosen him never finally to forasake him Heb. 10.39 4thly The Spirit doth sanctify and regulate the affections which in the unregenerate state are totally vitiated in the unregenerate state the heart loves sin more than holiness the perishing Creature more than the eternal Creator it can delight in earthly carnal vanities but takes no complacency in the ways or things of God and Christ it can sorrow and lament for worldly sufferings and disappointments but hath no grief at all for sin and transgression of the holy Law of God and that affront upon the glorious Majesty of Heaven the unregenerate Mind fears more the displeasure of mortal Man whose breath is in his Nostrils then offending the great God who lives for ever but now the work of the Spirit is to purify and regulate these affections and passions of the Soul and fix them upon more suitable and God-pleasing objects and this he hath affected upon thy Soul if thou art brought home to the Lord Jesus Now thou canst say with David O how I love thy Law it is my Meditation all the day long Psal 119.97 The Law of thy Mouth is better to me than thousands of Gold or Silver ver 72. The Soul hath a high estimation of and valuation for the Law of God it esteems of God as the supream good because he is an all sufficient eternal and unchangable good he is the fountain which never ceaseth flowing a Sea not to be exhausted a Tree which always bears fruit therefore the Soul makes choice of him and highly magnifies him Christ is now an object thy heart doth most delight in and thou lookest upon all other things but as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dogs-meat in comparison of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus Phil. 3.7 8. Thou canst say of Christ as the Philosopher lid of Vertue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is no possession more glorious and splendid more firm and permanent now thy heart hates and abhors that evil which before thou lovedst and thou lovest that good which formerly thy mind was a verse to 5thly and lastly If thou art come unto the Lord Jesus then the holy Spirit hath wrought all these graces within thy Soul which do manifest thee to be a real and sound Christian I shall only treat of these six Repentance Faith Love Hope Humility and Zeal where these are wanting in the heart Christ is not possessor there but where these are effectually wrought be sure
is nothing but perpetual Commotions and distractions but when this Legion is ejected and cast out and the Soul hath bathed it self in the tears of Repentance and is made pure by the Blood of the Lord Jesus O then what inward sedateness and tranquility is there Sin whilst a Man remains in an impenitent State and condition like a Mad-man rageth in the Soul but when Christ brings the Soul to himself by the weeping-cross of Repentance he then saith to it as he did to the Sea Peace be still or as he did to his Disciples Jo. 14.1 Let not your Hearts be troubled and Vers 27. My peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you not as the World giveth give I unto you let not your Hearts be troubled The Gospel of Christ is a Gospel of peace Rom. 10.15 and Eph. 6.15 Because it proclaimeth Peace and speaks peace from God and Christ unto poor wounded and distressed Consciences the Blood of Christ is the only sanctifying Medicine which the Gospel holds forth to cure wounded consciences Thus I have finished the first particular I come now to the second particular grace by which a person may know that he is come to Christ and it is this the Spirit hath wrought the grace of Faith in the Soul for it is by Faith the Soul apprehends and lays hold upon the Lord Jesus Although there are four kinds of Faith yet there is but one true Evangelick and saving Faith and my business must be to acquaint you how you may discern this from the others which will never end in salvation and I shall do it with as much brevity as may be for the discussing so great a question as this is how may I know that I have saving Faith I answer it may be known these four ways 1. By the Author or Efficient 2. By the Objects 3. By the Nature of it and 4. By the effects 1. By the Author and he is the Spirit of God for no Man can work Faith in his own Heart or can believe by his own Power it is a supernatural and Divine work Faith is the gift of God Eph. 2.8 It is the work of the Spirit of God Gal. 5.22 The Fruit of the Spirit are Love Peace Joy Goodness Faith If the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father hath not been at work upon thy Soul never conceit thy self to have any Grace we find this work once attributed to Christ Heb. 12.2 Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith but this must be understood Agit filius per spiritum sanctum Ursin * that Christ doth it by his holy Spirit and the Spirit works powerfully and with the irresistable efficacy he makes the Soul believe those things now which all Men or Angels could never have done if they had Preached Millions of years it now believes unseen things an unseen Jesus and an invissible glory 1 Pet. 1.8 If you have no more Faith then what your own reason or judgment helps you to or the teachings of men hath principled you with do not conclude it to be saving but Sinful the Spirit is the Efficiently and works instrumentally by the word of God by which he brings the Soul to believe in and close with Jesus Christ 2ly It is known by the objects of it 1. The Word of God that is an object of true Faith the Soul is brought to believe the verity and certainty of it therefore it believes not because Man saith so and so you must believe but because the word of the Living God saith it as the Apostle 2 Pet. 1.19 We have also a more sure Word of Prophecy to which ye do well to take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place Materia quae objecti rationem habet communiter quidem Dei verbum est propriae vero gratuitae promissiones in Christo fundatae Wol. de fide salvis until the day dawn and the day Star arise in your hearts Shee believes the reports of men no farther than they concur with the clear and evident truth of the word of God for as the Prophet saith to the Law and to the Testimony Isa 8.20 2ly Faith eyes the promises therein contained which relate unto and are founded in Christ as one saith the material cause of saving faith which may be termed an object is commonly the Word of God but properly the gracious promises founded in Christ It is said 2 Cor. 1.20 All the promises of God are in him i. e. in Christ Saith God by the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 43.25 I will blot out thy transgressions for my one name sake and will not remember thy Sins 2 Cor. 5.19 The Apostle tells us God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself not imputing their trespasses unto them So that we see what God promiseth in one place to do for his own name-sake in the other we find made good in Christ promises of Peace Pardon Grace and Glory upon the account of Christ are the objects of a saving Faith For indeed it is by laying the mouth of Faith to the brest of the promises that the Soul sucks and draws nourishment by which it grows in grace for had not Faith a promise of such and such mercys benefits and Priviledges to go to at all times it would grow languid and decay it would pine away The promises by the assistance of the holy Spirit keep Faith alive and active vigorous and strong as it is said of Abraham that Father of the Faithful Rom. 4.15.20 He staggered or doubted not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in Faith giving Glory to God But how came he to be so strong but by Eying the Promise and the power of that God that made it vers 21. And being fully perswaded or knowing most certainly that what he had promised he was able certainly to perform It was the apprehention of the promise that held his head above water so I say if thy Faith be of a salvific and evangelic kind it hath an Eye to the promises of God which contain those spiritual Blessings made over through Christ to the Soul 3ly And that principally it hath Christ for an object Act. 20.21 Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ He is the foundation for Faith to build upon as 1 Cor. 3.11 Other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is Jesus Christ The Gospel throughout directs the Eye of Faith unto the Lord Jesus Heb. 12.2 Looking unto Jesus who is the Author and Finisher of our Faith Joh. 3.16 God so Loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not Perish but have everlasting Life That is no saving Faith which hath not an Eye to the Lord Jesus But having spoken more fully to this before I shall pass it over and come to the third particular by which it may more evidently be discover'd 3ly The nature and propertys of
then come unto Christ as labouring under the intollerable Burthen of sin for sin is a heavy burthen although multitudes in the world count it light as may be seen by their chearful countenances merry hearts jovial lives and running and drawing under this burthen into Eternity being very little concerned for the weight of it Holy David was sensible of the ponderosity of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Onus grave when he cried out Psal 38.4 Mine iniquities are gone over my head as agrievous they are too heavy for me The pressure of sin lay so hard upon poor David that it made his back bend his heart pant his tongue roar and his groanings to multiply as may be seen in that 38. Psal at large So Psal 40.12 Innumerable evils have compassed me about mine Iniquities have taken hold of me so that I am not able to look up they are more than the hairs of my head therefore my heart forsaketh me He was so bowed down under this burthen that he could not elevate himself nay it made his very heart forsake him when he considered the gravity and innumerable number of them but what did David do in this case why he goes to God through Christ for ease from this great and heavy burthen Psal 25.11 For thy Name sake O Lord pardon mine Iniquity for it is great great both for weight and number therefore for thy Names sake magnify thy grace and what was the Issue see Psal 32.5 I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin He went with this Burthen to the Lord and found Mercy and Pardon from him so must thou do Go to Christ under the sense of the weightiness of your sins and beg him according to his promise to ease thee of thy burthen which otherwise will sink thee down into eternal misery for it weighed Angels out of Glory and now confines them under Chains of darkness therefore come unto Christ for he will not refuse thee because of the greatness of thy burthen but rather imbrace thee for the Exaltation of his free grace 3ly Come labouring under a deep sense of the immense and intollerable weight of the wrath of God for who can endure if he be inraged or what can stand and oppose if God be the Antagonist Job 9.34 by nature we are all under this burthen Eph. 2.3 And were by Nature Children of wrath even as others i. e. by nature we are subject and liable to Divine vengeance because the imputation of the guilt of Adams transgression abides upon us and the corruption of Nature is derived unto us The extream weightiness of this wrath makes damned Angels and wicked Spirits roar lament and gnash their teeth It is more tollerable * Poets Fiction Atlas-like to bear the Heavens upon our shoulders or to lye under Rocks Mountains thousands of years then to abide under this wrath but a day nay an hour nay a minute for it burns yet never utterly consumes it presseth heavy without mitigation now there is no releasement from the obnoxiousness to this wrath but from a deep sense of the grievousness of it by applying our selves speedily to the Lord Jesus for it is he alone that can deliver from the wrath that is to come 1 Thes 1.10 come unto Christ with a sense of it upon thy heart whilst thou art here that thou maist not see the intollerableness of it hereafter 4ly Come to Christ as labouring under and being heavy laden with the curse of the Law and the Empire of death I mean by the Empire of death not only our obnoxiousness to the stroke of death upon our bodys but the sting of death and the eternity of it in regard of our Souls Death has raigned by reason of sin Rom. 5. over the bodys of all two or three excepted and over the Souls of most even from Adam to Moses and from Moses untill Christ and from Christ even to our days Death is a universal Monarch his Empire is from East to West and from North to South There is no escaping his fatal blow Only believers then take their flight from a dead Corps to Christ who is their life from a muddy Tabernacle to a glorious city Rev. 21.22.23 Col. 3.3 Heb. 12.28 Rom. 2.15 from a tottering Cottage to a firm Kingdom from a dark and mortal state to a splendent and immortal glory for although the body dyes yet the life of the Soul is secure as Being hid with Christ in God Col. 3.4 Believers can never dye take it in a Spiritual sence so long as God and Christ live but yet I say the way to be freed from the eternal Bondage of this deadly Monarch is to come unto Christ for Ease from this burthen also Moreover the burden of the curse of the Law must be taken away or else the former Emperor will keep his dominion Gal. 3.10 As many as are of the works of the Law are under the curse for it is written cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to do them But seeing we have not continued in all things to do them and therefore are under the curse what must we do now but go unto Christ who was made a Curse for us Gal. 3.13 Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us Now the Judge when he gives forth pardon to the Malefactor expects that he should be sensible of the greatness of his guilt and also of his desert the sentence of Condemnation having passed upon him so Christ expects a sensible owning the Curse and Misery we are under that his grace may be magnified in our relief succour and Salvation 5thly Come unto Christ as labouring under the cruel tyrany of Satan for Satan is the Prince of the Powers of the Air Magnitudo mali in quatuor consistit quae sunt peccati gravita quae Dei immensum intollerabile pondus Mortis imperium Tyrannis Diaboli quae tollere abolere placare vincere nemo potuit nisi Deus Bucan and he rules in and over the children of disobedience and there is none that can deliver from this tyranny but Christ for as one reasoning why it behoved Christ the Redeemer to be God said it was for two causes 1. Ob magnitudinem mali For the greatness of the Evil by which mankind was pressed down 2. Ob magnitudinem Boni For the magnitude of the good which could be restored by no man nor Angel unto mankind but only by him who is God now the greatness of the Evil which Christ underwent and in fine overcame consisted in bareing the weight of Sin the intollerable burden of Gods wrath and in conquering Death and the tiranny of Satan which none could or was able to do but he that was God-man by his own mighty Power so that seeing Christ hath done these things for all those that
him not neither knoweth him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you See here what a mercy this is to have the blessed Spirit for thou canst have no true comfort here but from him it must flow thou canst not know nor understand the way to Zion but by his Divine assistance 1 Cor. 2.14.15 it is he who is spiritually inlightened that can discern the Excellency of Divine objects thou canst not pray without him Rom. 8.26 Then is it not a blessing greatly to be desired to have the blessed spirit without whom thou canst not perceive thine own misery sufficiently nor apprehend Christ a Saviour satisfactorily it is the Spirit that searches the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2.10 and reveals them to his Children as much as is for his glory and their Eternal good Now I intreat thee in the name of Christ let this consideration that God will be thy God Christ will be thy Saviour and the Spirit thy guid and Comforter excite thy Soul to come to Christ 8. If thou come unto Christ thou shalt have an eternal weight of glory 2 Cor. 4.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the words cannot be well expressed in English but it is as if the Apostle should have said thou shalt have Hyperboly's of Glory Glory upon Glory ineffable such as hath not entred into the Heart of Man to conceive neither can Tongue utter it but observe this it shall be a weight and an eternal weight of Glory not transient and momentary like unto worldly Glory which depends upon the estimation of poor silly Mortals as it is usually said Honos est in Honorante Honour is in him that gives Honour not in him that receives it but the greatest Glory of this World is not to be compared nay rather to be contemned in comparison of that Glory believers shall be Crowned with the greatest part of their Glory shall be in this That they shall see God and be made like unto him 1 Jo. 3.2 What canst thou be humbly ambitious of more then this That thou shalt be like unto God in holyness and Righteousness and that for ever Thou shalt have a Crown of Righteousness upon thine Head 2 Tim. 4.8 Rev. 3.21 and thou shalt sit down with Christ in his throne Here Soul it is lawful for thee to run for this prize Phil. 3.14 To fight for this heavenly Crown Take but a serious view of what thou shalt have if thou comest to Christ and then refuse if thou canst see if the world can offer more then what Christ doth to incourage thee to come unto him if the World or Satan can promise and give more and better things then these I have mentioned from the word of God then imbrace them and let Christ go but if they cannot why dost thou make delays in coming unto him 9ly and lastly 9. Motive consider the misery thou dost involve thy self in if thou dost not come unto Christ thy Misery is great in this Life thou art a Child of wrath a Servant to Satan Eph. 2.3 a Servant to Sin thou art an Enemy to God and God is an Enemy to thee Rom. 6.20 Rom. 5.10 the Curse of the Law abides upon thee Gal. 3.10 Read and consider canst thou be content to be in this estate hast thou no pity for thine own Soul no love to God who sent his Son to dye for Sinners Jo. 3.16 no love for Christ who came to sacrifice himself that thou mightest have access to God by him but consider further thy misery will not end in this Life nor with it for the wrath of God will follow thee to the Grave and tumble thy Soul into everlasting Flames That is a terririble word Jo. 3.36 The wrath of God abideth on him that believeth not in Christ He doth not say it shall be for a little time for a year or a hundred or a thousand years but it abideth on him and so it will for ever 2 Thes 1.8 9. See what will be the doom of those who obay not Christ that is who believe not in him Now I say Sinner come unto Christ least that terrible word be said unto thee in the last day Pro. 1.24.25.26 Because I have called and ye have refused I have stretched out my hands and no man reguarded But ye have set at nought all my Councel therefore I will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh So much shall suffice for the first Doctrine That Jesus Christ graciously invites Sinners to come unto him 2. Doctrine It is the duty of all heavy laden Sinners who look for Rest and Salvation to come unto Christ for the obtaining of it If the invitation will not prevail with thee to come unto Christ yet let his command and the consideration of thy Duty Christ hath not left it mearly to their own wills but he commands them The Method that I shall proceed in is as followeth 1. I shall prove the point 2. Shew many of those obstructions which keep Sinners from coming to Christ with their unreasonableness 3. Answer some objections 4. Apply all and I shall bring in the two other Doctrines in the application 1. To prove that it is a duty Jo. 6.29 This is the work of God that ye believe in him whom he hath sent 1 Jo. 3.23 This is his Commandment that ye believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ I shall demonstrate the point by these propositions 1. It is the great duty incumbent upon all to seek the eternal well-being of their immortal Souls this is granted I think by all sober persons it is made our second principal end in the Assemblies Catechism 1. Glorify God 2. Save our own Souls Phil. 2.12 Work out your Salvation with fear and trembling God requires this from all men whether they be Princes or subjects Rulers or ruled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Arminians do pervert this Text. 1 Tim. 2.4 He willeth all men to be saved So the words may be read and they have relation to the foregoing verses where the Apostle exhorts to pray for all degrees of Men for Kings and those in authority for God willeth all Men all sorts of Men to seek after their Salvation for he is no respecter of Persons in that sence but he that feareth God and worketh Righteousness and believeth in his Son shall be saved Act. 10.35 Jo. 3.36 He that believeth the Son hath Life 2. Prop. Is that it is the duty of all to make use of means in order to the attaining of this great end scil the Salvation of their Souls God hath ordained the means as well as the end and he hath injoyned it as our Duty to make use of the means God hath given his Son to dye for us and doth command us to come and believe in him 1 Jo. 3.33 3. Prop. is that Christ Jesus is the only way for sinners to attain eternal life by