convictions Secondly It may respect the earliness of being And that seems rather to be the sense of the place Vatablus renders it from his Youth taking 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 early impressions upon the conscience by the convictions of the Spirit are a great good to the soul It is good to bear this Yoke betimes for three reasons 1. Because the sooner it is done the easier it is done the longer we are before we come under it the harder it will be to bear it The longer thou continuest in sin the harder it will be to bear repentance If thy conscience be so charged with guilt that thou darest not look into it at ten or twenty years old what will it come to if thou lettest it run on till fifty or sixty The longer the Debt stands in the Book the heavier the account when we come to reckon for all the arrears of so many years actual sins added to the grand Debt of original sin Therefore it is good to bear this Yoke in your Youth Strength to bear it is then greatest and the burden to be born is then lightest Guilt of sâ—n encreases by lying and new guilt daily added to the old makes the burden still the heavier therefore it is good to comply with the spirit of God betimes Reas 2. The sooner it is begun the sooner it will be done the sooner this Yoke is put on the sooner it will be put off For it is but for a time that the soul bears it but how long or how little while is uncertain Paul lay under it three days and nights Acts 9.9 Acts 16.33 the Goaler for ought I can find not above an hour the three thousand in Acts 2. not above the length of one Sermon But some now adays are held days and months and years according as the Case requires But the sooner we come under this Yoke the less while it is like to lye Reas 3. How rich do such grow in Grace that by early conviction pass through the new Birth betimes He that sets up soonest is like to get the fairest estate if be improve his opportunities Ford of Bondage p. 75. If one go to be an Apprentice when he is a man there is a double inconvenience in it First His service will be much more irksome and tedious Secondly The prime of his days will be gone wherein he should have been trading for himself had he been his own man Though the work of the Spirit be better late than never yet it is an unknown loss the soul sustains by a late work He loses much joy and peace the thought of his living so long without God becomes many times a new wound when the old is healed the after pains of the new birth do abide upon some to their dying day And in this Case there is but little comfort though the work be real He loses much sweet communion with God He loses many rich experiences He loses a great accession of Grace Growth in Grace is a work of time and he that hath but little time can make but little improvement He loses many opportunities of service Nay he loses much in the degrees of Glory Hadst thou had more time to sow thy Harvest would have been â—â—â—ater for as a man sows so shall he reap 〈◊〉 â—â—â—refore he that spends the best of his time in the service of the flesh if he should be converted at last which yet few are he is like to prove but a feeble Christian The more our opportunities of service are if improved and the more our seasons of communion are if used aright the richer must we needs be both in grace experience and comfort therefore it is the most thrifty course to be an early Convert to bear the Spirits Yoke in our Youth CHAP. IV. Containing some useful counsel and directions to persons of several denominations with respect to the Yoke of the Spirit THere are three sorts of persons I would speak somewhat to by way of counsel and direction in this matter First To such as have born the Yoke of the Spirit with good success to whom the Spirit of bondage hath at last become the Spirit of adoption who are passed from a state of fear and terrour into a condition of hope and comfort Your Duty lyes chiefly in these three things be thankful be humble be fruitful First Study thankfulness and give the Glory of this work to the Spirit of God We are very apt to ascribe too much to means to this or that Minister alas they are but poor Instruments Who is Paul and who is Apollo but Ministers by whom ye believed 1 Cor. 3.5 even as the Lord gave to every man They have but the place of Instruments God is the great Agent and therefore all supernatural effects are to be ascribed to him alone Neither is he that planteth any thing neither he that watereth but God that giveth the encrease And therefore the Apostle Paul having called the Church of Corinth his Epistle in 2 Cor. 3.2 he doth in v. 3. call them the Epistle of Christ ministred by us written not with Pen and Ink but with the Spirit of the living God Ministers are but as Pens it is the Spirit of the living God that writes his Law in the heart by them and thus they become the Epistle of Christ and therefore let him that glorieth glory in the Lord. 1 Cor. 1.31 Is there not a cause Especially if it he considered 1. What a heart thine was when the Spirit of the Lord first took it in hand how hard how stubborn how dead how obstinate how long was the light opposed that shined in darkness and the attempts of the Spirit frustrated how great were the resistances made by it against Grace and how many the strong holds of Satan which were pulled down to bring about the Conquest Think how often the Spirits motions were slighted his counsels set at nought his strivings resisted Think how often he knocked how loud he called before he could be heard think how much unbelief how many confederacies with corruption what strong lusts what enmity to God and holiness lay in the way to obstruct the Spirits design O what a mighty power did he put forth to make sin a burthen and to fasten his Fetters upon the soul without which thy resistances had never been conquered nor thy thoughts brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.5 And hast thou not cause to be thankful 2. How many miscarry under the same convictions which have issued in a sincere conversion to thy soul Many by their sights of sin and Hell have been driven into utter despair as Cain and Spira Many have laid violent hands on their own lives as Judas many have stifled and sinned away their convictions and thereby have provoked the Spirit finally to withdraw and give them up to hardness of heart many have mistaken their convictions for
close with Jesus Christ In conviction of sin the Soul is pursued with the avenger of blood and if he overtakes him he slays him there is no escaping but by fleeing to the City of refuge So Christ is called Heb. 6.18 the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there used doth import two things 1 An apprehension and sense of impendent danger putting a man upon flight for deliverance lest the evil feared should overtake him 2 Speed and diligence in that flight to the place where he expects to find succour and safety And where is the place of safety for a sinner under guilt and pursued by the Curse of the Law and dread of the wrath of God but only in the Lord Jesus Christ Hence is that counsel of the Holy Ghost Turn ye to the strong hold ye prisoners of hope Zech. 9.12 O make haste to Jesus Christ so did Zacheus when Christ called him Luke 19.5 He made haste and came down and received him joyfully v. 6. You that are young and have had early strivings of the Spirit early convictions of sin see that ye improve them by an early seeking after Jesus Christ otherwise the Spirit may cease striving and depart and never return again thy convictions may die and never revive again thy day of Grace may be sinned away and then it can never be recalled again Other things a man may lose and recover them again He may lose his health and recover it again he may lose his estate and recover it again but if thy day of Grace be once lost thou canst never recover that again no not for any price thou canst not pray it back again nor weep it back again Esau's tears come too late Heb. 12.17 no sorrow no repentance will recover it and therefore blessed are they that have improved the Yoke of the Spirit into a saving union with Jesus Christ that by being made to feel the burden of sin and the weight of Gods wrath and so seeing their lost and undone state as in themselves have been outed of themselves and made willing to accept of Christ upon Gods conditions and in Gods season and so have believed in him to the saving of their Souls CHAP. V. The Doctrine laid down Christ hath his Yoke What it is The Nature and Properties of this Yoke Why the Commands of Christ are called a Yoke WHen I entred upon these words the last year on this occasion I told you of a threefold Yoke that it is good for a man to bear in his youth The Yoke of Affliction The Yoke of Conviction by the Spirit The Yoke of Subjection to Jesus Christ The Yoke of Affliction I have spoken to and shewed you the good of bearing that betimes I have also spoken of the Yoke of Conviction of sin and have shewed you that every one that would be saved must come under this Yoke of the Spirit and that this Yoke is necessary to prepare the Soul for the Yoke of Christ I now therefore am to speak of this Yoke And the Doctrine upon which I shall found my discourse shall be this Doct. That it is good for young ones to come under the Yoke of Christ betimes I shall speak to the Doctrine in these parts 1. That Jesus Christ hath his Yoke 2. Why are the Commands of Christ called a Yoke 3. Why is it the concernment of every one to take up the Yoke of Christ in his Youth 4. Remove some stumbling blocks out of the way of this duty 5. Bring home all to our selves by application 1. That Jesus Christ hath his Yoke For he is a King as well as a Priest and a Prophet As he redeemed us by his Blood so he rules us by his Power As he is a Priest upon his Throne Zech. 6.13 so he sits and rules upon his Throne And therefore in Revel 1.13 he is described as cloathed with a garment down to the foot and girt about the paps with a golden girdle These long garments were especially used by two sorts of persons Kings and Priests as you may see by comparing Isai 22.21 with Mark 12.38 So that it sets out his Dominion joyntly with his Satisfaction and Intercession These Offices are for ever united in Christ they may be distinguished but cannot be divided He is a Priest to none where he is not a King there can be no sharing in his Mercy but by submitting to his Authority The benefit of his Death and Blood is limited to the acknowledgment of his Scepter Where Christ cannot be a Head he will not be a help where he cannot rule he will not relieve where he can be no King he will be no Jesus Those mine enemies that would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me Luke 19.27 Slight his Power and you incur his displeasure reject his Authority and you become Traitors to his Crown and that is death without mercy He pardons none whom he doth not rule saves none that do not submit But here are two Questions 1. What is this Yoke of Christ 2. Why is it called a Yoke Quest 1. What is this Yoke of Christ Answ It consists of his Commands especially those Conditions which the Lord Christ puts upon every soul in order to the obtaining of that Salvation and Glory which he hath purchased For Christ hath not so purchased Salvation for any as that they should be saved meerly upon the account of his Death There were certain Terms and Conditions of Salvation agreed upon between the Father and the Son in that Covenant of Redemption that passed between them and none can be saved by all which Christ hath done and suffered but upon these Conditions and they are Self-denial Faith Repentance taking up the Cross Obedience all the necessary duties of Religion These are the unalterable Conditions of Life and Salvation and these Conditions of Salvation are the Yoke of Christ Take my yoke upon you Mat. 11.29 And this Yoke is variously expressed in Scripture sometimes it is called a Way The way of the Lord Prov. 10.29 The way of righteousness Prov. 8.20 The way of holiness Isai 35.8 The good old way Jer. 6.16 The way everlasting Psal 139.24 Sometimes it is called a Burden Mat. 11.30 Revel 2.24 Sometimes it is called a Rule Gal. 6.16 Phil. 3.16 But most commonly this Yoke is called a Law and so points to the Soveraignty of God over man in common with the rest of the Creatures For all Creatures that ever God made are under a Law The most glorious part of the Creation of God was the humane Nature of Christ and yet that was made in a state of subjection to a Law Made under the Law Gal. 4.4 The Scriptures speak of three Heavens the airy Heaven the starry Heaven and the third Heaven 2 Cor. 12.2 called the Heaven of heavens Deut. 10.14 and all the Creatures in each Heaven are under a Law Look into the Heaven of heavens there dwell the Angels
branches thus inobled I know it is the matter of your Prayers and let me beg you to joyn thereunto your utmost indeavours by a strict and pious education the common want of which hath stained the present age with as debauched a Nobility and Gentry as ever any time brought forth And Madam if to all this you shall add the winning motive of your own example so walking in all the Precepts of Christ and in all the virtues of the Holy Spirit that they may be won into the ways of God by the beauty of your feet O what an honour and rejoycing would this be to you in the near approaching day of Christ Jesus How many children have been brought into love with the ways of God by the holy example of Godly Parents And many more have perished by the contrary who are now cursing the Parents that begat them and the loyns that brought them forth I no way doubt of your Honours ready acceptance of this Present how mean soever it be Seeing it is a great bravery of mind as well to accept little kindnesses from them that have no better within their reach as to confer great ones For as by the latter you oblige love so by the former you incourage duty Thus the full Sea stocks Clouds richly while they pay again but by drops We have a pattern of it in God himself who as he gives the greatest Boons so he doth not disdain the least returns though they are made in Mites Luk. 21.2 3. Goats hair and Rams skins are as acceptable an Offering from them that were no better provided for the building the Tabernacle Exod. 23.4 5. as Purple and Scarlet so as it came from a willing heart Madam it is for the compleating the Temple of God in your soul that this Offering is made and though it is neither Purple nor Scarlet yet such as it is it comes from as willing a mind as ever Israelite offered from him that brought Gold and Silver to him that brought Goats hair and Rams skins And if your Honour be dispositioned like my Master you will accept of payment in Mites where it is the utmost and the All that is within the reach of a short arm But though it cannot reach so far as I would Prayer can For how incapable soever we are of other offices of respect and gratitude yet in Prayers and good wishes we stand next to immensity and infiniteness And it is nothing less then the great things of both worlds summed up in the blessed injoyment of God himself here much and hereafter much more that can be an answer to his Prayers who without ceasing bows the knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for this Blessing for you Madam and your Honourable and Honoured Relations as becomes Stepney Novemb. 15th 1682. Madam Your Honours highly obliged and humbly devoted Servant Matthew Mead. The Epistle to the READER Good Reader THough thy concern lies not much in knowing the reason of the publication of this Treatise yet it may not be amiss to give thee this short account of it That in April 1674 A Gentleman who was till then a stranger to me came with an earnest request that I would undertake the Preaching of a Sermon yearly on every May-day to the younger people I desiring to know his reason why to them rather then to others and why on that day rather then upon any other he told me that it had often been the grief of his Soul to behold the vitious and debauched practises of Youth on that day of liberty And did hope that many might be induced either by their own inclinations or by the counsels of their Parents or Masters rather to spend their time in hearing a Sermon then in drinking and gaming c. by which means many might be converted and saved The design being so honest and the reason so cogent I was perswaded to comply with it and began upon the following May Day and so it hath been continued ever since and I may say it not in any boast but to the praise of the glory of the grace of God with great success On May-day 1680 I took the Scripture here insisted on for the subject of my discourse and having then shewed the great advantage of bearing the Yoke of vfflictions and also the Yoke of the Spirit in conviction of sin in youth I did promise God granting life and liberty to treat of the Yoke of Christ in conversion in the next Anniversary course But before that day came I was much sollicited both by young and old they best know why to make publick the first Sermon which I had so Preached and it was fairly transcribed and sent to me by several hands for that end which yet I judged very improper but to answer their importunity I did promise that when I had finished the subject I would comply with their desires And therefore finding that I could not compass my design in the second May-day course I did for some Lords days following insist on the same subject till I had finished it And that thou hadst it no sooner the Bookseller is accountable and not I. However if it may be of any advantage to thy soul in breaking off the yoke of sin and lust and bringing thee under the yoke of Christ it comes in good time and to good purpose And when thou findest this benefit by it then pray for him that loves thy soul and desires thy Salvation and therein is November 15. 1682. Thy Real Friend Matthew Mead. THE CONTENTS CHAPTER I. SOmewhat praeliminary The Yoke explained What it is Litterally taken what taken Metaphorically CHAP. II. Afflictions called a Yoke in what sense they are good and for whom CHAP. III. Shewing the difference between the Yoke of the Spirit and the Yoke of Christ What the Spirits Yoke is Why convictions are compared to a Yoke Why sinners must come under the Yoke of the Spirit Why it is good to come under it betimes CHAP. IV. Contains some counsels and directions to persons of several Denominations with respect to the Yoke of the Spirit CHAP. V. The chief Doctrine propounded Christ hath his Yoke Wherein it consists The nature and properties of this Yoke VVhy the commands of Christ called a Yoke CHAP. VI. Holdeth forth the reasons of the Doctrine CHAP. VII Holdeth forth the last reason viz. from the good of obedience It is a necessary good a profitable good an honourable good a comfortable good CHAP. VIII Answers some objections against Early Obedience CHAP. IX More objections against Early Obedience answered CHAP. X. Wherein the reasons of slighting Christ are inquired into the evil of it aggravated CHAP. XI Wherein the Tryal of our state is pressed with seven reasons for it CHAP. XII Several rules for the knowledge of our estate are laid down both negatively and affirmatively CHAP. XIII Sheweth the truth of our subjection to Christ by such things as are necessarily antecedent to it
in his lusts yet when the Spirit of God doth but set sin close to the conscience O how pliable is he So it was with Saul he breathed nothing but threatnings and slaughter against the Disciples of the Lord Acts 9.1 but Christ no sooner smites him with a word from Heaven but how tame and pliable is he He trembling and astonished said Lord what wilt thou have me to do v. 6. And hence the convictions of the Spirit are fitly compared to a Yoke Thirdly Every Sinner that ever shall be saved must come under this Yoke of the Spirit he must be brought to a conviction of his lost estate There is a necessity for this and I will shew you why Reason 1. Because it is essential to sound conversion What is conversion but a turning from sin to God and how can a man turn from sin without a true sense of sin or how can he turn to God till he be made to see and feel the want of God therefore it is absolutely necessary Reas 2. It is the constant method of God with all that are capable of the work First He shews man his sin then his Saviour first his wound then his cure first his malady then his remedy first his danger then his Redeemer Gen. 3.10 15. Thus God began with Adam and Eve he first opens their eyes to see their sin and misery their nakedness and shame and then makes them a promise of the seed of the Woman God will have sense of misery go before the participation of mercy He look upon man and if any say I have sinned and it profited me not he will save his soul from going down to the pit and his life shall see the light Job 33.27 28. The Israelites are first stunâ— with the fiery Serpents Numb 21.6 8. and then the Brazeâ— Serpent is set up for them to look to for healing Peter's three thousand Converts werâ— first pricked in their hearts and then he applies the promise Acts 2.37 39. The Gaolâ— is first struck with a Spirit of trembling anâ— then Jesus Christ is held out to him for salvâ—tion Acts 16.29 31. Reas 3. God will not frustrate and makâ— void the use of the Law There would be 〈◊〉 conviction of sin no sight of the misery of natural state but for the Law therefore say St Paul I had not known sin but by the Law Rom. 7.7 How could he what should discover it to him Sin had not been sin but for the Law and therefore nothing can discover it but the Law which is Index sui obliqui 1 Joh. 3.4 for sin is a transgression of the Law The Spirit himself could not fasten this Yoke upon the Sinners neck but by the bond of the Law Rom. 5.13 for sin is not imputed where there is no Law Look how the Needle goes before to pierce the Cloth and so makes way for the Thred to sew it so the Law goes before to break the heart and so makes way for the Gospel to heal it The Spirit makes use of it as a School-master to bring us to Christ Gal. 3.24 Bonnerges makes way for Barnabas and John for Jesus Reas 4. The soul lyes under no promise of good from Christ till it come under the Yoke of the Spirit Then it is sensible of sin and sensible Sinners lye under the promise of Christ There is not one promise in all the Gospel made of Christ to a Sinner as he is a Sinner if there were it would be in vain For as such he could not receive it nor can it belong to him for he is under another Covenant Reas 5. Without this he can never set a true estimate upon the blood and Grace of Jesus Christ The Pearl of Pardoning Grace shall never be cast before Swine that wallow in their sins Though Christ be free of his bloud yet we shall see the want of it before we have it that we may know the worth of it when we enjoy it He discovers himself in such a way as the Sinner may prize him most and when is that but when sin lyes with the greatest load upon conscience When the Yoke of the Spirit is heaviest then redemption by Christ is sweetest When he sees his Case at worst then he prizes Christ most When he is made to know how wretched his state is then he considers how precious the bloud of Christ is Reas 6. Till the soul comes to bear the Yoke of the Spirit it can never be brought to close with Christ upon Gospel terms It is sense of sin and misery that must bow the soul to Gods conditions of mercy The reason why so many Sinners perish under the Call of Christ is not because they totally reject him but because they don't make a right close with him they don't come up to God's terms There are stated Conditions which every one that would have Christ and benefit by Christ must come up to and what are they Why he that would have Christ must have whole Christ Christ in all his Offices not only as Priest but as King and Prophet And this necessarily suposes a renouncing all sin and lust a resolute owning and adhering to his Truths and Ordinances and an unfeigned resignation of heart and soul to his will in all things This is the right receiving of Christ Now there are but few that can come up to this they would have Christ but they would not part with their lusts they would have a justifying Christ but not a sanctifying Christ a Christ to pardon and save them but not to purge and cleanse them There is such a close League between the natural man and his lust that till conscience be convinced and sin imbittered the soul will not be divorced and so long Christ can't be received therefore there is a necessity that every Sinner that would be saved should come under the Spirits Yoke Fourthly It is good to come under the Spirits Yoke betimes to bear the Yoke in a mans Youth A mans Youth may have a twofold respect either to the earliness of profession or to the earliness of being First To the earliness of profession Our first entrance into the ways of God is called in Scripture our Youth Jer. 2.2 I remember the kindness of thy Youth that is of her first espousals to God as the next words explain it It is a blessed thing when our profession of God and Religion begins in sound and thorow convictions It is good to bear the Yoke of conviction in the Youth of our profession For that profession of Religion that is not founded in conviction of sin will never hold out it cannot last long it is Seed sown in stony ground which though it may spring up for a while yet when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word it will wither away for want of depth of Earth to take root in Mat. 13.20 21. It is good therefore to found an early profession in sound
all that see their need and trust to his supplies And therefore it is all the reason in the world we should obey his Call and take up his Yoke who injoyns no obedience but what he gives strength and power to perform Fifthly It is he into whose hand the Judgment of the World is committed he is ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead Acts 10.42 And this is what you all profess to believe you say in your Creed that he is ascended into heaven and from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead and it is so for the Father hath committed all judgment to the Son John 5.22 He it is who disposes of all persons to their eternal condition the power of life and death salvation and damnation is in his hand He is the Husbandman who appoints the reapers to gather the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them but to gather the wheat into his barn Mat. 13.30 He is the Bridegroom who takes the wise Virgins in with him to the marriage but excludes the foolish Mat. 25.10 Mat. 25.14 He is the man who travelling into a far Country delivered his goods to his servants to one five talents v. 15. to another two to another one v. 19. and after a long time comes againe and reckons with them blessing and rewarding the diligence of the faithful v. 21. v. 31. and dooming the unprofitable servant into utter darkness And is there not great reason then why every one should take up his Yoke especially considering that it is made up of those Laws that are the rules both of his Government and of his Judgment as he rules by them so he will pass Sentence by them the same Laws that are now given by Christ for a rule of life shall then be the rule of Judgment Our Lord Christ tells you so John 12.48 He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the words that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day If you will not submit to his word to guide you you must submit to it to try you you may decline his Precepts but you cannot decline his Sentence You will not obey him when he says Mat. 16.24 Follow me but you cannot resist him when he says Depart from me It is most rational therefore you should submit to his Precepts Mat. 7.23 or ye can't escape his wrath Psal 2.12 3. God the Holy Spirit he calls for thy obedience and for an early submission to the Yoke of Christ and therefore it is that he begins his work in the Soul betimes I know not nor is it for me to say how early but certainly it is very early There are none of you of any competent age but the Spirit of the Lord hath been dealing with you to bring you under the Yoke of Christ * Among such as are religiously educated there is scarce a child of ten years old but the holy Spirit hath been at work in his heart Increase Mather in his Book about Conversion pag. 134. The Gospel is the ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 and the Call of the Gospel is accompanied with a work of the Spirit where the Gospel calls outwardly the Spirit calls inwardly and this is the highest way of Gods calling There is no work of God beyond the striving of the Spirit in the heart and doubtless the Spirit strives less or more with all under the word He cannot be said to strive with all in the same manner nor in all with equal power and efficacy for then all would as well be brought under Christs Yoke as those that are But that he strives with all in one degree or other is evident For whence is it that many are under such frequent and strong convictions and that they are made to see sin and feel the burden of it convinced of their undone condition under it convinced of the necessity and equity of obedience and a holy life it is from the striving of the Spirit And whence is it that many are brought to take up the Yoke of Christ formally and feignedly that have no work of sound conversion wrought in their hearts So did the stony ground hearer he hears the word Mat. 13.20 and receives it and what is the receiving it but conforming to it So did Simon Magus Acts 8.13 he believed and was baptized and so came under the Yoke of Christ And whence is this but from the power of the Spirit put forth to convince of sin and of the equity of the ways of Christ This doth it Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves to thee Psal 66.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentientur in te Arias Mont. virtus nolentium nulla est The word which we render submit signifies in the Hebrew to lye Your Margent reads it feigned obedience and to feign obedience when the heart is not right with God is a lye And whence is it that many are wearied out of their lusts and brought to a free and willing submission to Christ and his Yoke but from the irresistible power of the Spirit Acts 7.51 And whence is it that many do resist the Spirit of Grace How could he be resisted if he did not put forth his power and strive with the sinner Resistance is a forcible opposition made by one against another in his onsets and attempts So that it is most evident that the Spirit of the Lord strives with all to bring them under the Yoke of Christ at one time or other Now I pray do but consider what reason there is for your compliance with the Spirit herein First Consider what his work and design is It is to prepare the way of the Lord into the heart to break the Yoke of sin to destroy that confederacy with corruption which will be the ruine of thy Soul and so to captivate the heart to the obedience of Christ Whatever means he uses this is the end he pursues If he wound us if he break us if he empty and out us of our selves it is but to bring us to a more ready and free subjection to the Laws of Christ Wounds of Conscience are painful things and spiritual troubles are grievous troubles the burden of sin is a heavy burden but so long as these things are under the management of the Spirit as instrumental to a ready obedience to the Lord Christ there is all the reason in the world why you should undergo them Secondly Let it be considered how uncertain his striving is you don't know how long or how little while it will last He begins betimes but you know not how soon he may have done If you refuse his calls and repulse him when he knocks you have no promise he will knock again To be sure the more you resist him the sooner you quench him and where he is once utterly
that is your season His killing and breaking time is your weeping and mourning time but when his healing time comes then is your time to laugh and dance Be willing therefore to be slain by the coming of the Commandment Rom. 7.9 and to lye dead under the Spirits wounds till the healing and reviving time comes Is there not a promise that the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings Mal. 4.2 and that he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoycing Psal 126.6 bringing his sheavs with him And therefore do not dare to use any indirect means in hopes of relief he that would see a good issue of this work must stay the time Lam. 3.26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. 4. While you are under the Yoke of the Spirit give diligence to make a right use of it by improving your convictions while you are under them lest the Spirit cease his work and leave you and so your convictions die and wither and come to nothing This is a very common case for whence is it that convictions do so seldom end in conversion Many are convinced and yet few converted they have many and strong convictions yet perish under them they are made to see their lost estate and yet never come to Jesus Christ Now whence is this but from the slighting and not improving their convictions Of all duties therefore be sure make Conscience of this when the Spirit strives then do you strive when he works then is your time to work I pray consider four things First Prov. 17.16 What a price to get wisdom this work of the Spirit puts into our hands and shall it be a price in the hand of fools that have no heart to it no desire to obtain it The strivings of the Spirit time your seasons of grace For though every day is a time to repent and believe in yet a man hath not his special seasons and opportunities for this every day Opportunity is more than time it is the nick and season of time it is time fitted for action a conjunction of time and means together to bring a thing about When God shews a man his undone condition by reason of sin and makes a tender of Christ to him and the Spirit strives with him to bring him to accept the tender then is his season As the Lord said to David 2 Sam. 5.24 When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry-trees then thou shalt bestir thy self for then shall the Lord go out before thee Secondly Consider how easie the conversion is of those sinners that comply with and duly improve the seasons of the Spirit All things are easie in the Spirits seasons Great births are brought forth with easie travail How came Sarah barren Sarah to have a Son at ninety years old Gen. 18.10 why God came according to the time of life and Isaac is born So when the Spirit comes according to the time of life when his season is to bring life to a dead Soul then it lives you must know that Isaac was not so much the Son of Abrahams loyns as of Gods promise begotten by the Power of God making good the promise and therefore called a child of promise Gal 4.28 So is every Believer born not of the will of the flesh Joh. 1.13 but of God By the power of God put forth through the promise And hence all things in conversion become easie How difficult soever they are to the Creature yet in the Spirits season they are easie because of a Divine power How hard a work is it to repent and turn from sin a very difficult duty therefore compared to cutting off a limb But yet in the Spirits season how easie is it Zacheus says Christ make haste and come down Luk. 19. â— here is the season of Christ upon his Soul and how easily is his repentance brought about vers 8. Behold Lord the half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have taken ought fiom any man by false accusation I restore him fourfold How hard a work is the work of believing no duty more difficult It is easier to keep all the commands of the Law than that one command of believing And yet when the season of the Spirit comes how easie is it For now all things concur to bring it about the Commandment comes the eyes are opened sin is made burdensom the need of Christ is felt and by these means the Spirit draws and then the sinner runs Ah how easie are all things in conversion made by the Spirits seasons to the Soul that complies with them and improves them Thirdly Consider this is the highest and last of means for conversion 1 It is the highest it is that which puts efficacy into all other means which without it can operate nothing It is that which can make the weakest means as successful against the proudest lusts as the Rams horns were against Jericho though her walls reached to Heaven 2 It is the last means that God ever uses to convert sinners he hath appointed no other means to succeed this and therefore if you sin against your convictions you quench the Spirit and he may be so quenched as never to be kindled again and then your conversion becomes a thing impossible And therefore Fourthly Consider what a mischief it brings upon you not to improve the convictions of the Spirit Is it not a mischief when all the Ordinances and means of Grace are rendred fruitless and unsuccessful This is an effect of not improving the Spirits convictions Nay is it not a mischief to turn the edge of that Word against your Souls that was designed against your sins This is a fruit of not improving the Spirits convictions Is it not a mischief when the heart grows harder and harder under softning means This is a fruit of not improving the Spirits convictions Is it not a mischief to be delivered up to a cannot in believing Why he that improves not the convictions of the Spirit provokes him finally to depart and then the sinner is delivered up to a cannot in believing Therefore they could not believe Joh. 12.39 Is it not a mischief when the Oath of God seals up a persons or a peoples destruction Why thus it is when the convictions of the Spirit are not improved I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest Psal 95.11 And who were these They were a people that had long resisted the strivings of the Spirit O therefore be diligent to improve your convictions while you are under them And if you ask me how they must be improved I shall give only this one answer and that is By hastening to Jesus Christ for pardoning and converting Grace You never improve your convictions aright till you are brought by them to a saving
quenched and so quench it that it can never be kindled again Many do in this sense out-live their day of grace by sinning away the motions and strivings of the Spirit for though he strives long with many and longer with some sinners than others yet he will not strive always The Lord said My Spirit shall not always strive with man Gen. 6.3 Nay the Spirit may not only cease striving when the Ordinances are removed but he may cease striving while the Ordinances are continued and then the day of grace is past though the means of grace abide The general and revealed day of grace may possibly last as long as life lasts and the sinner may sit under the Gospel-call all his days and yet the secret and particular day of grace may be ended the Spirit may never strive more but leave the sinner to his lusts This is denied by some and hardly believed by any let me therefore make it out that so the danger of sinning away your particular day of grace may be a prevailing reason why you should mind Christ and his Yoke betimes lest you defer it till it be too late I shall therefore make out the truth of this five ways First By the unerring evidence of Scripture instance Was not Ishmael a sad instance of this truth He was descended of a godly father was in Covenant with God had the Covenant-seal upon him Gen. 17.26 injoyed all the means of grace for Abraham was King Priest and Prophet in his own house And therefore he was not without the strivings of the Spirit and yet for all this he is cast out of the Church and out of Covenant Cast him out saith the Lord Gal. 4.30 Now this casting out is a cutting him off and depriving him as a just punishment of his scoffing spirit of the means of grace Gen. 21.9 Gal. 4.29 and especially of the strivings of the Spirit of God And this was done when he was not above twenty years old Oh what a dreadful instance is this How should it awaken young ones that sit under the means of grace and fill them with trembling Here is Ishmael standing out against the strivings of the Spirit and losing his day of grace at twenty years of age So that his day of grace lasted but few years for he was thirteen years old when he was circumcised Gen. 17.25 and so sealed with the Covenant-seal and therefore he was but seven years under the priviledges of the Covenant Now how old are you How long have you been sealed with the Covenant-seal How long have you been under the means and have had the Spirit striving with you Surely much longer than ever Ishmael had and therefore how dangerous is thy case if thou art not yet come under the Yoke of Christ And what think ye of Esau Did not he sin away and out-live his day of grace Why else is it said That he would afterward have inherited the blessing and was rejected For he found no place for repentance though he sought it carefully with tears Heb. 12.16 17. His time for the blessing was past and gone he came too late and so lost it and was rejected and no tears could recover it again Now there is a great Mystery in this and it instructs us in three great and concerning truths 1. That by many the greatest blessings are less minded than things of smaller moment Here 's Esau preferring a morsel of meat before his birth-right 2. To prefer temporal benefits before the greatest spiritual blessings is an evident argument of a profane spirit For therefore Esau is called a profane person because he sold his birth-right a Type of spiritual blessings for a morsel of meat 3. He that neglects to secure to himself spiritual blessings when they may be had his judgment shall be to seek and mourn after them when it will be too late to find them Esau first sells the blessing profanely which God had bestowed and afterward seeks it with tears and is rejected And when was this that Esau thus profanely parts with his birth-right It was very early in the days of his youth This is easily gathered from the story of his hunting which ye have in Gen. 25.27 and so to the end of the Chapter where it it said that the boys grew and Esau was a cunning hunter v. 27. and coming faint out of the field v. 29. he desires his brother Jacob to feed him v. 30. Jacob offers him bread for his birth-right v. 31. Esau being very faint at the point to die the Text says v. 32. sells him his birth-right for bread and pottage Thus Esau despised his birth-right v. 33. And this was very early as soon as the boys were grown up So that Esau survived his day of grace many years The Spirit of the Lord left striving with him betimes And was it not the sin of the poor Jews Did not they out-live their day of grace Luke 19.44 Oh that thou hadst known in this thy day the things which belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes Secondly If a man may fall away from the Faith once professed and that totally and finally then may he sin away the strivings of the Spirit and so out-live his day of grace Though a man cannot fall away from the work of grace finally yet from the word of grace he may though he cannot utterly depart from faith implanted yet he may from the faith professed The Apostle says 1 Tim. 4.1 That the Spirit speaks expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith Now when a man comes to depart from the Faith the word of faith the Scriptures and the profession of faith and that finally then the Spirit strives no more for his Conscience the next verse tells you is seared with a hot iron Thirdly It is evident in that God sometimes gives men up to their own lusts Psal 81.11 12. My people would not hearken to my voice and Israel would none of me had no will to me so the Hebrew and what follows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So I gave them up to their own hearts lusts and they walked in their own counsels And what is it for God to give a man up to his lusts but to let sin and corruption have the whole rule and sway in the Soul without the wonted checks and restraints of the Spirit This is called letting him alone in sin Ephraim is joyned to idols let him alone Hos 4.17 that is let him take his own course and pursue his lusts till God deal with him once for all Fourthly It appears in that judicial hardness of heart blindness and impenitency that he gives some up to which renders all the Ordinances utterly ineffectual like rain falling upon a rock that runs off without fruit Nay in this case the Ordinances do not only not soften but they harden for where God hardens every thing hardens every word every rod every
Ordinance every Providence every thing hath a commission so to do Rom. 11.8 Make the heart of this people fat make their ears heavy shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed Isai 6.10 Ye read in Rom. 1. of a threefold giving up v. 24. God gave them up to uncleanness v. 26. God gave them up to vile affections v. 28. God gave them up to a reprobate mind There is a gradation in this judicial process of God Here is the practice of sin and a giving up to that then a love and delight in sin and a giving up to that and at last a sensless stupidity in sin and then a giving up to that And these are the three saddest judgments on this side Hell God brought ten sad Plagues upon Pharaoh but there was one greater than all and that was a hardned heart Exod. 10.27 I have hardned his heart saith the Lord Exod. 7.13 And how is this done How can God be said to harden a sinners heart Non infundendo malitiam 〈◊〉 subtrahendo gratiam not by infusing any evil qualities that were not there before but by withdrawing the striving of his Spirit and leaving a man to be acted by his own lusts which do quickly work to hardening the heart and therefore that which is called a hardening the heart there is by the Apostle here explained by giving up to uncleanness to vile affections to a reprobate mind Which imports no more but a dereliction of the Spirit a ceasing to strive any longer Fifthly If a man may possibly commit the unpardonable sin the sin against the Holy Ghost then he may out-live the strivings of the Spirit and sin away his day of grace But this is possible for a man to do so did those Pharisees and Scribes Mat. 9.34 Mark 3. They commit this sin v. 22. And the Lord Christ charges them with it and tells them they shall never be pardoned nor saved by reason of it v. 29 30. So that they out-lived their day of grace Therefore the thing is most evident that a man may so long go on in sin and so far resist the Spirit in his strivings with the Soul as that his day of grace may be past and gone It may be sinned away How long the Spirit of the Lord may continue to strive with a sinner before he gives over and strives no more that I think is a question too hard for any man to determine to say thus long the Spirit will strive but no longer thus long the sinners day of grace shall continue but no longer is beyond the skill of any man 1. Because things that are purely arbitrary come under no rule 2. The Scripture is silent as to any positive determination herein God hath no where said how long it shall be how long he will wait to be gracious And where the Scripture doth not determine who can We ought not to have an ear to hear where the Scripture hath not a tongue to speak 3. It is most certain that the day of grace hath differing periods It is not of the same length to all one sinner hath the glass of his opportunity sooner run out than another To some God calls and sets open the door of grace for them and if they will enter well and good if not he shuts the door upon them and never opens it more To others he shews much long suffering he calls aloud Rom. 9.22 and strives much and knocks often at the sinners door before he will take a denial To some God lays the ax to the root of the tree Mat. 3.10 and says either bear or burn either for fruit or fire Luke 13.6 7. To others God comes looking for fruit one year after another before he gives the word for the cutting them down 4. The patience of God doth not determine the thing For that may be continued to a sinner when the Spirit hath given him over and done striving with him there may be a long day of forbearance where the day of grace is past The Lord awaken sinners to consider this for they are very apt to presume upon Gods patience and think that a season of repentance whereas the repentance and conversion of the sinner doth not depend so much upon Gods patience as upon the Spirits strivings It is this that puts a price into our hands to get wisdom Prov. 17.16 this makes the season of grace the patience of God may be for a contrary end it may be only for the filling up the measure of our iniquity And therefore sinners may possibly live long under Gods patience and forbearance and yet the season of the Spirits strivings may be at an end But yet though none can say how long or how little while the sinners day of grace shall last yet these two things may be safely said concerning it First The greater the means of grace is the shorter the day of grace is the old world had not so great means but then they had a longer day My Spirit shall not always strive with man yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years Gen. 6.3 It is not meant of the days of his life that he should live so long but it is meant of the day of grace so many years God would give them to repent in so many years his Spirit should strive with them before judgment was executed The people of Israel had greater means than the old World but then their day of grace was shorter Forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness Acts 13.18 And afterwards in Canaan still as their priviledges were inlarged so their day was shortned Never were their injoyments so great as by the coming of Christ in the flesh but yet this shortned their day of grace the more as you may see in that Parable of the Fig-tree Luke 13.6 7. And in that Commission which Christ gives to his Disciples Luke 10.10 11. Into whatever city ye enter and they receive you not go out into the street and say Even the very dust of your city we do wipe off against you notwithstanding be ye sure of this that the kingdom of God is come nigh to you As if he should say Tell them this is their day of grace which since they slight God will shake off them as you do the dust of your feet The more lively and awakening the Ministry you at any time sit under is the shorter your day of grace is for it either converts or hardens it either betters your estate or makes it worse If it be not a savour of life to life it will be a savour of death unto death 2 Cor. 2.16 It never leaves sinners as it finds them If your spiritual estate be not bettered by it the Spirit of the Lord will not strive long and then your conversion is impossible There are three sad evils
to be converted shall in old age find it is too late to be saved Object 3. Another stumbling-block that lies in the way of young ones to hinder their taking up the Yoke of Christ is the austerities of Religion it is a work too severe for green years and better suits gray hairs Who doth not see what a melancholy thing Religion is * Spiritus Calvinianus spiritus Melancholicus it takes a man off from all his pleasures and delights and dulls and besots the Spirits and therefore when once a man takes up this course never let him expect to see good day more This is another stumbling stone which I shall endeavour to remove out of the way by these four Considerations Answ 1. Consider who they are that charge Religion with these severities Are they such as ever were under the power of it Have they ever lived over its precepts and embraced its promises and tasted its sweetnesses Are they such as can say they have ever made any serious tryal of godliness No I know they are not for if they had they would pass another judgment their own experiences would confute a thousand of these groundless pretences No man ever took up Religion in earnest and heartily submitted himself to the Yoke of Christ but hath found it quite another thing It is good for me to draw near to God Psal 73.28 And if this be the charge of such as never made a tryal what Religion and a holy life is why should any man regard it For they speak evil of those things they know not Jud. v. 10. Prov. 24.7 This wisdom is too high for a fool and they condemn it because they do not understand it And how unreasonable is this Solomon says He that answers a matter before he hears i. e. understands it it is folly and shame to him Prov. 18.13 and yet in Religion nothing more common who were they that in the Apostles days accounted the doctrine of a crucified Christ foolishness but such as understood least of it And who are they that mock at the doctrine of imputed righteousness of the testimony of the Spirit in Believers and of assurance of Salvation but the blind Papists who never felt the power and comfort of these things And Tertul. Quid inquius quà m ut oderint homines quod ignorant Nothing more hateful than for a man to hate and condemn what he doth not understand Therefore 2. Consider what is the judgment of good men in the case who have inured themselves to a life of godliness these are the fittest persons to determine the matter having had their senses exercised to discern between good and evil Heb. 5.14 In other cases you do so if you want advice about matters of Law you will go to an experienced Lawyer or if you advise about your health you will consult the most experienced Physician If you would be satisfied of such or such a Country whom would you inquire of such as write at random of it but never set foot in it Or would you not rather take the judgment of such as have seen it lived in it and known the Laws and Manners of it these can speak by experience and so can every sincere professor John 3.11 We speak that we know and testifie that we have seen and 1 John 1.3 That which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life declare we unto you And what is their judgment in the case why they have commended the life of Godliness as the most pleasant and delightful life in the world and the fullest of true joy and sweetness One day in thy Courts is better than a thousand elsewhere Psal 84.10 Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace Prov. 3.17 And how is Paul ravished with the joys of a life of Godliness hence he speaks his abounding consolations by Christ and crys out 2 Cor. 1.4 God forbid I should glory save only in the Cross of Christ Galat. 6.14 Gal. 6.14 And this is not the sense of David and Solomon and the Apostle Paul only but of all the Saints of God that ever lived and they have not only said it but have practically attested it and that undeniably in this that never any one of them when they once took up the Yoke of Christ ever cast it off again but have lived and died witnesses to this truth 3. The sorrows and dejections that Christians are at any time filled with are not from Godliness but from want of more Godliness not from Grace but from the imperfection of Grace their sins and failings are the only causes of their sorrows and troubles Could they sin less they should have less sorrow and it is a most righteous thing that where sin is committed it should be bewailed If no man can live without sin then how can it be that a man can love God and not mourn and sorrow for sinning against him God will have every man living bewail and repent of sin at one time or other if not here yet in hell And then the question is which is best here repentance ends in remission but in hell it ends in desperation Sorrow for sin now hath a blessing in it it ends in comfort Matt. 5.4 Psal 126.5.6 But sorrow for sin hereafter greatens torment This sorrow will have an end but that is without end What are those merry Greeks that sported away their time and their Souls in this world doing now in hell they are repenting without hope and sorrowing without end weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth at their own folly and madness And which is best the sinner being Judge to go mourning to Heaven where all tears shall be wiped away or laughing to hell where suffering and sorrowing shall be without end 4. Why should a life of Religion be a dull and besotting life what is there in it that should make it so Doth it prohibit us any pleasures or delights no none but what are incompetent to us as men and which make us rather beasts than men And for these it gives better pleasures in their room Peace that passes understanding Philip. 4.7 inward satisfaction resulting from a witnessing conscience Prov. 14.14 2 Corinth 1.12 comforts that flow from an upper spring from divine love manifested and communion with God injoyed These are spiritual pleasures and delights of the same nature and kind with those which in a fuller measure and greater degree of injoyment do make up the state of blessedness And hence it is called joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1.8 So that your joys and delights are not extinguished but raised Religion doth not extirpate them but transplant them out of Egypt that they may grow in Canaan Religion spiritualizeth and sanctifieth your joys but doth not extinguish them So far then Religion is not chargeable with our droops