affections with holy desires to imbrace him z Psal 24. 7 and to set open the gates and doores of our souls that this King of glory may come in and dwell with us for ever If we do sincerely from the heart desire such a glorious King and such a bountifull Inhabitant to make his perpetuall abode with us then we must presse hard upon him and importune him earnestly with our frequent and fervent Prayers to abide and dwell with us a Gen. 19 2 3. The two Angels that came to Sodome refused to tarry all night with Lot upon his first intreaty but when he pressed greatly upon them they turned in unto him and entered into his house and he made them a feast and they did eat and then they preserved him from the burning But behold b Revel 3. 20 Christ standeth at the door of our hearts and knocks if we hear his voice and open the door he will come in to us and will sup with us we shall sup with him O the happinesse of that soul that doth hear the voice of Christ when he calls and doth open his heart unto him when he knocks either by the Ministery of his Word by the motions of his Spirit by afflictions troubles crosses or by any other meanes whatsoever But if we will intertain Christ we must have no corrivall with him for God and Mammon Christ and Belial cannot dwell together Thus saith Christ c Luk. 26 13 Ye cannot serve God and Mammon for no man can serve two masters Also thus saith Paul d 2 Cor. 6. 14 15 What communion hath light with darknesse and what concord hath Christ with Belial e Mat. 10 37. If we love father or mother son or daughtor more then Christ we are not worthy of him If the affections of our hearts are carried after the riches preferments and pleasures of this world or after any darling sin then Christ will not dwell there and we lose the comfortable and blessed Presence of the eternall Son of God and the fulnesse of all his excellencies and rich endowments for that which is nothing else but vanity and vexation of spirit Wherefore now we may Meditate comfortably on God through Jesus Christ our Saviour for the terriblenesse of his Majesty is clouded with the vail of his goodnesse the severity of his justice is sweetened with his mercy and tender compassion Christ hath taken our souls out of the hand of Gods justice and hath put them into the hand of his mercy where they shall be kept for true blessednesse to all eternity If his greatnesse doth affright us his goodnesse will allure us if his justice doth drive us from him his mercy and love will draw us to him for by Christ we have a neer relation to God himself either as his servants by grace or as his children by adoption in both which respects our Meditations of him will be exceedingly delightfull to us So likewise if we fix our thoughts upon Christ though his excellencies and dignities are far above the reach of our humane capacity yet by faith we do apprehend him to be our Redeemer and our Advocate now at the right hand of God his Father in the highest heavens and therefore our Meditations of him cannot but ravish our souls with heavenly joy and spirituall consolation in the assurance of our Redemption and of our Atonement with God and also in the hope of our eternall salvation and to be heirs of the kingdome of heaven which he hath purchased for us with his own blood How to Meditate on the Holy Ghost THe Holy Geost is the same spirituall Essence and Being with the Father and with the Son coequall and coeternall with them both but as the Deity is distinguished into three Persons the holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and from the Son and he is the third Person in the sacred Trinity Christ doth prove that the holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father in these words a Iohn 15 26 But when the comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father he shall testifie of me That he proceedeth from the Son is manifest by this of Paul b Gal. 4. 6 And because ye are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father John also the beloved Disciple of Christ maketh it plain that the holy Ghost is the third Person in the holy Trinity by these words c 2 Joh 5. 7 There are three that bear record in heaven The Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three aâ—e One. The Prophet calls him d Isa 11. 2 The spirit of Wisdome and understanding the spirit of counsel and strength the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD e Heb. 9. 14 He is the eternall spirit of God from whom nothing can be hidden according to this of David f Psal 139 7 Whither shall I go from thy Sptrit or whither shall I flee from thy presence Christ calleth him the Spirit of truth g Ioh 14. 16 7. And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive John calls him h Rev. 11. 11 the Spirit of life because by the power of his grace de doth quicken our hearts and revive us when we are dead in our trespasses and sins Paul doth also call him i Rom. 8. 15 16 the Spirit of adoption to witnesse to our spirits that we are the children of God If we fix our Meditations on the holy Ghost as he is in his Divine Essence and Being or as he is one of the three Persons in the sacred Trinity we shall be confounded in these deep mysteries of the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity but if we Meditate upon him according to his proper Office as he is a Comforter or according to his severall operations in our hearts we shall then find much comfortable matter for our hearts to Meditate upon which will minister heavenly and spirituall consolation to our poor souls First therefore we must consider that the proper Office of the holy Ghost is to be a comforter to us in all our afflictions and sufferings for we are dayly exposed to many tribulations and calamities either for the profession of the Name of Christ for the triall of our graces or for our correction when we lye in sin without repentance which would easily swallow us up if we had not some true comforter to support and comfort us in them k 1 Pet. 2. 1â— 1 There is also an host of sinfull lusts in us that war against our souls which do dayly assault us with strong temptations and we are round beset with perills dangers and spirituall enemies which continually threaten our downfall and ruine and do seek to hinder our salvation But above all we are sometimes wounded in our
to the people of God in their march through that hot Countrey We are by nature under the spiritual bondage of sin and Satan which is far worse than the Egyptian bondage was to the Israelites and we have no means to be brought out of it but by an almighty power and if God doth deliver us yet we are so ignorant of the way to the heavenly Canaan that we cannot set one step toward it except the holy Ghost doth put a spiritual Light into our understanding to teach and instruct us in the right way to heavenly happinesse And because we shal meet with many spiritual enemies so long as we march thorough the wildernesse of this world the holy Ghost will so protect and defend us that they shall neither hurt our souls by their power nor keep us out of Canaan by their subtilty or malice He will guide and direct us into all holy duties he will give us holy desires and true endeavours to do the will of God and to walk humbly before him in this present world Also the holy Ghost doth protect us from the heat of Gods wrath by working faith in us to lay hold upon the merit of Christs death for the pardon of our sins and by conferring grace for the sanctification of our lives So likewise he doth refresh and comfort our fainting spirits with the sweet dewes of heavenly consolations and he doth mollifie and soften our obdurate and stony hearts with those influences of grace that descend from him that we may p Joel 2. 28 Gal. 5. 22 23. be fruitfull in all good works This holy Spirit doth also quench the fire of sin which otherwise would inflame the whole man with sinful lusts And lastly the holy Ghost doth purge and cleanse the soul from the filth of sin as water washeth away the filth of the body This doth God promise by his Prophet q Zech. 36 25. I will pour clean water upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthinesse and from all your idols will I cleanse you Wherefore we ought seriously to ruminate upon these operations of the holy Ghost for we cannot find the right way to the heavenly Canaan by all that nature or humane learning can afford us we cannot over power our spiritual enemies by our own strength we have no holy desires and no ability in our selves to any thing that is good nothing that is in our power can keep us from the wrath of God and we have nothing that can refresh and and comfort our afflicted spirits But here we shal find that the holy Ghost wil be our guide to this heavenly Country he wil be our Protector against all adversary power and he wil be a true comforter to us in all our sorrowes and upon all occasions in all conditions of life He will bring us unto Christ and wil firmly unite us unto him by faith r 1 Cor. 10. 1 2. for as the ancient Fathers were all under the cloud and all passed thorough the sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea so we are baptized unto Christ by the holy Ghost that our sins may be washed away in his blood and that we may be sanctified by this spirit of grace to live in true holinesse and righteousnesse all our dayes If we can thus Meditate on the holy Ghost it wil be exceeding profitable and comfortable to our souls Thirdly the holy Ghost is resembled to the pillar of fire that conducted the Israelites by night out of Egypt toward the Land of Canaan Now we must consider that such as are the properties of fire such are some of the operations of the holy Ghost in our hearts Fire is the most pure Element and purifies all other elements it doth naturally mount upward it is bright and shining and giveth light to all dark places It doth also warm and comfort every part of our bodies and it is the most active of all the other elements it purifies the gold and burnes away the drosse Thus it is with the holy Ghost for he is essentially pure in himself and purifies every soul from dead works into which he comes he wil not suffer any unclean lust or evill concupiscence to have dominion where he dwelleth and he wil raise up the cogitations of the minde and the affections of the heart to mount upwards in heavenly contemplations Also whereas by nature Å¿ 1 Cor. 2. 10 11. we cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishnesse unto us neither can we know them because they are spiritually discerned God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit for the holy Ghost wil put a spiritual light into our hearts to discern the deep things of God he wil also inflame our affections with an holy zeal to the glory of God and will make our love fervent to the truth So likewise the holy Ghost wil melt our hard and stony hearts and make them tender and gracious flexible and yielding to every holy duty And whereas our hearts are naturally bound up in unbelief and heavy and sluggish to any thing that is good t Psal 119. 32. the holy Ghost wil so inlarge them that with all cheerfulnesse of spirit and willingnesse of minde we shall run the way of Gods Commandements Wherefore now if we have found any of these operations of the holy Ghost in our hearts we shal be in some measure purified and refined from our sins and pollutions we shall have some of the drosse of our corrupted nature consumed and the heavenly graces of the Spirit of God wil shine forth in the integrity of our lives and conversations Also we shall have some spiritual light to guide our darkned understandings in the knowledge of God and of his wayes some fervency in our Prayers some love to the truth and some holy zeal to the true worship and service of God we shal delight in his Law we shal study to do good works and it will be the desire of our hearts and the comfort of our souls to Meditate day and night in the Commandements of God If these Operations of the holy Ghost which are resembled to these two pillars cannot easily work upon us if these cannot raise up our affections to heavenly contemplations and to be forward and ready to every good duty in the service of God then surely we are exceeding dull and stupid and we have great need to pray earnestly that the holy Ghost will be pleased to come with his unresistible power and break our hard stony hearts and molifie this extreme obduracy that is in them with his suppling grace that so we may more easily take the impression of his sanctifying grace in us Consider further that these two pillars which did lead the Israelites out of Egypt were a visible sign of the presence of God with them to conduct them in the way to Canaan to protect and defend them from all their
the power of sin will be killed in us that by the sanctifying Grace of the holy Ghost we may be raised up to newnesse of life If we did seriously consider these things we should not keep at so farre a distance from Piety and vertue and we should not be such strangers to a Christian life and conversation but we would use all means to get into nearer society with Christ by true saving faith and by heavenly contemplation that the spirituall dew of his heavenly graces may distill into our hearts to sanctifie us throughout both in soul and in body that in Christ we may be made new creatures To this end we must endeavour to keep our faith still in action and continually to use it upon all occasions and in every condition of life for thereby we shall draw strength and power from Christ to carry us on through all temptations and tryalls and to support and comfort us in all sorrows and tribulations it will purifie our hearts from dead works and suffer no sin to continue with us without repentance to hinder the salvation of our souls This rare example of the goodnesse and mercy of Christ to this believing Thief may keep us from despair because g Ezech. 18 21 22. there is mercy for a sinfull soul if at any time he doth truly repent and turn to the Lord with a full intent and purpose of will to reform his evill it doth also teach us not to be secure or carelesse of our salvation for it is extreamly dangerous to loose any opportutunity of grace that God shall give us or to take so much liberty to sin as to forget to make our Peace with God in time for we must give an account at the last day of all that we have done in the flesh and our condition then wil be most miserable if our reckoning be not made perfect in the righteousnesse of Christ by faith while we live here upon earth and therefore it is the greatest punishment in this life to have no sense of our spirituall misery and not to fear or remember the dreadfull day of judgement Also this consideration should keep us from rash judgement and censuring of any mans condition though he be a notorious sinner for God can give him grace to repent when he pleaseth As this one example of the mercy of Christ to this penitent sinner may keep us from despair from security and from rash judging of others so let it keep us from presuming upon sin in hope of pardon we do wilfully delay our repentance from day unto day and so continue impenitent to the last part of our life because this man had all his sins forgiven even in a moment and was received to mercy at the last hour for God may justly deny us mercy if we refuse grace when the means is offered to us So likewise let it keep us from presuming upon repentance because it is not in our power to repent when we will This heavenly grace is the gift of God and it is the first fruits of faith which the holy Ghost will work in us if we are ready to yield obedience to his holy inspirations or to make the right use of such meanes as he is pleased to use to make us willing to seek unto him for it for if the Spirit of God doth not work it in us we can have no hope ever to obtain it Now consider the strength of faith that was in this poor sinner he gave the highest title of honour to Christ when he we was scornfully mocked and in a most contemptible condition to the eye of all men he did imbrace him and vindicate his honour when he was upon the crosse he did believe that heaven was his Kingdom though he were now reviled and despised of all men and that he had the disposing of all honours and preferments in that Kingdom which made him pray unto him Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdome also his heart was touched with a sensible feeling of his sins he made a pious confession of them and therefore he did pray for mercy out of a true sense of his misery If we can shew the faith of this penitent Thief though our life hath been as vicious as his was and though we turn to Christ late as he did yet we may have good hope of the pardon of our sins and we may comfortably expect his felicity for Christ will return the like gracious answer to our Prayers and the like promise of future happinesse But what faith can we shew if we still dishonour Christ with our words and works how can we trust in him if we do not believe that all regall power both in heaven and in earth is given unto him And how can we hope for future blessednesse from him if we are not confident that he is the disposer of all the glorious mansions that are in heaven what godly sorrow have we for our sins if we still go on in a presumptuous way of sinning And what hope is there of true repentance if we still cherish foster our sins in our bosome if our faith and repentance be no better then thus Christ will not hear our Prayers nor grant our requests Wherefore let not the devill delude thee with security or presumption lest he brings thee to perdition for many have perished with the shadow of this deceitful hope Look well to the truth of thy faith that it be well grounded upon the true knowledge of Christ and of those excellencies that are in him that thou maist firmly rest upon him in all troublesome and dangerous times but chiefly for the redemption of thy soul Neglect not the means of grace and defer not thy repentance for God hateth such as upon confidence of repentance in their old age do presume to sin the moâ—e freely as if God did not know the deceit and hypocrisie that is in their hearts h Deut. 29. 19 20 If thou dost flatter thy self in thy wickednesse and doest blesse thy self in thy heart saying I shal have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart to ad drankenes to thirst then know that the Lord will not spare thee but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against thee and all the curses that are written in his book shal lye upon thee and the Lord shall blot out thy Name from under heaven Consider further how much this penitent sinner was humbled in the sense of his sins and of his unworthinesse and also how bountifull and good Christ was to him for he durst not presume to beg any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ but onely some remembrance of him when he came into his Kingdome but Christ did grant him a present possession of his Kingdome Verily I say unto thee To day thou shalt be with me in Paradise This Paradise was the place of blessednesse where all the Saints of God shall be untill the generall
what a great punishment it is when the Ministers of God are removed from their places and the people fit in darknesse and left to ignorance and spirituall blindnesse or else to such teachers as cannot shew them the right way to heavenly happinesse But it is a punishment above all other when God will take away his Word and Gospel from a Nation or people because they despise it and will not learn instruction by it Christ thus threatneth the Church of Ephesus p Rev. 2. 5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly and I will remove thy candlestick out of his place except thou repent Darknesse of understanding was one of the curses which God threatned to bring upon his people if they would not obey his Law q Deut. 28. 28 26. The Lord shall smite thee with blindnesse and thou shalt grope at noon-dayes as the blinde gropeth in darknesse and thou shalt not prosper in thy wayes Among the sins of the Jews which the Prophet reckoneth up this was one r Isa 59. 7 9 10. that they made haste to shed innocent blood Therefore saith he is judgement far from us neither doth justice overtake us We wait for light but behold obscurity for brightnesse but we walk in darknesse We grope for the wall like the blinde and we grope as if we had no eyes We stumble at noonday as in the night we are in desolate places as dead men All this was truly verified in the Jews at this time when they shed the innocent blood of our Saviour Christ upon the Crosse It is therefore a fearfull judgement when God doth bereave us of the means of knowledge and understanding of his will Hear what the Lord threatneth by his Prophet Å¿ Amos 11 12. Behold the dayes come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water but of hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the North even to the East they shall run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord and shall not find it Miserable are the people that are in such a case for they have no means to come to the knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ by whom they must be saved Now let us Meditate with faithfull hearts on the wonderfull goodnesse of God who hath continued still unto us the light of his Gospel and his Word of truth to be a Lanthorn to our feet and a light unto our paths and to guide us into the way of true peace and heavenly felicity whereas our sins have justly deserved that he should remove our Candlestick from us Let us also study all thankfulnesse to him for so great a blessing and labour to improve it to the glory of God and to the edification of our souls to eternall life t 1 Sam. 3. 1 In the dayes of the Judges untill Samuels time the Word of the Lord was precious there was no open vision Wherefore while we do injoy it we should highly prize it and imbrace it with pure affections as the means which God hath appointed for our salvation In the last place consider that as it was the good pleasure of God to humble his onely Son so low before he had finished the work of our redemption as that the Sun seemed to mourn at the sight of it so likewise God is sometimes pleased to bring his dearest servants from the highest degree of honour to the lowest condition of men for some end and purpose which he in his secret wisdom doth intend either for his own glory or for their good It may be our case to be brought from plenty to penury from pleasure to pain from health to sicknesse from credit and honour to shame and disgrace but we need not repine at Gods Providence herein for as he can advance his own glory by our condition how mean soever it be so he can and will sanctifie our condition to our comfort and for our good though it be among the lowest degrees of men if we do meekly submit to his will and pleasure We cannot be brought so low as our gracious Saviour was we cannot suffer so much of Gods fury as he did for he drank a full draught and the very dregs of the cup of trembling at Gods hand but we have a very small portion measured out to us and the bitternesse of it will soon be out of our tasté u Psal 30. 5. for the anger of Godendureth but a moment in his favour is life wéâ—ping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning Our cup of affliction is tempered and measured out by Christ according to our strength and it is sweetned with many comforts that we may willingly take it and be able to bear it Christ hath had full experience of our sorrowes and he will compassionate us in our miseries If we are oppressed under the crosse he will ease it in his good time if we are perplexed for our sins he will present our condition to his Father and the merit of his blood to procure our atonement with God that the bright beams of his grace and favour may again shine upon us If we do seriously meditate on these things we may faithfully believe that Christ the Sun of righteousness will at length come with healing in his wings and dispell the black cloud of afflictions which hath long overshadowed us Of the Death of our SAVIOUR CHRIST COnsider now with all pious devotion to what weaknesse both of spirit and body our dear and precious Saviour was brought when he was upon the Crosse for his blood was wasted his Spirits were spent the moisture of his body was dryed up and the time of his dissolution was now at hand Now was fulfilled that of the Prophet a Zech. 13. 7 Awake O sword against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow saith the Lord of hosts smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered When Christ was in this extremity of weaknesse a little before his death b Joh. 19. 28. he said I thirst by all which he did shew the truth of his humanity This thirst was not so much for wine or water to refresh his fainting spirits as it was to have our redemption finished that God might be glorified in the salvation of mankinde Then the barbarous people that had no humanity in them gave him Vinegar in a spunge to drink which they did out of malice to increase his pain and misery but the Lord did so order it that it was to fulfill this saying of the Psalmist c Psal 69. 21. They gave me also gall for my meat and in my thirst they gave me Vinegar to d Joh. 19. 30 drink When Christ had tasted it he said It is finished because all the
the sanctifying graces of his holy Spirit may season our hearts and affections to walk before him in holinesse and purenesse of living all our dayes Wherefore now our afflictions and troubles which are part of this curse are sanctified to us and made salubrious and wholesome for our good and the evill of punishment which we suffer is taken away by the merit of his sufferings and the nature of them is changed into fatherly chastisements to correct us for our sins that we may walk more obediently before God or else they are to try the truth of our graces for the honour of God that gave them Fourthly this is another great Advantage and Gain that we have by Christ which unregenerate men cannot finde that he hath also freed us from the dominion of sin for though sin will dwell with us so long as we live in the flesh yet the strength and power of sin is weakened and killed by the vertue and power of that grace which Christ hath given us by his death The best of Gods servants do often complain how the unregenerate part in them doth sometimes prevail against the Spirit which makes them groan under the burden of their corruptions as holy David and others have done Paul also found this to be true for thus he saith e Rom. 7. 18 19. I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I finde not for the good that I would I do not but the evill which I would not that I do And he had no power but onely from Christ to be freed from this dominion of sin and therefore he cryeth out saying f Rom 7. 24 25. O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord for he found this Benefit and Gain by Christ for saith he g Phil. 1. 21. To me to live is Christ and to dye is gain or else we may read it thus For Christ is to me both in life and in death advantage This is not the gain which natural men look for they seek after the gain of riches the gain of honours and the gain of worldly preferments they look not after spiritual gain they do not esteem of vertue and godliness piety towards God is out of request with them though it be the true gain and most to be desired Fifthly that we may get this spirituall gain of Godlinesse which is the advantage onely of a true Believer Christ doth wash us in the Laver of his righteousnesse and therefore he bestowes all sanctifying and saving graces upon us to purifie us from the silth and pollutions of our sins For Christ doth unite us unto himself by Faith whereby we are cloathed with his righteousnesse and have all the benefits that come by the merite of his blood then faith drawes in with it all other sanctifying graces to make us compleat and perfect in Christ to beautifie and adorn our souls that we may lead a vertuous and pious life in the right way of true holiness h 1 Pet. 2. 2 Christ doth also give us an holy desire to the sincere milk of the word that thereby we may grow in i 2 Pet. 3. 18. grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we are brought into the favour of God k Rom. 3. 24 by whose grace love we are freely justified through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ l Eph. 2. 8. by whose free grace also we are saved through faith in Christ Saving grace was one of the special gifts that Christ gave after his Ascension according to this of Paul m Eph. 4. 7. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ n Heb. 13 9. Wherefore if our hearts are stablished w th grace we shal not be carried about with diverse and strange doctrines but we shall stand firm in the Faith and in the truth of our Profession and our hearts will be purged from dead works Sixthly we have this great Advantage by Christ above all other men o Gal. 4. 5 6 7. that by him we receive the adoption of sons and thereby we injoy all the Priviledges that belong to sons for God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying Abba Father and we are made heirs of God through Christ Wherefore p Heb. 4. 16. in him we may come boldly unto the throne of grace by Prayer that we may obtain mercy and finde grace to help in time of need For God will have a fatherly care of us to protect us in all dangers to provide whatsoever is good for us and to comfort us in all our sorrowes and distresses q Psal 9. 9. Isa 25. 4. Thus was God a refuge and a shield of defence to David and to other holy men in their troubles and afflictions If his rod of correction be upon us it will be in love r Heb. 12. 6. as a father chasteneth his son that he may receive us as his sons and though we feel his visitation sharp Å¿ Lam. 3. 31 yet he will not cast us off for ever for t Eph. 4 30. we are sealed unto the day of Redemption u Heb. 6. 12. that we may through faith and patience inherit the promises u 1 Pet. 1 4. as heirs to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us Lastly Christ hath sealed the Covenant of grace to us with his own blood whereby we are freed from the strict keeping of the legal Covenant of Works and Christ will perfect with his own righteousnesse whatsoever is wanting in us to the fulfilling of the Law if we endeavour the best we can with an upright heart to do the will of God and then God in mercy will accept of our imperfect obedience for his sake This new Covenant which Christ hath procured for us will admit of the obedience of Christ for us and also of our true repentance for our sins which the legal Covenant would not because it required perfect and personal obedience to every tittle of the Law both in thought in word and in deed By vertue of this new Covenant x Jer. 31. 33 34. God is our God and he will forgive all our iniquities and will remember our sins no more upon condition that we believe in Christ y Heb. 12. 24. who is the Mediator of this Covenant and that with our faith we joyn piety and new obedience Christ hath also given us his Sacraments whereby this Covenant is sealed to us if we do worthily partake of them but of this Covenant and also of the Sacraments I have written more fully in another Treatise Now Meditate with an holy devotion upon all these Advantages which every
Davids delight to Meditate on the Law of God because he found great sweetnesse in it f Psal 119. 163. How sweet saith he are thy words unto my taste Yea sweeter than hony to my mouth If we had Davids spiritual palate g Isa 58. 13. we should delight in the Lords Sabbath as he saith by his Prophet we should delight to hear his Word to come to his holy Table to meditate on his Law and to practise all holy duties to the honour and glory of his Name Also if we do set our selves to Meditate on the strength and power of his grace we shall finde that Faith will give us sufficient power against all our spiritual enemies hope will uphold our Faith in the promises of God when it is weak patience will make us bear our afflictions and tryalls with a willing minde holy zeal will make our Prayers effectual to prevail with God to grant what we desire or what is better for us and constancy will make us continue in well-doing unto the end that we may receive that recompence of reward which God of his infinite goodnesse hath promised As Faith is the Mother of all other spiritual graces so it will alwayes go along with every particular grace to make it the more effectual and powerful to help us in time of need Now we know the quicknesse of our spirituall taste by our delight in holy duties and in the Ordinances of God and we may know the strength of grace by the fruits and effects of it according to the nature of every particular grace also the truth of every grace that is in us will appear and that it is a fruit of Faith if the power of Faith goeth along with it How to increase Faith EVery man hath not alike measure of Faith he that iâ— weakest in Faith may be made stronger and he that is strong in Faith may yet have more for it is a spiritual and heavenly grace which will grow and increase if it be spiritually watered by the holy Ghost Christ did find a great Faith in the Woman of Canaan and in some others a Mat. 15. 28. O woman saith he to her great is thy faith but he did often reprove his Disciples for the weaknesse of their Faith and thus he said in particular unto Peter b Mat. 14. 31 O thou of little faith wherefoer didst thou doubt Peters doubting made him ready to sink as he walked upon the waters unto Christ and it did discover the weaknesse of his Faith and confidence in Christ as if he could not give him power to walk upon the waters as he did This is the condition of many of Gods dear servants that when they see perills and dangers ready to fall upon them and no means either to escape them or to be delivered from them then fears and doubtings will rise in their mindes to discover the weaknesse of their Faith and to make them distrust the providence of God to doubt of his Fatherly care of them and of his Almighty Power to save them For sometimes their Faith may be so weak that it cannot mount above their humane capacity they cannot see the wisdom and power of God to be far above the reach of their reason and understanding When God seeth such weaknesse in our Faith he will tenderly visite us and will give us hope by some manifest signes to strengthen our faith against all our fears and doubtings Though our faith be weak yet if it be true it is saving it is growing and it is lasting Faith is saving because it doth unite us unto Christ with an unseparable union who is the rock of our salvation and by whom onely we must be saved c Act. 4. 11 12. Christ is that stone which was set at nought of the builders which is becâ—me the head of the corner Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Also we may grow in faith First d 1 Pet. 2. 2. if we desire the sincere milk of the Word as new born babes desire the milk of the breast that we may thereby grow in the knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ If the word of God be purely Preached without the mixture of erroneous doctrine it is the seed of grace which God soweth in our hearts by his Ministers and he will water it with his Spirit to make it increase and fructifie that we may grow in grace until we come to a full stature in Christ if we do hear iâ— with sanctified hearts and pure affections Secondly we may greatly increase our faith in Christ if we do spiritually feed upon his body and blood when we come to the Lords Table which is the true food of our souls and the heavenly nourishment of that spirituall life which we have in Christ by Faith and the oftner we do thus feed at the Lords Table the more we cherish this spiritual life and the more we increase our Faith and make all other saving graces the stronger in us Thirdly prayer is a speciall meanes for the increase of our Faith for we have the beginnings of Faith from God the increase of it also and the stablishment of it is from God and we must beg it of him by our Prayers and supplications or else we cannot obtain it Thus said the Apostles unto Christ e Lu. 17. 5. Lord increase our Faith Also thus said the Father of the dumb childe unto Christ f Mar. 9. 24 Lord I believe help thou my unbelief God is ready to hear the Prayers of his servants but specially when they make such petitions as he is willing to grant which are such as do make most for his own glory and nothing can advance the glory of God more than when they crave the increase of their Faith without which they can glorifie God in no services which they perform unto him for without faith it is impossible to please God and so consequently to honour him in any holy duty which he commandeth Fourthly Faith will grow and increase by our dayly Meditation on the Truth of Gods Word how faithfully he hath performed all his Promises how ready and how able he is still to perform them if we can rest and depend upon them by Faith If we consider that God is immutable and omnipotent in his own Essence that he is Truth it self that he will not alter whatsoever he hath decreed in his secret Counsel and that he will perform all that he hath promised in his Word it will greatly strengthen our Faith and uphold our trust and confidence in God when any difficulties or dangers presse hard upon us which otherwise would shake the foundation of our faith Fifthly the dayly experience which we have of the power of God and of his goodnesse to us in all conditions of life whether we be in prosperity or in adversity in health or in
written r Rom. 3. 10 11. There is none righteous no not one there is none that understandeth there is none that seeketh after God there is none that doth good no not one Most men fix their â—aith upon wrong objects which will deceive them in the end some upon false gods as upon Ashteroth Chemosh Dagon Belzebub and the like others put their confidence trust in the arm of flesh in strong towers or in the creature as Senacherib Nebuchadnezzar and others some again ground their faith upon their works all which delude themselves with vain hopes thinking to find help and comfort in these false objects where none can be expected But the true object of this Divine grace is God himself upon whom onely we must fix our Faith for if we trust in him we shall not be confounded Many have the notion of Faith in their brain but not the grace of Faith in their hearts and many have the outward profession of Faith but not the vertue and power of it to lay hold upon Christ and to make him their onely trust and confidence The Souldiers Faith is in his valour for he believeth not that Å¿ Ps 144. 1. God teacheth his hands to war and his fingers to fight and that he giveth victory to whom and when he pleaseth If the Magistrate did believe t Rom. 13. â— that he had his power and authority from God to use it in justice and in truth to whom he must give an account how he hath relieved the oppressed and how he hath judged the cause of the fatherlesse and Widow he would not then strain the Lawes beyond their true meaning nor pervert judgement for anjust ends The rich mans confidence is in his wealth and goods not believing u Lu. 12. 20 that this night they may be taken from him or he from them All these and many more come short of true justifying faith and therefore they know not the singular worth and esteem of it Wherefore it is evident that this heavenly grace is peculiar onely to the Elect of God such as are true Christians and such as are poor in spirit and humble minded that know the worth of this precious Jewell that do earnestly seek for it and use the right means to obtain it these onely are willing and ready to apply themselves unto God by prayer and supplication that he will be pleased to work it in their hearts by his Spirit that it may be firmly grounded upon Christ that onely he may be the Object of their Faith in whom dwelleth all fulnesse and who onely is able to support help and comfort them in all their necessities both spirituall and temporall and as he is able so he is as willing to do it Wherefore they do renounce all other confidence and they stick close unto Christ they rest and depend upon him using the means which he hath appointed to make their lives comfortable here and eternally blessed in the world to come Lastly the great estimation that we ought to have of Faith will appear by this consideration that the devill doth most oppose it and seeketh by all means to hinder the working and the growth of it in our hearts because it is the onely instrument of our salvation by Christ We cannot conceive what stratagemâ— he will cunningly use to deceive us and if it were possible to overthrow our faith First he will assault us with temptations and evil suggestions as he did David when he numbered the people to make him trust more in his own strength than in God Secondly he will labour by his subtile perswasions to keep us still in unbelief or else to make us presume of salvation by the mercies of God without Faith in Christ Thirdly he will delude us with a temporary faith which will not bear us out in strong tryals and temptations and so to lose the time and opportunity that God doth give us for the obtaining of true saving Faith Fourthly he â—oth bewitch us with the sinfull delights and vanities of this world to steal away our hearts from God and to keep us from a firm trust and confidence in him or else to keep us under the slavery and bondage of some sin which will nip the fruits of our faith and keep it from increase Lastly to further his wicked design he will labour to hold us in ignorance and blindnesse that we should not see our own miserable condition nor know how to get out of it Thus the Devil doth set himself against Faith because upon it dependeth our hope of salvation and because it is the chief piece of our spirituall armour to resist and conquer him and it is a shield so strong that his fiery darts cannot pierce it to wound or hurt our souls Wherefore we must look well to our Faith that the devil do not undermine it for then he will rob us of these blessed fruits that come thereby But our hope is in the promises of God and in the intercession of Christ as a sure Anchor to uphold and strengthen our Faith that it fail not though it be assaulted with much malice and violence In all ages the Devil hath had his wicked instruments which have turned many away from the Faith and have opposed the Prophets and Ministers of God and have persecuted those that did professe the Name of Christ to make them forsake the Faith u Gen. 3. Thus he made the Serpent his instrument to deceive Eve x 1 Kin. 22. Thus he made Zâ—dâ—kiah to withstand good Michaiah and to seduce King Ahab from following the word of the Lord. y Acts 13. 8 10. Thus also Elimas the forcerer withstood Paul and Barnabas seeking to turn away Sergius Paulus the Deputy from the Faith to whom Paul said O full of all subtilty and all mischief thou childe of the devil thou enemy of all righteousnesse wilt thou not cease to pervert the right wayes of the Lord Thus also the devil doth sometimes prevail against the servants of God z 1 Kin. 13. He made the old Prophet to seduce the man of God that was sent to Bethel and to transgresse the Commandement of God This should teach us the more highly to love and prize Faith because the devil so much hates it and to stick the closer to it because he doth so much oppose it This should also teach us to love those that wicked men hate and to hate those that they love if we observe what they do most delight in we should hate their vice and love the contrary vertue If they delight in gluttony or riot we should hate that and love temperance and sobriety if they take pleasure in uncleannesse then we should love chastity If they delight in pride we should delight in humility and lowlinesse of Spirit they have so much of the devils nature in them that they cannot truly love any thing that is pious and holy because it is that which God loveth neither
comfort if we consider that our salvation dependeth not upon the strength of our Faith but upon the truth of it for the weakest Faith if it be true is effectual to salvation as well as the strongest Also if we consider that faith is a grace which is grounded upon a sure rock even upon Christ Jesus against whom no created power can prevail and that the strength of our Faith doth not consist in our hold upon Christ for then every temptation or gust of affliction would make us let goe our hold and so lose it but it consisteth in that firm and strong hold that Christ hath of us who will not suffer any to pluck us out of his hand according to this of the Psalmist h â—â— 23 23. â—â—â— I am continually with thee thou hast hâ—lden me by my right hand thou shalt guide me with thy counsell and afterward receive me to glory Wherefore though we are brought to so low an â—bb that we have lost the sense of our Faith yet it is a sure evidence that once we did injoy it and that there hath been a spiritual life in us which cannot be but by â—aith and this spiritual life is not quite extinct in us because we have still a spiritual sense though it be of losse The sense of a temporal losse is a manifest sign of a temporal life for a dead man hath no sense either of losse or of gain so likewise the sense of a spiritual losse of that which formerly we did truly injoy is as well an evident sign of a spiritual life as is the sense of a spiritual gain From hence a poor languishing soul may draw much comfort if he doth fear a spiritual desertion because he hath no comfortable sense of his faith for his faith is but clouded the habit of it still remaineth though he cannot discern it As the hearbs in winter are hidden under ground for a time because they are nipt in with the cold frosts and the warmth of the Sun is gone from them but the Sun will return again in his strength and will disperse the cold and bring them again out of the earth by the vertue and strength of his comfortable beames to make them flourish and to be as fruitful as before So it is with Faith it may be kept out of sight for a time if it be nipt with the cold frosts of affliction or if the Sun of righteousnesse hath withdrawn his comfortable beams from it but here is our hope and comfort i Mal 4. 2. that the Sun of righteousnesse will return again with healing in his wings to dispel all afflictions and sorrows to heal all our spiritual wounds and bakslidings from God and to stablish us in the assurance of the love and favour of God The Stability of true Faith VVE are come now in the last place through the assistance of Gods good Spirit to the stability of faith which will satisfie and comfort every distressed soul that is doubtful of his salvation weak in faith and afraid of death and of the last judgement through the wicked suggestions of the devil and by the aggravation of their sinnes Though the apprehension of Gods anger will cloud the sense of our faith though afflictions will sift it and winnow it as wheat though sin will wound it and the devil sometimes foil it yet nothing can kill it and nothing shall be able to overthrow it not the least grain of Gods corn shall fall upon the earth the habit of faith cannot be lost though we may loose the comfort of it for a time for God hath given the gift of perseverance to this faith and to no other So long as we live in the flesh we are subject to many temptations and backslidings from God we are ready to fall into many grosse and dangerous sinnes which will bereave us of all spiritual comfort for the time yet our faith in Christ will appear again and the Sun of righteousnesse will shine upon us for Christ will not suffer us totally and finally to fall away from him for our faith is built upon a sure foundation against which no violence of temptations and no stormes of persecution can prevail a Lu. 6. 48. Christ doth compare a righteous man to him that built an house and digged deep and laid the foundation on a rock and when the floud arose the stream beat vehemently upon that house and could not shake it for it was founded on a rock Christ is the foundation of our faith he is the rock of our salvation b Pro. 10. 30 and therefore as the wise man saith we shall never be removed Thus David sheweth the stability of the faithful c Psal 34. 22 The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate Also thus saith the Psalmist d Psa 125. 1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be removed but abideth for ever And to make this truth undeniable thus saith Christ himself e John 3. 16 God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Why then should we faint under any temptation Why should we let goe the anchor of our hope If we hold fast to our faith it will not deceive us Christ wll not suffer us to depart from him for ever If we sin God will chastise us and he will hide his face from us but if we repent amend and turn unto him he will have mercy on us he will pity us he will heal the bones which he hath broken and will restore us again to the joy of his salvation There are divers sound reasons to prove the stability of faith in those that belong unto Christ that they shall never totally and finally fall away from grace but they shall be raised up again by repentance though they doe sometimes fall into fearful and dangerous sins The first reason is taken from Gods free election which ever remaineth sure and unchangeable for what he hath decreed in his secret Counsel must stand firm and cannot be altered Thus saith the Apostle f Rom. 8. 29 33 34. God did foreknow some from eternity whom he did elect and predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son whom also he did effectually call and them he justified in the righteousnesse of Christ and those are sure to be glorified for who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect whom he hath justified who is he that condemneth seeing Christ died for us and is risen again and is now at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for us therefore he concludes that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Also the same Apostle saith in another place g 2 Tim. 2. 19. That the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal