glad for great is your reward in heaven Matt. 5.11 12. 8. You that are ashamed to owne Jesus Christ and his ways and to put on his Yoke because of the scoffs and jeers of an ungodly World I pray think seriously on that word of Christ Mark 8.38 Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him shall the Son be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels CHAP. IX More Objections against early Obedience answered Object 6. ANother stumbling block that hinders young Ones from taking up the Yoke of Christ is the diversity of opinions and the many differences which are found among the professors of Religion I would take up the Yoke of Christ if I knew which was the right way But how shall I that am young be able to judge one is for this way another is for that one says lo here is Christ another says lo he is there Matt. 24.23 and Christ says believe them not One pleads for this Doctrine another for that a third denys both One is for this way of Worship another for that another is neither for this nor that but above all So that I see whom to avoid but I see not whom to follow Therefore till Professors are agreed it is better to be of no side Answ I confess it is a great advantage which Satan takes to prejudice young ones against Religion by the differences that are among the professors of Religion But I would have such consider five things 1. A man may with as much reason disclaim the light of the Sun because the Dials differ about the time of the Day as disclaim Religion because of mens differing opinions about it What is it in this World that men differ not about all men differ in their reasonings shall I therefore abandon my reason and become a brute all mens faces differ shall I therefore renounce humanity because all are not of one complexion all mens appetites and palates differ shall I therefore refuse my meat till all palates relish one thing because men differ in their fashions shall I therefore cast off the use of rayment till all come to the same garb how foolish and absurd is this and is it not the same because some men differ in some things of Religion therefore to cast off all Religion 2. Is this any new thing hath it not been so in all ages of the Church if therefore Religion had been disclaimed till the minds of all men had been united in the profession of it it had long ere this been shut out of the World The Scripture tells you there must be heresies 1 Cor. 11.19 it doth not say only there will be heresies importing the certainty of them but there must be heresies importing the necessity of them And we have a double reason render'd for this in the Word First That they which are approved may be made manifest 1 Cor. 11.19 they are the touchstone of sincerity God loves to try the sincerity of his Peoples Graces this being the glory of every Christian and a disposition highly pleasing to God Were there but one opinion in matters of Faith one way of Worship among all Christians to owne this would be no great matter but to owne and cleave to the truths of God against all the errours that oppose them to stick to the pure Worship of God against all the humane Devisings and Antichristian Impositions of men this shews the power of faith the zeal of love the greatness of self-denial and the uprightness of the heart in all As the Stars shine brightest in the darkest night so do the Graces of the Saints who are the lights of the world appear in their greatest lustre under the darkness of false Worship and errour That is one reason why there must be heresies Secondly Another is this for the detecting and insnaring of false hearted hypocrites Hereby unsound Professors are discovered errour and heresie have a great hand in detecting hypocrisie This is a time of temptation in which they fall away Matt. 13. So did they 1 John 2.19 They went out from us there 's the discovery but they were not of us there 's their hypocrisie for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us And as errours and heresies serve to discover unsound professors so also to insnare and destroy them for there are damning opinions as well as damning practices When men of bad lives and worse hearts grow weary of the power of truth God suffers corrupt Doctrines to spring up that may gratifie their lusts and suit their vicious inclinations and in a fond compliance herewith truth suffers lust thrives and the soul perishes This is the very reason rendered why God at the first appearing of Antichrist in the World gave men up to his damning delusions Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lye that they all may be damned who have not believed the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness 2 Thess 2. 10 11 12. Thirdly Consider from whence these differences do arise not from Religion it self which is in all matters of faith and practice direct and certain the rule which is the word of God is the same to all and gives perfect directions to guide us to life and blessedness The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple the statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart Psal 19.7 8. And therefore the differences that are found among the professors of Religion are either from the different measures of knowledge to which Christians have attained or from their different capacities or else which is worse from the Pride and Lusts of some of its professors that will dare to be wise above what is written setting their posts by Gods posts and teaching for Doctrine the Commandments of men would men but allow Christ to be head of the Church and sole Lord of Conscience and receive the word at his mouth and stoop to his Authority and not set up their wills and inventions for a rule of Worship the most of our differences would be at an end Fourthly All differences in Religion are not inconsistent with Salvation indeed errours in the fundamental Principles of Godliness are damning and therefore all sincere Christians shall be kept from falling into such errour they have received the spirit of truth to guide them into all truth necessary to salvation John 16.13 but it is possible that good men may fall into many errours you read of some that hold the foundation who yet build wood and hay and stubble upon it yet these shall be saved as holding the foundation though their works shall
unless it be bene The manner of doing what we do is as much as the matter done Most men miscarry herein they take up in the bare performance of a duty rest in the opus operatum the work done Like the blind Papists who bead out their Prayers and serve God by tale Prov. 4.23 The heart must be watched in every duty for it is the frame of the Spirit that makes up obedience And therefore the Precept doth not only prescribe the Quid but the Quomoch It doth not direct the matter only but the manner too Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 valde vehementer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they should be kept exceedingly Sept. Psal 119.4 Cursed is he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully Jer. 48.10 He may do the work of the Lord and yet be cursed for not observing the manner as well as the matter b Some preach Christ out of envy Phil. 1.15 It is not hearing the Word unless we take heed how we hear Luke 8.18 It is not prayer if it be not fervent prayer c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam. 5.16 If prayer be not right it is Thuribulum sine prunis a Censer without fire Giving is not Charity unless there be a drawing out the soul to the hungry 1 Cor. 11.20 Isai 58.10 Eating and drinking at the Lords Table is not eating the Lords Supper v. 27. unless it be done worthily that is by a believing soul in a believing frame Love to God is not love unless it be with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might Deut. 6.5 Whatever duty we do it is not serving God Heb. 11.28 unless we are fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 It is another matter to serve God than the world thinks of Slightness of service implies a degrading God in our conceptions Josh 24.19 it is a sign we have cheap thoughts of him when every thing serves the turn 4. There must be a right end A man may lose the prize by shooting short as well as wide of the mark Shechem submits to be circumcised but not as it was a token of the Covenant of God but as a token of his desire to be in Covenant with Jacobs daughter Gen. 34.17 18 19. and so his end was to gratifie his lust Jehu destroys the house of idolatrous Ahab a good work a work to which he was anointed and called of God and yet God threatens to avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu 2 Kings 9.6 7. Hos 1.4 A strange thing that God should anoint Jehu for that work to shed the blood of the house of Ahab and bid him go and do it and declared his approbation of it Thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes nay rewarded him for doing it 2 Kings 10.30 and yet that after all this God should avenge it upon his house What should be the reason of this Because though the work was good yet his end was bad It was not zeal for the Lord of Hosts that was but in pretence his end was to get the Kingdom Plainly then a man may do what God requires and yet in the doing of it serve his own ends Now the Yoke of Christ directs our ends which is in all things that God be glorified 1 Cor. 10.31 So that in all these instances it appears to be a very extensive Yoke and so must the Christians obedience be Ye are my friends if you do whatever I command you Joh. 15.14 Fifthly And it follows from the former It is a laborious Yoke Indeed there is a blessed rest our Lord Christ hath promised to all that put on this Yoke Matt. 11.29 Take my yoke upon you and ye shall find rest to your souls that is a rest from the dominion of sin from the condemning power of the Law from the accusations and charges of Conscience But it is not a rest from labour that is the priviledge of Heaven they rest from their labours Revel 14.13 Here we labour to enter into rest Heb. 4.11 The very notion of taking up the yoke imports labour and diligence And so do all those imployments to which the Christian calling is compared in Scripture It is compared to running a race to wrestling to fighting All works that call for the utmost strength skill and industry The more strings an Instrument hath the greater art and skill is requisite to handle it well A Christian hath more to do than ever Adam in Innocency had his state is better but his work is greater Adam was to obey the Law only but the Christian is to obey both Law and Gospel First He is to keep the whole Law it is to be his Rule as much as it was Adam's though not upon the same Sanction and severe Conditions Which Command may I break upon the priviledge of interest in Christ or refuse to obey as a part of Gospel-liberty And if every Command of the Moral Law requires obedience as it doth how great is his Duty But this is not all For Secondly He owes obedience to the Gospel too For this is more peculiarly the Yoke of Christ And how many Duties go to make up Gospel-obedience There must be believing in Christ repenting of sin denying our selves renouncing the world crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts cutting off the right hand plucking out the right eye cleaving to the truths of Christ contending for the Faith praying in the Spirit watching in all things resisting temptations growing in grace worshipping God in the Spirit abounding in hope rejoycing in Christ Jesus c. O how laborious a work is it to take up the Yoke of Christ Indeed Christ says it is easie Matt. 11.30 my yoke is easie but this is in opposition to grievousness 1 John 5.3 not to diligence and industry Christ quits us of our burden but not of our duty Sixthly The Yoke of Christ is a lasting Yoke not to be worn at pleasure and then laid off I have given you statutes and judgments says Moses Deut. 4.5 as the Lord commanded me and then v. 9. Take heed lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life And Isa 59.21 My words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed from henceforth and for ever The meaning of this promise is that his people shall never want the guidance and direction of his Word and therefore they should always follow the guidance of it David begs to be taught the Statutes of God for this very reason that he may keep them to the end Psal 119.33 There is no exemption from Duty no room for intermissions in our obedience Upon those words of Solomon Eccles 3.1 Eccles 3.1 There is a time for every thing v. 2. a time to be born and a
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
and word of Christ no Decree of God shall ever hurt him 2. Though the Decree of God be as determinate in other matters as in that of Salvation and Damnation yet no man rests upon that God hath fixed the period of every mans life His days are determined Job 14.5 the number of his months is with thee thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass Now will any man neglect his meals because God hath determined his days Will he say If I eat and drink I shall live never the longer if I never eat more I shall not dye a day the sooner There is no man so bereft of sense as to leave his life upon the decree of God without using means to preserve it for 3. The Decree is not only of the end but also of the means Faith and obedience are as much decreed by God as eternal life Hence ye read of being chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth 2 Thess 2.13 And the Apostle to the Ephesians says God hath chosen us in him viz. Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy Ephes 1.4 Holiness is as much decreed as happiness There is no such thing in all the Scripture as Election to Salvation separate from faith and holiness The means and the end go together the Scripture is not made up only of promises for the incouragement of hope but of directions for the furtherance of holiness And therefore 4. Though the Kingdom of Heaven be prepared by the Decree Matt. 29.34 yet it must be sought by an early diligence in duty Though it is Gods good pleasure to give it Luk. 12.32 Matt. 6.33 yet it must be our work to seek it though it be designed for us yet it must suffer violence by us and we must take it by force Matt. 11.12 or we shall never injoy it notwithstanding Gods choice and Christs purchase The land of Canaan a type of Heaven was a land of Promise but yet they cannot possess upon the promise without fighting their way to the inheritance 5. In the day of Judgment God will not proceed with men upon Election and Reprobation but upon their obedience or disobedience to his Law He will render to every man according to his deeds To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour Rom. 2.7 8.9 and immortality eternal life But to them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath It is said God will judge the world in righteousness Acts 17.31 Now righteousness in judgment is to distribute to every one according to his works God will vindicate the justice of his proceedings in that day by making the Word the rule of his Judgment to all that are under it John 12.48 And every mans Conscience a witness in the case Rom. 2.15 Let no man therefore deceive himself by groundless conclusions about the secret Decrees of God and so indulge himself in a sinful neglect of duty to the eternal ruine of his Soul Object 2. Another stumbling-block that lies in the way of young ones to hinder their taking up the Yoke of Christ is this That early Religion seldom comes to any thing They that mind Religion young seldom hold out long A young Saint and an old Devil * Angelicus juvenis senibus satanizat in annis Answ The design of the Devil and wicked men in this Objection is to decry early holiness as if it were time enough to seek after God and grace when we are dropping into the grave Now to such I would say three things Answ 1. This Objection is founded upon a notorious falshood for it supposes that true grace is utterly loosable that a Child of God may perish for ever which the Scripture doth expresly consute Where the seed of God is once sowed in the heart it never dies it is never lost nor plucked up it remains in him 1 John 3.9 Solomon says Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it Prov. 22.6 So that this Proverb of a young Saint and an old Devil is none of Solomon's 2. It is true that where a profession of Religion is taken up in Hypocrisie it commonly ends in Apostasie So that it may be said A young Hypocrite and an old Apostate But where do you find that any that truly feared God did ever depart from him Obadiah feared the Lord from his youth 1 Kings 18.12 2 Kings 22.2 and as he began with God so he ended Josiah was good betimes at eight years old and he held it to the last He turned not aside to the right hand or to the left David was a young Convert and he died an old Saint Psal 71.5 Thou art my hope O Lord God thou art my trust from my youth there is his beginning My flesh and my heart faileth Psal 73.26 but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever there is his ending I might instance in Samuel Jeremy John Timothy c. these began with God in their youth took up the Yoke betimes and so they continued all their days He that chuses God for his chief good and highest Lord at first finds so much happiness in him that he will never leave him at last Besides the Covenant of God is sure and one branch of it is I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Jer. 32.40 3. Should not the great uncertainty of life silence this Objection We have no security for another day much less that we shall live till the keepers of the house tremble and the grinders cease and they that look out of the windows be darkened c. As Solomon elegantly describes old age Eccles 12.3 Our candle may blow out as well as burn out One dies in full strength being wholly at ease and quiet his breasts are full of milk and his bones moistned with marrow Job 21.23 24. And shall we be afraid of taking up the Yoke of Christ too soon Or suppose you should live to old age yet such as turn their backs upon Christ while they are young it is rare if ever they come to take up the Yoke of Christ when they are old as a young Saint will never leave Christ so an old Sinner will hardly ever embrace him Or if he would it may be too late his season of grace may be past It is storied of Hannibal Plutarch that when he could have taken Rome he would not and when he would have taken it he could not And is it not the case of many When they may find Christ they will not seek him and when they would seek Christ they cannot find him when they may have mercy they don't prize it and when they would have mercy they can't obtain it He that in his youth reckons it too early
slay them before me The Lord open your eyes that you may see the madness of this for most true is that of Solomon concerning sinners Madness is in their heart while they live and after that they go to the dead Eccles 9.3 Thirdly Now having shewed you the causes why so many do neglect taking up the Yoke of Christ and laid before you the aggravations of the sin let me lay down but three considerations if the hardness of your heart will suffer you to take them in First Consider what you will answer to Christ for slighting his Yoke do ye believe there is such a day coming wherein the Lord Christ will sit in judgment upon every Soul and in which every one must give an account of himself to God if ye do not ye do not owne the Bible ye do not believe the Scriptures to be the word of God for there is no truth more plainly attested in the Scriptures than this See Acts 17.31 Rom. 2.5 6. and chap. 14.10 11 12. 2 Corinth 5. 10.2 Thess 1.8 9 10. Heb. 9.27 James 5.9 Revel 20. 12 13. and many places more And if ye do believe a judgment to come pray tell me what you think the business of that day will be will it not be to take an account how you and I have carried it to Christ God hath sent him into the world to dye for sinners 2 Tim. 1.10 to bring life and immortality to light through the Gospel to fix the terms and conditions of life and salvation and these terms are subjection and obedience to Jesus Christ and his commands as King and Lord and the business of that day will be to take an account what complyance we have made with these terms not whether we have professed him and outwardly owned him but whether we have closed with him upon the conditions of the Gospel Now you that have refused or neglected taking up the Yoke of Christ how will you answer it to Christ in that dreadful Day 1. Will you say you were not called that you cannot for God hath called you many ways many of you have had calls by your Parents in a Godly education calls by instruction calls by counsel calls by correction calls by Godly examples many of you have been called by being placed in religious families under Godly Masters or Godly Tutors and Governours Mic. 6.9 Many of you have been called by afflictions by the voice of the rod of God all of you have been called by the dispensation of the Gospel for what is the work of Ministers but to call you to Christ to take up his Yoke Will you say you were too young that you can't for others as young as you have heard his call and obeyed taking up his Yoke betimes Besides it is your duty to make it your first work Matt. 6.33 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness Will you say you have present concernments that must first be attended to that you cannot for there is nothing in the World of so great concernment as this Besides God hath made a promise of all other things to Godliness for this very reason that we might be incouraged to an early practice of it and to leave the neglecters of it without excuse Matt. 6.33 1 Tim. 4.8 Psal 84.11 Will you say you expected a longer time in the World for this work but how could that be why should you expect what God never promised or why should God lengthen your days for you to spend in the service of your lusts you that would not repent of sin and turn to Christ in the time that God gave you for that purpose neither would you have done it if the Lord had lengthened your life to the age of Methuselah Therefore your mouth will be stopped Matt. 22.12 and you found speechless in that dreadful Day of account Secondly Consider you that will not come under the Yoke of Christ must come under the wrath of Christ You shake off this you cannot shake off that There is a two-fold dispensation of wrath to these Sons of Belial one in this World the other in the World to come 1. That in this World lies in giving them up to their own corrupt wills and lusts of their own hearts And this is wrath to the uttermost as it is call'd 1 Thes 2.16 There can be no greater expression of Gods wrath in this world than to give a man up to his own lusts And when a man sits under Gospel-seasons and hath sin disovered Christ tendred faith and obedience pressed upon him and yet will not hearken to the voice of God herein nor leave his lusts for Christ that man is very near to this judgment See Psal 81.11.12 My people would not hearken to my voice Israel would none of me so I gave them up to their own hearts lusts and they walked in their own counsels This is a dispensation of wrath in this world 2. There is a dispensation of wrath in the next world and that lies in the pouring out of eternal vengeance Now I pray consider this you can refuse present obedience but can ye refuse eternal vengeance you may say I will not come under Christ's Yoke but can you say I will not come under his wrath You read of some that call for the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the lamb Revel 6.16 but all in vain How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation Heb. 2.3 mark if we neglect he doth not say if we reject and renounce it if we scoff at and deride it if we oppose and persecute it no but if we neglect it the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same as in Matt. 22.5 They made light of it If we make light of let slip shift off take no present care of our salvation what then how shall we escape that is there can be no escaping the wrath of God It is somewhat like that expression Rom. 2.3 Thinkest thou this O man that thou shalt escape the judgment of God Thirdly Consider where will you lay the blame of your destruction you can't lay it upon God for he gave Christ to redeem and save you You can't lay it upon Christ for he would have gathered you Matt. 23.37 and you would not he never cast you off till you cast him off You can't lay it upon the spirit for he would have convinced and converted and sanctifyed you and you have resisted and quenched him You cannot lay it upon your ministers for they have set before you life and death and declared to you the danger of sin and the necessity of holiness but you would not believe their report You can't lay it upon your ignorance for either you do know your duty and then your disobedience is inexcusable or you might know it if you would and so your ignorance is inexcusable You can't lay it upon your want of leisure and time for you
But he charges this practice with folly says he they are not wise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They never come to understand their case alas how should they the obliquity of the person is hid in the crookedness of the rule For a man to be his own rule and standard is great folly and yet nothing more common than to judge a mans self by the presumed goodness of his own heart though it is the greatest cheat and impostor in the World The Holy Ghost tells us so the heart is deceitful above all things Jerem. 17.9 You read of deceitful riches Matt. 13.22 deceitful weights Mic. 6.11 deceitful witnesses Prov. 14.25 deceitful Prophets Jerem. 23.26 deceitful tongues Psal 52.4 a deceitful Devil Revel 20.3 but the heart is deceitful above them all Satan himself could never deceive a man if his own heart did not deceive him It hath a thousand deceits It paints sin with the colour of vertue It hides from a man the evil that is real and flatters him with a good that is seeming It perswades a man he hath the good he hath not and if there be any good that the good he hath is greater than it is It presents him with common Grace for saving It makes him take education for conversion and moral virtues for Gospel Holiness It is endless to trace the heart in its several deceits and therefore for a man to measure himself by himself when the heart is so deceitful must needs be a false rule of judgment Secondly Some measure themselves by such as come short of their attainments thus did the Pharisee in Luk. 18.11 God I thank thee that I am not as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers nor as this Publican and this was the false rule that deceived him Alas what is all this nature may be refined and yet be but nature and when all is done it giveth one man no more advantage of another than tame Beasts have of wild A tame Beast is as much a Beast as they that are wild We may not be so bad as the worst and yet may be worse than we think and we may be better than some and yet not be so good as we ought Thirdly Some make a judgment of their condition by the judgment of others If such as are Godly wise and discerning do approve and commend them this puts all out of doubt and makes them confident of their good condition Nothing blinds a man more to himself than the applause of others for this holds him in a pleasant dream of an imaginary excellency and puffs him up with an opinion of those virtues in himself which he is an utter stranger to Alas what is the judgment of others about the truth of my Godliness that I should value and judge my self by that How often have good men been mistaken in their opinion and judgment of others The Disciples judged Judas to have been as sincere and true to Christ as themselves and could suspect themselves as soon as him nay rather than him And therefore when Christ tells them one of you shall betray me Matt. 26.21.22 they every one cry out Lord is it I they little thought that Iscariot had been such a Judas How was Peter deceived in Simon Magus and the Apostle John in the false Disciples and never knew what they were till their Apostasy detected their Hypocrisie 1 John 2.19 Men judge by what they see and that is only what appears Now a man may be one thing in appearance and another thing in reality Our Lord Christ speaks of some that are in sheeps clothing and yet are inwardly ravening wolves The Opticks say solae superficies videntur we only see the surface of things and it is true who can see another mans inside who can tell what principle I am acted by in the worship of God or say what my aims and ends are they may be right or wrong true or false for ought any other man knows Many shall in that Day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ be condemned for Hypocrites that have passed through this World with an applause for Eminent Saints for secret sins may be retained under an open profession of holiness and men judge by the profession that is made because they see not the secret lusts that are indulged This is therefore a false rule to judge by Fourthly Some make outward reformation the 〈◊〉 to judge of their subjection to Christ by If they leave their open wickednesses their scandalous practices and live soberly in the World this is a rule by which they judge their case good Now this is a false rule to judge by For 1. Open sins may be reformed and yet heart lusts may be reserved and so the Soul is in as dangerous a condition as ever An impostume in the Bowels may as surely kill a man as the plague in the flesh Where sin is outwardly forsaken and yet secretly beloved there the Disease is not cured but struck in and so is as mortal as before It is not the refraining sin that weakens it but the withdrawing the heart from it It is a less evil to do sin and not love it than it is to love sin and not do it for the doing sin may possibly be from weakness of Grace but the love of sin is always from the strength of lust 2. A man may as to outward acts let all sin go and yet be a secret enemy to Christ for the Enmity as the Law says of treason against the King lies not in overt acts but in the depravedness and corruption of the heart and what is it for all lusts to be restrained unless the heart also be subdued to Christ A Dog tyed up from doing harm is a Dog still There may be a cessation of arms between Enemies and yet the quarrel may remain though the War cease A sinner may lay the weapon of sin out of his hand and yet the enmity against God still remain in his heart And therefore for a man to measure his Religion from an outward reformation only is to judge by a false rule Not but that an outward reformation is necessary for though a man may have a bad heart under a strict life yet to be sure he cannot have a good heart with a bad life Matt. 23.25 But this is not enough for the outside of the cup and platter may be cleansed and yet the inside remain unclean and filthy Fifthly Some make a profession of Religion the measure of their subjection to Christ they reckon a cleaving to his worship and ordinances to be a taking up of his Yoke Indeed it is required that all that believe in Christ should make a profession of him it is a part of the homage we owe to Christ to stick to his worship and ordinances to hold fast the faith and not deny his name But yet for any man to judge of the truth of his subjection to Christ by making an
outward profession of him is a very wrong rule For 1. How common is it to have the form separated from the power This the Apostle tells us is one of the sins that shall abound in the last Days and that shall make the times so perilous having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof 2 Tim. 3.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the true form for forma est per quod res est id quod est The true form of Godliness consists in an inward change by a work of Grace and is that which denominates a man a godly man for forma dat esse rei And therefore it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies an outward shew a formality a vizor or mask of Godliness and what is that but a profession so that a man may wear the vizor of a profession all his days and yet be an Enemy to the power of Religion 2. That profession of Religion which may consist with a state of spiritual death can be no true measure of a mans subjection to Christ Now a man may maintain a high profession and yet be dead in sin thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead Revel 3.1 alive to the World by an outward shew but dead to God for want of the substance What a lively professor was Judas and yet in a dead estate There is never an ordinance of the Gospel but a man may be found in the use of it and yet be all the while dead in sin No outward means of Grace did ever nor can it by any vertue or power of its own quicken one dead Soul How many sinners abide all their days under the loud calls of the word preached and yet perish in their lusts so that to many it is so far from working life that it superadds a second death To some we are a savour of death to death 2 Cor. 2.16 and therefore a profession of Religion is but a crooked rule to judge of your subjection to Christ by These are necessary cautions for carnal and ignorant persons that are apt to mis-judge their state and condition by errors on the left hand There are other cautions that are as necessary for weak believers who are as apt to err on the right hand by judging their case by false rules also whereby instead of true peace their souls are filled with groundless troubles I will name but four First One is degrees of Grace Grace in improvement this many make a rule to judge their case by And because Grace is weak and little therefore they judge it is false and counterfeit and they have no Grace Now this is a false rule to judge by for it is not the quantity of Grace that proves the state but the quality Will any man say a peny is not silver because a crown piece is bigger you do not judge of it by the bigness but by the goodness Will any man say it is not Day unless it be noon you don't judge of the Day by the heighth of the Sun but by the light of it We should try our selves as God trys us not by the scale for then we should be found too light there would be a Mene Tekel upon the best of us but he trys us by the Touchstone if Grace be true Grace if Obedience be sincere it is owned and accepted and shall pass the approbation of God though it be little yea though never so little Thus saith the Lord as the new wine is found in the cluster and one saith destroy it not for a blessing is in it so will I do for my servants sake Isai 65.8 He will not despise the day of small things nor should we Zech. 4.10 We should eye the weakness of Grace so as to labour to improve it but not so as to mis-judge our selves because of it If we would press forward Philip. 3.13 the way is to overlook attainments and leave them behind us but if we would know our state the way is not to overlook but to set them before us Our comfort lies in the increase of Grace but our salvation lies in the truth of Grace for God hath not promised salvation to such a measure but he hath promised it to Grace in any measure Therefore though a man ought not to rest satisfied with his Grace if it be never so much yet he ought not to be discouraged though it be never so little For though little Grace possibly may not afford much comfort yet it proves the goodness of our state and secures our Souls Secondly Another rule is comparing themselves with Saints of the highest attainments and because they are not come to their pitch and stature in Grace therefore judge they have no Grace As Hypocrites think their condition good by comparing themselves with such as come short of them so weak believers think their case bad because they judge themselves by such as have outgone them This is another false measure for as in nature so in Grace growth and stature is various Some are but children some are strong men some are aged and full of years different growths but the same life of various statures but one in kind So it is here some are children in Grace some are strong men some are fathers 1 John 2.12 13. here is Grace differing in degree but of the same kind The green fig is of the same nature with that which is ripe Cant. 2.13 and the tender grape with that which is ready for the press In Christs Orchard that is his Church there are trees of various growths Cant. 4.14 Spikenard and Saffron Calamus and Cinamon with all trees of Frankincense Myrrh and Aloes Brightman makes these to set forth the several sorts of Christians some are newly sprung up these are the Spikenard and Saffron Herbs that do appear but little above the ground Some are of a middle stature these are the Calamus and Cinamon Trees of about two Cubits high Some are tall and eminent in Grace these are the trees of Frankincense Myrrh and Aloes trees of different growth and yet all of the Lords planting Some are Lambs and some are Sheep and yet all are of the same flock of Christ Shall any one then say I have no Grace because I have not so much as another Is not thy faith true faith because it is not so strong as Abrahams who against hope believed in hope or wilt thou question the truth of thy obedience because thou canst not offer thy Son as he did May not God be thy God though thou canst not call him as David did Psal 43.4 God my exceeding joy wilt thou deny the truth of thy dependance because thou hast not the Apostle Pauls assurance mayst not thou be under the sanctifying work of the spirit as well as he though thou hast not the witnessing work of the spirit as he had though the spirit