said that Nemani in laureis Thebani in virtutibus Graeci in eloquentia gloriantur And we know that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was usually put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to play the Graecian and the Rhetorician come both to one effect It is certain that they were men of very great and deep knowledg and withal they were admirable speakers which seems to be implied unto us in that expression of the Apostle himself in Rom. 1.14 I am debter both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians both to the wise and to the unwise where as the Barbarians are made to be all one with the unwise so the Greeks in St. Paul's language are the same with the wise And as Barbarism is a description of rudeness so Graecism is a circumlocution of Eloquence forasmuch as it was that which was so frequent and eminent amongst that people Now this was that which they here improved to a wrong purpose Now the great Learning and Eloquence of the Greeks was occasionally and accidentally through their corruption not in the nature of the thing it self a great hinderance and impediment to them for their imbracing of the saving knowledg of Christ they were so taken with the conceits and apprehensions of their own wit and excellent parts that the Preaching of the Cross it seemed no better than foolishness to them they would believe nothing now in Religion without an Argument and a Demonstration They seek for wisdom that is as Clemens Alexandrinus well interprets it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 compelling and demonstrative reasons and such Arguments as they could not but yield to from the strength of natural reason it self where they had not these whatever was brought to them was as good as nothing with them And again they seek for wisdom that is flourishing and rhetorical expressions and all the flowers of art and eloquence in the uttering of these things This they sought in the preaching of the Gospel and because they did not find it as they desired therefore they reckoned it but folly and the Apostles so many fools for their labour to come otherwise furnisht unto them Now this disposition and carriage of theirs St. Paul does here implicitly censure as he did before that of the Jews and whiles he tells us what they did he does by consequence intimate unto us what they shuld not have done and so proportionably what we our selves should not do neither In brief there are two things especially which are here by this passage of the Apostles prohibited to us First A restraining of the Truths and Doctrines of Religion to the apprehensions of carnal reason the wisdom of the flesh Secondly A corrupting and adulterating of the great Ordinance of Preaching with the affectations of humane eloquence the wisdom of words First I say here is prohibited a restraining of the Truths of Religion to the apprehensions of carnal reason the wisdom of the flesh This was the fault of these Greeks and we are to take heed it be not ours that we make not reason the rule of faith which is a chief point of Socinianism but that we be willing to believe those things which are here above our reach in the Gospel we must not seek after wisdom in this acception And the reason of it is this because indeed Religion is a Mystery and the things which are propounded in the Gospel they are above the reach of humane wit As for example The conceiving of Christ in the womb of a Virgin The Union of two Natures in one Person And the Trinity of Three Persons in one Divine Nature For God to become Man And he which is the Saviour of the World to be crucified die himself and after this to rise again All these are very great Mysteries and such as Reason does not know what to make of when they are propounded unto it Fides non habet meritum ubi humanaratio probat experimento Our wisdom it must here vail and couch and submit it self and cry out with the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thus 1 Cor. 3.18 19. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world let him become a fool that he may be wise for the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God And 1 Cor. 2.6 We speak wisdom among them that are perfect yet not the wisdom of this world nor of the Princes of this world that come to nought but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery Why but then must we lay aside all kind of reason in matters of Religion is Christianity an unreasonable business and does the Gospel deprive us of our wits and ordinary understandings No no such matter Religion itis not against Reason but it is above it There 's nothing in Religion which Reason can say any thing against as opposite and contrary to it self though it cannot always speak so punctually to it as Faith can and this is that which again we maintain against the Papists our adversaries for they abuse this present Truth which we are now upon and they do it again in their Doctrine of Transubstantiation as concerning the Sacrament of the Lords Supper here when we argue against them that it is against the nature of a Body to be in divers places at once and the accidents of Bread and Wine without the substance here they tell us that we must not look to reason but must appeal to faith Though Religion be above reason yet it is not contrary to it now this is plainly contrary to it to make both parts of a contradiction true at once to be and yet not to be is that which is impossible in the nature of the thing it self and therefore we say God cannot do it that is indeed it cannot be done unless God should deny himself which he cannot do 2 Tim. 2.13 The sum of all is this That Reason it may be improved in Religion but Religion is not to be limited to Reason Faith and right Reason do not cross though indeed they do not always meet nay indeed Religion is upon the point the greatest reason and wisdom of all because it is the reason and wisdom of God himself who is the Highest Intelligence And when a man is once a Christian his reason will be so far from hindering him that it will help him in it so much the more As for example thus Forasmuch as God is Truth it self and cannot lye therefore it is reason for me to believe whatsoever God says upon this very ground because he says it although I do not presently apprehend the particular reason of it in the nature of the things themselves nor the immediate connexion and dependance of these things one upon another And that 's the first thing which was here taxt in these Greeks in the Text their seeking after wisdom namely the wisom of the flesh in restraining Religion to Reason which is a thing here prohibited to us we may not do it The Greeks seek after wisdom The
us as there must first be the sight prepared before the eye can take notice of it And here this Behold it seems to carry a threefold force or Emphasis with it First As an excitement of Faith Behold it to believe it Secondly As an Ingagement of Affection Behold it to admire it Thirdly As a Provocation to Obedience Behold it to practise it and to imitate it and to conform unto it All these three several intimations may be beheld in this word Behold First I say as an Excitement of Faith behold it to believe it and to give your assent unto it This Ecce here it is Ecce Demonstrationum The Psalmist delivered this Truth with so much Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit as that there is no denyal of it and therefore confidently points unto it as this is that which we may conclude on for a Truth and which upon Experience we shall find to be so if we put our selves upon it There are many things which go sometimes for good which yet do not prove so in Conclusion and there are many things which are thought to be pleasant which yrt have bitterness in the end But this Concord and Agreement of Brethren it is good and it is pleasant unquestionably that so we may believe it Secondly As an Ingagement of Affection behold it to admire it and to be very much taken with it Goodness and Beauty they are such things as are atractive of respect and men do not usually behold them but they are ravished and overcome with them and so should we now here be in the Contemplation of this Heavenly Virtue and Grace which is here commended unto us and of this Spectacle which is set here before us we know how much commonly men are taken with other sights in the World as the Disciples were to our Saviour Maâ—er see what goodly buildings are here why here is such a sight as deserves our just Applause and Admiration this dwelling of Brethren together in Unity And this is also hinted to us in the very form and manner of Expression which carries some kind of Astonishment and Admiration in the very words themselves Therefore it is not onely Ecce quod Bonum or Ecce quod juecundum behold that it is good or behold that it is pleasant in the positive Declaration But Ecce quam Bonum Ecce quam juecundum as it were in the Superlative How good and how pleasant a thing it is as being unable to Express it or to say how much it is so indeed Thirdly It is a provocation to Obedience behold it to practise it and imitate it and to conform unto it there are many who perhaps will be ready to acknowledg it in the Notion that it is a good and pleasant thing to live friendly and peaceably together and he were not worthy of the name of a Christian or a man that should deny it Yea but when it comes to the performance there they desert it and fall from it it is good for others as they are ready to think but not for themselves Good in Thesi but not good in Hypothesi Pax ab omnibus Laudatur a paucis servatur Peace it is commendable of all men but it 's followed and imbraced but of a few Now therefore give me leave to commend this excellent Duty to your practise and Christian observation not as if I did any thing doubt of it or would make any question of it amongst your selves but that upon this occasion I might so much the more quicken you and excite you and stir you up to it as a Grace which has so much Excellency and Commendableness in it Let us therefore follow after things which make for peace and things wherewith one may Edify another as the Apostle Paul speaks in Rom. 14.19 What may some say are they I can but name them unto you First Meekness and Humbleness of mind it is a great Advancement of Peace Onely by Pride comes Contention says Solomon Prov. 13.10 And Phil. 2.3 Let nothing be done through strife or Vain Glory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better then themselves An humble mind will be peaceable Secondly Patience and mutual forbearing and forgiving one of another take heed of Jealousness and causeless Suspicions and misprissions one towards another The Devil does hereby much promote discord and Contention and so hinders this fraternal Agreement Make not the worst of every thing but put the best and most favourable construction and Interpretation upon it which the nature of the thing it self will bear and when it is Capable Thirdly Justice and Righteous dealing there 's no such preservation of Vnity as when every one knows what it is his own and what belongs to him for his particular Opus Justitice pax The work of Righteousnrss shall be peace and the Effect of Righteousness shall be Quietness and assurance for ever as the Prophet Esay tells us Esay 33.17 To set home all this the more fully and successfully upon us let us be sure especially to keep in good terms with God preserve our peace with him When a man's ways pleases the Lord he will make his Enemies to be at peace with him and he that is able to make Enemies to be Friends He is able accordingly to keep Friends from being Enemies As it is he that makes men to be of one mind in one House as shew'd before so in a Church in a City in a Company or in any Corporation and accordingly he must be sought unto and call'd upon for it without him it is not to be Expected I beseech ye beloved Brethren that this Discourse it may not prove in vain unto you but may take deep impression upon you in every one of your Hearts If there be any motive or argument in Profit you have it there for it is that which is good or if there be any motive or argument in Pleasure you have it there for it is sweet also Let this twofold Cord unite you and knit you together which is not easily broken It is no uncomly sight to behold you here sitting together in your Civil Ornaments and Qualifications as you now appear at this time in this your solemn Assembly in your Ranks and Orders and Habits and such like Accomplishments these have an outward Decency and Comeliness in them Oh but that which will especially commend you to the Eyes and the Hearts of all spectators and which will prove your greatest Honour and Glory indeed is to see you sit together in Unity This is that which is the best and truest Confirmation of your Officers This is that which sets the Garland upon their Heads c. This and Health is that which you should affect so much the rather c. It is a Mercy to sit together in Peace but it is a Grace to sit together in Vnity and Love There 's a threefold Gradation in this Spectacle to see Brethren to see Brethren together and to
are said to be briars and thorns and a rebellious house Ezek. 3.6 Briars and thorns there is no touching or handling of them And so were they in cap. 33.32 They come unto thee as the people cometh c. and they hear thy words but do them not There are divers Fortifications to this purpose which men raise to themselves to hold out against the workings of the Ministery that it shall have no force or efficacy upon them First Pride and Self-conceitedness that 's a great hinderance and impediment thereunto Jer. 44.2 Then spake Azariah c. and all the proud men saying to Jeremiah Thou speakest falsly Pride it is a great obstruction to effectual working upon the heart therefore St. James advises that wereceive with meekness the ingrafted word which is able to save our souls in Jam. 1.21 And the Promise of instruction is made to meek persons especially in Psal 25.9 The meek he will guide in judgment and the meek he will teach his way Secondly Another Fortification is Carnal confidence Men by cavillings and wranglings against the Word and the Ministery of it think thereby to make it void The preaching of the Gospel it is foolishness to men of the world and they think themselves too witty for it In Acts 13.45 They spake against the things which were spoken by Paul contradicting and blaspheming The Ministry it is to deal with strong-holds and imaginations or reasonings as the word properly signifies in 2 Cor. 10.5 Thus in the learned Greeks Thirdly Prosperity and outward Welfare and security from thence that 's another encouragement Thus it was with them there in that place Jer. 44.17 18. What was that which encouraged them in their opposition against the word which was preached unto them and the going on in their sinful courses Why then say they we had plenty of victuals and were well and saw no evil But since we left off c. we have wanted c. When men shall thrive for the present in evil courses and ways it is a very great encouragement to them in them and does fortify them against all those which shall go about to take them off from them The consideration of this Point may serve to give us a very good account of the little good which is many times done in the Ministry as to the success of it It is because that people are so much hardened against it so that let the Prophets say what they please yet they are resolv'd to do what they list and do as good as tell them that they are not likely to prevail any thing with them as indeed they are not But yet this for all that ought not to take them off from their work though these would discourage them yet they are not to be discouraged by them but to do their best notwithstanding to win them and work them and bring them home to God because the work is not theirs but his who is able to conquer and subdue the stoutest heart and to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.5 Thou shalt speak my words unto them whether they will hear or whether they will not hear Ezek. 3.7 In the mean time we may take notice of the desperateness of such a condition Those Patients that are resolved with themselves against all means and helps of recovery are most irrecoverable of any other And such kind of persons are these And so much also of the second reference of this expression There is no hope as it may be carried to the Prophet Jeremiah no hope in regard of thee The Third is in reference to God himself There is no hope i. e. there is no likelihood that if we should turn and amend our ways yet that God would be merciful to us and divert his wrath from us This is another sense of this expression And it does serve to discover to us another piece of sad distemper which is in wicked men even absolutely to despair of the mercy and goodness of God upon the conditions of repentance and so consequently to conclude that it is in vain to return unto him and to make their ways and their doings good as he had advised them and invited them to do in the verse before the Text. Thus it was with wicked Cain My iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven Gen. 4.13 And so many others besides They despair of the Grace of God in Christ and call it into question This they come to do thus partly First from the suggestions and temptations of Satan who does intimate as much unto them The Devil knows that if he can work men once to this he shall sufficiently prevail with them for if all endeavours to the contrary be vain and to no purpose then they had as good still follow their lusts This is that which he makes them to believe and thereby does most effectually work upon them Secondly it proceeds also partly from the infidelity which is in their hearts A naughty and corrupt heart as it abounds with many other lusts and corruptions besides so amongst the rest with unbelief and a doubting of the truth of God revealed and made known in his word It hearkens herein to Satan rather than to God as it did at first in the first temptation Thirdly for a measuring of God by themselves Despair it is a fruit of carnal reason and proceeds from that And therefore God to cure it does call men to right reason and the actings of that Isa 1.18 Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow Though they be red like crimson they shall be as wooll If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the Land And again Isa 55.7 8 c. Let the wicked forsake his way and let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy upon him c. For my thoughts are not your thoughts nor my ways c. That which we learn from hence our selves is to beware of such a frame of spirit as this is which is most dangerous and pernicious of all other as that which is both most against our selves and against God likewise and so must needs be very bad and to be avoided First against our selves in two things both in point of Grace and of Comfort In point of Grace as it is most obstructive to that and does lay open the way to the greatest wickedness that can be thought of For whereas hope of avoiding punishment by keeping from evil courses is a great restraint upon man's spirit where this hope shall be taken off by despairing of the goodness of God there is a gap open to all licentiousness and profaneness as following and consequent thereupon Then in point of Comfort it is much against our selves there for those that despair of mercy can be filled with nothing else but horrour and astonishment of soul They must needs live
Faith and that was justifying They believed on him There 's a threefold Faith as Divines distinguish it The first a believing of God Credere Deum to believe that there is a God The second a believing to God Credere Deo to assent to that which God says The third a believing in God Credere in Deum that is to rest and cast our selves upon God as he has revealed himself to us in the Scripture Now the latter of these is that which is here recommended unto us in these present Jews Many believed on Christ. And indeed this if we well consider it is the main of all And it hath a threefold eminency in it as peculiar to it First that it is the Faith of the Scripture and proper to the word of God Secondly that it is the Faith of the Gospel and proper to the New Testament above the Old Thirdly that it is the Faith of Salvation in the exercise whereof alone we are made partakers of the righteousness of Christ All these three eminencies are in it First This Faith of Recumbency whereby we rely and cast our selves upon Christ and believe in God it is proper only to the Scriptures and those Writings which are taken from it it is not to be found in any other Writings besides This phrase to believe in another it does not occur in any Heathen Author whatsoever that ever I could meet with It is an expression which God hath reserved as the proper language of Christian Religion There 's somewhat in that As the thing it self is purely Divine and Christian so is the form and manner of speaking Secondly As it is the language only of Scripture so it is especially the language of the Gospel and more proper to the New Testament To believe in God it is not a Legal business but an Evangelical The Law represents God unto us as an angry Judge as a consuming Fire as an avenger of all unrighteousness It is the Gospel only which propounds God as pacified and reconciled in Christ and so at such terms with us as for which he may be relied upon by us and therefore is called by the Apostle The ministry of reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.19 Thirdly It is the Faith of Salvation and in the exercise whereof alone we are justified in the sight of God as being that alone which does knit and unite us to Christ and make us one with him And so the Scripture sets it Joh. 1.12 As many as received him to them he gave power or priviledg to be the Sons of God even to them that believed on his Name Where the receiving of Christ is explained by believing in him as that whereby alone we do receive him So Joh. 6.40 This is the will of the Father who hath sert me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life Where there seem to be two main acts required for the obtaining of Justification and Salvation by Christ The one is to see the Son that is to acknowledg Christ Preached for the Son of God and Redeemer of the World by which act we do discern the Fountain of eternal life and make towards it The other is to believe on him by which act we do draw life from the true Fountain of life and immerse our selves wholly into him This must needs be that Faith alone which saves us because it is that whereby God in Christ is so much honoured and advanced by us for God has joyned these two both together in his wise contrivance for his own Glory and our Salvation so that that whereby God himself is chiefly glorified we also are more particularly saved This is done by such a Faith as this is which is therefore justisying and saving Therefore let us especially labour to find this Faith in our selves A Faith of reliance upon Christ and adherence to him As for the other two kinds of Faith which we mentioned before to wit the Faith of acknowledgment and bare assent they are such as in their place we may bestow upon the creature it self and ascribe to meer men we believe that they are such and such persons and acknowledg them to be in being we assent and give credit to their words and receive that which comes from them Thus we may and do believe them But to rely and cast our selves upon them and to place our assiance in them that we may not do There 's a difference in regard of the object Again Secondly In regard of the subject Take the two other kinds of Faith and that even referred to God himself yet they may be found in reprobate persons even the Devils themselves they may and do believe both that God is and that it's truth which is said by God As the Apostle James plainly expresses it Jam. 2.19 Thou believest there is one God thou doest well the Devils also believe and tremble Where their trembling denotes their assent But now this Faith of relyance and recumbency it is proper only to those which are elect and born again Thirdly Consider'd also in the effects The other two kinds they are but common here neither for they work not any great change in the hearts of those in whom they are notwithstanding which men may still be as bad as ever they were before they had them But this Faith which we now speak of that does it it sanctifies and purifies the hearts of those persons in whom it is We have two express places for it the one Acts 15.9 Having purified their hearts by Faith And the other in Acts 26.18 Which are sanctified by faith that is in me And so much of the second Particular in this first General which is the nature of that Faith which was here commended in these Converts of Christs it was justifying and saving they believed on him The third is the Subject of this Conversion and they are here exprest to be many many believed on him Now this it hath a twofold significancy or Emphasis in it First an Emphasis of Restriction Many but not All. Secondly an Emphasis of Inlargement Many and not a Few First it has an Emphasis of Restriction or Limitation Many but not All. Christ could if he had pleased have so ordered it that it might have been All but he did not do so as being free in the working of his Grace in whom he pleases The Gospel is offered to All but all do not receive the Gospel no not of those which are the Auditors and Hearers of Christ himself As there were many that believed on him so there were many also that opposed themselves against him All men have not faith says the Apostle 2 Thes 3.2 it is true both of common Faith and of Justification c. The Gospel was preached unto us as well as unto them but the Word preached did not profit them not being mixed with Faith in them that heard it Heb. 4.2 There hath been and always will be a difference of Hearers
hinted to us in that place before alledged Heb. 10.39 Now the Use and Improvement of all which hath been said to our selves may be drawn up to a double head of Exhortation which will follow from it The one to perswade us to be real Christians and the other to perswade us to be constant To be Disciples of Christ indeed and to continue still to be his Disciples As for the former We may be perswaded to it from the excellency of the thing it self and the consideration of the contrary disparagement Look what-ever it is which it is good to be simply it is good to be truly If we be not so we lose the excellency and perfection and commendation of it To 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Basil That which is done but almost it is not done And it is a known Maxim to this purpose Nihil videtur actum si quid super sit quod agatur Nothing seems to be done where any thing remains of the doing of it Let us not therefore with Agrippa be almost Christians but Christians altogether Nor Disciples in shew only and appearance and profession and common esteem but Disciples indeed And that 's the first part of the Exhortation Secondly Let us continue to be Christ's Disciples to be firm and constant to Christianity and the Principles of it That 's another thing which is here prest unto us by Christ himself in the persons of these Jews which belived on him For what he says to them he says to all others with them Constancy is that which is very comely and commendable in any thing which is good but it is so in nothing more than in Religion and in attendance upon the words of Christ Here it is most necessary As for other matters which are not of so great moment and concernment men may alter and vary in them as they please and as they shall see cause for it according as Christian prudence and discretion shall lead them But for Religion there 's no varying in that which is to be allowed or practised by us especially as to the substantials of it and those things which are essential to it we must continue in the words of Christ And this again has two things in it First A continuance in the Doctrine not to depart or to recede from that And Secondly to continue in the Practice not to depart or fall back from that either First The Doctrine of Religion To continue in the Faith that is one thing implyed in Christ's words His words so as to believe them and to give entertainment unto them we must continue in them so Those who have hitherto received the Faith of Christ they are to hold as they have been taught and not to suffer the truth of Christ to be wrested or extorted from them much less are they willing of themselves to let it go This was that which the Apostle Paul laid so deeply to charge of the Galatians Gal. 1.5 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that hath called you to another Gospel which is not another but there are some that trouble you c. And it is that which he warns the Ephesians that they would take heed of Eph. 4.13 That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every winde of Doctrine c. And it is that which had never more need to be prest than in these present days That we would hold fast that which we have received and the Doctrine which has been delivered to us from Christ himself speaking to us in the ministry of his word that we would strive together for the Faith of the Gospel and earnestly contend for the Faith which was once and once for all delivered to the Saints as the Holy Ghost expresses it Jade ver 3. Which we have transmitted to us from our Ancestors and sealed by the blood of the Martyrs it should be precious and of esteem with us and we should not easily let it slip from us Secondly As for the Doctrine of Religion so for the Principles and Pratice of it we should hold our selves constant and firm hereunto likewise This is also to continue in Christ's words namely to continue in obedience to them and practice of them The want of this as well as the other did the Apostle Paul censure in the Galatians O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth c. Gal. 3.1 Having begun in the Spirit will ye end in the Flesh c. Those that profess themselves Christ's Disciples they should adhere and stick close to Christ and persevere in a Christian Conversation yea and that so much the rather as any others depart from him The more that Hypocrites apostatize the more should true Christians persevere Forasmuch as Christ expects it from them Joh. 6.66 67. When others went back and walked no more with him Then said Jesus to the twelve Will ye also go away As who should say I hope you will tarry with me though others run away from me Though false Disciples miscarry yet who are my Disciples indeed you will I trust still continue at least all but one only amongst you To press this further upon us let us consider that we are no otherwise nor upon any other terms besides acceptable to Christ Then are ye my Disciples indeed that is then do I esteem of you as my Dsciples there may be that also in it If any man draw back my soul shall have to pleasure in him If we shall ask how we may attain to this continuance and perseverance now spoken of I briefly shew you how First of all by labouring to be well rooted and grounded in it at first these two are joyn'd together in that place Col. 1.23 The stability and continuance of any Building lies in the foundation and of any Tree in the root And so of a Christian in his bottom and grounds We must consider what we do when we take Religion upon us and then we shall hold out in it Otherwise like the foolish Builder in the Gospel we shall begin and not know how to make an end We see how many there were which made pretences of following of Christ which yet staid not nor continued with him Why because their principles were naught and corrupt in them they had some carnal end which byast them and that failing they fell away with it and so it is with many more they want rooting as the stony ground in the Gospel and therefore in time of temptation fall away When the word of Christ is once got into our hearts we shall continue then in it we shall abide in it when it abides in us and has firm hold and footing in us Secondly Let us practise Religion that will make us continue in it When people have in only in the notion and brain and speculation it withers when it is practiced then it abides Failing in the duties of Religion takes mens
reason for That the whole business of Religion should be signified by this expression of the Truth and that upon these following Considerations First By reason of the analogy and correspondency and near agreement which is betwixt Truth it self and Holiness betwixt the Doctrine of Religion and the practise of it for such there is all the Articles of Faith they have a respect to the framing of the heart and to the ordering of the life and conversation they serve not only to inform the judgment but likewise to better the whole man Therefore the mystery of Faith is called the mystery of Godliness And every Divine Truth it has some grace whereunto it refers in the use and improvement of it As the Incarnation of Christ to humility and self-abasement The Passion of Christ to Mortification and crucifying of lusts The Resurrection to spiritual quickening and raising us up to newness of life The Ascension to Heavenly-mindedness and the affecting of things above And so of the rest Now because it does so therefore is the one well denominated from the other The life of Religion from the Doctrine of it as closing and complying with it and as sutable and agreeable to it as indeed it is Christian conversation it is consonant to Christian knowledg Secondly Religion is called the Truth not only as agreeing with it but likewise as issuing from it and produced by it for so also it is All which are regenerate and born again they are begotten and born of Truth as the conveyance hereof unto them Jam. 1.18 of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his Creatures And 1 Cor. 4.15 For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel And 1 Pet. 1.23 Being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever Still the Word and Truth of God is made the instrument of our spiritual birth and regeneration whence Believers are also said to be of the Truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Joh. 3.19 Thirdly It is called the Truth Emphatically in opposition to all false and formal worship and service of God which is abroad in the world There are other Religions abroad but there 's no truth of Religion but in Christianity and the service of God in the Gospel this is to worship God so as he will be worshipped in spirit and in truth Joh. 4.24 If so be ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus there 's no truth to be found any-where but in him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Oecumenius upon the place he calls Godliness Truth ungodliness being a spurious business For these and the like reason is Christianity exprest by the Truth as most significant of it This therefore still teaches us to hold and imbrace the Truth and to keep close unto it For so much Truth so much Religion and so much Truth of Religion Look how far we keep close to our Principles so far forth shall we regulate our practise and have ourlives in all probability to be that which they should be an erroneous judgment will have either a scandalous or an hypocritical life annext unto it and following upon it either profaneness or at the best formality is the consequent of unsoundness in Religion that 's out of all question that so we may take heed of it and have a care to keep our judgments clear and right in us and not tainted and defiled with any stain in this particular especially as to the substantial part of Religion and the worship of God and the main scope and drift of the Gospel let us be sure to have our minds clear here and not swerving or departing from the Truth for it so we cannot possibly serve God a right We may it may be abound in outward duties and do somewhat which belongs to the outward man but the obedience of the first Commandment which is the more inward and immediate part of Gods Worship when as upon the knowledg of God we love him and fear him and rejoice in him and trust in him and set him up in our souls and spirits This we cannot do whiles we have not right opinions of him nor do not abide in his Truth We may be moral and civil and do some duties of the second Table upon such kind of Principles but we cannot be spiritual and gracious and sanctified and religious indeed and do that which we do in Religion with reference and respect to God whiles we have not the right notion and apprehension of Religion in us Religion it is a matter of Truth and so it is here exprest unto us by the Apostle when he means that he says this And so much briefly for the phrase and expression Now to come further to the Thing it self and to take it now in its proper meaning and the spiritual drift of the Holy Ghost in this place We can do nothing against the Truth that is We can do nothing against Religion and the progress of Christianity in the world This as Christians and especially as Christian Ministers we cannot do We can do nothing whereby Piety and Godliness may suffer any wrong by us or any prejudice and disadvantage from us they are such as are contrary to the bent and scope and principles of any who themselves are religious or have any spark of Godliness in them There are two ways especially whereby any thing is done against Religion the one is in a way of Discouragement and the other is in a way of Disparagement In a way of discouragement and disheartening of those which are good and in a way of disparagement and scandal towards those which are evil Now those which are good Christians will be shy of doing any thing against Religion in either respects First In a way of discouragement so as to dishearten those which are good they will be shy and wary of this and so they ought to be Whatever is done in this case against Christians it is done against Christ And whatever is done against the professors of the Truth is against the Truth it self We must not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking-flax nor discourage the beginnings of goodness in any in whom they seem to appear but nourish them and cherish them and promote them all we can The contrary hereunto is that which is discernable in too many persons who many times by their overliness and harshness and rigidness which is exprest by them do drive away those from Religion and the profession of it who make fair proffers towards it and it may be have made some progress in it this is none of the spirit of Christ Secondly In a way of Disparagement and scandal as there are many which prejudice Religion so likewise such as profess but live not up to it such as bring an ill report upon Christianity and the ways of
present Famine and as to the giving of this following Plenty It was because he did not remember and call to mind the like former Dispensations The manna rain'd down from Heaven the Meal not wasted in the Barrel the Oyl multiplyed in the Cruse If he had thought but of these he would not have stuck so much at this nor called in question God's Power about it whom he would have easily thought could have done one as well as the other Therefore does our Blessed Saviour upon this score also check his Disciples when they were troubled amongst themselves concerning their want of bread after the experience of the Miracles already wrought in that particular Math. 16.8 9. Oh ye of little faith why reason ye among your selves because ye have brought no bread so Mar. 8.18 Do ye not yet understand neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets ye took up nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets also ye took up He rubs up their memories that thereby he might quicken their faith as implying that their want of this latter proceeded from their defect of the Former Thirdly This questioning of Gods power as concerning the Variations of Providence it does proceed in men oftentimes from too much fixedness upon their present condition whether it be good or evil If their condition be good it proceeds from a spirit of presumption and carnal security If their condition be evil it proceeds from a spirit of Despair and carnal despondency Those which are under either of these distempers they are apt to limit and doubt of Gods power as to the changing or altering of their conditions First Take it in Good and matter of prosperity in the Distempers of a Presumptuous spirit and ye shall see it there David When he was in his prosperity he said he should never be moved God had made his mountain so strong in Psal 30.6 7. And so it is with many more besides and a great deal worse who have the like thoughts with themselves In health that they shall never know sickness in abundance that they shal never have want In Society that they shall never know desolation There are a great many people in the world which are sometimes so besotted and intoxicated with this present welfare and worldly prosperity as that they do verily believe that God Himself is not able to divert it or to obstruct it to them Nay it were well if some did not almost say so in plain terms and so fully come home to this instance here before us So again Take it as to matter of Adversity and Affliction and ye shall see it there also out of the principles of Despair and carnal despondency Men do from thence also question Gods power and providence towards them and think it is impossible that he should ever better their condition to them In times of straitness and famine that they should never see plenty more as it was here in the Text this is that conceit and imagination which does fasten upon them As they confine God to their Prosperous condition that he should not be able to remove that so they confine him also to their Afflicted condition that he should not be able to relieve their need This is that which the Psalmist does again take notice of in himself though at last he recovers out of it Psal 77.10 When he was for a time in a sad condition he began to think he should be so continually and that there was no remedy for him Will the Lord cast off for ever and will he be favourable no more Hath God forgotten to be Gracious c. But then he seasonably corrects himself in it Then I said this is mine infirmity c. Thus this too much fixedness and settledness upon mens present condition whether in good or evil it makes them doubt of and suspect and call in question even the Power of God that he shall be able to do no more than what they fancy or imagine to themselves from either of these distempers to wit of security or despair presumption and carnal discouragement And that 's the first branch of this infidelity here mentioned in the Text namely as to the questioning of the power of God for the possibility of the thing it self The second is as to the questioning of the truth of God for the certainty and infallibility of the Message There is this also observable in it to make it more remarkable To have question'd whether God could have wrought such a thing as this is it had been bad enough though there had been nothing said of it But now when the Lord himself had absolutely and expressely declared it that indeed it should be so now to question whether it could be so or no was a further inlargement of the sinfulness and wickedness of it This was to make the God of Truth to be the Authour of falshood and to give the lye as it were to his word And this is another piece of Desperateness which is further observable in the Nature of Man not to receive or give entertainment to Gods most serious and solemn Protestations or intimations whether of evil or good Not to believe the Threatnings of God in matter of Judgement but to question whether God will be so severe as indeed he denounces nor yet to believe Gods Promises in matter of Mercy but to question whether he will indeed be so gracious as he signifies and pretends Thus is the Truth of God call'd in Question as well as his Power Thus it is more particularly and especially in the mouthes of his Servants who are his Ministers and Messengers to this purpose Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed as the Prophet himself complains Isa 53.1 And all the day long have I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and a gainsaying people Rom. 10.21 There is that stubborness and peivishness abiding in mens hearts that they will not receive the word of God in the love and imbracement of it but rather oppose and set themselves against it though in it self never so acceptable and worthy to be received Even the Promises of Mercy they have no other then the returns of Rebellion and contradiction against them as the Jewes which were Auditors of St. Paul contradicting and blaspheming Act. 13.45 The true ground and reason of all is that pride which is naturally in mens hearts and especially when it is further prenoted by outward advantages This makes men to scorn the word of God and to think themselves above it specially when it is conveyed by the Ministery of meaner persons The Prophet is a fool and the spiritual man's mad with such Persons as these are Disobedience and unbelief and rebellion it is the fruit of Pride Therefore let us as much as may be bewail this cursed root in us and labour to have it rooted out of us let us take heed of
shalt see it but shalt not eat thereof c. And this punishment Amplified and so much the more inlarged To be within the Reach of the Mercy and yet withall to be depriveed of the Mercy To see it with his eyes and yet withall not to taste it with his mouth And this is a Further Judgement which is the Portion of unbelievers God will shew them his salvation as to the Discovery of it but will not shew it them as to the participation He will set such good things before their eyes and present them to their sight and to their view but will not give them happiness to enjoy them and to be made partakers of them This hath been alwayes reckon'd and look't upon as a judgment and so hath been threatned To plant vineyards and not to eat the fruit of them To eat and not be filled To drink and not to be satisfied In the midst of sufficiency to be in straits To suffer shipwrack in the Haven and such things as these they have a great Aggravation of punishment and Misery in them The nearer any are to any comfort and yet restrained of it so much the Greater Vexation from it And the Reason of it is this Because from the nearness and Proximity of the Object the Appetite is so much the more stirred and the expectation is raised which being frustrated and disappointed must needs cause so much the greater grief and make the heart it self sick as Solomon speaks Look as it is on the other side in matter of evil By much the greater Danger by so much the greater the Deliverance And the joy of preservation is increased from the fear of Miscarriage Even so is it also here in matter of Good The nearer is the Mercy the greater is the Disappointment and the grief of Deprivation is aggravated from the Hopes of success And then again further there is even this also in it sometimes as it was here in this particular to come â—â—oâ—â— of other persons and to be hereby made inferior to them for so indeed it was Others they had the benefit of this mercy and he saw them before his eyes to have it which yet this distrustful person himself for his unbelief was deprived of As Company is an allay to misery so solitariness is an Aggravation As it is threatned to wicked men in regard of future happiness that they shall then weep and gnash their Teeth When they shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and themselves to be thrust out Luk. 13.28 But then Thirdly There was this also in it in this particular Example to wit the way and manner whereby this Vnbeliving person was deprived of the Fruition of this Mercy which He saw with his eyes And that was by the loss of his Life as the sequel of the story declares it in the last verse of this Chapter For the people trod upon him in the Gate and he dyed There might have been other wayes of depriving him of the Mercy besides this But the Lord would have this to do it as the surest and most remarkable God would have him to live no longer then meerly to be confuted and self-condemned of his own incredulity when he had once seen what he did not believe He should no longer live to injoy what he had seen The Sum of all comes to this even to frighs us still from these unhappy Distempers of Dispair and Vnbelief which have such sad and Dangerous Consequences attending upon them Remember once again how it hapned even to Moses Himself a man of so much Cummunion with God yet how he smarted for his Vnbelief God gave him the sight of Canaan but not the Admission and likewise some others he destroyed them even then upon the Borders Let us take heed least our selves fall after the same Example of Vnbelief Heb. 4.11 And let us be heedfull so much the more as we are commonly least Suspicious of our selves in this particular for every one is ready to think that he believes Gods Power and Truth till it comes to the Tryal What Is there any thing too hard for the Lord No there is no man that will offer to say so in plain terms or in the General Proposition Will not God be as good as his word Yes who doubts of it Till it comes to such a particular Occaston and exercise of Faith and then there is too frequently a questioning of Gods Power and Truth both together Then If the Lord would make Windows in Heaven yet this thing could not be We can believe God it may be in easy matters but we cannot believe him in difficult Believe him in those things which are Obvious and open to every Eye but not believe Him in those things which are more obscure and remote and put out of sight whereas His Power does reach even to these as well as the other And so likewise should our Faith The rather because of the Danger which follows upon unbelief as we have now seen in this instance before us which was to be kept from those Mercies which God had promised and were almost injoy'd Look as those Judgements which are threatned and yet not feared are the sooner inflicted for that Presumption so on the other side those Mercies which are promised and yet not Expected they are the rather denyed and restrained for that Despair And so ye have also the Peremptory Answer which is given to the Presumptuous Question Behold thou shalt see it with thine Eyes but shalt not Eat thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 SERMON XV. Psal 22.9.10 But thou art he that took me out of the Womb thou didst make me hope when I was upon my Mothers Breasts I was cast upon thee from the Womb thou art my God from my Mothers belly In times of Perplexity and Sadness we can never have Faith too much nor we can never too much improve that Faith and Grace which we have for the supporting and sustaining of us in such Conditions All the Spiritual Strength and Vigor which we can possibly be partakers off is little enough to uphold us and keep our Souls from sinking in such seasons Therefore we had need to bestir our selves and to draw up all our Forces we have in us to such a purpose as this is and to make us to do it the better we have an Example hear set before us in the practice of the Prophet David who being now at this time in a very sad and disconsolate Estate both in regard of the Desertions of God and likewise of the Oppositions and reports of cruel Enemies does here do all he can to stir up his Faith in God for the Expectation of relief from him And there are two special Arguments which he does here principally insist upon The one is taken from the Experience of God's Goodness to his Predecessors and Ancestors in vers 4.5 Our Fathers trusted in thee they trusted c. It
sometimes it was confin'd onely to the limits of Judea but spread abroad even to all nations which have a share and interest in the Gospel as to be preach't unto them Yet Thirdly It is excellent also in regard of the peculiarity and appropriation of it Gods loving-kindness is excellent as it is precious and so the Hebrew word signifies in the Text which is jakar that imports as much unto us There 's a specialty in this Universality All partake of the outward means but all partake not of the efficacy of those means for the success of them to themselves Here now Gods loving-kindness is excellent as well as his Wisdom we put a price upon things which are rare and more restrain'd from common use and injoyment Thus 't is now with the Grace of God To you 't is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven sayes our Saviour but to others it is not so given The Election hath obtain'd but the rest are blinded The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit but he that is spiritual judgeth all things yea the deep things of God There 's an opposition of these two to one another and a distinction of these two from one another that hereby the loving-kindness of God towards his Servants may be so much the more advanced And thus now I have done with these words as they may be consider'd absolutely in themselves and as exhibiting this simple Truth unto us That the Loving-kindness of God is most excellent whether we take it for the loving-kindness of Affection The Favour that he bears towards his people and as emminent in himself or whether we take it for the loving-kindness of Expression The goodness which he does for his people as it is transient and terminated upon them I come now to the consideration of these words after another representation and that is reflexively as coming from the Psalmist who does signifie thus much unto us As Gods loving-kindness is excellent in it self so it is so in the thoughts and apprehensions and expressions of the Prophet David And here now there are divers things very pertinently observable of us as agreeable hereunto First Here 's a sound Judgement Secondly Here 's a special favour Thirdly Here 's a gratefull acknowledgement Fourthly Here 's a joyfull Publication First I say Here 's a sound and good Judgement David is rightly opinionated and perswaded of Gods loving-kindness and thinks of it truly as it is whiles he sayes it is excellent This is the first thing to be taken care of by us to be sound and right in our understanding and apprehensions of spirituall things And amongst the rest of this more especially of the excellency of Gods loving-kindness This is that which a Godly man does It is that wich is necessary for us that so we may the more diligently pursue and seek after it our selves Forasmuch as of that which we know not or esteem not we have commonly no desire Thus it was with David somewhere else as Psal 4.7 Many will say who will shew us any good Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us as who should say there was more good in that then in any thing else besides And so also not onely in the thing it self but as well in his apprehension This is the difference now betwixt a true Christian and another man as for others men of the world they do not believe such a point as this is nor think that there is that truth in it That Gods Loving-kindness is so excellent as it is declared and said to be they think that there 's some excellency now and then in the favour of men to be well thought of and esteemed of by them but for Gods favour they do not so value it or set so high a price upon it It is not so precious or estimable with them yea but now the children of God they are of another mind they do believe and think it so indeed and that especially from the Spirit of God which does clear their minds and understanding in this particular according to that of the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 2.10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God Secondly Here 's also further considerable in this passage a special sense David does not onely speak here out of Judgment and the strength of his Understanding but out of sense and the certainty of his Experience who had found and felt the workings of this special favour and Loving-kindness upon himself in his own Heart and so accordingly speaks Gloriously and Triumphantly about it There are many which in the General notion of it are ready to acknowledg that Gods favour is most Excellent and to assent to it in the bare Proposition yea but they never knew what this meant for their own particular They never had the love of God shed abroad in their own Hearts nor were affected answerably in themselves Yea but this now is the property and Disposition of a gracious Soul which is further considerable of us to have a sense and feeling of this favour and from hence to be well perswaded of it which is that which we should all indeavour to find in our selves So to find our Sins pardon'd our Corruptions subdued our Salvation sealed and evidenced to our own Consciences as that we may say and cry out by good Experience How excellent is thy Loving-kindness O God It 's one thing for a man to say that Honey is sweet because he reads it is so and another thing to say so because he tastes it And so 't is one thing for a man to say that Gods favour is precious because he hears so in the Preaching and Ministry of the word and another thing to say because he finds it so upon his own Tryal and Experiment Now this latter is that which is here commended unto us And it is that which is especially useful and real to us at sometimes more then others This truth it is always a truth considered in it self but it is never more a truth to us then it is when we our selves seem most of all to stand in need of it or are supplyed with it As for instance in case of some special Spiritual Desertion or the Eclipses of Gods favour towards us for such a particular time when any Soul is now come out of this Condition and has Gods love renewed to it again which before it was deprived off Then how Excellent is thy Loving-kindness O God Thus indeed it does appear and shew it self to be that which it is And accordingly it is that which we should often bring to our Remembrances and have continually in our minds The frequent thoughts and Meditations upon this point aae such as may be very useful and beneficial to us and may have a very great influence upon our lives First To quicken us to Duty and to make us so
will rain bread from heaven that I may prove them whether they will walk in my Law or not Exod. 20.20 God is come to prove you that his fear may be before your faces that ye sin not Deut. 8.2 He proved them to know what was in their hearts c. And Deut. 13.24 The Lord our God proveth you c. This although it be spoken after the manner of men yet it is not so to be understood by us There 's a great deal of difference betwixt Gods Tryings and mens for men when they try they use some means for the discovery of that to them which they knew not before and for the knowing of that more fully perfectly which they knew but in Part But with God it is not so He is ignorant of nothing and therefore cannot in this sense be said to try But when he tries us it is to discover and make known our selves to our selves that what we as yet know not he may manifest and discover to us Tentat Deus ut ipse hominem inveniat sed ut homo se inveniat as Austin calls God he therefore tries not that he may find out man but that man may find out himself and be sensible of his own condition Now for this kind of Tryal to wit by way of discovery there is a double time and season of it First of all sometimes even now in this time of the World He takes occasion to discover many persons both to others and to themselves To themselves in their own Consciences And to others in the open view and beholding of them thus 2 Tim. 3.8 9. They shall proceed no farther for their folly shall be made manifest to all men so 1 Tim. 5.24 25. Some mens sins are open before hand c. God makes tryal both of mens Graces and of their Sins even in this present time And he has divers ways to do it according to his different Providence and Dispensations to us in the World Sometimes by his Mercies and sometimes by his Judgements sometimes by his dealings with themselves and sometimes by his dealings with others sometimes by his inlarging himself to them and sometimes by withdrawing of himself from them There are not more persons to be Tryed then there are various and different ways for the Tryal of them and discovery of what is in them But Secondly As here in this World so especially in the World to come and in the day of Christs second comming The day of Discovery or Revolution Rom. 2.8 And 1 Cor. 3.13 Every mans work shall be manifested for the day shall declare it and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is That 's a special time and season for this purpose indeed And those which may scapethe test now yet then they shall be sure to undergo it and be subject to it God will bring every secret thing to light and every work whether it be good or bad Eccl. 12.14 The improvement which we may make of this Point comes to this namely from hence to teach us so much the rather to try our selves The Lord will try us either sooner or later Therefore let us look to our own hearts and try them It is that which does of course follow upon it as a necessary inference We must prove our selves that so we may be approved As Schollars that must say to their Masters will first say to themselves It is a peice of wisdom so to do that we may not be surprised and overtaken before we are aware Let as search and try our ways and turn unto the Lord our God Lam. 3.40 Try our Graces what strength and weight there is in them and try our actions what goodness and sincerity there is in them And so much the rather as we may the better be able to suffer this tryal we speak of And that especially upon any special occasion which is administred unto us whether of Service or Comfort and Affliction Either of these do call for this especial work of self-examination and tryal here commended unto us from the Lords trying of us To set home this Point more effectually we may take noâ—ce of the word which is here mentioned and that is the Heart The Lord tryeth the Hearts And we have two things in it First It is an Emphatical Expression And Secondly It is an Indefinite Expression It is an emphatical Expression The Hearts as that which is principally to be looked after And it is an indefinite Expression The Hearts that is of all men whosoever they are without exception First Take it Emphatically The Lord tryeth the heart as that which is principally to be looked after as the main and first moving Wheel for so it is God looks at that which is the chiefest and most to be regarded and that is the Heart If that be right all will be right with it eye and ear and tongue and hands and all other parts they all conform to this so that he has reason to try this God looks after that most which Man looks after least For man looketh after the appearance but the Lord looketh after the heart as the Lord himself told Samuel 1 Sam. 16.7 This is the General Principle which carries on all the rest That we are what we are in our hearts whether in respect to God or Men whether ye take the heart for the vigor of it the life and spirit of the performance or whether ye take the heart for the truth of it the sincerity and reality of the performance it is this which is all in all for which reason God tryeth the heart The Heart Emphatically But Secondly The Hearts indefinitely universally and without exception Here is none which can escape this Scrutiny neither high nor low rich nor poor wise nor unwise whatsoever All men's hearts must come to the Touch-stone and undergo this Tryal of God upon them He comes within men's private Closets and Cabinets though never so much retired He searcheth the hearts and tryeth the reins as it is often said of him in Scripture This is a matter of awaking to all dissembling and hypocritical persons whosoever they are whose hearts are not perfect with God in the midst of all pretences to him that God will at last find them out and discover what they are And though they may lye hid to men and carry a fair shew to them yet he will not be deceived by them as our blessed Saviour tells the Pharisees Luk. 16.15 Ye are they which justifie your selves before men but God knoweth your hearts for that which is highly esteemed amongst men is an abomination in the sight of God And so as a matter of Terror and Astonishment to those which are evil so of Comfort and Encouragement also to those which are good There is great satisfaction in this that the Lord tryeth the hearts in as much as they can appeal to him for his Vindication of them As Peter Lord thou knowest all things thou
and by himself Thirdly In man Eminently i. e. in the best man that is First In Man that is in whole Mankind by taking it Collectively It is as I in part hinted and signified before annext unto the Nature of Man now since his fall to abound with vain and Foolish Devices When ye name a Man ye name such an one as is full of such Fancies and conceits and extravagancies as these are Thus in Psal 14.2 which is again repeated and so confirmed by the Apostle in Rom 3.10 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God They are all gone aside they are altogether become unprofitable there is none that doth good no not one Secondly In man Distributively and Particularly taking them one by one There are some things which are agreeable to mans Nature which yet are not found in every person in whom that nature is Yea but this of vain thoughts and unprofitable Contrivance is so either more or less This have I found counting one by one to find out the account Eccles 7.27 And what did he find out Loe he found this that God made man righteous And not he only but they also that is man in his distrustfullness found out many inventions and many Devices One man has oftentimes many Devices Thirdly In man Eminently That is in the best man that is one way or other It is not onely be-lev adham but be-lev ish here in the Text which has a more Emphatical signification with it and is usually taken in a sense of excellency and advancement Indeed in such men as these they are with a great deal of restraint and qualification but yet even in them they are at least by fits and turns even in men otherwise of the greatest perfection whether for wisdom or learning or Power or even Piety it self The Lord knoweth the Thoughts of the Wise that they are but vain 1 Cor. 3.20 And not onely of wise to the World but sometimes even of better Principles when they swerve and depart from them As we gave you an instance before in David himself And so it has been with many others of the same Principles with him That 's the subject of those Devices in General namely Man The particular Subject or Seat of them is here expressed to be the Heart Many devices in the heart of man But how comes he to say so Devices seem rather to belong to the Head than to the Heart How are they then said to be in this There is a various Account which may be given of this Expression Devices in the Heart First As taken Synecdochically The Heart being put for the whole Mind and Soul as it is very often and frequently taken especially in the Hebrew Language The Denomination is taken from that part which is most eminent and transcendent above the rest The Vnderstanding and Will and Affections and Conscience and Memory all is the Heart and so commonly called Which because it is so therefore the Devices of a man are said to be in his Heart in this general Construction Secondly In the Heart Originally as the Spring and Fountain of all What ever a man does or devices it comes first from the Heart which is Generale Principium A man's heart deviseth his way as Solomon speaks Prov. 16.9 which is so both in Good and in Evil. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts says our Saviour in Mark 7.21 which is true of thoughts in the full Latitude and Extent of them whether in matter of Opinion or Contrivance First In matter of opinion if ye take it so Men's devices they here proceed from their hearts All these Fancies and Conceits and Whimseys and Errors in matters of Religion which many people take up withal they take their rise first from their heart As a foul and distempered Stomach sends up noysome Vapours into the Brain and disturbs that even so it is also here If men had better hearts they would have better heads than for the most part they have at least in regard of the use and improvement of them It would make them more to attend unto the Truth and it would make them better to relish it and close with it and to yield and submit unto it Whereas now the Corruptions of their hearts restrains them and holds them off from it It is the Goodness of Doctrines which men stick at as well as the Truth of them Nay those Points which considered as Truths they cannot but in some manner hearken and listen unto for the strength and concretion of their Judgments yet as holy they cannot away withal from the corruptions and perverseness of their Hearts which either keep them back from attending to the Reasons which make for them or else incline them contrary to Concretion to detain the Truth in Unrighteousness The way to make many Persons to be Sound and Orthodox Divines is indeed as much as may be to make them real and wary Christians especially in such Points of Divinity which are of the Substance and Marrow of Christianity where the Experiences of their own Hearts will be a sufficient Instruction to them And they will not need that any one should teach them but as the Anointing it self will teach them which is a Truth and no Lye and that also abiding in them So also Secondly In matter of Contrivance and Design It holds here likewise that men's Devices are according to their Hearts Those who have naughty and rotten hearts they have commonly answerable Speculations and their Projects are suitable thereunto The liberal man deviseth liberal things agreeable to the frame of his spirit but the heart of the wicked worketh iniquity as the Prophet Isaiah tells us in Isa 32.7 8. So Psal 36.4 it is said of a mischievous person that He deviseth mischief upon his bed and setteth himself in a way that is not good And it is the Account which is given concerning an ungodly man in Prov. 6.14 who is there called a Naughty Person Adham Belijagnot and Ish Aven that Frowardness is in his heart and he deviseth mischief continually He deviseth it and he deviseth it continually because his heart carries him to it which is a constant and continued Principle that does always abide in him Therefore from hence we may take some account of our selves what we are according to the Reflection As man's heart is so is he and as a man's devices are so is his heart So that we may judge of the one by the other of the Spring and Fountain by the Stream which issues from it They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they which are after the spirit the things of the spirit as the Apostle Paul has it in Rom. 8.5 6. Take a man in his Natural Condition and State of Unregeneracy and he devises nothing but that which may either nourish or at least gratifie and agree with such a
There are many devices in the heart of man The Second is the Qualification of this Propostion or the Check as I may so call it which is put upon it in these words Nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand Wherein again two Branches more First The simple Assertion Secondly The Additional Opposition The Simple Assertion that is in these words The counsel of the Lord that shall stand The Additional Opposition or Correction that is in the word Nevertheless We begin with the former viz. The Simple Assertion The counsel of the Lord that shall stand The Counsel of God in Scripture as before the Devices of Man does admit of a Double Acception and Interpretation in which it is taken Either First For the Word and Truth of God Or Secondly For the Purpose and Decree of God Now according to either of these Notions does it hold good that God's Counsel shall stand And that also as pertinent to this Scripture First For God's Word and Truth This is sometimes called his counsel Act. 20.27 I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God says St. Paul to the Ephesians And Luk. 7.30 The Pharisees and Lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves where the same word also is used and that likewise to the same effect as applyed to God's Word and Truth which is called his Counsel as depending much upon his Counsel for the discovery and manifestation of it As Ephes 3.9 10 11. speaking concerning the Gospel The Mystery which from the beginning of the World hath been hid in God but now made known by the Church According to the Eternal Purpose which he Purposed in himself This Counsel of God taken for his Doctrine and Truth it shall be sure to stand and that in Opposition to all the Fansies and Devices of men which labor to obscure and pervert it Veritas magna est prevalebit The Truth is great and so shall prevail as it is commonly declared Heaven and Earth shall pass away but not one Jot or Tittle of God Word shall pass away The Reason of it is this because it is an Emanation of himself As God himself is so is his Word All flesh is grass and all the glory thereof is as the flower of the field The grass withereth and the flower thereof fadeth away but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever And this is the Word which by the Gospel is Preached unto you says the Apostle Peter in 2 Pet. 1.24 25. And so the Apostle Paul to the like purpose 2 Cor. 1.18 As God is true our word towards you was not yea and nay but in him was yea For all the Promises of God in Him i.e. in Christ are yea and Amen c. Therefore let us stand for this Truth and hold to it all that may be which the more we stand by it the more it will stand by us yea and make us our selves to stand at another Day Humane Error it shall fall before Divine Truth as Dagan sometime before the Ark. And so it needs must in regard of the different basis and Foundation on which each of them stand Look what difference there is betwixt God Himself and man the same difference is there also betwixt mans Conceits and Devices and betwixt Gods own Counsels and Discoveries which should teach us therefore to hearken unto these rather than unto them And so for Gods Doctrinal Counsel and that Truth which he propounds to be beleived So for his Praeceptive Counsel likewise and that Law which he propounds to be obeyed This may be referred to this Head also of the Counsel of his Word and has the Name given unto it As Prov. 1.25 Ye have set at naught all my Counsel and would have none of my Reproof And so Jer. 23.22 If they had stood in my Counsel In his Counsel that is in his Commandments As God will make good the Counsel of his Truth against mens Errors and Corrupt Devices So he will make good also the Counsel of his Commands against mens Lusts and Corrupt Practises And thus much for his Counsel in the First Notion as it may be taken for the Counsel of his Word either in its Propositions or Injunctions either of which are in Scripture called his Counsel and said also to stand The next and which I conceive is more agreeable to the Scope of the Text which therefore I will insist upon though the other is not to be excluded is the Counsel of Gods Purpose and Decree and which most usually and commonly is exprest by this Appellation The Counsel of his Will as it is called in Eph. 1.11 This especially is sure to stand indeed And so the Scripture does signifie to us in sundry places of it as to instance in one or two amongst the rest Thus Psal 33.12 The Counsel of the Lord stands for ever the thoughts of his heart to all Generations Esai 46.10 11. My Counsel shall stand and I will fulfill all my Pleasure I have spoken it I will also bring it to pass I have purposed it I will also do it In Job 23.13 He is in one mind who can turn him And what his soul desireth even that he doth And Psal 115.3 Our God is in Heaven he hath done whatsoever he pleased And again in Psal 135.6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased that he hath done in Heaven and in Earth in the Seas and in all deep places Thus is the Scripture sufficiently pregnant in the Assertion of this Point before us This is a General Truth and may be extended to two Particular Heads Either First As to matter of Predestination and the Concernments of the Life to come Or else Secondly As to matter of Providence and the Transactions of this Life Present If we take it in either of these References The Point holds good as a clear and undenyable Truth That the Counsel of the Lord shall stand First In matter of Predestination Gods Counsel it shall stand here in Rom. 9.11 That the Purpose of God according to Election might stand And 2 Tim. 1.19 The foundation of the Lord standeth sure having this Seal The Lord knows them that are his Ephes 2.11 In whom also we have obtained an Inheritance being Predestinated according to the Purpose of him that worketh all things after the Counsell of his own Will In Rom. 11.7 The Election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded This is a Point which I shall not stand long upon at this time as being not the main drift of the Text although it be not excluded neither yet I cannot but give an hint of it It is that which we should hold fast and keep close to notwithstanding the many Devices which are in the heart of man to frustrate it and bring it to nothing We should cherish it as our great Comfort and Support in Spiritual Desertion and the many faylings which are in our selves whilst bewayled and striven against our uncertainty and infirmity and
wickedness saving What have I done Every one turned to his course as the horse rusheth into the battel The horse and the war-horse especially which is there meant it hath a great deal of fierceness and impetuousness with it whereby when it discerns the battel though afar-off as Job speaks it rushes into it Eagerly with a great deal of vehemence and desperately with a great deal of resolution and dangerously with a great deal of hazard as rushing upon the Pikes and Guns Even so in like manner do wicked men rush upon evil courses and the ways of sin They are herein like the horse and mule which have no understanding and their sins are pleasing to them as the battel is to such kind of creatures as the horse is Secondly This obstinacy and perversness in sin it is grounded upon security and presumption Because as yet they find no hurt by their sins but scape well enough with them therefore they are resolv'd upon them As Eccl. 8.11 Because sentence against an evil doer is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil If God should strike men dead presently in their wickedness this it may be would a little affrighten them But now whiles he spares them and lets them alone and does nothing as yet unto them this heartens them and encourages them in evil Thirdly It does proceed from the power which Satan has over them The Devil he is said to be the Spirit that works in the children of disobedience Eph. 2.2 And certainly so he does in a great many persons Those who will not have Christ and his Spirit to reign with them they are oftentimes in just judgment given up to the Spirit of Satan by whom they are taken captive at his will And he hurries them and carries them on headlong to all manner of evil whatsoever Thus it is said of Judas that the Devil entred into him And thus 't is said of Ananias that Satan had filled his heart And thus Elymas the Sorcerer he is said to be a child of the Devil Now those which are such it is no wonder if they be thus bent upon sin as being such in whom Satan himself rules Fourthly Infidelity and unbelief because they are not perswaded of the truth of those things which they hear and read in the word concerning the vileness of such courses and the danger which they involve them in They think these things are but scare-crows and bug bears to fright children which have no truth or reality in them And therefore it is that they are no more affected with them so as to bear their evil ways Lastly The reason here in the Text and that is a desperate frame of spirit because they think there is no hope no hope that they should be better having so long been accustomed to evil Nor no hope if so-be they were better yet that God would be gracious to them and preserve them from ruine and destruction This is that among other things which makes them thus vile and incorrigible And that 's one thing and the main here considerable viz. Their obstinacy and perversness The Second thing is their conspiracy and combination We will every one c. It seems it was a set plot and design amongst them against the Lord and his Prophet even one and all If some few of them had resolved to do so it had been bad enough so and a very great evil that But it seems they were well agreed and they were so joyntly it was every one without exception Sin is always so much the worse as it is any thing the more general and universal It is not an excuse as some sometimes are ready to make it but rather an advancement and aggravation as shewing the malignity to be so much the greater and more improved And thus it was here Thirdly Here was their wilful transgression and sin even against knowledg for they do plainly acknowledg their ways to be evil and yet for all that they do resolve and purpose to persist in it notwithstanding We will every one do the imagination of his evil heart It is not we will do what we think in our judgment to be best Jeremy You think our ways to be evil and therefore would have us to refrain them but we are of another mind and therefore will continue still in them But you and we are both agreed in one that our ways are evil and yet notwithstanding we are determined to go on in them still though never so bad This is a fearful case indeed And thus much of the words consider'd simply and absolutely as they be in themselves Now further Secondly We may look upon them in their reflexion as coming from this people and that is they said it All that do so do not say so but it seems they said so and are so recorded here to have done This may be understood by us two manner of ways either in their words or in their actions either expresly and totidem verbis with open mouth or implicitly and interpretatively and by consequence in that which was done by them First Expresly and in so many words They were not ashamed to do this to say and declare and to profess to all the world that they were resolved whatever was said to them to persist and to go on in their wickedness Thus Psal 12.3 We read of the tongue that speaketh perverse things And ver 4. Who have said with our tongue we will prevail our lips are our own who is Lord over us So Mal. 3.13 14. Your words have been stout against me saith the Lord ye have said it is in vain to serve God c. And Job 21.14 They say unto God depart from us c. It is a sad thing when it comes to this yet sometimes we may observe it to do so So much impudence there is upon men's spirits as that they blush not to proclaim their wickedness with open mouth And that 's one sense of the expression Secondly It may be understood implicitly and interpretatively and by way of consequence They said it namely practically and effectively in that which they did and which was acted by them They said to the Prophet there was no hope i. e. they so behaved themselves as he could conceive no hope of them that they would ever be better And they said We will walk after our own devices c. i. e. they did still continue and persist in them without amendment and reformation and did give occasion to believe that they were resolved to do so still even for time to come This is the nature and quality of all perverse and obstinate sinners such as live in any course of sin without repentance though warn'd and admonish'd of it They do as good as say that they are purposed to do so continually And in the words of this present Text that they will every one do the c. Therefore accordingly let
judgment This passage may be looked upon by us as it lies here in the Text two manner of ways First in the general proposition of it as it stands in it self Secondly in the particular scope of it in reference to that which went before and the persons to whom it is directed First Take it simply and absolutely as it lies in it self and in the general proposition which is here exprest in a twofold representation First in the Affirmative what it is and that is that it is darkness Secondly in the Negative what it is not and that is that it is not light First To speak of the former and that is the Affirmative The day of the Lord is darkness Thus we find it to be called in some other places besides as Joel 2.1 2. The day of the Lord cometh and is nigh at hand A day of darkness and of gloominess a day of clouds and of thick darkness And so also in Zeph. 1.15 A day of wasteness and desolation a day of darkness and gloominess c. This is true of the day of the Lord in the full extent of it whether we take it of personal desolation the day of death or of national desolation the day of captivity or of general resurrection the day of judgment But still with this restriction as it referr'd to ungodly persons and to impenitent sinners with respect had to such as these are is this day that which it is said here to be But especially as I said does it refer to the day of death and final judgment which is here intended This is called a day of darkness that is to say a day of extreme misery and perplexity Darkness and light they do in the usual acception of Scripture where they are used metaphorically denote sorrow and gladness as it were easy to give instance of it and so here in this place amongst the rest Forasmuch as darkness does contain in it all kinds of sadness in which is fear and horror and solitariness and all kind of misery Such is this day of the Lord to the fore-mentioned persons not only dark in the conerete but also darkness even in the very abstract it self Take the unprofitable Servant and cast him into outer darkness Matth. 25.30 The ground hereof is this Because wicked men they are darkness themselves therefore is this day of the Lord darkness They are in the darkness of sin and ignorance whiles they live here in the world delight in works of darkness and which are opposite to the light of Grace and therefore go into a place of darkness and which is opposite to the light of Glory Their understandings are darkened and therefore their conditions are darkness also Being led and carried from one kind of darkness to another It is a day of darkness that is a day of fearfulness and terribleness and horror and consternation of mind There 's every thing terrible in it and adding to the astonishment of it The sound of the Trumpet the appearance of the Judge the opening of the Books the passing of the Sentence the dissolution of the whole frame of Heaven and earth the Sea and the waves roaring the Heavens passing away with a great noise the Elements melting with servent heat the Earth and all the works that are therein burâ—â— up the Sun darken'd the Moon withdrawing her light the Stars falling from Heaven and the powers of Heaven shaken What a terrible day must this be to such as are not provided for it that has all these concurrences in it That 's the first expression here considerable viz. the Affirmative The day of the Lord is darkness The Second is the additional Negative and that is that it is not light which is added for the greater emphasis of it Therefore we find it to be reiterated in the verse following darkness and not light even very dark and no brightness in it And it is agreeable in the like form of speech in reference to other matters which we meet withal in Scripture Thus Deut. 32.4 speaking of God A God of truth and without iniquity just and right is he And Joh. 8.44 speaking of Satan He is a liar and there is no truth in him c. In 1 Joh. 1.8 If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us In all which places and the like the Negative is joyned with the Affirmative to make it more emphatical and so here To take a more particular account of it It is said here darkness and not light as we may conceive for these reasons First by way of opposition darkness and not light that is it is not light but darkness as expressing the simple nature and condition of that day Take the word day and it does in the ordinary and common acception of it denote light Whensoever it begins to be light it begins to be day and whensoever it ceases to be light it ceases to be day as that which does give the proper notion and denomination unto it and which distinguishes the one from the other God called the light day and the darkness he called night Gen. 1.5 Yea but here now in the Text it is day and yet not light day and no light in it This by way of opposition Secondly By way of intension and to shew the greatness of this darkness It is dark and dark entirely without the mixture of any thing to qualify it or to take off from the severity of it without ease without comfort without direction or any good counsel which are such things as are sometimes exprest to us by the name of light This is the misery of Hell and of the judgment which passes upon wicked men that it is absolute and compleat and entire The wrath of God without mixture as the Scripture calls it that is without any mixture of favour or refreshment in it Take any day whatsoever here in the world whether in the proper sense or in the metaphorical and it is not so over-darkned with darkness but has some kind of glimmerings of light in it The day which is fullest of clouds the rainiest and most tempestuous day yet it partakes of some light And the day which is fullest of troubles the saddest and most disconsolate day it has some mixtures of refreshment in it likewise which do serve to allay it Yea but this day of the Lord here spoken of it has none of this it is darkness and no light it is sadness and no comfort Thirdly By way of perpetuity and continuation Darkness and no light that is darkness and always dark There are some days which though they may be dark for a while yet they do not abide and continue to be so but do at last overcome that The Sun it breaks through the clouds and the day recovers its light at last though perhaps it be long first ere it does it Yea but here it does not do so Dark and no light this is a continual and
world that I should bear witness to the truth Joh. 18.37 Even so may every one say besides For this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should live according to the truth The consideration of this Point may be thus far useful to us First to teach us where especially to spend our chiefest thoughts and endeavours And that is upon this one thing which is so needful and necessary for us as we have heard it is We see here where to begin and fasten our studies First to take care of necessaries before we take care of superfluities It 's mens practice in other matters and it should be more especially so here in this We count him to be a mad-man in reference to the world who looks after flowers and pictures and musick and such things as these and in the mean time suffers himself to starve and want bread Even such a kind of mad-man is he who spends all his thoughts and time upon these outward things here below and in the mean time neglects Heaven and the salvation of his own soul Such a mad-man was he in the Gospel Luke 12.20 who laid up much goods for many years but never thought what would become of this and therefore God calls him fool for it as he very well might and tells him his following doom Thou fool this night thy soul shall be taken away from thee and then whose shall these things be which thou hast provided Certainly if there be but one thing necessary it is the greatest folly and madness that can be to neglect that of all other and such as we should especially take heed that we be not guilty of it And yet if we look abroad into the world how many shall we find to be guilty in this particular and how few careful of the contrary It is a sad and woful thing to consider what a general Atheism abounds almost in every place men live as if they had no souls to save or as if there were no such thing as salvation belonging unto them Religion is the least of their care or those things which may any way tend to the promoting of it Instead of being the one thing necessary it is with them the one thing superfluous and they think there 's the least need of it of any thing else in the World therefore it is that they so much slight it and contemn it and scoff at it and at those which do any thing mind it or regard it and look after it which themselves neglect to do That time which men should spend upon their souls they spend upon their lusts and upon their vanities and such things as tend to their utter ruine and eternal destruction So far are they from minding those things which are of better and higher concernment Well There 's a time a coming when things will appear in another kind of view than now they do when this one thing needful will appear to be needful indeed And our Saviour will justify and make good this his sentence and declaration about it when Grace shall be esteemed above all the world besides and those accounted the wisest persons who have got the greatest stock of it aforehand and have treasured it up unto themselves and therefore we should accordingly be perswaded to think and judg of it As there 's a truth in the Doctrine it self that this one thing is needful so we should for our part be convinced of the necessity of it in our own minds that from thence we may be drawn to pursue it and follow after it The reason why most men do no more regard these things than indeed they do is because they do not think them to be so needful as indeed they are They think there 's no such great matter in them as Ministers and Preachers would perswade Who hath believed our report Now therefore this is that which in the first place we should work our selves unto an apprehension of the necessity of Religion The way hereunto is first of all to get a spiritual savour and relish and appetite in us what makes men to think meat to be needful but because their stomachs call for it from them and their mouths crave it at their hands as Solomon speaks And so what is that which makes men to think Grace to be necessary It is because they have gracious dispositions in them which accordingly we must labour for This will make us with the Prophet David to think the word of God to be to us as our necessary and appointed food He that has a principle of spiritual life in him he can no more be without the Ordinances and means of spiritual nourishment than he that has natural life in him can be without bread and natural food The one will be as needful as the other with such persons as are proportionably affected and disposed unto them there being the same ground and reason for either and so likewise which is pertinent hereunto look upon things in their order and connexion and subordination and in reference to their particular ends See how Grace and Glory are linked and tied together and subordinate and subservient to each other how a man must have another kind of life when this life is gone and so we shall see how this one thing is needful and shall be perswaded the more to seek after it Secondly Labour to be convinced of the vanity and insufficiency of the creature This will make us to think one thing necessary that is Religion and nothing else For it may be we think it necessary but other things as necessary as that and this divides our cares about it Nay but nothing to speak of is needful and necessary but this as will appear from the vanity of the creature All these things here below they perish in their using The world passeth away and both the lust and the fashions of it as we have it from the testimony of two Apostles together in Scripture The creature in some conditions especially can do us no good at all at least which is able to satisfy us and give us content It cannot pacify a disquiet conscience it cannot heal a broken heart or a wounded spirit it cannot settle a mind troubled and perplext with the sight of sin This nothing can do but the Blood of Christ sprinkled upon the conscience and the testimony of God's love in them applyed by his Spirit which in part makes up this one thing here in the Text. Thirdly Get our hearts freed from those lusts and corruptions which are in them and are apt to prevail over them that 's another way to make us to mind this one thing necessary What was that which made Martha here in this Scripture to neglect the word of Christ why it was because she was a little too much addicted to the world and her secular affairs And so what was that which made the young rich man in the Gospel to despise
affections and hearts off from the principles But Thirdly Especially let us go to Christ himself to hold us in his hand Joh. 15.4 Abide in me and I in you c. We must first labour to find our selves truly ingrafted and incorporated into Christ and then we must draw strength and power from him whereby we may subsist We must continue in Christ himself that so his words may continue the better in us And so ye have both parts of this Speech of Christ brought together The Duty supposed and the Priviledg inferr'd and one following upon the other It is the priviledg of all true Christians to be the Disciples of Christ indeed and that which chiefly gives them right and title to this priviledg is their continuing and abiding in his words If ye continue in my words then are ye my Disciples indeed SERMON XV. JOH 6.37 All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out The World's rejection of Christ and of the Doctrine which is delivered by him it is no disparagement either to Christ himself or to his Doctrine which was delivered but to those rather which reject both Him and it which is that which by way of prevention he does intimate here in this Scripture Our blessed Lord and Saviour had in some Verses going before shewn who and what he was and the Excellencies and Commodities which were in him Now because the Jews might perhaps have objected That for all this he was not generally so embrac'd but there were many still which held off from him For this he tells them That the Truth of God not withstanding has that honour given it which belongs unto it for let others be that which they will be those which are Chosen and Elected of God they are sure to have benefit by it and to make a profitable improvement of it All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me c. IN the Text it self we have two General Parts observable of us First An account of the persons that come to Christ All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me Secondly Christs Entertainment of those that come to him and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out We begin with the first viz. an account of the Comers All that the Father hath given me shall come c. Before we come to handle the main Doctrine which is here exhibited to us there are two Terms in this passage to be opended and explained by us First what is meant by coming to Christ Secondly what is meant by being given to Christ by the Father When we have understood both of these we shall the more easily proceed in the points which slow from them For the first Coming to Christ it hath a various sense in it and may be diversly taken by us but we will reduce it to two Heads First an Outward coming in application of our selves to the means we are then said to come to Christ when we come to the Ordinances of Christ This is that which we often meet withall in Scripture a coming thus Mark 10.14 Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not And so in many other places besides in the Gospel There were divers which came to Christ that is they had access to his person and did repair unto him this we cannot do now in the Letter and directly but we may in the Analogy and that is by our attendance upon the external means of Salvation so long as we come to them we do in a sort come to Him He that receiveth you receiveth me Matth. 10.40 And Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me 2 Cor. 13.3 But this is not all the coming which is intended here in this place there is somewhat more in it than so Therefore secondly Coming to Christ is as much as closing with Christ embracing him and believing on him and submitting to him it is a coming not onely of the feet but especially of the heart of the Soul and inward man This is the coming which is here principally aimed at when we so come to Christ as that we do yield up our whole selves to be at his disposing When we come off to him and comply with him and resign our selves to him then we come to him and come to him to purpose and not before And that 's the first term to be explained what 's meant here by coming 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall come unto me The second is What by Given All that the Father hath given me Now for this we must know that there is a double Gift of us to Christ First In God's Eternal Purpose and Counsel and Decree We are given to Christ when we are design'd and set apart for him That 's the Gift of Election So All that the Father hath given me that is All that he hath separated for me that he hath made choice of as Members of me Secondly We are given to Christ in the drawing of our hearts unto him in our effectual Calling and Vocation when God by his Spirit does perswade us to close with Christ in those terms which he offers to us in the Gospel then he is said to give us to him And this Giving it is mutual and reciprocal Christ he is given to us and we are given to him and so there is a Marriage-knot which is drawn and contracted betwixt us And this now for the meaning of the words what we are to understand by Coming and what by Given Now to come to the main Doctrine it self which is here exhibited to us All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me This it hath a double force or emphasis with it either first of all as an expression of Latitude and Vniversality or secondly as an expression of Confinement and Restriction According to the first sense so there is this in it That whosoever are Elected shall be Converted All that God has given unto Christ that is ordained and set apart for him they shall be converted and brought home unto him According to the second sense so there is this in it That none can come to Christ but those which by God himself are given to him All that the Father hath given me as excluding any other besides from this Condition We begin with the first viz. as it is an expression of some Latitude and Universality Whosoever are Elected shall be Converted Whosoever are appointed to Glory they shall be made partakers of Grace Rom. 11.7 The Election hath obtained it but the rest were blinded And Acts 13.48 As many as were ordained to eternal life believed So 2 Thess 2.13 God hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth This must needs be so because the End and the Means they still go both together according to Gods manner of dispensation and the foundation of the Lord is
capacities and therefore he sometimes tells them that he had many things to declare unto them but they could not yet bear them but what-ever they were capable of learning he was not backward of instructing No more should any other Teachers or Instructers be besides And accordingly should those who are Learners give heed unto them and stir up themselves to the minding and regarding of them The contrary whereof is that which the Apostle taxes and finds fault with in the Hebrews professing that he had many things to say to them which were hard to be uttered because they were dull of hearing For whereas for the time they might well have been teachers of others one had need now to teach them again what were the first principles of the Oracles of God and they were such as had need of milk and not of strong meat Heb. 5.11 12. This is that which we for our particulars should be careful that we be not guilty of but to be answerable to the duty and industry of our Teachers in their instructing of us as they also are to be answerable to the pattern and example of Christ which is here propounded unto them That 's one expression of his regard respect unto them namely in the faithfulness of a Teacher in instructing them in what was to be known But then secondly here is also signified to us the faithfulness of a Minister in informing them of what was to be expected If it were not so I would have told you that is I would not have deluded you deceived you with vain hopes making you to look for that which ye should never partake of or enjoy but I would have dealt plainly and freely with you and told you how things were indeed that accodingly you might expect This is that which Christ seems to intimate in this present expression and there is this observable from it that Christ always acquaints his Servants with the worst still beforehand He does not lead them into a fools Paradise and make them believe they shall have that which shall never come near them no but he does manifest the truth and reality of those things unto them This he does both in matter of Evil and in matter of Good In matter of Evil first he tells them aforehand what afflictions are likely to befall them in his service Thus ye see he did with his Disciples in divers places of the Gospel that they should be persecuted and hated of all men for his sake and what sad things should happen unto them as so many Sheep amongst so many Wolves in Matth. 10.16 c. This he did that so he might fit them and prepare them for such conditions and that they might not seem strange unto them when they fell upon them but might see them to be so as he had said And here now is a different carriage in Christ from the course and carriage of the world and of Satan who is the Prince of the world The World it puts the best foot forward and Satan who is a Broaker for it he makes still the best of it and puts the fairest colour and gloss upon it represents that which is delightful but conceals that which is distasteful tells men of the pleasures and profits which are to be found in it but tells nothing of all the dangers and hazards that do attend upon it that so thereby he may the better ensnare men and involve them in evil Yea but Christ now as there is occasion for it makes a discourse of the troubles which are in his service Again farther as in matter of evil so in matter of Good likewise Christ does not hide this neither from his Servants where it is expedient for them to know it but does inform them and acquaint them with it for their greater encouragement He tells them what they may expect from him as he did his Disciples in the Gospel Matth. 19.28 You which have been with me in my tribulation ye shall be with me hereafter in my Glory And so in the Book of the Revelations Him that overcometh I will do thus and thus for him make him a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out And I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the City of my God which is the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven and I will write upon him my new name Thus is Christ pleased to acquaint his Servants somewhat aforehand with their future state and condition Indeed he does not do it so distinctly and in all particulars that 's not so sutable to their present state here in the world wherein they are saved as it were by hope and to walk by faith rather than by sight But as to the general nature and condition of Heaven that he does even now in some sort make known unto them Eye hath not seen nor ear heard c. But God hath revealed those things to us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God 2 Cor. 2.9 10. And the reason why Christ is pleased thus to do is for the furtherance of us in his service and to make us so much the more cheerful both in doing and suffering his will It is a great motive and argument to make us stedfast and unmovable always to be abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as we know that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15.58 Therefore we should hence learn to strengthen and comfort both our selves and one another with such meditations as these are As St. Paul speaks to the Thessalonians 2 Thess 5.5 Remember ye not that when I was yet with you I told you these things Even so may Christ also say to us He has told us what good things he will bestow upon us in another world and therefore we may live in the hope and certain expectation of them and assure our selves that if it should not have been so he would not have said so Satan and the world and mens own hearts may sometimes suggest those things to them which neither are nor never shall be but Christ who is Truth it self will not do so he will never make things better than they are not worse neither but give a true and just and exact representation of them as he does here signifie unto us This accordingly shews us what course is to be taken by us in all the doubtings which are at any time upon us when we are apt sometimes to question the reality of such things as these are and think them as they did of the news of Christs Resurrection to be but idle tales Let us here for our better settlement and establishment run to the word of Christ and consider what he has said to this purpose and tending hereunto If he has not said it it is no mater who says it else his word is to take place with us above any ones word
the Nature of the Disciples condition upon supposal of Christs removal from them it was such as was sad and comfortless The second is the care of Christ for them in reference to this condition and this is exprest two manner of ways unto us First in the Negative that he would not leave them And secondly in the Affirmative that he would come unto them First for the Negative that he would not leave them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They were now within a little while likely to be very sad and comfortless as Children deprived of their Parents as I shewed before in an orphan-like and fatherless condition But Christ was resolved that he would not leave them or continue them still in it but would recover them out of it I will not leave you comfortless or I will not leave you fatherless This is that which he makes promise of to them The word Comfortless it does denote two things especially First a comfortless estate And secondly a comfortlesness of mind I will not leave you comfortless that is not in a comfortless condition And I will not leave you comfortless that is not in a comfortless frame and temper of heart First Take it as to condition or state which seems chiefly here to be intended this is that which Christ promises to his Disciples that he will not leave them thus and it is appliable to all other Believers where there are two things further considerable First what it is which Christ does not promise to his Disciples And secondly what it is which he does First what he does not And here he does not promise them that he will absolutely free and exempt them from a comfortless condition so as they shall never fall into it this he does not promise them It is not I will not make you or suffer you to be comfortless no but I will not leave you so this is the sum of that which he promises them Christ is pleased oftentimes to cast his Servants into very sad and comfortless conditions and to exercise them with very great troubles and afflictions whiles they are here in the world This is here to be supposed and taken for granted And there is very great cause and reason for him to do so That he may beat them and knock them off of themselves and shew them their own frailty and weakness and that he may teach them so much the more earnestly and affectionately to look after him and to seek for comfort and relaxation from him Therefore we should not wonder at it when at any time we find it to be so nor yet absolutely expect the contrary as being more than Christ ever promised or engaged himself for to his Servants He never said That they should never be comfortless no but that he would not leave them so I will not leave you comfortless That 's for that which he does not promise But secondly for what he does I will not leave you This again it does denote and implies two things in it First that he would not continue them in that sad condition in which they were And secondly that he would not desert them or disown them or relinquish them in it First Not leave them comfortless that is that he would not continue them and keep them still in it This is that which God has often promised to his people for their comfort in affliction that it should not lie continually upon them And so here Christ was absent but he was not absent always as we shall hear more afterwards All the troubles and afflictions of the Church and People of God they have a period at last put unto them He will not always chide neither will he keep his anger for ever Psal 103.9 He will not contend for ever neither will he be always wroth as it is also in Isa 57.16 His anger is but for a moment But secondly I will not leave you comfortless that is I will not desert you or disown you in your comfortless condition but even then will take care of you And as in your condition so also in your sensibleness and apprehensions of it in your comfortless frame and temper of spirit It holds good of both together That Christ will by no means forsake his people in either There 's nothing more common and ordinary here in the world than for those that are left fatherless to be left friendless those that are destitute and deprived of outward accommodations to be neglected and forsaken by men but with Christ now it is far otherwise The poor committeth himself to thee and thou art the helper of the fatherless Psal 10.24 And Hos 14.3 In thee the fatherless find mercy God does not forsake any persons for the meanness and lowness of their conditions but does therefore so much the rather regard them and looks after them and takes care of them as his proper charge To this purpose he is called the God that comforteth those that are cast down 2 Cor. 7.6 The reason of it is this namely the Royalty and Goodness that is in God that 's the ground of this Dispensation Base and low-spirited persons where they see any in good and prosperous conditions Oh! who is then for them but they hug them and embrace them and fawn upon them and make much of them but let them be at any time in distress and here they will not know them Yea but the Lord now he owns his Servants in their most desperate and dejected circumstances I am poor and needy yet the Lord thinketh on me says David Psal 40.17 And again Thou hast considered my trouble and known my soul in adversity Psal 31.7 He raises the poor out of the dust and the needy out of the dunghill c. Psal 113.7 The Use of this Point is to believe it and to observe it and to take notice of it and to lay it up against a time of need It is a very sweet and comfortable Truth if it be duly improv'd That Christ will not leave thee comfortless but will have a special care of them when no body else cares for them besides Oh thou afflicted tossed with tempests and not comforted says the Lord there to the Church Isa 54.11 Not comforted that is not by men I will do thus and thus for thee Therefore let us take heed of charging God foolishly as Sion there sometimes did The Lord hath forsaken me and my God hath forgotten me No he has not done so nor never will We should entertain good thoughts of God in this particular and be perswaded of his good-will to us It is useful both as to our own particular cases as also to the common case of the Church For this purpose let us learn to judge of Christ not always by his present carriage and behaviour towards us as according to outward appearance but judge of him by his Nature and sweet Disposition and judge of him by his promises and gracious intimations and discoveries of himself
the matter which the Act is exercised about and conversant in towards this object and the Argument whereby or whereupon we proceed in dealing with them First For the Act or what it is which is done it is perswading We perswade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some read it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is an expression which carries a various Emphasis First It is a word of endeavour we perswade that is we labour to do so Indeed if we speak of it as to the event so we do not always do it it is our misery and our great unhappiness that we cannot and more ours than any ones else Non suadebis etiamsi persuaseris as he said That that though we have as much cause and more than any others besides to perswade in that which we undertake to perswade men of yet we cannot so readily effect it men will not be perswaded by us even in such things as does concern them very nearly to be convinced and perswaded of Yet who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed we may complain with that Evangelical Prophet Isa 53.1 As for some other kind of persons that come with their fables and fancies and fopperies and delusions and Astrological Predictions these can perswade when they list to put an whole City into a fright for I know not what But we which bring news and tidings of the wrath of God against sin of judgment and eternal condemnation We which mention the terrour of the Lord yea and that upon knowledg too not meer guesses or conjectures but have good ground for that which we say We cannot stir men nor in the leaft manner perswade them they will not believe what we say as having any reality or certainty in it Well but for all that says the Apostle we perswade and so we do namely as I said in regard of our endeavour and application of our selves hereunto We in the execution of our Ministry do labour and study to perswade men if they will be perswaded by us and it is our duty so to do To do all that in us lies to convince men of that wretched condition which they are in by reason of sin and the danger which they are exposed unto for it This is that work which is proper to us and we do not go out of our way when we are conversant in it Secondly It is a word of mollification We perswade men we do not compel them Fides non cogenda sed suadenda It is a rule of ancient observation and it hath its truth in it according to a due explication and right apprehension which is in regard of the inward acts of the mind and the ultimate resolution of the understanding considered immediately Indeed there may be some kind of compulsion to the outward means and the attending upon them and likewise an use of such means extrinsecally as may cause men to set their understandings on work and to give heed to that which is spoken but directly and immediately to force it this is not agreeable to it as I may force a man to look though I cannot force him to see The work of the Ministry it is not a Physical work but a Moral and so is to be looked upon by us This sutes with the word that follows namely Men We perswade men men must be dealt withal as men and that is by perswasion Hos 11.4 I drew them with the cords of a man What are they namely sound and convincing arguments which might perswade and bring off their understandings to those things which were propounded unto them This is that which we are to do in the Ministry and which God himself likewise does in Regeneration and the conversion of a sinner he does here perswade Indeed when we speak of God he does so and somewhat else that we may not mistake he does not only propound arguments and barely offer such considerations to our understandings but he does likewise forcibly incline them and irresistibly bring them off to those things which he offers and propounds he draws us and makes us to run after him whereby he doth at the same time both preserve the faculties of the soul in that nature which is proper unto them and likewise maintain the efficacy and soveraignty of his own Grace But for us in the Ministry of the Word we do no more than only tender and exhibit such truths to the mind and leave it to God himself to inforce them and set them upon it It is not all the reason or argument in the world which is able to convince and perswade a man without the influence of the Spirit of God When therefore it is said here We perswade you must remember in what sense it is spoken namely by way of Preparation and proposition of such and such truths and arguments which in their own nature are apt so to do It is not in the power of all the Ministers nor men in the world to perswade the hearts and conscience properly and directly and absolutely in the strict sense and notion of the word No this is no work of ours but of God alone God shall perswade Japhet to dwell in the tents of Shem Gen. 9.27 The good old man his Father Noah the Preacher of Righteousness both by his Doctrine and likewise by his Life he had endeavoured it often but in vain and could not do it he could not perswade him by all the Logick and Rhetorick which he had used unto him there was no moving of him only by himself no but he leaves it to God to do it for him and commits it to his transaction as that which was most likely to succeed and to take effect And so must it be also with us which are Ministers as to our performances expect and desire that God may perswade by us but not to think that we of our selves shall be ever able to perswade We do but perswade almost as Paul sometimes did Agrippa Almost thou perswadest me to be a Christian. It is God that must perswade altogether But yet thirdly this expression We perswade it is moreover a word of efficacy too and that likewise in reference to us in our dispensations though not in regard of the effect of our Ministry yet at least in regard of the performance and manner of ordering it so we perswade effectually when as namely we so handle the word in the preaching and publishing of it as that it may carry some life and power with it This was that which was observable in our Saviour He taught as one having authority and not as the Scribs Mat. 7.29 My speech and my preaching says he it was not with the enticing words of mans wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and with power that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God 1 Cor. 2.8 Not in enticing words or not in the perswading words
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such words as men make account to perswade withal but yet do not perswade by them Gingling and descanting in a Sermon or the affecting of high-flown language it is not they which will ever do any good in the perswading of the Conscience The words of the wise they are like goads and like nails fastned by the master of assemblies which are given from one shepherd Eccles 12.11 And so much of the first thing in this performance viz. the act what is done by us and that is perswading Last of all it is a word of condescension We perswade men that is We satisfie them do what we can to content them and to remove all occasion of cavil or exception against us So we find some of the Ancients to have understood this manner of expression here in the Text as Chrysostome Theophylast and Oecumenius all which con upon this string and thus expound it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we perswade men that is we heal and prevent offences which is another piece of our duty belonging to us in the work of our Ministry but I cannot now insist upon it and it may better suit with some other Auditory And so much of the first thing in this performance to wit the act what is done by us and that is perswading The second is the object or the persons to whom this perswading does reach and that 's here express to be men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we perswade these See by the way here the wisdom of God in fitting the persons the perswaders and the perswaded so well together Men perswade men God deals with us by those which are like us it was the request of the Israelites to God upon the giving of the Law That God himself might not speak to them but Moses and him they would hear Exod. 20.19 This is that which God grants to us in the Ministry of the Gospel We have this treasure in earthen vessles that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us 2 Cor. 4.7 It should not make us so much the more to contemn it but so much the more rather to imbrace it and to close with it But to come to the thing it self We perswade men Men i. e. all men of what rank or condition soever It is not only we perswade you you Corinthians you believers you the Church and people of God but men at large here 's now the commission of the Ministry to preach to all men indefinitely and without exception Go unto all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature Mark 16.15 To every creature i. e. to every man Neminem merito excepit neminem separavit genere neminem conditione distinxit Prosp de Vocat Gent. lib. 2. c. 2. res ad seq This is that which we may do and this is that which we must and ought to do Whosoever are men the Gospel is to be preached unto them Humanity it does bring them within the compass and limits of it insomuch as we may say unto them If thou wilt believe thou shalt be saved there is no man whatsoever but this truth it may be offered unto him Though all men shall not actually and in the event partake of Salvation neither did Christ himself lay down his life with a particular intention for the salvation of all men promiscuously but only of those which are elected and which are given to him of his Father which are his sheep which are his Church which are his Body as the Scripture expresses it yet we are to exclude no man in the preaching and dispensation of the Gospel neither ought any man for his particular to exclude himself We are bound to perswade every man and every man is likewise bound to be perswaded by us namely to close with the conditions of the Gospel and to accept of Christ upon those terms in which he offers himself in the Gospel to him This it belongs to all This word men in the Text it is at once both a word of latitude and likewise a word of restriction and this latter it is for example first in opposition to God men and not him who needs not to be perswaded as himself knowing all things Oecumenius in opposition to Angels we perswade men we do not perswade them The good Angels they need it not and the bad they are uncapable of it and so both together excluded This is the difference now betwixt Men and Devils that as for the Devils if we could per impossibilem hypothesin suppose that they could believe in Christ yet we cannot so much as offer Christ to them to be believed on by them we cannot say to the Devil Si credideris salvaberis If thou wilt believe thou shalt be saved but to the vilest man that is we may say so There is no man whosoever he be be he never so wicked and ungodly but we may in the dispensation of our Ministry tender salvation to him upon condition of belief in Christ which to the Devils we cannot do So that we perswade men that is we perswade none but men this word men here it is of restriction and confinement excluding any other but such as these as having interest in it But then again further within this compass and circle so it is a word of latitude and enlargement extending it self as I said to all men whosoever they be and that also in any rank or condition which we may possibly conceive them in There 's none whosoever they be which are exempt from our net but come within the reach of it all that are capable of salvation they are capable of the truths of salvation to be preached unto them and they must submit to such exhortations as are means tending thereunto there 's none which may think themselves too good for this Dispensation whether high or low rich or poor learned or unlearned if they be men we perswade them all whosoever they be which are citable to Christs Tribunal which are to give an account of the things which they have done in the body they are also subject to our perswasions and efficacious dealings with them for the good of their souls We perswade men First Rich men we have a word of perswasion for them 1 Tim. 6.17 c. Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us all things richly to enjoy And poor men we perswade them also that they labour to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which God hath promised to those that love him c. Jam. 2.5 That they do not envy those which are rich but be content in the condition they are in And learned men we perswade them also to improve those gifts and abilities which God has bestowed upon them for his glory and the publick advantage that they labour and be wise to salvation and to be acquainted with Jesus
tables of the heart Those souls and consciences which it has pleased God to bring home to himself by the labours of his servants in the Ministry they are a manifestation of the Ministry it self and an approbation of them in it insomuch as they need no other Testimony but that to be given unto him This is that which does advance God's Ordinance more than any thing else and makes it such as it is to wit the efficacy and success of it that it does effect such great matters as indeed it does Casts down imaginations to every high thing that exalts it self against the knowledg of God and brings into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.5 And so Act. 26.18 It is said to open mens eyes to turn them form darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God This efficacy of it we may take notice of in divers examples First In Christ himself when he Preached to those which were going to Emaus Did not our hearts burn within us when he opened to us the Scriptures Luk. 25.2 And so it has been likewise with his sevants in the Ministry As Peter Preaching to the Jews when they heard these things they were pricked in their hearts And so Lydia and the Jaylor in the Acts ye see how effectual the Apostle Paul's Ministry was to operate and work upon them he was made manifest in their consciences Thus is it likewise with many others besides if they would consider it and reflect upon it They might find how the Ministry has been ratified and confirmed even in their own hearts which if ever they had any good or any thing tending unto good wrought in them it has been occasionally from such means as these are which have been used unto them God has sanctified this Ordinance as a meants to beget faith in the heart and to draw men so much the nearer to Christ I have begotten you through the Gospel says this Apostle to these Corinthians in 1 Cor. 4.15 Thus are we manifest in your consciences in a way of efficacy The second is in a way of Conviction or Approbation We are made manifest in your consciences that is indeed we are made manifest to you your consciences do bear witness with us This is that which the Apostle here signifies and he understands it both in reference to Doctrine and Conversation which were both of them so powerful in them as that they had nothing to say against them but were even from their own consciences forced to own and acknowledg them and thereby to give testimony unto them This is now the advantage of all such as are careful to do their duty and to approve themselves first to God and to be made manifest to him that they shall have the consciences of men also closing and complying with them as the Apotle Paul here says to them We are made manifest in your consciences This was ture whether spoken of all the Corinthians at large or else of those only which were godly and faithful amongst them which were true Believers It was true of both as 2 Cor. 4.2 By manifestation of the truth commending our selves to every mans conscience in the sight of God First of the Corinthians at large yea of those which were naught amongst them It was true of them that St. Paul and the rest of the Apostles were made manifest in their consciences and so are all good Ministers in the consciences of such-like men they are made manifest in them and they are made manifest to them so as they shall have nothing to say against them And so likewise were all good men in what rank or condition soever This is the priviledg of Goodness that it shall have mens consciences where it has not their affections Though they love it not yet they shall inwardly like it and in their hearts secretly approve it and set their seals unto it There 's many a man in the world whom when a Minister reproves that sin which he is guilty of in particular and lays open the vileness of it to him though he hates the reprover yet the reproof it self sticks by him he knows it to be so indeed as the Preacher tells him his heart says Amen unto it This is to be made manifest in the conscience And it is that I say which falls out in the consciences even of the worst men that are As Herod though he loved not Johm Baptist yet he reverenced him and in his heart did admire him This as much as any thing is a great incouragement to us in our work the work of the Ministry that where we keep to that which is our business we go upon sure grounds and though men perhaps in a bravery and because they will not seem to own their own miscarriages they may prehaps speak neglectfully and contemptibly of the business when any sin is laid close unto them yet we know we are made manifest to their consciences which do speak the same things unto them even in their own breasts which we do to their outward ears Those that believe not are convinced and judged the secrets of their hearts are made manifest and they will report God is in your of a truth 1 Cor. 14.24 25. But then secondly if ye take this your consciences a little more strictly restraining it to true Believers and those amongst these Corinthians which were faithful and godly persons then it was in full force and is the more clear and out of doubt that St. Paul and the rest were made manifest in their consciences indeed Howsoever others may think of us yet those which are faithful will approve us and close with us in these Dispensations There 's none which are the Ministers of Christ but they approve of the Ministers of Christ and subscribe to that which comes from them in the name of Christ more abundantly to you-wards 2 Cor. 9.11 12. In your consciences especially in whosoevers else besides If by consciences we mean mens hearts and affections and inward embracements so we do not look to be manisested Some kind of men such persons as live by their lusts and walk in vain and unwarrantable courses these will be sure to speak against Ministers because they speak against them and cross them and contradict them in their main purpose and design The Ministers of Satan will never love the Ministers of Christ we do not expect it nor we do desire it It is a thing not to be thought of or lookt for from them yea but those which have any work of Gods grace wrought in their hearts we are sure to have them to own us and to acknowledg us and to concur with us We are made manifest in your consciences says the Apostle that is in the consciences of you which are believing Corinthians And when I say here we and the Apostle before me I do not mean it so much of the persons as indeed of the calling or of the persons
sure not to want it God does either actually and absolutely deliver from the evil or else so sanctifie and dispose his Providence towards them as that it shall be either as good or rather indeed better than the deliverance from the evil it self to them And this is that which may abundantly satisfie their minds both as to the truth of this Point as also as to contentation in a mean condition And thus now this Point may be improved to particular persons So likewise in the second place we may also carry it as more pertinent to the occasion to the Church and State in general and reason so for that He has delivered and does deliver and we trust that he will yet deliver us It is an observation which is sometimes made concerning some kind of men and persons that they are Homines boni pedis happy and successful men which prosper in whatsoever they undertake whom God does in a special manner delight to make the objects of his mercy and goodness as Jacob and Joseph c. Now as it is thus with private persons so we may conceive it to be so with whole Nations and people at large Thus 't is noted of Israel Happy art thou O Israel who is like unto thee O people saved by the Lord c. Deut. 33.29 the Epithet there given unto them And thus as it has been with Israel so we may observe it to have been with England with us of these fortunate Islands we have been the admiration of all the world for happiness and blessing never any Nation partaked of such mercies and deliverances as we have done It is true that God is not tyed to Countries nor places nor people any further than he is pleased to tye and engage himself out of his own free goodness and bounty But it is a great advantage if we do not forfeit it to be under such a Providence as this is and to be the ancient objects of Gods favour and miraculous dispensations yea which is now the improvement of this Doctrine in hand a great argument to trust and depend upon him for his goodness God has done many great and wonderful things for his people of this Land and Nation even of latter years and that within the cognizance and observation even of other people Then they said among the Heathen The Lord has done great things for them And we may eccho it back again unto them as the Church does there in that Psalm The Lord has done great things for us whereof we are glad But has he done all he means to do for us or which we may expect and look for from him sure I hope he has not but that he has more and greater blessings in store and reservation for us unless we by our unthankfulness frowardness wickedness and abuse of his blessings and mercies do for time to come deprive our selves of them surely if we do not very much provoke him God will not unravel that thread which has been of his own spinning which is the work of his own hands but will rather perfect that which concerns us as the Psalmist speaks It was good Logick that of Manoahs wife which she read to her Husband and as good Divinity in Judg. 13.23 If the Lord were pleased to kill us he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meat offering at our hands neither would he have shewed us all these things nor would he as at this time have told us such things as these And it was as good also that of Hamans wife to him in Esth 6.13 If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews before whom thou hast begun to fall thou shalt not prevail against him but shalt surely fall before him God does not do things all at once but by time and leisure and degrees he makes one thing a preparation to another and a ground and argument for the expectation of it and so as we may in a manner see his footsteps in it This is the Improvement which we are now to make of the mercy of this present day we do not sufficiently or as we should improve it when as we only take notice of it in it self but when-as we make it a ground and argument and reason for the expectation of more and further acts from him This is one of our standing mercies and deliverances which in our discouragements and faintings of heart we should still have recourse unto for the quickning and reviving of us and putting us in heart again He that has delivered us from the Gunpowder-Treason what will he not now do for us and what will he not deliver us from Which as in matter of humiliation it is good to reflect upon some special sin or the original corruption of nature which is the greatest and chiefest of all thereby to work us to repentance and contrition of spirit So likewise in matter of Thanksgiving it is good to reflect upon some special mercy and extraordinary providence of God towards us thereby to work our hearts to answerable thankfulness for all the rest This is the proper Application of this present Point both for the General and also the particular Some of us have been under great sicknesses and God has freed us from them and some of us in other great troubles and exigencies and God has brought us out of them What 's the use which we should now make of all to our selves but what the Apostle here dictates unto us and gives us a pattern of in his own example speaking of God Who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust also that he will yet deliver us SERMON XXXV 2 Cor. 13.8 For we can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth There are two things especially which either are or ought to be in the care and principal study of every true Minister of Christ the one is the Truth of God and the other is the Church of God The Dignity and Authority of his Ministry and the souls and welfare of his people and these two in a mutual compliance and subordination of one to the other so to assert his ministerial authority as not to prejudice his peoples comfort and so to tender the peace of his people as that the Name of God and his Doctrine may not be blasphemed Now both of these very eminently concur in the practice of the Apostle Paul through the whole course of his Ministry and did more particularly shew themselves in him in the course of this present Epistle and Scripture which we have here before us Wherein he seems not so much to stand upon his own private honour and reputation as rather upon the improvement of the Corinthians and the Dignity and Authority of the Ordinances and Truths of Christ amongst them that they might receive no violation or diminution of them Not that we says he should appear approved but that ye may do that which is honest though we be as
Reprobates for we can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth IN these words We can do nothing but for the Truth As they are words which have a respect to the end so there is a double end which seems to be intended in them there 's finis operis and finis operantis both and so we must here take it The end both of the work and worker Truth and the edification of Gods People it was the end of the Ministry it self in its own institution and it was the end likewise of the Apostle in his discharge and execution of his Ministry he had an arm and eye to those gracious ends and purposes whereunto his Ministry and Apostleship looked in the nature of it These two they are two things and are sometimes separated one from the other there are many which the office they sustain and the Ministry wherein they are imployed that 's not against but for the truth in the nature of them but they have other kinds of ends themselves in their exercise and discharge of them Now this is that which we must be careful and mindful of whoever he be that 's a Minister or imployed in any publick service he should labour to have affections answerable to the nature of the place which he sustains or the duty which is undertaken by him even to have such ends in undertaking of it as the thing it self in its own nature respects otherwise we may do nothing against the Truth and yet do nothing for it nay we may do much for it in regard of our managing of it yea may fulfil our lusts at the same time when we perform our duties The Apostle Paul did not here who in the words here before us expresses not only to us the blessed end of his Ministry but also the gracious frame of his spirit in the exercise of it We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth There are two Motives or Reasons especially which do make for our activity for Truth the one is because it needs it and the other is because it deserves it The Text is nothing else but an account of the Apostles integrity and faithfulness in the discharge of his Ministry And it is here propounded to us two manner of ways which may serve to make up to us the two parts of the Text. First In the Negative how it is not in these words We can do nothing against the truth And secondly In the Affirmative how it is but for the truth c. We begin with the former viz. The Negative Proposition We can do nothing against the truth He speaks it of himself together with the rest of the Apostles but it is true both of all other Ministers and Christians besides it is the same case and condition which they are in they can do nothing c. Now this it may admit of a various interpretation according to the several force of the words First We cannot i. e. we may not there 's a restraint of Command Seconly We cannot i. e. we will not it is a restraint of principles Thirdly We cannot i. e. we shall not it is a restraint of Power First We cannot i. e. we may not it is a restraint of command or prohibition from God himself A Christians may-not and his cannot are all one id potest quod jure potest that which is unlawful it 's impossible to a gracious heart And so this among other things of resisting and acting against the Truth it is that which he cannot do because he is forbidden to do it and so he is God allows no man in this and least of all those who by special service draw near unto him to do any thing which may prejudice Religion or the Doctrine which is according to Godliness in any respect it is that which may not be done And the reason of it is this because Truth it is a piece of God himself it is his own natural and genuine off-spring so that to do any thing against that is consequently to do somewhat against him which is that which he cannot approve of as even Gamaliel himself said of it Act. 5.39 If it be of God ye cannot overthrow it lest happily ye be found even to fight against God God he is the first Truth and so all Truth it issues from him and is dependent upon him Therefore let none take liberty to themselves in it as too many are apt to do who make nothing of Truth nor of injuring and opposing of it think they may do with it as they please without controle no they may not do so God takes a special care of his Truth above any thing else and would have us to take care of it likewise that we do nothing offensive to it we cannot do any thing against the Truth that is we may not there 's a restraint of command Secondly We cannot i. e. we will not there 's a restraint of principles it is against the frame and temper and disposition and constitution of a Christian to do any thing against the Truth We cannot do it i. e. and be what we are or what we profess and pretend our selves to be Christians considered as Christians under that notion and reduplication are uncapable of opposing the truth it is altogether incompatible to them and inconsistent with their Christian Condition And that in sundry particulars wherein it may be laid open to us As first from the clearness of their judgments and that fulness of conviction in their undershandings there is a restraint upon them from thence The reason why many oppose Truth it is because they are ignorant of it and know not what it is They speak evil of those things which they understand not 2 Pet. 2.12 But those which do know the Truth they are much ingaged for it As Paul whiles he was in a state of ignorance he was then in a state of opposition But when it pleased God to reveal his Son in him then it was otherwise with him This now is the case of true Believers and the Servants of God The eyes of their understanding are opened and they are inlightned by the spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.10 c. Therefore if they should go against the Truth they should contradict their own light which they cannot so well do Light it has a restraining power with it and does keep men from many strange practices which they would otherwise fall into Secondly As from the clearness of their judgments so also from the Holiness of their hearts and that gracious savour and tincture in their affections this is another thing that keeps them in There are many who have pretty good judgments and their understandings are indifferently well enlightened and yet they are never a whit the freer from opposing the Truth because they have rotten and corrupt hearts and their spirits are unsound in them from whence they detain the Truth in unrighteousness and extinguish that light which is in them But
Reconciliation committed unto them For them therefore at any time to do any thing against this Truth it were very irregular and unnatural Thirdly This Evangelical Truth it is that also which is most in Gods own heart and affection There 's no Truth which he desires more to extol or advance in the world or which he is so tender and careful of as he is of this and therefore to do any thing against this were a matter of highest indignity and prosumption so that it holds good in all particulars Now that as we must do nothing against any Truth indefinitely so not against the Truth of the Gospel more especially we may not do any thing either against this Truth at all But here it may be haply demanded as pertinent to this present Discourse When and in what respect are we said to do any thing against the Truth I answer this is or may be done divers manner of ways by us First more grosly and directly by the teaching and spreading of error when any do deliver such Doctrines as are contrary to the Word of God and the Rule of Faith which is therein propounded they do then act against the Truth in a more especial manner If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholsome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Doctrine which is according to Godliness as it is in 1 Tim. 6.3 5. such an one is reckoned amongst those which are destitute of truth and as destitute of truth and as opposire to it To set up errour is to deject and pull down Truth Secondly We act against the Truth when we do any way hinder or retard the progress and propagation of it when we suffer not the Word of God to run or to have free course and be glorified which seems to be laid to the charge of unreasonable and wicked men 2 Thes 3.12 When we shall be any way guilty in this particular we shall herein be guilty of opposing the Truth and that whether we stop it as to others or else to our selves Thirdly By perverting of the Truth and abusing it to a contrary purpose and intent As when men shall make the Truths of God by a wresting and straining of them to be subservient to their own lusts they do thus far act against the Truth Thus the Apostle Peter complains of some in his time who being unlearned and unstable wrested the Epistles of Paul and other parts of holy Scripture even to their own destruction and perdition 2 Pet. 3.16 And what he complain'd of then is that also which may still be found frequent in many persons even to this present day In these ways and such as these which may be refer'd and reduced unto them may we be said to oppose the Truth Now it concerns all those who do any way profess themselves Christians and especially which are the Ministers of Christ to be wary how they be any way faulty in this regard to have this sentence here of the Apostles not only often and frequently in their mouths but really and deeply in their hearts We can do nothing against the Truth And that especially considering the great hazard and danger of doing so there 's none which do any thing against the Truth in the least kind that is but they are obnoxious to a great deal of mischief for such a miscarriage As namely first of all the having of Truth it self taken away from them God infatuates and blinds them more and takes away those remainders of Truth which are yet abiding in them when as they presume to act against it Those that receive not the love of the Truth that they might be saved God sends them strong delusions that they should believe a lye that they all might be damned that believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness as it is in 2 Thes 2.11 12. Secondly The giving up to strange and enormous practices when men do that which is destructive of Truth God does many times withdraw his restraining Grace from them and suffer them to fall into very vile and fearful lusts As it is noted of the Gentiles That because they retained not God in their knowledg nor liked not to do so therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient Being filled with all unrighteousness fornication wickedness c. as the Apostle expresses it in Rom. 1.28 29. Thirdly The following with many outward and temporal calamities this is a consequent of the departing from Truth and of opposing and acting against it The Truth it does very much secure those places and persons which maintain it and are faithful to it but those which prove opposers of it and adversaries to it they do oftentimes find the hand of God going out in revenge upon them so dangerous a thing is it to be guilty in this particular of doing any thing against the Truth And for which cause we should take heed of doing it But yet we have not as I conceive attained to the full sense and scope of this expression here before us there is somewhat yet further intended in it than as hitherto we have spoken unto when as the Apostle here says We can do nothing against the Truth and that is by taking Truth not only notionally and as limited to Doctrine and matter of judgment and opinion but also moreover as taken Practically and as extended to matter of life and conversation The Truth in the language of Scripture does seem to denote the whole business and substance of Religion in the extent and latitude of it As to instance in one or two places thus 1 Joh. 3.19 Hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him So 2 Joh. 4. I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth And 3 Joh. 12. Demetrius hath good report of all men and of the truth it self In all which places and the like the word Truth is taken not only for the Doctrine of Religion but also for the whole tenor and course of a Christian conversation And so also here in the Text We can do nothing against the Truth that is we can do nothing which may be offensive or prejudicial to Religion and the Profession of Christianity There are two things which we shall here briefly do with Gods assistance First To take notice of the phrase and manner of expression And secondly Of the thing it self First For the phrase and manner of expression we may here take notice of it That Religion and the whole business of Christianity is exprest by Truth when the Apostle would signifie that he could not do any thing against that he says He could do nothing against this We can do nothing against the truth i.e. We can do nothing against the power of Godliness and the spirit of Religion which is in the world The one expresses the other This there 's very good ground and
whereof there is to be no alteration and whereunto there is to be no addition If any man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this Book Rev. 22.18 Hence Heb. 13.9 Be not carried about with divers and strange Doctrines 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Divers and strange divers in regard of their multiplication strange in regard of their innovation It this present Text before us there are two phrases or expressions whereby this newness or strangeness of Doctrine is set forth unto us First Other than as we have preached in the eighth verse Secondly Other than as you have received in the ninth which though at the last they come both to one and the same effect yet have a different notion in them considerable of us First Other than as we have preached the Apostle Paul reduces all Doctrine to what himself and other of the Apostles of Christ had delivered making that the measure of all the rest This he might very well do without any rigor at all and it was that which did very well become him considering who he was namely the Apostle of Christ who had received what he taught by the Revelation of Christ himself as he signifies afterwards He does not stand upon that which he had preached as purely his own but as Christs whose Minister he was and from whose authority and in whose name he delivered what he did unto them So that though it be what we have preached as to the expression yet it is indeed what we are commanded to preach for the intention and meaning of it The stress and strength of the phrase does not lye so much in his own performance as in Gods allowance and warranting of him to what he performed as doing it by Divine commission Where again we may be the way further observe that this restriction here of the Apostle Paul's which he does fasten upon others in reference to himself is not so much to the manner of his Preaching as rather to the matter it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There are divers Improvements and Modifications of the same Truth acccording to the various Gifts and Abilities which God communicates to his servants some in one kind and some in another Ye shall have some kind of persons who would confine all kind of Preachers to one and the same kind of way and method of Preaching This is a business which is not to be expected neither does the Apostle urge it in this Scripture but in the allowing to every one that gift and manner of Preaching which is most agreeable to himself so it be grave and sober and proper and becoming the Majesty of the Gospel he does limit them only for matter to the Doctrine of the Scripture that there be nothing delivered but what does consist with that and which either directly or by consequent is to be found in it Upon this account there are two sorts of Persons which seem to be cashiered by St. Paul as to this matter of Preaching the one is Papists with their unwritten Traditions the other is Enthusiasts with their new Discoveries and Revelations forasmuch as either of these do preach besides that which hath been preacht by Paul an the rest of the Apostles they seem hereby to be condemned First Papists with their unwritten Traditions The Church of Rome besides that which is commended to us in the Holy Scriptures would impose upon us to be believed by us and that as necessary also to Salvation what they call unwritten Verities and do equal their own Cabala to the Bible and Book of God it self Credunt sine Scripturis ut credant adversus Scripturas Tert. p. 207. Now we see here what to think of them by what is here said by the Apostle Paul If either we or an angel preach besides c. There 's nothing now which is to be preached or entertained besides the Scripture And Tertullian's rule holds good Non credimus quia non legimus We believe it not because we read it not Read it not where namely in the Scripture and written Word of God And St. Ambrose to the like purpose in his first Book de fide ad Gratianum Scripturas interrogemus interrogemus Apostolos interrogemus Prophetas c. I would not says he that ye should so much relye upon us and our argument let us ask the Scriptures let us ask the Apostles let us ask the Prophets yea let us ask Christ himself speaking in them resolving all into the Word of God Secondly Enthusiasis with their new Discoveries and Revelations they seem hereby also to be excluded If nothing may now be preached besides that which hath been already delivered by St. Paul and the rest of the Apostles then certainly there can now be no new Article of Faith in Religion obtruded upon us I say no new Article of Faith nor any such point as is necessary to be believed upon the Terms of Salvation there 's no room for such things as these as may appear by St. Paul's Anathema here in the Text. Indeed we do not deny but there may be and daily are new clearings and explications and enlargements of those former Truths which have been taught and received in former times and so new light subjectivè but not any new Truth it self which has not already been made known to the Church and so new light objectivè or in Propositions There may be discoveries of new Truths in Philosophy but not in Religion and in Divinity as to some Points which are purely Speculative Theological but not which are Fundamental and Practical no the Gospel it is Aeternum Evangelium it is the Everlasting Gospel as it is called Rev. 14.6 From whence there is to be no substraction and unto which there is to be no Accumulation The once thinking of this since the consignation and sealing up of the Canon has been exploded in all times of the Church Mos iste semper in Ecclesiâ viguit says Vincentius Lyrinensis ut quo quisque foret Religiosior eo promptius novellis adinventionibus conrairet This has always been the custom and fashion in the Church of God that by how much any one hath been more Religious than others by so much the more readily hath he set himself against any strange and novel inventions Thus he a learned and ancient Writer which he does illustrate by divers examples And again to the same purpose Nove dicendum sed non nova We may speak in a new manner but not new things And he sets it forth by a very lively and elegant comparison Imitetur animarum Religio rationem corporum quae licet annorum processu numeros suas evolvant expleant eadem tamen quae erant permanent Let the Religion of the Soul herein imitate the condition of the Body which though in process of time it does extend it self to a greater magnitude and fulness yet for the subtance
set it home upon the soul But when he does so then it obtains this effect Goodness and patience sanctified it do â—â—very much lead men to repentance by gracious and ingenuous impressions fastened upon the minds of men otherwise it does no good at all at least in any saving way The goodness of God that does us good in a way of repentance it is not his goodness without us but his goodness rather within us by the changing of our inward man and the infusing of gracious Principles into us And thus far indeed he does conduct us and lead us hereunto There are some which are of opinion as if we has a Power in our selves so far forth to improve God's Goodness and forbearance and long-suffering towards us as thereby to be easily drawn to repentance if our selves please that they are proper and sufficient means with the help and cooperation of the Spirit of God which does always accompany them to bring them hereunto But this is more than the Apostle does aâ—â—ert here in this place or than can be rationally deduced from it Where first he speaks not of such a repentance as does come home to absolute conversion and which is sound in true believers and the Children of God but only of a disciplinary repentance couâ—â—sting especially in an external cessation from those grievous sins before mentioned and of the change of vicious acts and customs into those which were morally honest and laudable Secondly He does not affirm that this Goodness and Mercy of God has any suitableness or congruity hereunto in a connexion of causes and dependance of one thing upon another Neither thirdly which is also supposed does he say That God does absolutely intend the Actual repentance of all such persons to whom this Mercy is shewed But this is that which he does propound and exhibit to us That God does hereby as it were lead men by the hand and intice them and invite them and draw them on to the doing it more than they do and so objectively leads them to repentance And this is enough to convince men and to leave them inexcusable whiles they pull themselves out of Gods hand offering to lead them and refuse to be better by him and by all his favour and mercies towards them which he follows them and tends them withal To this I might also add by way of further illustration how God leads men to Repentance Exemplariter by way of pattern and example and that also in this his Goodness and Patience whiles himself seems to repent of the evil which he intended to bring upon them as we find that phrase often in Scripture this is a special inducement to them for their repentance of their evil against him But these things I cannot now press and insist upon That 's the first Branch in the second General viz. the truth asserted That the Goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance The second is the Truth questioned in those words Not knowing that Which words may be taken either as a part of the Expostulation as join'd with the foregoing words Despisest thou c. and doest thou not know Or else as the Assignation of a ground and reason of that contempt forasmuch as thou does not know c. Take them which way you will and if you please both ways together And so this expression not knowing it does imply three things in it First simple Ignorance not knowing i.e. not apprehending Secondly Interpretative Ignorance not knowing i.e. not considering Thirdly Affected Ignorance not knowing i.e. not willing to know First Simple Ignorance not knowing i.e. not apprehending this is that which worldly men are oftentimes much encompast withal they are ignorant of the scope and end and intent of Gods Providence towards them they do not know what he means either in his chastisements or his forbearance of correction but have oftentimes sinister conceits and apprehensions in this particular as thinking that to be a favouring of sin in them which is rather the contrary and thinking that to be an allowance of wickedness which is rather a motive an incitement to goodness and so repentance as it is here exprest Evil men understand not judgment but they which seek the Lord underst and all things both in judgment and mercy it self as is there implied Prov. 28.5 Now this Ignorance as is here also intimated is a cause and ground of this miscarriage therefore men make no better use of all his gracious dealings with them because they know not nor do not understand the drift and meaning of them nor the errand which they carry with them which it is a matter of concernment to know Christians they should labour to be well acquainted with the Providences of God to spell out the meaning of them and to learn that proper lesson which he would teach them by them Secondly Interpretative Ignorance not knowing i.e. not considering that which a man does not attend unto it is in effect as if he did not know and so it is here and that as a ground and occasion of this distemper and miscarriage of despising of the goodness of God when men do not thoroughly weigh and consider what this goodness of God tends to they are from hence apt to despise it And indeed all miscarriage is upon the point founded hereupon men would be a great deal more innocent if they were but more advised if they did but ponder and consider and perpend things more than they do which indeed they do not Thirdly Affected Ignorance not knowing i.e. not willing o know because men have no mind o repent therefore they have no mind neither to know those things which should induce them to repentance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are willingly ignorant of this thing as the Apostle Peter speaks it of them in 2 Pet. 3.5 Therefore in the verse next the Text it hath hardness and impenitency of heart joined together with it whereby they do arm and fortifie themselves against every thing which should make them better Now let us lay all these things together and make aright improvement of them to our selves by way of Application they are such as will very nearly concern us upon a double account both Personal and National both in reference to our own particulars in reference likewise to the Community wherein we partake and which we are members of that we be careful not to despise the riches of Gods goodness and patience towards us but to know that he hereby leads us to repentance if we will be led by him First for our own particular persons it concerns us to be sensible of it here whosoever thou are that God does bless more than ordinary with any measure of these outward comforts be sure to make a good use and improvement of them whereby it may be evidenced to thee that they are bestowed u8pon thee in mercy and not cast upon thee either in wrath or no more than out of common Providence and a
their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled There is a ripeness and maturity of sin which calls for the execution of judgment till which time judgment is delayed and put off and for a season procrastinated and then he that shall come will come and will not tarry Lastly This desire of the Church to Christ's coming and hastning of it it hath a respect to Christ himself who in a manneris hereby also perfected for the Church in the fulness of its Members is the fulness also of Christ and so it is called in Ephes 1.23 The fulness of him that filleth all in all We must distinguish of Christ in his person and Christ in his office If we look upon Christ as God and as the second person in the Trinity so he is absolute and compleat in himself and capable of no addition or augmentation but if we look upon Christ as he is God-man the Mediator and Head of the Church so he is so far forth perfected as the Church it self is perfected and compleated in the number of Members And as himself also has finished and compleated all the works which do belong to his Mediatorship which is coming in Glory This is the only remainder of what 's behind and lest yet undone as to the full work of our Redemption and therefore does the Church very properly call for it and put him in mind of it out of her respect unto him This if not so to be taken as if Christ himself would not come otherwise for that he would though she should be silent and never call for him nor yet if she could properly hasten it or speed it before its time for that she cannot neither God has appointed a day wherein he will judg the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained as the Apostle tells us Act. 17.31 As he has appointed the man namely Christ so he has also appointed the day which we cannot name nor it does not belong unto us It is not for us to know the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his own power Act. 1.7 But the Church prays for his coming as a testimony of her affection to him and as desiring thereby to put a respect upon him because in coming his Glory and Majesty shall be so much the more revealed and discovered And that 's the last account which may be here given of this Prayer and Petition When the Spirit and the Bride say Come namely out of respect to Christ The Vse of all to our selves serves to teach us to labout for such a frame of spirit as this is whereby we may in truth and sincerity come up to this requess and desire so as to pray and to pray heartily for the second coming of Christ and the appurtenances of it It is a request which is so much the more considerable as it is such as we are taught to make by Christ himself in that Prayer which he hath left unto us whereof one branch is this Thy Kingdom come As the Holy Ghost suggests it so Christ himself also commands it and requires it of us and accordingly we should all indeavour that it may be practised by us We should labor for the Considerations above-mentioned to say Come Lord Jesus come quickly as it follows afterwards in this Chapter Where when Christ promises it the Church presently apprehends it and returns upon him with desires answerable and suitable to so gracious an intimation For this purpose let us especially endeavour to have the Spirit of God Himself in us and to be filled with that For observe how it is said here in the Text The Spirit and the Bride say Come Nature that does not say it but rather reluctates against it and puts it off no but it is the Spirit that says it and we our selves say it to purpose so far forth as we are spiritual and act upon spiritual Grounds and Principles in the desires of it There are some kind of people who now and then in a discontent and when any thing crosses them then it may be they could wish for an end of the world and of their own lives with it But that may be perhaps from the flesh and not from the spirit and so to be suspected no but then it is so as should be when it proceeds from a work of the Holy Ghost and Spirit himself in us Now there are three ways especially whereby the Spirit of God does usually work such a desire as this in us and makes us in Truth and Reality to desire Christs second Coming First By discovering to us the vanity of all these things here below What is the reason that many people are so unwilling to think of another world It is because they think there is no other but this but place their happiness and contentment here in these poor outward things which if their hearts were taken off from it would be otherwise with them Now those whom God has a delight in he does by his Spirit convince them of the vanity and Transitoriness of this world Secondly By purging our consciences from any thing which may be burdensom to them and putting us upon duty and that work which is required of us in our present opportunities When Christians shall have this lye upon their spirits that either they have been sinful or unfruitful they cannot so easily wish for Christs coming either guilt or their work yet unfinished they are great pull-backs and retarders in this particular Now therefore does the Holy Ghost take order with them to both of these purposes by not suffering his servants to lye under the power of any known sin nor yet wilfully to omit and neglect any known Duty but to be sincere and fruitful both to such Christians as are so Christs coming will be the more acceptable to them Thirdly By manifesting unto them the Excellency which is in Christ himself and the blessed and glorious condition of God's People in another world together with their own interest and concernment in it When Christ had declared before that he was the bright and moring-star then the Spirit and the Bride say Come it is ignorance of Christ that makes men no more to breathe after him nor to be desirous of him Therefore the Spirit of God may rouse those desires in us he presents these Excellencies to us and gives us some glimpses and anticipations of that glorious condition which he has provided for us And then also which belongs hereunto vouchsafes some kind of assurance of our interest in this condition and that it belongs to us for our particular whereby the more to quicken our desires Excellency is nothing without propriety it is the Spouse of Christ alone which can with joy desire Christs coming When therefore the soul is convinced that it is so with it self that it is contracted and espoused to Christ and owned by him then the Spirit an the Bride say Come When we
expression it is none of all these things in themselves which makes Preaching so powerful a Conveyance no but the Ordinance of God which has appointed to work by these means and the Spirit of God who is pleased to concur with it in working It is he which has made us able Ministers of the New Testament says the Apostle Paul not of the letter but of the spirit for the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life 2 Cor. 3.6 This is that which gives an efficacy to this Preaching Well for the thing it self we see 't is a blessed means to a blessed effect to wit of saving souls and that not withstanding all the low apprehensions which the world commonly has of it and the disparagement which they are apt to cast on it and upon those which are the dispensers of it after all which can be any way said against it to the extenuating and diminishing of it here is that in the Text which is able to bear it up and advance it That by it God is pleased even to save them that believe The improvement of this Point to our selves for Application may be twofold First as it concerns Ministers there 's a very good item for them to quicken us and encourage us in our work and the conscionable discharge of it without fainting and giving out For see what a work it is and what a blessed and happy end it tends to Even no less than to bring men to heaven and to make them heirs of eternal life Who would not think himself honoured in such a noble imployment as this and accordingly go thorough it with a great deal of cheerfulness and alacrity in the midst of all discouragements whatsoever which we can meet with in the world our very work it self is a reward though there were nothing else and to save a soul is more than to gain a Kingdom Let us not be ashamed of that which is the power of God to salvation as the Apostle speaks Again Let us also hence learn so much the more faithfully to discharge and make that our chief end in undertaking it which was Gods chief end in ordaining it What was Gods chiefest end here in the first appointing and instituting of this Ordinance why 't was to save them that believe let that be now our main end in taking it in hand That in this service we may be instrumental to Gods Providence in the bringing in of the number of his Elect. This should work and prevail with us above all other ends besides And this for the Ministers Secondly Here 's somewhat also for the people and that is so much the more carefully to attend upon this Ordinance of Preaching and to take heed of the despising of it as a weak and foolish thing they which despise Preaching they do in effect despise Believing yea they do despise Salvation it self And therefore let us take heed how we be guilty of such a sin as this is Do not say that Reading is as good as Hearing and a Sermon read in a mans study is as good as a Sermon preached in the Church for we are mistaken if we so think for though it be as good for the matter of it and it may be better yet it is not as good for the performance which does receive a greater efficacy from Gods Ordinance and blessing upon it And we must not be wiser than Him in such dispensations as these are Elisha's staff will do no good without Elisha's spirit to improve it and go along with it This is that which is more frequently in Preaching whereas in reading it is for the most part cold or at least not the latter in such a full and plentiful measure Besides that 's good which is seasonable and in due time And further let this teach us with what affections to come to the Ordinances the Preaching and hearing of the Word namely as those which expect and desire salvation from it as the end whereunto it is intended Let us not come to a Sermon as to a Prize or a meer trial of wits to see who can do best only to spend our verdict upon the Preacher or out of meer fashion and custom only because others come afore us but let us come to it with meekness and humility and fear and expectation as that whereby we must be judged and whereby we must be saved Jam. 1.21 And so I have done also with the third Particular viz. The means of working the foolishness of Preaching Now the fourth is the work or design it self which we have in the last words To save them that believe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where among many other things which might be profitably observed by us concerning Salvation in the nature of it and the causes of it and the means of it and the like I shall at this time only fasten upon that which is here especially presented unto us and that is the subjects of it Believers To save them that believe The Gospel is the power of God to salvation to them that believe This is the restriction which is put upon it Rom. 1.16 I call it a restriction and so indeed it is and that also in this present Text which we have now in hand Where this word here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is to be taken not only Specificativè but Exclusivè Believers and none else them that believe and them only that believe and none but them This Preaching it saves none besides in all the world whether Jew or Gentile we must take this expression here in a limited and restrained sense as pointing out a certain number of persons distinguisht from all others in this business as concerning them that believe the receiving of benefit and salvation by Preaching And here there are two things again which this restraint does extend it self to First here 's a restraint of the benefit of Preaching to Faith And secondly Here 's a restraint of the benefit of salvation to faith There 's none which have benefit by Preaching any further than they believe and there 's none which do partake of Salvation but those only which do believe neither By the foolishness of preaching he saves them that believe First I say there 's none which have benefit by Preaching any further than they believe it is Faith which makes Preaching effectual without which it is but an ordinary discourse This is clear out of that place in Heb. 4.2 The Gospel was preached to us as well as unto them but the word preached did not profit them because it was not mixt with faith in them that heard it It is faith or the want of faith which makes Preaching either profitable or not And the reason hereof is this Because that this is the Applicatory Grace which does suck and draw all to it self look as meat does no good in the stomack except it be digested so Preaching does no good in the soul except it be believed There must be a concocting faculty
to digest every truth which we hear and to make it our own or else we can have no benefit by it There must be a turning of our spiritual nourishment into the substance of our souls as of our corporal nourishment into the substance of our bodies and that suitable to the several parts of it now this is the work of Faith Faith it makes every truth ours by appropriating it and bringing it home to our selves And that in a proportion suitable to the nature of the Doctrine it self If it be a Doctrine of Information Faith makes it ours by framing and conforming our judgments thereunto and setling us there If it be a Doctrine of Consolation Faith makes it ours by closing and complying with it and so drawing comfort from it If it be a Doctrine of Threatning Faith makes it ours by trembling at it and reforming for it Thus Faith is active in all as that Grace which does apply all to us The consideration hereof may be thus far useful to us As first It may teach us how to address our selves to the hearing of the Word namely by labouring to prepare our hearts by a spirit of faith Oportet discentem credere we must come with a resolution to imbrace every truth of God which he propounds unto us Preaching will do us no good without believing if we had all the Preaching in the world without it we make the Ordinance but a Complement and meer word of course unto us Why but then may some say If Preaching does no good without believing why then we should preach only to Believers and none but them To this I answer No for by Preaching we make them Believers through Gods blessing upon it Preaching is a means to work that Faith which does improve it self and without which it is ineffectual as wine enables the stomack to work it self to the good of the body Secondly Seeing Preaching does no good without believing let us here then see why there 's no more good done by Preaching many times than there is we are apt when we profit not by the Word to lay the fault on other things the Doctrine and the Preacher and the like but we should confider whether it lyes not in our selves in our own hearts It may be we come not to the Word with that faith and expectation from God as it becomes us to do and then no wonder if we profit not by it Thirdly Let us hence not glory in the means that we have the Ordinances and the Word Preached unto us but let us consider what faith our selves have for the receiving and entertainment of them And that 's the first restraint None have benefit by Preaching but Believers The second restraint is this That none have the benefit of Salvation but Believers Salvation is restrained to Faith He that believes shall be saved but he that believes not shall be damned Mark 16.16 No Faith no Salvation They could not enter in because of unbelief Heb. 3.19 Of them that believe to the saving of the soul Heb. 10.39 Faith is the saving Grace as infidelity is the damning sin Not but that there are other saving Graces and other damning Sins but those which are so they are in the strength of these as being prinoipal and most effectual hereunto These are so by a special quality and property in them either to save or damn And for saving because that 's to our purpose faith has it here attributed to it self First as the radical and fundamental Grace and that which puts a life and vigor into all the rest And therefore ye shall find in the Eleventh Chapter of the Hebrews how all 's ascribed to this By faith they had a good report for every thing else which deserved good report If they had love or patience or humility or self-denial or zeal all was from faith In Enoch in Noah in Abraham in Moses and the like By faith they are said to do all whatsoever they did Secondly Faith has it attributed to it because it is that whereby we please God Without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11.6 Thirdly It is Faith which lays hold upon Christ who is the Author of Eternal Salvation Gal. 2.20 I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me c. This knits and unites us to him asour Head and when he is saved we are saved too by this union Fourthly It is Faith which gives most glory to God Rom. 4.20 Giving glory to God And 2 Thes 1.10 To be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe Fifthly Faith is that which does most conquer temptations and subdue all the enemies and adversaries of our salvation Ephes 6.16 Lastly Faith is said to save as the condition which God requires and will have in them which shall be saved and this were enough though nothing else to give account of it In all these respects is Salvation attributed hereunto But what is this Faith which we speak of all this while and wherein does it consist Sure it is not a meer assent to the truth revealed though that be somewhat which belongs thereunto yet this is not all the Devils thus believe which yet tremble as knowing that they are sons of wrath Jam. 2.19 But saving faith is quieting faith too Being justified by faith we have peace with God Rom. 5.1 Now what faith is this this is no other than a taking and receiving of Christ upon those terms in which he is offered in the Gospel for a Saviour and Lord too To as many as received him c. Joh. 1.12 As we must be willing to be saved by Christ's Blood so we must be willing to be ruled by Christ's Spirit Now this Faith has this also in it an assent to the whole truth of God which is revealed unto us Historical faith is comprehended in Justifying-faith as the less in the greater as the Vegetative and Sensitive soul in the Rational But the proper act of Justifying-faith is to lay hold on Christ Ens incomplexum est object um sidei justificantis Thus we see what Believing it self is The close of all for our selves is but to find this in our selves for our own particular And as we love Salvation accordingly to make good our Faith This we may discern and discover by the rise and fruits and workings of it For the rise of it it comes by Preaching and is suitable to the Doctrine of the Word Those which contemn the Ordinance they have none of the Grace For the fruits of it it works by love p1 It makes us afraid to displease God p2 It makes us couragious for God p3 It makes us love the Children of God p4 It quite changes and alters our converse from evil to good And so I have done with the fourth particular the extent of the work it self To save them that believe And so likewise with the second General in the Text Gods supply of the worlds defect
not only a pinching upon their judgments so as to believe a thing improbable but likewise a pinching upon their affections to resign and give up themselves to such a Saviour as this was Thirdly It was foolishness to them in regard of the power and efficacy of this Mystery And that work which by way of Analogy was required of them in answer hereunto which was to crucifie their own lusts and affections as this Doctrine does indeed teach us to do Thus in all these respects was Christ crucified foolishness to the Greeks The use of this Point to our selves comes to this First as it shews us what a dangerous and perillous thing it is to have Wit without Grace it is but as we use to call it Armata iniquitas it is but wickedness set up in arms And it makes men but so much the more to contemn Religion and the means of Salvation As the greatest Clerks are not always the wisest men so the wisest men are not always the best Christians and as many which are famous for learning yet they are not always famous for Prudence and Discretion and Practical Wisdom but do many times exceedingly fail and miscarry here so many which are famous for Wisdom and Prudence in a way of the world yet are not always wise to Salvation as I have formerly shewn unto you These Greeks as wise as they were in worldly matters yet they were not so in the things of God but rather the contrary Nay further they were here by this means occasionally set further off from it Christ crucified is foolishness to them and their wit makes them to despise that means which should save their souls Well let us therefore for our parts take heed of being any way guilty in this respect and let me again renew that counsel which I have before founded upon this Scripture to pray to God to sanctifie our Reason and Understanding and Parts unto us There are many sad Wits in the World which if they can break a jest upon Scripture if they can cavil at the Truths of God if they can deride and scoff at the Ministry and Preaching of the Word they think themselves safe But how much better were it not to have been born than to die in such a temper as this is how much better a great deal were it to have been born an Idiot or natural fool than to have wit and parts and learning and wisdom upon those terms and conditions so as to count the Gospel it self foolishness Secondly Let us hence also learn to admire the Wisdom and Power of God who by that means which the world accunts foolishness is pleased to compass the Salvation of the World And thus now I have done with the entertainment of the Gospel in the first sense as a Doctrine of offence and that in two Particulars Vnto the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness Now it follows as a Doctrine of success in as many more in Vers 24. But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God But of this God willing in the next Sermon SERMON XXXI 1 Cor. 1.24 But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God It is the Duty of every Minister and Preacher of the Word of God not only to study his Sermon but likewise to study his Auditory and not only to regard the Doctrine and Matter which is delivered by himself but likewise the success of his Doctrine and the efficacy or miscarriage of it in the hearts of his Hearers that so he may accordingly know the better how to dispose his pains and labour for time to come and supply those things which are defective And this is that which we may here observe and take notice of in the Apostle Paul he does not content himself with this to Preach Christ crucified and so to pitch upon sound Doctrine and Instruction But he observes the effect of this Doctrine and the various entertainment of his Preaching by those persons which it was tendred unto Whereof this is the result and the account that to some it is a Doctrine of offence and reprobation to others of success and acceptance The former of these we have already dispatcht in the 23 verse of this Chapter we come now with Gods assistance to the latter in the 24 verse here before us But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks c. IN this Verse we have declared unto us the Entertainment of the Doctrine of Christ crucified as a Doctrine of success and such as took effect upon the hearts of those to whom it was brought But unto them which are called c. where again as in the former we shall observe somewhat in General and thence proceed to the particular Points which lye here before us for the general therefore first this That God will have always some or other in the world which shall imbrace and bear witness to his Truth Thus here in the Text the Preaching of Christ crucified to the Jews that is to a great many amongst them it was no better than a stumbling-block and to the Gentiles that is to a great number of them it was no better than foolishness But to those which were called that is to a certain remnant in either it was the power and wisdom of God himself There were some which still gave entertainment unto it Some Criticks have been of opinion as if the Apostle here in this place did allude to a Paronomasia in the Hebrew Language and that as thus The Cross to the Jews is Micshal which signifies a stumbling-block and to the Greeks is Micsal which signifies foolishness But to the Called and Believers amongst both it is Sekel which signifies Vnderstanding I do not insist much upon the urging of this notion but come rather to the thing it self Where I say we may observe thus much That God will always so ordain it in his Providence that some or other shall entertain his Word and Gospel where it is dispensed and preached unto them Thus we shall find it to have been where-ever the Apostles themselves came there was a certain number which imbraced their Ministry and gave heed and regard to the Doctrine which was delivered by them This God will have to be upon divers Considerations First For the accomplishment of the number of his own Elect Gods Providence is subservient to his Decree and that which he does in the world it is very sutable to his eternal purpose concerning the final condition of mens persons in the world to come Now because that where God sends his Word he has usually some or other to be converted and brought home to himself therefore as sutable hereunto does he work their hearts to the receiving of the Word which is the means for the effecting this conversion As many as were ordained to eternal life believed Act. 13.15 Secondly God
will also have it for the honour of his own Truth and the Doctrine it self which is delivered If the Gospel should be Preached to a people and none give any entertainment this would reflect upon the Gospel it self which from hence would be disparaged by it But now that God may have the Gospel and have it known to be that which it is therefore some shall receive and imbrace it Thirdly For the Encouragement of the labours of his own Servants and Ministers which are imployed in Preaching the Gospel If Paul and the rest of the Apostles which Preached Christ crucified to the world should have had no entertainment in the world of that which they Preached this would have proved a very great disheartning and discouragement to them now therefore in respect to this does God in Providence give them some success though their Doctrine was a stumbling-block to some and though it was foolishness to others yet to the rest it was Gods power and wisdom This Observation should accordingly be improved by those which are Ministers to quicken them in their work and to carry them on in those places wherein God sets them without discouragement forasmuch as there where God calls them he will more or less be assistant to them and concur with them so far forth as is requisite to the blessing of their labours with success This is that which God has promised by his Prophet Isa 55.10 As the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven so shall my word that goeth out of my mouth not return unto me vain c. And therefore let us not be discouraged Rom. 11.4 And that 's one Observation Secondly Observe this that a Minister for the success of his Doctrine is especially to consider how it takes with those which are most Godly and Religious thus does the Apostle Paul here he does not so much trouble himself to think how it was accepted of others those Jews and Greeks which at present were unconverted a stumbling and foolishness to them but how it was to them which were called this was that which most of all stuck by him and wherein he most comforted himself above all the rest Thus again Gal. 2.2 he considered how his Gospel took with them which were of reputation and of reputation not so much for the world as in reference to Religion And so therefore in vers 9. he reckoned this as an encouragement to him that James Cephas and John who were pillars own'd and acknowledged him The ground hereof is this First because such as these they have best skill and judgment in the work every one studies rather to approve himself in any business which he undertakes to workmen rather than to bunglers and to those which have some knowledg of the work than to those which are ignorant of it Now thus it is with those which are godly and Religious and effectually called they have best skill in that which is spoken of and delivered in Preaching Others may somewhat judg of other things but these can best judg of the Truths and Doctrines which are propounded unto them and so their judgment is most to be regarded such as these they come to a Sermon with those affections which it becomes them to do which many others do not Take now a natural man and he can tell you of some other matters it may be some pleasing story or witty sentence or passage of Rhetorick and the like but now come to the marrow of the business and those things which touch the conscience and serve to frame and establish the heart here he is oftentimes much to seek and is able to say little to the purpose But now a man which has the work of Grace in his heart he has a gracious savour and relish of Divine Truths fastened upon his spirit from whence he is able the better to judg of the Proposal and delivery of them The spiritual man judges all things Secondly Such as these they come to the Word freest from prejudice and carnal affection Take a Godly and Religious man and he comes to the hearing of the Word of God with an humble and obedient disposition as one that is ready to submit to the efficacy and power of the Ordinance in every particular whereas another he comes to it with his exceptions and reservations so far forth as it complies with his humour and does not stir him in his bosom-lusts and does not trouble him and take him off from his corruptions so far forth he likes it pretty well but now let it come neer him in these and here he kicks and rebels against it and cannot endure it A Drunkard will never like that Preacher that presses sobriety nor an Adulterer him that Preaches for chastity Thirdly Those which are Godly and Religious and effectually called are most to be regarded for their entertainment of the work because they are most intended in the work it self It is for their sakes chiefly and especially that God sends his Ministers amongst them as to bring home those which are straying so to confirm and strengthen those which are yet at home and already in the fold Now those whom God himself does most look at they should be looked at chiefly by us This condemns the contrary disposition and practise of many in this particular who more consider how their Doctrine takes and is accepted of those which are great and wise and mighty in the world than how it takes with those which are good and pious and experienced in Religion not but that it is possible for those which are the one to be the other too I do not deny that there are divers which are both great and good too wise in matters of the world and wise also to God But this is that which I stand upon that we should not so much in this present business in hand look at the one as the other And it is that which should principally affect us when our words are acceptable to those which are good Thus St. Paul We preach Christ crucified to the Jews indeed a stumbling-block and to the Greeks indeed foolishness But unto them which are called that is to the godly Christ the power of God c. And so much for the Points Preparatory and in General We come now to the words more closely in themselves But unto them which are called c. where we have these two Parts chiefly considerable First the success of the Gospel considered simply in it self Christ the power of God c. Secondly the Parties to whom it is thus laid down two manner of ways First in their Personal Qualification To them which are called Secondly in their National qualification Both Jews and Greeks To these it is thus effectual and successful We begin first of all with the Parties and that first of all in their Personal Qualifications To them which are called By called here we are to understand as I have in part intimated already those which are