for the other haply they come to quicken up their hearts and to renew that which they knew before What swayes our Reasons First Let us try whether we submit in our judgements or no Here is a maine breach contrary to this submission is a mans carnall reason and that marvellous height of our conceits when we raise up our owne carnall reasonings as so many holds and we maintaine them against the truth of Christ and wheresoever this frame of minde is there this worke of Humiliation was never wrought And this is in too many When a man swels in his owne conceits against the truth of Christ That 's a sweet place to this end in the Romans Where the text saith The Wisedome of the flesh or as it is in the Originall The carnall minde is enmitie against God Rom. 8.7 for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be The carnall minde and all the reasonings and wisedome of it is not onely an enemy but it is enmitie against God The Apostle doth not say that a carnall mans wisedome and reason doth not obey but he is not able to beare the truth he as it were sets himselfe in battle aray against it it cannot be subject to the Law of God This is a maine wound in all the sonnes of Adam That a man as it were deifies himselfe and his owne dreames and devices and makes his owne conceit a line and levell to all his conversation So that the carnall minde will bend the truth to his minde though he breake it Here is the marvellous pride of a mans minde Hence it is that the Apostle adviseth us to be wise with sobrietie Rom. 12.3 As if he had said a man may be drunke with his owne conceits as when a drunkard hath gotten his braines well steeped in Wine and Beare then whatsoever he conceits in his minde must needs be as true as Gospel So it is with a carnall minde Though arguments be never so plaine and Scriptures never so pregnant yet a carnall wretch will carry himselfe against all and say it is not my Iudgement I am not of that minde This is the height of our minde as if he did say I doe not thinke it let the word of God and his Ministers say what they will to the contrary they shall not perswade mee of it Doest thou finde this in thy selfe then it is an undoubted argument thou never hadst a heart truly humbled See what the Apostle saith If a man thinks that hee knowes any thing 1 Cor. 8.2 he knowes nothing as he ought to doe You thinke you are as wise as you need to be and you are not children yet You that thus lift and set up your selves in your owne conceits whatsoever you bee you know nothing as you ought to do And therefore the Apostle speaks of some that were puft up in their owne conceits Colloss 2.18 intruding into those things which they have not seene vainely puft up in their owne minds You conceive and imagine thus and thus and will not beleeve the Minister of God whatsoever he saith therefore you are puft up and this is not a heart truely humbled and kindly wrought upon A carnall man presseth into some imagination as to his owne propper possession As the old proverbe is The foole will not leave his bable for all the Citie of London So a carnall heart saith I cannot be otherwise perswaded I say then the case is cleare is it so with thy judgement and carnall reason then as yet thou wert never under the power of this truth thou shuttest up doores against Iesus Christ he cannot come in to informe thee thou art so full of thy selfe Object But some will say how doth this carnall reasoning lift up it selfe against the truth of Iesus Christ Answ To this I answer the lifting up of my carnall reason makes it selfe knowne in three particulars and by these you shall know when your conceits carrie you aloft from the truth of Christ First A carnall reason being thus puft up it is not willing to know the word of God nor his truth especially those truthes that are troublesome and tedious to him preach and speake what you will but preach not that Hee either wisheth himselfe deafe that hee could not heare or the Minister dumbe that hee could not deliver those truthes The Lord sent the Prophet Esay to preach to the people and yet to seale them downe to eternall destruction Esay 6.9 10. and therefore the Lord saith Goe tell this people heare but understand not see but perceive not make the heart of this people fat they winke with their eyes As it is with a bleare eye that is not able to looke against the Sunne but shuts for feare the Sunne should hurt it So a carnall proud minde is not able to looke into the truthes that may trouble it and that would awaken his bleare eye And in another place the people doe intreate the Prophet Esay to goe out of the way and to turne aside out of that path Esay 30.11 cause the holy one of Israel to cease from before us As if they had said We cannot endure this holinesse wee cannot brooke this exactnesse you bid us to be holy or else God will destroy us get you out of that path they were weary of those blessed truthes A double example we have of this distemper of spirit in holy Scriptures As in Iob Where the wicked say to God depart from us for wee desire not the knowledge of thy wayes The drunkard desires not to heare of any horror of heart for his sinne and the hypocrite desires not to heare that he must be sound and sincere and keepe touch with God in every thing and so all vngodly men goe against the truth of God which crosseth their lusts and corruptions And in Timothy it was the tange of a cursed distemper of spirit in a company of wretches in this age The text saith The time shall come when they shall not endure sound doctrine Tim. 4.3 And here it is to be noted that a company of carnall Gentlemen and base refuse people of other degrees are come to this passe that let a plain searching truth be discovered they turne away from it and cannot heare it with patience but if any man will tell them some fine stories Oh this pleaseth them admirably they cannot endure sound doctrine that searcheth the heart and awakens the conscience they cannot brooke that now an humble heart is of another minde it is willing to heare any thing from the Lord and any message from heaven and the humble Soule saith Speake on Lord thy servant desires to heare the word never so troublesome and the truth never so much crossing his lusts hee is well content to heare it Nay hee desires that especially and hee is calmed with it Marke what Eli said Sam. 3.17 Keepe not back from me but let mee heare whatsoever
and that suddenly Oh let us pitie them will you not yield now but you will stand it out to the last man The Lord comes out in battell aray against a proud person and singles him out from all the rest and when the vyalls of his wrath are poured out upon all wicked ones mee thinks the Lord saith Let that drunkard and that swearer alone a while but let mee destroy that proud heart for ever You shall submit in spite of your teeth when the great God of heaven and earth shall come to execute vengeance and doe not think to scarre God with your mocks you that wil sweare a man out of your company Consider that place in Iob and see how the Lord comes with all his full might against a proud man Iob 15.25.26 27. It is good to read this place often that God may pull downe our proud hearts For he stretcheth out his hands against the Almighty saith the text and strengtheneth himselfe against God and he saith I will do it though my life lie at the stake for it he strengthens himselfe and will doe it Surely God is afraid of him he comes so well mann'd the Lord must deale some way with him to overthrow him Mark what the text saith The Lord runnes upon him even on his neck upon the thick bosses of his bucklers because hee covereth his face with his fatnesse and maketh collops of fat upon his flankes the Lord comes upon him not at the advantage but in the height of his pride and in the rage of his malice the Lord will come upon him and ruinate him for ever Those that now stand it out and cast off all carelesly throwing away the commandements of God I would have them at the day of their death to out-stand the curse of God The Lord God commands to sanctifie his Sabbaths and to love his truth and his children yet you will not but you will strive against all I would haue you to out-stand the curse of God in the day of judgement and when the Lord Iesus shall say Depart from me yee cursed into everlasting fire stand it out now and say I will not goe to hell Lord I will not be damned No no you broke the cords here but the Lord will binde you in chaines of darknesse for ever remove those chaines if you can No Esay 2.17 the haughtinesse of men shall be brought low and the loftinesse of men shall be abased and the Lord shall onely be exalted in that day Vse 2 The second Use is for instruction to shew unto us that an humble Soule is mervailous teachable and tractable and is willing to yeeld unto and to be guided by any truth it submits and there is no quarrelling against the commandements of God one word of Gods mouth is enough If the Lord reproves it takes the same home to it selfe if the Lord promiseth it beleeves and if the Lord threatens it trembles It is easie to be convinced of whatsoever it is informed if it have no good reason to gaine-say it It is not of that wayward and pettish disposition that it will not be satisfied though all his reasons be answered and all objections taken away It is not led by his owne humours as many a man is though his conceits be against reason and opposite against God and his grace Nay it is content to yeeld to the authority of the truth and to take the impression of every truth it heares and yields Iob 34.32 and obeyes and frames it selfe answerably As Iob saith That which I know not teach thou mee and if I have done any iniquity I will doe so no more The humble Soule is content to confesse his ignorance and to submit to any truth that may enforme him and it is content to receive that mercy and grace that is offered by what meanes soever God seeth best to Communicate it Nay the heart that is truly submissive is as willing to take comfort when it is offered upon good grounds as it is to performe dutie enjoyned By a foolish pettishnesse the divell withdrawes the hearts of Gods owne people from much comfort that God hath dished out of purpose for their benefit For howsoever the Soule of a poore sinner be truly touched yet for want of this lowlinesse and this teachablenesse and submission it refuseth that sap and sweet that it should take and receive from the Lord. Take a poore sinner that hath many sinnes burthening of him and hee is crushed with them and that in truth he desires comfort but receives none Let the Minister of God come and answer all his arguments and satisfie all his quarrels that he can make and set him on a cleare boord and tell him that the work of grace is cleare and mercy is appointed for him Now marke how he flyes of through that sullennesse and untoward peevishnesse and pride of Spirit hee casts away the mercy and yields not to the comfort offered though he is content to yield to the duties enjoyned and so he deprives himselfe of that mercy and comfort that is offered and thus when all is done time after time the Soule saith I see it not and I perceive it not and all the world shall not perswade me of it Why what are you wiser then all the world what a pride of heart is this Oh saith he another man may be cozened and deceived but I know my owne heart better then any Minister doth But you tell the Minister what your condition is and so what you know hee knowes and hee hath more judgement to enforme you then you have of your selfe Then saith the Minister all your cavils and objections are answered and remooved and all that worke of grace that God hath wrought you have made it knowne and revealed and all this is made good by the Word of God now if all these quarrels be answered and if all the reasons and evidences of the worke of grace be made cleare that you cannot deny them then why may not you take comfort Downe with that proud heart of yours that will not beleeve whatsoever the Minister saith Oh the height of pride and haughtinesse of heart in this case I speake to you to whom comfort and mercy is impropriated downe with those proud spirits I say It is not because you cannot but because you will not It is said in Esay God prepares the garment of gladnesse for the spirit of heavinesse When the Lord seeth the soule prepared and humbled Esa 61.3 he takes measure of it and disheth out a comfort answerable he prepares a consolation as fit as may be and yet the Soule will not put it on nor be warned and refreshed with it as it is with some way-ward untoward childe who when his father hath prepared a suit of cloathes fitting for him because he hath not such and such a lace hee will not put it on but throwes all away Oh it is marvellous pride of spirit a rod
the Lord hath said unto thee An humble Soule comes to this passe and saith If there be any sinne or any wickednesse in my heart good Lord discover it and if there be any duty to be done Lord let me know it And as Cornelius said Acts 10.33 Wee are all here present before the Lord to heare whatsoever thou art commanded us of God So the humble Soule saith Whatsoever trouble it brings I yield to the truth and desire to heare it Thirdly As the carnall reason shuts his eye and will not looke upon the truth so in the second place if it be so that it must heare that which it would not what is the next shift that it hath hee will not suffer himselfe to be convinced by the truth but when the truth comes in with plainenesse and power he labours what hee can to gather up objections and cavills against the truth that he may oppose the power of Gods word that sith it is so that he must heare it he labours to make it false This is considerable Rom. 2.8 Vnto them that are contentious and doe not obey the truth but obey unrighteousnesse shall be indignation and wrath Who are they that are contentious not onely they that contend with their neighbours but they that contend against the truth for so the words following doe import so much Which obey not the truth One man heares a close point and then hee goes away and saith I will not beleeve it I know reason and I will be bound to confute it and all this is nothing but a smoake and he deales by the truth as men doe with an enemie in this case First they labour to keepe him out from their confines and if they cannot doe that then they leavie forces to drive him out from their land So it is with a company of carnall men they would not looke upon the truth to be enformed by it Well Heare they must and heare they shall if they live under the power of the Gospell but if they must heare it they are contentious and advise with this carnall friend and that carnall Minister and if they can get any man to plead for their lusts that they may arme themselves against the blessed truth of God they think themselves happy men If a Minister come home to the heart of a carnall wretch that will buy and sell upon the Lords Day and say to him Remember that thou keepe holy the Sabbath then hee goes to some carnall man that buyes and sels as well as himselfe and then he will have an army of forces against the truth of God As the Apostle saith 2 Tim. 3.8 As Iannes and Iambres withstood Moses so doe these men resist the truth men of corrupt minds and reprobates concerning the faith how is that When Moses came to Pharaoh to deliver the people of Israel and when Moses shewed some signes and wonders Pharaoh would not yeild to the Miracles and therefore he called for Iannes and Iambres and they made some appearances of Serpents as Moses had done and so Pharaohs heart was hardened even so When the Word of God is plaine and the evidences of it are uncontrolable then a carnall minde sends for carnall quarrels and pleas and objections and this hee doth to oppose the truth of Christ and to make an army against the blessed ordinances of God They count it a matter of favour if any man will deliver and rescue them from the truth As when this truth comes You must not buy and sell upon the Sabbath but you must be holy as God is holy c. If this truth bee troublesome oh they cannot beare it and they would faine be rescued they account this truth an enemy to them and if any man will deliver them from the truth they thinke him a God and they admire at his judgement and say such a man is wise and a deepe Scholler and hee saith thus and thus hee will defend this as well as I thus a man is fortified against the truth But an humble Soule will not doe thus After the Word and Truth of God is revealed in this kinde and all reasons answered The understanding of this humble Soule gives way and opposeth not the truth Give an humble Soule Scripture for that you say and hee hath done and lets all carnall counsels passe and all matters objected and he saith I am fully perswaded of it the truth is plaine God forbid that I should quarrell with it This is for the understanding Thirdly If the truth be so cleare and plaine that he cannot gaine-say it then he turnes aside from the authoritie of the truth and will not suffer it to take place in his minde This is the last shift which a carnall heart hath As when a debtor is arrested at first hee grapples with the Serjeant but when hee seeth the Bailiffe or Serjeant is too good for him he labours to make an escape and trusts to his feet rather then to his hands So it is with a carnall wretched heart When hee cannot but confesse and yeild that the truth is plaine and that hee cannot grapple with the truth then hee falles flat against it when his Serpent is eaten up by Moses Serpent and all carnall pleas are eaten up by the truth then he is faine to withdraw himselfe from the authoritie of it From hence comes all those shifts we tell people they are miserable and in a naturall and damnable condition Oh say they God is mercifull oh but say we the mercy of God is such that as he pardons men so hee purgeth them and if mercy will save you mercy will purge you too and make you forsake your sinnes doe you thinke that mercy will carry you and your peevish proud lustfull hearts to heaven No he will not then say they we will repent hereafter and then we tell them againe harden not your hearts to day if you will heare his voyce take mercy now while it is cal'd to day God requires repentance now and now you must humble your selves and repent Yet the Soule goes on and saith we blesse God we doe repent and when wee sweare we cry God mercy and though wee have beene and are sometimes drunke yet we are sorry for it then we make them answer and say you say you are sorrowfull but sound sorrow is ever accompanied with sound reformation As the Apostle saith This same thing that you have beene sorrowfull what carefulnesse hath it wrought in you 2 Cor. 7.11 what clearing of your selves what indignation and the like And as the wise man saith He that confesseth and forsaketh his sinne shall finde mercy Pro. 28.13 Then the sinner replyes no man can doe thus What would you have us without sinne we must be content to doe as we may Thus you see they yeild to the truth and cannot but confesse that it is plaine but they take away the power of the truth and the command of it You may
see this in that cursed shift of a carnall man When Balack sent for Balaam saying Num. 22.23.19 Come curse this people and I will advance thee The Lord met Balaam and said thou shalt not curse them then Balaam rose up early and said to the Princes of Moab get you home for the Lord refuseth to let me goe with you hee laid all the fault upon God as if he had said I have a good affection to goe with you but the Lord will not give me leave Well when they came againe hee said tarry here all night that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more He would goe to advise with God to doe that which God had formerly forbidden Thus the carnall heart goes to worke when hee cannot avoyde the truth and he would faine have some reservations and such exceptions and hee saith is it not possible that I may be drunke and adulterous and covetous and yet make a shift to go to heaven too this is a wretched heart as Balaam did so do many nay the most of the world do so consider that place of Scripture and let me have your judgements in it 1 Ioh. 3.2 he that hath this hope saith the Apostle purgeth himselfe as Christ is pure He doth not say he may and ought to do it but he doth purge himselfe and the Apostle Peter saith be yee holy as Christ is holy in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1.15 He doth not say hee may and should bee so but be holy as Christ is holy that is in truth and sincerity as a child goes like his father though not so fast as he And as an apprentice workes as fast as his Maister though not so well and as the Apostle saith abstaine from all filthinesse of the flesh and Spirit as if had said if there be ever a harlot or alehouse in the world avoyde it and all those appearances of evill come not neare them This is the condition that God requires You heare all these truths now let me call for record from heaven I would faine know what any wicked opposer can say against these truths oh that I could know your minds a little You that thinke a man need not bee so exact and precise nay you blame your children and servants for it I know not what you would say except it be this It is true this is good but doth any man do it and it were to bee wished that wee could do it and happy are they that can do it a man may bee a man though not so good as an other man c. away with those tricks the text saith hee that hath this hope purifies himselfe as Christ is pure though not for the measure yet in the same manner Thou and I and all of us must do it or els wee may cast away all hope The Lord be mercifull to us If your judgements were humbled I can tell what you would do the heart that is humble takes the truth and yeilds to the authoritie of it whereas a carnall heart Lords it over the truth if it bee thus with thee thy mind was never soundly enlightened and as the Lord lives never humbled never converted and neuer brought home to the Lord see what our Saviour saith Matth 15.3 why do you also by your traditions transgresse the commandement of God They set their owne carnall traditions cheeke by joll with the commandements of God they made the Command of God without any royalty or power They were content to give Christ the hearing but they turned aside from the truth that should have prevailed with them If ever thou wouldest have the word worke upon thee to do thee good then whereas heretofore thou wouldest not come in nor yeild now shew thy selfe to be humbled and go thy way home and let this truth take place in thy heart and be delivered into the forme of this doctrine now in hand and when profainenesse leud and ungodly sports come then remember this and say I must purge my selfe as Christ is pure did Christ ever thus and thus did he ever sit up till twelve a clocke at night ryotting and banquetting it is a truth oh Lord let it take place in my heart and let it bee fastened there When the Lord hath a man in his fetters and breakes the heart with horror Iob 36.8 9 10. he openeth his eare to discipline and commands him to returne from iniquitie Hee doth not leave a man there and say this is the way and the truth walke in it but he saith I must have that uncleane heart purged and that carnall company abandoned and so forth and so the Lord saith to the Ministers command that dissembler and that hypocrite and that base wretch to come out from their ungodly practises and to yeild to mee Oh let the power and royaltie of this truth take place in your hearts as it will do if you be Subjects of the truth I charge you before God and his Angels if you know any command obey it and if you know any sinfull course remember the commandement is plaine you must purge your selves as Christ is pure Let this word prevaile and have his authoritie over you and be not carnall hypocrites to oppose it now and so to bee damned for it everlastingly The will must be subject As the reason must be subject to Gods will so the will and affections must be humbled and the frame that is contrary to this humilitie is this when the will and heart of a man and that part whereby you say I will have this and I will not have that when this part doth not yeild to the authoritie of Gods word when there is a kind of Soveraigne Command in this waywardnesse of heart and the heart would challenge a kinde of monarchicall authoritie and would not be overtopped by the truth of God This cannot stand with any saving worke of humiliation The generall is thus Ieremy 2.31 As the people said wee are Lords we will come no more unto thee wee know what to doe And as it is said in the Psalmist Psalme 12.4 our tongues are our owne we ought to speake who is Lord over us Object But some will say how shall we know that our corrupt hearts wils and affections doe thus over-power the truth of Christ and challenge to it selfe a soveraigne command Here is the maine wound and and women that are weake in their reasons are wonderfull refractory in their wils Answ We shall know it by these three particulars First The heart is weary of the command and wisheth secretly there were no command of God to crosse him in his course and to hinder him in his way of sinne I will not declare what I have heard wicked wretches say in this kinde because I will not teach men to be wicked He wisheth that there were no righteous God to bound him The adulterer wisheth that there were no such Law as this
This is our nature We would faine have something to trade withall but the Lord will keepe the staffe in his owne hand and the Soule is content to have it so He comes sometimes and God will not heare and he goes away and comes againe and then goes away fasting and well contented too See how the poore Woman of Canaan did Shee comes to beg mercy of our Saviour Matth. 15.26 and he said It is not lawfull to cast the children bread to dogs truth Lord saith she I am as bad as thou canst call mee I yeild all I am as vile a sinfull poore creature as ever any was Yet Lord the dogs may eate the crums that fall from their Masters table vers 27. You know the Dog must stay till his Master comes in and when hee is come hee must stay till he sit downe and then till he cut his meate and hee must not have the meate from his trencher neither when he hath stayed all this while he hath nothing but the crums So it is with a poore sinner you must not thinke that God will be at your becke No you must be content with the crums of mercy and pitty and lye under the table till the Lord let the crums fall The humbled soule saith Lord let my condition be never so hard doe what thou wilt with mee let the fire of thy wrath consume mee here onely recover mee hereafter and let me finde mercy and if the time be never so long if at last gaspe I may finde mercy I am content and whatsoever thou givest I blesse thy name for it The Soule doth not quarrell with the Almighty and say Why are not my graces increased and why am not I thus and thus comforted and refreshed Nay it lyes and lookes for mercy and if it have but a crum of mercy it is comforted and quieted for ever Thus the heart is brought very low Why doth the Lord thus bring the heart under Reason is this necessary and requisite Yes it is without all question not onely convenient but very necessary that it should be so And the reason is taken from the nature of the covenant of grace which requires this and without which the covenant of grace could not be fitted for us For the covenant of grace is this Beleeve and live The condition on our part is faith and beleeving Now faith is nothing else but a going out of the Soule to fetch all from another as having nothing of it selfe and therefore this resting in our selves will not stand with the nature of this covenant Now were it so that wee were not resolved to yeild to and to be guided by another it is certaine we could not have our hearts enlarged to goe to that other by whose wisedome and providence we would not be guided and disposed To be in our selves and out of our selves to have power in our selves to dispose of any thing belonging to our spirituall estate and to fetch all from another these are two contraries and therefore cannot stand together To have the dispensation of life and grace in our owne hands to dispose of it as we will it utterly overthrowes the nature of this second Covenant of mercy and grace in Christ For I pray you observe it this I take to be the maine difference betweene the second maine Covenant of grace whereof the Apostle disputes so often And the first Covenant of works which he so often confutes The first Covenant is to Doe and Live This Adam had and if he had stood still he should not have needed any Saviour The second Covenant is Beleeve and Live that is to live by another These two cannot stand together in one and the same Soule at one and the same time The same Soule that is saved by the Covenant of Grace cannot be saved also by the Covenant of Works The Lord in the beginning put the stuffe into Adams hand and he had libertie to dispose of Life and Salvation by reason of that abilitie and that principle of Grace that God had given him for he had perfect knowledge and perfect holinesse and righteousnesse and by the power of these he had libertie freely to please God and to keepe the Law and to be blessed in so doing and if he had done that which hee had power to doe hee might have beene blessed for ever and we all in him but he lost it and so overthrew himselfe and all his posteritie Now we being thus falne in Adam and being deprived of all that holinesse and righteousnesse which Adam had Now the sinner is neither able to fulfill the Law and so to purchase mercy for himselfe nor to satisfie for that which is done amisse A sinner must die and yet he cannot satisfie in dying he is dead in sinnes and trespasses and having lost all that abilitie which Adam had therefore the Soule must goe out of it selfe and since it is so that nothing which he hath or doth can save him he must goe to another that whatsoever is amisse that other may satisfie for it and whatsoever mercy is needfull he may purchase it and whatsoever is to be done he may doe it Now what we have done amisse Christ hath satisfied for it and what we cannot doe Christ hath done it hee hath fulfilled all righteousnesse And hence it is that these two are so professedly opposite the one to the other the Law and Faith The first Adam and the second Adam Consider a passage or two The Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace cannot stand together in the point of Life and Grace As the Apostle saith If it bee of grace Rom. 11.4 then it is no more of works and if it be of works then it is no more of grace As if he had said If a man be saved by grace then he cannot be saved by works and if he be saved by works then be cannot be saved by grace And in another place the same Apostle saith Rom. 4.14 If they which are of the Law be heires faith is made voyd and the promise is of none effect If a man that thinks to merit life by the Law be an heire what needed faith or the promise For it is the nature of faith to goe out to Christ and to receive all from him now if I had enough in my selfe I had no need of Christ and faith were made of none effect You are saved by grace through faith Ephes 2.8 saith the Apostle and that not of your selves There S. Paul brings in a deniall not onely of sinne but of works and saith You are not saved of your selves He doth not say of your sinne but your selves you and your works and all must be renounced and all that you are and doe as any way meritorious and not to bee found in your selves but in Christ before ever you can receive mercy from Christ So I dispute thus There is none that will save us Man nor Angel and
he that burnes in his lusts here shall burne in hell And the drunkard wisheth that there had never beene any Law made against that sinne and he saith it is pittie that every man may not drinke what he will and the unjust person that would be stealing and pilfering he wisheth there were no Law against that sinne and when the Word and his Conscience workes and the Law makes havocke in his heart and labours to throw him to the wall Oh he is weary of it Now a carnall heart thinks it the greatest plague in the world to be paled in within the compasse of Gods commands that hee may not doe what he list but still Word and Conscience and the Ministers checke him When the Lord required Sacrifices at the peoples hands in Malachy Malachy 1.13 They thought it a wearisomenesse and snuffed at it What every morning Sacrifice and every evening too what a wearisomenesse is this So you ought to have morning and evening prayer in your Families how are your hearts affected towards it doe not you say what a wearisomnesse is this why doe you tell us of prayer and of humbling your soules This is a burthesome thing this argues a heart that is above the truth and that would bee free from the truth and justle it to the wall therefore the wicked are as it were in bonds and fetters as the Apostle saith Rom. 1.28 they did not like to have God in knowledge As if he had said it is a vexation to their Soules still to have conscience calling be holy and humble and and be not proud nor drunke nor adulterous their consciences flies in their faces and the word galls them they doe not like to have this in knowledge And therefore the Lord deales with them after their desires and he gives them over to a reprobate mind and to a heart that shall never embrace the truth You that have no delight to heare of your duties and wish there were no minister to controll you the Lord will satisfie your desires and give you up to a reprobate sence As if the Lord did say you are weary of my wisedome and goodnesse and weary of my word and commands I will ease you of that burthen you shall have hearts that never shall be mooved with my spirit goe all you damned lusts and reigne in him rule over him and make him a slave and bring him downe to destruction for ever If the Lord comes and will needs be revealed to him then a sturdy heart layes violent hands upon the command he disposeth of it and will not let the command dispose of him he hinders the power of the truth that would draw him to God As the Apostle saith Rom. 1.18 they withhold the truth in unrighteousnesse The word in the originall is they imprison the truth as if the Apostle had said you know you should not bee loose nor covetous nor drunke is it so conscience are you drunke loose and covetous still when the conscience saith I will be loose and covetous still and you will have the vengeance of God to follow you and go to hell too They doe imprison the truth The covetous man imprisons the truth and he must have his covetousnesse still and the truth is imprisoned at the suite of the adulterer and he must be uncleane still And so the oppressor must lye and dissemble and oppresse still and therefore he justles the truth and will of God to the wall Hee takes the wall of Gods will As the people said there is noe hope but wee will walke after our owne devices Ier. 18.12 and wee will doe every one the Imaginations of his evill heart They said most desperately wee will doe it heare it and feare all you whose consciences doe convince you of it and you know that theeving and stealing and pettishnesse and peevishnesse and all your profainnesse is forbidden what saith your hearts to this who disposeth of your wills in this case doe not you say 1 Sam. 8.19 wee will doe what wee list As when Samuell had made an evcellent sermon and told them the danger of having a King they said nay but wee will have a King over us So it is with many of you Is this humilitie The Lord saith you shall not and you say you will oh fearefull is this humilitie aske but common reason you say wee must have and we will have it wee have had our liberties and wee will have them and so destruction too Thirdly This is the lowest and least kinde of rebellion the Soule is content happily to doe what God requires but it must be upon his owne conditions and his owne termes This is the last and it argues no saving worke of preparation for Christ The hypocrite is content that God shall have his glory but hee must doe it And a man is content to be painefull in his place provided hee may have ease and honours and parts and preferments and be respected but when these faile then God hath broken his condition and hee will none Thus God is at his dispose and stands to his agreements This is a cursed hypocrite You can be content to heare and pray that you may have some corruption and that under the name of profession you may be adulterous and loose still The God of mercy send some veine of good motions into your hearts to awaken you if it be possible Thus it is with some Ministers that are content to be painefull in their places so long as they may have honour and be respected but if they misse of their end they give over all If there be any such here you are hypocrites and shall never be comforted upon these termes Now I come to the third passage of this triall A mans life must be subject namely what it is that disposeth of our lives A mans life and conversation must be at Gods disposing If the heart be distempered and the reason be thus lifted up then the actions of a mans life must needs be answerable If those wheeles goe false then the actions of a mans life must strike false As they said they would walke in their own wayes And as the Lord saith Esa 66.4 I will bring their feares upon them and my soule shall loath them because they did choose their owne devices That is whatsoever their owne corrupt hearts would have that they will take and that way they will walke in Not according to Gods will but according to their owne rebellious hearts So that all the practices of a mans course are nothing else but as so many distempered behaviours of a rebellious carnall minde and heart This disordered carriage discovers it selfe in three particulars First when a mans life and conversation comes contrary to God and goes abreast against the Almighty as they did or whom the Apostle speaks Having their understandings darkened Eph. 4.18 have given themselves over to all lasciviousnesse They doe not what God will
but what their pride and idlenesse will Prov. 28.18 The wise man saith He that is perverse in his wayes shall fall at once And the Apostle saith When you were the servants of sinne Rom. 6.20 you were free from righteousnesse What 's that Holinesse and Gods command had nothing to doe with them that never tooke place in their hearts Doe you thinke these mens hearts are at Gods disposing See what the Apostle saith Fashion not your selves like unto this world Rom. 12.2 I onely appeale to mens consciences what strange apparell and haire laid out and what Spanish locks be there now adayes who disposeth of these things Oh forsooth they are newly come up and they must come up to thy head and armes and all These strange fashions doe argue strange distempers of spirit and doe you thinke that God rules in those hearts and minds and God over-power those affections when as they will not give him leave to meddle with a haire or a locke or an excrement this is my judgement in this case If it be so that the Word of God may not take away a lap and an excrement our shame and those things that are scandalous then surely the Word of God must not plucke away our lusts No no you are as farre from subjection as heaven is from hell and as the divell is from the God of Hosts The Lord speakes plainly by the Prophet Zephany Zeph. 1.8 Hee will visit all those that are cloathed with strange apparell When the fire shall flame about your eares and the enemies come to plucke your feathers from your Caps then you will remember this You would not have God to dispose of your cloathes and haire and the like and therefore God will now dispose of your lives and liberties and when you lye upon your straw and see that you must not goe gay to heaven you would then be content that the Lord should dispose of you and looke graciously towards you and then you will recommend your souls to God But then the Lord will make you answer and say who had the disposing of you before a drunken adulterous and fashionable Soule therefore let them succour you now get you to your fashions and let them make you fry and roare in the fashion he that will not have these base trifles to be at Gods command surely he will never have his heart at Gods disposing and therefore neither minde nor heart nor life Secondly If God will over-rule wicked men a little and pull downe their trim fashions and will gripe the Vsurer and send the thiefe to remember his Chests and if the Lord say you shall not be rich nor honourable as you would though you seeke them never so fast Yet secondly they use all carnall shifts and sinfull devises to come from that woefull condition into which God hath cast them A man cannot endure to be poore and therefore he will steale coosen or oppresse and take any course to lift up himselfe Thirdly Sometimes a man is content to be at Gods disposing in an outward conformitie and he will doe the duties that God reveales and leave the sinne that God forbids and gives a charge against but why will he doe this He doth not these to honour God but for some by and base ends As when the hypocrite prayeth God doth not make him pray as the first mooving cause of the worke but his hypocrisie and so the dissembling professor that will professe for advantage to draw people to his house or to sell off his Wares more readily And that people may say Oh he is a marvellous honest man yes and a covetous wretch too and he makes Religion as a stalking Horse for his lusts You are not at Gods disposing unlesse you be at his command in all these Thus you see the pride of a mans reason in his will his heart and life wherein you see the desperate villany of a mans nature and all is opposite against the God of heaven If every bird had her feathers and the worme her silke and every creature their owne what would become of the man that is proud This is base enough yet this is nothing to that Masse of haughtinesse and Luciferian wretchednesse that is in the heart That a poore creature should set his will against Gods will and his way against the way of the Almightie before whom the Angels stand amazed and the divels doe tremble God saith I will have this and the Soule saith I will not have it God saith thou shalt not walke in this way but the Soule saith I will walke in it God saith thy reason thy will thy life and all shall be subject to race but the Soule saith they shall not Is not this infinite intollerable haughtinesse What to make God no God and that he must have no will no providence and no rule over a mans life Oh you that are guiltie in this case take notice of it And let me exhort you all that have heard the Word of God this day and are poore ignorant men and prophane and carnall hypocrites Ignorance rules one man and his corrupt lusts rules an other man but there is no good rule at all You have the Word of God and his counsels and you have seene the way set out now what remaines but that you be intreated to goe home and humble your selves in secret and say this is my proud reason my proud heart and this is my proud carriage it is I that would not submit to the command of Gods Word And let every servant come in and say this is my proud heart my Master and my Mistris may not speake but I give word for word this is my fault And you wives reason thus Now the Lord hath revealed the pride of my heart and this is my proud reason and will that would not yeild to the command of my husband though never so warrantable Let the child also humble himselfe and say when my father counsels mee I turne my deafe eare and my mother is but a woman and therefore I would have my owne will and walke in my owne way this is my vaine minde How many be there present here this day that are not willing to know some truths You know you have made many conspiracies against the Word of God in the middle of the night because your honours ease and liberties lay at the stake therefore the Word must not rule If it be thus then to this day you are carnally minded and stout-hearted and vaine Goe home therefore I charge you and as you tender your owne good goe into your private chambers or else into some fields and there get downe your knee though your hearts will not bow and say good Lord I know and confesse it to this day my carnall minde hath not beene brought under and this vaine and idle conversation hath not beene ordered by thy word I have known much and gone on in rebellion against thee and it is
againe the second time Well Christ opens the mystery of regeneration and the secrecy of it the second time and when Nichodemus could not comprehend what Christ had spoken yet hee would hold his owne and said how can this be I cannot conceive it because he could not comprehend it therefore he throwes all away Marke how Christ hits him in the right veine and strikes him to the bottome and see how hee tames him Art thou a Master in Israel and a Doctor in Law and yet art such a novice in this worke of regeneration downe with that proud heart of thine Lay downe all thy carnall reasoning and become a foole and so thou may understand this truth that is communicated to thee This is ordinary amongst us for a man to say I cannot beleeve it I see it not and I thinke not so and yet they have no reason at all to carry them but because they cannot comprehend it by that light which they have therefore they will not yeild to any reason because they cannot see it by their owne light they will not use Gods spectacles as I may so say looke how much of this carnall reasoning thou hast so much pride thou haste and this is very much specially in the most ignorantest Soules Secondly because of the weakenesse and feeblenesse of their judgements which are not able to hold a truth when they have it in their hands but it goes away like lightening and because the minds of these poore creatures are over-worne with many thoughts and cursed reasonings and troubled therewith they grow unable to helpe themselves against those distempers And hence it is that though the Word of God be let in and made cleare yet a man stoopes to those conceits and cursed reasonings that have beene attended to so that they take of the power of the truth As it is with a Ferriman hee applyes the Oare and lookes home-ward to the Shore where he would be yet there comes a gust of winde that carryes him backe againe whether he will or no So many a poore humbled creature that is truly wrought upon and hath a true title to Christ he applyes his Oare and would have assurance of mercy from Christ yet the over-whelming of carnall reasonings and cursed suggestions that are either cast in or stirred up in his heart throwes him backe againe and take of the power of the truth insomuch that he can see nothing nor yeild to any thing for the good and comfort of his Soule I take this to be the ground of all the trouble that befals a broken heart Let any man under heaven give mee the reason of this why any Soule that is truely burthened for sinnes as sinne and hath found God marvellous gracious to him this way why I say after all his cavils are remooved and all his objections are fully answered and all controversies are ended and this often done yet a poore broken hearted creature will still recoyle to his former carnall reasonings againe the reason is because all the answers that were given are now forgotten and all his cavils and carnall conceits will be fresh in his minde as ever they were partly from the haunt they have had in his minde and partly from that selfe-willy waywardnesse of the heart that is content to goe that way They that have beene long over-whelmed with these cursed carnall cavellings they will rather labour to oppose a direction then to hold it and to walke in the comfort of it onely because of the weakenesse of their understandings and their carnall reasonings are so violent against them Vpon this hindge it is that as I take it all the objections of a company of poore broken hearted doe hang and by this meanes they keepe out that comfort which they might have and in the strength whereof they might walke all their dayes I might propound many instances as thus come to a contrite Soule and say to him why walkest thou so uncomfortably seeing thou hast now a title to mercy and salvation in Christ see what he replies I a title to mercy nay I am utterly unworthy of that title it is a great gift and few have it and I have beene a vile wretch and an enemy to God and his glory what I a title to mercy we reply againe God gives grace to the unworthy he justifies the ungodly and not the godly and if he will give you mercy too what then hee replyes againe What mercy to me Nay it is prepared for those that are fitted for it had I such a measure of humiliation and so much grace if I were so and so fitted and if my heart were thus disposed then I might have some hope to receive it wee reply againe But have not you beene weary of your corruptions and are you not content that God should doe that for you which you cannot doe for your selves this is the qualification which God accepts and requires and by which hee fits the Soule for mercy unlesse you have that other of your own conceits you will have none and so you deprive your selves of mercy you have a childs part and a good portion too if your proud hearts would suffer you to see it Then the Soule saith I would have the Lord say to my Soule be of good comfort I am thy Salvation if the Lord would witnesse this to mee by his Spirit then I could beleeve it content then only let us agree upon the manner how it must be done and how God shall speake it Will you then yeild it Yes then know this what the Word saith the Spirit saith for the hand and the sword the Word and the Spirit goe both together For as the text saith My Word and my Spirit are one Then take the Word and lay thy heart levell to it and see it The Word saith Every one that is wearie shall be refreshed Hast not thou beene weary and hast not thou seene sin worse then hell it selfe The Text the Word the Lord and his Spirit saith Thou shouldst come and the Spirit saith thou shalt be refreshed Oh saith the sinner I cannot finde this assurance and this witnesse of Gods Spirit I cannot see it and I cannot beleeve it Thus he leaves the judgement of the Word and Spirit and cleaves to the judgement of his finding and feeling and thus he judgeth Gods favour in regard of his own imaginations and not according to the witnesse of the Word and Spirit the Spirit saith Thou art fitted for mercy but because thy ignorant blinde minde conceives it not hence it is that thou shuttest the doore against the mercy of God revealed and that would be setled upon thy Soule for thy everlasting comfort Thinke of this and say Whether is it fit that my wit should determine my estate or the word of God Will you determine the cause and perke into the place of judgement and say I feele it not and I feare it Is not all this carnall reason Here they runne amaine even
conceive that they doe well to be discontented and they cast all the fault upon their sinne Answer This is a desperate hinderance to all good duties and therefore I answer it thus It is true the Lord allowes it and warrants it that thou shouldest be displeased with thy sinne not to bee under the power and rule of it and the humbled heart is at the dispose of God nor at the dispose of sinne but yet bee wise in this case It is one thing for a man to bee discontented with his corruption and its an other thing to be discontented with that condition wherein he is Thou mayst and oughtest to bee discontented with thy pride and corruption and with thy unbeliefe but take heede that thou be not discontented with the weakenesse of thy gifts and parts This is damnable pride and it is an argument that thou art not content to bee at Gods finding and this is thy disease twenty to one Now that thou mayest know whether thy discontentment is for thy corruption or for thy estate and the weakenesse of thy parts I shew it thus he that is discontented with his sinne will never sinne in his discontentednesse As wee use to say of immoderate sorrow If any man loose a freind and begin to grieve and sorrow excessively wee use to say take heed that you mourne not out of measure Marke what he replyes may not a man sorrow for his his sinne To this I answer Art thou sorrowfull for sinne and wilt thou sinne deepely in thy sorrow and resist the good will of the Lord no thou hast lost a freind and meanes and therefore thou mournest This is carnall sorrow and in this thou never sorrowest for sinne he that is sorrowfull for his sinne will not sinne in his sorrow it is for thy condition that thou art so sorrowfull and discontented Is it not so with thy Soule that thy heart is tossed up and downe in a restlesse disquiet and art thou not out of the command of thy selfe and art thou not hurried up and downe in a confused lumber in thy mind because thou art not fit for duties if it be so with thee then thou dost sinne desperately in thy discontentment It is a rule in warre If an Army be once scattered and dispierced it will hardly come on againe because it is put out of ranke and order So that Soule is discontented with his estate that is made unfit for duties and unweldy in them that discontentment which unfits a man to be at Gods disposing it is not the worke of humiliation but a worke of pride But it is so with thee thy discontentment makes thee unable to beare Gods hand and the want of any thing and makes thee more unfit for duties and it is not for sinne but for thy weaknesse in gifts and for thy condition and therefore thou art possessed with this pride of heart The fourth and last note of the measure of our humiliation The fourth and last note and triall of the measure of our humiliation is this If thou wilt know how much pride is in thy heart then consider how thy Soule stands in regard of the word and truth of God that crosseth thy beloved lusts and those corruptions to which thy Soule hath cleaved in the time of thy wretchednesse and in this there are two passages First see how thy heart behaves it selfe in regard of the strict commands of God Secondly in regard of the keenest reproofes and the sharpest admonitions that are suggested into thy heart See how thy heart is able to beare the reproofe of an enemy or the admonition of a faithfull Minister of God when he meets with thy darling lust When thy heart comes under these commands and these reproofes if thou finde thy heart swelling and bubbling against the truth and thy heart begins to bee angry with the Word and Minister and all then know this that certainly so much of this as there is in thy heart so much thy Soule wants of Humiliation Is not this pride that the Soule should lift up it selfe against the Lord of heaven and take the way of Gods Word and when the frothy franticke heart of a man wil beare down the command of God let the command of God fall to the ground rather then let a corruption fall is not this infinite pride You may take notice of this distemper in severall passages When the Prophet came to that wicked King Amaziah and said to him Why hast thou sought after the Gods of the Heathen 2 Chron. 25.15 16. which could not deliver their owne people out of thine hand then the King said to him Art thou made of the Kings counsell forbeare why shouldest thou bee smitten Then the Prophet said I know that God hath determined to destroy thee because thou hast done this and hast not hearkened to my counsell Amaziah was naught and God did deale with him accordingly So when Gods Word doth meete with mens hearts and lusts they are mad and if it were not for shame and feare they would pull a man from the Pulpit Object But some may say can the Saints of God be thus transported with this vile distemper Answ Yes this cholericke distemper of heart sometimes creepes in upon a good Soule but the difference will appeare afterward Aza was a strange man though Divines hold him a good man When Hanani the Prophet dealt plainly with him and said 2 Chron. 16.7 10 11.12 Thou hast done foolishly in resting upon the King of Aram c. See how the King entertaines this He was wroth with the Seer and put him in prison But see what befell the King He never saw good day afterward he fell into many sinnes so the Lord leaves a man to his corruptions and after that hee fell into a strange disease in his feete A strange thing that God should leave a good man in this misery thus hee dyed and all this was for opposing the Word of God This is the nature of a peevish colericke spirit The humble spirit doth not quarrell with the Word of God Iam. 1.21 but receives it with meekenesse and with a quiet still spirit If any sinne be revealed and if any dutie be commanded he beares the Word without contending unlesse it be now and then for flesh will have his bouts Looke home therefore into your owne hearts and families how can you beare the checks and reproofes of a Master or Mistris when they say you are idle And so you wives when your husbands reproove you is not all on a light flame Oh this is infinite and intollerable pride You may bee good servants and good women but its strange if you be so Object But you will say how shall a man see a difference in all these Answ I say the Saints of God and the sinners the faithfull and the faithlesse all have this in their manner and measure but this corruption is poyson in the heart of a good man It s
mans end is exceeding fearfull The destruction of a proud man is both certaine exceeding heavie and it is like to be mervailous fearfull There is nothing to be expected and hoped for but totall ruine and that suddainly and unconceiveably to every proud spirit that beares up himselfe against the blessed God of heaven Let mee open it thus A proud man is marked out for Gods Iudgements and is made as it were the white against whom all the arrowes of his vengeance are fully bent When Amaziah would needs out bid the Prophet in his advice 2 Chron. 25.15 16. and said forbeare Why shouldst thou bee smitten I will forbeare saith the Prophet but know what shall befall thee I know the Lord hath purposed to destroy thee because thou wilt not hearken to my counsell You that are acquainted with your stout-hearted husbands and wives and friends and know how your children bandy themselves against the blessed truth of Christ goe in secret and bemoane their estates and pray for them that if it be possible destruction may be prevented goe in secret and say it is my husband or my wife or my childe that yeilds not to the direction of the Word and therefore howsoever we may live a while together yet I know God hath decreed to destroy him and her Thinke of this with your selves you that are proud and say If I will not be exhorted then I shall be destroyed I cannot avoyd it Oh me thinks if every proud spirit would write this upon the palmes of his hands and upon the tester of his bed that he might see it wheresoever he goes how would his heart sinke within him When thou goest abroad say for ought I know I shal never returne home God hath decreed to destroy me And when thou lyest down think thus for ought I know I shal never rise more It is not the word of man but of the Almightie When the Lord would as it were frame a path for destruction hee sends a proud heart If once the Lord intend to destroy a People or Nation he gives them over to pride of heart The sonnes of Ely did not hearken to the voyce of their father because the Lord meant to destroy them 1 Sam. 2.25 hee gave them over to proud hearts Nay the proud Soule is not onely the ayme of Gods wrath but as the Lord determines destruction for him so he brings destruction first upon him When the Citizens said We will not have this man to rule over us then the King was wroth and said Luk. 19.4.27 bring hither those mine enemies and slay them before mee c. There was no delay nor no mitigation of the punishment to be granted Oh thinke of this all you proud spirits Indeed the Lord will confound all the wicked in the Day of Iudgement but he will execute even the fiercest of the Vials of his vengeance against a proud man and when the Lord shall say where are those wretches mine enemies then the Ministers of God shall come in and say this man was a drunkard and this man an adulterer Yes saith the Lord I will plague them anone but where are those mine enemies those stout-hearted men and women that hated to be reformed let mee see those damned and destroyed for ever And for ought I know God hath a strange indignation in store for them Nay it shall bee so executed upon a proud man that there shall be no reclaiming of it and God will not be perswaded to pitty him Prov. 1.26 27 28. They shall call upon mee saith the Text but I will not answer they shall seeke mee early but they shall not finde mee So that it is no wonder though a company of rebellious wretches have no comfort upon their death beds and though a thousand divels seaze upon them and hurry them downe to hell it s no wonder I say cry and call they may but God will not heare them Nay the Lord will laugh at their destruction and mocke when their feare commeth It is a griefe for a man to be in misery but to be laughed at that 's a plague of all plagues But to have mercy rejoyce in the destruction of a man this makes the plague out of measure miserable If any man say this is false doctrine and this is too sharpe and too keene Brethren we dare doe no other and wee can doe no lesse and you had better heare of it now while you may prevent it then to heare of it and feele it hereafter when there is no remedy But here is the maine wound of our Ministery you will not stoope nor yield to our Ministery Wee speake not in wrath and anger as you imagine but in mercy wee now preach against a proud heart that you may be humbled and finde mercy and so be comforted and saved for ever Therefore take your owne shame and the Lord prevaile with those hearts which word and counsell cannot worke upon And the Lord now fit you for mercy that you may receive mercie from the Lord. That 's all the hurt wee wish you Oh that you would so heare of these plagues that you might never feele them The Lord hath an old grudge against a proud heart Goe away you proud hearts feare and tremble When you are gone from the congregation do not say What if he say so we fare well enough yet and wee see none of all these judgements and all this winde shakes no corne no no once stoope and come in and take the yoake of Christ and the Lord make it easie Goe in secret and reason thus good Lord have not I onely lifted up my selfe against man like my selfe but against God and against his ordinances and hath God yet shewed mee mercy in sparing of me and it is yet mercy that I may bow my body though I cannot bow my proud heart oh what mercy is this You wives thanke God that yet hee hath spared your husbands and that yet they have breath and being here pray to God that they may lay about them for humble hearts that so they may finde mercy against the evill day Our God is very mercifull but it is no contending with him Did ever any man provoke the Lord and prosper Come in therefore shame your selves that the Lord may humble you now and shew mercy to you hereafter Vse 4 The last Vse is for exhortation You see the woe and misery of a proud spirit What remaines then onely this Be exhorted as you desire to finde favour with God and to receive mercy from him now be content to be at his disposing Walke in this way and ayme at this marke strive hard for it and put forth the best of your abilities that you may get humble hearts You must not thinke that every lazy wish and every desire will serve the turne and that it will be enough to say is it so that a proud heart is so farre from heaven I would I had an humble heart and
Sanctification and Obedience is answerable and thy Glory shall be suteable Now to conclude all The conclusion Doe you consider that it is possible to have an humble heart doe you consider the danger if you have it not and doe you consider the good that comes by an humble heart and doe you sit still as he said in another case Me thinkes your hearts begin to stirre and say hath the Lord engaged himselfe to this Oh then Lord make me humble Mee thinks your countenances say so The Lord make mee and thee and all of us humble that we may have this mercy Let mee make but this one question to your Consciences and give mee an answer secretly in your soules when the Lord shall close up your eyes here and put an end to your pilgrimage would you not be content to dwell with Christ in heaven which the Apostle did account his greatest happinesse to be ever with the Lord we shall be ever with Christ to comfort us when we shall be no more with sinne to vexe and trouble us would not you be content to be with Christ mee thinkes your hearts say that 's the end and upshot of all that 's the end why we live and pray and heare that we may be ever with him And doe not you meet with many troubles while you are members of the Church Militant I know you have sometimes distempers without and troubles without would you not have comfort against them all and what would you give that Christ would looke in and aske how your Soules doe and say thou art my redeemed and I am thy Redeemer No you know all flesh desires it Would you not be content to have some honour in the Church and to leave a good name behind you that the disgraces which wicked men cast upon you may not be as a blot upon your names and when you shall bee no more and you shall bid adue to friends and honours and meanes would you not be blessed and though you would be content to be the meanest in the Kingdome of heaven what would you give to be the greatest in heaven let mee put a condition to you get but humble hearts and you have all Men brethren and fathers If there be any Soule here that is content in truth and sinceritie to be humbled and to be at Gods disposing in all duties to be done do not you make too much hast to goe to heaven the Lord Iesus Christ will come downe from heaven and dwell in your hearts hee will sit and lye and walke with you his grace shall refresh you and his Wisedome shall direct you and his Glory shall advance you and as for happinesse take no thought for that Everlasting happinesse and blessednesse lookes and waites for every humble Soule Come saith happinesse thou that hast beene vile and base and meane in thine own eyes and in the contempt of the world come and be greatest in the Kingdome of heaven Brethren though I cannot prevaile with your hearts yet let happinesse that kneeles downe and prayes you to take mercy let that I say prevaile with you And answer mee now who would not be humbled If any man be so regardlesse of his owne good I have something to say to him that may make his heart shake within him But who would not have the Lord Iesus to dwell with him who would not have the Lord Christ by the glory of his grace to honour and refresh them and that he should set a crowne of happinesse upon their heads Mee thinkes your hearts should earne for it and say oh Lord breake my heart and humble mee that mercy may be my portion for ever Nay mee thinkes every man should say as Saint Paul did I would to God that not onely I but all my children and servants were not onely thus as I am but also if it were Gods will much more humbled that they might be much more comforted and refreshed The Lord in his mercy grant it Let all parents labour to have their children humbled and every master his servant This will give them cheering of heart in that great Day of accounts when palenesse comes upon your faces and leannesse to your cheekes then I know you would leave your children a good portion then get their Soules truly humbled Me thinks it cheeres my heart to consider of it if a man could get his own heart and the hearts of all truely humbled when he leaves the world if he could but say my wife is humbled and such a child and such a child is humbled how comfortably might he goe away and say though I go away and leave wife and children behind me poore and meane in the world yet I leave Christ with them Brethren though you care not for your selves yet care for your little ones never leave exhorting of them never leave praying for them and for your selves too that you and they may get these humble hearts When you are gone this will bee better for them then all the beaten gold or all the honours in the world There are many that have heretofore stood out against the Lord and they would not come in nor yeild to the conditions of mercy all those proud haughtie and rebellious spirits that have stood out against Gods Truth his Word and Ministers and have stood out long some twenty some thirtie and some fortie yeares let all such feare and tremble and now resolve not to stand it out any more but since the Lord offers so kindly to comfort you and to honour you upon your Humiliation Now kisse the Sonne be humble yeild to all Gods commands take home all truthes and be at Gods disposing There must be subjection or else confusion will you out-brave the Almightie to his face and will you dare damnation as you love your Soules take heed of it As proud as you have beene crushed and humbled Where are all those Nymrods and Pharaohs and all those mightie Monarchs of the World The Lord hath thrown them flat upon their backs and they are in hell this day Therefore be wise and be humbled under the mightie hand of the Lord. It is a mightie hand and the Lord will be honoured either in your Humiliation and conversion or else in your damnation for ever Let all the evill that is threatned and all the good that is offered prevaile with your hearts and though meanes cannot yet the Lord prevaile with you the Lord emptie you that Christ may fill you the Lord humble you that you may enjoy happinesse and peace for ever FINIS