good behaviour Now when a man shall consider I have a witnesse within me my conscience and a witnesse without which is God who is my Judge who can strike me dead in the committing of a sin if he please this would make men if they were not atheists to fear to sin Let us labour therefore to approve our hearts to God as well as our conversations to men set our selves in the presence of God who is a discerner of our thoughts as well as of our actions and that which we should be ashamed to do before men let us be afraid to think before God that is another means to come to sincerity Another Direction to help us to walk sincerely is especially to look to the heart look to the beginning to the spring of all our desires thoughts affections and actions that is the heart the qualification of that is the qualification of the man If the heart be naught the man is naught if that be sincere the man is sincere Therefore look to the heart see what springs out thence if there spring out naughty thoughts and desires suppresse them in the beginning Let us examine every thought if we find that we do but think an evil thought execute it presently crush it for all that is naught comes from a thought and desire at the first therefore let us look to our thoughts and desires see if we have not false desires and intents and thoughts answerable God is a Spirit and he looks to our very spirits and what we are in our spirits in our hearts and affections that we are to him Therefore as a branch of this what ill we shun let us do it from the heart by hating it first A man may avoid an evil action from fear or out of other respects but that is not sincerity Therefore look to thy heart see that thou hate evil and let it come from sincere looking to God Ye that love the Lord hate the thing that is evil saith David not only avoid it but hate it and not onely hate it but hate it out of love to God And that which is good not only to do it but to labour to delight and joy in it For the outward action is not the thing that is regarded but when there is a resolution a desire and delight in it then God accounts it as done And so it is in evil if we delight in evil it is as if it were done already Therefore in doing good look to the heart joy in the good you do and then do it and in evil look to the heart judge it to be evil and then abstain from it This is the reason of all the errours in our lives because we have bad hearts we look not to God in sincerity Judas had a naughty heart he loved not the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore he had a naughty conclusion What the heart doth not is not done in Religion Thus we see how we may come to have our conversation in sincerity that we may rejoyce in the testimony of our conscience Therefore now to make an Use of Exhortation we should labour for sincerity and esteem highly of it because God so esteems of it Truth is all that we can alledge to God we cannot alledge perfection St. Paul himself saith not I have walked exactly or perfectly no but he saith This is our rejoycing that we have walked in sincerity So if a mans conscience can excuse him of hypocrisie and doubling though it cannot free him from imperfections God in the Covenant of Grace looks not so much at perfection as at truth Here I might answer an Objection of some Christians Oh but I cannot pray without distraction I cannot delight so in good things c. Though a Christians heart cannot free him from this yet his heart desires to approve it self to God in all things and his heart is ready to say to the Lord as David said Lord try me if there be any way of wickednesse in me And therefore he will attend upon all means to get this sincerity He will be diligent in the Word of God for therein the mind of God is manifestly seen The Word of God it is a begetting Word it makes us immortal it makes us new creatures it is truth and the instrument of truth Truth will make truth The true sincere Word of God not mingled with devices it will make what it is The Word of God being his Word who is Almighty it hath an Almighty transforming power from him It is accompanied and cloathed with his Almighty Spirit Truth will cause truth such as it is in it self it will work in our hearts In that mungrel false Religion Popery they have traditions and false devices of men and so they make false Christians such as they are they make strain them to the quintessence and they cannot make a true Christian Truth makes true Christians therefore attend upon Gods Ordinance with all reverence and it will make thee a sound heart it is a transforming Word Those that desire to hear the Word of God and to have their consciences to be informed by the hearing of it they are sincere Christians and those that labour to shut up the Word of God that it may not work upon the conscience they are false-hearted A heart that is sincere it prizeth the Word of God that makes us sincere the Word of God hath this effect especially being unfolded in the Ministery of it that a man may say as Jacob did Doubtlesse God is in this place It is all that is ours nothing runs upon our reckoning but sincerity For what I have not done truly Conscience saith I have not done to God and therefore I can expect no comfort for it but what I have done to God I look to have with comfort for I know that God regards not perfection but sincerity he requires not so much a great faith as a true faith not so much perfect love as true love and that I have in truth as S. Peter said Lord thou knowest that I love thee This will make us look God who is the Judge in the face It gives us not title to heaven for that is onely by Christ but it is a qualification required of us in the Gospel nothing is ours but what we do in truth And again consider That it will comfort us against Satan at the hour of death when Satan shall tempt us to despair for our sins as that he will do we may comfort our selves with this that we have been sincere We may send him to Christ for that must be the way who hath fulfilled Gods will and satisfied his Fathers wrath Satan will say This is true it is the Gospel and therefore it cannot be denied but it is for them that have walked according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh for those that have obeyed God in all things Now when our Conscience shall joyn with Satan and
that he possibly could fuffer and he laid in the other balance the things that he had in hope and promise and he resolves all that I can suffer that should shake me off from my course it is not worthy of the glory that shall be revealed saith he if you balance both you will conclude this There are many things that may shake us in our Christian course St. Paul thought of all Satans snares I am not ignorant of his enterprizes saith he And then for the world that might cast trumperie in his way saith he I am crucified to the world and the world is crucified to me And for any thing that might happen to him he knew that the issue of all things should work for the best to them that love God he includes himself Rom. 8. saith he We know it before-hand we believe before troubles or evills come come what will the issue of all things is in the regiment and power of God and as he pleaseth all shall work for the best to those that love God and therefore as I am so I will be What should hinder if all things help me nothing can hinder me And then Saint Paul took this course he looked forward still Philip 3. I presse forward to the price of the high calling he forgat that which was behind and he resolved to go forward he had a mind to grow better and better alway and this comforted him that he should hold out to the end For it is the reward of a growing Christian to have a sweet sense of his present state of Grace in Gods favour and to hold out to the end Such a man is like the Sun that growes up still till he come to high noon-day as Solomon saith Saint Paul took this course he strove for perfection he had a crown in his eye a crown of righteousnesse and glory and that will not suffer a man to be idle and cold that hath such a thing in his eye Saint Paul to whet his endeavour not onely looked forward but to glory for as Christ looked to the glorie and despised the shame so Saint Paul looked to the crown and despised all his sufferings Then besides Saint Paul was conscious of his own sincerity for grace carries its own witnesse with it self as he saith here I know my conversation This is the testimony of my conscience that in simplicity and sincerity I have walked before you He knew that sincerity is accompanied with constancie and perseverance It is a rule that alway constancie and perseverance are companions with simplicity and sincerity I have begun in sincerity hitherto now I am sincere and have expressed to you the truth of my heart and of my courses and as I am so I meane to be therefore having begun in sincerity I know I shall end in perseverance and constancy Truth of grace is accompanied with constancy all other things are but grasse they are but shewes they will vanish but sincerity the truth of grace is a Divine thing The Word of the Lord that is grace wrought by the Word of the Lord that endures for ever Where there is truth of grace though it be but as a grain of mustard-seed there is perseverance to the end S. Paul knew this well and therefore he builds his trust on these things on these courses that he took We should all take the like course look to S. Paul's grounds and take his courses those be they that will hold out to the end Judicious consideration of all the difficulties to put into the balance what impediments we shall have from the world and what will be great to us when it is ballanced with the glory to come And withall to aime forward still as S. Paul did And take another course that he took likewise to depend upon grace continually he knew there was a Throne of grace open to him alway for the time to come as well as for the time past and present He knew that Christ in heaven was alway full of grace he knew he should not want in any exigent when he should go to him he knew that God would not destitute or forsake any of his Children them that he hath called to see the necessity of wisdome and of courage and comfort Let us do therefore as S. Paul was answered from heaven say His Grace is sufficient for us if not to keep us from all sin yet to keep us in comfortable courses to keep us in sincerity and simplicity the Grace of God is sufficient to bring us to heaven Let us perswade our selves that if we go on in Christian courses in that confidence God will give us grace to bring us to heaven This was S. Paul's confidence therefore he saith I trust you shall acknowledge to the end because I know that I shall continue in simplicity and sincerity to the end God will keep me I shall have grace to beg and he will give me grace for his gifts in this kind can never be repented of Let us take from S. Paul this course and this comfort This course to trust in God for the time to come to have constant resolutions for the time to come to cleave to God and to good courses Let us every day renew our Covenants in this kind and our resolutions to do nothing against conscience to go on in Christian courses let it be our constant course For as Gods Children know they shall continue to the end so it is wrought from resolution so to do and this resolution stirres them up to depend upon God by prayer that he would knit their hearts to him that they may fear his Name that he would give them Grace sufficient c. that he would establish their hearts as David prayes This resolution it drives them to prayer and to all good courses that God would stablish them in every good work in every good thought and desire and that he would knit their hearts nearer to him Resolve therefore every day in dependance upon God to take good courses that so whensoever any Judgment of God shall come or when the hour of death shall light on us it may not come as a snare that it may take us in good resolutions it is no matter how we dye in outward respects if we dye in good resolutions As we resolve so we are for our resolutions are full of will wishes and resolutions they carry the whole man with them and God esteems a man by his will For if there be impediments that are not impossible to man resolution will break through all God judgeth men by their resolutions Teach me O Lord thy Statutes and I will keep them even to the end I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous Judgments every day take we these promises to our selves and bind our selves with them to God In vowes be chary I do not speak of them now I speak of purposes and resolutions alway take in
naturall to man much more to the spirit of a man For if a man know what is in himself naturally his own wit and understanding which is alway with him bred up with him much more he knowes by his spirit the things that are adventitious that come from without him that is the work of Grace If a man by a reflect knowledge know what naturally is in him in what part he hath it and how he exerciseth it if he know and remember what he hath done and the manner of it whether well or ill then he may know the work of the Spirit that comes from without him that works a change in him We say of light that it discovers it self and all other things so the soule it is lightsome and therefore knowes it self and knowes other things The Spirit of God is much more lightsome where it is it discovers it self and lighteneth the soule it discovereth the party in whom it is As the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 2. 12. We have the Spirit whereby we know the things that we receive of God It not onely worketh in us but it teacheth us what it hath wrought Therefore a Christian knowes that he is in the state of grace he knowes his virtues and his disposition except it be in the time of temptation and upon those grounds named before Therefore we should labour to know our estate to examine our selves whether we be in the faith or no except we be reprobates and cast awayes as the Apostle speakes A Christan should aime at this to understand his own estate in grace upon good grounds But it may be objected how can we know our estate in Grace our virtues are so imperfect our abilities are so weak and feeble I answer the ground of judging aright of our estate it is not worthiness or perfection but sincerity We must not look for perfection For that makes the Papists to teach that there may be doubting because they look to false grounds but we must look to the ground in the covenant of grace to grace it self and not to the measure Where there is truth and sincerity there is the condition of the covenant of grace and there is a ground for a man to build his estate in grace on The perfect righteousnesse of Christ is that that gives us title to heaven but to know that we have right in that title is the simplicity and sincerity in our walking in our conversation as the Apostle saith here This is our reoycing c. Therefore Christians when they are set upon by temptations of their own misdoubting hearts and by Satan they must not go to the great measure of grace that is in others that they have not so much as others and therefore they have none nor to the great measure of grace that they want themselves but to the truth of their grace the truth of their desires and endeavours the truth of their affections Hereby we know that we are translated from death to life because we love the brethren This should stir us up to have a good conscience that we may rejoyce Why should we labour that we may rejoyce Why what is our life without joy and what is joy without a good conscience What is our life with out joy without joy we can do nothing we are like an instrument out of tune an instrument out of tune it yiels but harsh musick Without joy we are as a member out of joynt we can do nothing well without joy and a good conscience which is the ground of joy A man without joy is a palsie-member that moves it self unfitly and uncomely he goes not about things as he should A good conscience breeds joy and comfort it inables a man to do all things comely in the sight of God and comfortably to himself it makes him go chearfully through his businesse A good Conscience is a continuall feast without joy we cannot suffer afflictions we cannot die well without it Simeon died comfortably because he died in peace when he had imbraced Christ in his heart and in his armes Without joy and the ground of joy we can neither do nor suffer any thing Therefore in Psalme 51. David when he had lost the peace and comfort of a good conscience he prayes for the free Spirit of God Alas till God had enlarged his heart with the sense of a good conscience in the pardon of his sins and given him the power of his Spirit to lead a better life for the time to come his spirit was not free before he could not praise God with a large spirit he wanted freedom of spirit his conscience was bound his lips were sealed up Open my lips and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise His heart was bound and therefore he prayes to have it inlarged Restore to me thy joy and salvation intimating that we cannot have a free spirit without joy and we cannot have joy without a good conscience sprinkled with the blood of Christ in the pardon of our sins If it be so that we cannot do any thing nor suffer any thing as we should that we cannot praise God that we cannot live nor die without joy and the ground of it the testimony of a good conscience let us labour then that conscience may witnesse well unto us Especially considering that an ill conscience it is the worst thing in the world there is no friend so good as a good conscience there is no foe so ill as a bad conscience it makes us either Kings or slaves A man that hath a good conscience that witnesseth well for him it raiseth his heart in a Princely manner above all things in the world a man that hath a bad conscience though he be a Monarch it makes him a slave a bad conscience imbitters all things in the world to him though they be never so comfortable in themselves What is so comfortable as the presence of God What is so comfortable as the light yet a bad conscience that will not be ruled it hates the light and hates the presence of God as we see Adam when he had sinned he fled from God A bad conscience cannot joy in the middest of joy it is like a goutie foot or a goutie toe covered with a velvet shoe alas what doth it ease it what doth glorious apparel ease the diseased body nothing at all the ill is within there the arrow sticks And so in the comforts of the Word if the conscience be bad we that are the messengers of comfort we may apply comfort to you but if there be one within that saith thus it is true but I regarded not the Word before I regarded not the checks of conscience conscience will speak more terrour then we can speak peace And after long and wilful rebellion conscience will admit of no comfort for the most part Regard it therefore in time labour in time that it may witnesse well An ill conscience when it should be most
good we have is it not from him And the nearer you come to him the more your happinesse is increased the more you are striped of earthly things the more you have in God Hath not he mens hearts in his hands when you think you shall endanger your selves thus and thusby plain direct dealing without doubling if you be called to the profession of the truth c. Hath not he the hearts of men in his hands to make them favour you when he pleaseth In Pro. 10. He that walketh uprightly walketh boldly He that walketh uprightly not doubling in his courses he walketh safely God will procure his safety God that hath the hearts of men in his hand as the rivers of water he can turn them to favour such a man A mans nature is inclined to favour downe-right dealing men and to hate the contrary You see the three young men when they were threatened with fire come what will O King we will not worship the Image of Gold which thou hast set up They would be burned first What lost they by it Howsoever if we should lose as it is not to be granted that we canlose any thing by direct dealing For the earth is the Lords the fulnesse thereof and the hearts of men are his But suppose they doe yet they gain in better things in comfort of conscience and expectation and hope of better things Faith is the ground of courage and the ground of all other Graces that carrie a mans courage in a course of simplicitie in this World Therefore if we would walk simply and have our conversation in the world in this grace let us labour especially for faith to depend upon Gods promises to approve our selves to him to make him our last and chief end and our communion with him and to direct all our courses to that end This is indeed to set him up a Throne in our hearts and to make him a god when rather then we will displease him or his Vicegerent his Vicar in us which is conscience that he hath placed in us as a monitor and as a witnesse we will venture the losse of the creature of any thing in the world rather then we will displease that Vicar which he hath set in our hearts This I say is to make him a god and he will take the care and protection of such a man S. Paul here in all the imputations in all crosses in the world he retires home to himself to his own house to conscience and that did bear him out that in simplicity he had had his conversation in the world The next particular is In Sincerity The Apostle addes to simplicity this Godly sincerity and he may well joyn these two together for plainnesse and truth go together a plain heart is usually a true heart Doublenesse and hypocrisie which are contrary they alwaies go together he that is not plain to men will not be sincere to God Simplicity respects our whole course with men sincerity hath an eye to God though perhaps in matters and actions towards men Sincerity is alway with a respect to God and so it is opposed to hypocrisie a vice in Religion opposite to God Now this Sincerity that the Apostle speaks of it is A blessed frame of the soul wrought by the Spirit of God whereby the soul is set straight and right in a purpose to please God in all things and in endeavours answerable to that purpose and to offend him in nothing I make a plain description because I intend practice there may be some nicer descriptions But I say It is a blessed frame of the soul wrought by the sincere Spirit of God whereby the soul is set straight and right to purpose and to endeavour all that is pleasing in Gods sight and that with an intention to please God with an eye to God or else it is not sincerity It is such a disposition and frame of soul that doth all good that hates all ill with a purpose to please God in all with an eye to God And therefore it is called sincerity of God or godly sincerity and it is called so fitly because God is not onely the authour of it but God is the aim of it and the pattern of it for he is the first thing that is sincere that is simple and unmixed God is the pattern of it it makes us like to God and he is the aim of it A man that is sincere aimes at God in all his courses wherein he aimes not at God he is not sincere It comes from God and it looks to God For naturally we are all hypocrites we look to shewes therefore sincerity is from God And it is the sincerity of God especially because where this sincerity is it makes us aime at God in all things it makes us have respect to him in all things as the creature should have respect to the Creator the servant to the Master the sonne to the Father the Subject to the Prince The relations we stand in to God should make us aime at him in all things The Observation from hence is this A Christian that hopes for joy must have his conscience witnesse to him that his conversation is in the sincerity of God As the Apostle saith here This is the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation c. Now to go on with this sincerity and lay it open a little Sincerity it is not so much a distinct thing as that which goes with every good thing Truth and sincerity it is not so much a distinct vertue and grace as a truth joyned to all graces As sincere hope sincere faith sincere love sincere repentance sincere confession It is a grace annexed to every grace it is the life and soul of every grace and all is nothing without it Therefore it behoves us to consider of it I say not so much a distinct thing from other graces as that which makes other graces to be graces without which they are nothing at all so much sincerity so much reality So much as we have not in sincerity we have nothing to God it is but an empty shew and will be so accounted In Philosophy you know that which is true onely hath a being and consistence all truth hath a being all falshood is nothing it is a counterfeit thing it is nothing to that it is pretended to be An Image is something but S. Paul calls it nothing because it is not that which it should be and which the Idolater would have it to be he would have it to be a God but it is nothing lesse All is nothing without sincerity Therefore let us consider of it And that we may the better consider of it let us look upon it in every action All actions are either Good Ill. Indifferent How is Sincerity discovered in good actions Sincerity is tryed in good actions many waies First of all a man that is
Therefore he that hath any truth of grace in him he will look to himself and look to God in the most free actions of all You see then how we may judge of our sincerity whatsoever we do A sincere Christian stands thus affected in some measure in some degree in the good he doth in the ill he abstaines from whatsoever it be he thinks he hath to deale with God Now to stir us up to this blessed state to labour for this frame of soul to be sincere to have our conversation in sincerity what needs be added more then this that without it all is nothing all our glorious performances are meer abominations without sincerity God will say you did it not to me you did it for vain-glory you did it for custome or out of education for vain and by-respects and not to me and do you look for a reward of me you did it not for conscience for conscience alway looks to God and what we do not in conscience and obedience to God in our generall or particular calling it stands not on our reckoning with God it is as good as if it were not done in regard of God and of the life to come You have your reward saith Christ. It is no matter what your respects be here if you carry your selves carefully in your place to have the credit of men to gain the favour of men you have your reward Will you looke for a reward from God when what you did you did it to the world What a pittifull thing is this that a man should doe many things many years together and yet do nothing that may further his day of account because it was not done out of conscience of his duty his conversation was not in sincerity to God Now if we have not truth we have nothing in Religion Saint Paul saith as I said before Of an Idol It is nothing why it is a piece of wood or a piece of Gold the materialls of it is something But it is nothing to that which it should be If a man be not true in Religion he is nothing in that he is a true hypocrite but a false Christian. He is nothing in Christianity he is something in hypocrisy but that something is nothing All the shewes in the World and all the flourishes they are nothing What is the reason that excellent Clerks men of excellent parts die comfortlesse many times VVhy God is not beholding to them for all that they did they sought their own praise As the Prophet Isay saith When you fasted did you fast to me When you did good works did you do them to me may God say there was no truth in it so much simplicity so much comfort sincerity is all that we can come to in this world perfection we cannot attain to Christ is perfection for us Truth is all that we can reach to and without that all is nothing therefore we ought to regard it especially Again on the other side this is a great encouragement to be sincere to be true-hearted in all our courses and actions because it gives acceptance to whatsoever we doe and it is that by which God values us God values us not by perfection not by glorious shewes but by what we have in truth So much truth so much worth A little pearl is worth a great deale of rubbish A little sincerity because it is Gods owne creature it is the sincerity of God it is wrought by him it is his stuffe There is an almighty power to work truth in us for by nature we are all false God gives to some men to carry themselves more civilly then others but it is nothing worth except God change a man by grace because God accepts us according to sincerity God values us by truth so much truth so much esteem of the God of truth And where this sincerity is God beares with many infirmities As in marriage the husband that is discreet that knowes what belongs to marriage if the heart of the wife be true though she have many women like infirmities he passeth by them as long as the conjugall knot is kept unviolate So a Christian if his heart be true that he looks to God in all things though he have many infirmities God passeth by them As we see in Asa how many faults had he committed he trusted in the Physitians he used the Prophet hardly and many other faults and yet it is said that his heart was upright all his daies because he had truth in him It was in passion that he did this or that otherwise So Hezechias although he had many infirmities yet he could say that he had walked uprightly before God and God did well esteeme him for it And when he speakes of those that were to come to the Passeover Be mercifull to those that prepare their hearts those that have true hearts though they have many weaknesses Now if the heart be false though a woman have many vertues yet if she want the main if she have a false heart to her husband what is all the rest So the soule that is married to God that hath sweet communion with God if the heart and soul be naught what are all the shewes in the world they are nothing Let us take it to heart therefore and labour to approve our hearts and souls to God in all that we doe more then our lives and outward conversations to the world Let them think what they will so God approve of our hearts and intentions and purposes we are not to passe what the world judgeth as Saint Paul saith of himself Again this should incourage us to labour for sincerity and truth because wheresoever that is there is a growing to perfection To him that hath shall be given If we order our conversation aright as the Psalmist saith and labour to please God in all things the more we doe the more we shall have grace to do and the more we have the more we shall have to him that hath shall be given that is he that truly hath and doth not seeme to have but hath not indeed that seemeth to have goodnesse and hath none indeed that which he hath shall be taken from him A true Christian is alway on the mending hand it is a blessed prerogative he is alway mending and bettering by Gods blessing For where God gives in truth if it be but a little if it be but a grain of mustard-seed if it be true he will cherish it till it come to be a tree he will adde grace to grace one degree of grace to another Where there is truth it is alway honoured with growth It is not onely a sign of truth but where truth is there will be an endeavour of growth it is a prerogative where God bestowes truth he will alwaies adde the grace of growth though not at all times alike yet if Christians sometimes do not grow their not growing and their failings shame
say we did nothing to God we have not obeyed him how can we answer him we must needs yield to the tempter But when we can say with Peter Lord thou knowest that I love thee thou knowest I have laboured to approve my heart to thee and that I have prosecuted this desire with endeavours this will comfort a man in the time of temptation therefore let us labour to have our conversation in sincerity It will afford us much comfort in this life as it did S. Paul S. Paul here was in some grievous sicknesse even to death and he was disgraced as a person that regarded not his promise of coming to them Now what doth he do in all this sicknesse and disgrace what doth he answer to them he comforts himself in this My rejoycing is that my conscience doth testifie my sincerity He runs to God and to his sincerity as his strong hold he approves himself to God Some thing we shall have in this life first or last afflictions or disgraces and troubles will come What is then the strong hold of a Christian Then he runs to his sincerity What would Hezekias have done when he received the sentence of death that he had walked before God in uprightnesse and sincerity Sincerity then is worth more then the world And he that will not labour for that which is worth more then all the world it is a sign he is ignorant of the worth of it A man at the hour of death he would lose all the world if he had it for sincerity Therefore let us not part with our sincerity Let us not offend against sincerity and truth by falshood in our carriage and in our tongues or conversations any manner of way since it will yield us so much comfort in temptations and afflictions and at the Tribunal and Judgment-seat of Christ. Let us not have false aimes and ends and do things in a false manner It is not action onely that God requires but the manner If we regard not the manner God will not regard the matter The matter of the Pharisees performances was very good for stuffe but their hearts being naught God regarded it not Let us look to the manner of doing all that we do that we do them to God that we do them in sincerity in a holy manner The Scripture requires this receive the Sacrament but thus Examine your selves Take heed how you hear Let your conversation be in the world but thus in simplicity and godly sincerity S. Paul doth not say that he rejoyced in miracles or in the great works that he had done in converting of Nations c. which yet were matters of joy but when he comes to joy indeed here is his joy that his Conversation had been in simplicity and godly sincerity And Christians must take heed that they reason not against sincerity another way that is to conclude they have no goodnesse because they see a great deal of corruption and imperfections for imperfections may stand with truth Asa as I said had many infirmities in his life yet notwithstanding it is said that he walked in sincerity So Hezekias it is said he walked before God uprightly yet he had many infirmities and imperfections Nay a man may well retort this upon such poor soules that are witnesses with Satan against themselves in the sight of their sins that their sins being known by them especially with hatred of them it is a sign of sincerity Again others are ready to say I am not sincere because God followes me with afflictions and distresses Reason not so for he therefore followes thee with afflictions because he would have nothing but sincerity in thee he would make thee wholly sincere and purge thee as metal is purged in the fire from the drosse Therefore take heed thus of sinning against sincerity Do nothing in hypocrisie and when we are once sincere let us not sin against it by yielding to the Devil This comforted Job when his friends alledged his corruptions Well saith he you shall not take away my sincerity from me He looked to the eye of God that saw him to whom he approved his heart and that consideration made him sincere and thence he comforted himself So let us comfort our selves in our sincerity against Satan's allegations as a condition of the Covenant of grace which respects not perfection but truth To adde one thing more As there is an order of other graces so there is an order in this sincerity which we should labour for There is this order to be kept We must digg deep we must lay a sincere foundation What is that A deep search into our own hearts and waies by sound humilition We say of digestions if the first be naught all are naught if the first concoction in the body be naught there can never be good assimulation there can never be good blood so if there be not a good a sincere foundation there can never be a sincere fabrick Therefore many mistake and build Castles in the Ayr comb Downes as we say they build a frame of profession that comes to nothing in the end because it is not sincere in this order they were never truly humbled they had a guilefull heart in the cnofession of their sins they never knew what sin was throughly and feelingly Blessed is the man in whose spirit there is no guile Psal. 32. The Psalmist especially means and intends there in regard of down-right dealing with God in the confession of sins For he himself when he did not deal roundly and uprightly with God in the confession of his sinnes with detestation and with resolution never to commit the same again he was in a pitiful plight both of soul and body his moisture was turned into the drought of Summer But when without guile he laid open his soul to God then he came from sincere humiliation and sincere confession to sincere faith Therefore for the order let us first labour to be sincere in the sight of that which is ill in us in the confession of our sins and then we shall be sincere the better to depend upon Gods mercy in Christ by faith And from thence we shall come to sincere Love when we believe that God is reconciled in Christ we shall love him Our love is but a reflexion of his love to us when once we know that he loves us we shall love him again The Spring of all duty is sincere love coming from sincere faith as sincere faith is forced out of the sincere sight of our sins of the ill and miserable estate we are in A man will not go out of himself so long as he sees any hope in himself and therefore sound knowledge of the evil condition we are in it forceth the grace of faith which forceth a man to go out of himself And then when he is perswaded of Gods love in Christ he loves him again Love is that which animates
kinds of the promises whether to the promises for this life or the promises of Grace If they be promises of this life take heed we abuse not our selves in them There have been grosse miscarriages even from the beginning of the world will be to the end of the world in the false application of outward promises We see the Jews cryed The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Loed as if God had tied himself to that by a perpetual promise Trust not to lying words saith the Prophet you think you are Gods people and that he will alwayes keep you out of captivity challenge not temporal promises without reservation and subjection to Gods will as he shall see goood Babylon saith I sit as a Queen and I shall for ever So mystical Babylon in the Revelation saith I sit as a Queen till her Judgment and destruction come in one day because she trusted to her present temporal estate Let no man promise himself that that God doth not promise in his Word immunity from the crosse for whatsoever Promise of protection and provision we have all is with the exception of the Crosse remember therefore to construc the Promises aright Then again another rule about the Promises is That it is usual with God to perform them in a wonderful manner that men know not how he doth perform them notwithstanding take that for a rule How is that As Luther was wont to say Gods carriage is by contrary meanes he performs them wonderfully He promised Abraham a child but his body was dead in a manner first and Sarah's womb He promised Joseph to raise him up so high but alas the iron entred into his soul first He promised that Christ should come but all was desperate first The Scepter was departed from Judah So he hath promised that we shall rise from the dead but we must rot in our graves first He hath promised forgivenesse of sins that he will be mercifull to us but he will waken our consciences to see our desperate estate that we are forlorn creatures first and unworthy of any respect from him He hath promised us happinesse we that are Christians are the happiest creatures in the world yet in the sense and eye of the world for the present we are the most forlorn creatures that are yet he performes his promise with comfort here and at last will fully manifest his love to us So at the last his Promises shall be wonderfully performed God doth not perform his Promises according to humane policy he will not do thus because we look he should do thus and thus he will crosse our expectation and yet perform his promise Saint Paul looked to come to Rome but he thought not of coming to Cesar by whipping and perill and ship wrack Moses knew he should come to see Canaan did he think to have such a conflict in the Wildernesse alas he thought not of it God doth wondrous strangely perform his Promises by contraries he crosseth our imaginations and conceits directly and yet he is true of his promise Another branch of this is That though Gods Promises be Yea and Amen in his time yet he usually defers his promises for a time and why Among many other reasons To mortifie self-confidence to fit us for his blessings for except he deferred them we should not be fit for them he defers them that we may be fitted for them long before they come That we might mortifie self-confidence to see that he immediately and graciously performs his promise And in the mean time to exercise faith and repentance and desire and prayer therefore he defers them but yet they are Amen at last though he defer Gods time is better then ours he knowes better then we the Physician knowes his time better then the Patient Hereupon comes a duty consequently upon this dispensation of God if he perform his promises wondrously and unexpectedly and perform them in delay let thy duty be answerable to his dealing wait wait upon God tie him not to such and such courses he can transcend and go beyond thy imagination and do more then thou art able to conceive as the Apostle saith therefore wait his good time Hâ—… that shall come will come Stay Gods leisure prevent him not run not before him And as he doth things by contraries so when thou art in contraries look for contraries when thou art in fin and feelest it on thy conscience believe that he is made righteousnesse to thee he hath promised it it is Yea and Amen in Christ. When thou shalt be turned to dust in the grave believe that he will raise thy body this promise is Yea and Amen and as a pledge of it Christ is gone to heaven when thou art miserable remember the Promise thou shalt be glorious with Christ as he is glorious All his Promises are Yea and Amen in contraries believe contraries because in contraries he performs contraries and say as Job doth Though he kill me yet will I trust in him I know thou canst not deny thy self and thy Promises are Yea and Amen In the worst estate that befalls us let us learn to wrastle with God in the Promises and implead his Promises Why Lord thou hast promised forgivenesse of sins to them that ask it thou hast promised grace and mercy and favour remember thy promise thou canst not deny thy self thou canst not deny thy gracious promise thy Word is as thy self thou art Amen and thy Word is Yea and Amen onely give me grace to wait thy good leisure yet I will not let thee depart without a blessing I will hold thee till I have received a gracious answer as Jacob wrastled with him till he had the blessing Let us labour to answer the promise with our faith and labour to bring our soules to be like his Promises they are Yea and Amen though they be not presently performed let us constantly believe a constant Promise let us cleave to God let us have a Amen for Gods Amen Are the Promises Amen Amen let the soul say Lord So be it so it shall be I will seal thy Amen in thy promise with my Amen in my faith so let us have an Amen for Christs Amen They are all and will be all Amen in Christ in fit time all the gracious Promises will be Yea and Amen let our soules echo and say Amen For our faith must answer the Promises faith and the Promises be correlatives for the promise is not except it be applyed Let faith answer the promise let us labour to be established in the Promises in Gods Word Shall we have certain Promises and shall we waver and stagger Therefore let us complain Lord thy Promises are sure and certain as thou hast said what is the reason I cannot build on them Oh my unfaithful heart Let us condemn our unbelieving our lying hearts that call the truth of God into question and make that which is
or whether I speak of my selfe Be true to known truths be not false in disobeying them To him that hath shall be given We have a little stablishing by an uniform obedience to the truth we shall have more God will increase it I say let us be faithful to the truths we have ' and not crosse them in any sinful course let us not keep the truth prisoner to any base affection as those in Rom. 1. that had but the light of nature yet because they imprisoned it and held it in unrighteousness and lived in sins contrary to that light rhat God had kindled in them though I say it were but the light of nature God gave them up to sins not to be named much more will he do to us if we withhold the light of the Gospel take heed therefore that we inthral not the truth to any base lust whatsoever and that is a means to be stablished in the truth And be oft in holy conference with others Conference if it be rightly used is a special means to stablish that is most certain which is certain after doubting and debate because that which is doubted of at the first we come to be resolved of at the last comparing reason with reason Remembring alwayes that of S. Ambrose That there must not be striving for victory but for truth And then when we have tryed all we must keep that which is good and not be alwayes as the Iron between two Loadstones haled this way and that way alwayes doubting and never resolved there must be a time of resolution This the Apostle observes to be an excellent way of stablishing oft to confer of things doubtful And labour to get experience of the truth in our selves nothing stablisheth more then experience Our Saviour Christ in Joh. 6. 68. when many left him out of dulnesse not understanding the spiritual things that he taught as many whose wits will serve for matters of the world and to make them great amongst men but when they come to heavenly things they have no understanding they cannot apprehend them he asks his Disciples Will you go away also Peter who had his heart opened by the Spirit of God saith he Lord whither shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life insinuating that the experience that he had of the power of that truth that Christ taught did so establish him in the present truth that with a holy kind of indignation at the question he replyes Whither shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life I have found thy words to have a spirituall life in them So when we come once to have an experimental knowledge of the truths we learn then our hearts are stablished indeed then it is an ingraffed Word as S. James saith then the Word is true leaven when it altereth and changeth the soul in such a case there is no separating from fundamentall truth when it is one with our selves and digested into us And pray to God oft as David did Psal. 86. to knit our hearts to fear his Name Lord my heart is loose and ready to fall off of it self Oh knit my heart it is unsettled Oh settle my unsettled heart settle my judgment and affections this should be our meditation And because it is God that stablisheth alway maintain spiritual poverty in the soul that is a perpetual dependance upon God see the insufficiency that is in our selves that we cannot stand out What is the reason that God suffers great men to fall from the defence of the truth and from the profession of it in their lives as we see it in the case of Peter to shew that we stand not by our own strength therefore we should be alwayes in this temper of spiritual poverty to know that as Samsons strength was in his Hair so our strength is in God God is my strength of my self I have no strength And therefore upon every new defence of the truth when we are called to it we should lift up ejaculations and dart up strong desires to God that God would strengthen and stablish our souls that we may not be traytors to the truth but that we may stand to it for in his owne strength shall no man be established And grow every day more and more in detestation of a luke-warme temper Your Ancipites as Cyprian calls them your doubtful flatterers of the times that have their Religion depending upon the State and the times that are neither fish nor flesh Bats as we say that are neither Mice nor Birds but of a doubtful Religion that out of carnal policy are fit to entertain any thing Oh this is a devilish temper Howsoever we in our luke-warm disposition value the truth God values it highly it was purchased by Christs blood and sealed by the blood of Martyrs and shall not we transmit it to our posterity as safe and as firm and retain it come what will Let us grow into dislike of this temper atemper that we should as much hate as God hates it such a temper as is in Popery they are in an adiaphorisme temper in Religion a luke-warm cold temper a temper of Religion according to reasons of flesh and reasons of policy this will make us be spued out of Gods mouth at the last Do we think to lose Religion alone Oh no never think to part with Religion alone it came with peace and prosperity and if we keep not this Depositum this truth delivered to us God will take it away and that which we betray it for Peace and Plenty Let us labour therefore to be radicated in our Judgment in our Affections in our Love in our Faith in our whole inward man in the truth revealed To be stablished in the truth it is our best inheritance it is that will stand by us when all leaves us What consistence hath a man out of the truth are you rich or honourable death will drive you out of all your riches and honours in the world and strip you of all What stablishing hath any man but in Christ in the truth Take a man that is not bottomed that is not fastened on Christ he is the changeablest creature in the world he is vanity he is nothing Oh love this state that we may say Though I be variable here though I be not so rich as I was or have not that favour of great ones that I have had or it is not with me as it hath been but in all changes I have somewhat that is unchangeable my soul is settled upon Christ and upon the truth in him which is certain As it is a glorious being to be found in Christ so it is an eternal and an everlasting being once Christs and for ever his he will never lose a member Labour we therefore to be stablished in Christ in all the changes and alterations in the world and then we shall have something that is unchangeable to fix and stay our selves upon
or are profitable to others p. 109 Gods children partake of the sufferings of others how p. 115 Suffering must precâ—…de comfort and why p. 117 c. Those that suffer as they should are sure of comfort p. 118 See more in Affliction Persecution Tribulation Suspition Mans nature is proue to suspition pag. 356 506 Grounds of suspition from whence it ariseth p. 357 506 c. Suspition what p. 357 507 How to arm our selves against suspition p. 357 How to know when suspition is evil p. 358 Suspition is more then fear lesse then judgment p. 507 Suspition makes the worst construction ibid. Why the Devill cherisheth suspition ibid. Mischief from Suspition ibid. Swearing What meant by the prohibition Swear not at all p. 376 516 517 To swear by none but God p. 515 Swearing lawful p. 516 517 Ordinary swearing condemned p. 376 516 517 518 Objections for common and ordinary swearing answered p. 517 c. Original causes of ordinary swearing p. 518 519 Motives against ordinary swearing p. 519 520 Means against ordinary swearing pag. 519 Ordinary swearers curse themselvse p. 518 T. Thankfulnesse IT 's the disposition of Gods people to be thankfull for mercies received pag. 16 We are to be especially thankfull for spiritual favours p. 18 Meanes to become thankfull p. 18 19 20 208 209 A carnal man unthankful why pag. 19 Motives to thankfulnesse pag 20 210 211 212 Not onely verbal but real thanksgiving is required p. 212 See Blesse Praise Tradition Popish faith is built upon Traditions p. 345 346 Treasury The Popes Treasury what p 107 The Popes Treasury confuted ibid. Christ is the onely Treasury of the Church ibid. Tribulation Gods Children are subject to Tribulation p. 47 60 74 See Affliction Persecution Suffering Trust. Gods Children are prone to trust in themselves why p. 137 138 Not to trust in any thing but in God p. 139 142 143 144 Signes of trusting in these outward things as riches c. p. 139 140 It 's a dangerous thing to trust in our selves or in the creature why p. 141 Popery to be detested because it teacheth men to trust to their own works satisfactions c. p. 142 We must not trust our own graces pag. 142 Creatures may be trusted to subordinately p. 144 145 Worldlings trust in the creature above God yea against God p. 144 How to cure false confidence or trusting in ourselves and in the creature pag. 145 147 To trust in God a lesson hardly learn't p. 148 God to make us trust in him is fain to cast us out of our selves ibid. God is the sole and proper Object of trust p. 153 God in Christ the Object of trust ibid. It 's a mans duty to trust in God pag. 154 Trials of trust in God or Signes whereby to know whether we trust in God p. 155 156 157 Helps or Meanes to trust in God pag. 158 Trust in God how to be exercised in great afflictions p. 161 Trust in God how exercised in the hour of death p. 162 God to strengthen our trust hath given us his 1. Promise 2. Seal 3. Oath 4. Earnest 5. A pawn 6. Seizin p. 164 Objection against trusting in God answered ibid. A Christian may trust or rely on God for the time to come p. 178 Trust what p. 321 See Confidence Truth Truth may not be spoken at all times p. 246. God is true and faithful how p. 379 Objection against this answered pag. 380 How to know the Word of God to be true p. 386 392 It 's a matter of comfort to believe the Word of God to be true p. 377 c. The Word of God or Evangelical doctrine is most true and certain p 392 V. Vain MInisters labour is not in vain in the Lord p. 1 Vehement Carnal men are vehement p. 371 Unbelief The heart of man is full of unbelief and can hardly be settled in the perswasion of Divine truth p. 485 486 Uniformity A Christian is uniform p. 317 Union There is a threefold Union viz. 1. Of Christ and our nature 2. Of Christ and his members 3. Of one member with another p. 116 W. Wait. GRounds of waiting upon God for deliverance from trouble or Motives thereunto p. 173 c. 426 Way It 's a commendable custome for Christians to bring one another on their way p. 355 Weak The weakest creatures have the strongest shelters p. 448 Will. Every one in his calling placed by the Will of God p. 2 3 The more will advisednesse and deliberation in sin the greater the sin p. 249 Wisdome Wisdome manifold p. 274 275 Wisdome what p. 275 Carnal or fleshly wisdome described p. 275 276 277 Why called fleshly Wisdome p. 276 All carnal men have not fleshly wisdome p. 278 Fleshly wisdome is where there is no simplicity nor sincerity ibid. Gods children not ruled by fleshly wisdom why p. 279 288 289 Mischief of carnal wisdom pag. 280 281 Carnal or fleshly Wisdom hinders our joy and comfort p. 287 288 Popery is founded on carnal Wisdom p. 312 How to avoid fleshly Wisdom pag. 368 369 A Christian needs Wisdome why p. 291 Wisdom may be had p 292 We should go to God for Wisdome pag. 292 293 God gives Wisdom for the things of this life p. 293 True Wisdom toucheth conversation p. 299 Word The Preaching of the Word accompanied with Gods Spirit is able to convert and change the most wicked hearts â—…hat be pag. 4 5 See Ministery Preaching It 's a matter of consequence to believe the Word of God to be true certain and immutable p. 377 c. The Word of God is the Judge of all Controversies p. 382 Christ the Word how p. 409 467 The Word of God is most true certain and infallible p. 392 How to know the Word of God to be true p. 386 392 See Scripture World Christianity may stand with converse in the World p. 267 Religion makes a man converse in the world untainted ibid. Wicked men called the World why p. 275 4 365 Y. Yea and Nay GRounds of Yea and Nay p. 371 Dissemblers are Yea and Nay all at once p. 372 All Promises and Prophecies are Yea in Christ p. 407 408 409 c. Trin-uni Deo gloria * 1 Pet. 4. 10. Ubi Vulgat dispensatio multiformis gratiae * Isai. 54. 12. Varia gemmarum genera propter varia dona quae sunt in Ecclesiâ Sanct. * Gallica mirata est Calvinum Ecclesia nuper Quo nemo docuit doctius Est quoque te nuper mirata 〈◊〉 tonantem Quo nemo 〈◊〉 fortiùs Et miratur adhuc fundentem mella Viretum Quo nemo fatur dulcius Beza * Tunc bene multiformis Dei gratia dispensatur quando acceptum donum 〈◊〉 ejus qui hoc non habet creditur quando propter eum cui impenditur sibi datum putatur Gregâ—…r moral lib. 28. cap. 6. God scatters his Saints why Quest. Answ. The Church hath its name sometimes 1. from the mixture in it 2. from the better
hypocrite in many respects but in this one mainly that a true Saint of God is altered in the inward frame and qualification of his soul he is a new Creature therefore there is a spring of better thoughts of better desires of better aimes in him then in other men And he labours more after the inward frame of his heart then after his outward carriage what he is ashamed to do he is ashamed to think he is ashamed to lust after what he desires to do he desires to love in his heart he labours that all may be true in the inward man because grace as well as nature begins from the heart from the inward parts An hypocrite never cares for that all his care is for the outward parts he is sale-work so his carriage be acceptable to others all his care is taken he lives to the view therefore he looks not to the substance and the truth but to the shadow and appearance Now I come to the Salutation it self VERSE 2. Grace be unto you c. GRace doth enter into the whole conversation of a Christian and doth sweeten his very Salutations Which I observe because many men confine their Religion to places to actions and to times there is a relish of holinesse in every thing that comes from a Christian in his Salutations and Courtesies St. Paul salutes them Grace and peace from God c. And the use of holy Salutations are To Shew Love Win To shew love and respect therefore he salutes them and by shewing love to gain love for there is a Loadstone in love And thirdly the use of salutations is by them to convey some good for these salutations are not meer wishes but prayers nay blessings Gods people are a blessed people and they are full of blessing they carry a blessing in their very speeches What is a blessing A blessing is a prayer with the application of the thing prayed for it is somewhat more then a prayer Grace be with you and peace It is not onely a meer wish I desire it nay my desire of it is with an applying of it grace shall be with you and peace and the more because I heartily wish it to you It is no light matter to have the benediction and salutation of a holy man especially those that are Superiours for the Superiours blesse the Inferiours there is a grace goes even with the very salutations with the common prayers of a holy man It is a comfortable sign when God doth enlarge the heart of a holy man to wish well to a man And surely the very consideration of that should move us to let them have such incouragement from our carriage and demeanour that they may have hearts to think of us to the throne of Grace to give us a good wish to give us a good desire for every gracious desire every prayer hath its effect when it comes from a favourite of God especially from such a man as St. Paul was from a Minister a holy man in a calling a man of God they have their efficacy with them they are not empty words Grace and peace The Popes think it a great favour when they bestow their Apostolical benediction and blessing their blessing is not much worth their curse is better then their blessing but surely the blessing of a man rightly called those that are true Ministers of Christ they are cloathed with Power and efficacy from God Grace be with you and peace it is no idle complement And here you see likewise what should be the manner of the salutation of Christians as they ought to salute to shew love and to gain love so all their salutations should be holy There is a takingthe name of God in vain in salutations oft times God save you c. and it must be done with a kind of scorn and if there be any demonstration of Religion it becomes them not that which should become them most What should become a Saint but to carrie himself Saint-like and yet men must do it with a kind of scorn with a kind of gracelesse grace that which in the religious use of it is a comfortable and sweet thing and is alway with a comfortable and gracious effect in Gods Children Either it hath effect and is made grace to them to whom it is spoken or returns to them that speak it As Christ saith to his Disciples when you come into a house pronounce peace to them and if the house be not worthy your peace shall return to you So the salutations of a good man if they be not effectual to the parties if they be unworthy rebellious creatures they return again to himself they have effect one way or other Let it not be done therefore with a taking the Name of God in vain in a scornful manner but with gravity and reverence as becometh a holy action There is some limitation and exception of this Salutations in some cases may be omitted As in serious businesse salute no man by the way as Christ saith to his Apostles A neglect sometimes is good manners when respect is swallowed up in a greater duty As it was good manners for David to Dance and to carry himself as it were unseemly before the Ark because he was to neglect respect to meaner persons to forget the respect he was to shew to men being altogether taken up with higher matters it was a kind of decencie and comlinesse And overmuch scrupulousnesse and nicenesse in lesser things when men are called to greater is but unmannerly manners in these cases these lesser must give way and place to the greater Salute no man by the way dispatch the businesse you are about that is if it may be a hindrance in the way salute not this is in respect of time And as for time so for persons a notorious incorrigible Heretick salute not to salute such a one would be as it were a connivence or an indulgence to him salute him not The denying of a Salutation many times hath the force of a censure the party neglected may think there is somewhat in him for which he is neglected in that manner In these cases salutations may be omitted sometimes But I go unto the particulars Grace be unto you and peace These are the good things wished We see the Apostle a blessed man that had been in the third heaven wrapt up that had been taught of Christ what things were most excellent and had himself seen excellent things which he could not utter when he comes to wishes we see out of heavenly wisedom and experience he drawes them to two heads all good things to Grace and peace If there had been better things to be wished he would have wished them but Grace and peace are the principal things What is meant by Grace here Grace in this place is the free favour and love of God from his own bowels not for any desert or worth or
else will Therefore let us every day be setting our selves in some good way for comfort is in comfortable courses and not in ill courses in Gods waies we shall have Gods comforts In those waies let us exercise the spiritual strength we have let us pray to God and performe the exercise of Religion with strength shew some zeal in it let us shew some zeal against sin if occasion be if it be in Gods work in Gods way Let a man set himself upon a good worke especially when it is in opposition for the honour of God and the peace of his conscience presently there is comfort upon it And that we may not be discouraged with the imperfection of our performances one way of daily comfort is to consider the condition of the covenant of Grace between God and us In the covenant of Grace our performances if they be sincere they are accepted and it is the perfection of the Gospel sincerity Sincerity will look God in the face with comfort because he is with the upright so much truth in all our dealings so much comfort And with sincerity labour for growth to grow better and better God in the Gospel meanes to bring us to perfection in heaven by little and little In the law there was present perfection required but in the Gospel God requires that we should come to perfection by little and little as Christ by little and little satisfyed for our sins and not all at once In the condition of the covenant of Grace we must live and grow by grace by little and little and not all at once The condition of the covenant of grace is not to him that hath strength of grace in perfection but if we believe and labour to walke with God if there be truth of Grace truth goes for perfection in the covenant of Grace We should labour for sound knowledge of the covenant of Grace that now we are freed from the rigor as well as from the curse of the law that though we have imperfections yet God will be our father and in this condition of imperfection he will be a pardoning father and lookes on our obedience though it be feeble and weak and imperfect yet being the obedience of children in the covenant of grace and he accepts of what is his owne and pardons what is ours And every day labour to preserve the comforts of the spirit that we have not to grieve the spirit for comfort comes with the spirit of God as heat accompanies the fire As wheresoever fire is there is heat so wheresoever the spirit of God is there is comfort because the spirit of God is God and God is with comfort wheresoever comfort is God is and wheresoever God is there is comfort If we would have comfort continually every day let us carefully watch that we give way to the spirit of God by good actions and meditations and exercises And by no meanes grieve the spirit or resist the spirit for then we resist comfort If we speake any thing that is ill we lose our comfort for that time conscience will check us we have grieved the spirit If we heare any thing with applause and are not touched with it we lose our comfort conscience will tell us we are dead-hearted and not affected as we should be there is a great deal of flesh and corruption that is affected with such rotten discourse And so if we venture upon occasions we shall grieve the spirit either if we speak somewhat to satisfie others that are nought or if we hear somewhat that is ill from others Want of wisdome in this kind doth make us go without comfort many times want of wisdom to single out our companie or else if we be with such to do that that may please them and grieve the spirit and hinder our own comfort These and such like directions if we would observe we might walk in a course of comfort the God of comfort hath prescribed this in the book of comfort These are the courses for Gods children to walk in a comfortable way till they come to heaven More especially if we would at any time take a more full measure of comfort then take the book of God into your hand those are comforts that refresh the soul single out some speciall portion of scripture and there you shall have a world of comfort As for example let a man single out the epistle to the Romans if a man be in any grievance whatsoever what a world of comfort is there fitting for every maladie there is a method how to come to comfort There St. Paul in the beginning first strips all men of confidence of any thing in themselves and tells them that no man can be saved by works Jewes nor Gentiles but all by the righteousnesse of God in Christ All are deprived of the Glorie of God Jewes and Gentiles every bodie And when we are brought to Christ he tells us in the later end of the third Chapter that by Christ we have the forgivenesse of all our former sins whatsoever he is the propitiation for our sins In the 4. Chapter he comforts us by the example of Abraham and David that they were justified without works by faith not by works of their own but by laying hold of the promises of comfort and salvation meerly by Christ and all that saith St. Paul is written for us But in the first Chapter especially because all the miseries of this life come from the first Adam because we are Children of the first Adam death and miserie comes from that he opposeth the comfort in the second Adam and he shewes that there is more comfort by the second Adam then there is discomfort by the first Righteousnesse in the second Adam reigns to life everlasting and Glorie Sin and miserie came by the first but there is the pardon of all sin by the second Adam he doth excellently oppose them in the latter end of that Chapter In the begining of the fifth Chapter he shewes there the method and descent of joy Being justified by faith in Christ we have peace with God Considering that by the righteousnesse of Christ we are freed from sin We have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And we have boldnesse to the Throne of Grace and we rejoyce in tribulation knowing that tribulation brings forth patience and patience experience and experience hope He sets himself there of purpose to comfort in all tribulation and he saith in these things we rejoyce We rejoyce in tribulation I but for our sins after our conversion after we are in the state of Grace what comfort is there for them there is excellent comfort in the fifth of the Romans If when we were enemies he gave his son for us if he saved us by the death of Christ when we were enemies much more Christ being alive and in heaven he will keep it for us and keep us to salvation now when we are
argument of praising and blessing of God and that we should answer him in the like that as he hath devised all the waies that may be of comforting us of turning all to our good that that we suffer our selves and that that others suffer so we should study by all means and waies to set forth his glory and no way to grieve the spirit of so gracious a God that thus every way intends our comfort VERS V. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolations also abound by Christ. HEre the blessed Apostle shewes the reason why his heart was so inlarged as we see in vers 3. in the middest of his troubles and persecutions to blesse God there was good reason for as his afflictions so his consolations abounded It is a reason likewise of his ability to comfort others the reason why he was fitted to comfort others because he found comfort abound in himself in his sufferings so they have a double reference to the words before But to take the words in themselves As the Suffrings of Christ abound c. It is an excellent portion of scripture and that which I should have a great deal of encouragement to speak of if the times and disposition of the hearers were for it for it is a text of comfort for those that suffer persecution that suffer affliction for the Gospel Now because we do not suffer or at least we suffer not any great matter except it be a reproach or the like which is a matter of nothing but a chip of the cross a trifle therefore we hear these matters of comfort against the disgrace of the crosse of Christ with dead hearts But we know not what we are reserved to therefore we must learn somewhat to store up though we have not present use of it The severall branches of divine truths that may be observed from these words are first this That the sufferings of Christians may abound They are many in this world and they may be more still Secondly what we ought to think of those sufferings what judgment we are to have of them They are the sufferings of Christ. Thirdly that being the sufferings of Christ he will not destitute us of comfort but we have our comfort increased in a proportion answerable to our troubles The fourth point is by whom in whom all this is this strange work is by Christ the ballancing of these two so sweetly together crosses and comforts they come both from one hand both from one spring the sufferings of Christ and the comforts of Christ and both abound our troubles are for him and our comforts are by him So here is sufferings and comfort increase of suffering increase of comfort sufferings for Christ and comfort by Christ you see them ballanced together and you see which weighs down the ballance comfort by Christ weighes down sufferings for Christ the good is greater then the ill It is a point of wondrous comfort The Ark you know mounted up as the waters mounted up when the waters overflowed the world so it is here in this verse there is a mounting of the waters a rising of the waters above the mountaines afflictions increase and grow higher and higher but be of good comfort here is the Ark above the waters here is consolation above all as our sufferings for Christ increase so our consolations likewise by Christ increase For the first I will be very short in it The sufferings of Christ abound in us There is no bodie in this world but first or last if they live any long time they must suffer and as a man is in degrees of goodnesse so his sufferings must abound the better man the more sufferings Sufferings abounded in St. Paul it doth not abound in all that was personall in St. Paul to abound in sufferings it doth not go out of the person of St. Paul and such as St. Paul was All must suffer but not in a like measure there are several cups all do not abound in sufferings as all do not abound in grace and strength Those that are of a higher ranck their sufferings abound more God doth not use an exact proportion in afflictions but that which we call geometrical a proportion appliable to the strength of the sufferer Christ as he had more strength then any so he suffered more then any and St. Paul having an extraordinary measure of strength he suffered more then all the Apostles the sufferings of Christ abounded in him but all must suffer What is the reason of it What is the reason that troubles abound thus Surely if we look To God we shall see reasons enough the Divel the world our selves If we look to God and Christ we are ordained to be conformable to Christ we must be conformable to Christ in sufferings first before we be in glorie It is Gods decree we are called to sufferings as well as to be believing we must answer Gods call every Christian must resolve to take up his Crosse every day some degree of the Crosse or other reproach for Christs sake is a suffering the scorn of the world is the rebuke of Christ. We are called to suffering as well as to Glorie it is part of our effectual calling it is an appendix an accessorie thing to the main we must take grace with suffering and it is well we may have it so too it is well that we have the state of grace here and glorie hereafter with suffering If we look to the divel there must be suffering Satan is the Prince of the world he is the prince of an opposite Kingdom If we consider what place we live in when we are taken out of the world to the blessed estate of Christians to be members of Christ and heirs of heaven the world is strange to us and we are strangers to it Crosses and afflictions are necessarie for them that are travellers we would think else that we were at home and forget our countrie considering the condition we live in we must have sufferings If we consider the disposition of the parties among whom we live they are people of an opposite spirit therefore they maligne us because we are taken from among them And though there be no opposition shewed to them yet it upbraids enough their cursed estate when they see others taken from them that speakes loud enough that their course is naught that they see others mislike it The world that is led by the spirit of Satan malignes them that are better then themselves There is opposition between the seed of the Serpent and the seed of the woman so long as there are wicked men that are instruments and Organs of the divel Gods Children must be opposed while there is a Divell suffered to be the God of the World and so long as he hath so strong a faction in the world as he hath the Children of disobedience in whom he rules Gods Children shall never
that upstart Religion that hath been devised for their own ends for their own profit because it would bring us under a curse They would have us to trust to our own works in matter of salvation to trust to our own satisfaction to be freed from Purgatorie c. They would have us to trust to creatures to something besides God to trust in the mediation of Saints to be our intercessors c. And what doth this false trust it breeds despair at length What is the reason that a well advised Papist that knowes what he doth cannot but despair or else renounce Popery Because Popery carries the soul to false props in matter of Justification they renounce their own Religion at the hour of death as Bellarmine did they live by one Religion and die by another which would not be if their Religion were good For their hearts tell them that they have not done so many works that they may trust in them and they have not been so well done that they may trust in them It is a dangerous thing Cursed is he that trusts in man or in any thing in man Nay we must not trust our own graces as they are in our selves not by way of merit no not by way of strength we must not trust our present graces to carrie us out without new supply to further us It was Peters fault Though all men deny thee yet will not I he trusted to his present strength he forgot that if he had not a new supply from the spring of grace that he should miserably miscarry and so he died All our righteousnesse to trust to it it is a broken reed It is somewhat if we place it in the due place to give us evidence that we are true Christians but to trust in it by way of merit the Divell will pick so many holes in that kind of title and conscience will see so many flawes in it if we bring no better title then either the holinesse in us or the works from us the Divell and our own conscience will spie so many flawes and cracks in it at the time of Death that we shall not dare to trust in it but we must run out of our selves to Christ or else we die in desperation Let us know these things all things but God the more we know them the lesse we trust in them but it is clean contrary of God the more we know him the more we shall trust in hm the more we meditate and enlarge our hearts in the consideration of his divine essence every way the more we shall trust in him They that know thy Name will trust in thee Psal. 9. Let us trust in no outward thing No not in the humanity of Christ I add that further we are very prone to trust in things sensible and the Apostles because Christ was present with them and comfortable among them as indeed he was sweet and loving bearing with their infirmities and incouraging them upon all occasions O they were loath to part with him he tells them that he must leave them but they should not fare the worse he would send them the Comforter The flesh it self profits nothing without the Godhead saith he Trust not in the Sacraments above their place It is a dangerous thing to put too much in any creature God is extreamly offended at it as not onely our adversaries the Papists but proud persons among us that are weary of the doctrine of the Church and will not submit in their pride to riper judgments they attribute too much to the Sacraments as some others do too little they attribute a presence there they make it an Idol they give it such reverence as they will not do to God himself and from a false conceit Oh there is I know not what presence Therefore the Lutherans must needs in a great degree be Idolaters by their Consubstantiation and the Papists by their Transubstantiation by their reall presence Coster saith and saith truly If Christ be not there we are the greatest Idolaters in the world But there is a more subtile kind of attributing to the Sacraments that alway God gives grace with the Sacraments the Sacraments convey grace alway as a plaister it hath a kind of power to eat out the dead flesh and as Physick hath a power to carry away the ill humours so the conveying of Grace is included in the Sacraments so they tie Gods Grace to these things Indeed there is grace by them though not in them God gives grace to the humble receiver but otherwise to him that comes not with an humble believing heart they are seals to a blanck there is no validity in them All the good use they have is to strengthen faith and if there be not something before to be strengthened and confirmed and assured they are but seals to a blanck It is in these things according to our faith and according to our preparation and then God in the holy and humble and faithful use of them blesseth his own ordinance for the increase and confirming of our faith and for the increase and strengthening of all grace So that there is not any thing in the Church but the proud naughty heart of man will take hurt by it rather then submit to the pure and powerful truth of God it will have by-wayes to have Confidence in the flesh one way or other And many men rather then they will trust to sound repentance and humiliation for sin they will trust to the words of absolution without it and when are they said go to hell with a pardon about their necks The false heart will trust to outward things though it be damned for it In their place they are good if they be used onely as helps in their kind We lay more weight upon outward things upon the Sacraments and upon the words of the Minister then they will bear and never care for the inward powerful work of grace Everything of God is excellent in their order and kind but our corrupt hearts bring an ill report upon the things You see then it is a dangerous disposition to trust any too much it is to Idolize them and to wrong God to take the honour from God it is to hurt our selves and bring our selves under a curse and to wrong the things themselves to bring an evil report upon the things It is universally true you shall never see a false bitter heart that will not stoop to Gods plain truth they will have by-wayes of their own but in some measure or other they are barren of greater matters and given up to some sensible bitternesse to self-conceitednesse and self-confidence they are alway punished in that kind with a spiritual kind of punishment We must take heed therefore of trusting too much eo any thing but God himself God is jealous of our trust he will have us trust in nothing but himself in matters of salvation no not in matters of common life
be at the cost with us to exercise us It is a ground not onely of patience but of thankfulnesse when God humbles us be not discontent man grudge not murmur not God doth a work that seems strange to thee and which is not his own proper work that he may do his own work that he may bring thee nearer to himself why dost thou murmur at thy own good The Patient cries out of the Physitian that he torments him he hears him well enough but he will not be advised by his patient he means to advise him and to rule him he would faine have comfort he is in pain and cries for ease but his time is not yet come So let us wait and not murmur under crosses God is doing one work to bring to passe another he brings us out of our selves that he may bring us nearer to himself And another Use that we may make of it let us examine our selves whether our afflictions and crosses have had this effect in us to bring us to trust in him more if they have all is well but if they make us worse that we fret and murmur and feel no good by them it is an ill sign for God doth bring us low that we may not trust in our selves but in him Quem praesentia mala non corrigunt c. Whom the presence of ill and grievance amends not they bring to eternal grievance This is Ahaz saith the Scripture a strange man a wicked King that notwithstanding God followed him with judgements yet he grew worse and worse This is Ahaz he might well be branded When a man belongs to God every thing brings him nearer to God when a man is brought to be more humble and more careful and more watchful every way to be more zealous more heavenly minded it is a blessed sign that God then is working a blessed work to force him out of himself and to bring him nearer himself to trust in him This we cannot too much consider of It should teach us likewise this that we judge not amisse of the generation of the righteous when we see God much humbling them when we see him follow them with sicknesse with troubles and disgraces in the world perhaps with terrour of consience with descertions be not discouraged if he be thy friend censure him not add not affliction to his affliction is not his affliction enough thou needest not to add thy unjust censure as Job said to his friends The more we are afflicted of God the more good he intends to work to us the end is to bring us from our selves to trust in him It is a wicked disposition in men that know not the wayes of God they are ignorant of the wayes that he takes with his children when they see men that are Christians that they are humbled and cast down and troubled they think they are men forsaken of God c. alas they do not know Gods manner of dealing he casts them down that he may raise them up they receive the sentence of death against themselves that he may comfort them after that he may do them good in their latter end Let this therefore keep us from censuring of other men in our thoughts for this hard course which God seems to take with them And let us make this Use of it when we are in any grievance and God followes us still let us mourn and lament the stubbornsse of our hearts that will not yeeld God intends to draw us near to him to trust in him if we would do this the affliction would cease except it be for tryall and for the exercise of Grace and for witnesse to the truth When God afflicts sometime for tryall and for witnesse there is a spirit of Glory in such a case that a man is never afflicted in mind but I say when God followes us with sicknesse with crosses with loss of friends and we are not wrought upon let us censure our hard hearts that force God to take this course And justice God in all this Lord thou knowest I could not be good without this thou knowest I would not be drawn without this bring me near to thy self that thou mayest take away this heavy hand from me The intemperate man that is sick makes the Physitian seeme cruel It is because I set my affections too much on earthly things that thou followest me with these troubles we force God to do this A Physitian is forced to bring his Patient even to skin and bone an intemperate Patienr sometimes that hath surfetted upon a long distemper he must bring him to Deaths doore even almost to death because his distemper is so setled upon him that he cannot otherwise cure him So it is with God the Physitian of our souls he must bring us wondrous low we are so prone so desperately addicted to present things to trust to them and to be proud of them and confident in them that God must deal as a sharp Physitian he must bring us so low or else we should never be recovered of our perfect health again and all is that we might trust in God Observe we from hence another point that God in all outward things that are ill intends the good of the soul. He takes liberty to take away health and liberty and friends to take away comforts but whatsoever he takes away he intends the good of the soul in the first place And all the ills that he inflicts upon us they are to cure a worse ill the ill of the soul to cure an unbelieving heart a worldly proud carnal heart which is too much addicted to earthly things We see here how God dealt with St Paul all was to build up his soul in trust and confidence in God all was for the soul. The reason is other things are vanishing the soul is the better part the eternal part if all be well with the soul all shall be well otherwise at last If it be well with the soul the body shall do well though God take liberty to humble us with sicknesse and with death it self yet God will riase the body and make it glorious a good soul will draw it after it at last and move God to make the body glorious But if the soul be naught let us cherish and do what we will with the body both will be naught at last This life is not a life to regard the body we are dead in that while we live the sentence of death is passed we must die we are dying every day The body is dead because of sin we are going to our grave every day takes away a part of our life This is not a life for this body of ours it is a respite to get assurance of an eternal estate in heaven God takes our wealth and liberty and strength c. That he may help our souls that he may work his own blessed work in our souls that he may lay a foundation of
deliver me from every evill work and that is that which the Saints and Martyrs and all good people desire that God would deliver them that they may not sink in their minds that they despair not that they carry not themselves uncomely in troubles but so as is meet for the credit of the truth which they seal with their blood he hath delivered me and he will deliver me from every evill work and what saith he afterwards He shall preserve me to his Heavenly Kingdom He doth not say he shall preserve me from death he knew he should die but he shall preserve me to his heavenly Kingdom So put the case that God do not deliver from death yet he delivers by death There is a partial deliverance and a total deliverance there is a deliverance from this and that trouble and there is a deliverance from all troubles God delivers us most when we think he delivers least for we think how doth he deliver his Children when we see them taken away by death and oftimes are massacreed That is one way of delivering them God by death takes them from all miseries they are out of the reach of their enemies death delivers them from all miseries of this life both inward of sin and outward of trouble all are determined in death therefore God when he doth not deliver them from death he delivers them by death and takes them to his heavenly Kingdom God oft-times delivers his by not delivering them out of trouble for when he sees us in danger of some sin he delivers us into trouble to deliver us from some corruption Of all evills Gods Children desire to avoid the delivering up to themselves and to their own lusts to their own base earthly hearts to a dead heart he delivers them into trouble therefore to deliver them from themselves God will deliver us for the time to come so that we depend upon him and humble our selves and be like our selves When God delivereth us at the first it may be we are like our selves but perhaps afterward we grow prouder and self-confident and will not do that we formerly did therefore God sometimes though he put us in hope of deliverance yet he will not deliver us because we are not prepared we are not throughly humbled As we see in Judges 20. there the Israelites were to set on the Benjamits they go the first time and had the foile they go the second time and are foiled the third time they set on them with fasting and prayer and then they had the victory What was the reason they had it not at the first time they were not humbled enough they did not flee to God with fasting and prayer It may be there is some sin some affection unmortified of revenge and anger when God hath subdued that and brought it under and brought us to fasting and prayer then God will deliver us as at the third encounter they carried away the victory When we have not made our peace with God we may come the first and second time and not be delivered but when we are throughly humbled and brought low then God will deliver us And then we must know that alway these outward promises have a reservation to Gods glory and our eternal good God hath delivered me and he doth and will deliver me if it may stand with his glory and my good and therefore the soul saith to God with that reserved speech of him in the Gospell Lord If thou wilt thou canst heal me if thou wilt thou canst deliver me if it be for thy glorie and my eternall good or for the Churches good thou wilt do it and neither the Church nor the particular members of the Church desire deliverance upon any other termes but when it may be for the glory of God and for the Churches good when they may be instrumental by long life to serve God and to serve the Church and when it is for their own advantage to gather further assurance of their salvation then he hath and doth and will deliver still This is enough to build the confidence of Gods children upon for their deliverance for the time to come God will deliver his Church and Children and he will deliver them out of all he will deliver Israel out of all his troubles he will not leave a horn or a hoof as Moses said he will not leave one trouble he will deliver us at the last out of all and advance us to his heavenly Kingdom His bowels will melt over his Church and Children he is a Father and he hath the bowels of a Mother This may serve to answer all objections that will arise in our hearts as indeed we are ready to cavil against divine truthes and comforts especially in the time of trouble and temptation our hearts are full of complaints and disputes therefore I thought good to answer this But what is the argument of the Apostle here Especially experience he hath delivered he doth deliver and he will deliver me As God will deliver his Church for the time to come so this is one maine argument that he will do it experience of former favours and deliverances This Saint Paul useth familiarly 2 Tim. 4. 18. I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lyon and the Lord shall deliver me from every evill work and preserve me to his Heavenly Kingdom A blessed arguing So David argues God delivered me from the Bear and the Lyon and therefore he will deliver me from this uncircumcised Philistine So Jacob pleads that God would deliver him from Esau he had had experience of Gods mercy till then and therefore he trusted that God would deliver him from Esau. It is a good argument to plead experience to move God to care for us for the time to come It was used by the head of the Church By the body the Church and by every member of the Church It was used by the head Psalme 22. which is a Psalme made of Christ I was cast on thee from my Mothers wombe therefore be not far from me It was Tipycally true of David and it was true of the Son of David So the Church pleads with God in diverse places in Isay 51. 2. God calls to his people to make use of former experience Look to Abraham your Father and to Sarah that bare you c. Look to former times to the rock whence you were hewen and to the hole of the pit whence you were digged he that was your God then is your God now Look to Abraham your Father and from thence reason till now So in Isay 63. 7. I will mention the loving kindnesse of the Lord and the praise of the Lord according to the great goodnesse of the Lord bestowed upon us In all their afflictions he was afflicted c he speaks of former experience In love he bare them and carried them all the daies of old So in Psalme 44. Our Fathers have told
will remember the works of the Lord surely I will remember thy wonders of old I will meditate of all thy works and talk of thy doings c. See his infirmity when he was in trouble of mind his sins began to upbraid him that God had left him I said in my infirmity God hath forgotten me c. and hath God forgotten to be gracioue hath he shut up his tender mercies in displeasure then saith he this was my infirmity but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high c. And the same he hath in many other places as Psal. 143. 4 5. It argues the great weaknesse of our nature which is ready to distrust God upon every temptation of Satan as if God had never dealt graciously with us as if God were changeable like our selves Let us labour to support our selves in the time of temptation with the former experience of Gods gracious goodnesse and his blessed work upon our souls he that delivered us from the power of Satan keeps us from him stil that we sink not into despair he will keep us for the time to come so that Neither things present nor things to come as the Apostle saith shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ. And let us as it were make diaries of Gods dealing to us this is to be acquainted with God as Job speakes this is to walk with God to observe his steps to us and ours to him it is a thing that will wondrously strengthen our faith especially in old years in gray hairs What a comfortable thing is it when an aged man can look back to the former part of his life and can reckon how God hath given him his life again and again how God hath comforted him in distresse how God hath raised him up in the middest of perplexity when he knew not which way to turn him how God comforted him when he was disconsolate all these meeting together in our last conflict when all comfort will be little enough what a comfort will it be And those that disfurnish themselves by their negligence and carelesnesse of such blessed helps what enemies are they to their own comfort Therefore consider Gods dealing remember it observe it think of it and desire Gods Spirit to help your minds and memories herein that nothing may be lost for I say all will be little enough the comfort of others our own experience the promises of Scripture Our Hearts are so readie to sink and to call in question Gods truth and Satan will ply us so in the time of temptation Especially those that are old and grow into years they should be rich in these experiments and able even to have a story of them we should be able to make a book of experiments from our Child-hood Gods care to every man in particular it is as if there were none but he and there is no man that is a Christian but he observes Gods wayes to him that he can say God cares for me as if he cared for none but me let us therefore treasure up experiments We see one notable example in David how he pleads with God Psalme 71. 3. from his former experience Be thou my habitation wherein I may continually rest thou hast given command to save me for thou art my rock and my fortresse Whatsoever is comfortable in the creature God hath taken the name of it to himself that in all troubles we might flie to him as the grand deliverer for it is he that delivers whatsoever the meanes be whether it be Angells or men it is he that sets all on work therefore he is called a rock and a fortresse c. Thou hast given command to save me that is God hath the command of all creatures he can command the fish to give up Jonas he can command the Divels to go out Christ did it when he was on earth in the daies of his flesh Therefore much more now he is in heaven he can command winds and storms and divells and all troubles He hath the command of all as he saith to Elias Behold I have commanded a widow to feed thee The hearts of Kings are in his hand as the rivers of waters he that commands the creatures can command deliverance Thou hast commanded to save me for the time past What doth he say for the time to come Deliver me oh God from the wicked thou art my hope and trust from my youth c. Cast me not off in mine old age when my strength faileth me for sake me not It is a good argument Thou hast been my God from my Mothers womb therefore cast me not off in my old age Well we see here the practice of Gods Children in all times Let it be a pattern for our imitation that we do not forsake our own mercy as Jonas saith When God hath provided mercy and provided promises to help us with experience let us not betray all through unbelief through base despair in the time of trouble If we had but onely Gods promise that he will be our God that he will forgive our sins were not that enough Is it not the promise of God of Jehovah that is truth it self but when he hath sweetned his promise by experience and every experience is a pledge and an earnest of a benefit to come what a good God have we that is content not onely to reserve the joyes of heaven for us but to give us a taste to give us the assurance and earnest of the time to come and besides his promise to give us comfortable experience and all to support our weak faith But remember withal that this belongs onely to Gods Children and in a good cause for wicked men to reason thus He hath and therefore he will it is a dangerous argument they must not trust former experience We must hope that God will continue as he hath been upon this ground that we are his Or else the ground of the ruine of wicked men is presumption that God will bear with them as he hath done The King of Sodom and his People were rescued out of trouble by Abraham and the army that he raised yet they were pittifully consumed not long after by fire from Heaven Pharaoh was delivered by Moses prayer God delivered him from ten plagues they made not a good use of it and they perished after miserably in the Red-sea Rabshakeh comes and tells of the former prosperitie of Sennacherib Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad c. Hath not my Lord overcome all I but it was immediately before his reign Herod he prospered and had good successe in the beheading of James and therefore he would set upon Peter he thought to trust to his former successe he was flushed in the execution of James he thought God hath given me successe and blessed me in this He thought God was of his mind as it is Psalm 50. Thou thinkest me to
deliverance to his children He hath delivered he doth deliver and he will deliver us for the time to come Was this confidence of St Paul a presumption without the use of means he will deliver us you also helping together by prayer for us The chief cause doth not take away the subordinate but doth establish it And though God be the great deliverer and salvation belong to the Lord as the Scripture speaks salvation and deliverance it is his work yet notwithstanding he hath not for defect of power but for the multiplication and manifestation of his goodnesse ordained the subordinate means of deliverance and as he will deliver so he will deliver in his own manner and by his own means He will deliver but yet notwithstanding you must pray you also helping together by prayer for us The words have no difficulty in them you helping together that is you together joyning in prayer with me I pray for my self and you together helping me by prayer God will deliver me The points considerable in the words are these First of all that in the time of peril or in the want of any benefit the means to be delivered from the one and to convey the other it is prayer God will do this you praying The second is this that Gods children can pray for themselves The third is that notwithstanding though they can pray for themselves yet they require the joynt help of others and they need the help of others The fourth is that our own prayers and the prayers of others joyning all together is a mighty prevailing means for the conveying of all good and for the removing of any ill God will deliver me you helping by your prayers Prayer is a means to convey all good and to deliver from all ill Because God hath stablished this order Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee Psal. 50. he joyns deliverance to calling upon him So in Psal. 91. 15. a notable place besides others indeed the Psalmes are wonderous full in this kind He shall call upon me and I will answer him I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honour him mark it He shall call upon me and I will deliver him and more then so for Gods benefits are complete he doth not onely deliver but he honours I will deliver him and advance him God doth not onely deliver his Children by prayer but he delivers them from evil works and preserves them to his heavenly Kingdom he delivers them and advanceth them together he doth not do his work by halves Psal. 34. The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open to their cry his eyes are upon them to see their miseries and wants I but though his eyes be open his ears must be open too to hear their cry if his eyes were open to see their wants if his ears be not open to hear their cry his children might be miserable still Sometimes God delivers wicked men he preserves them but the preservation of a wicked man is but a reservation of him for future judgment to feed him for the slaughter and that deliverance is not worth the speaking of But for his children his eyes are open on them and his ears to hear their cry as they be in misery that he sees them so they must cry that he may hear them God hath stablished this order he will deliver but prayer is the means Now the reason that he hath established this order It is for his Glory our own good It is for his own glory because prayer gives him the glory of all his attributes for when we go to him do we not give him the glory of his omniscience that he knowes our hearts and knowes our wants Do we not give him the glory of his omnipotence that he can help us Do we not give him the glory of his omnipresence that he is every where do we not give him the glory of his truth that he will make good his promise which we alledge to him and presse him with what a world of glory hath God by prayer And then for our sakes he hath established this order to convey all by prayer to shew our dependance on him for we being in such a low distance under God it is good that we should know from whom we have all therefore he will have us to pray to him he commands it Prayer is an act of self-denial it makes us to look out of our selves higher Prayer acknowledgeth that we have that which we have not of our selves but from him Prayer argueth a necessary dependance upon him to whom we pray for if we had it at home we would not go abroad And then again it doth us good because as it gives God all the glory so likewise it exerciseth all the graces in a man There is not a grace but it is put into the fire it is quickned and kindled by prayer For it sets faith on work to believe the promise it sets hope on work to expect the things prayed for it sets love on work because we pray for others that are members of the Church it sets obedience on work because we do it with respect to Gods command prayer sets humility on work we prostrate our selves before God and acknowledge that there is no goodnesse or desert in us there is not a grace in the heart but it is exercised in prayer The Divel knowes it well enough and therefore of all exercises he labours to hinder the exercise of prayer for he thinkes then we fetch help against him and indeed so we do for in one prayer God is honoured the Church is benefited grace is exercised the Divel is vanquished what a world of good is by prayer So that God hath established this order upon great reasons fetched from our own comfort and good and from his glory Since God hath established this order away with idle suggestions partly carnal and partly divellish God knowes what we want and God knew before all time what we have need of and he may grant it if he will I but that God that decreed at the same time that he decreed to convey good at the same time he decreed to convey it this way by prayer therefore let us not disjoyn that which God hath joyned Christ knew that God decreed all and yet he spent whole nights in prayer and who knew Gods love more then he Yet because as he was man he was a creature because as he was man he received good from his Father to shew his dependance he continually prayed he sanctified every thing by prayer And all holy men of God from the beginning the more certain they were of any thing by promise the more eager and earnest and fervent they were in prayer it was a ground of prayer they knew that this was Gods order therefore if they had a promise they turned it into prayer presently The
and quickens and enlivens all duties What are all duties but love Christ reduceth all to love It is a sweet affection that stirres up and quickneth to all duties it carries us along to all duties all are love What need I stand on sincere patience sincere temperance sincere sobriety c If a man have sincere love to God it will carry him to all duties remember this order Especially every day enter into your own soules and search impartially what sin there is there unconfessed and unrepented of and make your peace with God by confession And then go to sincere dependance on God by faith in the Promises And then stirre up your hearts to love him and from the love of him to love one another in sincerity not in hypocrific Thus we have the manner of the blessed Apostle's Carriage in the world whereupon his rejoycing was founded Our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity We have had our conversation in the world I will speak a little of those words before I come to the negative part Not in fieshly wisdome Our Conversation By Conversation Anastrophe he means the several turnings of his life in what relation soever he stood to God to men as a Minister as a Christian as a friend as a neighbour at home or abroad in all estates in all places and at all times his Conversation was in simplicity and sincerity In the world That is wheresoever he had lived And mark how he joyns them together his conversation in the world amongst men it was with sincerity to God It was that that did rule his conversation in the world And so it should be with us wheresoever we are or whatsoever we do in the world our carriage here must be directed by a higher aspect The Ship while it is tossed in the Sea it is ruled by the Pole-starre that must guide it so in our conversation in the world the stuffe of our conversation may be the businesse we have in the world but the rule the regiment of all must be from heaven with an eye to God I touch that from the knitting of these together Now where he saith That his Conversation was in simplicity and sinceriy you may see here then that all the frame all the passages of his life were good This makes good that which I touched before which hath its proper place here That Sincerity extends it self to all the frame of a mans life He that is sincere is sincere in all places and at all times in all the turnings and windings and passages of his life or else he is not sincere at all His conversation must be sincere wheresoever he lives or whatsoever he doth in prosperity or adversity at home or abroad The veriest hypocrite in the world hath he not pangs sometimes Take an oppressour he thinks that he should not die so he thinks I must be called to an account if I do thus Doth not Ahab lie upon his sick bed sometimes Is not Herod sometimes troubled in conscience hath not a wicked man sometimes twitches of conscience which the world sees not secret checks of conscience Oh yes there is not the vilest man living but he hath his good fits he hath pangs of goodnesse but what is this to a conversation Our conversation must be in sincerity in all the turnings and passages of it God judgeth us by the tenour of our life and not by single particular acts a good man may be ill in a particular act and an evil man may be good in a particular act but I say God doth not judge us by a distinct severed passage but by the tenour of our life Uniformity equability and evennesse of life it is an undoubted evidence of a good man Because he is a new creature and being a new creature he hath a new nature and nature works uniformly Art works differently and enforcedly Teach a creature some what that is against nature it will do something but a Lion will have a Lions trick and a Wolf will have a Wolfes trick teach them never so much a Lion will be a Lion in all places a Wolf will be a Wolf and an Eagle will be an Eagle Every creature will observe its own nature and be like it self A Christian as far as he is good as far as he is a Christian is uniform his conversation is good he is like himself in all places in all times upon all occasions in prosperity in adversity The very Word shewes that the universality of a mans course must be in sincerity wheresoever he is God is every where and sincerity hath an eye to God it makes a man good every where or else it doth nothing to God Doth not God see every where abroad and at home in our closets If we plot villainy there ses he it as well as abroad therefore if I do it any where I regard not the eye of God Again where he saith Our Conversation it implies constancy as well as uniformity he was so in all places and in all times but that I noted before therefore I passe it Our Conversation In the world That is amongst other men wheresoever I was and have lived whence we see That Christianity may stand with conversing abroad in the world Men need not be mued up in a cloyster as the foolish Monks in former times they thought that Religion was a thing confined to solitarinesse Whereas oft-times it requires greater strength of grace to be alone then to be in company we know the proverb Woe to him that is alone A good Christian converses in the world and that in simplicity and sincerity We need not I say cloyster our selves up to be good men to be sincere Christians We may converse in the world in sincerity if we have Saint Paul's spirit But that which I will presse more is this that True Religion where it is in strength doth carry a man in the world and yet he is not tainted with the world Saint Paul conversed in the world in sincerity The world is an hypocrite as he said of old the whole world acts a part it is an hypocrite and a cruel opposer of sincerity and truth Saint Paul lived abroad in the world amongst men that had aimes of their own and abused themselves in the world and yet he walked in simplicity and sincerity he was a good man for all that A man that is not of the world but begotten to be a member of a higher world he may carry himself in the world without the corruptions of the world he may carry himself so in the world that he may not be carried away of the world we see S. Paul did so Noah was a good man in evil times a good man in his Generation Henoch in evil times walked with God In Act. 13. David in his Generation served the purpose of God and his Generation was none of the best for you know
as S. Paul doth here My care in my course of life and conversation hath been in Simplicity I have cast my self upon God and his government and not looked to the world and in sincerity I have aimed at God in all things I have had no false and by aimes I have not spared even my life by any carnal end I have not served my self either in Religion or in my course of life but I have laboured to serve God in serving my brethren and have led my life by the grace of God and by the Word of grace which I laboured to know that I might follow Let us be able in some measure in truth to say thus And then we may say further with S. Paul That this is our rejoycing the testimony of our conscience We shall never want joy And then let the world judge of us as it will there is such a strength and power such a prerogative and majesty in Christian comfort when a man can as I said reflect thus on himself that though in a weak measure yet in truth his conversation and course of life hath been though his slidings have been something in simplicity and sincerity that nothing can daunt it in this world It is above all discouragement above all eclipse of good name the testimony of Conscience which hath Gods testimony with it The witnesse of two is a strong witnesse the witnesse of God and conscience it will so settle our soules that neither ill reports nor any usage in the world shall daunt us we shall have comfort in all the passages of our lives be they what they will Whereas other men that lead not their lives in a constant course of holy simplicity and sincerity they are as the Prophet saith like the leaves of the Forrest shaken with every alteration with every rumour of ill newes But a sound Christian in the worst alteration there may be combustions there may be alteration of State yet his heart is fixed he is not moved Likewise in the hour of death he can say with Hezekias Thou knowest Lord I have led my life in simplicity that I have served thee with a perfect heart that is in sincerity I have desired and endeavoured to grow better which is all the perfection we have in this world sincerity witnessed by growth and strength against the contrary this will comfort us in all the alterations and changes in this world which is as a Sea full of trouble and at the hour of death likewise and at the day of Judgment this is that onely that will make us able to look Christ in the face Truth hath a Divinity in it this simplicity and sincerity more then any earthly thing it hath that in it that is real and spiritual A man that hath the Grace of God in the truth of it there is a great deal of majestie in it There is the greatest majestie in heavenly things when they appear most simple because of their excellency There is some thing of Gods in sincerity so much as a man hath in truth so much of Gods He partakes of the Divine nature as S. Peter saith so much as he hath in truth though it be never so little and being a branch of God it will make him look upon God in the day of Judgment Why because he knowes he is in the Covenant of Grace that he hath title to heaven by Christ. When a mans conscience can tell him that he hath led his life not by carnal wisdome but in the truth of Grace it will make him out-look Satan and all the troubles of the world and look unto Christ with comfort Who would not be in such a state Thus we see a Christian leads his life Not in fleshly wisdome but by the Grace of God I will adde one thing more and so finish the verse We may see hence That the most Religious men are the best Statesmen I know proud carnall Machivillian dispositions make a scorn at these positions they think them to be austere and poor principles till they come to death As that Wretch said himself when he came to dye That he had provided for all things but for death but while they are in their ruffe they think they can manage States and do all When indeed they bring the vengeance of God upon their own persons and upon the State they live in For God is neither in them nor with them He is not in them for they want Grace they are led by carnall wisdome altogether And he is not with them God will not give them good successe unlesse it be to increase their Judgement He will not give good successe to those projects that they take up contrary to his rule Therefore those that will be guided by reasons of Religion and submit themselves to the guidance of Gods blessed Spirit they are best for the state of their own soules and best for the publick estate For doth not God know the mysteries of State better then any man Is not he a better Politician then any Achitophel in the world If they have any State-policy that is worth the naming is it not from him Is it not a beam from that Sunne Yes why then who is the better the difference of parts excepted but take them alike a gracious man and another that is not so let the one fetch his counsel from hell from darknesse and the other be ruled by reasons of conscience and Religion there is no comparison God will crosse and curse their projects that are for their own ends both in themselves and in the State too As for the other that are under Grace and the government of Grace God will be wise in them by his Spirit and he will be wise for them Psal. 1. Whatsoever a good man doth it shall prosper it is a large promise How wondrous happy and wise were the Children of Israel when they kept the Covenant of God This is your wisdome to keep the Commandements of God Deuteron 4. and their wisdome made them happy How happy were they in David's time who made the Statutes of God the Man of his Counsel How happy was the State in Solomons time till Solomon did warp and bend to Carnall counsell to strengthen himself How happy was his Government till that time but never after that they were environed with enemies round about but alas who could hurt the people of God so long as they submitted themselves to the government of grace they were alway happy Therefore it is an idle thing to suppose that there will be any good successe by carnal projects no the onely good States-man is the religious man And it was never better with the Church of God before or since the time of Christ then when those were in the stern Do but think of this oft as S. Jude saith God onely wise we must all of us light our candle at that fire All wisdome even this poor spark of reason that God enlightneth every
gracious means by those gracious speeches God distill into me a spirit to improve them to gracious purposes As indeed God turns all to a gracious end to his children he gives them a principle of grace to work good out of every thing they see grace in every thing in affliction they see the love of God In the worst things Grace will pick out somewhat and make use of it As God by his providence intends all to good so his Spirit by a provident eye to the Word works good out of every thing but those that have not grace they are not grace to them but tend to their further hardening To end this point when you come to the Communion come to it as a grace It is the Grace of God that he hath ordained us to salvation it is the grace of God that he hath sent his Word it is the grace of God that he hath sent his Sacrament to seal that Word and all little enough he knowes us better then we know our selves he knowes we have need of all to confirm and help us the Word and the Sacraments even to the end of our dayes As the Apostle saith Ephes. 4. To build us up The means of grace are not onely necessary for the planting but for the building up of the Church And therefore come with this purpose to have Grace confirmed and receive it as a grace of God with thankfulness that God will condescend to our infirmity to give us helps to support our weak faith It is a true proverb Grace begets grace it begets thankfulnesse where it is apprehended as a grace therefore come with a thankful disposition to the Sacrament imbrace every Ordâ—…ce of God with thankfulnesse Alas do not thousands sit in darknesse and in the shadow of death they do and therefore those that find the benefit of Gods Ordinances they are disposed by the same Spirit that works any good in them to return thankfulnesse to God again That you might have a second Grace Saint Paul's purpose was to come to them to bestow a grace not to take from them to bestow good and gracious speeches on them which he knew the Spirit of God would make effectual to work some good in them A gracious man is a vessel of grace and he should take all occasions to vent that which is good When S. Paul saith he intended to bestow a second grace his meaning is that he would utter things that were gracious that the Spirit of God should seal to the soules of them that heard him and make them effectuall Therefore every Christian should have this disposition Saint Paul did it as a holy man as well as a Minister Do we think our selves vessels of grace as the Scripture calls the Elect Children of God or no Yes God forbid else Now Gods Children God hath appointed some to be vessels of Gold some of Silver as the Apostle saith to Timothy some for this use and some for that all for good use A vessel is to be filled with something and to be used for something therefore set abroach some good thing when you have the advantage of it when you are called to it not unnecessarily to thrust forward your selves Let the desire of your hearts be to do good upon all occasions A vessel of Grace must not be an empty vessel A Christian he is a member of Christ and he hath a part in the communion of Saints and he hath gifts for that end there is no Christian but he can comfort or instruct or disswade from ill when it is moved There is no Christian but he is furnished as a member ought to be in some competent measure There is no man that hath benefit by the communion of Saints but he hath grace to fit him for that blessed communion He is fitted to comfort upon occasion and he hath some grace some knowledge to correct he that hath not is a dead member not fit for that communion Therefore we should bestow Grace where we come and not leave an ill sent behind us to infect others with filthy speeches and blasphemous oaths to open the rottennesse of our own hearts in their presence and so be conscious of that which is ill in them because we strengthen it by our example and by our words S. Paul was a good man I come to bestow a second grace that is to speak that which is gracious that Gods gracious providence shall direct to do you special good For Gods Word is inspired by the Spirit and the same Spirit that breathed the Word of God into the Pen-men of it the same Spirit is with the Word in the uttering of it when it is done by a gracious heart to a gracious man it works graciously it hath a blessed operation with it Therefore we should upon all good occasions speak gracious things Divine truths they will have a wondrous efficacy If men would set on it and be more fruitful in this kind they should have occasion to blesse God But alas the life of a Christian is little known in the world we have but naked shallow conceits of the glory of heaven and of the state of a Christian and how he lives in this world and that makes men live such stained such base lives that will not stand with comfort in his world or glory in the world to come But a Christian should be such a one as frames his disposition to do good wheresoever he comes and he hath ability if he be a sound Christian. How graciously did God blesse Abigails word to David yet she was a mean woman How dost thou know but that by uttering gracious words in company in season as discretion must guide all our actions all our words how doest thou know but that thou mayest divert another man from sin by a word in season I beseech you carry this disposition about you as you desire to be thought vessels of Grace here and of glory hereafter to be thought vessels of gold and silver for the use of God labour to be imployed by the Spirit of God to good purposes that you may leave a good savour where you come that others that are acquainted with you in the time of their visitation they may blesse God that ever they were acquainted with such a friend Blessed be God that I knew him As it will be our joy at that day so it will be one anothers joy here for God blesseth the exhortations and comforts of friends one to another as well as the Ministerial oft-times So I come to the 16. Verse how he meant to come to them to Corinth saith he I was minded to come to you VERSE XVI And to passe by you into Macedonia and to come again out of Macedonia unto you and of you to be brought on my way to Judea SEe what a Circuit the blessed Apostle fetched indeed he was industrious after his conversion he made amends for his harsh conversion by his speedy labours For
and serious and weighty and firm in their resolutions that they may build on them and know where to have them as we say it breeds authority and maintains authority For then what they say is regarded and how their affections stand if it be love it is much sought after if displeasure it is much feared for they are men of a fixed disposition it gains wondrous respect Let men be never so great if they be such as S. Paul here declines from himself that they use lightnesse they lose their authority Authority is the special help that Governours have to rule and that Ministers have to prevail now nothing weakens esteem and authority more then when men are tossed between the waves of contrary affections when men are such as we know not where to have them as we say off and on fast and loose one while fitting another standing no man will build on them or much regard their love or hatred Now you know Authority is a beam of Majesty and God hath put it upon Magistrates above others and imprinted likewise the respect of it in the peoples hearts to maintain the World the pillars of the earth will shake else as the Psalmist saith What would become of the Pillars of Government if it were not for Authority in them that are above and respect of that Authority an impression of it in them that are under Now there are many grounds of Authority as successe when God blesseth them with it wonderfully to admiration and good parts c. but one main Ground of Authority is Constancy and firmnesse this raiseth a high respect in the hearts of the people I will not multiply reasons why those that are in place should avoid the imputation of lightnesse Ministers especially should take heed of it because they are Ministers of Gods truth and if they take not heed of it people will be ready to go from their moral civil carriage to their doctrine and think there is an uncertainty in that they speak because they do not regard what they say But let me adde this by the way Mater erroris similitudo Likenesse is the mother of errour so there is somewhat like Constancy in Governours and others when they are nothing lesse but meerly refractory and obstinate to maintain the reputation of constancy they will run into the fault of wilfulnesse Such as are subject that way had need of strong wits to rule their strong wills to guide them or else wo be to those that have to deal with them that I thought good to adde left we mistake We should all labour to avoid inconstancy and lightnesse in our resolutions in our purposes and affections If we ought to avoid it how shall we come to know it what is the ground of lightnesse The grounds are many Sometimes from the temper of the body some are of a moveable temper of a moveable quick spirit that they cannot out of their constitution fix long except they set weights upon nature I am by disposition thus but my resolution shall be otherwise as where Grace and wisdome is it will fix the temper and fix the resolution and the thoughts This I could not do if I should yield to my own disposition but this I will do and I should do there are many resolutions as in the younger sort and some out of their very temper are more fixed and resolved But now consider it as it is in Religion Lightnesse comes out of the disposition of the mind Inconsideration oft-times is the ground when we do not see the circumstances of a thing that we promise or purpose You know there is nothing comes to action but it is beset with circumstances there are advantages of it and there are stops and hinderances of it somewhat may fall out Every thing that comes to action is besieged with circumstances circumstances you know have their name of standing about a businesse about a thing now when the things that are about the impediments and the hindrances and le ts are not weighed a rash man sees not the things he considers not the things that he enters upon he resolves without considering the circumstances that beset the thing he never considers what oppositions he may meet with or what advantages there be which perhaps he neglects but he thinks of the thing it is good and suitable to his purpose he resolves and never considers the circumstances about a thing but runs on in confidence of his own wit and parts and thinks to rule all by the strength of his wit not foreseeing not casting in his mind to prevent before-hand what may fall out It is just with God to shame such men frustration of their purposes it is a just reward of their folly Therefore we should take heed of Inconsideration and have our eyes in our heads to set the soul to foresee what possibility there is of the businesse and what may fall out this is the right way if we would avoid imputation of lightnesse Again another ground of lightnesse and of that decay in authority and respect that comes from it is the passion of men therefore they are light they are carried with the hurry and wind of their passion And Satan joynes with passion A passionate man is subject to Satan more then a man that is led by reason or with grace For that is a beam of God even reason it self judgment it is an excellent thing and it prevents many temptations Give not way to passion for those are unreasonable things As we see Saul in his passion Satan the evill spirit mingled with his passion of anger So let men be in any passion over-joy or be over-angry let them give the rains to unruly passion and they give advantage to Satan that we cannot settle our soules in any good resolution Again in the things themselves there is cause of lightnesse and inconstancy from the nature of the things and then it is not so great a fault to change then it is not properly inconstancy but it is inconstancy when the things are mutable and variable and we do not think of it as we should Now the things of this life are variable and uncertain the event of things in this life is wondrous variable Grace and glory they are certain things and the way that God directs us to heaven they are certain promises and certain grounds but the things of this life are subject to much change God takes a great deal of liberty in altering things in this world they fall out divers wayes But now therefore we must take heed that we take not inconstancy for that which is not Every change of opinion and purpose is not lightnesse It is not inconstancy for a man to change his mind and purpose when it is from the things Men are men and the things that we deal with in the world are subject to variety and inconstancy and for a man to alter according to the
we must swear by him And indeed it is a service of God and to good purpose when Christians swear to stablish and determine truths that otherwise are doubtfull They were doubtfull of S. Paul's doctrine and his person saith he To put you out of doubt of the truth I speak to you I dare call God to witnesse it is true and sound The Apostle doth so once after in this Chapter therefore I reserve the further handling of an oath to verse 23. because the word there is more infallible I call God to record upon my soul c. The next thing I observe hence is this That The believing that Gods Word is Gods Word and is certain it is a matter of great consequence It is of great consequence for Gods people that look to be saved to be stablished in their opinion and judgment of Divine truth that it is certain and not flexible and mutable according to our wills and conceits and dispositions but is yea alway the same as God himself the Authour of it For laying this for a ground that I said before that S. Paul takes God to witnesse he would not enterpose an oath but in a matter of great consequence therefore it is a matter of great consequence to be setled in this that the Scripture is Divine truth unalterable and unchangeable An oath is never good as I said but when it is necessary It must not onely be in truth but there must be a necessity It must not only be taken in righteousnesse but in judgment a man must do it in discretion when the thing is not determinable any other way Therefore it is a matter of great consequence that men take the Word of truth not to be as the Oracles of Apollo and of the Devill true one way and false another The Devil would escape the imputation of a lie though he be a liar but Gods Oracles be Divine they be yea And it is good that we think them to be so to be constant undoubted certain and unmovable Therefore the Apostle seales it with an oath he would not seal a slight truth by an oath but saith he As God is true our word to you was not yea and nay c. And Saint Paul saw a disposition in them to suspect the truth of God as indeed we are proner to believe the lies of our own hearts and the suggestions of Satan and the counsell of Politicians of carnall friends then to believe God himself Therefore partly for the indisposition in us and partly for the great exigence and necessity of the thing to believe that Gods Word is his Word that it is truth he seales it with an oath God is true It is a point of great consequence The reason is God can have no service else and we can have no comfort If we do not believe the Word of God to be undoubtedly true in great temptations and assaults what armour of proof shall we have we can have no comfort nor grace For sometimes subtile and strong temptations to evill come if the Word of God be not more undoubted to me then the present profit or pleasure or whatsoever if the temptation be ready and I be not built on and settled on some grounded truth that I know to be true as God is true when the temptation is strong and our faith weak where are we a man presently yields to base lusts and temptations And so in matter of danger and despair when a man is tempted to despair if he cannot build on this God is true and his Word is as true as himself he will not the death of a sinner c. here a man is swallowed up It is no matter how strong the foundation be if the building on that foundation be weak If a strong man stand in a slippery place down he falls if a man stand slippery and have a weak standing on a strong place on a strong foundation if he have a weak building on a strong foundation he shall soon be cast off So the Word of God is true in it self but if we be not perswaded so that it is infallibly true that it is alway yea we shall be shaken with temptations When we are tempted to sin the temptation is present we are sure of the temptation if we be not more sure of somewhat against the temptation somewhat out of the Word to beat back the darts of Satan when we are tempted to sin and to despair for sin down we go and therefore it is a matter of infinite consequence to be perswaded of Divine truth What makes many as they are in courses that are corrupt in their callings nothing but this they stagger whether it be true or no that there shall be a Judgment they stagger whether it be true or no that the Scripture saith if they were perswaded that it were yea as true as God is in heaven as true as they have soules so their soules must be called to Judgment for that they speak and do would they do as they do Therefore S. Paul stablisheth them by an oath God is true and as God is true our Word to you was not yea and nay Therefore take in good part with thankfulnesse the means that God hath ordained to strengthen our faith and assurance of the Word of God and the Promises of God Therefore he hath appointed the Sacrament for that purpose I say there is nothing in the world so strengthened as the soul of a Christian if he give himself to Gods truth to be ruled by it For if we will believe God we have his promise That Whosoever believes in Christ shall not perish but have everlasting life rich promises precious promises as the Scripture calls them We have not onely promises but they are sealed with an oath Now an oath is an unchangeable thing Heb. 9. 16. we have promises and oath that we might have strong consolation whatsoever might secure man we have Besides his oath we have his seal his Sacrament It was his love to condescend to make any Covenant with sinfull creatures that upon any terms he would give them life everlasting It was a higher degree of love to set Christ to be the foundation of this peace and of this Covenant that now God and we may be at peace with satisfaction to Divine Justice that he is the foundation of the peace between God and us Now God may be mercifull without wrong without impeachment to his Justice that is a higher degree of mercy to enter into Covenant and to give Christ to be the foundation of all And then it is a higher degree then that to secure us of the Covenant that Christ is ours to seal the Word with an oath and with the Sacrament which is the seal of the Covenant what could God do more What a horrible sin therefore is unbelief that we should tremble at to call Gods love and truth in question But yet we are prone to it
Redeemer and yet notwithstanding to need the help of other Mediatours and Intercessours here is yea and nay it is a contradiction That the Church of Rome is the Catholike Church if it be Roman it is not Catholike The universal Catholick Roman Church it is as much as the universal particular Church it is a contradiction one thing overturnes another The sacrifice of the Masse an unbloody sacrifice a sacrifice is the killing of a thing that was alive a sacrifice is with blood the offering of Christ in the bread is an unbloody sacrifice a sacrifice and not a sacrifice here is yea and nay a contradiction So that besides their thwarting of Scripture they thwart and contradict themselves in their fundamentall points they are yea and nay And then they are full of uncertainties they are not undoubtedly yea There is no Papist in the world would end his dayes so if he be not drunk if he be advised if he be not surprized with passion if he do not forget himself Come to a Papist and ask him what are the main points of Popery that you believe alwayes yea Can you say when you confesse your sins that you confesse all No can you then say then you have a perfect absolution that depends upon your confession No it is an uncertain thing What an absutd thing is Popish Religion it wracks the conscience of people Can you say that the Priest intends consecration in these words This is my body No and if the Priests intention be not there then Christ is not there and then you are Idolaters Can you tell certainly that Transubstantiation depends upon his consecration No how full of uncertainties and contradictions is Popery you cannot say the Points of Popery are alwaies yea Perhaps they are yea in life but are they yea in death It is yea in life that they merit salvation by works but is it yea in death No Bellarmine disclaimes it It is safe not to trust in our own merits for danger of vain-glory c. but to trust onely in the mercy of God in Christ. So their doctrine it is yea in life to sin by to live riotously by but then it is nay in death they reverse it if they belong to God they disclaim their works and other things and cleave onely to Christ and there is hope of them that have grace truly to do so So their doctrine is not yea that in life and death they can stick to To go on a little further to lay open the grossenesse of their tenents and the danger of their Religion We are better bottomed then they are which make the Word of God our rule and ground that is not yea and nay but yea The Canonization of Saints The Pope he makes Garnet a Traytor and Thomas of Becket Saints how can he know that these were Saints that he Canonizeth he that makes a Saint must know the hearts of men and search the heart for the truth of grace is there now it is the priviledge of God to know the heart So that Popery is full of uncertainties and pitifull perplexities Indeed they maintain the doctrine of doubting that we must doubt as if our nature were not sufficiently prone to doubt but we must get arguments to make us doubt as if it were needful to have infirmities to stablish grace in us Alas we are too prone to doubt and the Devil is ready to make us stagger in the time of temptation Again the Invocation of Saints it is a Point wondrous full of uncertainties Can they know and say certainly that the Saints hear them They cannot know that one Saint having a finite power should hear a hundred Petitions at once A finite creature hath but a finite power to hear one thing at one time distinctly how can they be perswaded that a finite Saint in heaven at one time distinctly should hear many thousands that put up their Petitions at once Can a man that is but a capable creature though glorified as Peter or Mary c. distinctly consider a thousand Petitions that are made they cannot how then can they think that a certain truth the Invocation of Saints The main ground of all their Religion is yea and nay the Pillar of it what is that The infallible judgment of the Pope but how can they tell when he speaks ex Cathedra for 9. or 10. exceptions and tricks they have when he speaks to be built on and when not how can poor soules know when he speaks so that the people may infallibly build on his judgment Because many times he is an illiterate man that knowes nothing in Divine things wherein he is to judge So the very foundation of Popery is yea and nay that is a most uncertain thing And then the ground of that that he is the Successour of Peter there is no place of Scripture for it neither dare they bring any It is but a Tradition It is somewhat uncertain whether ever Peter were at Rome that he was Bishop there is more uncertain but that the Pope should be his Successour is most uncertain and impossible of all So indeed the Religion of Popery is a rack to conscience especially to conscience that is awaked and knowes what Religion means at all Why is it a rack to them There is no certainty in it in the main Tenents of it It is not onely contrary to Gods yea but it is yea and nay uncertain in it self Now here the Apostle he frees his preaching from this imputation Our Word to you was not yea and nay and he calls God to record God is true and as he is true my Word to you was not yea and nay but was certainly yea Thus you see what use we are to make of it for confutation and conviction of our own judgments It may be moved by some perhaps How doth it appear how shall we know by what arguments that it is yea and not yea and nay I answer The testimony of S. Paul here is that it is so and his appeal to God with an asseveration As God is true But our own experience doth tell us that the Word of God is certain and true if we belong to God for we stand convict in judgment by many arguments which I will not now repeat But how shall any man certainly know it is yea the Word is the undoubted Word of God unchangeable wheresoever it is In a word you may know it is so he thinks it is so if he yield obedience to it as to such a Word absolute obedience to Gods truth without questioning when once a thing is clear to be agreeable to Gods truth he yields obedience to it then it is yea If it be a duty he must do it if it be a threatning he must avoid it by repentance if it be a promise he must believe it this is absolute obedience Likewise reverence in hearing it as Cornelius did Act. 10. To hear it as the
in the truth is not properly concord but conspiracy consent in a lie in falshood The builders of Babel they had a consent among themselves when they came for a wicked purpose as we see oft-times in Scripture Consent must be in the truth in that which is good or else it is not consent but conspiracy By reason of our weaknesse consent is usefull and that is the reason why in doubtful cases we may alledge Antiquity not that the Word is not sufficient in it self but to help our weaknesse to shew that we do not divert from the truth but that it is a truth warranted by others before In doubtfull cases this is warrantable He brings it likewise to enforce obedience the more when it was a truth brought to them by so many But that is not a thing I mean to stand on a touch is enough That which I will spend a little more time in is the next thing that is That Evangelical doctrine now is most certain Something I spake of it before in the former verse but I have reserved something to speak of it now The Son of God preached by S. Paul with the consent of these blessed men it was not yea and nay it was not unconstant Evangelical truth is not yea and nay and the Preachers of it the Apostles were not yea and nay in the delivering of it As it is true in it self so it was true in the delivery of it they were constant in it they sealed it with their blood some of them How shall we know the doctrine of the Gospel concerning Christ to be yea undoubtedly true I answer how do we know the Sun shines I know it by its own light and by a light that I have in my eye there is an inward light joyned with the outward light So it is in this businesse how do we know Divine truth out of the Book of God to be Divine By the light in it self by the majesty of the Scriptures by the consent of the Old and New Testament by the opposition of the enemies and the confusion of them at the last that have been opposers of it by the miraculous preservation of it and the like But especially by the powerfull work of it on the heart by the experience of this blessed truth I know this to be an undoubted truth I find it quelling my corruptions changing my nature pacifying my conscience raising my heart casting down high imaginations turning the stream of nature another way to make me do that which I thought I should never have done onely because I have a strong light of Divine truth and comfort There is this experience of Christ that a man finds in his soul it sets him down that he can say nothing but that it is Divine truth because he finds it so Besides this the testimony of the Spirit of God and the work of the Spirit in him For as to see there is an outward light required and an inward light in the eye so to see Divine truth there must be a light in it self a Divine sparkle in Gods Book in every passage but yet I must have an eye to see too I cannot see it except God witnesse to my soul that these things are divine that they are yea that they are certainly and infallibly true There is a great difference between us and our adversaries I can but touch it and I need but touch it They say we must believe and we must believe because of the Church I say no The Church we believe hath a kind of working here but that is in the last place For God himself in his Word he is the chief The inward arguments from the Word it self and from the Spirit they are the next the Church is the remotest witnesse the remotest help of all For the Church is but to propound Gods truth to lay it open to be as it were the candlestick now the candlestick shines not but upholds the candle while that shines So the Church is but to propose to set up Divine truth that of it self being set up will enlighten well enough The Church is to set out the Word and to publish it by the Ministery which Word of it self will shine That work which the Church hath therefore is the last and the inferiour for the Spirit of God and the inward majesty of the Word is of more force If a messenger come and bring a relation or bring a letter from one and he tells me many things of the man I but I doubt him because he may be false for ought I know but when I see his hand and seal and his characters and stile that shewes such a spirit to be in him I know by his own characters certainly this comes from the hand of that man Now the messenger brings it and gives it but I believe it because I see the characters and hand and seal of such a one that it is a truth So the Church propounds it is the messenger that brings the truth of God to us but when a Christian soul hears the truth and sees Gods seal upon it there is a majesty and power that works on the soul now we believe not for the messenger but for the thing it self Here is the difference we believe the Scripture for the seal of Divinity that is in it self they believe it for the messenger As if a doubtfull messenger should come that is not certain and a man should believe the things he brought for him for his sake we believe and entertain the messenger for the message sake not the message for the messengers sake our faith is better built then theirs But they say this All comes to this at the last God speaks by the Church as well as by the Scriptures therefore the Church is to be believed more then the Scripture it self I answer God speaks indeed in his Church by his Spirit and by his Word but his speaking by his Word is the cause of his speaking in the Church For what is the Church but begotten by the seed of the Word How is the Church a Church but by the Word Therefore he speaks first by the Scriptures there is a majestie and a Spirit in the Scriptures and then he speaks by the Church as cleaving to the Scriptures in a secondary manner He speaks by the Church mediately because that goes to the Word which speaks immediately The Word was written by men led immediately by the Spirit of God and the Church relying on that he speaks by them in the Church but primarily by his Word Having just occasion I thought to touch this Undoubtedly there are none that are not led with partiality but incomparably they see our faith is built on a better foundation then theirs they have a rotten foundation They talk of a Church and when all comes to all the Church their mother is nothing but the Pope their father What is their Church but the Pope
that we may make likewise of the story of our own lives as well as the story of others for consider the former times why Lord thy Promises heretofore have been Yea and Amen thou hast delivered me from such and such dangers thou hast been so good and so good to me thou art not changed Let us store up experience out of the story of our own lives God is Yea and Amen and his Promises are Yea and Amen constant to all his Children and to their children and they are alike in all ages from Generation to Generation as Moses saith Psal. 90. Thou art our God from Generation to Generation for ever Thus we see how to make use of the Promises for Promises we must know are either directly to particular persons or implyed A promise made to any directly to any in particular is an implyed promise to me in the general equity in matter of grace and glory or the removal of some true misery what was made to Joshua is applyed to all the Church Heb. 13. that which was directly promised to him is an implyed promise to all that will make use of that example Again if so be that all the Promises of God be Yea and Amen that is certain and constant in Christ this should comfort us when men deal loosely with us and fail in their Promises whereon we have perhaps builded too much when men deal falsly with us And indeed there is nothing that makes an honest heart wearier of this wicked world then the consideration of the falshood of men in whom they trust Oh it is a cruel thing to deceive him that unlesse he had trusted he had never been deceived by thee it is a treacherous thing but this world is full of such treacherous dealing that a man can scarce trust assurances much lesse words But there are things thou mayest trust if thou have a heart concerning the best good there are Promises that are Tea and Amen there is a God that keeps Covenant it is his glory to do so from Generation to Generation Here is the comfort of a Christian when he finds falsenesse in the world to retire to his God and hide himself there And in the uncertainty of all things below in all changes as this world is full of changes now poor now rich now in favour now out of favour why what hath a Christian to cast himself on The Promises of God in Christ they are Yea and Amen they are promises that never fail They that know thy Name will trust in thee Psal. 9. what is the reason it followes Thou never failest those that trust in thee Therefore in the vicissitude and intercourse of all earthly things under the Moon that are like the Moon changeable let us stablish our soules upon that which is unchangeable and that will make us unchangeable if we build on it For the Word of the Lord endures for ever Esay 40. which is alledged by Peter 1 Pet. 1. All flesh is grass and as the flower of the grasse that is it fades as the grasse and as the flower of the grasse all the excellency of wit and learning it is but as the flower of the grasse but the Word of the Lord endures for ever How doth the Word of the Lord endure for ever Saint John expounds it 1 Joh. 2. A true Christian endures for ever by the Word of the Lord he that believes in the Word he endures for ever because his comforts endure for ever they are Yea and Amen his grace endures for ever Gods love endures to him for ever Therefore by building upon that which is certain we make our selves certain too when the Word is ingraffed it is S. James his phrase when it is ingraffed into our hearts it turns our hearts to be like it self it is eternal it self and it makes us eternal He that doth the will of the Lord abides for ever saith S. John The world passeth and the lust thereof but he that doth the will of the Lord abides for ever And the Word of the Lord abides for ever as it is in another place the one expounds the other that is we by believing and doing the Word of the Lord abide for ever To stir us up to rely constantly upon this Word the promises and the grace of God brought to us by the promises As I said before Shall we have certain promises of God that never lie and shall we not build on them What is there in the world to build on if we cannot build on this and yet the froward heart of man will believe any thing rather then Gods truth The Merchant man he commits his estate his goods to the Sea he hath no promise that they shall come again it is onely in the providence of God he hath made no promise for it The Husbandman commits his seed to the ground though he have nothing left of his seed and though he sowe in tears yet he commits all to the earth in hope of a return and yet he hath no promise for this but Gods ordinary providence that may sometimes fail Are we in such hope when we commit our seed to the ground and when we commit our goods to the Sea to the Waves and yet have not a promise for this but Gods ordinary providence which oft-times failes having not bound himself that it shall be alway so because God will shew himself the God of nature that he can command nature and shall we not trust him when we have his providence and his promise too when he is bound by his Promise when he hath made himself a debtor to us when the free God who is most free hath made himself a debtor by his promise and hath sealed his promise by an oath and by Sacraments Alas God hath made all things faithful to us therefore we trust them but we trust not him that hath made other things so and is so faithful to us Therefore let us build on these Promises in Jesus Christ. Now to direct us a little further to train our selves up to make use of the Promises of God in Jesus Christ Observe every day how God fulfills his promises in lesser matters Parents train up their children by education that they may trust them for their inheritance So God traines us up to believe his providence that he will provide for us without cracking our consciences by ill means will we not believe his Promises for these things and will we believe him for life everlasting no certainly we cannot therefore let us exercise faith to believe the promises for provision that he will not fail us not forsake us but be with us in our callings using lawful means for the things of this life Sometimes again take another method when faith begins to stagger for the things of this life quicken it with the grand Promises Will God give me life everlasting and hath he given me Christ are his
had at the first as Gods mending is ever for the better The state of grace and glory is better then ever the state of nature was spiritual is better then natural Therefore it is much for the glory of the wisdome of God that he can in Christ reconcile justice and mercy and shew more mercy then ever he did in making man out of the dust of the earth and all is to the glory of God These attributes especially are glorious in the promises in Christ. His Justice is glorious in punishing sin in Christ there sin is odious in the punishing of Christ God-man if we speak of justice there is justice If of Mercy to put it upon our surety for God to give his Son for us there is transcendent mercy and transcendent justice in the punishing of our sin how could it be punished greater And then the glory of his Wisdom to bring these together infinite mercy and infinite justice in Christ. Infinite Power for God to become man and without sin to be so farre abased a humble omnipotency to descend so low that God could be mortal and then to raise himself again And then the glory of his Truth that whatsoever was promised to Abraham to David to the Prophets all was performed in Christ all the Types here is glory by Christ of Mercy Justice Wisdome Truth for all are Yea and Amen in Christ. Therefore he may well say all this is To the glory of God Therefore consider how the glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ as the Apostle saith If you would see God see him shining in the face of Jesus Christ see his Mercy shining in Christ and his Justice in the punishing our sin in Christ see his Truth his Power his Wisdome shineing in Christ and shining more then in the Creation or in any thing in the world besides Can you honour God more then in believing the Gospel Can you dishonour him more then to call his truth into question that is Yea and Amen If you believe the Gospel you set to your seal that God is true 1 Joh. 3. What an honour is this that God will be honoured by you in setting to your seal that he is true you give him the glory of all his attributes In not believing what a dishonour do you do to God you deny his Mercy his Wisdome his Justice his Truth you deny all his attributes you make God a liar what a horrible sin is unbelief Therefore fortifie your faith The Devil layeth siege to our faith above all other things if he can shake that he shakes all for holy life goes when faith goes Who will love God or obey God when he knowes not whether he be his God or no Let faith flourish and it will quicken life in the heart Let the promises grow in the heart and the Word be graffed in the heart and all will flourish in a Christians life all will come off clearly and freely obedience will be chearful and free when we see God reconciled in Christ. Then love will be full of devices when I see Gods love to me what shall I do to shew love again to shew thanks to God where is there any that for Cods sake I may do good unto How shall I maintain the truth and resist all opposers of the truth Can I do too much for him that hath done so much for me Love quickens The Devil knowes if he can shake faith he shakes all Let us fortifie faith and we glorifie God more then by any thing else He is glorious in the Gospel and how shall he be so by us except we set our hearts to believe him Therefore let us seal Gods truth by our faith and set to our seales that God is true God vouchsafes to be honoured by weak sinful men believing of him and that faith that honours him he will be sure to honour By us By us Ministers How When the Gospel is preached God is carried in triumph as it were and his banner is set up and the Promises displayed and sinners called unto him and God is glorified by the discovery of these things and faith is wrought in people to whom they are discovered and they glorifie God when they believe they blesse God that ever they heard these tydings so every way God is glorified The Ministers they open as it were the box of sweet oyntment that the savour of it may be in the Church and spread far They lay open the tapestry the rich treasures of Gods mercies they dig deep and find out the treasure Therefore these Promises in Scripture being so made and performed in Christ they tend to Gods glory but by us by our Ministery God to knit man and man together will convey the good he means to convey by the despised Ministery The enemies therefore of the Ministery of the Gospel what are they here is a double prejudice against them they are enemies of the glory of God and of the comfort of Gods people for they glorifie God in the sense of his mercy when it is unfolded to them God gets glory and they comfort What do we think then of Popish spirits that feed the people only with dead and dull ceremonies but let them go I go on to the next Verse having dwelt somewhat long on this VERSE XXI Now he that stablisheth us with you in Christ is God who hath anointed us c. AS the riches of a Christian consisteth in the promises of God which as we have heard in Christ are all Yea and Amen so unlesse he be stablished and built upon this strength all is nothing What if a man stand on a rock if he be not built on it what if the foundation be never so strong if he be not stablished thereon It is not sufficient that the Promises be stablished but we must be stablished upon them The Promises of God are indeed Yea and Amen might the soul say but what is that to me Therefore the Apostle addeth He that gives the Promises will stablish us upon the promises Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ is God The first thing that I will observe before we come to the particular handling of the words shall be onely this in the general from the connexion and knitting together of this Verse with the former viz. That there must be a double Amen There is an Amen in the Promises they are in themselves true there must be an Amen likewise in us we must say Amen to them that is we must be stablished upon them There must be an Echo in a Christians heart unto God that as God saith These and these things I promise and they are all Amen so the soul by faith must Echo again These things are for me I believe them For as we say in the Schooles to good purpose there is a double certainty a double firmnesse a certainty of the Object and a
certainty of the Subject there is a firmnesse of the Promises in Jesus Christ and there must be a firmnesse in us upon those Promises It is no matter what the certainty of the thing be that we are to build upon if there be not a certainty in the person if there be not a building on that thing God shall lose the glory of his truth and we the comfort unlesse we be certain as well as the promises are certain It is no matter what the garment be if it be not put on It is no matter as I said before how firm the rock be if we plant not our selves upon it and therefore besides the writing of Gods Word on Tables unlesse he write it likewise in our hearts unlesse our hearts be stablished on that truth that in it self is certain that it may be certain to us all is to no purpose You see therefore the absolute necessity of the application of the soul unto those truths which are certain and sure in themselves there must be a stablishing of us as well as a stablishing of the promises There is a necessity of the application of the promises to our selves that they be true to us Christ is a garment we must put him on then he is the robes that we appear glorious before God in but we must put him on by faith Christ is the food of life he is so indeed but then he must be digested Meat except it be applyed except the stomach work nourishment out of it by application and so digest it to all the parts the body hath not nourishment from it Christ is the foundation of his Church I but there must be application we as living stones must be built on him Let the foundation be never so strong if the stones be not laid on the foundation the stones cannot stand Though Christ be the Spouse of the Church and be never so rich there must be application and consent we must strike up the bargain and match between Christ and us There must be our consent to tie our selves to him to give up our selves to him So look to all the comfortable relations that our blessed Saviour hath taken upon him in the book of God they all enforce application The ground I say is this that though there be never so much certainty in the thing yet if there be not a certainty in the person to found application upon all is to no purpose These two therefore must go together and they are sweet relatives promises on Gods part and faith on our part The Promises and Christ are nothing without faith For there must be a touch to draw vertue If faith have never so little touch of Christ it will draw vertue but there must be a touch there must be application Christ is nothing without faith and faith is nothing without Christ and the Promises For what is the difference between faith and presumption presumption is an empty groundlesse fruitlesse conceit faith builds on the Promises of the Word we can alledge the Promise It is nothing for a mad man to assume himself to be King of another Countrey why he hath no promise He that made account that all the ships that came to the Haven were his it was but a frantick part of him and so he was accounted So a man that thinks his estate is good and builds not himself upon the promise that hath no ground for it out of Gods Word it is but a presumptuous frantick conceit The promises are nothing without faith and faith is nothing without the promises There must be application This I thought good to observe first in the general To come now more particularly to the words themselves He that stablisheth us with you c. In the words you have first A gracious Act of building or stablishing Secondly The Basis the foundation of that stablishing or building and that is Christ. Thirdly the Authour of this stablishing God Lastly the persons who are built and stablished on that foundation with you He that stablisheth us with you in Christ is God The first thing is the Act Stablishing The point is this first That Stablishing settling grace is necessary It is necessary that there be a stablishing confirming grace It is not sufficient that we be brought out of the Kingdome of Satan for when we are gotten out of his hands and strength he pursues us with continual malice therefore there must be the same power to stablish us still in grace that first brought us into the state of grace For as Providence is a continuall creation so stablishing grace is the continuance of the new creature the same grace that sets us in the state of the new creation in Christ the same stablisheth us Stablishing grace is necessary It is necessary many wayes Man of himself is an unstable creature take him at the best but a creature God found no stability in the Angels take the best of creatures even as creatures they are unstable For God will have a creature as a creature to be a dependant thing upon the Creator who is a being of himself Jehovah There is no stability in any creature Man in his best estate was an unstable creature Since we are very unstable ready to be carried away in our judgment to the wind of any false doctrine ready to be blown over with every little temptation Nay now in the state of grace in our selves we are very unstable ready to fly off presently and therefore we have need to be established of God It is necessary in regard of the indisposition of our nature to supernatural truths we are an unprepared subject for them in our selves The Law indeed we have some principles of it but of the Gospel there are in us no seeds at all of it and that is the reason there are so many Heresies against the Gospel there are none against the Law And therefore Divine truths being contrary to our disposition as there must be a supernatural beginner so there must be a supernatural strengthener he that is Alpha must be Omega As there must be a mighty subduing of the heart to be a vessel to receive these truths an Almighty power to lay the soul on this foundation because of the contrariety of the truth to the natural heart of man so there is need of no lesse then of a Divine and supernatural stablishing Our natures are very inconstant and unsettled and wayward take us at the best before the fall you see how soon we fell being left to our selves and having no stablishing grace Much more now since the fall is there a nenecessity of Divine stablishing when we come to know the truth we are subject to fall away like little children that are ready to sink if they be not upheld by their parents or nurse God must uphold and propus and shore us up we presently sink else Moses was but in the Mount a while and we see how soon
with reasons discovering an absolute necessity of geting into Christ and of having him to be our Husband except we will lye under the wrath of God and be damned and withal discovering the fulnesse and excellency that is in Christ. Again it is God onely that must stablish the soul all the parts of it both judgment and conscience For I beseech you what can any humane creature what can any thing under God work upon the soul I mean so firmly as to stablish it and therefore our controversie with the Papists is just and good We say The reason and ground of our believing the Word of God to be the Word of God must not be the testimony of the Church and the authority thereof for alas what can the judgment of man what can the judgment of the Church do It may incline and move the will by inducing arguments and so cause a humane consent but to establish the soul and conscience and to assure me that the Word of God which is the ground of my faith is the Word of God it must be God by his Spirit that must do it the testimony of the Church will never do it The same Spirit that inspired holy men to write the Word of God works in us a belief that the Word of God is the Word of God The stablishing argument must be by the power of Gods Spirit God joyning with the soul and spirit of a man whom he intends to convert besides that inbred light that is in the soul causeth him to see a Divine Majestie shining forth in the Scriptures so that there must be an infused establishing by the Spirit to settle the heart in this first principle and indeed in all other Divine principles that the Scriptures are the Word of God And to go on a little further this is a fundamental errour in our practice For what is the reason we have so many Apostates what is the reason so many are so fruitlesse in their lives what is the reason that men despair in death but even this because men are not built and stablished aright Gods Spirit never stablished their soules in Divine truths For first concerning Apostasie ask them what is the reason they are of this or that Religion They will say they have been taught so they have been brought up to it the company with whom they have conversed have been devout men and have been alwayes led with this opinion and they see no reason to thwart it Is that all Hath not the Spirit wrought these things in thy heart hath he not given thee a taste of them hath he not convinced thee in thy judgment that it is so hast thou not found the power of the Spirit working upon thy soul changing of thee raising of thee drawing of thee out of the world nearer to God hast thou not I say felt the power of the Spirit this way No but thus I was catechized and thus I have been bred and thus I have heard in the Ministery And no otherwise Alas it will never hold out there will be a falling away for when a man believes not that which he believes from the Spirit of God he will be ready when dangerous times come when there is an onset made by the adversaries to fall and to fall clean away as we see it was in the time of Popery for whatsoever is not spiritual whatsoever knowledge is not Divine and from the Spirit of God never holds out Therefore I beseech you what 's the reason that you have many illiterate men that set upon the truth and hold out to the end and on the contrary many great seeming Scholars that are skilful in school-learning and in other Authours do not The reason is the one hath the truth from the Spirit discovering all the objections that the heart of man can make against it and the strength that is in the truth to answer and silence all those objections The other man hath onely a discoursing knowledge an ability to gather one thing from another and to prove one thing by another by strength of parts But the Spirit of God never discover'd the sleights and the corruptions of his heart never fastned and settled his heart upon the truth he never had experience of the truth For indeed nothing doth stablish so much as the experience of the truth on which we are stablished Again what is the reason of that unfruitfulnesse that is amongst men but because truths were never settled in the soul by the Spirit of God That which men know out of the Word of God concerning Christ and the priviledges by him they were never perswaded of it in their hearts therefore they come not to a fruitful conversation It is impossible but that men should be abundantly fruitful that have spiritual apprehensions of Divine things of Evangelical truths Hence comes all our unthankfulnesse and undervaluing of the Gospel The Gospel of it self is an unprized thing however we esteem of it God values it highly we value it not because our apprehensions of it are customary and formal gotten by breeding and education and discourse and not by the Spirit we feel not the spiritual and heavenly comforts of those truths we think we know How comes likewise Despair in time of temptation and in death but onely because men want this stablishing by the Spirit of God Men go on in evil courses trusting to a formal dead humane knowledge gotten by humane meanes and not settled in them by the Spirit of God that hath not sealed the truth in their hearts and hereupon when sharp tryals come they despair because they have no feeling of the truths of the Gospel and so when conscience is awakened and smarts it clamours and cryes out upon all their formall and humane knowledge For they having not a spiritual sense of the mercies of God in Christ and the perswasions of comfort are not so near to support the soul as the tentations and vexations and torments are how can they but despair Now who can still the conscience but the Spirit of God Why now if the knowledge that men had were spiritual and heavenly in all accusations of conscience it would set conscience down and still it I am a sinner indeed I am this and this but I have felt the sweet mercies of God in Christ God hath said to my soul I am thy salvation he hath intimated to my spirit by a sweet voyce Son thy sinnes are forgiven thee Where there is I say a knowledge and an apprehension of these Evangelical truths wrought by the Spirit it sets down Conscience and stills it though the heart rage at the same time There are thousands in the very bosome of the Church that miscarry because of this resting in a literall outward formall knowledge gotten onely by discourse and by reading and commerce with others and never labour to have their hearts stablished in Christ by Gods Spirit You see here then a
care not to encrease their knowledge The more we know of God the more we shall trust him The more we know of a man that we have bonds from that he is an able man and just of his word we shall trust him more and the more our security upon his promise and bond is encreased so the more we know of God as he hath revealed himself in his Word and his voluntary Covenant he hath made with us and performed in the examples of Scripture the more we know him the more we shall trust him And this must be a spiritual knowledge not onely a bare naked reading but it must be spiritual like the truth it self We must see and know spiritual things in their own light to know them by their own light is to know them by the Spirit You know the Spirit dictated the Scripture to the Prophets and Apostles the Spirit did all they wrote as they were acted by the Spirit Now the same Spirit must inform our understanding and take away the vail of ignorance and infidelitie I say the Spirit must do it we must know spiritual things in their own light Therefore a carnal man can never be a good Divine though he have never so much knowledge an illiterate man of another calling may be a better Divine then a great Scholar Why Because the one hath onely notional knowledge discoursive knowledge to gather by strength of parts one thing from another Divinity is a kind of Art and as far as it is an Art to prove one thing by another so a natural man may do wonders in it and yet know nothing in its own spiritual light That is the reason the Divel himself knowes nothing he is a spirit of darknesse because he knowes nothing spiritually and comfortably therefore as there must be humility and faith for our stablishing so there must be spiritual knowledge It is said here that God stablisheth us the same God that stablisheth us must give us faith whereby we are stablished and he must give us knowledge Beg of God that he would vouchsafe us his Spirit when we read the Scriptures beg of God that he would open our understanding by his own Spirit that as there is light in the Scriptures so there may be in us You know an eye must have light before it can see the light light is full of discovery of things in it self I can see nothing except there be light in my eye too there must be a double light so there must be a Spirit in me as there is a Spirit in the Scripture before I can see any thing God must open our eyes and give us spiritual eye-salve to see and then the light of the Scripture and our light together is suficient to found a saving faith as stablishing faith on What is the reason that a Christian stands to his profession though he be weak when the greatest learned men in the world flinch in persecution The knowledge of the one is spiritual and heavenly he hatht ligh in him the other hath no divine spiritual light when light is ioyned with light the light in the soul with the light in the Scripture it makes men wondrous confident To this end labour to be acquainted with Gods Word study the Scriptures and other Treatises of that kind that you may be able to hold fast the truth that it be not wrung from you upon any occasion And in reading it is a good course to observe the main principal undeniable truths such Dogmaticall truths as are clear and evident and to lay them up and oft make queries to our selves Do I understanst this or no Yes I do this I know is true build on it then and bottom the soule upon it And so if it be matter of promises these promises are undeniable true I will stay my soul upon them And so when we meet with plain evidences in the Scriptures that crosse our coruptions that meet with our known sins then consider of those places as Jewels and lay them up that you may have use of them as occasion serves All things have not an equall certainty in Scripture to us some things we may have an implicite faith in but the main we must have a clear apprehension of There are some things that concern Teachers more to know then others by reason of their standing in the Church it is sufficient that in preparation of mind we be ready to imbrace further truths that shall be discovered but in fundamentall truths it is not so we must have our hearts stablished upon them that as they are certain in themselves so they may be certain to us And often let us examine our selves Would I die in this and for this would I stand in the defence of this against any this will make us make much of so much truth as we know and labour to grow in truths in that kind And take no scandal to hear that any shrink from the profession of the truth and the maintaining of it that are of great reputation Was Christ the worse for Judas betraying of him and for Peters denying of him was Paul's truth the worse because he had many enemies Elymas the sorcerer and others Is the truth the worse because there are many that have carnall outward dependance that seeme to shrink when they should stand out The truth is not the worse it is the same truth still truths are eternall in themselves and in the good they bring if they be believed The Word of God endures for ever it is not variable as man is and therefore be not discouraged though men discountenance it remember whose truth it is for whose good it is given the Word of God it is a soul saving truth And retain the truth in love Love is an affection with which we should receive the truth or else God will give us over to uncertainties They in 2 Thess. 2 10. had the truth but because they received not the Love of the truth therefore God sent them strong delusions that they should believe a lie O how lovely is the truth The certainty of our estate in Christ the glorious priviledges that come by him that the gifts of God are without repentance that God looks on us not for foreseen faith or works but such as he had decreed to work himself How comfortable how lovely are these truths being the Word of God notwithstanding some seek to shake them These very truths should be retained in love And indeed the truth is not in its own place till it be fixed in the heart and affections and in a good conscience which S. Paul makes likewise the vessel of the truth and those that care not for that they make shipwrack of the truth And what truths you know labour to practise and then you shall be stablished If any man do the will of my Father saith our Saviour Joh. 7. 17. he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God
have it in Psal. 1. As the chaffe that the wind driveth to and fro because it hath no consistence it is a light body or as the drosse Psal. 119. God shall destroy the wicked as drosse see how the Scripture compares men not onely for their wickednesse but for their misery that have no certain being but on earthly things though they be never so great and as they think deeply rooted when troubles come they are as drosse they are as chaffe that hath no firmnesse before the wind when the wind of Judgment comes they are as stubble presently wasted and brought to nothing I beseech you therefore without deceiving of our own hearts let us enter into our own soules and examine for our knowledge first and then for our boldnesse What doest thou know in Religion that thou wouldest die for or die in we are stablished in no more to purpose then we would dye for Are those truths thou knowest so firmly wrought in thee by the Spirit of God hast thou such experience of them such spiritual sense and taste of the goodnesse of them that thou wouldest be content to part with thy life rather then to part with them thou art stablished then by the Spirit of God in Christ. I do not speak of every little truth it needs not that a man should die for that but I speak for fundamental truths canst thou prove them so out of the Scripture and doest thou find the testimony of Jesus Christ witnessing to thy heart that they are true then thou art confirmed and stablished in these truths I beseech you let us often examine upon what grounds and how firmly we know what we know For have we not many that if the Adversaries should come would conform to Popery and joyn themselves to Rome because they cannot back their principles with Scriptures and because they have not a spiritual understanding and apprehension of Divine truths Now he that is stablished stands firm against temptations and against arguments he will not be won away from his faith but remains unmoveable Therefore I say let us often examine our selves in this particular I believe this and this against the Papists and others I but how shall I stand out for this If tryals should come am I able to prove this from the Scriptures so clear as if it were written as he saith with a Sun-beam The temptation and assaults of the Devil by mens subtile wits and arguments will shake our judgments will hurt more and if time should come try us better then fire and fagot Those Spies that brought an evil report upon the Land of Canaan we see that though the Land when it was won was fruitful enough and the conquest of it honourable c. and therein those Spies discovered their own weaknesse yet when they had made that shrewd Oration and brought subtile arguments to the eye of flesh and blood we see I say how the people were discouraged and how they staggeted So a man that is not stablished he may sometimes have shrewd men to deal withal perhaps Atheists Papists Jesuites and the Devil joyning with them to unsettle men and they will prevail if men be not well settled and stablished before And so for the course of our life and conversation amongst men we should examine how we are stablished in that for we are not onely to stand firm in cases of Religion but for causes of honesty John Baptist was as good as a Martyr though the cause he dyed for was not Religion but a bold telling of Herod when he thought he took an unlawful course in keeping his brothers Wife An honest man may dye and suffer much for civil matters Therefore examine your selves in this I have undertaken this cause upon what ground in what confidence how far would I willingly go in it could I be content to lose the favour of great ones to dye in the quarrel if need be So far as a man is stablished by Gods Spirit so far is he settled also in this You have had Heathen men that would stand out firmly even to the death against all disfavours against all losses and crosses for evidence of Civil truths as you have it storied of Papinian an excellent Lawyer that in the defence of right stood forth to the losse of his life and many other the like examples have been But much more doth the Spirit of God stablish men this I understand this cause is good this I will stand in come what will when I am called to it Let us oft call our selves to an account what we believe and upon what ground what we do and upon what ground we undertake it whether on grounds of conscience or out of spleen and passion When a man undertakes things on natural grounds in great temptations if God do not assist him he will sink Take the strongest courages that are if they have no more but nature though they may stand out sometimes to the shame of Christians yet in some cases they will shew themselves to be but meer natural men And therefore labour for the Spirit to stablish us It is not necessary that we should enjoy our wealth nor the favour of men nor our life it self but it is necessary that we should keep a good conscience it is necessary that we should be saved it is necessary that we should look upon our Judge with confidence at the day of Judgment It becomes Christians who besides the light of nature have the Spirit to stablish them to be settled in their courses to look that the conscience be good the cause good the aym good If such a one give over when the cause is clear and good it is a sign that his heart is not stablished by the Spirit of God in Christ he hath either corrupt aymes or else he is weak and understands not the grounds of Religion and the vanity of this life as he should do There are none that flinch and give over in a good quarrel but either it is from hypocrisie that he pretends to believe in Christ and life everlasting and yet he doth not or else it is from extream and wonderful weaknesse which if he belong to God he shall recover as Peter did and shall stand more strongly another time It is but a forced a false encouragement and stablishing when a man that hath not the Spirit of God shall set light by death though perhaps he die in a good quarrel and with some comfort For when a man shall know that after death there is a Judgment and that God hath many things to lay to his charge when his conscience shall tell him that he is guilty of a thousand deaths if he be not in Christ and his pardon sealed by the Spirit of God in the blood of Christ is it not madnesse to be couragious in that which he cannot conquer It is good for a man to be couragious in time of conquest It is a dastardly thing for
When a man is without grace he goes lumpishly and heavily about the service of God he is drawen and forced to prayer and to hearing and to conference and meditation he is dead and dull and frozen to good works but when a man hath received this sweet anointing of the Spirit his heart is enlarged to all duties whatsoever he is prepared to every good work Again oyl makes chearefull so doth grace it makes chearful in adversity chearfull in death chearful in those things that dismay the spirits of other men so much grace so much joy for even as light and heat follow the fire so the spirit of joy doth follow this spiritual anointing Conscience of the interest he hath in the favour of God in Christ and the evidences of grace stamped upon his heart an assurance of a better estate in the world to come wonderfully enlarge the soul with spiritual joy that which makes a man lumpish and heavy and earthly is not the Spirit of God the Spirit of God is a Spirit of joy and it puts a gracious chearfulnesse in the heart of a Christian if there be mourning it is that it may be more chearful for light is sowen to the righteous sometimes in mourning God loves a chearful giver and a chearful thanksgiver all must be sweetened with chearfulnesse now this comes from the Spirit of God and he that is anointed with the Spirit in some measure partakes of spiritual joy and chearfulnesse Againe ointment you know is of a healing nature as Balme and other sweet ointments have a healing power and vertue the Scripture makes mention of the Balme of Gilead so grace hath a healing power repentance that is of a purging spiritual joy of a healing nature there must you know be first a cleansing and then a healing and strengthening so some graces are purgative and cleansing some againe are strengthening and healing repentance is a good purgation it carries away the malignant and evill matter but the Cordial that strengthens the soul is joy The joy of the Lord is your strength Nehem. 8. and so the grace of faith and love tend to cherrish and corroborate the soul so that I say these graces this Balme of the Spirit hath a special Soveraign power to heale us to heale us both from the guilt of sin and from the dominion and rule and filthy stain of sin it hath both a purging and a Cordial vertue Thus you see that upon good grounds the graces of Gods Spirit that he communicates to the Elect and only to them that are in Christ they are called anointing and they will have the effect of an ointment in us if we receive this anointing Let us therefore try our selves by these whether we be anointed or no what chearfulnesse is there what joy what strength what nimblenesse to that which is good what soveraignty hath grace in our hearts you have a company that professe Religion but make it serve their owne turne that make heaven to come under earth that make the service of God to stoop to other ends Beloved grace it is a superiour thing and Religion makes all subordinate Grace and Religion wheresoever it is in truth is of a ruling nature and so it is sweet and it is strong wheresoever it is it is curing and purging and cleansing wheresoever it is therefore I beseech you let us not deceive our selves I need say no more of the Point you may enlarge it in your own meditations I come to the persons As this anointing hath reference to the ointment so it hath relation to the persons that were anointed Now the persons anointed were first dedicated by anointing they were consecrated to God and separated from the world And as they were dedicated and separated so they were dignified by this anointing it raised them above the common condition And likewise with this anointing God gave them qualifications suitable You have three eminent persons that were anointed and so raised above the common condition of other men Prophets to teach the people Priests to offer sacrifice Kings to govern them Now Christ is principally all these He is the principal Prophet of his Church the Angel of the Covenant He is Logos the Word because as the inward word the mind of a man is known by the outward word so Christ is called the Word because as a Prophet he discovers his Fathers mind and makes known his Fathers will unto us And he is the great high Priest he makes atonement between God and us he stands between his Father and us And he is the great King of his Church that rescues it from all its enemies to protect and defend it But as Christ hath received this anointing primarily and above his fellows yet as I said before he hath received it for his fellows Every Christian hath his anointing from Christs anointing all our graces and all our oyatment is derived from him He saith the Appostle Rev. 1. hath loved us and washed us in his blood he loved us first which is the cause of all and then he washed us in his blood he did not onely shed his blood for us but he washed us in his blood he hath applied his blood to our souls and by applying that and sprinkling it upon our souls he hath made us Kings and Priests to God his Father And indeed the great King of heaven and earth he is and will be attended upon by none but Kings and Priests he hath no servants but such as are anointed he is followed of none but eminent persons such as are separated from the world and dignified above all other people for the glory of his followers tends to his honour therefore those whom God chuseth to be his atendants he qualifies them gives them the hearts of Kings royal qualifications and the hearts of Priests and the hearts of Prophets But this in the general To shew it therefore in particulars A Christian is anointed he is a person severed from the world dedicated to God and dignified above others and that from good reason because God hath given him an inward qualification which is the foundation of all And first he is a true Prophet for he hath received the anointing of the Spirit 1 Joh. 2. whereby he is enabled to discern of things he knowes what is true honour to be the child of God he knowes what is true riches Grace he knowes what is true Nobility to be born of God what is true pleasure Peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost he can discern between seeming and reall things and onely he that hath received this anointing of the Spirit And again as a Prophet he knowes not onely the things but the doing of the things he hath with the anointing of the Spirit ability to do that which he knowes the grace of God teacheth him not onely the duty that he should live justly and soberly and godly but teacheth him to do the things for God writes his Lawes in
and troubled and we hear many comfortable truths let us lift up our prayers to God let there be ejaculations of spirit to God Now Lord by thy holy Spirit set and seal this truth to my soul that as it is true in it self so it may be true to me likewise This is a necessary Observation for us all Oh we desire all of us in the hour of death to find such comforts as may be standing comforts that may uphold us against the gates of Hell and against the temptations of Satan and terrours of Conscience why nothing will do this but spiritual truths spiritually known nothing but holy truths set on by the hoy Spirit of God But what course shall we take when we want comfort when we want joy and peace In the third of John there are three witnesses in heaven and three in earth to secure us of our state in grace and the certainty of our salvation The three witnesses upon earth are the Spirit the water and the blood and these three agree in one and the three that bear witnesse in heaven are the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and the three on earth and these three in heaven agree in one Now the Spirit is the feelings and the sweet motions of the Spirit The water may well be that washing of the Spirit sanctification The blood is the shedding of the blood of Christ and justification by it When therefore we find that part of the seal that extraordinary seal that I spake of before the joy of the Spirit of God that it is not in us what shall we do shall we despair No go to the water when we find not spiritual joy and comfort when the witnesse of the Spirit is silent go to the work of the Spirit in sanctification I but what shall we do if the waters be troubled in the soul as sometimes there is such a confusion in the soul that we cannot see the Image of God upon it in sanctification we cannot see the stamp of Gods Spirit there there is such a Chaos in the soul God can see somewhat of his own Spirit in that confusion but the Spirit it self cannot Then go to the blood of Christ there is alwayes comfort the fountain that is opened for Judah and Jerusalem to wash in is never dry go therefore to the blood of Christ that is if we find sin upon our consciences if we find not peace in our consciences nor sanctification in our hearts go to the blood of Christ which is shed for all those that confesse their sinnes and rely on him for pardon though we find no grace For howsoever as an evidence that we are in Christ we must find the work of the Spirit yet before we go to Christ it is sufficient that we see nothing in our selves no qualification for the graces of the Spirit they are not the condition of coming to Christ but the promise of those that receive Christ after Therefore go to Christ when thou feelest neither joy of the Spirit nor sanctification of the Spirit go to the blood of Christ and that will purge thee and wash thee from all thy sins This I onely touch for a direction what to do when our soules want comfort when perhaps we cannot see the seal of the Spirit in sanctification so clearly To go on now to the next And given us the Earnest of the Spirit Here is the third word borrowed from humane affaires to set out the work of the Spirit in our soules Anointing we had before and Sealing now here is Earnest The variety of the words shewes that there is a great remainder of unbelief in the soul of man that the Spirit of God is fain to use so many words to expresse Gods dealing to the soul to bring it to believe to be assured of salvation And indeed so it is howsoever we in the time of prosperity when all things go well with us we are prone wondrously to presume yet in the hour of death when conscience is awakened we are prone to nothing so much as to call all in question and to believe the doubts and fears of our own hearts more then the undoubted truth and promise of God therefore God takes all courses to stablish us he gives us rich and precious promises he gives us the holy Spirit to stablish us on the Promises he seales us with his Spirit and gives us the earnest of the Spirit and all to settle this wretched and unbelieving heart of ours So desirous is God that we should be well conceited of him he loves us better then we love our selves He so much prizeth our love that he labours by all means to secure us of his love to us because except we know his love to us we cannot love him again and we cannot joy in him c. But that onely in the general Here is earnest and the Earnest of the Spirit that is in plain termes he gives us the Spirit with the graces and comforts of it which doth in our hearts that which an earnest doth amongst men But what is this Spirit an earnest of It is an Earnest of our inheritance in heaven of our blessed estate there We are sons now but we are not heires invested into the blessed estate we have title to God leaves us not off in the mean time while we are in our Pilgrimage he keeps not all for heaven but he gives us somewhat to comfort us in our absence from our Husband from our Lord and King Christ he gives us the Earnest of the Spirit that is he gives the holy Ghost into our hearts which is the Earnest of that blessed everlasting glorious condition which we shall have in heaven hereafter that is the meaning of the words In what regard is the Spirit called an Earnest First of all an Earnest is for security of bargains and contracts so the Holy Ghost assures the soul of salvation being present with his graces and comforts the Holy Ghost is given for security Secondly an Earnest is part of the whole bargain though it be a very little part yet it is a part and so the Spirit of God here and the work of the Spirit and the graces and joy of the Spirit it is a part of that full joy and happinesse that shall be revealed The Spirit dwells not fully in any one he dwelleth no further then he sanctifieth and reviveth but that is an Earnest for the time to come that the Spirit shall be all in all wherein we shall have no reluctancy nor nothing to exalt it self against the sure regiment of the Spirit Thirdly an Earnest is little in comparison of the whole bargain so the work of the Spirit the comforts the joy the peace of the Spirit it is little in comparison of that which shall be in heaven in regard of the fulnesse of the Spirit which we shall have there An Earnest though it be little in quantity yet it
sakes Now to speak of an oath a little An oath as we know is either in judgment before a Magistrate or in particular cases between private persons And it is either assertory of a thing past or promissory of a thing to come Now this oath of S. Paul's is an assertory oath of a thing that was past to secure them that he did not come to them upon this ground that he had a mind to spare them it was no promise of any thing to come but an assertion of a thing that was past An oath is either an assertion or a promise with a calling of God to be a witnesse and a Judge to be a witnesse of the truth or a Judge if he say false You have the description of an oath in this text I say it is either an assertion of a thing past or a promise of a thing to come a sealing of this by calling God to witnesse of the thing we say and to avenge the falshood if we say false As S. Paul here I call God to record that what I say is true and upon my soul if I say false Many Conclusions concerning an oath might be raised out of the text First of all concerning the person that makes an oath he should indeed be a gracious a holy and a good man As S. Paul saith Rom 1. 9. I call God to witnesse whom I serve in my spirit A man is scarce fit to swear which is a part of Gods worship that is not good otherwise Will he care for the Religion of an oath that hath no Religion in him He whose oath should be taken should be such a man as S. Paul in some degree whose oath should be taken The Turks are careful of this to the shame of Christians they will not take an oath of an ordinary swearer It must be a man that hath somewhat in him that shall have his oath regarded Again we see by whom an oath should be taken by the Name of God we ought not to swear by creatures but by God himself nor to swear by any Idol as the Masse and by Mary and such like It is a taking God to witnesse An oath is a part of Gods service a part of divine worship as it is Deut. 6. and other places now we ought to serve God only therefore we ought not to use the name of any creature in an oath He that we swear by must know the heart whether we speak true or no now who knowes the heart but God therefore we must sweare only by the Name of God These things are easie therefore I do but name them We see here again the two grand parts of an oath besides assertion or promise of the truth there must be a calling God to witnesse and imprecation Though these be not alwaies set down they are implied Sometimes the Scripture sets down the one part but alwaies the other is implied There is imprecation in every oath Sometimes imprecation implies both as God do so and so sometimes there is a calling God to witnesse without imprecation yet it is alwaies implied For whosoever swears calls God to witnesse of the truth and if it be not true that God would punish him These three go together in an oath God that can discover it he knowes my heart whether I say true or no. And he is Judge and thereupon a revenger In an oath God is considered not only as Index but as Judex and Vindex not only as a discoverer but as a Judge and revengeri f it be false Therefore it is a part of divine worship because it is with prayer and imprecation is alway implied if it be not expressed So we see in this text what an oath is and by whom it is to be taken and the parts of it Again we see here in the text that an oath ought to be taken in serious matters The rule of an oath is excellently set down by Jeremy Jerem. 4. I know no one place of Scripture more pregnant and therefore I name it Thou shalt swear How The Lord liveth in truth in judgment and in righteousnesse We must swear in truth that is that not onely the thing be true that we swear we must look to that but we must think it so too the thing must be true and we must apprehend it so We must swear in truth And then in Judgment that is with discretion we must understand throughly the matter whereof we swear and what an oath is Therefore persons under years ought not to take an oath because they cannot swear in Judgment to know what the weight and validity of an oath is and when it is a fit time to take it it must be taken in serious businesse As S. Paul here to clear himself to the soules of the Corinthians whom he laboured to edifie when he saw their ill conceit of him hindred their edification therefore he clears himself by an oath Thirdly it must be in Justice that is we must not bind our selves by an oath to any thing that is ill it is a rule a long time past Herod bound himself by an oath in that kind But an oath must never be a bond of injustice but it must be taken in righteousnesse Therefore here is condemned the equivocation and reservation of the Papists They will swear before a Magistrate but with equivocation this is not in righteousnesse For it is a rule that an oath must be taken in that sense as he to whom we swear takes it that is a constant rule among all Divines because it is to perswade him of the truth that we swear it is for his and others sakes and as he and others take it so it must be took Therefore equivocation with absurd reservations are wicked because they are absurd if they be exprest he will swear that he is not a Priest he means after the order of Melchizedeck it is a mocking and prophaning of an oath it is not to swear in Justice and righteousnesse But it is so foul and abominable a course that it is not fit to be spoken of almost and they are ashamed of it themselves S. Paul's oath was all this he sware in truth he was truly perswaded of the truth of his own affections toward them And then in Judgment it was done in discretion for being not able otherwise to clear himself having no witnesse in earth he goes to heaven for a purger he goes to God himself for a witnesse he fetcheth strength from heaven There was none on earth that knew S. Paul's affection but the Spirit of God and his own spirit and he thought his own spirit was not sufficient my own spirit tells me that I came not to spare you but if you would know my mind better 〈◊〉 all God to witnesse and to be a revenger if I speak false that I came not for this end that I might spare you to prevent the rigour and
Christ the Father of mercies c. That which to the flesh is matter of scandall and offence that to the spirit and to a spirituall man is matter of glory so contrary is the flesh and the Spirit and so opposite is the disposition and the current of the fleshly man to the spirituall man Job was so farre from cursing God for taking away that he saith Blessed be the name of God not onely for giving but for taking away too What ground there is in troubles and persecutions to blesse God we shall see in the current and passages of the Chapter To come then to the very verse it selfe where there is a blessing and praysing of God first And in this praysing consider The Act Object Reasons The Act Blessed be God which is a praysing The Object is God the Father The Reasons are inwrapped in the Object Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ because he is the God and Father of Iesus Christ therefore blessed be he Secondly another reason is because he is the Father of mercies Another reason is from the Act of this disposition of mercie in God he is the God of all comfort and as he is comfortable so he doth comfort Thou art good and doest good saith the Psalmist thou art a God of comfort and thou doest comfort For as he is so he doth he shews his Nature in his working Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies and God of comfort of which I shall speake when I come to them Blessed be God the Father c. We see here the heart of the blessed Apostle being warmed with the sense and taste of the sweet mercy of God stirrs up his tongue to bless God a full heart and a full tongue We have here the exuberancie the abundance of his thankfulness breaking forth in his speech his heart had first tasted of the sweet mercies and comforts of God before he prayseth God The first thing that we will observe hence is that It is the disposition of Gods Children after they have tasted the sweet mercy and comfort and love of God to break forth into the praysing of God and to thanksgiving It is as naturall for the new creature to doe so as for the birds to sing in the Spring when the Sun hath warmed the poore creature it shews its thankfulnesse in singing and that little blood and spirits that it hath being warmed after winter it is natural for those creatures so to do and we delight in them It is as natural for the new creature when it feels the Sun of righteousness warming the soul when it tastes of the mercy of God in Christ to shew forth it self in thankfulnesse and praise and it can no more be kept from it then fire can keep from burning or water from cooling it is the nature of the new creature so to do The reason is every creature must do the the work for which God hath enabled it to the which God hath framed it the happinesse of the creature is in well doing in working according to its nature the heathen could see that Now all the creatures the new creature especially is for the glory of God in Christ Jesus All the new creature and what priviledges it hath and what graces it hath all is that God may have the glory of grace why then it must needs work answerable to that which God hath created it for therefore it must shew forth the praise and glorie of God Blessed be God saith the Apostle Ephes. 1. And the blessed Apostle St. Peter begins his Epistle Blessed be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath begotten us to an Inheritance Immortal and undefiled which fadeth not away reserved for us in Heaven I shall not need to set down with the exposition of the word Blessed How God blesseth us and how we blesse God His blessing is a conferring of blessing our blessing is a declaring of his goodnesse it is a thing well enough known Our blessing of God is a praising of God a setting out what is in him Onely one thing is to be cleared What good can we do to God in blessing of him he is blessed though we blesse him not and he is praised whether we praise him or no he had Glorie enough before he made the world he contented himself in the Trinity the blessed Trinity in it self before there were either Angels or men or other creatures to blesse him and now he can be blessed enough though we do not blesse him It is true he can be so and he can have heaven though thou hast it not but be a damned creature and he will be blessed whether thou blesse him or no. Our blessing of him is required as a dutie to make us more capable of his graces to him that hath shall be given To him that hath and useth that he hath to the Glorie of God shall be given more we give nothing The stream gives nothing to the fountain the beam gives nothing to the Sun for it issues from the Sun our very blessing of God is a blessing of his It is from his Grace that we can praise his Grace and we run still into a new debt when we have hearts enlarged to blesse him We ought to have our hearts more enlarged that we can be enlarged to prayse God And to others it is good for others are stirred up by it Gods goodnesse and mercy is enlarged in regard of the manifestation of it to others by our blessing of God Yea this good comes to our souls besides the increase of Grace we shall find an increase of joy and comfort that is one end why God requires it of us though he himself in his essence be alway alike blessed yet he requires that we should be thankful to him alway that we should blesse and praise him even in misery and affliction why then because if we can work upon our hearts a disposition to see Gods love and to praise and blesse him we can never be uncomfortable we have some comfort against all estates and conditions by studying to praise God by working of our hearts to a disposition to praise and bless God for then crosses are light crosses are no crosses then That is the reason that the Apostles and Holy men so stirred up their hearts to praise and thansgiving that they might feele their crosses the less that they might be lesse sensible of their discomforts for undoubtedly when we search for matter of praysing God in any afliction and when we see there is some mercy yet reserved that we are not consumed the consideration that there is alway some mercy that we are yet unthankfull for will inlarge our hearts and God when he hath thanks and praise from us he gives us still more matter of thankfulnesse and the more we thank him and praise him the more we have matter of praise
This being a truth that Gods Children when they have tasted of his mercie break forth into his praise it being the end of his favours and nature being inclined thereto this should stirre us up to this duty and that we may the better perform this holy duty let us take notice of all Gods favours and blessings Knowledge stirs up the affections blessing of God springs immediately from an inlarged heart but enlargement of heart is stirred up from apprehension for as things are reported to the knowledge so the understanding reports them to the heart and affections Therefore it is a duty that we ought to take notice of Gods favours and with taking notice of them To mind them to remember them forget not all his benefits Psal. 103. Praise the Lord O my soule and forget not all his benefits insinuating that the cause why we praise not God is the forgetting of his benefits Let us take notice of them let us register them let us mind them let us keep diaries of his mercies and favours every day he renews his mercies and favours every day and we ought to renew our blessing of him every day we should labour to do here as we shall do when we are in heaven where we shall do nothing else but praise and bless him we ought to be in Heaven while we are on the earth as much as we may let us register his favours and mercies But what favours Especially spirituall nay first spirituall favours without which we cannot heartily give thanks for any outward thing for the soule will cast with it self till it feele it selfe in Covenant with God in Christ that a man is the Child of God Indeed I have many mercies and favours God is good to me but perhaps all these are but favours of the Traytor in the prison that hath the libertie of the Tower and all things that his heart can desire but then he looks for an execution he looks for a writt to draw him forth to make him a spectacle to all and so this trembling for fear of a future ill which the soul lookes for it keepes the soul from thankfulnesse It cannot be heartily thankful for any mercy till it can be thankful for spiritual fauors Therefore first let us see that our state be good that we are in Christ that we are in the covenant of Grace that though we are weak Christians yet we are true there is truth in Grace wrought in us And then when we have tasted the best mercies spirituall mercies when we see we are taken out of the state of nature for then all is in love to us when we have the first mercy pardoning mercy that our sins are forgiven in Christ then the other are mercies indeed to us not as favours to a condemned man And that is the reason that a carnall man he hath his heart shut he cannot praise God he cannot trust in God because he staggers in his estate because he is not assured he thinks it may be God fattens me against the day of slaughter Therefore I know not whether I should praise him for this or no. But he is deceived in that for if he had his heart enlarged to blesse God for that God would shew further favour still but the heart will not yield hearty praise to God till it be perswaded of Gods love For all our love is by reflection We love him because he loved us first and we praise and blesse him because he hath blest us first in heavenly blessings in Christ. Let us take notice of his favours let us mind them let us register them especially favours and mercies in Christ. Let us after think how we were pulled out of the cursed estate of nature by what ministery by what acquaintance by what speech and how God hath followed that mercie with new acquaintance with new comfort to our souls with new refreshings that by his spirit he hath repressed our corruptions that he hath sanctified us made us more humble more careful that he hath made us more jealous more watchful these mercies and favours will make others sweet unto us And then learn to prize and value the mercies of God which will not be unlesse we compare them with our own unworthinesse lay his mercies together with our own unworthinesse and it will make us break forth into blessing of God When we consider what we are our selves as Jacob said lesse than the least of Gods mercies We forget Gods mercies every day he strives with our unthankfulnesse the comparing of his mercies with our unworthiness and our desert on the contrary will make us to blesse God for his goodnesse and patience that he will not onely be good to us in not inflicting that which our sins have deserved Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And to name no more bút this one above all beg of God his holy spirit for this Blessing of God is nothing else but a vent from the spirit For as Organs and wind Instruments do never sound except they be blown they are dead and make no musick till there be breath put into them so we are dead and dull instruments therefore it is said we are filled with the Holy Ghost All Gods children they are filled with the spirit before they can praise God the spirit stirres them up to praise him and as it gives them matter to praise him for so it gives the Sacrifice of praise it self God gives to his children both the benefits to blesse him for and he gives the blessing of a heart to blesse him And we must beg both of God beg a heart able to discern spiritual favours to tast and relish them and to see our own unworthinesse of them and beg of God his holy spirit to awaken and quicken and enlarge our dead and dull hearts to praise his name Let us stir up our hearts to it stirr up the spirit of God in us every one that hath the spirit of God should labour to stir up the spirit as St. Paul writes to Timothy and as David stirs up himself Praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise his holy name so we should raise up our selves and stir up our selves to this duty And shame our selves what hath God freed me from so great misery and hath he advanced me to so happie an estate in this world doth he put me in so certain a hope of glorie in the world to come have I a certain promise to be carried to salvation that neither things present nor things to come shall be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus doth he renew his mercies every day upon me and can I be thus dead can I be thus dull-hearted Let us shame our selves And certainly if a man were to teach a Child of God a ground of humiliation if a Child of God that is in the state of grace should ask how
necessity of Gods writing his truth in our bowels he saith in the Covenant of grace I will write my Law in their inward parts thaat is I will teach their very hearts that knowledge that they have shall be spiritual For beloved the knowledge that must save us must not onely be of Divine things but it must be Divine it must not onely be of spirituall things but it must be spiritual the light that we have of spirituall things must be answerable to the things we must see them by their own light we cannot know spiritual and heavenly things by a humane light but as the things themselves are spiritual so we must have the Spirit of God that by it we may come to know spiritual things spiritually Desire God therefore to vouchsafe us his Spirit that it may teach us and convince us of the truth of those things which we read and hear God must do it he must perswade and bow the heart and will and affections and so he will do it and doth it to those that rely upon him And this is the second Branch As God must do it so God will do it What is the Reason of that It is this he will do it because he is constant where he begins a good work he will finish it to the day of the Lord. He will do it because in the Covenant of Grace he hath undertaken both parts both his own and ours He undertakes his own part which is to give us eternal life and to give us Christ and he undertakes our part too which is to believe and to cleave unto Christ c. he makes this good himself he works this in the heart by the Spirit for therefore it is called the Covenant of Grace because God himself is graciously pleased to do both parts Which must be comfortably remembred against an Objection that flesh and blood will make I might indeed come to God and Christ but I am an unworthy empty creature I have no faith Come and atrend upon the means the gift of application and confirming and stablishing is part of the Covenant The Covenant that God makes with thee is not onely to give thee life everlasting and glory but to give thee grace likewise Faith is the gift of God He that stablisheth us and confirms us upon that which is certain in it self is God Lay it up against a time of temptation for a pillar and ground of your faith that here God doth both he gives us Promises and gives us Christ whereon the Promises are founded and likewise establisheth us and seals us c. he doth all So that as none can stablish the soul but God by his Spirit so he will do it It is an excellent reason of the Apostle in Rom. 5. If when we were enemies God gave us his Son to reconcile us how much more now shall we be saved If we were saved by the Death of Christ when we were enemies much more shall we be preserved by his life he now living in heaven So I say If God when there was nothing in us but we were in a clean opposite estate did begin spiritual life in us much more will he stablish that which he hath begun in us And this stablishing as well as the beginning of grace comes likewise from God for take Grace in the whole latitude and extent of it take all that can be in grace all comes graciously from God the offer of it the beginning of it this manner of it that it should be strong the strengthning of grace it comes from God he strengtheneth us in grace as well as begins it so that Grace it self and this Modus this manner that it is strong and firm that it should hold out all comes from God A Christian needs not onely converting grace but stablishing grace God that converted him must stablish him and build him up and confirm him Peter was in the state of grace and yet when God did not stablish him you see how he fell so David was an excellent man but when God did not stablish him you see how he fell The weakest with the stablishing grace of God will stand and the strongest without the stablishing grace of God will sink and fall The Apostle doth not say he hath done but he doth stablish us This must be considered that the life of a Christian is a perpetual dependant life not onely in his conversion he lives by faith he hath his first life but ever after he lives by faith that is dependance on God for assistance and protection and strength in the whole course of his life The ignorance of this makes us subject to fail for when we trust to grace received and do not seek for a new supply we fall into Peters case Though all men for sake thee yet will not I hereupon Peter fell fouly he had too much confidence in grace received Therefore God is fain to humble his children to teach them dependance and usually therefore in Scripture where some special grace is given he hath somewhat joyned with it to put them in mind that they do not stand by their own strength In the same Chapter where Peter makes a glorious confession Thou art the Son of the living God and he was honoured of Christ by that confession yet Christ calls him Satan in the same Chapter and he forsakes his Master A strange thing To teach us that we stand not of our selves When we are strong it is by God when we are weak it is by our selves Jacob wrastled and was a prevailer with God but he was fain to halt for it he was struck with halting all the dayes of his life though he had the victory and overcame God taking upon him as I said before the person of an enemy to strive with him yet God to put him in mind that he had the strength whereby he prevailed from him and not of himself he made him limp all his dayes We need perpetual dependance upon God Therefore let us set upon nothing in our own strength as Hannah saith comfortably 1 Sam. 2. No man is strong by his own strength God is all our sufficiency Mans nature doth affect a kind of Divinity he would be a God to himself but God will teach him that he is not a God but a dependant creature He affects a Divinity thus he will set upon things in confidence of his own wisdome without prayer and thinks to work things with the strength of his own parts to compasse things with his own wit to bring things to a good issue O no it will not be so In Prov. 3. Acknowledge God in all thy wayes That is acknowledge him in thy enterprizes in any thing acknowledge him in the progresse that thou needest stabilishing grace acknowledge him in the issue that thou needest his blessing upon all thy endeavours acknowledge God in all our wayes Therefore whas do we but make our selves Gods when we set upon businesse