then the Blessedness you spake of For I bear you record that if it had been possible you would have plucked out your own Eyes and have given them to me The meaning is this When the Gospel came at first to be Preached among them generally they cried out O this Blessed Gospel O the Blessedness O these blessed Truths that is come among us such Truths as we were not acquainted withal O they are blessed Truths indeed Mark They were thus taken with the Truths of the Gospel when they were first Preached But now saith Paul Where is the Blessedness ye spake of Your Hearts are not now so taken with the Gospel as they were at first now you seem to be taken off from it Where is the Blessedness you spake of I make no Question but many Ministers in many Congregations have Cause to make Use of these words of the Apostle when God sent them at first The Hearts of People were taken with the Ministry of the Gospel but within a while they are off again And well may their Ministers say Where is the Blessedness you spake of The Peace of the Gospel it doth not abide upon them but one thing or other takes it off from them So in Heb. 6. There you read of some that yet were not Sav'd by the Gospel or were not in a Condition at least for the present to be Sav'd yet they had a taste of the Heavenly Gift They did not only hear the Word and understand it but they Had a taste of the good Word of God O they said It was the good Word of God And Mark Of the Powers of the World to come That is of those powerful Truths of those Truths that do concern the World to come that were powerful Truths For so certainly my Brethren the Truths that do concern the World to come as powerful Truths they have a mighty deal of Power to work upon the Heart And these had not only the Apprehensions but a taste of the Powers of the World to come and yet it appears that they had not those things that did accompany Salvation Many other Scriptures might be shewed that there are many that are Affected with the Gospel yea they are Convinc'd and they have some taste of it and their Spirits taken yea almost perswaded with him that we read of almost perswaded to become a Christian and yet for all this this Mercy that is here promised to the Sons of Peace is not their Portion the peace of the Gospel doth not rest upon their Spirits It is a Blessing beyond that which any Hypocrite in the World hath to have this peace of the Gospel to rest and abide upon his Spirit That is First To be set up as a constant Light before the Soul not to come as a meer flash of Lightning suddenly come and suddenly gone but then it may be said to rest when the Lord sets up those glorious Truths of the Gospel as a constant Light before the Soul And Secondly When as the Lord works those Truths by Meditation upon the Heart the Lord causes those Truths to follow the Thoughts of the Mind and so to work them upon the Heart yea into the Heart of the Thoughts of the Mind when the Lord gives a constant real Taste of those Truths and Savour of them that though they be not alwayes Hearing of them yet the Savour and Relish doth abide in a constant way upon their Hearts when the Lord causes those Truths of the Gospel to spread all over the Faculties of their Souls that it is as the Holy Ghost compares it in Scripture to Leven The Kingdom of God is like unto Leven which in a little time doth Leven the whole Lump So when the Lord causes the Truths of the Gospel not only to be in the Mind in the Understanding in the Conscience but to get into the Heart to get into the Affections and as it were to Leven in a good sense the whole Soul by the Sweetness and the Goodness and the Excellency of those Truths Yea when the Lord shall cause those Truths to be dearly Rooted in the Heart to take such Root as Temptations and Deducements any Provocations without shall never be able to take out those Truths which are upon the Heart When the Lord shall cause them to stick so fast to sinck so deep into the Heart let there come what will to take off the Heart from them or take them out of the Heart yet they shall never be able to take them out of the Heart As a Martyr said saith he You may take my Heart out of my Body but you shall never take the Belief of these things out of my Heart O the Blessing and the Truths of the Gospel did so rest upon his Soul and they had gotten so near into his Heart that nothing in the World could take it off Many People that are a little stirr'd upon the Hearing of the Gospel and they think it is good and the Truths are Blessed Truths and they had good Resolutions but perhaps when they come Home from Hearing of the Word they shall have a Fellow-servant Jearing of them or the Father or Mother Speaking against them or the Husband the Wife or the Wife the Husband and so perhaps they come to lose all those Truths which formerly they were so taken with But those that are the Sons of Peace they have the Peace of the Gospel resting upon them as hath been Opened to you and this is a very great Blessing of God O this is a Mercy indeed for the Lord to grant the Truths of the Gospel and the Good of it thus to rest upon the Heart that the Heart doth keep it as a Treasure within it it is a great Mercy First Because it is a special Fruit of the Covenant of Grace according to that Text in Jer. 31. where God promises as the Fruit of the Covenant that he will Write His Law in their Inwards parts Now certainly by the Law it is not meant the Letter of the Ten Commandments But when He saith I will Write my Law that is My Will The great Counsels of my Will And the saving Truths of God are there meant by the Law For when David Expresses his love to the Law he means also the Soul-saving Truths that are Revealed in the Word of God and certainly there because it was in the time under the Law the Language of the Holy Ghost was suitable to the Time But certainly It is meant in a more especial manner the Truths of the Gospel That look as the Law was Written in Adams Heart at first so now those that are received into the Covenant have the Law of the Gospel and the Truths of that Written in their Hearts That is When ever they shall come to hear the Truths of the Gospel Opened to them they shall find as it were a Counterpain of the blessed Truths of the Gospel in their Hearts Yea further To have the Word of
the Gospel in the Heart and for the Heart to keep it It is a very great and close Mercy a greater Mercy than to have Christ to be Born of the Body of a Woman in Luke 11. 27. And it came to pass as He spake these things a certain Woman lift up her voice and said unto Him Blessed is the Womb that Bare thee and the Paps which thou hast Sucked But He said Yea rather blessed are they which hear the Word of God and keep it Those that when they have heard the Word of the Gospel and shall keep it in their Hearts and not let it Vanish away from them but keep it I say in their Power and Life upon their Hearts they are rather Blessed than the Womb was Blessed that Bare Jesus Christ or than the Paps were Blessed that gave Jesus Christ Suck I suppose there is no Woman here but would account her self a blessed Woman if her Womb had Porn Jesus Christ and if her Paps had given Jesus Christ Suck Now here is a greater Blessedness than this for a Woman to hear the Word of the Gospel Preached unto her and to have this Word of the Gospel to rest in her Heart and for her to keep it in her heart in the Power and Life and Efficacy of it this Woman now hath a greater Blessing than if she had Born Jesus Christ in her Womb. Surely it is a great Blessing to have the blessed things of the Gospel to be kept in the Soul after the hearing of them And further A great Mercy because there is such a wonderful Power in the good things of the Gospel and therefore it must needs be a great Mercy to have those things abide upon the Heart They have such a mighty power to work good upon the Heart a mighty Convincing power they have to Convince any Soul in the World Let a Man or Woman be never so Wicked or Prophane yet there are such blessed Truth in the Gospel that is enough to Convince his Soul I say though it be never so vile and to take his Heart And we have little Cause to fear the working upon the Hearts of People only if we could but procure this that those things that we Speak might but abide upon their Hearts If we were but sure that what we Deliver in the Name of God would but abide upon their Spirits we need not fear the working upon any Soul Living let them be never so Vile there is such a mighty Power and Efficacy in those blessed things of the Gospel when they come to be Revealed And so there is a mighty Comforting power to Comfort the Soul with such Consolation as is Infinitely above all Consolation that ever it was Acquainted withal before There is a mighty Power to resist any Temptation If the Truths of God were but kept in the Soul we might make little of all Temptations in the World The Devil could have little hope to prevail with any Temptations if the Word of the Gospel did but abide upon the Heart of a Man or Woman that doth hear it This is the advantage that the Devil hath at any time when one hath been hearing of the Word if he knows that the Word is past from them and it doth not abide then he can come with Temptations and makes no question of prevailing But if the Devil knows that those Truths do abide and rest upon the Soul the Devil can have little hope to prevail The Peace of God shall keep your Hearts Fro Resi shall Guard your Hearts It shall be as a Troop of Horse to keep you from Temptations from the power and strength of Temptations You complain and say O that you would do better but Temptations are so strong that they prevail upon you Why are Temptations so strong It is because thy Soul is not acquainted with the Blessed and Glorious things of the Gospel and the Power and Life of them doth not abide upon thy Spirit And likewise the Truths of the Gospel O they have a mighty deal of Power to cleanse your Hearts 1 Pet. 2. 20. There you have mentioned the Power of the Knowledg of the Gospel when it abides in one that might be an Hypocrite and therefore not of that Efficasie that the true saving Knowledg is Yet Observe what is said there For if after they have escaped the Pollutions of the World through the Knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Now then If that Knowledg have such a cleansing Power O what Power then hath the true saving Power of the great things of the Gospel and the Glorious things of it to Cleanse the Heart Yea If those Truths do abide upon the Spirits they have a Transforming power they have a power to change the Heart into the same likeness According to that Scripture 2 Cor. 3. 18. But we all with open face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Now this Gospel of the Lord is nothing else but the good things of the Gospel We behold them and that as with open Face as we do behold the Gospel of the Lord. And what then We are changed into the same Image Oh! this is a Blessed abiding it is a Blessed thing for the things of the Gospel to rest upon the Soul Why Because they have such a Power in them to Change the Heart to Transform the Heart into the very Image of them and the Truths of the Gospel have the clearest Image of God upon them the Glory of God is Imprinted upon the Truths of the Gospel Now that these should rest upon the Spirit it must needs be a great Mercy Another is this It is that which makes them indeed to be Saving All those Blessed things of the Gospel that are Revealed they never come to be Saving until they come to rest upon the Soul to be got into the Heart and there to dwell and rest Mark that Scripture in James 1. 21. Wherefore lay a part all Filthiness and Superstuity of Naughtiness and receive with Meekness the Ingraffed Word which is able to save your Souls Mark Receive with Meekness the Word But how The Ingraffed Word which is able to save your Souls The Word of God can never save your Souls till it comes to be an Ingraffed Word Now these things I premise to shew you the Excellency of this that so I might have the more ground for an Exhortation by and by To labour to keep the Word of God I mean those Truths of the Gospel that at any times comes to be discovered to you Now by way of Application as brief as may be First In the First place Hence we see cause the Ministers of the Gospel especially see cause bitterly to Lament the want of this in their Auditory ordinarily It 's true There are few that are faithful Preachers of the Gospel but they do find that
them They shall be exceeding Gainers Your Peace shall abide upon them But If not If there be any that are not appointed to it or that attend not upon it that are not Obedient unto it Then your Peace shall turn to you again What 's that That is First This is by way of Encouragement unto the Disciples And Secondly By way of Threatning unto those that shall Reject the Offers of the Gospel First To the Disciples Two wayes First Though their Ministry should not do good to Souls yet they should not be Losers but the Blessing of the Peace shall return into their own Bosoms Look what Good they endeavoured to do to the People they Preached unto if they did not receive it then this Good should return upon their own Hearts they should get by it themselves Secondly Which I think to be as much intended as the former and that 's this Your Ministry the Ministry of your Peace For so this Peace is It shall return to you That is It shall be of as much Vigour Strength Power and Efficacy to be carried to others as it was at the first They may think thus If we do go and Preach to a People and shall be Rejected then our Ministry is like to be vile For if one shall Reject us it 's like another will It is so indeed in matters of the World if a worldly Business receive any Foil in one it 's more like to receive a Foil in another But saith Christ be not you troubled about this but if you should Preach to any People where you should have any to Reject your Ministry it should return to you again it shall have as much Efficacy and Power as if it never had been rejected when you go to carry it to another People Whatsoever Disrespect is cast upon the Ministers or upon their Ministry yet as the Apostle saith The Word of God is not bound Though we are bound though the Ministry prevails not in one People yet it retains the power of it as much as if it had never been Rejected And as for those that do Reject it let them know First That they shall have no Blessing of that Peace Secondly Let them know that it shall not continue long among them No not in the Ministry of it but that God will deal very quick with them for if they will not receive it it shall return to you again And thus you have both the Scope and the Dependance and the meaning of these words read unto you Now then there are many Observations of Excellent Note unto us As from Ver. 5. Into whatsoever House ye enter first say Peace be to this House Observ 1. First That the Ministers of the Gospel ought to be Men of Gentle and Fair Loving Dispositions First say Peace be to this House Observ 2. That Ministers of the Gospel ought to Bless the People among whom they come say Peace be to them Observ 3. The great Errand and Business a Minister comes about to a People it is to bring Peace to them Observ 4. That a Minister hath Warrant and Commission to offer peace to any place wheresoever he comes let them be what they will be he hath a Commission from Christ to offer peace to them Observ 5. That the first thing a Minister is to do in his Preaching it is to offer Peace first say Peace before any thing else And these are the Five Notes of Observation from Ver. 5. Now then from Ver. 6. And if the Son of Peace be there From hence there 's this Observ 1. First Note That when God sends the Ministers of the Gospel unto a place it is very probable that there are some appointed for the good of it that there will be some Sons of Peace there Observ 2. That those that do entertain the Gospel they are The Sons of Peace Obser 3. Whosoever are Sons of Peace shall certainly have all the Blessing of the Peace of the Gospel to rest upon them Obser 4. Yet sometimes where God sends the Ministry of the Word it is rejected If not and Gods Ministers must expect it Obser 5. Wheresoever it is Rejected those certainly are Deprived of the Benefit of the Gospel If not it shall return to you again Observ 6. That those that are Faithful Ministers shall not lose their Labour though they should not Convert Souls to God It shall return Observ 7. And then lastly Those that shall reject the Gospel are not like to enjoy it long God will deal with them very quick If not your Peace shall return to you again and there 's an end of them saith God These are the several Notes of Observation out of this Direction of Christ to the Disciples for their Preaching And into whatsoever House ye enter first say Peace be to that House First You see how Ministers of the Gospel should come to a place with gentleness and chearfulness and manifest a sweetness of Spirit in coming to any place and so to gaine upon people that way In Lev. 24 2. The Lamps in the Temple were to be of pure Oyle Olive beaten to note that the Lights that God sets up in his Church should be of peaceable and gentle Spirits of sweet Spirits You know that the Olive it is the emblem of peace and sweetness So in Rev. 12. 4. The Two Witnesses there which especially are the Ministers of the Gospel they are said to be the Two Olive Branches Those who Christ sends especially to witness to himself and unto his Truth they are to be Olive Branches Men of peaceable and gentle and loving dispositions So we find that the Apostle St. Paul saith concerning himself 1 Thes 2. 7. But we were gentle among you even as a nurse cherisheth her children So in 2 Tim. 2. 24. The servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men apt to teach patient in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give a general repentance to the acknowledging of the truth And this must be first Because that God in whose Name they come is the God of Peace Secondly Christ whose Embassadors they are is the Prince of Peace And Thirdly The Spirit of God by whose assistance they Preach is set out by the Dove that they say hath no Gall it was wont to be said of Beza that he was a man without any Gall. And the Gospel that is their Message that 's a Gospel of Peace and the end that they are to aime at in their Ministry it is to bring peace to mens Souls And besides sometimes there is a necessity for Ministers to preach things that are hard unto people things that they think to be very hard and grievous unto them though their main scope be the Gospel of Peace yet there are many things that belong to their Commission that seem to be very hard to people As the opening of their lost and miserable condition by Nature and the like and to
come among them But Thirdly Ministers are to bring the Message of Peace to a People The great Errand that a Minister of the Gospel comes about it is to bring Peace it is to be a Messenger of Peace unto you And indeed the Ministry of the Gospel doth many times bring outward Peace unto a People When was there ever a Kingdom upon the Face of the Earth that hath had longer continuance of outward Peace than England hath had And the Reason why our outward Peace is taken from the Kingdom for the present it is because the Ministry of the Gospel hath been Rejected and the Sword comes to Avenge the Covenant of the Lord it comes to Avenge the Rejection of the Gospel of Peace and if we reject the Gospel of peace God saith we shall not have outward peace for our State If we will not imbrace peace for our Souls we shall not have outward peace for our Bodies But though the Ministry of the Word bring you outward peace many times yet the main thing it is to bring is Spiritual peace Peace be to you As if the Apostles should say We are come unto you from the Great God of gods to be the Embassadors of peace for your Souls to Preach unto you the Doctrine of Peace between God and you This is the great Errand that we come about Peace be to you And saith the Apostle To us is committed the Word of Reconciliation That 's the great thing that is committed to Ministers to Preach to a People the Word of Peace The Work that they are sent about it is to Treat between God and man upon Terms of peace It is I say to Treat with your Souls for peace that you might come to have peace with God that a Blessed peace might be made between God and you This is the great Errand that they come about and whatsoever they Preach to you else if it be to shew you what your miserable Condition is yet it is in order to this still To bring peace to your Souls And indeed all Faithful Ministers are careful of this to shew at the very first what their Scope is it is to bring them to Life and Salvation But that in the next point But this certainly ought to be their Scope whatsoever is Preached it must Aim at the great Treaty between God and their Souls for Reconciliation Our Scope when we come to Preach unto you it is not so much to Civilise you to enveigh against Notorious crying Sins Drunkards and Whore-Masters and Thieves and Blasphemers though according as we meet with these things in the Road we are to speak against them But suppose we should cry out against these sins this were good and we had cause to bless God for it I but we had not done our Work the great Work that we are to do it is to Treat with your Souls about peace with God to shew you how the Enmity that is between your Souls and God naturally is to be taken away that so there may be a blessed Reconciliation between God and you This is the great Errand of the Ministers of the Gospel unto a People and if this be the Errand of it Then what an Honourable Work is this to set Man about And the truth is it is in some regard a more Honourable Work than ever Angels were sent about God doth not send the Angels about this Work to Treat with Mankind about Terms of Peace with God They are made Ministring Spirits for the good of Gods Elect and are made by God to be Executioners against Wicked men But we never Read that God hath committed the Word of Reconciliation to Angels God hath not appointed them to be the Preachers of Peace to People therefore it is the most Honourable Work that ever Creature was set about to come to a place and say Peace be to this place in the Name of God And being it is such a Work as this O how Detestable and Vile and Cursed is Laziness or Idleness in any one that should profess himself a Minister of the Gospel What Come about such a Work as this to be an Embassador of Reconciliation from the Great God of Heaven and Earth O he should have his Heart and Thoughts taken up about this Night and Day he should be Studying how he should Manage this great Work that God sends him about to poor People And O how acceptable should the Ministry of the Gospel be unto you You need not fear any hurt it will do It is but to Treat with your Souls about peace with God there 's all that is intended in this Ministry Do not fear it though things sometimes are spoken that you apprehend to be Terrible to you yet all tend to this end To bring peace unto you Therefore as the Prophet in Isa 52. 7. saith How beautiful upon the Mountains are the Feet of him that bringeth good Tidings that publisheth peace O his very Feet should be beautiful in your Eyes This Scripture the Apostle doth quote in Rom. 10. 15. How shall they Preach except they be sent As it is written How beautiful are the Feet of them that Preach the Gospel of Peace Here it is That bring good Tidings So indeed the great Work of the Gospel it is nothing else but a good Message good Tidings and so our English word is to the same effect good News good Tidings And certainly did People but understand what the Scope of Christ were to carry things about so in the wayes of His Providence to bring Ministers of the Gospel to Preach peace to their Souls It could not be but they should open their very hearts unto them We read of Noah when he sent forth his Dove after the Ark had been a long time upon the Waters the Dove brings an Olive Branch to the Ark and Noah puts forth his hand and takes in the Dove The Ministers of the Gospel are as this Dove and they come with an Olive Leaf in their Mouths and they do not get it from the Wilderness but they take it from Paradice they bring it from the Scriptures from those Blessed things of the Gospel that are revealed in the Word and bring it to your Souls Now therefore you should open your hearts and take in the blessed Message of Peace and Reconciliation And then further If so be that this be the great Work of the Ministers of the Gospel what a vile World is this that can hardly bear with the Ministers nor Ministry of the Gospel but accounts them to be great Disturbers of the places where they Live So they did to the Prophets and Apostles Elisha Art not thou the troubler of Israel And so of Paul He was said to be a Pestilent fellow The Apostles were said to turn the World up side-down And so Luther he was said to be the very Trumpet of Rebellion so he was called by Ungodly men It is not a New thing for the World to have