such an Esteem of Ministers of the Gospel And what do they do It is only Preaching peace to the Souls of Men. But Lastly If this be so That the Errand is to bring Peace to your Souls Then hence you Learn what you are to come for when you come to hear Sermons you hear that at such a time there is such a Sermon or a new Man there is come among you and you come to hear what he can say or you hear that in such or such a place there is a very witty Man and of Excellent parts and you come to hear what he can say But alass you deceive your own Souls all this while You should come with a Disposition of Spirit I am now going to hear the Doctrine of Peace between God and my Soul to attend upon the Ministry of Reconciliation this day And though the very word be not spoken of Peace yet the Word that doth tend to the making peace between God and my Soul And indeed when you feel the Ministry of the Gospel working of your Hearts into peace with God then hath it had the true genuine proper Effect upon your Hearts that God hath appointed it for But if you only shall sit under the Ministry of the Word and it may be only Gain some further knowledge in the things of Religion that you never knew before or be inabled to Discourse of something in Divinity more than you could before What 's this to the Fruit of the Ministry of the Gospel No But can you say Blessed be God the Lord hath made known to my Soul what my Estate was by Nature The Lord hath opened to me the Doctrine of Reconciliation The Lord hath shewn to my Soul how I am to make peace with God and that in another manner of way than ever I thought of I come now to see it to be another manner of Mistery of Godliness than ever I imagined before Can you say so now Hath the Gospel had this end of it upon your Hearts O then it hath had the Effect that the Lord doth send it for And thus much for the Third Note of Observation That the Work of Ministers is to bring Peace the Message of Peace to People Observ 4. The Fourth Point is this That the Ministers of the Gospel are to offer Peace unto every one For so you have it Into whatsoever House ye enter say Peace be to it Offer terms of Peace to it If you come to a place where there are the most Notorious sinners of all yet offer peace to them Though they be the most Prophane and Ungodly people that should Live yet offer peace to them Though they be Old sinners that have Liv'd a long time in most vile sins yet offer peace to them Into whatsoever House you come you have a Command to offer peace in the Name of God even to them For my Brethren the Merit of Christ it is of such infinite value that we may if we knew what the meaning of that is comfortably offer peace to the most Notorious vile sinners that do Live upon the Face of the Earth We read of Christ that He would have His Disciples to go and Preach in the High-wayes Mat. 22. Saith Christ unto His Servants Go your wayes into the High-way and as many as you shall find bid to the Marriage Into the High-wayes to Note those that were the most Unlikely the most Vile and Wicked Go unto them and bid them to the Marriage And in the last of Mat. 15. Go saith Christ into all the World and Preach the Gospel to every Creature They might say Lord perhaps we shall meet with some that are most Notorious Villains and Blasphemers and Prophane and Ungodly Creatures Must we Preach the Gospel to them I Go and Preach the Gospel to every Creature Into any place whatsoever you come you shall offer Peace unto them I but you will say This may harden many in their prophaneness If God would have His Ministers offer Peace to the most prophane People that are Then may some prophane one say I hope we shall do well enough then To that I answer The Lord will venture this The Lord is so desirous of Magnifying His Grace to offer it to those that belong to His Election as that He will venter the Hardning of other men If they will be Hardned saith God let them be Hardened And so Though a Minister ought to be as Careful as he can to prevent all Stumbling Blocks yet certainly he is to Venter the Hardning of many Hundreds rather than not to Preach the Gospel of God to any one Soul He should more regard the Offering of the Gospel of Peace in hope that there are some few that belong to Gods Election than to fear the Hardning of many Hundreds And if you should be Hardned by the offer of the Gospel of Peace there could be no greater Brand of your Rejection and that will make it appear that you are no such Son of Peace I but then may some say that are more Civil and Fair What if God send the Gospel to the most prophane surely there is no question but God will have mercy upon us for He doth appoint His Ministers to offer the Gospel of peace to the worst I but know what Christ saith That the Publicans and Harlots did enter into the Kingdom of God rather than the Scribes and Pharisees God offers to the worst yea many times makes it more effectual to the worst than He doth to some that are more Fair and Civil in their Conversations because indeed they do not see the need that they have of Peace I suppose you would think it to be one of the most Hard and Harsh things in the World if you should be told that all of you naturally were Enemies to God and yet there is nothing more plain in the Scripture than this Now because it is so hard to convince Civil men of this therefore they are not so soon wrought upon as prophane ones are Wherefore then my Brethren if this be so it is an Encouragement First to Ministers when they come to any place never to be troubled whatsoever people they be if he come to Preach to them and offer the Gospel of Peace to them for who knows but those that are the Worst and Vilest ones may come in and embrace the Gospel of Peace may be Vessels of Mercy and may hereafter stand and admire at the Riches of Gods Goodness and may live Eternally to Bless His Name for this blessed Peace that is made between their Souls and Himself And Secondly All you that do hear this Point stand for the present and admire at Gods Goodness that ever this should be so that ever you should hear such a Truth as this is that Christ would have His Ministers offer Terms of Peace to the Worst in the World I say Admire at this Goodness of Christ and especially you that are prophane ones stand and wonder
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
conscience liberty to reprove you for being Truant in the School of Jesus Christ and let this humble your souls before the Lord. I shall speak more to that afterwards but for the present know that this is your work to go and be humbled before the Lord that you have not understood what it is to sanctifie God in the fulness that you enjoy Lord Through thy mercy I have all my dayes been full of outward comforts Thou hast been full-handed towards me in the wayes of thy mercy but Lord though I have had fulness a long time O how far have I been from knowing how to be full If this be to know it then I have been a stranger to it hitherto Tenthly A man doth know how to abound when he knows how to make use of the Comforts he doth enjoy of the world so as not to be hindered by the afflictions or troubles that doth attend his Comforts In mens abounding and being full of comforts in this world they cannot but have some affliction and some troubles attending these comforts for all Creature comforts are mingled comforts Now then Then a man knows rightly how to be full when he enjoyes his fulness so as though he hath some affliction mixed yet he can tell how to make use of his affliction for his humiliation and his comforts for thanksgiving unto God at the same time whereas now abundance of people when they enjoy comfort if they meet with any trouble and affliction mixed with their comfort they are filled so with vexation and bitterness and their spirits are so troubled that they lose all the good of their comforts As Haman he did abound but he did not know how to abound therefore when he was but crossed in one thing that Mordecay did not bow the Knee to him why all the comfort of his prosperity was taken away and his spirit was filled with rage and bitterness and malice And thus it is with many people that have abundance in their Families they are full of outward comforts they have their Yoke-fellows comfortable Children they have Estates they have their Tables furnished and all things that one would think might content the heart of a man almost But now if any one cross doth fall out that doth displease them they are put into such a vexation and fretting humour as they lose all the benefit of the comforts Do'st thou know how to abound when as thou goest abroad and something crossest thee or thy Servant doth something amiss why presently thou art in a rage and fretting and all thy thanksgiving to God for all thy mercies that 's forgot Nothing but fretting and vexing in the Family for one cross when as there are a hundred mercies that thou shouldest bless God for Thou dost not know how to to abound when thou canst not tell how to sever the good of mercy from the consideration of affliction And though God doth afflict thee in something yet he gives thee abundance of occasions to bless him and praise him But now when thou canst bless God for all mercies and be humbled for all afflictions at the same time If God doth grant me more mercies then affliction he shall have more thanksgiving from me then sorrow or then trouble I le have more joy then I will have trouble if I have more mercy then I have correction This man knows how to abound that can do thus then Eleventhly lastly That man knows how to abound that in his abundance yet knows himself Such a man or woman knows how to be full and to abound I say that if they are full and abound yet they know themselves It s ordinary for people not to know themselves when once they come to abound Saul was little in his own eyes when he was in a mean estate but when Saul came to abound he knew not himself And so it hath been ordinary with people that their abundance hath taken away the very knowledge of themselves they have grown wanton and foolish and proud that they have not known themselves when they have abounded But now when a man in the midst of abundance knows his own meaness and wretchedness and sinfulness and vileness notwithstanding his abundance here 's a man that hath learned this lesson of the Apostle how to abound But this is a very difficult lesson If there be such things as as these in learning how to abound surely the lesson must needs be difficult You that are Mariners think if you have Sea-roome enough you are safe you care not then but it 's otherwise in this that we are speaking of your Sea-roome may be your undoing and the more abundance you have the more difficult it will be for you to know how to order your selves in your way I gave divers reasons why this lesson was more difficult then the other to know how to be full than to be empty which few people in the world will think so but certainly it is so Now though the very naming of these things may shew he difficulty of it yet we shall come in the Second place to shew that there 's a great deale of difficulty in Mens and Womens knowing how to be full And I name this the rather because I would put your hearts upon exercise that you may not lightly pass over what is said when we speak of knowing how to be full for it is ordinary for Men that have estates and outward comforts to slight the Word Well Let me have what will satisfie me and for this lesson to know how to be full I hope we shall do well enough for that Now for this that you may not slight the lesson I shall shew you something about the difficulty of it You that are Marriners If you may have Sea-roome enough you care not you think then you can do well enough but though you can do well enough in your Art when you have Sea-roome yet the truth is you do the worst for your selves when you have the greatest Sea of prosperity there you do worst of all and it is your Sea-room that doth undo you I mean the abundance of outward prosperity it is that ordinarily which doth undo men So it is easier a great deal you know for one to manage a little Boat in the Thames then for one to be able to manage an East-Indian Ship The truth is less skill will serve for the ordering of a mans estate when it is low and mean in the world than when he comes to be full It were a mad thing for a man that can but onely row in the Thames to undertake the command of one of your greatest Ships And so it is for those that are mean if God doth not teach them how to be full they are like to undo themselves by their fulness as well as any way It is easier for a man to manage a little estate that he hath then for him to manage great merchandizing There is more difficulty and skill required
rather because of Christs comeing among them and they refusing Him But this is the Scope of my Fathers sending of Me into the World that by Me the World may be Saved and so do I send you I send you to Places not to Condemn them not to Aggravate their Sin and their Condemnation That is not my primary Intention though this may fall out but I send you to a place that through your Ministry Souls in that place may come to be Saved Reas 2. A second Reason is from the Promise of Christ unto His Ministers when they go to any place to Preach In the last words of the Gospel by Saint Matthew Christ sends them to Preach and saith He Lo I am with you alwayes even unto the end of the World I am with you to Assist you and to Bless you whithersoever you go even to the end of the World That is with you and with all that shall succeed you to Preach this Gospel in any place unto the end of the World Reas 3. Further We know that the Gospel it is the Arm of God Isa 53. 1. Who hath believed our Report and to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed And Rom. 1. 16. It is the Power of God unto Salvation And if God Arm and Gods Power unto Salvation come among a People there is hopes that there is an Intention of some Good unto some of them Reas 4. The Preaching of the Gospel It brings the Day of Grace and of Salvation to any place wheresoever it comes and so long as that doth continue to any place so long the day of Grace and Salvation continues to the place This you have clearly 2 Cor. 6. beginning We then as Workers together with Him beseech you also that ye receive not the Grace of God in vain For He saith I have heard thee in a time accepted and in the day of Salvation have I succoured thee Behold NOW is the accepted time behold NOW is the day of Salvation Now When was that Now That was when the Apostles came and Preached among them the Doctrine of Reconciliation Now is the accepted time Now is the day of Salvation Now if you come in you may be accepted Now is the time that if you be appointed to be Sav'd you must come in now Reas 5. And this Scripture doth put me upon a Fifth Reason of the Point and that is That when the Gospel comes to be Preached to a place it doth not only make an Accepted time and a day of Salvation But it is the Fruit of the Prayer of Jesus Christ even of that Prayer that Christ hath made to God the Father that He would in such a time send the Ministry of the Gospel to be clearly and powerfully Taught in that place And if you ask me where the place is that doth prove it it is in Isa 49. 8. You have there almost the very some words that you have here Thus saith the Lord In an acceptable time have I heard thee and in a day of Salvation have I helped thee Now this is clearly meant of Christ if you look both unto the Coherence of the words with what hath been before and that which follows after For saith He I will preserve thee and give thee for a Covenant of the People to Establish the Earth to cause to Inherit the desolate Heritages Now saith God concerning Christ Thus saith the Lord In an acceptable time have I heard thee What is that acceptable time It is that which the Apostle doth Interpret to be A day of Salvation The Apostle speaks of an acceptable Time and of a day of Salvation and saith he Now it is Now while we are Preaching the glad Tidings of the Gospel unto you And here saith the Holy Ghost The Lord hath heard thee in an acceptable time and in a day of Salvation That is When as Jesus Christ did Pray to God the Father for His Church that should be that God would send the Ministry of the Gospel unto those whom the Father had given unto Him from all Eternity I say Jesus Christ did Pray unto the Father for them Now saith God I have heard thy Prayer and I have granted what thou Prayest for And this hearing of thy Prayer it is an acceptable Time and it is a day of Salvation Thou hast a day of Salvation according to thy prayer and this very day the Apostle doth Interpret of sending the Gospel unto any place So that where the Gospel comes it is not to be lookt upon as a thing that comes meerly by Accident or by an ordinary Providence of God as other things but it is that that comes unto a place by Virtue of the Prayer of Jesus Christ of the Intercession of Jesus Christ unto the Father for that particular Place or Town or Parish And this is the Reason why the Lord leaves some places destitute of Help in Ignorance and Darkness that they scarce ever come to hear of Jesus Christ And others that it may be are in themselves as unworthy as the other they come to have the great things of the Gospel opened to them The reason of the difference is Jesus Christ hath Interceeded before the Father for the one and not for the other and one is the Fruit of the Prayer of Jesus Christ and the other Christ hath let go because they do not so belong unto Him He hath not those among them that are to be made the Sons of Peace Reas 6. Yet further When the Gospel comes to a place there is hope of Good because that the Gospel hath in it self so much power I say it is not only as an Ordinance to convey the Word of God But though Mans Words and Ministry hath little in it yet the Truths of the Gospel they have in them a mighty Strength there are such wonderful things that the Gospel doth Reveal wheresoever it comes that one would wonder that the Hearts of all People should not be taken with it Yea there are such things that are made known in the Gospel that one would think might break the Heart of any Devil in Hell That if God should send the Gospel unto the Devils if they were not gone Irrecoverably one would think that what is made known in the Gospel might break the heart of a Devil O that God should be Reconcil'd to Man To send His own Son to Die for base Worms upon whom the Lord might have Glorified His Infinite Justice upon to all Eternity There is that in the Gospel that it is to Admiration that all People do not come in unto it What doth Christ say If the Son of Peace It is a wonder that all do not come in to Imbrace the Blessed Gospel The Patience of God doth Lead to Repentance Then what might the Grace of God do that is held out in the Gospel The Lord doth reveal such Arguments to draw People that to speak after the manner of Men we may conceive That if the
great Moment and when he doth come to hear he doth bend his whole Soul to attend to what is heard and he dares not give liberty to the wandering of his Thoughts And he doth charge his Memory with such and such truths to think of these whatsoever he doth forget And here 's now a Son of Peace as the Children of the Bride-Chamber they are such as do attend there So he A Son of Peace attends upon the Ministry of the Gospel Now by this Second thou mayst know the First thou mayst know whither thou beest a Son That is whither thou beest one that from all Eternity wert set apart by God the Father to obtain the Peace and Benefits of the Gospel But Thirdly The Son of the Gospel is to be as an Obedient Child To come with a Resolution when he comes to hear the Word Whatsoever the Lord shall this day make known of his Mind unto me the Lord knows that I would fain yield unto it I come with this Resolution every time I come to hear the Ministry of the Gospel This is now a Son of Peace that comes with such a Heart resolved to be Obedient unto it 2. He doth open his Understanding and is easily Convinc'd of those Truths that he doth hear Revealed in the Ministry of the Gospel he doth not stand Opposing of them 3. He doth open his Heart to accept of the Conditions of the Covenant when the Lord Reveals the Doctrine of the Covenant of Life and Peace the Soul doth open it self to admit of the Conditions of the Covenant Lord Speak thy Servant hears Reveal what Thou wilt my Soul is here ready and willing to accept of the Covenant whatever it be Further He doth give up himself to be Moulded by the Gospel according to that Phrase in Rom. 6. 17. The Doctrine into which ye were delivered So it is in the Original that is There is a delivering of the Soul up to the Ministry of the Word as the Mettle is to the Mould to be Fashioned by it So here a Son of Peace doth give up his Soul to be Moulded by the Word whatsoever he was before yet here he is now ready to give up his Soul to be Fashioned to be Framed by the Word Here 's a Son of Peace Further He doth in his Conversation Act what he doth hear in the Ministry of the Word and he doth indeavour to Live according to the glorious Gospel that he doth hear and he doth Labour to become the Gospel So that one may know in such a ones Family and in such a ones Life a mighty deal of Alteration And again Such a one as is Begotten by it is not only Obedient but indeed there is the work of Regeneration wrought and therefore he may be called a Son saith the Apostle I have Begotten you by the Gospel And so by the Word of Truth you are Begotten Abundance of Scriptures might be for this Those that the Gospel works Savingly upon the Gospel doth not only stir their Hearts but put a new Life into them They live by new Principles by new Rules they find a mighty Power in the Gospel to Beget them again And such as these are are Sons because they are Heirs of the Gospel Children of the Kingdom But that we shall have more use of in the other place when we speak of the Blessing of the Gospel that shall be upon them Now to Apply these in a few words The good Hearers of the Gospel are the Sons of Peace O what a blessed thing it is to be the Sons of Peace Better to be the Son of Peace than a Monarch than of the greatest of the World better to be this Son of Peace than to injoy all the World If the Lord should give thee the Inheritance of all the World He doth not do so much for thee as when He makes thee to be a Son of Peace It may be many of you were Born very mean and you are like to Inherit but little of this World but if the Lord work upon your Hearts in the Ministry of the Gospel that which comes by this makes you blessed Creatures for ever For by this means you come to be the Sons of the Living God You come to be the Children of Life and Co-heirs with Jesus Christ O how Industrious should Ministers of the Gospel be to Beget such Sons of Peace to God St. Paul in Gal. 4. he tells the Galatians there that he did Labour and Travel in Birth till Christ was formed in them My little Children of whom I Travel in Birth again until Christ be formed in you A Faithful Minister of the Gospel doth even Travel in Birth that he might beget Sons of Peace to Jesus Christ And O the Blessedness of this Work for God to set Men on Earth to this Work to Beget Sons of Peace If we should Beget you to be Children of the Bond-woman it were somewhat that is to strike fear into your Hears by the Terror of the Law I but to Beget you to be Children of Peace and of the Free-woman this is a great deal more This is such a Work as it is that which doth satisfies the Soul of Jesus Christ when He sees it It satisfie His Soul for all His Sufferings As in Isa 53. 10 11. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him That is It pleased God the Father to bruise Jesus Christ For this is an Evangelical Chapter When thou shalt make His Soul an Offering for sin Mark He shall see His Seed He shall prolong His dayes and the Pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand He shall see some Children Born unto Him some Sons of Peace But Mark He shall see of the Travel of His Soul and shall be satisfied So that when there is a Son of Peace he is the Fruit of the Travel of the Soul of Jesus Christ and he is the Fruit at the Second hand of the Travel of the Souls of Gods Ministers their Souls Travel as you heard before in Paul but that not so much He is the Fruit of the Travel of the Soul of Jesus Christ the Soul of Christ Travels with this Birth and this Work of God upon the Heart of such a one it is the Fruit of this Travel of the Soul of Christ And Mark further And He shall be satisfied As if the Holy Ghost here should say Let but Jesus Christ see a Soul brought in to Himself let Him but see any Begotten to be the Sons of Peace Christ saith I am satisfied for all the Blood that I have shed for all my Sufferings I have been willing to come from the Bosom of my Father to take your Nature upon me and I did endure the Withdrawings of my Father when I cried My God my God why hast thou forsaken me I was made a Man of Sorrows and my Father did Bruise me and my Soul was made an Offering for sin But now What will satisfie the Soul
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
God doth at sometime or other Convice Men and somewhat stir their Hearts O but this is that that they have cause bitterly to complain of that those things that they deliver to them that are the Precious and Glorious things of Jesus Christ yet though they stir them a little for the while yet they do not rest upon them It was a Complaint of Chrisostom saith he We Ministers are in a worse Condition than any Work-men whatsoever Take a Carpenter he comes and works and leaves his Work over-night and comes the next day and finds it where it was as he left it his Work is no more forward neither backward Oh! But it is not so with us Preachers for we come and work upon the Hearts of People and we bring it into a reasonable good forwardness and we leave it one Night and come the next day but woe to us we find it not where we leave it We work upon their Hearts one Lords Day and it may be they go away with some Resolutions that they will break off their evil way and they will attend to the Ministry of the Word but before the next Lords Day they are quite off again They are got again into some wicked Company or other and they begin to harden their Hearts against those Blessed Truths so that our Condition is worse than any Work-mans whatsoever But though it be a sad Condition for the Ministers of the Gospel yet know it is a sadder Condition for your selves You that heretofore have heard those Blessed things of the Gospel and your Hearts have been taken with them have they rested upon you I put this to you in the Name of God I say Hath the Peace of the Gospel rested upon your Hearts It may be some of you may know Two or Three years ago God began to work upon you you began to have some Enlightning of Jesus Christ and of the Kingdom of God and you began to say Blessed are those that shall be partakers of those things but have these rested upon you Hath not the Ministry of the Gospel been to some of you like a Ship that when it is Sailing in the Water it makes a great Impression for the present but let the Ship be gone and the Water is as smooth as ever it was So many times when the Minister comes and open the Blessed Truths of the Gospel they make a mighty Dent upon the Hearts of their Auditors but within a little while their Hearts are like the Water no man can see that ever there was an Impression of any Truth upon their Hearts Now know that this is a very sad thing to have the Gospel begin to Affect the Heart but not to Rest First Consider How vile is thy heart it is an argument of strong corruption that is in thy heart that the things of the Gospel cannot stick there And Consider How vild it is that wicked thoughts vile base unworthy unclean filthy thoughts can abide upon you If the Devil dart in temptations they will abide and rest why when he darts them in over-night he can find them in the morning perhaps if you have some vain or unclean thoughts you can role them up and down in your mind for half a night together perhaps day after day and night after night base and filthy thoughts are rol'd up and down in your Spirits these things can abide Now what shall vile filthy ungodly thoughts rest in your hearts and shall not the Blessed and Glorious Truths of Jesus Christ and the things of the Kingdom of God rest upon your hearts Yea Consider further That it is a most dangerous thing for an essay of mercy to pass away and to do no good for mercy to come and as it were make a trial upon the heart and then leave it and no good done this is a sad condition It is not so dangerous while Men and Women are in such an estate as the mercy of God hath not made an essay as it were upon them But now When the Grace of the Gospel shall come to make an essay upon the heart to make as it were a tryal upon the heart and to have the repulse this is a dangerous thing for an offer of Gods Grace to be rejected is very sad to loose one opportunity of Gods Mercy is a very sad thing how dost thou know that ever they will come upon thy heart with that power that once they did and therefore thy condition is very sad And know further That when the Lord begins to reveal to thee the things of the Gospel and thou puttest them off those flashes of affection and conviction that thou hast had will prove to be matter of terror of conscience another day Some poor Soul may say Then Lord what shall become of me God knows this is my condition I come many times to hear the word and I meet with those truths that do mightily take my heart for the present but the Lord knows all vanishes again I think I could remember every thing that the Minister speaks while I am hearing of them but they go out again I hear that this is the Blessing of God upon the Sons of Peace that the Truths of the Gospel should abide upon their hearts and rest there O they do not rest with me Now and then they come to me but they do not rest with me Now for the Answer to this Perhaps they may not rest in thy memory but yet if the Fruit and effect of them doth rest in thy heart thou hast the Gospel resting in thy heart As thus Why perhaps the Water may pass through a Vessel go quite through it and not stay I but yet there is so much Fruit of the passage of it thorow as to keep the Vessel sweet Though you cannot take up any Water from it but it is all gone yet I say it keeps the Vessel sweet So I may say to those that have the weakest memories and yet the Lord hath wrought any degree of Grace though thy memory be so weak that thou canst not remember I speak this to those that have weak memories naturally and there is nothing that their Souls do more desire then this O that they might keep those things that they hear they would think themselves the most happy Creatures in the world if those truths that sometimes they hear might rest upon them I speak to those Is it so with thy heart Then though thou canst not remember yet if those truths keep thy heart sweet they keep thy heart from filthy lusts that they do not abide in thy heart thy heart is kept savory by them if there be this effect abiding upon thy heart to keep it savory and sweet this Peace of the Gospel may rest with thee though thou canst not remember particulars A Man or Woman perhaps they cannot remember what Meat they ate a little while since but they find themselves nourished by that Meat So for the word of God that
Doing Do not content thy self with Affections and Resolutions but fall a Doing and that doth mightily settle the Truth when it comes once to be Practised As now in a Temptation the Temptation is not settled until the Devil hath got something done according to the Temptation and when something is done then the Temptation settles So concerning the Truths of the Gospel a Man it may be hath some Resolutions and Desires but till there be somewhat done some Duties set upon some Reformation in thy Way and Life the Truth doth not settle but the doing somewhat according to what thou do'st hear that doth mightily settle the Truth upon thy Soul O think thus There is such and such a thing made known to me O it may do my Soul good for ever And if you did but keep those things that you hear they would do your Souls good they would do your Souls good in time of Affliction If the Truths of the Gospel did rest upon your Hearts they would Comfort you then So it was with David I had perished in mine Affliction but thy Word did Comfort me So if you would lay up that which you hear when you come upon your Sick-beds or in any Trouble it would mightily help you and comfort you O these Truths of the Gospel would be very good Companions when you are in your Journey or in your Business they would Commune with your Hearts And O what Comfort would they be unto your Souls So we read in Prov. 6. 21. Bind them continually upon thine Heart So I may say What Truths of the Gospel you hear bind them continually upon thy Heart and about thy Neck when thou goest it shall Lead thee when thou sleepest it shall Keep thee and when thou awakest it shall Talk with thee When you awake in the Night season you Toss up and down upon your Beds and know not what to think upon but had you kept the Truths of the Gospel they would Talk with you yea you might Converse with Jesus Christ even as you lie in your Beds And if they did rest in your Hearts then when Death did come they would be Comfortable then they will be sweet one day Ask a Dying Soul what Peace with God is worth How many have lain upon their Sick and Death-Beds and then remembred O the sweet Truths that once I heard I would give a Thousand Worlds I had them again O that they did but come now at this time to my Heart with as great a power as they did at such a time Now that you might have those Blessed things of the Gospel to Comfort your Hearts keep them now And besides They will be a Means to make you to be very useful to others What 's the Reason why Men and Women when they go to Visit their Sick Neighbours they are so Barren in their Conference they say How do you And God comfort you and so I but what have you of the Doctrine of Reconciliation with God and the way of Attonement with God What have you to help their troubled Consciences and to pacifie them Can you bring unto them any Truths you have heard You have Liv'd under the Ministry of the Gospel a long time what is become of them If you had been a Child of Peace then you would have been able to have carried these things unto your Sick Neighbours and to have done a great deal of good unto them But alas You go with a barren Heart and carry nothing at all And why Because the Truths of the Gospel have not abode with you O how full should our Hearts be with Jesus Christ if but one Truth every Sermon we heard did rest in our Hearts And take but this one Meditation along with you the Blessed things of the Peace of the Gospel are such as if ever I be Sav'd I must be Praising of the Name of God for unto all Eternity Now shall I not Labour that they should rest upon my Heart here seeing they must be the Matter that I must Bless the Name of God everlastingly for And thus though I have past some things over you have had the Substance of what I intended to Speak of And that is That those that are the Sons of Peace have this Blessing upon them They have not only the sudden apprehensions and flashes of Affection in being moved with the Glorious things of the Gospel but all the good things of the Gospel abides and rest upon them Sermon IV. Luke 10. 6. Your Peace shall rest upon it c. THe Third Note from the Blessing that here the Entertainers of the Gospel shall have is this That where there is but any one in a Place or in a Family that shall Entertain the Gospel the whole Family shall be the better for that one And the Note is Raised from this Particle It Your Peace shall rest upon it He doth not say Your Peace shall rest upon him only though that 's true It shall rest upon him principally But he saith Your Peace shall rest upon it That is If a Son of Peace be in the Family your Peace shall rest upon the Family that is there shall be some good come unto the Family by reason of any one Son of Peace that 's there If there be but one that doth Entertain the Gospel the Family may come to have a Blessing by that If it be but a poor Servant or poor Child that shall receive the Gospel there may come a great deal of good to the Family by such a Servant but if it be a Governour of the Family then the Blessing will be more For we find in the Gospel often where the Governour of the Family Believed it is said that the whole Houshold did believe and were Baptized And we find often in the Gospel of Believing Families and indeed there is a greater Blessing of God upon a Family where the Governours are Believers than we are aware of A Blessing I say upon the Family That let there be any Governour or any that is a Son of Peace the Family is the better for it God many times will spare them the rather because of them In Isa 65. 8. Thus saith the Lord as the new Wine is found in the Cluster and one saith Destroy it not for a Blessing is in it So will I do for my Servants sake that I may not Destroy them all Many times in a place where there are a great many Ungodly ones yet if there be but a few that are Godly as the new Wine in the Cluster the Lord saith Destroy it not for a Blessing is in it There are some good Grapes there though a great many Rotten ones and a Blessing is in it and therefore Destroy it not So saith God many times of a Family where there are some good ones Destroy it not saith God for a Blessing is in this Family It is very observable that which we read concerning the House of Jeroboam 1 Kings 14. 10.