the world the world would love its own but because ye are not of the world therefore the world hates you And hence it comes to pass that it persues them persecutes them casts them out creates them all the trouble and vexation that it can so that they are not like to have a quiet hour almost in this world Besides the evils and afflictions to which they are exposed by the necessity of nature as man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards Job 5.7 distempers and diseases in their bodies loss of their estates and friends and earthly comforts and the like ungodly men come in with their additions The Church of Christ while she is here is ill-seated she grows in an ill place as he himself affirmeth of her 2 Cant. 2. as the Lilly among thorns so is my Love among the daughters She is environed and begirt with them so that she is annoyed and hurt and pierct on every side She cannot stir but one or other of her thorny neighbours hath her by the sleeve She dwels in Mesech while she dwells in this world and hath her habitation in the Tents of Kedar in the midst of wicked men so that she is beleaguered as it were and hem'd about with those that hate her and desire her ruine This is the state and the condition of the Saints while they are here they are continually vexed and troubled So that no marvel though our Saviour tells his own Apostles In the world you shall have tribulation Iohn 16.33 That is your portion as long as you remain here The world hath alwayes been an evil and uncomfortable place to Christs Disciples in this respect that it is a place of sinning Indeed my brethren they are troubled with the sins of other men their righteous souls are vexed with their filthy conversations Rivers of waters run down their eyes because men keep not Gods Law But they are chiefly troubled with their own sins from which they are not to be wholly freed while they remain in this world As long as they continue here they are perpetually in Sathans danger who is the Prince of this world and whose authority and power is confined to this life There will never be an absolute and perfect cure of sin in any of the Saints till this corruption have put on incorruption And hence perhaps the corruptions of our natures are stiled worldly lusts Tit. 2.12 And our members that are upon the earth Col. 3.5 because we cannot possibly be rid of them while we are here upon the earth and while we live in this world The Apostle Paul compares himself and others of the Saints to earthen Vessels 2 Cor. 4.7 And earthen vessels when they were legally defiled could not be made clean again till they were broken all in pieces as you may see Lev. 11.33 So we my brethen are not to be fully cleansed till we be shivered all in pieces We are not to be wholly rescued from the bondage to corruption till death translate is to another world And then he that is dead saith the Apostle is free from sin Rom. 6.7 So that no marvel though the world be a place of such disquiet and discomfort to the Saints For how can they be fully comfortable here while they are alwayes sinning against God He that hath entred into rest indeed hath ceased from his own works as the Apostle speaks Heb. 4.10 Till then he cannot wholly cease from those that are most properly his own works but is in danger of offending God and falling into sin continually and so can have no rest here Nay my beloved no man knows how far the Lord may suffer him to fall in this world Though it be a certain truth that they that are elect can never wholly fall away from God yet they may sin exceedingly to the dishonour of the Lord the scandal of their brethren and the irreparable wounding of their name while they have a day to live And this they are in danger of I mean of falling fearfully so long as they remain here What deadly falls have many of Gods worthies taken in their latter times It is observable that Davids first wayes are commended 2 Chron. 17.3 By which the Holy Ghost insinuates that his last wayes were not answerable to them He speaking of Jehosaphat walked in the first wayes of his Father David Indeed the latter wayes of David were blemished with extremity of sin and scandal The like is also noted of Solomon 1 King 11.9 And Asa 2 Chron. 16.10 And Jehosaphat 2 Chron. 20.35 And how then can the world but but be a doleful and uncomfortable place to Christs Disciples where they are in such hazard How can they but complain as Rebecca sometimes did though in another case If I must still be troubled with my lusts and my corruptions if I must still be over-ruled by them thus what good will continuance in the world do me The world hath alwayes been and is an evil c. in this respect that it is a place of banishment from Jesus Christ from him in whom their very souls delight This makes it sad and grievous to them that they have not Christ with them And this is that at which our Saviour aimeth in my text I am no more in this world but these are in the world There is the dolefulness of their condition that they are to continue here without me Indeed we are debarred of the immediate presence of the Lord while we remain in this world And therefore it is said expresly 2 Cor. 5.6 That whilest we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. And is not this a grievous thing to be kept from the enjoyment of such a one as Christ is Especially to him that knows him and is well acquainted with him and hath tasted of his sweetness can you blame him if he be weary of the world and if it be a trouble to him to continue here if be be willing to be absent from the body that so he may be present with the Lord What holy heart can choose but find a weariness in that place let it be otherwise as pleasant as it will which keeps Christ and him asunder and hinders him from the compleat fruition of his blessed Saviour Who would not gladly leave a place in which as long as he continues Christ and he must be asunder Vse 1 Now is it so my brethren that the world hath alwayes been and is an evil c. Then let it be a Caveat to us not to cast as we are very apt to do on too much joy and comfort here Our manner is when things look a little well and when we have some present quiet and content to promise great and extraodinary matters to our selves To sing a requiem to our souls with the rich man in the Gospel take thine ease eat drink and be merry It s true the men of this world may have some content and quietness and
Why should we not rejoyce to resign all to him and to be under his authority and jurisdiction as the Prophet counselleth us Zach. 9.9 Rejoyce greatly O daughter of Sion and why so because thy King cometh to thee and he is just Even so say I to you my Brethren God is a very just and righteous God and he desires to be received and entertained by you That you would set your gates open that he may enter and sit upon the Throne in your hearts Say to him now Ride on Lord because of thy righteousness Come in Lord and take command of us We would willingly be ruled by such a just and righteous Prince as thou art Vse 4 Is God a very just and righteous God Where then shall the wicked and ungodly appear What will they do who are unrighteous when the time of judgement comes who have lived in the continued and voluntary breach of all his laws what will they plead why they should not be condemned Me thinks the justice and the uprightness of the Judge should astonish and affright them who have so ill a cause so bad a matter to be heard before him If they whose hearts and lives are full of all unrighteousness be judg'd with just and righteous judgement if they receive according to their works what think you will their portion be Ah my Beloved lay it seriously to heart you that run out with the intemperate you that oppress and grind the poor that are abominable and disobedient and to every good work reprobate how will you hold up your heads when the day of reckoning cometh and all your sins shall be laid open in their colors when God shall bring every work to judgement and every secret thing when he shall rip up all your close abominations and all your secret wickednesses that never any eye saw when the books shall be laid open and all the black bills read when God shall say to the Ministers of vengeance Go give them now according as their works have been Look how much they have sinned and how much wickedness they have committed so much sorrow and torment give them Oh then what wringing of hands what renting of hearts what cries and lamentations will there be able to make a Rock relent and a Flint to fall asunder and yet God will stand out immoveable against them all for he is a righteous God nothing will bend him from the rule of Justice And as this serves for terrour to the wicked so for comfort to the Vse 5 righteous that God is such a just and righteous God But you will say What reason have we to rejoyce in this Quest For if we have but justice from him we are certainly undone for what have we deserved but death and ruine To this I answer If we have justice from him we are well enough Answ and this we shall be sure to have and therefore let us take comfort I speak not now of such a justice as respects the merit of the work for this we are delivered from but I speak of such a justice as respects the truth of his promise by which he hath engaged himself that he will forgive our sins that he will reward our labours that he will punish all our enemies and if he keep his word with us as he is bound to do in justice I hope we are in a very good case His righteousness lies at stake for all those by reason of his Covenant and Engagement to us Indeed before he made the Covenant he was free he might have done according to his own pleasure But having made it he is bound he is held to it and may not vary Now he must forgive our sins or else he is unrighteous as the Apostle John insinuates in 1 Joh. 1.9 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins Now he must reward our labours or else he is unjust as the Apostle Paul speaks Heb. 6.10 The Lord is not unrighteous to forget our work and labour He doth not say the Lord is not unmerciful but the Lord is not unrighteous Now he must give us everlasting rest and render everlasting trouble to our enemies and that upon the same ground And therefore saith the same Apostle 2 Thes 1.6 It is a righteous thing with him to render tribulation to them that trouble you and to you that are troubled rest with us So that you see the justice and the righteousness of God which is a ground of horrour to the wicked yet it is a ground of comfort to the godly It is very ill for them it is very well for us that God is such a righteous God It is their loss and it is our gain And the cause is manifest for he proceeds with them according unto such a justice as respects the merit of the work and he proceeds with us according unto such a justice as respects the verity and truth of his promise And therefore though ungodly men have cause to fear and tremble at it yet we have reason to rejoyce at it And this is clearly intimated by the Prophet David in the fore-alledged place which indeed is very notable to this purpose Psal 96. ult Let the heavens rejoyce saith he and so on And why so for he shall judge the world with righteousness and the people with his truth Observe it well the world with righteousness the people that stand in opposition to the world his people with his truth The world with such a righteousness as looks upon the merit of their works His own people with such a righteousness as looks upon the truth of his promise His people with his truth Righteousness and truth do kiss each other O let the people of the Lord rejoyce that they shall have righteous judgement that God will do according to his promise and his Covenant with them when the great day of retribution cometh That he will in this respect be just and righteous to forgive them and reward them Let them be glad of this for ever Vse 6 I have but one thing more to add and that shall be a word of humble Admonition to the Deputies and Ministers of God Preached at the Assize Superior and Inferior Magistrates to labour to conform themselves to him in this respect and to be just and righteous as he is They are under him and for him and therefore should endeavour to be like him Honorable and Beloved the Land abounds with wickedness of every kind there is much unrighteous dealing everywhere with God and man This calls for righteous dealing from them that bear the Sword of Justice that these abominations may be purged out and that our breaches may be yet repaired In such a time as this when there are such abuses such blasphemies such prophanations of the day and Ordinances of the Lord such swearing drunkenness uncleanness incest c. as former ages have not equal'd Justice should flow down like water to wash away this filth from us and
fathers own son But you will say wise fathers have very often weak children But Jesus Christ is so his fathers son that he partaketh with him of his wisdom it is poured out into him in abundance And therefore he is sometimes called the wisdom of the father in the abstract as see 1 Cor. 1.24 Iesus Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God And if he be so very wise you may be sure he spake wise words and wise words are worth the marking In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge Col. 2.3 And out of question what he bringeth forth is of the treasure that is hid in him 2. But in the next place if you look upon him downwards with Relation to the Church you will see further reason why the words that Jesus spake should be so exactly noted and so carefully observed As he is the fathers wisdom so he is made to us wisdom as the Apostle Paul speaks 1 Cor. 1.30 His father hath appointed him to be the great Prophet of of his Church The great preacher the greater revealer of his truth and will to men and therefore out of question he can speak well and his words are worth the marking You may be sure the father would not send out such a Prophet to the Church as were not worth the listening to No no God hath annointed me to preach faith Christ himself Luke 4.18 not appointed me to preach but annointed me to preach endued me with abilities and gifts for that office God who in former times saith the Apostle spake to the fathers by the Prophets hath in these latter dayes spoken to us by the Son He was designed you see to be the spoksman for the father to the world to tell them what his mind is and to preach the Gospel to them We that are ordinary preachers of the Gospel we that are underlings to Christ in this business must be enabled with some competent ability in this respect or else we are not fit for this work And therefore when our Saviour sent out his disciples he promised to give them wisdom and a mouth that is matter and expression Luke 21.15 wisdom within together with a mouth to utter and to bring forth that wisdom To shew that both of these must go together in a preacher of the Gospel I know there is a latitude to be admitted and allowed in this regard but yet a competent ability to speak so as the people may be edified by it is indisputably required And if the under-ministers of Christ must have such a faculty how great ability then must their Master have Who was designed to be the great Preacher the great Prophet and as the Apostle stiles him the chief Bishop of our Souls And if he had such a transcendent faculty to speak then certainly the words he spake are fit to be commended c. Then secondly if you consider as whose the words were so in the next place what the words were you will allow them to be worthy of our choicest observation What the words were that Jesus spake either for the matter of them or for the efficacy of them let us a little weigh them in their order and we shall see they both help to this business 1. The words of Jesus for the matter of them commonly were Gospel words Such were the words to which my text alludes in the three chapters next before full of nothing else my brethren but Gospel-sweetness Gospel-Promises and Gospel-consolation against approaching troubles and afflictions these were the words that Jesus spake Christ in a sense my brethren was the first and certainly the chiefest preacher of the Gospel this great Salvation at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed afterwards by them that heard him Heb. 2.3 And hence the Gospel as you know is called Christs saying John 8.51 The Law was the fathers saying God spake these words The Gospel is the Sons saying This was spoken by the Son And hence saith Christ in the fore-alledged text if a man keep my saying he shall never see Death So that the sayings and the words of Jesus are very fit to be considered For his you see are Gospel-sayings and Gospel sayings are worthy of all acceptation as the Apostle tels you 1 Tim. 1.15 Indeed Law-Sayings are not so readily attended to and entertained You know my brethren on mount Sinai at the giving of the Law there were thunderings and lightnings and terrible voices and the event and issue was the people fled and would not hear they were not able to endure the noise But Gospel-sayings on the other side allure affection and invite attention Upon mount Tabor where our Saviour was transfigured there was a shining Sun a bright cloud a gentle and a pleasing voice and the Disciples said Edificemus Domine Let us build here c. 2. And as the words of Jesus for the matter of them were Gospel-words so for the efficacy of them they were saying words and so in that respect the words that Jesus spake are very fit to be commended c. The words that I speak saith our Saviour to the Jews are spirit and life John 6.63 they are so in their operation and effect they give Spirit and they work life And who would not attend unto and entertain such words as these are His saying if it be received and kept will surely save a man from death yea from eternal death We may depend upon it he binds it with a strong asseveration which he repeats twice for the more Surety Iohn 8.51 Verily verily I say unto you if a man keep my saying he shall never see death Death is not visible the meaning is he shall not be annoyed and hurted by it as you have the like Expression Jer. 5.12 We shall not see sword nor famine And should not such words be commended to the Church and embraced by the Church as save from death and bring eternal life with them The setting down of which upon Record in holy Scripture and leaving them to after-times hath been the life of many souls and will be yet of many more in every age even to the worlds end If you consider in the last place as whose the words were and what the words were that Jesus spake so the manner how he spake them you will see further reason yet why they should be commended c. For this you may depend upon Never man spake like him It is the attestation that is given him John 7.46 Which coming from his enemies the officers that went to take him is of the more validity Never spake man like this man Grace was poured into his lips as the expression is Psalm 45.2 to shew us that the grace there mentioned is a gift of utterance and a faculty of speech whereof the lips are instruments They are the lips that form the words we speak and bring them forth to those that hear them and hence this gift of
the rest out of your practice and obedience No you must keep it all throughout without restraint or limitation if you will make it to appear that you belong to Jesus Christ Thou hast given them to me saith our Saviour in my Text and they have kept thy Word Observe it well he saith not They have kept some portion of thy Word or They have kept it in some certain things they have obeyed some rules and some directions of it but they have kept thy Word you must conceive it all thy Word without any reservation They have not willingly allowed themselves in any disobedience to the least iota of it And thus it is with those that are bestowed on Jesus Christ they are obedient to the Word in all things and so they make it to appear that they are men of proof indeed that they are tried Christians as the Apostle shews 2 Cor. 2.9 To this end did I write to you that I might have the proof of you and whether you would be obedient in all things They can say as David doth Psal 119.104 Through thy precepts I get understanding therefore every false way I utterly abhorre Assoon as I get so much understanding from thy Word and from thy Law to know that such a way is false and leads not to the happiness and comfort which it seems to promise I do not follow it and keep it as I did before no I decline it and abhorre it yea I abhorre it utterly I never touch more with it let it be what it will never so sweet so pleasing so delightful so accustomed to me Through thy Law I get understanding therefore every false way I utterly abhorre And is it so with you my Brethren Turn in upon your selves a little and consider how farre you are acquainted with the Word and Will of God how far the Lord hath shewed what is good and what he requires of you so that you are convinced of it and then examine whether you fall short in nothing whether you come fully up to the obedience and the practice of it whether you keep the Word entirely so that you do not fail in any thing advisedly and customarily of which your understandings are informed and which you know to be a duty Tell me Beloved is there no such thing is the Conscience quiet now doth it lay nothing to your charge no neglect of any thing you should have done doth it not tell you that in this and that particular you know the rule and yet you have not walked accordingly In such or such a thing you have gone quite and clean against it Brethren if your hearts accuse you God is greater then your hearts and knoweth all things Go home and judge your selves for it Commune with your hearts and say Herein I see I have been faulty I have not kept the Word of God my practice hath not been in every point according to the Rule no I have failed in this and that and the other thing But now I am resolved in good earnest by the grace of Jesus Christ to take another course as far as it is possible I will not swerve a whit nor vary in my conversation from the Word of God This I acknowledge I have done which I know well enough I ought not to have done This I confess I have neglected which I know I should have done but now it shall be so no more My aim shall be to keep the Word as far as humane weakness and infirmity will suffer wholly and entirely Thus you must do if you will make it to appear that Christ hath any share in you As you must keep the Word wholly so you must keep it cordially too As you must obey it all so you must obey it all with all the heart Your obedience to the Word must flow from principles of heartiness and love withâ—n and not from base respects and ends without And this is that which the Apostle testifies of the Romans Rom. 6.17 Ye have obeyed from the heart saith he the form of Doctrine that hath been delivered to you or whereto you were delivered as it is rendred in the margent you have obeyed it and you have obeyed it from the heart so that your obedience was voluntary free delightful you found complacencie and pleasure in it you needed nothing else to carry and incline you to it but the inward motion disposition and affection of the heart You had enough within you to quicken you and stir you up to the obedience of the Word of God And thus it is with those that are bestowed on Jesus Christ they obey it heartily while others do it meerly out of self-ends All their motives and inducements to the obedience which they yeild are from without either they are drawn by force or they are hired or they are frighted to it Their hearts meerly of themselves do nothing with them in the business Jehu was large enough in his obedience to the command and will of God as to the matter of the things he did with reference to Ahabs house To say the truth he did all every thing that God would have him But he failed in this particular he did nothing heartily nothing out of love to God but all for his own ends and therefore all he did was worth nothing See what an ample attestation he received from God himself 2 King 10.13 Thou hast executed that which was right in my eyes and hast done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart He had not omitted any particular and yet because it was not cordially done for God but meerly for himself that he might bring about his own designs he met with a revenge instead of a reward as you may see Hos 1.4 How far doth Artaxerxes go Ezra 7.23 Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven let it be diligently done You see to what a pass this Heathen Prince is brought he will do any thing for God any thing that he requires let it be what it will he will obey But what is that which moves him to it is it a principle of love to God doth he do it heartily No it proceeds from noting else but fear of wrath and vengeance as it is apparent in the latter member of the verse for why should there be wrath upon the Realm of the King and of his Sons Now I beseech you try your selves in this particular you obey the Word of God yea and it may be you are large in your obedience as to the matter of the thing required But do you as it is observed of the Romans obey it from the heart or from some other principle if there is nothing else to move you would your hearts carry you to this obedience Have you that within you still that would hold you in from sin and stir you up to duty if there were no inducement from without Can you say as David doth Psal 10 8. Lord I delight to do
he did so he had his reasons in his own breast and in his own bosom Only this is probable that he did it that he might be an Example and a president to us that we might learn of him to do as he did That when we are approaching to the Throne of Grace we might be very much possessed with deep and serious contemplations of the holiness of God I shall adde no more for proof but hasten to the Application Now is it so that even as God is holy in himself so Jesus Christ came Vse 1 to him as a holy God and looked c. Then let us learn of Jesus Christ how to behave our selves when we are making our addresses to the Majesty of God and pouring out prayers to him We are exhorted very often in the Scripture to be followers of Christ and so to walk and act as we have him for an Example In all his imitable ways and actions his practice ought to be a rule to us And therefore let us labour to conform our selves to Jesus Christ in this particular when we are drawing nigh to God in prayer let our thoughts be taken up with meditations of his holiness let them work much upon this attribute of his Indeed the Saints of the Old Testament when they set God upon his Throne and clothe him with his Majesty and glory as they use to do in the beginnings of their prayers do seem to take more notice of other attributes of God of his power of his dreadfulness his righteousness his faithfulness his truth his mercy then his holiness But under the New Testament you know God hath been served worshipped in a more spiritual way and here we have the High Priest of our profession Jesus Christ the most unparalleld and matchless pattern teaching us by his example to exercise our thoughts upon the holiness of God when we are making our approaches to him And therefore when at any time we set our selves to pray let us endevour to affect our selves and to be taken up with deep considerations of this attribute of his Let our most working apprehensions fix upon his holiness and make a deep impression of it in our hearts that we may carry it along throughout from the beginning of our supplications to the end It will be singularly useful to us as I shall shew you in a few particulars 1. It will help exceedingly to frame our hearts to put them into such a posture as the Lord delights in It 's true the meditation of other of the attributes of God hath its work upon our spirits when we are drawing nigh unto him But this me thinks hath somewhat proper and peculiar to it self further and beyond the rest It 's true the apprehension of the Mercy of the Lord will make us to have comfortable cheerful hearts the apprehension of his truth and faithfulness will make us to have bold couragious hearts the apprehension of his power and greatness will make us to have trembling and awful hearts But now the apprehension of his holiness will make us to have holy hearts that so we may be like him whom we are making our addresses to And holiness alone comprises all that hath been said and much more our cheerfulness our confidence our reverence in prayer are all but parts of holiness A holy frame of heart involves and comprehendeth in it all this and more besides then we are able to express Indeed what ever God takes pleasure in as to the temper of his people when they are pouring out their prayers to him is all contained under holiness Let them come with holy hearts and all is well and this they shall the better do if they consider with what an infinitely holy God they have to do Oh this will raise the heart if it be duly weighed to such a sweet and pretious frame that it will be no longer earthly it will be fit to have Communion with the holy God And therefore David presses the Consideration of this attribute of God in those whom he exhorts to worship him by way of preparation to that great business Psal 99.9 Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy hill for the Lord our God is holy 2. The meditation of the holiness of God will quicken us and stir us up as far as it is possible to cleanse our selves from every sin when we are making our approaches to him For sin my Brethren is against his holiness yea in directest opposition And therefore it is known by the name of filthiness and uncleanness in the Scripture Not only whoredom and adultery and fornication and sins of that kind are unclean as they are called uncleanness in the abstract but sin is generally so as you may see that place for instance 2 Cor. 7.1 And hence it is my Brethren that it is so odious to the Lord there being nothing in the world so contrary and so opposite to him and to his Nature as sin is No man in the world hates any thing no mans heart abhors and loaths and rises against any thing as the Lords against sin By reason of his pureness and his holiness he cannot brook it Hab. 1.13 he is not able to endure it He seems me thinks to shut his eyes and to cry out to his people Oh do not this abominable thing which I hate And therefore when men will not hold but commit it the infinitely holy God is vexed and troubled out of all measure so he is represented in the Scripture Isa 63.10 They rebelled against him saith the Prophet and they vexed his holy Spirit Because he was so holy he was vext the more at sin which was so filthy And truly my Beloved if we did seriously consider the holiness of God when we are about to pray we would not dare to bring this filthy thing into his presence which is so contrary to this attribute of his and consequently is so odious and detestable to him At least we would endeavour to the utmost of our power to cleanse our selves from all the filthiness of flesh and spirit to wash our hands and hearts in Innocency with holy David and so to compass Gods Atar to offer up the Incense of our prayers to him Oh we would shake and quiver every joint to think of coming to the Holy God in the midst of our pollutions unpurged and unhumbled for We would consider with our selves What will the Lord say to me when he sees me in his presence so defiled How will he look on such a filthy and abominable wretch as I am how is it possible but he should hide his eyes from me when he perceives the hands that I spread forth before him are so full of gore and blood how can he choose but loath me and abhor me Do I expect to find favour in his eyes and come before him with that which he so abhors as if I meant to vex him and provoke him And therefore if we ever look to speed
fail Luk. 16.17 that is to miss of execution and accomplishment Fail it may in the Letter and Paper of it but not in the fulfilling of it No saith our Saviour Heaven and Earth shall pass away but my Word shall not pass away Mat. 24 35. Heaven and Earth are more inconstant and variable then my Word is and therefore the Apostle Peter speaking of the Prophesies of Scripture saith that they are sure 2 Pet. 1.19 We have saith he a more sure Word of Prophesie whereunto ye do weâ—â—â—hat ye take heed Not as if the Prophets words or writings were in thâ—â—selves more sure then the Apostles but to the Jews they were more sure For they received the Prophets words and writings but they rejected the Apostles Well sure the writings and predictions of the Prophets are you see we may rest safely upon them and conclude That whatsoever is foretold c. And it must needs be so my Brethren For The Author of the Prophesies is unchangeable and true and consesequently whatsoever he foretels or any Messenger of his from him must surely be accomplished and fulfilled 1. The Author of the Prophesies as well as other parts of Scripture is unchangeable He is the Lord that changeth not Mal. 3.6 He is yesterday to day the same for ever Heb. 13.8 And therefore what be saith must come to pass men say sometimes that they will do a thing to day which yet they alter and revoke again to morrow But if God say a thing to day he will stand to it firm to morrow he will not change his resolution He is not as man that he should lye and as the son of man that he should repent But he hath seemed to repent Object and to change his resolution in many things foretold in Scripture For instance he foretold by Jonah that Nineveh should be destroyed at the end of forty days Jonah 3.4 yet when they were expired he did not as he had foretold so that he altered in appearance yea it is said expressly that he repented of his Commination so that he brought it not to execution God repented of the evil which he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not Jonah 3.10 For clearing this Sol. you may remember that universal rule which God lays down for the better understanding of all Prophetical Praedictions in a way of Commination Jer. 18.7 The sum is this that they have all of them annexed to them or implyed at least if not an exprest condition And so had this against the Ninivites Yet forty days and Niniveh shall be destroyed conceive it if they be not humbled that was the reserved condition But they were humbled repented though they were preserved God did not otherwise then he determined and yet indeed he is said to have repented because he did so that he seemed to repent For as a man if he have threatned that thus and thus he is resolved to do and after do not so if he have power is said to change his mind and to repent of what he said Even so the Lord when he had threatned Niniveh and had concealed the condition because he spared it afterwards and did not just according the letter of the Commination is said to have repented because he seemed to do that which in a man would have discovered change and alteration of his resolution And even as anger is ascribed to the Lord Non per affectum sed per effectum as the Schoolmen say The passion or affection of it is not properly attributed to God but the effect and fruit is Vengeance is mine and I will repay it Even so repentance is not in the nature of the Lord but the effect and issue of it is usually ascribed to him The recalling or undoing of a thing which as far as we could judge by his words or by his works or our deserts or any other evidence that was before us seemed unto us to have been his intent and purpose to have done 2. And as the Author of the Prophesies as well as other parts of Scripture is unchangeable so he is true Yea He is the God of Truth as the Prophet David stiles him Psal 31.5 And therefore that which he foretells must be accomplished and fulfilled Observe it well my Brethren the Prophet doth not say He is the true God in himself and in his nature but he is the God of Truth in his discoveries and in his revelation of himself to men All that comes from him is truth He is the faithful and the true witness Apoc. 3.14 Not only true and faithful as a God but true and faithful as a witness In all the testimonies that he gives of himself or of his Son or of his works already done or intended to be done there is nothing else but truth He cannot be the Author of a falsehood it is impossible as the Apostle tells you Heb. 6.18 It is impossible that he should lye He can assoon deny himself put off his Deity cease to be God as father an untruth and therefore that which he foretels must be accomplished in his season And as the Author of the Prophesies is unchangeable and true so the Word of God it self of which the Prophesies are part is so also The Word of God is unchangeable and true even as God himself is and therefore all the Prophesies and the Praedictions of it must be accomplished and fulfilled 1. The Word of God is an unchangeable an unalterable Word when he hath said a thing and said it absolutely that must stand there is no revocation of it in the sense that he hath said it Thy Word O Lord saith holy David is setled in heaven Psal 119.89 It is an Established thing never to be removed again And therefore it is said to be setled in heaven There are great changes here below continually but there is none above in heaven and there the Word of God is setled above the reach of any alteration All flesh is grass saith the Apostle 1 Pet. 1.24 all the glory of man as the flower of grass the grass withereth and the flower thereof fadeth away but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever 2. And as it is unchangeable so it is true yea it is the Word of Truth It is an Epithite that is imposed upon it often Thy Word is true from the beginning saith the Psalmist to the Lord Psal 119.160 And so it shall be to the end And therefore it is added presently The judgements of the Lord endure for ever not in their being only but their truth You know the Scripture is often called a testimony or a witness Either it is a testimony that the Father gives us of the Son or that the Son gives us of the Father either it is a witness to us of things that have been done or else which is a little stronger it is a witness to us of things that shall be done Now this is a condition absolutely
truth thy word is truth And here we have two things to be considered A Supplication and an Explication First We have here our Saviours Supplication to his Father in behalf of his Apostles and Disciples Sanctifie them through thy truth And then we have this Explication in which he shews what he intends by truth viz. the word of God Sanctifie them with thy truth thy word is truth Begin we with the Supplication in which you may take notice with me of these two particulars First the thing desired Sanctification Sanctifie them saith our Saviour And then the outward instrumental means by which he prayes they may be sanctified the truth of God that is the word as he explains it afterwards Sanctifie them through thy truth Both yeild us our this Observation DOCTRINE The word of God is the ordinary Means by which he Sanctifies his people It is the instrument in Gods hands by which he doth this great work He sanctifies them he is the God of all grace he calleth and he makes perfect stablisheth strengthneth settleth them But he doth it by this means according to our Saviours prayer here Sanctifie them through thy truth And here I shall distinctly cleer these two things First that the word of God is the ordinary Means by which he sanctifies his people in a way of inchoation by which he begins that work in them by which he converteth them regenerates them and makes them to become new creatures And this we find abundantly exemplified in the times of the Apostle how mightily the word of God prevailed to the Conversion of their hearers and to the working of unfeigned faith and grace in them You may behold three thousand sinners wrought upon by one Sermon Acts 2.41 And yet again as if these had been a few five thousand by another Sermon Acts 4.4 And hence it is my brethren that the word is called the word of grace because it works grace in Gods people But whether this be the work of the Law or of the Gospel whether one or both of them be the ordinary means by which God sanctifies his people will need to be a little further opened and resolved And I shall shew you from the Scripture that both of them are instruments in Gods hand by which he sanctifies his people 1. God sanctifies his people preparatively by the Law The Law converts and worketh grace by way of preparation It shews a man his sin and his trangression it emptieth him of all opinion of himself it humbles him and layes him low in apprehension of his own unworthiness And so indeed it makes him fit to entertain the grace of God for he will give his grace unto the humble John Baptists rough and rigid preaching of the Law you know my brethren must prepare the way for Christ He must be like a Pioner to go before him to bring down every high exalted thought to make the Mountains levell with the Valleyes He must be like a Harbinger to ride before and take up room for Jesus Christ to write his name upon the heart This heart is taken up for Christ To cause these everlasting doors to be set open to him when he comes And when the heart is thus prepared thus emptied and thus opened once then it is fit for Jesus Christ with all the graces of his spirit to enter in and dwell there And this is all that God doth by the Law he sanctifieth men by way of preparation and predisposition only But 2. The means by which he sanctifieth them indeed and works the truth and the reality of saving grace in them is the preaching of the Gospel and therefore the Apostle puts the question to the renewed Galathians Gal. 3.2 This only would I learn of you saith he received ye the spirit by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith q. d. for this I appeal to you I put the matter to your consciences whether the saving graces of the spirit were not first wrote in you by the hearing of faith that is by hearing the doctrine of faith which is the Gospel And hence the Gospel is sometimes called the grace of God as you may see that place for instance Titus 2.11 and that not formaliter for so the Gospel is not neither can it be the grace of God neither that grace which is in God I mean his free and undeserved favour nor yet that grace which is communicated and dispensed from him to us I mean the gifts of his spirit whether they be such as appertain to edification or sanctification but effective as the School-men speak the Gospel is the grace of God because the grace of God is the effect and issue of the Gospel The Gospel is the instrumental means of grace and holiness which it effecteth under God and worketh in the hearts of his people And under this expression it is set in opposition to the Law For as the Law doth not reveal the grace of God in Jesus Christ the Mediator and Redeemer as the Gospel doth so neither doth it work the grace of God I mean the saving gifts of his spirit and therefore it is called the Ministration of the Letter and not the Ministration of the Spirit because there goes no spirit with it Or if it carry any of the spirit with it it is the spirit of fear and bondage and legal humiliation and not the spirit of adoption and sanctification But on the other side the Gospel carries spirit in the ministration of it which it conveyes into the heart of those that hear it and embrace it as they ought to do It operateth and begetteth the endowments of the spirit and worketh grace and sanctification And as the word of God is the ordinary means by which he begins the work of Sanctification So it is the means also by which he carries on the same work to further measures and degrees They were sanctified already for whom our Saviour makes this prayer in my text the work was begun in them they were his own Apostles and Disciples and yet for them he prays sanctifie them with thy Truth q. d. Sanctifie them yet more fully make them yet more gratious and more humble and more holy by a more full discovery of the Truth revealed in thy Word to them Sanctifie them with thy truth thy Word is truth Indeed the Word my Brethren as it is incorruptible seed by which men are regenerate and born again to God as the Apostle shews 1 Pet. 1.23 Being born again not of corruptible but incorruptible seed by the Word of God so it is milk which nourishes and makes them thrive and grow while they are but babes in Christ and it is also strong meat on which they feed until they come ad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ This for clearing of the point proceed we to the Application Vse 1 Is it so That the Word of God is
blood of Bulls and Goats But now it is confirmed by the blood of Christ himself which is a better and a more effectual confirmation And this is that which the Apostle shews at large Heb. 9.16 and in the following verses So that the blood which ratified the Old Testament was but the shaddow and the Type of that which ratifies the new and therefore this hath the advantage of the other I must confess that the Old Testament was ratified by the death of Jesus Christ in destination for so he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world But this is ratified by the death of Christ in actual execution which is if not in it self to us at least a cleerer and a better confirmation Gospel truth excelleth for the operation of it it hath effects transcendently beyond all other truth that ever was revealed to the world I shall name but two only suggested in those two great Gospel Epithites the word of grace the word of life 1. Gospel truth works grace Not common grace and common sorrow and humiliation and repentance as the Law doth but saving grace And therefore it is called the word of grace Acts 20.32 It is so exclusively it worketh grace alone without the help and the assistance of the Law in that business Something the Law may do towards us indeed but it doth nothing in the work of grace Of his own will begat he us saith the Apostle by the word of truth that is the Gospel James 1.18 That only that is properly and strictly sanctifying truth Sanctifie them with thy truth 2. Gospel truth infuseth life and that no other truth can do The Law indeed can kill but it cannot make alive It is the Ministry of death and condemnation The Gospel only is the Ministry of life and of Salvation And therefore this exceeds the other and surpasseth it in glory as the Apostle shews at large 2 Cor. 3.6 7 c. In this respect we find the Gospel called the word of life 1 John 1.1 because it is the word that worketh life It is the quickning word that raises men from death to life to the life of grace in this world and to the life of glory in the world to come And thus I think we have sufficiently cleered the point the word of God especially the Gospel is the truth Proceed we now to make some application of it according to the divers branches of the point in order I shall but touch upon the first because I would no be prevented in the second Is it so my brethren that the word of God is all truth then certainly Vse 1 it ought all to be believed This truth on Gods part calls for faith on ours For what is faith but the belief of truth as the Apostle Paul defines it 2 Thes 2.13 He hath chosen us to Salvation through Sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth So that if the word be truth it ought to be believed by us And this our Saviour Christ insinuates in his expostulation with the Jews John 8.46 If I say truth why do you not believe me Though that which is delivered in the word of God be never so improbable never so much above corrupt reason never so impossible to a humane apprehension yet it admitteth not of doubtfull Disputation and Expostulation but rather calls for absolute belief And therefore they are deeply to be censured who give no credit to the word of truth further then their private spirits close with it who do not answer Gods truth with their faith They read it and they hear it preached but they yield no assent to it No they oppose it and dispute against it they are meer Scepticks in religion There are a multitude of such in these times They consent not to wholesome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Doctrine which is according to godliness as the Apostle Paul speaks 1 Tim. 6.3 4. Whereas they that have ever felt the saving power of Gods word have their thoughts captivated to it and will say as the Apostle we can do nothing we can speak nothing against the truth 2 Cor. 13.8 These men upon the other side when they hear the truth of God delivered to them speak against it contradicting and blaspheming as the stubborn Jews did Acts 13.45 They do not only ask with Mary how shall this be A question not of opposition but of inquisition Luke 1.34 But even peremptorily determine they can never be And thus they belye the Lord like those of whom the Prophet speaks Jer. 5.12 This in a word for application of the former member of the point We shall now apply the latter Vse 2 Is it so that the word of God especially the Gospel is the truth Is Gospel truth excelling truth Then let us give it the preferment before any other truth both in our inquisition and our acceptation Let us dive into it most and let us value and prize it most First Let us give it the due preferment in our inquisition let us dive into it most and labour more to be acquainted with it then with any other truth Let us read those books let us hear those Preachers and let us nourish those studies which help us most to this knowledge let us make this our main endeavour to be seen in Gospel truth let us undervalue and neglect all other knowledge incomparison of this It is the dangerous mistake of the greater part of men who had rather be acquainted with the matters of the world and to be skild in secular and humane learning then in the doctrine of the Gospel How do abundance plod to dive into the secrets and depths of nature and set their wits upon the tenter-hooks to search into the mysteries of Arts and Trades how do they beat and work their brains to get abundance of experience and skill in worldly dealings and employments but take no pains at all in hearing reading meditation to dive into the mysteries of Jesus Christ Tell me my beloved have you ever among all your earnest strivings after insight either into humane knowledge or into matters of the world been half so studious and industrious to search into this Gospel truth to be acquainted with Christ Jesus who is the subject of the Gospel to know that he was born and lived and dyed for you to know him and the virtue of his resurrection not by speculation only but experience raising you up to newness of life to know that he loved you and gave himself for you Alas the hearts of a great many of you cannot choose but tell you that you have hardly ever spent a serious thought on this And the very best among us cannot choose but say that we have been too slight and careless in our enquiries into this knowledge Ah my beloved had we the spirit of the Apostle Paul or of those blessed Angels who desire to peep and pry into the Gospel truth as you may
comparatively mean and much inferior to it and men will do it much more vehemently for a jewel then for a trifle so let us in this case and more particularly and distinctly let us earnestly maintain this excellent Gospel truth both by arguments and sufferings 1. Let us earnestly maintain it by our Arguments and Reasons The more excellent a truth is the more we must appear for it the more extreamly tender we must be of any opposition that is made against it the more we must endeavour to vindicate it and evince it and to convince the gain-sayers It is no wisdom for a man to lay out all his strength and heat on points of small consideration as many men who are as earnest and as hot in petty matters as it is possible for men to be and strive as much about words as the Apostles phrase is as they will about things But when the weighty points of Gospel truths come once in agitation when they are contradicted and opposed as they have been exceedingly of late days then it behoves us to bestir our selves to draw up all the arguments that we are able to call in all the reason that we have to defend and to make good such excellent and pretious things as these are We must contend for such truths for they are worth the striving for with all our might so the Apostle Jude would have us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 earnestly contend or struggle for the faith delivered to the Saints Jude 2 1. I think he doth not mean the grace of faith but the doctrine of faith which is the Gospel and therefore it is added presently for there are certain men crept in among you turning the grace of God which is the subject of the Gospel into lasciviousness so that you see my Brethren Gospel truth must be contended for and that with earnestness even to an Agony as once Apollos convinced the dissenting Jews who doubted of that great point of the Gospel whether Jesus was that Christ or no and he did it mightily Act. 18.28 he did it as it were with all his might being fervent in spirit as it is said at the 25. verse so that if any in these latter times have been too earnest and too vehement as some have thought in asserting Gospel truth either in preaching or discourse they may the better be excused 2. Let us earnestly maintain this excelling Gospel truth as by our arguments so by our sufferings if God shall call us thereunto It is an extraordinary honor and establishment to any truth when some are raised up to suffer for it As on the other side it is a shame and a disparagement when the professors of it give it over and relinquish it assoon as times of tryal come Oh let not this dishonour come on the Gospel by our means Let us stick to it even to the loss of goods and liberty and life it self let us seal it with our blood Our Saviour Christ himself you know did not think his blood too dear to ratifie the New Covenant and to establish and confirm the Gospel to seal the truth of Gospel promises Let us not think that our blood is ill bestowed if it may serve in any measure to that end for which Christ shed his And as we must maintain this Gospel truth as an excellent truth both by our arguments and by our sufferings so we must obey it too as an excellent truth And this way we shall honour it exceedingly and hold it forth as excellent to all the world Indeed it is a greater honour and advancement to the Gospel to obey it then to defend it and maintain it We favour those sometimes whom we defend we always honour those whom we obey And this my Brethren is the greatest honour we can do the Gospel to set it up as our rule in our hearts and in our lives For you must know my Brethren that the Gospel as it saves from misery so it requireth duty too And hence we read not only of obedience to the Law but of obedience to the Gospel too 2 Thess 1.8 And do you yield it this obedience Do you live and do you walk by Gospel rules Brethren I make no question all of you expect salvation by the Gospel but do you hearken to the counsel and instruction of the Gospel You expect deliverance by it but do you yield obedience to it I pray stand still a little and consider with your selves and accordingly resolve When you prophane Gods holy day neglect the duties of his worship either in publique or in private blaspheme his name defraud and over-reach your Brethren when you please your selves with actual or contemplative uncleanness when you drink to drunkenness or walk in any other sinful courses be they what they will what doth the Gospel teach you these things I say as the Apostle have you so learned Christ out of the Gospel Doth the pure and holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus give any approbation to such courses and do you think my Brethren that the Gospel will ever save you if it do not guide and rule you that it will ever make you happy if it do not make you holy Now I beseech you my Beloved ponder it and weigh it well and look for no salvation by the Gospel unles you yield obedience to the Gospel For if you do first you dishonour it and secondly you disappoint yout selves 1. First you do exceedingly dishonour it you cast a blemish and a stain upon it you do not walk as becometh the Gospel of Christ but cause it to be evil thought and evil spoken of by wicked men as if Christ saved men that live and walk and persevere in lewdness and prophaness as if he favoured and allowed of such courses as if he fitted and provided heaven for swearers drunkards and unclean persons What kind of Doctrine may they think is that which holds out such beatitude to be expected and enjoyed by such wretches Thus you prejudice the Gospel you cast contempt upon it and take away its excellency in the eyes of wicked men 2. Whiles you expect salvation by the Gospel and do not yield obedience to the Gospel you strangely disappoint your selves and wofully delude your own souls You may be confident of heaven while you persist in such courses but when you come thither you will be ashamed as Job speaks chap. 6.20 Believe it Brethren salvation and instruction will not be divided you must take them both together you cannot have the former without obedience to the latter If you will hear and learn and practice what the Gospel teacheth you shall injoy that which the Gospel offereth If you will be obedient to the Gospel you shall be saved by the Gospel otherwise you cannot As Christ is the Author so the Gospel is the Instrument of life and salvation to them that obey it Assoon those black Infernal Legions that are already damned to everlasting chains and darkness shall be saved
to be as mercifull as God is if you look to the degree For as the heavens are higher then the earth so are his thoughts above ours in this particular But yet we may be mercifull as he is though not as mercifull as he is So in the Text our Saviour prayes for his Disciples That they may all be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us The meaning is not that they may be one as nearly that is impossible but as truly as we are That as we are in one another so they may in some respect be all in us How and in what respect they may be so I shall shew at large anon in the mean time the point is this DOCTRINE It is the will of Jesus Christ that his Disciples should not only be one among themselves but that they also should be one in God Indeed it is the will of Jesus Christ that his Disciples should be one Vse 4 among themselves That they should be all one as you have it in my Text Indeed he shed his blood for this purpose Eph. 2.14 that though they be of divers Nations as for instance Jews and Gentiles yet they may be both one as in the fore-alledged Scripture He is our peace saith the Apostle there who hath made both one having abolished in his flesh the enmity to make in himself of twain of Jews and Gentiles one man Though they be of divers places some in heaven and some on earth and though they that are on earth are many of them many thousand miles asunder yet he would have them to be all one It is his project and design to gather all things into one which are in heaven and which are in earth as Ephes 1.10 But you will ask me How can this be done that they that are so distant should be one I answer Very easily because the bonds of this conjunction are not carnal but spiritual So that they may be one without a corporeal or local union From him the head saith the Apostle all the body by joints and bands is knit together Col. 2.19 Part of the body is in heaven and part of it is on earth and here some persons are in one some in another quarter of the earth yet all the body so divided and so distant as you see by joints and bands is knit together And you will easily conceive it when you consider what these bands are 1. They have all one spirit and so in that respect are one I speak not of the spirit or soul of a man but of the spirit of the Lord Christ which being one dwells in all the Saints at once and so makes them one too yea let them be as distant as they will And as the formal reason of the union of the members of the body natural consisteth not so much in contiguity as animation by the same soul so that if any part be mortified and if the soul give over to enliven it it is no more to be esteemed a member notwithstanding its external and corporeal inherence to the body So though the Saints be far from one another in regard of place yet they are closely knit together by the same spirit being joyned to the Lord they are all one spirit and so indeed are all one 2. They have all one faith one at least in fundamentals and one faith makes one as Ephes 4.4 5. They that are of many faiths in fundamentals cannot come so close together to be all one and therefore Jesus Christ when he ascended up on high gave gifts unto men for the work of the Ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come all both Jews and Gentiles come in the unity of the faith c. So that there is a unity in the faith you see and to say truth my Brethren faith will make a union at a distance as well as if the persons joyned were all together What doth th the corporal or local presence of the parties contribute to the union that is made by faith which is a spiritual and invisible thing and consequently joineth in a spiritual and invisible manner which no division or distance in regard of place can hinder 3. They have all one heart and one affection and so in that respect are one The multitude of believers were of one heart Act. 4.32 Though they were multitudes yet they had but one heart and when there is but one heart there is a great Oness The understanding is the principle of speculation the heart the seat of love and of affection And the Saints are so united and linked togther in affection as if they had among them but one common principle of this affection as if they had but one heart and therefore the Apostle speaking of the faithful saith that they were knit together in love Col. 2.2 The term there used importeth such a knitting as is between the divers parts and peices of a building For so the Saints though there be Millions of them in the world yet they are built up altogether to a spiritual house 1 Pet. 2.5 And love is as it were the morter and the pins the ligaments and tyes of the connexion and elsewhere it is called a bond Col. 3.10 Above all these things put on charity which is the bond of perfectness with which we are perfectly joined together 1 Cor. 1.10 Now love will make a union at a distance as well as near at hand The nearness of the place simply considered in it self contributes nothing to the nearness and to the strength of the affection No love will reach a person at the other end of all the earth as well as if he were just by us in the very next room or in the very next dwelling You see both that and how it is the will of Jesus Christ that his Disciples should be one among themselves which is the first thing in the point But now there is a Second branch he would not have them only to be one among themselves but he would have them also to be one in God This is the special thing for which he is a Suitor to his Father in my Text That they may be all one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us Not one among themselves alone but one in us which is indeed a very high thing Now that you may the better know what Christ intends in this particular you must consider that he speaks to God the Father as man and Mediator in this place For he speaks in prayer here and consequently when he saith As thou Father art in me and I in thee he speaks not of the union which is between his Father and himself as he is God For in that consideration the Father and the Son are so in one another that they are the very same The same Essence for so the union is Identical though they
bread of life by serious meditation by application of it to our own particular estate there will be no increase of grace by it Lastly Let us seek to God by earnest prayer that he would bless his Word to us that sucking this sincere milk we may grow thereby Paul may plant and Apollo may water but the success if any be must be from God as the Apostle shews 1 Cor. 3.6 and therefore must seek it at his hands Before we go to hear him speaking to us in his Word let him hear us speaking to him in our prayers that he would sanctifie his holy Ordinance and make it by his blessing to become a means of our increase in holiness and grace until we come to be compleat in Christ Jesus Seeing the Word is but an Instrument in his hand let us pray that he would mannage it and weild it and make it powerful and successful Let us renew our Saviours supplication in the Text every time we go to hear Lord sanctifie us with thy truth thy truth alone and of it self will never do it unless thou sanctifie us by it and therefore Lord do thou appear in this business Sanctifie us with thy truth thy Word is truth JOHN 17.17 Thy Word is truth OUR Saviour as he is a Mediator of Redemption to his people so of Intercession too He finished the former as his own expression is and he began the latter while he was here in this world The Chapter is a model of it wherein he gives his Apostles and Disciples a fore-taste from which they might a little guess what he was like to do more fully for them when he was ascended and sate down at the right hand of his Father to be an everlasting Advocate and Intercessor for his Church and people And here there are two things especially which he desires in their behalf to which at least all the rest may be reduced Preservation and Sanctification He enters on the latter in the verse now read and so did we the last occasion And here we have as I have shewed you the Supplication and the Explication The Supplication Sanctifie them with thy truth The Explication what is meant by truth the Word of God Thy Word is truth The last Lords-day I dispatched the Supplication so that the Explication comes to be insisted on at this time Thy Word is truth It seems to be an answer to the self same question which Pilate sometimes put to Christ himself but would not tarry for a resolution What is truth So sanctifie them saith our Saviour with thy truth But what is truth you have the answer in the following clause Thy Word is truth There is the Word God and there is the word of God The one is Christ the Son of God for he is called the Word in Scripture and he is the Word God as you may see that place for instance 1 Joh. 1. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God The other is the will of God revealed and manifested in the Scripture And it is called the word of God because as the words of men discover what their mind is which else you were not able to imagine so the Word of God the Scripture discovers to us what the mind of God is so far as it is necessary to salvation Now this Word saith our Saviour here is truth Thy Word is truth It is not only true but truth it self and so indeed is all the Scripture the Law and Gospel both of them are all truth conformable in all respects to the Idaea of them in the mind of God But yet the Gospel is the Truth by way of Excellencie above the rest of holy Scripture Not that the Law or any other part of the Old Testament is not so true as Gospel is for there are no degrees in truth as truth Words are either true alike or some are true and others false But the Old Testament and legal truths are not be compared in some respects to the New Testament and Gospel truths These have the odds and the advantage of the other And therefore this I mean the Gospel is principally called the Truth in the language of the Scripture as I shall shew you more at large hereafter And this at least is chiefly aimed at by our Saviour when he saith thy Word is truth for of that truth he speaks apparently which is the instrumental means by which God sanctifies his people And that is not legal truth God doth not sanctifie men by the preaching of the Law save only in a way of preparation and predisposition The Gospel only works the truth and the reality of holiness and grace as I have shewed abundantly out of the former member of the Text. And therefore it is Gospel truth that is especially intended here which is the only proper instrument of sanctification Sanctifie them with thy truth thy Word is truth So then the Observation lies before us DOCTRINE The word of God of God especially the Gospel is the Truth In prosecution of the Point I have two things to cleer to you before I come to application First That the word of God is all truth there is no falsehood or deceit in it and I shall be brief on that Then that the Gospel is the truth by way of excellence and in a specialty above the rest of Holy Scripture I do not say the Gospel is more true then other things contained in the book of God but it is truth of more concernment and of more use as I shall make it evidently and distinctly to appear to you As for the first of these the word of God is all truth so it is stiled in the letter of my text without restraint or limitation Thy word is truth Whether it be the word of History the things that are historically represented to us in the Scripture or the word of precept or the word of promise or the word of threatning all is truth If you look to the intention of the Author of the word God hath delivered nothing in it with a purpose to deceive Or if you look to the matter of the word the things themselves that are delivered in the Scripture they are indeed as they are there expressed The sayings of the Lord are true sayings Apoc. 19.9 whether they be the sayings of the Father or the sayings of the Son For God the Father hath his saying God spake these words in the preface to the Law And God the Son hath his saying Verily I say unto you if a man keep my saying he shall never see death John 8.51 And both of these the sayings of the one and of the other the sayings of the Father the Law of works the sayings of the Son the Law of faith are absolutely and exactly true there is no falshood or deceit in them They are the true sayings of God And they must needs be true because they are the sayings of God Thy word is
truth saith our Saviour in my text It is thine and therefore truth For he that is the author of it he is the God of truth as the Prophet David stiles him Psal 31.5 Observe it well he doth not say he is the true God in himself and in his nature but he is the God of truth in his discoveries and revelations of himself to men All that comes from him is truth He is the faithfull and the true witness Apoc. 3.14 Not only true and faithfull as a God but true and faithfull as a witness And his word is his witness not his ordinary saying only but his witness to confirm us and assure us of that which is delivered to us to work and strengthen faith in us And therefore it is called the Testimony or the witness of the Lord I think no less then twenty times in Scripture Now for the second branch the Gospell is the truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in a specialty above the rest of holy Scripture Thy word is truth saith our Saviour in my Text that is thy sanctifying word which is the Gospell Sanctifie them with thy truth thy word is truth The Law as far as I am able to remember is nowhere called distinctly by it self the word of truth but the Gospel commonly not in my Text alone but elswhere often Indeed the Psalmist prayes to God Take not thy word of truth away out of my mouth but he intends the promises for which he hoped as you may see in that place Psalm 119.43 And all the promises you know are Gospel they are in Christ yea and in Christ Amen But on the other side the Law is mentioned as in some respect contradistinct to truth The Law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ 1 John 17. And yet you must not apprehend the Gospel to be truer then the Law or any parts of Scripture If it be truer they are absolutely false But it delivers truth of greater excellency then the rest of Scripture doth as will appear if you consider either the subject matter of it or the Revelation of it or the Confirmation of it or the Operation of it Gospel truth excelleth for the matter of it Christ is the subject matter of the Gospel and therefore it is called the word of Christ Col. 3.16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly not of Christ the Author only but of Christ the subject matter and herein it surpasses and transcends not all other Books only that handle other arguments but even all other parts and parcels of the Book of God it self For Christ is the most pretious and delicious matter He is the richest and the sweetest subject in the world 1. Christ the Subject of the Gospel is the most rich and pretious subject He is the wealth and treasure of the faithfull soul there is in him an endless Myne and infinite Mass of inestimable riches And therefore the Apostle having spoken of the riches of the glory of the Gospel adds in the words immediately anexed which riches is Christ in you Col. 1.27 In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge Col. 2.3 A treasure is much but treasures are more But when all the treasures that are in the world shall be gathered together and laid in a heap there must needs be vast and riches And this transported the Apostle Paul and swallowed up his thoughts and words as unable to conceive it or express it yea even ravished him beyond himself that he was entrusted to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ Ephes 3.8 He found no end no bottome of them he could not reach the heigth and depth and length and breadth of those treasures they had such immense and endless dimensions 2. Christ the subject of the Gospel is the sweetest and most delicious subject in the world It was the only thing that weakned the delight that Austin took in reading of a certain work of Cicero's because he could not find the name of Christ in it That is a pleasant name indeed to every true believing soul and wheresoever that is found or whatsoever writing hath that high and holy person for the subject of it whom to know is life eternal should be read with full delight and high pleasure And therefore that which treats of Jesus Christ is stiled Gospel good news and good tydings yea good tydings of great joy It tells us of a Jesus a Saviour a deliverer out of bondage to sin and Sathan and damnation out of the most sad and miserable thraldom in the world and this is infinitely sweet Oh with what melting self-consuming wishes and desires doth the poor distressed Captive long to hear of a Redeemer how welcome is this news to him and such a one is Jesus Christ to us and therefore it is sweet to hear of him And as the Gospel tells us of deliverance out of bondage so of admission to such incomparable priviledges here to such unutterable happiness hereafter as cannot choose but melt the heart with ravishing delight that hath assurance of a share in them As Gospel truth excelleth for the subject matter of it Jesus Christ so for the manner of the revelation of it The trurh in the Old Testament was covered with a Vail not of Types and Shaddows only but of dark expressions too so that it was obscure and hid But now it is unvailed as it were and therefore the Apostle tells us that we behold it now with open face 2 Cor. 3.18 There is nothing now to hide it The truth of the Old Testament is likened to the glimmering twilight in the dawning of the day or to the faint and dimmer twinkling of a star But Gospel truth is likened to the shining of the Sun at noon-day And therefore we that live under Gospel-revelation are called the Children of the light and of the day 1 Thes 5.5 And the Apostle tells us that now the grace of God which brings salvation hath appeared Tit. 2.11 It is a Metaphor in which the Gospel is resembled to a glorious Light that having been obscured and masked awhile even as the Sun when it is overcast and mufled with a dark and gloomy cloud at length shines forth with admirable brightness and shewes it self with darling splendor to the world Though it were hid from ages and from generations yet it is now made manifest unto the Saints Col. 1.26 Gospel truth excelleth for the confirmation of it It is better ratified then other truth Truth may not be believed you know it may not gain assent from those that hear it for want of solid and substantial confirmation But Gospel truth hath this preheminency that it is now established to the very utmost by the death of Christ himself He hath sealed it with his blood and therefore we have reason to believe it Indeed the truth of the Old Testament was ratified and confirmed yea it was confirmed in blood But this was but the