They have taken away my gods and what have I more but when we speak of heaven we care not who deprive us of our portion there I will not limite the Lord nor determine what he may do but believe it it is one to a thousand if many Christians of this age have a pleasant night and comfortable closing of their eyes they are such undervalue 〈◊〉 of assurance I may fear that lamentation shall be heard upon the death beds of many 〈◊〉 O poor wretched wandring Soul where art thou going and it is no wonder it come to this when we are so long in beginning to ask the question And now I close with this one thing that I think beyond all question the souls that live contentedly under the want of assurance are the careless daughters that dwelleth at ease Christ and they are at a remarkable distance it must be a cold winter and a dark night at best as to their present fellowship with God A second consideration from this point is that if the seeking after assurance be so necessary a duty then let me beseech you to ponder with your selves what means are fit for you to use that ye may attain it and if ye enquire what these means are I shall onely lay before you some few 1. That ye would be much in the exercise of Faith I mean the direct acts of Faith whereby the sinner from his sense and feeling of his wants layeth hold on Jesus Christ closing with him and leaning upon him for a full supply out of his fulnesse for indeed there are two great faults amongst the Lordâ— people some do seek assurance of Faith before ever they seek to have Faith 2. Some are much more taken up in debating their evidences whether they be real or not then they are in strengthening their evidences so that most of their time is spent in questioning O! is this a real evidence of assurance whereas more actual believing in Christ and gripping to the promises and lâ—sse disputing were the shorter and surer way that word is most clear Eph. 1.13 After ye believed yee were sealed with the Spirit of promise that is ye got assurance but not before ye believed and ye know it is said Matth. 9 2. And when Iesus saw their Faith he said Son be of good comfort thy sinnes are forgiven thee so then it is clear that to be much in believing is the nearest way to assurance 2. Ye would be much in believing the general truths and promises of the Gospel and frequently meditatnig of them all assurance is by a practical sylogisme the first proposition whereof must needs bee a Scripture â—ruth and certainly the firm assent to that truth and the souls delightful meditation on it is often blessed of the Lord as a special mean whereby the conscience is helped to make the assumption and also to bring forth the conclusion For instance wee see with what strength of affection Paul acteth his faith on that word 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation Christ Iesus came to save sinners and presently we see what followeth on it of whom I am the chief then is his assurance for doubtlesse he meaneth that he was the chief of saved sinners yea certainly a sinner thus exercising himself will often find so much sweetnesse in the general truths that he cannot but put to his own name 3. Be diligent in the exercise of all spiritual graces and Christian duties that this iâ— among the best means of attaining to assurance is manifest from 2 Pet. 1. Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure for indeed it is very observable that the diligence there mentioned is not a diligence in disputing and questioning about our election but a diligence in the practice of duties and graces as is clear from ver 5. Give all diligence saith the Apostle Whereto in adding to your faith vertue to your vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance c. and then vers 8. If ye do these things ye shall neither be barren noâ— unfruitfull in the knowledge of our Lord Iesus Christ he doth not say in the knowledge of the Lord Iesus Christ simply but of our Lord Jesus importing that that the result of diligence in these graces shall be the knowledge of Christ as ours and of our interesâ— in him and then he addeth upon the otheâ— hand he that laketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off this is he cannot see far iâ— any spiritual matter and so not in the matteâ— of his interest O therefore think not thaâ— ye will get assurance by lying down with thâ—â—â—uggard upon your bed or by your formalâ— prayer or your anxious debates but if eveâ— ye come to assurance ye must be striving aâ— in an agony for so the word importeth which is used to expresse our diligence in Christiaâ— duties 4. As ye would be diligent so if ever yâ— would come to assurance ye would be tender and circumspect in your walking that is a clear word Psal. 50. last verse To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God and Isa. 32. The effect of righteousnesse is peace and assurance for ever Ah the untender walk that many of us have it is no wonder to see us walk in darknesse such stinking grosse vapors that ariseth off our conversation cannot but engender clouds that hinder us from seeing God and certainly such pearls as Assurance is not given to dogs and swine lest they tread upon them SERMON VIII â— Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith prove your own selves know ye not your own selves how that Iesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates THere are two great ballances into which men do weight themselves there are some that weight themselves in the ballance of deceit who â—â—ink that in all their labours there is no iniâ—uity to be found yet God who is the weigher 〈◊〉 the spirit when he shall weigh them will â—â—grave this upon their forehead Thou art â—eighed in the ballance and are found light but there are many who approve themselves whom Christ shall never approve There are many that call God Father whom he will not call Children and many that call Christ Husband whom he will not call Spouse 2. There are some who weigh themselves in the ballance of the Sanctuary who upon solide and most spiritual grounds do draw this conclusion I am my beloveds and his desire is towards me who can with boldness and confidence look Christ in the face and say thou art mine and with much spiritual confidence take him in their arms and cry out he shall bee eternally mine and sure there is not a more pleasant life than to be taking him every day in our arms and to be crying out Am I not made up in him am I not made up in him Before I come to the words there are three great and most soul-concerning errourâ—
3. Faith letteth a Christian see the disadvantages of sin and what woful effects doth follow upon it and this doth exceedingly hold forth the sinfulnesse of sin The second thing that we shall speak to concerning Faiths influence in the attaining Sanctification shall be to enquire a little unto these things that hinder even Believers from attaining this blessed effect of their Faith for some Christians there are that in some respects are taken up in the exercise of Faith making use of Christ for Sanctification and yet their making use of Christ by Faith doth not weaken the strength of their idols at least to their apprehensions neither yet raise them up to a conformity with God so that they are constrained somtimes to cry out I shall once fall by the hand of one of mine iniquities and when they fight and doth not overcome they are at last constrained to say There is no hope The first ground of such a dispensation is That a Christian is not constant in his actingâ— of Faith he will be strong in faith to day and when the morrow cometh he will faint in that exercise and this doth exceedingly interrupt the noble victory of Faith For when faith hath gotten its advantages they lose them through security and negligence that is a command that should be continually obeyed Trust in the Lord at all times and no doubt if a Christian were more taken up in the constant actings of Faith he should sometimes sing that song I trusted in God and I was helped Secondly The most part of Christians they are not strong and vigorous in actings of their Faith their Faith is exceedingly weak and so they cannot bring forth these noble fruits and effects of Faith If we were trusting in God with all our hearts then that promse Psal. 37.5 should be accomplished to us Trust in the Lord and hee shall bring it to passe Thridly There is a strong heart conjunction and soul union between us and our idols wee are joyned to our idols and therefore we cannot be easily divorced yea when we are in the heat of the war against them there is a procuratour within that cryeth O spare this little one or this profitable or pleasant one and this is ordinarily our practice to spare the choisest of our lusts so that our Agags may cry forth The bitternesse of death is past But I confesse if that union were once dissolved wee should then bee heard with greatest earnestnesse to cry forth O blessed bee the Lord that teacheth my hands to fight Fourthly Sometimes a Christian layeth too much weight upon the actings of Faith and doth not imploy Faith but as an instrument to which Christ must bestow strength to conquer Sometimes we think that faith hath the vertue of overcoming in its own hand but remember Faith is but an empty thing without Christ as ye may see Acts 15.9 where the purifying their hearts by faith is ascribed to the holy Ghost so that the activity of faith is from him and not in it self Fifthly A Christian doth not hate sin with a perfect hatred even in the time of his warfare with his lusts and with these strong idols that are within him but there is a secret heart inclination to that very idol which he doth oppose So that oftenimes there is that twofold contradiction in a Christian Sometimes his light will cry mortifie such an idol and yet his heart will cry O spare such an idol yea more sometimes his hearâ— will cry mortifie such an idol and yet hiâ— heart will cry O spare such an idol That is to say there will be one part of our affection crying one thing and another part oâ— it will cry another thing O! but there is a remarkable command for the perfect hatred of sin Rom. 12.9 Abhor that which is evil The word is in the Original haâ—e evil as ye would do hell that is have perfect hatred to sin O to hate iniquity as much as hell a and joyn that word Eph. 5.11 Reprove the unfruitfull works of darknesse or as the word may be rendered Make out by unanswerable arguments to your tentations that you cannot imbrace the unfruitfull works of darknesse convince your tentations that ye cannot do it As we suppose it was a noble arguing of Ioseph when he was tempted How shall I do this he put the tentation as it were to it O tentation give me ouâ— ground why I should commit such an iniquitie And certainly if we were thus reasoning with our tentations they should flee before us But the truth is we imbace the desire of our tentation upon implicite faith It is a sad regrate and yet I may utter it O if men would but deal with God as they do by Satan we never dispute the promise of Satan and never examine these allurements he setteh forth and yet we constantly dispute with God upon every thing Sixthly A Christian promoveth not in the growth of Sanctification though in some measure exercising faith because he hath not such a heart to holinesse If we did discover more that excellent beauty that is in being cloathed with that glorious robe of the righteousnesse of Christ and in having the sweet draughts of the Image of Christ engraven upon our hearts we would have more victory over our lusts There is a command for a perfect love to that which is good and holinesse in that same place Rom. 12.9 and cleave saith he to that which is good or as the word may be rendered Be married and glewed to that which is good let there be an unspeakable and undissolvable knot of union between you and that which is good And certainly if once we believed that report which is given of holinesse we would endeavour more to be cloathed with it but that is the great ground why we advance not in holinesse we know not the advantage nor diguity to be made like God O will ye think on it What a thing is it for you who are the dust of his feet to be made conform to him Seventhly A Christian is not much in the exercise of other duties that should go along with faith suspect that faith for presumption that can act and be maintained without Prayer certainly prayer it keepeth in the life of Faith Prayer it is that grace that must act mutually with faith in accomplishing that blessed work of Sanctification and if we prayed more and believed more then we should have more to speak concerning the victory over our lusts When was it O Christian and expectant of heaven that yee was constrained to put up an Ebenâ—zer and cry forth Hitherto hath the Lord helped mee When was it O Christian and expectant of heaven that ye was put to cry forth God hath arisen and mine enemies are scattered before my face I will tell you what is your practice ye make such a covenant with your idols as Nahash did with the men of Iabesh Gilead 1 Sam. 11.2 3. your lusts desire to
to be partakers of the blessed Image of Christ ye know not the beauty of holinesse 3. Faith layeth hold upon Jesus Christ â—nd draweth strength and vertue from him for the conquering of lusts and in raising 〈◊〉 up into a blessed conformity unto himself when the Christian is weak Faith is that noble correspondent between that emptiness â—hat is in us and the fulnesse that is in Christ â—aith is that noble correspondent between â—hat weaknesse that is in us and that everlaâ—â—ing strength that is in him Therefore â—here are two noble and excellent counsels â—f Faith First It counsels us not to lean 〈◊〉 our own strength And secondly to â—ave our recourse unto him whose Name is Iehovah that everlasting strength And no doubt if we were more taken up in imploying Christ by faith that prophesie should be accomplished I will make the feeble ones as David and David as the Angel of God and when a Christian is most diffident in himself then God should prove himself to be Almighty and All-sufficient And 4. Faiths influence may be cleared in this that it layeth hold upon the promises and doth believe them and believing of the promises bringeth forth that noble birth conformity to God according to thaâ— word upon which we were speaking 2 Pet 1 4. by believing the promises that is the advantage of it We are by them made partakers of the divine nature 5. Faith also believeth the threatningâ— that are past in Scripture against sin and the believing them hath an undoubted and strong influence upon the attaining and growth oâ— Sanctification Faith strengtheneth a Christian against the committing of iniquity with these two words that word Rom. 6.20 O soul saith faith commit not iniquity foâ— the wages of sin is death and that word Rev 21. last There shall in no way enter into thâ— City any thing that is unclean or that committeth iniquity And be perswaded of it that the faith of the threatnings and of the promises that are in Scripture would be as 〈◊〉 threefold cord not easily broken to restaiâ— you from the acting of iniquity And shall tell you briefly the ground why these curseâ— hearts of ours doth commit iniquity witâ— so little fear and with so much delight it is even this because we believe not the threatnings of God which shall be accomplished in their own season for is it possible that if ye believed that word Rev 21. last That nothing shall enter into the New Ierusalem that defileth or worketh abominations or that maketh a lie that ye durst not for a world adventure upon the committing of iniquity as ye do And I shall only say to such that do undervalue the threatnings of God the day is coming when they shall be constrained to cry out He hath spoken it and he hath done it faithful is he there is not one jot nor title in the word of the Lord that shal fall to the ground And believe it God will be faithful in the accomplishment of his threatnings as he is faithful in the accomplishment of his promises 6. Faith discovereth unto a Christian the noble excellencies and those spiritual dignities that are in that everlasting estate that is provided for the Saints in light Faith as it were carrieth up the soul to the top of Pisgah off which it is admitted to behold the promised land and truely the seeing of these noble things that are provided for the Saints cannot but make them study holinesse since they know that there is an impossibility for one to attain to that estate with ouâ— holinesse because he had said it Without holinesse no man shall see God O then if once ye saw heaven ye would be constrained to walk in that path of Sanctification since it is the glorious way by which ye must walk in through the gates of that blessed City Buâ— ye know not the excellency that is there iâ— is a fancy and notion unto you and that iâ— the ground that ye do not study to conform your selves unto that blessed image of God And I would only ask you this one question Is it possible that such a delusion as this can overtake you as to think that ye who never studied holinesse on earth shall yet enter into heavens gates I know there are some that say in their hearts I shall have peace though I walk in the imaginations of my own heart and many more that suppose that they might fight and overcome that they may quite the estate of nature and be compleat in the estate of grace all in one day But why will ye deceive your selves Can a nation be born in one day Or is there but one step between hell and heaven O remember though nothing be impossible with God yet there was but one thief saved upon the crosse 7. Faith hath influence upon the attaining of holinesse in this respect That it believeth the exceeding great advantages that are promised unto the person that studieth holiness Faith believeth that word Matth. 5.8 Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall see God Faith it layeth hold upon the truth of the excellent sayings and maketh the Christian endeavour to attain unto a likenesse and conformity with him that so he may be admitted to behold his face for all eternity and to be made like unto him 8. Faith discovereth unto Christians the sinfulnesse of sin that is never done till once they be in the lively exercise of the grace of Faith And I will give you these three grounds why faith compleaty discovereth the sinfulnesse of sin 1. Faith letteth us see the person against whom we commit this sin and that doth exceedingly aggrege sin for when the Christian is admitted to behold God and to see that matchlesse excellency that is in him then saith he what a beast was I to offend such a glorious Majesty as He What a fool was I to kick against the pricks or to enter in the lists with such an infinite God 2. Faith letteth a Christian see these excellent obligations of love that Christ hath imposed upon us Faith letteth us see the ancient and everlasting love of Christ Faith is that grace that letteth us see his sufferings Faith letteth us see all that he hath done for us and this maketh the Christian to cry out Do I thus requite the Lord O foolish one and unwise And no doubt if a Christian were more taken up in the study of this duty he would be lesse in contracting debt and were you but seriously taken up in the study of these two great Registers 1. The Register in which all the infinit acts of love are recorded And 2. That Register in which all your acts of offending precious Christ are written ye would be astonished and ashamed to see so much forgiven you and durst not sin any more there ye would see infinite mercy desiring to rejoyce over Iudgement and there ye would see the spotlesse riches of that transcendent grace that is in Christ.