pronounce us perfect and just against all the accusations of the devil and clamours of our own consciences he will also accept of our persons not for any grace that is wrought in us nor for the merit of any work that is done by us but onely for the sake of Christ whom we do imbrace by faith upon whom we rest and depend and under whose righteousnesse all our sins are hidden and covered out of Gods sight Holy David saith b Ps 23. 1 2 that the man is blessed whose wickednesse is forgiven and whose sin is covered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity Though we are justified onely by Faith without the works of the Law yet it is not by any property vertue or power that Faith hath in it self to justifie but as it hath relation unto Christ it being the sole instrument to unite and knit us unto him with an unseparable union to be made one with him and to be made paâ—takers of his righteousnesse and of all the benefits of his death If we believe that Christ was crucified and died for us c Rom. 4 5 6 7. and that his righteousnesse is made ours by imputation we have then right and interest in all his excellencies and in all the merits of his blood and God in mercy will accept of our works and services though they are performed by us in much weaknesse We may be well perswaded of our justification d Phil 3. 9. because God hath given us a lively hope through Christ that distrusting our own righteousnesse which is of works we may cast our selves upon the righteousnesse which is of God through faith in Christ for our justification Though works are necessary to salvation and to manifest the truth of our faith if they are done for the glory of God and in obedience to his command yet they conduce nothing to our justification neither can they merit the pardon of the least sin e Lu 17. 10 for when we have done all that we can we have done but our duty and yet not so much as God requireth and therefore we are stâ—ll unprofitable servants also our best works as they are wrought by us though we be in the state of grace are defiled and imperfect in the sight of God by reason of the corruption of sin that cleaveth to them Notwithstanding God doth require them of us f Eph. 2. 10 for we were created in Christ Jesus unto good works We can expresse no actions of a spiritualâ— life and no fruits of our sanctification and regeneration in Christ but by our good works g Jam. 2. 17 and our faith is but a dead faith if it be alone without works What life is in our faith if it be barren and fruitlesse How shall we manifest our thankfulnesse to God for all his benefits but by doing that which he commandeth with a thankfull heart Can dead works glorifie God Can they declare our regeneration in Christ or the sanctification of the Spirit And how shall we strengthen our hope of salvation if we are not fruitfull in good works Hereby we do edifie the brethren according to this of our Saviour Christ h Mat. 5. 16. Let your light so shine before mâ—n that they may see your good works and glorifi your father which is in heaven i Tit. 2. 10 Hereby also we do honour and adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things So likewise we shall stop the mouths of the adversaries k 1 Pet. 2. 12 that they may by our good works which they shall behold glorifie God in the day of visitation l 2 Cor. 3. 5. But we are not sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves much lesse to do any thing that is good but our sufficiency is of God For as Paul saith m Phil. 2. 13 It is God which worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure Wherefore we can ascribe nothing to our selves for any good that we do but all the glory and praise of our works must be given to God that he may be honoured and magnified by them But how our works may be good and acceptable to God is set down in the next Chapter Now let us study and meditate with pure affections how to rest upon the righteousnesse of Christ for our justification and not upon our works for if we trust to our works or glory in them they will deceive us Thus saith Paul n Gal. 2. 1â— By the works of the Law can no flesh be justified Also if we make our works copartners with the righteousnesse of Christ in our justification then Christ will profit us nothing for our works do conduce much to our sanctification but they have no place in our justification If we are not perswaded that we are justified in the sight of God we can feel no comfort in Christ no assurance of the pardon of our sins no stedfast hope of salvation If the righteousnesse of Christ be not imputed to us our hearts cannot be seasoned with grace there can be no purity nor holinesse of life and we can do nothing that will please God So likewise if the guilt of our sins be not imputed unto Christ that he may take it from us it will still rest upon our soules it will afflict and terrifie our consciences it will follow us unto judgement and at last be a meanes to sink us down into eternal destruction But here is singular comfort for a poor distressed soul that is under the buffetings of Satan against all his feares and doubtings that if he hath interest in Christ by faith he may say with Paul o Rom. â— 33 34. It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us who shall separate us from the love of Christ Thus every true believer may comfort himself in the assurance of his justification though his faith be strongly assaulted to make him cast off all hope of salvation for nothing shall be able to separate him from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The benefits and comforts of true Faith THis faith is such an excellent grace that we may draw from it many singular benefits and comforts if we make use of it upon all occasions and it doth also make us capable by Christ of eternal life hereafter For in the first place it is the sole instrument which the holy Ghost useth to unite us unto Christ that we may partake with him in his righteousnesse and holinesse and in all heavenly and spiritual endowments of grace whereby we are made new creatures in Christ When God seeth us in this gracious condition with Christ then he is pleased to lay no guilt of sin to our charge for our condemnation but to impute the
the sanctifying graces of his holy Spirit may season our hearts and affections to walk before him in holinesse and purenesse of living all our dayes Wherefore now our afflictions and troubles which are part of this curse are sanctified to us and made salubrious and wholesome for our good and the evill of punishment which we suffer is taken away by the merit of his sufferings and the nature of them is changed into fatherly chastisements to correct us for our sins that we may walk more obediently before God or else they are to try the truth of our graces for the honour of God that gave them Fourthly this is another great Advantage and Gain that we have by Christ which unregenerate men cannot finde that he hath also freed us from the dominion of sin for though sin will dwell with us so long as we live in the flesh yet the strength and power of sin is weakened and killed by the vertue and power of that grace which Christ hath given us by his death The best of Gods servants do often complain how the unregenerate part in them doth sometimes prevail against the Spirit which makes them groan under the burden of their corruptions as holy David and others have done Paul also found this to be true for thus he saith e Rom. 7. 18 19. I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I finde not for the good that I would I do not but the evill which I would not that I do And he had no power but onely from Christ to be freed from this dominion of sin and therefore he cryeth out saying f Rom 7. 24 25. O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord for he found this Benefit and Gain by Christ for saith he g Phil. 1. 21. To me to live is Christ and to dye is gain or else we may read it thus For Christ is to me both in life and in death advantage This is not the gain which natural men look for they seek after the gain of riches the gain of honours and the gain of worldly preferments they look not after spiritual gain they do not esteem of vertue and godliness piety towards God is out of request with them though it be the true gain and most to be desired Fifthly that we may get this spirituall gain of Godlinesse which is the advantage onely of a true Believer Christ doth wash us in the Laver of his righteousnesse and therefore he bestowes all sanctifying and saving graces upon us to purifie us from the silth and pollutions of our sins For Christ doth unite us unto himself by Faith whereby we are cloathed with his righteousnesse and have all the benefits that come by the merite of his blood then faith drawes in with it all other sanctifying graces to make us compleat and perfect in Christ to beautifie and adorn our souls that we may lead a vertuous and pious life in the right way of true holiness h 1 Pet. 2. 2 Christ doth also give us an holy desire to the sincere milk of the word that thereby we may grow in i 2 Pet. 3. 18. grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we are brought into the favour of God k Rom. 3. 24 by whose grace love we are freely justified through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ l Eph. 2. 8. by whose free grace also we are saved through faith in Christ Saving grace was one of the special gifts that Christ gave after his Ascension according to this of Paul m Eph. 4. 7. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ n Heb. 13 9. Wherefore if our hearts are stablished w th grace we shal not be carried about with diverse and strange doctrines but we shall stand firm in the Faith and in the truth of our Profession and our hearts will be purged from dead works Sixthly we have this great Advantage by Christ above all other men o Gal. 4. 5 6 7. that by him we receive the adoption of sons and thereby we injoy all the Priviledges that belong to sons for God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying Abba Father and we are made heirs of God through Christ Wherefore p Heb. 4. 16. in him we may come boldly unto the throne of grace by Prayer that we may obtain mercy and finde grace to help in time of need For God will have a fatherly care of us to protect us in all dangers to provide whatsoever is good for us and to comfort us in all our sorrowes and distresses q Psal 9. 9. Isa 25. 4. Thus was God a refuge and a shield of defence to David and to other holy men in their troubles and afflictions If his rod of correction be upon us it will be in love r Heb. 12. 6. as a father chasteneth his son that he may receive us as his sons and though we feel his visitation sharp Å¿ Lam. 3. 31 yet he will not cast us off for ever for t Eph. 4 30. we are sealed unto the day of Redemption u Heb. 6. 12. that we may through faith and patience inherit the promises u 1 Pet. 1 4. as heirs to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us Lastly Christ hath sealed the Covenant of grace to us with his own blood whereby we are freed from the strict keeping of the legal Covenant of Works and Christ will perfect with his own righteousnesse whatsoever is wanting in us to the fulfilling of the Law if we endeavour the best we can with an upright heart to do the will of God and then God in mercy will accept of our imperfect obedience for his sake This new Covenant which Christ hath procured for us will admit of the obedience of Christ for us and also of our true repentance for our sins which the legal Covenant would not because it required perfect and personal obedience to every tittle of the Law both in thought in word and in deed By vertue of this new Covenant x Jer. 31. 33 34. God is our God and he will forgive all our iniquities and will remember our sins no more upon condition that we believe in Christ y Heb. 12. 24. who is the Mediator of this Covenant and that with our faith we joyn piety and new obedience Christ hath also given us his Sacraments whereby this Covenant is sealed to us if we do worthily partake of them but of this Covenant and also of the Sacraments I have written more fully in another Treatise Now Meditate with an holy devotion upon all these Advantages which every
which God requireth FOL 1 Rules of direction for our holy Meditations 4 Holy Meditation is the Prerogative onely of a true Christian 9 How dreadfull it is to Meditate on God 12 How to Meditate comfortably on God 20 How to Meditate on the Holy Ghost 30 How to Meditate on the Works of God 48 Concerning the Creation of Man 60 To what end and purpose Man was Created 64 Concerning the Fall of Man 69 Concerning the Redemption of Man 73 The Time of Grace 80 The danger of delayes in seeking Grace 92 Of Christ our Redeemer 97 Of Christs Propheticall Office 106 Of Christs Priestly Office 112 Of Christs Kingly Office 116 Of the Passion of Christ 121 Of Christs Agony in the Garden 128 Concerning the fidelity of Peter and the creachery of Judas 141 What Christ suffered under Caiaphas 157 Peters deniall of Christ 165 Christs sufferings under Pilate 179 Christs sufferings under the Crosse 201 Who were the Agents in the Passion of Christ 211 Of the Penitent Thief 214 Of the Virgin Mary 216 The darkning of the Sun 235 Of the death of our Saviour Christ 248 What happened at Christs death 255 Of the buriall of Christ 261 A brief summe of the Humiliation of Christ 266 Of the Resurrection of Christ 270 Of Christs Ascension up into heaven 275 A brief summe of the Exaltation of Christ 279 Our Aduantage and gain by Christ in this life 282 Our Advantage and gain by Christ in death 290 Our Advantage and gain by Christ after death 296 How Christ is our spirituall life 303 How to injoy true happinesse 314 Concerning our Justification 318 The Benefits and Comforts of true Faith 322 How to increase Faith 329 How to esteem of Faith 333 The sense of Faith may be lost 341 The Stability of true Faith 346 The Conclusion of this Treatise 354 THE COMFORT OF THE SOVL. Meditation is a Duty which God requireth WE read in the sacred Scriptures that God commanded his people a Deut. 6. 8 9. to binde the Words of his Law for a sign upon their hands and to be as frontlets between their eyes to write them upon the posts of their houses and on their gates to teach them diligently unto their children to talk of them in their houses and to think upon them when they walk by the way when they lye down and when they rise up all which was to this end and purpose b Deut. 11 18. that they might lay up his Words in their hearts and in their soules to meditate upon them for their instruction for their spirituall comfort and for their direction in a vertuous life and holy Conversation This is the counsell of the wiseman c Prov. 7. 3 To binde the Commandments of God upon our fingers and to write them upon the table of our hearts that we may be familiarly acquainted with them and to meditate on them upon all occasions Paul gave Timothy diverse holy precepts concerning his life and doctrine d 1 Tim. 4. 15 and then he gave him expresse charge to meditate upon them and to give himself wholy to them that they might be well fastned in his heart to observe them Also when Moses was dead God made Joshua the chief commander of his people and appointed him to bring them into the land of Canaan and to give them the possession of it which was a work so great so difficult and so dangerous by reason of the great strength of the inhabitants of that Land as might make Joshua to shrink from it and afraid to undertake it but God did encourage him by many gracious promises of his assistance to make him able to effect it and therefore he commanded him three severall times to be strong and of a good courage not to be afraid but to rest upon his Word for strength and ability to do that work whereunto God had called him and would assuredly perform his Word if he did observe to do according to all the Law which Moses commanded him and not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that he might prosper whithersoever he went Wherefore God saith thus unto him e Josh 1. 8. This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou maist observe to do according to all that is written therein for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good successe Have not I commanded thee This is an holy duty which ought to be fixed upon holy things and performed to an holy end for it is very usefull and profitable very sweet and comfortable to every true Believers soul if it be rightly performed The Saints and servants of God have been very frequent in the practice of this duty whose hearts were inlarged to meditate upon heavenly spiritual things they did thereby draw true consolation to their souls f Psal 63. 6 This was holy Davids exercise day and night g Psal 119. sometimes in the precepts and Statutes of God h Psal 143. 5. sometimes on his wonderfull Acts and excellent Works i Psal 104. 34 and his heart found great sweetnesse in these his Meditations Now then it is richly worth our pains to get this Art of Divine Meditation for it will increase our knowledge of God and of his Laws it will make grace more fruitfull in us and our sorrows lesse grievous It will also strengthen our faith in the promises of God to make us stout and couragious in his Cause to withstand the assaults of the divell and all the oppositions of wicked men How can we be edified by the Preaching of the Word of God if we let it depart out of our mindes and do not chew the cud and ruminate upon it in our hearts How can we teach our children and servants the Lawes of God if they come not frequently into our own meditations How can our wayes be prosperous here upon earth how can we hope to have good successe in what we take in hand if we do not meditate something concerning God day and night If we neglect this pious Duty we do then estrange our selves from God and we bereave our souls of those spirituall benefits and comforts which otherwise they might receive and we lose a great part of the comfort of our lives But this Art is not easily learned common grace or humane learning cannot attain unto it for the affections of the heart cannot be raised up to heavenly contemplations if they are not seasoned with sanctifying grace neither can they delight in spirituall things if they are clogged with earthly cares or drawn away after worldly vanities A true child of God is not alwayes prepared to meditate as he ought to make his meditations edifying and comfortable to his soul for the inward corruptions of his unregenerate part will hinder him the thoughts of his worldly affairs will distract his minde that he cannot
be so well disposed for such an heavenly duty or else the divell will be ready to suggest unto him evill thoughts or to bring into his remembrance some of his former sins to disquiet the peace of his conscience to trouble the tranquillity of his minde and so to interrupt his thoughts that his meditations may not be for the honour of God nor yet fruitfull and profitable to himself and therefore he must crave the assistance of the Spirit of GOD by Prayer Rules of direction for our holy Meditations VVHerefore now that our Meditations may be holy and acceptable to God and that we may finde sweetnesse and comfort in them we must carefully observe these few Directions following The first is to fix our meditations upon holy things and not upon that which is vain and unprofitable for they do most conduce to the glory of God and to the comfort of our soules This is Pauls counsell a Col. 3. 1 2 to set our affections on things above not on things on the earth whereby we shall give a clear evidence that we are risen with Christ from the death of sin to the life of grace As our affections are carried so are our meditations if they are carried to worldly vanities our mindes will be so incumbered that we cannot freely meditate upon those things that concern the Kingdom of heaven neither will our meditations be for Gods glory or for our eternall good But if our affections are carried toward heavenly things then our meditations will be spirituall and heavenly and our actions will be tending to the honour of God b 1 Chron. 29. 3. David set his affection to the house of his God and therefore he prepared abundantly of his own proper good of gold and silver which he gave to the building of it Wherefore it concerneth us very much to keep our hearts close unto God that our minds may be raised up to him in our heavenly contemplations and that he may be glorified in all our actions The second direction is that our meditations must be of the heart as well as of the brain otherwise this Duty is not so performed that God will accept it It is the heart which God respecteth in all our services to him without which our best duties are not regarded c Luk. 2. 19 The blessed Virgin kept all the sayings of the shepherds and others concerning Christ and pondered them in her heart Oh how acceptable is that sacrifice which is offered up to God with a pure and perfect heart how effectuall is that Prayer which is presented unto him with a true and faithfull heart how pleasing are those Almes to God that are given to the poor with a willing heart and how comfortable are those meditations which proceed from an upright heart The brain may work and the cogitations of the minde may be set upon holy objects and all to little purpose if the affections of the heart be wanting Thirdly the end of our meditations must crown the work with gracious acceptance and this must be the glory of God We do greatly honour God in our meditations when we ruminate upon his incomprehensible Essence how infinite he is in all his Divine Attributes and how wonderfull in all his works also when we meditate upon his Law and upon his gracious promises to us in Christ if hereby we are brought to reverence and adore his Sacred Majesty to love him for his goodnesse and to yield due obedience unto his commands and if we can rest upon his promises and discern his wisdome and glory by his Works This must be the main end of our meditations and if we do seriously meditate upon the holy things of God to an holy end then God will accept them and we shall be edified by them But if we propound any other end to our selves whether it be for discourse or vain-glory or the like we seek not the honour of God herein but we delude our selves and defraud our souls of that heavenly comfort which otherwise they might have Fourthly our hearts and consciences must be purified and cleansed from dead works by faith and true repentance that an holy zeal may be kindled in our affections and that our souls may feel the comfort of a spirituall warmth by our holy meditations For if there be any guilt of sin that cleaveth fast to our consciences because we have no assurance by repentance that it is washt away in the blood of Christ by faith it will cool the zeal of our affections and stop the current of Gods assisting grace so that our meditations can make no holy impression in our hearts no print of Piety in our lives and conversations neither can they send forth any beams of true consolation to our souls Wherefore if our hearts are not sanctified and seasoned with grace our meditations cannot be to the glory of God nor to our own spirituall good neither can we say as the Psalmist did d Psal 104 34. My meditation of God shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. This will move our hearts and affections and will put a spirituall life into our meditations when our hearts are cleansed from the guilt of sin so that we can freely meditate upon the bounty and goodnesse of God in all his dealings with us this we may do if faith goeth along in all our holy meditations Fifthly we must have some spirituall understanding in those things whereon we desire to meditate that the holy Ghost may guide us in our meditations and then we shall glorifie God and comfort our souls thereby otherwise the thoughts of our hearts will wander and go far astray from the matter whereupon they should be fixed and we may easily lose our selves in the dark if the spirit of God doth not give us some spiritual light to guide and direct us therein and we can receive no benefit by this holy service if it be not performed with an understanding heart The more knowledge we have of what we intend to meditate the more will our hearts be enlarged for it and the deeper impressions will our meditations make in our affections and the greater will be the comfort of our souls This was the saying of the Psalmist e Psal 49. 3. The meditation of my heart shall be of understanding Thus saith Paul f 1 Cor. 14 15 I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also I will sing with thâ— spirit and I wil sing with the understanding also so likewise we must meditate with the spirit and with the understanding also How can we learn the Commandements of God and how can we keep his Law if the Lord doth not give us understanding in them by his Spirit This heavenly wisdome is the gift of God which we must with all care and diligence labour for according to this of Solomon g Prov. 4. 7. Wisdome is the principall thing therefore get Wisdom and with all
to the people of God in their march through that hot Countrey We are by nature under the spiritual bondage of sin and Satan which is far worse than the Egyptian bondage was to the Israelites and we have no means to be brought out of it but by an almighty power and if God doth deliver us yet we are so ignorant of the way to the heavenly Canaan that we cannot set one step toward it except the holy Ghost doth put a spiritual Light into our understanding to teach and instruct us in the right way to heavenly happinesse And because we shal meet with many spiritual enemies so long as we march thorough the wildernesse of this world the holy Ghost will so protect and defend us that they shall neither hurt our souls by their power nor keep us out of Canaan by their subtilty or malice He will guide and direct us into all holy duties he will give us holy desires and true endeavours to do the will of God and to walk humbly before him in this present world Also the holy Ghost doth protect us from the heat of Gods wrath by working faith in us to lay hold upon the merit of Christs death for the pardon of our sins and by conferring grace for the sanctification of our lives So likewise he doth refresh and comfort our fainting spirits with the sweet dewes of heavenly consolations and he doth mollifie and soften our obdurate and stony hearts with those influences of grace that descend from him that we may p Joel 2. 28 Gal. 5. 22 23. be fruitfull in all good works This holy Spirit doth also quench the fire of sin which otherwise would inflame the whole man with sinful lusts And lastly the holy Ghost doth purge and cleanse the soul from the filth of sin as water washeth away the filth of the body This doth God promise by his Prophet q Zech. 36 25. I will pour clean water upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthinesse and from all your idols will I cleanse you Wherefore we ought seriously to ruminate upon these operations of the holy Ghost for we cannot find the right way to the heavenly Canaan by all that nature or humane learning can afford us we cannot over power our spiritual enemies by our own strength we have no holy desires and no ability in our selves to any thing that is good nothing that is in our power can keep us from the wrath of God and we have nothing that can refresh and and comfort our afflicted spirits But here we shal find that the holy Ghost wil be our guide to this heavenly Country he wil be our Protector against all adversary power and he wil be a true comforter to us in all our sorrowes and upon all occasions in all conditions of life He will bring us unto Christ and wil firmly unite us unto him by faith r 1 Cor. 10. 1 2. for as the ancient Fathers were all under the cloud and all passed thorough the sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea so we are baptized unto Christ by the holy Ghost that our sins may be washed away in his blood and that we may be sanctified by this spirit of grace to live in true holinesse and righteousnesse all our dayes If we can thus Meditate on the holy Ghost it wil be exceeding profitable and comfortable to our souls Thirdly the holy Ghost is resembled to the pillar of fire that conducted the Israelites by night out of Egypt toward the Land of Canaan Now we must consider that such as are the properties of fire such are some of the operations of the holy Ghost in our hearts Fire is the most pure Element and purifies all other elements it doth naturally mount upward it is bright and shining and giveth light to all dark places It doth also warm and comfort every part of our bodies and it is the most active of all the other elements it purifies the gold and burnes away the drosse Thus it is with the holy Ghost for he is essentially pure in himself and purifies every soul from dead works into which he comes he wil not suffer any unclean lust or evill concupiscence to have dominion where he dwelleth and he wil raise up the cogitations of the minde and the affections of the heart to mount upwards in heavenly contemplations Also whereas by nature Å¿ 1 Cor. 2. 10 11. we cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishnesse unto us neither can we know them because they are spiritually discerned God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit for the holy Ghost wil put a spiritual light into our hearts to discern the deep things of God he wil also inflame our affections with an holy zeal to the glory of God and will make our love fervent to the truth So likewise the holy Ghost wil melt our hard and stony hearts and make them tender and gracious flexible and yielding to every holy duty And whereas our hearts are naturally bound up in unbelief and heavy and sluggish to any thing that is good t Psal 119. 32. the holy Ghost wil so inlarge them that with all cheerfulnesse of spirit and willingnesse of minde we shall run the way of Gods Commandements Wherefore now if we have found any of these operations of the holy Ghost in our hearts we shal be in some measure purified and refined from our sins and pollutions we shall have some of the drosse of our corrupted nature consumed and the heavenly graces of the Spirit of God wil shine forth in the integrity of our lives and conversations Also we shall have some spiritual light to guide our darkned understandings in the knowledge of God and of his wayes some fervency in our Prayers some love to the truth and some holy zeal to the true worship and service of God we shal delight in his Law we shal study to do good works and it will be the desire of our hearts and the comfort of our souls to Meditate day and night in the Commandements of God If these Operations of the holy Ghost which are resembled to these two pillars cannot easily work upon us if these cannot raise up our affections to heavenly contemplations and to be forward and ready to every good duty in the service of God then surely we are exceeding dull and stupid and we have great need to pray earnestly that the holy Ghost will be pleased to come with his unresistible power and break our hard stony hearts and molifie this extreme obduracy that is in them with his suppling grace that so we may more easily take the impression of his sanctifying grace in us Consider further that these two pillars which did lead the Israelites out of Egypt were a visible sign of the presence of God with them to conduct them in the way to Canaan to protect and defend them from all their
God that doth purge our consciences from dead works to serve the living God Also Iohn saith g Rev. 1. 7 that the blood of Christ the Son of God clenseth us from all sinne so that no spots no staines no guilt of sinne shall cleave to our souls to our condemnation and as he in himself according to his divine nature was infinite so the price which he paid at his Passion for our redemption was of infinite worth and the benefits that we receive by him are likewise infinite If we are clensed from the guilt of all our sins by the blood of Christ then the sting which sin hath put into all things that we possesse is taken away and we may comfortably use them to the glory of God and Christ by his resurrection and ascension hath sanctified them to us for our good riches shall not make us proud or ambitious nor steal away our hearts from God want and penury shall not make us repine or murmur against the providence of God to make us forsake him but all things shall work together for our good death shall not be terrible but advantage to us and we shall sleep quietly in our graves until the general resurrection because no guilt of sinne will lie down with us in the dust to follow us unto Judgement Though sinne hath wounded our souls i Mal. 4. 2. yet if we fear his Name the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings to cure it for k Luc. 10. 34. Christ like the good Samaritan will pour in wine and oyl to clense and heal it Though sinne doth sometimes over-power us yet Christ by vertue of his death will subdue and kill it in us and by the power of his resurrection he will quicken us up to newness of life and he will make our unruly passions and sinful desires to be tributary and servants to us by the power of his Spirit and of his sanctifying grace l Iosh 9. 23. as Ioshua made the Gibeonites hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of God Lastly m 1 Thes 1. 10. Christ hath delivered us by his Passion from the wrath to come and from all the punishments that are due to us for our sins Christ did not begin his Passion until he had fulfilled all righteousness in his life and doctrine that the Law required though his whole life was a life of suffering and of sorrow But when he knew that the time was at hand when he must offer up his body a sacrifice to God for the sinnes of the world n Mat. 26. 21 he told his disciples that one of them should betray him into the hands of his enemies o Joh. 16. 32 that they all should be scattered from him and also what he should suffer in his Passion notwithstanding he did not shrink from it but did willingly undertake it because it was his Fathers will to have it so Wherefore he did arm himself with divine patience and meekness to suffer whatsoever was appointed in Gods decree should be put upon him and he prepared himself by prayer for that great work This is to teach us to submit with all meekness of spirit to the will of God in all our sufferings how to prepare our selves for them and how to demean our selves in them God hath appointed every man some work to do and when one work is finished he hath another ready for him for God requires that we should be diligent and painful in our callings frequent in holy duties and industrious in his vineyard p Mat. 20. 6 The good Housholder in the Gospel rebuked those that did stand all the day idle q Eze. 16. 49 Idlenesse was one of the sins of Sodom which brought down fire and brimstone from heaven upon it This is one of the properties of a good wife r Pro. 31. 27 that she looketh well to the wayes of her houshold and eateth not the bread of idleness God doth not appoint to every one their work alike for Paul had more work appointed him than any of the Apostles Å¿ 2 Cor. 11. 28. for the care of all the Churches came dayly upon him Abraham had harder work to do when he was to offer up his onely Son to God than any of the Patriarchs If God appointeth much work he will give time to doe it if his work be hard strength and ability to go thorough with it Wherefore if God shall call us to any hard service which is not pleasing to our nature or may seem impossible to humane strength we ought not to consult with flesh and blood what to do but to be obedient to the will and pleasure of God though we can expect no outward help nor support in it for if we rest upon God he knoweth how when to make us able to perform what he commandeth and to bear what he layeth upon us If we believe that God will assist us in his own work we shall set upon it with good courage and Christian fortitude That we may the better do any work that God commandeth we must prepare our selves for it by faithful prayer and then rest upon the assisting grace of God with stedfast hope that he will both help us in it and will bless and prosper our indeavours to his glory and to our comfort Thus we should do every day in the works of our calling but chiefly on the Lords day when we should spend our whole time in his worship and service Now let our hearts faithfully meditate upon the Passion of Christ and upon every particular that he suffered for our sakes and then we shall find the bitterness of it for the wrath of God was in every part of his sufferings and followed him from place to place even to mount Calvary until divine justice was fully satisfied for all our sins then we shall imbrace him with hearty affections and our souls will rest comforted in the assurance of our redemption thereby of Christ's Agony in the garden THe hour is now come when Christ must pay the whole debt to God his Father which he did undertake for us now is the time when the justice of God must be satisfied for our sinnes now doth God deliver up his dear Son to the powers of darkness now doth he cloud the bright beams of his glorious countenance from him and leaves him to himself to encounter with the devil because be saw the guilt of all our sins upon him and now doth the devil take a double advantage against our dear Saviour and with all his power and malice he doth fiercely set upon him in a single combate thinking now to prevail because God did seem to discountenance him and also because there was sin and that very great which was laid to his charge for the guilt of all the detestable and abominable sinnes of all the elect of God was imputed to him and the devil knew how odious and
make thee out of hope of the love and favour of God in Christ but thou wilt resolve still to be faithfull to thy Saviour and to keep thy heart sincere and upright towards God and then Christ will restore thee if thou fallest he will heal thee by repentance as he did Peter if thou art wounded and whatsoever thou fearest shall not dismay thee Christ will be thy comfort in all thy sorrowes thy hiding place in all dangers and he will be thy defence against all thy spirituall enemies that they shall not overthrow the salvation of thy soul Christs sufferings under Pilate NOw we come to consider what Christ suffered under Pilate and how the immaculate Lamb of God was hurried from the wolfe to the lyon and from thence to the bear and back again to the lyon and so to the shambles where he must be slain For the more his Divine graces did shine forth in the purity of his life and Doctrine the more did the divel rage and the malice of the Jews increase against him He is now brought before Pilate a Luk 23. and thither did the chief Priests and Elders come with their false accusations against him They likewise follow him from Pilate to Herod before whom also they falsly accused him with much vehemency yet they rest not there but they returned again to Pilate with their hearts full of envy and malice and their mouthes full of opprobrious speeches and blasphemies against the innocent Lamb of God to put him to death Thus they persecuted the Lord of glory our gracious Redeemer and yet these wicked dissembling Rulers did hide and cover their grosse hypocrisie and their divilish malice under the pretence of sanctity and holinesse b Joh 18. 28 for they refused to go into Pilates judgement-hall lest they should be defiled but that they might eat the Passeover for this was the preparation day What holinesse can there be in a malicious heart How can the heart be prepared to serve God aright when the conscience is stained with the guilt of sin and how durst they eat the Passover when there was so much soure leaven of hateful malice in them but they did stand more upon the outward form of godlinesse then to perform it with pure affections and with a good conscience Now we may easily see what Satans drift is against the servants of God for if he did stirre up all his instruments to persecute Christ Jesus our Head with deadly hatred he will not spare us that are his members and he will set upon those that are most eminent in grace with his strongest assaults Thus he assaulted Job with many and great afflictions one upon the neck of another to overthrow his patience c 1 Chro. 21. 1. Thus he strongly tempted David to number the people to make him trust in the arm of flesh and to weaken his confidence in God d 2 Cor. 12. 7. and thus he buffeted Paul with his temptations and many sore afflictions But this is our comfort that he can do no more than God doth permit him he cannot exercise his power according to his malice for God will not suffer him to assault his weak servants with strong temptations and though he doth sometimes permit him violently to set upon those that are rich in grace and strong in faith yet he will order and dispose his attempts for their good and not for their destruction as the divell doth maliciously intend God will make them serve for the triall and manifestation of their graces for the preventing of spirituall pride and for the confirmation of their faith and affiance in God by that experience of his assistance and gracious deliverance which hereby they have gained From hence we may learn how to be prepared when we come to the Lords Table to eat of his holy Supper how to come to the hearing of his Word and how to addresse our selves unto Prayer and to pious meditations If we come to these holy Ordinances with polluted hands and with hearts defiled with the guilt of sin as these Rulers did to eat the Passover what holinesse soever we pretend we do but dissemble with God we delude our own soules and God will neither hear us nor accept us Wherefore we must cast out the leaven of sin and purge our consciences from dead works by faith in the bloud of Christ before we come into the presence of God that our affections may be quickned and raised up to these heavenly and Divine Ordinances of God But if our sins do stick close to our soules by our delight in them they will binde us over to judgement and to condemnation and therefore we must not seek to hide them or to colour them over with fair pretences as if God could not see them but we must confesse them and lay them open before God from a truly humbled and penitent heart that so we may come before him in sincerity and in truth for e Psal 44. 21. God knoweth the secrets of our hearts But if we will hide our sins quite out of Gods sight we must hide them under the righteousnesse of Christ for there is no other hiding place for sin but under this robe Thus the guilt of our sins may be hidden from God if we can apply to our souls Christ crucified and his righteousnesse by faith Also if we have a true assurance by our repentance that our iniquities are forgiven we may then and not before draw near unto God with comfort and we may partake of his holy Ordinances with much profit for they are appointed for us if we are thus prepared for them and bestowed onely upon such as have interest in Christ by faith We come now to look upon the innocency of our blessed Redeemer who was without spot or stain of sin both in the sight of God and in the sight of man otherwise he could not have saved us from our sins Thus saith God himself of him f Luk. 17. 5. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased g John 8. 46 Which of you saith Christ to the Pharisees convinceth me of sin Pilate and Herod did strictly examine him and yet they could find no fault in him h Luk. 23. 14. Pilate himself did freely confesse that Christ was blamelesse and therefore he sought meanes how to release him Also i Mat. 27. 19 his wife sent to him saying Have thou nothing to do with that just man for she was much troubled that night by some revelations concerning him Though Christ was accused of many things yet nothing could be proved against him notwithstanding Christ was willing in obedience to his Fathers will to suffer the utmost that God had appointed for mans redemption for if any part of this great Work had been left unfinished he could never have procured our atonement and reconciliation with God Wherefore here is matter of great comfort for our hearts to meditate upon for
the power of sin will be killed in us that by the sanctifying Grace of the holy Ghost we may be raised up to newnesse of life If we did seriously consider these things we should not keep at so farre a distance from Piety and vertue and we should not be such strangers to a Christian life and conversation but we would use all means to get into nearer society with Christ by true saving faith and by heavenly contemplation that the spirituall dew of his heavenly graces may distill into our hearts to sanctifie us throughout both in soul and in body that in Christ we may be made new creatures To this end we must endeavour to keep our faith still in action and continually to use it upon all occasions and in every condition of life for thereby we shall draw strength and power from Christ to carry us on through all temptations and tryalls and to support and comfort us in all sorrows and tribulations it will purifie our hearts from dead works and suffer no sin to continue with us without repentance to hinder the salvation of our souls This rare example of the goodnesse and mercy of Christ to this believing Thief may keep us from despair because g Ezech. 18 21 22. there is mercy for a sinfull soul if at any time he doth truly repent and turn to the Lord with a full intent and purpose of will to reform his evill it doth also teach us not to be secure or carelesse of our salvation for it is extreamly dangerous to loose any opportutunity of grace that God shall give us or to take so much liberty to sin as to forget to make our Peace with God in time for we must give an account at the last day of all that we have done in the flesh and our condition then wil be most miserable if our reckoning be not made perfect in the righteousnesse of Christ by faith while we live here upon earth and therefore it is the greatest punishment in this life to have no sense of our spirituall misery and not to fear or remember the dreadfull day of judgement Also this consideration should keep us from rash judgement and censuring of any mans condition though he be a notorious sinner for God can give him grace to repent when he pleaseth As this one example of the mercy of Christ to this penitent sinner may keep us from despair from security and from rash judging of others so let it keep us from presuming upon sin in hope of pardon we do wilfully delay our repentance from day unto day and so continue impenitent to the last part of our life because this man had all his sins forgiven even in a moment and was received to mercy at the last hour for God may justly deny us mercy if we refuse grace when the means is offered to us So likewise let it keep us from presuming upon repentance because it is not in our power to repent when we will This heavenly grace is the gift of God and it is the first fruits of faith which the holy Ghost will work in us if we are ready to yield obedience to his holy inspirations or to make the right use of such meanes as he is pleased to use to make us willing to seek unto him for it for if the Spirit of God doth not work it in us we can have no hope ever to obtain it Now consider the strength of faith that was in this poor sinner he gave the highest title of honour to Christ when he we was scornfully mocked and in a most contemptible condition to the eye of all men he did imbrace him and vindicate his honour when he was upon the crosse he did believe that heaven was his Kingdom though he were now reviled and despised of all men and that he had the disposing of all honours and preferments in that Kingdom which made him pray unto him Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdome also his heart was touched with a sensible feeling of his sins he made a pious confession of them and therefore he did pray for mercy out of a true sense of his misery If we can shew the faith of this penitent Thief though our life hath been as vicious as his was and though we turn to Christ late as he did yet we may have good hope of the pardon of our sins and we may comfortably expect his felicity for Christ will return the like gracious answer to our Prayers and the like promise of future happinesse But what faith can we shew if we still dishonour Christ with our words and works how can we trust in him if we do not believe that all regall power both in heaven and in earth is given unto him And how can we hope for future blessednesse from him if we are not confident that he is the disposer of all the glorious mansions that are in heaven what godly sorrow have we for our sins if we still go on in a presumptuous way of sinning And what hope is there of true repentance if we still cherish foster our sins in our bosome if our faith and repentance be no better then thus Christ will not hear our Prayers nor grant our requests Wherefore let not the devill delude thee with security or presumption lest he brings thee to perdition for many have perished with the shadow of this deceitful hope Look well to the truth of thy faith that it be well grounded upon the true knowledge of Christ and of those excellencies that are in him that thou maist firmly rest upon him in all troublesome and dangerous times but chiefly for the redemption of thy soul Neglect not the means of grace and defer not thy repentance for God hateth such as upon confidence of repentance in their old age do presume to sin the moâ—e freely as if God did not know the deceit and hypocrisie that is in their hearts h Deut. 29. 19 20 If thou dost flatter thy self in thy wickednesse and doest blesse thy self in thy heart saying I shal have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart to ad drankenes to thirst then know that the Lord will not spare thee but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against thee and all the curses that are written in his book shal lye upon thee and the Lord shall blot out thy Name from under heaven Consider further how much this penitent sinner was humbled in the sense of his sins and of his unworthinesse and also how bountifull and good Christ was to him for he durst not presume to beg any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ but onely some remembrance of him when he came into his Kingdome but Christ did grant him a present possession of his Kingdome Verily I say unto thee To day thou shalt be with me in Paradise This Paradise was the place of blessednesse where all the Saints of God shall be untill the generall
now broken down which was between the Jew and the Gentile and that Christ was as freely given to the one as the other and the merit of his blood was as effectuall for the salvation of the Gentile as it was for the Jew if he were truly received by faith The vail being now rent the Gentile hath free accesse to the Mercy-seat which did typifie the Throne of grace by Christ Long before this God did choose some to be the first fruits of the Gentiles as namely Eliezâ—r of Damascus in Abrahams family Rahab of Jericho Ruth the Moabitesse and Naaman the Syrian with many more Secondly God did hereby shew that now there was an end put to the sacrifices of the Ceremoniall Law because the true Paschall Lambe was slain of whom these sacrifices were but types and shadows and that the Ceremoniall Law was now abrogated c Joh. 4. 22 23. and the true worship and service of God was not confined to Jerusalem or to the Temple but now God might be worshipped in any other place so that it be in spirit and in truth Thirdly we may see the free mercy and goodnesse of God to the Jew and also to the Gentile d Acts 15. 10. for by the death of his Son he hath cased the Jew of the great burden of Ceremonies which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear by putting an end to the Ceremoniall Law and he hath brought the Gentile within the Covenant of grace and hath admitted him into the most holy place for the vail of the Temple which before kept him out is now rent asunder God hath also sanctified every place where he is truly worshipped and served with a pure and upright heart and hath given us as great Priviledges in Christ as he gave to his ancient people the Jews Fourthly by these miraculous signes and wonders God did convince his people of the hardnesse of their hearts and of their wilfull blindnesse who would not see the fulfilling of their ancient Prophesies in Christ nor believe that he was that Messiah which was promised though they could object nothing against it Wherefore their hearts did not relent for their great impiety but the earth and the stony rocks were more sensible than they If we are thus hardned in our sins and thus blinded in our understandings it is a fearfull sign that we are given up to a reprobate minde Fifthly we may hereby see how God made the senselesse creatures to honour his Son at his death though both Jew and Gentile did most spitefully dishonour him in his life Christ honoured his Father while he was living and his Father honoureth him now he is dead by these great wonders and by the Testimony of the Centurion and others who seeing what came to passe said e Mat. 27. 54. Truly this was the Son of God Thus will God honour those that honour him by a vertuous and godly life or by their sufferings in his cause for he will make their innocency to appear and will manifest the truth of their Profession to the honour of his own Name and he will give them immortall glory in the life to come Wherefore if thou art in place of authority honour God by executing judgement and justice without exception of persons if thou art rich honour him in the right use of them and with works of mercy to the poor and needy if thou art poor be content with thy condition If thou hast children honour God in their good education teach them the fear of the Lord and let thy verteous life and good conversation be an example of piety to them Also if thou hast a family command thy children and servants to keep the way of the Lord to walk in his Statutes and to do righteously that the Lord may bring a blessing upon thee and upon thy house If thou art under the crosse honour God with thy patience hope and confidence in him whatsoever thy condition be honour him with thy thankfulnesse Sixthly God doth give us to understand by the trembling of the earth and by the renting of the rocks how powerfully the holy Ghost doth sometimes work upon our hearts at our first conversion to bring us to repentance f Acts 9. as he did at the conversion of Paul g Acts 16. and at the conversion of the Jailor and of diverse others for though our hearts be naturally as stupid and dull to any thing that is spirituall and heavenly as a lump of earth yet when the holy Ghost works upon them with his Almighty power he will make them quake and tremble and he will put a new Principle of grace into them whereby they shall be changed into a gracious condition and their natural dull and stupid properties shall be made active and ready for every holy duty And though our hearts are by nature as hard as any stone and no way capable of any gracious and heavenly impression yet the Spitit of God will break them in pieces and will mollifie and soften every piece to make it tender and flexible to the will and pleasure of God Wherefore if thou dost find this dulnesse in thine understanding this earthly mindednesse and this stupidity in thine affections that thou hast no will to serve thy God also if there be such obduracy in thy heart that thou canst not lament and mourn for thy sins and thy heart cannot melt into sighing and tears for thy transgressions and if there be such unbelief in thee that thou canst not apply any promise of mercy to thy self and canst have no hope nor assurance of the pardon and forgivenesse of thy sins upon thy repentance and turning unto God then make thy condition known to thy Saviour Christ in all meeknesse of spirit and he will put an holy light into thy understanding by his Spirit he will sanctifie thine affections and season them with grace he will take away thy hard heart of unbelief and will make it more sensible of thy miserable condition and will fit and prepare it for a deeper impression of grace Lastly God doth shew by the opening of the graves that there shall be a generall resurrection of every mans body at the last day when they must appear before the judgement seat of God to give an account of whatsoever they have done in the flesh Though our bodies are lockt up in the grave for thousands of years and though their dust and ashes are scattered abroad with the winde to the utmost parts of the earth yet at the last every grave shall be opened and shall deliver up her dead and every grain of dust shall be gathered together that every man may have his own body to deliver up his account before the great and dreadfull Judge of heaven and earth to receive the just reward of their works the wicked to be thrust down with the devils into everlasting burnings for their evill deeds and for their unbelief but such as belong unto
it might run down to every member of his mystical body which was typified by r Psal 133. 2. that pâ—ecious ointment which was poured upon Aarons head and ran down to the skirts of his garments so that we have a spiritual light to discern the things that belong to our peace then Christ hath wrought this life in us by his holy Spirit for in the state of nature we were dead to any thing that is heavenly f 1 Cor. 2. 14 and we could not receive the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned Secondly if our soules can feed upon heavenly food and if we can expresse all other actions of a spiritual life as to walk in the paths of holinesse to speak the pure Language of Canaan and to have our conversation in heaven while we live here upon earth we may then be fully perswaded that there is a spirituall life in us for so long as sin reigneth in our mortall bodies and untill there be a new creation wrought in us we are spiritually dead to every good work and we can expresse no actions of a sanctified life Thirdly if our souls are cleansed from the guilt of sin in the blood of Christ and if the filth and stains of our sins are washed away in the Laver of Regeneration by his sanctifying grace and covered under his righteousnesse that they appear not to the dishonour of God or to the hurt of our neighbour and that we delight not in any sin but do study and endeavour to serve and please God with a sincere heart and pure affections it is a sure evidence that Christ hath quickned and raised us up from the death of sin to the life of grace Lastly if our duties and services to God proceed from a clean and a purified heart which is sanctified and perfumed with the graces and merits of Christ then God will smell the perfume of them to accept of our persons and of our holy offerings because the Spirit of Christ is in us Thus we may know to our great comfort if we narrowly look into our condition what spirituall life we have and that we have it onely from Christ and by him Wherefore now if thou desirest to live spiritually by Christ thou must faithfully believe that he hath taken away that spiritual death which by nature was upon thee for thy sins and that he onely can give thee this spirituall life for as he hath vanquished and overcome the power of death both spiritual and temporal so he can give a spiritual life as well as a temporal to whom and when he pleaseth This spiritual life thou must have from him if thou canst make a particular application of him to thy self by faith that he is thy Saviour and thy Redeemer for he hath then breathed into thee the Spirit of grace which hath wrought this spiritual life in thee though at the first thou canst feel no power of it without this application of Christ to thy self thou canst draw no comfort from him and he will profit thee nothing It did much comfort Job in his greatest misery when he did thus apply Christ to himself t Job 19. 25 27. I know saith he that my Redeemer liveth whom I shall see for my self If thou canst bring thy heart to close thus with Christ he will give light to thine eyes food to thy soul balm for thy diseases and comfortable refreshing for thy languishing spirits But if thou art still dead in thy sins and hast no spiritual life in Christ thou canst then feel no comfort by him for what good can light do to a dead man What benefit can he have by the daintiest food What can the best medicine profite him And what sense hath he of the best perfume But if thou doest live in Christ and he in thee thou shalt partake with him in his fulnesse of all spiritual graces u Col. 1. 19 for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullnesse dwell u John 1. 16 And of his fulnesse have all we received and grace for grace Now consider further that Christ is the meritorious cause of this spiritual life x Tit. 2. 14 for he gave himself freely and voluntarily to be an oblation and a sacrifice for us to redeem us from all iniquity and from whatsoever we are lyable unto by reason of sin to wit from the guilt of sin from the dominion of sin from the curse of the Law from the bondage of Satan from the terrours of death and from eternall condemnation Also by the power of his resurrection he hath subdued and overcome death hell and the grave that we might be raised out of the grave of sin to live a spiritual life to God in Christ Christ hath wrought our redemption by his active and passive obedience to the will of God whereby we are justified in his sight for he hath taken our life out of the hand of Gods justice where we had no hope to injoy it and hath put it into the hand of his mercy where we are sure through Christ to have the comfort of it here and the happinesse of it hereafter Though we must passe by the gates of hell before we can injoy the sweet consolation of this spiritual life and though we must bring our selves so low in our humiliation and in mortifying of our sins and corruptions as if we were ready to be thrust down into hell yet God will then give us a spiritual life in Christ to support us he will then raise us up to newnesse of life by the sanctifying grace of his Spirit that our spiritual life may appear and that we may be made fit to injoy Christ for ever in the Kingdom of heaven This is the first main end of the passion of Christ that we may be redeemed by the merit of his blood Secondly Christ is the efficient cause of our spiritual life for as we have our justification by the merit of his blood so we have our sanctification by the same blood and these two cannot be separated but must go together for we have no sure evidence that we are justified in the sight of God but by the sanctification of our lives The Act of our justification is wrought at once as soon as we are ingrafted into Christ by Faith but our sanctification must be a continued Act so long as we live in the flesh for the best of Gods servants have so many spots and stains of sin in them that they have dayly need to pray to be every day purified and cleansed with the blood of Christ and to be dayly renewed with the graces of his Spirit This is the second main end why Christ gave himself to be an oblation for us that he might purifie us to be a peculiar people to himself according to this of Paul y Tit. 2. 14 Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself
a peculiar people zealous of good works This purification Christ worketh in us ministerially by the Preaching of his Word for thus saith Paul Eph. 5. 25 26. Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word Also he doth wash and cleanse us Sacramentally from our sins by Baptisme a Gal. 3. 27. For if we have been baptized into Christ we have put on Christ and then we are cloathed with his righteousness and with his holiness which are the garments of a spirituall life for we must be holy as well as just b Heb 12. 14 without which no man shall see the Lord. So likewise c Acts 15. 9 faith doth instrumentally purifie our hearts as it hath relation to Christ But Christ doth most effectually purifie our hearts from sin and from uncleannesse by the holy Ghost and by him doth convey this spiritual life of grace into us without whose gracious concurrence no other means can be effectuall to us unto salvation Thus doth Christ bring us to a spirituall life that our conversation may be holy and blamelesse in the sight of God d Isa 35. 8 9 The Prophet speaketh of a way of holinesse which is not for the lyon or for any ravenous beast but for the Redeemed of the Lord they onely shall walk there This is the priviledge onely of those e Heb 9. 14. whose consciences are purged in the blood of Christ from dead works to serve the living God If Christ doth not thus wash and purifie us we have no part in him f John 13. 8 9. as he said unto Peter when he refused to let him wash his feet When we are thus cleansed from our sins and have this spiritual life by grace in Christ wrought in us then we are a peculiar people to him separate from sinners and from the vanities of this world and wholely devoted to serve him then we shall with Peter desire more washing and cleansing Lord not my feet onely but my head and my hands and then we shall have an holy zeal to do such works as God hath commanded and we shall do them by faith in Christ and to the honour and glory of God that the truth of our sanctification may appear Thirdly Christ is the exemplary cause of our spiritual life for he hath recorded his own life in the Gospel g 1 Pet. 2. 21 to be a perfect pattern of holinesse to us and an example thereby to learn how to follow his steps If we desire to live according to the rule of Christs life we must be holy and righteous in all our wayes humble and lowly toward all men meek and patient in our sufferings sober and temperate in all things charitable to the poor doing good to all frequent and fervent in Prayer and alwayes seeking the glory of God This was Christs whole life and thus ought we to regulate our lives that the fruits of a spirituall life may shine forth in the integrity of our conversation Christ did shew the purity of his Ministery by the holinesse of his life and what he did Preach to others he did practise himself h Mat. 11. 29. Learn of me saith he for I am meek and lowly in heart Though we cannot attain to perfection of holinesse in this life i Phil. 3. 14. yet we must presse towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus But this is the work of grace and not of nature to follow Christ in his steps and the servants of God have their graces according to their measure for some have more some have lesse yet all have grace sufficient to fit them for the kingdom of heaven and according to their measure of grace so is the purity of their lives and conversations Abraham excelled all others in Faith and therefore k Rom. 4. 11 he is called the Father of all them that believe Moses excelled all men in meeknesse for the holy Ghost giveth this Testimony of him l Num. 12. 3 that he was very meek above all the men that were upon the face of the earth Job was renowned for his patience Thus saith James of him m Jam. 5. 15 Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord. Holy David Daniel and others excelled in Prayer and devout Meditations These and all other the servants of God had their severall graces from Christ and the streams of his fulnesse do still plentifully flow down to all that belong to the election of grace for the sanctification of their lives Lastly Christ is the finall cause of our spiritual life which is that God may be glorified thereby to this end we were born to this end should tend all our words and actions and Christ took upon him our nature that God might be glorified by our salvation Christ did alwayes seek the glory of God both in his Ministery and in his miracles both in his life and at his death Thus he saith of his Ministery n John 12. 49 50. I have not spoken of my self but the Father which sent me he gave me a commandement what I should say and what I should speak whatsoever therefore I speak evâ—n as the Father said unto me so I speak Thus also Christ glorified God by his Miracles o Joh. 5. 19 36. for he ascribeth the cure of the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda to his heavenly Father that he might have the glory of it because he sent him to finish all those works which he did God is very jealous of his glory p Isa 48. 11 12. he will not have his great Name to he polluted and he will not give his glory to another His hand hath laid the foundation of the earth and his right hand hath spanned the heavens when he calleth unto them they stand up together To what end did God make the great Fabrick of the Heavens and the earth but for his own glory Why doth God execute his justice upon the wicked but to get himself honour by their destruction q Exod. 14. 17. as he did upon Pharaoh and his host when he drowned them in the red sea Why doth God bestow his mercies and his blessings upon his servants but to be honoured for and by them And why doth Christ put into us a spiritual life but to honour and glorifie God thereby r Lu. 5. 25. If the man that Christ cured of the palsie glorified God for his cure then much more ought we so to do because Christ hath cured us of all our spirituall diseases Å¿ Lu. 18. If the man that received his sight followed Jesus glorifying God then ought we to follow Christ and to glorifie God for that spirituall light which he hath put into our understanding and for that spiritual life which he hath put into our souls
duty or fall through frailty and infirmity u Hos 14. 4. God in mercy will heal our backslidings and will accept of our imperfect performances because we have relation un to Christ by Faith Now then if we will strictly examine the actions of our lives by those former directions we shall easily find whether our works and services to God have been such as he requireth and performed according to his will that we may have peace of conscience in them here and eternal comfort by them hereafter If we can find by this inquiry that our works have been the fruits of Faith and that we have done our duty to the best of our power with a faithful heart to the honour of God and not out of pride or vain-glory to get the praise of men as the hypocrites do or to any other by-end then our Faith will shine forth in our works and God will graciously accept them But if the actions of our life have been evill they will follow us for evill when we lye down and when we rise up and whithersoever we go If we sleep or wake they will molest and trouble us they will aggravate our sorrowes in our afflictions and our pains in sicknesse they will imbitter all the comforts of our life and increase the fear and terrour of death for they will come into our remembrance when we ly upon our death-beds to vex and terrifie our very souls and to make us uncapable of any heavenly consolation untill the guilt of sin that cleaveth to them be taken away by Faith in the blood of Christ Also u Rev. 14. 13 our evill works will follow us unto judgement to accuse us before the great and dreadful Judge x Rev. 20. 13 and then God will judge us according to them if they be found wicked and sinful we cannot but expect the dreadful sentence of condemnation to be pronounced against us Also after judgement they will increase our torments in hell if we do not prevent it in time by our true repentance while we live here in this life Lastly Faith will fit and prepare us for a blessed and a comfortable death for by it we shall steer the whole course of our lives to the honour of y Col. 1. 10. God it will make us fruitfull in every good work that they may be rightly done both for the matter and for the manner and also to the right end as God hath appointed them we cannot then but live vertuously and piously in the true fear of God and he will reward us of his free bounty and goodnesse though not of merit God will remember our works if they are done in sincerity and in truth to comfort us in the sadnesse of our hearts to ease us in the extremity of pain and sicknesse and to give us a peaceable and a quiet conscience in the assurance of the pardon of our sins and of his grace and favour before the hour of our dissolution shall come upon us Such good works will adorn our profession and make our lives comfortable to us and our conversation sutable to our profession and they will follow us for our good whithersoever we go for there is no guilt of sin that cleaves to them because Christ hath taken it a way whereof we are fully perswaded by Faith z Neh. 13. 14. If we can with good Nehemiah put God in remembrance of our good deeds how will it strengthen our hope and trust in God for his protection in all dangers for his help and succour in all our distresses and for his assistance when we undertake any speciall businesse what sweet consolation will it be to us when we are upon our death-beds if with a clear conscience we can put God in minde a Isa 38. 3. as King Hezekiah did that we have walked before him in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which was good in his sight If we thus live and thus dye we may then say with Paul b Rom. 14 8. Whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we dye we dye unto the Lord whether we live therefore or dye we are the Lords c Rev. 14. 13. John heard a voice from heaven saying unto him Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them We may confidently believe that their condition is most blessed because it is the voice of the spirit of truth that doth affirm it We have also great encouragement to be fruitfull in good works because they will go with us even to the Tribunall seat of God for Christ hath fastned them to our souls that God may then look upon them and remember them for the increase of our joy and happinesse hereafter If we do now ruminate well upon all these several excellent benefits and comforts that come by a true and lively faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ we may draw sweet and heavenly Meditations from thence for the comfort of our souls against the power of the devill the rigour of the Law the dominion of sin the fear of death and against eternal condemnation For we shall finde that hereby we are ingrafted into Christ who hath redeemed us from all iniquity and from whatsoever our sins have made us lyable unto and hath cleansed us from all the pollutions and defilements of sin he hath made us the adopted sons of God and hath given us all the priviledges that do belong unto Sons Also we shall finde that by Christ we are invested into the Covenant of grace and have right to all the gracious promises of God which will sweetly refresh our souls in all fears and doubtings in all difficulties and dangers in all extremities and distresses if we can apply them to our souls by Faith and rest upon them with stedfast hope Wherefore let this be the Meditation of our hearts and the desire of our souls to have a near communion with Christ that we may say with the Spouse d Cant. 2. 16 My beloved is mine and I am his or to say thus with Paul e Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ Neverthelesse I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me This particular application of Christ to our selves will draw from him the richest Jewels that are in his Treasury the richest robe and the best garments that are in his Wardrope and his very heart-blood for our redemption If we look a little lower and fix our Meditations upon the holy Ordinances of God we shall finde that which will sweetly comfort and delight our hearts if we have Faith to understand and believe what the holy Ghost saith to us in them for our instruction and consolation It was