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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50489	The good of early obedience, or, The advantage of bearing the yoke of Christ betimes discovered in part, in two anniversary sermons, one whereof was preached on May-day, 1681, and the other on the same day in the year 1682, and afterwards inlarged, and now published for common benefit / by Matthew Mead.	Mead, Matthew, 1630?-1699.	1683 (1683)	Wing M1555; ESTC R19143	252,739	482

time to die a time to weep and a time to laugh c. v. 4. One hath this observation That there are two things Solomon allots no time for viz. for sin and for serving God He allots no time for sin because that ought never to be committed he allots no time for serving God because that ought never to be neglected Sin is never in season and obedience never is out of season It is not enough to shew our respect to the Command at one time and not at another it must reach to all times Psal 119.20 Psal 106.3 Blessed are they that keep judgment and he that doth righteousness at all times And this seems to be the sense of that 119. Psal 96. vers I have seen an end of all perfection but thy commandment is exceeding broad the breadth of the Command is set in opposition to the finiteness of all Creature-perfections it is therefore exceeding broad because it ingages to that duty that is never throughly finished so long as we are in this world Therefore we are never to be weary of well doing Gal. 6.9 Why should we Is not Christ as sweet always at at first The Commands of God as equal The ways of God as lovely Heaven as desirable as ever However the Yoke of Christ be always the same yet a Christian in regard of himself hath more reason to keep it on than he had at first to take it up because by reason of use he hath had his senses exercised to discern between good and evil Heb. 5.14 He hath had such tastes of God in the course of his obedience as he was a stranger to at the first entrance His experiences are now greater Christ upon tryal is sweeter and the recompence of reward is nearer Your salvation is nearer than when ye first believed Rom. 13.11 Therefore there must be no declining The righteous shall hold on his way Job 17.9 He that hath once put his hand to the plow Luk. 9.62 must not look back this Yoke being once put on should never be put off till God take it off which e're long he will do and instead of a Yoke upon the neck put a Crown upon the head Rev. 2.10 and so reward your present obedience with an eternal blessedness Thus you have an account what the Yoke of Christ is It consists of the Commands of Christ which are the Conditions of our Salvation And this Yoke is pure spiritual absolute extensive laborious and lasting That is the first thing I will be briefer in the next Quest 2. Why are the Commands of Christ called a Yoke Answ 1. With respect to the corrupt nature of man 2. With respect to the nature of the Commands themselves 1. With respect to the corrupt nature of man which accounts them so They are the lusts of the flesh that make Duty a Yoke or else the Precept would be a Law but no Yoke As it is the soreness of the foot which makes the shooe a burden which otherwise would be an help The Angels in Heaven are under a Law but not under a Yoke and so are glorified Saints for in them there is no manner of unsuitableness to or regret at the will of God Man with respect to the Law of God is to be considered either as carnal or converted unregenerate or born again First As carnal and unregenerate and while he is in that state the Law of Christ is not only a Yoke but an intolerable Yoke flesh and blood cannot bear it because of that enmity that is between the Law of God and his lusts He is under the prevalency of a quite contrary Law the Law of Sin and where the Law of sin rules the Law of Christ can take no place He is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be Rom. 8.7 How can an evil tree bring forth good fruit How can darkness have communion with light How can the old nature do the works of the new creature The carnal mind can never bear Christs Yoke because of that opposition that is in lust to the Divine Law it is not only averse to it but adverse it doth not only draw the heart from God but opposeth him Christ commands one thing and the flesh another the Command says Mortifie the flesh Lust says Make provision for the flesh the Command is for self-denial Lust is for self-pleasure Christ is for obedience and holiness and therefore Lust says Luke 19.14 This man shall not rule Because the Law opposes lust therefore lust opposes the Law Jer. 23.34 it crys out The burden of the Lord Joh. 6.60 it complains of hard sayings and grievous commands Secondly Man is to be considered as in a regenerate state which yet is but the imperfection of Grace for though the new creature hath a perfection of parts yet it hath not a perfection of degrees there are remains of corruption in every part though lust be dethroned it is not ejected though it hath lost its regency yet it retains a residence it hath a great power though not a reigning power it hath the power of a Tyrant though not of a King and often captivates Rom. 7.23 though it don't command Now though so far as Grace prevails the command of Christ is no Yoke no burden no task it is a pleasure and delight Rom. 7.22 it is no more a Yoke than it is to an Angel in Heaven or than it was to Christ Is it a Yoke to a man to eat and drink to take his meals and satisfie his hunger No more is it to the renewed nature to obey the will of God I delight to do thy will O my God Psal 40.8 yet so far as corruption remains unsubdued and unmortified in a child of God so far the commands of Christ are a yoke still for though with the mind he serves the Law of God yet with the flesh he serves the Law of sin Rom. 7.25 the body of death will not bear the yoke of the Lord of life And this is the reason why the Soul so oft crys out and complains of it because it opposes and hinders that subjection to Jesus Christ which the Soul longs and labours to come up to He would be holy as God is holy that he might stand compleat to all the will of God but he finds a Law that when he would do good evil is present Rom. 7.21 2. The commands of Christ are called a Yoke with respect to the nature of the commands themselves which lay the strongest obligation upon the Creature both as to Sin and Grace First As to Sin it injoyns the mortifying every lust and that upon pain of eternal death Rom. 8.13 Secondly As to Grace it requires the getting of grace the growing in grace the exercise of grace and that through the whole course of our lives No such tye upon the Soul as the Yoke of Christ therefore some say Religio is à religando it

apply the marks of Grace to his own heart as he finds them laid down in the word he might certainly know that his state is good for the fruits of the spirit Gal. 5.22 are as manifest as the works of the flesh As God is principium essendi the cause of the being of Grace so the word of God is principium cognoscendi the rule by which we judge of the truth of Grace and therefore to the law and to the testimony Isai 8.20 Solomon says The commandment is a lamp and the law is light Prov. 6.22 as a lamp it is the guide of our way as a light it is the tryal of our state And so the former verse clears it when thou goest it shall lead thee there it is a lamp to guide us when thou awakest it shall talk with thee there it is a rule to try us Try your state therefore by this rule and believe nothing either for or against your selves but according to the word of God This is the rule God will try us by and therefore we should try our selves by it The judgment of God concerning us will be according to the word John 12.48 Rom. 2.16 So should ours be But in making use of the word for a rule of tryal it will be your wisdom to observe these three directions 1. You must take negative and positive signs together Many judge themselves by negative signs only and not by positive but this is to deceive themselves for negative holiness can never commend us to God whose commands are positive as well as negative A man may abstain from that which is positively evil and yet be but negatively good So did the Pharisees Luke 18.11 2. In trying your selves by the word you are not to look so much to the habit and principle of Grace in its being as to the properties and effects of Grace in its working for properties best prove principles and effects bear witness to their causes That which constitutes godliness is the habit and principle of Grace but that which evidences godliness is the properties of it Formae nos latent We do not know the internal forms of things but their natures become known by their properties and effects Our knowledge is for the most part à posteriori from effects the principles of Grace in us are not evident to us but by the motions and effects of them in our souls and lives 3. In judging your estate by the word you are not to look for perfect signs in your selves I mean such as do exactly answer to the latitude of the Law for these are not to be found in any Believer upon earth And if we look for such signs we shall be so far from receiving any satisfaction concerning our state that the more we try the more we shall distrust the more we prove our subjection to Christ the more we shall disapprove it We are to look for true signs but not for perfect for such as are common to the weakest believer not for such as are above the strongest The least grace discovered in a believer if sincere and true is a sure sign of his good estate in Christ though it be not enough to satisfy his desire yet it is enough to satisfy his judgment though it be not sufficient to fill up his measure in Christ yet it is a sufficient sign to make out the truth of his interest in Christ And that is the seventh general rule laid down for the carrying on the tryal of our state that we be sure to make use of a right rule Rule 8. As the word of God must be your rule so Conscience must apply it and give testimony according to it for the word of it self proves nothing but as conscience applys it and argues from it The word doth no where say this or that man is converted to Christ is a child of God and in a state of salvation no but it describes that state to which salvation is promised and then Conscience evidences that to be our state and so infers a certainty of salvation from the word The word lays down things in plain propositions Conscience makes the assumption and then draws the conclusion The word says Any man that is in Christ is a new creature 2 Cor. 5.17 there is the proposition now the good mans Conscience helped by the spirit as I shall shew anon that makes the assumption thus but I am in Christ and then draws the conclusion therefore I am a new creature The word says They that are Christs sheep hear his voice and follow him John 10.27 Conscience says but I hear his voice and follow him and thence concludes therefore I am one of Christs sheep And this is that wherein the true testimony of Conscience doth consist in giving evidence according to the rule laid down and by that either condemning or acquitting Hence that of the Apostle He that believes on the son of God hath the witness in himself 1 John 5.10 truly so hath the unbeliever too for Conscience by the light of the word witnesseth against him if he would but hear it The word says the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.9 but says Conscience Thou art unrighteous and thence concludes therefore thou shalt not inherit the kingdom of God And hence the Apostle speaks of a condemning Conscience 1 John 3.20 If our hearts condemn us It witnesseth in the sinner to condemnation and in the Believer to justification Object 1. But you will say if it be thus why doth not every Believer know his own state why are they so often calling the goodness of their state into question and so full of doubts and fears about their condition if they have a witnessing Conscience why is it thus Answ It is possible they may have witnessing Consciences and yet may know little of the goodness of their state For First They may not possibly be acquainted with their own Consciences nor keep up a communion with their own hearts as they ought Psal 4.4 It is no new thing for a good man to be a stranger to himself who might otherwise be satisfied from himself Prov. 14.14 Secondly They may have Conscience witnessing to the goodness of their state and yet not credit the testimony As a bad man is deaf to the testimony of his Conscience when it witnesseth against him from the power of self-love so is a good man to the testimony of his conscience when it witnesseth for him from the power of jealousie and suspicion He can look forward to apprehend the right object but can't look inward to apprehend his own act He can believe the testimony of the word but cannot believe the testimony of his own Conscience though it speaks according to the word though he hath truly received Christ yet he will not receive the testimony of Conscience witnessing to his state in Christ Thirdly Many may have witnessing Consciences and yet

is the tye of God upon the Soul till a man comes under the power of the Precept he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not without Law but under the Law to Christ 1 Cor. 9.21 CHAP. VI. Holds forth the Reasons of the Doctrine 2. WHY it is the concernment of every one to take up the Yoke of Christ in his Youth Reas 1. Because of the Call of God He doth not call us to bow to his Yoke to submit to his Authority to obey his Commands only but to do it betimes as he states our duty what we shall do so he times it when it must be done And therefore it is as much a sin to let slip the time as to neglect the thing Not to do what God commands is a sin and not to do it when God commands it is another sin If God says To day go work to day in my vineyard Mat. 21.28 To day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts Heb. 3.15 Why then to put it off till the morrow is a sin and so the adding of one days neglect to another is the adding of sin to sin For it is a repeated slight to the Call of God Now to shew you the force of this reason do but consider who it is that calls and what the Call is First Who it is that calls it is God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost 1. It is God the Father he that made thee and gave thee thy being And this one would think should be obligation enough to duty He that gave thee thy being calls for thy obedience especially considering he made thee for this end other Creatures were made to serve thee but there was no end of thy being but to serve God and therefore thou hadst another make tnan other Creatures He stamped a greater excellency upon man than upon the rest of the Creatures Every Creature bears some impression of God but no Creature on earth but only Man bears the likeness of God In other Creatures there are vestigia Dei but in man only there is imago Dei there you may see his footsteps but here only his image Other Creatures are formed of earth but Man is partly earth and partly Heaven the dust of the earth is married to the breath of God And why such an excellent being but to fit him for the end to which God designed him viz. Duty and Service And is it not reason that God who gave thee thy being should have thy obedience That he who gave thee a reasonable Soul should have a reasonable service Creation is an obligation to service Hence that of Solomon Eccles 12.1 Remember thy Creator He that was not made by himself should not live to himself He that can't cease from depending on God as a Principle he ought not to cease from intending God as an end that he may be the object of our obedience as well as the Author of our being 2. It is God the Son the Lord thy Redeemer First It is he that took up flesh came into thy Nature was made Man became thy Surety bore the Curse due to thy sins shed his Blood laid down his life to ransom thy Soul rose again for thy Justification is gone to Heaven upon thy Errand It is this Christ that calls thee to take up his Yoke and is it not reason that we should bear the Yoke for him that bore the Cross and the Curse for us Is it not reason that if we have the good of his Sufferings he should have the glory of our service Secondly It is he that with the Father hath stablished this as the great Condition of Salvation bearing the Yoke so that it is the standing Law of Heaven Whoever will be saved must take up Christs Yoke This is the way to blessedness and there is no other bear the Yoke of Christ and be blessed cast that off and Christ will cast you off submit and be saved reject it and Christ will reject you This is the unalterable condition of Salvation and there is no other Things are so setled in the eternal Compact between Father and Son about the case of man that the Blood of Christ it self cannot stead us nor the mercy of God infinite as it is benefit us Per legem per crucem per lucem per concilium per afflatum auxilium See Pareus in Revel 3.20 without this condition be performed by us And therefore it is that Christ is so importunate in this Duty that he calls and knocks so many ways by the Law by the Cross by Gospel-light by the operation of the Spirit Thirdly It is he that made this his great end in redeeming us to restore us to obedience as well as to favour and to render us capable of that service and duty which hath Glory and Blessedness annexed to it Therefore his Blood is said to purge the conscience from dead works to serve the living God Heb. 9 14. And this is made a reason of his bearing our sins in his body on the tree that we being dead to sin might live to righteousnss 1 Pet. 2.24 And who did he redeem was it not young ones as well as others Did he not shed as much blood and pay as great a price for them as others Fourthly It is he that hath purchased unto himself a fulness of Grace to be given forth for the inablement of thee for the susception of this Yoke and the performing all the Duties belonging thereto so that there shall be nothing wanting if there be but a willing mind The Lord Christ knows thy case and the impotency contracted by sin that thou canst not bear his Yoke without his strength and influences of his Grace and therefore he calls thee to partake of his fulness that thou mayst be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might The wise God permitted the loss of mans self-fulness that he might never more be any thing in himself but might glorifie the Redeemer by an intire constant dependance upon him in fetching all from him as an indigent Creature Mans first miscarriage was in a desire of self-sufficiency and he hath been poor and naked from that very day He would have a stock in his own hands and he hath been a begger ever since It was pride at the first that overthrew him and ever since God hath left sin in him to humble him He would have a happiness in himself and therefore he shall have no happiness but by being outed of himself He would live as an independent Being and therefore to cure this God brings him to an absolute dependance for all things he shall have nothing but what he hath by faith and expectation that he may thereby see what a beggerly indigent Creature he is and so glorifie the fulness of Christ And it is the mercy of Christ that he hath a sufficiency of Grace for

the case is not the same for we are bound to answer Gods precepts but he is not bound to answer our requests and yet we make him tarry our sinful leisure in the business of duty though we think much to tarry his holy leisure in the case of mercy Secondly It is down-right disobedience he that delays a duty transgresses the precept and slights the divine Authority The season is as much a part of the command as the thing commanded If God says return ye now every one from his evil way Jer. 18.11 the now is as much a duty as the returning If the Father says to his Son go work to day in my vineyard Matt. 21.28 it is flat disobedience to defer it till to morrow for the time of working is as much a duty as the work it self Thirdly It is the highest ingratitude for Christ did not adjourn his love to us one day his heart was to us from everlasting I was set up from everlasting rejoycing in the habitable parts of the earth and my delights were with the sons of men Prov. 8.23.31 He gave himself in the Covenant of Redemption to dye for sin and redeem sinners from the first day that sin entred And therefore he is said to be a lamh slain from the foundadation of the world Revel 13.8 Though he came not to dye actually till the fullness of time Galat. 4.4 yet in the decree of God the Father and in the consent of God the Son he was a Saviour from the beginning and his Blood was as efficacious to Salvation before ever it was shed as after he was a Saviour and Redeemer from the first entrance of sin Adam Noah Abraham and all the Saints that lived before his Incarnation were saved by his Blood as well as we His love bears date from everlasting and it breaks forth very early in the overt acts of it to particular persons Christ begins with sinners betimes who knows how soon puts upon many of them a federal holiness betimes seals them for his betimes puts his spirits into them betimes and calls them to an actual close with him betimes it is hard to say how soon but it appears to be very early in that many have been converted from their very childhood as Samuel and Timothy and others O the earliness of the love of Christ and shall we adjourn our obedience as if we were afraid of closing with him too soon he took up our burden betimes and shall we delay the taking up his Yoke for the last work of our lives This is great ingratitude Fourthly It is manifest injustice and a fraudulent detaining of Christs right For whose you are his your strength and service is and are ye not the Lords hath he not redeemed you and that both by price at the hands of God and by power out of the hands of Satan ye are the redeemed of the Lord and therefore you are his your time is his your gifts and parts are his your affections are his your estates are his your strength is his your youth is his your body and soul are his your all is his and therefore not to give up your selves body and soul to him not to love and fear and serve him is a crying injustice Nay to delay it one day one moment is to deny him his right Many boast of their honesty they are just to all and wrong none yes you wrong your redeemer you are unjust to Jesus Christ and that is the highest injustice in the world To delay any man in that which is his right is a great sin the wages of the hireling must be paid at the day and it must be done before the sun be set Deut. 24.14 15. It is a maxim in the Law minus solvit qui minus tempore solvit not to pay at the time is to pay the less because there is so much advantage for improvement lost Is it such a sin to detain a servants right what is it then to detain our Lords right must we not withhold wages for a servants work till the sun be set and yet dare we withhold doing our Lords work till the sun of our lives is setting O what base injustice is this Fifthly It is altogether unreasonable there is no man living can give a reason to excuse him from this duty You cannot say it is the wrong way to Heaven for it is the way the Lord Christ hath directed and chalked out You cannot say it is a needless Yoke for there is no Salvation without taking it upon you You cannot say it is a dangerous Yoke for it hath salvation certainly intailed upon it You cannot say it is a fruitless Yoke Matt. 11.28 for it yields perfect peace and lasting joy to all that come under it You cannot say it is an impossible Yoke for as you have the command of Christ to undertake it so you have the promise of Christ to help and inable you to bear it So that you cannot give one reason why you should neglect it and therefore he that refuses to take it up is without excuse Whoever remains graceless in a day of Grace will be found speechless in the Day of Judgement Matt. 22.12 Sixthly It is downright madness for you refuse Heaven because you will not be holy You will rather lose the eternal injoyment of God than be made like God You will rather chuse to perish under the wrath of Christ than you will consent to come under the Yoke of Christ You will be contented to be damned so you may go a pleasant way to Hell And is not this madness to the height to chuse rather to perish eternally than be tied to love and serve your maker and redeemer O what a base and low opinion have you of God and Heaven how can ye degrade and dishonour him more If a man should publish it as his opinion that darkness is better than light that Hell is rather to be chosen than Heaven that he had rather be in an everlasting society with Devils and damned Spirits than with God and Christ in the glory above what would you say of such a one but that he talked like a mad man why then reflect upon your selves a little for mutato nomine do te● Fabula narratur you that prefer the pleasures of sin to the service of Christ that will renounce your part in God and Christ and eternal happiness to satisfie a base lust that will stake your Souls for a few minutes of sinful delights can any man be guilty of greater madness do ye know what ye do or what ye speak when ye say in your hearts this lust shall reign but Christ shall not reign let us break his bonds Psal 2.3 and cast his cords far away from us this is treason against the Crown of Heaven your Blood Luk. 19.27 your Life your Soul must go for this Those mine enemies that would not that I should reign over them bring them out and