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 teâ— 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
outward profession of him is a very wrong rule For 1. How common is it to have the form separated from the power This the Apostle tells us is one of the sins that shall abound in the last Days and that shall make the times so perilous having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof 2 Tim. 3.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the true form for forma est per quod res est id quod est The true form of Godliness consists in an inward change by a work of Grace and is that which denominates a man a godly man for forma dat esse rei And therefore it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies an outward shew a formality a vizor or mask of Godliness and what is that but a profession so that a man may wear the vizor of a profession all his days and yet be an Enemy to the power of Religion 2. That profession of Religion which may consist with a state of spiritual death can be no true measure of a mans subjection to Christ Now a man may maintain a high profession and yet be dead in sin thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead Revel 3.1 alive to the World by an outward shew but dead to God for want of the substance What a lively professor was Judas and yet in a dead estate There is never an ordinance of the Gospel but a man may be found in the use of it and yet be all the while dead in sin No outward means of Grace did ever nor can it by any vertue or power of its own quicken one dead Soul How many sinners abide all their days under the loud calls of the word preached and yet perish in their lusts so that to many it is so far from working life that it superadds a second death To some we are a savour of death to death 2 Cor. 2.16 and therefore a profession of Religion is but a crooked rule to judge of your subjection to Christ by These are necessary cautions for carnal and ignorant persons that are apt to mis-judge their state and condition by errors on the left hand There are other cautions that are as necessary for weak believers who are as apt to err on the right hand by judging their case by false rules also whereby instead of true peace their souls are filled with groundless troubles I will name but four First One is degrees of Grace Grace in improvement this many make a rule to judge their case by And because Grace is weak and little therefore they judge it is false and counterfeit and they have no Grace Now this is a false rule to judge by for it is not the quantity of Grace that proves the state but the quality Will any man say a peny is not silver because a crown piece is bigger you do not judge of it by the bigness but by the goodness Will any man say it is not Day unless it be noon you don't judge of the Day by the heighth of the Sun but by the light of it We should try our selves as God trys us not by the scale for then we should be found too light there would be a Mene Tekel upon the best of us but he trys us by the Touchstone if Grace be true Grace if Obedience be sincere it is owned and accepted and shall pass the approbation of God though it be little yea though never so little Thus saith the Lord as the new wine is found in the cluster and one saith destroy it not for a blessing is in it so will I do for my servants sake Isai 65.8 He will not despise the day of small things nor should we Zech. 4.10 We should eye the weakness of Grace so as to labour to improve it but not so as to mis-judge our selves because of it If we would press forward Philip. 3.13 the way is to overlook attainments and leave them behind us but if we would know our state the way is not to overlook but to set them before us Our comfort lies in the increase of Grace but our salvation lies in the truth of Grace for God hath not promised salvation to such a measure but he hath promised it to Grace in any measure Therefore though a man ought not to rest satisfied with his Grace if it be never so much yet he ought not to be discouraged though it be never so little For though little Grace possibly may not afford much comfort yet it proves the goodness of our state and secures our Souls Secondly Another rule is comparing themselves with Saints of the highest attainments and because they are not come to their pitch and stature in Grace therefore judge they have no Grace As Hypocrites think their condition good by comparing themselves with such as come short of them so weak believers think their case bad because they judge themselves by such as have outgone them This is another false measure for as in nature so in Grace growth and stature is various Some are but children some are strong men some are aged and full of years different growths but the same life of various statures but one in kind So it is here some are children in Grace some are strong men some are fathers 1 John 2.12 13. here is Grace differing in degree but of the same kind The green fig is of the same nature with that which is ripe Cant. 2.13 and the tender grape with that which is ready for the press In Christs Orchard that is his Church there are trees of various growths Cant. 4.14 Spikenard and Saffron Calamus and Cinamon with all trees of Frankincense Myrrh and Aloes Brightman makes these to set forth the several sorts of Christians some are newly sprung up these are the Spikenard and Saffron Herbs that do appear but little above the ground Some are of a middle stature these are the Calamus and Cinamon Trees of about two Cubits high Some are tall and eminent in Grace these are the trees of Frankincense Myrrh and Aloes trees of different growth and yet all of the Lords planting Some are Lambs and some are Sheep and yet all are of the same flock of Christ Shall any one then say I have no Grace because I have not so much as another Is not thy faith true faith because it is not so strong as Abrahams who against hope believed in hope or wilt thou question the truth of thy obedience because thou canst not offer thy Son as he did May not God be thy God though thou canst not call him as David did Psal 43.4 God my exceeding joy wilt thou deny the truth of thy dependance because thou hast not the Apostle Pauls assurance mayst not thou be under the sanctifying work of the spirit as well as he though thou hast not the witnessing work of the spirit as he had though the spirit
chief end of our being as creatures and as new creatures Creation Redemption Regeneration all bespeak us to this and do fit us for this This people have I formed for my self they shall shew forth my praise Isai 43.21 If God hath formed us for himself then we are to live only to himself Whether we live says the Apostle we live to the Lord Rom. 14.8 And what is it to live to the Lord but to take up the Yoke of Christ making Religion the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the chief business of our life First seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness Mat. 6.33 Nothing can be of equal moment with this All other work is but industrious idleness and all labour but painful trifling while this is neglected O how busie and solicitous are most men about present things and yet how unconcerned about the service of Christ and the salvation of their Souls Which is as if a man that were shot through should mind to have the rent in his garment mended but neglect to gett he wound cured in his body And yet thus brutish and besotted are the most of men serious in trifles but trifling in serious matters busie like Domitian in catching flies but little concerned about Soul-concernments Reas 6. This is the fittest and most proper season of Religion there is no time like youth The life of man consists of three parts Infancy Youth and Old age and of all this is the most proper and therefore the duty here is not commended to the first part of life for Infancy is too soon to know God when we cannot know our selves nor is it commended to the third for Old age is too late to serve God when we cannot serve our selves but it is commended to the time of Youth that being the most proper season for service and obedience In infancy we are too young to obey being but in our imperfect beginnings in age we are too old to obey being in our droops and declinings youth therefore is the fittest time Hence that of Solomon Remember thy Creator that is love and serve him for words of knowledge imply affection and practice in the days of thy youth in the Hebrew it is in the days of thy choice * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eccles 12.1 Youth is called the day of a mans choice either because it is the choicest time of a mans life for any imployment and service or because it is that time which every one would chuse to live in infancy is a burden and old age is a greater we long to grow up that we may injoy our selves but we fear to grow old lest we should be deprived of our selves Desire is the fruit of love and yet there is one thing which all desire but none love and that is old age all desire to live to it and yet no man takes pleasure in it Or because it is a time wherein a man makes his choice every one then chuses his condition of life for the future Infancy is too early to make a choice for want of judgment to distinguish Old age is too late to make a choice for want of time and strength to pursue no time therefore to chuse either for this world or the next either for our outward estate or for our spiritual advantage and comfort like our youth Reas 7. Because of the danger of delays It is very dangerous to defer so great and concerning a matter as your subjection to Jesus Christ is and that First Whether ye look to the indisposition that delays work to The longer sin hath possession the faster it will rivet it self to the Soul and so strengthen it self and harden the heart against conversion and therefore he that is unwilling to be subject to Christ to day will be more unwilling to morrow Or Secondly Whether ye look to the uncertain duration of life it is not only short at best but uncertain no man knows either how or where or when he shall dye I am old saith Isaac and know not the day of my death Gen. 27.2 He hath no security of living another day the body is subject to above three hundred diseases and to as many thousand casualties One hour may dispatch thee into another world as well as a year a tile from the house may be as mortal as a disease a flye a hair or a raisin-stone may end thy days as certainly as a Plague or Feaver One dyes eating another drinking another laughing another weeping another walking another praying another cursing and swearing one dyes at an Ordinance of God another at a Play-house one of the Devils great Ordinances One dyes at Sea another at shore One asking a Sea-man where his father dyed saith he at Sea and where dyed your Grandfather says he at Sea I wonder then said he why you will venture to go to Sea The Sea-man asked him Where dyed your father He answered In his bed and where dyed your Grandfather He answered In his bed too why then said the Sea-man I wonder you will venture to go to bed There is death in the bed as well as on board Death will find a man where-ever he is and how can a man that seriously considers the uncertainty of life delay closing with the Call of God one moment lest death surprize him in an unconverted condition Would any of you be willing to go out of the world in a state of enmity to God and to launch into Eternity in an unpardoned state Hath God ever told you you shall live to old age that you dare defer your conversion till then Hath God said you shall not dye next sickness or the next voyage you take or the next time you go out of doors Do not you see twenty dye young to one that lives to old age And why may not you If God had told you that so many years you shall continue in the world this might be a temptation to you to entertain your lusts a little longer and put off the thoughts of turning to God till hereafter but God hath in his Wisdom hid from us our last day Ideò latet ultimus dies ut observentur omnes that we might thereby be stirred up to watch every day and do the great work out of hand for which we came into the world Thirdly It is very dangerous if you consider the shortness and uncertainty of the day of grace the time of life is short but the day of grace may be shorter it is the counsel of our Lord Joh. 12.35 Yet a little while the light is with you walk while ye have the light lest darkness come upon you The words imply three things 1. That the season of Grace is but short it continues but for a little while 2. That it is a great Duty to improve it while we have it Walk while you have the light 3. They that have it and do not improve it may soon be deprived of it Lest darkness come upon
promises God promises that he will be our God and we promise to be his people He Covenants to teach and guide and rule us by his Laws and we Covenant to take him for our Lord to hearken to him and obey his voice in all he commands us He ingageth that he will never turn away from us to do us good Jer. 32.40 And we ingage that we will never depart from him but will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever Mic. 4.5 So that there is an Everlasting obligation lyes upon you to duty and obedience You have sworn and cannot go back As David sayes I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments Psal 119.106 Now one part of the Covenant is to answer another you look that God should always bless you and provide for your good and God looks that you should always serve him and promote his Glory You expect that God should perform all his promises of Mercy and Blessings and God expects you should be true to all your promises of Obedience and subjection For he said surely they are my people children that will not lye so he was their Saviour Isa 63.8 Now therefore renew your resolutions of service and subjection Cleave to the Lord with full purpose of heart Act. 11.23 Resolve in the strength of Christ never to cast off his Yoke nor count his Commandments grievous You cannot rationally expect the Blessings of the Covenant unless you perform the conditions of the Covenant The stipulation on our part must answer that of Gods And therefore as ever you would have God to be your God and Guide unto death Ps 48.14 Rom. 14.18 resolve living and dying to be the Lords Direct 9. Maintain a holy filial fear of God in the world this is an excellent preservative against Apostacy By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil Solomon sayes Prov. 16.6 and he tells you Chap. 14.27 The fear of the Lord is the fountain of life whereby men depart from the snares of death And backsliding from Christ is one of the great snares of death Direct 10. Think much of the day of recompences and of the glorious reward of perseverance in that day Be thou faithful to the death and I will give thee a Crown of life Rev. 2.10 non incipientibus sed perseverantibus corona tribuitur It is not mercenary service to quicken our selves to obedience by the hope of a recompence Omnis amor mercedis non est mercenarius It is said of Moses he had respect to the recompence of reward Heb. 11.26 And David sayes I have hoped for thy salvation and done thy Commandments Psal 119.166 He incouraged himself to duty by the hope of Glory And it is said of Christ himself that for the joy that was set before him he indured the Cross Heb. 12.2 Hope of that glorious recompence is of great force to quicken us to perseverance And to the same end doth the Apostle urge it 1 Cor. 15.58 Wherefore my beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. CHAP. XVIII Contains matter of Counsel to Christless sinners with motives and directions to further it 2 Exhortat TO such as have never yet taken up Christs yoke and I am afraid I now speak to many Though many are called to Christ yet few close with Christ and submit to him There are threescore Queens fourscore Concubines Virgins without number Cant. 6.8 How many are sons of Belial without yoke They are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 under no law but that of the Flesh and under no yoke but that of lust I am now to deal with you whether you will hear me or no I know not you have hitherto turned a deaf ear to all the calls of God and Christ I am now from the authority of this Text to give you one call more and I do in the name of the great God call and invite every sinner of you this day to come to Christ and take up his Yoke And this is no other then the very call that Christ makes in the Gospel Mat. 11.28 29 30. Come to me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest to your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light Come to me that implies believing Take my yoke upon you that implyes obeying Faith and Obedience can't be separated every one that believes in Christ must obey the commands of Christ If you come to him you must take up his yoke Pray consider it is the counsel of the Lord Christ who knows what is for our good He knows there is no life no salvation no happiness no Heaven without it this is implyed in that rest he promises they shall find rest in so doing which supposes that without taking up his yoke this rest can never be had Again it is his counsel who can and will reward all that practise it and therefore makes this promise ye shall find rest to your Souls Mat. 11.29 And pray mind here is a twofold rest promised one in ver 28. Come to me and I will give you rest that is a rest by believing another is ver 29. Take my yoke upon you and I will give you rest that is a rest in obeying So that the former is a peace which flows from justification and pardon of sin and therefore promised to the weary and heavy laden And this is the fruit of Faith in Christ and therefore promised to all upon coming to him The latter is a peace which flows from Sanctification and this is a fruit of Obedience to Christ and therefore promised to them that take up his yoke And mark what kind of rest it is that Christ promises ye shall find rest to your souls So that it is not an outward rest but an inward spiritual rest the outward man may have less rest and peace under Christs yoke then ever your obedience to Christ may make the world hate you reproach you persecute you therefore Christ sayes In the world ye shall have trouble Joh. 16.33 but in me ye shall have peace This finding rest to your souls under the yoke of Christ implyes 4 things which greatly commend Christs service 1. Liberty It holds but Christs yoke to be a yoke of Spiritual Liberty His service is perfect freedom and therefore the Gospel by which this yoke is put upon us is called a law of liberty Jam. 1.25 There is nothing more consistent then obedience to Christ and freedom of Spirit Deo servire summa libertas Pray which are most free the good Angels in Heaven or the evil Angels in Prison and chains of darkness are not the good Angels and yet they are in a state of
service and subjection therefore call'd Ministring Spirits Heb. 1.14 and said to do his Commandments Psal 103.20 The Angel sayes to John Rev. 22.9 I am thy fellow-servant and of them which keep the sayings of this book So that the highest liberty is consistent with the service of God therefore David puts them together I will walk at liberty Ps 119.45 for I seek thy Precepts Many decline the ways of God and cleave fast to their Lusts for the sake of liberty Whereas it is the greatest slavery in the world to serve sin the little finger of lust is heavyer then the whole loyns of Christ Nothing makes a man such a slave as sin He that lives in the love and service and injoyment of God hath the truest freedom But every sinner is a vassal to lust at the command of every unclean motion Is not he a slave that is at the will and command of Satan That is moved and acted by Satan in his whole course You pity men made slaves by the Turks laid in chains condemned to the Gallyes grinding in Mills broken with burdens drub'd and beat after all I tell you it is an eligible condition to this Nay sin doth not only make a man a slave but a bruit for it bereaves him of all reason and judgment their is no judgment in their goings Isa 59.8 2. This finding rest under the yoke of Christ implyes an easiness in his service And so it follows Matt. 11.29 30. Ye shall find rest for my yoke is easy and my burden is light A Believer in the ways of obedience hath those aids of God those divine quickenings those daily supplyes of the Spirit that Communion with God in all that no duty is difficult or burdensome 3. This finding rest to your souls implyes an after good by your present obedience There remains a rest for the people of God Heb. 4.9 The service of sin is best at first and worst at last Sin in the temptation is taking but sin in the conclusion is vexing It is sweet in the mouth but bitter in the belly Satan shews the pleasure and profit of sin to insnare you and then comes the guilt of sin to torment you But now the service of Christ is worst at first and best at last All the difficulty is in the beginning but the end is peace Psal 37.37 4. This finding rest implyes an end of your service and duty as it is labour So sayes the Holy Ghost Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord Rev. 14.13 for they rest from their labour your yoke shall be put off then But when shall the vassalage of sin end This is such a yoke as shall never be put off an everlasting servitude The sinner goes from a present slavery to a worse His present condition is servile but hereafter it will be dreadful First chains of Lust then chains of death and at last chains of darkness Jude 6. The sinner lyes in yokes and chains for ever for what is guilt of Conscience This is a chain that binds wrath upon the soul for ever He shall be holden with the cords of his own sins Prov. 5.22 What is utter despair This is another Chain the sinner is held in What is Gods power that is another chain And what is the everlasting sentence Mat. 25.41 go ye cursed into everlasting fire He is an Eternal Prisoner there God shuts him up and there can be no opening Job 12.14 He hath the Keys of Hell and Death Rev. 1.18 and who can get them out of his hand O what an everlasting slavery doth sin bring upon the soul Will you therefore hearken to the counsel of Christ and take his Yoke upon you 1. Consider How reasonable a thing this is For 1. God commands nothing that is unsuitable to our reason Look upon this Yoke in such duties as refer more immediately to God Either in External Worship or Internal 1. In External Worship As Prayer how reasonable is it that an indigent creature should go to God for what he wants seeing he can't support himself let him go to him that can Hearing how reasonable it is that if God be to be obeyed and this obedience is not to be by the creatures arbitrement but by Gods precept that then I should labour to know what Revelation he hath made of this 2. Look on Internal Worship Faith How reasonable is it that he who is the Eternal Truth should have credence in all the discoveries of his will and that I should trust him upon the credit of his promise Love It is the most reasonable thing in the world I should love God because he is the chief good and because he is always doing me good Gods love to us comes under no reason but what is in himself but our love to God is founded in the greatest reason 1 Joh. 4.19 we love him because he first loved us The fear of God how rational a duty is it he being the highest Lord and his supremacy absolute He is great and therefore greatly to be feared Look upon the most difficult dutyes Repentance Self-denyal Mortification of lusts c. These may be troublesome to the flesh but not unreasonable What more equal than that I should do whatever God would have me do how contrary soever to flesh and blood and the dictates of a carnal mind 2. He commands nothing that is prejudicial to our interest The end of every Precept is our felicity both our spiritual and eternal good are promoted by it And is there any thing more reasonable then that a man should persue his own good 3. He commands nothing but what answers the end of our being The end though last in execution is first in intention Now what is the great end of your being young ones what do you do in the world let me say as God said to Elijah what make you here What do you think God gave you being for was it to please the flesh to suck the sweet of the creatures to pass away your years in mirth and jollity to live to your selves Hath an immortal soul no other end of being but this Surely yes as God is the Fountain of being so his glory should be the end of being You are come into this world to make provision for another to avoid the snares of death and lay hold on Eternal Life To walk so before God here as that you may secure his favour for ever This is the great end of being and how reasonable is it that every man should attend to that which he was born for and came into the world for Or else the being of man is in vain as David expostulates the case Psal 89.47 Wherefore hast thou made all men in vain 2. Consider the great advantage that comes by this and that whatever your condition be Suppose your extract be mean that you are a branch of a poor Family What an advantage will your subjection to Christ