and the wombes that never bare and the paps which never gave suck x Luk. 19. 4â— And Christ himself wept for the misery that was to come upon Jerusalem Secondly Christ willeth them to reserve their teares to lament and bewail their sins and the sins of their children because the great and terrible day of the general judgement was coming when every one both high and low great and small young and old must give a particular account to God of what they have done in the flesh either in thought word or deed whether it be good or evill y Isa 2. 19. Hos 10. Luk. 23. 30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains fall on us and to the hills cover us Thus doth Christ direct us how to glorifie God with our teares how to comfort our soul by our mourning and how to be prepared for any common calamity and also how to meet the day of judgewent with comfort and that is by mourning for our sins in time and by making our peace with God by faith in Christ with the teares of true repentance Now take a view of thy teares and see from whence they flow from an humane principle or from a principle of grace if thou canst mourn for the evill of punishment which thou sufferest and canst not mourn for the evill of the sin which thou committest thy teares are not then spent upon the right object or if thou dost weep grieve for thy sins and hast no relation to Christ by faith in thy mourning thou wilt have but little assurance of pardon and thou wilt find but small comfort in thy weeping Also if thou dost lament and sorrow for thy sins and not fully purpose and dost endeavour to reform thy sinfull life thy repentance is not sound and thy sorrow is not unto salvation So likewise if nature can finde teares for the losse of some dear friend or for any other worldly losses and grace can find none to bewail thy self because the light of Gods countenance is clouded from thee or because the Church of God is under afflictions and troubles thou dost then waste thy teares to a wrong end z Ezra 10. 6. Ezra mourned for the transgression of the people a Neh. 1. 4. and Nehemiah mourned for the desolation of Jerusalem b Psal 119. 230. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes saith David because they keep not thy Law These teares proceeded from a Principle of grace wherewith God was well pleased And Christ doth here command us to reserve our teares for general calamities because then God doth call for fasting lamentation and mourning from those especially that are like to partake in such calamities If we can thus regulate our mourning and thus imploy our teares it will make much for the glory of God and for the comfort of our own souls But the consideration of the dreadfull day of judgement should most of all affect our hearts and soules with a godly sorrow for our sins and with an holy and earnest desire to be reconciled unto God by faith in Christ and to have a true assurance of the forgivenesse of them by our repentance that we may then appear before God without any guilt of sin upon our souls and without the clamours and accusations of an evill conscience and then it will be a day of rejoicing to us and not a day of terrour But if our souls are to appear with the pollutions and stains of sin and if our consciences are ready to accuse us and to prefer a bill of indictment against us that day will be most terrible and fearfull to us for when we shall look upon the Judge we shall see nothing in his countenance but terrour and fury and we can expect nothing from him but that dreadfull sentence of go ye cursed into everlasting torments on the contrary if the grace of God hath taught us to deny ungodliness and c Tit. 2. 12. 13. worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world we may then confidently look for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Wherefore it concerneth us no less than the salvation of our souls to make up our account while we live here which we must then give unto God even to an idle word because we shall be judged according to our works for after this life is ended there is no more faith to lay hold on Christ no more hope of salvation and no repentance for sin If our account be made up according to our own righteousnesse it will come farre short of that which God requireth and he will not accept it but if we can make it up in the righteousnesse of Christ by faith then whatsoever is wanting in us will be made perfect by his righteousness in the sight of God How pittifull then and miserable will the condition of unregenerate men be at that day Who can make perfect their account seeing they have no interest in Christ And how can they stand before that great and dreadfull Judge seeing he will not then know them Wherefore we should not neglect to make up our account thus with God every day because we know not how soon we are bereaved of time and grace for it and the losse of one day may indanger our salvation Lose no time then and no opportunity for this great work of thy salvation d 2 Pet 1. 10. but redeem the time which thou hast lost by doubling thy future diligence to mak thy calling and election sure What Christ suffered upon the Crosse OUr gracious Redeemer after many a weary step is now brought to Mount Calvary which was without the gates of the City where he must finish the great work of mans Redemption by his death and resurrection for to this end he came down from heaven and assumed our nature and all our iniquities were imputed to him because he was our surety and did undertake to satisfie the justice of God for them all not onely for the Jew but also for the Gentile a Joh 20. â— at 27. Now behold and see how his innocent hands and feet are nailed to his Crosse and how he is mocked and derided in his misery how the barbarous people insult over him how grievously he is tortured and what execrable blasphemies they belch out against him he did now endure the bitternesse of pain and the extremity of cold being naked upon the crosse but above all the anguish of his soul was so great because the fierce wrath and hot displeasure of Almighty God was heavy upon him that he cryed out My God my God Why hast thou forsaken me for then he had little or no sense of his heavenly Fathers love and the bright beames of his Deity were clouded for a time from his humanity If it be so that the eternall Son of God our blessed Redeemer suffered all kinde of shame and ignominy
thy getting get understanding This is a speciall meanes to come to the true way of holy and devout meditation Sixthly We must dayly practice this religious duty and if we learn to meditate upon our selves what our state and condition is whether it be of nature or of grace it will bring us to the meditation of spirituall things Though it be a very hard matter for a true childe of God to meditate upon heavenly things for his own benefit and comfort yet by use and exercise we may attain unto it and the sweetnesse that we shall find in it will by degrees bring us to delight in this pious duty h Phil. 3. â—0 For by this meanes we shall have our conversation in heaven though we live upon earth and we shall enjoy heaven and heavenly happinesse in some part while we live in this world for if we be frequent in our meditations on the Kingdome of heaven i 2 Cor. 1. 12 the grace of God will make our conversation in this world to be in simplicity and godly sincerity The seventh Direction is to choose such times and such places as are most fitting and most convenienient for this holy duty that we be not interrupted by any occurrence of worldly occasions but that our mindes and our hearts may agree and go together in our meditations The fittest time for this religious service is when God is pleased to give an inclination of will and to move our hearts thereunto by his holy Spirit which time we ought not to let slip nor to lose this opportunity which he tendereth to us because it is the time for grace of his own choosing and the time which he will accept If we take this time and set it apart to imploy our selves in this holy service he will then inlarge our hearts for it he will direct us in it and he will graciously assist us with his Spirit to conceive aright of those things whereon we do intend to meditate As we must be free at that time from all incumberances by our affairs so we must retire to such a place where we may be solitary and private that our hearts may wholly intend our meditations A solitary field is a fitting place to ruminate upon the works of God k Mat. 6. 6. Our closet is most convenient to meditate on the Law of God If we choose such times and places we may freely delight our selves with heavenly and spirituall contemplations Lastly we must prepare our hearts for this pious duty by faithfull prayer that God will be pleased to aid and assist us herein with his blessed Spirit to raise up our affections to enlighten our understandings and to purge and cleanse our hearts from all sinful thoughts worldly cares and from every evill concupisence that we may fully devote our selves to the meditation of heavenly things that this holy service may be performed to the glory af God to the increase of our spirituall knowledge to the strengthening of our faith and confidence in God to carry us on cheerfully through all the troublesome chances and changes that are incident to this life for our holy Meditations will lift up our hearts and affections above all worldly cares and above all the crosses and sorrows that we shall meet with here upon earth Holy Meditation is the prerogative onely of a true Christian AMong many Prerogatives that a true believing Christian hath above all other men this is not the least that he can raise up the Affections of his heart to heavenly contemplations by the power of the Spirit of grace that is in him whereas unregenerate men cannot attain to this high degree of true Christianity by all the meanes that art or nature can afford them for their Meditations reach but to the notions of the brain and are practised onely by the outward man which can yield them no spirituall consolation because they have not the power of grace to move the affections of the heart to heavenly things which only can minister sweetness true consolation to an afflicted soul and to a troubled conscience to give them good hope and assurance of the grace and favour of God and of the pardon and forgivenesse of their sins Carnall men set their mindes and affections upon carnall delights voluptuous men do dayly study how to satisfie their souls with unprofitable pleasures and worldly minded men set their hearts upon covetousness and upon the pomp and vanity of this present world These and the like kinde of men are so pressed down with the burden of sin and they are so encumbered with worldly cares and sinfull delights that they have no power to mount up toward heaven in their affections and no hearts fit for Divine contemplations because they have no interest in Christ and therefore they can have no spirituall light to discern aright of heavenly things But a true believing Christian hath the light of Gods Spirit to give him spiritual understanding he hath strength of grace to withstand all spirituall lets and hinderances and to raise up his affections above all earthly things with the wings of faith he can mount up above all the blocks and impediments that the divell or wicked men can cast in his way to depresse his spirits and to keep down the cogitations of his heart from pious and devout Meditations It cannot be denied but that the dearest of Gods servants cannot sometimes perform this religious Duty as they should because they do often finde the flesh to war against the spirit a Rom. 7. 21 23. as Paul did and that they are so yoked with their unregenerate part that when they would do good either for the glory of God or for the comfort of their own souls evill is present with them which doth disturb the peace of their consciences the quiet of their mindes and the freedome of their spirits and doth also stop the sweet influence of comfort that should come to their souls but especially they are hindered in their Meditations which is a Duty meerly spirituall and cannot be performed but by the spirit yet through Christ they get the victory and they will break through all opposition because b Rom. 7. 22. they delight in the Law of God and in heavenly contemplations after the inward man and their mindes will be set at liberty to serve him c Rom. 7. 25. though with the flesh they do sometimes serve the law of sin If we have given up our names unto Christ and are listed in his roul to fight under his banner we must look for continuall conflicts and combates with our spirituall enemies which dayly seek to ruine our souls by hindering us in our Religious duties but we are sure to have comfort in Christ and power from him to prevail against them and to get the conquest over them all if we can raise up our hearts to contemplate his Omnipotent power his infinite Wisdome and his wonderfull care of us Sometimes
we have conflicts with pleasure and plenty sometimes with afflictions and penury with sin and temptations with pain and sicknesse and with the terrours of death all which for a time may hinder the freedome of our spirits that we cannot compose our thoughts nor settle our hearts for holy Meditations but we shall recover our selves again by the power of Christ whose Grace is sufficient to hold us up against all opposition whatsoever and to set our hearts in such a frame as is fitting for the performance of this holy Duty Wherefore d Eph. 6. 11 12. seeing we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darknesse of this world and against spirituall wickednesse in high places we must put on the whole armour of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devill e 2 Cor. 10. 3 4. Though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not carnall but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the Knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ The same power that pulleth down the strong holds of sin in us and the sinfull imaginations of our mindes will also raise up the affections of our hearts to devout and pious Meditations of the heavenly and spirituall things The more free we keep our hearts from worldly cares and our mindes from sinfull thoughts the fitter we shall be for this holy Duty the better we shall perform it and we shall reap the more comfort by it But unregenerate men are not acquainted with this spirituall armour they have no power against their spirituall enemies they have no weapons fit for this warfare for untill they are brought out of their naturall condition into the State of grace have interest in Christ by faith they are so clogged with their worldly affairs so wedded to earthly vanities and so intangled with the corruptions of their nature that there is no room in their hearts for any holy contemplations and they have no grace that can give them strength to fight against the allurements of the world the intisements of the flesh and the cunning stratagems of the devill How dreadfull it is to Meditate on God NOw prepare thy heart and all the faculties of thy soul by those former Directions and by prayer to meditate on a Neh. 1. 5. Psal 47. 2. Dan. 9. 4. the great and terrible God who in himself is infinite in Majesty and eternall in glory and the great Creator of heaven and of earth whose Essence and Being is incomprehensible for thou canst not but stand confounded at the consideration of his greatnesse which the blessed Angels are not able to comprehend Wherefore empty thy heart of all sinfull cogitations and lay aside all thy worldly cares that thou maist freely set thy minde upon God to contemplate with all fear due reverence something of his excellencies and greatnesse so far as God hath revealed himself and according to the measure of that heavenly knowledge which he hath given thee let thy Meditations of these things be guided with good understanding and let them be bounded with Christian sobriety lest thou be swallowed up in the depth of this infinite and incomprehensible Ocean Let thy faith regulate thee in thy Meditations for what thou canst not comprehend thou art bound to believe because thou dost deal with the hidden things of God b Joh. 5. 6. who is Truth it self Thus meditate with dreadfull reverence on the high and mighty God for as he is infinite in his Essence so he is also infinite in all his Divine Attributes Wherefore content thy self with what he hath revealed in his Word and by his Works and do not curiously search into those things which are not yet to be known but are sealed up in his own secret counsell untill he shall be pleased hereafter to reveal them c 1 Sam. 6. 19. The Lord smote the men of Bethshemesh with a very great slaughter because they looked into the Ark of the Lord which was not lawfull to any save onely to Aaron and his sons Beware then that he smite not thee if thou presumest to look further into his secret counsells than Christ hath revealed If we duly consider the transcendent majesty and glory of God it will cast great dreadfullnesse into our Meditations for it will dazel the eye of our understanding far more than the brightnesse of the Sun beames can dazel the eyes of our bodies which may strongly move us to a dreadfull fear and reverence of him d Job 37. 22 for as Elihu said to Job with God is terrible majesty Also Job speaketh thus of God to his three friends e Job 13. 11. Shall not his his excellency make you afraid and his dreadfall upon you f Gen. 28. 17. How dreadfull saith Jacob is this place and it was because God was there Thus saith the Lord of hosts by his Prophet g Mal. 1. 14. I am a great King and my Name is dreadfull among the Heathen h Heb. 12. 21. When God gave the Law at Mount Sinai the sight was so terrible that Moses himself said I exceedingly fear and quake i Exod. 34. Moses did earnestly desire to see the face of God to whom he gave this answer that no man could see him and live but yet to satisfie his request and to shew him in part what a terrible and glorious God he was he told Moses that he should see some piece of his glory but he added that it was needfull he should hide himself in the hole of a rock and be covered with Gods own hand for his defence while God in some measure of his Majesty did passe by in his glory And when he was past God took away his hand and suffered him to see his hinder parts onely which was notwithstanding most terrible to behold k Dan. 7. Daniel also did see in a vision the Majesty of this great and terrible God which is recorded in the sacred Scriptures to teach us thereby what a Prince of Majesty is and how dreadfull in his judgements when he is offended Now consider what maketh it so dreadful to Meditate on God it is not onely the consideration of his incomprehensible and Divine Essence or the transcendent glory of his sacred Majesty or his infinite Power whereby all creatures all principalities and powers are under his subjection but also the consideration of the frailty and weaknesse of our nature and the vilenesse of our condition by reason of our many sins wherewith we have offended him and justly incurred his high displeasure and have deserved his wrath and fury to be poured out upon us whereby we stand in continuall fear of his judgements and of the severity of his justice For
will still molest and trouble us and there is no evill in our afflictions and sufferings because the nature of them is changed into Fatherly chastisements which conduce to our good and not to our hurt Also we may draw great consolation from our Adoption if we Meditate upon the right which we have thereby to all the promises of God to all his holy Ordinances to all his blessings to whatsoever is good for us or we stand in need of and also to an heavenly inheritance after this life is ended If we consider the mercies of God to us in Christ they will afford us matter enough of comfortable Meditations for if we search the Scriptures m Zech. 13. 1. we shall find a fountain of mercy that God hath opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for nucleannesse wherein we may wash away all the guilt and stains of our sins if we can apply the streames thereof to our hearts by faith this Fountain is the blood of Christ which the holy Ghost here meaneth n Joh. 4. 10 In Christ we shall finde water of life to refresh our panting souls when we are in any distresse or lye languishing under the sense of our sins o John 6. 48. 58. Christ is also the bread of life whereof if we eat by faith we shall live for ever p Col. 3. 11 Thus Christ is made all in all to us by faith q 1 Cor. 1 13. for he is made unto us wisdome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption His wisdome will teach us the way of truth it will guide us in it and it will dispose of all things for our good His Righteousnesse is a garment of salvation to us his Spirit of grace will inrich us with all heavenly endowments to lead an holy and sanctified life and conversation Also r Psal 103 3 4 by his redemption all our iniquities are forgiven all our spirituall diseases are healed our life is redeemed from destruction and we are crowned with loving kindnesse and tender mercies Let us consider also for our further comfort in our Meditations on God Å¿ Eph. 3. 17 that Christ the eternall son of God doth spiritually dwell in our hearts by faith and he doth not come to lodge with us as a guest or to sojourn there for a time and then to be gone from us but he cometh to abide and to dwell with us for ever he hath taken up his habitation there and our faith will cleave so close to him that he will never depart from us neither will he suffer us to depart from him We read that Ittai the Gittite one of Davids worthies would not leave the King when he fled from his son Absalom but he answered the King in this manner t 2 Sam. 15 21 As the Lord liveth and as my lord the King liveth surely in what place my Lord the King shall be whether in death or life even there also will thy servant be Thus close doth our faith cleave unto Christ for it will not suffer us to leave him neither will he leave us but our faith will be still with Christ both in life and in death O happy is our condition if we have such an Inhabitant in our hearts if Christ hath setled his abode there he wil execute his Priestly Office to make intercession to his heavenly Father for us u 1 Pet. 2. 3 and he wil make us a royall priesthood to offer up ourselves and our prayers unto God and to present unto him our spirituall sacrifices and oblations our thanks and praises for blessings and mercies received and a broken and contrite heart for sins committed which sacrifices God will not refuse Christ will also execute his Propheticall Office in our hearts to teach and instruct us the right way to true holinesse and godlinesse of life and conversation and how to attain unto eternall salvation in the life to come So likewise Christ will rule and reign in our hearts as King by his Spirit of grace to order and govern us in all our wayes and actions to over-rule and subdue all the Spirituall enemies of our salvation to protect and keep us from all perills and dangers to provide for us what is needfull for our good and also to comfort us in all our sorrowes and in the anguish of our souls to keep us out of the power of the devill at the hour of death and u 2 Tim. 4. 8 to give us a crown of righteousnesse which he hath laid up for us at the day of his appearing Here is yet more matter of comfort to be drawn from Christ in our Meditations of him when he doth spiritually dwell in our hearts and that by faith we do injoy his sacred society for he doth cloth us with his own Righteousnesse for our justification and he doth endow us with the graces of his Spirit for our sanctification that through him we may be able to overcome the world the flesh and the devill and so to over-power the corruptions of our nature that our sinful lusts and the evill concupiscence of our flesh shal not have dominion over us x Rom 8. 16 and his spirit will bear witnesse with our spirits that we are the children of God Christ will also put a spirituall light into our understanding to discern the things of God which a naturall man cannot do and to know our own condition from whence we are fallen and how to be recovered he will give us grace upon the sight and sense of our sins to be truly humbled for them to repent and turn to the Lord for he delighteth to dwell with those that are of a broken and a contrite heart according as he speaketh by his Prophet y Isaiah 57 15 Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity whose Name is holy I dwell in the high and lofty place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Christ will also change the perversenenesse of the will to put it into a frame of conformity to the will of God and he will take off the immoderate affections of our hearts from all earthly things and will raise them up to heavenly contemplations to study holinesse of life to love that which Christ loveth to delight in his Commandments and in his Ordinances and to practise with a willing minde all holy duties which he requireth both to God and to our neighbour in Publick and in private at home in our families and to others upon all occasions Then we shall find heavenly joy and spirituall consolation when we set our hearts to Meditate thus on God in Christ Wherefore the consideration of these great benefits and comforts which we have by Christ should be strong and prevalent motives to us to prepare our hearts to receive him to inlarge our
incline the will or else we cannot receive it All heavenly gifts and spiritual graces come from God which the Father is sometimes said to give according to this of James Å¿ Jam. 1. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights Sometimes also the Sonne is said to give them for thus saith the Apostle t Eph. 4. 8. when he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men that is he gave not onely places of dignity and of authority to some in his Church but also he gave them all spiritual indowments of grace meet for their several places and functions But these heavenly graces are properly wrought in our hearts by the holy Ghost how and when he pleaseth We must therefore crave his help we must wait his time and attend upon the means until he shall be pleased to work grace in us and we must resolve without delaies or excuses u Heb. 3. 7. to accept of grace even that very day when God doth offer it and not to grieve his good Spirit by refusing the sweet tender of grace or by losing any opportunity wherein God may be glorified by this heavenly work of grace in us Wherefore Ps 8. 4 5. be not thou like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear which will not hearken to the voice of charmers charming never so wisely but when any means of grace is offered or when thou feelest a good motion in thy heart be ready to imbrace it for that is Gods call and then Christ knocketh at the door of thy heart x Rev. 3. 20. as he did at the door of the Laodiceans if thou dost presently open unto him he will come in to thee and will sup with thee and thou shalt sup with him but if thou deferrest it until the morrow thou knowest not whether he will knock again or not O what a bountiful and gratious guest dost thou lose if thou wilt not open thy heart when the Spirit of Christ knocks there either by the preaching of his Word by holy inspirations by his blessings by afflictions or by any other means whatsoever If thou belongest unto him thou wilt know his knock thou wilt know his voice thou wilt make hast and prepare the best rooms in thine affections to give him entertainment and thou wilt clear away all the filth of thy sins by faith and true repentance that he may come into a clean heart that nothing may displease or discontent him for he comes not to lodge with thee a night or two as a stranger or to sojourn with thee a moneth or a year and then to leave thee y Eph. 3. 17. but he will dwell in thy heart by faith z Joh. 14. 23 and will abide with thee for ever by his holy Spirit When he is come he will furnish his rooms with his own furniture he will perfume them with his own merits so that whatsoever issue from thence shall be a sweet savour well pleasing and acceptable to God he will also beautifie and adorn all the faculties of thy soul with spiritual and heavenly graces he wil heal and cure al thy spiritual diseases he will be a Prophet to thee to teach and instruct thee in the wayes of godliness he will be thy High-priest to make intercession for thee and to present thy prayers and oblations unto God his Father also he will be thy King to rule in thy heart with his scepter of righteousness and to subdue all the enemies of thy salvation Christ will feast thee at his own table with bread of life water of life and with heavenly Manna which are precious dainties and spiritual food for thy soul to feed upon and thy heart will rejoice and be glad in him Thou shalt also injoy a Gal. 5. 22 23. the fruits of his Spirit which are love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodnes faith meekness temperance and all that belong unto thee shall partake of the riches of his goodness and of his blessings b Ps 24. 7. Let thy gates therefore stand open that the King of glory may enter in and be thou as ready to receive him with all joy and gladness of heart c Luc. 19. 6. 9. as Zachaeus was to receive Christ when he was in the flesh who brought salvation to his House Be not thou like the spouse in the Canticles d Cant. 5. 2â— who would not rise out of her bed of security to open the door of her heart to her beloved but suffered him to stand knocking and calling until his locks were wet with the drops of the night Now if thou hast any care of thy souls health study and meditate how to observe the times and means of grace and how to improve them to the glory of God and to thine own spiritual gain Canst thou observe the times and seasons of the year for the fruits of the earth and hast thou no care to take the opportunities that God gives thee for grace learn of the marriner who will hoyse up sail when the wind serves for him and when God offers thee grace do thou raise up thy heart and affections to receive it If thou refusest his gracious goodness to thee herein it is no wonder if thou art barren of true vertue and piety if thy soul be without spiritual comfort in thy sorrows and afflictions and it is no marvel if thou art fruitless in all good works If thou wilt make the true gain of thy time thou must diligently attend to the holy ordinances of God thou must thankfully receive his mercies and blessings thou must bear the Cross of Christ with patience and with meekness submitting thy self with all humbleness of spirit to the will and pleasure of God Also thou must repent of holy duties omitted as well as of sins committed and howsoever God shall deal with thee at that very time make an holy use of it for the glory of God and for the comfort of thy soul If the devil hath deluded thee with false pretences or hath lulled thee asleep in his bed of security so that thou hast slighted the means of grace and hast vainly spent thy precious time without any spiritual or heavenly gains thou must labour with all Christian diligence to recover it again which thou maist do by the gracious help and assistance of the holy Ghost herein for thou hast no ability in thy self to get out of these dangerous snares of the devil or to redeem the time that thou hast lost To conclude if thou dost desire to make the true gain of the time of grace thou must strive to remove out of thy heart whatsoever doth displease or dishonour God and whatsoever may hinder the operations of the holy Ghost and the current of grace to thy heart For if thy mind is carried after the love of the world after vain pleasures or sinful delights and if thou dost
prize any thing above grace or love any thing more than thou lovest Christ the love of God cannot dwell in thee and spiritual grace cannot be wrought in thee until thy heart be prepared to receive it which must be by the powerful working of the holy Ghost The danger of delaies in seeking Grace THere is now great need that we do seriously bethink our selves and that our hearts do faithfully meditate upon it what danger we may incurre and run into if we do not accept of grace when God doth offer it if we do not come to God when he calleth nor do what he commandeth at his own appointed time also how dangerous it is to delay our repentance and the reformation of our sinful lives from day to day and to cover our delaies with this vain pretence that to morrow we will perform that which God commandeth and then we will amend all that is amiss and thus we put off this precious time of grace and thus we deferre our repentance for our sins until God who is the sole commander of time doth shut us out of all time to the utter perdition of our poor soules which he may justly do if we thus abuse the singular benefit of time which God hath given us here for the gaining of his grace and favour This is a dangerous and a cunning deceit which the devil useth to bring us to destruction if he can perswade us to make delaies in the work of grace and in doing that which God commandeth for by this means we shall incur the wrath and high displeasure of God we shall in danger our repentance and conversion unto God and consequently our eternal salvation The devil knoweth that one sin will draw on another that custom will bring us to an habit of sinning and he that will not receive the tender of grace to day may not have the time or the means of it to morrow and he that refuseth to repent to day may be more indisposed for it to morrow Also he knowes how hard it is to leave old sins and and that God may justly withdraw the comfoâ—t of his presence and may deny us his grace if we do abuse his goodness and loving kindness to us by these our delaies in grace we do exasperate the justice of God to punish us aod thereby we heap vengeance upon our own heads a Rom. 2. 5. and we do treasure up wrath against the day of wrath Likewise he knoweth how uncertain our life is and the many and perillous chances that may come to hinder us from making our peace with God in time and therefore he will labouâ— to perswade us to deferre a little and then a little more and that hereafter we shall have better occasion and fitter opportunity to do that which God commandeth then for the present we have If we continue in sinne without repentance the power of the devil is more established and confirmed in us the good inclination of our will is more weakned and perverted the faculties of our mind are more corrupted our understanding is more darkned and our unruly passions are more strengthned against the rule of reason and harder to be repressed by continuance of time than they were before Wherefore we cannot be safe from the evil of those subtle suggestions of the devil unless we shroud our selves under the protection of God by prayer and keep our souls close unto Christ by faith for then he will preserve us from the danger of those snares and he will keep us that we be not deluded with his inchantments to lose the opportunities of grace that God doth give us For it is grace onely that doth keep us from the habit of sin that no sin shall be rooted in us it is the strength of grace that giveth us power over our sins and that keeps us from the delusions of the Devil and therefore if God withdraws his assisting grace from us we have then no means to be preserved from those dangerous deceits of the devil or to make the way of vertue and of godliness easie to us If we have been deluded by the subtilty of the devil by the allurements of the world or by the intisements of the flesh to continue long in a sinful course of life and to neglect the means of grace when it was offered or to delay our repentance and turning unto God to the great hazzard of the salvation of our souls let our heart melt into godly sorrow for our long delaies in seeking the grace and favour of God and for losing so much time without the gain of some grace for the good of our souls that God may be glorified thereby If God shall make our life but like the shortest day of the year yet we shall discover too much gross ingratitude to him if we will not afford him one hour of that day for his honour and glory then much more is our unthankfulness toward him if our life be lengthned out to the longest day and if we do also injoy the sun-shine of the Gospel and yet have no care to seek his face or to gain his favour untill the twilight of that day when sickness and infirmities will disable us and when decrepit old age doth seaze upon us How can we expect that God will accept of our sower winter fruits when we deny him our sweet and pleasant summer fruits what fruits can the seed of grace produce when our hearts have been overgrown with bryers and thorns ah our whole life can we spend all the oyle in our lamps in seeking for earthly things and provide none to have our lamps burning that we may attend upon the bridegroom when he cometh b Mat. 25. The foolish Virgins in the Gospel did thus and therefore when the bridegroom came they were not ready and went not in with him to the marriage and the door was shut we should therefore watch for we know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh If we do seriously think upon the many and great benefits that we have already received from God and yet we do hope for and expect much more even eternal happiness hereafter we cannot but be more careful to labour for true saving grace in the best part of our daies without which we cannot attain to it and not to spend our time vainly in seeking the profits and pleasures of this world reserving the last and worst part of our lives for the service of God and for the Kingdome of heaven for we know not whether God will then accept it If God doth give us grace then to repent for repentance is absolutely his own gift yet we must then lament and bewail these dangerous delayes which we have made for by how much the more we prolong our returning unto God the more we increase our sins and so much the greater will be our pain and sorrow in our repentance if it be true and sound also the amendment of
our lives will be much the harder Time is not gained but lost which we spend without some fruits of grace and godliness which indeed is the true gain of time and therefore we should seek unto God while he may be found c Isa 55. 6. we should call upon him while he is neer otherwise though we seek him he will not be found and though we call upon him he will not answer nor be intreated Thus saith the Apostle d 2 Cor. 6. 2 now is the time acceptable now is the day of salvation But we have just cause to bewail our condition for the corruption of our nature doth so weaken us and the power of our spiritual enemies doth so prevail against us that we cannot break through such strong opposition as they make to hinder this holy work of grace in us I he devil doth cunningly disswade us from it the world doth strongly allure us to follow still the vanities of it and our own flesh doth dayly intice us to carnal pleasures and delights so that we can finde no time to make our peace with God or to improve the means of grace to his glory and to our own comfort Though we do sometimes strive against our sins yet we cannot overcome them or if one sinne be subdued another is ready to rise up against us also though we cannot actually commit a sin yet we may commit it in our sinful desires to it in a sinful remembrance of it in consenting to it or in suffering it to be done when by our place and authority we might hinder it We have also just cause to bemoan our selves for though we do labour for grace and do use all means for it to the best of our power and yet we cannot attain unto it Though it be thus with us yet we must still continue our best endeavours to oppose all the enemies of our salvation and we must still use the means of grace and wait upon God until he shall please to work grace in us by his Spirit also we must pray unto him with a faithful heart that by the omnipotent power of his grace e and by the rod of his strength which is the Word and Sprit he would make us able to overcome our corruptions by seasoning our hearts with grace to subdue the power of our sins by repentance to improve our time to the glory of God and also to break through the snares of the devil the world and the flesh Then God will so bless us in our pious indeavours that we shall prevail against all opposition and adversary power not by our own strength but by the might and power of Jesus Christ our gracious Redeemer f 2 Cor. 12. 9. whose grace and favour is sufficient for us and whose strength is made perfect in our weaknesse under whose banner we fight these spiritual battels for the honour of his great name Of Christ our Redeemer IF it be so that Christ is our Redeemer and hath wrought our redemption with his own blood and hath purchased for us a new Covenant and an everlasting inheritance in heaven as formerly in part hath been shewed also if we have all our strength and power from him against our spiritual enemies without whom we cannot stand against them nor break through the bands of death to injoy that heavenly inheritance which he hath prepared for us we must then know who Christ is what is the nature of his Person what is his power and strength and how he was qualified for this great work that we may have a sure ground to confide in him and to rest upon him as our Redeemer and onely Saviour Also we must know how he hath satisfied the justice of God for our sinnes how he hath conquered death hell and the devil and what price he hath paid for our ransom for without this heavenly knowledge and faith to apply it to our selves vve can dravv no comfort to our souls from Christ neither can vve have any good assurance that vve are freed from the curse of the Lavv that the justice of God is satisfied for our sins that sin hath no condemning power over us that the sting of death is taken away and that we are reconciled again unto the favour of God God hath revealed these deep mysteries to us in his holy Word that the meditations of our hearts may be enlarged upon them for our instruction and edification and for the comfort of our souls as God shall give light to our understandings by his blessed Spirit But as the Prophet saith a Is 53. 8. Who can declare his generation which was from eternity for Christ our Redeemer is the onely begotten Son of God b Joh. 1. 18. who is in the bosom of the Father and was promised and expected since the beginning of the world And when the fulnesse of time was come that God had appointed for his incarnation c John 1. 14 the Word was made flesh for d Heb. 2. 16 he took on him the seed of Abraham and personally united to his Divine nature a true humane body e Luc. 1. 31 32. of the seed of the Virgin Mary f Mat. 26. 38 which was indued with a reasonable soul and the holy Ghost did so sanctifie her wombe that he was born without sin either original or actual And though the humane nature of Christ was taken into his Deity whereby this union was never to be dissolved yet either nature had their whole properties and operations remaining still unconfounded and therefore he was true God and true man g Heb. 2. 17 like unto us in all things h Heb. 4. 15. sin onely excepted and those two natures made but one person in Christ i Mat. 28. 18 to whom God the Father hath given all power in heaven and in earth so that he commandeth and over-ruleth al created power whatsoever God did also give him three honourable offices that he might be every way fit to be our eternal Mediatour between God and us for God ordained him to be a Prophet to teach and instruct us to be a Priest to make intercession for us and to offer such a sacrifice to God for our sins as he would accept and to be a King to rule and govern his Church and also to rule in our hearts by his Spirit Christ being thus qualified hath fulfilled for us and in our nature whatsoever the Law did require of us and his righteousness is imputed to us by faith for our justification that no guilt of sinne might cleave to us in the sight of God When Christ did execute that part of his priestly office which was the offering up of his body a sacrifice for us no heart can conceive and no tongue can express the bitter torments which he suffered both in his soul and in his body to satisfie the justice of God for our sinnes and to purchase our freedome and redemptition out of the captivity
pain or trouble But wilt thou give so much way to thy passions as to dishonour God thereby is thy minde so much set upon vain pleasures as if no sorrow could come upon thee Did Christ bear his crosse and dost thou think to go free Dost thou not know O fainting soul how to measure thy strength â—f thou dost measure it by the common measure of mature thou wilt find it too weak to bear thee up against those crosses afflictions or temptations which thou shalt meet with in this life but if thou dost measure it by the measure of the sanctuary and by the grace of Christ that is in thee thou wilt then perceive what strength thou hast to bear the crosse for thy strength lyeth not in the wealth or in the arm of flesh but in thy faith in Christ and in the graces of his Spirit If thou hast but a little faith and a small measure of grace thou hast then but little strength and courage to encounter with the assaults of the devill with the troubles and vexations of this world and with the discomforts of sicknesse but art easily surprised with every temptation and sinfull lust and as easily overwhelmed when the waves ef affliction come upon thee Wherefore when thou art upon thy bed of sicknesse or in any distresse and misery complain not of thy strength of body if that be weak and faileth but look to the strength of grace that is in thee o 2 Pet. 3. 18. for grace may grow and increase though the strength of thy body doth decay or is spent and grace will uphold thee from sinking even in the bitter pangs of death and it will make thee to hold on constant to the end in all thy sufferings Consider in the next place that Christ hath appointed his crosse to be the badge of every true Christian which he must wear for the honour of his Lord and Master Thus saith Christ p Mat. 16 24. If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his crosse and follow me Also Paul saith q Acts 14. 22. That through much tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of God Christ giveth this badge to some for the tryal and the manifestation of his graces in them that he may be glorified thereby to others for their humiliation and to bring them to repentance for their sinnes he doth exercise others under the crosse to conform them unto himself in his sufferings and to make them bear it contentedly Also he gives this badge to some to keep them from security and to prevent their backslidings from God for by these tryals and afflictions he doth alwayes intend the good of his servants and not their hurt Where this mark is truly imprinted there will grace appear and the fruits of it will break forth in their conformity to the will of God in their faith and patience under afflictions and in their rejoycing in the crosse of Christ This was the Apostles joy r Acts 5. 41 that they were counted worthy to suffer shame and rebuke for the Name of Christ And this was Pauls glory Å¿ Gal. 6. 1 for saith he God forbid that I should glory save in the crosse of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world For such is the tender and indulgent care of Christ toward those that wear his livery that though they are put into the fining pot of affliction there to have their drosse and corruptions purged and refined yet he will not suffer them to receive any detriment thereby but he will bring them forth purer gold than they were before Wherefore learn to carry the crosse of Christ in thy heart expect it daily and resolve to bear it willingly when God shall be pleased to lay it upon thee and then thou wilt not feel it so heavie as it is in its own nature also imprint the remembrance of his passion in thy minde thereby to mortifie all thy worldly lusts and sinfull desires This cognizance will tell thee what inheritance thou hast in Christ if thou dost duly examine thy heart when thou art under the crosse how thou hast glorified God by thy faith and patience how much thou art refined from thy corruptions how much nearer thou art brought unto Christ in thine affections to love him to confide in him to delight in the sweet fruition of him and to meditate on his goodnesse and love to thee If thou canst finde such fruits of thy crosse and that in the midst of thy sorrowes thou canst say with holy Job t Job 13. 1â— Though he slay me yet will I trust in him then be confident that Christ hath set his own stamp upon thy heart he will know thee for his own he will hide thee under the shadow of his wings he will provide for thee in all thy necessities and upon all occasions and all the powers of darknesse shall not be able to raise his stamp or the impression of it out of thy heart or to separate thee from Christ Mark further and consider it well that there were some that followed Christ all that dolorous way to Mount Calvary who could not refrain from teares and u Luk. 23. 27 28. sorrowfull sobs but bewailed him and lamented when they saw his dolefull and sad condition and they were chiefly women to whom Jesus turning said Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and for your children Whereby he did graciously instruct them how to fix their mourning upon the right object that their teares may proceed from a principle of grace not to mourn for him because he did suffer no more than what was appointed by his heavenly Father and he did bear it in obedience to his will also he did undertake no more than he was well able to undergoe and no more could be laid upon him than was decreed in his Fathers counsell for the redemption of man But Christ would have them weep and mourn for their sins which brought the wrath of God upon themselves and upon their children for there were grievous judgements which would shortly come upon them Also Christ did intimate to them that their sins and the sins of their children were a great part of the cause why he suffered such contumelies and so much cruelty both by the Jews and by the Gentiles that they might be freed from the guilt and from the punishment of them Consider now that Christ doth give them two speciall reasons why they should weep and mourn for themselves and for their children First because of the great desolation and finall destruction that was shortly after to come upon that famous and renowned City and upon the whole nation of the Jews wherein they and their children should suffer very great calamities therefore Christ did tell them u Lu. 23. 29 That the dayes were coming in which they should say blessed are the barren
life Though the soul be thus highly to be prized and far excelleth the body in worth and dignity yet naturall men will pamper and garnish out the body which is every day subject to corruption and change but they suffer their souls to starve for want of spirituall food and to go naked for want of spirituall cloathing whereby they are exposed to the venomous darts of the Divell and to the scorching heat of their sinfull lusts Their souls have no spirituall light to foresee dangers and to shun them they have no heavenly grace to resist the temptations and allurements of the world the flesh and the Divell but what the eye or the eare lets in is willingly received Thus their souls are polluted and unclean and death doth snatch them away because they cannot willingly deliver them up for they have no faith to believe and no assurance to perswade them that God will receive their souls when they are parted from their bodies This is the condition of our souls by nature and so long as they are in this condition God will not receive them and then they must needs be a prey to the Divell u Psal 103 4. But Christ hath redeemed our souls from destruction u 1 Cor. 6. 20. he hath bought us with a great price he hath shed his most precious blood upon the crosse to take away the guilt and filth of our sins Wherefore God may justly claim our whole man both soul and body as his due by a treble right by the right of creation of donation and of purchase x Act. 17. 28 for in him we live and move and have our being y 1 Cor. 4. 7 What have we that we did not receive from God What shall we bequeath unto him in thankfulnesse for all his benefits to us We can do no lesse than devote our selves souls and bodies to him and to his service while we live here and when this life shall be ended to bequeath our precious souls unto him purified and cleansed from all sin in the blood of Christ by faith for nothing can be too pure that is presented to him and nothing can be too dear and precious for him If we bequeath this precious legacy to God in our life-time then he will require it as of right belonging unto him and he will receive it from us at our death This will sweeten the bitternesse of death to us which will put an end to all our sorrowes and this will make us willing to leave this world and desire with Paul to be dissolved because we do stedfastly believe that we shall be with Christ But if we give our selves to worldly vanities to lewd and licencious living and not to the true worship and service of God we shall then be unwilling to part with this life or to look upon death when it comes because we know not to whom it will deliver our poor souls for we cannot comfortably commend them to God when we dye with any hope or good assurance that he will receive them seing they did God no service while we lived What thankfulnesse is it then to commend our souls unto God when we can keep them no longer for the world or for our sinfull delights And what comfort can we have at our death if we have no faith to believe that we shall injoy all happinesse with Christ but rather just cause to fear that the sinfulnesse of our life will bring us to everlasting torments after death It may sometimes fall out that we shall neither have time nor ability to dispose of our souls when we dye as we desire and as we ought for if death comes suddenly upon us by any casualty or otherwise we have then no time to commit our souls unto Gods protection or if we are taken away by some violent or malignant disease which doth distemper our senses and weaken our understanding and reason that we are unfit for this great work we have then no ability to resign up our spirits unto God in an holy way What shall we do then Where is our comfort in death This need not trouble our thoughts if we have formerly in our life had any holy assurance of our union with Christ of our justification by his righteousnesse of our redemption by the merit of his blood and of his death and of his sanctification by the holy Ghost and that we have lived vertuously and piously in the fear of God and have served the Lord our God with a perfect and upright heart in the time of our life for then death cannot come suddenly upon us and no extremity of sicknesse or pain can separate us from Christ nor take away our comfort from our souls at our death because God will receive them up into his holy habitation to abide and dwell with Christ for ever though we have neither time nor ability to commend them unto him Lastly let us zealously meditate for our great comfort upon the bloud and water that gushed out from our Saviours heart after he was dead when his side was pierced with the spear There was bloud to take away the guilt of sin for our justification and there was water to wash away the stains of sin for our sanctification For as our sins were imputed to him as our surety so by faith his righteousnesse is imputed to us and God doth account us just and righteous in his sight for the sake of Christ so likewise by grace we are renewed dayly and sanctified in our lives and conversations Wherefore we should raise up our thoughts and the affections of our hearts to this sanctifying water when we think upon our Baptisme or see that Sacrament celebrated that our hearts may be sprinkled with it by faith to purifie our souls from the leprosie and spots of our sins Also we must set the cogitations of our hearts upon this sacred blood when we feed at the Lords Table that by faith we may be perswaded that Christ did shed his blood and was crucified for us Consider also that though the body of our blessed Redeemer was miserably rent and torn by the cruelty of his enemies yet God would not suffer them to break a bone of him according to this of David z Psal 34. 20 He keepeth all his bones not one of them is broken and though they brake the bones of the two malefactors that were crucified with him yet they brake not a bone of him that the Scripture might be fulfilled a Num. 9. 12. that not a bone of him should be broken God so restrained his bloody enemies that they could do no more than what was decreed and what Christ was willing to suffer for he did not yield to their malice and cruelty but onely in obedience to his Fathers will for a word of his mouth had been sufficient to confound all his tormentours but how then should our redemption be wrought How should the will of God be fulfilled And how
with Christ and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindnesse toward us through Christ Jesus b Eph. 4. 23 This renovation in the spirit of our minde is wrought in us by the holy Ghost through Christ for he was anointed with the holy Ghost for this end and purpose that by him we might be raised up from the death of sin to a spirituall life of grace according to the signification of his Name for as he is Christ he is Anointed of God and as he is Jesus he is the Saviour of the world to save us from our sins and to work salvation for us whereof we are not capable untill we have a spiritual life wrought in us Thus saith the Spouse of Christ c Cant. 1. 3. Thy Name is as oyntment poâ—red forth A precious Oyntment hath many excellent vertues d Psal 104. 15. for it maketh a chearful countenance it comforteth and strengtheneth all the parts of the body it healeth all diseases and it sendeth forth a sweet savour when it is poured out which refresheth and comforteth all the senses Thus is Christ to every true believers soul he is the Anointed of God as saith the Psalmist of him e Psal 45. 7. Thou lovest righteousnesse and hatest wickednesse therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oyl of gladnesse above thy fellowes f Act. 10. 38 for he was anointed with the holy Ghost and with power First by the power of his holy unction Christ doth put a spiritual light into our understanding by his Spirit that we may see how to walk in the paths of godlinesse and truth according to this of old Simeon g Lu. 2. 31 32. that God had prepared him to be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of his people Israel h Psal 97. 11 Light is sown for the righteous and the comfort and gladnesse of it for the upright in heart This Prophesie was fulfilled in Christ i Isa 2. 9. The people that walked in darknesse have seen a great light they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them hath the light shined k Eph. 5. 14 Wherefore awake thou that sleepest in fin and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light If we want this heavenly light we must needs wander and go astray from God and we have no means to obtain such a light but by Christ It is sin that hath brought this darknesse and this spiritual death upon our souls and none but Christ can take it away This is the beginning of our spiritual life when we have some light to discern the spirituall things of God for the good of our souls Secondly Christ is the food and nourishment of our souls to preserve this spirituall life in us whose flesh we must spiritually eat and whose blood we must spiritually drink by faith in the hearing of his Word preached and Sacramentally when we come to his holy Table or else we have not this spirituall life in us l John 6. 48 53. I am that bread of life saith Christ which came down from heaven who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternall life and I will raise him up at the last day for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed Wherefore if our souls do hunger and thirst after this heavenly food and do earnestly desire to be refreshed and fully satisfied therewith it is an evident sign that there is a spiritual life in us for Christ doth freely offer himself to every empty soul that can feed upon him by Faith in his Word or in his Sacraments But if our desires and the affections of our hearts are taken up with the love of this world and of earthly vanities it s no marvell if we have no hunger nor thirst after Christ and that we feel so little want and need of him Thirdly the blood of Christ is the true balm to heal and cure all the diseases and wounds that sin hath made in our souls it is like m Lu 10. 34 the good Samaritans wine and oyl for it hath a cleansing and an healing vertue There can be no wound so deep in the soul and no ulcer so festered but this precious Oyntment will cleanse and heal it if it be rightly applyed by faith and true repentance for repentance layeth open the wound by true confession and faith applyeth the remedy to it and then repentance giveth us an holy assurance that we shall be cured This is the way and the means of recovery when our souls are sick of any spirituall disease and also to preserve that spirituall life which is in us Lastly when the heavenly graces that flow from Christ are poured out upon our soules they will greatly refresh and comfort our spirits in all sadnesse of heart and they will so persume all our actions and services which we perform unto God that their sweet savour shall ascend up unto him that he may smell it and graciously accept of us and of our offerings n Gen. 8. 21. When Noah offered burnt offerings to the Lord after the floud the Lord smelled a sweet savour and accepted his sacrifice and blessed him exceedingly Wherefore if our souls are perfumed with grace they will so perfume all our holy oblations which we offer up to God that he will in mercie accept them for his Sonnes sake o I rev 5. 8. But the sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord and they stink in his nostrils because they proceed from a corrupt and unclean heart which is not perfumed with grace how much â— Eccl. 10. 1 more when he bringeth them with a wicked mind â—o 21. 27 Sin is like dead flies in the ointment of the Apothecary which causeth it to stink for sin maketh us odious in the sight of God Wherefore take heed with what heart thou comest into the presence of God and that thou bringest no oblation to him with a wicked mind but first purifie thy heart from sinne by faith in the bloud of Christ and see that thy soul be perfumed with sanctifying grace and then come and offer thy gift and God will accept it But if there be any sin in thy bosome unrepented of or any iniquity in thy heart which thou seekest to hide from God then he cannot smell a sweet savour of thy prayers of thy praises and thanksgivings or of any duty which thou performest to him to make it accepted because thy heart is not upright before God Now we must examine our selves what spiritual life we have by Christ and we must know how he is our spiritual life if we will have any comfort thereby First q 1 Joh. 2. 20 If we have this holy unction from Christ which was poured upon him above measure that
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
upon his Throne of mercy ready to receive us If our faith doth reach no further than to the knowledge of Christ what he is in his divine nature and what he is by incarnation or to his glorious excellencies and dignities as he is the Mediatour of the new Covenant or to the work of mans redemption as he is the Redeemer of the world it is but the bare notion of faith which is not effectual enough to bring us to eternal happinesse Unregenerate men may know and believe thus much of Christ by the letter of the Gospel and yet never be brought into the state of grace by Christ because they have not the grace of faith in their hearts to apply these things to themselves The devils did know who Christ was they knew the purity of his nature and what power he had over them and yet they continued devils still Wherefore we must not rest in the bare notion of faith but if we will believe unto salvation we must then f John 13. 8 9. As Paul and Silas said to the Jaylor Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we must rest upon him and put our whole confidence in him for our salvation also we must apply him and all his excellent dignities to our selves that we may be well perswaded of our redemption by him and that we are invested into the Covenant of grace by our union with him and that we shall hereafter injoy the perfection of true happinesse If our Faith can reach thus high and lay such hold upon Christ by their particular application of him then let our condition be what it will we shall be happy while we live more happy when we dye and most happy after death for no afflictions or sorrowes of life and no violence or extremity of sicknesse in death shall be able to take this happinesse from us and after death we shall be out of the reach of all our enemies for Christ by whom we have this happinesse will not suffer us to loose it but by the grace and power of faith we shall still draw all spiritual comfort from Christ to our souls to make us truly happy in this life and everlastingly happy in the life to come This is the grace and power of true faith to apply particularly to our selves whole Christ God and Man and as he is our Prophet our high Priest our King our Mediator and Redeemer and then how mean soever our condition be he will make us happy in it and will crown us with everlasting happinesse hereafter for where this Faith is wrought there the holy Ghost will abide for ever and that soul must needs be happy that intertaineth him g Eph. 1. 13. For after that we have believed in Christ we are sealed with that holy Spirit of Primise unto the day of Redemption this Spirit of promise is the earnest of our inheritance which Christ hast purchased for us Consider further that by this means we are neerly joyned unto Christ h Eph. 3. 17. For Christ dwelleth in our hearts by Faith This spirituall union with Christ is more firm and close than the union of the members of the natural body is with the head or the union of the branches is with the vine for nothing can separate us from Christ but he will keep us by his Almighty power unto salvation If we be in this blessed condition nothing can hurt the well-being of our souls but all things shall work together for our good What comfort and what happinesse can we want if we injoy Christ His grace will carry us on cheerfully through all the discomforts that we shall meet with in this life his blessings will be upon all that we injoy and he will give us the fulnesse of happinesse in the life to come Though we be in Christ yet we shall meet with many sorrowes troubles and vexations in this life which will cloud the sense of this our fâ—licity for we have here but the beginnings of that blessed and happy condition which in the life to come shall be perfected and confirmed to us for ever in Christ Wherefore we ought seriously to meditate and study how to injoy Christ who is the true happinesse of our souls and though we have but a taste of this heavenly consolation yet it will sweeten the bitternesse of all misery and as we dayly grow in grace so we shall dayly finde more comfort by our assurance of the fruition of our future felicity in heaven Also the more we grow in grace the more we shall grow out of love with this world because we shall the better see the vanities of it and the more we shall grow in love with vertue and true piety which will bring us to this happinesse and to injoy it to all eternity Concerning our Iustification THe true knowledge of this high Principle of Religion what it is to be justified in the sight of God and how it is wrought in us by the holy Ghost is of great concernment to every true Christian and it doth minister exceeding much comfort to him in the assurance of the pardon of his sins and in the hope of his salvation Now we are justified not for any inherent righteousnesse that is in us nor for any foreseen works we are able to do nor for any grace that is wrought in us but as God doth elect us of his own free grace and love so he doth also freely justifie us First a 2 Cor. 5. 19. by not imputing our sins and iniquities to us Secondly by not inflicting the condemnation of sin upon us Thirdly by imputing the righteousnesse of Christ to us by faith Fourthly by pronouncing and declaring us to be just in the Court of heaven and by witnessing the same to our consciences by his holy Spirit and lastly by his gracious acceptation of us This is our Justification and thus we may be perswaded of it for God hath set up his seat of Judgement in every mans conscience so that when we remember our sins if our conscience doth absolve us by our faith in the righteousnesse of Christ and in the merit of his blood it is a sure evidence of our justification in the sight of God but if it doth condemn us then it will binde us over to answer for our selves at the last and general judgement when it will bring bitter accusations against us and witnesse terrible things against our poor souls for conscience is the highest witnesse next under God The ground of our justification is Gods free grace to us by Faith in Christ who hath taken upon himself the guilt of our sins whereby they are imputed to him and his righteousnesse is imputed to us so that now God doth account us just and righteous because we have no guilt of sin and are cloathed with the righteousnesse of Christ and therefore he will absolve us from all our sins and from the punishment that is due to us for them and he will
can they hate any thing that is wicked and sinfull because it is so agreeable to their nature and they have no grace to check their corrupted nature for loving that which God hateth and hath forbidden whereas a regenerate man will find that the Spirit of grace which is in him will give him a secret check if his unregenerate part doth take pleasure and delight in any thing that is sinfull for he must not conform himself to the fashion of the world The sense of faith may be lost BY faith in Christ we injoy the light of Gods countenance and his assisting Grace which is our greatest comfort in all misery and distresse and so long as we do injoy that we are sensible of our faith and we feel the comfort of it but when God doth hide his face from us and withdraw his assisting grace it is the greatest trouble that can betide us it takes away the comfort of faith from our soules and leaves us in a sad and sorrowfull condition in our apprehension because the support of our Faith is clouded from us God doth sometimes withdraw himself from his dear servants and doth suffer them to loose the sense of their Faith for a time to make them prize it the more and to be the more careful of it this God will also do by laying his rod of correction heavy upon us if he seeth that we watch not carefully over our Faith that we are carelesse in the use and exercise of it that we sleep in security or lye dead in our sins without repentance or if we abuse his love and goodnesse to us for then he will leave us to our selves to let us see our own weaknesse without his assisting grace Upon these and the like occasions the devill will be ready to take his advantage to assault us with his temptations to make us doubt of the love and favour of God when afflictions presse sore upon us also to aggravate our sins or else to hide them out of our sight as he did David's sin of adultery if by any means he can to keep us in unbelief or without repentance that we may not recover the sense and comfort of our Faith for his main drift is at last to drive us into despair It is a cunning policy of the devil and full of danger if he can keep us from the sight and sense of our sins that we should not confesse them and lay them open before God with a truly humbled penitent heart that so by ouâ— repentance we may have an holy assurance of the paâ—don of them For then wil our Faith break forth as thâ— Sun out of a cloud to warm and refresh our souls with spirituall consolation for we cannot lose the habit of Faith though the sense of it may be taken from us for a time Sometimes God himself will sift and winnow us as wheat to cleanse us from our chaffe to keep us from spiritual pride and to humble us for our sins Thus he sifted the house of Israel as he saith by his Prophet a Amâ—s 9 9 For lo I will command and I will sift the house of Israel among the nations like as corn is sifted in a five yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth Though God doth sometimes deal thus rigorously with us and doth leave us no hope to support our Faith yet not the least grain of his corn shall fall upon the earth but our Faith shall recover her strength again It is onely sin that makes a separation between God and us according to this of the Prophet b Isai 59. 2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear c Cant. 5. It was sin that caused Christ withdraw himself from his Spouse because she would not open to him when he knocked but when he was gone and past she was in a wofull and comfortlesse condition Nothing can so much afflict us as the losse of our heavenly Fathers love and nothing can shake our Faith so much as when our souls are perplexed because in our own apprehension God is either become our enemy or else he hath quite forsaken us How did Job complain in his great afflictions d Job 30. 27 28. My bowels boiled and rested not I went mourning without the Sun My skin is black upon me and my bones are burnt with heat my harp also is turned to mourning and my Organ into the voice of them that weep Holy Davids Faith was brought to so low a degree by the sense of the burden of his sin and by the apprehension of the displeasure of God for it that he cryed to the Lord saying e Psal 38. 4 6 21 23. Forsake me not O Lord O my God be not far from me make haste to help me O Lord my salvation And again he thus cryeth unto God in the bitternesse of his soul f Psal 143. Hear me speedily O Lord my spirit faileth hide not thy face from me lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit g Psal 13. â— 2. How long wilt thou forget me O Lord for ever How long wilt thou hide thy face from me How long shall I take counsel in my soul having sorrow in my heart dayly How long shall mine enemies be exalted over me Surely David had at this time little or noâ— sense of Faith to trust and depend upon God These and the like are the dolefull complaints of Gods children when they are overwhelmed with sorrowes or feel any spiritual desertions in so much as they cannot receive comfort until the holy Ghost who is the true Comforter doth give them some assurance of the grace and favour of God Wherefore it is evident that our Faith may be so strongly assaulted with sorrows and grief of heart that we are not able to hold out but are ready to sink under the pressure of our misery because it will take away the sense of our faith which must uphold us but specially when the guilt of sin lyeth upon the conscience for that will bring us to such an apprehension of a spiritual desertion that we can feel no comfort in God for the time for it will stop the current of all true consolation to our afflicted spirits which we cannot have but by Faith in Christ and nothing will take impression in us to comfort us so long as we are under the guilt of sin but these or the like uncomfortable complaints will be ready to be uttered that God hath quite forsaken us that there is no hope for us in Christ and we cannot believe that there is any salvation for us because our sins are so many and so grievous If we are thus afflicted and perplexed in mind that feares and doubtings of salvation trouble us because our Faith is so weak that we cannot discern it this will give us great satisfaction and
6â— Before I was afflicted saith he I went astray but now have I kept thy word Also he saith g Psal 23. 4 Thy rod and thy staffe they comfort me and then he concludes thus h Psal 94. 12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O Lord. This exhortation the wise man giveth i Prov. 3. 11 12. My Son despise not the chastening of the Lord neither beweary of his correction for whom the Lord loveth he correcteth even as a Father the son in whom he delighteth k Heb. 12. 11. But no chastening for the present seemeth joyous but grievous neverthelesse afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousnesse unto them which are exercised thereby Wherefore we must not measure the love of God by the outward blessings which we injoy nor his displeasure by the crosses which we suffer Consider now that none could ever claim greater priviledge from afflictions and sorrowes than the Virgin Mary and none was ever more to be honoured upon earth than she for she did bear Christ the only Son of the eternal God in her blessed womb who had the command of all creatures in heaven and in earth and who was the fountain of all true consolation and she injoyed the comfort of his sacred society many years and yet she had her cares she had her sorrowes her whole life was full of afflictions wants and necessities she was put to great extremities when Christ was born soon after she fled into Egypt for the safety of her Sons life she lost him three dayes at Jerusalem and at that time she sought him with a sorrowfull heart But above all behold and see how her soul is now pierced thorough with grief for she must now lose his gracious company for ever she now beholds him upon the Crosse she seeth how his tender body is rent and torn with the thornes and with the whip how his hands and feet are nailed to the Crosse as if he had been a notorious malefactor and she hears the revilings and blasphemies that were uttered against him in a most shameful spiteful manner which was enough to break her sorrowfull heart but especially she did see his very heart blood gush out of his side which was pierced with a spear This was the wofull and lamentable condition of the blessed Virgin at this time but Christ gave her inward comfort and strength of faith answerable to the greatnesse of her sorrowes which did uphold her heart from fainting and her soul from sinking This may be the condition of any of Gods servants they may be oppressed and pressed down with temporall miseries they may drink deep in the bitternesse of them but yet they are freed from the curse that was upon them and there is nothing in them to hurt their souls for that is taken away by these sufferings of Christ which makes the burden of them more easie that they may bear it with a willing minde When our afflictions are thus sanctified we shall find the fruit and benefit that comes thereby to be very sweet and profitable so that we shall have good cause to rejoice under them for as our sorrowes and sufferings do abound so also grace shall superabound l 2 Cor. 1. 5. and as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ Consider yet further that as the holy Virgin was continually exercised under the Crosse and had her share in common calamities so likewise she had her particular cares of want and scarcity for her condition of life was but mean and her livelihood was but small therefore she was now like to be left destitute of all comfort relief and succour But Christ her beloved Son takes care of her he provides as well for the maintainance of her body as for the comfort of her soul and commends her to John his beloved Disciple m John 19. 26 27. Woman saith he to his Mother behold thy Son and to John he said Behold thy Mother And from that hour John took her unto his own home and provided for her during her life Thus was the blessed Virgin trained up in the school of affliction and sorrow to keep her from spirituall pride though she were honoured and blessed above all other women and that her minde should not be drawen away after the pomp and vanitis of the world but still to bear Christ in her heart as sometimes she did bear him in her wombe It was also to free her from all earthly cares that the meditations of her heart might be alwayes heavenly and that the desire of her soul might be to be with Christ This care Christ will have to provide whatsoever is needfull for all those that belong unto him for he best knoweth what is good for us and he will not suffer us to want if we put our trust in him We need not carke and care for the transitory things of this life which are given to the wicked as well as to the godly We need not distrust the wise Providence of God but we may confidently rest upon Christ for he will support and comfort us in our tribulations and will provide for us in our wants and necessities troubles and sorrowes may come upon us losse of Parents Children or Friends will come and casualties may happen in our estate which we would neither foresee nor prevent these and the like will imbitter all the comfort and content that we can finde in this world but if we belong unto Christ we shall never lose him neither can any thing bereave us of the sweet consolation that we shall finde in him This we may believe to be true that our crosses and sufferings in this life may be better for us then to injoy all earthly pleasures and delights Moses refuseth to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter chosing rather to â— Heb. 11. 35 25 26. suffer affliction with the people of God than to injoy the pleasures of sin for a season esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward o Heb. 12. 12 Then lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees Let not outward crosses or afflictions too much seaze upon thee but by faith have respect unto the recompence of the reward and raise up thy Meditations to Spirituall things set the affections of thy heart upon Christ and him crucified which will make thy life comfortable here and will bring thee to reign eternally with him hereafter Now we must learn how to draw true consolation to our souls from this eternal Fountain of comfort when outward calamities or anguish of spirit doth overpresse us Our worldly preferments our natural endowments humane learning or common grace cannot reach this Fountain the well is deep and nothing can reach it but true Faith which is the onely bucket to draw this water of comfort from Christ which will refresh
our souls when they are thirsty and dry heaven will then smile upon us though the world frownes the inward man will feel comfort and consolation though the outward man be miserably tortured and tormented with the vexations and miseries that are incident to this life Wherefore every pain and grief that we feel and every crosse and affliction that we suffer should make us have a greater desire to some of this water p 2 Sam. 23. 15. than David had to drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate Also if we will draw comfort to our selves from this heavenly Fountain we must then comfort the comfortlesse q Mat. 25. 35. we must feed the hungry visit the sick cloath the naked and relieve the oppressed then Christ will comfort us in our distresses and he will provide for us in our necessities r Psal 34. 10 The young lyons may lack and suffer hunger but we shall not want any good thing Christ was Å¿ Zech 13. 1 this Fountain which God promised should be opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleannesse and it was opened when this blessed Virgin saw the blood and water gush out of his side which was pierced with the Spear to take away the guilt of sin that doth wound our souls and to wash away the filth of sin that doth pollute and defile our consciences No darts of Satan can be so fiery against a poor sinner but this blood can quench them no wound can be so deadly or so deep in the soul but this blood can search it and cure it if it be rightly applyed by Faith whereof we may have an holy assurance by our repentance and newnesse of life Wherefore here is much comfort for a poor languishing soul that is doubtful of the pardon of his sins if his Faith can perswade him that Christ Jesus was crucified for him and that this Fountain was opened for his cure for without this holy perswasion nothing can truly comfort us in our spirituall afflictions Faith will give us this holy assurance if by the vertue and power thereof we can say with holy Paul t Gal. 6. 14 By the crosse of our Lord Jesus Christ the world is crucified to me and I unto the world Hereby we have power to mortifie our evill concupiscence and all our sinful lusts that they may have no dominion over us to lead us captive unto destruction Lastly we may learn by the Example of our blessed Saviour that it is a pious duty which God requireth for children to provide for their needy or aged parents according to their ability both in their life and at their death and this is part of that thankfulnesse which they ow to their parents and which God hath commanded them to perform for next under God we ow our selves and whatsoever we have unto them we had our being our breeding and our education from them can any expression of thankfulnesse then be too much for them If God hath blessed us with plenty and with increase it was for our parents sakes to relieve and succour them in their age and in their necessity or else it was because they were faithfull to God in his worship and service and therefore God hath poured down his blessings upon us their children as it hath been his usuall custome so to do Wherefore if God hath dealt bountifully with us and but sparingly with our parents we are both bound by the Law of God and by the law of nature to supply their wants according to our power As God hath communicated some part of his own honour to our Parents by giving them the Title of Father to preserve the preheminence which he hath given them over their children so he hath bound the children by a strict command to honour their Parents and to expresse it by their reverence obedience and thankfulnesse to them for what they have received from them which they cannot perform as they ought if they do withdraw any thing from their due honour and dignity or their helping hand from them in their necessity Children are not bound thus to honour their Parents onely in their minority or so long as they are under their tuition and government for the Commandement of God doth not limit it to these times but it gives the Father the Mother this honor so long as they have any child living and there is a promise of a great blessing annexed to this Commandement Children may come to be greater in worldly honours and preferments then their Parents and yet they have no priviledge against this Command of God Thus saith Paul u Eph. 6. 1. Children obey your Parents in the Lord for this is right and then he citeth Gods Commandement which bindes them to this obedience u Luk. 2. 51. Christ himself was subject to his Parents untill his heavenly Fathers businesse called him away and now at his death he takes order for his Mothers maintainance Wherefore if children do thus expresse their thankfulnesse to their Parents and do thus honour and obey them according to the Example of Christ then God will provide for them and their children and will perform his promise of long life and of blessings both temporall and eternall on the contrary God will curse the children that dishonour their Parents and are in this kind unthankfull to them both in this life and in the life to come The darkning of the Sun NOw behold how God did shew a miraculous sign of his high indsgnation against the cruelty of the bloody Jews and barbarous Gentiles to his onely Son and how much he did hate and abhor their abominable sin a Mar. 27. 45 For the Sun was then totally darkned at mid-day and so continued for the space of three houres which was a far greater darknesse than could be by any eclipse as if it had disdained to look upon and mourned to see such an horrible fact as was then committed in crucifying the Lord of glory Hereby also was signified how the glory b Mal. 4. 2. of the Sun of righteousnesse was then darkned c Isa 53. 2. There was no beauty in him and no comelinesse that we should desire him Christ was then in the extremity of his passion for the flood-gates of Gods wrath were set open upon him and the bright beams of his heavenly Fathers countenance were clouded from him which he could not regain untill he had fully satisfied his justice for the guilt of our sins which he had taken upon himself and which did most obscure his transcendent beauty which was naturally in him All this Christ hath suffered for us that God might look favourably upon us and that the guilt of our sins might be done away by faith in his blood also that the spots and pollutions of them might be washt away in the Laver of Regeneration and newnesse of life This miraculous