best abilities that these times do afford but only for these reasons I have now done it First I find some such motions flying abroad both in discourse and in print about this subject which in my judgement savours not well Secondly I do not find able men men of knowledg such as I would be glad to provoke to this work so forward to bring forth light as others to bring forth darkness and if they have it is more than I know Thirdly the matter I have spoken to fell in my way and I thought I might do well and it was my duty to bring forth my Mite in such a time as this wherein I find so many casting vails over the Name of Christ and of the Holy Spirit now therefore I do beseech you seriously to consider of that which hath been said unto you take heed of looking upon our Lord Jesus as a meer Creature lest your Faith fail you in the day of Temptation if the work of Redemption be but considered how great it is what a price must be laid down before this work could be done and that Law which in that condition in which man once stood would have been his life now he cannot expect nothing from it as the case standeth but only death but all the life and pardoning Grace that now cometh to poor man comes only through the Blood of the Lord Jesus now except a man know the worth and all-sufficiency of Christ that he is perfectly able to remove all the Curses which his sins have deserved and also able to procure him all the blessings his soul stands in need of it will be very hard if not altogether impossible to rest upon him in the day of tryal and so likewise when a man shall come to see what a great work it is to change the heart of man to subdue sin and to sanctifie the soul and when he shall see the barrenness of his heart in the graces and fruits of the Spirit of Christ also and withall considers what a degree of perfection all those are brought unto that inherit Eternal life and then minds that the Spirit of God is he that hath undertaken to carry on this hard and to man this impossible work If now he be not established in the knowledg and firm belief of this that the Holy Spirit that carries on this work is the only true God I say except a man beleeve and know this he can have little ground to hope or beleeve that ever it will come to perfection but wherefore should any men be so hardly brought to beleeve this me thinks it is for want of consideration the scriptures you know speaks of the Spirit of God in some places and in other places of the Spirit of Christ should we therefore be so weak as to think that the Father hath one Spirit Christ another but now if we must needs understand that the Spirit of God the Spirit of Christ is but one Spirit wherefore should we not as well believe that God the Spirit of God are all one likewise then Beloved if the Spirit of Christ and the Father be one and God and the Spirit of God one then wherefore should we think that the Godhead of Christ and of the Father are more than one but I shall press this no further but come now to make some Use of it Vse 1. And if it be so that there is one and but one only true God who is the fountain and perfection of all Power Wisdom Truth and goodness who alone made Heaven and Earth the seas and all the Hosts of Creatures that are contained in them and on whose meet grace and love depends the happiness and well-being of all things whatsoever whos 's all seeing eye beholds all the secrets of all hearts and whose Eternal invisible unchangeable Almighty and Omni-present Being fills the whole Creation but is not contained in it who is worthy of all honour service praise and worship from all Creatures for evermore I say if this be so then let this God be our God let us have no other but him alone to be our God I shall not trouble you nor my self with that foolish Generation of men that use to picture him up and to set him forth by such vain Images as their hands can make I hope you are past this absurd and foolish practice but I pray you beware that you set up no. Idols of him in your minds Oh do not suffer any thought or imagination of him to come or to rest within your hearts that is low or carnall take heed that you do not liken him to any thing that ever your eyes have seen but let your thoughts be of him acording unto that glorious discription that his own boly records give of him let high reverence and honour love and holy fear accompany every thought that comes into your minds of his most excellent and glorious Name be sure you chuse him for your chiefest good let him be your only Diadem and the Crown which your hearts have chosen for your chiefest treasure be sure that you do not esteem love nor honour any relation or thing whatsoever as you do this most High and only true God for if you do you commit Idolatry against him who is a jealous God and will not give his glory to another and therefore beware for whatsoever any man doth set up and in heart esteeme love or honour above God or equall with him sets up another God and shall be reckoned amongst Idolaters and such as have committed spiritual whoredom against him when Christ shall come to judg every man according to his works But I shall more particularly come to shew you something of the honour that is due to this only true God in setting some of those duties before you which in especial you owe to him First then give him this honour to yeeld up your hearts unto him to love him above all things whatsoever this use Moses makes of this point Deut. 6.45 hear O Israel saith he the Lord our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might Here you see what is due to God even love in the very height of it the whole heart soul might is all little enough for God no creature must come between the heart and God neither wife nor child nor pleasure nor profit for if there be any thing in the world that a man loves better than God or as well as he this is no less a sin than the setting up of another God therefore look to your hearts in these two special cases when the glory of God comes in competition either with a mans beloved relations or his beloved sins if he cannot cast them both away for the honour of his God he is unworthy of him see I pray you what our Lord Jesus saith to this point Luke 14.26 If any man come
Redemption as well as undertook it I say if Christ should have left the work in the midst as his poor Disciples through their ignorance would have had him there could never have been so great a mercy extended neither to them not to any others as the coming of the Holy Spirit and therefore our Lord tells them he must go or else the Comforter will not come now the reason wherefore the Spirit is said to be sent to do so many good Offices for the Saints is not to make us think that he is an inferior Messenger but to let us know that all that joy and comfort peace and sanctification and in a word all that Grace that is extended through the Divine operation of the Holy Spirit it all comes unto us through the blood-shedding of our Lord Jesus Christ and truly my Brethren if you do but consider the work of the Spirit in the hearts of Men me thinks it is enough to convince you or any knowing men in the world that he that doth it must needs be God If a man be but an experienced man and doth but mind the great blindness that is in the mind and the hardness that is in the heart and doth but consider how the soul is in slaved under the power of sin and Sathan living in the love and service of Wickedness being alienated from the life of God being far from the fear and love of him having no delight in his Commandements but being ungodly and graceless dead in trespasses and sins and then on the other hand considers what an Estate the soul must be brought unto before it can be fit for eternal communion with God If a person do but thus mind the greatness of the work the Spirit is to do in taking away the filth and pollution of the heart and cleansing the whole man from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and the renuing of the soul in knowledg and holiness and making it meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the Saints in light Now I say what man that hath Prayed and fasted and watched and used all the means he can and yet finds in what a frame his heart continueth how far from that purity and God-like-ness that one day he hopeth to enjoy but now which way could a man expect it if he that had undertaken the work were not infinite in Power Wisdom and Goodness for my part I look upon this work as the greatest of all those wonderful works that God hath done or hath promised to do and therefore it is not likely that the greatest of all works should be laid upon the shoulders of him that is less than God Again if you look Psalm 139. there you shall find that the Prophet ascribes both Omni-presence and the searching of the heart unto the Holy Spirit which plainly speaks out his being God and Rom. 9 1. you find Paul calling the Holy Ghost to bear witness of the truth of his heart sorrow for his Brethren the Israelites which plainly proves that he is God See two Texts for this 1 King 8.39 For thou even thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men the same words you have in 2 Chron. 6.30 in both which places you see it is the peculiar prerogative of the only true God to know the hearts of the sons of men and I think no man is or at least should be so weak as to think the Apostle would call him to bear witness of the truth of the heart that doth not understand and know the heart I shall name you but one Text more for this and that is Luke 1.35 And the Angel answered and said unto her the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God Here you see that the Holy Spirit is called the highest and I think a title beyond this is not given any where nor cannot be given to the only true God but besides the Angel tells Mary that the Holy Ghost shall come upon her and by the power of him she should conceive and therefore this Son of hers should be called the Son of God Now therefore me thinks this should put the business beyond all dispute for if the Holy Spirit be the Father of our Lord Jesus sure he cannot be less than the only true God But it may be you will say unto me How shall all this that I have said be reconciled Can the Father be God and the Son be God and the Holy Spirit be God and yet there be but one only true God Beloved I pray you do not cast away an Opinion because it is old neither do I perswade you to receive it therefore but measure all Opinions both old and new by the measuring line of Truth the Word of God unto which I shall leave you for the tryal of this great mystery of godliness and shall commend two Texts more unto you for the reconciling of what hath been said the one is in 1 Tim. 3.16 Great is the mysterie of godliness God was manifest in the flesh Here me thinks the Apostle shews you how all this is reconcileable God was manifest in the flesh saith he not the Godhead of Christ without the Father and without the Spirit but God saith He was manifested in the flesh that is the God-head as it is written Iohn 10.30 I and my Father are one not only in communion as some may think but also in union and One-ness as it is plain Iohn 14 9 10 11. another Text you have in Col. 2.3 9. In whom speaking of Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledg Mark it I pray you if all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledg be hid in Christ then are you like to find none of them out of him but all the wisdom of the Father and of the Spirit it will be all found in Christ as it followeth here in verse 9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the God head bodily I know not how you can have more express and plain words all the fulness of the Father and of the Spirit if that be the fulness of the God-head you see dwells in Christ that is it hath such a real union an One-ness with the humane nature of the Lord Jesus that in Act. 20.28 his Blood is there called the Blood of God I shall leave these Texts of Scriptures to your serious consideration and proceed no further at this time but leave the Application till the Afternoon THE FIFTH EXERCISE John 17.3 This is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent I Have in the morning from these words as you know opened the Doctrine of the God-head unto you a work which I have not been forward in nor should I have medled with it being a work of an high nature and requireth the
bring him into acceptation with God but only through the worthiness of the Lord Jesus Again there is that weakness in poor man that he is no way able to help himself he can neither repent beleeve nor obey no nor get any Grace into his own heart nor mortifie any Corruption nor of himself find out the way by which any of all these great works should be done but for ought that he can do for himself he is in a necessity of perishing for ever there is no help for him but only in Jesus Christ and if the Lord had not in the riches of his free Grace provided such a Mediator as was able to save to the uttermost sinful man had never been recovered and therefore the Father sent him that was fully able both to justifie and to sanctifie to open the blind eyes and to purge the Conscience and in a word to lay the first and the last stone in the building of Salvation and if God would any way shew his love to poor lost fallen man then must he take this course for there was no other way to do it let us now come to make some use of this Point And in the first place let it serve to provoke the very worst and wickedest of sinners to come to Christ for help and deliverance Beloved you have heard what a Saviour he is therefore I beseech you do not stand to dispute your own badness but how bad soever you be cast your selves upon him for help and to that end that this work may be done throughly and as it ought to be done labour in the first place to know the worst of your own hearts there is many a poor Soul that is afraid to think the worst of himself for fear he should see so much badness as should take off his hopes and discourage him for going to Christ for mercy But I pray you learn to be wiser than so search your hearts to the very bottom and how bad soever that thou findest it yet be sure that thou dost not fail to go to Christ for a cure although thou hast been never so bad worse than Manasseh or any wretch that ever thou readest of or ever heardest of if thou findest thy self upon due search to be the veriest Hypocrite or the veriest enemy to God and godliness that is in the whole world yet let it not keep thee from going to Christ but make so much the more hast by how much thou findest thy self the more wicked and although thy sins be never so great and never so many there is no sin but he can pardon yea and he will pardon it if thou come unto him I say again there is no sin nor sinners if they come to Christ but he will surely be gracious unto them He that comes to me will I in no wise cast out saith the Lord John 6.37 therefore go unto him and be assured he will receive you whatever your Souls diseases be sear not to go unto him with them for he cures all that come unto him see what woful diseases Christ was sent to cure Luke 4.18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty them that are bruised Now I pray you let us a little consider of this text he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel and what is the Gospel why the Gospel is free mercy through the blood of Christ pardon regeneration and salvation yea all the happness that comes to a soul by Jesus Christ this is the Gospel and this Christ was anointed to preach and therefore doing it by the spirit it must needs be truth that he preacheth other men may preach lies but so doth not the fountain of truth you may be sure But who is all this mercy to be preached to saith Christ it is to be preached to the poor and who is poor a man is not accounted poor if he have either land or goods or mony and so it is in spiritual things also one altogether destitude of whatsoever might commend him to God one that hath no purity neither in heart nor life no faith no love no knowledg no mortification nor renewing of mind no delight in God nor his word nor having the light of his countenance shining upon the soul now one that hath none of all this spiritual riches he is poor but he that is inriched with any of these spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ is not poor now I hope you see who Christ was anointed with the spirit to teach the Gospel to but see what follows in the next words to heal the broken hearted saith he and who is that why one that hides his head for debt and owes more then he is worth this man we account a broken man So likewise when a man is through the sight of his undone condition afraid of Arrests and executions from God dayly and knows not where to hide his head being in fear and anguish of spirit Christ was sent you see to heal this spiritually broken estate In the next place he came to preach deliverance to the captives and this is a worse degree of evil when a man is the divils prisoner taken and kept in his snare this is a very sad condition indeed when a man can do nothing but as the devil his keeper will give him leave how can his condition be worse except he were in hell and yet if such a man will but hearken to the word of Christ he shall be sure to be delivered yea but my case is worse then all this may some poor soul say for I am not only the divels prisoner but I have given my self up so to his will and suffered him so to blind mine understanding that now if Christ should come and throw open the prison doors yet shall I never find my way out Yea saith Christ in the next words but I came to open the blind eyes also and although the divell have put them quite out yet suffer me to put but some spitle and clay upon them and I will recover them again take but my direction turn at my reproof at left do not despise it and set it at nought and then be sure I will poure out my spirit and that will fully cure thee Yea but the soul may further object and say I have waited on the Ordinances and endeavoured to get out of the snare of the divel and he hath fetcht me back and beaten me sore when I have but asseyed to get from him so that I see the more I strive the worse I am bruised and therefore there is no hope for me yes saith Christ I came to set at liberty such bruised ones and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord as it follows in the next words and although thou hast waited
say receive us graciously for the Lord is full of compassion and will hear the cry of misery in an Ishmael Gen. 21.17 and if he will hear it for cold water he would hear it as well and as willingly for better things if he did but cry as earnestly for them In the fourth place attend on the ordinances of Christ for there his walk is and there he will come to seek for lost ones as well as to visit his people and there thou wilt have an opportunity one time or other to lay hold on the skirt of his garment therefore wait on him and know for thy comfort that never any did so and perished no no they shall never be ashamed that wait far him And in the fifth place whensoever thou meetest with any motion from the spirit of God make much of it and close with all the advices it shall whisper into thine ears take heed of slighting or neglecting any of the sweet breathings of it but give it entertainment and what word soever comes home to thine heart consider of it seriously yea although it may be a reproving or a wounding word let it not be neglected for Christ comes both to wound and to heal and therefore what word or motion soever comes from his spirit home to thy conscience entertain it thankfully and walk according to the direction it gives thee humbly And in the last place be sure to be alwayes watching over thy heart and especially against those lusts that are most apt to carry thee away from God and be sure to be found fighting alwayes against them and although thou be not strong enough to overcome them yet do not give over fighting against them but watch and pray hear and read and apply the promises and the threatnings of the word to thy own soul dayly as thou findest there is need either to comfort or to rebuke thy conscience and be assured that although thou be too weak for sin and Sathan yet Christ is strong enough and he will take thy part against them and will come in at last with sanctifying grace and purge thy conscience from dead works to serve the living God Vse 2. A second use that is to be made of this point is this if so be that Christ came to be such a Saviour as to save from the guilt of sin and from the Power of sin to sanctify the soul and to deliver from Sathan and to bear up a soul under troubles and to deliver out of them also then let all beleevers learn to live upon Christ for all these things at all times Beloved in the use of other means forget not to exercise faith in the blood of Christ when you go to read hear or pray look to Christ by faith who hath appointed these as means to make you partakers of his own image and what ever your souls stand in need of whether purdoning or purging mercy or what grace counsel comfort help or deliverance soever you see a ground to aske in prayer labour also to live upon the free grace of God in Christ for and be assured that Christ came for that very end that thou mightest obtain through him a rich supply of all thy wants and if you sin as who lives and sins not make it your first and greatest work to basten to the blood of sprinkling and rest by faith upon the Lord Jesus for a pardon and besure to let a renewed act af faith lead thee to repentance I do not say but it is a duty to repent and to get godly sorrow and shame and holy resolutions to wait on Christ for strength to walk better but if you would do these duties in sincerity and with acceptation let faith be the first of them and if the divel should so far prevail with any of you at any time as to draw you into the snare of fin so far as that you should question your sincerity or if you should see just cause so to do yet be sure you do not cast away your confidence but if the divel or your own consciences do lay more to your charge this way then you do well know how to answer yet be sure at least that as ungodly lost sinners you cast your selves upon the free grace of God in the blood of Jesus Christ Vse 3. Thirdly and lastly here is a word for such as have heard the glad tidings of salvation sounding in your eares but unto this very day have not submitted unto the Lord Jesus and are as farr from having made your calling and election sure as if the Gospel had never sounded in your eares nay I fear you know as little of God and of Christ and of the ends of his coming as those that have had no such means to know him at all but if you do know him yet if you have not given up your selves unto him neither yet are washed nor sanctified but do still remain in your naturall filth and as farr from regeneration as ever your condition is far worse then those that never heard of the name of God except you repent and amend in time Now therefore I beseech you once more before it be too late do not post off your return to God nor refuse to lay hold upon those sweet offers of grace that have been made unto you so often Oh consider when you come to die how little pleasure you will have in remembring all the vain pleasures for which you neglected your own salvation or what profit you will have at that day in all those profits that have stollen your hearts from Jesus Christ Oh consider how it will wound your hearts to think that you were often told what a Saviour Christ would be unto you if so be that you would but come unto him and how often you were invited and intreated in his name to come unto him the sweet promises that are made in the Gospel laid before you but you unkindly and unthankfully refused them and chose rather the vain pleasures and profits of the world and of sin then the justifying and sanctifying grace of Christ Oh when a soul shall remember what promises of pardon and grace of help against sin and deliverance out of the snares of the devil he might and should have had if he had come to Christ and he lovingly intreated to accept of those offers but hath neglected and refused them till it is too late how must this needs wound his soul Oh that this that I now say would prevail with any of you yet to come to Christ that you may have life but if it will not remember at the great day that you had a sufficient warning and this much I shall leave to your consideration and to the blessing of God THE EIGHTH EXERCISE John 17.3 And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God I shall now come to speak a word to that which I had thought wholly to have omitted by reason I spake to