God Intends them If you water your Gardens in these dry times you aim at the Herbs but yet the Water will fall among the Weeds So the Lord He Aims at His Herbs and Flowers though the Gospel be dispensed to others Thirdly Though God sees there be none for the present yet God layes in for time to come God will send His Gospel to a place though He sees this Generation will get no good by it and God may Intend the good of the Generation that is to come by sending His Ministry in this particular Generation though He sees that they will not Entertain it yet some that may come after them may Entertain it As they say in China they prepare Work for many Hundred years before The Parents they are preparing Work for their Children to enjoy And so the Lord layes In in one Generation for the Children that are coming after and therefore whether you Entertain it or no God notwithstanding will have His End accomplisht Fourthly Another Reason why God sends His Gospel where He knows it will not be Entertain'd by the Generallity it is this To leave Men wholly without Excuse I may put these two together To discover the Abominable sinfulness of the Hearts of Men and to leave them wholly without Excuse There is nothing in the World that doth discover the sinfulness of Mans Heart more than this That when the Lord sends this Gospel among them yet it is rejected The Preaching of any Moral Truths do nothing so much argue the sinfulness of Mans Heart in the rejection of them as when the Gospel is Preached and that is rejected That argues the Abominable wickedness of Mans Heart yea for ought we know more than is in the very Devil We do not know that there is so much Perversness in any of the Devils in Hell as there is in the Heart of that Man that doth reject the Ministry of the Gospel And why Because God never tried them God never put it to trial to offer any Terms of Peace to them and never told them that He would be Reconcil'd to them upon any Terms And therefore whether they have such perverseness of heart or no it is not discovered so as thine is But if thou Livest where the Ministry of the Gospel is Preached and yet continuest wicked and ungodly thou art discovered to have that wickedness in thy Heart that for ought thou knowest it is beyond the wickedness of any Devil in Hell The Devils might say Lord hadst thou offered Terms of Peace to us we would not have so rejected it And then it doth leave Men utterly without Excuse I do not say that this is Gods primary Intention but this comes in Why the Lord doth suffer the Gospel to be Preached to leave them wholly without Excuse And for that you have that Text in the fore-named place John 15. 22. If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin But now have they no Cloak for their sin Sin Why are there any Men in the World that have no sin Why did Christ coming bring sin to them It did not add sin but it did Discover their sin and it took away their Cloak for their sin Now upon my coming to them and when they shall reject me and the offer of Grace that I bring from my Father now they have sin to purpose now their sin is of a Scarlet Colour now they have no Plea they cannot say Lord if thou hadst sent to us to Reveal to us thy Mercy and the danger of our sin The danger of your sin may God say Did not I send those to you that did Preach that nothing but the Heart Blood of my Son could pacifie for your sin Could there have been any thing more to reveal the evil of your sin than this was O now you have no Excuse at all for your sin Fifthly Another Reason is this which is one of the chief That the Lord might cause all those hereby that do not entertain the Gospel to see the Freeness of His Grace towards them A poor Soul that the Lord is pleased to work upon by the Gospel hath no cause to attribute any thing to himself There are others and such a Multitude of People more Learned than I and Men and Women that had greater parts than I they had the Gospel preached to them and they do not see those things that the Lord hath Revealed to me I can tell no Reason of this Difference only Free-grace And certainly Those People whom God is pleased to make the Gospel effectual upon the hearing of this Point and seeing how it is Verified in the Examples of others O they have cause to Cry out Grace Grace to the Lord. What is there in me rather than others as Proud and Stout and Vile Hearts as any and we see the Gospel is rejected by them and what reason is it that it is not so with me John 14. 22. It 's a speech of Judas not of him that betrayed Christ Lord How is it that thou Revealest thy Self unto us and not unto the World Lord We cannot devise how it should be that thou shouldst Manifest thy Self to us and not unto the World We see that the World rejects Thee O this is that we may have the more Cause to Bless the Name of God here and to Magnifie His Free-grace to all Eternity afterwards Sermon V. Luke 10. 6. Your Peace shall rest upon it c. APPLICATION First IS it so that even the Blessed Ministry of the Gospel the Opening of Jesus Christ and the Riches of Gods Grace may be Rejected by People and is often The Consideration on of this First should Teach us to bewail the horrible Wickedness of Mans Heart and the Dishonour that is done to God in this When those Riches of Gods Grace that glorious Work of God in Christ the Blessed Son of God coming to Ransom Souls and to Deliver them out of the neathermost Hell yet he Rejected There 's no Object that ever was in the World that is such an Object of Lamentation as this is When Christ came to Jerusalem He falls a Weeping Upon what ground O if thou hadst known saith He at least in this thy day those things that concern thy Peace Thou didst not know those things that did concern thy Peace Perhaps it may be meant outward Peace In great part it is But if that be such an Object of Lamentation as to draw Tears from Christ what an Object of Lamentation is it to Rend indeed the Hearts of those that understand what Christ is what the Offer of Christ means That Christ should be Preached in any place and yet rejected When Jeremiah went to Preach though not such a Message as this is that now we are Speaking of yet when he saw the People would not hear Chap. 13. ver 15. Hear ye and give ear be not Proud for the Lord hath Spoken But in ver 17. But if ye will not
than Paul did and yet death was Gain to him he should get much by it Why many things might make the death of Paul Gainful I remember the last time I spake to you I spoke about an Argument of the Victory over Death that we have by Christ I will not speak now of what then I spake to but meerly Confine my self for otherwise the Argument might be very large to shew the Gain of death to Believers But I 'll confine my self to the very thing that the Apostle speaks of here in this Chapter That he should be present with Christ Therefore now I 'll speak of the Gain of being with Christ Now I confess there are many things that might be opened The Communion of the Soul departed with Jesus Christ As First It shall be immediate the Souls of the Saints while they are in the Body they have Communion with Christ but it is Mediately by other things by Ordinances and Means whereby Christ conveys Himself to them but there they shall have Communion with Christ Immediately only Christ and the Soul together Now the more Immediate the Communion is with Christ it is the more pure Here we have some Communion with Christ but a great deal of Sin mixt together with it That that is immediately from the Fountain is more pure that that comes in the Streams hath Dirt mixed with it So that that we shall have with Christ immediately shall be pure we shall have Communion with Him and nothing else We shall have no mixtures at all of any evil in our own Spirits And then Secondly Immediate communion with Christ it is more Sweet As the more Pure so the more Sweet As now the Wine that comes immediately from the Grape it hath more Spirits and is more delightful than that that is poured from Vessel to Vessel That which we have here from Christ it is that that is poured from Vessel to Vessel but that which Souls departed have from Christ is immediate and so comes more Sweet As if the Child suck Milk from the Breast it is more sweet to the Child than the Milk in a Spoon That that we have from Christ here is Milk as it were from the Spoon but that that Souls have that are departed they suck from Christ immediately and so comes to be more sweet Thirdly And more especially we account that that comes Immediately to have more Love in it As that that a Friend gives by his own hand is better and more comfortable to us So that that comes from God Immediately it 's a great deal more sweet As now here while we Live in the World the more immediate a Mercy is the more sweet it is to a gracious Heart Indeed a Mercy that comes by second Causes it 's comfortable because God Over-rules all the Causes but when it can see God immediately in a Mercy the more immediate the Hand of God is here Though God doth not work so Immediately here as He will do afterwards but the more Immediate God is here the more sweet it is And therefore in a Judgment the more Immediate the Hand of God is the more Terrible as in the Plague So in a Mercy though every Mercy is sweet yet the more Immediate God is in a Mercy the more sweet it is And then O how sweet is all the Good that the Saints have immediately from Christ therefore it 's Gain to them And then Fourthly It 's more strong The first Rebound is more Powerfull than a second and the first Gushings out are more strong The Beams of the Sun when they are first Reflected than if you take a Glass and Reflect them again and again And so that that comes Gushing out as it were of the very Heart of God it 's more strong a great deal and there is greater Impressions upon the Heart by it than that that comes by second Causes Fifthly That that comes Immediate it comes without Labour The Soul draws it from Christ and is not put to so much Pain and Labour as now we are put to If we would have Communion with Jesus Christ we must stir up our selves to the Humbling of our Hearts to the Acting of our Faith to Exercise our Graces and put the Body to it If you would have any communion with Christ in Prayer it must put you to some Labour And so in the Word and Sacraments And the Labour of a Christian is very great But when we come to have Immediate communion with Christ it will be the flowings in of Christ to the Soul without any Labour at all Sixthly It shall be more full when we come to be United to the very Fountain it self there it will be more full than the Stream Certainly there is that Good and Excellency in Christ that is too much for any Creature in the World to convey Yea take all the Creatures in the World and Ordinances they are too scant to be able to convey the Good that is in Christ yea that Good that Christ takes delight to communicate to the Souls of His People And that 's the Reason that here we have but a little Why Because the Conduits are so Narrow and Small that there can be but a little let out through those Conduits but when the Soul is with Christ immediately then it hath the Fulness of the Lettings out of Gods Mercy There will be an Eminency of every sort of Good to every poor Christian I remember Jerom speaking of that Text Christ being All in all He makes this Interpretation of it saith he Christ is here but some to some but not all to all As for Instance saith he Here some Men have some Eminency of some particular Grace conveid to them and some other Eminency of some particular Grace As Moses had an Eminency of Meekness Abraham an Eminency of Faith Job an Eminency of Patience and Solomon an Eminency of Wisdom but saith he Where was there ever a Man Eminent in all Graces But then saith he Christ shall be All in all That is Christ shall convey all Grace to all His Saints that all the Saints shall have an Eminency and Fulness in all Grace whatsoever This will be an Excellent thing Surely it 's Gain then to Die for a gracious Heart where Christ shall be thus All in all to them to convey this Fulness of Good in all things unto them Those Saints that are the Meanest now whose Souls have the least degree of true Grace they shall have an Eminency of all Grace Wouldst not thou think thy self happy if thou hadst as much Faith as Abraham as much Meekness as Moses and as much Patience as Job and as much Insight into the Misteries of the Gospel as Paul Now hadst thou as much as all the Saints ever had were not that Gain Why now as soon as thy Soul is departed from the Body thou shalt have an Eminency in all Graces as much as all the Saints ever had since the beginning of the World
that you are not troubled How came you by that peace which you have had for these many years You have gone on quietly and the Terms between God and your Souls have not troubled you But I this day in the Name of God demand of you How came you to have this Peace How came God and your Souls to be Friends This I can tell you That there was a time that every one of you were Enemies to God If God hath Revealed any Truth in this Book this is a certain Truth That every one in this place was an Enemy to God Now then how you have made up your peace your had need look to it Certainly it must come by the Gospel or else it is a Delusion If so be that the Treaties between God and your Souls were not the Treaties of the Gospel that is the Gospel Revealing the great Counsels of God unto you about this and the Terms upon which He would be Reconciled and then your Souls sending up your Answer to God how you would be willing to accept of those Conditions that are propounded in the Gospel I put this to your Souls What Treaties hath there been between God and you Have you found the Ministry of the Gospel to be powerful upon you and to bring this Peace into you If it hath not come in this way I say it is but a Delusion and the great Work of Reconciliation between God and your Souls is to make up at this day But thus much for this First Point But Secondly Your Peace shall rest upon it Shall rest that is Whosoever Entertains it they shall not only have some sudden Apprehensions of those Excellent things that you bring unto them they shall not only have some flashie Comforts in those things and feel some present Sweetness in them but the good and the Blessing of that blessed Doctrine of peace it shall abide with them all the days of their lives and to all Eternity That 's the meaning Your Peace shall rest upon them So that this is our Point now That such as do Entertain the Gospel Now what the Entertainment is that is what it is to be a Son of Peace That was a great part of our Work the last Lords Day But if you be such Sons of Peace as was Opened to you I say the Lord will not only grant you present Apprehensions of the Glorious things of the Gospel and some present Sweetness but He will Cause the Blessing of it and the good things of it to abide upon your Spirits to continue there for your Eternal good Many upon the first Hearing of the Message of the Gospel upon the first Opening of that Blessed Doctrine have their Hearts taken and begin presently to be stirr'd and affected but we find by Experience that many times all is but a meer flash it all vanishes again The good of the Gospel they did apprehend doth not abide upon them As the stony ground in Mat. 13. 20 21. But he that received the Seed into stony places the same is he that heareth the Word and anon with joy receiveth it Yet hath he not root in himself but endureth for a while He doth but continue a while he received it in a little way and that with joy He hath some present taste of the Sweetness of the Word he takes it in with joy but it doth not rest upon him it doth not abide in him The Seed doth not lie there so long as to Fructifie as to bring forth Fruit but comes to nothing as the Ears of Corn upon the House top they quickly are blasted and come to nothing Thus it is with many Hearers There were some that were the High-way ground and they were your ordinary Ignorant and prophane People the Word took no Impression upon them but it was presently taken away by the Fowls of the Air. But there were others that did seem to be affected with the Word of the Gospel to have it enter a little into their hearts their Spirits were taken with sudden Joy O it is a blessed Gospel that we hear this is a blessed Ministry indeed that we enjoy But mark it was but for a while The Seed of the Word it did but abide a little while it did not rest in them So in Luke 14. There upon the Preaching of Christ the Text saith in ver 15. That when one of them that sat at Meat with him heard these things he said unto him Blessed is he that shall eat Bread in the Kingdom of God When Christ had been Preaching unto them about the things of the Kingdom of God Mark There were some of His Auditors that were taken with His Preaching O blessed is he that shall have Communion with these things And yet you may observe by the very Words that follow after the Parable that Christ uses that even those that were thus affected and taken were such as prized their Oxen and Farms and other things above the Gospel and have that Doom pronounc'd upon them That those men that were bidden should not taste of the Supper And so in John 5. 35. It is spoken concerning John He was a burning and a shining Light and ye were willing for a season to rejoyce in his Light Mark John was an admirable Preacher he came as the Fore-runner of Christ and Preached Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand John did open the Kingdom of Heaven unto his Hearers and they were mightily taken with him But now Mark what the Text saith For a little time they did rejoyce in the Light but they did not continue And in John 8. There you have a notable place concerning Christs Preaching unto the Jews and Christ did Preach so as did take their Heart in some measure the Text saith that some of them did believe in ver 13. As He spake those words many believed on Him But Mark what Christ saith in ver 31. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him If ye continue in my Word then are ye My Disciples indeed Mark Christ would not own them to be His Disciples though their Hearts were taken with what He Preached but upon these Terms If you continue in my Word Which is all one If the Word abide in you and you abide in the Word then are you my Disciples I beseech you observe it Christ doth not own a Man or Woman to be His Disciple meerly because of some sudden flashes of Affection because they are taken with the Word and perhaps are Convinced by the Word and stirred for a time I say Christ doth not own them to be Disciples except that His Word abide in them and they abide in the Word And in Gal. 4. you have a most excellent Text for this purpose The Apostle shews there that the Galatians were mightily taken with the Ministry of the Gospel at first when Paul came among them but it seems in great part it Vanished from them ver 15. saith Paul Where is
out again You would be loath to see your Child held over the Water by another little Child or over a Fire but if a strong Man hath your Child in his Arms and holds it over the Water and you know him to be your loving Friend it troubles you not at all Why Because you know he hath strength enough to keep your Child from the Danger Why It 's the Lord that though He holds his Children over Fire or Water and brings them into Fear and Afflictions yet He hath Power enough not only to preserve them but to bring a great deal of Good out of all and therefore let Him do what seemeth Him good Tenthly It is the Lord therefore submit to Him for His Counsel must stand and His Work must go on there 's no striving with the Almighty Are we greater than He No Instead of striving let there be submitting and yielding Eleventhly Yea and further It is the Lord and therefore He is worthy that His Designs should be brought about though we should be ruined There is such infinite Excellency in this God as I say He is worthy to have his own Designs brought about and his own Will fulfilled though it be to our Ruins Doth God think man so excellent a Creature as that He shall give thousands of other Creatures for to help him with the loss of their own Lives And shall not we think the Lord to be Infinitely worthy if He have use of our Lives or Liberties or Names or any thing that He should not have all to bring about his Designs withal O he is worthy and therefore let Him do what seemeth Him good If so be he will raise up any building of his in our ruins we should be willing to be serviceable to God in it we should be willing to lie down and let all that we have go that may be any way serviceable to God in his designs for the Lord is worthy These Considerations may be very useful to help you in the day of Affliction to meditate of God and so to work your hearts to an humble submission but especially if you add this one more Twelfthly When you do not onely see him to be Jehovah the Lord but if you can see that you have any interest in him as that he is the Lord your God this is of mighty power to quiet the heart as if he be your God why then he is in Covenant with you and if he be in Covenant with you then he hath engaged all his Wisdom and all his Power and all his Mercy for to be working eternally for your good and that 's more than a meer consideration that it is the Lord and that he is above us and just and holy and that it is in vain not to submit unto Him But it is the Lord that is in Covenant with me and in that Covenant he hath engaged all his Power and Wisdom and Mercy and Goodness for me Did we but understand what the Covenant of God in Jesus Christ was that he hath taken his Servants into O then this thought It is the Lord in Covenant with me would be enough to enable us to resign up our selves wholly to his dispose Thirteenthly Yea 'T is the Lord that is our Father You know what Christ saith Shall I not drink the Cup that my Father giveth me to drink That was the Argument of Christ O that this were in all our thoughts at all times when any thing though it be never so grievous befals us Shall I not drink the Cup that my Father giveth me to drink Whatsoever it be if it comes out of a Fathers hand why let Him do what seemeth him good You know when Christ came to the Disciples walking upon the waters and the Disciples were afraid Be not afraid 't is I saith Christ They were troubled at it and thought that one came as an Enemy to do them hurt but be not afraid 't is I saith Christ So my Brethren we should look in all afflictions to see who it is that comes we apprehend an Enemy coming but now those that are godly they may look upon him that comes as God Be not afraid saith the Lord it is I It 's I that am reconcil'd to you in my Son Upon this the soul may with abundance of sweetness and comfort go to God in Prayer and open it self to God having an interest in him You know If a great Dog should come with full mouth upon one why indeed if so be that he that comes to a house be a thief he hath cause to fear but if he be a Child he can call to his Father the Master of the house Take off your Dog So when afflictions come to the wicked they come with open devouring mouth and they have cause to be afraid but those that have interest in God may go with freedom unto God in prayer and cry to the Lord to take off the dog the affliction to keep it that it should do them no hurt at least It is the Lord. Object I but you will say That though it be the Lord yet it 's this indeed that rather makes my affliction the greater to consider it comes from God The thought that it's God in it strikes terror because I am conscious of sin against God It is an affliction that comes for my sin and therefore I see the displeasure of God in it and this makes it more grievous I would rather bear any thing from a creature than to bear the displeasure of God in a creature that 's that that is the greatest stick of all and therefore every time I think it is the Lord it rather adds to mine affliction Answ To that I answer First It 's true many men that think that all is well between God and them in the time of their health and prosperity yet when affliction comes God appears to them and they look upon God as an Enemy this is dreadful It 's a fearful thing when God is a terror to a man in the day of Calamity You know what Jeremy saith Jer. 17. 17. Be not thou a terror to me O Lord for thou art my hope in the day of evil If the soul may have God to be the hope of it in the day of evil there 's no evil terrible but if God be a terror then too and write bitter things against the soul in the time of affliction that 's dreadful But yet suppose thou seest God even as an Enemy coming against thee yet the consideration that it is the Lord should make thee submit at least For it is time for thee then to submit if so be that God as an Enemy appears against thee It 's time for thee to make haste to make thy peace with God yea and thou hast the more cause to bless God that he hath not destroyed thee What dost thou apprehend God as an Enemy O then it 's infinite Mercy thou art not destroyed Certainly if He be an Enemy
the Gospel in the Heart and for the Heart to keep it It is a very great and close Mercy a greater Mercy than to have Christ to be Born of the Body of a Woman in Luke 11. 27. And it came to pass as He spake these things a certain Woman lift up her voice and said unto Him Blessed is the Womb that Bare thee and the Paps which thou hast Sucked But He said Yea rather blessed are they which hear the Word of God and keep it Those that when they have heard the Word of the Gospel and shall keep it in their Hearts and not let it Vanish away from them but keep it I say in their Power and Life upon their Hearts they are rather Blessed than the Womb was Blessed that Bare Jesus Christ or than the Paps were Blessed that gave Jesus Christ Suck I suppose there is no Woman here but would account her self a blessed Woman if her Womb had Porn Jesus Christ and if her Paps had given Jesus Christ Suck Now here is a greater Blessedness than this for a Woman to hear the Word of the Gospel Preached unto her and to have this Word of the Gospel to rest in her Heart and for her to keep it in her heart in the Power and Life and Efficacy of it this Woman now hath a greater Blessing than if she had Born Jesus Christ in her Womb. Surely it is a great Blessing to have the blessed things of the Gospel to be kept in the Soul after the hearing of them And further A great Mercy because there is such a wonderful Power in the good things of the Gospel and therefore it must needs be a great Mercy to have those things abide upon the Heart They have such a mighty power to work good upon the Heart a mighty Convincing power they have to Convince any Soul in the World Let a Man or Woman be never so Wicked or Prophane yet there are such blessed Truth in the Gospel that is enough to Convince his Soul I say though it be never so vile and to take his Heart And we have little Cause to fear the working upon the Hearts of People only if we could but procure this that those things that we Speak might but abide upon their Hearts If we were but sure that what we Deliver in the Name of God would but abide upon their Spirits we need not fear the working upon any Soul Living let them be never so Vile there is such a mighty Power and Efficacy in those blessed things of the Gospel when they come to be Revealed And so there is a mighty Comforting power to Comfort the Soul with such Consolation as is Infinitely above all Consolation that ever it was Acquainted withal before There is a mighty Power to resist any Temptation If the Truths of God were but kept in the Soul we might make little of all Temptations in the World The Devil could have little hope to prevail with any Temptations if the Word of the Gospel did but abide upon the Heart of a Man or Woman that doth hear it This is the advantage that the Devil hath at any time when one hath been hearing of the Word if he knows that the Word is past from them and it doth not abide then he can come with Temptations and makes no question of prevailing But if the Devil knows that those Truths do abide and rest upon the Soul the Devil can have little hope to prevail The Peace of God shall keep your Hearts Fro Resi shall Guard your Hearts It shall be as a Troop of Horse to keep you from Temptations from the power and strength of Temptations You complain and say O that you would do better but Temptations are so strong that they prevail upon you Why are Temptations so strong It is because thy Soul is not acquainted with the Blessed and Glorious things of the Gospel and the Power and Life of them doth not abide upon thy Spirit And likewise the Truths of the Gospel O they have a mighty deal of Power to cleanse your Hearts 1 Pet. 2. 20. There you have mentioned the Power of the Knowledg of the Gospel when it abides in one that might be an Hypocrite and therefore not of that Efficasie that the true saving Knowledg is Yet Observe what is said there For if after they have escaped the Pollutions of the World through the Knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Now then If that Knowledg have such a cleansing Power O what Power then hath the true saving Power of the great things of the Gospel and the Glorious things of it to Cleanse the Heart Yea If those Truths do abide upon the Spirits they have a Transforming power they have a power to change the Heart into the same likeness According to that Scripture 2 Cor. 3. 18. But we all with open face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Now this Gospel of the Lord is nothing else but the good things of the Gospel We behold them and that as with open Face as we do behold the Gospel of the Lord. And what then We are changed into the same Image Oh! this is a Blessed abiding it is a Blessed thing for the things of the Gospel to rest upon the Soul Why Because they have such a Power in them to Change the Heart to Transform the Heart into the very Image of them and the Truths of the Gospel have the clearest Image of God upon them the Glory of God is Imprinted upon the Truths of the Gospel Now that these should rest upon the Spirit it must needs be a great Mercy Another is this It is that which makes them indeed to be Saving All those Blessed things of the Gospel that are Revealed they never come to be Saving until they come to rest upon the Soul to be got into the Heart and there to dwell and rest Mark that Scripture in James 1. 21. Wherefore lay a part all Filthiness and Superstuity of Naughtiness and receive with Meekness the Ingraffed Word which is able to save your Souls Mark Receive with Meekness the Word But how The Ingraffed Word which is able to save your Souls The Word of God can never save your Souls till it comes to be an Ingraffed Word Now these things I premise to shew you the Excellency of this that so I might have the more ground for an Exhortation by and by To labour to keep the Word of God I mean those Truths of the Gospel that at any times comes to be discovered to you Now by way of Application as brief as may be First In the First place Hence we see cause the Ministers of the Gospel especially see cause bitterly to Lament the want of this in their Auditory ordinarily It 's true There are few that are faithful Preachers of the Gospel but they do find that
hear it my Soul shall weep in secret places for your Pride and mine Eyes shall weep sore and run down with Tears because the Lords Flock is carried away Captive If ye will not hear That indeed should be the work of the Ministers of the Gospel when they are Rejected Not to be Careless and say I have done my Work and what need I care But they should take it to Heart and Lament it as the greatest Affliction that can befal them yea more than any Affliction whatsoever That the Blessed Message that they are sent withal is Rejected by Wretched and Sinful Men. Secondly If God in Christ be sometimes Rejected all the Mercy of God in His Son we should not think much though our love and kindness towards others be many times Slighted and Disregarded Indeed there 's nothing goes more to any Ingenuous Heart than to have his love and kindness to be Disregarded But when we find our Hearts troubled at this O that such a one that I have done so much for and yet that he should deal thus with me Lay thine hand upon thy Heart and consider what God hath done for thee in Christ and how ill thou hast requited Him Is it so much for thee a poor Worm not to have thy Love and Kindness imbrac'd What is it then for the Infinite God not to have that Infinite Love and Mercy of His to the Children of Men not Imbraced but Rejected Thirdly Let 's learn from hence never to trust our own Hearts We think often had we such means as others have then we should not do as they do surely we should do better Men are very ready to trust their own Hearts and in the use of Means But let us learn from hence never to trust in our own Hearts or in the use of any Means God may send you Means and Reveal glorious Truths unto you yet it may so fall out that you may never come to be partakers of the good of those things It hath been so with many and you must look to your own Hearts Do not Bless your selves in this Through Gods Mercy the Lord hath sent us His Word plentifully and the Gospel comes to be Opened clearly among us That 's not enough what God hath done but look you into your own Hearts how you Imbrace it otherwise the Gospel may come among you and yet you never come to be Saved by it But this indeed is a sad Condition wheresoever it is Fourthly Further Gods Ministers are to Learn from hence not to be Discouraged They come and Preach and with an Expectation to prevail with the Hearts of People to draw them to Christ When they have been in their Studies labouring to find out some Truths of the Gospel and to sit it to the Hearts of their Auditors and have been Praying over it They come now with Expectation that some good may be done that some Soul may be drawn in to Christ yet perhaps find it quite otherwise and the People to sit Dead under it it may be Slight it Contemn it Scorn it Disobey it But they must not be I say Discouraged in this as if so be a strange thing had befallen them What art thou more than Jesus Christ thy Master What art thou more than Paul and other of the Apostles They have been rejected all in their Ministry and what art thou that thou canst not bear any Rejection Indeed it is the hardest thing to be Born by a Minister of the Gospel that possibly may be But consider That it is not a new thing for the Gospel to be Rejected I remember I have read of Melancthon he had such thoughts that when he began to Preach he should Convert all that heard him He thought there was so much Reason in what he Spake and so much Evidence and Power to prevail with the Hearts of People that he thought he should prevail with every one but he found it otherwise by Experience And though indeed when any Minister that is acquainted with the Glorious things of God and Christ come to open them to People they are ready to think such things will surely prevail with the Hearts of People but the Lord teaches him to know that the Blessing depends upon Himself That though the things be never so Excellent and Moving yet all will not do except the Lord comes in by His Almighty Power Fifthly Let all those with whom the Ministry of the Gospel doth prevail in any measure Bless God that makes such a difference between them and any others It is Preached unto many but doth them no good But the Lord hath Called thee out and it hath struck thy Heart converted thy Spirit Thou seest cause to stand and admire at the Glory of God in Christ and thou wonderest perhaps that all People are not taken with the Riches of the Glory of Gods Grace in Christ Well Bless God that hath made a difference between thee and others It may be in the same Family another Scorns it and Contemns it perhaps one that came out of the same Womb despises it and God hath taken thee and revealed Himself to thee it may be thy rich Neighbour Contemns it but God looks upon thee a poor Creature and makes Himself known to thee It may be a Learned Man he slights it and makes nothing of it and thou who art but a Babe hast those things Revealed Thou hast cause to thank God for it For Christ doth He thanks His Father for this thing That He should be pleased to pass by the Wise and great ones of the World and chuse Babes Mat. 11. 25. At that time Jesus Answered and said I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent and hist revealed them unto Babes Now this Scripture that I bring not only to shew you that God doth sometimes Reveal the great Mysteries of the Gospel to Babes and hide them from the Wise but as a Text to stir up your Hearts to Bless God if He hath done so for any of you Upon this ground Jesus Christ doth thank His Father for it then surely thou hast cause to thank God the Father for this great Mercy of His to put such a difference between thee and others For indeed it is one of the most glorious Works of God This Work of the Lord making known the Great and High Mysteries of the Gospel to poor weak ones when as the Great and Rich and Mighty and Learned of the World do not come to understand it It is one of the great Miracles by which the Lord doth Confirm the Gospel to be His own as great a Miracle as other Miracles that were Wrought by Christ And for that this is very observable that we have in the place where John sends to Christ to know whether He were the Messias or no. Now mark the Answer that Christ gives unto John's Messengers Jesus Answered and said unto them Go and
shew John again those things which ye do hear and see the Blind receive their sight and the Lame walk and the Lepers are cleansed and the Deaf hear and the Dead are raised and the Poor have the Gospel Preached to them And as some of the Evangelists have it Poor receive the Gospel Observe why Christ brings this He brings it in as an Argument that he was the Messiah John would know whether He was the Messiah How shall he know it Why go and tell him The Blind receive their sight the Lame walk the Lepers are cleansed the Deaf hear the Dead are raised These are good Arguments to prove that Christ was the Messias If Christ could Work such Miracles as to give sight to the Blind to make the Lame to walk to cleanse the Lepers to cause the Deaf to hear and to raise the Dead these indeed were good Arguments But how comes in the last And the Poor receive the Gospel How is this an Argument that Christ is the Messias One would think that this should rather be an Argument that He is not the Messias They might say I indeed there are these great things done by Him but there is one thing makes us suspect that He is not the Messias For our Great Rich and Learned Men they do not receive Him only a Company of poor Ignorant People this Vulgar sort For so was the Arguing of the Pharisees there in John 7. 48. say they when the Officers were Affected with the Ministry of Christ Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him Have any of them Believed on Him But this People that knoweth not the Law are Cursed Only a Company of poor Ignorant People they believe on Christ But the Rulers have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees the Great Men and the Rich Men the Learned Men Have they believed You see that this was a Stumbling-block whereby they would perswade Men that Christ was not the Messias But mark That which Men make the great Stumbling-block why Christ is not the Messias that Christ makes unto John the great Argument why He was the Messias Because the Poor receive the Gospel And Christ doth put this among his other Miracles And you will say How is this an Argument Thus It is one of the greatest Miracles that ever Christ wrought and it may well be Reckoned among those Miracles of giving Eyes to the Blind and Hearing to the Deaf Thus To make one that is a poor weak Creature that hath but a mean Capacity yet that such a one shall be able to see into the Great and High and Glorious Mysteries of the Gospel that the Angels desire to pry into So to see into the Reolity and the Certainty and the Glory of those Mysteries that he dares venture his Soul and his Eternal Estate upon I say This is as great a Work of a â—od as ever any Work that God did in this World and therefore it may well be put among Christs Miracles â—nd an Argument that Christ is the Messias If Christ shall Reveal such Glorious things that are the Objects of the Understanding of Angels to poor Illiterate People when as the Wise of the World shall not be able to see them but shall Reject them They shall not see so much as to dare to venture the loss of a Lust for them of any Creatures contentment for them but a poor weak Man or Woman Illiterate that understands but little in other things shall come to see so much the Glory of God shining in the Face of Christ as he dares venture not only all outward Comforts in this World but his Soul and Eternal Estate upon the Grace of God in his Son Here 's a mighty Work of Christ The Poor they come then to receive the Gospel it is Preached to them and they receive it and hereby Christ shews his Power Now hath Christ shown such a Miraculous Work of his upon thy Soul when he hath past by others that are Understanding and Men of Parts yet Reveal'd such deep and hidden Mysteries of the Gospel unto thee Oh admire at the Grace of God in his Son to thee and Bless him for this is not an ordinary Mercy it is a choice Mercy The Gospel is Rejected many times where it comes and thou seest it only God hath made a separation between thee and others As I told you of that Speech of Judas not Iscariot Lord saith he Why is it that thou Revealest thy self unto us and not unto the World Thou hast cause to wonder at it indeed Sixthly And then further that we may hasten to what remains If this be so that Gods sends the Gospel where it is Rejected hence be not Scandalized when you see it Despised and Contemned Let none be Scandalized at it so saith Christ in Mat. 11 when he saith The Poor have the Gospel Preached to them in the next words And Blessed is he whosoever is not offended in me For Men are ready to be offended when they see great Ones Reject the Ministry of the Gospel But you hear that God sends it where it is Rejected therefore be not you offended do not think that because others do not Imbrace it therefore there is nothing in it and why should I There is this Temptation in the Hearts of many though while they are Hearing of the Gospel Preached their Hearts are taken with what they Hear and they are Convinc'd but when they go away and are among their Companions and others that they find to slight all and to disregard all their Hearts are taken off likewise But O learn by this Point never to be Scandalized by others casting off the Gospel For it is that which Christ hath forewarned his Ministers when they go to Preach he doth intimate to them that they must expect that their Ministry must not prevail with all 7ly Lastly Is this true That God sends the Preaching of the Gospel where he sees it will and doth not prevail with many Now let every one of you lay his hand upon his Heart and think thus with himself Is it I Am I the man am I the Woman to whom Jesus Christ shall be Preached and shall not prevail O the Lord forbid that this should be so though it doth not prevail with others such and such yet God forbid that it should not prevail with my Heart let me imbrace it so much the rather Do I see Jesus Christ rejected by others O it is that which should go neer to my Heart that the Lord is rejected by any and shall he be rejected by me too the Lord forbid that as Christ said to his Disciples when others forsook him And will ye also go away O whither shall we go from thee saith Peter for with thee are the words of Eternal life so dost thou see others slight and neglect the glorious Ministry of the Gospel and wilt thou do so wilt thou add to the dishonour of the Gospel too
shall command your Children to observe to do all the words of this Law Mark it Why what 's the matter v. 47. For it is not a vain thing for you because it is your life It may be some of them when they heard Moses declaring the Law of God they would be ready to think it is a good Law and Moses doth well in telling of us the Law but there is no great consequence of it how our Hearts be taken with it O but saith Moses do not you come to hear the Law upon such tearms but set your Hearts upon what you hear Why because it is your life Much more cause have the Ministers of the Gospel thus to say when they come to preach Jesus Christ to a people Set your hearts to what is delivered When they come and say Peace be to this place to this People the Doctrine of the Gospel be preached to them O set your hearts to what is delivered Why for it is your life When you come to Hear a Sermon you should come so as to consider that your Life may lye upon that Sermon for ought you know and the rather look to it because the Lord with whom you have to deal is a great God and a God that will not be dallyed withal and trisled withal but if you disobey the Message of the Gospel the Lord may deal very quick with you and that let 's me into the Last Point which now we are to finish this Text in and that is this That those that shall not Entertain the Gospel the Lord will deal very quick with them Your Peace shall return again the Lord will not stand long about the matter I in the naming of the point have already spoken of a Scripture or two Now is the Axe lay'd to the root of the Trees when John Baptist came to Preach the Kingdom of God And that in the Last of Mark v. 16. Go and Preach saith Christ to his Disciples he that believes shall be Saved he that believes not shall be Damned The Lord Christ tells how quick the Lord will be with those that shall not entertain the Gospel and there are many Texts that are very full for this purpose and because it is a great Point and that it should strike much upon your Consciences therefore I will present it in the fulness of the Evidence of Scripture That place that you have in Matth. 10. it is just parallel to this in Luke 10. there where Christ sends his Apostles forth as he doth the 70. he gives the same Directions in effect but mark here Saint Matthew goes farther than Saint Luke Let your Peace Return to you and whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words when you depart out of that House or City shake off the dust of your feet Verily I say unto you it shall be more tollerable for the Land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Judgment than for that City See here the quickness of God with those that do reject the Gospel So in John 3. that is very famous for this in ver 18. He that believeth on him is not Condemned but he that believeth not is Condemned already You will say he is Condemned already because his Natural Condition is such that he is under Condemnation No but I take it the Scripture doth aim at something further He is not only Condemned by reason of his sins against the Law but he is condemned already because he hath not believed on the Name of the only Begotten Son of God How could he Believe in the Name of the Only Begotten Son of God before ever he heard it but here it is spoken of Light that is come into the World for so it follows in ver 19. And this is the Condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil That is when Christ shall come to be preached to any People and they will not believe presently there is a sentence of Condemnation that 's the meaning of the Text he is Condemned already the Lord is very quick with such And in Acts 17. 30. a place famous And the Times of this Ignorance God winked at He saw and would not see as it were he overpast that but Now saith he that is Now when Christ comes to be Preached Now he Commandeth all men every where to Repeent as if he should say Look to your selves that you Repent now whatsoever you did before though you could prophane Sabbaths before look to your selves now though you were vain and superstitious and carnal take heed now to your selves as if the Holy Ghost should say The Lord is willing to pass by all that was before but for rejection of his Son look to that he will not pass by that so easily that One sin so easily as he will pass by all the other All the sins that men have Committed all their Lives before may more easily be past by than that one sin of Rejection of the offer of Grace by Jesus Christ Now he calls all men to Repentance And then a third Text is that in 2 Cor. 2. a Text that I made use of the last Day for another purpose For we are unto God a sweet Savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish to the one we are the savour of Death unto Death What 's the meaning of that It is somewhat a strange phrase and expression we are the savour of death unto death Savour of death I take the meaning of the phrase to be thus he compares his Ministery that was the Ministry of the Gospel unto those things that had a mighty efficacy in them a strong vertue so strong as their very savour was enough either to kill or to make alive As there are some things so strong as the very sent of them can kill a man or even raise a man from a Sound so saith the Apostle our Ministry to sin is the savour of death unto death it is a deadly savour to them Thus you may see that the Ministry of the Word it hath a mighty quickness in it one way or other either from Heaven or Hell to Save or to Destroy And another Scripture we have in Heb. 4. there the Apostle speaking of the Word the Word of the Gospel for certainly that 's that that he speaks of v. 12. For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the Joynts and Marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the Heart The Word of the Gospel whensoever it comes to any Congregation it is no dull matter you may not look to sit dully under that but it is a quick Word it will either slay thy sin or slay thy Soul one of the two it must slay one and that quickly And in Heb. 6. there the Apostle compares