Ordinances is a further Proof of this great Truth 〈◊〉 works by his appointed Means Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God The Gospel is called the Ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 As also the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.2 And well may it be so called by way of eminency because greater measures of Grace are given under the Gospel-Dispensation than were usual before Now the sacred Office of the Ministry is institured in subserviency to the Influences and Operations of the holy Spirit 'T is he that qualifies Ministers for their work assists them in it and makes it successful to the attainment of its end Moreover the Sum and Substance of that Errand upon which we are sent ye have in the latter end of this Chapter Vers 18 19 20. Namely to tell you that God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself hath committed unto us the word of Reconciliation Now then we are Ambassadours for Christ as tho' God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God Our business therefore is to treat with Sinners in the Name of God and the Redeemer That we may perswade them to comply with the offers of Free Grace And to edify strengthen and help the Joys of those who have heartily complied Ephes 4.11 12 13. And O how strict a charge is laid upon us That we be instant in Season and out of Season reprove rebuke exhort with all Long-suffering and Doctrine For the time will come when c. we may now say 't is already come 2 Tim. 4.2 3 4. And that we watch for your Souls as they that must give an account Heb. 13.17 and warn you of your danger that your Blood may not he required at our Hand Ezek. 3.18 And who is sufficient for these things 2 Cor. 2.16 Well then if Men may be saved without being wrought for it c. of what use is the ministerial Office Or why are we so strictly charged Moreover the whole Course of Rellgious Duty that is appointed us with that Seriousness and Spirituality therein required doth fully prove the Point we have in hand The holy reverent Worship of God in his Ordinances doth powerfully tend to raise our Souls nearer to him and to make them more like him to heal our spiritual Distempers and to refine and purify all our Faculties and Powers and so to prepare and sit us for the State of Heavenly Perfection Therefore we must not look upon such appointments as if they were only meer arbitrary Injunctions to exact homage from us But tho' Soveraign Authority is to be acknowledged in them we must also consider how infinite Wisdom and Goodness has sured out Work to our End our present Duty to our future Happiness that by the one we might be prepared for the other From whence 't is evident that Holiness is necessary to the Work and Business of our present Life as also to our future Blessedness We can neither serve nor enjoy God here or hereafter without being wrought thereto by his Grace I mention nor the heartless Service of Hypocrites as not being worth taking notice of Hence also ye may learn what ends to propose to your selves in every part of Divine Worship But I proceed 5. None but those who are thus wrought upon have any right to the Heavenly Felicity according to the Tenour of the Gospel-Covenant Unregenerate Persons as such are peremptorily excluded even by the Law of Grace it self Ye cannot produce the least Syllable in Scripture whereupon to ground those hopes of Heaven wherewith such Men are wont to flatter themselves But I can shew you enough to confound and overthrow their wicked Presumptions for ever The Sentence of their Condemnation is legible in almost every Leaf of the Bible yet will they not consider it nor lay it to Heart He that believeth not is condemned already he shall not see Life but the Wrath of God abideth on him Except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God Joh. 3.3 18 36. If ye live after the Flesh shall die without HOLINESS no Man shall see the Lord. These are the true and faithful Sayings of God All this was settled long before thou wert born if thou hast any exceptions against it thou comest too late with them as one says Assure your selves that these sacred Constitutions cannot be disanulled Your Unbelief shall not make the Truth of God of none effect ye will quickly faâ—d whose word shall stand his or yours 〈◊〉 true indeed Pardon and Life are freely offered by the Gospel-grant if thou wilt repent and turn to God throuâ—â— Christ Otherwise it brings upon thee an heavier Coâ—demnâ—tion than thou wert under before John 3.10 a sorer Punishment Heb 10.29 The câ—â—â— speaks it self Thou canst plead no Interest in the saving Benefits of the Covenant of Grace unless thou come up to the Terms thereof Abused Mercy turns to greater Indignation Therefore it much concerns you to inquire what those Terms are and not to venture your Souls upon Uncertainties Behold the Judg standeth before the Door Jam. 5.9 What is the Chaff to the Wheat saith the Lord Jer. 23.28 Mat. 3.12 6. None but those who are thus wrought upon have the earnest and first Principles of the Heavenly Felicity How then should they have the thing it self Do ye expect the Fruit without the Seed the Perfection of Holiness and Happiness without the Beginnings thereof the Inheritance without the Earnest How can these things be How absurd are such Hopes as these Would ye be perfect Men in Christ without first going through the Infant-State of Christianity That is being converted and becoming as little Children As for the truly Godly they have Eternal Life abiding in them even that saving transforming practical Knowledg of God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent which is the Inchoation thereof But the Ungodly are not so being dead in Trespasses and Sins To be carnally minded is Death They sow to the Flesh what then can they expect reasonably to reap but Corruption Would ye sow one sort of Grain and reap another Know therefore that the holy Spirit of God working in the Souls of Believers sutable Inclinations Heaven-ward and Desires after it that is rational judicious holy Desires doth thereby give them an earnest of it but still remember If any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8 9. 7. The Guilt of Sin which all unregenerate Persons are under stands between them and Heaven I hope ye know that ye are Sinners and that ye must be justified before you can be glorified The weight of Guilt must needs press you down into everlasting Darkness if it be not taken off by pardoning Mercy and Grace And do ye not also know that there is no Pardon without true Repentance And withal that true Repentance is nothing less than the turning of the Soul from
wanting to your selves What tho indwelling Sin sticks very close to our Natures it is not essentiaâ— to them nor had any place in Man's primaeval State And the second Adam came to heal those Diseases which the First had brought upon us Therefore tho it be good to be sensible of your own Weakness and to feel the Burden of Sin that you may flie to Christ yet ye have no reason to faint or be discouraged because ye have him to flie to Tempt 6. Are ye perplexed with troublesome Scruples as to matter of Practice that ye dare scarce move forward in the way of your Duty for fear of going wrong Answ 'T is certain that our best Services while we are here on Earth will be attended with many sinful Weaknesses and Imperfections But necessary Duty must not be left unâ—one for fear of mis-doing it That which God requires of us is that we cheaâ— fully and quietly obey his Will so far as we know it and sincerely endeavour to understand it better Thankfully receiving the Gospel-pardon for our many Failings and Infirmities If we have the worthiness for so the Gospel calls it of Faith Repentance and sincere Desire Christ hath the Worthiness of perfect Holiness and Obedience for us And tho it be our great Duty to keep Conscience tender that is to be 〈◊〉 careful to please God and fearful of sinning 〈◊〉 we must remember that needless Self-tormenting â—â—ruples are not at all pleasing to God but great â—â—derances to our Duty and Devices of Satan to â—ake Religion burdensome and uneasy to us And â—â—at if these and such other Temptations cease not 〈◊〉 be troublesome it is sometimes necessary that we â—â—â—temn them The Devil says Luther is a proud â—â—irit and cannot endure to be slighted He will â—â—d us work enough to do if we will but parley and â—â—gue the case with him To slight him is to resist â—â—â—m and then he flies from us Tempt 7. Are ye tempted to ensnare your selves â—â—y rash Vows and to make Duty to your selves â—hich God never enjoined you Or to impose â—asks upon your selves which he has not prescriâ—ed Answ The use of Vows is to bind us to the performance of that which God himself had bound â—s to by his Laws before That is to express our Consent and Resolution by a Self-Obligation to obey his Will but not make a new Religion to our selves nor to injure our Christian Liberty by Self-devised Snares Who hath required this at your â—lands Such sacred things as Vows are not to be trifled with our Baptismal Covenant and Sacramental Engagements at the Lord's Table must be carefully observed But Vows about lesser Matters are not to be made without great Consideration and Caution alteration of Circumstances may make that sinful or however troublesome and inconvenient which at present appears and perhaps really is a Duty Good Purposes and Resolutions are necessary and safe and may be changed when the nature of the Case requires it that is when they cease to be useful to those Ends whereunto they were first intended But it is a dangerous thing after Vows or Promises made to God to make enquiry 〈◊〉 tho sometimes even that must be done yet 〈◊〉 great fear and trembling For God will not hold 〈◊〉 guiltless that take his Name in vain Tempt 8. Are you tempted to grow weary of â—â—rious Religion and to turn back again to your wâ—â—ted Formality and Negligence Answ Humble your selves deeply before God 〈◊〉 those Remnants of Corruption which thus dispose you to revolt renew your Covenant with him 〈◊〉 Christ plead the Promise of his holy Spirit 〈◊〉 upon his Assistance and Grace Make not a ligâ—â—â— Matter of the least Decays or Declinings in Hoâ—â—ness for these tend to greater Gird up the Loâ—â— of your Minds consider the Prize that is set before you and look to the Examples of those who by Faith and Patience inherit the Promises Sâ—â—vings and Difficulties will be soon over bâ— iâ— weary of well doing you shall reap if you faint 〈◊〉 Gal. 6.9 Whither will ye flie in the Hour of your extremity if the Lord help you not then who can help you if ye forsake him he will also forsake you Tempt 9. Is there some beloved Sin which you are especially inclined to and can scarce forbear or part with it Answ Fortify your Minds with Arguments 〈◊〉 your Wills with Resolutions against it Avoid the occasions of it and resist the first Strivings and Tendencies towards it Double your Watch that ye be not surprized by it single it out to run iâ— down mortify and destroy it as that which most dishonours God and endangers your own Souls Tempt 10. Are you tempted to place an undâ—â—â— Conâ—idence in your own Works or Righteousness Answ Consider that if ye thus go about to establish 〈◊〉 Righteousness of your own you take the way 〈◊〉 â—â—se the Benefit of Christ's Righteousness If â—ardon and Life be of Grace they cannot be of VVorks else Grace were no more Grace As we â—â—e Creatures we owe our selves and all that we â—ave or can do to God the greatest Angel in Heaven cannot strictly and properly merit any thing of God how much less such Worms as we Every â—â—â—y which we sincerely perform is a great Mercy received and renders us further indebted to that Grace whereby we are enabled thereto And besides we stand in need of pardon for the sinful Weaknesses of our best Services VVhen we have done all we are but unprofitable Servants Eternal Life is a free Gift By the Grace of God we are what we are II. VVe come now to the second Branch of Exhortation namely to those who are much in the Dark as to the State of their Souls not knowing what to think of themselves in reference to this great Question viz. Whether they be passed from Death to Life that is whether they be wrought for Heaven or no. To such Persons I would offer the following Directions Direct 1. Remember 't is no new thing nor unusual amongst the People of God to be full of Doubts Fears and Spiritual Troubles Do not think that your Case is singular lest your Spirits should sink under it Solamen miseris c. There hath nothing befal'n you in this Matter but what is common to Men even to very good Christians It may be Satan will tempt you to think that none ever were so perplex'd with Fears Uncertainties and misgiving Thoughts as you But the Scripture is very plain in the case that a truly gracious Person may sometimes walk in Darkness and have no Light Isa â—0 10 Read also the 88th Psalm and see 〈◊〉 that good Man was afflicted and even distraâ—â— with the Terrours of the Almighty Therefore in all this God deals no otherâ—â—â— with you than he hath done with thousands 〈◊〉 his dearst Children And as ye ought not to â—â—spise the chastenings of the Lord so neither shoâ—â—â— ye faint under them For whom he loveth he
he we are always confident vers 6. Again vers 8. We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. q.d. We do not run as at uncertainties nor fight as Men that beat the Air but know whom we have trusted and that he will not fail our trust This is the Faith we walk by at present till we come to the World of immediate sight and fruition Vers 7. And now let us return to the words of the Text and consider more distinctly both the literal and real importance of them Now he that hath wrought us i. e. made formed or fitted us The word signifies to fashion or polish a thing which was rude or unshapen before and so 't is used by the Septuagint Exod. 35.33 1 Kings 6.36 For the self-same thing viz. That blessed State in which Mortality shall be swallowed up of Life whereof he had been speaking just before vers 4. or if you understand it of those desires and groanings Heaven-ward which are wrought in the Souls of Believers it comes all to a sense for none but those who are prepared for Heaven do rightly and judiciously desire it as shall be shewn more at large hereafter Is God even he that hath provided that Glory for us vers 1. hath also fitted us for it The Order and Tenour of the words is very remarkable God is not the Subject but the Predicate of this Proposition It is not thus expressed now God hath wrought us for this tho that had been true but the same Truth is spoken with a more piercing Emphasis and Majesty as the words are here placed He that hath wrought us is God q. d. Would you know the reason of our Confidence Hope and earnest Desires after Heaven Why we are wrought for it Do you ask how we came to be so or who hath thus wrought us 'T is God that hath done it who always acts like himself therefore this work is divine beseeming its great Author such as none but he could effect the Finger of God is plain in it and for that reason we doubt not but the Issue will be answerably glorious and excellent The same way of expression ye have Chap. 1.21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is GOD. As for the real importance of the words the only remaining difficulty if that be any is what divine work the Apostle here speaks of In answer to this I shall only take notice of the three following particulars which are most full and comprehensive in the case 1. God as he is our Creator and the God of Nature hath given us immortal Souls furnish'd with faculties to prepare for a better Life He hath made them pure spiritual noble intellectual Substances noâ— consisting of any contrary Principles which by acting upon or against each other might infer the dissolution of the whole Now in that he has given the Soul such a Nature 't is manifest that he designs it for an eternal State because he doth nothing in vain but always fits his Creatures for the respective ends whereunto he hath appointed them And since both Gracâ— and Glory presuppose Nature that is the Fundamental Capacity of the Subject therefore this particular may well enough be taken in tho it cannot reasonably he imagined that this is the main much less the only thing intended in the Text. The Souls of the vilâ—â— Men yea even the Devils themselves are thus faâ— wrought for an Everlasting State But it is not mâ—â—â— Immortality but a glorious and blessed Immortality that 's here spoken of So that to be wrought for this self-same thing must needs signify something peculiar unto true Believers for they only have a right to the Heavenly Glory and besides the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems not so naturally to signify the creating of a Soul as some subsequent work upon it already created to which it 's natural essence is presupposed not produced by it 2. As our Redeemer and the God of governing reconciling Grace he hath opened the way to Heaven for us and so deals with us upon Terms of Mercy and Compassion in order to our recovery from that sinful and miserable state into which we had brought our selves To this end the Eternal Son of God in the fulness of time sanctified a Portion of Humane Nature and took it into union with the Divine and in it fulfilled all Righteousness perfectly obeyed the Law offered up himself a Sacrifice to satisfy Divine Justice conquered Satan Death and Hell died arose ascended and was glorified that we might chearfully and believingly follow him Thus Human Nature in the Person of our great Mediatour was wrought through â—ariety of Labours and Sufferings till it arrived to the highest Advancement that from hence we might be assured how great things are intended for us if we do not reject the Counsel of God against our selves He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Rom. 8.32 He is gone before to prepare a place for us and to take possession c. his Arms are ever open to receive returning Sinners the more weary and heavy laden with the Burden of Sin the fitter for him to exercise his Office upon He will cast out none that sincerely come to him None are excluded who do not by wilful and final Impenitency exclude themselves On his part all things are ready what then remains but that we thankfully lay hold on this Tree of Life and by Faith feed thereon that we may live for ever 3. As he is our Sanctifier and the Applyer and Perfecter of all to fit us for Glory he works in the Souls of his People those holy Qualifications Tendencies and Affections whereby the Heavenly State becomes con-natural and agreeable to them or rather they to it To live and have a being in a furture State is oâ—â— thing to be happy therein another Meer Immortality fits you for the former immediately but only in a more remote sense for the latter O Sirs it is but cold comfort to know that your Souls are immortal if in the mean time ye be utterly in the dark whether it shall be well or ill with them hereafter Live they must to all Eternity but if a great deal of care be not taken in time that Life is like to prove worse than Death Therefore ye know that Eternal Life is usually taken in the best sense Mat. 25.46 The Righteous into Lisâ— Eternal Rom. 6.23 The Gist of God is Eternal Lisâ— Those in Hell live too because they cannot not because they would not die Know then that you Souls are no less capable of exquisite Torment and Misery than of Joy and Blessedness in another World their everlasting Weal or Woe depends moâ—â— directly and nearly upon Moral Qualities than upon their Natural Essence As wicked Men are silling
Face in a Glass We need not say who shall ascend into Heaven The Word is high uâ— whereby we must search our selves And whether we will attend to it or no we must stand or fall by it at last Joh. 12.48 The Word that I have spoken the same shall judg him in the last Day ' This is one of those Books that shall be opened and the smal Sentence will pass according to what is written therein Rev. 20 12. They shall be judged according to their Works the Matter of Fact being recorded in their Book Conscience the Matter of Right in God's Law and the Conclusion in his Decree As Mr. Baxter upon the place Motive 4. We are expresly commanded thus to examin and try our selves yea it is mentioned as a great Absurdity that a Christian should be ignorant of himself 2 Cor. 13.5 Examin your selves whether ye be in the Faith prove your own selves Know ye not your own selves c. As if he had said Is there any thing nearer to you than your selves any thing that ye are more concerned to know than your spiritual Estate that is whether Christ be in you or no. Are the ways to Heaven and Hell so much alike that a Man cannot know whither he is going if he would If the Ends be so vastly different surely there must be a proportionable difference in the Ways that lead to them Motive 5. Ye have comfortable Encouragement to expect the help of the holy Spirit in this work of Self-Examination Suppose ye be yet in an unregenerate State 't is true ye have then no full proper Covenant-Right to the Influences of the Spirit yet ye have great reason to hope that since he hath been often striving with you to bring you to a sight and sense of your spiritual Concerns he will not deny the help of his Grace if ye set your selves in good earnest to the Work by the assistance already received Prov. 1.23 Tâ—ru you at my Reproof behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you c. Now 't is the work of the Spirit to lead Men into their own Hearts to convince them of Sin and to quicken illuminate and draw dead dark disaffected Souls to the love of God and Holiness But if ye be already converted ye have then a Covenant-Right to the help of the Spirit ye have fâ—ll and propâ—â— Promises to plead in this Matter he is the Spirit of Christ your Head and therefore all the living Members by virtue of their Relation unto Christ are also nearly related to and interested in that Holy Spirit whole Office it is to refresh and comfort those Souls whom he hath first renewed by his Grace to discover to them the Grace which he has given them to witness with their Spirits that they are the Children of God and so to enable them to rejoice therein Motive 6. Think well how sad and wretched a case it is to be utterly in the dark as to your spiritual State Ye cannot tell what a Day may bring forth Prov. 27.1 For ought ye know ye may be in Hell the next hour because ye are uncertain whether God be your Friend or your Enemy whether ye have any saving Interest in Christ whether ye be sanctified by the Spirit or not Is not this a woful Case when thou liest down when thou risest up when thou goest out or comest in thou knowest not but that the very next Moment the divine Fury may rest upon thee Can'st thou think of Death and not tremble and of Judgment and not be astonish'd When thou art invited to a Funeral how can'st thou forbear thinking that it will quickly be thine â—wn Case and yet thou art ignorant what will become of thy immortal Soul at that Day Methinks this should make thee a Terrour to thy self and to all that are about thee Motive 7. Consider how impatient thou art of being in suspence or at uncertainty in Matters of far less consequence If thou have but a Law-Suit in Hand how uneasy till thou know the Issue if a Purchase to make how careful to see that the Title be good and the Conveyances firm and sure If thou be taken with any threatning Distemper how earnest and sollicitous art thou to know what the Physician thinks of thy Distemper Pray Sir What think you Did you ever see any in such a Case before Did they recover Do you hope the Distemper may go off But O how few are there that express any such Care about their Souls how few that will come to a Minister and enquire of him O Sir What shall I do to be saved I fear I am not yet wrought for Heaven I find my Heart dead to spiritual Things but vigorous and sprightly in its Pursuits after worldly Vanities I find I am out of my Element when engaged in Religious Duties What think you Is there any Hope O help me speedily lest Death overtake me unprepared for it O how seldom do we meet with any that shew such a concern for their Souls as this It were easy to heap up many more such Considerations as these to excite you to this necessary work of Self-Reflection I shall only add as follows without the Formality of making distinct Heads Think with your selves how common a thing it is for men to be mistaken about their spiritual Estate and withal how dangerous it is remember God himself will quickly judg you and the way to escape the Severity of his Judgment is to enter into Judgment with your selves 1 Cor. 11.31 If we would judg ourselves we should not be judged Moreover either ye are thus wrought for Heaven by renewing Grace or not If ye be the closest tâ—â—al will greatly refresh and comfort you by discovering that the work is already done Then may ye comfortably go on with the remaining part of Duty which is yet before you ye may come with boldness to the Throne of Grace as Children to a Father Ye may read or hear the VVord of God with Joy when the great Promises of the Gospel are all your own Ye may come with Confidence to the Lord's Table when ye know that Christ himself and all his saving Benefits are yours Ye may meditate delightfully upon the heavenly Inheritance when ye know that ye have a right to it This will support you under all the Sufferings of the present Life and will make them appear light Afflictions indeed And besides all this it will much conduce to the credit of your Profession by enabling you to go on chearfully in the ways of Religion as Men that do not repent of their Choice not despair of their Cause or of their God But on the other hand if ye be unregenerate Self-Reflection is one of the first Steps in order to your Recovery Psal 119.59 I thought on my Ways and turned my Feet unto thy Testimonies So did the Prodigal when he came to himself Luk. 15.17 When once Men begin to be sollicitous about the Concerns
Business otherwise ye wâ—â— confound perplex and entangle your selves to no purpose Difficult Cases are not to be resolved without an orderly Proceedure of Thoughts about them Confusion is the great Enemy to all true Knowledg of what kind soever Take care that ye do not begin at the wrong end first let Preliminaries be well adjusted before ye come to the Point it self Under this Head take your work in the following order 1. Understand aright what you are to enquire after lest ye mistake the Question The thing to be known is whether ye be so far wrought for Heaven that if it should please God immediatly to require your Souls of you it would go well with them in another State That is whether the condition of your Souls be such that come Life come Death they are safe Now here â—â—ls plain that ye may easily deceive your selves by stating the Question too high or too low If ye only enquire whether there be any good in you which hath a tendency towards this great work of Regeneration ye then fall short in the Point for I have told you before that there may be very deep Convictions of the necessity of this renewing Change yea and some saint Essays Resolutions or Endeavours towards it which are only the Effects of common Grace and if they be rested in do as certainly end in Destruction as down right Profaneness does Again there are various Degrees and Measures of Grace among the People of God themselves All that are sincere are not of the same stature or standing some have received more Talents a greater stock of Grace than others If therefore ye enquire immediatly whether ye have attained to such or such Measures to which some others who perhaps are above you have arrived ye then lay a Snare for your own Comfort and Peace by carrying the Question too high at first Your present Business is to examin whether your Graces be sincire as for the degres of them let that be enquired into afterward 'T is likely ye are not so good as the best nor so bad as the worst the Question is whether of the two ye are more like to in the main Do not â—hâ—â—cy your selves Saints because ye are not so vile 〈◊〉 the vilest For among unregenerate Persons themselves all are not alike scandalous and hardened in Sin Noâ— yet must ye conclude that ye are Graceless because some others our-stâ—ip you in Holiness There is aâ— infant as well as a more strong and confirmed State of Grace 2. Study well the Rule by which ye are to try your selves Search the Scriptures to the Law and to the Testimony by this ye must try the Spirits and the Doctrines of other Men How much more nearly doth it concern you to examin your own Hearts and Lives thereby Acquaint your selves well with the Tenour of the Covenant of Grace upon what Terms Pardon and Life are offered to poor Sinners what is essentiaâ—â— necessary to the Being of a sincere Christian as such and what is further requisite to his Establishment Comfort and Well-being In the sacred Records ye may find the Nature of those Graces which qualify and fit Men for Eternal Life and also the Examples of many who are gone to Heaven before us what their Hearts were set upon how they lived and how they died here ye may learn what ye ought to be where to place your Affections how to regulate your Lives that ye may be happy Ye may see the Characters by which the Heirs of Heaven must be known and also the opposite Description of those who shall be excluded from that Felicity He is unfit to be a Judg who is ignorant of the Law or Rule of Judgment It therefore much concerns you to converse much with the Holy Scriptures and to understand the true spiritual sense and meaning of them which are able to make you wise to Salvation From hence ye must take your Measures in judging of the Sincerity of your Faith Repentance Love Obedience c. that so ye may not take up with the empty Name of Grace instead of the thing it self as too many through Sloth and affected Ignorance do And here ye must remember that the Commandment of God is exceeding broad extending not only to the Government of our outward Actions and Behaviours hâ—â— also to the inward Principles from whence those Actions flow viz. all the Faculties and Powers of our Souls Understanding Will Imagination Affection Sense Appetite Habits Dispositions c. must be minded and governed by the Rule and that in all circumstances at all times and in all places without exception The Tree must be made good that the Fruit may be so God has imprinted his holy Image upon his Word and makes use of it as an Instrument to work a sutable Impression upon us 3. Ye are next to examin strictly your own Hearts and Lives and compare them with the Rule or try them by it remember I am now speaking only in general to prepare you for those particular Questions which are design'd as a further help for the Discovery of your Case Only at present let me tell you ye are not to judg of the State of your Souls by what is unusual and extraordinary with you but by the habitual bent of your Hearts and the stated ordinary course and tenour of your Lives An Hypocrite may have some transient Affections and Emotions of Soul towards spiritual Things and some seeming Fits of Religion for a while and yet afterwards return with the Dog to his vomit again Herod heard John Baptist gladly and did many things Those on the Rock heard the Word and anon with Joy received it but had not root in themselves Mat. 13. Observe here a living Principle of Grace is a rooted Principle fixt in the Heart and there kept alive by the same Power which implanted it 'T is said of him that is born of God that his Seed remaineth in â—â—in Joh. 3 9. In short the Will is the Man and the Sincerity of its Resolutions must be known by sutable Indeavours and the sincerity of those Endeavours by their Success Of which more hereafter Or if ye take â—t the other way by the main drift and course of your lives ye may know what are the prevailing habits and â—â—spositions of your Souls for Men will act according to their predominant Habits and by these ye may know your State that is by reducing all to the Scripture-Rule as has been said already Thus must ye try and judg your selves 4. Ye are then to proceed to Sentence which iâ— nothing else but the Conclusion that must be drawn from the fore-going Premisses viz. the Law and Fact compared together Here again keep your hearts close to the Work and bring it to an issue Sooner or later this must be done and the sooner the better If upon a thorow Enquiry thou find thy self to be yet in 〈◊〉 unregenerate State pass sentence accordingly it will signify
neglect no Means nor Helps in order thereto Such Resolutions as these are most proper in your condition But if your Hearts still hang back let me ask ye what will ye resolve upon Vita humana sine proposito vaga est languida Will ye put the Matter to the venture and trouble your Heads no further about it but still go on at the old dull stupid rate If so this is wilfully to destroy your own Souls and whom can ye blame but your selves Will ye sit down in Despair This is to despise or undervalue the Riches of Gospel-Grace that are set before you Those that come to Christ he will in no wise cast out Again will ye delay for a while and put off the thoughts of these things till hereafter Answ This indeed is the common Case but almost as unreasonable as either of the other two Your times are not in your own Hands ye know not how soon your Souls may be required of you the longer ye delay the more difficult it is like to be and the Spirit that should help you will be grieved by your backwardness Satan will have the faster hold of you and if Death overtake you before the work be done ye are damned Therefore I say turn your Thoughts which way you will all other Resolutions will be found mad and dangerous except that of the Prodigal I will arise and go to my Father So do ye And here let me tell you 't is needful that your Resolutions be firm and steady lest those Difficulties which may afterwards arise in your way should discourage you and that they be speedy lest Death overtake you unprepared And also that in this whole business ye be sensible of your own Weakness and Insufficiency lest ye miscarry through foolish Self-Confidence But of that more by and by Direct 4. See that your Resolutions be forthwith put into practice By this it must appear that they are true and hearty if the VVill be determined in the case sutable Endeavours will ensue And here your work lies in the following Order 1. Humble your selves deeply in the Presence of God for all that Sin and Folly which hitherto ye have been guilty of Consider the Evil of Sin as it is contrary to the holy and pure Nature and Law of God Call to remembrance your own Sins and lay them to Heart that they may not be laid to your Charge In a particular manner bewail the Corruption of your Natures and more especially the estrangedness of your Hearts from God and Enmity against him with that inordinate propension to the Creature in which the Heart of the Old Man doth mainly consist Proceed then to consider those actual Transgressions which have all along issued from this Corruption viz. Your loss of precious Time misimprovement of Gospel Ordinances and Means of Grace your Pride Passion Earthliness Sensuality c. Confess these things humbly and feelingly in the Presence of God Labour to melt into an ingenuous Child-like Sorrow for having carried it so unworthily to so good and gracious a Father That Sorrow for Sin which proceeds only from fear of Punishment is the Sorrow of a Slave and may consist with as much Love to Sin as ever But Godly Sorrow is animated by holy Love to God which raiseth in the Soul a rational hearty Grief for its Transgressions against him an hatred of Sin and Resolution against it for the future This is Repentance from dead Works and toward God He that covereth his Sins shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall find Mercy Prov. 28.13 Yea as Matters now stand such is the wonderful condescension of the Law of Grace 't is an Act of Justice and Faithfulness as well as Mercy to forgive Sin wheresoever with true Repentance it is confessed 1 Joh. 1.9 If we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins c. Therefore I say give Glory to God by an humble acknowledgment of your Sins Lay your selves low that his Glory may â—â—e advanced Put your Mouths in the Dust if so be there may be hope Justify his holy Law tho in so doing ye condemn your selves Say with the returning Prodigal Luk. 15.21 Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy Son c. 2. Thankfully acknowledg the Riches of Free-Grace in that God is yet pleased to offer you Terms of Reconciliation and Peace The Golden Scepter is held forth to you that ye may touch it and live Methinks this should encourage you and put Life and Vigour into your Proceedings and draw out your very Souls in sweet Returns of Love to God Lord is there yet Hope is there any Mercy for such an one as I Behold I come in Obedience to thy Call Blessed be God for Jesus Christ 3. Humbly implore pardoning Mercy for your past Sins and the help of Divine Grace for your present and future Duty As the necessity of your Case should make you very earnest and importunate in these Requests So ye have great encouragement given you to strengthen your Faith and Confidence in the Divine Goodness God delights in Mercy and hath proclaimed his gracious Name Exod. 34.6 9. Use this as an Argument in Prayer as the Psalmist did Psal 25.11 For thy Names sake O Lord pardon mine Iniquity for it is great Plead the Merits and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ the Promises of the Gospel and assure your selves God is as ready to forgive as ye are to repent and forsake your Sins He will not despise a broken and a contrite Heart Psal 51.17 And since the work that lies before you is holy and spiritual therefore trust not to your own Resolutions or Strength Pray hard for the help of the Spirit â—ay your Souls open to the Influences of his Grace yield your selves to his Conduct Carefully strike in with all his Motions Lord here am I what wouldst thou have me to do Teach me the way wherein I should go incline mine Heart to thy Testimonies strengthen me with Might in my inward Man Magnify thy Power in my Weakness Speak Lord for thy Servant heareth draw me and I will run after thee 4. And now give up your selves unfeignedly to God in and through Christ If ye expect he should be your God that is your Portion Happiness Soul-satisfying Good ye must be his People devoted to his Love and Service The Covenant must be mutual else how should it be a Covenant Let this be done with great Freedom Chearfulness and Resolution of Spirit ye will never have reason to repent of your choice He will be your Shield and your exceeding great Reward 5. Live henceforth as becomes the Covenant-People of God Renounce your Lusts and Corruptions Let the time past of your Lives suffice you to have fulfilled the Inclinations of the Flesh Remember ye must now live at another rate than heretofore ye have done The Glory of God must be
Promise should do more with you than just keep you from sinking See also Psalm 40.1 2. I waited patiently for the Lord c. It is good that a Man should both hope and quieth wait for the Salvation of the Lord. Lam. 3.26 Remember God waited long on you before you â—ould take up any serious thoughts of repenting â—â—d down in sullen discontent because he doth not â—â—smediately give you the Comforts of Assurance â—ne would think common Ingenuity should teach â—â—ou better Light is sown for the Righteous â—nd sooner or later they shall reap the blessed Fruit But in as much as 't is sown it is meet â—hat they should wait till this precious Fruit grow â—â—p or rather till they themselves be grown to a â—â—aturity and fitness for it God's time is the â—â—st time He knows perfectly what Degrees of Comfort are sittest for you and what the fittest â—easons to bestow it The Husbandman after he â—â—â—h cast his Seed into the Earth doth not imâ—â—diately expect an Harvest nor yet say I have â—â—boured in vain I will pull up the Hedg and lay â—ll waste No no his God instructs him to greater Discretion Isa 28.26 He waits till the appointed Season So do you in the present Case wait God's time for Comfort give an early check to the least strivings of Impatience Say not Why should I wait upon God any longer as he 2 King 6.33 but rather as the Psalmist Psal 42.11 Why art thou cast down O my Soul c. hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him c. CHAP. XIII Directions to those who have attained to greater degrees of Assurance and Comfort WE come now to the third Branch of Exhorcation namely to those who through Grace have attained unto greater Measures of Assurance and are enabled comfortably to conclude that they are past from Death to Lise to such I would say In general Hold fast what you have that no Max take away your Crown Rev. 3.11 Keep close to God and your Redeemer live in the Spirit walk in the Spirit Be stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the Work of the Lord c. 1 Cor. 15.58 You know whom you have trusted gird up therefore the Loins of your Minds We must tug a while with the Diffificulties of our present State and Work but these will soon be over Heaven is in view we are almost there and shall certainly reap if we faint not But I proceed to Particulars Direct 1. Whatever you do be sure to keep humble look upon Pride as the first-born of the Devil 'T is a Sin which God doth in an especial manner see himself against God resisteth the Proud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam. 4.6 He stands in battle array or in direct defiance and opposition against them God still counteracteth the Proud as Dr. Manton observes upon the place 'T was this which turned Angels into Devils as may be observed from that of the Apostle 1 Tim. 3 6. Lest being lifted up with Pride he fall into the Condemnation of the Devil Pride is still the fore-runner of some fall and mischief or other And tho in the truly Godly it be in some measure mortified yet is it not utterly rooted out but sticks very close to our Natures and if it be not carefully watched against it will be taking occasion to shew it self even from our spiritual Gifts or Graces And whatever it comes near is tainted and corrupted by it O let us think and think again how unsutable it is to our condition to be lifted up with high thoughts of our selves how much disingenuity there is in is what have we that we have not received What were we before we received it And what should we quickly be again if we were not upheld by the Divine Power We bear not the Root but the Root beareth us Rom. 11.18 Without him we can â—o nothing Joh. 15.5 Let us therefore endeavour to be cloathed throughout with Humility this is as one says a Christian's Livery without which Christ will not own us as his Servants Let us learn of him to be meek and lowly in Heart Let this Mind be in us that was in Christ who made himself of no Reputation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 emptied himself c. Phil. 2.7 Let us exercise our selves frequently and solemnly in Self-Annihilation that is in affecting our Hearts with a deep sense of our own Nothingness in the sight of God and this I advise you to do as a set Duty by it self and all little enough to subdue the Pride of our Hearts Think not that some slight Thoughts or general Acknowledgments of your own Unworthiness will serve the turn but labour to feel what you say and to be nothing in your own Eyes Go therefore into your Retirements sit down and consider the glorious Excellencies of the great God before whom the Angels vail their Faceâ— who looketh upon the Sun and it shineth not neither are the Heavens clean in his sight Who doâ—â— great things and unsearchable marvelous things without number Job 5 9. Get your Hearts as full as they can hold of adoring and admiring Thoughts of God And when you have so done reflect upon you selves and you will find abundant reason to cry out Lord what am I A Worm and no Max sinful Dust and Ashes foolish and ignorant and as a Beast before thee Less than the least of aâ—â— thy Mercies nothing or worse than nothing c. c. c. I know not any thing more sutable to our Condition more pleasing in the sight of God more conducive to our spiritual Safety and Comfort than to be much employed in such exercise as this Be not desirous of vain Glory do not affect the Applause of Men if you meet with it watch your Hearts as you would do Gun-powder Tinder or Flax when Fire is near Still say give Glory to God I am a poor vile worthless Sinner Direct 2. Press earnestly towards the Mark You have not yet attained there is a great deal of Work still on your Hand many Enemies to conflict withal You have run well hitherto O have a care of making a stand Ad ulteriora tendens semper nilque putans actum dum quid superesset agendum as it was said of Julius Cesar is a fit Motto for a Christian still pressing forward aiming at greater Attainments and thinking nothing done while any thing remains undone Phil. 3.13.14 Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before I press toward the Mark c. Under this Head you may observe the following Particulars 1. Carry on a continual Warfare against your remaining Corruptions the Flesh will be lusting against the Spirit so long as we are here on Earth Labour therefore to keep under the Body and to bring it into subjection Do not indulge your corrupt carnal Inclinations how agreeable soever to your Constitutions or worldly Interest Have a care of being in love with