There may be five reasons laid down as the ground why God withholds his Spirit in its strivings with men 1. Because in times past you have refused to hearken to the frequent motions and perswasions of Gods Spirit the Spirit of God hath told you that if you walk in such wicked wayes the end of them will be death how often hath it suggested unto you that if you go on in such and such courses you will be undone for ever and yet you have gone on in sinne and would not hearken unto the Spirit thus God complaines of his people by the Psalmist Psal 81.11,12 My people would not hearken my voice and Israel would have none of me so I gave them up unto their own hearts lust and they walked in their own counsels as if he should say they would not hearken unto me and therefore my Spirit shall disswade them no more I will leave them to themselves and let them take their own course 2. Because it may be you have fastened and fathered sinful affections that arise from the flesh upon the Spirits motions and this is such an injury to the Spirit that he will not bear as when men shall say their wrath kindled from hell is the zeale of the Spirit coming down from Heaven that their erroneous opinions are the Spirits teachings when he is the Spirit of truth and Satanical delusions divine inspirations And this is an indignity not inferiour then if some subject should lay his bastard at his Princes gate and this some think is understood by the vexing of the Spirit mentioned by the Prophet Isaiah Isa 63.10 this may be another cause why the Lord may withhold his Spirit 3. Because men do more easily listen to the suggestions of the evill Spirit then to the motions of the good Spirit it makes your friend deny to come to your house when you shall give entertainment to his enemy when the Devill shall come and easily prevaile with you when you shall either sinne upon no temptation or upon a smal temptation this is a high provocation to Gods Spirit and this is a reason why there is so severe a judgment annexed to the third Commandment that God will not hold them guiltlesse that take his name in vaine because there is lesse temptation to the sinne of swearing then to any other sinne in the world Other sinnes they are more consonant to flesh and blood but swearing of all sinnes men have the least temptation to it The swearer serves the Devill gratis and hath neither profit nor pleasure by his sinne and therefore God annexes so severe a punishment When thou shalt runne unto sinne upon an easie tâ—mptation and wilt not hearken to Gods Spirit upon an earnest motion this provokes the Lord to withhold the strivings of his Spirit from thee 4. Because in former time thou hast plotted and deliberated how to commit sinne therefore the Spirit will withdraw from thee for time to come There are many that do commit sinne with deliberation premeditation and consultation and that man which commits a sinne deliberately and contrivedly he doth greatly provoke the Spirit of God Pro. v 16.30 It is said of a wicked man that he shutteth his eyes to devise mischief shutting of the eye is a studying plotting and deliberating posture As it is with a friend if you shall give him a blow at peradventure though he may be angry at first yet when he shall understand that it was against your will he will be quickly pacified but if he sees that you plot and contrive his death this makes him that he will never come into your company more Thus it is with the Spirit of God when he sees thee fall into sinne inconsiderately and unadvisedly he will not withdraw from thee for this but when the Spirit shall see that we way-lay him and do deliberate and contrive how to commit sin this provokes him if not for ever yet for a long departure Such deliberate acts of the soul they are more directly against God 1 King 15.5 and to this purpose is observable what you reade concerning David that he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord all the dayes of his life save onely in the matter ofVriah the Hittite Now why doth not the text say rather that he was perfect or did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord save onely in the matter of Bathsheba for that was the foulest sinne There is this reason given hereof why the Spirit of God should say that he was a perfect man save onely in the matter of Vriah rather then in that of Bathsheba because his sinne in the matter of Bathsheba it was done rashly and inconsiderately he was suddenly surprized with a temptation but the matter of Vriah 2 Sam. ch 11. it was done more deliberately plottingly and contrivedly for first he sends for him home from the warres that so he might cloak his foul fact then he makes him drunk and after he makes him carry the contrivance of his own death in a letter to Joab so that it was a sinne so deliberately acted that the Spirit of God put a brand upon him for it take heed therefore of deliberate acts of sinne I censure none every one of you must stand or fall to your own Master but this I say that it is a sinne which gives an especial provocation to the Spirit of God It is the saying of a Modern Divine and a true one That a deliberate will to sinne without the act is more sinful then the act of sinne without a deliberate will and thus in the case of Peter that man does worse who purposes to deny Christ though he never doth it then Peter that did actually deny Christ and never intended it therefore look to your purposes and deliberations if you sinne deliberately it is the next step to the sinne of those against whom the Prophet prayes Lord be not merciful to those that sinne maliciously 5. The Spirit of God will withdraw from a man when men prostitute the holy Spirit to base lusts as all hypocrites do who do talk of the Spirit onely to commit sinne and enjoy their lusts more securely Thus Simon Magus he desired the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit that he might seeme some body and enrich himself this was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle speaks 1 Thes 2.5 a cloak for his covetousnesse Many grieve and provoke the Spirit to depart when they themselves do not serve God but rather serve themselves on God SERMON IV. At Lawrence Jury London Novemb. 10. 1650. GEN. 6. verse 3. And the Lord said My Spirit shall not alwayes strive with man c. I Proceed now to answer another Quere or case of Conscience very usefull which is this Quest How farre the Spirit of God may be withheld or withdrawn even from a godly man both before and after the commission of sinnes First I shall shew you
Phil. 3.18,19 that the Apostle Paul wept over some that were enemies to the crosse of Christ whose glory was in their shame that is in their sin A regenerate man may act sin and hide sin nay he may extenuate sin he may mince the matter and put off and excuse it all he can but we never read of a regenerate man which did boast in his sin A godly man may go neer Jer. 11.15 ever to the suburbs of hell by his sin but he never glories in shame nor boasts of his sin 4. Godly men they sin not so rejoycingly as wicked men do The Prophet Jeremiah tels you of some Prov. 10.23 that when they did evil they rejoyced It is a sport to a fool to do mischief as the wise man tels you Chap. 2 14. By Solomons fool is meant a wicked man and such are they who rejoyce to do evil and delight in the frowardnesse of the wicked Ungodlinesse it is a wicked mans sport he makes a jest of sin Prov. 10.23 but a man of understanding hath wisdom that is he hath more wisdom then to make a sport of sin he knows that they shall be damned that have pleasure in unrighteousnesse and therefore he dares not sin rejoycingly as other men do he hath wisdom rather to mourn for it as David I will declare mine iniquity I will be sorry for my sin Psal 38.18 5. Godly men they sin not so plottingly and contrivingly as unregenerate men It is true godly men they may yeeld to the lusts of the flesh and act sin but they are not so cunning to contrive it 1 John 3.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 differt ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beza in loc Jer. 4.22 Ezek. 21.31 I sal 119.69 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concinnârunt à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conjunxit metaphora à Fabris Psal 50.19 He that committeth sin is of the Devil It is not said He that sins but he that commits sin that is he that makes sin The word is taken from Artificers that are skilfull and cunning about their work Godly men are bunglers about sin but wicked men they do it artificially Hence it is said that they are wise to do evil And skilfull to destroy David he tells you The proud have forged a lie against me It is bad to tell a lie but worse to forge a lie It is an expression drawn from Smiths that when they would bring a piece of iron into any curious frame they bring it to the forge Wicked men they are as skilfull in the way of sin as if they were bound aprentice to it Therefore we read of them that their tongues are said to frame deceit It is said that Christ at last day will put away those who are workers of iniquity all are actours of iniquity but all do not work iniquity that is they do not make a trade of sin neither are cunning in the cursed craft of sin 6. Godly men they sin not so deliberately as wicked men do A godly man it is true may be carried to sin through the violence of temptation and through the treacherousnesse of his own spirit but he doth not deliberate sin pause and consider with himself how he may commit it Micah 2.1 Wo be to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds and when the morning is light they practise it Wicked men are said to shut their eyes to devise froward things Prov. 16.30 Which is a posture which argues the intentnes of the minde because by opening of the eyes many objects are administered whereby the minde is distracted Thus wicked men they plot contrive and deliberate how they may commit sin wicked men are students in sin But remember that at the day of judgement God will not onely call thee to an account for thy actions but for thy deliberations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 4.12 and the debates of thy minde how thou mightest commit such a sin though it were never acted by thee 1 Cor. 4.5 then will God make manifest the counsells of the heart all those deliberate thoughts and purposes that were in your minde to sin these will God make manifest and judge you even for the counsels of the heart Psal 36.4 The Psalmist tells you that a wicked man he deviseth mischief upon his bed he setteth himself in a way that is not good He deviseth mischief there is his deliberation and sets himself in a way that is not good that is a further expression of it A godly man may be turned aside by the Devil and his own heart Gal. 6.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 si praeoccupatus sit à carne Satana in cantus incidit in insidias Beza but the wicked they set themselves in a way of sin A godly man may be overtaken with sin as the Apostle tells you which intimates that he is going from it but a wicked man he goes not from sin but sets himself in a way which is not good It is true I must confesse as Divines upon this case that in a sense there may be deliberation in a godly man to sin yet there is great difference between the godly and the wicked herein There is difference betwixt the deliberating about the act of sin between a deliberation to find out an occasion how to commit sin A godly man he may be deliberate about the act he may rowl the Sun in his fancie but a godly man doth not deliberate how to finde an occasion whereby he may be wicked There was a deliberation in David when he committed adultery but he did not deliberate about the occasion to finde it out he did not go to his house-top thinking with himself that there he should see a woman to lust after but when he was there the Devil presented him with an occasion and when the occasion was found out then he did not deliberate how to commit that foul sin The like may be said about his deliberation in the death of Vriah for though he did it deliberately yet the violence of the temptation that then was upon him pressed him thereunto But now wicked men they deliberate how they may finde occasions to sin they are Devils to themselves plotting how they may do mischief they tempt the Devils to tempt them 7. Godly men they do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh so eagerly and intently as wicked men do who are eagerly set upon their lusts The adulterous thoughts of the wicked are compared to the neighing of a well-fed horse which is a very strong desire Jer. 5.8 and to the fury of a horse rushing into the battel Chap. 8.6 wicked men are as eager in the pursuit of their lusts as ever a horse was to rush into the battel Exod. 32.22 You read in Exod. 32. that the people were set on mischief which intimated their eagernesse to do wickedly How eager was Amnon to satisfie his lust
corruption yet if you do not oppose it you will not only have it in your hearts but also visible in your lives 2. Though you cannot remove and destroy this contrariety of nature yet you may be able to suppresse it it is true destroy it you cannot but weaken it you may remove it you cannot but represse it you may You may do with it as Joshua did by the Gibeonites he saved their lives but made them hewers of wood and drawers of water and as the Israelites did with the Canaanites they did not throw them out but made them tributaries so though thou canst not drive out corruption of nature yet thou mayest keep it under and the more thou dost contest with thy corrupt heart the more thou wilt be able to keep iâ— under Lev. 14.41,46 It is an observable Law which the Lord gave the Jews touching an house that was infected with the pâ—aguâ— of Leprosie God bid the people do this that if the Leprosie were in the house they should scrape every stone in this house and if it could not be clean by scraping afterwards they were to pull the house down Thy nature it is this leprous house the plague of leprosie hath defiled thy nature and the Lord bids thee do with thy nature as the Jewes were to do with their houses they were to scrape every stone so do you labour to cleanse your hearts sweep thy heart with the beesom of sanctification and if all will not do when this house of thine shall be pulled down by death then it shall be cleansed But as long as thou livest in the world be contesting against the workings of corrupt nature and though thou canst not expell it yet thou mayest subdue it Though our grace in this life will never be so strong as to expell and utterly subdue our corruption yet by our striving and labouring to keep up this contest thou wilt keep thy corruption at such an under as it shall never extinguish grace 3. Consider that not to conflict with thy corrupt nature it is an argument that thou hast no grace in thee Between one there is no opposition opposition must be betweeen two These are contaary the one to the other as corrupt nature is contrary to grace so grace is contrary to corrupt nature and therefore if thou doest lie still and not conflict with corruption it is an evident argument thou hast no grace Vse 1 Let this contrariety that is in our hearts against grace Libera me Domine à meipso Aug. make us ever watchful and jealous over our own hearts you know not how farre the contrariety and corruption of your hearts may carry you before you die do not think surely I shall never fall into such a sin and such a sin be not secure thou hast a nature in thee that may prompt thee to the worst sin that ever was commited upon the earth I told you of an observation of Mr. Capels that a Christian before he died should be tempted to break every Commandment of the Law and to doubt of every Article in the Creed thou hast a contrariety against all grace and therefore an inclination to all sin carry therefore a jealous eye over thy selfe Peter he was not suspicious enough of himselfe when he told Christ That though all should forsake him yet he would not Nay sayes he though I die with thee yet I will not deny thee and yet Peter he did both he forsook him and denied him Matth. 26.35 and that with a curse and an oath Had Peter known his own heart he would never have said so Good men know not to what the corruption of their natures may carry them it may be thou art a holy and a gracious Christian thou walkest unblameably in the place where thou livest but consider if God should let thy nature loose with what impetuous violence wilt thou be drawne to sin Hazael as I noted before thought not that there was that wickednesse in his heart which the Prophet foretold him of 2 Kings 8.13 and therefore sayes he Is thy servant a dog that he should do this wickednesse Nay Christ himselfe forewarnes his disciples Luke 21.34 That they should beware of surfetting and drunkennesse and the cares of this world a strange exhortation one would think to such as they were one would think it had been a uselesse caution to such good men the disciples they were not at that time hunger-bitten and that they should be guilty of surfetting and they who had not a house to put their heads in that they should be overtaken with drunkennesse that they who had not the things of this life should be careful about them this was very strange yet Christ he knew that they had the feeds of these sinnes in their natures and as they so also have all we and therefore we ought to have a suspicious eye over our own hearts As in the first creation all creatures were seminally in the Chaos and there wanted onely the motion of the Spirit to bring them forth so in our natures there is the seed of all evil and there wants but occasion and temptation to draw it forth Remember Direction 2 though there be this contrariety in thy heart against grace yet be not discouraged though thou discernest this corruption in thy nature more then ever thou didst in all thy life-time past yet be not disheartened there are many godly soules in this case who never saw more corruption nor more violence then now they do they thought sin was dead but now they see it alive they thought the power of it was weakened but now they see the edge of it sharpened There are these considerations why such should not be discouraged 1. Because it may proceed not from an increase of sin in thy nature but from a clearer discovery of sinne not that the object is multiplied and greatened but because thy sight is cleared a godly man he sees more corruption in his nature then ever he saw before this proceeds not because there is more corruption then indeed was before but because the Lord hath given him a clearer inspection into his own heart I may illustrate it by this comparison In a dark and gloomy day you see no dust nor motes flying up and down your chamber but let the bright beames of the Sunne shine in there and then you see abundance of dust now the dust was there before but you saw it not because the Sunne made it not appear to you thus it is with men Before conversion they have an abundance of lusts in their hearts but they see them not because the Sunne of righteousnesse hath not shined into them You have a notable passage of Paul in Rom. 7.13 Rom. 7.13 But sin sayes he that it might appear to be sin wrought death in me sin was sin before but sin did not appear to be sin untill he was converted and now sayes he I perceive the workings
of my corrupt nature whilest I was a Pharisee I did not then see nor know my selfe to be so vile and sinful as now I do and so when light breaks into the soul those sins appeared which lay hid and those which seemed but as motes now appeare beames and those which seemed as little as gnats now appeare as bigge as Camels 2. It may proceed from a more gracious and tender sincerity in thy conscience then there was in times past In former time thy conscience was hard seared and senselesse fighting against the sense of sinne but now God hath melted and mollified it God hath made thy conscience to be not as seared but as raw flesh godly men may complain of corruption and think they have more then ever they had but it is because they are more tender and more sensible When a man hath hurt his finger he thinks he doth never so much touch it as then and this ariseth from the tendernesse of the part so God having made thy heart a broken and a soft heart therefore the corruption of thy heart is more felt then before Prov. 7 2◠Sin to a wicked man is as a blow on the back but sin to a godly man is as a blow upon the eye 3. Consider this though you discern the corruptions of your nature and see more of it then ever you saw before yet be confidently assured of this that thou shalt have the final victory To this purpose I may accommodate that passage concerning Rebecca who having conceived the children strugled together within her and she said Lord Why am I thus And the Lord said unto her Two Nations are in thy womb that is the rise of two Nations Gen. 25.22,23 Esau and Jacob two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels and the one people shall be stronger then the ether and the elder shall serve the younger Whence mark 1. It is said There was two manner of people in her womb and these separated Thus is Sin and Grace 2. The one is said to be stronger then the other that is the posterity of Esau they shall be stronger fot a while then the Israelites Numb 22.18 for they did defeat them once but now what is the comfort Why The elder shall serve the younger and so it came to passe that the Edomites did serve the Israelites 2 Sam. 8.14 1 Kings 22 47. Obad. 8.17,18 Thus I may say as of Esau and Jacob Corruption of nature is stronger then Grace in many good men and it is elder then grace but here is your comfort The elder shall serve the younger Grace shall get the final victory Direction 3 I inferre hence that though you are not to be discouraged considering this corruption yet you are greatly to be humbled in the sense of this contrariety that is in your natures against grace If you had onely a disability as to grace it were matter of humiliation for you if you had onely an opposition against grace that would be cause of more humiliation but having an utter contrariety against grace here is greater cause for you to be humbled A carnal minde is not onely an enemy to God but enmity it selfe What the Spirit perswades to that the flesh disswades from Rom. 8.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and what the Spirit wills that the flesh wills and therefore you have great cause of humiliation 4. Learn to reduce all actual sins that have broke out in your lives to their original that is to this contrariety of nature Thou dost not sin because the devill tempts thee nor because thou art in bad company but because thou hast a corrupt nature It is a saying of a learned Divine that a Christian hath many enemies to fight withall but he hath onely one which overcomes grace and that is the flesh Were it not for corruption within all temptations would be no other to thee then they were unto Christ the Tempter came to him but he found nothing in him his temptations were but as a spark of fire cast into the sea but the devil comes to thee and the world comes to thee and they find fit matter in thee a suitablenes in thy nature to fall into and close with the temptation and therefore reduce actual sin to its original thus Paul did It is no more I that sins sayes he but who doth he blame Rom 7.20 not the devil nor the world but sin that dwelleth in me that is an evill and corrupt nature it is my corrrupt nature which drawes me to evill and hinders me from good and if you would thus reduce your sinne to its original what cause of sorrow and debasement would it give unto you It is said of David that the devil moved him to number the people but he doth not charge it upon the devil 1 Chr. 21.1 2 Sam. 24.10 but upon himself and sayes he I have sinned and I have done foolishly we are all transgressours from the womb Complain not of the evill that is in thy life but charge it upon thy corrupt nature and thus also David in another place Isai 48.8 he duces those two great evils of murther and adultery to the corruption of his nature and sayes he I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me And thus Augustine in his Confessions Psal 51.5 when he confesseth how he robbed an Orchard he saith neither hunger nor want of the fruit he stole for he had better at home but it was meerly to gratifie corrupt nature 5. If there be contrariety in thy nature against grace oh then do not joyn in with this contrariety against the Spirit wouldst thou joyn with an enemy this contrariety why is it in thee is it not to damne and destroy thy soule 1 Pet. 2.11 therefore sayes the Apostle Abstain from fleshly lusts because they warre against the soule the flesh strives to damne you but the Spirit strives to save you therefore do not take part with thy enemy Yet how many men are there that joyn with the corrupt motions of their hearts when they prompt them to evill and how unreasonable is this the Apostle tells us that We are not debtors to the flesh to live after the flesh Rom. 8.12 as if he should say You owe nothing to corrupt nature and why will you yield thereunto It is honesty in every man to pay his debts But you owe nothing to corrupt nature but you are Debtors to the Spirit and if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live Therefore indulge not the flesh or as the same Apostle speakes Make no provision for the flesh Rom. 13.14 If an enemy come into your houses will you victual his camp will you send in Armes to an enemy to destroy you this is that which men do when they joyn with the flesh against the Spirit By how much any man makes provision for the flesh by
THE COMBATE BETWEEN THE FLESH and SPIRIT AS ALSO The wofull with-drawing of the Spirit of God with the Causes thereof And walking in and after the Spirit together with the blessednesse thereof Being the summe and substance of XXVII SERMONS Preached a little before his death by that faithfull servant of CHRIST Mr. CHRISTOPHER LOVE Late Minister of the Gospel at Lawrence Jury LONDON To which is added The CHRISTIANS DIRECTORY Tending to direct him in the various conditions that God may cast him into In XV. Sermons Ephes 4.30 Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption Res delicatula est Spiritu Dei ità nos tractat sicut tractatur Tertull. London Printed by T R. E. M. for John Rothwell at the Fountain and Bear in Goldsmiths-row in Cheapside 1654. To the RIGHT WORSHIPFUL My Worthy Friends Mr. EDWARD BRADSHAW Major of the City of CHESTER AND Mrs. MARY BRADSHAW his wife Right Worshipful and Honoured Friends I Shall crave your favour to give you a short account why I put this Treatise into your hands in this publick way It is not that the works of this worthy Authour need any Patrociny the gratefull acceptation which many of his books already published have found with sober and experienced Christians bears abundant testimony to the profitablenesse and usefulnesse of his labours and that his precious name shall be had in everlasting remembrance and is still unto those that feare the Lord a sweet and precious oyntment But indeed the reason of this Dedication besides the publick expression of my respects to you both is the consideration of that special interest you both have to any thing of Master Loves Your interest Sir is undoubted to this Treatise as having married his widow whereby God hath made the solitary to dwell and rest in the house of her husband and hath caused a mournful widow to forget her sorrows And your right deare Mistresse Bradshaw is very great to the works of this worthy man as having had the honour for several yeeres to be the wife of this eminent servant and Ambassadour of Iesus Christ And my hope is that as your coming together in this dear relation was the answer of many prayers so you will in the strength of prayers still comfortably live together 1 Pet. 3.7 as heirs of the grace of life To help you forward in the wayes and practices of real godlinesse I commend unto your most serious perusal this and other useful and practical Treatises of this reverend Authour which though it cannot be expected that they should come forth with that exactness and accomplishment as they would have done had the Authour lived to publish them himself yet I do assure you that these Sermons have been diligently compared with his own papers and notes taken from his own mouth by the pen of a ready and intelligent writer The world â— confesse is now filled even to satiety and surfet with unprofitable Pamphlets 2 Tim. 2.13 whereby many foolish questions and disputes have arisen which do ingender strifes 2 Tim. 2.16 many opinions have been vented which do increase unto more ungodlinesse but this book now presented unto you is plaine practical and spiritual and will I hope be of great use unto Christians to help them to a right understanding of their spiritual estate These Sermons as the date of them will shew were preached by Mr. LOVE but a few moneths before his imprisonment and death his gracious heart it seemes being to the last much upon that great work of advancing the power of Godlinesse in the souls of his hearers and therefore I hope will be the more acceptable as being some of the last and ripest fruit of his growing and improving Ministery These are the Sermons which he gave his consent should be published and besides all these considerations they are the rather printed because so long expected and earnestly desired by many whose souls have cause to blesse God for Mr. LOVE'S faithful Ministery to all eternity Here you will meet with antidotes against that cursed opinion which under pretence of advancing the Spirit undervalueth both the Scripture and Ordinances of Christ fathering their most blasphemous and Atheistical Tenets upon the holy Spirit of truth God blessed for ever Here you will finde what a woful thing it is when Gods Spirit withdrawes his presence and influence from the Ordinances Oh that Professors may be hereby warned not to grieve the Spirit nor quench the Spirit lest he withdraw from the soul and so leave it without life grace and comfort Here you may also learne how precious and powerfull the influence of the holy Ghost is when he is pleased by his presence to make Ordinances effectual Cant. 4.16 let this therefore be your prayer Awake O north-winde and come thou south blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits Here you will finde comfortable directions to walk in the Spirit â—nd how to follow the guidance of the holy Ghost who is able to lead you into all truth Lastly here you will see notably described that contrariety which is between Flesh and Spirit Every Christians heart like Rebecca's womb having two contrary parties strugling in it but our comfort is The elder shall serve the younger corruption like the house of Saul shall by degrees grow weaker and grace like that of David's stronger and stronger I will conclude with hearty prayers to God for you both that by the consciencious reading of this book you may gain much soul-advantage and be built up in your most holy faith and live many happy dayes together walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the holy Ghost Act. 9.31 This is the unfeigned desire of Your affectionate Friend and servant in the Lord William Taylor London Jan. 25. 1653. To THE Reader THe Reverend Author of this ensuing Treatise our worthy good friend committed unto us the care of such his Works as might be judged fit for publick use And although our occasions have not allowed us leasure to peruse the several pieces which have been already published upon the perusal of some of our Brethren yet with humble thankfulnesse unto God we heartily rejoyce in that acceptance with successe which they have found in the hearts of sober savoury Christians This Treatise which was the matter of some of his last Sermons had more of the Authors heart and approbation as he testified unto two of us not many days before his death then any other of his Works And truly the effects of this discourse the happie issue of his spiritual combate were admirably evident upon his own heart in the sparkling influences of Gods holy Spirit whereby he was extraordinarily elevated above all sublunary comforts or crosses loves or sorrows hopes or feares when his known death drew very nigh for though he was a man
set on work to suppresse this enemy no lesse then the power of an Almighty God can suppresse these corrupt motions and therefore sayes the Apostle The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds 2 Cor. 10.4 It is a weapon edged with the power of a Deity which must pull down these strong holds 3. Corrupt nature is strong because it is set on by a powerful spirit the Devil he provokes thee to sin and that makes the corruption of thy heart so potent The Sea will move of it self being a fleeting body but when a tempestuous storme arises then it rages and roares So is it with thy corrupt nature if there were no Devil yet thou wouldst be a Devil to thy self and wouldst commit sin but when the Devil shall set on this Sea of thy corrupt nature then how doth it rage and swell He is that Prince of the power of the Aire the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience Ephes 2.2 4. It argues the flesh is potent because it often prevailes over the Spirit The Apostle tells you that not only in wicked men but even in the regenerate the flesh doth many times carry a prevalence over the Spirit The Law is spiritual Rom. 7.14 sayes he but I am carnal sold under sin He speaks of himself as a regenerate man he doth not say he sold himself that was the property of wicked Ahab but it is meant that corrupt nature did carry him away captive to sinne just as a conquerour carries away his prisoner 5. The flesh is a potent enemy because there is a greater measure of the flesh in regenerate men then there is of the Spirit thou hast more sin in thee then grace more of a corrupted nature then of a renewed nature In the best of Gods children there is more ignorance then knowledge more pride then humility and generally more sin then obedience and this may be hinted from the catalogue here enumerated of the works of the flesh and of the fruits of the Spirit Gal. 5.19,20 There are seventeen sins as the fruit of the flesh and but seven graces as the fruit of the Spirit to note that there is more of the old nature in thy heart then of the new more of the old leaven then of the new lump more drosse then gold and this God suffers in his children to keep them humble and in a continual dependance upon him the spirits of just men are never made perfect till they come to heaven Heb. 12.21 and in the mean time it is the admirable power of Christ to keep alive a sparke of grace in the midst of a sea of corruption 2. As the flesh is a potent enemy so it is a malicious enemy against the Spirit Rom. 8.7 The carnal minde is enmity against God and its maliciousnesse against the Spirit appeares two wayes 1. It suffers no good to be left in it I know in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing saith the Apostle Rom. 7.18 Caâ—o à carendo though there may be good in the man yet there is no good in the flesh that is in his sinful nature 2. It is content with nothing but with the death of the creature in whom it is and this is a very pernicious enemie it not only kills the Spirits motions but is malicious against the man Rom. 7.11 Chap. 8,13 and therefore sayes the Apostle Paul Sin taking occasion by the Commandment deceived me and by it slâ—w me And again If ye live after the flesh ye shall die nothing lesse then death and eternal damnation of the soul will content it this argues the maliciousnesse of the flesh â—o be great indeed 3. Corrupt nature it is an universal enemy against the Spirit and its universality appeares in three regards 1. The flesh it is seated in the whole man in all the parts of thy body and in all the powers of thy soul The flesh is in the soul just as the soul is in the body And Philosophers say that the soul is in the body the whole soul is in the whole body Anima est tota â—n toto corpâ—re tota in qualibet parte and the whole soul in every part of the body just so is corruption and sin in thy soul the whole corruption of nature is in the whole soul and in every part of it in thy body eyes eares hands in all the parts of it not only in the concupiscible and irrascible part but also in the more noble parts as in the will understanding reason it is universal in every part of man 2. It containes in it virtually all sin Nothing doth virtually containe all evil but corrupt nature As we may say of the first man Primus homo fuit omnis homo Rom. 7.8 Primum peccatum fwt omne peccatum that he was every man So we may say of sin the first sinne had every sin that is every sin virtually Sinne taking occasion by the Commandment wrought in me saies the Apostle all manner of concupiscence Corrupt nature it is an inclination to all actual evil in the world I may illustrate this by an egge An egge hath in it potentially and seminally all the parts of the bird only it wants the warmth of the hen to hatch and produce it So our corrupt flesh hath in it all sin the seed and spawne of all sin and as the hen produceth the chicken so doth the devil hatch sin 3. It opposes all the graces of Gods Spirit other sins take what sin you will it opposes but the contrary grace particular sins do carry but a particular opposition as for instance the sin of pride opposes humility lust opposeth charity drunkennesse sobriety in justice opposes righteousnesse wrath opposes meeknesse hatred opposes love and so of all other sins they carry but a particular opposition to particular graces but thy flesh it carries an universal opposition to all grace 4. The flesh it is an insatiable enemy insatiable in two regards 1. In regard of sin because if we yield to the motions of sinne to day corrupt nature will not be satisfied if thou yieldest to sin to day thou must to morrow yea all thy dayes Prov. 30.16 Corrupt nature is like those four things which Solomon speaks of which are never satisfied and as he elsewhere speaks Hell and destruction are never full so the eyes of man are never satisfied Prov. 27.20 that is corrupt nature in the eye sinful concupiscence in the heart causes an adulterous eye never to be satisfied 2. In regard of punishment as well as sin Suppose sin doth bring diseases upon thy body or poverty on thy estate yet thou wilt not leave it it aimes at no lesse then the damnation of thy soul 5. Corrupt nature it is an indefatigable enemy against the Spirit Suppose the flesh to have all the foregoing properties yet
sorrow consider that whatsoever losse or affliction God doth inflict upon you here in this life he doth really intend your advantage and gain by that losse and therefore why should any misfortune trouble you seeing God intends your good by them all so that you shall in conclusion be forc't to say Psal 119. it is good for me that I was afflicted and in very faithfulness he hath afflicted me 'T is the observation of Salmeron on John 3. Suppose a man should throw a rich Pearl or Diamond at you and hit you upon the hand so you might have the Diamond for it would you count that an injury why so God deals with us he turns our losses into gain and all our crosses into comforts Suppose a man that is very much in debt and hath great need of money even to buy bread to put in his mouth should go to a friend of his and make known his condition and beg some relief from him if this friend of his should go to his Chest and take out a great bag of money or gold and throw it at him bidding him take it though he should hurt him with the blow do you think he would take it unkindly no certainly why so every affliction that God laies upon us shall work for our good we may say as Joseph did to his Brethren though you intend all this for my hurt yet God intended turned it to my good So when any body do wrong or injure us we may say to them though you intend this to my hurt yet God will work benefit and advantage to me by it The Lord never intends us any harm but good by all the afflictions he laies upon us All afflictions like Jonathans rod have hony on the top and therefore let us bear them patiently You would be very angry if an enemy should draw blood from you but if a Doctor does take away a great deal more from you in reference to your health and for your good you will not take that amisse Be perswaded therefore to patience under all worldly crosses and troubles because God intends your good by them and to promote your spirituall advantage that as your afflictions do abound so your consolations in Christ may abound much more Consid 10 10. Consider that your betters have been in as bad or a worse condition then ever you have been and therefore let this allay your sorrows It is true indeed were we in so bad a condition that never any were in the like we might have some excuse for our immoderate sorrow but there are none of us that are afflicted alone those that are a great deal better then we have had as great crosses and afflictions as ever we have had 1 Pet. 5.9 there the Apostle exhorteth them to resist the Devill with stedfastness as knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in their brethren that are in the world there are none now in so miserable a condition but there are others that have been or are or shall be in as sad a condition as they there hath no temptation befallen you but such as is common to man for God is faithfull who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able 1 Cor. 10.13 Hast thou lost a great Estate why Job lost more then ever thou didst he lost seven thousand Sheep three thousand Camels five hundred yoke of Oxen five hundred shee Asses he lost all that he had not so much as any outward comfort left him and therefore seeing the same affliction hath befallen others why should not you be contented But it may be you will say I have lost my Children Why Job lost more Children then ever thou didst he lost ten Children in one day taken away by an untimely death but it may be though you have lost as many Children yet they went to their graves in peace and therefore that may comfort your heart others have been in a worse condition then you are in and yet have undergone it patiently Notwithstanding all the afflictions that lay upon Job he sinned not he did not open his mouth against God And so our Lord Jesus Christ he was a man of sorrows saith he the Foxes have holes and the Birds of the Air have nests but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head Jesus Christ though Heire of all things was yet as poor as ever thou hast been and therefore let these considerations stay your hearts in what ever afflictions may befall you here in this world for the Lord knowes what a Cloud of blood is yet hanging over our heads Consid 11 11. To keep down excessive sorrow for the losse of any Creature comfort consider that your sorrow is never fightly placed till it hath sin for its object your sorrow is misplaced and runs in a wrong Channel till it centers here If you sorrow for the things of the world you let it run in a wrong Channel and keep it from running there where it should run 't is pitty to use sweet water to wash a foul room sin ought to be the chief object of sorrow and our teares are diverted out of their proper Channel when we do not sorrow for sin either mediately or immediately God hath promised to bottle all those teares we shed for sin but no other those that we shed for the things of the world they are but. tears cast away they run over and not into Gods Bottles And indeed my Brethren there are no afflictions here that do deserve our sorrows or tears Would you not count him a mad man that should go and throw Pearls or Diamond at a Pear-tree and so lose them so it is pitty to throw away tears upon the things of this world to wast such pretious commodities upon every slight occasion Consid 12 12. Consider that excessive sorrow for the world will hinder and interrupt your mourning for sin as when a vein is opened in the arm and the blood runs out there it hinders and diverts it from running in its usuall Channel so when you are in a vein of sorrow and discontent for worldly losses or crosses this diverts and hinders the naturall course of your teares so that you cannot mourn for sin And thus I have done with these twelve Considerations and also with these three Queries I have shewed you when sorrow is inordinate and I have given you some reasons why Christians should not mourn immoderately for the things of this world and now I have laid you down twelve confideraions to keep you from excessive mourning for the losse of any outward comfort SERM. 3. Quest 4 Rule 3. How to moderate our sorrows for the loss of worldly comforts I Have now one Query more and that is in the fourth place to shew you what Rules or helps you are to use so as to keep your sorrows for worldly crosses within bounds to weep as if you wept not I shall here likewise give you 11. or
pollute the Ordinances of God to you the Lord looks upon all your unjust gains as if you did defile his Sanctuary Ezek. 14.3.4 The word of the Lord came unto Ezekiel saying Son of man these men have set up their Idolls in their heart and put â—he stumbling block of their iniquity before their face should I be enquired of at all by them therefore speak unto them and say thus saith the Lord God every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his Idolls in his heart and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face and cometh to the prophet I the Lord will answer him according to the multitude of his Idolls Oh beloved when you approach in to the solemn Assemblies to make your addresses to God he knows what unjust gain is your Idoll and he himself will answer you according to your iniquities and will not hear your prayers O let this Consideration terrifie you the sin of your Shops will defile your Sanctuary and blast all the benefit of your prayers and services 3. Consider that if ever God awaken your Conscience you cannot look upon your unjust gains but with abundance of disquietness and horrour and perplexity of spirit it may be now stolen waters are sweet and the bread of deceitfulness is pleasant to you but when God comes to awaken your Conscience oh what horrour and terrour and consternation will seaze upon your spirits Job 20.15.18.20 He hath swallowed down riches and he shall vomit them up again the riches that a man hath gotten unjustly shall be like meat that lies undigested in a mans stomach and forceth him to vomit up again and in verse 18. That which he laboured for shall he restore and shall not swallow it down surely he shall not feel quietnesse in his belly that is in his Conscience Those that are the great Cormorants of the world that swallow down riches by oppression they shall not feel quietness in their Consciences so Prov. 6.7 the getting of Treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of those that seek death the robbery of the wicked shall destroy them The word here translated destroy in the originall signifies to sawe which intimates that goods gotten by deceit oppression shall so trouble perplex those that get them as a sawe will trouble torment a man to have his arm or Leg sawed of with it When a man cometh to die shal consider all this wealth that I have labored for in my life must leave me at my death that your riches are the price of your souls and that they have been gotten by defrauding and over-reaching your Neighbour by lying and cheating and oppression How can such a man look God in the face Esay 33.14 who shall dwell with the devouring fire who shall dwell with the everlasting burnings he that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly and despiseth the gain of oppression None of those that use dishonest gain and defraud their Brethren can look God in the face what horrour and terrour of Conscience will it be to you when you come to die to consider that all your riches are purchased with your souls blood Thus it was with Judas Mat. 27.3 4 Consider that sometimes those that have goten great Estates unjustly God doth so punish them that he makes them to be objects of shame and reproach amongst the people where they dwell As in Habbak 2.9,10 Wo to him that coveteth an evill covetousness to his house that he may set his nest on high thou hast consulted shame to thy house When men do add house to house and squeeze the poor by oppression they do consult shame to their own house that is not intentionally but equentually though they do not intend it so yet it falls out so and we see it by experience that many times your great Cormorants and oppressors bring shame upon their own heads in the places where they live 5. Consider that sometimes God in his just judgements does blast those Estates that are gotten dishonestly even in this life the oppressors Estate dies before he dies some times it is so In Prov. 13.11 saies Solomon wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished Ill gotten goods are called the treasures of snow now the property of snow is if you hold a ball of it in your hand it will melt away presently so many times God makes riches unjustly gotten to melt away as Treasures of Snow there is a notable expression in Prov. 20.21 An Inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning but the end thereof shall not be blessed It is a very good observation that one hath who takes notice that of all the Tribes of Israel the Tribe of Gad Ruben and half the Tribe of Menasseth were most hasty to get possession of the promised Land And those that were most eager to take their possessions first the Lord was pleased to make them lose their possessions a great while before any of the other lost theirs as you may see a King 10.33 I only mention this to let you see that though you be never so hasty in getting an Estate yet God may quickly take it from you You have another notable Text for this purpose Jer. 17.11 As the Partridge sitteth on eggs and hatcketh them not so he that getteth riches and not by right shall leave them in the midst of his dayes and at his end shall be a fool Oh think of this beloved that the curse of God waits upon wealth ill gotten and he will blast it it may be before you die Ezek. 22.12,13 thou hast taken usury and increase and thou hast greedily gained of thy Neighbours by extortion and hast forgotten me saith the Lord behold therefore I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made God will smite with his hand and blast all dishonest gain Obj. Object But methinks I hear some rich men say surely this is not so as you say for I have gotten by dishonest gains and have dealt thus and thus and have gotten a great Estate and am a rich man still I have left all my Children so much a year and have thus much still left in the whole and therefore I do not see that this that you say is true Answ I answer that it is true men may sometimes get wealth dishonestly and yet die rich men and leave their wealth to their Children as in Jer. 5.27 As a Cage is full of Birds so are their houses full of deceit therefore they are become great and waxen rich God may suffer men that do live and trade by deceit to become great and wax rich 2. Consider this that you can have no true comfort or quietness of conscience in the wealth that you have ill gotten though you have gotten it unjustly yet you cannot keep it quietly The riches that you have swallowed down you shall vomit them up again Job 20.15.18 and surely you shall find no rest