gone and there is none shut up or left When humane help begins to fail and is spent then God's Power is seen The lean Cheeks and the faint Voice and the pale Colour of a hunger-starved Beggar moves more than all the Canting Entreaties of a sturdy one When we are sufficiently humbled in the sense of our own Unworthiness and can entirely cast our selves upon God out of a Confidence of his Power help will not be far off for he really pities those that are indeed miserable and have a sense of it and sets his Power on work for their relief 10. We can never expect to be free from biting Cares and Perplexities about the various Occurrences of this Life until we can entirely cast our selves upon God's Alsufficiency and Power O but when you are once got upon the Rock then you will not be tost with the uncertain Waves Isa. 26.3 4. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thâ—e Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Iehovah is everlasting strength In the ebbings and flowings of the Creature a Man is safe and fixed for he hath that which answers all things A Man that hath no Lands yet if he hath Money the wise Man tells us that answereth all things and he may do well enough So if a Man hath nothing in the Creature yet if he hath the Power of God that answereth all things he can rejoyce in God when Creatures fail Heb. 3.17 18. As having nothing yet possessing all things 2 Cor. 6.10 The Almighty God carryeth the Purse we have all things in God and he will supply us as he seeth it to be best with respect to his own Glory and their Eternal Condition And therefore if you would be freed from all these floating Uncertainties and those tempestuous Agitations of Spirit by which you are tost too and fro you will never come to this 'till you encourage your selves in the sense of God's Power and Alsufficiency SERMON I. ON 2 THESS I. v. 3. We are bound to thank God always for you Brethren as it is meet because that your Faith groweth exceedingly and the Charity of every one of you all towards each other aboundeth THe first part of this Epistle is Gratulatory for the Thessalonians Perseverance and Increase in Grace In which First the Apostle giveth Thanks to God Secondly He telleth of the Fame thereof in the Churches Verse the 4 th That he might the better encourage and exhort them to continue By both he intimateth his Love and spiritual Affection to them In his Thanksgiving to God we may take Notice of 1. The Affectionate Manner 2. The Matter of this Thanksgiving The increase of their Faith and Charity For the Manner It is done Emphatically We are bound to thank God alwayes for you as it is meet There are three emphatical words Alwayes This Work of God among them was much upon his Heart and still gave him new Matter of Praising God in their behalf Then there is the Obligation from Iustice and Equity signified in those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We are bound And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is meet there the Expression is stronger He doth not only tell them that he did it but that he ought to do it We are bound and it is meet The first Expression respects the Mercy of God so there was a Debt of Duty lying upon him there was Justice in the Case The second respects their Estate It was meet Becoming the Condition into which Grace had brought them and so there was Equity in the Case Some refer this last Clause to the Performance of the Duty that he gave Thanks as was meet that is in that manner which so great a Benefit deserveth not slightly and perfunctorily but with great rejoicing But rather it refers to the Apostle's Judgment of their Estate As it is meet Hearing what I do for me to Judge of you For a parallel Expression doth thus explain it Phil. 1.7 Even as it is meet for me to think thus of you all He conceived himself bound to Judge of them all to be such as had owned the Lord with a sincere Faith and his People with a sincere Love and were likely to continue therein Not his Affection but his Judgment inclined him to think so the Church of the Thessalonians and every Member thereof had given such real and evident Signs of the Grace of God in them that he was bound to give God special Thanks for this Grace The Gospel hath and may be blessed in some places so far that all the Members of particular Churches have given positive Evidences of true Grace in them and that to the most discerning Christians and those who were best able to judge It is yet possible and therefore why should we not endeavour after it It is meet for me to Judge so I Hope you are so therefore I count my self bound to give Thanks to God From this Preface four Points are Observable 1. That 't is a Debt we owe to God to give Thanks for his Benefits 2. That in Thanksgiving to God we should specially own his Spiritual Benefits 3. That not only the Spiritual Benefits vouchsafed to our selves but to others also must be acknowledged with Thankfulness 4. That in Thanksgiving for Spiritual Benefits whether to our selves or others the Increase of Grace must be acknowledged as well as the Beginnings of it In the former Epistle he gave Thanks to God for their Faith and Love here for the increase and growth of both Your Faith groweth exceedingly and your Love aboundeth 1 Doct. That it is a Debt we owe to God to give Thanks for his Benefits Paul saith here not only we do but we are bound 1. Justice requireth it for the Benefits were given upon this Condition that we should Praise God for them Psal. 50.15 Call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me This is God's Pact and Agreement with us That we shall have the Benefit and he will have the Glory As the King of Sodom said to Abraham Give me the Persons and take the Goods to thy self agen Gen. 14.21 So in effect God saith to us You shall have the Comfort but let me have the Honour We our selves Consent to this Covenant we seldom make Prayers in our distress but we promise Thankfulness Hosea 14.2 Take away all Iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the Calves of our Lips We engage to offer Praise when our Requests are heard Now when God heareth and granteth our requests there is an Obligation upon us to glorifie God for the Mercies received But now though God be sought to in our Necessities there is no more mention of him when our Turns are served We are forward in Supplications but backward in Gratulations All the Lepers could beg Health yet but one returned to give God the Glory Luk. 17.18 Surely we
yet good Works are not displeasing to him And therefore there can be no hurt in pressing men to these yea by the Rewards propounded in the legal Covenant Therefore Christ might say If thou wilt enter into Life keep the Commandments the old legal Proposal shewing how valuable they are in their own Nature and the words being also capable of a Gospel sence Heb. 12.14 Follow peace with all men and Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Eph. 2.10 For we are his Workmanship created in Christ Iesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them 2 Question Why the Commandments of the second Table are only mentioned For since those Duties which belong to the first Table are more excellent as concerning the Worship of God and they are more strict and inward and therefore would seem to be fittest to bring the Man to a Sense of his Condition why doth Christ referr him to the second Table 1. I Answer In these the Pharisees conceived themselves to be most perfect and yet these were a sufficient Touch-stone whereby to try and discover their Unfruitfulness and their Imperfection Certainly if they be defective here there is no standing by the Law If a Man cannot go surely he cannot run if he cannot spell surely he cannot read if Men be defective in the Duties of the Second Table certainly they are not able to keep the Law 2. These are most Plain and Easie to be understood and the Sins committed against them are most evident and apparent The Duties of the Second Table are of the lowest Hemisphere and wherein a Man can do most if he can do any thing these Duties are more written in a Man's Heart than first Table Duties Heathens were Fools in Worship as the Apostle represents them Rom. 1.22 Professing themselves to be wise they became Fools Yet as to the Duties of the Second Table they were Just Charitable and Temperate and had a great command of their Passions tho' they were very sottish in their Worship for the benefit of Humane Society God hath left Second-table Notions more clear upon Mans Heart 3. In the Externals of the First Table the Iews seemed very Zealous but negligent they were of the Second and herein they commonly fail who hypocritically make fair shews of Devotion and outward respect to God in Worship as Isa. 1.11 To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices to me saith the Lord I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fed Beasts and I delight not in the blood of Bullocks or of Lambs or of He-goats When they neglected Judgment and Justice So Isa. 66.3 He that killeth an Oxe is as if he slew a man he that sacrificeth a Lamb as if he cut off a Dogs neck he that offereth an oblation as if he offered Swines blood he that burneth incense as if he blessed an Idol So Micah 6.7 8. When they talked of Rivers of Oyl and thousands of Rams the Prophet tells them He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God That they should make Conscience of Justice and Equity in their Dealings and be Merciful and Charitable Second-table Duties are of greater value than outward Ceremonies therefore when Christ would convince such a Man as this he referrs him to the Second-table Duties 3 Question Why 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Defraud not and deprive not is put for the last Commandment Thou shalt not Covâ—t Certainly that is intended as is evident to any that shall consider Christ's Answer it fitly shews what kind of Coveâ—ing is forbidden in the last Commandment namely such Covetings as tend to another's Loss It is a Question that hath exercised some how to State the Sin forbidden and the Duty enjoyned in the Law 1. The Sin forbidden is Coveting by which is not meant the whole corrupt Inclination of our Nature for that is not forbidden in any one Commandment but in the whole Law nor all the first stirrings of that Corruption neither for a great part of them are opposite to Religion and they are forbidden in the first Table nor all those stirrings of Corruption which tend to the Loss and hurt of our Neighbour for when they proceed to a deliberate Consent and Purpose they are forbidden in other Commands of not Killing not Stealing c. But those first Lustings by which the Soul is urged to desire any good thing that is our Neighbours tho' at first we have not a set purpose to get it by unlawful means yet when we have a lusting desire of any thing that may tend to our Neighbours loss as Ahab had a lustful desire of Naboth's Vineyard as a Conveniency thô he promised to give him a better in the room of it or to give him the worth of it in Money he would have it upon a valuable Consideration by Sale or Exchange 1 Kings 21.2 So here an inordinate Desire to have some good thing out of our Neighbours hand that 's the Sin forbidden by Defraud not or deprive not when we would mend our own Portion with the Diminution of his 2. The Duty of the Law is to rest contented or satisfied with our own Portion or the Lot which God hath afforded us so as not to desire to encrease it or to have any thing to our selves with the Loss of another It is notable that instead of what is here said Defraud not it is Mat. 19.19 Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self which thô it be a General that runs thrô the whole Second Table yet it hath a special Regard to the Tenth Commandment and shews we are to desire the good of others as well as our own and to think our Neighbour as fit to enjoy any thing that belongs to him as to think our selves fit to enjoy that which is our own To have a full Complacency with our own without a lustful wishing we had any thing that is theirs Not coveting their Goods or desiring any Advantage by their Loss or lessening is the Sin forbidden Well now Out of all we may conclude thus The Young Man as to the present Posture and Frame of his Heart was not fit to be taught Faith in Christ nor the Doctrine of the Gospel being conceited of Perfection by the Works of the Law he was fit to be sent to the Gospel In effect Christ saith to him thus Examine thy self truly whether thou hast or canst keep the Law for till that Point be over thou art not fit for other things go take the Second Table the easier part of the Law art thou not defective there The Point that may be observed from hence will be this Doct. That the best way to convince Iusticiaries or Self-righteous Men is by holding them to their own Covenant or the Covenant of Works Or thus The true way to prepare Men for Christ is to
are slight and vanishing but deep musing maketh the Fire burn and keepeth a constant heat and flame in the Spirits not by flashes And as for Duty so for Comfort a Man that is a Stranger to Meditation is a Stranger to himself In Acts of review you enjoy your selves and you enjoy your selves with far more Comfort in these private recesses you have most experience of God and most experience of your selves Moses when he went aside to meditate had the Vision of the Fiery Bush usually God cometh in in the time of deep Meditation and an Elevated Heavenly mind is fittest to entertain the Comforts and Glory of his Presence Thus you see it is a necessary Duty Many think it is an excuse to say it doth not suit with their temper that it is a good help but for those that can use it I Answer 1. It is true there is a great deal of difference among Christians some are more serious and consistent and have a greater Command over their thoughts others are of a more slight weak Spirit and are less apt for Duties of retirement and recollection But our unfitness is usually Moral rather than Natural not so much by temper as by disuse and Moral Unfitness cannot exempt us from a Moral Duty Inky water cannot wash the hand white or a Sin exempt me from a Duty Indisposition which is a Sin in me doth not disanul my engagements to God as a Servants Drunkenness doth not excuse him from work That it is a Moral unfitness appeareth by two things 1. Disuse and Neglect is the cause of it Those that use it have a greater Command over their thoughts Men count it a great yoak but Custom would make it easie Every Duty is an help to it self and the more we meditate the more we shall It is pleasant to them that use it Psalm 1.2 His delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night Fierce Creatures are tame to those that use to command them and if a Man did use to govern his thoughts he would find them more obedient 2. Want of Love Thoughts are at the Service of Love we pause and stay upon such Objects as we delight in Psal. 1.2 His delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night Love naileth and fastneth the Soul to the Object or thing beloved as we see we can dwell upon Carnal Pleasures because our Heart is there As Solomon gives this reason why a Carnal Man cannot dwell upon a sad and solemn Object because his heart is in the house of Mirth Eccles. 7.4 We usually complain we want Temper and we want Matter but the truth is we want an heart David saith Psalm 119.97 Oh how love I thy law it is my Meditation all the day Delightsome Objects will engross the thoughts Therefore see if it be not a Moral Distemper 2. Suppose it be a Natural Unfitness yet while you have Reason it is not Total and Universal and therefore cannot excuse We see in other Duties some have the gift of Utterance and have a great savoryness and readiness of Expression for Prayer others are more bound up and restrained but this can be no plea for them wholly to neglect Prayer Duty must be done as we are able God will hear the breathing panting Soul as well as the rowling Tongue so it is in Meditation some are more for musing and can better melt out their Souls in Devout Retirements other can shew their Love better in Zealous Actions and Publick Engagements for the Glory of Christ yet still though there be a diversity of Gifts we are all bound to the same Duties and though we be fitter for some rather than others yet none must be neglected in their Order and Course 3. The Rank and Place that Meditation hath among the Duties Meditation is a middle sort of Duty between the Word and Prayer and hath respect to both The Word feedeth Meditation and Meditation feedeth Prayer we must hear that we be not erroneous and meditate that we be not barren These Duties must alwayes go hand in hand Meditation must follow hearing and precede Prayer 1. To hear and not to meditate is unfruitful We may hear and hear but it is like putting a thing into a bag with holes Haggai 1.6 He that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes Iames 1.23 24. He is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was Bare hearing begets but Transient Thoughts and they leave but a weak impression which is rather like the glance of a Sun-beam upon a Wall there is a glaring for the present but a Man never discerneth the Beauty the Lustre and the Order of the Truths delivered till he cometh to meditate upon them then we come clearly to see into the Truth and how it concerneth us and how it falleth upon our Hearts David saith Psalm 119.99 I have more understanding than all my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation The Preacher can but deliver general Theorems and draw them down to Practical Inferences by Meditation we come to see more clearly and practically than he that preacheth We see in outward Learning they thrive best that meditate most Knowledge floateth till by deliberate thoughts it be compressed upon the Affections 2. It is dangerous to meditate and not to hear because of Errors Man will soon impose a deceit upon himself by his own thoughts Fanatick Spirits that neglect hearing pretend to Dreams and Revelations we have a Sophister and an Heretick in our own bosoms which soon deceiveth without a Stock and Treasure of some Knowledge for Men would be vain in their Imaginations were not their thoughts corrected by an External Light and Instruction Iude calleth those Fanatick Persons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filthy dreamers Iude 8. All Practical Errors are Mens Natural Imaginations gotten up into a Valuable Opinion 3. It is rashness to pray and not to meditate What we take in by the Word we digest by Meditation and let out by Prayer These three Duties must be so ordered that one may not justle out the other Men are barren dry and sapless in their Prayers for want of exercising themselves in Holy thoughts Psalm 45.1 My heart is inditing a good matter and then it follows I will speak of the things which I have made touching the king my tongue is the pen of a ready writer The Heart yieldeth Matter to the Tongue the word signifieth boyleth and fryeth a word from Mincha their Meat-Offering the Oyl and the Flower was to be kneaded together and then fryed in a Pan and then offered to the Lord implying we must not come with raw dough-baked-offerings till we have concocted and prepared them by Mature Deliberation It is notable that often in Scripture Prayer is called by the name of
these little ones a Cup of cold Water only in the Name of a Disciple he shall in no wise lose his Reward The Smalness and Meanness of the Benefit Help and Refreshing done to any in Christ's Name shall not make it lose its Estimation and Recompence This though hardly credited by the unbelieving World is very true Verily I say unto you and he shall in no wise c. they are emphatical Expressions But now the more eminent Services which are carried on with Hazard and Difficulty and very considerable Self-denial surely they shall not fail of their Recompence Whatever we lose for Christ we shall receive again with infinite Advantage Mark 10.29 30. And Iesus answered and said Verily I say unto you there is no Man that hath left House or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for my sake and the Gospel's but he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time Houses and Brethren and Sisters and Mothers and Children and Lands with Persecution and in the World to come eternal Life He shall in this Life in the midst of his Persecutions and the time of his Trials and Troubles have an hundred-fold not in kind an hundred Wives and Mothers as Iulian and Nero scoffed at the Christians but in Value in Peace of Conscience and Joy in the Holy Ghost and the Satisfaction of having discharged his Duty But God will not rest there in the World to come he shall have eternal Life Now then the Argument groweth upon our Hands If self-denying Obedience would be not only Man's Loss but utter Ruin and he be made miserable by his Duty without any Recompence God would not only be not the best but the worst Master and they that suffer the Loss of Life and all things by the Cruelty of their Persecutors would be utter Losers by their Faithfulness and Obedience to God which is contrary to the Experience of all Mankind and all that natural Light and Sense of Religion that is in Mens Hearts Surely Christ would never proselyte us to a Religion that is our undoing nor shall any of his People be Losers by him or they that venture the most for him be in the worst Condition and therefore there must be another Life wherein he will fulfil the Good he hath promised and execute the Evil threatned 2. From the Nature State and Condition of Man 1. He is God's Subject not left at Liberty to break or keep God's Laws at his own Pleasure which he would seem to be if no harm would come to it yea present Good and Profit For we see here the Wicked live a Life of Pomp and Ease and often have their Will upon the Godly and oppress them at their Pleasure their Wickedness is their Advantage Now this is not only a great Discouragement to the Gracious and Heavenly-minded but would quite destroy all Obedience if there were not Assurance of a better Estate Therefore God expresses himself as particularly ingaged to punish such as flatter themselves with Hopes of Impunity though they go on in their Wickedness Deut. 29.19 20. And it came to pass when he heareth the Words of this Curse that he bless himself in his Heart saying I shall have Peace though I walk in the Imagination of mine Heart to add Drunkenness to Thirst. The Lord will not spare him but then the Anger of the Lord and his Iealousy shall smoke against that Man and all the Curses that are written in this Book shall lie upon him and the Lord shall blot out his Name from under Heaven They that add the moist to the dry and the dry to the moist So Zeph. 1.12 And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with Candles and punish the Men that are setled upon their Lees that say in their Heart The Lord will not do Good neither will he do Evil. And on the other side he considereth the Case of the Faithful that they have an opposite Principle against their Duty within their Hearts which must be always curbed and suppressed and they meet with many Temptations from the Oppositions and Reproaches of those that like not that sort of Life which they addict and apply themselves unto and therefore if they have not sufficient Motives to keep them in the Love of God and Obedience to the End how shall they bear up against all these Blasts of Persecution when all the World is against them They need both their Cordials and their Solaces from another and better World Therefore God assureth them that their Fidelity and Obedience shall not be lost that they are blessed already and shall be perfectly blessed hereafter Jam. 1.12 Blessed is the Man that indureth Temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him 1 Pet. 4.13 But rejoice in as much as ye are Partakers of Christ's Sufferings that when his Glory shall be revealed you may be glad also with exceeding Ioy. That is that these Sufferings are sure Pledges of the Glory that shall insue Their Joy is suspended while the Glory of Christ is under a Vail but when he is manifested to the World they shall be manifested to be the Children of God Alas otherwise what would become of the best Servants God hath in the World when they are hooted at by the Clamours of the wicked Rabble and pursued with sharp Laws and exposed to great Difficulties and Hardships if they had no Life to live but this The bare Sense of our Duty would not support us in this State of Imperfection if there were not a great Recompence of Reward set before us So that the Perswasion of another Life is necessary to secure our Duty 2. Man is bound to be upright and sincere in God's Service or to get such a Constitution of Soul as to resolve to adhere to God whatever Temptations he hath to the contrary Our Lord describeth the good Ground to be that good and honest Heart which having received the Word keeps it and brings forth Fruit with Patience Luke 8.15 This was a Principle not denied by many Heathens who esteemed the love of Honesty and Goodness better than this mortal Life with all its Appurtenances and thought that a Man was never sincere nor throughly honest till he did abhor the Practice of any Villany and Impiety more than Death and those things which were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 absolutely good a Man ought to love them more than Life and lose Life rather than omit their Practice Now such Principles whether they saw it yea or no do necessarily conclude and infer a Life after this much better than this is and an Estate of Torment much worse than Death to those that have lived and died dishonestly For every thing that hath a Being doth by an indispensible Law of Nature desire the continuance of its Being but most of all its Well-being or the bettering of
not only shew them what they must do but how they may come to do their Duty in this kind for saith he The Grace of God which bringeth Salvation c. In the Words you may observe the Teacher the Lesson the Encouragement and Inducements to learn First The Teacher is the Grace of God described ver 11. Secondly The Lesson is the whole Duty of our Heavenly Calling set forth ver 12. and there 1 st Negatively in departing from Evil denying Vngodliness and worldly Lusts. 2 dly Positively in cleaving to that which is good We should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World Where you may observe that the Duty of the Creature is distributed into three Ranks and Parts according to the several Objects to which it is refâ—â—red soberly we must walk as to our selves righteously as to our Neighbour and godly that the Lord himself may not be defrauded of his Portion There are in a moral Consideration but three things in the World thy Self thy Neighbour and God and suitably doth the Apostle distribute and parcel out Christian Offices and Duties soberly as to our selves righteously as to our Neighbour and godly as to God Thirdly The Encouragements to learn and they are two If we look forward there is Hope if we look backward there is Gratitude or an Obligation arising from the Death of Christ. In short the two great Motives and Inducements are the Hope of eternal Life and the End of Christ's Death Hope of eternal Life ver 13. Looking for the blessed Hope c. the End of Christ's Death ver 14. who gave himself for us c. The Text being long I shall forbear Exposition till I come to handle the several Branches I shall first begin with the Teacher described ver 11. The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men. The Grace of God is described by its Property it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Grace bringing Salvation or tending to Salvation as the Word signifies and by a special Adjunct its present Manifestation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it hath appeared suddainly broken out like the Light of the Morning after a dark Night and then there is the Extent of that Manifestation it hath appeared to all Men. Some indeed refer this Extent not to the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it hath appeared but to the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bringing Salvation and they read it as we do in the Margent The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation to all Men hath appeared there is not much Difference To supersede all Doubt and Dispute about the matter all Men here signifies all sorts of Men for the Apostle had spoken of Servants and Bond-men that they in their Relations should glorify God and he proves it by this Argument The Grace of God hath appeared to all Men that is to the Bond-man as well as to the Lord and Master therefore they in their places are to discharge their Duties as well as others for the Gospel as I said hath appeared to all Men and presseth all sorts of Duties I. I begin with the thing described The Grace of God It is a term that admits of divers Acceptations sometimes it is put for God's eternal Favour and Good-Will sometimes for the Effects of this Favour as Grace infused and bestowed upon the Creature Ephes. 4.7 To every one of us is given Grace according to the Measure of the Gift of Christ. Sometimes it is put for the Gospel which is the Charter by which we hold this Grace and so it is said Rom. 6.15 You are not under the Law but under Grace i. e. under the State of the Gospel Here I take it in the first sense viz. for the gracious Will and good Pleasure of God to do Good to Men or to shew Mercy to the Creature for God's Kindness and Bounty to Men is expressed by several terms the most usual are two Grace and Mercy I will shew how they agree and how they differ They both agree in this that they are Attributes which merely respect the Creature The Love and Knowledg of God first falleth upon himself God knows himself and loves himself and then the Creature But now the Mercy and Grace of God are merely transient and pass out to and respect the Creature only God cannot be gracious to himself and merciful to himself as he loves himself and knows himself and therefore herein they agree But now in some respects they differ Grace properly signifies the Freeness of God's Love Mercy relates to the Misery of the Creature God's external Motive is our Misery and his internal Motive is his own Grace Mercy respects us as we are in our selves worthy of Condemnation Grace respects us as we are compared with others that are not elected As for Instance if the Question be Why any are chosen to Life it is out of Mercy because they are lost and undone Creatures But then if the Question be Why these are chosen above others then the ultimate Reason is God's Grace Once more the Angels that never sinned are saved meerly out of Grace and not out of Mercy it is not proper to say they are saved out of Mercy for they were never miserable but Men that were once miserable are saved not only out of Grace but also out of Mercy In short Mercy signifies that Love of God which helps the Miserable and Grace signifies a Property in God to give forth things freely and without desert Grace doth all gratis freely and without any Merit or Precedent Obligation or Debt Note then Doct. 1. That the original and first moving Cause of all the Blessings we have from God is Grace Survey all the Blessings of the Covenant and from first to last you will see Grace doth all Election Vocation Justification Sanctification Glorification all is from Grace There 's a clue of Scriptures which will lead us through all these steps and direct us to Grace 1. For Election Rom. 11.5 6. There is a Remnant according to the Election of Grace And then he adds presently for Paul cannot mention Grace but he must run out into the Praise or Vindication of it And if by Grace then it is no more of Works otherwise Grace is no more Grace But if it be of Works then it is more Grace otherwise Work is no more Work Mark the Context The Apostle's drift in that place is to prove that all Israel are not cast away that thô the Nation of Israel were past by yet there were a Remnant chosen according to the Election of Grace Grace is spoken of by the by but he takes every little Occasion to digress into the Commendation of Grace and what doth he say The Foundation and Ground of Salvation is God's Election and the impulsive Cause of Election is God's Grace Why is there a Remnant there 's an Election and why is there Election it is according to Grace 2. Our Calling when Election breaketh out in time and becometh
enough and to spare There is Grace enough in God If we perish it is not for want of Mercy but for want of Faith Why should we then put away this Grace that is revealed to us yea offered to us If it were to be procured by any thing in us we might despair Take heed of slighting the Grace of God it is God's Treasure so far as you lessen Grace you make God a poor God Mark that Expression Ephes. 2.4 God who is rich in Mercy God is Lord of all things but he counts nothing to be his Treasure but his Goodness and Mercy He doth not say rich in Power thô he is able to do beyond what we can ask or think nor rich in Justice thô he be Righteous in all his Ways and Just in all his Works nor doth he say rich in Creatures thô his are the Cattel of a thousand Hills but rich in Mercy Therefore take heed of straitning Mercy for so far you lessen God's Wealth and Treasure 3. Grace is wronged by intercepting the Glory of Grace It is the greatest Sacriledg that can be to rob God of his Glory especially the Glory of his Grace Above all things in the World God's Glory is the most dear to him he cannot endure to have a Partner especially is the Glory of his Grace dear to him it is the whole aim of all his Dispensations to glorify Grace Ephes. 1.6 To the praise of the Glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved You rob God of his chiefest Honour when you take the Crown of Glory that is due to Grace and put it upon your own Head As for instance When you think he accepts you rather than others for some Worth or good Qualities that he seeth in you more than in others Alas in the Light of the Gospel such Thoughts are not expressed but they lurk secretly in the Heart Deut. 9.4 Speak not thou in thy Heart saying For my Righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this Land A Man's Heart is very prone to these Thoughts God seeth that I would bring him more Glory than another it is for my Righteousness Grace is wronged also when you are puffed up with any thing you have done for God as if it were done by your own Power and Strength A Christian in this Case should learn the Policy of Ioab when he was in a fair way of taking Rabbah he sent for David to take the Honour of winning it 2 Sam. 12.28 Now therefore gather the rest of the People together and encamp against the City and take it lest I take it and it be called after my Name So when we have done any thing for the Glory of God let us send for God to take the Honour Thus the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.10 I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I but the Grace of God which was with me If there be any Excellency still throw the Crown at Grace's Feet The industrious Servant said Luke 19.16 Thy Pound hath gained ten Pounds not my Industry but thy Pound 4. Grace is wronged by turning it into Wantonness It is a heavy Charge and a black Note is set on them Iude 4. Vngodly Men turning the Grace of God into Lasciviousness When Men sin freely that God may pardon freely when they presume upon Grace as if that should bear all and use it as a Dung-Cart to carry away all their Filth or like riotous Children who have a rich Father therefore spend freely their Father's Estate shall pay for all It is a mighty wrong to Grace when we make it pliable to such a vile purpose You dishonour God and disparage Grace when you would make it to father the Bastards of your own Carnal Hearts You are vile and sinful and you are so under the Encouragements of Grace and the rather because of the abundance of Grace and like the Spider suck Poison out of the Flower and turn it into the Nourishment of your Lust or as the Salt Sea turns the sweet Rivers and Dews of Heaven and all that falls into it into Salt-Water so Carnal Hearts do assimulate all that they meet with and turn it into Fuel for their Lusts. Men would fain sin securely and cum Privilegio with Licence from Heaven and therefore they take Liberty even from the Grace of God This is a vile abuse a quite contrary way the Grace of God teacheth us to deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts and not to be more secure and careless because they have so much Grace But they hale it and wrest it from its natural End and Purpose and sin freely because God pardons freely Grace giveth no such liberty to sin This is done grievously by the Antinomians who say Grace gives them Freedom from the Moral Law It is true Grace makes us free but to Duty not to Sin There is a sad Expression Rom. 6.20 When ye were the Servants of Sin ye were free from Righteousness it is a Description of the Carnal State Duty hath no awe upon his Heart when Men think themselves free from the Law rather than Sin and when they expect Comfort thô they walk in the Way of their own Heart they have abused Grace and taken hold of the Devil's Covenant and not of God's There is never any Creature freed from the Law God never made a Creature to be absolutely sui juris at his own disposal The Angels themselves thô they have many Immunities and Priviledges above us as being exempted from Troubles Diseases and Death and from the Clog of Flesh which we carry about us yet they are not exempted from Duty or from a Law They do his Commandments and hearken to the Voice of his Word Psal. 103.20 Earthly Kings may free some of their Subjects from their Homage as Saul made a Proclamation He that doth thus and thus his Father's House shall be free in Israel 1 Sam. 17.25 But God never made any Creature to be absolutely freed from a Law But if a Man be right in Doctrine thô he hold the Obligation of the Moral Law on a Believer yet he may be an Antinomian in practice and abuse and wrong Grace as thus If a Man slacken any part of his Duty for Grace's sake or le ts loose the Reins of vile Affections with more freedom and saith God will not be so rigorous he wrongeth Grace If Men be not so watchful and so strict if Men grow more careless secure and negligent if they be not so constant in Duty if they lessen ought of their Humiliation for Sin or strictness and watchfulness in their Conversation they are as a Spider that sucks Poison out of Grace A Man hath never the more carnal Liberty for being acquainted with the Gospel This is the great thing which puts us upon Duty and Watchfulness and melts the Heart for Sin and awes it and disposeth it to Obedience 5. Grace is wronged by slighting it after a Taste as Carnal Professors do
Sleep and Pastime II. In Meats and Drinks and the necessary Supports of Humane Life III. In Pomp and Apparel IV. In the Cares of this World I st Branch Sobriety in Recreation The first Branch of Sobriety in Recreation in Sleep and Pastime and other the Delights of Humane Life For Sleep I need say but little it is a soft Enemy that steals away half our Time and should be reckoned among our Burdens and not our Pleasures as a thing to be born with Patience rather than to be taken with Delight It is our Unhappiness that so much of our Lives should be spent and not one Act of Love and Kindness should be shewed to God The Angels that are wholly spiritual are exempted from this Necessity Night and Day they are always praising God doing his Will and hearkning to the Voice of his Word Yea we may see many other Creatures are restless in their Motions and obey the Law of their Creation without weariness The Sun in a constant unwearied Course moves from East to West and from West to East and never ceaseth When thou liest upon thy Bed in the Morning thou mayest think of it how many thousand Miles the Sun hath travelled since thou wenest to rest the last Night that he might come again this Morning to give thee Light to go about thy Labour and Exercise and yet thou liest snorting upon thy Bed and turning hither and thither as Solomon saith like a Door upon the Hinges David contended with the Sun who should be up first as the Sun to represent God to the World so he to acknowledg God in his Prayers and Supplications Psal. 119.147 I prevented the dawning of the Morning and cried But of this I will speak no more Common Prudence and the Light of Nature will give us sufficient Direction But now for Sports and other the Delights of Humane Life accept of God's Indulgence with Thankfulness and use it with Moderation Adam in Innocency was placed in a Garden of Delight and since the Fall God hath provided not only for Necessity but Pleasure Certainly in Christ we have a great Liberty but we should not use it as an Occasion to the Flesh. To the Pure all things are pure Titus 1.15 Only let us take heed that we are pure in the use of these outward Comforts and Refreshments Now we need not fear the Uncleanness of Meats and Sports but let us fear the Uncleanness of Lusts. There is a double exercise of Sobriety in our Sports and Recreations and the Delights of the Humane Life to direct us in the Choice of them and in the Use of them 1. In the Choice of them that they be lawful not the Pleasures of Sin Heb. 11.25 There is a strange Perverseness in Man's Nature those Pleasures relish best that are seasoned with Sin as if we could not do Nature Right without Wrong to God and putting an Affront upon his Laws He that breaks the Hedg a Serpent shall bite him Eccles. 10.8 Now to prevent danger in this kind and that we may not break through the Hedg and the Restraints which God hath set us and so find Remorse upon our Death-Beds Conscience must be informed Generally we may observe that we offend God more in our Recreations than in any other Affairs of Life and are more guilty of unlawful Recreations than of unlawful ways of Gain and Traffick and therefore it is good to be wary and keep at a distance from Sin And because Recreations are not among things absolutely necessary but only convenient if they be questionable or of ill Fame it is better to forbear Phil. 4.8 Whatsoever things are of good report c. think of these things that we may be sure not to be guilty of any contempt of God and that we may not give offence to others As for Instance a Lusory Lot in Cards or Dice is very questionable therefore better to be forborn than used especially where they give offence And again because every thing is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer 1 Tim. 4.4 therefore we should seek to understand our Liberty by the Word and venture upon nothing in this kind but what we can commend to God in Prayer and upon which we can ask a Blessing Thus Sobriety directs you in the choice of Recreations 2. In the Use. Usually we offend in such things as are for the Matter lawful there the Soul is more secure as in the Gospel the Excuse is put in the handsomest terms Luke 14.20 I have married a Wife and therefore I cannot come For the understanding of it note Christ's Parables do put the Dispositions of Mens Hearts into Words Now the Sensualist or the Man that is addicted to Pleasures is there represented and mark he doth not urge dalliance with Harlots but I have married a Wife and therefore I cannot come implying that excess in lawful Pleasures keepeth many from Christ and from the things of Grace and therefore here is the Work of Sobriety to set bounds and limits to the use and exercise of our Liberty that it may not degenerate into Licentiousness Well but what Rules shall we observe In short then we offend in Sports when they waste our Estate rob us of our Time cheat us of opportunity of Privacy and Retirement with God and when they unfit the Heart for the Duties of Religion 1. When they waste their Estates You may not do with your Estates as you please you are Stewards and are to be accountable to God at the last Day for every Penny Why should a Prodigal have a greater Liberty and Dominion over his Estate than a covetous Man I will tell you for what reason I speak it Prodigals that waste their Substance with riotous Living as he described in Luke 15.13 when they are taxed for this they say It is my own and I may do with my own as I please We are not content to take such an Answer from a rich and covetous Man when you press him to Charity if he should say It is my own and I shall give what I please as Nabal said 1 Sam. 25.11 Shall I take my Bread and my Water and my Flesh that I have killed for my Shearers and give it unto Men whom I know not The truth is it is a mistake on both sides it is not theirs but God's he is the great Owner Therefore when Recreations are costly and waste your Estates you cannot give an account of it to God at the great Day you rob your Families at least the Poor Lust starves Charity and makes it a Beggar It is sad when a Lust can command thee to do more than the Love of God can when you can lavish away thus much upon your Pleasures and account nothing too dear for them and every Penny be begrudged that is for a Use truly good You are guilty of Sacrilege to God you rob him of his Tribute and you rob the Poor of their Support who are God's Receivers 2.
So the Heart is fixed in God by Faith it depends upon him and looks for the Success and Issue of all from his Blessing though the Hand in the mean time be imployed in the Use of Means Certainly God allows us careful Provision against all visible Evils though they be to come as Ioseph stored the Granaries of Egypt against the dear Years But not to distract our selves with a Supposal of future Contingencies therefore our Saviour saith Matth. 6.34 Take no Thought for the Morrow and ver 31. Take no Thought saying What shall we eat or what shall we drink and wherewithal shall we be clothed This is that the Scripture forbids You ought not to trouble your selves with uncertain future Events but to refer your selves to the Disposal of God Briefly sinful Cares may be thus discerned 1. Distrustful Care is troubled about the Event what shall be the Issue but lawful Care is imployed in the Use of Means The Event is God's Act Duty is ours and to trouble our selves about it is to take God's Work out of his Hands We set our selves in God's stead when we think to accomplish our Ends by our own Industry The Lord might lay this Burden upon us as a Punishment of Sin but he would have us cast it upon himself 1 Pet. 5.7 Casting all your Care upon him for he careth for you To neglect the Means were to neglect Providence but then to trouble our selves about the Event what will be the Issue and how these Means will succeed that is to renounce Providence to reproach God as if he were not sollicitous for us A Christian is not to trouble himself what will become of him and his Posterity that is God's care and it is altogether needless in us for God is alsufficient but he is to be diligent in a lawful Calling and then let God do what seemeth him good 2. Sinful Care flieth to unlawful Means but Religious Care keepeth within the bounds of Duty Prov. 16.8 Better is a little with Righteousness than great Revenues without right It useth no Means that are indirect and sinful Men that will not trust God with success will soon go out of God's way The Unbeliever looketh not to what is just but to what is gainful as those that gathered Manna on the Sabbath-Day and trod Wine-presses and brought in Sheaves and laded Asses Neh. 13.15 3. Sinful Care is immoderate in the use of lawful Means Eccles. 2.23 For all his Days are Sorrows and his Travel Grief yea his Heart taketh not rest in the night Those that have none else to trust to no wonder if they make use of their own Endeavours to the uttermost but he that hath an Heavenly Father should not so cumber and distract his Spirit Eccles. 4.8 There is one alone and there is not a second yea he hath neither Child nor Brother yet is there no end of all his Labour neither is his Eye satisfied with Riches neither saith he For whom do I labour and bereave my Soul of Good The World will not let them be quiet they toil and moil and there is no end When Men multiply Means they have no trust in God God is tender of all his Creatures much more of the reasonable Creature 4. Sinful Care increaseth upon good Duties but diligent Care fairly complieth with them Christ warns his Disciples Luke 21.34 Take heed to your selves lest at any time your Hearts be over-charged with Surfeiting and Drunkenness and Cares of this Life Our care for eternal Things doth not carry any proportion to the Excellency of them but they are laid aside Mat. 13.22 He heareth the Word and the Care of this World and the Deceitfulness of Riches choak the Word and it becometh unfruitful They take up the Room Travel and Affection which Heavenly things should have so that they have no time to converse with God or to look into their Souls so that the Heart groweth poor lean distempered and unfit for holy Uses they are greedy of Wealth and prodigal of Salvation Secondly Whence it ariseth From a distrust of God and discontent with our Portion 1. From a distrust of God Carking takes his Work out of his Hands as the Care of the Son is a Reproof to the Father You tax his Being and Providence A Child at School taketh no care for Maintenance because he hath a Father Mat. 6.32 Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things 2. From discontent with our Portion We have never enough and expect more than God will allow Heb. 13.5 Let your Conversation be without Covetousness and be content with such things as you have for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee It is not our Necessities but the enlargement of our Desires that causeth carking We would have more and more worldly Goods which hindreth us from trusting God's Promise I will never leave thee nor forsake thee The Sea hath Banks and Bottom but not Man's Heart We begin and end with nothing and yet nothing will suffice us There is a Story of a Discourse between Pyrrhus and Cynicus when he told him of his Designs When thou hast vanquished the Romans what wilt thou then do Conquer Sicily What then Subdue Africk When that is effected what then Then we will sit down and be quiet and spend our Time contentedly And what hinders but thou mayest do so before without all this Labour and Peril Thirdly The Cure of it Cure it by Christ's Arguments Matth. 6.25 Take no thought for your Life what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink nor yet for your Body what ye shall put on Is not the Life more than Meat and the Body than Raiment c. 1. Life is more than Meat and the Body than Raiment ver 25. Deus donando debet God by giving is become a Debtor Life without any Aid of ours is a Pledg of more Mercy God provided us two Bottles of Milk when we were new born Psal. 22.9 10. Thou art he that took me out of the Womb thou didst make me hope when I was upon my Mother's Breast I was cast upon thee from the Womb thou art my God from my Mother's Belly Who formed us and suckled us and continued us hitherto We are unthankful to God if we ascribe it to our selves 2. Consider God's Providence to other Creatures God feeds the Fowls Matth. 6.26 Behold the Fowls of the Air for they sow not neither do they reap nor gather into Barns yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them Are not ye better than they God paints the Lilies ver 28 29. Consider the Lilies of the Field how they grow they toil not neither do they spin and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his Glory was not arrayed like one of these Luke instances in the Raven which is Animal cibi rapacissimum a Creature ravenous of Food chap. 12.34 Consider the Ravens for they neither sow nor reap which neither have Store-house nor
Barn and God feedeth them The Raven is a Bird of Providence Psal. 147.9 He giveth to the Beast his Food and to the young Ravens which cry The Raven assoon as it is hatched it is left to Prayer for the Crying of the Ravens is their Prayer Now ask the Beasts if there be not a Providence Job 12.7 But ask now the Beasts and they will teach thee and the Fowls of the Air and they shall tell thee These Creatures have no ordinary Means they neither sow nor reap nor gather into Barns the Lilies spin not and yet God feedeth and clotheth them And shall he not much more clothe you O ye of little Faith Mat. 6.30 3. Consider the fruitlesness of our Care unless God add a Blessing Ver. 27. Which of you by taking thought can add one Cubit to his Stature A Man never gets any thing of God by not trusting him He that will not take God's Word must look elsewhere The way to obtain earthly things is to be less careful and distracted about them 4. Consider it is for them to distrust who know no Providence or no particular Providence Ver. 32. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek Distrust and carking becometh none but those that will not grant a Providence Shall our Profession be Christian and our Practice Heathen 5. Set your Minds on a higher Interest Ver. 33. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you You then promote both Cares at once Christianity is a compendious way the Body followeth the State of the Soul Man was made to contemplate and enjoy better things and when he doth so these things shall be given in over and above SERMON IX TITUS II. 12 Righteously c. I Now come to the second Branch wherein the Duty of Man is express'd and that is Iustice or Righteousness which implies the Duties of our Publick Capacity and Relation to others Tho the Discourse be moral yet it may conduce to spiritual Ends. Therefore let us see what may be spoken concerning Justice and Righteousness Justice is a Grace by which we are enclined to perform our Duty to our Neighbour There are many Distinctions usual in this Matter which I shall omit and only deliver you the Nature of this Grace in some general Rules and then shew you how much it concerns us to look after this Grace to be just and righteous in the Course of our Conversation First To give you the Nature of this Grace in some general Rules and they are such as these To give every Man his own to do Injury to no Man to make Restitution to bear the Injuries of others with Patience in many cases not to demand our own extreme Right to do as we would be done unto Publick Good to be preferred before Private and that according to our power we must be useful to others 1 st To give every Man his own This is laid down Rom. 13.7 Render therefore to all their Dues Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custom to whom Custom Fear to whom Fear Honour to whom Honour This Due ariseth either by virtue of the Law of God or by virtue of a Bargain and Contract or by virtue of a voluntary Promise 1. There is a Due that ariseth by virtue of the Law of God such things cannot be dispensed with therefore the Obligation cannot be made void as for instance A Child is to honour his Parents by the Law of God and a Father cannot discharge his Child from Obedience as we may remit a Duty or thing that is due by Bargain and Contract because we have greater power over ... There is a Due to every one as Reverence to Parents Obedience and Tribute to Magistrates double Honour to Ministers and the Guides of the Church It 〈◊〉 Injustice to deny Parents a Respect it is Theft and Robbery to defraud Magistraâ—es of their Tribute or Ministers of their Maintenance it is not a Gift but a Deâ—◠〈◊〉 â—he Scripture saith they are worthy of double Honour 1 Tim. 5.17 Let the Elaâ—â—â—â—hat rule well be counted worthy of double Honour especially they who labour in the Wâ—rd and Doctrine And it is not in a begging way as a Contribution but as an honorary Stipend Things that are due by natural Duty cannot be dispensed with as things due by Bargain and Contract because the Obligation cannot be made void 2. There is a Due that ariseth by way of Bargain and Contract Rom. 13.8 Owe no Man any thing but to love one another If Mony be borrowed but not restored it is Theft and Injustice If you bargain with another the full Bargain is due to him 1 Thess. 4.6 Let no Man go beyond or defraud his Brother in any Matter because that the Lord is the Avenger of all such as we also have forewarned you and testified He is to enjoy his full Bargain The Apostle saw a need of enforcing this Doctrine in the Church to prevent the Iniquity of Traffick The Seller is not to work upon the Simplicity of the Buyer nor the Buyer upon the Necessity of the Seller but all things must be done equally else God will be offended But chiefly is this Iniquity committed and that it is in an high degree when the Reward you are to give is not bought with Money but earned with Labour Defrauding the Hireling and Servants of their Wages is a very crying Sin the greatest height of Iniquity it cries in the Ears of the Lord of Hosts Iames 5.4 Behold the Hire of the Labourers which have reaped down your Fields which is of you kept back by Fraud crieth and the Cries of them which have reaped are entred into the Ears of the Lord of Sabaoth God is their Patron This is a grievous Sin because it is their Life and their Support and Solace Deut. 24.14 15. Thou shalt not oppress an hired Servant that is poor and needy whether he be of thy Brethren or of the Strangers that are in thy Land within thy Gates At his Day thou shalt give him his Hire neither shall the Sun go down upon it for he is poor and setteth his Heart upon it lest he cry against thee unto the Lord and it be Sin unto thee It is often spoken of in Scripture There is a greater and more pressing Inconvenience to defraud the Labourer than to defraud others 3. Again there 's a Due ariseth by voluntary Promise We make our selves Debtors and it is part of Justice to make good our Promise though it be to our own hurt and loss Psal. 15.4 He that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not All Promises must be kept but those that are evil and those are void in making Why because they are Bonds of Iniquity so they must be broken and not kept and again because they are contrary to the former Promise we have made to God to obey his Laws it is evil to make a sinful Promise and it is a
and reflected upon the Soul there is the more Service and Care to glorify God and to do him Respect and Honour Thus Faith the radical Grace is necessary for this temper and frame of Heart which is called Godliness and inclineth us to worship and glorify God 2. Fear and Love are likewise necessary I join them together because they do best mix'd Love with Fear that it may not be servile and Fear with Love that it may not be careless and secure both are Gospel-Graces In the Old Testament when God's Dispensations were more legal and God is represented as a Judg Fear is more spoken of but in the New Testament where more of Grace is discovered Love is more spoken of but both are necessary Fear and Love are indeed essential Respects of the Creature to God therefore both continue in Heaven and they are of great Use in the spiritual Life to maintain Piety Fear is necessary that we may keep God always in our Eye and Love that we may keep him always in our Hearts Fear restrains from Offence and Love urgeth to Work and Service Fear thinks of God's Eye and represents him as a Looker on and Love remembers God's Kindness Fear makes us cautious and watchful and stirs up awful Thoughts that we may not offend God and grieve his Spirit and Love works a Desire to injoy him and a Care to glorify him wherein indeed true Godliness consists for Godliness in its proper Notion importeth a Tendency of the Heart towards God either to injoy him which is our Happiness or to glorify him which is our Work and Duty And therefore Love is of great Use it stirs up Desires to injoy God and Fear which stirs up Care to glorify God Fear makes us upright because of God's Eye and Love makes us diligent and earnest because we are about God's Work who hath been gracious to us in Christ the one makes us serious the other active so that they are both of great Use to constitute that frame and temper of Heart wherein Piety consists Well then he is godly that feareth God for he would not offend him and he is godly that loves God because all his Care and Desire is to serve him and injoy him Secondly The Ordinances about which Godliness is conversant Because Particulars are most effective let me speak a Word of each The Ordinances which manifest which nourish which increase Godliness are these Reading Hearing Meditating Prayer the Use of the Seals and keeping of the Sabbath 1. Reading the Word The Words of Scripture have a proper Efficacy The Holy Ghost is the best Preacher therefore it is good now and then to go to the Fountain our selves and not only to have the Word brought to us by others but to read it our selves As the Eunuch Acts 8.28 when he returned from publick Worship he was reading the Scripture and God owned it by sending him an Interpreter Every Ordinance hath its proper Blessing and when we use it out of Conscience God will not be wanting He that sent Philip to the Eunuch will send his own Spirit to help thee therefore read the Word Daniel the Prophet that had the highest Visions from God yet he studies other Prophecies those of Ieremiah Dan. 9.2 I Daniel understood by Books the Number of the Years whereof the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the Prophet Mark the Study of the Scripture is a Duty that lies upon those that are most gifted and most eminent for Parts Nay the Prophets and holy Men of God read over again and studied their own Prophecies 1 Pet. 1.10 Of which Salvation the Prophets have enquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the Grace that should come unto you And if they that were guided by an infallible Spirit immediately inspired by the Holy Ghost if they thought fit to read and read again and again their own Prophecies and inquire diligently into the Salvation they spoke of much more is it our Duty to read the Word None is above the Ordinance of Reading That 's one Ordinance which nourisheth Godliness 2. Hearing One Institution must not justle out another It is not enough to read at home but you must also hear and attend upon publick Preaching Rom. 10.14 How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard It is God's Ordinance Seldom is Grace got by Reading We have our Confirmation by Reading but usually Conversion is by Hearing therefore do not reason against this Duty and say you can provide your selves with Books you are not wiser than God his Will should be Reason enough though the Institution should be never so mean and despicable 1 Cor. 1.21 It pleased God by the Foolishness of Preaching to save them that believe All God's Institutions are full of Wisdom and full of Reason There is some Help certainly in Hearing there 's a Ministerial Excitation which is of some Use. Look as warm'd Milk is fitter to nourish than that which is cold so the Word of God delivered by a lively Voice hath a greater Congruity and Sutableness to the Work of Grace As the Ear was the Door by which Death got into the Soul by hearkning to the Temptation so God would have the Ear to be the Sense of Grace and the Door of Life and Peace In the Church Hearing is exercised as in Heaven Seeing Our Happiness in Heaven is express'd by Vision and Sight but in the Church Hearing is our Duty and our Benefits and Advantages come in by attending upon the Word therefore it is good to take all Occasions and to be swift to hear James 1.19 Though we know a great deal already and have never so great Parts yet we need a Monitor to represent the things of God to us and to awaken our Consideration and lay them before our Eyes and though we know many things we are forgetful and do not think of them It is good to come to this Duty that we may be put in Remembrance 3. Meditation a neglected thing but it falleth under the Care of Godliness as well as others It is not enough to exercise the Eyes and the Ears but the Thoughts God deserves the best Use and the Flower and Strength of our Reason and the things of God deserve Consideration being so difficult and so excellent Especially should we meditate upon the Word we hear for then there 's matter to work upon and somewhat whereby to fix the Thought Psal. 62.10 God hath spoken once twice have I heard this That which God speaks we should go over again and again in our Thoughts As when a Man hath been hearing of Bells the Sound hovereth in the Brain when the Bells cease Thus and thus hath God spoken to day and what shall I say to these things This is like grinding of the Corn it prepares and makes it fit Nourishment for the Soul So meditate upon what you read Iosh. 1.8 The Book of the Law shall not depart out of thy Mouth but thou shalt
Desires till he come again in person to convey us into his Father's Bosom It is a mysterious Instrument and Means God hath found out to convey Comfort and Grace to the Soul to work out a Union between him and the Creature We do not only draw nigh to God but are united to him It is the Beginning and Antipast of Glory so much Christ intimates Mat. 26.29 I will not henceforth drink of the fruit of the Vine until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom It is a Taste of the new Wine we shall drink with Christ those spiritual Consolations we shall receive from him in his Kingdom 7. Keeping the Sabbath-day holy It is a sure mark of an ungodly Person to be a Sabbath-breaker as a conscionableness to celebrate it to God's Glory is both a mark and a work of Godliness It is the description of the godly Eunuch Isa. 56.4 Thus saith the Lord to the Eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that please me and take hold of my Covenant Mark it is one of the chiefest things that is taken notice of there the observation of God's own Day If you would exercise your selves to Godliness this is a great means Prophaning the Lord's Day is the cause of Prophaneness all the week after and so a careless keeping the Lord's Day is the cause of the Carelesness and Formality you are guilty of in the business of Religion God hath appointed this Day for a repose for the Soul that by a long uninterrupted continuance in Worship it might be more seasoned and fit to converse with God all the week after Dost thou love Christ then observe his Day Ignatius calls it the Queen of Days The primitive Christians were very careful of the Sabbath they would run all hazards rather than not keep the Sabbath-day When they were accused as guilty of Sabbath-violation they would answer I am a Christian how can I choose but love the Lord's Day This is the Day wherein we do most solemnly and publickly profess the Worship of God therefore it is to be celebrated with all care Thus much for the Description of Godliness from the Disposition of the Heart and the Duties about which it is conversant II. I am to speak of the Exercise of Godliness 1 Tim. 4.7 Exercise thy self to Godliness It must be exercised both in Worship and Conversation 2 Pet. 3.11 What manner of Persons ought ye to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness First In Worship What is the part and office of Godliness in Worship 1. There must be a care that it be right God will not be at the Creature 's carving his Honour is best kept up by his own Institutions and therefore he will accept nothing but what he requires The Woman of Samaria as soon as she was converted enquired after the right Worship Christ had convinced her of Lewdness and living in Adultery Iohn 4.18 The Man thou now hast is not thy Husband The great thing that troubled her was her present standing and the Superstition she was nuzled and brought up in ver 20. Our Fathers worshipped in this Mountain and ye say that in Jerusalem is the Place where Men ought to worship Assoon as Men are awakened that is the question they can no longer be content with their ignorant sensless careless ceremonial worshipping of God and say Thus our Fathers did this will not serve the Conscience when it is a little stirred It is said of the People of God Ier. 50.5 They shall ask the way to Sion with their Faces thitherward Sion was the place of God's Residence and solemn Worship and it is the disposition of his People still to be inquisitive after the way to Sion how God is worshipped I speak not this to unsettle Men and to draw them to Scepticism and Irresolution but partly that they might settle upon better grounds than Tradition publick Consent and the Example of Men. Cyprian observes that this is the reason Men are so fickle so inconstant so soon off and on they do not practise those things upon good grounds None so unconstant as they that practise things right and good but not upon Principles And partly that Men may not content themselves with a cheap Worship such as costs them nothing as when they do not enquire about the grounds and reasons of what they do or when they do but even as others do We should be still searching and proving what is acceptable unto the Lord Eph. 5.10 and seek for Knowledg as for Silver and search for her as for hid Treasures Prov. 3.4 It is a thing of great care and exactness to be a Christian to be right in God's Worship Usually Men serve God at random and at peradventure and if they be right it is but a happy Mistake they do not enquire and search and so miss of a great deal of Comfort Settlement and Experience in the Way of God 2. There is required Constancy and Zeal in the Profession of God's Worship This is Religion to be zealous for God's Institutions to contend for the Faith of the Saints and hate what is contrary to right Worship and sound Doctrine Psal. 119.104 Through thy Precepts I get Vnderstanding therefore I hate every false Way And ver 128. Therefore I esteem all thy Precepts concerning all things to be right and I hate every false Way This is the effect of the knowledg of the Truth to hate all Falshood Idolatry and Superstition as much as they love God's Institutions that they may not be entangled and so either deceive others or be deceived themselves by the Craft of them that lie in wait for such an Enterprize Whenever they hear or read any such Doctrines the Heart nauseateth them there is a rising of Heart not only against Corruptions of Manners but Falshood of Doctrine But if Men be indifferent come what may come Christ or Antichrist they care not greatly their Religion is worth nothing If you do not hate Heresy and corruption in Worship there is no true Religion or Godliness in you Hereticks and Men in a false way seldom hate one another tho they differ in Principles Why because they have not a love to Truth but those that love the Truth prize the Institutions of God there 's a keen displeasure in their Hearts against any false Way 3. There must be frequency in the practice of it God and their Souls must not grow strangers Things that are not used contract Rust as a Key seldom turned in the Lock turns with difficulty so it will not stand with your spiritual Welfare to omit Duty long Much spiritual Exercise keeps the Soul in Health and sweet as the oftner they drain the Well the sweeter the Water is By running and breathing your selves every day you are the fitter to run in a Race so the oftner you come into God's Presence the greater Confidence and Freedom and Enlargement it will bring The way to be fervent
our fixed Scope that his Honour and Glory may be at the end of every Natural and Civil Action Look as in all the Works of Creation Providence and Redemption God made it his Aim to glorify Himself in all so we should make it our fixed Aim and Scope to bring Honour to God in all our Work all other things are nothing to this Vse 1. Examination Art thou godly Hast thou been a diligent Hearer and Reader of the Word a religious Observer of the Lord's Day an earnest Worshipper of God zealous for his Glory against those that prophane his Name corrupt his Doctrine make void his Institutions an Enemy to Idolatry and Superstition a Lover of God's Ordinances It is an evidence of Interest in Grace to live godly Only there is a Form of Godliness 2 Tim. 3.5 Having a Form of Godliness but denying the Power thereof which is discovered by a pretence of Worship and a neglect of Honesty as the Pharisees made long Prayers but devoured Widows Houses or else by a disproportionate Zeal against Idolatry but not against Heresy or such Falshoods as yield no Gain It is not Zeal for God's Institutions when you do not hate every false Way 2 Tim. 2.16 But shun profane and vain Bablings for they will increase to more Vngodliness The Apostle speaketh of some that suppose Godliness is Gain 1 Tim. 6.5 that make a Merchandize of their Zeal Rom. 2.22 Thou that abhorrest Idols dost thou commit Sacrilege He speaketh to the Jews that gloried in their Privileges he had said before Dost thou steal dost thou commit Adultery But here Dost thou commit Sacrilege That was their Glory that they did not serve Idols but they robbed the true God they would not endure a false God or an Idol to be set up but in the mean time they defrauded the Temple of its Maintenance and Things consecrated But the closest Rebuke is ver 23. Thou that makest thy boast of the Law through breaking the Law dishonourest thou God They were much in Worship but were not bettered by it they were not changed in Heart You do not feel the Power of it if the Heart be not new fashioned and put into a godly Frame Vse 2. To press you to exercise your self to Godliness 1. It is the Aim of the Gospel The Gospel is called 1 Tim. 6.3 the Doctrine which is according to Godliness invented on purpose to maintain and keep Godliness alive So Titus 1.1 The Truth which is after Godliness which preserveth the true Worship of the true God and right Thoughts of God Here in the Gospel the way to Eternal Life is discovered 2. It is the Aim of Providence All God's Dispensations seem to put us in mind of God and to draw us the nearer to him Afflictions to increase our Reverence and Watchfulness and Mercies to engage our Love and Trust. God complains of Israel that he had inflicted many Judgments on them and yet ye have not turned unto me saith the Lord Amos 4.8 9 10 11. So he complains of their abuse of Mercies Hosea 2.8 She did not know that I gave her Corn and Wine and Oil and multiplied her Silver and Gold which she prepared for Baal The Mercies of God should be Cords and Bands of Love to draw us to God 3. Consider how God hath deserved it We are God's You that have Servants expect they should work for you their Strength and Time is yours Rom. 14.8 For whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we die we die unto the Lord whether we live therefore or die we are the Lord 's A Christian is not Master of any thing his Affections his Interests his Time his Care his Strength all is the Lord's 4. Consider God hath given us sufficient Grace to live godly 2 Pet. 1.3 According as his Divine Wisdom hath given unto us all things that pertain unto Life and Godliness We cannot complain as the Israelites did of Pharaoh that he required Brick where he gave no Straw or as the Servant did of his Master that he expected to reap where he never sowed the Divine Power is engaged to help us How much do we walk beneath that Divine Power which he is ready to afford us Do not saâ— I shall never be godly if this be to be godly I am but Flesh and Blood what would you have me do 5. Consider the worth of Godliness it is our chief Duty First we must shew our Respects to the first Table because there are the great Commandments Matth. 22.37 38. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind This is the first and great Commandments De loco modum de ordine statum de confinio meritum cujusque praecepti cognosces says Teâ—tullian It is the first Table and therefore most worthy the Object is greater God is greater than Man by the breach hereof we do more immediately sin against God He that wrongeth his Neighbour sinneth against God 1 Cor. 8.12 But when ye sin against the Brethren and wound their weak Consciences ye sin against Christ but not so immediately Godliness directeth Honesty which is otherwise but a civil Action proceeding from Interest and Self-love This is the great Commandment without it all other Graces are worth nothing 2 Pet. 1.5 6. Add to your Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledg and to Knowledg Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness Civility is nothing Temperance is nothing Abstinence from Pleasures is nothing without Godliness Many Vertues are reckoned up as Patience Knowledg Temperance all these things the Lord requires not without Godliness therefore add Godliness God requires nothing but that which draweth the Creature to himself this bringeth us to the Well-head 6. Consider the Profit of Godliness I mention this to counterballance the Discouragements which you would meet with in the Ways of Godliness It will cost you trouble 2 Tim. 3.12 Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Iesus shall suffer Persecution Mark if they will live godly not civilly only if they are zealous for Christ's Institutions A Gallio will escape well enough but you have Encouragements 1 Tim. 4.8 Godliness is profitable unto all things having the Promise of the Life that now is and of that which is to come They have an Interest in both but the Promises of this Life are subservient to that which is to come If the Things of this Life hinder our progress to Heaven Grace should be content to be without them There is much Comfort with a little 1 Tim. 6.6 Godliness with Contentment is great Gain SERMON XI TITUS II. 12 In this present World HAving shewn you the Substance of the Lesson let me now speak of the Season of it when this is to be performed and that is in this present World Doct. That our Abode in the present World is the only time wherein we are to discharge the Duty of our Heavenly Calling
will be little enough to repent the loss of that which is past Consider a Man can never come soon enough into the Arms of Mercy nor soon enough out of the Power of Satan Present Necessity admits of no Deliberation therefore charge your selves to be more solid and serious Sin if you let it alone will gather more Strength Jer. 13.23 Can the Ethiopian change his Skin or the Leopard his Spots then may ye also do Good that are accustomed to do Evil. When a Stick hath been long bent it will hardly ever be set right again Some that have been late converted have much bewailed their Disadvantage their standing out so long till their Inclinations were fixed and that they have got a stubborn Nature so strong and ever apt to recoil upon them Consider we would not have God to put us off when we come for Mercy and are in present need and shall we put off God We would count a Delay to be as bad as a Denial therefore take heed of Delays in this kind for if ever you be called to Grace you will smart for it soundly Christ waited upon the Spouse for Entrance Cant. 5.2 My Head is filled with Dew and my Locks with the drops of the Night and then the Spouse waited for Comfort ver 6. I opened to my Beloved but my Beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone my Soul failed when he spake I sought him but I could not find him I called him but he gave me no Answer What is the Reason when the Work is begun and the first stroke is given to Sin that Christians walk so mournfully for a great while O they have made God wait long and stood out many a Call therefore the Lord exerciseth them with waiting Let all this work thee to comply with the Importunity of the present Conviction of the Holy Ghost Vse 2. Is to reclaim us when we are greedily set upon other Businesses and Projects than the great Business of our Lives as to get Wealth Honour and great Estates Remember what is thy Duty and Work in this present World Consider 1. The shortness of Life We have a great deal of Work to do in a little time therefore we should not waste it every day we are nearer to the Grave We are sensible of the Decays of others but not of our own thou seest others wax old and die remember thou thy self art going that way When two Ships meet one another in the Sea the other Ship seems to fail faster than yours tho both pass away alike because you are not sensible or do not observe your own Motion We see others are mortal but do not number our own Days This is a Point of Prudence Psal. 90.12 So teach us to number our Days that we may apply our Hearts unto Wisdom A Man would think of all Points that were plainest and soonest learned yet it is very hard to learn the lesson of our own Frailty I mean to learn it by Heart to learn it practically 2. The Uncertainty of Life We know not when Death will surprize us it is ill to be taken unprovided when Death comes to say Hast thou found me O my Enemy Every day we have cause to look to it more are mistaken in reckoning upon Life than upon Death Thou art asleep in the Wolf's Mouth there is no Remedy but imploring the Shepherd's Help A Carnal Man that goeth on in Sin provoketh God to his Face and trieth whether he will cut him off yea or no. We are sure to live to enjoy what we provide for Heaven but we are not sure to live to enjoy what we provide for the World A Man may not rost what he took in hunting but when he cometh to enjoy his Estate God cutteth him off Luke 12.20 Thou Fool this night thy Soul shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided And shall my Master come and find me idle 3. After Death followeth Eternity the great Amazement of the Soul Now if Death find you at Peace with God Eternity will be comfortable and Death sweet Body and Soul part but God and the Soul meet When we can see Angels ready to do their Office and Conscience becometh our Compurgator I bear you witness you have spent your time in this World in obeying and serving God and then Body and Soul take leave of one another it is a blessed parting But now when you have not regarded your Work you are then delivered up to Satan by such an Excommunication as shall never be reversed Accursed till the Lord come and then Body and Soul meet to be tormented for ever It is a sad parting when Conscience falls a raving and we curse our selves and the day of our Birth O that ever such a Creature were born O that I had been stifled in the Womb and never seen the Light 4. The necessity of working out our own Salvation God's Stipulation with Mankind is not made up all of Promises something is required Holiness is the way to Salvation Men that live as they list can claim nothing The World is a common Inn for Sons and Bastards in the time of God's Patience he keeps open House for just and unjust but no unclean thing entreth into Heaven At the great Rendezvouz God maketh a Separation Psal. 1.5 The Vngodly shall not stand in the Iudgment nor Sinners in the Congregation of the Righteous The wicked shall not be able to look Christ in the Face nor vail themselves in the glorious Assembly 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Know ye not that the Vnrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God Our Desires settle into Opinions we think God will not damn his own Creatures and an universal Hope is natural 5. The Folly of not doing our Business To get bodily Supports is but our Errand by the by these Souls were not given us to scrape up Wealth and only to provide and purvey for the Body Let us use them to the end that God gave them to think of Eternity Luke 10.41 42. Martha Martha thou art careful and troubled about many things but one thing is needful And Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her Martha was careful to entertain Christ in her House but Mary to entertain him in her Heart The one thing needful is the Care which every one ought to have of his own Salvation Every thing is best that helpeth us on towards Heaven and that is evil that hindreth us in our pursuit of Heaven This will appear to be the greatest Wisdom at length and not to spend your Lives in getting Honours or Pleasures or screwing your selves into the Favour of great Personages It is commonly said of a Man that hath gotten an Estate that he
hath spent his Time well but the Apostle commands Eph. 5.15 16. See that ye walk circumspectly not as Fools but as Wise redeeming the Time because the days are evil Those other are the worst Fools who make no Provision for the future they part with Jewels for Trifles SERMON XII TITUS II. 13 Looking for that blessed Hope c. I Observed 1. The Teacher The Grace of God 2. The Lesson the whole Duty of our Heavenly Calling To deny Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly c. 3. I come to the third general Branch The Encouragements to Learning here are two Eternal Life and Christ's Death There are two great Principles of Obedience Gratitude and Hope Gratitude or Thankfulness because of the Obligation that is left upon us from Christ's Death and then Hope because of the glorious Reward that is set before us So that whether we look backward or forward we meet with Obligations to Obedience Backward there is an excellent Merit ver 14. Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all Iniquity c. Forward there is a glorious Hope Looking for that blessed Hope c. There is nothing lost by God's Service the Lord might deal with us out of Soveraignty and rule us with a Rod of Iron but he is pleased to draw us with the Cords of a Man and with Bands of Love Hos. 11.3 to indent with us and propound Rewards as if we were altogether free before the Contract Men do not use to covenant with their Slaves we are bound to serve him whether there had been any Reward or no but the Lord will not leave us without an Encouragement We are apt to have hard Thoughts of God and to think him harsh and austere requiring Work but not giving Wages But consider we have the highest Motives as well as the noblest Work we are not only to live soberly righteously and godly in the present World but to look to the blessed Hope Life and Immortality is brought to light by the Gospel There is no such Encouragement to vertuous living any where as in the Gospel Lactantius saith of the Heathens Virtutis vim non sentiunt cujus premium ignorant They do not feel the force and transforming Power of Vertue because they are ignorant of the Reward of Vertue The Heathens had no such Encouragement as Immortality and Eternal Life and the happy Enjoyment of God and Christ for evermore But to handle the words a little more distinctly We have here 1. the Reward it self called a blessed Hope Then 2. the time when it shall be accomplished to the full at the coming of the Lord. Both these things you must look for Christians as often as you think of Eternal Life you must also think of Christ's Appearing Before we enter into Glory we must first give an Account Carnal Men fancy a Heaven without a Day of Judgment they would be saved but they would not be called to an audit and reckoning with God Many can brook sitting upon the Throne with Christ but not coming before his Tribunal but they that would live holily must look for both the blessed Hope and the glorious Appearing of Christ. Many Points may be observed out of this Verse Doct. I. That looking for the blessed Hope conduceth much to the Advancement of the Spiritual Life I. What this Looking is II. What Influence and Power it hath to work us to the Spiritual Life I. What this Looking is It implies Patience but chiefly Hope 1. Patience in waiting God's Leisure Patience is a Grace very needful in our Pilgrimage where we are exercised with so many Difficulties Heb. 10.36 For ye have need of Patience that after ye have done the Will of God ye might receive the Promise you do not only need Holiness but Patience It is long before we can bring our Hearts to do the Will of God but after that is done you have need of Patience that you may wait God's Leisure for your Reward For the Reward is not given till there be time for Labour and Exercise and Troubles coming on make time seem very long Whatever Grace we may spare we cannot spare Patience if we would persist in well-doing for we are to wait for the blessed Hope The good Ground bringeth forth Fruit with Patience Luke 8.15 Look as the Ground endures the Plough the Harrow the Cold the Frost that in due time the Seed may spring up so we have need of Patience that we may wait upon God for the blessed Hope And as Patience is very needful in the present Life so it is inseparable from Hope 1 Thess. 1.3 it is called the Patience of Hope To every Grace he gives a proper Action there is the Work of Faith the Labour of Love and the Patience of Hope Faith propounds Work Love makes us to labour and sweat at it and Hope makes us wait with Patience for our Reward and Recompence Rom. 8.25 But if we hope for that we see not then do we with Patience wait for it What we hope for we wait with Patience for between Hope and Having there is an intervening time to exercise Patience There is want of the thing desired and Delays are troublesome Now to keep looking is a Work of Patience 2. It chiefly implies Hope This looking for is the formal Act of Hope an actual Expectation of Blessedness to come Now because there 's a bastard and blind Hope and there is a regular and good Hope 2 Thess. 2.16 Who hath given us everlasting Consolation and good Hope through Grace therefore let me tell you First What this Expectation is not Secondly What it is First Negatively what it is not 1. It is not a blind Hope such a Hope as is found in Men ignorant and presumptuous that regard not what they do Presumption is a Child of Darkness as Hope is a Child of Light Presumption is the Fruit of Ignorance and Inconsideration When Men are once serious they find it the hardest matter in the World to hope for guilty Nature in it self is more presagious of Evil more inclinable to Fear and Sorrow than to Joy and Hope But yet a blind Confidence is very common because Men do not consider what they do but hand over head make a full account that they shall go to Heaven without Warrant and without Evidence And therefore you shall find it is one of the first things God works by the Word to break down our former carnal Hopes and make Men see they are out of the way lost and undone Creatures Paul in his presumptuous State thought he had as much to shew for Heaven as any Man in the World Rom. 7.9 I was alive without the Law once but when the Commandment came Sin revived and I died The Commandment coming in full Conviction upon his Heart he began to be serious and then he found himself lost and obnoxious to God's Judgment The Excellency of Hope doth not lie in the Strength
therefore Men would live in their Posterity and have their Families great But this is a sad Exchange to forfeit Heaven that our Children may enjoy the World as many times it falls out that the Father goes to Hell for getting an Estate and the Son goes to Hell for spending it Tho they have an ample Patrimony yet they know not who shall enjoy it Who knows whether he shall be a wise Man or a Fool Eccles. 2.19 A Man hath no knowledg of future Events nor no power of them So that you see still we have no cause to envy worldly Men even in this Happiness We are better provided for having a Covenant-Interest that countervails all I am thy God and the God of thy Seed Tho we cannot leave them Gold Land and ample Estate yet you leave them a God in Covenant who hath undertaken for you and yours And many times they have Temporal Blessings for their Father's sake the Blessings of Ishmael if not of Isaac Vse 2. Direction that we may not seek Blessedness elsewhere Some seek it in a wrong way Carnal Men think that there is no such Happiness as in letting loose the Reins to carnal Lusts and living as they list This is the basest Bondage that can be 2 Pet. 2.19 While they promise them Liberty they themselves are the Servants of Corruption for of whom a Man is overcome of the same is he brought into bondage The Work is Drudgery and the Reward is Death they are intangled in Snares and held in Chains and is this an happy Life This doth but increase our Misery and make way for more Shame Yet carnal Men are much taken with this kind of Life they wonder how Men can abjure the Pleasure and Contentment which they fancy 1 Pet. 4.4 Wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of Riot They think themselves very wise in following the Counsels of their own Hearts and doing as others do that are like themselves You do but make your selves more responsible to God's Justice Worldly Comforts cannot make us happy it appeareth by our many Inventions Eccles. 7.29 God made Man upright but he hath sought out many Inventions Every Sinner hath his wandrings Man being off from God never cometh on again of himself but wandreth infinitely and beats out himself with his own Inventions As a way-faring Man who hath once lost his Directions turneth up and down and knoweth not where to pitch so are all Endeavours fruitless till God direct us We are to follow God's Counsel not the Counsel of the Ungodly Psal. 73.24 Thou shalt guide me with thy Counsel and after receive me to Glory As a Clock runs at random when the Ballance is once out The Lord is willing to direct us Psal. 25.8 Good and upright is the Lord therefore will he teach Sinners in the way He is too wise to be deceived and too good to deceive O Sinners learn the upright Way When we are weary of wandring and willing to be directed such as submit themselves to God shall never want a Guide Creatures cannot make us happy such is the Restlesness of the Soul that we must have shift and change Envying one another sheweth the narrowness of our Comforts Gripes of Conscience spoil all as Belshazzar in his Cups was afrighted with an Hand-writing upon the Wall Says the young Man in the Gospel Mat. 19.16 Good Master what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal Life What lack I yet saith the Moralist In false Worship Men are unsatisfied Micah 6.6 Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the High God It is not a loose Profession of the Gospel that will make us happy Mat. 11.29 Take my Yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in Heart and ye shall find Rest for your Souls Nothing can make us happy but what is a full Relief from Sin and Misery Here is Rest for our Souls the Foundation is laid in Justification and Sanctification Here is our Reconciliation with God hereafter is our Advancement Vse 3. It is an Invitation to the Practice of Holiness Blessedness is a great Motive David begins the Book of Psalms with it and Christ his Sermons there is enough in it to allay the Sorrows of the present Life and fill up the Desires of the Life to come All would be blessed and happy but we must take the right course say as Christ's Hearers Iohn 6.34 Lord evermore give us this Bread As Balaam Numb 23.10 Let me die the Death of the Righteous and let my last End be like his Be not content as Balaam with a Vision of Iacob's happy Seats Numb 24.5 How goodly are thy Tents O Jacob and thy Tabernacles O Israel As the Noble-man that saw the Plenty of Israel but did not eat thereof 2 Kings 7.20 And so it fell out unto him for the People trod upon him in the Gate and he died The Damned at the last Day are Lookers on but not Partakers of the Blessedness of the Righteous Luke 13.28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and your your selves thrust out Vse 4. Exhortation to those that have an Interest in this blessed Hope Behave your selves as those that are called thereunto think of it often discourse of it often and live sutable to it 1. Often meditate of the Happiness that is laid up for you and warm your selves with the thoughts of it The Mind ruminateth on Happiness Your Minds should be there Col. 3.2 Set your Affections on Things above not on Things on the Earth 2. Confer of it often 1 Thess. 4.18 Comfort one another with these Words against all the Changes and Dangers of this Life Alas how carnal and flat is our Discourse He that is of the Earth is earthy and speaketh of the Earth Joh. 3.31 3. Live more sutable to it 1 Thess. 2.11 12. As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged you as a Father doth his Children that ye would walk worthy of God who hath called you unto his Kingdom and Glory Make Eternity your Scope 2 Cor. 4.18 Looking not to the Things that are seen but to the Things that are not seen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There should be a greater proportion between your Hopes and your Lives Behave your selves as those that are interested in this blessed Hope be not dejected with every Cross nor overcome with every Bait and Temptation nor live in a base and low manner this is not becoming your Hopes Show your Interest herein by the Heavenliness and Courage of your Spirits SERMON XVI TITUS II. 13 And the glorious Appearing c. IN the Encouragement to the Duty of our Heavenly Calling we have the Substance of our Hopes and the Seasons when we shall come to enjoy them to the full 1 st The Substance of our Hopes Looking
mingled with the Wheat and besides the Persecutions of the Wicked their very Company is a Burden Iacob's Cattle and Laban's are together but then they shall be separated and the Saints shall be gathered together and sit as Judges of them giving their Vote with Christ in their Condemnation 4. It is a Day of Glorification to Christ and therefore the Saints long for it a Day when Christ shall be honoured and get to himself a glorious Name God got himself a great Name when he drowned Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the Sea O what will it be when he shall cast all the Wicked into Hell Now Christ will come to shew the Fulness of his Majesty the Terror of his Wrath and to glorify his Justice upon wicked Men. Christ sheweth his Majesty every day but we have not Eyes to see it our Eyes are dazled with Worldly Splendor but then all Mists shall vanish The Saints that love the Glory of God must needs long for that time when Christ shall be seen in all his Glory when God shall be dishonoured no more and the Kingdom of Sin and Satan have an end and wicked Men shut up under their everlasting State And then from the Saints God hath perfect Glory in them and from them here God hath not his perfect Glory from us nor in us This is the Comfort of God's Children that God is glorified in their Glory that they may live to praise him for ever without Weakness and Distraction and that 's the reason of those Expressions To whom be Glory for ever and ever They delight in their own glorious Estate because they shall ever be in a Capacity to bring Glory to God Nay then God shall be glorified in all his Counsels and Decrees in the Wisdom of his Providence and in the course of his Judgments for in the Day of Judgment the full History of the World shall be brought before the Saints whereas now we see it but by pieces 4. Why the Saints look for Christ's Appearing is the Profit of this Expectation which they shall receive partly as it engageth to a heavenly Conversation Phil. 3.20 Our Conversation is in Heaven from whence we look for a Saviour Where should we converse most but where Christ is Now where is Christ but in Heaven and therefore our Minds should be ever running upon it our Eyes ever looking that way and our Hearts ever longing for him Partly as it engageth us to Faithfulness in our Relations there is a Day coming when we shall give an account for the Duties of our Relations because that is the particular Sphear of our Activity 2 Tim. 4.1 I charge thee before God and the Lord Iesus who shall judg the Quick and the Dead at his Appearing and his Kingdom Paul there presseth Timothy to discharge the Duty of a Minister and so for a Master of a Family and for a Servant Your Relations are not things of chance but they fall under the special Care of God's Providence and therefore you must be accountable for them here God hath confined you by the Wisdom of his Providence to serve the great Ends of your Creation therefore whatever is omitted you are to give an account of your Relations Magistrates Ministers Masters Servants all of their several Relations Partly as it calms the Heart against the Injuries and Molestations of the present Life 1 Pet. 2.23 our Lord Christ when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judged righteously So you must learn of him when you meet with Trouble and hard Usage and unworthy dealing in the World commit your selves to God the Judg is at the Door and he will review all things again Look as Paschalus a Minister of the Albigenses when he was burnt at Rome cited the Pope and his Cardinals before the Tribunal of the Lamb thus do you Partly as it engages to Perseverance If a Man hath followed a distressed and afflicted Party for a long time if nothing comes of it he tires but remember if we follow Christ here all our Pains will be recompensed to us 1 Iohn 2.28 Abide in him that when he shall appear we may have Confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming Christ will come and that with Salvation to them that look for him therefore let me be faithful in my Duty Obj. 1. But how can we look for it when we know there are some Signs that precede the Coming of Christ therefore certainly he is not like to come in our days Will he alter the prefix'd time of his Approach and change the Jacets of that great Journey Answ. 1. Tho Christ keepeth his pace yet it is good for us to alter ours tho we cannot hasten his coming yet let us be always ready 2 Pet. 3.12 Looking for and hastning unto the coming of the Day of God It is good for us to get ground upon our Fears and our Sins and to declare our readiness to meet with Christ every day we live in the World is a day lost in Heaven 2. If any Age had cause to think Christ would come certainly we have It was not far off in the Apostles days they were called the last days but ours are the very Dregs of Time When we see an old Man weak and feeble Aches and Diseases of the present Life encrease upon him we say certainly he cannot live long So if we look upon the Temper of the World sure it cannot endure long Christ will come to set all things at rights One Forerunner of Christ's coming are the Dreams and Delusions that are abroad Mundus senescens patitur phantasias as the World grows old it is much given to Fancies as old Men are to Dotage and Dreams 3. If Christ come not in our days yet Death is at hand Heb. 9.27 It is appointed unto Men once to die and after that the Iudgment Every Man 's particular Judgment follows upon his departure out of the World and then the general Judgment follows as Death finds him either among the Sheep or Goats Iudas died sixteen hundred Years ago yet as he died so shall he be found After Death there 's no change of State therefore your business is always to be ready to depart in Peace and hasten to an eternal State Obj. 2. How can this be the Property of God's Children to desire his coming Are they always in this Temper and Frame many weak ones tremble at the thought of it for want of assurance of God's Love it is the Terror and Bondage of their Lives to think of Christ's coming and sometimes the Saints do not actually feel such an Inclination and Strength of Desire Answ. 1. The meanest Saint hath some Inclination this way Can a Man desire that Christ may come into his Heart and will there not be such Desires that he may come to Judgment since Comfort and Reward is more naturally embraced than Duty The very first Work of
whenever we have to do with him Our Affections should be mix'd as Christ's Titles are It is said of the Church Acts 9.31 They walked in the Fear of the Lord and in the Comfort of the Holy Ghost This doth well together fear God and rejoice in God Do not dally with a Saviour and please your selves in cherishing a loose Comfort when you neglect Duty and are touched with no Awe of God and then do not indulge a legal Dejection the great God whom you dread and reverence is your Saviour Therefore are the Titles of Christ mix'd to beget a sweet Temperature of Fear and Love So much for the conjunct Consideration of the Words II. Let us come to handle them apart particularly but briefly First of the Stile of his Power The Great God Here is a pregnant Testimony of the Deity of Christ. Doct. That Iesus Christ together with the Father and the Holy Ghost is the Great God He is called the great God partly in opposition to those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that are only called Gods the Vanities of the Gentiles there are many that are called Gods 1 Cor. 8.5 6. For though there be that are called Gods whether in Heaven or in Earth as there be Gods many and Lords many but to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him And partly in opposition to the Gods of Man's making so the Devil is gotten to be a God The God of this World hath blinded the Eyes of them which believe not 2 Cor. 4.4 So we read of those whose God is their Belly Phil. 3.19 As the Strength of Mens Desires run out so they set up many Gods either Mammon or Bacchus And partly in Opposition to those representative Gods Magistrates who are called Gods Psal. 82.6 I said ye are Gods They resemble God in their Power and Soveraignty and Administration of Justice and large Opportunity of doing Good But the chief Reason why Christ is called the great God is to shew that he is not inferiour to the Father to remove the Scandal of his Abasement He is not a God by Courtesy or Grant but by Nature equal in Power and Majesty and Glory to God the Father To confirm this I shall prove First That considering his Work he ought to be God no inferiour Mediator could serve the turn Secondly That he is God and able to perform this Work First Consider his Work and so he ought to be God The Work of the Mediator could be dispatched by no inferiour Agent Consider the Mediator in all his Offices as Prophet Priest and King 1. For his Prophetical Office As a Prophet he was to be greater than all Prophets and Apostles It is above Man's Capacity to be the greaâ— Doctor of the Church In regard of his outward Work the Discovery of the Gospel and of the Riches of God's Grace it could be made by none but he that was in the Bosom of the Father Iohn 1.18 No Man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son which is in the Bosom of the Father he hath declared him None could tell us what Bowels what Affections what Purposes of Grace the Father had concerning Sinners but Christ that was in his Bosom Mat. 11.27 No Man knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him As an external Law-giver in the Gospel Christ the great Doctor of the Church ought to be Authentick a Law-giver from whose Sentence there is no Appeal a Lord in his own House Heb. 3.4 5 6. For every House is builded by some Man but he that built all things is God And Moses verily was faithful in all his House as a Servant for a Testimony of those things which were to be spoken after but Christ as a Son over his own House Moses was but a Servant who received the external Law from Christ upon Mount Sinai it was Christ whose Voice shook the Mount Heb. 12.26 But chiefly in regard of his inward Work as he is to be a Fountain of Wisdom to all the Elect 1 Cor. 1.30 But of him are ye in Christ Iesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom Men may teach the Ear but Christ must teach the Heart Blind Men cannot see the Sun though it shine never so clearly Light is come into the World but Darkness comprehends it not we must have Eyes as well as Light now it is only Divine Power can open the Eye of our Understanding and give us spiritual Illumination 2. As for his Kingly Office a finite Power would never suffice for that Christ is to break the Force of Enemies to raise the Dead to pour out the Spirit to bestow Grace and Glory all these are Christ's Donatives as King of the Church As a King he is to be an Original Fountain of Life to all the Elect As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father so he that eateth me even he shall live by me John 6.57 All these things are the Glory of God which he will not give to another and they cannot be performed by any but God The Creatures are limited they have not such a Vastness in them that out of their Fulness we might receive Grace for Grace as we do from Christ Iohn 1.16 Of his Fulness have we all received and Grace for Grace 3. For his Priestly Office this shews he ought to be God Of this there be two Acts his Oblation and Intercession 1. For his Oblation and Sacrifice he must offer up himself one for all and that but once and that to expiate Sin and procure the Favour of God for ever now who could do this but God And he must offer up himself he must be Priest as well as Sacrifice therefore must have a Power over his own Life to lay it down and take it up and that no Creature hath for whether we live or die we are the Lord 's And thus had Jesus Christ an absolute Power of Life and Death over that Nature he assumed therefore it is said Heb. 9.14 Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without Spot to God Then one must be offered for all 2 Cor. 5.14 If one died for all then were all dead Therefore that Person which suffered was to be virtually all those for whom he suffered that is infinitely as good and better than all Look as they said to David Thou art better than ten thousand of us so Jesus Christ that was given one for all must be such a Person as is better than all Men. A General given in Ransom will redeem thousands of private Souldiers so the Worth of Christ's Person made him equivalent in Dignity to the Worâ—h of all those whose Persons he sustained In all Ages his Death is a standing Remedy God had more Satisfaction than if Angels and Men had been made a Sacrifice And mark it was done but
Judgment and Hell are a part of our Bondage But now what cause have we to bless God Rom. 8.1 There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus Then to be under the Power of Sin is a woful Bondage to be at the beck of every Lust and carnal Suggestion Men rejoice in their Bondage they think there is no such Life as to live at large and to do as we list but the more liberty we take in Sin the greater Slavery the Work is Drudgery and the Reward is Death Sin hath reigned unto Death Rom. 5.21 2 Pet. 2.19 While they promise them Liberty they themselves are the Servants of Corruption for of whom a Man is overcome of the same is he brought into Bondage It is the saddest Judgment to be given up to our own Will to be given up to Satan to be given up to Self What a Slavery is this when we see Mischief and know not how to avoid it Conscience is held a Prisoner we cannot see a Vanity but the Heart lingereth after it and groweth sick as Ahab for Naboth's Vineyard Duties of Godliness are esteemed an heavy Task the Law of God is impelling to Duty and the Law of Sin impelling to Evil. What Thanks is due to God for delivering us from so great a Bondage Vse 2. To press us to avoid Sin Mortify the Lust and prevent the Action let it not reign in the Heart nor be discovered in the Life and Conversation Christ died that the Body of Sin might be destroyed Rom. 6.6 And he died to redeem us from our vain Conversation 1 Pet. 1.18 Consider when Sin remains in its Power and while you serve Sin what Dishonour you do to God and what Disadvantage it is to your selves 1. The Dishonour you do to God to all the Persons in the Godhead To the Father by making void the whole Plot of Redemption This was the eternal Project and Design as it were of God the Father the wise Counsel his Wisdom found out to remedy the Fall of Man Jesus Christ was ordained before all Worlds to redeem us from our vain Conversation 1 Pet. 1.20 Who verily was fore-ordained before the Foundation of the World The Lord projected this way of Restitution from all Eternity that this Course should be taken to destroy Sin Now will you go about to make all this void Then you wrong God the Son and that many ways You disparage the worth of his Price as if it was not sufficient to purchase Grace and so seek to put your Redeemer to shame Nay you disparage the Purity of his Person for you were redeemed with the Blood of Christ as a Lamb without spot and blemish Nay you disparage the Greatness and Extremity of his Sufferings It cost him dear to purchase Grace and Deliverance from Sin and you slight it and make nothing of it Then you rob him of the Greatness of his Purchase he bought us with this great Price that we might not be our own and live to our Lusts. Such as are bought with Money are theirs who bought them 1 Cor. 6.20 For ye are bought with a Price therefore glorify God in your Body and in your Spirit which are his Did Christ pay our Debts and shall we like desperate Prodigals do nothing but encrease them by our Sin Then you disparage the Holy Ghost the Spirit whom Christ doth shed abroad to accomplish his Work 2 Cor. 3.17 Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty The great Work of the Holy Ghost is to free us from the Bondage of Sin Have you the Assistance of such a Spirit and can you not resist carnal Motions And are you taken with every vain Delight a Fashion a sensual Bait Thus consider what a dishonour it is to God to let Sin live if Christ died to redeem us You do as much as in you lieth to defeat the Project of God the Father the Purchase of the Son and the Work of the Spirit 2. It is a Disadvantage to your selves You cut off your own Claim and declare you have no Interest and Share in Christ if Sin live for he came to redeem us from Iniquity We cannot have an Interest in any part of Christ's Redemption till this be for all these go together God's Anger is not appeased the Devil's Power is not restrained the Law 's Curse is still in force as long as Sin lives You can have no Comfort if you be not freed from Sin the Wrath of God is against you and Hell is your Portion nay if you are not redeemed from all Sin for he redeems us from all Iniquity A Bird that is tied by the Leg may make a shew of escape but it is fast enough So though many may abstain from gross Sins for they that commit such shew plainly they are acted by the Spirit of the Devil yet if one Sin remains unmortified it enthralleth as well as many but if it reigns in the Soul you have no Interest in Christ. Object You will say Why should we mortify what should we trouble our selves about this Christ hath done all this Answ. No Christ hath redeemed us from all Iniquity but his Redemption doth not make void but oblige our Endeavours for he undertook as God's Surety that Sin should be destroyed and as our Surety that we should not serve Sin Rom. 6.6 Our Old Man is crucified with him that the Body of Sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve Sin There 's a Work on God's part he undertook for the pouring out of Grace and on our part that we should be watchful and strive against Sin and watch against all Occasions of it And he hath given us encouragement so to do Non pugna sublata est sed Victoria It is not the Conflict against Sin that is taken away by Christ but the Victory of Sin Look as when the Israelites had a Promise that God would give their Enemies into their Hands the meaning was not that they should not strike a Stroke but they were to fight the Battels of the Lord So when Christ hath redeemed us from Iniquity yet we are to use all spiritual means of Mortification to subdue the Lusts and to prevent the Act of Sin It will be our great Condemnation when we have so much help that still Sin should remain Certainly he is very lazy that will not ply the Oar that hath both Wind and Tide on his side And when the Lord Christ hath purchased Grace and the Spirit yet we will not endeavour against Sin Stand fast therefore in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not intangled again in the Yoke of Bondage Gal. 5.1 Vse 3. Direction When-ever you are troubled with your Sins and Lusts are too hard for you go to Christ. It is his Office to redeem you from your Iniquity and the Tyranny of Sin Therefore when you feel any Corruption stir go and complain to him as Paul did I cannot do the things
Person of the Godhead to work it out Next to the Gift of Christ we have the Gift of the Spirit O it should be a shame that when we have such a keen Sword to cut the Throat of our Lusts that we act so faintly use it so feebly and are no more valiant And then what pure and excellent Precepts have we in the Christian Religion reaching not only to the Act but the very Aim to the Intents and Thoughts and secret workings of the Heart Psal. 19.7 The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul And not only to the Sin but to the Lust Thy Commandment is exceeding broad Psal. 119.96 Then we have glorious Hopes The Scriptures that are a perfect Rule in all other Cases yet herein they profess their Imperfection 1 Cor. 13.9 We prophesy but in part Words not fit and great enough to tell us of our Hopes 2 Cor. 4.17 Our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is the highest strain and reach of Fancy In all other things the Garment of Fancy is too great for the Body wherewith it is to be clothed Fancy never takes a right measure of things but the highest Suppositions are too short to express the Greatness of those Hopes that are provided for you And then for the dreadful Punishments we are told of a Worm that never dies of a Fire that shall never be quenched of a Pit without a Bottom of Torments that are without End and without Ease Ours Hearts are filled with Horror when we do but think of these things and shall we not burn now with Zeal for God when we are in danger of burning in Hell-fire for ever hereafter If now we are cold and slow in good Works it were the most incongruous thing in the World where there is such a high Elevation of Duty and Comfort The whole Scriptures are formed to elevate these things to the highest pitch that we may not be backward and slow in the Christian Religion All things are sublime and therefore call for something more than ordinary 8. Consider the great danger of Coldness both to our selves and others To our selves where there is no Zeal there will be Decay Prov. 18.9 He also that is slothful in Work is Brother to him that is a great Waster Not to go forward is to go backward Standing Pools corrupt as a Man that rows against the Tide and Stream if he doth not ply the Oar he will lose ground and be carried away apace So if we be not zealous we cannot stand and keep our ground there will be a Decay Bernard observes to this purpose that all the Angels in Iacob's Ladder were either ascending or descending there is no stay but either going up or going down When they lose their first Love their Zeal is gone Rev. 2.4 5. Thou hast left thy first Love Remember therefore whence thou art fallen and repent and do thy first Works What is the reason Men grow weary of Truth weary of Holiness weary of Prayer Ordinances they do not keep up a constant Diligence First they lost their Zeal they became indifferent cold and careless then off goes the Service of God first their Love and then their Works So consider the danger of it to others Men grow formal by Imitation When Christians high in Profession grow formal cold and careless this makes their Neighbours so There is nothing hardens more than a cold Professor it makes Men sit upon their Lees. Mortified and strict Christians upbraid others by their Example A Man cannot come into the Company of a mortified strict Christian but his Heart will upbraid and shame him And therefore if in this general Decay we have learned Deadness and Formality one of another let us strive now who shall be most forward in the Ways of Grace Heb. 10.24 Let us consider one another to provoke to Love and good Works You shall see in the Times when Idolatry was like to go down Isa. 41.6 7. They helped every one his Neighbour and every one said to his Brother Be of good Courage So the Carpenter encouraged the Goldsmith and he that smootheth with the Hammer him that smote the Anvil c. They were strengthning one another to plead for their Shrines and to get up their Pictures and Idols again that their Trade might not go down Thus Idolaters hold in a String O what a Religious Correspondency should there be in the Children of God When the Power of Godliness is like to decay and go down how should we strengthen and encourage one another and provoke one another by holy Example to be more zealous that we may not contract the Guilt of their Deadness and Formality 9. Consider There is no danger in Zeal we cannot do too much in solid Piety The least is more than enough in Sin because every thing is too much there but in Grace there is never enough In External Worship indeed there may be too much as in Pomp and Ceremonies when Men will be decking God's Ordinances with Gawdery it is not proportionable to the End of Worship therefore there may be too much And in particular Exercises there may be too much it is good to keep a decorum in Praying and Hearing But now in the Love of God and Zeal for God and the Service of God and solid Piety there can be no excess you cannot be too Heavenly or too Holy There is a great deal of Danger of doing too little Many come short of the Glory of God Rom. 3.23 O Christians you cannot be too busy for saving your Souls nor too earnest 2 Pet. 1.11 we are pressed to labour after an abundant Entrance There are some that are afar off that do not enter at all that neither strive nor seek to enter that are as Swine filthy abominable unprofitable good for nothing but to ruin themselves as prophane Persons and Heathens And some are very nigh to the Kingdom of God as the moral Man upon the Brink and Border and as he that was almost perswaded to be a Christian Acts 26.28 Others again make a hard shift to get to Heaven they are scarcely saved or saved as by Fire But others are carried on with full Sails their Hearts are enlarged to God This is our Duty to labour to get this abundant Entrance Some seek to enter and are not able they go far and yet perish Luke 13.24 Many shall seek to enter but shall not be able 10. Consider If your Hearts be dead and cold you lose the comfort of all your Christian Priviledges A dead Christian is as bad as none at all You cannot take comfort in your Conversion a Change without Life and Zeal is but a moral Reformation not a Regeneration for Regeneration is a quickning and a begetting to Life Ephes. 2.5 Even when we were dead in Trespasses and Sins he hath quickned us together with Christ. That
expectation of Blessedness to come Sure those think themselves wiser than God that deny us the use of the Spirit 's Motives why else doth God set these things before us It requireth some Faith to aim at things not seen The World is drowned in Sense and present Satisfaction it is a great help to us to look upward Christ made use of it Heb. 12.2 For the Ioy that was set before him he endured the Cross and despised the Shame As Man he was supported with humane Encouragements Our Flesh is weak and our Task is difficult and therefore we need all Helps But yet we are not so to covet the Reward as to fever it from Duty and neglect our Work SERMONS UPON St. IOHN XIV 1 SERMON I. JOHN XIV 1 Let not your Heart be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me THE Disciples had heard our Lord Jesus discoursing of his Death and Departure and the great Trials which they were to undergo and that one Disciple should betray him another eminent among them deny him and all take offence and leave him therefore Fear and Trouble seized upon them Our Lord perceiving this Distemper growing upon them seeketh to relieve and ease them He had Sorrow and Agonies of his own to think upon but he is so taken up with comforting his Disciples that he seemeth to forget himself and his own approaching Death and wholly applieth himself to them Let not your Heart be troubled c. In these Words we have 1. An Evil dissuaded Let not your Heart be troubled 2. A Cure prescribed and that is the Exercise of Faith set forth by its double Object God and Christ Ye believe in God believe also in me In God as the supream Fountain of all Blessing in Christ as Mediator or the only Way to come to God In God as the Creator and Preserver of all things in Christ as the Redeemer to whom the Care and Conservation of the Church belongeth They did believe in God they were trained up in that as Jews but they had not hitherto so clear so distinct so strong a Faith in Christ as they should have their Faith was but dark and weak as to the Dignity of his Person Therefore he presseth them to believe not only in God as Iews but in himself as Christians that was the Point the Faith of which would be now assaulted by his ignominious Death and Sufferings There are two Points First That Christians should carefully guard themselves against Heart-trouble Secondly The proper Cure of Heart-trouble is Faith Doct. 1. That Christians should carefully guard themselves against Heart-trouble 1. What is this Trouble of Heart that is here spoken of There is a twofold Evil Natural Evil which is Misery and Moral Evil and that is Sin The one we act of our own accord the other we suffer against our Wills The one ariseth from something within the other from something without This Text speaketh not of Troubles for Sin but of Troubles in the Flesh which being many and grievous to be born it cannot be supposed but that the Heart will be touched with them 2 Cor. 4.8 We are troubled on every side Yet let not your Heart be troubled A â—ense of them 〈◊〉 not only laâ—ful but necessary The two Extreams must be both aâ—â—â—ded Slighting and Faiâ—ting Heb. 12.5 My Son despiâ—e not thâ—u the chasteâ—â—ng of the Lord nor faint â—hen thou art rebuked of â—im Without 〈◊〉 sense of them they cannot be improved neither do we shew that Reverence that is due to our Father's Anger as not to be afflicted and humbled under his mighty Hand Numb 12.14 If her Father had spiâ— in her Face should she not be ashamed seven days Some kind of Spirits are stupid and sensless neither affected with Sin nor Misery Not with Sin tho they provoâ—e God to his very Face with their continual brutish Practices yet they never lay their Condition to heart Conscience is feared or at least benummed they are past feeling Eph. 4.19 Shall we say to these Let not your Hearts be troubled No these usurp a Peace and Exemption from Trouble as if Joy and Comfort were their Portion The only way for such is to be troubled that their Trouble may prepare them for Comfort Christ came to save Sinners but they are penitent and broken-hearted Sinners that are weary and heavy-laden under the Burden of Sin Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy-laden and I will give you Rest. Not the Heart that is whole but the Heart that is wounded These he calleth and calleth to Repentance Mat. 9.13 I came not to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance Not with Misery neither with their Fathers Anger nor their Brethrens Misery Jer. 5.3 O Lord are not thine Eyes upon the Truth Thou hast stricken them but they have not grieved thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive Correction they have made their Faces harder than a Rock they have refused to return Amos 6.3 Ye that put far away the evil Day and cause the Seat of Violence to come near Fall out what will they set their Hearts for Ease and Pleasure and carnal Delights and are given altogether to Mirth and â—ollity Riot and Revelling and all manner of Vanity Should we say to these Let not your Hearts be troubled and lull them more asleep in carnal Security by tincturing their Sensuality with Religion and adding a Dram of spiritual Comfort to make their carnal Potion more effectual No Christ speaketh not to such kind of Persons as mind neither his Presence nor Absence and regard not whether he do Good or Evil. No to such we must rather say Be afflicted and weep and mourn let your Laughter be turned to Mourning and your Ioy to Heaviness James 4.9 We call not upon them to rejoice but to howl for the Misery that is coming upon them A Sense there must be Q. What is then dissuaded Answ. A perplexing oppressing Trouble about sensible and worldly things Here I shall shew you First The Causes of this Trouble Secondly The Nature of it First The Causes of this Trouble which are 1. Carnal Self-love which is all for bodily Ease and Welfare or the Pleasures and Honours or Profits of the World They that are under the power of it seek great things here and the disappointment of their carnal Expectations breedeth Trouble Solomon telleth us what was the result of his accurate and deep search into all worldly and humane Affairs Eccles. 1.14 I have seen all the Works that are done under the Sun and behold all is Vanity and vexation of Spirit He found all worldly things not only vain and ineffectual to confer Happiness but which is worse apt to bring much Trouble and Affliction upon the Hearts of those who are too earnestly conversant about them Therefore the best way to be free from Trouble is to look for no great Matters here in the World 2. The Life of Sense which
only looketh to the present State of things and if we have not all things which we affect under the View of Sense Trouble filleth our Hearts Heb. 12.11 No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous There are two emphatical Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the present and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seemeth they both intimate the Causes of our Trouble present Sense and false Appearance Of the latter I shall speak in the next Head the former is to our purpose now All Affliction is ungrateful to Flesh and Blood and so cannot but be troublesome to us if we look only to the present but then in the End it giveth us a full Recompence for all our Patience namely such an Increase of Grace as bringeth Peace along with it 3. Fancy Vain conceit and false Appearance And so we are often troubled at what may afford Joy The sad Point which the Disciples could not digest was Christ's Departure yet our Lord telleth them how necessary it was for his own Honour and their Comfort His Honour Iohn 14.28 Ye have heard how I said unto you I go away and come again to you If ye loved me ye would rejoice because I go to the Father for my Father is greater than I. If ye were kind to me ye would have looked upon it with Joy because his going to the Father was the advancing him to an higher Condition than that in which he was now the ignominious Cross was the way to Dignity and Honour Again it was for their Comfort Iohn 16.7 It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you They were full of Sadness at the Thought of his Departure as if it were their utter Ruine and Undoing But the coming of the Holy Ghost would be of more Advantage to them than his staying with them it was for his Glory and their Benefit Thus we often misinterpret God's Dispensations those hard Trials which are ordered for our Comfort and Peace increase our Troubles and Perplexities We judg according to Appearance and therefore do not judg righteous Judgment So we wound our selves by our own Fancies and make our Evils much worse than they are by our vain Conceit All these concurred in the present Case They had Dreams of sharing Honours in Christ's Kingdom all which would be disappointed by his ignominious Death And they looked to the present Face of things and so could not see Glory in this Shame And besides they did quite mistake the Dispensation Secondly The Nature of this Trouble wherein it consisteth In three things 1. A Fear of Danger or Evils to come 2. Sorrow for Evils present 3. A fretting Indignation or Dislike of God's Dispensations It is Distrust to be troubled about what is to come Despondency or uncomely Dejection to be troubled about what is present Impatiency and Murmuring to dislike God's way of dealing All these constitute that Trouble of Heart from which Christ dissuadeth his Disciples 1. There was Fear in it of approaching Dangers Christ was to depart and they were to be left to an unquiet World Iohn 14.27 Let not your Heart be troubled neither let it be afraid They were afraid what should befal themselves when their Master and Guide was gone from whose Direction and Protection they promised themselves so much Comfort and Safety Future things are to be left to God's Providence Every Day that bringeth its Cares and Difficulties bringeth also its incident Comforts Matth. 6.34 Take no Thought for the Morrow for the Morrow shall take Thought for the things of it self sufficient unto the Day is the Evil thereof We must not be over sollicitous about future Contingencies nor be anxious for that to Day which may be soon enough cared for to Morrow But we usually anticipate our Troubles and make our present Condition more grievous by hearing the Charge and Burden of the future also and so by our Cares and Fears about Futurity oppress and so both overwhelm our selves and take God's Work out of his Hands 2. This Trouble did arise from Sorrow and immoderate Dejection because of the loss of Christ's bodily Presence Iohn 16 6. Because I have said these things unto you Sorrow hath filled your Hearts Usually upon the Loss or Absence of some prized Comfort we let loose the Reins of our Affections and keep no Moderation in our Sorrow and Grief as if God could not supply the Loss of the Creature by the Presence of his Spirit 3. Indignation or a fretting Dislike of God's Dispensations That this was a part of the Disciples Trouble appeareth from Christ's whole Discourse with them The bodily Presence of Christ was comfortable to them upon a spiritual Account as they injoyed many a sweet Instruction by it but they also looked for great things in the World and were confounded with the Disappointment of their Expectations The temporal Kingdom ran in their Minds and therefore the News of his ignominious Death was so afflictive to them Our Lord taxeth them for this but in a gentle condescending manner that for want of Faith and Love they were so unsatisfied with God's Design which was so expedient and useful for them and the World Now this is the usual Ground of our Troubles we set up an Anti-providence in our Hearts and obtrude some Model and Scheme of our own upon God which if he doth not comply with we are troubled But God's Way is more for our real Good though our own Way suteth better with our Fancy and vain Opinion II. Why Christians should not let their Hearts be troubled 1 st It is very incident to us We have somewhat within us and without us which will always be an occasion of Trouble There is Corruption within and an evil World without A Believer is not to become as a Stock or Stone or cease to be a Man our Flesh is not as the Strength of Brass nor are our Sinews Iron Our Saviour himself was troubled Iohn 12.27 Now is my Soul troubled But his Trouble was like the shaking of pure Water in a chrystal Glass there was no Mud at bottom Certainly it is lawful and requisite to be sensible and to be affected with our Condition but we are apt to exceed in our Fear and Grief and so it becometh a Fault There is a Dejection and Discouragement which cloggeth us in our Duty and causeth sinful Negligence and Deadness of Heart This is a Distemper which we should oppose by all spiritual means 2 dly This is contrary to our Duty and Obedience which consisteth partly in a Subjection to God's governing Will revealed in his Laws partly in a Submission to his disposing Will discovered in his Providence 1. For the first The Case is clear there if God hath forbidden Cares and Fears and immoderate Sorrows if he hath said Be careful for nothing Phil. 4.6 and fear them not therefore Matth. 10.26
Hopes we lie open to a Delusion and a Disappointment If we are kept alive if we stand in the Judgment whether we sleep or wake Day and Night here is our Comfort other things must be left to God's Will Vse Direction what to do in a time of Troubles and Dangers 1. Hope of exemption from the Trial is not that which Christ prescribeth but minding of higher things We are poor Creatures tainted with carnal Self-love and governed by Fancy and Appetite and place all our Hopes and Happiness in having our Supplies and Supports under the view of Sense and in being free from Trials Now Christ referreth not to Sense which would gratify this Humour but to Faith Let not your Heart be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me We love our selves more than God and the Ease of the Body more than the Welfare of our Souls and the World more than Heaven and our temporal Pleasure and Contentment more than our spiritual and eternal Benefit we would have our Consolation here No Christ referreth us to another Cure not to seek the Ease of the Flesh but the sure Repose of the Soul he referreth to the Objects of Faith not the Delights of Sense Spiritual Peace is the best Counter-ballance for worldly Trouble and Bitterness Iohn 16.33 These things have I spoken unto you that in me ye might have Peace In the World ye shall have Tribulation but be of good Comfort I have overcome the World 2. Those higher things which we should most regard are chiefly Reconciliation with God and assured Expectations of the heavenly Rest. These are the two grand Comforts which Christ insists upon in the Sermon which ensueth the Text. If we be reconciled to God and have the Pledg of it the Spirit of God to dwell in us and to sanctify and comfort us when dejected it is enough I will send the Comforter ver 26. And I am going to prepare a Place for you ver 2. These are Christ's two Comforts It doth not become a Christian to be dejected in his Troubles but he must be sure his Comforts come from spiritual Grounds from God's Love shed abroad in the Heart by the holy Ghost Rom. 5.5 and from the hopes of Heaven Luke 12.32 Fear not little Flock it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom These are God's Comforts and these give Joy in Tribulation 3. There is no having these things till we have chosen God for our God and everlasting Portion and do make use of Christ as Mediator I put it into these Notions because the Faith spoken of in the Text is not a speculative Assent but a practical Belief and that lieth in a Choice of God as our everlasting Portion and Happiness and a coming to God by Christ Heb. 7.25 He is able also to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him The first Step which the Soul taketh towards Heaven is the making God our chief Good and last End this goeth before Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ for Faith in Jesus Christ as Mediator is but subordinate hereunto as the Means leading to our chief End These two Acts are the Abridgment of the Gospel Acts 20.21 Testifying both to the Iews and also to the Greeks Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Iesus Christ. Our Act towards God is called Repentance because we have deviated from our Happiness we have forsaken the Fountain of living Waters and till we grow wise and change our Course we shall never return to it Repentance is a considering of our Ways after we had gone wrong and so run our selves into Ruine and Mischief The second Act is Faith because the things we believe are above Nature Jesus Christ's whole Undertaking Birth Death Resurrection Ascension the Promises of the Gospel are above Nature God and our Duty to him are in a great measure evident by natural Light It is supposed in the Text Men will easily believe in God it is required that they believe in Christ let us make use of him as the only Means of our Recovery by his Merit and Efficacy reconciling us to God and changing our Hearts reconciling us to God's Grace and restoring his Image 4. The Advantages we have by God and Christ must be often thought of for a serious Consideration is the great help of Faith Heb. 3.1 Consider the Apostle and high Priest of our Profession Christ Iesus Our Knowledg is not operative but by lively and active Thoughts Heb. 12.2 Looking unto Iesus God worketh by our Thoughts Psal. 144.15 Happy is that People whose God is the Lord. As under the Law they were to consider their Happiness Deut. 4.7 For what Nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for So are we to consider of the great Privileges of the Gospel God reconciled and Pardon and Life bestowed on us in and through Christ. SERMONS UPON St. LVKE XII 48 SERMON I. LUKE XII 48 For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom Men have committed much of them will they ask the more THESE Words are rendred as a reason why those Servants that know their Master's Will are beaten with more Stripes than those that knew it not because they did not improve their Advantages And Christ pleadeth the Equity of it from the Custom of Men expressed in their common Proverbs or Sentences that go from hand to hand among the People A Beneficiary that hath received much from his Benefactor is obliged to a greater Gratitude A Factor that hath his Master's Estate in his hands must make a Return according to the degree of the Trust. These things being evident by the Light of Nature and granted among all Men our Lord accommodateth them to his purpose which is to shew God's Proceedings with Men are according to the degree of their Advantages For unto whomsoever c. In the Words observe four things I. A double conveyance of Benefits to us Whatever a Man receiveth it is either given as a Gift or committed as a Talent For first he saith To whomsoever much is given and presently To whomsoever Men have committed much II. These things are not given to all in the same measure there is a difference in the Distribution some have much others have little III. Whether Men have received much or little it is all in reference to an Account this is signified in the words required asked IV. Answerable to their Mercies shall their Account be Much for much and little for little To whom any thing is given of him something shall be required and asked but to whom much is given and committed of him shall they ask the more not more than is committed but more than is required and asked of another As where the Soil is better and more tilled we look for the better Crop and we expect that he should come sooner that
are not given to all in the same Measure For in the Text there is intimated a Difference in the Distribution some have much others have little This is a thing often inculcated in Scripture as worthy to be taken notice of and seriously improved by us Therefore I shall give you I. Some Observations concerning it II. The Reasons of it III. The Uses I. Observations 1. That every one hath some Gift or other to be improved for God Some Relation some Opportunity and Advantage whereby he may glorify his Father which is in Heaven honour the Gospel and be useful to others In the Parable of the Talents one had five Talents another two another one he that had least had one Mat. 25.15 Some have publick Offices and move in an higher Sphere Others are in a private Condition where they may glorify God as Masters or as Servants as Parents or Children Husbands or Wives by performing the Duty of their Places Fidelity in the meanest piece of Service is acceptable to God and tendeth to his Glory and Honour Ephes. 6.8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any Man doth the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be Bond or Free He taketh notice of the poor Bond-servant who serveth God in his Calling as well as of the Free-men and Masters for God looketh not to the splendor and greatness of the Work but the honesty and sincerity of the Doer how mean soever he be And this tendeth to God's Honour Titus 2.10 Shewing all good Fidelity that they may adorn the Doctrine of God our Saviour in all things Religion is commended and well spoken of by means of the good carriage of a poor Servant Dent Imperatores tales tales Exactores fisci c. It is very notable that every one offered to the use of the Tabernable in Moses his time Gold or Silver or Brass or Chittim Wood or Goats-Hair or Badgers Skins some that which was more expensive others that which was more cheap and common but every one according to his several Ability So when Christ went to Ierusalem some strewed the way with Garments others cast down Branches some cried Hosannah that was all they could do The meanest Service hath its use and is not without a Reward Mat. 10.41 42. He that receiveth a Prophet in the Name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophet's Reward and he that receiveth a righteous Man in the Name of a righteous Man shall receive a righteous Man's Reward And whosoever shall give to one of these little ones a Cup of cold Water only in the Name of a Disciple verily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his Reward That is he that doth support and enable a Prophet to do the Work of him that sent him shall receive the same Reward that he should if he had been sent to prophesy yea the same as if he had received him that sent him even Christ that sent the Apostles or God that sent Christ For he that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me ver 40. And for the other Branch He that receiveth a righteous Man in the Name of a righteous Man shall receive a righteous Man's Reward an holy Man sent to plant Holiness among them or recommend Holiness to them by his Doctrine or Practice shall receive the Benediction of a righteous Man the having a righteous Man in one's House maketh you partake in his Blessing Nay a Cup of cold Water given to another because he is a Disciple of Christ that is the least Service or good turn done to a Member of Christ shall not be forgotten As the least Injury is taken notice of as the putting forth of the Finger by way of mocking Isa. 58.9 The Lord would have none of those Upbraidings So that I observe two things here One is the difference To enable a Prophet is more than to entertain a righteous Man to entertain a righteous Man is more than a slight good turn The other is that the smalness or meanness of the Benefit whereby any of Christ's Followers are helped and refreshed shall not diminish Christ's Estimation of the Man 's good Affection 2. That there is great diversity in the Talents themselves Christ doth not give all to all nor to all alike The kinds of Gifts are various some are more earthly and bodily as Strength Wealth and Honour These are Gifts and to be imployed for God bodily Strength for the Labours of the Gospel As God helped the Levites that bare the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord 1 Chron. 15.26 by discharging bodily Lassitude and Weakness So for the defence of his Church He giveth sometimes notable Strength and Valour to exercise it as to Sampson and David's Worthies or mighty Men 1 Chron. 11.10 Wealth that we may honour God with our Substance Prov. 3.9 and make Friends of the Mammon of Vnrighteousness Luke 16.9 and occasion others to bless God for us So for Honour and Dignity that we may protect and shelter God's People As it is taken notice that Christ's Grave was with the Rich and Honourable Isa. 53.9 meaning Ioseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus John 19.38 39. these eminent Men thought it their Duty to own Christ in his lowest Abasement So it is taken notice of Acts 17.4 A great multitude of the Greeks believed and consorted with Paul and Silas and of the chief Women not a few So would God put some Worldly Authority and Respect upon his Gospel lest it should seem only a Frenzy of the People But others are of a more spiritual nature as Gifts of the Mind Wisdom Knowledg Faith Love Hope With these especially God expecteth to be glorified For when he hath given us all things necessary to Life and Godliness he trusteth his Honour in our Hands that we may do some worthy thing for him in the World and quit our selves above the ordinary rate of Mankind either for the Glory of God or the Benefit of others Now among these Gifts some are common as Knowledg Utterance c. others saving and such as do accompany Salvation Heb. 6.9 as Faith and Love c. The common Gifts are several For to one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdom to another the word of Knowledg by the same Spirit to another Faith by the same Spirit to another the Gifts of Healing by the same Spirit 1 Cor. 12.8 9. Some are able to explain Truths soundly others to apply it closely Some have the Gift of Prayer and Utterance others are good to inform the Judgment Some to convince Gain-sayers others to stir up lively Affections It was observed in the three Ministers of â—eneva Vireto nemo docuit dulciùs Farello nemo tenuit fortiùs nemo doctiùs locâ—tus est Calvino No Man taught more sweetly than Viretus no Man held an Argument more strongly than Farellus no Man spoke more learnedly than Calvin Among Hearers some have more Wisdom some more Knowledg some more
are to be pitied who are provoked to Sin yet the Provocation excuses not the Sinner Moses had led them by God's Direction to this Place and there they murmured against him when they wanted Water and to such a height that he was fain to take shelter in the Sanctuary to avoid their Fury But this doth not excuse Moses Psal. 106.32 They angred him at the Waters of Strife so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes Their Peevishness provoked him yet because he commanded not his Passion he was punished with an exclusion out of Canaan Aaron upon another occasion thought to excuse himself Exod. 32.22 Let not the Anger of my Lord wax hot thou knowest this People that they are set on Mischief c. But Aaron's Sin was so great that God was very angry with him and thought to have destroyed him if Moses had not prayed for him as you may see Deut. 9.20 The Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time Alas these Excuses are frivolous 't is long of others and consider the great Injuries I received Every Man is to answer for his own Actions and cannot be hurt by others without his own Consent 4. Both the Persons were in publick Offices the Magistracy and the Ministry and the highest and most eminent of their Rank The one chief Governour of Israel the other High-Priest God will spare none yea the higher they are the greater are their Offences because of the influence of their Example and therefore their Lot will be the harder God will reckon with them when he passes by others If any the Duty of whose place obliges them to be eminent in Faith and Holiness miscarry the Provocation is the greater As David's Sin is aggravated by his Office I anointed thee King over Israel 2 Sam. 12.7 And the Priests are sorely threatned Mal. 2.7 8. The Priests Lips should keep Knowledg and they should seek the Law at his Mouth for he is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts But ye are departed out of the way ye have caused many to stumble at the Law ye have corrupted the Covenant of Levi saith the Lord of Hosts Their Negligence and Errors are greater than others they should be Examples to the Flock 1 Pet. 5.3 2 dly The nature of the Crime 1. It was a spiritual one They did not sanctify God in obeying and depending upon his Word before the Eyes of the People We only look to outward gross Sins but spiritual Sins we take no notice of There are Sins in genere moris and in genere fidei Sins against our Moral Duty and Sins against the Rule of Faith There are Peccata majoris infamiae and peccata majoris reatus Sins of greater Infamy and more publickly hateful and Sins of greater Guilt Of the first sort are Murder Adultery Theft c. Natural Light puts a Brand upon these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 5.19 The Works of the Flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness These smell rank in Nature's Nostrils every one knoweth them to be great Sins and a Child of God doth hardly fall into these sensual Villanies But there are other Sins of a more spiritual Nature such as want of Love to God and Faith in Christ and hope of eternal Life or such necessary degrees of either as may enable us to honour him in the World Few take notice of these but God judgeth not as Man judgeth these may be more dangerous as being not only against our Duty but our Remedy Few think distrustful Thoughts or distracting Cares or sinful Fears or immoderate Sorrow are such grievous Distempers as they afterwards prove to be till they cherish them so long that they find the Grievousness of the Sin in the Greatness of the Punishment 2. It was a sudden occasional Passion or fit of Impatience But by that we may give place to Satan and grieve the Spirit of God Eph. 4.26 27. Let not the Sun go down on your Wrath neither give place to the Devil and ver 30. Grieve not the holy Spirit of God Therefore we should watch against the sudden Disorders of our Passions and Affections otherwise we may do that in a moment the Effects of which will not be altogether blotted out by a long Repentance If we give way to excessive Anger we open a Door to Satan and give him an advantage to excite us to more Evil and the Work of Grace may be so darkened in us that we may long miss of Comfort If we once let the Fire be kindled it will presently send up a black Smoak whereby we dishonour our Profession and provoke God And whatever just cause of Provocation we have we are to overcome and bridle the Exorbitances of our Passions for tho we be provoked we must not provoke God 3. The Sin consisted in this that the Exemplariness of their Faith and Obedience was somewhat obscured We should look to this to have a Faith that will not only save our selves but tend to the Glory of God 2 Thess. 1.11 12. We pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this Calling and fufil all the good Pleasure of his Goodness and the Work of Faith with Power that the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ may be glorified in you and ye in him We may not be guilty of other Mens Sins We must have Grace not only for our own private Benefit that we may be saved but for a more publick Good that God may be glorified and others edified by our Example Many make an hard shift to go to Heaven they may have Grace enough for their own Salvation but yet have not Grace enough for the Honour and Exaltation of God in the World Now it is a great Fault especially in the Eminent if they neglect the glorifying of God in the Eyes of others Noah was raised up in his Age to condemn the World Heb. 11.7 By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with Fear prepared an Ark for the saving of his House by the which he condemned the World that is of their Security and contempt of God's Warnings Thus Moses and Aaron should have condemned the Israelites by their own Faith and ready Obedience And if we do not mind this in our selves we are the more culpable before God 1 Pet. 2.12 Having your Conversation honest among the Gentiles that whereas they speak against you as evil doers they may by your good Works which they shall behold glorify God in the Day of Visitation that is in the Day when he shall please to visit them by his saving Grace Otherwise we are accountable for those Sins we draw others into And so a Man may sin after he is dead as his Example out-liveth him In short God is severe upon his scandalous Children though he may pardon their Faults as to Eternal Punishment yet they smart for it
Love and Mercy in providing a Saviour for us and offering pardon to us Psal. 130.4 There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feared Our Thoughts are most conversant about these things Rom. 12.1 I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your Bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable service 3. It is most for the Comfort of the Creature There are some Principles planted in the Heart of Man for the restraint of Sin which may be baffled for a time but our fears will return upon us And till the Soul be subject to God it can never be comfortable nor at ease within it self And it is in vain to think we shall find rest for our Souls till Sin be more hated and God more loved Mat. 11.28 29. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my Yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart and ye shall find rest unto your Souls The same reasons that enforce the necessity of a satisfaction to God's Justice do also enforce the necessity of Repentance for else the Heart of Man is so constituted that it will be a Stranger to comfort It is true God is not quick and severe upon every miscarriage but yet the Soul apprehendeth him an holy and just God and therefore must be set to serve the living God or else the Conscience is not purged from dead works Heb. 9.12 VSE Is to press us to mind this work of Repentance We put all upon Faith but overlook Repentance yet the Gospel aimeth at this and without it the Grace thereof is not rightly applyed It is a Duty of great use for Gods Glory Mans Obedience Duty and Comfort dependeth on it And it is indispensibly necessary by Gods Authority necessitate Praecepti and by the New Covenant Constitution necessitate Medii And dare we be slight in it The times of our Ignorance shew how necessary it is and the light of the Gospel doth more inforce it Christ upbraided the Cities where his mighty works were done because they repented not Mat 11.20 21 22. Then began he to upbraid the Cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they repented not Wo unto thee Corazin Wo â—nto thee Bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloath and ashes But I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of Iudgment than for you And there is a Judgment will pass upon us and if we repent not who can stand in the Judgment Psal. 130.3 If thou Lord shouldest mark Iniquities Oh Lord who shall stand What shall we do 1. Expect not extraordinary Dispensations We have advantage enough by Gods Word Luke 16.30 If one went to them from the dead they would repent There Christ impersonateth our natural thoughts there is no need of that Conscience is awakened with the Word Christ is risen from the dead and hath sent this Message to us 2. Rouze up your selves Psal. 22.47 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord Psal. 119.59 I thought on my ways and turned my feet unto thy Testimonies Man is inconsiderate and will not give Conscience leave to work 3. Observe God's Checks We are negligent therefore God seeketh to awaken us Prov. 1.23 Turn you at my reproof Smothering Convictions breedeth Atheism and hardness of Heart 4. Do what you can Hos. 5.4 They will not frame their doings to return unto their God Then we are the more inexcuseable in our Impenitency when we will not so much as think and endeavour or use the outward means which tend to Repentance or set about the work as well as we can If we shut the door upon our selves who will pity us God may do what he pleaseth but we must do what he hath commanded bend our course that way for he has commanded us 5. Ask it of God Pray for it Ier. 31.19 Turn thou me and I shall be turned Surely he is able to help you out of your difficulties Mat. 19. 26. With God all things are possible He is willing for he faileth not the serious Soul Acts 5.31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give Repentance and forgiveness of Sins SERMON I. ON MARK X. 17 And when he was gone forth into the way there came one running and kneeled to him and asked him Good Master what shall I do that I may inherit Eternal Life ANY reigning Sin maketh us uncapable of Faith and by consequence of Salvation of which we have a notable Instance in the Conference that pass'd between Christ and a young Ruler of the Iews The story begins in the words read And when he was gone forth into the way c. The words give an Account of a Question put to Christ. And here 1. The Time and Place when and where this Question was put to him When he was gone forth into the way In the tenth Verse we read he was in some private House where the Pharisees did resort to him and dispute with him about Divorce And v. 13. They brought young Children to him that he might bless them Now when he had pleaded their Right and layd his hands upon them and blessed them Matthew tells us that he departed thence Chap. 19.15 and by the way-side as he was in his Journey to some other place this Ruler comes to him Thus doth our Lord find new Occasions of doing good in the House and by the Way-side Acts 10.38 it is said He went about doing good The Life of Christ was a constant course of Service to God and Bounty to men he went about and he went about doing good This is the Time and Place when and where 2. The next Circumstance is the Person by whom the Question was put the Text saith only There came one running to him What this one was we shall find by laying several Scriptures together 1. This One is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Young man Math. 19.20 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Rich man v. 22. He had great Possessions 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Ruler Luk. 18.18 What is meant by that Possibly one of the chief Pharisees for they were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rulers Luk. 14.1 or a Ruler of the Synagogue or as Grotius thinks one of the Magistrates of his Town or rather the Head and Chief of his Family The Honourable Families among the Iewes had their Heads and Chiefs whom they called their Rulers Now such a Ruler a young Man an honourable Person a Head and Chief of his Family he comes to Christ and puts this Question to him 3. The Manner of his Address to Christ it was Voluntary He came saith the Text that is of his own accord it was
too dear a Bargain for us to deal withal we snuff at God's terms as troublesome and fling off No we should be glad to accept of Mercy on any terms and take Heaven at God's price 1. This unbounded Resolution must be seriously made Luke 14.26 If any man come to me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple Mar. 13.45 46. The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a Merchant-man seeking goodly pearls who when he had found one pearl of great price he went and sold all that he had and bought it 2. It must be faithfully performed You must not only renounce but overcome when it cometh to tryal subdue your Lusts run all hazards for Christ thwart Affections slight Disgraces Nick-Names and Scorns and lay all down nay Life it self at Christs feet Mar. 19.27 28 29. Then answered Peter and said unto him Behold we have forsaken all and followed thee what shall we have therefore And Iesus said unto them Verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the Regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the Throne of his Glory ye also shall sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel And every one that hath forsaken houses or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for my Names sake shall receive an hundred fold and shall inherit Everlasting Life We must pluck out a right Eye and cut off a right Hand Matth. 5.29 30. Many will perform such duties as cross not any strong bent of their Lusts they will forbear some Sins that are not so rooted in their Natures nor grown strong by Custom nor are set on by any forcible Temptation but fail in other things of greater moment or more nearly concerning them There are four Points of great weight and moment which should ever be remembred by them that would make out their Gospel-Qualification or New-Covenant-Plea of Sincerity 1. That any allowed evil Habit of Soul or reigning Sin is inconsistent with that Faith that worketh by Love and only maketh us capable of the great Priviledges of the Gospel That appeareth by the Nature of Conversion which lyeth in three things a turning from the Creature to God from Self to Christ from Sin to Holiness Ioh. 5.44 How can ye believe that receive honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh from God only 1 John 2.15 Love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him Mat. 6.24 No Man can serve two Masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other Ye cannot serve God and Mammon James 4.4 Ye Adulterers and Adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the World is enmity with God whosoever therefore will be a Friend of the World is the Enemy of God 2. That the usual bait of reigning Sin is the World The great difficulty of Salvation lyes in a Mans addictedness to worldly Things or Temporal satisfactions when these are highest in our Esteem or dearest to our Hearts it weakneth Gods Interest and our care of Salvation and our sense of the World to come 2 Cor. 4.4 In whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them which believe not 2 Pet 1.9 He that laâ—â—eth these things is blind and cannot see afar off Phil. 3.19 Whose end is destruction whose God is their Belly and whose glory is in their shame who mind earthly things The World taketh us off from the serious pursuit of Heaven Luk. 10.41 42. Martha Martha thou art careful and troubled about many things but one thing is needful and makes us shrink at Tryals 2 Tim. 4.10 Demas hath forsaken us having loved this present World 3. That our Inclination to worldly things is various according to the Temper and Constitution of Men. As the Channel is cast so the River runs Isa. 53.6 We have turned every one in his own way Some are carried away by Pride some by vain Glory some by Sensuality some by Worldliness Uprightness and Sincerity lyes in observing the tender part of the Soul and preserving our selves from that Sin which is most natural to us Psal. 18.23 I was also upright before him and I kept my self from mine Iniquity 4. That many times when pretences are fair there is a secret reserve in our Hearts The Devil seeketh to deceive Men with a superficial Change and half Reformation and moveth them to take on the Profession of Religion and yet secure their Fleshly and Worldly Interest The most dangerous Cheat of our Souls is by halving it between God and Mammon Mat. 6.24 No man can serve two Masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other Ye cannot serve God and Mammon When we are not so mortified as to subject our selves entirely to Christ's direction upon the hopes of Eternal Life or the Happiness of the World to come and to part with all things in the World when it is necessary so to do or else we must part with this Salvation Many think they are not Worldly because they have some thoughts of Heaven and do something for it in seeking after it but the business is whether you seek it in the first place and make it your principal End and Scope to which all other things are subordinated and referred whether you can forsake all rather than miss Heaven Jesus Christ thô he prized good beginnings and would not discourage any yet admitteth none to the Priviledges of Grace that are but half converted whose Hearts are in secret League with the World though they seem to be affected with the offers of Eternal Life SERMON II. ON MARK X. 18 And Iesus said unto him Why callest thou me Good there is none Good but one that is God WE have seen the Young Man's Question here is Christ's Answer in which observe two things 1. His Expostulation with him VVhy callest thou me Good 2. His Instruction of him There is none Good but one that is God First For the Expostulation VVhy callest thou me Good He doth not simply blame him for giving this Title to him but argueth with him about it 1. To shew that he loves no Complements or fair words which proceed not from sound Faith and Love to him Christ saw that he was ignorant of his Divine Authority and foresaw that he would not take his Counsel and therefore expostulates with him VVhy callest thou me Good As elsewhere Luke 6.46 Why call you me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say Cui res nomini subjecta negatur is nomine illuditur It is a mockery to give Titles to any one when we do not answer it with suitable endeavours As those that
Again compare him with the Man that brought his Son that was possessed with a dumb Devil he brought him to Christ to be cured and Christ asked him Dost thou believe I can do it And he cryed out with tears Lord I believe help thou my unbelief Mark 9.24 That was an humble Spirit indeed there 's a Work of Faith Lord I believe but he acknowledgeth mixtures of weakness help thou my unbelief But here is no lamenting of defects All these have I kept from my Youth Good Souls in the best Actions they perform will bewail the mixtures of Sin when they own any thing of Grace they are still acknowledging their weakness and many Infirmities We may and we must acknowledge the Good that is wrought in us but still we may and we must be sensible of the mixtures of Infirmity in our best Actions Again compare him with Paul he was one that had cause to stand upon his Priviledges as much as any he had all those things which the finer sort of Hypocrites can plead and rely upon before they come to Christ. Before he became a Christian he was as touching the righteousness which is by the law blameless Phil. 3.6 He had a Life free from all Scandal and any outward Vice yet when he comes to look upon this he says I count all but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Iesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. Verse 8. Paul was broken-hearted touched with a sight of Sin and deserved Wrath But this Man what an utter Stranger was he to this Blessed Work of Brokenness of Heart All these have I kept from my Youth In short that I may gather up the Discourse Here was wanting Iosiah's Tenderness who rent his Cloaths and the other Man's Humility and Paul's Self-denyal therefore certainly his Answer shews that he was not truly acquainted either with the Law or with himself So that the Note which I shall prosecute will be this Doct. That Men are too apt to think well of themselves or of their own Goodness and Righteousness before God Here is a Young Man drunk with a foolish Confidence and therefore boasteth that he had ever performed his Duty And to be sure he hath more fellows in the World some that are as Confident as he but upon far less grounds It is said of the Scribe that came to Christ Luke 10.29 But he willing to justifie himself That is the Temper and Disposition of Man So Rom. 10.3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God So Rev. 3.17 Thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and stand in need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked Oh how apt are many to conceit of themselves beyond what they ought Obj. But what 's the Cause that Men are so apt to over rate their own Righteousness and Goodness before God I answer Ignorance Error Self-love Negligence and Security First Ignorance They are ignorant of the Law and of the Gospel 1. Ignorant of the Law of the Spiritual meaning of the Law They think they are well enough if they refrain from outward gross Sins and so say All these have I kept because they keep it in an outward way as that Pharisee Luk. 18.11 God! I thank thee I am not as other men are Extortioners Vnjust Adulterers or even as this Publican Men please themselves in this as if open and gross Sinners were only lyable to the Wrath of God O how Natural is it to us to cut short the sence of the Law that which may suit it to our own practice and our own course of Duty Ignorant Persons think that no Man is an Idolalater or guilty of the breach of the First Commandment but he that doth grosly and openly worship Stocks and Stones and Beasts and Serpents and none a Murderer but he that hath kill'd a Man none an Adulterer but he that hath defiled his Neighbours Bed none a Thief but he that robs by the High-way side or that pilfers anothers Goods They look to the gross and outward sence of the Law and not to the inward Spiritual meaning thereof The Lord Christ rebukes this Ignorance Matth. 5.22 and shews that rash anger and contumelious words are Sins and he is a Murderer not only that doth kill another but he that breaks out into Passion that calls his Brother Fool he is in danger of Hell-fire that Lustful glances are Adultery that the Law requires not only an External Conformity in Manners and Actions but Purity and Righteousness in all our Thoughts internal Motions and the Affections of the Heart Therefore the poor ignorant Self-deceiving Man that triumphs over Sin as if it were wholly dead in him because it breaks not out into open wickedness and enormous Offences is wholly mistaken as Paul was alive without the Law O this Man is foully mistaken for he knows not the Law aright for it doth not only Command some External Duties and forbid some of the grosser Sins but reacheth the Heart it condemneth Lust evil Concupiscence and inordinate Motions and Stirrings A Man that keeps the Law only outwardly can no more be said to keep the Law than he that hath undeâ—â—â—â—n to carry a Tree and only takes up a little piece of the Bark 2. They are ignorant of Gospel Righteousness which consists in the remission of Sins and Imputation of Christ's Righteousness applyed by true Faith What 's the Reason men are so apt to over-rate their own Righteousness They are ignorant of the Righteousness of God Rom. 10.3 They do not know the true Plea in the Gospel Court which is not Innocency but a broken-hearted Confession of Sin Thâ—â— Perfection of personal Obedience which the legal Covenant requireth they acknowledge not and being ignorant of the second they patch up a piece as well as they can of the Duties of the Law ill understood that the Ell may be no broader than the Cloath Ignorance then is one great Cause of this Disposition in men to justifie themselves Ignorance of the Legal and Gospel Covenant they are ignorant of the Nature Merit and Influence of Sin and of the severity of God's Justice Secondly Another Cause is Error They are leavened with sottish Principles and that disposeth them to a Conceit of their own Righteousness I shall name several of them 1. That they live in good Order and are of a Civil harmless Life and are better than others or better than themselves have been heretofore and therefore are in good Condition before God and yet a man may be Carnal for all this I will take this Principle asunder Take the Positive part A Man may live in good Order be of a civil and harmless Life and yet be destitute of Grace and of the Life
Children 2 Kings 2.24 And then for Grown men God will have Judgments for them It is a sad time and it calls for much Weeping Lamentation and Grief that we live in an Age wherein Moral wickedness abounds Drinking Whoring Swearing Murdering Stealing and such like Abominations Take this Observation God doth not usually punish in this World for Unbelief and want of Love to Christ he leaves it to the World to come but for breaches of the Moral Law he doth Rom. 1.18 The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men When the two Tables are violated by Ungodliness and Unrighteousness then the Wrath of God breaks out by some notable Judgment So Heb. 2.2 Every transgression and Disobedience of Moses received a just recompence of Reward And Hos. 4.1 2. The Lord hath a controversie with the inhabitants of the Land because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land by Swearing and Lying and Killing and Stealing and committing Adultery they break out and Blood toucheth Blood There are Sins against the Moral Law reckoned up which provokes the Lord's Anger As in Temporal Favours God expresseth love to those that are morally Righteous so in Temporal Judgments he hath expressed his Hatred against Immoralities I confess some Gospel Provocations God doth punish in this World as for Instance when men persecute the Profession of the Gospel or when they grow weary of the Gospel after they have long had it then it concerns God as Governour of the World to punish such the Good of the World being very much concerned But chiefly his Judgments are for Sins against the Moral Law of God when these are broken in our Streets there ought to be much Weeping and Lamenting before the Lord in a sense of these things 4. It Condemns those that will pretend to the peculiar Love of Christ when they are not Moral but froward undutiful in their Relations unconscionable in their Dealing and have not learned to be sober to possess their Vessels in Sanctification and Honour what do you talk of being Christians when they are not so good as Heathens Never think of the higher Mysteries of Religion of Believing in Christ and Communion with God when you live so contrary to the Light of Nature as the Apostle speaks of the Natural Branches and the Branches contrary to Nature Rom. 11.24 It is in vain to think of grafting things that are contrary to Nature if the Natural Branches be not grafted in There are certain who are doubly dear both in the Flesh and in the Lord not only in the Lord upon the Account of Religion but in the Flesh upon the Account of Nature as Onesimus was dear to Philemon when Converted Philemon 16. There were many Moral Heathens of a sweet Nature that had great Command over their Passion Many civil Carnal Men will rise up in Judgment against high-flown Christians that pretend to great heights of Faith and Love to Christ but are defective in Morals As it was said of the Men of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba that they shall rise up in Iudgment against this Generation and condemn it Mat. 12.41 42. so will these Heathens Men morally Just Exact Punctual in their Dealings rise up in Judgment against many that pretend to believe in Christ Si non praestat fides quid praestitit infidelitas How should this put you to shame when those that are graceless cannot be taken Tardy in those things wherewith you are charged I say if their Moral Principles and Civil Institutions binds them to the Peace and good Behaviour and will not suffer them to do wrong and all the Laws of Christ will not confine you within your Duty how great will your Condemnation be see that you be not exceeded by them I may represent it thus when a School-boy knows more and better of Arts and Sciences than a University-man is not this a great shame to him I remember it is said of Sarah Gen. 20.16 Abimelech said Behold I have given thy Brother a thousand Pieces of Silver behold he is to thee a covering of thine Eyes unto all that are with thee and to all other thus was she reproved Here is no word of Reproof how was she reproved Why here a Pagan King dismisseth her untouched with Gifts to her Husband he provides for her safety and this was a reproof of Sarah's dissembling his Morality was a reproof to her that was acquainted with the true God and a Professor of the true Faith and yet was found tardy You are shamed and Christ is put to shame in you 5. It invites us to go so far for Jesus loved this Young Man est aliquid prodire tenus What was in this young Man Here 's his Care to seek after Eternal Life his reverend Esteem of Christ's Person his outward Conformity to the Laws of God his abstaining from all gross sins from his Youth O these are amiable Properties and Qualities and those that are endowed with them Christ loveth them Obj. But here 's an Objection How is this a Motive Christ was Courteous and Respectful to this Young Man but now he is in Heaven what Love doth Christ shew now upon Earth to those that are Moral 1. Moral Vertues will at least procure a Temporal Reward Christ loves Vertue so that he rewardeth the Shew of it it keeps off many Temporal Judgments and procures many Temporal Benefits as the Ninevites Repentance though not real kept off the Judgment Ionah 3.10 and Ahab's Humiliation kept off the Judgment in his days 1 Kings 21.29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me Because he humbleth himself before me I will not bring the Evil in his days but in his Son's days will I bring the Evil upon his House It encourageth us to seek him since he rewardeth a Temporal Repentance with Temporal Favours O what will the hearty Humiliation of a true Penitent do when a Counterfeit one is thus far accepted with God And so that kind of Zeal that was in Iehu was not without its Reward 2 Kings 10.30 Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart thy Childâ—en of the fourth generation shall sit on the Throne of Israel though he did it with an imperfect Heart The Egyptian Midwives when they saved the Children of the Israelites though it were by a Lye the Lord multiplyed them and blessed them Exod. 1.20 Therefore God dealt well with the Midwives and Ver. 21. It came to pass that because the Midwives feared God that he made them Houses So Austin observes that the Romans as long as they did excell in Justice and Temperance were rewarded by God with Victory and Prosperity as long as that Empire kept honest in Civil Vertues it had eminent Success and their Common-wealth prevailed and overtopt the Nations but when they degenerated into Beasts
to the Rich that may recompense thee but to the Poor from whom thou canst look for nothing again Sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the Poor This Advice of Christ I will 1. Explicate 2. Vindicate 3. Improve to some Practical Use. First Explain how far this is a Duty For the misunderstanding of this Sentence hath fill'd Monasteries with Monks and Desarts with Anchorites The great difficulty is whether this be a Precept or an Evangelical Counsel The Papists fancy some things to be Evangelical Counsels that is necessary to an higher and more perfect sort of living which are not absolutely necessary in themselves but Counsels that he that can receive it let him receive it Counsels of Perfection and not necessary Precepts I shall not deal with the thing in general but only so far as it concerns this place which among others is brought for this Doctrine but vainly for the words here run in the manner of a flat and absolute Precept and not of Counsel and arbitrary Advice Christ enjoyns him to go and sell whatsoever he had And they are spoken in Answer to his Question What shall I do that I may inherit Eternal Life And in prosecution of the Debate between Christ and him when he asked What shall I do Christ referr'd him to his own Covenant or the Tenor of the Law q. d. Thou expectest Eternal Life according to the Covenant of Works which Covenant requires thus and thus Thou knowest the Commandments To this the Young Man replyes All these things have I kept what lack I yet Then says Christ Go sell whatsoever thou hast c. Our Saviour would not contradict his own Course of referring him to the Covenant of Works Nor would he else have spoken to the purpose for the Young Man did not demand how he should attain an extraordinary State of Perfection but what he should do to be saved or to obtain Eternal Life therefore Christ would not only give him an Evangelical Counsel or instruct him about an Extraordinary State of Perfection but a necessary Duty Well then a Precept it is not a general Precept binding all Christians for then it could not be omitted or neglected by us without sin or without a great Contempt of Christ's Authority Yea many would sin if they should sell all neglect their Families and cast themselves upon Snares and Temptations There is no Command given by Christ to all to do so and this Command obligeth none but those to whom it was given There are some things that are due to God Ex officio generati by Virtue of the General Duty we owe to him Some things Ex vocatione speciali by special Call are to be done such was this Command of our Lord and the Law-giver had Power to try this Young Man in any thing he saw fitting It was a personal Command for Tryal such as that was to Abraham who was no more to dispute against it but to Offer Isaac Gen. 22.1 2. So this was a special Command given to this Young Man to discover his Hypocrisie and make him sensible of his Disease The Law doth not bid us sell all but the Law commands us to be ready to do the whole Will of God whatever it cost us and condemns those evil Affections and inordinate Respects to Temporal things which would hinder us from so doing Secondly Let me Vindicate it For it may seem in the thoughts of some as if our Lord had dealt hardly with this young Man in putting him upon so severe a Tryal A young rich Man comes to him with such Affection and yet for Christ to bid him Sell all But consider 1. Such Words and Thoughts must not be heard against our Sovereign Lord and Law-giver And Christ speaks here as a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Law-giver which the Ebionites could not endure for they owned him only as a naked Interpreter of the Law and therefore foisted in some Passages to corrupt this part of the Gospel See Grotius Christ hath absolute Power to Command If he bid Abraham to offer up Isaac he must do it and the Israelites to spoil the Egyptians it was lawfull Certainly then he that was the Lord of all might with very good reason bid this Young Man sell all 2. Christ who is the Wisdom of the Father knew the best way of discovering this Young Man to himself and therefore toucheth his Privy Sore that being sensible of his Defect he might know that his Conceit of being perfect was but a vain Dream and it was in mercy to him to put him out of his Dream 3. The Precept was not so hard considering three things 1. What was required of all those that were in a special manner called to be Christ's Disciples or train'd up for the Ministry in Christ's Company and by special converse with him When he call'd any to be of his Family and to be as it were his menial Servants and constant Attendants they left all and followed him Matth. 4.19 20. He saith unto them follow me and I will make you Fishers of Men And they streightway left their Nets and followed him Their Nets that is their whole Estates They had less to lose indeed than this rich Man but they could but lose their All. They that were to be train'd up for the Service of the Gospel were to walk up and down with Christ and to live in an Itinerary ambulatory manner without any settled aboad and afterwards to go abroad and Preach the Gospel in all Countries throughout the World the possession and administration of earthly things was not consistent with their Office therefore he would have them to leave all and trust his Providence which without their Care and Solicitude would provide them necessaries for the present Life And if Christ would call this young Ruler to the like Employment it was but convenient he should bid him sell all 2. Consider it bindeth all Christians quoad animi affectum in Vow Purpose and Preparation of the Heart tho' not actually to leave all and follow Christ These are not hard Terms if you consider what is required of every one that will be saved Christ doth not hide his Terms from any for what is here Sell all and give to the poor and take up the Cross and follow Christ is express'd by Self-denyal Mat. 16.24 If any Man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me Self-denyal in effect implyes as much We should all in the Preparation of our Hearts follow Christ naked destitute and deprived of all things and be contented so to do if he should see fit 3. The Precept will not seem so hard if you consider the State of that Countrey which was near Destruction and that was one Reason why the Believers in that Age sold what they had and cast all into a Common Bank Acts 4.32 The multitude of them that believed were of one Heart and of one Soul neither said any of
follow Christ to any purpose Take up the Cross It is an allusion to the Punishments that were in use when Christ lived in the World the Malefactors bore their own Cross to the place of Execution and then they were nailed to it alive So let him reckon upon that he must bear his Cross. And follow me There is a twofold following of Christ Special and General 1. Special as those Disciples that were his menial Servants of his own Family train'd up for the Ministry these did follow Christ up and down because they were chosen Witnesses and were to be conscious and privy unto all his Actions that they might better give an account of them to World Acts 1.21 22. Wherefore of those which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Iesus went in and out among us beginning from the Baptism of Iohn unto that same day that he was taken up from us must one be ordained to be a Witness with us of his Resurrection And so follow me is Come take lot and share with me abide with me be my Disciple 2. The Phrase bears a more General Sence Ioh. 12.26 If any Man serve me let him follow me and so to follow Christ is either to take his Direction or imitate his Example 1. When we take his Direction We are said to follow Christ when we take him for our Lord and Master and live according to his Holy Doctrine As they that have such a one for their Master in any Sect of Philosophy are said to follow him so they that take Christ for their Teacher as the great Prophet of the Church herein they follow him Mar. 17. â— Hear ye him 2. We are said to follow Christ when we imitate his Example as 1 Cor. 11.1 Be ye followers of me as I also am of Christ From the words thus Explained three Points of Doctrine may be gathered 1. In Order to Eternal Life it is required that a Man should not only sell all and give to the Poor but that he should follow Christ or enter himself as one of his Disciples 2. Whosoever entereth himself as one of his Disciples and gives up his Name to Christ must follow him or imitate his Example 3. All those that would follow Christ must prepare their shoulders for the Cross. 1 Doct. In order to Eternal Life it is required not only that a Man should sell all and give to the Poor but that he should follow Christ or enter himself as one of his Disciples Here I shall enquire What it is and why it is necessary 1. What it is to enter our selves as one of Christ's Disciples I shall lay no other Duty upon you than what you are engaged unto by your Baptism therefore I shall only explain what your Baptism binds you to which is a Bond upon you to enter your selves as Christ's Disciples It is a renouncing all other Lords and Masters a choosing Christ and believing in him alone for Salvation and a resigning up our selves to do his Will 1. A renouncing all other Lords and Masters which are opposite to Christ viz. The Devil the World and the Flesh. The Devil Col. 1.13 Who hath delivered us from the power of Darkness and hath translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son Before there is any entrance into the Kingdom of Christ there is a translating from the Power of Darkness that I take to be the Power of the Devil The World Gal. 6.14 The world is crucified to me and I unto the world Then for the Flesh Rom. 8.12 We are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh In our Natural State we are under the power of all these three as it is set forth Eph. 2.2 3. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this World according to the Prince of the Power of the Aâ—r the Spirit that now worketh in the Children of disobedience Among whom we all had our conversation in time past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the Flesh and of the Mind There are all the three Enemies of our Salvation that must be renounced mentioned There is the Custom and corrupt course of the world Alas the Generality of the World live a Sensual Flesh-pleasing Life that was their Rule and the Prince of the power of the Air that was their Guide and the Flesh or the bent of corrupt Nature that was their Principle While we are in our Corrupt State the Devil hath Power to Rule us and the Example and common Customs of the World doth encourage us and corrupt Nature within doth strongly urge us to Sin against God And therefore when we do indeed enter our selves the Disciples of Christ these Enemies of his and ours must be renounced that we may have another Rule another Lord and another Principle Another Rule which is the Law of God another Lord which is Jesus Christ another Principle which is the Spirit of Christ dwelling and working in us There must be first an Emptying of Heart before it can be filled with Grace There must be a dispossessing of those strong and cursed Inmates that have such hand and power over us that Christ alone may Rule and Govern us 2. There must be a Believing in Christ or a resting upon him alone for Salvation When the Eunuch offered himself to be Baptized Philip tells him If thou believest with all thy heart thou mayest Acts 8.37 And he answered and said I believe that Iesus Christ is the Son of God Faith in the Son of God is the great Qualification necessary to Christ's Disciples that as they forsake the Devil the Pomps and Vanities of the World and the Inclinations of the Flesh so they may cleave to him alone as Lord and Saviour to give Repentance and Remission of Sins to his People Acts 5.31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of Sins 3. It is required that we resign up our selves to do his Will and walk according to his Directions if we would be Christs Disciples for otherwise we do but give him an empty Title and we may as much mock him as the Roman Soldiers did that put a Robe upon him and cry'd Hail King of the Iews When we cry him up as Lord and Saviour and do not resign up our selves to his Use and Service we mock him as they did Take three Scriptures to prove this Luk. 6.46 Why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say Cuiâ—râ—s nomini subject a negatur is nomine illuditur Tertull. It is a mockage to give Christ a Title and deny him the Duty which belongs to it The greatest part of the Christian World live in a bare outward profession of Christ's Name without any Care and Conscience to walk answerably they seem to have renounced the Devil the World and the Flesh but their Hearts are in a secret League with them still
of Preferment be so much how will you endure Rapine and Torture and all manner of Violence and Evil 5. He that begrudgeth a little Pains for God and counts it so tedious to Converse with him a little while in Duties of Holiness and reckons all labour too much and is loth to strive to enter in at the strait gate Luk. 13.24 how will he endure Torments and expose the Body to all kind of Sufferings Necesse est ut ei honestum vile sit cui corpus charum est He that is so tender of his Ease so delicate that he cannot endure the Labours of the Gospel how will he bear the Afflictions of the Gospel If it be irksom to put the Body to a little trouble in Prayer or Meditating or other Holy Duties how will he rejoice in the midst of all Tribulations that shall befall him for Christ's sake Thus you see how few are prepared for the Cross. SERMON IX ON MARK X. v. 22. And he was sad at that saying and went away grieved for he had great Possessions WE have hitherto seen the Young Man at his Best Now we shall find him discovered and laid open in his own Colours It was well that he came to Christ with such Reverence and Seriousness about such a weighty Question as What shall I do that I may inherit Eternal Life It was well if he could say truly All these have I kept from my youth But now here is the Event and Issue of this Interlocutory Discourse between him and Christ when Christ bid him Sell all and take up his Cross and follow him then he went away sad c. Here Observe 1. How he was affected with Christ's Advice He was sad at the saying and went away grieved 2. The Reason of his Sorrow or why he was thus affected For he had great Possessions In the First Part we may Observe 1. The kind oâ— the Affection he was not angry but sorry he doth not fret and fume but goes away sorrowful 2. Observe the Degree of it it is express'd here by two things a sad Heart and a heavy Countenance The Sadness of his Countenance I gather from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was sad at that saying The word properly signifies He lowred at that saying the lowring of the Heavens is expressed by that word So the Sky was red and lowring Mat. 16.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Then the sadness of his Heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He went away grieved in Luk. 18.23 it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was very sorrowful Note that he went away and we hear no more of him like those Ioh. 6.66 At that time many of his Disciples went back and walked no more with him Secondly Here is the reason of this For he had great Possessions In Luke it is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was very rich he had both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Possessions and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Riches too as appears by the next Verse And observe that the bare having is rendered as the Reason He had great Possessions and therefore he went away sad It is hard to have them without Lustful Affections to them It may be if he had so little as the poor Fisher-men or the other Disciples whom Christ called he would sooner have left all and followed Christ but having so much to lose it was the more difficult for him to forsake all He went away for he had great Possessions To give you a few brief Points 1. That a Man may go very far and be zealous and forward at first yet afterwards cool and fall away 2. That Tryals bring men forth to the Light and make them manifest what they are 3. A Man wedded to the VVorld will renounce Christ and his Commands rather than the World whenever it comes to a proof 4. A Carnal worldly Man may be very sorrowful when he cannot have Heaven in his own way 5. The Disease of Worldlings is very incident to great men and it is a very hard matter to keep the Heart of such open and free for Christ. 1 Doct. That a Man may go far and be zealous and forward at first and yet cool and fall away at last Witness this Young Man who comes to Christ to learn of him the way of Life and that in such an humble and reverent manner and makes Profession that he had kept the Commandments from his Youth and yet when Christ tells him what he must do more he was troubled and falls off So Iudas walked with Christ for a while but afterwards proveth a Traytor to him Ioh. 6.70 Have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is a Devil When others were turning away from Christ and were offended at his Doctrine he continues in Christ's Company and yet a Devil for all that Iudas was not carried away with the stream of the Deâ—ection he kept the Bag and his Temptation was not yet come yet his Heart was not sound So Herod heard Iohn gladly and did many things yet afterwards put him to Death Mark 6.20 Simon Magus he believed and when he was baptized he continued with Philip and wondred beholding the Miracles and Signs which were done Acts 8.13 Here was Faith and solemn Profession and Fellowship with Philip and this not feignedly but out of a Sence and Conviction of a power that accompanied his Doctrine and yet afterwards he discovered that he was but in the gall of bitterness and bond of Iniquity Verse 23. The Reasons of this are 1. They take up Religion upon Forreign and Extrinsick Reasons and when those Reasons fail their Religion saileth also As Puppets mov'd by the Wires to which they are fastened so they are moved by Credit and Esteem and Countenance in the World They Court Religion while it hath a Portion for them Thus we read of some that followed Christ for the Loaves Iohn 6.26 Ye seek me not because ye saw the Miracles but because ye eat of the loaves and were filled And ye rejoyced in his light for a season John 5.35 Curiosity and Novelty made them rejoyce in his Light for a while Vix queritur Iesus propter Iesus Religion is scarce received in the World for Religion's sake Now forreign things as they are accidental to Religion Possunt abesse adesse so must the respect built upon them be casual and accidental and very uncertain even as those Reasons vary Men upon these Forreign Reasons may be very zealous for a time as Interest will urge men more than Conscience and when it is their Interest to follow or promote such a way they are vehement Sticklers for it Therefore the difference between false and sincere Professors is not altogether taken from their Zeal and outward diligence they may be exceeding zealous and forward upon the Impulsion of false Principles who have a base Heart lurking under it because the Motions of Lusts disguised with Religion are rapid and earnest and by-ends have a powerful influence
stiffle our Convictions so as they come to nothing Matth. 13.22 He also that receiveth seed among the thorns is he thâ—t heareth the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choak the word and he becometh unfruitful They will distract the Head with Cares and put out all Thoughts of our Eternal Condition If a Man begins to do some outward thing it wiil make us soon weary of Religion and attendance on Holy Duties as if all time laid out upon God were lost and they cry out When will the Sabbath be over that we may set forth wheat Amos 8.5 The Heathens counted the Jews a foolish People as Seneca saith because they lost a full seventh part of their lives he speaks it with respect to the Sabbath So other Men are of his Mind they think all lost that is laid out upon God And it distracts us in Duty and carries away our Heart Ezek. 33.31 They come unto me as the people cometh and they sit before thee as my people and they hear thy word but they will not do them for with their mouth they shew much love but their heart goeth after their Covetousness It interlines our Prayers and holy Services with worldly Projects and Thoughts Nay it turns Religion into a Trade and Market Men live by it it makes Religion to serve their worldly Ends they make a Market of their Devotion as the Sechemites for then say they their Substance and their Cattle will be ours VSE To inform us of the Evil of Worldliness We need to be set right in that for most Men stroke it with a gentle Censure They will say he is a good Man but a little worldly as if it were no great matter to be so nay Men are apt to applaud those that are guilty of this Sin Psal. 10.3 They bless the Covetous whom the Lord abhorreth He that by hook and crook gets Honour and Riches is the only prudent Man in their Account If our Children are Loose and Drunkards and Riotous we are offended but if we see them worldly we are not troubled O it is a foul Sin but the Men of the World will not believe it surely we have too mild thoughts of it and therefore we do not watch and strive against the Love of the World Luke 12.15 Take heed and beware of Covetousness the words are doubled for the more vehemency he doth not say take heed only but take heed and beware of Covetousness Sins that are more gross and sensual are easier discovered and such a Sinner is sooner reclaimed but this is a secret Sin that turns away the Heart from God And to make you more careful to avoid it in Scripture a Covetous Man is called an Idolater Eph. 5.3 and Covetousness is called Idolatry Col. 3.5 and is that a small Crime What to set up another God who are you that dare to harbour such an Evil in your Bosoms and make no great matter of it Will you dethrone that God which made you and set up the World in his stead It is called Adultery Iames 4.4 It is a breach of your Conjugal Vow You did promise in your Baptism to renounce the World and give up your selves unto Christ's Service and will you cherish such whorish and disloyal Affections as will carry you to the Creature instead of God O we cannot think bad enough of such a Sin 4 Doct. A Carnal worldly Man may be sorrowful when he cannot win Heaven in his own way When he cannot get Heaven and his own will in the World also as this Young man was when he could not be a Christian at a cheaper rate He departed from Christ sad as loth to miss this Felicity and yet loth to pay so dear for it There is a Sorrow that worketh Repentance to Salvation never to be repented of 2 Cor. 7.10 but this is of another Nature it makes a wound in the Conscience and doth no more It troubled him much that he had moved this Question when he did not find Christ's Answer according to his desire and expectation And this is just the Disposition of a Man that hath a sense of Eternity and yet is wedded to his Lusts Fain he would be happy hereafter but will not leave his Lusts now so they are troubled they cannot have Christ and the World too Christ for their Consciences and the World for their Affections They love this World and yet would fain be saved in the world to come and therefore are grieved when they cannot have both On the one side they are troubled with a sense of Religion and on the other side with a fear of losing their worldly Interests See a like trouble in Herod Matth. 14.9 The King was sorry nevertheless for his Oaths sake and for them that sat with him at meat he commands it to be given her He was loth to put Iohn to Death and yet loth to deny her So Balaam would have the Reward and yet loth to go against the Express Command of God 21 st and 22 d. Chapters of Numbers So Pilate was loth to condemn Christ against his own Conscience Thus shall we be affected till we seek God with our whole Hearts This Sorrow of the Young Man will give us some Light as to the difference between those conflicts that are in a Gracious and Renewed Man and those conflicts that are in the Unregenerate There are conflicts in both yet they differ much In the Unregenerate Graceless Soul the conflict is between Conviction and Corruption Conscience wrestles with their Lusts and Lusts wrestle with Conscience and so Men are sorrowful upon Carnal not Godly Reasons whereas the conflict in the Regenerate is in the same Faculty Carnal Reason against Spiritual Reason and Carnal VVill against Spiritual Will Carnal Affections against Spiritual Affections the Battle is fought in every Faculty In the Conflict betwixt the Flesh and Spirit in the Regenerate the Spiritual part prevails Herod and Pilate and Balaam had a Conflict Natural Conscience did restrain them for a while but at last they yielded And here the Young Man yielded and went away sorrowful This Conflict and Sorrow may have a wound in the Conscience but it doth not prevail to cause them to look after Heaven on Christ's own Terms The last Point is taken from the Reason of his heavy and sorrowful Departure For he had great possessions He had them is that a Fault Here is no Note of Crime put upon him as to his getting of them He is not taxed with an insatiable desire of Riches nor with unconscionable means to get them only it is said that he was marvellously Rich and had great Possessions and therefore he went away sorrowful so that the Point will be this 5 Doct. That the Disease of Worldliness is very incident to great Persons and Men of Quality If we have not a mortified Heart the very having an Estate may prove a Snare to us I observe this because many please
keep the World in order that think they may do any thing because it is in the Power of their hands Mic. 2.1 Wo unto them that devise Iniquity and work evil upon their beds when the morning is light they practise it because it is in the power of their haâ—d Usually the World is governed by Interest rather than Conscience they count 〈◊〉 thing right which they are able to effect and Justice is measured by present Safety not by Principles of Conscience it is in the power of their hands and therefore they will do it The Lord gives Caution against this Psal. 62.10 Trust not in Oppression become not vain in Robbery if Riches encrease set not your heart upon them When a Man thinks he is able to carry it against others and to do his Adversary two Wrongs for one then he makes no Conscience but does all that he can not all that he ought Alas this poor Creature rests upon his vain Support and that which seems to be his present Advantage will in time prove his Loss and Ruine when the Course of Providence is altered How soon can God turn poor Worms into Dust Bring them down from their altitudes and make them become the Scorn and Shame of those Afflicted Poor that wait upon the Lord. Psal. 52.6 7. The Righteous shall see and â—ear and shall laugh at him Lo this is the man that made not God his strength but trusted in the abundance of his Riches and strengthened himself in his wickedness This is that brave that Gallant Man in the World that never thought of securing his Greatness by God's Protection nor applyed himself to Piety and Justice nor imagined that such things would be useful to his present Security but resolved by Wealth and wicked Enterprizes to establish and perpetuate his Greatness But how hath God confuted all his vain and false Hopes and brought utter Destruction upon him Thus it hath been and thus it will be again till the World learn to grow wiser by all the Changes that God hath wrought before their Eyes And therefore this is a Sign of trusting in Wealth when Men grow Proud Insolent and Over-bearing and speak roughly Prov. 18.23 The rich answereth roughly and are high-minded 1 Tim. 6.17 Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God 2. An Inordinate Care and Solicitousness to get Wealth Multiplying of worldly Practices cometh from Unbelief in God and Confidence in the Means Prov. 23.4 Labour not to be rich cease from thine own wisdom This toiling and labour to get the World into our hands argues we esteem of it beyond what it deserves Indeed there 's a Lawful Labour Wealth may be sought for the Necessities of Life and Exercise of Good works but when Men make it their main Care they place their Happiness in it Now because it is hard to distinguish honest Labour from worldly Care the best way will be for you to consider the Disproportion of your Endeavours to Earthly and Spiritual and Heavenly things For our Saviour when he describes the Carnal Fool that trusted in the abundance of his Riches he tells us Luke 12.21 So is he that laâ—eth up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God When Men seek the World in good earnest and make slender Provision for Heaven and the Happiness of their precious and Immortal Souls when they never look after the assuring of their Interest in things to come when the Lean Kine devour the fat when that which should be sought first either is sought last or not at all then Men trust in these outward things Surely you fancy a greater Happiness in the Enjoyment of worldly things than you should The Scripture notes as a sign of this inordinate Respects a making hast to be Rich Prov. 20.21 An Inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning but the end thereof shall not be blessed And Chapt. 28.20 He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent and ver 22. He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him When men are so earnest to Commence into an Estate taking all Opportunities seeking to get it by indirect Means and think thereby to make them and theirs happy this Inordinacy will prove their Bane and Ruine In bestowing it as God directs none so slow in getting it none so earnest certainly he that believeth will not make haste 3. When Men think themselves better provided by a Wealthy Apostacy than by a close Adhering to God Alsufficient Sometimes the keeping of Wealth and Religion come in Competition now when a Man debates with Conscience Here is your Duty and there is your Loss can you trust in Wealth rather than in the Promises of God If the Lord for our Duty should reduce us to never so great straits he is able to make it all up to us again this should suffice us The Lord is able to give thee much more than this 2 Chron. 25.9 But if in the Debates of Conscience Gain bears sway it is a Sign we trust in Wealth rather than in the Promises of God 4. When Men slacken or omit Prayer because they are well at Ease and have worldly Abundance This is a certain Truth That trust in God or Prayer or an acknowledgment of God always go together Psal. 62.8 Trust in him at all times ye people pour out your hearts before him If the Heart be taken off from the Creature it will be much with God But when Men are full and think they need him not and therefore grow cold and careless in their Addresses to him it may be in their Affliction God shall hear from them but at other times the Throne of Grace lyes neglected they have other Trusts and depend on something on this side God or God would be oftner acknowledged 5. When Men think Wealth shall sufficiently secure them against all Changes and that when they have it they shall see nothing but happy Days and therefore give up themselves securely to enjoy the Pleasure of this Life Luke 12.19 Soul thou hast goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry Sensuality Security and Pride are the Fruits of Carnal Confidence They trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches Psal. 49.6 As if their Felicity and chiefest Stay lay in them not only against the Chances of this Life but against God's Threats and Vengeance and Judgment thence men fetch their Support and Comfort and Hope for them and theirs Prov. 10.15 The rich mans wealth is his strong City A Penny in their Purse is better than the God of Heaven here is their great Assurance the sure pledge of their Happiness as if God could not bring them down wonderfully 6. When Men are so loth to forgoe Riches when God calls them thereunto it is a sign they trust in them not
day That an Elephant cannot pass through the Eye of a Needle Our Saviour indeed a little changeth the Proverb instead of the Elephant a Beast which few had seen putting a Camel a Creature very ordinary in Syria It is easier for a Camel to go through the Eye of a Needle I will not say that this Similitude was chosen because they were wont to lade their rich Wares upon Camels and so the Camel doth most decipher the rich Man who is the Pack-horse of his Wealth and hath the burden but not the use of it However two things I may gather from it as Origen hath done before us 1. That there is something in turning Christian or entering into the Kingdom of God that answers the Needles Eye and that is the strate-gate and the narrow way which leads to life Matth. 7.14 the strait gate of Repentance and the narrow way of constant Mortification 2. That there is something on the rich Man's part which answers the Camel namely that they grow so great and bulky in regard of their Pride worldly Lusts Joys and Confidences that they cannot reduce themselves to those straits that are necessary for entering into the Kingdom of God as the Camel's bulk and bunch back hinders his entrance into a strait place This without straining I might observe tho' I must tell you I think the main intent of this Proverbial speech is nothing else but this to express an extraordinary difficulty on the rich Man's part not to be removed but by the Almighty Power of Grace Such Similitudes are frequent in Scripture Ier. 13.23 Can the Aethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots so Matth. 23.24 Ye blind Guides which strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel Well then you see it noteth the Difficulty if not utter Impossibility for Men of that rank without peculiar Grace to avoid the Snares of Satan or to render themselves capable of Eternal Blessedness And since Christ doth again and again press this we have had it three times and now doth amplifie it by a Comparison I shall observe Doct. That the danger of Riches and the Difficulty of rich Men's Salvation is a Point ought much to be prest and seriously thought of There are two propositions included in this Observation 1. That the Salvation of rich Men is very difficult 2. That this must be much prest and seriously thought of I. The Difficulty of their Salvation I have formerly proved this by reason of the sins incident to this State and Condition of Life therefore now I shall quit that and prove there is a great deal of difficulty for rich Men to enter into the Kingdom of God because of the Duties required of them 1. There are Common Duties that concern them and all Christians 2. There is something peculiar and singular expected from the Rich which makes their Entrance into Heaven more difficult First There are Common Duties that concern them and all Christians that are more difficult for them than for others to perform and these are set down Mat. 16.24 If any Man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me Christ saith If any Man without Exception small and great rich and poor they must all submit to those Terms The Duties are three and they make way one for another 1. He must deny himself and he must comply with this 2. That he may take up his Cross and bear it kindly and willingly and that fits for the 3 d. Duty Following Christ or cleaving close to him These are the three Duties that are required of all that will come after Christ and would follow him as their great Lord and Master and Captain of their Salvation He must deny himself his own Wit his own Will his own Affections and Interests and be wholly at the Disposal of God pleasing him in all things 'Till we come to this nothing else in Christianity will down Well when this is done then he must take up the Cross first Deny our Selves that bows the back of a Sinner then take up and bear the Cross kindly that is to say rather suffer the Loss of all than wilfully sin against God and hazard his Favour And after this he must follow Christ not forsake him because of the Cross but stick the closer to him walking according to his Doctrine and Example Let us treat of these Duties apart and withall shew how hard it is for the Rich Man to comply with them 1. He must deny himself whatever his Corrupt Heart desires how dear and pleasing soever it be tho' his parting with the Contentments of the Flesh should be like cutting off the right hand and plucking out the right Eye Mat. 5.29 30. Yet this must be done and he must fully resign up himself to please God in all things Now this is very hard and difficult for all Men which we may soon be sensible of if we do but consider how earnestly Man affects a Dominion and Sovereignty over himself to be sui juris at his own dispose as those Rebels against God said Psal. 12.4 Our lips are our own who is Lord over us A Libertine yokeless Spirit possesseth them We conceit that our Hearts are our own to think what we please our Tongues our own to speak what we please our Hands our own to do what we please Man affects to be a God to himself and to be solely under the Government of his own Will and to have all his Comforts in his own hand and at his own dispose denying himself nothing which his Heart affects as Solomon saith he did Eccl. 2.10 Whatsoever mine Eyes desired I kept not from them I withheld not my heart from any joy Natural Pride and Self-love is such that we cannot endure the Yoke of any restraints but we let loose the reins to a full Fruition of whatever our Hearts affect Now as Self-denyal is difficult to all because of this Yokeless and Libertine Spirit much more to the rich and to the great and to those that flow in Ease and Plenty and have no bands and restraints of Providence upon them they are more licentious impatient of contradiction or of having their Wills thwarted and therefore by a lawless Liberty they wholly seek to please themselves and to feed their own Lusts without any Care and Respect to God Ier. 5.5 I will get me to the great men and will speak unto them but they have altogether broken the yoke and burst the bonds that is they cast off all the Bonds of Loyalty and Obedience to God And why because they think they can subsist alone and apart from him Ier. 2.31 Wherefore do my People say We are Lords we will come no more unto thee Men think themselves to be Lords of their own Fortune and therefore slight God break through the restraint of his Laws cannot deny themselves any thing that their corrupt Hearts affect Those that are in a low Condition kept bare and in
down from Heaven for their aspiring But the Son of God was equal with God the Father He thought it no robbery to be equal with God Ver. 6. and yet he made himself of no reputation took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man and being found in fashion as a man be humbled himself Ver. 7 8. Certainly if any had Cause to stand upon his Terms Jesus Christ had much more That Preface is notable and very magnificent Ioh. 13.3 Iesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he was come from God and went to God And what follows He washed his Disciples Feet Ver. 4 5. Thus the Boughs that are most laden hang their heads and the Sun at the highest casts the least shadow Jesus Christ indeed was high excellent and glorious yet he would condescend to set his Disciples such a Pattern of Humility But now who more proud and disdainful than the Rich when Men have any thing in the World they grow high and lofty On when we consider the Pride of Man to Man we may more stand wondering at the Condescentions of God to Man As soon as a Man hath any Estate in the World he is altered presently 1 Tim. 6.17 Charge them that are rich in this World that they be not high-minded Many that in their low Estate were humble and meek in Prosperity grow proud and disdainful Many that were forward and zealous grow cold and slothful in spiritual things many that while they were kept dependant upon God were diligent in Hearing profitable in Conference thought it no disgrace to instruct their Families were patient of Reproof but when the World comes in upon them no such matter As the Moon is never Eclips'd but in the full so all the Grace that they seemed to have it is under an Eclipse when they are in the full of Prosperity 2. In Purity and Holiness He that saith he abideth in him ought himself so to walk even as he walked 1 Joh. 2.6 And 1 Ioh. 3.3 Every man that hath this hope in him puriâ—ieth himself even as he is pure And 1 Ioh. 4.17 As he is so are we in the World Now Prosperity and true Holiness seldom go together they are Afflictions that promote Holiness They verily for a few dayes chastened us after their own pleasure but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his Holiness Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous nevertheless it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby Heb. 12.10 11. Then are men most serious when they feel the Rod and are pinched with some Necessity but when they are full they wax wanton kick with the Heel and throw off all respects to God and Godliness Secondly As the Difficulty ariseth from the General Duties that are common to them with others so it ariseth also from this More is required of them that are rich and great in this World than of others They should be Eminent and Exemplary for Holiness They have larger Accounts to make to God than others for our Account must be according to our Receipts Luk. 12.48 Vnto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more Among Men this is a constant Rule and so it is with God the Account is according to the thing with which ye are trusted they that have more must account for more Now certainly more is required of Great and rich Men than of others upon four accounts They have greater Obligations more Opportunities for spiritual Improvement they have larger Abilities and Advantages of honouring God and because of the Influence of their Example 1. They have greater Obligations Certainly they to whom God hath been more bountiful are bound to be more dutiful than others It is not enough to render to God but we must render according to what we have received It was Hezekiah's Fault 2 Chron. 32.25 Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him The Rent must be paid according to the Value of the Farm God will not accept that at the Hands of a Rich Man which he would accept from a Poor Man which hath not such great Obligations A Man that hath tasted of the Bounty of God's Providence and hath had Fulness and Plenty of all things it is required he should serve God more chearfully than others Deut. 28.47 Their Duties are greater and their sins are greater As you know the Prophet aggravates David's sin by the Mercies he had received in the 2 d Sam. 12.7 8 9. I anointed thee King over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul And I gave thee thy Master's House and thy Master's Wives into thy bosom and gave thee the house of Israel and of Iudah and if that had been too little I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things Wherefore hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight They have tasted more of the Bounty and Goodness of his Providence and have had more than others to revive the sense of God and keep up the memorial of God in their Hearts 2. They have more Opportunities of being free to good Duties as being not so straitly bound to bodily Labour for present Maintenance nor burdened with so many Cares and Distractions of this Life and so have more time and leisure for studying the Mind of God in his Word and improving themselves in the Knowledge of the Truth and Meditating the Statutes of God as David professeth he did all the day long And look as the Apostle speaks of married and single Persons 1 Cor. 7.32 33. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord how he may please the Lord but he that is married careth for the things that are of the World how he may please his Wife They that are in a single Estate have more leisure to attend the Service of God greater Opportunities of Holy Privacy and Meditation upon the Promises of God are less distracted and divided with the Cares of the World and have nothing else to do but to serve God and study to please him So it is true of Poor and Rich those that live in a plentiful Condition O what a great deal of Time and Leisure have they for religious Duties better Education more Helps more Advantages therefore they are more bound to addict and give up themselves to the study of Divine things A little Knowledge of God he will accept of in a poor Tradesman that is divided and distracted with the Cares of the World and have not such leisure to attend the Service of God and the Opportunities of holy Privacy and Meditation which he will not accept of in the Rich that have so many Opportunities to furnish themselves with Knowledge and have little else to do but
to serve God and labour to please him and to study the Promises of God that they may grow in Grace And yet when they abandon themselves to sensuality and live from one Weeks end to another and can scarce tell what to do with their time and yet cannot afford it to God how culpable are they 3. They have greater Advantages of furthering the Duties of Piety and Mercy and of honouring God with their substance Prov. 3.9 and of relieving others of making themselves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness Luk. 16.9 I say they have greater Opportunities of being rich in good works 1 Tim. 6.18 Others that have Hearts have not Estates and cannot be so publickly useful God expects from every Man according to his Ability and therefore they should abound in all Acts of Mercy and Piety for the promoting the Honour and Service of God and relief and comfort of others But alas usually it is here as in Nature those mountains in the Bowels of which there are most Mines of Gold and Silver are most barren So rich men for the most part live most unprofitably as to the fruits of Grace Piety and Charity They that have great Estates have least Heart to do any thing for God and Men of a middle condition do exceedingly outstrip those that are vastly and excessively rich in being liberal and open-handed for honouring of God and the relief of others 4. More is required of them because of the Influence of their Example They are as the first sheets others are printed off by them The more any are exalted and lifted up above others the more conspicuous are their Actions The Example of an Eminent Person is never single for when such a one doth evil he carries others with him as the stream doth that which floats upon it If they do good their Countenance and Example doth exceedingly provoke many to follow after that which is good therefore they should specially take care to fear God and be diligent in the Exercise of Godliness and serious in the business of Eternal Life But alas who authorize sin and propagate it in the poor more than they that have a plentiful Fortune and Estate to bear them out in it Who are more dissolute and lascivious and Prophaners of God's holy Name and Day and Deriders of God's Word and holy Services and Servants and so wherever they go they leave their dreggs behind them and leaven others and draw them into sin which makes the difficulty of their Salvation so much the greater II. The other Proposition that is contained in this Observation is that this ought to be much press'd seriously thought of for Christ inculcates it again and again 1. To keep up a remembrance of God and Heavenly things in the Hearts of rich Men. Security and Forgetfulness of God is the Cause of all the mischief rich Men are liable to Men that have so much in the World never think of God and Salvation The Heart is so full of the World that it leaves no place for the thoughts and remembrance of God When God would offer to come in upon them it doth fare with him as it did with Christ when he was born at Bethlehem there was no room for him in the Inn Luk. 2.7 When God would lodge in the Understanding the upper Chamber of the Soul that 's full of worldly or sensual Projects If he would enter into the Memory that 's the World's Ware-house and it is pester'd with Cares about present things If he would enter into their Hearts and Affections they are prepossess'd already that is the World's Storehouse there their Treasure lyes and so what with this and that it comes to pass that God is not in all their thoughts Psal. 10.4 The awful remembrance of God is a strange uncouth thing to those that are full and live plentifully in the World this appears by the whole current of Scripture God forewarns his People of it Deut. 11.12 When thou shalt have eaten and be full beware lest thou forget the Lord thy God When Men are full and abound with so much accommodation God is banished out of their thoughts He Complains of this as the Cause of his People's forgetting him Hosea 13.6 According to their Pasture so were they filled they were filled and their heart was exalted therefore have they forgotten me God is forgotten in Prosperity when we have not such a sensible need of him and of his help Men can live alone and apart from God and therefore cast off all thoughts of him 1 Tim. 6.17 Charge them that are rich in this World that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy Plenty easily breeds forgetfulness of God therefore it needs often to be inculcated and enforced upon and thought of by them 2. This ought to be much press'd and seriously thought of to awaken suspition there may be a Snare in our Estate To suspect danger is a good means to prevent it and therefore that we may draw Men to Self-suspition being compassed about by the Snares of the Devil we must again and again tell you how hard it is for rich Men to be saved Agur was afraid of Riches and the evil Influence of them and therefore prays for a competency Prov. 30.8 9. Give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord Whereas Men that never think of danger are surprized with it before they are aware therefore it is good to be suspitious of a prosperous Estate to be afraid of the World more when it smiles than when it frowns Most men are afraid of Poverty but few are afraid of Wealth and yet there the Snares and Temptations lye and the reason is because they prize their Temporal Interest more than their Eternal Salvation Poverty is against their Temporal Interests but Wealth Fulness and Plenty is a hinderance to their Eternal Salvation and Men will venture their Souls rather than their Bodies It is fat and rank Soil that feedeth Weeds therefore think of it often here lyes the difficulty to have the World at will and not to be insnared by it to learn to abound is the harder Lesson Paul had learned both so must we Phil. 4.12 I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need We say of a Proud Man or Woman such an one would do well to be a Lord or Lady but it is harder than you imagine how few are there that have any lively thoughts of Eternity or make any serious Preparation for Death and Judgment when they have Health and Wealth and all the Accommodations which the Carnal Nature desires and therefore be suspitious when you find Delight and what is pleasing to the Flesh it
is not likely to be safe for your Soul O possess your Estates with Fear The Fear of a Snare may help to avoid it How easily may such a Carnal Heart as yours be enticed from God and grow cold and remiss about the great things of your Salvation 3. This ought oft to be press'd and seriously thought of to stir up Observation how it is with us There is no Man that Observes his Heart but will find this Effect that Riches make the business of Salvation more difficult Good David observed that his Heart was corrupted by his Condition Psal. 10.6 He hath said in his Heart I shall never be moved for I shall never be in Adversity And elsewhere we find he was sensible that Worldliness was creeping upon him Psal. 19.36 Incline my Heart unto thy Testimonies and not to Covetousness A Child of God hath not the bent of his Heart so perfectly fixed towards God but it is ever and anon returning to its old bent and byass again The best may find that they cannot keep their Affections as loose from the World when they have Houses and Lands and all things at their Will as they could when they are kept low and bare The best may find that their Love to heavenly things is in the wane as worldly things are in the increase It is reported of Pius Quintus that he should say of himself That when he first entered into Orders he had some hopes of his Salvation when he came to be a Cardinal he doubted of it but since he came to be Pope he did even almost despair Many may find a very great Change in themselves much decay of Zeal for God's glory and love to and relish of God's Word and mindfulness of heavenly things as it fares better with them in the World Now it is good to observe this before the mischief encreaseth Look as Jealousie and Caution is necessary to prevent the entrance and beginning of this mischief so Observation is necessary to prevent the increase of it When the World doth get too deep an Interest in our Hearts when it begins to insinuate and entice us from God and weaken our Delight in the ways of God and Zeal for his Glory then we need often to tell you how hard it is for a rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven 4. To stir up Supplication for special and peculiar Grace that it may not be so with us that the Lord would keep us from the Snares of our Condition for with God all things are possible That we may go to God and say Lord let not my Estate be my Bane and Poyson On the one side it is a great Judgment that God brings upon wicked Men when their Table becomes their snare Psal. 69.22 when their Comforts are Cursed to them and when their Hearts are drawn from God by their Plentiful Condition in the World On the other side it is a peculiar Grace and Favour from God when we be heavenly-minded in the midst of Plenty and keep up lively spiritual Exercises of Godliness notwithstanding our Opulency and Plentiful Condition in the World Iehosaphat is an Instance to encourage you to pray for this 2 Chron. 17.5 6. it is said of him He had riches and honour in abundance and his heart was lift up in the ways of the Lord Christians it is hard to carry a full Cup without spilling to have Riches and Honour and all this with great abundance and yet to have a lively Zeal towards God and a great delight in his ways Now this is possible with God and this God hath bestowed and therefore it should be asked There is nothing that quickens to Prayer so much as a constant sense and apprehension of the danger and difficulty which attends such an Estate therefore this must ever be laid before you that your thoughts may be steep'd in this Consideration 1 VSE It serveth to check the desire of Greatness and increase of Wealth If you had more your Duty would be more and your account greater and your Snares and Temptations and Stumbling-blocks in the way to Heaven would be much more multiplied and therefore you should be Contented with what you have If we cannot thrive in the Valleys and keep up a lively and warm respect to the World to come in a low Condition how should we expect to grow on the tops of the Mountains where we are more exposed to Tempests and the Soil is more Barren therefore you should strive rather to give a good account of a little than to make it more The Lord knoweth that if you were a step higher you would be apt to be proud licentious secure mindless of Eternal Life further off from God and then better you had lived in Beggary all your dayes The time will soon come about when you will judge so and therefore do not enlarge your Desires as if you could never have enough 2 VSE It teacheth us Patience not only in the want but in the loss of outward Riches It is more irksom to lose than to want as it was an unnatural thing for the Sun to go back ten Degrees in Ahaz his Dial Yet this is to be born for when God taketh away your Wealth from you he maketh your way to Heaven more easie if God taketh away Riches he doth but take a Bush of Thorns out of the way that would prick and gore your Souls The World is apt to turn away your Heart from true Happiness and to hinder you in the way that leadeth to it Now God's Grace is seen not only in â—ortifying the Heart but in abating the Temptation He seeth you are apt to sleep upon a Carnal Pillow and therefore taketh it from under your Heads to awaken you If you believe the Word of God that Riches and Honours do easily prove a Share why should you be grieved when the Snare is broken Do you love to have your Salvation hindered or hazarded And therefore why are you so impatient when God cuts you short in these outward things 3 VSE Let rich Men think of this and make Application of this Sentence to their own Hearts that they may Possess their Estates with Fear To this end Consider 1. The Person speaking is Christ who had so much Wisdom and Love to the Comfort and Happiness of Men that he would not â—right them with a needless Danger See before on Ver. 23. 2. When it is spoken of Rich Man those that can live of themselves in the World without the Supply of others The Disciples that had little cryed out Who then can be saved We fancy it is spoken only to the over-grown Rich but they that have but one Talent must improve it and it is hard to do so We must give an account of One Talent as well as Ten. The Sensualist will turn this upon the Covetous and the Covetous upon the Sensualist the Voluptuous Gallant upon the Cormorants of the City and they upon the Epicures
a greater respect to their own Trouble than the Woman's Affliction that they might not be troubled with her Cries but they desire for quietness sake that she might be dispatched one way or another Many a poor benighted Soul pray themselves and set others on praying till they are weary and God heareth not which is a great Discouragement to a poor afflicted Creature But yet it is but a Temptation for though Man's Drop be soon spent yet God's Ocean of Compassions faileth not When they are troubled yet importunity is welcom to Christ. Thirdly Her next Temptation is sorer Christ seemeth to exclude her out of his Commission Verse 24. But he answered and said I am not sent but to the lost Sheep of the House of Israel This was a Truth for Christ in the days of his Flesh was a Minister of the Circumcision Rom. 15.8 His personal and particular Ministry was principally designed for the People of the Iews they were to have the Morning-Market of the Gospel and the first Handsel of the Redeemers Grace Which by the way was a Rebuke to the Iews that they did no more prize his Ministry and Dispensation when this Stranger was so importunate to receive the Benefit of it But however it was a great Tryal to the Woman as if she were not one of those lost Sheep whom Christ came to seek When Salvation it self refuseth to save us when Christ shall in effect say I am a Saviour but not unto thee thou art not one of my Redeemed ones This is an amazing thing Poor Believers when they are in this Conflict seem to be driven from Christ not only by their own misgiving Hearts but the Denunciation of his Word They question their Election and the Intention of God's Grace whether ever it were meant to them or no. But this is but a Temptation we must not betray our Duties by our Scruples though it be Midnight now we cannot say It will never be Day Our Rule which we must stick to in such cases is God may do what he pleaseth I must do what he commandeth Our Necessities are great and so are Christ's Compassions therefore a believing Soul must not be put off by groundless Fears nor must the Threatnings of the Word drive us from but to the Promise for God opposeth for a while that he may at length give Faith the Victory Fourthly When the Woman reneweth her Suit Verse 25. Then she came and worshipped him saying Lord help me Yet Verse 26. He answered and said It is not meet to take the Children's Bread and cast it to Dogs By Implication Christ reckoneth her among the Dogs A grievous Word to drop from the Mouth of a gracious Saviour But when Christ tryeth us he will try us to the quick and humble us to the very Dust. Our Lord speaketh this according to the common rate of Language among the Iews who accounted all the Heathens as Dogs and without the Covenant Such as were within the Covenant and Pale of Grace were holy and consecrated to God others who were without the Covenant because of their false Religion were accounted prophane and unclean Dogs and Sheep are opposed one to another The People of Israel are decyphered by the Appellation of lost Sheep others are called Dogs Rev. 22.15 Without are Dogs A Term applyed to this day by all Oriental People to those whom they count to be Misbelievers Surely one would think now here were an end of her Faith and Address to Christ no the humble Soul maketh an Advantage of this Verse 27. Truth Lord yet the Dogs eat of the Crumbs which fall from their Master's Table Faith is quick to observe all Advantages whereby it may strengthen it self A Dog is allowed to creep under the Children's Table and to feed on what falls down there Thus she maketh a seeming Rebuke to be a kind of Claim and Title And then Christ can hold out no longer for he will at length yield and will not always hide himself from the seeking Soul They that wrestle will at length overcome Mark 7.29 And he said unto her For this saying Go thy way the Devil is gone out of thy Doughter Secondly Her Victory over these Temptations 1. By her Importunity 2. Her Humility 3. Her resolved Confidence All which are the Fruits of great Faith 1. Her Importunity She will not be beaten off by Christ's Silence but she maketh some Advantage of it For it is not said he heard her not a word but answered her not a word Christ may hear his People when he doth not presently answer them She seemed to be excluded out of Christ's Commission but neither this nor reproach of her own Condition doth hinder the Exercise of her Faith but still she reneweth her Suit Lord have mercy on me Son of David help me The Woman will not be put off praying when Christ seemeth to forbid or not to regard her praying Her Daughter was sore vexed and she must have help from Christ or none The more God seemeth to refuse us the more instant should we be in Prayer and pursue our Suit constantly Let God answer how he pleaseth if he be silent we must resolve to follow the Suit till we get Audience if he seem to deny we must get ground by Denyals if he rebuke us we must still make Supplications Be it a Suspension a seeming Denial a contrary Providence Faith will not give over To sink under the Burden argueth Weakness but it is Strength of Faith to wrestle through it We read of Pherecides a Grecian in a Naval Fight between his Nation and Xerxes that he held a Boat in which the Persians were fighting first with his Right Arm when that was cut off with his Left when that was cut off with his Teeth and would not let go his Hold-fast but with his Life This doth somewhat represent an importunate Soul This Woman when Christ doth seem to turn away from her and refuse her Prayer yet she prayeth Lord help me When he reasoneth from his Charge yet still she will come and worship him when he putteth her off with the common Reproach which the Iews did cast upon all that were not of their Religion his Doctrines and Miracles were Children's Bread she turneth a Discouragement into an Argument and maketh her Claim The Dogs eat of the Crumbs that fall from their Master's Table Thus all true Believers are in good Earnest come what will of it they are resolved to pray still Thus blind Bartimeus the more they rebuked him the more he cried Mark 10.48 Faith is like Fire the more it is pent up the more it striveth to break out and worketh effectually in us We read of Iacob's wrestling with God Gen. 22.24 There wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day And it 's explained Hosea 12.3 4. He had power with God yea he had power over the Angel and prevailed he wept and made Supplications to him Wrestling Souls that are good at
cried thou answeredst me and strengthenedst me with strength in my Soul He heareth not as to Deliverance but yet he heareth as to Support 5. Because the Saints are wont to train up themselves for these difficulties by proposing hard Cases to themselves As Psal. 3.6 I will not be afraid of Ten Thousands of People that have set themselves against me round about Psal. 27.3 Though an Host should Encamp against me my Heart shall not fear though War should rise against me in this I will be confident Psal. 46.1 2. God is our Refuge and Strength a very present help in trouble Therefore will we not fear though the Earth be removed and though the Mountains be carried into the midst of the Sea Presumption is a Coward and a Run-away from all thoughts of danger but Faith meeteth its Enemy in open Field it supposeth the worst that the Heart may be fortified aforehand against whatever may fall out They much inure their Thoughts to God and dwell in and with the Almighty and reckon upon the Changes of a Reeling World and so are prepared to be Martyrs and suffer the worst for God VSE You have heard this Faith opened to you labour to get such a Wrestling Faith in expecting the Benefits of the Messiah you may have your difficulties 1. About your Spiritual Estate and Acceptance with God in Christ. You would have the Devil cast out of your Souls you beg it of God but he seemeth not to hear you you are to wait not to give over the matter as hopeless and in despondency to throw up all at first The Lord is Righteous for I have rebelled against his Commandment Lam. 1.18 He hath called and you would not hear and therefore noâ— God may delay It may be you have doubts whether ever God will hear you and you question your Election then consider God's Mercy and your Necessity Christ hath taught us how to pray for the Spirit Luke 11.8 Though he will not rise and give him because he is his Friend yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him You continue praying and it is with you as before iâ— may be worse Rom. 7.9 But when the Commandment came Sin revived and I died A Bullock is most â—nruly at first yoking Fire at first kindling casteth forth much Smoke What then Should you give over seeking to Christ That is to shut the Door upon your selves God seemeth to shut you out and you are discouraged with a deep sence of your own unworthiness will he look upon such a dead Dog as I am In such cases you should creep in at the Back door of the Promise as Paul doth 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation That Iesus Christ came into the World to save Sinners of whom I am chief If Christ came to save Sinners I am Sinner enough for Christ to save or as the Woman here Dogs lick up the Crumbs 2. In some prevailing Carnal Distempers that you have long wrestled with to get rid of and you desire the Physician of Souls should Cure you follow the Means lay open before him the Plague and Sore of your own Heart You do not presently find Success will you therefore give over the Business as hopeless and go still with a Wound or Thorn in your Conscience No consider 1. It must be Cured 2. If ever it be Cured it must be by Christ. 3. Use all his Healing Methods 4. And beg a Blessing upon all by Prayer Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean Matth. 8.2 5. Believe his Grace to be sufficient for thee Be earnest and importunate we scratch the Face of Sin but we do not seek to root it out If you are resolved you will take no Nay In a little time and after some â—erious wrestling with God you will be eminent in the contrary Grace 3. In great streights and pressures you seek to God plead his Covenant and yet no answer cometh Will you turn Atheist and say It is in vain to pray to God No He that believeth will not make haste Isa. 28.16 Or will you faint and give over the Suit Where then is the Exercise of your Faith and Patience It may be God sheweth himself strange to you in your Troubles as Ionah 2.4 I said I am cast out of thy sight yet I will look again toward thy Holy Temple Let Faith look to Heaven and the Covenant made with Christ. Will you give way to the Temptation till you are bribed by sence No look again and again Let Faith triumph over Difficulties and the Issue will be comfortable 4. For the Church as God's Children preferr Zion above their chief Joy You pray for the welfare of it and God giveth no comfortable Answer what then Will you neglect your Duty or abate of your Love It may be the Clouds are thickned dangers greater what Will you swell against Providence Hab. 2.4 Behold his Soul which is lifted up is not upright in him but the Iust shall live by his Faith No it is Importunity Humility resolved Confidence will do you good at the last Follow the Suit still and say For Zion 's sake I will not hold my peace and for Jerusalem 's sake I will not rest until the Righteousness thereof go forth as Brightness and the Salvation thereof as a Lamp that burneth Isa. â—2 1 There should be an unwearied Solicitation of God for the Churches Restitution Christ is the Churches Advocate we are her Solicitors This is an Example not to gaze upon but to imitate A SERMON ON JOHN VIII v. 56. Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my Day and he saw it and was glad THE next Instance and Pattern of a strong Faith we find in Abraham We must consider his Faith in two things 1. His clear Sight of things to come before the Exhibition of Christ or his coming in the Flesh. 2. His over-looking the difficulties which seemed to obstruct the accomplishment of the Promise A Believer hath two great Works to do to open the Eye of Faith and shut that of Sense In both Abraham was Eminent His opening the Eye of Faith is spoken of here He saw my Day His shutting the Eye of Sense in Rom. 4.13 And being not weak in Faith he considered not his own Body now dead when he was about an Hundred Year old neither yet the deadness of Sarah 's Womb. The former falleth under our Consideration now Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my Day and he saw it and was glad The Iews were always cracking and boasting that they were Children of Abraham Christ disproveth their Claim because they did not his Works Iohn 8.39 If ye were Abraham 's Children ye would do the Works of Abraham And in particular because they imitated not his Faith with respect to Christ they despised what Abraham made great account of Abraham rejoiced to see what you see but they rejoiced not in him and the Priviledges of the Gospel
In some Sence it is our Duty to consider them that we may not go about the most serious Work hand over head Christ bids us sit down and count the Charges Luke 14.28 For which of you intending to build a lower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it The Saints are wont to put hard cases to themselves Psal. 3.6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about And Psal. 23.4 Yea though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death I will fear no evil 2. Therefore the Ends must be observed We must consider them to prevent Slightness and to weaken our Security but not to weaken our Confidence in the Promise When they are urged against the Promise they impeach the Truth of God but when we consider them to prevent Slightness it is good The Difficulties of Salvation must be sufficiently understood oâ—herwise we think to do the Work of an Age in a Breath Luke 13.24 Strive to enter in at the strait Gate for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able Josh. 24.19 And Ioshuâ— said unto the People Ye â—annot serve the Lord for he be is a holy God It is not so easie a Matter as you take it to be 3. Difficulties must be thought on to quicken Faith not to weaken it If they be pleaded against the Promise they weaken Faith if they be pleaded to drive us to the Promise they quicken Faith What greater Arguments are there to press us to dependance than to consider our Impotency the loosness of our Hearts and the strength of Temptations 2 Chron. 20.12 For we have no might against this great Company that cometh against us neither know we what to do but our eyes are unto thee But to plead against the Promise is to Consult with the Wisdom of the Flesh and it hath ever fared ill with the Saints Luk. 1.18 And Zacharias said unto the Angel Whereby shall I know this for I am an old man and my Wife well stricken in years Therefore for a while he was struck dumb So Moses Numb 20.12 Hear now ye Rebels must â—e fetch you water out of the Rock God had bidden him smite the Rock and assured him the Water should flow but he pleadeth the natural Impossibility therefore he was shut out of Canaan So that Noble Man 2 Kings 7.2 Then a Lord on whose hand the King leaned answered the Man of God and said Behold if the Lord would make Windows in Heaven might this thing be And he said Behold thou shalt see it with thine Eyes but shalt not eat thereof But he that will not believe the Truth of a Promise shall not partake of the Benefit of it Well then as Abraham regarded not the great Difficulties that might be pleaded to his Faith from his own and his Wife's Age so must not we Secondly I shall shew you the Inconveniences of this sinful considering the Difficulties in all the parts of Faith Assent Consent and Affiance 1. As to Assent There are many Difficulties which may be objected against the Truths propounded in the Word but it is enough to a Believer that God hath revealed them in his Word and propounded them to his Faith Reason is apt to reply as Nicodemus when Christ spake to him of Regeneration Iohn 3.9 How can these things be Carnal Reason keepeth Men from simple believing or resting on what is revealed till they see a Reason for every thing Now we see a Reason why we do believe and that is the Word of God or Divine Revelation though we do not see a Reason of every thing which we do believe for many things are Mysteries In such cases we must receive Truths as we do Pills not chew but swallow them take them upon the Credit of the Revealer To chew produceth a loathsom Ejection to swallow a wholsom Remedy Believing in the common Notion of it is a receiving of Truths upon Trust from another so it differeth from knowing And Divine Faith is a receiving such things as God hath revealed because he hath revealed them Therefore our first Enquiry is Whether these things be so or no Not how they can be so There we begin at the wrong end In many Cases constat de re the thing is evident in Scripture whereby it is revealed but how it can be is beyound our reach the Modus is not certain Now when we should believe we dispute and so cavil rather than enquire If it be not plainly revealed by God you may reject it without Sin and Danger but if it be you must not contradict all that you cannot comprehend otherwise dangerous Mischiefs will ensue The True God will be no God to you because you cannot comprehend the Trinity of Persons in the Unity of the Divine Essence Christ will be no Christ because you cannot comprehend how a Virgin should conceive or how a God should become Man It is sufficient that it is revealed in Scripture which carrieth it's own Evidence in it's Forehead shining by it's own Light hath the Seal and Stamp of God upon it and moreover is confirmed by Miracles and handed and brought down to us by the Universal Tradition of the Church through the Successions of all Ages in whose Experience God hath blessed it to the converting comforting and sanctifying of many Souls In short to see a thing in it's Evidence is not to believe but to receive it on the Credit of the Testifyer If you will not credit it unless the thing be evident in it's self without his Word you do not believe Christ but your own Reason and instead of being thankful for the Revelation you quarrel with his Truth because it is in some things above your Capacity You should be satisfied with the bare Word of God and captivate your Understandings to the Obedience of it 2. As to Consent and Acceptance There are many things may be objected against entring into Covenant with Christ as our Unworthiness the fickleness and loosness of our Hearts how unable we are to keep Covenant with him but these things must not be alledged against our Duty and the free offers of the Lord's Grace 1. Our great Unworthiness This is one Reason why the instance of Abraham is produced by Paul as a pattern of Faith to the Gentiles As Abraham considered not his Natural Incapacity to have Children so they not their unworthiness to be Adopted into God's Covenant The Gentiles were not a People unto God but were over-looked in the Dispensations of his Grace but Hosea 2.23 I will have Mercy upon her that had not obtained Mercy and I will say unto them that were not my People Thou art my People and they shall say Thou art my God Our condition is not so desperate that the Mercy of the New Covenant cannot reach us and recover us So for particular Christians they exclude and repell
Chair of the Scorner is a Preferment in Sin Psal. 1.1 Blessed is the Man that walketh not in the Counsel of the Vngodly nor standeth in the Way of Sinners nor sitteth in the Seat of the Scornful Jer. 23.34 to 39. And as for the Prophet and the Priest and the People that shall say The Burden of the Lord I will even punish that Man and his House Thus shall ye say every one to his Neighbour and every one to his Brother What hath the Lord answered and what hath the Lord spoken And the Burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more for every Man's Word shall be his Burden for ye have perverted the Words of the living God of the Lord of Hosts our God c. The Prophets used to begin their Prophecies with the Burden of the Lord and they would in mockery demand What Burden they had from the Lord for them Now shall we hear again of the Burden of the Lord. Saith God Every Man's Word shall be his Burden that is you shall dearly pay for this scoffing Language your Words shall be your Burden But these Marks may not be close enough let me propound other things 1. Did you ever lay down the Buckler before God and say I have done foolishly I will do so no more Were you ever feelingly convinced and your Lusts powerfully subdued Did you ever say as Paul Acts 9.6 Lord what wilt thou have me to do Every Man carrieth on his Opposition against God till he be brought to yield by a mighty Spirit breaking in upon him When were the Wings broken that you could fly no longer the Will subdued that you said Lord I have too long stouted it out against thee so that you were willing to be at peace with God Isa. 27.5 Let him take hold of my Strength that he may make peace with me and he shall make peace with me Were you ever forced to cry Quarter Didst thou ever apprehend God ready to smite and give Fire upon thee and then in a submissive Posture didst intreat him to stay his Hand 2. What Effect hath the Word upon you Isa. 66.2 To this Man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite Spirit and trembleth at my Word It is a great part of Sensibleness to tremble at the Word What meltings and yieldings of Heart do you express Doth it put you upon recourse to God 2 Chron. 34.27 Because thine Heart was tender and thou didst humble thy self before God when thou heardest his VVords against this Place and against the Inhabitants thereof and humbledst thy self before me and didst rent thy Clothes and weep before me I have even heard thee saith the Lord. Didst thou ever humble thy self before the Lord to clear up Matters between God and thy Soul and to get thy Doubts resolved and thy Lusts mortified 3. What pliableness has there been in thee to the Holy Ghost's Motions A Man that hath a tender Heart yieldeth to the Motions of the Holy Spirit Psal. 27.8 VVhen thou saidst Seek ye my Face my Heart said unto thee Thy Face Lord will I seek There is a quick Eccho to God's Voice Isa. 6.8 I heard the Voice of the Lord saying Whom shall I send and who will go for us Then said I Here I am send me There is not only a readiness to obey but he offers himself to the Work When we grow lazy and backward in holy things and hang off it is a high degree of hardness of Heart Vse 2. Exhortation 1. To press us to beware of hardness of Heart It is a grievous Sin I shall use three Arguments 1. It depriveth you of Grace See before pag. 507. 2. It unfitteth you for Duty while we are under the power of it An hard Heart is forced and superstitious With what Coldness and Formality did David pray during the suspension of God's Grace We come into God's Presence with great Backwardness and Reluctancy while we are under the power of a hard Heart 3. It fitteth for Judgment The Heart groweth harder and harder and the Mind blinder and blinder till it be cast into an utter Indisposition and Impossibility of Repentance Hardness of Heart turns a Man into a Beast nay into a Devil and according to our Sin so is God's Wrath Rom. 3.5 After thy Hardness and impenitent Heart thou treasurest up unto thy self Wrath against the Day of Wrath and Revelation of the righteous Iudgment of God 2. To press us to come out of this evil Frame of Spirit Arguments 1. As long as the Heart is hard you are very remote from the Comforts of the Gospel Christ came to heal the broken-hearted Luke 4.18 So Matth. 9.12 13. They that be whole need not the Physician but they that are sick I came not to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance You are full of Sin but not sick as a Toad is full of Poison but the Toad is not sick because it is natural to him Will a Physician go about to cure a Toad Men lie under a great weight of Sin yet they sleep and eat and drink and trade and look as well as ever feel no Pain nor any thing to trouble them These Men have no Need and Will to be cured and of all Men are most properly said to be dead in Trespasses and Sins they neither break an hour's sleep nor abate one drachm of their carnal Delights but are Heart-whole The Physician hath no desire to meddle with them that will not take what he prescribeth as carnal Men will not submit themselves to God's Directions 2. You are very remote from the Work of the Gospel As God maketh a way for his Anger so he maketh a way for his Mercy and Grace The Heart is fitted and prepared for the Spirit 's Residence It is softned before it is quickned Ezek. 36.26 27. I will take away the stony Heart out of your Flesh and I will give you an Heart of Flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Iudgments and do them The vital Spirit is not infused till the Body be organized and formed God made Adam out of the Dust of the Ground and then breathed into him the Breath of Life The Spirit of Grace coming into the tender Heart maketh way for it self Now for the Cure of it I will recommend unto you two Means two Graces and two Ordinances First Two Means Light and Love 1 st Light Jer. 31.19 Surely after that I turned I repented and after that I was instructed I smote upon my Thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did bear the Reproach of my Youth Men that know not the Nature and Danger of Sin are little troubled about it Where there is no Knowledg there is little Conscience When the Troops of Syria were smitten with Blindness they were easily led into the midst of their Enemies 2 Kings 6.18 19. And when they thought themselves
Meditation because it is the Product and Issue of it as Psalm 5.1 Give ear to my words O Lord consider my meditation Implying that his Prayer was but the expressions of his deliberate and premeditated thoughts So Psalm 19.14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer It is the vent of the thoughts 2. Whereby the mind is applyed to the serious and solemn consideration I add this to distinguish it from Occasional Meditation and those good thoughts that accidentally rush into our minds and to note the care and intenseness of the Soul in such an Exercise Prov. 18.1 Through desire a man having separated himself seeketh and intermedleth with all wisdom then is a Man fit for these Solemn and Holy Thoughts and for intermeddling with all Wise and Divine Matters when he hath divorced himself from other Cares and is able to keep his Understanding under a prudent Confinement 3. Of Spiritual things This noteth the Object and so I call Matters that are of an useful Consideration as for instance God that we may fear him Sin that we may abhor it the Works of God for the Creators Glory any useful Subâ—ect So David limiteth it Psalm 49.3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding He meaneth of the State and end of Man Generally the Object in the Old Testament is of the Law 4. For Practical Vses and Inferences This noteth the end Meditation is not to puzzle the Head with Notions but to better the Heart The proper use of this Exercise is to set on those great Practical Heads of Religion to work the Heart to a greater care of Duty and Detestation of Sin To a greater care of Duty Psalm 119.15 I will meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy wayes and to a greater detestation and hatred of Sin Psalm 119.11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee SERMON II. GENESIS xxiv 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even tide II. I AM now come to the Necessity and Profit of Meditation or Motives to press to this Duty I shall urge such as will serve also for Marks for when it is well performed you will find these Effects wrought in you Meditation is the Mother and Nurse of Knowledge and Godlyness the great Instrument in all the Offices of Grace it helpeth on the work of Grace upon the Understanding Affections and Life for the understanding of the Doctrine of Godlyness for the provoking of Godly Affections and for the Heavenly Life 1. In point of Understanding it is of great Advantage to us in the entertainment of the Doctrines of Religion 1. To give us a clearer and more distinct sight of them A Man seeth the Meaning Scope and Order of all points of Religion when he cometh to meditate on them Knowledge without Meditation is but an hear-say Knowledge we talk after one another like Parrots and as the Moon that shineth with another lustre without any Light rooted in its own Body Rom. 2.20 Which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Map of Knowledge we have nothing but the lean apprehension of others As the Philosopher said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they repeat them by Rote without Affection and Belief so we speak one after another by Rote but do not so distinctly discern the Worth and Excellency of Christianity as when we come to meditate upon it Iohn 4.42 Now we believe not because of thy saying for we have heard him our selves and know that this is indeed the Christ the Saviour of the world Most Mens Knowledge is but Traditional they never made an Essay and tasted the sweetness of Christ or of their own thoughts oh do but try bare apprehensions of the report of Christ is but Tradition not Religion When we come to exercise our own thoughts thereon then we see him our selves the sight is more clear when it is steady and fixed To one that passeth by to see Men dancing and frisking seemeth lightness and madness but when he cometh nearer and heareth the Musick and observeth that they keep time and pace and measure with it he findeth Art in that which he thought Frenzy The Beauty and Excellency of Religion is not discerned by a transient glance when we come to meditate and so see what is our Beloved above all Beloveds then we admire him The Christian Religion is not to be taken up by Chance but by Choice not because we know no other but because we know no better then our Affections to it are the more Rational the Judgment having had a clearer sight and tryal 2. That we may the better retain them When an Apple is tossed to and fro in the hand it smelleth of it when the Apple is gone as when Civet hath been long kept in the Box the Sent remaineth when the Civet is taken out A constant Light is a great Friend to Memory and Sermons meditated on are remembred long after they are delivered We do not forget those Friends whom we have entertained with any Solemnity Solemn and Serious Thoughts leave a charge upon the Memory 3. That they may be alwayes more ready and present with us All Sins do arise out of incogitancy or forgetfulness As for instance distrust Heb. 12.5 Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children Luke 24.6 He is not here but is risen remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee A Temptation gets the start of Holy Thoughts It were a mighty Advantage to have Truths alwaies ready Now this is the Spirits Office Iohn 14.26 But the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you But now for an outward help there is no such thing as Meditation Prov. 6.21 22. Bind them continually upon thine heart and tye them about thy neck When thou goest it shall lead thee when thou sleepest it shall keep thee and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee that is it shall be alwaies present with thee Continual Meditation maketh Religious Thoughts actual and present 2. It is a great advantage to the work of Grace upon the Affections Ponderous Thoughts are the bellows that kindle and inflame the Affections they blow up those latent sparkles of Grace that are in the Soul Impute Thoughts stain the Heart and convey a taint and filth to the Soul 2 Pet. 2.14 Having eyes full of adultery When the Fancy is rolled upon unclean Objects Lust is kindled Lust Revenge Covetousness they are all fed with thoughts a wicked Spirit distilleth Sin into the quintessence of Villany the imaginations of the Heart are evil So suitably good
before mine eyes I have walked in thy truth This constraineth and enforceth to Holyness and gives encouragement to it others only attempt this Work but do not consider the fruit of it 3. More orderly and prudent Others do good Duties by chance Phil. 4.8 Finally brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue and if there be any praise think of these things III. That which I am now to do is to give you the Rules to guide you in this weighty Affair of the Christian Life There are Rules to be observed to fit the Soul but those I shall handle under the terme of helps I handle such now as must guide the Soul 1. Whatever you meditate upon must be drawn down to Application Iob 5.27 Lo this we have searched it so it is hear it and know thou it for thy good In Meditation our aim and design is to promote the good of our Souls The Heathen Emperour Antoninus had Observations which he called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things for my seâ—f that is the proper end of this Exercise things for our selves In Conference we aim at the good of others but the end of Meditation is to fall directly upon our own Souls All the while we stay in generals we do but bend the Bow when we come to Application we let fly the Arrow and we hit the Mark when we come to return upon our own Souls Now this Application must be partly by way of Tryal partly by way of Charge 1. The first Reflection upon our selves must be by way of Tryal This should alwaies be the close of all how is it with thee Oh my Soul Or is not this my State When the Apostle had taken a view of the Doctrine of Justification he shutteth up all with a Practical return upon his own Heart Rom. 8.31 What shall we then say to these things How am I concerned in this Truth So Nazianzen in his Forty-First Oration saith his Custom was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to go aside to converse with God but alwaies in the course of the Duty he did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 search himself 2. By way of Charge and Command You should charge your selves to serve God with greater care Meditation is as it were the heat of the Cause and after the Debate you should give Sentence and issue forth a Practical Decree as David now I see it is good for me to draw nigh to God Psalm 73.28 When he had been meditating of the Providence of God in punishing the wicked now oh my Soul thou seest what is best for thee even to keep close to God So in two Psalms when he had been meditating of the Mercy and Power of God he layeth a Charge upon his Soul to bless God of his Mercy Psalm 103.22 Bless the Lord all his works in all places of his dominion bless the Lord oh my soul of his Power Psalm 104.35 Let the Sinners be consumed out of the earth and let the wicked be no more Bless thou the Lord O my Soul praise ye the Lord. 2. Do not pry further than God hath revealed Your thoughts must be still bounded by the word There is no Duty that a Fanatick Brain is more apt to abuse then Meditation when Men are once able to raise their thoughts they soar too high and being puffed up with their fleshly mind intrude themselves into things that they have not seen Col. 2.18 They are dazeled with ungrounded subtilties and so like a Lark that have flown high of a sudden fall down again David saith Psalm 131.1 Lord my heart is not haughty nor mine eyes lofty neither do I exercise my self in great matters or in things too high for me In Spiritual Exercises you must stint your thoughts with what is revealed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 12.3 Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every Man the measure of faith that is as God hath revealed and dispensed the measure of Faith to you To pry into the Mysteries of the Divine Decrees were to disturb Affection not to raise it Nice Disputes feed Curiosity not Religion Again regard must be had not only to the Word but to your own Abilities those that soar too high fall low enough e're they have done consider what is fit for your pitch and size Again do not leave Bread and Wine and gnaw upon a Stone or leave Practical Matters for intricacy of Dispute 3. When you meditate of God you must do it with great Care and Reverence his Perfections are matter rather of Admiration than inquiry Some dispute whether it be best to meditate of Gods Essence or no Certainly as it is discovered to us in his Attributes it is very comfortable and useful Psal. 104.34 My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. And though you should get as large thoughts as possibly you can of His Majesty and Power yet you must not pry too curiously into his Nature left you be oppressed by his Glory The Mysteries of the Trinity are matters of Belief rather than Debate we may well cry out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oh the Depth It is enough to know that it is so we cannot search how It is said 1 Tim. 6.16 Who only hath immortality dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor can see And Psalm 18.11 He hath made darkness his secret place his pavillion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies God is said to dwell in Light to shew his Majesty and to dwell in darkness to shew his incomprehensibleness Do not intangle your selves while you go about to raise your Zeal the full knowledge of these things is our Portion in Heaven 4. In meditating on common things keep in mind a Spiritual purpose God hath endowed Man with a faculty to discourse and employ his mind on Earthly Objects to Spiritual purposes Eccles. 3.11 He hath set the world in their heart Mundum tradidit disputationi eorum the meaning is he hath endowed him with Natural Light to contemplate on his handy-work The Mind is soon apt to grow common and vain and therefore here you have need of more care and watchfulness Psalm 8.34 When I consider the heavens the work of thy fingers the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained what is man that thou art mindful of him and the Son of Man that thou visitest him Basil calleth them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a School to teach us not Knowledge but Religion Psalm 19.1 The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy-work Philosophers study the Creatures to find out their Natural Causes we to find out Arguments of Worship and Religion 5. Take heed of creating a Snare
but Gods They were in an high pang of Zeâ—l when they offered so freely to the Service of the House of God but David prayes 2 Chron. 29.28 Oh Lord God of Abraham Isaac and of Israel our fathers keep this for ever in the imaginations of the thoughts of the heart of thy people and prepare their hearts to seek thee Our Motions are fleeting and vanishing God must preserve in us these Resolutions of consecrating our selves and all that is ours to him SERMON III. GENESIS xxvi 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even-tide IV. MY Work now is to handle the Letts or Hindrances of Meditation together with the helps and means that may quicken you to the performance of it The Letts may be sooner discovered then remedyed as the Nature of many Diseases is better known than the Cures and therefore they are called Opprobria Medicorum the Disgrace of the Physitians skill So these remain as Marks and Memorials of the Fall Intire and uninterrupted Visions are the Priviledges of Heaven we must be contented with our broken and imperfect Measures it is enough that we have Doves Eyes Cant. 4.1 That we can peck and look upward and enjoy some temperate glances on the Glory of our Hopes though we be not transported with the ravishments of a constant and steady Vision We cannot expect to be absolute we shall still have cause to be humbled it is enough if we can be encouraged against despair for many find themselves so unfit that they have not hopes enough to attempt the Duty To these I shall speak chiefly in this Discourse I had thought to have handled the Letts severally and then the helps but I think it would be better to suit each discouragement with its proper helps The Letts and Hindrances are of several sorts some common to this with other Duties and others more peculiar to the Duty of Meditation First I begin with the first sort such Hindrances as are common to other Duties and they are Four Sloath Love of Pleasure a Guilty Conscience and an unwieldy Mind 1. There is a Spiritual Sloathfulness Men lye upon the Bed of Ease and are loath in good earnest to apply themselves to what is painful and difficult If Grace would drop to them out of the Clouds or God would be contented with some faint lazy wishes or some cold and yawning Expressions of a drowsie Devotion they would be Religious but where Duties must cost labour and self-denyal and put them to pains Men withdraw the Shoulder and hang off Therefore Solomon saith Prov. 21.25 The desire of the sloathful killeth him for his hands refuse to labour They would fain have Grace and performe what God requires but are loath to take pains Now as this is a Prejudice against all other Duties so especially against the Duty of Meditation partly because of all Duties it is most difficult and tedious to the Flesh it is a Duty lying within the Soul we cannot so easily command our own thoughts now inward Duties are the most difficult because we cannot alwayes exercise a Dominion over our own Spirits Partly because it is a Private Duty to which God alone is conscious In Publick Duties Secular Interests and Ends have a great constraint and therefore we excite the Heart to be more intent and serious We see by-ends make Men deny themselves but where there is not this to prompt them they either omit the Work or turn it into a slight and idle practice How shall we do to shake off this Spiritual Sloath I Answer 1. You must consider that a lazy Spirit is most unfit for Christianity The whole Christian Life is carryed on with much Labour and Diligence you were as good never look after Christ and Heaven as refuse Labour There is nothing required in the whole compass of Religion but what will cost you a great deal of pains Faith is a work Iohn 6.29 That is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent It is not a barren idle speculation nor a naked apprehension but a matter of difficulty and diligence to bring Christ and the Soul together and to lodge the Soul in the bosom of Christ. Love is Labour Heb. 6.10 God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love It is not a Naked Profession but there is Labour in it take it either for Love to God or Men for Love to God that is not a fellow-like familiarity but a laying out our selves in his Service or for Love to Men that doth not consist in a few good words Debts are not paid with a noise of Money you do not satisfie the Commandment by saying Depart in peace be ye warmed be ye filled if you give them not those things which are needful to the body Iames 2.16 So for Obedience it is expressed by a constant course of Work and Labâ—ur 1 Cor. 15.58 Be ye stedfast and unmovable alwaies abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Religion is but a constant Exercise there are no Loyterers in Heaven Gods Work must not be followed with a faint wish and a slack hand Men mistake Religion if they think it a broad and easie way where Men may live at large no the Gate is narrow and the Path is streight and few there be that find it it is a Work not a Sport and Play and Men had as good lay all thoughts of God and Christ aside as to resolve upon an easie course and flatter themselves with an expectation that they shall go to Heaven with a lazy wish and fancy such a short cut and passage to Heaven as will cost no pains 2. It is better to take pains than to suffer pains and to be bound with the Cords of Duty than with the Chains of Darkness The Bonds of Duty are not Gives but Ornaments for Duty is the greatest Freedom Psal. 119.45 I will walk at liberty for I seek thy precepts You will never be more free then when you once make Experience of Gods Service How sad is it to see Men prejudiced against such pains as yield Freedom and Comfort for the present and Glory for the future and take pains for that for which they shall suffer Eternal pains Isa. 5.18 Wo unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as it were with cart ropes They moyl and toyl in the work of Satan as a Horse in a Mill and labour for their own destruction Consider the Devils Work is Drudgery and his Reward is Death yet such is the wretchedness of Man that he accounteth nothing toilsome but God's Work and nothing pleasant but the Accomplishment of his own Lusts to be Lusts Vassal and Prides Slave and to be at the command of every Covetous and Unclean Desire How do Men toyl in the World go to Bed late rise early eat the Bread of Sorrows exhaust and waste their Strength
and Spirits and yet there is Sin in the Work and Hell in the Wages Oh consider if it seem difficult which is better to labour for a Season or suffer for ever which is the end of them that live in the constant neglect of a known Duty 3. There is nothing so hard in God's Service but he hath manifested Love enough to sweeten it We begrudge a few thoughts of God and God had thoughts of us before all Worlds Psal. 40.5 Many O Lord my God! are the wonderful works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in number unto thee if I would declare and speak of them they are more than can be numbred Psalm 109.13 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God How great is the summ of them Who can tell what a condescention it was for Infiniteness to think of poor Worms and that he should before all Worlds plot and design our Salvation And when the Plot came out there was a great deal of Love to sweeten Duty the Lord Jesus Christ thought no Danger too great no Suffering or Extremity too hard no work too difficult for our sakes what a Mercy is this God hath not only required Obedience but discovered a Love that may sweeten the difficulties of it 4. There is no difficulty in Religion wholly insuperable and too hard for an Active and Industrious Spirit Those that follow on after God do at length find him to their Comfort A faint pursuit is the cause of discouragement When a flint doth not strike fire at the first we strike again Prov. 10.4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand but the hand of the diligent maketh rich It is a Rule in Grace as well as Nature Let us therefore follow on till we have overcome the difficulty that is before us 5. A Lazy backward Heart must be urged forward with the greater importunity When David was shy of God's Presence he layes a Command upon himself Psal. 32.5 I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord He maketh Reason to issue out a Decree and positive Conclusion So Psalm 39.1 I said I will take heed to my wayes that I sin not with my tongue So by just Analogy we may gather that the Soul should in this case determine I will go and try and see what may be done I will keep off from God no longer but will go to him 2. Another Lett and Hindrance is Love of Pleasures Men that would pass their time in Mirth are unwilling to be so solemn and serious When Childrens minds are set to play it is irksome to hear of School or of their Books so when the Heart is set for Pleasure it is a hard matter to bring the Soul to Religious Performances How shall we do to wean the Soul from Pleasures 1. Consider to love Pleasure is to gratifie the Beast in us rather than the Angel Man is in part an Angel and in part a Beast he hath a Nature common to both now when Men study altogether to gratifie their sensual part it is to turn Men into Beasts To serve our lowest faculty and to enjoy pleasures without remorse is the happyness of the Beasts to eat and drink and sleep and sport is but to do as the Beasts do A Mans Delight should be in the pure and free Exercises of Reason If Men would exercise themselves herein they would find the greatest delectation would be in the contemplation and view of Truth Psalm 19.8 The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart That Taste which Hypocrites have of the good word of God Heb. 6.5 is meerly such as Scholars have in the height of Speculation and Study because the Gospel is such an excellent Contrivance and a sublime satisfying Truth Nulla major voluptas quam fastidium voluptatis there is no greater pleasure than a disdain of sensual pleasures 2. Consider the sweetness of Religious Exercises is far better than that of Carnal Pleasures as that heat is more Manly that is gotten by exercise than by hovering over the Fire It is hard I confess to abjure accustomed Delights Pleasantness is connatural to us but we should consider that by Communion with God in Spiritual Exercises Delight is not abrogated but preferred and advanced to a more noble becoming Object it is taken out of Egypt that it may grow in Canaan transplanted out of a Fenn into a Paradice that it may thrive in a better Soyl it is less Dreggy but more Masculine and Grave Psalm 104.34 My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord Eph. 5.4 Neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks We keep the Affection but change the Object The Comforts of Christianity are expressed by terms proper to the Delights of the Senses to teach us this Excellent Art to keep the Affection and change the Object and by an Holy Sleight and Wile to couzen the Soul into better Joyes Here Delight is most pure and more free no excess is vitious Castae deliciae meae sunt Scripturae tuae thy Scriptures are my chast Delights The Pleasures of the World are but sugard baits a Man may soon loose himself but here by Tryal you will find the same sweetness with less hazard and danger 3. We may make choice of Matter more pleasant to allure the Soul All the Objects of Meditation are not dark and gloomy there are some things pleasing to Nature the variety of Providences the Beauty of the Creation the excellent contrivance of the Gospel All Objects are not mournful and in case of such a Temptation we may allure the Soul and when we are not so fit for the severe Exercises of the Closet we may as Isaac go out into the Fields to meditate and heighten Fancy and Imagination by Objects more pleasant 3. The next general Hindrance is a Guilty Conscience When the Soul is under the burden of Guilt we are loath to be serious and alone lest the Mind should fall on it self of all things we then desire to flee the Company of our selves and therefore Meditation is an unpleasant Duty We cannot think of God but as of a Judge nor of a World to come but as of our own Ruine A guilty Conscience would fain obliterate the thoughts of God as the guilty Heathens Rom. 1.28 They did not like to retain God in their knowledge that is Actual Sound Distinct Thoughts of God It is said Iames 2.19 The Devils believe and tremble Thoughts of God impressed the more horrour on them therefore they cryed out Matth. 8.29 Art thou come hither to torment us before the time So guilty Men are under these horrors They are all their life-time subject to bondage Heb. 2.15 which though it be not alwaies felt is soon awakened Iob 21.14 Therefore they say unto God Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes What shall we
do to remedy this 1. Get your Conscience cleansed by the hearty application of the Blood of Christ a galled Conscience is much discomposed and unsettled and unfit for such an Exercise Musing requireth a quiet sedate Mind 2. There are matters comfortable that may be of excellent Relief to the Spirit When the Soul is sadly humbled and Bondage is indeed revived there is an Hope set before us to which we may fly for refuge Heb. 6.18 That by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lye we may have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us The wounded Soul may run up to the Mountains of Myrrhe and Frankincense So David Psalm 94.19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. 4. Another Lett and Hindrance is unweildiness of Spirit to Spiritual and Heavenly Duties The Heart is many times burdened and oppressed and sunk down with its own burden and weight that it cannot be lifted up to any Holy Duties and so is unfit for any Exercise of Religion This our Saviour bids his Disciples have a care of Luke 21.34 Take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be over-charged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life Pleasures and Cares do as it were hang a weight upon the Soul that it cannot mount up to God in Heavenly Exercises This is expressed by a fat heart Isa. 6.10 Make the heart of this people fat That is Spiritually dull as it is observed of the Ass which is the simplest of all Creatures it hath the fattest heart There is a Spiritual dullness and listlessness that is apt to seize upon us What shall we do to help this 1. Learn a Holy Moderation and Sobriety in outward Businesses and Pleasures As the Apostle saies of Prayer Ephes. 6.18 watching thereunto The same Rule holds good in Meditation watch that you may alwaies keep the Soul in a fitness for the Duty order your Affairs with great wisdom that you may not justle out so necessary a Duty when a Man is incumbered with business there is no room left for such an exercise if he let loose his heart disorderly all the day he will find this Spiritual dullness to seize on him 2. Keep the Body in a fit frame that it may not be a clog to the Soul but a dexterous Instrument There is a Sanctification of the Body 1 Thess. 5.23 And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Iesus Christ. And the Apostle commands 1 Thess 4. That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour Men emasculate and weaken their Strength and Spirits and so the Body loseth its fitness Secondly There are Hindrances that are peculiar to the Duty of Meditation I shall name but two Barrenness of Thoughts and Inconstancy 1. Leanness and Barrenness of Thoughts When we go about to meditate we have no Matter whereupon to bestow our Time and Thoughts and so Christians are much discouraged This is opposite to that which the Scripture calls the abundance of the heart Matth. 12.34 Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh That is when there is a Holy Treasure in the Soul Now to remedy this 1. You must not give way to it but try and use constant Exercise When we give way to such indispositions they prove an utter Bondage voluntary neglects are punished with penal hardness and evils grow upon us as to lie in the dirt will make us more filthy and by little and little Men are hardned through the deceitfulness of Sin The Apostle speaks of them that have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 5.14 Who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil All Habits are increased by frequent Acts long disuse makes the Duty uncouth Wells which are at first a puddle are the sweeter for draining If we are under Indisposition should we not strive to come out of it The more we work the more vigorous and free is the Soul for the Work of God 2. Get a good stock of Sanctified Knowledge Let there be a Treasure in your Hearts Matth. 13.52 Every scribe which is instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an housholder which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old Those that buy by the Penny will be sometimes in want Prov. 6.21 22. Bind them continually upon thine heart and tye them about thy neck When thou goest it shall lead thee when thou sleepest it shall keep thee and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee This is the way to make Truths present and ready in the Thoughts when we have layed them up we can the better lay them out 3. When the Heart is barren think of your own Sins and Corruptions and the Experiences of God to your own Souls If we did not want an Heart we could never want Matter did we but consult with our own Experiences Psal. 40.12 Innumerable evils have compassed me about mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up they are more than the hairs of mine head therefore mine heart faileth me And if nothing else will come to hand meditate upon your present unfitness for any Holy Duty 4. You may season and affect your mind before Meditation with some part of Gods Word Reading is a good preparative and when we have taken in Food we may exercise our Depastion and Digestion upon it 2. A loose garish Spirit that is apt to skip and wander from thought to thought There is a Madness in Man his thoughts are light and feathery tossed too and fro and like the loose Wards in a Lock only kept up whilst we are turning the Key This doth much discourage Christians that they cannot keep up their Affections and command their Thoughts How shall we help and remedy this 1. When you go to meditate you should exercise a Command and Restraint upon your selves This is expressed in Scripture by trussing up the Loins of your Minds Luke 12.30 Let your loins be girded about An allusion to their hanging Garments that they trussed up when they went about any work that they may be compact and succinct Lay a Command upon your selves Zephan 2.1 Gather your selves together yea gather together O nation not desired 2. Pray and call in the help of God's Holy Spirit Psalm 86.11 Vnite my heart to fear thy Name Lord make my Heart one He that could stay the Sun can stay the sleeting of your thoughts 3. Dry up these swimming Toyes and Fancies with the flame of Heavenly Love Love unites the Heart and where we have a pleasure there we can stay Psalm 119.97 Oh how love I thy law it is my meditation all the day 4. Let the course of your Lives
be Grave and Serious The Mind is according to the course of the Life You flatter your selves when you think you are able to command Spiritual Thoughts on a sudden when you have suffered your thoughts to rove and wander Prov. 17.24 Wisdom is before him that hath understanding but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth here and there and every where 5. Watch against the first Diversion how plausible soever it be look upon it as an intruding that breaks the rank The Devil injects good thoughts sometimes that he might divert your other thoughts Charge your thoughts that they may not disturb your Meditation Cant. 3.5 I charge you O ye daughters of Ierusalem that you stir not up nor awake my love till he please 6. When you come to meditate in Gods Presence do not bring the World with you purge your selves of all Carnal Affections Ezek. 33.31 Their heart goeth after their covetousness Alwaies consider this the prevailing Lust will engross the thoughts to a distracted Mind no place is a solitude the very Closet is a Market-place Therefore before Meditation we should purge our Hearts of Worldly Affections SERMON IV. GENESIS xxiv 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even-tide I Shall not wholly divert from the Subject in hand though I shall a little interrupt the Method of it My purpose is now to speak of that Meditation that is proper to the Sacrament The main part of that Worship is dispatched in Thoughts Here we come to put Reason to the Highest and most Sublime Use to be an Instrument and Servant to Faith and Love But now the Thoughts proper to the Lords Supper are many There are an Union of Mysteries yea so many that they are a burden to some Christians and a snare to those that are most scrupulous It will be necessary therefore to give you some Directions how you may guide your selves in this Duty for your best advantage It is a matter of great profit to be wise and skilful in Duties Many that know the general Nature of them know not how to manage them David saith Psalm 119.27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts so shall I talk of thy wondrous works intimating that then we performe Duties with most success when we go about them with most Wisdom and Understanding and when we are skilled in the way of Gods Precepts we shall understand those Marvellous Acts of Grace which he vouchsafeth to his People Now it is good that every one according to his Talent should help one anothers Joy and therefore I shall now speak a little to this purpose and the rather because it will much conduce to the opening of the Doctrine of Meditation in the general My Method shall be this 1. I will shew the usual defects of Christians in this Service with their necessary Remedies 2. I shall handle some cases First The usual defects and faults of People in this Duty I mean so far as they concern Meditation and they are Four Barrenness Stupidity Roving of Thoughts and a lazy Formality 1. Barrenness This is a great trouble to Christians when their Understandings are unfruitful and they cannot inlarge themselves in pertinent and necessary thoughts Now how shall we do to get our Hearts to be fruitful in Holy Thoughts 1. There must be a Solemn Preparation for this Service It is good to breathe our selves in some Religious Exercises before-hand that we may run the more freely without fainting Spiritual Dispositions do not come on us of a sudden Christians are deceived that look for rapt and sudden motions there must be a time to put off the Shoes off our Feet when we come upon Holy Ground to converse with God in so sweet a Service we must lay aside the Distractions of the World and not come roaking from the World into Gods presence There must be a time to raise the Soul into a Zealous Height and Ardour there must be a blowing of the fire for here you come to the flame your thoughts are to flame out in great and raised ascents Cant. 1.12 While the king sitteth at his table my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof Wood doth not blaze and flame as soon as it is laid on 2. Those solemn and preparative thoughts are chiefly to be spent in these two things The Nature of the Supper and the Love of Christ in the institution of it 1. The Nature of the Supper You are to consider the great things that are offered to you and the great Blessings and Benefits which God cometh to represent exhibit and seal up to your Souls Matth. 11.7 What went ye out into the wilderness for to see Christ examineth the grounds of their Resort and Concourse to him It is good to consider what we are about and the Dainties of the Banquet we are invited to what assurance the outward Signs are to give you what Communion we have with Christ and his Graces We are barren because we do not consider our Work and the Nature and Importance of it 2. The Love of Christ in the Institution of it 1. The Time when it was instituted 1 Cor. 11.23 The Lord Iesus Christ the same night in which he was betrayed took bread The Lord Jesus Christ had thoughts of the greatest good to Man when Man was executing the greatest Spight and Malice against him And the rather because it is an Act of Mercy that Christ frequently useth to surprize Sinners in the midst of their wickedness when Saul was breathing out threatnings against the Disciples God had a design of Love to him and smites him from his Horse Some are smitten with Conviction in the height of Provocations We read in Ecclesiastical Story of a young Man that came to stab St. Iohn was converted by him so many come to jear and catch at a Sermon and have been converted by it 2. The Rights which he instituted appointing Bread and Wine Symbols of Pleasure and Delight as a Physician conveys health to us in a Golden Pill so doth Christ convey Spiritual nourishment to us by those Elements which we take Pleasure in The outward Observance is comfortable God doth not require us to lance our selves and to exercise the Body with Whips and Cords the Rights are not bloody as in Circumcision but Bread and Wine And yet this is nothing to the inward sweetness Meat and Drink which the World knows not of Iohn 4.32 I have meat to eat which ye know not of 3. The Advantage and Relief that Faith has from these things of Sense God speaketh to you now not by Words but things He doth as it were embody Religion and represent it to the Senses Gal. 3.1 O foolish Galathians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Iesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you That is in the Word or Sacraments here God doth as it were hold forth Christ dying before your eyes
It is a pleasure to see things by Picture though we know the Person so though we have an Image of Christ in the Word and may know his Person there yet it is a great relief to us to see Christ in the Supper by these outward Symbols where Sense may teach Faith what strength of Grace and what sweetness of Comfort to expect from Christ. These thoughts through the blessing of God will raise the Soul into a frame of Religion that when you come to this Ordinance you will not be so dry and barren 2. Wandring when the Heart is prepared and set towards God how shall we do to keep it from roving and prevent those excursions which are apt to carry away the Heart 1. Get an Awe and Dread of God Labour to have the deepest Apprehensions of the Presence of God as possibly may be Strong Affections especially Fear lock up the Mind and do not suffer it to flit abroad Now Fear is not unseasonable to this Duty but rather proper because of the Excellent Mysteries by which God condescendeth and approacheth us Chrysostome calls it terribilis mystica mensa the dreadful Mysterious Table and therefore now our Apprehensions should be most awful When Iacob had a sight of God saies he Gen. 28.17 How dreadful is this place And the Psalmist saith Psal. 68 35. Oh God! thou art terrible out of thy holy places Mixt Affections do best in the sweetest Worship Psalm 2.11 Serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling Hosea 3.5 They shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter dayes Here we are to have distinct thoughts of his Holyness and Goodness and therefore we should fear before him lest we forget our selves to be poor guilty Creatures and Fear confineth the Soul and will not suffer it to run abroad 2. Chide the Heart for your vain Excursions Christians might have more command over their Hearts if they would but hold the Reins a little straiter and check their Souls they are not so sadly sensible of the idle roving of the brain which do not so directly carry them after the evil as when they make them to neglect the good Take up your selves as David doth about his lumpishness Psalm 42.5 Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted in me Did I come hither to think of any thing but Christ and Heaven Did I come to think of News Vanity Business and Lust My work is to discerne the Lords Body not to think of Worldly Toyes Is this to remember and fruitfully to insist upon his Death Look as Christ did chide his Disciples Matth. 26.40 What! could ye not watch with me one hour So chide your Heart cannot I keep my Heart free for God a little while In Heaven Duty will be my constant work and if my Heart wander now How shall I be able to hold it for ever In the Supper God tyes my Soul by outward Rites least my Eyes should carry away my Heart God would exercise my Eyes Certainly if you would chide your Souls the Heart would not steal so many glances But usually our Hearts do not steal away we dismiss them and let them go God gave Reason a command of your Thoughts at first and we might exercise it more than we do 3. Stupidness Many times the Soul is surprized with deadness and amazement it neither actually thinks of Evil nor of Good but is at a dead pawse and stay For this I shall urge a double help 1. By earnest Ejaculations call in the help of the Spirit Cant. 4.16 Awake O north-wind and come thou south blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out Desire God to breathe upon the Soul with a fresh gale and excitement that he would take a Coal from his own Altar that the perfume might burn bright Censers must not be kindled with strange Fire Oh raise and quicken this dead Soul Remember the first Adam was made a living soul the last Adam was made a quickning spirit 1 Cor. 15.45 2. Call upon your own Hearts It is a mistake of Christians to think they are only to call upon God you are also to call upon your selves and to deal with your own Souls by way of quickning Psalm 57.8 Awake my glory awake psaltery and harp I my self will awake early Charge your Souls awake to the consideration of Heavenly Mysteries Speak to your own Hearts as David layes a charge upon himself Psalm 103.1 Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name The Children of God are brought in speaking to themselves Oh my drousie blockish Heart How coldly dost thou think of Christ This dead Heart will not become the Service of the Living God 4. A lazy Formality Either we cannot get the Soul to this Worship or we performe it slightly We content our selves with a few careless glances and lazy baren thoughts To remedy this consider in so sweet a Duty God doth not only require Affection but height of Affection an Holy ardor earnestness and raisedness of Spirit Cant. 4.6 Vntil the day break and the shadows flee away I will get me to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense an allusion to the Censers used in the Levitical Worship God requires such thoughts as will comfort revive and quicken our Souls Such thoughts as end in Affection Leave not off till you can say as the Spouse Cant. 2.5 Stay me with flaggons comfort me with apples for I am sick of love Do not leave meditating of Christ till you can bring your Souls to a Holy ravishment and your Hearts are wounded with impatient Desires after Communion with Christ. No thoughts will work but those that are serious Secondly I will propound some cases which shall not only concern the Duty of the Lords Supper but some of them the Duty of Meditation in general 1. Case How can we do because of variety of Matter that is to be meditated upon that plenty makes us barren And in such streights of time how can we run through all I shall answer to this in three Propositions 1. The Mind of Man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 working and much may be done by thoughts in a short time The Minds motion is not so slow as that of the Body which is burdened with a mass and clod of flesh and therefore must have time for its Action but the Soul is quick There are two sorts of Meditations in the Supper as indeed in all other Matters pregnant Apprehensions and enforcing Reasons 1. Pregnant Apprehensions sutable to each Circumstance of the Duty Now these are absolutely necessary as in blessing the Elements and setting them aside for this use think of the Eternal Decrees of God by which Christ was separated to the Office of Mediator In breaking the Bread your Thoughts must act afresh on the Sorrows of Christ's Cross and those bruises wherewith he was broken for our Iniquities Thus it is good
SERMON V. GENESIS xxiv 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even-tide 4. Case WHEN must we Meditate 1. In the General something should be done every day seldom Converse begetteth a strangeness to God and an unfitness for the Duty It is a Description of Gods Servant Psalm 1.2 His delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night At least we should take all convenient occasions It is an usual way of Natural Men to make Conscience of Duties after a long neglect they performe Duties to pacifie a Natural Conscience and use them as a Man would use a sleepy Potiori or Strong Waters they are good at a pinch not for constant Drink Alass we lose by such wide gaps and distances between performance and performance it is as if we had never done it before 2. For the particular time of the day when you should meditate that is Arbitrary I told you before you may do it either in the silence of the Night when God hath drawn a Curtain of Darkness between you and the things of the World or in the freshness of the Morning or in the Evening when the Wildness and Vanity of the Mind is spent in Worldly Business 3. There are some special solemne times when the Duty is most in season As 1. After a working Sermon after the Word hath fallen upon you with a full stroak it is good to follow the blow and when God hath cast Seed into the Heart let not the Fowls peck it away Matth. 13.19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart Ruminate on the Word chew the Cud many a Sermon is lost because it is not whet upon the Thoughts Iames 1.23 24. He is like a man that beholdeth his Natural face in a glass For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was Matth. 22.22 When they heard these things they marvelled and left him and went their way You should rowl the word in your thoughts and deeply consider of it 2. Before some solemn Duties as before the Lords Supper and before special times of deep Humiliation or before the Sabbath Meditation is as it were the breathing of the Soul that it may the better hold out in Religious Exercises it is a good preparative to raise the Spirits into a frame of Piety and Religion When the Harp is fitted and tuned it doth the better make Musick so when the Heart is fixed and setled by a preparative Meditation it is the fitter to make Melody to God in Worship 3. When God doth specially revive and enable the Spirit It is good to take advantage of the Spirits gales so fresh a Wind should make us hoise up our Sails Do not lose the Spirits Seasons the Spirits Impulses are good significations from God that now is an acceptable time 5. Case What time is to be spent in the Duty I Answer That is left to Spiritual Discretion Suck the Teat as long as Milk cometh Duties must not be spun out to an unnecessary length You must neither yield to laziness nor occasion Spiritual wearyness the Devil hath advantage upon you both wayes when you rack and torture your Spirits after they have been spent it makes the Work of God a Bondage And therefore come not off tiâ—l you find profit and do not press too hard upon the Soul nor oppress it with an indiscreet Zeal It is Satans Policy to make you out of Love with Meditation by spinning it out to a tediousness and an unnecessary length 6. Case Whether should the time be set and constant I Answer It is good to bind the Heart to somewhat and yet leave it to such a liberty as becomes the Gospel Bind it to somewhat every day that the Heart may not be loose and arbitrary we see that necessity quickneth and urgeth and when the Soul is engaged it goes to work the more throughly Therefore the Lord asks Ier. 20.21 Who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me It is good to lay a tye upon the Heart and yet I advise not to a set stinted Hour lest we create a snare to our selves Though a Man should resist Distractions and Distempers yet some business is unavoidable and some Distempers are invincible I have observed this that even Religious Persons are more sensible of their own Vowes then of Gods Commands when Men have bound up themselves in Chains of their own making their Consciences fall upon them and dogg them with restless Accusations when they cannot accomplish so much Duty as they have set and prescribed to themselves And besides when Hours are customary and set the Heart groweth formal and superstitious 7. Case Are all bound to meditate Are the Ignorant Are Men of an unquiet Nature Are Servants Are Ministers 1. Are the Ignorant and Men of barren Minds that have not a good stock of Knowledge I answer Yes they are bound to this as well as other Duties though they cannot do it well it is their Duty to strive that the Word of God may dwell richly in them It is a mark of a Godly Man every Man is bound to be skilful in the Scriptures Ier. 31.34 They shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them saith the Lord. God hath no Child so little but he knows his Father therefore all are bound in some measure to be able to discourse of God and of the things of God 2. But some are of an unquiet Nature fit for Publick Duties but not for Private Exercises are they bound as well as those of softer Spirits and fitter for Meditation I answer This is not Temper but Distemper the unquiet Spirit must not totaliter cessare wholly discontinue this work They are to mind wherein they may serve God most but not totally desist from a work so necessary and of such great importance 3. Are Servants bound to it whose time is not their own I Answer They should do what they can God is more merciful to them but those that are in bondage to others may find some leisure for God 4. Are Ministers obliged Their whole work is a Study their Imployment is a continual Meditation I Answer There is a difference between Meditation and Study In Study we mind the good of others in Meditation the good of our own Souls Things work with us according to our end and the aims that we propose to our selves Things work with us according to our end and the aims that we propose to our selves Publick Teaching is no such Tryal of our Hearts there is a Natural Pride in us to urge us to teach others and that makes so many intrude into the Ministry there is some kind of Authority in it that we exercise over others but we are to mind the good of our own Souls and to regard
Private Duties There is a greater engagement upon us than others because we have the help of Art and Education and have greater advantages than others and therefore we should not lose so sweet a Comfort It is strange that Papists confine it altogether to Spiritual Men as if it were not a Lay-Duty and usually we lay it aside as if Study would serve the turn and it did not belong to us V. My work is now to speak of the Object of Meditation which I am first to handle in general and then in special First In the General Consideration of the Object I am to speak 1. Of the Choice of the Object 2. The Manner how to work upon it 1. For the Choice of the Object I need not press you to choose that which is seasonable and what suiteth with your own case A Sermon worketh more forcibly when it is suitable so do Thoughts when they are seasonable and direct to the present Case of the Soul Psal. 94.19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul he meaneth sad thoughts then it was his advantage to exercise himself in seasonable comforts like a Shower of Rain on new Mowen Grass it would be burnt up with the drought which if Rain had come seasonably might have flourished and grown up with a fair Herbage so the Soul is parched with a Temptation if it be not watered with suitable thoughts We faint not saith the Apostle For we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are not seen 2 Cor. 4.16 18. viz. by reviving our Christian hopes And therefore the Exigencies of the Soul must be served Food in Thirst doth enrage rather than please It is not enough to consider what is good but what is seasonable things mis-timed and mis-placed lose their force and operation as the Blood when it is in Vessels is the Continent of Life but when it is out it breedeth Diseases so Truths out of their Order and Place do not nourish the Heart but oppress it as if you should talk of Hell and the Severity of Gods Judgment to those that are dejected this were to speak to the grief of those whom God hath wounded and when the back is ready to break to lay on more load I shall for the present having spoken largely in the general Directions give you but Two Rules 1. Choose that which is profitable There is a great deal of difference between the Objects of Meditation some are more speculative others altogether Practical There are matters speculative revealed in the Word which yet have their Use and Profit as the Fall of the Angels the Order of Providence c. yet out of these the Heart may distil Matter of Practical Use and Profit All the benefit we receive from these Truths lyeth in our Meditation of them But then there are others that are altogether Practical and these should chiefly be chosen The Mind of Man is the Mill of God not to grind Chaff but Wheat Matters Practical are there to be ground for Bread to the Soul they that hunt after Fanzies do but mis-employ their Thoughts and beat Chaff into Dust and do not grind good Corn for nourishment And that is the Reason why many times mean Christians excel those of the best gifts because they spend their time in subtle Inventions and Enquiries and whilst we strive to be more subtle they are more sincere Oh consider the Soul is diseased while it is only fed with Quails and fine Notions there is more Delicacy but less Nourishment Notions that are Airy tickle the fancy and move the lighter part of the Affections but those Considerations that are grave and masculine convince most soundly and work most deeply Wisdom entreth into the heart Prov. 2.10 Look as Wicked Men do not please themselves in abstractions of Sin they devise Wickedness to accomplish it so the Christian should not satisfie himself with nice Speculations but employ his thoughts about Practical Matters to promote Holyness in his Heart and Life 2. Chose Matters to Meditate upon in and orderly an apt Method But you will say Do you think this useful to confine the Soul to Method in Meditation to prescribe a set course to our selves Shall we not justle out seasonable thoughts I Answer 1. It is lawful and necessary to prescribe to our selves a Course and Method partly that we may know our Work and that we may not be to seek both of a Subject and how to work upon it therefore that you may keep your Religious Exercises together and know how to pass from one to another it is good to keep a set Course Partly Because things work with us according to Method it is the way of Knowledge and Affection the Soul finds it an Excellent Advantage when things are aptly suited and ranked in their Order God himself hath disposed all his works in order so should we ours You will find an Advantage when you take your Rise low and go on from Matters more plain and obvious to those that are more Mysterious There are Shallowes for the Lambs of God and there are deeps for those of an higher growth and stature You must pass from the most obvious Matter of Christianity to those that are of more sublime speculation The Rise of the Sun is first low and gildeth with its beams the Eastern parts and then riseth higher to the top of the Heavens so in your progress there are the Third Heavens to which you must ascend but first you must pass the first and second Heavens Before we search the depths of the Spirit it is good to search the depths of the Belly I compare Pauls Expression with Solomons to begin with the knowledge of our selves before we come to the knowledge of God Prius redi ad te quam rimari praesumas quae supra te is a Rule of Bernard who was of much Experience in these Exercises first return to our selves and by an orderly progress to go on from Examination of our selves before we soar up to the Contemplation of the Divine Glory You know what Christ saith Iohn 3.12 If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things They were Spiritual Matters he spake of Regeneration and Principles of Religion yet in comparison of deeper Mysteries of Religion and because he had set them out by Earthly Similitudes of Generation Water and the Wind he called them earthly things Christ trained up his own Disciples this way first he begins with plain Matters Iohn 16.12 I have yet many things to say unto you but you cannot bear them yet There were greater Mysteries above the reach and size of their present Capacity So the Apostle Paul speaketh of Wisdom for them that are perfect 1 Cor. 2.6 Howbeit we speak wisdom to them that are perfect that is for them that had made some progress in Religion perfect not absolutely but in
So Psalm 4.6 There be many that say who will shew us any good It should be translated The many say c. For this is the voice of the Multitude all are for good for something that is every way satisfying and contentful There are some remains of intire Reason and right Nature as Iob's Messengers said Iob 1.15 And I only am escaped alone to tell thee There are some obscure instincts that are alone escaped out of the Ruins of the Fall to tell us that God is our chiefest good and therefore must be our utmost End But the Scriptures go further and teach us that there is no way of enjoying God but in Christ and till then Man can never be happy God is the Center of the Soul the place of the Souls Rest all things move to their own place so should Man to God It is monstrous to see things move contrary to the Impulse of Nature to see Fire to descend or a Stone to leap upward so it is as monstrous in Grace for our Souls to descend and to cleave to those things which are without us which were made only to rest in God our Souls are of a Heavenly Original and therefore should tend thither Say then this is that which will make me happy here and hereafter and therefore why should I run elsewhere It is against Grace and Nature there is a Principle in Natures by which all Creatures aim at their own satisfaction there is a weight and propension that poyseth them to their happyness if I would shew my self a Christian or a Man all my Comforth lyeth in enjoying God in Christ Isa. 46.8 Remember this and shew your selves men He is a Beast that can satisfie his Soul with the World and he is a Devil that can satisfie his Soul with Sin let me shew my self a Man and return to my own rest Things are miserable when they do not attain their End so shall I be out of my place tossed to and fro till I return to God the Faculties of the Soul are mis-placed and are as a Member out of joynt 2. He was made to glorifâ—e God The Creatures do it necessarily we must do it voluntarily and by choice This must be the care of our Hearts 1. In every Business 2. In every Enjoyment 1. In every Business be it never so trivial and low even in the ordinary refreshments of Nature 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the glory of God These common actions of Eating and Drinking must be done upon Reasons of Religion In a Kings House there are many Officers but they are all to please the King so in my Calling in my Duties all must be done for the Glory of the Great God all things must be measured by this Rule and give place to this great End how I may glorifie God whether in the Shop or in the Closet in my outward Calling or in my Private Duties or in my Publick Relations or Engagements so far am I to mingle with any outward Business as I may still enjoy God and be serviceable to his Glory This is to make Religion your Work and not your Play and Recreation when still in every business God is at the utmost End whatever present ends I have If Nature interpose to make us look after our particular Conveniences yet this is but in subordination to Gods Glory 2. In every Enjoyment whether it be Natural or Spiritual I am to desire outward increase and estate but I cannot desire it lawfully but so as I may honour God with it Agur measureth every Estate by Ends of Religion Prov. 30.8 9. Give me neither poverty nor riches but feed me with food convenient for me Lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of God in vain As God should be at the end of every business so at the end of every Enjoyment though it be Spiritual It is a mistake in Christians to think that Spiritual Blessings are only to be desired for themselves I must desire the Pardon of my Sins not meerly for it self but that God may be glorified in Pardon I must desire Grace not only that I might be saved but that God may be glorified in my Salvation Eph. 1.6 To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved The Creatures aims are never regular but when they suit with Gods In the work of Redemption Jesus Christ pleased not himself but had an aim at the Fathers Glory Rom. 15.3 For even Christ pleased not himself So should we in the Comforts of Redemption not please our selves meerly in the consideration of our own happyness but rejoyce in it as Gods Ends are promoted in it that God is glorifyed in pardoning my Sin or giving me Grace and Salvation Though it be a difficult yet it is a necessary piece of Self-Denyal to desire Salvation in a Subordination to Gods Glory Secondly For the contriving plotting Work The End being once fixed we are to consider Generally by what means it may be accomplished and more particularly how you may observe and carry it on to the Glory of God 1. Generally By what means we may accomplish it Every End is obtained by apt and fit means and God as he hath ordained the end so he hath appointed the means The whole Duty of Man is to fear God and keep his commandments Eccles. 12.13 The whole Duty is comprized in Obedience and Fear Obedience respects the Rule and Fear the Principle Or Obedience and Love he instanceth in that Principle that was most sutable to the present Dispensation In the Old Testament Fear is the beginning of Wisdom Fear is represented as the great Principle of Duty and Worship as in the New Testament Love 2 Cor. 5.14 The Love of Christ constraineth us 1 Iohn 5.3 This is the love of God that we keep his Commandments the meaning of that place is that God hath required intire Obedience out of an Holy and Upright Principle Look as God hath appointed to the Creatures a Law of Creation by which they are bounded to their stated times and paths as the Psalmist saith of the Waters of the Sea Psal. 104.9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over that they turn not again to cover the earth So God hath given a Moral Law and Rule to the Rational Creature which must be observed by Love and Reverence So it is said Ephes. 2.10 We are the workmanship of God created in Christ Iesus to good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk therein God having by the same Decree and Wise Council ordained both End and Means he hath given us a Rule by which we are to be guided in serving his Glory 2. More Particularly How you may observe and carry it on in this way according to the Will of God A Christian is to
day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil 2. Consider the Nature of Sin with respect to your selves and so the evil of it appears in these respects 1. It is a degradation of your Natures and sets you beneath the rank of Men and equals you with Beasts Psal. 49.12 Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not he is like the beasts that perish In the Original it is he abideth not for a Night Adam sinned the very same day that he was created So Psalm 32.9 Be ye not as the horse or as the mule that have no understanding implying that inconsiderate and rash Men that never consider their wayes are like the Horse and Mule which are void of Understanding and are guided only by their own Instinct to what use do Men put their Reason that do not reflect upon their Consciences It would be an odd sight to see a Man with the head of a Mule or the feet of a Horse yet there is a greater affinity between the Body of a Beast and the Body of a Man than between a Beast and a Mans Soul the former are in the same degree of Being as Material substances 2. It is the defilement of your Natures The Scripture when it speaks of Sin sets it out by filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness Iames 1.21 An allusion to the Brook Hedron where the Garbages of the Sacrifices were wont to be cast So it is called a blot these Notions are to heighten our Souls into a detestation of it Omne malum naturam aut timore aut pudore perfudit There is such a filthiness in Sin that it is ashamed out of it self and therefore it alwaies seeketh for a disguise there needeth no Argument against it but to be seen in its proper colours it either seeketh a shew of Vertue or a vail of Darkness Pray why doth the Adulterer seek for the twi-light Prov. 7.9 In the twi-light in the evening in the black and dark night but that he is ashamed of Sin Sin is so Monstrous and Deformed that it seeks to hide it self from those that love it most from the Conscience of the Party that committeth it or from the sight of others Nay there is such a Turpitude in it that some Sins beget shame in their very name and mention The Apostle speaks of a Sin that is not so much as named among the Gentiles 1 Cor. 5.1 and Eph. 5.3 But fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness let it not be once named among you as becometh Saints Socrates hid his face whenever he spake against wantonness 3. It is the Bondage of your Natures Oh what worser Captivity can there be than this for Reason to be put out of its Empire and that you should be under the command of vile Affections a Slave to Pride and a Drudge to your Lusts and Carnal Pleasures Sin is a Bondage here and hereafter here it binds you with the Cords of Vanity and hereafter with the Chains of Darkness This is the preposterous Judgment of Men that they look upon the Service of God as their greatest Bondage Psalm 2.3 Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us but it is otherwise there is no greater freedom than to be employed in the Service of God and to be free for the Actions of a Holy Life Psalm 119.45 I will walk at liberty for I seek thy precepts The Bonds of Duty are not Gives but Ornaments And there is no greater Bondage than to be a Slave to Sin 2 Pet. 2.19 While they promise them liberty they themselves are the servants of corruption for of whom a man is overcome of the same is he brought into bondage What a Bondage is this to be a Vassal of Hell to be at the command of our Lusts a Slave to Pride and Uncleanness and we know not how to help it SERMON VIII GENESIS xxiv 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even-tide 2. ANother Argument to prove the Evil of Sin is taken from the Effects of Sin We being in a lower Sphere of Understanding know Causes by their Effects Ier. 2.19 Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God When they had seen the sad Effects of it their Cities wasted and destroyed And where shall we not find the sad Effects of Sin Survey the story of Sin since it came into the World The first news we hear of Sin is in the fall of the Angels and what a dreadful instance is that The Angels that were the most noble part of the Universe the Courtiers of Heaven and assoon as they had sinned in a moment of Angels they were made Devils and cast down into the pit of Darkness for one aspiring thought against Gods Imperial Majesty If we should see Ten Thousand Princes executed in one day we would wonder at the Cause of it and yet this is but a short resemblance of this case Think of those Princes of the Creation those Morning-Stars those Sons of God now if one Sin cast down these Angels what will become of us who have Millions of Sins If God be so angry with the Nobles how may the Scullions tremble If God will cast Angels out of Heaven for one Sin of Thought what will become of us poor Dwellers in Clay who are but a little enlivened Dust that may be soon crumbled into nothing Yet Christ was not made an Angel for Angels as he was made a Man for me If you should hear of a drop of gall that should imbitter an whole Ocean of sweetness you would wonder at the Pestilential influence of it here is one sin of thought imbittered the whole Ocean of the Angelical sweetness The next news we hear of Sin is in the Fall of Man Who would taste of that Poyson that poysoned all Mankind at once Adam did but taste of the forbidden Fruit and all his Posterity were poysoned in the Morning he was Gods Favourite and in the Evening the Devils Slave he slept not one Night in Innocency Nay this is not all you shall see the venom of Sin went further it did not only ruine all Mankind but it gave a crack to the whole Creation All the Creatures groan under Sin Rom. 8.20 21. For the creature is made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope Because the Creature it self also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God When God looked upon the Creatures that he had made he saw all was good but when Solomon looketh upon Gods Works he seeth nothing but Vanity what is the Reason of this Sin intervened so that the Creatures are not only the Monuments of Gods Power but of Mans Rebellion The next dreadful instance of Sin is in the Old World and there all Mankind except Eight
subscribe to them they bind as a Law though not as a Covenant but Vows and Promises make the Covenant more explicite A lawful thing vowed and dedicated to God could not be alienated without Sin Ananias was smitten dead for receding from his purpose Acts 5.4 Whilst it remained was it not thine own and after it was sold was it not in thine own power why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God But much more in vowes in things necessary that are not in your Power When you have promised Obedience you have promised a thing necessary God might require Duty from you and punish you for the violation of his Law whether you vowed or no It was never left to your pleasure to deal falsely in your Covenant with Men it is a Sin the Lord doth alwaies avenge such solemn Obligations should be Sacred and Inviolable what then is it to break Vows with God after we have solemnly renewed our Covenant with him 6. If it be against former Experiences and that either of the sweetness of Grace or the evil of Sin 1. Of the sweetness of Grace The Lord takes it ill that you should sin against him after you have tasted his good word Heb. 6.5 It is a Mighty affront to Jesus Christ to go off from him after we have had experience of the sweetness of his wayes the Apostle calls this a denying the Lord that bought them 2 Pet. 2 1. that is in foro Ecclesiae in the Court of the Church and with respect to the outward Covenant that is between the Lord and every Church Member An Apostate doth as it were proclaim to the World that Jesus Christ is no good Master that after he hath made Tryal of both the Devil is a better Master than Christ for he seemeth to have known both Masters So we find the Lord contests with his People about their Provocations Ier. 2.5 VVhat iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone far from me and have walked after vanities and are become vain You have gone far from me and departed from my wayes what is the matter Did I ever do you hurt Have I ever been a Land of Darkness to you or a hard Master So Micah 6.3 O my people what have I done unto thee and wherein have I wearyed thee testifie against me When we go off from God we do as it were proclaim that we have found just discouragement in the wayes of Christ as a Man that goeth off from you sheweth his expectation is deceived in you 2. If you have done it after experience of the Evil of Sin When a Man hath found the bitterness of Sin suppose it be of Drunkenness or Anger when it hath weakned his Body and broken his Peace and yet he runs into it again it is a sad aggravation as that King that would adventure another Captain and his Fifty when one Captain and his Fifty were consumed with Fire from Heaven 2 Kings 1.10 11. When we will be tampering with the Carnal Sweets again which have cost us so much trouble when we have found the Hand of God meet us in a Carnal way yet we will venture again and enter into the Lists with him and set our selves against him it is as the breaking of a Bone in the same place Iames 4.2 Ye lust and have not yet kill and desire to have and cannot obtain ye fight and war yet ye have not This is a plain contest with God when after ye have been broken in pieces you will again gather and associate your selves as it is Isa. 8.9 Associate your selves O ye people and you shall be broken in pieces and give ear all ye of far countreys gird your selves and ye shall be broken in pieces gird your selves and ye shall be broken in pieces Thus the Children of Israel argued with the Reubenites and Gadites and the half Tribe of Manasseh Ioshua 22.17 18. Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us from which we are not cleansed until this day though there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord But that ye must turn away this day from following the Lord. 7. If Sin has been committed against a special Relation as suppose that of a Magistrate or a Minister this doubles the offence Your Sins are imitated you should be Fountains of Religion and Justice and you poyson the Fountains You are as the first sheet that is printed off and all others are stamped after your Copy It was a sad Title that was given to Ieroboam that he made Israel to sin so when you do not shew forth a special strictness of Religion according to your place it is a great aggravation SERMON IX GENESIS xxiv 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even-tide Thirdly THE Matter I am now to propose to you is The Excellent Contrivance of the Gospel as a Subject for your Meditation an Argument that challengeth all our Reverence and Thoughts and Wonder a Mistery of Misteries the fairest Draught and Picture that ever came out of the Work-house of God 1 Tim. 3.16 And without controversie great is the mystery of Godliness This is a depth that cannot easily be fathomed here are Miracles infolded in Miracles and Misteries within Misteries God would astonish Mankind and save it at the same time Christ is called the Wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.24 Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God not only as the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge are hid in him and through him conveyed to the Creatures but because herein is Gods Wisdom most discovered by disposing and putting our Salvation into the hands of Christ not only as a Fountain of Wisdom but as a Mapp of Wisdom as discovering the excellent contrivance of God and the curious variety that is in his Councils God sheweth Wisdom in all things Psal. 104.24 O Lord how manifold are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all Every Creature is disposed into apt Cells and Store-Houses and contribute to the Glory of their Creator But here God would discover the Curiosity of his Wisdom The World is his Work but the Gospel is his Plot. And therefore in your solemn and most deliberate thoughts you should take a view of it It is the great Duty of Saints Ephes. 3. 18 19. That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge This should be your continual task and search There are two great Mysteries in the Word Christ and Antichrist the Mystery of the Gospel and the Mystery of Iniquity it is the great advantage of Christians to discern the Mystery of Iniquity and to meditate upon the Mystery of Godlyness to observe Antichrists cunning and to consider the contrivance of the Gospel Oh then exercise your thoughts herein and study the Excellency of Gods design bring Hallowed and
with straits and pinched for maintenance of your Families consider there is a Providence The World is Gods great Common and he doth not over-stock his own Common All things wait upon God how do the Beasts live but upon Providence Psal. 104.27 These all wait upon thee that thou mayest give them their meat in due season Who is it that feeds the Ravens Psal. 147.9 He giveth to the beast his food and to the young ravens which cry And Psal. 145.16 Thou openest thine hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing Compare it with verse 19. He shall fulfil the desire of them that fear him he also will hear their cry and will save them Urge your hearts herewith to Patience under Miseries Not a Sparrow falls to the ground without a Providence therefore certainly your Crosses fall under the wise dispensation of God Psalm 39.6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew surely they are disquieted in vain Again urge your hearts to thankfulness for Mercies look upon the first cause and acknowledge the Providence of God in all that you enjoy 2. Consider the Providences of God to your selves in particular for thou art a little World Consider how the Providence of God watched over thee in the Womb when he took thee out from thence how he provided two Bottles to sustain thee how he hath borne thee up from the Womb hitherto especially how he took care of thee when thou hast been in distress Oh it is sweet when we can cry as David Psalm 34.6 This poor man cryed and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles I have been in these and these distresses yet the Lord hath heard and delivered me especially if he hath blessed thee from small beginnings and increased thy substance urge thy heart to trust in him for the future 1 Pet. 5.7 Casting all thy care upon him for he careth for thee Fifthly The next Object of Meditation is the Excellency and Happyness of our Estate in Heaven See this Subject treated on in a Sermon on Tit. 2.13 Looking for that blessed Hope A Fourth Volume OF SERMONS ON Several Texts of Scripture BY THE Late Reverend and Learned Thomas Manton D.D. PART the Second Containing LXXVI Sermons WITH AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE To the Whole LONDON Printed by I. D. and are to be sold by Ionathan Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCXCIII Place this Title immediately before Page 671. TO THE Lady BAWDON MADAM IT needs no Apology that I have prefixed your Ladiship 's Name to this Part of the late Reverend Dr. Thomas Manton's Works since the Memory of the Author is so precious with you by whom you and your Children were baptized into the Christian Faith under whose Ministry you were brought up in the Knowledg of the Mysteries of the Gospel and whose Works published both before and since his Death have been so highly valued by you But your Ladiship has a more especial Title to these Sermons because a great part of them being committed to my Care to publish the preparing them for the Press was performed in a great measure under your Ladiship 's Roof when the Providence of God called me there in my Attendance on your Honoured Mother the Lady Wharton in the last Scene of her Life The Duty I owe to the Memory of that Great Person obliges me to testify to the World what I as well as others who had the Honour of knowing her observed in her She was one whom God had indowed with more than common Gifts and Graces one of a piercing Judgment quick Apprehension great Presence of Mind useful in all her Relations But that which adorned all was her eminent Godliness which was visible in the whole Course of her Conversation She had a great understanding of the Mysteries of the Gospel and though she abounded in good Works yet she knew how to account all things Loss and Dung for the Excellency of the Knowledg of Christ Jesus her Lord. She was often in the Admiration of the Riches and Freeness of God's Grace in Jesus Christ and all her Hopes Trust and Confidence were in his Merits and Righteousness She had a very high Valuation and Esteem of the Ordinances of God and when her long Sickness had for some time hindred her from a publick Attendance on the Worship of God she would often complain of it That she was as a Leper shut out from the Sanctuary of God She was of a noble generous and charitable Frame of Spirit and her Charity was dispensed with great Prudence I cannot but mention one Branch of it viz. The relieving of sick Persons especially providing and giving Medicines to the Poor who had no Money to buy them and God did wonderfully own her with great Success herein In her latter Days God was pleased to exercise her with great Trials her Sickness was long and tedious her Pains great and sharp but under all her steady Adherence to God shewed the Strength of her Faith and the Truth of her Patience I have often heard her say this one thing silenced all Complaints It is God who hath done it All the Breaches God made upon her made no Breach between God and her Soul In her languishing Hours when her Strength failed her she expressed the inward Tranquillity and Repose of her Mind it being almost the last Words she said All is well all is well Thus she lived and thus she died and is now joined to that Great Assembly of Glorified Saints who are always praising blessing and adoring God where she is always beholding the Face of her God in Glory and fully understands the meaning of all the dark Providences of God towards her in the latter part of her Life I mention not these things to renew your Ladiship 's Grief for so great a Loss and to make your Wounds bleed afresh but to provoke you to a holy Imitation of so great a Pattern and to be a Follower of her as she was of Christ. Good Examples have a powerful Influence upon us for we are led more by Pattern than by Precept especially the Examples of those we love for such we are prone to imitate but more especially of those who are in nearest Relation to us for there Nature sides with Grace And what an Advantage your Ladiship has had in having such a Precedent before your Eyes appears by the fair Transcript you have been of so fair a Copy Madam God hath been pleased to exercise your Ladiship also with great Trials but you have had your Comforts and Supports God hath taken away some of your nearest Relations but he hath continued others to you What a Blessing hath God bestowed upon you in those excellent Daughters that have sprung from you But alas we are too apt to pore on our Losses and overlook our Enjoyments to make our Afflictions the Grave of our Mercies God hath given your Ladiship a better Frame of Spirit and taught you how
earth shall remember and return unto the Lord. Think with your selves whence am I Whither am I going What have I done in the work of Repentance What will become of me to all Eternity Here in the Scriptures God himself hath told me what I must look for and will God deceive me Oh let me take Gods Directions for the saving of my Soul I might take occasion hence to press you to bless God for transmitting such a Doctrine to us and to give you caution not to look after other Revelations there are none or if there were none can be so certain and so sufficient as this And whatever is pretended as a Message from God bring it to the Scriptures Isa. 8.20 To the law and to the testimonies if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Some cry up the Church some the Spirit in contradiction to the Scriptures do you take the middle course go to the word opened and dispensed in the Church and wait for the Spirits teaching And whatever is pretended if it be not according to this there is no light in it and if there be no Light of Knowledge there will be no Light of Comfort and no Light of Happyness A SERMON ON HEB. xiii 20 21. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Iesus that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant Make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Iesus Christ to whom be glory for ever Amen THE words carry the form of an Apostolical Blessing or Prayer for these Christian Hebrews to whom he wrote Consider in them 1. The Person to whom he prayeth in which the grounds of Audience are implyed verse 20. 2. The Matter which he prayeth for verse 21. 1. The Person to whom the Prayer is directed who is described 1. By a proper Title the God of peace 2. By his great Work he brought again from the dead our Lord Iesus Christ Who is set forth 1. By his Office the great shepherd of the sheep 2. By his Merit and Satisfaction through the blood of the everlasting covenant Which may relate 1. To God's Title He is become the God of peace through the blood of the everlasting covenant 2. To Gods Work through the blood of the everlasting covenant he brought him again from the dead 3. To Christ's Office through his blood shed for sinners he is become the great shepherd of the sheep 2. The Matter which he prayeth for The continued Sanctification of Man once regenerate set forth by both its parts the Will and the deed Phil. 2.13 First The Will or remote Power Make you perfect or fit you for every good work to do his will Secondly The deed or actual assistance working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight We have both by Jesus Christ for it is added with a Doxology through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen The Text is long I must give you but short Strictures upon it And I will begin with the second branch the Matter prayed for And therefore let me observe Doct. That the beginning progress and accomplishment of every good work is from God through Iesus Christ. This appeareth plainly from the 21. verse which may be reduced to two heads 1. The Expressions which concerne Mans Duty which is to be perfect in every good work that we may do God's will and that which is pleasing in his sight 2. The Expressions which concerne Gods Power to inable us for this Duty there are two words perfecting and working The first relateth to his Habitual Grace the second to his Assisting Grace I. The first expressions which import Mans Duty are four 1. Perfecting 2. Every good Work 3. Doing his Will 4. So as may be pleasing in his sight 1. We must be made perfect or the begun Work of Grace must be carryed on to perfection We all come short of that perfection which is attainable in this Life therefore those that have attained some good measure of Grace should not rest satisfied with it We need to be more able for Duties more fortified for Tryals A Man groweth till he be fit for all Manly Actions And a Christian groweth and must be made more peâ—fect â—ill he be fit for every good Work An Artisan must be so long learning his Trade till he be fit for all those Functions which belong to his Trade A sick or wounded Man is under the hand of the Physitian or Chirurgeon till he be perfectly cured So is a Christian under the care of his Spiritual Physitian till he be fitted for all the â—arts and Duties of a Christian Here upon earth Christ by one offering hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified or dedicated to God Heb. 10.14 But now he is in Heaven he perfecteth us by degrees The Sacrifice needeth not to be repeated but his intercession is continual because we still need new influences of Grace Absolute Perfection is not attainable in this life but the perfection of sincerity is here required that we should mortifie all our Lusts and serve God in every good Work and please him by an Universal and Impartial Obedience Phil. 3.12 Not as though I had already attained either were already perfect but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Iesus That is I aim at that which Christ aimed at that I may be thoroughly and exactly perfect 2. In every good work Not in one but all Many will do some good but are defective in other things and usually in those which are most necessary They cull out the easiest and cheapest parts of Religion such as do not contradict their Lusts and Interests We can never have sound peace till we regard all Psalm 119.6 Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect to all thy commandments Shame is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fear of a just reproof This reproof is either from the Supream or the Deputy-Judge The Supream Judge of all our Actions is God This should be our principal care that we may not be ashamed before him at his coming nor disapproved in the Judgment But there is a Deputy Judge which every Man hath in his own bosom Our Consciences do acquit or condemne us as we are partial or sincere in our Duty to God and much dependeth on that 1 Iohn 3.20 21. But if our hearts condemne us God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things Beloved if our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God Well then that our hearts may not reprove or reproach us we should be complete in all the Will of God Alas otherwise you will never have Evidence of your sincerity 3. The next Expression is That you may do his will The Rule of Mans Duty is the will of God
Life and Affection that he hath required Their Actions are superficial shadows of good things they draw nigh to him with their Lips when their Hearts are far from him Matth. 15.8 This people draweth nigh to me with their mouth and honoureth me with their lips but their heart is far from me Their Duties to Men are but shadows of good Actions not flowing from a hearty Love and a good Conscience but from Interest or Natural Temper 3. There is a defect in the end they do not regard Gods Glory Col. 3.17 Whatsoever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Iesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the glory of God The most commendable Actions of Carnal Men have either a Natural aim as self-preservation So in their Worship Hosea 7.14 They have not cryed unto me with their heart when they howled upon their beds They howl upon their Bed for Corn and Wine or Self-quiet and Ease so in their Duties to Men more for wrath than conscience-sake Rom. 12 5. Or for Vain-Glory To be seen of men Matth. 6.1 Or a legal aim when most Devout to quiet Conscience or to satisfie God for their Sins by their Duties Micah 6.6 7. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God shall I come before him with burnt-offerings with calves of a year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousand of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oyl shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul Usually the Sacrifice of the Wicked is brought with an evil mind Prov. 21.27 To buy our Indulgence in some Sins by avoiding others or by performing some Duties to pay for their neglect of others which are more weighty Duties are performed as a Sin-Offering not as a Thank-Offering to pacifie God not to glorifie him There is no delight in God or Obedience In short all is as Flowers strowed upon a Dunghil 2. The Solifidians That cry up an empty Faith without Obedience and Holiness These are to be dealt with as well as the other 1. The end of all Religion is Practice Christianity was not brought into the World that we might talk of great things but do great things for God All the Misteries of our most Holy Faith are Misteries of Godliness and if it be not so the Word of God is come to us in Word only and not in Power and we are Christians of the Letter not of the Spirit The Law of Grace was never intended to try the Acuteness of Mens Wits who could reason most profoundly of these Glorious Things nor the firmness of their Memories who could best carry in mind these Holy Truths nor the readiness of their Invention who could most plausibly discourse about them but the willingness of their Obedience who would most intirely practice them Iohn 14.21 He that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me The practical Christian hath the truest sense of his Religion 2. The end of our Redemption is Obedience Christ hath Ends of his own as well as those which more immediately concerne our benefit Rev. 5.9 Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood Sin had made us unserviceable to God and the end of Christ's Death was to put us in joynt again and to bring us into a course of Service and Obedience unto our Creator Rom. 14.9 For to this end Christ both dyed and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of dead and living He came to redeem us not only from Wrath but from Sin not only to abolish Guilt but to establish Holiness Titus 2.14 Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works 3. It is the end of his Renewing Grace He hath altered the constitution of our Hearts that we may live unto God 2 Cor. 5.17 Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new We are renewed in Heart that we might walk in all newness of Conversation 4. It is the end of our Faith and Hope Faith and Hopes are but Means subservient to Love which is the Grace by which we are inclined to perform our Duty to God and Man And therefore the strength of our Faith is to be judged by the readiness of our Obedience Gal. 5.6 For in Christ Iesus neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but faith which worketh by love That carryeth away the prize of Justification It is the love of God stirred up in us by Faith which maketh us watchful against Sin and careful to please him in all things VSE II. To press us all if we would be Compleat Christians to take all the three parts 1. Let us be sound in the Faith 2. Let us keep up Hope 3. Let us be thorough and exact in Obedience 1. Let us be sound in the Faith believing all things that are contained in the Word of God not contenting our selves with a light credulity or common Tradition but have a Faith of the Spirits working Your Love to God dependeth upon the Principles laid down in the Gospel which discover to you his Love in the Redeemer and the provision made for your Souls therefore you are to build up your selves in your most holy faith that you may keep your selves in the love of God Iude 20.21 2. Let not Hope be left out as unnecessary Grace This is not a cursory and slight but a desirous expectation so as not to be weakned by the Lusts of the Flesh 1 Pet. 1.13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your minds be ye sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Iesus Christ. When Christ cometh all your Labours and Self-Denyal shall be recompensed Rom. 8.24 25. For we are saved by hope but hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for but if we hope for that we see not then do we with patience wait for it 3. Be sound and thorough and exact in Obedience Many hold sound Doctrine and have some lazy expectation of Eternal Life but they are defective in the third branch they are not careful to keep a good Conscience and do their Duty in all things to God and Man Here I shall press you to two things 1. Let Conscience be your Guide 2. Exercise your selves in this that Conscience may be a good Guide to you First Let Conscience be your Guide I shall press you hereunto by two Considerations 1. From the Nature of Conscience It is not only a Monitor but a Judge as a Monitor it warns us of our Duty as a Judge it censures our neglects of it Science is one
there must be a resolute endeavour to overcome every Sin you are convinced of Heb. 13.18 Pray for us for we trust we have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly 2. That you may not have a dead sleepy stupid Conscience you must often excite it For your Actions bring them to the Rule Haggai 1.5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord God consider your wayes Psalm 4.4 Commune with your own hearts upon your bed and be still For your state try it often 1 Cor. 11.28 But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether you be in the faith prove your own selves know ye not your own selves how that Iesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates The Acts of Conscience are three to be an Accuser Witness and Judge 1. As an Accuser hearken to its voice what doth it say to you good or evil Iob 27.6 My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live If it speak not to you you must speak to it God complaineth Ier. 8.6 I hearkned and heard but they spake not aright no man repented him of his wickedness saying what have I done 2. As a Witness consider the Evidence it bringeth that it may be matter of Joy or Sorrow to you of Confession or Thanksgiving If it reproach you do not smother the check Acts 24.25 And as he reasoned of righteousness temperance and judgment to come Foelix trembled and answered go thy way for this time when I have a more convenient season I will call for thee If it chear you see upon what grounds Rom. 9.1 I speak the truth in Christ I lie not my conscience also bearing me witness in the holy Ghost It is no matter what others think but what Conscience thinketh Nothing is nearer to us than our selves it is a domestical Tribunal that we alwayes carry about with us 3. As a Judge it passeth Sentence if it be wrong there is an appeal from Court to Court Psalm 130.3 4. If thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities O Lord who can stand But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared Conscience is a Judge but it is an inferior Judge there lyeth an Appeal to a higher 1 Cor. 4.4 He that judgeth me is the Lord Heb. 11.23 And to God the judge of all But it should be done with great admiration of Grace But if the Judgment be right it is ratified its Judgment we must yield to 1 Cor. 11.32 But when we are judged we are chastned of the Lord. Thus should we keep up the force of Conscience A SERMON On ZECHARIAH xiv 20 21. In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses Holiness unto the Lord and the pots in the Lords house shall be like the bowls before the altar Yea every pot in Ierusalem and in Iudah shall be Holiness unto the Lord of hosts THESE words describe the Purity and Holiness of the Gospel-Church in such Termes and Notions as are proper to the Old Testament Dispensation In them observe 1. The Inscription or Impress 2. The things on which it is ingraven 3. The time when it is done 1. The Inscription or Impress Holyness to the Lord. This was of old written on the Priests Mitre Exod. 28.36 And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold and grave upon it like the ingravings of a signet HOLINESS TO THE LORD To shew that he was a Person Sacred and designed for special Holy Uses therein he was a Type of Christ. Now what was upon the High Priests Frontlet was inscribed on every thing to shew they should consecrate their all to God 2. The things inscribed particularly enumerated first the horse-bells or the Ornaments of their Horses Secondly Their bowles or basons Thirdly Their pots 1. What was used in the Kitchings of the Temple 2. The Utensils of every ordinary House and Family There were Kitchins belonged to the Temple wherein the Thank-Offerings were dressed for their Sacred Feasts The Bowles of the Altar were for an higher use namely to receive the Blood of the Sacrifices to make the sprinklings as Solomon made an hundred basons of Gold for that use 2 Chron. 4.8 3. The Time in that day he speaketh not of any peculiar time but the whole State of things under the Gospel which is as it were but one day And it is called that day by way of excellency Thus the time of the Gospel are dayes indeed full of Light and Grace and that day by way of limitation it should be reserved for this day and not found in such a degree and measure at any other time even then when there should be no Sacrifices no Altars then the Bells Pots and Basons should be sanctified or separated from a common and dedicated to an Holy Use that is there shall be such special Universal Holiness as if it were so done upon all these things But you will say When and where is it Alas considering the degenerate state of the Christian World where is this Universal Holiness to be found How shall we make it good Answer 1. Prophesies of things belonging to our Obedience are to be understood many times quoad officium of our Duty rather than quoad eventum of the event it is their Duty to be thus Holy in all their Imployments and Affairs that dispensation requireth it as our Duty 2. As to the Event it is to be understood comparatively not absolutely to shew that there shall be a far greater Holyness under the Gospel than under the Law both intensive as to the degree of the Holyness it self and extensive as to the Persons sanctified Intensively the Holiness its self is greater because the Ordinances of the Gospel are Rational and not Typical and the Duties of it Moral more than Ceremonial God taught them by Ceremonies to hate Sin by the Types of legal uncleanness to devote themselves to God by offering their Beasts in Sacrifice Theirs was like a training ours a real War as much as the difference is between shooting at a Puppet or painted Castle and fighting with an Enemy And because more of the Spirit is poured out now Grace is not given upon trust but the price is actually paid Extensively more Persons are sanctified as the Pale is inlarged and the Gospel prevaileth on them Rev. 5.9 Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation Mark 16.15 Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature 3. The Gospel-State hath its ebbs and flowes in several Ages Sometimes there is a notable vigour and power of Godliness at other times a great Increase of Wickedness and Men do so far corrupt their way that we are forced to put another sense upon words or expect a better time when the Prophesie shall be more amply fulfilled We can hardly reconcile the words with the state of the
times Doct. God in and by the Gospel will effect an eminent and notable sanctification both of Things and Persons 1. Let us consider how Gospel Holiness is set forth in this Prophesie 2. I shall speak of Holiness in the General 3. Give you the Reasons I. That degree of Holiness which is here prophesied of 1. All such things as were before imployed against God should be then imployed and converted to his service for the Horse-Bells shall be inscribed He speaketh before of Horses imployed against the Church which God would overthrow verse 15. It was the fashion of those Oriental Countreys to adorn their War-Horses and Camels with Golden Chains and Bells Iudges 8.26 This Prophesie intimateth that now these Bells should be converted to another use to make Golden-Pots and Bowles for the Temple and be inscribed by Gods Motto and Impress In our Natural Estate we imployed our Time and Wit and Parts and Strength against God but if converted then for him As one of the Fathers glosseth upon Eves seducing Adam She was a Rib but she proved a Dart. We fight against God by his own Weapons but Conversion maketh a change Rom. 6.13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but yield your selves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Weapons or Instruments of unrighteousness are become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instruments of righteousness So verse 22. For now being made free from sin and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto holiness There is a manifest change in the use of all things 2. Upon all the Utensils of the Temple there shall be Holiness to the Lord whether Pots or Bowles The great and immediate Duties of the Worship of God should have special Holiness in them for God will be sanctified in all that draw nigh unto him Levit. 10.3 I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the people I will be glorified There should be a special Awe and Reverence upon our Hearts in our conversing with God when the Blood of the Sacrifice is presented to him as it was in the Bowles or the Flesh of the Sacrifice eaten by our selves as it was by the Priests when it was sodden in the Pots of the Lords House We read of discerning the Lords body 1 Cor. 11.29 We receive it not in an Holy manner if our eating be not in a different manner from eating our ordinary Meal The Impression of our great end should be upon our ordinary and common Actions but in Worship the Nature of the Work is Holy and the Manner of our Deportment should be very reverend and serious 3. The Expressions imply a proficiency and growth in Holiness For the Pots of the Kitchen of the Temple shall become as the Bowles of the Altar for purity and Holiness There were degrees of Holiness in the several Vessels belonging to the Temple the meanest things in Sacred use shall be advanced to an higher degree of Esteem and Holy Employment than before which some understand thus that the meanest things in the Christian Church shall be as precious as the most glorious things in the Iewish Church rather that Holiness should be upon the growing hand and increasing from degree to degree till all be perfected in the Everlasting Estate The Bells or Neck-Ornaments of their Horses shall be turned into Pots of the Lords House and the Pots in the Kitchen become as the Bowles on the Altar Oh Christians the Holiness of the Gospel is a growing Holiness we should go on from strength to strength Psalm 84.7 from glory to glory 2 Cor. 3.28 The inner Man must be renewed day by day 2 Cor. 4.16 There should be a continuance in Gospel-Holiness Carnal Men seek to grow greater and greater and higher and higher and attain further degrees of their Worldly Happiness and shall not we seek to grow better and better One dramm of Holiness is worth a whole World of Greatness Holiness is the Glory of Saints the Beauty of Angels the Delight of God you cannot be too holy But alas Many lose ground in Religion Holiness is in the wane not in the increase Sin is not so hateful as it was before What will this come to at length How can he be rich who groweth every day poorer Or reach the Goal who goeth every day a step back who loose their Zeal and the elder they grow live in more indulgence to the Flesh 4. As it is a progressive Holiness so it is also a diffusive Holiness that spreadeth its self throughout all Actions Civil and Sacred in things which belong to Peace and War 1. In things Civil and Sacred all the Pots of the Lords House and all the Pots in Ierusalem 2. In things of War and Peace for here are Horse-Bells and Pots all things should now become Holy and holily used In every point and ordinary Action of the Christian Life a Christian should devote himself to God True Holiness will extend its self and shine forth in a Mans most common things and imployments and the sincere Man referreth all to God even in his ordinary Conversation as if he were about immediate Worship 1 Pet. 1.15 For as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all manner of conversation In every creek and turning of your Lives or in every particular passage of your Christian Course Oh what a blessed thing is it when Godliness runneth through a Mans whole Life as the Woof through the Web when our whole Conversation savoureth of Godliness and True Holiness and our Common and Civil Actions are done in the Lord and for his Glory and upon all occasions you shew your selves haters of Sin and lovers of what is good Every thing that passeth Gods Hand discovereth the Author there is not a Gnat or a Pile of Grass but you may see God in it as well as in the more stupendious Works of the Creation So should a Christian in every condition prosperous and adverse in an high or low Condition whether he be abased or do abound carry himself like a Christian Phil. 4.12 I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and suffer need Hosea 7.8 Ephraim is a cake not turned baked but on one side and dough on the other So in every Action Civil or Sacred there must not only be a Spirit of Holiness breathing in our Duties but shining forth in our ordinary Employments and Recreations Every Action morally considered is in its self a step forward to Hell or to Heaven In every Relation in Love to our Maker in Duty to our fellow Creatures Acts 24.16 And herein do I exercise my self to have alwaies a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men
new Convert Acts 16.34 That he rejoyced believing in God with all his house he was but even recovered out of the Suburbs of Hell ready to kill himself just before verse 27. so that a Man would think he should easier fetch Water out of a Flint or a spark of Fire out of the bottom of the Sea than to find joy so soon in such an heart yet he rejoyced though he was still in danger of his Life for treating those as Guests whom he should have kept as Prisoners So 2 Cor. 8.2 We read of the abundance of their joy and deep poverty because they were acquainted with the Gospel So Zacheus received Christ joyfully because Salvation was come to his House Luke 19.6 He made haste and came down and received him joyfully And the Man that found the true Treasure for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath Matth. 13.44 He parted with all His Satisfactions Comforts and Contentments This is so sure a Truth that where-ever the Gospel or Christ is received in any degree and proportion though not to a converting degree there is some joy In Converts I have showed you and you may cast in that Text by way of over-plus Acts 2.41 Then they that gladly received the word were baptized and the same day there were added to the church about three thousand souls It is a degree not amounting to Conversion Luke 8.13 The stony ground received the word with joy Herod had some kind of joy in hearing Iohn the Baptist Mark 6.20 He did many things and heard him gladly And his other Hearers rejoyced in his light for a season Iohn 5.35 These had a joy but not in such a predominant degree as to be able to controul their Affections to other things and so this joy could not maintain it self or keep it self alive Therefore it is said That we are his house if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end Heb. 3.6 The first offers of Pardon and Life by Christ do stir up this joy in us as the Gospel sheweth us a way how to come out of the greatest Miseries and get an interest in the greatest Happiness The possible hope of Relief and Deliverance cannot but affect us if we be serious 2. As to our Progress in the Duties and hopes of the Gospel it is still carried on with joy Therefore Believers are described by it as their vital act Phil. 3.3 We are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoyce in Christ Iesus and have no confidence in the flesh What is the constant work of a Christian but a rejoycing in Christ Jesus or a thanâ—ful sense of our Redeemers Mercy And therefore the whole Life of a Christian is represented by keeping a Feast 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Christ our passover is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the feast Seven dayes the Iews kept their feast of unleavened Bread which figureth the whole time of our pilgrimage till we enter into the Everlasting Sabbath Every day is a Holy-day and a Feast-day with a Christian now Christ his Passeover is sacrificed for him partly through a sense of Gods Love partly through the Testimony of a good Conscience and partly through the hopes of Glory He is alwaies rejoycing in God if he be in a right frame and liveth up to his Gospel-Priviledges Let me chiefly instance in two Duties of Prayer and Praise or Thanksgiving which take up a great part of our Commerce with God And especially because they are connected with the Duty we are upon for we must rejoyce evermore praying without ceasing and in every thing give thanks The Duties that follow serve to act and cherish this joy 1. Rejoyce evermore so as to pray without ceasing They that delight in God will be often with him and can come chearfully and unbosom themselves to him as a Man would to his Friend They are not drag'd into his presence as into the presence of a Judge but they come freely to him as Children to their Father They that love God as their portion and happiness will much converse with him they are out of their Element but when they are praying to God or speaking of God or thinking of God therefore they are still with him But this is denyed of the Hypocrite Iob 27.10 Will he delight himself in the almighty Will he alwayes call upon God They may sometimes cry to him not because they love him and his service but because they love their own ease and to be free from trouble their streights may force a little Service from them Well then without delight we cannot keep a continual course of Communion with God in Prayer 2. For Praise or giving of Thanks in every thing give thanks that is both the fruit of our delight in God and a means to quicken it One that delights in God will have cause enough to give thanks whether the Creature come or goe what-ever is taken from him his joy is not taken from him He can bless God for his Mercies in Christ when retrenched and cut short in the World though he hath lost some Comforts yet others are yet remaining Shall one Cross imbitter all our Comforts As one string broken puts the whole Instrument out of Tune They can bless God for taking as well as giving Iob 1.21 The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the â—ord If the Lord gave all why may he not take away a part A thankful heart can praise God for God himself for choicer Mercies yet continued for some outward Mercies remaining If God gave all and take but a part have we any cause to complain 3. Still I prove this joy must be continued throughout the whole course of the Spiritual Life because the beginning progress and ending is carryed on by it the joy of God is our support in our declining time the staff of our Age for then Christians grow more dead to the World and worldly things and are less moved by them whether they keep or loose have or want them and then they are nearer to Eternity and have more of that rejoycing in hope spoken of Rom. 2.12 This joy is a beginning of the joyes in Heaven here we have a Sip there a full Draught Our Delight in God now is of the same Nature with that which the Saints and Angels have in Heaven There is indeed a vast difference in the degrees here a little joy entreth into us but there we enter into our masters joy Math. 25.23 But though they differ in degree yet the Object and Affection is the same It is the same God and the same Glory which delighteth us only now they are seen by Faith then they shall be Objects of direct sight and fruition we shall see him face to face In short rejoycing in God is a beginning of the Imployment we shall then have in Heaven Therefore when we expect in a few days to be
they visited thee The keeping up of this Acquaintance is necessary both to our present Comfort and future Acceptance 1. For our present Comfort it giveth you boldness to come to God in all your necessities and streights if you daily wait upon him Frequency of Converse begets familiarity and familiarity begets confidence When God and you grow strange you cannot come with that freedom to ask his help as those that familiarly converse with him do Eph. 3.12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him A Child is not afraid to go to his Father nor a Man unto his Friend to pour out his complaint into his bosom nor a Servant of daily attendance to open his Suit to his Master they know his name Psalm 9.10 and are acquainted with him 2. For our future acceptance Luke 21.36 Watch ye therefore and pray alwaies that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man viz. at his coming They that are constant in Prayer make up their Accounts with God daily and so may with the better confidence attend his coming When you have been frequently with him frequently entertained by him and accepted with him had your Prayers heard and Desires granted it is a great incouragement in the hour of Death when you are to leave the World and come immediately before him On the other side for Men to appear before a God whom they never knew nor heartily loved and with whom they were never acquainted as to any intimate Communion and Converse this is a sad case Alas at the best it is to an unknown Friend but indeed it is to a certain Enemy they never had experience of his kindness which they would own nor interest in his Love and now are forced into his Presence against their Will Alas how soon will the time come when Men would fain set about Prayer but it is too late they have then neither Treasure nor skill to pray and the Prayers they then make are not the Fruits of Faith and Love but of Despair and Horrour they cry Lord Lord but Christ saith I know you not ye are workers of iniquity But on the other side they are fitted for Everlasting Communion with God who are acquainted with him already and when they come to be translated they do but change Place not Company Heaven is an access to God and the Throne of Grace is the Porch of Heaven We begin the Heavenly Life here by these frequent converses with God and our access to him now 3. With respect to the New Nature or the Temper and Disposition of the Saints Prayer is the cry of the New Creature a work natural and kindly to the Saints Zech. 12.10 I will pour upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications A Spirit of Grace will soon break out into supplications and vent it self that way Acts 9.11 Behold he prayeth Zeph. 3.9 I will turn to the people a pure language that they may all call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one consent In the Margin it is a pure lip Gods true Children are carryed to him by a kind of Natural Motion as light Bodies move upward they are a sort of Men that are seeking after God Psalm 24.6 This is the generation of them that seek him that seek thy face O Iacob Selah Therefore we should quite check and cross the bent and inclination of the New Nature unless we be much in Prayer and often with God 4. With respect to the necessities of the Saints Our wants are continual as well in Spiritual as in Temporal things That we need daily Bread is evident to Sense and that we need daily Pardon and daily Strength against Temptations should be as evident to Faith The Soul hath its necessities as well as the Body yea they are greater and of a more dangerous Nature Sometimes we lack Wisdom and who shall give it us but God Iames 1.5 If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him Sometimes we lack Strength and that is to be sought in Prayer Eph. 3.10 That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthned with all might by his spirit in the inner man Sometimes we lack life and quickning and to whom should we go but to the live-making Spirit to him who quickneth all things In short the Throne of Grace was set up for a time of need and therefore when our necessities drive us to it we should not hang off Heb. 4.16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need We alwaies need to be delivered from evil we alwaies need to be established in good sometimes we need a Blessing on what we have that our Comforts may be sanctified to us sometimes a Blessing on what we do that we may begin it and end it in God All our Relations increase our necessities so do all our injoyments new Mercies occasion new Necessities And in the variety of our Afflictions we have still somewhat to do with God The receipt of one Mercy discovereth the need of another 5. With respect to the utility and profit of it It is endless to instance in all things I shall confine the Discourse to Spiritual profit and there 1. The Three Radical Graces Faith Hope and Love are acted and increased in Prayer Iude 20 21. But ye beloved building up your selves in your most holy faith praying in the holy Ghost keep your selves in the love of God looking for the mercies of our Lord Iesus Christ unto eternal life Mark there praying in the Holy Ghost is to be referred in common to them all to building up your selves in your most Holy Faith to keeping your selves in the Love of God to looking for the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto Eternal Life Surely frequent Prayer keepeth every Grace active and more ready than if it were seldom used 1. For Faith in this Duty the Misteries of our most Holy Faith are reduced to practice even that great Mistery of the Trinity and their distinct personal Operations we find the benefit of it in Prayer Eph. 2.18 For through him we both have an access by one spirit unto the Father To the Father as an All-sufficient Fountain of Grace Gen. 17.1 I am the Almighty God By Christ who hath purchased leave welcome and audience Heb. 10.19 By a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the vail that is to say his flesh And by the Spirit who hath given us an Heart to come inspiring us with Holy Motions enlivening our Affections Rom. 8.26 Likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities That we may open our Hearts to God If Prayer be Prayer indeed
pardon all our wrongs surely they that are brought back from the Grave and fetched up from the Gates of Hell and from under a Sentence of Condemnation will be ingaged more to love God Psalm 130.4 But there is forgiveness with thee that thou shouldest be feared The Woman loved much who had much forgiven her Luke 7.47 3. It is most for the Comfort of the Creature that a stated certain course of Remedy should be appointed for our Peace which may leave the greatest Evidence upon our Consciences Now what is likely to do so much as this first and apparent change whereby we utterly renounce and bitterly bewail our former folly and solemnly give up our selves to God by Christ. Things are evident to the feeling which are serious advised difficult have a notable delight accompanying them all which concur here This is the most important Action of our Lives the setling of our Pardon and Eternal Interest a sense of Sin if deep and thorough will ever stick with us The Heart is heartily brought to this to submit to Gods appointed course Rom. 10.3 For they being ignorant of Gods righteousness and going about â—o establish their righteousness have not submitted to the righteousness of God And 't is rewarded with some notable tasts of Gods Love for he reviveth the hearts of his contrite ones Isa. 57.15 and restoreth comfort to his mourners verse 17. VSE Let us obey Christ and continually carry out the work of Repentance with more seriousness Sin is not hated enough nor God loved enough and therefore we have so small a tast of the Comforts of Christianity Groans unutterable make way for Joyes that are unspeakable Motives 1. The unquestionable necessity of the Duty should move us Christs Authority is absolute He telleth us I came to call sinners to repentance If he saith so Contradiction must be silent Haesitation satisfied all Cavils laid aside and we must address our selves to his work and never cease till we are past Repentance and that is only when we have no more sin in us which will never be till we die 2. The profit should move It is a Duty of great use By Repentance we are put into a capacity to serve and please God For New Creatures are set in joint again who were disordered by the fall Eph. 2.10 And Titus 3.5.2 Tim. 2.2 and by it we are put into a capacity to injoy God Acts 26.18 To open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Sathan to God 3. Nothing can be excepted against this course 1. The plea of Unworthiness hath no place It is not the applying a Priviledge but the performance of a Duty we invite you to If we did directly call you to accept a Pardon you might question our Doctrine Perhaps you may think you are unworthy to be pardoned but God is worthy to be obeyed Christ calleth you to Repentance 2. You cannot object the greatness of your Sins Did Christ come from Heaven only to cure a cut finger and not a deadly wound He calleth Sinners and Sinners without exception Sinners of all sorts and sizes This thought often cometh into our mind That Christ is a Saviour but not of those who are faln into such hainous and enormous offences as we have done as if any Disease were beyond the skill of the Spiritual Physician as if he could cure a Cold or a slight Ague but not the Leprosie and the Plague All Sinners are called 3. The plea of weakness doth not lye against the Duty neither For he that calleth the things that are not as though they were Rom. 4.17 Lazarus come forth Iohn 11.47 Why doth he speak to a dead Man So to the Man with the withered hand Stretch forth thy hand Matth. 12.13 Do not say Lord This I cannot do No go forth in the strength of Christs Call He calleth not only by the Ministry of the Word but the inward operation of his Spirit Now for Means 1. Examine thine own Heart to find out thy particular sins Psalm 119.59 I thought on my wayes and turned my feet into thy testimonies Lam. 3.40 Search and try your wayes and turn to the Lord. Repentance usually beginneth with serious Soul searching otherwise we spend our indignation upon a Notion Particulars are most affecting Sin is the common Pack-Horse to bear every Mans burden but Sin must be particularly confessed forsaken and mortified that it may be pardoned 2. Labour to work thy Heart to Godly sorrow for them Lam. 3.20 My soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled within me We should humble our selves greatly Iob 42.6 I repent and abhor my self in dust and ashes Matth. 11.21 Repented in dust and ashes This is spoken according to their National Customs Men most abased are most serious But our Repentance generally is not deep and serious enough so as will become offences and dishonours done to God by such weak Creatures as we are and so deeply ingaged to him There is not that self-loathing nor such a measure of Godly sorrow as may either make Christ sweet or Sin bitter to us If it affect the Heart so as Sin becometh hateful and there is a price and value put upon Gods Grace in Christ then it is right Oh therefore bemoan your selves to God as Ephraim did Ier. 31.18 3. Lay them open before God in humble Confession 1 Iohn 1.9 If we confeâ—s sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins Ier. 3.13 Only acknowledge thine iniquities that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God And set apart some special time to do it 4. Crave and sue earnestly for the pardon of them in Christs Name and for Christs sake Eph. 4.32 As God for Christs sake hath forgiven you 1 Iohn 2.12 I write unto you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his names sake All benefits must be asked in his Name much more this which is the great fruit of his Redemption God himself has taught us to pray for Pardon and to say Take away all iniquity Hos. 14.4 And take the Sacramental Pledges out of Gods hand for this end 5. There must be an unfeigned Purpose and Endeavour to forsake them Prov. 28.13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy Ezek. 3.11 As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Turn ye turn ye for why will ye die O house of Israel Hosea 14.8 Ephraim shall say What have I to do any more with Idols Isa. 30.22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver and the ornament of thy molten images of gold thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth thou shalt say unto it Get thee hence A SERMON On PSALM viii 2 Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies that thou mightest
you If you be sollicitous about the word of Christ and the matters of Duty contained therein you have a great advantage at the Throne of Grace So Psal. 66.18 If I regard Iniquity in my Heart the Lord will not hear me Many that pray are as Ice a little thawed above but hard at bottom they have not such a strong setled Resolution to walk more closely and orderly with God but allow some secret Lust and so marr their own Audience and Acceptance with God II. For Reasons 1. With respect to God 1. His Observance 2. His Acceptance 1. With respect to Gods Observance He is an All-seeing Spirit and therefore will not be mocked with a vain appearance or a little bodily exercise but the Prayers we make to him we must find them in our Hearts 1 Sam. 16.7 For God seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but God looketh on the Heart We may Act the Parrot before men but God looks to what there is in the Heart 1 Chron. 28.9 Know thou the God of thy Father and serve him with a perfect Heart and with a willing Mind for the Lord searcheth all Hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the Thoughts A man up in the Air seeth the Spring as well as the River and its course we that stand by see the course but not the Spring God understandeth whether we are inclined and encouraged whether we are habitually inclined to God Ier. 5.3 O Lord are not thine eyes on the Truth Rom. 8.27 And he that searcheth the Heart knoweth what is the Mâ—nd of the Spirit because he maketh Intercession for the Saints according to the will of God He knows a belch of the Flesh from a groan of the Spirit He understandeth our desires as well as our Words So whether we are encouraged by the Grace of the New Covenant and Sense of our own qualification 1 Ioh. 3.20 21. If our Heart condemn us God is greater than our Heart and knoweth all things Beloved if our Heart condemn us not then have we Confidence towards God 2. With respect to Gods Acceptance God granteth not our Prayers till our Hearts be fixedly bent towards him Psal. 10.17 Lord thou hast heard the desire of the humble thou wilt prepare their Heart thou wilt cause thine Ear to hear When God hath put it into their Hearts to pray and awakened their desires then he will hear Dan. 10.12 From the first day that thou didst set thine Heart to understand and to chasten thy self before thy God thy words were heard God hath accepted the Heart without the Tongue but never accepted the Tongue without the Heart Moses cryed to God when he spake not one word Exod. 8.12 and God heard him 2. With respect to us 1. The part which the Heart beareth in all humane Actions It is fons actionum ad extra and it is terminus actionum ad intra In our actings towards God Prov. 4.23 Keep thy Heart with all diligence for out of it are the Issues of Life and in our receipts from God this is the thing that God aimeth at Rom. 6.17 Ye have obeyed from the Heart that form of Doctrine which was delivered you Prayer is not a receiving duty as hearing In praying the Heart begins in hearing it ends the Duty 2. With respect to our carriage in Prayer We do not conceive a Prayer but impose a Prayer upon our selves if the Tongue guide the Heart rather than the Heart the Tongue Like Children that cast stones into the Mine but do not draw Oar out of the Mine Acts 2.26 Therefore did my Heart rejoice and my Tongue was glad I. Vse Information 1. What need is there of Recollection before we come to pray that we may not force upon our selves what chance offereth but may have a Prayer in our Hearts before we have it in our Tongues Psal. 45.1 My Heart is inditing a good matter I speak of the things which I have made touching the King my Tongue is as the Pen of a ready Writer Usually we offer to God a dough-baked Sacrifice Only that I may not grate upon a tender Conscience there is an habitual Preparation and an actual Preparation The habitual Preparation lyeth in a broken hearted Sense of our wants radicated Inclination or bent of Heart towards God and Heavenly Things and in a Confidence and Liberty towards God The actual Preparation lyeth in such a Sense of our Necessities as the present Case doth deserve such a quickening of our desires after Heavenly Things as may fill us with Life such a remembrance of the Grace of God in Christ and our own Sincerity that our Hearts may not reproach us when dealing with God as a Father Again I distinguish that our requests are Ordinary or Extraordinary Ordinary When we ask daily supplies of Grace having no particular streight Temptation Difficulty or Business of moment then in hand Here the Habitual Preparation with little or no Actual Preparation serveth in our daily Prayers for necessary Blessings Extraordinary as in some notable trial difficult Streight Conflict Temptation or when we seek some special Benefit and upon eminent Occasions then as our Necessities are greater so our Acts of Prayer are more earnest Psal 109 4. For my love they are my Adversaries but I give my self unto Prayer Our Lord Jesus Christ being in an Agony prayed more earnestly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke 22.44 And so it resolveth this Case What if I have not such a feeling of strong and earnest desire or the over ruling bent of the general Inclination Yet keep not off from Prayer 1. Good desires are to be asked of God 2. Such desires as you have must be expressed 3. Prayer is the usual way to quicken and increase them 4 Turning away from God is the means to kill them 2. It informeth us what need we have of more help than our own if we must find every Prayer in our Heart which we utter with our Tongues Three things are necessary in Prayer The Humane Spirit or natural Faculty that I may by my Understanding work on my Will The New Nature Faith Hope and Love to believe in God and see him before me to incline me to God as my chief good and to hope for Benefit from him The Divine Spirit to excite these Graces Iude 20. Praying in the Holy Ghost Rom. 8.26 The Spirit it self also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered The Spirit works not on us as blocks but as rational Creatures nor does it blow on a dead Coal II. Vse Caution Do not take every thing for Prayer which looks like it 1. Bodily exercise Mâ—ny by the Agitation of the bodily Spirits work themselves into some vehemency their Voice is heard on high but the Heart is dead and cold quibus arteriis opus est These fill up only a little
blessings indeed by an holy Education Oh it will be a great happiness to be Parents to such as shall be Heirs of Glory As Children ought to be looked upon as a great mercy so also as a great trust which as it is managed may occasion much joy or much grief If Parents doat upon them they make them Idols not servants of the Lord If they neglect Education they will surely prove crosses and curses to them or if they taint them by their example Young ones are very apt to follow the example of those they see or converse with or are related to them Those Forty two Children 2 Kings 2.23 24. That were devoured of two She-Bears and cryed Bald pate to the Prophet of the Lord were Children of Bethel which was a nest of Idolatry Therefore Parents had need see what example they give or suffer to be given to their Children in contemning the Servants of the Lord or in any other kind of sin 3. Reproof to Children born of Godly Parents and notwithstanding dedication and education break out into unseemly and wicked courses For Children born in a godly Family to be naught is the greatest degeneration that can be Ungodly Children of godly Parents these wrest themselves out of the Arms of mercy and instead of a blessing become a burden and a curse They cast off their Fathers God Prov. 27.10 Thine own Friend and thy Fathers Friend forsake not But what shall be said of them that forsake their Fathers God They break off and interrupt the course of the Blessing Jer. 2.12 13. Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be horribly afraid be ye very desolate saith the Lord For my People hath committed two evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living water and hewed them out Cisterns broken Cisterns that will hold no water He would have the Sun to look pale the spheres to cast out their stars Wilt thou be a Traytor to thy Fathers God Solomon continued allyance with Hyram because he had been a Friend to David And wilt thou break off the Grace of the Covenant Cain excomunicated himself Gen 4.16 Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. Ishmael for scoffing malignity against the power of godliness was cast out of Abrahams Family Gen 21.9 Esau for sensual prophaneness Heb. 12.15 Despising Spiritual priviledges for sensual satisfactions The Jews were cast off 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for unbelief Rom. 11.20 or positive rejection of the Gospel Christ made them the first offer 2. Vse To exhort Parents to bring up their Children for God For if they be an heritage from the Lord they must be an heritage to the Lord give them up to Him again as you had them from Him at first For whatever is from Him must be improved for Him Dedicate them to God and Educate them for God and he will take possession of them in due time Hannah though her Son were a Levite born and her eldest Son yet she Solemnly Dedicateth him to God 2 Sam. 1.27 28. I Prayed for this Child and the Lord hath given me my Petition which I asked of him therefore I have lent him to the Lord as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. Give God his portion Now if the Dedication be sound it will ingage you to a serious Education God dealeth with us as Pharaoh's Daughter did with Moses his Mother Exod. 2.9 Take this Child away and Nurse it for me Motives 1. The express charge of God who hath made it your Duty Ephes. 6.4 Fathers bring up your Children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Deut. 6.7 These words shalt thou teach diligently unto thy Children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou lyest down and when thou risest up Prov. 22.6 Train up a Child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it Now we should make Conscience of these commands as we will answer it to God another day 2. The example of the Saints who have been carefull to discharge this trust God presumeth it of Abraham Gen 18.19 For I know him that he will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him Observe God reckoneth upon it and disappointment is the worst vexation And it is a means to obtain the Promise and the blessing 2 Tim. 3.15 And that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from a Child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures How by his Grandmother Lois and Mother Eunice as is expressed elsewhere Surely they are unworthy to have Children that do not take care that Christ may have an interest in them 3. The importance of this Duty Next to the preaching of the Word the Education of Children is one of the greatest Duties in the World For the service of Christ and of the Church and State dependeth upon it Families are the Seminaries of Church and Common-Wealth Religion dwelt first in Families and as they grew into numerous Societies they grew into Churches As Religion was first hatched there so there the Devil seeketh to Crush it The Families of the Patriarchs were all the Churches God had in the World And therefore when Cain went out of Adam's Family he is said to go out from the presence of the Lord Gen. 4 16. If the Devil can subvert Families other Societies and Communities will not long flourish Towns and Nations are made up of families A fault in the first Concoction is not easily mended in the second Here is the first making or marring And Solomon telleth us Prov. 20.11 That even a Child is known by his doings 4. To countermine Satan who hath ever envyed the succession of Churches and the growth and progress of Christs Kingdom and therefore seeketh to crush it in the Egg by seeking to pervert Persons while they are young and like wax capable of any form and impression As Pharaoh would destroy the Israelites by killing their Young ones So Satan who hath a great spight at the Kingdom of Christ knoweth there is no such compendious way to subvert and overcome it as by perverting Youth and supplanting Family Duties He knoweth that this is a blow at the root Therefore what care should Parents take to season Children with holy Principles that they may overcome the wicked one by the word of God abiding in them 1 John 2.14 I have written unto you Young men because ye are strong and the Word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one And cleanse their Hearts by a regard to Scripture direction Psal. 119.9 Wherewithal shall a Young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word They are defiled already not as Vessels taken out of the Potters shop but as Vessels tainted and polluted 5. To make good
Deus tuus O Christian where is thy God said a Heathen to a Christian when committing Uncleanness Titus 3.10 Not purloining but shewing all good fidelity that they may adorn the Doctrine of God our Saviour in all things 3. Our Peace and Safety is concerned in it Partly because the World is least irritated by a Peaceable Just and good Conversation it doth mollifie their Spirits and mitigate their fury 1 Pet. 3.13 And who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good That is when he bridleth his Tongue seeketh peace and doth good And partly because God puts a conviction upon the Consciences of wicked Men 1 Sam. 24.17 And he said to David Thou art more Righteous than I for thou hast rewarded me good whereas I have rewarded thee evil and so wicked Men are restrained by reverence and are afraid to meddle with unstained Innocency And partly because when we do not bring trouble upon our selves by our own immoralities God taketh us into his special protection It followeth upon the Text ver 9. These things which ye have both learned and heard and seen of me do and the God of Peace shall be with you You may expect much of God's gracious presence when your conversations are so harmless and innocent and he will free you from many external vexations or give you inward tranquillity of mind 4 Because these things flow from that internal principle of Grace which is planted in our Hearts by regeneration Mat. 3.8 Bring forth fruits therefore meet for Repentance Act. 26.20 That they should Repent and turn to God and do works meet for Repentance What is Regeneration on God's part is repentance on ours Now there are certain effects proper to this change and that is the Grave Just Temperate and Holy living And certainly where those effects are not there the cause it self is wanting for how can we evidence that our Conversion and Repentance is real and sound unless we bring forth fruits answerable What evidence can we have of the new nature but by newness of conversation Or of a change of mind but by a change of life We judge of others by their external works for the Tree is known by its Fruits and we jâ—dge of our selves by the internal and external works together if within there be a Love of God Faith in Christ Hatred of Evil delight in that which is good a deep sense of the World to come and all this discovered in an holy sober and grave conversation this compleateth the evidence and maketh it more satisfying 5. All the disorders contrary to these limits and bounds by which our conversations are regulated are condemned by the Holy and Righteous Law of God which is the rule of the new creature and therefore they ought to be avoided by a good Christian who hath a tenderness upon him of offending God in the least things Psal. 119.161 My Heart standeth in awe of thy Word Prov. 13.13 Whoso despiseth the Word shall be destroyed but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded they dare not transgress in the least things Mat. 5.19 Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandments and shall teach men so to do shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven As not in their Spiritual Duties so not in Moralities Mat. 2â— 23 Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for ye pay tithe of Mint and Annise and Cummin and have omitted the weightier matters of the Law Iudgment and Mercy and Faith These things ought ye to do and not to leave the other undone Hypocrites make a business about small matters and neglect weighty duties Yet the sincere by the discharge of greater duties are not freed from the obligation to do the smallest duties both stand by the same Authority 6. These Moralities are not small things the glory of God the safety of his People the good of humane Society and the evidence of our own sincerity being concerned in them The Apostle chargeth Atheism and dis-respect of God on the neglecters of these things 1 Iob. 3.10 Whosoever doth not Righteousness is not of God Neither he that loveth not his Brother Gal. 5.14 For all the Law is fulfilled in one word Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self Vse 1. If Religion doth adopt Moralities into its frame and constitution we must not leave them out of our practice and conversations for we are the Epistle of Christ 2 Cor. 3.3 we are to hold forth the word of life Phil. 2.26 That which is just must be suitable to the rule Tit. 3.8 This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works these things are good and profitable unto men God would not have us omit any part of his Will Vse 2. Here is an answer to those that ask wherein must we be holy and shew our obedience unto God besides what concerneth the sanctification of the Hâ—art here we are told plainly what concerneth the regulating of the conversation When the Heart is once renewed then Moralities must have their place and our exact care Vse 3. That Christians should be known to be the best sort of Men in the World abstaining not only from those things which the Law of God forbiddeth but the custom of Nations that no blemish may lye upon our Profession A Sermon on Luke Xix. 14 But his Citizens hated him and sent a Message after him saying We will not have this Man to Reign over us THese words are part of a parable uttered by our Lord Jesus when he came nigh to Ierusalem where they thought he would assume the Regal Power and Reign among them in great Pomp and Glory To prevent this misconceit he puts forth this Parable wherein by the Nobleman he intendeth himself by his Servants all Believers especially the Teachers and Ministers of his Church by the pounds given to them Spiritual Gifts and Graces by his going into a far Countrey to receive a Kingdom his Ascention into Heaven and sitting down at the right hand of Majesty by his own Citizens that tumultuated during his absence the Stiff necked Jews and by consequence all other people that refuse his Government by his return his last coming to Judgment when he shall reward every one according to his works My purpose only obligeth me to insist upon that clause which expresseth the unwillingness of Men to be subject to Christ But his Citizens hated him and sent a Message after him c. In which words take notice of 1. The Crime We will not have this Man c. 2. The Persons guilty His Citizens Joh. 1.11 He came to his own and they received him not 3. The Internal moving Cause they hated him Hatred is a malicious dislike notwithstanding conviction Ioh 14.23 He that hateth me hateth my Father 〈◊〉 They did disclaim and renounce all subjection to Christ though they had enough
Subjects For all Kingdoms are Governed by Laws Now the Law of Christ is the Gospel or new Covenant which is both a rule of Duty to shew what is due from us to Christ and a Charter of Grace to shew what we may expect from him upon the account of his Merit and Mercy if we be duly Qualified Therefore the whole design of the Gospel is to bring us to an humble submission and obedience to Christs Healing and Saving Methods all the Doctrines Precepts and Promises of the Gospel tend to this The Gospel is not only a Promise but a Law Rom. 3.27 Called a Law of faith And requireth not only confidence but obedience 2 Thes. 1.8 In flaming Fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel 1 Pet. 4.17 What shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God 'T is not enough to profess the Gospel but we must obey the Gospel Some of the precepts of the Gospel are Mystical such as believing in Christ 1 John 3.23 And this is his commandment that we should believe on the Name of his Son Iesus Christ. Some moral viz. The primitive Duty we owe to God 1 Cor. 9.21 Being not without Law to God but under the Law to Christ. Not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. Rewards and Punishments 1. For punishments Though the proper intent and business of the Gospel is to bless and not to curse yet if men wilfully refuse the benefit of this dispensation they are involved in the greatest curse that can be thought of John 3.19 This is the condemnation that light is come into the World and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil Heb 10.29 Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trâ—den under foot the Son of God and hath counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith ye were Sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite to the Spirit of Grace It will be more grievous to sin against our Remedy than our bare Duty More aggravating circumstances are in it and therefore the more it increaseth our torment not only on Gods part inflicting but on our part reflecting upon our sin and ingratitude 2. Rewards The Priviledges of Christs Kingdom are Exceeding great 1. For the present Pardon and Peace are obtained both in the way of Justificacation as Rom. 5.1 Being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ. And also of Sanctification Gal 6.16 As many as walk according to this Rule Peace be on them and Mercy and upon the Israel of God This is the intertainment God giveth to the Obedient Soul and the fruit of Christs internal Government 2. Hereafter Eternal Happiness or an immutable State of Glory Mat. 25.34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World That 's the consummation of the Kingdom of God and it shall be the portion of all those that obey Christ how despicable soever their condition be in this World Jam. 2.5 Hath not God chosen the poor of this World rich in Faith and Heirs of the Kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him II. That in all reason this Kingdom should be submitted unto 1 Because of the right which Christ hath to Govern He hath an unquestion able Title by the grant of God Acts 2.36 Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made the same Iesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ. And his own merit and purchase Rom. 14.9 For to this end Christ both died and rose again and revived that he might be Lord both of the Dead and Living Which should silence and quiet all Rebellious Motions Hath not God a right to dispose of you and shall Christ lay down his life to be head of the renewed estate and at length be deprived of that Honour and that meerly by the Rebellious Obstinacy of the Creature There can be no hope of exemption His we must be whether we will or no Our consent and willingness doth not add to the validity of his Title only aggravateth our sin if we refuse or prove unfaithful or maketh our Obedience acceptable if we be sincere in it Now God is tender of his grant and Christ of his acquired right and purchase that he may not lose the fruit of his Death and sufferings 2. This new Right and Title is comfortable and beneficial to us 'T was the fruit of Gods pity to mankind to set up a new Government which might be Remedial of our Misery but not Destructive of our Duty 'T is a full Remedy for our Misery for the purpose of it is to effect mans Cure and Recovery to God The Scripture always speaketh of it as Medicinal and Restorative Acts 10.38 God Anointed Iesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with Power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil for God was with him Preaching Peace in his Name for he is Lord of all So Acts 5.31 Exalted to be a Prince and Saviour to give Repentance and Remission of Sins That we might injoy Gods favour and live in his Obedience In this new Remedial dispensation God aimed at the healing of our Natures and the restoring our Peace and Comfort that we might serve him with pleasure and delight who otherwise could not think of him without fear and horror Much less set our selves to please him with any Hope of acceptation 3. 'T is by his Kingly Office that all Christs benefits are applied to us As a Priest he purchased them for us as a Prophet he giveth us the knowledge of these Mysteries but as a King he conveyeth them to us overcoming our Enemies changing our Natures and inclining us to believe in him love him and obey him For he doth not only convey the benefits giving us Remission of sins but he worketh in us the Qualifications giving as well as requiring Repentance Acts 5.31 He hath Exalted him to be a Prince and Saviour to give Repentance Well then since his Executive Power attendeth upon his Kingly Office we have no reason to dislike it but to bless God for this part of his Administration The Fruit and Effect of it is the Gift of the Spirit by which all is applyed to us So that the Communication to us is done this way His work as a Priest lyeth with God and as a Prophet and King with us As a Prophet he maketh way by giving us the good Knowledge of God through the Remission of Sins but he Actually communicateth his benefits to us as our Quickening Head and King 4 Our Actual Personal Title to all the benefits intended to us is mainly Evidenced by our Subjection to his Regal Authority Certainly without it we can have no benefit by Christ Heb 5.9 And being made perfect he
at his last tryal For God accepteth according to what a man hath and not according to what a man hath not 2 Cor. 8.12 For if there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not II. The consequence as he increased in Wisdom and Stature so he increased in favour with God and man That is he obtained a Testimony of the favour of God and the General Love and Good-will of men The same is said of Samuel 1 Sam 2.26 And the Child Samuel grew and was in favour both with the Lord and also with men That is he was acceptable to God and mâ—â— Gods favour is that by which he loveth his Image The more conspicuous the Image of God is in any Creature the more is God delighted in in that Creature Now there was more of the Image of God to be seen in Christ an Youth than in Christ a Child Which is no more unworthy of Christ than to be a Child Doct. The more true and saving Wisdom men have the more acceptable they are to God and many times to men also Prov. 3.4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man That is acceptation and good success So it is said of the Primitive Christians whilst Christianity was in its simplicity Act. 2.47 That they praised God and had favour with all the People They Praised God as being acceptable to him and received his blessing And men had reverence and esteem for them Prov. 22.11 He that loveth pureness of heart for the Grace of his Lips the King shall be his Friend That is a man that keepeth exactly to his Duty he hath an Holy boldness and a grace in his speeches Which many times by the blessing of God procureth him favour with great ones But a Question or two must be considered 1. How is it possible to please God and men Since they that please God are hated by the World John 5.19 Because ye are not of the World but I have chosen you out of the World therefore the World hateth you And 2 Tim. 3.12 All that will live Godly in Christ Iesus must suffer persecution And they that please the World cannot be the Servants of God Gal. 1.10 I Answer 1. We ought to carry it so that our Life may be pleasing to God and approved of men That 's our Duty whatever the event be Acts 24.16 And herein do I exercise my self to have always a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards men 2 Cor. 8.21 Providing for honest things in the sight of the Lord and in the sight of men Just and Holy things must we provide that evil men may have no cause to reproach us and good men may be edified by our example A life then it must be that is pleasing to God and deserveth to be approved of men that if they hate us we may not be in fault 1 Cor. 10.32 Give no offence neither to Iews nor to Gentiles nor to the Church of God Many times men bring trouble upon themselves by their own folly 2. There is a difference between convincing men and having a Testimony in their Consciences and humouring them in their sin 'T is humouring them in their sin which is man-pleasing inconsistent with the pleasing of God But to be made manifest first to God and then in their Consciences is an other thing 2 Cor. 5.11 We must not please them by joyning with them in their sin We buy the approbation of men at too dear a rate if we buy it by the breach or neglect of our Duty to God 3. Though men like not the way of Godliness so as to imbrace it and follow it yet they Admire it Prov. 12.26 The righteous is more excellent than his Neighbour And Mark 6.20 Herod feared John knowing that he was a just man and an holy The evidence of their Consciences doth compel them to approve and honour them 2. Question How far is it Lawful to mind the Approbation of men or to make it any Motive to us Since it is said John 5.44 How can ye believe that receive honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh of God only Ans. 1. We are not to cast off all respects to a good Name because 't is an excellent Blessing Prov. 22.1 A good Name is rather to be chosen than great Riches and loving favour rather than Silver and Gold 'T is of great use for our service and safety The Credit of Religion dependeth much on the Credit of those that profess it Now that we may not be a disgrace to Christ nor act as blemished Instruments we must endeavour to preserve a good Name A Pastor of the Church must be one that hath a good Report of them that are without lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the Devil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Slanderer 1 Tim. 3.7 The rather must we Mind this because men first make Shipwrack of a good Name and then a good Conscience and he that is lavish of his Credit is very seldom tender of his Conscience And 't is of great use for our safety Infamy cast upon the People of God is a forerunner of more trouble and showers of slanders are a forerunner of the grievous storms of Mischief and Persecution The Devil is first a Liar and then a Murtherer Iohn 8.41 In the Primitive times they did invest Christians with Bears skins and then bait them as Bears First count them Offendors and then prosecute them as such The Devil is afraid to meddle with unstained innocence Valens the Emperour spared Paulinus out of Reverence to the unspottedness of his Life Therefore since 't is a great part of our Security and Protection against Violence it must not be slighted 2. This must not be our first and chief Motive That is the favour of God 2 Cor. 5.11 But we are made manifest unto God and I trust also are made manifest in your Consciences The Approbation of God must be chiefly sought after we are not sincere without it For sincerity is a streight and sincere purpose to please God in all things The Approbation of men must rather follow than be aimed at Laus Humana non appeti debet sed sequi This is the consequent of well doing not our proper scope Gloria bene appetitur nihil malè agendo contra ipsam bene appetitur nihil malè agendo propter ipsam Credit is well sought when we do nothing ill against it and when we do nothing ill to obtain it 3. The favour of men may be sought when we take it as the Fruit of the favour of God For all good cometh from his favour He giveth it us by his secret influence on the Hearts and Counsels of men Prov. 16.7 When a mans ways please the Lord he maketh even his Enemies to be at Peace with him He made Laban and Esau kind to
for he doth it with good Advice 1. Though using our knowledge with Charity to our Neighbour be the matter in question yet loving our Neighbour is the fruit of our Love to God and both these go together 1 John 4.20 If a man say I love God and hateth his brother he is a Lyar for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen And they prove one the other 1 John 5.1 2. Every one that loveth him that begat loveth also him that is begotten of him by this we know that we love the Children of God when we love God and keep his commandments So that it must be expounded thus If any man love God and consequently his neighbour for Gods sake Therefore the master of the Sentences well defined Charity thus Charitas est dilectio qua diligitur deus propter se proximus propter Deum vel in Deo It is such a love by which we love God for himself and our Neighbour for Gods sake We love them either for Gods command or because of Gods Image in them or with respect to his Glory that we may not offend them but gain them to God And so the Apostle diverteth not from his scope only puts the cause for the effect love to God as productive of love to our Neighbour 2. Neither is the Apostle besides his purpose in the latter clause For Gods knowledge of us is the cause of our knowledge of him John 10.14 I know my sheep and am known of mine First he knoweth us and then we know him For Divine Illumination or saving Knowledge is the Fruit of his Love to the Elect they are chosen by God therefore taught of God and he giveth us Grace to know acknowledge and love him Doct. They that know God so as to love him in Sincerity are known of God 1. What is this sincere love to God 2. How God is said to know such 3. The Reasons I. What is this Sincere Love to God Here is 1. An Object 2. An Act. 3. The Qualification of the Act. First The Object is God Who is considered 1. As Amiable 2. As Beneficial 1. God is Amiable for the Excellency of his Nature and Glorious Attributes as Infinite Wisdom Goodness and Power Surely God is to be loved not only for the goodness that floweth from him but for the goodness that is in himself as he is a lovely being I prove it by these Arguments 1. Love is founded in Estimation Now the excellencies of God are the ground of our esteem We value nothing but what we account excellent and glorious Therefore the essential goodness of his Being and his moral goodness or his Holiness have an influence on our Love as well as his Benefits These things are worthy of esteem in the Creature and attract our Love as in the Saints Psal. 16.3 But to the Saints that are in the Earth and to the Excellent in whom is all my Delight Psal. 15.4 In whose eyes a vile Person is contemned but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. Why not in God and His Law Psal. 119.140 Thy Word is very pure therefore thy Servant loveth it 2. We are not only to bless God but to praise him Psal. 145.10 All thy Works shall praise thee O Lord and thy Saints shall bless thee Blessing relateth to his Benefits Praise to his Excellencies We bless him for what he is to us we praise him for what he is in himself Now whether we bless him or praise him it is still to increase our love to him and delight in him for God is not affected with the flattery of empty Praises yet this is an especial Duty which is of use to you as all other Duties are It doth you good to consider him as an Infinite and Eternal Being and of glorious and incomprehensible Majesty It is pleasant and profitable to us Psal. 135.3 Praise ye the Lord for the Lord is good sing Praises unto his Name for it is pleasant 3. A great Effect of Love is Imitation We imitate what we love and delight in as good we take delight to transcribe it into our own manners because we are affected with it Eph. 5.1 Be ye therefore followers of God as dear Children in whatever he hath made amiable and lovely by his Example Love doth imply such a value and esteem of God that we count it our happiness to be like him to be Merciful as he is Merciful and Holy as he is Holy We value it as a Perfection in God and desire the Impression of it upon our own Hearts It is the greatest demonstration of Gods love to us to make us like himself 1 Iohn 3 2. Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but this we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is It is the greatest Demonstration of our Love to God to desire and to endeavour after it Psal. 17.15 As for me I will behold thy face in Righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness Now like him we must be not only in Benignity but in Holiness and Purity 2. God is Beneficial as he hath been good or may be good to us 1. In Creation He made us out of nothing after his own Image Eccl. 12.1 Remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth We must remember him so as to love him please him serve him Verba notitiae connotant affectus Words of Knowledge import Affection And in Youth whilst the Prints of his Creating Bounty are fresh upon us In age we carry about the Fruits and Monuments of our unthankfulness that we have no more improved our Time and Strength for God It is charged on Israel Deut. 32.15 He forsook God which made him and lightly esteemed the Rock of his Salvation Many never think who made them nor why whose Creatures are we who gave us all that we have How can we look upon our Bodies without Thoughts of God whose Workmanship it is Or think of the Soul without thinking of God whose Image and Superscription it beareth Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are Gods Matth. 22.21 2. In Redemption there is the truest Representation of the Goodness and Benignity of God 1 Iohn 4.10 Herein is Love not that we loved God but that be loved us and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our Sins Rom. 5.8 God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us God commendeth his love to us by these wonders of his Grace and set it before our Eyes that we must either Question the Truth or else we cannot resist the force of this Love 1 Iohn 4.19 We Love him because he first loved us God loveth first best and most 3. The Mercies of daily Providence in sustaining our Being Deut. 30.20
That thou mayest love the Lord thy God and that thou mayest obey his Voice and that thou mayest cleave to him for he is thy Life and the length of thy days How thankful are we to him that restoreth the use of an Eye or of decayed Limbs Is nothing due to God who preserveth all these things to us yea continueth Life it self and defendeth and protecteth us against all dangers Psal. 31.23 O love the Lord all ye his Saints for the Lord preserveth the faithful and plentifully rewardeth the proud Doer Many times when they have no friends to uphold them God standeth by them to preserve them against the Powers of Oppression So he heareth Prayers Psal. 116.1 I love the Lord because he hath heard my Voice and my Supplication Every answer is a new ingagement and new fuel to kindle this holy Fire Surely his constant mindfulness of us should induce us heartily to love God and admire his goodness 4 The Rewards of Grace which are provided for them that love him Many blessed Comforts and Supports here in the World and the Happiness of the World to come 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him 1 John 3.1 2. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God Therefore the World knoweth us not because it knew not him Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Thus is God propounded to us as an object of our love as amiable and as beneficial In short to have Life and being and all kind of Benefits which may sweeten Life to be freed from Sin which is the ground of all our trouble and the wrath of God which is so deservedly terrible to have our Natures sanctified and healed and at length to be brought into that happy Estate when we shall be brought nigh to God and be made Companions of the Holy Angels and for ever behold our glorified Redeemer and our own Nature united to the Godhead and have the greatest and nearest Intuition of God that we are capable of and live in the fullest love to him and delight in him What can be said more Secondly The Act Love Love to God is taken largely or strictly 1. Largely for all the Duties of the upper Hemisphere of Religion or first Table As when Christ distinguisheth the Duties of the two Tables into love to God and love to our Neighbour Mat. 22.37 38 39. Iesus said unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind This is the first and great Commandment And the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self So it is confounded with Faith Repentance new Obedience for all Religion is but love acted Faith is a loving and thankful acceptance of Christ and his Grace Repentance is a mourning love because of the wrongs done to our Beloved and the loss accruing to our selves Obedience is but pleasing Love A Christian if he fear it is to offend him whom his Soul loveth If he hope it is to see and possess him who is the Joy and Delight of his Soul If he rejoice it is because he is united to him If afflicted it is because he is separated from him 2. More strictly it implieth that particular Grace which is distinct from Faith and Hope 1 Cor. 13.13 And now abideth Faith Hope Charity these three but the greatest of these is Charity Which because of it's various Operations is diversly spoken of in Scripture 1. Sometimes as a seeking and desiring Love 2. Sometimes as a complacential and delighting Love 3. Sometimes as the Love of gratitude or returning Love 1. Sometimes it is put in Scripture for that which is properly called a desiring seeking Love Which is our great Duty in this Life because here we are in viâ in the way to home in an Estate of imperfect Fruition therefore our love mostly venteth it self by desires or by an earnest seeking after God This Love is desiderium unionis a desire of his Presence or an affection of Union It is often set forth in Scripture Psal. 42.1 As the Hart panteth after the water Brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God! Psal 63.1 O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my Soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee So Psal. 84.2 My Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my Heart and my Flesh cryeth out for the living God It noteth such vehement Affections as left an Impression upon the Body So Isa. 26.9 With my Soul have I desired thee in the night yea with my Spirit within me will I seek thee right early Thus do the Saints express their desires to enjoy God and his Grace Now 1. This desire is acted towards his sanctifying Grace and Spirit called an hungering and thirsting after Righteousness Mat. 5.6 Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filled Or the Comfort and effect of Ordinances and Holy Duties that we may get more of God and Holiness into their Hearts 1 Pet. 2.2 As new born Babes desire the sincere Milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby My Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my Heart and my Flesh cryeth out for the living God Psal. 84.2 Not the formality of an Ordinance but to see thy Power and thy Glory so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary Psal. 63.2 They would not go from God without him The sanctifying Spirit is the sure pledge of Gods love and they do so earnestly desire to be like God in Purity and Holiness that they are instant and assiduous in calling upon God and using all Holy means whereby they may obtain more of his Spirit This doth shew us most of God himself for we know his Love by his Spirit and doth most help us to love him Prov. 4 7. Wisdom is the principal thing therefore get Wisdom and with all thy getting get Vnderstanding Wealth Honour and secular Learning or whatever serveth the Interest of the Flesh may be an Hinderance and Impediment in the ascending of our Hearts and Minds to God These things often keep us from God and allure us to please the Flesh but saving Grace as it immediately cometh from God so it carrieth us to him 2. The perpetual Vision of God hereafter Phil. 1.23 I am in a streight betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better 2. Cor. 5.6 8. Knowing that whilst we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord We are Confident and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be
much of the VVorld every one shall enjoy what Land what Estate then you are content with what you have Heb. 13.5 If our Portion be more streight than others it is what God hath allotted to us If we be kept poor and low we shall have enough for that Service and Honour that God expecteth from us and to carry us through that little time that we have to spend in the VVorld It is not abundance that we need but a contented heart Be contented with a little if God giveth no more Diseased persons need more attendance than the healthy It is our Disease multiplieth our Necessities 2. In the enjoyment of outward things If they come by God's Providence the heart must be guarded it must not be set upon them Psal. 62.10 If riches increase set not your heart upon them VVe may delight in them as they are our Portion as tokens from God and fruits of his bounty Deut. 26.11 Thou shalt rejoyce in every good thing which the Lord thy God giveth thee But they must not possess and take up our hearts so as to cause us to forget God and to make us raven after more And the lust riseth with the increase and so the heart is the more intangled 2. The course of our Actions in getting and using 1. In getting When we are not immoderate in labouring after them When Men toil and labour to load themselves with thick clay Habbak 2.6 They promise themselves much contentment and happiness but it doth but draw off the heart from God and burden and pollute the sinner Psal. 127.2 It is vain for you to rise up early to sit up late to eat the bread of sorrows Habbak 2.13 Behold is it not of the Lord of Hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity 2. In using Riches in themselves considered are neither good nor evil all is as they are used VVe are to use them as instruments of Piety and Charity and for the furtherance of our great account So that it is not VVealth so much that we beg as a blessing upon our labours that we may have wherewith to serve God We must so use and possess what we have as that the use and possession may tend to God's glory and the good of our Souls As 1. The maintenance of our own good Estate and Condition Eccles. 5.18 It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the Sun all the days of his life which God giveth him for it is his portion It is God's allowance that we should live comfortably upon what he hath sent us yea not onely his allowance but his gift Vers. 19. Every Man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth and hath given him power to eat thereof and to take his portion and to rejoice in his labour this is the gift of God 2. The good of others that depend upon us as our Family and Kindred 1 Tim. 5.8 that they may not be burdensome to the Church 3. The relief of the Poor Ephes. 4.28 Let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labour working with his hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needeth We shall be no losers by that Prov. 11.24 There is that scattereth and yet increaseth John 6.13 Therefore they gathered them together and filled twelve Baskets with the fragments of the five Barley Loaves which remain over and above unto them that had eaten 4. The maintenance of true Religion and the Church of God Prov. 3.9 Honour the Lord with thy Substance and with the first-fruits of thy increase 5. Good of the Common-wealth Rom. 13.7 Render therefore to all their dues Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custom to whom Custom Fear to whom Fear Honour to whom Honour And Matth. 22.21 Render to Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things which are God's Thus is a Man tried when he hath an Estate how he useth it A leaky Vessel is not discerned when it is empty but when it is full then it discovereth it self So when we are kept low there is not such a trial of our spirits as when we abound in all things how we will use and improve this trial what we discover then Grace or Corruption Want is a trial and so is fulness and therefore we should look to our selves If Self be ravenous and devour all that portion which God should have and the Poor should have and Friends should have we do not use it aright not to the ends for which God hath given it Vse 3. To press us to mortifie this inordinate inclination If once Men affect and love riches it becometh the root of all evil It is not the having but the affecting of great things that is sinful VVhat God casteth upon us walking within the compass of our duty we are with thankfulness to imbrace and to improve to his Glory Yet this inordinate desire is very natural to us born and bred with us and because Riches do all in the VVorld it is increased upon us Therefore we need the more to look to our hearts and consider 1. The comfort of our lives lieth not in abundance Luk. 12.15 Take heed and beware of covetousness for a Man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth They are extrinsecal to our being and happiness VVhen you have the VVorld at will you can get no more than Bodily Food and Bodily Cloathing the Poorest may attain to that It is no great matter whether our dung and excrement be of finer matter or courser nor what a gay shew we make in our Apparel whether fewer or more Dishes at our Table Too much Oil puts out the Lamp VVhen Men have troubled themselves and the VVorld to make themselves great VVhat a sorry happiness have they Psal. 17.14 From Men which are thy hand O Lord from Men of the World which have their portion in this life and whose Belly thou fillest with thy hid Treasure they are full of Children and leave the rest of their Substance to their Babes Habbak 1.16 They sacrifice unto their Net and burn Incense unto their Drag because by them their Portion is fat and their Meat plenteous A little good cheer and a merry Life is all they have They that want it live as well as they and have more contentment they are no nearer to true comfort nor the further from the Grave 2. There is danger in abundance The Moon is never Eclipsed but when it is at Full. An Estate may be too great as a shoe too big or an Armour too great as Sauls Armour for David 1 Sam. 17.39 It is harder for a rich Man to go to Heaven Mat. 19.24 It is easier for a Camel to go through the Eye of a Needle than for a rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of
commanded to use these means in order to our recovery should lye at the pool and wait for Mercy If we refuse the helps and the means our condemnation is just we even pass it upon our selves Act. 13.46 Since ye put away the Word of God from you ye judge your selves unworthy of everlasting life and become uncapable and unworthy of any benefit by the Gospel The giving of these manifold helps and means on Gods part sheweth a great hopefulness of success and such as may incourage us chearfully to perform our duty and carry it through with the expectation of a blessing But the refusal of these helps and means on our part sheweth we are untractable and disobedient and perish by our own obstinacy 7. Because common mercies are our ruine and our table a snare and our welfare a trap and the ease and prosperity of Fools slayeth them Prov. 1.32 Therefore God warneth us of the danger of the abuse of these mercies telleth us of the corruption that is in the World through Lust commandeth us and intreateth us to use them better and to remember him who giveth us comfortably and richly to injoy these things 1 Tim. 6.17 18. Sometimes taketh them out of our hands as a Father would do a sharp Knife out of the Hands of a Child Prayeth us that we will not love a perishing World and forsake our own Mercies that we will noâ— hazard eternal things for trifles And after all these warnings who is to blame 8. God doth not presently give over dealing with the despâ—sers of his Grace or those that reject or neglect his blessed offers but doth defer punishment draw out his patience towards them to the fullest length He yet tarrieth longer to see if yet they will be in a better mind 1 Pet. 3.10 The long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah If after all this we be disobedient and incorrigible what place is fit for us but the Prison of Hell Vse 1. It sheweth how cross to Gods design they act who delay Repentance because God delayeth Vengeance Eccles. 8.11 Because sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed therefore the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them to do evil Men are apt to do so partly because they measure things by present sense If it be not ill with them for the present they think to morrow shall be as yesterday Partly because they think they shall have time enough to Repent at last and so can be contented that God be longer dishonoured provided that they at length may Repent and be saved though God delayeth that you may take the season not let it slip Partly because they abuse Gods Patience to Atheism Either denying Providence saying The Lord will not do good neither will he do Evil Zeph. 1.12 As if God had forgotten the care of the World Or else think that God approveth their sin because they continue in health peace and prosperity Psal. 50.21 These things hast thou done and I kept silence Thou thoughtest c. and so grow sensual and secure and their Hearts more hard and impenitent because God spareth them This is to turn the Grace of God into wantonness and to treasure up wrath Rom. 2.5 But though God bear long he will not bear always The Chimney long foul and not swept taketh fire at length Psal. 68.21 But he will wound the Head of his Enemies and the Hairy Scalp of every one that goeth on in sin Forbearance is not remission Sentence is past Iohn 3.18 He that believes not is condemned already though not executed Eccles. 8.11 Because Sentence is not speedily executed c. God may give sinners a long day but reckoneth with them at last Rom. 9.22 What if God willing to shew his Wrath and to make his power known endured â—ith much long-suffering the Vessels of Wrath fitted to Destruction There suffering â—ong suffering and much long-suffering yet all this while fitted for destruction When you have but a little space given you will you frolick it away in sins and carnal pleasures God is bending his Bow whetting his Sword if they turn not He is angry with the wicked every day Psal 7.11 12. And at length his anger will break out if they turn not Vse 2. What reason all of us have to bless God for his forbearance and long-suffering and to acknowledge it as a great Mercy For his long-suffering tendeth to Repentance either the beginning or the perfecting of it Now this mercy is the more inhanced when we consider 1. What we have done against God A good Man cannot tell how often he offendeth Psal. 19.12 Who can understand his errors Psal. 40.12 Innumerable evils have compassed me about they are more than the hairs of my Head Gods People have cause to wonder at his patience as well as others 2. What is the desert of sin in the general Rom. 6.23 The Wages of Sin is Death 3. The instances of those who have been taken away in their sins Zimri and Cosbi unloaded their Lives and their Lusts together Lots Wife in her looking back was turn'd into a Pillar of Salt Luke 17.32 Remember Lot 's Wife A lasting Monument of Rebellion against God Gehazi blasted with Leprosie Corah Dathan and Abiram the Earth swallowed them 4 With how much ease God can do the like to you 1 Sam. 24.19 If a Man find his Enemy will he let him go well away when he has a fair opportunity to satisfie his wrath God can easily do this Iob 6.9 That he would loose his Hand and cut me off With one beck of his Will he can turn us into our first nothing 5. With how much Justice and Honour he might have taken us away long since and have shut us up in Chains of Darkness for a Monument to the careless World Sometimes God maketh instances in every Table Rom. 1.18 The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men who hold the truth in unrighteousness In every Law both by way of omission and commission Why might not I have served for one of these instances 6. How many Mercies have been vouchsafed to you in the time of Gods long suffering The mercies of daily Providence Psal 68.19 Who loadeth us daily with his benefits Especially deliverances out of imminent dangers when you were snatched as a braâ—d out of the burning Amos 4 11. And preserved in a general destruction Lam. 3.22 It is the Lâ—â—ds mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not Or when some disease hath been upon you that you thought you should have gone down to the Câ—â—mberâ— of Death Psal. 78.38 He being â—ull of compassion forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not that is He respited his vengeance It is a kind of a pardon when God remitteth some measure of the deserved punishment so far as any part of the punishment is remitted so far is the same pardoned Sometimes God seemeth to put the
any room of doubting it must be as to our Qualification and therefore that you must make more explicite but as to that remember that all the Qualifications of the Gospel must be evangelically interpreted not legally not in absolute perfection but in a prevalent degree our Graces must be tried by the Touchstone not by the Ballance that they be of the right kind though they are not full weight Vse 3. If the Christian Religion be true then we must love Christ and live to him obey his Precepts and depend on his Promises Salvation is brought home to our doors God hath left it to our choice the Word is nigh thee the way is plain clear and open do you therefore choose it A Sermon on ROM X. 10 For with the heart Man Believeth unto Righteousness and with the Mouth Confession is made to Salvation MAny complain that through the Multitude of Directions Religion is made long and tedious Therefore it is good sometimes to bring it into a narrower compass We need both Methods A larger delineation of Christianity that we may know a Christian in his full length and stature And at other times a shorter view or Tablet that we may know him if not by the whole body yet at least by his face The Text is of the latter sort a Summary or Abridgment of Christianity and therefore deserveth to be the more narrowly weighed by us There are two great concernments of Mankind as they stand in relation to God Righteousness and Salvation and this Text discovereth how you may obtain both by Believing and Confession By Believing we obtain Righteousness and by Confession we obtain Salvation 'T is pity we should miss of such great benefits when such easie and comfortable Conditions are required of us The one of these acts is said to be done with the Heart The other with the Tongue and Mouth For with the heart Man Believeth c. In the Words Two Duties are mention'd and two Priviledges The Apostle had before Attributed Salvation to both Verse 9. If thou shalt confess with thy Mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt believe in thy Heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Now here he maketh a partition and distributeth the effects ascribing Righteousness to Faith and Salvation to Confession which is done partly for the Elegancy of Speech that the period may run more roundly partly because there is a reason in the thing it self for our right to Justification is begun by Faith and continued by Confession unto Salvation As soon as we heartily Believe in Christ we are Accepted as Righteous with God and continuing in the Confession of this Faith we at length attain Salvation Faith is a means to be Justified and Confession is a means to be Saved And look what Confession is to Faith the same is Salvation to Righteousness Confession is the Fruit and Effect of Faith For the Tongue Confesseth what the Heart first Believeth So the Fruit and Effect of Righteousness is Salvation for 't is said The gift of Righteousness shall reign in life And Justification is called Iustification unto Life Rom. 5.17 18. Eternal Life is the Completion of Justification If the Fruit and Effect doth not follow Faith neither will the Fruit and Effect follow Righteousness As soon as we Believe God Pardoneth our Sins and giveth us a Right to Salvation but he doth not presently give us Salvation its self to leave a time for Faith to produce its Fruits and Effects and to shew our gratitude for so great a benefit done unto us by all holy Conversation and Godliness Well then these Two Faith and Confession they 1. agree in their Object for the same Truth is both Believed and Confessed that the Lord Jesus is the Saviour of the World who died for our Offences and rose again for our Justification But 2. they differ in their proper Seat and Subject The Subject of Faith is the Heart and the Subject of Confession is the Mouth or outward Man 3. They somewhat differ in the Benefits to which they are referred Faith to Righteousness and Confession to Salvation The Connection between both is appointed by God's order 4. They somewhat differ also in their Nature and Vse Faith is the beginning of Christianity and Confession our Perseverance in the Proâ—ession and solid practice of it Faith is our first consent to become Christ's Disciples Confession is a Declaration of our Faith or an open performance of what we have consented unto both make a Christian Compleat All the Heart-work is implyed in Faith and all the Life-work is implyed in Confession for it containeth in it self many acts of Godliness In short here is Embracing the Christian Religion and living Answerably God hath made it necessary that by a cordial Faith we should obtain Righteousness and Justification and being Justified we should go on to obtain Eternal Salvation You will say If this be all that is required to make us Christians then Christianity is easie indeed I Answer First We have no reason to represent it burdensome but yet both these duties have their difficulties Believing with the Heart a Doctrine so strange to flesh and blood and of such an Holy and Heavenly Nature is no slight thing therefore God giveth us this Grace Ephes. 2.8 By Grace ye are saved through Faith and it is the gift of God And Confessing with the Mouth is no easie task neither especially when the fear of Man is apt to check it and this Confession exposeth us to hazards and dangers To believe and suffer is another special Gift of God Phil. 1.29 For to you 't is given in the behalf of Christ not onely to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake If Confession be a cheaper duty now 't is God's Mercy to spare us we know not how soon it may become more hard and hazardous Secondly I Answer The Duties always have their difficulty if rightly understood For if we believe so as to be affected with what we believe so as to be drawn off from what we love confess so as to practice what we confess and be true to it nothing can be added The Scripture supposeth that we are rational Creatures that we will act as we understand and that we are sincere in our Profession and that we will do what we confess we are bound to do Doct. All that would be accepted with God unto Righteousness and life must be such as believe in Christ with the Heart and openly confess with the Mouth that he is the Son of God and the Saviour of the World I shall do these Three things 1. Open the Nature of Faith and Confession 2. Shew the respect between them 3. That God hath established Faith as the Means to be Justified and Confession as the Means to be saved 1. To open the Nature of Faith and Confession First Faith is such a knowledge of Christ as doth not hover in the Brain but is seated in
the Heart and may be determined partly by the object or matter believed partly by the subject of it or the acts of the Soul towards it First The Object or Matter believed is in short this That there is a God Heb. 11.6 That God having made Man he hath right and power over him to govern him by his Laws James 4.12 There is one Law-giver who is able to save and to destroy That Man failing in his Obedience he and all his Posterity are subject to the wrath and vindictive Justice of God Rom. 3.19 That all the World may become guilty before God Ephes. 2.3 And were by nature children of wrath even as others That such was God's Love that to recover Man out of this wretched condition he sent his own Son into the World John 3.16 That Iesus Christ who was the Son of God died for our offences and rose again for our Iustification Rom. 4.25 That is died to expiate our sins and rose again to convince the unbelieving VVorld of the Authority and Dignity of his Person and Offices and also of the truth of his Law and Covenant that having died and rose again he hath acquired Novum Ius Imperii a new right of Command and Empire over the World Rom. 14.9 For this cause he both died and rose again and revived that he might be Lord of dead and living That is have full power and dominion to dispose of us dead and living That Christ having this full power and dominion over all flesh hath established and enacted a Law of Grace or New Covenant wherein Pardon and Righteousness or Title to Life is assured to Penitent Believers Mark 16.16 Whosoever believeth shall be saved And Luke 24.47 And that Repentance and Remission of sins be Preached in his Name to all Nations And shall actually be bestowed upon all that obey him Heb. 5.9 But those that refuse this Christ shall be eternally miserable John 3.19 This is the condemnation that Light is come into the World and Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil This is the sum of what is to be believed Secondly It may be determined partly by the Subject of it or the acts of the Soul about it The Subject is the Heart both Understanding and Will The Understanding Assents to all this as true both what is said of the Person of the Redeemer and his Covenant and accordingly disposeth the heart of Man to carry it self towards both 1. To the Person of the Redeemer We Thankfully and Broken-heartedly receive him to the ends of the Gospel or to be to us what God hath appointed him to be and do that for us That God hath appointed Him to do for poor sinners To be our Lord and Saviour Iohn 1.12 Col. 2.6 as Lord to obey him and as Saviour to depend upon him and trust our selves in his hands for our happiness whatever befalleth us 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed and am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day 2. Towards the Covenant which he hath appointed as the Law or Rule of Commerce between us and God There are Promises and Precepts Commands and offers of Grace 1. For the Promises you heartily accept them as the greatest Happiness that can be bestowed upon you and depend upon them as things that surely will be performed for there comes in the consideration of true and good 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a true and faithful saying Ephes. 1.13 In whom ye trusted after ye heard the word of truth as true doubts are opposite to them as good carnal inclinations 2 For the Precepts and Duties required you bind your selves to perform them upon these hopes whatever it cost you And there comes in also the nature of Faith Sincere Resolution and Absolute Self denial Sincere resolution to perform what God hath required that you may obtain what he hath offered which is called a giving up of our selves to the Lord 2 Cor. 8.5 And absolute Self denial or Selling all for the Pearl of Price Mat. 13.46 And so that Faith which is made such a difficult thing to explain as it were a Bugbear to affright poor Christians from all thoughts and study about it is made easie and facile to the understandings of the meanest Christians who must live by it and be saved by it This then is believing with the Heart Secondly What is Confession with the Mouth A solemn outward declaration that we take Christ for our Lord and Saviour or that we believe what is revealed to us concerning God and Christ and our duty to him This is necessary because the Promises of the New Covenant run in both strains of putting the word in our Heart Ier. 31.37 and putting it in our Mouths Isa. 59.21 The Saints Prayers are That God would not take it out of their Hearts Psal. 119.36 nor out of their Mouths Verse 43. Take not the word of Truth utterly out of my Mouth And the nature of their duty to God requireth it for a Man is first to embrace the True Religion to receive it with his Heart and then he is to profess it or express it with his Mouth for no Man is to conceal and keep his Religion to himself Our Tongues and our Bodies were given us to shew forth that acknowledgment and Adoraâ—ion of God which is in our hearts He that denieth God or Christ with the Heart doth not believe in him or Worship him with the Heart So he doth not Worship God with his Tongue and Life who doth not outwardly profess and honour him As he hath given us an understanding that we may know him so he hath prepared for us a body wherewithal to profess him and our esteem of him Isa. 45.23 To me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear Which is again repeated and established as our duty in the Gospel Phil. 2.10.11 At the Name of Iesus every Knee should bow And every Tongue confess that Iesus Christ is Lord. But more distinctly to open this confession with the Mouth 1. The matter to be confessed is the great truths which we do believe God Christ the Covenant of Grace Eternal Glory and Happiness And the lesser truths in their season at other times Rom. 14.22 Hast thou Faith have it to thy self before God 'T is not meant of the necessary Articles of the Christian belief but things of a doubtful disputation If we know more than others in these things yet we must not needlessly trouble the Church or offend the weak to the danger of their Souls and hindrance of greater truths And yet in these things you must not deny the smallest truth 2 Cor. 13.8 We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth For though the thing we contend for be small yet sincerity is a great matter and to profess our Assent or Consent to what we neither count true nor can well approve of is to come under a
terms Therefore he revealeth and perswadeth us to accept the conditions of the New Covenant and to cast away all our rebellion against God and enter into his Peace 2 Cor. 5.20 Now then we are Embassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you by us We pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God They plead in his Name and by vertue of his Power Secondly As a King and Lord so he maketh these terms part of the New Law for the remedying of lapsed Mankind Heb. 5.8 Though he were a Son yet he learned obedience by the things he suffered And not only so but he subdueth us to himself Luke 11.21 By strong hand rescueth us out of the power of the Devil and giveth us Grace to serve him acceptably Heb. 12.28 And taketh us into his care and ruleth us and protecteth us till we enter into everlasting life His Lordship is a great part of his Mediation III. The Comforts and Duties thence resulting namely from Christ's being constituted as Mediatour as they are laid forth in the Text. 1. I observe That the Father's Honour and Glory is still secured and preserved safe and intire notwithstanding the giving the Glory to Christ as the Lord of the New Creation The Glory of the Mediatour doth no way impair and infringe the Fathers Glory That is apparent partly because all the good we have is from the Father but onely by Christ. For when the Father is spoken of 't is said From him are all things but when the Mediatour then 't is said By him which notes a subordinate operation or administration as Lord Deputy under the Father and therefore in the subjection of the Creature unto Christ the Glory of the Father is expresly reserved Phil. 2.11 That every Tongue should confess that Iesus is Lord to the Glory of the Father Again it 's apparent because it 's said We are to him or for him The Mediatour does not lead us off from God but to him Therefore both our love to God and subjection to him must still be preserved 1. Our love You must not think of the Father that he is all Wrath severe and inexorable and his Favour not to be gain'd but upon hard terms no if he himself had not loved us we could never have had Christ for our Redeemer All things are of him not only in a way of Creation but Redemption and one great end of sending Christ was to shew the amiableness of the Divine Nature Christ himself was sent by the Father John 3.16 God so loved the World that he sent his onely begotten Son 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself not imputing their trespasses to them Rom. 8.32 God spared not his own Son but delivered him for us all 2. Our Subjection and Obedience Rev. 5.9 Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood His antient right in us is not disannull'd but promoted We are redeemed to his Service and Obedience See 1 Cor. 6.19 20 Which are God's viz. By a right beneficial as a farther obligation God is the Efficient and Final Cause of all things Therefore still our Subjection to God and Love to God must be preserved 2. I observe That the expressions here used imply Returns as well as Receipts Look to the Expressions in both Clauses either concerning the one God or the one Mediatour The one God From him are all things and we by him or for him As from his bounty and goodness so for his honour and service Prov. 16.4 God hath made all things for himself 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever you do do all to the glory of God Whether it be in a way of Nature or Grace all things come of God These words do especially concern Christians All matters of Grace come from the Father to us for his Glory All things that belong to the New Creation as appeareth by the last clause we by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or for him See Eph. 1.12 That we should be to the praise of his glory So for what is said of the Mediatour and one Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things That is which we receive from God and we by him that is all the services which we return to God again Not onely Blessings come from the Father to us but we also must return duty and service to God by the same Mediatour Receipts come from God by Christ and Returns go back by Christ to God Which is to be noted by them who are all for Receipts but think not of Returns And also by them who own God in their Mercies but make Returns in their own Name No all that duty which we perform to God 't is by the Mediatour All Christianity is a coming to God by Christ Heb. 7.25 If we believe in God 't is by him 1 Pet. 1.2 By whom we believe in God If we love God 't is in Christ. If we pray to God 't is in and through him Ephes. 2.18 For through him we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Father If we praise God 't is in and by Christ Phil. 1.11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Iesus Christ to the Glory and Praise of God Otherwise our Duties are not acceptable and pleasing to him 3. I observe That in the Receipts we expect from God there is great encouragement to expect them For God is represented as a fountain of Grace as a Father as a God and Father that acts by a Mediatour whose Merit is exprest as large as the Father's Power 1. As a Fountain of Grace he is the supream Cause of all things from whom all creatures have their life and being A Fountain ever-flowing and over-flowing What can we ask of him which he is not able to do Psal 57.2 I will cry unto God most high unto God that pâ—rformeth all things for me If it be pardon of sin or the gift of the spirit If subduing Enemies or everlasting Salvation he is able to give it you If it be strength against Temptations or Grace to serve him acceptably you come to a God from whom are all things VVhen a Man seriously worshippeth God he turneth his back upon all other things and turneth his face to God as the supream Lord and Fountain of all Happiness You may with confidence present your Petitions to him that can perform all things 2. You come to God as a Father If you take it personally 't is comfortable to come to him as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Ephes. 3.14 or essentially as a Father of the whole family of the faithful He loveth us dearly VVe have the Supream God for our Father and shall not we trust in him 2 Cor. 6.18 And I will be a Father unto you and you shall be my sons and daughters VVho would distrust a Father and an Omnipotent Father VVhen we remember not onely his sufficiency but his love to us and our
and pardoned he is unfit for God and uncapable of Salvation or any present communion with God What can we expect from him and how unsufficient are we for either of these two works to renew our Souls and reconcile them to God VVhat can we do to satisfie Justice or break the love of sin in our Souls Therefore the Lord Jesus hath undertaken the Office of being the Redeemer and Saviour of the VVorld by his Sacrifice Merit and Intercession We must be pardoned and accepted and onely by him must we come to God If your repentance towards God and your Faith in him be sincere you shall have all the Blessings of the New Covenant In short Obedience and the Love of God was the Primitive Holiness for which we were created and from which we fell VVe by Repentance are willing to return to this again and therefore depend upon a Saviour and Sanctifier that we may be reconciled and renewed and so are said in this general sense to come to God by him Secondly More particularly we are said to come to God by Christ Three ways First In the exercise of our Graces I shall instance in the Three Radical ones which constitute the New Creature Faith Hope and Love For in the exercise of these communion with God doth consist 1. Faith seeth God in Christ as sitting upon a Throne of Grace ready to give out all manner of Grace and seasonable relief to Penitent Believers in all their necessities and temptations and duties Well then boldly trust him and depend upon him Thus we come to God by Christ 2 Cor. 3.4 Such trust have we through Christ to Godward 1 Pet. 1.21 By him we believe in God This is living by Faith in Christ so often spoken of in Scripture When you make use of him in all your wants duties and difficulties expecting your Father's Love and Blessing to come to you through him alone and the Spirit that must help you and assist you in all your Infirmities and Temptations as coming from the Father and the Son not onely procured but given by him your head In all your doubts fears and wants you go to him in the Spirit and to the Father by him and by him alone this is living by Christ. 2. Love which vents it self in a desire of full Communion with God and delights in him Desire is a coming to God or a following hard after him Delight is an adherence to him as satisfied with so much as we enjoy of him Our enjoyments here are partial and therefore our delight is very imperfect but yet such as it is it begets a study to please God and fear to offend him Our Father is in Heaven but on Earth we have a glimpse of him enough to make him amiable to the Soul Psal. 17.15 As for me I will behold thy face in righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness Thus we love him through Christ or in Christ for we study Christ to see the goodness and amiableness and love of God in him Ephes. 3.17 18 19. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and heighth And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God A condemning God is not so loved as a gracious and pardoning God Surely we love him more as a Father than as a Judge And 't is the Spirit of Christ which maketh us cry Abba Father not onely thereby expressing our confidence and dependance but affection Gal. 4.6 Because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father 3. Hope We come to God as we longingly expect the full fruition of him Love puts us upon seeking after God But alas upon Earth we do but seek in Heaven we expect to find Hope causeth us to hold on seeking till we find and get nearer to him and maketh us resolve that 't is better to be a seeker than a wanderer to wait till the delight of love be perfect than to turn the back upon God and his ways We cannot have Mount Zion in the Wilderness For the present Christ doth but guide us to the Land of Promise we have a refreshing by the way Manna in the Wilderness but not Canaan in the Wilderness Earth at the best will not be Heaven Our perfect Blessedness is when God is all in all For the present as God is seen but as in a glass so he is proportionably enjoyed The Devil the World and the Flesh are not perfectly overcome and therefore we have but little of God And the Ordinances cannot convey him all to us while his interest is so crowded up in our hearts but we wait and look and long till we have more Our onely coming now to him is by hope and that partial enjoyment of his love which we attain unto makes us look for more The New Nature inclineth us to Hope for they that love God will desire to be more like him and to get more of him and our experience quickeneth our hope Rom. 5.4 But all is by Christ. The Apostle saith The Lord Iesus himself hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope thâ—ough Grace 2 Thes. 2.16 As at first he inclined us to set our Hearts on another World and lay up our Hopes in Heaven and to part with all things seen for that God and Glory which we never saw which otherwise by reason of unbelief and sensuality we should never have done so still he inclineth us to hope and wait in the midâ—t of difficulties and disappointments and incourageth us by his tenderness and constant pity Iude 21. Keep your selves in the Love of God looking for the Mercy of our Lord Iesus â—hrist unto everlasting Life 2. This coming to God is by all Divine Ordinances or Acts of Worship the use of our liberty to approach to him in these duties is one special way of coming to him by Christ. To come to him in the Word as our teacher in the Lords Supper as the Master of the Feast in Prayer as our King and Almighty helper is a very great priviledge and comfort certainly if at any time then we come to God we come to him in worship for then we turn our backs upon all things else that we may present our selves before his Throne But now thus we can only come by Jesus Christ. If we come to receive a Blessing in the Word we come to receive the fruits of his purchase Iohn 17.19 And for their sakes I sanctifie my self that they also may be sanctified through the truth Eph. 5.26 That he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of Water by the Word If we come to the Lords Supper that duty was instituted for the remembrance of Christ that his Flesh might be Meat indeed and his blood
best known by those eternal Torments which are appointed for the punishment thereof Present punishments do somewhat discover it Now know that it is an evil thing and a bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God Ier. 2.19 Briars and Thorns and sensible smart will teach us that which bare contemplation doth not But if the Temporal punishment maketh us know What an evil thing and a bitter it is What will Eternal do Go ask the Damned in Hell whether it be a light thing to Sin against God Mark 9.44 Where their Worm dieth not and the Fire is not quenched Here is the great aggravation of Sin that for Temporal Trifles they have lost Eternal Joys and run the hazard of Eternal Pains for the ease mirth and pleasure of a Moment And then for things evil in opinion it sheweth how falsely we are deluded As Afflictions Sufferings and Losses for Christ Death c. It much concerneth us to have a true notion of these things For Afflictions It sheweth that they are not so bad as the World taketh them to be They are tedious for the present but 't is but for a season 1 Pet. 1.6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold Temptations All things are lessened by having eternity in our minds the delights of the World and the sorrows of the World 1 Cor. 7.29 Since the World passeth away and the fashion thereof we should rejoice as if we rejoyced not mourn as if we mourned not the good and evil will be soon over We cry out How long but 't is not for ever 'T is grievous but 't is not Eternal 't is not Hell yea they may be good Psal. 119.71 It is good for me that I have been Afflicted that I might learn thy statutes All things are good as they help on a blessed eternity so Afflictions may be good that part of the World that is led by sense will never endure this but that part which is led by Faith will easily assent to it the World that is led by sense say to a Covetous Man that the loss of an Estate is good to a Worldly Rich Man that Poverty is good to an Ambitious Man that it is good to be despised and contemned to Voluptuous Man that it is good to be in Pain to Afflict the Body for the good of the Soul they will never believe you But go to them that measure all things by Eternity and they will tell you that Poverty maketh way for the true Riches Mourning for the true Glory Want for fulness of Pleasure at Gods Right Hand That misery mortifieth sin 1 Cor. 11.32 When we are judged we are chastned of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the World Sufferings for Christ If we win Eternity with the loss of all the World we are no losers For the World passeth away and the Lusts thereof but he that doth the Will of God abideth for ever 1 Iohn 2.17 But on the contrary 't is a sorry bargain to lose Eternity for the injoyment of all the World Mat. 16.26 For what is a Man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul And then Death the King of Terrors yet 't is not feared by a Christian because it is an entrance into Eternal Life when he dieth then shall he live Iohn 11.25 26. I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall be live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die Believest thou this If we have a sense of this why should we be troubled to be uncloathed that we may be cloathed upon with Immortality and Glory It separateth us from our Worldly Friends and Benefits but bringeth us to God with whom we shall abide for ever it puts an end to time that we may enter into Eternity so that death is ours 1 Cor. 3.22 A Friend not an Enemy It maketh an end of Sin and Sorrow to make way for Blessedness and Glory For things Good Good seeming or Good real Good seeming There are many things which the vain deceived World doteth upon which are impertinencies to our great end As Foolish Sports and Recreations Eccles. 2.2 I said of Laughter It is Mad and of Mirth What doth it There are other things which are meer inconsistencies As many evils which we commit for a little Temporal happiness Then real good things Duties Ordinances Graces Christ the Favour of God We know how to value these things by looking to Eternity The good things of this World are not valuable only upon a natural account but as they are helps to Heaven If they be diversions from eternity they are the worst things that can befal us to be condemned to this kind of felicity is a part of Gods Curse Ier. 17.13 They that forsake thee shall be written in the Earth On the contrary to have our names written in Heaven is a great Blessing Luke 10.20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not that the Spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoice because your names are written in Heaven It is better to injoy a little as an help to Heaven than a great deal as an hindrance to it oh Blessed is the Man that taketh no farther content in the comforts of this life than they may further his Soul to Eternity If an Estate increase upon you 't is most valuable as you may be rich in good works and take hold of Eternal Life 1 Tim. 6.18 When your Hearts rest in them without subordination to Eternal things your estate becometh a Snare whatever the Heart is set upon if it be not in order to this end and scope 't is cursed to thee The Spiritual Blessing of all our natural comforts is in order to this last end But then for Duties time spent with God in order to Eternity is the best part of your lives Acts 26.7 When we are imployed in the World we make provision but for a few Months or Days it may be Hours But in converse with God you lay up for everlasting the Throne of Grace will be the more sweet because 't is the Porch of Heaven Ordinances and publick means of Grace A Child of God valueth them more than the greatest Worldly advantages Psal. 84.12 One day in thy Courts is better than a Thousand I had rather be a Door-Keeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness But why Because there is trading for Eternity there he gets a prospect into Heaven and heareth news of his Long-home And then Graces they are glorious things because they are the seed and earnest of eternal glory 'T is called Immortal Seed 1 Pet. 1.23 When this state is begun it cannot be dissolved and it is called the Earnest of the Spirit Graces as well as comforts are his Earnest By all these things the Holy
ingage our Thankfullness and increase our Hatred of Sin In short two affections are most proper and seasonable Mourning for Sin and Rejoycing in Christ. 1. Mourning for Sin When we call to remembrance the Death of Christ the anguish of his Soul the bruises of his Body the effusion of his Blood these are all occasions of Godly sorrow For he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows and he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the Chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed Isai. 53.4 5. Therefore godly sorrow is seasonable so far as it is a means part of Repentance The Iews on the Solemn day of attonement used to afflict their Souls on that Day as you may read Levit. 23.27 28 29. On the Tenth day of the seventh Month it shall be a day of Attonement it shall be an holy Convocation unto you and ye shall afflict your Souls and offer an offering made by Fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work on that day for it is a day of Attonement to make an Attonement for you before the Lord your God For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day he shall be cut off from among his people Mark when this should be at the day of Expiation or Attonement and Solemn Reconciliation with God that they might have forgiveness of all their Sins Affliction of Soul or Humiliation is inward by Godly sorrow for Sin which worketh repentance unto Salvation not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7.10 It is done by judging and loathing our selves for the Evils we have committed outwardly by Fasting and Abstinence from all fleshly Delights which the Iews observed with great rigour I press it only as it was a sign of Repentance Then we best remember Christ Crucified when we are Crucified with him Gal. 2.20 I am Crucified with Christ. When the Sensual Inclination is mortified and the Heart deadned to the pleasures of Sin which are but for a Season 2. Rejoycing in Christ Jesus The other tendeth to this as a preparation to the Solemn effect And to Repentance there must be joyned Faith which is an acceptance and acknowledgment of the benefits procured and offered to us by Christ. Therefore we cannot receive them so sealed confirmed and applied as they are in the Lord's Supper without joy We are invited to the Lord's Table as to a Feast and joy doth best become an Holy Feast This Ordinance was instituted for our Consolation as being one of those Solemn assutances given to the Heirs of Promise And their nature and use is to beget Strong Consolation Heb. 6.18 It is true we come to it with remorse but that by way of preparation and for the quickening of our appetite But the proper act wherein consisteth our Communion with Christ and his Body and Blood is the joy and contentment that the Soul received in that Christ dyed for us Christ is not only propounded as dead but as dead for us that his Death may be our Life and a fountain of everlasting comfort to us When we come to God's Table we Eat and Drink in his presence as those that are agreed with him and reconciled to him by Jesus Christ. And then Rom. 5.11 We joy in God through our Lord Iesus Christ as those that have received the attonement So Psal. 22.26 The meek shall Eat and be satisfied they shall praise the Lord that seek him your Heart shall live for ever That is the poor humble Christian is revived and comforted by the Eucharistical Spiritual Food and the vital effects thereof of which by Faith they are made partakers He speaketh there of paying his vows and alludeth to the Peace-offerings when they feasted with their Friends Which is fulfilled in the Eucharist or Commemorative Feast which we observe in the remembrance of Christ's Death These are the Spiritual Affections we come with brokenness of Heart and go away with Joy Act. 8.39 And when they were come up out of the Water the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip and the Eunuch saw him no more and be went on his way rejoycing 3. The Commemoration of Christ's Death as a Mystery of Godliness is done by a due consideration or reflection on the cause occasion and benefits of it 1. The first inward moving cause of all is the great love and mercy of God to us Iohn 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life And 1 Iohn 4.10 Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our Sins This must not be overlooked partly because this is commended to us Rom. 5.8 But God commendeth his love to us in that while we were yet Sinners Christ dyed for us Some things may be told us but this is commended that we may be sure not to forget it This was the great thing propounded to our thoughts this gracious act and expression of God's mercy and bounty carried on in the most astonishing way far beyond what we could conceive or imagine And partly because this calleth for thankfulness the great principle of Gospel-Obedience 2 Cor. 5.14 15. For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead And that he dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again Yea the Life and Soul of every Duty the very design and tenor of the Gospel and the way of Salvation by a Redeemer is so ordered by God as to raise the highest Thankfulness in Man and that we might be deeply possessed with his Love Thankfulness is the great Duty of the Gospel and which containeth and animateth all the rest For the Gospel from first to last is a benefit 1 Tim. 6.2 Partakers of the Benefit And therefore to be received with Thankfulness for what obedience is to a meer Law that is Thankfulness to a Benefit This Duty is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or an Eucharist The Lord Jesus hath gone before us as a pattern 1 Cor. 11.24 When he had given Thanks he brake it and Verse 25. After the same manner he took the cup that is giving Thanks as Matth. 26.27 He took the cup and gave thanks And all because of that Grace and Bounty of God which he came to discover to Mankind and would Seal with his Blood Well then this Grace Love and Goodâ—ess of God in giving his Son to dye for our Sins should never be over-looked by us That all our Acts may be Acts of Thankfulness our Repentance may be a thankful Repentance our Love may most affect the Heart with Sin Ezek. 16.63 Thou mayst remember and be confounded and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame when I am pacified
toward thee for all that thou hast done Our Faith a thankful acceptance of Christ and all his Benefits our Obedience a thankful Obedience not out of fear of Hell but Gratitude all our Duties but the thankful Returns of Christ's Redeemed ones for the great Love he hath shewed to us So for all works of Charity our giving anâ— imitation of Christ who loved us and gave himself for us 2 Cor. 8.9 Tho' he was rich yet for your sakes became poor that ye through his power might become rich Forgiving so it is said Eph. 4.32 Forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you Our works of Piety Worshipping God Love should bring us into his Presence and his Mercies to us in Christ should be continual matter of Praise and Thanksgiving Our Preaching Love to God should sweeten the labours of it Oh had we a deeper sense of this great Love that provided such a remedy for us we would feel the constraining influence of it in every thing that our hand findeth to do for God! 2. The next thing is the outward occasion or procuring Cause which is our Misery by reason of Sin He came to propitiate God offended by Man's Sin Sin was the cause of Enmity between God and Man and did set us at such an infinite distance from him that our peace could be made no other way but by Christ's making his Soul an offering for Sin Isai. 53.10 and becoming a curse for us Gal. 3.13 Therefore when we remember the Agonies and Death of Christ we should remember the odiousness of Sin To make light of Sin is to make light of the sufferings of Christ. The Scripture often shews the greatness of Sin by the greatness of the price that was given to redeem us from it 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation but with the precious blood of Christ. And this both in order to Caution and Humiliation Caution ver 17. pass the time of your sojourning here in fear And Humiliation Zach. 12.10 I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of Grace and Supplication and they shall look on Him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only Son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first born Before God would be propitious to Sinners the Son of God must be made Man and suffer and dye to expiate our offences Well then Is Sin nothing that sowed the Seeds of that woful Discord between God and us that he will have no communion with us till the Blood of Christ be shed to purge us from our Sins Generally we have slight and superficial apprehensions of Sin therefore we are not much troubled for what is past nor careful to avoid it for the time to come Ye are not deeply affected with what our Mediator hath done to deliver us from it Oh Christians Without these bitter Herbs due thoughts of Sin Christ our Passover will not relish with us Do but consider what you conceive of wrongs done to you how they provoke and stir your passions so that there is much ado to get you pacified What hainousness must there be in your offences against God both as to the quality of their nature and their multiplicity both as to number and kind It is true God is free from passion and is not troubled as your Spirits are But such is the provoking nature of Sin that it cryeth for Vengeance and bringeth you under the dreadful Sentence of Divine wrath which would fall upon you with all its weight if Christ had not interposed and catched the Blow In short the Sinner is in a dreadful and damnable condition by reason of Sin but Christ bore our Sins in his own Body on the Tree which should increase our Thankfulness for woe be to us if we bear our own Sin and heighten our Repentance that we may not provoke God for the future For you see satisfaction cannot be easily made for the injury of Sin The ignorance of God's Majesty and Holiness hath tempted the World to fancy some lesser expiations of Sin and satisfaction to God by sacrifices of Beasts or Penances or such a number of Prayers or costly Alms But the Gospel teacheth us there is no purgation of Sin but only by the death of Jesus Christ. 3. The effects and fruits are Pardon and Life I. Pardon For God's Justice being satisfied by Christ he hath granted a new Covenant wherein Pardon is assured to the penitent Believer We are told in what way and method Sin is pardoned upon the account of Christ's death If we in a broken-hearted manner confess it before God 1 Ioh 1.9 If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness So Luke 24.47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations Now this is no small mercy to have sin pardon'd II. The other benefit is Life begun in us by the Spirit and perfected in Heaven Consider it as begun in us by the Spirit in Regeneration We have have it by virtue of Christ's death Tit. 3.5 6. Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost whicsh he shed on us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Lord. Or as perfected in Heaven it is still the fruit of Christ's death Heb. 5.9 Being made perfect he became the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him Now these benefits should be considered by us because they are the matter of our Faith and Trust. As God's Love calleth for Thankfulness and the hainousness of Sin for Repentance so the benefits of Christ's death for Faith and Affiance God solemnly reacheth out to us the benefits contained in the promises of the Gospel as by a Deed and Instrument and we by Faith accept them and by Affiance depend on God for the performance of them In short that Christ may give us the Favour and Image of God and all the consequent priviledges free access to God for the present and the full fruition of him in Bliss and Glory for the future Thus for the Object Secondly The Act is Annunciation or Shewing forth This may be considered with respect to the parties to whom we annunciate it Or with respect to the Properties or manner how it is to be annunciated 1. With respect to the Parties We annunciate and shew forth Christ's death with respect to our selves that we may anew believe and exercise our Faith With respect to others that we may solemnly profess this Faith in the Crucified Saviour with a kind of Glorying and rejoycing With respect to God that we may plead the merit of his Sacrifice with Humility and Affiance I. With
certainly than others who are not of such a light and unsettled Mind It is said Zech. 12.10 They shall look upon him whom they have pierced Which implieth a steady consideration otherwise we are in danger to go as we came There is not that lively Commemoration of Christ. You come full of other Cares Desires and Delights and therefore return empty of all solid and true Refreshment 2. It must be Applicative Gal. 2.20 He loved me and gave himself for me This great Love which God hath manifested in Christ is not only sounded in our Ears and represented to our Eyes but is brought home to us and shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given to us Rom. 5.5 The Spirit accompanieth Christ's Institutions and the diligent serious hungry Soul is not left destitute Christ and his Benefits are no where so particularly offered applied and sealed to us as in this Duty Christ's Messengers offer him to us in particular with a Charge and Command that we should receive him take and eat for our own Comfort and Use. What is particularly applied to us and made ours as Food that is turned into our Substance should awaken in us greater Thoughts and Care about our own Interest 3. Practical The Effects must more sensibly appear Two ways is that done 1. When we are made Partakers of his Benefits when we are justified and sanctified Heb. 10.22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water The Annunciation inferreth this Then it is Practical when it assureth our Confidence Rom. 8.32 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 And we are incouraged to wait for the accomplishing of these ends and instating us in these Priviledges 2. When we express more likeness to Christ in dying to Sin and to the World or suffering for Righteousness Dying to Sin and the World Gal. 2.20 I am crucified with Christ. Gal. 5.24 They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Or suffering for Righteousness Phil. 3.10 That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death For as Christ came to destroy the Desires of the Carnal Life so to wean us from the Interests of the Animal Life Sacraments bind us to this Matth. 20.22 Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with II. Confirmation or Reasons why the Lord's Supper is a Commemoration of Christ's Death 1. To supply the room of his Bodily Presence 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love in whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory And in the Text Ye shew forth the Lord's death till he come Christ is not bodily present in the Church till the last Judgment And we are to continue this holy Festival till the time that we shall have no need of these Memorials because then he cometh in Person 2. It is a lively Objective Means to affect our Hearts Both in regard of what is represented Christ is as it were evidently set forth Crucified before our Eyes Gal. 3.1 And also in regard of what is required to be done on our parts that we should return to our Duty and devote our selves to God's Service Rom. 12.1 I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service Use. To press you to the Duty of the Text To shew forth Christ's death 1. It is the strongest support to Faith When we apprehend the Greatness and Heinousness of Sin the Righteousness of God and Purity of his Holiness what shall compensate that infinite Wrong which is done to his Majesty If it seem easie to us we do not know what Sin is and what God is Not what Sin is which is a depreciation of God and a contempt of his Majesty There is no petty Creature above another but he is jealous of his Honour and will vindicate himself from Contempt Nor what God is God is of pure Holiness his Nature ingageth him to loath Sin his Justice to punish it It is a difficult case questionless how to get Sin expiated but this wonderful Condescention will make this Difficulty cease the Person is great and Way wonderful Consider what a Person hath undertaken this and what he hath done he hath died for us which at once sheweth God's willingness to Pardon and an answerable Ransom that such an one should undertake for us so beloved of God so equal to God Phil. 2.6 7. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men This will settle and calm the Heart that such an one should come about such a Work 2. It is the greatest Incentive to Love That Christ loved us and gave himself for us a sacrifice to God of a sweet smelling savour Eph. 5.2 Those innumerable Angels that left their Station and were once in Dignity above us have not such glad Tydings to impart to one another or to shew forth in their Societies not such a word to comfort themselves withal They cannot annunciate the Death of Christ and say Lo there is our Confidence and Hope the Propitiation for our Sins 3. It is a powerful Perswasive to Obedience Shall we deny our selves to him that gave himself to and for us Or seek to frustrate him of his End This was his great End 1 Pet. 2.21 For even hereunto were ye called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps He hath purchased Grace to mortifie Sin and to quicken us to the fruits of Holiness shall we be alive to Sin and dead to Rightousness A Sermon on MAL. iii. 17 And I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him THese Words are part of the Promise which God maketh to them that fear him or to those who are good in evil Times In them take notice of 1. The Blessing promised that God will spare them 2. The manner of this Indulgence amplified and set forth by the Carriage of a Father to his Son wherein a double Reason of this Indulgence is intimated 1. Propriety his own Son 2. Towardliness or Obedience his Son that serveth him Parents are not severe to any of their Children especially the dutiful 1. Propriety his own Son A faulty Child is a Child still and therefore not so easily turned out of the Family as a Servant We often forget the Duty of Children but God doth not forget the Mercy of a
conveyeth Pardon and Life to us Now this may be considered Two ways Either as Offered or Applied either as Externally Preached according to the Approving or Commanding Will of God or as Acted and effectually applied to the Hearts of the Elect according to the Decree of God As Offered so the Proposition asserts the Immutability of the Gospel-Covenant contrary to the Doctrine and Offence occasioned by these false Teachers As Applied so it asserts the Perseverance of the Saints Both which are confirmed by the Seal annexed both are contrary to the Scandal offered by these false Teachers They denied the Resurrection or Hopes of the other World God will give the Blessings promised to his People if they suffer here or be miserable here they shall be happy hereafter The Covenant is applied against the Offence God would be Faithful if they would be vigilant and he would preserve them in a state of Grace though others did fall away Well then the Truth which we are to discuss is That God's Covenant will be sure firm and stable to all those that are sincerely entred into the Bond of it It must needs be so 1. It is every where sure on God's part And 2. He will make it sure on our part If he will not depart from us and we shall not depart from him surely then it is stedfast 1. On God's part there is no danger of failing There is his eternal Love back'd with an infinite Power and engaged by an infallible Truth God's Love and Mercy were the only Reasons which ingaged him to make this Covenant with us The pleasure of his Will gave it a Being and his Truth is ingaged to make it Good Micah 7.20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Iacob and the mercy to Abraham which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old The Promise was out of Mercy given to Abraham with whom the Covenant was first made but out of Truth and Fidelity it descended to Iacob and was established with his Seed In the managing of the same Covenant God shewed his Power Gen. 17.1 I am God all-sufficient that solved all Difficulties to Abraham We have the same Grounds to depend upon in the Covenant made with the Christian Church in the promise of Eternal Life Surely Christ would not feed us with Chimera's who was ever plain-hearted and open with his Disciples Iohn 14.2 If it were not so I would have told you He meaneth as he speaketh and persisteth in the same mind and is able to make his Word good His everlasting Love provided this Happiness for us before the World was Matth. 25.34 Then shall the King say to them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World So Luke 12.32 Fear not little flock it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom It is secured by the promise of the faithful God and he hath confirmed it by an Oath Heb. 6.18 That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye we might have strong consolation Yea and it is possessed by our Surety and Head in our name Heb. 6.20 Whither the fore-runner is for us entred even Iesus made an High-priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck And the Power of God is engaged to prevent the Dangers by the way 1 Pet. 1.5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation Heaven is kept for us and we for it Which Power of God is engaged to solve all the Difficulties about the End and Happiness it self Phil. 3.21 Who shall change our vile bodies that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself So that on God's part it is sure They that have the Word of the Eternal God to build upon do build upon a sure Foundation Psal. 89.34 My covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips It is compared with the stability of Hills and Mountains Isa. 54.10 For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed but my kindness shall never depart from thee neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee It is compared also with the Covenant of Night and Day which cannot be disannulled by any Created power Ier. 31.35 36. Thus saith the Lord which giveth the Sun for a light by Day and the ordinances of the Moon and of the Stars for a light by Night which divideth the Sea when the Waves thereof roar the Lord of Hosts is his name If those ordinances depart from before me saith the Lord then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a Nation before me for ever Jer. 33.20 21. Thus saith the Lord if you break my Covenant of the Day and my Covenant of the Night and that there should not be Day and Night in their season Then may also my Covenant be broken with David my Servant 2. It is secure also on our part where all the danger lyeth as God will not depart from us so he will take care we shall not depart from him So that if once we truly and really enter into Covenant with God we do not only keep the Covenant but the Covenant keepeth us Two things maketh it firm on our parts 1. Internal Grace vouchsafed and granted to us by promise Ier. 32.40 And I will make an Everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them Good but I will put my fear in their Hearts that they shall not depart from me So Ezek. 36.27 I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Iudgments and do them It doth not hang upon the mutable Motions of the Creatures will 2. External Providence or the Provision that is made for failings and slips where the Heart is sincere for the main There is a clause put into the Covenant that every failing in the performance of our Duty shall not make a Forfeiture See Psal. 89.30 31 32 33. If his Children forsake my Law and walk not in my judgments If they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments Then will I visit their Transgressions with the Rod and their Iniquities with Stripes Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail It is the Duty of God's Children to watch over their Corrupt Nature and against Temptations that they may not fail otherwise they are not sincere but yet notwithstanding their greatest watchfulness they will in some things be found faulty both in point of Omission and Commission yet the Lord will not be severe upon every Trespass the Covenant goeth on still notwithstanding lesser Transgressions on our part 2 Sam. 23.5 Although my house be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting
he be our Judge we ought to take the Law from his Mouth and put our selves into his hands to be guided and ordered by him that we may find favour in that day This is evident every one would seek to be approved by his Judge and that Christ is our Judge is evident by his Resurrection and his Doctrine alone with any probability of Reason pretendeth to the reparation of Mankind and to set them in joynt again that they may live to God Let Men have but the sense of a Judgment to come soundly laid up in their Hearts and Consciences and they can have no Rest while they keep off from the Gospel 3. This doth best solve the doubts about present Providence Paul doth not teach Felix that the Christian Religion doth make any difference between the Just and Unjust as to their outward condition in the World or between the Temperate and Intemperate no for the Just may be oppressed and the Unjust thrive or else Felix had never been in power And as for the Temperate their Religion would make them miserable while they deny the desires of the flesh No here there be just men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked and they be wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous Eccl. 8.4 But there is a judgment to come wherein every Man shall be judged according to what he hath done in this Life All Men must appear and receive their doom and some go into everlasting life others into everlasting punishment 2. The manner is to be considered The word must be closely and prudently applied for here is both a close and prudent Application 1 Close he discourseth of Virtues opposite to the Vices wherewith this Man was blemished the Word hath force of its self yet managed with dexterity as a Dart that falleth by its own weight it will pierce but especially when feathered and directed and cast by a skilful hand and levelled at the mark This is Iesus whom ye have Crucified And when they heard that they were pricked at the heart Acts 2.36 37. Not when they saw the Miracle not while the Doctrine was delivered In the Doctrine delivered we do but bend the Bow in Application we let fly the Arrow and shoot at the mark A clap of Thunder when distant doth not startle me but when it is my own Zenith 2 Prudent Paul is here an example of Prudence as well as of Faithfulness when he spake to Felix and Drusilla he doth not charge them with Intemperance or Unchastity or Injustice but discourseth of Justice and Temperance that by that which is right they might understand that which is crooked and from the Rule know their own Enormity He lays the Looking-glass before their Eyes and lets them see themselves and behold their natural Face in a Glass III. The Effect or Fruit how it doth or may come to nothing 1. Through the levity of Man whose pangs of Devotion are soon spent the Righteousness of the Hypocrite is compared to the Morning Clouds and the early Dews Hosea 6.4 The righteousness of the upright to the Morâ—ing light Prov. 4.18 2. Their addictedness to their Lusts which is greater than their affection to Religion Luk 8.14 And that which fell among Thorns are they which when they have heard goe forth and are choaked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection Sentiments of Religion dye away through cares of the World or voluptuous living 3. Their unskilfulness in handling wounds of Conscience Some think they are never wound enough but it is not the deepness of the wound but the soundness of Cure that is to be regarded Some heal their wounds slightly a palliate Cure they skin it over when it Festreth within Others dissemble it till it proveth deadly Others run to a worldly Cure as if Soul-Thirst could be quenched at the next Ditch or an evil Spirit could be cured by Musick Some by a clatter and dinn of business put off that which they do not put away Amos 6.3 Ye put away the evil day Cain in anguish of Conscience fell a building of Cities 4. Want of God's Grace Acts 16.14 And a certain woman named Lidia which worshipped God heard us whose heart the Lord opened Which is forfeited by the party who hath common helps and advantages Some put away the Word Acts 13.46 It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you but seeing ye put it from you and judge your selves unworthy of eternal life lo we turn to the Gentiles Some put away trouble of Conscience Gen. 6.3 My spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is flesh Some lose their Tasts and Relishes of Christian Doctrine and relapse into a carnal Savour Heb. 6.3 4. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightned and have tasted of the Heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost And have tasted the good word and the powers of the world to come if they fall away to renew them to Repentance 1. Use Information we learn divers profitable Lessons from hence 1. The power of the Word Here is a notable Instance of it if we consider the person who trembled Felix 1 By Religion a Pagan who did not believe the Gospel The Devils believe and tremble and the Word worketh effectually in them that believe But here an Infidel is fain to stoop to the evidence of it and at the same time it breaketh upon his Heart and Mind so far as to make him afraid 2 By his quality a Judge the Prisoner maketh the Judge tremble Outward distance and disadvantages should not discourage us our Testimony rightly managed may alarm the Consciences of those who are ready to condemn us 3 By his Disposition not a Devout Man but a Man hardned in a course of sinning We should despair of none God can find his way into the Consciences of the most sensual 4 For his outward condition a Man glutted with worldly Happiness yet the thoughts of the other World will soon souer all the prosperitie of the present life 5 For his Temper now he sent for Paul out of Curiosity to satisfy his Jewish Wife or Minion but God can make use of Man's sins to Glorifie himself and his Truth This Power of the Word this convincing Power should be often thought of they that feel it not fear it Iohn 3.20 For every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved 2. The profitableness of insisting upon the last Judgment that we may perswade you and you may suffer your selves to be perswaded It is the great awe-bond to beget in us a sense of our Duty and Sin For First 't is an impartial Judgment that must pass upon all high or low rich or poor Revel 20.12 And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the Books
Power and Merit of the Lord Jesus And something there must be in us or how shall we make out our Title and Claim or know that the Grace of God belongeth to us If we look only to Justification and suspect all Comfort that is elsewhere derived we are in danger of falling into the gross part of the Error of Poquinus and Quintinus who in Calvin's time asserted it to be the only Mortification to extinguish the sense of Sin in the Heart But this is not to mortify Sin but to mortify Repentance and Holiness to Crucifie the new Man rather than the old not to quiet Conscience but outface it Surely where there is Sin there will be Trouble Sanctification is one means of applying the Grace of God as well as Justification and we must look to both benefits and the mutual respect they have to one another But because this Prejudice is drunk in by many not ill-meaning People let us a little dispossess them of this vain Conceit 1. As to Christ. It is certain that a Sinner can have no hope of acceptance with God but by Christ 1 Tim. 1.15 Christ came to save sinners And Matth. 1.21 He shall save his people from their sins 2. It is as true that whosoever is in Christ he is a new creature 2 Cor. 5.17 So that the Dispute will lye here to clear up our interest in Christ whether we are new Creatures for till that be determined we can have no solid Peace and Comfort within our selves 3. None is a new Creature but he who feareth God and worketh Righteousness For that is the description of a new Creature that all old Things are passed away and all Things are become new a new Heart a new Mind and a new Conversation For a new Heart is only sensibly discovered by newness of Life Rom. 6.4 Well then our Proposition is fully reconcilable with the Grace of Jesus Christ. 2. With respect to the New Covenant Which suspending our Right and Title to Priviledges upon the conditions of Faith and new Obedience do plainly shew what influence fearing God and working Righteousness have on our Comfort and Peace Now in the new as in all Covenants there is Ratio dati accepti something promised and something required That which is promised is acceptance unto Pardon and Life That which is required is taking hold of this Covenant and choosing the Things that please God Isa. 56.4 That is an unfeigned Consent to God's Covenant as it is modelled and stated or such a sense of God's Transactions with Men by Christ as maketh them willing of the Mercies offered and Duties required in order to these Mercies This sense of God's Mercy is sometimes called Faith sometimes Love sometimes Fear It is called Faith because we treat with an invisible God about an Happiness that lieth in an unseen World It is called Love because such great and necessary Benefits are offered to us as draw our Hearts to God again It is called Fear because we are so culpable and God is so holy and glorious and the concernment of the Work is so weighty that we come to serve him with Reverence and godly Fear Heb. 12.28 But then this sense makes us willing of the Mercies offered because none but the serious part of Mankind doth regard and care for them And it maketh us also willing of the Duties required both for their own sakes they tending to the Glory of God and the perfecting of Man's Nature as also because of the annexed Benefits But now every Will doth not give you a Title to the Blessings of the Covenant but a sincere Will There is a cold and ineffectual Will which is in no prevailing degree A lazy Wish which will never change our Hearts and there is a fixed bent which maketh it our work to please and glorifie God Heb. 13.18 We trust we have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly This is that sincerity which is our Gospel Duty 3. With respect to the Spirit who is our Sanctifier and Comforter First a Sanctifier and then a Comforter and therefore a Comforter because a Sanctifier Otherwise the Spirit would cause us to rejoyce we know not why and the Comforts of a Christian would be fantastical and groundless at best we should rejoyce in a meer possible Salvation But Holiness is God's Seal and Impress upon us Eph. 1.13 In whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise When his sanctifying Work is interrupted so is his comforting Work disturbed also Eph. 4.31 David's Bones were broken and he lost his Joy when he fell into great Sins Psal. 51. and Psal. 32. And it is true in others who when they have been lifted up to Heaven in Comfort have fallen almost as low as Hell in Sorrow Trouble and perplexity of Spirit when they grew remiss negligent and disobedient to the motions of the Holy Ghost If we intermit a course of Holiness the Frowns of God will soon turn our Day into Night and the poor forsaken Soul that was feasted with the love of God know-not whence to fetch the least support Such is the fruit of our careless and loose walking 4. With respect to Conscience He that casts off a godly Life and giveth up himself to a carnal Course can never have Comfort for Guilt will breed Terror and by frequent sinning you keep the Wounds of Conscience still bleeding Till it be better used how can it speak Peace to us 1 Iohn 3.20 21 22. Beloved if our own hearts condemn us God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things but if our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God and whatsoever we ask we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do what is pleasing in his sight Mark therefore how much is ascribed to the testimony of Conscience because of its nearness to us It is our own Hearts a Domestical Tribunal which we carry about with us in our Bosoms It is more worthy of Credit than any human Testimony whatsoever For what shall we believe if we do not believe our own Hearts which are most likely to deal impartially with us Partly in relation to God It acts in God's name as his Deputy according to his Law And what Conscience speaketh it is as if God himself had spoken it So that these workings of Conscience are as it were a beginning either of Hell or Heaven within us Mark Secondly the Testimony it goeth upon Because we keep his commandments and do what is pleasing in his sight Just the same with that in the Text to fear God and work righteousness Mark Thirdly the Success and Effect We have confidence towards him and whatever we ask we receive of him That is we have such favour with God that we shall obtain whatever in Reason and Righteousness we can ask of him 2. It informeth us of the true nature of that Sanctification which giveth us hopes of
and so are Children of the Dâ—y and not of the Night Now Deeds of Darkness will not become the broad Day-light of the Gospel that we live in He instanceth in two Sins Negligence and Voluptuousness Vers. 7. They that sleep sleep in the Night and they that are drunken are drunken in the Night Sleep is a Night-work and Drunkenness also is a Night-work He opposeth to these two Duties Watchfulness and Sobriety he opposeth to Sleep Watchfulness and as opposite to Sensuality he enforceth Sobriety Watchfulness implyeth a Carefulness and Constancy in our Duty and Sobriety an holy Moderation in all Earthly Things and more particularly a sparing use of Worldly Delights that Security may not grow upon us and the Day of the Lord surprize us unawares Unless we moderate our Affections in the pursuit and use of Earthly Things a strange benummedness seizeth on the Conscience and an Oblivion and forgetfulness of God and Heavenly Things presently followeth it Luke 21.34 Take heed to your selves lest at any time your Hearts be over-charged with Surfeiting and Drunkenness and Cares of this Life and so that Day come upon you unawares Now the Apostle doth not barely disswade them from Sleep and Sensuality as we would perswade a Man that hath an ordinary Work to do to prevent Sloth and loss of his Day-time which was made for Work but as we would deal with a Souldier that is upon his Watch to prevent danger Therefore it doth imply not only how misbecoming these things are but how baneful It is not enough to be sober but we must be armed else we cannot be safe from Temptations Our Life is a Conflict and our Graces are our Armour Rom. 13.12 The Night is far spent the Day is at hand let us cast off the Works of Darkness and let us put on the Armour of Light Therefore it is not enough for us to be sober or to be awake but prepared for our Spiritual Warfare But let us who are of the Day be sober putting on the Breast-plate of Faith and Love and for an Helmet the Hope of Salvation In the Text there is a double Exhortation 1. To keep our selves awake But let us who are of the Dâ—â— be sober the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it signifiâ—th both Sobriety and Watchfulness The meaning is Take heed we be not lulled asleep by Worldly Desires Cares and Pleasures 2. To put on our Armoâ—r Two pieces he commendeth to them a Breast-platâ— and an Helmâ—t Men fence the Breast for the Heart's sake and the Head is the Seat of the Sense upon whose safety dependeth principally the safety of the whole Body for the Head guideth the whole Body Wounds in either of these two paâ—ts are most dangerous Now 1. The Breast-plate consisteth of two Graces Faith and Love these two are joyned together for the one can do nothing without the other Faith without Love is but a dead Opinion and Love to God in Christ cannot be without Faith both togeâ—her enable us to do notable things for God Gal. 5.6 Faith worketh by Love What can withstand Faith working by Love 2. The Hâ—lmet is the Hope of Salvation or a sure and earnest Expectation of our Eternal Reward from Christ. Keep these and you shall not only be in a blessed Condition when the Day of the Lord cometh but in all your Troubles Tryals and Temptations you are safe for the present and you shall not miscarry by the way If any say the pieces of the Spiritual Armour are otherwise reckoned up Ephes. 6. I answer 1. Metaphors may be several ways used and in these things so the matter be fitly delivered and understood it is enough 2. Here the Apostle sheweth what is necessary to watching there to fighting He that watcheth provideth for Enemies but doth not presently encounter them and therefore here a Decorum is observed Livy tells us of Paulus Emilius Vigiles novo more scatum in vigiliam ferre vetuit It is enough if he hath a Breast-plate though no Shield for his business is not presently to fight but to excite others to fight when he perceiveth the Enemy approaching A Breast-plate is enough till he call others to help him Doct. Christians are not well prepared for their Spiritual Warfare till they have put on the Breast-plate of Faith and Love and for an Helmet the Hope of Salvation 1. It is supposed that it concerneth us to arm our selves for a Conflict Partly because we have sore Enemies the Devil the World and the Flesh. The Devil is a Roaring Lyon and must be resisted 1 Pet. 5.8 9. Be sober be vigilant because your Adversary the Devil as a Roaring Lyon walketh about seeking whom he may devour Whom resist stedfast in the Faith The World either vexeth us with fears or inticeth us by hopes and must be overcome 1 Iohn 5.4 5. For whosoever is born of God overcometh the World and this is the Victory that overcometh the World even our Faith Who is he that overcometh the World but he that believeth that Iesus is the Son of God But the sorest Enemy is within to wit our own Flesh which must be subdued and tamed Gal. 5.24 They that are Christs have crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts. Partly because we are constantly observed how we acquit our selves in the Conflict Now for the present there are Spectators God and his holy Angels hereafter there will be a Judge Jesus Christ. Now there are Spectators 1 Cor. 4.9 For we are made a Spectacle unto the World and to Angels and to Men. He speaketh there of the Apostles who were as it were exposed as the sorlorn hope set up in the Eye of this World but it is true of all Christians Christ maketh inspection now for we fight in his presence he seeth how his People carry themselves in their Conflicts and Temptations I know thy Works Behold I have set before thee an open Door and no Man can shut it For thou hast a little Strength and bust kept my Word and hast not denyed my Name Revel 3.8 But Christ who is now a Spectator will be hereafter a Judge 2 Tim. 4.8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Iudge shall give one at that Day Now he observeth then he crowneth his Combatants partly that we may throughly discharge our duty We can hardly do any good but we must fight for it but especially in the great Work of our Heavenly Calling Practical Christianity is a serious Application of the Mind and Heart to do what Christ hath required that we may obtain what he hath offered and to do it as our first work and chief business Phil. 2.12 Work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 3.14 I press toward the Mark for the Prize of the high Calling of God in Christ Iesus 2 Pet. 3.14 Wherefore Beloved seeing that ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him
of the World I shall give my Answer in these Propositions 1. The whole World in its natural Estate lieth under Sin and Wrath. The Scripture in one place telleth us 1 Iohn 5.19 The whole World lieth in wickedness And in another that all the World is become guilty before God Rom. 3.19 Both together speak this much That the Sin and Misery of the World was such that it groaned for a Saviour even as a Man sick of a mortal Disease and almost at his last gasp hath need of a Physician In the corruption of Nature all are involved Rom. 3.23 All have sinned and come short of the glory of God And so by consequence all are under the wrath of God Eph. 2.3 We are by nature the children of Wrath even as others Which abideth upon us while we remain Unbelieving and Impenitent Iohn 3.36 He that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him And besides this there is the Dominion of actual Sin Rom. 6.14 All which shew the miserable state of the World and the high need of a Saviour Sin liveth with Men from the Birth to the Grave and all are become abominable and filthy they are all gone out of the way there is none that seeketh after God there is none that doth good no not one Psal. 14.1 2 3. They are all gone out of the way of Holiness and Happiness they are all become vile and loathsom to God all guilty of a careless neglect of God and of their Duty and of the Service they owe to him all are given to please the Flesh Iohn 3.6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh So general a Wickedness and Defection from God is there throughout the World as if they had cast off all Fear and Care and Love of God and his Service though they speak honourably of him in Words yet in their Deeds they deny him and disobey his Authority and wholly abandon themselves to please the Flesh. 2. To lie under Sin and the Consequences thereof is a Burden too heavy for us to bear and miserable are they who have it lying upon their own Shoulders How light soever Sins may seem to be when they are committed yet they will not be found to be light when we come to reckon with God for them Sin to a waking Conscience is one of the heaviest Burdens that ever was felt Psal. 38.4 My iniquities are gone over my head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me If you do but tast of this Cup if a Spark of God's Wrath light upon the Conscience what a weight and pressure is this upon the Soul You will find the little Finger of Sin to be heavier than the Loins of any other Sorrow You may know it in part by what Christ suffered if his Soul was heavy unto Death if he felt such strange Agonies sweated drops of curdled Blood lost the actual sensible Comforts of his Godhead when he bore the burden of Sin what shall any one of us do if he were to bear his own burden If this be done in the green Tree what shall be done in the dry You may also know it by the Complaints of the Saints when the Finger of God hath but touched them all Life and Power is gone if God should set home one Sin upon the Conscience Psal. 40.12 Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up they are more than the hairs of my head therefore my heart faileth me So Iob complaineth that the arrows of the Almighty are within him the poison whereof did drink up his spirits Iob 6.4 If you will know what it is to bear Sin ask a tender Conscience or a troubled Conscience what disquiets of Soul do wicked Men feel when their Consciences are a little awakened How uneasie do their Hearts sit within them Prov. 28.14 He that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief Gain crieth out My punishment is greater than I can bear Gen. 4.13 What large Offers do Men then make to get rid of their Burden Thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of oyl yea their first-born for their transgressions the fruit of their bodies for the sin of their souls Micah 6.6 7. Lastly what it is to live and die in Sin the other World will shew us Christ useth no other Expression of the Misery of the unbelieving Iews but this Ye shall die in your sins Iohn 8.24 That is enough for that speaketh all manner of Horror and Torment And the threatnings of the Word shew their Case is miserable enough They fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10.31 And the Worm that feedeth upon them shall never die and the Fire wherewith they are scorched shall never be quenched Mark 9.44 Sins that now lie like sleepy Lions then awaken and take them by the Throat and feed and gnaw upon them to all Eternity Miserable questionless is the state of them who bear their own Burden and their own Transgression Now the sense of this should make a Crucified Saviour sweet to us 3. None can take off this burden of Sin but Jesus Christ this is a Work proper to the Lamb of God None else could preserve the Honour of God's Justice which was necessary before we could be intrusted with a new stock of Grace Rom. 3.24 25. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Iesus Christ whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins None else could secure the Honour of God's Government Punishments are inflicted not only for the Reformation and Correction of the Offendors but for a Warning to others to secure the ends of Government that none may presume upon Impunity The same is necessary in the Government of the World by God if God should wholly release the Law all Awe and Sense of it would be lost Sin would not be counted so grievous a thing therefore there is a Brand put upon Sin by the Sufferings of Christ the Odiousness of it is represented in the Agonies and Sorrows of his Cross. The Apostle saith That God for sin condemned sin in the flesh Rom. 8.3 Or by a Sacrifice given for Sin he hath shewed his Hatred and Displeasure against it When we look upon Sin through Satan's Spectacles or the Cloud of our own Passions or Carnal Affections we make nothing of it but it is a terrible Spectacle to see the Fruits of it in the Agonies and Sufferings of Jesus Christ which are represented to us in the Word and Sacraments as if he were Crucified before our Eyes Once more none could bear this burden of Punishment but Jesus Christ who was Man to undertake it in our Name and also God to get through it in his own Strength His Human Nature did put a Price into his Hands to lay down for the Ransom of our Souls and his
me shall I not suffer it patiently Doctr. That it is the Duty of Christians patiently to suffer what ever God hath appointed them to suffer The note is plain I shall discuss it in this Method 1. That in all Calamities we should look to God 2. That it is a great advantage to patience when we can consider him not as an angry Judge but as a gracious Father 3. That it well becometh his People to endure that willingly which he calleth them unto I. That in all Calamities we should look unto God Psal. 39.9 I was dumb I opened not my mouth because thou didst it That is the first thing that quieteth the Heart when we see God's hand in all things that befal us So Hezekiah Isa. 38.15 What shall I say He hath both spoken unto me and himself hath done it If God hath done it it is time to cease and say no more for why should we contend with the Lord We murmur and repine if we look no higher than second Causes but owning God's hand we have nothing to reply by way of Murmuring or Expostulations So Iob ch 1. v. 21. The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. He doth not say Dominus dedit Diabolus abstulit The Lord hath given and the Devil hath taken away nor yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Caldean or Sabean hath taken away but he owneth God in the Providence Compare the different carriage of David when Nabal slighted him and when Shimei railed on him the one you have 1 Sam. 25.21 22. Now David had said surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him but he hath requited me evil for good So and more also do God unto the enemies of David if I leave of all that pertaineth to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall A rash speech because he only reflected upon the unkindness of Nabal and meditateth nothing but Revenge The other you have 2 Sam. 16.11 Let him alone and let him curse for the Lord hath bidden him David then considered not the Instrument but the supreme Author he looked not to the Stone but the Hand that flung it to God's Providence who thought good by that means to chastise him If we mind Providence rather than Revenge we must not reflect on the Injury done to us nor the Malice of our Adversaries but the Will and good Pleasure of God So Ioseph Gen. 50.20 As for you ye thought evil against me but God meant it for good So he calmeth his Heart and fortifieth it against all thoughts of Revenge against his Brethren In short there are two sorts of Evils and Afflictions such as come immediately from the hand of God or such Injuries and Afflictions wherein Men are the Instruments Patience hath to do with both that we may bear Afflictions from God without murmuring and Injuries from Men without thought of Revenge Such as come immediately from the hand of God are not to be looked upon as Chances or casual Accidents but the Lord is to be owned in them and then we must humble our selves under his mighty hand 1 Pet. 5.6 In Injuries from Men we must consider they are also governed by God's Providence and sent by God as well as other Evils Some are patient under an Affliction from God but very impatient under injurious Dealing from Men as when a showre of Rain falleth from Heaven we bear it quietly but if one throw a Basin of Water upon us we storm and are vexed at heart But if we did look through the Wrongs of Men to God they would not be so irksome to us be they Injuries in Civil Commerce such as Oppression detention of Dues Contumelies Reproches or Persecution for Righteousness sake see God in all that you may not fret at it Two Things we must lay down briefly 1. That nothing falleth out without God's particular Providence Lam. 3.37 38. Who is he that saith And it cometh to pass when the Lord commandeth it not Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good That is nothing is done here below but by a divine Disposal and Providence nothing but what he by his secret Wisdom hath pre-ordained and appointed 2. That cross Issues and Punishments as well as Benefits and prosperous Successes come all of God Isa. 45.7 I form the light and create darkness I make peace and create evil I the Lord do all these things All Evils of Punishment come from God as well as the Blessings of Providence and without this Principle we could neither be thankful for the one nor humble under the other We look upon it as a piece of Atheism and Irreligiousness if we be not thankful for Benefits it is as great an Evil if we be not humble under Punishments We count him a prophane Man that should thank his Dung-cart for his good Crop and doth not he as much deny Providence that in all his Afflictions looketh only to Instruments and not to the Hand of God That rageth against Men but doth not take notice of the Will of his Heavenly Father It is very notable Ionah 4.6 7. that God first prepared a Gourd to shelter Ionah from the scorching Heat of the Sun and then prepared a Worm that smote the Gourd and deprived him of that Comfort and Benefit He that gave us the Delight in any natural Comfort doth also take it from us The same Hand must be owned in giving and taking or else we shall not prevent Atheism He that created the Gourd created the Worm and he that giverned the Gourd and made it a refreshing shadow from the heat of the Sun he governed the Worm to eat out the Root and Life of the Gourd As Christ here saith not the Iews or Pharisees provided this bitter Cup for him but the Father Oecumenius an ancient Greek Writer on the Scripture in his Comment on the Acts of the Apostles telleth us That once a great Plague invaded the City of Athens and miserably desolated it which also other Histories testifie the Citizens being almost consumed ran to the Image of Iupiter with Sacrifices Vows and Prayers to save them from the Pestilence but Iupiter could not do it then to Satan Mercury Neptune and other Gods but still in vain for the Plague daily encreased and was more mortal and deadly And when this was considered in the Court of the Areopagites a wise Man among them said Without doubt these Gods known to us did not send this Pestilence because upon our Prayers and Supplications to them they cannot take it away there may be some other God unknown to us who sent it and who alone can cause it to cease therefore he is to be sought unto an Altar erected to him and Sacrifices and Intercessions offered to him to take away this Plague from us And this Writer thinketh that this was
the Original of that Altar which Paul saw with this Inscription To the unknown God Acts 17.23 I have brought this account to shew you that all Evil is sent by God and his Hand must be acknowledged in it or else Religion will fall to the ground When the Disciples were terrified in a great storm Christ cometh walking upon the Waters and telleth them Be of good chear it is I be not afraid Mark 6.50 They thought it was a Spectre but Christ saith It is I. In short the Author of all the Annoyances and Afflictions that befalleth us in this Life is God their End is Repentance their Cause is Sin and this well thought of will silence all our Murmurings II. That it is a great advantage to Patience when we can consider him not as an angry Judge but as a gracious Father The Cup which Christ drank off was very bitter and yet he saith The cup which my father hath given me Now every one cannot apply this Comfort for many are not so much as in a visible relation to God and others that visibly live in his Family yet are not owned and acknowledged by him as his dear Children rather counted Bastards than Sons as the Apostle speaketh Heb. 12.7 8. If ye endure chastening God dealeth with you as with sons for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not But if ye be without chastisements whereof all are partakers then are ye bastards and not sons Not legitimate but degenerate Children Others have a special relation to God such as is between Father and Children 2 Cor. 6.18 I will be unto you a father and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty These have an Interest in his dearest Love and a Right to his choicest Benefits and they shall know it by his Fatherly dealing with them Now to such this Comfort properly belongeth for though God may punish and afflict others yet he cannot be said to chastise them as a Father but as an angry Judge he doth punish them for their Offences and Rebellions Therefore if you would apply this Comfort you must clear up your Interest enter into Covenant with him and sincerely believe in Christ and devote your selves to him that he may be your God and Father But because Being and Seeing are two things and many that are the Children of God may not know themselves to be so therefore I shall 1. State this Matter 2. Shew what an advantage it is to Patience First I shall state this Matter in these Considerations 1. God is a Father by Creation or Adoption 1. In a more general Respect by Creation as Adam is called The son of God Luke 3.38 So Mal. 2.10 Have we not all one father Hath not one God created us God is more our Father than our natural Parents are they concur to our Beings but instrumentally but God originally It is God that formeth us in the Womb we are his Workmanship not our Parents both as to Body and Soul As to the Body Psal. 119.73 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me They know not whether the Child be Male or Female Beautiful or Deformed they cannot tell the number of the Bones Muscles Veins and Arteries which God hath framed in such a curious and exact Order But for the Soul which is the better part of Man that is of his immediate Creation therefore God is called The father of spirits Heb. 12.9 They do not run in the Channel of Carnal Generation or Fleshly Descent In this general sense by virtue of Creation God is the Father of all Men good and bad which though it give Cod a Title to our Love Service and Honour yet it giveth us no Interest in his special Benefits or the Fruits of his Fatherly Love it moveth God not to stir up all his Wrath against them yet not to bestow Saving Grace his Favour and Image upon them 2. More especially and in a more comfortable sense there is a more peculiar sort of Men to whom God is a Father by Adoption and they are his dear Children This Title is not by Nature but by Grace the Foundation of it was laid in the Election of God Eph. 1.5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Iesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will But before this Decree could be executed and take place the redemption of Christ was necessary for we read Gal. 4.4 5. When the fulness of time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons Sin needed to be expiated by the Son of God in our Nature before God would bestow this Honour upon any of Mankind Christ was to take a Mother upon Earth that we might have a Father in Heaven Forasmuch as the Children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage Heb. 2.14 15. And besides this Grace is applied to us by the Spirit who by his effectual Operation bringeth us into a state of Love and Sonship As a Father by Creation he giveth us our natural Endowments as a Father by Adoption he giveth us the supernatural Grace of the Spirit to sanctifie and change our Hearts for Regeneration and Adoption always go together Iohn 1.12 13. But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God And by the new Nature put into us we are brought into this new State and Relation Gal. 4.6 And because ye are sons God hath sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts crying Abba Father The Soul that was shy of God then inclineth to him as our Lord that we may honour love and obey him and as our Happiness that we may seek after him and live in Communion with him And lastly the Act on our part that we may be received into the number of God's Children is an owning and acknowledging Christ to all the ends and purposes for which God hath appointed him if we really entertain him as sent by God to be our Lord and Saviour we are advanced to this Dignity Iohn 1.12 To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name This of the Priviledge 2. You having received this Grace it is your duty to get it evidenced that you may maintain a comfortable sense of your Adoption It is evidenced by the dwelling and working of the holy Spirit in you Rom. 8.16 The spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit that we are
deceived that embraced the Christian Religion that took such Pains in subduing the Flesh so freely hazarded their Interests and Life it self on the Promises of Christ and the Hopes of another World Are the wisest Men the World ever saw Fools and the Ordinances of Christ a customary Superstition and these Rejoicings and Foretastes of the Children of God a meer Deceit and Imposture Surely it cannot be Therefore this is true that the Soul dieth not with the Body but is in that Estate into which God disposeth it II. By the Light of Reason First I shall urge such Arguments as the Scripture directeth us to 1. From the Nature of the Soul it is a Spirit and such a Principle of Life as hath Light in it John 1.4 In him was Life and the Life was the Light of Men. The Soul of Man differeth from the Soul of a Beast for that hath only Life and Sense in it but this hath Light and therefore was designed to more noble and glorious Ends than merely to quicken and enliven the Body The Soul of the Beasts is mortal because it is created only to serve the Body and knoweth nothing desireth nothing delighteth in nothing but what belongeth to the Pleasure and Welfare of the Body But now the Soul of Man apprehendeth things past present and to come is capable of Tongues Arts and Sciences and things abstract from bodily Sense it can discourse about God Angels and all kind of spiritual Beings about Eternity and Immortality and propound and debate Questions and Doubts concerning the World to come The Beasts look only to their Food and the Propagation of their Kind they know nothing and can conceive nothing of Man's Affairs But now Man's Soul is not only capable of being enobled and improved by Moral Vertues and such things as fit us for Humane Society but is capable also of Conformity to God by being made holy and upright and of Communion with him in holy Duties and Acts of Grace 1 John 1.3 And truly our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ. The Beasts desire not the Company of Men as we do of God and of the blessed Spirits In short there is a greater Affinity between the Souls of Men and Angels than between the Souls of Beasts and Men Psal. 8.9 Thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels Well then can it be imagined the Souls of Men furnished with such Capacities of Understanding are nothing but a little Puff of Air that is dissipated in dying or a little vital Heat that is extinguished with the Corporeal Matter or only the Vigour of the Blood That Soul that can so much soar aloft above the Interests and Concernments of the Body and take such a marvellous Delight and Contentment in spiritual things as the view of all manner of Truths must that follow the State of the Body Shall that Creature that cometh so near the Angels die like the Beasts or rather become like the Angels of God that always behold his Face Yea that Creature that draweth so near to God in the Majesty of his Person and the Abilities of his Mind that was created after God's own Image and for the Worship and Service and Enjoyment of God shall he die as the Beasts that perish It cannot be imagined 2. The Scripture mentions Words that imply its Independance upon the Body or that it doth not so wholly depend on the Body that it cannot subsist and act without it they go several ways as in the Text. 3 John â— 2. I wish above all things that thou maist prosper and be in Health as thy Soul prospeâ—eth 2 Cor. 4.16 For which cause we faint not but though our outward Man perish yet the inward Man is renewed Day by Day And Experience teacheth the Truth of these things that the Body and Soul seem sometimes to have no Communion with one another so different are their Functions and Offices You shall often see Men decrepit in all the Members of the Body who yet have the Motions of their Minds as strong and as nimble as when in perfect Health and when they are upon the Borders of Death without Vigour and Pulse their Understandings are more sublime than before and their Thoughts more refined It is true the Indispositions of the Body clog the Soul in things that are to be acted by the Body but in what the Soul acteth apart in the midst of Aches and Pains their Strength of Mind is entire and their Comforts never more raised than in bodily Weakness Therefore it lives and acts apart from the Body 3. The Scripture directs us to this Argument that this is the general Perswasion of all Mankind that there is a Life after Death and it instanceth in that that is most sensible and of every Day 's Experience our Desires and Fears 1. Desires The Soul hath a natural desire of Immortality which if it should not enjoy that Desire were in vain but God doth nothing in vain The Apostle intimateth this how Men feel about for something eternal and infinite Acts 17.27 That they should seek the Lord if haply they might feel after him Every Man would be happy and eternally happy for otherwise he would be tormented with a fear of losing that which he counteth his Happiness See Psal. 4.6 Who will shew us any Good Lord lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us Mat. 13.45 â—6 The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a Merchant-man seeking goodly Pearls who when he had found one Pearl of great price he went and sold all that he had and bought it John 6.34 Lord evermore give us this Bread Numb 23.10 Let me die the Death of the Righteous Other Creatures besides Man are satisfied with what they have here but the Soul of Man is satisfied with nothing but the eternal Injoyment of what is good an immortal Estate an infinite Good Every one that loveth himself would be happy and if he could everlastingly happy The Saints and those that are taught of God pitch upon the right Way Psal. 17.15 As for me I will behold thy Face in Righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy Likeness But this is the universal Inclination of all Mankind Whence cometh this Desire to be so universal if there be nothing to satisfy it Every natural Appetite was given us for some Purpose and have things designed for their Satisfaction and therefore there is that Immortality we all seek after not in our Bodies they must return to their Earth not in Fancy that is a Sâ—adow this is like the Pleasure which those take that want Children in playing with little Dogs it lieth in the Soul in the eternal Injoyment of God 2. Fears which presage and foretel such an Estate to our great Disquiet Conscience fears a Judgment after this Life Rom. 1.32 Who knowing the Iudgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of Death And a State of Misery to come
the World it cannot be imagined that God should use such an Artifice 1. That God governeth the World by the Hopes and Fears of another Life is evident not only by the Tenour of the Christian Religion where the Covenant between God and Men is established by such Threatnings and Promises but by the Consent of all Nations where Government is secured and upheld by such a Perswasion Now if the Soul be not immortal and there be not firm Reasons to induce us to believe that it is so why hath such a Conceit been rooted in the Minds of Men of all Nations and all Religions not only Greeks and Romans but Barbarians and People least civilized They all received this Opinion from Hand to Hand from their Ancestors and the nearer Men trace it to the Original of Mankind the more clear and pressing hath been the Conceit thereof Lapse of time which ordinarily decayeth all things hath not been able to deface it out of the Minds of Men the Sense of an immortal Condition after this Life hath ever been accounted the great Bridle upon the World and being spread throughout the Universe hath with all Forwardness been received among all Nations and hath born up against all Encounters of Sin and hath maintained it self in the midst of those Revolutions of humane Affairs wherein other Truths are lost 2. There is a Necessity of this Government as suting best with the Nature of Man which is much moved by the Hopes and Fears of Good and Evil after Death That Man is governed by Hopes and Fears common Sense teacheth us That the Hopes and Fears of the present Life are not sufficient to bridle carnal Nature and withstand Temptations and keep us in the true Obedience and Love to God to the End Experience also sheweth because for the Satisfaction of our Lusts we can dispense with temporal Evils as the Lecher in the Proverbs chap. 5.11 And thou mourn at the last when thy Flesh and thy Body are consumed Besides if it were so that these Motives of temporal Good and Evil were sufficient Man were more to be feared than God which killeth and stabbeth all Religion at the Heart for Man useth this Engine of temporal Punishments and Inconvenience they do Execution on those that break their Laws Now Christ teacheth us Luke 12.4 5. I say unto you my Friends Be not afraid of them that kill the Body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear Fear him which after he hath killed hath Power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you Fear him 3. The Necessity of it appeareth to meet with secret Sins such as Fornication privy Atheism Malice Adultery Murder Perjury Hypocrisy Treachery Theft Deceit He that believeth not a Life after this may secretly carry on these Sins without Impunity Man cannot see the Heart or make Laws to govern it therefore no Man can know or punish these secret Sins therefore if Men can but hide their Sins they are safe So for the Sins of Men powerful in the World for who can call them to an Account here for their Filthiness or Cruelty Iob 34.18 Is it fit to say to a King Thou art wicked and to Princes Ye are ungodly There is no Restraint to those who have none above them and all secret Wickedness would be committed without Fear So that to deny the Immortality of the Soul or a Life after this would take away all Honesty and open the Flood-gates to all Villany and evil Practices Who would make Conscience of entire Obedience to God enter in by the streight Gate walk in the narrow Way row against the Stream of Flesh and Blood work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling and consecrate their time to God if there were no other Life after this nor Happiness to be there expected Alas we plainly see the contrary Who are so lewd and hardned in their Sensualities as they that are tainted with this Conceit That not only the Denial but the Forgetfulness of this Estate worketh this Effect They make the best of the present Life 1 Cor. 15.32 Let us eat and drink for to Morrow we shall die Such Atheistical Thoughts are very common Ver. 33. Be not deceived evil Communication corrupts good Manners But a deep Sense of this immortal Estate is the Fountain of all Sobriety Righteousness and Godliness and all that is vertuous and Praise-worthy hath been done in the World upon this Account Therefore who are the better Men those that believe the Immortality of the Soul or those that believe it not And who are likely to be in the right wicked Wretches or holy serious and considering Men. 4. The Duties which God requireth of us shew it Man is obliged to divers Duties which are difficult and displeasing to the Flesh and which we should never perform without a serious Belief of the Soul's Immortality such as these to forsake the sinful Pleasures of the World to mortify and tame the Flesh diligently to exercise our selves to Godliness to suffer the Loss of all outward Comforts yea of Life it self All these are commanded the Mortification and keeping down the Body Col. 3.5 Diligence in the Heavenly Life Phil. 3.13 14. Forâ—itude and Patience under the greatest Trials as Moses is propounded for an Example Heb. 11.24 25 26. Not to faint in the greatest Tribulations 2 Cor. 4.16 17 18. Yea to expose Life it self Luke 14.26 Now would God who is so loving to Mankind bind us to displease the Flesh and enjoin us so many Duties which are harsh and troublesome yea some of them hurtful and detrimental to the Body if he had not provided some better thing for us Would he all whose Precepts are for our good and who hath made Self-love so great an help to our Duty be so hard to us but that he knoweth how to recompence this Diligence and Self-denial He saith Take no thought for your Life what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink nor yet for your Body what ye shall put on Matth. 6.25 But he saith Keep the Soul with all diligence Deut. 4.9 Would he be so earnest in pressing us to look after the Soul and strengthning and adorning the inward Man if the Soul were to perish with the Body Surely if all depended upon the Body the Body should be more cared for but it is quite otherwise Scripture and Reason shew the Body is only to be cared for in Subordination to the Soul and that our chiefest Work should be to furnish our Souls with Knowledg and Grace And they are the worthiest Men who do most busy themselves about divine and heavenly things whereas they are the basest who care so much for the Body and make a business of those things which they should do only by the by Certainly if there were an end of us when the Body faileth we should abhor nothing so much as Death desire nothing so much as the good of the
ever with the Lord and ministring in his Presence have more of the Divine Nature communicated unto us 5. There is the unanimous Conjunction of all the Saints in the Praises of God or a joining in Consort without jarring or difference The Apostle biddeth us Rom. 15.6 with one Mind and with one Mouth to glorify God even the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ. It is our Duty but never performed to the full but when we meet together in that great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Council of Souls or the General Assembly and Church of the First-born which the Apostle describeth Heb. 12.23 The Spirits of just Men made perfect or consecrated It is comfortable to join in Worship with the People of God now Moses preferred it with Afflictions before all the Riches and Honours and Pleasures he enjoyed in Egypt Heb. 4.24 Choosing rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season But then is the Communion of Saints compleated when all are admitted to the Vision and clearest Knowledg of God and have the most perfect Adherence and Love to him Now what an happy Time will that be when we and all the holy Ones of God shall with the same enlarged Affection set about the same Work As our Groans here made but one Sound and our conjoined Tears but one Stream and our united Desires but one Prayer so all our Praises then shall make but one Melody and Harmony If it be an Happiness to live with the Saints in their Imperfection when Sin doth often imbitter their Society surely it is an Happiness to live with them for ever when they are purged and freed from Sin and fully consecrated and fitted to minister before the Lord. 6. To think of God and to rejoice in his Glory and to love and praise him will be our great Imployment There we shall be intent upon our Choice and noble Work which is praising and lauding God Psal. 84.4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy House they are still praising thee Praises now are a part of our Sacrifices and must be mingled with our Prayers Phil. 4.6 In every thing by Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving let your Requests be known unto God So Rev. 5.8 The four Beasts and four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them Harps and golden Vials full of Odours which are the Prayers of the Saints Harps signify their Praises and Thanksgivings Here it cometh in by way of Mixture but there it is our sole Imployment There is no need of Prayers for there are no Sins nor Wants nor Necessities there all is Praise David calleth upon the Angels to bless the Lord Psal. 103.20 to tell us what they do And when a Multitude of them descended at Christ's Birth Luke 2.13 14. they presently fell a lauding and praising God Glory be to God in the Highest It is the Opinion of the ancient Hebrews that every Day they sing Praises to God and that in the Morning this they gather from Gen. 32.6 Let me go for the Day breaketh Which Place the Targum of Ierusalem thus explaineth Let me go for the Pillar of the Morning ascends and behold the Hour approacheth that the Angels are to sing This was their Opinion Sure we are that the Angels bless God and that in an eminent manner as appeareth by frequent Passages of Scripture where they are called upon to bless the Lord for though the Speech be in the Imperative Mood as if it were hortatory yet it is to be expounded by the Indicative as Narrative of what the Angels do Particularly we read they blessed God for his own Excellence Isa. 6.1 2 3. In the Year that King Uzzia died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a Throne high and lifted up and his Train filled the Temple Above it stood the Seraphims each one had six Wings with twain he covered his Face and with twain he covered his Feet and with twain he did fly And one cried unto another and said Holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his Glory For the Creation Iob 38.4 5 6 7. Where wast thou when I laid the Foundations of the Earth declare if thou hast Vnderstanding Who hath laid the Measures thereof if thou knowest or who hath stretched the Line upon it Whereupon are the Foundations thereof fastned or who laid the Corner-stone thereof When the Morning-Stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for Ioy. For the Nativity of Christ Luke 2.13 14. And suddenly there was with the Angel a Multitude of the heavenly Host praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest on Earth Peace good Will toward Men. So they blessed Christ Rev. 5.11 12. I beheld and I heard the Voice of many Angels round about the Throne and the Beasts and the Elders and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands saying with a loud Voice Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing Though they cannot fully comprehend God yet they do it far more clearly than we They apprehend God's Excellency and Perfection in himself they know also the Excellency of his Works Creation and Providence and the Redemption of Mankind Then we shall know as we are known 1 Cor. 13.12 and understand the Faithfulness of God's Conduct in bringing us to Glory O blessed Time when we shall fall upon the Work of Angels when we shall have a sublime Understanding to know God an Heart to love him and a Mouth to praise him for evermore We shall not need any Excitement but be willing and ready to do it We have greater cause of blessing God than the Angels have It is a question whether an innocent or a penitent Person is more bound to thank God An innocent Man is bound to praise God in respect of the Greatness of the Benefit and the Continuance of it but a penitent Man in respect of the Freeness and Graciousness of it The Freeness and Graciousness is much more conspicuous towards Men. God was indeed good and bountiful to the Angels creating them out of nothing endowing them with many excellent Gifts But to Man sinful was God good indeed he loved us as Enemies when his Justice offended by Sin put a Bar to our Salvation he spared not his beloved Son but delivered him to a cursed Death in our Room and Stead Secondly To exhort us to prepare our selves for this Estate And let us labour that we may be such as may be counted meet to minister before the Lord in his Heavenly Temple To this End 1. Let us hasten the Acts which belong to our Consecration and attend upon them with more Seriousness which is the cleansing of the Soul from the Guilt and Stain of Sin From the Guilt of Sin Rom. 5.1 2. Therefore being justified by Faith we
that we have heard and seen Gal. 2.11 When Peter was come to Antioch I with stood him to the Face because he was to be blamed The one requireth Aptness of Gifts the other only Christian Prudence and a fervent Charity This latter we have now in hand II. The Arguments by which we are to inforce it Which are needful in this Case because Men are so apt to bear with Sin both in themselves and others and this Duty is of so great Use that Satan seeketh to hinder it with all his Power and so hard to be done rightly that most Men quite omit it 1 st I shall prove it from the Law of Nature which teacheth me to love my Neighbour as my self and therefore Conscience bindeth me to reduce those into the right way who are gone out of it this is the obliging internal Cause We our selves by a regular Will having erred would be glad to be reduced and set into the right way again Ier. 8.4 Thus saith the Lord Shall they fall and not arise Shall they turn away and not return Is any Man so absurd heedless and witless that when he hath gotten a Fall will lie still and not essay to get up again Or that hath been unwittingly out of the way and will not desire to come into it again and be willing to receive Direction from those that would set him right Now this being a Dictate of Nature produced by God himself by his Prophet to aggravate their Apostacy who having faln by their Sin refused to rise and return holdeth good also to others whom we are to love as our selves And therefore when they are fallen we must help them to rise again and when they are turned away we must help them to return This is so natural that the very Birds and Beasts desire to return to their proper Places in their natural and appointed time when they have wander'd as the Prophet speaketh of the Stork Turtle and Crane ver 7. Yea the Stork in the Heaven knoweth her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming Now from that reciprocal Obligation that is between Men and the Law of Nature we are bound to reprove our Brother as we desire it and expect it from them to be set right when we are wrong we are to pay the same Debt of Love to them again The Argument holdeth à fortiori because in spiritual things the Danger is greater the Good to be procured is greater the Evil to be feared greater Yea this Argument is the stronger because it holdeth good concerning the Ox and Ass not only of our own Neighbour but of our Enemy as Exod. 23.4 If thou meet thine Enemy's Ox or his Ass going astray thou shalt surely bring it back to him again And Deut. 22.1 Thou shalt not see thy Brother's Ox or his Sheep go astray and hide thy self from them thou shalt in any case bring them again to thy Brother Surely hereby God would teach every Man not to look on his own things only but to love and do Good to other Men. This Duty required towards Beasts is much more towards Men Ezek. 34.4 Ye have not brought again that which was driven away and ye have not sought that which was lost We are all like Sheep going astray and have need of one anothers Help Mark there are two Precepts in Deut. 22.1 a Prohibition not to hide and a Commandment to restore so that they are doubly guilty that are not affected with other Mens Sins or do not seek to reform them 2 dly It is a Duty because positively commanded by God so that unless we will be guilty of flat Disobedience we ought to mind it God bindeth all Men to reprove their erring Brother and Neighbour keeping the Rules of Prudence Justice and Charity Now that God hath commanded this many of the Scriptures cited before prove it Matth. 18.15 16 17. If thy Brother offend thee go and tell him his Fault between him and thee Which is to be understood not only of Offences done to us but to be extended to all wilful Crimes of which we see him guilty for Zeal for God should prevail with us as much as Injuries done to to our selves and it is not angry Reproach but Christian Admonition that we press you to 1 Thess. 5.14 Warn them that are unruly 2 Thess. 3.15 Admonish him as a Brother So Rom. 15.14 I my self also am perswaded of you my Brethren that ye are full of Goodness filled with all Knowledg able to admonish one another So Prov. 25.8 9 10. Go not forth hastily to strive lest thou know not what to do in the End thereof when thy Neighbour hath put thee to Shame Debate thy Cause with thy Neighbour himself and discover not a Secret to another lest he that heareth it put thee to Shame and thine Infamy turn not away All these Expressions concern Brotherly Reproof debating Matters in Case of Offence and Injury real or supposed If we presently run to Law without using previous gentle Methods of taking up Matters among our selves we run a great Hazard both of Loss and Infamy Better end it by friendly Composition than running to the Judg where by many unhappy Representations a Righteous Cause may be oppressed But for the common Duty of Christians see Ephes. 5.11 Have no Fellowship with the unfruitful Works of Darkness but rather reprove them The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rather doth not lessen our Duty but inforce it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Chrysostom We ought to reprove We shall not be excused before God unless we do our Duty So Iude 22.23 And of some have Compassion making a Difference And others save with Fear pulling them out of the Fire SERMON II. LEVIT XIX 17 Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy Heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour and not suffer Sin upon him 3 dly COnsider how far it bindeth 1. Intensively as to the Value of the Precept It is not an Arbitrary Direction which we may omit or observe at Pleasure but a Necessary Precept which we must obey 1. From the Danger we incur We are under Danger of Sin and bearing Punishment for them whom we reprove not and the Punishment of Sin is eternal Death if it be omitted out of a culpable Negligence Eternal Life and eternal Death is in the Case there is no doubt of Superiours who by Justice and Office are bound to reprove as well as by the Law of common Love and Charity Ezek. 33.6 His Blood will I require at the Watchman's Hands But even private Persons may bear Sin for others 2. Because of the Good which cometh thereby which is the Glory of God and the gaining of our Brother Matth. 18.15 Thou hast gained thy Brother And the gaining of another's Soul is no small Advantage this will be your Crown and rejoicing in the Day of the Lord. To enforce both consider that Text Prov. 24.
11 12. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto Death and those that are ready to be slain If thou sayest Behold we knew it not doth not he that pondreth the Heart consider it and he that keepeth thy Soul doth not he know it and shall not be render to every Man according to his Works Here is a Work of Charity delivering the Innocent from temporal Death the Sin is a Sin of Omission every Man is bound to do what he can to save his Neighbour from imminent Destruction It is our Duty not to be silent and see him perish with a safe Conscience we cannot do so it is against the Light of Nature and all Honesty to use Tergiversation in this Case when we have Probability to help it and will not this hold good in the Case of Brotherly Reproof when thou seest thy Neighbour likely to perish and be undone for ever The same Charity that bindeth us to deliver him from Temporal Death will much more bind us to deliver him from Eternal Death Heb. 3.12 13. Take heed lest there be in any of you an evil Heart of Vnbelief in departing from the living God Not only in you your selves but in any of you as will be clear in the Remedy prescribed But exhort one another daily while it is called To Day lest any of you be hardened through the Deceitfulness of Sin This is a Work of Christian Charity which we owe to one another as Christian Brethren But see how God answereth the Excuse If thou sayest Behold we knew it not They knew not the Danger or Innocency of the Person Can you answer so to God Doth not he that pondereth the Heart consider c. He will be Judg whether you love your Brother yea or no whether this Pretence be Cowardice or mere Ignorance 2. How far the Obligation reacheth extensively It bindeth all For 1. All are to be able Col. 3.16 Let the Word of God dwell in you richly in all Wisdom teaching and admonishing one another And Rom. 15.14 I am perswaded of you my Brethren that ye also are full of Goodness filled with all Knowledg able also to admonish one another There are several Relations between Christians but all are bound to reprove some are Superiours some are Inferiours Superiours are bound in point of Justice Inferiours in point of Charity Superiours that have Charge of Souls are much more bound to reprove than others God 's Threatnings against them are more grievous if they neglect this Duty of Love The Watchman must not spare Yea they are bound though it be with the Danger of their Lives as Matth. 10.16 Behold I send you forth as Sheep in the midst of Wolves Iohn the Baptist reproved Herod though it cost him his Life Mark 6.27 And the Reason is they have a double Tie and Bond upon them as their Office and Relation besides the common Bond of Charity But now whether Inferiours are bound to reprove those that are over them Yes certainly for David a King did receive with Meekness a Reproof not only from Nathan a Prophet but from Abigail a Woman 1 Sam. 25.32 33. And Iob produceth it as a Proof of his Integrity that he despised not the Cause of his Man-servant or of his Maid-servant when they contended with him Job 31.13 Certainly we owe this Duty to Superiours as their Danger is greater To save a private Person is not so much as to do good to one that shineth in a higher Sphere Well then we are bound to reprove all whom we are bound to love whether Superiours or Inferiours But then to Superiours we are to use great Modesty 1 Tim. 5.1 Rebuke not an Elder but intreat him as a Father and the younger Men as Brethren It should be rather an Exhortation and Intreaty than a Reproof So Princes and Magistrates who are subject to Errors and Miscarriages may with Humility and Wisdom be admonished as Naaman's Servant 2 Kings 5.13 My Father if the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldst thou not have done it how much rather then when he saith Wash and be clean Dan. 4.27 Wherefore O King let my Counsel be acceptable to thee And Col. 4.17 Say to Archippus take heed to the Ministry which thou hast received in the Lord that thou fulfil it But yet this is still a Generality If every one be bound to reprove all and all every one when shall we know that this Duty is to be put in Act Answer The Admonisher should have a Calling to it through some Relation between him and the Offender So we may find it in all kind of Relations A Minister or Prophet as Nathan reproved David 2 Sam. 12.1 As a Counsellor Ioab reproveth him 2 Sam. 19.5 6. Thou hast shamed this Day the Faces of all thy Servants which have saved thy Life A Yoke-fellow as the Husband the Wife Iob 2.10 Thou speakest as one of the foolish Women speaketh The Wife the Husband as Abigail to Nabal 1 Sam. 25.37 And it came to pass in the Morning when the Wine was gone out of his Head and his Wife had told him these things his Heart died within him and he became as a Stone A Son as Ionathan to Saul 1 Sam. 19.4 And Jonathan spake good of David to Saul his Father and said unto him Let not the King sin against his Servant against David because he hath not sinned against thee A Servant admonisheth a Prince 2 Kings 5.13 A Subject so Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 4.27 A Friend to his Friend Prov. 27.6 Faithful are the Wounds of a Friend Yea a Stranger travelling by the way and seeing his Fellow-Traveller sin or sitting at the same Table it is a Call because he is then in his Company and there is the Sin committed For so Christ proveth the Samaritan was a Neighbour to the Iew when he lighted upon him Luke 10.29 So that the Duty though it universally obligeth yet it is not unpracticable there is something giveth us the Occasion 4 thly It is recommended When besides the Precept there is a Commendation it sheweth the Value of a Duty Now God not only commandeth but commendeth to us both the giving and taking a Reproof and that upon the highest and most pressing Motives 1. Let us see how the giving a Reproof is recommended to us as a Means to increase Knowledg Prov. 19.25 Reprove one that hath Vnderstanding and he will understand Knowledg that is profit in the Fear of the Lord. Yea as a Means to convey Life Prov. 6.23 And Reproofs of Instruction are the way of Life They are a means to reduce Men to God and eternal Happiness and it is called saving a Soul from Death Iam. 5.19 20. Brethren if any of you do err from the Truth and one convert him let him know that he that converteth a Sinner from the Error of his way shall save a Soul from Death and shall hide a Multitude of Sins So Prov. 24.25 But to them that
rebuke him shall be Delight and a good Blessing shall come upon him that is all will pray for him whereas they curse and detest Flatterers Many such Promises there are 2. Taking a Reproof is commended Eccles. 7.5 It is better to hear the Rebuke of the VVise than for a Man to hear the Song of Fools It sads the Heart for the present yet it is more wholesome and beneficial than vain Mirth that puts us off from Seriousness in Soul-Dangers and feedeth our Lusts and Corruptions So Prov. 13.18 Poverty and Shame shall be to him that refuseth Instruction but he that regardeth Reproof shall be honoured A head-strong wicked Man bringeth himself to Beggary and Shame but he that taketh Counsel betimes soon wipeth off the Stain of his Miscarriages So see two Proverbs together Prov. 15.31 32. The Ear that heareth the Reproof of Life abideth among the VVise He that refuseth Instruction despiseth his own Soul but he that heareth Reproof getteth Vnderstanding The one is a slight careless Person that despiseth God and his Salvation but the other giveth a Token of a wise and tractable Disposition So Prov. 17.10 A Reproof entreth more into a wise Man than an hundred Stripes into a Fool. Correption doth more good than Correction Now when God doth argue and perswade and not only interpose his Authority surely this is a Duty of Importance which we should make Conscience of 5 thly If God hath given Directions about it is is unquestionably a Duty belonging to us for Directions suppose the Duty and shew that God would not have it miscarry in our Hands As when God directeth to pray he supposeth Prayer when God directeth to hear he supposeth hearing so when he directeth to reprove he supposeth Reproof to be a Duty Now the Word of God doth every where abound with these Directions as with what Lenity and Meekness we should reprove 2 Cor. 2.4 For out of much Affliction and Anguish of Heart I wrote unto you with many Tears not that you should be grieved but that you may know the Love which I have more abundantly unto you Gal. 6.1 Brethren if a Man be overtaken in a Fault ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the Spirit of Meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted What Difference we should make of Faults Gnats and Camels Matth. 23.24 Ye blind Guides which strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel Of Persons Iude 22 23. And of some have Compassion making a Difference Others save with Fear pulling them out of the Fire 6 thly The Duty is necessary to prevent a Sin such as Detraction Censure and Backbiting It is the usual Fashion of the World to change a Duty into a Sin it should be the Care of God's People to change a Sin into a Duty Ephes. 5.4 Not foolish Talking or Iesting which are not convenient but rather giving of Thanks So do not speak of them that sin but to them do not judg but reprove 7 thly That without which no Society can be maintained no Relation faithfully improved certainly is an unquestionable Duty but so is Reproof No Society can be maintained for Faults will arise the Injured will vent themselves in Passion or Reproof now which conduceth to the Welfare of Humane Society And for Relations how can I be faithful to God in them unless I make Advantage of this Nearness and Frequency of Converse for spiritual Use Even good Men will miscarry if we be privy to it must we hold our Peace Well then observe the Reasonableness of God's Ordinance III. What is Reproof It is an Act of Charity or Mercy by which we seek by fit Discourse to draw our Brother from Sin to his Duty 1. It is an Act of Charity and Mercy not of Pride and Vain-glory Iam. 3.1 My Brethren be not many Masters knowing that we shall receive the greater Condemnation No it is not an Act of Mastery or rash Judging but of Mercy towards our Brother in his spiritual Misery as he hath rendred himself obnoxious to God's Wrath. 2. The Means it useth is fit Discourse not Correction and Chastening but Correption or Rebuke It must be dispensed in most wholesome ways such as may be most fit to gain a Sinner and heal his Soul To some we must use more Tenderness but more Sharpness to others In general we reprove from God's Word Col. 3.16 Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all VVisdom teaching and admonishing one another That the Offender may see God reproving him rather than Man as Christ reproved the Pharisees with mere Words of Scripture Matth. 15.7 8 9. Ye Hypocrites well did Esaias prophesy of you saying This People draweth nigh unto me with their Mouths and honoureth me with their Lips but their Heart is far from me But in vain do they worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of Men. The Reproof must be insinuated as the Matter requireth either by Exhortation Admonition or Caution 3. The End not to shame him but to gain him from Sin to his Duty If the Man be good to set him in joint again Gal. 6.1 Brethren if a Man be overtaken in a Fault ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the Spirit of Meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted If carnal to take this Occasion to turn him from Sin to Holiness or to save his Soul from Death Iam. 5.19 20. Brethren if any of you do err from the Truth and one convert him let him know that he which converteth the Sinner from the Error of his way shall save a Soul from Death and shall hide a Multitude of Sins IV. Let us see when this Duty bindeth or bindeth not For it being an Affirmative Precept it doth not bind at all times but as circumstantiated Affirmative Precepts non ligant ad semper do not always bind as negative Precepts do for evil Actions are never lawful Affirmative Precepts bind only when Time and Place and other Circumstances concur and then the Omission is faulty The Question then is At what times and in what Circumstances this Duty bindeth 1. It bindeth not if I do not certainly or probably know the Sin of my Neighbour For Reproof by way of Charge must be upon an apparent Crime as Gal. 2.11 But when Peter was come to Antioch I withstood him to the Face because he was to be blamed 1 Cor. 5.1 It is reported commonly that there is Fornication among you and such Fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have his Father's VVife 1 Cor. 1.11 For it hath been declared unto me of you my Brethren by them which are of the House of Cloe that there are Contentions among you Mark the Grounds he goeth upon certain Knowledg publick Fame and valuable Testimony It is commonly reported And it is declared by the House of Cloe. Faults that we reprove must be certainly known and evident we may not reprove upon bare
one wounded with Thieves and he had Compassion on him and went to him and bound up his Wounds pouring in Oil and Wine and set him on his own Beast and brought him to an Inn and took Care of him ver 33 34. So here The Papists indeed make this Limitation Nisi probabiliter praesumatur aliunde nacturum qui eum corripiat Except he probably presume that another will reprove him But this Presumption must be evident and rational not probable only and where I am privy to it and know it and procure it and know how much better he is able to manage it than my self then I am not to take it out of his Hands or when others are present whose Gifts and Office more oblige them to it 6. When he doth expect a better Opportunity his Omission is not faulty for the present for all things must be gone about in their Season Eccles. 3.7 There is a time to keep Silence and a time to speak And in another Place Because to every Man there is Time and Iudgment therefore the Misery of Man is great upon him Eccles. 8.6 7 8. He speaketh of the Misery Men contract upon themselves by disproving publick Disorders especially in great Persons Princes and Potentates Therefore certainly it concerneth us to take a fit Season Not when a Man is drunk as Abigail told Nabal not a Word when the Wine was in his Head 1 Sam. 25.36 37. Not when they are in the Heat of Passion for then they are not capable of discerning Right and Reason Iam. 1.20 For the Wrath of Man worketh not the Righteousness of God Therefore Opportunity and Conveniency of Circumstances must be considered and improved Yet here is Caution still we must not adjourn it too far Life is short and Sin groweth Heb. 3.13 Exhort one another daily while it is called to day lest any of you be hardened through the Deceitfulness of Sin And it must be done at length if we have long waited for a Season and cannot find it we must make it and break a Rule of Civil Prudence rather than violate Conscience for Civilities must not prescribe to Religion 7. If it be uncertain whether that which you reprove for be a Sin as suppose some kind of Games or Sports which are questionable because usually they do hurt ingross time and inchant the Mind and are as the excelsa Mundi the High-places of the World that have a strange Blast and Judgment of God upon them though we cannot say that for the Nature of them they are utterly unlawful What shall we do in this Case Many weak People are importunate to have others reproved for these things but if once we give way to this it looketh like an Itch of reproving and if we reprove for doubtful Matters Men fly from our Reproof for what is clear and open Yet we may hold an Argument and prudently debate things and discourse about them but take heed you do not hinder your selves in Matters that are of more weighty Importance 8. When greater Loss and Damage may come to our selves by the Reproof than Benefit to the Reproved It is out of Question that he that can easily discharge this Duty without any considerable Inconveniency and only forbear it out of Sloth and Pusillanimity hath the greater Sin if he doth it not for he standeth with God for a Trifle But now if a considerable Damage shall redound to my self in discharging this Duty it is of Weight in this Matter Our Lord saith Matth. 7.6 Give not that which is holy unto Dogs neither cast ye your Pearls before Swine lest they trample them under their Feet and turn again and rent you As suppose there be a Danger of your Life having to do with a contemptuous Sinner if I carry my Life in my Hand and put it to hazard there must be many things considered in this Case But now in extream Cases if our Neighbour be in present Danger of losing his Soul with the Danger of my bodily Life I am to do what I can to save his Soul The Work is good the Danger depending upon a future Event is not absolutely certain God can preserve me however it is a part of much Self-denial to venture all in God's Hands 9. Publick Reproof is sometimes not always necessary If the Sin be publick either as committed in Sight before all 1 Tim. 5.20 Them that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear or as judged by a publick Judicatory Or if an hidden Sin tends to the Damage of the Community or a greater hurt follow upon it than the Loss of my Neighbour's Fame or if the Person have lost all Right to Fame or to a good Name as some have forfeited it I need not stand nicely upon their good Name but in such Cases I am to reprove publickly In other Cases the Reproof must be private and the Rule is Matth. 18.15 Go and tell him his Fault between thee and him alone Vse 1. If we are to reprove others let us take Care that we be innocent our selves not culpable but blameless They that are faulty themselves cannot reprove others without Blushing and great Shame Pull out the Beam out of thine own Eye Physician heal thy self Matth. 7.3 4 5. And why beholdest thou the Mote that is in thy Brother's Eye but considerest not the Beam that is in thine own Eye Or how wilt thou say to thy Brother Let me pull out the Mote out of thine Eye and behold a Beam is in thine own Eye Thou Hypocrite first cast out the Beam out of thine own Eye and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the Mote out of thy Brother's Eye Rom. 2.21 Thou that sayest a Man should not steal dost thou commit Sacrilege The Iews were tender of Idolatry after they had smarted in the Matter of the Golden Calf yet all the latter Prophets condemn them for Sacrilege and robbing God of 〈◊〉 due If we are faulty our selves either in the same kind or worse we spoil our Reproof Psal. 141.5 Let the Righteous smite me it shall be a Kindness and let him reprove me it shall be an excellent Oil. They may admonish with the greater Authority Others are remotely bound they nearly others not without special Repentance and Humility acknowledging their own Sins and desiring they may not be Examples to harden others A Sinner is not freed from the Debt of Love but he is bound humbly to acknowledge his Sin and forsake it that he may be fit to reprove others Vse 2. If others be bound to reprove certainly you are bound to take a Reproof Solomon brings in the wretched Sinner when his Sin hath found him out speaking thus Prov. 5.12 13. How have I hated Instruction and my Heart despised Reproof and have not obeyed the Voice of my Teachers nor inclined mine Ear to them that instructed me These are the Lamentations of one that is ready to perish in his Sin And Prov. 10.17 He is in
the way of Life that keepeth Instruction but he that hateth Reproof erreth They wander far and wide that hate to be brought into the right way Prov. 12.1 He that hateth Reproof is brutish Why because he despiseth the great Help of Mankind and so is carried away with his base and impetuous Desires and will not hear Reason to the contrary Prov. 13.18 Poverty and Shame shall be to him that refuseth Instruction but he that regardeth Reproof shall be honoured As unwilling to go on in a wrong Course after he seemeth to be ingaged in it and he shall be honoured as one that is prudent Prov. 15.5 A Fool despiseth his Father's Instruction but he that regardeth Reproof is prudent He is wise at the second hand though not in his first Choice yet in rectifying his ill Choice Nay Prov. 15.10 Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way and he that hateth Reproof shall die Better be corrected than die and perish for ever God's Reproofs and Rebukes at the last Day will be very severe and amazing And ver 31. The Ear that heareth the Reproof of Life abideth among the Wise that is forsaketh the ill Company which misled him and betaketh himself to better Guides Prov. 29.1 He that being often reproved hardeneth his Neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without Remedy Our Case without Repentance is desperate for when we have hardened our selves in an evil way the Lord overtakes us with a sudden Destruction Vse 3. It exhorts us to set upon this Duty There is need of it Which will appear if we consider the Infirmity of Nature that is to be restrained a blind Mind to be enlightned a drowzy Heart to be awakened Vehemency of Passions to be curbed and great Allurements to Sin to be withstood Say not with Cain Gen. 4.9 Am I my Brother's Keeper Thou art so do it then with Love lest you do the Work of an Enemy under the Vizard of a Friend No Hatred or ill End must put you on this Business for when you rebuke Sin with Sin you increase it Again there is need of it for it will prevent many Evils as Censuring and Detraction and speaking ill of others and Invasion of the Ministry this is one great Evil that heretofore hath reigned among us many little Pratlers that had no Gifts set up for Ministers this Itch would soon be cured if Men would mind necessary Duties such as Meditation which is a Preaching to themselves Family-Instruction and Brotherly Reproof Vse 4. Direction to perform this Duty Many Graces are necessary hereunto as Zeal for God Love to our Neighbour and Courage Avoid Pusillanimity that you be not hindred by your Fears this is the way to prevail And if you prevail not you must mourn and pray as Lot 2 Pet. 2.8 For that righteous Man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous Soul from day to day with their ungodly Deeds Jer. 13.17 But if ye will not hear it my Soul shall weep in secret Places for your Pride and mine Eye shall weep sore and run down with Tears SERMONS UPON 1 CORINTHIANS XV. 19 SERMON I. 1 COR. XV. 19 If in this Life only we have Hope in Christ we are of all Men most miserable IN the Context the Apostle is disputing for the Truth of the Resurrection this way of Reasoning is deducendo ad absurdum by shewing the Absurdities that would follow upon the denial of it 1 st The first Absurdity is mentioned ver 13. If there be no Resurrection of the Dead then Christ is not risen In all things he is a Pattern to his People if the Head be risen so shall the Members also 2 d Absurdity consequent upon that is mentioned ver 14 15 16. And if Christ be not risen then is our Preaching vain and your Faith is also vain yea and we are found false VVitnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he raised not up if so be that the Dead rise not for if the Dead rise not then is not Christ raised Whole Christianity would be a Forgery and whatever was preached by the Apostles and believed by them vain and frivolous if Christ be not risen 3 d Absurdity ver 17. And if Christ be not risen your Faith is vain you are yet in your Sins That the new Covenant and all their Confidence about Remission of Sins upon Repentance would come to nothing 4 th Absurdity That those that had lost their Lives for Christ would perish eternally and would have nothing to recompense this Loss ver 18. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished 5 th Absurdity is in the Text If all our Hopes in Christ were terminated with this Life Christians were the most wretched sort of Men in this World If in this Life only we have Hope in Christ we are of all Men most miserable But these are such absurd Thoughts that every Christian should abhor them with Indignation In the Words we have 1. A Supposition If in this Life only we have Hope in Christ. 2. An Absurdity thence inferred VVe are of all Men most miserable Doct. That the Calamities of the Godly in this Life shew that we have much more to hope for from Christ in the Life to come I. I shall state the Point in what Sense it is said that Christians are of all Men most miserable if there be no Life to come II. Confirm and prove it by shewing the Validity of the Apostle's Reasoning 1. For the Supposition 1. This is supposed that Affliction and Misery is the common Burden of the Sons of Adam In the present Life all are liable to Misery some more some less We walk through a Valley of Tears live in a groaning World none have such an uninterrupted Current and Stream of worldly Felicity but that they have their Crosses and Afflictions These things are common to Man We are told in the Book of Iob chap. 5.7 Man is born to Trouble as the Sparks fly upward And Iob 14.1 Man that is born of a Woman is of few Days and full of Trouble None can reasonably expect to be absolutely exempted from the common Lot of humane lapsed Nature Though Life be short yet it 's long enough to be vexed with many Sorrows Few and evil have the Days of the Tears of my Life been saith old Iacob Gen. 47.9 Since they are evil it is well they are but few Most Men little consider of this that they come into the World to bear Crosses but rather imagine they come hither to spend their Days in Pleasure at least they do not mind the true Cause of their Troubles nor the proper Remedy The true Cause is Sin Man's Transgressions are the Door by which it entred And the proper Remedy is the Grace of God in Jesus Christ. Well then whatever may be the particular and various Dispensations of God towards Men yet to be miserable in some sort and
Good As to our selves we must subordinate all things to our true Happiness and be more careful for the Soul than for the Body All this Righteousness or the Evidence of natural Light calleth for at our Hands that we love our Creator and live to him and depend upon him for if he be God he is our first Cause highest Lord chiefest Good and last End That Love to others is shewed in doing to them as we would should be done to us We would have others helpful to us so must we to our Power be helpful to them he that will be for none but himself cannot justly expect that any should be for him And for our selves Man consists of a Body and of a Soul now all our Senses and bodily Powers and the Appetites must be subordinated to the Good of the Soul for the Soul is the chiefest Part. Well then if we live in the Neglect of God and be only Self-Lovers and Self-Pleasers and wrong our selves by gratifying our Flesh do we do well If we prefer every paltry Vanity before the Favour of God slander and wrong our Neighbour please Appetite before Reason and let the Beast ride the Man surely we obey Unrighteousness we do not do well 2. We must obey the Truth that is act agreeably to the revealed Will of God in Scripture that is to do well It is the Scripture which helpeth us to distinguish Good from Evil and will be a sure Direction in well-doing Psal. 119.105 Thy Word is a Lamp unto my Feet and a Light unto my Path. Prov. 6.23 For the Commandment is a Lamp and the Law is Light Isa. 8.20 To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no Light in them We are not to be ruled by our own Thoughts but by God's Word which amply sets forth our Duty to us The Light of Nature is very dim and it would be a matter of great Difficulty to find out our Duty if we had no supernatural Light to help us Therefore God hath given his Word and that not only to instruct us in moral Duties most of which are evident by the Light of Nature but also in supernatural Verities which tend to our Relief and Deliverance by Christ. Well then well-doing is not one Work only but all our intire Obedience which is necessary to â—alvation that we may not only love God do Good to others govern our Appetites and Desires but believe in Christ and live according to his holy Institutes and perform all the Duties which belong to his new remedying Law This is Well-doing 2. There must be Continuance in Well-doing As we must indeavour universally to do all that God hath commanded us so we must continue this Care unto the End Luke 1.75 In Holiness and Righteousness before him all the Days of our Life In a Journey it is not enough to go a Mile or two but we must continue till we come to our Journey 's End so must we never give over whilst we are in this World There may be Interruptions Diversions and Straglings but a Christian gets into the way again Sometimes we slip and stumble and sometimes step aside but we must not go back again Some are good for a Pang or Fit Deut. 5.29 O that there were such an Heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my Commandments always I might heap up many Considerations here but the thing is evident The Law bindeth continually and Grace planted in the Heart should influence all our Actions God's Eye is always upon us and every Hour and Moment we are a-new obliged to him for his Benefits how reasonable is it our Duty should last and the Use of Means be continued till we attain our End Therefore do not lose your Crown and the Benefit of all you have done already The Promise runneth to Perseverance Rev. 2.10 Be thou faithful to the Death and I will give thee a Crown of Life 3. Here is patient Continuance That is necessary also The good Ground is described to be that which bringeth forth Fruit with Patience Luke 8.15 The other Grounds brought forth Fruit but they did not bring forth Fruit with Patience the stony Ground was impatient of Contradiction and Afflictions The thorny Ground was impatient of the Delay of the Reward and therefore took up with present things Riches and Honours and voluptuous Living but they that have a deep Sense of the other World and can tarry God's Leisure enduring the Hardships of Obedience and look for their Happiness in the World to come that is the good Ground So Heb. 6.12 Be ye Followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises We shall meet with Opposition within and without till we can deny our selves our Hearts are not sound with God We need the working Patience because of the Labour and Pains which belongeth to well-doing and the waiting Patience because our Reward is to come and the bearing Patience because of the Troubles and Dangers which we must indure if we would be faithful with God Loss of Estate Slanders of the Wicked and sometimes Danger of Life The working Patience should not be grievous to us because the Pains of Godliness will be recompensed with the Fruit of it the Peace and Comfort that followeth it and because there is more Labour in committing Sin than doing Good The waiting Patience should not be grievous because there must be a time for the Trial of our Faith They are Hypocrites which must have their Reward at present Matth. 6.2 Verily I say unto you they have their Reward The Believer he can wait for it he looketh for Glory and Honour too but not now The bearing Patience should not be irksom because Faithfulness in our Trials is most comfortable to us and most acceptable to God Comfortable to us we have not ordinarily so clear a Proof of the Reality of Grace as when we are under sore Trials 1 Pet. 1.7 That the Trial of your Faith being much more precious than of Gold though it be tried with Fire may be found unto Praise and Honour and Glory at the appearing of Iesus Christ. Faith is then Faith indeed and Obedience Obedience indeed The greater the Work and the more Impediments we meet with self-denying Obedience doth most evidence it self to the Conscience Whilst we do any thing for God while we do it without Shame Opposition and Loss it is more hard to interpret our Sincerity It is more acceptable to God 't is tried Friendship and Obedience which is most valuable The Obedience of a Souldier is pleasing to a General in a time of Peace when he saith to one Go and he goeth and to another Come and he cometh but especially in the most desperate Hazards when he doth not dispute Commands when he is bidden to go upon the Cannons Mouth From the whole Mortification Self-denial Contempt of the World Patience under manifold Sufferings
knowledg of the Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ they are again entangled therein and overcome 2 Pet. 2.20 Vse 2. Is Exhortation to press you 1. To seek after Honour Glory and Immortality O this is the best Pursuit you can engage in What is better for you Can the World or the Devil propound any thing so good or better than this glorious Estate Are the dreggy Contentments of the Flesh the Vain-glory and Honour of the World the uncertain Riches we enjoy here worthy to come in competition with Eternal Life Surely in matter of Motive a Christian hath the Advantage however a carnal Man hath the Advantage in matter of Principle because in him it is wholly intire and unbroken 2. To Well-doing Surely you should not need many Arguments to press you to do well rather to press you to do ill should be the more difficult Task it is so contrary to our Reason and the right Constitution of our Natures but that we are strangely depraved O Christians what do we invite you to but to love God above all and seek his Favour in Christ and love your Neighbour as your self and by Temperance Purity and Chastity to preserve your own Vessels both Bodies and Souls in Sanctification and Honour Surely these Duties are not Gifts but Ornaments and such Subjection to God should be preferred before Liberty in Sinning 3. To continue with Patience I will press you to this by two Arguments 1. There will be always the same reason for going on that there was for beginning at first Did the Sense of your Duty invite you The same Bond of Duty lieth upon you still Did the Hopes of the World to come engage you Heaven is not yet obtained And will you lose all the Coâ—t you have been at already Gal. 3.4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain 2. There can be no Temptation great enough to recompense you for the loss of your Reward of Eternal Life Is it Reproach When Men despise God will honour thee and it is a blessed thing to be reviled for Righteousness sake Is it worldly Loss Better lose the World than lose our Souls Mat. 16.26 What will it profit a Man if he should gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Is Life in danger Losing Life for Christ is the way to save it And Iohn 11.25 Though he were dead yet shall he live Is it the continual reviving of Troubles In the other World there is nothing to assault thy Perseverance there thou art out of the Gun-shot of Temptations and shalt serve God without defect or difficulty there our Service is not troublesom to us A SERMON UPON 2 CORINTHIANS XIII 14 The Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ and the Love of God and the Communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all Amen MY Purpose is to open the Apostolical Benediction or Prayer for the Corinthians for our way of Blessing is only to pray for those whom we bless To love others is to desire their Good They that love best and most desire the best Good for their Friends and better Good there cannot be desired than that those we love may have God for their God Now they that have God for their God have all that is in God and all that is God God the Father Son and Holy Ghost will imploy all his Wisdom Power and Goodness to save them from all Evil and bring them to eternal Blessedness This is that which is prayed for in this place The Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ and the Love of God and the Communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all Amen In the Words we have The Thing prayed for together with the Persons from whom Or rather 1. The Matter of the Blessedness wished The Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ the Love of God the Communion of the Holy Ghost 2. The effectual Application to the Corinthians Be with you 3. The Confirmation of these Hopes and Desires in the word Amen 1. The Matter of the Blessing It consists of three Branches suted to the Persons of the Godhead 1st The Grace of Christ. 2dly The Love of God 3dly The Communion of the Holy Ghost 2. The effectual Application Be with you These things are with us or in us two ways 1. In the Effects 2. In the Sense 1. In the Effects when we have the Fruits of the Father's Love and Christ's Grace and the Spirit 's Operation That the Love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them John 17.26 2. In the Sense and Feeling when we comfortably know it is thus with us Ioh. 14.21 He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self unto him Rom. 5.5 Because the Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us 3. The Confirmation of these Desires and Hopes in the word Amen which is Signaculum Fidei an Expression of Faith and Votum Desiderii an Eruption of our Desire and Love Doct. That all the Persons of the Blessed Trinity do concur to the Happiness and Salvation of Believers Here let me shew you I. How they do concur II. Why they do concur I. How they do concur Let us explain the Text. 1. Here are all the Persons of the Godhead mentioned God is taken personally for the Father and then Jesus Christ and the Spirit are distinctly mentioned So in other Scriptures 1 Pet. 1.2 Elect according to the fore-knowledg of God the Father through Sanctification of the Spirit unto Obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Iesus Christ. The fundamental Cause of Salvation is the Election of God who when he had all fallen Mankind in his Prospect and View was pleased to choose out some to Grace and Glory passing by others Then there is Reconciliation ascribed to Jesus Christ and Sanctification to the Spirit as the Means by which this Purpose is brought about The Beginning is from God the Father the Dispensation is by Jesus Christ and the Application is through the Holy Ghost So also Titus 3.4 5 6. But after that the Kindness and Love of God our Saviour towards Man appeared not by Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Saviour God the Father out of Love sent a Saviour by whose Grace we are saved and God the Son from God the Father sent God the Holy Ghost who applieth the Love of God and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ by renewing and healing our Natures So 2 Thess. 2.13 14. But we are bound to give Thanks always to God for you Brethren beloved of the Lord because God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth whereunto he called you by our Gospel to the obtaining of the Glory of the Lord
worldy Spirit we are not fit for Christ 1 Cor. 2.12 Now we have not received the Spirit of the World but the Spirit of God So much as the Spirit of the World is deadned in us so far doth Christ prevail upon us So for the Flesh Men are given up to their own Hearts Lusts till God changeth them and care not for God nor Christ and his Salvation bruitish Appetite and Sense governeth them But what will be the issue of these things see Rom. 8 13. If ye live after the Flesh ye shall die Well then to bring us back again to God that we may totally resign up our selves to him you see what a power is necessary to vanquish the Devil and save us from the World and change our own Flesh by his Spirit 4. It informeth us of the reason why so many Nations shut the Door against Christ or else grow weary of him you see frequently Men can bear any Religion rather than Christianity in its power sottish superstitions such as were practised and in vogue among the Gentiles Popery which is palliated Atheism or Gentilism trick'd up in a Christian dress and form half Christianity the form not the power priviledges not the duties The World disputeth it with Christ by inches what 's the reason His Spiritual Kingdom which is not calculated for the interest of the Carnal World and altogether draweth us to an Heavenly Life and State those that submit to it or would speak of it exasperate the World against them as upbraiding their course of Life 5. It informeth us how ill they deal with Christ who have only notional opinions about his Authority but never practically submit to it Many will say we must receive Christ as a King as well as a Priest and Prophet but do we live accordingly Luke 6.46 why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say Professed opinions unless followed with suitable actions are but a mockage of Christ and a cheat and fallacy that we put upon our selves A mockage of Christ Cui res nomini subjecta negatur is nomine illuditur He that wants the thing signified by the name is deceived by the name They did little honour to Christ who Buffeted Him and Spit upon him and all the while cried Hail King of the Iews so whilest we call him Lord and King but make little Conscience of his Precepts we deny him the honour in deeds which in words we ascribe to him So that a practical sense of Christs Authority and Right to Govern should be deeply impressed upon our Hearts When is it practical when it breedeâ—h an awe upon us and checketh sin As the Rechabites were afraid to transgress the commandment of their Father Ier. 35.6 They said We will Drink no Wine for Jonadab the Son of Rechab our Father commanded us saying Ye shall Drink no Wine neither ye nor your Sons for ever So Ioseph Gen. 39.9 when Tempted by his Mistress to lye with Her he repels the Temptation saying How can I do this great Wickedness and Sin against God So all that have a reverence of their supream Lord you shall find that it works upon all occasions if tempted to Fleshly Lusts do this to please thy Flesh They answer as the Apostle Paul Rom. 8.12 We are debtors not to the Flesh to live after the Flesh. If they be assaulted by the Persecutions of the World still they have the authority of the Great Lord If threatned for speaking in his Name and commanded not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus as the Apostles Peter and Iohn answered Acts 4.19 Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God Iudge ye so I dare not obey the Wills of Men or the Inclinations of the Flesh but my Great Lord. If Satan would draw you to any Inconvenience answer as Christ Himself did to Peter dissuading Him from suffering Mat. 16.23 Get thee behind me Satan for thou savourest not the things that be of God but those that be of Men. When there is something that doth constrain within us and urgeth us to a constant obedience For Christ that requireth us to die unto sin doth also require us to live unto Righteousness When the sense of this becomes as an Habit or new Nature in us or the principle of our course of living it puts the Soul upon obedience it constraineth us most powerfully to live in him and to him Col. 2.6 and 10. verse the 6th As ye have therefore received Christ Iesus the Lord so walk ye in him ver 10. ye are compleat in Him and Rom. 6.16 Know ye not that to whom ye yield your selves servants to obey his Servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of Sin unto Death or of Obedience unto Righteousness Vse 2. is Exhortation If we would distinguish our selves from the Carnal World let us resolve upon a thorough course of Christianity owning Christs authority in all things 1. If we be to begin and have hitherto stood against Christ Oh let us repent and reform and return to our Obedience Mâ—t. 18.3 Except ye be Converted and become as little Children ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven 2. Remember that Faith is a great part of your works from first to last Iohn 6.27 Iesus answered and said unto them This is the Work of God that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent All the Grace and Mercy of the new Covenant it is begun kept up and carried on by Faith we are sincerely to believe on Him before we can rightly obey him 3. Your obedience must be delightful and such as cometh from love 1 Ioh. 5.3 For this is the love of God that we keep his Commandments Believers are not called to the Obedience of Slaves nor to be acted only by the fear of Hell but to the Obedience of Sons and Children that you may obey with love and delight Forced motives endure not long fears will abate and then your duty be neglected Love should be as a new Nature and the habitual constitution of our Souls and you should act not as driven to Obedience but as inclined to it and delighted in it Psal. 40.8 I delight to do thy Will O God for this is a Soveraignty not forced upon us â—ut consented unto 4. Your Obedience must be very circumspect and accurate Heb. 12.28 Having received a Kingdom which cannot be moved let us have Grace that we may serve God acceptably with Reverence and Godly Fear A Kingdom may be received either by a King to Govern or Subjects to be Governed a King to Govern Luke 19.12 A certain Nobleman went into a far Country to receive a Kingdom Or Subjects to be governed when we submit to the Sovereign to injoy the priviledges which belong to that Kingdom So we must serve him with Reverence and Godly Fear For boldness in Sinning and coldness in Duty is a depreciation of his Majesty He is
a great King As God pleadeth it when they brought a corrupt thing for a Sacrifice Mal. 1.13 No Terrors comparable to his Frowns no Comforts to his Smiles So â—sal 2 11. Serve the Lord with fear rejoice with trembling Obey him most circumspectly with all carefulness watchfulness and diligence making it your chief business to please him 5 'T is a considerable part of our work to look for our Wages or expect the endless blessedness to which we are appointed â—it 2.13 Looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the great God Col. 3.1 2. If ye be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the Right Hand of God Set your affection upon things above and not upon the Earth Phil. 3.20 But our Conversation is in Heaven from whence we look for a Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ. That we may see that we have conâ—iderable Motives to do what Christ requireth of us 'T is for our Masters Honour and besides it puts life into our Work and maketh our painful Obedience comfortable and sweet to us for all this is but the way to Eternal Life 6. The Reign of Christ doth not only establish your Duty but is the ground of your safety for he is set down upon the Throne of Majesty to protect his Subjects and destroy his Enemies besides the endless reward in another World there are many evidences of his goodness and signal preservations and deliverances in this World at least peaceable opportunities of serving Him while he hath a mind to employ us He can powerfully support us against all our Enemies Isa. 33.22 The Lord is our Iudge the Lord is our Lawgiver the Lord is our King He will save us As a Soveraign protects his Subjects that continue loyal to Him so will Christ be our Sovereign upon this confidence must we carry on our obedience notwithstanding opposition 1 Tim. 4.10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who is the Saviour of all Men especially of those that believe 7. One part of our obedience helpeth another Sets the Soul in a right posture As in the Wheels of a Watch the whole motion is hindred by a defect in a part the less compleat you are in all the Will of God the more difficult will it be A Sermon on Luke II. 52 And Iesus increased in Wisdom and Stature and in Favour with God and Men. THese words are spoken of our Lord Jesus Christ. In them two things are observable 1. Christs Groâ—th 2. The consequent of it 1. Christs growth both as to Body and Soul He encreased in Wisdom and Stature 2. The consequent of it He attracted the Love of God and Men. The point I am to speak off is this Doct. Iesus Christ himself in respect of his Humane Nature which consisteth of Body and Soul did grow and improve 1. Let us state this growth of Christ. 2. Give you the reasons of it For stating it 1. Certain it is that there are two distinct Natures in the Person of Christ Divine and Humane The one Infinite and Uncreated The other Created and Finite For he is Emmanuel God with us Mat. 1.23 Of the Seed of David and yet declared to be the Son of God with power Rom. 1.3 4. The Word was made Flesh Ioh. 1.14 The Man God's Fellow Zech. 13.7 A Child yet the Everlasting Father Isa. 9.6 Born at Bethlehem yet his goings forth were from Everlasting Micah 5.2 The Bud of the Lord and the Fruit of the Earth Isa. 4.2 Now according to this double Nature so must his growth be determined surely not of the Divine Nature for to the perfection of it nothing can be added an infinite thing cannot increase So his Knowledge is infinite he knew God and all things 2. In his Humane Nature there are two parts his Body and his Soul The Text saith he grew in both As to his Body and growing in Stature there is no difficulty As to his Soul the doubt is whether he grew really or in manifestation only I think really his Soul improved in Wisdom as his Body in Stature as others of his Age are wont to ripen by degrees In the same sense that he is said to increase in Stature he is said a so to increase in Wisdom for both are coupled together and he increased in Stature really in deed and in truth so that he daily became a more eminent person in the Eyes of all 3. 'T is not said he grew in Grace but in Wisdom To want degrees of Grace cannot be without sin And our High Priest was Holy Harmless Vndefiled separate from Sinners Heb. 7.26 yet his Knowledge as Man was perfected by degrees We always grow in knowledge follow on to know the Lord. He was ignorant of some things as the Day of Judgment for in Mark 13.32 'T is said But of that Day and Hour knoweth no Man no not the Angels which are in Heaven neither the Son but the Father His Divine Nature was ignorant of nothing but as to his Humane he was ignorant of it Some say he knew it not to reveal it so the Father may be said not to know it as well as the Son This simple Nescience was no Sin 4 This Knowledge or Wisdom wherein Christ grew may be understood thus 1. There is the Habitual Knowledge and the actual apprehension of things Christ had the Foundation and Root of all Knowledge when conceived by the Spirit from his very Conception but the Actual Knowledge came afterwards He had the Spirit of Wisdom and promptness of understanding but the act of knowing is as occasion is offered 2. There is a Knowledge of Generals when singulars are not actually known so Christ was deceived in the Fig-Tree Mat. 21.19 And he enquireth for Lazarus Grave Ioh. 11.34 And he said Where have ye laid him 3. There is a knowledge Intensive and Extensive Intensive a clear knowledge Extensive to more objects Christ grew in both He grew as to clearness of apprehension and as he knew more objects 1. There is a knowledge infused and experimental So Christ knew more by experience 2 Cor. 5.21 Who knew no sin That is by experience in himself and Heb 5.8 He Learned Obedience by the things which he suffered 2. For Confirmation 1. By Scripture 2. By Reason 1 By Scripture Next the Text take that Isa. 7.14 15 16. Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call his name Immanuel Butter and Hony shall he eat that he may know to refuse the evil and chusethe good For before the hild shall know to refuse the evil and chuse the good the Land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her Kings The Child spoken of should not be any fantastical appearance or meer imaginary Matter but a very Man-child fed and brought up with such food as other Children were that by growing up he may come to years of discretion He