overtaken with some grosse sin this builds up the partition wall that Christ cannot be discerned as it was with David Psal 51.10 where hee saith Create in mee a cleane heart O God and renew a right spirit within me hee was even to begin the world new againe And it is Gods wise dealing with his owne servants for God will not brooke sinne in his owne servants and they must know if they will have him to dwell in them they must not give way to any base sinne if they doe hee will withdraw himselfe from them not that God forsakes finally whom hee loved once but hee will take away the sense and apprehension of his presence that though he is there yet the soule shall not see it And also when they give way to some secret distemper and are at truce with some infirmitie and they will be parlying with it and meddle too much with it it is just with the Lord and ordinary to withdraw the presence of his grace from such a mans soule If a Christian be overtaken somewhat more than ordinary with a peevish spirit or if he be something too eager for the world so that hee grow cold in holy duties and is in danger to lie and dissemble for his gaine it is just with God that this man should scramble for his comfort and welter up and downe without any evidence of Gods love And also though a Christian commit not sinne outwardly yet if hee give leave to any sinne and beat truce with it though they seeme to hate it and yet let their meditations runne upon it and parley with some secret imagination c. it is just with God to hide himselfe from them And others there are that live with men and see their evils and yet will not reprove them I have knowne many of those to have gone out all their dayes without any comfort And it is no marvell though they cannot see Christ because they themselves build up the partition-wall betweene Christ and them the Lord Iesus Christ is not able to brooke it that hee is thus sleighted and neglected and that any sinfull base distemper should bee attended to to keepe company with it rather than with Christ Christ Iesus distastes it infinitely and therefore withdrawes the apprehension of his presence from such a person The second cause why the Lord hides himselfe is when the faithfull servants of God begin to grow carelesse and luskish to holy duties and because God hath made knowne his good will to them therefore they begin to grow carelesse and secure When the Lord seeth this that they doe abuse his favour so that now they begin to grow secure and heartlesse and to slag and to grow sluggish it is just with the Lord to eâ—strange himselfe from that soule and it is just that that soule should find himselfe lost that hee may quicken up himselfe When Christians grow cold in prayer and carelesse in holy duties the Lord taketh away the light of his favour and hee leaves those sluggish hearts to themselves nay God is forced even against his will and mind even for the good of those Christians to take away the comfort of his presence so that now they begin to thinke they never had grace If the Lord did not thus they would never mend their pace nor quicken up themselves to any holy duties And this is the reason why many lie downe in sorrow and thinke they never had any grace at all the Lord seeth it and perceives it that unlesse he should bring them to this extreme hazzard they would never be drawne out from that desperate securitie but by this meanes in the end God makes them find their hearts and tongues againe and makes them consider from whence they are fallen Oh saith the Lord mercy is as good when you have it as when you want it the time was when you filled heaven and earth with your prayers and you could pray earnestly and you could give the Lord no rest you prized opportunities and now you have many opportunities and slight them It is just with God when we begin to be thus tongue-tied and to be secure and to thinke all is wel now the Lord hath humbled our soules and pardoned our sinnes and shewed us his favour for a time to leave those soules of yours though he save you in the end to send you a hell upon earth that so you may strive to receive that mercy and comfort which formerly you had and now have sleighted Thus hee dealt with the Church in Cant. 5.2 3. when Christ knocked at the doore and said Open to mee my sister my love my dove my undefiled for my head is filled with dew and my lockes with the drops of the night she made answer in this manner I have put off my coat how shall I put it on I have washed my feet how shall I defile them Now when Christ withdrew himselfe then shee found her feet againe and followed Christ with much labour from place to place and could not be content till she had found him And so it was with the holy Prophet Psal 30.6 I said in my prosperitie I shal never be removed but when he saw God going away from him see how he bestirres himselfe 2 Sam. 22.7 Oh saith hee I cried to thee O Lord in the time of my trouble Then he could pray and heare againe and recount Gods former goodnesse and performe his former duties Simile I have seene the father deale so with the child when the father is going on in his journey if the child will not go on but stands gaping upon vanitie and when the father calls he comes not the onely way is this the father steps aside behind a bush and then the child runnes and cries and if he gets his father againe hee forsakes all his trifles and walkes on faster and more cheerefully with his father than ever So when the Lord Iesus Christ sometimes makes knowne himselfe to us and would carry us on in a Christian course cheerefully we are playing with trifles and grow carelesse and cold and worldly and remisse in prayer and dead-hearted the onely way to quicken us up is to hide himselfe and to make us give our selves for lost and then they that could scarcely pray once a weeke now will pray three or foure times aday Thirdly and lastly the Lord doth hide himselfe in his infinite wisedome and fatherly care by way of prevention that his servants and children might not fall into some evill Hee will not bestow the sense and sweetnesse of his favour upon them lest they should bee proud thereof and pranke up themselves in regard of their priviledges and bee carried with contempt of the weaknesse of their fellow brethren nay if they had that which they desired there were no living with them therefore the Lord in his care and goodnesse is faine to hold them to hard-meat and to keepe them to a spare diet Hee seeth it
cares not what become of Christ though the word be opposed though he takes rebellious courses and throwes out Christ he cares not Is this to make preparation for Christ or to make opposition against Christ Nay when men come to faires and markets oh what preparation is there then for covetousnesse on every side Some prepare false weights others false measures The seller saith It is exceeding good when it is starke naught The buyer saith It is naught it is naught when it is good and so both dishonour God Nay which is most lamentable men prepare for drunkennesse Oh say they at such a faire we will be merry then every Ale-house is full of bad company they resolue to sit at the pot from morning till night untill they goe reeling about the streets There is great preparation in this kind Nay men will remove some sins that others may come in their roomes and they wil perform some good duties to make them free for sin this is a very cunning tricke You shall see a man that will read and pray and heare Sermons and make a great profession and what is his purpose herein namely that he may have praise or profit thereby that he may get the better custome to his shop that hee may cheat without controlment that he may cousen without division or distraction I beseech you thinke of these things If it bee so that Christ must be thus prepared for before he will come then examine your owne soules and reason with your selves thus what have I done have I sold my soule to doe evill I have dreamed that I might have Christ at a becke and not bee prepared for him and therefore it is I that have not received him Will any man sow his seed before the ground be plowed Will any man build before the foundation bee laid Doe we thinke that the Lord wil reare up the building of grace in our hearts before the foundation be laid Will he sow the seed of grace in our hearts before our fallow grounds be plowed up Doe we thinke that Christ will come and take possession of our hearts before our sinnes and lusts be removed and abandoned Doe we thinke our soules can receive and entertaine the Lord Iesus before they bee prepared for him Impossible Vse 3 The third Use is to exhort you and to in treat you in the bowels of the Lord Iesus Prepare for Christ or thinke not to enjoy him Mat. 3.3 that you would suffer the voice of exhortation even the voice of Iohn Baptist to sound in your eares Prepare yee the way of the Lord make his paths straight If ever you thinke to share in the salvation that Christ hath purchased with his owne blood if ever you thinke to partake of any thing that Christ hath wrought if you would have him dwell with with you and doe good to you either prepare for him or else never expect him And here that you may deale wisely consider the hinderances and obstacles that keepe Christ from comming Are your hearts prepared Christ is marvellous ready to come onely he watcheth the time till your hearts be ready to receive and entertaine him Marke that phrase Mal. 3.1 it is marvellous comfortable there the Text saith The Lord whom yee seeke will suddenly come to his Temple Doe but get hearts fitted and souls prepared for Christ doth but wait for a message If the soule bee but broken and humbled he will come presently and not breake an haire with you Truely this preparation is the very entrance into salvation and therefore take notice of it Men are loath to leave all for Christ in this case they are loath to lose their profits and pleasures their lusts and corruptions they are like Inne-keepers they are loath to thrust their profitable guests out of their houses they would bee loath to hinder themselves that way yea and though the King were to come thither they would secretly wish that his Maiesty would turne another way so it is a hard matter for men to dis-lodge all profits and pleasures and to vomit up those sweet morsels and beloved corruptions that Christ might come into their soules Some poore soule may speak to me as the Devill did to Christ Why art thou come to torment mee before my time so many men will be ready to say Why doth the Lord Iesus come to torment us before our times What must we now abandon all our profits and pleasures if we will receive Christ They could secretly wish that Christ would goe another way It is a very hard thing to bring the soule thus to be divorced from corruptions it is very hard when a man must give a bill of divorcement and never see the face of his corruptions more this is very hard with a poore sinner Motives to prepare for Christ And therefore the Arguments to move us hereunto had need be forcible and maybe taken from two grounds first from the consideration who we are that must receive Christ secondly who Christ is that is to be received First let us consider our selves 1. We are unworthy to receive such a guest a company of poore sinfull wretched miserable and damned creatures sinfull dust and ashes dead dogs Consider this and thinke with thy selfe Will the Lord of heaven come downe Will Christ dwell in my heart Will hee vouchsafe to looke in yea to call as hee goeth by the soule of mee such a sinfull creature And let this move thee to prepare for his comming If a King will but call at a poore mans window as he rideth by hee will count it a great favour much more it is for the great God of heaven and earth but to looke in and reveale himselfe unto the heart of a poore sinfull creature Wee are not worthy that the Lord should come under our roofe 1 Kings 8.27 there Solomon saith Will God indeed dwell on the earth will he dwell in a house made with hands As if he should say Is it possible can it bee imagined that thou Lord being the great God of heaven whom the heaven of heavens cannot containe shouldst once vouchsafe to dwell in a house made with hands in the Temple which I have builded And what may we say Is it so can it be shall it be that God will come and dwell under our roofe that hee will come and dwell in our rotten and sinfull hearts that hee will dwell in our wretched and sinfull soules Why he will he hath said it he hath promised it he will performe it and therefore let us consider our owne unworthinesse to receive Christ as a motive to stirre us up to make preparation for him For the baser the place is that should entertaine him the greater the preparation ought to be Wee ought to wonder that the Lord will vouchsafe to come into our sinfull soules and therefore we had need to prepare the more for his comming The Lord hath promised to come into our soules if wee humble
liberty For the first I told you that the maine which wee aimed at is to take notice how the soule may come to have an interest and a title to Christ and how to come to be possessed of him and of all that great redemption which he hath wrought Now the application of this discovers it selfe in two things first there must be a preparation secondly there must be an ingrafting of the soule into Christ before the heart can come to be partaker of that sap or of that saving grace which is in Christ and which will flow from him to all that have any interest in him through faith There must be a preparation before the sinner can come to receive Christ For as before conversion he wanted grace so hee is not capable in the next passive power to receive grace For as the Apostle saith the carnall man is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be for the naturall man perceives not the things of the Spirit of God nay 1 Cor. 2 14. he cannot receive them because they are foolishnesse to him So that there must be a preparation of the soule before Christ will come and take possession of it and an emptying of the soule before Christ will fill it Now this preparation made it selfe known Preparation for Christ stands in two things as you remember in two particulars first in the dispensation of the worke on Gods part that is the Lord drawes the sinner from himselfe and his corruption and breakes that cursed league and combination that is between sin the soule he rends the heart from it for as our Saviour Christ saith No man can come to the Son except the Father draw him Iohn 6.44 Secondly as the dispensation on Gods part so there is something for the disposition which God workes upon the hearts of all that he will prepare for Christ and that is known in two workes contrition and humiliation which we have already handled Two things keepe from Christ These were not things of meere complement but of necessity required as wee haue disputed and it is requisite that the soule have both the workes of contrition and of humilation For there are two maine hinderances which keepe the soule off from Christ as first security in his owne estate whereby the heart is blinded and deluded and sets up his stand and is at rest and quiet in his condition and hee seeth no need of any better and from hence naturall men thinke it needlesse for Ministers to disquiet them and they say What would you have done by us And they thinke it a matter of curiositie either to have their hearts changed or their lives reformed Now therefore the Lord sends in this worke of contrition and pierceth the heart thorow and lets in the horrour of his vengeance and makes the soule see that if he will have his sin he must have his damnation too and by this time the soule comes to see need of a change and hee seeth if he continue thus he is an undone man and shall be damned for ever Thus the Lord pluckes away the soule from that securitie wherein naturally it is setled The second thing which keeps him off from Christ is carnall confidence for when the sinner seeth his misery by reason of his sin that lodgeth in his heart and that hath been committed by him then he begins to seeke succour and to scramble for his owne comfort Well he seeth that sin is dangerous and he will mend now and reforme all that God condemnes him in and he thinkes ovt of his owne power to save his owne soule and to give God content and to make amends for all that he hath done amisse This is his carnall confidence which he hath in his owne selfe-sufficiency and here many thousands of soules perish resting meerly in the huske and shell of their prayers and hearing which in themselves are good and commendable but they are no Mediatours or Saviours to us Therefore that the Lord may plucke the soule from this carnall confidence he sends out another great worke of humiliation and makes the soule see the weaknesse and emptinesse of its duties and that there is enough in its best services to condemne him and for which the Lords wrath may confound him for ever And now the soule seeth that notwithstanding all his prayers and hearings yet his sin remaines yea remaines unpardoned his corruptions are not subdued his conscience not quieted and therefore despairing of all help in himselfe or in the creature he falls down at the foot of the Lord and is content to be at Gods dispose and when the soule is thus fitted then it is prepared to goe out of it selfe and to lay hold upon the Lord Iesus Christ and upon the fountain of all that good that works all good in him This humiliation works and this is the fitting of the soule for Christ Thus farre we have gone all this while the poore sinner is like the children of Israel travelling in the wildernesse partly in the valley of teares and partly in the vast wildernesse they did not immediately come into the Land of Canaan but were wandring under the hands of Moses which was a type of the Law and Ioshua a type of Iesus Christ and Egypt the resemblance of a mans misery under sin and Sathan and their wandring in the wildernesse was like the humbling and breaking of the soule that the Lord may doe it good Now wee are just upon the coasts of Canaan and hard by all those spirituall good things that Christ hath purchased for us and when the soule is thus fitted and prepared there is nothing to bee done but to goe into the good land and take possession I meane when the heart is thus rent from himselfe and his corruption then he must lay hold upon Christ and enter into the good Land but before we goe we must haue the command of our spiritual Ioshua to set us in possession of it Thus you see the soule is like a graft cut off from the old stock by contrition and also pared and fitted by humiliation in regard of any selfe-sufficiency Now the nex part that we are to handle is the ingraffing of the soule into Christ and I will doe two things in the handling of this great work of ingraffing First I will discover the generall nature of this worke leaving all the difficulties and particulars of it till afterward See it in the 2. Doctrine if God give liberty secondly I will shew you how the soule is ingraffed into Christ 1. What this ingraffing is What ingraffing into Christ is This being in Christ may be thus described to you It is a worke of the Spirit of God whereby the humbled sinner stands possessed of Christ and all the good that is in Christ In this description you may take notice of three things which are the speciall guides to you for the vnderstanding of that which we will
they would take up a better course and be more holy before God and yeeld obedience to him in his Word and the Minister biddeth them take a farewell of their pleasures and profits and they thinke wee invite them to losse now all the while that a poore sinner quiets his heart in this condition it is meerely impossible in the course of providence nay it is a flat contradiction that ever grace should be bestowed upon that soule or that ever faith should come there For faith purgeth the heart wheresoever it comes as the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 5.17 All things are become new all old things are passed away There must be a new frame of the heart and a new course of life and conversation Now for the soule to approve of its condition and yet desire to goe out of it these two cannot stand together in reason and therefore know that while people please themselves in this condition and let the Minister say what the will and let God reveale what hee will still they thinke they cannot be in a better estate I say it is impossible that ever upon these termes faith should come into the heart for faith will bring a change Therefore when the Lord will doe good to a soule hee will make him see his sinnes and make him weary of them and tire him with the sense of his condition and shew him the necessity of faith and that he must be a new man and then he is content to take that way whereby he may be better disposed of by the Spirit of God In the Gospell the phrase is this Mat. 9.12 The whole need not the Physitian He thinkes himselfe well and therefore what need he goe to Physick And it is so in common reason No man can reare up a new house but he must first pull downe the old If a man be fish-whole what need doth he see of Christ as many people see no need of this humbling and this strictnesse and they thinke they love God in their owne apprehension and therefore they quiet themselves in that condition But God will plucke downe this old frame and then there is a way to build a new frame in the heart Before the heart is broken the soule would not bee otherwise and therefore it cannot be content to be under the power of faith which would worke a change of the heart The second maine hinderance of faith is this 2. Let. To seeke a sufficiencie at home Suppose the soule were sensible of its condition and were wounded and broken and could bee content to have ease and reliefe yet the soule seeketh for succour from its owne sufficiencie and when as the Word hath discovered our condition unto us and now we see we have need of reliefe we have recourse to some shift of our owne And this doth wonderfully crosse and oppose faith nay faith cannot come into the soule till the Lord undermine this corruption of heart This is a fruit of Adams rebellion for when the Lord put into his hands a stocke of grace that hee was made perfectly happy and righteous and able to doe whatsoever God commanded while hee continued in this estate of innocencie hee needed not to goe out of himselfe to find succour and reliefe he had no need of Christ This is the sinfull temper that hangeth upon all the posteritie of Adam that though fallen from God we will scramble for our owne comfort and doe what wee can by our owne strength to procure comfort and ease and shelter to our owne soules in the day of distresse Happely God layeth a man upon his sicke bed and awakeneth his conscience and in this condition men will promise and resolve any thing that if God would spare them they would doe any dutie to get Gods favour toward them and they thinke it is some outward reformation of some ungodly practises that will give God contentment and so they rest in themselves still And hence it is that after a great deale of horror of conscience in conclusion they fall backe to their old courses or else they content themselves with an outward and overly reformation of life and take up a calme civilized course till they come to their death-bed and then their hearts faile them and the reason is this because the heart was never throughly humbled And it may be a man thinkes if he shall now pray and heare and doe some duties then all will bee well never seeing an utter insufficiencie in himselfe that hee may receive mercie from the Lord. This is the lowest and last hinderance of all and there is nothing more crosse to faith than this It is commonly the shift that Satan puts upon men in their troubles meerely to make them doe something out of their good parts and good gifts and there to rest themselves and so to sinke downe into the Pit before they bee aware Now this crosseth the worke of faith By faith the soule goeth out to another for all-sufficiencie for the nature of faith is this it is the going out of the soule to another and to see all sufficiencie in another and to fetch all from another To have supply in a mans selfe and to see all-sufficiencie in Christ these two cannot stand together So that while the soule is thus possessed with his owne sufficiencie to procure ease to himselfe it is certaine this stops the worke of faith and hinders the pouring in of faith into the soule whereby you should goe wholly out of your selves and fetch all from Christ Therefore marke now what followes As contrition tooke away the former hinderance so the Lord hath this worke of humiliation whereby hee shuts backe this bolt and makes him to see an utter inabilitie in himselfe to procure or receive any good For there are many sinnes which formerly he hath committed and many weaknesses and wants whereof he is guilty Now when this is done then the barre is removed and the lets taken away by these two contrition and humiliation Consider that place 1 Cor. 3.18 If any man would be wise hee must be a foole that he may be wise and if any man will be made rich hee must see himselfe poore and if any man will have succour in his miserie he must see himselfe unable to relieve himselfe and then the Lord will doe it for him There cannot be faith in the soule if either of these doe remaine in the soule still Now these being taken away the soule is fit to receive the worke of faith Simile As it is with a man that would take a graft from a tree and graft it into a new stocke first it must be cut off from the old and then secondly be pared and made fit for the other so it is here all the sinfull sonnes of men grow upon the root of Adams rebellion and wee prosper and thrive there Adam was the old and wild Olive and Christ the true Vine and the new Olive Now before wee
can be transplanted from the old Olive into the true Olive God must first cut us off from our old sinnes by contrition and secondly pare us and fit us by humiliation and then wee are fit to be ingrafted into Christ Where these two graces are wrought the soule cannot be void of faith and as surely as God is in heaven hee will undoubtedly poure faith into the soule So the substance is this If by this brokennesse of heart and this contrition and humiliation of spirit the two maine barres and lets of faith are removed then it is necessary that God worke this in the soule But the first part is cleered and marvellous plaine and therefore the other cannot be denied If you will be in your sinnes and in yoâ—rselves you cannot be in Christ you cannot bee in your selves and in Christ too This is enough for the first argument and it is the life of the point 2. This brokennesse of heart is marvellous necessary Reas 2 because by this meanes faith is preserved For when the heart is truly broken there followes this thing The soule prizeth faith and Christ and is thankfull for the least mercy God giveth Hee that stands in need will be thankfull for any mercy or favour as in Psal 35.10 All my bones shall say Lord who is like unto thee Me thinkes I see David in his distresse besieged with many miseries and when the Lord had eased him and freed him see how hee reasons with himselfe O Lord the heart that thou hast healed this broken spirit that thou hast bound up nay all these bones which were once shattered all to pieces thou hast set them againe and they shall say Lord who is like unto thee As if hee had said Here is mercy indeed for mine heart hath found it and mine eye hath seene it and mine hands and all my bones can say Lord who is like unto thee Before he was burthened with his sins and now he prizeth mercy wonderfully One dramme of faith is worth a hundred thousand worlds to a weary burthened soule As it was with the Iewes they had a yeare of Iubilee wherein every servant was set free and every bondman and every debtour set at libertie this is nothing else but the yeare of the Gospell The acceptable yeare of the Lord Esa 91 2. and the glad tydings of Salvation that is offered to all in the same The Master or hee that lent the money cared not for this yerre but the servant and the borrowers they only longed for that yeare and for that day that they might be delivered So it is here with a poore soule he that never felt the burthen nor the bondage of sinne cares not for the glad tydings of the Gospell but the poore oppressed creature that hath beene in the house of bondage by Satan tempting and his owne sinfull heart plaguing him when the day of salvation is offered he receives it thankfully And as the soule prizeth grace so it will hardly part with it when it hath it because it was got with so much difficulty We use to say Lightly come lightly goe but when the soule hath gotten faith with so much difficulty and had many troubles of soule before ever God gave an assured evidence of his love and favour hee will not suffer sinne or Satan to plucke it away Oh it cost him many a heavie heart and many a troublesome day before he got a little mercy and shall hee now part with it for a little pleasure or profit that he will never doe Then it is very reasonable that God should wound a man and breake his heart to make him taste his meat and to relish mercy Thus you see the heart must bee broken and humbled before the Lord Christ will come to dwell therein Now what 's the Use Vse 1 The first Use is for reproofe Of reproofe to them that would have comfort without brokennesse of heart and it checks the opinion and practice of two sorts of people If this be Gods way that before he will come into the soule he must have the heart fitted and prepared the house must bee ayred then I say it confutes the conceits of a company of carnall persons that bee in the world 1. The meere civill Professour that would sleepe in a whole skinne hee could be content to have heaven and mercy and hee hopeth he is in the right way but this melting of the soule and this bruising of the heart is more than God requireth or more than God looketh for onely he hath invented a new way and a shorter cut to heaven than ever God revealed Hee thinkes some melancholy man only may bee troubled and perplexed but otherwise it is not that which God requireth at the hands of men And therefore after a sleepie kind of profession without any life or power or soundnesse he goes on Iob 21.13 They spend their dayes in ease saith the Text and in a moment goe downe to hell There are a world of poore sinners that are thus deluded and because God hath given them some restraining grace to keepe them within compasse therefore they goe on in a kind of chearfull contentednesse and thinke that all is well And when they come to their sicke-beds In sicknesse false comfort fayleth they have nothing to say for themselves nay we cannot force comfort upon them for then they flie out and say it is not for them And if wee tell them of what they have done and that they have made a faire profession and have prayed and done many duties and beene well accounted of and so forth see what they answer It is true I have done this or that but this is onely the outside but oh this heart of mine was never broken truely onely I reformed my selfe outwardly and made a profession indeed but the bottome was never truly laid As it is in sailing so it is in living Though a man have a faire calme day and see the Sunne yet this will not bring him to the haven he must have a wind to drive the ship So it is with many a sinfull creature in the world hee puts forth to Sea and he will needes goe to heaven and taketh a sweet kinde of sleepie lazie course and will reforme himselfe outwardly but his heart was never broken nor humbled hee will never be landed before hee was never tossed Tossed hee must bee and that with some violence too but this man that was never troubled shall never bee comforted I have observed it as it was in the materiall Temple which Solomon built all the stones were hewed and polished before they were put in the building so here Christ is the Temple and every true Christian is a stone for it as the Apostle Peter saith 1 Pet. 2.5 Ye also as liuely stones be made a spiritual house Will the stones come close together in any building except first they be hewed and fitted or wil the heart ever come to close with God
ashamed of the former abuse of Gods graces and the many abominations harboured and liked Now marke what God answers in that place Verse 20. Is Ephraim my deare sonne is hee a pleasant child as if the Lord had said Since I spake to him I still remember him all the while that the Lord let in the fiercenesse of his wrath into his soule he earnestly remembred him I saw all his desires and I observed all his teares and my bowels are towards that poore hungry and longing sinner that longs for my goodnes in Iesus Christ and I will shew mercy to him This is the behaviour of the Lord to the soule and of the soule to the Lord again Thus you see the reason of the order of Gods worke love is like the Host that welcomes the guest and delight and joy is like the Chamberlaine that waites upon the guest This is the very guise of the heart Now in the second place I come to the Motiues or that spirituall good Gods promise the ground of our love and how whereby the promise comes to worke this First what is it in the promise Secondly how comes the promise to work this in the hear◠and then we have the whole frame of the worke opened I answer for the opening of the point and the discovery of the truth in hand consider thus much It is when the spirit of God in the promise lets in some intimation of Gods love into the soule The weight lyes upon these two words Le ts in le ts in I say and conveyes some rellish of the loue of God into the heart when the Lord doth expresse any love and favour and goodnesse in that powerfull manner to the heart humbled and longing for his favour so that it doth prevaile with the soule and makes the soule to be affected with that rellish of his favour This is the ground of loue the certainty of a good stirreth up hope and the excellency of that good quickens up desire and the presence of this good kindles love there is a fulnesse that takes up all the whole frame of the work upon all the affections of the soule In Psal 42.8 it is said Psal 42.8 expounded The Lord will command his loving kindnesse in the day time what is that it is a phrase taken from kings and princes and great Commanders in the field whose words of command stand for lawes so the Lord shall send out his loving kindnesse and say Goe out my everlasting love and and kindnesse take a commission from me and goe to that humble thirsty and hunger-bitten sinner and goe and prosper and prevaile and settle my love effectually upon him and fasten my mercy upon him I command my loving kindnesse to doe it The Lord doth put a Commission into the hands of his loving kindnesse that it shall do good to the poore soule yea though he withdraw his soule saying what I mercy will Iesus Christ accept of me No no there is no hope of mcrcy for me Indeed if I could pray thus and heare thus and performe duties with that enlargement and had those parts and abilities then there were some comfort but now there is no hope of mercy for me We demand Is this your case is it thus and thus Yes you are thus humbled and have thus longed for the riches of his mercy in Christ haue you not Yes Then say we grace and mercy is yours I cannot thinke it saith he what such a wretch as I goe to Heaven no no Heaven would rather fall then such a sinner as I should come to be received there Thus he puts off mercy and shuts the door against it and at the last cast when carnall reason builds up forts against mercy and sets up strong holds against comfort consolation and neither Word nor Minister can comfort them then the Lord I say is faine to put a commission into the hands of his loving kindnesse when the poore sinner hath bin sighing and longing and nothing will content him but Christ thē then the Lord gives out the commission and saith Goe home to that poore soule and breake open the doores upon that weary weltering heart and knocke off all those bolts and rend off that veile of ignorance and carnall reason and all base arguments goe I say to that soule and cheare it and warme it and tell him from mee that his sinnes are pardoned and his soule shall be saved and his sighes and his prayers are heard in Heaven and I charge you doe the worke before you come againe Here is the goodnesse of God to expresse himselfe thus mercifully in his Word to the soule if it were in mans power no comfort should ever come to the soule but the Lord blessed be his Name for it he commands his loving kindnesse to breake in upon him As it is with an High Sheriffe when a man will not deliver up quiet possession to the owner he comes with his men and breakes open all before him and will estate the man into his possession so this loving kindnesse is the Lords High Sheriffe and when a company of Rake-shames of carnall reason would keepe out mercy the Lord is faine to send his loving kindnesse with a commission to seaze upon the heart Now take notice of this the ground of a mans love is any good which expresseth his presence to him as a good to come was the ground of hope and the necessitie and excellencie of that good makes the soule to long after it so now when a good is not onely present but expresseth his presence and leaues a kind of remembrance upon the soule that stirres up love continually but this must be done before love will come As it is with the naturall body if that which lyes upon a man carries some weight with it then it is easily felt but if it bee marvellous light it may lye upon us and wee not perceive it as a feather a flye or the like and if there comes any weight that affects the hand either wet or cold or warmth then hee feeles it but if it be light hee perceives it not as a mote may bee on the face and not be felt nor seene so love in the soule is like this touching of the body Now when loving kindnesse is not set on upon the soule and when it leaves no expression in the soule the heart cannot be affected with it nor returne that joy and delight that otherwise it would doe so that there must be a present good and a good expressing it selfe to the heart and affecting the heart therewith and then this love comes to God againe Gods love affecting the heart and setled upon it it breeds a love to God againe that is the ground which S. Iohn speaketh of 1 Ioh. 4 19. Wee love him because he loved us first As I told you in the example of the burning-glasse it must receive the heat of the beames of the Sunne before it can burne any
publike affaires and they are of great force to make him do any thing and this is ever in his mouth that the generall good may goe on and if good may be done to the Church that 's all he cares for The bottome of the businesse is this there is a good living that he must keepe and a private good that he aimes at hee pretends a generall good but he aimes at his owne good Wretch that he is he labours onely to give contentment to his honours and ease and credit but hee gives no contentment to the Lord Jesus In 1 Sam. 15.21 Saul comes to meete Samuel and sayes I have performed the commandement of the Lord Hast thou No God had thee kill the Amalekites and thou hast not done it Oh saith he The people spared the best of the sheepe and of the oxen to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God he would pretend to do God a courtesie He doth not pretend his own good and benefit but the publike good the worship and service of God and therefore he saith They have saved them for to sacrifice to the Lord and in the meane time hee wrongs God and neglects his service As some great Courtier will doe with a plaine Countrey-man hee useth him very lovingly pretends great kindnesses till at last he so deludes him that he thinkes he doth him a great favour not to doe the thing which hee askes at his hands so the hypocrite thinkes with himself what great honour God may receive and what good the people of God may have from him but that is not the thing hee lookes after hee would make God and Christ believe he doth them a courtesie not to doe the duty they require of him But the Lord Jesus is wiser than to be thus couzened by a wretch and therefore Samuel saith vers 22. Obedience is better than sacrifice and to hearken then the fat of rams so when a wretch saith What great good may Gods people have by this and what glory may come to God c. the Lord Jesus will say to all such No no have I so much delight in sacrifice cannot I promote my glory without your lie take your lies and your sins and go down to hel together Discoveries of not loving Christ Secondly observe the prankes whereby he discovers himselfe to have no love to the Lord Jesus and they are three First the maine guise of the spirit is this In the multiplicities of opinions he will be sure to joyne with that side that may make for his owne ends though he know not the men that hold it he saith many men many mindes therefore I thinke as such and such thinke his meaning is this he is resolved to doe that which he thinkes may be most beneficiall to him therefore it is enough that any man doth as hee would have him because he would doe so though he had no ground for it Secondly he will be loath to be studiously carefull in the diligent search after those things which he makes doubt of and though he will not say so yet marke what I say many in the anguish of conscience have confest so much As he is loath to inquire himselfe to know those truths so hee is unwilling to come into the society of such and to continue with those that he knowes to be of a contrary opinion to himselfe that will force him to a sad and serious consideration of his wayes and hee thinkes thus with himselfe If I be there they will be every man upon my crowne for they are ever in hand with such and such things so that while he is there he stands upon thornes and saith What if they should talk of this or that Thus it was with Ahab the wretched sottish king was not willing to heare Michaiah speake for hee knew what hee would say for when Jehosaphat said Is there not here a Prophet of the Lord besides that we might enquire of him Yes saith he there is one Michaiah but I hate him for he never prophecies good to me 1 King 22.7 8. Thus the young man Matth. 19. when hee heard that which was contrary to him went away sorrowfull whereas a good heart would have come sorrowfull and said I blesse the Lord for this mercy that I may live to heare of the hypocrisie of my heart Lord I desire a better opportunity to heare more of this matter my heart is worse than I imagined This hypocrite cannot endure to heare of that eare and if he be in the company he is weary of the speech and saith There is better communication and more usefull than this but the reason is he would not be troubled in his way Thirdly the guise of this wrangling hypocrite lyes here that if he be forced to a serious consideration of his way and opinion then he will enter upon the worke but it is very tediously he will pretend a faire hearing and consult on both sides but when he comes home he makes a secret conspiracy against the Lord Jesus Is it not so conscience he saith I am thus resolved that that is true which I would have either it is so or else I will make it so therefore let us agree upon it conscience In Act. 23.15 see what those wicked people said Yee with the Councell signifie unto the chiefe Captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow as though yee would enquire some thing more perfectly concerning him we or ever he come neere are ready to kil him Here they pretended a faire equall hearing and yet they intended another matter Such a course this hypocrite takes up against the truth of Christ he will talke and inquire of this the other as if he would know more of Gods will and read this and that book enquire of this Minister and that Christian but he is resolved never to be perswaded nor convinced of the truth of it Thus they break the neck of the truth and shall break their own necks in hell too In Acts 4.16 there is a great worke done that cannot be denied but let us take heede that it goe no further It is with these hypocrites as it was with the Scribes and Pharisees who though the glory of the truth shone upon them yet would they stop it and that it might get no hold upon them knocke off the fingers of it It is admirable to observe this hypocrites guise if there bee any man that will but say any thing that may tend to his way he applauds that man and delights much in him and though hee know no reason for it in his conscience yet he contents and satisfies himselfe but if there be never so good arguments to the contrary never so many reasons that cannot be gaine-sayd yet he is not satisfied neither can he be perswaded by all these arguments The reason is he is resolved to doe whatsoever hee hath purposed for his honour and safety and therefore it must bee lawfull that
doth Luke 19.27 Those mine enemies which would not that I should raigne over them bring hither and slay them before me He will say Bring hither that enemy of mine he hath opposed mee and grieved my spirit and sleighted my mercy bring my enemies hither not the Heathens or Pagans I regard not them so much but him that hath beene a hater of me and of my Gospel and then shalt thou see the intolerablenesse and unavoydablenesse of thy punishment Oh poore soule what wilt thou say or doe when thou art put to such a plunge as Josephs bowels did earne within him when hee talked with his brethren that he could forbeare no longer I wish that I had a heart to mourne in secret for thee I say what will become of thee poore wretch Happely thou wilt say there is mercy It 's true but thou hast hated that mercy which should save thee or wilt thou thinke that the blood and merits of the Lord Jesus will save thee thou hast trodden upon them Wilt thou say The good spirit of the Lord will prevaile with this wretched heart of mine with what heart canst thou crave aide from the spirit when thy owne conscience can say I have hated that good spirit of the Lord and that mercy which should save mee And when all is done and thou art come to the period goe your way home to your husbands and wives and mourn for them for there is neither mercy nor Christ for them for they also have hated him And when this is done imagine thou didst see the heavens opened and the fire melting round about thee and the Lord Christ coming in flaming fire rendering vengeance to all that obey not the Gospel lay thy hand upon thy breast say that 's I Lord that 's my husband or my childe he is come against us to render vengeance to them that have lived with mee and have opposed the Gospel and the riches of grace and of mercy in Jesus Christ Thinke of these in Gods name and labour to prevent them here that thou mayest bee freed from the punishment of them hereafter Love the Lord Jesus in sinceritie Use 4. The last use is for Exhortation Oh that God would please to worke our soules to this duty which the Saints take up and all of us ought to labour after You heare how the Lord works in the hearts of his and how they which are truely called of God have this love kindled in their hearts Oh therefore what remaines but onely this bee exhorted since you see the way to walke in it and since we see what the Saints of God have and doe let us labour to expresse this frame of heart that so the Lord Jesus may make us partakers of their hapnesse I say let us labour after it and when we have it expresse our loves to the Lord Jesus Christ as wee ought It was that which tooke up the heart of David Psal 18.1 when hee saith I will love thee deerely O Lord my strength As it is with a woman with child though the infant in the wombe have life yet the mothers love is not so great towards it till it bee borne but then she clasps her armes about it with much tendernesse so hee saith I will embrace the Lord with much love I will love him as if hee had said All the world shall not hinder mee but I will love him though I love not my selfe and hee perswades all the Saints of God to do the like Psa 31. 23. saying Love the Lord all ye his Saints who will you love if you love not him Oh you poore ones love you the Lord for you have need of him and all you rich ones love you the Lord for you have cause to doe it and you little ones too if there be any such in the congregation he knockes at every mans doore and perswades every mans heart and he deales faithfully with his Saints therefore if you have but this grace it is an undoubted argument that you are the Saints of God nay though out of thy blindnesse thou couldst never know the way to Christ and out of thy weakenesse thou couldst never close with Christ yet if thou wilt but love him thou shalt know him and be with him for ever 1 Joh. 4 12.16 No man hath seene God at any time God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him If thy heart be perswaded to continue in God and to be with God for ever then love him and he will dwell in thee for he is love it selfe for so saith the Apostle Love is of God Ob. Oh but some will say it is true we know it is fitting and we ought to doe it but it is a difficult thing and we are unable to doe it though we know it is requisite to be done To love the Lord Jesus we find is a difficult worke and hard although the world thinke it not so Ans I would to God you did finde it difficult and marke what I say that man never loved Christ aright who found it not difficult He that saith Oh such an one as will not love the Lord Jesus it is pitty he should live it is to be feared he did never love Jesus Christ aright Poore silly deluded creature it will cost thee hot water before that day yet when thou hast it it will quit all thy cost and labour Oh but some will say Means to love Christ what are the meanes to prevaile with us and how may wee draw our sturdy rebellious waiward hearts to this love of Jesus Christ I referre the meanes to these three heads 1. First there are some hinderances to be removed 2. Secondly labour to see the beauty and excellencie of Jesus Christ in the promise 3. Thirdly when the promise is come neere and the heart made empty then learne the skill to make the soule and the promise meet Meanes 1. First that you may love the Lord Christ there are some hinderances which lye upon the heart which are marvellous causes of dissention between Jesus Christ and the soule and these must be taken away Now the hinderances of this sort are these three Hinderance 1. The first is this To take off the soule from the love of these base things here below I beseech you observe it be marvellous wise that you lavish not out your soules upon these lying vanities for as it is with a streame Simile if the banke be cut and all the streame run that way then the proper chanell must needs lie dry because all the streame runs another way so is it with the streame of a mans affections if the stream of love joy be let out upon profits or pleasures or honours you cannot have spend you cannot have your affections still when you have spent them upon other things therefore bee sure to knocke them off from the world that you may give them wholly to the Lord.