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duty_n heart_n love_n soul_n 2,481 5 4.8280 4 true
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A90291 The stedfastness of promises, and the sinfulness of staggering: opened in a sermon preached at Margarets in Westminster before the Parliament Febr. 28. 1649. Being a day set apart for solemn humiliation throughout the nation. By John Owen minister of the Gospel. Owen, John, 1616-1683. 1650 (1650) Wing O808; Thomason E599_9; Thomason E618_7; ESTC R203108 32,151 58

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Scandal that would accrew Scandal to the Magistrates Scandal to the Ministers of this Generation in neglecting such an Opportunity of advancing the GOSPEL sleeping all the day whilest others sow Tares 3 Where will be the hoped the expected Consolation of this great Affaire when the Testimony and Pledge of the peculiar Presence of CHRIST amongst us upon such an ISSUE shall be wanting What then shall we do This Thing is often spoken of seldom driven to any close 1 Pray Pray the Lord of the Harvest That he would send out That he would thrust forth Labourers into his Harvest The Labourers are ready to say There is a Lyon in the way Difficulties to be Contended withal And to some men it is hard seeing a Call of GOD through Difficulties When if it would but cloath it self with a few Carnal Advantages how apparent is it to them They can see it through a little Cranny Be earnest then with the Master of these Labourers in whose hand is their life and breath and all their wayes That he would powerfully Constrain them to be willing to enter into the Fields that are White for the Harvest 2 Make such Provision That those who will go may be fenced from outward Straights and Fears so far as the uncertainty of humane Affairs in General and the present tumultuating perturbations will admit And let not I beseech you this be the business of an unpursued Order But 3 Let some be appointed Generals dye and sink by themselves to Consider this thing and to hear what sober PROPOSALS may be made by any whose Hearts God shall stir up to so good a Work This I say is a Work wherein God expecteth Faithfulness from you Stagger not at his Promises nor your own Duty However by all means possible in this Business I have strived to deliver my own Soul Once more to this of Faith let me stir you up to another Work of Love and that in the behalf of many poor perishing Creatures that want all Things needful for the sustentation of Life Poor Parentless Children that lye Begging Starving Rotting in the Streets and find no Relief Yea Persons of Quality that have lost their dearest Relations in your Service seeking for Bread and finding none Oh that some thoughts of this also might be seriously Committed to them that shall take care for the Gospel Vse 3 I desire now to make more particular Application of the Doctrine as to things purely Spiritual Until you know how to Believe for your own Souls You will scarcely know how to Believe for a Nation Let this then teach us To lay the burden and trouble of our Lives upon the right shoulder In our STAGGERINGS our Doubtings our Disputes we are apt to assign this and that Reason of them when the sole Reason indeed is our Unbelief Were it not for such a Cause or such a Cause I could Believe that is Were there no need of Faith That is Faith must remove the Mountains that lye in the way and then all will be plain It is not the greatness of Sin nor continuance in Sin nor backsliding into Sin that is the true Cause of thy Staggering whatever thou pretendest The removal of all these is from that Promise whose Stability and Certainty I before laid forth but solely from thy Unbelief That root of bitterness which springs up and troubles thee It is not the distance of the Earth from the Sun nor the Sun's withdrawing it self that makes a dark and gloomy day but the Interposition of Clouds and vaparous Exhalations Neither is thy Soul beyond the reach of the Promise nor doth God with-draw himself but the vapours of thy Carnal Unbelieving Heart do Cloud thee It is said of one place Christ could do no great Work there Why so For want of Power in him not at all but meerly for want of Faith in them it was because of their Vnbelief The Promise can do no great Work upon thy heart to humble thee to pardon to quiet thee Is it for want of Fulness and Truth therein not at all but meerly for want of Faith in thee that keeps it off Men complain That were it not for such things and such things they could Believe when it is their Uubelief that casts those rubs in the way As if a man should cast Nails and sharp Stones in his own way and say Verily I could run were it not for those Nails and Stones when he continues himself to cast them there You could believe were it not for these Doubts and Difficulties these staggering perplexities when alass they are all from your Unbelief Vse 4 See the sinfulness of all those staggering doubts and perplexities wherewith many poor souls have almost all their thoughts taken up Such as is the Root such is the Fruit If the Tree be evil so will the fruit be also Men do not gather Grapes from brambles What is the Root that bears this Fruit of Staggering Is it not the evil Root of Vnbelief And can any good come from thence Are not all the Streams of the same Nature with the Fountain If that be bitter can they be sweet If the Body be full of Poyson will not the Branches have their Venome also Surely if the Mother Unbelief be the Mouth of Hell the Daughters Staggerings are not the Gates of Heaven Of the Sin of Vnbelief I shall not now speak at large It is in Sum The Vniversal Opposition of the Soul unto God All other Sins arise against some thing or other of his revealed Will Only Vnbelief sets up it self in a direct Contradiction to all of him that is known Hence the weight of Condemnation in the Gospel is constantly laid on this Sin He that believeth not on him the wrath of God abideth he shall be damned Now as every drop of Sea-water retains the brackishness and saltnesse of the whole so every staggering Doubt that is an issue of this Unbelief hath in it the unsavouriness and distastefulness unto God that is in the whole Further to give you a little light into what acceptance our staggering thoughts find with the Lord according to which must be our Esteem of all that is in us Observe that 1 They grieve him 2 They provoke him 3 They dishonor him 1 Such a frame grieves the Lord Nothing more presses true Love then to have any Appearance of Suspition Christ comes to Peter and asks him Simon Son of Jonas lovest thou me Joh. 21. 15. Peter seems glad of an opportunity to confess him and his love to him whom not long since he had denyed and Answers readily Yea Lord thou knowest that I love thee But when Christ comes with the same Question again and again the holy Ghost tells us Peter was grieved because he said unto him the 3d time Lovest thou me It exceedingly troubled Peter That his Love should come under so many Questionings which he knew to be sincere The Love of Christ to his is infinitely beyond the Love of his