Lord. Thou shalt forget thy miserie and remember it as waters that are past Thy happinesse and comfort shall be so entire and unmixed so absolute and overflowing that the very remembrance of former miseries and terrors shall be drowned and devoured in the excesse and excellencie of that even as the travels of a woman in her joyes for a new-borne sonne Or if it be that thy former discomforts sometimes steale into thy minde they shall not be able to rest or remaine there by reason of the predominancie of spirituall pleasures but glide away as swiftly as the head-long streame of the most hastie Torrent Thine age also shall appeare more cleare than the Noone-day thou shalt shine and be as the Morning The Morning is the very Crowne of Time and the beautie of the Day the Poets call it the Rosie-finger'd Morning When they labour to describe corporall Beautie to the life and set it out in the best perfection and freshest colours that the utmost power and highest straine of wit and art can possibly devise they take their Metaphors and amplifications from the ruddinesse and brightnesse of the Morning And yet thou shalt be as faire as the Morning with all Divine Graces spirituall brightnesse and beautie of thy Soule nay a Soule set thicke with spirituall Graces is farre more faire than the Firmament with all those Eyes of Gold and fairest Lampes that shine from it Neither shalt thou be onely as the Morning but as the Morning Sunne thou shalt rise higher and higher in degrees of holinesse and strength of Grace untill thou commest to the highest point of perfection in this Heaven upon Earth the Kingdome of Grace And after thou hast finished thy course and left behind thee the comfortable heat of thy gracious zeale much Light from thy good example and the sweet influence of thy holy life upon thy death-bed thou shalt sett with the sweetest and brightest beames of all heavenly comfort into the immeasurable Ocean of endlesse joyes Thou shalt be bold because there is hope and thou shalt digge Pits and shalt lye downe safely Thou shalt be assured of Heaven and a Crowne of Glory hereafter that thou shalt walke through this Valley of Miserie like a Lyon nor Devill nor man nor beast nor any creature shall affright or amaze thee Cast thine eyes supernaturally enabled and enlarged with the Light of Faith from East to West into the bottome of Hell and glory of Heaven and thou shalt clearely see that all is thine by the purchase right and conquest of the Sonne of God The stones in the street shall be at league with thee the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee The creatures shall be all sworne to thy safetie the purest spirits the ministers of God shall be thy Guardians Saints and Angels are alreadie in thy sight Immortalitie hath lengthened thy dayes and the glory of God is before thee in a Glasse When thou doest take thy rest none shall make thee afraid yea many shall make suit unto thee When the darkenesse of the Night encompasseth thee thou shalt not be affrighted with terrors and apparitions when blacknesse and silence the habitation of feares and astonishment shall pitch round about thee thou shalt be lightsome with inward comfort when all thy Sences the scouts and watch-men for discovering dangers and preserving thy safetie shall be locked up his providence that neither slumbers nor sleepes shall tenderly and carefully watch over thee Whether thou die or live whether thou sleepe or wake thou art the Lords And therefore when thou sleepest thou shalt not be afraid and when thou sleepest thy sleepe shall be sweet Thou shalt not feare for any sudden feare neither for the destruction of the wicked when it commeth for the Lord shall be for thy assurance and shall keepe thy foot from being caught Yea many shall make suit unto thee Thou shalt be so encompassed with the blessings of God so protected from above so high in Gods favour that many will come for shadow and shelter unto thee they will looke for reliefe and comfort under the shadow of thy wings thy power and authoritie shall be a refuge and repose for oppressed and disgraced innocencie All these blessings and a thousand moe are built upon a through preparation of the heart as upon the first foundation stone Preparation is the very first step to all these degrees and height of happinesse But on the contrarie part if a man neglect preparing his heart praying unto God forsaking his sinnes reforming his family let him looke for nothing but Curses and Plagues But the eyes of the wicked saith Iob shall faile and their refuge shall perish and their hope shall be sorrow of minde They thinke their formall and customarie service of God will serve the turne and thereupon with great greedinesse and confidence expect and looke for the salvation of their soules after this life but they shall waile and gaze untill their eyes sinke into their holes and yet shall never be able to taste of true comfort They may crie untill their tongues cleave to the roofe of their mouth with the foolish Virgins Lord Lord open unto us Math. 25. but the Gate of everlasting happinesse shall for ever be shut against them They may struggle and strive by the strength of their good meanings and formall Christianitie to enter in at the strait Gate but shall never be able Their refuge shall perish They have stayed themselves upon broken staves of Reed and â—ow they will runne into their hands and hearts too unto their vexation and horror And their hope shall be sorrow of minde Their end shall be despaire and horrible confusion I have stayed long upon the motives and inducements to preparation before we come to the hearing of the Word or undergoe any sacred bâ—sinesse and upon the necessitie blessings and benefits of so holy a dutie The reason is I would gladly stirre you up and my selfe too to a through and constant practise and performance of it and because the neglect and omission of it is the cause that the Ministerie of the Word is not onely fruitlesse and in vaine unto thousands but which is a fearefull thing the savour of death unto death unto them I come now to the speciall points considerable in preparation before wee present our selves in this place to the hearing of the Word This preparation is an holy action or exercise which by examination of our Consciences purgation of our hearts prayer unto God and private reading the Scriptures maketh our soules fit Vessels to receive and entertaine the spirituall Treasures of Grace and food of eternall Life offered and tendered unto us by the Ministerie of the Word that so they may be the more effectually and fruitfully wrought upon and happily subdued to the power and practice thereof In this preparation I consider and require especially these foure things first Examination
the comforts of Heaven in the life to come Now I come to a more speciall and particular consideration of every Verse in order and thence togather such Notes and Doctrines as may best instruct us in the way to Heaven First David tells us in the first Verse That Gods Word is a Lanterne to his feet and a Light unto his paths Which that you may better understand I will tell you the meaning of the words and explaine unto you the severall tearmes First the Word may be taken three wayes 1 For the substantiall Word of God the second Person in the Trinitie Ioh. 1. 1. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God 2 It may be taken for the written and sounding Word as it onely strikes the eare and informes the understanding but it is not conveyed neither sinkes it into the heart by the powerfull assistance and sanctified concurrence of Gods Spirit it being not prayed for to the conversion and sanctification of the whole man And so the Word is heard and understood of many that shall never be saved but returnes unfruitfull 3 It may be taken for the working and effectuall Word as it is the power of God unto salvation as it is rightly understood applyed unto the heart and Conscience possest of the thoughts and affections and practised in the life and conversation This Word thus understood inlived managed and powerfully applyed by the Spirit of God was a Light unto Davids steps and so is a guide unto the paths of all true Christians to the worlds end That you may understand how the Word is a Light you must consider 1 That Christ is called Light Ioh. 1. 4. The Ministers are called the Light of the World Mat. 5. 14. The faithfull are Lights Phil. 2. 15 16. The way of the righteous saith Salomon Prov. 4. 18. shineth as the Light that shineth more and more vnto the perfect day The Word of God is also called a Light as in this place But first Christ is Light of himselfe and originally he is the Fountaine and everlasting Spring of all the Light of Grace and Glory both in Heaven and Earth Hee is called The Sunne of Righteousnesse The Sunne you know hath his Light rooted in his owne faire Body and receives that from none other and with that hee enlightens the Moone the Starres the Aire the Earth all the World Even so the blessed Sonne of God the Sunne of Righteousnesse hath in himselfe and from himselfe the Light of all Wisdome and Knowledge Mercie and Comfort and from him floweth and springeth whatsoever Light of Glory is revealed unto his blessed Saints and Angels in Heaven or whatsoever Light of Grace is shed into the hearts of his sonnes and servants here upon Earth 2 The Preachers of the Word are Ministers and Messengers of this Light and therefore are but Light ministerially They are as the Starres and so they are called Rev. 1. 20. They receive all their Light from the Sunne of Righteousnesse CHRIST IESVS and either doe or should convey and cast their borrowed beames upon the earthly cold and darksome hearts of the people of God that they might turne from Darkenesse to Light from the power of Sathan unto God Act. 26. 18. 3 The Word is Light instrumentally which being powerfully sanctified unto us for our salvation and being holden out unto us by a conscionable Ministerie is as a Candle or Torch to guide us through the darknesse of this World unto our eternall Rest 4 Lastly the faithfull are Lights Subjectivè because they receive this Light into their Vnderstandings whereby they see the Wonders of Gods Law the Secrets of his Kingdome and the great Mysterie of Godlinesse and the way to Heaven into their Consciences whereby they have their sinfull miserable estate by nature discovered unto them and the way to Christ for remedie and salvation into their affections whereby they are enkindled with zeale for Gods truth honour and service into their actions and conversation whereby they shine as Lights in the World amid a naughtie and crooked generation Phil. 2. 15. And after the Sunne of Righteousnesse once arise in their hearts like the Sunne in the Firmament they shine more and more in all holy Vertues unto the perfect day untill they reach the height of Heaven and the full glory of the Saints of God In the third place by Feet is meant his minde and understanding his affections thoughts actions his whole life all his wayes All these in David were guided by the Light of Gods Word Lastly by Paths are meant every particular step every turning and narrow passage in his speciall calling For this Light the Word of God doth not onely guide a mans feet into the way of peace and put him in the right way to Heaven but also goes along with him inlightens and directs every step that his feet doe not slide It so informes him with spirituall wisedome that hee layes hold on every occasion for the glorifying of God descries every little sinne and appearance of evill disposeth every circumstance in his actions with a good conscience and warrant out of Gods Word This then is the meaning of this Verse David the man of God had the Word of God working powerfully upon his soule as a Light that is As a Lampe is to the life and safetie of the body in darke and dangerous places so was this Light to the life and salvation of Davids soule in the darkenesse of this World and shadow of death To guide his feet and paths that is his mind affections thoughts actions his whole life all his wayes and every particular step and passage thereof This Verse being thus understood let us now come to gather some Lessons and Doctrines for our instruction The first shall be this There is no man can hit the way to Heaven or walke in the paths of Righteousnesse through the Kingdome of Grace in this World unto the Kingdome of Glory in the World to come except he be inlightened informed and instructed in the holy Word of God The second Note wee gather out of this Verse shall be this The Word of God is a Light not onely to guide us into the way to Heaven and instruct us in our generall calling of Christianitie but also to leade us along in a course of godlinesse and to direct us particularly in our speciall calling I will first follow the former Doctrine which in few words and plainely I thus propose unto you No man can at first finde the entrance or after hit the way to Heaven except he be enlightened and led along by the holy Word of God For David as here wee see a man of great worth and understanding otherwise excellently and extraordinarily qualified could not find out or follow any other Guide or direction to Heaven but onely the Light of Gods Word
the Word of God to a love and liking of the heavenly knowledge therein contained and to a sound and sincere practice of it in our lives and conversations may be this The Word of God is as it were an Epistle or Letter as one of the Fathers calls it written from God Almightie unto us miserable men published by his owne Sonne sealed by his Spirit witnessed by his Angels conveyed unto us by his Church the Pillar and ground of Truth confirmed with the bloud of millions of Martyrs which hath alreadie brought thousands of soules to Heaven and fills every heart that understands it and is wholly guided by it with Light and Life with Grace and Salvation Now let us imagine a man to have a Letter sent unto him but by an Earthly King or some great Prince in the World wherein hee should have a Pardon granted him for some capitall Crime and high Offence whereby hee were lyable to a terrible kind of death or wherein hee should be fore-warned of some great and imminent danger hanging over his head and readie every houre to fall upon him or wherein hee should have assured and confirmed unto him under the Kings Seale some rich Donation or great Lordship Now I say if a man should receive but a Letter from some high and mightie Potentate upon Earth wherein any of these favours should be conveyed unto him how reverently would he receive it how thankfully would he accept of it how often would he reade it how warily would he keepe it how highly would he esteeme of it Why in this royall and sacred Letter sent from the King and great Commander both of Heaven and Earth all these favours and a thousand more joyes and comforts are conveyed unto every beleever and practiser thereof In that we are fore-warned lest by our ignorance impietie and impenitencie wee fall into the Pit of Hell and everlasting horror In that we have promised and performed unto us the pardon and remission of all our sinnes whereby wee justly stand guiltie of the second death and the endlesse torments of the damned By the vertue of it we are not onely comforted with grace in this World but shall undoubtedly be crowned with peace glory and immortalitie in the World to come Such a Letter as this hath the mightie and terrible God most glorious in all Power and Majestie who is even a consuming and devouring fire sent unto us miserable men by nature wretched and forlorne creatures Dust and Ashes why then with what reverence chearefulnesse and zeale ought wee to receive reade heare marke learne understand and obey it A second Motive may be the precious golden and divine matter which is contained in the Booke of God and that true and ever-during happinesse to which it onely can bring us There is nothing proposed and handled in the Word of God but things of greatest weight and highest excellency As the infinite majesty power and mercy of God the unspeakable love and strange sufferings of the Sonne of God for our sakes the mighty and miraculous working of the holy Spirit upon the soules of men There is nothing in this Treasury but Orient Pearles and rich Iewels as promises of grace spirituall comfort confusion of sinne the triumph of godlines refreshing of wearied soules the beautie of Angels the holinesse of Saints the state of Heaven salvation of sinners everlasting life What Swine are they that neglecting these precious Pearles root only in the Earth wallow in worldly pleasures feede upon vanities transitorie trash and vanishing riches which in their greatest need will take them to their wings like an Eagle and flie into the Heavens Besides the Word of God is only able to prepare us for true happinesse in this world and to possesse us of it in the world to come It only begets in us a true intire and universall holinesse without which none shall ever see the face of God or the glory of Heaven for it is impossible hereafter to live the life of glory blessednes in Heaven if we live not here the life of grace and sincerity in all our waies It is called the immortall Seed because it regenerates and renewes us both in our Spirits Soules and Bodies in our Spirits that is in judgement memory conscience in our Soules that is in our will and affections in our Bodies that is in every member If the Prince of this world hath not blinded the eyes of our minds and that we be not reprobats as concerning salvation it only is able to inlighten our understandings to rectifie our wills to sanctifie our hearts to mortifie our affections to set Davids Doore before our lips that are offend not with our tongues to set Iobs Doore before our eyes that they behold not vanity to manacle our hands feet with the cords and bands of Gods Law that they do not walke or worke wickedly nay and it is able to furnish and supply us with sufficiencie of spirituall strength to continue in all these good things and in a godly course vnto the end And if we be once thus qualified we are rightly fitted and prepared for the glory that is to be revealed As before this holy Word did translate us from the darknesse of sinne into the light of grace it can now much more easily with joy and triumph bring us from the light of grace to the light of immortalitie and everlasting pleasures at Gods right hand A third Motive may be this Wee must be judged by the Word of God at the last Day If any man saith Christ Ioh. 12. 47 48. heare my words and beleeve not I judge him not for I came not to judge the World but to save the World He that refuseth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken it shall judge him in the last Day Whensoever wee shall come to judgement and appeare before Gods Tribunall and wee little know how neere it is two Bookes shall be layd open unto us the one of Gods Law another of our owne Conscience The former will tell us what wee should have done for the Lord hath revealed it to the World to be the rule of our faith and of all our actions The other will tell us what wee have done for Conscience is a Register Light and Power in our Vnderstanding which treasures up all our particular actions against the Day of Triall discovers unto us the equitie or iniquitie of them and determines of them either with us or against us Now we must not take any exception against the first that is the Law of God For the Law of God saith David Psal 19. 7. is perfect converting the soule The testimonie of the Lord is sure and giveth wisedome unto the simple Wee cannot against the second that is the Booke of our Conscience for it was ever in our custodie and keeping no man could corrupt it there
is in the same place for a while and yet after wallow againe in the myre of sinne He may be endued with an inferior sanctification of the Spirit Heb. 10. 29. and yet after by the malice of Sathan tread under foot the Sonne of God Hee may have a generall participation of the Holy-Ghost Heb. 6. 4. and yet after a time fall away to the very despiting of the Spirit of Grace I speake not this as though that any once effectually called truly sanctified possessed of the state of grace and enrolled among the Saints can possibly become a cast-away it cannot bee for if once by the power of speciall grace a man be built upon the Rocke not the Gates of Hell not all the powers of Darkeness nor strongest assaaults of Satan shall ever prevaile against him Heaven and Earth shall sooner be removed than any of Gods servants For if Gods eternall Decree of Election be unchangeable if his Covenant be everlasting and inviolable if his Truth cannot change nor his Mercie faile nor his Power be weakened if the sacred Seale of the blessed Spirit shall stand if the precious blood and fervent prayers of Christ Iesus can prevaile if his Scriptures doe not lye and deceive if his sanctifying Grace cannot die and perish if Himselfe cannot cease to be then undoubtedly if a man be once his he is his for ever if he be once truely his servant upon Earth he shall for ever hereafter be a glorious Saint in Heaven My meaning therefore in this point is onely this There is a glimmering Light of the Spirit some manner of taste of the sweetnesse of Christ a kind of change which may be wrought in a man by the preaching of the Word and yet he not truely and constantly converted but may by the malice and policie of Satan be repossessed by uncleane spirits and repolluted with the filthinesse of the World Thus we may discerne this changeable change that I may so speake and the saving change of Gods servants If after we have given our Names to Christ and begun to professe and practise sinceritie we passe on and continually grow in grace and stand for Gods honour and service against all commers friends or foes losse or disgrace oppression or slanders men or devils why then undoubtedly we have the sanctifying Spirit of God and saving grace which makes his Children like Trees betwixt the Rivers of Waters fruitfull in goodnesse and as bold as Lyons in good causes But if after wee have begun well wee looke backe with Lots Wife if we fall in love againe with those sinnes which wee have forsaken if Rubbes and Crosses in the World will turne us out of the way to Heaven and our righteousnesse be but as the Morning Deaw which a little heat of Persecution will drie up why then our change was changeable and not that of Gods children The Seed of the Word which wee received with joy was never deepely rooted in good and honest hearts wee were onely temporarie Converts not new creatures temporizing Professors not true Christians and our End is like to be worse than our Beginning and our Plagues more than if we had never begun Let every man take heed then in the Name of God lest by the traines and temptations of Sathan he be turn'd backe againe from any good course lest after he be washed he wallow againe in the myre of worldlinesse and worldly vanities and after hee hath escaped the filthinesse of the World lest he be againe entangled therein Let us beware of longing after those sinnes which we begun in some measure to reforme let us not lust againe after the flesh-pots of Aegypt like the Israelites after we be in some good sort enlarged from the bondage of sinne and tyrannie of the hellish Pharoah Lots Wife being delivered out of Sodome was surprised with a sensuall remembrance of the pleasures and vanities of the place which shee had left of the ease and prosperitie which shee there enjoyed and so look'd backe upon it But shee was therefore presently turned into a Pillar of Salt Gen. 19. 26. there for ever to be a monument and fearefull spectacle of Gods terrible judgements against all back-sliders If the uncleane spirit be cast out of a man by some degrees of reformation and good beginnings of amendment of life and have after leave and libertie to returne he brings with him seven Devils worse than himselfe and makes a man farre worse than he was before Much better were it for any man never to have knowne or stept into the way of righteousnesse than afterward to turne from the holy Commandement of God and out of a course of Christianitie It is a fearefull Curse to continue in hardnesse of heart prophanenesse of life and sinfull courses But to leave them for a little and to sinke backe againe is to have Gods Curse bitter against them if they repent not and the fire of Hell made more hot for them First sicknesses are curable but relapses are very dangerous if not irrecoverable If a man as it is Heb. 6. hath once beene enlightened and then fall away it is impossible to be renewed by repentance I know that place principally to be understood of the highest degree of Apostacie and falling away but hee that falls away from any good course and good beginnings falls towards that irrecoverable fall and makes himselfe more uncapable of repentance than if he never had been enlightened or stept into the way of Truth And it is just with God to punish such with a reprobate sense and hearts that cannot repent It then deepely and neerely concernes us for once wee have felt the sweetnesse of Grace and tasted of the Powers of the World to come to drinke deeper of the Waters of Life and to follow hard towards the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus When wee feele any good motions and purposes arise in our hearts let us labour to follow them to nourish them to blow them up to make a fire of them lest they onely but make a flash and passe away as the Lightning Let us put them in practise with zeale and constancie that we be not as the unfaithfull Waters which in the Summer are dryed up or as the dead Trees which perish in Winter but that we remaine whole and sound pure and perfect as the living Waters and Olives of the Lord that ever shed forth their sweetnesse and fatnesse Let us make a Covenant even a Covenant as the Scripture speaketh of Salt durable and perpetuall with the Lord to live before him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life For to him that goes through with his holy businesse that fights the good fight of Faith finisheth his course and overcomes to him and to him alone shall all those glorious Blessings be performed which are promised in the first Chapter of the Revelation To eate of the
brought forth by the power of the Word in the Wombe of the Church he therefore casteth out of his mouth after him flouds of outward crosses and vexations If he cannot wound him in his soule yet he will vexe him in his body goods and good name if he cannot hinder him of Heaven he will give him little rest or quiet upon Earth if hee cannot bring him into disgrace and disfavour with God he will be sure to rayse him hatred enough malice and discountenance amongst men He will doe his worst to fill and loade him with all outward discomforts and discouragements as povertie sicknesse slanders scoffings raylings reproaches contempts and a thousand other persecutions But in such cases as these let every child of God comfort refresh and hold himselfe in heart cheare and courage by such considerations as these First it is a Decree of Heaven resolved upon and ratified by the Lord our God confirmed by the experience of all the Patriarkes and Prophets of the Apostles and professors of Christ of all the Saints and servants nay and of the Sonne of God himselfe that through many tribulations wee must enter into the Kingdome of Heaven So often therefore as wee shall see any miseries or afflictions comming towards us for our profession of sinceritie and righteousnesse sake let us acknowledge them to be as so many most certaine and infallible markes that we are in the right way to Heaven through which if we but walke a little further with patience we shall descry a Crowne of Glory which is our owne for ever of which all the afflictions and pressures of a thousand Worlds are not neere worthy Secondly though by this meanes by these outward crosses and afflictions Sathan dischargeth upon us the very gall of his bitternesse the poyson of his malice and arrowes of his spight yet by the mercifull and medicinall hand of God they are returned upon his owne head they strike through the heart of sinne and become as precious restoratives to repaire in us the decayes of spirituall life for in Gods children crosses and afflictions have these worthy effects and workings 1 They start us out of our securitie carelesnesse and coldnesse which by little and little may grow upon the best They breed in us a conceit and sense of our owne wants and the necessitie of Gods providence and protection They adde Oyle unto the flame of our first love put life into our religious exercises and power and spirit into our prayers 2 They curbe and controule the pride insolencie and impatiencie of our nature They coole and kill the heat headlongnesse and intemperancie of our affections They weaken indeed the whole old Adam in us with all his lusts concupiscence and venome but give strength to the new man with all his godly and gracious motions holy and heavenly actions 3 They make us with indignation to spit in the very face of this vaine deceitfull and flattering World the temporall love of which is the eternall losse both of bodies soules in the other World They happily weane us from the love of it and make us willing to part with her paps to bid all her enticements adiew and to trample under feet the fading pleasures vanities thereof they make us to teare our groveling hearts and rent our dull affections from the Earth to which they cleave and are glued so fast and to lift up both our heads and hearts to Heaven and to the glory which is to be revealed longingly to desire the comming of Christ the Life that lasteth and to be clothed with our House which is from above 4 Lastly they are as sharpe and precious eye-salves to cleare and enlarge the spirituall sight of our soules too much dimmed and darkened with earthly dust and with gazing too long on the painted glory of the World that so wee may see further into the great mysterie of godlinesse deeper into the masse and dunghill of our owne corruptions and frailties wider upon the vanities of the World and higher into the happinesse of Heaven and that great Beautie Glory and Majestie above They serve unto us as sowre Sawces and bitter Wormewood to bring us out of love with our sweet sinnes and to breed a distaste in our mouth against transitorie delights They are as sharpe pruning-knives to lop and cut away the excesses vanities and unnecessarie cares that grow upon us and so to trimme us that wee may bring forth more profitable plentifull and fairer fruits in godlinesse and Christianitie Thus Sathan is disappointed in his plots and policie his malice makes a medicine for our soules hee purposeth and hopes by crosses and afflictions to turne us backe or make us wearie in our course of holinesse but by the mercy of God they become as spurres to pricke us forward in our Christian Race and as hedges to keepe us in from wandering out of the way Now in a third place That Gods child may not too much be cast downe or put out of heart for crosses and persecutions raysed against him for a profession and the practice of sinceritie let him consider that howsoever Sathan and wicked men be the instruments and executioners which maliciously procure and immediately inflict miseries and vexations upon the children of God though they be the meanes to lay tortures and torments upon their bodies crosses and losses upon their goods and outward estates spots and impression and crueltie upon the face of their harmelesse innocencie slanders and disgraces imputations and staining aspersions upon their reputations and good names sometimes terrors temptations and amazements upon their minds Yet in all these our gracious God hath the chiefest stroke a principall hand and the greatest sway he directs limits and moderates the rage and furie of all our enemies whether they be Devils or men as it pleaseth him and ever certainely to the singular good of his children if they be patient and faithfull Miserie saith Iob chap. 5. 6. commeth not forth of the Dust neither doth afflictions spring out of the Earth Neither indeed principally and originally from Man the Lord of the Earth nor from the Prince that rules in the Aire nor from the Host of Heaven God himselfe is the chiefe commander guider and directer of all vexations and ill of punishment that befalls any man and inflicts it for our sinnes and corruptions upon the reprobates as appeares in Pharoah for their further hardening and confusion upon his elect for their conversion and correction Let us then in all our sufferings and afflictions stirred up against us for sticking to sinceritie and keeping a good Conscience lift up our eyes to the mightie Lord of Heaven and Earth who by the strong Arme of his Omnipotencie holds fast in a Chaine Sathan that raging Lion and great Goliah that hee cannot stirre one Linke further than hee will give him leave hee cannot goe a haires breadth beyond his Commission Nay and that
The Reasons of this Doctrine may be these which follow The first may be taken from the insufficiencie and inabilitie of all other meanes to bring us to Heaven as 1 All the greatest Learning and deepest knowledge in the World will stand us in little stead in this businesse Otherwise it had gone well with many ancient Heathens and Philosophers of old who fadomed as deepe and reached as high in the depths and mysteries of all humane Learning and knowledge as the light of Reason and strength of Nature could possibly bring them And yet they were utterly strangers to the life of grace and without God in the World When they professed themselves to be wise they became fooles saith Paul Rom. 1. 22. They were puffed up with a little vaine-glorious knowledge here upon Earth and got them a Name amongst men But alas what was this When as for the want of the Light of Divine Truth they lost their Soules in another World and their Names never came in the Booke of Life Where is the wise saith Paul in another place Where is the Scribe Where is the Disputer of this World As if hee should have said All the knowledge of the greatest Doctors and learnedest Rabbins in the World without Grace vanisheth into nothing into vaine-glory emptinesse and aire nay casts them with greater horror and confusion into the Pit of Hell Every man saith Ieremie is a Beast by his owne knowledge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iere. 10. 14. Except besides all other knowledge he be enlightened from above and have that Divine knowledge sanctified unto him hee can come no neerer the happinesse of Heaven than a very Beast 2 Worldly wisedome and policie is so farre from making men wise unto salvation that it is not onely starke foolishnesse with God and good men but it doth strongly set it selfe and is at enmitie against God Therefore saith God I will destroy the wisedome of the wise and will cast away the understanding of the prudent 1 Cor. 1. 19. Ahitophel was so wise even in the affaires of Kingdomes and businesse of State that the counsell which he counselled in those dayes was like as one had asked counsell at the Oracle of God and yet all this great wisedome in the end ended in extreme folly for upon a little discontent and disgrace in the World he sadled his Asse and went home unto his Citie and put his household in order and hanged himselfe 2 Sam. 16. 23. 17. 23. Although the end of all worldly wisedome be not so shamefull in the eye of the World yet undoubtedly it is most miserable and wofull in the World to come except their wisedome be sanctified and over-ruled by the Light of Gods Word Carnall wisedome can neither preserve a man from death nor prepare him to die blessedly it cannot stay his Life from going neither can it stop the Curse from comming it cannot deliver him from damnation in the World to come but rather encreaseth the grievousnesse of his punishment for in this life it hath kept possession against heavenly wisedome it made him uncapable of all good instructions it made him impatient of any rebuke and held him in ignorance and disobedience all his life 3 No good meanings or intentions without knowledge and warrant in the Word of God will ever serve our turne for salvation nay indeed they are abominable and hatefull in Gods sight Howsoever thousands deceive themselves in this point Vzzah had a good meaning in 2 Sam. 6. 6. when hee put his hand to the Arke of God and held it for the Oxen did shake it but notwithstanding the Lord was very wroth with Vzzah and God smote him in the same place and there hee died Iames and Iohn had good meanings when they called for fire from Heaven to consume the Samaritan that would not entertaine Christ but Iesus rebuked them and told them they knew not of what spirit they were Saul in 1 Sam. 15. had a good meaning when he spared Agag and the best of the Sheepe and of the Oxen to sacrifice them unto the Lord but notwithstanding Samuel tells him that he had done wickedly in the sight of the Lord and that the Lord had rent the Kingdome of Israel from him that day Peter had a good meaning when in Ioh. 13. 8. he would not suffer Christ to wash his feet but Iesus answered him and told him If I wash thee not thou shalt have no part with me Good meanings then are wicked missings of the true service of God except they be guided by knowledge warrant and ground out of the Booke of God Let no man then tell of his good meaning if he be ignorant in the Will and Word of God for certainely it will never serve the turne it will never hold out in the Day of Christ Iesus 4 No will-worship or will-service or voluntarie Religion as the Apostle calls it Col. 2. 23. which is forged and framed out of a mans owne braine humour and conceit without ground or warrant in the Booke of God though it be performed with never so glorious a shew of zeale and paines yet it is not any way availeable for our spirituall good and eternall happinesse nay indeed it is most odious in the eyes of God and ever lyable to a very high degree of his wrath and vengeance Baals Prophets 1 Kings 18. 28. were so hot and hastie in their will-worship that they cut themselves with knives and launcers till the bloud gushed out upon them The Papists they whip themselves they vow Continencie perpetuall Povertie and Regular Obedience and yet is the profession and practice of both bloudie and idolatrous When the Iewes worshipped God after the devised fashions of the Gentiles though their meaning was to worship nothing but God yet the Text saith they worshipped nothing but Devils Deut. 32. 17. And God there protests that therefore a fire was kindled in his wrath that should burne unto the bottome of Hell and set on fire the foundations of the mountaines So hated of Almightie God is all service and worship devised by the wit and will of man without warrant in the Word of God 5 Lastly not the Word of God it selfe in the Letter without the spirituall meaning and the finger of Gods Spirit to apply it powerfully to our soules and consciences is any sufficient rule of life or able to bring us into the Light of Grace This appeares in Nicodemus who was a great Doctor in the Law and the Prophets a chiefe Master and Teacher in Israel yet was a very Infant and Ideot in the power of Grace and mysterie of godlinesse For all his learning in the Letter of the Law he had not yet made one step towards Heaven for hee was not onely ignorant of but had a very absurd and grosse conceit of the new birth which is the very first entrance into
the Kingdome of Grace For when Christ told him hee could not be saved except hee were new borne hee strangely and foolishly replyes How can a man be borne which is old How can he enter into his mothers Wombe againe and be borne Thus you see there can no other meanes be named or thought upon not all humane Knowledge nor worldly Wisedome nor good Meanings nor Will-worship nor the Word it selfe in the Letter which can leade us into the wayes of Righteousnesse or bring us unto Heaven but onely the Light of Gods holy Word holden out unto us by a profitable Ministerie and the power of the Spirit A second Reason of my Doctrine may be this No man can ever see the Kingdome of God except he be borne againe except he be a new creature a new man as is plaine in Christs words unto Nicodemus For our new birth or regeneration is the necessarie passage from Nature to Grace from prophanenesse to sinceritie It is that whereby wee are wholly sanctified and set apart unto God from the sinfnll corruption of our naturall birth and the evill fruits thereof to serve God in our whole man both body soule and spirit Now you must conceive that this new birth must necessarily spring from the immortall Seed of the word of God for so it is called 1 Pet. 1. 23. It is the Seed of our new birth salvation and immortalitie And you may as well looke for Come to grow up in your fields without sowing without casting any Seed into the furrowes as to looke for Grace to grow up in your hearts or to reape the fruit of holinesse everlasting life except this immortall Seed the Word of God be first cast into the furrowes and fallow ground of your hearts and be there received with reverence and attention nourished with prayer and meditation and fructifie in your lives and conversations Hence it is that Gods Word is called The Word of Salvation Act. 13. 26. The Word of Grace Act. 14. 3. The Word of Life Phil. 2. 16. The Power of God unto Salvation Rom. 1. 16. For there is no power of Grace or spirituall life to bee had ordinarily upon Earth or salvation and eternall life to be hoped for in Heaven except a man be enlightened with the knowledge and enlived with the power of the holy Word of God There is no entring into the Kingdome of God except a man bee new borne except hee bee first renewed in his spirit soule and body And there is no new birth without the immortall Seed the Word of God And therefore without knowledge and direction in the Word of God no salvation The third Reason of my Doctrine is this The Word of God hath only the power and propertie to search into and to sanctifie the whole man even to the inmost thoughts and the secret cogitations of the heart All the devices and imaginations of mans heart lye without the walke of humane justice and censure no word or writing of man is able to bridle them or bring them within compasse no Law of Nature or Nations can affright or restraine the freedome and wanderings of thoughts onely the Word of God can amaze search and sanctifie them The weapons of our warfare saith Paul are not carnall but mightie through God to cast downe Holds casting downe the imaginations and every thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivitie every thought into the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10. 4 5. The Word of God saith the Apostle to the Hebrewes is lively and mightie in operation and sharper than any two-edged sword and entreth through even to the dividing asunder of the soule and the spirit and of the joints and the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart Heb. 4. 12. The Word of God may be said to be living or lively in three respects 1 Because whereas we naturally live under the shadow of death and in the darkenesse of sinne it quickens us with a new and spirituall life it cheares and comforts us with heavenly Light 2 The Word may be called Living because it selfe is immortall and lasteth forever as doth the living and eternall God the Author of it 3 But most especially and agreeably to the place in the Hebrewes it is called lively because it enters with great power and secret insinuation into every part and power both of soule and body So that as our life is scattered and dispersed into every little part and least veine in us and we feele it both in paine and pleasure even so the vertue of the Word of God pierceth into every member into the most secret and hidden Closet of the heart either to breake and bruise with terror and astonishment the very bones crush the sinewes of the sinfull soule or to fill them with marrow and fatnesse and to refresh the affections of the truly penitent with joy unspeakable and glorious God tells us in Ieremy that his Word is like fire and therefore it can easily insinuate into all the creekes and corners of our corruptions it can fully and clearely enlighten our Consciences and discover unto us the sinfulnesse of the most lurking and secret thoughts Thus you have this first Doctrine plainely proved and confirmed unto you No man can at first finde the entrance or after hit the way to Heaven except he be enlightened and led along by the saving knowledge of the holy Word of God No other meanes which the power of Nature Wisedome Learning or the whole World can afford will serve the turne in this businesse of Salvation It is the Seed of our new birth as I told you there can be no growing of grace or reaping of glory without it It hath onely power to shake ransacke and search into the inmost secrets of the heart It onely can sanctifie us both inwardly and outwardly both in soule and body both in thoughts and actions without which both inward and outward holinesse no man shall ever see the face of God Now I come unto the Vses of this Doctrine And in the first place it may serve for confutation of the Papists those great employsoners and murtherers of infinite soules of men Is the Word of God as a Lampe and a Light without which wee cannot see the first step or set one foot aright towards Heaven Why then sinfull and pestilent is their practice who hide this blessed Light from the people of God in an unknowne Tongue and by their bloudie Inquisition damme up the holy Fountaines of heavenly Truth which should spring up in every mans heart unto eternall life Whose cruell and craftie Religion for bloud of Princes and cursed Policie are the principall supporters of Poperie teacheth them to blindfold and hood-winke the poore Laitie in forced ignorance lest they should know Gods will or any way to Heaven but
intention and amazement that omnipotent Majesty that wrought such wonders for his chosen For hearts emptied of worldly thoughts and sanctified by heavenly meditation are fit subjects for workes of Heaven and divine impressions How much more ought we to prepare our soules before wee come into the Sanctuary of the Lord sith there they are either to be hardned for the Scepter of destruction and made ready for the flames of Hell if wee doe not prepare our selves hearken and obey or else to be softned and sanctified with saving grace and fitted for a Crowne of Glory if with reverence humility and obedience wee submit our selves to the power of the Word There if wee be unconverted the great and miraculous worke of the new-birth is to bee wrought upon them if wee be new-borne they are to be fed with the spirituall Manna unto everlasting life The same Ioshuah when the excommunicate and execrable thing was to be found out and put from amongst them which was the cause they could not stand against their enemies he commanded them to sanctifie themselves that the Lord might prosper and poure his blessings upon that necessarie and weightie search and inquisition How much more ought wee to prepare our selves before wee step into the House of God sith there is to be discovered and cast out those hatefull sinnes that fearefully incense Gods wrath against us and make us weake in the Lords battailes and not able to stand against our spirituall enemies the corruptions of our owne flesh the enticements of the World and temptations of Sathan Before the sacrifice and anointing of David King of Israel Ishai and his sonnes were sanctified How much more ought wee to be prepared before wee come before the Lords Prophets and Embassadours that there wee may be anointed Kings and Priests unto our God Iosiah before the eating of the Paschall Lambe did bid the people not onely sanctifie themselves but also prepare their brethren How much more ought wee when wee come to the Ministerie of the Word to seede by faith upon that true Bread from Heaven which giveth life unto the World which if wee once soundly taste with beleeving hearts wee shall not hunger wee shall never thirst But the most famous and fittest place for my purpose and preparation in that particular holy businesse of hearing the Word is that in Exod. 19. 10. The people were sanctified and washed their clothes and prepared themselves for two dayes and the third day they were readie to attend what the Lord would say unto them As in that extraordinarie promulgation of the Law the people were to be prepared extraordinarily so from proportion of that practice and precedencie ordinarie preparation is necessarie for the ordinarie preaching of the Word if wee looke that it should powerfully and profitably worke upon our Consciences and affections Their washing of their bodies and clothes their abstinence from their wives and such solemne and ceremonious purifications were typicall significations and representations unto us that wee should weane our hearts from earthly thoughts purge them from secret corruptions and bring them faire and free from sinfull spot and worldly entanglement when wee come to heare the Lord speake unto us by his Ministers Holy men of God were wont addressing themselves to prayer to have their ejaculations lifting up of their hearts certaine short prayers before they entred into that sacred and solemne action Besides Precept and Practice in the Booke of God for Preparation the profit is great the benefits and blessings that redound unto us and fall upon us by it are excellent and precious Looke in the latter end of the eleventh Chapter of Iob. If thou prepare thine heart and stretch out thine hands towards him If iniquitie be in thine hand put it farre away and let no wickednesse dwell in thy Tabâ—rnacle Then truly shalt thou lift up thy face without spot and shalt be stable and shalt not feare c. Preparation of the heart is here the foundation and first step unto many glorious blessings The heart must be first prepared before other holy duties can be fitly performed or Gods blessings expected In the first place first prepare thine heart secondly then poure it out in prayer before the Throne of Grace thirdly then purge it from corruption banish farre and barre out all iniquitie fourthly next be sure to reforme instruct and pray with thy family or those that are about thee Let no wickednesse ignorance prophanenesse swearing swaggering drunkennesse or the like dwell in thy Tabernacle harbour in thine house or rowst neere thee And then open thy heart and hands for the Windowes of Heaven shall be set wide open that all manner of spirituall comforts all the blessings of peace and happinesse may in abundance be showred downe upon thee the rich Treasurie of everlasting Glory and Immortalitie shall be unlockt unto thee and thou shalt row and tumble thy selfe for ever after amid mountaines of heavenly pearles and golden pleasures through Rivers nay Seas of endlesse joyes that no heart can comprehend but that which is weaned from all worldly pleasures and set apart and sanctified for holy services and businesses of Heaven Then truly shalt thou lift up thy face without spot Though thou hast lyen among the Pots yet thou shalt be now as the wings of a Dove that is covered with Silver and whose feathers are like yellow Gold Though thou be like the Kedarims which dwell in Tents the black-Moores that is by reason of thy sinne subject to the condemnation of God and deprived of his glory yet shalt thou be in Christ goodly and glorious as those that dwell in exceeding glory under the Curtaines of Salomon Though thou be black with the remnants of originall corruption and present infirmities though the Sunne have looked upon thee and parched thee with the scorching heat of sore affliction and chastisements yet shalt thou now shine like the Sunne in his strength with the royall Robe of Christs righteousnesse with fresh comfort and lasting chearefulnesse Thou shalt be stable and shalt not feare Though the wicked tremble many times at their owne shadowes and the sound of a Leafe shaken doth chase them and strike a faintnesse into their hearts and a trembling into their loynes yet thou shalt never be afraid of any evill tidings whether they be forged by the spightfull and impoysoned tongues of prophane men to defame and disgrace thee or fetched out of the bottome of Hell by Sathans malice to terrifie thee though the messengers of miseries and mischiefes come thicke and three-fold upon thee as they did upon Iob though the Earth be moved and the mountaines fall into the midst of the Sea nay though the whole World be on flames about thine eares and the Heavens be rouled together like a Scrowle yet shalt thou be stable and shalt not feare because thy heart is fixed and beleeveth in the
feare lest thou be forsaken Why then thinke upon thy Saviours mournfull cry upon the Crosse My God my God why hast thou forsaken me 5 It may be thou art a true-hearted Nathanael in whose spirit there is no guile hates all sinne heartily both in thy selfe and others desirest and laborest to please God in all things and to keepe a good conscience before all things in the World and yet thou findest and feelest in thy brest many times a heavy sad and unchearefull heart why then heare David a man after Gods owne heart of a more excellent spirit and eminent graces than thou art complaining Psal 43. 5. Why art thou so heavie O my soule and why art thou so disquieted within me 6 Art thou grievously troubled with the haunt and horror of some speciall sinne of which thou canst not be so easily rid and doest thou therefore goe mourning all the day Why then looke also upon David Psal 32. In such a case he roared all the day his bones were consumed and his native moisture was turned into the drought of Summer 7 Art thou vexed to the heart and fearefully haunted with some horrible and hatefull injections of Sathan thoughts framed by himselfe immediately and put into thee perhaps tending to Atheisme or to the dishonour of God in some high degree or to the disgrace of his Word or selfe-destruction c. or the like thoughts which thou canst not remember without horror and darest not reveale or name for their strange and prodigious hatefulnesse Why then consider how this malicious Fiend dealt with the Sonne of God He suggested unto his most holy and unspotted imagination these propositions first Murther Make away thy selfe Math. 4. 6. secondly Fall downe and worship the Devill Vers 9. What more fearefull and horrible apprehensions And yet these were suggested to our blessed Saviour to him perhaps more sensibly to thee more secretly His pure and holy heart uncapable of sinne did reject them with infinite contempt and himselfe did utterly conquer and confound the Tempter and that for thee and thy sake too And if thine heart rise against abominate abandon grieve and be humbled for them they shall never be layd to thy charge but set on Sathans Score For all them thou mayest goe on chearefully and comfortably in the course of Christianitie And so doe And let not Sathan attaine his divellish end by them which is to worke astonishment in thy minde horror in thy conscience heavinesse in thy heart distractions in thy thoughts c. that thereby thou mayest be disheartened and disabled for the chearefull discharge and performance both of thy particular and generall calling Or else art thou long after thy conversion assaulted with perhaps sorer spirituall pangs and more horror than at thy change Consider David Iob Hezekiah 8 Hast thou lost thy goods or children Doth the Wife that lyes in thy bosome set her selfe against thee Doe thy neerest friends charge thee falsely Art thou diseased from top to toe Doe the Arrowes of the Almightie sticke fast in thy soule Thy affliction is grievous enough if thou hast any of these But doe they all in the greatest extremitie concurre upon thee at once Hast thou lost all thy children and all thy goods Doth thy Wife afflict thy afflictions c. If this be not thy case thou commest short of Iob a most just man and high in Gods favour 9 Hast thou given thy Name to Religion and art a Professor of Grace and art thou therefore villanously traduced with many slanderous nick-names and odious imputations Art thou called Puritan Precisian Hypocrite Humorist Dissembler c Why gracelesse wretches when hee was upon Earth called Christ Iesus Devill See Math. 10. 25. Ioh. 7. 20. Contemne thou therefore for ever the utmost malice of the most scurrill tongue 10 Art thou a loving and tender-hearted Mother unto thy Children and hast thou lost thy dearest Why the blessed Mother of Christ stood by and saw her owne onely deare innocent Sonne the Lord of Life most cruelly and villanously murthered upon the Crosse and die a shamefull death before her eyes Ioh. 19. 25. 11 Art thou a woman who in the time of thy travaile art pressed with many wants with want of comfortable companie desired helpes a fairer roome and other worldly comforts and conveniences Why yet comfort thy selfe with this That holy Virgin which brought into the World the Worlds Saviour brought forth that blessed Babe in a Stable and laid him in a Cratch Luke 2. 7. It is very like farre more poorely in respect of worldly comforts than the poorest sort of women amongst us with lesse comfortable helpers and in a lesse seemely and commodious place for such a purpose 12 Hath thy Faith lost its feeling and besides doth God looke upon thee with an angry countenance and is thy heart filled with heavinesse and horror Yet for all this let the hand of Faith by no meanes loose it hold-fast upon the precious sufferings and saving bloud-shed of thy deare Redeemer Thou hast before thee a matchlesse and transcendent precedent in this point Thus cryes holy Iob having besides his unparalelled varietie and extremitie of outward afflictions the Arrowes of the Almightie sticking fast in him and drinking up his spirits Though hee kill me yet will I trust in him Cap. 13. 15. So Abraham Rom. 4. 18. 13 Doest thou day after day poure out thy soule in prayer before the Throne of Grace with all the earnestnesse and instancie thou canst possibly and doest thou still rise up dull and heavie and uncomforted without answer from God or comfortable sence of his favour and love shed into thine heart Why yet pray still assuredly at length thou shalt be gloriously refreshed and registred in the remembrance of God for a Christian of excellent faith See a patterne of rare and extraordinarie patience this way Math. 15. 23. c. 14 Doth the World Sathan carnall men thine owne friends formall Teachers suppose and censure thee to be a dissembler in thy profession and will needes concurrently and confidently fasten upon thee the imputation of Hypocrisie Why yet for all this let thy sincere heart conscious to it selfe of it owne truth in holy services like a strong Pillar of Brasse beat backe and reject with noble contempt and glorious disdaine all their impoysoned Arrowes of malice and slander this way Thou hast a right worthy patterne in the Booke of God for this purpose Iob had against him not onely the Devill his enemie pushing at him with his poysoned weapons but even his owne friends scourging him with their tongues yea his owne Wife a Thorne pricking him in the eye yea his owne God miserably lashing his naked soule with Scorpions powerfull motives to make him suspect himselfe of former halting and hollow-heartednesse in the wayes of God yet notwithstanding all this his good and honest heart having beene long before acquainted with and knit unto his God with sinceritie and truth makes him boldly