so after death they will call themselves by that name and curse their folly everlastingly 7. We must examine what we elect and make choice of as our chief Good and take up with us the best Portion The men of the World are contented with a Portion here in this Life here they receive all their Consolation they live as they think very well without God in the World and do not care to know to serve or to enjoy him But if we are Saints we follow other Counsels we chuse the Lord for our Portion and resolve to obey him Psal 119. 57. Thou art my Portion O Lord I have said that I would keep thy Word we are persuaded of his al-sufficient goodness which is abundantly communicative of it self and desire him above all And the Lord himself being our Portion we are pleased we are satisfied we rejoyce and conclude the lines are fallen to us in pleasant places and that we have a very goodly heritage Psal 16. 5 6. 8. We must examine whether our naturally beloved sin be now loathed They that are sincere are made so wise as to find out their dilectum delictum darling iniquity or if more than one have been their darlings they take special notice of them and though they are alienated from the whole kind of Sin yet with more than ordinary vehemency they desire the mortification of the lust or lusts which were formerly most beloved because these have so loaded them with guilt have most of all defiled them and provoked the Lord most bitterly against them David proves his uprightness this way Psal 18. 23. I was also upright before thee and I kept my self from mine iniquity But as for those who resolve to spare their darling corruptions they are unsound these lusts will cost them the life of their Souls And are not those prodigies of folly who love sin so well as to be contented to be damned for the sake of it If Herod will keep his Herodias still against the admonition of John the Baptist it plainly argues that he is void of Grace though he hears gladly and in part practises the Word he hears 9. We must examine what pre-eminence Heaven has above Earth in our affections A wicked man when he comes to dye will prefer Heaven before Hell but a Saint prefers Heaven before Earth and when his heart treacherously hankers after earthly things he checks and chides it he goes unto God and complains of this and prays to be made more heavenly minded He is convinced of the vanity and fading nature of earthly things and chuses the better and enduring substance 'T is a sign we are enlightned and renewed by the same Spirit the Apostle was when we speak his Language 2 Cor. 4. 18. We look not at the things that are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things that are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal 10. We must examine what is our great End and Design The wicked man is swayed by carnal sinful and worldly self Worldly honour pleasure and advantage are the highest indeed the only things he seeks If our Ends are not right we cannot possibly be upright our selves Now our End ought to be the glorifying of God and the enjoyment of Him Whatever ye do says the Apostle do all to the glory of God 1 Cor. 10. 31. This should still be in the Christians eye and aim And truly the designing of Gods glory is the way to the enjoyment of him wherein our own glory and happiness does consist Those that honour God he will honour whatever thwarts this highest greatest End is to be avoided with the greatest care for we cannot dishonour or despise the Lord but ipso facto we degrade and prejudice our selves 11. We must examine whether we are not grieved at all discovered defects and miscarriages and desirous to have every thing amiss rectified and amended Though upon search we find much out of order nay nothing in such order every way as it should be if this be our serious trouble and we long indeed to be turned long to be savingly changed long to be throughly healed 't is a sign of some hopeful beginnings if they do but hold Ephraim bemoaned himself that he was as a Bullock unaccustomed to the Yoak he found a great reluctancy in corrupted nature and loathness to submit to the Yoak of God he is troubled at it and falls a praying for converting grace Turn thou me and I shall be turned his prayer is heard he is turned he is instructed he repented he is adopted and assured at last of mercy Is Ephraim my dear Son Is he a pleasant Child For since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still therefore my bowels are troubled for him and I will surely have mercy on him saith the Lord Jer. 31. 18 19 21. In the third place I am to inform you concerning what we are to prove our selves And at present I shall only insist on those two things which the Apostle mentions in the Context We are to prove whether we are in the Faith and whether Christ be in us yea or no 1. We are to prove whether we are in the Faith Sometimes Faith is said to be in us because it is a grace infused by the Spirit of God into our hearts With the heart man believeth unto Righteousness Rom. 10. 10. Sometimes we are said to be in Faith in opposition to others that are unregenerate who are affirmed to be in the flesh and to be in their sins And there is good reason for this phrase that the Saints are in Faith because Faith does cloth them with a justifying Righteousness and is a Shield to cover them and to quench all the fiery Darts of the evil one Now whether we are in the Faith may be thus proved 1. If we are in the Faith Truths being firmly believed will be particularly applyed our assent will be firm unto the truth of the Gospel as being of Divine Authority And as we shall believe that God himself does speak in his Word so we shall believe that he speaks to us in particular This particular application of the Word we read of Job 5. ult Lo this we have searched it so it is see it and know it for thy good A Medicine if not applied will not heal and the Word if not applied by Faith will not profit Heb. 4. 2. But the Word preached did not profit them not being mixed with Faith in them that heard it When Divine Commands are particularly applied we shall look upon our selves as obliged to obey them and submit to the Authority of our great Law-giver who has power to save and to destroy When comminations and threatnings are applied unto our Sins in particular we shall be afraid to allow of those Sins which bring us under the lash of threatnings so very dreadful And as for the promises of God being particularly applied how certainly will
if an Emperour should bid me take his Crown and Diadem or then if all the Kingdoms of the World and all the Glory of them were offered me When Christ offered up himself a Sacrifice unto God that he might put sin away how great was the Offering If all the Beasts in Earth the Fowls of the Air had been offered this offering could not have made Atonement for the sinner or for one sin Nay if all the Angels in Heaven had proffered themselves to be annihilated in case fallen man might be pardoned Neither would this have been sufficient satisfaction So that when Christ offered himself to God he offered more then all the World then millions of Worlds would amount unto And when the Lord Jesus bids me take him and feed upon this meat indeed this Bread of Life shall I refuse He that receives Christ how much does he recieve He does indeed receive all For Christ is all in all and filleth all in all MEDITATION XXXI Lift up your Heads O ye Gates and be ye lift up ye Everlasting Doors that the King of Glory may come in Who is this King of Glory The Lord Jesus is the Prince of Life the King and Lord of Glory Behold he stands at the door and knocks if any man hear his voice and open the door he will come into him and sup with him And when he comes and is admitted what entertainment does he bring Meat that perishes is contemptible in comparison Christ will give that Meat which endures to Everlasting Life His Love is better then Wine Nay his favour is better then life it self The Manna in the Wilderness was excellent food but many that Eat it perished But whoever by Faith do feed upon our Lord Jesus in reference to the second Death they become immortal This is the Bread which commeth down from Heaven that a Man may Eat thereof and not dy I am the Bread of Life which came down from Heaven if any man Eat of this Bread he shall live for ever and the Bread that I wil give is my Flesh which I will give for the Life of the World MEDITATION XXXII When an inheritance is conveyed to me by a sealed Deed the Nature of the wax is not changed but the use of it The Bread and Wine after the Sacramental blessing of them remain Bread and Wine still and so in Scripture they are called but their use is very much altered and they become Christs broad seal to convey to me and to assure me of the Remission of sin of the Renewing of my Nature and of Life and Immortality Let the Papists contend for a gross and carnal presence of the Body of Christ at his Table I am perswaded that as Circumcision is called the Covenant and the Lamb the Lords Passeover So the bread and wine are called the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus And yet I am also fully perswaded that though the Body of Christ is in Heaven yet he is most really present at the Table with them that do believe and such are nourished and strengthened in this Ordinance I learn from Scripture that Spiritual things are most firm most real most substantial most durable and if so then Christs spiritual presence is the most real presence Christ is absent where Transsubstantiation is believed and Romish Devotion and Adoration of the Host is turned into abominable Idolatry MEDITATION XXXIII Lord Thou art my Hope my Help my Saviour my Life my All Thou wouldst have me put thee on to cover my nakedness Thou wouldst have me take sanctuary under thy wings in all my dangers thou wouldst have me use thee as a Physician to cure all my spiritual maladies and when I am hungry and thirsty and my Soul faints within me thou hast enough to satisfie and fill me What one said concerning the Scripture I may apply to my blessed Lord. Adoro Christi plenitudinem I adore the fulness that is in Christ Jesus Draw neerer neerer O thou only Saviour thou deservest the highest the best nay all the room in my Heart thou oughtest to be the most welcom guest Let me have a clearer sight of thy transcendent loveliness a larger taste of thy incomparable sweetness let me clasp about thee and hold thee in more strict embraces Why should I be empty since in thee there is a fulness of the Spirit without stint or measure I would be poor in Spirit but why should I be poor in Grace since in thee there are unsearchable Riches MEDITATION XXXIV Bread is the staff of Life Lord I come to thy Table for support and strength Oh! Let the Bread of God strengthen me with strength in my Soul Let me find and feel the admirable vertue of the Broken Body that I may say from plentiful experience I this is meat indeed Let sin grow weaker and weaker and Mammons interest in me decline and languish but make me strong in Spirit and carry on the work of Faith with Power I have need of strength who have such a way to go and all up Hill who have so much work to do and such mighty Enemies to encounter and overcome My Life lies in believing in thee I stand no longer then Thou upholdest me Without thee I can do nothing or what is worse then nothing I can do nothing but sin and fall but if thou dost strengthen me I shall be able to do all things If thou withdraw from me I shall be weak as a Child unstable as the very Water but if thou dost confirm me by thy Grace I shall be like David nay like unto an Angel I shall fight the good fight of Faith and go on conquering and to conquer till I get the Crown MEDITATION XXXV How great was the breach which sin had made between God and Man that my Lord must be broken to make it up Could not something less have served the turn If Christ must die or sin must not be pardoned judg of the greatness of the fault by the greatness of the Sacrifice and Satisfaction What hath sin done It has filled Earth with troubles it has filled Hell with Souls it has turned Angels into Devils it has provoked the God of Heaven to great and Righteous indignation add unto all this It has killed Christ the Lord of Life He was wounded for our Transgression he was bruised for our iniquities Who would love who would like such an evil If my Father had been stabbed should I embrace the Murtherer or like the Dagger besmeared with his blood Oh hateful sin I 'le be revenged upon thee I will make no provision for thee I will lament because of thee I will detest and abhor thee I will be dead to thee and endeavour to mortifie and kill thee My Lord was not spared for thy sake and thou shalt not be spared Lord Away with these lusts all of them Crucifie them Crucifie them since Christ himself did bear my sins in his own Body on the Tree Oh let me be
to serve me too much mine to do me any real harm Christ by dying has taken out the sting of Death so that I need not any longer be under bondage through the Fear of Death O Death Thou hast left thy sting in the side of Christ and there hast lost it O Grave My Lord has broke thy gates open and because he is risen I may joyfully conclude my own Resurrection My body must lye in darkness for a while but it shall not always be Death's Prisoner This corruptible shall put on incorruption this mortal shall put on immortality and as the Corn cast into the ground does rise with advantage every single grain yeilding sometimes an hundred fold so my flesh shall come up out of the Earth with an hundred fold better qualities then now it has 'T is sown in weakness 't is raised in power 't is sown in dishonour 't is raised in glory But O my Soul Death will not be able at all to seize on thee Thou wilt be delivered out of a dungeon when thou leavest thine Earthly Tabernacle and go unto a glorious Palace assoon as ever thou art absent from the Body thou wilt be present with the Lord assoon as thou art departed thou will be with Christ and how much better that is thou wilt find to thy full and Everlasting joy MEDITATION XLVIII If my Beloved is mine and all things mine is there not reason I should be His His I am and His I will be to eternity Lord I am Thine for thou hast made me and not I my self I am thine by the right of purchase as well as Creation for thou hast bought me with a price Nay thou hast new made me on purpose for thine own use and that I should shew forth thy praises And I do willingly resign and yeild my self to thee if I am thy Servant make use of me if I am thy Treasure keep me if I am a child let me be imployed in my Fathers business if I am Betrothed to thee let thy love and jealousie secure me from other Lovers Oh let me be wholly only always Thine Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity Let my tongue be like an Angels continually sounding forth thy Name Let my hands be holy the path of my feet pondered let all my members be yeilded as instruments of Righteousness and let my soul with all its powers love and serve thee Lord sanctifie and satisfie and save me and honour me by employing me for I lift up my soul and give my very heart to thee MEDITATION XLIX Ten thousand times ten thousand praises to the God of love and peace Who would not worship thee and give thee glory O thou King of Saints Let thy Church on Earth as well as Heaven ring aloud with Hallelujah's Who is God save the Lord who is a Rock save our God! Who in Heaven above or in Earth beneath is to be compared to Thee a God glorious in holiness terrible in Majesty rich in mercy abounding in Grace wonderful in working and keeping truth for ever Who can by searching find out God! who can find out the Almighty to perfection It is high as Heaven what can we do Deeper then Hell what can we know Who is a God like unto thee abundant in loving kindness goodness and truth Delighting in mercy Forgiving iniquity Transgression and sin and reconciling the world to himself in Christ Glory be to God in the highest for such good will towards men Let the Heavens rejoyce and let the Earth be glad let the Sea roar and the fulness thereof Let the floods clap their hands and the hills be joyful together Let all the creatures joyn in magnifying that God which made them And let all Saints shout aloud for joy unto Him who has visited and redeemed them MEDITATION L. Lord How much art thou above thy Creatures reach Who besides thy self can conceive thy excellency Who can shew forth all thy praise Thou art exalted above the blessing and the thoughts of Angels above the songs of Seraphims Everlasting thanksgivings are thy due Oh let me live with thee to Eternity that I may ever be paying this debt of praises Bless the Lord ye innumerable company of Angels which excell in strength who see the Glory of your Maker and Lord Praise him O ye Thrones Dominions Principallities and Powers Exalt that mighty and gracious God who elected and confirmed you when so many other Angels sinn'd and are eternally left and miserable in their Apostacy O all ye Triumphant Saints that are with the Lamb upon the heavenly Mount Sion Strike up with your Harps and if it be possible let your strains be still higher and higher Ascribe blessing and honour and glory and power unto Him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever O thou Militant Church Begin this heavenly work of praising here on Earth Thy Redemption and deliverance is begun and will most certainly be compleated The Captain of thy Salvation will stand by thee in thy spiritual warfare and having made thee more then victorious over all thy Enemies will bestow upon thee the promised Crown of life and glory MEDITATION LI. Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name What hast thou breath for but that it should be spent in his praises Wherefore hast thou a tongue at command but that it should be employed in glorifying thy Lord and hereby become thy glory Should not a slave that has been in very hard and cruel bondage be thankful to him that redeemed him Should not a Malefactor condemned to dye be thankful unto Him that pardoned him Should not the patient that has laboured under a Death threatning distemper be thankful to the Physician that has cured him And how much greater reason is there O my Soul that thou shouldst abound in thanksgivings unto thy God and Saviour Thou wast in the worst sense enslaved and he has made thee free indeed Thou wast condemned to the second Death to be separated for ever from the Lord and to be thrown into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone and he by dying himself has purchased a pardon for thee Thou wast sick of spiritual which are the worst kind of plagues and He is the Lord that heals thee Awake Awake Oh my soul Awake Awake And utter a song of praise Rejoyce in Christ Jesus Glory in the Father of mercies Who forgiveth all thy iniquities who healeth all thy Diseases who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies MEDITATION LII Shall I not magnifie and advance my Lord who am so highly advanced my self I was once in darkness and securely went on towards the blackness of darkness forever but I am called out of darkness into marvellous light â— I was once a stranger and a forreiner but now I am a fellow Citizen with the Saints and of the houshold of God I am become a child of God who
new Creature 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are past away and all things become new The old Adam and deceitful lusts are put off and the new man put on which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness This Spirit of Christ mortifies the deeds of the Body Rom. 8. 13. and causes those who are led by him to walk in the Lords Statutes and he fills them with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the praise and glory of God 7. If we are in Christ and he in us we shall endeavour to walk as he walked He is the unerring Pattern to be followers of Christ is certainly to go right 'T is in vain to say that we abide in him unless in some measure we resemble him and long to be more and more conformable to the Image of the Son of God The Apostle tells us 1 Joh. 2. 6. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked When we go about doing good when 't is our meat and drink to do the work and business of our heavenly Father when we walk in meekness and humility not rendring evil for evil or railing for railing but overcome evil with good then the same mind that was in Christ our Lord is also in us and 't is evident that Christ is in us of a truth 8. If Christ be in us we shall account it our happiness to be where he is and to behold his glory As long as we are upon Earth we are in a vale of Tears Sin remaining we cannot be free from trouble the remainders of flesh and corruption will make us sigh and cry O wretched Rom. 7. 24. But when we are absent from the Body we shall be present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 8. and then we shall be compleatly freed from whatever is matter of complaint and sorrow Believers value Heaven though the hypocritical and carnal are earthly minded The Apostle propounds it as the highest comfort that Believers shall certainly be with the Lord and shall be ever with the Lord 1 Thes 4. ult And Christ himself prays for this as the top of his Disciples happiness Joh. 17. 24. Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me may be with me where I am that they may behold my glory This he promises to his Disciples to bear up their hearts and arm them against all fears and troubles whatsoever Joh. 14. 3. If I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to my self that where I am there ye may be also In the fourth place follows the Manner how we are to prove our selves 1. In Self-proving Self-love and Self-flattery must be banished Wicked men are said to flatter themselves in their own eyes until their iniquity be found to be hateful Psal 36. 2. that is till punishment overtake them and throughly convince them how hateful sin is in the eyes of an holy and Righteous God Self-flattery has undone thousands rather than have bad thoughts of themselves and their own condition they will frame a strange conception of God and think him like themselves and 't is ordinary to cry peace and promise safety to themselves till sudden destruction come upon them Psal 50. 21 22. These things hast thou done and I kept silence and thou thoughtest I was altogether such an one as thy self but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes Now consider this ye that forget God lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver We must therefore deal plainly with our selves and pass a true judgment 2. A sufficient time must be allotted and allowed for this matter What is our time given us for but that we may make provision and sure work for Eternity Qui cito pronunciat ad pauca respicit He that judgeth hastily commonly judgeth amiss We must sequester our selves from other business that we may have a full conference with our selves Commune with your own heart upon your Bed says David and be still Psal 4. 4. that is when you are retired do this and be at leisure to understand what your hearts have to say for or against themselves If we commune but little but seldom with our hearts we may live and die ignorant of them 3. Self-proving ought to be managed with all possible seriousness and concernedness of spirit Matters which relate to our Estates and Livelihood are minded seriously and especially we do not trifle in matters of Life and Death But how much more serious should we be in a business upon which our eternal welfare does so very much depend A Mistake about our selves and our Spiritual Estate would be an undoing mistake indeed and after Death 't will be perceived and lamented but 't will be too late to rectifie and amend it And how much will it increase our woe to go out of the World with confidence that all 's Well and find our selves in Hell immediately after our dissolution where our condition will be so very ill and never never to be altered Our fear therefore must be the greater of being deceived and our care the more diligent to prevent it 4. We must be willing to Examine and Ransack our selves to the very bottom to know the worst to know the best to know the whole of our selves Travellers have taken a great deal of pains and gone many a weary step to view the greater World Man is a Microcosm little World And as in the greater World there is Terra Incognita much Land unknown so 't is in this lesser World much of it remains undiscovered Curiosity acts the Travellers in the viewing of Cities and Nations but truly Necessity should make us to take a view of our selves because Self-ignorance is so dangerous and damnable We are endued with a great many powers and faculties we have various affections desires and inclinations many imaginations reasonings and designs All these are corrupted by nature and need be renewed by the grace of God We should therefore be the more strict in searching that Sin wherever it lurks may not escape our knowledge and that grace also may be made manifest 5. All along the aid of the Spirit of God is to be called in David says Whither shall I go from thy Spirit and whether shall I flee from thy presence Psal 139. 7. The Spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2. 10. Surely then the Spirit can discover the deepest things in Man 'T is the work of the Spirit to reprove the World of Sin He takes away the Fig leaves of excuses and presents Sin naked and bare He wipes off the paint that is upon Sin and shews the exceeding sinfulness of it that it may be lamented and abhorred He discovers also the truth of Grace and he does both infallibly His light and help therefore is the more to
believe a lye This the Apostle tells us will end in damnation 2 Thes 2. 11 12. I grant that true Saints may fall into Error but the Elect of God shall not finally be deceived in those doctrines which are fundamental and of absolute necessity to be believed in order to Salvation True Saints do still hold the Head and build upon the Rock Christ though some of their building may be wood and hay and stubble Those therefore who deny the Lord that bought them and make light of the blood of Jesus the price of the Churches redemption are none of the Sheep of Christ and will bring upon themselves swift destruction 2 Pet. 2. 1 2. 9. They never were but in a state of Nature who are total and final Apostates Such are compared to the stony ground and in time of temptation falling away Christ says they had not root in themselves Mat. 13. 21. so 1. Joh. 2. 19. If they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest they were not all of us The utter Apostate shall be fill'd with his own ways and ripen himself apace for ruine Gods Soul shall have no pleasure in him his drawing back will be to perdition Heb. 10. 38 39. and his last state worse than his beginning Thus the Word describes a State of Nature 2. In the second place I am to describe out of the same Word of God and give the signs of a State of Grace and to shew you what are those things which accompany Salvation Now the Scripture pronounces them in a safe and good estate 1. Who come to the light and are willing to be searched True Gold does not fear the Touchstone and true Grace can abide the trial sincere Souls upon this very account like that preaching best which searches most whereas unsound Israel could not bear the words of the Prophet Amos 7. 10. There is a kind of Spiritual instinct in true Believers which inclines them both to a jealousie of themselves and a desire to have their hearts laid open whereas Hypocrites love the dark and are contentedly nay gladly ignorant of themselves Our Lord speaks very plain Joh. 3. 20 21. Every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be discovered but every one that doth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God Doest thou like the Word when 't is most quick and powerful When 't is most sharp and piercing Doest thou bring thy heart to the Lord and say Search it O God Even throughout and look into every corner and let no corruption lye concealed let not so much as one lust be hid or spared This willingness to be thus examined and proved and to have the reins and heart tried argues truth of grace 2. They are in a State of Grace who are truely contrite and broken because of Sin Psal 34. 18. The Lord is nigh to them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit He that is indeed contrite has been convinced of Sin by the Spirit of God and has been made to see the evil in it and the evil that will follow upon it His sin and his misery have been perceived He is grieved because he has sinned against the Lord and wishes that his sorrow might be more abundant because his sin has so much abounded and he laments over a corrupted heart and nature which inclines him to nothing else but sin His heart troubles him which is so hard as well as wicked He accuses himself he judges himself before God he loaths himself in his own sight And now all sin is hated he will divorce the Herodias and consent that the Benjamin should go Nay the sin which was like Benjamin the darling is a Benoni matter of the greatest sorrow This hatred of all sin argues spiritual and saving understanding Psal 119. 104. Through thy Precepts I get understanding therefore I hate every false way Sin ruines none but those that love it Those that hate it generally implacably and to the death shall never dye and be destroyed by it Certainly thou art sincere if thou hatest thy lusts that formerly were thy Lords and if thou canst truely cry with David Psal 119. 133. Order my steps in thy Word and let no iniquity have the dominion over me 3. Those are in a State of Grace who receive Jesus Christ the Son of God To reject Christ binds all our guilt upon us and fixes us under wrath and 't is in effect to refuse Salvation But to as many as receive him to them he gives power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe in his name Joh. 1. 12. If Christ be rightly and indeed received he is received just as God offers him as a Prince to Rule as well as a Saviour from Wrath to give Repentance as well as remission of Sins Act. 5. 31. Christ must be received as an able Saviour as a willing Saviour as the onely Saviour and the whole of that Salvation whereof he is the Author must be valued When he is received there is a consent to cast all that offends him out of the heart to make room for him and truely all of Christ is welcom His strictest commands his mortifying and sanctifying Spirit his Yoak his Burthen his Reproach his Cross are welcom for his sake as well as his Crown If we do not sit down and count the cost and first of all well understand and then fully agree to the Articles and Terms on which Christ is to be received we may easily deceive our selves 4. Those are in a State of Grace who desire after God above all and yield and give themselves unto the Lord. The Psalmist was a sincere Saint who said Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none on Earth that I desire besides thee i. e. none as my great help as my chief happiness besides thee And notice is taken of the grace of God bestowed upon the Churches of Macedonia because they gave their own selves to the Lord 2 Cor. 8. 5. If thy eyes have been opened to see that God is a far greater good than the Creature and a greater good to thee and thou desirest and chusest the Lord himself who is so gracious and alsufficient as incomparably the best portion and art as willing to be his portion as to have him thine this willingness shews thou art of the number of his people and that his powerful grace has been at work in thee Psal 110. 3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power God is called the portion of Jacob and Israel is styled the rod of his inheritance Jer. 10. 16. God and his people chuse each other 5. They are in a State of Grace who hunger and thirst after righteousness Our Lord pronounces such blessed and if he
and Gold that ever was created is but dross in comparison of these riches To go to Ordinances and from them as the Door turns upon the Hinges and to remain just as we were will turn to no account nay to an ill account We are not to rest therefore in opere operato the work done but examine what light what heat what strength what grace what peace we gain by attending upon God or else we may live and dye like lukewarm and mistaken Laodicea who said she was rich and increased with Goods and had need of nothing and knew not that she was wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked Rev. 3. 17. 7. 'T is not amiss if there be some Self-proving every day that keeping of the heart with all diligence Prov. 4. 23. implies a daily watching and calling it to an account and that pondering the path of our feet required vers 26. implies both wariness before and a tracing our Steps afterwards to see whether they have been right or wrong step towards God or from him Pythagoras an Heathen advises every night to ask our selves such Questions as these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where have I sinn'd What have I done What duty have I let alone Thus bad and good deeds every night Will be thy chiding or delight In the seventh place I come to the Arguments persuading all to this examination and proving of themselves 1. Satan is very subtle he does endeavour to conceal and hide both Sin and Grace Sin in the wicked that they may not perceive the evil nature and tendency of it till it has actually and utterly ruin'd them and Grace in them that do believe that their hearts may be tormented with doubts and fears and straitned in thanksgiving unto God Satan is a lying Spirit and upholds his Kingdom by deceit and falshood His work is to fill Gods Children with false fears and his own with false hopes and he has many wiles and stratagems to do both 'T is good therefore to be aware of him and to be the stricter in searching of our selves that he may not impose upon us nor make us call evil good and good evil Let us take great heed for Satan is the Accuser of the Brethren Rev. 12. 10. and will accuse them to themselves as well as accuse them before God he will transform a true Saint and make him look in his own apprehension like a meer reprobate And as he is the Accuser of the Brethren so he is the Excuser of the wicked and makes them say they shall have peace till the anger of the Lord and his jealousie smokes against them and eternal Vengeance overtakes them 2. The heart is deceitful above all things Jer. 17. 9. as it is unknown to others so it hides it self from the view of the man himself Need there is then of Self-examination The heart of man will represent Sin as profitable as pleasant as creditable and in fashion and that there is no such danger in the commission of it but that 't is time enough hereafter and easie enough to repent and obtain a pardon The heart will extenuate sin after 't is done and take notice of the mercy of the Lord but shut its eyes against his justice and holiness 't will call any thing almost by the name of saving-grace and from very weak and insufficient premisses conclude the State is safe Such cheats therefore must be more narrowly eyed and we must bring them to the Heart-searcher that they may be discovered 3. There is no Grace but has its counterfeit When abundance of Brass and bad Money is abroad there is the greater care to try before we take There is a world of counterfeit Grace at this day Many take themselves to be something when they are nothing and so deceive themselves every one therefore should prove his own work that he may have rejoycing in himself alone and not in another Gal. 6. 3. 4. that is that he may have not only the good word of others but the joyful approbation of his own Conscience that his work is good and wrought in God There is a precious faith that ends in the salvation of the Soul and there is a counterfeit faith that dures only for a while and in time of temptation fails There is a saving knowledge which is life eternal and there is a notional knowledge which only puffs up him that has it and makes sorrow and stripes at last to be the more There is a sincere love to Christ that has a vehement flame which many Waters cannot quench which no Floods can drown and there is a love which is only a painted Fire a love in word and shew and not in heart and deed and truth There is a Zeal which God is mightily pleased with as that Zeal in Phineas and there is a Zeal not according to knowledge There is a true Humility which makes us like to Christ and gives the Soul rest and there is a shew of Wisdom and Humility to be found even in the Synagogues of Satan and Antichrist All grace therefore whether in pretence or true must be tried by the Word which if rightly applied is infallible in its decision 4. Many do actually go out of the World mistaken in themselves surely then we should be serious in Self-trial The foolish Virgins because their Lamps were burning and neatly trimm'd that is they profess'd and talkt high and made a glistering shew came with full expectation of admission into the Kingdom Therefore with confidence they knock and with confidence they speak Lord Lord open unto us Mat. 25. 11. But the answer is I know you not The Door contrary to their expectation is shut for ever against them and they are sentenc'd to burn too in Hell though their Lamps on Earth did burn and blaze in a glorious profession of Religion Some are brought in pleading with the Lord Jesus when He says He knew them not We have eat and drank in thy presence and thou hast taught in our Streets Luk. 13. 26. As if they should say Lord 't is very strange thou shouldst not know us None more flocked after thee than we did none were more forward to hear thy Word we were Guests at thy Table many a time and yet dost thou not know us Hear their pleas see their confidence of being let in and yet behold them thrust out unto Eternity 5. Hypocrites may go very far and yet remain but Hypocrites and miscarry Therefore we should examine and see that we go farther An Hypocrite may have a name that he is alive he may bend his Knee and lift up his Eye and speak as it were with the tongue of an Angel he may pray and prophesie so as to gain mans approbation but yet that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God Luk. 16. 15. How far did the Apostle Paul go before his Conversion
remedy Thus the rich man in the Gospel thought of nothing but taking his ease eating drinking and making merry till his Soul was required and lost and he was made to feel the torment and vengeance of eternal Fire 6. These careless Sinners who will not prove themselves their destruction will be sudden unexpected nay contrary to expectation and so will be the more terrible At present they mind not what they do but God remembers all their wickedness Hos 7. 2. And when he shall call them to an account for all what horrour and confusion will seize upon them They thought the Lord as little regarded their Sins as they did themselves and never expected after reckonings What all their good things shall be taken away which can last but for a short time and eternal evils shall come in their room when they shall find and feel themselves most miserable in the hottest lowest Hell and that'tis utterly impossible that ever their wretched condition should be alter'd Oh then they will curse their folly and madness who before did bless themselves and their foregoing presumption and security will make their pain and anguish and despair to be the more intolerable Vse 3. Of Direction And there are three great things which I shall give you directions concerning First How to prove your selves so as to attain unto an assurance of the love of God Secondly How to prove your selves before you engage in that Ordinance of the Lords Supper Thirdly How to prove and call your selves to an account every day that you may walk with the greater circumspection In the first place I am to direct you how to prove your selves so as to attain unto an assurance of the love of God Before I come to the directions themselves I shall lay down some Arguments to persuade all Saints to labour after this Assurance 't is pitty and Saint should be without it 't is pitty any of Gods Children should be ignorant of that most near and blessed and everlasting Relation in which they stand to him Now to make you prize assurance at an high rate and to give all diligence to get it Consider 1. Assurance of the love of God will inflame your hearts with greater love to him What the Apostle says in remarkable 1 Joh. 4. 19. We love him because he first loved us When you know that all your Debts are remitted freely and that very much is forgiven you you cannot chuse but have much love unto him that forgave you Cos amoris amor Love is the whetstone of love Pray therefore for the manifestation of Gods love to you that the light of his countenance may warm your hearts and your Souls may love him with the greater strength and ardency Unbelieving doubts and fears have a natural tendency to chill and damp affection whereas when you know that you are the Children of God you cannot but love him as incomparably the best of all Fathers 2. Assurance of the love of God will fill you with joy and wonder The Apostle tells us that having received the atonement there followed joy in God Rom. 5. 11. And not only so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement Well may the assured Believer rejoyce for his name is written in Heaven And there are no Errata in the Book of Life no blots there made no name ever razed out which is down there And how may such an one wonder that the free grace of God should make such a difference between him and others between him and his former self When he was first loved he was worthy to be loathed he was loved freely for he was found lying polluted in his blood 3. Assurance of the love of God will take away the difficulty of Religion When once you know that God is yours Christ yours the Promises yours things present and to come yours you will not think much of any thing you are required to do or part with Apprehension that you are dear Children will make you follow God indeed Eph. 5. 1. and follow hard after him Apprehension that you are pleasant to him will cause you to take the more pleasure in him and in his service An assurance that God is ready to assist you in every piece of work he enjoyns you ready to meet you in his Ordinances and to be found of you when you seek him and that he will not forget your labour of love Heb. 6. 10. This will make you to love your labour for your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15. 58. 4. Assurance of the love of God will make earthly things contemptible in your eyes When you know your interest in the Fountain of living Waters how little will you value the broken Cisterns When the Psalmist had been assured that God was his portion for ever things on Earth became undesirable Psal 73. 25 26. The Apostle being persuaded of his title to things invisible and eternal he counts the things that are seen which are temporal not worth a look from him 2 Cor. 4. 18. And David is so far from fancying them that he prays he may never cast an eye or hanker after them any more Psal 119. 37. Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity and quicken thou me in thy way They that know and believe the love which God hath to them are satisfied that his love hath provided far better things than the World can boast of or the men of the World know of Eye hath not seen Ear hath not heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man what God hath prepared for them that love him 1 Cor. 2. 9. Those believing Souls that were in assured expectation of a better Country than any in this World to wit an Heavenly Country they confessed they were Strangers and Pilgrims upon Earth Heb. 11. 13. Earth and the things of the Earth were very mean and inconsiderable in their eyes 5. Assurance of the love of God will be a mighty antidote and preservative against temptation with what confidence will it make you to look unto your Lord and Father for help against the Tempter and his grace will be sufficient for you 2 Cor. 12. 9. so that you shall be strong enough to resist the Devil and make him flee from you The Assured Believer can more easily silence Satan than others can because he has tasted and seen how good and gracious the Lord is he has experienced that peace in the God of love and peace which the World can neither give nor take away therefore he does the more contemn all the offers which Satan can make to him in the hour of temptation The assured Believer may cry out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now I have found real contentment now I have tasted true joy Earth cannot yield it Sin is the sure hindrance of it in God alone 't is to be found Temptation upon such an one is likely to have but
and amazing kindness and love of God The Father himself looks here and is delighted in the Obedience and Sufferings of his Son through whom without any prejudice to his Justice and Holiness his Grace and Mercy have a full vent and a free course to be glorified among the Sons of men The Beleivers under the Old Testament looked unto Jesus though he was more darkly represented to them Moses and the Prophets spake of him and Abraham himself rejoyced to see his day And under the New Testament he is more fully revealed Here therefore I will fix my eye and living and dying Behold this Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the World MEDITATION XII I am in my self a lost Creature My sins my sins have ruin'd me the sins which I have lov'd and pleaded for and taken so much pleasure in have done me the greatest harm Wo wo is me that I have sinned I have broken the best Law and rebelled against the best Lord. I have sided with the Enemies of my Salvation to destroy my self 'T is an endless task to number the Stars in the Firmament or the Sand upon the Sea shore or the days of Eternity and I may as well do all this as number my iniquities Innumerable Evils have compassed me about my iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up they are more then the hairs of my Head therefore my heart faileth me And if the wages of the least sin be Death and Hell what large wages and what a low place in Hell have I deserved Gods anger is just his power is terrible his patience is wonderful his mercy is utterly undeserved I should be all despair were it not for the Grace of God and the Blood of God but these are sufficient grounds of hope and Everlasting Consolation MEDITATION XIII I plainly perceive that all mankind have suffered shipwrack The first man Adam had the steering of the Vessel and he run it upon the Rocks and lost himself and his whole progeny All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God The calamity is general the whole World is become guilty before God there is none that understandeth or seeketh after God there is none that doeth good no not one 'T is truly lamentable that the humane nature should be so infected so corrupted as that every mind should be carnal and enmity against God that every Heart should be like an adamant stone that every neck should be like an iron sinew All are born the Children of wrath and with strong inclinations to be the Children of Disobedience So that when the Son of God came into the World to dye and save it He found the World lying in wickedness secure in sin and hastning towards Everlasting misery MEDITATION XIV Whence is this to Man that a Saviour should be provided for him Were there no Creatures fell besides Yes an innumerable Host of Angels kept not their first estate but left their own Habitation The Angels that sinned were excellent and glorious in their first Creation but they grew proud and Enemies to Truth and voluntarily departed and were justly banished from the Lord that made them And when these Angels sinned no mercy that we read of was extended to them The Scripture expressely says that God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell That was a dreadful fall indeed from the highest Heaven to the lowest Hell those mighty Spirits are fettered in Chains of darkness and are reserved unto the judgement of the great day they never that we find had a Redeemer provided nor a pardon offered nor after they had made themselves miserable were they ever brought within the reach and possibility of Mercy The Son of God took not on him the nature of Angels or he took not hold of the Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham MEDITATION XV. Lord What was man that thou wert thus mindful of him Or the Son of man that the Son of God should come and visit him Admirable condescension That thou whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain shouldst rejoyce in the habitable parts of the Earth and that thy delights should be with the Sons of men Can man be profitable unto God Is it any gain to the Almighty that any make their ways perfect Lord Man has the benefit of Salvation 't is but reason that thou shouldst have intirely all the Glory Man is therefore subservient to thine honour because his meanness makes thy condescension and his guilt and vileness does render thy Grace the more wonderful When 〈◊〉 Creature so undeserving nay that deserves so ill is so highly advanced as to be saved the power and grace which does advance and save him is matter of the greater admiration MEDITATION XVI Who is this Lord Jesus that undertakes the work of mans Redemption He is the express Image of his Fathers Person the Brightness of his Glory He is to be Worshipped with the same Worship and has the same Eternal Power and Godhead with the Father and the Spirit He it is who created all things in Heaven and Earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist The Elect Angels adore him the Reprobate ones he has spoyled and triumphed over he has all power in Heaven and Earth and Commands the Keys of Hell and Death He is Wonderful in Counsel the Mighty God the Prince of Peace How safe is it then to trust in this Lord Jesus 't is the highest reason to believe in him that is so mighty that is Almighty for the must needs be able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him Whosoever Believeth in him shall not be confounded MEDITATION XVII O my Soul let thy Faith be fixed and settled on the Godhead of thy Lord and Saviour were he not God 't were both sin and folly to rely upon him Faith in him would be altogether vain but since he is the true God and Eternal Life They shall not perish but have Everlasting Life that do indeed beleive in him Christ thy Righteousness is the Lord Jehovah in him therefore thou mayst confidently expect to be justified and thou mayst Glory and rejoyce for ever The Blood of Christ is called Gods own Blood because 't is the Blood of him that is truly God and over all God blessed forever as well as truly man And surely the sufferings of him that was God can make satisfaction for the sins that thou hast been guilty of against God Thou art amazed to see thy iniquities increased and thy Trespasse grown up to the Heavens Thou art astonished and desolate and horribly afraid to see how high thy sin strikes even at God himself But withal take notice how Christ who is God does stoop and humble himself He that thought it no Robbery to be equal