to know God and Jesus Christ this is our Life to trust in him this is our Strength to love him and delight in him And are not Love and Joy the most pleasant Affections and is not God the most amiable and pleasing Object We are commanded to fear him and is it not most reasonable to fear the loss of his Favour which is Heaven and the incurring his Wrath that is the deepest Hell We are commanded to obey his Laws and our Saviour assures us his Yoke is easy and his Burden is light 't is an easy and easing Yoke that frees us from the most cruel Bondage of Sin and Satan And will not Men believe the Testimony of Eternal Truth rather than their fond Fancies and corrupt Appetites We are commanded to hear his Word and is it not a Happiness to be directed in the way to everlasting Life We are commanded to pray continually Is it not a blessed Privilege that poor Dust may address their Requests to the Lord Almighty the Possessor of Heaven and Earth with an Assurance that those Petitions are most pleasing to him that are for his most excellent Blessings Besides this nothing is forbid but sinful Pleasures that will end in eternal Torments sinful Profits the gaining of the World with the loss of the Soul the Gain is nothing and the Loss is infinite Now where are the Chains and Fetters that are so hard and heavy as Carnal Men complain of All his Commands are Precepts of Happiness 2. This Testimony of Scripture Carnal Men esteem a notorious Paradox they can taste no Pleasures but what are steep'd in Sense Take away the Enticings and Blandishments of the Carnal Appetites they understand no other Pleasure which is such a Deceit as if a sick Person who feels no Pleasure but in the soft and easy Intermissions of his Disease should conclude if he were entirely freed from it he should be deprived of all Pleasure Whereas the Pleasure of Health is far more desirable and constant The Angels are absolutely exempt from the Desires of our carnal Faculties and without carnal Fruitions but are ever blessed and joyful in the direct Possession of what is good not in the relief from Evils either natural or accidental as Hunger and Thirst or Sickness and Pain Pleasure results from the sutableness between the perceptive Faculties and the Objects that affect them if there be no harmonious Proportion there will be no Musick no Delight Now 't is true while Flesh is the prevailing Ingredient in a Man he only relishes the Satisfactions of the Senses he cannot enjoy God he cannot delight in doing his Will no more than a Swine can in clean Pasture whose natural Property strongly inclines it to wallow in the Mire But when the Soul is clarified and purged by the great Refiner how sublime and satisfying a Pleasure does it feel in the Love of God and in his Service As in natural feeding when the Palat is in its due Temper the Taste commends our proper Food to the Appetite and the Appetite to the Stomach but a foul Stomach disaffects the Appetite vitiates the Pallate and the most savoury and wholsom Meat is loathsom when the Disease is the Taster Thus if the Soul be in its due Temper the doing the Will of God would be our Meat and Drink mixt with a sweeter Pleasure than those natural Operations are but the Soul is so corrupt and carnaliz'd that it has no Taste of the pure Delights of blessed Spirits in Communion with God like the Israelites who despis'd the Bread of Angels and impatiently longed for the Onions and Garlick and Flesh-pots of Egypt Till Men die to Sin the Supper of the Lamb will be insipid and nauseous The Carnal Mind as grosly mistakes about Liberty 'T is horrible Folly to think true Freedom consists in doing whatever the vicious Affections require in conversing with such Persons as foment and gratify them Is that Person free that is fetter'd with as many Chains of Hell as he has predominant Lusts Was the possest Person free who lived among the Tombs among contagious Carcases Then a Sinner that without the fear of Hell obeys his depraved Appetites and associates with those who are corrupt and Corrupters by their wicked Example is free But 't is evident that the Mind the superiour leading Faculty is in Bondage while the Passions reign and the sensual Worldly Wretch with his imaginary Liberty is the most accursed Slave Till the Son makes us free from the tyrannous Power of Sin we are not free indeed Till Reason enlighten'd by the Word resumes its Right and Jurisdiction and leads the Will to choose what is best for a spiritual immortal Creature and the other Faculties to obey we are the Slaves of Satan When we are made free from Sin and become the Servants of Righteousness and yield an ingenuous delightful Subjection to God's Laws we enjoy a State of Liberty Nay the Service of God is our Glory He that loved us and wash'd us from our Sins in his Blood has made us Kings and Priests to God The most eminent Acts of Royal Authority are to govern the Subjects by equal Laws and to subdue the Enemies of the Peace and Prosperity of the Kingdom and when Divine Grace reigns in the Heart it regulates all the Thoughts and Affections the inward and outward Faculties according to the holy just and good Law of God and subdues these rebellious Lusts that disturb the Order and Tranquillity of the Soul 3. Experience proves that a State of Religion is most delightful Whenever the captive Soul is rescued from the Bondage of his Lusts and prefer'd to the Service of God how sweet is the Change and how bitterly will he complain other Lords have had Dominion over me but thy Service is the truest Freedom Did ever any of the Saints complain that God is an austere Master that his Service is a melancholy joyless Condition No in their Esteem and Affections his Law is the most pure precious sweet and profitable Good His Commands are not grievous they obey them from Choice and Complacence They love the Law-giver and like the Laws Communion with God in his holy Ordinances is a Heaven upon Earth to them One day in thy Courts is better than a thousand in the Vanities and Business of the World In the Presence of God is Fulness of Joy and the more we are admitted into his Presence here the more we are admitted into his Joy all the blessed Means of our drawing near to God and his drawing near to us are the Gate of Heaven and Entrance into Glory David who was so acquainted with God declares There be many that say Who will shew us any Good Lord lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon me Thou hast put more Joy into my Heart than when their Corn and Wine increased A Joy more solid and satisfying than carnal Men receive in the Spring-tide of their Fruitions
the weak or faint may be restored The first and last Lesson of Pagan Philosophy was to support Men under the Storms to which they are liable in this open State to render the Soul velut Pelagi rupes immota as a Rock unshaken by the Waves But all their Directions were unsuccessful and so could not secure them from Impatience or Despair But the Gospel that assures us of the Love of God in sending Afflictions for our Spiritual and Eternal Good is alone able to compose the Mind And whenever we faint in Troubles 't is either from Infidelity or Inconsideration 't is impossible a Person should be a Christian and be incapable of Comfort in the most afflicted State for we are really so by the holy Spirit who is the Comforter When we speak sometimes to those we judg infirm we speak to Infidels who only receive Remedy from Time which they ought to receive from Faith they they have the Name of God only in their Mouths but the World is in their Hearts Their Passions are strong and obstinate not subject to sanctified Reason The Difficulty they have of being comforted discovers the necessity of their being afflicted They need Conversion more than Consolation others who are sincere in Faith yet are apt to faint under Troubles from an Error like that of the Apostles when their Lord came upon the Waters in a stormy tempestuous Night to their Assistance they thought he was a Spirit So they look on God as an Enemy when he comes to sanctify and save them the Soveraign Remedy of our Sorrows is to correct the Judgment of Sense by a serious Belief of God's Promise Thus we shall reconcile the roughness of his Hand with the sweetness of his Voice he calls to us from Heaven in the darkest Night 'T is I be not afraid He corrects us with the Heart and Hand of a Father A due Consideration of these things will produce a glorified Joy in the midst of our Sufferings Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our Learning that we through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures might have Hope SERMON VI. LUKE xiv 23. The Lord said to the Servant Compel them to come in that my House may be full OUR Blessed Saviour in the days of his Humility among other Instances of his admirable Condescension was pleased in his Sermons to stoop to the Capacity of the Hearers and instruct them in a familiar easy way The infirm Eye of Flesh cannot behold Spiritual Things in their immediate Purity and Glory but as shadowed under sensible Comparisons Therefore his excellent Goodness made use of Parables to illustrate and explain by Representations and Patterns borrowed from things common and known things of a sublimer Nature and more distant from our Apprehensions and by this ingaging lively manner to awaken the Spirit to consider by what is said what is signified and to insinuate into the Affections Divine Truths so pleasingly conveyed to us Now of all the Parables in the Gospel this of the Marriage-Feast both in respect of the Excellence of the Matter and the manner of Expression sutable to our Capacity deserves the serious Application of our Minds and Hearts I will make some Observations upon it that may be useful and introductive to the following Discourse Two general Parts are to be considered in it viz. I. The Narrative of the Prepations and the Persons invited to the Feast II. The Success of the Invitation In unfolding these Generals I shall consider the Substance of the Parable without straining it by far fetch'd Parallels beyond the Intention of our Saviour 'T is a curious Folly to turn every Figure in Scripture into an Allegory The Parable is the same in Substance with that in the 22d Chapter of St. Matthew from the 2d Verse to the 15th that indeed has more of Circumstance and Magnificence in the Relation The certain Man that made the Feast is there stiled a King that is the blessed God and the Feast is for the Marriage of his Son Under this Figure of a Royal Marriage is represented the Mystical Marriage between Christ and his Church and the Type is infinitely excell'd by the Reality If we consider the Persons join'd in this Divine Alliance the Son of God of the same Nature of equal and eternal Greatness with his Father to unite himself to sinful miserable Creatures in a Conjugal Relation the most tender and entire What an immense distance was to be overcome What a seeming Disparagement was it to him In order to this it was necessary there should be a Conformity of Nature between us he therefore was made Flesh that we might be one Spirit with him he assumed our Nature in a Personal Union to the Diety that he might marry our Persons in a Spiritual Union He was a Saviour to redeem us that he might be a Husband to inrich us Astonishing Love The Lord of Glory higher than the Heavens stoop'd so low as to espouse poor Dust he gave his Life for us and himself to us for ever What Honour and Happiness accrues to us by this Alliance the Lord of Angels is our Husband His Gifts are answerable to his Love he is Heir of all things and endows his Church with Heaven and Earth the Apostle assures Believers all things are yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's Our Communion with him is so perfect that he discharges us of all the Evils that we cannot bear our Sins and the Curse due to them by taking them upon himself and bestows upon us all the Blessings and Blessedness we are capable to enjoy Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption By the great Supper prepar'd we are to understand the Manifestation of the Messiah with all the most precious and unvaluable Benefits purchased and conferr'd by him upon Believers the Pardon of Sins Adoption into God's Family the Graces and Comforts of the Spirit and eternal Glory the becoming Testimonies of his Greatness and Love The prime Guests invited to this Feast are the Jews the select People of God to whom pertained the Adoption and the Glory and the Covenants and the giving of the Law and the Service of God and the Promises Whose are the Fathers and of whom concerning the Flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever When other Nations were excluded from the Alliance of God his Presence and Worship was their Privilege and for them this Feast was principally intended The Servants employed in the Invitation were first Moses and the Prophets inclusively to John the Baptist all to whom the Oracles of God were committed and by whom the eternal Counsels of his Wisdom were declar'd concerning the Messias All their Prophecies as so many Lines meet in this Centre The other Servants were the Apostles who were commanded to preach the Gospel first at Jerusalem The first order of Servants and the second both proposed the same Messias as the Object of our Faith
if we consider the Depravation of Mankind so inveterate and invincible we shall turn the Current of our Wonder another way that the obstinate Perverseness of any is subdued and that with consenting Wills they receive Christ as their Prince and Saviour Election is the Fountain of distinguishing Grace Many are called but few are chosen Conversion Adoption Justification Sanctification Glorification are all the Fruits of electing Mercy By the most gracious and free Act of his own Will he chose some out of the corrupt Generality and they are but a little diminutive Flock to make them Vessels of Honour that his Goodness might be the more admirable Those who are made a willing People were by the natural and contracted Hardness of their Hearts as averse and repugnant to the Heavenly Call as others if after a thousand Repulses the Spirit had been withdrawn they had died in their Sins but as 't is said of Lot's miraculous Rescue from the Flames of Sodom While he lingred the Angels laid hold upon his Hand the Lord being merciful to him and brought him forth and set him without the City so the free and omnipotent Grace over-rul'd their reluctant Hearts and strongly and sweetly inclin'd them to God their supream and satisfying Good and to come to Christ as the only means to restore them to the Favour and Enjoyment of God The natural Man is no more able to believe with a saving Faith in Christ than to obey the whole Law 't is the Gift of God He provides the Means of Salvation and applies them he by victorious Grace leads Captivity captive and bestows that most precious Gift upon his People How many that enjoy'd the same Gospel and did not reject so many Invitations nor so often grieve and vex the holy Spirit nor so long abuse the Patience of God were justly left in their Sins this will set a Lustre upon special and saving Mercy O what a conspicuous Discovery what a lively and thankful Sense will there be of this Grace in the next World Our Saviour tells the unbelieving Jews There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God and you your selves turn'd out The Comparison of the opposite States will then be more joyful and transporting to the Saints and more manifest and tormenting to the Reprobates They shall feel a burning Thirst after the Happiness they have lost and be tortur'd between Desire and Despair for ever 2. Let those who make light of the Invitations of Grace consider what will be the Issue of their Obstinacy Within a little while Conscience will awaken the Remembrance of their careless Contempt of the Divine Mercy and that will awaken Despair To instruct such Persons and make them afraid that they may fly to the Sanctuary from the Destroyer let them consider 1. This will render them inexcusable Their Obduration and final Ruin will be of themselves God is pleased to appeal to the Human Understanding What could I do more for my Vineyard that I have not done His Works and his Words are declaratory of his Will how pleasing the Repentance and Life of Sinners is to him He has prepar'd a Saviour and Salvation and offers them to lost Souls In the Year of Jubilee Liberty was proclaim'd for all the Israelites who had been Servants but if any one would not leave his Master his Ear was bored and he was a Servant for ever Thus the acceptable Year of the Lord is proclaim'd in the Gospel a happy Freedom to Sinners by Jesus Christ but those who are in love with their reigning Lusts refuse this Freedom and are condemn'd to the worst Bondage for ever God by his Authority commands them to repent and believe the Gospel He invites them by the most gracious Promises to accept and receive them he expresses the most tender Compassions towards perishing Sinners Why will ye die He reproaches their unaccountable Folly How long ye simple ones will ye love Simplicity He urges them by terrible Threatnings not to neglect his offer'd Grace But they are deaf to his loudest Calls if a Lust whispers from their Earthly Affections they are presently moved No Mercy will soften them no Reproofs will reform them the richest Means of Grace are lost and they prodigally perish Now how justly do they fall under the condemning Sentence of the Law who slight the Mercy of the Gospel God takes no Pleasure in the Death of a Sinner but they take Pleasure in their Sins they die in their Sins because they will die they are deprived of Life because they will not come to Christ that they may have Life At the Day of Judgment lost Sinners will intirely clear God and deeply charge themselves with their deserved Ruin 2. Such are irrecoverable The Gospel is the only Dispensation of Grace if Men obstinately reject it their Condition is as desperate as if they were bound in Chains of Darkness to the Judgment of the great Day Mercy alone can heal us and if that be wounded our Sickness is incurable He that believeth not the Son shall not see Life but the Wrath of God abides on him His Doom is sealed and irreversible God now speaks in a still Voice but hereafter he will speak in a Whirlwind to the Despisers of his Grace 'T is true we cannot say a Soul is quite lost while there is a delay of Judgment but the Scripture declares that Sinners by their stubborn Refusals of Mercy make God inexorable to their Prayers There is a day of Grace and the Lapse of it is fatal to the Neglecters Of this there have been very fearful Examples how many Despisers of the Grace of the Redeemer in the course of their Lives yet in the Agony of their last Departure when their Sins with a ghastly Aspect appear and with frightful Horror they look into the bottomless Pit Conscience anticipates the Divine Judgment Let the most compassionate Ministers offer them the Cordials of the Gospel and tell them they despair too soon the self-condemning Conscience replies they repent too late O that Men were early wise to secure their eternal Interest 3. The neglect of Salvation will aggravate Sin and the Judgment of Men. This is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World and Men love Darkness rather than Light The higher the Disobedience the lower the Damnation will be of Sinners The Heathens in their Race of ignorant Rebellion are not so guilty nor liable to so heavy a Sentence as those who disobey the Gospel The Israelites had so abus'd the Mercies of God to his Dishonour there were no such Rebels on Earth the Prophet was fain to descend to Hell for a Comparison to equal their Wickedness Hear the Word of the Lord ye Rulers of Sodom Give Ear unto the Law of our God ye People of Gomorrah But those who turn the Grace of God into an occasion of
Law the declared Will of his Maker accordingly a Law the Rule of his Obedience was written in his Heart Now Sin the Transgression of this Law contains many great Evils 1. Sin is a Rebellion against the Soveraign Majesty of God that gives the Life of Authority to the Law Therefore Divine Precepts are enforced with the most proper and binding Motive to Obedience I am the Lord. He that with purpose and pleasure commits Sin implicitely renounces his Dependance upon God as his Maker and Governour over-rules the Law and arrogates an irresponsible Licence to do his own Will This is exprest by those Atheistical Designers who said With our Tongue we will prevail our Lips are our own who is Lord over us The Language of Actions that is more natural and convincing than of Words declares that sinful Men despise the Commands of God as if they were not his Creatures and Subjects What a Dishonour what a Displeasure is it to the God of Glory that proud Dust should fly in his Face and controul his Authority He has ten thousand times ten thousand Angels that are high in Dignity and excel in Strength waiting in a Posture of Reverence and Observance about his Throne ready to do his Will How provoking is it for a despicable Worm to contravene his Law and lift his Hand against him It will be no Excuse to plead the Commands of Men for Sin for as much as God is more glorious than Men so much more are his Commands to be respected and obeyed than Mens When there is an evident Opposition between the Laws of Men and of God we must disobey our Superiours tho we displease them and obey our Supream Ruler He that does what is forbidden or neglects to do what is commanded by the Divine Law to please Men tho invested with the highest Sovereignty on Earth is guilty of double Wickedness of Impiety in deposing God and Idolatry in deifying Men. It is an extream Aggravation of this Evil in that Sin as it is a disclaiming our Homage to God so 't is in true account a yielding Subjection to the Devil For Sin is in the strictest Propriety his Work The Original Rebellion in Paradise was by his Temptation and all the actual and habitual Sins of Men since the Fall are by his efficacious Influence He darkens the Carnal Mind and sways the polluted Will he excites and inflames the vicious Affections and imperiously rules in the Children of Disobedience He is therefore stiled the Prince and God of this World And what more contumelious Indignity can there be than the preferring to the glorious Creator of Heaven and Earth a damned Spirit the most cursed part of the Creation It is most reasonable that the Baseness of the Competitor should be a Foil to reinforce the Lustre of God's Authority yet Men reject God and comply with the Tempter O prodigious Perversness 2. Sin vilifies the ruling Wisdom of God that prescrib'd the Law to Men. Altho the Dominion of God over us be Supreme and Absolute yet 't is exercis'd according to the Counsel of his VVill by the best Means for the best Ends he is accordingly stiled by the Apostle The eternal King and only wise God 'T is the glorious Prerogative of his Soveraignty and Deity that he can do no Wrong for he necessarily acts according to the Excellencies of his Nature Particularly his Wisdom is so relucent in his Laws that the serious Contemplation of it will ravish the sincere Minds of Men into a Compliance with them They are framed with exact Congruity to the Nature of God and his Relation to us and to the Faculties of Man before he was corrupted From hence the Divine Law being the Transcript not only of God's Will but his Wisdom binds the Understanding and Will our leading Faculties to esteem and approve to consent and choose all his Precepts as best Now Sin vilifies the Infinite Understanding of God with respect both to the Precepts of the Law the Rule of our Duty and the Sanction annex'd to confirm its Obligation It does constructively tax the Precepts as unequal too rigid and severe a Confinement to our Wills and Actions Thus the impious Rebels complain The Ways of the Lord are not equal as injurious to their Liberty and not worthy of Observance What St. James saith to correct the uncharitable censorious Humour of some in his time He that speaks Evil of his Brother and judges his Brother speaks Evil of the Law and judges the Law as an imperfect and rash Rule is applicable to Sinners in any other kind As an unskilful Hand by straining too high breaks the Strings of an Instrument and spoils the Musick so the Strictness and the Severity of the Precepts breaks the harmonious Agreement between the Wills of Men and the Law and casts an Imputation of Imprudence upon the Law-giver This is the implicit Blasphemy in Sin Besides the Law has Rewards and Punishments to secure our Respects and Obedience to it The wise God knows the Frame of the reasonable Creature what are the inward Springs of our Actions and has accordingly propounded such Motives to our Hope and Fear the most active Passions as may engage us to perform our Duty He promises his Favour that is better than Life to the Obedient and threatens his Wrath that is worse than Death to the Rebellious Now Sin makes it evident that these Motives are not effectual in the Minds of Men And this reflects upon the Wisdom of the Law-giver as if defective in not binding his Subjects firmly to their Duty for if the Advantage or Pleasure that may be gain'd by Sin be greater than the Reward that is promised to Obedience and the Punishment that is threatned against the Transgression the Law is unable to restrain from Sin and the Ends of Government are not obtained Thus Sinners in venturing upon forbidden things reproach the Understanding of the Divine Law-giver 3. Sin is a Contrariety to the unspotted Holiness of God Of all the glorious and benign Constellations of the Divine Attributes that shine in the Law of God his Holiness has the brightest Lustre God is holy in all his Works but the most venerable and precious Monument of his Holiness is the Law For the Holiness of God consists in the Correspondence of his Will and Actions with his moral Perfections Wisdom Goodness and Justice and the Law is the perfect Copy of his Nature and Will The Psalmist who had a purged Eye saw and admir'd its Purity and Perfection The Commandment of the Lord is pure inlightning the Eyes The Word is very near therefore thy Servant loves it 'T is the perspicuous Rule of our Duty without Blemish or Imperfection The Commandment is holy just and good It injoins nothing but what is absolutely Good without the least Tincture of Evil. The Sum of it is set down by the Apostle to live soberly that is to abstain from any thing that
them nay sinks them below the insensible part of the Creation that invariably observes the Law and Order prescribed by the Creator Astonishing Degeneracy Hear O Heavens give Ear O Earth I have nourished and brought up Children and they have rebelled against me was the Complaint of God himself The considerate Review of this will melt us into Tears of Confusion 2dly 'T was the unvaluable Goodness of God to give his Law to Man for his Rule both in respect of the matter of the Law and his end in giving it 1. The matter of the Law this as is forecited from the Apostle is holy just and good It contains all things that are honest and just and pure and lovely and of good Report whatsoever are vertuous and Praise-worthy In Obedience to it the Innocence and Perfection of the reasonable Creature consists This I do but glance upon having been consider'd before 2. The end of giving the Law God was pleas'd upon Man's Creation by an illustrious Revelation to shew him his Duty to write his Law in his Heart that he might not take one step out of the Circle of its Precepts and immediately sin and perish His gracious Design was to keep Man in his Love that from the Obedience of the reasonable Creature the Divine Goodness might take its rise to reward him This unfeigned and excellent Goodness the Sinner outragiously despises for what greater Contempt can be exprest against a written Law than the tearing it in pieces and trampling it under foot And this constructively the Sinner does to the Law of God which Contempt extends to the gracious Giver of it Thus the Commandment that was ordain'd unto Life by Sin was found unto Death 3. Sin is an extream vilifying of God's Goodness in preferring Carnal Pleasures to his Favour and Communion with him wherein the Life the Felicity the Heaven of the reasonable Creature consists God is Infinite in all possible Perfections All sufficient to make us compleatly and eternally happy he disdains to have any Competitor and requires to be supream in our Esteem and Affections the reason of this is so evident by Divine and Natural Light that 't is needless to spend many words about it 'T is an Observation of St. Austin That it was a Rule amongst the Heathens that a wise Man should worship all their Deities The Romans were so insatiable in Idolatry that they sent to Foreign Countries to bring the Gods of several Nations an unpolish'd Stone a tame Serpent that were reputed Deities they received with great Solemnity and Reverence But the true God had no Temple no Worship in Rome where there was a Pantheon dedicated to the Honour of all the false Gods The Reason he gives of it is that the true God who alone has Divine Excellencies and Divine Empire will be worship'd alone and strictly forbids the Assumption of any into his Throne To adore any besides him is infinitely debasing and provoking to his dread Majesty Now Sin in its Nature is a Conversion from God to the Creature and whatever the Temptation be in yielding to it there is signified that we choose something before his Favour Sin is founded in bono jucundo something that is delectable to the Carnal Nature 't is the universal Character of Carnal Men They are Lovers of Pleasure more than Lovers of God To some Riches are the most alluring Object The young Man in the Gospel when our Saviour commanded him to give his Estate to the Poor and he should have Treasure in Heaven went away sorrowful as if he had been offer'd to his loss To others the Pleasures that in strict Propriety are sensual are most charming Love is the Weight of the Soul that turns it not like a dead Weight of the Scales but with Election freely to its Object in the carnal Ballance the present Things of the World are of conspicuous Moment and out-weigh Spiritual and Eternal Blessings Altho the Favour of God be eminently all that can be desir'd under the Notion of Riches or Honour or Pleasure and every Atom of our Affection is due to him yet Carnal Men think it a cheap Purchase to obtain the good Things of this World by sinful means with the loss of his Favour This their Actions declare Prodigious Folly as if a few Sparks struck out of a Flint that can neither afford Light or Warmth were more desirable than the Sun in its Brightness And how contumelious and provoking it is to God he declares in the most moving Expressions Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be horribly afraid be ye very desolate saith the Lord. For my People have committed two Evils they have forsaken me the Fountain of living Waters and hewed them out broken Cisterns that can hold no Water This immediately was charg'd upon the Jews who set up Idols of Jealousy and ador'd them rather than the glorious Jehovah and in proportion 't is true of all Sinners for every vicious Affection prefers some vain Object before his Love and the Enjoyment of his glorious Presence that is the Reward of Obedience 5. The Sinner disparages the impartial Justice of God In the Divine Law there is a Connexion between Sin and Punishment the Evil of doing and the Evil of suffering This is not a meer Arbitrary Constitution but founded on the inseparable Desert of Sin and the Rectitude of God's Nature which unchangeably loves Holiness and hates Sin Altho the threatning does not lay a strict necessity upon the Lawgiver always to inflict the Punishment yet God having declar'd his equal Laws as the Rule of our Duty and of his Judgment if they should be usually without Effect upon Offenders the Bands of Government would be dissolv'd and consequently the Honour of his Justice stain'd both with respect to his Nature and Office for as an essential Attribute 't is the Correspondence of his Will and Actions with his Moral Perfections and as Soveraign Ruler he is to preserve Equity and Order in his Kingdom Now those who voluntarily break his Law presume upon Impunity The first rebellious Sin was committed upon this Presumption God threatn'd If you eat the forbidden Fruit you shall die the Serpent says Eat and you shall not die and assenting to the Temptation Adam fell to Disobedience And ever since Men are fearless to sin upon the same Motive God chargeth the wicked Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thy self not concern'd to punish the Violation of his sacred Laws The Sinner commits the Divine Attributes to fight against one another presuming that Mercy will disarm Justice and stop its terrible Effects upon impenitent obstinate Sinners From hence they become bold and harden'd in the continuance of their Sins There is a Root that beareth Gall and Wormwood and when the Curse of the Law is declar'd and denounc'd against Sin the Wicked blesseth himself in his Heart saying I shall have Peace tho I walk in the Imagination of my Heart
Thus Intemperance and Luxury shorten the Lives of Men and accelerate Damnation Fierce Desires and wild Rage are Fewel for the everlasting Fire in Hell The same Evils considered Physically are from the Efficiency of Sin consider'd legally are from the Guilt of Sin and the Justice of God This being a Point of great Usefulness that I may be more instructive I will consider the Evils that are consequential to Sin under these two Heads First Such as proceed immediately from it by Emanation Secondly Those Evils and all other as the Effects of God's Justice and Sentence First The Evils that proceed immediately by Emanation from it and tho some of them are not resented with feeling Apprehensions by Sinners yet they are of a fearful Nature Sin has deprived Man of the Purity Nobility and Peace of his innocent State 1. It has stain'd and tainted him with an universal intimate and permanent Pollution Man in his first Creation was holy and righteous a Beam of Beauty derived from Heaven was shed upon his Soul in comparison of which sensitive Beauty is but as the Clearness of Glass to the Lustre of a Diamond His Understanding was Light in the Lord his Will and Affections were regular and pure the Divine Image was imprest upon all his Faculties that attracted the Love and Complacency of God himself Sin has blotted out all his amiable Excellencies and superinduc'd the most foul Deformity the Original of which was fetch'd from Hell Sinners are the natural Children of Satan of a near Resemblance to him The Scripture borrows Comparisons to represent the defiling Quality of Sin from Pollutions that are most loathsom to our Senses from pestilential Ulcers putrifying Sores filthy Vomit and defiling Mire This Pollution is universal through the whole Man Spirit Soul and Body It darkens the Mind our supream Faculty with a Cloud of Corruption it depraves the Will and vitiates the Affections 'T is a Pollution so deep and permanent that the Deluge that swept away a World of Sinners did not wash away their Sins and the Fire at the last Day that shall devour the Dross of the visible World and renew the Heavens and the Earth shall not purge away the Sins of the guilty Inhabitants This Pollution hath so defil'd and disfigur'd Man who was a fair and lovely Type wherein the Skill and Perfections of the Creator was conspicuous that it repented God that he made Man As an Artificer having form'd a surprizing Piece either a Statue or Picture wherein Art almost equall'd the Life and Lustre of Nature if it be torn or broken throws it from his sight with sorrow impatient to see it so rudely defaced Thus God is said to hide his Face from Sinners to express his Displeasure as unwilling to behold the Disparagement of his Master-piece the excellent Product of his Wisdom and Power 2. Sin has degraded Man from his native State and Dignity Man by his Extraction and Descent was the Son of God a little lower than the Angels consecrated and crowned as a Priest for the Service and Communion with his glorious Maker and as King over the World But being in Honour he understood not his Dignity his Duty and Felicity and became like the Beasts that perish By his Rebellion against his Creator he made a Forfeiture of his Dominion and lost the Obedience of sensible Creatures and the Service of Insensible which I only mention and shall restrain my Consideration to shew how he is become like the Beasts as an Effect resulting from his Sin He is devested of his white Robe of Innocence and his noblest Perfections Reason and Religion Sense and Imagination the leading Faculties in Brutes are his Rulers The rational governing Powers of Man have lost their superior Sway and the Carnal Passions rove without Reins to forbidden Objects The lower Appetites are predominant which is the most ignominious and cruel Servitude wherein Human Liberty can be intangled and fetter'd His Understanding and Will that were capable of taking a flight for the Discovery and Fruition of Celestial and Eternal Things are debased and limited to sensual perishing Things and derive vilifying Qualities from them He is Earthly-minded his Aims Contrivances Desires are fastened to the Earth the Divine Spark within him is cover'd under Ashes He is carnally minded always studying and making Provisions for the Flesh. This is a viler Debasement than if the Counsellors of State were employed in the sordid Offices of the Kitchin or Stable Nay 't is a Diminution below the Rank of Beasts for by Nature they are uncapable of directing their Eyes and Desires towards Heaven but Man is Brutish by his voluntary Sin To see the Head of a rapacious Wolf or fierce Tyger or lustful Horse joined to the Body of a Man how monstrous would it appear But 't is more unnatural and ignominious for Men in whom Reason and Religion should govern to resemble them in the Brutish Appetites of Lust and Rage for there is a nearer Affinity between the Body of a Man and of a Beasts that agree in the common sensible Nature than between the Immortal Spirit of a Man and the Beasts that perish In short Sin has enslaved Men to Satan an Infernal Fiend They are taken Captives by him at his Pleasure And which is the lowest Degradation they are the Servants of Corruption 3. Sin has broke the sweet Peace and blessed Concord in the Soul the Felicity of our innocent State Peace is the Tranquillity that results from Order and Unity In Man there was a regular Harmony of all his Faculties the Affections were consonant with his Will his Will with his Understanding and his Understanding with the Law of God This was the inward State of his Soul in his Creation for having a derived Being it was natural and necessary that he should be appointed to his End and receive his Rule for the obtaining it from the Understanding and Will of his Maker Now whilst there was a Correspondence in his Faculties and their Operations with his Rule and End the Will of God and the Glory of God the Result of it as well as the Reward of it was Spiritual Peace with God Internal Peace with himself External Peace with others Now Sin has dissolved this Unity violated this sacred Order And from hence 1. Peace with God that consisted in his Favour and Friendship to us and our Filial Dependance upon him which is the Spring of full and satisfying Joy is broke God appears a fearful Enemy against the Sinners the penal Effects of his Wrath I shall speak of distinctly under the second General And that Divine Calm in the Conscience that Peace joyn'd with the purest Pleasure that was the Reflex of God's Favour on the Soul is changed into anxious Apprehensions of his just Power to punish us Guilt generates Fear and Fear Hatred and both cause a woful flight from God 2. Internal Peace is broke by Sin Whilst the Passions were subordinate to the Empire of
Reflections our Sorrow should be most afflicting our Humiliation deeper our Selfcondemnation most severe for those Sins which have been most dishonourable to God and defiling to us Not that we can make any Satisfaction for our Sins tho we should fill the Air with our Sighs and Heaven with our Tears but it becomes us to have our Sorrows inlarged in some proportion to our Unworthiness And this mournful Disposition prepares us for the Grace of God The Law does not allow Repentance but exacts entire Obedience 't is the Privilege of the Gospel that repenting Sinners are assur'd of Forgiveness without this Qualification 't is inconsistent with the Majesty Purity and Justice of God to extend pardoning Mercy to Sinners for they will never value nor humbly and ardently seek for Mercy till they feel the woful Effects of Sin in their Conscience only the stung Israelite would look to the brazen Serpent And this is requisite to prevent our relapsing into Sin for the Dominion of Sin being founded in the Love of Pleasure the proper means to extinguish it is by a bitter Repentance the Heart is first broken for Sin and then from it To conclude Let us renew our Repentance every day let not the Wounds of our Spirits putrify let not the Sun go down upon God's Wrath let us always renew the Application of Christ's Blood that alone can cleanse us from Sin SERMON III. 1 JOHN V. 2. By this we know we are the Children of God if we love God and keep his Commandments OF all the Marks that are useful in the Trial of our Spiritual State in reference to Eternity there is none affords a more clear and comfortable Assurance of God's special and saving Mercy than Love to the Saints This has often resolved the Doubts and quieted the Fears of afflicted enquiring Souls when other Graces have not been so apprehensible in their Operations But there is no Mark which the deceitful Heart does more securely rest upon through the mistake of Natural Human Love for that which is Spiritual and Divine It is therefore most worthy our serious Thoughts the Deceit being so easy and infinitely dangerous to shew what is the unfeigned genuine Love of the Brethren to which Salvation is annex'd to confirm the humble sincere Christian and undeceive presuming Hypocrites The great Design of St. John in this Epistle is to excite and enflame in Christians the Love of God and of their Brethren the two comprehensive Duties and bright Sum of the Law our principal Perfections in Heaven and Earth These he recommends by the most affectionate and obliging the most warming melting Perswasives the superlative Love of God to us and our Communion with the Saints in Nature and Grace In the former Verse the Apostle argues from the reality of the Effect as an Evidence of the Cause Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ that is the Saviour of the World foretold by the Prophets and expresses the Truth of that Faith in a sutable Conversation is born of God and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him Grace is not less powerful in producing tender reciprocal Affections between the Off-spring of the same Heavenly Father than the subordinate Endearments of Nature The Pretence is vain of Love to God without loving his regenerate Children And in the Text he argues from the knowledg of the Cause to the discovering of the sincerity of the Effect By this we know that we love the Children of God with a holy Affection if we love God and keep his Commandments There is but one Difficulty to be removed that the Force of the Apostle's reasoning may appear 't is this a Medium to prove a thing must be a clearer Evidence than what is concluded by it Now tho a Demonstration from the Cause be more noble and scientifical yet that which is drawn from the Effect is more near to Sense and more discernable And this is verified in the Instance before us for the Love of God who is absolutely spiritual in his Being and Excellencies doth not with that sensible Fervour affect and passionately transport us as Love to his Children with whom we visibly converse and who are receptive of the most sensible Testimonies of our Affection Accordingly the Apostle argues He that loves not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen As the Motives to love our Brethren from our Conjunction in Nature and familiar Conversation are more capable to allure our Affections and more sensibly strike the Heart than the invisible Deity who is infinitely above us by the same reason we may more easily judg of the truth of our Love to them than of our Love to God To this the Answer is clear the Apostle doth not speak of the Love of God as a still silent contemplative Affection confined to the superiour Faculty of the Soul but as a burning shining Affection like Fire active and declarative of it self in those Effects that necessarily flow from it that is voluntary Obedience to his Commands and thus it becomes manifest to the renewed Conscience and is a most convincing Proof of the Sincerity of our Love to the Saints The Text being cleared affords this Doctrine Doct. The Sincerity of our Love to the Children of God is certainly discovered by our Love to God and Obedience to his Commands For the Illustration and Proof of the Point I will briefly shew I. Who are described by this Title The Children of God II. What is included in our Love to them III. What the Love of God is and the Obedience that flows from it IV. How from Love to God and willing Obedience to his Commands we may convincingly know the Sincerity of our Love to his Children To explain the first we must consider that this Title The Children of God is given upon several accounts First By Creation the Angels are called the Sons of God and Men his Off-spring The reason of the Title is 1. The manner of their Production by his immediate Power Thus he is stiled The Father of Spirits in distinction from the Fathers of the Flesh. For tho the Conception and forming of the Body be the Work of his secret Providence yet 't is by the hand of Nature the Parents concurring as the second Causes of it but the Production of the Soul is to be entirely ascribed to his Power without the Intervention of any Creature 2. In their spiritual immortal Nature and the intellectual Operations flowing from it there is an Image and Resemblance of God from whence this Title is common to all reasonable Creatures and peculiar to them for tho Matter may be ordered and fashioned by the Hand of God into a Figure of admirable Beauty yet 't is not capable of his Likeness and Image so that neither the Lights of Heaven nor the Beasts and Plants of the Earth are called his Children Secondly By External Calling and Covenant
some are denominated his Children for by this Evangelical Constitution God is pleased to receive Believers into a filial Relation Indeed where there is not a cordial Consent and Subjection to the Terms of the Covenant visible Profession and the receiving the External Seals of it will be of no advantage but the publick serious owning of the Gospel entitles a Person to be of the Society of Christians and Filius and Foederatus are all one Thirdly There is Sonship that arises from supernatural Regeneration that is the communicating a new Nature to Man whereby there is a holy and blessed Change in the directive and commanding Faculties the Understanding and Will and in the Affections and consequently in the whole Life This is wrought by the Efficacy of the Word and Spirit and is called by our Saviour Regeneration because it is not our Original Carnal Birth but a Second and Celestial 'T is with the new Man in Grace as with an Infant in Nature that has the essential Parts that compose a Man a Soul endowed with all its Faculties a Body with all its Organs and Parts but not in the Vigor of mature Age. Thus renewed Holiness in a Christian is compleat and entire in its Parts but not in Perfection of Degrees there is an universal Inclination to all that is holy just and good and a universal Aversion from Sin tho the Executive Power be not equal And regenerate Christians are truly called the Children of God for as in Natural Generation there is communicated a Principle of Life and sutable Operations from whence the Title and Relation of a Father arises so in Regeneration there are derived such holy and heavenly Qualities to the Soul as constitute a Divine Nature in Man whereby he is Partaker of the Life and Likeness of God himself from hence he is a Child of God and has an Interest and Propriety in his Favour Power and Promises and all the Good that flows from them and a Title to the Eternal Inheritance II. I will shew what is included in our Love to the Children of God First The Principle of this Love is Divine The Soul is purified through the Spirit to unfeigned Love of the Brethren Naturally the Judgment is corrupted and the Will depraved that carnal Respects either of Profit or Pleasure are the quick and sensible Incitements of Love and till the Soul be cured of the sensual Contagion the Inclination can never be directed and the Desires fastned on the supernatural Image of God in his Saints As Holiness in the Creature is a Ray derived from the infinite Beauty of God's Holiness so the Love of Holiness is a Spark from the sacred Fire of his Love St. John exhorts Christians Let us love one another for Love is of God Natural Love among Men is by his general Providence but a gracious Love to the Saints is by his special Influence The natural Affection must be baptized with the Holy Ghost as with Fire to refine it to a Divine Purity Secondly The Qualifications of this Love are as follow 1. It is sincere and cordial it does not appear only in Expressions from the Tongue and Countenance but springs from the Integrity of the Heart 'T is stiled unfeigned Love of the Brethren 't is a Love not in Word and Tongue only but in Deed and Truth A counterfeit formal Affection set off with artificial Colours is so far from being pleasing to God the Searcher and Judg of Hearts that 't is infinitely provoking to him 2. 'T is pure the attractive Cause of it is the Image of God appearing in them Our Saviour assures us that Love shall be gloriously rewarded that respects a Disciple upon that account as a Disciple and a righteous Man as a righteous Man The holy Love commanded in the Gospel is to Christians for their Divine Relation as the Children of God as the Members of Christ and Temples of the Holy Ghost 3. From hence it is universal extended to all the Saints The Church is composed of Christians that are different in their Gifts and Graces and in their external Order some excel in Knowledg and Zeal and Love in active Graces others in Humility Meekness and Patience that sustain and adorn them in Sufferings some are in a higher Rank others are in humble Circumstances as in the visible World things are placed sutably to their Natures the Stars in the Heavens Flowers in the Earth and our special Respects are due to those whom the Favour of God has dignified above others and in whom the Brightness and Power of Grace shines more clearly for according as there are more Reasons that make a Person deserving Love the degrees of Love should rise in proportion But a dear Affection is due even to the lowest Saints for all have Communion in the same holy Nature and are equally instated in the same blessed Alliance 4. It must be fervent not only in Truth but in a degree of Eminency St. Peter joins the two Qualifications See that ye love one another with a pure Heart fervently Our Saviour sets before us his own Pattern as a Pillar of Fire to direct and inflame us This is my Commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you As I have loved you Admirable Example His Love was singular and superlative a Love that saves and astonishes us at once for he willingly gave his precious Life for our Ransom This we should endeavour to resemble tho our highest Expressions of Love and Compassion to the Saints are but a weak and imperfect Imitation of his Divine Perfection I shall add farther This Love includes all kinds of Love 1. The Love of Esteem correspondent to the real Worth and special Goodness of the Saints 'T is one Character of a Citizen of Heaven that in his Eyes a vile Person is contemned however set off by the Glory of the World and the Ornaments of the present State that as a false Mask conceal their foul Deformity to carnal Persons but he honours them that fear the Lord tho disfigured by Calumnies tho obscur'd and depress'd by Afflictions and made like their blessed Head in whom there was no Form nor Comeliness in the Judgment of Fools In our Valuation Divine Grace should turn the Scales against all the natural or acquired Perfections of Body or Mind Beauty Strength Wit Eloquence human Wisdom against all the external Advantages of this Life Nobility Riches Power and whatever is admired by a carnal Eye The Judgment and Love of God should regulate ours A Saint is more valued by God than the highest Princes nay than the Angels themselves considered only with respect to their spiritual Nature He calls them his peculiar Treasure his Jewels the first-Fruits of the Creatures sacred for his Use and Glory in comparison of whom the rest of the World are but Dregs a corrupt Mass. They are stiled his Sons being Partakers of that Life of which he is the Author and
a sollicitous diligent Respect to all God's Precepts is a melancholy Task but it is delightful to the Saints for Obedience is the continual exercise of Love to God the Paradise of holy Souls The mortification of the Carnal Appetites and the restraint from such Objects as powerfully insinuate and engage Carnal Hearts is with a freer Complacency to a Saint than a sensual Fruition of them The sharpest Sufferings for Religion are allayed nay sweetned to a Saint from the Love of God that is then most sincerely strongly and purely acted The Apostle more rejoiced in sharp Tribulation for Christ's sake than in Divine Revelation 4. The Love of God produces persevering Obedience Servile Compliance is inconstant A Slave hates the Duties he performs and loves the Sins he dares not commit therefore as soon as he is releas'd from his Chain and his Fear his Obedience ceases but a Son is perfectly pleas'd with his Father's Will and the Tenor of his Life is correspondent to it He that is press'd by Fear to serve in an Army will desert his Colours the first Opportunity but a Volunteer that for the love of Valour and of his Country lists himself will continue in the Service The Motion that is caused by outward Poises will cease when the Weights are down but that which proceeds from an inward Principle of Life is continual and such is the Love of God planted in the Breast of a Christian IV. We are to prove that from the Love of God and willing Obedience to his Commands we may convincingly know the sincerity of our Love to his Children There is an inseparable Union between these two Graces and the one arises out of the other Godliness and Brotherly Kindness are joined by the Apostle And it will be evident that where this Affection of Love to the Saints is sincere and gracious there will be an entire and joyful respect to the Law of God by considering the Reasons and Motives of it First The Divine Command requires this Love These things I command you saith our Saviour that ye love one another This Precept so often repeated and powerfully re-inforc'd by him made so deep an Impression on the first Christians that they had one Heart and one Soul and their Estates were common between them And in the next succeeding Ages this fraternal Love was so conspicuous in the Professors of his sacred Discipline that their Enemies observ'd it as a rare and remarkable thing See how the Christians love one another see how ready they are to die for one another Now the same gracious Principle that inclines us to do one Command will make us universally willing to observe all for sincere Obedience primarily respects the Authority of the Law-giver which binds the whole Law upon the Conscience And as he that breaks the Law wilfully in one Point is guilty of all because the Violation of a single Precept proceeds from the same Cause that induces Men to transgress all that is Contempt of the Divine Majesty so he that sincerely obeys one Command does with consent of Heart and serious Endeavours obey all And from hence 't is clear that without a religious and unreserved regard of the Divine Commands 't is impossible there should be in any Person a gracious Affection to the Saints that is the product of Obedience to God and consequently the observance of his Precepts is the certain Proof of our Love to his Children Secondly Spiritual Love to the Saints arises from the sight of the Divine Image appearing in their Conversation Now if the Beauty of Holiness be the attractive of our Love it will be fastned on the Law of God in the most intense degree The most excellent Saints on Earth have some mixtures of Corruption their Holiness is like the Morning-light that is checker'd with the Shadows and Obscurity of the Night and 't is our Wisdom not to love their Infirmities but to preserve an unstained Affection to them But the Law of God is the fairest Transcript of his Nature wherein his glorious Holiness is most resplendent The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul the Commandment of the Lord is pure enlightning the Eyes This ravish'd the Heart of David with an inexpressible Affection O how I love thy Law it is my Meditation all the day And he repeats the Declaration of his Love to it with new Fervor upon this ground I love thy Law because it is pure Now Love to the Commands of God will transcribe them in our Hearts and Lives As affectionate Expressions to the Children of God without the real supply of their Wants are but the shadows of Love so words of Esteem and Respect to the Law of God without unfeigned and universal Obedience are but an empty Pretence Thirdly The Divine Relation of the Saints to God as their Father is the Motive of Spiritual Love to them And this is consequent to the former for by partaking of his Holiness they partake of his Life and Likeness And from hence they are the dearest Objects of his Love his Eye and Heart is always upon them Now if this Consideration excites Love to the Children of God it will be as powerful to incline us to keep his Commands for the Law of God that is the Copy of his Sacred Will is most near to his Nature and he is infinitely tender of it Our Saviour tells us that it is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for one tittle of the Law to fail If the entire World and all the Inhabitants of it were destroyed there would be no loss to God but if the Law lose its Authority and Obligation the Divine Holiness would suffer a Blemish The Use of the Doctrine is to try our Love to the Children of God to which all pretend by this infallible Rule our Obedience to his Commands This is absolutely necessary because the Deceit is so easy and so dangerous and it will be most comfortable if upon this Trial our Love be found to be Spiritual and Divine The Deceit is easy because Acts of Love may be expressed to the Saints from other Principles than the Love of God Some for vain-Glory are bountiful and when their Charity seems so visibly Divine that Men admire it there is the Worm of Vanity at the Root that corrupts and makes it odious to God The Pharisees are charged with this by our Saviour their Alms were not the Effect of Charity but Ostentation and whilst they endeavoured to make their Vices vertuous they made their Vertues vicious There is a natural Love among Persons united by Consanguinity that remains so entire since the Ruine of Mankind by the Fall and is rather from the force of Nature than the virtue of the Will and this is in all kind Offices may be express'd to the Saints There is a sweetness of Temper in some that inclines them to wish well to all and such tender Affections that are easily
and the Terrors of Conscience he will blow them up again Now any reigning Lust is a Viceroy of Satan's and keeps Possession for him and consequently excludes the Son of God from Admission into the Heart 3. He perswades Men that Religion in its Power and Strictness is not necessary the abstaining from enormous Crimes and the performance of some outward Service will be available for Salvation Hell is the Portion of the Devil and his Children and none are of his Race but incarnate Devils unclean Spirits in brutish Bodies He makes use of carnal Men under the pretence of Friendship to perswade those who make a Shew of Conscience to be less tender and vigilant by telling them this Strictness is superfluous 't will spoil you make you unsociable and odious the Wise and Learned that think to go to Heaven with the first take a greater liberty they will say Moderation is a Vertue and by the pretence of Temper cherish the loathsom Distemper of Lukewarmness that is as fatal as a deadly Coldness The Tempter will permit Men to make use of Religion as a Medicine a little in fainting Fits to relieve and recover them but not as our daily Food not to be their diligent and constant Practice The crafty Serpent will abuse the Words of the holy Spirit Be not righteous overmuch As Judas said of the precious Ointment poured upon our Saviour Why was this waste so carnal Men are apt to say Why these severe Restraints from satisfying the natural Appetites Why such Circumspection in our walking Why keep the Lord's-day so religiously Is it not enough to hear the Sermons May we not afterwards unbend and enjoy free Society and recreate our selves with carnal Contentments They do not believe that God is so strict in his Commands nor will be so exact in requiring an account for them fond Creatures to entertain such carnal Conceits of God to think him like themselves They are apt to say the Ministers will fetter them all by imaginative Rules of Holiness unprescribed in the Scriptures For Men would fain have the Light and the Law that regulates them to be sutable to their Appetites and Actions But are we not commanded to imitate and honour our Pattern to be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy in all manner of Conversation Are we not enjoined to work out our own Salvation with Fear and Trembling to cleanse our selves from all Pollutions of Flesh and Spirit and to perfect Holiness in the Fear of God to follow Holiness with the most zealous and unsatisfied Desires that if it were possible we might anticipate Heaven on Earth Can there be any Excuse for neglecting these holy Duties There are none more dangerously deceived than those that think they are holy enough and make no question of the Favour of God and their final Happiness They condemn profane outragious Sinners those who visibly come short of them they think will fall short of Salvation but to excel them they think is a needless Preciseness a Pride of Singularity a Mask of Hypocrisy 'T is one of Satan's Arts to conceal the Good that is in the Saints that they may condemn themselves and to conceal the Evil that is in the Unregenerate that they may flatter themselves How many fall as deep as Hell from such high Hopes for he that does not seriously desire and endeavour to be renewed into the unspotted Image of God was never truly renewed SERMON VIII LUKE xiv 23. The Lord said to the Servant Compel them to come in that my House may be full 3dly IF Conscience be not seared and senseless but awakens Sinners to reflect upon their Condition and to seek for the pardoning Mercy of God he deceives them with false Notions of Faith and Repentance and hinders their entire Compliance with the Terms of Mercy offered in the Gospel Final Unbelief and Impenitence utterly exclude Men from Salvation for the Death of Christ was not appointed to be a Sacrifice for those Sins There is no Salvation to be obtain'd without the Remission of Sin no Remission without the Blood of Christ no Application of that precious Blood without Faith This is the vital Qualification required in all justified Persons for it has a peculiar Efficiency in receiving Christ and Pardon and ascribes the Glory of it intirely to the Mercy of God and Merits of Christ. 'T is said To as many as received him he gave Power to become the Sons of God to those who believed on his Name Receiving is relative to God's Offer of Christ to the Condemned and Miserable and implies the taking him in all the Essentials of his Office as a Prophet to instruct us in our Duty and Happiness by his Word and Spirit as a Priest to atone the Divine Displeasure by his Propitiation and Intercession as a King to govern us by his Law and to bestow spiritual and eternal Blessings on us Faith receives whole Christ as a Kingly Priest and a saving Prince he is stiled a Priest upon a Throne a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance and Remission of Sins He purchas'd the Forgiveness of Sins as a Priest by his Sufferings on the Cross and pardons as a King upon the Throne from hence it necessarily follows that Faith receives Pardon from him in that Relation wherein he procur'd it and confers it The Apostle declares He died for our Sins and rose again for our Justification and thereby redeem'd us and acquir'd a Dominion over us then 't is clear and consequent that saving Faith receives him for all those Uses for which God did appoint him and accordingly purifies the Heart overcomes the World works by Love and Love is the Spring and Substance of every Duty the fulfilling of the Law Now Carnal Men are deceived in this Imagination that the single Act of resting upon Christ is sufficient to entitle them to the Promise of Salvation to all that believe in him they desire an Interest in Christ to quiet their Consciences and the World to satisfy their Affections They will rest on him as a Redeemer but reject him as a Lord they would enjoy his Salvation but will not endure his Dominion they will come to partake of the Festival-Entertainment the Pardon of their Sins but not for the Honour of the Bridegroom As if the Gospel were a free Charter to Sin and gave an impure Indulgence to the vicious Affections which is as inconsistent with it as the Darkness of the Night with Noon-day in the same Hemisphere for then it would foil it self and frustrate its own End Our Saviour first redeems from Sin from the vain Conversation then from Hell There can be no regular saving Trust on his Death without an unfeigned Resolution to live within the Compass of his Laws He is the Author of Eternal Salvation to all that obey him 'T is a blasphemous Conceit that he will save Men with their Sins If they will die in such a pleasing Dream who can prevent it
Causes forms them in the Womb brings them into the World by the ordinary way of the Earth and raises them from Infancy to a mature State according to the Rules of Nature Thus God could by one Act sanctify Sinners in Perfection but he is pleased by the preaching of the Word to convert Sinners and gradually perfect the Saints The Gospel is the Ministry of Reconciliation and of Regeneration And this is very congruous to the Human Nature for the Sinner is not converted as a Stone ascends by a forc'd and blind Motion but is instructed and affected by proposing Objects to his Mind and Will and acts according to the Impression he received from them Now the Natural Man being a Servant to Corruption the external propounding of the most powerful Objects and Motives cannot change him the converting Efficacy of the Word is from Jesus Christ. To make this more evident let us consider In every Action where an Instrument is us'd the Action is properly ascrib'd to the Agent God is a pure Spirit without any Composition of bodily Organs of Speech yet when he form'd a Voice in the Air for the proclaiming the Law He spake and whether by any created Voice or by the Voice of Men appointed for preaching the Gospel he speaks In human speaking the Voice is from the Tongue but the Sense and Meaning is from the Mind that directs it From hence it is that the Gospel preached is of admirable Efficacy and works above the Power of any Creature The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the Joints and Marrow and is a Discerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart It subdues open Rebels and makes their Pride and Confidence fall as low as Hell it mollifies the most obdurate and makes them compliant to the Invitations of Grace And altho the Minister be never so mean in his Person and Appearance yet a weak Instrument in an Almighty Hand does Wonders Our blessed Saviour in his Person was the first Preacher of the Gospel and in his Sermons we are directed how to work upon the Reason and the Affections of Sinners by which alone they are capable to be moved The Substance of his several Sermons was Repent ye and believe the Gospel 1. The Order and Progress of converting Grace is by the Conviction of the Mind to turn the Will and Affections Sin prevails in Men by the love of Pleasure and till there be a mixture of what is more bitter than Sin is sweet they will not forsake it The World corrupted by Lust is an imaginary Paradise wherein there is nothing but forbidden Fruit and the Fruit is so pleasant to the Eyes and Taste that only flaming Terrors will expel them out of it No Man will cut off his Right-hand till an incurable Gangreen has seiz'd on it The light neglected Notions of Heaven are ineffective to reform Sinners till the Terrors of the Lord are set in array against them they are fasten'd in their Sins Of this there is visible and frequent Experience how many that have lived in a careless Contempt of God till their last Sickness and when they feel themselves sinking to the Grave and Hell and Conscience is an exact Remembrancer and terrible Accuser of all their inward Wickedness and notorious Sins then what furious Reflections do they make upon themselves and what Promises do they make if they might be spar'd 'T is therefore the first Duty of Ministers by clearing Light and convincing Strength to work on Conscience and by the Mediation of it to apply Guilt and Wrath to the Sinner that he may be restless in his Sins The Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all Ungodliness and Unrighteousness of Men 't is decreed before the World was 't is denounc'd in the Word and shall be fully executed in the Day of Wrath and the Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God nothing is more certain than that Day and nothing so heavy as that Wrath. 'T is a Burden so insupportable that the Son of God was ready to sink under its Weight he meekly and silently endur'd all the cruel Rage of his Enemies but mournfully broke forth My God my God Why hast thou forsaken me Who can understand the Consequence of that Complaint Who can support himself under the Apprehension of an absent and angry God When the convinced Person ponders his Sins what Indignities he has offered to the glorious God his Maker and Preserver his Law-giver and Judg that he has abus'd his Mercies perverted his Benefits and emploied them in the Service of Satan that he has despis'd his Justice and ventur'd upon his inflam'd Anger for transient Pleasure and trifling Profits when these killing Aggravations are duly consider'd and laid close to the Heart how are all the sorrowful Affections moved serious Grief that springs from the Depth of the Soul confounding Shame anxious inquiring Fear to stop the Execution of the fatal Sentence past against him Thus 't is related of those Converts at the first Sermon of St. Peter that being convinc'd of their Crimson Guilt in their crucifying of the Lord Jesus they were pricked in their Heart and said to the Apostles Men and Brethren what shall we do Then Sinners will humbly sue for Peace by the blessed Peace-maker Jesus Christ then Salvation will be so much the sweeter by how much the Danger was more threatning The Recovery from Death to Life is a double Life 2. The Lord Jesus must be propos'd as an all-sufficient and compassionate Saviour who invites the weary and heavy-laden to come to him for Rest. This is the order of the Spirit 's Operations first to convince of Sin then of Righteousness 'T is true there are diversities of Workings the Spirit instructs and terrifies Sinners by his Office of Bondage but not always in the same manner and degrees but the Soul is so humbled by the sight of Sin and impendent Wrath as it sees and feels the necessity of a Saviour and is willing to comply with the Terms of Mercy offered in the Gospel The whole need not a Physician but those who are sick A condemned Man values a Sheet of Paper wherein his Pardon is written and sealed more than the Conveyance of a rich Estate One near drowning values a Cord thrown out for his Rescue more than a Crown Thus when the Guilty are deeply sensible they have lost the Favour of God and cannot fly from his Power and there is but a step between them and Eternal Death then a Saviour will be infinitely precious and they will entirely close with him Now the Gospel represents the Son of God incarnate 1st An all-sufficient Saviour by his Propitiation and Intercession The Excellency of his Obedience and the Excellency of his Person were influential to obtain the Pardon of Sin His Propriety in the Sacrifice and the Value of
our Assent tho we cannot resolve all the Difficulties that are raised against them 'T is unreasonable to deny what is evident because we cannot unfold what is obscure There is no Doctrine more frequently and emphatically asserted in the Divine Writings than that the Repentance of a Sinner and his acceptance of Pardon and Life is very pleasing to God He assures us in the most sacred and solemn manner of this As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the Death of the Wicked but that the Wicked turn from his way and live He is willing they should be saved and they are wilful to be damned With what render and melting Compassions does he argue with them Why will ye die O House of Israel as if they were upon the brink of Hell and ready to drop into irrecoverable Misery 2. We must distinguish between his directing Will and his approving Will whatever God decrees to effect shall be infallibly accomplish'd but many things that he approves are left undone His Commands are his Will the Rule of our Duty but not of his Purpose what he will do The Scripture mentions the Word of God's Power and the Word of his Holiness The Word of his Power effects all things according to his Will but the Word of his Holiness his Laws declar'd to regulate our Lives are often oppos'd and without Efficacy 3. The Wisdom of God directs all the Operations of his Attributes that orders the Dispensations of Mercy and the Inflictions of Justice When the Apostle had considered the astonishing Oeconomy of Providence with respect to the Jews and Gentiles he breaks forth O the Depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Judgments and his Ways past finding out That so great a part of the World live in Darkness and die in Darkness and go to their Fathers where they shall never see Light and the Day-spring from on high visits other Nations is according to the Counsel of his Will 4. God does afford assisting Grace to Sinners which if they improved he would not desert them The Gospel is the Ministration of the Spirit to illuminate excite and perswade Sinners not to forsake their own Mercy He strives with them he woes and waits to be gracious till by their obstinate Resistance they quench his holy Motions 'T is true he dispenses Grace in different degrees for he is the Master of his own Favours but tho effectual converting Grace is not bestowed upon all yet there is common Grace that has a tendency to Conversion which if humbly and thankfully improved such is the most free and excellent Goodness of God Men would receive further Supplies But they are careless and opposite to his gracious Operations therefore the Spirit is most righteously withdrawn from them He that in Luxury has wasted his Estate 't is just he dies in Poverty Besides this 't is very considerable that Men shall be condemned at the last Day not for mere Impotence but obstinate Opposition they loved Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds are evil not for the want of that Grace they did not receive but for the neglect to improve that Grace they had received and rejecting what was offered The slothful Servant was condemn'd for hiding his single Talent in a Napkin not because he had not five Talents Secondly 'T is the great Design of God to glorify his Son When he brought his First-begotten into the World the Command was Let all the Angels of God worship him God has given him a Name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow of things in Heaven and Earth and under the Earth and every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father Those who cross his Supreme Wisdom and Soveraign Will shall by a constrain'd Submission acknowledg the high Dignity of his Son The great Command of the Gospel is that Men should believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give Repentance and Remission of Sins The Death of Christ may be considered as an Act of Obedience to God and of Love to Men. His Intention was to glorify God by bringing lost Souls to him Now 't is promised as a Reward of his Sufferings he shall see of the Travail of his Soul and be satisfied He is infinitely pleased with the Salvation of Souls as the Fruit of all his Anguish and bloody Agony The Election of a number of the lost World that shall believe in him and be adopted and saved by him has a special respect to his Honour that his Death might not be in vain that the Son of God may be magnified in his unspeakable Love to them and their sincere Obedience to him his relative Glory as Head of the Body will shine in them for ever 'T is also observable the Decree of Election is of infallible Accomplishment both as to the Conversion and Perseverance of the Elect not only because the Divine Will is unchangeable and insuperable with respect to the Events determined by it but with a peculiar regard to the Glory of Christ. No Principle of Opposition in the corrupt Heart of Man can frustrate the Operation of God's Spirit either in the powerful entrance or sure continuance of his Grace Our Saviour tells us All that the Father gives me shall come to me And speaking of his Sheep he saith My Father which gave them me is greater than all and none is able to pull them out of my Father's Hand The Purpose of God and Purchase of Christ secure their Salvation for these our Saviour intercedes Holy Father keep through thine own Name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we are His Mediation is never interrupted when Christ's Prayer and God's Power are ineffectual then may they fall away totally and for ever whom God keeps and Christ commends to his keeping From hence it appears that the Ministers of the Gospel are indispensably obliged zealously to endeavour the Salvation of Souls which the Father has design'd for the Honour of his Mercy and which the Son of God esteems his dearest Glory The APPLICATION 1. From hence there is just cause to admire the glorious Grace of God in converting Sinners and making them willing to comply with the Terms of the Gospel Indeed 't is strange to Amazement that Men involv'd under the Guilt of Sins so numerous and so heinous and liable every hour to the Sentence of the Law so sure and severe Eternal Death for their Sins should neglect a Pardon so dearly purchas'd and so graciously offer'd and not with the deepest Humility with ravishing Joy and the highest Thankfulness receive it Is there no Spirit no Understanding left in them Nay is sensible Nature and its inviolable Inclinations so extinguish'd that they are Enemies to themselves But