affections with holy desires to imbrace him z Psal 24. 7 and to set open the gates and doores of our souls that this King of glory may come in and dwell with us for ever If we do sincerely from the heart desire such a glorious King and such a bountifull Inhabitant to make his perpetuall abode with us then we must presse hard upon him and importune him earnestly with our frequent and fervent Prayers to abide and dwell with us a Gen. 19 2 3. The two Angels that came to Sodome refused to tarry all night with Lot upon his first intreaty but when he pressed greatly upon them they turned in unto him and entered into his house and he made them a feast and they did eat and then they preserved him from the burning But behold b Revel 3. 20 Christ standeth at the door of our hearts and knocks if we hear his voice and open the door he will come in to us and will sup with us we shall sup with him O the happinesse of that soul that doth hear the voice of Christ when he calls and doth open his heart unto him when he knocks either by the Ministery of his Word by the motions of his Spirit by afflictions troubles crosses or by any other meanes whatsoever But if we will intertain Christ we must have no corrivall with him for God and Mammon Christ and Belial cannot dwell together Thus saith Christ c Luk. 26 13 Ye cannot serve God and Mammon for no man can serve two masters Also thus saith Paul d 2 Cor. 6. 14 15 What communion hath light with darknesse and what concord hath Christ with Belial e Mat. 10 37. If we love father or mother son or daughtor more then Christ we are not worthy of him If the affections of our hearts are carried after the riches preferments and pleasures of this world or after any darling sin then Christ will not dwell there and we lose the comfortable and blessed Presence of the eternall Son of God and the fulnesse of all his excellencies and rich endowments for that which is nothing else but vanity and vexation of spirit Wherefore now we may Meditate comfortably on God through Jesus Christ our Saviour for the terriblenesse of his Majesty is clouded with the vail of his goodnesse the severity of his justice is sweetened with his mercy and tender compassion Christ hath taken our souls out of the hand of Gods justice and hath put them into the hand of his mercy where they shall be kept for true blessednesse to all eternity If his greatnesse doth affright us his goodnesse will allure us if his justice doth drive us from him his mercy and love will draw us to him for by Christ we have a neer relation to God himself either as his servants by grace or as his children by adoption in both which respects our Meditations of him will be exceedingly delightfull to us So likewise if we fix our thoughts upon Christ though his excellencies and dignities are far above the reach of our humane capacity yet by faith we do apprehend him to be our Redeemer and our Advocate now at the right hand of God his Father in the highest heavens and therefore our Meditations of him cannot but ravish our souls with heavenly joy and spirituall consolation in the assurance of our Redemption and of our Atonement with God and also in the hope of our eternall salvation and to be heirs of the kingdome of heaven which he hath purchased for us with his own blood How to Meditate on the Holy Ghost THe Holy Geost is the same spirituall Essence and Being with the Father and with the Son coequall and coeternall with them both but as the Deity is distinguished into three Persons the holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and from the Son and he is the third Person in the sacred Trinity Christ doth prove that the holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father in these words a Iohn 15 26 But when the comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father he shall testifie of me That he proceedeth from the Son is manifest by this of Paul b Gal. 4. 6 And because ye are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father John also the beloved Disciple of Christ maketh it plain that the holy Ghost is the third Person in the holy Trinity by these words c 2 Joh 5. 7 There are three that bear record in heaven The Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three aâ—e One. The Prophet calls him d Isa 11. 2 The spirit of Wisdome and understanding the spirit of counsel and strength the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD e Heb. 9. 14 He is the eternall spirit of God from whom nothing can be hidden according to this of David f Psal 139 7 Whither shall I go from thy Sptrit or whither shall I flee from thy presence Christ calleth him the Spirit of truth g Ioh 14. 16 7. And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive John calls him h Rev. 11. 11 the Spirit of life because by the power of his grace de doth quicken our hearts and revive us when we are dead in our trespasses and sins Paul doth also call him i Rom. 8. 15 16 the Spirit of adoption to witnesse to our spirits that we are the children of God If we fix our Meditations on the holy Ghost as he is in his Divine Essence and Being or as he is one of the three Persons in the sacred Trinity we shall be confounded in these deep mysteries of the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity but if we Meditate upon him according to his proper Office as he is a Comforter or according to his severall operations in our hearts we shall then find much comfortable matter for our hearts to Meditate upon which will minister heavenly and spirituall consolation to our poor souls First therefore we must consider that the proper Office of the holy Ghost is to be a comforter to us in all our afflictions and sufferings for we are dayly exposed to many tribulations and calamities either for the profession of the Name of Christ for the triall of our graces or for our correction when we lye in sin without repentance which would easily swallow us up if we had not some true comforter to support and comfort us in them k 1 Pet. 2. 1â— 1 There is also an host of sinfull lusts in us that war against our souls which do dayly assault us with strong temptations and we are round beset with perills dangers and spirituall enemies which continually threaten our downfall and ruine and do seek to hinder our salvation But above all we are sometimes wounded in our
in the effecting of it k 1. John 4 14. The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world And Christ himself doth testifie that the Father sent him for this end and purpose l John 5. 36 37 For the works saith he which the Father hath given me to finish the same works that I do bear witnesse of me that the Father hath sent me And the Father himself which hath sent me hath born witnesse of me For a voice came from heaven when he was baptized saying m Mat. 3. â— This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased The Son also assumed our nature both soul and body n Heb. 2. 17. For he was like unto us in all things o Heb 4. 15 sin onely excepted he was every way fully qualified to be our Mediator and Redeemer he became our surety and he paid the debt that we did â—ow to the justice of God for our sins by his death and by the price of his blood The holy Ghost also rested upon him at his baptisme p Heb. 1. 9. and anointed him with the oyl of gladnesse above his fellowes q Col. 1. 19 that in him should all fulnesse dwell r John 1. 16. and of his fulnesse have all we received and grace for grace God hath made him the head of his Church and the holy Ghost doth convey all saving graces from him to all the Members of that mysticall body VVherefore if we are elected unto salvation and do belong unto Christ by the Election of grace the holy Ghost will at some time or other work sanctifying grace in us and will unite us unto Christ by faith that so we may have a modest and sober assurance of our Redemption by him and of our reconcilement into the love and favour of God Why then do we not seek to be ingrafted into Christ for our Redemption Why do we continue still in a voluntary captivity and bondage whereas we may be set at liberty Why are we still exiles and banished from the presence of God whereas we may be brought again into his favour Why do we not seek hs face and the light of his countenance seing all true felicity and happinesse consisteth therein Å¿ Psa 16. 11 and seeing at his right hand are pleasures for evermore and why are we so backward in seeing the kingdom of heaven Alas we have not a true sense of our own miserable slavery we do not feel the burden of our sins we do not see how the devill doth tyrannize over us how he doth beguil us with a seeming pleasure and profit in sin for he will not let us see the greatnesse of the losse that we sustain by it nor the bitternesse of the torments that will follow after it beside those temporall sorrows that it bringeth upon us in this life Thus the devill bringeth us into security and into a dead sleep of sin and doth so stupifie all the faculties of our souls that we have no sense of our spirituall misery and by this means he leadeth us into a dangerous way that tendeth to no other end but to the perdition and destruction of our souls Also we are so delighted with the vanities of this world that we think of no other happinesse than what we do now injoy or if there be any other heaven than this upon earth we will be directed to it by the guidance of our own corrupted will and not by the Spirit of God for the devill would perswade us that nature can finde out a readier and an easier way to heavenly felicity than by Christ Thus we are hindred and kept back by the delusions of the devill by the alluring vanities of the world and by the deceitfulnesse of our own hearts that we cannot come unto Christ for our Redemption and to make our peace with God through faith in him and to have an holy assurance of it by our sound and true repentance Wherefore it doth now plainly appear that we have no power or ability in our selves to come unto Christ we must be taught of God or else we cannot find the way he must draw us or else we cannot come to Christ For thus saith Christ himself t John 6. 44 No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him God doth sometimes draw us unto Christ u Hos 11. 4 as he drew Ephraim with cords of a man with bands of love he will give us a Spirituall light by his Spirit to finde the way he will kindle an holy zeal in our hearts and affections to walk in it and he will inflame our desires that by grace we may come to Christ our Redeemer Gal. 3. 24 Sometimes God doth bring us unto Christ by the Law as our Schoolmaster with a rod in his hand by terrifying us with the threatenings of the Law if that be not sufficient then he will make us feel the smart of his rod by afflictions crosses and tribulations God doth also send his Ministers x 2 Cor 5. 20 as his Ambassadors that by the Preaching of the Gospel they might win us unto Christ and to be reconciled unto God Christ doth also sweetly draw us unto himself as the head draweth the members of the body and as the bridegroom draweth his spouse Thus saith the Spouse to her beloved y Cant. 1. 3 Draw me we will run after thee Christ doth also lovingly invite us to come unto him and to make us the more willing to come he doth allure us by his gracious promises z Mat. 11. 28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are hâ—avy laden and I will give you rest Thus also he saith by his Prophet a Isa 55. 1 2 3 Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no mony come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price hearken diligently unto me and eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight it self in fatnesse Incline your ear and come unto me hear and your soul shall live How could Christ expresse his love more freely to a poor sinfull soul than now he doth what will move us to come unto him if this free tender of grace cannot But to the end we may be quite without excuse and that the love of God may abundantly appear unto us the holy Ghost doth likewise draw us unto Christ by giving us a true sight and sense of our sins by shewing us the means how we may be freed from the guilt and from the condemning power of sin by working faith in us to apply to our selves the merits of Christs blood and his righteousnesse for our justification and by working us into newnesse of life by the sanctification of the Spirit It doth now plainly and evidently appear that our sins have set us at a farre distance from God according to this of the
that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him Wherefore by our love to our neighbour we may know what love dwelleth in us how we love God and whether God dwelleth in us If we be in this gracious condition that God hath set his love upon us we cannot then lose this principall grace of Faith which is the bond of Gods love to us and we cannot fall quite away from God because a Eph. 4. 30 we are sealed with the Spirit of God into the day of Redemption The sixth reason is grounded upon the merits and intercession of Christ This is a strong reason so to stablish our Faith that it shall never be overthrown for by the merit of his blood we are redeemed out of the captivity of sin and Satan this was an infinite price which Christ paid for our redemption whereby also we are freed from the curse of the Law and from the condemning power of sin because we are made one with Christ by Faith If therefore we can be brought again under the same bondage and slavery or under the same curse or condemnation of sin which we shall be if our union with Christ can be broken then we shall have but little benefit by our redemption and Christ hath paid that great price for us to little purpose also we are not then perfectly made free but are still the servants of sin But Christ hath finished the whole work of our Redemption the eternall son of God hath made us free sin hath therefore no more power over us and the Devil cannot prevail against us to break that union which is between Christ and us by Faith Wherefore this consideration will much strengthen our Faith against all opposition and adversary power that if we are redeemed by Christ and made free by him our state and condition is firm and sure it cannot be removed for Christ will loose none of those whom he hath bought with so great a price and made free by his own power and for whom he hath made intercession to his Father If our Faith should fail then Christs intercession for us must fail we shall then lose Christ and all the benefits that come by him we shall lose all true comfort in this life and eternall blessednesse in the life to come If we conceive thus meanly of the merits and intercession of Christ it is blasphemy in the highest degree The seventh reason for the stability of Faith is drawn from the nature of saving grace which is in corruptâ—ble seed and planted in our hearts by the Holy Ghost whereby there is a new creation wrought in us for Peter saith b 1 Pet. 1. 23 that we are born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever Our first birth is of corruptible seed which is mortall and fadeth away like the flower of the field but our Regeneration or second birth comes from an immortal principle which cannot decay but continueth for ever This Birth is wrought by the Spirit of God and it hath a spirituall life by Faith in Christ which can never dye though it may lye gasping for a time through some violent temptation or sore tryall For if God begins to work a Work of Grace in us he will not leave it untill it be finished From hence we may draw great consolation to our selves in the apprehension that we are weak in grace for though we finde but the beginnings of our Regeneration wrought in us God will not leave his own Work imperfect Though we cannot perform our duties and services to God as we ought yet God will accept the will for the deed in Christ if it proceeds from a faithfull heart and though we find but some parts of true repentance wrought in us as to our own apprehension God will go on in his Work of Reformation untill there be a through change wrought both in soul and body to newnesse of life If Faith or any other spirituall grace be weak in us it will grow stronger it will increase and continue because the Holy Ghost will water his own seed which he hath planted with his spirituall dewes from above The last reason for the confirmation of our Faith is this because the holy Ghost doth dwell in our hearts by faith and where he doth settle his habitation there he will abide for ever If our hearts are purified by Faith in the blood of Christ then we are the spirituall Temple of God and the Holy Ghost will dwell there according to this of Paul c 1 Cor. 3. 16 Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you Thus saith John d 1 John 4 15. Whosoever shall confesse that Jesus is the Son of God God dwelleth in him and he in God The holy Ghost is that true Comforter whom Christ hath sent from the Father to be with every Member of his Church to dwell with them to be in them and to abide with them for ever and where he is there no grace can be wanting If we injoy his comfortable society he will then lead us into all truth for he is the Spirit of Truth no erroneous Doctrine shall infect our souls but we shall rightly understand the wayes of God and be able in some measure to walk in them He will protect us in all dangers he will comfort us in all our sorrowes he will uphold our faith against all assaults and temptations and will give us strength of grace to hold out and persevere in all our tryalls unto the end Wherefore grieve not this holy Spirit by whom we have so much comfort in all conditions of life and by whom we are sealed unto the day of redemption who will confirm and stablish us in the Faith of Christ that we may continue stedfast untill we shall come to live and reign with our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ for ever in heaven The Conclusion of this Treatise NOw for the Conclusion of this Work I do earnestly request every Christian Reader to enter into a serious consideration with himself which way the thoughts of his minde are chiefly bent and upon what he doth set the Meditations of his heart that he may know whether his way be steered towards heaven or not for they do neâ—rest affect his soul and plainly shew what is his chiefest joy and delight If his thoughts are too much set upon the vanities of the world then his heart cannot be Faithfull towards God and there will be no place in his soul to receive that true comfort which otherwise he might have in the sweet fruition of God by his pious and devout Meditations Also if he delighteth to ruminate upon his carnall pleasures or upon any other evill concupiscence or to call to remembrance with approbation his former iniquities he doth sin over again those former sins and doth defile his precious soul with uncleannesse and pollutions
trees untill we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads The holy Ghost doth also seal the New Covenant and all the gracious promises of the Gospel to our hearts by faith k Joh. 3. 33. and if we receive his testimony we do set to our seal that God is true Why then do we not rest upon them why is our faith shaken with every gust of temptation and with every little trouble that cometh nere us Are we so weak in faith that every blast of affliction shall blow us down Why are we so doubtfull of our salvation that we are ready to let go our hold on Christ when we look upon our dayly slips and failings that are caused by the subtility of the devill by the inchantments of the world and by the allurements of our carnall lusts We do not consider that we are sealed with the holy Ghost unto the day of Redemption And when we suffer afflictions or tribulations we do not consider that they shal not hurt us for we have the seal of God in our foreheads and he wil sanctifie all our sorrowes for our good whereas to the wicked they are the beginnings of those eternall torments which they shal suffer hereafter for ever Here we may find sweet consolation in all conditions of life for if we are loath to leave this world and those possessions which we do here enjoy let our hearts and mindes be raised up to meditate upon that inheritance and those possessions which Christ hath purchased for us by his blood which we shal enjoy in heaven for we have the seal of the holy Ghost for the truth of it and then we shal be willing to leave these vain and earthly riches and we shal earnestly desire to enjoy those heavenly and durable treasures which are there laid up for us If the foundation of our faith be shaken this seal of the holy Ghost will settle it sure The Lord knoweth them that are his The Covenant of Grace is confirmed to us by this seal and we may faithfully rest upon it for all the promises of God therein contained shall be performed in their season Our spirituall enemies our crosses and tribulations and death it self cannot hurt us because we have this seal of the holy Ghost for he will take away the print of the devils seal which by nature is upon our hearts and wil stamp his own image in the room l Rev. 9. 4. 5 But those men that have not the seal of God in their foreheads lye open to all the judgements of God to be tormented as with the torment of a Scorpion when he striketh a man Lastly the Holy Ghost is resembled to winde for when he hath any great work to do in us he will come with power to rectifie our stubborn wils our obdurate hearts and rebellious affections he will come like a rushing winde to make us quake and tremble before him and to beat down all the strong holds of sin that our hearts may be prepared to receive him and that he may freely work his own work in us Thus he came upon the Apostles m Act. 2. 2 3 with a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty winde and filled all the house where they were sitting and then he gave them the gift of tongues to speak the language of every nation whither he should send them and he gave them all spirituall graces and abilities fit for that Office and function whereunto he had called them Secondly he is resembled to wind because his Operations are free to himself and he is no way necessitated in his workings for he worketh in every one when and how he pleaseth Thus said Christ to Nicodemus n John 8. 3. The winde bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the spirit Gods election is of free grace not of works o Gen. 4. 4. he had respect to Abell and to his offering but he refused Cain and his offering p Rom. 9. 11 13 15 20. God did choose Jacob and rejected Esau the children being not yet born for thus saith God to Moses I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion We are as clay in the hand of the potter cannot he make of the same lump one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour Shall the thing formed say unto him that formed it why hast thou made me thus Thus saith the Lord by his Prophet q Isa 45. 10 Wo unto him that saith unto his Father what begettest thou or to his mother what hast thou brought forth r Jer. â—8 6. for we are in Gods hand as the clay is in the potters hand So likewise Å¿ 1 Cor. 12. the holy Ghost bestoweth his gifts diversly some have one gift some another some have more and some have lesse none but Christ had a fulnesse of all gifts and t John 1. 16 of his fulnesse have all we received and grace for grace As there is great diversity in the gifts u 1 Cor. 12. 6. so there is as great in the operations of the holy Ghost and yet all proceed from the same Spirit for God worketh all in all Thirdly the holy Ghost is resembled to winde because he doth blow away the chaff and vanity of our sinfull inventions and idle cogitations that our mindes may be the better fitted and prepared for heavenly contemplations and for the worship and service of God Now to bring all this home in particular to thy self consider what comforts and benefites thou dost enjoy by the holy Ghost both as he is the true comforter whom Christ sent down from the Father to abide with thee for ever and also by his holy operations according to those severall resemblances and then thy meditations of him will be comfortable to thy soul He will be a carefull Father to provide for thee he will be a wall of defence round about thee he will dull the sense of all thy pains and torments that thou maiest the better bear them as he did to the three children in the fiery furnace and to some of the holy Martyrs in their torments Though thy sufferings are above humane strength yet he will give thee strength of grace to bear them contentedly for he will raise up thy heart u Heb. 11 20 to look to the recompense of reward which God will give thee in heaven of his own free love bounty and goodnesse Also if the crosse lieth long upon thee and thou canst not get it removed by thy earnest supplications yet thou needest not be out of hope for the heavenly comforts of the holy Ghost will never fail thee but will still bear thee up against all the boysterous billowes of temptations and sorrowes Though thy whole life be a life of misery yet the
use the power of Angels for his defence nor his own Divine Power to keep him from their fury and rage for though by the power of his word they were smitten to the ground yet he suffered them to rise again and he did voluntarily put himself into their hands to lead him away whither they would Thus meekly did Christ submit to his Fathers will for he was not of Elijahs fiery spirit m 2 Kings 1 who called for fire from heaven which consumed two captains and their fifties whom king Ahaziah sent to apprehend him The Disciples that were at Cesarea besought Paul with many teares not to go up to Jerusalem because Agabus had Prophesied that there he should be bound and delivered into the hands of the Gentiles yet Paul would not be perswaded but lâ—ke a true Disciple of Christ he answered them thus n Acts 21. 13. What do ye mean to weep and to break mine heart for I am ready not to be bound onely but also to dye at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ Look also upon the admirable mildenesse of Christ who gave these friendly and familiar words to that wicked traitor when he came to betray him o Mat. 26 50 Friend Wherefore art thou come And again he said p Luk. 22. 44. Judas betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kisse These milde and gracious words might have mollified his obdurate heart and touched his conscience with remorse if q Rom. 1. 28 God had not given him over to a reprobate minde This is to teach us meeknesse of spirit when our supposed friends prove treacherous and when our kindnesse is spitefully rewarded for we are commanded by Christ himself r Mat. 5 48. to blesse them that curse us to love our enemies to do good to them that hate us and to pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us As Christ gave us this in precept so likewise he gave it us by his own example But this Doctrine is unpleasing to our corrupted nature and we cannot hear it unlesse Christ doth endow us with his Spirit of meeknesse By the example of these two Disciples we may examine the condition of our own hearts whether there is the seed of grace in us to make us faithfull to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that we can stick close to him with Peter whatsoever we shall suffer for his sake or the seed of hypocrisie which reacheth onely to the profession of his Name when there is no opposition against it and when it may stand with their own profit and advantage for troubles and persecution will make an hypocrite forsake Christ and hope of lucre will make him change his profession of him as it did Judas We may also learn from hence That to live in a religious family is not sufficient to make a good servant and to injoy the meanes of grace is not sufficient to mak a faithfull Disciple of Christ except the holy Ghost doth change the heart and affections from their sinfull condition to an holy conformity to the will of God Wherefore let this be the Meditation of our hearts to expresse the truth of our graces by our faithfulnesse unto Christ in all our sufferings for him Also so to live in a religious family and so to improve the meanes of grace that some gracious operations of the holy Ghost may be seen upon our hearts and affections by the purity of our lives and conversations What Christ suffered under Caiaphas VVHen Christ was apprehended they brought him bound to Caiaphas the high Priest as if he had been a Malefactor where he was examined a Mat. 26. spit upon buffeted smitten derided and most spitefully used they sought false witnesses against him but found none that did agree one with another notwithstanding he opened not his mouth to complain or to clear his own innocency that this prophesie of him might be fulfilled b Isa 53. 7. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dâ—mb so he openeth not his mouth His own Nation the Jews did offer those blasphemous indignities to him for they were ever a rebellious and stiffe-necked people c Ezech. 2. which made the Lord so much and so often to complain of them by his Prophets and they were still maliciously bent against them because they rebuked them of their sins and rebellions against God whereby we may see how neer it comes unto God himself when his own People and they that professe his Name prove disobedient and rebellious to him But they could find no fault with Christ d Joh. 8. 46. they could not convince him of any sin there was no guile ever found in his lips he did miraculously feed the hungry he cured the diseased he cleansed the lepers he cast out the devils he observed the Ceremonies of the Law and paid his tribute unto Caesar and yet their rage and malice against him was full of cruelty because he laid open their grosse hypocrisie and condemned their vain traditions and because he discovered the unfaithfulness of their hearts and the evil of their wayes Such was the wilful blindness of their Rabbies that they would not know Christ nor acknowledge him to be the Messiah that was promised though his doctrine was most pure and powerful and his life sutable thereunto though he had wrought many great miracles among them and though most of their prophets had so plainly fore-told of him which was fulfilled in their dayes for they stumbled at his low condition of life and could not see the excellencies and great worth that was in him Though the wicked Jews did use opprobrious words and blasphemous speeches against our sweet Saviour and though they did disdainfully abuse him and unjustly sought matter against him by false witnesses that they might accuse him before the Romane Governour to put him to death yet he did shew divine patience and gave not the least word of offence to his enemies notwithstanding they did thus strongly provoke him to it If we doe well consider this it will teach us by the example of our gracious Saviour how to demean our selves when we are under the like sufferings Also it will keep us humble minded and lowly not to be puffed up with spiritual pride as the high Priest was for then we shall give the devil great advantage against us he will blind our understandings that we cannot rightly discern that which is holy and just and he will infect our hearts with hypocrisie so that others shall be seduced and beguiled by our outward shew of godlinesse whereas there is no sincerity in our hearts and at last our feigned holinesse will be discovered e 2 Tim. 3. 5 because we content our selves with a form of godliness and regard not to have the power of it in our lives and conversations Who were so proud of their outward holiness as the Scribes and
THE COMFORT OF THE SOUL Laid down by way of Meditation upon some heads of Christian Religion very profitable for every true Christian Composed and writen by Iohn Anthony of London Doctor of Physick Psal 19. ver 14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be alwayes acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my Redeemer LONDON Printed for G. Dawson and are to be sold by John Mountague at the Sign of the White-Dragon in Duck-Lane 1654. I have perused these Divine Meditations Intituled the Comfort of the Soul and do find them to be so Orthodox and solide pious and profitable that I do approve them well worthy to be Printed and Published JOHN DOVVNAME To the Right Honourable Dame Elizabeth Dygby Baronesse of Geshal in the Kingdom of Ireland Grace Mercy and Peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ HAving nothing of mine own that is worthy your Acceptance to express my Cordiall respects and thankfulnesse for those many favours which I have received from you I have taken some spirituall Receipts out of Gods sacred Dispensatory which I am bold to present or Dedicate to your Honour because they are speciall Cordialls for the spirits and precious Antidotes against the evill of sad times Wherein also you will finde some Balm of Gilead for the cure of all spirituall diseases if it be applyed close to the part that is ill affected with the hand of Faith If these things do relish well with your spirituall Palate then I am confident you will take sometime to ruminate hereupon for I know it hath been your constant course to Meditate something dayly of Divine and heavenly things which did strongly induce me to present these unripe fruits of my labours to you which I gathered in mine old age for mine own use according to my first Intention Though I have thus laboured out of my Calling as I am a Physician yet I am not out of my profession as I am a Christian Now seing this Work is come to Publick view I do humbly desire your favourable construction of the frailties that are in it and that you will be pleased to vindicate it from carping spirits for I did not write it to please their curiosity but to refresh and comfort those that do any way stand in need of spirituall consolation If any thing herein can give you any reasonable satisfaction let God have the honour and glory of his own Work and I shall greatly rejoice therein and shall still remain your much obliged Servant JOHN ANTHONY To the READER COurteous Reader if thou dost live under the Crosse and art sensible of these sad times or if Gods visitation be upon thee which makes thee to sigh and groan under the burden and pressure of thy sorrowes so that thy soul desireth comfort and thy spirits want spirituall refreshing and heavenly consolation then I have written this Treatise for thee which I present to thy view wherein thou shalt finde the true way how to demean thy self under Gods visitation how to bear thy crosse with a contented patience how to make the burden of thy sorrowes more easie or how to be delivered out of them if God seeth it to be most for his glory and best for thy good also how to refresh thy spirits and comfort thy soul in what kinde soever it is afflicted Here also thou shalt finde that many of Gods dear servants have suffered as great afflictions as thou canst and yet God did send them comfort and deliverance but specially what Christ thy Saviour hath suffered for thee and what benefit and comfort thou maist have by it if thou canst draw it to thy self and make a particular application of it to thine own sorrowful condition without which it will yeeld thee but small consolation in thy miseries If thou dost meet with any thing here that will fit thy present condition either for edification or for comfort thou must ruminate well upon it to suck out the spirituall juiâ—e to imprint it in thy minde and to bring it close home to thy heart that it may comfort thy soul and cure thy wounded Spirit David found great comfort when he did Meditate on the Word of God My soul saith he shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatnesse and my mouth shall praise thee with joyfull Psal 63. 5 6 lips when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches And it must needs be so for this is a duty which God requireth and he takes speciall notice of those that do practice it to pour down his blessings upon them as he did upon Isaack who went out dayly into the field to Meditate Gen. 24. 63 64. upon the wonderfull Works of God and then at that very time God sent him a vertuous Wife If the Spirit of God goeth along with thee in thy holy Meditations they cannot but be comfortable to thy soul thou wilt then conceive aright of the secret and hidden things of God and thou wilt see the infinite wisdom ond power of God in all the Creatures his goodnesse and bounty to thee in them and a glympse of the Majesty and glory of the great Creator God Almighty His holy Spirit will also open thy heart to let in whatsoever spirituall good thou reapest by thy pious Meditations For if thou lookest upon the creature and doest not Meditate something of God in it thou dost look upon it in vain and if thou readest or hearest his Word Preached and dost not settle it upon thy affections by ruminating upon it thou canst not edifie thy heart nor comfort thy soul thereby So likewise if thou doest read any thing in this Treatise that is comfortable to poor dejected Spirits it will not comfort thee if it be not well digested in thy heart and applyed to thine own soul If thou art not acquainted with this holy Duty I have given thee some directions how to perform it and if thou doest first practise it upon thy self to meditate upon thine own condition what thou art by nature and what by grace and considerest seriously in thy thoughts what way thou walkest what steps thou treadest and to what end thy wayes do tend thou wilt not onely come to the knowledge of thy self but thou wilt also learn how to Meditate profitably and comfortably upon God thy Creator upon Jesus Christ thy Redeemer and upon the Holy Ghost thy Sanctifier and Comforter I conclude with this saying of an ancient Father Nothing is found more sweet in this life nothing is conceived more comfortable nothing doth so separate the affections from the love of this world nothing doth so fortifie the minde against temptations nothing doth so stir up man and further him to every good work and duty as the grace and benefit of Divine Meditation and heavenly contemplation Thine in the Lord Christ JOHN ANTHONY A Table of these severall Heads contained in this Book MEditation is a Duty
as rebels to him but he takes us for his own people and as his servants d Ier. 31. 33. according to his promise in the new Covenant and also as his children by adoption in Christ which makes the Meditations of our hearts sweet and comfortable to our souls It is a great honour to be servants to an earthly Prince but it is a far higher title of honour to be servants to the King of heaven The holy Patriarchs and Prophets all the Apostles and Saints of God did account it their highest honour to be the servants of God and they did much glory in this honourable title Thus saith that Kingly Prophet David e Psal 116. 16. O Lord truely I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid thou hast loosed my bonds David useth this as a strong motive to God to hear his prayers and to grant his requests f Psal 86. 2 4 16. O thou my God save thy servant that trusteth in thee Rejoyce the soul of thy servant fâ—r unto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul O turn unto me and have mercy upon me give thy strength unto thy servant and save the son of thine handmaid God gave this title of honour to his choisest servants as to Abraham to Jacob to Moses to David Job Zorâ—babâ—l and to CHRIST himself as he was man For thus he saith by his Prophet g Zech. 3. 8. Behold I will bring forth my servant the Branch This honour have all they that truly believe in Christ because he hath reconciled them to God his Father and hath made them his servants by grace Wherefore now if we have any clear evidence to our consciences that we are the servants of God by vertue of this atonement if we do serve and obey him with faithfull hearts in sincerity and in truth we may then cheerfully fix our Meditations upon God which will be acceptable in his sight and comfortable to our own souls For by this sweet relation that we have unto God through faith in Christ our duties and services to him will be accepted though they be imperfectly performed by us if we shew our best care to please him from an upright heart as his faithfull servants ought to do Also we may apply our selves by holy supplications to our heavenly Lord as being his servants to protect us from our enemies to provide for us in our necessities to succour us in our tribulations and to countenance us as his servants in all our temptations that our faith may not fail us and that our spirits may not sink under the burden of them Whatsoever we want we may have it of God and whatsoever we fear may come upon us he will prevent it or fit us for it or else he will sanctifie it for our good that we may find comfort in it Wherefore we need not be afraid to contemplate his greatnesse for his goodnesse will sweeten that fear we need not fear death in a servile way for it hath no sting to hurt us and we need not be terrified at the Majesty of the great Judge of quick and dead nor at the rigour and severity of his justice at the day of judgement for Christ Jesus shall be then our Judge who is now our Saviour and Redeemer We cannot then but shew our duty to God and our love to Christ by our willing and ready obedience to the commands of God and by our thankfull remembrance of our Redemption wrought by Christ by ruminating on his Word and by contemplating his wonderfull works our thoughts will be continually upon him our delight will be to Meditate on him and the affections of our hearts will be alwayes towards him Consider further what Christ hath done for us that we may the more comfortably Meditate on God he hath not onely redeemed us out of the servitude of sin and Satan and made us the servants of God by grace but also h Iohn 1. 12 he hath given power to as many as believe on his Name to become the sons of God which priviledge and honour we have onely by faith i Gal. 4. 5 6. who hath redeemed us that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons And because we are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his son into our hearts crying Abba Ftther How comfortable then will our Meditations be to our souls when we ruminate upon God as he is our Father what can deject our spirits or make us afraid if we have a sure confidence that God is our Father Can we be brought to a lower degree of misery than k Luk. 15. 18 19. the poor prodigall in the Gospel was and yet when he remembred his Father he was comforted and refreshed Can any poor soul be deeper plunged in sin or lead a more vicious life than this prodigall did and yet his Father did not cast him off but upon his true submission he received him again as his son Why then should we despair of mercy though our sins are many and very great Why should we fear the terrours of death if we be well perswaded of our adoption for l Gal. 4. 7. we are heirs of God through Christ and we go to possesse that inheritance which belongeth to us as sons and why should the thought of the day of judgement be terrible to us seeing Christ our Redeemer will make up our accounts for us and will perfect with his own righteousnesse whatsoever is wanting on our parts Do we think that Christ will redeem us out of the bondage of Satan and will free us from the strictnesse of the Law the dominion of sin from the sting of death and at last will leave us to our selves to answer the rigour of Gods justice for whatsoever we have done here in the flesh Surely no for then the Work of our Redemption had not been perfectly finished but Christ will be then our hiding place he will cover all our sins under the Robe of his own Righteousnesse and will shelter us from the fierceness of Gods wrath and from the severity of Gods justice We have now much matter for Divine and Heavenly Meditations to comfort and refresh our languishing souls when they are any way perplexed with sorrowes feares or doubtings if we ruminate upon our happy condition by being in grace and favour with God for we have the honour and dignity to be the servants of the great King of heaven and earth by the right of purchase and so are none but such onely whom Christ hath bought with his own blood Also if we Meditate upon our Adoption it wil be very comfortable to us and exceeding sweet to our spirituall taste for Christ hath given us hereby all the priviledges of sons both in what we are freed from and in what we have right unto for we are freed from all evill of sin and from all evill of punishment sin hath no power to condemn us though it
outward ministration of it to make it profitable and comfortable to our souls Examine now thy self what impression the doctrine of Christ hath made in thy heart which thou hast often heard sincerely preached and how thou hast been profited by it what knowledge thou hast gained in heavenly things how thou art confirmed in the truth of Gods Word how thy faith in Christ is established what hope thou hast of eternal salvation and how firmly thy faith is grounded upon the promises of God Also how thou art humbled for thy sins and what reformation of life it hath wrought in thee what patience and meekness of Spirit thou hast in thy sufferings what zeal for the glory of God what constancy in thy tryals and what love thou bearest to thy neighbour these and the like benefits thou maist have by the Word of God if thou art a profitable hearer of it If upon due examination of thy self thou doest find any of these operations of the Spirit of God in thee it is a sure evidence that he hath made thee a profitable hearer of his Word Many did hear Christs doctrine from his own mouth and yet they received no good by it so thou maist hear his holy Word and be no whit the better for it if it be not preached as wel to thy heart by the Holy Ghost as it is to thine ear by his Ministers Oh consider how many worthy sermons thou hast heard without profit what thou hast been taught and yet not edified nor reformed because thou didst hear them with uncircumcised ears and with a poluted and unbelieving heart for thy heart is naturally unfit to receive the heavenly doctrine of Christ until rhe holy Ghost doth prepare it and season it with grace that it may bring forth fruit unto newness of life o Hos 10. 12 There is so much fallow ground in us which is barren and unfruitful that the good seed of the Word of God cannot be sown to us in righteousness to reap the fruits of it in mercy untâ—l the holy Ghost breaks up this fallow ground with the power of his sanctifying grace neither can we seek the Lord that he may come and rain righteousness upon us Wherfore p Ier. 4. 4. we must be circumcised to the Lord and the foreskins of our hearts must be taken away and the vail that is upon our understandings must be removed and we must be purified by faith before we can be made fruitful in an holy and vertuous conversation by the Ministry of the word Wherefore imbrace the holy doctrine of Christ with pure affections lay it up in a clean heart and ruminate upon it in thy serious meditations that it may abide with thee to make thee grow dayly in grace vertue and godliness until thou comest to a full stature in Christ Consider therefore and observe how thou art inwardly affected when thou hearest it what delight thou hast in it and what impression of grace it makes in thy heart for if thou delightest in the Lords Sabbath and rejoicest when his Word soundeth in thine ears q Luc. 5. 41 as the babe did leap for joy in Elizabeths wombe when she heard the salutation of the Virgin Mary because Christ was then in the Virgins wombe thou art then in a blessed and comfortable condition r Isa 58. 13 14. and thy soul shall delight in the Lord who shall feed thee with the heritage of Jacob. Christ doth also teach us what we ought to do by his works that we dayly see both of justice and of mercy which are his silent Preachers and therefore they ought to be carefully regarded for there is no act of his but is intended for our instruction Noah was many years in building the Ark which was a long sermon to teach the world of the ungodly what God intended to do God Å¿ 1 Pet. 3. 20 waited then for their repentance and conversion an hundred and twenty years while the Ark was a preparing t 2 Pet. 2. 5 Noah also was a Preacher of righteousness to them all that time and did warn them of the wrath of God which did hang over their heads for their sins Thus doth God also deal with us for he doth visit us with sickness he doth teach us thereby to prepare our selves for the hour of dissolution and to perfect our account which we must make to the great Judge of heaven and earth at the last day that so we may willingly resign up our selves unto God when death shall part them from our bodies When God suffereth us to fall into temptations then he calls us to pray for his assisting grace for strength of faith and for constancy to stand out against the devil to the end that he may give us the crown of victory If he doth visit us with losses troubles or afflictions it is to teach us patience and meekness and to humble our selves under the hand of God until he doth deliver us If he doth chastise us for our sins it is to bring us to repentance When God bestoweth his blessing upon us or removeth the cross from us u Ps 50. 15 then he calls for a thankful remembrance of his mercy and goodness to us howsoever God dealeth with us either in judgement or in mercy it should teach us to glorifie him as well in our sufferings as for his blessings Thus God doth teach and instruct us what we should do and how to obey his will both by his Word and by his Works and as our ear must be open to his Word that it may be conveyed to our hearts by the holy Ghost so we should dayly observe the Works of God and how he dealeth with us that our hearts may receive instruction and our tongues may blesse his great and glorious name Wherefore we ought to listen to Gods voice in them that our hearts may return an answer of obedience agreeable to his will Of Christs Priestly Office GOd did also ordain Christ to be a Priest accord-to this of David a Ps 110. 4. The Lord sware â—nd will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck He was anointed to his office not with the material oyl of the sanctuary but with the spiritual unction of the holy Ghost when he was baptized and he did execute it partly by his prayers which he did frequently offer up to God his father for all his elect in the dayes of his flesh and partly by that sacrifice which he offered up upon the cross at his death b Heb 7. 24 25. Christs priesthood is unchangeable and eternal for he is still our High-priest and ever liveth to make intercession for us and therefore he is able also to save us to the uttermost that come unto God by him c Heb. 8. We have such a High-priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heaven d Heb. 7. 26 27. For
God that doth purge our consciences from dead works to serve the living God Also Iohn saith g Rev. 1. 7 that the blood of Christ the Son of God clenseth us from all sinne so that no spots no staines no guilt of sinne shall cleave to our souls to our condemnation and as he in himself according to his divine nature was infinite so the price which he paid at his Passion for our redemption was of infinite worth and the benefits that we receive by him are likewise infinite If we are clensed from the guilt of all our sins by the blood of Christ then the sting which sin hath put into all things that we possesse is taken away and we may comfortably use them to the glory of God and Christ by his resurrection and ascension hath sanctified them to us for our good riches shall not make us proud or ambitious nor steal away our hearts from God want and penury shall not make us repine or murmur against the providence of God to make us forsake him but all things shall work together for our good death shall not be terrible but advantage to us and we shall sleep quietly in our graves until the general resurrection because no guilt of sinne will lie down with us in the dust to follow us unto Judgement Though sinne hath wounded our souls i Mal. 4. 2. yet if we fear his Name the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings to cure it for k Luc. 10. 34. Christ like the good Samaritan will pour in wine and oyl to clense and heal it Though sinne doth sometimes over-power us yet Christ by vertue of his death will subdue and kill it in us and by the power of his resurrection he will quicken us up to newness of life and he will make our unruly passions and sinful desires to be tributary and servants to us by the power of his Spirit and of his sanctifying grace l Iosh 9. 23. as Ioshua made the Gibeonites hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of God Lastly m 1 Thes 1. 10. Christ hath delivered us by his Passion from the wrath to come and from all the punishments that are due to us for our sins Christ did not begin his Passion until he had fulfilled all righteousness in his life and doctrine that the Law required though his whole life was a life of suffering and of sorrow But when he knew that the time was at hand when he must offer up his body a sacrifice to God for the sinnes of the world n Mat. 26. 21 he told his disciples that one of them should betray him into the hands of his enemies o Joh. 16. 32 that they all should be scattered from him and also what he should suffer in his Passion notwithstanding he did not shrink from it but did willingly undertake it because it was his Fathers will to have it so Wherefore he did arm himself with divine patience and meekness to suffer whatsoever was appointed in Gods decree should be put upon him and he prepared himself by prayer for that great work This is to teach us to submit with all meekness of spirit to the will of God in all our sufferings how to prepare our selves for them and how to demean our selves in them God hath appointed every man some work to do and when one work is finished he hath another ready for him for God requires that we should be diligent and painful in our callings frequent in holy duties and industrious in his vineyard p Mat. 20. 6 The good Housholder in the Gospel rebuked those that did stand all the day idle q Eze. 16. 49 Idlenesse was one of the sins of Sodom which brought down fire and brimstone from heaven upon it This is one of the properties of a good wife r Pro. 31. 27 that she looketh well to the wayes of her houshold and eateth not the bread of idleness God doth not appoint to every one their work alike for Paul had more work appointed him than any of the Apostles Å¿ 2 Cor. 11. 28. for the care of all the Churches came dayly upon him Abraham had harder work to do when he was to offer up his onely Son to God than any of the Patriarchs If God appointeth much work he will give time to doe it if his work be hard strength and ability to go thorough with it Wherefore if God shall call us to any hard service which is not pleasing to our nature or may seem impossible to humane strength we ought not to consult with flesh and blood what to do but to be obedient to the will and pleasure of God though we can expect no outward help nor support in it for if we rest upon God he knoweth how when to make us able to perform what he commandeth and to bear what he layeth upon us If we believe that God will assist us in his own work we shall set upon it with good courage and Christian fortitude That we may the better do any work that God commandeth we must prepare our selves for it by faithful prayer and then rest upon the assisting grace of God with stedfast hope that he will both help us in it and will bless and prosper our indeavours to his glory and to our comfort Thus we should do every day in the works of our calling but chiefly on the Lords day when we should spend our whole time in his worship and service Now let our hearts faithfully meditate upon the Passion of Christ and upon every particular that he suffered for our sakes and then we shall find the bitterness of it for the wrath of God was in every part of his sufferings and followed him from place to place even to mount Calvary until divine justice was fully satisfied for all our sins then we shall imbrace him with hearty affections and our souls will rest comforted in the assurance of our redemption thereby of Christ's Agony in the garden THe hour is now come when Christ must pay the whole debt to God his Father which he did undertake for us now is the time when the justice of God must be satisfied for our sinnes now doth God deliver up his dear Son to the powers of darkness now doth he cloud the bright beams of his glorious countenance from him and leaves him to himself to encounter with the devil because be saw the guilt of all our sins upon him and now doth the devil take a double advantage against our dear Saviour and with all his power and malice he doth fiercely set upon him in a single combate thinking now to prevail because God did seem to discountenance him and also because there was sin and that very great which was laid to his charge for the guilt of all the detestable and abominable sinnes of all the elect of God was imputed to him and the devil knew how odious and
be not conveyed to our hearts by faith as it iâ— to the ear and to the hand by the Minister also if the holy Ghost doth not give us a spirituall appetite to it that our heartâ— may spiritually feed upon it it will not be the sweet savour of life unto life unto us but rather the savour of death unto death If the devill can bereave us of the benefites that come by the meanes of Grace and make us lose the opportunity of it and can keep us from the true knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ as he did Judas he will then lead us on in a sinful and wicked course of life until he doth bring us to eternal perdition Thus by degrees he brought Judas from infidelitie to hardness of heart after he had taken possession of him until at last he fell into despair and became his own executioner for his damnable treason against his Lord and Master for presentlie after he hanged himself y Act. 1. 8. he burst asunder in the midst and all his bowels gushed out Thus did God give him his just reward for his horrible sin and impiety against Christ and yet he was one of his Disciples and had as much means of grace as the rest had and also as many common and external gifts of the Spirit as they had and did see the great works that Christ had done And thus will God shew his justice and judgements upon impenitent and notorious offenders that are so hardned in their sins that no meanes of Grace can bring them to Repentance Now examine thy self thou that dailie seest the wonderful works of God if thou canst look beyond nature and see his power and wise providence in them if thou canst discern the finger of God when great men are brought down and men of low degree are exalted also if thou canst see how God will bring to pass his own designs against all opposition of wicked men and that he can discover the hellish plots and maginations of the Devil and his instruments z Plal. 7. 15. and will make them fall into the same pit which they have digged for others a Esth 1. 10. as he did unto wicked Haman If thou seest these and the like things come to pass thou must believe that it is the work of God for his own glory and the good of his Church Peter did see the great works of Christ he did believe that they were wrought by the power of his divine nature Judas did also see the same works but he could not discern the divinity of Christ in them If thy condition be like unto that of Peter that thou canst see a divine power in the great works that are wrought here upon earth and that God by his wisdom and providence can dispose of all the troublesome chances and changes that happen here either in Church or State to his own glory to the good of his people and to the confusion of his and their enemies then thou doest rightlie understand the waies of God by a spiritual illumination that is in thy heart But if with Judas thou canst no discern Gods divine power in his works on earth to over-rule all adversarie power b Psal 2. 2. though they rage in fury and take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed then thine understanding is blinded and thou liest open to all kind of dangers and distractions of mind Search again into thine own heart thou that livest where the Gospel of Christ is sincerely preached and his holie Sacraments rightlie and duly administered and examine thy self with what affections thou doest come to those holie Ordinances of God what grace is wrought in thee and how thy faith is strengthened by them how much sin is weakned and how thy life is reformed Also examine what spiritual life thou hast what fruits it doth bring forth what care thou hast to nourish it by thy profitable hearing of the Word of God and by thy worthy receiving of the Lords Supper if thou canst give a good account that thou hast spent thy time profitably and hast improved the means of grace to the best advantage then thou art a faithful servant to thy Lord and Master Jesus Christ as Peter was But if this heavenlie food will not please thy palate it cannot nourish and comfort thy soul because thou hast some secret corruptions or some beloved sin that keeps the sweet influence of grace from thy heart and then thou wilt reap as little benefit by the Word of God and by his holie Ordinances as wretched Judas did though he heard Christ himself preach to him Surely God doth still send down this heavenlie Manna blessed be his holie name for it and thou maiest gather it for the nourishment and comfort of thy soul if thou wilt but if thou canst find no spiritual sweetness in it thy taste is not then spiritual but it is dulled with worldly cares or sinful pleasures which must be purged out of thy heart by the blood of Christ before thou canst with Peter take pleasure and delight to hear the words of Christ c John 6. 68 which are the words of eternall life and before thou canst make it the joy of thy heart to meditate on the Statutes of God How canst thou hazard thy life for Christ as Peter did and for the truth of his Gospel if thou art not well instructed and a good proficient in his School And how canst thou live a spirituall life to God if thy heart hath not sucked vertue and power from Christ by faith who is the fountain of this water of life and of this coelestial food to nourish thee up to everlasting life Look now a little upon Peters zeal for his Masters safety he resisted those that came to apprehend him d John 18. 10 11. and smote the high Priests servant but Christ cured the wound and rebuked Peter for it because his zeal was not well grounded for he did endeavour to hinder him in the work which God had appointed him to do concerning mans redemption and therefore Christ said unto him The cup which my father hath given me shall I not drink it This may teach us to drink willingly any cup of affliction that our heavenly Father shall give us for it must needs be good and profitable to us if we receive it from God as from the hand of our Father Also that holy zeal or fervency of spirit in Gods Cause is a duty which he requireth and his servants do practise it yet it must be regulated according to knowledge and to the glory of God for blind zeal will lead us into many errours Davids zeal was rightly regulated e Psal 119. 139. My zeal saith he hath consumed me because thine enemies have forgotten thy words f Num. 25. 11 12. Such was the zeal of Phinehas in the matter of Zimri and Cozby which turned away the wrath of God from the
blasphemous words and cruell torments upon the crosse even to the pouring out of his very heart blood to purge and cleanse us from the guilt and from the filth of all our sins and that he suffered whatsoever the malice and power of the devill could inflict upon him and also that for the time his Divine nature did refuse to minister comfort to his humanity in these his bitter torments what thankfulnesse then do we ow to our dear Saviour for his wonderfull love to us What can be too dear for him that did account nothing too dear for us what duty what reverence and fear do we ow unto him who hath paid so great a price for our redemption Our best expressions of love and duty are no way answerable to that which Christ hath deserved and which we are Sound to perform unto him yet if they come from a willing minde and from a sincere heart Christ our Saviour will accept them and out of his fulnesse will supply what is wanting in us and God will be well pleased with it for his sake Here is much matter of heavenly comfort for us if our hearts can devoutly Meditate upon it and receive it Our life may be full of misery and our hearts full of sadnesse and perplexity our faith may be so weak that we can have no apprehension of the love and favour of God and our spirits may be so cast down that we cannot raise them up towards heaven we may be pressed with troubles crosses and sorrowes beyond our strength and the light of Gods countenance may be so eclipsed that we can see no token of his grace and favour to sweeten the bitternesse of our sufferings and to support us under the pressure of them but we are ready to faint and to cast off all hope of relief and comfort b Psal 42. 11. but for all this we need not fear our souls need not be disquieted within us for if we wait on God he will be our present help he will be our God and he will not forsake us The brightnesse of his countenance may be darkened for a few hours as it was with the Sun at this very same time c Mal. 4. 2. but the Sun of righteousnesse will again appear to us with healing in his wings then we shal see the salvation of the Lord if we can look up with the eye of faith to our sweet Saviour who was brought to a lower degree of spirituall desertion in the apprehension of his humane nature thn we can be and yet he found a return of the gracious aspect of his Fathers countenance toward him whereby he hath sanctified and sweetned whatsoever can betide us to sink our spirits or to shake our faith and confidence in God If our ear is spiritually bored to hear those dolefull and lamentable words which our Saviour uttered upon the crosse when he was ready to yeild up his Spirit to God his Father and yet apply them to our selves by faith we may then draw vertue and power from them to strengthen our faith and to support our hope in the assurance of his love that he will not bring us to so low a degree of spiritual desertion because our weaknesse will not bear so great a tryall but will make us to hold out to the end by the Almighty power of his eternall Spirit Now learn O my sorrowful soul so to imprint the crucifying of thy dear Saviour in thy heart by faith that thou maist draw grace and vertue from thence to crucifie all thy corruptions and the evill concupiscence of thy flesh that thine affections may not be carried after worldly vanities that thine eyes may not delight to gaze upon obscene spectacles that thine eares may be dull to unsavory speeches but swift to hear words that tend to edification and that thy tongue may have no motion to utter any thing that is dishonourable to God or hurtfull to thy neighbour d Gal. 6. 14. Thus by the power of Christ crucified the world shall be crucified to thee and thou unto the world if thou dost truly believe that he was crucified for thee because it will dull the edge of thine affections to all earthly things it will work in thee an hatred and detestation of all sinfull pleasures and thou wilt dayly labour and e Col. 3. 9. Eph. 4. 22. strive to mortifie the old man of sin that hath had his habitation in thy bosome above these threescore years In thy first creation thou wert a lovely creature beloved of thy God without spot or blemish in soul or in body thou wert beautified and adorned with all graces and holy vertues reverenced and obeyed of all other creatures here upon earth and the celestiall orbs did cast no evill aspects upon thee but now thou art deformed with sin thou art polluted in all the faculties of thy soul and in all the parts of thy body for thou art spiritually blinde naked and void of all goodnesse thou art deaf and dumb to heavenly things thou art lame and impotent and canst not walk in the paths of righteousnesse also thou art so bent and bowed to the earth that thou canst not raise up thy heart toward heaven and so full of spirituall diseases and infirmities that there is no sound part in thee But this is thy comfort O my soul that the blood of thy crucified Redeemer which was spilt upon the crosse will take away all thy deformities of sin and will heal all thy spiritual diseases and his righteousnesse will make thee lovely in the sight of God If this be our condition by nature if we are thus deformed with the guilt of sin that cleaveth to our souls by our fall in Adam and if we have no meanes to regain our first happinesse in Adams first innocency but by Christ and to be cleansed from all our sins but by his blood then our chief care must be how to injoy Christ and how to have this great benefit by his blood If we are ingrafted into him by faith we shall injoy him in his whole nature as he is God and Man we shall partake with him in all his excellencies and graces he will work a new creation in us by his Spirit and a thorough change in all the faculties of our souls and in all the affections of our hearts that no sin shall cleave to our souls for our condemnation for he will also nail the the guilt of all our sins to his crosse upon which he shed his most precious blood to make an attonement for them all He will also take away the stains and filth of our sins by his sanctifying grace and holy Spirit and will put upon us the robe of his own righteousnesse which will cover all our deformities and will make us amiable and lovely in the sight of God By the merit of Christs blood our sins shall never be laid to our charge by the power of his death we are made able
Jewes and therefore he will not refuse us Lastly consider that Pilate did highly honour our Lord and Saviour Christ when he wrote this Title to be set over his head upon the Crosse r Jon 2â— 10. Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jewes which was a title of great honour and not of shame and disgrace unto him Their manner was to set up a superscription to shew the crimes why a malefactor was put to death but Pilate could find no crime and no fault in Christ and therefore he wrote this superscription to clear his innocencie and to brand the Jewes with perpetual ignominie and shame to all generations for their malice and cruelty against him For though Pilate did not believe that Christ was a King and though he was perswaded by the chief Priests and by the people to condemn him and to put him to death yet God would not suffer him to be perswaded by them to alter the Title but to have it written in Hebrew Greek and Latine that all Nations and Languages might know the honour of his Person and the horrible wickedness of the bloudy Jewes in killing their King whom God had appointed and sent to be their Saviour and Redeemer also to make their name odious to all people as a just judgement of God upon them because they refused the sweet tender of his grace and mercy and killed his dear and onely Son Christ was brought to the lowest degree of his humiliation and now God doth begin to glorifie him and to publish his honour and his great Name by the highest authority to all nations and people and to the perpetual infamy and reproach of all his enemies to all posterity This honour was his due and God would not suffer him to loose it and thus God will do for us also If we are made the scorn of men if we suffer persecution fire sword or famine in a good cause and if we die upon this crosse yet God will manifest the integrity of our hearts and will give us that honour which is due to us as his servants and his children for if we drink of Christs bitter cup of sorrows we shall also drink of his pleasant cup of joy and consolation Wherefore if thou wilt have the meditations of thy heart upon the passion of thy dear and gracious Redeemer to be comfortable and profitable to thy soul thou must not look upon him onely in that despicable condition as he is now upon the crosse to the outward eye but with the eye of faith thou must look upon him as he is the eternal Son of God God and man and as he is dignified with all his excellencies and titles of honour for he was a Prophet and such a Prophet as did endow all the former Prophets with the spirit of prophesie whose Prophesies did chiefly concern him Also he was a Priest after the highest order whose Priesthood was eternal according to this of the Psalmist Å¿ Psal 110. 4. The Lord sware and will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck So likewise he was a spiritual King to rule his Church and in the hearts of all his elect and he did subdue all his enemies under him and he will also subdue all the enemies of his spiritual Kingdom in us If thou canst thus see the excellencies of Christ through his mean and contemptible condition and if thou canst believe that he is thy Redeemer and all-sufficient to be thy Saviour it will inflame the affections of thy heart with intire love to him because he hath humbled himself so low for thy sake it will make thee bend thine ear to his instructions for he will teach thee heavenly wisdom and how to walk in the paths of godlinesse he will also present thy prayers and all thy holy services to God his Father and then they shall be accepted and this will also work a reverential fear in thee to yeild all obedience to his commands If thou doest thus look upon Christ though he be upon the crosse it will give thee abundant comfort in thy sufferings exceeding much joy in the benefits which thou shalt have by his passion and it will stirre thee up to a thankful acknowledgement of his goodness and mercie to thee Now look upon thine own unworthiness and thou wilt admire the moâ—â— that Christ should so much humble himself to exalt thee that he should suffer so much smart pain and torment to free thee from everlasting torments and burnings in hell and that he should loose the comfort of his Deitie and the sense of his Fathers love to reconcile thee unto God and to make an attonement for thy sins Who were the Agents in the Passion of CHRIST VVE come now to consider what Agents there were in this doleful tragedie of our Saviour Christ how every one acted for his own ends how God did make the designes of the devil and of all his wicked instruments to work for his own glorie and how he did afterwards bring their wickedness upon their own heads The whole Passion of Christ and every circumstance of it was decreed from eternitie and the three Persons in the sacred Trinity were the first and principal Agents in this great work of Christs Passion for they decreed that Jesus Christ the second Person in the holy Trinitie should be sacrificed and made a propitiation for the sins of the world which was done at Gods appointed time For God the Father sent him into the world for this end and purpose and God the Son gave himself to be a ransome for us and assumed our nature that he might fulfil all righteousness and suffer the whole penalty of the Law for us also God the holie Ghost did give him all fulness of grace and power to bear the bitterness of his passion and thereby to conquer sin death hell and the devil and to give us power also over all the enemies of our salvation Though God was the principal Agent in the crucifying of Christ yet herein he had no evil intent or purpose and therefore he was without sin for he had a gracious and merciful end in it that his justice might be satisfied for the sin of man and that the redemption and salvation of all his elect might be wrought by the precious bloud and all sufficient sacrifice of his dear Son But the devil was the chief actor in the wickedness and crueltie of this sad tragedie whose end and design was to hinder our salvation by destroying our Saviour and this he did seek to bring to passe by wicked means and of malice to mankind and therefore as soon as he had his permission from God he raised up his wicked instruments for his hellish design First a John 13. 27. he entred into Judas and took possession there b Mat. 26. 25 16. who out of covetousness sold his Lord and Master to the chief Priests and Elders for thirtie pieces of silver
up thy spirit thou fainting soul for Christ hath redeemed thy body from the grave and thy soul from death by his Resurrection he hath conquered all the enemies of thy salvation sin hath no condemning power over thee death is advantage to thee hell is lockt up from thee and the Devill himself cannot go beyond his commission for thy hurt Though the world doth frown upon thee h Joh. 16. 33 and thou findest tribulation here yet be of good chear and lift up thy head for Christ hath overcome the world and he will sanctifie all thy tribulations to thee Thou livest here subject to shame and reproach to diseases of body and sorrow of spirit and to all miseries and calamities but death will put an end to all thy labour and travell the grave will refine thy body from all imperfections and diseases and thy resurrection will bring thee to thy reward which is laid up for thee in heaven If the powers of darknesse set themselves in array against thee if the terrours of death assault thee fear not but keep close to the Resurrection of thy Saviour by faith he hath overcome them all and will also subdue them unto thee i Eph â— 30. If thou art a member of his body of his flesh and of his bones thou must be made conformable to him as to thy head as well in his glory as in his shame as well in his resurrection as in his death and buriall If the crosse must try thy strength he will not tire thee with a greater burden than thou art well able to bear If pain or sicknesse brings thee near unto death the faithfull hope of a joyful resurrection will greatly refresh and comfort thy soul for though thy soul must be parted from thy body yet neither thy soul nor thy body shall be parted fuom Christ but thou shalt rise again out of the dust with a spirituall and immortal body to be joyned unto Christ thy head for ever Now think on these things with holy affections and they will minister heavenly comfort to thy soul when thou art in any perplexity of minde or body Consider now to whom Christ appeared after his Resurrection it was first to holy Women who in their pious devotion and love to him came to imbalm his body with spices and sweet odours then he appeared to his Disciples at sundry times and also to many Brethren that they all might be well confirmed in the truth of his Resurrection and of his Deity to comfort them in their sorrowes to uphold them in their sufferings to strenthen their faith against all persecutions and bloody tryals and to be able to strengthen others in the Doctrine of the Resurrection Thus did the holy Apostles testfiie that they had seen the Lord Jesus after he was risen to confirm their Doctrine of his Resurrection But Christ did not appear to any wicked or ungodly men for they could neither believe it nor understand it nor receive any comfort or benefit by it because they have no spirituall eye to discern his glorified body but chiefly because they have no relation to him as their Saviour Christ doth appear to us at this day by his Spirit when he doth manifest to us the truth of his Resurrection by his Word and doth give us grace to apply it to our selves for the confirmation of our faith in the Resurrection of our bodies at the last day But chiefly Christ doth appear to us when by faith we draw vertue and power from his Resurrection to rise from the death of sin to the life of grace when we can raise up the affections of our hearts from earthly and worldly cares to heavenly contemplations and when we can with the wings of faith mount up above the sinfull delights and pleasures of this life and above all the calamities and tribulations that we shall meet with here upon earth to have our conversation in heaven and can draw comfort to our selves in all our sorrowes and miseries from the hope of our resurrection There will also be a day of resurrection to the wicked which will be most sad wofull and miserable to them for they shall not rise with purified and glorified bodies but with filthy ugly and unclean bodies all besmeared with the guilt of sin which will make them odious to look upon and they have no covering to hide their sins but onely the Divels liverey which is a guilty conscience that they may be known to whom they belong For there is no place and no inheritance in heaven for such unclean monsters but they shall be thrust down into the lowest hell to partake with the devil and his angels in their everlasting torments which is the reward of all wicked men for their evill works Of CHRISTS Ascension up into Heaven VVHen Christ had fully instructed his Apostles after his Resurrection in those things which concerned the Kingdom of Heaven and had taught them how to plant his Church here upon earth he was taken up in the sight and view of them all and ascended up into heaven where he sitteth at the right hand of God in fulnesse of Majesty and glory until he shall come again to judge both the quick and the dead whereby Christ is now become our eternall Advocate with the Father to make intercession for us and he is also our eternall high Priest to present our Prayers and oblations to God At his Ascension he carried up our humane nature with him into heaven and hath advanced it above the Angels and above all Principalities and powers also Christ hath taken possession of that heavenly Inheritance which we shall hereafter injoy for he keeps it for us Wherefore now let the thoughts of our hearts be raised up in our holy Meditations to contemplate the transcendent glory of Christ now he is at the right hand of the Father that we may firmly confide in him and have a longing desire to be with him to injoy that place of true blessednesse a John 14. 2 which he hath prepared for us in his Fathers house Also let all our Prayers and sacrifices proceed from an upright and a believing heart that they may be such as Christ will present to his Father for us and then we may confidently believe that God will graciously receive them Here is also great comfort for us that though we sin dayly through humane frailty or through the corruption of our nature b 1 John 2. 1 2. that we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins who will intercede for us and will present the merit of his blood unto him in full satisfaction for all our sins whereof we may have an holy assurance by faith and true repentance If we do faithfully believe that we have such an high Priest and such an Advocate in heaven why do we give our selves liberty in sin to displease him Why do we cherish any darling sin
in our affections Why are our prayers our praises and our thanksgivings so few and so seldome sent up to him Why are they so cold and so dull that they cannot mount up to him And why are our spirituall oblations so full of unbelief Do we think that Christ will intercede for us if we sin wittingly and willingly against God Will he procure our pardon if there be any accursed thing hidden in our hearts Will Christ present our Prayers to God if they proceed out of feigned lips And will he present our duties and services to God if they are performed with unbelieving and deceitfull hearts If we thus conceive of the intercession of Christ we delude our selves and indanger our souls to utter perdition If we did truly believe that Christ hath taken possession of that heavenly inheritance which is prepared for us our souls would be ravished with an holy desire to injoy it we would contemn the vanities of this world in comparison of that and our affections would not be carried after sinfull pleasures afflictions and crosses would not cast down and deject our spirits but we would live chearfully in the midst of all troubles and sorrowes because by faith in Christ we are made heirs of the kingdom of Heaven If that place be so perfectly pure that no unclean thing can enter there we should study to live piously and vertuously to the glory of God while we live in the flesh that we may have a sure hope to injoy it hereafter If a Kings Son that is heir apparent but to an earthly Crown should live like a base peasant and delight in the company of such as are of mean and low degree we wil be ready to say that he is unworthy of such an Inheritance Let us make this our own case and consider to what honour and dignity we are born by our adoption in Christ that we may not live in subjection to every base and sinfull lust as unworthy of that Inheritance which Christ hath prepared for us in the Kingdom of heaven Though our condition â—e mean in this world and our calling such as that we must converse with ungodly people as to the outward man yet the conversation of the inward man may be spirituall and holy c Joh. 17. 15 for Christ hath prayed his Father to keep us from the evill that is in the world that we may imitate here upon earth the blessed Angels and Saints in heaven by glorifying God and by our readinesse to fulfill his will and pleasure Thus saith the Apostle d Col. 3. 1 2 If we be risen with Christ we should seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God and there should our affections be set and not on things on the earth Thus we may have our conversation in heaven thus we may live a spirituall life upon earth and thus we may injoy the sweet communion of the blessed Trinity even in this life for God the Father will be gracious and loving to us in Christ as a Father is to his children God the Son will be righteousnesse sanctification and Redemption to us according to the nature of a Saviour to his elect people and God the holy Ghost will abide with us for ever in all difficulties and dangers according to the nature of a true Comforter A brief summe of the Exaltation of CHRIST IF we look now upon our beloved Saviour we may contemplate his great Exaltation with much joy and gladnesse of heart a Eph. 4. 8. for he is ascended up on high and hath led captivity captive b Rev. 19. 11 12 13 14 15 16. John doth describe him sitting upon a white horse because he doth judge in righteousnesse his eyes were as a flame of fire and on his head were many crownes he was cloathed with a vestare dipt in blood and his name is called the Word of God and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written King of kings and Lord of lords c 1 Tim. 6. 15 16. He is the blessed and onely Potentate who onely hath immortality dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen or can see d Phil. 2. 9 10. God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth e Rom. 9. 5. for he is over all God blessed for ever f Psal 2. 6 8 God hath now made Christ a King and set him upon his holy hill of Sion he hath given him the heathen for his inheriritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession Also the Apostle saith g Col. 2. 9 10. In Christ dwelleth all the fulnesse of the Godhead bodily and we are compleat in him which is the head of all principality and power We may yet consider further how God hath exalted Christ h Eph. 5. 23. For he hath made him the head of his Church i Eph. 1. 22. and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the Church Also k Psal 118. 12. Christ is become the head stone of the corner in this spirituall building and he doth so firmly binde every stone of this building to himself that they shall never depart from him Thus God is pleased to reveal in some measure how highly he hath exalted our dear Saviour after his great sufferings in his bitter passion but as we are not able to conceive what he suffered so our weak capacity cannot reach to that transcendent glory and Majesty which he now hath in the same nature as he was our Redeemer God and Man If God hath so highly exalted our glorified Redeeemer then we must study and Meditate with an holy zeal and pious devotion how to exalt him in our hearts how to prize him in our affections according to his excellencies and dignities how to have a reverent esteem of his worth how to honour and reverence him for his greatnesse and l Hos 3. 5. how to fear and love him for his goodnesse Also we must have a diligent care to obey his rule and government as he reigns and rules in our hearts by his Spirit that we may withstand and resist the temptations of the devill that the alluring vanities of the world may not insnare us and that no evill concupiscence may overpower us to make us dishonour our God or disobey the will of our dear Saviour If Christ be truly advanced in our mindes and thoughts according to the glory
the sanctifying graces of his holy Spirit may season our hearts and affections to walk before him in holinesse and purenesse of living all our dayes Wherefore now our afflictions and troubles which are part of this curse are sanctified to us and made salubrious and wholesome for our good and the evill of punishment which we suffer is taken away by the merit of his sufferings and the nature of them is changed into fatherly chastisements to correct us for our sins that we may walk more obediently before God or else they are to try the truth of our graces for the honour of God that gave them Fourthly this is another great Advantage and Gain that we have by Christ which unregenerate men cannot finde that he hath also freed us from the dominion of sin for though sin will dwell with us so long as we live in the flesh yet the strength and power of sin is weakened and killed by the vertue and power of that grace which Christ hath given us by his death The best of Gods servants do often complain how the unregenerate part in them doth sometimes prevail against the Spirit which makes them groan under the burden of their corruptions as holy David and others have done Paul also found this to be true for thus he saith e Rom. 7. 18 19. I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I finde not for the good that I would I do not but the evill which I would not that I do And he had no power but onely from Christ to be freed from this dominion of sin and therefore he cryeth out saying f Rom 7. 24 25. O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord for he found this Benefit and Gain by Christ for saith he g Phil. 1. 21. To me to live is Christ and to dye is gain or else we may read it thus For Christ is to me both in life and in death advantage This is not the gain which natural men look for they seek after the gain of riches the gain of honours and the gain of worldly preferments they look not after spiritual gain they do not esteem of vertue and godliness piety towards God is out of request with them though it be the true gain and most to be desired Fifthly that we may get this spirituall gain of Godlinesse which is the advantage onely of a true Believer Christ doth wash us in the Laver of his righteousnesse and therefore he bestowes all sanctifying and saving graces upon us to purifie us from the silth and pollutions of our sins For Christ doth unite us unto himself by Faith whereby we are cloathed with his righteousnesse and have all the benefits that come by the merite of his blood then faith drawes in with it all other sanctifying graces to make us compleat and perfect in Christ to beautifie and adorn our souls that we may lead a vertuous and pious life in the right way of true holiness h 1 Pet. 2. 2 Christ doth also give us an holy desire to the sincere milk of the word that thereby we may grow in i 2 Pet. 3. 18. grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we are brought into the favour of God k Rom. 3. 24 by whose grace love we are freely justified through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ l Eph. 2. 8. by whose free grace also we are saved through faith in Christ Saving grace was one of the special gifts that Christ gave after his Ascension according to this of Paul m Eph. 4. 7. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ n Heb. 13 9. Wherefore if our hearts are stablished w th grace we shal not be carried about with diverse and strange doctrines but we shall stand firm in the Faith and in the truth of our Profession and our hearts will be purged from dead works Sixthly we have this great Advantage by Christ above all other men o Gal. 4. 5 6 7. that by him we receive the adoption of sons and thereby we injoy all the Priviledges that belong to sons for God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying Abba Father and we are made heirs of God through Christ Wherefore p Heb. 4. 16. in him we may come boldly unto the throne of grace by Prayer that we may obtain mercy and finde grace to help in time of need For God will have a fatherly care of us to protect us in all dangers to provide whatsoever is good for us and to comfort us in all our sorrowes and distresses q Psal 9. 9. Isa 25. 4. Thus was God a refuge and a shield of defence to David and to other holy men in their troubles and afflictions If his rod of correction be upon us it will be in love r Heb. 12. 6. as a father chasteneth his son that he may receive us as his sons and though we feel his visitation sharp Å¿ Lam. 3. 31 yet he will not cast us off for ever for t Eph. 4 30. we are sealed unto the day of Redemption u Heb. 6. 12. that we may through faith and patience inherit the promises u 1 Pet. 1 4. as heirs to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us Lastly Christ hath sealed the Covenant of grace to us with his own blood whereby we are freed from the strict keeping of the legal Covenant of Works and Christ will perfect with his own righteousnesse whatsoever is wanting in us to the fulfilling of the Law if we endeavour the best we can with an upright heart to do the will of God and then God in mercy will accept of our imperfect obedience for his sake This new Covenant which Christ hath procured for us will admit of the obedience of Christ for us and also of our true repentance for our sins which the legal Covenant would not because it required perfect and personal obedience to every tittle of the Law both in thought in word and in deed By vertue of this new Covenant x Jer. 31. 33 34. God is our God and he will forgive all our iniquities and will remember our sins no more upon condition that we believe in Christ y Heb. 12. 24. who is the Mediator of this Covenant and that with our faith we joyn piety and new obedience Christ hath also given us his Sacraments whereby this Covenant is sealed to us if we do worthily partake of them but of this Covenant and also of the Sacraments I have written more fully in another Treatise Now Meditate with an holy devotion upon all these Advantages which every
true believer hath by Christ in this life above all other men that have no interest in him by faith and examine thy self hereby what thou hast gained by him If thou hast used the blessings of God and his good creatures soberly and temperately to his glory and not to pamper or cherish any sin to dishonour him thereby and doest return thanks unto God for them with a sincere heart because he is the sole giver of all things that thou injoyest then Christ hath taken away the curse that was upon them and hath made them blessings to thee which thou maist freely use to thy comfort otherwise thou canst finde little comfort in them Also if thou dost truly believe that thy sins were imputed unto Christ and hast an holy assurance hereof by the dayly renuing of thy repentance for thy dayly sins then thou maist be fully perswaded that the guilt of sin which was a burden to thy conscience and did cleave close to thy soul is taken away and that Christ hath nailed it to his crosse whereby thou art freed from the curse of the Law and from the condemnation of sin This consideration will much comfort thee when thou art under the crosse for the evill of punishment that was in thine afflictions is taken away it being part of the curse and thou art but chastised for thy good and not punished for thy hurt Examine thy self yet further what thou hast gained by Christ for if thou canst over-power thy corruptions by the strength of grace and canst leave thy sins before they leave thee and that the remembrance of them is bitter to thy soul and doest dayly strive with a true purpose of heart to newnesse of life then thou hast an evident sign that Christ hath taken away the dominion of sin in thee z Ezek. 36. 25. and hath poured clean water upon thy soul to purifie cleanse thee from all thy filthines Also if thou dost find the fruits of the Spirit of sanctification that thou hast an holy desire to the means of grace and a faithful endeavour to grow stronger in grace that thy heart may be stablished in the truth and thy Faith firm to uphold thee in thy sufferings and tryalls then thou hast gotten great gain and much Advantage by Christ But if thou art perswaded of thine Adoption by Faith in him thou canst not conceive how great thy gain will be for whatsoever a childe can desire of a loving Father thou mayest expect much more from God nothing shall be too dear for thee nothing shall be hurtfull to thee and nothing shall be concealed from thee that may be profitable and advantageous to the salvation of thy soul Let us consider now that our hearts may ruminate well upon it for our great comfort what honour we have by being made the sons of God a 1 Sam. 18. 23. When Sauls servants came to perswade David to be the Kings son in law he gave them this answer Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a Kings son in law seeing that I am a poor man and lightly esteemed How great then is the honour and how highly to be esteemed for a poor wretched captive to be made the Son of the eternall and everliving God to have such a Father to come to in all our necessities such a Refuge in all our distresses such a Protectour against all our enemies and to be heir to such an Inheritance as is incorruptible and eternal which Christ hath reserved for us in heaven Wherefore we should be holy and undefiled in our conversations as becometh the sons of such a Father we should not walk stubbornly before him but in filial fear and reverence obeying his holy will and commands with filial love and submitting to his rod and corrections as a childe ought to submit to his Father If our services are thus performed to God he will then be a tender and a gracious Father to us If we have this Gain by Christ in this life what is the gain of the whole world to it What is all earthly honour to the honour of a true Christian and yet most men covet and desire that gain and that honour and they neglect the true Gain and the true honour of a Christian which is chiefly to be desired b Mat. 16. 26 What is a man profited saith Christ if be shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul If we injoy Christ we have a rich Patrimony we can want no comfort whatsoever shall betide us in soul or in body in goods or good name he will repair all our losses in Adam with his abundant righteousnesse he will also repair all our losses in children servants or estate either in this life c Job 42 10 as he did unto Job or else in the life to come in a more plentifull manner Christ will likewise furnish us with all spiritual abilities to encounter with the enemies of our salvation to stand firmly for the truth and for a good conscience and to endure the tryall of our faith love hope and patience and he will make perfect whatsoever is wanting or imperfect in us d 2 Cor. 12. 9 for his grace is sufficient for us and his strength is made perfect in weaknesse his love and his care of us doth most shine forth when we do most a base and humble our selves and when we do acknowledge our unworthinesse of it In the last place we should Meditate with all thankfulnesse upon the great benefit that we have by the Covenant of grace which Christ hath sealed for us with his blood for we may faithfully believe and comfortably expect that God will perform his condition expressed therein to us though we cannot perfectly perform our conditions to him also that he will purifie and cleanse us from all our filthinesse e Jer. 32. 40. and will put his fear in our hearts that we shall not depart from him Wherefore let not the failings and frailties of the flesh discomfort us nor weaken our faith and confidence in the goodnesse of God to us in Christ for the flesh will rebell against the spirit and the corruptions of the unregenerate part will sometimes breake out upon us to dash and hinder our comfort in this gracious Covenant Therefore Christ hath ordained the two Sacraments to seal this Covenant to our souls for the better confirmation of our Faith f Gal. 3. 26 27. For if we are baptized into Christ by Faith we have put on Christ we are members of his Church and this Covenant is sealed to us g 1 John 1. 7 and the blood of Christ hath cleansed us from all sin If age or sicknesse or any thing else beside sanctifying grace doth keep us from sinning against God this is not the true purging away of sin nor the regeneration and renewing of the holy Ghost because the evill concupisence of the flesh and the sinful desires of the minde will remain strong and
them z Psal 68. 5 A father of the fatherlesse and a judge of the widowes is God in his holy habitation Also God will blesse the children if their fathers have lived in the true fear of God and he will provide for them if death takes away their parents and they are left destitute of food and rayment But this may be an advantage even to such children because then they are immediatly commended to the care and providence of God who best knoweth how to make provision for them and he will neither be wanting in the trust that is committed to him neither wil he frustrate the hope of those that rest and depend upon him for succour in time of need Consider in the last place what the Son of Sirach saith a Eccl. 41. 1 2. That as the remembrance of death is bitter to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions unto the man that hath nothing to vex him and that hath prosperity in all things yea unto him that is yet able to receive meat so the sentence of death is acceptable unto the needy and unto him whose strength faileth that is now in the last age and is vexed with all things and to him that despaireth and hath lost patience But none can be truly willing to dye but onely a true Christian that is ingrafted into Christ and hath an holy assurance that he dyeth in the love and favour of God and doth faithfully hope for that Crown of righteousness and that heavenly Inheritance which the righteous Judge hath reserved for him If we have this assurance by our union with Christ and also a stedfast hope of salvation well grounded upon the promises of God we shall not be afraid to look death in the face nor unwilling to resign up our souls unto God before death doth violently or suddenly take them from us For Christ hath taken away the evill that is in death and hath so weakened the power of it that it cannot bereave our souls of that spiritual comfort and gain which we have by him though sometimes we cannot feel it in a sudden or violent death neither can it binde us over unto judgement For nothing can dissolve the union that is between Christ and our souls by faith Though God should take us away when we are young or in our middle age as he did that good King Josiah yet it shall be for our great Advantage that we should not see the evill that is to come and the sooner to injoy our eternall rest and happinesse with Christ Our Advantage and gain by CHRIST after death BUt the chiefest gain that a true Believer hath by Christ is after death for whatsoever he gained by him in life or in death was to fit him for the injoyment of this great gain and to give him some assurance of it and some taste how great and how comfortable it is We have this heavenly advantage by Christ in this life but in hope and we cannot come to the full fruition of it until after death and then we shall find it to be so great that no tongue can expresse it and no heart can conceive it but if we duly consider from what evils and miseries we shall be then freed and what glory and blessedness we shall then injoy we may conceive something of this unspeakable gain First we shall be freed from all the temptations and suggestions of the devil a Rev. 12. 9. for he is cast out into the earth and all his wicked Angels are cast out with him They never had any place in heaven since their fall though they flie in the air or mount up to the first or second region of heaven yet they cannot come into the heaven of happinesse where the Saints and Angels of God have their habitation for heaven is not a place for such unclean spirits Also in heaven we shall be freed from all worldly temptations from all carnal delights and earthly vanities that may intice us to sin b Rev. 21. 27 For there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth nor whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie for as the place is most pure so they that come there must be pure and holy Secondly in heaven we shall be freed from the issues of temptation and that is sin for thus saith the Prophet c Jer. 3. 17. When the Nations shall be gathered unto the Throne of the Lord they shall walk no more after the imaginations of their evill heart In this life the soul is purged and purified from the guilt of sin by the bloud of Christ and all the spots and staines of sin are taken away by the laver of regeneration the body also is purified and refined in the grave by the vertue of Christs death and burial and therefore d 1 Cor. 15. 41. though it be sown in corruption in dishonour and in weaknesse yet it is raised in incorruption in glory and in power it is sowen a naturall body but it is raised a spirituall body which is subject to no sin corruption or infirmity which are the fruits of sin and it is endowed with perfect abilities to glorifie God together with the Saints and Angels in heaven So long as we live in the flesh we cannot but sin against God but when this mortal shall put on immortality there will be then no more place for sin but our whole nature shall be made spiritural and heavenly This consideration should make us desire with Paul e Phil. 1. 23. To be dissolved and to be with Christ that we might no more sin against our God nor offend him with our pollutions but alwayes to sing praises and Hallelujahs unto him as the Saints and Angels do in heaven Thirdly we shall then be freed from all troubles and sorrowes from all pain and diseases of body from all anguish of spirit and grief of hears f Rev. 25. 4. For God will wipe away all tears from our eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away Thus are the servants of God freed from all temptations unto sin from all sin and from all misery and sorrow after death by the merit of Christs death and passion but carnal and unregenerate men carry their sins with them to the grave and death opens the gate to their eternal torments in hell for it bindeth them over to the great and terrible day of judgement when the fiercenesse of Gods wrath shall be poured out upon them to their utter confusion We come now to consider what great honour and what joy and comfort the servants of God shall have by Christ after death for though their life here be full of sorrowes yet after death they shall be freed from them all and they shall also have the fulnesse of all true comfort and consolation First we shall injoy God himself g 2
sicknesse under the crosse or under the buffetings of Satan this will much increase our Faith and confirm our hope and confidence in God g 1 Sam. 17. 37. This consideration made David bold to encounter with Goliah that great Gyant because God had formerly delivered him from the paw of the Lyon and from the paw of the Bear and therefore he would now deliver him from that uncircumcised Philistine We should make the same use of the former experience that we have any way had of the goodnesse and mercy of God to us to strengthen our faith and affiance in God when we are in any distresse and can see no means to give us any hope of safety or of deliverance Sixthly if we be of low esteem in our own eyes and poor in spirit to walk humbly before God in a true sight and sense of our unworthinesse and of our emptinesse of grace and goodness then God will give us more grace more holy zeal and he will make us rich in faith h 1 Pet. 5. 5. for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble Thus we may have more strength of Faith from God because he will deal like a tender father with these that know their own weaknesse to supply their wants with a gracious increase of their Faith i Isa 42. 3. for he will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax neither will he require of the weak so much as of these that are strong in Faith and whatsoever he requireth of them he will give such abilities of grace as shall make them able to perform it Lastly if we desire to have our Faith increased we must take heed that we give no liberty to sin for that will weaken our Faith it will stop the influence of grace to our hearts and hinder the free operations of the holy Ghost in us How can we confide and trust in Gods mercy and goodnesse when we have deserved his wrath and displeasure for some sin that doth over power us without repentance How can grace be strong in us if sin doth still reign in our mortall bodies There can be no increase of Faith if sin be strong in us If God is pleased to try our faith or any other grace that is in us as he did Abrahaâ—s Faith Josephs chastity and Jobs patience we shall be found very weak if our conscience can accuse us of any sin that is not mortified and subdued in us Wherefore now if thou art conscious of the weakness of thy Faith by thine inability to resist any temptation or provocation unto sin by thy wavering and doubting in the true performance of Gods Promises if they are above thy capacity and by thy perplexed fears when troubles or dangers are ready to seize upon thee thou must not look upon thine own deservings except iâ— be for thy humiliation for thou must know that God did not make his gracious promises for thy sake though they were made for thy good but God made them to thee for the sake of Christ in whom was the perfection of all merit k 2 Cor 1. 20 and in whom all the Promises of God are yea and Amen so that if thou art in Christ thou hast no cause to question the performance of any of Gods promises Also for the increase of thy Faith meditate piously upon those former directions and then have recourse by Prayer to thy blessed Saviour and he will uphold thy Faith against all adversary power that shall oppose it But if thou art not in Christ no promise of grace belongs unto thee and thou canst finde no comfort therein How to esteem of Faith THough it be sufficient highly to prize and esteem of true justifying Faith if we do duly weigh and consider those excellent benefits and comforts of Faith formerly set down to make us happy here in this life and eternally blessed in the life to come yet the great worth and esteem of it will further appear by these following considerations which the holy Ghost hath set down in the sacred Scriptures First the holy Ghost hath set severall high commendations on it as a thing of great price a 2 Pet. 1. 20 for by Peter he calls it precious Faith because it is grounded upon the righteousnesse of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ and because we do injoy Christ himself by it We must needs therefore esteem it as a most precious Jewell because God will bestow it upon none but such as are his dear children and elected unto salvation Holy David was a great King renowned for his honour riches and valour he was victorious in all his battels and he prospered in all his enterprises yet his faith and hope was in none of these b Psal 7. 1. but his trust was in the Lord. He did slight all his earthly greatnesse and did count himself happy onely by his faith in God for thus he saith c Psal 40. 4 Blâ—ssed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust But some have no regard to fix their faith on God for they put their confidence in the arm of flesh in the multitude of their Host and in the strength of their Chariots and Horsemen these have no ground for their faith to rest upon but what this world can afford them which they will finde to be vain and like a broken reed no way able to save them Hadadezer trusted in his Chariots and Horsemen d 2 Sam. 8. 4 but David smote him with a very great slaughter and took from him a thousand chariots because he trusted in the Lord. e 2 Chro. 14. 9. Zerah the Ethiopian put his trust in his numerous Army which was a thousand thousand but the Lord overthrew them before King Asa The faith that worldly men have in their riches and in their greatnesse is not this faith which is so precious and so much to be esteemed for their faith is grounded upon worldly strength and it reacheth no further than humane reason can carry it no marvell then if it do deceive them in the end But the Faith of a true Christian is fixed upon Christ and upon no other object who is a sure rock to rest upon and it reacheth up to heaven even to God himself and it will fetch down help and succour comfort and consolation from him upon all occasions when we need it Jude calls it f Jude 2â— most holy faith because it maketh us holy in the sight of God by putting upon us the righteousnesse of Christ and because by it as it hath relation unto Christ our Prayers and all other our services to God are holy and acceptable to him Wherefore seeing Faith is so precious that God will bestow it upon none but upon his own children and so holy that it maketh all our services to God to be holy we ought to esteem it as a pearl of great price and to keep it as a most precious Jewell Secondly we
Adam and how rebelliously we have sinned against God in the whole course of our lives If this be our condition which is most true as we are in the Staâ—â— of nature what comfort can we then take in all worldly pomp and dignities what contentment is there in all earthly pleasures and delight they are all nothing else but vanity and vexation of spirit We may injoy more of this world than our hearts can desire and yet our soules may starve for want of spiritual food and comfort d Gen. 4. 12 Cain was heir apparent to the whole world and yet he was driven out from the presence of God and became a vagabond upon earth So we may injoy whatsoever the world can afford us and yet God will not look upon us with a gracious aspect and then our condition will be no better than that of Cain We may injoy health wealth peace liberty and all manner of prosperity and yet our souls may be sick they may languish with sadnesse of heart they may be much perplexed and shut up as it were in a dungeon because they are so restrained by the corruptions of our nature that they have no freedome to mount upwards towards heaven It is nothing so uncomfortable to live in perpetuall darknesse and never to see the light of the Sun as it is to have our understandings spiritually darkened and to live without the light of the e Mal. 4. 2 Sun of righteousnesse to have no appearance from him to open the eyes of our understandings to be a guide to our reason to season our hearts with grace and to shew us the way that will bring us to heavenly happinesse This is our condition by nature we are out of the favour of God our life is void of all true comfort and consolation we walk in darknesse f Isa 53. 6 we go astray like silly sheep and follow our own inventions and we have no ability in our selves to return again into the right way Wherefore let our hearts be throughly affected with this our sad condition let our Meditations hereupon draw us to a godly sorrow for our sins which may bring us to true repentance and newnesse of life let this be our chief care and the desire of our soules to regain the grace and favour of God and to be reconciled unto him Let our souls bewail our sins with hearty contrition and true compunction let our teares manifest the grief of our hearts and the truth of our repentance for our transgressions and let us cast our selves down at Gods footstool and humbly acknowledge our offences to him suing earnestly to God by prayer for the pardon and forgivenesse of them through Faith in Christ Also we ought to be humble petitioners to God for a supply of such graces as we want to strengthen â—s against the corruptions of our nature and against all the enemies of our salvation This should be our constant practise every night before we sleep to make our peace with God for the sins of the day past wherein we have failed of our duty and wherein we have dishonoured God that our souls may rest in peace as well as our bodies do rest in quiet So likewise every morning we should acknowledge our thankfulnesse to God for the comforts of the night past and to crave his blessing upon our labours the day following If we continually practise this duty it will keep us from grosse sins and great offences and it will make us take all occasions to renew our Repentance with God for our sins Every fit of pain or of sicknesse that we feel and every crosse or affliction that we suffer calls loud for repentance because it is a fruit of our sins also every blessing and every good thing that God is pleased to bestow upon us cryeth loud for our thankfulnesse because it is bestowed of his own free bounty and goodnesse and not for any merit or desert of ours Though we are miserable vile and wretched in our selves yet God is gracious and mercifull and doth dayly give us occasions to glorifie him and he doth use all means to bring us home again unto himself for he doth not delight in the death of a sinner but rather that he should repent and turn unto him neither doth he deal with us according to our sins nor reward us according to our deservings but hath paid a great prize for our redemption out of this miserable condition Concerning the Redemption of Man VVHen God saw man in this sad condition a lamentable spectacle of wofull misery then he took pity upon him a Ezek. 16. 8 and this time of his wretched estate was the time of Gods love to him for soon after his fall God made a gracious promise of Redemption to him b Gen. 3. 15 that the seed of the woman should break the serpents head This promise God did afterwards renew to the Patriarks which was concerning Christ the Lord that should come in his appointed time whom God did plainly reveal to some of the Prophets c Gal. 4 4 5 VVhen the fulnesse of the time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the Law to redeem them that are under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons d 1 John 4 9 10 In this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his onely begotten Son into the world that we might live through him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the Propitiation for our sins e John â— 18 The onely begotten son of God who is in the bosome of his Father came down from heaven and assumed our nature and took upon himself the guilt of our sins to Redeem us from the curse of the Law from the dominion of sin and Satan and from the power of death f 1 Cor. 7. 23 Christ hath also paid an infinite price for our Redemption even his own most precious blood and the full vialls of Gods wrath were poured out upon him because he did undertake to satisfie the justice of God for our sins for thus saith the Prophet g Isa 53. 6. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all h Acts 12. 7 8 Now let us gird up our loines with Peter and binde on our sandals i Eph. 6. 15 and let our feet be shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace to be fitted and prepared for our deliverance out of prison for the chains of our sins are taken off and the prison doores are opened to set us at liberty and to redeem our souls from destruction This Work of our Redemption is so great a mystery that the blessed Angels do adore it with much admiration but they cannot comprehend it it was decreed in heaven before the world was and all the three Persons in the holy Trinity had their severall operations