rather And if you tell the humble Soul that they that Sin against the Holy Ghost never heartily repent of it and no Man in this Life can certainly conclude himself reprobated because for ought any knows he may repent and turn to God He will yet object Object 6. It may be God will be so merciful as to save Sinners that are deeply and kindly humbled for their Sins and full of the Spirit of mourning and 't is Mercy indeed if he will save such But I have an hard heart and an uncontrite Spirit I cannot grieve for Sin to any purpose though I know my self to be one of the chief of Sinners All these and many more such Objections will be unanswerable if the Soul considers only the absolute Mercy of God For God may indeed be merciful and gloriously merciful in saving Sinners though he should only save some of the most restrained and least provoking the soonest yielding and most signally humbled and mourning Sinners and so the Soul that judges worse of himself can have no hope of his Salvation But the Mercy of God in Christ is such as that he freely offers his Salvation to all even the worst of Sinners to whom the Gospel is preached inviting and commanding them to accept it and rely upon him for it And this answers all Objections The worst the Soul can say against himself exempts him not from the number of Sinners and Salvation is freely offered to all Sinners in general He is one of them let him make as bad of himself as he can And though he thinks it never so unreasonable for him to hope for Mercy yet no reason in the World can have any force against the Command of the most High God which requires him to repose his hope and trust in Christ for his Salvation Thus 't is evident that the ground of a Christian's hope or that which he relies and rests upon in his hope of Salvation is the free Mercy of God in Christ And therefore is Faith commonly in Scripture called a trusting or believing in Jesus Christ because the Satisfaction which he has given to the Law and the free tender of Salvation which he makes in the Gospel to Sinners in general is the only sufficient ground that any Soul has to stay and rest upon in hope of his Salvation John 3.15 16 18 36. John 6.35 1 Pet. 2.6 Acts 11.17 Acts 16.31 and many other places Faith is a believing in God But 't is a believing on him looked upon and considered as he is in Jesus Christ The Soul cannot believe or trust in God for Salvation but as he trusts in Christ 1 Pet. 1.21 Who by him believe on God who raised him from the dead c. It is a trusting or hoping in the Mercy of God Psalm 15.5 Psalm 147.11 But 't is a trusting in Mercy only as 't is expressed displayed and offered to Sinners in Jesus Christ It is a trusting or hoping in the Word Psalm 119.42 74. in as much as it declares and propounds that Mercy of God in Christ on which alone the Soul may rest it self in hopes of Salvation Thus have we seen the Sinner brought by the several Steps of Consideration Conviction Humiliation c. to a fiducial Faith or believing on Jesus Christ And now is he in the state of Effectual Calling or Conversion 1 Thess 2.13 Then Men are called and converted when they believe in Jesus Christ as 't is fully proved in Rom. 1.16 with 1 Cor. 1.24 Now is the Soul set safe from Condemnation and therefore is this Faith called Justifying Faith Rom. 5.1 Now is the Soul adopted and entitled to everlasting Life And therefore is Faith called saving Faith or believing to Salvation Heb. 10. Yea now the Soul is by the work of the Spirit possessed of all Graces necessary to qualify and prepare him for Heaven the heart being purified by Faith Acts 15.9 and taken up by the Lord Jesus for his Habitation Ephes 2.22 with Ephes 2.17 where-ever there is Faith in Christ there is also Love to God Obedience Patience Humility Self-denial and all other Graces in which the Law is written on renewed Hearts The Exercises and Encreases whereof come next to be considered The Sum of all is 1. The Sinner takes the estate of his Soul into serious Consideration Ezek. 18.28 He considereth and turneth away from his Transgression 2. He finds himself to be in a lost and perishing Condition Luke 15.17 I perish for hunger 3. The sight of himself in this estate affects his Soul with deep Sorrow and distressing Trouble Acts 2.37 When they heard this they were pierced at the heart 4. This distress puts him upon a studious consultation and enquiry for a Remedy of his Estate And they said Men and Brethren what shall we do 5. Upon this enquiry God directs him to a serious and heedful attention to the Gospel Acts 11.14 Send for Peter he shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy House shall be saved And Acts 10.33 We are all c. 6. Thus attending the Gospel he comes to understand and believe the Doctrine therein contained and to receive it for certain truth upon God's Testimony Acts 2.41 They that gladly received his word were baptized John 6.45 They shall be all taught of God Every one therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh to me 7. Upon the belief of the Doctrine of the Gospel he proceeds to an hearty reliance on the free Mercy of God in Christ in hope of his Salvation For Gal. 2.16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but by the Faith of Christ Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the Faith of Christ 1. Believing the Gospel he is informed of the excellency of Christ's Salvation and so desires it earnestly for himself 2. Believing the Gospel he sees this Salvation is freely offered to Sinners in general and so conceives hope that he may have it 3. Believing the Gospel he sees that Salvation is procured and granted only through the Mercy of God in Christ and therefore he rests only upon that Mercy in hope of his Salvation PART II. Of the Progress of a Believer from his Conversion to his Perfection under the work of Sanctification 1 PETER II. 2. As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby THE Text is an Exhortation to an earnest desire after the Word Where note first 1. The Persons exhorted they are lately converted Christians compared to new-born Babes so young and incompleat Christians are called 1 Cor. 3.1 And I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal even as unto babes in Christ Babes in Christ because the work of Sanctification had gone on but a little way in them they being hitherto very Carnal 2. The matter of the Exhortation a desire after the Word Where note First First The object of this desire
the Word compared to pure Milk the sincere Milk of the Word that is the Word which is for you as pure Breast-milk is for the new-born Babe sweet and pleasing nourishing and strengthening the means appointed to the perfecting of the Work of Sanctification John 17.17 Sanctify them by thy truth thy word is truth And Edification unto Glory Acts 20.32 The word of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified Secondly Secondly The desire it self described by the appetite of new-born Infants to the Nurses Milk that is a vehement and importunate desire and such as will not otherwise be satisfied Thirdly The end of this desire growth in Grace that ye may grow thereby What that is in which they should intend a growth appears plainly by the Sequel of the Apostle's Discourse to be Faith and Holiness The Grace wherewith the Souls of Christians are qualified by the Spirit of God unto Salvation as 't is expressed in the last words of the next Epistle Grow in Grace Growth is the gradual process of living Creatures to their due Measures and Maturity And of all the growths the growth of Children which is here the Apostle's Similitude is a very slow and imperceptible Motion Such is the tendency of saving Grace in the Souls of Christians towards its proper and purposed Perfection Mark 4.27 the Seed springs and grows up we know not how And hence we way observe Direct 1. That saving Grace begun in converted Souls goes gradually on to its perfection under the sanctifying work of God Justification is perfected at once and with it Adoption But the work of Holiness is begun in low degrees and brought on by steps to it its intended height and fulness See this proved in Phil. 1.6 He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ So again in Prov. 4.18 The path of the just is as the shining light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day So likewise Hosea 6.3 His going forth is as the morning And Mark 4.26 The Kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed into the ground c. The Kingdom of God is his work of Grace in the Souls of Men in which he begins that which in its perfection is the Kingdom of Glory So Grotius and some others understand those three Ages 1 John 2.12 13. I write unto you little Children because your sins are forgiven you I write unto you fathers because ye have known him that is from the beginning I write unto you young Men because you have overcome the wicked one But I shall prosecute this Doctrine in a distinct Consideration of the several advances of Grace in the Souls of Christians towards perfection from their first Conversion And that in ten successive periods of their Motion First The first Period or Point of a Christian's Motion towards Perfection that I shall speak of is 1. A vehement pursuit of some clear and comfortable assurance of Salvation When once Men are brought through the Terrors of the Law by the Invitations of the Gospel to believe in Christ for his Salvation they presently become very laborious to get some comfortable Assurance that they are in a saved Estate They do not indeed neglect the duties of Obedience the mortifying of Lusts well ordering of their Lives and the glory of God as the end of all But that which they especially and most ambitiously intend now at their first setting out is a Soul-quieting certainty that all is well between God and them Though they do believe in Christ and know that he that believeth shall be saved yet 't is usually a great while before they can clearly understand themselves to be Believers in Christ and by Faith saved Persons A man must be of necessity a Believer before he can know himself to be so and Faith is sometimes very long unevident to him that has it And though he do perceive the believing act in himself and dares not deny it yet he is very doubtful whether it be true saving Faith or no and very impatient of the doubt And this is commonly the main Intention of young Converts and their great affair to assure themselves that they are in Christ and not perishing with the World 'T is true the very act of Faith through the Grace of Christ brings in a sweet calmness of Spirit easing the Soul of those despairing and tormenting fears with which 't was overwhelmed before and therefore Faith it self is in Scripture called a resting on the Lord and a staying of the mind on God Isa 26.3 But a positive Assurance of ones being in the state of Salvation is a further benefit and must be sought after in the use of means appointed to the making of our Calling and Election sure And this is usually the great study of new Converts as Hosea 6.2 He will receive us that was it in prosecution whereof they stirred up themselves to follow on to know the Lord. And that they do mainly intend and follow this appears First In their eager desire after Ordinances and means appointed to this end to confirm Faith and work assurance As soon as the Eunuch was converted he was presently ambitious to be baptized upon the first opportunity Acts 8.36 37. And the Eunuch said See here is water what doth hinder me to be baptized And Philip said If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayst And he answered and said I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God And they went down both into the water both Philip and the Eunuch and he baptized him Baptism being a confirming Ordinance a seal of the Promise and Covenant of Grace he was very desirous to have that Doctrine sealed to him by washing which he had lately heard preached out of Isa 53. And Paul when converted assayed to join himself with the Church Communion with Saints being a good means to inform us of our own good estate Acts 9.26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem he assayed to join himself to the Disciples 2dly Their earnest hearkening after Promises and such parts of the Word as declare the love of God to poor Sinners They are not at first so studious of that Word which sets forth that Reward which Saints shall have in Heaven as of that Word of Promise which serves to give humbled Souls notice of their Interest in Christ and the Love of God They go to every Sermon that they hear in hope of a word of peace And are mightily taken with that Word which sets forth the love of Christ descending and stooping down to poor unworthy Wretches Though they heartily like a Boanerges a Son of Thunder and bless God that ever they have heard the Terrors of the Lord in the Doctrine of the Law yet now they are sore and wounded and most earnestly desire after Barnabas the Son of Consolation to pour some Oil into their Wounds
not aware of So though their Brethren justify them they condemn themselves and have it usuall in a readiness to answer Oh if these men that seem to have such hopeful thoughts of me did but know the vile workings of my wicked heart they would never endure me They judge of me as they think but little think what I know by my self The heart as Solomon says knows its own grief The Soul that 's burthened with sinful Lusts and labouring against them cannot believe the Case of any others to be so bad as his As no man thinks his Neighbour's trouble though of the same kind so grievous as his own This high dislike and loathing of a man 's own Sin when it lies quite out of sight of other men is a great evidence that the work of Mortification is set on foot and proceeding in the Soul for God giveth grace to the humble 1 Pet. 5. and as Grace is coming in Sin is going out And thus have I endeavoured to shew you those Evidences that appear in Christians that are heartily intending and endeavouring the mortifying of inherent Sin But now a little to speak to the consequence which the endeavour of mortification has to the sincere practice of Holiness or the Reasons why Christians intending an holy Life are thereupon disposed to mortify indwelling Sin R. 1. A sincere intention of obedience gives a man notice of the sin within him By a sincere endeavour to reform his Life a Christian comes to discover Sin that is within himself As 't is said of Ephraim Hos 7.1 When I would have healed Israel then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered and Rom. 7.23 I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind Newly converted Christians till they have tried a-while what they can do in practice of Godliness little think what proud stubborn earthly and hypocritical hearts they have within them little think what work they have to do in their own Souls But by that time they have applied themselves a-while to it they find such a backwardness to duty as they could not have imagined and such an aptness to receive Temptations and Sin without temptation as they did not think themselves guilty of their often relapses and breaking of Resolutions sheweth them the falshood and treachery of their hearts which they were not formerly aware of and now they see that they have a great work of reformation to do as well within as without as if a man reform his Family he shall find not only ill Companions without but some of his own Children against it 2dly Internal Sin once discovered appears more evil and hateful to a Christian than his outward sinful Actions It is that which the Apostle calls exceeding sinful Sin as Rom. 7.13 Outward Acts of Sin derive all their Evil from the vicious Inclinations and evil Intentions of the Soul The more there is of Pride Wilfulness and Stubborness of the Heart in any Sin the worse and more hateful it is If we sin wilfully Hebr. 10.26 after we have received thâ— knowledge of the truth there remains no more sacrifice for sin And the soul that doth ought presumptuously shall be cut off Numb 15.30 So that now a Christian sees that he has cause and need to labour more to mortify his internal Corruption than to rectify his outward Actions that being the greatest part of his work 3dly Outward Reformation can never be throughly carried on without reforming the heart All the practice of Christianity that we can attain to in our outward Actions while Sin is unmortified in the heart is but forced and violent and such as will not hold Weeds you know that are cut off above the ground will grow again you must pluck them up by the roots if you would clear the ground of them therefore the Apostle blesses God for the Romans that they had obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered them Rom. 7.13 Cleansing the heart is of necessity to washing the hands in innocency Psal 73.13 till they come to this Christians do but intend and assay to rectify their Lives never do it to purpose But 4thly The motion of a Christian towards God is in prosecution of communion with him which is hindred by indwelling Sin Iniquities separate If a Christian would walk with God he must cleanse his heart or he can have no intimacy with him This Duty of Self-cleansing is propounded in the Text to this very end that we may attain the happiness of God's gracious presence that he may dwell and walk with us as in Chap. 6.16 17. I will dwell in them and walk in them Where God walks with a man he dwells within him and that cannot be without an ejection of Sin The Apostle James requiring men to draw nigh to God promises that he will draw nigh to them presently commands them to purify their hearts Jam. 4.8 Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you Cleanse your hands ye sinners and purify your hearts 5thly Mortificatson of Sin is the proper effect of a sincere Obedience Every gracious action adds something to the habit or principle of grace in the Soul so much it doth to the weakning of the contrary corruption To perform the work of a godly man is the way to become more godly The way of the Lord is strength to the upright Prov. 10.29 And by holding on his way he grows stronger and stronger Job 17.9 Now the stronger a man is in grace the weaker sin is in him contrary qualities destroy one another as they increase Grace by doing its own work undoes its Adversary I now proceed to the Uses 1 Use The first Use is for comfort to sincere Christians against all the activity of men to hinder them in their spiritual work and business A main part of a Christian's work lies where men can give it no impediment nor so much as see what is done it lies within doors where no other person can force an entry It was the great endeavour of the Jews enemies to hinder their work of building the Temple and then of the wall at Jerusalem Neh. 4.11 And our adversaries said They shall not know neither see till we come in the midst among them and slay them and cause the work to cease So 't is the design of Satan and his Followers to hinder the work of Christianity but against this part of a Christian's work they can do nothing He may throw down and demolish the works of Satan and fortify himself inwardly against temptations and seducements and none can hinder him or observe him all external opposition serves to carry on this work to make Christians more holy within more heavenly-minded more zealous for God and indifferent to the world So they that would hinder you from the outward part of your Duty will further you in that which is your great and main work purging out malice and envy and wrath and bitterness against them
of the Religion they have profest and of the Ordinances on which they have attended and the People of God with whom they have conversed and this fear is a great Affliction to them though it be a good sign of sincerity 6thly Sometimes they tremble in the fear of some dreadful Judgment or sore Rebuke from God to fall upon them They think God will not long bear with such sinful Wretches Persons so proud so sensual so hypocritical but some way or other providentially manifest his displeasure against them if they be graceless they know God is angry with the wicked every day And if he intends good to them they look he should take some severe Course with them therefore David prays Lord rebuke me not in thy wrath c. Psalm 38.1 They find their hearts so lazy and themselves so formal and hypocritical they think sure God will deal severely with them in their Persons and Families c. 7thly They are often afflicted with the fear of perishing eternally That this fear was rising in the heart of the Apostle himself when he spoke these words may very probably be collected from what follows Chap. 8.1 where he seems to encourage himself against the danger of its Death and the means which he professes himself to use for prevention of that danger There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit And in 1 Cor. 9.27 I keep under my body and bring it into subjection lest that by any means when I have preached to others I my self should be a cast-away Which shews that he was not altogether above the fear of it And indeed this must needs be a sore trouble to them that have tasted of the Wrath of God in their former Convictions and have had the sense of his Love shed abroad in their hearts and have been comforted in the hope of Glory Neither Judas nor Cain ever felt such horror and astonishment under their despairs as a sincere Christian in this case of fears would fall into if he were not upheld by a secret power of Grace For alas they never knew so much of the Love and Goodness of God as the weakest of sincere Christians knows nor ever had such desires and hopes to enjoy him I come now to some Causes of these great Troubles in sincere Christians about Sin within 1. The first Cause is The awakened activity of Sin and Satan being effectually disturbed by the Spirit of Mortification When the strong Man keeps the House all things are at peace Luke 11.21 i. e. till the stronger the Lord Jesus enters and begins to take away his Goods and his Harness Then Satan bestirs himself and raises all the force of sordid Lusts and Corruptions which lay much more still before if Sin had been so active before the Sinner would have proceeded to the very acting of the Sin which now it doth but reach at being checked and held back by Grace which makes him say in himself how shall I do this great wickedness But now as things are ordered by the blessed Work of God there is a principle of Grace that forbids and hinders the acting of those Sins to which corrupted Nature is disposed And that conflict makes a great unquietness in the Soul and so gives a Christian much more notice of the wickedness of his heart than ever he had and hence arise those Troubles Distresses and Fears which I have spoken of there being so much ado to hold in the wickedness that would be breaking out and to repress the inward Motions of it As when Physick is admitted into the Stomach ill Humours are rouzed and that causes hard Gripes sick Qualms and sad Complaints These are ultimi conatus moribundi peccati the last Struglings of dying Sin First Cause 1. It 's the subtilty of Satan 1. To sollicite some Men less to outward Acts of Sin while unconverted because he sees and observes 't is usual with God to make their great and gross wickedness occasional to their Conviction and Conversion according to that in Matth. 21.31 Publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you And therefore having hold on Men in a natural Estate he is not so zealous to excite them to Sin lest he should over-do and suffer loss Therefore I say he solicites some less for there are whom he drives on to much outragious Wickedness as the Publicans and Harlots 2dly To stir up Men converted as much as he can to Sin that he may make Apostates of them If they be not sincere which he knows not or make them shame their Profession by gross Acts of Wickedness or at least cause them to go on with the more trouble and discomfort 3dly It is the nature of contraries to be excited by the Opposition of their contraries as we see in Nature it self Water thrown upon the Smith's Coals makes them burn the more fiercely and so in Meteors Philosophers tell us That the cold Cloud gathering about an hot Vapour makes the Heat gather it self together and so it fires and thence comes the Lightning and the Thunder Thus Grace in the Soul pressing hard upon Corruption makes it more vehement in its strugling to preserve it self Thus 't is no wonder though Christians striving against Sin think it grows upon them because it is indeed more active and stirring than ever though not more in the Habit or Principle They have more evil desires and reachings and wishings toward Sin and thinkings and ruminations upon it than ever Sin that was always in them is more sinning in them Lust is more drawing aside and enticing and in conceiving as James 1.14 15. than ever it was Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed When Lust hath conceived it brings forth Sin and Sin when it is finished bringeth forth Death though the body of Sin it self was as much and more in the Soul And hence come all the forementioned Troubles the former Apprehensions which the Soul had of its peace with God being for a time eclipsed by these sad appearances Cause 2. They see Sin more clearly than they did before The Spirit of Grace is a Spirit of Light in the understanding by which they see the evil and sinfulness of all those within-door workings of Corruption which they scarce found any fault withal before and take notice of those stirrings of Sin which they did not mind before and so Sin being indeed more active than it was and they having better Eyes to see it no marvel that these think it much grown and be otherwise much troubled at it as Paul says I see another law rebelling and warring c. 3dly They have a greater dislike of Sin As understanding more of the evil nature of it and the worse apprehension they have of it the more they are troubled and disheartened at the sight of it If you see a company of Men coming
that many times the Sin that mostly takes up the thoughts of such a Soul at first is some sin that has less of malignity against God in it than many other which the Party has been guilty of as Lying Sabbath-breaking Disobedience to Parents or some external act of Sin in which he has been more carried by his sensual inclination than maliciously wicked 2. He considers the severe Judgment of God denounced against Sinners and his own concernment in it The Word says The soul that sins shall dye and makes Eternal death the wages of every sin Rom. 6. Yea the Word declares all men by Nature dead in trespasses and sins and children of wrath and hereupon the Sinner reasons thus with himself Is there not a reality in these Threatning words And do they not take effect upon Sinners according to the plain sense and import of them What may I think then of my self Am I liable to all this danger or have I any fence against it If I should now dye as I know not how soon I may what were like to come of me If I be under the force of these Threatnings wo unto me And what have I to plead against them If I was by Nature a Child of wrath how got I out of that condition or am I yet in the gall of bitterness and bands of iniquity Thus the Soul studies and examines his own estate And this is the First step towards Conversion Consideration The Second step or degree of this work is a strong Conviction of a miserable and perishing Estate But before we come directly to consider that work we must take notice of some hindrances or diversions by reason of which many men are taken off even at the first step and never come to a sound Conviction at all and others are long e're they come at it 1. Some grow weary of the unpleasant work of Self-Consideration and let it fall before ever they have brought it to any Convincing issue This is very ordinary with Persons a little shaken under a Sermon or griped by Conscience under an Affliction or scared with the thoughts of Death to ask the Question What estate they are in But the Subject being very ungrateful to Nature they never stay their Studies upon it to bring it to any determinate conclusion As Pilate asked What is truth But would not stay to hear the Answer They translate their thoughts to other matters as being loath to endure the pains of a thorough Examination of themselves 2. From the Consideration of themselves some turn aside to the survey of others whom they think to be as great or greater Sinners and so content themselves in hope to speed as well as they They observe many as bad as they or worse who yet are confident of a safe estate yea they are knowing Persons and likely to understand their own condition as well as any they are Learned men it may be Ministers that of all others should see if there be any danger in their way and besides they are well thought of generally by their Neighbours and few or none seem to question their estate Why then says the a-little-startled Sinner should I further disquiet my self with sad and doubtful apprehensions of my condition I see no probability but I may speed as well as thousands that are round about me I 'll even take up and run the common hazard of my Neighbours and of Mankind in general Thus Consideration is many times obstructed and falls short of a sound Conviction But where God goes on with the design of Saving a Soul he holds the Mind close and keeps it from the vain study of other things and Persons till he has made the Sinner plainly see himself Wretched Miserable and Perishing and that is the second degree of this work which comes now to be considered This Conviction is the proper effect of a well prosecuted Self-consideration and the conclusion naturally issuing from these two premises well attended 1. The demands of the Law from every man 2. The Judgment of God against every Offender of which before He that well considers these and duly applies to himself as his own concernment must needs understand himself to be in a perishing estate without the use of some proper and sufficient Remedy Thus the Prodigal was kept pondering his condition till he perceived himself perishing for hunger Luke 15.17 When he came to himself he had been ranging abroad from himself as well as from his Father's house and unmindful of his greatest concernments where he was which way he was going and what was like to come of him was none of his study all this while But now at length he returned home to himself and took his own estate into a sober consideration upon which he found plainly that he was like to dye for want of Bread I perish for hunger So the Jews Acts 2. were held under the sad thoughts of what they had done and deserved till they were pierced at the heart that is they found themselves dead men as a man that is stabb d to the heart for whom there is as we use to say but one way This account also the Apostle gives of himself Rom. 7.4 That when the commandment came sin revived and he died he perceived that vigor and Soul-destroying power of sin in himself which he was not aware of before and plainly saw himself a dying man Spiritually undone and perishing The like work we also see in the Jailor Acts 16. What must I do to be saved That word to be Saved plainly implies a sense and deep Conviction of a lost estate that he was at present an undone man Thus the poor Sinner hangs as it were over the mouth of Hell in his own apprehension and sees nothing more likely than that he should presently fall into it he plainly hears the Law threatning him with Death Eternal sees God frowning upon him and destruction ready to swallow him up he that a few days ago thought himself as safe and as much in favour with God as any in the world and it may be was secure of Soul-concernments never troubled himself with thoughts of Eternity and took it for a point of folly and a beginning of madness in other men to disturb their minds with fear of Hell and Condemnation is now become a miserable and perishing man in his own Judgment and of all men alive the most likely to be Damned Eternally The Third step or degree of this work is a Soul-Afflicting Humiliation a work made up of terror and sorrow under the apprehension of the wrath of God and the sense of a perishing estate A deep sorrow and anguish of Spirit seizing upon the Sinner under the Conviction before spoken of This work is commonly called Legal Repentance because it is a deep sorrow and trouble about sin depending upon that sense which a man has of his condemnation under the Law But though it be not that sorrow which is called Godly
sorrow yet no man attains the true Spirit of Godliness till first he has had a taste of this sorrow This is so natural and necessary a product of Conviction that no man can totally escape it that has once known what 't is to be convinced of Sin and Misery And yet there is one way that Persons strongly convinced of the evil and danger of their estate have to divert themselves from that pressing trouble and anguish which is usually the effect of a sound Conviction and that is an hope of being brought over into a better estate hereafter though they are now in such a condition as wherein to dye were certainly to go to Hell yet they hope they shall have the Grace at one time or other e're they dye to return to God and make their Peace with him The Example of Foelix is very apposite who being convinced of his bad estate so far as that he fell a trembling under Paul's Doctrine yet shifted off his trouble by adjourning his cares to another time and stopped the mouth of his Conscience by promising the Apostle a further Audience Acts 24.25 Some Persons are so much convinced that they are in an evil and perishing estate that they will not stick to say They think verily if they should dye as they are they should be damned and perish without remedy And yet they are very little troubled at the matter because they hope they shall turn to God and get Peace with him yet in time to come But where God undertakes the great work of Salvation Conviction is always attended with a deep Humiliation and Contrition of Spirit as the Jews in Acts 2. were pierced to the very heart wounded though not to death yet to extremity of pain a wounded spirit who can bear And the Terrors of God fell so vehemently upon the Jailor Acts 16. that he could not forbear trembling though a man of a Spirit sturdy and rugged enough till he had received some information about the way and means of obtaining Life eternal I perish for hunger said the poor Prodigal O sad and doleful speech the language of an aking heart you may be sure Yea Judas himself proceeded thus far towards Conversion when he was Convicted he repented with a Legal Repentance as 't is commonly distinguished a Repentance wherein the Soul is troubled and tormented about Sin under apprehension of the wrath of God This Humiliation and Anguish of Spirit doth proceed especially upon 1. The apparent danger of the Wrath to come The Poor Sinner looks upon himself as already Sentenced for Hell and it torments him before-hand to think how soon he may be thrust into it so that he is always crying Woe woe to himself in thoughts of dying in that estate 2. The Remembrance of the sins whereby he has brought himself into that estate It 's a torment to him to consider that for so vile and base a thing as Sin is he should make himself so miserable as the Jews in Lam. 5.16 Woe unto us that we have sinned And the more pleasing any sin has been to him the greater pain it is to him to reflect upon it he is out of all patience with himself to think how foolish how bruitish and how like a beast he has been before God even in those things he thought a little while ago he did gallantly and wondred at those that run not with him into the same excess 3. Conscience of his refusing Counsel and neglecting Opportunity to take a better course now he remembers what warnings he has had and how he has often been called upon and earnestly entreated by God and man to fly from the wrath to come and avoid the misery into which he sees himself now falling and still refused to be perswaded and was as the deaf Adder that stops her ears against the voice of the Charmer c. The calling over of these things makes the poor Sinner a burthen and a terror to himself See how Solomon represents it in Prov. 5.11 12 13 14. This then is the Third step of this great work a Soul-Afflicting Humiliation This is the state of men weary and heavy laden as Mat. 11. This is that Spirit of bondage of which the Apostle speaks Rom. 8. That Spiritual sickness which makes men feel their need of a Physician that wound at the heart which puts men upon enquiry What they shall do to be saved Which is next to be attended The Fourth Step or Degree of this work is a studious Consultation about a Recovery When a man is thorowly convinced of his misery and affected with sorrow for it it is proper for him to enquire what course he may take to get out of the evil estate which he is in and escape the misery which he expects But yet some Convicted Persons and Persons deeply affected with a Legal Humiliation fall short of this Step towards Conversion and never come to any serious Enquiry after the way and means of Salvation Such are they who seeing themselves undone and apprehending the wrath of God ready to come forth against them immediately fall into a despairing sorrow and conclude peremptorily against themselves that there is no help for them Thus Cain when he heard his judgment fell presently into a sad and sorrowful consideration of the evil that was now invading him till he had made it in his own opinion impossible for his wound to be healed his iniquity to be forgiven never enquiring in the least how he might get out of the unhappy estate into which he was fallen but sinking in his Sorrows without any further question But where God proceeds in a design of saving a poor Soul when once he has brought him to an humbling Conviction of his sin and misery he puts him upon a serious enquiry after the way and means of his recovery So the Jews Acts 2. Men and Brethren what shall we do and the Jailor Acts 16. Being deeply sensible of the evil of their present estate they search diligently for some way and means to get out of it as the Unjust Steward when he saw that he should be turned out of his Office fell presently a considering what course was to be taken that he might not perish as he was now like to do for want of house and harbour Luke 16.3 What shall I do This Consultation is managed with some variety Sometimes the affrighted Soul confines his terror to himself and takes counsel with his own heart as Psal 13.2 which is never like to come to any good conclusion sometimes he sets to reading Scripture and other good Books And though this be indeed the way to get information yet many there are who in this distress for want of skill to understand what they read perplex themselves more instead of finding out the proper cure for their disease But generally where the work goes on to good effect it pleases God to direct such Souls to some able Ministers or experienced Christians to whom
concernment of every one that thinks he stands 1 Cor. 10 12. to take heed lest he fall That your grounds may be good and safe take a few Directions Direct 1. Be very careful to acquaint your selves with the Word of God 'T is the Glass in which you may see your own faces and what manner of persons ye are James 1.24 2dly Watch narrowly over your hearts and lives that you may know what is your general aim and intendment wherein you exercise your selves as Paul Acts 24.16 Herein do I exercise my self c. For a Christian is to try himself by his main purpose and design as the Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 1.12 Our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience 3dly Rest not upon other mens judgments of you Gal. 6.4 Let every man prove his own work the work that is wrought by him of what sort it is and so the work of Grace which is by himself or others thought to be wrought in him 4. Think not to confirm your Assurance by changing modes and ways of Christianity Neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem shall ye worship the Father John 4.21 In this Mountain there was their Forefathers Example leading them to Mount Gerezim c. But ye that is the Jews plead Solomon's building and God's blessing the Temple at Jerusalem Some have tried this way of changing forms and been quieted a little while but their doubts have returned and must needs for any help that can be that way gotten Evidences of Salvation are internal and standing things abiding 5thly Slight not any hopeful Evidence because you yet find some doubts Paul blessed God that with his mind he served the law of Christ though with the flesh the law of sin Rom. 7. last Assurance is always imperfect and this first work is always needful as I shall shew if God will in the next Step. 6thly Wait always on God by Prayer for information concerning your own estate See Psalm 139.1 2 and 23d Verses Search me O God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting MATTH XIII 44. The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field The which when a man hath found he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth that he hath and buyeth that field THE second Period or degree of a Believer's motion towards his Perfection may be described by rejoycing in Christ as that which is most signal and remarkable in Believers of some little standing after they have a-while conflicted with Fears and Doubts and taken some solicitous pains to assure themselves that they are in a state of grace By this time it is usual with God to give them peace and persuade them of his special love Some Sermon or other he imploys on purpose to disperse their darkness Some Promise or other he so interprets and applies to them as to make it look them in the face and speak comfort to them Sometimes it comes in return to some earnest prayer that they have lately made for it Sometimes when they are sadly pondering their doubts and almost overwhelmed with sorrows But usually when they have little expectation of it then they hear the voice of peace and receive intimation of the love of God and this highly rejoyces and chears up their hearts As our Saviour's words which I have read imply The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field the which when a man hath found he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath By the Kingdom of Heaven I understand the Salvation of God in Jesus Christ the perfection whereof is that it crowns men with a Kingly Heavenly and Eternal Glory This Salvation our Saviour here compares to hidden Treasure because as it is of infinite value and excellency so it is unseen by men till their eyes are opened by the Gospel and they are brought by Faith to Jesus Christ and made to believe in him 2 Cor. 4.4 In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them Then when a man believes he finds the Treasure Jesus Christ is found by faith Isa 65.1 To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed Christ is the arm of the Lord and when he is revealed he is found and he that finds him findeth life Prov. 8.35 and when the Soul has thus found Salvation his great care is to secure it to himself that he may be sure of it and not fail to obtain it which I take to be here intimated by hiding of the Treasure when 't is found For in such a case a man's way to ascertain himself of the attainment of what he has found is to make it as sure as he can from other hands that he may not miss of it and having so done he rejoices in the hope of having it to himself which signifies that joy whereof I am now speaking viz. The joy of a Believer under persuasion that he is in a state of salvation The same joy is that reported of the Samaritans Acts 8.8 There was great joy in that city And Verse the 39th it 's said The Eunuch went on his way rejoycing And that in Acts 16.34 He rejoyced believing with all his heart And Rom. 5.1 2. We rejoyce in hope of the glory of God Some Instances of this Joy in Christians upon their first assurance of Salvation after their coming to Christ by faith I shall now shew you And the first Instance is Inst 1. A very thankful remembrance of the means by which they have been awakened and persuaded to return to God Though many Christians are unable to give a particular account of the first time and means of their Conversion yet ordinarily they remember by what means they have been more remarkably stirred up and moved to enquire after God and seek peace with him and are very thankful to God for it And so you shall hear them blessing God for such or such a Sermon or such a man's Ministry whereby it pleased God to set them a moving toward himself O that was a proper word for my case I thought the word was chosen and the Sermon studied on purpose for me it came home so closely to me discovering my sin shewing me what was my confidence and how I deluded my self in it what was my danger and how near I was to it I little thought to have been so fully met withal so clearly to have seen my own face in the glass of the Law to have returned so convinced so affrighted c. I used to hear for others and to observe how they were met with and concerned in what was said But now it pleased God to give me my Portion and send me home with my own Burthen and blessed be his Grace that so and so
therefore perswades them to submit themselves to the practice of Godliness for this is implied in that freedom But he speaks of the freedom of Justification which strongly calls for Holiness and demands Obedience as Psal 130.4 There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared And thus with thankfulness to God he reminds them of the gifts of his Grace under which being justified they became Servants of Righteousness By becoming Servants we understand a Self-resignation to the Will of God in the practice of the duty of Righteousness and Holiness as Verse 17. Ye have obeyed from the heart that is willingly the form of Doctrine delivered to you Neither are these Romans to be considered only as freed from Condemnation as apprehending themselves to be so As 't is evidently the main Subject of the Chapter Verse 1. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound Where he condemns the ill use that Men might be supposed at least to make of their Pardon and Justification that is to take liberty thereupon to Sin because if they sinned never so much they were under Pardon and the more they sinned the greater would be the glory of that Grace that pardoned them Now no Man can possibly thus argue himself into Sin unless he apprehends himself to be pardoned and free from Condemnation So that the Sense of the Text is plain that when Christians do truly apprehend themselves to be free from Condemnation for Sin they willingly deliver up themselves to be Servants of Righteousness So we have clear ground for this Assertion Prop. That justified Persons especially when they apprehend themselves to be so do heartily apply themselves to Duty in the practice of Godliness Psalm 116.8 9. Thou hast delivered my soul from death I will walk before the Lord that is I 'll serve him in holiness and righteousness before him as is expressed in Luke 1.74 75. And Psalm 56.13 Thou hast delivered my soul from death c. and 2 Cor. 7.1 Let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. It plainly argues a propension in such Persons as are in a state of Grace and apprehend themselves to be so to obey the Lord in the perfection of Holiness And this is evident in the following Particulars 1. First They studiously endeavour to inform themselves of the commanding Will of God Whereas before they were mostly inquiring after promises that might comfort them Now they earnestly seek to know the Precepts by which they ought to be directed in the well ordering of their Life That as the Apostle says They may prove what is the good and acceptable will of God Rom. 12.2 Now they make it their business to ask questions concerning the lawfulness or unlawfulness of matters of Practice and enquire what may be done and what must be done Thus the Corinthians wrote to Paul about matters of Practice Marriage in time of Suffering 1 Cor. 7.1 2. And eating of things offered to Idols Chapter 8. Such were the things that they wrote about that they might clearly understand what was the Will of God concerning their practise in such things This also is evident in the case of the Centurion Acts 10.6 7. the Angel assured him of his acceptance with God and that he was in a state of Salvation but tells him a way to know his Duty what he ought to do And presently he observes the direction and sends for Peter carnal Reason would have replied If I be accepted with God then my Sins are pardoned and I am safe what need I more but immediately says he Verse 33. I sent for thee c. So 't is manifest that Persons in the state of Grace and perceiving themselves so do very much intend the knowledge of their Duty 2. Secondly They very gladly accept and comply with the Will of God when once they have discovered it They have in them a new Nature the Law written in their hearts which makes them with pleasure to receive information of their Duty from the Word because it agrees with what they have through Grace an internal Disposition to 1 Thess 4.1 We beseech you brethren and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more Ye received the Word is often used for an affectionate Reception as a Man receives him whom he kindly entertains and makes much of him Acts 16.33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized And John 14.3 And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to my self The Commands of God are welcome to a Man in the state of Grace especially when he once comes to understand himself to be so 'T is but a Meiosis that the Apostle uses in the 1 John 5.2 His commands are not grievous that is they are very pleasant As Heb. 6.10 God is not unrighteous that is he is highly Righteous Before they were willing to know the Law but nothing was comfortable to them but the Gospel the word of promise to stay them from despair But now they rejoyce to know their Duty and what will please him that has shewed mercy on them See a notable instance of this in Acts 15.31 They rejoyced greatly for the consolation in the Margin 't is Exhortation declaring matter of Duty So the Jews rejoyced for that they understood the first words of the Law Neh. 8.12 3. Thirdly They put themselves upon speedy and present performance of Duty as soon as they know it They do not only consent to the Law and approve of what it requires and so resolve upon it for time to come but according to their Ability they apply themselves to a present performance of it As David I made haste and delayed not Psalm 119.60 This some understand by the first love Rev. 2.4 Thou hast lost thy first love that is thou art not so zealous in thy Work and Duty as formerly The Apostle's Argument implies this 1 Cor. 15.58 Always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know The words evidently presume That if Men know their acceptance they will addict and give up themselves to Duty In Scripture-Language the same word signifies Consolation and Exhortation 1 Thess 4.18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words The Comfort that Christians receive from the Promise presently exhorts and perswades them to the Duty which they owe to the Command So they set up Duty of Religion in Families and appoint themselves times of Prayer in secret take all opportunities to hear the Word and provide for the strict Observation of the Sabbath c. 4. Fourthly They are much pleased with a Course of Christian Duty when once they are got into it It 's no burden but a pleasure to them as David saies in Psalm 119.14 I have rejoyced in the way
towards you and have no bad suspition of them you are not moved but if you be informed and assured they are Thieves and Murderers then you think they are many more than you accounted them and your heart trembles at the sight of them Now the more Grace is in the Soul the worse opinion Men have of Sin and the more afraid they are of it I come now to the Uses First Use 1. This shews their unsoundness in Christianity whatever their Profession and external Practice may be who are untroubled about their indwelling Sin All Christians are disquieted and grieved for the Sin of their Natures and they especially that have made some progress in Christianity But if a Man lives at ease from sorrow and trouble about the internal Estate of his Soul the condition of things within him sure he is no sincere Christian Use 2. The second Use is for comfort to Christians labouring under such Fears and Troubles about indwelling Sin but against these fears there is this comfort 1st They are all Arguments of sincerity For if we only intended a form of Godliness we should be at peace with our indwelling secret Sin 2dly God has fit comforts in a readiness for them Blessed are they that thus mourn Heaviness may endure for a Night but joy comes in the Morning ROM VIII 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ THE sixth Period or Step of a Christians motion toward Perfection which I shall speak of is His renewed Comfort after a time of Soul-trouble about his indwelling Sin and I shall settle what I have to say of it upon these words Who shall separate us from the love of Christ They are words of triumph over all the Enemies of the Salvation of Christians among whom the Apostle plainly reckons himself as appears by this word us Who shall separate us Having spoken in the third Person concerning Justification of the Elect Verse 33 and 34. he concludes with a manifest insertion of himself among the Elect and Justified for whom Christ makes Intercession in Heaven Who also makes Intercession for us and thus proceeds to a challenge to all the World to separate him or any of them from the love of Christ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ The love of Christ in this place is not the love that Christians bear to Christ though none can abolish that but it 's the love of God to them as Verse 39. Nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This love cleaves fast to them settles immoveably upon them as if it should say This is my resting-place here will I dwell Psalm 132.14 This is the love of Christ unto Christians according to that in Zeph. 3.17 God rests in his love and this happiness the Apostle Paul assumes to himself None shall separate me from the love of Christ It 's observable That Paul in the former Chapter expresses so much trouble about indwelling Sin and cries out O wretched man that I am now declares himself a happy Man among the Saints as he speaks here Who shall seperate us from the love of Christ And hence we may observe Doct. That spiritual Comfort interrupted by Soul-troubles revives in greater measures and higher degrees As the Day is more pleasant after the darkness of the Night and the Spring after the coldness of the Winter Now I shall shew you how spiritual Comforts revive after Soul-trouble for Sin 1. By advantage of Soul-trouble Christians do attain to a better discovery of the Work of Grace in themselves It serves in the end to give a Man a right understanding of himself When the Physician has shaken the Glass he the better observes the Symptoms and Indications appearing in the Water So to put a Man into a Passion is usually accounted a likely way to know what kind of Nature he is of and how he stands affected Thus Christians by Soul-trouble especially about indwelling Sin 1st They perceive that the Sin that 's in them is very grievous and a sore burthen to them 2dly That there is some better Principle in them that makes earnest opposition to it 3dly That they really hunger and thirst after a full freedom from it in Holiness and Righteousness Who shall deliver me So then I my self serve the law of God Rom. 7.25 Thus Peter by the advantage of his great trouble about denying Christ came to perceive clearly that he loved him John 21.17 Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee Indeed unquietness of the mind makes a Man unable to judge of himself but afterward he lies more open to his own view as the Water after a Commotion being setled again is more perspicuous 2dly After Christians have been a while exercised with Soul-trouble God usually disposes and enables them to devolve the wearisome burden of their cares and fears upon his alsufficient Grace To lay their aking Heads and fainting Hearts in his Bosom as David perswades himself Psalm 42.5 Why art thou cast down O my soul Hope thou in God and so the Soul returns to its rest As Psal 116.7 Return unto thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee 3dly He ordinarily imploys some special part of his Word in his message to comfort the Soul As David was quickened Psalm 119.50 Thy word hath quickened me hath made me alive again as the word signifies So those comforting words in Jer. 31.3 Yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love come in as an answer to a troubled Soul's discourse with it self The Lord hath appeared to me of old they are says Junius on the place the words of the godly acknowledging God's former gracious appearing and bounty to them but complaining implicitely of the cooling of his love to them at present To which the Lord gives a present answer of kindness Yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love The Word saying is allowed by our Learned Translators to be left out as you may see by the change of the Character into Italian as if he had said Did I love thee of old Yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love Some have been mightily revived in this case by that in Micah 7.19 He will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea Some with that in Psalm 138.8 The Lord will perfect that which concerns me that is though I walk in midst of trouble as Verse 7. Many with that in Hosea 14.4 I will heal their backslidings and love them freely And many with that in Isaiah 50.10 Who is he among you that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light Let him trust in the name of the Lord. As if that Text and this Chapter Rom. 7. were written on purpose as sure they were for establishing of comfort to
all through Christ implies him not otherwise sufficient for any thing according to the words of our Saviour John 15.5 Without me ye can do nothing 4thly The strength on which he professes his reliance is the power of Christ working in him Christ strengthening me within A strength not only given by Jesus Christ but acted and exerted by him not a strength received from Christ but the strength of Christ imployed in him Christ in me strengthening me 5thly He attained to this dependance on the Power of Christ by the benefit of Experience He had learned it verse 12. As men learn matters of Practice by many Experiments So States-men learn their Policy and Trades-men their Arts So David learned to keep the Commands of God by experience of the Evil of Affliction that attends the neglect of them and the comfort that follows a diligent observance of them even in affliction as Psal 119.21 Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed which do err from thy commandments Thus Paul having had experience of his own weakness and the power of Christ in him was now come to this That he could confidently undertake the whole Duty belonging to him as a Christian and an Apostle too depending on the Power of Christ And hence we may observe Doct. 1. That Experience brings Christians to a stedfast reliance on the gracious power of Christ for the performance of their whole Christian Duty 1. I shall give you Scripture-Arguments to prove that Christians do depend on Jesus Christ for his gracious Power in the performance of their Christian Duty First The promise of perseverance is made peculiarly to them that depend upon the gracious Power of God for it Isa 40.31 They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength 't is promised to them that wait on God for strength Now see the former Verse and you find the rest excluded the Youths that trust to their own strength shall fail Hence it 's manifestly consequent That all persevering Christians that make a constant progress in Godliness and grow up to maturity do thus depend on the Grace of God for it Joh. 15.4 5. In the 4th Verse our Saviour commands his Disciples to abide in him as the branch doth in the vine Now men are in Christ by Faith and so their continuing in him is in a continual exercise of Faith and particularly Faith for a Fruit-bearing Virtue as the Branch cleaves to the Vine to derive nourishment from it and be made fruitful by it And to such as abide so in him he promises that they shall bring forth much Fruit Verse 5. So all fruitful and thriving Christians do certainly depend on Jesus Christ for strength and spirit requisite to Christian duty The Conditions of Promises are the qualities of those to whom they are performed If a man be justified 't is certain he is a Believer because 't is promised to such and so if a man makes a good proficiency in Christian practice 't is evident he depends on the strength of Christ because 't is promised only to such 2dly It 's their earnest prayer that they may be enabled for their duty in the strength of God That they may be strong in the power of his might As David prays in the 119th Psalm 35. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments for therein do I delight Though he had not only been exercised to obedience but had found pleasure in it yet he knew himself unable to go on without the Power of God and therefore begs that he may be made to go Matter of Precept is matter of Prayer to a Godly man what God requires of him that he requests of God what God bids him do that he begs God to do in him The Apostles Acts 4.22 was mightily confirmed with strength and courage for their work of Preaching the Gospel and yet they pray for further supplies as acknowledging themselves unable to go one step further without the strength of God though they had gone with much boldness so far already Prayer is the Language of Faith what a serious Petitioner asks of God that he depends and relies upon him for According to that of the Psalmist in the 62d Psalm 8. Trust in the Lord at all times pour out your hearts to him 3dly They humbly acknowledge all that they do in the way of duty to the grace of God working in them Phil. 1. last So in 1 Cor. 15.10 I laboured more abundantly than they all according to this working Yet not I but the grace of God which was with me So in 2. Gal. 20. I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me So the Church confesses all her work to be the work of God Isa 26.12 Thou hast wrought all our works for us or in us All which plainly demonstrates that experienced godly men do constantly and in a setled way depend and rely on the power of Christ for the performance of their duty Now I shall shew you in the 2. Second place How Experience brings them to it First Upon trial and experience they find themselves utterly unable to maintain the practice of godliness in their own strength At first setting out Christians usually betake themselves to reformation and holiness of Life as if they were now able enough for it of themselves in the use of that which they have attained thinking that the hatred which they have to Sin which has cost them so much humiliation and their high esteem of Godliness will carry them through all they have to do in obedience to God They know indeed that all that belongs to their Salvation is of Grace and therefore do in some measure trust in Christ for it But yet at first there is but little of this Faith in them and much of Self-confidence remaining till Grace has wrought it out and therefore they are much persuaded at first that they shall discharge all Christian Offices in the strength of those Resolutions and Purposes of Holiness which are raised in them and scarce apprehend any danger of being at any time drawn away from their known duty to the Sin which they have heartily forsaken But after a-while the sense they have of indwelling Sin makes them ready to despair of any progress at all in Christianity because they are so strongly diverted by the body of Death from the good they would do and carried to the evil which they would not This makes them cry out O wretched man and raises in them that woful Soul-trouble of which I have been lately speaking and so brings them to that sorrowful acknowledgment of the Apostle Rom. 7.18 To will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not Moses Example is a fit Emblem of a Christian in this Case At first he went out among his Brethren in Egypt and smites an Egyptian and reproves an injurious Israelite As if he would presently deliver the Nation and reduce them to a free Estate even of
with a strong hand shall he let them go and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land And thus ordinarily when Christians set themselves in an humble way to treat with God about their Troubles he casts such Thoughts into their Minds and brings such Words and Works of his to their remembrance as shall serve to content and quiet them as if he were as in a good sense we well say he is unwilling that there should be a misunderstanding between him and them As the Father answers his eldest Son Luke 15.25 when he was dissatisfied with his dealing and was angry and would not go in he saith unto him Son thou art ever with me 8thly They give him all that they have in the World as he has occasion to use it and he requites it to them in gracious Providences and Spiritual Comforts Mark 10.28 29 30. Peter began to say unto him Lo we have left all and have followed thee Jesus answered and said Verily I say unto you There is no man that hath left house or brethren or sister or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospels but he shall receive an hundred fold now in this time and in the world to come eternal life So Heb. 10.34 He made them to know in themselves that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance And so gave them as much joy in losing as they had before in possessing and 't is likely much more 9thly They always press after more intimate knowledge of him and he reveals himself still more to them Psalm 63.8 My soul followeth hard after thee And Hosea 6.3 Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord So graciously does God uphold and support his People when they follow hard after him Christians they desire alway to behold his beauty and enquire in his temple Psalm 27.4 And he leads them from Room to Room and brings them to his Presence-Chamber John 14.21 23. He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him Jesus answered and said unto him If a man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him I come now to the Use which is of Exhortation Use To exhort Christians to an earnest Prosecution of Communion with God Job 22.21 Acquaint now thy self with him and be at peace It 's that to which all Christians are appointed and by degrees growing up into it The happiness of heaven will be your Joy on Earth Earnestly seek peace with God by Faith in Jesus Christ that you may have the assurance of an agreement with him else you cannot walk with him Amos 3.3 Can two walk together except they be agreed 2. Walk in the light Verse 7. that is 1st Regularly in the Law Psalm 119.1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord. 2dly Uprightly and sincerely not pretending Godliness and hiding Sin but in plainness and integrity John 3.21 He that doeth truth cometh to the light likeness fits for Conversation God is upright as in Psalm 92.15 To shew that the Lord is upright he is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him So Psalm 15.1 2. Lord who shall abide in thy tabernacle who shall dwell in thy holy hill He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart And again Psalm 11.7 The righteous Lord loveth righteousness his countenance doth behold the upright Thus now by our earnest seeking peace with God and walking in the light we shall come to have sincerity and by sincerity we shall have communion with God and fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ PHILIP I. 23. For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better THE Ninth Degree or Period of a Christian's motion toward his appointed and intended Perfection which I shall speak of is An earnest desire to be removed out of this World unto the glorious presence of Christ in Heaven which is here intimated in these words Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ. A Christian has two great matters to consider and attend in this world His Work and his Wages Duty and Reward And as he loves to be employed in the former so he longs to enjoy the latter Between these two Paul was in a strait not knowing which to make a present choice of in case it should have been in his own power to take which he would I wot not which I shall chuse that is which I should rather chuse as the words do signify being an Hebrew form of Speech I know not I wot not which I shall chuse He thought it long ere he was at rest and yet he thought it hardly time to leave work He knew indeed to be with Christ was better for him but yet he thought it needful for the Philippians and other Christians that he should abide in the flesh and consequently that Christ had yet further need or use of his labour and this made him doubtful which he should chuse not absolutely but with respect to the present time Not whether he should chuse to be in Heaven with Christ or abide alway on earth for he must needs chuse Heaven rather It is not whether he should be with Christ or abide in the flesh but whether he should now presently go hence to Christ or for some time continue in his service among his People and in this respect he was in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart Phil. 1.23 24. The Apostle Paul was now a Believer highly confirmed and established in Christ A man of great attainment in Grace and so what he here speaks of himself is especially applicable to well-grown and experienced Christians though there is some beginning of the same desire even in the lowest Christian a desire to be with Christ Having a desire The word desire is sufficiently understood by all but to have a desire is more in signification than to desire it notes a setled and habitual desire To desire is but an Act which may be sudden and transient but to have a desire of any thing is to be so affected to it as when a man is always reaching after it in the intention of his heart when he remembers it Having a desire to depart This word to depart is a plain word though Interpreters make many Glosses upon it and observe some one some another Metaphor in it It signifies sometimes to return as a man returns home from whence he has been abroad as Luke 12.36 Be ye like servants that wait for their Lord when he shall return from the wedding Sometimes it signifies to depart and go away and both ways it agrees to death which is a return of the Soul as Solomon says to God Eccles
to persuade Christians troubled about their inability for holy actions to yield themselves to the Counsel of God's conduct of Experience as it leads to a reliance and waiting on God for strength of his Grace That which the Word requires Isa 40. last To wait on the Lord that they may renew their strength You find your selves weak c. And do you not sometimes find God relieving you against your weakness and that when you are most pressed down under the sense of it especially when you look up most earnestly to him for help What can be more plainly spoken than this speaks the Language of the Prophet Isa 26.4 Trust in the Lord for ever For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength 1 JOHN I. 3. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ THE Eighth degree of a Christian's Motion toward Perfection is a spiritual Communion or Conversation with God When God has brought a Believer to a setled dependance on his gracious Power for the practice of Godliness He gradually draws him into a converse and intimacy with himself which is at least comprehended in these words Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ The word Fellowship signifies Communion or Communication when two or more Persons partake of the same thing as they that feed on the same Diet and Table together are called Commoners So they whose Cattle partake of the same Pasture are said to Common together and so they are called partakers of the Altar who eat together or alike of the Sacrifices as in 1 Cor. 10.18 This is an ordinary Signification of the word Fellowship Communion or Conversation But when 't is referred to God and Christ in Scripture it has a more free Signification 1st Sometimes it imports Assimilation and Conformity of Christians to God the Father and Christ the Mediator So in as much as Saints are like God in holiness They are called partakers of his divine nature 2 Pet. 1.4 Holiness in Christians is not the same that is in God for that 's Essential but somewhat Analogous So Christians conformed to Christ in Sufferings are said to partake of his Sufferings 1 Pet. 4.13 Rejoyce in as much as ye are partakers of Christs sufferings that is He suffered and they suffer likewise as Verse 1. 2dly It is used to signify the virtual Interest that Christians had and have in the Death and Mediatory Performances of Christ The benefit whereof is derived to them as if themselves had died and done as he did for them Phil. 3.10 That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death Fellowship of his Sufferings that is what it is to partake with the Saints of the benefit of his Sufferings as if I had suffered with him in which respect Christians are said to have died risen ascended with Christ and to sit in Heaven with him as Col. 3.1 and Eph. 2.6 He has raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ And Col. 3.1 If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above 3dly It notes Converse and Society between God and Man 2 Cor. 6.14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness that is They cannot joyn or abide together God who is Light can have no Conversation with Unbelievers who are Darkness Christ with Belial Ver. 15. therefore you should have none Hence the word Companions Heb. 10.33 Ye became companions of them which were so used that is suffer like them And this I understand to be especially intended in this place Our fellowship is with the Father Christians are at first Conversion conformed to God in some degree of Holiness and made partakers of the benefits of the Death and Resurrection of Christ in their Justification and Adoption But acquaintance and converse with God they attain to by degrees when they have had experience of him and his ways Now 't is evident the Apostle is here directing Christians to something higher than they had yet attained to They were now the Children of God Chap. 3.2 And had the Unction of the Spirit Chap. 2.20 But he directs to something in which they might be Copartners with himself and others whose Fellowship he could truly say was with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ To have fellowship with the Son is to have fellowship with the Father as to see the Son is to see the Father John 14.19 Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more but ye see me God transacts all things with his Church in the Person of his Son the Mediator He is doer of all since his Ascension and is always with his to the end of the World Matth. 28.20 Lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the world So Communion with the Father is Communion with the Son Again Christ being now ascended manages all in a Divine way and invisibly therefore they that have fellowship with him are said to have fellowship with the Father So the Apostle having attained this fellowship with God the Father and Son and directing others to it We may gather this Observation Doct. That Christians as they proceed in Godliness they grow into an intimate acquaintance and fellowship with God That your fellowship may be with us And truly our fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ There is much proof I might easily give of this Phil. 3.20 For our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ Our Conversation is in Heaven that is with God So Asaph in Psalm 73.23 says I am continually with thee So Enoch and Noah walked with God So in John 14.23 our Saviour says If any man love me he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him So in Psalm 139.18 saies David I am continually with thee And so in several other places we find the Intimacy and Communion with them that walk with God And this comes to the point in hand That Christians as they proceed in Godliness they grow into an intimate Acquaintance and Fellowship with God Take some instances of the Converse and Fellowship which Christians have with God 1. They confer much with God in Holy Meditation Meditation is a secret Conference and close Discourse between God and the Soul Good thoughts as they come into the mind are the very whisperings of God and as they are the act of the Mind upon God they are the proper Language of the Soul speaking to him as Psalm 27.8 Thou saidst Seek ye
my face my heart answered and said thy face Lord will I seek It 's observable in the Hebrew Tongue that the Scripture uses two words for Meditation and both signify to speak there being in Divine Meditation such a close Discourse between God and the Soul And though all Christians are more or less exercised in Divine Meditation yet to hold a close and constant Intercouse with God in it is very peculiar to Christians of good experience and maturity 2dly They bemoan themselves familiarly to God in all their Grievances And he answers them in the Consolation of his Spirit We have an Expression of this of David in Psalm 142.2 I poured out my complaint before him I shewed before him my trouble If any thing be amiss with them they run presently to him with their Complaint and so he eases them and relieves them Psalm 34.18 When I said my foot slippeth thy mercy O Lord held me up Christians are full of complaints to him every thing that troubles and grieves them is a matter of complaint and so they give him frequent occasion to express his kindness to them It 's true Christians are used to this way of opening their Griefs to God from their youth up But are much more free and familiar in it after they have gained experience of the Goodness of God and are established in their confidence in him and so they grow more inward with him 3dly They go confidently to him for the supply of all their wants And he satisfies them with gracious answers of their Prayers The Spirit of Prayer is in all Christians but they are well-grown Christians that can come boldly in all cases to the Throne of Grace and perceive when they are answered according to that in 1 John 5 14. This is the confidence we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us A Christian that prays the Prayer of a well-established Faith as he comes to God in good assurance of acceptance so he finds his Prayer one way or other answered to his satisfaction David found an answer to his Prayer for the Life of his Child in an acquiescence in the now discovered Will of God 2 Sam. 12.23 I shall go to him but he shall not return to me David takes comfort in this I shall go to him He arose and went to the House of God and worshipped what else would he have done if the Child's Life had been granted Why he could have done no better for he had satisfaction and was assured that he should go to his Child Thus the Apostle Paul found a good answer to his Prayer for the departing of Satan's Messenger 2 Cor. 12.9 My grace is sufficient for thee Now this answer was matter of gladness to the Apostle Most gladly therefore will I rejoyce in my infirmities And Christ himself had his Prayer answered even in that which he feared And this is parallel to that of David Psalm 65.5 By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us O God of our salvation Terrible things things to be wondered at 4thly They express their Joys to him in the acknowledgment of his Mercy and he inspires them with the hopes of more It is a special part of friendly intimacy to impart our joys to our Friends and tell them the things that please us to shew them such Goods or Rarities as we have about us wherewith we our selves are taken So Christians and especially those that are grown up to good maturity are much addicted to acknowledge the mercy that God has shewed them and not only pour out their Sorrows but express their Joys before him as David in Psalm 63.4 5. Thus will I bless thee while I live My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow It is inded a special property of a well-grown Christian to be much disposed to thanksgiving and telling not only others but God himself what he has done for his Soul And herein Christians have a comfortable converse with God in as much as he not only accepts their Praises but usually warms and chears their hearts in suggesting to them hopes of more and greater Mercy See Psalm 23.2 3. David there acknowledges to God what he has done for him Thou sayest he maketh me to lye down in green pastures he leadeth me besides the still waters he restoreth my soul He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name sake And then he concludes Ver. 6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever I shall add but one place more and that is in Psalm 73.23 24. whereas David was considering what the Lord had done for him and how gracious he was to him this comes in Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterwards receive me to glory As he sent Nathan to David when he was considering and acknowledging the favour he had received 2 Samuel 7.11 Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house 5thly They retire fiducially to him in cases of danger and he encourages them in hopes of safety See Psalm 57.2 3. I will cry to God most high He shall send from heaven and save me And so Psalm 91.1 2. and throughout It is a Soliloquie all along He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty I will say of the Lord He is my rock and my fortress my God in him will I trust c. 6thly They consult him in all doubtful cases and he graciously resolves them I will says David cry unto God most high and he shall save me And the same David Psalm 119.24 says Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors And Isaiah 30.21 This is the way walk ye in it As Peter in Matth. 18.21 22. said Lord how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times Jesus saith unto him I say not unto thee until seven times but until seventy times seven So Asaph Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel 7thly They reason out their Troubles with him when any Providence of his is less satisfying to them and he contents and pacifies them This is a point of great freedom and familiarity that godly Men have with God and a very gracious condescention of his to them See Jer. 12.1 2. Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with thee yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously And Psal 73.16 17. When I thought to know this it was too painful for me until I went into the sanctuary of God So Moses in Exod. 5.23 Why is it that thou hast sent me So was Moses seemingly dissatisfied with God's dealing with him But look into Chap. 6. Verse 1. The Lord said unto Moses Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh for