is the food of thy Soul though thou canst not remember and give an account of such and such things thou do'st hear in the word but yet do'st thou find that thou art nourished by it I say the good things of the Gospel then do rest upon thy Soul Then if this be so great a Blessing O that I could but convince you this day to go away with your hearts taken with this Blessing O that all of you were convinc'd this day We hear that it is not enough for us to have sudden apprehensions when we hear the Blessed things of the Gospel but that that is indeed the blessing of God upon a Son of Peace it is to have the good things of the Gospel abide and rest upon them O then that it might be so with us O that the Lord would help us that whatsoever we hear we may not only be taken with the hearing of it but that it might rest upon our Hearts I shall propound some Rules unto you First When you come you must endeavour to bring soft Hearts and tender Spirits What Truths you do know you must work upon your Hearts before you come to labour to soften your Hearts We know that the Truths of God are compared in Scripture to Nails that are fastened by the Ministers of God in the Assemblies Eccles 12. 11. Now when you come to fasten a Nail or a Goad if the thing be a Stone you cannot fasten it A Work-man if he would drive a Nail into a Wall if he meet with a Flint the Nail cannot enter but there must be some thing that must yield to make it rest So you must labour to bring yielding and soft Hearts Secondly When you come to hear come so as to make account that now you come to attend upon God and that while any Truth of the Gospel is Revealing to you God is coming nigh unto your Souls in those things that concern your Eternal good If the Hearts of People did attend upon the Ministry of the Gospel thus that is We are here O Lord in thy Presence now to hear what Thou hast to Reveal unto us and we believe that in this thine Ordinance when Thou art making known any Truth of the Gospel to us Thou art coming nigh to our Souls in a matter that Concerns our Eternal good If you did attend thus certainly every Truth would get into your Hearts Thirdly When you find the Truth beginning to work upon your Hearts then Dart up some Ejaculations in your own Thoughts Lord set home this So you may do and not hinder your hearing Lord Thou beginnest to stir my Heart O Lord keep my Heart in this frame As we read of David when as he saw the People in a good Frame 1 Chron. 29. 18. saith he O Lord God of Abraham Isaac and of Israel our Fathers keep this for ever in the Imagination of the Thoughts of the Heart of thy People And the truth is We would willingly Dart up such a Prayer to God if we knew how God did begin to stir you But you know how God is communing with your Hearts when you hear us speaking to you therefore do you your selves Dart up such an Ejaculation to God O Lord God keep this Truth in the Thoughts of my Heart for ever A Fourth Rule is this You must not trust your own Hearts never trust to sudden Affections and Resolutions This Text is most excellent for this purpose Mark how David Prays Keep this in the Thoughts of the Heart of thy People and prepare their Hearts unto Thee Why were they not prepared to God Their Hearts were mightily up for God and yet it appears that David would not take this scarce for a Preparation but the Lord must still work further and further So when thou feelest thy Heart a little stirr'd do not think that the work is presently done but pray to God to prepare thy Heart and that He would go on with that Blessed work of His. And then another Rule is this Labour after thou art gone to work the Truths upon thy Heart by Meditation that so they may abide Would you have a Salve that should do good to an Affected Member It is not only the laying of the Salve upon the Body but to rub it that it may get in and supple the part So when the Lord comes to present the Blessed Truths of the Gospel to you you must labour to rub them upon your Hearts by Meditation Another Rule is Turn all that you hear into Prayer That is When you have heard any truth that hath taken and affected your Souls get alone into your Closets and before you go about any other Business fall down before the Lord and turn that which you have heard into Prayer it were a good Rule for your Direction and you will find an admirable benefit by this you will find this to help your Memory much Do but henceforward observe this Rule that now is tendered unto you as from the Lord work the matter that you hear upon your Hearts by Prayer And further Take heed of Temptations keep a narrow Watch over your Hearts take heed that some Temptations do not come secretly to steal away that blessed Truth that you have heard For the Devil will labour as I told you the place is full of Angels and so it is full of Devils too The Devil is watching who it is that is stirred with the hearing of the Gospel and he presently is labouring to draw out all the Power and Efficacy Therefore watch against Temptations Another Rule will be this Often call your Hearts unto an account oftentimes be communing with your own Hearts in this manner O my Soul was there not such a time that thou wert stirr'd and affected when thou did'st hear such and such things Why what is become of all thy Stirrings and of all those Resolutions and Truths that thou hast heard O my Soul where are they What hast thou done with them O it would be of admirable Use if you would take an account of your hearts But when Men and Women are stirr'd sometimes and go away and never call their Hearts to an account what is become of them no marvel though the things of the Gospel do not abide but vanish all and are as Water spilt upon the Ground And further Take heed of secret sins Thou hast no power to purge thy Heart but thou may'st in great measure abandon the Acts of sin That Man or Woman that lives in a Secret sin I say that Secret sin will either Eat out the Truths that he hath heard or the Truth will Eat out that sin Thou comest to hear the Word and hast many Blessed things Revealed to thee I say they will either Eat out thy Secret sin or thy Secret sin will Eat out them And which of the two do'st thou think thou hadst best be rid of And if thou wouldst have them abide turn all into Practice that is fall a
come with their hearts filled with hope that there are Sons of Peace in that place and there is nothing that can incourage a faithful Minister of the Gospel to spend his time in Studying and Opening of the Mysteries of Grace more then this that he comes with his Heart filled with hope that there are some Sons of Peace in that place O do not frustrate this expectation It is a vile thing for the Ministers of the Gospel to come to any place but to gain Sons of Peace And indeed upon this expectation the heart of a faithful Minister who understands what the meaning of Peace with God is cannot but be drawn forth towards a People why he comes with this expectation and he looks after his Ministery to see what becomes of it O therefore do not frustrate the Expectations of your Ministers in this Do not give them occasion to make their Complaint that they have spent their Strength in vain Yea and further As it is the Expectation of the Ministers that Preach so it is the Expectation of all the Saints of God None of Gods People that know a place that hath Liv'd in Darkness and Blindness before but if they see the Lord by His Providence carrying the Ministry of the Gospel with Power in that place they think thus with themselves Whom is it that the Lord intends good unto Surely the Lord hath a Mercy to such a People And they will wait to see who it is that God will pitch upon O likewise Do not frustrate the Expectation that the Angels themselves in 1 Cor. 11. a place I suppose you know where the Women are to be Covered because of the Angels It doth appear by that Text that the Angels are in Congregations when a Congregation is met together to hear the Word of God Preached and for other Accounts there the Angels are Met And I make no question but this place is as full of Angels as of Men and they are here present and do look upon our Behaviour and wait for the time when God will be pleased to Work upon the Hearts of some or other O to what Family to what particular Soul doth God intend good unto O that we might know it that we might have Joy in Heaven For so the Scripture tells us That at the Conversion of sinners there is Joy in Heaven and surely they wait for it O that we might see the Ministry of the Gospel work effectually upon Souls that so we might joy for it And now let every particular Soul reason thus with it self What is it so that there is hope that there may be some Sons of Peace why may it not be I though vile though a very wretched Creature Yet I hear that the time of Ignorance God winks at only now He calls to Repent If I feel God beginning to jogg my Heart now I may be the Man or Woman that the Lord intended from all Eternity For we are to know that which God doth now in time is no other than He did determine from Eternity And I say if you feel your Hearts stirred and wrought upon by the Ministry of the Gospel you may know that God did intend you in particular And Christ when He did Pray to God the Father for this acceptable time that you were particularly intended in that Prayer of His and you are not excluded to be saved any more than any and therefore it may fall upon you Perhaps in a Family it may fall upon the poor Servant or Child and the others may be left But some or other it is like it will fall upon And my Brethren If this be so if there be hopes when the Gospel comes to be Preached that there are Sons of Peace in that place it is a most Cursed thing for any to stand to oppose the Gospel when it comes to any place It is very seldom but some or other will be Railing and Crying out against it But take heed what thou dost Wilt thou stand against God to cross God in such a blessed End as this is It may be the Lord hath some Souls in that place He intends Eternal good unto And wilt thou stand out against that and cross God But especially take heed you do not oppose the Gospel in any place where there is not only a remote hopes but it comes to be Nearer and Fuller than it was before and there is some real Manifestation that God intends Good unto some O take heed of thy Opposition of it there This was the Reason that Paul was so mightily provok'd when Elimas came to resist his Ministry of which you may read in Acts 13. There was one Sergius Paulus which sent for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the Word of God Now this Sergius Paulus was a Chief Man in the place where Paul Preached he was the Deputy and there was good hopes that God would Convert his Soul And Elimas the Sorcerer he stood and opposed and sought to turn away the Deputy from the Faith Now when Paul was in so good a hope that he should gain not only a Soul but a publick Man that might do a great deal of good O the Spirit of Paul was mightily provok'd He looks upon Elimas and sets his Eyes upon him the Text saith and and said O full of all Subtilty and all Mischief thou Child of the Devil thou Enemy of all Righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the Right Wayes of God c. Paul was a Man of a very Quiet and Meek Spirit and yet mark how full of Passion he was at this time O this provok'd the Spirit of Paul he was not able to bear it We never read that Paul was so troubled when they Persecuted him when they put him into Prison But as if Paul should say Do with me what you will put me into Prison do what you will with my Carcass but do not frustrate my Expectation in Gaining a Chief Man that may do a great deal of Service for God When he was but in fear that he should be frustrated of his hope he was not able to bear it And certainly nothing can go so near to the Heart of any Faithful Minister as that there should be any to stand to frustrate his hope of Gaining of Souls Perhaps in a Family if one or two doth but go to hear the Word the others will be Scorning and Jeering and one Neighbour will be Scorning at another and all to frustrate the Hopes of God of His Ministers and of the Saints and Angels But know when thou do'st any thing to oppose the Ministry of the Gospel thou do'st set thy self what in thee lies both to frustrate the Hopes of God and His Ministers and His Saints and Angels and thou wilt find this to be a hard work thou do'st but Kick against the Pricks And thus much for this Point we come now unto the next That good Hearers of the Gospel are called the Sons of Peace
be full when they can tell how to pick out the temptation to enjoy the thing and yet avoid the temptation There are some because they hear there are many temptations in the enjoyment of the comforts of the Creature they think there is no way but to fling away the Creature As that Aristippus because he saw that so many were hurt by their wealth he cast his money into the Sea saying I will drown you least you should drown me Now this is not to learn how to be full that is because I would avoid the temptation not to enjoy the comfort and the blessing as many men and women through weakness and tenderness of conscience being afraid that they shall get hurt by the use of the Creatures that God doth give them Upon that they deny themselves abundance of comfort in the Creature that they should have Now though God may accept of their desires to honour him and of their fearfulness of sinning against him but yet this argues a great deal of weakness The strength of a Christian is to enjoy Gods Creatures to take the use of that that God doth afford to take out the sweetness and yet to avoid the temptation to take away that that 's good and cast away that that is naught As there 's many kind of Meats which you may not eat all of them and a child who must either have all or none you will not give it meat that hath something mingled with it that is naught because he knows not how to pick it out But now one that hath understanding he knows how to pick out the good and fling away the naught and not to fling it all away because there 's something that is naught as well as good Now that 's the third thing and there 's very few that understand this Lesson but they must swallow down all without thinking of any temptation that is annexed to the fullness that they do enjoy Fourthly Then doth a man know how to be full when he can have all that he doth enjoy under his command and he can have the command of his own spirit in what he doth enjoy As thus when he is not a slave to what he hath but he makes what he hath a slave to him Some men that are rich you say they have such possessions the truth is their possessions have them rather than they their possessions they are under their possessions But now Then a man knows how to be full when all that he hath he makes his underling he makes his servants he makes it to be serviceable to him and he can command any thing that he hath according as there is use of it He will never be a servant to his servant It 's a sordid disposition for any man or woman to be a servant to their servant but now to your Estates you will be a servant they shall command you and your Credit and you will be a servant But it 's a sign you know not how to be full As a man doth not know how to rule if he will be under his servant so he doth not know how to be full except he hath a command over what he doth enjoy in the world yea and a command over his own spirit in the use of what he doth enjoy That 's thus When a man or woman can let out as much of his heart to the Creature as is useful and no more and can call it in again when there is cause As ordinarily people do not let out their spirits a little to joy but they let them out so as they have no command over their spirits but they have lost the command of their spirits they cannot call in their spirits again to be serious and humble and to be mourning for sin when God calls them to it As now for instance when you say you will be merry and go and visit your friends and have good cheer God gives you leave to do so if you know how to make use of this But now Do not you let out your hearts so far as you cannot call them in again you let them out so that when you should come at night to go and humble your souls before God in prayer your hearts are light and vain and you have no command over your spirits at all and perhaps the next day you are worse for it It s just with your hearts as with little Children let them have but their wills a little while and you shall have no rule over them for many dayes many weeks after So when you let your hearts have liberty a little while to rejoyce in the Creature you have little command over your hearts for many weeks after Now you may be merry Religion keeps not one from mirth but yet so as to have a command over our spirits that I can call my heart in again when there is occasion I will rejoyce in the Creature I but I will reserve my chief joy for something else there is something else that I am to rejoyce in more than in the use of the Creature If you let out your heart so when you rejoyce in the Creature as you make it your chief joy your onely joy your joy is not right But it is not so with the heart that knows how to be full Fifthly Then hath a man or woman learned how to be full when they can so use the creatures of God as yet they are in a readiness to part with all their comforts if God will call for them If I enjoy comfort but in such a manner as my heart lies down before God ready prepared to give up those comforts that I do enjoy whenever God will have me Then I have learned to be full When a man or woman shall have their hearts taken so with the Creature as they cannot leave them whatever comes of them They must preserve their Estate now having had full Estates and lived full handed they cannot live meanly rather venture upon sin or any thing in the world to preserve their Estates O how is it possible for a man as hath had such bringing up as I saith one now to be put to straits that I can scarce have bread And upon this the hearts of men rather then they will come to part with the comforts of the Creature when God would have them they will keep them as it were whether God will or no. O thou hast not learned how to be full If thy heart were right in thy fulness thou wouldst take the comfort of the Creature when God gives them But Lord If thou hast use of them any other way here I am do with me what thou pleasest The Lord gives and the Lord takes and blessed be the Name of the Lord. I 'll take them as long as thou wilt have me and when thou wilt sanctifie thy Name in my want Lord take them We are too eager upon the Creature when our hearts cleave to it and we cannot be taken
sink into your hearts I 'll give you one Scripture that you may go a way and seek to God to teach you how to be full and to learn this lesson It is in the 12 ver of the Epistle of Jude These are spots in your feasts of charity when they feast with you feeding themselves without fear There 's the description of wicked and ungodly men How are they described They feast themselves without fear that they may be fed to the full they care for nothing else O this is a sign of a wretched wicked man to feast himself without fear Hath God given thee a full estate and what do'st thou take it without fear If God hath given thee an estate and all outward comforts in this world according to thy hearts desire it stands thee upon to fear least thou should'st not improve it for God And O that God would send you away from his presence upon the consideration of what you have heard even with trembling hearts Lord Thou hast given us these and these outward comforts and let Husband speak thus to the Wife and Wife to the Husband when they see all things comming in in a plentiful way O the Lord hath given us these mercies more than others O but how if we should not improve them for God how if we should abuse them and if we have not answerable grace to make use of them what should become of us Now having your hearts possest with the fear of this you will be the more like to be driven to God in prayer to seek of him that he would learn you this lesson to teach you how to be full And there is a great mystery in this as there is a mystery of Godliness in Contentment so there is a mystery in this and I shall shew you further that it is done in a kind of mystical way There are indeed some natural Rules whereby we may propound to men how to make use of their prosperity and it were well if all of us were wrought upon in a natural way But I shall endeavor to go further with you than so To shew you in a spiritual way how you should learn to be full according to the Rules of the Gospel To manifest the mystery of Godliness in the giving God the glory of your Estates and all the Comforts that you do enjoy in this world SERMON III. WE Shall now come to what remains There are but three things more in this point that now we are to finish And the First is To shew you what a mystery of Godliness there is in a right learning how to be full Secondly What are the several Lessons that are to be learned And then the application of all from the point And this is the method we observed in the learning how to want The Mystery of Godliness And I told you that from the word in my Text I am instructed so it is in your Books but in the Original it is I am taught as in a mystery so that there is a mystery in both these I have shewn you in many things wherein the mystery of Godliness lies in learning how to be content A godly man knows how to abound after another manner than any other can do Perhaps a man by some strength of natural prudence and wisdom may know how to order his Estate so as not to be very inordinate and wicked in the management of his outward estate A man that hath civility and natural wisdom may make some good use of the blessings of God that God hath given him But a gracious heart comes to sanctifie the name of God in his estate and outward blessings that God hath given him in another manner than natural wisdom will teach a man Grace will raise a mans spirit higher and that in these particulars First A gracious heart learns how to be full by often resigning up the estate that it doth possess unto God He learns how to enjoy his estate by resigning up all his estate and comforts unto God This is a way that a natural man understands little of To know how to enjoy his comforts by resigning up his comforts yet that 's the way of a gracious heart He doth very frequently when he gets alone into his Closet resign up his Estate Lord Thou hast blessed me with many outward comforts more than thou hast done others of my brethren Lord I here profess all to be thine and give up all to thee all belongs to thee and I desire to enjoy no farther than I may be useful to thee in the place where thou hast set me Here Lord I give up my self and all my fulness unto thee take all dispose all lay out all for thine own praise and glory And by this means when he hath done this he comes to enjoy more sweetness than what he hath in any other way It is not in a greedy use of what he hath that he comes to enjoy his fulness but by resigning up what he hath to God and so he comes to enjoy his fulness in a better manner and more comfortably than ever he did before This a godly heart finds by experience as divers times upon occasion I have hinted to you that the oftner any thing comes out of Gods hand the better and sweeter it is and therefore he is willing to give up often what he hath into the hand of God And that 's the first way But Secondly He learns how to be full in this way of mystery he doth seek to preserve his comforts and enrich himself by communicating what he hath not onely by resigning to God but by communicating his comforts he seeks to preserve them and he seeks to enrich himself by communicating of his riches Now this is a mysterious way yet the Scriptures shews this to be the way of a gracious heart A carnal heart he would enjoy his fulness but how that is by keeping it to himself I but a godly heart that learns in the way of mystery how to be full looks upon it as the onely way to preserve his estate by communicating his estate by doing many good works by making use of his estate for the publick good the glory of God and the good of his brethren In Isa 32. you have a notable Scripture for that that that 's the way that a godly man uses for the preserving of his estate ver 8. But the liberal deviseth liberal things What then he doth not onely take the opportunity when he is called to communicate of his estate but studies with himself how he may communicate his estate for good I but he may quickly communicate all away you will say and grow a begger himself No but mark what the Text saith And by liberal things shall he stand That 's the way that he takes for the preservation of what he hath he will trust God with that And indeed he comes to enjoy the comfort of his life by the communicating of the comforts of
his life And then he seeks to get riches by communicating of his riches That Scripture you have for this in 1 Tim. 6. 17. Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy That they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute The more good works he doth the richer he makes account himself is Now ordinarily a carnal heart when he is call'd to do good works he cannot for shame but do something I but he thinks he is the poorer by it What will you get away all my estate and make me a begger Why these often Contributions draws away my estate and they think they have so much of their heart-blood drawn away and so they grow poorer and poorer But a godly man he makes account that the more good works he doth the richer man he grows Why God himself accounts his riches to be in the works of mercy In Eph. 2. there you shall find that the riches of God are in the works of his mercy That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us Why God is not said to be rich in power so much as in grace in the works of his mercy in the works of kindness And so a godly man that hath learned by the grace of God to be full doth account himself made rich in the communicating what fulness God hath given him for the glory of his Name and the good of others This is a second mysterious way of a godly mans learning how to be full And then the Third way of a Godly mans learning how to be full is this He doth learn how to have comfort in his estate by mortifying of his affections to his estate and by moderating of his spirit in the joy that he hath in his estate he comes to receive the greater joy in what he hath given to him This you will say is a riddle for a man to have greater joy in outward things by moderating of his joy and to have a greater fulness in his abundance by keeping himself within bounds This is the way of a godly man the more he keeps himself within bounds the more comfort he hath in his abundance and the more he can mortifie his affections to the comforts of the world the more comfort hath he in these comforts of the world Now because this may seem to be a great riddle and mystery for so it is I will give you one Scripture that will make it out fully and it is in Phil. 4. 4 5. Rejoyce in the Lord alway and again I say rejoyce Here the Apostle puts people to rejoyce to rejoyce in the Lord that is not onely in spiritual things but rejoyce in all Gods blessings in a spiritual way Now the men of the world when they are put upon it to rejoyce and again to rejoyce they think they know nor how to reioyce but by letting out their hearts without any bounds they know not how to keep any bounds But mark the words that follow Let your moderation be known unto all men As if the Apostle should say And would you rejoyce indeed truly and graciously and fully I exhort you to rejoyce and again to rejoyce Well then This is pleasing to the heart of a man we will give our selves liberty to rejoyce we will enlarge our selves in our joy I but saith the Apostle Let your moderation be known to all men though So that in that he adds this exhortation Let your moderation be known to all men it 's apparent that he means the joy in outward things as well as in spiritual things Let your moderation be known to all so that he doth not envy your rejoycing in your estate You may rejoyce in the comforts of this world that God hath given you But would you have true joy that that should glad your hearts indeed let your moderation be known to all men and do so bound your selves in your joy and let your hearts be so mortified to the world as that you may rejoyce in God even while you rejoyce in the outward blessings that God hath given to you And although many men may think this to be a mystery and scarce to be believed yet those who are truly godly find this by experience I appeal to you when have you had the greatest comfort and joy in your estates and comings in but at that time when you have found your hearts mortified to the world and that you could keep your selves in bounds If a man goes abroad and among company if he can keep his appetite in bounds and eat moderately he hath more comfort in his meat and drink than another man hath that eats excessively A man that eats and drinks moderately he preserves his health and by preserving his health he hath more sweetness in his meat and drink in a constant way than those that eat and drink immoderately and when a man hath been abroad among company and let out his heart profusely in way of laughter and merriment and all upon the merry pin why in the midst of this laughter his heart is even sad and when he comes home he comes home with a dead spirit He is like Nabal you know that when he was feasting his heart was merry but as soon as his drunkenness was gone from him his heart died like a stone Many Company-keepers that give liberty to themselves in jollity and mirth why the next day their hearts are even as dead as a stone and there 's a great deal of guilt upon their spirits and their consciences fly in their faces so that they have not so much joy in their spirits as those that can keep within bounds Those that can go in a sober way and meet with their neighbours and rejoyce one with another they when they come home can bless God for this their refreshing that they have had and the next morning their hearts are in a sweet and joyful frame The more we keep our selves in bounds in the use of the Creature the more comfort have we in the use of the Creature That 's the third way of a gracious hearts learning how to abound He learns how to enjoy the world by mortifying his heart to it and by keeping himself within bounds in the use of the Creature And then the Fourth way of mystery of the Godlies learning how to abound it is this He learns how to abound by getting all that he hath to be sanctified by the Word and Prayer It was one way of knowing how to want by having our afflictions sanctified to us and so it is the way to know how to abound Now this is a way that carnal hearts have little skill in they think they know how to abound by their natural wisdom I but the way that a gracious heart hath for abounding is this God
than Paul did and yet death was Gain to him he should get much by it Why many things might make the death of Paul Gainful I remember the last time I spake to you I spoke about an Argument of the Victory over Death that we have by Christ I will not speak now of what then I spake to but meerly Confine my self for otherwise the Argument might be very large to shew the Gain of death to Believers But I 'll confine my self to the very thing that the Apostle speaks of here in this Chapter That he should be present with Christ Therefore now I 'll speak of the Gain of being with Christ Now I confess there are many things that might be opened The Communion of the Soul departed with Jesus Christ As First It shall be immediate the Souls of the Saints while they are in the Body they have Communion with Christ but it is Mediately by other things by Ordinances and Means whereby Christ conveys Himself to them but there they shall have Communion with Christ Immediately only Christ and the Soul together Now the more Immediate the Communion is with Christ it is the more pure Here we have some Communion with Christ but a great deal of Sin mixt together with it That that is immediately from the Fountain is more pure that that comes in the Streams hath Dirt mixed with it So that that we shall have with Christ immediately shall be pure we shall have Communion with Him and nothing else We shall have no mixtures at all of any evil in our own Spirits And then Secondly Immediate communion with Christ it is more Sweet As the more Pure so the more Sweet As now the Wine that comes immediately from the Grape it hath more Spirits and is more delightful than that that is poured from Vessel to Vessel That which we have here from Christ it is that that is poured from Vessel to Vessel but that which Souls departed have from Christ is immediate and so comes more Sweet As if the Child suck Milk from the Breast it is more sweet to the Child than the Milk in a Spoon That that we have from Christ here is Milk as it were from the Spoon but that that Souls have that are departed they suck from Christ immediately and so comes to be more sweet Thirdly And more especially we account that that comes Immediately to have more Love in it As that that a Friend gives by his own hand is better and more comfortable to us So that that comes from God Immediately it 's a great deal more sweet As now here while we Live in the World the more immediate a Mercy is the more sweet it is to a gracious Heart Indeed a Mercy that comes by second Causes it 's comfortable because God Over-rules all the Causes but when it can see God immediately in a Mercy the more immediate the Hand of God is here Though God doth not work so Immediately here as He will do afterwards but the more Immediate God is here the more sweet it is And therefore in a Judgment the more Immediate the Hand of God is the more Terrible as in the Plague So in a Mercy though every Mercy is sweet yet the more Immediate God is in a Mercy the more sweet it is And then O how sweet is all the Good that the Saints have immediately from Christ therefore it 's Gain to them And then Fourthly It 's more strong The first Rebound is more Powerfull than a second and the first Gushings out are more strong The Beams of the Sun when they are first Reflected than if you take a Glass and Reflect them again and again And so that that comes Gushing out as it were of the very Heart of God it 's more strong a great deal and there is greater Impressions upon the Heart by it than that that comes by second Causes Fifthly That that comes Immediate it comes without Labour The Soul draws it from Christ and is not put to so much Pain and Labour as now we are put to If we would have Communion with Jesus Christ we must stir up our selves to the Humbling of our Hearts to the Acting of our Faith to Exercise our Graces and put the Body to it If you would have any communion with Christ in Prayer it must put you to some Labour And so in the Word and Sacraments And the Labour of a Christian is very great But when we come to have Immediate communion with Christ it will be the flowings in of Christ to the Soul without any Labour at all Sixthly It shall be more full when we come to be United to the very Fountain it self there it will be more full than the Stream Certainly there is that Good and Excellency in Christ that is too much for any Creature in the World to convey Yea take all the Creatures in the World and Ordinances they are too scant to be able to convey the Good that is in Christ yea that Good that Christ takes delight to communicate to the Souls of His People And that 's the Reason that here we have but a little Why Because the Conduits are so Narrow and Small that there can be but a little let out through those Conduits but when the Soul is with Christ immediately then it hath the Fulness of the Lettings out of Gods Mercy There will be an Eminency of every sort of Good to every poor Christian I remember Jerom speaking of that Text Christ being All in all He makes this Interpretation of it saith he Christ is here but some to some but not all to all As for Instance saith he Here some Men have some Eminency of some particular Grace conveid to them and some other Eminency of some particular Grace As Moses had an Eminency of Meekness Abraham an Eminency of Faith Job an Eminency of Patience and Solomon an Eminency of Wisdom but saith he Where was there ever a Man Eminent in all Graces But then saith he Christ shall be All in all That is Christ shall convey all Grace to all His Saints that all the Saints shall have an Eminency and Fulness in all Grace whatsoever This will be an Excellent thing Surely it 's Gain then to Die for a gracious Heart where Christ shall be thus All in all to them to convey this Fulness of Good in all things unto them Those Saints that are the Meanest now whose Souls have the least degree of true Grace they shall have an Eminency of all Grace Wouldst not thou think thy self happy if thou hadst as much Faith as Abraham as much Meekness as Moses and as much Patience as Job and as much Insight into the Misteries of the Gospel as Paul Now hadst thou as much as all the Saints ever had were not that Gain Why now as soon as thy Soul is departed from the Body thou shalt have an Eminency in all Graces as much as all the Saints ever had since the beginning of the World
then the Blessedness you spake of For I bear you record that if it had been possible you would have plucked out your own Eyes and have given them to me The meaning is this When the Gospel came at first to be Preached among them generally they cried out O this Blessed Gospel O the Blessedness O these blessed Truths that is come among us such Truths as we were not acquainted withal O they are blessed Truths indeed Mark They were thus taken with the Truths of the Gospel when they were first Preached But now saith Paul Where is the Blessedness ye spake of Your Hearts are not now so taken with the Gospel as they were at first now you seem to be taken off from it Where is the Blessedness you spake of I make no Question but many Ministers in many Congregations have Cause to make Use of these words of the Apostle when God sent them at first The Hearts of People were taken with the Ministry of the Gospel but within a while they are off again And well may their Ministers say Where is the Blessedness you spake of The Peace of the Gospel it doth not abide upon them but one thing or other takes it off from them So in Heb. 6. There you read of some that yet were not Sav'd by the Gospel or were not in a Condition at least for the present to be Sav'd yet they had a taste of the Heavenly Gift They did not only hear the Word and understand it but they Had a taste of the good Word of God O they said It was the good Word of God And Mark Of the Powers of the World to come That is of those powerful Truths of those Truths that do concern the World to come that were powerful Truths For so certainly my Brethren the Truths that do concern the World to come as powerful Truths they have a mighty deal of Power to work upon the Heart And these had not only the Apprehensions but a taste of the Powers of the World to come and yet it appears that they had not those things that did accompany Salvation Many other Scriptures might be shewed that there are many that are Affected with the Gospel yea they are Convinc'd and they have some taste of it and their Spirits taken yea almost perswaded with him that we read of almost perswaded to become a Christian and yet for all this this Mercy that is here promised to the Sons of Peace is not their Portion the peace of the Gospel doth not rest upon their Spirits It is a Blessing beyond that which any Hypocrite in the World hath to have this peace of the Gospel to rest and abide upon his Spirit That is First To be set up as a constant Light before the Soul not to come as a meer flash of Lightning suddenly come and suddenly gone but then it may be said to rest when the Lord sets up those glorious Truths of the Gospel as a constant Light before the Soul And Secondly When as the Lord works those Truths by Meditation upon the Heart the Lord causes those Truths to follow the Thoughts of the Mind and so to work them upon the Heart yea into the Heart of the Thoughts of the Mind when the Lord gives a constant real Taste of those Truths and Savour of them that though they be not alwayes Hearing of them yet the Savour and Relish doth abide in a constant way upon their Hearts when the Lord causes those Truths of the Gospel to spread all over the Faculties of their Souls that it is as the Holy Ghost compares it in Scripture to Leven The Kingdom of God is like unto Leven which in a little time doth Leven the whole Lump So when the Lord causes the Truths of the Gospel not only to be in the Mind in the Understanding in the Conscience but to get into the Heart to get into the Affections and as it were to Leven in a good sense the whole Soul by the Sweetness and the Goodness and the Excellency of those Truths Yea when the Lord shall cause those Truths to be dearly Rooted in the Heart to take such Root as Temptations and Deducements any Provocations without shall never be able to take out those Truths which are upon the Heart When the Lord shall cause them to stick so fast to sinck so deep into the Heart let there come what will to take off the Heart from them or take them out of the Heart yet they shall never be able to take them out of the Heart As a Martyr said saith he You may take my Heart out of my Body but you shall never take the Belief of these things out of my Heart O the Blessing and the Truths of the Gospel did so rest upon his Soul and they had gotten so near into his Heart that nothing in the World could take it off Many People that are a little stirr'd upon the Hearing of the Gospel and they think it is good and the Truths are Blessed Truths and they had good Resolutions but perhaps when they come Home from Hearing of the Word they shall have a Fellow-servant Jearing of them or the Father or Mother Speaking against them or the Husband the Wife or the Wife the Husband and so perhaps they come to lose all those Truths which formerly they were so taken with But those that are the Sons of Peace they have the Peace of the Gospel resting upon them as hath been Opened to you and this is a very great Blessing of God O this is a Mercy indeed for the Lord to grant the Truths of the Gospel and the Good of it thus to rest upon the Heart that the Heart doth keep it as a Treasure within it it is a great Mercy First Because it is a special Fruit of the Covenant of Grace according to that Text in Jer. 31. where God promises as the Fruit of the Covenant that he will Write His Law in their Inwards parts Now certainly by the Law it is not meant the Letter of the Ten Commandments But when He saith I will Write my Law that is My Will The great Counsels of my Will And the saving Truths of God are there meant by the Law For when David Expresses his love to the Law he means also the Soul-saving Truths that are Revealed in the Word of God and certainly there because it was in the time under the Law the Language of the Holy Ghost was suitable to the Time But certainly It is meant in a more especial manner the Truths of the Gospel That look as the Law was Written in Adams Heart at first so now those that are received into the Covenant have the Law of the Gospel and the Truths of that Written in their Hearts That is When ever they shall come to hear the Truths of the Gospel Opened to them they shall find as it were a Counterpain of the blessed Truths of the Gospel in their Hearts Yea further To have the Word of
hath prospered me in my way and course in any kind now let me go to God and exercise Faith in his Word and seek unto him in prayer that I may have a sanctified use of all these things then that God hath granted to me In 1 Tim. 4. 4 5. Every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer A little to open this Scripture That the Creature is sanctified by prayer that I suppose is easie for you to understand that is when I have any good in any Creature then I am to seek to God by prayer for a sanctified use of it unto me But how is it sanctified by the Word Now that that the Apostle doth intend here in sanctifying by the Word is this that he would shew to us That a godly man hath another kind of interest in the Creature than another man hath saith he All things are good but how shall they be good to me How shall I know that they are good to me That must be by the Word saith he I cannot know that they are good to me that I have a sanctified use of them that is that all the comforts I have I do enjoy them in order to eternal life for then a thing is sanctified when it is consecrated as it were and made holy that is when it is made useful to the highest and last end As a place is sanctified when it is separated from other things for God so when the blessing of God is upon my estate to make it to be to his glory and my last good then it is sanctified Now how comes this This is by the Word of God for we by our fall have lost all our interest in the creature unto our outward comfort Now God indeed out of his bounty doth give to some men abundance here in this world I he gives them those things that are in themselves good I but how shall they come to be good to him that must be by the Word saith he that is God by the Word of his Gospel the Covenant that he hath made with his poor servants in Christ revealed in his Word it is that that gives the godly man a sanctified use of what he hath If he hath it in a natural way it may prove a curse to him if he hath it onely by Gods general providence by the command of God in his works of providence that is no sanctified use But now if a man comes to enjoy what he hath by the word of the promise by the word of the Gospel that reveals Christ unto us and our renewed interest unto all we do enjoy by Jesus Christ This is the Word that sanctifies all to us Most men look upon what they enjoy onely but in a way of general providence Now a gracious heart looks upon what he enjoys by the word of the Promise the word of the Covenant that gives him a sanctified use and through the power of this word he comes to know how to be full and use all his abundance in a right way so that the way he takes for the making use of his fulness it is when God blesses him presently to exercise faith in the Word in the Promise to look into the Covenant Godliness hath the promise of the things of this life and of that which is to come And so he comes to make use of the promise and improve it by faith and so comes to have a sanctified use and improvement of all the good things that he doth enjoy in this world Is not this a mystery to most rich men Doth it put them upon prayer more than before and upon the exercise of Faith in the Word more than before One that is godly never prayes more than when God doth prosper him in this world It is usual for men to pray much in times of affliction In their affliction they will seek me early I but that 's a sign of a carnal heart But now a godly man when God prospers him he sees cause to pray most then I it is for poor people to live by faith that have nothing in the world You will think it 's fit for them to believe and trust in God I but a godly man uses the more faith when he hath the most in the world That 's a good way in the mystery of knowing how to be full And then a Fifth way in the mystery of knowing how to be full is this A godly heart by his fulness growes to increase his humility growes sensible of his unworthiness by his fulness Now this is a way of mystery too It is a good thing for a man to have humility together with his fulness but to have humility by his fulness this is a very great mystery it 's a rare thing to see humble prosperity but to see a man humble by his prosperity this is rare indeed Affliction will humble men that 's true every one can understand that but how prosperity should humble men that 's very hard to understand I 'll give you a clear Scripture for this how prosperity will humble a gracious heart it 's in the 2 Sam. 7. 18. The Lord there had told David of great things that he would do for him and spake to him of the honour that he had put upon him and that he would still put upon him and he would continue his House to be a great House and honourable like the great men of the earth Mark one would have thought that the heart of David should have been raised up when God told him not onely the great things that he had done but the great things he would do This would have pufft up a carnal heart But then mark in the 18 verse Then went King David in and sat before the Lord and he said who am I O Lord God and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto and this was yet a small thing in thy sight O Lord God but thou hast spoken also of thy servants house for a great while to come and is this the manner of men O Lord God and what can David say more unto tbee for thou Lord God knowest thy servant for thy words sake and according to thine own heart hast thou done all these great things to make thy servants know them wherefore thou art great O Lord God He doth not bless himself O God hath made me great but wherefore thou art great and what am I and what is my house and it is according to thine own heart and not according to any thing in me saith David The larger God was in telling of him the great things he had and should have the more humble was the heart of David O this is a good sign of true humility when you find your comings in to be more then heretofore as if you have had a great voyage many hundreds coming in of clear gain then for