their sinful Security are not to be parallell'd in Hell The Devils rebel against the Creator against his Authority and Laws but Men rebel against their Soveraign and Saviour and 't is admirable Grace The Son of God interpos'd as Mediator to make God reconcilable to the World But he did not assume the Nature of Angels he took no hold of them nor can they take hold of him The Golden Scepter was never extended to them Justice was strict and severe for the first Sin they were presently expell'd from the Habitation of Glory and their Doom is irrevocable But Men are within the Reserves of Mercy God spares them in order to Pardon and renews his compassionate Calls to them to forsake their Sins and live by his Word and wonderful Patience he invites them to Repentance and by Repentance to his Favour and to Happiness Now what a violent Provocation is the Contempt of such Mercy The Furnace of Hell is heated seven times more for the Despisers of the Gospel How will the remembrance of their Folly rack their torn Minds The fiercest Furies cannot so torment them as their self-condemning Consciences 3. Let the Ministers of the Gospel be excited to discharge their Commission with Fidelity I shall set down some Directions and Motives in order to it The general Direction is this Salus Populi suprema Lex esto The Salvation of Souls is the End of Preaching and must regulate it The Qualifications of a Minister to make him successful are First Excellent Knowledg An ignorant Minister is a plain Solaecism as to say a blind Eye not capable to perform the Act proper to it The Office and Authority without Abilities to exercise it is in vain The Apostle declares the Perfection of the Scripture that 't is profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good Works He is to instruct the Ignorant to remember the Careless to refute the Erronious to resolve the Doubting and comfort the Afflicted Not only Fidelity but Wisdom is requisite in the Servant whom his Lord made Ruler over his House to give them Meat in due season There must be substantial Learning to convince Gainsayers and spiritual Skill to understand the Arts of the Tempter who will fail with every Wind and make use of the various Dispositions of Men to do them Mischief He feeds the blazing Presumption of indulgent Sinners He speaks Peace to them when God is their Enemy if there be sometimes a sad Countenance the shadow of Repentance it is sufficient But he perplexes tender and fearful Spirits by suggesting they do not mourn enough to damp their Endeavours and make them heartless in God's Service Now 't is a principal Duty of an Evangelical Minister to unmask the Malice of Satan and defeat his Design to preach the Word in that distinct manner that secure Sinners may be afraid of Vengeance and that the Penitent may apply the Divine Mercy He that wins Souls is wise The Terrors of the Lord must be set in array against the rebellious obstinate Transgressors but the indulgent Love of our Heavenly Father the tender Compassions of our sensible Head and Saviour and the Consolations of the holy Comforter are the Portion of relenting and returning Sinners An understanding Minister instructs his People in their Duty and Happiness he will not offer them Stone for Bread intricate controversial Matters that astonish and cannot edify but plain Evangelical Truths the proper Food for the Soul The Manner and Language in Preaching must be answerable to the Majesty of Divine Truths There is nothing more odious than a sacred Subject triflingly handled The Affectation of Wit and flanting Eloquence frustrates the End of Preaching that is to convince Sinners of their Guilt and Misery and by the Conviction of Conscience to make them fly to the Sanctuary our blessed Saviour for Protection partly because those things that flatter the Fancy are not proper to affect the Conscience light trimmings of Language gaudy Expressions glittering Points of Wit please the Imagination but Conscience is excited and inflam'd by representing eternal Things with powerful Plainness and in a solemn manner and partly because the Human Spirit being limited while one Faculty is attentive another suspends its Activity and Operations so that the Exercise of the Fancy hinders the Mind from serious reflecting on Divine Truths and applying them to the Soul Vain Ornaments in a Sermon are like a painted Complection the more 't is advanc'd to the Eye the more 't is abased to the Judgment The Discourse of a Preacher should directly go to the Heart it should be so fram'd as to prove and illustrate the Subject and work on the Understanding and Affections We have the Pattern of this in Scripture where the Love and Mercy of God to his Children and his Justice and Power against his Enemies are represented in the most pathetical manner I will produce an Instance of both Can a Woman forget her sucking Child that she should not have Compassion on the Son of her Womb yea they may forget yet I will not forget thee What can be more supporting and comforting The other Instance is as terrible God is angry with the Wicked every day If he turn not he will whet his Sword he hath bent his Bow and made it ready He hath also prepared the Instruments of Death This Description of God's righteous Displeasure is more powerful to shoot through the Conscience of hardned Sinners than the bare threatnings that Justice will surely punish them Secondly A Minister should be zealous and diligent in the discharge of his Office St. Paul adjures Timothy in the most solemn and fearful manner I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judg the Quick and the Dead at his appearing and his Kingdom Preach the Word be instant in season and out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and Doctrine Did the Apostle stir up the Fire in so vigilant a Minister how much more needful is it to blow up the Embers in our drowsy Spirits Certainly if Conscience be not sear'd and dead so sharp a Charge will rouze it to the performance of our Duty Zeal for the Glory of our Saviour if it inflames our Hearts will fire our Lips and animate our Sermons Let Knowledg be the Breath to blow the sacred Fire and the most burning Zeal is not excessive But our Affections at the highest are very defective How many preach the Word so coldly as if they had no desire to save Souls from eternal Death How many Ministers lie down in their Laziness and wretchedly neglect their Duty to better themselves and benefit others in preaching the Gospel Idleness enervates and unstrings the Bent of the Spirit the Mind is benumm'd by a useless and ignoble Dulness Some who are deputed Shepherds may think it a Disparagement to their
Reflections our Sorrow should be most afflicting our Humiliation deeper our Selfcondemnation most severe for those Sins which have been most dishonourable to God and defiling to us Not that we can make any Satisfaction for our Sins tho we should fill the Air with our Sighs and Heaven with our Tears but it becomes us to have our Sorrows inlarged in some proportion to our Unworthiness And this mournful Disposition prepares us for the Grace of God The Law does not allow Repentance but exacts entire Obedience 't is the Privilege of the Gospel that repenting Sinners are assur'd of Forgiveness without this Qualification 't is inconsistent with the Majesty Purity and Justice of God to extend pardoning Mercy to Sinners for they will never value nor humbly and ardently seek for Mercy till they feel the woful Effects of Sin in their Conscience only the stung Israelite would look to the brazen Serpent And this is requisite to prevent our relapsing into Sin for the Dominion of Sin being founded in the Love of Pleasure the proper means to extinguish it is by a bitter Repentance the Heart is first broken for Sin and then from it To conclude Let us renew our Repentance every day let not the Wounds of our Spirits putrify let not the Sun go down upon God's Wrath let us always renew the Application of Christ's Blood that alone can cleanse us from Sin SERMON III. 1 JOHN V. 2. By this we know we are the Children of God if we love God and keep his Commandments OF all the Marks that are useful in the Trial of our Spiritual State in reference to Eternity there is none affords a more clear and comfortable Assurance of God's special and saving Mercy than Love to the Saints This has often resolved the Doubts and quieted the Fears of afflicted enquiring Souls when other Graces have not been so apprehensible in their Operations But there is no Mark which the deceitful Heart does more securely rest upon through the mistake of Natural Human Love for that which is Spiritual and Divine It is therefore most worthy our serious Thoughts the Deceit being so easy and infinitely dangerous to shew what is the unfeigned genuine Love of the Brethren to which Salvation is annex'd to confirm the humble sincere Christian and undeceive presuming Hypocrites The great Design of St. John in this Epistle is to excite and enflame in Christians the Love of God and of their Brethren the two comprehensive Duties and bright Sum of the Law our principal Perfections in Heaven and Earth These he recommends by the most affectionate and obliging the most warming melting Perswasives the superlative Love of God to us and our Communion with the Saints in Nature and Grace In the former Verse the Apostle argues from the reality of the Effect as an Evidence of the Cause Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ that is the Saviour of the World foretold by the Prophets and expresses the Truth of that Faith in a sutable Conversation is born of God and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him Grace is not less powerful in producing tender reciprocal Affections between the Off-spring of the same Heavenly Father than the subordinate Endearments of Nature The Pretence is vain of Love to God without loving his regenerate Children And in the Text he argues from the knowledg of the Cause to the discovering of the sincerity of the Effect By this we know that we love the Children of God with a holy Affection if we love God and keep his Commandments There is but one Difficulty to be removed that the Force of the Apostle's reasoning may appear 't is this a Medium to prove a thing must be a clearer Evidence than what is concluded by it Now tho a Demonstration from the Cause be more noble and scientifical yet that which is drawn from the Effect is more near to Sense and more discernable And this is verified in the Instance before us for the Love of God who is absolutely spiritual in his Being and Excellencies doth not with that sensible Fervour affect and passionately transport us as Love to his Children with whom we visibly converse and who are receptive of the most sensible Testimonies of our Affection Accordingly the Apostle argues He that loves not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen As the Motives to love our Brethren from our Conjunction in Nature and familiar Conversation are more capable to allure our Affections and more sensibly strike the Heart than the invisible Deity who is infinitely above us by the same reason we may more easily judg of the truth of our Love to them than of our Love to God To this the Answer is clear the Apostle doth not speak of the Love of God as a still silent contemplative Affection confined to the superiour Faculty of the Soul but as a burning shining Affection like Fire active and declarative of it self in those Effects that necessarily flow from it that is voluntary Obedience to his Commands and thus it becomes manifest to the renewed Conscience and is a most convincing Proof of the Sincerity of our Love to the Saints The Text being cleared affords this Doctrine Doct. The Sincerity of our Love to the Children of God is certainly discovered by our Love to God and Obedience to his Commands For the Illustration and Proof of the Point I will briefly shew I. Who are described by this Title The Children of God II. What is included in our Love to them III. What the Love of God is and the Obedience that flows from it IV. How from Love to God and willing Obedience to his Commands we may convincingly know the Sincerity of our Love to his Children To explain the first we must consider that this Title The Children of God is given upon several accounts First By Creation the Angels are called the Sons of God and Men his Off-spring The reason of the Title is 1. The manner of their Production by his immediate Power Thus he is stiled The Father of Spirits in distinction from the Fathers of the Flesh. For tho the Conception and forming of the Body be the Work of his secret Providence yet 't is by the hand of Nature the Parents concurring as the second Causes of it but the Production of the Soul is to be entirely ascribed to his Power without the Intervention of any Creature 2. In their spiritual immortal Nature and the intellectual Operations flowing from it there is an Image and Resemblance of God from whence this Title is common to all reasonable Creatures and peculiar to them for tho Matter may be ordered and fashioned by the Hand of God into a Figure of admirable Beauty yet 't is not capable of his Likeness and Image so that neither the Lights of Heaven nor the Beasts and Plants of the Earth are called his Children Secondly By External Calling and Covenant
some are denominated his Children for by this Evangelical Constitution God is pleased to receive Believers into a filial Relation Indeed where there is not a cordial Consent and Subjection to the Terms of the Covenant visible Profession and the receiving the External Seals of it will be of no advantage but the publick serious owning of the Gospel entitles a Person to be of the Society of Christians and Filius and Foederatus are all one Thirdly There is Sonship that arises from supernatural Regeneration that is the communicating a new Nature to Man whereby there is a holy and blessed Change in the directive and commanding Faculties the Understanding and Will and in the Affections and consequently in the whole Life This is wrought by the Efficacy of the Word and Spirit and is called by our Saviour Regeneration because it is not our Original Carnal Birth but a Second and Celestial 'T is with the new Man in Grace as with an Infant in Nature that has the essential Parts that compose a Man a Soul endowed with all its Faculties a Body with all its Organs and Parts but not in the Vigor of mature Age. Thus renewed Holiness in a Christian is compleat and entire in its Parts but not in Perfection of Degrees there is an universal Inclination to all that is holy just and good and a universal Aversion from Sin tho the Executive Power be not equal And regenerate Christians are truly called the Children of God for as in Natural Generation there is communicated a Principle of Life and sutable Operations from whence the Title and Relation of a Father arises so in Regeneration there are derived such holy and heavenly Qualities to the Soul as constitute a Divine Nature in Man whereby he is Partaker of the Life and Likeness of God himself from hence he is a Child of God and has an Interest and Propriety in his Favour Power and Promises and all the Good that flows from them and a Title to the Eternal Inheritance II. I will shew what is included in our Love to the Children of God First The Principle of this Love is Divine The Soul is purified through the Spirit to unfeigned Love of the Brethren Naturally the Judgment is corrupted and the Will depraved that carnal Respects either of Profit or Pleasure are the quick and sensible Incitements of Love and till the Soul be cured of the sensual Contagion the Inclination can never be directed and the Desires fastned on the supernatural Image of God in his Saints As Holiness in the Creature is a Ray derived from the infinite Beauty of God's Holiness so the Love of Holiness is a Spark from the sacred Fire of his Love St. John exhorts Christians Let us love one another for Love is of God Natural Love among Men is by his general Providence but a gracious Love to the Saints is by his special Influence The natural Affection must be baptized with the Holy Ghost as with Fire to refine it to a Divine Purity Secondly The Qualifications of this Love are as follow 1. It is sincere and cordial it does not appear only in Expressions from the Tongue and Countenance but springs from the Integrity of the Heart 'T is stiled unfeigned Love of the Brethren 't is a Love not in Word and Tongue only but in Deed and Truth A counterfeit formal Affection set off with artificial Colours is so far from being pleasing to God the Searcher and Judg of Hearts that 't is infinitely provoking to him 2. 'T is pure the attractive Cause of it is the Image of God appearing in them Our Saviour assures us that Love shall be gloriously rewarded that respects a Disciple upon that account as a Disciple and a righteous Man as a righteous Man The holy Love commanded in the Gospel is to Christians for their Divine Relation as the Children of God as the Members of Christ and Temples of the Holy Ghost 3. From hence it is universal extended to all the Saints The Church is composed of Christians that are different in their Gifts and Graces and in their external Order some excel in Knowledg and Zeal and Love in active Graces others in Humility Meekness and Patience that sustain and adorn them in Sufferings some are in a higher Rank others are in humble Circumstances as in the visible World things are placed sutably to their Natures the Stars in the Heavens Flowers in the Earth and our special Respects are due to those whom the Favour of God has dignified above others and in whom the Brightness and Power of Grace shines more clearly for according as there are more Reasons that make a Person deserving Love the degrees of Love should rise in proportion But a dear Affection is due even to the lowest Saints for all have Communion in the same holy Nature and are equally instated in the same blessed Alliance 4. It must be fervent not only in Truth but in a degree of Eminency St. Peter joins the two Qualifications See that ye love one another with a pure Heart fervently Our Saviour sets before us his own Pattern as a Pillar of Fire to direct and inflame us This is my Commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you As I have loved you Admirable Example His Love was singular and superlative a Love that saves and astonishes us at once for he willingly gave his precious Life for our Ransom This we should endeavour to resemble tho our highest Expressions of Love and Compassion to the Saints are but a weak and imperfect Imitation of his Divine Perfection I shall add farther This Love includes all kinds of Love 1. The Love of Esteem correspondent to the real Worth and special Goodness of the Saints 'T is one Character of a Citizen of Heaven that in his Eyes a vile Person is contemned however set off by the Glory of the World and the Ornaments of the present State that as a false Mask conceal their foul Deformity to carnal Persons but he honours them that fear the Lord tho disfigured by Calumnies tho obscur'd and depress'd by Afflictions and made like their blessed Head in whom there was no Form nor Comeliness in the Judgment of Fools In our Valuation Divine Grace should turn the Scales against all the natural or acquired Perfections of Body or Mind Beauty Strength Wit Eloquence human Wisdom against all the external Advantages of this Life Nobility Riches Power and whatever is admired by a carnal Eye The Judgment and Love of God should regulate ours A Saint is more valued by God than the highest Princes nay than the Angels themselves considered only with respect to their spiritual Nature He calls them his peculiar Treasure his Jewels the first-Fruits of the Creatures sacred for his Use and Glory in comparison of whom the rest of the World are but Dregs a corrupt Mass. They are stiled his Sons being Partakers of that Life of which he is the Author and
a sollicitous diligent Respect to all God's Precepts is a melancholy Task but it is delightful to the Saints for Obedience is the continual exercise of Love to God the Paradise of holy Souls The mortification of the Carnal Appetites and the restraint from such Objects as powerfully insinuate and engage Carnal Hearts is with a freer Complacency to a Saint than a sensual Fruition of them The sharpest Sufferings for Religion are allayed nay sweetned to a Saint from the Love of God that is then most sincerely strongly and purely acted The Apostle more rejoiced in sharp Tribulation for Christ's sake than in Divine Revelation 4. The Love of God produces persevering Obedience Servile Compliance is inconstant A Slave hates the Duties he performs and loves the Sins he dares not commit therefore as soon as he is releas'd from his Chain and his Fear his Obedience ceases but a Son is perfectly pleas'd with his Father's Will and the Tenor of his Life is correspondent to it He that is press'd by Fear to serve in an Army will desert his Colours the first Opportunity but a Volunteer that for the love of Valour and of his Country lists himself will continue in the Service The Motion that is caused by outward Poises will cease when the Weights are down but that which proceeds from an inward Principle of Life is continual and such is the Love of God planted in the Breast of a Christian IV. We are to prove that from the Love of God and willing Obedience to his Commands we may convincingly know the sincerity of our Love to his Children There is an inseparable Union between these two Graces and the one arises out of the other Godliness and Brotherly Kindness are joined by the Apostle And it will be evident that where this Affection of Love to the Saints is sincere and gracious there will be an entire and joyful respect to the Law of God by considering the Reasons and Motives of it First The Divine Command requires this Love These things I command you saith our Saviour that ye love one another This Precept so often repeated and powerfully re-inforc'd by him made so deep an Impression on the first Christians that they had one Heart and one Soul and their Estates were common between them And in the next succeeding Ages this fraternal Love was so conspicuous in the Professors of his sacred Discipline that their Enemies observ'd it as a rare and remarkable thing See how the Christians love one another see how ready they are to die for one another Now the same gracious Principle that inclines us to do one Command will make us universally willing to observe all for sincere Obedience primarily respects the Authority of the Law-giver which binds the whole Law upon the Conscience And as he that breaks the Law wilfully in one Point is guilty of all because the Violation of a single Precept proceeds from the same Cause that induces Men to transgress all that is Contempt of the Divine Majesty so he that sincerely obeys one Command does with consent of Heart and serious Endeavours obey all And from hence 't is clear that without a religious and unreserved regard of the Divine Commands 't is impossible there should be in any Person a gracious Affection to the Saints that is the product of Obedience to God and consequently the observance of his Precepts is the certain Proof of our Love to his Children Secondly Spiritual Love to the Saints arises from the sight of the Divine Image appearing in their Conversation Now if the Beauty of Holiness be the attractive of our Love it will be fastned on the Law of God in the most intense degree The most excellent Saints on Earth have some mixtures of Corruption their Holiness is like the Morning-light that is checker'd with the Shadows and Obscurity of the Night and 't is our Wisdom not to love their Infirmities but to preserve an unstained Affection to them But the Law of God is the fairest Transcript of his Nature wherein his glorious Holiness is most resplendent The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul the Commandment of the Lord is pure enlightning the Eyes This ravish'd the Heart of David with an inexpressible Affection O how I love thy Law it is my Meditation all the day And he repeats the Declaration of his Love to it with new Fervor upon this ground I love thy Law because it is pure Now Love to the Commands of God will transcribe them in our Hearts and Lives As affectionate Expressions to the Children of God without the real supply of their Wants are but the shadows of Love so words of Esteem and Respect to the Law of God without unfeigned and universal Obedience are but an empty Pretence Thirdly The Divine Relation of the Saints to God as their Father is the Motive of Spiritual Love to them And this is consequent to the former for by partaking of his Holiness they partake of his Life and Likeness And from hence they are the dearest Objects of his Love his Eye and Heart is always upon them Now if this Consideration excites Love to the Children of God it will be as powerful to incline us to keep his Commands for the Law of God that is the Copy of his Sacred Will is most near to his Nature and he is infinitely tender of it Our Saviour tells us that it is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for one tittle of the Law to fail If the entire World and all the Inhabitants of it were destroyed there would be no loss to God but if the Law lose its Authority and Obligation the Divine Holiness would suffer a Blemish The Use of the Doctrine is to try our Love to the Children of God to which all pretend by this infallible Rule our Obedience to his Commands This is absolutely necessary because the Deceit is so easy and so dangerous and it will be most comfortable if upon this Trial our Love be found to be Spiritual and Divine The Deceit is easy because Acts of Love may be expressed to the Saints from other Principles than the Love of God Some for vain-Glory are bountiful and when their Charity seems so visibly Divine that Men admire it there is the Worm of Vanity at the Root that corrupts and makes it odious to God The Pharisees are charged with this by our Saviour their Alms were not the Effect of Charity but Ostentation and whilst they endeavoured to make their Vices vertuous they made their Vertues vicious There is a natural Love among Persons united by Consanguinity that remains so entire since the Ruine of Mankind by the Fall and is rather from the force of Nature than the virtue of the Will and this is in all kind Offices may be express'd to the Saints There is a sweetness of Temper in some that inclines them to wish well to all and such tender Affections that are easily
the Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law neither can be As the Lusts of the Flesh are opposite to the Law of God so the Wisdom of the Flesh is to the Gospel This corrupt Nature makes the World such a dangerous Snare to Men for it blinds their Minds so as not to see the Dros of Earthly Things and the Glory of Heavenly St. John expresses the tempting Objects of the World by the vicious Affections that are drawn out and fastn'd upon them All that is in the World is the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life for the Lusts of Men put a Gloss upon them and make them pernicious The Poison is not in the Flowers but in the Spider that turns the Extraction from them into its own Nourishment Accordingly St. Peter speaks of the Corruption in the World through Lust. The vain Heart is more deceitful than the vain World for not only Reason that instructs the Wise but Experience that instructs Fools affords sufficient Conviction that all things here below are Vanity and Vexation there is none so low none so exalted in the World but finds it so By tasting a sprig of Wormwood the Bitterness is perceived as truly as by drinking a strong Infusion of it The World with all its Varieties is a multiplied and perpetuated Vanity it affords no solid Satisfaction the setting down a thousand Cyphers makes no Sum. But the carnal Heart is so enchanted with the false Lustre and seeming Pleasures of the World that by changing one Vanity for another it seeks and expects Satisfaction This verifies the Observation of the wise Preacher The Heart of the Sons of Men is full of Evil and Madness is in their Hearts while they live and after that they go down to the Dead What a prodigy of Madness is it for Men to catch at a shadow of Happiness to seek for that which they are uncertain to find and if they do find they are certain to lose and to neglect substantial Felicity which if they sincerely seek they shall obtain and if they obtain they shall enjoy for ever But that it may be more evident that the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts does powerfully interpose to hinder Men from embracing the Gospel I will particularly consider its Opposition to the supernatural Doctrines revealed in the Gospel the Objects of Faith to the holy Precepts of it the Rule of Obedience to the spiritual Rewards recommended to our Choice 1. The great Mystery of Godliness is the Incarnate Son of God who by an ignominious and accursed Death purchased a glorious blessed Life for his People this Doctrine is accounted Foolishness and rejected by the proud unrenewed Mind The Gospel is stiled the Word of Faith 't is conveyed to the Soul with Authority and Efficacy by Faith As Faith in Christ was required of the Sick and Blind and Lame that his healing Vertue might rest on them so the belief of the Divinity of his Person and Doctrine is the first vital Qualification that makes us capable of spiritual healing Infidelity stops the Fountain of Grace The Apostle saith the Word preach'd did not profit them that heard it not being mixt with Faith Now altho the Light of the Gospel be so clear and convincing that the sincere considering Mind cannot suspend its Assent to it yet the carnal Mind stain'd with Prejudices and vicious Affections will not admit it An evil Heart is the principal cause of Unbelief The Jews from Pride Vain-Glory and the Love of the World rejected the Son of God tho all the Characters of the Messias were conspicuous in him he did not come with visible Glory and Observation according to their Expectations and Desires they saw no Form nor Comeliness in him and did not believe the Report concerning him they were scandaliz'd at his Parentage and mean Condition he discovered their beloved Sins and sharply reproved the reigning Vices among them which made his Person and his Preaching so odious to them Our Saviour tells us that Light was come into the World and Men love Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds are evil The Prejudice of their Passions was so strong that they rejected the saving Truths of the Gospel and believed damnable Delusions Now the same Roots of Offence are in the Hearts of Men against the Gospel Such a Cloud arises from the Steam of carnal Lusts darkning the Understanding that it cannot discover Truths so high as the mysterious Doctrines of Christ. Love in the Heart is requisite as well as Light in the Mind to know spiritual things Obedience to the Will of God is the best Preparative to believe his Word Our Saviour justly tax'd the Pharisees they did not repent that they might believe Men are averse from receiving those Doctrines that condemn their Lusts and are Infidels that they may be freely wicked that the Shadow of Repentance may not disturb them 'T is said of Atheistical Scorners they are willingly ignorant The corrupt Will rules imperiously and turns the Thoughts from those Arguments which if duly considered Reason with a strong hand would constrain them to acknowledg there is a righteous God who has Authority to command and Power to punish those who rebel against his Laws 'T is true they pretend to offer something for a more colourable Denial of supernatural Revelation but the perversness of Infidelity appears through all their Pretences Some object against the Sublimity of the Doctrines of the Gospel It was the scornful Expression of one This is like the Peace of God that passes all Understanding As if the Reality of things depended upon the Conception and Capacity of the Human Mind and Divine Truths were impossible because incomprehensible Such foolish Pride obstructs the Reception of Divine Truths and from hence humble Christians are despised as led by a blind Belief Others are offended at the simplicity of the revealing them The Doctrines are so high they cannot reach unto the manner of conveying them is so low they will not stoop to But 't is evident these arguings are not from the Reason but the Lusts of Men. For the rare Accord of the Matter and Manner of the Gospel-Revelation is a sensible Character of its Descent from God The Doctrine is high and bright of an extraordinary Revelation the Delivery of it is easy and familiar since 't is for the Instruction and Salvation of Men and accordingly the Divine Wisdom has made an exact Temperament of these things Briefly the corrupt Affections pervert the Will to reject the Gospel and the perverted Will influences the Understanding to disapprove it Nay carnal Lusts force Men against their Light as the Jews did Pilate to condemn the Person of Christ to condemn his Doctrine There are many in this degenerate Age who altho they dare not publickly own the defil'd and abhorr'd Name of Infidels yet among their Companions employ their
and the Terrors of Conscience he will blow them up again Now any reigning Lust is a Viceroy of Satan's and keeps Possession for him and consequently excludes the Son of God from Admission into the Heart 3. He perswades Men that Religion in its Power and Strictness is not necessary the abstaining from enormous Crimes and the performance of some outward Service will be available for Salvation Hell is the Portion of the Devil and his Children and none are of his Race but incarnate Devils unclean Spirits in brutish Bodies He makes use of carnal Men under the pretence of Friendship to perswade those who make a Shew of Conscience to be less tender and vigilant by telling them this Strictness is superfluous 't will spoil you make you unsociable and odious the Wise and Learned that think to go to Heaven with the first take a greater liberty they will say Moderation is a Vertue and by the pretence of Temper cherish the loathsom Distemper of Lukewarmness that is as fatal as a deadly Coldness The Tempter will permit Men to make use of Religion as a Medicine a little in fainting Fits to relieve and recover them but not as our daily Food not to be their diligent and constant Practice The crafty Serpent will abuse the Words of the holy Spirit Be not righteous overmuch As Judas said of the precious Ointment poured upon our Saviour Why was this waste so carnal Men are apt to say Why these severe Restraints from satisfying the natural Appetites Why such Circumspection in our walking Why keep the Lord's-day so religiously Is it not enough to hear the Sermons May we not afterwards unbend and enjoy free Society and recreate our selves with carnal Contentments They do not believe that God is so strict in his Commands nor will be so exact in requiring an account for them fond Creatures to entertain such carnal Conceits of God to think him like themselves They are apt to say the Ministers will fetter them all by imaginative Rules of Holiness unprescribed in the Scriptures For Men would fain have the Light and the Law that regulates them to be sutable to their Appetites and Actions But are we not commanded to imitate and honour our Pattern to be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy in all manner of Conversation Are we not enjoined to work out our own Salvation with Fear and Trembling to cleanse our selves from all Pollutions of Flesh and Spirit and to perfect Holiness in the Fear of God to follow Holiness with the most zealous and unsatisfied Desires that if it were possible we might anticipate Heaven on Earth Can there be any Excuse for neglecting these holy Duties There are none more dangerously deceived than those that think they are holy enough and make no question of the Favour of God and their final Happiness They condemn profane outragious Sinners those who visibly come short of them they think will fall short of Salvation but to excel them they think is a needless Preciseness a Pride of Singularity a Mask of Hypocrisy 'T is one of Satan's Arts to conceal the Good that is in the Saints that they may condemn themselves and to conceal the Evil that is in the Unregenerate that they may flatter themselves How many fall as deep as Hell from such high Hopes for he that does not seriously desire and endeavour to be renewed into the unspotted Image of God was never truly renewed SERMON VIII LUKE xiv 23. The Lord said to the Servant Compel them to come in that my House may be full 3dly IF Conscience be not seared and senseless but awakens Sinners to reflect upon their Condition and to seek for the pardoning Mercy of God he deceives them with false Notions of Faith and Repentance and hinders their entire Compliance with the Terms of Mercy offered in the Gospel Final Unbelief and Impenitence utterly exclude Men from Salvation for the Death of Christ was not appointed to be a Sacrifice for those Sins There is no Salvation to be obtain'd without the Remission of Sin no Remission without the Blood of Christ no Application of that precious Blood without Faith This is the vital Qualification required in all justified Persons for it has a peculiar Efficiency in receiving Christ and Pardon and ascribes the Glory of it intirely to the Mercy of God and Merits of Christ. 'T is said To as many as received him he gave Power to become the Sons of God to those who believed on his Name Receiving is relative to God's Offer of Christ to the Condemned and Miserable and implies the taking him in all the Essentials of his Office as a Prophet to instruct us in our Duty and Happiness by his Word and Spirit as a Priest to atone the Divine Displeasure by his Propitiation and Intercession as a King to govern us by his Law and to bestow spiritual and eternal Blessings on us Faith receives whole Christ as a Kingly Priest and a saving Prince he is stiled a Priest upon a Throne a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance and Remission of Sins He purchas'd the Forgiveness of Sins as a Priest by his Sufferings on the Cross and pardons as a King upon the Throne from hence it necessarily follows that Faith receives Pardon from him in that Relation wherein he procur'd it and confers it The Apostle declares He died for our Sins and rose again for our Justification and thereby redeem'd us and acquir'd a Dominion over us then 't is clear and consequent that saving Faith receives him for all those Uses for which God did appoint him and accordingly purifies the Heart overcomes the World works by Love and Love is the Spring and Substance of every Duty the fulfilling of the Law Now Carnal Men are deceived in this Imagination that the single Act of resting upon Christ is sufficient to entitle them to the Promise of Salvation to all that believe in him they desire an Interest in Christ to quiet their Consciences and the World to satisfy their Affections They will rest on him as a Redeemer but reject him as a Lord they would enjoy his Salvation but will not endure his Dominion they will come to partake of the Festival-Entertainment the Pardon of their Sins but not for the Honour of the Bridegroom As if the Gospel were a free Charter to Sin and gave an impure Indulgence to the vicious Affections which is as inconsistent with it as the Darkness of the Night with Noon-day in the same Hemisphere for then it would foil it self and frustrate its own End Our Saviour first redeems from Sin from the vain Conversation then from Hell There can be no regular saving Trust on his Death without an unfeigned Resolution to live within the Compass of his Laws He is the Author of Eternal Salvation to all that obey him 'T is a blasphemous Conceit that he will save Men with their Sins If they will die in such a pleasing Dream who can prevent it
his Voice harden not your Hearts Yet against all the Evidence of the Word without and of Conscience within Satan so strongly deceives Men that they rebelliously neglect their Duty till their Time and Life are expiring But how unbecoming how difficult how hazardous is a late Repentance How unbecoming is it to put off God till hereafter Such is his glorious Majesty we should with the most reverent Respect and humble Thankfulness obey his first Call If a Prince should invite a Subject to come to him for some great Favour would he so break all the Rules of Decorum as to delay his coming by saying Hereafter will be time enough And what is the greatest Majesty on Earth to the God of Glory no more than a More to the Sun and proportionably the Indignity arises to neglect the Offers of his Grace Besides how incongruous is it to give the Flower of our Time and Strength to our Lusts and to reserve the Bran for God To spend the Age of our vital and vigorous Actions in the Vanities and Business of the World and to allow only our languishing Age for the obtaining of Heaven That Men should content themselves with dead Affections in his Service who is their Life that were so lively in the Service of Sin that is their Death How difficult is a late Repentance Can you repent and believe at your pleasure Men think that in their Age after the ebbing and retirement of the carnal Affections they shall more easily forsake their Sins but 't is a pernicious Deceit The native Corruption of Mens Hearts alienates them from a dutiful return to God and contracted Corruption by habitual Practice fastens them in Sin as their Centre In Youth when the Blood and Spirits are high and fierce the Body has a corrupting Influence upon the Mind but by Custom in Sin the Mind is so depraved that it heats the frozen Blood and corrupts the Body Suppose the exciting Grace of the Spirit be not totally withdrawn which has often been ineffectual Can it be expected that after Men have been hardened in the commission and continuance of Sin they should be more receptive of Heavenly Impressions A Disease neglected at first that stealingly slips into the Habit of the Body and gradually weakens Nature becomes at last uncontroulable and incurable How hazardous is it to neglect present Obedience to the Call of Divine Mercy Our Days in the Language of the Psalmist are but as an hand-breadth and can Men extend their Lives beyond their Span A vast Eternity follows without Dimensions an undivided Duration It is no more in their Power to continue Time to come than to recal Time past How many are surpriz'd by hasty Death in their Security and die in their unrepented Sins and perish for ever The wise Man alarms the Sluggard with approaching Poverty and his Expressions are very applicable to the Delayers of Repentance Death comes like a Traveller gradually by silent Steps and as an armed Man will irresistably arrest them and Damnation follows which they can neither repel nor discover till they are seiz'd by it O that deluded Sinners would consider that nothing so ripens them for Death and accelerates Judgment as the Presumption that the Season of Grace will continue notwithstanding their lavish and careless wasting it But suppose that Life be extended to the utmost Date can you expect that the holy Spirit should visit you that have been so long putrifying in the Grave and breath a new Life into you 'T is the most severe threatning My Spirit shall not always strive with Man and then their Case is desperate There is a fearful Example recorded in Scripture the old World was first drowned in Sensuality and resisted the holy Spirit till he was withdrawn and then the Deluge wash'd away those Swine in their Mire Can you expect that at last when the World and your Sins leave you God will accept and receive you You are commanded to seek him in your early Spring in the first Dawnings of his Light and Favour and is a poor Remnant of your Life sufficient for obtaining his Meroy The Harlots respected not the dead but contended for the living Child Satan and the World strive to have the prime and best part of your Lives and will God be contented with the dying Remains Or do you expect an easy Composition for all the Abuse of his Benefits because of his Patience Do you presume because he forbears so long he will readily forgive at last The Servant not call'd to an account till he was run into an irrecoverable Arrearage of ten thousand Talents was delivered to the Tormentors till he should pay all his Debt How are Men degenerated and fallen lower than the Brute Creatures The Stork in the Heaven knows her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming but Men know not the Judgment of the Lord. This Consideration made our compassionate Saviour dip his Words in Tears He beheld the City and wept over it saying If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things that belong to thy Peace but now they are hid from thine Eyes O wretched deceived Souls how long will you neglect a Saviour and Salvation How long shall he wait to be gracious and expect your lingering Repentance in vain Remember the time of Grace is limited if you refuse Obedience to the present Call do you know he will renew the Offers of his Grace Now is the accepted Time now is the Day of Salvation Will this New last for ever There is no Now of Favour and Hope in Hell 'T is true God is merciful and 't is one of his Royal Titles The God of Patience though Threatnings are denounced against Sinners and Judgments are ready to seize upon them he repents and stops his Wrath but there is no State more fearful in this World than when Men by neglecting Repentance make God weary of repenting When Patience has had its perfect Work towards the Unrelenting and Unreformed Justice succeeds before God cuts off a Sinner he cuts off all his Excuses Read with Fear the first of the Proverbs Because I have called and you refused I will laugh at your Calamity and mock when your Fear cometh God's Frown much more his Scorn is infinitely terrible and insupportable Those who delay Repentance till the Body is diseased all over and Death is printed in the Countenance and the languishing Lights are almost quench'd and the vital Frame is near a Dissolution yet presume a few Sighs will transport their Souls to Heaven How just and dreadful will their Disappointment be However they are deceived God is not mocked as a Man sows he shall reap SERMON IX LUKE xiv 23. The Lord said to the Servant Compel them to come in that my House may be full II. I Am now to consider the Means by which Men are wrought on to accept of the Invitations of
Grace in the Gospel The Sum of what has been discoursed of sinful and miserable Man is this The Understanding the directing Faculty is in ignorant Darkness and a dead Slumber not apprehensive of his Misery A dead Eye does not see its want of Sight nor a dead Heart feel its want of Life If the Head be obstructed with clammy Humours the whole Body is without Sense for the Nerves have their Root in the Brain and are the Channels to convey powerful Spirits to give Sense and Vigor and Motion to all the Parts The Will is a fierce and free Faculty commanding and active perverted and stubborn against the holy Law of God The Affections are exceedingly disordered and strongly inclin'd to sensual Things that flatter them with Satisfaction and very tumultuous and fiery against whatever shall cross their natural Inclinations Now how can one so stupid and refractory be made soft and flexible to the Call of Mercy As the Epicurean in Tully objects against the making of the World quae machinae qui vectes What Engines what Leavers were used in raising this vast Fabrick What he spoke in Derision may be said with Wonder What Engines what Instruments are used in craning up a Soul sunk below the Center to the highest Heaven What in making the new Creation that is more glorious and lasting than the first 'T is a Work respectively impossible not absolutely it can only be effected by the Power of God There is no Principle of Recovery left in fallen Man The Conversion of him from Sin to Holiness and from the Creature to God is a Miracle of Grace if he converted himself it were super-miraculous God can by his commanding Power bring Light out of Darkness but 't is plainly impossible that Darkness should produce Light The external Ministration of the Gospel without the concomitant Ministry of the Spirit is ineffective The Divinest Preacher cannot soften the Iron Sinew nor melt the Heart of Stone nor make the Rock to tremble The Prophet Isaiah whose sublime Eloquence overcomes all the admired Orators of the World yet complains Who has believed our Report to whom is the Arm of the Lord reveal'd The Angels of Light if they were sent from Heaven and were in this sense ministring Spirits they could not by their Seraphick Zeal and most excellent Eloquence change and reform Sinners One evil Angel seduced and corrupted the best Man Adam in the State of Innocence and Happiness but a Council of good Angels cannot restore one Man tho the least tainted to Holiness and Felicity No Creature can be a Creator the Sanctification of a Sinner is a new Creation 'T is only the Word of Life spoken by the Lord of Life that can raise dead Bodies and dead Souls Suppose the Word of God be assisted by his Rod yet that will be ineffectual to cleanse and change their Hearts without Divine Grace 'T is according to the wise Order of God whom the Word does not convert the Rod is made use of to cure and whom the Rod does not cure the Sword cuts off Prosperity furnishes the Carnal Appetites with delightful Objects and Men are easily induced to neglect their Duty like Children that forget their Lesson when they are at play Sense that reigns in Beasts and should serve in Men is then predominant But Affliction imbitters the carnal Sweets and is a proper Means to fix the Thoughts and restore the Mind to its Right and Jurisdiction as Blows and hard Usage bind up the ranging Fancy in distracted Persons tames and tires them and thereby reduces them to Sobriety Thus God is often pleased by Afflictions to shew Men their Transgressions to open their Ears to Discipline and effectually command them to return from their Iniquities But without the Instruction of his Spirit joins with the Voice of the Rod the utmost Effect of even sharp and long Afflictions is a forc'd and fading Repentance Constrained Devotion is like Fire struck out of a Flint hardly got and soon gone Thus 't is said of the Israelites in the Wilderness When he slew them they sought him they return'd and sought early after God but their Heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant How many open Rebels have been awaken'd by the fear of Death and when they have tasted and seen the Terrors of the Lord what Addresses what Submissions what Promises have they made to God but after their Reprieve how soon have they forgot the past Terrors and broke all the Bars of Reason and of their Resolutions and been as unreform'd as ever The wise Man tells us Bray a Fool in a Mortar pound him in pieces his Folly will remain in him Nay Miracles without the Application of them by Grace to the Spirits of Men are ineffectual to work Faith and Repentance The End of them is by the Evidence of Sense to excite the Mind to consider the Power that works them But they may astonish the Sense and the Mind not be convinc'd or if convinc'd yet they leave no permanent Operation upon the Hearts of the Spectators Moses charges the Israelites that notwithstanding they had seen all the miraculous Strokes of God's Power upon Pharaoh and his Servants yet the Lord hath not given you an Heart to perceive and Eyes to see and Ears to hear to this day When the Son of God appear'd in his own Likeness and did such numerous and conspicuous Miracles that compell'd the most stubborn Devils to acknowledg his Deity yet the Pharisees remained obstinate and inconvincible The Souldiers who saw him rising in Power and Glory and were almost frighten'd to Death at the sight yet continued obdurate in their Infidelity Our Saviour assures us No Man can come to him except the Father which hath sent me draw him The Words are full of Emphasis No Man the Negation is universal not only the Act is denied No Man comes but the Power can come no less than Omnipotent Grace draws him A carnal Man will not come to Christ for Life and he cannot will to come for his Mind is so fore-laid with Prejudice and his Will is so depraved and intangled with the love of Sin that he cannot sincerely desire to be set free Every delightful Sin is like a charm'd Circle out of which the Sinner cannot move We are not to conceive of this Disability as if Sinners had not deliberative and elective Faculties to consider and choose what is best such a Disability would be an Argument for their Innocence and Justification Neither as if Men had a Will to forsake Sin and wanted Power like a miserable Slave that sighs after Liberty but is fasten'd by heavy Fetters but the perverse Will keeps them in Bondage They serve divers Lusts and Pleasures and delight in their Fetters 'T is a voluntary culpable Impotence join'd with a strong Reluctancy to Grace 't is the impudent imperious Weakness of the Whorish Woman charged upon the Israelites and
Feed my Lambs 'T is his Delight and Glory to be the Saviour of Sinners How dearly has he bought our Love How willingly did he redeem us when we were Enemies His Love condescended to our low State to become a Servant that he might exalt us to his State to be the Sons of God How does he out-love us We do not love his Glory as he loved our Meanness not him the blessed God as he did us cursed Creatures O the Miracle of his ardent Love to us O the Strangeness of our cold Affection to him Love cannot be idle but will add Fire and Vigor and cause unfainting Perseverance in our Lord's Service Love and Duty will overcome all Difficulties If we consider by how many Titles he deserves our Service and feel the dear Obligations he has laid upon us we shall compel them to come in that our glorious King's House may be full I shall only add that to save Souls the Work is glorious and the Reward is more glorious In the Assembly of immortal Spirits above all united in Perfection and Felicity Those who turn many to Righteousness shall shine with a brighter Glory like the Stars for ever and ever Who would be so unhappy as to prefer sluggish Ease before a brighter Crown in Heaven Lastly I will finish this Discourse with an earnest Perswasive that Men would comply with the Invitations of the Divine Mercy Who can without some sparks of Pity and Indignation seriously observe that Men are slight and foolish in things of eternal Interest beyond all the degrees of Folly in the Concerns of this World Who would that is in danger to lose his Life or Estate and has but one day to secure them waste it in frivolous Matters when the Opportunity is so short and the Omission is irreparable Yet altho the present Life be certainly short and uncertainly continued and Eternity depends upon our present securing the Favour of God and our Title in his Kingdom Men employ their Time to gain the World and neglect their Salvation in comparison whereof all the Affairs of Time are a busy Folly and vain Impertinence Stupendious Security Now to perswade Men to come to Christ for Life let them consider 1. 'T is God's Call to which present Obedience is due Carnal Sense is apt to object Is it not a Man I see and hear 'T is true but the Message is the King 's not the Embassador's that brings it A spiritual Eye looks beyond the Object of Carnal Sight and sees Christ in the Minister by the Light of Faith Were this believed how would it fasten our Minds and Senses in the most serious Attention to the preaching of the Gospel 2. Make judicious Comparisons between this World and the next As in the Light of the Sun there is an Influence that cherishes the vital Heat and a Power that extinguishes the Kitchin Fire so the Light of God's Word has a double Efficacy it kindles Heavenly and quenches Earthly Affections Indeed there wants neither Glory nor Joy nothing of compleat Happiness in the World to come to raise our Affections and fasten them upon it and in this World all is Vanity and Vexation to alienate our Affections from it What infinite Distance and Disproportion is there between the Objects of our Choice Who would think it possible but that 't is visible every day that they who have Mortal Souls should be careless of Eternal Things and spend all their Pains and Passions about Things that expire with the Flux of Time That they should neglect solid Happiness and pursue shining Bubbles But the present World fascinates their Understandings inspires their Fancy with Dreams of Happiness here Sensuality charms them into Stupidity they are unwilling to be disenchanted they enjoy their Error and are entertain'd with pleasant Delusions till awaken'd by eternal Flames Let the enlighten'd Mind consider and judg the Soul is of a Divine Original a Spiritual Substance of an everlasting Duration and can never be happy but in the Enjoyment of those Objects that are Divine and Spiritual commensurate to its Capacity and Duration Let a Man possess the World with all its Advantages and Delights the starved Soul would suffer infinite Want and can only be satisfied with the Fulness of God Under what Notion soever Happiness is conceived 't is only to be found in God What can inrich a Spirit but Spiritual Treasures Holiness is the richest Jewel in the Celestial Crown What can dignify and ennoble a Spirit but an Alliance to God as a Father and the Likeness of him in his Divinest Excellencies What can satisfy an Immortal Spirit and replenish it with Joy but vital Union with God and the immediate Influence of Almighty and Eternal Goodness Carnal Men when they obtain their immediate End Riches Honours and Pleasures they fail in their main End true Happiness they seem wise for the present and are Fools for ever The Scripture tells us the Less is blessed of the Greater How can the present World that is so inferiour to Man in the Nobility of his Nature afford Perfection and Satisfaction to him How unsutable how insufficient is it to fill the largest and strongest Desires of the Soul The World may cloy but cannot satisfy us but the Favour of God the more 't is enjoyed the more 't is desir'd and delighted in Carnal Joy seems but is not Fear and Stings of Remorse may be disguised and gloss'd over with a chearful Countenance and Carriage but are not extinguish'd Spiritual Joy seems not but is the Apostle tells us As sorrowful but alway rejoycing there may be a Winter in the Face and a flourishing Spring in the Heart There is a secret Sweetness in the Practice of Religion that the Unrenewed are Strangers to they cannot see a Taste Carnal Joy cannot repel its Contrary it cannot endure the Assaults of the slight and transient Evils to which we are expos'd here Sickness Disappointments Apprehensions of Evils that hover over us may imbitter the most pleasant Condition A wounded Spirit like an ulcerous Palat that is fretted and pain'd with the sweetest things turns all the Pleasures of the World into Vexation Fear struck Belshazzar at his Feast into a trembling But Peace with God and the Joy that flows from it the World can neither give nor take away 't is as unable to destroy it as to produce it Believers rejoice in Tribulations All Carnal Joys are of short Continuance The World passes away and the Lusts thereof Life is dying and the Comforts of it All Flesh is Grass and the Glory as the Flower of the Grass that by Heat or Cold by a Blast or a Worm is soon destroyed All the Objects of the sensual Passions are very fading The finest Stamp of Beauty in the Countenance how easily is it defac'd by Sickness or Sorrow by many Accidents or Age Riches take the Wings of the Morning and flee away from the Possessors Honour is casual and uncertain the