pollution of it Here as ye heard however Sanctification be taking sin to task in every pardoned man yet the tender man sensible of sin cannot but be affected when he finds sin in the pollution of it to remain though it be not reigning though it hath not the Throne but then with the publick Declaration of pardon there shall no blot of sin no spot no wrinkle nor any such thing remain Ephes 5.27 There shall no scar be left of these wounds that sin hath made which the pardoned sinner may bear about with him while he is here 2. While the godly are here though they get frequently pardon of sin yet they have still need of new pardon they must be pardoned over and over again and as often as they get their daily bread they must as often seek the pardon of their sins daily but the blotting out of sin in that Day shall be a Declaration of the Pardon of sin so fully that there shall be no need of a reiterat pardon they will then sin no more nor be in hazard of sinning and will have no more need of the open Fountain whereunto the pardoned man while he is here must continually resort with his foul feet to get them washen 3. The pardon of sin here is not only Transacted betwixt God and the sinner without the knowledge of the World but it is oft-times keeped up from the sense and feeling of the man that has gotten it A man that is pardoned may be keeped in fears as if he were not pardoned a man that hath his Bonds taken off him may be as if he were still bound But in that Day the Pardon of Sin shall be publickly declared in the audience of Men Angels and Devils and the pardoned mans pardon will be proclaimed and perfected in the sense and feeling of the pardoned man the Court of Heaven and the Court of the Conscience will say both one thing and there will not be a demur in the one about what is past in the other as now often there is And 4. Though sin be pardoned yet the effects and consequences of pardon are not at all times let out on the pardoned man here he may be not only keeped under Desertion but he may be under Chastisement on several accounts as I cleared to you before though he may say as the Apostle John speaks 1 Joh. 3.2 Now we are the sons of God but he must add it doth not yet appear what we shall be but in that day pardon shall not only be proclaimed and perfected in the Conscience of the man but all the effects and consequences of pardon shall flow out like a River upon him Then sighing and sorrow shall flee away and everlasting joy shall be upon his head and in his heart and these stripes that here were necessary for the back of fools shall cease and his pardon shall be written in that blessed Sentence Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Thus ye see what is imported in that blotting out of sin at the great day and from it I shall shortly recommend to you two words in order to practice one is That this may be a strong motive to you to make pardon of sin here sure when ye consider that it hath such blessed effects hereafter the rich fruit and incomes of thy fleeing to Christ for pardon here may seem to thee as we use to speak to be far from the Sheaff but there is a day coming when the advantage of it will be made known to Men Angels and Devils their Conviction what it is to have pardon for sin Thou that gets a pardon here may be looked upon as an uncouth unknown body but thou carries about with thee a Treasure that in that day will be found a Treasure indeed And therefore 2ly Ye that are fled unto Christ for pardon and have gotten pardon believed and now and then ye are feeling some of the fruits of pardon it should quicken you to long for that day wherein the effects fruits and consequences of that pardon will be fully displayed and let out on pardoned sinners It it no wonder that a pardoned man long to be home when he considers what a mercy pardon of sin will be found to be when it is laid in broad-band in that day But now I come to the 5. general Head I proposed to be spoken to and that is To clear up to you the right method of coming to close with pardon and for attaining of pardon I have insisted to tell you what a rich priviledge pardon of sin is Now any that are not stupid and senseless will say how shall I be sure of pardon that I have closed with it and win at it and that I am not deluded in so great a concern I have occasionally hinted at the chief matter of these things that I am to say upon this in the preceeding purpose I shall now gather them together and lay them in view before you that ye may order your steps aright in closing with pardoning mercy If I should speak to this in general I find many things mentioned in Scripture to the obtaining of pardon I find Faith for we are said to be justified by faith and consequently we are pardoned by Faith Rom. 3.25 God hath set forth Jesus Christ to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins 2. I find Repentance often mentioned in this matter Mark 1.4 John preached the baptism of Repentance for the remission of sins The Apostles Doctrine was to preach repentance and remission of sins in his name Luke 24.47 Peters Doctrine is Repent ye and be converted that your sins may be blotted out Act. 3.19 The counsel given to Simon Magus is Repent of thy wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thoughts of thine heart may be forgiven thee Act. 8.22 3. I find also Confession of sin mentioned in order to pardon of sin Psal 32.5 I said I will confess my transgression unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin And 1 Joh. 1.9 If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 4. I find confessing and forsaking of sin mentioned in order to pardon Prov. 28.13 He that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall find mercy 5. I find prayer also required in order to pardon of sin Mat. 6.12 Christ bids the Disciples pray forgive us our debts c. But that I may speak to this purpose somewhat more distinctly and so in effect take a view of this Text and take in the 3d. thing I proposed to be spoken to in it I find that as the Apostle sums up Christianity Philip. 3.3 as running upon three things that like Letters on a Signet are drawn backward that ye may stamp them forward in your practice 1. That a man have no confidence in the flesh 2. That from that he be led to rejoyce
he had not done without cause all that he had done in it And doth not the evil improvement of Trouble and folks security and negligence under trouble justifie God in the long continuance of trouble when we are ready to cry how long Lord how long shall this calamity last The Lord may retort it upon us Why will ye die O house of Israel For as it is Jer. 44.10 The Lord may say They are not humbled even unto this day neither have they feared nor walked in my Law A sight of this that God keeps a sincere serious godly man so long waiting on under delays for comfort and out-gate may silence the clamors of them who are not yet begun to think on a suitable walk under their troubles and the right improvement of them But 3. If the Lord for the ends before-mentioned may long delay his people and keep them waiting in trouble take heed that Faith the great support of Patience fail not in that exigent as I told you in the deducing of the Doctrine the great thing tryed in the people of God under delays is their Faith whether they will believe his word and therefore when Faith is tryed look that it be not found drossie when Faith is weighed see that it be not found light I speak it because I find the Faith of the Saints has gotten sore shakes under delays when they have been put to wait on Psal 116.11 I said in my haste all men Samuel Gad and others that had told me I should come to the Crown and Kingdom are liars And Jer. 15.18 while speaking to God hath a dreadful word when he reflects on the Promises God made to be with him in his Ministry says he Wilt thou be to me altogether as a liar and as waters that fail When we find so strong Cedars so shaken we would look well to it that our Faith be not brangled and that Faith be not brangled we would beside be looking well to the Atheism of our hearts for there is a seed of Atheism in every bosom that if the Lord put us hardly to it and make not out that Promise Isai 48.10 I have refined thee but not with silver I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction It may put us to tremble what stuff may boil up in our hearts and they are not sicker in the matter of their Faith that are not mourning over their heart-atheism but beside that I say we would guard against wrong conceptions of the Promise as that wherein the great stumbling lies as to this matter when we conceive more to be in the Promise than we are allowed and make a carnal Commentar on a Spiritual Text and as the saying is The Bell to clink as the fools think As also we would beware of limiting God to our time but give him his own time to make good his Promises These that are not mourning over the Atheism of their heart that are not cautious in understanding the Promises a-right and are not leaving God to his own time for performing them may take a snapper in their Faith when tryals are continued But a fourth word of Use shall be this That ye would learn to read Gods delays aright delays make discoveries and that is the exercise of many folk Jer. 8.15 We looked for peace but no good came and for a time of healing but behold trouble But if thou would read aright Gods delays I shall shortly offer thee these four and wise confiderers will find them to be the work of the generation 1. If thou read delays aright thou will find that God calls thee to exercise and that the best thing within thee as in a storm best Anchors and Ropes and the best things of the Ship are brought out so in a Trial when he delays he calls thee to exercise the best things in thy bosom and if God call thee to exercise Grace bring not out Corruption though at first thou may cast a scum of Corruption Grace is to be brought out afterwards If he call for Affection meet not his Call with Bitterness if he call to Diligence do not intertain that Call with Idleness remember God by delays calls for the exercise of Graces affections and diligence in his people 2. If thou read delays aright Thou will read That every days delay is a new Tryal and I may add every moments delay is a new Tryal When thou art carried through the day thou must not take that for surety that thou wilt through the next day without Self-denial and needy dependance The day may discover that which the foregoing day did not discover and the morrow may discover that which lies hid this day and therefore though thou may set up one Ebenezer at every step of thy way and say hither to hath the Lord helped Remember that thou art not yet off the stage and thou must not think because thou art hasted with the Tryal thou art better buckled to bear it but know there is still a necessity of Self-denial and needy-dependance lest the length of Trial discover that which the greatness of the Trial did not discover 3. If thou would read delays aright read in them a Call as I said in the Explication of the Doctrine to die to and to be above Time and the Consolations in Time then men go through Afflictions rightly when they read Their light afflictions which is but for a moment worketh for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while they look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen 2 Cor. 4.17 Then men will be patient and stablish their hearts when they consider that the coming of the Lord draws near Jam. 5.8 In a word when God exercises with delays that is an useful Preaching which ye have 1 Cor. 7.29 This I say brethren the time is short he touches the Glass and lets them see it is near run out It remaineth that both these that have wives be as though they had none they that weep as though they weeped not they that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not One serious look of Time and Eternity will break many a snare that mens Corruptions expose them to while under trouble they meet with delays But 4. If ye would read delays rightly this is to be read in them that well improved delays are full of rich advantages Thou art keeped under continued difficulties and delayed as to comfort or satisfaction external in thy personal and privat concerns and as to what relates to the publick and it may be thou wins not to inward sensible comfort but if thou were thrifty thou mayest find many things granted in the delay or denyal of that which thou would be at as much humility mortification to Time and the things of it communion and fellowship with God and though some particulars be delayed if these were pursued after and in any measure attained times of delay would not be looked on as
that would live by Faith he must not say in his heart Who shall ascend into heaven to bring down Christ or an issue from above or who shall descend into the deep to bring up a Christ or an issue from the dead But the word is near thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart The Word of Faith the Word in the Gospel which we preach This Point because there are several things in it of special concernment for us I shall deduce and branch out to you in four Heads 1. That really needy Saints who are put to live by Faith ought to be and will be much conversant with the Word that they may know what is for them and suitable to their case there 2. That as really needy Saints will be much conversant with the Word so they will judge of things according to the Verdict of the Word 3. That to fix them in that Resolution to judge of things according to the Word they must fix this Principle That the Word is of Divine Authority 4. That having fixt this That the Word is of Divine Authority the Believer must send out his Faith to believe and his hope to look for all that he finds in so Divine and sure a Word For the first of these I say That really needy Saints who are put to live by Faith ought to be and will be much conversant in the Word that they may know what is for them there and suitable to their case This is clearly imported in the Text while he saith I hope in thy Word He must know what is in the Word to lean his Faith and Hope upon for except he know he cannot lean his Faith and Confidence on it Hence David a great liver by Faith was much conversant with the Scriptures they were his meditation his meat his delight the men of his counsels his guides as ye may read at length what his esteem of the Scriptures was in that 119 Psalm And this being so it will infer not only that really needy saints should attend upon the Word preached but more especially that they should and will be much at the privat serious reading of meditation on and perusal of the Scriptures a duty that in the first place I would prove to be a duty And 2dly press it on you 1. I say it is needful to prove that it is a duty that the Scriptures be read by all in opposition to that cursed Popish principle that will not allow any laick or privat person without a peculiar licence to read the Scriptures whereby they turn that in a priviledge and confer on some only which God hath imposed as a duty on all yea further so Tyrannical are they in this that though they permit some to read the vulgar Latin or Translations according to it as they have turned it in English where Protestants are lest if they shuld hinder them in the use of that they should read other Translations without their liberty yet in other places as Spain and Italy they are sparing of these Licenses This is a damnable error not only contrair to the way of the ancient Church wherein they glory so much wherin privat persons were so well acquaint with the Word that they would make it the subject of their discourse while they were about their ordinary callings but is clearly repugnant to Scripture and principles deduced therefrom both in the Old and New Testament I shall not insist on controversial things but lay down first some instances from Scripture to which I shall add some Scripture arguments for clearing that Truth For Scripture instances look to the Old Testament it is marked Acts 15.21 That in old time Moses had in every City them that preached him being read in the synagogues every sabbath day and not the Books of Moses only but the Prophets And therefore our Lord in his solemn Sermon Luke 4.17 Read out of the Prophecy of Isaiah that Book being delivered to him Beside publick reading of the Scriptures we find privat reading enjoyned Deut. 17.18 The King was to have a Copy of the Law in a Book out of that which was before the Priests and Levits to be with him and he was to read therein all the days of his life Josh 1.8 The Commander of the people was not to let the book of the Law depart out of his mouth but to meditat therein day and night It was also to be read by mean persons for Deut. 6.6 These words commanded to the Jews they were to teach them diligently to their children to talk of them when they sat in their houses when they did walk by the way when they did ly down and when they rose up and this they could not do in all the ages of their Church unless they read the Books of Moses when Moses was gone We find that Eunuch in returning from Jerusalem in his journey reading the Scripture Act. 8.30 We find Timothy from a child instructed in the Scriptures 2 Tim. 3.15 drinking it in with his milk and in a word Psal 1.2 We find the blest man in those days and in all ages of the Church to be that man who hath his delight in the Law of the Lord and in his Law doth meditate day and night If again we turn to the New Testament we find that Christ commands the Jews to search the Scriptures Joh. 5.39 We find the Bereans commended for comparing Christ Apostles Sermons with the Scripture searching the Scriptures whether these things were so Act. 17.11 We find it required That the word of Christ a well in us richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another Col. 3.16 which necessarily requires frequent reading of the Scriptures we find the Apostle supposing the Corinthians read them 2 Cor. 1.13 We wrote none other things to you than that you read and acknowledge and Eph. 3.4 Whereby when ye read ye may understand my knowledge We find him commanding it Col. 4.16 When this Epistle is read amongst you cause also that it be read in the Church of the Laodiceans and that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea 1 Thes 4.27 He charges them by the Lord that that epistle be read unto all the holy brethren and if the Apostle John Rev. 1.3 pronounces them blest who reads the words of that prophesie which is a dark obstruse Book It is not the purpose of the Spirit of God that other plain Scriptures should be shut up from people But 2. Unto these Scripture instances we shall add a few Scripture Arguments as 1. For what end were the Scriptures plainly and legibly written and at first in a known language if not to be made use of and read when the Vision is written and made plain upon Tables Habakkuk tells the end of that is That he may run that readeth it 2. If the Prophets Christ and his Apostles did not spare to preach their Doctrine in the audience of all it cannot be rationally thought but that we may
of the Saints when they are right that be Prayer hopeless or not hopeless they will not quite it they will not give it over put them in the Depths It 's a great encouragement to them that they know it is to good purpose to Pray but be it to purpose or no purpose they must be about it they will not quite it that place cited in Jonah proves it let God cast him out of his sight yet will he look to his holy Temple and Pray shut him out at the Door he will be in at the Door by Prayer Tell him his difficulty is so great as Temptation will be ready to say that crying to God will do him no good it 's all a matter to Prayer he must he 'll rather sink Praying than be saved without it Psal 61.2 From the ends of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed That 's a notable word from a man in a deep Distress What could a man imagine to be discouraging that he wanted for his Case he is as far from God as the ends of the earth for his Heart he is under Perplexity his Heart is overwhelmed and yet in that condition he will cry unto God if so be he will lead him to the Rock that is higher than he come of it what will he will Pray And Heman is another notable instance Psal 88.13 and vers 14. he says Lord why castest thou off my soul why hidest thou thy face from me and vers 15. I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted I am put out of my Wits my Wit gets a rack with thy terrors and yet vers 13. Vnto thee have I cryed O Lord. No hopelesness of my undertaking no hardship I meet with could put me from crying to thee and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee I will continue Praying and to speak after the manner of men Thou shalt be soon up but my Prayer shall be at thy Door to prevent thee That then is the 4th thing imported here not to be put from Prayer were our Case never so desperate nay not by the apprehension of drowning in the Depths though at the next Bout we should sink to the bottom But 5ly That he says Out of the depths have I cryed unto thee it imports that not only a Saint will not be put from Prayer through the greatness of his Distress but his Distress will put an edge upon Prayer when he is most fervent and made to cry out when he is in the Depths And this word Crying expressing Prayer in the Text suffer me to Explicate more particularly what it imports I intend not to Speak of it as it is generally used in Scripture but as it expresseth Prayer And I shall here offer four or five Things to be looked to by them that would continue Praying in the Depths or out of the Depths 1. It imports a Mans being Affected with that which is his Case The crying Man knows what ails him when a Man Scricks or Cryes out it is an evidence that he feels somewhat that Affects him much Thus Crying is used upon the account of Grief Ezek. 5.4 The marked Persons are such as sigh and cry for all the abominations done in the midst of the city They cry out of sad oppression from Grief And I find Crying in Prayer made us of to signifie the fears of the Supplicant Heb. 5.7 Our blessed Lord is said to offer up prayers and supplica-with strong crying and tears and he was heard in that he feared Grief and fear importing the sense of our Case the source and fountain of our Cryes a stupid Man that wots not how it 's with himself or the people of God who is like Pharaoh that knew not that Egypt was destroyed will not be a crying Man 2. This Crying imports not only a sense of ones Case but an earnest affection after that which our cryes are employed about it 's not for Triffles that a Man cryes either to obtain or avoid them at least they are not Triffles in his opinion it 's given as an estimation of Wisdom Prov. 2.3 when a man cryes and lifts up his voice for it And David cryes about that which he is affected with Ps 84.2 my soul longeth yea euen fainteth for the courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living God It 's a token of raised Affections either to be rid of some imminent ill or hazard or to attain some excellent good that puts folk to Crying A slighting of Trouble when a Man is like Ephraim Hos 7 9. gray hairs are here and there upon him and he knows it not and a slighting of desyrable Mercies will not produce Crying for the one or to avoid the other But 3ly This Crying imports with sense of need and earnestness of Affection to be at the thing cryed for a sense of a distance Wee use to cry to folk that are far off and not within ordinar speaking or rounding and this follows well upon the former When folks are put to Pray from the Depths they will discern God at a distance from them and themselves at a distance from God it is another thing when a man is in the Depths to be within speaking terms with God as when he is at ease The children of God while they are at ease are like Sampson who thinks he hath no more ado but go out and shake himself and have God at his command but the Man in the depths will not find such an easie matter to come near God He will not only be sensible of his natural distance but of that distance he is under upon the account of his Provocations and so this Crying will take in sense of Guilt to be confessed and mourned for before God But this I shall leave because it will fall in upon the third and fourth Verses following A 4th Thing imported in this Crying is That notwithstanding of all that hath been said a Saint should cry out of the Depths with Confidence in God and of Relief from him hence the Spirit of Adoption Rom. 8.15 Gal. 4.6 It doth not prompt a Man to muter or peep or whisper his Prayer to God but to cry out with Confidence Abba Father And whatever sense we have of our need or of our distance from God or of the Guilt hath drawn it on Confidence is needfull to usher in Prayer Heb. 4.16 Having such an high priest let us come boldy The word in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies let us come with an all-saying with an open mouth unto the Throne of Grace with Confidence that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need 5ly and lastly This Crying out of the depths it imports as the result of all that I have been speaking to from it a fervency of Affection when folks are not only sensible of that they need have an
1. That it must be God that gives them any Delivery though they do not acknowledge him in it nor for it and consequently it is not given in Love but in Wrath there may be much Wrath in Delivery from Trouble in a sad way as well as in sending Wrath upon a wicked person by Trouble 2. Consider that any Delivery thou meets with who art not Crying to God in thy Trouble it 's but a snare to thee thou loves not Prayer in order to an issue and God in his holy Providence lets that outgate out of Trouble come as a snare in thy way that thou seest not the necessity of Prayer unto him and it 's the sadest of Snares to be put off Prayers in mister To be like these spoken of Job 21.15 Who are brought in saying what is the Almighty that we should serve him and what profit should we have if we should pray unto him we get our turn done without him and therefore we need not Pray 3. Such as in Trouble restrain Prayer would consider that all that is owing them is but fristed it is not forgiven thou gets a proof of Gods Riches Forbearance and Long-suffering and that should lead thee to Repentance but it doth it not and thou considers not that after thy hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of his righteous judgment Rom. 2.4 5. I can give it no better nor apposite term than what ye have 2 Kings 13.23 The Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them and had respect to them because of his covenant with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and would not destroy them nor cast them out of his presence As yet there was a reserve in that Mercy the Judgment was to come upon them but not yet look to it then ye who in your Trouble get your turn done without God that what is fristed is not forgiven But the fourth and last word of Use I shall give you from this Note shall be this Ye that are put to Pray in Trouble I intreat you look that ye be at Crying with it I shall not resume what I said upon this the last day as that ye would be Affected with your Case that ye would be in earnest that ye would have a sense of your distance get confidence to come speed and withall a raised fervency of affection after that you cry for to God only let your Prayers look like your need of God and the greatness of your Distress Ponder that word Isa 29.13 A word which I have often cited to you This people draws near me with their mouth and with their lips do honour me but they have removed their heart far from me Mark the Phrase he doth not say they draw near me with their Mouth while their Heart is far from me but they have removed their heart far from me which imports that there is no more effectual mean of estranging a Soul from God than a Trade of Formal Worship it is an active removing of the Heart from God I shall only add this word that as I have spoken to them that in trouble neglect the Duty of Prayer that their Out-gates speak no good to them but Wrath and a Snare so I would have Folks cautious in judging of their liveliness or seriousness in Prayer by their Out-gates out of Trouble Ponder that place Ps 78.34 c. There ye will find a Praying People and seemingly serious they seek God and return and enquire early after him they remember he is their Rock and Redeemeer Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth and lied unto him with their tongues for their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant but he being full of compassion forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not There is a People spared and delivered when they Cryed to God when the Lord approves not of their Prayer We must therefore get another Testimony to prove our not being Formal in Prayer than Out-gate or Delivery out of Trouble A proof of Love and Compassion in Delivery may be Gods call to us to mourn over our Formality in Prayer and for our other Sins which he came over to do us good But I proceed to a third Head in this first part of the Words and that is his reflecting on his Exercise and his avowing it before God O Lord saith he I have cryed unto thee he looks back and considers what he hath been doing in Distress and finding he hath been Wrestling he layes it out and avows it before God The general which I mark from it shall be this That reflection on our selves and on our way what we have done or are doing is very necessar in all them that would approve themselves to God Such was the Psalmists practice here he looks back and finds the Depths put him to Crying and is able to give an account of it There is a twofold Reflexion that God calls for from the children of Men. One is a Reflection upon their Case what it is that they be not stupid and sensless without Consideration what their lot is Ye have that quarreled Isa 52.25 He poured out upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battel and it hath set him on fire round about yet he knew not and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart and Hos 7.9 Strangers have devoured his strength and he knoweth it not yea gray hairs are here and there upon him yet he knoweth it not That argues dreadful Stupidity and Senslesness when Folks are in a low condition and do not consider and do not mind it do not lay it to Heart But there is another Reflection beside that of our Case called for and that is a Reflection on our Carriage under our Case when we have considered our Case we would Reflect what we are doing in such a case or under such Lots as Providence makes our Portion This is it the Psalmist expresses Psal 4.4 Commune with your own heart upon your bed and it is that the Lord presses upon his People Hag. 1 5. Now therefore consider your ways set your Heart on your ways This Reflection Self-searching or Examination is most necessary in ordinar a Man wors not where he is nor what he is doing in Religion if he neglect this part of it if he be a Stranger to Self-Examination he is a Stranger to his Progress or Decay in Religion his Convictions and Challenges are Confused and without Fruit. His Prayers cannot be but Confused if he Pray any it must be at Random Only the Man that is distinct in Examination can distinctly lay out his Case before God and this Examination as it 's necessar in ordinar so specially in Trouble If a Man in Distress neglect Examination he may be carried head-long in Stupidity in Passion Quarreling Fretting or other Sinful Improvements of his Trouble and as it is Eccles 5.1 He may
sin God remits culpam but not paenam That is he remits the fault or guilt so as not only he may chasten which we grant but as he reserves a punishment by way of satisfaction for sin to be undergone by the pardoned sinner They distinguish in this betwixt mortal and venial Sins for mortal sins they grant that the free Grace of God turns eternal punishment into a temporal which the sinner must undergo for venial sins which they say deserves not eternal punishment but temporal all that temporal punishment they will have the pardoned man to sustain it Hence is their Doctrine of Pennances in this life and of Purgatory after death when Pennances are not undergone here where they will have pardoned sinners to make satisfaction of sin for this Doctrine it would be but troublesome to you to hear all that might be said against it though we should but touch on it and therefore passing that groundless distinction of mortal and venial sins ye shall notice these five anent that their Doctrine 1. That as the bulk of Popish Religion is nothing but a well contrived Policy or Interest of State so this Doctrine of Pennance and Purgatory is nothing else but a Politick Device to make gain for maintaining their Kitchin Pomp Pride and Luxury which as I told you the last day Caesar Borgia the Son of Alexander the sixth makes to appear who while he had lost 100000 at the Dice past it in a sport saying These are the sins of the Germans meaning that thereby they had purchased remission of Sins for here the policy lies Once perswade folk that they must do Pennances to satisfie for sin or to go to Purgatory what will they not do while they are alive or their Friends for them when they are dead to mitigat that satisfaction that is their Market and then pay well and come to Heaven without either Pennance or Purgatory so that their Doctrine in this is a perfect cheat 2. In this their Doctrine they corrupt the Doctrine of the antient Church which was not so very sound for 〈◊〉 they have a trick of retaining antient Names of things under which they bring in new Errors so in this particular of Pennances and Indulgences used by the antient Church who while they were a distinct Society were very strict and severe in requiring publick Pennance and Satisfaction for Scandals some they held many years in making their Repentance some they held all their life but afterward when the World came in to the Church and the Emperors imbraced Christianity and they with other great Ones were too thin-skin'd and would not submit to Discipline the Church did degenerat from their strictness and shortned their Indulgences but the antient Church their Pennances were not to satisfie God for sin but the Church they were not for privat and secret sins but for publick and scandalous offences And the Church willing to gratifie great persons did mitigat these severities to many But the Papists retaining the Name they will have these Pennances a satisfaction to God for sin and their Indulgences to assoil folk in the Court of Heaven A 3d thing to be considered in that their Doctrine which is very unhansom for them to maintain these Pennances which they call satisfaction what are they They are their Fastings their Ave Marias and Pater-nosters their Pilgrimages and Peregrinations their Charity to the poor or for a Religious use their Self-scourgings and Whippings now I enquire what are these They are either Commanded Duties or not If they be not Commanded Duties how can they be satisfaction for sin for will God be satisfied with that which he doth not require Who required these things at your hand If they be Commanded Duties how can they make a punishment of them that is a dreadful Solecism in their Religion that Commanded Duties that should be the joy and rejoicing of folks hearts should be turned to Punishments and except they be punishments they cannot be satisfaction so that they have a bad impression of these things which they look upon as Duties while they make Commanded Duties punishments for sin And a 4th Word I say to that their Doctrine is this That to admit of satisfaction for sin either as to temporal or eternal punishment for it is a blasphemous imputation on Christ's Satisfaction as if any thing needed to be added to the Ocean of his Merit who hath satisfied the Justice of God both as to the Temporal and Eternal Curse due to his own Elect for their sins And a 5th I shall say to their Doctrine is That it is contradictory to it self for what is the guilt of sin as contra-distinct to the stain of sin that is removed It is not the potential guilt the desert of sin for that is inseparable from sin it is only the actual ordination to punishment Now to say God remits the guilt and retains the punishment of sin it is to say that he remits and retains that he pardons and doth not pardon that he takes away actual ordination to punishment that he craves the debt which he hath forgiven This is sufficient to refute the Papists on the one hand in what they hold anent the pardon of sin Upon the other hand the Antinomians run on another extream and say that pardoned justified persons fall not so much as under chastisement let be a proper punishment for sin And they will have all Afflictions that come upon the Godly to be meer tryals of their Faith and no more and think that it is a legal Spirit that teacheth folk while they are under the Rod to search out sin and to be humbled for it all that a man is called to do in that case say they is to maintain his Faith in adhering to the Love of God in Christ for whatever Affliction come it is not for sin and it is no wonder they maintain the Saints cannot fall under affliction for sin or chastisement for sin seing they maintain God sees no sin in them To clear the mind of God in this particular There are some things that must be granted as truths and there are some other things to be cautioned against as error The truths that are to be granted may be reduced to these four words 1. That justified persons never meet with condemnation what temporal lots soever they meet with and though they be not secured against the cross yet they are secured from condemnation 2. That a pardoned and justified child of God doth never come under the wrath of God though justified persons may come under Gods Fatherly displeasure yet they are never more objects of divine wrath as others though they may often meet with Fatherly and Divine displeasure as children they come not under wrath as enemies 3. That pardoned and justified sinners never fall under proper punishments for sin or afflictions to satisfie for their faults though for other ends they may as to invite them to repentance and to be humbled for
be humbled for pardoned sin Though God be good and gracious in pardoning sin we should be severe on our selves for provoking him Though the pardoned mans Count be cleared he must ly in the dust for that he offended God and brought so much wo and vexation on himself And further this will follow upon it that God by afflicting the pardoned sinner invites him to mortifie sin daily that he may not fall in the like sin again Yea and further when he afflicts the sinner with an eye to sin that is pardoned he invites the sinner to more and more thankfulness to him for the pardoning of it when he considers what-ever afflictions or rods be inflicted yet his pardon is ensured to him These are some of the blessed ends why the Lord with an eye to pardoned sin is pleased to let out afflictions and chastisements upon justified persons and it is upon this account that chastisement with pardon is put in the Covenant Psal 89.32 That however he will not take his loving kindness from his children nor suffer his faithfulness to fail yet he will visit their transgressions with the rod and their iniquity with stripes therefore we would mind this well It is no great wonder that Antinomians say God chastens not the Saints at all upon the account of sin for they say God sees no sin in them to chasten but let us not deceive our selves but when the rod is laid on let us hear the voice of the rod and who hath appointed it Mic. 6.9 Ye have heard that all afflictions comes in by the door of sin and therefore it 's a sweet study under afflictions to be sensible of sin Ye have heard that God may send afflictions on justified persons to prevent sin and to waken them out of security and put them to repentance when sin is committed to imprint upon their spirits the folly of their wanderings and the bitterness that follows sin to caution them for the future against relapsing in sin to stir them up to mortifie sin c. These are better Lessons than the dreams of Antinomians that God hath no respect to the sins of his children when he afflicts them And yet I shall add a third word more for Caution against their error that is That Gods afflicting of Saints with an eye to sin doth not at all clash with that which they assert that the afflictions of the godly are for the trial of their faith That they are meerly for the trial of their faith we deny that they are for the trial of their faith we grant For though afflictions be for the trial of faith yet they are also for other ends as before they repent to stir up to repentance in order to pardon and after repentance to humble them and caution against sin and for producing other effects yet they are still trials of faith whether they will adhere to God yea so much the more trials of faith are they as we have not only trouble to graple with but guilt that brought on the affliction It is easier for faith to hold its feet under a cleanly trial than when affliction is lying on and conscience of guilt is staring us in the face And therefore we shall easily grant providing the mind of God in other ends of affliction be not neglected That when we have done all we should look on the trial of faith as a main end of affliction and when in affliction we cast away confidence we miss a main end and imped the good that we might get by affliction The time having prevented me and I cannot win to the other two Questions whether the truth of pardon depends on the intimation of it to our hearts and whether pardon be it revocable so that guilt makes not former pardon void though it needeth pardon and ought to be mourned for I shall not now break in upon them The Lord bless his Word to you SERMON XIII Psalm 130. Verse 4. But there is forgivenness with thee THough I have insisted long and may insist yet some while upon this great priviledge the forgivenness of sins yet ye may know that I am not upon an unnecessary Subject I am upon a Subject that will be found absolutely necessary for you to make your Testament comfortably with and with the cordials thereof ye may digest any bitterness that occurreth in your empty pilgrimage These general Heads on which I am now treating they want not their ground in the Text and Context That which is pardoned to which I have spoken the Text tells that it is iniquity there is forgivenness with thee of these iniquities which if thoâ— mark who can stand The Author of this benefit of pardon is expresly held out in the Text There is forgivenness with thee and the benefit it self the nature whereof I am now inquiring after is held out in that term of forgivenness There is forgivenness with thee Now concerning this having cleared negatively what it is not I told you particularly that pardon takes not away the filth and beeing of sin but the guilt of sin God in pardoning the sinner remits the offence done to him by the violation of his Law and restores the pardoned sinner to his favour and exempts him from the deserved punishment of sin and in pursuance of this I spoke to two of four Questions which are needful to be discussed for clearing the nature of remission I cleared to you that though guilt be inseparable from the filth of sin yet the sinner might be pardoned though the filth of sin remain and how that his pardon did not take away the desert of sin considered in it self but that it takes away that desert and guilt as it results on the person sinning so as it never taketh effect upon him so that though the person fled unto Christ for refuge be troubled not only with the pollution but with the guilt of sin yet he needs not be afraid for it takes no effect against him since he has betaken himself to the City of Refuge And to confirm this I gave you several Scriptural expressions of pardon which may quiet the Conscience and be ground of peace that although the filth of sin and the inherent desert of sin remain yet pardon is a real security to the pardoned sinner 2. Another case or Question which I spoke unto was that seing pardon frees the pardoned man from obligation to punishment whether or not doth or may the Lord pursue a pardoned justified man with any chastisement or punishment for sin and there not to resume what I spoke unto you the last afternoon I gave you some grounds of refutation of the Popish Doctrine who will have the fault or guilt remitted when the punishment is retained which is to say that sin is remitted and it 's not remitted And upon the other hand I cleared to you against the Antinomians how that as all trouble came in by the door of sin and that the Lord may and doth chasten
for pardon But that I may speak a little more distinctly to this which when I have done with there will remain only the right method of application of Pardon to be spoken to that will bring me on in the Text and to the practical Use of all this Doctrine I shall speak briefly to these three Questions on it 1. Whether sin be pardoned from all eternity or when Christ paid satisfaction to Justice on the Cross as the Antinomians say 2. Supposing that sin is pardoned not from eternity but in time The next Question will be Whether all sins be forgiven at once to the justified and pardoned man whether in Justification and upon a mans closing with Christ all sins not only sins past and present but sins to come are actually pardoned 3. If sins be pardoned in time How is it said Act. 30 19 20. To be done at the day of Judgment Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord c. For the first of these Questions the Antinomians make Justification and the Pardon of sin an imminent Act in God as they call it and they will have it past from all eternity and they assert That all the Elect are actually pardoned from eternity and the lowest that any of them come is That they will have all the Elect pardoned when Christ upon the Cross finished the satisfaction to Justice for their sins and all that a Believer gets when he comes to Christ and closes with Christ for Righteousness and Life is not an actual pardon but the intimation and declaration of his pardon even as when a pardoned Rebel who hath a pardon in his pocket is brought in before the King and prays for pardon and the King intimats the pardon which he hath already got unto him To clear it according to Scripture and so to lead you to something practical in this ye shall take up pardon in four steps 1. We grant That from all eternity God Decreed to pardon the sins of all the Elect and in this respect we shall not decline to say that all the Elect are Justified and Pardoned in God's Decree to whom known are all his works from the beginning of the world Act. 15.18 Yet we must add that that will not prove actual Pardon to the Elect from eternity for all the Elect are saved as well as pardoned in God's Decree and yet they are not actually saved till they be glorified There is only a Decree concerning their Pardon to be in due time past on Gospel Terms and actual Pardon is a transient Act and changes the state of the person 2. As Pardon to the Elect is Decreed from all eternity so it is purchased by Christ at his Death for then Col. 2.14 He blotted out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us which was contrair to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his Cross He then blotted out our Libel and Dittay how by paying a price for that pardon that in due time and in the use of means was to be actually conferred and in this sense we shall let it pass that the Elect were justified in Christ their Head at his Death he took up that Song Isai 50.8 He is near that justifies me who will contend with me that we might sing it after him Rom. 8.34 It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth But there is a third step of the pardon of sin that is That pardon that is Decreed by God from eternity and purchased by Christ at his Death it is recorded by way of a past Sentence and tendered in the word of the Gospel to be imbraced by sinners in due order in the use of the means A sentence of pardon is past and pronounced in the word of the Gospel that needs no more to make it effectual to the sinner but his closing with Christ and getting in his name in the due use of the Means But yet we must add a fourth step when pardon is Decreed when Christ has purchast padon and the Sentence of pardon is past and pronounced in the Word yet no man is actually pardoned till he come unto Christ till he be actually penitent and a Believer he is not actually pardoned and when he is an actual penitent and has closed with Christ for pardon of sin righteousness and Life he may then look back with comfort on Gods Decree of Election on Christ's purchase of pardon on his being on Gods Heart when pardon is holden out in the Word but actually pardoned he is not till he himself come to Christ and be a Believer on him Many things would fall in to be spoken to for clearing of this some whereof will come in when we come to the Resolution of the next Question I shall here offer three words for clearing and confirming this Truth 1 That all the Elect before Conversion are in a state of Wrath even as others Ephes 2.3 The Elect before they be quickned are Children of Wrath not in their own sense only as the Antinomians say but really even as others and consequently they were not pardoned nor reconciled before they were quickned more than the Pagans Children of wrath 2. It is clear from the Tenor of the Scriptures that they are not nor cannot be justified and pardoned till they be in Christ the second Adam not in a decree or judicially as represented by Christ but actually by Faith for we are justified by faith Rom. 5.7 and consequently by Faith we are pardoned which is a Branch of Justification now men are in Christ by Faith not from eternity but in time and on that account Rom. 16.7 Paul tells of some of his kinsmen that were in Christ before him and consequently were not actually pardoned till they were in him by Faith And 3. In the pattern of Prayer Mat. 6. We are bidden Pray daily Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors The Antinomians say when we are bidden Pray for forgiveness that it is for the intimation of pardon but that Gloss may be easily wiped off if we consider that we are to pray for forgiveness as we forgive others Now we forgive others by a real passing from the wrong they have done us and nor by the intimation of pardon only And further it may be cleared from that same similitude that Antinomians bring of a Rebel or Malefactor that hath gotten a pardon from his Prince it is true after he hath gotten his pardon when he comes before his Prince he may seek the intimation of his pardon but he were a fool if as oft as he came in his Princes presence he should seek the Intimation of his pardon and consequently it is not the intimation of pardon that is to be sought daily in that Petition but actual pardon Thus ye see that sin is not actually pardoned from eternity This might warn us in our practice
your selves to the end ye may walk sickerly in this matter I shall give you the impression that found out guilt after Examination should leave upon a man in four steps 1. He must not only not deny his faults as too many do with whom I do not trouble my self some being such monsters that they care not to deny their vileness and other abominations with perjuries to hide them from the world but he must not deny his sin in the guilt and ill-deserving of it he must take with it and all it's aggravations he must see it in its sinfulness and dreadful desert A man that would have pardon from God must not only know his Dittay but he must pass sentence on himself and judge himself if he would not be judged for it Thou hast examined thou hast found out much sin but what thinks thou of it as it is an offence done by a worm to the Majesty of God And hast thou thought upon the Aggravations of thy sin from thy place and station from the many Means thou art under from the many Mercies has been heaped on thee obliging thee to the contrary This is it thou should be about who would be affected with thy sin in order to pardon But 2. This taking with and aggravating of sin must not be an act of the Judgment only but it must sink down to the heart many will dream of sin and of the sinfulness of sin and will talk of sin and of the desert of sin but pass it over with words of that kind but a sight of sin and a thought of sin that is not heart-affecting is a proclaiming upon the matter thy contempt of sin Thy sight of sin and speaking of it must be like that of the Psalmist here it makes him in nettle earnest and to pour out a pathetick confession of it It must be a sight and sense of sin that bides not in the brain but goes down to the bottom of thy heart and affections and makes thee cry out with Paul Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Thou can talk of sin and the demerit of it distinctly and eloquently but as men do of America or some new found Land they know not but content not thy self with that The sight of sin in order to pardon requires a heart-pondering and affecting And I shall add 3. The sight of sin and it's sinfulness must not be a simple affecting only at some times Some cheat themselves with that also Take them at some times O how are they affected how mad will the drunkard call himself after that throw his drunkenness he is distempered and hath a sore head and pained stomach And what a monster will a profane man sometimes call himself after a conviction or challenge of Conscience but bide till the next bout of a Temptation and he and his sin will be as homely as ever The affecting of many with sin is like a shower upon the ice in frost that wets it above but brings not a ground thaw Therefore where there is a right affecting with sin it must bring the Man with the Psalmist here to be restless under that burden to see that there must be no standing still till he be relieved of it The sluggard may have his convictions of sin and desires to be rid of it But the man that sees sin in it self and the consequences of it and is rightly affected with it he will see it to be his greatest misery and consequently that it must be his greatest haste to be delivered from it Many of your convictions are false conceptions ye are in pain with them but ye do not follow them forth but stiffle them they never set you to your feet as is said of Ephraim Hos 13.13 He is an unwise son he stayeth long in the place of breaking forth of children it is a dreadful token to stick in the birth and to stiffle Convictions better thou had never had them though that case be most dangerous also than when thou hast been under them to stiffle them and set thy foot upon them before thou get a true ease And I shal add in the 4th place In this sense of sin that is when Souls are thus affected with sin as I have been speaking a pardon will be very precious it will not be lookt upon as the scorâ—er doth or as the Soldiers who said to Christ Hail King of the Jews and then buffeted him O! a pardon to a most sensible sinner will be most glad news and God on that account will be a matchless God Micah 7.18 Who is a God like unto thee who pardons iniquity He will be a blessed man whose sin is pardoned Psal 32.1 a good Lord that pardons his people 2 Ch. 30.18 And so in the Text he is to the Psalmist If thou Lord should mark iniquity O Lord who should stand But the Back-note is There is forgiveness with thee for to a sensible sinner there being no remedy for sin but pardon and no pardon of sin but from a gracious God what wonder that pardon of sin be very precious and God on that account a matchless God But a 4th Direction antecedent to pardon is That we study Repentance for these sins the pardon whereof we study and expect that we may be in capacity for pardon I shall not insist now upon this Doctrine or Direction only let me intreat you to make it sure work in this affair I have laid your duty somewhat home to you and I fear there is need ye will take it all and more and yet in the doing of it my meaning is not as if ye could produce these things called for antecedent to pardon of your self or that when ye are not come this length ye should bide away from Christ no ye must come to him for these antecedent qualifications that ye may get pardon But these are the true and faithful sayings of God and whosoever they be that are not in this order seeking pardon and yet think they are pardoned they had need to look to it that they have not a lie in their right hand for this is the Scriptures method wherein the Lord leads his own to pardon and pardoneth whom he doth pardon The Lord bless what ye have heard for Christs sake SERMON XVI Psalm 130. Verse 4. But there is forgivenness with thee I Am now entred upon that which is the Applicatory part of this Doctrine concerning the pardon of sins and upon a way to hold out Directions to you how without abusing this great Priviledge or deceiving your selves ye may come to it in the due order and look like it I was speaking before noon of some things required antecedent by way of preparation for pardon I spoke somewhat to a Caution and carefulness to avoid sin that the sins we come to God for pardon of may not be these we have run after impetuously as the horse runneth into the
them There is a fear of God as a plague and punishment and that 's the fear of Devils James 2.9 Thou believest there is one God thou dost well the devils also believe and tremble There is a servile and slavish fear which however it may be in a Child of God especially at his first Conversion while under the spirit of bondage yet it is much of the nature of that fear that is of God as a punishment of sin that tormenting fear the Apostle speaks of 1 Joh. 4.18 That perfect love casts out that fear that is not afraid of offending God but of punishments only is that which is in Devils and that fear that apprehends punishments not as they are separat from God the chief Good but as painful and grievous to a mans self is slavish and servile but right fear is when apprehensions of the Majesty Greatness and Goodness of God fills the heart with holy awe and reverence towards him and the Faith of his Greatness seasoned with the Faith of his Condescendency makes the soul afraid to offend him or lose his favour on any terms All that I shall say from this shall be to exhort and perswade you to get some stamp of this reverential fear on your heart that ye be not of them of whom it is said Psal 36.1 O dreadful Character The transgression of the wicked says within my heart there is no fear of God before his eyes consider and think upon this the fear of God is the only Antidote the only preservative against an evil course the fear of God will make a man that when it is in the power of his hands to do evil he dare not do it Gen. 42.18 Joseph when his brethren in ward are afraid of him says to them This do and live for I fear God I might soon cut you off and who would challenge me for so doing but I fear God Nâ—hem 5.15 He would not be burdensom to the people as the former Governours had been they were chargeable to the people but so did not I says he because of the fear of God among Heathens there may be many Motives to keep men from this and that ill but all will be like Samsons cords if the fear of God be wanting ponder Gen. 20.11 when Abimelech says to Abraham What sawest thou that thou hast done this thing Abrâ—ham answers because I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place and they will slay me for my wifes sake There is no protection for me here for I see no fear of God among this people what will men not be if a suitable Temptation come in their way if they want the fear of God and how calm will the fear of God make men that have it It will make a Lion a Lamb a Boar a Calf O how tractable will it make the wild humours of men to have a stamp of the fear of God and therefore I say it again seek for it that it may not be said of you such a mans or such a womans walk says within my heart There is no fear of God before their eyes A 2. Word from the words abstractly considered is That as fear is due to God so this fear is eminently to be exprest in the service and worship of God For that thou mayest be feared is not to be understood as that folk should make a Bogâ—e of God but that their fear of him should bring them to worship and serve him and that their worship and service should be seasoned with an holy awe and dread of God I might touch here on several things on the one hand among other Characters of base and servile fear this is one when it drives from God and his worship and service which was the result of Adam's fear after his fall Gen. 3.8 When he heard God's voice in the garden he was afraid and hid himself This was the Sinai fear at the giving of the Law Exod. 20.18 When the people saw the thundring and lightning and heard the noise of the Trumpet they removed and stood a-far off they went further away from God that is never right fear that makes a Scar-crow of God that is only right fear that chases in to him But on the other hand how should service and worship to God be loaded and ballanced with fear of God when Jacob had some intercourse with God in a vision Gen. 28.17 He was afraid and said how dreadful is this place this is none other but the House of God and this is the gate of Heaven If we speak of the service of God in general and would serve him acceptably it must be with reverential and godly fear Heb. 12.28 Not with presumption yea the greatest on Earth as they are commanded to kiss the Son lest he be angry and they perish from the way so they are bidden serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling Ps 2.11 and that King Dan. 6.26 could see that much though he came not a full length when he made a decree That in every dominion of his kingdom men should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel and for fear in duties of immediat worship such as ye are now about how is it pressed Psal 89.7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of his Saints and to be had in reverence of all that are about him and Psal 5.7 we will find those to be the two stilts so to speak that David walked on going to the publick Ordinances As for me I will go into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple The faith of Gods Mercy ballanced with Fear that it turn not in presumption and fear again under proped with Mercy that it degenerat not into despondency and there are many Considerations to press the seasoning and ballasting of the service and worship of God with fear whether partly we consider the Majesty of God compared with our baseness There are few folk that converse with God at Abraham's rate Gen. 18.27 Behold now says he I have taken upon me to speak to the Lord who am but dust and ashes and Solomon's rule Eccles 5.1 is keep thy foot when thou goes into the house of God and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in Heaven and thou upon Earth therefore let thy words be few When there is a ladder betwixt Heaven and Earth such as Jacob had how dreadful a place should such a Sanctuary be Or whether partly we consider the Holiness and Purity of God compared with our Impurity This made Isaiah Isai 6.5 to say Wo is me I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and dwell among a people of polluted lips for mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of hosts And further the Consideration of the
on and not be hasty under delays I shall offer four considerations to perswade you to it And the 1. which relates to what I spoke before of Faith is that ye would remember that delayed success is not denyed success so long as the Word speaks good news That the needy shall not always be forgotten that the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever Psal 9.18 There is no cause why our hearts should envy sinners but that our hearts should be in the fear of the Lord all the day long For surely there is an end and our expectation shall not be cut off Prov. 23.17 So long as the Word speaks thus we are to bless our selves in it that delayed success is not denyed success and that therefore all that God hath promised were it never so long betwixt the promise and the performance will certainly come to pass as is marked in the Book of Joshua 23.14 That of all the good things which the Lord had promised to that people and many a time there seemed to be an utter impossibility of the performance of it not one thing had failed but all did come to pass A man that hath good things laid up for him in the Scripture though he be put to wait for them he needs not make a cheap Market of them they will be found forth-coming to him And Isai 60 22. The Lord will hasten it in his time which is alway the best time the Lord will afford mercy and grace to help not when we will but in the time of need Heb 4. ult He will make out his mercies in the time when they will be found double mercies for their seasonableness Psal 94.18 When I said My foot slippeth thy mercy O Lord held me up And as he will thus in due time make out all that he hath promised so in the mean time he will not deny support to them that wait on him it may be he let temptations such as are common to men ly on But 1 Cor. 10.13 He is faithful and will not suffer them to be tempted above what they are able to bear but will with the temptation make a way to escape that they may be able to bear it It may be when they are crying for a good account of a messenger of Satan sent to buffet them that he remove it not but he will make out that My grace is sufficient for you my strength is made perfect in weakness 2 Cor. 12.9 That then is one Consideration to perswade you to waâ—t on That delayed success is not denyed success 2. This may press and perswade to on-waiting that if we be doing our duty we may very safely trust the love and wisdom of God with the time of doing us good There are three things which I have had occasion sometimes to hint at to you that I shall now resume in reference to this We may and ought to wait 1. Because God never comes out of time look things never so desperat-like to make up all that was looked for men may come out of season but God never comes out of season although it were come to that that there were nothing but dry bones in a Valley he can make these dry bones to live Ezek 37. Although there were no Witnesses left And O but it 's sad to see a decay of a faithful Ministry and few laying it to heart many going off the Stage and few coming in their room though they were killed after three days and an half they shall rise again and ascend up to Heaven in a Cloud and their enemies shall behold them Rev. 11.11 When thou hast said thy strength and thy hope is perished from the Lord it is as easie for him to make all things well as when thou hast all probabilities that things shall be well 2. We may safely remit the proofs of Gods love to himself if we consider he never delays so long but we may be getting good of delays It 's true thou may be ready to tyre fag and weary and look on thy continued trial as a lot thou wilt get no good of and thereupon turn idle or ly down and die but the longest trial if improven shall yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby Heb. 12.11 If we were thrifty we might be getting good of every moments delay 3. We may and ought to wait and submit to the wisdom and love of God and trust him for good under our delays on this account that he never delays so long but he is able to give a satisfactory account of his delays Thou wilt say Why doth he delay so long from comâ—ng to comfort or give an out-gate But he can convince thee with satisfying reasons that his delays were needful When as it is Hab. 2.3 sense says The vision tarries he can make thy faith say Tarry for it because it will surely come and not tarry he can make thy self say he doth not tarry even when thy sense says he doth tarry This for the second Consideration for perswading you to wait on God under delays and not to be hasty 3. A third Consideration to perswade to waiting in opposition to making haste is That they that are sweet to wait would look if they be busie at work and at the work they are called to This is a needful diversion which I would offer to such folk were they busie in making use of long and feeding storms they would make less dinn in waiting for an issue of them but they would be ready to say rather Alas let him tarry never so long he will come ere I be ready for him ere I have reaped the blessed fruit of the dispensations of his providence that I am under And therefore a wearier and a hasty person under delays doth proclaim that he is an idle person not about his work for not only as ye know work is a mean to take away langour but in particular the thrifty improvement of a hard lot would make folk wonder that God should come to them at all 4. To perswade you to wait and that ye would not be hasty if none of the former Considerations will press you to it remember the Soveraignty of God and that ye are his Creatures when thou wearies to wait consider what thou art a bit of nothing a dependent bit of beeing to be made or not made formed or marred at his pleasure if he hath given thee a back why may he not lay on a burden and continue it on so long as pleases him Wherefore serves thy beeing in the world but to be at his disposing and to be what seems good to him This Argument prevailed with Job that was put otherways to it than any of us he was stripped in an instant of all that he had and sitting down on the dust he says Chap. 1.21 Naked came I out of the womb and naked shall I return God gave and God hath taken blessed be the Name
of the Lord. And Chap. 2.10 he says to his Wife Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil O! there is a stooping to Soveraignty in the greatest straits and shakes that ever befell any except our Lord Jesus and that Argument is made use of by him to his Disciples in the matter of timing mercies Acts 1. Lord say they wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel He answers It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his own power Proud dust miskens it self when it dare offer to prescribe to God and were Soveraignty more studied and practically improven in the lots that befall us and in their continuance we would often find matter of a song where we make a quarrel Now as these Considerations might press waiting in opposition to hastiness so there are some other Considerations that serve to press meekness and calmness of spirit in opposition to bitterness and fretfulness and among many I shall only name three 1. Meekness and sweetness is commendable on this account that it takes the poison and sting out of all our lots The Apostle Rom. 12.21 when he hath been speaking against passion and fretfulness at our neighbours that angers us he hath a very speaking word that he closes with Be not overcome of evil as if he said ye think your self victorious when ye have gotten your crop and spleen wracked on crowing over them that have wronged you but ye are far mistaken the soil is yours ye are overcome of evil ye are slaves to your own corruption in venting your passion and bitterness So is it here it 's fretfulness and bitterness that poisons any sad lot we are under Lam. 3.19 When a man remembers the affliction and the misery and the wormwood and the gall and hath them still in remembrance his soul sinketh in him but when he gets victory over these he says It 's of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not He that had said before that his soul was removed far from peace and he forgot prosperity he finds prosperity among his despised and undervalued lots It 's not your continued crosses and long delays that is your affliction it 's your bitterness that is the poison and sting of them all and makes them so afflicting It 's with you as with that man Solomon speaks of Prov. 19.3 The foolishness of man perverteth his way and his heart fretteth against the Lord When he hath perverted his way he would blame God for his own unthrift There is no outgate of a Cross comparable to this the coming off with a meek mind as that word Psal 55.18 holds out He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battel that was against me O! look to the peace of your mind under continued difficulties let not that break Ye know not what affliction means till ye get an imbittered mind which will make a Mole-hill a Mountain nay will create a Cross to it self yea is a Cross in it self and can contrive a Cross where there is none even when a man is convinced his lot is good Set him in a Paradise of pleasure his imbittered mind will make it a torment to him therefore look on an imbittered mind as the greatest sting and poisoner of all that can befall you and guard against it 2. It may perswade folks to study meekness and calmness of spirit when they consider what an imbittered fretful disposition portends what doth it import and portend to a man I shall tell you it portends mo and sharper rods to tame that wild and imbittered heart to humble that fretful disposition a man who though he hing on yet is fretful cankard bitter all that he meets with in his lot is the wormood and the gall to him he is like a feverish man that hath something in his stomach that must be purged his taste is marred which makes that which is sweet bitter and though thou belong to God yet as it is said of wicked men if thou walk contrary unto him he will walk contrary unto thee Levit. 26. And thou may expect seven times more yoke upon yoke cross upon cross till thou be tame and subject thy self to him In a word so long as a man is in a bitter frame he evidences that the medicine God hath given him hath never won to the root of his disease and he may look for a harder potion 3. It may perswade to the study of meekness and to set against bitterness to consider that bitterness is unreasonable Isai 45.9 Wo to him that strives with his Maker let the pot sheards strive with the pot sheards of the earth shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it what makest thou He is the Lord to whom who can say What dost thou Ponder that word which I have often occasion to mind you of Job 18.4 He teareth himself in his anger a lively and pathetick description of a fretful disposition he would eat himself in his anger but shall the earth be forsaken for thee and shall the rock be removed out of his place Is there no more ado but turn all the wheels of providence up-side down when ye take the pett When such a goodly thing as thou art not pleased with it says Bildad to Job O fretful body wilt thou sit down and ask who should guide the world Who should have the Throne Whether God or thou Whether should he guide thee or thou guide thy self Whether wilt thou yield to God or have him yield to thee Shall not God brusk his Throne and Government but thou like a Child of Belial envyeth it Nay further let me plead for God bitter body what ails thee what would do thy turn Thou can name many things thou wants and would have but thou knows not where thy disease lyes it is within thee that ails thee let God cut thee short of favours or restore them to thee put thee in trouble or deliver thee it will not cure thee thou wilt never want a cross so long as that base lust of bitterness abides in thee unsubdued that which was a lust in the enjoyment of favours will turn a lust in the deprivation of them change thy case every day it will not ease thee thou art like a sick man that crys for drink but it doth not slocken him the cooling of his blood and purging of his distemper must do that therefore look on bitterness and fretfulness in your frame as a most absurd irrational thing Now as these Consideratious should perswade you to look on the excellency and advantage of waiting on God in opposition to making haste and to fretfulness severally So I shall shut up both with a general Word pressing waiting from the advantages that generally results from it and I can give you no better thing to command it than that of our Lord Isai 30.18 Blest are all they that
And Job 23.10 when he cannot get a sight of God on the right or left hand yet saith he He knows the way that I take when he trys me I shall come forth like gold c. What I would say from this is to leave a check at their door whom the dispensations of providence dings from all their confidence if God delay the Psalmist he will avow that he waits but so silly are we that there is nothing the storm blows against but we are ready to question it whereas if we see it be fair before the wind we question it not at all so silly spirits are we and so full of byasses O! lament this and know that duty is knowable and avowable in the saddest of dispensations for the Psalmist can say I wait for the Lord my soul doth wait And 4. As duty is attainable and knowable so it is very comfortable to a man to know it It 's good news to this tost Psalmist that he dare say I wait my soul doth wait it 's good news for the present Read often believe and improve that word Eccles 8.12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times and his days be prolonged yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God because he feareth before God The very present reward the Eccho of a good Conscience is sweet and comfortable that the people of God can say Our hearts are not turned back nor our steps declined from thy way though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons and covered us with the shadow of death Psal 44.18 O! How sweet an Eccho hath that in a mans bosome and a man that in a sad condition will not be made up in the testimony of a good Conscience it is righteousness with God to smite him with a rod dipped in his own guilt Look to it and make it your study to have this ground of comfort when others fail It 's good when a man can say I am sore broken yet my heart is not turned back I am in the deeps yet my soul waits I cannot win at him yet my feet have held his steps his way have I kept and not declined and as this is sweet and comfortable for the present so will it be found for the time to come when the waiter on God in duty shall be made to say and sing as it is Isa 25.9 Lo this is our God we have waited for him and he will save us we will be glad and rejoyce in his salvation I shall say no more but when all costs are reckoned it shall be found that a doer of duty waiting for God shall be no loser but a great gainer and it shall never be grief of heart to him that he made it his work to wait on him in his way when others declined As I closed the last day with that word Blessed are all they that wait for him so do I this day whatever he do to them whatever delays or difficulties they meet with they shall find that it will be found a rich mercy to be found waiting for God and upon God in their duty keeping his way and not declining therefrom I say no more but the Lord bless his Word that ye have been hearing for Christs sake SERMON XXV Psalm 130. Verse 5. And in his Word do I hope I Told you that as the two former Verses speak to one of the excellent Priviledges of the godly man to wit the remission of sins So the 5 and 6. speak to a most necessary though a most difficult task of the godly man to wait for God that godly men give a proof of their subjection to him and faith in him by their waiting for him notwithstanding they meet with so many delays and disappointments Somewhat hath been spoken to three principal Heads of Doctrine in these Verses 1. The Psalmists exercise he is a waiting man he is put to wait and he doth wait where ye heard that if God delay the Saints and put them to wait it is their duty to wait not only not to be hasty but if they hing on they would look their waiting be not poisoned with freâ—fulness passion and bitterness but seasoned and adorned with meekness and patience I spoke 2. to the object of his exercise I wait for the Lord where ye heard that the eyes of the waiâ—ing man must be taken off all things and set on God not only when all second causes forsake him but when these things that seemed to promise relief seem to be against him he must notwithstanding wait on God and keep his way and have all his expectation in God or God himself must be his expectation and he will be no loser by this if God himself be his great expectation he will easily make up the want of all other things In the third place I spoke to his affection in waiting my soul doth wait where beside that general that we should be able to give an account what we are doing in difficulties when we are exercised with delays Ye heard that true waiting lyes in the midst betwixt bitterness passion haste fretfulness on the one hand and stupidity and indifferency on the other hand The right waiter for God as he is not fretful and passionat so neither is he sleeping and careless he so waits as his soul doth wait his affections are aloft prizing and looking out for these things he is waiting for Now in the 4. place I proceed to consider his support in waiting What made him thus wait affectionatly confidently and patiently He Answers and in his word do I hope He hoped in the word of God and therefore he waits for God It 's not to great purpose to trouble you here with an exact distinction betwixt Faith and Hope Faith looks to the promise and gives a present subsistence to the thing promised as the word is Heb. 11.1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen Hope looks to the performance of the good things promised Faith closes with the promise as true and is comforted in that which is contained in it Hope looks out till God come and make out what Faith sees and closes with in the word of promise In this place Faith and Hope may be taken promiscuously or indifferently in his word do I hope that is I wait till God make out to me that he hath promised in his Word or take it a little more distinctly in his word do I hope It will import that having closed by Faith with the good things in the word of promise he looks out for the accomplishment of them so that he hath not only Faith bene believing and closing with the Word but he hath hope looking out till God make his Word good to him I might here take notice of this that waiting on God though a man had no other evidence is ground of hope when a man is in a difficulty and sore put at and
yet he is born up in waiting on God for an out-gate he cannot quite nor give over he cannot go to another door for relief that 's a good evidence that there is ground of hope in such a mans lot For certainly Psal 9.18 the needy shall not always be forgotten the expectation of the poor shall not perish for â—ver And he that never said to the seed of Jacob seek ye me in vain Isai 45.29 he never engages a heart to wait on him in vain Their very waiting on and not giving over is if they could but discern it a sufficient refutation of their temptation to diffidence and despondency But I shall leave this and look on the words another way and these two principal Doctrines are obvious from them to any capacity 1. That waiting on God needs the support of Faith and Hope 2. That Faith or Hope must have the Word of God for its ground The first of these is clear in that he says I wait because I hope The other is clear from that he says in his word do I hope For the first of these That waiting on God needs the support of Faith or Hope Patience and On-waiting will never be gotten well cherisht without Hope or Faith a man that would keep waiting on God would keep Faith and Hope on foot So doth the Psalmist here while he tells that he waits because he hopes And hence it is that in Scripture we find a frequent conjunction of Faith and Patience as Heb. 6.12 The followers of them who through faith and patience have inherited the promises Rev. 13.10 Here is the faith and the patience of the Saints they must go together Rom. 8.25 If we hope for that we see not then do we with patience wait for it It 's hoping for that which is not seen that draws along a patient waiting for it 1 Thess 1.3 True patience is called the patience of hope that patience which is the product of hope And to add no more ye have them conjoyned Heb. 10.35 36. Where in the first place the Apostle says to them Cast not away therefore your confidence which hath a great recompence of reward and then he adds to good purpose Ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God ye may receive the promise Intimating it is to no purpose to speak of patience if folk cast away their confidence thus ye see how these two Faith and Patitience or Patience and Hope are linked together in Scripture to tell that patient waiting on God hath need of the support of Faith and Hope And if we should follow out this a little more distinctly we will find that the brangling of Faith and Hope cuts Patience short when a mans Faith or Hope fails he gives over waiting on God his Patience is gone as in that wicked King 2 King 6.33 Who when God by the Prophet had promised delivery would not believe it but says This evil is of the Lord what should I wait for the Lord any longer Fraâ— once he cast off confidence he gave over waiting on God And to clear this further see Jer. 2.25 and 18 12. In the one place when the Lord is perswading his people to keep his way they say There is no hope and what follows on that They say We have loved strangers and after them will we go And in the other place when they say There is no hope they add But we will walk after our own devices and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart Thus ye see how on the one hand the brangling of Faith and Hope cuts the throat of patient waiting for God and on the other hand Faith and Hope entertained keeps life in patience to wait still on God Ye know what is said of Hezekiah 2 King 18.5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel so that after him was none like him among all the Kings of Judah nor any that was before him Trust in God made him singular and in nothing doth the singularity of a Christian appear more than in this the drawing forth of his Faith in patient waiting on God in difficulties 1 Sam. 27.1 When David gives over confidence he gives over patience and waiting and goes down to the Land of the Philistines but look upon him again as a Believer holding fast coâ—fidence what says he Psal 27.13 I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living Nothing but Faith kept me from giving over But now as Psal 116.10 I believed therefore have I spoken attaining to believing he dare subjoyn as v. 14. Wait on the Lord and be of good courage and he shall strengthen thy heart wait I say on the Lord. Thus ye have the point generally cleared that patient waiting on God needs the support of Faith and Hope To break it a little smaller and bring it nearer you I shall branch it out in these two 1. That the trials of the people of God may be such as only Faith can see an out-gate And 2. When they are so Faith will see an out-gate and enable a man to wait on God for the out-gate For the first I say The trials of the people of God may be such and so ordered for their greatness sharpness darkness and continuance that an out-gate will be the object of Faith only and not of Sense nor Reason A mans trials may be such that if he will betake him to Sense and carnal Reason to see if there will be an end of the Lord he will give it over if Faith step not in and take him off the hand of both A waiter for God here under difficulties must be a hoper else he will not wait on we are generally called in the whole course of our life to walk by Faith 2 Cor. 5.7 We walk by faith and not by sight but especially in great and eminent trialls and difficulties when they are of a long continuance to prove that we are among the just that live by faith Hab. 2.4 with Heb. 10.38 I might instance this both in the greatness and in the long continuance of trials In the greatness of trials which may be such as Faith only can see an issue 3 Cor. 1.8 In the trouble that came to us in Asia we were pressed out of measure above strength in so much that we dâ—spaired even of life and had the sentence of death in our selves And why That we should not trust in our selves but in God that raiseth the dead We were put to it to imploy Faith in our deadly difficulties else we had been gone So Jonah 2.4 is put to say I am cast out of sight till Faith holding a grip of God bids him look again towards his holy Temple Sâ— Abram Rom. 4.19 hath all probabilities his own dead body and the deadness of Sarahs womb against the thing promised and what gave the issue only this he was not weak in the
note I took up here was That waiting on God will not be gotten cherisht without faith and hope I wait for the Lord my soul doth wait because I hope The Tryals of the people of God for greatness sharpness and continuance may be so ordered as an out-gate from them can only be discerned by faith and looked after by hope yet when it is so that things are most dark faith chearfully imployed will apprehend a promised delivery in the greatest difficulties Faith will see an issue worth the waiting for I wait and I hope says he The second general Observation that I proposed from these Words was that the faith and hope that sends a believer and carries him through in waiting for God that enables him to endure hard lots without succumbing must take the Word for its ground I wait because I hope and I hope because I have the Word of God for the ground of my hope Ye know that I proceeded to speak to four Heads in the prosecuting of this Note That really needy souls who are put to live by Faith ought and will be much conversant with the Word of God to know what is for them and their through-bearing there 2. That as they will be conversant with the Word so they will judge of things according to the verdict of the Word that it may ground their Faith and beget Hope 3. That to fix the Saints in this resolution and to the end they may lean weight on the Word they would be fixt in this Principle that the Word of God is of Divine Authority and infallibly certain In his Word do I hope 4. That the waiter having fixt this Principle that the Word is of Divine Authority he must send out his Faith to believe and his Hope to look for all he finds in so divine and sure a Word that he may be sure under foot as the Word of God makes him It 's his duty to put forth Faith and Hope to fend For the first of these that needy Saints who are put to live by Faith and Hope ought to be and will be much conversant with the Word I spoke to it the last day I both proved it that it was lawful and incumbent on all to read and be acquaint with the Scriptures against the tyranny of the man of sin that will have no Laickâ— â—s they call them to read the Scripture without his licence and I insisted to press the duty on you by several arguments which I shall nor resume Only I shall desire that it may be a Preaching daily practised as ye would prove your selves to be among these blessed folk who have their delight in the Law of God and meditate therein day and night who have the Word dwelling richly in you that ye may be acquaint with the Charter of your inheritance with your Card and your Compass your elder Brothers Testament the Magazine and Store-house of your Furniture and Touch-stone whereby ye try all things Let me I say exhort you that that Preaching may be conspicuously seen in your practice daily A 2d thing in the point is that as really needy Saints will be conversant with the Word so they must learn to judge of things according to the rule of the Word they must learn to be determined by what the Word says to have the Scriptures ending all controversies and debates to have the Scriptures grounding their Faith and Hope in all things The Psalmist doth so here he contents not himself to take a look of the word but he is so acquaint with and so improves it as he lives by Faith and Hope in it This Point will lead me to the 3d and therefore I shall pass it briefly by recommending to all that would be acquaint with the Scripture and judge things according to it that they would avoid two extreams one is the practice of wicked men who will not be determined by the Word but live and feed upon their own presumptuous dreams Let the Word of God say what it will against the generality of men and the way wherein they walk they will not take the Word for Gods final answer but still look out for some other thing from God I can compare the generality of Church-members to none better than these Luk. 20. where Christ tells of the ill usage of the Servants sent to seek the fruit of the Vineyard and of their killing of the Heir and said he will come and destroy these Husband-men they perceiving that he meant by them as the other Evangelist hath it v. 16. say God forbid They would not take that for Gods final answer and so it is with the generality of men speak of the Scriptures in general to them they will acknowledge them but shew unto them how the Scripture condemns their way and what judgments it hath denounced against sins that they are living in they will not take that for Gods final answer they will still look out for some other thing from God I shall not stand on this though it be the general disease of the visible Church but in opposition to that extream of wicked men I shall desire you to mark that word Joh. 12.48 He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him at the last day Thou wilt not take that word for Gods final sentence yet it is that which shall judge thee in the last day and all self-deceiving and self deluding souls shall find God is and will be no other thing than what he hath declared himself in his Word to be If this were believed and laid to heart folk would more labour to live so as they may have the Word more their friend But on the other hand as men in making use of the Word would guard against the presumptuous dreams of wicked men so they would guard against the faithless fears of the godly who see enough in the Word to make them and needy sinners happy but their fears and want of probabilities lays them by from improving what they find in the Word for their comfort and encouragement in duty and lean as little weight on the Word upon the one hand as wicked men do on the other I shall not resume what I said at another occasion what use ye should make of reason in the matters of Religion Sure ye should make use of it for taking up things revealed in Scripture in gathering what is exprest therein or may be drawn from it by native consequence But ye would remember that Reason must stoop to Divine Revelation your Reason must stoop and strike Sail to what God hath revealed in his Word though ye have no probability of the thing yea though ye have probability of the contrary remembring that Numb 23.19 God is not as man that he should lie nor as the son of man that he should repent Hath he said and shall he not do it Hath he spoken and shall he
used by the Papists against us concerning the Spirits testimony it is not by way of Enthusiasme or any new Revelation but by way of gift from God opening our eyes to discern the wonders of his Law and so it is not required to prove the Scriptures to be Divine but to assure us they are Divine because there be some to whom the Gospel is hid not that a saving work of the Spirit is requisite to take up these evidences of the Divinity of the Scriptures for a temporary may taste of the good Word of God and yet fall away Heb. 6. But a common illumination of the Spirit is necessary to take up these evidences the Scripture gives of its Divinity Now I have been long upon this Head which is Doctrinal and though it be so it shall not be in vain if it be a mean to fix your Faith and Hope in this Principle that the Scriptures are the Word of God and of Divine Authority The Scriptures are the Word of Truth by which we are begotten Jam. 1.18 His Law is the truth Psal 119.142 The Scriptures are a more sure word of prophesie whereunto ye do well to take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place 2 Pet. 1.19 When David is comforting himself against the rising of enemies like the mighty Waters and Waves of the Sea he says Thy testimonies are very sure Psal 93.5 And then they are a tryed word Psal 12.6 The words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times Ye would reduce these things to your practice and seek to have the Word of God to be found that which it is called in your experience But that which I intended to have insisted upon is to leave a sad check upon the generality of you that see so little of God in your Bible Something hath been said to hold forth the Divine Authority of the Scriptures but I confess it 's but a spilt commendation that hath been given this word yea it fears me more hath been said than even ye that have Bibles discern O will ye consider how men of old have experienced the Divinity of this word and have found it to be of God and have fallen down and confessed worshipping God saying God is in you of a truth 1 Cor. 14.25 All the fores that Christianity now hath do not contribute to make the Word so successful as it hath been in times of persecution wherefore it is so soon passed from by many in times of trial because the Divine Authority thereof is not stamped on hearts and God is not made use of and imployed to write it upon the heart Let this be looked upon partly as the practical use of what ye have heard partly to excite you to bless God ye have this Word Ye are not behind so long as ye have your Bibles though ye were straitned in many other things and partly to humble you that ye may blush and be ashamed that the Divine vertue and efficacy that wont to accompany the Scriptures is so little found in this generation and upon your hearts SERMON XXIX Psalm 130. Verse 5. And in his Word do I hope WAiting for God being the great and trying task of of the godly man as ye have heard who afterhend his wrestling with the deeps of difficulties and with insupportable pressures of guilt must learn also by patient waiting for God to wrestle with delays to the answers of Prayer or the longed for outgate prayed for whether as to issue or comfort These that are put to this trying task and seriously engaged in it had need to be well supported that they may bide it out till they meet with the end of the Lord. This is it which I am now upon in these words wherein the Psalmist after that he hath profesâ— he is waiting waiting for the Lord that his soul doth wait he adds in the next place an account of his support in waiting that therefore he waited because he hoped in the Word of God I wait c. I have spoken already to the first general Doctrine in these words that patient waiting on God cannot be gotten cherisht without the exercise of Faith and Hope no man can say I wait for the Lord my soul doth wait but he that can say he hopes and trusts in God I wait saith he because I hope I have also near put a close to what I would say from the second general Obervation to wit that this Faith and Hope that supports the patient waiter for God that sends the believer and carries him thorow in waiting for God till the outgate come must take the Word for its ground and measure I wait because I hope and hope because I have the Word of God for the ground of my hope Ye may remember that from this I have spoken to these three which I wish may not evanish with the Preaching 1. That really needy Saints put to wait for God and in waiting for him put to live by Faith and Hope will be much conversant with the Word of God they must learn to be acquaint with the Scriptures to know what is there for their direction or encouragement or both 2. That these who would wait for God in the way of believing and hoping must learn to judge of things according to the Word and be determined by the Word that it may be the ground of Faith and beget Hope otherwise it will be to little purpose for a man to be acquaint with the Scriptures from end to end if he improve it not but starve beside his allowance And 3. For this end such as are put to wait for God and to have their encouragement from the Word that they may lean weight upon it they would be fixed in this Principle that the Word of God is of Divine Authority and infallible certainty they would believe and hope in in it as Gods Word In his Word do I hope And as the day before I pressed upon you thâ— use of your Bibles that ye might be better acquainted with them and with the grounds of your Faith and Hope therein contained so the last day I insisted long to give you a right impression of the Bible that it is the Word of God and of Divine Authority the Historical verity whereof being granted which cannot rationally be denyed the Scriptures will prove themselves to be of Divine Authority and I would now intreat you to study these two Sermons well that ye may have the Divine Authority of the Scriptures fixt upon your hearts that ye may lay weight on them feed on them and converse with them with more delight And then what shall I say for the need of proofs for the Divine Authority of the Scriptures when the efficacy of it upon your hearts shall be a proof thereof as the effects and success of it of old is a standing Witness that it is not the word of man but the Word of
Particularly I have laid Jacob the first Israelites prayer before you that ye may learn to write after his copy that ye may feed on it and bring the first fruits from Heaven by intercourse with God in Prayer rightly regulated and ordered God bless his Word to you for this end SERMON XXXV Psalm 130. Verse 7. Let Israel hope in the Lord for c. THE Psalmist as ye have heard when he sees through his own wrestling he cannot will not be but publick-minded to the Lord 's Israel and if he hath gotten any good in wrestling with God under difficulties guilt and delays of comfort or issue the very good he hath gotten enlargeth his heart and makes him publick-minded towards others and what ever be the hight of his own enlargement he doth not forget that Faith and Hope will be still necessary neither doth he forget that there is a constant warrand for Faith and Hope in God and that they are of so universal and constant use and what-ever others may think of that exercise or whatever it might be he himself thought of it when he was in the midst of the trial yet he now in his practice makes it out that these who try Faith and Hope most will esteem them most and will be most confident in recommending them to all others of the Lords people That which now I am upon is the consideration of the persons to whom hope in God is recommended it is to Israel whether we take them Collectively or Distributively one by one ye have heard that hope in God is the common allowance of all the people of God Not only is Israel a society that may still hope however matters go or what-ever their case be but hope in God according to the nature and tenor of the promises is the common allowance of all and every one of them and in pursuance of this I broke in upon that great point and our duty that seing however hope be the coÌ„mon allowance of all every one of Israel yet it is their allowance only who are Israelites indeed Therefore these that would claim to that allowance of hope in God they would make it sure that they are Israelites indeed that though they be not all Israel that are of Israel yet that they are Israelites in the spirit though not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God And forbearing to speak abstractly of the marks of regeneration I offered two things to be spoken to for clearing up who they are who are Israelites indeed and may claim to this allowance One is the occasion of Jacob's getting this name of Israel when he was with God in Prayer to which I have spoken and led you through some Characters of Israelites indeed who have ground of hope in God which I gathered from his Prayers Now I am to touch a little upon that other thing I proposed to be spoken unto to find out these Israelites to whom hope in God belongs and that is the Character given to them by way of Explication who they are Psal 73.1 Truly God is good to Israel and who are there Even such as are of a clean heart I shall not offer to make any common place of this but in reference to my scope in following forth this point as ye heard the last day that the Israelite indeed is a praying man so ye would take a look here of an Israelite indeed First as a self-purifying man one that purifies his heart An Israelite indeed his great work is about his heart he is one that desires to look as God doth 1 Sam. 16.7 Man looketh on the outward appearance but God looketh on the heart and so doth the Israelite indeed he desires to have that Character Rom. 2.28 Not to be a Jew outwardly or to have that circumcision or baptism which is outward in the flesh but to be a Jew or Christian inwardly and to have that circumcision and baptism of the heart to be one in the spirit and not in the letter to be one whose praise is not of men but of God An Israelite indeed is one whose great study is to keep the heart with all diligence as Solomon enjoyns Prov. 4.33 for out of it are the issues of life 2. A true Israelite in looking after his heart is a man that finds very much pollution there and that needs to be cleansed and purged He is a man that the further he goes in searching after himself he finds still the greater and the greater abominations He is a man that though he bless God as he hath reason that he is kept from outward out-breakings yet when he looks within himself he never wants that which makes him humble and to carry a low Sail so long as he finds his heart a Cage of unclean Birds He is a man in whose ears doth sound aloud that word which ye have Jer. 4.14 O Jerusalem wash thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee He is one that abomâ—nats and is sensible of the manifold pollutions of his heart not only upon the account of the many and gross evils that he finds there of the suspitions of hypocrisie and formality in the performance of duties that he is afraid he please himself with or on this account that his heart should be Gods Throne and kept at the Brides Chamber for the Beloved and he finds it no such thing but further upon this account and consideration that he finds his heart can act more wickedness in a short time than many bodies could commit for a long time 3. The sense that the Israelite indeed hath of his heart-pollutions appears in his endeavours to be cleansed from them that he may have his heart washed from wickedness He is a man that will not pay God with a sighing and going backward he is not satisfied that his pollutions he knows them and his uncleannesses are with him No no he must be further benn nothing but bosomewashing heart-cleansing will satisfy and he must be set seriously on work to that and whereas other folk take their Faith their Hope and Confidence to play them with all the stock that he hath of Faith Hope and Confidence or that he can win to he puts it out to help to purge his heart according to that word Act. 19.5 Purifying their hearts by faith It not only imports that the Israelite indeed finds that there is no way of purging he heart but by Faith in Christ But further if he get any Faith he sets it on work to purifie his heart And 1 Joh. 3.3 He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure If he get any hope of being made like Christ his sense of the pollution of his heart is such that it sets him on work to purify the heart 4. This endeavour of a true Israelite will not be altogether in vain and without success but he may win
goodness of God is better known by experience than it can be talked of even by them that have tasted of it for it is a ravishing and overcoming goodness Zech. 9.17 For how great is his goodness and how great is his beauty And yet 3. I was minting to lay it before you from some hints the Scripture gives of it and in the first place was telling that if the common goodness of God to all be so rich how rich must his peculiar goodness to his people be And in Explication of this I was hinting at the various names and notions oâ— this goodness of God held out in the Word how it keeps all temptations that they hurt not the true Israelites but makes them work for their good how it is love and tenderness how it is grace and free grace to the unworthy mercy to them in misery patience and long-suffering to the way-ward clemency and moderation to them that wring stroaks out of his hand I shall now add a word or two further that will help to give an account what this goodness of God is to Israel and that is in the 3d place to take a look of it in reference to the various cases of the Saints though the considerations we had of it in the morning do look here-away yet I shall now deduce this consideration of it more distinctly And 1. That God is good to Israel it may encourage Israel under weakness for why It 's one of the Lord's designations that he is called the strength of Israel 1 Sam. 15.29 Also the strength of Israel will not lie The word strength as it is in the Margin signifies not only strength but eternity and victory and all may very well go together here in this goodness of God to them he is strength to Israel out of weakness to make them strong when they faint to give them power 2 Cor. 12.10 Heb. 11.34 When they have no might to increase strength to them Isai 40.29 He hath strength to make the weak say I am strong Joel 3.10 And he hath strengâ—h to Israel not for a fit but to eternity Israel cannot be continued so long weak that everlasting arms will not give him strength for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength and he is strâ—ngth to Israel not simply to bear them through difficuâ—ties and to keep them from total sinking but he is so the strength of Israel as he is the victory of Israel in due time to make them Conquerours and more than Conquerours through him that hath loved them 2. That God is good to Israel it may encourage them as I was hinting in the morning against unworthiness in themselves For as ye will hear in the progress with the Lord there is mercy for Israel saith the Text Seek all Christs Court there is not a worthy person of all he hath but himself and if there be any addition any competition amongst Christ's train and followers it lies in this who shall be the greatest dyvors and debters to free Grace who shall be the most unworthy less than the least of his mercies who shall be the Mephibosheth these whom David will allow to sit at his Table but worthlesness is a noble claim in Israel a dyvor bill is a noble pasportâ—s dittay is a claim For with the Lord there is mercy 3. That God is good to Israel it may encourage all true Israelites under the multitude of their frequent recurring necessities accompanied with the sense of the ill improvement of what good things he hath done for them and to them I suppose amongst the many humbling considerations that the Israelites have of their case this is not the least that they are daily needing daily getting and dayly misguiding proofs of love they are like that man Prov. 19.19 That when he is delivered must be delivered again How often do they think with themselves What should they do looking again to God for relief they have so often needed so often gotten and as often proven dyvors misguiding all they got selling themselves without money and without price which makes them blush to look to God again for new supply and new delivery but the goodness of God may encourage them to look again For with the Lord saith the Text is plenteous redemption that is not only delivery but delivery in great plenty so oft as they need 4. That God is good to Israel it may encourage Israel under the Conscience of guilt in particular for so the Psalmist saith here in particular He will redeem Israel from all his iniquiâ—ies these things I but name now because if the Lord will I will have occasion in the progress to speak more amply 5. The goodness of God to Israel may encourage them against the contempt they meet with and the mean and low condition wherein they are put in the world many a time our hearts think it a wonder that the Blood-Royal of Heaven the excellent Ones in the Earth should be no more esteemed of in the World while we little mind that word 1 Joh. 3.1 Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not Otherwayes we would think it a wonder that the Israel of God are not made the filth and off-scourings of all things yea but the goodness of God is a cordial to Israel in this case let the world count them the filth and off-scourings of all things yet the Lord hath chosen Jacob for himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure Psal 135.4 Let their nearest relations cast them off he will not cast off any of his Israel Hence David could sing Psal 27.10 when my father and my mother forsake me then the Lord will take me up and Isai 44.21 O Israel thou shalt not be forgotten of me saith the Lord that is Israel's priviledge and verse 23. The Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in Israel The world may leave the Israel of God to send for themselves but in that case Israel may sing as Psal 121.4 He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep the Lord is his keeper the Lord is a shade upon his right hand the Sun shall not smite them by day nor the Moon by night the Lord shall preserve them from evil he shall preserve their soul he shall preserve their going out and their coming in from this time forth and even for evermore So that in all cases Israel hath ground of encouragement in the goodness of God and who would look upon these things and believe them and not think themselves engaged to make it sure that they are of the Israel of God that share in these mercies and priviledges And this leads me to the 4th word that I proposed to be spoken to for pressing you to study to be Israelites in Spirit and that is that this goodness of God to Israel that I have been minting to lay before you though I have been but spilling it in the speaking to it it is not cunningly devised fables it
in more than ordinary exigence we might say through Christ strengthning us we can do all things Lord bless his word unto you SERMON XXXVII Psalm 130. Verse 7 8. Let Israel hope in the Lord for c. YOU heard that these two Verses do contain the second part of the Psalm wherein after that the Psalmist in the first 6 Verses hath been wrestling partly with plunging perplexities represented under the notion of Depths vers 1.2 Partly with the Conscience of guilt verses 3.4 And partly with the delays of comfort and an outgate verses 5.6 After that I say the Psalmist comes to get some issue and outgate whereof he giveth not a direct and express account but any good he hath gotten he presently makes it appear in good news to Israel he hath an exhortation to them to hope in the Lord and hath Motives and Arguments pressing his Exhortation which are taken partly from what is in God to the behove of his Israel For with the Lord there is mercy c. And partly from what he will let forth of this for their good and behove not only is mercy and plenteous redemption with him but he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities For the Exhortation I spoke to it at length And at the last occasion I brake in upon the Motives The Instructions to be gathered from which I reduced to two general Heads 1. Something supposed concerning them that are put to hope and allowed to hope in God And 2. Something proposed concerning such as are called and allowed to hope and as a ground to their hope For the first That which is supposed in the Words it may again be reduced to these two Heads of Doctrine 1. That the man called and allowed to hope in God is one that is acquainted with misery in himself and is put to look out to what is in God or with him to do his turn For with the Lord there is mercy That there is mercy with God implys That the man that is called and allowed to hope in God is in himself miserable and put to look out to God for mercy and so it is one of the blessed and sure characters of a person that is called and allowed to hope in God that he is kept humble not conceity nor dreaming of any good in himself and the nearer he be to the dust he hath the more warrand to hope for the man that spears the right gate to hope is he that Lam. 3.29 Puts his mouth in the dust if so be there may be hope he creeps low in the dust to seek encouragement to hope and the man that is called to live by Faith is opposed to the man whose soul is lifted up in him and consequently to the man whose heart is not upright in him Hab. 2.4 And further the man that is called to hope and allowed to hope in the humbling sense of his misery he is put to look without himself to what is in God or with God for him he is called to hope on the account of mercy in relation to his misery It intimats that the humble sensible man the Israel of God can never be undone so long as God is to the fore and there is enough in him to do his turn though he be miserable and wants that he stands in need of yet if it be in God he shall not want If mercy be in and with God he is made up in the midst of his misery To this I have spoken already and shall not repeat I proceed to the second Observation implyed in that which is supposed concerning the man that is put to hope and warranted to hope in God That not only is he simply miserable and needing mercy but he is under such a bondage of sin and misery as he cannot extricat himself out of it except God interpose He needs not only mercy in God but redemption and plenteous redemption in God to rid him out of these bonds wherein he is fettered and bound and out of which he is not able to deliver himself Although the consideration of sin will come in to be spoken to on the next Observation by it self yet I shall on this touch a little in general both on the bondage of sin and misery under which the Israel of God are supponed to be lying As for sin all men by nature are bound slaves to it they are hurried away with every impetuous blast of temptation that blows upon their corruption but it is the Israel of God that are called and allowed to hope in God that feel this bondage Hence the Apostle Rom. 7.19 saith The good that I would I do not but the evil that I would not that I do And he finds a law in his members warring against the law of his mind leading him captive to the law of sin on which account he crys out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death There is a captivity indeed under sin and he tells the Galatians Chap. 5.17 That the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these two are contrary one to another so that they cannot do the things they would So the Israel of God are under a bondage of sin when they would do good as the same Apostle hath it ill is present with them And for the bondage of their misery the Scripture is so full anent it and the experience of the Saints so amply confirms it that it is needless to stand on particular proofs and instances of it How often are they put to that Psal 107.11 Because they rebelled therefore he brought down their heart with sorrow and labour they fell and there was none to help In the Application of this I shall speak a word first to the wicked and ungodly and then to Gods Israel who are called and allowed to hope in him notwithstanding this bondage they are under For the first to wit the wicked They would from this look on it as a sad character to know little and be as little sensible of their bondage through sin and misery They look on a licentious way of living in sin when they have eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin as it is 2 Pet. 2.14 When sin reigns in their mortal bodies and they obey it in the lusts thereof and they yield their members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin Rom. 6.12 When they give themselves up to work all uncleanness with greediness Ephes 4.19 They look upon that as their liberty and they are never out of bonds except when they are glutting themselves with sin they slâ—ep not except they do ill O! that such knew what a madnes and distraction they are under while they glory in their chains as if a mad-man should glory in his fetters look to it assure thy self thou shalt find sin to be a bondage and need of looking to God for Redemption from it ere thou have a warrand to
merciful bowels to deal about them according to their ability and as there is cause and a cruel unmerciful disposition is a shrewd token that such an one has not obtained mercy But more of this afterward 5. And Lastly The Objects of this Mercy are described to be tender walkers according to the Rule and Pattern set before them Gal. 6.16 As many as walk according to this rule peace be on them and mercy Their tender walk puts them not without Mercies mister The more tender they are in their walk they see the more need of mercy and this keeps them under the drop of mercy So much for the Object of this Mercy that is with God and for the characters of them to whom it is exprest which would be looked to by all of you who would be partakers of it I proceed now in the 3d place to speak to the properties of this Mercy which will help to unfold the nature of it a little more distinctly and among all the Properties that might be assigned to it a little briefly to these five 1. This would be fixed that the mercy of God is a real mercy Ye will get fair weather and complemental mercy enough in the World mercy professed where it is not and where it kythes not in any effect ye will get mercy enough like that Jam. 2.15 When a brother or sister is naked or destitute of daily food men that will say to them depart in peace be ye warmed and filled but they give them nothing needful for the body The whole world as one says are like Histrionicks counterfeit masked persons and in nothing more than in their pretences and professions of mercy but the mercy of God is a real mercy a mercy that folk may lippen to if ye enquire for it in the inward affection what can be required but it is adduced to express it Isai 23.15 It is exprest by sounding of the bowels Jer. 31.20 By bowels being troubled or moved Hos 11.8 By the turning of the heart within and repentings kindled together All these expressions are to point out how cordial and real the Lord is as to the inward affection of mercy and for the Effects of it men want rather eyes to discern them than the mercies themselves Even his own people are straitned in their own bowels how to keep the proofs of mercy when his heart is enlarged to bestow them and yet they never want a proof of his mercy while they have a room in the Hospital of his Heart and Faith to believe that they are in the Hospital of his Compassion that is an evident proof how real his mercy is 2. As his mercy is real so the Scripture tells it is that wherein he delights Mic. 7.18 He retains not his anger for ever Why Because he delights in mercy No but he delights in himself and in all his Attributes and in the manifestation of them in the World but in a peculiar manner in his mercy upon divers accounts He may be said to delight in it partly on the account of the frequency of his merciful dispensations and manifestations in acts of mercy For works of Judgment towards his people are his Work his strange Work and his Act his strange Act. Isai 28.21 But the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord Psal 35.5 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to such as keep his covenant c. Psal 25.10 Again he delights in mercy because there is nothing flows from him but that which may invite not hinder sinners from coming to him being objects of his mercy It is true he willeth the death of sinners for sin to glorifie his Justice Yet Ezek. 18.23 He hath no pleasure at all in the death of him that dieth but rather that he should return from his ways and live Nothing flows from him to seclude any from his mercy that will not seclude themselves even when he strikes it is to drive to his mercy when he afflicts the language is Turn you and live why will ye die O house of Israel Again he delights in mercy because all the good he doth to his people he doth it not grudgingly Many a good turn among men is as ye speak spilt in the doing But the good that he does to his people he does it with his whole heart and soul Jer. 32.41 He acts mercy toward his people to speak so as one in his own Element and as going about a work that is kindly to him if I may so word it And lastly he delights in mercy because to speak after the manner of men he hath no pleasure that his people should ever raise any cloud betwixt his mercy and them the people of God cannot do themselves a greater wrong nor him a greater unkindness if ye understand it aright than by their provocations to incapacitat him to manifest his mercy towards them But mistake not this for he hath a Soveraignty in his grace even when they in a manner necessitat him to keep up the acts of his mercy and to afflict them hence when they go onfrowardly in the way of their own heart his tender mercy will make a stepping-stone of impediments that are put in its way Isai 57.17 Because he delights in mercy he will come over all these impediments to do them a good turn freely And that is a 3d property of this mercy it is a free mercy it is a mercy bestowed without money and without price But this as I told you the last day is comprehended under the notion of Grace that is imported in the Goodness of God in that it is freely given And therefore Exod. 33.19 cited Rom. 9.15 He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy compassion c. And it 's not in him that wills nor in him that runs but in God that shews mercy There is no place for disputing here Why he will have mercy on such and such and not on others it is an act of his royal prerogative in grace that none can hinder for who can hinder him to do with his own what he will A 4th Property of this mercy with God is That it is an eternal mercy I do not mean that any creature that gets not an Interest in the mercy of God in this life may look to be partaker of it after this life that was the Opinion of Origen that Devils and damned men and women should at length share in the mercy of God Either thou must grip mercy here or thou hast done with it eternally But to them that close with mercy here it is an everlasting mercy Hence is that over-word of the 136. Psalm His mercy endureth for ever and Psal 103.17 His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him from election to their eternal glorification so David finds that his tender mercies and loving kindnesses have been for ever of old And the Church Lam. 3.23 finds It is of the
on stroaks from which folks will not easily come to be delivered O how oft may we write that over ill improved pressures which ye have Psal 81.13 O that my people had hearkened to me and Israel had walked in my ways I would soon have subdued their enemies and turned my hand against their adversaries And Isai 48.18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandment then had thy peace been as a river c. It must be otherwayes with pressed saints than it is with others It is a sin and a shame that so many ruines are under saints hands not improved but a double sin shame that they should increase under their hand and an evidence they have not been improved But a 3d word most directly from what I have spoken on this branch is this That if every delivery be a redemption and enlargement Then it calls the people of God to be comforted and enlarged under every mercy and proof of love how mean soever it be The Lord who calls men in the day of adversity to consider calls them in the day of prosperity to be comforted and joyful in any measure of redemption that they meet with Eccl. 7.14 And it 's marked by Nehemiah and others when God had brought Israel into the land of Canaan and gave them abundance of good things they delighted themselves in his great goodness Neh. 9.25 a practice very rare among God's people proofs of love particular redemption trists them which calls them to rejoyce in God and his goodness and yet they are where they were when they got them their mercies are little seen upon them by any enlargements given them and what wonder therefore that mercies be withholden from them who cannot be worse with the want of them than when they have them they droop when they have and they droop when they want the having of them is no enlargement to them and this they mourn not for as a sin they are better at picking quarrels at them than at being thankful for them which speaks a proud unsubdued selfie disposition I shall not stand to discuss the shifts and pretexts that folks make use of in their byasses in setting no value on Redemptions bestowed on them many a time their own spirit is a spirit of bondage when God allows on them a spirit of liberty It is not the want of allowances from God but the want of enlargement of heart a slavish servil disposition that makes a spirit of bondage when it is not Gods allowance Sometime they pretend the smalness of the mercy to undervalue it when they rather proclaim the want of humility in themselves The humbled Church Lam. 3.22 Under many pressures sees That it is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed if our mercies be compared with our lustings or deservings they will be great and admirable mercies And sometimes the cloud of continued pressures hides the sight of partial Redemptions but certainly every evidence of mercy remembred in wrath is a redemption and should be delighted in and our heart should be enlarged in receiving it as such in a word it is an evidence of a blest disposition when whatever be folks lots they love not to cast out with God they love not to fish faults with his Providence to miscal a mean mercy how insignificant soever it be to their sense and when they are content to pick up their mercies amongst the crouds of their crosses that these shall not tempt them not to be comforted in the meanest mercy and who knows but such a frame if it were studied might prove a door of hope to the increase and growth of favours they that delight to commend mercies shall find them grow Now I have done with the accounts on which deliveries are called Redemptions In the third place it remains that I should speak a little to the plentifulness of these redemptions With him there is plenteous redemption Ye heard the last day when I was speaking of the mercy of God That God is full of compassion and plenteous in mercy Psal 86.5 15. That he has manifold mercies Neh. 9.19 and that he is abundant in goodness Exod. 34.6 Here He is plenteous in redemption and this hath relation to these two 1. To the variety of the pressures the saints may be assaulted with for plenteous redemption speaks plentiful pressures 2. To the recurring of these pressures that when folk are brought out of them they fall in them again through their own folly There is plenteous redemption with God in relation to both For the first The variety of pressures wherewith saints may be assaulted There is somewhat 1. Supposed here That not only the Israel of God may have pressures but a variety a great many of them Hence Eliphaz Job 5.19 Supposing Job a penitent says God should deliver him in six troubles and in seven a number of perfection 2 Cor. 4.8 The Apostle says we are troubled on every side and Ch. 6.7 He tells There is need of the armour of righteousness both on the right and left hand there is no hand we can turn us to would he say but there is need of armour Chap. 7.5 Troubled on every side without are fightings and within were fears and in a word the Church tells us Lam. 2.22 That God had called as in a solemn day her terrors round about her in the day of Gods anger no pressure was wanting and there was a convention of them 1. Hence from this that variety of pressures are the lot of the people of God it doth on the one hand point out that they are ill to tame ill to hold like a wild ass snuffing up the wind it is not easie sisting them except they be hedged in on all hands hard wedges tells there are hard stone or timber to be divided and they who have many pressures may sit down and lament over their dispositions that less would not do their turn many might steal more quietly in to heaven were it not for their dispositions that are so wild and ill to be tamed Though yet I shall add the more pressures thou hast if thou could improve them well thou has the more doors open for mercy and occasions to get meat out of the eater 2. From it I would have many folks learning to silence their murmuring and complaining many have learned a gad of crying ere they be toucht there be many who though there be pressures be such as many of the people of God would count an outgate yet there is no biding of their complaining O! what would many of you do if ye were put in Job's case who in one day was stript of all that he had and the next day of his health and quietness of mind and yet he was born through it is a great evidence of mortification to be enabled to bear pressures well to make little din of grievances much din and crying under them tells there are many boyls to be let out and many
complaints call on God to lay more on folk to tame them better O! be sober and if ye be put in a Babel see if ye can build houses there and make your pressures as supportable as lawfully ye may without sin make them not intolerable for that is to break your back but see how tolerable ye can make them without sinning against God that ye may dwell beside your cross with silence and submission who wots but ere many days go over ye may meet with an out-gate But 2. As variety of pressures are supposed here so it expresses plenty of Redemption in God for all that variety time will not permit me to break in on that other thing that this plenteous Redemption relates to the recurring of pressures how frequently the people of God may fall under repeated pressures and may be ofter than once pressed but here for variety of pressures there is plenteous redemption He will deliver in six troubles and in seven Job 5.19 If they be assaulted on the right and left hand there is armour of righteousness for both 2 Cor. 6.7 If they be troubled on every side he can keep them from being distressed if perplexed they shall not despair c 1 Cor. 4.8 If they be troubled on every side have fightings without and fears within God that comforts those that are cast down can comfort them 2 Cor. 7.8 When thou sits down and cannot tell all thy pressures and are like a weak patient who when his wounds are opened up swerfs thy heart grows sick and thou faints He is all sufficient to afford Cordials for thy support thou cannot have so many wants but he can supply them And as the old man said to the Levit Judges 19.20 All thy wants shall be upon him Thou cannot be straitned in God though through the narrowness of thy confidence thou may be straitned in thy own bowels for with him is plenteous redemption Think upon this ye that have to do with it ye that in your pressures are left on God alone bring up a good report on him cry not up your wants above his furniture cry not up your griefs above his consolations which cannot be exhausted this would make folks life not so comfortless as oft times they make it to themselves while they cry out What will they do with this and with that it 〈◊〉 come in their way If indeed such a thing be before thee we may say as it was said to Jeremy Jer. 12 5. If thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee then how can thou contend with horses If thy few pressures have laid thee by What wilt thou do with more and greater If in the land of peace wherein thou trusted they have wearied thee I shall not say thou wilt have that atheistical word What caâ— God do But what wilt thou do if it come to the swellings of Jordan But if thou keep thy eye and heart on that word With God is plenteous redemption and then ask what shall I do with my troubles I say even bear them go to God and get much from him to bear them many proofs of his power and love his all sufficiency is infinite to bear thee thorow and bod well of him and have well look down on the greatest number of pressures as tolerable in his strength I love not carnal confidence but God loves not drooping or that folk should go discouraged to their work though humble they should be They that go drooping to their work will come halting from it but though a solemn assembly of terrors should surround you hold your eye oâ— plenteous redemption in God and it shall be well with you God bless his word to you for Christ's sake SERMON XLIII Psalm 130. Verse 7. And with him is plenteous redemption And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities AS there is no searching out of the Almighty to perfection as to what he is in himself for he is higher than the Heavens as it is said of his Wisdom and deeper than the Earth So that what can we do or know Job 11.7 8. So we are as little able to comprehend or fathom all that is in him for the good of his people and what wonder when over and above all particular Promises he hath given himself away to be their God hath made infinitness their portion Here we have a taste of what riches are in him for the behove of his people That for misery in Israel with the Lord there is mercy that for bondage and slavery in Israel with him is plenteous redemption And for the particular bondage and pressure of sin He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities I have already said somewhat to that attribute of mercy in God and the last day I came to a close of this That with him is plenteous redemption ye heard that this redemption imports partly authority to interpoâ—â— and partly power to back authority to vindicat his people Ye heard also that it was called redemption on a threefold account 1. On the account of its rise and fountain that every redemption and delivery the people of God get is founded on and is the result of their great Redemption by Christ 2. It is so called with an eye to the trouble and troublers from which he redeems his Israel but without money 3. That it is so called upon the account of the issue when the Lord delivers his people he sets them at freedom and liberty he sets their feet in a large place as it is Psal 18.19 I came also to speak of the plenteousness of this Redemption The Text says that not only there is redemption but plenteous redemption with him and as I shewed it is called plenteous redemption on a double account 1. In relation to the great plenty and variety of pressures wherewith the people of God may be assaulted on the right and on the left hand with fightings without and fears within and as the Church hath it Lam. 2.22 They may have their terrors called as in a solemn day round about them but in reference to all these he hath plenteous redemption to deliver from six troubles and from seven to put on the armour of righteousness when they are assaulted on the right hand and on the left when they are troubled on every side to keep them from being distressed When perplexed to keep them from despair c. 2 Cor. 4.8 Of this I have spoken and shall not repeat It remains in the 2d place That I speak to this plenteous Redemption as it relates to the frequent relapses of the people of God into bondage through their folly after the Lord hath brought them out of former pressures they betray themselves and bring themselves under new pressures they fall in new provocations that bring them in new difficulties which puts them again and again to look up to redemption in God I shall follow out this a little in three heads 1. It is
not a thing unusual to see the people of God after they have been redeemed to fall in relapses and needing new redemptions for plenteous redemption in God needed not be proclaimed if they were not obnoxious to frequent relapses in bondage and pressures through their sin if they were not like that passionat man or man of great wrath that suffers punishment for if thou deliver him says he thou must do it again Prov. 19.19 Let God pull them out of the mire by his mighty and gracious hand they will be as ready to fall in it again as if they had not been in it before This is the complaint made of the Lords people Psal 106.43 Many a time did he deliver them they got redemption often but they provocked him with their counsel and were brought low for iniquity They were often well but could not hold themselves so And if ye will consider the History deduced Jud. 2.16 to 20. It is marked when they had provocked the Lord to put them in bondage that he raised up Judges which delivered them out of the hand of these that spoiled them but they would not hearken to their Judges but went a whoring after other gods and when for that they were brought in bondage the Lord raised them up Judges and was with the Judges to deliver them from enemies but when the Judge was dead they returned and corrupted themselves And Jud. 10.10 to 13. The Lord layes it home to them when they came and complained to him by reason of the bondage they were under by the Ammonites I delivered you sayes he from the Egyptians Amorites the children of Ammon and from the Philistines the Sydonians also and the Amalekites and Maonites when ye cryed to me yet ye have forsaken me and served other gods ye would not hold your selves well when ye were well therefore ye are now under the power of the Ammonites I need not stand to tell you how this relapsing into bondage comes Defection declining and departing from God is the sinful byass of our hearts when ever we are right that motion is preternatural or rather supernatural we are naturally inclined to go a whoring from God and not only so but we are possest with a carnal confidence that we shall do well when we get our will and God is provocked to blast that carnal confidence by giving us a proof of what is in our hearts and further the abuse both of bondage and delivery out of bondage when folk can give a sorry and poor account of what they have profited by the one or by the other It is no wonder that God be provocked to leave them in the mire and to need Redemption a-new Now all that I shall take from this shall be these two words To guard all flesh that they lean not the weight of their guiding on their outward condition and complain not of any lots they are under as if they would do better if freed of them many when they are low are ready to assoil themselves as to the neglect of duty they are under this or that which if they were freed of they would do well that is but a cheat The Wall might go up in troublesome times as Neh. 9.25 When with the one hand they held the weapon and built with the other Mens tempers are such that give them their will in outward conditions they would not do better till God mend their Dispositions thou will say thou art under want and hast no time to seek God but had thou Cresus's wealth thou would not seek him better if thy disposition were not helped Thou has this or that fashrie and if that were taken off thee thou would be more diligent but considers not that if thou wanted that fashry or trouble thou would be more lazie and if thou could guide the lot thou art under it would quicken thee to diligence and help thee to diligence and help thee to improve it to a spiritual advantage In a word blame not thy lot of thy want of a disposition but thy disposition and then thou shall be in a capacity to go about duty and get the good of thy lot whatever it be 2. That as we would not complain of lots so we would not trust our fairds and resolutions to do right when God sends redemption when we are delivered how doth the Novelty of it affect us when God has broken the yoke and burst the bonds we say we will not transgress Jer. 2.20 But he that trusts in his own heart is a fool Prov. 28.26 For Psal 106.12 13. When that people were on the edge of the red Sea newly delivered then they believed his word and sang his praises but they soon forgat his works they waited not for his counsel they that have gotten a redemption wherewith they are affected if they be not on their guard they may put themselves in a condition wherein they may need a new proof of plenteous Redemption But 2. As relapses in bondage after we are redeemed are too usual in the people of God so it is a hainous and terrible aggravation of their fault It needs a peculiar promise That with God is plenteous redemption to them that are sensible of it it is no light matter let folk think of it what they will to sell themselves for nought And when God hath redeemed them to sell themselves over again it was a terrible aggravation of Solomons fault that he turned away from the Lord God of Israel after that he had appeared to him twice 1 Kin. 11.9 That after God had manifested himself to him he ran away from him and Ezra 9.13 Ye will see how that godly and reader man looks on such a practise as this After all this is come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespasses seing thou our God has punisht us less thaâ— our iniquities deserve and has given us such deliverance as this should we again break by commandment and joyn in affinity with the people of these abominations would thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us so that there should be no remnant nor escaping He hath a dreadful apprehension of the desert of relapses after Redemption and no wonder they be so lookt upon if we consider partly that the Lord delivers his people out of trouble on these very terms that they should not turn again to folly Psal 85.8 The Lord will speak peace to his people and saints but let them not turn again to folly And Jer. 3.19 When a great objection is moved How shall I put thee among the children and give thee a pleasant land a goodly heritage of the host of nations he answers thus Thou shalt call me my father and shall not turn away from me Now to frustrat Gods very end and the terms on which he gives Redemption must be a sad aggravation of guilt And further it is sad if we consider that God's giving particular Redemption to his people is
of the Word when folk know not their wealth contained in their Charter When folk are like Hagar beside the Well and yet like to cast their Ishmael from them like to die for thirst because their eyes are not open to discern it Ignorance undoes many folk because they know not their allowance And another hazard upon the other hand that by pressing you to be acquaint with the Scripture I would have avoided and that is the hazard of mistaking and over-reaching when folks lusts and carnal expectations would make a light and ground of expectation to themselves when they look for what God hath not promised or hath not absolutely promised or not always these are dangerous we had need to have our expectations well bottomed lest a disappointment founded on a mistake make us to misbelieve that which is really promised a crush in a carnal expectation may make us look on the Bible as a poor Cordial in difficulties we would therefore guard against both ignorance and mistaking or over-reaching A 2d Direction is That when ye have found any thing in the Bible that is useful for you your first work would be to prize the certainty of what is contained there I spoke to this at great length on these words v. 5. In his Word do I hope That the Scriptures are the Word of God of Divine Authority but I can never enough press it folks that have their Treasure and Store-house in the Bible prize the Bible look on it as the word of him that cannot lie as a tryed word as silver tryed in a furnace of earth purified seven times Psal 12.6 That many have ventured their all upon and never found crack nor slaw in to speak so and Ministers had done with their task if the certainty of this truth that the Scriptures are the Word of God were believed and if thou cannot get the Promises believed will thou look out on the threatnings that thou discerns to be accomplish'd and thou needs not doubt of a promise so long as thou hast a threatning which thou seest verified Ponder that word Zech. 8.14 15. Thus saith the Lord as I thought to punish you when your fathers provocked me to wrath and I repented not So again have I thought in those days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah fear not If ye doubt of my promises that are not yet accomplish'd take a confirmation of them from my threatnings which ye found verified A 3d Direction I would give them that are looking for the accomplishment of what is in or with God and he hath promised is that having found out what is contained in the Scripture and prized it as of infallible verity and certainty then put to your Faith to it that he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquity for he hath said it I cannot give you this Direction more succinctly than the Lord gives it to Habakkuk who when he had prayed against the Caldeans Chap. 1. he is bidden Chap. 2.2 to write the vision and make it plain upon tables speak it out conceal it not that he that runs may read it For v. 3. the vision is yet for an appointed time it will not come presently but at the end it shall speak and not lie though it tarry wait for it there is Faith's work now because it will surely come it will not tarry Ye may remember I spoke also to this when I was upon these words And in his word do I hope But in following it out now I shall only touch on three or four words concerning Faith's looking out to what God shall do and make out to Israel And 1. I would have you looking on Faith as the most eminent and honourable of employments though not the most sensible and satisfactory There is much work my a fall in Saints hand which may be sweeter and may go better with them but no work is so eminent and accceptable to God So it is said of Abraham Rom. 4.20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God And Joh. 20.28 When Thomas after he had evidenced he was a man that would not believe without seeing the print of the nails and thrusting his hand into Christs side he makes a great phrase and says My Lord and my God Well says Christ Thomas because thou hast seen me thou hast believed but blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed Thomas ye might have been more acceptably imployed in giving me credite although ye had not gotten sensible satisfaction 2. Another word is that distrust is the in-let to all folks miscarriages in a stormy time a man is even as tint as if he were in the Sea bottom as to any acceptable acquitting of himself to God in his work before his promise be accomplish'd When ever he is over-power'd with unbelief then he is ready to say There is no hope we will walk every one in the imagination of his own heart Ponder that word Heb. 3.18 19. To whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest but to them that believed not So they could not enter in because of unbelief There the thing that held the people out of the promised Land and made them perish in the Wilderness unbelief And compare it with 1 Cor. 10.6 to 11. Where ye find them lusters idolaters fornicators tempters of Christ murmurers To tell that make once folk unbelievers and ye may make them any of these or all of them upon a suitable temptation There is no ill turn that occurs but an unbeliever capacitats himself for it if mercy in God prevent it not And a 3d word concerning this exercise of Faith and I shall add no more is that it says not a little to the granting or denying of a delivery to the hastning or for-slowing of an issue this exercise of faith If unbelief keep out of the promised Land and make Israel fall and wander in the Wilderness fourty years as in that Heb 3.18 Then blessed believing hastens the performance of the promise Luk. 1.45 Blessed is she that believed for there shall be a performance of these things which was told her from the Lord. Little knows folk how God may be provocked to make their unbelief the rule of their allowance that when they bod little they shall see as little No but God may and often doth shame the unbelief of his people and make their false eyes see that they were in the wrong to him but certainly unbelief of its own nature is obstructive of the performance of promises and if many die in the Wilderness they have as their carnal confidence on the one hand so their unbelief and despondency on the other to blame for it And I shall add more if unbelief withhold not the accomplishment of the promise it may have a black issue when the accomplishment of the promise comes to the man that entertains it And as to
the pardoned sinner upon the account of sin partly to prevent sin partly to rouse him up to repentance when he hath sinned partly to set sinners to their feet that they may be rightly affected with sin when it is pardoned and that they may be excited to make a right use of pardon There remains yet other two Questions or Cases to be cleared anenâ— the nature of remission of sin to which I shall now briefly speak as the Lord will give The 3d Case or Question in order to this whether the truth of pardon depends upon the intimation thereof to our hearts yea or no so that when a sensible sinner fallen down at Gods foot-stool in the confession of sin and crying for pardon through Christ yet he finds nothing like a pardon intimate to his Conscience In this case the Question is whether hath he ground to doubt that neither hath he repented of sin nor gotten a pardon from God for it The general Answer to this is that pardon and Gods intimation of pardon to the Conscience are not to be confounded The Apostle 1 Cor. 2.12 gives a general rule concerning all supernatural gifts that when we have received these things freely of God we must receive the spirit which is of God that we may know the things that are freely given to us of God It 's one thing to get these supernatural gifts gifted to us another thing to get the spirit which is of God to know they are given us and this hath place particularly in the matter of pardon of sin for the pardon of sin is a sentence already past in the Word of God in favours of all believers and penitents in Christ so that no sooner doth the penitent sinner flee unto him and look unto him as to the brazen serpent for pardon and cure but as soon that pardon becomes his before he can subsume and say I am fled unto Christ for pardon and am pardoned his direct act of faith draws out pardon before he can reflect and pass a judgment on that his pardon And hence when Nathan hath pronounced that David's sin is pardoned him 2 Sam. 12.13 Yet in the 51. Psalm he crys instantly for mercy for pardon and blotting out of his transgression Why Though he was pardoned in the Court of Heaven yet he was not pardoned in the Court of his own Conscience The intimation of pardon was suspended and kept up And hence is that which I named before Mat. 9.2 Son be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee It 's one benefit to him to have his sins forgiven him and another benefit to be of good chear on that account Therefore as Christ tells him that his sins are forgiven him so he must bid him be of good chear Thus ye see the truth of a penitents pardon depends not on the intimation thereof to his conscience But this wakens up another Case or Question the following forth whereof will deduce this more distinctly and that is how it comes and for what ends it is that a child of God cannot get it discerned and closed with that he is pardoned For clearing of this Case we should look first to our selves and then to a wise hand of God suspending the intimation of pardon If we look to our selves when we are pardoned we cannot discern it because of our weakness that cannot discern our happiness we are blind and discern not our happiness discern not our health we confound the reality of pardon with the sense and feeling of pardon and we will not believe pardon except we feel the effects of pardon and it is also because we are ignorant of getting pardon through the satisfaction of another when we are brought to be sensible for sin and to look to Christ for pardon and God hath spoken pardon we are like the Sea which being raised by a storm doth tumble a while after the storm is over and there is a calm These are some hints on our part why the pardoned sinner gets it not discerned that he is pardoned But if we look up to God he may have a holy hand in keeping up the intimation of pardon upon several accounts As 1. The Lord would have us looking more to his Word wherein pardon in the Gospel is holden out to us on Gospel-terms and less to sense he would breed us to grip the promise while sense come and to grip the promise that sense may come and they that will suspend all assurance of pardon while it be sensibly intimat the Lord in his holy providence keeps up the intimation of pardon from them to teach them to pay more due respect to his Word and to seek and feed upon the consolation that depends upon pardon promised and pronounced therein that by following his method by faith they may come to sensible intimation of pardon 2. The Lord may keep up the sensible intimation of pardon from the penitent and pardoned man that he may learn him to look upon pardon not as a necessary result and effect of his repentance but as a free gift of God which though the Lord will not bestow without repentance yet he doth not bestow it for repentance therefore doth he suspend the intimation of pardon from the penitent man that he may learn to look less to his Repentance and more to the free Grace of God in obtaining of Pardon 3. The Lord sees it fit to keep pardoned sinners in suspence as to the sense of Pardon or the intimation of it that he may let them see that when he is provocked by their sinning it is not so easie to recover themselves and get into his favour Therefore though he have pardoned them yet he will keep them at the back of the door as to the intimation of it partly that they may be put to resent how bitter a thing it is to depart from God and to raise a Cloud betwixt him and them and partly that they may be affrighted to dally with sin again he will have them to know that though he give them mercy it is not so easie to bring a Delinquent in Court and Favour again And 4. The Lord keeps up the intimation of pardon from the penitent and pardoned sinner for this among other ends that he may be fit for sympathy with others that may come in the like case with himself he may cause his reconciled people feel the bitterness of departing from him and may suffer them to ly in the sense and under fears of their un-reconciled condition as to the intimation of pardon that they may bear burden with others that come to be in their case 5. The Lord keeps up the intimation of pardon from them that he may set them on work to repent more that they may search out sin more and repent more for their sin and for the sinfulness that is in their sin that possibly as yet they have not laid well to heart These reasons of suspending the intimation of pardon even
where pardon is really past were they well pondered by us we might get a better account of our pardon and the petitions we put up for it And particularly to speak a word here to them who though they are in the use of the Means running to the open Fountain and seriously to know the mind of God as to the pardon of their sin and their being in favour with God and yet can find no intimation thereof Beside what general Directions they may gather from that which I have spoken I shall offer three or four words further Thou that art a sensible sinner in the use of the Means fleeing to the Remedy yet can find no warmness or sweetness through gripping to the Promise of pardon thou finds nothing like that Son or daughter be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee For such I say as thou art I offer these four words of Direction 1. I would have such persons looking upon it as a mercy that they are not deluded as to the matter of their pardon as many are who never doubt of it I confess they are in an error on the one hand but the error of the other hand that doubts not of pardon is the more dangerous thy continuing doubting is dishonourable to God and thou impedes and provocks him to suspend thy comfort but the other that doubts not of pardon they are deluded they take it for granted that they are pardoned or desperatly they will take their venture whether they be pardoned or not and therefore thou that are keeped in exercise about the intimation of pardon ought to bless God that thou art not in the error of these self-deluders 2. I would recommend to such that they would justifie God whatever he do That is David's remark Psal 51.4 That he might be justified when he speaks and clear when he judges if thou fall a carping and quarrelling that will not shorten thy distress it may well provock God to hide his Face yet more till thou learn to justifie him 3. I would recommend to them that are about the Means using for pardon and yet cannot win to the intimation of it that they would look well to their Repentance and there are four things to be looked to in Repentance 1. They would look well that it be sincere that it be repentance for sin as sin and not a ruing for it as it is disgraceful to them and prejudicial many beguile themselves with a ruing for sin and never repent sin 2. They would look if their repentance be universal for all sin which is another mark of sincere repentance see that thou be not seeming to rue over one sin while thou art hugging another in thy bosom 3. They would labour to have their repentance deep and through I mean not to recommend to any a trade of discouragement but any who reads in what plight David was Psal 32. Psal 38 Psal 51. They will readily find that the repentance of the generality is not through And 4. They would look to it if their repentance be constant It is marked of Christ That when he was in an agony he prayed more earnestly Luk. 22.44 So such as are suspended and keeped at the door while they are about the work of repentance they would be more fervent and hold on in the work of repentance 4 That they would stick well by Faith There is a word to this purpose Isai 50 10. who is there among you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light no intimation of comfort Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God In this case Faith closing with the promise of pardon must be stuck by and to help you to stick by Faith in such an exigent I would have you considering partly that many a Pardon is past in Heaven whereof the sensible sinner wants the comfort 2. When Faith is the exercise that thou hast no will to make use of I would have thee to consider that it is a notable refutation of temptation to go and mourn over thy Atheism and Unbelief and for that thou has such an aversation to the way of Faith whereby only thou can win to the Shore And 3. Consider that it is a most cleanly and noble Act of Faith in despite of Satans Temptations and the Fears of thine own Conscience over the belly of Unbelief to cast thy self in the arms of Christ and in the bosom of the Promise and if thou perish thou perish There thou casts thy self and there thou leaves thy self Now to come to the Fourth or last Case or Question I proposed to be spoken to Whether pardon of sin be a revocable or irrevocable sentence That is whether when a pardoned sinner falleth in a new sin his new guilt cancelleth all former pardon till he repent all over again and get a renewed pardon for all It is to no purpose here to trouble you with the differences betwixt the Cannonists and the School-men betwixt Gratian and his Glossator in this matter That which lies in our plain road in clearing this Question I shall reduce to five brief Assertions And 1. It is to be granted and experience witnesseth it that in the case of new guilt Satan by temptation may be ready to cast all loose to call in question all former pardons so to a mans sense all former iniquities may come to remembrance and it may come in question whether or not they have been pardoned which is a proof of the Saints tenderness though it be clogged with a mistake their pardon may fall under debate as we may see in David and Job in David Psal 15.7 Who prays that God would not remember the sins of his youth and in Job 13.26 Whose temptation is Thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possess the sins of my youth He looks on sins long ago pardoned as pursued by God 2. It is to be granted that as Satan by temptation and Saints through their own weakness may bring former pardon in question so the Lord in his Providence may see it good to concur in something like that he may though he do not recal pardon yet bring pardoned sins to memory open these un-ripe Graves and hold their heads over them when they fall in the committing of new folly And this the Lord doth partly that he may affect the sinner the more when he reflects on his guilt against God that hath pardoned him so and partly that the sinner may thereby be excited to vomit up by repentance his new contracted guilt all terrors for former guilt recurring he may not dally therewith any more and partly he calls former guilt to remembrance that he may make the sinner afraid to be adding to that Accompt 3. This is a thing to be yielded to that is That however it stand with a man as to the pardon of bygone sin yet God allows him no consolation in the
2. As the ground that Faith goes on does still continue the same so obedience to the Command of Believing is never dispensed with There is never a time wherein God says I will dispense with you to Believe he says not believe when the waters are at the ancles and I will dispense with you when they overflow the banks but go things as they will Faith is still a commanded and indispensible duty ye have this clear Luke 8.50 and the parallel places when that Ruler came to Christ about the curing of his sick daughter he is encouraged to believe while she is sick and not dead but when she is dead one comes from his house and says to him Thy daughter is dead trouble not the Master thou and we might have believed the more before she was dead but now the case is desperat therefore it is needless to thee to employ him any more But doth Christ homologat such a principle no but when he heard it he says to the man Fear not believe only for she shall be made whole when she is sick and when she is dead he is bidden believe only And 3. Consider That not only does the ground of Faith continue the same and the command of Believing indispensible but Trials eminent sharp and of long continuance are opportunities of eminent work for Faith He is not counted a man of courage that in a Muster will vapor and play the gallant but who in the Chock of the Battle kythes his stoutness and resolution as a famous Spartan said when it was told him the Persians arrows were so thick that they would cover the Sun all the better of that said he for us we shall fight the better in the cool so it is with Faith Eminent Trials and difficulties of long continuance gives to it opportunities of eminent service and work What is it to believe while thou art sailing alongst the shore but when thou lanchest out into the deeps and meets with a storm and neither Sun Moon nor Stars for many days appear when the tryal is hightned and lengthned and some falls off on that hand the day and others fall off on this hand the morrow and thou art like to be left alone that is an opportunity of eminent service and work for Faith And thou would remember that there is a favour conferred on thee when thy Faith is put to it at such a time what will thou do If thou will cast thy self and all thou hast over upon God put all in his reverence and wait upon him for an issue From these things that I have but superficially touched be exhorted to study the life of Faith better that ye may be fixt and strong in the Faith ye must not content your selves with putting out some acts of Faith but ye must learn to live by it to make it your food and subsistence which if well studied many a tentation and snare in snary times would be broken and God would be waited upon patiently It is true when ye are surcharged with bitterness ye will get enough of things to father it on your difficulties are many and great your delays are protracted but ye light not on the root of your distemper the weakness of your Faith O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt where is thy faith for Isai 28.16 He that believes shall not make haste and consequently he that makes haste does not believe or is at a low pace as to the exercise of faith when impatience and bitterness prevails and therefore guard against your cankering fretfulness weariness fainting Do not tempt God to give you a relief by a change of your condition and being seen on the mount but rouze up your faith to exercise say how is it that I am so fearful how is it I have no Faith seek the issue of all your pressures by rouzing up your Faith it will discover to you Hagars well at hand when ye are casting down your Ishmaels to die for thirst it will bring noon day at night and of weakness it will make you strong when ye are faint and have no might it will bring in power to you and renew your strength when ye see no appearance of an issue it will bid you look again as Elijah said 1 King 18.43 Till ye see the cloud that will rain When that holy man Ezra is laid by in confessing and mourning over the sins of the people Chap. 9. There is a good man who Chap. 10 2. bids him look again arise from his heaviness and fall about a work of Reformation For there was hope in Israel concerning that thing So Jonah when he said I am cast out of thy sight rouzing up his Faith saith Yet will I look again towards thy holy temple and that man Psal 77.7 When he begins to question Whether the Lord will cast off for ever and will be favourable no more if his mercy be clean gone if his mercy doth fail for ever if he hath forgoâ—ten to be gracious and in his anger he hath shut up tender mercies and is laid by with that work he rouzes up his Faith and looks again And Verse 10. saith This is my infirmity I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high So would thou do when thou looks on the sadness of thy condition and many pressures and art tempted to give over rouze up thy confidence and that will give thee a satisfactory account of that which thou counted desperat and hopeless The Lord bless his Word SERMON XXVI Psalm 130. Verse 5. And in his word do I hope WAiting on God being a most excellent and necessary Subject and Duty in regard that only they that endure to the end shall be saved and that it is these whose Patience has had its perfect work that shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord we had need to study all these things which may either set Patience on work or keep it at work And here I am upon the great support of the Waiting Man He waits for the Lord because he hope in his word In the Forenoon I spoke to the first general Observation in these words That Patience and Waiting cannot be well cherished without Faith and Hope Which I branched out in two That the Tryals of the Saints may be such and so ordered for greatness and continuance that Faith only will be able to discern an issue of them and that faith chearfully employed will discern this issue Now the Lesson I am to fall upon in the 2d general Observation is That Faith enabling to endure hard lots and to endure without succumbing must take the Word of God for its ground and Faith having the Word for its ground so long as God alters not his Sentence in his Word Faith must believe and hope expect the accomplishment of that word I hope in his word saith the Psalmist hence it is to allude to that of the Apostle Rom. 10 6. That the man