The Law is an enemy to them that count it an enemy and a friend to them that count it a friend 'T is a rule of life to them that delight in it and count it a great mercy to know it and to be subdued to the practice of it But it is a Covenant of Works to them that withdraw the shoulder count it an heavy burden not to be born Well then which do you complain of the Law or your Corruptions What are you troubled with light or lusts A gracious heart groaneth not under the strictness of the Law but under the body of death not because God hath required so much but because they can do no more Doct. 3. That the Law is granted to us or written upon our hearts out of Gods meer grace Grant it graciously saith David I will do it saith God and God will do it upon his own reasons The Conditions of the Covenant are conditions in the Covenant and the Articles that bind us are also promises wherein God is bound to bestow so great a benefit upon poor creatures which doth encourage us to wait for this work with the more confidence We are sensible we have not the law so intimately so closely applied as we should have Lord grant it graciously It is his work to give us a greater sense and care of it SERMON XXXI PSAL. CXIX 30. I have chosen the way of truth thy judgments have I laid before me DAVID asserts his sincerity here in two things 1. In the rightness of his choice I have chosen the way of thy truth 2. In the accurateness of his prosecution Thy judgments have I laid before me First For his choice I have chosen the way of thy truth God having granted him his Law he did reject all false ways of Religion and continued in the profession of the truth of God and the strict observance thereof There are many controversies and doubtful thoughts among the sons of men about Religion all being varnisht with specious pretences so that a man knows not which way to chuse till by the Spirit he be enabled to take the direction of the Word that resolveth all his scruples and makes him sit down in the way which God hath pointed for him Thus David as an effect of Gods grace avoucheth his own chusing the way of truth By the way of truth is meant true Religion as 2 Pet. 2. 2. By whom the way of truth is evil spoken of It is elsewhere called the good way wherein we should walk 1 King 8. 36. and the way of God Psal. 27. 11. and the way of understanding Prov. 9. 6. and the way of holiness Isa. 55. 8. and the way of righteousness 2 Pet. 2. 21. Better they had not known the way of righteousness that is never to have known the Gospel which is called the way of righteousness It is called also the way of life Prov. 6. 23. And reproofs of instruction are the way of life and the way of salvation as Acts 16. 17. the Pythoness gave this testimony to the Apostles These are the servants of God which shew unto us the way of salvation Now all these expressions have their use and significancy for the way of truth or the true way to happiness is a good way shewed us by God who can only discover it and therefore called the way of the Lord or the way of God in the place before quoted And Act. 28. 25 26. it is manifested by God and leadeth us to God The Christian Doctrine was that way of Truth revealed by him who is prima Veritas the first Truth The ways wherein God cometh to us are his Mercy and Truth and the ways wherein we come to God is the way of True Religion prescribed by him it is the way of understanding because it maketh us wise as to the great affairs of our souls and unto the end of our lives and beings and the way of holiness and righteousness as directing us in all duties to God and man and the way of life and salvation because it brings us to everlasting happiness This way David chose by the direction of God's Word and Spirit Secondly There follows the evidence of his sincerity the accurate prosecution of his choice Thy judgments have I laid before me The Sept. read it I have not forgotten thy judgments By judgments is meant God's word according to the sentence of which every man shall receive his doom He that walketh in a way condemned by the word shall not prosper for God's word is Judgment and Execution shall surely follow and by this word David got his direction how to chuse this way of Truth and this he laid before him as his line his desire was to follow what was right and true not only as to his general course and way of profession but in all his actions and so it noteth his fixed purpose to live according to this blessed Rule which God hath given him To have a holy Rule and an unholy life is unconsonant inconsistent A Christian should be a lively transcript of that Religion he doth profess If the way be a way of Truth he must always set it before him and walk exactly The Points are two 1. That there being many crooked paths in the world it concerns us to chuse the way of truth 2. That when we have chosen the way of truth or taken up the profession of the true Religion the Rules and Institutions of it should ever be before us There are two great faults of men one in point of choice the other in point of pursuit Either they do not chuse right or they do not live up according to the Rules of their profession both are prevented by these points Doct. 1. That there being many crooked paths in the world it concerns us to chuse the way of Truth I shall give you the sense of it in these Eight Propositions or Considerations Prop. 1. The Lord in his holy Providence hath so permitted it that there ever have been and are and for ought we can see will be controversies about the way of truth and right worship There was such a disease introduced into the World by the full that most of the remedies which men chuse do but shew the strength and malignâ—… of the disease they chuse out false ways of coming to God and returning to him Micah 4. 5. All people will walk every one in the name of his God and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever Mark there is his God and our God and then all people noting their common agreement in error all people will every man noting their diversity as to the particular false way of Religion and worship which they take up to themselves when they turn their back upon the true God and the knowledge of him then they are endless in seeking out false Gods Jonah 1. 5. They cryed every man to his God Among Pagans even in one Ship there
their inclinations to the pleasures honours and profits thereof unbroken and unsubdued as Simon Magus cherisheth the same corruptions under his new Faith that he did under his old Sorceries Acts 8. still he did desire to be thought some great one among the people you must not think that he altogether dissembled but he had some sense upon him for he believed and beheld the miracles and wondered but the same inclinations remained with him Evermore some temporal interest or worldly advantage is laid closer to the heart and hath a deeper rooting therein than the word of promise and this in time prevaileth over the interest of God And therefore whatever good affections we have till we get a command over our base and carnal delights our hearts can never be sound with God 2dly Positively What the sound heart is not or to what it is opposed we have seen You may from hence easily gather what it is 't is such a receiving of the Word into the heart that it is rooted there and diffuseth its influence for the seasoning of every affection and beareth an universal sovereignty over us sometimes 't is described by its radication and sometimes by its sovereign prevailing efficacy 1. Sometimes 't is described by its radication and so 't is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ingrafted word that is able to save our souls Jam. 1. 21. The root of the matter is within 't is not tyed on but ingrafted so in that promise of God Heb. 8. 10. I will put my law into their minds and write it upon their hearts There is something written I will write my law and there are Tables and they are the hearts and minds of men that is the understanding and the will or the rational appetite and this with God's own finger I will write upon their hearts and minds There where is the Spring and Original of all Moral Operations of all Thoughts Affections and inward Motions there is the Law of God written in those parts of the Soul where the directive counsel and the imperial commanding power of all humane actions lieth there doth God write his Laws and engrave them in lively and legible characters And what is the effect of this but that a man becometh a Law to himself he carrieth his rule about with him and as ready and as willing a mind to obey it So Psal. 37. 31. The law of God is in his heart none of his steps shall slide The truth is rooted in him and his heart is suited and inclined to it He knoweth and loveth what is commanded of God and hateth what is forbidden of him thus a man becometh a Bible to himself Indeed this planting and ingrafting the Law upon our hearts 't is sometimes made our work because we use the means God doth not write his Law upon our hearts by Enthusiasm Rapture and Inspiration as he wrote in the hearts of the Apostles and Prophets but maketh use of our Reason and Reading Hearing Meditation Conference and Prayer 't is made our work because we work under God Psal. 119. 11. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee And Prov. 6. 21 22. Bind his commandments upon thy heart tie them upon thy neck When we look for the deep implanting of the Word in our hearts this is the sound heart here described 2. The efficacy of this Word so radicated and the power and dominion it hath over the soul to subdue it to the will of God and that is when the heart is transformed into the nature of God Rom. 6. 11. Ye have obeyed from the heart the form of sound doctrine that was delivered unto you When the form of the Word is delivered to him he delivereth up himself to be moulded and assimilated to the nature of it as that which is cast into the fire is changed into the colour heat and properties of fire Thus where the Word is incorporated and rooted in us the heart is assimilated to the object seen and discerned therein the image of God is stamped and impressed upon us 2 Pet. 1. 4. Having these great and precious promises that we might be partakers of the divine nature And 2 Cor. 3. 18. We are changed into his image or likeness from glory to glory by the Spirit of our God Well then you see what the sound heart is But yet more distinctly if you would have me unfold what this sound heart is there is required these four things First An inlightned understanding that is the directive part of the soul and 't is sound when 't is kept free from the leaven and contagion of Error Prov. 15. 21. A man of understanding walketh uprightly A sound mind is a good help to a sound heart Light breedeth an awe of God and mindeth us of our duty upon all occasions 1 Chron. 28. 9. And thou Solomon my son know thou the God of thy fathers and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing â—…nd First know him and then serve him He can never shoot right that taketh his aim contrary The understanding doth direct all the inferior powers of the Soul if that be infected with Error the affections must necessarily move out of order A blind Horse may be full of mettle but is ever and anon apt to stumble and therefore Without knowledge the heart is not good Prov. 19. 2. Secondly There is required an awakened Conscience that warneth us of our duty and riseth up in dislike of sin upon all occasions Prov. 6. 22. When thou goest it shall lead thee when thou sleepest it shall keep thee when thou walkest it shall talk with thee To have a constant Monitor in our bosoms to put us in mind of God when our reins preach to us in the night season Psal. 16. 7. there is a secret Spy in our bosomes that observes all that we do and think and speak a domestical Divine that is always preaching to us his heart is his Bible Such an awaken'd Conscience is a Bridle before Sin to keep us from doing things contrary to God and a Whip after Sin if we keep it tender so it will do Indeed 't is easily offended but 't is not easily pleased as the Eye the least dust soon offends it but 't is not so easily got out again Till men have benummed their Consciences and brought a brawn and deadness upon their hearts their Conscience according to its light will warn them of their danger and mind them of their duty 't is a great mercy to have a speaking stirring Conscience otherwise 't is stupid and sensless Thirdly There is required a rightly disposed Will or a stedfast purpose to walk with God in all conditions and to do what is good and acceptable in his sight Acts 11. 23. He exhorted them with full purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord. Many have light inclinations or wavering resolutions but their hearts are not fixedly habitually bent to please God therein chiefly lieth
lodged till they are laid up in the heart In giving out duty and service we begin with the heart we must go so deep or else all that we do is of no worth the heart is the spring of motion that sets all the wheels a working Psal. 45. 1. My heart inditeth a good matter my tongue is as the Pen of a ready Writer ready to praise God and serve him When the Prophet would cure the brackishness of the water he cast salt into the Spring Our heart is blind 1 Chron. 22. 19. Now set your heart to seek the Lord. There is a setting and fixing the heart which is the fruit of Grace and ground of obedience 1. 'T is the fruit of Grace by Nature the heart is averse from God desireth not to serve or enjoy him See what the Scripture saith of mans heart Prov. 10. 20. The heart of the wicked is nothing worth a Sty and Nest of unclean Birds Gen. 6. 5. Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart are only evil continually The Scripture doth much set out the heart of man 't is foolish vain deceitful Ier. 17. 9. vain earthly unclean proud There is a strange Beadroll Mark 7. 21 22 23. Out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts Adulteries Fornications Murthers Thefts Covetousness Deceit Lasciviousness an evil eye Blasphemy Pride Foolishness 'T was in or else it would never come out If a man should vomit nothing but Knives Daggers Pistols and other instruments of destruction of what a monstrous complexion would you judge that man to be O no such Monster in the world as mans heart if let alone to its own bent it would grow worse every day as putrified flesh grows more noisome every day but now God by his Grace giveth a new heart that hath other dispositions and inclinations an heart that loveth God and delights in God tends to God a new heart is the great blessing of the Covenant Ezek. 36. 26. a new heart is a new placing of our desires and delights for by these the heart is known 2. 'T is the ground of obedience for the heart is the main wheel of the Soul that moveth other things a Bowl is made round before it runneth round Deut. 5. 20. O that there were such an heart in them that they would fear me there must be somewhat to bear up our resolutions But more particularly What is this bent and inclination of heart And first negatively 1. 'T is not a simple approbation of the ways of God Many go so far as to approve what is good to condemn themselves for not doing it to praise others that are holy can be content that those that are under their power should take to the ways of God as dissolute Parents would have their Children soberly brought up video meliora probóque Act. 5. 13. The people magnified them yet durst not join themselves with the Disciples of Christ. Saul said unto David 1 Sam. 24. 17. Thou art more righteous than I yet David was fain to go to his hold as the Woman in Luke 11. 27 28. cried out Blessed is the Womb that bare thee and the Paps that gave thee suck but Christ said Rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it 2. 'T is not a bare desire or wish Many that live ill could wish to live well Balaam had his wishes but went on in his course Numb 23. 10. some flashes they have a spark is not enough to set the heart on fire in holy things in carnal things 't is enough many such languid motions carnal men have yea many cold prayers that God would make them better but the soul of the Sluggard desireth and hath nothing for his hands refuse to labour they do not set themselves in good earnest to get that Grace they wish for Would I were at such a place but never stir a foot would I had written such a task and never put Pen to Paper 3. 'T is not an hypocritical will or as one called it a copulative will we would but with such or such a condition I would if it did not cost me so dear if I were not to mortifie Lusts to deny friends interests relations they would come to the Supper Matth. 22. but one had marrried a Wife another had a Yoke of Oxen to prove another had found Merchandise this is no full and perfect will No doubt but the Chapman would have the Wares but he will not come to the price a Christian should say I will whatever it cost me I will whatever come of it Psal. 27. 4. One thing I have desired of the Lord and this I will seek after 2. Positively Then is the heart inclined 1. When the judgment determineth for God and comes to a full Decree about obedience to him Act. 11. 23. Paul exhorted them That with full purpose of heart they would cleave to the Lord that 's the fruit of Conversion not a little liking or hovering or faint resolution but a full purpose an absolute positive decree in the will to owne God and his ways whatever it cost us a full consent to the duty of the Covenant 2. When the will is poized and swayed with love and delight and the heart is made suitable to obedience Thy Law is in my heart and I delight to do thy will O God Psal. 40. 8. Many times the Law of God is written in the mind many have good apprehensions but the will is not swayed bent this way Amor meus est pondus meum eò feror quocunque feror when there is a natural inclination 2. When this bent of will is seconded with constant endeavours to attain what we resolve upon and there is a continual striving to make good the Articles of our perfect resignation or first surrender of our selves to God Phil. 3. 12. I follow after that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ. God taketh hold of us by his Grace and we carry on this Grace in the way of diligent pursuit or constant obedience 'T is not one endeavour or two but such as hath its constant force hath not its pangs of devotion but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to will is present with me Rom. 7. 18. 't is a daily habitual constant will not a volatile devotion that cometh upon us now and then but such a will as is present as constant as evil is Rom. 7. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereever you go or whatever you are about you carry a sinning nature about with you 't is urging the heart to vanity folly and lust so this will is present urging the heart to good and stirring up to holy motions 2. Let me now shew you the necessity of this inclined heart that we may yield to God chearful uniform and constant obedience 1. That we may yield to God chearful obedience in all our services God looketh for a ready mind God that accepts the Will for the Deed never accepts the Deed
dispensation As thou usest to do to those that love thy name The Word is I. According to the Law and Right II. According to the use and custome According to the mercy promised and usually bestowed upon those that love thee Both sences not improper I. The first sence According to the Law and Right Prout est jus diligentium nomen tuum so some The Vulgar Secundum judicium Amyraldus glosseth thus Pro illa misericordia quam inter te timentes nomen tuum constituisti Others Secundum Ius Foedus illud Take it thus and it beareth a good sence for there is the obligation of Justice and the obligation of Grace a Judgment of righteousness and a Judgment of mercy This merciful Judgment the Saints appeal unto I cannot exclude this for otherwise this Verse would not have one of those ten Words which express the Word or Law of God Doctr. That there is a gracious way of right established between God and his people according to which they may expect mercies This will be best understood by comparing the two Covenants their agreement and disagreement not in all things but such as are pertinent 1. Let us see how the two Covenants agree First They agree in their Author God appointed both and man is only to accept or take hold of what is offered Man was not thinking of any such thing when God instituted the first Gen. 2. 17. But of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye or revealed the second Gen. 3. 15. It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel For God to enter into a Covenant with the Creature either of Works or Grace was an act of condescension and who is he that could bid the Almighty humble himself and prescribe Conditions and Laws of Commerce between God and us but only God alone Man did not give the Conditions or treat with God about the making of them what they should be but only was bound to submit to what God was pleased to prescribe In the Covenant of Works God gave forth the Conditions of life and a Law and a penalty and in the Covenant of Grace man is bound to submit to the Conditions without disputing They are not left free and indifferent for us to debate upon and to modifie and bring them down to our own liking and humour but to yield to them and take hold upon them not to appoint them Isai. 56. 4. Thus saith the Lord unto the Eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths and chuse the things that please me and take hold of my Covenant Rom. 10. 3. For they being ignorant of Gods righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God Secondly They agree in the moving cause which in both was the Grace of God The first Covenant it was Grace for God to make it It was the Grace of God to accept of mans perfect obedience so as to make him sure of eternal life on the pâ—…rformance of it Though the last Covenant hath the honour by way of eminency to be styled the Covenant of Grace yet the first was so though the condition of it was perfect obedience and the reward had respect to personal righteousness It was of Grace also that God would at all covenant and enter into Bonds with man who was not his Equal and give his word to any of the works of his hands It was Grace that endowed man with original righteousness and fitted him and enabled him to keep that Covenant His absolute Soveraign owed him no more than the rest of the Creatures which he had made Grace engaged the reward there was no more merit in Adam's obedience than in ours Luke 17 10. So likewise ye when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you say We are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to do Nor did his work bear proportion to the eternal reward Thirdly They agree in the Parties God and man in both Covenants not any other Creatures superior or inferior to man rational or irrational the principal contracting parties were publick persons Adam Iesus Rom. 5. 18. Therefore as by the offence of one man judgment came upon all to condemnation even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life 1 Cor. 1. 15. 47. The first man is of the earth earthy the second man is the Lord from heaven The first and second Adam for them and all their Heirs Fourthly That God giveth sufficiency of strength in both these Covenants to the parties with whom he made them to fulfil the Conditions thereof To Adam Eccl. 7. 29. Lo this only have I found that God hath made man upright but they have sought out many inventions To Adam natural to us supernatural strength Ezek. 36. 27. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Iudgments and do them Heb. 8. 10. This is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord I will put my Laws into their mind and write them in their hearts Fifthly In both God kept up his Sovereignty and by his condescension did not part with any thing of his dominion over man In the Covenant of Works he ruled by a Law written on mens hearts Rom. 2. 15. Which shew the work of the Law written in their hearts their Consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another So by Grace the Believer is not freed from the Law of Nature which being almost obliterated and blotted out of the heart of man and become very unlegible it pleased God to set it forth in a new Edition and to write it over again in the heart of a renewed man Heb. 8. 10. I will put my Law into their minds and write it in their hearts Ephes. 4. 24. And that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Though God admitted us to new Conditions of favour yet he still requireth subjection on our part and that we owne him as Lord and Sovereign requiring obedience and service at our hands or else he taketh a liberty to visit our transgressions with Rods Psal. 89. 31 32. If they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments then will I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes Sixthly In both Covenants there is a mutual obligation on both parties this ariseth from the very nature of a Covenant Contractus est consensio ad constituendam obligationem quâ alter alteri sit obnoxius In every Covenant there is a tye on both sides and some reason of right There is no obligation of debt between God and us but an obligation of Grace Deus non
their posterity approve the same that is they live by the same Principles are as greedy upon worldly satisfactions as ever those were that have gone before that neglected God and heavenly things and went down to the grave and their honour was laid in the dust Until the Lord take off our heart by the light and power of his grace we remain as sottish and foolish and worldly as they Thus you see how much it concerns you to be right in the notion of true blessedness Doct. 2. That sincere constant uniform obedience to Gods Law is the only way to true blessedness This is called a way and this way is said to be Gods Law and in this way we must be undefiled which implies not absolute purity and Legal perfection but Gospel sincerity and in this way we must walk which notes both uniformity and constancy it must be our course and we must persevere therein Three things need to be opened 1. Speak to the Rule 2. Of conformity to the Rule that it must be sincere uniform and constant 3. How this is the way to true happiness what respect it hath to true blessedness First The Rule is the Law of God All created beings have a Rule Christs humane nature was the highest of all Creatures and yet it is to be in subjection to God he is under a Rule Gal. 4. 4. made of a Woman made under the Law The Angels they have many Immunities above man they are freed from death from the necessities of meat and drink but they are not freed from the Law they are not sui juris at their own dispose They obey his Commands hearkning unto the voice of his word Psal. 103. 20. Inanimate Creatures Sun Moon Stars are under a Law of Providence under a Covenant of night and day Psal. 148. 6. He hath also stablished them for ever he hath made a decree which shall not pass They have their courses and appointed motions and keep to the just points of their Compass All Creatures are under a Law according to which they move and act Much more now is Man under a Law because he hath Election and Choice But if the Law were not a rule to a Christian as some Antinomians have that opinon if it were not in force then there should be no sin or duty for where there is no Law there is no transgression for the nature of sin is the transgression of the Law 1 Ioh. 3. 4. Rom. 4. 15. Certainly the Law as a rule is a very great priviledge and surely Christ did not come to lessen or abolish the priviledges of his people Deut. 4. 4. There is no nation have such Statutes Psal. 147. 20. He hath made known his Statutes to Israel was their Prerogative If the Law might be disannulled as to New Creatures then why doth the Spirit of God write it with such legible Characters in their hearts This is promised as the great blessing of the Covenant of grace Heb. 8. 10. Now that which the Spirit engraves upon the heart would Christ come to deface and abolish The Law was written upon Tables of Stone and the great work of the Spirit is to write it upon the Table of the heart and the Ark was a Chest where the Law was kept and with allusion to it God saith I will put my Law into their heart Clearly then there is a Rule and this Rule is the Law of God now this Rule must be consulted with upon all occasions if we would obtain true blessedness both to inform us and to awe us First To inform us that we may not act short or over 1. Not short There are many false Rules with which men please themselves and are but so many by-ways that lead us off from our own happiness for instance Good meaning that 's a false Rule the world lives by guess and devout aims But if good meaning were a Rule a man may oppose the interest of Christ destroy his servants and all upon good meaning Ioh. 16. 2. These that kill you will think they do God good service men may grosly err that follow a blind Conscience Custom that is another It is no matter what others have done before us but what Christ did before them all If Custom carry it most of Christs institutions would be out of doors Example of others that 's no good Rule it is not for us to go where others have gone before but what 's the true way Matth. 7. 14. The broad way that leads to destruction and many walk therein the path to Hell is most beaten we are not always to follow the track they are dead Fishes which swim down the stream we are not to be led away with Custom and Example and do as others do Our own desires and inclinations are not our Rule O how miserable should we be if our Lust were our Law if the bent of our hearts were our Rule Iude 16. walking after their own lusts is the description of those that were monsters of men that had outgrown all feelings of Conscience The Laws of Men are not our Rule 'T is too narrow and short to commend us to God to be punctual to the Laws of men and no more Psal. 19. 7. The Law of God is perfect converting the Soul To convince us of sin to humble the heart to reduce and bring us back to God there 's no rule for this but the Law of God Men make Laws as Taylors do garments to fit the crooked bodies they serve for to suit the humours of the people to be governed by these Laws surely they are not a sufficient Rule to convince us of sin and to guide us to true happiness A civil orderly man is one thing and a godly renewed man another It is Gods prerogative to give a Law to the Conscience and the renewed motions of the heart Humane Laws are good to establish converse with man but too short to establish Communion with God and therefore we must consult with the Rule which is the Law of the Lord that we may not come short of true blessedness 2. That we may not act over There is a superstitious and an Apocryphal Holiness which is contrary to a genuine and Scriptural Holiness yea destructive to it it is like the Concubine to the Wife it draws away respects due to the true Religion Now what is this kind of Holiness It is a temporary flesh-pleasing Religion which consists in a conformity to outward Rites and Ceremonies and external mortifications such as is practised by the Papists and Formalists after the Commandments and Doctrines of men Col. 2. 23. Which things indeed have a shew of wisdom in will-worship and humility and neglecting of the body not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh God will not thank them that give more than he requireth These things have a shew of wisdom As Brass-money may be fairer than true Coyn though not of such a value So this will-worship and
hath signatures and characters of God enough upon it to shew from whence it came The Creation is a manifestation of God now whoever looks upon it seriously and considerately may find God there may track him by his foot-prints By the things which are made his invisible being and power Rom. 1. 20. The Creation discovers it self to be of God and if the lower testimony hath plain evidences much more the Gospel why for he hath magnified his word above all his name Psal. 138. 2. The name of God is that by which he is made known Now there are more sensible Characters and impressions of God left upon the word that doth evidence it to be of God than upon any part of his name 3. This advantage we have by this notion a testimony is a ground of self-examination or a Rule whereby we may judg of our state and actions for it witnesseth not only de jure what we must do or de eventu what we may expect but de facto whether we do good or evil what we are and what we may look for from God upon our obedience or disobedience Mat. 24. 14. The Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a witness unto all Nations first to them next against them Mark 13. 9. The word is a testimony to them of Gods will in Christ if they receive it against them if they reject neglect or believe it not Hereby we may judg of our condition by our conformity or difformity and contrariety to the Word of God Christ saith at the day of Judgment Moses will accuse you Ioh. 5. 45. There is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom ye trust The Gospel will accuse What is now an offer will then be an accusation God will not be without a witness at the day of Judgment The Creatures which had an evident impression of God upon them they will witness against the Gentiles so that they are without excuse Rom. 1. 20. and the Iews that were under the Dispensation of Moses he will accuse them there was light sufficient to convince them So the Gospel which is Gods testimony concerning his Son will accuse you if it be not received Therefore it is good to see what the word doth witness or testifie doth it testifie good or evil for accordingly shall we be treated with in the day of Judgment It is sad when we can only say of the Scripture as that King of the Prophet of the Lord He witnesseth nothing but evil against me 1 King 22. 8. Let us see what Gods testimony speaks whether it will plead for us or against us at the great day of the Lord. 4. It upbraids our unbelief that when God hath not only given us a Law but a testimony still we are backward and careless If the Word of God were no more but a Law we were bound to obey it because we are his Creatures but when it is his testimony we should regard it the more for now God stands not only upon the honour of his authority but of his truth 1 Joh. 5. 10. He that believeth not hath made God a lyar because he believeth not the testimony which God hath given concerning his Son We may urge it thus upon our hearts What shall we make God a lyar after he hath so solemnly given his word that word which hath many signatures characters and stamps of God upon it Carelesness now is not only disobedience but unbelief it puts the highest affront upon God to question his veracity and truth and does not only unlord him but ungod him by making him a lyar So much for the first thing The testimony of the Lord. Secondly The respect of the blessed man to these testimonies they keep them What is it to keep the testimonies of God Keeping is a word which relates to a charge or trust committed to us Christ hath committed his Testimonies to us as a trust and charge that we must be careful of Look as on our part we commit to Christ the charge of our souls to save them in his own day 2 Tim. 1. 12. So Christ chargeth us with his Word 1 To lay it up in our hearts 2 To observe it in our practice this is to keep the Word 1 To lay it up in our hearts In the heart two things are considerable the Understanding and the Affections God undertakes in the Covenant for both Heb. 8. 10. I will put my Law in their mind and write it in their hearts The meaning is that he will enlighten our minds for the understanding of his will and frame our affections to the obedience of it Well then you must keep it in your minds and affections 1. In your minds We must understand the Word of God assent to it we must revolve it often in our thoughts and have it ready upon all occasions Understand it we must if we would be blessed He that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me Joh. 14. 21. We cannot make conscience of obedience till we know our duty He that would keep a thing must first have it we have the law in possession when we get knowledg of it Matth. 13. 23. He that receiveth the word into good ground is he that heareth the word and understands it And Luk. 8. 13. They that hear the word and keep it and bring forth fruit with patience It is not enough to hear the word but we must understand it and yet that is not all an adversary may understand a truth or else he cannot rationally oppose it There is Assent required that we believe it as Gods Testimony and accordingly embrace it and give it place in the heart Faith is a receiving of the word Act. 2. 41. nay we must have it ready upon all occasions Rational memory belongs to the mind or understanding therefore we keep the word in our minds when it is ever ready with us either to check sin or warn us of our duty Psal. 119. 9. Forgetfulness is an ignorance for the time Prov. 3. 1. My son forget not my law and let thine heart keep my commandments We should be ready to every good word and work as occasion is offered to us 2. To keep it in our hearts is to have an affection to it Keeping the Word relates to our chariness and tenderness of it when we are as chary of the word as a man would be of a precious Jewel Prov. 6. 20 21. My son keep thy fathers commandments bind them continually upon thine heart and tye them about thy neck Sometimes it alludes to the apple of the eye Prov. 7. 1 2. Keep them as the apple of thine eye Such tender affections should we have to the Testimonies of the Lord as a man has for his eye The least offence to the eye is troublesome a man should be as chary of the Commandment as he would be of his eye Sometimes it implies the similitude of
he sheweth the fruit and benefit of that direction In the words two things are observable 1. The description of sincere Obedience Respect to all the Commandments 2. The fruit of it Then shall I not be ashamed 1. Observe a sincere heart aimeth at universal obedience to Gods Law Here are to be illustrated 1. All thy Commandments 2. Having respect to them The object and the act of the Soul 1. All the Commandments must be taken notice of small and great 1. Small we cannot dispense with our selves in the least Mat. 5. 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven We are apt to say it is but a little one and my soul shall live No sin can be little that is committed against the great God It argueth the more wickedness and corruption to break with God upon every trifling occasion A little force will make an heavy body move downward As small so great The Ceremonialist is apt to stand much upon lesser things Ioh. 18. 28. the Iews would not enter into the Judgment-hall lest they should be defiled yet they sought the life of the Lord of Glory Hypocrites make a great business about small matters and in the mean time reject weighty duties 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 23. 23. Ye pay tythe of mint and annise and cummin and have omitted the weightier matters of the Law judgment mercy and faith these ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone Like one that cometh into a Shop to buy a penniworth and steals a poundsworth or is punctual in paying a small debt that he may get deeper into our Books and cheat us of a greater sum comply in circumstances and terms which yet have their place but make no conscience of greater 2. Commandments that require publick and Commandments that require private duties 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God In times of trouble men content themselves that their hearts are right as the Libertines in Corinth and think it is no matter whether they own God publickly yea or no. Then for private duties some make a fair shew to the world but in their family converse are loose and careless David saith Psal. 101. 2. I will walk within my house with a perfect heart If a man be truly holy he will shew it at home as well as abroad in his family where his constant converse is yea in his Closet and secret retirements A Christian is alike every where because God is alike every where We strain our selves to put forth our gifts in publick God will be served with our uttermost in secret also 3. There are Commandments that concern the inward as well as the outward man we must make conscience of both Isa. 55. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy c. We must not only make conscience of our way or outward actions but also of our thoughts as we must not do evil before man so not think evil before God Thoughts fall under a Law as well as our actions Iam. 4. 8. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you cleanse your hands ye sinners and purifie your hearts ye double-minded 4. There are Commands that concern God and commands that concern man There is a first Table and a second some are very punctual in dealing with men but neglectful of God Rom. 1. 18. The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness Both the Tables are owned from Heaven Some there are that will not wrong their neighbour of a farthing yet stick not to rob God of that fear faith and love that is due to him Many will not defile their bodies with promiscuous copulation but are Adulterers and Adulteresses Jam. 4. 4. running a whoring from their spiritual Husband and doting on the Creature Many there are who condemn the rebellion of Absalom but rise up against their Heavenly Father are no murtherers but strike at the being of God Some there are who are very tender of wronging the reputation of men yet dishonour God and are never troubled for it Others there are who are much in worship but in their dealings with men are very unconscionable they will not swear an Oath yet are very uncharitable censuring their brethren without any pity or remorse This is the fashion of the world to be in with one duty and out with another The Commandments are ushered in with this Preface God spake all these words he that hath injoined one hath injoined another But now as the Echo rendreth but part of the speech so do we in our return of obedience God spake all and we return but part 2. Having respect unto the Commandments that needeth Illustration also Though we cannot keep all or any one of them as we should yet we must have regard to all and that equally without any distinction When have we an equal respect to all I answer Three ways 1. Proposito 2. Affectu 3. Conatu 1. Proposito In vow and purpose we must approve of all and chuse all for our rule without reservation and indulgence Some Commands are more contrary than others to our lusts and interests and are less in our power to perform Now a sanctified judgment must approve all and a sanctified will accept and chuse all as equally good necessary and profitable for us Rom. 7. 12. The Law is holy and the Commandment holy just and good The Law in general nay that Commandment which had wrought such Tragical effects in his heart It is holy as being the Copy of Gods Purity Just as doing us no wrong being no infringement of our just freedom Good as being very profitable to direct and perfect our operations and to make us happy here and hereafter But this approbation is not enough there must be consent vers 16. I consent to the Law that it is good though 't is contrary to my natural inclinations It is a good Law the heart must be engaged I will write my laws upon their hearts and put them into their minds God doth not only give us a knowledg or a single approbation of his Will but a will to chuse it as our rule to live by The heart is suited and inclined to it and a man giveth up himself faithfully and intirely to serve God according to the direction of his Word 2. Affectu There must be a sincere affection to all or a care to keep them We must not entertain affection to any known sin Psal. 66. 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart God will not hear me A man may have a great deal of sin in his heart but if he
thy people This is a special blessing God bestoweth upon his own children Again these concern the better part the inward man the spirit the soul which is the man He doth us more favour which heals a wound in the body than he that only soweth up a rent in our garment for the body is more than raiment so he that doth good to our souls is more than he that doth good to our bodies which gives outward blessings because these are above the body Again these are pledges of eternal blessings in heavenly places He hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places But why is it said he hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places why there they began and there they are consummated there was their first purpose and there 's the final accomplishment A man may have the world and yet never the nearer heaven but when he hath grace and learned Gods statutes and his heart is gained to obedience of Gods will this is more than gold silver and great riches Again these dispose the heart to thankfulness There 's an occasion to praise God and a heart to praise him outward mercies give us an occasion but spiritual mercies give a disposition Other things are but motives to praise God but these are preparations And then other things they are given in judgment these things cannot A man may have an estate in judgment but he cannot have Christ and grace in judgment These things are always given in mercy Use. Well then the use is to reprove us that we are no more sensible of spiritual benefits We love the body more than the soul and therefore have a quick sense of bodily mercies But now in soul-concernments we are not the like affected It is for want of observation to descry the progress of grace and Gods dealings with the inward man Col. 4. 2. Continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving And it is for want of affection we are wrought upon by carnal arguments mercies of flesh and blood and showers of rain food and gladness these things make us praise God but that which we get from God in an Ordinance we are not so sensible of 3. I observe again Those that have learned Gods righteous Judgments they are only fit to praise God Psal. 33. 1. Praise is comely for the upright It is unseemly in a wicked mans mouth that he should be praising of God it is his duty but it is not so comely but praise to the upright this is suitable Canticum novum vetus homo male concordant saith Austin the new song the psalm of praise and the old-man make but ill musick We need a new heart if we would go about this work It is an exercise becoming the godly We should be reconciled to God and have his grace and favour Under the Law they were to bring their peace-offering and lay it on the top of the burnt-offering Levit. 3. When we come to offer a thank-offering to God we should be in a state of amity and friendship with him that 's the clear moral of that ceremony Sing with grace in your hearts Col. 3. 16. Others have not such matter nor such hearts to praise God they are but tinkling cymbals but those that have grace it is acceptable and comely for them 4. I observe again I will praise thee when I shall have learned c. Those that profit by the word they are bound to praise God and acknowledg him as the Author of all that they have got The grace of a teachable heart we have it from him therefore the honour must be his He that gave the Law he it is that writes it upon the heart Alas we in our selves are but like the wild-asses colt Job 11. 12. both for rudeness of understanding and also for unruliness of affection Well then if we be tamed and subdued he must have all the glory and the praise Psal. 16. 7. Blessed be God that gave me counsel in my reins It was God which made the word effectual and counsel'd us how to chuse him for our portion We were as indocible and uncapable as others If God had left us to our own swing what fools should we be Use. It reproves us because we are so apt to intercept the Revenues of the Crown of Heaven and to convert them to our own use like Rebels against God This proud pronoun Ego I I is always interposing this Babel which I have built We are sacrificing to this proud self This I have done and if God be mentioned it is but for fashion-sake as those women in the Prophet Isaiah Only call us by thy name we will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel I allude to it God must bear the name but we sacrifice to our selves in all we get as if it were our own acquiring God I thank thee saith the Pharisee yet he trusted in himself that he was righteous Luk. 14. O learn then the commendable modesty of Gods servants of ascribing all to God Luk. 19. 16. he doth not say my industry but thy pound hath gained another And by the grace of God I am what I am And I laboured more abundantly than they all He corrects it presently Yet not I but the grace of God that was with me 1 Cor. 15. 10. So again Gal. 2. 20. I live and then presently not I but Christ liveth in me Thus should we learn to be faithful and loyal to God and deal with him as Ioab did to David when he was like to surprise Rabbah and take it 2 Sam. 12. 28. Encamp against the city and take it lest I take the city and it be called after my name Let us be very jealous that we do not get into Gods place and self interpose and peark up with what we have attained unto for the Lord must have all the glory the praise must be his The Fourth Circumstance in the Text is the manner of performing this duty of rendring praise with an upright heart I shall not discourse of uprightness in general but uprightness in praising God God must be praised with a great deal of uprightness of soul that 's the note This uprightness in praising lyeth in two things not only with the tongue but the heart not only with the heart but the life 1. Not only with the tongue but with the heart Psal. 103. 1. Praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name Mark not only with my tongue with my glory as he calls it but with my soul Formal speeches are but an empty prattle which God regards not Psal. 47. 7. Sing ye praises with understanding It is fit the noblest faculty should be imployed in the noblest work this is the noblest work to praise God therefore all that is within us must be summoned Church-adversaries took up a customary form Zech. 11. 5. Blessed be the Lord for I am rich And in Nehemiah it is
cannot find such easie entrance when the Word is hid in our hearts and made use of pertinently 1 Ioh. 2. 14. I write to you young men because ye are strong where lies their strength and the word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one O it is a great advantage when we have the Word not only by us but in us ingrafted in the heart when it is present with us we are more able to resist the assaults of Satan Either a man forgets the Word or hath lost his affection to it before he can be drawn to sin The Word of God when it hath gotten into the heart it will furnish us with seasonable thoughts 6. It is a great relief in troubles and afflictions Our faintings come from ignorance or our forgetfulness Heb. 12. 5. Ye have forgotten the consolation which speaketh unto you as unto children My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him If we had an herb growing in our Gardens that would ease our smart what are we the better if we know it not There is no malady but what hath its remedy in the Word To have a comfort ready is a great relief 7. It makes our conference and conversation with others more gracious Mat. 12. 34. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks When we have a great deal of hidden treasure in the soul it will get out at the tongue for there 's a quick intercourse between the heart and the tongue The Tap runs according to the Liquor wherewith the Vessel is filled come to men of an unsavoury spirit pierce them broach them give them occasion again and again for discourse and you get nothing but frothy communication from them and vain talk But now a man that hath stored his heart with the Word he is ever and anon interposing for God Like a bottle filled with wine he must have vent As the Spouses lips are said to drop as honey-combs They are ever putting forth savoury expressions in their converse with others Col. 3. 16. Let the word of God dwell in you richly teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs It will burst out presently if the Word of God dwell in your hearts Before I go to the second Reason let me answer an Objection But is not this to take from the Spirit and to give it to the Word and that to the Word not as written in Gods Book but as it is in our hearts will not this be to ascribe all to created Grace I Answer 1. Questionless it is the office of the Spirit to bring things to our remembrance and the great help of the Spirit of God is by suggesting such passages as may be of most seasonable relief to the soul in Temptations in Prayer and in Business Ioh. 14. 16. But what is given to the Scriptures and Grace is not to the wrong of the Spirit for the Scripture is of his inditeing and Grace is of his working yea we still reserve the chief honour to the Holy Ghost for he not only worketh grace but worketh by grace he not only indites the Scripture but works by it it is he that quickneth prayer and therefore it is ill trusting to our own understanding and memory for it is the Spirit that is the great remembrancer and impresseth upon the mind savoury and seasonable thoughts 2. I grant further The Children of God are subject to much forgetfulness of the truth that is impressed upon their hearts partly through the present cloud and mist which the temptation raiseth The Psalmist had truths enough to support him Psal. 73. 17. yet he saith Until I went into the Sanctuary of God I was foolish and ignorant I was as a beast before thee There is so much dullness upon the Children of God that they cannot remember seasonable thoughts as Hagar had a fountain by her yet she did not see it till God opened her eyes Gen. 21. So under the temptation all is benighted and the light that is in the understanding is obscured And partly through the little sense they have for the present of the need of the comforts which the Word propoundeth few so wise as to lay up for a dear year and partly through sloth and negligence being taken up with other things It is possible sometimes that we may be guided by the Spirit and act right meerly by the guidance of the Holy Ghost without any interposing and concurrence of our own understandings as Ioh. 12. 10. compared with the 14 and 15. They took branches of Palm-trees and went forth to meet him and cried Hosanna blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. These things understood not his Disciples at the first but when Iesus was glorified then remembred they that these things were written of him and that they had done these things unto him Mark they were guided by the Spirit to do that they knew not for the present they had only a back-look but not a fore-sight they were ignorant of what they were doing until afterward thoughts came not in their mind but only in the review Ioh. 2. 22. When he was risen from the dead his disciples remembred that he had said this unto them They did not take up the meaning of them yet they were guided aright They did not carp against Christ as the Iews did They were guided by the Spirit in a case they were wholly ignorant 3. The Holy Ghost makes use of a sanctified memory bringing Scriptures to our remembrance as we have need It is made their act because the Holy Ghost made use of their memories They remembred that it was written The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up Joh. 2. 17. They that neglect to search and hide the Word in their hearts they have not such seasonable refreshment for God works more strongly with the strongest graces there where there is the greater receptivity there 's the greater influence those that are ignorant cannot expect such help as those that have the Word dwell richly in their hearts The second Reason is Therefore should we hide the Word in our hearts because God doth so in the work of Conversion Heb. 8. 10. I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts The mind is compared to tables of stone and the heart to the Ark and so this is required of us to write them upon the table of our heart Prov. 7. 3. and here I have hidden thy word in my heart How doth this follow because God doth so in conversion therefore it is our duty I answer 1 God requires what he works to shew the Creatures duty as well as the power of his own grace God is to convert and turn yet do you turn Circumcise your heart and I will circumcise Mortifie your members c. and yet If ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body
my Law but they were counted as a strange thing God is the Author whosoever be the Pen-man it is a Writing from him to us Now to be strangers to it or little conversant about it argueth some contempt of God As to slight the Letter of a Friend sheweth little esteem of the Writer But now the Saints put it into their bosomes view it with delight it is Gods Epistle 2. In regard of its own excellency in three respects It is 1. Their Direction 2. Their Support 3. Their Charter 1. It is their Direction it is a light that shines in a dark place 2 Pet. 1. 19. The World is a dark place beset with dangers and ever and anon we are apt to stumble into the pit of destruction without taking heed to this light The Word discovereth to them evils that they may see them repent of them forsake them and sheweth us our ready way to heaven that we may walk therein It discovereth the greatest dangers and pointeth out the surest way to safety and peace They are called true Laws and good statutes Neh. 9. 13. to shew the full proportion that they bear to the soul. Verum and Bonum Truth and Goodness are proper for our most eminent faculties the understanding and will It doth a man's heart good to study these statutes A child of God that seeth others stumble and fall how may he stand and bless God for the direction of the word that God hath given him counsel in his reins that he hath a Clue to lead him out of those Labyrinths in which others have lost their way and know not how to escape 2. It is their Support The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Basil expresseth it 't is Gods shop from whence they fetch all their Cordials in a time of fainting and so are freed from those fears and discontents and despairing thoughts under which others languish Psal. 119. 50. This is my comfort in my affliction thy word hath quickned me When a believer is damped with trouble and even dead at heart a Promise will revive him again Ver. 92. Unless thy law had been my delight I had perished in my affliction And many such like experiences the Saints have had The worth of the Word is best known in an evil time One Promise in the Word of God doth bear up the heart more than all the arguings and discourses of men though never so excellent In a time of temptation in the hour of death O what a reviving is one word of Gods mouth 3. It is their Charter that which they have to shew for their everlasting hopes There we have promises of eternal joy and blessedness under the greatest assurance and this makes way for strong consolation Heb. 6. 18. A man that hath a clear evidence to show for a fair Inheritance it is not irksome to hear it read or to look over it now and then as a covetous man is pleased to look into his Bills and Bonds which he has under hand and seal 2. This Delight will be of great use to them 1. To draw us off from carnal Vanities We have another delight and the strength of the soul runneth out in another way there will not be such room for worldly affections As fear is cured with fear the fear of men with the fear of God so is delight by delight delight in Gods statutes is the cure of delight in worldly things Love cannot lye idle it must be occupied one way or another either carried out to the contentments of the flesh or else to holy things Now if you can find a more noble delight there is a check upon that which is carnal Psal. 119. 37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity and quicken thou me in thy way The enlargement of the heart straitens the flesh 2. It will take off the tediousness of Religious Exercises What we delight in is not irksome In Hunting Fowling and Fishing though there be as much labour as in our ordinary imployments yet we count the toyl nothing because of the delight in them We are very apt to be weary of well-doing and to tire in an holy course but now when it is our delight it goeth on the more easily In one sense we must make Religion our business in another our recreation our work to prevent slackness our recreation to prevent tediousness it is not a task but a pleasure USE 1. This informeth us of the ill choice that many men make of their Delights and recreations they must have Cards and Dice and foolish mirth to pass away the time or else idle stories and vain Romances a Christian is every where like himself he sheweth himself a Christian in his recreations as well as his business Castae deliciae meae sunt Scripturae tuae saith Austin Lord my chast delights are the holy Scriptures If we were as we should be it would be our recreation to understand our duty to contemplate the way of reconciliation to God by Christ and to take a view of our everlasting Hopes Were we seriously perswaded of the benefits which men have by the word that there is a sure direction to resolve our doubts and our scruples and the offers of a pardon and a glorious estate by Christ what need a Christian any other Recreation Will not the sense of Gods love and the hopes of heaven make us merry enough Indeed because of the weariness of the flesh we need temporal refreshments but here should be our great delight I will solace or recreate my self in thy statutes USE 2. Caution to us to fix our delight aright 1. It is a considerable affection All the affections depend upon Pleasure or Pain Delight or Grief the one is proper to the body the other to the soul which grow from the contentment or distast which we receive from the divers objects which we meet with If we love it is for that we find a sweetness in the object beloved if we hate we apprehend a trouble in what we hate if we hope we promise our selves an happiness or satisfaction in the possession of the thing hoped for if we despair it is because the thing cannot be obtained from which our contentment would arise Desire is of some good which we judg pleasing By Fear and Flight we shun things which we apprehend would breed us vexation So that in effect Delight sets all the other affections a-work 2. It is a choice affection more proper to Fruition than Use and therefore not for the means so much as end and so reserved for God who is the last End There are fruenda and utenda God and Heavenly things to be enjoyed but earthly things to be used for means those that are in the nearest vicinity to the end as the Law of God and Grace earthly things are to be used with a kind of indifferency and therefore should have little of our joy but our solid complacency must be in God next in the things of God
are some that a man had need teach them as he teacheth little children letter after letter and line after line little good done 2. In others there is a Grammatical knowledg but not a spiritual a repeating things by rote a talking of all that a Christian enjoyeth 3. Besides the Grammatical knowledg there is a Dogmatical knowledg when the truths of the word are not only understood but begin to settle into an opinion that we bustle for in the world An opinionative receiving of the truth is different from a saving receiving of the truth Many are Orthodox or have so much judgment and knowledg as to hold the Truth strictly but the heart is not possessed with the life and power of it Those are intended in Rom. 2. 20. An instructer of the foolish a teacher of babes which have the form of knowledg and of the truth in the law And such are described 2 Tim. 3. 8. Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof It is not to be imagined that this is always in design though many times carnal men swim with the stream and take up with the opinions that are currant in their age but also out of conviction of judgment there is somewhat of conscience in it A sound judgment is a different thing from a sound heart The truths of God have great evidence with them and therefore a rational man being helped with some common work of the Spirit may close with them though they have no experience of the power and prevailing influence of them 4. Besides this Dogmatical knowledg by which we see round about the compass of Truths revealed in the word there is a gracious illumination when men are taught so as drawn to God Iohn 6. 44 45. and they do so understand Christs Doctrine as to apply and make a right use of it such a knowledg as is called not only sight but taste 1 Pet. 2. 3. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious and a feeling of what we understand Phil. 1. 9. And this I pray that your love may abound more and more in knowledg and in all judgment This sense and experimental knowledg is that which the Saints seek after 2. The Uses of this spiritual illumination And 1. To give us a clear sight of the Truths of God 2. An applicative sight 3. An affective sight 4. A transforming sight 5. Such a sense of the Truth as is prevalent over lusts and interests 1. A clear sight of the Truths of God Others have but an hear-say-knowledg gathered out of Books and Sermons and the common report which is made of Christ but he that is divinely enlightned drinks of the Fountain and so his draught is more fresh and sweet they do not talk of things by rote after others but it is written upon their hearts Heb. 8. 10. I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts and so groweth more intimate and satisfactory and moving upon them 2. An Applicative sight not only knowledg but prudence Prov. 8. 12. I Wisdom dwell with Prudence Wisdom is the knowledg of Principles Prudence is an ability to apply them to our comfort and use that we may know it for our good Iob 5. 28. Many are right in generals but the Spirit doth not only reveal the Truths of the Gospel but applieth those Truths to awaken the conscience that was asleep in sin Many men that are unrenewed may be stored with general truths concerning the misery of man redemption by Christ the priviledges of a Christian but they do not reflect the light of these truths upon themselves so as to consider their own case and so it serveth rather for matter of opinion and discourse than for life and conversation it is not directive 3. An Affective sight Prov. 2. 10. When wisdom entreth upon thy heart which is the seat of affections it stirs up in the soul answerable motions to every truth Whereas when truths rest in empty barren notions without feeling and an answerable touch upon the heart the knowledg of them is like a Winters Sun that shineth but warmeth not the misery of man is not affective and Doctrines of Redemption by Christ are apprehended without any joy and relish 4. A Transforming sight 2 Cor. 3. 18. We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. It is a Light that is both Directive and Persuasive A man may hear the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when it is only known as a rule not as a means to convey the Spirit whereas a believer hears the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Apostle preferreth the Gospel above the Law in the forementioned place for comfortableness perspicuity efficacy c. 5. It is a Light that prevaileth over our lusts and interests such a Light as hath fire in it to destroy lusts 1 John 2. 3 4. He that saith I know him and doth not keep his commandments is a lyar A true knowledg and sight of God is able to bridle lusts and purifie the conscience Therefore it is said He that doth evil hath not seen God Eph. 3. 11. hath not a true sight whatever speculations he may have about the nature of God Other light doth not check and controul vicious desires Reason is not restored to its dominion Rom. 1. 18. the reputed wise men of the world held the truth in unrighteousness Truth may talk its fill but can do nothing as a man that is bound hand and foot may rave and evaporate his passions but cannot relieve himself from the oppressor or the force that he is under II. Reasons that shew the necessity of this work 1. Spiritual blindness is natural to us as that man that was blind from his birth Iohn 9. 1. We are not all born blind in body but all in mind By tasting the tree of knowledg all Adam's sons have lost their knowledg Satan hath brought a greater shame upon us than Nahash the Ammonite would have brought upon the men of Iabesh Gilead in putting out their right eyes The eye of the soul is put out so as we cannot see the light that shineth in the word By the Fall we lost the true and perfect light of Reason but retain the pride of Reason It is no small part of our blindness that we cannot endure to hear of it Rev. 3. 17. Thou sayest I am rich and encreased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked Man desireth to be thought sinful rather than weak and will sooner own a wickedness in Morals than a weakness in Intellectuals Men are dishonest out of choice and therefore think there is more of liberty and bravery in it but to be simple argueth imperfection Job 11. 12. Vain man would be accounted wise though man be born like a
sent Samuel to anoint David Samuel said How can I go if Saul hear it he will kill me And the Lord said Take an heifer with thee and say I am come to sacrifice to the Lord That was a truth but not the whole truth Obj. But you will say Will not this justifie Mental reservation and Jesuitical Equivocation I answer There are two sorts of Reservations I may reserve part of the truth in my mind But the mental reservations the Jesuits plead for is this When that which is spoken is a lye if abstracted from that which is in the mind for instance If a Magistrate say Art thou a Priest no meaning not after the order of Baal So that which is spoken is a lye But if it be spoken with truth we may reserve part of it That in Samuel was not an untruth but concealing some part of the truth not fit to be discovered So Ier. 38. 24. to 27. Then said Zedekiah unto Ieremiah Let no man know of these words and thou shalt not dye But if the Princes hear that I have talked with thee and they shall come unto thee and say unto thee Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the King hide it not from us and we will not put thee to death also what the King said unto thee Then thou shalt say unto them I presented my supplication before the King that he would not cause me to return to Ionathans house to dye there Then came all the Princes unto Ieremiah and asked him and he told them according to all these words that the King had commanded so they left off speaking with him for the matter was not perceived 2dly We now come to the Blessing asked Grant me thy law graciously Where first the benefit it self Grant me thy law Secondly The terms upon which it is asked implied in the word Graciously 1. The benefit asked Grant me thy law David had the book of the Law already every King was to have a copy of it written before him but he understandeth it not of the law written in a book but of the law written upon his heart which is a priviledge of the Covenant of grace Heb. 8. 10. For this is the Covenant which I will make with the house of Israel in those days saith the Lord I will put my laws in their minds and write them in their hearts c. Doct. 1. Then is the Law granted to us when it is written upon our minds and hearts that is when we understand it and our hearts are framed to the love and obedience of it otherwise it is only granted to the Church in general but it is not granted to us in particular We may have some common priviledge of being trained up in the knowledge of Gods Will but we have not the personal and particular benefits of the Covenant of Grace till we find it imprinted upon our hearts Well then 1. Press God about this not only to grant his Word unto the Church but to grant it unto you unto your persons To reveal his Son in me Gal. 1. 16. There is a general benefit He hath shewed his word unto Iacob and his statutes unto Israel Psal. 147. 19. And there is a particular benefit Grant me thy law graciously The whole Church may be under a Covenant of grace and some particular members of it may be all that while under a Covenant of Works if they have only an external Law without to shew them what is good but not a Law within to urge and inable them to do it Lex jubet gratia juvat litteral instruction belongeth only to the first Covenant but when the word is made ours that 's a priviledge of the second Covenant The ingrafted word that is able to save our souls Jam. 1. 21. When it is received in our hearts and doth prosper there and fructifie unto holiness when it is written over again by the finger of the Spirit 2. See if this effect be accomplished if the law be granted to you It is so 1. When you have a sense and conscience of it and you own it as your rule for the governing of your own heart and life Psal. 37. 37. The law of God is in his heart none of his steps shall slide It is not in his book only but in his heart to guide all his actions 2dly It is so when you have some ability and strength to perform it Their hearts carry them to it as Psal. 40. 8. I delight to do thy will O God yea thy law is in my heart They have not only a sense and conscience of their rule but a ready spirit to perform it and set about this work cheerfully and heartily A ready and cheerful obedience to Gods Will is the surest note that the Law is given to us when the study and practice of it is the great employment and pleasure of our lives Doct. 2. The Law that is odious to the flesh is acceptable to a gracious heart What others count a restraint they count a great benefit and favour Rom. 8. 7. The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be They shun all means of searching and knowing themselves wishing such things were not sins or not desiring to know them to be so therefore hate the law and will not come to the light 3 Joh. 20. For every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved As a man that hath light ware is loth to come to the ballance or Counterfeit-coin to the touch-stone or as a bankrupt is loth to cast up his estate They hate the directions and injunctions of the word as contrary to their lusts 1 King 22. 8. He doth not prophesie good concerning me but evil said wicked Ahab and therefore would not hear him and yet he was the Prophet of the Lord They are loth to understand their duty are willingly ignorant 2 Pet. 3. 5. For this they are willingly ignorant of c. But now a gracious heart desireth nothing more than the knowledge of Gods Will how contrary soever to their lusts they approve it Rom. 7. 12. Wherefore the law is holy and the Commandment holy and just and good The Law and Commandment that which wrought such tragical effects in his heart Therefore they desire the knowledge of it above all things Psal. 119. 72. The law of thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver more than all earthly riches whatsoever it is the best thing they can enjoy to have a full direction in obedience 2dly The practice is welcome to their souls 1 John 5. 3. His commandments are not grievous They are to others not to them because of the suitableness of their hearts to a galled shoulder the least burden is irksome but to a sound back it is nothing love sweetens all USE Do you count the Law an enemy or a friend
suppose command us the contrary forbid us all respect to himself commanding us to worship false Gods transform and misrepresent his Glory by Images and fall down before Stocks and Stones blaspheme his Name continually and despise all those glorious Attributes which do so clearly shine forth in the Creation if he had commanded us to be impious to our Parents to fill the World with Murders Adulteries Robberies to pursue others with Slanders and False-witnessings to covet and take what is another Mans Wife Ox or Ass the heart of Man cannot allow such a Conceit nay the fiercest Beasts would abhor it if they were capable of receiving such an Impression Now surely a Law so reasonable so evident so conducing to the honouring of God Government of our selves and Commerce with others should be very welcom and acceptable to a gracious Heart 2. The State and Frame of a renewed Heart they are fitted and suited to these Commandments and do obey them not onely because injoyned but because inclined Nothing is pleasant to Men but what is suitable to their Nature so that may be delightful to one which is loathsom to another as the Food and Converse of a Beast is loathsom to a Man one Mans Pleasure is anothers Pain There is a great deal of difference between a carnal and a spiritual Mind the Heart sanctified and unsanctified Ezek. 36. 26 27. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and keep my judgments to do them When the Heart is fitted and suited by Principles of Grace the Work is not tedious but delightful Things are easie and difficult according to the poise and inclination of the Soul so Heb. 8. 10. I will write my laws upon their hearts and put them into their minds The Law without suiteth with an Inclination within and when things meet which are suitable to one another there is a delight Psal. 40. 8. Thy law is in my heart I delight to do thy will O God There is an Inclination not Necessary as in Natural Agents but Voluntary as in Rational Agents There is an Inclination in Natural Agents as in light Bodies to move upwards heavy Bodies to move downwards in Rational Agents when a Man is bent by his Love and Choice This latter David speaketh of Psal. 119. 36. Encline my heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness The Heart of Man standeth between two Objects the Laws of God and Carnal Vanities In our Natural estate we are wholly bent to please the Flesh in our Renewed Estate there is a new bent put upon the Heart now the old bent is not wholly gone though overmastered and overpowered The false Bias of Corruption will still incline us to the Delights of Sense but the new Bias to the way everlasting to spiritual eternal Happiness as that prevaileth we love and delight in the Commandments of God 3. The Helps and Assistances of the Spirit go further and increase this Delight in the way of God's Commandments God doth not onely renew our Wills and fit us with an inward power to do the things that are pleasing in his sight but exciteth and actuateth that Power by the renewed Influences of his Grace Phil. 2. 13. He giveth us to will and to do not onely a Will or an urging and inclination to do good but because of the opposition of the Flesh and manifold Temptations he gives also a Power to perform what we are inclined unto And where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty 2 Cor. 3. 17. or a readiness of Mind to perform all things required of us not onely with diligence but delight 4. The great encouragements which attend Obedience as the Rewards of Godliness both in this Life and the next The Rewards of Godliness in this Life I shall speak of in the next Head for the Future the End sweetens the Means to us We have no mean End but the eternal Enjoyment of God in a complete state of Glory and Happiness Now this hath an influence upon the Love and Delight of the Saints to sweeten their Labours and Difficulties and Temptations The Scripture every where witnesseth 1 Cor. 15. 58. Therefore my beloved brethren be ye steadfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Phil. 3. 14. I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus Rom. 5. 2. We rejoyce in hope of the glory of God And Rom. 8. 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us 5. Present comfortable Experience 1. In the general of Peace of Conscience and Joy in the Holy Ghost 1. Peace which is the natural result of the Rectitude of our Actions The fruit of righteousness is peace Isa. 32. 17. And Psal. 119. 165. Great peace have they that love thy law and nothing shall offend them Pax est tranquillitas ordinis That Description fits internal Peace as well as external When all things keep their Order Affections are obedient to Reason and Reason is guided by the Spirit of God according to his Word there is a Quiet and Rest from Accusations in the Soul 2. Joy in the Holy Ghost is distinct from the former Rom. 14. 17. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Ghost These two differ in the Author Peace of Conscience is the Testimony of our own Souls approving the good we have done Joy in the Holy Ghost is a more immediate Impression of the comforting Spirit Rom. 15. 13. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the holy Ghost They differ in their Measure Peace is a Rest from Trouble Joy a sweet Reflexion upon our good condition or happy estate It is in the Body a freedom from a Disease and a chearfulness after a good Meal or in the State Peace when no Mutinies and Disturbances Joy when some notable Benefit or Profit accrueth to the State So here they differ in their Subjects the Heathen so far as they did good might have a kind of Peace or Freedom from self-accusing and tormenting Fears Rom. 2. 15. Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts in the mean time excusing or else accusing one another but a stranger intermedleth not with these joys The Spirit where a Sanctifier there he is a Comforter They differ in the Ground The Joy of the holy Ghost is not meerly from a good Conscience as to a particular Action but from a good Estate as being accepted with God who is our Supreme Judge and assured
work of the Law written in their hearts There is veritas naturalis and veritas mystica some objects of Faith depend upon mere Revelation but the Commands of the moral Law are clearer than the Doctrines of Faith they are of Duties and things present not of Priviledges to be enjoyed hereafter such as the Promises offer to us Now it is easier to be convinced of present Duties than to be assured of some future things promised 2. That these Commandments be received with that Reverence that becometh the Sovereign Will and Pleasure of so great a Lord and Law-giver It is the work of Faith to acquaint us with the nature of God and his Attributes and work the sense of them into our hearts The great Governour of the World is invisible and we do not see him that is invisible but by Faith Heb. 11. 27. By Faith he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the King for he endured as seeing him who is invisible It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the evidence of things not seen Heb. 11. 1. Temporal Potentates are before our eyes their Majesty may be seen and their terrours and rewards are matter of sense that there is an infinite Eternal and all-wise spirit who made all things and therefore hath right to command and give laws to all things Reason will in part tell us but faith doth more assure the Soul of it and impresseth the dread and awe of God upon our souls as if we did see him with bodily eyes By Faith we believe his being Heb. 11. 6. He that cometh to God must believe that he is His Power so as to oppose it to things visible and sensible Rom. 4. 21. being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform That there is no standing out against him who with one beck of his will can ruine us everlastingly and throw the transgressor of his Laws into eternal fire a frown of his face is enough to undoe us he is not a God to be neglected or dallyed with or provoked by the wilfull breaking of his Laws He hath truly potestatem vitae necis the power of life and death Iames 4. 12. There is one Law-giver who is able to save and to destroy These considerations are best enforced by Faith without which our notions of these things are weak and languid You are to charge the heart with God's Authority as you will answer it to him another day not to neglect or despise the duty you owe to such a God No terrour comparable to his frowns no comforts comparable to his Promises or the sense of his favour 3. That these laws are holy just and good Rom. 7. 12. Wherefore the Law is holy and the Commandment holy and just and good This is necessary because in believing the Commandments not onely Assent is required but also Consent to them as the fittest laws we could be governed by Rom. 7. 16. If then I do that which I would not I consent to the Law that it is good Consent is a mixt act of the Judgment and Will they are not onely to be known as God's laws but owned and embraced not onely see a Truth but a Worth in them The mandatory part of the word hath its own loveliness and invitation as the Promises of Pardon and Eternal life suite with the hunger and thirst of Conscience and the natural desires of Happiness so the Holiness and Righteousness of God's Laws suit with the natural notions of good and evil that are in mans heart These Laws were written upon mans heart at his first Creation and though somewhat blurred we know the better how to read a defaced writing when we get another Copy or transcript to compare with it especially when the heart is renewed when the Spirit hath wrought a suitableness there must needs be a consenting and embracing Heb. 8. 10. This is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts There is a ready willing heart to obey them and conform to them in the Regenerate therefore an Assent is not enough but a Consent this is that they would choose and prefer before liberty they acquiesce and are satisfied in their Rule as the best Rule for them to live by But let us see the three Attributes holy just and good 1. They are holy laws fit for God to give and man to receive when we are convinced of this it is a great help to bridle contrary inclinations and to carry us on chearfully in our work They are fit for God to give they become such a being as God is his Laws carry the express print and stamp of his own nature upon them We may know how agreeable they are to the nature of God by supposing the monstrousness of the Contrary if he had forbidden us all Love and Fear and trust in himself all respect and thanks to our Creator or bidden us to worship false Gods or change the glory of the incorruptible God into an Image made like to a corruptible man as birds four-â—…ooted beasts and creeping things or that we should blaspheme his name continually or despise his glory shining forth in the work of his hands and that we should be disobedient to our Parents and pollute our selves as the beasts with promiscuous lusts and fill the world with Adulteries Robberies and Thefts or slander and revile one another and leave the boat to the stream give over our selves to our passions discontents and the unruly lusts of our corrupt hearts these are conceits so monstrous that if the beasts were capable of having such thoughts transfused into them they would abhor them and would infer such a manifest disproportion in the Soul as it would in the body to walk with our hands and doe our work with our feet And they are fit for man to receive if he would preserve the rectitude of his nature live as such an understanding creature keep Reason in dominion and free from being a slave to the appetites of the body To be just holy temperate humble meek chast doth not onely concern the Glory of God and the safety of the world but the liberty of the reasonable nature that man may act as a creature that hath a mind to know things that differ and to keep him from that filthiness and pollution which would be a stain to him and infringe the glory of his being There is no middle thing either a man must be a Saint or a Beast either conform himself to Gods will and look after the interests of his Soul or lose the excellency of his Nature and become as the Beasts that perish Either the Beast must govern the Man or the Man ride upon the Beast which he doth when he taketh Gods Counsel 2. Just. because it referreth to all God's Precepts I take it here not strictly but largely how just it is for
Storm but no Deluge When all is Wrath to a poor Soul let it come to him in the Covenant of Noah 3. It will be of use in pleading for Grace for your Children who are as yet it may be graceless and disobedient Thy hands have made and fashioned them desire him to renew his Image upon them by the Spirit of Grace In short the sum of all is here is incouragement God is good to all his Creatures especially to Man most especially to Man seeking after him and seeking after him for Grace that we and ours may obey him and doe him better service than ever yet we have done SERMON LXXXII PSAL. CXIX 74. They that fear thee will be glad when they see me because I have hoped in thy Word THIS Verse containeth two things 1. The Respect of the Faithfull to David They that fear thee will be glad when they see me 2. The Reason of this Respect because I have hoped in thy Word First The Respect of God's faithfull Servants to David and there take notice of the Character by which God's Servants are described They that fear thee then their Respect to David they will be glad when they see me which may bear a double sense 1. How comfortable 't is for the Heirs of Promise to see one another or meet together Aspectus boni viri delectat the very look of a good Man is delightfull 't is a pleasure to converse with those that are carefull to please God and awefull to offend him 2. How much affected they are with one another's Mercies they will be glad to see me who have obtained an Event answerable to my Hope they shall come and look upon me as a Monument and Spectacle of the Mercy and Truth of God this sense I prefer though not excluding the other But what Mercy had he received the Context seemeth to carry it for Grace to obey God's Commandments that was the Prayer immediately preceeding to be instructed and taught in God's Law vers 73. Now they will rejoyce to see my holy Behaviour how I have profited and glorified God in that behalf The Hebrew Writers render the reason because then I shall be able to instruct them in those Statutes when they shall see me their King study the Law of God It may be expounded of any other Blessing or Benefit God had given according to his Hope and I rather understand it thus they will be glad to see him sustained supported and born out in his Troubles and Sufferings they will be glad when they shall see in me a notable Example of the fruit of hoping in thy Grace and this Hope leaveth not ashamed Secondly The Reason is because I hoped in thy Word and there compare this with the first Clause God's Children are described to be those that fear God and David is described to be one that hopes in his Word both together make up a good Character and Description of the Lord's People they are such as fear God and hope in his Word they are elsewhere coupled Psal. 33. 18. Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him that hope in his mercy And Psal. 147. 11. The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him that hope in his mercy A sincere Christian is known by both these a fear of God or a constant obedience to his Commands and an affiance trust and dependance upon his Mercies Oh how sweetly are both these coupled an uniform sincere Obedience to him and an unshaken constant reliance on his Mercy and Goodness The whole perfection of the Christian Life is comprized in these two believing God and fearing him trusting in his Mercy and fearing his Name the one maketh us carefull in avoiding Sin the other diligent to follow after Righteousness the one is a bridle from Sin and Temptations the other a spur to our Duties Fear is our curb and Hope our motive and incouragement the one respects our Duty the other our Comfort the one allayeth the other God is so to be feared as also to be trusted so to be trusted as also to be feared And as we must not suffer our Fear to degenerate into legal Bondage but hope in his Mercy so our Trust must not degenerate to carnal Sloath and Wantonness but so hope in his Word as to fear his Name Well then such as both believe in God and fear to offend him are the onely men who are acceptable to God and his People God will take pleasure in them and they take pleasure in one another They that fear thee will be glad when they see me The first part of the Character They that fear thee the Fear of God is an excellent Grace a strong bridle to hold the Soul from Sin not that servile but filial and Child-like Fear that is afraid to sin against God or break his Laws Prov. 28. 14. Blessed is the man that feareth always this Grace should always bear rule in our Hearts 1 Pet. 1. 17. Pass the time of your sojourning in fear our whole course must be carried on under the conduct of this Grace Look as the Fear of Man is a Bridle upon the Beasts to keep them from hurting Man Gen. 9. 2. The fear and dread of you shall be upon every Beast of the Earth so when the Fear of God is rooted in our Hearts we are kept from disobeying and dishonouring God Ioseph is an instance of the power of this holy Fear Gen. 39. 9. How shall I doe this great wickedness and sin against God Secondly the other Character I hope in thy Word a Christian liveth by Faith whereas the bruitish Worldling liveth by Sense the one liveth by Bread onely the other by the Word of God the one is a higher sort of Beast the other is a kind of an earthly Angel for he liveth with God and dwelleth with God and expecteth all out of God's hands Psal. 130. 5. I wait for the Lord my Soul doth wait and in his Word do I hope there is his Charter and Inheritance and his Solace and Support he fetcheth all from the Word Both these Graces as they are very acceptable unto God so are they most lovely and beautifull to behold by Men to be among the Company of them that fear God and hope in his Word is the most pleasant thing to a gracious Heart that can be for while others are taken up about Toyes and Trifles they are taken up about the onely serious Matters If Balaam was constrained to say of God's People How goodly are thy Tents O Iacob and thy Tabernacles O Israel Oh how pleasant is it much more to the People of God to see one another to come among them that fear God and are loth to offend him and also that hope in his Word They can speak of the life of Faith and Blessedness to come and take off the Vaile of the Creature and are mainly taken up with another world their business is not to offend God here and hope fully
holy thoughts where they are sanctified and work the right way 1. They make us understand the Word more fully and clearly than before Vexatio dat intellectum qui tribulantur saith Luther Sacras Literas melius intelligunt securi fortunati eas legunt sicut Ovidii Carmen A full third part of the Scriptures are lost to the secure and fortunate 2. As they clear the sight so they purge the taste and give us a spiritual relish Carnal comforts cloy the spiritual appetite when they are removed from us then we taste heavenly things Psal. 94. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. 3. They quicken the heart to our duty and so make us more aweful and watchful Psal. 94. 12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O Lord and teachest him out of thy law Psal. 119. 167. My soul hath kept thy testimonies and I love them exceedingly If God write his law upon our hearts by his stripes on our backs 't is a blessed effect our happiness is to be measured by our great end which is conformity to God and enjoyment of God and therefore it doth not consist in outward comforts riches honour health civil liberty and comfortable protection but acceptance with God and enjoyment of God Now as afflictions increase grace and holiness we are the more approved of God and enjoy more of God USE Let all our Troubles drive us then to the Word of God there we shall find 1. Grounds of comfort and support 2. Hopes of deliverance 3. Quickenings to duty which being concocted by serious thoughts and blessed to us by the Spirit of God will enable us to ride out the storm chearfully and allay our cares and fears and then we shall put our selves into the way wherein God hath engaged his protection and so shall not be afraid of what man can do unto us I now come to the 79th verse Let those that fear thee turn unto me and those that have known thy testimonies When troubled by the wicked he prayeth for the help and comfort of the godly there is an elegant Allusion between the two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let the proud be ashamed And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let the godly be turned to me that is let them desert the society of these proud men and join to me In these words God's People are described by a double character 1. Those that fear thee 2. Those that have known thy testimonies David's Petition concerning those that they may turn to him I shall deliver the importance of these words in certain Propositions 1. Observe the Godly are described by two Properties the fear or worship of God and the knowledge of his Word These are Godly who fear to offend God and have the sound knowledge of his Will these are fittest for God's use in the general and for David's use in the particular condition in which he was For God's use Fear and knowledge do make up a godly man Knowledge without fear breedeth presumption and fear without knowledge breedeth superstition and blind Zeal as a blind Horse may be full of mettle but is ever and anon stumbling Knowledge must direct fear and fear must season knowledge then it is an happy mixture and composition Deum cognoscere colere to know God and worship him is the whole duty of man saith Lactantius When we know God's Testimonies so as to regard love and believe them and dare not dispense with our duty to him for all the world this is a good frame our knowledge and fear of God must be according to his Word And these were fittest for David's case fit comforters and strengthners of the Godly in persecution There are many whom we cannot exclude from all fear of God who yet know not his Testimonies run into Error darken and blemish a good cause but those that know and fear understand their duty and are loth to violate it with these should our Souls close Well then David doth in effect say Those whom thou hast joined to thy self let them join to me they will acknowledge the equity of that cause which God owneth and will converse with him whom thou disdainest not to take into favor because they reverence thy Providence and are taught out of thy Testimonies and so weighing the cause as well as regarding the event will be sooner won to the Truth when God sheweth mercy to his People other godly ones will be allured to join themselves to those whom they find to be so dear to God 2. Friendship and fellowship with such godly ones is a great blessing partly as it conduceth to mutual spiritual strength Rom. 1. 12. That I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me 'T is a comfort to see our Father's children wherever we come and to behold their Faith Zeal Self denial Mortification the Godly are a strength to one another in evil times Mal. 3. 16. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another There are many advantages attend the communion of Saints their very sight and presence is a confirmation to us many times that temptation befalleth us which befel Elias we think we are left alone 1 Kings 19. 10. That Godliness is gone out of the world To have company is an encouragement but we have not only company but help every one hath his peculiar gift to help others 1 Cor. 12. one hath quickness of parts but not so solid a judgment another is solid but not of so ready present and good utterance one is zealous but ungrounded another well-principled but timorous 1 Cor. 12. 21. The eye the knowing man cannot say to the hand the active man in God's cause I have no need of thee All have their use by mutual gifts and graces to profit one another as the curtains of the Tabernacle were coupled to one another by loops Exod. 26. 3. or as a body fitly joined and compacted by that which every joint supplieth Eph. 4. 16. Every Christian hath need of anothers help And partly as it conduceth more to publick safety and honour Philip. 1. 27 28. Only let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ that whether I come and see you or else be absent I may hear of your affairs that ye stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel And in nothing terrified by your adversaries which is to them an evident token of perdition but to you of salvation and that of God When the members are cut off the body is less powerful Acts 4. 33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of our Lord Iesus When they were met with one heart And the Apostle prayeth Rom. 15. 5 6. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded one towards another according to Iesus Christ. That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorifie God even the
quickned me O! when a child of God is even dead and hath many damps and discouragements upon his heart when he goes to the Word there he hath quickning reviving and is encouraged to wait upon God again All our discomfort comes from forgetting what God hath spoken in his Word Heb. 12. 5. Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children There 's abundant consolation in the Word but we forget it and do not carry it always in our mind and then we lie under much dejection of heart if we do not study it discomfort will come upon us In the Word there 's a remedy for every malady and an ease for every smart and therefore this is that which makes it precious to the children of God II. Secondly The Saints readily yield this love to the Word Why 1. Because their hearts are suited to the Word The Word is every way suited to the sanctified nature and the sanctified nature is suited to it for that which is written in God's Book is written over again upon their hearts by the finger of the Spirit while we are in our natural state there is an enmity to the Law of God For we are not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be Rom 8. 7. I but when they come to be written upon the heart and mind then our affections are suited to the Word Carnal men do not love the Word why because it is contrary to them as Micaiah to Ahab He prophesieth nothing but evil to me it only rubs their sores and discovers their spots to them and that 's grievous and proud spirits think it to be a simple plain doctrine Worldly spirits love it not for it draweth them off wholly to think of things to come but they whose hearts are suited to it they have a mighty love to it 2. They have tasted the goodness of the Word therefore they love it 2 Pet. 2. 3. As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word why If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious if you have felt any benefit Ier. 15. 16. Thy words were found and I did eat them and thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoycing of mine heart When they come to taste digest and have experience of the benefit in comforting changing supporting their own hearts then they love the Word of God that hath been the instrument of it Iam. 1. 18. He hath begotten us by the word of truth then what follows Be swift to hear If a man be begotten if he hath felt the benefit of the Word then he will be taking all occasions to delight himself and refresh his soul in the VVord of God in reading hearing meditating because he hath found sensible benefit Use 1. To shame and humble us that we are so cold in our love It is an admirable and an incredible affection David here speaks Consider who it was that speaks thus David he that was incumbred with the employments of a Kingdom he that had so many Courtly pleasures so many great businesses to divert and draw him aside yet all his employment could not with-hold him from delighting himself in the VVord of God It was David that was a King and mark how he doth express himself he doth not say I endeavor to keep thy Word but I love thy Word Nay he saith more he speaks of it as a thing he could not express How I love thy Law No great wonder that we cannot express the excellency of the Word but that our affections which are so finite that these should not be exprest this is wonderful Then he speaks of it with Exclamation too O how I love thy Law and he speaks this to God the Septuagint read it Lord how have I loved thy Law He makes God himself to be Judge not only of the truth of his love as Peter makes Christ the Judge of the truth of his love I have many failings I have fallen foully of late but Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest I love thee but he makes God the Judge of the strength of his love Lord how do I love thy Law Have we any thing answerable Heart should answer heart Are there such affections wrought in us as David expresseth to be in himself This should shame us for we have more reason there is more of the VVord of God revealed to us more of the counsel of God discover'd the Canon of Scripture being enlarged more discover'd than ever was to David yet our affections so cold SERMON CII PSAL. CXIX VER 97. Oh how love I thy Law c. I Come now to a second Use. To press us to get this Love Take three Arguments 1. This will wean us from sinful delight that is apt to insinuate with us and take our hearts it will draw us off from carnal pastimes curious studies vain pamphlets if you had this Love here would be your recreation in the word of God Castae deliciae meae sunt Scripturae tuae saith Austin here are my chaste delights thy holy Scripture to be ruminating and meditating there Here you will be employing your time and strength of your thoughts There are two things mightily concern us to make Religion our business and recreation our business in regard of the seriousness and our recreation and delight in regard of the sweetness Now if you have a word from God here will be your delight you will be exercising your selves contemplating the height depth and breadth of God's Love in Christ Jesus and turning over this blessed book Iob 23. 12. I have esteemed the words of thy mouth more than my necessary food Your very food for sustentation of your bodies will not be so sweet to you as the word of God for the comfort and refreshing of the Soul when the promises are as dry breasts and withered flowers when men have little or no feeling of the power of it upon their hearts no wonder they are besotted with the pleasures of sin Mans mind must have some pleasure and oblectation but their harts are chained to carnal delights so that they cannot mind the business of their souls 2. Your hearts will be more stable and upright with God more constant in the profession of godliness when you come to love the word and love the truth for the truths sake 2 Thes. 2. 12. Because they received not the truth in the Love of it therefore God gave them up to strong delusions that they might believe lyes The Lord hath seen it sit ever to continue this dispensation in the course of his Providence to suffer seducing spirits to go forth to try how we have received the truth whether only in the bare profession of it or received it in the Love of it Many have received the truth in the light of it that is compelled by Conscience and by humane tradition and currant opinions and custom of the country to profess it but they do not love it therefore they
freedom and sovereignty 2. Sometimes to manifest the power of his grace both in the person that is endued with it and the power of his grace upon others As to the person himself in whom this wisdom is found when they are young the Lord doth shew he can subdue them by his Spirit and make their prejudices vanish enlarge their understanding and over-rule their heart 1 Iohn 2. 14. I write to you young men because ye are strong and the Word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one In that slippery Age when Lusts were boistrous Temptations most violent and they usually uncircumspect and head-strong and give up themselves to an ungoverned licence yet then can God subdue their hearts and make them stand out against the snares of the Devil And then with respect to others when by the foolish he will confound the wisdom of the wise and blast the pride of man and cast down all conceit in external priviledges and give young ones a more excellent spirit than the aged as the Apostle intimates such a thing 1 Cor. 1. 26. Not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty And our Lord Mat. 11. 25 26. Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto Babes Even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight Usually God will do so when he will punish the unfaithfulness of those that are in publick place and office The Law shall perish from the Priest and Counsel from the Ancient God will not take the usual way and course but will give his Spirit and graces of his Spirit to them and deny it to those that should be Builders Now what Use shall we make of this There may be an Abuse of such a Point as this and there may be a very good Use. To prevent the Abuse 1 This is not to be taken so but that there should be reverence shewed to the aged Job 32. 4 5 6. Elihu had waited till Iob's Friends had spoken because they were elder than he It is an abuse of men of a proud persuasion of their own knowledge and learning to despise the aged especially when they also have a competent measure of the same Spirit The Scripture speaks of Paul the aged certainly there is a reverence due to gray hairs And it argues a great disorder when the Staff of Government is broken and the established Order is overturned when a child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient Isa. 3. 5. And young men shall peark up to the despising of their Elders Deut. 28. And 2. this is not to be applied so to prejudice the general case of consulting with the Ancients which was Rehoboam's sin though God sometimes giveth wisdom to young men yet the usual course is that Iob 32. 7. I said days should speak and multitude of years should teach wisdom Certainly those that are old they are freer from passions bettered by use and experience and long continuance in study have more advantages to add to their knowledge therefore usually though the bodily eyes be dim the understanding may be most clear and sharp Use 2. The Use in general is twofold That young men should not be discouraged nor despised 1. Not discouraged We use to say youth for strength and age for wisdom but if they apply their hearts to Religion and the study of God's will and with knowledge join practice they may profit and so as they may be a means to shame those that are elder while they come behind them in many gracious endowments They are not to be discouraged as if it were too soon for them to enter into a strict course or grow eminent therein for God may glorifie himself in their Sobriety Temperance Chastity Zeal Courage and the setting their strong and eager spirits against sin it is a mighty honour to God Psal. 8. 2. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies c. The graces of God in young ones do mightily turn to the praise of his glorious grace and God is admired in them and it is an honour and comfort to you also Eph. 1. 12. In Christ before me it is a just upbraiding to elder people that lie longer in sin 2. Nor yet should youth be despised 1 Tim. 4. 12. Let no man despise thy youth God's gifts should not be despised in any nor stir up rancor God may speak by them as he spoke by Samuel and to Samuel when he spoke not to old Eli. Having premised this let me come to apply it particularly though briefly it conduceth then 1. To the encouragement of youth to betake themselves to the ways of God O consider let us begin with God betimes do not spend your youth in vanity but in a serious mortified course This is your sharp and active time when your spirits are fresh therefore if your Watch is set right now you may understand more than the Ancients Give up your hearts to a religious course let not the Devil feast upon the flower of your youth and God be put off with the fragments and scraps of Satan's Table while you are young take in with God it 's a great honour to God and it will be an honour and advantage to you Mat. 11. 15 16. When the Children cry Hosanna to the Son of David and the Pharisees reproved him for it Christ approves of it saying Have ye never read Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise When young ones take kindly it is a great blessing therefore is judgment hanging over this Nation that youth is so degenerated whereas formerly they were addicted to Religion now they are addicted to all manner of lusts and vanity Then it would be an honour and comfort to you the sooner we begin with God the more we glorifie God and the more praise to God Eph. 1. 12. That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. They that get into Christ above others they glorifie Grace above others Rom. 16. 7. They were in Christ before me He that first gets into Christ he hath the advantage of others Seniority in Grace is a preferment as well as in Nature And then it is a great advantage Eccles. 12. 1. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth When we begin betimes with God we have more opportunity of serving and enjoying God than others have A man should bear the yoke in his youth Lam. 3. If the bent of our inclinations were set right in our youth it would prevent much and hinder the growth of sin Though a man cannot plant Grace in his heart that 's the Lord's own work yet it keeps sin in and prevents inveterate custom
God restored in us Ephes. 4. 24. The new man is created to restore in some measure those abilities we lost in Adam God never yet gave man a liberty to be free from the obligation of the Moral Law He would not pardon any sin against it without satisfaction made by Christ and believed and pleaded by sinful man Christ merited and God restored the Spirit of sanctification that men might keep it He will not spare his own Children when they transgress against it by heinous and scandalous sins as to temporal punishments Prov. 11. 31. The righteous man shall be recompenced upon Earth much more the wicked and the sinner Psal. 30. 31. David and Eli both smarted for their sins No man hath interest in Christ unless he return to the obedience of this Law 1 Cor. 9. 21. To them that are without Law as without Law being not without Law to God but under the Law to Christ that I might gain them that are without Law Rom. 8. 1 2. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit For the Law of the spirit of life in Christ Iesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death No interest in mercy else Gal. 6. 16. As many as walk according to this Rule peace and mercy be upon them We cannot have full Communion with God till we perfectly obey it Ephes. 5. 27. That he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but it should be holy and without blemish 2. The great priviledg of the Covenant of Grace is To be taught Gods Statutes or to have a real impress of them upon the heart and mind which is the way of Divine teaching Heb. 8. 10. For this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel in those days saith the Lord I will put my laws into their minds and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people He will cure us of our wickedness weakness and carelesness and inable us to keep his Law 't is Gods undertaking to do so and that out of free Grace and favour for he is not indebted to us 't is to give us knowledge of them and power to keep them Much of the Law natural cannot be severed from it and that is the reason why the Heathens have the Law written upon their hearts Rom. 2. 15. But the writing is very imperfect both as to knowledge and power to keep it God will imprint them more perfectly this is the true Notion of the Law By the mind is meant understanding by the heart the rational appetite In the mind is the directive counsel in the will the imperial and commanding power There is the prime mover of all humane actions he giveth an apprehensive and perceptive power whereby we apprehend things more clearly and effectually desire and affect spiritual delights Use 1. Is to refute the claim of them that would plead mercy but would still go on in their own ways blessing themselves in their sins Till our hearts and minds are suited to Gods Law by a permanent tincture of holiness we are not fit Subjects to ask mercy and the promises of the Covenant 2. If we would have this effect we must go to God who alone can work upon the immortal Soul to reform mould or alter it a new man or Angel cannot do it they may by sense and fancy teach him many things but to make these lively impressions must be the work of the Spirit SERMON CXXXVII PSAL. CXIX VER 125. I am thy Servant give me understanding that I may know thy Testimonies IN this Verse he repeateth his Plea and Request also In the former Verse he mentioneth the relation of a servant and prayeth Teach me thy Statutes And here again First Asserteth his relation to God I am thy servant and Secondly Reneweth his Request Give me understanding Thirdly The fruit and effect of the Grant That I may know thy Testimonies or Then I shall know This repetition hath its use this repeating his relation to God sheweth That where the Conscience of our Dedication to God and our endeavours to serve him is clear and sincere we should not easily quit our claim Deal with thy Servant in mercy yea Lord I am thy servant I have my failings but Lord 't is in my heart to serve thee I can and will avow it as long as I live Our defects and disallowed failings do not deprive us of the title of being Gods Servants we may take comfort in it and assert our interest in the promises as long as we delight to do his will And though unbelief opposeth our claim we must remove it in the face of all objections Christ puts Peter to a threefold assertion of his love to him Iohn 21. 'T is supposed we do not lye in these redoubled professions of our respect and service to God Secondly This renewing his Request sheweth his earnestness to encrease in spiritual understanding Savoury and powerful knowledge of Divine things is in itself so excellent a benefit and our necessity of it is so great that we cannot enough pray for it Only observe that in the former Verse the Notion was Statutes here Testimonies Statutes are that part of Gods Word which we should obey Testimonies that part which we should believe viz. the promises But this may be too critical the words being taken in this Psalm in a greater latitude Doctr. That 't is a good Plea when we want any mercy spiritual or temporal to be able to plead that we are Gods servants I. That there are a sort of people that in a peculiar manner are Gods servants II. These may plead it when they want any mercy spiritual or temporal I. That some are in a peculiar manner Gods Servants The Saints of God are so called 't was Moses's honour They sung the Song of Moses the servant of the Lord. So Ios. 1. 1. Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord. So Paul asserts it of himself Acts 27. 23. The God whose I am and whom I serve Here is a true description of a Christian Man he is Gods and serveth God he is Gods by special appropriation and communion with God He serveth God that is walketh answerable to his relation and is ever about Gods work Elsewhere he describeth himself by his service Rom. 1. 9. My God whom I serve in my spirit 1 Tim. 1. 3. God whom I serve with a pure conscience But to know who in a peculiar manner are Gods servants we must distinguish 1. God is served actively and passively by necessity of Nature or voluntary choice Passively by necessity of Nature all Creatures even the inanimate are his servants Psal. 119. 91. They continue this day according to thine ordinances for all are thy servants But actively to serve him out of
the course of second Causes when things are fortified and backed with a strong interest to reason 't will be a long time 'T is not so long as sense would make it though we count the years the winter is over and the spring is come and yet we are not saved and can say 't is thus long yet this is not long in comparison of eternity 2 Cor. 4. 17. 'T is not long to faith for to the eye of faith things future and afar off are present Heb. 11. 1. Not long to love Gen. 29. 20. seven years are as a few days they that believe an eternity and have any love to God will say 't is short But a short Walk is a long Journey to the sick and weak the impatience of our flesh makes it seem long 4. When the time is come God will make speedy work Isai. 60. 22. The Lord will hasten it in his time Luke 18. 9. Shall not God avenge his own Elect Rev. 18. 7. Her plagues shall come in one day Isai. 66. 8. A Nation born in a day All these places shew and 't is a comfort to us that no difficulty shall hinder when the season calls for it He that produced Heaven and Earth at once what cannot he do We are dismayed when we consider an evil party fortified with combined interests strength of opposite factions force of Laws and worldly powers but God can make a Nation be born in one day 'T will be quick work when God once begins III. Third Consideration This time is usually when the impiety and insolency of wicked men is come to an height Indeed there are other notes as when his peoples hearts are prepared to receive and improve deliverance when Gods Glory calleth for it But this is the season mentioned in the Text therefore I shall shew you 1. That this is a season 2. Enquire when iniquity is come to an height 3. Why then God doth usually interpose 1. That this is a season Gen. 15. 16. The sins of the Amorites are not yet full God shewed his patience to that wicked people till the measure of their sins were filled up So wrath came upon the persecuting Jews when they had filled up the measure of their fathers Matth. 23. 32. While the enemies Cup is a filling God delayeth and we must wait So Dan. 8. 23. When the transgressors are come to the full Once more Ioel 3. 13. Put ye in the Sickle for the Harvest is ripe come get ye down for the Press is full the Fatts overflow for their wickedness is great The Lord compares sinners to a field of ripe Corn ready to be cut full Fatts and Wine-presses to be trod out When sin is ripe the execution of vengeance will not be long forborn 2. When doth iniquity come to an height I answer Their iniquities may be considered as to the two branches of it their rebellion and disobedience to God and their injuries and vexation of the Saints First Their disobedience and contempt of God First When this is general All orders and ranks of persons have corrupted their way as the Sodomites compassed the house Gen. 19 4. both young and old all the people from every Quarter Usually in making a judgment upon the state of a people you will find it thus If any part be right it keeps off the judgment from the rest if a zealous Magistracy though a corrupt people or an unsavoury Ministry and a praying mourning people God holds his hand and will not proceed to judgment They are the Salt of the Earth Matth. 5. 13. And Isai. 6. 13. The holy seed shall be the substance thereof But when all join in one in a neglect of God and common enmity to his ways then I say the Judg of the Earth will do his work then wrath breaketh out Secondly When it groweth impudent and outragious as if they would obliterate and extinguish the Law of God or take away all force and authority from it by their perverse actions and pernicious examples They do not obliquely and under the shew of divers pretences break Gods Laws but openly set themselves against him and break a Commandment without any shame Isai. 3. 9. They declare their sin as Sodom and hide it not yea they glory in their shame Phil. 3. 19. as if they would out-face Heaven and Religion at once and all honesty and ingenuity by their debaucheries Bold-fac'd sin doth not go long unpunished Thirdly Desperate incorrigibleness All remedies are unprofitable and hope of amendment taken away Ier. 6. 3. Ezek. 24. 13. When God would have purged them they would not be purged He tryeth them with several conditions he hath a love for them as they are his Creatures Judgments and Mercies they had yet they are no Changelings but go on as wicked as ever God tryeth Key after Key one Providence after another yet not a whit the better or wiser but are like men that have slept still abuse his patience and defeat all the methods of his Grace shew the same corruption they did before Fourthly When they run into unnatural sins and the corruption of humane Society is endangered Levit. 18. 27 28. For all these abominations have the men of the land done c. When men are so wicked and filthy that a man needs to be a Criminal to be acceptable to them they think it strange that others run not into the same excess of riot 1 Pet. 4. 4. Certainly then God needeth to strike in that vertue may be upheld in some kind of reputation Secondly Their violence and vexation of the Saints 'T was Bede's observation Odium in Religionis Professores c. that hatred of the Professors of Religion was that undid his Countrey God is angry when his people are wronged the world is kept up for their sakes Were it not for the Elect to be gathered time would be no more for their sakes Kingdoms and Churches are preserved they are the staff and stay the Chariots and Horsemen of Israel God is tender of them as the Apple of his Eye therefore when they are wronged and men are not only evil themselves but haters of those that are good and do not only break Gods Laws themselves but would force others to do so God will hold no longer as their violence encreaseth so doth their ruine hasten Rev. 12. 12. When they abuse their power to such an end though God may bear with them for a time till they have done their work yet he will reckon with them Zech. 1. 15. I am sore displeased with the Heathen that are at ease for I was a little displeased and they helped forward the affliction God will not forget his relation to his sinning people and will not suffer them to be abused out of measure When they would destroy and root out whom God would only correct and purge 't is a sign of their approaching ruine Now these things should be considered by us to a good end not to feed an
same which Mahometans have to the Alchoran Education in it Ancestors embracing of it the countenance of the Law the custom of the Country c. 3. The manner or way how we come by it by much prayer and serious deliberation Some by chance are surprized and affected with a good motion suddenly good but habitually bad they will in all haste become religious but alas this estimation or approbation of Gods ways is entertained but for a time but afterwards vanisheth and cometh to nothing There must be a clear distinct knowledge of the excellency of Gods ways otherwise in a fit or in a good mood we chuse that which is good but the interest in evil not being renounced in heart it causeth an easie retreat into the former sinful course Fourthly It must be such an esteem as hath a lively and effectual influence upon our hearts and ways There is a liking that only produceth a velleity and wish and doth not engage the soul to prosecute the things willed or forsake the things nilled but there is such an effectual liking and esteem as will produce a constant habitual willingness that will have the authority of a principle and hath a powerful command over the whole soul to set it a working to do the will of God and will admit of no contradiction by contrary desires but maketh us act with life power and earnestness Cold and inconstant wishes produce no fruit in the heart the general course of most mens lives is as if they had no liking to the Law of God It may be they may dislike and sacrifice some of their weaker lusts and smaller interests which they can well spare but corruption doth ordinarily bear sway in their hearts and lives In the Text 't is I esteem all thy precepts and hate every false way 'T is true a man that approveth the Law is not wholly freed from sin There are sins of ordinary infirmity that cleave to us while we are in the world yea taint our best actions Isai. 64. 6. But we are all as an unclean thing all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags And sometimes though there be a principle of Grace a Child of God may be over-born by the violence of a temptation carried into presumptuous sins which may make strange havock in the soul. David prayeth Psal. 19. 14. that God would keep him from presumptuous sins but for the most part the Children of God are influenced by their consent and esteem of the Law of God And the renewed part for the generality hath the upper hand and prevaileth and the flesh is weakened as the house of David grew stronger and stronger 2 Sam. 3. 1. and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker Fifthly It must be an universal not partial esteem I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right Psal. 119. 6. When I have respect to all thy Commandments Luke 1. 6. Zachary and Elizabeth walked in all the Commandments and Ordinances of God blameless Acts 3. 22. Him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you And he shall fulfil all my will 'T is not enough to be right in Commands in general or the lump but in this and that particular not in some but in all We pretend to give up our selves to the will of God in the general but particulars we stick at Men are convinced that holiness is necessary that they must have some Religion therefore when they take up Duty in the lump and abstract notion or naked consent it doth not exasperate opposite propensions Ye cannot serve the Lord c. saith Ioshua Josh. 24. 18 19. but when they come to particulars and see what it is to wait upon a holy and jealous God they tire and grow weary so that there must be a consent and purpose to obey not some but all and every one without exception not partial like that of Herod to Iohn Mark 6. 20. He did many things The worst man in the world loveth some good and hateth some evil but he doth not esteem all Gods Commandments in every point Nay the great enemy of our salvation Satan can be content to let us yield to God in many things if he would be contented with half our duty one sin reserved keepeth afoot his interest in our hearts as a Bird tyed by the Leg is fast enough The Devil will suffer men to do many things but if he hath them fast by one lust be it an inclination to sensuality or love to the world he is contented The World likes many things in Religion they are good and profitable for men but sticketh at others To live godly in Christ Jesus will draw on persecution 2 Tim. 3. 12. The flesh will dispense with us to do many things for the more cleanly conveyance of others if it can but get us to spare the bosome lust which the soul delighteth in Every man as he is inslaved by his own customes opposeth one this Law another that the proud man doth not approve of that Law that doth forbid his pride nor the sensual man that which toucheth his intemperance and unbridled Appetite nor the worldly man his covetousness cannot endure that part of the Law that would abridge him of his gain Nothing more common than to cast off what liketh us not in the Law of God and to wish there were no precept given in that kind but our consent must be to all in general and to this and that in particular Many could be content with Gods Law so far as it doth not cross their carnal interest or hinder their corrupt desires but we must esteem all the Laws of God they are all holy just and good not one excepted all conduce to perfect our Nature and make us happy Creatures they all conduce to the benefit of humane Nature they are all enjoyned by the authority of the same God God spake all these words They are linked as Rings in a Chain one preserveth another they are all necessary for our eternal happiness not one given in vain So much thou continuest thine own misery and art defective in the way that leadeth to true happiness as thou art willing to indulge to any one sin They are all written in the hearts of Gods Children Heb. 8. 10. all suited to the new Nature and he hath given Grace to keep all 1 Pet. 1. 15. perfection of parts not of degrees The new Creature is not maimed in the birth A Child hath not the bulk and strength of a man Want of perfection of parts cannot be supplied by any after-growth Nay all are necessary to our Communion with God Psal. 66. 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me Matth. 5. 19. Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandments c. If we dispense with our selves in the least things we are not fit for Communion with God 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having such promises of Gods being in us and dwelling in us and
Sin Oh that men did regard this as they ought considering that to despise Commandments is to despise the Lord himself and what it is for poor Worms to despise the God of Heaven and Earth Nay that God that is our Judge He hath power to cast both Body and Soul into Hell Fire the God whom we are bound by so many Ties to Obey 2. When swayed by Delight and Profit against the Course of our Duty Esau sold his Birth-right to keep him alive yet despised it Gen. 29. 31. And Heb. 12. 16. 3. The Case is more aggravated when we cast a Precept behind our Backs for a light Pleasure or small Profit the greater is our Contempt to break with God for a little Trifle sell the Righteous for a pair of shoes Use. II. Is to press us to get this blessed frame of heart to stand in Awe of the Word 1. 'T is a great curb in actual Temptations Gen. 39. 9. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God 2. 'T is a great help in Reading and Hearing Acts 10. 33. Now therefore we are all present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God 3. A great help in Humiliation and suing out our Pardon Psal. 130. 3 4. If thou shouldest mark iniquity who could stand but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared For Means to get this Awful frame of Heart 1. Faith is necessary sundry Articles of Religion have influence upon it Gods Power Matth. 10. 28. Fear not them that can kill the body but fear him that can cast both body and soul into hell fire God's Providence that he observeth humane Affairs and accordingly doth Reward and Punish Hos. 7. 2. And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness now their doings have beset them about before my face And Heb. 2. 2. And every transgression and every disobedience received a just recompence of reward A day of Judgment Rom. 2. 5. But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up wrath against the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God Eternal recompences of Heaven and Hell or the state of the World to come Those who believe not these things are bold and venturous and out of a daring Confidence will put it to the Trial whose Word shall stand Gods or theirs Ier. 44. 28. And all the remnant of Iudah that are gone into the Land of Egypt to sojourn there shall know whose word shall stand mine or theirs which shall be fulfilled or made good Heb. 11. 8. By faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet being moved with fear prepared an ark to the saving of his house 2. Love is necessary for Reverence ariseth from Love David was afraid to displease so good a God to whom bound by so many Ties Surely Love breedeth a greater tenderness than a bare sense of danger Hos. 3. 5. Fear the Lord and his goodness That which maketh a wicked man presumptuous maketh a Child of God Awful he hath to do with a good God and therefore would not offend him nor cross his Will 3. An humble penitent Spirit is necessary for this frame of Heart Iosiah when he heard the words of the Law he rent his Clothes 2 Kings 22. 11 19. Because thy hâ—…rt was tender and thou humbledst thy self before the Lord when thou heardest what I spake against this place I have heard thee saith the Lord. And 2 Chron. 34. 27. Because thy heart was tender c. Troubled at Gods Anger to some nothing is of less Consideration with them 4. A good stock of Knowledge or frame of Divine Truths Psal. 119. 11. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee Prov. 6. 21 22. Bind them continually upon thy heart and tye them about thy neck when thou goest it shall lead thee when thou sleepest it shall keep thee and when thou wakest it shall talk with thee A Treasure of knowledge not only got by heart but impressed on us by his Spirit the great New-Covenant-blessing Heb. 8. 10. is Gods Law written upon the Heart by the finger of the Spirit as before on Tables of stone on the directive and imperative powers the Heart and Mind and this maketh us conformable to it in Heart and Life Gods Law is said to be in the Heart of the Godly that maketh them willing to obey Psal. 40. 8. His law is in my heart Tender to offend Psal. 37. 31. The law of God is in his heart none of his steps shall slide He loveth what is commanded and hateth what is forbidden he hath a sense of it to keep from usual guilt 5. Advised Consideration and Watchfulness Let thine eyes look right on and thine eye-lids streight before thee ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy wayes be established When you are about to do any thing examine and consider it whether God alloweth it yea or no Will it please or displease honour or dishonour God If he disallow forbear how safe profitable or comfortable soever it be if he allow it then engage this holy Fear must never be laid aside Phil. 2. 12. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling 1 Pet. 1. 17. Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear SERMON CLXXVI PSALM CXIX VER 1â—…2 I Rejoice at Thy Word as one that findeth great Spoil IN the Text First An Assertion or Declaration of his delight in the Word I Rejoice at Thy Word Secondly An Illustration of it by a Similitude taken from those who have gotten some notable Prey and Booty as one that findeth great Spoil First The Similitude is very expressive taken from the joy which a Conquerour in Battel doth find in the Spoil of his defeated Enemies The same similitude is used Isaiah 9. 3. They joy before thee according to the joy in Harvest as men rejoice when they divide the Spoil He speaketh there of the highest joy in a time of Peace joy of the harvest is the greatest joy In a time of Warr victory obtained after an hazardous Fight and rich spoil and booty gotten to heighten that joy several circumstances concur 1. Deliverance after a doubtful conflict No man goeth to War but carryeth his life in his hands and the event is very uncertain now when 't is unexpectedly determined on our side there is great rejoycing 2. The joy of victory especially to be victorious in a Battel 3. There is Booty and Spoil whereby men are enriched and so profit as well as pleasure 4. The joy of Honour and Triumph over faln Enemies 5. Peace and Ease from toil All these make the joy of victorious men in a Battel to be a great joy Secondly 'T was a fit similitude for David to use who was a great Warrior and so a man not unacquainted with the joy of victory A gracious heart spiritualizeth every occasion that falleth out in their ordinary
respect to the end now if they do not make the Everlasting injoyment of God their end the Scriptures are of little use to them a trouble rather than a comfort because they disturb them in pursuing their lusts but a man that would injoy God get to his Holy Hill is apprehensive of the benefit 2. They are not affected with their wants and therefore esteem not the Word For the great benefit of the Word is to teach us a remedy for sin and misery now they that mind not the misery and danger in which they stand go on carelesly and despise the Word of God Prov. 22. 3. A prudent man forseeth the Evil and hideth himself but the simple passe on and are punished They little think of the evil which is near them and so slight the Counsel of God Secondly Those that will not believe them that find sweetness in it as if all were phantastical and imaginary Are the wisest and most serious part of mankind deceived And hath the carnal fool only the wit to discern the mistake Surely in all reason it should be otherwise These tell us of those delights and transports of soul in meditating on the Promises in purifying their Hearts by the Precepts and though a stranger intermedleth not with their Joyes yet surely these find them All that is spiritual and supernatural is suspected by those who are drowned in matters of sense Iohn 12. 29. A voice from Heaven is Thunder the motions of the Spirit fumes of Wine Acts 3. 13. Joy in the Holy Ghost but a fancy c. Thirdly Them that count it an Alphabetary knowledge fit for beginners David was no Novice yet he rejoyced in the Word as one that found great spoil the more conversant he was in these Holy Writings the more he delighted in them No 'T is not only Childrens meat there is not only Milk there but strong Meat also Heb. 5. 14. 'T is our Rule to walk by till our blessedness be perfected The continual store-house of our comforts Rom. 15. 4. 'T is the continual means of growing into Communion with God in Christ. Use. II. To exhort us to delight in the Word of God 'T is the work and mark of a Blessed man Psal. 1. 2. But his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his Law doth he Meditate day and night As far as the necessities of the present life will bear it they are still getting more Knowledge of true Blessedness and the way that leadeth to the Injoyment of it This is their business and pleasing Study His work is to form his heart to a sincere uniform impartial obedience and as he doth increase in Godliness by the help of the Word his soul is more satisfyed all the joyes of the World to this are nothing to him Are your Hearts thus set to know the Lord and his revealed Will and the way of Life SERMON CLXXVII PSALM CXIX VER 163. I hate and abhor lying but thy law do I love IN this Verse the Man of God sheweth his Affection to the Word by the Hatred of those things which are contrary to the Word Observe here First Affection set against Affection Secondly Object against Object First Affection against Affection Hatred against Love Love and Hatred are natural Affections which are good or evil according to the Objects to which they are applyed Place Love on the World Sin and Vanity and nothing worse place Hatred on God Religion Holiness and it soon proveth an hellish thing But now set them upon their proper objects and they express a gracious Constitution of Soul let us hate Evil and love Good Amos 5. 15. and all is well Man needeth affections of Aversation as well as Choice and Pursuit Hatred hath its use as well as Love Love was made for God and things that belong to God and Hatred for Sin 't was put into us that at the first appearance sense or imagination of Evil we might retire our selves and fly from it and is any thing so evil as sin so contrary to God so baneful to the Soul The office of Love is to adhere and cleave to God and whatever will bring us to the injoyment of him and the office of hatred is that we may truly and sincerely turn from all evil with Detestation according to the nature and degree of evil that is in it The Emphasis of the Text is notable I hate and abhor it must be a thorough Hatred which David Psal. 139. 22. calleth a perfect hatred Secondly Here is Object set against Object As Love is opposed to Hatred so the Law to Lying for the Word of God is Truth and requireth truth of all that submit to it pure sincerity and simplicity Some render the word more generally the Sept. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I hate and abominate iniquity other Translations render it not so they expound it so that one kind is put for all the rest and fitly for every sin is a falsehood and often called in this Psalm a false way and a lye and will fail and beguile all them who are delighted with it and the purport and drift is that we should admit omit commit nothing which is contrary to the Word of God which is the great object of an holy mans Love The Points are three Doctrine I. They that love the word of God must hate sin Doctrine II. That a slight hatred of a sinful course is not enough but we must hate and abhor it Doctrine III. That among other sins we must hate falshood and lying and all kind of frauds and deceits For the first Point Doct. I. They that love the Word of God must hate sin This implyeth four things 1. That our Love must be demonstrated by such effects otherwise it is but pretended if we do not avoid what it forbiddeth for our love to God and his VVord is mostly seen in Obedience and dutiful Subjection to him and it for Gods Love is a Love of Bounty our Love is a Love of Duty he is said to love us when he blesseth us and bestoweth on us the effects of his special Grace and Favour we are said to love him when we obey him These Propositions are clear in Scripture That our love to God is tryed by our love to the VVord And our love to the VVord by our hatred of Sin Ioh. 14. 21. He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me And Verse 23. If any man love me he will keep my words On the contrary our Enmity to God and his VVord is determined by our love to Sin Enmity to God Col. 1. 21. Enemies in your minds by evil works To his VVord Rom. 8. 7. The carnal mind is not subject to the Law neither indeed can be Habitual sin argueth a Malice or Hatred of God and his holy Law and actual Sin an actual Hatred 'T is finis operis if not operantis whether a man thinketh so or no 't is the intent of the
break from us that is unseemly Secondly We come to the Reason For all thy Commandments are Righteousness The Doctrine is Doctrine There is Righteousness nothing but Righteousness all Righteousness to be found in the Word of God 1. There is a perfect Uprightness in all Gods Promises They are sure Principles of Trust and Dependance upon God Psal. 18. 30. The word of the Lord is tried he is a buckler to all those that trust in him He is most Just and Faithful and his Promises without all deceit or possibility of failing and will certainly protect all those that rely and depend upon him 2. As to his Precepts nothing is approved in them or recommended to us but what is Holy Just and Good There is no Vertue which it Commendeth not no Duty which it Commandeth not no Vice which is not Condemned therein nor Sin which is not Forbidden I shall prove the Doctrine by three things I. By the sufficient Provision that is made for mans Duty in a Moral Consideration there are but three Beings God Neighbours and Self Pauls three Adverbs are suited to these Tit. 2. 12. Soberly Righteously Godly 1. For Self-Government or living Soberly in the present World nothing conduceth to that more than Gods Precepts the whole drift of his Word is to check Self-pleasing and Sense-pleasing and to condemn all excess of Meat Drink or Apparel left our Hearts be besotted and overcharged and by indulging Sensuality diverted from spiritual and heavenly things 2. For Carriage to our Neighbour What Religion provideth so amply as the Word of God doth against all fraud and Violence requireth us in all things to do as as we would be done by yea it not only inforceth Justice but Charity and to love our Neighbour as our selves and to account his welfare our own and rejoyce in his good and mourn for his evil as for our own 3. For the third Godliness God is no where represented and discovered so much as in his Word nor a way of Commerce between him and us any where else so clearly Established nor what kind of Worship we should give unto him both for Matter and Manner In short the Scripture is written to teach us how to love him and entertain Communion with him and to serve him in Holiness and Righteousness all our dayes and maketh our daily Converse with God in Holiness our great work and business II. It appeareth by the Connaturallity and Suitableness which they have to the best and holiest Psal. 119. 140. Thy word is very pure therefore thy servant loveth it 'T is written in our hearts as well as in Gods Book and there is some thing in the one akin to the other Heb. 8. 10. I will write my law in their hearts and minds On the contrary so far a man is depraved so far he hateth it Rom. 8. 7. yea the more he feareth it Ioh 3. 20 21. He that dothevil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved III. The Event sheweth it for the more the Word of God is preached the more is Righteousness spread in the World and men grow wiser and better Banish the Word of God or discourage the Preachers of it and there followeth nothing but Confusion of Manners and Corruption in Religion The Word then is the only means of Reforming the World and curing the Ungodliness and Unrighteousness of Men Where either the Word hath not been received as among the Pagans or where it hath been restrained as in Popery Scriptures locked up in an unknown Tongue or where neglected or sleepily urged as in Churches that have left their first Love there is a greater overflow of Wickedness Their Ignorance hath caused a great part of them to degenerate into a more sensual sottish sort of People Quest. But are not People very bad that have the Scriptures do not we our selves complain of a flood of Wickedness Answ. 1. Christianity must not be judged by the rabble of Nominal Litteral Christians no more than we will judge of the cleanness of a Street by the soulness of a Sink or Kennel or of the sound Grapes in the Bunch by the rotten ones or of the Fidelity of Subjects by the Rebellion of Traytors or the honesty and justice of a Nation by a crew of Thieves and Robbers nor of the Civility of a Nation by the Rusticity of Plowmen or Carters Those who are serious in their Religion are the best men and of the choicest and most excellent Spirits in the World the scandals and wickedness of others do not Impeach their Rule 2. The strictly Religious must not be judged by the Revellings of the Carnal who are their Enemies Ignorant and ungodly men will blast them 1 Pet. 4. 4 5. Wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot speaking evil of you who shall give account to him that is ready to Iudge the quick and the dead 3. Neither is the State of Religion to be judged by the Complaints of Friends hating the least evil ashamed of mens unthankfulness Light maketh it odious as bad as we are 'T is worse where the Word is not Preached in a lively manner Use. I. Let us approve of those things which God hath bound us to believe and practice they being all suitable to the Nature of God and Man The first ground of Obedience is Consent and Approbation I consent to the law that it is good Rom. 7. 16. So to the Gospel 'T is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation 1 Tim. 1. 15. II. Let us answer this Word let the of the Spirit fruit be in us all Righteousness Goodness and Truth The Stamp is answerable to the Seal this is the genuine result of the Doctrine we Profess SERM. CLXXXVI PSALM CXIX VER 173. Let thine hand help me for I have chosen thy Precepts THE two first Verses shew the drift of this Portion He begs two benefits Instruction and Deliverance His first Request for Instruction is enforced by a Promise of Praise Ver. 171. My lips shall utter praise when thou hast taught me thy Statutes In Ver. 172. Of Conferrence or holy Discourse whereby others may be edified My mouth shall speak of thy Word Now he comes to enforce the second Request for Deliverance by an Argument of his ready Obedience Let thy hand help me for I have chosen thy Precepts Observe here First The Petition Let thine hand help me Secondly The Argument or Reason to enforce it for I have chosen thy Precepts First For the Petition Let thy hand help me Hand is put for Power let thy Power Preserve me and Defend me and Help is sometimes put for Assistance and sometimes for Deliverance God may be said to help us when he doth assist us and support us in Troubles or when he doth deliver us from Troubles This latter acceptation suits with this place and it is equivalent with what he said before Ver. 170. Let my
Flames for a little contentment here in the World for a little ease and delight here given to your carnal Nature Is an Earthly Life that you cannot long hold more valuable then an Eternal Heaven you shall enjoy for ever no let us go to heaven though we get thither with many pains and sufferings If you forsake all not only in Vow and Purpose but Actually and in Deed yet still you have something better you shall be no looser in the end you shall so choose the blessed God and live with him for evermore and be fill'd with his Love as full as you can hold and be employed in his service and all this in an Eternal Perfection and glorified Estate 4. Motive Choose for you will never have cause to repent of your choice The Lord stands upon his Justification is very tender of giving his People any Cause to repent of his service Micah 6. 3. O my people what have I done unto thee and wherein have I wearied thee testifie against me Pray what hurt hath Holiness done you Who was ever the better for sinning or who was the worse for Holiness There was none that ever made a carnal choice but first or last they had cause to repent of it either they repent of it in a kindly manner while they may mend the matter or else they shall repent for ever in Misery but who ever repented of his Repentance or cursed the day of his new Birth To whom ever was it any grief of heart that they were acquainted with God and Christ or the way that leadeth unto life who dieth the sweeter death or who repents of their choice then the serious or the carnal Oh they that have chosen the World they cry out how the World hath deceived them but never any repented of choosing God and the wayes of God Let these things perswade you to choose his Precepts Secondly For Directions 1. In Choosing the Object is to be regarded Gods Precepts indefinitely all of them not one excepted the smallest as well as the greatest the troublesome as well as the easie the most neglected as well as the most observed we must choose all Gods Precepts not abate any thing but especially the main or the essential Precepts of Christianity or the Fundamental points of the Covenant Now the Question is What 's the Fundamental Point of the Covenant Truly that 's known by the form of Baptisme Baptisme is the solemn Seal of entring into Covenant with God it 's the Seal of our initiation or first entrance into Covenant with God Mat. 28. 19. Now what is it to be Baptised in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost when you first choose the ways of God here you must begin you must close with Father Son and Holy Ghost heartily take them to be your God that is you must close with God the Father as your All-sufficient Portion or chiefest happiness to be loved above all and also as your highest Lord that he may be served pleased and obeyed above all Well and in the name of the Son that is Jesus Christ he must be taken as your Saviour and Redeemer to bring you to God and to reconcile you to him And to be Baptised in the name of the Holy Ghost is this to take him as your Sanctifier Guide and Comforter to make you a holy people to God to cleanse your hearts from sin to write all Gods Laws upon your Hearts and put them into your Minds and to guide you by the Word and Ordinances to everlasting Life This is the main thing that is first to be minded because it contains all and doth necessarily infer the rest for otherwise to be resolute in some by-point of Religion though it be right this is but the Obstinacy of a Faction not the constancy of a Christian Zeal 2. As you must look to the Object of this choice so to the Causes of it and what are they An Enlightned Mind a renewed Heart a Love to God and then the Spirit of God enlightning and inclining our Hearts 1. An Enlightned Mind is a cause of choosing the ways of God when the Lord hath taught us his Precepts an enlightned mind discovers a beauty and amiableness in the ways of God Psal. 119. 128. I esteem all thy Precepts to be right and they are the rejoycing of my soul. 2. A Renewed Heart wherein all the precepts of God are written over again They were written upon our Hearts in Innocency but that 's a blurred Manuscript therefore in Regeneration they are written over again God writes his Law in our hearts and puts them in our inward parts Heb. 8. 10. and then the Law within suits with the Law without for the new Creature is created after God in Righteousness and true Holiness In true Holiness which relates to the first Table of the Law and Righteousness which relates to the second Table of the Law the renewed heart that hath this inclination and propension is carried out to them 3. Love to God for that 's implied in the choice Iohn 14. 21. He that hath my Commandements and keeps them he it is that loves me and he that loves me hath my Commandements and keeps them It follows the other way where there is love to God there will be choosing of his ways 4. Gods Spirit the Lord Enlightning and Inclining our Hearts to this choice God Enlightens for he teacheth us the way that we shall choose and when we see these things in the light of the Spirit then we see the Beauty of them Psal. 25. 12. It holds good as to the path of Life and in particular cases but chiefly in the main case God teacheth him the way that he shall choose And the Spirit of God enclines the Heart too as well as enlightens the Mind 1 Pet. 1. 22. Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit 3. There are the Effects of this Choice What are they Delight Diligence and Patience 1. Delight Psal. 40. 8. I delight to do thy will O my God yea thy law is within my heart When the Law is not only written in the Book but written in the heart then there 's a Delight a ready and willing Obedience It is spoken first of Christ of David it was said in Type it 's true also of all Believers for they have the Spirit of Christ and the same also is exprest of the People of God Psal. 112. 1. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord that delighteth greatly in his Commandments When a man hath chosen the precepts of God and bound himself in this way then his heart is taken with a delight 2. Diligence Gods Precepts are the great business and employment of our lives and then there 's a constant study to please him Col. 1. 9 10. Filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing We must do Gods Will and
Reason p. 67. They are to be applied-p 288 They are to be made familiar to us p. 67 They make God a debtor p. 324. 831 They are Gods Testimonies and why p. 741 They are more than simple Declarations p. 831 They are to be prized on a double account p. 545 They are made to perseverance p. 342 They are most certain on a threefold account p. 575 They are 1. Good 2. Sure p. 1084 Three things in Promises 1. Truth 2. Faithfulness 3. Righteousness 830 There is usually some time between the Promise and the Performance p. 324. 835. Reasons of the delays in performing Promises p. 324 835. 525 Properties of God 1. To do good 2. Keep his Word p. 831 Prosperity makes us goe astray p. 462. Takes off Affections from heavenly things p. 463 Prosperity of the wicked should not dismay us p. 795 936 Proud men denotes two sorts of persons p. 559 None should be Proud because he hath more than others p. 647 Who are the Proud p. 829 336 Protection is the priviledge of the Saints God is their hiding-place and shield p. 763 765 766 767 Vid. Hiding-place Protestant Religion its Excellencies p. 199 200 Providences seem contrary to those that are most obedient p. 667 Providence the belief of it a good help to keep a good Conscience p. 418. Providence vindicated p. 936 937 It 's seen in fulfilling Promises and Threatnings p. 424 Observation of Providence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 us we have more Cause to bless God than up â—…mplain p. 423 Providences must not be racked to make them speak what we would have them p. 796 797 798 Providences well observed will cause gracious Souls to love the Word of God more than ever p. 806 Reasons thereof p. 806. They are to be considered p. 511 They are reconcileable to the Word v. a Commentary on it p. 39. 465 Providence executes the sentence of the Word p. 974 975 Providential Care and Conduct the priviledge of them that walk closely with God p. 7 Providential Wisdom seen 1. in the Seasons 2. the Kind 3. the Manner of Gods afflicting his Children p. 463 Providence is either 1. Common or 2. Special p. 472 Providence takes care of all that love and please God p. 1033 Provisions for the Flesh should be cut off p. 867 Proving his people a ground of Gods forbearing Enemies p. 856 Prudence when we are tempted to sin it 's great prudence to chain our selves to the contrary duty p. 421 Prudence required in applying general Rules to particular Cases p. 449 450 Punishment in this Life for breach of Gods Law p. 39 Punish God has a time to punish Sinners tho' he bear long with them p. 856 Purity of the Word of God what it implies p. 857 Purity of Heart from the Purity of the Word p. 857 858 Purpose of the heart settled in seeking God p. 16 It must be universal to all Commandements and accompanied with Affections and Endeavours p. 34 Purpose to please God habitual and actual p. 152 Purposes of Obedience must be made with the greatest seriousness p. 915 Reasons thereof p. 915 916 Purposes of heart against Sin when defective p. 1009 Q. QUalifications of those that have God for their Hiding-place 1. they that believe 2. they that obey 3. they that seek it in the way that God has promis'd it p. 767 Qualifications are to be cleared in our pleading Promises p. 327 328 317 Qualm of Conscience may beget lean Affection to the Word of God for a season p. 122 Questioning our Interest in God an usual sin in sharp and tedious Afflictions p. 565 Some times we question Gods Love because we have no Afflictions and some times we question it because we have nothing but Afflictions p. 556 Quiet Great Quiet to the Minds of Gods people under sad dispensations to consider the Justice and Faithfulness of God in them p. 508 Quickning Grace promised in the New Covenant both in general and in particular p. 941 Quickning two fold 1. when of dead we are made Alive 2. when of dull we are made lively and active p. 596 717 718 281 Quickning by the Word obliges us to remember it for ever p. 597 Quickning is only from the Word Why 1. the word contains the most quickning Considerations 2. the Spirit delights to quicken us by the word p. 598 599 719 Quickning denotes 1. the renewing of comfort 2. the actuating of Grace p. 159 933 281 311 Great need to go often to God for quickning 1. because of our constant weakness in this World 2. because of ourfrequent indispositions of Soul to duty p. 159 160 934. and the oppositions of the flesh c. p. 935 936 937 718 719 Quickning of the Soul to duty by holy Zeal p. 853 Quickning denotes either 1. restoring to happiness or 2. renewing of grace p. 933 717 311 312. Quickning and Sharpening of prayer by the fear of God p. 811 Quickning is one blessing which Gods Children have often need to beg of God p. 933 Sense Appetite and Activity are the fruits of the Spirits quickning p. 935 314 Quickning is necessary on many accounts p. 282 Labour to get it beware of losing it p. 282 283 312 How quickning Grace may be lost p. 313 R. RAshness a great troubler of the Church p. 451 Ready God is Ready to receive returning sinners and as ready to punish them that refuse to return p. 410 God is always ready to hear prayer p. 168 Reasonable Creatures are made for eternity p. 571 Reason is supplied by Faith p. 541 Reason depraved cannot judge of spiritual things p. 3 Reasonings against Gods Soveraignty are usually in the points of the Imputation of the sin of the first Adam Election Providence c. p. 757 Reasons and Grounds of Religion are to be inquired into p. 195 Rebellion to decline Gods Government p. 585 Rebukes of Providence against impenitent sinners are of great use to the Saints p. 135 136 Reclaiming sinners p. 132 Reconciliation and Atonement only in the word discovered p. 54 624 Non opus divinae naturae sed liberi consilii p. 624 Records ought to be kept of our Comfortings Quicknings and Supports by Gods Word and why p. 597 600 379 380 Recreations are notto swallow up Religion p. 927 Redeemer is the Head of the renewed Estate p. 320 Redeemed Sinners shall have their judgment p. 321 Redeemer requires Obedience p 320 He is honoured by obedience p. 321 Reduce God reduces straying sinners by some smart Providences p. 1107 Reflection upon our selves and ways implies 1. an Examination of our past course of Life 2. a careful watch over them for the future 3. a Consideration of the event p. 397 Regeneration goes before new Obedience p. 497 Regenerate Persons may be discerned from unregenerate p. 18 19. how they differ p. 673 674 Reign of sin is either 1 general or 2 particular either more gross or more secret p. 918 919 Rejoycing in Gods Testimonies greater than in all Riches
One hundred and Ninety SERMONS ON THE Hundred and Nineteenth PSALM PREACHED by the Late REVEREND and LEARNED Thomas Manton D. D. With a Perfect ALPHABETICAL TABLE Directing to the PRINCIPAL MATTERS Contained therein LUK. XXIV 44. All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me Hic Psalmus est tanto praestantior quanto prolixior Muis. LONDON Printed for T. P. c. and are to be Sold by Michael Hide Bookseller in Exon 1681. Thomas Manton D. D. R White sculpsit To the READER 'T IS the Honour of the Evangelical Ministry that it was principally instituted for the service of God not as he is the Governour of the Earth but the Lord of Heaven and to prepare men by holiness for his eternal Kingdom And 't is an excellent favour of God to his Ministers when their labours are eminently useful for this blessed end This singular grace and priviledge God was pleased to confer upon his faithful Servant Dr. Manton whose life was spent in the most precious work of converting souls to Christ and preparing them for the Coelestial Paradise and since his retiring from the world by death his soul now enjoying the blessed rest above yet he remains with us in what was most valuable of him his excellent Sermons the productions of his holy mind and heart and the Pen having a larger extent than the Tongue in communicating them may be more beneficial to the Church than before The following Sermons were preacht by him in his usual course of three times a week which I do not mention to lessen their worth but to shew how diligent and exact he was in the performance of his duty Indeed his ordinary Sermons considering the substantial matter clear order and vigorous full expressions may well pass for extraordinary I cannot but admire the foecundity and variety of his thoughts that the same things so often occurring in the verses of this Psalm yet by a judicious observing the different arguments and motives whereby the Psalmist enforces the same requests or some other circumstances every Sermon contains new conceptions and proper to the Text. Some few Verses were not handled by him I earnestly pray that those who shall read these Sermons may taste the sweetness of the Divine Truths open'd in them and may be transform'd into the spirit of David by an inward feeling of the affections and verifying in their own breasts the words of the Holy Prophet W. BATES Christian Reader IT is somewhat difficult not to applaud that excellency which has first approved it self to our judgment Hence is it that though this work needs it not I will so far gratifie my own affections and comply with obtaining custom as to acquaint thee that if thou hadst my eyes and taste thou must admire its beauty and confess its sweetness much more when thou shalt use thy own more discerning eye and judicious palate The Matter of these Sermons is Spiritual and speaks the Author one intimately acquainted with the secrets of wisdom He writes like one that knew the Psalmists heart and felt in his own the sanctifying power of what he wrote Their design is practice beginning with the understanding dealing with the affections but still driving on the advancement of Practical Holiness They come home and close to the Conscience first presenting us a glass wherein we may view the spots of our souls and then directing us to that fountain wherein we may wash them away They are of an Evangelical complexion abasing proud corrupt nature and advancing free and efficacious grace in the conversion of Sinners The Exhortations are powerful admirably suited to treat with Reasonable Creatures yet still supposing them to be the vehicle of the holy Spirit through which he communicates life and power to obey them The manner of handling is not inferiour to the dignity of the Matter so plain as to accommodate the most sublime Truths to the meanest spiritual capacity and yet so elevated as to approve it self to the most refined understanding He knew how to be succinct without obscurity and where the weight of the Argument required it to enlarge without nauseous prolixity He studied more to profit than please and yet an honest heart will then be best pleased when most profited He chose rather to speak appositely than elegantly and yet the judicious do account propriety the choicest elegancy He laboured more industriously to conceal his learning than some others to ostentate theirs and yet when he would most veil it the discernnig Reader cannot but discover it and rejoice to find such a mass such a treasure of useful learning couched under a well-studied and artificial plainness But let the Reader take a taste of let him concoct and digest these spiritual Discourses and he shall say with the Sabaean Queen It was a true report I heard in my own land but behold the one half was not told me Or with the men of Sychar Now we believe not because of thy saying but because we our selves have proved and experienced their delicacies As one taste of honey will more effectually commend its sweetness than the most elaborate Oratory Those Ancients that had seen the first Temple wept bitterly when they saw the foundation of the second laid And perhaps some pious souls who have sate with great delight under the Authors Ministerial shadow and have found his fruit sweet to their taste may secretly shed a tear that though they here meet with the same Divine Truths the same spiritual matter yet they want the living voice the grateful elocution the natural eloquence in which that heavenly matter dropt or rather flowed from his gracious lips but let the same consideration which quieted the spirits of those Jews of old satisfie theirs God can fill this house also with his Glory And though the second Edition of the Temple fall short of the former in the beauty and symmetry of the structure yet can the Spirit flow from the Press as well as the Pulpit with this advantage that they may here in safety read what with great danger they formerly heard I have admired and must recommend to the observation of the Reader the fruitfulness of the Authors holy invention accompanied with solid judgment in that whereas the coincidence of the matter in this Psalm might have superseded his labours in very many Verses yet without force or offering violence to the Sacred Text he has either from the connexion of one Verse with its predecessor or the harmony between the parts of the same Verse found out new matter to entertain his own meditation and his Readers expectation nor do I observe more than twelve Verses in this large Psalm wholly omitted if at least they may be said to be omitted whose subject matter is elsewhere copiously handled Had the Reverend Author design'd these Papers for publick view he could not have flattered himself in a cavilling age that he should escape
the way which God propoundeth being prepossessed with carnal fancies 'T is counted a foolish thing to wait upon God in the midst of straits conflicts and temptations 1 Cor. 2. 14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned More prejudices lye against the means than the end therefore out of despair they sit down with a carnal choice as persons disappointed in a match take the next offer since they cannot have Gods happiness they resolve to be their own carvers and to make themselves as happy as they can in the enjoyment of present things III. Our mistakes about it will cost us dear God is very jealous of what we make our happiness and therefore blasteth the carnal choice Those that will try experiments smart for it in the issue Solomon came home by weeping-cross Eccles. 1. 14. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun and behold all is vanity and vexation of Spirit He hath proved it to our hands He had a large heart and a large Estate and gave himself to pleasures to extract happiness from the Creatures to hunt after worldly satisfactions in a more artificial way than brutish Sots that merely act according to lust and appetite Eccl. 2. 1. I said in mine heart Go to now I will prove thee with mirth therefore enjoy pleasure and behold this also is vanity He gave himself to pleasures not meerly upon sensual but curious and artificial aims yet found his heart secretly withdrawn from God Whoever maketh Tryal will either run into utter mischief or must come home again by a sound remorse and so they learn it and dearly to their cost Use Let us study this Point well 1. That we may not take up with a false happiness or set up our rest in temporal enjoyments as height of honour abundance of riches favour of great men c. Things useful in their Sphere and beneficial to sweeten and comfort the life of man who hath placed his happiness in God Pleasures being enjoyed they do not satisfy being loved they defile being lost they increase our trouble and sorrow 1. They cannot satisfie because of their imperfection and uncertainty They do not answer the whole desire of man carry no proportion with the Conscience That which maketh a man happy must bear a thorow proportion with all the wants desires and capacities of the Soul so as conscience and heart and all may say it is enough But alas these things cannot give us solid peace and contentment Isa. 55. 2. Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not Till an hungry conscience be provided for we cannot be happy But besides their low use consider the uncertainty of injoyment Nothing can give us solid peace but what doth make us eternally happy These flowers wither in our hands while we smell at them Nothing but the favour of God is from everlasting to everlasting We have not a sure possession of these things in the world They are possessed with fear 1 Cor. 7. 30 31. 'T is the Apostles Counsel that they that buy should have such remiss affections to the world as though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this world passeth away A man must look for changes and lay forth for several conditions in the World Psal. 39. 11. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth surely every man is vanity Selah Like glass brittle when most glistering 2. Being inordinately loved they defile There is not only gall but poison in them They cannot make us better but may easily make us worse as they defile and draw the heart from God and enslave us to our own Lusts. 1 Tim. 6. 10. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition For the love of money is the root of all evil which while some have coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves thorow with many sorrows 3. Being lost they encrease our Trouble and Sorrow A man that hath not learned to be abased as well as to abound his abundance maketh his case the more miserable It is hard to go back a degree or two They are apt to bring much trouble upon the heart of him that is conversant about them All is vanity and vexation of Spirit The more we make them our happiness when lost they increase our Trouble 2. That we may not be prejudiced against the true happiness Men think it a happiness to live without the yoke of Religion to speak and think and do what they please without restraint but to be always in bonds and held under the awe of the word that they count unreasonable and grievous Psal. 2. 3. Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us In studying of this Point 1. Lean not to thine own understanding Pro. 23. 4. Labour not to be rich cease from thy own wisdom but seek direction from God by his word and Spirit God can only determine who is the Blessed man in whose hand alone it is to make us Blessed 2. Take the light of faith sense and carnal reason will deceive you Blessedness is a riddle which can only be found out by faith Which is the evidence of things not seen Heb. 11. 1. That a poor Godly man who is counted the filth and off-scouring of all things should be the only happy Man and that the great Men of this world who have all things at will should be poor blind miserable and naked is a paradox will never enter into the heart of a Natural man that hath only the light of sense and carnal reason to judg of things for to sight and reason it is nothing so 3. Wait for the light and power of the Spirit to incline and draw thy heart to God Many times we are doctrinally right in point of Blessedness but not practically we content our selves with the meer notion but are not brought under the power of these Truths that is the work of the Spirit It is easy to prove that it is the Beasts happiness to enjoy pleasure without remorse easy to prove the uncertainty of riches and what unstable foundations they are for the Soul to rest on but to draw off the heart from these things to God is the work of the Holy Ghost Psal. 49. 13. This their way is their folly yet their posterity approve their sayings Many a man who stands over the grave of his Ancestors will say Ah how foolish were they to waste their time and strength in pleasure and in hunting after worldly greatness and esteem and favour with men what doth it profit them now And yet
have There is a difference between a dead sea and a calm sea A stupid Conscience they may have not a quiet conscience The virtue of that Opium will soon be spent Conscience will again be awakened Use. Oh then let us put in for a share in this Blessedness There are two encouragements in the Service of Christ our Vails and our Wages our Wages should be enough the Eternal enjoyment of himself But oh we cry out of the tediousness of the way We have our Vails also that are not contemptible If a man should offer a Lordship or Farm to another and he should say The way is dirty and dangerous the Weather very troublesome I will not look after it Would you not accuse this man of folly that loves his ease and pleasure But now if this man were assured of a pleasant path and good way if he would but take a little pains to go over and see it this were gross folly indeed to refuse it Our Lord hath made over a blessed Inheritance to us upon Gospel-terms but we are full of prejudices in that to keep close to the rule may bring trouble and deprive us of many advantages of gain and we think we shall never see good day more But we are assured there is a great blessing goeth along with Gods yoke and we having a promise of the enjoyment of Gods presence where there are pleasures for evermore this should make us rowse up our selves in the Work of the Lord. SERMON II. PSAL. CXIX 2. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies that seek him with the whole heart IN this Psalm the Man of God begins with a description of the way to true blessedness In the former verse a blessed man is described by the course of his actions Blessed are the undefiled in the way In this by the frame of his heart Blessed are they that keep his testimonies that seek him with the whole heart The internal principle of good actions is the verity and purity of the heart Here you may take notice of two marks of a blessed man 1. They keep his testimonies 2. They seek him with the whole heart Doct. 1. They that keep close to Gods testimonies are blessed By way of Explication two things take notice of 1. The notion that is given to Precepts and Counsels in the word they are called his testimonies 2. The respect of the blessed man to these testimonies to keep them First The notion by which the word of God is exprest is Testimonies whereby is intended the whole declaration of Gods will in Doctrines Commands Examples Threatnings Promises The whole word is the testimony which God hath deposed for the satisfaction of the world about the way of their salvation Now because the word of God brancheth it self into two parts the Law and the Gospel this notion may be applied to both First To the Law in regard whereof the Ark is called the Ark of the Testimony Exod. 25. 16. because the two Tables were laid up in it The Gospel is also called the testimony the testimony of God concerning his Son Isa. 8. 20. To the law and to the testimony where Testimony seems to be distinguished from the Law The Gospel is so called because there God hath testified how a man shall be pardoned reconciled to God and obtain a right to eternal life We need a testimony in this case because it is more unknown to us The Law was written upon the heart but the Gospel is a stranger Natural light will discern something of the Law and pry into matters which are of a moral strain and concernment but Evangelical truths are a mystery and depend by the meer testimony of God concerning his Son Now from this notion of Testimonies we have this advantage 1. That the word is a full declaration of the Lords mind God would not leave us in the dark in the matters which concern the service of God and mans salvation He hath given us his Testimony he hath told us his mind what he approves and what he disallows and upon what terms he will accept of sinners in Christ. It is a blessed thing that we are not left to the uncertainty of our own thoughts Mic. 6. 8. He hath shewed thee O man what is good The way of pleasing and enjoying God is clearly revealed in his word There we may know what we must do what we may expect and upon what terms We have his testimony 2. Another advantage we have by this notion is The certainty of the word it is Gods Testimony The Apostle saith 1 Joh. 5. 9. If we take the testimony of men the testimony of God is greater It is but reason we should allow God that value and esteem that we give to the testimony of men who are fallible and deceitful Among men in the mouth of two or three witnesses every thing is established Deut. 19. 15. Now there are three that bear witness in heaven and three that bear witness on earth 1 Joh. 5. 7 8. We are apt to doubt of the Gospel and have suspicious thoughts of such an excellent doctrine but now there are three witnesses from heaven the Father Word and Spirit the Father by a voice Mat. 3. 7. And lo a voice from Heaven saying This is my beloved Son c. And the Son also by a voice when he appeared to Paul from Heaven Saul Saul why persecutest thou me And the Holy Ghost gave his testimony descending upon him in the form of a Dove and upon the Apostles in cloven tongues of fire And there are three that bear record on earth for he saith v. 10. He that believeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath the testimony in himself what is that The Spirit Water and Blood in the heart of a believer these give testimony to the Gospel The Spirit bears witness to the Gospel when it illuminateth the heart enabling us to discern the Doctrine to be of God to discern those signatures and characters of Majesty Goodness Power Truth which God hath left upon the Gospel and Water and Blood testifie when we feel those constant and sensible effects of Gods power coming with the Gospel 1 Thes. 1. 5. both by pacifying the Conscience and bringing joy and satisfaction and by sanctifying and freeing a man from the bondage of sin Water signifies Sanctification Ioh. 17. 17. Sanctifie them by thy truth The Sanctifying power of God that goes along with the Gospel is a clear confirmation of the Divine testimony in it Ioh. 8. 32. The truth shall make you free By our disintanglement from lust we come to be setled in the truth Gods testimony is the ultimate resolution of our faith Why do we believe because it is Gods testimony How do we know it is Gods testimony it evidenceth it self by its own light to the consciences of men yet God for the greater satisfaction to the world hath given us witnesses three from heaven and three on earth Every manifestation of God
time that is 't is high time the business of your lives hath been too long neglected It is such another expression as 1 Pet. 4. 3. The time past is enough to have wrought the will of the Gentiles c. God hath been too long kept out of his right and we out of our happiness The night is coming upon us and will you not begin your days work 6. This is the reason of affliction we are so backward in this work that we need be whipt unto it Hos. 5. 15. I will go and return to my place saith God till they acknowledg their offence and seek my face God knows that want is a spur to a lazy creature and therefore doth God break in upon men and scourge them as with scorpions that they may bethink themselves and look after God Use 2. For Direction If you would seek God 1. Seek him early Prov. 8. 32. Blessed are they that seek me early We cannot soon enough go about this work Seek him when God is nigh when the Spirit is nigh Isa. 55. 6. Call upon the Lord while he is near There are certain seasons which you cannot easily get again such times when God doth deal more pressingly with you when the word bears in upon the heart and when God is near unto us David like a quick Echo returns upon God Ps. 27. 8. Seek ye my face my heart said unto thee Thy face Lord will I seek It would be a great loss not to obey present impulses and invitations and not make use of the advantages which God puts into our hands 2. Seek him daily Psal. 105. 4. Seek the Lord and his strength seek his face evermore That is from day to day you must be seeking the face of God in the strength of God Every hour we need his direction protection strength and we are in danger to lose him if we do not continue the search 3. Seek him unweariedly and do not give over your seeking until you find God Wrestle through discouragements though former endeavours have been in vain yet still we should continue seeking after God We have that command to inforce us to it Luk. 5. 5. We have toiled all night howbeit at thy command c. Though we do not presently find yet we must not cast off all endeavours In spiritual things many times a man hears and goes away with nothing but when he comes to meditate upon it and work it upon the heart then he finds the face of God and the strength of God Therefore you must not give over your seeking 4. Seek him in Christ. God will only be found in a Mediator Heb. 7. 25. Those are accepted that come to God by him Guilty creatures cannot enjoy God immediately And in Christ God is more familiar with us Hos. 3. 5. They shall seek the Lord their God and David their King None can seek him rightly but those that seek him in Christ. It is uncomfortable to think of God out of Christ. As the Historian saith of Themistocles when he sought the favour of the King he snatched up the Kings Son and so came and mediated for his grace and favour Let us take the Son of God in the arms of our faith and present him to God the Father and seek his face his strength 5. God can only be sought by the help of his own spirit As our access to God we have it by Christ so we have it by the Spirit Ephes. 2. 18. For through him we both have an access by one spirit unto the Father As Christ gives us the leave so the Spirit gives us the help Bernard speaks fitly to this purpose None can be aforehand with God we cannot seek him till we find him in some sense he will be sought that he may be found and he is found that he may be sought It is his preventing grace which makes us restless in the use of means and when we are brought home to God when we seek after God it is by his own grace The Spouse was listless and careless until she could take God by the scent of his own grace When he put his singer upon the handle of the Lock and dropt myrrh by the sweet and powerful influences of his grace she was carried on in seeking after God Thus much for the first part of the duty seek Now the manner With the whole heart Doct. Whoever would seek God aright they must seek him with their whole heart Here I shall enquire 1. What doth this imply 2. Why God will be sought with the whole heart 1. What doth this imply It implys sincerity and integrity for it is not to be taken in the legal sense with respect to absolute perfection but in opposition to deceit Ier. 3. 10. Iudah has not turned to me with her whole heart but feignedly saith the Lord. It is spoken of the time of Iosiah's Reformation many men whirled about with the times and were forced by Preternatural motions The Father of Spirits above all things requireth the Spirit and he that is the searcher and judg of the heart requireth the heart should be consecrated to him Integrity opposeth partiality There are indeed two things in this expression the whole heart it notes extention of parts and intention of degrees 1. The extention of parts with the Understanding Will and Affections Some seek God with a piece of their hearts to explain it either in the work of Faith or Love In the work of Faith as Act. 8. 37. If thou believest with all thine heart There is a believing with a piece and a believing with all the heart There is an unactive knowledg a naked assent which may be real yet it is not a true faith the Devil may have this Luk. 4. 34. the Devil makes an Orthodox confession there Thou art Iesus the Son of the living God This is only a conviction upon the understanding without any bent upon the heart It is not enough to own Christ to be the true Messiah but we must embrace him put our whole trust in him There may be an assent join'd with some sense and conscience and some vanishing sweetness and taste by the reasonableness of Salvation by Christ Heb. 6. 4. but this is not believing with all the heart it is but a taste a lighter work upon the affections and therefore bringeth in little experience There may be some assent such as may engage to profession and partial reformation but the whole heart is not subdued to God Then do we believe with the whole heart when the heart is warmed with the things we know and assent to when there is a full and free consent to take Christ upon Gods terms to all the uses and purposes for which God hath appointed him 1 Chron. 28. 9. Know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind When there is an effective and an affective knowledg when we cannot only discourse of God and Christ
and are inclin'd to believe but when these truths soak into the heart to frame it to the obedience of his will When the Lord had spoken of practical obedience Was not this to know me saith the Lord Jer. 22. 16. And this is to believe So for Love Deut. 6. 5. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might Every faculty must express Love to God Many will be content to give God a part God hath their Consciences but the world their affections Their heart is divided and the evidence of it is plainly this In their troubles and extremities they will seek after God but this is not their constant work and delight We are welcome to God when we are compelled to come into his presence God will not say as men you come in your necessity But we must then be sincere in our addresses and rest in him as our portion and all-sufficient good 2. For intention of Degrees To seek God with the whole heart it is to seek him with the highest elevation of our hearts The whole heart must be carried out to God and to other things for Gods sake As Harbingers when they go to take up room for a Prince they take up the whole house none else must have place there so God he will have the whole heart Again it may be considered as to the exaction of the Law and as a Rule of the Gospel 1. As an exaction of the Law and so Christ urged it to the young man that was of a Pharisaical institution to abate his pride and confidence Mat. 22. 37. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind Certainly these words there have a legal importance and signification for in another Evangelist Luk. 10. 28. it is added do and live which is the tenor of the Law And Christs intent was to abate the Pharisees pride by propounding the rigor of the first Covenant The Law requireth compleat love without the least defect according to the terms of it a grane wanting would make the whole unacceptable As a hard Landlord when all the rent is not brought to the full he accepteth none It is good to consider it under this sense that we may seek God in Christ to quicken us that we may value our deliverance by him from this burden which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear a stragling thought a wandring glance the least out-running of the heart had render'd us accursed for ever 2. It may be considered as a Rule of the Gospel which requireth our utmost endeavors our bewailing infirmities and defects but accepts of sincerity There will be a double principle in us to the last but there should not be a double heart So that this expression of seeking the Lord with the whole heart is reconcilable enough with the weaknesses of the present state For instance 1 King 14. 8. My servant David who kept my Commandments and who followed me with all his heart and did that only which was right in mine eyes David had many failings and some that left an indelible brand upon him in the matter of Uriah yet because of his sincerity and habitual purpose God saith He hath kept all my Commandments So in Iosiah 2 King 23. 25. Like to him there was no King before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart with all his soul and with all his might Yet he also had his imperfections against the warning of the Lord he goes out with a wicked King and dies in Battel So Asa 2 Chron. 15. 17. The high places were not taken away it was a failing in that holy King yet 't is said the heart of Asa was perfect all his days Well then when the whole heart is engaged in this work when we do not only study to know God but make it our work to enjoy him to rest in him as our all-sufficient portion though there will be many defects yet then are we said to seek him with the whole heart Secondly The reasons why God will be sought with the whole heart are 1. He that gives but part to God doth indeed give nothing The Devil keeps an interest as long as one lust remains unmortified and one corner of the soul is kept for him As Pharaoh stood hucking he would fain have some pawn of their return either leave your children behind no no they must go and see the Sacrifices and be trained up in the way of the Lord then he would have their flocks and herds left behind he knew that would draw their hearts back again So Satan must have either this lust or that he knows by keeping part all will fall to his share in the end A bird that is tyed in a string seems to have more liberty than a bird in a Cage it flutters up and down though it be held fast so many seem to flutter up and down and do many things as Herod but his Herodias drew him back again into the Fowlers net Thus because of a sinners danger 2. Because of Gods right By Creation he made the whole therefore requires the whole the Father of spirits must have the whole spirit We were not mangled in our Creation God that made the whole must have the whole He preserves the whole Christ hath bought the whole 1 Cor. 6. 20. Glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods And God promiseth to glorifie the whole Christians it would be uncomfortable to us if God should only take a part to Heaven All that you have is to be glorified in the day of Christ all that you are and have must be given to him whole spirit soul and body Let us not deprive him of any part Use. Well do we serve God and seek after God with the whole heart The natural mother had rather part with the whole than to see the child divided 1 King 3. 26. God had rather part with the whole than take a piece Either he will have the whole of your love or leave the whole to Satan The Lord complains Hos. 10. 2. Their heart is divided Men have some affections for God many times but they have affections for their lusts too the world hath a great share and portion of their heart Q. But when in a Gospel-sense may we be said to seek God with the whole heart Take it in these short Propositions 1. When the setled purpose of our souls is to cleave to God to love and serve him with an intire obedience both in the inward and outward man when this is the full determination and consent of our hearts 2. When we do what we can by all good means to maintain this purpose for otherwise 't is but a fruit of conviction a free-will pang Act. 24. 16. Herein do I exercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards all
is their constant endeavour 1 Pet. 1. 15. But as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation 3. Out of experience of the ways of God of that goodness and enlargement of heart that is to be found in them They have tasted and seen how good his laws are They can answer Gods appeal Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly Yea doubtless it is good Psal. 19. 10 11. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether more to be desired are they than gold yea than much fine gold sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb Moreover by them is thy servant warned and in keeping of them there is great reward The spiritual life is interlined and refreshed with many sweet experiences The USE Here is first a note of discovery for men are judged by their desires rather than their practices as being freest from constraint And this is humbly represented by the children of God to incline his favour and compassion to them Nehem. 1. 11. Let thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy name They come short in many things but they desire to fear God Isa. 26. 8. The desires of our soul are to thy name and to the remembrance of thee They could speak little of what they had done for God Paul was better at willing than performing till freed from this body of death Rom. 7. 18. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not This will be our best evidence to the last Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes But may not wicked men have good desires Ans. They may have a loose inclination to good things but not a full resolution for God Wicked men have an enlightned conscience but no renewed wills This enlightned conscience may carry them so far as to some general approbation of the things of God which may produce a wish that they were so and so but this doth no good to the heart Sparks do not kindle the fire but coals a spark is enough to set us on fire in carnal matters but not in spiritual More distinctly 1. Wicked men may desire their own happiness though not upon Gods terms Numb 23. 10. O that I might dye the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his At oportnit sic vixisse John 6. 34. Evermore give us of this bread of life Every man would be blessed and go to Heaven if it were left to his option and choice they like the end but not the means There was not a murmuring Israelite but would count Canaan a good Land but the Giants and sons of Anak were there 2. They may have some languid and vanishing motions towards the means as well as the end being convinced of the necessity of Holiness yea they may draw out their wishes into a cold prayer that God would make them better as lazy persons sometimes express their desires Would I were at such a place and never travel would I had written such a task and never put pen to paper Vellent sed nolunt When it cometh to trial they do not set themselves in good earnest to get that grace they wish for What 's the difference between a volition and a velleity 1. Such desires as are not waving but resolute and fixed Aquinas saith Velleitas est voluntas incompleta an half will They have a months mind to that which is good but not a thorow resolution as Agrippa almost perswaded but not altogether Such a desire as will bear up against a strong tyde of opposition it is called the setting of the heart 1 Chron. 22. 19. Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God Whatever cometh of it they must and will have grace Psal. 27. 4. One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his Temple 2. Such desires as are absolute and do not stand upon terms There is an Hypothetical and conditional will We would but with such conditions I would have Christ if it did not cost me so dear to deny lusts interests friends relations much waiting praying watching striving So Mat. 22. 5. they would come to the Supper but house oxen farm merchandize there was something in the way that hindred them there was no full and perfect will A Chapman no doubt would have the wares that he liketh but will not come to the price I will have Heaven whatever it cost me is the voice of a desiring Saint 3. Such desires as are active and industrious not a remiss will Prov. 13. 4. The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat Cold raw wishes are unuseful and fruitless we must work as well as wish Poor languid unactive desires come to nothing when men do not put forth their endeavours and apply themselves to the prosecution of what is desired Faint and sluggish velleities do hurt Prov. 21. 25. The desires of the slothful killeth him for his hands refuseth labour Whatever a man doth seriously desire to have he will use proper means to procure it Wishes are but the fruits of a speculative fancy rather than an industrious affection 4. Such desires as are constant and not easily controuled by other desires Idle lazy wishes uneffectual glances sudden motions while their hearts are detained in the speculation of holiness are like childrens desires soon put out of the humour There may be vehement and sudden lustings in an unregenerated person free-will hath its pangs of devotion But the Apostle declares Rom. 7. 18. To will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not 'T is a constant habitual will not a volatile devotion that cometh upon us now and then but such a will as is present as sin is present He had said before When I would do good evil is present with me Whithersoever you go you carry a sinning nature about with you 'T is present urging the heart to vanity folly lust so should this will be present with you urging the heart to good 5. Such desires are joined with serious groans and sorrow for our defects He cannot be so good as he would but desireth and complaineth therefore God accepteth of the will for the deed Rom. 7. 24. O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Though an unrenewed man seem to desire grace yet he feeleth no grief in the want of grace it never troubleth him his desires do not break out into groans and bitter complaints because of indwelling corruption Now by these things may you try your hearts 3. The third
them the great things of my law but they were counted as a strange thing To be strangers to the word of God and little conversant in it is a great evil What is it to hide the word in our hearts 1. To understand it to get a competent knowledg of it we take in things into the soul by the understanding Prov. 2. 10. When wisdom entreth into thine heart and knowledg is pleasant unto thy soul. There is first an entrance by knowledg 2. When it is assented unto by faith The word is setled in the heart by faith otherwise it soon vanisheth Heb. 4. 2. The word preached did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it 3. When it is kindly entertain'd Joh. 8. 37. Christ complains Ye seek to kill me because my word hath no place in you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men are so possessed with lust and prejudice that there is no room for Christs word though it break in upon the heart with evidence and power yet it is not entertained there but cast out again as an unwelcome guest 4. When it is deeply rooted Many men have flashes for a time their affections may be much aloft and they may have great fits and elevations of joy and delight but no sound grace Joh. 5. 35. Ye rejoyced in his light for a season But now the word must be setled into a standing-affection if we would have comfort and profit by it We read of the ingrafted word Iames 1. 21. There is a word bearing fruit and a word ingrafted Till there be the root of the matter in us in vain do we expect fruit The Reasons why this is one duty and practice of the Saints to hide the word in their hearts are two Reas. 1. First That we may have it ready for our use We lay up Principles that we may lay them out upon all occasions Man hath an ingestive and an egestive faculty when it is hid in the heart it will be ready to break out in the tongue and practice and be forth-coming to direct us in every duty and exigency When persons run to the Market for every penny-worth it doth not become good housekeepers To be to seek of comforts when we should use them or to run to a book is not so comfortable as to hide it in the heart As Christ saith A good Scribe which is instructed unto the Kingdom of heaven bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old Mat. 13. 52. He hath not only this years growth but the last years gathering for so is the allusion made he hath not only from hand to mouth but a good stock by him So should a Christian have not only knowledg from hand to mouth but a good stock and treasure in his heart which is a very great advantage in these seven things 1. It will prevent vain thoughts What 's the reason evil is so ready and present with us because our stock of knowledg is so small A man that hath a pocket fuller of brass farthings than pieces of silver will more readily draw out farthings than shillings his stock is greater so vain thoughts will be more ready with us unless the word dwell richly in our hearts Mat. 12. 35. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things The workings of our spirits are as our treasure and stock The mind works upon what it finds in it self as a Mill grinds whatsoever is put into it chaff or corn Therefore if we would prevent wicked thoughts and musings of vanity all the day long we must hide the word in our heart 2. When you are alone and without outward helps your hearts will furnish you with matter of counsel or comfort or reproof Psal. 16. 7. My reins instruct me in the night season When we are alone and there is a veil of darkness drawn upon the world and we have not the benefit of a Bible a Minister or Christian friends our reins will instruct us we may draw out of our heart that which will be for our comfort and refreshing A Christian is to be a walking Bible to have a good stock and treasure in himself 3. It will supply us in Prayer Barrenness and leanness of soul is a very great defect which Gods children often complain of one great reason is because the Word of God doth not dwell plenteously in them so that in every Prayer we are to seek If the heart were often exercised in the Word the Promises would hold up our hearts in Prayer enlarge our affections and we should be better able to pour out our spirits before him Psal. 45. 1. My heart is inditing a good matter what then my tongue is the pen of a ready writer When the heart is full the tongue will be loosed and speak freely What 's the reason we are so dumb and tongue-tyed in Prayer because our heart is so barren When the spring is dry there will be little water in the stream Ephes. 6. 17. Take the sword of the spirit that is the word of God then presently praying with all manner of supplication When we have a good store of the Word of God it will burst out in Prayer 4. It will be a great help to us in all businesses and affairs Prov. 6. 21 22. speaking of the precepts of God Bind them upon thy heart when thou goest it shall lead thee when thou sleepest it shall keep thee and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee Upon all occasions the Word will be ready to cast in seasonable thoughts when we awake our most early thoughts in the morning will begin with God to season the heart all the day and as we are about our business the Word will hold our hearts in the fear of God and when we sleep it will guard thee from vain dreams and light imaginations In a wicked man sin ingrosseth all the thoughts it imploys him all the day plays in his fancy all the night it solicites him first in the morning because he is a stranger to the Word of God But a man that is a Bible to himself the Word will be ever upon him urging him to duty restraining him from sin directing him in his ways seasoning his work and employment Therefore we should hide the Word in our hearts 5. It is a great relief against temptations to have the Word ready The Word is called The sword of the spirit Ephes. 6. 7. In spiritual conflicts there is none to that Those that ride abroad in time of danger will not be without a Sword We are in danger and had need handle the sword of the Spirit The more ready the Scripture is with us the greater advantage in our Conflicts and Temptations When the Devil came to assault Christ he had Scripture ready for him whereby he overcame the Tempter The door is barr'd upon Satan and he
spiritual light else they shall have no favour and relish Can sense which is the light of Beasts trace the workings or the flights of Reason Can you see a Soul or an Angel by the light of a candle there is no proportion between them So can a natural man receive the things of the Spirit he receives them not why because spiritual things must be spiritually discerned 2. There is not only blindness but obstinacy and prejudice When we come to judg by sense and reason the whole business of Christianity seems to be a foolish thing to a carnal heart To give up our selves to God and all our Interest and to wait upon the reversion of a happiness in another world which is doubtful whether there will be any such thing or no is a folly to him To deny present lusts and interests to be much in prayer and be often in communion with God is esteemed a like folly When the Apostle came to preach the Gospel to the Wits at Athens they scoffed at him they entertained his Doctrine as fire is entertained in wet wood with hissing and scorn To do all and suffer all and that upon the account of a happiness to come to a carnal heart this is but a fancy and a meer imagination 3. As blind and obstinate so we are apt to abuse truth Carnal hearts turn all to a carnal purpose As Spiders assimilate and turn all they suck into their own substance so doth a carnal heart turn all even the Counsels and Comforts of the word to a carnal purpose Or as the Sea whatever comes into it the sweet Rivers and droppings of the clouds turns all into salt water Hos. 14. 9. Who is wise and he shall understand these things prudent and he shall know them but the transgressors shall stumble therein As right excellent and as notable as the doctrines of the word are yet a carnal heart finds matter in them to stumble at he picks that which is an occasion of ruine and eternal perdition from the Scripture therefore the Apostle saith Eph. 4. 21. If ye have learned of him as the truth is in Iesus We are never right and truth never works as to regeneration but it 's only fuel for our lusts until we have learned it as it is in Jesus Carnal men undo themselves by their own apprehensions of the truths of God Luther calls some Promises bloody Promises because of the mistakes of carnal men by their perverse application Therefore that we may maintain an awe of God in our soul we need to be taught of God 4. We are apt to abuse our knowledg Saving-knowledg makes us more humble but carnal knowledg more proud Where it is in gift rather than in grace there men are puft up The more we know God or our selves by a divine light the more humble we shall be Jer. 31. 18 19. When I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth The more light we have from God the more we look into a vile heart When Adam's eyes were opened he runs into the bushes he was ashamed So when God opens the eyes and teacheth a Christian this makes him more humble 5. There needs Gods teaching because we are so apt to forsake when we have known the things of God Psal. 119. 21. The proud do err from thy commandments What 's the reason David was so stedfast in the truth he did not take it up from the teachings of man but from the teachings of God When a man leads us into any truth another man may lead us out again But now when God hath taught us and imprest a truth upon the heart then it is durable What 's the reason believers are not as fickle as others and not led away by the impure Gnosticks and like those Libertines now among us 1 Joh. 2. 20. Ye have an unction from the holy One and ye know all things They had an unction which came down from Jesus Christ upon their hearts and then a man is not led away by every fancy but begins to grow stable in spirit 6. We cannot tell how to master our Corruptions nor restore reason to its Dominion again 'T is not enough to bring light into the soul but we must have power and efficacy or true conversion will not follow Man's reason was to govern his actions Now all literal instruction is weak like a March-Sun which draweth up the vapours but cannot scatter them it can discover sins but cannot quell them Rom. 7. 19. When the commandment came sin revived and I died He could not tell how to bridle his lusts he found them more outrageous The good that I would do I do not and the evil which I would not that I do Thirdly The Benefit and Utility of Gods teaching When God teacheth truth cometh upon us with more conviction and demonstration 1 Cor. 2. 6. and so hath a greater awe and soveraignty Those that have made any trial can judg between being taught of God and men Those that are taught of men the charms of Rhetorick may sometimes stir up some loose affection but it doth soon vanish and wear away again but the work of God makes deep impression upon the soul and truths are then more affective Man's knowledg is sapless dry and unsavoury 2 Pet. 1. 8. For if these things be in you and abound they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledg of our Lord Iesus Christ. There may be an empty belief and a naked and unactive apprehension of Christ which stirs up no affection but the light which comes from God enters upon the heart Prov. 2. 10. it affects the whole soul. It doth not only stay in the fancy float in the brain but affect the heart And then it is renewing Man's light may make us more learned but God's light more holy We are changed by beholding the glory of God into the same Image 2 Cor. 3. 18. SERMON XIV PSAL. CXIX 13. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth FOR the coherence of these words you may refer them either to the 11th or 12th Verse If to the 11th Verse there he speaks of hiding the word in his heart and now it breaks out in his tongue First it must be in the heart and next in the tongue First in the heart It is but hypocrisie to be speaking and talking of good things when we have not been refreshed and warmed by them our selves Christianity is not a Religion to talk of but to live by There are many rotten-hearted hypocrites that are all talkers like the Moon dark in themselves whatever light they give out to others or like Negroes that dig in rich Mines and bring up gold for others when themselves are poor The power of grace in the heart is a good foundation for grace in the lips This is the method and order wherein David expresseth it I
must be used for God he made them bought them and if we belong to him we gave them up with other things to him We did not reserve our tongues when we resigned and surrendred our selves to the Lords use we did not make exception the same argument which holds good for the whole body why it should be possessed in sanctification and honour holds good for every part of it 1 Cor. 6. 12. Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodies and in your spirits which are Gods Thy whole is Gods thy spirit thy body and every part thy wit strength hand tongue is all Gods and therefore he expects to be glorified by thy tongue They were Rebels that said Psal. 12. 4. Our lips are our own who is Lord over us There is nothing we have that is ours but God's Our hearts are not our own to think what we will nor our tongues our own to speak what we will God expects service from the tongue otherwise we must be answerable for it when our Soveraign Lord calls us to an account Now it is strange God should have so clear a right to our speech and language and yet so little a share therein Give unto Cesar the things that are Cesars and unto God the things that are Gods Thy tongue and thy lips whose are they If thou couldst make thy tongue of thy self then thou mightst use it for thy self but since you had it from God you must use it for God But alas how little are men mindful of this Follow them all the day you get not one word of God from them they use their tongues as if they were their own not Gods 2. It is the glory of the tongue to serve God in this kind It is the most excellent member in the body when it is well used for the glory of God and edification of others therefore called our glory often in the Psalms Awake my glory that is my tongue and what is glory in the Old Testament is rendred tongue in the New Acts 2. Our tongue is our glory why because we have this advantage by it we may speak for God Therewith bless we God Jam. 3. 9. The benefit of speech it is our priviledg above Angels and Beasts Angels they have reason but no tongues and Beasts they have tongues but no reason to guide them and act them But now we have tongues and reason both that we may declare our Makers praise Surely this member and instrument was not given us to savour meats and drinks that is not the highest use of it but to express the senses and affections of the mind not to utter vain frothy frivolous things what an abuse is that but to comfort and instruct one another in the things of God It is our glory 3. Every creature hath a voice like it self and therefore so should the new creature have The Ox bellows the Ass brayeth Goats and Sheep may be known by their bleat and so is a man by the tenor of his discourse As the constitution of the mind is so are their words A wicked man hath a vain heart and therefore his discourse is idle and frivolous Prov. 10. 20. The tongue of the just is as choice silver but the heart of the wicked is little worth The antithesis shews it should have been said the tongue of the wicked is little worth but he would point at the cause of it the heart of the wicked There 's a quick intercourse between the tongue and the heart Now because the heart of the wicked is nothing worth all his thoughts and musings are vain he goes grinding chaff in his mind all the day his mind like a Mill is always at work not upon corn that it might be bread for his soul but upon chaff therefore because his heart is nothing worth his tongue is nothing worth The tongue of the just is as choice silver it brings in a great deal of treasure But take a wicked man all the workings of his heart his thoughts and discourses when summed up together the product and total sum at night is nothing but vanity The Lord seeth all their thoughts are but vain A vain heart will have vain speeches and so a cankered sinner will have cankered discourse as a putrid breath discovereth rotten lungs Every mans speech is as his humor is come to a covetous person he will be discoursing of Farms Oxen Bargains Wares and such like Come to an Epicurean Gallant to a Voluptuary and he will be telling you of Horses Games Dogs Meats Drinks merry company Go to the Ambitious they will be talking of Honours Offices and the like As they are of the flesh so their talk savours of fleshly things Every man hath a voice like himself he speaks according to the constitution of his mind Go to the discontented man he will be talking of his Adversaries telling of affronts wrongs and publick offences received But a godly man hath a voice too like himself he will be declaring the judgments of Gods mouth he will be speaking out of the word of God of things within his sphere and suitable to his kind Mat. 12. 35. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth ' forth good things Still the Tap runs according to the Liquor with which the Vessel is fill'd and a mans speech bewrays him of what kind he is and therefore since every creature hath a voice like himself so should the new creature have 4. I shall argue from the nature of Good which is communicative and loves to propagate it self Omne bonum sui diffusivum Luke 22. 32. Thou being converted strengthen thy brethren He had had experience of a changeable heart now go strengthen others Fire turneth all things about it into fire Leven pierceth through the whole lump So grace seeks to propagate and diffuse it self Therefore when the work of God is written upon a mans mind and laid up in his heart he will be declaring and speaking of it to others Naturalists observe that Mules and creatures which are of a Mungrel race do not procreate after their kind so the false Christians are not for propagating and enlarging Christs interest they are not so warm spiritual and heavenly in their discourses Andrew when acquainted with Christ calls Peter and both call Nathanael John 1. 41 45. We have found the Messiah Iohn calls his Disciples As a Hen when she hath found a Worm or a Barley-corn clucks for her Chickens that they may come and partake of it with her so a man acquainted with Christ who hath tasted that the Lord is gracious he cannot hold he will be calling upon his friends and relations to come and share with him of the same grace As they have more of God they will improve it for the comfort of others and are willing to take hold of all opportunities to this end 5. It discovereth plenty of knowledg and a good esteem of the word 1. Plenty of
his Law and Grace which are means in the nearest vicinity with our End Psal. 37. 4. Delight thy self also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart Phil. 4. 4. Rejoyce in the Lord always and again I say rejoyce 3. Delight if not right set of all the affections it is apt to degenerate We have a liberty to delight in earthly things the affection is allowed the excess is forbidden Thou maist delight in the Wise of thy youth in thy Children Estate in the Provisions heaped upon thee by the indulgence of Gods Providence Pleasure is the sawce of life to better digest our sorrows It is allowed us but it must be well guarded We are most apt to surfeit of pleasant things and to miscarry by sweet affections Sorrow is afflictive and painful and will in time wear away of it self Pleasure is ingrained in our natures born and bred with us and therefore though we may delight in the moderate use of the refreshments of the present life in Estate Honour Reputation yet we should take heed of excess that our hearts be not overjoyed and too much taken up about these things Carnal joy is the drunkenness of the mind it besotteth us maketh us unmindful of God weakens our esteem of his favour and blessing it chaineth us to present things Pleasure is the great Witch and Sorceress that inchants with the love of the world maketh us unmindful of the Countrey whence we came and whither we are a going therefore we should be jealous of our delight and how we bestow it USE 3. To exhort us to this delight in Gods Statutes or this spiritual rejoycing 1. Here is no danger of exceeding the greatest excesses here are most praise-worthy In other things we must exercise it with jealousie feed with fear rejoyce as if we rejoyced not a man may easily go beyond his bounds when he rejoyceth in the creature but here enlarge thy heart as much as is possible and take thy fill of pleasure Cant. 5. 1. Eat O friends drink yea drink abundantly O beloved This is ebrietas quae nos castos facit chast Flagons Eph. 5. 18. Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess but be ye fill'd with the Spirit 2. We shall never be ashamed of these joys 2 Cor. 1. 12. Our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience c. All carnal joys have a turpitude affixed to them and therefore affect to lye hid under a vail of secresie The world would cry shame of him that would say of his bags or his dishes Here is my joy as much as men affect these things yet they desire to conceal them from the knowledg of others 3. We shall be never weary of these joys The delights of the senses become nauseous and troublesome our natural dispositions become weary and importunate a man must have shift and change pleasures refreshed with other pleasures But these delights add perfection to Nature therefore when fully enjoyed they delight most A good conscience is a continual feast a dish we are never weary of The blessed spirits in heaven are never weary of beholding the face of God God is new and fresh every moment to them The contemplation of such excellent objects doth not overcharge and weaken the spirits but doth raise and fortifie them It is true the corporeal powers being weak may be tired in such an employment as much reading is a weariness to the flesh but the object doth not grow distastful as in carnal things How shall we get it 1. Get a suitableness to the word Every man's delights are as his principles Rom. 8. 5. They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit A man is much discovered by his savour and relish of things All creatures must have suitable food There must be a sutableness between the Faculty and the Object spiritual things are spiritually discerned 2. Be in a condition to delight in the word A guilty soul readeth its own doom there it revealeth themselves to themselves accuseth and condemneth them As Ahab said of Micajah He prophesieth evil against me and therefore could not endure to hear him Joh. 3. 20. Every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be reproved 3. Purge the heart from carnal distempers lust envy covetousness love of pleasures these are Diseases that need other diet than the word Such persons must have other solaces they cater for the flesh to please the senses An earthly heart will not delight in spiritual things Doct. It standeth Gods children upon to see that they do not forget the word I. What is it to forget the word A man may remember or forget two ways Notionally and Affectively 1. Notionally when the notions of things formerly known are either altogether or in part worn out Jam. 1. 25. He is like one that looks his natural face in a glass but goeth away and straightway forgetteth what manner of person he was 2. Affectively when though he still retain the notions yet he is not answerably affected nor doth act according thereunto Thus the Butler did not remember Ioseph that is did not pity him Thus God is said not to remember the sins of them that repent when he doth not punish them and to forget the afflictions of his people when he doth not deliver them and we are said to forget God Psal. 106. 21. when we do not obey him and to forget his word when we do not remember his commandments to do them Psal. 103. 18. In this place both are intended the Notional and Practical remembrance II. The Reasons why we should not forget his word 1. Meditation will fail else A barren lean soul is unfit to enlarge it self in holy thoughts shall never grow rich in the spiritual understanding Col. 3. 6. Let the word of God dwell in you richly in all knowledg c. Men of small substance grow rich by continual saving and holding together what they have gotten but if they spend it as fast as they get it they cannot be rich Luk. 2. 19. Mary kept all these sayings and pondered them in her heart 2. Delectation will grow cold unless the memory be rubbed up ever and anon When they fainted under affliction the cause is intimated Heb. 12. 5. Have ye forgotten the exhortation that speaketh unto you as unto children Distrust in straits is from the same source Mar. 8. 13. They remembred not the miracle of the loaves for their hearts were hardened Ye see and hear and do not remember David was under great discomfort till he remembred the years of the right hand of the Most High Psal. 77. 10. Lament 3. 21. This I recall to mind therefore I have hope 3. Practice and conscience of obedience will grow more remiss Nothing keepeth the heart in a holy tenderness so much as a presence of the truth and when
that 's proper to the children of God Heb. 11. 13 14 15. It is made the fruit of their faith because they were perswaded of the promises therefore they confessed themselves pilgrims and strangers on earth The voice of Nature saith It is good to be here let God do with Heaven what he pleaseth Natural men are contented with their present portion and cannot endure to think of change and therefore though they are travelling to Eternity yet they are not pilgrims in affection But now Gods children are so in condition and in affection too they count Heaven their home and the world to be a strange place They are Pilgrims in affection in a threefold regard 1. Because they are most sensible of their frailty The frailty of the present life is a common lesson but not easily believed None have such a sense of it upon their hearts as they that are taught by God Psal. 90. 12. So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom And Teach me to know how frail I am saith David Worldly men though they are of this opinion and cannot deny it yet they do not consider it in seeing they see not their minds are taken up with other things they are not sensible 2. The term is proper to the children of God because they are unsatisfied with their present estate they would not abide here for ever if God would give them leave Wicked men are pilgrims against their will but Saints are ever looking for longing for groaning for a better estate Rom. 8. 23. We which have the first-fruits of the spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the adoption the redemption of our body They desire and groan to be clothed upon 2 Cor. 5. 2. 3. The notion is most proper to them because they have an interest in a better inheritance Wicked men are sure to go out of the world but they are not sure to go to Heaven Now the children of God they know there is an inheritance kept for them here they have the right but there they shall have the possession 1 Joh. 3. 1. So that well might I form the point thus That godly men are and count themselves to be strangers and pilgrims upon earth Others are in a journey but they are not sensible of it and they have no home to go to and no desires to part with the world Now take some instances of this That this is proper to Gods children to count the world a strange place and Heaven to be their home Those that had the best right and the greatest possessions here they will do so Those that had the greatest Right Heb. 11. 9. Abraham sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange countrey What right could there be greater than that which was demised and made over to him by God yet in the Land of promise he lived as in a strange place So David here and in other places that had so ample a possession he was King over an opulent and flourishing Kingdom yet Psal. 39. 12. I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my fathers were Not only he that was a wandring Partridg and flitted up and down but David that was setled in a Throne he that was so powerful and victorious a Prince But you will say possibly David might speak this when he was chased like a Flea upon the Mountains when he was hunted to and fro like a Patridg no but when he had peace and was fully setled in the Throne when he could offer so many Cart-loads of gold and silver 2 Chron. 29. 13. then he doth acknowledg Lord I am a stranger Jesus Christ who was Lord Paramount he tells us I am not of this world Joh. 17. 14. He was a stranger to his brethren and an alien among his mothers children Psal. 69. 8. He that was Lord of all had neither house nor home He passed through the world to sanctifie it for a place of service but his heart and constant residence was not here to fix it as in a place of rest And so all that are Christs have the Spirit of Christ and say as David in the Text I am a stranger upon earth We do not dwell upon earth but only pass through it But why do the children of God count themselves to be strangers here 1. They are born elsewhere Every thing tends to the place of their original as men love their native soyl things bred in the water return thither Inanimate things tend to their center a stone will fall to the ground though it be broken in pieces with the fall Wind that is imprisoned in the bowels of the earth raiseth terrible convulsions and earthquakes until it get up to its own place All things seek to turn thither from whence they came And so grace which came from Heaven it carrieth the soul thither again Ierusalem from above is the mother of us all Heaven is our native Countrey and therefore thither is the tendency and aim of the gracious soul that is born from above It is very notable the contempt of the world is usually made the fruit of our Regeneration 1 John 5. 4. Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world and 2 Pet. 1. 4. Made partakers of the divine nature that we might escape the corruptions of the world through lust There is somewhat of God in it then and that which comes from God carries the soul thither where God is In the new nature there 's a strong inclination which disposeth us to look after another world therefore 't is said Begotten to a lively hope 1 Pet. 1. 3. As soon as we are made children we begin to look after a childs portion There is another aim when we are born again then the heart is carried out to God 2. There lies their inheritance Eph. 1. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places Why he hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in earthly places why is it said only in heavenly places There was their beginning and there 's their accomplishment The main thing Christ aimed at was that we might be translated to heavenly places Christ will set us high enough and therefore he will not give us our portion in the world that 's an unquiet place Here we are not out of Gun-shot and harms-way he would not give it us in an earthly Paradise there Adam enjoyed God among beasts he would give it us in the most glorious manner that we might enjoy God among the Angels The world is not a fit place Here God will shew his bounty to all his children it is a common Inn where Sons and Bastards are entertained a place of trial not of recompence Gods foot-stool and not his throne Isa. 66. 1. The World is Satans walk the Devils circuit Whence comest thou from compassing the earth Job 1. a place defiled with sin Isa.
less upon the more infirm though alike faulty 5. Another comfort which the Scripture propounds is the help we shall have in affliction to bear it partly from the comforts of his spirit and partly from the supports of his grace 1. By way of Consolation The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost at such a time Rom. 5. 3. Cordials are for those that are fainting In time of trouble we have most sensible experience of Gods love God deals with his children many times as Ioseph did with his brethren he calls them Spies and puts them in prison but at length he could hold no longer but tells them I am your brother Ioseph so God seems to deal roughly with his people and take away their dearest Comforts from them I but before the trouble be over he can hold no longer but saith I am your God your Father and exceeding great reward His bowels yern towards us and he opens his heart to us and sheds abroad his love in our consciences 2. Partly by the supports and influences of his grace Psal. 138. 3. In the day when I cryed thou answeredst me and strengthnest me with strength in my soul. When David was in trouble this was his comfort though he could not get deliverance yet he got support God is many times gone to appearance but he will never forsake us as to inward support and strength Heb. 13. 5. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee 6. From the fruit and final issue of all 2 Cor. 4. 17. This light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory He that can find Christ in his afflictions and can see Heaven beyond it needs not to be troubled All the notions of Heaven are diversified why that they may be suited to those divers trials and many evils we have in the world Sometimes it is exprest by glory and honour to counterbalance the disgrace which Gods children meet with here that the reproach of men may not make us more sad than the eternal glory may make us comfortable Sometimes it is exprest by substance because sometimes Gods children are poor and suffer loss of goods Heb. 10. 34. Sometimes it is call'd our Redemption our Countrey to comfort us in exile and banishment for the name of Christ Heb. 11. 14 15. Sometimes it is called life eternal because we may be called to suffer even to blood Thus the word offereth this comfort against all the evils that befall us that we may counterbalance every particular trouble with what the promises hold forth concerning our blessed hopes USE Well then let us exercise our selves in the word of God and let all his promises be as so many Cordials to us To this end get an interest in these promises for the heirs of promise have strong consolation Heb. 6. 18. There is strong great real and pure comfort but it is to the heirs of promise So Rom. 5. 4. Not only so but we rejoyce in tribulation Who are those those that are justified by faith in Christ v. 1. To others afflictions are the punishments of sin and an occasion of despair not of rejoycing I but when we are interested in reconciliation with God then we take this comfort out of the word of God 2. It informs us of the excellency of Gods testimonies above all outward enjoyments When we have them to the full they cannot give us any solid true peace of conscience nor cure one sad thought Now beg of God that he will comfort you when all things else fail When the labour of the Olive shall fail I 'le comfort my self in the Lord my God Hab. 3. 18. I say when we are under any burden nay when we are under any sorrow for sin when afllictions revive stings of conscience or else the word hath awakened them yet there 's comfort to be had by running to the word of God 3. It shews us what is the property of believers to delight in the testimonies of God when all things go cross to them Temporaries when things run smoothly they have a comfort in the word O but when the afflictions of the Gospel fall upon them they fall a murmuring presently But a true believer can hold up his head and though he hath much affliction yet he can have much joy in the Holy-Ghost and a great deal of comfort from the word of God There follows another benefit Thy testimonies are my Councellors or men of my counsel From thence observe Doct. 2. That one great benefit we have from the word of God is counsel how to direct our affairs according to his will For the clearing of this let me lay down these Propositions 1. That our great interest is to keep in with God or approve our selves to him 2. Whoever would keep in with God needs counsel and direction in all his ways 3. The only good counsel we can have is from God in his word 4. The counsel God hath given us in his word is sufficient and full out for all our necessities Prop. 1. That our great interest is to keep in with God and approve our selves to him in all our actions for God is the scope and end of our lives and actions as the thing prest that we may walkworthy of God in all well-pleasing Col. 1. 10. God being our chiefest good must be our last end therefore in every action there must be an habitual purpose and in all actions of weight and moment there must be an actual purpose to please God Every ordinary affair must be carried forth in the strength of the habitual purpose but in all actions we would make a business of there must be an actual purpose And because his Authority alone can sway the Conscience which is under his dominion therefore it concerns us in all things to exercise our selves that we may have a good conscience void of offence both towards God and man Acts 24. 16. And again we are to approve our ways to God and to keep in with him because to him we are to give an account 2 Cor. 5. 9 10. There will a time come when every action of ours shall be taken into consideration and weighed in the ballance of the Sanctuary with all our principles and ends therefore we strive we are ambitious so the word signifies our great ambition should be living or dying to be accepted with God Again Surely it should be our business to approve our selves to God in every action because all the success of our actions depends upon his concurrence and blessing Now we shall find this is often asserted in Scripture When a man's ways are full of hazards likely to be expos'd to great opposition your great work is to keep in with God approve your hearts to him Prov. 16. 7. When a mans ways please the Lord he will make even his enemies to be at peace with him God hath a mighty power over the spirits
ask Gods leave in prayer and observe the bent of our hearts after prayer 4. The word of God teacheth a man when he understandeth his duty and hath Gods leave to submit the event to God and that easeth the heart because he may be sure of success comfort and support Psal. 37. 5. Commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass And Prov. 16. 3. Commit thy work unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established It easeth us of a great deal of trouble and care so that when a man hath brought his affections to submit to whatever God should determine in point of success when he hath moderated and calm'd his spirit that he is resolved to bear the event whatever it be this easeth the soul of a deal of trouble Thus you see how we may make the statutes of God to be the men of our counsel USE 1. What a singular mercy is it that God hath given us the Scripture where we have counsel upon all occasions how to manage our affairs prudently bear afflictions comfortably and with composed hearts to get through all events and dangers that we meet with in our passage to heaven We should have groped up and down as the Sodomites for Lot's dore if we had not this rule of faith and obedience It is a Rule that teacheth us how to think well for it reacheth to the thoughts to speak well for it giveth a law to all our words to do well in all our civil actions and trading how to keep a good conscience and approve our selves to God how in natural actions eating drinking to season them with Gods fear and religious actions how we may pray and worship how to govern our selves our own hearts and affections to converse with others in all relations as Fathers Children Masters Servants Magistrates Ministers People and how to hold communion with God all which are demonstrations of the sufficiency of the Scripture for our direction and what reason there is that we should take the testimonies of God to be the men of our counsel USE 2. For reproof to those that turn the back upon Gods Counsels Who are those 1. Such as neglect the general duties of Christianity as Faith and Repentance God hath given us counsel what to do in order to eternal life and we regard it not The great quarrel between God and sinners is about the neglect of this counsel which he hath given them for their souls good Pro. 1. 25. They set at nought all my counsel and v. 30. They would none of my counsel O! when your friends have advised you and you despise it and take another course it troubleth them You know how heinously Achitophel took it when his counsel was despised Equals when their counsel is despised take it very ill much more Superiors when they give counsel The entreaty and advice of a Superior carrieth the force of a command So it is here with God it is called counsel not as if it were an arbitrary thing whether we did regard it or no but because of Gods mild condescension when men are in danger of perishing for ever the Lord gives us counsel You are in a miserable estate he is pleased to tell you how to come out of your misery the word of God therefore is called the counsel of God It is sad when we shall reject the counsel of God Luk. 7. 30. They rejected the counsel of God against themselves There 's two sentences they rejected the counsel of God and it was against themselves it was to their own loss and destruction God Ioseth nothing when we despise his counsel but you lose all your eternal happiness This is so great an evil that God punisheth it with it self When men will not take Gods counsel then it is the most dreadful Judgment he can lay upon us to give us up to our own counsel Psal. 81. 11. O what a heavy judgment was it to be given up to the counsels of their own heart 2. It reproves such as do not consult with Gods word about their affairs but meerly live as they are acted by their own lusts or walk at all adventures so the expression in the marginal reading is Lev. 26. 21. It is as the action falls they do not care whether it please God or be the rule of their duty yea or no. These are far from the temper of Gods children It is sad in persons much more in Nations when men run head-long upon all manner of disorders against right and honesty it tends to ruin Deut. 32. 28. They are a Nation void of counsel neither is there any understanding in them 3. Such as go flatly against the counsel of God and to gratifie their own interest pervert all that is just and honest Psal. 107. 11. They rebelled against the word of the Lord and contemned the counsel of the Most High These do but expose themselves to speedy ruin Job 18. 7. Bildad said of the wicked His own counsel shall cast him down They need no other means to ruin them than their own brutish course When men dare break the commandment of God without any relâ—…tancy to gratifie a worldly interest though for the present no evil comes of it yet afterwards they shall smart Prov. 19. 20. Hear counsel and receive instruction that thou mayest be wise for thy latter end Consider what it will come to afterwards when thou comest to dye then you will wish O that I had taken Gods counsel that I had not gone with such a daring spirit against the plain counsel of Gods word 4. Such as pretend to ask counsel from the word but it is according to the Idol of their own hearts that come with their own conclusions and preconceptions and prejudices against Gods counsel Ezek. 14. 3 4. Son of man these have set up their idols in their heart c. Men will come and pretend to ask Gods counsel and leave upon their undertakings when they are resolved upon a wicked enterprise before then God must be called upon and sought to and so they make Gods Ordinance a Lacquey meerly to be a covert to their evil practices as those in Jer. 42. that came to the Prophet and they were prepossest and had their resolutions aforehand USE 3. To press us to this consulting with the word of God to make the testimonies of the Lord the men of our counsel There are many qualifications and tempers of heart necessary 1. Fear of God Psal. 25. 12. What man is he that feareth the Lord him will he teach the way that he shall chuse He that is in doubt and perplexed and would have counsel from Gods word who is the man that is like to have it He that feareth the Lord. There is a great sutableness between the qualification and the promise partly he that fears God hath a greater awe of the word than others have and is loth to do any thing contrary to Gods
of Truth as may keep them savoury and sound in the faith To be able to prattle a little in Religion is not sound knowledg but we must be grounded and setled in the faith Col. 1. 23. That is have not only some floating opinion but well grounded perswasion of the Truth so as we know we are upon firm ground and dare venture our souls upon it and may build surely and safely upon such principles He calleth it elsewhere Col. 2. 2. the riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ. When men rest contented with obvious Truths or a slight knowledg of the common and easie principles of Christianity there is not such an awe upon their practice nor any establishment of their judgments but like light chaff they are soon carried with the blasts of temptation and the wind of errors And therefore we need to ask again and again Give me an understanding of the way of thy precepts 2. A sound saving knowledge is such as causeth the soul to lye under the dominion life and power of the Truth and aweth and commandeth the heart into obedience Joh. 8. 32. Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free When our knowledg freeth us from the slavery of sin In others that content themselves with a naked knowledg Truth is held captive and cannot break out with any soveraignty in their conversations Rom. 1. 18. Holding the truth in unrighteousness Lust beareth sway but Truth lyeth under fetters and restraint it may talk its fill like a man in bonds but it can do nothing 3. When it giveth us prudence how to practise This is that which David beggeth of God to understand the way of his precepts that is to be taught how to walk in each duty and point of conversation after what sort he may live and direct his life 'T is not sufficient to know the meaning of the Word in general to have a notional understanding of it but to reduce it to practice where and when and how we ought to perform each action Some have a naked module of Truth are wise in generals but fail in the application of the Rule and are to seek in the ordering of their steps and all particular cases 1 Pet. 3. 7. Husbands dwell with your wives as men of knowledg Then is a man a man of knowledg when he knoweth how to order the passages of his life in every relation according to the will of God The narrow way of obedience is hardly found hardly kept and easily mistaken especially where prejudices lusts and interests are apt to pervert us Therefore prudence to apply the Rule is necessary Psal. 119. 33. Teach me O Lord the way of thy statutes that I may keep it to the end Not only in the general points of faith and godliness but that it may season all our actions that we may be made partakers of the sweet refreshments that flow from it such a knowledg as endeth in a tast 1 Pet. 3. 2 3. As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby if so be ye have tasted c. So Psal. 19. 8. The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart when we do so approve and follow the Lords directions that we experiment the sweetness and are acquainted with the Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Such an understanding as begets judgment and feeling or maketh us to find power and comfort in the word 2. The Children of God think this can never be enough asked of God Why 1. Because of the excellency of Knowledg Light is comfortable and it is a pleasant thing to behold the Sun much more the light of the Gospel shining in upon our minds Oh what a pleasant thing is that when all Clouds vanish and the Truths of God are fully cleared up to the soul None knoweth the sweetness of it but he that hath experimented it Prov. 24. 13 14. My son eat thou honey because it is good and the honey-comb which is sweet to thy tast so shall the knowledg of wisdom be unto thy soul when thou hast found it The more perfect the operation of any faculty of the soul is the greater contentment the Conscience in the feeling of God's love the heart when it findeth liberty in the ways of God and the understanding upon the sight of the truth cause all doubts and scruples to vanish Therefore certainly they that know any thing of God will be pressing to know more of his Nature and Will one degree draweth on another Moses desireth God Tell me thy name Exod. 3. 13 14. Then shew me thy glory Exod. 33. 18. And he said I beseech thee shew me thy glory And Hosea 6. 3. Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord. They are not cloyed but desire more The more men know the things of God the more they admire them the more they admire them the more they love them and the more they love them the more they desire to know of them And therefore do they insist so much upon this request Make me to understand the way of thy precepts 2. Because of the vastness and latitude of it Knowledg is a growing thing Religion cannot be taken up all at once we receive a little now and a little anon as narrow-mouth'd Vessels take in things drop by drop We read of Jesus Christ that he grew in knowledg We do not read that he grew in grace Luke 2. 52. He encreased in wisdom and stature as his body encreased in stature so his soul in wisdom And still Christians are growing in knowledg and understand more of the mysteries of the Gospel Though speculative knowledg may be at a stand and a man may see round about the compass of revealed Truths yet practical knowledg is never at a stand Directive affective operative knowledg is never at a stand but encreaseth daily And therefore the Apostle saith He that thinketh he knoweth any thing knoweth nothing as he ought to know 1 Cor. 8. 2. Many think they know as much as can be taught them surely they have no experience 3. Natural Blindness is an obstinate disease and hardly cured therefore again and again we had need to pray Open mine eyes Teach me thy statutes Make me to understand the way of thy precepts Our ignorance is great when it is cured in part The clouds of temptation and carnal affection cause it to return upon us so that we know not what we know Therefore open my eyes cause me to understand Yea the more we know the more is our ignorance discovered to us Prov. 30. 2 3. Surely I am more brutish than any man and have not the understanding of a man I neither learned wisdom nor have the knowledg of the Holy Job 42. 5. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee Alas
and saith unto him We have found the Messias and Philip called Nathanael and saiah unto him We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write Iesus of Nazareth the son of Ioseph 2. For the edification of others Luke 22. 32. And thou being converted strengthen thy brethren True grace is communicative as fire c. 3. For our own profit He that useth his knowledg shall have more Whereas on the contrary full breasts if not sucked become dry In the dividing the loaves encreased All gifts but much more spiritual which are the best are improved by exercise Well then 1. Get a sense and experience of God's Truths and then speak of it to others That which we have seen we are best able to report of God giveth us experiences to this end that we may be able to speak of it to others None can speak with such confidence as those that have felt what they speak Christ saith those that come to him shall not only have a spring of comfort themselves but flow forth to others Joh. 7. 38. He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water IV. Point In our desires of knowledg it is meet to propound a good end As David here beggeth understanding that he might see and discover to others what he had found in God's Law To know that we may know is foolish curiosity to know that we may be known is vanity and ostentation to see that we may sell our knowledg is baseness and covetousness To edifie others this is charity to be edified our selves this is wisdom Good things must be sought to a good end Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss to consume it upon your lusts Jam. 4. 3. All things must be sought for to holy ends to glorifie God much more spiritual gifts The only good end is God's glory Open thou my lips that I may shew forth thy praise Psal. 51. 15. We are to desire knowledg that we may the more enjoy God and the more glorifie him There is a natural desire of knowledg even of Divine knowledg but we must look to our ends that we may grow in grace 1 Pet. 2. 3. that we may be more useful for God not meerly to store the head with notions or to vaunt it over others as having attained more than they no it should be only to do good to our own souls and to save others Rom. 15. 14. I am perswaded that ye are filled with all knowledg and able to admonish one another But now to make a market of our knowledg or to use it for our vile ends that 's naught Not for boasting ostentation curiosity and vain speculation but for practice should be our end When we improve our stock well we please God and shall have eternal profit our selves SERMON XXIX PSALM CXIX 28. My soul melteth for heaviness strengthen thou me according to thy word ACHRISTIAN should neither be humbled to the degree of dejection nor confident to the degree of security and therefore he is to have a double eye upon God and upon himself upon his own necessities and upon God's Alsufficiency You have both represented in this Verse as often in this Psalm his Case and his Petition 1. His Case is represented My soul melteth for heaviness 2. His Petition and Request to God Strengthen thou me according to thy word First His Case My soul melteth for heaviness In the Original the word signifies droppeth away The Septuagint hath it thus My soul fell asleep through weariness Probably by a fault of the Transcribers one word for another My soul droppeth It may relate 1. to the plenty of his tears as the word is used in Scripture Job 16. 20. My friends scorn me but mine eye poureth out tears unto God or droppeth to God the same word so it notes his deep sorrow and sense of his condition The like allusion is in Joshua 7. 5. The heart of the people melted and became as water Or 2. It relates to his languishing under the extremity of his sorrow as an unctuous thing wasteth by dropping so was his soul even dropping away Such a like expression is used in Psal. 107. 26. Their soul is melted because of trouble and of Jesus Christ whose strength was exhausted by the greatness of his sorrows it is said Psal. 22. 14. I am poured out like water all my bones are out of joint my heart is like wax it is melted in the midst of my bowels Be the allusion either to the one or to the other either to the dropping of tears or to the melting and wasting away of what is fat and unctuous it notes a vehement sorrow and brokenness of heart that 's clear his soul was even melting away and unless God did help him he could hold out no longer Doct. That Gods children oftentimes lye under the exercise of such deep and pressing sorrow as is not incident to other men David expresseth himself here as in a languishing condition which is not ordinary My soul droppeth or melteth away for heaviness The Reasons of the point are three 1. Their burdens are greater 2. They have a greater sense than others 3. Their exercise is greater because their reward and comfort is so great First Their burdens are greater than others as temptation desertion trouble for sin The good and evil of the spiritual life is greater than the good and evil of any other life whatsoever As their joys are unspeakable and glorious so their sorrows are sometimes above expression A wounded spirit who can bear Prov. 18. 14. Common natural Courage will carry a man through other afflictions O! but when the arrows of the Almighty stick in their heart Iob 6. 3. that's an unsupportable burden According to the excellency of any life so are the annoyances and the benefits of that life Man that hath a higher life than the beasts is more capable of delights and sorrows than Beasts are of pain and pleasure and so a Christian that lives the life of faith he is more capable of a higher burden Consider they that live a spiritual life have immediately to do with the Infinite and Eternal God and therefore when he creates joy in the heart O what a joy is that and when God doth but lay his hand upon them how great is their trouble Sin is a heavier burden than affliction and the wrath of God than the displeasure of man Coelestis â—…ra quos premit miseros facit humana nullos Evils of an eternal influence are more than temporal therefore must needs be greater and more burdensome Secondly They have a greater sense than others their hearts being intendered by Religion None have so quick a feeling as the children of God why because they have a clearer understanding and more tender and delicate affections 1. Because they have a clearer understanding and see more into the nature of things than those that are drowned
in present delights and contentments The loss of God's favour carnal men know not how to value but the Saints prefer it above life the favour of God is better than life Psal. 63. 3. therefore if the Lord do but suspend the wonted manifestations of his grace and favour how are their hearts troubled Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled Psal. 30. 7. A child of God that lives by his favour cannot brook his absence therefore when they lose the sweet sense of his favour and reconciliation with him O what a trouble is this to their souls Other men make no reckoning of it at all And so for sin common spirits value it only by the damage that it doth to their worldly interests when it costs them dear they may hang the head Jer. 2. 9. Now know what an evil and bitter thing it is to forsake the Lord. A worldly man may know something of the evil of sin in the effects of it but a child of God seeth into the nature of it they value it by the wrong by the offence that is done to God and so are humbled more for the evil in sin than for the evil after sin So for the wrath of God carnal men have gross thoughts of it and may howl upon their beds when their pleasant things are taken from them but God's children are humbled because their Father is angry they observe more the displeasure of God in afflicting Providences than others do and one spark of God's wrath lighting into their consciences O what sad effects doth it work more than all other straits whatsoever Thus they have a clearer understanding they see more into the dreadfulness of God's wrath into the evil of sin and they know how to prize and value his favour more than others 2. They have delicate and tender affections Grace that gives us a new heart doth also give us a soft heart Ezek. 36. 26. I will put a new heart into them what kind of heart a heart of flesh as the old heart that is taken out is a heart of stone A new soft heart doth sooner receive the impression of divine terror than another heart doth A stamp is more easily left upon wax or a soft thing than upon a stone Or thus a slave hath a thicker skin than one nobly born tenderly brought up therefore he is not so sensible of stripes A wicked man hath more cause to be troubled than a godly man but he is not a man of sense he hath a heart of stone and therefore is not so affected either with God's dealings with him or his dealings with God Look as the weight of the blows must not only be considered but the delicateness of the constitution so because their hearts are of a softer and more tender constitution being hearts of flesh and receptive of a deeper impression therefore their sorrows exceed the sorrows of other men Thirdly The good that they expect is exceeding great and their exercise is accordingly for after the rate of our comforts so are our afflictions Wicked men that have nothing to expect in the World to come but horrors and pains they wallow now in ease and plenty Luk. 16. 25. Son in thy life-time thou receivedst thy good things God will be behind-hand with none of his creatures those that do him common service have common blessings in a larger measure than his own people have they have their good things that is such as their hearts chuse and affect But now good men that expect another happiness they must be content to be harras'd and exercis'd that they may be fitted and prepared for the enjoyment of this happiness As the stones that were to be set in the Temple were to be hewn and squar'd so are they to be hewn squar'd and exercised with bitter and sharp things that they may be prepared for the more glory USE 1. Then carnal men are not fit to judg of the Saints when they report their experiences if it be with them above the rate of other men When afflicted consciences speak of their wounds or revived hearts of their comforts their joys are supernatural and so are their sorrows and therefore a natural man thinks all to be but fancy all those joys of the Spirit that they are but Fanatick delusions and he doth not understand the weight of their sorrows When a man is well to see to and hath health strength and wealth they marvel what should make such a man heavy all their care is to eat drink and be merry and therefore because they are not acquainted with the exercises of a feeling conscience they think all this trouble is but a little mopishness and melancholy Poor contrite sinners who are ready to weep out their hearts at their eyes can only understand such expressions as these My soul melteth away for heaviness There 's another manner of thing in trouble of conscience than the carnal world doth imagine and many that have all well about them great Estates much befriended and esteemed in the world yea for the best things yet when God hides his face poor souls how are they troubled If he do but let a spark of his wrath into conscience and hide his face from them it 's a greater burden to them than all the miseries of the world David was a man valiant that had a heart as the heart of a Lyon 2 Sam. 17. 10. He was a man cheerful called the sweet Singer of Israel 2 Sam. 23. 1. of a ruddy sanguine complexion and a great Master of Musick He was no fool but a man wise as the Angel of God and yet you see what a bitter sense he had of his spiritual condition And when a man so stout and valiant so cheerful so wise complains so heavily will you count this mopishness and foolish melancholy But alas men that never knew the weight of sin cannot otherwise conceive of it they were never acquainted with the infiniteness of God nor power of his anger and have not a due sense of Eternity therefore they think so slightly of these matters of the spiritual life USE 2. Be not too secure of spiritual joys We warn you often of security or falling asleep in temporal comforts and we must warn you of this kind of security also in spiritual All things change You may find David in this Psalm in a different posture of spirit sometimes rejoycing in the Word of God above all riches and at other times his soul melteth away for very heaviness God's own people are liable to great trouble of spirit therefore you should not be secure as to these spiritual enjoyments which come and go according to God's pleasure Men that build too much upon spiritual suavities or sensible consolations occasion a snare to their own souls partly as they are less watchful for the present like Mariners which have been at Sea when they get into the Haven take down their tackling and make merry and think never to see
he hath begun Phil. 1. 16. The Apostle most notably sets it forth 1 Pet. 5. 10. The God of all grace make you perfect stablish strengthen settle you All these words concern the habit or the seed of grace in the soul and to shew Gods concurrence towards our preservation in the spiritual state he useth these words Make you perfect that notes the addition of degrees that are yet wanting stablish you that notes defending that grace which is already planted in the heart from temptation and dangers and strengthen you that is give you power for action or ability for working and settle you that is to fasten the root more and more All may be represented in a Tree look as a Tree grown downward in the root is defended from the nipping of the weather and stablisht and strengthned against injuries from beasts and being fill'd with sap springs forth and becomes fruitful so the Lord settle you c. 3. There 's a concurrence of God to the act Grace in habit is not enough but it must be actuated and directed About the act there are two things The Holy Spirit actuates the grace that is implanted draws it forth into exercise so it is said Phil. 2. 13. It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do that is he does apply that grace in our heart set it awork and then there 's a directing or regulation of the soul to action 2 Thes. 3. 5. The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God c. Thus God plants grace in the heart by preventing us with his mercy and loving-kindness taking us into favour then he doth stablish us and perfect it root it in the soul more and more Then as to the act he doth excite and strengthen us Secondly The uses for which we have this strength from God It serves for three Uses for doing for suffering and for conflicting to bear us out in conflict as our necessities are many so must our strength be 1. Strength to perform duties Weariness and uncomfortableness will soon fall upon our hearts and we shall hang off from God if the Lord doth not put forth a new force and a new quickning upon our hearts therefore the Spouse saith Cant. 1. 4. Draw me and we will run after thee And here in this Psalm When the Lord shall enlarge my heart I will run the ways of his commandments If we would be carried on with any fervour and motion towards God we must go forth in the strength of God The soul is a tender thing and soon discomposed When we think to go forth and shake our selves as at other times as Sampson we shall find fetters and restraints upon our soul. Therefore God's work must ever be done in God's strength 2. Strength for bearing of burdens with patience that we may not faint under them Col. 1. 11. Strengthned with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness That we may not faint under our affliction Prov. 24. 10. If thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small God's children before they go to Heaven will have their tryals they will have many burdens upon them Heb. 6. 12. Be ye followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises There needs not only faith but patience There will be trouble Now a heavy burden need have good shoulders We pray for strength that we may break through difficulties and afflictions that we meet in our passage to heaven 3. Strength for conflicts that we may break through temptations A Christian is not only to use the Trowel but the Sword We cannot think to discharge duties or bear afflictions without a battel and conflict therefore we need the strength of the Lord's grace to carry us through Satan is the great enemy with whom we conflict he is the manager of the temptation This is the course of it the World is the bait the Flesh is the Traitor that works within men which gives advantage to Satan the Devil lyeth hidden and by worldly things seeks to draw off our hearts from God Now we are assaulted on every side sometimes by the pleasures of the world sometimes by the frowns and crosses of it so that a Christian needs to be fit for all conditions Phil. 4. 13. I can do all things through Christ that strengthneth me for every way will the Devil be inticing us to sin Now these Conflicts are either solicitations to sin or tend to weaken our comfort and in both respects we must have strength from God Satan's first temptation is to draw us to sin if he cannot weaken grace then to disturb our comfort if not to deny God yet that we may suspect our own estate and therefore he follows us with blasphemies and other temptations until he hath made our lives wearisome till we call our condition into question and therefore as grace is strengthned so is comfort Neh. 8. 11. The joy of the Lord is your strength Thus I have shew'd what is this spiritual strength and what we beg of God when we say Strengthen me And how this is given out in what manner God conveyeth this strength to the soul how sutable to our nature to our temper to our employment Thirdly How God is concerned in it David goes to God for this benefit Lord strengthen me From first to last he doth all We do not stand by the stability of our own resolutions nor stand by the stability of gracious habits in our selves unless the Lord supply new strength Not by the stability of our own resolutions for these will soon fail for David was under a resolution to keep close to God yet he saith My feet had well nigh slipt what upheld him Thy right hand upheld me I was mightily shaken all purposes of holding on of godliness were even gone but I am continually with thee Neither is it the stability of gracious habits in themselves for of themselves they are poor vanishing things faith love and fear of God of themselves will soon vanish Rev. 3. 2. Be watchful strengthen the things which remain that are ready to dye These are ready to dye therefore are only maintained by a renewed strength from God It is the power of God that is engaged in our preservation I might shew in what order we have this from God we are not only kept in general by the power of God through faith unto salvation 1 Pet. 1. 5. but all the persons work The Father his act is Judicial Eph. 3. 14. I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ that he would grant you to be strengthned with might in the inner man He issueth the grant that such souls coming in Christ's name and petitioning relief should obtain it And God the Son hath bought this strength for us and he intercedes for constant supply and therefore it is said Phil. 4. 13. I can do all things through Christ. Christ puts in
teach us to do otherwise we love our selves more than our neighbour and our neighbour more than God out of self-interest we comply with the lusts of men and in complying with the lusts of men make bold with God This wisdom every one that would keep Gods law must learn That we are bound to none so much as to God from whom we have life and breath and all things that none can reward our obedience so surely so largely as God who can bear us out when men fail that none can punish our disobedience so much as God If these considerations were more in our hearts we would not sin so boldly nor serve God so fearfully and cowardly as usually we do nor comply with men to the wrong of our souls We may refuse obedience in a particular instance where we do not refuse subjection 2. That heaven is to be preferred before earth and the salvation of our souls before the interests and concernments of our bodies Mat. 6. 33. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you And whosoever fail in this point of wisdom are very fools Luke 12. 10. But God said unto him Thou fool this night shall thy soul be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided There should be no delays in heavenly matters We busie our selves about other things and defer our care for eternity from day to day but this should be sought before every other thing 3. That present affliction is to be chosen rather than future and temporal rather than eternal A wise man would have the best at last for to fall from happiness is the utmost degree of misery miserum est fuisse beatum And therefore better suffer now with hopes of reward in another world than take pleasure now to endure pains to come 2 Tim. 2. 3. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good souldier of Iesus Christ. It is better do so than to have all our hopes spent Son in thy life time thou receivedst thy good things Luke 16. 25. That which is present is temporal that which is to come is eternal 2 Cor. 4. 18. While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal The good and evil of the present state is soon over Now we stand not upon a short evil so we may compass a great good 4. That things of profit and pleasure must give place to things that belong to godliness vertue and honesty for the bastard good must give place to the true real good Profit and pleasure are but bastard goods They are counted understanding men in the world that make pleasure give way to profit therefore Solomon saith Where there are no oxen the cribb is clean yet there is much gain by the labour of the oxe I am sure he is an understanding man before God that maketh both give way to honesty and godliness for the same reason that will sway us to make pleasure give way to profit will also teach us to make profit give way to the interest of grace as for instance That pleasure is a base thing as being the happiness of beasts so is profit as being the happiness of the children of this world in contradistinction to holiness the perfection of the next The pleasure of sense is only in this life so is worldly gain onely serviceable in our pilgrimage pleasure in the excess destroyeth profit so doth profit destroy grace As the world scorneth a man that hath wasted an estate upon his pleasures so do God and Angels that for the abundance of his wealth maketh havock of a good conscience and neglecteth things to come Godliness is the great gain 1 Tim. 6. 5. 5. That the greatest suffering is to be chosen before the least sin In sufferings the offence is done to us in sin the offence is done to God The evil of suffering is but for a moment the evil of sin for ever in suffering we lose the favour of men in sin we lose the favour of God suffering bringeth inconvenience upon the body sin upon the soul suffering is only evil in our sense sin whether we feel it yea or no It requireth spiritual wisdom and understanding to choose of evils the least as well as of goods the best Moses Heb. 11. 25. chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season 6. That a general good is to be chosen before a particular and that which yieldeth all things rather than that which will yield a limited and particular comfort Riches will avail against poverty and honours against disgrace but godliness is profitable for all things 1 Tim. 4. 8. it will yield righteousness comfort and peace eternal and food and rayment maintenance and eternal life Now these and many such principles must be ingraffed in the heart if we would keep Gods laws The reasonableness of such propositions in the Theory may easily appear but as to practice we are governed by sense and humane passion which judgeth the quite contrary of all this and causes us to make bold with God because afraid of men to follow earthly things with the greatest delight and earnestness and spiritual things in a formal and careless manner to be all for the present and nothing for things to come and to sell the birthright for a mess of pottage to make a wound in our souls to avoid a scratch in our bodies and for a little particular contentment to neglect the things of God 4. Understanding is necessary that we may judg aright of time and place and manner of doing that we may do not only things good but well where to go where to stand still as 't is said they sought of God a right way Isa. 8. 21. And David behaved himself wisely in all that he did 1 Sam. 18. 5. It is for the glory of God and the credit of Religion and the peace of our own souls that we should regard circumstances as well as actions and discern time and judgment that we do not destroy what we would build up Therefore understanding is necessary See further verse the 98th of this Psalm 5. Because our affections answer our understanding If we understand not how can we believe if we believe not how can we love if we love not how can we do Knowledg perswasion affection practice these follow one another where the faculties of the soul are rightly governed and kept in a due subordination Indeed by the fall the order is subverted Tit. 3. 3. serving divers lusts and pleasures Objects strike upon the senses sense moveth the fancy fancy moveth the bodily spirits the bodily spirits move the affections and these blind the mind and lead the will captive But a true understanding makes us more stedfast Now all these
it is for worldly ends they make a market of their devotion as the Sechemites would be Circumcised for then their substance and their Cattel will be ours USE 1. It informs us of the evil of Covetousness Most will stroke it with a gentle censure and say such an one is a good man but a little worldly as if it were no great matter to be so Nay they are apt to applaud those that are tainted with it Psal. 10. 3. He blesseth the covetous whom the Lord abhorreth He that getteth honour and riches by hook and crook is the only prudent and serious man in their account It is a foul sin though the men of the world will not believe it Surely we have too mild thoughts of it therefore do not watch and strive against it The Sensualist shames himself before others but covetousness is worse than Prodigality in many respects as being not occasioned by the distemper of the body as excess of drinking and lust is but by the depravation of the mind and when other sins decay this grows with them it is an incurable dropsie Luk. 12. 15. The words are doubled for the more vehemency Christ doth not only say Take heed but take heed and beware of covetousness Sins that are more gross and sensual are more easily discovered and a sinner sooner reclaimed but this is a secret sin that turns away the heart from God and is uncessantly working in the soul. Look as the Scripture tells you to make you careful against rash anger that it is murder 1 Joh. 3. 15. so to make you careful to avoid covetousness the Scripture tells you 'tis Idolatry and is that a small crime What to set up another God Who are you that dare to harbour so great an evil in your bosom and make no great matter of it Will you dethrone that God which made you and set up another in his stead How can you hope he will be good to you any longer when you offer him so vile an abuse It is Adultery 't is a breach of your conjugal vow You promised to renounce the world in your Baptism and gave up your selves to his service and will you cherish your whorish and disloyal affection that will carry you to the world in Gods stead We cannot think badly enough of such a sin USE 2. If Covetousness be the great lett and hindrance from keeping Gods Testimonies then let us examine our selves are we guilty of it Doting upon the Creature and an inordinate affection to sensible things is a natural an hereditary disease more general than we are aware of Ier. 6. 13. From the least to the greatest every one is given to covetousness It is a relique of Original sin and it is in part in the godly man though it do not bear sway in him there is too much of this worldly wretched inclination in a godly mans heart Nay those that seem most remote from it may be tainted with it A Prodigal that is lavish enough upon his lusts yet he may be sparing to good uses so he is covetous as the rich man that fared deliciously every day yet denied a crum to Lazarus Luk. 16. 19 21. Those that aim at no great matter for themselves that have not ravenous impatient desires yet may be full of envy at the increase of others and vexed to see them flourish it may be they have no ability or opportunity to do any thing for themselves but have an evil eye at the increase of others Most men are more industrious for the world whereas they are overly and slight in Heavenly matters and that 's evidence enough Some are not greedy but they are too sparing They seek not it may be a higher estate but they are too much delighted with present comforts The Gallant that pampers himself and wasts freely upon his pride and lusts may laugh in his sleeve and say I am free from this evil yet his heart desires wherewith to feed his excess and bravery and pride Covetousness may be entertained as a servant where it is not entertained as a master entertained as a servant to provide oil and fuel to make other sins burn Therefore let us see indeed whether we be not guilty of this sin It may be discovered 1 by frequent thoughts which are the genuine issue of the soul and discover the temper of the mind Thoughts either by way of contemplation or contrivance By way of contemplation when our minds only run upon earthly things and that with a savour and sweetness Philip. 3. 19. Minding earthly things What a man doth muse upon most think of when he is alone and speak of in company that will shew him the temper of his heart When men think of the world and speak of the world their heart is where their treasure is Mat. 6. 21. Nay when they cannot disingage themselves from these thoughts in Gods Worship their hearts go away in covetousness Ezek. 33. 31. Or else thoughts by way of contrivance Isa. 32. 7 8. The liberal man deviseth liberal things and the wicked man deviseth wicked devices The deliberations and debates of the soul discover the temper of it A carnal heart is altogether exercised in carnal projects as the rich fool discoursed and dialogized with himself When men are framing endless projects carking and caring not how to grow good and gracious but great and high in the world they discover the spirit of the world And as by thoughts so 2. by burning and urgent desires they are the pulses of the soul as Physicians judg by appetite so may you by desires A spiritual dropsie or an unsatisfied thirst argues a distempered soul when like the Horsleaches daughter you still cry give give and you are never contented but must have more 3. By the course of your lives and actions and the uniformity of your endeavours How shall we know who is the covetous man whom the Lord abhors Luk. 12. 21. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God A man that is always growing in estate and never looks to his soul and to be rich in grace spiritual experiences and rich in good works which is chiefly meant there by being rich towards God A man that seeks not the Kingdom of God in the first place for that which you love best you will seek for you will be most careful and diligent to obtain Well then when you mind Heavenly things by the by and are very slight in seeking and enquiring after God furnishing your souls with grace and getting assured hopes of Heaven and do not spy out advantages for the inward man this evil disposition of the soul hath mightily invaded you and then you can never do God any service USE 3. To press you to take heed of this great sin and if you would mortifie it mortifie the roots of it which are distrust and discontent 1. Distrust of Gods Providence you that think you cannot do well unless you have
Apostle there speaks of the fruit of Christs death being dead unto Sin before he can live to God 1. Peter 2. 24. David first maketh it his Request Turn away mine Eyes then Quicken Many would fain live with Christ but first they must learn to dye unto Sin 'T is impossible for Sin and Grace to live in the same Subject 2. One great means of Mortification is guarding the Senses Eyes and Ears and Tast and Touch that they may not betray the Heart I put it so general because the man of God that is so solicitous about his Eyes would not be careless of his Ears and other Senses We must watch on all sides when an assault is made on all sides if one Gate open it is as good as all were The Senses are the Cinque-Ports by which Sin is let out and taken in The Ingress and Egress of Sin is by the Senses and much of our danger lyeth there partly because there are so many Objects that suit with our Distempers that do by them insinuate themselves into the Soul and therefore things long since seemingly dead will soon revive again and recover Life and strength There is no means to keep the Heart unless we keep the Eye and Partly because in every Creature Satan hath lay'd a Snare for us to steal away our hearts and affections from God Partly because the senses are so ready to receive these objects from without to wound the heart for they are as the Heart is if the heart be Poisoned with Sin and become a Servant to it so are the Senses of our Bodies weapons of unrighteousness Rom. 6. 13. Objects have an impression upon them answerable to the Temper and the affections of the Soul and what it desireth they pitch upon and therefore if we let the Senses wander the Heart will take fire presently and if 〈◊〉 do not stop evil at the beginning but let it alone to take Head we cannot stop it wâ—…n we would nor repress the Motions of it from flying abroad 3. Above all Senses the Eye must be guarded 1. Because it is the noblest Sense given us for high uses There is not only a natural use to inform us of things profitable and hurtful for the outward man but a spiritual use to set before us those objects that may stir us and raise our minds to Heavenly thoughts and Meditations For by beholding the perfection of the Creatures we may admire the more eminent perfection of him that made them Psal. 19. 1. The Heavens declare the glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy Work Psal. 8 3. And when I consider thy Heavens the work of thy Finâ—…s The Moon and the Stars which thou hast ordained David when he walked abroad in a Moon shining night he admires the glory of the Moon and Stars the Moon and Stars are mentioned because it was a night meditation his Heart was set a work by his Eyes Rom. 1. 20. 20. For the invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his Eternal power and God-Head c. The perfection of the Creatures are to draw us to God and their Imperfections and defects to drive us from themselves The Eye as ti 's used will either be a help or a Snare either it will let in the sparks of Temptation or inkindle the fire of true Devotion These are the Windows which God hath placed in the top of the Building that man from thence may Contemplate Gods works and take a Prospect of Heaven the place of our eternal residence Os homini Sublime dedit God made man with an erect Countenance not groveling on the Earth but looking up to Heaven and viewing the glorious Mansions above 2. Because they have a great influence upon the Heart either as to good or evil but chiefly to Evil. In this corrupt state of man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By looking we come to liking and are brought inordinately to affect what we do behold Numb 15. 39. That ye seek not after your own heart and your own Eyes after which ye use to go a Whoring Iob 31. 7. If my step hath turned out of the way and my Heart walked after mine Eyes These are the Spies of the Heart Brokers to bring it and the Temptation together the Eye seeth and then by gazing the Heart lusteth and the Body acteth the transgression 'T is more dangerous to see Evil than to hear it the impression is greater the relation of any thing doth not affect us so much as the Sight of it Those that hear of the fury of wars and fireing of Houses Ravishing of Virgins Killing and wounding of men and the like cannot have so deep a sense of those things as they that see it The sight of Heaven works more than the report of it as in Paul when he had a sight of these things was in an Extasi The Look doth immediately work on the heart Well then it is dangerous to fix the Eye on inticing Objects for it exciteth more than hearsay 3. The eye must be looked to because it hath been the Window by which Satan hath crept in and all manner of Poyson conveyed to the Soul I shall prove it 1. Doctrinally 2. Historically 1. I shall give you Doctrinal assertions The eye hath been the in-let of all Sin as uncleanness 2 Pet. 14. Having eyes full of Adultery and that cannot cease from Sin beguiling unstable Souls c. In the Original 't is Eyes full of the Adulteress and the Eye inkindles impure flames in the Heart Prov. 6. 25. Lust not after her Beauty in thy heart neither let her take thee with her Eye-lids Gazing on the beauty of Women inkindleth foul flames within the Breast and we feel strange transports of Soul when we give way to it The evil heart is in its Element when t is thus Then coveteousness gets into the heart by the eye 1 Ioh. 2. 15. Love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him And therefore the Apostle when he maketh a Division of Sin he saith for all that is in the World the lust of the Flesh the lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life is not of the Father but is of the World Because the mind is so secretly inchanted with the Love of those things it beholds and are represented to it by the external Senses And Eccle. 4. 8. There is no end of all his Labour neither is his Eye satisfied with Riches that insatiable thirst is inkindled in the Soul by beholding the Splendour of outward things it is born and bred and fed by it and the Heart is secretly inchanted with a love to it and therefore we must have more of it Again Drunkenness Prov. 23. 31. Look not thou upon the Wine when it is Red when it giveth its Colour in the Cup when it moveth
or the Infusion of Grace 2. For the renewing the vigour of the life of Grace the renewed Influence of God whereby this Grace is stirred up in our hearts First for Regeneration or the Infusion of Grace Ephes. 2. 1 2. When we were dead in Trespasses and Sins yet now hath he quickned us then we are quickned or made alive to God when we are new born when there is an habitual Principle of Grace put into our hearts Secondly Quickning is put for the renewed excitation of Grace when the life that we have received is carried on to some further increase and so 't is twofold either by way of Comfort in our Afflictions or enlivening in a way of Holiness 1. Comfort in afflictions and so 't is opposed to fainting which is occasioned by too deep a sense of present troubles and distrust of God and the supplies of his Grace when the affliction is heavy upon us we are like Birds dead in the nest and are so overcome that we have no Spirit nor Courage in the service of God Psal. 119. 50. This is my Comfort in affliction for thy word hath quickened me Then we are said to be quickened when he raiseth up our hearts above the trouble by refining our suffering Graces as Faith Hope and Patience Thus he is said to revive the Contrite one Isa. â—…7 15. To restore comfort to us and to refresh us with the Sense of his Love 2. There is a quickening in Duty which is opposed to deadness of Spirit which is apt to creep upon us that is occasioned by Negligence and sloathfulness in the business of the spiritual Life Now to quicken us God exciteth his grace in us An Instrument though never so well in tune soon grows out of Order A Key seldom turned rusts in the Lock so Graces that are not kept a work lose their Exercise and grow Luke-warm or else 't is occasioned by carnal Liberty or intermeddling with worldly things These bring a Brawn and deadness upon the Heart and the Soul is depressed by the cares of this World Luk. 21. 34. Now when you are under this Temper of soul desire the Lord to Quicken you by new influences of Grace 2. Let me shew the necessity of this quickening how needful ' t is 1. 'T is needful for without it our general standing is questionable whether we belong to God or no 1 Pet. 2. 5. Ye are living stones built up into a spiritual House t is not enough to be a stone in Christs building but we must be living Stones not only members of his body but living members I cannot say such a one hath no grace but when they have it not it renders their Condition very questionable a man may be living when he is not lively 2. Without it we cannot perform our Duties aright Religion to a dead heart is a very irkesome thing When we are dead-hearted we do our Duties as if we did them not in our general course of obedience we must go to God Psal. 119. 88. Quicken me after thy loving Kindness so shall I keep the Testimonies of thy Mouth Then we do good to good purpose indeed t is not enough for us to pray but we must pray with life and Vigour Psal. 80. 18. Quicken me and I will call upon thy Name so we should hear with Life not in a dull Careless Fashion Math. 13. 15. 3. All the Graces that are planted in us tend to beget quickening as Faith Hope and Love these are the Graces that set us a work and make us lively in the Exercise of the spiritual Life Faith that works by Love Gall. 5. 6. It sets the Soul a work by apprehending the sense of Gods love whereas otherwise t is but a dead Faith 1 Iam. 2. 16. Then for love what is the Influence of that it constrains the Soul it takes the soul along with it 2 Cor. 5. 14. and Rom. 12. 1. And then hope 't is called a lively Hope 1 Pet. 1. 3. all Grace is put into us to make us Lively not only the Grace of Sanctification but the Grace of Iustification is bestowed upon us for this end that we may be cheerful in Gods service Heb. 9. 14. How much more shall the blood of Christ purge our Consciences from dead works that we may serve the living God Sin and guilt make us dead and heavy hearted but now the blood of Christ is sprinkled upon the Conscience and the sentence of Death taken away then we are made cheerful to serve the living God Attributes are suited to the case in hand he is called the living God because he must be served in a living manner 4. All the Ordinances which God hath appointed are to get and increase this Liveliness in us Wherefore hath God appointed the Word Isa. 55. 3. Hear and your Souls shall live t is to promote the Life of Grace and that we may have new Incouragment to go on in the ways of God Moses when he received the Law is said to receive the lively Oracles of God Acts 7. 38. 10. So the doctrine of Christ they are all Spirit and Life and serve to beget Life in us As the redemption of the world by Christ the joys of Heaven the torments of Hell they are all quickening truths and propounded to us to keep us in Life and Vigour The Lords supper why was that appointed There we come to tast the flesh of Christ who was given for the Life of the world Iohn 6. That we might sensibly exercise our Faith upon Christ that we might be more sensible of our Obligations to him that we might be the more excited in the diligent pursuit of things to come Use 1. Is reproof David considereth the Dulness and Deadness of his Spirit which many do not but go on in a cold Tract of duties and never reguard the frame of their Hearts It is a good sign to observe our spiritual Temper and accordingly go to God Most observe their Bodies but very few their Souls If the body be ill at ease or out of Order they complain presently but love waxeth cold and their Zeal for God and delight in him is abated yet they never lay it to Heart Secondly To exhort us to get and keep this lively frame of heart 1. Get it Pray for it liveliness in obedience doth depend upon Gods Blessing unless he put life and keep life in our Souls all cometh to nothing Come to God upon the account of his Glory Psal. 143. 11. Quicken me O Lord for thy Name sake for thy Righteousness sake bring my Soul out of Trouble His tender Mercies Psal. 119. 156. Great are thy tender Mercies O Lord quicken me according to thy Iudgments Come to him upon the account of Christ Iohn 10. 10. I am come that they might have Life and that they might have it more abundantly And John 7. 38. He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his Belly shall flow Rivers
in general may be applied to this Particular of Reproaches Now what is Gods aim and end in Afflictions in general to try purge and make white Dan. 11. 35. or as it is Deut. 8. 10. To humble thee and prove thee and do thee good at the latter end Let us take that Method here is Gods end First To humble thee Carnal men may shout at Rovers but many times we find our selves pricked at heart Slanders may revive the sense of guilt They may intend harm but you should receive good by this as by every affliction Plutarch in his excellent Treatise of profiting by a mans Enemies illustrates it by this comparison of Iason who had an Imposthume let out by the Dart of his Enemy They may fling Darts at random and intend harm but you shall get good by it Surely there is some special cause when the Lord permits this when Vollies of Reproaches shall follow one after another therefore he suffers others to judge you to awaken you to self-judging mind this and you will be no losers by Reproaches Well enter into your own hearts search them throughly see what it is God aims at whether there be any way of wickedness in you that hitherto you have not discovered and when you come to see this sink of sin then your enemies do but help to humble you Many times the voice of a Slanderer may do that which the voice of a Preacher cannot do And the truth is there is such a wantonness such a presumptuous headiness in the Professors of Religion that the Word cannot reclaim them they are so radicated in certain sins and therefore God will follow you with sharp Reproaches of his Enemies and doth at this time to call you to a more serious judging your selves to see your factious headyness which certainly doth predominate among Gods Professing People There are many sins to which this sharp kind of affliction is proper and therefore God gives out this grievous Dispensation to lay open his People to bitter Reproaches and Slanders I will tell you some of the sins My business is not now to state what is the great sin that God is Judging among his People but to help every one in particular to look to our selves for that I do not conceive to be so fit to be spoken here 1. Pride There is a twofold Pride Pride in mind which is called self-conceit and Pride in Affections which is called vain-glory Now there is no such effectual cure as Reproaches for either of these 1. To speak of the Pride in Mind Self-conceit We are very apt to be puft up for our doing and suffering for God poor empty Bladders are soon puft up and think our selves somebody if there be but a little self-denyal as Peter said Master we have left all and followed thee he was conceited of what he had left for Christ. What had he left a Net a Fisher-boat it was a great All indeed Mat. 19. 27. We are easily puffed up if we suffer a little for God and the Lord Intrencheth us in our Worldly Conveniencies for Self-conceit may grow out of Self-denyal Too too often we find it so Pride is a Sin that grows out of Mortification of other Sins it lives in us while we live in the Body therefore 1 Iohn 2. 16. it is called Pride of Life And some compare it to a shirt that Garment is last put off it is the most inward and nearest to the Soul and out of the Conquest of other sins there ariseth Pride Now if we have been too self-conceited the Lord will humble us either by permitting us to fall into such Scandals as may remember us of our Frailty and what unworthy weak Creatures we are in our selves sometimes by taking off the restraints of his Grace and of his Spirit and permitting us to fall Austin is bold in saying it is profitable for proud men to fall sometimes into open sin that they may know and understand themselves He speaks it upon the occasion of Peter when he was boasting of his own strength though all men leave thee yet will not I how foully did he fall I but at other times God useth a more merciful Dispensation for he doth not let his people fall into those grievous falls but upon great provocation But usually at other times he lets loose the tongues of virulent men to lessen us in our own Opinion and in the Opinion of the World Now how innocent soever we be of the Crimes charged upon us yet in all these cases we must look upward and inward Upward this is not without God he is at the end of causes he could blast these tongues and stay and stop them at his pleasure the Lord can keep us from the strife of tongues Psal. 31. 20. But now when he permits this his hand must be owned look upward Mic. 7. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him At such a time God spits in the faces of his People and puts us to shame and therefore we should look upward and see the hand of God in all this And look inward there you will see such a sink of sin as deserves this and much more and therefore a sense of our sinfulness in other things should make us more submissive to the Lords correcting hand we must see the hand of God for if we do not look to that we will be drawn to sin into reviling for reviling and exasperation for exasperation Many times our Graces do us as much hurt as our sins Self-conceit the Lord will mortify one way or other 2. For Vain-glory the other sort of Pride valuing Esteem too much and our Credit in the World and pleasing our selves in the Opinion others have of us We would usurp Gods Throne and Reign in the hearts of men therefore we are so touchy Having set a high value upon our selves we are troubled when others will not come up to our price Pride is one of the oldest Enemies that ever God had it was born in Heaven in the Breasts of the Fallen Angels but God tumbled them presently out of Heaven assoon as Pride got into the heart Now when his Children harbour it the Lord hath a quarrel with them and therefore for giving entertainment to Pride he will lay us low enough 2 Cor. 12. 7. Lest I should be exalted above measure there was given to me a thorn in the flesh the Messenger of Satan to buffet me There is a great deal of do what this thorn in the flesh is Some will have it to be some trouble or sickness Most probably so but it takes in many afflictive evils for verse 10. he mentioneth Reproaches Paul was too apt to be proud The Lord made him an eminent Instrument by his Faith he had abundance of Revelations But God will prick the Bladder he doth it with Thorns and he calls it his Infirmity Necessities Reproaches Infirmitie by that I mean some reigning sickness But
Trust whatever contrariety appeareth in Gods Providence Gods word must bear up our hearts it is as a Pawn till the Deliverance come Gods mercy is the same still his word calleth for Trust the more we trust and hope in his mercy the better for us Psal. 13. 5. I have trusted in thy mercy my Soul shall rejoyce in thy Salvation Psal. 33. 22. Let thy mercy O Lord be upon us as we hope in thee And Psalm 32. 10. He that trusteth in the Lord Mercy shall compass him about The more clear is your claim when you trust your selves with him he is a merciful God and his word saith he will take care for them that fear him 4. All this trust must be set a work in Prayer so doth David and so saith the Word Psal. 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of Trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie my Name Ier. 29. 11 12. I know the thoughts that I think towards you saith the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end Then shall ye call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you Ezek. 36. 37. Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be enquired of by the House of Israel to do it for them 4. The effectual Application Let thy Mercies come also unto me 1. He beggeth Application unto me also God is every day scattering his Mercies abroad in the world and David would not be left out of Gods Care and blessed Provision but have his share also Esau's words are applicable upon this occasion Gen. 27. 38. Hast thou but one blessing O my Father Bless me even me also When the Earth is full of his goodness beg your share God is the Father of Mercies he hath not the less for bestowing as the Sun hath not less Light for us because others enjoy it with us God doth not wast by giving 2. He beggeth an effectual Application Let thy mercies come unto me the way was blocked up with sins and difficulties yet Mercy could clear all and find access to him or make out its way Let it come to me that is let it be performed or come to pass as it is rendred Iudges 13 12. Now let thy words come to pass to us Heb. Let it come here let it come home to me for my comfort and deliverance David elsewhere saith Psal. 23. 6. Mercy and Goodness shall follow me all my days go after him find him out in his wandrings So Psalm 116. 12. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me They found their way to him though shut up with sins and dangers Thus we see how to plead with God for temporal Salvation we must make Grace and nothing but Grace the ground of our hope and this according to the tenor of the word 2. As it is applicable to eternal Salvation and then 1. The ground of all is mercy or pity of the Creatures misery the Lord is not moved to bestow Grace upon Sinners for any goodness that he findeth in them or could foresee in them for he findeth none and could foresee nothing but what was the fruit of his own Grace Rom. 11. 35. Who hath given him first and it shall be recompensed unto him again It is the honour of God to begin all things as the River oweth all to the Fountain the Fountain nothing to the River as none can give him first so none can be profitable unto him for he needeth nothing Acts 17. 25. Neither is worshipped with mens hands as though he needeth any thing seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things Nay we deserve the contrary to be cast into utter darkness Ezek. 36. 21 22. I do not this for your sakes I had pity for my Names sake which ye have prophaned among the Heathen 1 Pet. 1. 3. Of his abundant goodness he hath begotten us to a lively hope We have not a right notion of mercy unless we admire the plenty of it Eph. 2. 4. God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us when we were dead in trespasses and sins hath quickned us with Christ. There need many mercies from first to last for the saving of a poor sinner their natural misery is great Ezek. 16. 6. When I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood live yea I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood live Their actual Sins many Ier. 14. 7. Our iniquities testifie against us the way of their recovery by Christ is mysterious Iohn 3. 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life The course taken for satisfying wronged Justice the Application involveth many mercies the renewing of their Natures Titus 3. 5. According to his mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost The preserving of inherent Grace against temptations forgiving many sins after Conversion Isa. 55. 7. Let the wicked for sake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon The righteous fall seven times a day and riseth up again Prov. 24. 16. The great eternal good things to be bestowed on them Iude 21. Looking for the mercy of our Lord Iesus Christ unto eternal life So that from first to last there is nothing but a concatenation of mercies 2. The Effect Salvation This properly deserveth to be called so we are saved but in part before then from all evils from the greatest evil Hell before we are saved but we may be troubled again now no more sorrow when all opposition is broken and God is all in all and the Church presented as a prey snatched out of the teeth of Lions all former things are done away 3. This dispensed according to the Word Now what doth the Word say when a sinner repenteth all the Iniquities which he hath committed shall be forgotten there is abuse of Mercy noted Deut. 29. 19. If he shall bless himself and say I shall have Peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart I may go on in sin and cry God mercy and there is an end No Mercy issueth out it self for Salvation of men according to the Word these are Conclusions contrary to Grace Iude 4. There are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation ungodly men turning the Grace of our God into Lasciviousness The Principle is true but the Conclusion is false certainly God is merciful there is no end nor measure nor bank nor bottom in his Mercy but throughout the whole Scriptures Mercy is only promised to the Penitent and those that come to God by Christ. Take mercy according to the Word
Reproacheth me But hath a Child of God nothing to answer to a wicked man before Salvation cometh Answ. Yes A Child of God could answer them of the Principles of Faith But they must have Instances of Sence he could say that his God is in Heaven and doth whatsoever pleaseth that he is the Shield of his Help and Sword of his Excellency Deut. 33. 29. Weapons Offensive and Defensive enough yet left but the business is not what is an Answer in it self but what Answer will satisfie them For they that have no Faith must be taught by Sence When we urge Principles of Faith unless their Senses hear feel see they will not regard them then their mouths are stopped when God doth own his People from Heaven They count Faith a foolish Perswasion Hope a vain Expectation and inward Supports and Comforts Phantastical Impressions as if men did feed themselves with the wind but Gods Salvation would answer for him and some sensible Providences be a real confutation Observe three things 1. The Ground of Davids Comfort I trust in thy Word 2. The Enemies Insultation thereupon intimated in these Words him that Reproached me They scoffed at his Trust in God as if he would not bear him out in his strictness 3. The Request of the Psalmist that God would confute and stop their mouths by making good his Promises to him So shall I have wherewith to answer him Points Doct. 1. It is our Duty to trust God upon his Word Doct. 2. Those that do so must look to be Reproached for it Doct. 3. God making good his Promises confuteth their Reproaches and Insultations Doct. 4. God will therefore make them good and his People may expect and beg Deliverance to that end 1. Doct. It is our Duty to trust God upon his Word The act of Trust is spoken of with respect to a twofold Object the Word and God the one more properly noteth the Warrant of Faith the other the Object both are mentioned together Iohn 17. 20. Neither pray I for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me through their Word In other places sometimes one is mentioned sometimes the other Trusting in God and Trusting in the Word of God but whenever the one is mentioned the other is included to trust in God without his Word is a foolish and groundless Presumption and the Word without God is but a dead Letter it is not the Conveyances meerly that a man liveth upon but the Lands Conveyed by them 1. What is this Trusting in God Answ. An Exercise of Faith whereby looking upon God in Christ through the Promises we depend upon him for whatsoever we stand in need of and so are encouraged to go on chearfully in the ways wherein he hath appointed us to walk It is a fruit of Faith and supposeth it planted in the heart for an Act cannot be without an Habit I suppose a man to have this Grace before I require the Exercise of it And it looketh upon God in Christ as the Fountain of Blessings for otherwise God to the fallen Creature is not an Object of Trust but Horror as the Devils believe and tremble Iames 2. 19. and that may be the reason why the Sons of men are said to put their Trust under the shadow of his Wings Psal. 36 7. How excellent is thy loving-kindness O God therefore the Children of men shall put their trust under the shadow of thy Wings and Psal. 57. 1. My Soul trusteth in thee yea in the shadow of thy Wings will I make my Refuge untill these Calamities be overpast In which there is supposed to be an Allusion not only to the Feathers of of an Hen spread over the Chickens but the out-stretched Wings of the Cherubims over the Mercy Seat which was a Type of Christ who is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Propitiation as also the Mercy Seat Heb. 5. 8. with Rom. 3. 24. Being justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Iesus Christ whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his blood The Mercy Seat or God offering himself to be reconciled in Christ is an open Sanctuary for distressed Souls to fly unto this doth draw our hearts to him through the Promises these are the hold fast which we have upon God the Sacred Bands which he has taken upon himself the Rule and Warrant of Faith which shew how far God is to be trusted Our necessities lead us to the Promises and the Pomises to Christ and Christ to God as the Fountain of Grace and therefore we put these Bonds in Suit we turn them into Prayers and then we have free leave to challenge him upon his Word Psal. 119. 99. Remember thy Word unto thy Servant wherein thou hast caused me to hope Therefore to bear up our hearts God hath not only promised us in the General that he will never fail us nor forsake us Heb. 13. 5. And all things shall mork together for good Rom. 8. 28. That he will be with us in Fire and Water Isa. 43. 20. And that he will be a Sun and a Shield and give us Grace and Glory and no good thing will he withhold Psal. 84. 11. but also in particular hath multiplyed and suited his Promises to all our necessities that when we come to the Throne of Grace we may have a Promise ready A general intimation is not so clear a ground of hope as a particular and express Promise the more of these we have the more explicit are our thoughts about Gods Protection and the more are our hearts fortified and born up in praying to him and waiting upon him Chirographa tua injiciebat tibi Domine whose are these lay up his words in thy heart Iob 22. 22. The more of these the more Arguments in Prayer We depend upon him for all that we stand in need of herein is the Nature of Trust seen in Dependance and Relyance upon God that he will supply our wants in a way most conducible to his Glory and our good Now this depending on God must be done at all times especially in a time of streights and difficulties at all times Psal. 62. 8. Trust in the Lord at all times it is an Act never out of Season but especially in a time of Fears Misery and Distress Psal. 56. 3. At what time I am afraid I will put my trust in thee In Prosperity and Adversity we are to depend upon God and to make use of him in all conditions Psal. 91. 9. Thou shalt make the most high thy Refuge and my God thine Habitation a Refuge is a place of Retreat and Safety in a time of War and an Habitation the place of our Abode in a time of Peace whatever our Condition be our dependance must be on God When all things are prosperous God must be owned as the Fountain of our Blessings all our Comforts taken out of his hand and that we hold all by his Mercy
Apostle of our Profession The Christian Religion is a Confession not a thing to be smothered and kept in secret or confined to the Heart but to be openly brought forth and avowed in Word and Deed to the Glory of Christ If a man should content himself to own God in his heart what would become of the Church of God and all his Ordinances and the Assemblies of his People among whom we make this open Confession 1. This Confession is necessary as well as the inward Belief because God hath required it by an express Law which Law is confirmed by a Sanction of great weight and moment the greatest Promises on the one hand and the greatest Penalties and Threatnings on the other That there is an express Law for Confession besides what hath been said already see 1 Pet. 3. 15. Sanctifie the Lord God of Hosts in your Hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every one that asketh you a Reason of the Hope that is in you with meekness and fear where they are required not only to revere God in their Hearts but to be ready to own him with their mouths and to give a Testimony of him when it should be demanded Yea that sanctifying God in their Hearts is required in order to the Testimony given with their Mouths that having due and awful thoughts of God they may not be ashamed to own him before men Now this is backt with the greatest Promises and on the other side with the severest Threatnings God hath promised no less than Salvation to those that confess him Matth. 10. 33. Whosoever will confess me before Men him will I confess also before my Father which is in Heaven Father this is one of mine he will do them more honour than possibly they can do him and Rom. 10. 10. With the Mouth Confession is made to Salvation Salvi esse non possumus saith Austin nisi ad salutem proximorum etiam ore profiteamur Fidem We cannot be Saved unless we profess the Faith that we have On the other side the neglect of Profession either out of Shame or Fear is threatned with the greatest penalties Mark 8. 38. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my Words in this adulterous and sinful Generation of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the Glory of his Father with his Glorious Angels Then when all shadows flee away and we would crouch for a little favour that Christ should be ashamed of us these were Christians but cowardly and dastardly ones I cannot own them to be of my Flock and Kingdom Oh how will our faces gather blackness the same is Luke 9. 26. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my Words of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he shall come in his own Glory and in his Fathers and of the holy Angels So for Fear 2 Tim. 2. 11. If we suffer we shall also Reign with him if we deny him he will deny us So that you see it is not a matter of small moment whether we confess or no but a thing expresly enjoyned by God and that upon Terms of Life and Death 2. This Confession is of great use as conducing much to the Glory of God and the good of others 1. The Glory of God which should be the great scope and end of our Lives and Actions is much concerned in our confessing or not confessing what we believe When we boldly avow the truth it is a sign we are not ashamed of our Master Phil. 1. 20. According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but that with all boldness as always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my Body whether it be by Life or by Death Ministry or Martyrdom he calls this a magnifying of Christ whereas flinching concealing halfing the Truth denying Confession it is called a being ashamed of Christ Luke 9. 26. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words as if his Name were a thing base unworthy not to be owned 2. The Good of others and their Edification is concerned in our confessing or not confessing No man is born for himself and therefore is not only to work out his own salvation but as much as in him lieth to procure the salvation of others and to bring God and his Truth into request with them therefore not only to believe with the heart that concerneth himself but to confess with the mouth that concerneth the good of others when we own the Truth though it cost us dear that tendeth to the furtherance of the Gospel Phil. 1. 12. 13. For I would ye should understand Brethren that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel so that my Bonds in Christ are manifest in all the Palace and in all other places c. But when we dissemble that is a scandal and a stumbling block to others whom we justifie and harden in a false way as Peter fearing them of the Circumcision dissembled and the Iews dissembled with him insomuch that Barnabas was carried away with their Dissimulation Gal. 2. 12 13. Men of publick Fame and Favour when they are not men of courage and of self-denying Spirits their temporizing may do a great deal of hurt and like a Torrent or Stream carry others with them Oh! let us beware of this Zuinglius saith Ad aras Iovis Veneris adorare sub Antichristo fidem occultare idem est As well worship before the Altars of Jupiter and Venus as hide our Faith under Antichrist Fear and weakness excuseth not the Fearful and Unbelieving are put with Murderers and Sorcerers and Idolaters and sent together to the Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone Revel 21. 8. Use 1. To reprove them that think it to be enough to own the Truth in their Hearts without confessing it with their Mouths This Libertinism prevailed at Corinth where they thought they might be present at Idols Feasts as long as in their Consciences they knew that an Idol was nothing The Apostle argueth against them 2 Cor. 6. and concludes his Argument thus 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having therefore these Promises dearly Beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit To pretend to serve God in my heart whosoever thinks so mocketh God and deceiveth himself he that warreth with the Enemies of his Prince and is as forward in Battel as any of the rest can he say I reserve the King my Heart and Affections Or when a woman prostituteth her Body to another will the Husband be content with such an Excuse that she reserveth her Heart for him God is not a God of half of a man he made the whole Body and Soul and will be served with both he bought both 1 Cor. 6. 20. Ye are bought with a price therefore Glorifie God in your Body and in your Spirits which are Gods Therefore you should not only
Deceivers by some yet owned by others as Faithfull Dispensers of the Truth of God not esteemed and looked on by some by others owned and valued thus God dispenseth the lot of his Servants 8. A Christian should be satisfied in the Approbation of God and the Honour He puts upon him Iohn 5. 44. How can ye believe that receive honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh from God onely If God hath taken him into his Family and hath put his Image upon him and admitted him into present Communion with him and giveth him the Testimony of his Spirit to assure him of his Adoption here and will hereafter receive him into Eternal Glory this is enough and more then enough to counterballance all the Scorn of the World and the disgrace they would put upon us If God approve us should we be dejected at the Scorn of a Fool is the Approbation of the Eternal God so small in our Eyes that every thing can weigh it down and cast the ballance with us Alas their scorning and dishonouring is nothing to the honour which God puts upon us 9. There is a time when the promised Crown shall be set upon our Heads and who will be ashamed then the Scoffer or the Serious Worshipper of Christ God is resolved to honour Christ's Faithfull Servants Iohn 12. 26. He that honoureth me him shall my Father honour He will honour us at Death that is our private entrance into Heaven but he will much more honour us more publickly at the day of Judgment when we shall be owned Rev. 3. 5. I will confess his name before my Father and before his Angels and Christ shall be admired for the glory he puts upon a poor Worm 2 Thess. 1. 10. when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe The Wicked shall be reckoned with called to an account by Christ Iude 14 15. The Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints to execute Iudgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against them yea judged by the Saints 1 Cor. 6. 2. Do ye not know that the Saints shall judge the world Psal. 49. 14. The upright shall have Dominion over them in the morning That is in the Morning of the Resurrection the Saints shall be assumed by God to assist in Judicature and shall arise in a glorious manner when the Earth shall give up her dead If this be not enough for us to counterballance the Scorn of the World we are not Christians Use. It is to perswade us to hold on our Course notwithstanding all the Scorns and Reproaches which are cast upon the despised wayes of God Now to this end I shall give you some Directions 1. Be sure that you are in God's Way and that you have his Law to justify your Practice and that you do not make his Religion ridiculous by putting his glorious Name upon any foolish Fancies of your own A man that differs from the rest of Christians had need of a very clear Light that he may honour so much of Christianity as is owned and may be able to vindicate his own particular way wherein he is ingaged The World is loth to own any thing of God and needless dissents justify their Prejudice I know a Christian is not infallible besides his general godly Course he may have his particular Slips and Errours yet because the World is apt to take Prejudice we should not but upon the constraining evidence of Conscience enter upon any wayes of Dissent or Contest lest we justify their general hatred of Godliness by our particular Errour 2. Take up the Ways of God without a Bias and look straight forward in a Course of Godliness Prov. 4. 25. Let thine eyes look right on and thine eye-lids straight before thee That is look not asquint upon any Secular incouragements but have thine Eye to the end of the Journey make God as thy Witness so thy Master and Judge 3. Take heed of the first Declinings God's Saints may decline somewhat in an hour of Temptation and yet be sincere in the main Now Evil is best stopped in the beginning Heb. 12. 3. Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners lest ye be weary and faint in your mind Weariness is a lesser and Fainting an higher degree of Deficiency I am weary before I faint before the vital power retireth and leaveth the outward part senseless 4. Since the Proud scoff encounter Pride with Humility Mocking is far more grievous to the Proud who stand upon their Honour then to the Lowly and Humble Therefore be not too desirous of the applause of Men especially of the blind and ungodly World make no great matter of their Contempt and Scorn or Slander SERMON LVIII PSAL. CXIX 52. I have remembred thy Iudgments of old O Lord and have comforted my self THE Man of God had complained in the former Verse that the Proud had him greatly in Derision his help against that Temptation is recorded in this Verse where observe 1. David 's Practice I have remembred thy Iudgments of old 2. The Effect of that Meditation and have comforted my self The Explication will be by answering two Questions 1. What is meant by Mishphatim Iudgments The word is used in Scripture either for Laws enacted or Judgments executed according to those Laws The one may be called the Judgments of his Mouth as Psam 105. 5. Remember the marvellous works that he hath done his wonders and the Iudgments of his Mouth the other the Judgments of his Hand As both will bear the name of Judgments so both may be said to be of old His Decrees and Statutes which have an eternal equity in them and were graven upon the heart of Man in Innocency may well be said to be of old and because from the beginning of the World God hath been punishing the Wicked and delivering the Godly in due time his Judiciary Dispensations may be said to be so also The matter is not much whether we interpret it of either his Statutes or Decrees for they both contain matter of Comfort and we may see the ruine of the Wicked in the Word if we see it not in Providence Yet I rather interpret it of those Righteous Acts recorded in Scripture which God as a just Judge hath executed in all Ages according to the Promises and Threatnings annexed to his Laws Onely in that sense I must note to you Judgments imply his Mercies in the Deliverance of his Righteous Servants as well as his Punishments on the Wicked The seasonable interpositions of his Relief for the one in their greatest Distresses as well as his just Vengeance on the other notwithstanding their highest Prosperities 2. What is meant by Comfort Comfort is the strengthening the Heart against Evil when either 1. Faith is
and slender Obedience that we yield to his Law should have such respect and acceptance with him as to be recompenced with so much Peace and Comfort and Protection and so many Blessings Lord what am I and what is my Fathers House Oh what a good Master have we When the Saints are Crowned they cast their Crowns at the Lambs Feet Revel 4. 10. We hold all by his Mercy Luke 17. 10. When we have done all we are unprofitable Servants not in complyment but in truth of heart we are unprofitable Servants That God should respect us 't is not for the dignity of the Work but merely for his own Grace 2. 'T is of use that we may justify God against the Reproaches and Prejudices of carnal Men who think God is indifferent to Good and Evil and that all things come alike to all that 't is in vain to be strict and precise that there is no Reward to the Good Mal. 3. 14. 'T is in vain to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his Ordinances Yea the Temptation may befall God's own Children and be forcibly born in upon their Hearts Psal. 73. 13. Verily I have cleansed my hands in vain We think all is lost labour Now to produce the sweet Consolations of God and his temporal Supplies and the manifold Blessings bestowed upon us 't is a good stay to our Hearts and inables us to justify God against the Scorns and Reproaches of the World 3. 'T is of use of check our Murmurings If we indure any thing for God we are apt to repine and pitch upon that evil we receive from his hand passing over the good A little evil like one Humour out of order or one Member out of joint disturbeth the whole Body so we by poring upon the evil we endure pass over all his other Bounty Mal. 1. 2. Wherein hast thou loved us God cannot indure to have his Love suspected or undervalued and yet People are apt to doe so when Dispensations are any thing cross to their desires and expectations But now 't is a great check to consider that if we have our Troubles we have also our Consolations and we should rather look upon the good that cometh to us in pleasing God than the temporal and light Afflictions we meet withall in his Service Iob 2. 10. Shall we receive good at the hands of God and not evil 4. 'T is an encouragement to us in well-doing the more proofs and tokens we have of his Supportation We are wrought upon by the Senses as Ier. 2. 19. Thine own wickedness shall correct thee and thy backslidings reprove thee see what an evil and bitter thing it is to forsake the Lord and 23 verse See thy way in the valley and know what thou hast done As Parents when their Children smart for eating raw diet they upbraid them with it It is for eating your green Fruit So doth the Lord come to his People Now you see the evil of your doings So on the contrary it doth ingage us to strict walking to see how God owneth it So doth God appeal to us by experience Have I been a Land of darkness to you or a barren Wilderness Jer. 2. 31. And Micah 2. 7. Do not my Words doe good to them that walk uprightly Look about you survey all your Comforts did Sin procure these Mercies or Godliness have you not found sensible benefit by being sincere in my Service Object But is this safe to ascribe the Comfort and Blessings that we have to our own Obedience is it not expresly forbidden Deut. 9. 4. Say not in thy heart for my righteousness hath the Lord brought me to possess the Land Answ. 1. David doth not boast of his Merits but observeth God's Mercy and Faithfulness in the fruits of Obedience There is his Mercy in appointing a Reward for such slender Services Gal. 6. 16. As many as walk according to this Rule peace and mercy be upon them All the Comfort we have is from Mercy yea undeserved Mercy Those that walk according to this Rule stand in need of Mercy Their Peace and Comfort floweth from Mercy they need mercy to cover the failings they are conscious to in their walkings And then consider his Truth and Faithfulness the Reward of well-doing cometh not by the worthiness of the Work but by virtue of God's Promise His Word doth good to them that walke uprightly Micah 2. 7. God hath made himself a debtor by his Promise and oweth us no thanks for what we can doe 't is onely his gracious Promise Answ. 2. David speaketh not this to vaunt it above other men but to commend Obedience and to incourage himself and invite others by remembring the Fruits of it There is a great deale of difference between carnal boasting and gracious observation Carnal boasting is when we vaunt of our personal worth gracious observation is when for God's Glory and our Profit we observe the fruits of Obedience and the Benefits it bringeth along with it That God never gave us cause to leave but to commend his Service and by what we have found to invite others to come and taste that the Lord is gracious The Use is to incourage us in the Wayes of the Lord and keeping of his Precepts 't is no unprofitable thing before we have done we shall be able to say This I had because I kept thy Precepts Two things God usually bestoweth upon his People a tolerable passage through the World and a comfortable going out of the World which is all a Christian needeth to take care for here is onely the place of his Service not of his Rest. 1. He shall have a tolerable passage through the World A Child of God may have a hard toilsome Life of it but he hath his mixtures of Comfort in his deepest Afflictions he hath peace with God that keeps his Heart and Mind and this maketh his passage through the World tolerable because God is ingaged with him 1 Cor. 10. 13. Faithfull is he that hath called you who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able to bear He is freed from Wrath and hath his discharge from the Curse of the Old Covenant he is taken into favour with God and hath as much of temporal Reliefe as is necessary for him his Condition is made comfortable to him 2. A comfortable passing out of the World Isa. 38. 3. Remember O Lord saith Hezekiah I have walked before thee with an upright heart When you lie upon your Death-beds and in a dying hour how comfortable will this be the remembrance of a well-spent and well-imployed Life in God's Service They that wonder at the zeal and niceness of God's Children when they are entring into the other World they cry out then oh that they had been more exact and watchfull oh that they might die the death of the Righteous They should live so Men then have other Notions of Holiness than ever they had before
that 's no fault of our Portion but the defect of our Capacity Though we have not that fulness that we shall have hereafter yet we have it initially Here we have the First-fruits have it virtually hope and look for it there is something begun in the Soul that will increase towards this Satisfaction certainly this is a Portion that can alone be possest with Content God is satisfied with himself and sufficient to his own Happiness therefore surely there is enough in him to fill the Creature That which fills an Ocean will fill a Bucket that which will fill a Gallon will fill a Pint those Revenues that will defray an Emperours Expences are enough for a Beggar or Poor man So when the Lord himself is satisfied with himself and it is his happiness to enjoy himself there needs no more there is enough in God to satisfy If our desires run out after other things they are desires not to be satisfied but to be mortified If we hunger after other Contentments they are like feverish desires not to be satisfied but to be abated in the Soul for he that fills all things hath enough to fill up our Hearts Sixthly Complacency and Delight That which a Man would take pleasure in there where he may have abundant matter of rejoycing and Delight this a Man would choose for his Portion Now in God he hath the truest and sincerest Delight This is matter of rejoycing as David saith Psal. 16. 7. The Lord is my Portion what then I have a goodly Heritage here 's that which will revive and refresh my Heart enough There is no rejoycing that is sincere but this As the Discomforts of the New Creature are more real than all other Discomforts and pierce deeper a wounded Spirit who can bear so the Joyes of the New Creature none goe so deep Psal. 4. 6. Thou hast put more gladness into my heart c. Others do but tickle the Senses a little refresh the outward Man please the more bruitish part but this the Heart And this is such a joy as can be better felt than uttered 2 Pet. 1. 8. It is unspeakable and none can know the strength and sweetness of it till it be felt a Stranger cannot conceive it doth not intermeddle with his joy Prov. 14. 10. One drop of this is more than an Ocean of carnal Pleasure When we have other things without God we can never be serious Take the merriest Blades in the World and dig them to the bottom still there is something of sadness and remorse that doth sowre all their Content Conscience is secretly repining and ready to imbitter their Joy Though men strive to bear it down yet it 's ever returning upon them therefore they cannot be truly chearfull The most jolly Sinners have their Pangs that take off the edge of their Bravery Carnal Rejoycing makes a great noise like Thorns under a Pot but it 's but a blaze and gone But this is a solid Joy and Comfort wherewith a Man may look death in the face with chearfulness and think of the World to come and not be sad Alas a little thing puts the merriest Sinner into the Stocks of Conscience He that makes it his business to adde one Pleasure to another and spend his days in vanity how soon is his Mirth removed Therefore if a Man would choose a Portion to have Joy at the higest Rate he should choose God for his Portion II. How comes a godly Man to look upon God under this Notion that no less will content him but God himself why he hath another apprehension and another manner of heart to close with him than carnal Men his Understanding is inlightned and his Heart inclined by Grace 1. He sees more into the worth of Spiritual and Heavenly Things He hath Faith which is the Evidence of things not seen of things that do not lie under the judgment of Sense and present Reason he can spy things under a Vail and his eyes are opened to see what is the Riches of the glory of his Inheritance in the Saints Eph. 1. 17 18. and therefore he is convinced of the fullness and sufficiency that is in God and the emptiness and straitness that is in the Creature God hath given him Counsel his Reins instruct him Psal. 16. 7. All by Nature are blind ignorant apt to dote upon the Creature but by Grace their eyes are opened that they have another manner of discerning that they do not see things onely by discourse but their Hearts are affected Others may discourse but they have not this divine Light and spiritual Understanding by which spiritual Things may be discerned as matters of Opinion they may but not as matters of Choice A carnal Man may argue out with Reason the Worth and Excellency of God but he hath not a refined Apprehension and perswasive Counsel which is in God's People 2. Their Hearts are inclined to choose him for their Portion They do not onely see an alluring worth in the Object but there 's an attracting Vertue by which the Heart is drawn in to God Iohn 6. 44. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him The great Article of the Covenant of Grace is to take God for our God Now all the Articles of the New Covenant are not onely Precepts â—…ut Promises The conditions of the Covenant are conditions in the Covenant God gives what he requires And therefore as the great Article of the Covenant is to take God for our God so the great Blessing of the Covenant is to have a new Heart or a new placing of our Desires and Affections Sin lieth in a Conversion from God to the Creature Grace in turning us to God again The Change is mainly seen in fixing our chiefest Good and our last End God gives his People a Heart to close with him and accept of him as their Portion to fix upon him as their chiefest Good and their last End Use 1. To reprove them that do not take God for their Portion Godly Men must have God himself they prefer him above all and saving Grace above other Benefits Psal. 4. 6 7. There 's the dispositions of the Godly and the Carnal The many say who will shew us any good but Lord lift up the Light of thy Countenance upon us A carnal Man is for Good in common any Good but not for the Light of God's Countenance nothing will satisfy the Saints but the Light of God's Countenance they prefer him above his Gifts and among his Gifts they prefer saving Graces and renewing Mercies such as begin and confirm them in their Union with God in Christ. But carnal Men go no further than the World they choose not God but his Gifts and among these not the best but the common sort such as suite with the Appetite of the fleshly Nature and the more brutish part of these Riches Pleasures and Honours and these too not as coming from God but as
coming to them by chance They not onely say good in general but who will shew me c. As they look after uncertain Blessings so they look after an uncertain Authour as they fall out in the course of second Causes if they have these they bless their Hearts and content themselves To convince these Men of the baseness of their Choice and make them bethink themselves their Choice is part of their punishment There cannot be a greater Punishment than that they should have what they choose that they should be written in the Earth Ierem. 17. they shall have this and no more That God should say to them Silver and Gold you shall have but in this matter no Lot nor Portion Act. 8. Their Bellies shall be filled with hid Treasure they shall have gorgeous Apparel dainty Fare Substance enough to leave to their Babes but be deprived of Heaven It 's the greatest Misery that can be to be condemned to this kind of Happiness That we should thus degrade our selves and sit upon the Threshold when they might sit upon the Throne and lick onely the dust of his Footstool But wicked Men will not be sensible of this now but one day they shall of the Misery of this their foolish Choice at death usually Ier. 17. 11. At his latter end he shall be a fool Then his Heart will rave against him O Fool Mad-man that thou wert not as carefull to get the Favour of God as to get this worldly Pelf when he must goe into another World and he is launching out into the great gulph of Eternity And in Hell they will be sensible Luke 16. 25. Son remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things c. The Conscience of their foolish Choice is a part of their Torment when their Heart shall return upon them and say This was because thou wouldst look after temporal Things when Snares and Brimstone and an horrible Tempest is poured out upon them what Thoughts have they of their Portion when they are cast out with the Devil and demned Spirits Carnal Men think the difference between them and others will ever hold out when they glitter in the World O but the time is coming when Death will undeceive them And at the day of Judgment they will be sensible of it when they shall be refused as the Out-casts of the World and when the Saints shall have their Portion when the Lord shall take the Godly to himself receive them into his Bosome and welcome them to Heaven and call them to his Right hand and they shall be banished out of his presence with a goe ye cursed when they shall become the loathing of God the scorn of Angels and blessed Spirits when it shall be said as in Psal. 52. 7. Lo this is the man that made not God his strength but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthned himself in his wickedness O then how will Conscience return upon the wretchedness and folly of their Hearts and be exercised upon it this will vex and gaul them in Hell with anxious thoughts of it to all Eternity As by the fire that never shall be quenched is signified the Wrath of God so by the Worm that never dies the violent working of Conscience upon the folly of choosing perishing Vanities Use 2. It exhorts us to this necessary Duty to choose God for our Portion It is not a slight thing but that upon which your eternal Happiness doth depend it 's the fundamental Article of the Covenant of Grace and the Question God puts you to is whether you will choose him for your Portion therefore he begins the Commandments with this Thou shalt have no other Gods before me God is not your God unless he be set uppermost in your Souls he cannot be your Portion unless he be your chiefest Good There is no possibility of entring into Covenaâ—…t with God unless you subscribe to this main Article Again as 't is a very necessary Work so 't is an Evidence and Fruit of God's Election if a Man would come to know the Thoughts of God concerning him before all the World what his Destiny is God's Election or Choosing of you is manifested by your Election or your choosing of God for all God's Works leave an Impression upon the Creature he chooseth us that we might choose him I will say you are my People and you shall say I am your God Again you must have something for your Portion There 's no Man hath a sufficiency in himself The Soul is like a Spunge always thirsting and seeking of something from without to be filled a Chaos of Desires Man was made to live in dependance Now of all Portions in the World there is none worth the having but God himself nothing else can make you compleatly blessed and satisfy all the Necessities and all the Capacities of Soul and Body When you have outward things what have you for your Conscience If these things could fill up your Affections they bear no proportion with Conscience your Sore will run upon you and your inward Griefs will not be cured But this is such a Portion that besides internal Grace there shall be a competent measure of outward things God will provide for you Psal. 23. 1. The Lord is my Shepherd what then I shall not want This Interest will give you temporal Things and the Comforts of this Life so that you have the Fountain of all other Mercies While others do but drink of the Streams and of Streams where they are muddy where they partake of the Soile through which they run you goe to the clear Fountain Alas others do but pluck the Leaves and Flowers but you have the Fruits and very Root it self the perpetual Fountain and Well-spring of Comfort and Root of all the blessedness the Heart can wish for Again all other Comforts grow upon this Interest and when all other things are lost this can supply you again All worldly Things when we have them yet they have not a Root but you have the Root so that when other things faile this will yield you all manner of Supplies Yea this is that which seasons and makes all other things comfortable when we have them and the Love of God with them This Man of God had a Kingdom and a great deale of Wealth he was a Victorious King as we may see by his Offering 1 Chron. 29. what Cart-loads of Gold and Silver he offers to God yet in the midst of all this fulness he saith Thou art my Portion Other Portions may turn to a Man's hurt as they are occasions of Sin as they expose to Envy and Danger many a man is undone both here and hereafter by making the Creature his Portion but never any man was undone by making God his Portion It was the end of our Creation God passing by all other Creatures set his Heart upon Man He made all things for Man and Man for himself All other things were
or a serious searching and inquiring in what Condition we are before God This is necessary to Conversion and turning to the Lord Lam. 3. 40. Let us search and try our ways and turn unto the Lord. There needeth a serious calling our selves to an account or a strict view and survey of our former Courses if we would amend what is amiss in them and still as we renew our Repentance this Course must we take 2. As it relateth to present Actions or the Ways wherein we are to walk so it implieth prudent Consideration before we doe any thing let us see our Warrant that we may doe nothing but what is agreeable to God's Word Prov. 4. 26 27. Ponder the paths of thy Feet and let all thy Ways be established Turn not to the right hand or to the left remove thy foot from evil We have a narrow Line to walk by but a foot of Ground to go upon and therefore we should not walk at hap-hazzard but with much exactness Eph. 5. 15. See that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise therefore we need to weigh all our Actions in the ballance of the Sanctuary that if any thing displease God we may avoide it The Conscience of our weakness and the strictness of our Rule should make us take the better heed to our selves 3. With respect to the Tendency and Issues of things and so it noteth Fore consideration or Deliberation in order to Choice God biddeth his People stand upon the ways and see and enquire after the old paths which is the good way and walk therein Jer. 6. 16. As Travellers when they are at a loss or in doubt of their way seeing divers paths before them are carefull to informe themselves aright that they may take the next readiest and best way for their Journeys end An awakened Conscience is like Hercules in Bivio there are two ways present themselves the way of Sin and Flesh-pleasing and the way of God's Commandments or as it is Matth. 7. 13 14. the broad way and the narrow way the broad way of Sin seemeth pleasant and inticing but it leadeth to death the narrow way is rough and craggy troublesome to Flesh and Bloud but the end is Life and Peace Now the Soul debateth upon the Choice which of these is better by weighing the loss and gain on either side and the final Issue and Tendency of both these ways or rather the awakened Soul â—…s in the case of a Man that is yet to choose or like a Man that is out of the way and wants his usual marks he bethinketh himself if I go on in this broad beaten roade of Corruption I am sure to go down to the Chambers of Death and perish evermore Oh but let me make a stop it is better to take God's Direction than the way of mine own Heart it is a way that will undoe me for ever hitherto I have gone awry how shall I doe to get into the right way I would be happy and this Course will never make me so surely it is better to take God's Counsel than to please the Flesh. No Course will satisfy Conscience no Course will make you happy but a Life led according to the Word of God Thus you see it implieth 1. An examination of our past Course or a looking into our own Estate 2. A carefull watch over future Actions 3. A consideration of the issue and event of things I have viewed my life past I have been wrong and I see it will be bitterness in the issue therefore I purpose to give up my self to a course of Obedience and therefore to consider well of my Actions for the future Now this is a Work that is not once to be done but always As often as we look to our selves we shall finde something that needeth amendment and therefore we need to press the Heart with new and pregnant thoughts to minde our Duty and to use constant Caution and taking heed to our ways that we may not goe wrong Psal. 39. 1. Thus did David to keep his Heart right I thought on my ways 2. The Objects of this consideration or the things that must be considered that may be gathered out of the former discourse But 1. Who made thee Eccl. 12. 1. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth It is a great advantage to call to mind whose Creatures we are for this will shame us that we have done no more than we have done for Him from whom we have all that we have and this in Youth when the effects of this creating bounty are most fresh upon our Senses in good earnest consider who was it that made thee a reasonable Creature Not a Stone and without Life nor a Plant and without Sense nor a Beast and without Reason but a Man with Reason and Understanding and Will and Affections that thou mayst know him and love him and enjoy him And hast thou never thought of the God that made thee Art thou of those Hair-brain'd Fools that goe on rashly in a course of Sin and God is not in all their thoughts Psalm 10. 4. How canst thou look upon the Body without thoughts of him whose workmanship it is or think of thy Soul without thinking of God whose Image and Superscription it bears and without whom thou canst not so much as think shall it be troublesome to thee to have frequent thoughts of God when thou canst go musing of Vanity all the day long shall every trifle find a room in thy Heart when God findeth no room there He is not far from every one of us Acts 17. 27. but we are far from him He is before thee behind thee round about thee yea within thee or else thou couldst not keep thy Breath in thy Body for a moment and wilt thou not then take some time to season thy Heart with thoughts of God the first miscarriage of Men came from this Rom. 1. 28. They liked not to retain God in their Knowledge thoughts of God and right opinions of God were a burthen to them and therefore they gave up themselves to an ungodly Course and evil State of Mind And wilt thou put such a scorn and contempt upon thy Creatour as never seriously to think of him yea when thoughts of God rush in upon thy Mind to turn them out as unwelcome Guests this is to degenerate into the State of Devils a part of whose torment it is to think of God they believe and tremble the more explicite thoughts they have of the Name of God the more is their Horrour increased Oh then let thy Meditations of God be sweet and serious Psalm 104. 34. Every thing that passeth before thine eyes proclaim an invisible God an Infinite and Eternal Power that made thee and all things else shall the Heavens above the Earth beneath thee say Remember God and every Creature every pile of Grass thou treadest upon call to thee Remember God and wilt thou be so
with fear and trembling In the time of our sojourning here we meet with many Temptations Baits without are many and the Flesh within us is importunate to be pleased and our account at the end of the Journey is very exact 1 Pet. 1. 17. And if ye call on the Father who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work pass the time of your sojourning here in fear A false Heart is apt to betray us and the entertainments of sense to intice and corrupt us and we are assaulted on every side and Salvation and eternal Happiness is the thing in chase and pursuit if we come short of it we are undone for ever Heb. 4. 1. Having a promise of rest left with us let us fear lest we come short of it There is no mending Errours in the other World there we shall be convinced of our mistakes to our Confusion but not to our Conversion and Salvation II. The influence it hath upon keeping God's Precepts 1. In general this is one demonstration of it that the most eminent Servants of God have been commended for their Fear of God Iob cap. 1. 1. is said to be a man perfect and upright one that feared God and eschewed evil He had a true Godliness or a filial awe of God which kept him from Sin and the Temptations whereby it might insinuate it self into his Soul So Obadia Ahabs Steward is described to be a man that feared God greatly 1 Kings 18. 3. and of one Hananiah it is said Nehem. 7. 2. that he feared God greatly above many others Men are more holy as the Fear of God doth more prevail in their hearts their tenderness both in avoiding and repenting of Sin increaseth according as they entertain the awe and fear of God in their hearts and here is the rise and fountain of all circumspect Walking As the Stream is dryed up that wanteth a Fountain so Godliness ceaseth as the Fear of God abateth 2. More particularly 1. It is the great pull-back and constant preservative of the Soul against Sin As the Beasts are contained in their subjection and obedience to Man by the fear that is upon them Gen. 7. 2. The dread of you shall be upon every Beast of the earth that they shall not hurt you So the Fear of God is upon us Exod. 20. 20. God is come to prove you that his fear may be before your faces that ye sin not Ioseph is an instance Gen. 39. 9. How can I doe this great wickedness and sin against God Abraham could promise himself little security in a place where no Fear of God was Gen. 20. 11. I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place and they will slay me for my Wifes sake Therefore Prov. 23. 17. be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long 2. It is the great excitement to Obedience 1. Duties of Religion will not reverently and seriously be performed unless there be a deep awe of God upon our Souls God will be sanctified in all that draw nigh unto him Lev. 10. 3. Now what is it to sanctify God in our hearts but to fear his Majesty and Greatness and Goodness Isa. 8. 13. Sanctify the Lord God of Hosts in your hearts and make him your Fear Therefore David desireth God to call in his stragling Thoughts and scattered Affections Psal. 86. 11. Unite my heart to the fear of thy Name so the serious Worshippers are described to be those that desire to fear his Name Nehem. 1. 11. 2. Duties towards Men will not be regarded in all times and places unless the Fear of God bear rule in our hearts As Servants when their Masters are absent neglect their work Col. 3. 22. Servants obey in all things your Masters according to the flesh not with eye service as men pleasers but in singleness of heart fearing God A Christian is alike every where because God is alike every where He that feareth God needeth no other Theatre than his own Conscience nor other Spectatours than God and his holy Angels So to hinder us from contriving mischief in secret when others are not aware of it Levit. 19. 14. Thou shalt not curse the deaf man nor lay a stumbling block before the blind but shalt fear the Lord thy God The deaf hear not the blind seeth not but God seeth and heareth and that is enough to a gracious heart to bridle us when it is in our power to hurt others As Ioseph assureth his Brethren he would be just to them for I fear God Gen. 42. 18. Nehemiah did not convert the publick Treasures to his private use Nehem. 5. 15. so did not I for I fear God This grace when it is hazardous to be faithfull to men makes us to slight the danger Exod. 1. 17. The Midwives feared God and did not as the King of Egypt commanded them that kept them from obeying that cruel edict to their own hazard Neither hope of gain nor fear of loss can prevail where men fear God 3. It breedeth Zeal and Diligence in the great and general business of our Salvation and maketh us more carefull to approve our selves unto God in our whole course that we may be accepted of him 2 Cor. 7. 1. perfecting holiness in the fear of God God is a great God and will not be put off with any thing or served with a little Religiousness by the bie but with more than ordinary Care and Zeal and Diligence Now what inclineth us to this but the Fear of God or a Reverence of his Majesty and Goodness So Phil. 2. 12. Let us work out our Salvation with fear and trembling Salvation is not to be looked after between sleeping and waking no it requireth our greatest Attention as having a sense of the weightiness of the work upon our hearts The Use is to press to two things 1. To fear God 2. To keep his Precepts if we would come under the character of his People 1. To fear God Be not prejudiced against this Grace it is generally looked upon as a left-handed Grace 1. It is not contrary to our Blessedness Prov. 28. 14. Blessed is he that feareth always It doth not infringe the happiness of our Lives to be always in God's company mindfull of our Duty to him The Angels in Heaven always behold the Face of our Heavenly Father and in that Vision their supream Happiness consists There is a Fear of Angels and a Fear of Devils The Angels ever fear and reverence God the Devils believe and tremble the Angel's Fear is Reverence the Devil's Fear is Torment God doth not require that we should always perplex our selves with Terrours and Scruples that were a Torture not a Blessedness but God hath required that we should always have a deep sense of his Majesty and Goodness impressed upon our hearts In Heaven this Fear will not cease it is an essential respect due from the Creature to the Creatour and as we shall love him so fear
the Creature is sanctified and the heart kept humble 1 Tim. 4. 4 5. Every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with Thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the word of God and Prayer an Acknowledgment from whom it cometh 2. It suppresseth murmuring and that fretting quarrelling impatient and distrustfull humour which often sheweth it self against God even sometimes in our Prayers and Supplications Nothing conduceth more to quiet our Hearts in a Dependance upon God for the future and to allay our distrusts discontents and unquiet thoughts than a holy Exercise of Thanksgiving Phil. 4. 6. Be carefull for nothing but in every thing by Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God Bless him for favours already received and you will leave the burden of your Care upon him for the future God is where he was at first and what he hath done he can do still The Use is To press us to the serious and frequent discharge of this Duty it is a Duty very necessary very profitable and very delightfull but usually we are backward are not as carefull to render thanks for the injoyment of Blessings as we are earnest and importunate in the want of them It cometh to pass partly by the greediness of our Desires as a Dog that swalloweth up every bit that is cast to him and still looketh for more Vidisti aliquando canem saith Seneca missa à Domino frusta panis aut carnis aperto ore captantem quicquid excipit protinus integrum devorat semper ad spem futuri hiat This is an Emblem of us we swallow whatever the bounty of God throws forth without thanks and still we look for more as if all the former Mercies were nothing therefore are warm in Petitions but cold raw and unfrequent in Gratulations Partly when we have Mercies we know not their value by the enjoyment as much as by the want 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Basil. A thing too near the Eye cannot be seen it darkeneth us with its splendour God must set things at a distance to make us value them Therefore we are more prone to complain than to give thanks Partly from Self-love when our turn is served we neglect God as the Raven returned to Noah no more when there was floating Carrion for it to feed upon Gen. 8. 7. Wants try us more than Blessings Hos. 5. ult In their Affliction they will seek me early Our Interest swayeth us more than our Duty Partly from a dark legal Spirit which will not own Grace when it is near us when Christians look altogether in the glass of the Law to exclude the comfort of the Gospel and to keep themselves under the rack of perplexing Fears To remedy this 1. Let us acknowledge God in all that we do enjoy Hos. 2. 8. She did not consider that I gave her Corn and Oyle and Flax. We are unthankfull to God and Man but more to God Comforts that come from an invisible hand we look upon them as things that fall out of course and so do not praise the giver therefore let us awaken our hearts to the remembrance of God Whosoever be the next hand it is by his Providence and there is reason he should be praised and owned It is not he that brings the Present but he that sendeth it that deserveth our thanks Beasts will own their Benefactour Isa. 1. 3. The Ox knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib And if God be our Benefactour he must be owned and loved If a Man give us but a small Summe or a parcel of Land how do we court him or observe him less reason why God should look upon us who is so high A small Remembrance from a great Prince no way obliged no way needeth me to whom I can be no way profitable is much valued and will I not acknowledge God in his gifts When you were in distress you acknowledged he alone could send you help and had high thoughts of the Mercy then what promises did you make The Mercy is the same now that it was then therefore you should have the same apprehensions of it 2. Let us not give thanks by the heap but distinctly acknowledge God's Mercies in all cases Particulars are most affective let us come to an account for God and recollect the passages of our Lives what he hath done for Body and Soul Psalm 139. 17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God how great is the sum of them What he hath done for us before time in time and provided for us when time shall be no more The beginning of his treaty with us the progress of his Work the many failings we were guilty of his Patience in bearing with us his Goodness in hearing of us his giving forgiving keeping us from dangers in dangers and deliverances out of dangers What supplies and supports we have had what visits of love warnings awakenings of heart 3. Let us trace the Benefits we enjoy to the Fountain of them the Love of God then we will say Psalm 138. 2. I will praise thy Name for thy loving kindness and truth This is not onely to drink of the Stream but of the Fountain there the Water is sweetest When we see all this coming from the special Love of God to our Souls Otherwise God may give in Anger Hos. 13. 11. I gave them a King in mine anger as he gave the Israelites meat for their lusts Isa. 38. 17. Thou hast loved me from the grave this commendeth all Experiences maketh us love God again 4. Compare your selves with others your betters who would be glad of your leavings their Nature Disposition Endowments better than yours yet receive less from God He hath not dealt so with any Nation Whence is all this to me Iohn 14. 22. Lord how is it that thou wilt manifest thy self to us and not unto the world Many would be glad of our Reliques 5. Consider your Unworthiness Gen. 32. 10. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant 2 Sam. 7. 18. Who am I O Lord and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto Pride is the cause of discontent Where all is received freely there is no cause of discontent much of giving thanks if we have any thing When we look to desert we may wonder more at what we have than what we want If afflicted destitute kept low and bare it is a wonder we are not in Hell All this is spoken because men are not thankfull We are eager till we have Blessings but when we have them then barren in Praises unfruitfull in Obedience like little Children forward to beg Favours but careless to acknowledge what they have received 3. Doct. That in our thankfull acknowledgments we should take notice of God's Truth as well as his Benignity and Goodness David owned the
becoming one heartily devoted to God thy hands have made me c. he would willingly return to his Creatours Service and glorify him with what was made by him I acknowledge that I am obliged as I am the work of thine hands to live in a faithfull obedience to thee Lord I give up my self to this work Mark this is a good Spirit he doth not beg his own Comfort but ability for Service that he might so know his Masters Will as to doe it Now this is Repentance towards God when we are heartily willing to return to our Duty more than to our Comfort Acts 2. 21. there is more hope of that Soul that rather seeketh Obedience than Comfort and where there is a resolved Will and Purpose to devote our selves to the Lord to please him and serve him This was God's end in his New Covenant Grace and Christ's end in Redemption to restore us to obedience as well as to favour and put us into a capacity of service again Heb. 9. 14. Purge our Consciences from dead works to serve the living God 1 Pet. 2. 24. Who his own self bare our sins in his body on the tree that we being dead to sin might live unto righteousness He died to weaken the love of Sin in our Hearts and to advance the life and power of Grace and Righteousness 3. There is implied in it a confession of Impotency that God cannot be glorified and served by him unless he be renewed and strengthened by Grace not by him as a Creature till he be made a new Creature or have renewed influences of Grace from him God permitted the lapse and fall of Mankind that they may come to him as needy Creatures and take all out of his hands Man's great errour which occasioned his fall was that he would live alone apart from God be sufficient to his own Happiness We greedily catched at that word Ye shall be as Gods Gen. 3. 5. the meaning was not in a blessed Conformity but a cursed Self-sufficiency Man would be his own God desired to have his Stock in his own hands and would be no more at God's finding Gen. 3. 22. The man is become as one of us to live as an Independent being Well then to cure this God would reduce him to an utter necessity that he might bring him to an entire dependance and might come as a beggerly indigent Creature expecting all from God putting no confidence in his own Righteousness for his Justification nor natural power and strength for Sanctification Gal. 2. 19. I through the Law am dead to the Law that I might live unto God The rigorous Exaction of perfect Obedience under the hazard of the Curse of the Law maketh them dead to the Law the Curse of the Law puts them so hard to it that they are forced to fly to Christ to be freed from Condemnation and the spiritual Nature of the Law as 't is a Rule of Obedidence driveth them to see there is nothing in themselves tending to Righteousness and Holiness to the glory of God without the power of his Spirit They that serve in the newness of the Spirit Rom. 7. 6. God bringeth us at last to this Matth. 19. 26. With men 't is impossible but with God all things are possible Well then when we are brought to see our Impotency we are at a good pass and lie obvious to his Grace 4. It implies an earnest desire after Grace and that is a good frame of heart when not satisfied with common Benefits David was not satisfied with his natural Being but seeketh after a spiritual Being What 's that he prayeth so earnestly for but an inlightened Mind and a renewed Heart and all that he might be obedient to God Thus we are more fitted to receive Grace A Conscience of our Duty is a great matter in faln Man who is turned Rebel against God and a Traytour to his Maker who is impatient and self-will'd and all for casting off the Yoke Psal. 2. 3. Well to have an Heart set upon Duty and Obedience that 's the next step the third was a sense of Impotency now this fourth a desire of Grace such the Lord hath promised to satisfy Matth. 5. 6. these open unto God and are ready to take in his Grace Come as Creatures earnestly desiring to doe your Creatours Will and in the best manner and will God refuse you Because I am thy Creature teach me to serve thee who art my Creatour 5. There is one thing more in this Plea a perswasion of God's Goodness to his Creatures This is the very ground and reason why this Plea is used Psal. 145. 9. The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works There is a great deal of fatherly care and mercy to his Creatures till by their impenitency persisted in against the means of Grace they render themselves uncapable of it The first battery which Satan laid to Man's Heart tended to undermine the sense of God's Goodness to the Creature as if God were envious Gen. 3. 5. Doth not God know that in the day ye eat thereof as if God envied their Happiness this the Devil would instill To have good thoughts of God is a great means to reduce us and bring us back again to him We frighten our selves away from him by entertaining needless Jealousies of him as if he sought our Destruction or delighted in it Surely he will not destroy a poor Soul that lieth submissively at his Feet and is grieved he can no better please him and serve him the man that had hard thoughts of God neglected his Duty Matth. 25. 24 25. I know thou wast an austere Master therefore I hid my Talent in a Napkin that is the legalism and carnal Bondage that is in us which makes us full of Jealousies of God and doth mightily hinder and obstruct our Duty The Use is to press you to come to God as Creatures to beg relief and help for your Souls this will be of use to us in many Cases 1. To the Scrupulous who are upon regenerating that are not sure that the work of Grace is wrought in them you cannot call God Father by the Spirit of Adoption yet own him as a Creatour come to him as one that formed you your desire is to return to him 2. 'T is of use to Believers when under desertions and God appeareth against them in a way of Wrath and all God's Dispensations seem to speak nothing but Wrath yet come to him as the Creatour Lord we are the work of thy hands if you cannot plead the Covenant of Abraham which was made with Believers plead the Covenant of Noah which was made with Man and all Creatures Isa. 54. 9. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more goe over the Earth so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee there may be a great
upon God Job 13. 15. Though he slay me yet will I trust in him And Psal. 23. 4. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me Many of his Children are reduced to great straits there may be no meal in the Barrel nor oil in the Cruse before God helpeth them There may be many mouths to eat little Food Iohn 6. 5 6. when there was a great deal of company and little provision Christ asketh one of his Disciples Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat And this he said to prove him for he himself knew what he would do So many a poor Believer is put to it Children increase Trading groweth dead Supplies fail What shall they do They pray and God giveth no answer This he doth to prove them 'T is a strong Faith which can hold out in such straits and difficulties 2dly To awaken our Importunity Luke 18. 1. And he spake a parable to them to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint compared with Luke 11. 8. with the Parable ensuing So again an instance in the Woman of Canaan she turneth discouragements into arguments When Christ said It is not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to dogs She said Truth Lord yet the dogs eat of the crums which fall from their masters table Mat. 15. 26 27. So the blind men Mat. 20. 31. the more they were rebuked cryed the more rather than his People shall neglect Prayer or grow formal in it God will cast them into great Afflictions as Christ suffereth the Storm to continue till the Ship was almost overwhelmed that his Disciples might awaken him Mat. 8. 25. 3dly To make us sensible of our weakness as Paul 2 Cor. 1. 9. But we had the sentence of death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in God which raiseth the dead We are much given to self-confidence therefore God will break it and e're he hath done with us make us trust in him alone There is a twofold strength Natural and Spiritual 1. Natural which ariseth from that Courage that is in Man as he is a reasonable Creature This will hold out till all probabilities be spent Prov. 18. 14. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity but a wounded spirit who can bear Till a Man be struck at the heart his reason will support him 2. Spiritual Faith Hope Patience These may be spent when the Affliction is deep and pressing and God's help is long delay'd Faith is the strength of the Soul as Faith decayeth or is tired the Soul faints Faith may be damped and give up our case for gone Psal. 116. 11. Psal. 31. 22. They throw up all and think it is in vain to wait any longer Thus will God discover our weakness to our selves the weakness of our Reason the weakness of our Faith I remember Solomon saith Prov. 34. 10. If thou faintest in adversity thy strength is small Grievous or long Afflictions discover our strength or weakness Some are of a poor spirit give up at first assault before their strength faileth them before the probabilities which Sense and Reason offereth are spent They are lazy and love their ease Some are negligent do not make use of the helps of Faith but when evils continue long and sit close the strongest Faith is seen to be too weak God by this will humble us 4thly God doth this for his own glory and that his work may be the more remarkable and conspicuous John 12. 6 7. Iesus loved Lazarus and when he heard that he was sick he abode two days still in the same place where he was Little love in that you will say a Man would hasten to his dying Friend Christ may dearly love his own and yet delay to help them even in their extremity till the fit time come wherein the mercy may be the more conspicuous 'T is said Eccles. 3. 11. God hath made every thing beautiful in his time Before its time God's work seemeth harsh and rough as a Statue when it is first hewn out but in its time t is a curious piece of workmanship God in his own time and way knoweth best how to comfort his People 2. 'T is the Devil's design to tire and weary out the People of God and therefore stirreth up all his malice against us Luke 22. 31 32. Simon Simon behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not The Devil if he might have the shaking of us and liberty to do his worst he would drive us from the faith of Christ and all hopes by him 3. Men are unreasonable in their oppositions and will not relent nor abate any thing of their rigor Zech. 1. 15. I was a litte displeased and they helped forward the affliction They are still adding to the Churches trouble and would destroy those whom God would only correct and purge as the Slave layeth on unmercifully Till God restrain it their wrath never ceaseth Well then 1 USE Let it not seem strange to us That Godly Men in their Afflictions though they flie to God and implore his Mercy are not presently delivered nor always at the first instance God hath many discoveries to make much work to do Would you have Faith rewarded before it be tryed or the beautiful frame and link of causes disturbed for your sakes Faith is not tryed to purpose till the thing we believe is not seen nor have any probability that ever we shall see it yea till we see nothing but the contrary and hope against hope we must stay till the mercy be ready for us and we ready for it an hungry Stomach would have the Meat e're it be roasted our times are always present with us when God's time is not come 2. Let us prepare for grievous and tedious Sufferings We would turn over our hard Lesson before we have sufficiently learned it we love the case of the flesh would have no Cross or a very short one Things will not be so soon or so suddenly effected as we imagine We make greater provision for a long Voyage We should be strengthned to long-suffering Col. 1. 11. as for all sort of Crosses so for long and tedious Crosses 3. If our Affliction be long observe your carriage under it Doth Faith and Hope keep you alive still Heb. 6. 12. Be not slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises Do you keep up your prayerful affections Rom. 12. 12. Continue instant in prayer We pray as Men out of heart for fashions sake and with little life rather satisfying our Consciences than expressing our hope and confidence A damp on the Spirit of Prayer is an ill Presage Can you love God though you be not feasted with Self-comforts and present Benefits
Law but the doctrine of the Gospel As if he had said Stick to that Doctrine where you have been quickned comforted revived and your hearts setled for God hath owned that doctrine He appeals to their own conscience and to their own known experience that they should not quit the doctrine of Faith but prize and keep close to it for surely that which hath been a means of begetting grace in our souls that should be highly prized by us If God hath wrought grace and any comfort and peace stick there and own God there and be not easily moved from thence Another Apostle reasons Iam. 1. 18 19. God hath begotten us by the word of truth wherefore be swift to hear that is O! do not neglect hearing take heed of forsaking or neglecting the Word for then you go against your own known experience you know here you had your life quickning comfort strength and will you be turned off from this for many times a Seducer may turn off a Believer from the Word which hath given him his first knowledge of Christ. There are three Causes which carry Saints to the Word and other Ordinances viz. Necessity Natural Appetite and inward Inclination and Experience Necessity they cannot live without the Word Natural Appetite and inward Inclination they have hearts suited to this work the Spirit which wrought in the heart hath put a nature in them sutable to the work And Experience they have found benefit by it These are the three grand Causes of respect to the Word and they are all implied or exprest in that 1 Pet. 2. 2. As new born Babes desire the sincere milk of the Word there 's natural appetite for the Word we have them come as new born Babes and there 's necessity you cannot live nor keep nor increase what you have unless you keep to the Word and there 's Experience if so be you have tasted you have had powerful impressions and quicknings by this Word We should engage our hearts upon experience the comfort life and light that we have had by the Word of God 3d Reason Our own spiritual Estate will sooner be discerned by these Experiences the comfort and quickning received from the Word in the way of duty for experience worketh hope Rom. 5. 4. If your experiences be observed and regarded this works a hopeful dependance upon God for everlasting glory your evidences will be more ready and sooner come to hand The motions of our souls are various and through corruption very confused and dark and this is that which makes it so difficult upon actual search to dâ—…cern how it stands between us and God it 's for want of observation But now if there be constant observation of what passeth between us and God how he hath quickned comforted and owned us in our attendance upon him and what he hath done to bring on our souls in the way of life these will make up an evidence and will abundantly conduce to the quickning and comforting of our hearts Use I. For Information It shews us 1. The Reason why so many neglect and contemn God's Word because they never gâ—… benefit by it they find no life in it therefore no delight in it Those that are quickned 〈◊〉 knowledge the mercy and improve it they esteem the Word and have a greater câ—…science of their duty It is not enough to find truth in truth not to be able to contradâ—… it but you must find life then we will prize and esteem it when it hath been lively in its operations to our souls 2. It shews the Reason why so many forget the Word because they are not quickned You would remember it by a good token if there were a powerful impression left upon your souls and the reason is because you do not meditate upon it that you may receive this lively influence of the Spirit For a Sermon would not be forgotten if it had left any lively impression upon your souls 3. If we want quickning we must go to God for it and God works powerfully by the influence of his grace and so he quickens us by his Spirit and he works morally by the Word both by the Promises and Threatnings thereof and so if you would be quickned you must use the means attend upon Reading and Preaching and meditating upon the Word As he works powerfully with respect to himself so morally by reasonings Use II. By way of Reflection upon our selves Have we had any of these Experiences David found life in God's Word therefore resolves never to forego it or forget it Therefore what experience have you had of the Word of God surely at least at first conversion there was the work of Faith and Repentance at first you will have this experience How were you brought home to God what have you had no quickning from the Word of God Case But here 's a Case of Conscience Doth every one know their Conversion or way of their own Conversion Christians are usually sensible of this first work There is so much bitter sorrow and afterwards so much rejoycing of hope which doth accompany that surely this should not be strange But though you have not been so wary to mark God's dealings with you and the particular quicknings of your souls yet at least when the Lord raised you out of your security and brought you home to himself you should have remembred it 1 Thess. 1. 9. They themselves shew of us what manner of entring we had unto you The entrance usually is known though afterward the work be carried on with less observation Growth is not so sensible as the first change God's first work is most powerful meets with greater opposition and so leaves a greater feeling upon us and therefore it were strange if we were brought home to Christ and no way privy and conscious to the way of it as if all were done in our sleep I say to think so were to give security a soft Pillow to rest on And therefore what quicknings had you then Can you say Well I shall never forget this happy season and occasion when God first awakened me to look after himself Many of God's Children cannot trace the particular Footsteps of their Conversion and mark out all the Stages of Christ's Journey and approach to their Souls 〈◊〉 are not alike thus troubled But yet that men may not please themselves with the 〈◊〉 position of imaginary grace wrought in them without their privity and knowledge let â—…e speak to this grand Case this manner of entrance of Christ into our souls how we are quickned from the dead and made living 1. None are converted but are first convinced of their danger and evil estate God's first work is upon their understandings Ier. 31. 19. After I was instructed I smote upon the thigh c. There is some light breaks in upon the Soul which sets them seriously a considering What am I Whither am I going What will become of me And Rom. 7. 9. When the
filled on the one side there is the World and the perfections thereof and on the other side the Word of God and the benefit that we have thereby and sensibly the Beam breaketh on the Word's side in the one Scale there is limited perfection which will soon have an end in the other an happiness that hath length and breadth I have seen an end c. In the words there is a Thesis or Proposition and then an Antithesis or something said by way of opposition to that Position The Thesis I have seen an end of all perfection And the Antithesis But thy commandment is exceeding broad Both together will yield us this Point That the serious consideration of the frailty and fadingness of all natural and earthly perfections should excite and quicken us to look after that better and eternal estate which is offered to us in the Word of God I shall make good this Proposition by going over the circumstances of the Text as they are offered to us First I begin with the Thesis or Proposition I have seen an end of all perfection And there you may take notice 1. Of the subject or matter here spoken of 't is perfection understand it in a natural and worldly sense the most excellent of all the creatures and the greatest glory of all natural accomplishments 2. The Extent All perfection whatever it be 3. The Predicate Hath an end 4. The confirmation from sense I have seen 'T is either dictum experientiae I have often seen it fall out before my eyes or dictum fidei I could by faith easily see to the bottom of the creature see vanity in it whil'st in its greatest glory Let us open these things Mark 't is not said in the Concrete I have seen an end of perfect things but in the Abstract I have seen an end of all perfection itself The most perfect of worldly things are but imperfect Man in his best estate is altogether vanity Psal. 39. 11. And then mark the Extent of it 't is all perfection not only some but all perfection wisdom and learning as well as beauty and strength wit and wealth honour and greatness I have seen an end of all of it Many will readily grant that some kind of perfections are slight but all is vanity and vexation of spirit Here is a Meditation fit for persons of all sorts and conditions For great ones that they presume not For mean ones that they repine not For the old whose vigor and strength is gone in whom 't is verified And for the young or those that are in the vigor and freshness of youth in whom within a little while it will be verified For the rich that they trust not in uncertain riches For the Poor that they be not over dejected For the honored that they please not themselves overmuch with the blasts of popular breath and vain applause The disgraced that they may make a sanctified use of their afflictions all perfection first or last will wither and decay And then here is the Predicate hath an end the word also fignifieth limit or bound there is an end in regard of length duration and continuance and an end in regard of breadth and use that also must be taken in for the narrowness of worldly comforts and the breadth of the Commandments are often opposed one to the other I will shew you first that all earthly perfections have their bounds and limits as to their use and service they are good for this and that but not for all things but godliness is profitable for all things 1 Tim. 4. 8. They are not able to bear full contentment to the mind nor give full satisfaction to the heart at least in all conditions and all sorts of afflictions riches will help against poverty and health against sickness but godliness is profitable to all things There are many difficulties and dangers in which the limited power of the creatures cannot help us but the Word of God applied and obeyed and followed with his mighty Spirit will yield us relief and comfort in all cases and conditions all the pleasures and profits and honours of the world are nothing to this as for instance all these perfections cannot 1. Give us any solid peace of conscience and rest to our souls in the midst of all our fulness there is something wanting carnal affections must be mortified before they can be satisfied Grace must do that for you 'T is godliness that brings contentment to the heart of man 1 Tim. 6. 6. Godliness with contentment is great gain Alas wealth can never do it our desires are increased the more we have and the way to contentment is not to increase our substance but to limit our desires as in a Dropsie the way to cure the man is not to satisfie him with drink but to open a vein to take away his thirst We expect too much from the creature and then the disappointment breedeth trouble Eccles. 1. 14. and therefore why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not Outward things do not bear a thorow proportion with all the wants and desires and capacities of the soul and therefore cannot give any solid peace to our souls 2. It cannot make you acceptable to God neither wealth nor beauty nor honour nor strength 't is grace that is of great price in the sight of God 1 Pet. 3. 4. The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great price This is a beauty that doth never fade nor wax old Since thou wert precious in my sight thou wast honorable and I have loved thee Isa. 43. 4. God loveth his People for the grace he putteth into them not for the outward gifts he bestoweth upon them 't is grace that makes us amiable to God and fit objects of the divine complacency you are not a jot the more pleasing to God when rich than when poor no but the more hateful to him if you are not rich towards God Luke 12. 21. 3. It cannot stead you in your greatest and deepest necessities and therefore they are but limited there are two great necessities wherein all creature comforts will fail First In troubles of Conscience Men do pretty well with their worldly portion and happiness till God sets their Consciences a work and begins to rebuke man for sin and reviveth the sense of their own guilt and liableness to the curse in such a case all the glory and profit and pleasure of the creature will do no good it cannot allay the sense of God's wrath scorching the soul for sin Psal. 39. 11. When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin thou makest his beauty to consume like a moth Tell him of Honours Friends Estates Pleasures all is nothing the vertue of that Opium wherewith he laid his soul asleep is now quite spent Trouble of Conscience arrests the stoutest and most jovial Sinners and layeth
upon us to all Eternity but that we have relief from the Word of God 2 Cor. 5. 19. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses There is more glory in these few words and more of God discover'd in them than there is in all the World O! what a deal of comfort and what a foundation for the rejoicing of our Faith is there laid in this Reconciliation in and by Christ Jesus our Lord. That short sentence discovers more of God's intentions and good will to Man than all the bounty of his Providence in and by all the creatures put together Here was a secret which could never enter into Man's heart nor do we find a syllable of it written in any Heathen Book as to the way of it how it shall be brought about A truth so incredible to flesh and blood that the Prophet when he speaketh of this wonder asketh Who hath believed our report Isa. 53. 1. Who hath believ'd that he should bear our sorrows and be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities and that the chastisements of our peace should be upon him and by his stripes we should be healed Here 's the great secret God hath revealed to you in his Word this must needs be a secret in nature for this was a work which meerly proceeded from the free motion of God's Will and therefore being not opus naturae divinae but opus liberi consilii that work which God did not do by any necessity of nature but by the free motion of his own will will never be found out unless God will discover it himself For how could any man divine what God purposed in his heart before he brought it to purpose until he himself had revealed it therefore 't is a good Word because it reveals Reconciliation by Christ. 2. There is something more to draw our hearts to the Word that is eternal salvation We grope and feel about for an immortal good nature will give us some presages of a state after this world some kind of guesses and we are groping and feeling about for an eternal good Acts 17. 27. Man which hath a soul that will not perish must have some happiness that will last as long as his soul shall last he would fain be eternally happy Now it is the Word of God only reveals both the thing and the way to God the thing itself that there is such a state and what it is 2 Tim. 1. 10. Christ hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel It lay in darkness before hidden under some guesses and representations to the old People of God but now it 's brought to light in the Gospel Heathens in their dark notions did stumble upon the immortality of the Soul which they did rather dream of than understand distinctly But now all is open and clear and God hath manifested to you that there is a rest for the Children of God and a happiness after this life And also God hath revealed the way how to seek it and how to attain and get this eternal happiness therefore the holy Scriptures are said to be able to make wise to sabvation 2 Tim. 3. 15. it doth direct you in this way that 's wisdom indeed to be wise to salvation To be able to turn and wind in the world to be wise only in the present generation as the children of this world are it is folly rather than wisdom as when children can set forth their Toys we do not look upon it as any piece of wisdom but folly Wisdom lies in fixing a right end in a choice of fit means and in a dexterous prosecution of those means for the attainment of this end Now the holy Scriptures make you wise to salvation that is to fix upon a right end for they discover that there is a happiness that we may fix upon and they direct us in the way and then by mighty and potent methods of reasoning they quicken and awaken us to look after this business that we may dexterously pursue it as the great care that lies upon us therefore the children of God delight in the Word because this makes them wise to salvation here they have a perfect blessedness and a powerful way of argumentation and the soul is quickned to look after these great and everlasting hopes 3 The Doctrines of the Word are profound truths Thy testimonies are wonderful therefore doth my soul keep them Psal. 119. 129. They are remote from vulgar and ordinary knowledge The Word of God is not only called a doctrine according to godliness 1 Tim. 6. 3. but a mystery of godliness 1 Tim. 3. 16. Since the Fall there is a curiosity of knowledge a desire whereby man not only seeks what is true and good but what is rare and profound we have no need to run to other Books True depth and true profoundness is to be found in the Word of God there are wonders in God's Law if we had eyes to see them Psal. 119. 18. Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law Things indeed so profound and so mysterious that the Angels desire to pry into them 1 Pet. 1. 12. Those spirits that live in the blessed Vision and constant fruition of God yet they did find a depth of wisdom in salvation by Christ such a ravishing mystery that they curiously are taken up in the study of it and they delight in the view of those things which are commended to us for our study Ephes. 3. 10. To the intent that now unto the principalities in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God God's Word is a Glass wherein those glorious creatures do as in a mirror behold his wisdom and are in some sort better'd by it The state of Angels is a happy state but it 's finite capable of being improv'd and better'd and that by the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures Well then such are the depths and various excellencies of the Word of God that the Saints know not how more pleasantly and contentedly to spend their thoughts and time than in the search and view of those truths where such notable mysteries are revealed about the Nature of God Creation Providence the Story of Man's Fall Redemption by Christ the way to true happiness and the like both the Grounds of Faith and Rules of Practice are all such as are above the pitch of humane understanding Natural reason cannot find them out and now they are revealed by God the mind doth not fully apprehend them Thirdly The use of Scripture the ends for which God hath appointed it and the uses for which it was given 1 To increase the knowledge of God Now the Saints would know more of God and better their Notions of him as Moses his great request to God is Tell me thy Name when he learned that Shew me thy Glory he would fain know more of God So the Saints
they could not clearly discern the meaning of that Type but now all things are open we can behold the Lamb of God therefore must be often with God suing out our pardon in the Name of Christ. 2. The Sacrifice of Praise It is notable when the Apostle had spoken of Christ as a sin-offering he mentions this as the main thing in the Gospel Heb. 13. 15. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually Praise it ought continually frequently and upon all occasions to be offer'd to God for this is a more noble duty than Prayer Self-love may put us upon Prayer but love to God puts us upon praise and thanksgiving we pray because we need God and we praise because we love him In Prayer we become Beggars that God would bestow something upon us but in praise we come according to poor creatures to bestow something upon God even to give him the glory due to his Name and tell him what he hath done for our poor souls This is the most noble among all the parts of Christian Worship We have more cause to give thanks than to pray for we have many things more to praise God for than to pray to him for There are many favors which go before all thought of desert and many favors still bestow'd upon us beyond what we can either ask or think Doct. 2. Secondly These spiritual offerings must be free-will offerings to God This expression is often spoken of in the Law Lev. 22. 18. Numb 29. 39. 2 Chron. 31. 14. Amos 4. 5. What are these free will-offerings They are distinguish'd from God's stated Worship and distinguish'd from that service which fell under a Vow Besides the stated Peace offerings there were certain Sacrifices perform'd upon certain occasions to testifie God's general goodness and upon receipts of some special mercy and you will find these Sacrifices to be expresly distinguish'd from such services as men bound themselves â—…o â—…y vow Lev. 7. 16. What is there that answers now to these free-will-offerings Certainly this is not spoken to this use that a man should devise any part of worship of his own â—…ad whatever pretence of zeal he hath but they serve to teach us two things 1. They are to teach us how ready we should be to take all occasions of thankfulness and spiritual worship for besides their vowed services and instituted services they had daily Sacrifices and set Feasts commanded by God they had their free-will offerings offer'd to God in thankfulness for some special blessing received or deliverance from danger 2. It shews with what voluntariness and chearfulness we should go about God's worship in the Gospel and what a free disposition of heart there should be and edge upon our affections in all things that we offer to God and in this latter sense I shall speak that our offerings to God Prayer and Praise should be free-will-offerings come from us not like water out of a Still forc'd by the Fire but like water out of a Fountain with native freeness readily and freely 1. God loves a chearful Giver constrained service is of no value and respect with him Under the Law when Sacrifice of Beasts were in fashion wherefore did God chuse the purest and fattest of every thing offer'd to him but as a testimony of a willing mind and still he looks to the affections rather than the action God weighs the Spirit Prov. 16. 2. When God comes to put them into the balance of the Sanctuary what doth he weigh External circumstances of duty or the pomp and appearance wherein men go No but he considers with what kind of heart it is done and the love of sin God takes notice of that as well as the practice of sin So in our duties God takes notice of the love the inclination of our souls as well as the outward service therefore our offerings must be free and voluntary 2. God deserves it he doth us good with all his heart and all his givings come to us from his love Why did he give Christ for us and to us He loved us Why gave he him for us God so loved the world John 3. 16. Why doth he give Christ to us Eph. 2. 4 5. God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ. That which moved God to bestow his saving grace upon us was his great love and all the good we receive from him why mercy pleaseth him and I will rejoice over them to do them good If he deliver us out of any danger he hath loved us from the grave Isa. 38. 7. Now love should season all our services to God 3. Where a day of grace hath past upon our hearts so it will be the soul will come off readily and freely to the duties God hath requir'd of us Psal. 110. 3. Thy people shall be a willing people in the day of thy power We are naturally backward slow of heart to do any thing that is good hang off from God will not be subject to him but when the day of his power passeth upon us then we are a willing People we are more delighted in communion with God less averse from him the bent of our hearts is altered and the stream of our affections is turnâ—…d another way and our converses with God are more delightful and we are as earnest in serving God as before we were in serving sin Use. To press us to serve God with a perfect heart and with a willing mind 1 Chron. 29. 9. Thus when we give God any spiritual Sacrifice when we pray or praise him we should do it willingly not customarily or by constraint or for by-ends nor by the compulsion of a natural Conscience and when we feel as we shall now and then any tediousness and irksomness in Prayer we should quicken our selves by this motive Christ Jesus who was our sin offering he willingly offer'd up himself upon the service of our salvation I might urge other Arguments as the nobleness of our service the greatness of our reward the many sweet Experiences we shall gain in our converse with God but this should be as the Reason of Reasons and instead of all Christ Jesus did not grudgingly go about the work of our salvation but willingly offer'd himself Psal. 40. 8. I delight to do thy will O my God yea thy Law is within my heart When God would have no more legal sin offerings but the great sin-offering of the Gospel was to be produc'd and brought forth in the view of the world Lo I come in the volume of the book it is written of me Now our thank-offering should be carried on with the same willingness Christ will be served now out of gratitude and therefore his love should constrain us Surely if we believe this great mystery of Christ that he did willingly offer himself upon the service of our souls and
not of they have all in God You account him a richer man that hath much Land and a thousand pounds in Bonds than he that hath only a hundred pounds in ready money so a Child of God that hath one promise is richer than all the world he hath Bonds and his Debtor cannot fail him Let me tell you a man may not only live by faith but he may grow rich by faith You read of living by faith Gal. 2. 20. this is that which supports and keeps up a Believer in heart and life This will not only keep Body and Soul together but help us to grow rich Use 2. For Examination You have heard much what it is to have an heritage in the testimonies of the Lord O but who is the man try your selves Let me propound a few plain Questions 1. Were you ever chased out of your selves in the sense of the insufficiency of your worldly portion and the curse due to you Are you driven out of your selves Heb. 6. 18. There 's a comfortable place God willing to shew unto the Heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie we might have a strong consolation O who are these Heirs of promise If we could find out that we are sure there 's enough in God there they are named who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us There is none ever took the testimony of the Lord for their portion but they came first to take hold of it as men in danger ready to sink and perish and be undone Our first address is to take Sanctuary in the Covenant to flee to Christ represented there as a City of refuge that we may be safe It is an allusion to a man which fled from the avenger of blood when taken out of the City of refuge under the Law he was to dye without remedy so a poor soul that first takes hold of the Covenant runs for sanctuary there first before he comes to take possession of the comforts of it 2. What do you take to be your 〈◊〉 and your great work Do you make it your main care to keep up your interest in the promises the great business you drive on you would â—…it down in as your work and employment What do you wait upon as your great project and design in the world Mary chose the better part Luke 10. 42. do you make this to â—…e your choice your work and business you drive on that you may be possest of the whole land of promise and enjoy eternal life and clear up your Right and Title to Heaven 1 Tim. 6. 19. Laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold of eternal life 3. Are you very chary of your interest O you would not hazard it upon such easie terms this is that all your happiness depends upon what shall I break with God for such a trifle Are you afraid to lose your Inheritance by sin as a man his Treasure by theft Are you careful and wary in this kind that you may not hazard your interest 1 Kin. 21. 3. said Nâ—…oth God forbid that I should sell mine inheritance Mark there was a King would traffick with him and that inheritance was but a poor Vineyard of the Earth but it was that which was descended from his father now God forbid I should sell it Thus will be the disposition of Gods Children O here lies my all my happiness my daily supplies from God God forbid that upon every trifle and carnal satisfaction I should break with God It was a great prophaneness in Esau Heb. 12. 16. who for one morsel of meat sold his Birth-right It is an argument that God is little valued or the Covenant and Testimony of the Lord when you can part with them for a Mess of Pottage when the consolations of God are so cheap and you can part with them for a little temporal satisfaction and sell your part in Christ at a very easie rate 4. What respect do you bear to the promises of God Do you often meditate upon them Have you recourse to them in straits Do you keep them up as the choicest things upon your heart upon which all your comfort depends as a man would keep the Key safe which opens to all his treasure Do you carry the promises as a bundle of Myrrh in your bosome Because this is the Key that gives you admission to the Blessings promised A man will keep his Bonds chary and will be often looking over them and considering them so are you meditating upon the promises Are they the rejoycing and delight of your Souls Do you keep them near and dear to you When alone do your hearts run upon them For a man may know his heritage by his musing and imagination When Nebuchadnezzar was alone Is not this great Babel which I have built for the honour of my Majesty He was thinking of his large Territories So if you have taken the testimonies of the Lord for your heritage your heart will be running upon them O what a happiness is it for God to be my God and my interest cleared up in eternal life and the great things of the Covenant Many times the flesh interposeth Psal. 144. 15. Happy is that people that is in such a case You will be admiring carnal excellency sometimes but then you will check your Souls Yea rather happy is that people whose God is the Lord. 5. If the testimonies of the Lord be your heritage then you will live upon them and make them the Storehouse from whence you fetch all your supplies as righteousness peace comfort and spiritual strength nay all your outward maintenance This will be comfort in straits strength in Duty provision for your Families There are two sorts of the Children of God either those that are in prosperity or those that are in want and both live on the Covenant A Child of God that hath a plentiful affluence of outward comforts yet he doth live upon God 1 Tim. 4. 5. To them that believe for every thing is sanctified by the word and prayer Though God hath supplied them with mercy yet they have their right all comforts and blessings owe their rise from the promise I take them immediately out of Gods hand from a God in covenant with me and so I use the Blessing and praise God otherwise if you look only to present supplies you live by sense not by faith Every one is to say Give us this day our daily Bread to fetch out his supplies from God every day rich men as well others when you see you have a right and liberty by Christ so Gods leave and Gods blessing go along with all by this means rich men live upon the Covenant I but chiefly in want the word quickned and strengthened him when he was in distress and want of all
it is seen in overcoming the terrours of the Lord Death Hell Judgment to come the fears and doubts of our own Conscience it will not only swallow up the sense of poverty disgrace and affliction but will bear us out in life and death they have a joy that will help them to do and suffer the will of the Lord. When once they have tasted the Comforts of Gods presence other things will go down easie I might press you to look after this rejoycing of heart It makes much for the Glory of God for the Honour of our Portion that we do not repent us of our choice that we bear up chearfully And it is of abundant profit The joy of the Lord is a Christians strength it bears him out in doing for God To this purpose you should beware of sin that 's a clouding darkning thing men or Angels cannot keep their hearts comfortable that sin against God sin takes away all joy peace and the whole strength of men and an Angel cannot make the Conscience of a Sinner rejoyce therefore the Children of God must take heed that they do not allow sin In Act. 9. 31. They walked in the fear of God and comfort of the Holy Ghost Usually these two go together and the oil of Grace makes way for the oil of gladness and usually obedience concurrs to the establishing of our joy Above all look after Communion with God for he is the fountain of joy and the more Communion we have with him the more we rejoyce The more Communion in Prayer 1 Sam. 1. 6. when Hannah prayed she was no more sad Prayer hath a pacifying Virtue in it And then in the use of the Seals for these are assuring Ordinances now the more we revive the grounds of assurance the stronger the consolation that appears Heb. 6. 18. Act. 8. 39. The Eunuch when he was baptized went away rejoycing When a man hath an inheritance made over to him past in Court all things done the Title not to be made void then he goes and rejoyceth so when the promises have been confirmed by a solemn ratification it makes joy Then Meditation and Thanksgiving keep this joy alive Thanksgiving gives vent and Meditation that maintains it SERMON CXXIII PSAL. CXIX VER 112. I have inclined my heart to perform thy Statutes always to the end DAvid did not only feast his Soul with Comforts but also minded duty and service In the former Verse he had professed his comfort and joy resulting from an interest in the promise now he expresses the bent of his heart to Gods Statutes Ephraim is represented as an Heifer that is taught that would tread out the Corn but not break the Clods 'T is a fault in Christians when they only delight to hear of priviledges but entertain coldly inforcements of duty and obedience David was of another temper first he said I have taken thy testimonies for an heritage and then I have inclined my heart to perform thy Statutes always to the end In which Words you have all the requisites of Gods service I. The principle of obedience I have inclined my heart II. The Matter of obedience Thy Statutes III. The Mâ—…ner of doing 1. accurately to perform 2. the universality and uniformity always 3. constantly to the end I. That which the Psalmist bringeth in evidence for himself is The frame of his heart he beginneth there not with eyes or hands or feet but my heart Secondly This heart is spoken of as inclined poised and set to shew his proneness and readiness to serve God not compelled but inclined The heart of man is set between two Objects Corruption inclineth it one way and Grace another the law of sin on the one side and the law of Grace on the other when the Scales are cast on Graces side then the heart is inclined to Gods Statutes Now he saith I have inclined 't is the work of Gods Spirit to incline and bend our hearts as David expresseth himself vers 36. But 't is not unusual in Scripture to ascribe to us what God worketh in us because of our subservient endeavours to Grace as we pursue the work of God Certum est nos facere quod facimus sed Deus facit ut faciamus saith Augustine It is our duty to incline our hearts to Gods Law which naturally hang sin-ward but 't is Gods work God beginneth by his preventing Grace and the Soul obeyeth the impression left upon it Turn me and I shall be turned Ier. 31. 18. Yea he still followeth us with his subsequent and cooperating Grace we do but act under him I inclined my heart after thou hadst filled it with thy spirit when I felt the motions of thy Grace my consent followed preventing Grace made me willing and subsequent Grace that I should not will in vain Now what was his heart inclined to To perform thy Statutes not to understand them only or to talk of them but inclined to perform them to go through with the Work that is the Notion of performing Rom. 7. 18. how to perform we render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by it to be compleat in Gods Will to do his utmost therein this not by fits and starts but always a continual care and conscience to walk in Gods Law not suffering our selves for any respect to be turned out of the way Many have good motions by starts temporize a little their goodness is like the Morning Dew 't is thus not for a time but to the end an holy inclination while the fit lasteth is no such great matter this was to the last Some stop in the middle of the Journey or faint before they come to the Goal but David held out to the last Or this is brought as an evidence of his sincerity the Summ is a bent of heart carrying him out to perform whatsoever God doth command all the days of his life I shall speak of what is most material and observe this Point Doct. They that would sincerely and throughly obey God must have an heart inclined to his Statutes Here I shall shew 1. What is this heart inclined 2. The necessity of it 1. What is this heart inclined God expects the heart in all the service that we do him Prov. 23. 26. My Son give me thy heart not the ear or the eyes or the tongue but the heart the most considerable thing in man in his heart 't is terminus actionum ad intra and fons actionum ad extra 'T is the bound of those actions that look inward the senses report to the fancy that to the mind and the mind counsels the heart Prov. 2. 10. if wisedom enter upon thy heart 'T is also the well-spring of those actions that look outward to the life Prov. 4. 23. Matth. 15. 19. You have both these in one place Let thy heart keep my Precepts let thine heart receive my words Prov. 4. 4. In taking in we end with the heart the Statutes of God they are never well
sincerely with him 5. It directeth us how to expect this blessing in what manner only in the way and manner that it is promised Zeph. 3. 3. Seek righteousness seek meekness it may be you shall be hid not absolutely but as referring it to Gods will There is the keeping of the outward man and the keeping of the inward man As to the outward man all things come alike to all the Christian is safe whatever becomes of the man the Lord will keep him to his heavenly Kingdome 2 Tim. 4. 17 18. That which the Christian desires mainly to be kept is his Soul that he may not miscarry and blemish his profession and dishonour God and do any thing that is unseemly I say we cannot absolutely expect temporal safety The righteous are liable to many troubles therefore in temporal things God will not always keep off the temporal stroke but leave us to many uncertainties or at least hold us in doubt about it that we may trust his goodness When we trust God we must trust all his Attributes not only his Power that he is able to preserve but his Goodness that he will do that which is best that there may be a submission and referring of all things to his will as David 2 Sam. 15. 26. If he say I have no delight in thee behold here am I let him do unto me as seemeth good unto him God will certainly make good his promise but this trust lies not in an absolute certainty of success However this should not discourage us from making God our refuge because better promises are sure enough and Gods keeping us in suspence about other things is no evidence he will not afford them to us it is his usual course and few instances can be given to the contrary to have a special regard to his trusting Servants and to hide them secretly They that know his name will find it that he never hath forsaken them that put their trust in him Psal. 9. 10. It is the only sure way to be safe whereas to perplex our souls with distrust even about these outward things that 's the way to bring ruine and mischief upon our selves or turn aside to crooked paths Well then you see what respect the word hath to this priviledge that God is a shield and a hiding place The word discovers God under these notions the word invites and encourageth us to put God to this use the word assures us of the Divine protection it directeth us to the qualification of the persons that shall enjoy this priviledge they that can trust God and walk uprightly with him and it directeth us to expect the blessing not with absolute confidence but leaving it to God III. The third thing I am to do is to shew this word must be applied by Faith I hope in thy word Hope is not strictly taken here but for faith or a certain expectation of the blessing promised What doth Faith do here Why the use of Faith is 1. To quiet the heart in waiting Gods leisure Psal. 33. 20. Our soul waiteth for the Lord he is our help and our shield If God be our help and shield then faith is quietly to wait the Lords leisure till he sends deliverance the word must bear up our hearts and we must be contented to tarry his time Isai. 28. 16. He that believeth shall not make hast will not out-run God 2. In fortifying the heart against the present difficulties that when all visible helps and interests are cut off yet we may encourage our selves in the Lord. When they were wandring in the wilderness and had neither house nor home then Moses the man of God pens that Psalm and how doth he begin it Lord thou hast been our dwelling place in all Generations Psal. 90. 1. What was wanting in sense they saw was made up in the alsufficiency of God And so here 's the use of Faith when in defiance of all difficulties we can see an alsufficiency in God to counterballance that which is wanting in sense So doth David Psal. 3. 3. Lord saith he thou art my shield and glory and the lifter up of my head Look to that Psalm it was penned when David was driven from his Palace Royal by Absolom when he was in danger God was his shield when his Kingdom and Honour were laid in the dust God was his Glory when he was under sorrow and shame and enemies insulting over him when the people rose against him and he was in great dejection of spirit God was the lifter up of his head This is getting under the Covert of this shield or compass of this hiding place 3. The use of Faith is to quicken us to go on cheerfully in our duty and with a quiet heart resting upon Gods love power and truth so David Psal. 131. 5. Into thy hands I commit my spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of truth David was then in great danger the Net was laid for him as he saith in the former verse and when he was likely to perish what doth he do he casts all his cares upon God and trusts him with his life Into thy hands I commit my spirit that is his life safety c. Use 1. Admire the goodness of God who will be all things to his people if we want a house he will be our dwelling place if we want a covert he will be our shield our hiding place whatever we want God will supply it There 's a notable expression Psal. 91. 9. Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge even the most high thy habitation Mark that double Notion a habitation is the place of our abode in time of peace a refuge the place of our retreat in a time of war Be it peace or war God will be all in all he will be a fountain of blessing to us in a time of peace he will be our habitation there where we have our sweetest comforts and then in time when dangers and difficulties are abroad God will be a refuge and a place of retreat to our souls Use 2. To perswade us to contentation in a time of trouble Though we have not a Palace yet if we have but a hiding place though our condition be not so commodious as we do desire yet if God will vouchsafe a little liberty in our service we must be content if he will give us a little safety though not plenty for here is not our full reward And therefore it is well we can make this use of God to be our shield and hiding place though we have not that ample condition which a carnal heart would fancy God never undertook in his Covenant to maintain us at such a rate nor thus to enlarge our portion if he will vouchsafe a little security and safety to us during the time of our pilgrimage we must be content Use 3. This should more encourage us against the evil of sin since God assures us of protection and
higher than the highest regardeth and there be higher than they Who can break the power of the greatest The poor and indigent have none to owne them to resent the things done unto them but God who is the supream Lord will not fail to owne them 2. Consider The injustice of such dealing as being contrary to that rule of Reason Quod tibi non vis fieri alteri ne feceris Every man should do as he would have others do to him Put your self in their case Take this rule quite away and there is nothing so false bad cruel that you would not be drawn to think or say or do against your Brother Uncharitableness and want of sympathy with us in our troubles much more insulting over us in our miseries we look on it with detestation and shall we oppress and afflict others when we have power so to do Those that profess themselves Christians should be far from this sin Means 1. The fear of God should bear rule in our hearts Iob 31. 23. For destruction from God was a terrour to me and by reason of his highness I could not endure Levit. 25. 17. Ye shall not therefore oppress one another but thou shalt fear thy God for I am the Lord your God We should be afraid to do them injury as if a strong party able to repay injuries were ready to be avenged upon us for it 2. Take heed of envy covetousness pride revenge these are ill Councellors Ahab envies Naboth's Vineyard and covets it and that put him upon oppressing him So Hos. 12. 7. He is a merchant the ballances of deceit are in his hand he loveth to oppress So take heed of pride Psal. 10. 2. The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor So when persons are of a revengeful temper it will put them upon oppression and persecution for every fancied or supposed affront offered to them the enemy and avenger go together Psal. 8. 2. 3. Think of Changes that pride may not be without a Curb nor affliction without a Comfort 'T is the proud oppress who are drunk with their wealth and outward prosperity The Lords people are not troubled by humble Souls that are sensible of their mutableness and frailty but by those who little think of these things and how hard it fareth with them that fear God II. Here are the persons to inflict it The proud Doctr. The proud are they that especially persecute the Godly Who are the proud 1. Generally those that obstinately stand it out against God and the methods of his Grace Neh. 9. 16. But they and our fathers dealt proudly and hardened their necks and hearkened not unto thy Commandments and Verse 29. Yet they dealt proudly and hearkened not to thy Commandments Jer. 13. 17. My soul shall weep in secret for your pride 2. More especially those that are too well conceited of themselves seem by their affecting to meddle with things too high for them Psal. 131. 1. Lord my heart is not haughty nor mine eyes lofty neither do I exercise my self in great matters nor in things too high for me murmure under crosses quarrel with Providences finding fault with all Gods sayings and doings trust in themselves that they are righteous Luke 18. 14. scoff at others for their godliness Psal. 119. 51. The proud had me greatly in derision Psal. 10. 2. The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor ready to brawl on all occasions Prov. 23. 10. Only by pride cometh contention would have all to stoop to them are stiff in their opinions boasters lessening the gifts of others impatient of admonition 3. The particular pride here mentioned when men are high minded and trust in uncertain riches drunk with their prosperity So oppressing in their Honour and Greatness as if they would trample all others under foot and crush them at pleasure These are merciless and pitiless disdain the poor whatsoever presence of God they have with them we are filled with the scorning of them that are at ease SERMON CXXXV PSAL. CXIX VER 123. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation and for the word of thy righteousness IN the former Verse David spake as one under oppression here he setteth forth his longing and waiting for deliverance In the Words we have I. The act of Faith together with the object of it His eyes were to the salvation of God II. The defect and weakness of his Faith and Gods delay implied in the occasion of it Mine eyes fail III. The ground and support of his soul in this exercise The word of thy righteousness By salvation is meant temporal deliverance His eyes were to this salvation that is he did with faith and patience wait for it But in waiting his eyes failed that noteth some deficiency and weakness but his support during all this was the word of Gods righteousness that word wherein God promised salvation and deliverance to them that are oppressed And he calleth it the word of his righteousness because he is one that kept it justly and faithfully as if he had said Surely God is righteous and is no more liberal in promises than faithful in performing therefore though mine eyes even fail yet I will keep looking and longing still for his salvation I begin with the ground of his faith and the support of his soul which is the word of promise Doctr. That Gods word wherein he hath promised deliverance to his suffering servants is a word of righteousness There are three things in the promise Veritas Fidelitas Iustitia Fidelity Faithfulness and Righteousness 1. Veritâ—… Sincerity or Truth in making the promise according to which God doth really intend and mean to bestow what he promiseth For God is not as man that he should lye neither the son of man that he should repent hath he said and shall he not do it or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good To lye is to speak a falshood with an intention to deceive this cannot be imagined of God What need hath he to court a Worm or to mock and â—…ater us into a vain hope what interest can accrue to him thereby Yea the purity of his Nature will not permit it Tit. 1. 2. According to the hope of eternal life which God that cannot lye promised before the world began He will as soon cease to be God â—…s cease to be true for his truth is his Nature he is truth it self Man that is mutable and hath an interest to promote by dissembling may put on a false appearance and speak what he never meaneth but God cannot do so for he is truth it self essentially so in the abstract can admit of no mixture though Creatures may Light it self admitteth not of any darkness but as it is in Subjects so it doth But God is truth and in him is no falshood at all Now of all lies a promissory lie is the worst it is greater than an aâ—…ertory lie An assertory lie is when we speak of a thing past or
he God is pure and holy they know yet how can he bear with the enemy in their treachery and violence against the Church So brutified are they that they know not how to reconcile his Dispensations with his Nature and Attributes though they have Faith enough to justifie God yet Atheism enough to question his Providence When the heart is over-charged with fears Psal. 73. 1. Yet God is good to Israel my feet were almost gone my steps well nigh slipped They hold fast the Conclusion Yet God is good to Israel yet cannot maintain it against all objections 3. Carnal affections are hasty and impetuous and if God give not a present satisfaction they question all his love and care of them Psal. 31. 22. I said in my heart I am cut off Isai. 49. 14. Zion said The Lord hath forsaken and my God hath forgotten me Jon. 2. 4. And he said I am cast out of thy sight So that did not God confute his unbelief by some sudden experience as in the first instance or the Word contain a suitable supply as in the second or the principle of Grace in some measure withstand but I will look towards thy holy Temple the soul would be swallowed up in the Whirlpool of despair Thus hasty and precipitant are we while we hearken to the voice of the flesh we are apt to count all our troubles Gods total desertion of us Such an hasty principle have we within us that will hurry us to desperate Conclusions as if it were in vain to wait upon God any longer 4. Mutability in man What a flush of faith and zeal have we at first as Stuffs have a great gloss at first wearing We lose as our first love so our first faith Gal. 5. 7. Ye did run well who did hinder you There is a great forwardness at first which abateth afterwards and men grow remiss faint in your minds Heb. 12. 3. from one degree to another Thirdly That this failing is but an infirmity of the Saints though their hope be weak and ready to faint 't is not quite dead First T is an infirmity of the better sort not like the Atheism and malignity of the wicked Some Diseases shew a good constitution and seize on none but such This Distemper is not incident to carnal men Isai. 38. 14. Mine eyes fail with looking up It argueth a vehemency in our hope they that do not mind things are never troubled with such a spiritual Disease for this failing cannot be but where there is vehemency of desire and expectation Those that desire little of the salvation of Gods people feel none of this Secondly There is a difference between them and others though they have their weaknesses yet their faith doth not quite expire there is a twig of righteousness still to trust to they are weary of watching but they do not give over waiting and say as he 2 Kings 6. 3â—… What should I wait for the Lord any longer Fainting is one thing and quite dead is another they strive against the temptation though no end of their difficulties appeareth they attend still keep looking though the vigour of the eyâ—… be abated by long exercise There is life in the Saints though not that liveliness they could wish for they do not fall and rise no more and are quite thrown down with every blast of a temptation Thirdly They confess their weakness to God as David doth here acquainteth God with it and so shame themselves out of the temptation and beg new strength 'T is an excellent way of curing such Distempers to lay them forth before God in prayer for he helpeth the weak in their Conflicts When we debate dark Cases with our own hearts we intangle our selves the more Use 1. It reproveth our tenderness when we cannot bear a little while What! not watch with me one hour Matth. 26. 40. David kept waiting till his eyes failed Some their whole Voyage is Storms Christ indents with us to take up our Cross daily Luke 9. 22. who are all their life time kept under this discipline and can we bear no check from Providence We would have all done in an hour or in a year can bear nothing when God calleth us to bear much and long cannot endure to abate a little of our wonted contentment when God will strip us of all 2. Let us provide for long sufferings All colours will not hold as long as the Cloath lasts We need a great deal of Grace because we know not how long our great troubles may last Sometimes sufferings are like to be long First When the Cross maketh little improvement carrieth little Conviction with it While the stubborness of the Child continueth the blows are continued God will withdraw till they acknowledge their offence Hos. 5. 15. When we eye instruments and pour our rage upon them or instruments are minded and we hope to be delivered some other way when we repent not Secondly When provocations are long Deut. 28. 58 59. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Law that is written in this Book that thou mayst fear this glorious and fearful Name THE LORD THY GOD then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful and the plagues of thy seed even great plagues and of long continuance and sore sicknesses and of long continuance SERMON CXXXVI PSAL. CXIX VER 124. Deal with thy Servant according to thy mercy and teach me thy Statutes IN this Verse we have two requests the one general the other particular wherein he would have the Lord exercise his mercy to him Shew thy mercy to me in teaching me thy Law The one respects the priviledgâ—… part of Religion the other the duty-part The one concerns time past or the pardon of sin already committed Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy the other prevention of sin for the time to come that I may perform my Duty for the future Teach me thy Statutes Mercy is the ground of his request teaching Gods Law the matter of it He would have this gift bestowed on him freely First Branch Deal with thy servant c. Where we have I. His relation to God Thy servant II. The terms upon which he would have God deal with him not according to my works but according to thy mercy 1. His relation is mentioned either first as a part of his Plea as if he had said Lord thou art merciful to all for thy tender mercy is over all thy works Psal. 145. 9. much more to thy Servants now I am thy Servant Gods Servants have a special claim and interest in God besides his general bounty they expect his special mercy and favour Psal. 116. 16. O Lord truly I am thy servant I am thy servant and the son of thine hand-maid Clear that that you are some of Gods servants once and then you may the better expect your Masters bounty Or Secondly To shew his need of mercy though Gods servant Such an Emphasis it seemeth to
they can bear the open dishonouring and blaspheming of God This is the true sense but because the heart is deceitful First Be sure your Cause be good your Adversaries evil that ye may say Psal. 74. 22. Arise O Lord plead thine own Cause 'T is not for your sins but your sins but your righteousness the hatred is not against the body Indeed they pretend some little faults 'T is as if a Leper should hate a man because he hath some pimples in his face Something they would lay to their charge Secondly That we use all means with God and Men to reclaim them praying for them Matth. 6. 44. Pray for them that despightfully use you Mourning for their sins Ier. 23. 19. My soul shall weep in secret for your pride Heaping Coals of fire upon their heads by all acts of kindness condescending to them as far as possibly we can Rom. 12. 18. These arts become his Kingdome that is not to be planted by force but consent them that would have the zeal of God not of a party Thirdly Be sure your principle be zeal for Gods Glory not a desire to establish your own interest and to see revenge on a party that differeth from you Luke 9. 54 55. You know not what spirit you are of Religious affections overset us and fleshly zeal puts on a holy spiritual Guise and Mask and we think 't is for the honour of Christ. Fourthly Not against particular persons but the opposite faction to godliness In general destroy all the enemies of Christ c. Secondly For the manner How We must seek to God first with submission not prescribing to God nor making a snare to our selves We that have short and revengeful Spirits cannot judge aright of Gods patience which is infinite out of fleshliness and affection to our own ease And so our times Iohn 7. 6. your time is always ready if none of these be yet we are limited Creatures and great is the wisdom of God and his power admirable it doth not belong to us to guide the affairs of the world Psal. 78. 41. We must not prescribe opportunity to him fixing times Besides that it argueth a spirit too much addicted to and eying of temporal happiness It doth much unsettle us and harden others The Devil maketh advantage of our disappointment Therefore not only when it seemeth seasonable to us we may seek to him for deliverance Once more there are other things concurr besides the enemies ripeness for Judgment preparing his peoples hearts fitting those instruments for his work therefore all is left to Gods will and let him take his time Use of all is to teach us how to behave our selves in these times with patience and yet with hope and waiting 'T is the time of Iacob's trouble but there will be a time of deliverance Ier. 30. 7. With patience God will have a time to chastise his people We must bear it patiently it will make Crosses sit easie they may be greater and longer than our joys Psal. 90. 15. Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein we have seen evil Secondly With hope let us expect it Certainly it will not exceed the time limited by God That time is not long Isai. 13. 22. Her time is near to come and her days shall not be prolonged Ezek. 12. 21. to 28. And the word of the Lord came unto me saying Son of man what is that Proverb that ye have in the land of Israel saying The days are prolonged and every vision faileth Tell them therefore Thus saith the Lord I will make this Proverb to cease and they shall no more use it as a Proverb in Israel but say unto them The days are at hand and the effect of every vision for there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel for I am the Lord. I will speak and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass it shall be no more prolonged Faith should see it as present approaching and then let us wait his leisure minding God in prayer SERMON CXXXIX PSAL. CXIX VER 127. Therefore I love thy Commandments above Gold yea above fine Gold IN the Words we have I. A Note of inference Therefore II. The Duty inferred I love thy Commandments III. The degree of that love Above Gold amplified by the repetition with some advantage in the expression Yea above fine Gold III. Gold by a Senechdoche is put for all worldly things the comforts and profits of this life as in many other places as Psal. 19. 10. More to be desired are they than Gold yea than much fine Gold sweeter also than Honey and the Honey Comb. The two Bastard Goods with which the World is inchanted are pleasure and profit Old people are all for profit young people are all for pleasure Now both these truly so called are found in the Word of God So in Prov. 8. 10 11. Receive my instruction and not silver and knowledge rather than choise gold for Wisdom is better than Rubies and all the things that are to be desired are not to be compared to it So Prov. 8. 19. My fruit is better than gold yea than fine gold and my revenues than choise silver So Prov. 3. 14. For the merchandise thereof is better than gold and the gain thereof than fine gold So Prov. 16. 16. How much better is it to get Wisdom than Gold and to get Understanding rather to be chosen than silver This Comparison is used so often for two Reasons 1. Because it is more prized in the World All things that have a goodness in them have a certain Bait suitable to the several Appetites of men but in most mens opinions Gold seemeth chiefly to be desired partly for its beauty but chiefly for its use it being the great instrument of Commerce that doth all things in the world The corruption of mans heart addeth a greater price to it and therefore is the thirst of it so unsatisfied Now the Word and that wisdom and godliness which it teacheth is far above Gold and fine Gold 2. Because it is the usual temptation to draw off men from the love and study and obedience of the Word Babylon's abominations are offered to the world in a golden Cup Rev. 17. 4. And the Woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour and decked with Gold and precious Stones and Pearls having a golden Cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication Preferments are the Baits of that black Religion True Christianity consists in sound Graces Pseudo-Christianity in pomp and state and worldly advantages and the Apostle telleth us 1 Tim. 6. 10. That the love of money is the root of all evil which while some have coveted after they have erred from the faith Therefore doth the spirit of God so often compare spiritual things to Gold and here David preferreth his love to the Word before Worldlings love to
the power that worketh in us He instanceth in that which God hath done for us in Christ which is beyond our Prayer Conceptions and Hopes transcending the hopes and apprehensions of the most inlarged hearts Thus is a Christian a wonder to himself 2. He is a wonder to the world if he keep up the Majesty and vigour of Religion 1 Pet. 4. 4. Wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot speaking evil of you It was strange to them that they should be altered so of a suddain that of filthy puddles they should become clear as Crystal Waters a Sink turned into a pure Fountain that men should live above Interests of Nature row against the stream of Flesh and blood this is all strange to the world and this is the fruits of the word for the word of God is perfect converting the soul Psal. 19. 8. Every grace is a Mystery and Wonder especially Faith for a man to believe that which he understandeth not to hope for that he seeth not to have that which he wants to be tossed with Tempests and yet to enjoy a sweet calm in our own hearts to be destitute of all things and yet be as little anxious as if we indeed had all things as poor yet making many rich as having nothing yet possessing all things to be a Rock in the midst of a storm as dying and yet we live 2 Cor. 4. 8 9. We are troubled on every side yet not distressed We are perplexed but not in despair persecuted but not forsaken cast down but not destroyed 2 Cor. 6. 10. As sorrowful yet always rejoycing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing and yet possessing all things Thus is a Believer the worlds wonder a very Riddle to carnal sense So in other graces he can hate Father and Mother for Christs sake can also love enemies at Christs command he that doth even break his heart for the least sin can bear up against the greatest Trouble Thus I might exemplifie the Point but I must go a little largely to work First Gods Testimonies are wonderful in their Majesty and composure which striketh Reverence into the hearts of those that consider it speaketh to us at a God-like rate Jesus Christ leaves a Character of his divine spirit upon his words Mar. 7. 28 29. And it came to pass when Iesus had ended these sayings the people were astonished at his Doctrine for he taught them as one having authority and not as the Scribes There was an impression of his Authority upon his word his hearers were convinced of a Soveraign Majesty proper to the Dignity of his Person Those that went to take him returned this account Ioh. 7. 46. Never man spake like this Man for Authority power and Evidence Now the Scriptures being Christs Doctrine why should they not have the same Power Authority and divine Character in them It is the same Doctrine the voice could add nothing to it and the writing take nothing from it Could not God discover his Soveraign Majesty in Writing as well as Speaking Look into the Scriptures are you not even compelled to say this can be no other but the word of God they speak not as conscious of any weakness or as begging Assent but as commanding it Thus saith the Lord hear it or ye are undone for ever The wisdom Majesty Authority of the Author sheweth it self in every line almost of Scripture Longinus an Heathen admired the Majesty of that passage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Indeed every where there is great Authority mixed with simplicity and plainness of speech Such as moveth Reverence and awe in the consciences of men It may be it is not seen in every phrase and clause of a sentence but it is clearly discovered in the whole frame as the Majesty of a mans countenance is not so fully discovered in any one part of the face as in the whole visage taken jointly together Scriptura sic loquitur saith Austin ut alitudine superbos irrideat profunditate attentos terreat veritate magnos pascat affabilitate parvos nutriat Scripture so speaketh that it laughs proud and lofty men to scorn with the height of it with the depths of it it terrifieth those who with attention look into it with Truth it seedeth men of greatest knowledge and understanding with affability and sweetness it nourisheth babes and sucklings Let a man have but any thing of a prepared mind and he cannot contain his wonder and Reverence but will tremble at the word of God Isa. 66. 2. To this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite Spirit and trembleth at my word Secondly It is wonderful for the Matter and depth of Mystery which cannot be found elsewhere concerning God and Christ the Creation of the World the Souls of men and their immortal and everlasting condition the Fall of man c. Here God is set forth to us in the clearest representation that we are capable of in this mortal state God is in part seen in the Creatures Rom. 1. 20. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal Power and Godhead Every thing that hath passed his hand discovereth somewhat of the Author and maker of it but as imperfectly as God is discovered there we cannot behold him without wonder and Reverence If we use never so little of an attentive mind those Strictures of God that are seen in mans Body Galen wondered when he saw a mans hand the Sun Moon and Stars yea a gnat yea a pile of grass but these discoveries are not to be compared with the Scriptures revealing the glory of God in the face of Christ 2 Cor. 4. 6. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Iesus Christ. If we wonder at so much of God as we find in a Gnat shall not we wonder much more at so much of God as we find in his Law in his Gospel in the whole Oeconomy and frame of his gracious dispensations Besides that the Scriptures help us to interpret the Book of the Creatures they show forth more of God than all the Creatures can do the Book of Nature is an imperfect piece in regard of the Book of Scripture You cannot look upon the Book of the Creatures but in every page and line of it you will find this Truth presented to your eyes that there is an infinite eternal power that made all things this is enough to leave the world without excuse But in the Book of the word you may see more of God and the way how to enjoy him In the 19. Psalm David doth first admire the glory of God by the beauty of the Heavens then by the light of the word By reason the Heathens
the Scriptures were written not for Ministers or professed Students God speaketh to all sorts of men in the Scripture and therefore would have all understand them He wrote the Scripture that it might be read of all young and old Deut. 30. 11 12. This Commandment which I command thee this day is not hidden from thee neither is it far off It is not in heaven that thou shouldest say Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it c. Rich and poor the King was to read in it all the days of his life Deut. 17. 18 19. It shall be that when he sitteth upon the Throne of his Kingdom he shall write him a Copy in a Book out of that which is before the Priests the Levites and it shall be with him and he shall read therein all the days of his life Every good man is to meditate in it Psal. 1. 2. His delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his Law doth he meditate day and night Deut. 6. 6 7. These words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy Children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up The Apostles wrote Epistles to the whole Church spake to old men youth little Children 1 Iohn 2. 13. I write unto you Fathers because ye have known him that is from the beginning I write unto you young men because ye have overcome the wicked one I write unto you little Children because ye have known the Father To Kings Judges Men Women Husbands Wives Fathers Children Masters Servants was it written for their use nor must it be taken out of their hands nor is it above their reach 3. The end why it was written to be a sure and infallible direction to guide us to eternal life and make us wise unto salvation 2 Tim. 3. 15. And that from a Child thou hast known the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Iesus Not only so but it is our food and means of growth 1 Pet. 2. 2. As new born Babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby Every life hath food convenient for it It is our weapon in temptation Ephes. 6. 17. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God To be read by all in this spiritual warfare they are all engaged in It is Gods testament therefore should be viewed by his Children the Epistle of the Creator to his Creatures therefore to be read by them to whom it is sent Gods Letter must not be intercepted upon all these reasons There is enough to make wise the simple in Scriptures But is there nothing difficult in Scriptures Answ. Yes to subdue the pride of mans wit to quicken us to wait and depend upon him for knowledge to prevent contempt to exercise our industry and diligence and to fasten truths on our minds There is some difficulty but not such difficulty as that the people neither can nor ought to read them with profit which is the dispute between us and Papists There is no difficulty but what is conquerable by that Grace that God ordinarily dispenseth and the means of explaining or applying not a whole loaf but a dimensum his share for it distributes to every man his portion Use 1. For the confutation of them that forbid the simple the use of the word The Papists say Gods Word is dark and hard to be understood therefore they lock it up from the people in an unknown tongue as if none could profit by it but the learned sort Yea many among us are ready to say What should simple men do with Scripture and think all the confusions and troubles of the world come from giving people this liberty Answ. Though in the word there are mysteries to exercise the greatest Wits yet there are plain truths to edifie the simple This Text is a notable proof against them It is good to have a Text against every errour of theirs They are injurious to God as if he had revealed his mind so darkly or his word that it were so doubtful and harmful that there were danger in reading it injurious to the Scriptures while they tax them with obscurity injurious to the people of God while they despise those whom the Lord inviteth with their Pharisaical pride Iohn 7. 49. But this people who know not the Law are cursed hinder them of their comfort The simple have souls to save therefore have need to see with their own eyes to consider Gods Charter They pretend they do it in mercy to the people lest by their mistakes they should ruine themselves and introduce confusion into the world They should as well say All must be starved and deny meat and drink because some surfeit But certainly they do it for their own interest they have false Wares to vend and to keep the people from discovering the errours they impose upon them they would conceal the Scriptures from them Ignorance is a friend to the Devils Kingdom The blind go as they are led They are afraid of the Scriptures as a Thief of a Candle or the light which would discover his villany and hinder his design Iohn 3. 20. Use 2. Of encouragement to poor Christians that have a sense of weakness Before Plato's School was written Let none but the learned come in hither but Christ inviteth the simple that none might be discouraged he speaketh to all sorts Prov. 8. 4 5. Unto you O men I call and my voice is to the sons of men O ye simple understand wisdom and ye fools be of an understanding heart That which is spoken to all is thought to be spoken for none Christ speaketh to men under their several distinctions noble base young or old rich or poor If any earthly profit be offered to any that will take it who will exempt themselves None are so modest But in spiritual things persons are more stupid Let none be discouraged by weakness of parts all are invited to learn and here they may be taught of any capacity Oh! but how many will say I am so weak of understanding that I shall make no work of such deep mysteries as are contained in the Scriptures Answ. 1. Many times this objection cometh from a sluggish heart to ease themselves of the trouble of a duty as meditation or prayer they pretend weakness they would have a rule that would make knowledge 2. If it be serious God is able to interpret his own Book unto thee He must indeed open the door or we cannot get into the knowledge of truths there If you had better parts you would be but groping about the door He that hath not the right Key is as far from entring the
Secondly Of all affections desires are most earnest and vehement for they are the vigorous bent of the heart to that which is good the motion and endeavour of the soul after it As to good the will chuseth it and the heart affects an union with it or desires to obtain it This affection of union simply considered is love which is an inclination of the soul to good it presseth the heart to it but as it is an absent good it is desire which exciteth to pursue it earnestly Desire doth all that is done in the world for it lifteth up the soul to action that we may possess those things that we desire I desire it and therefore I labour for it Therefore the main thing that God craveth is the desire Prov. 23. 26. My Son give me thy heart which is the soul of desires and therefore the people of God plead their sincerity Isai. 26. 8 9. The desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee with my soul have I desired thee in the night yea with my spirit within me will I seek thee early Get but a desire to good things to God to his Word and it will be a great help to you in spiritual things Prov. 11. 23. The desire of the righteous is only good It is well when the soul is set right this is a strong active commanding faculty Thirdly Of all desires those which carry us out to holy things should bear sway and be the greatest For affections are not rationally exercised unless they bear proportion to the objects they are conversant about Now the Word and things contained therein are the most noble objects and so most suitable for our desires if we would act rationally that appears upon these accounts First Spiritual things are more noble partly because they concern the soul whereas carnal things concern only the outward man Our liveliest affections should be exercised about the weightiest things Can we desire riches and honours and pleasures which only concern the body and shall we not desire comforts and graces which are necessary for the soul It is irrational for by this means we grow brutish and sensual If our appetite desire only food and good pastures and propagation of our kind these desires soon exceed and grow tempestuous and hurtful to the soul Rom. 13. 14. Make not provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof There is a lawful care for the Body but this desire should not be chief because the Body is not the chief part of a man Matth. 6. 33. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof and all these things shall be added unto you The ennobling of the soul with Grace the setling of our Conscience the assuring of our everlasting estate these things deserve our chiefest care Partly because these things are only useful to us in our passage and so for a time they are not useful to us in our home and so for ever Deut. 23. 24. When thou comest into thy neighbours vineyard thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel We have these things for our use when here but we carry nothing with us when we go hence They who did occasionally pass through their Neighbours Vineyard might take for their necessity but they must carry none home and therefore as to these things all our acts must be non-acts 1 Cor. 7. 30 31. Rejoice as if we rejoiced not desire as if we desired not Affections here need a great deal of guiding and a great deal of curbing lest we sin in these less-noble things but in spiritual heavenly things we can never do enough Secondly Common and ordinary affection will not become God or any thing that cometh from God or concerneth our enjoyment of him or our Communion with him Surely we are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all our might and with all our souls Deut. 6. 5. And as we are to love God so in proportion his Word which is the means to enjoy him therefore here we should stretch our desire to the utmost Thirdly An earnest bent will only do us good and make us hold out in the pursuit of heavenly wisdom It doth us good for the present as it fits us to improve the Word as an appetite to our food To eat with a stomach maketh way for digestion 1 Pet. 2. 2. As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby And it is zeal will only bear us out Besides the difficulties and oppositions from without our hearts are full of contrary qualities and desires The flesh lusteth against the spirit so that nothing but a strong affection is for our turn The greatest vehemency is but enough to bear us up in the prosecution of what is good a weak desire will be soon chilled Herod had some good desire so have many but not strong desires He that affects Grace should affect nothing so much as Grace A carnal man may be affected with what is good but there is something that he affects more vanities profits pleasures Well then spiritual desires should be drawn out to the utmost because the object is more noble These desires cannot degenerate nor this affection be corrupted and a common and ordinary affection doth not become these things Nothing else will serve the turn Fourthly Whereever these desires bear sway it will be sensibly discovered by the effects both to our selves and others A man may have a little joy or a little grief or a little anger and no body see it but none of these affections can be in any strength and vigour but we shall feel it and others will observe it for strong affections cannot be hid Can a man carry fire in his bosome and hide it So there will be some expression of what thy heart affects Can a man be under terrours and not shew it in his face A concealed affection is no affection Men may hide their hatred but cannot hide their love Prov. 27. 5. Open rebuke is better than secret love These things tye body and soul together move the spirits So desire will shew it self yea spiritual desire What desire doth in other things it will do in this If there be longing there will be fainting gaping breathing for strong desires are hasty and impatient of satisfaction Ahab's eager desire of Naboth's Vineyard cast him upon his Bed The Spouse was sick of love Cant. 5. 8. I charge ye O ye Daughters of Ierusalem if ye find my beloved that ye tell him that I am sick of love What! desire and no body see it What! desire and you never feel such a strong urging affection Surely there will be secret deep and frequent sighs there will be striving with God in prayer and constant attendance upon God Such an active affection cannot be hid Most men desire so little it cannot be known whether it
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones For I will not contend for ever neither will I be always wroth for the spirit should fail before me and the souls which I have made For the iniquity of his covetousness I was wroth and smote him I hid me and was wroth he went on frowardly in the way of his heart I have seen his ways and will heal him I will lead him also and restore comforts unto him When the spirit is softened by a deep and serious remorse for sin and a tender sense of their condition with these will God dwell to comfort relieve restore them Secondly The Believer Psal. 33. 18. Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him upon them that hope in his mercy They that look for God shall find him Thirdly The sincere Psal. 11. 7. His countenance doth behold the upright He hath a singular care of them to manifest his love to them both inwardly and outwardly A good Conscience presents it self to God none but such will say Look upon me Adam hid himself upon his trangression Hypocrites cannot trust him Fourthly Such as love his Name It is the description and mark of Gods people in the Text They love God and all that by which God is especially made known To these God will look that he may bless them and comfort them with his love Ephes. 6. 24. Grace he with them that love our Lord Iesus Christ in sincerity Gods Grace and free Favour is to them they love the name of God that rejoyce to see God honoured known and had in request in the world to be owned to be such as he is by themselves and others Isai. 26. 8. The desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee Their great desire is That God may be exalted in their own hearts and in the hearts of others To these God will look who take care to honour God love Christ and keep his Commandments Iohn 14. 21. He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him II. The ground and cause of that favour he expects Be merciful unto me David begs what he begs upon terms of Grace Doctr. Gods mercy is the cause of all his favour to us or gracious dealing with us All that we have or would have cometh only and wholly from his mercy and mere mercy If God cast but a look upon us or visit us with one glympse of kindness we can ascribe it to no other cause Only mercy and never a word of merit should be in the mouth of a Believer 1. Because there was nothing in us to move him to be thus gracious to us Gen 32. 10. I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant Let us ask the reason and debate the cause with our selves Why doth or should God do this for me What moveth him Is he necessitated Then he could do no otherwise and should be kind to all Would he be unjust if he did not whereby have I obliged him Who hath given to God first and it shall be recompenced to him again Rom. 11. 35. Could you enter your action and Plea against him Before what Bar and Tribunal And with what Arguments will you manage your Cause How will the Beam plead against the Sun the Stream against the Fountain Is it a Debt to your Kind and rank of Being How many of the same Flesh and Blood are equal in Nature but unequal in condition nay in the same Vicinity and Neighbourhood not only Americans but of your own Nation and Countrey What did God see more in you than in them of the same Calling and Profession Two grinding at a Mill one shall be taken and the other left Luke 18. 35. Of the same Parentage was not Iacob Esau's Brother Indeed what did God see to move him to give you the first Grace Rom. 9. 16. So then it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy 2. There is much to the contrary a manifest unworthiness and contrary desert to what God bestoweth on us First A general unworthiness in all the Sons of Adam Man was left as a condemned Malefactor in the hands of the Law without all hope and possibility of recovery under sin Rom. 7. 14. I am carnal sold under sin Under a curse Ephes. 2. 3. We were by nature the Children of wrath even as others and that God should regard such Secondly A particular unworthiness before Conversion and after First Before Conversion Tit. 3. 3. For we our selves also were sometimes foolish disobedient â—…eceived serving divers lusts and pleasures c. We deserve to be abhorred and cast out of Gods presence and might justly expect his vengeance rather than his bounty and goodness his anger and frowns rather than the light of his countenance Secondly Since Conversion Iames 3. 2. In many things we offend all Eccl. 7. 20. There is not a just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not There are mixtures of evil imperfections of holy things Well then First Let mercy be all your Plea when you have any favour to seek from God We cannot claim any good upon any other right and title Justice will except against you and Conscience will take its part What have you to say but on that Dan. 9. 18. We do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses but for thy great mercies We have no other motive that will become God nor bear weight in our own Consciences but only God hath set up a Court where Grace taketh the Throne and giveth out pardons and blessings to Sinners Secondly When you have once tasted one pledge of Gods love vouchsafed to you let this kindle Coals in your bosomes and warm your hearts with love to God It is not only his condescension to take notice of you but his mercy to shew any favour and kindness to you 2 Sam. 7. 19. Is this the manner of men O Lord God Is this the manner of men to requite good for evil Who am I Thirdly Be contented with your measures Where nothing is deserved any thing should be kindly taken Grace communicateth it self to whom and in what measure it will Matth. 20. 15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own If we are kept under and in great extremities he might have dealt worse with us Lam. 3. 22. It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not If we had a prize in our hands to procure better we might complain Now all is free and undeserved we should admire and submit SERMON CXLVI PSAL. CXIX VER 132. As thou usest to do to those that love thy name HERE you have III. The terms of the
their power or change their hearts or determine their interests because the Omnisciency of God is a great Deep 't is a great relief to the soul to consider the several ways that God hath to right us either by changing the hearts of the Persecutors and Oppressors Acts 9. 31. Then had the Churches rest throughout all Iudea Galilee and Samaria and were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and the comforts of the Holy Ghost were multiplied They had nothing to do but to build up one another When was that when Paul was converted he was an active instrument against the Church and God turned his heart then had the Churches rest Or else the Lord may do it by determining their interests that they shall shew favour to his people though their hearts be not changed Prov. 16. 7. When a mans ways please the Lord he maketh his enemies to be at peace with him Enemies while enemies may be at peace with us please men and you cannot say God is your friend but please God and he maketh your enemies at peace with you There is much in the secret Chain of Providence Dan. 1. 9. Now the Lord brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the Prince of the Eunuchs What was that favour To wink at him for doing that which was contrary to the Law of their Religion Or else he can break the yoke by some apparent ruining Judgments by which he will defeat all their advantages either by power or law rescuing his people out of their hands Isai. 49. 24 25. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty or the lawful Captive delivered But thus saith the Lord The Captains of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered He will contend with him that contendeth with thee and will save thy Children Whether they plead might or right when God goeth that way to work nothing shall lett no power shall be able to detain what God will have delivered and restored Or it may be by some secret ways God will bring on some Judgment Iob 20. 26. A fire not blown shall consume him that is the Oppressor a curse not invented by those he hath wronged or any man else but sent immediately by God It shall come no body knoweth how Therefore we should not be discouraged with unlikelihoods when we go to God who hath many ways which poor short-sighted Creatures cannot foresee Secondly He is ready The love which the Lord hath for his afflicted people will not suffer his Justice to be long at quiet That God is ready to help and deliver three things will evidence First 'T is his Nature to pity and shew mercy to the Oppressed and to revenge the Oppressor He pitieth the afflictions of them that suffer most justly and far beneath their desert from his own hand Iudg. 10. 16. And they put away the strange Gods from among them and served the Lord and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel And 2 Kings 14. 26. For the Lord saw the exceeding bitter affliction of Israel how much more will he pity them that are unworthily oppressed Isai. 63. 9. In all their afflictions he was afflicted Acts 7. 34. I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt and have heard their groaning c. And the Lords pitiful Nature doth incline him to deliver his people And when the oppressed cry I will hear them for I am gracious Exod. 22. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27. Secondly 'T is his usual practice and custome Psal. 103. 6. The Lord executeth judgment and righteousness for all that are oppressed If for all surely for his people He sits in Heaven on purpose to rectifie the disorders of men So Psal. 34. 19. Many are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord delivereth them out of them all God hath a Plaister for every wound Gods people plunge themselves into trouble and his mercy delivereth them out of it Thirdly 'T is his Office as Judge of the world Psal. 94. 2. Lift up thy self thou Iudg of the Earth render a reward to the proud Shall not the Iudg of the Earth do right Look upon him only in that Notion according to our natural Conceptions as the supreme Cause and Judg of all things Again his Office as Protector of his people he is in Covenant with them he is their Sun and Shield he is the refuge of the oppressed his peoples refuge in time of trouble Psal. 9. 9. When they have none else to fly to he will be their refuge Thirdly He will do it when 't is good and necessary For God hath made promises and repeated promises of deliverance and surely these are not in vain If God had spoken but once we had no reason to doubt but he telleth us over and over again we should cast our care upon him and referr all things to him without despondency and distraction of mind Psal. 9. 18. For the needy shall not always be forgotten the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever Use. Is instruction to teach us what to do when we are oppressed 1. Patience 'T is the lot of Gods Children to be often troubled by the world and hardly used Satan is the Ruler of the darkness of this World the blind carnal malicious superstitious part of the World and they cannot away with those that would overturn Satans Kingdome The good are fewest and therefore we must look to be opprest if there be any breathing time 't is a mercy 2 Tim. 3. 12. Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Iesus shall suffer persecution Gal. 4. 29. For as he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit even so it is now and will be so we should want our way-mark without it 2. Let us be prepared to commend our Cause to God Psal. 10. 17 18. Lord thou hast heard the desire of the humble thou wilt prepare their heart thou wilt cause thine ear to hear to judge the fatherless and the oppressed that the man of the earth may no more oppress God prepares the hearts of the humble How so The trouble continueth till we are sensible of the misery of the sin of the Cause Hos. 5. 15. I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offences and seek my face in their affliction they will seek me early 'T is a long time before men can be sensible of the hand of God upon them slight spirits are not grieved but Iull themselves asleep Ier. 5. 3. If they have a natural sense of the Judgment they have no sense of sin as the cause then they fly to humane help to be eased of the trouble Ier. 4. 14. Wash thy heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved how long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee When past humane help then seek the favour of God to take up the Controversie 2 Chron. 7. 14. When driven
God values his happiness by Gods friendship not by his worldly prosperity and is miserable by Gods absence and by the causes thereof his sin and offence done to God Nay his loving kindness is not only life but better than life A man may be weary of life it self but never of the love of God Many have complained of life as a burthen and wished for the day of death but none have complained of the love of God as a burthen All the world without this cannot make a man happy What will it profit us if the whole world smile upon us and God frown and be angry with us All the Candles in the World cannot make it Day nay all the Stars shining together cannot dispel the darkness of the Night nor make it Day unless the Sun shines so whatever comforts we have of a higher or lower nature they cannot make it day with a gracious heart unless Gods face shine upon us for he can blast all in an instant A Prisoner is never the more secure though his Fellows and Companions applaud him and tell him his Cause is good and that he shall escape when he that is Judge condemns him Though we have the good word of all the world yet if the Lord speak not peace to our Souls and shine not upon our Consciences what will the good word of the world do 2 Cor. 10. 18. He is approved whom the Lord commendeth A sense of Gods love in Christ is the sweetest thing that ever we felt and is able to sweeten the bitterest Cup that ever Believer drank of Rom. 5. 3. We glory in tribulation It will be a blessed thing when we cannot only bear tribulations but rejoyce in them but how come we to rejoyce in them Why because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us so he goes on If we would know the value of things the best way is to know what is our greatest comfort and our greatest trouble in distress For when we are drunk with worldly prosperity and happiness we are incompetent Judges of the worth of things but when God rebukes a man for sin what 's our greatest trouble then That we may take heed of providing sorrow to our selves another time then we find sin and transgression the greatest burthen when any notable affliction is upon us Iob 36. 9. and what will be your greatest comfort then for then your comforts are put to the proof One evidence of an interest in Christ a little sense of the love of God how precious is it Psal. 94. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. His thoughts were intangled and interwoven one with another as Branches of a crooked Tree for so the word signifies there when his thoughts were thus intricate and perplext then thy comforts delight my soul. O then what should we labour for but to be most clear in this that God loves us This will be our greatest comfort and rejoycing in all conditions 'T is good for us in prosperity then our comforts are sweet and in adversity and deep affliction to see God is not angry with us Though we feel some smart of his afflicting hand yet his heart is with us 2. They deal with God as worldly men do with sensible things for as others live by sense so they by faith Now worldly men are cheered with the good will of men and troubled with the displeasure of men upon whom they depend The down-look of Ahasuerus confounded Haman and put him to great trouble He was afraid Esth. 7. 8. Absolom professes 'twere better for him to be banished than to live in Ierusalem and not see the Kings face 2 Sam. 14. 32. Surely it is death to Gods Children to want his face and favour upon whom they depend Their business lies mainly with God and their dependance and hope and comfort is in God they live by faith Poor Worldings walk by sense therefore their souls run out upon other comforts in the smiling face of some great Potentate or some friend of the World this is their life peace and joy But they that live by faith see him that is invisible and value their happiness by his favour and misery by his displeasure 3. The Children of God have tasted the sweetness of it therefore they know it by experience The best demonstration of any thing is from sense Description cannot give me such a demonstration as when I taste and feel it my self 1 Pet. 2. 3. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious They have an experimental feeling of that which others know only by guess and hear-say Carnal men know no other good but that of the Creature The Spouse did so languish after her Beloved being sick of love when her desires were disappointed it made her faint Cant. 5. 6. They that have not seen and known him know not what to make of those spiritual and lively affections that carry us out after the favour of God with such earnestness and importunity but they that have tasted and know what their Beloved is their hearts are more excited and stirred up towards him Iohn 4. 10. If thou knewest the gift of God c. You would more admire the favour of God if you knew it especially by experience you would find it is a better good than ever you have yet tasted Use. Is this our temper and frame of our hearts Can we live contentedly and satisfiedly with the light of his Countenance A Child of God may be without the light of his Countenance but cannot live contentedly without it Are we troubled about it ever seeking after it Surely this is the disposition of the Children of God they are ever seeking after the favour of God I shall press to this by this Argument 1. God bespeaks it from you Psal. 27. 8. Thou saidest Seek ye my face There 's a Dialogue between God and a gracious heart The Lord saith Seek he saith it in his Word and speaks by the injection of holy thoughts by the inspiration of his Grace and the renewed heart like a quick Echo takes hold of this Lord thy face will I seek Psal. 106. 4. You should ever be seeking after God in his Ordinances seek his favour and face 2. The new Nature enclines and carries the soul to God it came from God and carries the soul to God again The Spirit of the World doth wholly encline us to the World They that are after the Flesh do mind the things of the Flesh and the Spirit of God doth encline us to God and therefore the people of God will value his favour above all things else David speaks in his own name and in the name of all that were like-minded with himself he speaks of all the Children of God in opposition to the many the brutish ones that were for sensual satisfaction Psal. 4. 6. Many say Who will shew us any good But
that scoff at the Mourners in Zion they count it melancholy and mopishness to be so often and seriously humbling themselves before the Lord. The world deals perversely with the people of God they provoke their sorrow and then upbraid them with it You should bear them company mourn with them pine in consort with those Doves of the Valleys Better be a Mourner than a Mocker and Scoffer Others there are that yet can make a shift to hold out some profession of Religion yet can delight in the company of prophane carnal persons Would a man willingly put himself upon occasions of grief Are you like Lot whose soul was vexed day by day Do but consider how much your temper differs from theirs David saith Psal. 119. 115. Depart from me ye evil Doers Others there are that by censures and bitter invectives seek to make the Sinner rather than the sin more odious This is to exercise malice and pride not Christian affection We should not censure but mourn Tears flow from charity censures from pride and by this means you lose a duty for a sin which is a sad exchange Others again are apt to laugh at them and to make sport with the sins of others but do not mourn This is a vile abuse and yet we are many times guilty of it Men laugh at drunkenness and make the slips of others matter of boasting and vain talk This should rather set our hearts a bleeding and mourning He were a monster rather than a man that could see a man take a fall even to the breaking of his back or neck and turn it into a jest or a man wound himself and he make a sport of it And shall we be more kind to the bodies than to the souls of men Oh consider the danger of these practices as much as in him lyeth he hath put himself into Hell and wilt thou laugh at it Use 2. Is Tryal Are we so tenderly affected I know every one is not of a like tender constitution and cannot weep rivers of tears but tell me or rather tell God I cite thy Conscience to make answer to God When thou didst ever go aside into thy Closet or some secret place to lay to heart the dishonour done to God or the affronts put upon his Grace Do not tell me thou hast declaimed against the sin of the times that thou hast not cried up a confederacy with them that cry up a confederacy against God There may be somewhat of faction and interest and obstinacy in those things but when hast thou mourned and wept sore in secret places Do not tell me that thou hast joyned in publick Fasts Hasty and transient sighs do not wound the heart Hast thou ever done it in secret or hast thou often done it It may be thou hast resented injuries and spread them before God and so there is a spirit of self-love and revenge that breaths into thy prayers Men will be hot in their own cause but what hast thou done in this Duty 'T is a plain question and therefore I hope it will have the more force upon the Conscience True zeal for injuries done to God would ease it self by tears rather than anger True Penitents will not satisfie themselves only with publick humiliation to which Law custome and example may draw them but will make conscience of this Duty in their Families yea in secret where no eye seeth them but Gods mourn apart Zech. 12. 12 13 14. and bring home publick provocations to their own doors Ier. 11. 17. Use 3. Is to exhort you to get this practice and to get this disposition of the Saints 1. There is a great deal of need to practise it now whether we look upon the sins or dangers of the Nation the sins such horrid blasphemies and reproaches cast upon Gods Servants his Ways Truths Doctrines according to godliness I think in the wisest judgment that a man can make never was there such a dangerous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and temper of any Nation as of ours at this time Never were sins boiled up to such an height and consistency as now such snarling at reformation that was hopefully begun Now sin walketh in the Streets with a bold face drunkenness swearing and prophaneness seem to triumph and with the more pretence because the stricter sort have so much dishonoured God and Religion Church-affairs are much out of order And for our dangers we hear again of wars and rumours of wars and God knoweth what may be the issue and effect of them Acts 13. 41. Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish for I work a work in your days a work which ye will in no wise believe though a man should tell you of them The danger of a Nation doth not lye in outward probabilities so much as in the threatnings of the word He alludeth to the horrible devastation of Iudea by the Chaldeans and applyeth it to the despising of the Gospel Would any believe that the Temple and City should be destroyed and the people of God carried captive that not one should remain yet this came In the time of Noah when they abounded in all things who would have thought of a Flood Many would say as that Nobleman If the Windows of Heaven were opened how could this be Who would have believed the horrible dissolution by the Romans or thirty years agone that which is now faln out in Germany Never think that our Armies and Forces are so strong as to withstand the threatnings of the Gospel for our horrible contempt God may blow upon all these props in an instant Therefore weep and mourn for the pride and rebellion of the Daughter of your people So for our private place What sins are there among us Some have withstood the ways of God though they have had convictions yet held out against them Some are prophane many defects in all Orders Paul was mightily troubled because the Church of Corinth was so much out of order he bewailed it with many tears 2 Cor. 2. 4. Out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears So may I speak and you think of these things 't is time to mourn By way of motive consider First This is the best way to enter our protestation and dissent against the iniquity of the times When we cannot help a thing 't is good to retract it and commit it by tears to God for then it shall not be laid to our charge When the Corinthians mourned for incest committed among them and sorrowed with a godly sorrow 2 Cor. 7. 13. Ye are verily clear in this matter many of them did not only not approve but abhor that foul act before but they were not clear till they mourned and purged the Church from the imputation So you are not clear till you have done this Duty Secondly God may take occasion to punish you from their sins We are all Fuel fit for the burning Gods dispensation is not unrighteous as
of man reacheth not to the mind and spirit they would be ridiculous if they should take upon them to give Laws to these Philosophers might give directions about them but Potentates would not give Laws for it doth not beseem them to interpose their authority in such Cases where it is impossible they shall know whether they are broken or kept The Scriptures upon their disobedience make men liable not only to temporal but spiritual and eternal punishments and accordingly are rewards proportioned in case of obedience The Magistrates wrath lighteth on the Body but Gods upon the Soul All that man can do concerns Life or Limb or Liberty or Estate the inward man is exempted from their power but God threatneth hardness of heart Exod. 7. 13. He hardened Pharaoh's heart that he hearkened not unto them A reprobate sense Rom. 1. 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things that are not convenient A trembling heart Deut. 28. 65. The Lord shall give thee a trembling of heart and failing of eyes and sorrow of mind On the contrary Obedience hath the promises of a soft heart and peace that passeth all understanding Phil. 4. 7. The peace of God that passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Iesus Of an encrease of Grace Prov. 4. 18. The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day God that punisheth sin with sin will reward Grace with Grace So for eternal rewards God threatneth The Worm that never dieth and the fire that never shall be quenched Mark 9. 44. On the other side he promiseth Rivers of pleasures that are at Gods right hand for evermore Psal. 16. 11. He that will be believed and obeyed upon terms of salvation is a God one that hath power of the World to come Thus hath God scattered the strictures of his Majesty and given real evidence of interposing his authority every where throughout the Word I shall only adde That the Scriptures as Gods Law may be considered as the Rule of Mans Duty and Gods Judgment In respect of the Commands they bind man to Duty and are the rule of it In respect of the Sanction that is promises and threatnings they are the rule of Gods Judgment In the one God sheweth his righteousness in the other his truth in the precepts righteousness in the promises and threatnings truth Secondly All that God hath required of us is very righteous and just becoming God to give and man to receive There is a condecency in these Precepts both to Gods Nature and to ours They are the Copy of Gods holiness and so a fit means to bring us not only into a subjection to him which is just he being our Creator but into a conformity to him which is our happiness To prove the righteousness which is in Gods Laws I shall produce several Arguments First Surely there is a distinction between good and evil and all acts are not in their own nature indifferent that was a monstrous conceit of Carpender and others contrary to the common sense of man If this were true the chastness of Lucretia should not be more to be prized than the lightness of Lais not the vertue of Cato than the dissoluteness of Sardanapalus and it would be as indifferent for a Man to kill his Father as his Neighbours Dog to rob in the Woods as to hunt a Deer or Hare to lye with his Fathers Wife as to contract honest Matrimony to forswear and lye as to be sincere in all our words and proceedings Now whose heart doth not rise within them at such an apprehension If this be thought to be only custome and received opinion that begets this abhorrence I would ask Whence cometh it that we all desire to be if not really yet seemingly honest The most wicked are offended when they are taken for such as they are and endeavour as much as they can to clothe their actions with the appearance of probity and uprightness If men were not sensible that vice were blame-worthy and vertue commendable why should such a desire so universally possess the heart of man were there not a natural sense of good and evil and an essential difference between the one and the other which we are sensible of Nature it self valuing and esteeming the one and blasting the other with severe marks of her improbation and hatred And I do with the more confidence urge this Argument because there is difficulty in the exercise of Vertue because of the conflict of the sensual appetite and on the other side many delights and pleasures accompanying Vice by which it gets an easie entrance into our souls and dominion over our desires Why should a thing so much against the bent and hair be accounted worthy of praise and the contrary which hath such a compliance with our natural desires be accounted worthy of blame And were there only Custome and Tradition for it would men so universally conspire to decree honours for that which is contrary to their corrupt Nature and to disapprove what is suitable to it It cannot be Would they desire the reputation of Vertue when their desires chuse Vice and impel them to it and hold them under it if they were not sensible that the one hath a comeliness and the other a turpitude in it Thus Hypocrites do clearly attest the excellency of uprightness and honesty Well then the Testimonies which God hath commanded are very righteous for they forbid those things which have a natural turpitude and indispensible sinfulness in them and command those things which are plainly and evidently lovely and praise-worthy Phil. 4. 8. Finally Brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue and if there be any praise think on these things Secondly It is such a rule and direction as men would chuse if they were at their own liberty provided they were wise and not brutified by their inordinate passions evil customes and discomposure of soul for all such are incompetent Judges For there is nothing preserveth the rectitude of humane Nature and maketh men to live as men according to the dictates of reason as the serious observance of this Law Break it a little and so far a Man turneth Beast so that it was well said of one A Saint or a Brute For the Law is so written upon mans heart and so connatural to his reason that you must extinguish the nature of man before you can rase out all the sentiments of this Law Rom. 2. 14 15. For when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law are a Law unto themselves which shew the work of the Law written in their hearts their conscience
also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another As long as we have these hearts that we have we cannot wholly except against the Justice and Equity of these Laws and Rules of Commerce between God and his Creatures It is true all truths are not alike evident but they that seriously mind the one will be led on to the other at least will find none contrary to such Conclusions as may be drawn from principles naturally known and will be encouraged to go on till God reveal more to them This is so evident that the wiser any among the heathen are the nearer they come to this Rule and have framed something like it for the regulation of men though with great mixtures of their own folly The perfect discovery of Mans duty God reserved to himself and his own Writings else where there is but fict a rectitudo and pict a Iustitia poor Counterfeits in the Laws of Civil Nations and Institutions of Philosophy Sapientia eorum abscondit vitia non abscindit there was only a little hiding and disguising of sin that it might not appear too odious In short the less knowledg any Nation or Society of men have of this Law the more brutish and barbarous they have been and so accounted to be by all that have known what civility and humane converse mean And on the contrary the more polite and civil the nearer they came to it Whom would you judge to be more civil the Romans or the Scythians the wife and good man or the Sot and Fool Even among us the more punctually any keepeth to this Law the more he differeth from others as much as an Angel from a Man or a Man from a Beast The righteous is more excellent than his Neighbour Prov. 12. 26. It is as clear as the Sun whether men will or nill they must acknowledge it and do when they are serious for they approve them while they hate them wish their latter end like theirs intrust them more than others presume more from them than others Out of all I conclude That the very frame and constitution of the reasonable and immortal Soul and Body of Man doth dictate the Equity and Justice of this Law and it doth result from the Image of God wherein man was created Thirdly That Law is just and righteous the violation of which men judge to be justly punished I use this Argument because under punishment men are serious for it rubbeth up and reviveth the sense of a Divine Power Now for the violation of this Law God hath judged Persons Families Nations and Kingdoms and Conscience is sensible of the Justice of Gods Judgments exercised upon them God is clear when he judgeth Psal. 51. 4. his eminent Judgments carry light and conviction with them and wherefore have his Judgments been executed Rom. 1. 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness Heb. 2. 2. Every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward There is a fear after some notorious breach even in those that are not acquainted with God a shyness of his Presence ever since Adam run to the Bushes so it is All which doth seal the righteousness and truth of this Law and how justly God may reckon with us about it Fourthly There is an intrinsecal righteousness in all the Duties commanded in Gods Law Besides the will of the Law-giver there is a Justice in the things themselves By what measure will we take Justice We usually understand it to be to give every one his due So doth the Law it commandeth us to give God his due and man his due Love is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fulfilling of the Law The Law is comprized in one word Love to love God himself and his Neighbour is there not Justice in all this The natural relation we have to God calleth for love to him for he made us and is the strength of our lives and the length of our days Deut. 30. 20. That thou mayst love the Lord thy God and that thou mayst obey his voice and that thou mayst cleave to him for he is thy life and the length of thy days Self-love and self-preservation if that be not a natural principle nothing is Our Neighbour we are bound to love because of Consanguinity they are our own flesh and blood and God hath bidden us to do to them as we would to our selves Matth. 7. 12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets There is an universal Consanguinity between all Mankind which hath its root in the communion of one and the same Nature and in the dependance and derivation from one common Stock The eminence of the Divine Nature is the foundation of the honour which we tender to it and the equality of our nature is the foundation of the Justice which we use to one another So that here are natural immutable Obligations and grounds of right Go to particulars How equal is it that we should acknowledge but one God They are drunk that see double strangely depraved that see more That we should not worship him before an Idol which is very apt to taint our minds with a gross opinion of God as if he were some limited finite Being It is a great lessening of reverence to see what we worship Not to take Gods Name in vain by a false Oath that breedeth Atheism and contempt That there should be a day to remember the Creator of all things every days work is no days work but there must be a limited time For reverence to Parents all Nations call for it For Murder Adultery Stealing false Accusations Mans interest will teach him the necessity of those Laws that forbid these things Contentation is a Guard to all the rest it is fit the God of the Spirits of all Flesh should give a Law to the Spirit Thou shalt not covet Yet this is the Law of God to which Scripture is subservient and all the admonitions reproofs exhortations dehortations examples directions histories of the obedience and vertue of some with their rewards of the disobedience apostasie rebellion of others with their punishments all is to inforce this Law The Doctrine of Christ and redemption and reconciliation by him I bring not under this first Head because that is a favour and priviledge and the Justice and Equity of Gospel Precepts will soon appear when once we have consented to the Law that it is good But of that in the next Head Thirdly For the truth and faithfulness of Gods Testimonies This may be considered either in revealing or performing making or making good his promises First For truth and faithfulness in making such offers and promises of pardon and eternal life in case of obedience and threatning a curse and everlasting punishment in case of
and serve him Not to pluck the Stars from the Sky or to guide the Chariot of the Sun not such sublimity of Knowledg and Learning nor such a quantity and proportion of Alms nor to lance thy self or offer thy first-born nor Rivers of Oyl nor thousands of Rams for a burnt-Offering Mic. 6. 8. He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God The Lords Commands are not rigid and severe and unreasonable but sweet and desirable that we should do wrong to none do good to all and maintain communion with him and is this burthensome Go try the Drunkards life and the Adulterers life you will see the temperate the chast have much the sweeter life of it Therefore let there not be one disallowing thought of what God hath required Could we bring you to esteem the Word other things would come on more easily 3. Owne it and improve it as a faithful Word building upon the promises fearing the threats thereof The Word will not deceive them that are ruled by it Consider your condition and what will be the event of things There is a curiosity in men to know their own destiny We may easily know what shall become of us by the Word of God and if men were not more curious to know their end than careful to amend their lives they need not seek any other Oracle Rom. 8. 13. For if ye live after the Flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live So for the end of any action if the word of God say it will be bitter in the latter end though it bring profit and pleasure for a while believe it against all the wicked men in the World and say I do more believe this one Text and place of Scripture than all that men can do and say Mind the great Duties of the Gospel and venture your souls in Christs hands upon these terms 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation That Christ Iesus came into the world to save Sinners of whom I am chief I have nothing but God's Word yet I will venture my salvation my All upon it upon his bare word Comfort your selves in the midst of difficulties with the truth of Gods Word when all sense and outward seeming is contrary to the promise Before a promise be accomplished there will be unlikelihoods I will instance in Paul's Prediction Acts 27. 24 25 26. Lo God hath given thee all them that sail with thee wherefore Sirs be of good cheer for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain Island c. Yet how many difficulties came to pass First No Isle appeareth they are tossed in the Adriatick Sea for fourteen days together they knew not where they were nor whither they did go Thus doth God delay the accomplishment of the promise they know not how nor which way it shall be made good Another difficulty was That meeting with some Isle it fell out in the night-time they deemed they drew near to some Country but yet feared they should be split upon the Rocks ver 30. the Ship-men were ready to flee out of the Ship leave Paul and his Fellows in danger upon pretence of casting out Anchors out of the Fore-stern and so they were ready to miscarry in the Haven When this difficulty was over and it was day they were not able to row to Land because of their long fasting having eaten little or nothing for fourteen days Another difficulty was When they would have thrust the Ship ashore it was broken all in pieces what with high Banks and two Seas meeting Another difficulty was When they were to swim to Land they think of killing the Prisoners and the Captain willing to save Paul kept them from their purpose and so they escaped all to Land Therefore do not distrust the Word but especially bear up with the hope of eternal life though remote and in another World which we never saw Heb. 11. 13. These all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them Rom. 2. 7. To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for life and glory and immortality eternal life You will meet with bitter conflicts heavy troubles sad desertions yet remember Gods Word is a faithful Word and let this cheer and revive you Use 2. Express these Vertues of the Word We must be righteous and true if the Word of God be so for the Impression must answer the Seal and Stamp Rom. 6. 12. But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine which was delivered you 2 Cor. 3. 3. Ye are declared to be the Epistle of Christ ministred by us written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God not in Tables of Stone but in fleshly Tables of the heart Phil. 3. 16. Holding fast the word of life that I may rejoyce in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain neither laboured in vain A Christian is the Bible exemplified such a conformity there must be there to the Law of God the same light that shineth forth in Scripture should shine forth in the lives of the godly so it was in Hezekiah Isai. 38. 3. Remember O Lord how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight And of David it is said 1 Kings 3. 6. Thy servant David walked before thee in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart First For righteousness A Christians business is to give to every man his due to do what he is bound to do to God and man Matth. 22. 21. to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's Whether by the Law of Nature 1 Tim. 5. 8. If any provide not for his own and especially for them of his own house he hath denied the faith and is worse than an Infidel Or by relation as Boaz did the part of a Kinsman to Ruth Ruth 3. 13. Tarry this night and it shall be in the morning that if he will perform unto thee the part of a Kinsman well let him do the Kinsmans part but if he will not do the part of a Kinsman then will I do the part of a Kinsman to thee as the Lord liveth Or by place or station Neh. 6. 11. And I said Should such a man as I flee and who is there that being as I am would go into the Temple to save his life I will not go in Or by paction or agreement Col. 4. 1. Masters give to your Servants that which is just and equal Or according to rules of prudence equity
difficult grievous and irksome to you 'T is love maketh all things pleasant and easie and to go on roundly 1 Iohn 5. 3. For this is the love of God that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not grievous A love to the Commands of God will make us do them with chearfulness VVhen a man loves God it will be no grievous thing to serve him 'T is said in the 4th of Nehemiah and the 6. That the Building went on because the People had a mind to the work The building of the Temple was a difficult task to remove the rubbish and carry on such a vast piece of work But they had a mind to the work and then it went on Love to any thing makes it go on sweetly and chearfully as we use to say so in Gods service if we love the work we cannot count it difficult 3. You will never be constant with God without this love An unwilling servant is ever running from his work and he that hath not an heart fixed and set will find discouragement enough in heavens way They fell off that received not the Truth in the love of it 2 Thess. 2. 10. Fear hath Compulsion in it but it will not hold when the fear is worn of but love is a lasting affection when your hearts love holiness and and you love the work for the works sake Third Consideration 'T is not enough to love the word but we must look after the grounds and reasons of this love 1. Because a true love to the word is not blind but rational and may be justified Matth. 11. 19. Wisdom is justified of her Children All that love God and his Truth are able to plead for it If you are not able to shew your grounds and reasons for your love to the word your love is but customary Phil. 1. 9. I pray that your love may abound in all knowledge and judgment Such a love and zeal is commendable as hath a proportionable measure of knowledge going along with it When the Spouse had spoken so much of her beloved the question is propounded Cant. 5. 9. What is thy beloved more then another beloved that thou dost thus charge us Christians should be able to say what is their Christ and what is the Religion they do profess that there 's more in their Religion then in all Religions in the World 2. Because many love it upon wrong reasons there may be a natural and carnal love to spiritual things Look as a religious man in outward things rejoyceth spiritually so a carnal man in spiritual things rejoyceth carnally So Herod rejoyced in Iohns preaching with a humane passion Mark 6. 20. As he was a plausible preacher and a rare and pregnant interpreter of the Law This was but a carnal affection that is thus They may be pleased with notions and elevated strains of wisdom I remember a Moralist gives this similitude A Gallant going into a Garden prizeth Flowers altogether for the beauty of them but a Physician he looks after their use and vertue in Medicine but they both go to look after Flowers So a Godly man delights in the word of God 't is that he may be brought under the power of it and made more holy and heavenly minded But others go to hear an Argument rationally traversed or to hear Cadences of speech and pleasant language 'T is not enough to take a liking to things but we must know why Nay let me tell you that meer forreign and external reasons may sway us to delight in the word when Religion is in request and groweth in fashion and becometh matter of reputation 't is no great matter to be an honourer and admirer of it Simon Magus will be a disciple and turn Christian too when the whole City of Samaria listened to the Apostles and embraced their Doctrine Acts. 8. When there was so great an outward affluence 3. The more we view the grounds and reasons the more our love is encreased 'T is clear the Will and Affections are moved by the understanding and that Ignorance is the cause of the Contempt of the Lords grace If thou knewest the Gift Iohn 4. 10. We Love and Fear and Hate and Joy according to the apprehensions that we have of things And therefore the more knowledge we have the more love Phil. 1. 9. I pray that your love may abound in all Knowledg if thou dost not encrease in knowledge thou wilt never increase in affection 2 Pet. 1. 2. Grace and Peace be multiplyed unto you by the knowledge of God and Iesus Christ our Lord. Now The more these grounds and reasons are drawn forth in the view of Conscience the more thy love is stirred as the more we beat the steel upon the flint the more the sparks fly out Fourth Consideration Of all the grounds and reasons of our love to the word of God the most noble and excellent is to love the Word for its purity 1. Because this sheweth indeed that we are made partakers of the divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. For I pray you mark when we hate evil as evil and love good as good we have the same love and hatred that God hath It sheweth that the soul is changed into the likeness of God when we love a thing for its purity God hath no interest to be advanced by the Creature he loves them more or less as they are near or further off from his glorious being When once we come to love things because they are pure 't is a sign that we have the same love that God hath 2. This argueth a sutableness of heart to what God requireth for things affect us as they sute with us They that are after the flesh savour the things of the flesh Rom. 8. 5. The pure will only delight in pure things but Swine delight in puddles they that have the Spirit of the World they must have worldly pleasure and honour but the pure will delight in the word of God 1 Cor. 2. 14. The natural man receiveth not the things of God and because they are not sutable to him First We love things as sutable to our necessity and then we love them upon interest and afterwards as sutable to our disposition Now it argueth a good frame of heart and a deep sense of Gods interest when we love the word because 't is so pure A man first loves the word customarily because he is born there where that Religion is in fashion and then when he beginneth to have a Conscience he loveth it for pardon and peace as it offers a Saviour his own happiness self love puts him upon seeking after God then afterwards his heart is suted to Gods Will and there is something of kin in his heart to the Will of God revealed without and he loveth it for its suitableness of Nature unto the Will of God 3. To be sure this love is no way questionable but is an undoubted Evidence of right and sound love to
the Creature in appointing him such a law God hath the greatest Right and Authority to Command Isa. 33. 22. The Lord is our Iudge and our Law-giver 2. That there is not only direction given to us but an Obligation laid upon us There is this difference between a Law and a Rule a bare Rule is for Information a Law for Obligation So herein the Word of God agrees with a law 't is not only the result of Gods Wisdom but the effect of his Legislative Will He would not only help and instruct the Creature in his Duty but oblige him by his Authority Decretum necessitatem facit exhortatio liberam voluntatem excitat saith the Canonist Exhortation and Advice properly serveth to quicken one that is free but a decree and a law imposeth a force a necessity upon him So Hierom lib. 2. contra Iovin Ubi consilium datur operantis arbitrium est ubi praeceptum necessitas servitutis A Counsel and a Precept differ a Precept respects Subjects a Counsel Friends The scriptures are not only Gods Counsel but his Precept There is a Coactive power in his laws God hath not left the Creature at liberty to comply with his Directions if he please but hath left a strict charge upon him 3. Every law hath a sanction otherwise it were but an Arbitrary Direction the Authority might be Contemned unless it hath a sanction that is confirmed by Rewards and Punishments so hath God given his law under the highest penalties Mar. 16. 16. He that Believeth shall be saved and he that Believeth not shall be damned Gal. 6. 8. If ye sow to the Flesh of the Flesh ye shall reap Corruption Rom. 8. 13. If ye live after the Flesh ye shall die God telleth them what will come of it and commandeth them to abstain as they will answer it to God at their utmost peril The Obligation of a law first inferreth a fault that is Contempt of Authority so doth Gods as 't is his law and so will infer a fault in us to break it And as we reject his Counsel it inferreth Punishment and the greater Punishment the more we know of Gods law Rom. 2. 9. Tribulation Wrath and Anguish upon every soul that doeth evil upon the Iew first and also upon the Gentile Why the Iew first They knew Gods Mind more Clearly 4. A sanction supposeth a Judge who will take an account whether his law be broken or kept otherwise all the Promises and Threatnings were in vain The law that is the Rule of our Obedience is the Rule of his Process so the Word of God hath this in common with other laws therefore God hath appointed a Judge and a Judgment-day wherein he will judge the World in Righteousness by the Man whom he hath appointed and 2 Thes. 1. 8. He will come in flaming fire to render Vengeance on all them that know not God and obey not the Gospel According to the law they have been under Gentiles Christians they must all appear before the Lord to give an account how they have observed Gods law Now in patience he beareth with men yet sometimes interposeth by particular Judgments but then they shall receive their final Doom 2. Let us see wherein they differ from ordinary laws among Men. 1. Man in his laws doth not debate matters with his Subjects but barely injoyneth and interposeth Authority but God condescendeth to the Infirmities of Man and cometh down from the Throne of his Sovereignty and reasoneth and perswadeth and prayeth Men that they will not forsake their own Mercies but yield Obedience to his laws which he convinceth them are for their good Isa. 46. 8. Remember this shew your selves Men bring it to mind again ye Transgressors Isa. 1. 18. Let us reason together saith the Lord. God is pleased to stoop to sorry Creatures to argue with them and make them Judges in their own Cause Micah 6. 2 3. he will plead with Israel O my People what have I done unto thee And wherein have I wearied thee Testifie against me He will plead with Israel about the equity of his laws whether they are not for their good 'T is a lessening of Authority for Princes to Court their Subjects they Command them but God will Beseech and Expostulate and Argue with his People 2 Cor. 5. 20. He draws with the Cords of a Man sweetly alluring their hearts to him 2 The laws of God bind the Conscience and the Immortal Souls of Men the laws of Men only bind the Behaviour of the outward Man they cannot order the Heart God takes notice of a wanton glance of an unclean thought a carnal motion Matth. 5. 28. Mens Words and Actions are liable to the laws of Men they cannot know the Thoughts but the law of God falls upon the Counsels of the Heart Rom. 7. 14. For I know that the law is Spiritual but I am Carnal Heb. 4. 12. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart 3 The law of God Immutably and Indispensibly bindeth all men without distinction no man beggeth exemption here because of their condition there is no Immunity and Freedom from Gods Law Men may grant Immunity from their laws 1 Sam. 17. 25. He will make his fathers house free in Israel Mens laws are compared to spiders Webs the lesser flies are intangled great ones break through God doth not exempt any Creature from Duty to him but speaketh Impartially to all 4 Mens laws do more propend to Punishment than they do to reward For Robbers and Manslayers Death is appointed but the innocent subject hath only this reward that he doth his Duty and escapeth these Punishments In very few cases doth the law Promise Rewards the inflicting of Punishments is its proper work because its use is to restrain Evil but Gods law propoundeth Punishments equal to the Rewards Eternal life on the one hand as well as Eternal death on the other Deut. 30. 15. See I have set before thee this day Life and good Death and evil because the use of Gods law is to guide men to their Happiness This should be much observed 't is legis candor the Equity and Condescension of Mans law to speak of a Reward it commands many things forbids many things but still under a penalty that 's the great design of mans Power in very few cases doth it invite men to their Duty by a Reward only in such cases when every good man would not do his Duty 'T is more exact and vigilant in its proper and natural work of punishing the disobedient that wickedness should not go unpunished the common Peace requireth that but that good should be rewarded there is no humane necessity Humane laws were not invented to reward Good but prevent Evil. Use. Let us humble our selves that we bear so little respect to Gods Word that we so boldly break it and are so little affected with our breaches of it do we indeed consider that this is Gods law The greatest
part of Mankind fear the Prince more than God and the Gallows more than Hell If every vain thought or carnal motion in our hearts were as the cutting of a finger or burning in the hand men would seem more afraid of that then they are of Hell Nay I will tell you men can dispense with Gods law to comply with Mans. Hos. 5. 11. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in Iudgement because he willingly walked after the Commandment A little Danger will draw men into the snare when Hell will not keep them from it Oh let us Rouze up our selves Is not Man Gods Subject Is not he a more powerful Sovereign than all the Potentates in the World Doth he not in his Word give Judgment on the Everlasting estate of men and will his Judgment be in vain Hath not God appointed a day when all matters shall be taken into consideration If you can deny these Truths go on in sin and spare not but if Conscience be sensible of Gods Authority oh break off your sins by Repentance and walk more cautiously for the time to come Every sin is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Ioh. 3. 4. a breach of Gods Eternal law and will God always wink at your disloyalty to him Nothing remaineth to be spoken to but the last Clause Thy Law is truth Doctrine Gods Law is Truth 1. I shall shew in what sense 't is said to be Truth 2. The Reasons why 't is Truth 3. The end of this Truth First In what sense 't is said to be Truth 1. 'T is the Chief Truth there is some truth in the laws of Men and the writings of Men even of Heathens but they are but sorry Fragments and Scraps of Truth that have escaped since the Fall But the Truth of the Word is transcendent to that of bare Reason here are truths of the greatest Concernment matters propounded that are very comfortable and profitable to lost sinners 1 Tim. 2. 16. Here Moral Duties are advanced to the highest Pitch Deut. 4. 6. Keep therefore and do them for this is your Wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the Nations The end of these is not only to regulate your Commerce with men but to guide you in your Communion with God and help you to the Everlasting Enjoyment of him 2. 'T is the only Truth that is the only Revelation of the Mind of God that you can build upon 't is the Rule of Truth A thing may be true that is not the Rule of truth There is veritas regulata veritas regulans the Word is the measure and standard and they are true or false as they agree or disagree with it Every Custom and Tradition must be tryed upon it from the beginning it was not so from the beginning my Christianity is Jesus Christ. We must not attend to what others did but what Christ did who is before all every dictate of reason must be tryed by it for here is the highest reason It is written to make the Man of God perfect or else it cannot guide you to your happiness 2 Tim. 3. 15 16. Every Revelation must be tryed by it Gal. 1. 8. If an Angel or Man bring any Doctrine if it differ from or be besides the written Word 't is a cursed Doctrine This is the Rule 3. 'T is the pure Truth in it there is nothing but the Truth without the mixture of Falshood every part is true as truth it self 't is true in the Promises true in the Threatnings true in the Doctrines true in the Histories true in the Precepts true in the Prohibitions God will make it good to a tittle True in Moralities true in the Mysteries of Faith not only true in Duties that concern man and man but in the sublimer truths that concern commerce with God where Nature is more blind Psal. 19. 9. The Testimonies of the Lord are true and righteous altogether 'T is true where a Carnal Man would not have it true in the Curses and Threatnings If Gods Word be true wo to them that remain in a sinful way they shall find it true shortly and feel what they will not believe 'T is true where a godly man feareth it will not be true no Promises contradicted by sense but will prove true in their performance Whatsoever in the hour of Temptation Carnal Reason may judge to the contrary within a while you will see your unbelieving fears confuted 4. 'T is the whole Truth it containeth all things necessary for the Salvation of those that yield up themselves to be instructed by it Ioh. 14. 26. He shall teach you all things and remember you of all things Ioh. 16. 13. Lead you into all Truth In all things that pertain to Religion and our present Conduct towards everlasting Happiness Therefore nothing is to be hearkned to contrary to what God hath revealed in his Word there is no room left for Tradition nor for extraordinary Revelations all that is necessary for the Church is revealed there 't is a full perfect Rule Reasons 1. From the Author God is a God of Truth and nothing but Truth can come from him for God cannot lie Tit. 1. 2. The truth of the law dependeth upon the truth of God therefore it must needs be without Error yea it corrects all Errour if God could deceive or be deceived you might suspect his Word 2. The matter it self it commends its self to our Consciences by the manifestation of the truth 2 Cor. 4. 2. Approving your selves by the Word of truth 2 Cor. 6. 7. If the Heart be not strangely perverted and become an incompetent Judge by obstinate Atheisme and corrupt Affections it cannot but own these truths to be of God if our Gospel be hid 't is hid to them that are lost 1 Cor. 4. 4. 3. The end of it which is to regulate man and sanctifie man Now it were strange if he should be made better by a lie and a cheat Ioh. 17. 17. Sanctifie them by thy truth thy word is truth Certainly 't is the most convenient Instrument to reduce man to his Wits and make him live like a Man 4. It pretends to be the law of God it is so or else it would be the greatest cheat in the World for it speaketh to us from God all along and by vertue of his Authority None can be so bruitish as to think that the wisest Course of Doctrines that ever the World was acquainted with is a meer Imposture Use 1. Is to commend the Word of God to us we cannot have true Doctrine nor true Piety nor true Consolation without the Scriptures Not true Doctrine Isa. 8. 20. To the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word there is no light in them 'T is to be condemned of Falshood if not according to the Word you cannot have true Holiness for Holiness is but Scripture digested and put in Practice Iam. 1. 18. The Foundation of the spiritual life is laid in
2. It must not be on forreign Reasons And then it must be Universal otherwise it is but like Herod who heard Iohn gladly and did many things c. Mark 6. 20. It must be deeply rooted otherwise it is but like the seed which fell on the Stony ground which received the Word with joy but dureth but for a while Matth. 13. 20. 1. Use. To shew how far they are from the Temper of Gods Children whose Delight is in Sin or the Pleasures of the Flesh. These have dreggy muddy Souls Their hearts are on sports plays merry-meetings These desires are soon cloyed leave a bitterness in the Soul till we contemn them we are never fit for an Holy Life See Gregory de Valentia 2. Use. Have we this Delight The Sincerity may be discerned 1. By the Extent It is extended to all the parts of the Word delight in the Promises and Precepts To be partial in the Law Hypocrites can well allow Mal. 2. 9. 2. It will be discerned by the Effects of it You will often Consult with it Psal. 119. 24. Thy Testimonies are my delight and my Counsellors 3. It will be a perpetual Delight Iob. 27. 10. Will he delight himself in the Almighty Will he always call upon God You will own it in Affliction as in the Text. Many will delight in Gods Word when Prosperity accompanieth it but not in Trouble and Anguish You will delight in Obedience and in the way of his Testimonies not talk of it but do it The young Man's delight in Dinah made him Circumcise himself Gen. 34. 19. Lastly Compare it with your delight in things Sensible Temporal and Corporeal If it be sincere and cordial it will not onely equal but surmount these Verse 72. The Law of thy Mouth is better to me than thousands of Gold and Silver And Verse 162. I rejoyce in thy Word as one that findeth great Spoil Spiritual good is greater than Corporal our conjunction with it is more intimate greater and firmer The part gratified is more Noble the Soul than the Body it will make these dye that the other may live 3. Use. Let us be exhorted to do what we can for the begetting encreasing and cherishing this delight in our hearts If you love God you cannot but love his word which is so perfect a representation of him If you love Holiness you must needs delight in the Word this is the rule of it If you love Life and Happiness you must needs delight in the Word this is the way that leadeth us to so Blessed and Glorious an Estate If you love Christ you will love the Word which offereth him to you If you love the new Nature you will delight in the Word which is the Seed of it If you would speed in Prayer Ver. 77. Let thy tender Mercies come unto me for thy Law is my Delight If you would be supported in Affliction Verse 92. Unless thy Law had been my Delight I should then have perished in mine Affliction 4. Doctrine In the days of our Trouble and Anguish Gods Word will be a great delight and comfort to us Such a Comfort as will overcome the bitterness of our Affliction So saith David here When all Comforts have spent their Virtue then Gods Word will be a Comfort to us Here I shall shew First What Comfort the Word holds out to us Secondly Why Afflictions do not diminish it First What Comforts it holds forth 1. The Priviledges of the Afflicted Rom. 5. 1 2. We glory in Tribulations knowing that Tribulation worketh Patience Such may rejoyce in Tribulations Miseries are unstinged his Rods are not signs of his Anger They are in the favour of God and his heart is with them however his hand be smart upon them The Habitude and Nature of Afflictions is altered in themselves they are the Punishments of Sin and so their Natural tendency is to Despair and Bondage God seemeth to put the Old Covenant in suit against unbelieving sinners but now they are Tryals Preventions Medicines to Believers that proceed from love and are designed for their good 2. The Word holdeth forth the Blessedness of an other World 2 Cor. 4. 17 18. Our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory Hope is not afrighted by Affliction but worketh Before Corn be ripened it needeth all kind of Weathers The Husbandman is glad of showers as well as sun-shine Rainy Weather is Troublesome but the season requireth it 3. It assureth us of what is acceptable to God Micah 6. 8. He hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God So it yieldeth comfort through the Conscience of our Duty and chearfull reflections on afflicted Innocency are not these Gods wayes which we desire to walk in and for which we are troubled 4. The Word hath notable Precepts that ease the Heart Phil. 4. 6. Be careful for nothing but in every thing by Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving let your Requests be made known unto God 1 Peter 5. 7. Casting all your Care upon him for he careth for you Proverbs 16. 3. Commit thy Works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be Established It biddeth us cast all our Cares upon God and commit our selves to the Guidance of his Providence 5. It giveth us many Promises of Gods being with us and strengthning and delivering us and giving us a gracious Issue out of all our Troubles 1 Corinthians 10. 13. God is Faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able But will with the Temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it Now it is a great ease to the Soul to fly to these Promises which are made to his Afflicted Servants 6. It breedeth Faith which fixeth the Heart Psalm 112. 7. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings his Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord. It breedeth Fortitude or cleaving to God under the greatest Trials 2 Samuel 6. 22. And Psalm 44. 17 18. Now this becometh a Testimony and Proof of our Love to God and so bringeth Comfort It breedeth Obedience and the doing of good leaveth a Pleasure behind it After Sin a sting remaineth Romans 2. 14 15. It breedeth Waiting and Patience when all Hope is cut off Micah 7. 7. Therefore I will look unto the Lord I will wait for the God of my Salvation When such Trouble is on us as no end appeareth of it Most mens Comfort holdeth out but whilst there is hope of turning the Stream of things They are not satisfied in their Duty nor comforted with Promises but born up with Hopes of Success Secondly Why Afflictions do rather increase than diminish this 1. They drive us to these Comforts Man liveth by sense more than by Faith when he hath any thing about him but his sorrows drive him to God
come too easily but that which costs us much pains and long crying is more prized the Reason is because Delay and Difficulty sharpen our Desires and the sharper our Desire in the absence of a Blessing the greater gust and sweetness we find in it when it cometh at last A sack that is stretched out is more capacious and holdeth the more so is the Soul more widened by inlarged desires to intertain the Blessing for always our delight is according to the proportion of our Desires as an hungry man or one long kept from meat relisheth his food better than another that hath it always at hand Isa. 25. 9. And it shall be said in that day lo this is our God we have waited for him and he will save us this is the Lord we have waited for him we will be glad and rejoyce in his salvation We that know Blessings more by the want than the worth of them in waiting we are acquainted with the difficulties and inconveniencies that attend the want of things and so are more fitted to prize them then ever we should have been if we had not so long waited 2. It is more thankfully Improved this follows upon the former and may be further made good because when we know the difficulty of getting a Blessing we will not easily part with it as they that get an estate are usually more careful how they spend it than they that are born to one therefore God holdeth his People long at prayer to prepare and season their hearts that when they have it they may know better how to imploy it for his glory and his own good Questionless Hannah would never have devoted her Child to God had she not continued so long without him and prayed for him with such bitterness of Heart but that wrought on her 1 Sam. 1. 11. And she vowed a vow and said O Lord of Hosts if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid and remember me and not forget thine handmaid but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man-child then I will give him unto the Lord all the dayes of his life and no razor shall come upon his head Compare this with the 27 28 verses For this Child I prayed and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him therefore also I have lent him to the Lord as long as he liveth he shall be lent unto the Lord. The same effect you may observe in any spiritual Comfort you obtain for your Souls or any temporal Mercy or Comfort of the present Life which you get by Prayer if God had answered you at first it had been reckoned among the ordinary effects of his Goodness and so pass't by but what is won by Prayer is usually worn with Thankfulness you would not have been so sensible of the hand of Providence the graciousness of the Answer or your obligation to God or indeed that it had been an answer of Prayer at all III. Things often and earnestly asked of God come with the greater fulness of Blessing when they come and so as one saith God payeth them Use for forbearance the Mercy is the more ample and so every Prayer hath its reward Christ denied the woman of Canaan long but at length yieldeth up himself to her importunity Mar. 15. 26. O Woman great is thy Faith be it unto thee as thou wilt She lost nothing by the delay Hannah was long without a Child but at length the Child proved the more eminent she gets both a Child and a Prophet too Let God alone and do you continue praying and he will recompence you abundantly for all his delay Peter was in Prison and the Church made prayers without ceasing Acts 12. 5. and God doth not only bring him out but bring him out with a Miracle so that they were astonished verse 16. God delayed for a while and seemed to refuse their Prayers but when Herod was just about to bring him forth to Execution God brought him forth to Deliverance Every Prayer is upon the file and contributeth to make the Mercy the more compleat it remaineth day and night before the Lord 1 Kings 8. 59. And let these my words wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night as a memorial Acts. 10. 4. Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God IV. It argueth an ill spirit when we will not continue praying though we have not presently that which we pray for To be sure 1. There is dis-obedience in it for it is contrary to Gods Injunctions Luk. 18. 1. Men ought always to pray and not to faint We ought not to surcease our suits so Eph. 6. 18. Praying always and with all perseverance alwayes relateth to the constant exercise of this Duty upon all occasions with all perseverance to particular suits we put up to God Now our Duty must not be omitted whatever the discouragements be as Moses was to hold up his hands till the going down of the Sun so are we to continue our suits and press hard for an Answer till God give us the thing we pray for 2. There is weakness of Faith to yield to the Temptation and to go off upon every repulse yea sometimes too too plain Unbelief and Atheisme as if there were no Mercy to be expected from God or no good to be obtained by spiritual means Faith is to believe what we see not the Woman of Canaan cometh to Christ at first she gets not a word from him and afterwards his speech is more discouraging then his silence she is put out of the compass of his Commission I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel but still she is importunate afterwards a rough Answer it is not meet to take the Childrens bread and cast it unto dogs she turneth his Rebuke into an Encouragement then O woman great is thy Faith Mat. 15. 26. Many times we pray for Blessings and the Oracle is dumb and silent though God love the Supplicant yet he will not seem to take notice of his desires yea the more they pray the more they may go away with a sense of their unworthiness and revived Guilt yet the work of Faith is to make an Answer out of Gods silence a gracious Answer out of his Rebukes and to increase our importunity the more 3. Want of Love to God or coldness of Love it is the property of Love to adhere to God though we be not feasted with felt Comforts and present Benefits Yea though he appear an enemy for so will God try the Affection and Deportment of his Children Isa. 26. 8. Yea in the way of thy Iudgments have we waited for thee the desire of our Souls is to thee and to the remembrance of thy Name Iob 13. 15. Though he slay me yet will I trust in him Not only when our Affections are bribed a Child of God should Love God for his
imports his knowledge accompanied with a tender Love This is often spoken of in Scripture Exod. 2. 28. God looked on the Children of Israel and had respect to them So Exod. 3. 7. And the Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their task-Masters and have known their sorrows Acts. 7. 34. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have seen I have seen the affliction of my people or seeing I have seen the very sight of God is a comfort and support to a sinking Soul it is some comfort to us to have our crosses known to such as we are assured do love us if they condole with us though they be not able to help us so that the Lord looketh upon us with a merciful pitiful Eye 2. As God will cast the Eye of his Pity on us so he will put forth the Arm of his Power as he hath a merciful Eye so he hath a powerful Hand ready to help though sometimes we see nothing of this 2 Chron. 16. 9. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth to shâ—…w himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him there is his Care and effective Providence 2. Be sure you keep up your Qualification I do not forget thy Law Many times when men in their Prosperity do not regard God and his Commandments he regardeth them in their Streights for though we forget the Duty of Children he doth not forget the Mercies of a Father but surely he will not forget them that do not forget his Law Therefore it is not credible that God should forget us and our Condition that we should be more mindful of his Law than he of our Affliction he that puts us in mind of his Law will also put himself in mind of the troubles we endure for the keeping of it for certainly God is more mindful of his part of the Covenant then we can be of ours See Christs Argument Ioh. 17. 10. And all mine are thine and thine are mine and I am glorified in them Doctrine IV. We may ask Deliverance from Temporal Troubles not only Support but Deliverance So doth David 1. God hath promised Psal. 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of Trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me 2. Much of God is discovered in it His Wisdom 2 Pet. 2. 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of Temptation We are at a loss many times but God is never at a loss His Power Dan. 3. 17. If it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us and he will deliver us out of thy hand O King when the wrath of the King was great and the fiery furnace burning before them His Goodness God is sufficiently inclined to it by his own Grace and delights to do it Psal. 149. 4. The Lord taketh pleasure in his people he will beautifie the meek with Salvation he loveth the Person of Believers and loveth their Prosperity and Happiness and delighteth to see them do well in the World he hath pleasure in the Prosperity of his Servants Psal. 35. 27. which is a good incouragement to pray for it 2 Sam. 14. 1. Ioab perceived that the Kings heart was towards Absalom Yea not only his Love but the constancy and unweariedness of his Love 2 Cor. 1. 10. Who delivereth us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us there are all respects of time Solomon saith Prov. 25. 17. Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbours house lest he be weary of thee and so hate thee Men waste by giving but I AM is Gods Name we still need and he is still a giving 2 Tim. 3. 11. Thou hast fully known my persecutions afflictions which came unto me at Antioch c. But out of them all the Lord delivered me So many Troubles so many gracious Experiences of God Psal. 34. 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth them out of them all Iob 5. 19. He shall deliver thee in six troubles yea in seven shall no evil touch thee Seven is the number of perfection God can and doth deliver us as often as we need deliverance When Clouds return after the Rain or one evil treadeth on the heels of another he hath a succession of Mercies for our succession of Sorrows We are dismayed when we see one trouble is over and another cometh we have the same God still the same certainty of his Mercy in delivering Many times God so delivereth that the Troublers of his people shall come in their room Prov. 11. 8. The righteous is delivered out of trouble and the wicked cometh in his stead As the Leprosie of Naaman went to Gehazi His Faithfulness which he hath laid at pledge with us that he will make a way to Escape 1 Cor. 10. 13. God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able but will with the temptation also make a way for you to escape that you may â—…e able to bear it His Dominion and Soveraignty Psal. 44. 4. Thou art my King O God command deliverances for Iacob he hath all things at his Command all second causes the hearts of his Enemies 3. We have greater opportunities to serve God Psal. 119. 134. Deliver me from the oppression of man so will I keep thy precepts Luk. 1. 74 75. That he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hands of our Enemies should serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of our life Use. They are too nice that think we may not ask of God temporal Mercies it is lawful to ask them if we ask them lawfully with a submission to God and for his Glory that we may serve him more chearfully so you may ask a deliverance out of your Troubles Doctrine V. Those that would have God to deliver them out of their Afflictions should be sure they do not forsake their Duty All the Evil that David suffered could not weaken his love to the Law of God nor draw him from the Obedience of it and what was the issue He pleadeth this in Prayer to God Reasons 1. Because if we do so the nature of our sufferings is altered both as to God and Man as to Man we do not suffer as evil doers 1 Pet. 4. 15. But let none of you suffer as a Murderer or as a Thief or as an evil doer or as a busie body in other mens matters which will much darken our Comfort and Glory in suffering though for the main you have an interest in God if by your miscarriage you have deserved the stroke of humane Justice as to God your sufferings are not Castigatory but Probatory Rev. 2. 10. The Devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tryed not punished but tryed 2. Because
therefore though God will give sufficient means of Conviction yet not always such evident marks of his Favour to the best Cause in Temporal things as that mere sense shall lead them to embrace it No he will onely set a good Cause a-foot and then suffer it to be exposed to the hatred of the World and sometimes to be over-born as to any Temporal Interest it can get that the mere Evidence and Love of Truth may gain men and not any secular motives All the countenance and owning God will give to it is by infusing Courage and Constancy to his Servants to suffer for it and so they overcome by the blood of the Lamb and not loving their Lives to the Death Rev. 12. 11. he speaketh of such a time when the Church seemeth weakest like a poor woman Travelling and her Enemies seem strongest like a great Red Dragon ready to devour the Child assoon as born Now though at such a time the Church is overcoming and the Devil and his Instruments are but pulling down their own Throne and establishing Christs while they are shedding the Blood of his Saints Yet none of this appeareth and is visibly to be seen Though suffering be a sealing and ratifying of the Truth yet to the Worlds eye it seemeth a suppressing and over-bearing of it Therefore few will own such a despised hated persecuted way and the difficulty is the greater when there is much of Gods Truth owned by the persecuting side and the contest is not about the main of Christianity but some lesser Truths and so the opposition is more disguised then certainly it may be said Isa. 59. 4. None calleth for Iustice nor any pleadeth for Truth all half Friends are discouraged therefore nothing is left the people of God but their Prayers Lord plead my cause David in the Text appealeth to Gods Judgment when he was deserted by men burdened by prejudices oppressed by mans wrong Judgment So often Gods People are not able to defend themselves and few in the World will own them or be Advocates for them then God will take their cause in hand In the Civil Law if a man could not get an Advocate metu adversarii the Judge was to appoint him one to plead for him So God taketh notice of his Peoples Condition Ier. 30. 13. There is none to plead thy cause that thou mayst be bound up Often among men none can or dareth undertake the defence and patronage of oppressed Right 2. Though we have a good Cause and hopeful Instruments yet we cannot plead it with any effect till God shew himself from heaven Nay though the Cause be never so right and just and Instruments and Means hopeful yet it requireth God's power to keep it a-foot For the justice of the Cause must not be relyed on nor probable means rested in but God must have the Trust of the Cause and the Glory of maintaining it otherwise by our own ill managing or by some secret and unseen opposition it will Miscarry Psal. 9. 4. Thou â—…st maintained my right and my cause thou satest in the Throne judging right This is a work wherein God will be seen while it is in agitation or under decision God will have the Trust and when it is over he will have all the Glory III. What Hopes or Grounds there are to expect that God will plead the Cause of his People 1. He can 2. He will Infinite Power and infinite Justice can do it 1. He can The Lord is able he that pleadeth our Cause hath infinite Power Prov. 23. 11. Their Redeemer is mighty he shall plead their cause with thee It is easie to bear down a few afflicted Creatures that have no strength or heart to oppose being in bonds and under oppression but there is a mighty God who when he pleadeth any ones cause he will do it to the purpose really and effectually delivering them for whom he pleadeth Ier. 50. 34. Their Redeemer is strong the Lord of Hosts is his name he will throughly plead their Cause that he may give rest to the land and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon 2. He will Considering 1. Their Relation to God 2. God's Relation to them and to the whole World 1. Because of their Relation to him the Dominus the Lord whom they had chosen was to be their Patronus they that have put themselves under Gods Protection and are faithful to him keeping close to his Word he will plead their cause and manage it as his own Isa. 51. 22. Thus saith thy Lord the Lord and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people Behold I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling even the dregs of the cup of my fary thou shalt no more drink it again He being their Soveraign Lord had undertaken to protect his Servants he counteth the wrongs done to them done to himself Acts 9. 4. Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Especially since molested for his Truth 2. Because of his Relation to them he is the Supream Potentate and the righteous Judge of the World and so bound by his office to defend the weak and innocent when oppressed Psal. 146. 7. He executeth judgment for the opppressed those that should maintain Right upon Earth and punish Wrongs are often prevaricators but the Judge of all the Earth will do Right he is an impartial Judge and will maintain the cause of his People Prov. 22. 22 23. Rob not the poor because he is poor neither oppress the afflicted in the gate For the Lord will plead their cause and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them Though no Relation to him yet if poor if afflicted if destitute of humane help the Lord taketh himself to be the Patron of all such much more his People Use. I. To rebuke our Fears and Mis-giving of Heart When we see the best men go to the Walls and to be made objects of Scorn and Spight we are apt to say as the Church doth in the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 40. 27. My way is â—…id from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God that is in effect that God doth wholly neglect them and will not plead their Cause Oh no! he knoweth what strife there is between us and our Adversaries and how good our Cause is and how much he is concerned in it onely we must wait his leisure and bear his Indignation until he plead True submission to God ought to prescribe no day to him but referr all to his Will Use. II. Let us commit our Cause to the Lord as the expression is Iob 5. 8. I would seek unto God and unto God would I commit my cause who is the Friend and Advocate of the Afflicted and hath promised to be so and to keep us from the hand of the wicked and the mouth of the wicked from their hand and violence so far as it shall be for his Glory Isa. 49. 25. I will contend with him that contendeth with thee and I
and sinless Purity for so it is wholly unsuitable to them what should a carnal sensual heart do with heaven or how should they desire it that hate the Company of God the Communion of Saints the Image of God God maketh meet Col. 1. 12. Giving thanks to the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light There is jus haereditarium jus aptitudinale though they do not desire to be saved for it they would love holiness more Partly because those conceits that they have of the adjuncts of Salvation and that happiness and personal Contentment which results to them they do not practically esteem it as to value it above the delights of the flesh and the Vanities of the World and they do not think it worthy the pursuit but for the interests of the bodily Life cast off all care of it Heb. 12. 16. As Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright Mar. 22. 5. They made light of it and went their wayes one to his Farm another to his Merchandise Use. I. It informeth us of two things 1. That wicked Men are the Authors of their own Ruine Salvation doth not fly from them but they fly from it they are far from the Law and therefore is Salvation far from them They will not take the course to be saved for they care not for God and his Statutes it is but just ut qui male vivit male pereat that they which despise Salvation should never see it 2. That the wicked buy the pleasures of sin at a dear rate since they defraud their own Souls of Salvation thereby Their loss you have in the Text Salvation is far from them and their gain is nothing but a little Temporal satisfaction and are these things worthy to be compared what is it maketh you wicked but the ease and sloth of the Flesh and the love of some carnal delight And are you contented to Perish for this Whoredom from God Use. II. Let it Exhort us to believe and improve this Truth for if men did surely believe it there would not be so many wicked men as there are neither would they dare to lye in sin as long as they do O! consider if the wicked have no part nor portion in the Salvation offered nor any jot of Gods Favour belonging to them the wicked should not flatter themselves with presumptuous hopes but break off their sins by Repentance 1. Gods Mercy will not help you though he be a God of Salvation yet he will not save the impenitent and such as go on still in their Trespasses Psal. 68. 19 20 21. Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits even the God of our salvation Selah He that is our God is the God of salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death But God shall wound the head of his Enemies and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his Trespasses You must not fancy a God all honey and sweetness and that his Mercy should be exercised to the wrong of his Justice the Lord will not spare the abusers of Grace whoever he spareth Deut. 29. 19 20. And it shall come to pass when he heareth the words of this curse that if he bless himself in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart to add drunkenness to thirst the Lord will not spare him but then the anger of the Lord and his Iealousie shall smoke against that man and all the curses that are written in this book shall lye upon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from under Heaven 2. No Doctrine preached in the Church will bear you out not Law for that discovereth both Sin and the Curse Convinceth of sin Rom. 3. 20. By the Law is the knowledge of sin what is sin and who is the sinner that bindeth you over to the curse Gal. 3. 10. For as many as are of the law are under the curse for it is written Cursed is every one that continneth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them The Gospel that sheweth a Remedy against sin but upon Gods Terms that first with broken hearts we sue out our Pardon 1 Ioh. 1. 9. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrightcousness Sin must be condemned confessed before pardoned And then that in the way of Holiness we should seek Salvation and Eternal Life The Way and End must not be separated Rom. 6. 22. We must have our fruit unto holiness if we would have our end to be eternal life The pure and undefiled have only part in this salvation but it is far from the wicked Christ disclaims the unholy and unsanctified Mar. 7. 23. Depart from me ye that work iniquity You may as well expect the way to the West should bring you Eastward as to walk in the wayes of sin and hope to come to Heaven at last to think God will save us and suffer us to walk in our own ways or that this undefiled Inheritance shall be bestowed on dirty sinners this had been pleasing to flesh and blood but it is the Devils Covenant not Gods that Article you shall be saved and yet live in your sins is foisted in by Satan that false Deceiver to flatter men with vain Conceits 3. Do you hope of Repentance hereafter But in the mean time ye run a desperate hazard to leave the Soul at pawn in Satans hands it is not easie work to get it out again who would Poison himself upon a presumption that before it cometh to his heart he shall meet with an Antidote Judicial hardness is layed on them that withstand seasons of Grace Isa. 55. 6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found call ye upon him while he is near Prov. 1. 24 25 26. Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have set at nought all my counsels and would none of my reproofs I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh None of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper Luk. 14. 24. 4. The Heart is more hardened the longer you continue in this Course Heb. 3. 13. But exhort one another daily while it is called to day lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin Inveterate Diseases are seldom cured a tree that hath long stood and begun to wither is unfit to be Transplanted Ier. 13. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil 5. There is a stint and measure as to Nations Gen. 15. 16. The iniquity of the Ammorites is not yet full Persons Vessels of Mercy Vessels of Dishonour Rom. 9. 22 23. What if God willing to shew his
trembled at the words of the God of Israel None so careful to redress Disorders to use all the means they can to prevent Judgment as those that Tremble at Gods Word and therefore they above others did Assemble to Ezra A Man hath gained a great Point when he doth not value his Condition by External Probabilities but by the sentence of the Word 'T is hopeful if the Word speaketh good unto it sad when the Word speaketh bitter things This man will be otherwise affected than the most are and more careful to please God Once more Ezra 10. 3. Those that tremble at the Commandment of our God Shechaniah referreth the Reformation to them These are Persons exactly Conscientious they make Gods Commandments their Rule and tremble at the apprehension of having any thing done against Gods Will None so fit as they to Judge of Cases of Conscience and to regulate Affairs men that inlarge themselves and do not stand so nicely on the Will of God will be more lax and complying with their own Lusts and the humours of Men. First I shall shew you what it is to stand in Awe of the Word Secondly Then give you the Reasons why they that are Godly will do so First What it is to stand in Awe of the Word We will determine it by opening the Circumstances of the Text. And I. Let us take notice of the seat of this Affection the Heart my heart standeth in awe of thy word A true Reverence of the Word of God must be planted in the heart or else all outward profession of respect is but hypocrisie Psal. 50. 16 17. Unto the wicked God saith what hast thou to do to declare my statutes or that thou shouldest take my covenant into thy mouth seeing thou hatest instruction and castest my words behind thy back Many may solemnly pretend to Piety and talk of it and perhaps Preach of it to others but do not exactly reform their Carnal practices they do but abuse themselves and deceive others so strangely are many bewitched with their own deceitfulness of Heart and power of Satan that they can without remorse of Conscience profess the true Religion pretend to a Covenant with God yet affront that Religion by being loose and scandalous and can break the Covenant without any scruple such are Contemners of Gods Word however they seem Reverencers of it That Psalm speaketh of the Collection of the Gospel Church Gather my saints together who have made a Covenant with me by sacrifice not that of Bulls and Goats but by Christ Jesus But many profane this Covenant and are carried away by every Temptation some as greedy Thieves and Extortioners some as filthy Adulterers some as Haters of Godliness some as injurious Slaunderers and Whisperers and Backbiters in the Christian World this prediction is too plainly verified the carnal Christian and the serious Christian profess respect to the same Bible to believe the same Creed to enter by the same Baptism to claim Priviledge by the same Covenant yet hate one another and are as contrary one to another as perfectly as Infidels and Pagans on the one side there is Mouth-respect to the Word on the other Heart-respect the one in outward Covenant with God the other brought into the Inner Court God beareth long with the former sort but will not bear alwayes So Ier. 12. 2. Thou art near in their mouth but far from their reins They profess thee in Word but deny thee in Heart and in Deed Draw near thee in Shew and Pretence as a People in League with thee but their Hearts Love and Affection are wholly estranged from thee And would take it ill to have their Religion disproved or questioned yet are not brought under the Power of it So Isa. 28. This people draw near unto me with their mouth and with their lips honour me but have removed their heart from me and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men Because of Tradition teaching by Authority maintaining or injoyning the worship of God a Worship and Respect to God they will have but such as doth not proceed from an impression upon their Hearts but only in Complyance with their Customs II. The Kind of the Affection standeth in awe There is a twofold Awe of the Word 1. One that driveth us from it 2. Another that draweth us to it 1. Fear and Awe of the Word which driveth us from it is spoken of Ioh. 3. 20 21. For every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved But he that doth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God Carnal men who live contrary to the light of Nature and Scripture that they cannot indure any thing which should put them into a serious remembrance of God This is an effect of Legalisme and slavish Fear which as it bewrayeth itself in its carriage towards God himself so also in its Carriage towards his Saints and Word Towards God himself a slavish fear of God is alwayes accompanied with an aversation or a turning away from him as Guilty Adam was afraid of God and hid himself in the Bushes Gen. 3. 10. and still an unsound Conscience is shy of God and hangeth off from him So towards the Saints who have Gods Image Printed upon them they fear the Saints and hate them As Herod seared Iohn and put him to Death Mark 6. 20. Still men Maligne what they will not Imitate Natural Conscience in them doth homage to the Image of God shining forth in the lives of his People they see an excellency in them which they have not and because all those who keep up the Majesty of their Profession are Objects reviving guilt they hate them and if their hatred be more than their fear they destroy them when 't is in their power So for the Word they are afraid of the Word so as to stand at a distance from it and cannot indure it no more than sore eyes can the light of the Sun they have a mind to cherish their Lusts and carnal Practices and therefore hate the light which disproveth them as they that would sleep draw the Curtain to keep out the Light whereas on the contrary the Godly delight to have their wayes tryed and made manifest by this Light 't is a refreshing light to them but a reproving and discovering light to others it convinceth them to be what they are now they shun all means of searching and knowing themselves by wishing such things were not sin or not desiring to know them so and that there were not a God to punish them But a sincere man is otherwise affected he is Jealous and suspicious of himself he bringeth his work to Gods Ballance and cannot quiet his Conscience without Gods Acceptance 2. There is an Awe of the Word not that maketh us shy of it but tender of violating it or doing any thing contrary to it
powerful to Convert from one Religion to another from one state to another 1. From one Religion to another have any of the nations changed their gods Ier. 2. 11. there needs much ado to bring men from a false Religion wherein they have been brought up how vain and foolish soever it be yet this power the Word hath Though the Doctrine of a Crucified Christ were so distastful partly as now drawing men from their old Temples and Altars and Ceremonies wherein they were educated especially as incredible offering Life by one that died and partly as contrary to the carnal Gust as requiring Duties distastful to flesh and blood and ingaging in Troubles and Persecutions yet it prevailed 2. Converting men from a state of Nature to a state of Grace so that they are as it were born To bring men to hate what they naturally love and love what we naturally hate 't is hard to alter the nature of things Isa. 11. 6. To quicken the Dead to purifie the Unclean confirm the Weak to meeken the Proud and Passionate Oh who would not reverence such a Word such a Law and Doctrine as can do all this yet this and much more hath the Word done 3. It s Authority Eccl. 8. 3 4. Where the word of a King is there is power or Authority to back it how is it where God's is We reckon not of the words of a private Person though never so wise Eccl. 9. 14 15 16. The poor mans wisdom is despised and his words are not heard Where the command of a King cometh it cometh with Authority for he hath power to back it and to avenge himself on whosoever shall contradict it but wise counsel where there is no Authority to enforce it is little regarded but now with God is Soveraign Majesty and in his Word wherein Sentence is pronounced concerning every Person and Action according to which Judgment doth proceed and will be executed 2. Reason is taken from the matter of the Word 't is direction about our Everlasting concernments Deut. 32. 46 47. Set your hearts unto all the things which I command you this day for it is not a vain thing it is your life In a matter of Life and death a man cannot be too exact and nice yea in the obedience or disobedience of the Word Life or Death Eternal is concerned yea in every action morally considered the Word telleth you what is the Merit of it and what will be the Event or an evil or a good estate Man would fain know his destiny whether happy or miserable here you may know whether you shall live for ever with God Man in his Laws doth not Threaten or Promise beyond his Power his Power reacheth to mens outward Estate and no further and is only limited to the bounds of the present Life therefore the sanction of their Laws are never extended beyond the Promises or Threats of present and outward Good to give or take away mens Liberty Wealth Estate Life at most But God Threatneth everlasting Fire Matth. 25. 41. Promiseth an Inheritance Immortal 1 Pet. 1. 4. As God commandeth inward Holiness Righteousness Love so Eternal Rewards and Eternal Penalties things that concern us more nearly than Estates Liberties Peace yea our Lives themselves 3. Reason Because of the profit of standing in Awe of the Word 1. It fortifieth us and preserveth us in such Temptations as arise from the Fear of Man where there is a Reverence and Awfulness of Gods Word the greater Awe overcometh the less In such a Temptation a Man may miscarry two ways by Distrust of God and Disobedience to him The one is the Cause of the other Now that we may not distrust him 't is good to set Fear against Fear God against the Creature Ier. 1. 8. Be not afraid of their face for I am with thee to deliver thee saith the Lord. His powerful Protection should incourage us against their wrathful disposition Isa. 51. 12 13. Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die and the son of man that shall be as grass and forgettest the Lord thy Maker The Immortal and Almighty God is able to bear us out a due sense of the Power of the Almighty checketh the Fear of Men. Or by Disobedience we dishonour him certainly a gracious heart feareth more to offend God than to fall into any Temporal inconvenience Isa. 8. 12 13. Neither fear ye their fear nor be afraid but sanctifie the Lord of hosts himself and let him be your fear and dread 1 Pet. 3. 14 15. But if ye suffer for righteousness sake happy are ye and be not afraid of their terrour but sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts But let him be your Fear and your Dread Be afraid to offend so Holy a Majesty the Countenance of Princes is very awful unto Men but the Fear of Gods Wrath should overcome the fear of Mans Displeasure even of the Greatest Heb. 11. 27. He feared not the wrath of the king because he saw him that was invisible 2. It maketh a man sincere When a Man standeth in Awe of the Word he obeyeth in Presence and Absence Phil. 2. 12. and avoideth secret as well as open Sins Gen. 39. 9. Sins of Thought as well as in Deed. Heart-sins which the Laws of Men cannot take hold of but the Fear of God is in stead of all Laws 2 Cor. 1. 12. Conscience is to them more than shame of men Something without keepeth back wickedmen but something within the Godly Abners question was not good how shall I hold up my face to thy brother Ioah 2 Sam. 2. 22. he should have said how shall I hold up my face to the Lord thy God Though an upright man might do wickedly uncontrouled of man and no body seeth him or punisheth him yet Reverence of God and his Word restraineth him 3. It maketh a man punctual and exact when afraid to do any thing contrary to Gods revealed Will 't is Universal and 't is Powerful 'T is Universal the Soul that maketh Conscience of the Word is more thorough in Obedience there will be failings but for the main his Heart is sound with God and lesser failings are retracted by Repentance Psal. 141. 1 2. And Powerful stand in Awe and sin not Psal. 4. 4. this will cause us to stop in an evil Course on the remembrance of our Duty as Davids Heart smote him when he cut off the Lap of Sauls Garment Some think the Text then verified my heart standeth in Awe of thy Word a Commandment was in his way Use. I. Is to shew us what frame of Spirit they are under who despise the Word 1. All do so who Deliberately and Voluntarily prefer their own Will before the Will of God 2 Sam. 12. 9. Wherefore hast thou sinned in despising the commandment They obeyed their own inclination whatever the Word saith to the contrary Despising the commandment is the root of all Sin as Formality of wilful
thereby glorified and praised given us to this End and Purpose to bless God Iam. 3. 9. As our Understanding was given us to know God and think on him so our Speech to speak of God to declare his excellent Perfections and to stir up others to praise him with us 4. Holiness the Fruit of it for as Iob said the sides of the Poor blessed him Iob 31. 20. so must our Lives praise God 1 Pet. 2. 9. sheweth forth his Vertues not in Word only but in Works Our Lives must be a constant Hymn to God though we should be silent We remember the Lords Excellencies that we may imitate them and express them to the Life the Children of God serve only for this Use to represent God to the World as the Image in the Glass representeth the Person that looketh in it So Isa. 40. 21. This people have I formed for my self they shall shew forth my praise The Impression of all the Divine Attributes and Perfections must be left upon us and Copied out by us plainly represented in our Wisdom Purity Faithfulness and Godliness Secondly The Motives Because there is no part of Gods Worship to which we are more indisposed Self-Love will put us upon Prayers and Supplications but Love of God upon Praises We are inclined to the one by our own Necessities but we need to be stirred up to the other by pressing Arguments I will only mention those which are heaped up together in one place Psal. 147. 1. Praise ye the Lord for it is good to sing praises unto our God for it is pleasant and praise is comly 1. It is Good and Profitable a piece of service acceptable in Gods sight Psal. 50. 23. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me 'T is a part of that spiritual Worship required under the Gospel beyond all the sacrifices of the Law in other Duties we expect something from God but in this we bestow something on him All Gods Praises are a Believers advantage every Attribute is his store-house This is my beloved and my friend Cant. 5. 16. And Psal. 135. 5. For I know that the Lord is great and that our Lord is above all Gods Yea 't is Profitable as 't is Acceptable Psal. 67. 5 6 7. Let all the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee then shall the earth yield her increase and God even our God shall bless us God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear him Pliny telleth us of a Fountain that would rise and swell and overflow at their playing of a Pipe or Flute and when they ceased would stop again The Fountain of Mercy riseth and swelleth and overfloweth with new supplies of Mercy when we praise and acknowledge the old 2. 'T is Pleasant and Delightful full of sweet Refreshment he that knoweth not this work is pleasant is unacquainted with it for this Ravishing Transporting Joy is matter of Experience When is the gracious heart more delighted then when it Feasts with God All acts of Obedience have a pleasure accompanying them especially acts of Worship being the Nobler part of the Spiritual Life and among them Praise Psal. 135. 3. Sing praises unto his name for it is good and pleasant 'T is our Duty in Heaven to Praise God when we are in our highest Felicity therefore this is a work wherein we should rejoyce to be employ'd 'T is our Reward rather than our Work the Heaven that we have upon Earth and nothing so sit to chear up the Spirit as to remember what a God we have in Christ the very nature of it hath allurement enough to a gracious Heart Psal. 92. 4. For thou Lord hast made me glad through thy works when God blesseth our Meditations of his Works with gladness 3. 'T is Comely and Honourable to be about the Imployment of Angels to be Heralds to Proclaim the Lords Glory nothing so comely for us as Creatures who have our whole Being from him As new Creatures we are set apart to be to the praise of his glorious Grace in Christ Eph. 1. 12. It beareth all men as a debt which they owe to God though the wicked have no power to perform it Indeed the new Song doth ill become the old Heart but when there is an Obligation and a Capacity then it is comely indeed it becometh them to pay and God to receive it from them Psal. 33. 1. Praise is comely for the upright All are bound to Praise God yet none will do it cheerfully and acceptably save the Godly They have Obligations above all People in the World they have a Capacity and an Heart to do it and from them God most expecteth it Secondly The Continuance that we should never cease Praising God David saith here seven times a day which is the number of Perfection and elsewhere you shall find equivalent Expressions Psal. 34. 1. I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall be continually in my mouth So Heb. 13. 15. Let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually giving thanks unto his name So Eph. 5. 20. Giving thanks always unto God for all things What is the meaning of these extensive Particles Continually Alwayes and at all Times I Answer 't is not to be understood as if we were without intermission to be imployed in the actual exercise of formal and distinct Thanksgiving no there are other necessary Duties which sometimes must divert us from it but the meaning is 1. That there is continual occasion of Praising God God is continually Beneficial to us Blessing and Delivering his People every day and by new Mercies giveth new Matter of Praise and Thanksgiving and there are some standing Mercies which should never be forgotten but be remembred before God every day as Redemption by Christ with all the abundant Benefits and therefore the Gospel-Church is represented by four Beasts or four living weights together with four and twenty Elders who rest not day and night saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty Rev. 4. 8. This is spoken to shew that matter doth still continue of Lauding and Blessing God and David saith Psal. 71. 8. Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thine honour all the day There is no moment of time wherein we are not obliged to Praise and Glorifie God 2. This must be understood of the preparation of the heart without intermission we must cherish that disposition of heart which is necessary for it an habit of thankfulness an heart deeply affected with the Lords Excellencies and Mercies should ever be found in us and never laid aside the Instrument must be kept in Tune though it be not alwayes played upon David saith Psal. 57. 7. My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed I will sing and give praise There must be a prepared heart or a fixed purpose to Praise the Lord a renewed sense of Gods Favour and fresh experience of his Goodness to us do draw forth this preparation into Act yet
spem naturae Gods Assurance prevailed above natural difficulties there rational and humane hope and divine Hope are opposed 4. This Assurance admits of Degrees for it may be full or not full Heb. 6. 11. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope to the end The full Assurance is that which removeth all Doubts and Fears and this it may do at some time and not at another it may be interrupted or continue to the end now we must give all diligence that it may do so By slothfulness and negligence it will be lost Presumption and carnal Hope costs a man nothing to keep it it groweth upon us we know not how but this certain hope is not kept lively and upon the wing without great Zeal and Diligence in the Spiritual Life Oh but it concerneth us much so to do This Hope is necessary for us 1. To Quicken and Enliven our Duties Hope of Reward is one of the bands of a man the weight that inclineth us to all Actions much more doth this great Reward which the Christian Faith propounds Acts 26. 6 7. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our Fathers Unto which promise our twelve Tribes instantly serving God day and night hope to come for which hopes sake King Agrippa I am accused of the Iews And Acts 24. 15 16. And have hope towards God which they themselves also allow that there shall be a resurrection of the dead both of the just and unjust And herein do I exercise my self to have alwayes a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards men I run not as one that is uncertain 1 Cor. 9. 26. not by guess but sure grounds Phil 3. 14. I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus 'T is great and sure here 's excellency and certainty a man that hopeth for any thing will be ingaged in the thorough pursuit of it 2. It sharpeneth our Affections after heavenly things when we look for them we will also long for them Rom. 8. 23. And not only they but our selves also which have the first fruits of the spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the Adoption to wit the redemption of our bodies Hope stirreth up serious thoughts of Heaven and Blessedness to come and hearty Groans after it and so sets both mind and heart a-work It sets the mind a-work a man cannot hope for a thing but he will be thinking of it as the Scripture speaketh of the Labourer that he lifts up his Soul to the hire which he expects Thoughts will be sent as spies into the Land of Promise to bring us tydings thence And it sets the heart a longing and groaning that we were at home Rom. 8. 19. For the earnest expectation of the Creature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stretcheth out the head to see if it can spy it a-coming as when Sisera's Mother expected him she looked through the Lattice there will be strong desires as well as serious thoughts not glances and hasty wishes such as Worldly Persons may have in their serious Moods and sober Fits these vanish and leave the heart never the better but earnest longings such as settle into an heavenly Frame that taste which they have already maketh them groan for what is behind 3. It sets the heart at rest and allayeth our Disquiets and Fears and Cares and Sorrows that so we may go on cheerfully in Gods service 't is the pleasure of God that the heirs of promise should for a while shine as lights in a corrupt World and be exercised with all kind of Temptations that his power may be manifested in their weakness Now that we may ride out the storm he gave us hope not only veniam sperandi leave to hope for his Mercy but virtutem sperandi the Grace of hope strength so to do and what is the use of it but to Calm the heart under all distempers therefore 't is compared to an Helmet and an Anchor To an Helmet 1 Thes. 4. 8. Take to you the helmet of salvation which is hope An Helmet is to cover the head this maketh a Believer hold up head in all his streights and troubles The policy of the Devil is to weaken or darken the hopes of Eternal Life and then he knoweth he shall the sooner overcome us therefore the life of a Christian should be to keep on his Helmet to keep his hopes of heaven lively and fresh and then he will not be dejected Again 't is compared to an Anchor Heb. 6. 19. Which hope we have as an Anchor both sure and stedfast which entereth into that which is within the vail As the Anchor holdeth the Ship in a Tempest so doth hope keep the Mind in a constant temper in the midst of the stormy gusts of Temptation that we dash not against the Rocks that would break our Confidence and Profession It strengthens and quiets the floating heart of Man Things will end well at last how blustering and stormy soever the weather be at the present The floods of Temptation and the Tribulations of this present Life are permitted to invade us but that God hath given us an Anchor that they shall not drive us from the haven of eternal happiness Whatever our Cross be Immoderate Grief for the Death of near and dear Relations 1 Thes. 4. 13. Mourn not as those without hope Cur enim doleas si periisse non credis Cur impatienter ferres subductum quem iterum credis reversurum esse pro festo est quam putâ—…s mortem saith Tertullian de patientia If for loss of Goods and Estate Heb. 10. 34. And took joyfully the spoiling of your goods knowing in your selves that in heaven ye have a better and enduring substance If a Poor Man that had all his Wealth about him should fall into the hands of Thieves and Robbers and be rifled by them he must needs cry and take on pitifully for alas he is altogether undone and hath nothing left him wherewithal to succour himself and his Family But a Rich Man that hath store of Money at home and sure locked up in his Chest will never complain and be much disquieted when he hath twenty or forty Shillings taken from him for Worldlings to rage and take on when they must lose their Estates 't is no Marvel those whose portion is in this Life and know no better alas for when these things are gone they have nothing left and are quite undone But those that are heirs according to the hope of eternal Life they know they have a better and a more induring substance they consider what they are born to what they shall enjoy when they come home to God therefore their hearts are calmed and quieted So if it be the oppression of wicked Men and hard Sufferings and Persecutions for the Gospel 2 Cor. 4. 17 18. For our
therefore will be worshipped in Spirit and Truth Iohn 4. 23 24. 'T is agreeable to his spiritual Nature therefore shows and fashions have little respect with him but reality and substance for he searcheth the Heart and tryeth the Reins 't is not the bowing the body so much as the humble affectionate reverence and submission of the soul. God hath appointed service for the Body and so far as God hath appointed it we must submit to it but chiefly for the soul our Worship must be chiefly inward flowing from Grace ingaging the Heart in Gods service Bodily exercise is of little profit that Worship which is most agreeable to Gods nature is most pleasing to him he hath not eyes of Flesh and seeth not as man seeth Iob 10. 4. Therefore external duties without the inward exercise of the Spirit is scarce worthy the name of Worship to God He is not taken with the pomp of Ceremonies and external Observances 1 Sam. 16. 7. For man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the Heart Men are taken with external pomp and formalities they suit with their fleshly natures but the more spiritual the more suitable to God That which you do be it in Worship 't is not done unto God but unto men when the Heart is not in it Col. 3. 23. And whatsoever ye do do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men Without the Heart all that we do is but a mocking of God giving him the shell without the kernel 3. Because the soul is the principal thing that swayeth the body and stirreth it up to all that it doth it being of itself a senseless block it followeth the disposition and inclination of the Heart I shall make it good in two Considerations First 'T is Fons actionum ad extra And Secondly 'T is Terminus actionum ad intra 'T is the Fountain of all actions that go outward from man towards God and the subduing the Heart to Gods Will is the end of all operations inward from God towards man First Fons actionum ad extra The Fountain of all actions that go outward from Man towards God all natural actions proceed from the Soul or Heart 'T is not the Eye that seeth nor the Ear that heareth nor the Hand that toucheth nor the Feet that walketh 't is the Soul seeth by the Eye and heareth by the Ears and toucheth by the hands and walketh by the Feet So in all moral actions the heart is all Prov. 4. 23. Keep thy Heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of Life All our actions proceed thence all the evil that we do cometh from the Heart Matth. 15. 19. Out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts Murthers Adulteries Fornications Thefts False Witness Blaspemies all that we speak and think and do followeth the frame of the Heart This is the burning furnace from whence the sparks fly the occasion of sin may be without but the cause of it is ever from the Heart 'T is the Heart that filleth the Eyes with Wantonness Pride and Fury and the Tongue with Blasphemy Slanders and Detraction the hands with blood So for good Actions Thoughts they come out of the good Treasury of the heart Matth. 12. 35. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things The tapp runneth according to the Liquor wherewith the vessel is filled that a man hath laid up in his heart that he layeth out in his Thoughts and Speeches and Actions 't is the heart that enliveneth all our duties and we act ever according to the constitution of our Souls 2dly 'T is Terminus actionum ad intra all Actions inward the aim of it is to come to the heart The senses report things to the phantasie the phantasie represents them to the mind that counsels the heart so in Gods operations upon us his business is to come at the soul Wherefore doth he speak and reason and plead but that we may hear And wherefore do we hear But that Truth may be lodged in the heart or Soul Prov. 4. 4. Let thy Heart keep my Precepts let thy heart receive my Words Ay then Gods Word hath its effect upon us we are never subdued to God till the heart be subdued the Word for a while may stay in the memory and 't is good when the memory is planted with the seeds of knowledge as Children receive the Principles of Religion in Catechismes but the end is not there at length they exercise their Understandings about them when they begin to conceive of what they learned by rote and aftewards they begin to have a Judgement and a Conscience These Truths begin to stir and awaken them but it must not rest there neither it soaketh further and wisdom entereth upon the heart Prov. 2. 10. Ay that was Gods aim to bring the work thither and then the cure is wrought with man Rom. 6. 17. Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine which was delivered to you So this is the end of all the operations of Grace that the soul and heart may keep Gods Testimonies so where is it that Christ would dwell when he taketh up his abode and residence in us the Apostle will tell you Eph. 3. 17. That he may dwell in your hearts by faith Till he get possession of the heart all is as nothing he will not dwell in the body only that is the Temple of the Holy Ghost at large there is an Holy of Holies a more inward place where he will dwell he will not dwell in the Tongue or in the Brain Memories or Understandings unless by common gifts But the Heart the Will and Affections of Man are the chief place of his residence there he dwelleth as in his strong Cittadel and from thence Commandeth other Faculties and Members So that the heart is the beginning and ending of the whole work of Religion from thence come all holy actions and thither tend all holy gracious operations 4. 'T is thy hearty Soul-service that will only bear weight in the ballance of the Gospel there may be many defects in the action yet if the heart be right God will accept the Will for the Deed and you will find Comfort in that another day when you most need it Isa. 38. 3. Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart Hezekiah had his infirmities and failings but his heart was upright Heb. 13. 18. Willing in all things to live honestly that 's a Gospel good Conscience and will yield comfort to you God accepts the Will without the Deed but never the Deed without the Will Infirmities may overtake the action but when the heart is unfeignedly set to serve God we shall be accepted We allow grains to true but not to counterfeit Gold the Church pleadeth Isa. 26. 8. The desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee When we follow
hearts towards spiritual and heavenly things Ioh. 6 45. They shall all be taught of God 1 Thes. 4. 10. Ye your selves are taught of God to love one another 1 Ioh. 2. 27. The anointing teacheth you all things As the Heathen Cato would have none to teach his Son but himself for he said that Instruction was such a benefit that he would not have his Son beholding to none for it but himself Oh 't is a blessed priviledge to be taught of God! to be made wise to Salvation and not only to get an ear to hear but an heart to understand and learn by hearing not only the power to Believe but the very Act of Faith itself Gods teaching is always effectual not only directive but perswasive inlightening the mind to know and inclining the Will and Affections to imbrace what we know he writeth the truth upon the heart and puts it into the mind Heb. 8. 10. He sufficiently propoundeth the Object and rectifieth the Faculty imprints the Truth upon the very Soul But how doth God teach in the very place where Christ speaketh of our being taught of God he presently addeth Ioh. 6. 46. Not that any man hath seen the Father Gods teaching doth not import that any man must see God and immediately Converse with him and talk with God and so be taught by him no God teacheth externally by his Word and internally by the Spirit but yet so powerfully and effectually that the Lesson is learned and deeply imprinted upon our Souls this teaching is often expressed by seeing now to a clear sight three things concur an Object conspicuous a perspicuous Medium and a well disposed Organ or clear Eye in Gods teaching there is all these The Object to be seen plainly in the Scriptures are the things of God not Fancies but Realities and by the light of the Spirit represented to us and the Eye of the Mind opened A blind man cannot see at mid-day nor the most clear-sighted at midnight when objects lye hidden under a vail of darkness the object must be revealed and brought nigh to us in a due light and God secretly openeth the eye of the Soul that we see heavenly things with Life and Affection The Author then sheweth the Mercy when God will not only teach us by Men but by his Spirit II. The Objects known the highest and most important matters in the World the gracious Soul is savingly acquainted with 't is more to have the knowledge of the profoundest Sciences then of some poor and low employment as Themistocles said to know a little of true Philosophy is more than to know how to play upon a fiddle But now to have the saving knowledge of God and of the life to come is more than to have the most admired Wisdom of the Flesh than all the Common Learning in the World and therefore how much are we bound to praise God if he will teach us his Statutes more than if we knew how to govern Kingdoms and Common-wealths and to do the greatest business upon Earth Two things do commend the object of this knowledge 1. It is conversant about the most high and excellent things 2. The most necessary and useful things 1. Things of so high a nature as to know God who is the cause of all things and Jesus Christ who is the restorer of all things and the Spirit who cherisheth and preserveth all things especially to know his heavenly operations and the nature and acting of his several Graces Ier. 9. 24. Let him that glorieth glory in this that he knoweth me saith the Lord. There is the excellency of a man to know God to conceive aright of his Nature Attributes and Works so as to Love Trust Reverence and Serve him Alas all other knowledge is a poor low thing to this God hath written a book to us of himself as Caesar wrote his own Commentaries and by Histories and Prophesies hath set forth himself to us to be the Creatures Creator Preserver Deliverer and Glorifier This is the Knowledge we should seek after common Craft teach us how to get bread but this book teacheth us how to get the Kingdom of heaven to get the bread of Life the meat that perisheth not Law preserveth the Estates and Testaments of Men but this the Testament of God the Charter of our eternal Inheritance Physick cureth the Diseases of the Body this afflicted Minds and distempered Hearts Natural Philosophy raiseth up men to the contemplation of Nature this of the Maker of all things and Author of Nature History the Rise and Ruine of Kingdoms States and Cities this the Creation and Consummation of the World Rhetorick to stir the Affection this to inkindle Divine Love Poetry moveth natural delight here Psalms that we may delight in God These are the only true and sublime things as Light is pleasant to the Eye so is Knowledge to the Mind but where have you the knowledge of such high things what are the mysteries of Nature to the mysteries of Godliness to know the Almighty living God and to behold his Wisdom Goodness and Power in all his Works surely this is a sweet and pleasant thing to a gracious soul but especially to know him in Christ to know the Mistery of the Incarnation Person Natures and Mediation of Christ. 1 Tim. 3. 16. Great is the mistery of Godliness This is a mistery without Controversie great to know the Law and Covenant of God Deut. 4. 6. This is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations who shall hear these statutes And the sanctifying work of the Holy-Ghost by which we are wrought and prepared for everlasting Life 2. So necessary and useful to know the way of Salvation the Disease and Remedy of our Souls our Danger and the Cure our Work and our Wages the business of Life and our End what is to be believed and practiced what we are to enjoy and do these are the things which concern us all other knowledge is but curious and speculative and hath more of pleasure than of Profit To know our own Affairs our greatest and most necessary Affairs these are the things we should busie our selves about 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One thing is necessary Luk. 10. 42. Other things we may well spare Now what is necessary but to know our Misery that we may prevent it our Remedy that we may look after it in time our Work and Business that we may perform it our End that we intend it and be incouraged by it What course we must take that we may be everlastingly happy Well then if God will shew us what is good Mich. 6. 8. and teach us what is good that we may know whither we are a going and which way we must go if he will give us Counsel in our reins to choose him for our portion Psal. 16. 5. We ought to bless his name So the 11th Verse Thou wilt shew me the path of Life though ignorant of other things we are
Pressures 1. The Suitableness they are suited to this happiness wrought for this very thing 2 Cor. 5. 5. Every thing hath a propension to the place for which God framed it 't is the Wisdom of God to put all things in their proper places as every Creature is placed in that element which is suitable and answerable to its Composition and Frame as Fishes in Water Fowles in the Air. Gods Children are framed for this very thing therefore have an inclination and a tendency thither As Heaven is prepared for them so in some measure they for it Rom. 9. 24. aforehand prepared unto Glory And Col. 1. 12. Made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light They grow more dead every day to the Interests and Concernments of the Animal Life and have a greater agreeableness to this happiness 2. Experience Rom. 8. 23. We that have the first fruits of the Spirit groan wit hin our selves waiting for the Adoption to wit the redemption of our body A Christian here is unsatisfied and longeth for a better and purer state of Bliss and Immortality Light Life Peace Joy one dram of Grace is more precious than all the World but yet it setteth them a longing for more the first fruits sheweth us what the Harvest will be and a tast what the Feast will prove here we get a little knowledge of God a sight of him in the Ordinances a Twi-light discovery of Christ a Look through the Lattice Cant. 2. 9. a little Glance of his Face when neither doth he let the Believers in to him nor doth he come out to them this Glance maketh them long for more So that in effect they send up the same Message to Christ which his Mother and Brethren did because of the press thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring to see thee Tell him thou standest here without but desirest to see him So for the Communion we have with Christ 't is but a tast 1 Pet. 2. 3. If so be ye have tasted the Lord is gracious but that tast is very ravishing and delightful Here we get a little from him in an Ordinance but that little is as much as we can hold but there he is all in all here our holiness is not perfect the seed of God remaineth in us but there it groweth up to perfection as every spark of Fire tendeth to the Element of Fire 3. Our Pressures and the Miseries of the present Life 2 Cor. 5. 4. Being burdened we groan We are pressed under an heavy weight burdened both with Sin and Misery and both set us a groaning and a longing as men in a Tempest would fain be set ashoar as soon as they can 1. Sin to a waking Conscience and a tender Gracious Heart is one of the greatest burdens that can be felt Rom. 7. 24. Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death If any had cause to complain of Afflictions Paul much more he was Whipped Imprisoned Stoned in perils by Land and Sea but Afflictions did not sit so close to him as sins the body of Death was his greatest burden and therefore did he long for Deliverance If others go away silently under their load the Children of God cannot as light and love increaseth so sin groweth a greater burden to us They cannot get rid of this cursed inmate and therefore are longing for their final Estate when sin shall gaspe its last they long for the parting day when by putting off the Flesh they shall put off sin and dwell with God 2. Miseries the Children of God have not divested themselves of the feelings of Nature are not grown sensless as stocks and stones The Apostle telleth us Rom. 8. 20 21 22. that the whole Creation groaneth because 't is under Misery and Vanity 'T is a groaning World and Gods Children bear a part of the Consort they groan and desire earnestly their full Deliverance Few and evil are the days of the years of my Pilgrimage said holy Iacob Gen. 47. 9. Our dayes are Evil therefore 't is well they are but few that in this Shipwrack of mans Felicity we can see Banks and Shores and a landing place where we may be safe here is our Travail but there is our repose we would sleep too much here and take up our rest if sometimes we did not meet with Thorns in our bed III. Reason The End and Use of this Longing and Desiring 1. 'T is an earnest Desire it maketh us industrious and stirreth up and keepeth up our endeavours after another World Phil. 3. 20 21. But our Conversation is in heaven from whence we look for a Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Where there is a lively expectation there men drive on a Trade for another Country Desire is the Vigorous bent of the Soul and so beareth us out under all the difficulties of Obedience If we do not desire we will not labour nor seek it in the first place and if our desires be weak and feeble they are controled by every Lust abated upon every difficulty whatever gets your heart that will command your endeavours for as a mans desire is so is he 2. To make us Constant notwithstanding Troubles Reproaches Persecutions Matth 11. 12. The violent take it by force They will have no nay they must have it whatever it cost them though sore Troubles and Persecutions yet if we may get Heaven and Glory at last 't is enough but where a thing is coldly and carelesly desired every thing puts us out of the humour IV. The State and Condition of the present World 't is called Gal. 1. 4. The present World The Pleasures of it are meer dreams and shadows and the Evils of it are many and real Gods Children are Pilgrimes here and hardly get leave to pass thorough as Israel could not get leave to pass through Edom Sometimes they meet with such bitter and grievous Persecutions which make them weary of their lives as Elijah requested for himself that he might die 1 King 9. 4. or as the Spirits of the Israelites were filled with Anguish because of their hard task Masters God will give his People Rest hereafter but before the Rest cometh they are sorely Troubled 1 Thes. 1. 6 7. And ye became followers of us and of the Lord having received the word in much Affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost so that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia Nay the Company that we go with to Heaven are apt to fall out by the way and to deal perversly one with another Unministering Unchurching Unchristianing one another Impaling inclosing the Common Salvation and justleing one another out of the way to Heaven so that the Church which should be Terrible like an Army with Banners Marching to
that is as it groweth more Holy and Heavenly From our first Renovation we should be dying to this World and settle our Affections on a better much more when God beginneth to call us home then draw home as fast as you can For Means to this Desire and Longing there is necessary First A sound Belief of this blessed Estate or a certain Considence of the Truth of it 2 Corinth 5. 1 2. For we know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens for in this we groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven Not a bare Conjecture but a certain knowledge Surely Heaven is Amiable and the object of our desires if we be perswaded of the Truth of it we will long after it Secondly A serious preparation for it 2 Corinth 5. 3. If so be that being cloathed we shall not be found naked They have made up their Accounts between God and their Souls sued out their Pardon stand with their Loins girt and Lamps burning then they Long and Wait when God will draw aside the Vail of Flesh and shew them his Glory A Seafaring man desireth his Port especially if Laden with Rich Commodities where there hath been diligent preparing there will be serious waiting and desirous Expectation While we make provision for our fleshly Appetites and Wills we dream of dwelling here we take it for granted they have no thought of removing to another place who make no provision before their coming thither When a Tenant hath warning to be turned out of his old house he will be providing of another and be preparing and making it ready before he enter upon it We now come to the second Clause thy Law is my delight Doctrine II. That we should not only Long for Salvation but delight in the way which leadeth to it Here I shall speak to two things First That we must take the way that leadeth to it Secondly That we must delight in the way First That we must take the way that leadeth to it I. Partly because of the nature of Gods Covenant which is conditional there is in it Ratio dati et accepti something required and something promised Isa. 56. 4. For this saith the Lord unto the Eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that please me and take hold of my Covenant Heb. 10. 22. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our bodies washed with pure water Exod. 24. 4. And Moses wrote all the Words of the Lord and rose up early in the Morning and builded an Altar under the hill and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel And he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the audience of the People and they said all that the Lord hath said we will do and be obedient Surely in the Covenant of Grace God requireth conditions 't is not made up all of promises now a condition is this when one promiseth any good or threatneth any ill not simply but upon Covenant if the thing required be performed or the thing forbidden be committed the performance of the thing required is the condition of the promise the doing a thing forbidden the condition of the threatning 1 Sam. 11. 1 2. And all the men of Iabesh said unto Nahash make a Covenant with us and we will serve thee And Nahash the Ammonite answered them on this condition I will make a Covenant with you that I may thrust out all your right Eyes and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel And Luke 14. 32. While the other is yet a great way off he sendeth an Embassage and desireth conditions of Peace Now these conditions are twofold making Covenant and keeping Covenant 1. The conditions as to making the Covenant arise from the Law of Grace or the lex remedians Faith and Repentance Faith performed or omitted Iohn 3. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting Life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see Life but the Wrath of God abideth on him So Repentance performed Ezek. 18. 30. Repent yee and turn from your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your ruin omitted Luk. 13. 5. except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish 2. Then conditions of keeping Covenant which is conformity to the Law of God or new obedience performed Psal. 84. 11. No good thing will he withold from them that walk uprightly omitted Heb. 12. 14. Without Holiness no man shall see the Lord. Wel then upon the whole we thus judge that 't is not enough to desire Gods Salvation but we must also delight in his Law that is to say we must repent and believe and so begin our acquaintance with God in Christ and we must also walk in the ways of Gods Precepts if we mean at length to be saved and to enjoy the vision of the blessed God that which is propounded conditionally we must not presume off absolutely and so make reckoning to go to Heaven as in some Whirl-wind or as Passengers at Sea are brought into the Harbour sleeping or to be crowned without striving II. From the nature of this longing and desire which must be Regular and according to the Tenour of the Covenant of Holiness as well as happiness and it must be strong so asto over-master contrary difficulties Lusts and Desires Let us instance in Balaam he said Numb 23. 10. Let me die the death of the Righteous and let my latter end be like his He saw that the State of a righteous man at the end of it is a blessed Estate and this he longed for but there was a double defect in his desire it was not Regular Balaam desired to be saved but he did not delight in Gods Law He would be at the journeys end but was loath to take the way there was a complacency and welpleasedness in the end but a refusing of the means Again This Desire was but a flash a suddain motion occasioned by contemplation of the Blessedness of Gods People but no operative transforming Desire a Desire which the love of the wages of unrighteousness prevailed over all men will long for Salvation but all men will not take a right course to obtain it and so 't is a wish rather than a desire if we long for Salvation but have not an Heart to use the means appointed thereunto where there is a true longing there will be an using the means and an using the means with delight they that will not submit to these Conditions or snuff at these Conditions as troublesome they do not long for his Salvation nor delight in his Law Secondly That we must delight in the way that leadeth to Glory but this Argument being handled in other verses of this Psalm 't is omitted here SERM. CLXXXIX PSALM CXIX VER 175. Let
not allowed a ground of Comfort p. 37 All Sin must be refrained 1. notorious and plausible 2. inward and outward 3. pleasant as well as not pleasant 4. sins against both Tables 5. great and small p. 660 661 Sin weakens both Grace and Comfort p. 663 1040 Heynousness of sin in breaking Gods Law striking at Gods being contradicting his Soveraignty p. 686 Sin removed 1. in Justification 2. Sanctification p. 185 Sin its Dominion p. 917 918 919 920 Differences of Sins p. 920 921 Sin brings trouble two ways 1 meritoriously 2. effectively p. 315 316 Sincere prayer must be sincere as well as fervent p. 902 909 910 Sincerity in prayer implies 1. Seriousness 2. Affectionateness 3. prevalency of those affections 4. universal Care to please God p. 903 Sincerity of Sanctification what it is p. 5 Marks of Sincerity 1. Carefulness to practice what we know 2. inquisitiveness to know more of our duty 3. to stand in awe of Gods Word p. 6 11 It makes God judge of its heart p. 627 Sincerity may be accompanied with failings p. 11 Sincerity and Integrity constitute the whole Heart p. 15 It aims at universal Obedience p. 33 59 It is to be asked of God with earnestness p. 530 It gives confidence with God p. 6 533 It keeps us good in bad times p. 866 Two Notes of Sincerity 1. the manner 2. the principle of Obedience p. 1042 Sinking under Burdens by looking on the bare Affliction p. 591 Prevented by considering that God is 1. Wise 2. Just 3. Good in afflicting p. 884. 885 Sinners the greatest when converted are the greatest mourners for the sins of others p. 930 Reasons ibid. Slander not only in the Deviser but the Receiver p. 141 299 300 Sleep there 's a surfeit in sleeping as well as eating p. 926 Slight prayers argue low thoughts of God p. 899 We are apt to be slighty in our prayers p. 915 Sluggish prayers teach God to deny p. 29 899 Snares of the Devil and wicked Men of several kinds p. 735 736 What use we are to make of these Snares p. 137 Song Gods word is our song in the house of our Pilgrimage p. 358 359 vid. Rejoycing Sorrow wasts the natural Spirits p. 554 176 It must be proportionable to sin p. 405 Sorrow of Gods Children greater than others why p. 177 Sorrow affect solitude joy company p. 503 Soveraignty of God must be submitted to p. 119. 789 God sometimes forsakes his people out of Soveraignty p. 51 Soveraignty of God in distributing wisdom p. 648 653 Soul is the Man p. 43 1093 God must be served with the Soul as well as the Body p. 1043 1044 Soul-Blessings are special Blessings p. 43 they are pledges of eternal Blessings ibid. to take ones Soul in his hand what the phrase imports p. 726 Souls life is Gods favour p. 518 Soul is 1 fons actionum ad extra 2. terminus actionum ad intra p. 1044 Soundness of heart what it is p. 530 531 532 Speedy turning to God necessary why p. 402 403 Pressed in general and particular p. 410 Speeding with God should make us come again p. 168 How to speed with God p. 162 H. Spirit is a spirit of Peace 1. as a Sanctifier 2 as a Comforter p. 1027 Spirit of God our Guide as the word is our Rule p. 8 152 153 Spirits work to draw the heart from earthly things to God p. 3 H. Spirit beareth witness to the Gospel p. 9 H. Spirit gives help as Christ gives leave to come to God p. 15 Spirit VVater and Blood how they bear witness p. 9 Spirit Word and holy Heart agree p. 934 H. Spirit gives 1. direction how to apply the Rule 2. to make a good choise 3. to act Grace 4 to manage civil Affairs p. 31 H. Spirit gives Liberty 1. from slavish Fears 2. from potent Lusts p. 304 H. Spirit encreaseth our delight in Gods Commandements p 316 H. Spirit the Author the Scripture the Means of Light p. 694 Spiritual seeing requires 1. that the object be clear 2. that the Organ be right p. 694 Spiritual Blessings call for praise why p 1057 Spiritual Blessings give us a heart to praise God temporal Blessings only give us an occasion p. 43 Spiritual sense and Life p. 671 672 673 It differs from the bare understanding p. 673 Spiritual Delight exceeds that in worldly things p. 87 593 There are three spiritual Senses chiefly 1. seeing 2. tasting 3. feeling p. 671 672 Spiritualizing common and earthly things p. 90 763 Springs of Comfort all in God by the word p. 514 Stability of the earth an Emblem of the Stability of Gods word p. 582 and of his Being 588. Stability of Gods Testimonies p. 889 890 620 956 957 Stability of Gods word opposed to the Creatures Vanity p. 618 620 Stablishing of the word to us two ways p. 284 how to get the word stablisht to us p. 287 288 Statutes of God what what it is to seek them p. 987 Strangers on Earth the Condition of all Gods Children p. 114 Men may be strangers on earth as to their Condition who are not so in Affection p. 114 Why Gods Children are and account themselves to be Strangers p. 114 115 116 How to carry our selves as Strangers in this world p. 118 119 Straights he that makes Conscience of Gods Commands may boldly seek help from God in his straights p. 1079 In all straights we are to delight in Promises p. 1035 Strength natural and spiritual both may fail as they are ours p. 538 Strength spiritual what it is how given out how God is concern'd therein p. 181 182 How to get spiritual Strength p. 182 183 Study the word but take God for your teacher p. 42 Arguments to study the Word p. 652 653 Study the word 1. not out of curiosity 2. nor meerly to be able to teach others 3. nor meerly for delight c. but in order to practice p. 68 68 Study Gods Name 1. what 2. how Stumbling preservatives against it p. 1032 v. scandal Stupidity under the Rod a great evil p. 159 It argues Stupidity to be careless in Prayer p. 906 907 Stupidity not to be affected with Gods Judgments on others p. 812 Subjection to God to be chosen before liberty p. 707 Subjection to God pressed from two grand Motives p. 308 309 Submission to Providence advanced by thanksgiving for received Mercies p. 421 Submission to Gods disposing and commanding Will p. 588 Submission to God 1. for the mercy 2. for the time of the mercy 3. for the way and means of it p 826 Suffering for Christ very reasonable who suffered such hard things for us p. 870 Suffering better than sinning p. 148 525 842 731 732 928 Sufferings are like to be long 1. when Reformation is rejected 2. when Deliverance would be a greater mischief 3. when there is a damp on the Spirit of Prayer 4. when god is about to punish us and we go not about to reconcile our selves to