the cup of the New Testament in my Blood which was shed for many for the remission of sin And what footing could thy Faith find for Pardon and Salvation any where else 'T is Christ Crucified that Faith claspes as the last and only hope and refuge of a poor Sinner Here all Believers drop Anchor This is that blessed object on whom they take the dead gripe or last grasp when their eye-strings and heart-strings are breaking When you see the Blood of Christ flowing forth how can Faith be silent in thy soul When he bids thee as it were to put thy finger into his side shews thee his hands and his feet there it will cry out in thy soul my Lord and my God Secondly The flowing spring of Repentance is here if there be any fire that can melt or hammer that can break a hard heart here it is Zech. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and mourn Nothing laies a gracious soul lower in it self than to see how low Christ was laid in his Humiliation for it Here the evil of sin is also represented in the clearest glass that ever the eye of man saw it in The sufferings of the Son of God discover the evil of sin more than the everlasting torments of the Damned can do So that if there be but one drop of Spiritual sorrow in the heart of a Christian here me-thinks it should be seen dropping from the eye of Faith Thirdly The most attractive object of love is here Put all Created Beauties Excellencies and Perfections together and what are they but blackness and deformity compared with lovely Jesus My Beloved saith the enamour'd Spouse is white and ruddy Cant. 5. 10. Behold him at the Table in his perfect Innocency and unparallel'd sufferings This is he who was rich but for our sakes became poor that we through his poverty might be rich 2 Cor. 8. 9. This is he that parted with his honour first and his life next yea he parted with his honour in his Incarnation that he might be capable to part with his life for our Redemption Behold here the degrees of his Sufferings and by them measure the degrees of his Love Behold in his death as in the Deluge all the Fountains beneath and the Windows of Heaven above opened the Wrath of God the Cruelty of Men the fury of Hell breaking in together upon him and his soul surrounded with sorrow And how can this be represented and thy soul not astonished at this amazing matchless love of Christ Surely one flame doth not more naturally produce another than the love of Christ thus represented to a gracious soul doth produce love to Christ and that in the most intense degree Use 1. How naturally doth this Doctrine shame and humble the best hearts for their sinful discomposures vanity and deadness for the rovings and wanderings of their hearts even when they come near the Lord in such a solemn Ordinance as this is The Holiest man upon Earth may lay his hand upon his breast and say Lord how unsultable is this heart of mine to such an object of Faith as is here presented to me Doth such a temper of spirit suit thine awful presence Should the represented Agonies and sufferings of Christ for me be beheld with a spirit no more concerned pierced and wounded for sin O how can I look upon him whom I have pierced and not mourn and be in bitterness for him as for an only Son a First-born O the stupifying and benumming power of sin Oh the efficacy of Unbelief It was charged upon the Israelites as the great aggravation of their sin that they provoked God at the Sea even at the red Sea the place where their miraculous Salvation was wrought But Lord Jesus my hard heart provokes thee in an higher degree even at the red Sea of thy precious invaluable Blood by which my eternal Salvation was wrought O my God what a heart have I Did the Blood of Christ run out so freely and abundantly for me and cannot I shed one tear for my sins that pierced him O let me never be Friends with my own heart till it love Christ better and hate sin more Use 2. This Scripture hath also an awaking voice to all that come nigh to God in any of his Ordinances especially in this Ordinance O Christians bethink your selves where you are and what you are doing Know you not that the King comes in to see the Guests Yea you do know that God is in this place an awful Majesty beholds you All the Churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the heart and the reins and will give to every one as his work shall be Rev. 2. 23. Thy business Christian is not with Men but with God and the solemnest business that ever thy thoughts were versant about Thou art here to recognize the sufferings of thy Redeemer to take the seals and pledges of thy Salvation from the hand of his spirit imagine the same thing which is now to be done spiritually and by the ministry of Faith were but to be performed visibly and audibly by the ministry of thy sense Suppose Jesus Christ did personally shew himself at this Table and were pleas'd to make himself known in breaking of Bread as once he did to the Disciples Suppose thou sawest him appear at this Table as he now doth appear in Heaven as a Lamb that had been slain Imagine thou heardest him say Believer this precious Blood of mine was shed for thee there be Millions of Men and Women in the world naturally as good as thee that shall have no interest in it or benefit by it But for thee it was shed and for the remission of thy sins my Blood was the only thing in the world that was equal to the demerit of thy sins and it hath made full satisfaction to God for them all Thy sins which are many are therefore forgiven thee my Blood hath purchased the eternal Inheritance of glory for thee and this day I am come to delâ—…er the seals and pledges thereof into thine hand Take then the seals of eternal Salvation this day Take thine own Christ with all that he is and hath in thine arms Whatever I have suffered done or procured for any of my Saints I have suffered done and procured the same for thee Why all this is here to be done as really and truly though in a more spiritual way at this Table and shall not such business as this is fully fix and engage thy heart What then shall do it Awake Faith awake Repentance awake Love yea let all the powers of my soul be throughly awakened this day to attend the Lord. THE SECOND MEDITATION UPON Jer. 12. 2. Thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins THIS Scripture gives us the Character and description of an Hypocrite and he is here described two ways viz. 1. By what he hath 2. By what he hath not
any thing put into any promise of greater value than the Blood of the Lamb that was shed to purchase it Or is not the giving of Christ to die for us the accomplishment of the greatest promise that ever God made to us And after the fulfilling thereof what ground remains for any to doubt the fulfiling of lesser promises Lastly Is there any among you that desire to get up your affections at this Table to have your hearts in a melting temper to awaken and rouze up all the powers of your souls in so great an occasion for it as this Behold the Lamb of God and this will do it Christ calls off your eyes and thoughts from all other objects to himself Isa. 65. 11. I said behold me behold me Fix the eye of Faith here and you will feel a pang quickly coming upon your hearts like that Cant. 2. 5. Stay me with Flaggons comfort me with Apples I am sick with love Your eye will affect your hearts Whilst you behold your hearts will melt within you THE SIXTH MEDITATION UPON Rom. 8. ver 32. He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things THIS Scripture contains a most weighty argument to encourage and confirm the Faith of Christians in the expectation of all spiritual and temporal mercies It proceeds from the greater to the lesser affirmatively He that delivered his Son for us what can he deny us after such a gift every word hath its weight Did not God spare i. e. abate any thing which his justice could inflict upon his Son his own Son opposed here to his adopted Sons as being infinitly more excellent than they and most dear to him above and beyond all others but on the contrary delivered him up how dear soever he was unto him to Humiliation contradiction of Sinners to all sorrows and temptations yea to death and that of the Cross and all this for us for us Sinners for us Enemies to God for us unlovely Wretches How shall he not with him also freely give us all things How is it imaginable that God should with-hold after this spirituals or temporals from his people How shall he not call them effectually justifie them freely sanctifie them throughly and glorifie them eternally How shall he not cloath them feed them protect and deliver them Surely if he would not spare or abate to his own Son one stroke one tear one groan one sigh one circumstance of misery it can never be imagined that ever he should after this deny or withhold from his people for whose sakes all this was suffered any mercies any comforts any priviledge spiritual or temporal which is good for them and needful to them So that in the words we find 1. A Proposition 2. An Inference from it The Proposition opens the severity of Gods justice to Christ the Inference declares the riches of his mercy to us in Christ. First We have here before us a Proposition containing the severity of Divine Justice towards Christ And this is expressed two ways Viz. 1. Negatively he spared him not 2. Aâ—…irmatively he delivered him up for us First Negatively He spared not his own Son There is a three-fold mercy in God viz. Preventing mercy which steps between us and trouble Delivering mercy which takes us out of the hand of trouble And Sparing mercy which though it do not prevent nor deliver yet it mitigates allays and graciously moderates our troubles and though sparing mercy be desirable and sweet yet it is the least and lowest sort of mercy that God exercises towards any Though it be mercy to have the time of sufferings shortned or one degree of suffering abated yet these are the lowest and least effects of mercy and yet these were denied to Jesus Christ when he stood in our room to satisfie for us God spared not one drop he abated not one degree of that wrath which Christ was to suffer for us Secondly Affirmatively But on the contrary he delivered him up for us all He delivered him as a Judge by sentence of Law delivers up the Prisoner to be Executed 'T is true Pilate delivered him to be Crucified and he also gave himself for us but betwixt Gods delivering Pilates delivering and his own there is this difference to be observed In God it was an Act of highest Justice In Pilate an Act of greatest wickedness In himself an Act of wonderful obedience God as by an act of highest Justice delivered him up for us For us notes the Vicegerency of his sufferings not only for our good as the final cause nor only for our sins as the meritorious cause but for us i. e. in our room place or stead according to 1 Pet. 3. 18. and 2 Cor. 5. 14. Secondly We have also here before us a most sweet and comfortable inference and conclusion from this proposition If God have so delivered him how shall he not with him freely give us all things For Christ comprehends all other mercies in himself therefore in giving him for us all other mercies are necessarily with him given to us And these mercies the poorest weakest Believer in the world may warrantably expect from God For as God delivered him for us all so the treasures of all spiritual and temporal mercies are thereby freely opened to us all to the weak as well as to the strong He saith not Christ was delivered for all absolutely but for us all i. e. all that Believe all that are Elected and called in whose person it is manifest the Apostle here speaks as Pareus on the place well observed Hence these two doctrinal conclusions fairly offer themselves 1. Doct. That the rigor and severity of Divine Justice was executed upon Jesus Christ when he suffered for us 2. Doct. That Believers may strongly infer the greatest of mercies to themselves from the severity of Gods Justice to Jesus Christ. I would willingly speak to both these points at this time each affording such proper matter of meditation to us in such a season as this To begin therefore with the first observation 1. Doct. That the rigor and severity of Divine Justice was executed upon Jesus Christ when he suffered for us God did not spare him In Zach. 13. 7. you have Gods Commission given to the Sword of Justice to smiâ—… his own Son and that without pitty Awake O Sword against my Shepherd and against the man that is my fellow smite the Shepherd c. And when this Commission came to be executed upon Christ the Text tells us God did not spare him All the Vials of his wrath were poured out to the last drop Two things require our attention in this point 1. Wherein the severity of Justice to Christ appeared 2. Why must Justice be executed on him in such rigor and severity Why there could be no abatement mitigation or sparing mercy shewn him in that day First Wherein the severity of
Christians that know how chearfully Christ came from the bosom of the Father to die for them What have we to leave or lose in comparison with him What are our sufferings to Christs Alas there is no compare there was more bitterness in one drop of his sufferings than in a sea of ours To conclude your delight and readiness in the paths of obedience is the very measure of your sanctification THE NINETH MEDITATION UPON Zech. 22. part of ver 10. And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only Son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born THIS promise is confessed to have a special respect to the Jews Conversion to Christ. It was in part accomplished in the Apostles days Acts 2. 37. yet that was but a specimen or handsel of what shall be when the body of that Nation shall be called But yet it cannot be denied that all Christians find the same pierceing sorrows and wounding sense of sin when God awakens them by convictions and brings them to see the evil of sin and the grace of Christ that is here exprest concerning them at their conversion The words present us with three very remarkable particulars in Evangelical repentance viz. First The spring and principle of it Secondly The effects and fruits of it Thirdly The depth and measure of it First The spring and principle of Repentance exprest in these words They shall look upon me whom they have pierced This looking upon Christ is an act of faith for so it is described in Scripture Joh. 6. 40. Isa. 45. 22. and it respects Christ crucified as its proper object yea and that by them not only as their Progenitors involved them in that guilt by entailing it on them but as their own sins were the meritorious cause of his death and sufferings They shall look upon me whom they have pierced Secondly The effects and fruits of such an aspect of faith upon Christ is here also noted They shall mourn and be in bitterness i. e. it shall melt and thaw them into Godly sorrow it shall break their hard and stony hearts to pieces The eye of faith shall affect their hearts for indeed Evangelical sorrows are hearty and undissembled tears dropping out of the eye of faith Thirdly and lastly The depth and measure of their sorrow is here likewise noted And it is compared with the greatest and most piercing sorrows men are acquainted with in this world even the sorrow of a tender-hearted Father mourning over a dead Son yea an only Son and his first born than which no earthly sorrow is more penetrating and sharp Jer. 6. 26. Hence the Note will be Doct. That the sufferings of Christ are exceeding prwerful to melt Believers hearts into Godly sorrow The eye of faith is a precious eye and according to its various Aspects upon Christ it produceth various effects upon the hearts of men Eying Christ as our compleat Righteousness so it pacifies and quiets the heart eying him as our pattern so it directs and regulates our actions eying him as our sacrifice offer'd up to divine Justice for our sins so it powerfully thaws the heart and melts the affections By meltings I do not only understand tears as if they only were expressive of all spiritual sorrow for it is possible the waters of sorrow may run deep in the heart when the eye cannot yield a drop There be two things in Repentance Trouble and Tears The first is Essential the last Contingent The first flows from the influence of faith upon the soul the last much depends upon the temper and constitution of the body It is a mercy when our tears can flow from an heart fill'd with sorrow sor sin and love to Christ and yet it often falls out that there is an heavy heart where the eyes are dry But that there is efficacy in faith to melt the heart by looklng upon the sufferings of Christ for sin is undoubted and how it becomes so powerful an instrument to this end I will shew you in the following particulars First Faith eyes the dignity of the Person of Christ who was pierced for us how excellent and glorious a Person he is In the Captivity it was for a lamentation that Princes were hanged up by the hands and the faces of Elders were not reverenced Lam. 5. 12. We read also the Lamentation of David 2 Sam. 3. 38. as he followed Abners Herse A Prince and a great man is fallen in Israel to day But what was Abner and what were the Princes of Israel to the Son of God Loe here by faith the Believer sees the Prince of the Kings of the Earth the only begotten of the Father equal to God in nature and dignity he whom all the Angels worship hanging dead upon the cursed Tree Faith sees Royal Blood the Blood of God poured out by the Sword of Justice for satisfaction and reconciliation and this cannot but deeply affect the believing soul. Secondly Faith represents the severity of Divine Justice to Jesus Christ and the extremity of his sufferings and this sight is a melting sight The Apostle tells us Gal. 3. 13. he was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Curse and Execration for us It relates to the kind and manner of his death upon the Cross which was the death of a Slave servile supplicium a free man was priviledg'd from that punishment It looks upon and well considers the sad plight and condition Christ was in in the days of his Humiliation for us It 's said of him Matth. 26. 38. he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 undequaque tristis surrounded with griefs exactly answerable to his name Isa. 53. 3. a man of sorrows Let him look which way he would outward or inward upward or downward to Friends or Enemies he could behold nothing but sorrow and what might increase his misery Another Evangelist saith he was sore amazed Mark 14. 33. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It notes such a consternation as makes the hair of the head stand upright horripilatio A third tells us his sâ—…ul was troubled Joh. 12. 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Unde Tartarus a word from whence Hell is derived and denoting the anguish and troubles of them that are in that place of torments And the fourth tells us he was in an Agony Luk. 24. 44. all expressing in several emphatical notions and metaphors the extremity of Christs anguish and torment This cannot but greatly affect and break the Believers heart Thirdly But then that which most affects the heart is Christs Undergoing all this not only in love to us but in our room and stead He suffered not for any evil he had done for there was no guile found in his mouth Isa. 53. 4 5. but the Just suffered for the Unjust 1 Pet. 3. 18. It was for me a vile wretched worthless Sinner It was my Pride
SACRAMENTAL MEDITATIONS Upon divers select places OF SCRIPTURE WHEREIN Believers are assisted in preparing their hearts and exciting their affections and graces when they draw nigh to God in that most awful and solemn Ordinance of the Lords Supper By Jo. FLAVEL Minister of Christ in DEVON Cant. 4. 16. Awake O North wind and come thou South blow upon my Garden that the spices thereof may flow out Let my Beloved come into his Garden and eat his pleasant fruit London Printed for Jacob Sampson next door to the Wonder Tavern in Ludgate-street 1679. THE EPISTLE TO THE READER Christian Reader CHrist may be said to be Crucified three ways by the Jews actually in the Sacrament Declaratively and by Unbelievers at his Table Interpretatively Among sins Blood-guiltiness is reckoned one of the most heinous and of all Blood-guiltiness to be guilty of the Blood of Christ is a sin of the deepest guilt and will be avenged with the most dreadful punishment 1 Cor. 11. 27 29. If Vengeance be taken sevenfold on him that Slew Cain what Vengeance shall be taken on him that Crucifies afresh the Lord of glory The heaviest blow of Divine Justice is still ready to avenge the Abuse of the best mercy What can the heart of man conceiâ—…e more solemn more sacred or more deeply affective than the representation of the greatest love of the Father and the most grievous passions of the Son What sin can be more provoking to God than the slight and contempt of those most awful mysteries and what punishment can be more terrible than for such a wretched soul to eat and drink Damnation to it self Melancthon records a very dreadful example of God's righteous Judgment upon a Company of Prophane wretches who in a Tragedy intended to act the death of Christ upon the Cross. He that acted the Soldiers part instead of piercing with his Spear a Bladder full of blood hid under the Garment wounded him to death that was upon the Cross who falling down killed him who in a disguise acted the part of the Woman that stood wailing under the Cross. His Brother who was first slain slew the Murderer who acted the Soldiers part and for staying him was himself hanged by order of Justice Thus did the Vengeance of God speedily overtake them and hang'd them up in Chains for a warning to all that should ever dare to dally with the great and jealous God These are terrible strokes and yet not so terrible as those which are more ordinarily but less sensibly inflicted upon the inner man for the Abuse of this Ordinance To prevent these Judgments and obtain those blessings which come through this Ordinance great regard must be had to two things viz. 1. The Inbeing of true Grace 2. The Activity of true Grace 1. Examine thy self Reader whether there be any gracious principle planted in thy soul whereby thou art alive indeed unto God It was an ancient abuse of the Sacrament condemned and cast out by the Carthaginian Council to give it unto dead men Dead souls can have no Communion with the living God no more benefit from this Table than the Emperors Guests had from his Table where Loaves of Gold were set before them to eat There is more than a shew of grace in the Sacrament it hath not only the visible sign but the spiritual grace also which it represents See that there be more than a shew and visible sign of grace also in thy soul when thou comest nigh to the Lord in that Ordinance See to the exercise and activity as well as to the truth and sincerity of thy grace Even a Believer himself doth not eat and drink worthily unless the grace that is in him be excited and exercised at this Ordinance It is not Faith inhereing but Faith realizing applying and powerfully working It is not a disposition to humiliation for sin but the actual thawing and melting of the heart for sin whilst thou lookest on him whom thou hast pierced and mournest for him as one that mourneth for his only Son for his First-born Nor is it a disposition or principal of love to Christ that is only required but the stirring up of that fire of love the exciting of it into a vehement flame I know the excitations and exercises of grace are attended with great difficulties They are not things within our command and at our beck O! 't is hard 't is hard indeed Reader even after God hath taken the heart of stone out of thee and given thee an heart of flesh to mourn actually for sin even when so great an occasion and call is given thee to that work at the Lords Table for the same power is requisite to excite the act that was required to plant the habit Gratia gratiam postulat However the duty is thine though the power be Gods why else are his people blamed because they stirred not up themselves to take hold of him Isa. 64. 7. To assist thee in this work some help is offered in the following Meditations 'T is true it is not the reading of the best Meditations another can prepare for thee that will alter the temper of thy heart except the Spirit of God concur with these truths and bless them to thy soul But yet these helps must not be slighted because they are not self-sufficient Man lives not by Bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God yet it were a fond Vanity and Sin for any man upon that ground to cast away Bread and expect to live by a miracle without it We must lift up our hearts to God for a Blessing and then eat do the same here first pray then read and the Lord quicken thee by it for duty There are two things of special concernment to the Reader when thou art to address thy self to any solemn duty especially such as this 1. Prepare for thy duty diligently 2. Rely not upon thy preparations First Prepare with all diligence for thy duty take pains with thy dull heart cleanse thy polluted heart compose thy vain heart remember how great a presence thou art approaching If Augustus thus reproved one that entertained him without sutable preparation saying I did not think we had been so familiar much more may thy God reprove thee for thy careless neglect of due preparation for him Secondly But yet take heed on the other side that thou rely not upon thy best preparations It is an ingenious and true note of Luther speaking to this very point of preparation for the Sacrament never are men more unfit than when they think themselves most fit and best prepared for their duty never more fit than when most humbled and ashamed in the sense of their own unfitness That the blessing of God and the breathings of his good Spirit may accompany these poor labours to tby soul is the hearts desire of Thy Servant in Christ JOHN FLAVEL SACRAMENTAL MEDITATIONS c. The First Meditation UPON
First The Hypocrite is described by what he hath he hath God in his mouth Thou art near in their mouth i. e. they profess with a full mouth that they are thy People saith Piscator or they speak much about the Law as another senses it God and his Temple Religion with its rites are much talked of among them they have him in their prayers and duties and this is all that the Hypocrite hath of God Religion only sanctifies his tongue that seems to be dedicated to God but it penetrates no farther and therefore Secondly He is described by that he hath not or by what he wants And or but thou art far from their reins i. e. they feel not the powers and influences of that name which they so often invocate and talk of going down to their very reins and affecting their very hearts so we must understand this Metaphorical expression here as the opposition directs For the reins having so great and sensible a sympathy with the heart which is the seat of affections and passions upon that account it is usual in Scripture to put the reins for those intimate and secret affections thoughts and passions of the heart with which they have so near cognation and so sensible a sympathy When the heart is under great consternation the loins or reins are seiz'd also as Dan. 5. 6. Then that Kings Countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him and the joynts of his loins were loosed On the contrary when the heart is fill'd with delight and gladness the reins are said to rejoyce Prov. 23. 16. Yea my reins shall rejoyce when thy lips speak right things totus laetitiâ dissiliam I shall even leap for joy So then when the Prophet saith God is far from the reins of the Hypocrite the meaning is he feels not the heart-affecting influence and power of Religion upon his heart and affections as Gods People do And hence the Note will be That God comes nearer to the hearts and reins of his People in their duties than he doth to any Hypocritical or formal Professor By Gods nearness we understand not his Omnipresence that neither comes nor goes nor his love to his People that abides but the sensible sweet manifestations and out-lets of it to their souls So in Psal. 145. 18. The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him unto all that call upon him in truth Note the restriction and limitation of this glorious priviledge 't is the peculiar enjoyment of sincere and upright-hearted Worshippers Others may have Communion with duties but not with God in them But that God comes nigh very nigh to upright hearts in their duties is a truth as sensibly manifest to spiritual persons as that they are nigh the fire when they feel the comfortable heat of it refreshing them in a cold season when they are almost starved and benumed with cold Three things make this evident First Sincere souls are sensible of Gods accesses to them in their duties they feel his approaches to their spirits Lam. 3. 57. Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee thou saidst fear not And what a surprize was that to the Church Cant. 2. 8. It is the Voice of my Beloved behold he cometh c. Certainly there is a felt presence of God which no words can make another to understand they feel the Fountain flowing abundantly into the dry pits the heart fills apace the empty thoughts swell with a fulness of spiritual things which strive for vent Secondly They are sensible of Gods recesses and withdrawments from their spirits they feel how the ebb follows the flood and how the waters abate So you find it in Cant. 5. 6. I opened to my Beloved but my Beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone my soul failed when he spake I sought him but I could not find him I called but he gave me no answer The Hebrew is very Pathetical He was gone he was gone A sad change of the frame of her heart quickly followed Thirdly The Lords nearness to the hearts and reins of his People in their duties is evident to them from the effects that it leaves upon their spirits For look as it is with the Earth and Plants with respect to the approach or remove of the Sun in the Spring and Autumn So it is here as Christ speaks Luk. 21. 29. When ye see the Figg-tree and all the Trees shoot forth we know that Summer is nigh at hand An appoaching Sun renews the face of the Earth and makes Nature smile The Trees bud and blossom the Fishes rise the Birds sing it 's a kind of Resurrection to Nature from the dead So is it when the Lord comes near the hearts and reins of men in duty For then they find that First A real taste of the joy of the Lord is here given to men the fulness whereof is in Heaven hence call'd 2 Cor. 1. 22. The earnest of his Spirit And 1 Pet. 1. 8. Glorified Joy or a short Salvation O what is this What is this Certainly it is something that hath no Affinity with flesh or gross corporeal pleasures but is of another nature something which transcends all that ever was felt or tasted in this world since we were first conversant among sensible objects Secondly A mighty strength and power coming into their souls and actuating all its faculties and graces When God comes near new powers enter the soul the feeble is as David Psal. 138. 3. In the day that I cried thou answeredst me and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul Hope was low and Faith was weak little strength in any grace except desires but when the Lord comes strength comes with him Then as it is Neh. 8. 10. The joy of the Lord is your strength O the vigorous sallies of the heart to God! Psal. 63. 8. O the strength of Love Cant. 8. 6. Duties are other manner of things than they were wont to be Did not our hearts burn within us Luk. 24. 32. Thirdly A remarkable transformation and change of spirit follows it These things are found to be marvelously assimilating The sights of God the felt presence of God is as fire which quickly assimilates what is put into it to its own likeness So 2 Cor. 3. 18. They are said to be changed from glory to glory It always leaves the mind more refined and abstracted from gross material things and changed into the same Image They have a similitude of God upon them who have God near unto their hearts and reins Fourthly A vigorous working of the heart Heaven-ward A mounting of the soul upwards Now the soul shews that it hath not forgot its way home again It is with such a soul as sensibly embraces Christ in the arms of Faith as it was with Simeon when he took him bodily into his Arm. Now saith he let thy Servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation O! it would
wings of Faith pinion'd that when we should soar aloft in the highest acts of sweet communion with God we can but flutter upon the Earth and make some weak essays and offers Heaven-ward which often times are frustrated and put by through the unbelief that is in us Thirdly The excitation of the affection is rendred difficult by reason of that natural deadness and hardness that is in the heart Alas It 's naturally an heart of stone and as easie it is to dissolve or melt the Rocks into a sweet syrup as the heart into spiritual and Heavenly affections towards God There is scarce any one thing in this world that Christians more passionately bewail and are more sensibly afflicted for than the deadness and hardness of their own hearts Nothing is found sufficient sometimes to effect and raise them and yet if they be not excited out of their torpor and stupidity they cannot have Communion with God in duties 2. Secondly And if we enquire into the reasons why poor Christians find themselves more infested by natural Corruption in the seasons of duty than at other times the reasons are obvious to him that considers That 1. Duty irritates it 2. Satan excites it 3. God permits it to be so First Corruption is irritated by duty it s provoked by that which bridles and purges it Nothing is found more destructive to Sin than Communion with God is and therefore nothing makes a fiercer opposition to all fellowship and communion betwixt the soul and its God than sin doth As Waters swell and rage when they are obstructed by a dam so do our Corruptions when obstructed and check'd by duty Sin would fain make men leave praying and Prayer would fain make men leave sinning Secondly As Duty irritates it so Satan excites it especially in such seasons When Joshua the High Priest stood before the Lord Satan was seen standing at his right hand to resist him Zech. 3. 1. How hard is it for a Christian then to be dexterous apt and ready for spiritual works whilst Satan stands at his right hand the working hand to make resistance The Devil is aware that one hour of close spiritual and hearty converse with God in Prayer is able to pull down what he hath been contriving and building many a year Now this envious Spirit having an easie access to to the phansie that busie and unruly power of the soul will not be wanting to create such figments and notions in it as like a rapid stream shall carry away the soul and all its thoughts from God in duty Oh what adoe have most Christians to prevent the sallies and excursions of their hearts from God at such times Thirdly As Satan exercises it so the Wise and Holy God for good ends to his People permits it to be so This Thorn in the Flesh keeps them humble these lamented destructions and corruptions in their duties destroys their dependance upon them and glorying in them For if we be so prone to pride and confidence in our duties amidst such sensible workings and minglings of Corruption with them what should we be if they were more pure and excellent These things also make the Saints weary of this World and to groan within themselves after the more perfect state wherein God shall be enjoyed and seen in more perfection and satisfaction But 3. Thirdly This in the mean time cannot but be a very grievous affliction and pressure to the gracious soul to be thus clog'd and infested by its own Corruptions in the very season of its communion with God For First By this the soul is rendred very unsuitable to that holy presence it approaches Hab. 1. 13. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look upon Iniquity Must the great and blessed God wait upon a poor Worm till it be at leisure to attend him Must he be forsaken for every trifle that comes in the way of its phansie Oh how provoking an evil is this Surely God heareth not Vanity neither will the Almighty regard it Job 35. 13. This unsuitableness of our spirits to the Lord cannot do less than cover our faces with shame as it did Ezra 9. 6. O my God I am ashamed and even blush to look up unto thee Secondly By this those benefits and comforts are intercepted which are better than life There is a sensible presence of God there are manifestations of pardon peace and love there are reviving influences and fresh anointings of the spirit there are a thousand mercies of this kind that in their seasons are communicated to men in the way of duty and would it not grieve a man to the very heart and soul to be defeated of those inestimable treasures by the breaking forth of the Unbelief Pride or Vanity of his own heart when such mercies are almost in his hand Your Iniquites saith the Prophet have separated betwixt you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear Isa. 59. 2. O cruel covering O dismal Cloud that hides the face of God from his People that they cannot behold it Wherefoream I come from Geshur saith Absalom if I may not see the Kings face What do I here upon my knees saith a Christian if I may not see God Duties are nothing to me without God The World and all its comforts are dry and tasteless things to me without God His manifested favour and sealed love are the very life of my life and from this the corruptiun of my own heart have cut me off Thirdly By these things the beauty and excellency of duties are defaced These dead flies spoil that excellent Oyntment for wherein consists the beauty and true excellencies of duties but in that spirituality Heavenly temper of soul with which they are performed This makes them suitable to their object Joh. 4. 24. take away spirituality from duties and then you may number them among your sins and the matters of your shame and sorrow Take away the heart from duty and what remains but a dead carcass without life or beauty Fourthly By these things gracious souls are greatly puzled and perplexed about their estate and condition This is the fountain of their fears and doubtings O when a man feels such deadness in his heart towards God such stiffness in his will to the will of God such a listless careless temper to all that is spiritual How thinks he can this consist with a renewed state and temper Sure no Christian is troubled with such an heart as mine is especially when it shall be found in its ordinary course so free nimble and indefatigable in its persuits and entertainments of things sensual and earthly There it is as the Chariots of Aminadab but here like Pharoahs Chariots there it as much needs the Curb as it doth the Spur here Lord saith the poor soul I know not what to do If I do not look into my heart I cannot be sincere and if I
find not this presently as some do Secondly Times of eminent Communion with God are Sealing times There are extraordinary out-lets of Peace Joy and Comfort at some seasons in duty which makes the state of the soul very clear and banishes all scruples and fears from the heart Thirdly Others are Sealed upon some eminent hazard they have been exposed to for Christ or some extraordinary sufferings they have undergone for Christ wherein they have carried it with eminent meekness patience and self-denial 2 Cor. 1. 4 5. Thus the Martyrs were many times Sealed in the depth of their sufferings Fourthly It 's usually found that a Sealing time follows a dark day of desertion and sore combats with temptation Post Nubila Phoebus So that Text Rev. 2. 17. is expounded by some To him that overcometh will I give the white stone and the new name Fifthly Dying-times prove Sealing-times to many souls if their whole life have been like that day described by the Prophet Zech. 14. 17. neither dark nor light a life betwixt hopes and fears yet at Evening-time it hath been light 3. Distinction Lastly We must distinguish the several ways and manners of Sealing Some are extraordinary and immediate vouchsafed only to some persons at some special times and seasons Thus Zacheus was in an extraordinary and immediate way ascertained of his Salvation Luk. 19. 9. This day is Salvation come to this House And so the Palsie-man Mark 2. 5. Son saith Christ thy sins be forgiven thee But these immediate ways are ceased no man may now expect by any new Revelation or Sign from Heaven by any Voice or extraordinary Inspiration to have his Salvation sealed but must expect that mercy in Gods ordinary way and method searching the Scriptures examining our own hearts and waiting on the Lord in Prayer The Learned Gerson gives an instance of one that had been long upon the borders of despair and at last sweetly assured and setled and being asked how he attained that Assurance he answered Non ex nova aliqua revelatione c. Not by any new revelation but by subjecting my understanding to and comparing my heart with the written word And Mr. Roberts in his Treatise of the Covenants speaks of another that so vehemently panted after the Sealings and Assurance of the love of God to his soul that for a long time he earnestly desired some Voice from Heaven and sometimes walking in the solitary Fields earnestly desired some miraculous voice from the Trees or Stones there This was denied him but in time a better was afforded in a scriptural way Now to resolve the Query out of these distinctions First Though all Believers have not the formal Sealings of the Spirit yet they have the objective or material Seal that is the Spirit is in them as a sanctifying spirit putting a real difference betwixt them and others when he is not with them by way of evidence and assurance of sanctification Secondly Though all Believers are not Sealed at one and the same time yet there are few if any Believers but do meet with one season or other in this life wherein the Lord doth Seal them if not at their first close with Christ as many have been Sealed yet in some choice and eminent season of communion with God such golden spots of time such precious seasons most Christians can speak of Though as Bernard speaks it be rara hora brevis mora Seldom but sweet Or if not in the course of their active obedience 't is a thousand to one but they shall meet it in the way of their passive obedience if God exercise them eminently under the cross or after a dark cloud of desertion or in a dying hour Thirdly and lastly Though God now Seals not men in an extraordinary and immediate way by Revelation immediate Inspiration or Voices from Heaven yet most Christians are sealed in the ordinary way of the Spirit under one Ordinance or other in one duty or other 4. Query What is the priviledge of being Sealed by the Spirit Answ. Much every way words cannot express the riches of this mercy for let us but consider the four following particulars and you will admire the mercy First Consider whose act and proper work Sealing is God doth not send Angels upon this Errand though if he did that would be a great honour to poor dust and ashes but he sends his Spirit to do it Oh the Condescension of the great God to men this is a greater honour than if millions of Angels were imploy'd about it And then as to certainty and satisfaction it is beyond all other ways and methods in the world for in miraculous Voices and Inspirations it's possâ—…ble there may subesse falsum be found some Cheat or Imposture of the Devil but the spirits witness in the heart suitable to his revelation in the Scripture cannot deceive us Secondly The conclusion or truth sealed is ravishing and transporting All Christians vehemently pant for it few have the enjoyment of it for any long continuance But whilst they do enjoy it they enjoy Heaven upon Earth a joy beyond all the joys of this world To have this conclusion surely Sealed Christ is mine my sin is pardoned I shall be saved from wrath through him O what is this what is this Thirdly Consider the subject or person Sealed a poor sinful wretch that hast ten thousand times over grieved the good Spirit of God by whom notwithstanding thou art Sealed to the day of Redemption Thou hast by every sin deserved to be sealed up to Damnation Thou hast reason to account and esteem thy self much inferior in graces and duties to many thousands of the Saints that are panting after this priviledge and cannot obtain it O the riches of the goodness of God! Fourthly and lastly Consider the designs and aims of the Spirit in his Sealing thy soul which are 1. To secure Heaven to thee for ever 2. As intermediate thereunto to bring very much of Heaven into thy soul in the way to it indeed to give thee two Heavens whilst many others must suffer two Hells 5. Query Lastly We will enquire what are the effects of the Spirits sealing upon our souls by which we may distinguish and clearly discern it from all delusions of Satan and all Impostures whatsoever Answ. The genuine and proper effects and fruits of Sealing are 1. Inflamed Love 2. Renewed Care 3. Deep Abasements 4. Increase of Strength 5. A desire to be with the Lord. 6. Improved Mortification to the world Wheresoever these are found consequent to our Communion with God and his manifestations of himself to us therein they put it beyond all doubt that it was the Seal of his own blessed Spirit and no delusion First The Sealings of the Spirit cannot but inflame the love of the soul in a very intense degree towards God One flame doth not more naturally beget another than the love of God doth kindle the love of a gracious
soul to him We have known and believed the love that God hath to us 1 Joh. 4. 16. 19. When Christ had forgiven much to that poor Woman that had sin'd much and manifested pardoning mercy to her soul O how much was her love to Christ inflamed thereby Luk. 7. 47. Secondly Renewed care and diligence follows the Sealings of the Spirit Now is the soul at the foot of Christ as Mary was at the Sepulcher with fear and great joy He that Travels the Road with a rich treasure about him is afraid of a Thief in every bush This is exemplified in the Spouse who had endured many a sad day and night in Christs absence and sought him sorrowing but when she had regained his felt and sensible presence it 's said Cant. 3. 4. I found him whom my soul loveth I held him and would not let him go She doth not as one speaks lay by diligence as if all were done but is of new taken up with as great care to retain and improve this mercy as before she was solicitous to obtain it Whether a Believer want or have whether he be seeking or enjoying there is still matter of exercise for him in his condition Thirdly Deep abasement and great humblings use to follow the eminent appearances of God to the souls of men Lord said that Disciple how is it that thou wilt manifest thy self to us and not unto the world Joh. 14. 22. When God Sealed the Covenant to Abraham to be a God to him at this Abraham fell upon his face Gen. 17. 1 2 3. Never doth a soul lie lower in the dust and abhor it self than when the Lord makes the most signal manifestations of his grace and love to it Fourthly Increased strength follows the sealings of the Spirit New powers enter into the soul and a sensible improvement of its abilities for duty or ever I was aware saith the Spouse my soul made me as the Chariots of Aminadab Cant. 6. 12. Now the wheels of the soul being oyled with the joy and comfort of the Spirit run nimbly in the ways of obedience The joy of the Lord is your strength Fifthly Sealings of the Spirit inflames the desires of the soul after Heaven and makes it long to go home Nothing makes death so undesirable to the Saints as the doubts and fears that hang upon their Spirits about their condition Were their evidences for Heaven clear and their doubts resolved they would as the Apostle speaks desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Phil. 1. 23. If once the great question of our interest in Christ be throughly decided and all be clear betwixt us and our God we shall find Life the matter of Patience and Death the object of desire Sixthly and lastly Improved Mortification to the world flows naturally from the Sealings and Assurances of the love of God to our souls It is with our souls after such a view of Heaven and a sealed interest therein as it is with him that hath been gazing upon that glorious Creature the Sun when he comes to cast his eye again upon the Earth all things seem dark and cloudy to him He sees no beauty in any of those things because of that excellent luster which he lately beheld We know saith the Apostle that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolv'd we have a building of God an House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens there 's Assurance or Sealing For in this we groan earnestly desiridg to be cloathed upon with our House which is from Heaven There 's the natural effect of it 2 Cor. 5. 1 2. Uses The point speaks to three sorts of persons viz. 1. To those that have not yet been Sealed 2. To those that once had but now want this comfort 3. To those that enjoy the comforts of it First To those that yet want this mercy who have not been formally Sealed by any assurance of their title to Christ but all their days have been clog'd with fears and doubts of their condition To such my Counsel is First That you be not quiet under these uncertainties but pant after the assurance of peace and pardon Say unto Christ as the Spouse did Cant. 8. 6. Set me as a Seal upon thy heart as a Seal upon thine arm Pant after it as David did Psal. 35. 3. Say unto my soul I am thy Salvation How can you look upon such precious promises and not dare to tast them How can you hear others speak of their satisfaction peace and assurance and be quiet until you also have attained it What is it that hinders this mercy that it cannot come home to your souls Is it your neglect of duty O stir up your selves to take hold of God Is it want of a through search and examination of your estate O let not thine eyes find rest till that be fully done Is it some special guilt upon thy soul that grieves the Spirit of God Be restless till it be removed I know this mercy is not at your command do what you can do but yet I also know when God bestows it he usually doth it in these ways of our duty Secondly To those that once had but now want this blessing who say as Job 29. 2 3. O that it were with me as in days past The darkness is the greater to you because you have walked in the light of the Lord. The sum of Christs Counsel in this case is given in three words Rev. 2. 5. Remember Repent Reform First Remember i. e. ponder consider compare time with time and state with state how well it once was how sad it now is Secondly Repent mourn over these your sinful relapses sure you may challenge the first place among all the mourners in the world Your loss is great O better to have lost the light of your eyes than this sweet light of Gods countenance your sin hath separated betwixt you and your God O mourn over it Thirdly Reform Do your first works again O Christian consider thy heart is sunk deeper into the world than it was wont to be Thy duties are fewer and thy zeal and affection to God much abated Return return O back-sliding soul and labor to recover thy first love to Christ what-ever pains it cost thee Lastly To those that do enjoy these choice and invaluable mercies the Sealings of the Spirit First Take heed that you grieve not the good Spirit of God by whom you are Sealed to the day of Redemption Eph. 4. 30. He hath comforted you don't you grieve him The Spirit is a tender and delicate thing you may quickly deprive your selves of his joy and peace Secondly Be humble under this advancement and dignity If your hearts once begin to swell look out for humbling dispensations quickly 2 Cor. 12. 7. This treasure is always kept in the Vessel of a contrite and humble heart Thirdly Keep close to duty yea tack one duty to
Christ the best mercy but delivered him up for us all when we were his Enemies then certainly he will not deny lesser mercies when we are reconciled and made Friends to him And this is the forcible reason of the Apostle which even compels assent Rom. 5. 9. Much more being now justified by his Blood we shall be saved from wrath through him In a word Fourthly and lastly If it were the very design and intention of God in not sparing his own Son to open thereby a dore for all mercies to be let in upon us then 't is not imaginable he should with-hold them He will not lose his design nor lay so many stripes upon Christ in vain Some shall surely have the benefit of it and none so capable as Believers When God spared not his own Son this was the design of it and could you know the thoughts of his heart they would appear to be such as these I will now manifest the fierceness of my Wrath to Christ and the fulness of my Love to Believers The pain shall be his that the ease and rest may be theirs the stripes his and the healing balm issuing from them theirs The Condemnation his and the Justification theirs The Reproach and Shame his and the Honour and Glory theirs The Curse his and the Blessing theirs The Death his and the Life theirs The Vinegar and Gall his the sweet of it theirs He shall groan and they shall triumph He shall mourn that they may rejoyce His heart shall be heavy for a time that theirs may be light and glad for ever He shall be forsaken that they may never be forsaken Out of the worst of miseries to him shall spring the sweetest of mercies to them O Grace Grace beyond the conception of the largest mind the expression of the tongues of Angels THE SEVENTH MEDITATION UPON Mark 9. 24. And straight-way the Father of the Child cried and said with tears Lord I Believe help my Unbelief THE occasion of these words is to be gather'd from the Context and briefly it was this A tender Father brings a possessed Child to Christ to be cured with a Sipotes a doubting question If thou canst do any thing have compassion upon us and help us Words imparting much natural affection and tender love to his Child Have Compassion upon us and help us If the Child be sick the Parent is not well What touches the Child is felt by his Father And as they import his natural affection to his Child so also his own spiritual disease or the weakness of his Faith His Child was possest with a dumb Devil and himself with unbelieving doubts and suspitions of Christs ability to cure his Child The Child had a sick body and the Father an infirm soul. Satan afflicted one by a possession and the other by temptation ver 22. Christ returns his doubting language upon himself ver 23. If thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth q. d. Dost thou doubt of my ability to heal thy Child question rather thy own ability to believe for his cure If he be not heal'd the cause will not be in my inability but in thine own infidelity Which he speaks not to insinuate that Faith was in his own power but to convince him of his weakness and drive him to God for assistance which effect it obtain'd for immediately he cry'd out and said with tears Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief O how good is it for men to be brought into the straights of affliction sometimes Had not this man fallen into this distress it 's not like that he had at least not so soon arrived either to the sense of his grace or the weakness of it In the words we may note these three parts First A profession of his Faith Lord I believe Secondly A sense of the weakness of his Faith Help thou my unbelief Thirdly The affection with which both were uttered He cried out and said with tears If these tears proceeded from the sense and feeling of divine power inabling him to believe as some think than they were tears of joy and would inform us of this great truth That the least and lowest measure of true Faith is matter of joy unspeakable to the possessor of it If they proceeded from the sense of the weakness of his faith then they give us this note That the remainders of unbelief in the people of God do cost them many tears they are the burdens and sorrows of gracious souls 1. Doct. That the least and lowest measure of Faith is matter of joy unspeakable to the possessor of it The Apostle in the 2 Pet. 1. 1. calls it precious Faith and it well deserves that Epithet for the least and lowest degree of saving Faith is of invaluable excellency as will appear in these particulars First The least degree of saving faith truly unites the soul to Jesus Christ and makes it as really a branch or member of him as Moses Abraham or Paul were All saving Faith receives Christ Joh. 1. 12. Indeed the strong Believer receives him with a stronger and stedier hand than the weak one doth who staggers doubts and trembles but yet receives him and consequently is as much interessed in the blessed priviledges flowing from Union as the greatest Believer in the world Such are Christs complacency in our persons and duties his sympathy with us in our troubles and affections and our interest in his person and purchase And is not this matter of exceeding joy Is it not enough to melt yea overwhelm the heart of a poor Sinner to discover and feel that in his own heart which entitles him to such mercies Secondly From the least degree of saving faith we may infer'as plenary a remission of sin as from tht strongest The weakest Believer is as compleatly pardoned as the strongest Act. 10. 43. By him all that believe are justified from all things All that believe without difference of sizes strength or degrees the least as well as the greatest the Believer of a day old as well as the Fathers and Worthies of greatest name and longest standing Loe then the least measure of faith intitles thee as really to the greatest blessing as the highest acts of faith can do 'T is true the stronger the acting of faith is the clearer the evidence usually is but interest in the priviledge is the same in both If then thou canst discern but the weakest act and smallest measure of faith in thy soul hast thou not reason with him in the Text to cry out and say with tears Lord I belive Canst thou receive and read this Pardon the pardon of such and so many sins and not wet it with thy tears O it's matter of joy unspeakable Thirdly The least degree of saving faith infers thy Election of God and if that be not matter of melting and transporting consideration nothing is O it 's matter of more joy that our names are written in
perpetual We shall be ever with the Lord 1 Thes. 4. 7. Long therefore to drink that new Wine in the Fathers Kingdom The Spirit and the Bride say came and let him that heareth say come even so come Lord Jesus come quickly THE ELEVENTH MEDITATION UPON Cant. 8. v. 6. Set me as a Seal upon thy heart as a Seal upon thine arm for love is strong as death jealousie is cruel as the grave the coals thereof are coals of fire which hath a most vehement flame THIS Book is a sacred Allegory the sense thereof is deep and spiritual Our unacquaintedness with such Schemes and figures of speech together with the want of spiritual light and experience makes it difficult to be understood but the Allegory being once unfolded by reason of its affinity with the fancy truth is more easily and affectingly transmitted both to the mind and heart St. Augustine assignes this reason why we are so much delighted with Metaphors and Allegories because they are so much proportioned to our sences with which our reason hath contracted an intimacy and familiarity And therefore God to accommodate his truth to our capacity doth as it were embody it in earthly expressions according to that of the ancient Gaballists lumen supremum nunquam descendit sine in dumentâ—… Heavenly truth never discendeth to us without its vail and covering The words before us are the request of the Spouse to Jesus Christ and consist of two parts viz. 1. Her Suit which is earnest 2. Her Argument which is weighty Her earnest suite or request to Jesus Christ Set me as a Seal upon thy heart as a Seal upon thine arm The heart of Christ notes his most dear inward and tender affection his Arm notes his protecting and preserving care and power The last naturally follows the first what men dearly affect they tenderly and carefully protect And by setting her as a Seal upon his heart and arm she means a sure and a well-confirmed interest both in his love and power This she would have firmly sealed and ratified and that this is her meaning will plainly appear from The Argument with which she enforces her request For love is strong as death jealousie is cruel as the grave c. By Jealousie we must understand her fears and suspicions of coming short of Christ and his love q. d. What if after all I should be deceived What if Jesus Christ do not love me with a special love O these fears and suspicions are intolerable torments to her she cannot bear them they are cruel as the grave insufferable as coales of fire which have a most vehement flame q. d. Lord if thou leave me in the midst of these jealousies of thy love I shall be but a torment to my self I shall live as one upon the rack or in the flames Hence the note is Doct. That there is nothing in this world which true Christians more earnestly desire than to be well assured and satisfied of the love of Jesus Christ to their souls In the meditation of this point two things must be inquired into 1. Why this assurance is so desirable 2. How it may be obtained Why the assurance of the love of Christ is so desirables in the eyes of true Christians And among others there are two things that especially make it so viz. 1. The sweetness of its enjoyment 2. The difficulty of its attainment The sweetness of its enjoyment which is unexpressable and inconceivable for it is a mercy above all estimation It is 1. The riches of faith 2. The rest and ease of the heart 3. The pleasure of life 4. A Cordial in death 5. A sweet support in all troubles 1. It is the very riches of faith the most pleasant fruit which grows upon the top branches of faith The Scripture tells us of an assurance of Understanding hope and faith All these graces are precious in themselvcs but the assurance of each of them is the most sweet and pleasant part Knowledge above knowledge is the full assurance of knowledge Hope above hope is the full assurance of hope and faith above faith is the full assurance of faith The least and lowest act of saving faith is precious above all value what then must the highest and most excellent acts of faith be Certainly there is a sweetness in the assurance of faith that few men have the privilege to taste and they that do can find no words able to express it to anothers Understanding The weakest Christian is exalted above other men but the assured Christian hath a preference before all other Christians 2. It is hearts ease the very Sabbath and sweet repose of the soul. Thousands of poor Christians would part with all they possess in this world to enjoy it but it flies from them The life that most of them live is a life betwixt hopes and fears their interest in Christ is very doubtful to them Sometimes they are encouraged from sensible workingâ—… of grace then all is dashed again by the contrary stirrings and workings of their own corruptions Now the Sun shines out clear by and by the Heavens are over-cast and clouded again But the assured Christian is at rest from those tormenting fears and jealousies which my Text speaks of that are as cruel as the grave and as insufferable as coals of fire in a mans bosom He can take Christ into the arms of his faith and say My Beloved is mine and I am his Return to thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee 3. It is the pleasure of life yea the most rational pure and transporting pleasure What is life without pleasure And what pleasure is there in the world comparable to this pleasure For let the sealed and assured Believer consider and compare and he must needs find a joy and pleasure beyond the joy of the whole Earth If he consider well what he is assured of it is no common mercy but Christ himself and his love a mercy incomprehensible by Men or Angels Eph. 3. 19. Put Christ into the sensible possession of a Believer and joy is no more under his command for that time he can no more refuse to rejoyce than he that is tickled can forbear to laugh and especially when his thoughts are exercised in comparing states and conditions either his own with other mens or his own now with what it was and what it shall be To think with thy self thus I am assured of Christ and his love my interest in him is sealed but this is a mercy few enjoy besides me There be millions of souls of equal value with mine by nature that shall never enjoy such a mercy as this Yea the time was when I my self was far from it in my unregenerate estate Lord how is it I had not then been sealed to Damnation O 't is well with me for present that I can call Christ my own and yet it will be better and better My condition will
mend every day I am now in Christ and it is but a little while before I shall be with Christ and arrive at the full satisfaction of my very heart O what pleasure doth every glance backward or forward give to the sealed soul 4. It is a Cordial in death and there is none like it This will make the soul triumph over the grave take death chearfully by the cold hand welcome its grim Messengers and long to be gone and be with Christ. Dark and doubting Christians may indeed shrink back from it and be affraid of the exchange but the assured soul longs to be gone and needs patience to live as other men do to die When one was asked if he were willing to die his answer was Illius est nolle mori qui nolit ire ad Christum Let him be loth to die that is loath to go to Christ. The sugar of assurance sweetens the bitter cup of death and makes it delectable to a Believers rellish 5. In a word it is a sweet support in all the troubles and afflictions on this side the grave Let the assured soul be cast into what condition the Lord pleases be it upon a bed of sickness yet this gives his soul such support and comfort that he shall not say I am sick sin being forgiven the soul is well when the body is in pain Isa. 33. 24. Let him be cast in to a Prison here 's that will turn a Prison into a Paradise Act. 5. 41. Let him be pincht with any outward want this will supply all As having nothing and yet possessing all things 2 Cor. 6. 10. Thus you see how desirable it is for its own excellency And as it is desirable for the sweetness of its own enjoyment so also from the difficulty of its attainment all excellencies are lockt up under many difficulties but none like this it is indeed easie to presume an interest in Christ and cheat a mans own soul with a dream and fancy of our own Creation but sure it 's hard to get a sealed clear title to Christ and his benefits and there be among others three things that make it difficult 1. The corruptions that remain and daily work in the best hearts these are evermore puzling and scaring the poor soul with fears and doubts about its condition Grace teacheth men due severity to themselves and fear of their own deceitfulness makes them think no hearts are like their hearts especially whilst they compare other mens outside with their own inside as generally they do O how do our own corruptions every moment raise mists and clouds that it is a wonder we ever should have one clear beam of assurance shining into such hearts as our hearts are 2. The multitudes of mistakes and cheats that are frequently committed and found in this matter makes upright hearts the more suspicious and doubtful of their own conditions O when they read Matth. 7. 22. that many will say to Christ in that day Lord Lord we have Prophesied in thy Name c. It scares them lest they also be deceived 3. The grand importance of the matter makes poor souls fearful of concluding certainly about it O when a man considers that the whole weight of his eternal happiness or misery depends upon the resolution of these Questions Am I in Christ or am I not It will makâ—… him tremble to determine In a word assurance is not in our power or at our command There be many holy humble diligent and longing souls to whom it is denied It is arbitrarily dispensed by the pleasure of the spirit to whom he will and such favours are rare even among true believers the more therefore it is to be valued and desired by all as the Spouse doth in this place And so much to the first thing Upon what account the assurance of Christs love is so desirable in the eyes of Chrians In the last place let us consider how this mercy which is so desirable may be obtained and this is our proper work and business at this time You are now come to a sealing Ordinance instituted on purpose for this noble end and Use. O that we could pray and plead for it as the Spouse here doth Set me as a seal upon thine heart as a seal upon thine arm for love is strong as death jealousie is cruel as the grave c. Now in order to the attainment of this most desirable mercy take a few necessary hints of your present work and duty in the following directions 1. Direction Would you be well secured of Christs love to you and that you are set as a seal upon his heart then exercise and manifest more love to Christ and let him be much upon your hearts If it be clear to you that you have true love to Jesus Christ you need not at all to doubt but you are in his heart and in his love I love them that love me Prov. 8. 17. And surely you have now before you the greatest motive in the world to inflame your love to Jesus Christ. Behold him as he here represented to you wounded for your iniquities yea sacrificed to the wrath of God for your Peace Pardon and Salvation O what manner of love is this Behold how he loved thee If Christ's love draw forth thine it will so far clear thy interest in his love as it shall engage thy heart in love to him 2. Direction But seeing the activity of your love will be according to the activity of your faith therefore in the next place I advise you to make it the main work and business of this hour to exercise your faith upon Jesus Christ set your selves this day to believe the more strong the direct acts of your faith shall be the more clear and comfortable its reflex acts are like to be There are three distinct offices or imployments for your faith at this Table viz. 1. To realize 2. To apply 3. To infer from the sufferings of Jesus Christ. 1. Realize the sufferings of Christ for you and behold them here represented in a true glass to the eye of faith See you that Bread broken and that Wine poured out As sure as this is so Jesus Christ endured the Cross suffered the Wrath of the great and terrible God in his Soul and in his Body upon the cursed Tree for and in the room of poor Condemned Sinners Your faith for the one hath as much yea more certainty than your sense hath for the other This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save Sinners 1 Tim. 1. 15. and without controversie great is the mystery of Godliness God was manifest in the flesh c. 2. Apply the sufferings of Christ this day to thine own soul. Believe all this to be done suffered in thy room and for thy sake He offered not this Sacrifice for his own sins but ours Isa. 53. 9. Heb. 7. 27. He
was Incarnate for you Isa. 9. 6. For us a Child is born to us a Son is given His death was for you and in your stead Gal. 3. 13. He was made a Curse for us and when he rose from the dead he rose for our justification Rom. 4. 25. and now he is in glory at the right hand of God he is there for us Heb. 7. 25. He ever lives to make Intercession for us It was the pride passion earthliness and unbelief of thy heart which Jesus Christ groaned bled and died to procure a pardon for 3. Infer from the sufferings of Christ those conclusions of faith that tend to assurance As thus Did Christ die for me when I was an Enemy then surely being reconciled I shall be saved by his life Rom. 5. 10. Again Is Christ dead for me then I shall never die eternally Nothing shall separate me from the love of God it is Christ that died Rom. 8. 34. 3. Direction Mourn over all those sins that cause the Lord to hide his Face from your souls Have you grieved the Spirit by your sin O be grieved for it this day at your very hearts cover the Table of the Lord with tears Look upon him whom you have pierced and mourn as for an only Son Though there be no merit yet there is much mercy in a broken heart for sin and there is no such advantage to get your hearts broken as this is which is now before you When the showeth of Repentance is fallen the Heavens over thee may be clear and the Sun shine out in its brightness upon thy soul. 4. Direction In a word pour out thy soul to God in hearty desires for a sealed and clear interest in his love this day tell him it is a mercy thou valuest above life Thy favour is better than life Psal. 63. 3. Tell him thou art not able to live with the jealousies and suspicions of his love thou art but a torment to thy self whilst thy interest in his love abides under a cloud Beseech him to pity thy poor afflicted soul which hath lain down and risen so long with these fears and tremblings and been a stranger to comfort for so many days Tell him how weak thy hands have been and still are in duties of obedience for want of this strength and encouragement Engage thy soul to him this day to be more active chearful and fruitful in his service iâ—… it will please him now to free thee from those fears and doubts that have clogg'd thee in all thy former duties O cry unto him in the words and with the deep sense of the Spouse in this Text. Set me as a seal upon thy heart as a seal upon thine arm for love is strong as death jealousie is cruel as the grave the coals thereof are coals of fire c. THE TWELFTH MEDITATION UPON Eph. 3. 19. And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge THE knowledge of Christ and of his love is deservedly in this place set down among the desiderata Christianorum the most desirable enjoyments of Believers in this world This love of Christ had centred the Apostles heart he was swallowed up in the meditation and admiration of it and would have all hearts inflamed and affected with it as his was Some think the Apostle speaks Extatically in this place and know not how to make the parts of his discourse consistent with each other when he puts them upon endeavours to know that love of Christ which himself confesses to pass knowledge But though his heart was ravished with the love of Christ yet there is no contradiction or inconsistency in his discourse He doth earnestly desire for the Ephesians that they may know the love of Christ i. e. that they might experimentally know his love which passeth knowledge that is as some expound it all other sorts and kinds of knowledge yea and all knowledge of Christ which is not practical and experimental Or thus Labour to get the clearest and fullest apprehensive knowledge of Christ and his love that is attainable in this world though you cannot arrive to a perfect comprehensive knowledge of either Mens humana hoc capit non capit atque in eo capit quod rapitur in admirationem as others reconcile it The note from it is Doct. That the love of Christ surpasses and â—…anscends the knowledge of the most illuâ—…inated Believers The love of Christ is too deep for â—…y created understanding to fathom â—…is unsearchable love and it is so in â—…ivers respects It is unsearchable in respect of its â—…tiquity No Understanding of man â—…an trace it back to its first spring it â—…ows from one Eternity to another â—…e receive the fruits and effects of it â—…ow but O how ancient is that root â—…at bears them He loved us before â—…is world was made and will contiâ—…ue so to do when it shall be reduced â—…to ashes It is said Prov. 8. 30 31. â—…hen he gave the Sea his decree when he â—…ppointed the foundations of the Earth â—…en was I by him as one brought up with â—…im and I was daily his delight rejoycing â—…lways before him rejoycing in the habitaâ—…le parts of his Earth and my delights â—…ere with the Sons of men The freeness of the love of Christ passes knowledge No man knows nor can any words express how free the love of Christ to his people is It is said Isa. 55. 8. My thoughts are not your thoughts The meaning is My Grace Mercy and Love to you is one thing as it is in my thoughts and quite another thing when it comes into your thoughts In my thoughts it is like it self free rich and unchangeable but in your thoughts it is limitted and narrowed pincht in within your straight and narrow conceptions that it is not like it self but altered according to the model and platform of Creatures according to which you draw it in your minds Alas we do but alter and spoil his love when we think there is any thing in us or done by us that can be a motive inducement or recompence to it His love is so free that it pitched it self upon us before we had any loveliness in us at all When we were in our blood he said unto us live and that was the time of love It did not stay till we had our Ornaments upon us but embraced us in our blood in our most loathsome state and of all seasons that is the season of love the chosen time of love Ezek. 16. 7 8. Christ loved us not upon the account of any fore-seen excellency in us or upon any expectation of recompence from us Nay he loved us not only without but against our deserts Nothing in nature is found so free as the love of Christ is our thoughts therefore of this love going beyond all examples and instances that are found among men quickly lose themselves in an immense Ocean of free grace where they can find neither bank
nor bottom The bounty and liberality of the love of Christ to his People passeth knowledge Who can number or value the fruits of his love They are more than the Sands upon the Sea-shore It would weary the arm of an Angel to write down the thousandth part of the effects of his love which come to the share of any particular Christian in this World Who can tell how many sins it pardons The free gift is of many offences unto justification Rom. 5. 16. How many dangers it prevents or how many wants it supplies This we know that of all his fulness we all receive grace for grace Joh. 1. 16. But how full of grace Christ is and how many mercies have and shall flow to us out of that Fountain of love this is unknown to men to the best wisest and most observant men O! if the records of the mercies of our lives were or could be gather'd and kept what vast volumns would they swell to 'T is true indeed you have the total sum given you in 1 Cor. 3. 22. All are yours but it is such a number as no man can number The Constancy of Christ's love to his People passeth knowledge No length of time no distance of place no change of condition either with him or us can possibly make any alteration of his affections towards us He is the same yesterday to day and for ever Heb. 13. 8. It is noted also by the Evangelist Joh. 13. 1. That having loved his own which were in the world he loved them to the end 'T is true his condition is altered he is no more in this world conversing with his People as he did once in the days of his Flesh He is now at the right hand of God in the highest glory but yet his heart is the same that ever it was for love and tenderness to his People Our conditions also are often altered in this world but his love suffers no alteration Yea which is much more admirable we do many things daily that grieve him and offend him yet he takes not away his loving kindness from us nor suffers his faithfulness to fail We pour out so much cold water of unkindness and provocation as is enough to coole and quench any love in the world except His love but notwithstanding all he continues unchangable in love to us This Peter found notwithstanding that great offence of his No sooner was the Lord risen from the dead but he greets him in the style of his former love and ancient respect Go tell the Disciples and tell Peter So then the love of Christ is a love transcending all Creature-love and humane Understanding We read in Rom. 5. 7 8. That peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die But we never find where any beside Jesus Christ would lay down his life for Enemies It is recorded as an unparallel'd instance of love in Damon and Pithias the two Sicilian Philosophers that each had courage enough to die for his friend for one of them being Condemned to die by the Tyrant and desiring to give the last farewell to his Family his Friend went into Prison for him as his Surety to die for him if he returned not at the appointed time but he did not die yea he had such a confidence in his Friend that he would not suffer him by default to die for him and if he had yet he had died for his Friend But such was the love of Christ that it did not only put him into danger of death but put him actually unto death yea the worst of deaths and that for his Enemies O what manner of love is this We read of the love that Jacob had for Rachel and how he endured both the cold of Winter and heat of Summer for her sake But what is this to the love of Jesus who for us endured the heat of God's Wrath Beside she was Beautiful but we unlovely David wish'd for Absolom his Son Would God I had died for thee But it was but a wish and had it come to the proof David would have shrinkt from death for all the affection he bare his beautiful Son But Christ actually gave his life for us and did not only wish he had done it O love transcending the love of Creatures yea and surmounting all Creature-knowledge The Uses follow If the love of Christ pass knowledge O! then admire it yea live and die in the wonder and admiration of the love of Christ. As it is a sign of great weakness to admire small and common things so it speaks great stupidity not to be affected with great and unusual things O Christian if thou be one that conversest with the thoughts of this love thou canst not but admire it and the more thou studiest the more still wilt thou be astonished at it And among the many Wonders that will appear in the love of Christ these two will most of all affect thee viz. 1. That ever it pitcht at first on thee 2. That it is not by so many sins quencht towards thee 1. 'T is admirable that ever the love of Christ pitcht at first upon thee for are there not millions in the world of sweeter tempers and better constitutions than thy self whom it hath past by and yet imbraced thee Lord said the Disciples how is it that thou wilt manifest thy self unto us and not unto the world Joh. 14. 22. Surely he did not set his love upon thee nor chuse thee because thou wast better than others but because he loved thee 2. It is admirable that his love to thee is not extinguished by so many sins as thou hast committed against him Lay thy hand Christian this day upon thy heart and be think thy self how many have been the provocations wrongs and dishonours thou hast been guilty of against thy God and that since he called thee by his grace and set his love upon thee What! and yet love thee still Yea notwithstanding all he is still thy God and loves thee with an unchangeable love O! with how many notwithstandings is his love continued to thy soul All this is just matter of admiration and wonder for ever Is the love of Christ past knowledge an unsearchable love then learn whence and why it is that thâ—… souls of Believers never are not can be tired in beholding and enjoying Jesus Christ. We use to say one thing is tiresome and it is very true if it be an earthly thing it will be so how sweet or excellent soever it seems at first and the reason is because the bâ—…t Creature-enjoyment is but a shallow thing and a few thoughts will sound it to the bottom and there being no supply of new matter to feed the hungry soul upon it is quickly sated and cloyed with the repetition of the same thing over and over but it is far otherwise in Christ for though he be but one yet in that one thing all things are virtually and eminently