Gods enemies Now there be two sorts of enemies that we are especially to have nothing to do withall if we side with God enemies within us and enemies without us Sin within us we must take part against our sins take Gods part and the spirits part against corrupt motions and affections Divinity must begin from within else it is faction without It is not Religion but faction if the Religion begin not in our hearts and if we hate not sin in our selves Where there is true antipathy the nearer any thing is that is opposite to our nature the more hateful it is He that hateth a Toad hateth it in his bosom most of all And he that hates sin as sin hates it in his own heart most of all And therefore they that will pretend Religion and be naught in their own particular it cometh not from a true principle for they that will side with God side with God in their own hearts and be good men in their own particulars therefore I beseech you try your selves by this Likewise 〈◊〉 men estâ—em sinne Gods enemy wâ—â—â—esoever they see it and so far as their authority and power reacheth they will take Gods part in themselves against themselves and in the world too I will not inlarge the point because it cometh in by way of tryal and I cannot but touch it as a tryal Thus you see how we may know whether we be Gods or no by owning his cause and siding with him you have some expressions in Scripture to this purpose 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 Every man will walk and converse in the name of his God they will own their God and take part with him and we will walk in the name of our God for ever and ever and own his cause at all times and constantly for ever and ever And likewise in Esay 44. speaking of gratious times there when men shall be bold for the Lord as in all times some men will One shall say I am the Lords and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob and another shall subscribe with his hand to the Lord and tearm himself Israel God shall have his tongue his hand and all He shall say I am the Lords he shall call himself by the name of God he shall subscribe to it and own the cause 4. Again if we would know whether God be our God we must know whether we may lay just claim to our God as a peculiar God to us or no and that way in which God sheweth himself to be a God in peculiar respect to us Now how doth God shew himself a God in a peculiar respect to his Children He sheweth himself to have a peculiar respect to them 1. By peculiar gifts when he gives to them that which he giveth to none else shall we imagine God to be our God by common gifts and common graces no for thou comest to hear the word so Herod did Thou receivest the Sacrament so did Judas so did Simon Magus Thou hearest the truth with some joy so did the third ground Thou hast excellent partâ— so hath the Devil himself But thou art in such a place of the Church teachest others so did Judas Are these evidences to try whether we be Gods or no what then is the peculiar gift and love-token that God bestowes upon his favorites they be the graces of his spirit especially in regard of God an humble broken heart and a believing heart and a lowly heart that goeth out of it self that goeth unto God by faith and towards man full of love which argueth a great deal of self-denyal when a man can love others with denyal of his own profit and ease He that hath a humble believing lowly heart hath more then all the world besides for he hath Gods peculiar gift Many poor souls complain as if God had no regard to them and yet in the mean time they have humble broken hearts which is more then if they had all the wealth and worâ—h that the world hath which have proud hearts never broken The return of these favours will be comfort in death and glory in Heaven What will the fruit of a believing heart be he hath God and Christ if he hath a lowly large heart to do good he doth that which in the issue shall further his accompt at the day of judgement and there is the love of God shewed in his special favour 2. So the love of God especially shall be a special peculiar comfort that the world is ignorant of especially in times of extremity Inward peace of conscience inward joy and inward comforts these are signs of love that God bestoweth upon a man when he will own him in the worst times and speak peace to his soul when nothing in the world will speak peace When the Lyons roar the great Lyons of the world roar in extremity he hath inward peace and joy and comforts of the holy Ghost that inward intercourse of God with the soul is a sign of Gods peculiar love when God speaketh peace to the soul when he sheweth the light of his countenance which David in the 4th Psalm prefers before all outward comforts whatsoever Gods revealing of himself as the Scripture calleth it When God revealeth himself to his to be theirs with peace and joy and comfort accompanying it this is peculiar 3. Again a peculiar favour and love-token of God as to have seasonable and sanctifying correction To have corrections when they be seasonable when we be in a way of straying and God will bring us home by correction and when we have sanctifying correction we find by experience that all is turned to our good If I find any thing turn me to my God I know I am his if my Crosse be seasonable and sanctified he is my God for he takes that course with me which he takes with his own people These be singular signs of Gods love when he bestoweth the graces of his spirit his comforts peace and joy though not largely yet so much as shall sustain the soul And then when he seasonably meeteth us and will not suffer us to thrive in an evil couâ—se Oh it is a judgment of judgements to be hardned in sinful courses of life how can it but end in desperation at length and therefore it is a great favour to be chastized it sheweth we are Sons and not Bastardâ— Thus we see how we may lay just claim to this that God is our God in a peculiar manner 5. To name but one more to distinguish a spirit of presumption from a spirit of faith and truth that God is our God is this 1. If we have grace to answer his dealings towards us When we can eccho to Gods dealings God hath chosen us if we have grace to chuse him for our God We may know
every thing by name he knows every thing of a man to the very hair he knowes their parts and their very excrements of their parts he knew her and acknowledged her too Mary 1. It is a word of knowledg and familiar acquaintance and acknowledgment 2. It is a word of compassion because he had held her long and now could not longer He pittieth the state she was in he saw her ready to â—ink for grief and melt for sorrow and therefore he said Mary 3. As it is a word of compassion so it is a word full of exceeding love 4. And it is a word of peculiar appropriation Mary whom I have so much respected heretofore And a word of satisfaction on his part out of his pitty and out of his love and former familiarity acquaintance Mary I am the man thou seekest I know what all thy seekings tend to thou wantest him whom thou lovest thou wantest me I am he whom thou seekest She answered him again Rabboni which is interpreted Master She returned him an answer again she spake to him he first began then she follows she found the virtue of his speech in her heart there was an influence of it to her heart and his love witnessing to her heart raised her love to him again So it was an answer of Christs speech and from the same affection an answer of love and an answer of exceeding large affection and satisfaction to her soul Oh my Rabboni the soul of my soule the life of my life my joy my rock my all that can be dear to me Rabboni I have enough As he desired to give her satisfaction so she takes satisfaction in the word And yet it was not full satisfaction for after she claspes about him and would not let him go It was an affection that stirred up much desire more and more to have communion with him so that he was fain to check her afterward Touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my Father she had not enough as indeed a believing affectionate soul hath never enough till it be in Heaven And thus you see the sweet intercourse upon the apparition and first discovery of Christ to Mary He spake to her and she answered him again with the same affection And it is a word of dependance as it is fit Rabboni my Master it is not only a word of honour not any superior but a superior in way of teaching there was submission of conscience to the Rabboni as the Rabboni labouring to sit in the consciences of people It is a Syriack word which signifieth in the originall Multiplication of knowledge in him that speaketh that laboureth to breed much knowledg in him that is spoken to and therefore it is a word of great respect and dependance She might well call him Rabboni for he was Master of Masters Rabboni of Rabbonies the Angel of the Covenant the great Doctor of the Church the great Gamaliel at whose feet all must fit and be taught So ye see what sense and affections are in these little words The fulness of heart that was in this Couple cannot be exprest were it possible to say all that could be said And therefore we leave the Hypothesis and come to make application of it to our selves First we may learn here that till Christ himself discovers himself no teaching will serve the turn No the teaching of Angels will not serve turn till Christ himself by his holy spirit discovers himself when Christ doth it it is done And therefore it should teach us so to attend upon the ministery as to look up to the great Doctor that hath his Chair in Heaven and teacheth the heart If he teach it is no matter how dull the Scholar is He is able to make any Scholar if he instruct I will not inlarge the point because there be particular places wherein they will be inlarged The second thing I will observe is this That Christ when he teacheth he doth it by words not by Crucifixes not by sights We lost our salvation and all our happiness by the ear and we must come to it by the ear again Adam by hearkening to Eve and Eve to the Serpent lost all and we must recover salvation therefore by the ear As we have heard so we shall see We must first hear and then see Life cometh in at the eare as well as death Faith ye know is the quickning of a Christian the spirituall life of a Christian now faith comes by hearing And therefore I beseech you in the bowels of Christ set aside prejudice and meekly attend Gods Ordinances Do not conâ—ider who we are we are but poor Ministers frail men as your selves But consider the Lord that is pleased to convey life and salvation and grace and whatsoever is fit to bring to Heaven this way therefore they that despise this way set light by salvation as the Apostle saith Acts 14. They judge themselves unworthy of the Kingdom of Heaven They can read at home but is that the way God hath sanctified Did not the Manna stink when gathered on the Sabbath day There is a curse upon all private industry and devotion when it is with neglect of publick Ordinances She could have no comfort till Christ spake Nay the very sight of Christ could not comfort her Let this I pray you be enough that I may not inlarge the point any further This is the way for comfort We must hear him in his Ministers here if we 〈…〉 him comfortably 〈…〉 after Come ye blessed oâ— m◠〈◊〉 c. 3. It was but one word Mary and is there so much force in one word yea when it is uttered by Christ One word coming from Christ and set on the heart by the spirit of Christ hath a mighty efficacy The word had an efficacy in creating all things fiat fuit Let it be done it was done Let there be light there was light So let there be light in the understanding and there it shall be presently So in all Christs cures he said the word and it was done So in all spirituall cures let him say the word it is done Nay a very look of Christ if the spirit go along with it is able to convert the soul Respexit Christus flevit Petrus amare Christ lookt on Peter he wept bitterly what will his word do when his look will do so much It was but a word and but one word say but the word saith he in the Gospel and my Servant shall be healed This should make us desire that Christ would speak though but few words to the soul That he would cloath the words of men mightily with his word and with his spirit and then they will be mighty in operatioâ—â—nd works One word but it was a prâ—gnant word It was full of affection she knew it well enough Mary What to call her so familiarly so sweetly by her accustomed name it wrought on her bowels
himself as indeed she had Long deferring of a thing doth but inlarge the soule Want inlargeth the desire and capacity of the soul so doth love Now when we want that we love that emptieth the soul marvellously much it mortifieth affection When God keeps off a long time and we see it is God only must do it then the affection is taken off from earthly things and the heart inlarged to God by love and the want of the thing we love And therefore we set a price on the thing so that we are wonderfully pleasing to God It is very beneficiall to our selves What lost Mary by it so shall we lose nothing We have it at last more abundantly We have it as a mighty favour Mary taketh this as a new blessing all together When things are kept long from us God only must discover When the heart is kept from second causes the heart is inlarged Certainly this comes from God and God should have all the glory of it God is wise and therefore makes us to stay a long time for that we do desire We all of us are in Maries case in a spirituall sense sometimes or other we misse Christ I mean the sweet sense of Christ Lay this down for a râ—le that Christians ought to walk in sweet communion with God and Christ that it ought to be the life of a Christian to maintain the CoÌ„munion that Christ hath vouchsafed between us and himself Then certainly we lose Christ wonderfully and not against our minds but willingly by our own slighting of him and by our own undervaluing of him or by our negligence and presumption Christ though he be low yet he is great and he will have us to know his greatness There must be communion with due respect One way or other we deprive our selves of the sense sweetnesse of communion with Christ What must we do then we must do as this woman did turn over every stone use all kind of means leave not one till we find him and when all means are used wait still Persevere in waiting as Peter speaks Believers wait hold out in waiting for Christ in his time will come he cannot hold long As Joseph did suppresse his love and affection for politick ends a great while but his pitty towards his Brethren was such that his bowels would not suffer him to conceal himself longer his passion was above his policy I am Joseph And so let us in the use of all things seek Christ and the sweet sense of his love which is better then life it self And indeed what is all without Christ Christ is so full of compassion he will not long suffer us to be prolonged but will at length satisfie the hungry soul how many promises have vve to this end Take heed of such a temper of soul as cares not vvhether vve find Christ or no. Oh take heed of that if vve vvill seek him seek him as Mary she sought him early in the morning she brake her sleep and sought him vvith tears If any thing be to be sought vvith tears it is Christ and communion vvith him she sought him instantly and constantly she sought him so that no impediment could hinder her she vvas so full of grief and love She sought him vvith her vvhole heart she vvaited in seeking that is the vvay to find Christ Seek him early in our younger times in the morning of our years Oh that we could seek Christ as we seek our pleasures we should find more pleasure in Christ then in all the pleasures of the world if we could perswade our base hearts so much Seek him above all other things Awake with this resolution in our hearts to find Christ never to be quiet till we may say with some comfort I am Christs and Christ is mine When we have him we have all seek him with tears at length we are sure to find him He hath bound himself that if we knock he will open And if we seek we shall find If we seek wisdom early with our whole hearts intirely sincerely seek Christ for Christ and then we shall be sure to find him as she did Thus seek him in the word Sacraments wherein he discovers himself familiarly Seek him in the Temple Christ was found in the Temple and then we shall be sure to find him both here and hereafter Specially we shall find him in our hearts You see how familiarly he comes to us in the word speaks to us by a man like our selves And how familiarly by the Sacrament by common bread and common wine sanctified to do great matters above nature to strengthen faith He cometh to us through our faces into our souls in the Sacrament He cometh to us through our ears in hearing the word through our sight in seeing the bread broken He comes by familiar things and by a familiar manner of conveying as if he should name every one I come to thee and give thee my body Think with our selvs now Christ cometh to me when the Minister reacheth the bread and come to me think of heavenly bread of the gift of Christ to me by means can he do it more familiarly Is it not as if he should say Mary and that is the excellency of the Sacrament It conveyeth Christ to all the Saints and to every one in particular as if he named every one And what an incouragement is this to answer again to open our hearts to receive him together with the Elements to imbrace Christ joyn with Christ and then to keep him when we have him do not lose him he will not be so dealt withall remember the Covenant we have made to him I beseech you let these sweet considerations of Christ dwell in us and work on every one of our hearts If they do good on us here on earth if we by faith lay hold on him and have intercourse with him what will it be in the day of judgement How comfortable will it be to hear him say to every one in particular Come thou and thou stand on my right hand sit and judge the world with me Doth he know our names now on earth and giveth to every one particularly by himself if we come worthily and will not he know us then oh that is far more worth then the worlds good to know us then and to call us by our names Therefore I beseech you be acquainted with Christ Have intercourse all we can with him in the word and Sacraments and never rest till we find this sweet result in the use of the means That he is ours and we are his Take heed therefore in these times desperately addicted to formality and Popery I say take heed we do depend not upon any outward thing but look to Christ in all his Ordinances look to the spirit all Gods children the church of the first born they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such
he hath called us effectually when we answer Gods call when he biddeth us believe he giveth us an influence of power to be able to say I believe Lord help my unbelief We may know he loveth us when we reflect love again and love him we may know he compasseth us when we imbrace him we may know he delighteth in us when we can delight in him and his Servants Whence is the strength of this Argument from hence All good things whatsoever we do from God is but by reflection God shineth on us first God owneth us for his first and God must do so in the order of causes God being the spring of all goodness he must begin we love him because he loved us first else we could never love him therefore if we love him and his truth he loveth us that is sure VVhat have I in Heaven but thee and in earth in comparison of thee surely he owneth us because in order of causes we can have nothing but from him first 2. And then again out of the nature of conscience if we can go boldly to him as a reconciled God notwithstanding guilt of conscience it is a sign he hath obtained peace of conscience because it is the nature of conscience if it hath not peace from God not to dare to appear in Gods presence So then when there is inward peace and love answering to Gods love choice answerable to Gods choice apprehending of him answerable to his apprehension this reflection and return and rebounding back to God is an invincible argument that God hath first shined upon that soul God sometimes will let us see things in the effect and hide them in thecause Perhaps he wil not perswade bâ— his spirit that he loveth us hath chosen us and that we are his but he will work something in our hearts because he will have us search our spirits what good thing he hath wrought what love what choice of the best side are in any of these surely then God is theirs though there be not an open voice yet we may know God hath loved this soul and spoken peace to that soul because we can return nothing to God but he must shine on us first Therefore beloved let us make use of this and let us take heed of sacrilegious usurpations that we do not usurp upon Gods house or God in a peculiar respect Indeed we may come to God as his Creatures we are the workmanship of thy hands and say the truth though we be in a wicked course of life but to say thou art my God in Christ I am thine thou hast chosen me for thine when we have not chosen him for our God nor loved him nor his cause nor sided with him nor have any stamp of him on the soul have nothing but common favour that castawayes have as well as we and the Devils as well as we for the Devilâ— go beyond all men in parts and yet to usurp the prerogative of being Gods in a peculiar manner and to be bold with the holy things of God as if we were of his family this is a dangerous usurpation take heed of it And therefore they that live in courses of rebellion and resolve not to mend they take the holy things of God as the Psalmist speaks Psal 50. in an holy indignation what art thou that takest my word in thy mouth since thou hatest to be reformed Thou art an enemy to God and goodness and wilt be so thou art in a course of rebellion and wilt be so The Devils works you do and will do can we not take the word of the Covenant into our mouths and shall we take the seal of the Covenant therefore resolve to amend else have nothing to do with God do not add one sin to another It is Childrens food and not for Doggs it belongeth to them of the family If thou be none of the Family what hast thou to do with them If thou be of the Family whatsoever thy infirmities are thou maist come boldly for the seals are to strengthen our weak faith When the Father is Father of a Child the Father will not cast away the Child for breaking out with deformity or lameness when God hath taken us into his Family infirmities cannot discard us But I speak of them that in a wilful opposite course of sin shew they never had to do with God in familiar entercourse God never gave them a spirit to alter their natures Propriety and proportion and suitableness of disposition go together propriety joyneth with suitableness where God owneth any man he makes them like himself by his word and spirit that their natures shall be even and agreeable to holy things shall have a tast of holy things And where there is not suitableness of holy things there is no propriety Will God own a man and not make him suitable will God take his friend and not give him a friendly nature he will not for he first fitteth our natures for communion with himself else there can be no propriety Let us not deceive our selves but if vve find some beginnings of grace and can say without arrogancy or usurpation doubtless thou art our Father our God we be not worthy to be thine but we be thine If we finde something that cast-awayes cannot have some grief of heart for sin some faith some little measure of love some love of truth and inclination to the best things then we may come boldly to increase our familiarity and communion with God but otherwise it is dangerous to come to God we approach a consuming fire who shall dwell in everlasting burnings say they in Isaiah and if God be not in covenant with us oh he will be consuming fire everlasting burnings and we but stubble it will increase spiritual judgment in us hardness of heart and going on from sin to sin till we be accursed for sin therefore it is a fearful thing to be given up to hardness of heart they that do continue in sin God giveth them up to hardness of heart to be insensible of his dealings with them Vse 3. If we can in any degree make it good that God is our God and we his people then let us make use of it for our comfort in all times that we have a God to go to though we have no friend in the world yet we have him in whom all friends meet If we have no comfort here yet we have him in whom all comforts meet for all concenter in him He hath Father and friends and worth and grace and peace and comfort in him and all is in him if we go to him we shall find a confluence of every thing that is good suitable to any necessity of ours And therefore let us learn to single out of God whatsoever may help us to be in covenant with him He having made himself over to be ours let us learn this wisdom to single out
presently 4. But to go on you see here again that Christ must begin to us before we can answer him He began to Mary and then she said Rabbony all the passages of salvation are done by way of Covenant by way of commerce and entercourse between God and man but God begins first In election indeed we choose him but he chuseth us first And he knoweth who are his and we know him but he knows us first And in calling we answer I but he calleth first and we do but eccho to his call in justification forgivness of sins we accept of justification and submit to the righteousness of Christ and Gods purpose of saving man that way but he giveth faith first for faith is the gift of God We glorifie him here on earth but it is from a result of Gods glorifying us in Heaven some earnests we have but they are of Gods giving All we do is but reflexion of his love first or his knowledge first The Christian soul saith thou art my God I but he saith first I am thy salvation As Augustine saith non frustra dicit anima Deus salus tua when God saith I am thy salvation it is eaâ—ie for the soul to say thou art my God And this may teach us in our devotions when we are to deal with God when we are to bring to him any request to desire him first to reveal himself to us desire Christ to reveal himsâ—lf by his spirit to us It is an errour in he case of mens devotions they think to bring something of their own strength and to break in as it were upon God without his discovery first But Paul saith Gal. 4. 9. We know God or rather are known of him We must desire that he would make known his heart to us first and then we shall know him again that the would speak to us by his spirit and then we shall answer to him again That he would say to our souls he is our salvation and then we may lay claim to him he is our God Desire the spirit of revelation to reveal his bowels and love to us in Christ by his holy spirit for certainly in every return of ours to Christ God begins to us all in all though not so sensibly but we ought to pray every day more and more for a sensible revelation that God would reveal his love to us in Christ And we cannot but answer if Christ saith Mary Mary cannot but answer Rabboni But you will say then it is not our fault but Christs fault if he must begin If God begins we shall answer I answer briefly That God doth alwayes begin to us and is before-hand with us in all dealings with our selves He giveth us many motions and never withdraweth himself from us but when he is despised and slighted first therefore let us take heed that we labour to answer Christs call vvhen he doth call If vve slight it then in a judicious course he ceaseth to speak further to us if vve slight his beginnings of revelations There be many degrees and passages to faith and assurance if vve do not observe the beginning hovv God begins to reveal himself to us by little and little speaking to us by his spirit in our hearts vvhen he begins then in a spirituall judgement sometimes he leaves us to our selves And therefore let us regard all the motions of the spirit and all the speeches of the spirit of Christ for he begins by little and little else our consciences will say afterward we are not saved because we would not be saved We would not yield to all the passages of salvation but when he was beforehand with us and offered many sweet motions yet we loved our sins better then our souls and so repelled all Therefore I beseech you do not refuse the sweet messages from Heaven the gracious and sweet motions of the spirit of Christ make much of them God hath begun to you be sure to answer Learn it of Mary when Christ began she set not her heart and infidelity against it but she opened her heart and said Rabboni learn therefore the duty of spirituall obedience when God speaks speak Lord for thy Servant heareth Do not shut your eares to the motions of Gods blessed spirit do not harden your hearts against his voice but open your hearts as she did Rabboni Our Saviour Christ here saith Mary but when after he had concealed himself from her a long time It is not presently Mary nor Rabboni He had coÌ„cealed himself a great while Christ doth not usually open himself fully at first though at first he doth in some degree but he observeth degrees as in the church in generall You see how that he discovers himself in his gracious promises by little and little darkly at first and at last the Sun of righteousness ariseth clearly So the day-Starre ariseth in our hearts by degrees It is a great while before Mary heareth the satisfying speech of Christ Mary But why doth Christ thus conceal himself in regard of his fuller manifestation It is partly to try and exercise our faith and other graces and therefore God doth seem to withdraw himself in the sence of his love 1. To see whether we can live by faith or whether we be all together addicted to sense as the world is who live altogether by sense and not by faith 2. He would have our patience tryed to the utmost he would have patience have its perfect work she had much patience to indure all this but her patience had not a perfect work till Christ spake 3. Christ will stir up and quicken zeal and fervency in his Children and therefore he seemed to deny the woman of Cnnaan first he giveth no answer but a harsh answer A Dogge And she works upon it though I am a Dogge yet Dogs have crumbs All which denyal was only to stir up zeal and earnestness And therefore though Christ doth not manifest himself to us at first yet it is to stir up zeal and affection to seek after him more earnestly A notable passage there is of this Cant. 3. 16. The soul sought Christ and sought long and sought in the use of all means but at length she waited and in waiting she found him 4. Christ doth this for to set a greater price upon his presence when he comes to make his presence highly valued when he doth discover himsâ—lf Desiderata diu magis placent Things long desired please more sweetly And things when wanted are ingratiated to us as warmth after cold and meat after hunger and so in every particular of this life And therefore God to set a greater price on his presence and that he would be held more strongly when he doth reveal himself he defers a long time That is one reason why he did defer revealing himself to Mary that she might have the more sweet contentment in him when he did reveal
to hear all the comforts spoken of before For all to whom he is a God in the Covenant of grace and have hearts to make him so the spirit raiseth up their affections to make him a God to themselves Amor tuus Deus tuus as it is said of old what we love most is our God What we joy most in is our God what we relie and trust in most is our God as it was said of the wedge of gold And therefore if any thing hath our affections more then God or equal with God that we make our God It is a quaere of the greatest concernment in the world to put to our hearts What do I make my God as David putteth the quaere to himself now Lord what is my hope is it not in thee And so put this quaere to our selves Lord what is my joy what is my hope what is my trust what is my comfort is it not in thee If our hearts cannot make an answer to this in some sincerity surely as yet we have not made God our God Time may be that he may be so but till by the spirit of God we be brought to see an emptiness and vanity in the Creature and a nothingnesse in all in comparison of God that we can say whom have I in Heaven but thee We have not comfort because we do not make him ours by a spirit of mutuallity Where there is a Covenant of grace there must be a mutual making of God our God as he maketh himself to us Alas we may be ashamed of it the best do often forget themselves Oh how do men value the favours of a man and the promises of a man the seal of a man for such and such a benifice and how doth it grieve them to have the frowns of flesh and blood the frowns of greatness but when their Consciences tell them they are under guilt of many sins and God is not in good tearms with them how doth this affect them and when their consciences cannot say they have promises sealed in Christ of the favours and mercies of God here and hereafter alas it is dead comfort 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 give me that which is present and take you that which is to come is the Language of both How few can say from sincerity of heart that they make good to be their God And therefore it is of greater concernment then we take it Vse 2. As it is a ground and foundation of comfort so of all obedience to God as it is prefixed before the Commandements I am the Lord your God you shall have no other Gods but me do all in obedience to me from this ground But much more now then he was the Lord God that brought them out of Egypt But now God may prefix I am your Lord God in Christ that have brought you from hell and damnation that intend you Heaven and happiness and therefore do so and so Since this is the spring of all obedience we ought to labor to make it good and often to examine our selves as before what we make our God and what we pitch our affections on Alas is our soul for any thing but God hath not God made us for himself and will our hearts rest in any thing but God why then should we love vanity and besot our selves when death comes they may say as Saul said The Philistins are upon me and God hath forsaken me Death is on me trouble sickness vexation of conscience is on me and God hath forsaken me I have no God to go to what a miserable estate is this And therefore I beseech you let us labor to have interest in the Covenant of grace to make it good that God is our God in Jesus Christ Who giveth us a being to be Christians to have a new nature to have a good being but God who maintaineth and preserveth that being but God and who keepeth and preserveth us till we get into a glorious being in Heaven but God who is all-sufficient self-sufficient sole-sufficient only sufficient this God is our God now in Christ God is to us in a more special singular manner then to other Creatures because he hath raised us to a more excellent being not only as men we being in the highest rank of Creatures next the Angels and so he is a God to us more then to inferior Creatures that have a more circumscrib'd and narrow being Man hath a large being a reasonable soul and is fitted by nature to have communion with God who is wisdom it self and with Angels but all this were little comfort unless we had higher degrees of being then this If God be our God in Christ we have a spiritual being which is as much above the dignity and prerogative of our ordinary being as our being by nature is above the basest Creature in the world And so God setteth a stile upon us sutable to the excellency of our spirituall being there is nothing excellent in the world but we are learned by it Now to let out the advancement and excellency of the dignity we have from God in a special manner to be Sons Jewels his Portion his diadem to be whatsoever you can imagine that is glorious and excellent An excellent condition though spiritual and concealed from the world Gods Children are concealed men as you shall see afterward they be hidden men the world taketh no notice of them because their excellency is seen with another eye then the world hath The God of the world blindeth the eyes of worldlings They cannot see into the excellency of Gods Children no more then they can know God himself and Christ himself So you see what it is to be a God in nature and in grace to be all in all unto us to have our whole subsistance and dependence in him in him we live and move and have our being and well-being In this our excellency consisteth that God is our God in Christ who was God and that he might bring God and us to good tearms together that he might make God our God he was Emanuel God with us to make God with us in favour and love The God-head is nearest the humane nature of Christ of any Creature it is nearer to Christ then to the Angels for God hath not taken the Angels into hypostatical union to be in the same person but God in Christ is so near our nature that there is an hypostatical union they make one person our nature being taken into the second person By reason of this near union of the God-head to our nature cometh that comfort and near union between God and our nature whereby God hath sweet communion with us in Christ God by his spirit though not hypostatically yet gratiously is one with us and hath communion with us now as his Children so that sweet entercourse between God and us now is founded upon the nearness of the god-head to our nature in Christ
they can lay no claim to him for they serve another God in their hearts their vile courses are instead of their God and in their affections above their God and therefore let them not think any promise belongeth to them in that course Let them think of God as a consuming sire as everlasting burnings while they be such and that their peace is as the peace that the soul hath when the strong man holdeth all in possession When the conscience is speechless and God hath given them up to hardness of heart which is a desperate peace This belongeth to them that are resolved not to live in any sin that have given themselves up to God and yet by reason of the remainder of corruption are driven to make use of that Petition which Christ bids them to pray forgive us our daily sins Hence issueth this truth that a Christian may be assured of his salvation in this world For first of all grant that we ought particularly to apply as God offers himself to us and that no infirmities nor sins hinder this claim then what followeth but a Christian believing and repenting of his sins daily may be assured that he is in the state of grace because there be grounds of particular application that therefore which seems to disable that interest hinders not at all And therefore labor to maintain that comfortable state of assurance by all means the grounds of it is particular application notwithstanding all sins and infirmities whatsoever because Satan envieth it most because it is a state wherein we honor God most I will not enter largely into the point because I have spoken of it in other Texts but for as much as concerneth this time we must labor for that without the which we cannot go through that which God calleth us to 1. There be many duties and dispositions that God requires which we cannot be in without assurance of salvation on good grounds what is that God bids us be thankful in all things how can I know that unless I know God is mine and Christ is mine can I be thankful for that which I doubt of and think I ought to doubt of therefore it is such a state without which I cannot perform other duties and particularly the grand duty of thankfulness And what a pittiful state is this that a man should not be thankful for Christ nor Heaven nor for the state of another world that there should be such great matters and yet they cannot thank God for them 2. Again God enjoyneth us to rejoyce Rejoyce and again I say rejoyce Can a man rejoyce that his name is written in Heaven and not know his name is written there The Disciples were very weak now and yet notwithstanding all their infirmities they loved Christ they cast themselves upon him and had not chosen another Saviour Therefore rejoyce that your names are written in Heaven and how can a man rejoyce that knoweth it not to be so By Gods writing of the Law in a mans heart he may know his name is written in Heaven Can a man alwayes rejoyce if he hath not grounds why 3. Again God requires chearfulness God loveth a chearful giver and a chearful doer It is the disposition that is required in every thing give me thy heart in every thing thou dost Alas how can I perform chearful service to God when I doubt whether he be my God and Father or no shall not I labor for a heart to yield chearful obedience doth it not come deadly off surely it doth We ought to comfort our selves and how can a man comfort himself in a condition full of uncertainties no comforts are comfortable without this That God is our God and our Father unless we know this comforts themselves are not comfortable unto us None of the comforts we have the comforts of this life are not comforts to us when the soul saith perhaps God feeds me to slaughter and perhaps I have these mercies as my portion in this world and how can he be comfortable when he apprehendeth not that they issue from a spring of love alas comforts themselves are uncomfortable And therefore shall not I labor for that without which I cannot be comforted especially it being a disposition for our good to be thankful and chearful and joyful and large hearted 4. God requires a disposition in us that we should be full of incouragements and strong in the Lord and that we should be couragious for his cause in withstanding his enemies and our enemies How can there be courage in resisting our corruptions Satans temptations how can there be courage in suffering persecution and crosses in the world if there be not some particular interest we have in Christ and in God it cannot be so unlesse we will denie obedience to all duty injoyned we must have this assurance which enters into all which is the spirit that quickeneth and enliveneth all Therefore labor for it 2. Else we shall take away the grounds that God inforceth good duties from in Scripture as he doth inforce duty from this ground As Elect see ye put on bowels of compassion I beseech you by the mercies of God Rom. 12. offer your selves as a sacrifice to God Alas I know not whether I shall have mercy or no why take away your ground and overthrow your principles And therefore shall not we labor for that state of soul wherein we are fitted to be in that disposition and to perform duty as God would have us I therefore beseech you labor for assurance of salvation That we may maintain it the better see the grounds of it It is not in our perfection for then the poor Disciples where had they been Alas they had dealt unfaithfully with Christ but the ground of firmness is on Gods side the certainty is on Gods part not ours Tell them I go to my Father and my God and their Father and their God Though we make breaches every day yet God breaketh not as Mal. 3. Verily I the Lord am not changeable and therefore you are not consumed We change ebbe and flowe are to and fro up and down every day varying in our dispositions though there be some root and seed of grace in us alwayes yet there is a change in our dispositions every day but it holdeth on Gods part and therefore Christ nameth not any qualification in them to build comfort on but my God and your God will yet maintain the relation of a Father to you that have not dealt as you should do and maintaineth the relation of a God notwithstanding your fall So that we maintain not our assurance on any part in us but on Gods love Whom he loveth he loveth to the end Our God unchangably loveth us in whom there is not so much as a shadow of change And therefore in the last of the Hebrews it is called an everlasting Covenant The God of peace that brought