and Earth upon the Frame or keeping it in being the Lord doth not appear more to be an almighty God in keeping Heaven and Earth in being then he doth appeare to be an Almighty God in keeping grace alive in the heart notwithstanding al the remainder of Corruption so that in this God hath Glory in another way then he hath from the Angels in heaven the power of God appeares in upholding of the Angels for if he did not uphold them they would fal into evil as Adam and the other Angels did but therein appeares Gods glorious power to uphold the Angels but the glorious power in upholding the Angels doth not so much appeare as the glorious power of God in upholding the hearts of the Saints in the midst of their corruptions this shal be a special argument that the Saints shal praise God for to al eternity when they shal look back and see what a condition they were in before their conversion yea in their conversion that though God granted them some grace yet what abundance of Corruption was in their hearts al that time and what a deal of stir they had to maintain that little grace they wil stand and admire to consider that it should be kept alive in the midst of sin that a little sparke should be kept alive in the midst of the Sea not only in the midst of the Sea but when the sea is tempestuous you yil say it is no great wonder that the fire be kept burning when the sea is calme but when al is in a storme and yet a spark of fire shal be kept alive in the midst of al the tossings of the waves you wil grant here is a mighty power now the keeping alive of grace in thy heart in the midst of so much corruption doth argue as mighty a power in God 2. The Lord doth so order it that stil his own people shal be under the burden of much coruption in this regard because that hereby the Lord draweth forth the exercise of faith in his son in which his soul takes infinite delight the soule of God takes infinite delight in beholding the working of the glorious grace of faith in Jesus Christ But you wil say wherein doth it appeare to be so glorious in regard of our corruption Thus for the Angels in heaven to believe in God that he wil be eternally good to them it is not so much as for a poor soul in the midst of al his corruptions yet to be able to Triumph in the free grace of God in Jesus Christ notwithstanding I am so vild filthy loathsome and abominable to myself and justly God and his Saints may count me a burden to them and cast me off for ever yet for al this my soul shal cling to him I wil cast my self upon him and look upon him as a gracious father a merciful God a God that loves me a God that rejoyceth in doing Good to me for the soul to exercise faith in the Grace of God in Christ it is a glorious thing only take heed you do not mistake it for presumption Object You wil say For men notwithstanding al their sin to beleeve in Gods mercy this is rather presumption then faith Answ True it is presumpion in many they mistake themselves but in others it is true faith and God delights in it and you shal know it by this it doth draw the heart to God and the soul never finds such a prevalent way to overcome those corruptions that are in it as to exercise their faith in the grace of God in Christ I beseech you mark the difference between presumption and faith in Christ presumption wil trust in Gods mercy notwithstanding their sin but that doth indeed foment their sin and makes them secure in their sin makes them the more secure in their sin but now when the soul shal by the true geminine act of faith rest in the free grace of God notwithstanding corruption if it be right such a soul feels no means in the world of greater efficacy to cure and prevail against corruption then this to trust in the free grace of God notwithstanding corruption and if thou findest it thus thou hast no cause to feare trust in Gods grace with confidence for it is that which is wel pleasing unto God and that which the Lord delights in and that which gives as much content to Gods heart as the exercise of any grace whatsoever and in that regard because the Saints shal never exercise such an act of Faith in Heaven â—s this God wil have this in this world 3. This is that that God sees doth drive his own people to him in prayer nothing drives the Saints to God with more earnestness in prayer then the feeling of the weight of Corruption upon them then they goe to God above al God never heares such strong cryes come up to heaven in regard of any affliction as this and by the way you may find by this how your hearts are when the hand of God is upon you in afflictions then you wil cry to God but I put this to you hath there not come as strong cryes to heaven upon the sence of your Corruptions as upon the sence of any Affliction whatsoever 4. The Lord hath glory in this in the exercise of the work of repentance and humility the keeping the Souls of his people in humility and the contrition of their Spirits that is exceeding pleasing to God the Lord is neer to a broken contrite heart a melting mourning spirit the Lord doth delight in the evangelical workings of repentance this pleaseth the Lord the work of humiliation mourning and sorrow for sin in an evangelical way is a grace that is acceptable to God God shal have none of that in heaven and he hath it therefore here 5. God hereby exerciseth his wisdome exceedingly in bringing light out of darkeness God doth many times turne not only the afflictions of his people to their good but he workes good many times out of sin not that hereby we should be bold and presumptuous in our sins we must take head of tempting God yet know this that God doth many times work exceeding much good unto the Saints even out of their sins by occasion of sin though their sin hath no efficacy in this but God takes occasion in this in otherwaies of his providences and workings of his grace to work good unto them 6. There is Gods justice in it also to lay a stumbling block before wicked and ungodly men for when they shal see that the godly that have the most grace they have much corruption in them stil they rejoyce perhaps in it and they little think that God aimes at the execution of his just judgment upon them that it should harden their hearts many wicked men they think their condition to be very good because they see so much corruption in the hearts of the godly and they are hardened therby but they little think
for the principle of life out of my self This is the second thing that is here noted Come to me that is first behold me see and beleeve that I am the great mediator that is come into the world to save your souls and then secondly let there be an unsetling of your hearts a taking your hearts off from whatsoever you were setled upon heretofore that so you may be removed from thence and that you may take another course for your life in Christ and happiness in him Thirdly Come unto me that is let there be a working and a stirring of your hearts after me Christ calls for the heart of sinners after he comes to be revealled to them they should be in a working stiring disposition making after the Lord Jesus Christ for union with him to the utmost that possibly they can the thoughts should be working and the conscience working and the wil opening it self to receive in the grace of God and the affection should he stirring and the whole soul should be in a working disposition after him Incline your eare and come as if Christ should say though you are under great burdens yet do not you sink under them in a discouraging way and lie down in a dul and a heavy way No but let your hearts be stirring working and acting after me continually have a care of this to keep your hearts in a stirring and working way after Christ and the grace that is offered to you in Christ this is that which young beginners should observe in a special manner if God be beginning to work upon your hearts you should have a great care to keep your hearts in a stir-working acting frame and disposition after Christ and above al things in the world take heed of a dul heavy dead spirit at this time when God cals you to come to Christ as the Apostle saith of himself in Phil. 3.14 I press hard after the mark so it should be with every poor soul that God is drawing after Christ it should be alwaies in a comming disposition and they should press hard toward the mark of the high prize of the calling that is set before them Christ is set before thee God sets his son before thee with the treasure of grace and thou shouldest press and follow hard after God as it is the expression of David in one of the Psalmes 63 8. a hard following stirring and working of the soul after the Lord as David said to his son Solomon in 1. Chron. 22.16 Vp and be doing and the Lord wil be with thee so I say to al unto whom the grace of God is offered they must not be dul and sullen but up and be doing As the Apostle speakes in 1. Phil. 20. According to the earnest expectation the word that is translated earnest expectation in the original signifies to stretch out the neck to look after some good that I would fain have come that is the propriety of the word in the original text so this should be comming to Christ that is when Christ is propouned in the gospel there should be the stretching out of the soul in looking after the Lord Jesus and a working of the soul after Jesus Christ keeping the soul working and stirring after Christ Many poor souls whom God is beginning to work his grace upon loose abundance of time and comfort for want of this of keeping their hearts in a working and stirring frame after Christ they spend their time in the afflicting of their soules but they do not keep their hearts working towards Jesus Christ As Jacob said to his sons when they wanted bread in Cannaan saith he We have heard that there is corn in Egipt and why do we stand looking one upon an other saith Jacob to his sons had you gon saith he you might have been come back again and brought us bread by this time so I say to many burdened souls hast thou not heard that there is grace and mercy in Jesus Christ had thy soul bin working stirring and kept in an acting frame after Jesus Christ thou mightest have bin returnig and have gotten rest to thy soul by this time thou standest looking unto this thing and the other thing and poring upon thy corruptions hadst thou kept thy heart continually stirring in a working frame after Christ the work might have been done by this time Fourthly Come to me that is saith Christ come and lay al your burdens upon mee come and role your hearts upon mee whatever burden it is either of your soules or afflictions outwardly what ever your feares and troubles are yet come and do you cast al your burdens upon me I am content to beare them al. That is a special work of faith for the soul to role it self upon Jesus Christ to cast it self with al its burdens upon the infinite rich free grace of God in Jesus Christ as if Christ should say is it the burden of sin I have borne the burden of sin already Is it the wrath of God that is a burden to you come and cast this burden upon me I have born the wrath of God Or is it the burden of the Law I have borne that burden for you I was made an offering for you I was made under the law to deliver you from under the law Is it the burden of any affliction That was upon me It is true the burden of corruption was not upon him but Christ wil deliver us from that too Come to me and whatever burden is upon your souls cast it upon me role your souls al your burdens upon me saith Christ and I wil give you rest Fifthly and lastly Come to me that is come and leave your soules with me and commit them to me for life for salvation for peace for whatsoever good you would have be willing to betrust me with your souls be willing to betrust me with al your comforts be willing to betrust me both with your present and with your eternal estate in al your transanctions with God and dealing with God trust me withal that is comming to Christ When Christ bids us come to him it is as much as if he should say come to me and leave your souls leave al your care and commit to me al that you have and whatsoever you are commit your selves wholly to me to be disposed of by me for al good whatsoever and I wil take charge of you I wil ingage my self and al my faithfulness to have a care of you and suply you in al your wants and strengthen you under al your burdens and carry you through al difficulties and bring you at length to life and salvation and perfect rest together with my Father and my self that is the meaning of Christ when he saith Come to me So the Apostle in 1. Tim. 2.12 I know in whom I have beleeved and that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him That which I have committed to him what is that
of the name of God there was a time that my soul was under these as wel as any but now the Lord hath delivered me and brought me under another Covenant brought me to his son to Christ and he hath undertaken to satisfie the Law for my soul and so the beleever stands upon the shoar and prayses God and this makes him love Christ so much the more prize Christ so much the more and bless the name of God that ever he heard the voice of the Gospel sounding in his eares and therefore it is not tedious and grievous to him to heare the dreadful threatnings of the Law he knowes how to make a holy use of them his heart is drawn neerer to God by it as wel as by the promises of the Gospel It is an ill signe when men and women cannot indure to heare the threatnings of the Law a dangerous signe that they are under those threatnings if they were not under them it would not be troublesome to them to heare them but they that are delivered from them they know how to make use of them Many men and women wil say when they hear of the terrors of the Law what doth this but harden us the hearing of the terrors of the Law doth more harden us but if thou wert acquainted with the Gospel thou wouldest be softened by hearing of the terrors of the Law because thou wouldest prize Christ more And therefore beleevers must not look upon them as things that no way concerne them though they be not under them to be cast by them yet they do concerne them nearly and therefore God would have those things revealed even to beleevers because of many gracious uses that beleevers are to make of those things The 2. Lesson Secondly from what hath been delivered both from the burden of the law and the rest in being delivered from it this Lesson may be learned Here we may see how beleevers are in the course of their lives to mix humility with confidence they may learne how to be humble and yet how to be confident how to rejoyce and yet how to tremble there is no such way to learne the mixture of humility with faith and confidence and the mixture of joy and trembling as this is know the Law and the bondage under it and then the rest that is to be had in Christ this wil teach thee to be sensible of thy own wretchedness and what a condition thou art in naturally and yet how to be confident in the grace of God in Christ This wil teach thee how to feare in regard of what thou art in thy self and yet to rejoyce in regard of what thou art in Jesus Christ in the rest thy soul hath Got in Jesus Christ Many people do not know how to mingle these two together if so be they be humbled for their sins then they are dejected in their spirits they cannot tel how to exercise humiliation for their sins and faith and confidence in Gods grace together they think the humiliation for sin wil hinder Gods grace and therfore they cannot indure to hear of such things as tend to beat them down to humble them for their sins but they say they must beleeve altogether in Gods grace aad the other wil bring them to despair Certainly thou art not acquainted with the mystery of Godliness if thou doest not understand how these two may stand together to be deeply humbled for thy sins and yet at the same instant of time the soul to be raised with the Mercy of God in Christ both together It is true vices are opposite one to another but graces are never opposite one to another those that understand the Mistery of Godlyness they know how to mingle these two together at one and the same time You know that the scripture saith that Godliness is a mistery Great is the mistery of Godlyness and indeed Godliness consists in the skil that a Christian comes to have to know at the same time how to be humbled and yet to be confident yet to be beleeving and one the other side to rejoyce and yeat to feare many cannot rejoyce but they grow loose and wanton with their joy and others cannot feare but their hears grow lumpish and dead if they do feare now the heart that understands what it is to be under the Law naturally and what rest Christ hath brought unto us in delivering us from the Law can tel how to rejoice in trembling and to beleeve in humiliation and there is no such way to make such a mixture of both as to understand what it is to be naturally under the Law and what the rest is that we have in Christ I confess these things wil not perhaps come so ful upon the hearts of those that do not in some measure remember what we have said hertofore both from the burden of the Law and the rest that we have in Christ those wil not be able to make so much use of this that I am speaking of I could wish these things would have come altogether but we cannot do al things at once The Third Lesson Thirdly A further thing that is to be learned from the deliverance we have in Christ from the Law it is this here appeares plainly that the way of Life and salvation is above nature it is supernatural for that that I have opened in the rest we have in Christ from the law teacheth you that beleevers are not to stand or fal for their eternal estates by any worke of the Law if they performe any worke of the Law this doth not bring them to eternal life if they breake the Law this doth not cast them down unto death therefore the way of life and salvation is supernatural for nature can teach a man no further then this that he must serve God if he do thâ— God wil bless him and love him and if he sin against God God wil afflict him and chastise him nature can tel of no way how a man should be saved but only by serving of God and by doing the workes of the Law nature teacheth a man nothing else but this together with the other that if he doth that that God forbids he must expect the wrath of God and to ly under Gods wrath and beyond this nature cannot go Now then for to heare of such a thing as this is that my soul shal not depend upon what I neglect nor my eternal life shal not depend upon what I do that is a high mystery that is infinitely above nature I do not say what the neglect of Gods wil doth deserve of eternal perishing yea even in beleevers but now they are under the Covenant in Christ they have the rest in Christ that their souls shal not be cast one way or other by what they do or what they leav undon though if they neglect his wil the Lord may make them to know it here while they live in this world And if upon this any
tiresome to the flesh then any other work But now Schollars though it is tiresome to the flesh they can go on and make it easy to them why because they find sweetness in their work it is not with them as with â—ther men other men work that they may have wages afterwards but al the while they are about their work they have truths come in and heavenly notions comes in to them while they are about it and so makes the work easy unto them this is happiness of a Christian that the while he is in his work the sun of righteousness shines upon him and there is sweetness comming in unto him and herein is rest and ease in the performance of duty Tenthly and lastly When the soul comes to Christ it finds abundance of rest in holy duties because now it hath the love of God shed abroad in its heart and that makes every thing delightful to it the love of God is shed abroad in the heart you know Jacob because he loved Rachel though he was abroad in frosty nights he accounted it nothing because he loved Rachel Oh! when the love of God is shed abroad in the heart of a Christian then there is nothing that he doth but is delightful to him it makes every thing easy For that is a certain rule that love is ashamed to mention any difficulty you never hear love to complain of any thing to be heard and those that complain of holy duties to be heard certainly they want the love of God Now you have heard in these ten particulars wherein the ease and rest of spirit in performance of holy duties doth appeare there is much more to be said in the latter end of the Chapter when it is said that Christs yoke is easy and his burden light which if God give opportunity we shal come unto APPLIC I. Now from al this first here you may see the happiness of a Christian you do not think that a Cristian is happy here but he shal not have only heaven hereafter but his way to happiness is heaven here Oh how good is the way of the Gospel that gives us rest in our way to heaven such rest that al the malice in the world and of 〈◊〉 cannot disturbe the peace and rest of a Christian II. Hence we see the reason why true beleevers do persevere you hear oftentimes speaking of the doctrine of perseverance you are ready to thinke I but is it certain the soul that once comes to have true Grace shal certainly persevere yes certainly one that is once come to Christ wil not go from him again why because there is so much rest in holy duties It is true those that are drawn to holy duties they wil not abide as it is said The son abides in the house but a servant abides not alwaies in the house So such as perform duties in a legal way they wil be gone they wil not abide but now one that is come into Christ and hath a son-like disposition he continues As we say in phylosophy no violent thing or motion is perpetual and indeed those that performe duties in a legal way a hundred to one but they wil prove Apostates at last but one that performes duties in an Evangelical way wil continue and hold out unto the end III The maine use of al is to stirr up the hearts of those that are Godly to know what the Gospel means to exercise much faith in Christ that they might have much comfort in performance of duties Do not content thy self that thou doest duty but think with thy self Oh I have heard of such a way that Christians in performance of duty find a great deale of rest and ease why should not I get that way Thou hearest of it Oh! that thy soul might be unquiet til thou comest to understand the way then your duties would be more sound more spiritual more supernatural more acceptable then they are The Lord loves a cheerful giver and so he loves a cheerful server you love to heare your servants sing at their work but if you set your child or servant about a work and he goes heavily and dully about is grumbling and pineing and think you to be a hard master then he doth but a little work so they that perform duties in a legal way the truth is they perform little duty and that is not acceptable but when a soul comes to find rest in duty it makes it more spirituall more plentiful and more acceptable and those duties are very pleasing unto the Lord. CHAP. XXXVI Sheweth the Rest from the remainder of Corruption to be Sanctification and that to be a great Rest Laid open in six particulars 1. It is the right temper of the heart 2. In it the soul doth in great part attain its end 3. In it the Soul lives the life of God 4. It raiseth the soul above the region of al troubles 5. It turnes every thing to good 6. It is the beginning of Glory YOu may remember when we handled the point of the load that was upon sinners we shewed that the remainder of corruption was a great burden it was so great a load that it made the Apostle cry out Oh! wretched man that I am who shal deliver me from this body of death How that was a load hath been already opened That which we have now to do is to shew what rest is to be had in Christ against this fourth burden Come to me saith Christ al you who are sensible of the corruption of your heart and find the remainder of sin that is in your heart to be a burden come to me I wil give you rest against that We are not now to speak of the rest in deliverance from the trouble of soul in the sense of the guilt of sin that was before spoke of but now we are to speak of the rest in giving power against the remainder of corruption that there is in the heart This rest is the rest of Sanctification that here we are to speak of I wil give you rest And in this point there are a great many of useful and sweet things that might require very large handling but I shal endeavor as much as I can to contract al within a few things for this rest of Sanctification There are in it these five things to be followed that ye may see cleerly the method that I shal proceed in and so go along with me First I shal shew you that Sanctification is a great rest to the soul or deliverance from corruption is a great rest to the heart of a beleever there is much rest in Sanctification Secondly That this rest it is in Christ al our Sanctification and helping against corruption is in Christ Thirdly How Christ comes to be this rest unto the Soul Fourthly Some consequences that wil follow from this consideration of Christs being the rest of Sanctification unto the heart Fiftly Conclude with exhortation to come unto
but few that Receive Christ 11 Three sorts that come not to Christ 1 Such as Receive him not as he is 2 Such as delay their coming to him 3 Such as give not that place to Christ in their hearts that is fitting for him In the Treatise of Covetousness is shewed 1 It is the Duty of all as they would obtaine eternal Life to beware of covetousness 2 The Reasons of the Doctrine 1 Its a spiritual Sin 2 It over spreads the whole man 3 It s opposite to the Nature of Godliness and Religion 4 It s the Womb and seed of all Sin 5 It s a base Sin 3 The Dangerousness of covetousness· 1 It is hardly avoided 2 It s difficultly cured 4 You shal have all things needful for this life if you wil look after Grace 5 Your Life lies in Grace not in Riches 6 There is more to be feared than to be desired in Riches 7 We should Mortifie our desires after Riches In Book 1 Of Unbelief or the want of Readiness c. is shewed 1 What Vnbelief it is that is here spoken of 2 The best way to deal with Vnbelief 3 That Vnbelief is a sin against al the Attributes of God 4 That Christ will not bear with this Sin of Vnbeleif 5 That we should be quick and reâ—yd to beleeve 6 Motives to indeavor for readiness to beleeve 7 Helps to attain readiness in Beleeving In Book 2 Of Not going to Christ c. is shewed 1 That unbelief is a great Sin and exceeding provoking unto God 2 Several arguments provoking us to beleeve the greatness of the Sin of unbelief 3 Many Objections answered 4 Several sorts of this Sin of unbeliefe 5 Means to convince us that unbelief is so great a Sin 6 Though the Sin of unbelief be very great yet it 's pardonable 7 God hath pardoned unbelief and wil pardon it A Congregational Church is a Catholick Visible Church By Samuel Stone in New-England A Treatise of Politick Powers wherein seven Questions are answered 1 Whereof Power is made and for what ordained 2 Whether Kings and Governors have an Absolute Power over the People 3 Whether Kings and Governors be subject to the Laws of God or the Laws of their Country 4. How far the People are to obey their Governors Dr. Sibbs on the Philippians Vox Pacifica or a Perswasive to Peace Dr. Prestons Saints submission and Satans Overthrow Pious Mans Practice in Parliament time Barriffs Military Discipline The Immortality of Mans Soul The Anatomist Anatomized The Bishop of Canterbury's Speech Woodwards Sacred Ballance Dr. Owen against Mr. Baxter Mr. Hookers New Books in three Volums One in Octavo and two in Quarto These Eleven New Books of Mr. Thomas Hooker made in New-England Are attested in an Epistle by Mr. Thomas Goodwin and Mr. Philip Nye To be written with the Authors Own hand None being written by himself before One Volum being a Comment upon Christ's last Prayer in the Seventeenth of John wherein is opened The Union beleevers have with God and Christ and the glorious Priviledges thereof Besides many other Gospel Truths there you have shewed 1 That the end why the Saints receive al glorious Grace is That they may be one as the Father and Christ are one 2 That God the Father loveth the Faithful as he loveth Jesus Christ 3 That our Savior desireth to have the Faithful in Heaven with himself 4 That the happiness of our being in Heaven is to see Christs Glory 5 That there is much wanting in the knowledg of Gods Love in the most able Saints 6 That the Lord Christ lends dayly direction according to the dayly need of his Servants 7 That it is the desire and endeavor of our Savior that the dearest of Gods Love which was bestowed on himself should be given to his faithful Servants 8 That our Vnion and Communion with God in Christ is the top of our happiness in Heaven The first eight Books of the Application of Redemption By the effectual Work of the Word and Spirit of Christ for the bringing home of lost Sinners to God In which besides many other seasonable and Soul-searching Truths there is also largely shewed 1 Christ hath purchased al spiritual good for HIS 2 Christ puts al HIS into possession of al that good that he hath purchased 3 The Soul must be fitted for Christ before it can receive him And a powerful Ministry is the ordinary means to prepare the heart for Christ 4 The work of God is free And the day of Salvation is while this Life lasts and the Gospel continues 5 God cals his Elect at any Age but the most before old Age. 6 The Soul is naturally setled in a sinful security 7 The heart of a Natural man is wholly unwilling to submit to the word that would sever him from his sins 8 God the Father by a holy kind of violence plucks His out of their corruptions and draws them to beleeve in Christ The Ninth and Tenth Books of the Application of Redemption by the Effectual Work of the Word and spirit of Christ for the bringing home of lost sinners to God Besides many other seasonable and Soul-searching Truths there is also largely shewed 1 The heart must be humble and contrite before the Lord wil dwel in it 2 Stubborn and bloody sinners may be made broken-hearted 3 There must be true sight of sin before the heart can be broken for it 4 Application of special sins by the Ministry is a means to bring men to â—ight of and sorrow for them 5 Meditation of sin a special means to break the heart 6 The same word is profitable to some not to another 7 The Lord somtimes makes the word prevaile most when its most opposed 8 Sins unrepented of makes way for piercing Terrors 9 The Truth terrible to a guilty conscience 10 Gross and scandalous sinners God usually exerciseth with heavy breakings of heart before they be brought to Christ 11 Sorrow for sin rightly set on pierceth the hearâ— of the sinner throughly 12 They whose hearts are pierced by the Word are carried with love and respect to the Ministers of it And are busie to enquire and ready to submit to the mind of God 13 Sinners in distress of conscience are ignorant what they should do 14 A contrite sinner sees a necessity of coming out of his sinful condition 15 There is a secret hope wherewith the Lord supports the hearts of contrite sinners 16 They who are truly pierced for their sins do prize and covet deliverance from their sins 17 True contrition is accompanied with confession of sin when God cals thereunto 18 The Soul that is pierced for sin is carried with a restless dislike against it Six Books more of Mr. Hookers in two Volums in Quarto are printing Twenty one several Books of Mr. William Bridge Collected into two Volumns Viz. 1 Scripture Light the most sure Light compared with 1. Revelations Visions 2. Natural Supernatual Dreams 3
where it is indeed heaviest 6. Feels the weight of Sin to be such as that no Creature is able to remove it 7. Had rather be under any burden then the burden of Sin 8. Doth notwithstanding the weight thereof justifie God 9. Doth not lie sullenly and dispair under it but attend for direction from God how it may be freed there from NOw you that are Burdened with Sin and labor under this you are those that Christ calls to himself to come to him that you may have rest unto your Souls For the opening of this I shal shew you First How the Soul is burdened with Sin in a right way so as Jesus Christ looks upon it and doth invite it to come to him How the Soul is wrought upon and what it feels in the burden of Sin that is here spoken of that Christ doth cal unto himself for to receive rest Secondly Why it is that the Lord wil have the Soul burdened for sin Thirdly Upon what ground it is that Jesus Christ hath such a desire to have the Soul come in to him and doth invite the Soul And so apply it For the Frst You that are weary and heavy laden Christ invites the heavy laden heavy laden what is that The first Burden of Sin First Those notions or truths that before lay floating as it were in the understanding Those truths of God and apprehensions of the evil of Sin that lay before as it were aloft in the understanding of a man now the Lord causes them to sink down within the heart And doth press the evil of Sin upon the Soul making the soul now not only to apprehend but to be sensible of Sin of the evil of it in the reallity of it it feels I say those truths that were but hovering in the understanding before now to settle upon the heart and to press the heart with the real apprehension of sin saith the Soul I heard talking of it before and I could speak of it before but now I feel it now saith the soul those things that were as notions before are the greatest realities that are in the world the Lord presseth them down upon the heart so as they are heavy upon the Soul so heavy as to be crushed as it were under them now al those vain reasonings al those vain hopes those shiftings that before the Soul had for to quiet it self they are now quite crushed under the real apprehensions of sin If there should be a Mill-stone upon the ground and a few light things put on the top of it and an other Mill-stone should be let fal upon them it would even grind them to pouder so before there were vain Hopes and vain reasonings in the heart But when God causeth those truths and the realities of them to press upon the heart it crusheth al those vain Hopes and vain reasonings to nothing The Second Burden of Sin Secondly The soul that finds al those Comforts that did attend sin before to vanish and come to nothing there is scarce any man or woman in the world or very few so vild as to delight in sin meerly because it is sin without any other consideration but sin as it hath some comforts attending upon it is pleasing unto the hearts of men as now there comes in perhaps som gain or pleasure to men and that gives content to them but when the heart is burden'd with sin the Soul feels sin so weighty as it is sensible of it as a dreadful evil notwithstanding al the comforts that do attend it Al the comforts that attend upon sin do vanish and come to nothing now the Soul can take no further contentment in any thing that comes in by sin that is the second thing it is so burdened with sin as it can take no contentment with any thing that comes in by sin whatsoever gain comes in that way it casts it off or whatsoever pleasure or other seeming accomodation sin is attended with the soul looks upon them al with disdain The third Burden of Sin Thirdly The Soul that is burdned with sin doth so feel the weight of it as that the back is bowed down and tyred at least makes it look upon it self as a vild and loathsom Creature and fit to be dealt withal as a vild and loathsom creature it is burdened so as the heart is in some measure tired with it The fourth Burden of Sin Fourthly Yea so burdened with sin as that it now trembles at the least thought of sin or temptation to sin fearing that if it should willingly comit any further known sin that it would so ad unto the burden as that it would press the soul down to eternall misery it is so burdened that it dares not ad any one sin more as far as it can at least it is afraid of adding any more sins least one more should sink it to Hell The Fift Burden of Sin Fiftly The soul Feels Sin heaviest where indeed it is heaviest when it is rightly burdened it Feels it heavy because of the wrath of God that is due to it But it is most heavy because it is against the Infinit Holy God and rule of righteousness there lieth the weight of al that by it I have Struck at the infinit holy God and bin an enemy to him as you have had opened to you at large Now when the heart is truely burdened with sin it feels Sin heaviest there as it is against Such an infinit blessed holy God that is so infinitely worthy of al honor from me The sixt Burden of Sin Sixtly When the heart is truely burdened with sin it is so burdened and feels such a weight as it clearly apprehends that no creature in heaven or earth is able to remove and take it away it is made so sensible of the weight of sin that it feels apprehends it self to lie under such a weight as no Creature in Heaven or Earth is able to take away if there comes not some power beyond the power of any Creature here must I lie downe and be prest eternally under this weight As suppose a poore man Should lie under a greivous burden in some ditch or the like and there comes it may be a child to him or there flies a Bird over him or there runs a dog by him But alas he thinks with himself I may lie long enough notwithstanding al these there must come some other Strength to help me or else I must surely perish So the soule lies under the burden of Sin and thinks Lord what a burden have I brought my self under so great that if al the men in the world or al the Angels in heaven should come to me they cannot help me they may speake good words to me but they cannot help me it is only the almighty power of god that is able to help me now the soul feels sin to some purpose when once it feels that there is no created power no finite power but
the world sin is very light Well know That as Christ himself felt sin to be a heavy burden so one way or other they must feel it either here or hereafter but blessed is that man or woman that feels the weight of sin while he may be delivered from it that he be not hereafter prest under the weight of it We read of Pharoah when the people of Israel came for ease he bids them go to their burdens that that he did unjustly Christ might do to many righteously hereafter when you upon your sick beds or death beds hereafter shal cry for mercy Christ may say to you go to your burdens when any thing of the Word came to press sin upon your souls you cast it off O! 't is a dangerous Condition when men and women cannot only sin enough but now when any truth of God should lay sin upon their hearts they cast it out and they think hardly of those Truths of God that would come and â—ind their sins to their Consciences and so burden them with their sins but it should be otherwise with us If those that be thus laden with their sins be those that Christ doth call to him we should not think so hardly of those Truths of God that doth reveal the evil of sin unto us but rather let us joyn with those Truths of God and labor to burden our own hearts for you see that those that are burdened Christ cals them to him that they might have rest there is no other burdens that we are to bring upon our selves but rather seek to avoid them but as for the burden of sin we are to burden our hearts with that and to labor to lay our sins to our hearts and to press them there and to charge them upon our own Spirits with all the aggravations we can and to joyn with the work of Gods Spirit when the Spirit of God comes to lay sin upon the soul to joyn with it and to say Lord I begin to be more sensible of my sins than I was before Lord humble me through it let me be under thy hand as long as thou pleasest only work thy good work upon me Object But you wil say We may sink under the burden of Sin Answ O no those that cast off the burden of sin they are most like to sink under it now can you think that the Lord wil Suffer such a soul to sink under the burden that doth burden it self that God might have glory But those that are unwilling and are forced to be burdened that never are sensible of the burden of sin til al the props and Comforts of the creature are taken away Upon their sick beds and death beds then men are burdened with Sin and why because the props are taken away before they had comforts and estates and such things which are as so many props but now God comes and takes the props and down they fâ—l upon us That is the reason that many upon their death beds lie Roâ—ring and Crying out so bitterly for their sins and why because the Lord hath cut asunder the props and now it lies heavy upon their hearts Now Christ cals come to me you that are weary and heavy laden come to me saith Christ Know that you are in a faâ— better condition than you were when you went on with delight in sin you are now in the way that God doth use to bring them in that he hath a purpose to do good unto I remember in the Gospel where the poor blind man cryed to Christ O Son of David have mercy upon me and stil cryed at length Christ heard the cry of the blind man and asked what it was Now those that were by him they go to the poor blind man and say to him be of good comfort he calls he might say I but my eyes be not opened I but be of good comfort he calls So I say to al burdened Sinners be of good comfort troubled soul Christ calls thee he saith come to me al ye that are weary and heavy laden he doth not say thou that art so much laden Christ cals thee to him Object I but thou wilt say I have no ease if I were sure that my sins were pardoned I should be saved then I should have ease and comfort Answ I but poor soul be of good comfort thou art called he doth not say thou art a wretched wicked creature and depart from me thou cursed as he wil say to sinners hereafter that might have been thy condition but thou didst not heare the voice from Christ this day depart from me but thou doest heare this voice this day from Christ Come to me al you that are weary and heavy laden Christ is neer to you the Lord is neer to the broken heart he is neere to the contrite spirit And know this the longer thou art under the burden of thy sin there wil come the more comfort hereafter Now there is a burden of sin upon thee and there wil be a weight of glory hereafter So the Scripture speakes of a weight of glory as wel as of a weight of Sin be willing to beare the weight of sin quietly say with the Prophet I wil be willing to beare the indignation of the lord because I have sinned against him So say thou 't is fit my soul should beare a burden be content to wait now do you the same thing that Christ did when he was under his burden mark what he did in Heb. 5.7 See how the heart of Christ was affected when he felt the weight of our sins upon him In the dayes of his flesh he offered up prayers and supplications with strong Cryes and teares unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he Feared Goe thy way O Soul and get into the presence of God and tel God of thy burdens that thou feelest make thy moan unto him and let it be with praiers and supplications and strong Cryes and tel him Lord I fear least my soul should be prest down to eternal death under this burden tel him of thy feares this way and it is very probable that thy soul shal be heard and according to this invitation here surely there is rest for thee as wel as for any while thou art crying out under thy burden for ought thou knowest or any Angel in heaven the pardon of thy sins may be sealling in heaven and therefore do not make any desperate Conclusion against thy own Soul for thy pardon may be a sealing and then the Lord wil send a messenger to tel thee of this Nay do I tel thee that theâ—e wil a messenger come Behold here in this text the Lord Jesus Christ comes the Angel of the Covenant cryes to thee Come O Come come freely though thou hast no good at al in thee there is enough in me to give rest unto that soul that doth most labor under the greatest burden of sin that ever
Pharoah did increase their bondage the Scripture tels us that the people saw that they were in an ill case so when we understand what a condition we are in under this bondage we may conclude that verily man is in an ill case by nature Secondly And a second Conclusion may be drawn hence That it is a mighty work to save a Soul it is not a slight thing for a Soul to come to be saved there must be great things done by God to save a soul Many people they confess it is true they are sinners but they cry to God to have mercy on them and so they think it is presently done but did you consider of the condition that you are in naturally and of the Righteousness of God you would then conclude it is a mighty work of God to save any soul and that you had need fal upon the seeking of your Salvation betimes And then Thirdly Hence wil follow this Conclusion also That those vain thoughts of men that they have had for pacifying their Consciences and the quieting of their hearts wil stand them in no stead As thus Many they reason thus I am not so bad as others What if you be not if you be under the Law you are cast a thousand thousand times over You wil say that you do some good thing and somtimes come to Church and pray to God but what is this to the keeping of the Law if thou beest in thy natural estate thy reasoning after this manner does argue that thou dost look after Salvation by what thou hast done and for men to say I do what I can and I am sorry with all my heart that I can do no better these are not reasonings that wil inable thee to stand with comfort before the infinite Righteous God thou must know in what state thou art in under the Law and how thou art cast by the Law these are not arguings that can bring rest to thy soul if it could Christ would never have called in this manner But you must know that such is your condition that all the Angels in Heaven and men in the world cannot give rest to your souls and if you did understand this you would thereby go away convinced of this truth wel I see that there is a burden upon me howsoever I have not been sensible of it and it is such a burden as wil press me down to eternal misery and I see now by this that I have need of a Christ Certainly if congregations were sensible of this burden of the Law Oh! How would their souls rejoyce in this and praise the Lord that their eares are blessed to hear such a sound of the Gospel as this Come to me and I wil give you Rest I appeal to you whether the opening of the Law be not of use to make you come to Christ there are a great many wanton spirits that cal those Ministers of God that seek out of Conscience to do good to Souls and to draw them out of their natural estates Legal men Legal preachers and the like I appeal to your consciences upon the knowledg of these things whether you wil not come to know the way of coming to Christ better then you did before if I should have named the name of Christ five hundred times over and over again would you have come to understand the mistery of God in Christ so much as by hearing what the difference is between the first covenant of works and being under the Law and to tel you that Christ came into the world to deliver us from this first covenant he comes and takes our Nature upon him and puts himself under the Law that he might free us from such a heavy yoak and bondage and in this blessed Scripture he calls all souls that do feel this yoak and burden to come to him that so they might have rest And thus much for this first Particular what the bondage is that the soul is under that is under the Law are you sensible of this Christ cals you perhaps some of you may say we have not been sensible of this do you begin to understand it Doth God begin to let in some light to you Do you begin to feel it somthing weighty upon your Hearts Blessed be God for it you are so much the fitter to hear of the covenant of Grace Now when you come home let the Husband say to the wife we hear of two covenants as you have it in the 4. of the Galla. 22. Here are two covenants and these two are set out in this Allegory of the bond-woman and the free-Woman now til we come to understand what the other covenant is we are under the former covenant the covenant of works this is that you should labor to understand the Husband and wife to aske one another of the difference between the two covenants ask but what the covenant of works is and upon what tearms that runs and the covenant of Grace and upon what tearms that runs and so you will come especially to understand that that follows in this text with more profit and advantage to your Souls CHAP. IX Of the Burden of Legal Performances What it is With the burdensomness thereof laid open in twelve Particulars 1. There is no inward principle of doing 2. In men that are only under the Law there 's a principle contrary to the performance thereof 3. Such are wearied with doing getting no supply of strength to perform duty 4. By their performances they stil contract more Guilt upon their Souls 5. What they do in Obedience unto the Law is only out of fear 6. And with much straitness of Spirit 7. Nothing comes of such Performances 8. They that perform Duty in a meer Legal way never attain their end which is peace with God 9. They know not whether God accepts of them or rejects them 10. They are forced unto Duties instantly presently and upon the sudden though to the hinderance of other Duties of greater concernment which God requireth of them at the same time 11. Though they go on ioyling yet know they not whether they shal bold out unto the end 12. Their Humiliation and trouble for not doing what they ought to do binders them from doing what God requires NOw there is one thing more that is as an Appendix unto the Burden of the Law flowes indeed from and is tyed unto the burden of the Law and that is the burden of Legal performances not only the burden of the Law in regard of what the Law requires the perfect obedience that the Law requires that burden comes from the Law it self but now there is a burden that many are under a very heavy and grievous burden and that is the burden of Legal performances and this is that that is to be the subject of this Chapter I intend to go no further then to speak of that burden to open it a little to you and that as I told you at the
quite against those duties opposite unto them there is a contrary streame in them they go against wind and tide you know what a burdensome thing it is for the boatman to go against wind and tyde he must put to a great deale of strength so it is heere til the soul come to beleeve in Christ and to have the spirit of Christ having onely conviction of conscience and being put upon duties there are such corruptions in the heart and such evil principles in al men naturally that are as wind and tide against those duties and yet saith concience you must do them though you find your inclinations to be never so strong another way yet conscience tels you you must do them and when God is pleased to put strength into conscience it wil make a man or a woman to go on in duty though it be never so cross to their own nature you wil say if it be cross to their owne natures why do they not leave it off No they dare not notwithstanding so it is true we shal show you afterwards that even godly men and beleivers are burdened with corruptions they have contrary principles to the duty too I but they are not so prevailing as with unbeleevers that are only legal It is a tedious thing you know to cast a stone upward not onely to cause a stone to move any way that is some trouble because you keep it from its center but to put it upon a motion that is quite contrary to the principle that is burdensome because al heavy things have principles in them that work downwards therfore to put them upon those things that are quite contrary to their natural principles it is a motion that wil cause burden and that because you keep them from their owne center so conscience may keep a man and woman from their own center from those wicked courses that their natures are inclined unto and al the while they are kept from the course that their natures do so strongly incline them unto it must needs be burdensome to them until God come and sanctifie their hearts they may be a great while without any sanctification many whose consciences are convinced may goe on in duties without sanctification in them The third Burden of Legal Performances 3. One that goes on in the performance of duties in a legal way meerly is weary and tired with what he doth and yet can find no strength comming in unto him no further ability to perform what conscience puts him upon then he had at first nay rather less ability Now this must needs be burdensome As suppose a man be put upon a work and if he have no mind to it that is tedious but if it be against the haire quite opposite to his disposition that is more tedious yet he must go on and he toyls and wearies himself and yet the more he works the more grievous it is unto him for he finds no strength comming but strength wearying rather his strength wears a way and no strength comes in to assist him and yet his work is as strong as it was that work must needs be burdensome so those that are meerly legal they go on stil in duty and the work is stil as strong but they are weaker many a man when he first sets upon a work is cold and benummed bur when he continues in the work he gets warmth and then it is not so burdensom unto him but if he continues in the work and is colder and colder this is very tedious to those that performe duties in a meer legal way conscience puts them upon it at first and they go to duty with some vigour but the truth is they grow more weary and the work is more tedious and yet conscience puts them upon asmuch work as at first when a man hath been at work and growes weary and desires ease and a cruel task-master shal come and tel him there must be no decrease of your work nor no increase of your strength this must needs be tedious thus those that performe duties in a legal way conscience puts upon them as much worke when they are weary and tired as at first here is the difference between the works of sanctification legal performances though they seem to be hard at first yet while the soul sets upon them there comes in strength and the more work the more strength they do not spend their strength and throw it away and grow more weary afterwards then at first but the more they have experience of the ways the more strength they have they grow warm at their work and being warm they get further and further strength and it grows easie unto them but it is not so with one that performes duties in a meere legal way some have been seven yeares in a profesion of religion and made conscience of their duties yet after seven yeares spent their hearts no more mortified then at first and they have got no more strength then at first their lusts are less mortified and their strength is less then at first and therefore their work must needs be grievous unto them The 4. Burden of Legal Performances 4. Those that performe duties in a legal way meerely while they are striving to do their duty they are contracting stil further guilt upon their souls they strive to do that that the law requires and in their very striving they are breaking of the law You wil say so godly men while they are striving to do their duty they sin also there is imperfection in the best I but yet their sin is done away in Christ their sin is not layed to their Charge but those that are meerly legal while they are striving they sin and contract Guiltiness upon their spirits and it lies upon them and they stand charged with it But then it may be said it were better that they did not strive no not so neither conscience must have them strive it would be a greater guiltiness if they should not strive though when they strive they stand charged with further evil then before now this is a greivous burden as now if a man were rowling a stone up a hil and as soone as he had rolled it up the stone should come down upon him again it would be a mighty tiresome work it is so with those that are meerly legal while they are in duty in working stil corruption brings them down againe and they contract continually guiltiness upon their soules The 5. Burden of Legal Performances 5. Those that performe duties in a meere legal way what they do they do meerly out of feare they are put upon it in a forcible and rigorous way they are put upon al their duties in a rigorous way meerly by force and constraint if you put a man to do a thing meerly by force it is very tedious to him and especialy when your forcing of him is with rigor as those that are slaves they are not only exhorted to
cal such a Soul to come to him that it may have Rest and peace that indeed it might have that Righteousness that may make it stand with comfort before the great God and come to have eternal life at last but for our comming to Christ and our Rest in him that belongs to the other Point Thus much for the opening of the burden of Legal performances CHAP. XI Of the Burden of Corruption And that there is Corruption in the Saints Being a Burden 1. Of Grief 2. Of Shame 3. Of Fear 4. Of Care 5. Of Labor and Toyl THe next Burden is the Burden of the remaining part of Corruption in the Saints those that are godly and have their part in Christ and have come to Christ already but yet they must come again and again that is though they be beleevers and have exercised Faith to unite them to Christ they have stil remaining in them much Corruption much Sin they must come to Christ again to be eased of their Corruption and still all the daies of their Lives to be exercising of Faith in Christ to be eased of the Burden of remaining Corruption that is in them That the Corruption that yet remaines in the Hearts of the Saints is a Burden I suppose every one of you can witness that are godly there is no godly man or woman in the world but knows what the meaning of this Point is perhaps the other Point of Legal performances was such a Point that many of you scarce understood what it was but because I knew it was of exceeding use to others though it might not be understood of many they must not loose their portion but there is none that hath any spark of godlyness but do and wil understand what I mean and what I shal say in this Point of the burden of Corruption that doth stil remain in the godly in the best that live upon the Earth and that every one acknowledgeth it is in every mans mouth almost we are al sinners but now here is the Difference between the wicked and the godly the wicked have sin enough in them but it is no burden to them but the godly have their sins to be their burden the remainder of sin though it be never so litle it is a most grievous Burden unto them and to these I am to speak out of this text yea Christ himself speaks to them Come unto me ye that are Laden with the Burden of Corruption the burden of sin that stil remaines in you Come to me and I wil give you Rest in regard of that Burden Now to prove that there is a remainder of corruption in the godly that is a burden to them I wil give you but one scripture that shal serve instead of the rest and that is in Rom. 7.24 O! wretched man that I am saith Paul who shal deliver me from this body of death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord here we have indeed a coÌ„mentary upon this text who shal deliver me saith Paul O! Wretched man that I am who shal deliver me from this body of death there 's the first part the burden of corruption then he runnes to Christ I thank God through Jesus Christ So then I my self with my mind serve the law of God but with my flesh the Law of sin I have got ease and rest by Christ by running to him but marke the scripture O wretched man that I am Paul though a godly man and one eminent in grace yet had remaining in him a body of death his sin that was in him he calls a body of death it was as a deadly thing unto his heart and it was as a body because it was made up of many members as a body is there were many sins remaining in him and al the faculties of his soul and members of his body were defiled with sin and therefore he cals it a body of death Now the Apostle is so sensible of this that he gives a grievous shreek as it were O! wretched man that I am he counts it his misery in that it appeares to be a burden and then he shreikes out under his burden O! wretched man that I am As a man or woman that hath a burden laid upon their shoulders and being not able to beare it they give a greivous shreik at the burden falling upon them so doth the Apostle here And observe further that the Apostle Paul had as much of the burden of affliction upon him as ever any one had no man had more of the burden of affliction then he had as you may read in the Cor. 1.4 and Cor. 2.4 the afflictions of Paul were exceeding greivous there was never any more abused then he was he tels you of being stoned suffering of shipwrake and abused of his owne countri-men that he suffered nakedness and hunger and was whipt as if he had been the most notorious rogue in al the country he had the burden of disgrace upon him accounted the off-scowring of the world and the burden of poverty wanted cloâ— and bread and was fain to go up and down from place to place yet notwithstanding these burdens upon him you never read that Paul did account himself a wretched man in regard of these burdens you never read that Paul cryed out O! wretched man that I am that I want â—read 〈◊〉 I want cloaths O wretched man that I am whipt and abused he doth not cry out O! wretched man that I am who shal deliver me from affliction who shal deliver me from persecution no we find in scripture that he rejoyced in affliction when he was cast into dungeons he could sing psalmes and when he had the whip he could sing psalms and rejoyce but when he comes to his sin then he falles under that burden who shal deliver me from that as if he should say O! Lord let me be never so much afflicted heere in this world yet if I cold have my soul delivered from this burden of my sin I should account my self a happy man and yet he was delivered from the guilt of sin for he knew he should never go to hel for his sin and he was delivered from the dominion of his sin to and yet he cries out under this burden of his sin who shal deliver me I appeale unto many of you what closet or secret chamber of yours can ever witness that you were thus crying out in respect of your sin O wretched man or woman that I am who shal deliver me from this body of sin from this wretched heart that I have many of you we heare cry out of poverty disgrace and trouble in your families and the like but who of you cries out who shal deliver me from this body of death from this sin of my nature many of you perhaps do not know whether you are delivered from the guilt of your sin you do not know whether any of your sins are pardoned you are not delivered at
al and yet you do not cry out but Paul he was delivered from the guilt of his sin yet the very remainder of sin in his heart was a burden to him there is much sin in many of your hearts and you cry not out of it Paul he was delivered and yet he cryeâ— out of it who shal deliver me from this body of death But now to open this I shal shew First how manâ— waies the remaining part of corruption is a burden to the Saints Secondly What kind of burden it is Thirdly Open the particulars shewing that sinful nature is a burden and the stirring of corruption a burden and the prevailing of corruption a burden Fourthly Why it is that God doth so in his providence order things that his owne saints shal be under the burden of corruption and so make some application of it First Then in what respect the remaining part of sin and corruption in the heart of the saints is a burden The First burden of Corruption First It is a burden of greife unto them you know grief causeth heaviness and sadness now the remainder of corruption that they find in them it is as lead and lies heavy upon their spirits in regard of greif it is the cause of their grief and trouble some wil say perhaps sometimes to others such and such that are professours of religion they go very sadly and heavily and when once you come to be so strict in your way you wil loose al your comfort for such and such are alwaies sad and pensive but do you know what is the reason of their sadness you have as much cause to be sad as they the burden is not because they are religious but because they are no more religious not because now they do more duties then they did before but because they cannot find their hearts come up to their duties as they would do not atribute their greif to their godlyness but rather say to thy self thus if they that do so much for God are yet so much troubled and greived because they do no more for God how much cause of trouble and greife have I then that do nothing at al for God The Second burden of Corruption Secondly The remaining part of corruption in the hearts of the saints it is a burden of shame greif is a burden and shame is a burden many that can beare great burdens that can beare the burden of poverty yet are not able to beare the burden of disgrace especially to those that are most ingenious it is one of the greatest burdens in the world now the saints they are ashamed of the corruption that remains in them they account it a shame before the Lord and before his blessed Angels and in regard of themselves what they know of themselves that the world knowes not of they look upon it as ashame that they do even loath and abhor themselves as the scripture speakes it may be their lives are such as others do honor and have high thoughts of them but they being acquainted with their own hearts and looking into the secret working of their own spirits they see so much evil there as they see much cause to abhor and loath themselves and to lie down in their shame before the Lord whom they know doth see into their hearts a great deale more then they can see themselves I wil appeal to any one that knows his owne heart if God should open your heart and make it known to your friends and acquaintance so much evil as is in your heart in the performing of one duty if al men should know so much evil as is in your heart at one time in praier or hearing a sermon would you not be ashamed now God knowes and sees al the baseness and vildness of your spirits and the godly knowing this they cannot but be ashamed and go under this burden of shame with heavy hearts The Third burden of Corruption Thirdly The remaining part of Corruption in the hearts of the godly it carries with it a burden of feare fear you know is a great burden as wel as greif and shame though the evil be not so great upon them yet if their be an evil apprehended to come upon them it is a great burden to them as those that dare not go out of dores in the night because of feare or dare not be in the dark because of fear when they are delivered from their feares do they not account that it was a great burden now the godly they have a great deal of fear upon their hearts and the truth is those that are godly they fear more what their owne evil hearts should bring upon them then what al the divels in hel and al the creatures in the world can bring upon them and that is a good fear but yet it makes them walk heavily others feare sometimes they fear men fear those that wil come and take away their estates and undo them feare their enemies or feare the divel but one that is godly he feares more his own heart the evil that may come to his soul by that then al the hurt that al the divels in hel can do to him for they cannot afflict more then the body I but this brings an evil upon the soul it breakes their communion between them and God and therefore they are afraid of sin before it comes they have experience of their hearts what evil it hath done to them and so are afraid of miscarrying and afraid of the evil consequences of their sin they do not know what mischief their sin might possibly bring upon them and so they goe under this burden of fear along time together even those that are truly godly The Fourth burden of Corruption Fourthly The remaining part of corruption in the hearts of the saints is a burden of care for men and women to be alwaies careful to be ful of care you know that is a great burden that many of you are acquainted with that when you have a great deal of business upon you and much lies upon you when your thoughts are ful of care is it not a great burden to you many men that have been ful of business and afterwards have got over their business what a freedome do they account it the saints they have a burden of care upon them because they find so much to do with their own hearts that they had need be watchful night and day over them they have had experience what their hearts have done when there hath not been a strict watch over â—hem and therefore there is no Child of God but if he be in a right temper he is a careful man so long as we live in this flesh our condition is ful of feares and so we must neds be ful of care in this world though there be a great deale of difference between the distracting care that wicked men have about their outward estate and the care of the godly about keeping their
so much as they do It is troublesome to fight with an enemy but it is a great deale more troublesom to have an enemy prevail and get the day and though it is true that corruption shal not get the day fully that is though it may prevail for a while in some skirmishes it may prevail Praelio but not in Bello as an enemy may in some skirmishes have the better of it but yet the other may Conquer at last and may get the day the day that is when it comes to a pitcht set Battel that is the Bellum and there he prevails if I can but prevail and get the day to be mine then it is not so much It is true the Saints of God they shal get the day at last but here as long as they live their corruptions often prevail and foiles them which is very grievous and burdensome to them CHAP. XV. The Reasons of the former Point 1. Because coruption when it prevailes weakens the heart 2. By it God is dishonoured 3. By it our holy profession is scandalized 4. By it they over whom it prevailes are made useless in their places 5. Thereby the meanes of grace are made unprofitable 6. Thereby our peace with God is disturbed 7. Thereby the assurance of our Salvation is shaken NOw for that to open it a little in the particulars to shew how burdensome it is to the hearts of the Saints when they do prevaile in any measure they do not put it off as carnal people do with this we are al sinners and it is Gods grace to keep us and Lord have mercy on us and the like no but they account the prevailing of corruption the greatest burden that they can goe under in the world and that in these respects I First Because whensoever corruption prevailes in what degree soever it weakens the heart it weakens the soul it may stir in the heart and if the heart doth repulse it and get strength against it the heart is not weak as before but if it prevail in any degree it weakens the heart now we know that which is weak is sensible of a burden quickly a sick man is a burden to himself and every thing is a burden to him now when any corruption prevailes it makes the soul sick and every thing is a burden to it and I beseech you consider here is a reason why you are so weak and are able to beare no other burdens If any body crosse you when you come home wife Children or servants cross you you cannot beare it if neighbours cross you you are able to beare nothing there is a reason in this that you do not think of you have weakened your hearts by some sin or other and broke your peace with God it may be and now your hearts come to be weake you are like a sick man that cryes out upon any thing one that is sick cryes out upon every thing wheras if he were strong healthful he could bear a hundred times more so you have brought a sickness upon your souls there is some sin that hath prevailed w th you prevailed over you and by that hath weakened your heart and your spirit now being weake you can beare nothing every thing is a greivous burden to you so that the prevailing of corruption comes to be burdensome in this respect because it weakens the heart and makes every thing burdensome to them II Secondly The Saints and people of God they account the priviledge of corruption to be the greatest burden in this respect because they know that now they dishonor God especially if it prevail so as to breake forth outwardly that it comes to an outward actual sin then it must needs be burdensome to one that is gracious for the name of the blessed God suffers by this my sin that hath prevailed al the while sin was but stirring in my heart and did not prevail the name of God hath not that dishonor as now it hath now when sin hath prevailed it dishonors God and therefore it is a burden unto the Saints III Thirdly It is a burden because it may be my holy profession is scandalized by it and is not this a burden howsoever many wretched men and women wil say they care not let others say and think of them what they wil but now Godly men and women when rhey think of this they cry out O What wil the wicked say of this how wil they blaspheme the name of God and dishonor the name of God and this wil be a burden to them because thereby their holy profession is scandalized IV Fourthly ' It s a burden because hereby they come to be made useless in the places where they live many though they may have some soundness of grace in them and may go to heaven at last yet their corruption prevailing over them they come thereby to be very useless in the places where they live they may live but themselves wil be burdens upon the earth for they are never like to be used to do any great service for God in the world they have so scandalized their profession by the prevailing of Corruption V Fifthly When corruption prevailes over the Saints as it makes them unprofitable so it makes the meanes of grace exceeding unprofitable too it hardens there hearts and they come to prayer hearing the word and Sacraments and find little good many of you complain you find not profit by prayer and hearing the word and Sacrament what is the reason such and such corruptions have prevailed over you it may be there are some sins that you live in that have prevailed over you and therefore no marvel you do not profit as you desire VI. Sixthly The prevailing of Corruption is a grievous Burden in this regard because it is that that doth extreamly disturbe ones peace between God and our Soul though there be many temptations yet if the heart can conquer them it hath more peace by that means never hath the soul so much peace as when there hath been strong temptations unto sin and a conquering over those temptations but if temptation conquer then there wil be a disturbance of our peace and that is burdensome to those that do know what peace with God doth mean VII Seventhly The prevailing of Corruption is a grievous Burden because it is that many times that shakes the assurance of those that are godly I know not what those men would make of the Lords Prayer Forgive us our Sins if so be that they think whatsoever sin they fal into yet stil they can keep up their assurance as much as before I say what would they make of that petition Lord forgive us our Sins at least to pray thus Lord cleer up the evidence of the forgiveness of our sins then it must needs follow that the falling into any sin and the prevailing of any Corruption must needs shake our assurance while we live here in this world now is not this a
that is his very soul his life his peace his comfort al his happiness he had committed to him and so left al with him Now then take al these together and when Christ cals the sinner to come to him that is O! Sinner first beleeve this that I am the great redeemer that is come into the world to stand between Gods wrath and your soules and to make up peace between God and you and let there be an unsettling of your hearts from whatsoever heretofore your Souls did Rest in Creature comforts your own Righteousness Duties self respects and ends whatsoever they are let your hearts be taken off from them all and let your hearts now be in a stirring working disposition towards me let all your whole Souls be stretching forth to me and come and cast all your burdens upon me and leave your Souls with me and I will take care of them thus come to me Now then when any soul that is thus Laden shall answer to this cal of Christ and shal say Lord I come here is the very voice and answer of Faith when the Soul can say Oh! Lord I come I see thee to be the blessed Mediator between God and my Soul and for whatsoever my heart hath setled in heretofore Oh! Lord it shal be no more and my heart begins to stir after thee and I stretch forth my Soul to thee O Blessed redeemer and here I cast my burdens upon thee none can ease me but thy self and I leave my self with thee I commit all to thee and betrust all that I have or can do my eternal estate with thee Lord I come here is the soul that comes to Christ Then may the Soul be said to come to Christ when there is an answer in these five Particulars All this is contained in this word COME though you cannot apprehend it til it be unfoulded as a piece of needle work when it is foulded up there is all the work indeed within but we cannot see it til it be laid open and spread before us then we can see all that is in it So though there be many expressions in the Scripture that we understand not yet there they be but this is the work of the Ministry to spread them and to lay them before you and lay them open to you that you may see the Grace of God in another manner when they be unfolded now thus doth Christ call those that are Laden to come to him CHAP. XIX How Christ calls Sinners unto him set forth in two Particulars Namely 1. By an outward and general call 2. By a Particular call to Particular Sinners And how to know the voice of Christ YOu will say how and in what manner doth Christ call to me Christ is in Heaven I cannot hear Christ call to me Now for the call of Christ First There is a general cal in the word there Christ calls under the sound of the Gospel to come to him but this call is rather a command of Christ then an invitaion to shew unto al what is their Duty to do rather then to invite them But now there is a more special call unto those whom the Father hath given to Christ and though they make use of the general call in the word yet there is a special call to them that is Christ by his Spirit doth open the Riches of the Gospel of the Grace in him to their Souls by his Spirit inwardly he doth shew them to their Souls Others come and hear the outward cal that is when a Minister of God shal come and open the Gospel and there shew how God hath given his Son to us he hath taken our Nature upon him and died for sin and tel them that God requires all here in the Gospel to beleeve in his Son they hear his outward cal I but they whom the father gives to Christ have the Spirit of God sent together with the word to open the Riches of Christ that though they have heard it a hundred times before Yet when the spirit comes there is a shewing of the beauty and Riches of the Gospel more then ever that allures their Souls to come to Christ Secondly Not only this but the Lord when he cals such as shall indeed have mercy by Christ and have his invitation to be effectual he doth give a Particular cal unto that Soul besides the general cal God doth not only in the word cal sinners and saith Christ came to save Sinners and those that were lost but Christ comes in Particular to such and such Souls and cals them in a Particular special manner For the Ministers of God they are bound in the Preaching of the Gospel to give a general invitation to come to him but God beside the general hath a Particular cal there is a voice of God in Particular to the Soul that he intends to bring to his Son such a one hears a voice behind him as the Scripture speaks saying this is the way to Salvation the way you have gone all this while is not the way to life you will perish in that way Christ is the right way As thus I will open it in the general and Particular call by this similitude A Prince that hath had many of his subjects Traitors yet he is pleased to send forth a general Proclamation makes a Proclamation to those subjects and makes it in general tearms that though you have been thus and thus Traiterous against me yet I am content every one that will come to such a place at such a day and submit himself he shall have a pardon here is the general Proclamation and this is incouragement to come But now suppose there were some poor Traitor that because sensible of his wickedness and how unreasonably he hath dealt with his Prince and may be sits alone bemoaning his condition and troubled in his spirit and thinks with himself how shall I be able to see the Face of my Prince Oh! woe to me for the wickedness of my waies Suppose the Prince should come by and behold such a one take notice of him that is got into some corner or other and is there smiting of his Breast and lamenting his condition that he should so provoke his Prince as he hath done And should call this poor creature and say to him Oh thou poor Creature that art in such a place come thou to me For so is the work of faith God comes in particular to the soul doth not only come in general but after his general Call when he doth see the soul troubled the Lord doth give a particular Call to him and saith O! thou poor Creature thou art under this burden and thus sensible of it and lamentest that thou hast lived thus and thus and made such a breach between me and thy soul do thou come to me And the truth is till God speak in particular to the soul the proclamation of God in general will not bring in sinners so Christ doth
to Christ First For the Rules that we may observe them aright in coming to Christ and come to Christ in a right way I speak to those whose Hearts are about coming to Jesus Christ their hearts are stirring after Christ and they are setting upon all the means to come to him RULE I. First Though God requires that thou shouldest seek Christ in all his ordinances in the performance of all Duties yet it must be thy great care not to rest in the means that lead to Christ before thou comest to enjoy Christ himself This is the great mistake in the world that those things that are the means to lead to Christ they rest in though indeed they have not Christ As now for instance to come to hear the word I suppose if I aske you why you come you will say you come that you might find Christ there yet how many people rest in this meerly that they do hear the word they hear Sermons and scarce ever cal this into question have I met with Jesus Christ in the word to day have I found Jesus Christ there this their Hearts are not so much troubled about but they come meerly to hear the word it 's a good thing But now they Rest in the means that lead to Christ before they are got thither As if a man were a going a journey to such a place about such business and he satisfies himself in this I am going on my way but have I got the thing I go for We are to know that Prayer the word the Sacraments are all but as means to bring us to Christ now what a foolish thing is this to satisfie our selves that we are in the way going to the thing but have we the thing that we journey for Jesus Christ is the thing that we seek for have we him The wise Merchant had the Field I but he saw that there was a Pearl in the field and then he went and sold all that he might have the Pearl The field is the Preaching of the word and other ordinances in these ordinances is the Pearl now that which we should look for in the ordinances is the pearl and so use the field but only for the Pearls sake So that this is the way that we should take to come to Christ that is in the use of all duties and all ordinances to look at Christ that we would have by them and be sure to pass through the ordinances til we get hold on him whom our Soul loveth most people in the world they stick in the ordinances themselves and have got no hold on Christ but meerly spend all in duties and ordinances that they wil do God requires of them to pray and they wil pray and God requires of them to hear the word and they will hear the word I but they do not consider that there is somthing beyond Prayer and beyond the word Have I got to Jesus Christ in Prayer have I got to Jesus Christ in the word And that is a good signe when the hearts of sinners are satisfied with nothing with no ordinances except they find Jesus Christ in those ordinances be sure to go through the ordinances unto Christ RULE II. Secondly In your seeking after Christ be sure that you rather pitch your eye and your heart upon the person of Christ himself then upon the good things that come from Christ that is the way to pitch your eye and your heart upon Christ himself rather then upon the good things that come from Christ for coming to Christ and being in him is only as being married to him Now the party that marries he looks more upon the person then upon the portion he looks upon the excellency of the person so should the Soul in coming to Christ look upon him as the only great mediatour of the Covenant as the only reconciler of God and man as the only person in whom all our good happiness and glory lies Labor to see an excellency in Christ himself as wel as to come to Christ There are many souls that would come to Christ why because they think there is no mercy but in Christ and they would be loath to go to Hel and therefore they cry to God for mercy in Christ I but they see not any excellency in Christ but thou must look upon the excellencies of Christ and look through the ordinances unto union with Christ look after union with the person of Christ himself and see an excellency and beauty in the very person of Jesus Christ to be able to say I see the glory of the Father in him and my Soul makes after him to have union with him RULE III. Thirdly In thy coming be sure of this to come with thy whole soule that is do not come to Christ only as one meanes of help for you and thinking it is Good to make use of al means we can and Christ I see to be as likely a means as any other No but come to Christ as the only means so as to cast thy whole soul upon him not to hang upon any thing else and so to give out as it were an arme to him and yet to have somewhat else to rest upon if that fail As we come to a friend sometimes and desire somewhat of him but how so as we would make a friend other where that if that fail we may have two strings to our bow but we must come to Christ and lay the ful weight upon him alone the ful soul upon him We must come to Christ not as if we were over some deep pit and here is one thing to rest upon that is strong enough that if we would lay weight upon that is alone we might be safe Wel but there is another thing that is a rotten thing now we are loth to venture upon the strong the sound not knowing it to be so but we lay a part upon the rotten and part upon the sound by this perhaps we may come to fal and perish because the ful weight was not laid upon that that was sound So here the Lord propounds his son as an alsufficient redeemer for us in whom there is righteousness and salvation and requires of those that come to his Son that they shal come with their whol souls and lay the whol weight of their soules upon him for life and salvation and al their good and happiness Now if they think to have two strings to their bow they would have Christ but they would have the world too and their own wayes too upon this a Thousand to one but they miscarry It was an excellent speech of Joseph sending for his father Jacob in Genesis 45.20 Joseph sent to have his father Jacob brought to him now there was many things that Jacob had regard to before but now saith he regard not the stuff for the good of all the Land of Egypt is yours So when the Lord doth cal any poor sinner to come to him the Lord
saith to it regard not the stuff let your Heart be wholly taken off from all Creature comforts that are most dear unto you it is all but stuff here is Heaven here is the Riches of Heaven the Riches of Christ is yours and then doth the Soul come to Christ indeed when it laies all upon Christ and is satisfied with him alone RULE IV. Fourthly When thy Soul is making towards Christ labor to keep him continually in thine Eye and look upon him in his excellency Glory and beauty keep the object before thee all the while thou art coming towards him As it is in any journey if I am going to a place and I can see the journeys end it is in mine eye I can see the steeple before me of the place that I am going unto when the Marriner can see the harbour that he is going unto this is comfortable So the Soul that comes to Christ must resolve and say I must keep him in mine Eye in his lustre Beauty and Glory that so I may see a greater good in Jesus Christ than in all things else that the goodness that is in him doth out-bid all good whatsoever Now this is a great help to come to Christ for one of the greatest hinderances of the Soul in coming to Christ is this that it looseth the sight of Christ in coming and the Devil propounds other spectacles before its Eyes in coming and so it lookes into the deep pit of its own Heart and sees no other matter but discouragement whereas it should keep up its Eyes upon Christ the Son of God who is opening his Arms ready to imbrace it And there is a secret power and influence that comes from Christ unto the Soul to draw the Soul to him So long as the Soul keeps Christ in his Eye as the poor Woman said If I can but touch the hem of his Garment Nay you may go further then so and have a degree of Faith Nay If I may have but a sight of Christ I say there is that in the sight of Christ that will draw the Heart unto Jesus Christ As they say of some kind of creatures the very sight of them will kil a Man that if they do but see you or you them there will come poyson from them that wil kill you say the Naturalists But I am sure it is true of this that if you can keep Christ in your Eye the very sight of the excellency of Christ wil be of excellent vertue to draw the Soul to Christ And therefore you that are coming to Christ observe this some that are coming to Christ it fares with them as with the Children of Israel when they were going to Canaan they had gone a pretty way and made some progress but then they fel into discontent when they found a little discouragement and upon that they were brought back again and wandred forty Years up and down in the Wilderness and this was the punishment of their murmuring and discontent So it is with many that are going out of their natural State unto Jesus Christ they are come very near to him many times and then fal into fits of discontent pining fretting and discouragement and so are brought back again and made to wander in the Wilderness of discouragement for many Years together RULE V. Fifthly Labor throughly to convince thy Soul of this thing that whatsoever sorrow for sin whatsoever humiliation whatsoever trouble of spirit keeps thy Heart from Jesus Christ it is not of God but rather from thine own corruption it is not of God in thee except you will say it 's of God as an affliction it is not of God but suffering the Devil to try thee but whatever sorrow it be for thine own wretchedness or unworthiness if this keep thee off from Christ and discourage thee from coming to Christ convince thy Soul of this that it is not the gracious work of God in thee but the troubling of the Devil in thee The truth is many poor sinners when they are once troubled for their sins they take a kind of Satisfaction in this they think this is a good thing and they are glad of it I grant you trouble for sin is a good thing and you are to be glad of it but if your trouble for sin hinder you from coming to Christ and makes you think because you are so unworthy you may not come to him this trouble is not mixt with godly sorrow be convinced of this RULE VI. Sixthly Take heed of all kind of discouragements and hinderances in your coming to Christ but then take heed especially of all determinations take heed of insnaring your Souls by determining against your selves as saying surely the Lord will never shew mercy to me the time is past the Lord hath forsaken me I have used so much meanes so long time and God is not yet come to me No The Lord never intends good to me Oh! Take heed of these determinations for they are sinful wherever they are there can be no just cause in thy Heart be it as vile as it will for such determinations as these are and know when thou givest way to such determinations as these thou dost but insnare and fetter thy Legs by this and then thou sayest thou canst not come to Christ Christ calls to thee and thou art infettered with thy own thoughts for so one may lay fetters upon ones own Legs by ones own thoughts to hinder this spiritual coming to Christ As if a man should tie fetters about his Legs and say when he is called to come to such a place I cannot come Do not sit down and say I shall never have Mercy and I am one that belongs not to the election of Grace and I shall never come to Christ take off such thoughts when thou art about coming to Jesus Christ RULE VII Seventhly At those times when thou canst not feel thy Heart active as thou desirest to go after Christ yet keep thy Heart stil towards Christ keep it tending that way Why cannot I go to Christ Christ calls me to go to him Oh! I have a dead Heart and a heavy dull Heart yet I know I am neerer Christ there than if I should neglect his Ordinances I wil present my Soul where Jesus Christ is and may be he may cast in some Vertue into my Heart to make it more stirring after him but however I am resolved upon this I will not turne away from Christ I will keep my Heart where I am howsoever If I can go no further and here I will stand and here I wil look and I will cry to him and cry to God as the Church doth Draw me and I will run after thee and though I cannot beleeve yet here I will stand and sigh and cry and cal and if I perish I will perish crying to God that God would draw my Heart Oh draw draw our Hearts and we will run after thee Blessed Redeemer dost thou cal us
It would seem a strange thing that if a king should come to a woman and tel her he would be married to her and she should say no if I were a Queene I would take him but she must first be married to him and that makes her to be a Queen So here the soul must not first say if I were first sanctified and had overcome such and such corruptions I would come to Christ no but by coming to Christ renewing thy act of coming to Christ that sanctifies thee That is a rule that I would leave with al young beginners spend more time and more strength in renewing the very act of beleeving of rolling thy soul upon the grace of God in Christ and casting thy burden upon him then in any other worke what soever there is no other thing that thou canst spend thy time thy strength more profitably in then the renewing the act of coming to Christ Come saith Christ saith the soul I had thought I had come but I was deceived saith Christ yet come again and come again and again this is the onely way to overcome any corruption in thy heart So that when Christ cals thee to come remember these rules Oh! that you would lay them up to make use of them at al times When you heare such things out of Gods word remember what hath bin said in this text what is implyed in the coming what way you would come and O! that the Lord would help poor soules thus to come to him and know for your incouragement that if God give you a heart to answer to his cal to come to his Son this is an evident signe of your predestination for whom he cals he hath elected yea do but think thus with your selves what an infinite mercy is it to me that I am in such a condition as that God calls me to come I might have had my eares filled with this depart from me ye cursed Thus many are cast off from God and God bids them depart from me ye cursed thou art as great a sinner may be as they are now whereas God might have said depart from me thou vild soul thou passionate soul thou filthy unclean soul I say this sound might have been in thin eares but instead of that sound there is the spirit of Jesus Christ in the ministry of this word calling to thee come to me yea he doth not onely cal thee but he hath given thee many rules how thou shouldest come to him If a Prince shal first make a proclamation for a rebel to come to him for pardon and shal send to him and make out many rules how he shal come and direct him to such a place what a mighty incouragement would this be to such an one to come in Now this the Lord Christ hath done to thee he hath not only proclaimed that he is mediator between God and thee but he hath sent his spirit to cal thee and he hath sent his messenger to give thee rules how to order thee that thou shouldest take heed of such a by way and such a turning and observe these and these things for thy help thus Christ hath done for thee If the Lord doth give thee a heart to answer to Christs cal know that this calling to thee by Christ in his word wil be no other but a forerunner of that cal that Christ shal make to thee another day There 's a cal come to me al ye that are weary and heavy Laden and I wil give you rest Inherit the kingdome prepared for you This is worth ten thousand worlds and when the soul answers to his cal such a soul may go away and be comforted that Christ wil cal you after another manner He cals the poor laden soul to give you now rest but he wil cal you afterwards before men and Angels to receive the inheritance Come not to rest only but come to an inheritance the kingdom prepared for you before the beginning of the world CHAP. XXIII Nine means to draw Sinners to Christ namely That 1. He that cals us is the Son of God 2. He is our neer Kinsman wherein three strong arguments are included First The terror of Gods glory is taken away Secondly He is infinitely inclined to do good unto the Sons of men Thirdly In uniting the divine nature with the human he hath done a greater work than to save a soul 3. He is the mediator 4. He deserves that we should come to him 5. The soul gets infinite good by coming to Christ instanced in four particulars 6. We are miserable in our selves 7. Christ wil certainly receive them that come to him which is opened in three particulars 8. We stand in great need of Christ 9. The not coming to Christ wil aggravate all other Sins With an answer unto some Objections NOW that which followes to be spoken unto in this second part of the text the invitation it self is the drawing of the hearts of sinners to come to Christ the work that we have to do is that in Luke 14.17 He sent his servants at supper time to say to them that were bidden Come for al things are now ready There the gospel is set out unto us by a rich mans making a great wedding supper and when he had prepared al his dainties he sends his servants to invite the guests saying al things are ready this wedding is nothing else but the excellent things in the Gospel the excellent things that are in Christ and the servants are the Ministers of the Gospel they are sent out to cal sinners to cal the guests to come for all things are ready So then in the name of Christ I cal unto al laden sinners to come to Christ And for the drawing of the soules of those that are thus laden these several things are to be propounded ARG. I. First consider who Christ is that calls and what he is Come to me saith Christ What is Jesus Christ that doth cal you to come to him The very knowledg of him what he is would be a mighty argument to prevail with the heart to come to him he that cals you to come to him is the Son of God the second person in the Trinity the brightness of the glory of God the character and image of his person as he is said to be in Heb. 1.3 He is equal with the Father he hath the glory of the Father in him he is the glory of heaven and earth the adoration of Angels he hath al fulness of al good in him If a great Prince should cal to you as you go in the streets and say come to me would not you presently adress your selves to make towards him to go to him know when Christ calls you to come to him it is more than if al the Angels in heaven should stand together to cal you to come to him When once the soul comes to know who it is that cals to know the voice of Christ and
as it were from the Bosome of the Father and for a time was willing to have his glory Eclipsed to come into this world to be in the forme of a Servant to be in a mean condition here in this world Christ hath suffered more in coming to you than you can possibly suffer in going to him Christ is content to come from the Father to you what is it that you can go from to come to him He is said in the Book of the Canticles to come leaping over the Mountaines he comes leaping over all difficulties to you if you think there are some difficulties in your going to Christ know that there was far greater difficulties that lay in the way in his coming to you but whatsoever there was in the way he was resolved to go through them all and did come and was here in the world in the flesh that he might save you and he that is thus come to you cals you to come to him ARG. III. Thirdly You must know That Christ is the great Mediator that is set between God and the Children of men it is he that hath undertaken the great work the greatest work that ever was in the World to Mediate between the infinite offended God and your sinful wretched Souls for through your sins there was such an infinite distance made between God and you that it was impossible you should ever have gone without this Mediator It is an argument of mighty use if rightly understood and throughly considered of the vast distance that sin hath made between God and sinful creatures that they can never come to God but through the glorious Mediator that is come into the world the Lord Jesus Christ God and man that was made by God the Father the Head of the second covenant and hath undertaken to make up all the wrongs that our sins have done unto God to pacifie the wrath of God and to satisfie the justice of God it is he that hath undertaken to make peace between the Father and you and it is he that cals unto you to come to him If there were a company of Prisoners in danger of Death and one should come to the Prince to mediate for them to make peace between the Prince and them one that the prisoners should know to be the only Son of the prince the delight of his Soul and he is sent by the Prince himself to come to make peace and undertake it for them and he comes unto the Prison doors and cals to the Prisoners lying in their dungeon and saies arise and come to me hearken what I shal bring to you observe my direction and peace shall be made between the Prince and you you shall have pardon you shall have your lives would not this stir them up to hearken unto him and greedily to come unto the grate Christ is come for this very end this was the work that God the Father sent him into the world about to be a Mediator between himself and poor wretched sinful creatures and now he comes unto them cals unto them and saies come to me If you did but know what Christ was and what his work was in coming into the world it could not but mightily draw your hearts to come to him when he cals ARG. IV. Fourthly Come to me saith Christ for if ever there were any that deserved to be hearkened unto and to come unto when he cals certainly I deserve it For I have not only come to be a Mediator but the truth is it hath cost me my blood I have manifested such Love unto you that I have laid down my Life for you I have shed my most precious blood I have been willing to be made a curse and all for the saving of your souls my Love hath been more to you then to mine own life for that was laid down for you I have undertaken indeed to mediate between my Father and you but it hath cost me much yet in Love to you I have thus done all my blood is shed the work is done the price is paid Come to me that you may have Life And this is the meaning of that forementioned place The Servant is bidden to go and invite the Guests for all is ready so here the work is done Christ hath done the work there could not be that argument to our fore Fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob they could not have such an argument to draw them Christ could not say to them Come to me for I have not only undertaken to Mediate between the Father and your Souls but I have laid down my life for you shed my blood for you I have paid the price already for you I have purchased your Souls I have done the whol work it is finished But now there is this Argument to draw your Hearts to Christ for the work is finished the greatest work that ever was or shal be undertaken in the World the greatest work of all is finished and upon the finishing of this work Christ cals you to himself and saith Come to me ARG. V. Fifthly Consider the infinite good that your Souls shall have by Christ in your coming to him this draweth the Heart indeed not only to see who it is that calls you for commonly when we hear one cal we wil ask who cals and if it be one that we expect good from we come to him This we shewed already But this argument is from the infinite good that your Souls shall have when you come to him the very first moment you come to him you will be blessed creatures there will be an infinite change of your condition for consider First If there be any good to be had in all the mercy that there is in God himself if there be any good to be had in God the Father in the divine essence in the infinite eternal first-being of all things it is to be had by coming unto Christ for Christ saith in John 14.6 No man comes unto the Father but by me You cannot come to God but by Christ as was intimated before in regard of the distance between God and us through sin you cannot come to God til you understand Christ to be the great means of conveyance of all good from God to his creature Christ is the great means of conveyance of all good unto the creature All are yours you are Christs and Christ is Gods saith the Apostle in 1 Cor. 3. and the Last verse All things are Gods that you will acknowledg but how come they to be ours all things are yours that is the happiness of those that are come to Christ He doth not say all things are Gods and you are Gods No but all things are yours and you are Christs and Christ is Gods Whereas other people in seeking after mercy from God go this way to work they go immediatly to God and think that if ever they receive any mercy or good it must come from God they must have it from
out against this invitation it is that that wil aggravate al your sins It may be some of you may think wel this is an incouragment to sinners we are called to Christ and we are tould that the vilest may come to him and Christ wil receive them This is wel but yet if thou wilt reject this invitation and shalt yet let out thy heart to other vanities and to the satisfying of thy sinful lusts this I say this invitation of Jesus Christ wil be the greatest aggravation of al thy sins that ever thou Committedst in al thy life thy whoredome thy drunkenness thy swearing al thy sabbath breaking wil not be so heavy upon thee wil not be so deep upon the score as one rejection of Jesus Christ calling thee to come to him and therefore take heed of abusing the grace of Christ in calling you to come to him For know if there could be any sign given to know who are Reprobates and who not I would rather pitch upon this signe one that should go away after the grace of God is opened to him and he invited to come to Christ one that should go away notwithstanding hardned in sin I say I should rather pitch upon this than any other signe There is no sin hardeneth the heart of God more than this I wil give you one Scripture for this In Luke 14.16 17. When God as the master of the great feast sends his servants and invites men to come to the wedding that is in truth to do that that I have been doing al this while to invite poor sinners to come to Christ Now divers make excuses some had bouhgt oxen others had bought farmes and others had married Wives wel marke at the 24. verse the doom of those that did not come in upon their invitation Verily saith God those men that were bidden shall never taste of my supper What! saith God to his servants have ye invited them to come in and wil they not No they have other things in their heads their Farmes their Yoke of Oxen their profits and pleasures what wil they reject such grace and favour when I invite them to come to the marriage of my son verily saith God they shal never have any good by Jesus Christ Oh! it were a dreadful doom to be past upon any soule God forbid it should be past upon any soul and yet when we come to open the grace of God in Jesus Christ in the ministry of the Word we cannot speake of it without trembling hearts without feare least some should be hardened and so God provoked by their resisting of thiâ— grace of his this man and this woman that sits upon such a stool that is not taken with this grace of God offered in Jesus Christ they shal never tast of my supper Beloved Sermons of mercy are more quicker than any other sermons whatsoever men and women may sit under a minister of the word that may preach many wholsome points of Divinity and many moral truthes against drunkenness swearing prophaning the sabbath deceit cozening and cheating they may sit along time under such a minister and God may be patient with them though they do not obey the voice of the minister but now when the Lord comes to invite men and women to come to his son let them look to it then God expects that they should fal down before that infinite grace of his and should admire it and their hearts should be taken with it and they should joyne with him and say Oh! Lord we come and our hearts do close with this bountifulness of thine in thy son the neglect of our not profiting by such sermons and casting out what we heare letting of it pass from us doth the quickest seal up mens hearts to condemnation Ye wil not come to me that ye might have life Wherfore take in what hath been spoken to you and labor to work it upon your hearts Quest You wil say Here are many things that have been spoken to poor sinners to come to Christ if these things be so what is the reason then that there is no more that come to Christ how comes it to pass that the hearts of men and women can stand out against such offers as these Ans Would you know the reason Christ himself gives it you in John 6.43 after he had been inviting some to come to him and told them that he was the bread of life Jesus answered and said unto them murmur not among your selves there were some murmured against Christ â—nd Christs words did not prevail with them no marvel that the ministers of Christ do not alwaies prevaile when Christs words Christs own preaching did not prevail with many but they did murmur at him and went away from his sermons and did reject his sermons at the 44. verse saith Christ There can no man come to me except the father which hath sent me draw him Quest You wil say then why are you speaking al this while to exhort people to come to him we are dead and you had as good speake to dead men Ans To that is answered God the father doth use to draw those soules that belong to his eternal election by the ministry of the word by such exhortations as these God the father doth make use of the ministry of man to set before poor miserable souls the excellency of Jesus Christ and so to draw their soules to him and therefore if you do belong to Gods election God wil make use of his ministry to draw your hearts to come to Christ Doth God begin to draw you by the ministry of his word have you found God by the ministry of his word begin to draw your soules Oh! do not you draw back again as loth to leave your sins to leave such a sweat pleasure such a profitable lust but if God hath taken hold of your hearts to draw you to him Oh! do not you draw back again Indeed the scripture saith many are called but few are Chosen few do come to Christ but you are al called to come to Christ Oh! let not that scripture be made true that many are called but few chosen if thou findest God drawing thy heart and thy heart ready to answer unto the Lord that is an argument that thou art not onely called but one of the Chosen ones of the Lord. There are three waies that God the father drawes those to his son that he intends shal be saved for ever by him First he draws them by the cord as I may so speak of Illumination by enlightning their minds by shewing them what his son is Secondly He draws them by the cords of mercy Thirdly he drawes them by setting conscience upon them to put them forward when the Lord is drawing the soul to Christ he makes use of the consciences of men and women to put them on to come to Christ O! thou wretched soul is not that that thou hearest in the word the truth of God is
afterwards that there is no rest nor peace to any wicked men in the world though they seem to others to live in never so much ease rest and peace Further there is no peace to the wicked saith my God it is not I saith the prophet but God that saith it wherby he would teach us this note That when any ministers of God preacheth that which is hard to us we should consider that it is not their words but Gods that speakes to them that God that wil make al good that he speakes by them which is according to his word according to what he saith in his word there is no peace saith my God Further there is no peace saith my God it may be that many would flatter you and say there is peace and these ministers do but trouble people trouble consciences and what needs so much stir what needs so much a doe no question the prophet did aime at these false prophets as there were many that we reade of in Isaiah and Jeremiah that cryed peace peace when there was no peace There was many false Prophets that lived in those times that said the prophet Isaiah preacheth to you things that are too hard God is merciful and have we not al infirmities and therefore it is but trusting in Gods mercy and do we not do as others do and we hope it shall be with us as with others at the last and it is but repenting at last now in opposition to al these saith the prophet Isaiah there is no peace saith my God let all the fals prophets plead what they will let them say what they please yet my God saith to every wicked and ungodly man and Woman there is no peace to their Souls Further It may be there are some that their own Hearts would say peace peace as many men and Women that when they hear out of the word those things that are very dreadful and do come very near to their Consciences their Consciences tel them this word of God neerly concernes them yet they will be ready to bless themselves in their own thoughts and say notwithstanding it shall be peace to them just as we read in 29. of Deut. 19 and 20. verses saith the Lord It shal come to pass that if any man when he heares the words of this curse shall bless himself in his Heart and say I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of mine own Heart the Lord will not spare him but then the anger of the Lord and his Jealousie shal Smoake against that man and all the curses that are written in this Book shall lie upon him and the Lord shall blot out his Name from under Heaven How dreadful doth God speak and to whom To that Soul that shall hear out of Gods word that there is no peace no Rest unto them in that condition in the way that he is now in yet it may be saith the Lord when you shall hear pronounced this day in my word against them you shal have many in your auditory shall say I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of my own Heart Now we do not find such a dreadful expression in all the Book of God against any as we do against those that shall say they shall have peace though they walk in the imagination of their own Heart Now hear saith the prophet may be some of you will say in your own Hearts I shall have Rest I shal have Peace but saith the Prophet there is no Peace to the wicked saith my God though your own Hearts say you shall have Peace and what need we trouble our selves with the Ministers words but my God saith there is no peace to the wicked methinks here we have a place that speakes of wicked men directly in opposition to that which the Church speaks of her self in Lamen 3.24 The Lord is my portion saith my soul therefore wil I hope in him Now let us observe at this time when the Church speakes this and saith the Lord is her portion she was in a very afflicted estate and condition and it may be that her enemies would say that the Lord had forsaken her and neglected her I but against al the enemies in the world her faith prevailes and sayes Let al the devils in hel say what they wil let al the world say what they wil yet my soul shal say the Lord is my portion that is that faith that Gods spirit hath wrought in my soul shal inable me to say that the Lord is my portion So on the contrary when wicked men are in prosperity and feel not the hand of God upon them perhaps friends may flatter them false prophets wil flatter them may be their own hearts wil flatter themselves but now to answer al saith the prophet there is no peace to the wicked saith my God my God saith it Further there is no peace saith my God no rest to any out of Christ this is to note from whence it comes that wicked men can have no peace why they can have no rest it is from God it is God that wil not give it God is against them There are many wicked men and women whose consciences are begun to be inlightened and they many times have trouble of spirit and when they awake in the night they are troubled and when they go about their business in the day they are troubled and when they come home they are troubled and so troubled as they scarce know what it is that troubles them Now perhaps you have not known what it is that troubles you but this text in Isa 57 and the last verse tels you what it is that troubles you it is the Lord that is out with you it s the anger the displeasure of the almighty that is upon you in those wayes that you have walked in and therefore it is that the prophet brings the name of God to shew whence it is that wicked men can have no peace Further It is observable that he adds it is My God he doth not say there is no peace that God saith though that had been enough but my God that is thus as if the Prophet should say through the mercy of God the Lord hath revealed this mercy to me and my Soul hath some interest in this God and since I knew God in Jesus Christ my soul hath found peace and Rest in him and he is my God and hath revealed himself to me he whose mind my soul is in some measure acquainted with my God saith there is no Peace to the wicked And though however others may think it is a strange thing to tel ungodly men that they are in a condition wherein they can have no peace when they hear of the dreadful wrath of God against all ungodlyness to be revealed out of the word yet those who are acquainted with the waies of God those who know the holiness and justice of God those who understand the mind
now this is a special thing to be spoke of in this point how beleevers should improve this and what it is that they should learn by this and how helpful this will be to them and somthing for the satisfaction of those that doubt that they are not beleevers but we cannot do all things at once this shall suffice for the present the meer presenting to your Souls what Rest there is in Christ from the load of the Burden of the Law from the load that many feel to be upon their Souls through the burden of the Law CHAP. XXXI Containeth divers Consequences from the Rest beleevers have from the Burden of the Law And Lessons they are taught from thence TO proceed now There are divers things that follow from hence from the rest that we have in Christ from the Burden and load of the Law I shall speak very breifly of them and so pass to what remaines in the next burden and rest to that From hence follows exceeding help unto beleevers against divers temptations that do exceedingly trouble the peace and Rest of their souls if they be delivered from the Law in those several respects as at large hath been opened to you 1. Then first from the Meditation of this their delivery they may have Rest and ease from this temptation that because of some imperfections weaknesses and distempers of Heart and sins that they are guilty of therefore they have no interest at al in Christ they have no interest to beleeve in Christ because of that The strength of this temptation cannot stand with the right knowledg of Christ as delivered from the Law if Christ delivers from the Law then an interest in Christ may stand though we be not able to keep the Law Yea And further we know this that it is usual with beleevers upon the breach of the Law in any thing to call their estates into question all into question Certainly if we know that we are to deal with God not by the Covenant of works not to be cast by the Law we would never be so ready to cal all into question upon any breach of the Law that our conscience tels us we have been guilty of 2. Further This would marvelously help against this temptation likewise That God accepts not of what we do because it is not perfect because it is not compleat when beleevers look upon their duties that they do perform and see so many imperfections in them they dare not tender them up to God God is an infinite Holy just God and they are ashamed of what they have done so as they dare not tender them up to God now the right knowledg of our deliverance from the Law would help us against this temptation likewise Remember O thou beleever that thou hast to deal with God in a Covenant of Grace thou hast to deal with him in Christ through a better Covenant then the Covenant of the Law 3. Further This would help against this temptation also that many times is in the Hearts of the Saints That because they hear of divers that have seemed to have more then they have that have had more ability then they have had have been able to do more for God than they have done yet for all this have fallen away and so it may be have perished for ever Now saith many a poor Christian if such Eminent men of such excellent abilities that were able to do such great things if they that go thus far fall away what shal become of such a poor creature as I am Now by the understanding of our deliverance that we have from the Law by Christ we come to have help against this temptation for let a man have never such abilities and be able to do never so much work yet this man may fall away when one that is a thousand times weaker in regard of abilities that hath the least dram of true Faith which brings him into the Covenant of Grace will stand such a one shall stand when the other fals If indeed thy standing did depend upon what strength thou hast in thy self then thou hadst cause to lear that seeing such as did stand fel away what shal become of thee But we are to know that we are to deal with God in a way of the Covenant of Grace our standing or falling doth not depend upon any thing in our selves but upon Christ that hath undertaken for al those that are his members Thou hast to deal with God in the Covenant of Grace and being once brought into the Covenant that will uphold thee though thou art weak when thousands of others that have a great deal of Natural abillity and common guifts of Gods Spirit yet being not brought under this Covenant may vanish Yea Had they the strength of an Angel yet if not brought under this Covenant of Grace made with beleevers in Christ they would fall and come to nothing Whenas the weakest beleever that hath to do with God through Christ and not through the Law such a one shal stand and not fal Now the being delivered from the Law in Christ will mightily help beleevers against these temptations and divers others I know nothing that doth help beleevers more then this in being delivered from the Law in that sence as hath been shewed before Likewise from hence there are a great many Lessons to be learned as The First Lesson First From this deliverance we are taught to entertain the hearing of the Threats of the Law I speak to beleevers though others may make an ill use in hearing the deliverance from the Law yet they must not miss their Portion I say beleevers are hereby taught how to receive the Threats of the Law you hear dreadful threates of the Law out of Gods word against sin Now how shouldest thou entertain these threates The way is this when thou hearest such threates know that God by this would have thee to consider what his mercy is in delivering of thee from what thou hast deserved God would have thee to consider what the evil of sin is in it self and to consider what Christ hath done God would have thee to be driven to Christ by this meanes to see thy need of Christ to bless his name for Christ and to prize Christ who hath delivered thee from these threatnings A beleever when he heares the threates of the Law is like a man that stands upon the shoare when there is a greivous tempest and storme he sees the waves rise high heares the winds blow and the waves roare but he stands safe upon the haven indeed he was in the storme and tempest but God hath brought him to the haven and there he stands and blesseth God It may be he sees other ships a great way off ready to be split upon the rocks or swallowed up but he is safe on the shoare so it should be with al beleevers when they heare the threatnings of the law they should entertain them with blessing
have been at liberty so as they have been as conscientious in performing of duty as before but now their duty is made the joy and delight of their souls they have gone to them with rejoycing and made the Commandements of God to be their inheritance and the joy of their hearts and their duties are as sweet to them as the hony and the hony comb Now this is the argument that we are upon that in Christ there is rest from this burden Christ gives ability unto beleevers those that are his members to performe duties with freedom of spirit and indeed evangelical duties are duties performed with freedom that is the difference between legal performances and evangelical one is done as a burden and the other is done with freedom of spirit Now I shal shew unto you how Christ gives this freedom Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty you know the scripture I suppose now this freedom of spirit in the performance of duty comes by Christ these waies First when the soul is come to Christ it hath rest because Christ renders God unto the soul in a gracious way Christ takes off the terror that was before of God takes off that from the heart The reason why duties are performed as a burden to those that are legal is this because they tender them up to God but so as they look upon God as a terrible judg they must do what God requires I but when they come into his presence they come into his presence as a judg being very terrible Now when the soul comes to Christ Christ renders God very amiable and loâ—ely unto the soul of a Christian renders God the father as his father or her father For so Christ saies I go to my father and your father to look upon God not only as a father but our father as being the father of our Lord Jesus Christ So beleevers in the performance of duties look upon God as a father in a double relation He is my father he hath begotten me a new to himself and so he is my father he is my father he hath adopted me to be his child but he is the father of our Lord Jesus Christ too and Christ is mine two so that I have an interest in the fatherhood as I may so speak as the father of Christ I go to my father and your father So when beleevers come to tender up any service to God as a duty they come to God as their father and as to the father of their redeemer too now this brings a mighty deale of ease unto the heart of a beleever in the performance of duty a great deal of difference there is between a fathers calling the child to him and a rigid severe master or judge calling of one to him When the child heares that his father cals him he runs and loves to be in the presence of his father but when one saith to a servant your master calls you he knows not whether he be called to be beaten with stripes or no. This is the difference between legal performances and evangelical those that are in Christ when Christ calls them to duty you must go into the presence of your father and of the father of your blessed redeemer you must go to duty in him Come go to prayer saith Conscience to one they cannot but go indeed but when they go to prayer their heart is struck with feare terror and discouragement in prayer but Conscience saith to one that is a beleever come you must go to prayer what is that but come you must go before your father and injoy communion with your father the father of your redeemer cals you to have communion with him how doth your heart spring to come into the presence of such a father So that Christ renders them lovely to his father and so delivers them from the burden that they are under in legal performances Secondly In Christ beleevers when they performed â—uties they do not tender them up unto God as satisfactory for any thing that is past but meerly to be testimonies of their love and thankfulness for what they have received now duties are a great deal more easily done this way then another It is true they wil gather arguments from their former neglect to stir them up to do the more I but now they are not called upon to their duties to make God amends and satisfy for what is past for that would be a burden for such as performe duties in a legal way and are not acquainted with the doctrine of the Gospel they know not how to satisfy God but only by doing so much the more by how much the more they have neglected heretofore I have neglected God al the time of my youth and now conscience begins to be awakned and tels me I must serve God and perform duties and I had need be more diligent now that I may make up and satisfy for what I have neglected before Now when we perform duties in this way they are very burdensom As suppose a man hath run in debt and he is set up in a trade I but whatsoever he gets it must be to satisfy what debts he is run out in before this must make him go on in much heaviness he thinks that whatsoever he gets must go to satisfy what he hath run into before But now take another man that hath run into arrerages and hath a freind a kinsman that coms and layes down al the debts that he owed and gives him a stock sayes now you are a Freeman once again go on whatever you get shal be for your self this man goes on a great dealemore livelier then the other just thus it is between the consciences of those that performe duties in a legal way and the consciences of that perform duties in an evangelical way One that is legal conscience tels him of such arrerages that he hath run into with God and whatever he can do for time to come is too little to satisfy for what he hath neglected before now conscience puts him upon it do he must serve he must obey he must I but he doth it with no heart at al I work and I obey I do but whether this wil make up the arrerages for what is past I do not know Now a beleever performes obedience but it is upon other termes Christ comes and layes down a price and discharges him of al former arrerages and puts a stock of grace into the heart and says unto him now live and imploy this your stock in the service of God and trade with it get more comfort and more grace with it and you shal have the benefit and the good of every holy duty that you performe the good and benefit shal come to your souls Now such a soul goes unto duties in a cheerful way and they are no burdens at al to it because he performes them not for satisfaction of any arrerages behind
heart I am not able to do it but now mark how the Gospel runs in the Deu. 30.6 And the Lord thy God wil circumcise thy heart the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with al thy heart and with al thy soul that thou maist live· The Lord wil do it the Lord commands me to do it and yet withal the Lord saith that he wil do it I might instance in a great many other particulars that the Lord requires first what we should do and if we be left here now it is hard indeed but then if we can find a promise where God promises that he wil do it for us this wil be easier to us And indeed this is the diffierence between the Law and the Gospel the Law commands us what to do and gives no strength but the Gospel never commands us to do any duty but there is a promise that engageth the Lord to help the soul in the performance of that duty And now is not here rest for the soul when the soul shal look upon the large extent of the duty that the Law of God requires of it The Law requires of me to love the Lord with al my heart and with al my soul and with al my might and to keep his commandements and statutes and to circumcise my heart Lord what shal I do in this Now then when the soul can look upon Christ the covenant of grace consider that that runs thus that the Lord wil circumcise my heart that I may love the lord with al my heart with al my soul that I may keep his commandements his statutes that God doth as wel ingage himself to inable me to do the duty as he doth require me to do the duty now here is rest unto the soule I wil conclude this particular with this one similitude as it is with the body Physitians observe that together with every veine where the blood runs there runs likewise an artery together with the veine now the artery is the vehiculum of the spirits that are in the body of a man that puts liveliness and quickness into the body So for al the world thus it is in regard of the commandements of the Law and the Promises of the Gospel I compare the Commandements of the Law unto the veines they are these duties required of thee in the whol course of thy life but if thou hast veines of blood and hast no arteries no spirit thou wilt be but dul though the blood be ful in the veins yet there wil be little strength But now there is the spirit that goes along in the arteries that gives life to the veines So now they that are under the Law they know many duties that they ought to do I but except they have the promises of the Gospel to goe along with them they have little life little activity to do the duty Therefore Christians when you heare any duty out of Gods word that you ought to performe consider here is the duty here is the veine I but where is the artery there is a promise in the word that goes along with the duty to inable me to performe the duty Now if I take both together I may go on in the way of Godliness with a great deal of ease and quiet and no duty needs to be troublesom to me The want of the knowledg of this one thing makes the lives of many people to be very disconsolate and makes them go on deadly and dully in the performance of duty whereas if they would make use of this one thing when they are put upon any duty to search and find out in the word the promise wherein God inables us to do the duty and plead the promise and say Lord thou requirest the performance of this duty but thou hast promised to inable me to do it I say if thou wouldst do thus thou wouldest find that thy duties would not be burdensom to thee but thou wouldest say wel I see my soul hath rest in Christ in the performance of al those services that heretofore have been very greivous and burdensom to me Object I But you wil say We have many promises in the Gospel to inable us but the promises are conditional and I may forfeit the promise by not performing the condition Answ To that I answer We have in the Gospel absolute promises as wel as conditional promises there is some promises that depend upon no condition at al but only beleeving as that promise where the Lord saith I wil take away the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh what condition is there does God say that if you first repent and performe such and such duties that I require of you then I wil take away your heart of stone No that is an absolute promise And so likewise that promise I wil put my feare into your heart that you shal not depart from me God doth not make this promise with condition You wil say Why then hath not al their stony hearts been taken from them because the promise is absolute I answer it is absolute from any precedent condition but yet God would have us come to the promise and close with the promises and cast our souls upon it he does not promise to do such and such things upon condition that if you wil do such and such things before then I wil do this and that for you no but only this do you cast your soul upon the promise and depend upon it and when thy soul is at a loss in regard of conditional promises when thy heart misgives thee and tells thee that thou hast not performed the condition of such such promises that therfore they do not belong to thee and thou canst not for the present have comfort in the conditional promises then make use of absolute promises and cast thy soul upon them and they wil bring in the conditional promises and know this that al conditional promises depend upon absolute promises in the Gospel and as when thou canst not make use of conditional promises thou maist go to absolute promises so when thou makest use of absolute promises thou shalt be inabled to do what is required of thee in conditional promises And here is the difference between the Law and the Gospel the Law requires and doth not give strength to inable to do what it requires but the Gospel requires and gives strength to performe what it requires Sixtly There is rest unto those that come to Christ in this because when they performe duties in Christ they do not performe them that they might have life or that they might have pardon that they might get life by them or that they might obtain pardon by their duties but they performe them now as the fruit of their life and as a fruit of their pardon and this is a great deale of rest and ease to the heart in the performance of duties There are many
us so when we account our duties to be mercies that is an argument there is evangelical obedience in the heart and there wil be a constancy in the heart in performing of them Those that performe duties in an Evangelical way they look upon them as a golden chain about their necks for ornament and not as a chain about their necks as bonds and Fetters to tie them to them Here is the difference between one that performes duties in a legal way and one that performes duties in an Evangelical way One that performes duties in a Legal way he lookes upon duties as bonds about his neck he is bound to them as with a chain but the other that performes duties in an Evangelical way his duties are as ornaments as chains of Gold about his neck And the ground of this similitude I have in Prov. 3.22 My son keep sound wisdom and discretion so shal they be life unto thy soul and grace unto thy neck The wayes of wisdome that is the wayes of Godlyness they are life to the Godly and they are a grace to the neck that is they carry Gods commandments about with them not as a prisoner carries his chaines but as one that carries a chain about his neck and he glories in it That place is very observable likewise for this that you have in Deuter. 33. comparing ver 2. with the words that follow after Verse the second The Law of God is called a fiery Law From his right hand went a fiery Law for them But marke verse 4. Moses commanded us a Law even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. From hence this note plainly results that let there be never so much seeming severity in any Law of God in any commandement that requires duty yet even this commandement of God is accounted an inheritance unto the soules of the Saints of God to be as the joy of their hearts they account their riches to be in Gods commandements not only to be in heaven but the very commandement they account their riches and their happiness Many men and women take upon them the commandements of God and the duties of obedience as necessary burdens they must do them I but the Saints those that come to Christ they take the commandement of God upon them as that wherein their riches their glory the joy of their heart doth consist and therefore how often do you heare of David saying that the commandements of God were sweeter to him then hony and the hony combe That they were more delightful to him then gold and riches And so in the Proverbs Better then Rubies and precious stones He doth not say the glory of heaven is better then al these but the way of Wisdom and the commandements of God are better then al these So that here is the life of a Christian he performes duties not onely as a way to heaven but as an injoying of heaven while he is serving of God and this is the seventh particular wherein the rest of the soul in Christ doth appear in the performance of holy duties Eighthly When a Christian is brought to Christ Christ gives him rest in the performance of holy duties because that Christ doth elevate and raise his spirit to be some way proportionable to whatsoever God requires of him ther 's an elevation of spirit a strengthening of the spirit in Christ to come to some kind of proportionableness to what the Law of God requires of them It is true set a poor weake man a sick man about any hard worke and Oh! how tedious is it unto him for a sick man to go and carry such a burden or to do such a hard work it is very irksome unto him but now when this man comes to be healthy and strong to have his veines ful of blood and his arteries ful of spirits now he goes along in his work and accounts it no burden at al because he hath got strength in him So the commandements of God they are hard to those that performe them in a natural way from a natural conscience notwithstanding al the strength that can come in by a natural conscience the commandements of God are very hard unto them but when once the spirit of Christ comes there is strength As it is said where the spirit of Christ is there is Liberty so where the spirit of Christ is there is strengâ—h As the holy Ghost speakes in Isa 11.2 The spirit of the Lord shal Rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledg and of the fear of the Lord. The spirit of counsel and Might shal Rest upon Christ and so in the measure of it the spirit doth rest upon every member of Christ the spirit of Life of Might and of counsel And therfore the Apostle St. Paul saith in the 2. of Tim. the 1. and the 7. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power of Love and of a sound minde This spirit of power is in those that are come to Christ there is a power of godlyness in them They are said in Coll. 1.11 To be strengthened with al might according to his glorious power The Apostle at least prayes for that to intimate thereby to us that there is that to be had in Christ there is a strengthening with al might according to his glorious power unto al patience and long-suffering with joyfulness giving thanks to the father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Though they be weake yet they have a union with one that is strong wherein they may come to be strengthened with al might not only according to Gods power but according to his glorious power unto al patience and long-suffering with joyfulness The duties of patience long-suffering are as hard duties as any hut in Christ there 's the glorious power of Christ let out to strengthen them to the duties of patience and al long suffering with joyfulness CHAP. XXXV Two other wayes whereby the former point is cleered with some consequences from the same and the use of the whol The First way is that whilst the soul is performing duty the strength of it is continually renewed Secondly The soul hath the love of God shed abroad into the heart The first Consequence is happiness of a Christian here Secondly Hence cometh the perseverance of beleevers The use of al is to exercise much faith in Christ Ninthly The Rest that the soul hath in Christ that is to goe on in duties with freedom of spirit without making them burdensome to it is this when the soul comes to Christ it hath not only strength to do the duty but whilst it is performing of duty it hath this strength renewed and it receives in sweetness and good and strength from Christ while it is in action while it is in the performance of duty and his duty is very easy sweet and comfortable
to have so much sin conveyed to us by Adam by propagation but thus As we may read in Rom. 5. By one man sin came into the world Now Adam he was the head of the first Covenant and by being the head of that al mankind are looked upon as members of the first Adam he being the head in that notion of the Covenant in that consideration Adam was not looked upon as a parent only as the first father but as the head and we are not looked upon only as the children of Adam but as members so that al men were looked upon as one in Adam and therefore the Scripture speakes but of two men the first Adam and the second Adam that look as sin is conveyed to us being members of the First Adam and he being the head of the First Covenant so grace comes to be conveyed unto the soul by our being members of the second Adam the Lord Jesus Christ being the head of the second Covenant here is the way of conveyance of holiness our union with Christ So that now the holiness that is in Christ comes to us by virtue of the mistical union As by virtue of the natural union of the members of the body with the head there comes animal spirits to the members of the body so by virtue of our mistical union with Christ our head there is conveyed holiness and grace to strengthen us against our corruptions As the oyntment did run from Aarons head 〈◊〉 â—to the rest of his members so Christ that is anoytâ—â—at hath the oyl not only of gladness but holiness too doth descend down to al his members by virtue of the union they have with him And for that end you have a most famous scripture in Rom. 8.2 For the Law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death It is a scripture that hath very much in it What doth he mean by the Law of sin and death The Law that is the mighty power that there is in sin and so in death that comes by sin in the hearts of unbeleevers There is a Law of sin the strength of sin I speak of sin hath strength going along with it hath power with it So a Law of sin there is in the hearts of men they are compelled to sin as I may so speake as a man is compelled to a thing by a law a law of sin though this be no excuse to them And let them know that so far as they are compelled to sin they are compelled to death to But how shal this Law of sin and death be overcome Marke the words The Law of the spirit of life in Christ hath made me free from the Law of sin and death The Law of the spirit of Life here is two gradations that is the holiness that is in Christ that is likewise a Law as wel as the corruption that is in the heart The corruption in the heart hath a strength in it and the holiness of Christ hath a strength in it too So that when grace comes into the heart the heart goes on in a way of holiness in a holy kind of necessity We can do nothing against the truth saith the Apostle But yet there is a necessity of willingness goes along with it too there is a Law of Love and kindness but by this word of Law is meant a strong impetuousness a mighâ—y power that carries the soul on to holiness Again secondly it is the Law of the spirit and of the spirit of life the holiness of Christ it is a holiness that is ful of life First it is Life And secondly it is the spirit of Life Now the spiriâ— of life is a higher degree then life as the spirit of a thing hath the quickning of the thing in it beyond what the whol bulke of the thing is When the spirit of herbs or any such thing is extracted you know those spirits have much quickning in them beyond the things themselves so the spirit would express the mighty activity in the holyness that comes from Christ it is life it is the spirit of life and then it is the Law of the spirit of life Oh my brethren you see then here that Godliness is no dul thing it is no heavy thing no poor weake contemptible thing but it is the life it is the life of Christ it is the spirit of life and it is the Law of the Spirit of life he speakes of grace when it comes to that as the Law of the spirit of life There is but two things in sin the Law of sin and death and in grace there is life and the spirit of life and the law of the spirit of life and al this in Jesus Christ It is not in our owne resolutions purposes endeavours but in our union with Jesus Christ and this it is that brings grace unto the heart though there be much corruption before yet the soul being thus one with Christ and looking upon Christ as the head of the second Covenant and doth draw virtue from Jesus Christ a mighty strong virtue to help the soul against corruption and quicken it in the wayes of God and thus comes the rest to the soul by Christ in sanctification Carnal hearts they know no way in the world how to get grace they heare talking of grace and leaving of sin but they know not how to get it and they wil go and pray read heare and the like I but you must know that grace lies in another way then you think of for you think it must come from God I but it must come from God in a mistical way through Christ Perhaps some of you hearing the mysteries of the Gospel understand this that as God is the fountain of al grace so it must be conveyed by Christ as through the cisterne I but you must understand also that you must have it from God through Christ as he is a head unto you and you are the members through a mistical union that your souls must have with Christ so as you be made one with Christ you must be made one with Christ As the member can never receive any spirit from the head except it be united to the body it is not by being tied to the body If you take an arme of flesh and tie it to a mans shoulder it wil never receive life that way but it must have a natural union Just thus your common Professors that meerly have the name of Christians and are not spiritually united to Christ they are like to Armes tiâ—d on to the shoulder or to wooden legs that are fastened upon mens thighes that want legs they have some use of those legs to help theÌ„ a little to go I but those legs have not virtue and life conveyed from the head So your common Christians they have some knowledg of Christ they are only fastened to Christ as a wooden leg is fastened to a mans
heat of the furnace and as the heat you know consumes stubble combustible matter put into it so there is that heat in the love of God shed abroad in the heart by Christ that consumes the lust of the heart and the soul growes up into holiness thereby It is with the heart of a Beleever as it is with the fruites of the earth you know that the frost may keep down some weeds but it is the sun-shine it is the beams of the sun and the warme beames that makes the fruit to ripen and to grow up that fruit that growes in the sun is soonest ripe your grasse that growes in the orchard is sowre and the beast wil not eate it and other herbs that grow in the shade comes to no maturity nor to be so good as those that grow in the sun fruit that growes upon the wal how quickly doth that grow ripe whereas the other that grows in the shade withers so there are some that live altogether under Legal feares and trouble of conscience perhaps they have somtimes fruite but it is sour fruit it is not so sweet fruite as comes from those that are under the sun-shine of the Gospel that have the shine of the love of God upon their hearts their fruite is sweet and they thrive better and looke more lovely and live a more amiable and lovely life then the lives of others And this is another way how Christ comes to be our sanctification in shedding abroad the love of God into the heart and that the scripture is ful of how the love of God is shed abroad in Jesus Christ Ninthly Christ is our Sanctification in this respect becaus al the promises of the Gospel are made to us in him he is the foundation of al the promises that are in the Gospel they are al made good in him they have a boundance of sanctifying power in them Christ is our sanctification I say because it is through him that the promises are made which hath a mighty sanctifying power As for the First In 2. Cor. 1.20 For al the promises of God in him are yea and in him Amen unto the glory of God by us Al the promises of God in him are yea in him amen al Gospel promises are made unto us by christ that is a very useful a notable meditation to consider of al promises that they come unto us from Christ an excellent meditation to set out the excellency of Jesus Christ that in him are al the promises they are in him yea what is the meaning of that That is they are confirmed to us in Christ in him they are made certain to us they are made good in him or as some of your books read it thus For al the promises of God in him are yea and I find it is I know not whether it be in your books but Calvin Beza and other interpreters say it is read in some copies thus Therefore in him let them be yea and Amen unto the glory of God by us Al the promises of God in him are yea that is they are made certain things in Christ as the foundation therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so Beza saith it is read therefore let them be Amen in him unto the praise of God That is as God hath made al promises in him as certain so let us look upon Christ and see the promises of God in him and beleeve in them and so by our faith say Amen unto the promises that are made in him unto the glory of God so shal we Glorifie God when we shal look upon the promises by our faith and say Amen unto our soules Now the word Amen signifies firme and sure that is the meaning of the word Amen Sometimes it signifies at the end of our prayer so be it Amen it is an Hebrew word that signifies so be it let it be O Lord as we have prayed and according to thy promise that is the meaning of the word Amen when you conclude your prayer with Amen It is a word that is used for faith and it is the expression of faith after we have made our prayer and that is the meaning here therefore al the promises in him are yea they are made in Christ and affirmed in Christ as certain therefore in him let them be Amen unto the soul let them be as firme and certain things unto us for us to rest upon unto the glory of God by us and thereby shal we glorifie God ye have so many precious promises in Christ but now they are unto the glory of God by us we by faith say Amen to them and we make them as firme and sure unto our soules by the exercise of our faith upon them So you may understand in some measure this scripture which hath exceeding much in it thus you see by Christ the promises are made to us Quest I but you wil say How doth this help our sanctification Answ I answer exceeding much there is nothing helps the sanctification of the soul of a beleever more then the promises of the Gospel those that are exercised in the promises of the Gospel they grow more abundantly in sanctification then others The promises of the Gospel are channels not only of mercy for our salvation but of holiness for our sanctification and for that you have a most excellent scripture 2. Cor. 7.1 Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us clense our selves from al filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God It is as ful a scripture as I know any here you may see what use the holy Ghost would have you make of the promises of the Gospel and of mercy It may be you think that seeing there is such promises of mercy you may take more liberty to the flesh but that is not the reasoning of the spirit he would not take more liberty therby but seeing we have such promises saith he let us clense our selves from al filthiness filthines cannot stand with beleeving of promises And marke he saith from al filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit So that it is not enough for you to say you have as good a heart towards God as any others I thank God my heart is right my spirit is right I but you must clense from al filthiness of the flesh as wel as of the spirit and these promises if you have the right use of them they wil be mighty clensing And marke from al filthiness it is not enough to clense from some gross filthiness that is that you do not live in the grost sins that others of the world live in and that your neighbors live in that you are not whoremungers drunkards cheaters prophaners of the saboth and the like but these promises wil cleanse from al filthiness that is there shal be no filthiness that shal stick to you as to the wicked and ungodly but it wil clense gradually by degrees from al Filthiness of
the flesh And spirit or of spirit not to make you make conscience of wicked actions but cleanse you from your very thoughts these promises wil clense from the filthiness of the flesh I perhaps they may a little serve the turne for them I but from the filthiness of the spirit the filthiness of the thoughts the Filthiness of the affections those inward spiritual wickednesses Of pride malice and the like May be you would count it a vild thing to be accused of whordom the Filthiness of the flesh I but what say you to the filthiness of the spirit of pride malice distrust earthly mindedness and such like these promises are to clense from the filthiness of the spirit aswel as of the flesh And then perfecting holiness in the feare of God it makes them fear God more and then it perfects holiness such a one as is acquainted with the promises of the Gospel is content with no measure of holiness but growes higher and higher til he comes to perfection Here you see the use of promises what a clensing nature promises have Oh my brethren be much exercised in promises lay up promises if you would get power over your corruptions And then one scripture more for this is that in 2. Pet. 1.4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises The promises of the Gospel they are precious more worth then a world a beleever that knows the preciousness of the promises accounts more of them then of his estate What do you account precious that you may have your ships laden home with precious things I but to have your hearts filled with precious promises it is far better then these But now wherein do these promises appeare to be so precious It appeares by this whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature that by these great and precious promises you might be partakers of the divine nature that is of holiness of sanctification that is called the divine nature having escaped the corruptions that is in the world through lust By these the soul escapes the corruption that is in the world by lust and not only escapes the corruption of the world that is doth not live so wickedly as others do but comes to be made partaker of the divine nature through these promises So that Christ is the rest of sanctification because in him al promises are made they have a mighty clensing virtue to sanctifie the heart you would willingly have interest in promises and have the mercy that the promise holds forth now as you would have the interest in the promises and have the mercy that the promises holds forth so you must labor to feele the efficacy of the promises to clense your hearts and make you partaker of the divine nature Tenthly Christ is sanctification because in him al the ordinances are effectual the ordinances are effectual only in Christ Christ gave his ordinances unto his Church at first and then they come to be effectual through him It is not what you come to heare in the word but how much of Christ you have in the word you come to the sacrament it is not what you partake of there but what of Christ you get there it is not what you partake of there but what of Christ you get there it is Christ in the word sacrament and prayer that is the efficacy of al the ordinances the ordinances are but al as the vehiculum Christi the conveyance of Christ unto the soul And therefore we should when we come to any ordinance think with our selves what have we of Christ what have we of Christ here have we met with any thing of Christ here In the word prayer sacraments hath my heart been drawn neerer to Christ in them For certain it is that it is Christ that is the virtue and kernel of al the ordinances Hence it is that those that are acquainted with Christ and have been brought to him they come to profit more in one month now by the ordinances then they did in al their lives Before the ordinances were as empty things and liveless things to you but in Christ they come now to be made effectual Eleventhly Christ is our sanctification by sending the holy Ghost into our hearts for the holy Ghost comes from the father and the son we can never expect the saving work of the holy Ghost nor the sanctifying worke of the holy Ghost but through Christ for so Christ saith in that place in John 16.14 concerning the spirit He saith he wil send his spirit He shal glorifie me for he shal receive of mine The spirit the holy Ghost doth receive of Christ when he comes into the heart therefore if there be any sanctification by the Holy Ghost it must be through Christ he must receive of Christ he works from the father and from the son And therfore the scripture hath that phrase We are baptised into one spirit that is by being baptised into Christ having the inward work of baptisme we are made partakers now of that one spirit the Holy Ghost Now such is the excellency of sanctification as it cannot be wrought by any natural meanes but it must have the Holy Ghost to be sent into the heart and therefore the saints are said to be the temple of the Holy Ghost Now what ever worke of the Holy Ghost there is required for sanctification that must be in and through Christ and from Christ The Holy Ghost never comes to sanctifie any but the members of Jesus Christ for he is the spirit of Christ as wel as of the father and never comes to any but to the members of Christ in this work of sanctification There are some common gifts of Gods spirit that the heathens have but for this gift of true holiness it is only in the members of Christ that the holy Ghost doth come into Lastly Christ is our sanctification by his Kingly power swaying his scepter in our hearts and ruling there subduing our lusts as a king subdues rebels and walking and governing the hearts of his people Christ doth exercise a kingly power when any soul doth beleeve when Christ comes into any heart he comes into the heart to exercise a kingly power there to set up his throne in a kingly manner and by this he comes to sanctifie the heart and give rest And as in a kingdom there are mutinies seditions and the like so in the hearts of sinners there are mutinies and seditions even against God himselfe But now whenas the king sends forth power that very power prevailes against al things if it prevail in a way of justice al things are brought into right and due order again So here when Christ comes into the heart as king of righeousness and then as king of peace hereby he comes to bring rest and quiet unto the heart by his kingly power Carnal hearts they think that the kingly power of
Christ would be a disturbance to Christians but certainly the government of Christ in the heart brings the only rest and quiet unto the soul Now these and several other particulars might be named but joyning these with the other that went before you may see how Christ is resâ—â—nto the soul in sanctification and thus we have done with that particular CHAP. XLI Six Consequences from the former Doctrine I. The difference between beleevers and the state in Adam II. We see the difference between Civility and true holiness III. We see the reason why so many Vowes and Covenants to live holily come to nothing IIII. It is impossible for any to be a member of Christ and not be holy V. Be not hindred from comming to Christ albeit you have not so much holiness as you desire VI. Hence we learne how to Vnderstand Christ aright NOW there are divers consequences that flow from hence As I. Hence we may see the difference between the condition of beleevers now and that in Adam and we may see that beleevers are in a better condition then Adam was Why because the image of God in which Adam was made it may be said to be natural that is that onely comes from God the creator from him making him a creature and giving him the perfection that was sutable to the nature of a rational creature there was al the holiness that Adam had Al the holiness and righteousness that was in Adam was but only that that was suitable unto a rational creature in such a condition and when he had it then he was to trade as it were with that stock himselfe and to live by the stock that God gave him at first only a general concourse of Gods providence there was so long as he did continue to obey God that Gods providence should go along with him and uphold him in his estate And this was the estate of Adam But now the holiness and righteousness that the saints have comes from another principle it comes not from God as creator meerly but from God through a mediator from God through his son it comes through Christ and it is a partaking of the spirit of Christ and of the father and the holy Ghost in Christ We do not read of such a kind of work in Adam only the text faith the Lord made him according to his own Image but that he should have his holiness through union of the second person in trinity and through the spirit that is sent into him by the father and the son and to be made a temple of the holy Ghost we read not He had the principle of holiness to be in himself but we have our principle of holiness in Christ stil we are not trusted with our holiness though holiness be conveyed to beleevers yet they are not be trusted with the principle of their holiness but it is in Christ stil But Adam was not so Adam so long as he stood God would go on with a concourse of his providence with him but God never made such a covenant with Adam that he should have a principle of holiness laid up in his son and that by faith he should fetch out this principle of Holiness I wil show you the difference between the state of Adam and a beleever by this similitude a father puts a stock into his sons hand but so as he tels him here is your portion I wil give you your portion go and trade with it aswel as you can but you are never like to have any further from me but only what you get by this stock This was the state of Adam God gave Adam a stock of holiness a stock of righteousness at First and bid Adam trade with it and that that he should have to live upon should be that that he got by that stock and that 's al. But now it is true we have al lost that stock and turned banckrupt now God is pleased to set up some of mankind again there are others that must perish eternally and be cast into prison and there rot in prison eternally but to some God is pleased to give another stock yet so that he wil not trust them with it wholly but thus he gives them Grace and bids them go and trade with it but so as he gives them it by little and little and reserves the maine stock in his Sons hand and saith go and trade with this and as you want come to Christ if you have any losses in your Trade come to my Son and you shall have it made up again you must give account to my Son every day And now one that is set up and hath a little stock but so that he must give account to his Father every day and then he being faithful though he have losses he wil make up his loss and such a course is taken as he shal never break again for he shal have a continual supply in his Fathers hands or unkles hands or freinds hand and this is the case of beleevers though it is true they are not made so perfectly holy as Adam was we have not so great a stock as Adam but our stock is better for together with our stock of holiness we have a supply from Jesus Christ and that we have shal be taken care of by him that we shall not loose what we have and if there be the least impairing of what we have he will make it up again So that our holiness comes now from another stock is upheld by another principle then then ever Adams was and this is the Reason why the Saints never fal as Adam did because the holiness that they have can never decay they can never turn banckrupt so as Adam did but they have the principle from Christ the water of life that shal flow into their hearts from Christ eternally II. Another Consequent that follows from our Rest in our Sanctification in Christ is this hence we see the difference between civility or Morality and true holiness true Sanctification you have heard I suppose Ministers speak of civil Men and men that have meer morality and live civilly I make no Question but you have wondred what they have meant what is this morallity We hear Ministers speak of Morral men such a one is a good Morral man or such a one is a civil man what would they have more Would they not have men civil Do they not live inoffensively Pay every one their own they do no wrong they come to Church and serve God what would they have more And yet we hear Ministers say this is not enough to be civil and not to live in scandalous sins as others do this is not enough Now it is true this is not enough and by that which you have heard out of this point you may discern that it is not enough and that there is more required then so and by this you may know the difference between your civil and moral man and those
see the reason that many people their vowes and Covenants to live better then they have done doth so often come to nothing our Sanctification is in Christ our overcoming of corruption it is by virtue of Christ then from hence I say we see plainly the reason why the vowes and covenants of so many people that do promise in the time of their sickness or when they are in any danger at sea to live better Oh say they if ever God restore us they wil never live as they have done they wil live better then heretofore they have done and though they do not speake thus for the present to deceive people but speake what they do intend their hearts are fully resolved to leave their sins and to live better yet when they are restored they live as before when they come to land whatever promise they made at sea yet they live as before What is the reason of this Because they are not acquainted with the mistery of Godliness they know not how to fetch strength from Christ to inable them to keep their resolutions they do not know where the stock of grace lies They depend upon their owne resolutions and promises they do not see the strength that should come from Christ and hence it is that al their vowes and covenants come to nothing As we reade of Sampson he said after his strength was gone from him that he would go forth as before but the Lord was departed from him So you think if God restore you you wil live better and overcome your corruptions you wil not live as before I but the strength of Christ is not with you you do not know that the strength of Christ is departed from you Adam had grace from God as the creator it is not for us to pray to God for grace as creator of al things but we must seeke God in Christ and see how the fulness of al the Godhead dwels bodily in him and so we come to have strength against our corruptions I remember a German Divine writing to his friend professeth that before he understood the way of the Gospel he had vowed and covenanted a thousand times against some sins and could never overcome them but after the Lord revealed to him the way of the Gospel that al strength comes in by exercising faith in Christ and seeing the father giving his son to supply al grace and exercising faith in the Covenant of grace he found strength against his corruptions so that he was able very comfortably to walk with God in the wayes of holiness So Christians that understand the way the Gospel wil find abundance of power against their corruptions more then they did with al their striving and paines taking before though we should strive and take al paines we can yet we must know that this wil not do it without the exercise of faith in Christ for the helping of us against our corruptions IIII. From hence followes also that it is impossible any should be a member of Christ but he must needs be holy because Christ is our sanctification Christ is Filled ful of holiness that holiness might be conveyed to his members therefore those that have yet their lusts in the strength of them that have not the rest of sanctification in some measure surely the spirit of Christ is not in them these cannot stand together to be a member of Christ and yet to walk in Filthiness these cannot stand together For Christ is the great prophet that teacheth and the great King of his Church to governe and certainly whatsoever is brought to him must be taught of him and governed by him it is impossible to have communion with the fountain of al holyness and yet for al that to live under the power of sin this cannot be V. From hence followes likewise That for any to be hindred in their comming to Christ because they have not that measure of holiness that they desire this is a great temptation for any soul that sees the want of grace the want of sanctification and labors under the burden of corruption for any such soule to be hindered in the coming of it unto Christ because it hath not what grace it doth desire this is a very strong and a dangerous temptation of the devil which we are to take heed of It is a most irrational temptation and yet this is that that many poor souls are troubled withal they think thus when we exhort them to come to Christ alas what should I do poor creature I am so vild I have such a wicked and sinful heart how should I come to him were I thus and thus had I power over my corruptions as others have then I could be bold to come to Christ Now what a temptation is this Christ saith come and I wil give you rest you say if I had rest I would come Christ is the fountain of al holiness therefore to be kept off from Christ because I want holiness is a very great temptation it is the work of the Divel should I be kept off from Christ for want of holiness when Christ is appointed by God the father to convey holiness unto the heart to renew the image of God in mee and to draw it more beautifully then ever it was before Remember the point you have heard that Christ is our sanctification and al holiness comes from him therefore surely my want of holiness shal not drive him from me but draw me to him Let me not say as Peter Master depart from me for I am a sinful man the truth is he should rather have said Master come to me for I am a sinful man So many poor soules wil say Lord I cannot come to Christ because I am so sinful thou shouldest come to him the rather because thou art so sinful VI. From hence we learne how to understand Christ aright and how to beleeve in Christ aright some people they understand Christ only as a savior that they must be pardoned by Christ and saved by him and delivered from hel by him but you must understand him to be sanctification to you also you must trust in Christ to sanctifie you as wel as save you if you understand Christ aright you must understand him to be a sanctifyer as wel as a savior if thou beleevest in Christ aright thou beleevest in Christ as a sanctifier as wel as a savior thus much of the conseqences that follow from the Rest of sanctification in Christ CHAP. XLII Containeth an exhortation to come to Christ wherein Three hindrances are removed And six encouragments laid down First The Vnion between Christ and a beleever Secondly From the great Love of Christ Thirdly Corruption is the burden of Christ as wel as of a sinner Fourthly He Healed the bodies of many he wil much more the soul Fifthly he knowes what it is to be Tempted Sixtly It is for the Honor of the Death Resuâ—rection and Life of Christ to give
The Scripture speaks of true holiness there may be abstaining from many sins and performance of many duties but no saving holiness but that that is had from God through Christ as Mediator no true holiness til the Soul comes to be acquainted with Christ and have it that way and the holiness that we have by exercising of Faith upon Christ as the Head of the Covenant that indeed is the mystery of godliness that is the true godliness that is godliness in a mystery which the world is not acquainted with that is the power of godliness the powerful holiness that comes by Christ And indeed that is the Reason why there is so much strength of Grace in the Hearts of the Saints because they have it from Christ it is from the spirit of Jesus Christ that is in him and Christ is the Lyon of the tribe of Judah his spirit is a spirit of might Common gifts have not that strength as this holiness that comes from Christ hath the holiness that is from Christ that is the only supernatural holiness it is that that is the divine Nature whereas that kind of abstaining from sin and performing of duties that civil men have and that comes in by common gifts that is not the divine Nature they have it but in a natural way what they have is by strength of Reason and argument but that which comes in by the exercise of Faith in Christ that is supernatural that is of a divine Nature and that is aboundant aboundant is the holiness that the Soul comes to have in exercising of Faith in Christ In drawing of Grace from Christ the Heart grows more in the way of Holiness it exerciseth much more Faith in Christ in a little time then it did in a long time before though perhaps those were truly godly before and members of Christ yet for want of a right understanding how all Grace comes from God through Christ and so drawing of it that way they did not thrive in the waies of Godliness That text in the 3 of the Ephesians and the 17. Is most admirable for this the Apostle praies That Christ might dwel in your hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in Love there is the strength of Grace when Christ dwels in our heart That you may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the Love of Christ which passeth knowledg that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God Here is the fruite of it that you might be filled with all the fulness of God a strange speech had it not been in Scripture who durst have exprest himself thus that by comming to know God in Christ you may come to be filled with all the fulness of God in Christ It were very much to say thus by knowing God in Christ you may come to have God that is somwhat but secondly that you may come to be filled with God that 's more But Thirdly That ye may come to be filled with the fulness of God that is yet more yea Fourthly That you may come to be filled with all the fulness of God What a gradation is here that shews the admirable use of knowing God in Christ Whereas now other men and women that onely are taught in their childhood to serve God they must serve God and they are restrained from many sins and they performe duties they wil pray and come to heare but not being acquainted with the mystery of the Gospel and drawing holiness from God through Christ how far are those from having this text made good in their hearts that is from being filled with al the fulness of God Whereas afterwards they come to have more cleere understanding of the mistery of Godlyness from Christ then they come to enjoy communion with God more then ever they did whereas before they were strangers to God now they have communion with him yea now they feele Gods fulness come more fully into their hearts then before now they feele a fulness from God and so come by degrees to be what is said in this text to be filled with al the fullness of God The reason of al the emptiness scantiness and barrenness that is in your heart is for want of understanding how God hath filled Christ with al fulness from whom wee are to receive grace for grace and by drawing grace from Christ we come to have permanent holiness and lasting holiness and this indeed is the reason as heretofore ye have heard why the grace of the saints endures for ever and they can never faile whereas the grace of Adam did faile because the one comes from God through Christ and the other did not that did not come from God through a mediator so as this did and therefore this is permanent and the other is not But of that I spake before only we bring it in now as a further motive to make us seek for holiness in Jesus Christ this rest of sanctification Some rules I wil briefly propound by way of direction as helps in seeking of grace and sanctification in Christ As First Labor to get a sence of your want of holiness and of your need of Christ for it Secondly in the exercising of your selves in the ordinances be not satisfied with the ordinances any further then you meet with Christ be not satisfied with a prayer or with hearing but think with your selves what have I of Christ here that I told you in the opening of the point how Christ was the sanctification of the heart because the blessing of al the ordinances is by having Christ there There are two or three things more that I would commend unto you The First Is this in seeking Christ do not come so much for enlargement for comfort for peace as for sanctification you seek your peace for holiness rather then seek holiness for peace this is a special rule of direction to thrive in seeking for sanctification by Christ Many Christians they seek to have Christ but why that they might have peace that they might have comfort and they make their holiness but subservient to their peace and comfort They think thus except I be holy I cannot have peace therefore I wil labor for holiness that I might have peace But a true gracious heart wil rather say thus the more holiness I have the more peace I have and therefore I wil labor for peace that I might have holiness One labors for holiness that he might have peace and the other labors for peace that he might have holiness Now those Christians that labor rather for peace that they might have holiness wil more thrive then the other that labors for holiness that they might have peace It is true indeed it is one good motion to labor for holiness because it wil bring peace I but it is a stronger motive to labor for peace that we might have holiness therefore when we seeke to
if it were but the exercise of the Grace of Faith that thou art put upon in thy affliction there may be more good to thee in that then thou canst imagine There is more excellency in the exercise of any one Grace but especially in the exercise of Faith then in all prosperity in the World if God should give thee a kingdome it may be thou hast lost thy land thy House and goods I but God hath put thee upon the exercise of Faith now more then ever Now know that the exercise of one Grace is more then a kingdome to thee better then all the prosperity in the world thy friends may come and tell thee this and that I but dost thou feel thy affliction Sanctified to thy Soul Dost thou feel thy Heart drawn nearer to God Dost thou find the discovering of thy Heart more and the purging out thy Corruption more and thy Heart quickned in the waies of God more This wil bring Rest unto thy Soul for you have heard Sanctification is Rest unto the Soul therefore Sanctification of afflictions unto the Soul must needs bring Rest unto it Seventhly God is with his people in time of affliction by Christ thou hast the presence I say of God in thy affliction Gods gracious presence is only in his Son no man comes unto the Father but by the son it is true both waies as no man comes to the Father but by Christ so the Father comes to no man in a gracious way but by Christ now Gods gracious presence wil be with them in his Son I will be with thee in the fire and in the Water that is enough for the Soul to Rest upon that God wil be with them in the Fire and in the Water in Isa 43.2 When thou passest through the Water I wil be with thee and through the flouds they shal not overflow thee when thou walkest through the Fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shal the flame kindle upon thee for I am the Lord thy God the Holy one of Israel thy Savior I wil be with thee saith God so that there is Gods presence to support them now as ye heard al the promises are yea and amen in Christ in Christ they are al made good so that Rest in affliction comes by Christ As now in sickness art thou in sickness see what Rest there is in Christ in time of sickness in Psalm 41.3 The Lord wil strengthen him upon his Bed of sorrow thou hast made all his Bed in his sickness Surely then thou wilt lie soft thou shalt have Rest there Many poor sick people complain they cannot Rest they cannot lie soft their Bed is not made well their Bed is not made easie high in one place and low in another now here is a promise that God wil make the Bed of his people in the day of their sickness in the day of their trouble what an expression is here of Gods love that we may know how God tenders his people And though it be but a hard bed a flock bed a bed of straw you may lie easie if God make it And here you see in this psalme God promiseth to make the bed of his people now if you have not Rest it is because you have not been acquainted with the promises nor not exercised Faith upon the promises such a promise will bring Rest unto the Soul when you cannot Rest otherwise And so I might give you Scriptures likewise for poverty the many sweet expressions that we have in Scripture for the quieting of the Heart in poverty the special regard that God hath to poor people especially such as are godly who are in poverty I might name abundance of Scriptures as that The Lord hath chosen the poor to be Rich in Faith And the Gospel is preached unto the poor And not many mighty and noble but the poor receive the Gospel And in Zeph. 3.12 I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people and they shall trust in the Name of the Lord The Lord hath respect to them and if thou be godly and poor thou maist search into Scripture and find abundance of expressions to give thee Rest Christ was made poor that he might make us Rich doth therefore poverty trouble thee Consider that Christ he was poor and the poverty of Christ it was to make me Rich and all the evil of my poverty is taken away by Jesus Christ If poor people would exercise their Faith upon the poverty of Christ that he was made poor for so he saith though he was the Lord of all yet the foxes had holes and the Birds had nests but he had not whereon to lay his Head Christ had not so good a House as any of you Christ had not a cottage to dwel in but went abroad from one place to another therefore exercise but thy Faith upon the poverty of Christ and that will help thee in thy poverty And so for dishonor the Scripture is very ful that way too In Matth. 5.9 Blessed are ye when men shall speak all manner of Evil against you for my names sake And that in Peter Blessed are ye when ye suffer reproach for the Spirit of Glory shall Rest upon you Now all these promises in time of affliction is made to us in Christ and therefore come to me saith Christ you shal have the vertue and efficacy of al these promises Indeed carnal Hearts they do not think the promises of the Gospel worth any thing and they think that if they can have no more comfort but that this is poor comfort but those that are godly they know that there is abundance of comfort and sweetness to be had in the promises of the Gospel Eightly The abundance of present good that Christ will bring unto the Hearts of the Saints that shal swallow up all the trouble of affliction the abundance of present good shall swallow up al the bitter of affliction As thus now suppose you have a little Vinegar one drop of Vinegar if there were a pinte or quart of the sweetest liquor in the world put into it could you tast the Vinegar the tast would be taken away So now the Soul that comes to Christ and exerciseth Faith upon him Christ brings in the present good besides that that it shal have hereafter the present good that is enough to sweeten all things and to satisfie the Soule Christ sets up such a light in the Heart that such a one hath light in the midst of darkness though there be darkness round about yet there is such satisfying Contentments in Christ that is enough to overcome all the bitterness that is in the world such a one though never so afflicted yet is able to say with David as before My Soul return unto thy Rest And indeed all afflictions to those that are beleevers and have the exercise of Faith I do not speak of all beleevers one may be a beleever and yet not have Rest in
affliction but if he be a beleever and have the exercise of Faith then all afflictions wil be no more but as if a poor Woman were married to a great prince and had all the nobles about him and all kind of dainties upon his table and he should hear the Rain rattling upon the tiles that is in the windy wether abroad what would this be to hinder the Rest of such a ones spirit The truth is had we but the exercise of Faith all outward troubles in the world would be no more to us no more trouble then this is If thou wert come to Christ and married to him and come to sup with him there would be that satisfaction unto thy Soul in Christ that al outward troubles would be no more at all then the rattling of the Rain upon the Tiles to such a one that hath al content within dores You are not yet acquainted with such blessed things that are in Christ who are troubled at any thing in the world certainly the soul that is acquainted with that will say it hath enough let what will become of my estate of my body of my House of my Lands yet I have enough in Christ how have the blessed Martyrs cryed out of the fulness of Rest in Christ I remember one German Martyr that suffered much from his enemies he said I verely beleeve that there is not a merrier Heart in this world then my self As Jacob had more blessed visions when he lay abroad in the night and laid his Head upon the stone So the Children of God have more visions many times of God in the times of their affliction their Veins are filled with blood and bones with marrow al the capacities of their soul is filled with spiritual joy and that keeps out affliction As if a man have filled his belly with good chear and especially if his veines be ful of blood and bones ful of marrow he can bare hardness the better So when the soule comes to Christ he fils the veins ful of blood and bones ful of marrow I mean thus he fils al the capacities of the soul with heavenly consolations and that bares out any trouble or afflictions whatsoever and thus there is peace and rest unto the soul CHAP. XLVI Containeth the conclusion of the last doctrine in the two former Chapters shewing how unbeseeming a thing it is for a beleever to be troubled in affliction THere might be divers other things named as by coming to Christ there is the spirit of prayer and so the soul hath rest when it can go and power forth it selfe to God in prayer But to conclude this You see by al this how infinitely unbeseeming it is for a beleever one that professeth himselfe come to Christ to be troubled in affliction Christ makes this promise that if he comes to him he shal have rest Surely either thou art not come to Christ or thou hast not exercised faith in Christ Either thus thou chargest thy self for one not come to Christ or one that hath not exercised faith upon Christ or else thou chargest Christ with unfaithfulness by thy discontentment For Christ here professeth to the wotld that al that come to him shal have rest that thou hast not rest but that a little trouble doth disquiet thee thou either art not come to Christ or dost not exercise faith or else thou chargest Christ with unfaithfulness now if thou hast not rest which way wilt thou have it fal Oh let it fal upon thy unbeleeving heart let it fal upon this that thou dost not renew thy act in comming to Christ for it is not meant of coming to Christ at the first but of renewing the act of coming to Christ and this exhortation belongs to Godly men and women that have already come to Christ by faith I say it belongs to them to come to Christ come you to Christ again and again Now thy disquiet and trouble in time of affliction doth argue that thou art either no beleever at al or hast not renewed the act of faith My brethren the wayes of many that we hope are beleevers are such as if so be they had no use of faith at al in time of affliction or as if faith were only of use to save their soules and not to give rest unto the soul here in this world or as if it were of no other use but as a sun dial in a garden to shew the time of the day when the sun shines but in stormy cloudy weather there is no use of it And dost thou make no more use of thy faith then of the sun dyal in thy garden to shew thee how it is with thee in the day of prosperity but the truth of thy faith should be a dyal to make thee know how it is between God and thy soul in a cloudy day And therefore you having now heard where the rest in regard of outward affliction lies Oh do you repair hither for rest you vex and fret and trouble your selves Why because you have not as others others can have rich tables fine houses and accomodations and al things for their content in this world but know that now the Lord hath presented to you a way how to have rest to your souls in time of poverty Labor to know Jesus Christ that was made poor for you There is as plain a way for you to come to Christ as for the richest in the world and Christ wil be as ready to entertain you as the richest It is likely that al your endeavours may come to help you so forward as to make you rich in this world I but to give rest in this world nothing can do it but your coming to Christ And above al this may serve to help us to lay up against the time of trouble that however things go in this world yet you may have rest to your soules in Christ CHAP. XLVII Sheweth that beleevers are often under inward affliction and spiritual desertions I Shal now speak of the rest that Christ gives unto the soul in regard of inward afflictions those inward afflictions are spiritual desertions that is when the Lord shal be pleased to absent himself from the souls of his people and leave them in such darkness of spirit though they be beleevers have interest in Christ yet they may be left for a time by God so as their spirits wil be extreamly afflicted with sorrow and feare and trouble because of Gods absence from them and indeed there is no affliction like to this affliction there is no condition so restless as this condition is Now this is that that every one is not acquainted withal carnal people think that these afflictions are only conceits imaginations and melancholly but the saints know what these afflictions are that they are the most real afflictions in the world these spiritual desertions for God to withdraw himself from his people We read of such an affliction that a godly man was
of the Father and throughly pleads their cause Fourthly In thy spiritual desertion thou must look up to Christ to seek the fulfilling of that promise of his that he makes to his disciples to send to them the comforter When Christ was to leave his disciples he saith Be of good cheer I will send the comforter to you and therefore be of good cheer Christ doth comfort his disciples against his absence he was to go from them and leave them in regard of his bodily presence Now Christ was so careful of his poor Servants that when he was to leave them in regard of his bodily presence he tels them he wil send the comforter to them that is the Holy Ghost shal come so much the more fully and he shal manifest me unto you Now plead this promise of the Lord Christ in the times of spiritual desertion and say Oh blessed Redeemer wert thou careful of thy disciples that when thou wert to leave them in regard of bodily presence that thou wouldst send the Holy Ghost that should come to testifie of thee and reveal thee to them and bring things to remembrance Oh much more wilt thou have compassion of a poor Soul from whom thou art absent in a spiritual way it is a greater affliction to want thee O blessed Redeemer in a spiritual way then to want thy bodily presence and therefore there is a great deal more need that the comforter should come in now to supply the want of spiritual presence then bodily presence Fifthly In the time of spiritual desertion if thou canst find no evidence at all nothing at all to satisfie thy Soul then go to Christ in the very same way that thou wentest to him at first better to do so then to lie groveling and sinking under thy Burden If thou thinkest that yet thou hast nothing that all is nothing all is lost and the like go again in the same way that thou wentest at first unto Christ thou art not in a worse condition then thou wast then when thou wert an enemy and thou foundest ease and rest in him at first now renew that work that there was in thy Soul at the very first There are many people in the time of spiritual afflictions and desertions they spend so much time in looking after old evidences whereas the truth is they might get new ones sooner then the old ones As somtimes a man may spend a great deal more time in looking after an old Key of a Box then in making a new one he might make a new Key with a great deal less trouble and it would not be so much prejudice to him to have a new Key made as to look the old one He may look up and down and spend a great deal of time that may be more worth then to make a new one So it is with the Soul in time of trouble and under spiritual desertion it is looking about for its old evidence and to such and such works of Grace and cannot find them and is poring and cannot be at quiet til it can find those former signs and marks that he had before I say such and such may sooner get new ones then find the old ones If a man have writings perhaps he cannot find such a writing he may be at less charge to have new ones writ over again then to look the old ones so thou wantest the evidences of thy Grace and canst not find them I say renew thy Grace upon Christ again and thou maist get thy evidence new writ over again and have it with less cost then to look after the old ones Sixtly Be sure in time of thy desertion to keep good thoughts of God though thou hast no comfort in them for the present yet beleeve it there is comfort in Christ and whatever becomes of thee acknowledg Christ to be faithful Christ is to be thy Lord and thy king and let thy Heart Love him and strive at the least â—o do so It is true the sence of his Love wil inflame Love again yet at that time when thou canst not have the sence of his Love yet resolve to Love him and Love his waies You know Christ when God seemed to forsake him yet at that time when he was upon the Cross when human Nature could not but see he had need of Gods presence but then he cryed out My God My God And so in Psalme 88. The example of Heman O God of my Salvation He speaks yet stil wel of God and cals God the God of his Salvation· O God of my Salvation he speaks yet stil wel of God and cals God the God of his Salvation O God of my Salvation stil keeps good thoughts of God And so the Church in the Canticles when Christ had withdrawn himself from her yet she would cal him her beloved and go up and down asking for her beloved and where her beloved was so let the soul in time of desertion Keep good thoughts of God Seventhly And Lastly If thou canst not have Rest in Christ resolve thou wilt never find rest in nothing else that thy Heart shal be restless til thou hast rest in Christ Perhaps in the time of desertion there comes one to thee and saith Christ hath forsaken thee go and have comfort elswhere look for it other where or may be the tempter wil come to a poor deserted Soul as he did to Christ in Matth. 4. When Christ was a hungry then comes the tempter to him and saies Command that these stones be made Bread As if the tempter should say thus do do not you see how your Father hath forsaken you that he will not afford you bread take a course for your self So here just thus it is for all the world with a troubled Soul the Soul is troubled the Lord is withdrawn from the Soul and now comes the tempter and saith you see you cannot have comfort you have praied all this while and you cannot get comfort Peace and Rest now therefore seek for Rest elswhere Oh take heed of this a deserted Soul should abandon such temptations and resolve that it wil be content to be in a restless condition to al eternity if it cannot have Rest here As it is with those that do ill offices if there be any breaches between Father and Child or one freind and another they take the advantage of that and say do not you see your Father regards you not though you be in such need he wil not regard you nor help you come therefore and take my counsel I will shew you how you shal live a better life and so when they would withdraw one friend from another those that would do ill offices they go and take advantage of the breach so doth the Devil when the Lord is withdrawn from the soul and the soul is in a deserted condition then comes the Devil to draw the soul to unlawful waies he wil be sure to take the advantage to do al ill