God-praising heart are a greater blessing then fulness with an unthankful spirit and it is a greater mercy for God to give a thankful spirit in a low condition then to advance a man to the highest pinnacle of outward prosperity in the world This I say is a blessed relief that causeth the soul to bless God in the want of all outward comforts 3. When God is pleased to strip a Christian of all his outward comforts he gives in a greater measure of faith that he may depend upon God for a supply So that though he hath nothing to live upon yet he is sure he shall not want for true faith looks not at secondary causes so much as at the word of promise and therefore if all means fail yet as long as the promise fails not a believing soul knows that it shall have a supply although it cannot imagine how or which way she shall have it Now inward supports in time of want and secret intimations of a supply from God in his own way and time are a sweet relief to the soul in that condition So saith David I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living Psal 27.13 True faith in God will keep the heart alive when a man hath nothing to live upon and 't is Gods way to fix a Christian most upon the objects of faith when the objects of sense are removed from him when a Christian lives least by fight then he lives most by faith Now as a Christian believes so comfort flows in to him Faith is to a Christian in stead of all things for it is the substance of things hoped for Heb. 11.1 What ever a man wants yet if he believes truly he hath the substance of that which he hopes for A Christian hopes for great things greater comforts more enlargments and heaven at last Why faith is the substance of all He that lives by faith hath the substance of heaven to live upon and that must needs be a sweet relief to the soul in a time of need It is the Christians comfort that he hath a durable and a lasting state that will never fail him and that he hath a God to go to that will not fail him but will give him such an allowance as shall maintain him till he comes to his journeys end where he shall be put into a full possession and fruition of it 4. Those small repasts which come from the hand of Divine Providence to uphold a Christian under his wants are filled so full of Divine Blessing and strength that he can truly say I have enough A man would think that pulse and water would afford but little nourishment I but Divine Blessing filled it full of strength that Daniel felt no want of better chear Let a Raven be the Prophets Caterer and if Divine Blessing attends the provision as it did he shall walk in the strength thereof forty days and not faint Though poor Christians in these days do not live upon Divine miracles yet they live upon Divine wonders that makes them sometime wonder how they live they cannot but see a Divine hand in giving what they have and then in blessing it beyond expectation for though they want much of that which others do enjoy yet they enjoy that which others want and this makes them healthful and chearful in their wants There is many a poor Christian that hath more joy in one day then thousands that enjoy the treasure of the earth and why It proceeds from this very ground the good mans little is given in love with a heart-chearing blessing while the wicked mans plentiful estate is given in wrath and with a curse upon it hence is that of Solomon Prov. 15.16 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord then great treasure and trouble therewith i. e. they that fear the Lord have not that trouble with their little which they that do not fear the Lord have with their great treasure and therefore the good mans little is better then the wicked mans great treasure The good mans little comes with a blessing for a blessing rests upon a good man and all that he hath be it little or much Now a Divine blessing ever gives strength and vertue to any means Let it be never so poor and weak of it self yet Divine Blessing makes it mighty and efficacious so that it is no matter what a Christian hath to live upon if the blessing of God goeth along with it 5. When God strips a good man of all he hath he then pours forth a mighty spirit of prayer for a fulness of grace to maintain the life of holiness in this estate He that hath nothing without to live upon and but a small stock of grace within will have much ado to rub through and a gratious soul is sensible hereof and therefore God is pleased to draw out the desires of his soul after a greater measure then yet he hath attained and indeed when outward wants meet with a soul that is full of grace they do not make such an impression upon it as when they meet with one that hath but little the empty vessel makes the greatest noise and empty Christians are fullest of complaints until a spirit of prayer is poured forth upon them whereby they attain an inward fulness and this keeps and maintains a spirit of holiness in them I confess he that prospers and thrives in the world stands in need of a large measure of grace to keep his heart holy in that estate and so he that is low in the world stands in need of a great measure of grace also or else he may miscarry There is one eminent rock upon which poor people are very apt to split and hazzard their immortal souls and that is the use of indirect and unlawful means for their relief and subsistence in the world Hence is that prayer of Agur Prov. 30.6 7 give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me least I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord Or least I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain Mark this least I be poor and steal Noting out that poverty hath this temptation attending it if grace prevents not poor men will be prompted to use some indirect course for their subsistence they 'l steal rather then want what they desire I but a good man dare not do thus This in him would be not only a breach of the eighth command but also of the third It is a taking the name of God in vain for this is a certain truth that whosoever takes upon him the profession of Christian Religion and yet departs not from iniquity he takes the name of God in vain now a true Christian in whom the fear of the Lord is planted dreads this and therefore crys mightily unto God to keep and preserve him that he may not do so unworthy an
interest in God And therefore do not conclude against thy self for though thy hand of faith be grown so weak that it can't take fast hold on God yet Gods hand is strong and that will hold thee fast So saith the Prophet nevertheless I am continually with thee thou hast holden me by my right hand vers 23. God held him fast when he was ready to drop from God He had lost the sense of his interest in God I but his interest in God was not lost God was his God though he did not know it And so God may be thine thou mayst have a sure interest in him although thou canst not find the prints of Gods feet in thy soul nor trace him in his ways of goodness towards thee And know this that it is better for thee to have an interest in God although thou knowest it not then to have strong presumptions and be deceived The want of sense and feeling of our interest in God is no sin though it be a great affliction Christ himself was without sense I he was so deep in it that when he was upon the cross he cried out Why hast thou forsaken me I but a groundless presumption is a sin and leads to eternal ruine None ever perished for want of faith of evidence but hundreds perish for want of faith of adherence Oh blessed is the man who believes and sees not that can say with Job Though he slay me yet will I trust in him Though my flesh fails and my heart fails yet I will believe that he is my strength and portion for ever Thus I have answered this case and so made way to application Vse 1. Hence we may infer the sad and woful condition of those who have no interest in God for they that have no interest in God can expect no relief from God in a time of necessity Wicked men have their failings their flesh fails them sometimes and their hearts fail them but no relief comes from God at those times Of all men they are most to be pityed for there is no help no relief for them If I be wicked saith Job woe unto me Job 10.15 i. e. If I be wicked I can expect no mercy no comfort from God Nay hear what God saith himself to such Esay 65.13 Therefore thus saith the Lord behold my servants shall eat but ye shall be hungry behold my servants shall drink but ye shall be thirsty behold my servants shall rejoyce but ye shall be ashamed behold my servants shall sing for joy of heart but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart and shall bowl for vexation of spirit The meaning is God will not afford them any comfort or relief in times of distress When God invites his own servants to feast with him they must be shut out And if God helps not who can No without me ye shall bow down saith God Esay 10.3 The wounds of the wicked are desperate wounds there is no cure for them Mark that of Job for what portion is there from above and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high is not destruction to the wicked and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity The latter verse is an answer to the former and the sense is this all the portion and inheritance that the wicked can have from God above is destruction and a strange punishment Job 20.2 3. God is the strength and portion of a godly man when his flesh and heart fails him but the wicked have no other portion from God then utter destruction a strange punishment So Job 20.27 28 29. The heavens shall reveal his iniquity and the earth shall rise up against him the increase of his house shall depart and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath This is the portion of a wicked man from God and the heritage appointed to him by God Here is heaven and earth set against him the heavens shall reveal his sin and the earth shall punish him for his sin But is there no relief for him in God No This is the portion of a wicked man from God The case of such a man must needs be very black and dismal when heaven and earth and all the creatures therein are armed against him and mustred up by a Divine Hand Where can he have any relief then If God were for thee 't is no matter what sets it self against thee But if God be against thee 't is no matter what is for thee it will not help thee If misery and destruction be all the portion that God will allow thee there is nothing then can save thee If this be all thou hast to live upon to eternity thou wilt have a miserable living of it Vse 2. Hence all those that have interest in God may fetch comfort here is a well out of which all good men may draw the water of consolation with joy And what can afford greater comfort to you then this Doctrine doth that divine relief shall be administred unto you in time of your necessity when your flesh fails and your heart fails God will be the strength of your heart It is a great comfort to a Merchant-adventurer to have an assurance from the Ensuring Office that his Adventure at Sea shall be made good to him in case the Ship miscarries Even so it may be to a childe of God to have an assurance given him that if all fails him without and within he shall have relief from God Why this Text and Doctrine gives thee an assurance hereof and therefore as Job said hear it diligently and let it be your consolation You may take comfort in your greatest discomforts that you shall have comfort If there be enough in God to relieve and help you you shall not want relief Obj. But the doubting Christian may say I could take comfort in this truth had I not walked so unworthy of that former relief I have received from God I can truly say the Lord hath magnified the riches of his grace upon me but I have abused it and it may be just with him to cast me off for ever He hath helped me when I was in a low condition he hath strengthened me when I was in a weak state but I have not made suitable returns thereunto and therefore how can I expect relief Ans Now to such I have five things to say 1. The unsuitableness of a believer to and his unworthiness of relief cannot stop the current thereof As divine relief is not administred to us upon the account of our worthiness as if we did merit it so our unworthiness of it nor unsuitableness to it shall not prevent it Thy miscarriages may cause God to correct thee with failing of thy flesh and of thy heart but cannot cause God to cast thee off if thou hast an interest in him No that love that moves him to correct thee for thy good will also move him to relieve thee when thou art under the rod of correction
can't and one can suffer that which another can't one goeth heavily and drooping under his burden when another sings and is merry with a burden that is far heavier One can slight a temptation and resist it allthough it be very great and another is overcome when it is small I 'le give you some Examples hereof First Compare the first Adam with the second the first was suddenly overcome with a temptation and fell from a state of happiness into a state of misery because he had not Divine influence to support him and keep him from falling his strength was placed in himself and not in God But the second Adam stands his ground and keeps the field against Satans strongest attempts and batteries yea beats him with his own weapon and forces him to retreat because the God-head dwelt bodily in him and in him dwelt all fulness Again Compare Lot and his wife with Abraham in point of trial when God would have Lot and his wife deny themselves and leave their pleasant habitation of which it is said that it was even as the garden of the Lord you shall find Gen. 19.16 that Lot and his wife were loth to obey God herein 't is said he lingred c. But now when God tried Abraham in a far greater matter see how willingly he obeyed God therein so you may see Gen. 22. Rom. 4.20 The strength of a Christian lies not so much in his inherent Principles as in his assisting influences a Christian is strong as they flow in As a child in his fathers hand may do that which one of larger growth cannot do of himself so a young Christian in the hand of Christ can do that which old Adam could not do in innocency when left to himself A weak bearer with strong supporters may hold a greater weight than a stronger bearer without supporters A weak Christian underpropt and upheld by Divine strength may undergo and bear more then one that hath a larger measure of inherent grace This is that which makes a Christian differ from himself at one time very weak and at another time very strong as buds open in the day and shut at night as a man fasting and full differs in strength We see David at one time is afraid of a little 1 Sam. 27.1 1 Sam. 30.6 and at another time fears nothing At one time he concludes that one day he shall perish by the hand of Saul and yet not near him at another time when his own people spake of stoning him he takes courage in the Lord his God An army of flies will terrifie a Christian at one time when as an army of Giants can't daunt him at another Sometimes he can do nothing at other times he can do all things Sometimes he doth but creep at another he runs towards heaven Full is that Ephes 1.19 we believe according to the working of his mighty power much or little a little power put forth will produce but a little faith a great power will produce a great faith So that this is clear that according to a Saints Communion with God and Gods influence into him such is his strength as a man receives from God such is his power and ability the whole strength of a Christians heart depends upon the enjoyment of God 4. According to the fulness and extent of grace promised in the Covenant of grace such is Gods influence into the hearts of his people for their strength The Covenant of grace is full and large proportioned to the eternal love of God and the weak state of fallen man So that there is no condition into which a Saint can fall but there is a proportionate and suitable good promised and Covenanted to it The Covenant is Gods dispensative wherein all receits for all Spiritual weaknesses is held forth there is not a heart failing but there is a receit for it some promise that is suitable thereunto Now Gods strength passeth from God through the word of promise As God speaks the word so Divine influence flows into the soul The words that I speak saith Christ are spirit and life Joh. 6.63 The Lord is therefore pleased to set forth the power and life of his promise by a lively similitude Esay 55.10 11 12 13. Even as the rain and snow gives strength to the earth to bring forth and to bud and makes it fruitful so doth the word of grace give strength to a weak heart to bring forth grace and comfort and makes it full of goodness David had experience of this and therefore saith In God I will praise his word Psal 56.4 10 i. e. This is my strength God speaks the word and it is done comfort and courage help and salvation flows in through the word of promise Alass I were not able to stand if I had not this supporter to bear me up So you may see Psal 21.13 I had fainted unless I had believed God doth not only strengthen his Saints according to his word but he strengthens them by his word This is the medium through which all Divine strength passeth into the hearts of Saints for the strength of God is in his word of promise as its proper life and virtue this makes it enlightening enlivening strengthening encouraging comforting and sanctifying Hence is that of the Apostle Peter 2 Pet. 1.3 4. He that takes hold on the Covenant and on the promises of grace therein takes hold of Divine strength and as it is said of Sarah shall receive strength to conceive and to bring forth the image and life of God in his soul and conversation When God seemeth to stand at a distance from the soul that she can't see him nor find him out yet if the word of promise be nigh her and in her she can't want strength for the strength of God is in it and have you not found it thus sometimes that upon the reading or hearing of a gratious promise of God held forth in the Scripture such a clear light hath shined into your souls and such a strength hath flowed in therewith as to raise you up and to work a mighty change in you 5. According to that mutual transact that is between God the Father and his Son Christ Jesus both on Gods part and on the believers part so doth the Covenant give forth its virtue and grace to the believer You heard before that the Covenant of grace is Gods means whereby he strengthens his people there is the strength of God laid out now this means works not but as it is moved it gives forth nothing but as it is set on work Though there were healing and strengthening virtues in the pool of Bethesda yet they could not put forth themselves until the Angel moved the waters so it is here the Covenant of grace is Gods strengthening pool I but the virtue thereof is not put forth without a motion these waters are set on work by a mutual transact between the Father and the Son First Therefore God
work of God will most certainly cause a frown from God He hides his face from such as being ashamed to own them And indeed it is a shame that Satans servants should be more active and laborious in his vasallage and drudgery then the servants of God oftentimes are in their high and heavenly calling and employment I say God is even ashamed of them and therefore hides his face from them O it is very good for Christians to examine themselves when they find an ebb in their comforts whether there is not an ebb in their spirits that they are not so lively and active for God as they have been Secondly idle unactive Christians that do not lay out their strength for God are in danger of the loss of Gods assisting presence for a time To what purpose should God give in new influences when as the soul neglects to lay out his former incomes What reason hath the soul to expect that God should stand by him and give in a new supply of grace to sit still and do nothing God is not so prodigal of his grace and 't is but folly in the soul to expect it The promise runs thus the Lord is with you while you are with him i. e. when the soul waits upon God in the way of obedience and is faithful to lay out communicated strength therein to the utmost then God attends all his motions and communicates new supplies to help him forward therein but now when the heart grows dead and the spirit dull to Holy employment God withdraws himself and leaves the soul for a time Some say they must not enter upon a duty until the spirit of God moves them Why truly such men oftentimes sit still a long time without a motion from the spirit No we must attempt our duty and then we may hope for the motions of the spirit but otherwise we cannot The Holy Spirit is an active Spirit and he cannot endure to lodge in an idle unactive soul also when the soul once takes off his hand from Holy employment the Holy Spirit departs The Church never found such a sensible withdrawing of her beloved from her as when she was laid down to rest her self upon her pillow of ease and self enjoyment As you may see Cant. 5.2 6. She found it very hard to recal him and recover her enjoyment of him And so it will be with all those that are in that posture Mark her expression I opened to my beloved but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone my soul failed when he spake I sought him but I could not find him I called him but he gave me no answer See here how God repays the soul in its own Coyn. She will do nothing for God and now God will do nothing for her She would not answer God when he called but was dumb and silent and now God will not answer her when she calls She would not seek him when he offered to be found of her and now he will not be found though she seek him She would not lay out that strength for God which she had and now he denies her that strength which she wants Thirdly An idle unactive Christian is in danger of falling into some powerful temptation When a man once leaves off working for God Satan will presently set him to work If thou canst not find in thine heart to pray meditate believe repent and walk close with God the Devil will find thee work to thy cost The truth is the soul of man can't lie still it must move and act Now if it be taken off from that which is good it will fall to that which is naught Little did David think what a bait Satan had laid for him when he went up to the roof of his house and there walked from thence did those two horrible sins of uncleanness and murther take their rise When a man goeth forth out of his Chamber in a morning with a purpose to spend a day idly and vainly he little thinks what the issue thereof may be before night An idle unactive Christian tempts Satan to tempt him and Satan never goeth up and down unprovided but according to the temper of the person or the season of the year or the place of a mans converse or the age of his life fits and prepares such a snare for him as may most undoubtedly catch him to the breaking of his peace and the wounding of his conscience And indeed the less any Christian works for God the greater advantage Satan hath to work upon him When thou intermittest thy seasons of praying and conversing with God in his Holy Ordinances then the roaring Lion comes and makes a prey of thee Thou art then meat for his tooth And know this that sins of Commission do for the most part if not always take their rise at sins of Omission Thou dost not perform that which God commands and Satan provokes thee to that which God hath forbidden Thou straglest and wanderest out of Gods way and 't is no wonder if this high way adversary take thee up Fourthly Thou art in danger of having thy heart more corrupted hereby The heart of the best is bad enough but by idleness it will be worse Standing water will soon corrupt and so will an idle unactive spirit The less a Christian is imployed in Holy Duties the worse will his heart grow more prone to evil and less disposed to good When a Clock stands still long the wheels will contract rust and put it out of Order Even thus it will be with the heart of man when it is not in continual motion towards God and often wound up into an heavenly frame it contracts abundance of filth that puts it out of order and renders it unfit for holy action it his hard to get the heart into a good frame for communion with God if a Christian take never so much pains with it but if it be in never so good a temper it will soon be out again if a man take not as much pains to keep it so as to get it into it The corruption that is in mans heart will quickly overtop his grace if he stirs not up himself to oppose it An idle Christian cannot continue a good Christian long Fifthly If thou beest idle and unactive thy Spiritual strength will much abate So much as thou abatest of this Christian work so much will thy spiritual strength abate He that will not work when he can will not be able to work when he would For as grace is strengthened by exercise so it decays by idleness And it is a just judgement of God to take away our Talents from us when we do not improve them for his advantage Matt. 25. Branch 2. God is Israels portion for ever Now in the handling this truth I shall do three things 1. Prove it by Scripture 2. Explain it 3. Give you the grounds and reasons and so apply it First For proof turn to that of David
draw never so much yet the well is deep and there is as much as ever was O the bottomless goodness of God! O the inexhaustible fountain of Divine perfection No heart is able to fathom or contain it Demonstration Q But how comes God to be the Saints portion First it flows from Gods free donation God hath given himself to his Saints That is properly a mans portion that his father gives him Now because God can give no greater good then himself therefore he gives himself to his Saints God is their Father and they must have a portion from him and God cannot think any thing below himself a portion for them He can give the world to his enemies I but he gives himself to his children Hence it is said that God hath set apart him that is godly for himself Psal 4.3 and the Lord hath chosen Jacob for himself Psal 135.4 even as a man takes a child and adopts him makes him his own and then gives him a portion so doth God 1 John 3.1 and Rom. 8.17 Now what is the inheritance but God himself Nothing below God is the inheritance of Christ who is the Son and nothing less then God is the inheritance of Saints who are Gods younger children but this is not by humane purchase but by Divine gift For alass all the gold silver in the world is not to be weighed against God as a sufficient price All the nations of the earth are but as a drop in the bucket and as the dust in the ballance Nay as nothing and counted to him less then nothing No this is an inheritance not to be bought by any finite price Nay whatever thou valuest the most yet comes infinitely short of a sufficient price Wert thou more righteous then the Angels or Adam in innocency yet all thy good works would not bring thee in a ray of Divine glory by way of merit Why else had not the Apostate Angels and Adam in innocency the presence of God for their sustentation to keep them from falling but to evidence this truth that mans righteousness cannot purchase the enjoyment of God 2. This flows from a Saints self-denying resignation A true Saint denyes himself in all but God and to him he resigns up himself Self-denial outs a man of all earthly goods in point of affection and affiance and carries him to God alone for sustenance content and comfort So Psal 73.25 A true Christian dare not own any thing as his All but God He hath a true right to all that he enjoys as to use but he doth not account it as his portion No he resigns himself to God as his life and All So David Psal 27.1 God is my life i. e. I live upon God and have all in him I betake my self wholly to him and to him only So Psal 62.1 the word rendred truly signifies only i. e. I betake my self to God alone I go no whither else and the truth is none but a true Christian knows the emptiness of the creature and the fulness of God and therefore he alone lets all go for God Those things which are the wordlings gain a Saint accounts loss for God now when a man hath thus outed himself of All for God he would have nothing at all to live upon if he did not fix on God as S. Paul said 1 Cor. 15.19 If our hopes were in this life we were of all men the most miserable What to loose earth and heaven together To deny a mans self in all worldly advantages and not to have a God to lay hold on This is most sad No therefore the Christian is so wise as to make an happy exchange to forsake all for God and having forsaken all for God God takes him to himself Hence is that gratious promise Hos 14.3 The fatherless shall find mercy God is the portion of none but spiritual Orphans he becomes guardian to none other Mercy in God supposes misery in the creature Now when the soul becomes the most wretched and miserable in its own sense then it is an object of mercy Matth. 5.3 Blessed are the poor in spirit for their is the kingdom of God 3. God is a Saints portion by way of fruition he enjoys God truly here and fully hereafter God is not only round about his people as their wall of protection but he is in their hearts as their life and well-head of eternal comfort and satisfaction 1 John 3.24 He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him and he in him There is a mutual inhabitation they dwell each in other and so enjoy one another So vast is the soul of man that nothing but God can fill it and therefore God dwells in a Saint so immense and incomprehensible are the dimensions of God that nothing is able to hold them and therefore a Saint must enter into and dwell in God Hence is that prayer of the Apostle for the Ephesians Chap. 3.19 that they might be filled with all the fulness of Christ So that of our Saviour Matt. 25.21 The more an earthly portion dwells and lodgeth in the heart the more it sinks and destroyes the man but this is our life and salvation our glory and our heaven to be full of God Gods indwelling in the soul is its resurrection and exaltation Esay 57.15 16. Now for the right understanding hereof you must know that this indwelling of God in the soul is not essentially as the God-head dwelt in the humane nature of Christ and made up one person but mystical and spiritual 1. By lively impression 2. By gratious influx First God dwells in the heart by lively impression God stamps his own image upon the heart and so lives in it as the father lives in his child a soul conform'd to God is a soul full of God Then is the soul taken up into the life and light of God when it is made like to God holy as he is holy Then God lives in the heart when a spirit of holiness is planted in the heart and when the lines of his glory are drawn upon it so saith the Apostle 1 John 4.12 16. God is love The love of God is his image he that loveth truly and sincerely he dwelleth in God and God in him There are some that dream of an immediate vision of God they see him in his Essence but saith John No man hath seen God at any time if we love one another God dwelleth in us and we in him i. e. If the image of Divine glory be enstampt uppon our hearts and appears in its lively acts of grace and goodness love and sweetness then have we true and close communion and fellowship with the Father So 1 John 1.7 If we walk in the light as he is in the light then have we fellowship one with another This is to see God know him and enjoy him for the soul to be made like to him transformation of the soul into Divine similitude gives it the fullest enjoyment
it i. e. he convinceth a Christian of the greatness and heinousness of the sin It is possible for a Christian that is sound and upright in the main to have so great a failing in his Will that for a time he may but jog on in the way of God that other Christians outstrip him far that set out long after him and yet he may be very insensible thereof until God is pleased to strike a dart of spiritual conviction through his very heart and this wakens and rouzes him up and makes him bestir himself and consider where he is and what he hath been doing all this while A clear place for this you have Cant. 5.2 I sleep but my heart waketh it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh saying open to me my sister This is the ingenuous confession of the Church wherein she acknowledgeth that carnal deadness and security that had overtaken her I sleep or I have been asleep Now a Christian never sleeps spiritually or in a spiritual sense but when his Will flags and fails when that falls to a kind of indifferency or is not strongly bent and inclined but grows cold and dead which is the symptome of a sleepy man I but did Christ suffer his Spouse to lie in this sleepy state No! See how he awakens and rouzes her up he calls to her and bids her open to him whereby he let in a beam of divine light and convinc'd her of her sin and this was the first step to her cure this made her open her eyes as when a man awakes out of sleep he first opens his eyes and then he rises So 't is with a sleepy and dull Christian God's first work upon him is to open his eyes that he may see his sin and be affected with it and this will make him stir O beloved it may be you do not know the evil that is in a sleepy estate the sin that is inindifferency and halting in the waies of God and in the weakness of your Resolution to walk therein you take little notice it may be of the coldness and deadness of your hearts unto holy duties or of the fickleness and inconstancy of your Spirits in them but at one time or other you must expect a Soul-awakening voice that will make you open your eyes and then you will see how great a sin it is What though thou dost not cast off the waies of God yet this heartlessness in them is sin enough if God should charge thee with it to sink thy Soul as low as Hell Secondly God cures this sleeping evil by reviving and renewing the inscription and impression of Divine Law upon the heart A good man never grows dull and dead but when Divine Law is not in its full strength and power upon the heart As this is a means of divine life so it is a restorer and renewer of life When the heart is exceeding dead and indisposed to any thing that is good this can quicken it and hence is that of David Psal 119.93 It is a blessed thing for a dead and dull heart to be quickned unto and in the way of God But this will not be unless the word of God come with life and power upon the heart And this effect is worth remembring and a good man will say with David I will never forget thy Precepts for with them thou hast quickned me It may be thou goest to read or hear the word with a dead and dull Spirit and by that God quickens thee Oh remember it and never forget it It was a great and wonderful mercy to thee that God did write his Law upon thy heart when he first brought thee under the bond of his everlasting Covenant and then bowed and inclined thy heart to a ready and free obedience thereunto It was a day of power when he made thee willing to take his yoak upon thee And it is a great mercy that he is pleased to revive and renew the characters of this divine and heavenly Law upon thy Spirit when they seemed to be obliterated and blotted out when thou hadst almost lost the power and life thereof upon thy Spirit that there was little stirring or moving in thy Will towards Heaven God deals with a Christian as a man deals with his Watch when it goeth dull and begins to beat slowly he gets the Spring which is the principle of its motion mended and renewed So when the heart of man grows dull and heavie his motions very cold and dead unto any good God mends and renews the Will which is the spring and principle of motion in the heart and for that end he sets Divine Law and will to work upon it When God's Will moves upon our Will then 't is quick and liuely in its motions towards God not else if that be dead towards him the man is dead to any thing that is good I know the Law as it is a Covenant of Works is a killing Instrument it slew Saint Paul and laid him a bleeding before God but as it is a Covenant of Grace so it is a quickning Instrument and sets the Soul a going after God in the use of those means which he hath appointed 3. Sometimes God cures this sad distemper by shedding his love abroad upon the heart Divine Love is both a heart-quickner and a heart-in-flamer We saith the Apostle love him because he loved us first 1 Jo. 4.19 Our love is but the reflex of his Gods love to us is founded in it self He loves because he will love but our love to God is founded on his love Nothing in us moved him to love us but God's love to us moves us to love him and therefore it is that as God manifests his love to us so we are able to love him The love of Christ constraineth us 1 Cor. 5.17 As when the Sun shineth then Flowers open so when the love of God shines upon the Soul it opens to God then the Heart is enlarged for God the Will is carried out with high resolutions to follow him fully in all the waies of his commands As the hiding of Gods face is a great damp upon the Spirit that makes it drive on very heavily in the way of God so the shining of his face is a notable quickner of the Spirit it is like oil to the wheel that helps on the motion with greater ease When once a Soul hath tasted the love of God and got some sense thereof the pulse of holy desires will begin to beat strong after the enjoyment of him it is impossible for a Christian to remain dead under the warm beams of this most glorious Sun It is very observable that no sooner did God call to Israel to return with a gracious promise of healing their backslidings and of pardoning their iniquities But they answer Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God Though their Hearts were turned even quite away from God and their Wills exceeding averse from
returning yet that expression of Love and Grace to them presently turned the bent and frame of their Spirits and quickned them to a speedy return Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God as you may see Jer. 3.22 And therefore it is that a gracious Soul longs for the sense and manifestations of Gods love not only for the peace and comfort that it brings along with it but because he knows that it a is quickner of his Heart and Will to a cheerful performance of obedience unto God 'T is that which begets a free Spirit in the Soul renders it ready and prompt unto all holy service And now set God call him to what he pleaseth and he stands ready prest to do it God hath now as it were a string upon his heart he may lead him about whither he will 4. Sometimes God cures the failing of the Will by removing those impediments that stopt its motion You know if a wheel be scotcht there is no stirring of it until that be removed even thus 't is here Sometimes the Will of man which is the wheel of Motion is scotcht so that it cannot move forward until that be removed Hence that of the Psalmist I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart Psal 119.32 The word enlarge doth not only signifie to widen and extend a thing but also to set at liberty and to free it from impediments and incumbrances and so it is used Psal 4.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress or Thou hast set me at liberty And as it is applicable to the outward state and condition of a man so the Prophet makes use of the same word in reference to tie the inward state I will run the wayes of thy commands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when thou shalt set my heart at liberty i. e. There is that in my heart that cloggs me and hinders me that I cannot run the way of thy commands until thou dost remove it Sometime the mind is clogg'd with strong temptations Sometimes with sore pressures of grief and horror Sometimes with impetuous lusts and passions And untill the Soul be set free she cannot move in the waies of God And therefore divine relief comes into the Soul in this case to remove those obstructions and to take away those clogs And many a gracious Soul hath cause to say Lord thou hast enlarged my Heart My Heart was scotcht but thou hast set me at liberty I was pesterd with such a temptation and with such a pressure of grief and horrour or with such a passion and lust but thou hast removed it and set me at liberty I know the perfect and full enlargement of the soul is not wrought until she comes in heaven but God begins the work here and oftentimes when she is in the greatest streight and so stopt in her motion that she is like an instrument quite out of tune and ready to be hung up or laid by then God steps in and affords this gratious relief to it 5. Sometimes when God finds the soul in this dead and drowzie case that it hath little mind or spirit unto duty he makes use of the rod of correction and then when the soul feels it smart she rouseth up her self and sets to work Even as when Absalon sent for Joab to come to him once and again and saw he would not stir he commanded his servants to set Joabs field on fire and then Joab makes all the hast he could to Absalon 2 Sam. 14.29 30.31 even thus it is here God sends for us first one messenger comes and then another to tell us that God would have us come to him As you have it Cant. 2.14 Let me hear thy voice let me see thy face I but we stir not come not at God either to pray to him or praise him that at last God is forced to fire us out and then we come You have a notable place for this Hos 5.15 I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offence and seek my face in their affliction they will seek me early They that lay snorting in their bed of security in the time of prosperity will be better husbands in time of adversity they 'l get up early the word signifies they shall morning me i.e. they shall come in the morning of their time and seek me And so Esay 26.16 They poured out a prayer unto thee when thy chastning was upon them and in their affliction they visited thee Mark it when the rod was upon their back then they cry and then they beg I they poured out a prayer It was not as one observes upon the place a dropping now and then but it was violent and continual the spirit was stirred and now it cannot lie still Afflictions commonly move and stir the heart one way or other sometimes they stir the evil and cross humours that are in the heart of man and then he rages and fumes against God and his ways but where grace is there they stir up a lazy and a dull spirit to meet God in his way with mournings and supplications The finger may be in the eye because grief is in the heart but this sorrow will have a vent else the heart will not be at rest God and the soul must be friends or she can have no satisfaction When God corrects the soul in good earnest then she seeks him in good earnest and will not be quiet until she finds him So Esay 26.8 9. In the way of thy judgments O Lord have we waited for thee the desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee With my soul have I desired thee in the night with my spirit within me will I seek thee early Here is seeking indeed the whole soul and spirit put forth and that diligently and constantly and then with waiting until she find We have waited for thee 'T is true affections do not always work thus in the heart of a good man at first God whips and whips again before the soul stirs I but God will not give over whipping until she stirs Dull and heavy spirited Christians seldom go long without a rod at their backs and 't is a great mercy when the rod of correction is any ways efficacious to rouse them up out of their drouzie and sleepy state 3. A third particular case of the failing of the natural faculties of the soul is in point of retention the memory may fail As a man may have a good head and a naughty heart so a man may have a good heart and a naughty head a head that will hold little or nothing that tends to the support and comfort of his soul when his flesh fails him A good Christian may be like a leaking vessel that retains no liquor long he may let slip the word of Gods grace and the external works of Gods grace and not
be able to withstand a temptation then he saw the uncleanness of his heart and therefore cried to God to wash him and cleanse him and it is as if he had said Lord I see now what a filthy and unclean Spirit dwelleth in me Lord do thou purge it out and cleanse me from it If any one had gone to David and told him that at such a time he should be overcome by such a temptation and commit two great sins he would hardly have believed that his heart had been so bad But after wards his expeperience taught him 2. Hereby God teacheth the Soul where its strength lieth and on whom its grace depends The decay of grace shews that the strength thereof is not in man nor in grace it self but like the Vine it must have a supporter Grace can't live nor thrive without constant influences I but good men are too apt to depend upon their grace and not to go to him for strength in whom it lies Now when a Christian feels the decay of his grace and his own insufficiency to relieve and strengthen it this drives him out of himself to Christ This is one main difference between the total want of grace and a sense of decay in grace The total want of grace drives men from Christ but a sense of the decay of grace drives men to Christ So it did David his weakness brought him upon his knees 3. The falls of Christians through the weakness of grace and the power of sin are made notable antidotes and preservatives against final Apostasie For as there is nothing that estrangeth the heart from God as spiritual pride and self-confidence so nothing keeps the heart so close to God as a filial fear of offending God So you may see Jer. 32.40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me This is that which hemms in the Soul that it cannot go astray Now the falls of Christians provoke and draw forth this filial fear into act The burnt child dreads the fire and he that hath been stung with a Serpent will shun his hole so it is here None so fearful of falling into sin as they that have fallen None so wary and watchful none so resolute and stout against temptations and occasions of sin as those who have been at a time overcome 4. These falls and decayes are like mighty winds to the Oak that settles him faster and make him root deeper in Christ As the more the Oak is shaken if it falls not the faster and deeper it is rooted in the earth So when a Christian hath been shaken with the winds of temptations and corruptions the faster hold he layeth upon Christ and the deeper he is rooted in him For 1. His experience of Christ's faithfulness in keeping him from falling finally and totally strengthens his faith in Christ 2. His experience of Christ's pardoning love knits and unites his heart close to Christ First His experience of Christ's faithfulness in keeping him from falling totally and finally strengthens his faith in Christ As 't is a notable trial of Christ's faithfulness to keep Saints from falling away finally when they fall souly so experience of Christ's faithfulness is a notable strengthener of a Christians faith in Christ They that know thy name will put their trust in thee saith David Psal 9.10 A friend that keeps close to a man in time of need may well be trusted Even so 't is here Christ keeps close to a Christian even at that time when he deserves to be cast off and is both a shame and a grief to Christ Surely the experience hereof must needs be a great incouragement to a Christian to trust him for ever He seeth that Christs strength never fails although his own strength fail He seeth that there is grace enough in Christ to support him in the weakest condition and to raise him up when he is at the lowest Nay further he finds this strength put forth upon him according to the word of promise and though he is unbelieving yet Christ abides faithful to him And therefore he cannot but conclude from hence that Christ will be his strength for ever and will never fail him Secondly A Christians experience of the fulness and continuance of Christs pardoning love knits and unites his soul faster to Christ then ever this doth endear Christ to the soul exceedingly tryed love is an endearing love and if any thing will draw out the souls affections unto Christ and confirm them against all future assaults it is the renewing of pardons upon the renewal of offences When the soul shall hear Christ say as he doth Esay 43.24 25. Thou hast brought me no sweet cane with money neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities I am he that blotteth out thy transgression for mine own sake and will remember thy sins no more I say when the soul shall hear this it must needs be deeply affected herewith What! Will the Lord be gratious to such a vile wretch as I am Will he pardon a backslider Will he forgive the sin of one that hath made him to serve with his sin and wearied him with iniquities O here is wonderful love this is transcendent love and shall not I love him that hath loved me thus Yet Lord thou knowest that I love thee 't is true I have backslidden and grievously offended but I will do so no more Thus God sometimes doth the soul much good by that which in it self doth him the greatest hurt as pain easeth a Christian death revives him dissolution unites him so corruption clarifies him and this is a most gratious relief But before I leave this particular I must enter four cautions 1. That no man take up the better opinion of sin hereby for as darkness is nevertheless an evil though God bring light out of darkness so sin is nevertheless an evil though God is pleased to bring good out of it Poison is destructive although a Physician can so correct it as to make it medicinal and so is sin and the better opinion thou hast of sin the more evil and mortal it will be to thee 2. Take heed of lying in sin with hopes of a relief from God watch against it pray against it that thou mayest not be overcome of it but however if thou art overcome by a temptation if Satan hath tript up thy heels get upon thy feet again assoon as possibly thou canst if thou fallest with Peter weep with Peter and labour to find as much bitterness in sin as thou hast found of a seeming pleasure in it Remember this that more have fallen into sin with hopes of rising again then have risen after they have fallen Many sin with Peter but few repent with him
And so in respect of suffering let the providence of God support and comfort you I have read this of Chrysostom that when Eudoxia procured his banishment He said thus None of these things trouble me but I said within my self if the Queen will let her banish me the earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof if she will let her saw me asunder Isaiah suffered the same if she will let her cast me into the Sea I will remember Jonah if she will let her cast me into a fiery furnace or amongst wilde beasts the three children and Daniel were so dealt with if she will let her stone me I have Stephen and the Baptist for my blessed companions go tell her nil nisi peccatum timeo Thus should we support and comfort our hearts by the providences of God exercised towards others and especially by the comforts that others have received from God in the same sufferings and torments that we at any time do or may endure Bishop Ridley writing to Latimer in Prison saith ever since I heard of our dear Brother Rogers his stout confession and departing I never felt any lumpish heaviness in my heart as sometimes I did before And further when you hear or read of the providence of God in preventing evil determined by evil instruments against his Church and people this should raise your spirits to a greater pitch of consolation and holy courage And indeed how many wonders hath God at all times wrought in preserving and hiding his Saints and people from intended and designed plots of mischief and ruine is almost incredible I remember what is recorded in the life of Dionysius Areopagita that when he was caused by Sifinius the Prefect to be thrown to hungry wilde beasts they would not tear him and into an hot Oven it would not burn him The like is reported of S. Ambrose for a certain wizard sent his spirits to kill him but they returned answer that God had hedg'd him in as he did Job another came with a sword to his bed side to have killed him but he could not stir his hand until repenting he was restored by the prayer of S. Ambrose to the use of his hands again So the Circumcellians being not able to withstand S. Austins preaching and writing sought his destruction having beset the way wherein he was to go his visitation but by Gods Providence he missing his way escaped the danger And one saith of Luther That Luther a poor Frier should be able to stand against the Pope was a miracle that he should prevail against the Pope was a greater and after all to die in peace having so many enemies was the greatest of all When this was represented unto Moses in a type it did much affect his heart Oh saith he I will turn aside and see this great sight Exod. â— 2 3 4. It was a great and glorious sight to see the bush in the fire not consumed but more to see the Church under great persecution and yet not destroyed the people of God maligned and opposed and yet to live this is a miracle a soul comforting providence But oh then what a surpassing comfort doth the consideration of Gods improving providences afford to the Saints those providences I mean whereby he doth extract the best good out of the worst evil So that the soul may say as S. Paul of a great evil I know that this shall turn to my salvation Phil. 1.19 And therefore I rejoyce So 2 Cor. 12.9 10. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in mine infirmities And again Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake for when I am weak then am I strong S. Pauls weakness was converted into strength he never was so strong in the inward man as when he was weakest in the outward and herein he rejoyced God doth ever bring about some glorious design as it were at a back door and a contrary way that the wrath of man shall praise God And doth not this speak comfort and courage to the people of God in all their dark and cloudy fits surely it doth and that which kills the hearts of others may be the greatest reviver of their hearts For their greatest sorrows shall turn to their greatest joy and their extremity of miseries shall prove their highest glories their Winter shall bring forth a flourishing Spring and their mournful Seed-time a most plentiful Harvest And therefore let me exhort you in the words of the holy Apostle Heb. 12.12 Lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees Be not dismayed or discouraged at any thing that falleth out For know that there is a wheel within a wheel that worketh and moveth in all things yea that ordereth and disposeth them so that not one iota or tittle of Gods counsel shall fail of accomplishment Melancthon knowing the rage of the Papists and Cesar's threats was much troubled and gave himself wholly up to grief sighs and tears Whereupon Luther writes to him thus I extreamly dislike your excessive cares with which you say you are almost consumed If the cause be bad let us revoke it and fly back If it be good why do we not trust God in his promises If Christ be the Conquerour of the World why should we fear it as if it would overcome us As for Luther himself he had an undaunted Spirit For when our King Henry the eighth had written bitterly against him He makes this Answer Let the Henries the Bishops the Turk and the Devil himself do what they can we are the Children of the Kingdom worshipping and waiting for that Saviour whom they and such as they spit upon and crucifie The truth is there is no condition whereunto the Church of God in general or any Christian in particular can fall but they may hold up their heads and lift up their hearts to an high pitch of consolation therein if they do but lay the providence of God to heart and consider how that works in all to bring about the will of God They may say as Shecaniah said to Ezra There is yet hope in Israel concerning this thing And as Mordecai to Hester Comfort and deliverance shall come And as Saint Paul to the Corinthians in the temptation God will make a way for an escape He hath delivered he doth deliver and in him we trust that he will deliver What though Satan and all the confederates of darkness were now at work to destroy one Soul and to pluck it out of the hand of Christ yet providence will preserve it What though Antichrist and his adherents are combining and plotting against Christ and his members his truths and ordinances yet providence will over-shadow them And Beloved if every Errour in the Nation were an hundred and every Heretick a thousand yet truth and the professors thereof shall prevail Acts 5.38 Providence hath her secret waies of working that cannot be found out and though
under a pretence of acting for God Wicked men will do so but you must go beyond them You must do more then they can do 3. In living by faith upon God 2 Cor. 5.7 We live by faith and not by sight A Christian ought not to hang by the eye-lids eying and looking at external wheels and second causes only but to exercise faith upon the wheel within the wheel This is that which must actuate and inliven all second causes or else they cannot work What is it that thou dost desire this must bring it to pass Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit Zech. 4.6 Would'st thou have thy corruption mortified thy temptation conquered thy graces strengthened thy comforts enlarged thy fears prevented thy prayers heard rest not upon the external wheels but upon the wheel within the wheel Means must be used but not trusted in God alone is the object of a Christians faith Say therefore In vain is salvation hoped for from the multitude of hills and mountains but in the Lord our God is salvation Jer. 3.23 And let it be said of you as it is of Abraham Ro. 4.18 19. Who against hope believed in hope When all instruments are dead Ordinances dead Comforts dead Graces dead heart even dead yet give glory to God by believing in him who never dies And for this end follow the example of the Prophet Psal 77.10 11 12. I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high I will remember the works of the Lord surely I will remember thy wonders of old I will meditate also of all thy work and talk of thy doings Yea wouldst thou set this internal wheel on work wouldst thou move that Why then set faith on work this is that whereby divine providence suffers it self to be moved How came Abraham to be the Father of many Nations but by the movings of this internal wheel and what set that a going but the faith of Abraham And therefore it is said that he believed in hope that he might become the Father of many Nations Beloved if ever you would set any instrument or inferiour wheel on work you must move the greater wheel So it is here 't is God that must move and you must set God on work by faith An active faith will not let God alone it gives him no rest untill he hath set all second causes on work and accomplished the desired mercy Now in this you go beyond all moral men they may make use of means I but they can't believe they can't set the great wheel on work 4. In fixing your hearts upon things that are above Let the constant openings of your Souls be for the entertainment of Heavenly enjoyments And this is a wonder Rev. 12.1 A Christians heart should be in Heaven and the world under his feet The Earth is Gods and a good mans foot-stool thou mayest walk upon it but not be buried in it Most excellent is the Apostles Rule 1 Cor. 7.29 30 31. But this I say Brethren the time is short It remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this world passeth away And this was the Apostles glory that the world was crucified unto him and he unto the world Gal. 6.14 He looks upon all as so many dead corps and carkases Fourth and last Inference If this divine wheel be so admirable and glorious then this teacheth you to maintain a constant communion with it For you are little wheels I but what will you do if this divine wheel be not as a wheel in the middle of a wheel what shall act and move you in order to your comfortable winding up Sure I am you will be like Sampson when his Lock was cut off Your strength is departed from you and you like Instruments laid aside and of no use I but if God be in you and with you then you shall go forth in the strength of an omnipotent power and be admirable in working yea you shall have cause to admire the wheel within the wheel and sing with Moses Who is a God like our God glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders Yea with the heavenly Quire saying Amen blessing and glory wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be unto our God for ever and ever Amen FINIS A Divine Paradox OR A PRISONER at LIBERTY AND HIS JUDGE IN BONDS Being a Subject Treated of before the Right Honourable the Lord Chief Justice Hales at an Assize holden at Saint Edmunds Bury In the County of Suffolk March 27. 1669. By Samuel Blackerby Minister of the Gospel at Stow Market LONDON Printed for Nevil Simons at the Princes Arms in S. Paul's Church Yard 1674. Acts 24.25 And as he reasoned of righteousness temperance and judgement to come Felix trembled THat I may observe the watch-word given and confine my discourse to the time alotted for it I shall at present wave my usual course and lay aside the threds by which I was resolved to have steer'd my passage to the Text And yet before I can attempt to anatomize and breath any vein of truth therein I must crave leave to strip it of a double paradox which at first view it secmeth to be drest up in For 1. Here is a Prisoner in liberty 2. A Judge in bonds Saint Paul the Prisoner and Felix the Judge the one we meet with in the entrance into the Text the other in the close and both afford us matter of admiration First The liberty of St. Paul the Prisoner for here we find him at liberty to preach and preaching with liberty 1. At liberty to preach That an Apostle should be a Prisoner is much but that he who was imprisoned upon the account of preaching should have liberty whilst a Prisoner to preach and that before his Judge this is more Not many daies before he was accused by a famous Oratour and libell'd against with a deep charge of high misdemeanours and capital crimes and that with so much artifice and subtilty that it is a wonder that a sentence of death had not passed upon him according to the malevolent expectation of his malicious enemies and he for ever deprived of his liberty to preach any more and yet to speak in the Ciceronian Dialect Vivit imo vivit in Senatum venit He lives yea he lives to preach And that 2. With liberty I 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with much liberty and boldness For neither the grandeur of the Auditor nor the experience that he had of a former durance no nor his fear of future had any such influence upon him as to seal up his lips or tempt him to play the Sycophant or flattering Courtier that thereby he might have gained an enlargement
mark the perfect man 2. As we should mark him so we must behold him Mark and Behold The latter word imports more then the former For in the Hebrew Language it signifies sometimes to behold an object with pleasure delight and admiration as persons exceedingly taken and taken up with the object and so here for there are many that will very accutely and exactly Mark and observe the perfect and upright man I and watch him too in all his motions and actings as far as they can I but they watch and observe him with an evil eye Not with any pleasure or delight in him Not with an eye of approbation but with an eye of reprobation Not with an eye of admiration but with an eye of detestation not with an eye of imitation but with an eye of malediction unless he chance to trip and stumble in his way and then they make no better use of it then this they that were careless and remiss before in observing and beholding themselves in reference to their own sinful ways grow more careless and remiss after until they become past recovery and eternally wrapt up in misery unless grace prevents Such watchmen there are in the world but they do not observe the watchword in the Text for that is of another import and certainly it must needs be great injustice to fix an evil eye upon one whom the holy Ghost is pleased to set forth under two glorious and admirable titles as are expressed in the Text. The object is no contemptible object but a rare and soul taking object The Holy Ghost doth not set thee to feed thy eye and thy soul with a meer shadow a low and empty thing but with that which may afford thee a due and fit object of soul-contemplation 1. The perfect man 2. The upright man Two inseperable companions in one Subject for no man is perfect but he that is upright and no man upright but he that is perfect in a Gospel sense And therefore I find the same word that is rendered here perfect in other texts is translated upright And so Gen. 17.1 Walk before me and be thou perfect or as in the Margin be thou upright for as uprightness and sincerity is Gospel perfection so they always go together And yet when we have both the expressions in one text as here we must distinguish the sense for it is not a tautologie And therefore saith a Divine of ours the former may be taken for inward soundness the latter for outward justice and equity respecting a mans dealings in the world or in two words a perfect man is a plain hearted man and an upright man is a plain dealing man in the one you may mark and behold the holiness and grace of his heart in the other the holiness of his life and both are to be marked and beheld with much accuteness of observation joyned with admiration and delight Object But some will say is this a truth that any man is perfect in this life doth not S. Paul an eminent Saint and servant of God deny perfection Phil. 3. Not as though I were already perfect Answ By a distnction There is a twofold perfection 1. A Perfection of Justification 2. A Perfection of Sanctification 1. A Perfection of Justification and in this respect all true believers are compleatly perfect i. e. They are perfectly justified So Heb. 10.14 By one offering he i.e. Christ hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified And Col. 2.10 And ye are compleat in him 'T is true in themselves they are incompleat and imperfect but in Christ they are compleat and perfect in themselves sinners but in Christ righteous For as a man looking upon an object with a pair of coloured Spectacles takes the object to be of the same colour So God looking upon persons through Christ who is righteous looks upon them as righteous their sin is charg'd upon him and his righteousness is imputed unto them So saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.21 He was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him So that God looks not upon a true believer as a sinner but as righteous for he looks upon him in him that for his sake was made a sinner not by inhaesion or transgression but by imputation 2. There is a perfection of Sanctification and this is twofold 1. A Perfection in respect of Parts 2. A Perfection in respect of Degrees As a child that hath all the parts of a man may be said to be a perfect child although it be not grown up to the age and stature of a man So a Child of God that hath all the saving and sanctifying graces of Gods Spirit and the lines of his image drawn upon him may be said to be perfect although he is not yet come to his full age and growth in grace such a one is fundamentally perfect although he is not complementally perfect grace is glory inchoate and glory is grace consummate As soon as ever a man becomes a new man he is a young glory although he be not complementally glorious yea he is such a glory and so perfect in glory at the first that he is worthy of our due observation and a fit object of contemplation with great delight and admiration Mark the perfect man and behold the upright observe him accurately and throughly yea fix the eye of your souls upon him intensly and with the greatest delight pleasure and admiration that you can Thus I have opened the first part of my text and shall resolve it into this proposition That a perfect and upright man is a remarkable man worthy of a delightful contemplation or thus a godly man is a taking object there is much in him to take the heart and feed the eyes of men with delight and pleasure And indeed next to God Christ and the Holy Spirit he is the most taking the most delightful object the whole world affords not the like in that respect he is a none such I what though he be never so poor in the world that he hath scarce a rag to cover his nakedness or a piece of bread to put into his mouth or an house to put his head in yet for all this he is a taking object for I may say of him as our Saviour of the Lillies that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these So the greatest person upon the earth in all his outward glory and splendour if he be destitute of true grace is not cloathed as one of these all his beauty is but deformity his greatness but meanness his riches but poverty the righteous saith Solomon is more excellent then his neighbor I though the neighbor be never so great in the world 't is grace that renders a man truly excellent and truly honourable For 1. Look upon him as to his pedigree and birth and see from whence he came and you must needs take him for a great and noble personage So
Mercy shall compass him about The mercy of God is a long arm and this doth incircle the soul and compass it about the soul can stir no way but mercy meets it to stay its flight Sometime God sends a friend to him who out of his own experience drops a seasonable word of comfort upon his soul and that is a mercy Job 33.23 Sometime God applies a word of Grace that enlivens his dead heart and that is a mercy Psal 119.50 Sometimes God brings to mind some former intimations of his love and grace to him Psal 42.6 And sometime and very often he stays the soul with this very thought that it is a great mercy of God to him that yet he is on this side hell Lam. 3.22 and though he can't see the face of God yet he is not put so far off but he may have the happiness to see it at the last 'T is mercy that he is not eternally banished from his presence And this stays the heart 3. Though God hides his face for a time yet he doth at one time or other unvail and discover it to the soul for its unspeakable joy and comfort If not in this life yet in the life to come a true Christian shall see the face of God again although it be hid for a time You have an excellent promise for this Esay 54.7 8. For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee in a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy redeemer Gods departure from a good man is not an eternal departure His hiding his face is not for ever Though thou canst not see it now yet thou shalt see it Thou mayst say with David Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance Psal 42.5 3. In case that the Animal Spirits do fail a man through the sense of sin and Gods displeasure for it there is relief to be had from God when the poisoned arrows of Divine wrath stick fast in the soul and drinks up the Spirits there is relief for it And this I shall also make evident to you in three things There are three remedies that God makes use of to cure the wounds that sin and Gods wrath make in the Soul 1. The blood of Sprinkling 2. The precious Balm of Gospel promises 3. The sweet oyl of the Holy Spirit 1. The blood of sprinkling or the blood of Christ sprinkled upon the heart this washeth and cleanseth the wound So 1 John 1.7 And the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin And so Revel 5. Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood For as a wound in the body natural will not heal unless the blood and corruption be washed out no more will the wounds of the soul ever be cured unless they be first washed with the blood of Christ And therefore this is Gods first work to apply the blood of Christ to the wound and it is very effectual for this purpose as you may see Heb. 9.13 14. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh How much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience It first stancheth the blood and then purifies the wound and makes it fit for a plaister The meaning hereof is this that the knowledge of our justification by the righteousness of Christ is a singular and choice remedy for the taking away the sense of sin and Gods displeasure for it It is not only requisite that Christ shed his blood for us and that God hath accepted it as a full satisfaction to His Divine Justice which was offended by our sin but this must be applyed to us As under the Law it was not enough to have the blood of bulls and of goats but it must be sprinkled or else there was no cleansing even so unless God applies the blood of Christ to thy conscience and give thee the knowledge thereof that it is shed for thee in particular thy Spiritual wounds that sin and Satan hath made in thee will never be cleansed Thou mayest be justified before God but still thine own heart may accuse and condemn thee Though God doth not charge thy sin upon thee yet thou wilt be continually charging it upon thy self and the burden will be intolerable thy wounds will still bleed every remembrance of sin will draw new blood from thy heart It is true the blessing lies in Gods free remission of our sin but the comfort lies in our knowledge thereof A traitour may be pardoned and that may save his life but if he knows it not he looseth the comfort thereof Even thus it is until we know that God hath freely justified us in the blood of Christ the sense of sin and Divine wrath will be heavy upon the spirit of an awakened sinner and therefore God's sprinkling the blood of Christ upon the conscience must needs be a sweet relief 2. Another remedy which God makes use of for the curing of this spiritual wound is the balm of Gospel promises there are two sorts of promises by which God speaks comfort to a disconsolate soul 1. Inviting promises 2. Assuring and sealing promises 1. Inviting promises and by these he encourages a poor distressed sinner to come to him Such is that Matth. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden And that Esay 55.1 Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price And that Rev. 22.17 And the Spirit and the Bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely Now when a soul that heareth these promises considers with it self thus Sure I am that I am weary and heavy laden with the burden of sin sin is an heavy load upon my soul the arrows of Gods indignation have set my soul on fire that I stand in need of these cooling and refreshing waters I am a poor ceature I have no money nothing to give for the incomes of Gods grace and love I am a meer beggar and therefore must needs be one that God invites And thus God draws the soul to him that he may apply 2. The assuring and sealing promises of comfort Such as these Heb. 10.16 17. This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days saith the Lord I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more And that in Esay 57.15 16 17 18 19. For thus saith the
high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I will dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones For I will not contend for ever neither will I be always wroth for the spirit should fail before me and the souls that I have made For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him I hid me and was wroth and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart I have seen his ways and will heal him I will lead him and restore comfort unto him I create the fruit of the lips peace peace to him that is far off and to him that is near saith the Lord and I will heal him Now as these promises are the matter of comfort so they are the means of comfort For when God applies them to a wounded soul there passeth a vertue and power through them to heal and cure it 3. To this he adds the oyl of his Holy Spirit and that he drops into the wound and this doth not only heal but takes away the very scar of the wound and renders the skin as fresh and beautiful as before Oyl in Scripture sets out joy and chearfulness and therefore it is called the oyl of joy And Esay 61.3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Sion to give unto them beauty for ashes and the oyl of joy for mourning This cures the mournful sad and perplexed spirit and makes the face to shine again with brightness and glory according to that Psal 104.15 And oyl to make the face to shine I do not say that God always raiseth the comfort of the soul thus high but sometimes he doth not only heal but anoint and make the soul fair and lovely in his eye For there is no such sight in Gods eye as a sanctified heart that is chearful and joyful before him such a soul is the joy and delight of his heart and especially where he hath made the deepest wound and filled the soul with the greatest horrour in the sense of his wrath and displeasure there when he comes to give peace and comfort he anoints the most the greater wound the greater measure of comfort and hence it is that many a soul blesseth God for its wounds because else it would never have attained to such joys and comforts as God gives in Thus I have shewn you what relief flows into the soul in this case 4. In case that the Animal Spirits fail through a sudden passion of fear There is relief for it And that four ways 1. Sometimes God preventeth the thing feared and never suffers it to come to pass 2. Sometimes God delivers the soul from its fears 3. Sometimes the thing feared is so ordered and disposed by the Lord that it is less then our fear not worth our fear 4. Sometimes God turns the fears of his servants into the right channel that instead of fearing evil they fear him more then ever they did First Sometime God prevents the thing feared and never suffers it to come to pass or at least not at that time we are afraid it will 't is true Job could say the thing which I feared is come upon me Job 3.25 I was not in safety neither had I rest nor was I quiet yet trouble came I but many a good man hath cause to say the thing which I greatly feared is not come upon me Though God did not deliver me from my distrustful fear yet he delivered me from that which I did fear As sometimes we groundlesly expect and hope for a thing that never comes so sometimes we groundlesly fear an evil that never comes As God denyes the desires of a groundless confidence in great mercy so he prevents our groundless fears in mercy For as wicked men are apt to fear evil less then they should so the godly are apt to fear evil more then they should But as that which wicked men fear not comes suddenly upon them so sometimes that which a godly man fears comes not at all This made David say Psa 34.4 I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears i. e. He delivered me from the evils which I feared The effect is here put for the cause Secondly Sometimes the Lord delivers a good man from the fear of evil I mean from a distrustful distracting and tormenting fear which dispirits him and sinks his spirits As some fear where no fear is so sometimes God animates and lifts up the soul above fear where fear is True faith will strive with tormenting fears and when 't is made strong will cast them out There is an excellent promise for this Job 11.14.15 If iniquity be in thine hand put it far away and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacle For then thou shalt lift up thy face without spot yea thou shalt be stedfast and shalt not fear Noting out that when faith is so strong as to purifie the heart and life from sin then it sets the Soul free from the fear of those evils that come by sin Now this is a great relief to the Soul For to be freed from the fear of evil is better then to be freed from the evil The promise runs not thus Thou shalt be freed from evil but thou shalt be freed from the fear of evil Happiness consists more in removing inward then outward trouble He that is afraid of evil before it comes may be happy though it comes Thirdly The thing feared is so ordered and disposed by the Lord that it is a lesser evil then we feared and is not worth our fear Many are far more afraid then hurt or more hurt by their fears then by the evils they feared We are indeed very apt to greater evils and lesser mercies and that is the reason that we meet with evils with so much fear and mercies with so little faith The thoughts of one evil torments our Spirits more then the thoughts of many mercies cheers and comforts our Spirits I but Gods thoughts are above our thoughts and when we are afraid that the evil impending will be very great it proves very little 'T is with many Christians as with some inexperienced Patients they dread the taking of any Physick lest it should overpower nature but when they come to take it they find it works not half so much as they feared it would A wise Physitian tempers the potion according to the constitution of the body and the nature of the distemper and not according to the fears of the Patient Even thus doth God oftentimes deal with us he orders and corrects all our evils so that they prove less hurtful and more beneficial to us then we could think not one dram too much or too little He proportions not our purging Physick according to our fancies but to our necessity when a little will serve the turn he will