pressing that we are capable of indeed For he setteth before us Life and Death life if we close with him death if we refuse him reject him It is not a thing wherein we may choose or refuse and no wrong to our souls no brethren but he tells us let our condition be what it will be we as dead as we may if we close with him we shall be quickned there is warmth enough in his bosom to revive us there are spirits enough in his love to fetch us again O we shall live condemnation shall be taken away for there is no condemnation to them that are in Jesus Christ our bolts and shakles shall be removed the obligations of our souls to the Justice of God it shall cease O brethren here is the case now a poor condemned woman ready to perish the Prince hath so much compassion on her that he intreats her but to accept of him to be espoused to him promise him marriage if so he will pardon all that is past she shall have her life Is not this a pressing Argument 〈…〉 doubtless it is to such a one as this when death is even present to her before her face is ready to be turned off the Ladder and now an offer cometh O if you will but Marry the Prince you shall be saved though before she refused and the Argument had not such force in it because the thing was at a distance yet now you would think her desperate indeed that should refuse it So brethren the Lord Jesus he doth at other times yea and when the soul is as it were on the wrack upon the Ladder under strong convictions the Sentence is received and it is even going forth to execution O now here is life and death before thee wilt thou now marry me be a spouse to me saith the Prince the Lord Jesus the King of Kings Are not these pressing Arguments 2. Again another he useth is his precious blood that he hath not thought too dear for us O brethren when he beseecheth us by such an Argument as this is by the Mercies of God as the Apostle hath it will it not turn all that is within us to him If a man though but inferior to a woman should shew so much love as to expose his life to hazard for her would it not be strong a Argument when he cometh to wooe her O remember my life my blood is not dear to me that it may go well with you will not this move her there 's a heart of stone it must needs be so Why truly brother this is the Argument every time that you have Jesus Christ held out Crucified before your faces O do you not hear how every wound speaks to you as well as for you to the Father O sinners why are your hearts no more towards me have I not dyed for you my blood my life was not dear to me for your sakes If you will not believe me Behold my hands and my feet yea my sides and my heart look upon me in the Garden trace me there where it trickled down my weary body and see how I have loved you and will you still refuse me will you still think that my heart is not towards you or shall your hearts not yet be towards me Yea have I not been willing to lose the light of my fathers countenance to be under a defection to be eclipsed for you which was so much the purer though nothing so dear to me as his love and it were upon me in the greatest heat and glory and my heart most affected with it yet to suffer an eclipse for you and will you not close with me will you not be perswaded 3. Again once more in the most pressing manner and powerful he followeth us up and down with these Arguments O with what bowels how do they yâ—rn over us every step he followeth us O why will you dye why will you endure the everlasting chains to pay the uttermost further when I offer you my merits my satisfaction for all your debts Look upon him weeping over Jerusalem O Jerusalem Jerusalem O with what affection that is the edge indeed of an invitation O if he were now Preaching to you I believe brethren he would do it with bowels And so did Paul that Saint in whom grace did so abound and to him O he warned them day and night with tears O why will ye dye will ye not believe will you not close with me can you find in your hearts to slight me set light by my love that is so drawn out towards you O what love is here brethren And then with what diligence and patience often he would have done this and wayts long How many years have some of us been thus besought to close with a Crucified Christ Again secondly This may serve for ever to keep us low if love work kindly so it works it melteth down the heart the very mountains high and towring thoughts and imaginations flow at his presence you see how it humbled Abigail when David sent to woo her she bowed her self with her face to the earth and said behold let thine hand mayd be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord. A Spouse to David Gods Anointed I am not worthy let me be a servant not worthy to wash his feet yea the meanest servant a servant to his servants to do the meanest offices for them to wash their feet So Ruth when Boaz took but notice of her and spake kindly of her Whence is it saith she that my Lord should take knowledge of me who am but a stranger yea thou hast spoke comfortably to me or to my heart though I be not like one of thy hand-mayds It is true the Lord would not upbraid his people with what they have been nor doth he ever do it yet they should keep it before them continually to keep them low So he saith he will betroth his people after their going a whering from him there is much in that expression and one thing among the rest is conceived to be this by Mr. Burroughs upon Hos That he would forget her former unkindness and unfaithfulness and she should be now not onely as an unfaithful wife received again but Marryed as a virgin as if she never had departed But though the Lord will not upbraid us as James saith yet we should keep upon our hearts the sense of our former vileness when the Lord first met with us in the way of his love so Paul doth I am sure God never tells them after the first time Why persecutest thou me he never told him afterward he had been a persecuter and what a blasphemous wretch he had lived But Paul by the spirit of grace and power in him he often looks upon his feet upon what he had been and that kept him in so sweet an humble frame O I am less then the least Saint Shall the thoughts of love from David
such thrusts as these by the Sword of the Spirit the Word of God and he hath a deceived heart within him telling him he hath fruit as well as leaves though it be not fruâ—t found from him and he hath had so many testimonies of his love to him he cannot conclude he is a person abhorred of God his hopes are high he will not believe not a word fasteneth upon him and he is apt to think the Minister too straite when he goeth to the quick and tels them if any iniquity be regarded in the heart the heart is not right with God they will not believe but keep their sin and doubt not of their salvation well now the Lord will dash this presumption of theirs the height of unbelief though they will not see their hypocrisie and their forlorn condition now he will make them see if the servants word will not convince them his shall and confound them also therefore he pronounceth it with a Verily I say c. that in the sinners own conscience he may be justified you see let Ministers say what they can be they never such Bonerges thundring from heaven upon men yet they will not be beaten off but at the very last come bouncing at the gate of heaven with a Lord Lord open to us The Ministers have often enough told them that when they cry the Lord would not hear them they would but appear before the everlasting burnings to be consumed they will not believe and therefore now the Lord Jesus himself he speaks he declareth it and with a full conviction to their consciences for he with his Word reacheth the soul and conscience so that now their confidence must needs be dashed not a word more hath a sinner then to say for himself and to confirm the words of his servants his faithful Messengers they have spoken as much as this cometh to before and it hath been slighted they thought God would be more merciful then those bloody Ministers are who wound and spare not but the Lord will now make them know that whose sins they retain clave non errante by a right application of the threatnings and terrors of God not one word of theirs shall fall to the ground but that they had the mind of Christ what ever you thought of them that is another Argument Thirdly For a Declaration and Vindication of his own Wisdom and Justice and Holiness his Wisdom in that now hypocrites shall see there was nothing could be hid from his eys he knoweth through and through even when they made the most dazling profession to the eye of the world that his piercing eye saw through all this saith the sinner there in that Psalm and it is the language of all hypocrites in heart Tush the Lord seeth not neither doth the God of Jacob regard it doth he look to the thoughts to a mans ends the secrets of his soul if he carry fair outwardly will not this pass the test yea with men but thou shalt know hypocrite that thou hast not to do with men but with God you may juggle so as to cast a mist before mens eyes but not before his and though you think you can yet he will now manifest it that you have all of you been a deceived people who have thought to deceive him he will now appear to be a God of wisdom and one that searcheth your hearts and will recompence into your bosoms the very secrets of your iniquity And so his justice and holiness because an hypocrite hath flourished long and hath had the use of many common gifts and flourished in the eyes of men made a great shew and God hath born with much patience Justice hath been as I may say asleep but now he will repay them into their own bosoms and so his holiness they thought God was such a one as themselves but he will reprove them and set their sins in order before them Now he will keep silence no longer that it may appear how he hateth all their hypocrisie that hath been fathered upon him and men have looked upon them as Saints yet now his holiness will endure no longer but shake them off they shall now see that such impure hearts he cannot away with to dwell with them though with much patience he did bear them here yet that he never knew them here never owned them cared for them here in the very height of their profession Fourthly Because now is the separating time nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest saith our Saviour in another place though chaff may go for wheat and gilt for Gold and alchimy for gold and dross and tin for silver now they shall be separated it is high time now to unmask the hypocrite he hath long enough deluded himself and others now therefore he will make it known himself will declare it to put an end to their false imaginations but enough for this Now to wind up all in a word of Application In the first place then it shall be a terrible word to all Formalists all gross and close hypocrites the Lord search you out this day and make it a word of terrour a shaking in your bones that you may be shaken off your security There are two or three things you shall see that are terrible to you herein It is your portion I must deliver it to you Let not any poor trembling child of God catch at the dogs portion no more then the dogs should at the childrens bread God would not have such sadned nor would I speak any thing to the grief of such as God hath wounded But for Hypocrites and Formalists let me speak it 1. He knoweth you 2. Therefore he doth not know you because he knoweth you And 3. He will not know you at that day First I say He knoweth you that is to say he understands you there are windows of Chrystal into your breasts all is naked before him with whom you have to do it may be you are a little affected with hearing the death of Jesus Christ that so innocent a person should be so unworthily treacherously and cruelly handled and now you take your selves to be such as have received the Spirit of grace and supplication and mourn over Christ whom you have crucified and it is nothing but a natural tenderness that would be as much affected or moved with hearing any sad story of another person Believe it Brethren whether you see this deceit or no the Lord knoweth it Your ends are deep in your actions which seem to be for Christ and with much self-denyal sometimes and yet even then in that self-denyal there may be an end for self at the bottom the commanding wheel that setteth all a work it may be this is too deep for any other to discern or for your selves sometimes yet the Lord seeth it he knoweth all the depth of your heart You pray and fast it may be when you are in any distress but little
when we are sinking and drowning we will not so much as put out the hand to lay hold upon a twig upon something held out to us is not this unreasonable and unnatural it raceth out the principle of self-preservation that is in every man by nature so that I will be bold to say the greatest reason in the world improved to keep off a poor soul from Jesus Christ is unreasonable it is the depravation of our carnal reason had it not been unreasonable if Hagar having a fountain opened her before her eyes and she languishing for thirst and must perish without it and yet would sit still is not this unreasonable Again If we look upon the Lord Jesus who seeks to us beseecheth us to accept of him of mercy of pardon in his blood the Creator cometh down to the creature poor worms who have our being by his Word and might be dissolved with his Word and yet we stand it out and will not accept of him who would bestow himself and his infinite all-sufficiency upon us and we will not is not this unreasonable that a Prince should seek to a worthless rebel to be reconciled and he will not hear of it If he had any need of us and upon that account would have poor sinners to come to him to make a supply of his wants it were something but all the want the indigency is on our part and therefore unbelief is the more unreasonable thing O how might we here break out and say hear ye heavens and give ear O earth for the Lord Jesus the Lord of both heir of all things the offended Majesty seeks to poor rebelling worms to be reconciled but they will not hear of it they come not in they close not with him Secondly As the unreasonableness of the thing so also we may take notice of the injuriousness of this sin of unbelief I would a little insist upon this sin the more because that though I find many a poor heart seemeth to be weary of sin and afraid of sinning against God in other kinds yet seeth not in the mean time how exceedingly he sins against him by his unbelief not closing with Christ and coming to him therefore see in the second place the injuriousness of this sin of unbelief how injurious it is to Jesus Christ Brethren for if the truth were known what is the reason wherefore we need so much ado why we come not in to him We either think he cannot save us our sins are so great O saith one there was never such a wretch as I though he have accepted of great sinners such as Paul and Manasses and Magdalen yet there was never such a wretch as I O surely my wounds are such there is no healing for them What is this but to make Jesus Christ weak and a Physitian of no value Is there any sin higher then the imbrewing their hands in the blood of Jesus Christ himself and suppose thou be such an one and this is that thou cryest out of thou hast come so often to the Lords Supper with a common heart which is to be guilty of his blood accessary to his death and cannot his blood cleanse even from the guilt of them that shed it were not many of the Jews sensible os this how dishonourable is this to Jesus Christ when we will be measuring of him by our selves we are apt to think of pardon and mercy as far as a mans a creatures bowels and thoughts will reach mind there is an end not minding that he is God as well as man this is an high wrong unto our Saviour O he will not saith the poor soul if he can yet he will not sure receive such an one as I O I am so laden and so loathsom a wretch what should he do with such an one as I What is it possible thou shouldest remember how many promises how many invitations how many expostulations he hath made what intreaties to poor creatures to be reconciled to him and yet call in question his willingness why what do you make of Jesus Christ O how doth unbelief in effect dethrone Jesus Christ disgracing the Throne of his Glory robbeth him of his mercy of his power his love his bowels of that which he most glorieth in and is not this injurious then to thy dear Saviour Would not you think it a wrong to you from one of your children that had offended you as highly as you can imagine suppose he had sought your life as Absolom did Davids and now the Father seeks thou suest to thy son O how many promises thou heapest up one upon another backest them with oaths wooest him intreatest him to be reconciled to accept of a pardon No he believeth you not notwithstanding all you can do or say that you are real in the thing is not this injurious doth he not wrong exceedingly in this as well as in the former and is not this the very case Thirdly See how much unkindness there is in this sin of unbelief as it is directly against the love the bowels of Jesus Christ which sound toward poor creatures in the Gospel in every intreaty to be reconciled to him Brethren what could the Lord Jesus do more for us then he did was not his life dear to him even to the death sor poor sinners that there might be a pardon for us and do we thus requite him even to slight it never to mind it or if we do sometimes a little yet to stand out and not to close with him What unkindness was it in the Jews it is so recorded of them he came to his own and his own received him not that is to say his own flesh and blood and so he is ours as well as others but he came of them according to the flesh in a nearer manner and sent to them in the first place they received him not But to come to Us poor Gentiles out-casts that were strangers afar off with a desire to make us near in his blood near to his Father and to himself is this love nothing to be thus slighted for how few among us do believe in the Lord Jesus notwithstanding all this nothing breaks the heart of a creature more then unkindness and surely Brethren me thinks the thoughts of this if our hearts were not stony should be a breaking of our hearts that we have hitherto so many of us dealt so unkindly with Christ as we have done But fourthly see the dangerousness of this sin of unbelief that we may be set a trembling by reason of this sin as well as any other and be weary of this as well as any other 1. Other sins have but their own particular guilt each of them particularly binding over a poor soul to wrath and entayling the curse of the Law upon a poor sinner so every sin doth every oath every lie every unclean thought wanton look adultery fornication of the body the heart or eye but unbelief
sitâ—ing or standing may sometimes but presently awake aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus But then the sleep is a deeper security when the eyes are altogether closed and a man is fast though some sleep faster then others do some set themselves to sleep they give themselves to it others are overtaken with it it seizeth upon them like an armed man sometimes and herein they agree the Saints and hypocrites formal and powerful professors of Christ they all slumbered and slept they were all it seemeth overcharged with the cares of this world or somewhat or other that their watch was down and they were surprized And alas Brethren if the day of the Lord Jesus should come upon us almost any day would it not find us sleeping or if not sleeping yet slumbering at least but of this more afterwards Sixthly They all arose saith the text when the cry came at midnight It was high time then to awake as souldiers that watch for an enemy they fall asleep set some to watch suddenly there is an out-cry an alarum O how quickly are they raised If the last trumpet be the cry it shall raise all both hypocrites as well as Saints only the dead in Christ shall rise first be awakened out of the sleep of death If the cry be the Ministry of the word by some smart visitation it will rouze them all let hypocrites be as secure of their condition as they will they shall have a time of awakening Seventhly and lastly They trimmed their Lamps Some say only the wise Virgins trimmed their Lamps for the foolish had only dead Lamps such as gave no light shining before men but why then are they said to be extinguished or to be gone out Beloved the words of the Text carry it for all they all arose and trimmed their Lamps the copulative joines both sentences together and therefore the universal reacheth the latter part as well as the former except there were some limitation It should seem Brethren that hypocrites may make as fair a shew and deceive themselves or being deceived by their own hearts even very long to the very last they thought now to arise with Sampson and shake themselves when they have been sleeping upon the lap of their Dalilah but alas their Lamps were out they trimmed them and stirr'd them up to see if they would burn any longer but they were gone out or going out as some render it A sad thing Brethren for us to deceive your selves even to the very last cast until there be no remedy O what treacherous hearts have we Eighthly They agree also in the number here in the Parable five were wise and five were foolish for this we must remember what was premised that every particular is not to be squeezed and prest too sore nor can we conclude from hence an equal number of real Saints or painted hypocrites in the Church no more then where there are Chap. 13. three evil sorts of ground and but one good we can cònclude that there are three to one unsound professors who receive the word to one honest and good heart which bringeth forth fruit to perfection there may be more there may be less our Saviour in the general tells us many are called but few are chosen he might therefore here haply have some respect to the number of Virgins which might accompany the Bride which some say were five because the number consists of the first equal and the first unequal number even two and three because in a marriage a superiour and inferiour male and female are joyned together but that is a nicity however this we may take up from it in the general that there are some which are not what they profess some are foolish and some are wise in the Church Now I come to speak somewhat to that which is distinguishing in the Parable between formal and real professors of Jesus Christ in this Kingdom First then in the general the one are foolish and the other are wise all are not wise that are within the Church there are some fools Why but is it folly then for any man to prosess Christ No it is not folly simply considered in it self but a duty to confess him and hold him out before men but to stick here is folly as we shall see more hereafter blessed be the Lord that there are some wise though there be many foolish some that will not be put off with forms nor shadows but must have the substance the bread of life and not husks they will not satisfie them O that we were every one of us such Brethren Secondly The foolish they took no oyl in their vessels though their Lamps burned afterward were extinguished when they should stand them in stead to enter with the Bridegroom they had no oyl What is meant here by oyl and what by vessels for the first some say one thing some another some as the Papists say good works is the oyl which is the life of faith without which it is dead which is as if a man should call the flame of a Lamp the oyl that feeds it therefore Brethren according to the Scripture expression elsewhere by oyl I understand the saving grace of the spirit of Jesus Christ true justifying faith repentance never to be repented of and love out of a pure heart unfeigned faith unfeigned repentance unfeigned love and indeed all the graces of the spirit These are they that feed the flame in the Lamps of the Saints whatever hypocrites have which maketh a flame and their Lamps do burn by it of which more afterward because I would not stay you too long in the opening of it this they wanted they cared not to make sure of this to have this true saving grace so they had but as much as would make a blaze among men that they might be seen to have Lamps burning and shining as well as others the rest they cared not for Secondly For the vessels some say the Lamps they had no oyl in them but me thinks the Text distinguisheth between the Lamps and the vessels they took no oyl with their Lamps he doth not say in them but with them and the next verse the wise took oyl in their vessels with their Lamps 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is of a large extent but it signifieth somewhat believed the Lamp It is likely they had some vessels they carried about with them full of oyl that when the Lamp needed they supplyed it still else it would go out so here the vessel may be meant the heart brethren a truly contrite heart is the vessel into which the Lord pours the oyl of his grace and spirit and hence there is a continual supply like the oyl in the Cruse it fails not Now this the foolish they cared not for but they had somewhat at present that would make their Lamps burn for holding out they forecast not for that therefore provided no oyl in their vessels no
to set his love upon his soul he believeth no such things nor the Papists neither Nor many a poor hypocrite Alas they think they have somewhat that deserveth him I some beauty is in us that the Lord saw and so it was meet for him to lay out his love upon us proud wretches that we are it is well we have an infinitely condescending love yea and powerful that can overcome our pride and swallow it up and love not onely poor creatures nothing-creatures but such as falsly suppose themselves somewhat when they are nothing else what would become of many of us Well sure it is because we know not our selves or know not what this love means else we should all of us easily subscribe to this 2. That he would be at such a price for such for alas brethren 〈◊〉 who would lay down his life almost for the cho cest of persons though some in an Agony of Passion and discontent have made themselves away for them they have doated upon yet here was some proportion between the persons loving and loved yea happily the person loved might be the more eminent person and therefore might stand off and a man when he doth this alas he is beloved himself he is wrapt by the violence of his passion out of his choice his understanding and judgement dethroned and then the Affections like wild horses O whither will they not hurry a man but in such a case a man is not a man but now in sobriety of minde consider it and who would lay down their lives and dye for the obtaining the rarest creature in the world for a spouse surely none O no Skin for skin saith the Devil and though a man imagine more to be in what he hath never injoyed then he findeth by experience in what he hath had the flower and cream of yet notwithstanding if a man be himself he will prize his life above all but if he would dye would he dye a most shameful death to have his life taken away by the most violent destructions and convulsions of minde so strongly working upon the body as to moulder it away by degrees surely hardly any man would ever venture in such a case as this Alas What is this to what the Lord Jesus hath willingly undertaken for worms what man would dye for a worm that it might live and he might have it put in his bosom or rather would be contented to â—ay down his body take up the form of a worm and therein dye the most miserable death that he might have worms saved from death and be his nearest relations for ever O doth not this transcend the love of Angels brethren Alas what is this to what Jesus Christ hath paid for poor worms at the best sinful dust and ashes and that we might live and live in union and fellowship with himselfe for ever Ah Brethren if God would but make us sensible what we are at the worst and what the Lord Jesus underwent in some measure for apprehend it fully we cannot but such as have ever tasted what it is to sip of the cup may apprehend more then others what dregs were at the bottom a drop how doth it put the soul into an Agony upon the rack that thou wouldst choose death rather then life O what then was the whole cup brethren that he should undergo this and should with his most precious blood be willing to purchase such poor abjects forlorn Creatures to be a spouse to him yea with his blood drawn from him through the very pores of the body by the very distractions of his soul and wresâ—ling with wrath O was there ever grief like this that the father put him to and was there ever love like this brethren O that we had hearts indeed to admire it 3. That after all this is done he should be at such pains to bring us to himself to wooe us to come himself to send us his messengers to strive with us by his Spirit as you know he strivd long with the old world and strived long with the Israelites in the wilderness and many of our souls can say it by experience he hath striven long with us by his spirit when we have been convinced our ways have been folly and misery and yet we would not yield how hath he followed us up and down with motions of his spirit and waited to be gracious and all but to have our consent to take him for ours Dear friends who are we that the Lord Jesus should thus ambire make so much ado with us to have our consent to take him to accept of him for a Husband O what desperate enmity is in our hearts against him that there must be so much ado to overcome it You would think that poor begger either a very crooked cross piece full of bitter hatred against a Prince or Noble-man that sues to her with all the intreaties that can be sends messenger after messenger cometh himself and beseecheth her to accept of him and yet she will not no is she well where she is desireth not either you will say she believeth not what he saith that it is in reality it will not enter into her heart to think he is real he is so far above her though he tell her he knew that is sensible of it yet maketh love to her meerly because he will and his heart is towards her not for any thing in her self she believeth not or else that she is a desperate enemy and hater of such a Noble-man and would rather perish there or languish in such a condition as an abject then accept of him O this is the condition of many of us brethren some poor deject dunbelieving souls alas their hearts even fail within them to hear that J. Christ should make love to them O it canot be sure to such a worm such a wretch so poor so filthy so full of rags vermin so full of sores and wounds full deeply indebted so deformed and loathsom every way O they know not how to receive this Others they are even stout and proud and care no more for these things then if Jesus Christ had said nothing at all as for them they are well enough if he will let them alone they desire not to mend their conditions by closing with him Now brethren to both these how doth the Lord Jesus apply himself Never were there more powerful Arguments used and never more powerfully prest then he presseth them and that with more diligence and patient waiting upon us and O what love what manner of love is this that all this floweth from A little to touch upou each of them brethren happily the Lord may be pleased to breath in them to some poor soul and as he doth at other times thus so this day brethren Even to you he is pleading with you for this very end that some poor sinners would be perswaded to close with him First then The Arguments are the most
not think of him until he first think ofâ—hee nor work towards him until his heart hath been working towards thee and is not that demonstrate that he is willing to receive thee to make a match with thee though we be worms and no men have cause to cry out if we were never so holy Lord what is man that thou art so mindful of him as to visit him with such salvation make him so near thy self in thy son Yea surely he is willing he would not have moved towards thee else he doth not use to mock poor Creatures to make them believe his heart is towards them and when their heart echo again and say thy face Lord will we seek then to shut up his bowels and shut out their desires Brethren take heed of too much being alive to the Law for that seemeth to be the savour of our spirit while unworthiness is the obstruction to our coming to Jesus Christ we must be dead brethren to the Law and the righteousness thereof all our performances and best duties else we cannot live to Jesus Christ The Lord Jesus never matched with a Creature because it was worthy of him of so near an union with him for alas what creature being but a creature can be wotthy of such an union with the Lord of life and glory No no he â—akes an Ethiopian and washeth her clean from her filthiness before he hath done with her nothing but that fullers sope will fetch out the spots Yea I will say one thing more that the Lord Jesus never Matched with any that thought themselves worthy of him there is an encouragement to such poor drooping soâ—lâ— did Paul think himself worthy of Christ nothing less nor any of the Saints He that will not have Christ freely is never like to have him I will love them freely saith he No saith many a proud sinner thou shalt not love us freely we hope to approve our selves worthy of thy love I tell you brethren such a soul hath not known what the meaning of grace is to this day Well then remember be you as unworthy as you can in your own apprehension all the mercies of God purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ they are freely offered and tendered to you this day to thee man to thee woman that art viler then the earth in thine own eyes yea to hard hearted sinners that see not themselves they are tendered to melt them down and if this will not do it nothing will do it O that I could speak of these bowels with such bowels as some of your hearts might be stirred and moved this day but so much for this second 3. Motive the Lord Jesus is not only willing thus to communicate himself to poor sinners but it is his delight so to do It is the satisfaction of the soul of Jesus Christ when he beholdeth the precious mercies purchased by his blood accepted of by poor sinners and to work mightily in them and to them He shall see his Seed and shall be satisfied the father is satisfied and the son is satisfied when they behold this this is all that they expect the father for his love such a love as the world cannot paralel a Sic without a Siout God so loved the world It is all he expecteth that those mercies which he hath purchased should be freely be bestowed upon and freely accepted of by poor sinners and it is the satisfaction of Jesus Christ also it is all he expecteth of us I say the continual streaming of that fountain opened for sin and for uncleaness they are as if he had said I have enough for all my pains my sweat my agony my eclipsing for the pangs of hell in my soul for my death and blood and burial all the contempts powred out upon me and the sorrow â—endured though there was never grief like mine yet this is enough saith he he shall be satisfied if he do but see poor sinners to receive him and so become his Seed close with him and so become his spouse for it is the same thing though clothed with a diverse Metaphor Brethren iâ— may be you would satisfie Christ another way you would do this and that for him Labour as abundantly as you can be as holy as you can perform your duties in as lively a manner as you can but when you have done all if you hang your peace and comfort upon this and not in your free acceptance of Christ and with Christ you seem yet to be marryed to the Law and not to Christ or at least you turn aside to your former Husband a Covenant of works this is a dissatisfactiou to Jesus Christ as if there were not riches of grace in him to swallow up all your unworthiness O Brethren that the Lord would perswade your hearts this day what a delight and satisfaction it is to him to see poor sinners come and lye at his foot and willing to receive him to match with him notwithstanding their unworthiness 4. Consider but how little a thing will do the deed and espouse thee to the Lord Jesus Alas you will say you find it a hard thing to believe as hard a thing as to keep the Law It is so in respect of our strength but many they mistake and think except they have such and such a strength of faith they have none at all nor do not close with him nor he with them If they could say with Thomas my Lord and my God or with the spouse my beloved is mine and I am his then there were some encouragement indeed Brethren if it be but as a grain of Mustardseed it will do the deed look upon me all ye ends of the earth and be ye saved A look upon a woman to lust after her is Adultery in heart it is a heart union of two to one flesh for it is yet the heart the mind that seeth more then the eye the eye may look upon many things and discern nothing distinctly if the mind be upon another thing so here why should not a look after Jesus Christ to desire him when the soul hath a sight of him passing by in his Glory O that he were my Husband O that I were Marryed to him that he would accept of me O happy souls that enjoy seeking communion with him This Brethren at the first is enough to make a Match between us As the Lord Jesus is willing to have thee art thou willing poor trembling soul to have him have him thou shalt yea thou hast him already though this saith must grow up to a greater measure happily before thou cast discern it or have the comfort of it Only lest any should be mistaken I will here give a word or Direction or Caution First take heed of thinking thou art willing when thou art not for as there are many poor drooping souls who think they are not willing to have Christ when it is that their souls do ever break for
longing after so on the other hand there are many will say If this be all it is an easie matter we are all willing to have Christ O that you were brethren if you were willing to have him sure you would make more after him then you do many of you he may go whither he will you never miss him never troubled for want of him Believe it you are not willing to have him there goeth more to a willingness in sincerity then you are aware of And then on the other hand those which are willing are ready to think Alas they cannot finde their hearts willing they are afraid they may deceive themselves But what is it man that maketh thee walk so heavily so carefully so droopingly is it not the want of Jesus Christ what is it that thy soul cryeth out for to God early and late so that heaven and earth is full of thy sighs and groans and tears is it noâ— for Jesus Christ What is the reason that thy soul followeth so hard after God if thou be not willing to have him What is the reason else that all comforts wherewith thou aboundest yield thee no satisfaction they are nothing to thee No thou must have Christ or else thou dyest and yet thinkest thou are not willing to have him O surely brethren here is a willingness take him take him then poor soul Behold his arms are open to embrace thee his heart is open to receive thee O embrace him close with him and take the comfort of it that thou maist walk cheerfully before him for ever 2. Again Be sure Brethren that you choose Christ and not somewhat else instead of him Choice is an act of the reason and judgement and so must we proceed upon judgement mature consideration of things else it will never hold we shall mistake the object take somewhat else for Christ Or else if we pitch upon the Object it will be so slightly as not to make a Marriageclosure The Apostle saith the Love of Christ constraineth us because we thus Judge if Christ dyed for all then were all dead there is an object of Judgement going before the constraining of that love of Christ so some understand that I will espouse or betroth thee to my self in Judgement not only on his part but on our part it shall be in Judgement usually the Affections or passions these are violent like a Land-flood yet having not a spring to feed them they are quickly dryed up 1. Then Be sure you choose not the prosperity you expect to accompany Christ instead of him How many followed him for the loaâ—es they were not in love with Christ but the loaves they loved their own bellies and not the Lord Jesus as the Apostle speaks And therefore our Saviour deals plainly with men At the first you dream of outward felicity if you have me you are deceived saith our Saviour the Foxes have holes the birds of the Air nests c. If that men did certainly know they must suffer persecution for the name of God the name of Christ as all that will live godly in this world must do it more or less I doubt this would quench those wishes and velleities that sometimes they have towards Jesus Christ Do not mistake if you have him you must expect trouble with him troubles within and troubles without such as you never likely met with before and if you cannot be willing to take him with his reproaches his poverty his nakedness his imprisonments you are not worthy of him 2. Be sure you choose not his graces or any thing but himself primarily many would have him but what is it they mind or eye that they might have peace and comfort and pardon of sin and this and that priviledge but they do not pitch upon Christ himself primarily as the fountain Well then labour to fall in love with his person to see some excellency in Christ that you apprehend not before O! when the soul hath his beauty loveliness to know him that the fulness of the Godhead is in him that he is the express image or Character of his Fathers Person then to chuse him upon such grounds and deliberates is likely to hold This is the rooting Brethren which the word of grace hath in the heart the depth of earth whereupon a well poysed judgement we choose the Lhrd Jesus that we see so much in him of worth that we are now satisfied come life come death come poverty come persecution come what can come there is enough in him to make up all until we come to this Brethren explicitly or implicitly it will hardly hold O therefore Brethren labour to study Christ and his excellency whereby he is the chief of ten thousand Beg of him to manifest himself to you that you may judiciously choose him Use 6. Shall be for exhortation to the people of God such as the Lord hath given â—ower to believe in the Lord Jesus and close with him he hath made you willing to have him and upon his own terms you should be exhorted in that 1. To labour to make itâ— sure that you have the match made up between Christ and your souls for he loseth much of his honour and your souls the comfort of your condition in a great part because you are not sure it is so Surely he is willing to seal it up to you with the privy seal the seal of his Spirit witnessing to your spirits that you are his Yea and he hath promised too in that place where he betrotheth his people to himself I will say to them you are my people and ye shall say thou art my God Thou canst not say he is thy beloved or thy beloved is thine and thou art his but observe he hath promised that he will speak first to thy soul and say thou art mine and then the soul shall say thou art mine my husband my God for the thing expressed by both is the same There are many othe promises of the like kiâ—d why do not we let them lye dormant and do not put them in suit more earnestly in the Court of heaven were we not much wanting to our selves herein it would be much more comfortable for us then it is 2. Yea though thou hast not thus far assurance that it is so and the match made up between thee and the Lord Jesus yet take heed of a iealous heart of him as if he were unwilling to match with thee or as if he were off and on and did but mock thee because thou findest it not in so full a measure as thou wouldest what will more grieve him then this what could he have done more then he hath done to manifest his willingness to receive all that come to him that are made willing through grace to receive him You have his promise which usually among honest men is as good as their Bond and we build upon it And what do you make of Jesus Christ
Judas when he pleadeth for the poor yet alas God knew the bottom of the business but I say they making such a profession now when they fall asleep it is as much to the dishonour of God as if a real Saint do fall asleep as now for instance suppose two one wise one foolish they fall into some giddy opinion of the times O let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall or else both grow worldly covetous griping or vain indeed cast off the ways of Gods worship the great Apostacy of our times Now I say this is alike dishonourable to God but it is not alike dangerous for the one he sleepeth and his sleep proveth the sleep of death as the foolish Virgins did for though they were roused with the Cry Conscience was a waked it may be yet their hearts were never roused up out of their sleep they were dead-hearted from the beginning and so they remained they never did arise from the dead that Christ might give them life the one when he waketh hath neither oyl nor Lamp neither reality nor profession the other hath both though the Lamp want triming there is not that lively expression of Christ in their Conversations as should be and therefore the light needeth snuffing the one hath the root under ground but the other neither root nor branches so that you see there is a difference between the sleeping of the Child of God and the son of Satan the wise and the foolish Virgins The third Vse of the Doctrine may be this If so be the people of God may thus sleep Then brethren It may be a warning word to us all to take heed of it to avoid it if it fall upon us I mean the people of God it will prove bitterness in the latter end Do you believe this that you are lyable as well as others to sleep that you have the seed within you have those Lusts such foul hearts which with their steam are in danger to benight you every morning every day do you believe this and do you believe it is a part of folly the folly of the wise Virgins to sleep what need more to be said to you concerning these things will not you avoid that which you judge evil But because we have to do with poor sleepy Creatures whose souls it may be are roady to drop asleep even when they are hearing this let me a little sot it on the Lord make the impression by his own spirit and bore your ears seal instruction to all our hearts 1. Then consider brethren that if once we fall asleep we lose our discerning between good and evil in a great measure the Saints that are of experience they have their fenses exercised to discern between good and evil you may happily wake in your sleep but your eyes are shut brethren and it is a wonder of mercy if you do not dash your selves to pieces upon this rock of offence or that rock of offence this stone of stumbling c. as men in their sleep sometimes will get up and climb indeed to the top of the house and are they not in great danger of breaking their necks would you not pitty such a man O such is the Condition of a Child of God that hath a sleepy soul a soul in a deep sleep thou wilt be ready to judge evil good and good evil Jonah his soul was asleep that sin of his laid him asleep though a good man and do you not know how sadly he missed it I do well to be angry yea even to the death what could Gain almost have said worse then he did in this fit A man in a sleep cannot discern light from darkness neither of tasts nor smels all is one to him when once Peter was asleep he could deny and forswear the Lord-Jesus David in a sleep he cannot discern between the chance of war and down-right murther between shewing kindness to his faithful servant one of his worthies in Israel and making his Neighbour drunk a sad Condition Asa in such a time when he was asleep as appears clearly a little before his saith was lively and he could relie upon God for the ruin of the Ethiopians Lybians yet now he relies upon Benhadad King of Syria to help-him against the King of Israel even Basha he was asleep sure that forsakes God to relie upon an enemy and takes such an evil Course to wish him to break his Covenant Then the Lord sent Hanani the Prophet telling him plainly he had done very foolishly he would not bear it he would not be roused out of his sleep brought to repentance Claps the Prophet in Prison oppresseth the people O what will a man stick at brethren when he cannot discern between good and evil where the senses are closed what will not a blind man run upon and yet a good man also and this leads to a second 2. When a man is once asleep alas brethren the passages between head and heart they are obstructed that nothing almost that he heareth will awake him So David when he was asleep you see how sadly he carryed it he went to the Ordinances questionless in the house of God from time to time or likely he did so and yet he lay in that condition for all that alas the word of God sunk not with him at all you know you may call upon a sleepy person that is fast many times again and again and and he answers not or if it move him a little or stir him alas he understands it not he heareth a sound which troubles him but he understands it not and so returneth to his rest again this is the very case of a poor soul asleep you hear indeed but as if you heard not as a man that hath his mind taken up with another thing he heareth but he heedeth not so a poor soul asleep goeth from Ordinance to Ordinance from Sermon to to Sermon and heareth but the word sticks in the ear it reacheth not the heart ordinarily and is not this sad brethren Who would willingly be in this Condition that knoweth what it is to have a fellowship with God heart-Communion with God in his Ordinances 3. Another Motive may be this The poor service God is like to have from us then when we are asleep some indeed he may have but it will be so poor as if none at all what kind of service will that man do his Master that is ready to drop asleep every step he goeth as David what service did he do the Lord while he lay in that deep sleep alas his mouth was stopped he was not able to shew forth the praise of God until he had opened it And the reason is plain because the graces of the Spirit though they be within us it may be there is the root of the matter there are the habits yet we cannot exercise them A man asleep hath life and he breatheth but what Acts can he
he is asleep herein indeed is the exceeding riches of his grace that though we grieve him by our slighting of his presence and Communications of himself to us so as to fall asleep in the midst of them that he will abide no longer yet his heart yearns toward us and his Love perswadeth him to return again to the soul and he will try again if we will let him in but we are asleep Behold I stand at the door and knock it is wonderful indeed that he should do so but so he doth and how long doth he stand at some of our hearts when we by a sleepy spirit grieved him away how long doth he tarry before we open you see in the Case of the Church I sleep but my heart waketh open to me my love my dove my undesiled how sweet compellations he useth though thou hast shut me out like a kind love yet my love open to me my Locks are wet with the dew of the night much he endures before we open and do but observe when she knew it to be his voice yet she hath many excuses I have put off my Coat c. and all this while he stays but what unkind dealing is this when by his word he knocks alas it sinketh not any further then the ear there it dyeth knocks by the voice of his Spirit and by rods and afflictions sometimes and yet we keep him out this is the sixth Seventhly When we fall asleep we little know how longwe shall lie in that Condition therefore take heed of it O when David fell into that sleep how long did he lie in it nine months at least and he might have lain nine years except the Lord had taken a more then ordinary course with him So the Patriarchs how long did they lie in their sleep and their Consciences neveâ— awaked until their affliction this is clear in the very case of the Church in the Canticles how long did he call and call again and wait upon her and yet she is not awaked a little stirred she is but alas lies down again as a man half awaked until at last he was pressed to come nearer to her to put his hand in at the hole-of the Lock and then at last she got off her bed with much ado First He was fain to come nearer to her with some inward touch and offer of his grace offering as I may say with his hand to open the bolts wherewith her heart was bolted against him and then she waked and not before you see these virgins here slept until the Cry came and how long they slept who can tell O it is a sad thing brethren to be so long without Communion and Fellowship with the Lord Jesus to be so long under weakness and inability to exercise our graces that we can do nothing but poor weak service so long to keep out Jesus Christ and when do we know that he will come so near to us as throughly to awake us what if he should never do it until our dying day what a sad end would that be Eighthly Remember this brethren though you may think of case in such a Condition of sleeping it will be no case to you but trouble for usually what is the râ—ason we unbend our bows loose the Cords we think we may have ease take on more easily and fairly for heaven then we have done now the main part of our work is done we have gotten the oyl in our vessels and a little assurance it may be of his love therefore now we may take our ease and so fall asleep believe it brethren it will be a little case to you and it will appear if you consider these two or three things 1. While you are in that sleep if you be believers indeed you will not have ease what distempered sleeps do men sleep that are in continual fear or that should not sleep and know they should not sleep it will hazard their lives is their sleep sweet ordinarily surely no when a man sleepeth and in his sleep is terrified with dreams how unquiet is he truly a believer he never sleepeth heart and all if he did it were somewhat like now a Hypocrite doth he sleepeth heart and all that is first asleep that never was awake and therefore he may take more pleasure But alas the Child of God all the while he is off from Christ and the enjoyment of him he is like a stone from its center like an Iron pluckt from the Loadstone that hath yet a â—ingering towards him will not rest until it return to him again so it is not quiet altogether therefore of all men the people of God are the veriest fools when they give way to sin or lie down upon the lap of sinful delights and fall asleep because they have a still principle within them which is kept awake a seed of God which still interrupteth them and they cannot take their fill of delight nor rest in sin therefore to them it is returning to folly when once peace is spoken to them I appeal to the experiences of all the Saints whether when they are in a sleepy frame a fit of security hath seized upon them the presence of Christ is departed whether they have that rest and quiet in their spirits it is an uncomfortable condition to them 2. Because usually when his people are in such a Condition the Lord is sain to take some violent course with them more then he would to awake them so that not only their sleep is troublesom but their awaking is also sad to them Here there is a Cry made whether it be by the voice of the word lifted up terrible threatnings Or whether the voice of his rod which cryeth it is terrible it is not a still voice happily will do it but it must be something that will make both our ears to tingle as it was in Elias case poor man he was asleep a Lust had so besotted him that is to say his carnal affection to his Children he honoured them above God that love devoured his love and eat up his zeal for God and the Lord warns him sendeth a Prophet to him and tels him what he was like to trust to he had set his Conscience a little to work before so far as to reprove them But if nothing else will do it awake him throughly What then I will do a thing that shall make both the ears of him that heareth it tingle It shall awaken him and awaken others the boring of the ear may cost us something he will give us an alarm a strong one at least if he do not beat up our Quarters where we lie lurking And you that are souldiers and have been in this Condition hath it been comfortable to you when you have been so beaten up I think not sure O what hurrying then and terrour is upon every man when he is so surprized So nothing else would do to the Brethren of
Pass-over but they made nothing of the greatest moral pollution that could be of falsly accusing the most innocent person and prosecuting him to the death this they made nothing of and so they scrupled not to give thirtie pieces of Silver as a price for Jesus Christ that they might bring him to death but when they had done they would not cast it into the Treasury The Papists they make much ado it is a grievous offence to violate one of their fasting daies enjoyned by the Pope but to murther Christian Princes under the notion of Hereticks they make nothing of that this is the condition of many a poor creature Mint Annice and Cummin they must tythe these externals and ceremonials a Gnat they strain at but a Camel they can swallow 3. Another thing in their obedience is this an hypocrite he can be contented to take up the easie part of Christianity ordinarily but not the difficult that which is more inward and laborious they can come to heaâ— the word to confer with the people of God to receive c. But the inward part the great duty of self-examination alas they are strangers to it that high duty of spiritual contemplation that of keeping their hearts with all diligence because out of it are the issues of life this they are strangers to they cannot down with these things to forgive injuries from their brethren this is a hard duty to love their enemies yea to love them that think meanly of them despise them as well as those that think more highly of them this is no easie duty here the hypocrite will give others leave to take up this part ordinarily truly Brethren Search and see is it not so with some of us 4. Another consideration is this An hypocrite maketh not Jesus Christ his last end he doth all for self-ends Who do seem to be more Religious then the great Questionists of the times usually yet the Apostle tels us if they consent not to the wholsom words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Doctrine which is according to godliness he is proud knowing nothing doting about Questions and strife of words whereof cometh envy strife railings evil su 〈…〉 isin 〈…〉 and perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth supposing that gain is godliness there is the root of all this Brethren of all this zeal and contention supposing that gain is godliness was not this the argument whereby the Devil would have proved Job an hypocrite if thou touch all he hath he will curse thee doth he serve thee for nought he hath self-ends in it O surely brethren if our hearts condemn us and tell us We work for our penny in the Vineyard of the Lord we serve for our penny it is not right it may be we may pretend the glory of God and may seem to take a right aim for God and for Christ but like a deceitful bow we turn aside and have somewhat else in our eye that setteth the wheels awork when the glory of Christ will not O this is gross hypocrisie So those in Mat. 7. they prophesied in the name of Christ but not for his name but for themselves and though a child of God may be pestered with such thoughts creeping in upon him yet he suffers them not to lodge with him but whippeth them and giveth them their pass he mourns under them prayeth for pardon of them and healing and subduing of them 5. Another thing is touching the conflict which the soul may have with sin How may we know whether that be right or no An hypocrite may have some regret doubtless in sinning until he hath hardened his conscience so by custom that he is past feeling Do but mind these two things 1. Where the quarrel lies where the battle is fought Is it between the understanding the judgement or the conscience convinced and the will or is it between the will and the will the affections and the affections the former may be in an hypocrite the other is not Peter had this conflict between his will and will he should be carried whether he would not that is to say to be martyred Why then if he were altogether unwilling how could he be a Martyr No he was willing and yet unwilling there is a lusting of the Spirit and a lusting of the flesh it is not for nothing that the Holy-Ghost expresseth it in those terms he doth not say the spirit judgeth one thing and the flesh lusteth after another but there is lusting on both sides the flesh against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and those two are contraries and they are in the will and affections and therefore as contraries they must needs fight until one be subdued the Apostle saith with his mind he served the Law of God and with his flesh the Law of sin but mind there is not meant the understanding as distinct from the will as sometimes it is understood but it is understood of the regenerate part set in opposition to the corrupt part in the soul and the one fighting against the other so that the things we would do we cannot do many times Consider then Is it thus with thee carnal affection carryeth thee out this way but thou hast not only a judgement to the contrary but thy affections and will carryeth thee to the contrary and thou art not alway overcome but ordinarily prevailest O this is a sign of an upright heart 2. Consider in this conflict also another thing Whether you â—e not treacherous alway holding on the side of sin So an hypocrite will be he hath some regret against sin its true but yet he favours it and would willingly excuse for it palliate and plead for it and O how glad such a man is when he hath but any Scripture that will seem to make for it that he may have but liberty for his lust as a covetous man O how he is more then ordinarily pleased with those Scriptures which seem to make for it and such a man holds in with sin and will not come to the light but hates it is willingly ignorant of some things libenter ignorantur ut liberius peccent Is it thus with us brethren believe it if it be we have cause to fear all is not right with us we are unsound at the heart and though we may go far yet the end will be rottenness Again lastly See to it whether we love anything else more then Christ If House or Land or Father or Mother or nearest relations or life it self more then Christ we are hyporcites sure and this is a thing will not be so easily known specially by such as with â—eter denyed him being ashamed of him it may be upon a slight account O happy is he that can afterwards say as Peter Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest I love thee though I dealt so unkindly and unfaithfully with
the mouth that maketh a profession but a suitableness of conversation walking in Christ Jesus the Lord now there may be remission of these acts The acts of a moral man which he elicits from the power of nature by moral precepts or the power of Education are called sparks in that of Isa which are of a mans own kindling the works of holiness righteousness in the Gospel is called the light of a Believer which shines before others and is indeed the main thing let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works Now I say a Believer he may have interruption in this remission in this he may either neglect them or else do them in a slight manner and that ordinarily So the Apostle speaks to the Philippians that their care again towards him had flourished by which is implyed it had flourished before but now it had languished and faded they had not put it forth for him as they might have done but now it revived As a man in a fit of passion hath not the use of his reason so the best of the Saints when the wills or lusts of the flesh prevail as they may in the best they have not the use of their spiritual part But so much for the first thing I am brief because I have had occasion to speak much what to the same purpose before The second will be this That these declinings may be in the people of God even near their end and the coming of Jesus Christ This will be justified by the Parable here the cry cometh which rouseth the wise Virgins and when they awaked and came to themselves their consciences were awaked then they saw that their Lamps wanted trimming they burned low when they should burn the brightest they are dim dull you need not much to be said for the proof of this part of the Doctrine for of Solomon after he had lived long and followed God and had had extraordinary appearances of God to him again and again publike and privately yet when he was old saith the text and should have grown better he then began to love many wives and then fell to countenance Idolatry which is a blemish upon him to all posterity And so you see it in Asa his case a good man and a man very forward and diligent for the reformation and yet in his last daies see how many failings are noted of him his unbelief resting upon an arm of flesh his imprisoning the Prophet that reproved him his going to the Physitians and not to God his oppressing of many of his people the lower he ran his day ran the more dregs he ran he ran not clearest at the bottom So Sampson some twenty years after he had been overtaken with a Philistian woman and likely repented of it yet twenty years after he goeth in to an harlot there And the Reason is plain for this because that grace at the best when it is at its perfection it is but a creature and depending upon God as the beams upon the Sun and as the stream upon the Fountain and therefore no longer then he is pleased to feed it will it subsist let our vessel be never so full of oyl our hearts never so full of grace yet it depends upon the Lord Jesus and his fulness and the Spirit like the two Olive trees that empty the golden oyl into the vessels uphold me with thy free Spirit saith the Psalmist And O that the Lord would keep this upon the frame or imagination 〈…〉 of their hearts for ever Thou maintainest my lot Psal 16. Now if he withdraw and forbear to empty out of that fulness upon us let our conditions be what it will alas grace will languish our Lamps will burn dim 2. Because truly many times this is the time the people of God grow most secure they have long followed hard after God and now they think they may slack their pace a little we are exceeding prone to set up grace received in stead of Christ when our mountain is made strong we lean upon it whereas we should only lean upon our beloved as the Church And then no marvel if he let us see to our sorrow that grace is but a creature and loseable in its own nature the child getteth most falls when it thinketh it can go it self without any holding and this much for the second The third thing is That though the Lamps of the wise Virgins come to want trimming to burn low and dim and at such a time as this yet they are not put out which is the complaint of the foolish Virgins in the following verse The declensions of a godly man at the worst they are recoverable An emblem of this was the fire upon the Altar in the Sanctuary it never went out after once it was kindled It is said of the good womans Candle it goeth not out by night she may sleep it may be but it is by Candle-light as persons that intend to rise again and haply not to sleep long will sleep by a Candle Believers may fall asleep and the Candle may burn dim but yet it goeth not out Indeed it is true a child of God his profession of Christ may be at such a low ebb sometimes as scarce to be visible A candle in the socket sometimes will burn so low that a man would think it were even out but it riseth again So we would have thought Peters profession had given up the ghost when he denyed and forswore his Master in such a sad manner And so David his profession was very low And so some of the Martyrs that subscribed a recantation as Cranmer So Tho. Whittle and Benbridge Bilny and others Fullers lives pag. 122. now we could hardly see the light yet it broke forth again and shone gloriously in them all Again It cannot be denyed but that a child of God may decline and lose divers degrees of grace which for ought we know he may never recover again never have his Lamp trimmed up as it was before but yet it never goeth quite out And so for comfort they may live and dye haply without the light of his countenance and yet their Lamps burning Our Saviour himself dyed without the sense of the Love of his Father he had his supporting presence but not that sweet refreshing presence My God my God why hast thou forsaken me for this is not necessary to the being of a Christian as to believe with the heart and confess with the mouth is in persons grown Now that it is so that their Lamps do not go out neither the light nor heat altogether nor the acts of holiness and righteousness towards God and towards men are not altogether lost and laid aside It will appear First by Scripture the path of the just is as a shining light which shineth more and more to the perfect day Some interruptions there may be
found or will be found for indeed if it were then there would very few perish out of the visible Church every man almost except a very desperate ignorant prophane wretch will have God and Christ and mercy in their mouths and many liftings up of eyes and hands though they do but dissemble and flatter him with their mouths as is proved by too ordinary experience come to many a poor creature upon his death and you would think him a Saint a true penitent and that if God would restore him sure he would never return to his folly again but alas alas experience proveth how quickly such men return to their vomit again to their wallowing in the mire again and lay out their strength and time and meats and marrow and money and all upon their lusts with as much eagerness if not more then before and prove very Devils incarnate or at least grow as listless and lazy in seeking God after their restoring as they were before though in the time of visitation then they would seek him early and nothing but seek him 3. He may discover Hypocrites to themselves before death likely and yet many times the time is past for the understanding of which brethren we must know that every Professor and all professing people who have the means of Grace the Sun of righteousness rising upon them in his Ordinances whether he arise upon them in their hearts or no this maketh a day of grace Jerusalem had her day as you have it in that of Luke Now this day may be conceived to be either revealed so as that we may judge of it according to Scripture or else secret which God hath reserved to himself The revealed is usually bounded by the time of a mans life or the continuance of the means of Grace to a people at least all that while according to our estimation Gods patience waiteth upon men upon formal Professors to see if they will repent and amend Or else 2. There is a secret day which God hath kept in his own power that is to say he resolveth with himself however it may be the means of Grace may continue longer to a people yet if they stand it out such a time so long he will never make them available to their souls So the Jews in that their day O that thou hadst known saith our Saviour in this thy day but now they are hid mind you now they were hid they should never have a sight of them though they might have the means of Grace the Gospel preached to them yet longer as they had yet the things which belonged to their peace were hid from their eyes And so it may be with an Hypocrite for ought I know the Lord may open an Hypocrites eyes convince him that he is an Hypocrite and yet the time be past of his recovery So the foolish Virgins you see their Lamps went out in obscure darkness irrecoverably though there seemeth by the Parable to have been a further time before the judgement a time wherein they did use some impertinent and improper endeavours for their restoring they went to the wise Virgins and them that sold of which afterward not to Jesus Christ that was hid from their eyes or else if they did it was to no purpose you see they missed their aim and then brethren one of these two things will be the effect of it Either First The heart will sink and die within them through some despair either when God hath opened this wound in their Consciences they will die of it their life and souls will go out at the wound as you see in Judas's case he could not so much as look to Jesus Christ that he might be saved but his heart was sunk within him when he saw how he had played the wretch with Jesus Christ selling his Saviour for so small a price when he had pretended so much love to and to value him at a so low a rate Or else Secondly The heart will grow desperately hard and Conscience seared afterward that it will be past feeling and so commit all iniquity with greediness and yet with a brazen face and with the highest confidence come and cry Lord Lord open to us as it is here in the Parable and in the seventh of Matthew after a thaw it will freez harder again and then Conscience will be covered with a stone as it said in Job And surely brethren the reason is plain why the Lord doth not ordinarily discover Hypocrites in his Church until it be too late for a just recompence of their hypocrisie his soul abhorreth hypocrisie more then any thing their Sacrifices and solemn meetings are an abomination to him he is even weary to bear them why because they drew near him with their mouths honoured him with their lips but the heart was wanting that which God looks at as all in all in our services and therefore they were like dead carkasses however garnished with many pretty sweet flowers common gifs and very taking manner of performances of them yet they are but dead Carkasses and therefore he abhorrs them and therefore no marvel if he seal up men under such a Condition until it be too late The Lord intendeth not mercy to such a soul such a people though their own hypocrisie and iniquity intervene as the immediate cause of the execution of this purpose and therefore it is that he letteth them walk in their own sparks the light of them please themselves with their Lamps their profession until they have trifled away the season of grace A sad consideration for Hypocrrites For Application of this Then it may serve in the first place for a startling word to all formal Professors the Lord make it an awakening word I doubt I speak to many sleepy souls our voice is not loud enough to pierce the ear in the heart and therefore O that he would do it Brethren if I seem uncharitable to you it is my love to your souls it is for your sakes else I have no such delight to speak things so cutting and wounding as these are I fear brethren in such a multitude of Professors that many of us have no more but a form of Godliness and many of us not so much but I speak not so much to them You see that five of them were foolish and they had nothing but Lamps a Profession I cannot conclude from the equality of number that there are as many wise as foolish or no more foolish then wise but many foolish there are that we may conclude and yet we expound it according to the Analogy of faith they are more by many then the wise You may then brethren be very confident of your estate rest as securely as if you had the greatest assurance of your Condition the foolish Virgins slept as soundly as the other suspected their Conditions no more then the other nor so much neither in all probability You think brethren that because you
heightned it shall be so powerful as that we shall be like him indeed then shall we be like him this we know saith the Apostle I will instance in a few things Brethren Then will there be the love of Christ manifested to us It may be thou hast had thy heart touched with him and thou knowest not what aileth thee poor soul but follow him thou must thou canst not give him over thou art sick of love for him but thou hast scarce ever had a good look from him little of his love or as thou thinkest none Now Brethren will it be the Love of God in Jesus Christ to us that will be the feast indeed O thy love is better then wine it is better it is spirits it is life it is that which giveth life and keepeth life and fetcheth life again when it is even going this then is the feast the love of God in Jesus Christ to thy poor silly soul that thou lookest upon as neglected by God and neglected by men no man careth for thy soul Believe it Brethren you that follow Christ thus you shall have a time of making out his love to you and this will be the feast the Love of God will answer all the dainties that can be devised a compleat feast it is virtually all Even among men you see Love will turn a dinner of hearbs into a feast O how much more then where Love it self is the filling of every dish 2. The souls joy in this love not to speak of the souls returns of love again and praises hallelujahs to eternity which are the fruits but the joy in this Love it consists here in joy in that place to the Romans can it chose but be joy to a poor soul think you to see the heart of the Father opened to us in Jesus Christ his bowels of Love all shed abroad upon us therefore the Kingdom of heaven is so expressed by joy enter thou into thy Masters joy or the joy of the Lord. But to speak a little to soul-heightning considerations of this feast in those particulars that we might get our hearts in love with heaven with this feast First consider It is now Brethren to be more immediate then here below it is new wine the most excellent in its kind that is reserved until the last the excellency of this feast of wine in heaven will appear by this among other considerations That the Communion shall be more immediate Dulcius ex ipsofonte waters are most sweet out of the Fountain immediately now God shall be all in all when the Kingdom is given up to him he shall be instead of all Ordinances Now indeed the Conduits run wine and we may drink and that freely but yet it is not so immediately we are indeed not fit for such a condition we must make use of them until he come again use these shadows and types So that the communion is not so immediat 〈…〉 N 〈…〉 e see him not as he is but then we shall saith the Apostle 〈…〉 more through a glass darkly and sullyed glass by our polluted breath our corrupted hearts do sully Ordinances else we should see him much more brightly then we do but there shall be no more need but face to face If the beauty of Christ his love do take us so when we have but dark hints of it as a face in a dim glass O what will it be when we shall see him as he is we shall not need the pipes any more but even go to the Fountain the Rivers the Seas of Love 2. More sincerely it is now altogether without mixture Alas Brethren we now eat the Lord Jesus our Pass-over and feed upon his love but all the while it is with sowr herbs there is a mixture of grief when we look upon our crucified Saviour Crucified by us and for us and so his love is better then wine now to us but alas there is some gall or Vinegar mixed with it some sin some temptation some affliction without that weakens the comfort the soul might take in the love of Jesus Christ But in heaven there shall be none Brethren no mixture at all here the Lord giveth us a cup of trembling to drink a cup of mixture that is to say ready prepared wine and his people drink round of it usually and he seeth it necessary there must be some Acrimony some salt to keep us from corrupting before we come to our glorified state and so be able to bear that his love without any mixture at all of the contrary No anger the meat sweet the sauce sweet the wine sweet the bread sweet 3. More fully infinitely more fully if I may so speak of that which a finite though a glorified creature is capable to receive Now we have a drop or two Brethren but then our fulness then the narrow-mouthed vials shall be enlarged to receive more fully and to express more fully to Jesus Christ again in his high and everlasting praises What is that which cometh through the Conduit to the Fountain the Sea it self Ah Brethren here we are at a loss we do not know what the Lord hath to pour out upon us the fulness of his Love in Jesus Christ so as that we shall be swallowed up It is so much here that the Apostle admireth it behold what manner of love is this that we poor worms should be called the sons of God then they shall admire much more but alas the measure doth not appear it cannot enter into the heart of man it is too narrow and the love too great it cannot enter into his heart to conceive Some of the Saints have had so much of love manifested and joy in that love that they have been fain to beg of God to hold his hand they could hold no more and so great as to quench the flames that they could not hurt nor pain them they could feel nothing O sure this was a flood that could put out such flaming torments But yet this is nothing it appears not what we should be at thy right hand there is fulness of joy and so much as that the Saints are said to enter into it it cannot enter into them they are swallowed up O this will be a full feast indeed here there will be an abundant drinking And it must needs be so Brethren if we consider 1. What it is that maketh this feast or first that it is a feast it is not an ordinary meal Now you know men at a feast do more liberally provide for their friends here below it is a feast indeed but nothing to this 2. Who provideth this feast it is not a poor mans feast but the feast of a King such a feast you see Ahashuerus made for his Princes now a King will make a feast like a King Princes have their names from liberality and free with a free spirit thy Princely spirit all those as a
not that sinners are blind-folded do you think they would be led by Satan into so many horrid things O if they had known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory Father forgive them they know not what they do Alas the Panther hideth his head when he allureth the beasts the sweetness of his smell or beauty of his skin only the Drag is said to flie from him Isid li. 12. 2. See Mead upon Revel p. 2. p. 52. Alas they see not the head which is ready to affright them and devour them and not only is it the ground of this bondage but of all the rest how cometh it to pass that poor souls are plunged into such desperate gulfs of despairing and such breaking bondage in that kind but because they are held in ignorance they do not come to know the Father and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent he keepeth them in ignorance of the promises the sweet and precious promises of Jesus Christ O dear friends it is impossible were it not for our ignorance of that love of God in Jesus Christ and that riches exceeding riches of grace that is in him and his thoughts that are above our thoughts that there should be so many cloudings such fearful plunges as many poor souls are put unto yea many times even after they are once delivered from them why now I say when the Lord Jesus cometh ariseth upon a soul as the Sun of righteousness he dispels this ignorance discovers sin in its own colours and indeed worse it cannot be set forth in therefore the Apostle saith that sin might appear to be sin and then he opens the treasuries of the Promises of the Covenant of Grace to let a poor sinner see there is enough for him there though his sins be great yet mercy is transcendantly greater if he have mountains to be covered the Lord hath a sea to swallow them up if multitudes of sin there is multitude of mercies there is love which will cover a multitude and so by discovering himself thus and our selves to our selves he by degrees setteth the creature at Liberty from those fearfull apprehensions of God and from that delight in sin which formerly he had taken so that now no longer will he serve it But a little more plainly take a Scripture or two for it in that of Isaiah To proclaim liberty to the captives the opening of the prison to them that are bound the opening of the prison some read it so and so do our Translators though it is acknowledged by the learned among us that the latter is no where else used in this sense for the prison nor for the prey as some others use it and therefore some do take the word to be but one and render it omâ—imâ—do apertionem so that the doubling of the Letters here are Emphatical and by way of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though then Manaph here remaineth as a difficulty for words so doubled use not to be so joyned together so that some would have it here nothing else but a very large opening of their eyes and say that it is used most properly if not constantly of the opening of the eyes and surely this is the way of Gods delivering his Captives and agreeable to the text here the Sun arising in the morning opens the eyes setteth the senses at liberty from that prison of darkness they were in in the night and elsewhere it is manifest in that of Luke 4. 18. To preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blinde and again the Psalmist The Lord looseth the Prisoners he openeth the eyes of the blinde therefore Paul was sent to open the eyes of the blinde and turn them from the power of Satan to God and from darkness to light for we must know that this bondage is of the soul the faculties thereof and chiefly the will Now the Lord when he cometh to deliver us dealeth with us as with men and therefore first opens the eyes of the mind and draweth us with the cords of a man with arguments over-powring our reason and then with the cords of love sweetly thereby inclining our hearts and bowing our wills and then the poor creature comeeth forth out of this bondage before we see we are in prison or see the loathsomness of it the darkness of it we are in love with it and will not go forth But Secondly This darkness comprehendeth another and that is Error or rather this ariseth from the other and therefore we shall speak to it apart Ye err not knowing the Scripture nor the power of God he saith not ye err not knowing immediate Revelations but not knowing the Scripture for there the light is in the Lanthorn if we will behold it now this error of what kind it will be it is a snare of the Devil and therefore it is a bondage The Apostle there speaks of Heretical Doctrine held by such as do perversly oppose themselves against the Ministers of Jesus Christ who hold out the truth as it is in Jesus He sheweth how Timothy is to carry himself to them in meekness instructing them that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth Repentance is a turning from sin to God and to the contrary Grace or Vertue and that is the acknowledgement of the truth therefore their sin was some corruption of the truth and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will out of the snare of the devil a sad snare it is if the devil can but get so far within a man as to dazle his eyes to blinde them he may lead them whither he will if he can but corrupt their judgement especially in fundamentals or practicals then they are his own they are fast enough he carryeth them captive takes them alive even at his pleasure Now our liberty from this part of bondage also is by the arising of the Sun of righteousness upon us the Spirit maketh us free as he is a spirit leading his people into the truth not only the notion but the practise of it also we have an anointing whereby we know all things saith the Apostle speaking of Antichrist it is needleâ—s for me to speak to you of him you have an anointing will teach you to avoid thâ—se his errors O happy is that soul that hath such a Guide such a Leader to lead him forth out of prison even as the Angel went before Peter else between sleep and wake hope and fear he might haply have mist his way So the Lord Jesus cometh and giveth his Spirit and bids the soul go forth alas whether should they go they know not the way as Thomas said why saith he â—ollow me I will lead you as he in his word hath therein revealed himself and maketh it out by his Spirit to his
and therefore when natural vigour decaies in old age though there may be as much uprightness there cannot be so much vigour appearing in service alway Now men are apt to have sad thoughts of themselves upon this account and so in other cases when wearied out our Saviour is tender and pittiful he takes notice of every groan under it when thou canst not help thy self but art foyled and he pittyeth and spareth O saith he to his Disciples could ye not watch with me one hour and at such a time as that was when our Saviour had most need of their watching wich him alas they were asleep Well saith he I consider your weakness the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak The Lord is ready to make the best of our conditions and therefore be not altogether discouraged though thou hast a weary hand with thy self with thy own base heart Fifthly But some will say O but they are grievous workings of sin that are in my heart whether they rise from within or from without my heart closeth with them and they are very horrid and I know not what to think concerning it But I say was Paul buffeted and canst thou think to escape truly Brethren I take it the Devil befools himself much in putting a soul upon horrid sins because that is the way to settle the soul so much the more fully when the bit is bigger then will down when Egypt dealt more hardly with the Israelits then before it made them cry out and then the Lord heard so it may be a soul was not so fully delivered from a sin but he doth stick as I may say in the skirts of it but now this maketh him cry out more willing more earnest to be delivered Sixthly Take heed lest anguish of spirit so far prevail as that thy soul refuse to be comforted as the Psalmist saith and the Israelites could not believe by reason of anguish of heart when God had sent them a Saviour to deliver them it may be it is so with thee Seventhly There will come a time when thou shalt be altogether free thou shalt never see the Egyptians more which now pursue thee and trouble thee me thinks that the thoughts of this should refresh us and make us desirous and willing to depart Well then whatever thy condition be in respect of the world it may be afflicted it may be friendless it may be in other kinds Oh me thinks one thought of this that thou art free from guilt and hast a free access to the Throne of grace might exceedingly support thy spirit But thus much for this use of the point also And grow up as Calves of the stall We are now come to the last promise in the bundle and it is not the least considerable That bondage under guilt under sin in its prevailing could not but be a hinderance of growth therefore if we lay so much weight upon the order of the words something seemeth to be held forth of that nature that this growth is a Concomitant of that liberty and enlargement promised before but I will not hang too much upon that though it be an undoubted truth yet whether it may be argued strongly enough from the order of words I will not urge Ye shall grow or increase or be multiplyed as some render it and the same word is read for spreading themselves the horsemen shall spread themselves or they shall be multiplyed as others Sometimes it is taken for springing up Gen. 2. 9. Job 31. 40. Our translation is very suitable some read it exilire to spring and leap and wantonize as Calves use to do when loosed from the stall But I rather much adhere to our translation and the meaning is ye shall increase and grow and come on you shall not stand at a stay and be alway at a pass but grow But what this growth is of what it is meant will be the Question whether of a temporal or spiritual growth a taking root in the world growing up and flourishing which is spoken of the wicked and sometimes the word is thus used for increasing though thy beginning were small said Bildad to Job yet thy latter end should greatly increase that is to say his habitation should be made prosperous at the last if thou wert innocent in his sight So Solomon it is said of him that he was great and increased more then all that went before him And so Rovanellus takes it here for an increase of glory dignity riches and prosperity and so in that place of Jerem when the Prophet first concluding however it were yet God was righteous and good to his people yet he would plead with him concerning his judgements Wherefore doth the way oâ— the wicked prosper Wherefore are all they happy that deal treacherously thou hast planted them yea they have taken root they grow yea they bring forth fruit though this be another Metaphor of a tree the other of a sensitive creature In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow and in the morning thou shalt make thy seed to flourish but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow There it is taken for all manner of outward prosperity but indeed me thinks this though it may not be excluded yet should not be the main thing here intended for alas though it be a great mercy to a people to be richly laden with benefits blessed with the abundance of all things so as that they may wax fat yet if this be abused and they kick against God as Jesurun did there is little comfort in it in comparison It is true it doth not necessarily follow because here is the summe of the Covenant of grace therefore earthly promises are to be excluded for they are a part of the Covenant also so far as good for us and all included in that I will be thy God Godliness hath the promise now as well as then of the things of this life as well as of that which is to come yet I shall rather speak to the other the growth in spirituals that is to say the daily renewing of the inward man the increase of their sanctification and holiness and grace this I take here to be meant and specially meant and therefore thus we shall understand it the promise is amplified by a comparison grow ye shall as Calves of the stall the word for stall signifieth an inclosure a coop any place made for to fat Cattle or other creatures in and we know that usually such do grow exceedingly else there is a great deal of cost bestowed upon them in vain and therefore our translators read that in the Proverbs better is a dinner of herbs where love is then a stalled Ox and hatred therewith There may be three things haply couched in the comparison First that they shall grow in quantity as calves calves shoot up and forth very much when they are
the meaning of it note in the first place that growth is a motion or mutation from a less to a greater quantity as you see a babe though it be a man in a smaller letter and have part for part yet they are small and grow to a greater bigness the child grew in stature saith the text and in favour with God as well as with men And so a plant or a seed is little at first but it groweth to a tree to a blade and the sâ—alâ— to the ear and the full corn in the ear here is a motion from a less to a greater quantity So a Calf of the stall must needs also shoot forth Now for grace you know it is either Relative or Inherent and accordingly we must understand the growth Relative grace as that of remission of sins and justification in the sight of God and adoption to be sons and daughter this if lookt upon as the act of God it will be hard to say that it is intended or remitted that there is a growth or motion from a lesser to a greater quantity for remission of sins being the act of God we cannot say that one mans sins are more pardoned then anothers that believeth as well as he So we cannot say that one believer is more a Son then another they are all the children of the most high though a child grow in stature yet his relation groweth not he is a Son the first day he was born as well as when he is at the perfect stature this is plain though every Son be not a Joseph or a Benjamin yet he is a Son as well as any which by the way ministers much refreshing to a poor weak soul that eyeth his stature and growth O he is so weak such a babe a child in comparison of some of the people of God which are strong in faith and can give glory to God when they are doubting and scrupling every step they go yet I say though this be a burthen yet the main whereupon the comfort of a poor creature hangs is alike to all there is no growth there the weakest poor sickly froward-hearted child is a chiâ—d as well as he that is strongest healthiest most serviceable and though faith be weak yet the relation of one is alike the purchase the price paid the ransom is alike to all that believe though it be but in some more weakly Only here mistake not neither though this relative grace grow not as of justification or adoption yet the knowledge of this grace arising from the reflexion of the soul upon its self and the shining of the Spirit upon the works of grace he hath wrought in the soul this is capable of a growth it may be that a man may be a child of God and yet not know it alas how long are our children children and we look upon them so and hearts and bowels yearn and tender them and yet they know not that they are children we need go no further then common experience for this do we not see many a precious soul that lies at the feet of Jesus Christ for mercy whose souls are sick of love for him who prize him above all O they are willing with all their souls to close with him for all ends and purposes if he be but willing to close with them they think they are not children nor that they do not believe when they do believe for this very willingness of Christ in sincerity is believing and therefore they think they are not children when they are dear in Gods â—ight what think you of him that walks in darkness and seeth no light do you think he can see his relation to God in Christ without that light Surely no. Again another he hath some probability which begetteth an opinion in him concerning his condition and that he hath received this special grace from the Lord and been partaker of this love to become a Son of God others they rise higher then this and have a strong confidence and some a full assurance and know that they are the Sons of God that their persons are justified they can triumph with the Apostle who shall lay any thing to their charge can say my beloved is mine and I am his and my Lord and my God with Thomas they know the things freely given them of God even by the Spirit of Christ yea the same person Brethren may grow from such a doubting of his condition to such a probability such a perswasion such an assurance of his condition this therefore admitteth of a growth but not the relative grace it self but only our sense feeling or knowledge of it and so much for that Secondly There is a grace inherent which is indeed as the root and the acts and issues of it are as I may say the fruit but this grace within we shall speak to as most nearly concerning this purpose the fruits I have spoken to you know at large upon another Scripture and I would not in this discourse interfere with what I then delivered or if we speak any thing to the fruits that grow upon these internal inherent graces of the Spirit as likely enough we shall yet we shall not consider them as fruits rising from such a root but as growing fruits being bettered improved according to the growing of the principles from whence they flow But for the grace inherent by that I mean all those habits or gracious dispositions of the heart godly as that of faith that of love and humility and sincerity and spirituality and self-denyal these things and all the rest in the habit or disposition of the soul is the subject of this consideration and these Brethren you know they are but qualities though divine qualities and therefore though growth or augmentation according to terms of Art or Logick be not properly ascribed to them yet according to Rhetorick it is proper enough to speak it of any thing under a Simile that it groweth if it any way increase as if a quality Now the light for instance or heat in the fire or Sun that is intended or waxeth more clear and more hot this may be called a growing-light or growing-heat because that as in things that properly grow there is an addition of one quantity to another whereby it increaseth so here there is an addition of one degree of the quality to what was before whereby it is more intense then it was before therefore when we speak of grace growing the speech is figurative taken either from plants or sensitive creatures that all their beginnings are small but afterwards grow up to their pitch Secondly A thing is said to grow properly you know when the increase is made not by opposition as they call it but by an inward receiving that is to say it is a nutrition as the means it was a custom to cast every one a stone and make a great heap as upon Achan and Absolom Why
is in this case though a mans gifts and grace rise never so high and over-flow at his lips at his actions to make others also fruitful and to grow yet if there be not a continual supply from the Fountain would it subsist would it not languish therefore this is the comfort that he is an Author of it I the Lord hast thou not heard hast thou not known that I the Lord the Creator of the ends of the earth faint not neither am weary and therefore though you faint and languish yet I faint not saith the Lord I will renew your strength therefore and ye shall run and not be weary though now you cannot lift up your heads therefore this is the first reason It must needs be perfect every good and every perfect gift cometh from the Father of lights if any be more perfect then another sure they are the gifts of his grace but this is but the first The second Reason may be an auxiliary to the first The Lord will perfect the work of grace he beginneth and therefore there is such an increase as the Apostle calls it the increase of God now why is this because he hath appointed a measure of a fulness of stature to be attained by us before we be made meet for the inheritance of the Saints in light a child while a child is scarce able to mannage an inheritance he knoweth not what it meaneth and so for a weak Christian and therefore mark you what our Saviour saith ye must be converted and become as little children else you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God he saw some pride and swelling and ambition of their spirits well faith our Saviour this must be fetched out of you one way or other either by love or by the rod or both before you will be fit to enter into glory O how heavenly and sweet do the Saints generally grow before the Lord takes them Brethren if so glorious a building as the temple of God be intended will every rough stone a rough-hewn-Christian be fit to lay in that building O no surely those knotty pieces shall be plained and smoothed and pollished before they be laid in that glorious Temple in heaven remember it I say Brethren there is a meetness for heaven and though haply many of us care not for it we would not be too meet for it lest we be taken to it before we be willing to part with the world never fear that while thou hast such a heart it is well if thou be not so far from it that thou never come thither thou needest not fear coming thither too soon But there are two causes which seem to call for a word here to open them First what will you say then to persons that it may be no sooner are converted but they dye what time have they to grow in grace and to come to this meetness of the inheritance of the Saints Remember what was said before that growth is not alway in all of the same pace What if God will create one Adam in perfect stature the first day and the rest grow to it by degrees why may it not be so what if some grow as the Lâ—â—lies shoot up quickly much in a night and others are longer about it if all must grow and come to this fittness before he take them and so if the Lord be a whole year turning water into wine in his ordinary way of providence which is wonderful and at another time though not so often do it in a moment who shall say to him what dost thou this is as perfect wine as fit to be drunk as rich and full of spirits as the other so the thief upon the Cross he made a large progess in a short time for I tell you to believe in the Lord Jesus and confess him and at such a time as that was was no small power of grace when himself was under the agonies of death and Christ under disgrace and the shame of the Cross and crucifying and dying yea under the displeasure of his Father crying out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me when he was forsaken of his Father in a sort and forsaken of all men yeâ— and of his own Disciples also none of them then durst openly â—cknowledge him and crucifying at that time Peter had denyed him they all fled from him before though some of them stood and looked on yet if they had been put to it at that time it is a question what they would have done therefore our Saviour in tenderness towards them would have them be let go as you have it when himself was taken now at such a time as this when heaven and earth looked black upon our blessed Saviour to own him to despise the shame of the Cross at the first dash and to reprove his fellow that was crucified with him it was a great measure of faith I le tell you Brethren it is like he that wrought that in him had wrought a like measure of love when he told him he should this day be with him in Paradise what such a wretch as I that all my life time have lived so wickedly and now am dying under my guilt and in one day at the last moment to be translated into a glorious Kingdom O this could not but surely much enlarge his heart in love to the Lord Jesus and that is the perfection of the Law and so we see some Christians that grow more in a moneth in a year or two then many do in many years some are foolish children that stick long in the place of breaking forth some make haste and run much in a little time and therefore this hinders not but all should grow to their measure appointed of God before they come to heaven And for the children of Believers how can they come to this pitch you will say how can they grow â—o such a height of growth for answer First It is worth the noting that even they who deny them the priviledges of the Covenant of grace which are visible and outward in the Church of God yet dare not profess whatever they think to the contrary but that they are saved or may be saved and profess tender thoughts of them they are not such duri patres infantum as to exclude them out of the Kingdom it was the Disciples fault you know and so it may be good mens now to hinder them from coming to Christ they thought they were but troublesom guests to him they were capable of little and therefore forbad them but they got a rebuke for their labour what saith our Saviour is it not clear enough even from the old Scripture for there were no other then written and they had means to know that they did belong to Christ and the Kingdom else he would not have reproved them Do you not know to such belongs the Kingdom of God you might have known and ought to
the service of his people and alas that our reward may be the more abundant our Crowns of grace may be the more weighty so that there is not a step from the very Cradle to the Crown of glory but all is grace and growing until it be swallowed up of that fulness Secondly He is honoured indeed so much the more Brethren by our growth fortes oreantur fortibus O when his people come to that strength to bear the Cross of Jesus Christ to deny themselves to hate their lives for his sake which the Disciples at all times were not ripe for how doth this honour the Lord Jesus O what Spirit is that whereby they are acted that even their enemies themselves have been confounded with the consideration of it and so when they are strong in faith giving glory to God a man weak in faith a child a babe that staggers at every difficulty is questioning upon every occasion whether God be with them as Israel because they had no water O said they is God among us because there was no water now this is not to his honour to have children live in a family together eat and drink of the best and yet to be alway children weaklings as I may say consumpsit this is a dishonour to their Father and Mother so it is in this case what is more choice Brethren then the bread from heaven this wine and milk which is to be had in Jesus Christ which Believers live upon and yet if they be weaklings how doth it dishonour Jesus Christ his flesh is meat indeed and his blood drink indeed but if we come not on with it it will be hard to perswade men so but where they see us go from strength to strength that we can do singular things for Christ in prosperity in affliction which others cannot do O they will be ready to say surely that which these men feed upon is rare and excellent diet indeed Now Brethren alas this glory is nothing to God it is only that he may be acknowledged among men in the way of his grace which addeth nothing to him but to poor creatures it doth yet it is all he requireth and he is jealous of it indeed Now for infants truly Brethren though they act little among men specially while properly infants that cannot speak for him thence they have their names Infants there may be little appearance yet the very consideration of this that the Lord should infuse grace yea such rich grace as you heard into them me thinks should take us up sometimes with more admiration then we are taken up with it for I say no man dare deny but that they may have grace and some of them have grace and all of them that die in infancy for ought we know have Now how admirable is it but God hath made it visible in some extraordinary cases as in John is it stupendious that the like babe should leap in the womb for joy at the hearing of the report of Jesus more then the most of Believers likely would have done upon a bare report Beside how many instances of little children wrought upon even as soon as they can speak I say that can make it appear in an admirable manner and to call God Father at very tender years yea know him to be their God and they his and that they shall have a Kingdom prepared for them me thinks these things are enough to convince us there is no such necessity of years Brethren And then is it not the more admirable is not Christ more to be admired Again it is much for the comfort of his people and truly this the Lord hath much in his eye next to his own glory which indeed is much magnified by the comfortable walking of his people the more then a man groweth up in the knowledge of the things freely given of God by the Spirit of Christ the more comfortably he walks such are an ornament to their profession an encouragement and invitation of others to enter upon the same waies when they see the faces of the Saints that shine to be anointed with the oyl of gladness and the Kingdom of God in them to consist in righteousness and joy and peace this encourageth others that otherwise would be disheartened Now I say the Lord is very tender of his peoples comfort do but observe it and you shall find Brethren the blood and Spirit of the Lord Jesus to run through all the veins of the Scripture and all for the consolation of the Saints these things I write to you that your joy might be full and that through consolation of the Scripture we might have hope else why are there so many promises so often repeated again and again how many promises of remission of sins set forth in various expressions every way to affect and meet with every mans condition but that his design is the comfort of his people and wherefore are the examples of the Saints proposed to us their falls their restoring again but for our comfort and hope surely this is the design Brethren and therefore surely he will carry on his people in the knowledge and understanding of them the closing with them else the work is done but imperfectly for what though the righteousness of God be revealed in the Gospel from faith to faith except there be an eye opened and as the light groweth clearer so the eye groweth stronger and clearer to behold it it will be little matter of comfort to the people of God what is a man the better as to comfort to have rich means and knoweth nothing of it at all and then to grow in grace in all the graces of the Spirit Brethren this doth wonderfully help to the comfort of the Saints What is the complaint of the most of men O they cannot lâ—ft up their heads they cannot carry a cheerful heart why O they think they are hypocrites they are not right with God or they are in unbelief they cannot believe in Jesus Christ they cannot do this or that or they cannot see that there is any thing right in them Why Brethren it will not satisfie a tender heart except he see and discover somewhat in himself of Gods working now when it is small as a Mustard-seed as a Cypress-seed it is scarce discernable but as it groweth from strength to strength at last he cometh to see it when sincerity of hâ—art doth more ordinarily and strongly prevail against the sly and subtile insinuations of sin upon the heart O then the soul can see that his heart is right with God and so for faith when it is strong and acts strongly upon the Lord Jesus the soul doth even feel that it doth believe and so an end is brought to all those sad complaints let men of corrupt minds say what they will Brethren the appearances of grace in the soul is a notable evidence of our being cloathed with the righteousness of
grow in this Grace may he not say to us O ye of little Faith why do ye doubt why do you walk so pensively and hang the head to the dishonour of my Grace may he not say O ye of little Faith why do you perplex your selves and rack your selves with cares of the World what ye shall eat and drink and how ye shall be prvoided for doth not your heavenly Father take care of you O ye of little Faith why do ye in every perplexity and trouble as men at a loss run to this creature and that creature and not to the Lord wherein your help doth lie O ye of little Faith why do you when means fail then cast away your hope as if there were no help in God as if because the streams were dried up therefore the fountain must needs be dry also therefore Brethren labour to grow in this Grace if ever you would do any eminent service for Christ or honour him set the crown on him in any condition labour to be strong in Faith Thirdly In that Grace of Love labour to grow therein First to the Lord himself to Jesus Christ It may be thou dost love him and according to the measure of Faith and Knowledge of him the soul will love him usually but we must labour to love him much more love we take it kindly if it be from the meanest person and so doth the Lord Jesus O love the Lord ye his Saints you cannot love him too much do you alway err in his love the more you love him the more you may for there is no end of his perfections his love his mercy his bowels towards you there is no searching of them you may go yet deeper and deeper and find a ground for the increase of your love still you love Relations Husband Wife Children and more for relation then for any excellency in them many times fond we are O that we could be so fond of Jesus Christ how sick of love was Rachel yea sick to the death for children and so is many a fond mother O we cannot live without them Ah how few are thus sick of love to Jesus Christ well lobour to love him and to this end First Labour to present the Lord and Jesus Christas most lovely to thee while thou entertainest hard thoughts of Jesus Christ thou canst not love him if thou thinkest thus with thy self I would fain have him but he is not willing to have me if thou look upon him as rigorous and cruel and one that delights in your blood it is impossible that you should love him O no labour to present him to your selves as one whose bowels are continually yearning over poor souls poor sinners one full of compassions full of mercy and tenderness he desires not the death of a sinner the Lord Jesus Brethren is altogether lovely it is true for his holiness his purity as well as his grace and mercy but this is that which most moveth to love at least while we are under weakness it is an high pitch to love him for the beauty of Holiness that is in him Think often then seriously upon it what dear thoughts the Lord Jesus had to poor sinners that rather then they should perish he would interpose between them and the everlasting burnings though be were sorely scorched for it O will not this draw love look upon him with his precious blood trickling down and one drop overtaking another O what haste did love make O how lavish was his love he would not spare any pains any travel of soul that sinners might live and can you but love him then O what an heart must that creature have that can look upon the Lord Jesus wrestling with strongest wrath of his Father so that he needed the Ministry of Angels at that time and yet not love him try see whether such considerations as these will not heighten your love to him we complain of want of love Brethren we cannot love a thing we know not or that we consider not see then if you do not find still some new beauty in him for which you should love him yet the more Secondly Let it be much upon your hearts how much he hath forgiven thee Alas saith the poor soul if I knew that that my sins were forgiven I should love him indeed abundantly It may be thou hast not a full perswasion of it but hast thou not a good hope through Grace and such a lively hope as setteth a working out the scum the pollution of thy heart more and more Is not this cause of great love to him why he hath not left thee to sink in despair and perish O how much did that sinner love him because he had forgiven her much therefore she loved much Dear friends could this be think you without her heart dwelt upon this consideration it was fresh upon her spirit O the more she considered it the more apparent were the riches of Grace towards her O so many Devils cast out of me would the Lord Jesus have such precious thoughts toward such a wretch as I what an Harlot a filthy unclean wretch and would he think upon me and pitch his love upon me and pass by many others that had it may be but one devil and make love to me that had seven O she could not hold her bowels within her were ready to break she must love him she must hang upon him even upon his feet she must wash him with her tears and wipe them with the hairs of her head though before as harlots use to do she had been much in tricking and trimming her head yet now they shall be dishrifled and now they shall be a Towel to wipe the feet of Jesus Christ O here is love kiss his feet if she may not kiss his lips and blessed soul that had such an heart given her Now Brethren consider this have not some of us had seven devils have there not been seven abominations in our hearts O it may be we have been fornicators adulterers filthy unclean wretches as vile wretches as ever breathed now consider this often is it so indeed hath the Lord looked upon such as we have been pitched his love upon the vilest of us and to make us so nigh to himself and shall we not love him O where are such workings of love towards the Lord Jesus as that poor woman manifested our hearts are dead and dry So the Apostle Paul His love of Christ constrained him O he was the chief of Sinners and the Lord did so eminently save him and call him out of darkness when he was in the very height of his wickedness that then mercy should â—eet with him that then a pardon should descend from heaven when he was fighting and rebelling against heaven and he should be conquered by the love of Christ whose heart was full of blood against him O this lying upon his spirit did indear his soul to
necessity and distress O be ye merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful take him for oâ—â— pattern and there will be continual room for growth and increase So the Apostle exhorts the Corinthians that as they abounded in other graces so they would labour to abound in this also Ah where are bowels Brethren towards one anothers souls with what tenderness did the Apostle stand over the souls of those poor people warning them day and night with tears And our Saviour over Jerusalem now I tell you again weeping saith the Apostle O that God would give such a heart to us and such a heart to his people indeed there is little tenderness and bowels one towards another little pittying one another while under temptation we can rather raise our hearts one against another stomack one another entertain prejudice one against another upon this account but a spirit of meekness and love and tenderness in restoring setting one another in joint if we be faln is not found among us or very little O labour to grow here and then to abound in works of mercy to give and give much liberally and do it with a tender heart an upright heart out of obedience to God not for ostentation But fifthly Labour to grow in softness of heart to see the stone wasting day by day I do not mean by softness of heart only an aptness to melt into tears for many an one may have a soft heart that cannot weep at all though most dispositions are apt to it and where it is it is a sweet expression of the heart towards Christ often-times though I must tell you there may be much of this and yet much hardness of heart many tears shed and it may be upon the consideration of sin and yet the heart hard to this day the softness of the heart Brethren lies most what in the plyableness and yielding of the spirit to God when we are ready to do all the will of God as David I have found David my servant one that will do all my will that is ready to say speak Lord for thy servant heareth Lord what wouldst thou have me to do Now alas there is many a wretched heart that it may be under a passion weeping at the apprehension of sin and yet go away and return to it again and again the heart is not plyable but stubborn wherein did lie the hardness of Pharaohs heart it lay in this that he would not harken to the Lord nor let Israel go though he had had so many judgements and so many deliverances yet all would not soften his heart no the iron sinews in his stiff neck they remained such still though sometimes he seemed to relent yet alas no sooner the hand was off but the heart was more hard then before he strouted it out and would not yield to let Israel go So when the Lord heapeth mercy upon mercy to melt out the sâ—one in the heart to make it like wax to the fire to the mould to be put into a fashion and it may be sometimes it draweth a few tears from the eyes but the heart is never the more plyable to God And so he cometh with rod upon rod blow after blow and yet doth it gently and all to foften and make the poor creature more plyable to him it affecteth a little sometimes but is not the heart as stubborn as unteachable as far from yielding to God in all things as before O this is the softness as a piece of joyners work it is all glued together one part to another Now then it is dissolved and broken when the glue the soder is melted and one piece falls from another so it is here our hearts and their sinful objects are glued together by carnal affections now then the heart is said to be broken to a softness when these affections are dissolved when our hearts and our objects of sin fall asunder each from the other labour to grow herein Brethren Sixthly To be more spiritual in holy duties more inward in our Communion with God you have heard this spoken to in the tryall O labour then to grow in spiritualness in prayer to pray with more faith with more fervency with more purity of heart not to ask any thing to spend it upon our lusts In meditation to keep closer to it without distraction and so to read to hear to do all these duties in a better manner but enough of this already Seventhly In your holy walking with God and with your selves as the Apostle saith we be seech you Brethren by the Lord Jesus that as you have received of us how ye ought to walk and please God so you abound more and more when a man walks with God alvvay setteth the Lord as before his face as the Psalmist speaks then he vvill be able to vvalk pleasingly to him vvhen by faith he seeth him that is invisible that is to say God to be present vvith him and knovveth him to ponder his vvaies O hovv eareful shall vve be then of our thoughts as vvell as of our vvords and actions and this vve do by faith believing his presence vvith us and his all-seeing eye to be upon us still upon our hearts and all their vvorkings according to the prevailing of these persvvasions and the constancy of them upon our spirits vvill our vvaies be ordered such a man vvill not dare to harbour vain thoughts in his heart though they vvill rudely rush in as a ruffian may rudely offer violence to a chast Matron she vvill not endure it so it is here O no I dare not as Joseph you see and then vvalking vvith our selves by more and more restection upon our selves upon our actions our waies the very truth is the want of this is the great cause we grow so little or if we do that we can take so little comfort in it herein lies the excellency and glory of a man above a beast that he can recoyl upon his own actions therefore labour to improve this O be more in it reproving your selves when you find you have done amiss whip those vain thoughts which pass through your souls and give them their Pass exhort your selves stir up your selves comfort and chear your selves in your God which you cannot do except you be much in this part of an holy walking even reflecting upon your selves and your own state Eighthly and lastly that I shall speak to shall be this To labour to grow more and more in that assurance of your relative grace your adoption the growth and other grace its true is a great help unto it but labour to improve it to that end how chearfully might many a poor soul walk if they did but know the things which are freely given them of God O beg the Spirit to be a witnessing a sealing-spirit to you more and more And do the same diligence saith the Apostle to the full assurance of hope unto the end we do content
see it by experience in all things what low minds what poor and weak apprehensions they have that are exercised upon low objects never rise higher what heightens the mind of a Prince but the thoughts of a Kingdom What difference is there between the mind of the meanest Mechanick and the deepest Polititian Such difference must there needs be between the heart of a man that is poring alway upon low things and God is very little dwelt upon It is said of Moses that is the ground of it he waxed great saith the Text not only in body but in mind and Spirit he waxed strong in Spirit was a man of a great mind his eye was upon him that is invisible the great God Jehovah Elohim who giveth being to his promises keepeth Covenant with his people and is Mighty Almighty can do what he will do in heaven and earth and all deep places This made him so great therefore he was above the fears of the Kings wrath he cared not for it Before indeed he was afraid and fled he then had not had so much converse with God and contemplation of him and knowledge of him as afterward he had Well then you say your faith is weak you know not how to get it strengthened lift up your thoughts to this great object do but peruse his name a little now and then yea often the Lord the Lord God gracious and merciful c. See if there be not an abundance there to swallow up all thy doubts and fears O thou art a miserable creature it is true but he is a merciful God and thy misery is but the misery of a creature and his mercy is the mercy of a Creator a God and what are thy thoughts of thy misery when thou hast aggravated it to the height as much as can be they are but finite thoughts and his thoughts of pardon and mercy they are the thoughts of a God infinitely above thy thoughts either of misery or mercy if his thoughts of mercy and pardon were not more then ours we were in a sad condition for then they would never answer his thoughts of our misery which are infinitely above ours of our own misery Alas but I am the most vile unworthy wretch in the world O you know not what I am alas is it for such an one as I to believe Suppose so he is gracious O it is most free infinitely free what he giveth he looks for nothing at thy hands only acceptance O but sure I have wearied out his patience he hath waited upon me so long he is long suffering O but I have such an abundance of sin my heart is so full there is an abundance of goodness abundantly pardon in him yea and truth also c. Alas but I shall never hold out nor keep my heart with him I shall quickly back-slide But he it is that keepeth mercy for thousands O if our hearts were but much in meditation of God his name the Lord our righteousness and this name his works the great things that he hath done how would it raise our spirits to believe and how would it increase our love to him and our fear of him There is mercy with thee that thou mayst be feared we should find a very great influence upon all our Graces to increase them even from the greatness the fulness the riches of this Object O his Almighty Arm whereby he laid the foundations of the heavens and earth and hanged the earth upon nothing and what then though thou be nothing he can lay a foundation of eternal comfort and an heavenly Kingdom as well as the earth upon nothing and bestow his riches of Grace as well as his power and wisdom upon nothing therefore labour much to improve this great Object O it will take the heart much off these poor little nothing vanities of the world it will make us contented with our portion it will arm us against all the fears of men and lights of the world what will it not do if the Lord be pleased but to breath upon our endeavours in fixing our hearts upon this so high an Object Eighthly Another is to use the Society of growing Christians there is much in the communion of Saints which presupposeth an union maketh increase of the Body to the edifying of it self in love as the Fellowship of the Graces of the Spirit and their co-operation or working together doth help to strengthen the whole so the Fellowship of the Saints tends very much to building up So the Church When they continued together daily with one accord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one consent with one heart then the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved and not only so but hereby the hands of the people of God are strengthened and their spirits quickened the fire groweth to a flame when many brands are laid together if there be but one live coal and many dead ones lay them together and there will be an increase of the heat he that will walk alone and apart from the communion of Saints I do believe shall quickly know by his own spirit what the want of them is but now there are some that are move growing and grown then others are alas how many are under diseases the world or somewhat as bad that they are at a stand proced not or rather decline there is little to be got by the fellowship of such no no the people that we find are so full they are over flowing continually their lips feed many they are bringing out of the good treasury of their hearts things both new and old they are still telling what the Lord hath done for their souls or still they are stirring up others you shall receive something still if your own hearts be not out of frame to receive O how the example of a lively sensible diligent close-walking Christian will provoke us as the Apostle saith Your charity hath provoked many it will put us upon it to follow harder after God To do the same diligence with them to the full assurance of hope to the end wherefore else are the experiences and examples of the Saints in Scripture written what David found and Jacob found by experience of God in prayer wrestling with him and what their fallings cost them both but that they being dead might yet speak to us and with us and we might converse with their living examples though themselves be dead even as faithful Abel being dead yet speaketh and why should there not be such a Fellowship of Saints to communicate what they have found of God I do believe Brethren some of us may with thankful hearts bless the Lord that ever we saw the faces of some of his people that we have by their examples and by their words been much quickened much stirred up much provoked therefore if we would grow converse with such if thou be weak in faith find out some of the
daub and heal them deceitfully get it skinned over a little and so the world will do it building and planting and marrying and drinking and pastimes these may skin over the wound but it heals not and miserable is the condition of poor creatures so deluded but now they that are taught of God and learn they learn this effectually and practically that there is nothing in the creature that can do it Fourthly They learn this also that though all the world be but as a cloud without rain when the soul is a fire a Well without water a broken Cistern that leaks out all a Torrent a Brook that is dried up when the soul is parched and burnt up with the scorching heat of the displeasure of God O when the Lord setteth a soul in his sight and looks upon him as a consuming fire with his eyes as a flaming fire ready with a sight of him to devour him and he cannot get out of his sight O now the world all their comforts will not skreen them from his eyes but what will only the Lord Jesus he can be a cooling shadow to shadow us from this scorching heat and this the Spirit of the Lord perswadeth the soul we all of us will talk of it O Jesus Christ is our help and hope and look for salvation in no other but in him it is grown now so cusâ—omary a thing among us that it is in every mans mouth but to how few hath the Lord spoken this to our hearts that thus it is Fifthly Again another thing that we are taught of God before we come to Jesus Christ is this that he is willing to let out of his oyntments to heal he is willing to expend that precious balm of Gilead upon us else the soul will never come to him it is that that keepeth off many a soul a long time the Spirit of the Lord perswadeth the poor soul that though he hath been an enemy to Jesus Christ and grieved him and torn his wounds and rent his flesh with horrid oaths and blasphemies trampled his blood under foot have been never so horrid a transgressor yet he perswadeth him that the Lord Jesus is willing to receive sinners without exception if they come to him Suppose there was a Physitian whose skill were so great and his store of Medicines so inexhaustible and soveraign and his heart so large as that he proclaimeth to all that whosoever is wounded though never so desperately whosoever is sick unto the death one of the Stone another of the Gout another of the plague I will cure you all O then if poor creatures did believe this were perswaded of it they would come and not before O saith one mine is a plague sore and it is past cure mine is an hereditary disease saith another and so far gone I cannot be cured they come not and perish O mine is such a disease it will cost more pains and charge then I think he will be willing to be at to cure and therefore he cometh not to him and so perisheth just so it is in this case except the Lord do secretly insinuate it into the soul how willingly the Lord Jesus writ it upon his Spirit and that the Lord Jesus is willing to receive to heal to save the soul that will not come to him but thus much for these things which in the order of nature go before a coming to Christ now for the acts wherein it formally consist First then when the heart is thus made sensible of what is in himself working to death and what is not in himself nor in any other creature to save then I say there is from the teaching of the heart how able and willing the Lord Jesus is there ariseth a desire in the soul after the Jesus Christ not as if this did flow or were produced by the former apprehensions of a mans own necessities of Christ and of the fulness in him as a fountain and the openness of the fountain which is sealed to none that come for alas one grace though never so habitual and deeply rooted cannot produce another no not faith it self produce love but the Spirit which works faith works love in our hearts also much less then can a conviction be the cause of a conviction or a turning unto the Lord Jesus but it is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus when he hath so opened the eyes of an Hagar to see the fountain opened that was near her before but she saw it not and let us see that our bottle is dryed up and all other hopes in the creature perished then I say the Spirit inclineth the Will to come to Jesus Christ then he works sweetly though strongly an inclination a desire after him It is not in these things as in nature an ordinary providence concurring with the actings of the creature according to their necessities When Hagar saw the fountain she needs no further perswasion to go unto it her necessity was a cord strong enough to draw her yea a weight a spring to carry her swiftly to it but alas when we see the bottles dryed see that the creatures say it is not in us to be had and see there is a fountain opened yet such is the waywardness of our hearts yea such the enmity in our hearts against the Lord Jesus though the streams of his love toward us were as strong as death that we will not yet come to him we had rather sit down as you see some sullen creatures taken from their damms will rather perish then receive food at the hand of man such an indisposition and aversness to man there is and so it is in this case except the Lord Jesus come in by another act of his Spirit and bow the will and make us desirous of himself O then when this act of power is put forth the soul beginneth to long to desire after Jesus Christ O that I had him O that I might but have a sight of him then there is getting upon the tree by a low Zacheus then there is an ascending in this Ordinance and that Ordinance and everywhere the desire of the soul is for Jesus Christ this is a coming for the affections are to the soul as the feet to the body that which carryeth the soul in and out in all to this object or from that object O then when shall I come and appear before him Secondly In this coming to Christ is included a passing all other stands and rests on this side Jesus Christ many a poor soul cometh near to Christ and to the Kingdom of God and yet falls short of him as an arrow not drawn up to the head falls short of the mark and there it sticks where it fastens goeth no further So here some upon their convictions the discovery of their conditions run to this Ordinance to that to this duty to that as things that of themselves as performances should give rest to them and
indeed these are the sweet breathings of faith these are the near approaches of the soul to Christ this is to lay hold upon him though the soul feel little comfort for the present yet this is a coming to Christ So the Prodigal O make me but as one of thine hyred servants Fifthly and lastly it is a closing with Jesus Christ as he is offered not by the halves Christ is not divided as the Apostle saith his righteousness from his holiness nor his holiness from his righteousness therefore saith the Apostle as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him O here many are deceived they would have Christ but they will not be his what a strange unreasonable thing is this they would have the benefit of having him to be their Father and be heirs but they will not be subject as children they would have all the immunities and priviledges peace and prosperity of soul under him as a King but they will not submit themselves to him as King and Lord they would have him for an husband and yet will not obey O this is not a coming to Jesus Christ this is to serve our selves upon him but the Lord Jesus will search this out keep it as close as we can from others that they may think well of us yea from our selves also through the juglings of our hearts we cannot keep it from him he knoweth where there is a soul that takes the Lord Jesus without any reserve and equivocation Aug. Is non modo durus was no good sign of his condition at that time though afterward it was otherwise for we find he acknowledgeth it bewails it the Lord grant that the doom of Ananias and Saphira reach not to many of our souls for pretending to give up the whole to Jesus Christ and yet reserve part to our selves yea pretend to come to Jesus Christ and yet divide him Well you see Brethren what this coming to Jesus Christ is it is not then every one that saith Lord Lord nor cryeth out the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord that come to Christ it is not the having a few faint wishings and wouldings which like the untimely birth of a woman like a bable perish and never appear more that is a coming to Christ it is not your sucking sweetness from your own duties performances Ordinances priviledges any thing short of Christ that is coming to him Dear Lord Jesus how many of us loyter and take up our rest short of thee It is not a bare acknowledgement of our being sinners in the general and a Lord have mercy from the mouth without any sense of our condition upon our hearts that is a coming to Jesus Christ It is not a desire to be pardoned alone for then none of us should miscarry and O that it were so if the Lord see it good But it is the earnest breathings of a poor broken lost soul the moan of a poor wounded creature the pantings of a poor languishing heart after Jesus Christ a making him alone our stay a resigning our selves to him that is the coming to him here spoken of and such a soul he will not cast out Pardon me I know I am too slow for the acute and I wish I be not as much too swift for many of us that are dull of understanding slow of heart to understand and believe these things the condition of people now a daies I take it doth call upon us to speak oftner and more fully to beat it upon poor creatures the nature of this coming to Jesus Christ then any other thing as I find still in all the preachings of the Apostles they did endeavour to make good that truth most necessarily that Jesus was the Christ because that was most opposed in those daies so now this being granted by all and already that we are sinners the main work lies herein to undeceive poor creatures who think all is well enough with them and therefore I am the more large in this part and indeed much more large then I thought to be The second thing then is what is meant by this not casting out wherein lies the marrow and fatness and sweetness of this Scripture and indeed I think the whole Book of God doth not afford a more refreshing word a more establishing word to a poor weak creature then this is O then let us see what it is First he will not cast him out he will not cast him out of his heart that is the first not out of his love for we must know this all of us this day which may be a comfort to many a doubting trembling misgiving-heart that if the Lord Jesus have done this in us and for us hath given us thus to come to him in truth for degrees of the things formerly spoken of I intend not them as to make up the nature of our duty it may be in a weaker and a stronger measure but if in truth it can be found that so we come know for thine everlasting comf 〈…〉 t as base thoughts as thou hast of thy self and of thy vileness and of thy unworthiness thy dear Saviour hath precious thoughts of thee thou art written in his heart thou wast in his heart when he wrought this work in thee and for thee yea long before this for the truth is were not he first as well as last in the work the Alpha as well as the Omega in that work of salvation we should never come to him nor should we abide with him O thy Law is in my heart saith he in Psal 44. 8. thy command I delight to do thy will and what was that that all that the Father hath given to him he should redeem and deliver and save and therefore if it be thus with us we were in his heart before as it was said of that Queen when she dyed That if her heart were opened they should find Calice there Ah Brethren surely the names of the choice of God which now appears and breaks out by this that is given to us to come to Jesus Christ all that the Father hath given shall come to me I say our names were then upon his heart and now are upon his heart as the Priest did bear the names of Israel before the Lord and therefore the Lord will not cast out such a poor soul out of his heart out of his love O my loving kindness I will never take from thee however he may chastise however he may with-hold comfort for a time yet believe it O that every poor weak creature might this day have it given from on high to believe that the Lord will not cast them out of his heart this is thy greatest fear poor soul lest thou shouldest lose him lest he should disown thee and say I will not have mercy on thee Alas it is as impossible as white to be black or black white hath he once owned thee and made manifest his
But who may say to God what dost thou He is in one mind and who can turn him and what his Soul desireth even that he doth He performeth the thing that is appointed for us and many such things are with him But though we have nothing to say to God the most wise God about this dispensation yet this saith much to Man This saith much to Ireland whither God sent this burning and shining light Have not they much cause to consider how they prized it how they improved it seeing God put it out so quickly and gave them so short a season to rejoyce in it That he preached so few years to them should be to them an everlasting Sermon And this question should come thick upon the heart of that Church there which was the Candlestick in which God placed this light why was it so why was it so why hath the Lord removed our Teacher into a Corner the very Grave so that our eyes cannot see our Teacher who was also a Pastor after his own heart any more Was he enough in our hearts or was he too much there We may forfeit our enjoyments by too high as well as by too low an esteem of them and by looking too much upon means provoke God to hide it from us But whatever moved the Lord to take him from you it well becomes you to be thankful that you had him though but for a short season in person among you and that so much of him this mant le which fell from him as he was ascending is gathered up and left with you and other Churches as his Monument and Memorial for ever Joseph Caryl Good Reader IT is often seen that good men die soonest our translation to heaven is delayed only till our fitness to enjoy heaven assoon as we are meet for that blessed inheritance we are gathered in like a shock of Corn in its season some ripen for heaven apace and are taken out of the world sooner then others now it is pitty that all their fruit should die with them Christ saith to his Apostles I have ordained you to bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain Intending I suppose not only their reward in heaven and the continuance of Believers begotten by them to God who in a very commodious sense are the surviving fruit of their labours but also their Doctrine consigned to the use of future ages by writing The writings of the Apostles I confess are more necessary then those of private men as making up the Canon and rule of Faith but yet the explications of ordinary Pastors and Teachers have their use and benefit and it is a commendable diligence in them that gather up the fragments of good men that nothing be lost It pleased God to call up this worthy servant of Jesus Christ to heaven betimes it were pitty that the Sermons coming from such a warm and affectionate spirit should die away with the breath in which they were uttered as his fruit remaineth I hope in the hearts of many that heard him so is it wrapt up in these papers by the diligence of his surviving friends to preserve it from perishing and forgetfulness It s an happiness though not to be hoped for yet to be wished for that none would write in this publick way but very holy or very learned men who either from their profounder knowledge of the mysteries of godliness or inward acquaintance with the workings of the Spirit are most likely to improve or keep alive the Doctrine of God in the Christian world this worthy instrument thou wilt find to be a man by no means of dispicable abilities but chiefly excelling in a gracious heart and much inward experience in the things of God and though deep speculations and luscious language is not here to be expected yet many wholsom and heart-warming truths delivered in a grave and unaffected stile which if my hopes deceive me not will be of great use to quicken this dull and carnal age to a greater study and vigour of holiness and therefore being desired I could not but recommend these Sermons to thy best acceptance I am Covent-Garden this 19. of Jan. 1656. Thine in the Lords work Tho. Manton De. Authore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Per Tho. Gloverum Warwicensis Scholae Ludimagistrum De Eodem FAllor an ipse tuo Murcotte per omnia vives Saecula cum terris corpus inane jacet Dignus es aeterna qui laude feraris ad astra Cui novi terras vix peperisse parem Mortuus es Murcotte at saeva morte triumphas Quem non Lethaeis sors dare quivit aquis Membra licet jaceant tristi resupina sepulchro Facta tamen nolunt saecula sera mori Per Eundem CHristian come hither read and reading mind And thou shalt here a Directory find A light indeed but borrowed from heaven Which will direct to keep thy foot-steps even Whilest that a darksom wilderness we tread The fiery Pillar will us safely lead See here 's a Pillar on which who casts his sight Shall see a flame out-shining all false light Through which maugre the spight of mankinds foe He shall to the coelestial Canaan go Where that Star shines now in perfection Which sparkled here for Saints direction per me Tho. Glover Warwicensis Scholae Ludimagistrum The Table of the Scriptures opened and explained in this Volumn  Genesis  Chap. Ver. Page 4 7 120 17 12 487 25 8 329  Exodus  1 13 490 16 25 370 20 20 553 32 12 395 34 7 636  Leviticus  19 23 89 25 41 517  42 ibid.  44 487  45 530  46 ibid.  Joshua  1 5 430 18 3 296  2 Samuel  3 16 523 9 13 219  1 Kings  11 13 394 22 29 159  Nehemiah  8 10 341  Job  2 22 393 5 26 326 8 07 558 16 00 066 19 27 137 21 from 7 to 9 133 31 1 364  21 236 33 26 182  Psalms  1 3 245 4 3 091 18 23 235 36 08 340 40 6 532 51 17 281 75 8 344 76 5 193 84 7 561 92 12 560 94 7 402 111 10 p. 81 See this in the first subject Circumspect walking 119 59 76. See this in the first subject Circumspect walking c.  Proverbs  1 26 315 3 14 367 4 27 61 See this in the first subject Circumspect walking c. 9 1 353  2 ibid.  4 357 12 10 396 24 5 605 26 23 399  Eccles  2 9 558  Canticles  2 7 81 See this in the first subject Circumspect walking  11 419 4 10 350 5 1 ibid.  2 158 168 184  3 160 161  Isaiah  1 5 442 443  6 ibid. Â
whose hearts began betimes to be knit unto him and here likewise the Lord was pleased to water his labours with the dew of his blessing But me thinks I see a black cloud arising this bright star who shined full clearly and comfortably unto others is now himself eclipsed and He who was a skilful Pilot to direct others through the splitting Rocks and swallowing Gulphs is now himself plunged into the great deep the Lord persecutes him with his tempest and makes him afraid with his storm all his waves and his billows go over him But what might be the occasion of so sad a desertion 1. The folly and the vanity of his youth though not stained wiâ—h irruptions into grosser evils 2. His too far yielding at Oxford with those impositions which grate upon conscience and scourge it with severe remorse 3 The Lord would hereby ripen him and make him the more fiâ— for himself and service He must be frost-bitten that so he may be the more mellow and his fruit of a more delicious taste There are no Preachers so experimental spiritual powerful couragious awakening convincing converting compassionate comforting as those who have passed through the Pikes and have been sorely batâ—ered with showers of Hail-stones There are none so expert at binding up the broken bones as those who have been broken upon the wheel and made to roar out by reason of the disquietness of their hearts They know how to speak a word in season unto him that is weary who have themselves been weary and heavy laden sighing full sadly and groaning full heavily under the cold hill clouding and cutting expressions of Gods displeasure They know how to speak peace unto distressed consciences who have themselves been soundly frighted with the sounding of the Trumpet and the Alarm of War There are no Trees so firmly rooted as those that have been sorely shaken and made to bow and bend with the stormy wind and tempest of the wrath of the Almighty The scales many times stick so close even unto the Seers eyes that they will not be rub'd off but with a rough hand and a sharp file But will the Lord contend for ever will he be alwaies wroth Surely no and that lest the spirits should fail before him and the souls that he hath made There is a lifting up after a casting down The Lord turns for him his mourning into dancing gives unto him beauty for ashes and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness and with a soft hand wipes away the tears from his swoln eyes The instrumental means of scattering the darkness and distress that lay upon him and of restoring the former beams of light with which he was wont to be refreshed were the reading of Mr Tho. Goodwins Child of Light walking in darkness and other of his Treatises So that now we have the Lord shining on him in a way of consolation as he on others in a way of instruction and information About the 25. year of his age being resolved to change his condition and discoursing with a friend about it there was proposed unto him Hester the daughter of Mr. Ralph Marsden Minister of West-kerby of note and useful in his generation whom he afterwards took to him to be the companion of his life But before the consummation of the marriage the people of West-kerby Mr. Marsden departing this life gave him a call which upon examination and supplication being found to be of God was complied with The seed of Gospel counsels being sown with a diligent hand did not long lie buried under the clods but sprang up and put forth it self in visible fruit whâ—ch was a farther clearing of the â—all and chearing of the heart of this pains-taking Husband-man It s no new thing for external and bitter afflictions to accompany the sweet honey of Gospel-consolations How often do dashing showers fall upon mellifluous Hives and the fairest flowers that grow in Gods Garden How often are the labouring bees assaulted with a tempest whilest abroad and bringing home provisions against the ensuing winter What more usual then Sun-shines mixed with blustring winds and wetting rains Two Villages of the Parish of West-kerby are sorely visited with the Pestilence and the Lord scatters abroad the black tokens of his displeasure the product of which was many fasts tears prayers importunate requests that the Lord would shew unto his people why he thus contended with them Mr. Murcot hath his ears opened to instruction This thundering Providence awakens him to a more exact scrutinie and narrower search into his heart and waies and is now perswaded that he had been too lax and general in the administration of the sealing-Ordinances so that he resolves to forbear and draw back his hand unless the known godly will combine which occasioned many Fasts Conferences Debates However he perseveres in preaching work and waits on Providence to see how the Lord will dispose and encline the peoples hearts An Irish Lord quartering at West-kerby being bound for Ireland was observed to be a prodigious swearer belching out most horrid Oaths in great abundance Tidings are brought to Mr. Murcot in the morning as he is going to celebrate a solemn Fast The work of the day being over Mr. Murcot being lately with God in the Mount and now grown warm in his cause and quarrel is impatient of brooking these high dishonours that were done unto his Majesty Wherefore taking with him a friend he rides the same night six miles to a Magistrate procures a Warrant the trembling Constables at first are astonished to think of approaching in such a way to guilty greatness but being animated by Mr. Murcot they serve their Warrant which provoked a new rage to the multiplying of fresh oaths even without number to the great amazement of the standers by Notwithstanding the boisterous menaces and outrage of this great man his horses were seized on and kept till he paid 20 which was employed as a stock for the poor of the Parish so wickedly liberal was this Lord unto them This exemplary Act of Justice procured and prosecuted by Mr. Murcol's active zeal so danted and overawed his Lordship that during his abode there he held his mouth and tongue as it were with bit and bridle The prsence of a siâ— punishing Magistrate hath in it a co-ercive and restraining vertue so that the most debanched and profligate sons of Belial are afraid and confined with n some bounds of moderation who if remote and at a distance they lift up their heads with a mighty confidence and finding the reins lye loose upon their shoulders rush into all manner of wickedness as the Horse rusheth â—nto the battle Mr. Murcot wanted the advantage of a Magstrate upon the place had no other sword to fight withal save that of the Spirit yet such was his Integrity Gravity Austerity and his Activity in informing and exciting Magstrates to punish Offenders impartially that the people round about him had
is a solitary duty and requires a calm and undisturbed retirement Now the curtains of a sick-bed are often opened and the languishing Patient seldom at rest The weeping wife lamenting children sorrowful servants busie Physitian condoling visitants must all be heeded and hearkened to and answers returned to their enquiries so that our time is taken up in meditating on our pain and relating it to others Doubtless health and a closet are most convenient for self-reflexions which if procrastinated till the last period of our lives are rarely attended with a real conversion and turning to God in truth and sincerity How seldom are dying men new-born and they added to the Church that are going out of the world The sins of departing souls come crouding and thronging in so thick upon them so that a distinct consideration of them cannot be taken and now mens former golden dreams of heaven and high-flown hopes of after-happiness vanish like smoak and leave behind them in their stead despair destraction confusion consternation and a certain fearful expectation and looking for of fiery indignation to devour O that men were wise that they would remember their latter ends and whilest the light shines provide for the daies of darkness for they are many The Devil hath a jealous eye upon all Engines that might probably batter his Kingdom loosen his hold and weaken his interest besides the flesh loves to be abundantly favoured and therefore I expect that objections against this course of calling our selves to account daily will be multiplied Object 1. The work seems to be attended with many thorny and inextricable difficulties hence mens loathness to take it up Answ 1. He that withdraws his neck from the yoak of Christ because of its pinching weight is unworthy of Christ In vain do men hope to be saved who provide for their own ease when Christ is calling upon them for service Never expect to look him with comfort in the face unless you resolve to be indefatigable in his work 2. Do not men upon a worldly score take abundance of pains in casting up their accounts Will not the practise of many merchants rise up in judgement against themselves and others at the last day They can rise early sit up late and immure themselves in their closets and counting-houses and there at large set down their receipts and disbursments Marriners when at Sea set down in their Diurnals every turn of the wind and when it began how many hours nay minutes the ship sailed such a point of the Compass and how many another yea though they sleep but half the night yet they must find time to do this because their lives lie at the stake and the safety of the whole is concerned How come souls trow to be at such a low and cheap rate that the safety and welfare of the Body should be preferred before them 3. It is better to take pains then to run the hazard of suffering eternal pains 4. The greatest part of the difficulty lies in the Porch when you are once entred into the House you will not repent of the pains you have taken but find encouragement to take more A clear discovery of a mans condition hath in it much of satisfaction Object 2. Multiplicity of unavoidable worldly occasions by some may be pretended for their omission of this duty they have not time and leisure enough to do as others do Answ 1. One thing only is necessary other things are but convenient It s necessary that you have grace and be saved not so that you be rich and advanced to an high degree in the world 2. Lessen your business and contract your occasions within a narrower compass Have less to do in the world that so you may have more time to spend in a devout retirement Believe it Christians Time is a precious Talent that must be reckoned for See therefore that you husband it to the best advantage Be sure you reserve the morning and evening for converse with God and communing with your own hearts not neglecting a watchful jealousie over your selves all the day Religion is not a little obstructed by unnecessary visits frothy discourses unsaint-like gaming 's and Paganish pastimes Take heed of being late abroad out of your own houses It becomes not those who profess they look for and hast unto the coming of the Lord to come stumbling home and to be groping for their doors at midnight when they should rather be in the secret chamber dressing and making themselves ready against the marriage-Supper of the Lamb. I am bold to affirm that reading the Scriptures instructing our families praying to God and singing praises to his name c. make sweeter musick in his ears then the ratling of Tables and the shuffling of Cards the bane of great mens houses and it were well if the infection had not diffused it self to multitudes of inferiour families The plain truth of it is men and women for the generality of them chuse not God for their chiefest good they make not him the object of their delight their rejoycing is not in Christ Jesus Religion is a sapless yea a sour thing unto them and hence it is that they turn aside to vain sports and sensible delights If you find your hearts averse to the practise of a Diary yet let me intreat and ingage you to make tryal of it for a few daies do not obstinately decline a course which you have no experience of But if you are resolved through grace to take up and persevere in the practise of the duty proposed beware that it do not degenerate into a customary and empty formality Rest not in the bare doing of the thing but prosecute the work in order to its ends which are spiritual and of unspeakable advantage FINIS CIRCVMSPECT Walking A Christians Wisdom Ephes 5. 15 16. See then that you walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise Redeeming the time because the dayes are evil THE Apostle in this Chapter according to his manner doth build upon the faith in Christ Jesus to justification the Doctrine of good works and a holy conversation and matters of morality In this Chapter he devideth that his Doctrine as I may say into Ethicks and Oeconomicks rules more generally concerning the framing the conversations of all and rules more speciall and particular to Family ralations This he had begun in the former Chaprer ver 17. This I say therefore and testifie that ye walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind The Apostle descends to many Particulars in that Chapter and carrieth on the Exhortation in this Chapter wherein our Text is The general Proposition still being supposed That the Saints ought to be adorned with all manner of vertue and to keep themselves unspotted of the world he exhorts them to a freeness of pardoning one another wherein thy had the Example of God and it would declare them to be his dear children in the first verse of this
God would not have sadned God is exceeding tender of his peoples comfort and therefore he hath written somuch the scope of all which is that they might have consolation and their joy might be full and therefore if we by uneven walking grieve the hearts of the people of God surely we are like to smart for it it is a vexation to the righteous soul of Lot to behold the unclean conversation of the wicked but it is a grief and bitterness doubtless much more to the people of God to see the miscarriage of a David a Peter and to hear the reproach wherewith they reproach the way of Christ which fall upon them continually Secondly Not only good men but evil men are indangered to be scandalized by it and to be prejudiced against the ways of strictness and exact walking with God because they that profess it do so miserably miss it we should walk wisely towards them that are without left we fright them away from Christianity as the Papists by their Idolatry are an offence to the Iews to keep them off from coming in to Christ because they are exceeding tenacious now of the second Commandment God having purged that iniquity from them by a seventy years captivity and much longer since and so by their cruelty to the Gentiles where they go to convert them they are an offence to them and little doth a child of God know if he fall as David did how many may stumble upon him and fall head-long into hell never come to Jesus Christ upon this account Thirdly Because we have all of us erring hearts and naturally we love to wander and if the Lord have healed that affection that now it is wrought out of us yet we are apt to wander therefore so often compared to sheep I have gone astray like a lost sheep O seek thy servant c. We all like sheep have gone astray and therefore it is the more needful to be charged upon us home and deeply because we are so prone to turn a side it is a people that have alway erred in their hearts though they were his people in Covenant external yet they erred in heart who can say he doth not find many inclinations in the heart bent to backslide go out of the way and therefore it is needful to be prest upon us so much to walk exactly and see to it Fourthly because there are so many by-paths whereinto they may step awry truth is one but falshood is manifold there is error on the right hand and error on the left and but one straite path before them therefore it is two to one but they miss it and therefore they had need to use double diligence and be pressed to it to walk circumspectly to see they be exact in their ways Now for the Use then First it is to shew us that among the much profession of Chirst that is in the world there is very little power very little exact and circumspect walking men profess to walk with God but it is at a great distance they are strangers to him and he to them and no marvel The second Use and that I will a little insist upon shall be a word of Reproof and that of divers sorts and as the Lord beginneth his rebukes for sin at his own House Judgement beginneth at the house of God so will I first give the alarm to them a word of Reproof to them Alas how far short do the people of God come of this duty it is intollerable pride in the Papists that stand upon their tiptoes and talk of their works of Supererrogation as if they had done more then God had commanded and it is wretchless carelesness in us that we keep not nearer to what he hath commanded I speak not now of the many errors the most vigilant and close walking Christian will alas to his grief find himself guilty of when he maketh a diligent measuring of his actions by that rule but I speak of the carelesness of Christi ans walking wherein doubtless they might come up nearer to God if they did but stir up themselves ever and anon but we are idle we are idle and make many an idle complaint to God that wâ— are unable to do any thing which is true if we consider our selves apart from Christ Without me ye can do nothing but through him we may be able to do all things and if we be renewed in our inward man what is this but a powerful propensity of the Mind and Will towards God and that which is according to God It is not to be doubted but if Saints would but take more pains with their hearts they might have many a better frame to serve the Lord and they should not offer so many tattered sacrifices to him and if men would be but perswaded to the painful part of Christianity they may get their passions of lust more subdued which break out to the dishonour of God and shame of Christianity and therefore justly are we to be reproved if men would a little better cast their occasions and husband their time they need not be in such straits so often to neglect or slubber over their prayers And for civil things do you walk circumspectly as you might if you made it your work and study in things lawfull might not Christians have more regard then they have to the conveniency or inconveniency I am sure the Apostle had and therein he followed Christ and therein he is to be our pattern and so what is of good report and praise worthy me thinketh it is sad when there is no care unto our hearts of these things might not Christians walk at a closer scantling in point of offence the Apostle would deny his liberty in things lawful and haply we would think necessary too as the eating of flesh rather then offend his weak brother and we many times care not so we may have our wills how many we offend and so in natural things eating drinking sleeping Christians I doubt we generally too much indulge the flesh even to the loading of our minds and dulling our spirits for higher things how cometh it to pass Sabbaths are spent so sleepily but because some wil not allow themselves nor theirs competent rest the world incroacheth upon God or else they load themselves with the creatures so that they cannot hold up their heads either they are over-worked or over-charged with surfetting and drunkenness doubtless this is reducible to those great evils well the Lord reprove us for it for we are very guilty we walk very loosely in comparison of the examples of some of the Saints yea I do verily think there is many a poor blind Papist will rise up in judgement against many of us that are Professors that have more light then they 2. It is a word of Reproof of another sort that instead of walking exactly with God following him fully their hearts are devided some there are
that have the name of Christians and yet altogether neglect the honest and harmless conversation among men and are altogether taken up with some small duties of Worship and shews of Religion as the Proverb hath it Angels in the Church and Devils in the House Devils in their Callings such were the Idolatrous Iews the Prophets with one voyce do testifie against them for this thy cried The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord are these c. but considered not that they made this Temple of the Lord a Den of Thieves a Sanctuary to defend them a cover and cloak for their wickedness and so the Prophet again This people draw near me with their mouths honour me with their lips but are far from me and the conversation also which answers more to their hearts then to their lips it is the very counterpane of their hearts usually 〈◊〉 this an exact circumspect walking do you think thus to impose upon the holy one of Israel doth not he regard think you what your dealings are between man man and how you carry it in your Families in your Shops as well as in the publike altogether this is very reproof worthy our Saviour thought it so and all the Prophets thought it so and O that he would speak this to every carnal Gospellers heart this day Again secondly There are others that are all for morality and honesty of conversation they give every one their own they are not injurious they are no extortioners with the Pharisee they are no drunkards but for the worship of God they know nothing what it meaneth to worship in Spirit and truth this is not an exact walking with God these things you should do and not leave the other undone else you follow not God fully indeed there is many a Moralist that is rather an Atheist then a Christian but I will not stand upon this Pour out thy c. Again thirdly There are a sort that neither fear God not reverence man and yet will not indure but to be called Christians for the worship of God if they come at it in the publike there are their bodies but their hearts are gone they come to see and be seen to mind faces and fashions and so sin and trifle away the Ordinances of God in their houses nothing but hellishness all their words full of deceit and poyson their accents are oaths it is all the emphasis and grace they think of their speech their lives what are they but rottenness and fraud and pride and over-reaching they have no regard to right or wrong good report or evil report all actions are alike to them being past feeling and under a reprobate sence they cannot judge of good or evil but call evil good and good evil Is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to walk uprightly exactly Ah surely brethren if it be exactness it is of the devils coyning when men teach their tongues to speak falsly as in Shops many do and make nothing of it and teach their hands to work deceit and wickedness this is to walk exactly with the devil to walk as other Gentiles do whose hearts the God of this world doth mightily work to their own destruction the Lord rebuke this power of sin where ever it is Again It may serve to reprove another sort and those are they who are so far from walking circumspectly or exactly that there is nothing more the object of their scorn and contempt then this it is the drunkards song as David was and so preciseness and strictness of walking is ordinary the world cannot bear the burning and shining conversations of some of the Saints they are so cuttingly reproved by them that with those Heathens they curse the Sun that by its shining doth scorch them It is no new thing the seed of the Serpent did alway persecute the seed of the Woman and he that was born after the flesh persecuteth him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now saith the Apostle and so it is now may we say Ismael mocked Isaac and is it not so still or if it be not so bold a sin as formerly it is because the times not sinners hearts are changed they malign them still watch for their halting report say they and we will report it well remember this you that are scorners at strictness and circumspect and exact walking with God you are set down in in the scorners chair the Lord be mercifull to you for few that arrive to that pitch and take up their rest in sin that are therein setled are brought on to Christ you are the Ring leaders in the way which leads to destruction this is another The next Use then shall be a word of Exhortation to us all If it be a duty so much lying upon us then to buckle our selves to it to walk exactly O see to it I charge you all and the Lord lay the charge upon mine own soul as you will ever lift up your faces without spot and with comfort at the day of your summons and appearing before the Judgement seat so walk circumspectly I know none of our hearts but they do or may accuse us of much unevenness in our walking do you know it brethren and will you dare to continue in it I may not descend to particulars but do not your hearts smite you for looseness of spirit towards God hanging back often neglecting shuffling and cutting with God putting him off with any thing and is not this a cursed thing to do Gods work negligently to bring a female when he have a male doth not your hearts smite you for this you do not take heed to your ways lest you sin with your tongues there is much falshood therein lightness and foolishness if not poyson and destruction there nor to your feet they make haste to vanity you shun not occasions of sin as you would an infected person or family O surely if it were not so an importunate duty the Apostle would not so charge it upon Christians that make Christianity their business to walk so exactly but a little to move us to it I will add some few Considerations and then some words â—f Direction which you may look upon as an Appendix of this Use or else as a distinct Application of this Point First Motive Consider that the way wherein you walk is all overspred with snares and nets to trap you and that your ways 1. To trap you in sin 2. To trap you for sin First To trap you in sin had not the Bird need to he wary and heedfull and make good use of her sences to discover where she may light without danger when every place is full of Limetwigs is there an hook under every fair baite and had not the fish need to take heed how she biteth or nibleth lest she be taken this is the case there is a truth and a great one in it there is nothing we
circumspect conversation hereby is my Father glorified if ye bring forth much fruit Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your father which is in heaven hath he put so much honour upon all the Saints as to make them one with himself through his Son make them sons and daughters Kings and Princes in all lands heirs apparent to the Crown of glory and shall not we honour him Oh how sweet and comfortable a condition is it when the ways of God are well spoken of by reason of any of us and how uncomfortable when they are evil spoken of by reason of any of our uneven walking O be tender of the Name of God and be at some pains the more to look to your ways that he may be lifted up and exalted by you O therefore cut off hereby all occasions from them that seek occasion as the Apostle speaks of himself therefore he would abridge himself of his liberty somewhat and the Gospel is glorified much by such a circumspect walking an Art or Science is then honoured vvhen a man is perfect and exact in it so is the Gospel which teacheth this holy walking vvhen vve come up to it we honour the Rule vvhereby vve vvalk that shining speaks the beauty of the Rule that ye may a dorn the Gospel of Christ Fifthly You may by thismeans draw others to a liking of the vvays of God the beauty of holiness the more visible it is the more attractive vvhat maketh sinners think so vvell of their own condition and so meanly of Religion vvhen prest upon them they see nothing more in the Saints then in others they are as careless of thir steps make as many balks as others keep no stricter a vvatch over the door of their lips have no more command of their tongues then others there appears no more candor ingenuâ—ty self-denial then in others but visibly as griping covetous peevish revengeful as others this is not the way to vvin any this is the vvay to drive away the Roes and Harts that are looking towards a vvay of God but quickly frighted away What knowest thou O vvoman but thou maist by thy heavenly conversation strict circumspect vvalking gain thy husband and thou husband thy vvife and parents your children and children your parents and masters your servants and servants your masters and one neighbour may gain another and vvill not this add to the vveight of your crown O therefore I beseech you vvill you resolve upon it Now in the next place a vvord of Direction vvhat course to take alas vve are like children must be taught to go vve know not vvhat foot to set forward in this great vvork I shall therefore in the first place give you a vvord of direction First beg of God to mix this vvord vvith faith in your souls that you may believe it to be so great vveighty important a duty labour to get a heart sensible of your vvandrings uneven vvalkings how far you have been vvide of this narrow vvay both before and since you have vvalked Zion-ward and so to be humbled under them for you must here plough up before you plant your course will hardly hold if you set forward with a purpose to walk more exactly except you be sensible how great the evil of turning aside or loose walking hath been well then begin at the right end and see how you have it may be for a long time not only wandered from the way but loved to wander you have not only erred but you have erred in heart you have had the Law of error in your heart as the Saints have the Law of Christ in theirs and this indeed is the height of Rebellion and froward walking it is frowardness indeed this provoked the Lord to shut them out of Canaan yea he swear they should never enter and if it hath not been so with thee for this very cause O how should this abounding grace which hath made the difference melt thy heart to pieces before the Lord and that would be a good preparative to a circumspect walking for the future the Wormwood and the Gall remembred how evil a thing and bitter it is that you have so departed from the Lord and the straite path will be a notable help to keep you closer to him for the time to come Secondly Set your selves always as in his presence so the Psalmist did walk as in his sight if ever the Scholler will write exactly it is while his Master is looking on or the servant work exactly it is when the Masters eye is upon him O if we could but have our eye ever up to the Lord upon all occasions as the Psalmist speaks how circumspect would it make us the eye of a holy severe man how would it awe us we would not entertain such thoughts such ends as we do if men were but privy to them why now vve forget the Lord O therefore brethren be you vvith God abide with him in your hearts and conversations what ever they be and if we be vvith him he vvill be vvith us and this is the vvay to vvalk uprightly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in Noah his case and vvhen did David carry himself vvisely but vvhen the Lord was vvith him and this vvas the reason of it he set God before him and vvalked vvith God and God vvalked vvith him and that preâ—ence vvill be sure to keep us in the vvay Thirdly Let the Word of God dwell richly in you in all vvisdom and understanding It is not enough to have the Scripture in your houses except you have the Word hid in your hearts that you might not sin against God vvithout light a man cannot discover the stumbling blocks or the turnings and vvindings of his way but it is a thousand to one but he misseth it a man cannot be an exact dealer if he have not the rules of his art or trade exactly men would be ignorant of nothing therein lest they should be over-reached and deceived and yet how contented are we to be ignorant here of much of Gods mind without which we cannot keep his way nor walk circumspectly I hope you do many of you study as well as read the Scriptures and hide it in your hearts for this end that you may be filled with a full assurance of understanding this is another how often do we step out of the way and know it not and how often do we stand pausing and lose much time when we should walk and work we are then to enquire and to learn and know not which way to turn to the right hand or the left and all because we have not our sences exercised by reason of use to discern between good and evil Fourthly If you would vvalk exactly or circumspectly you must often apply the Rule to your vvays to see what suitableness there is between them how they correspond it is not a
when thou hast heaped up Gold as the dust and Rayment as the clay and withall hast gotten a wound in thy Soul a worm in thy Conscience the rot and canker eats into thy soul what hast thou gotten who will be the wiser man when the sins whereby thou hast gotten this beginneth to stare like so many devils in thy face though thou hast builded thee an house a fair house and chambers by wrong and he that dwels in a tent is contented with a meaner condition with a good Conscience when the stone beginneth to cry out against thee out of the wall and the timber out of thy chambers and thy ears are full and thy heart full of the cry of thy sins and guilt whereby this hath been gotten who will prove the wise man then O surely Religion maketh not men fools Secondly It may be a word of retortion and serve to fasten the folly then upon the wisdom of the World Wordlings think the people of God fools for their preciseness but the Saints know them to be fools will ye believe when the Lord speaks do not harden your hearts now and say thou speakest falsly in the name of the Lord. Read that passage of the Apostle and tell me what you think then The Wisdom of the World is foolishness with God is not God the only wise God and do you think the Lord can be mistaken though we that are poor weak creatures like your selves may be mis-judge yet sure the Lord cannot he is wisdom it self and it is foolishness with God he judgeth it so and believe it they are wise whom he maketh wise and they are fools and that is folly whom he accounteth so by the rule of contraries it followeth if to walk circumspectly be to walk as wise men then to walk loosly and at large is to walk as fools according to our Text I will give you but two or three Demonstrations of their folly it may be the Lord will convince some poor creature of the folly of his ways First It is folly for men to pitch upon a wrong end to place their happiness in any thing but the chief good indeed now this is evident enough too plain that men of the world they do place their happiness in worldly things they have their god to worship as well as the Saints The lusts of the flesh the lust of the eye and pride of life to which the Apostle reduceth all that is in the World their pleasures their riches their honours these are their ends to which they drive on all their designs and here they rest and sit down and look no farther many of them now is not this a gross mistake and grievous folly to end so low as the earth and what the would can afford which will appear if we consider 1. That none nor all these things will run parallel with the souls to eternity therefore if they could make a man happy as long as he enjoyed them yet afterward they would then encrease his misery when they leave him fuisse faelicem miserum It is perishing bread uncertain riches many times they make wings and are gone even he himself outlives them a miserable happiness that a poor mortal creature can out-live if not yet the soul out-lives them he can carry nothing away with him saith the Text the poor soul must appear in its nakedness before â—he Lord Judge at that day of appearing after death and soul and body to eternity after the Resurrection shall never be the better for them alas the remembrance then of your pleasures and honours and riches will be but a sting to your souls to eternity that such enjoyments you had and used them no better 2. As they continue not so while a man can keep them they cannot they do not satisfie the soul if any man could Solomon might have pickt out an happiness out of them when he had so much wealth to procure them so much wisdom to improve them so gave himself to find out but the sum is vanity of vanities not only vain but vanity and vanity of vanities and all is vanity the greatest vanity they are empty there is no substance in them they will not satisfie the soul there is no sutableness between such earthy things and a spiritual being nor equality between their greatest vastness and the largeness of a soul they can never fill it and therefore it can never rest but the more a man hath the more he would have still drinking doth but increase their thirst and therefore well might the Psalmist bebeast and befool himself for setting such an esteem upon them So foolish was I and ignorant and even as a beast before thee when he thought them to have more in them then they had and therefore that they were the happy men that flourished and it was in vain for him to cleanse his heart c. Secondly If they should or do propound a right end yet they miserably miscarry in the means towards this end For First There are some that are wise to do evil but to do good they have no knowledge at all and if men make God and Heaven their end is this the way to it will the way to the devil and the way to hell bring a man to Heaven and yet this is the course that most men run as if men would be saved by contraries and were Christians by antiphrases because they are most unchristian surely Brethren the Spirit of God and the Scriptures every where hath determined sin to be folly and calleth sinners fools therefore we read of working folly in Israel so much now if one part of Wisdom be to aim at the right end surely Wisdom agreeth notwith it self if this be another part of Wisdom the Wisdom to do evil which indeed is improperly called wisdom but it is a cursed skill and ingenuity which men have whereby they are more industriously wicked this is so far from Wisdom that it is the very height of folly Again Secondly It is the Wisdom of the World to get a name of Christianity and therewith satisfie themselves take the power who will so they have the name and pass for Saints gain is their godliness and when they have gotten the gain by it the Godliness they care not to walk in but in their pleasures of sin the shew of Religion is profitable but not the reality it is burthensom is not this folly with a witness can the Shadow be profitable and not the Substance the Shell and Husk and not the Kernel can that be profitable whose Praise is of men and not that whose praise is of God Again As the top and crown and quintescence of their folly they are wiser in their own conceit then several men that can render a reason as he spaaks of the sluggard and such are all those that will not be at pains for God and for Heaven if men might devote all the
there is more in it and I know not but we may consider Virgins according to their state and condition here Now the Church is so called or compared to Virgins not in respect of their glorious unconquered outward condition as sometimes in Scripture even strange Nations yea Idolaters are called Virgins as Zidon thou shalt no more rejoyce O thou oppressed Virgin daughter of Zidon arise pass over to Chittim there also shalt thou have no rest So Babel Come down and sit in the dust O Virgin daughter of Babylon thou that as a Virgin hast hitherto abode in thy fathers house in a glorious beautiful condition thy pomp and glory now come down And so Egypt go up to Gilead and take balm O Virgin daughter of Egypt in vain shalt thou use many medicines thou shalt not be healed though the Papists make this a note of the Church the glory and outward splendor of it that is quite cross to that of our Saviour in the world ye shall have tribulation and how often have they been scatterd by Persecution Nor yet are they called Virgins because of their priding themselves and setting forth themselves as Virgins with their Ornaments Nor yet in respect of the first Constitution of the Church of Christ when they were all or most of them Virgins There were 12. and but one of them a Devil But I conceive It respects the condition of the visible Church as then it shall be specially And what is that how are they compared to Virgins Specially in these two things First Because all that profess the Lord Jesus and become visible S t s they profess to renounce their Idols the Apostle saith that he turned them from Idols to the living God Now Idolatry in Scripture is counted you know whoredom if they have been married to the Lord owning his Covenant or else fornication nothing more ordinary it is enough to hint it to you and therefore when there is a renouncing of Idolatry there the Scripture looks upon them as Virgins So when Judah and Israel had played the Harlot that is to say had worshipped and served Idols God chargeth their spiritual whoredom upon them But when they reformed as Judah did you know in many Kings daies Jehoshaphat Hezekiah c. And in the daies when Sennacher came up against them and blasphemed them the answer the Lord gave to Hezek by the Prophet was this the Virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee now having renounced her Idols he so calls her and having betaken her self to the shaddow of his wings alone from thence from the hole in the rock she despised the Assyr And secondly Because also now taking upon them the profession of Christ they escape and forego the pollutions of the world then gross scandalous sins they forsake even Hypocrites as well as others in which respects they may be called Virgins though their hearts be not right with God Secondly they had all of them Lamps they took their Lamps saith the text they have all of them a Profession of Christ they make a shew before men The Lamps I cannot take for any thing inward but meerly somewhat outward appearing unto men they are Christians outwardly all of them Even those really believers with the heart they do confess Christ with the mouth to salvation they are not ashamed to own him before men and their light of good works and knowledge shines before men that the world may see it there is the light of the Lamp And truly herein hypocrites may go far they have a form of godliness and as glorious a form as any others and they do as many good works materially good as others do and so they have a light shining before men as well as others So the Pharisees you know they made as many prayers did as much Alms fasted as often as others made a glorious shew here are Lamps Thirdly their lamps it seemeth were burning all of them Concerning the wise Virgins there need be no Question of it But for the foolish I think it will be gathered from that where they complain that their Lamps were gone out extinguished though it is true they were not fed with a right principle and therefore they went out yet they did burn they made a shew of heat and light also before men as Jehu you know did he seemeth to make a greater blaze in his zeal for God then Elijah himself did And so for light also knowledge aboundeth many times brethren in an hypocrites head a clear head and a muddie heart a sound head as the notion and a rotten heart may be together well this is the third I hasten Fourthly They all took them and went forth to meet the Bride-groom they all have their faces Zion-ward heaven-ward to meet Jesus Christ only the hypocrites they have faces one way and row another way as the Mariners do this I take to be their seeming to make for heaven all of them and the one to be as fair for it as the other for they go as it were hand in hand to meet the Bridegroom yea a hypocrite may go far indeed in externals as far as a child of God as afterward we shall have occasion to say you may have your faces Zion-wards and seem to go forth to meet the Lord Jesus and yet miscarry Fifthly When he delayed his coming until midnight they all slumbered and slept We must not understand this of giving up themselves to security and the wallowing in the sinful pleasures of the world the pleasures of sin for a season For this cannot sute with the truth of grace and therefore cannot agree to the wise Virgins he that is born of God sinneth not cannot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not work sin but his work is righteousness though he may have many by-blows in his work many mis-carriages yet his work is righteousness Nor can it for a great part stand with the very profession of a hypocrite to return again to the pollutions of the world which once he had escaped secretly haply he may rowl a sweet morsel under his tongue and be loth to part with it but the pollutions of the world which are open like wallowing in the myre will not stand with their profession therefore this is not meant by slumbering and sleeping but either Secondly Is meant by it the sleep of death in part for death is no more to the Saints though it be a sleep and a killing sleep to hypocrites our friend Lazarus sleepeth or else Thirdly Also partly a security and heaviness which groweth upon the Saints on this side death and me thinks the words seem to carry much for this there are two words they slumbered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and they slept 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the latter seemeth to be more then meerly Expository of the former The former signifieth only a little drowsiness when a man doth nap or nod a little as a man
neither of them that are strong men and women in Christ nor yet of such as haply natural incapacity is a great hindrance to But were we not many of us much wanting to our selves in reading meditating on the word of truth we might be much more apprehensive then we are we are in a strait indeed for some are so acute that we can scarce touch lightly enough upon things least they nauseate others are so dull we cannot dwell long enough upon them almost to make them understand something Well this is the first Argument Secondly Because men are exceeding slow to believe things O fools saith our Saviour and slow of heart to believe the things which the Scriptures c. Concerning the Messiah how he must be rejected and cut off and rise again the third day Might he not upbraid our Congregations brethren in the like manner how often have we heard the same things and it may be given assent to the truth of the same but yet are slow to believe And this Argument will stand good against the acutest hearers though they may out-run the speaker haply in apprehension they may be slow-paced enough in believing Now it is true it is not all our inculcating and pressing the same truths upon men that can work their hearts to believe until the arm of the Lord be revealed to them yet we know not when and how far he may reveal his arm It may be a little at one time and a little at another Agrippa hearing Paul once discourse of Jesus Christ was almost perswaded haply if he had had another opportunity to hear the like things again it might have proved a through work Felix trembled at the first Sermon upon Judgement to come if he had heard it the second time who can tell how far it might have wrought This the second Thirdly Alas Brethren our memories are such leaking vessels we are full of chinks hac illac difluxerimus and therefore as from thence the Apostle infers we should give the more diligent heed to the things which are spoken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 least we run out So should we also inculcate the same truths again who is there that hath not woful experience of this other things evil and vile they have such impression upon our memories O how much ado is it to raze them out injuries are graven upon us even as with the pen of a Diamond vain words wicked speeches we have heard long since we cannot forget but a thing that is good O how much ado there is to remember it had not a riddle need often to be put into the water it will hold nothing else be not forgetful hearers of the word saith the Apostle but doers of the same how many of us are even high-way seed hearers The word is gone from us before we are out of these doors or the most part of it So the fowls of the Aire the evil spirits they steal away the word from us so that we had as much need to hear it again as when we came O saith Peter as long as I live I will put you in remembrance To do good and to communicate forget not saith the Apostle no Question they had been taught that lesson again and again and yet they were apt to forget and therefore the Apostle goeth over it again to them to put them in remembrance Fourthly It is requisite because our affections are so dull they had need to be often quickned therefore whet the word upon your children It is not one whet that will edge a dull knife but over and over with it again and again as many times in Scripture a repetition of a thing in prayer in preaching speaks the affections of him that delivereth it so it stirs the affections of the hearers Phil. 4. 4. saith the Apostle rejoyce in the Lord alway and again I say rejoyce is that a tautology or a vain repetition no sure the Apostle was not guilty in that kind but it was needful to stir the affection to the duty our hearts indeed are like so many dead Seas and it is not a little breath once upon us that will move but when the wind passeth often and strongly over us then it may affect us haply the word is therefore compared to the words of the wise which are like goads not the words of fools who are no orators sensless and know not what belongs to the Art of speaking rightly but the words of the wise are like goads sharp and they are to be often used we are like oxen in duty creatures that will often need to be pricked up therefore the metaphor is used therefore saith the Apostle I put you in remembrance of the things you knew before and were established in even to stir you up there is need of quickening the affections a man may deliver the same truth haply more stirringly one time then another and the spirit may breath in it one time more then in another and then the affections are stirrd indeed to purpose that is a fourth Gutta cavat lapidem non vi sed saepe cadendo Fifthly because of the unconstancy of our hearts if we be a little affected with a truth at one time how long doth such a frame continue upon us David was sensible how fleeting the frame of our hearts are And therefore though himself and his people were in as sweet a frame as any we read of almost when they offered with a perfect heart willingly and so willingly as that David rejoyced in it and blessed the Lord for it that they had hearts so to do this was a precious frame indeed yea David rejoyced at the willingness of others not envied at it saith he that the Lord would keep this frame for ever Keep this upon the imagination or figments of their hearts for ever Alas if he keep it not it is gone presently now upon Eagles wings soring by and by with our bellies cleaving to the earth Psal 119. 24. thy testimonies are my delight and 25. v. my belly cleaveth to the dust And therefore the words of the wise they are as goads and nails nails to take hold and fasten things together that they may abide and if they be driven to the head yet how quickly may it be loosened again is there not need of the same hammer to fasten it again therefore saith the Apostle Peter though you be established in the present truth already yet I Judge it meet to stir you up by putting you in remembrance Sixthly because we are so slow to do what we know which indeed is the main thing we do but build Castles in the Aire Bretheren if we hear and do not and yet who is clear in this point yea how often may we hear a practical truth prest upon us before we practise it yea when we are convinced to do it and resolved we will and yet with the Son in the Gospel
doth grate upon It may be brethren to come a little nearer thou hast long heard of coming to Jesus Christ that thou mightest have life and thou hast been as much woed and intreated as many others and thou art even weary of this lesson What ado is here about coming to Christ what do we not come to him do we not follow him Ah dear friends It is the work of your whole lives and why may it not be the work of our whole lives yea it is to be feared thou with whom so sweet a word relisheth no better that thou hast never known the worth of it experimentally Be not deceived brethren you may be mistaken and far enough off from him when you think you come to him but suppose you are come to him may you not draw nearer then you are come have you not many back-slidings Do you not miss a stroke sometimes and are carryed down the stream the Lord knoweth how far and had you 〈◊〉 need of hearing then of coming to Christ renewing your acquaintance with him Alas Brethren if many of us had not had this truth beaten upon us often we had never come to him canst thou tell how often thou hadst in the Gospel a crucified Christ held out to thee before thou hadst a heart to look on him and mourn over him and over thy self whose hands have been imbrued in his blood here thou hast seen him here crucified and there crucified in this Sermon and that Sermon in this Sacrament and that Sacrament and yet alâ—s thy sullen heart would not bleed now if thou hadst never heard of him more it had not been prest upon thee any more what had become of thee if notwithstanding all this thou hadst been sealed up in hardness and unbelief for ever What narrow-mouth'd bottles are we receiving now a drop and then a drop though much be poured out many times little staies or if our heads fill our capacities being large apprehensions quick and memories strong how little is it that sinketh any further there is need of pressing and boring and unspeakable mercy it is if at last the passage between head and heart be opened that so what we have known long it may be yet now we may come to know after another manner even as we ought to know it not to be puffed but humbled to be warmed melted changed by it How often Brethren have we had the Doctrine of love pressed upon us even as John had nothing else in his mouth almost my little children love one another my little children love one another when he could not go as the story saith of him and can we hear it so often but there is somewhat yet to learn that we have not learned may we not grow in it abound in it more and more as the Apostle saith to them even the Thessalonians Ah where is a heart wherein it abounds love to Christ love to his people a little unlikeness to our selves in a thing of no great moment is able to quench our love so far it is from being as strong as death a little earthly enjoyments a house a wife a company of sweet children pretty taking vanities they have such a hold upon our hearts that they stifle our desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ O we see not nor have learned how far better it is to be with him is there not more to be learned by us all in this point And if we can or do love the Saints in whom the Image of Jesus Christ is alas may we not do it more fervently then we do if there be some fervor appearing may we not do it with a purer heart meerly because Christ hath loved them who is the beloved of our souls what meaneth else our having the faith of Christ with respect of persons what meanth else our loving men more for their gifts then for their graces for the common then the special inspiration of the spirit upon them Do we not know men after the flesh and yet haply are ready to be wearie of the Doctrine of love What needeth so much ado to press it upon men the Lord shew us our shortness and humble us under it But I will come a little nearer to the purpose in the Text and the thing in hand which lies before us the Ordinance to which some of us are now called for this of watching for the appearing of Jesus Christ I might have raised indeed a closer observation and more particular when I had finished this but I would not hold you too long upon this which is but the coherence of the words we shall likely meet with it before we have done with the Parable And that is the necessity of pressing this great duty of watching for the appearing of Christ much upon people for this is the thing here our Saviour so muchin sists upon and often in many other places What I say to you I say to all watch And so Luk. 12. 35. Surely there is somewhat more in it then ordinary The duty is more spiritual then ordinary and then our carnal hearts are as hardly drawn to it as a Bear to the stake It hath many a time I know been prest upon us all to get ready and stand ready to wait and watch for his appearing Have we done it How many of us brethren if Christ should come this day would be found sleeping some dead asleep upon the lap of the pleasures and honours and riches of this world and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be disturbed we never dream of his coming Would men think you if they had learned this lesson dare to multiply incumbrances in the world upon them and with so much diligence be casting out their roots in the world as if they would never be pluckt up as if their portion were here below how often have we been warned in the name of Jesus whos 's the warning is take heed your hearts be not over-charged with surfeting and drunkenness and cares of this life and that day take you at unawares hath this sunk with us have we made conscience any of us to ease our selves of any unnecessary incumbrances that we might wait upon him without distraction What day almost brethren goeth over any of our heads or what hour of the day wherein we shall be ready to open if he should knock for us Alas some of us brethren care not how long he defers his coming if he would never come we should be the better pleased for our hearts tell us it will be a woful day to us we have no oyl in our vessels we have no grace in our hearts nor any do we look after we know we are not in him nor are we solicitous to be found in him we are for our building and planting and rejoycing in our youthful vanities and leave these serious things to melancholly Spirits Ah dear friends had not this truth need to be prest upon you your danger is great
if you could as easily put by the coming of Christ as you can make a shift to smother the thoughts of it your hearts indeed might chear you and your condition were something like But he will come and though you be asleep in the Arms of your lusts know that your judgement sleepeth not and your condemnation slumbereth not And make what haste you can to be rich or to be honourable and such persons are not innocent make what hast you can in your career of sinning it travels as fast you and will be sure to meet you at the gates of death and hell if not sooner But it may be we think we have done this great work we are through grace acquainted with the Lord Jesus and his spirit which hath effectually wrought in us to believe in his name to love him the main is done with us and therefore sure we may have more liberty then others now Is it so but is this all that must go to watch for his appearing do we not find our hearts thrusting away from us that day and our hands fail and security setzeth upon us the Disciples were in danger to be surprized as well as others Is there any of us so liveth as that we could readily and cheerfully meet the Lord Jesus at an hours warning a daies 〈…〉 and who knoweth he shall have so much to set his house in order O there is need to press this duty upon us all brethren be our condition what it will we have yet somewhat to learn of it and shall have let us hear it as often as we can But I will leave what further may be said unto its proper place in the handling the Parable A word or two to the present occasion we are many of us now called to this sealing Ordinance And though we have been often stirrd up and taught our duty concerning it is there not need to chafe the oyl in upon our hearts our affections still Alas how often have we heard that what it findeth it sealeeth And yet do we not dare to come some of us with hard hearts with covetous hearts uncircumcised hearts I would not speak brethren to grieve the heart of any the Lord would not have grieved as they that have least cause will be most sadly assayling themselves with condemning thoughts but the Lord grant there be none found among us guilty kind As often as ever we come we hear how dangerous a thing it is to come unworthily prepared to it and yet the Lord knoweth how often we have thrust in here some of us without a wedding garment And that you have not been bound hand and fooe bound up in our grave-cloaths and cast out of his sight for ever it is unspeakable mercy O that this might melt us and humble us and though blessed be his holy name I believe there are many poor trembling souls who go about these things with trembling hearts least they should miscarry and grieve him and bring his blood upon their heads I doubt there may be some of us found whose hearts are far from such a frame had we not need then to be put in mind and remembrance again and again of these things It may be we have faith and love to Jesus Christ it may be we have humility and self-loathing it may be we have a mourning spirit over our sins that have grieved the Lord Jesus put him to all that grief for us it may be we have a thankful heart but are these graces now in action are they upon the wing how often have we been minded thereof that we must be actually prepared Alas alas haply some of us have not taken the pains with our hearts which we might and which others would have done if they had had the hearts which we have haply some of us have been striving but in our own strength and have done little haply others may have been helped in the preparing our hearts to seek him herein but by our pride or carnal confidence have lost our frame again It may be some of us brethren have not been very negligent but yet not so diligent as we ought O brethren how needful are these things bear with me if I do press you to them it is not tedious to me because I hope it is safe for you O! that I could do it with such a spirit and such bowels as the Apostle did the Lord set it upon all our hearts we are exceeding dull to believe and more dull to practise and do his will revealed to us Though the good be our own the glory onely his But I will not insist any further here the Lord give us understanding and believing hearts Now for the words of the Text. The Kingdom of Heaven is like to ten Virgins which went forth to meet the Bridegroom I shall begin according to the former method And first speak concerning Jesus Christ with respect to his Church And touching him there are many things in this Parable First he is the Bridegroom 2. His delay of his coming 3. The cry before his coming 4. The coming 5. The time of his coming at Midnight To begin with the first The Bridegroom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 However it be that the scope of the parable be to stir up all men that profess the Lord Jesus to a perseverance in watchfulness to stand ready for his coming which being apprehended there is no necessity of pressing each particular in the parable yet I conceive according to our Saviour His opening of other parables we may insist upon the chief things therein as where HE would let us see what need we had to take heed What or How or Whom we Hear by the parable of the several sorts of Ground receiving the seed of the Word he not onely tells us the difference of the Grounds but what the seed is and who the Sower is or else in that parable of the good seed and the Tares he tells us particularly what is meant by each And therefore I must not here pass over this of the Bride-groom The Virgins went forth to meet the Bridegroom The note will be The relation between the Lord Jesus and his people He is the Bridegroom and stands in that relation to his people that this is so we need go no further then this parable for who else is it that cometh and with whom they that are ready do enter into the Mâ—rriage then Jesus Christ who is our life who appearing we shall appear with him in glory Again the foolish virgins cry to him Lord Lord open to us Who is the Lord but Jesus Christ as will appear by comparing this with that speech of our Saviour Not every one that saith to me Lord Lord shall enter but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven Many will say to me Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy Name in whose name but in the name of Jesus Christ and in
would have if it be in truth let the other accomplishments be less or greater so the soul O thy self thy self give me Christ or else I dye What wilt thou give me if I go Christ less wilt thou give me a name riches a portion in this world a fellowship with thy people in the Ordinances yea grace it self if it may be given without Christ O none but him none but him Well thus now thy Lord works a poor soul to close with him so that choosing Christ for himself while we have him we are well enough If a man follow him for Loaves when they cease farewell Christ or for riches or prosperity when that ceaseth all is gon They will not go to prison with him they will not suffer with him no they never intended it but to have such a Christ as to be kept from those things Well this is not sincere nor upwright which is wrought in every heart whom the Lord doth thus espouse to himself which may serve for a word of tryal to us all I have onely a word to speak to the solemnity of the Marriage-Feast you see Marriages used to be made with feasting it being a time of rejoycing so Sampson he made a Feast seven days that was the manner it seemeth and so Laban saith to Jacob fulfil her week the solemnity of the Marriage And our Saviour himself was at a marriage-feast at the first miracle that he wrought And though this feast it seems was rather at the compleat marriage then the espousal yet this Feast is at his espousal and continueth until the consummation and yet a greater feast to be expected The Kingdom of Heaven saith our Saviour is like a King that made a Marriage-Feast for his son and bid the Guests Here he speaks I take it of the administrations of grace in the visible Church of Christ for one was there that had not a wedding-garment O Brethren A Feast of Fat things of Wines on the Lees well refined a Feast the Lord maketh saith the Prophet Their Feasts were rather in drinking then eating and therefore they had their name in Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A drinking a Feast so Ahasuerus feast a drinking And so the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a drinking together so here brethen such dainties are provided as eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor can enter into the heart of man as a man that never tasted hony though he may hear speaking of it cannot conceive what it is Eat my friends and drink ye yea drink abundantly saith he in the song It is observed by some that Matthew calls it a dinner and Luke calls it a supper both indeed for we dine and sup with him and he with us in the Administrations of his grace and those sweet communions that we have with him while he sitteth with us at the Table as not long since you heard Yea we have continually brethren such as are believers indeed have continual meat at his Table as Mephibosheth at David his Table a dayly portion the things of the day in its day so we our daily refreshings from his presence so Jeconiah had his portioâ—n from the Kings Table dayly Some say the dinner is here but the supper in Heaven and this not comparable to that now we have flagons but there will be springs and Rivers or rather an Ocean of wine to all eternity here we drink and take in the comfort there the comfort takes in us we enter into the joy because it cannot enter into us O blessed is he that shall be brought brethren to the supper of the Lamb forever and forever Lastly The consummation of this marriage when the Bridegroom cometh to take his Bride to himself to take her now from among the pots wherein she hath lien to take her now nearer to himself to his bosom indeed now she hath had some smiles from him to keep the heart alive now and then a Kiss but then continual embraces Now and then he hath met with her here and there and then withdraw again but then we shall be alway in the glorious light of his countenance O Brethren If a smile from Jesus Christ will sweeten the bitterest cup of Affliction here below yea very gall and wormwood it will sweeten the mouth and fill us with comfort what will it be then when nothing but pouring out of love upon the soul to eternity and when there shall be no bitterness at all to abate it and no mixture no interruption no fear of losing that sweet and ravishing communion with him Oh heaven will be Heaven indeed But so much for the Doctrinal part Now for the Application First then I pray you let us be more serious in taking notice of the great transcendent love of Jesus Christ to such as we are that we should be made a spouse to him O brethren what condescention is this he being so high and we so low such poor abject creatures Alas conception fails us brethren comparison fails us for there is no proportion between an infinitely glorious God and vile dust and ashes Who regardeth a drop of a Bucket or thedust of the ballance they are poor contemptible things who desireth a poor worm or an Ant every one trampleth them underfoot and thinketh he doth them no wrong though he never gave them no being alas brethren we that are less then nothing in comparison of him that he should set his love upon us and become espoused to himself how shall we conceive of it much less speak of it You would think it much for one of you brethren one of us to have our hearts drawn out thus to a poor abject forlorn maid lying in the street that we must take her to a nearer relation to a bosom-communion and fellowship this were strange but for a â—rince to do so is yet more strange but all is nothing to this of the Lord Jesus to our souls It was Condescention for the Cedar to marry the Thistle as it was ambition for the Thistle to seek to the Cedar O such thoughts if they rise they are even stifled in the very birth A begger will not fall in love with a King she thinketh it is impossible to compass it there is no hope and therefore no desire and truly I think it is as rare for a King to fall in love with a begger he is so far above her and hath objects more suitable to himself to set his love upon so that it would be one of the wonders of the world if such a thing should be why brethren much more then this is acted dayly while the Lord Jesus the King of Kings the Lord of Lords maketh love to such poor worms as we are and yet it is not wondered at It is true we think our selves something and therefore we are the less taken with it Tell a Pharisee how great Condescention it is for the God of Heaven
is he not upright and just and true hath he said it and will he not make it good hath he not said as many as come to him he will in no wise cast out and is â—is word worth nothing indeeed if a man fail once in his word we will hardly trust him the second time and if ever sinners or Satan can come forth and say that the Lord Jesus made a promise and was not as good as his word then you may indeed have a jealousie of him but they cannot they cannot the Devil will tell you his promise of the seed of the woman breaking the Serpents head he hath felt to his wounding and his promise of Satans falling down like lightning and there is not a sinner in hell can charge the Lord Jesus with breach of promise But it may be this is not enough to poor unbelieving souls therefore you shall have it written and sealed and witnessed there are witnesses in heaven and upon Earth and seals the Sacraments the broad seal and privy seal of the spirit yea there is an oath also to make it good what would you have more what can you desire more then this would you see the work done why is not the giving up of Jesus Christ to the death for sinners the greatest part of the work Sure if ever he would have baulkt there and yet you see it stuck not O therefore be not jealous of him who hath so freely and so largely laid out himself for sinners 3. Now then ye that are Saints indeed love the Lord Jesus O love the Lord ye his Saints None have such reason to love him as they that have tasted of his love if there be any ingenuity in us love will beget love as one flame begets another because he hath set his love upon me saith the Psalmist therefore I will deliver him if we could love the Lord Jesus more we should be delivered more from those evils we mourn under How lamentable a thing is it how much love have we for Creatures and how little love for Jesus Christ did Husband or Wife die for us ransom us from the pit and hell I hope there are some of his people believe it that have more affection for Jesus Christ then ever they had for the Creature Ah blessed souls how infinitely are you engaged to him for so fully seizing upon your hearts O who are you that you should be able thus entirely to love the Lord Jesus and admitted to it but thus it is and magnifie his Name But alas for the most part the complaint of the people of God is they cannot love him O labour to get those carnal affections mortified the fore-skins of our heart taken away and our heart circumcised and then we shall love him you have a promise improve it for that end If we could but spare time to set our selves to it to study his heart towards us and ours towards him his excellency and loveliness we could not but love him O beg the spreading abroad of his love sheding it abroad not only upon our understandings but our affections for no further then he sheds it will it spread it will stay in the brain in the understanding if the passages between head and heart be not opened by him we shall never be affected and warmed by it Alas you will say our distances are so great that kils our love No brethren that cannot be the distances are not so great now for the relation between Christ and thy soul if thou believest is the nearest relation he is one Spirit with thee and therefore there is not such a distance and though in respect of dignity and worth there be a distance yet remember now we are 〈◊〉 part of himself and partake with him of his dignities also but however love knoweth not that over-much aw and respect as to kill it but it will be working towards the person beloved Mary Magdalen loving him holds him by the feet and weeps over him If a Prince will marry a begger surely he will take it well and expecteth it to be loved of her and he would not be pleased with such a dejection in respect of her own vileness as to quash her love yea brethren me thinks the meaner we see our selves the more we should love him for what can we do else but love him we have nothing else lovely or desirable but our love our hearts therefore Oh love him and abundantly love him O ye Saints of his whom he hath so loved Alas But our love is little in comparison of his love to us and this discourageth us It is true What proportion between the drop of a Bucket and the ocean Some there is but there is none between the largeness of Christ his heart toward us and ours towards him But shall our love perish and dry up because there is not as much in the little limbeck as in the fountain in the river as in the sea He is love it self brethren and therefore we must be contented to fall infinitely below in love but let us love him according to our measure Again if there be the whole heart to love the Lord Jesus it is as much proportionably for us if we could reach it as it is for him to love us with his whole heart as he is pleased to express it The Creature is infinitely less then Christ and therefore must needs have infinitely less love to him then he hath to us but yet there is nothing wanting where there is Totum therefore rather it should provoke us He hath loved us first aâ—d loved us more abundantly then we can love him therefore labour to get our hearts as much enlarged as we can in love towards him though we fall short of what we might attain to he will make up imperfections there is love enough in him and there is the advantage of his love being above ours that he can cover those imperfections in our love to him which if he had not more abundantly then he could not do What shall I say more Love is that which commandeth all it draweth all the affections along with it which way ever it turns thither the desires are bent there is the hope fixed there the delights are quâ— amat amat nihil aliud novit She that loveth loveth and knoweth nothing else O how shall we not be able to do any thing against sin for Christ if we loved him so entirely then our hearts would be in Heaven we could not grufle as many of us do then we should be more tender of his name and of his honour then now we are but alas I am not able to press these things home the Lord set them home You must love him brethren else you will have little joy of your communion with him which is to endure to eternity Again Labour to rejoyce in him and in his love rejoyce in the Lord O ye righteous saith the Psalmist
deep hypocrisie that is in mens hearts or if they had do I think they were to use it but serve Gods holy ends in following Christ his example who suffered a Devil though a white one he was indeed in the likenes of an Angel of light yet he did suffer him in his family until it broke out into scandal There is much in this one reason 1. What deep hypocrisie may lurk in the hearts of men under a plausible profession so that men can suspect nothing many times as you see Ananias and Saphira Simon Magus and others Judas carried it so cunningly and seemed so zealous and full of charity O why was this waste c. when the Spirit of Christ went with his spirit and saw his fetches and deep ends he said it because he had the bag and was a thief the more he had to row in the more bold he might make with it and it would the less be mist but his paint was so exact and so near the life that the Disciples took him to be as real as themselves any of them rather suspecting themselves then him his heart was too deep for them to fathom Because 2. They had not such an infallible spirit given nor have any of the Churches now such a spirit given whereby to know the secrets of mens heart nor do I find that the Apostles had such a spirit given them now and then indeed they had some secret things and actions revealed to them but not that incommunicable property of God to search the heart I the Lord search the heart and try the reins Peter indeed had that private action and falshood of Ananias revealed to him and from thence he concluded Sathan had filled his heart in that he lyed against the Holy ghost but what is this to the searching of the heart and this that was revealed was but for an act now and then in Acts 10. He knew not that there were men sent for him from Cornelius until the Spirit of God told him and revealed it to him so that he had not that knowledge which he had of secret things not made known in an ordinary way by sense he had it not habitually but by several acts Or if they had such a spirit which none can prove they did not act by it in admitting persons for then such as those would never have been admitted Yea 3. If the Church had such a spirit it is very likely she were not to act by it in admission For our Saviour himself though he knew whom he â—ad chosen and knew from the beginning who should betray him yet he did admit him that he knew would prove a Devil and therefore he acted therein according to his humanity and to leave us a pattern that though we may suspect happily such or such a person and not savour them according to that discerning which God hath given us of the spirits of men yet if not scandalous not to reject them making such a profession of Christ as according to charity and Scripture-rules we ought to hope well of And methinks there is somewhat in that Parable of the tares though while in the blade they were scarce discernable from the wheat yet it seemeth by the Parable that now they were come to such a growth as they did discern them therefore came with that Question whether they should pluck them up and yet he would not have if so they were not thorns and thistles and such as would altogether choak the Corn though they might hinder it if only Hypocrites though discovered if they can be discovered without prophaness and scandal they are not to be pluckt up from among the good Corn and hence it is that there are good and bad in the visible Church though the bad seem to be good all are Virgins but all are not wise virgins For the Application of this We may hence take notice of the great indulgence of God and the largeness of his grace and the riches of his patience and long-suffering to poor Creatures in that he takes many as his own within the verge and comprehension of this his Covenant that never really partake of the saving benefits of the Covenant So you know it was with Israel though they were as the sand of the sea yet a remnant should be saved All are not Israel that are of Israel that is true and yet they are of Israel though they be not Israel that is as true Now that the Lord should admit of such to be of Israel that never were nor are like to be Israel this is largeness of bounty Alas how many wild Olives are graffed in among the branches which remain and partake of the fatness of the Olive the priviledges and ordinances and gifts of God bestowed on his Church for edification and yet shall be cast out as branches broken off dryed and withered shall be taken away as barren and unprofitable and burn for ever if thou continue not in this goodness thou shalt be cut off It is not the manner of men to plant such in their vine yards as they know will bring forth nothing but leaves no fruits but sowr the grapes of Sodom and yet this the manner of God to such as shall be cast out into utter darkness yet should be admitted to be the children of the kingdom 2. That he owneth many as separated to himself in such a way before they come to own him and though they dwell under his shadow and shine and in droppings and dew of heaven yet a long time bring forth nothing do nothing but abuse his grace and this riches of his goodness and yet at last notwithstanding all he should go on to separate them to a nearer holiness to himself seize upon their hearts put another principle and seed into them whereby they should be fruitful for the time to come Ordinary experience teacheth us this how many years many a poor formal Professor hath walkt under the means of grace and passed for a Saint and yet hath been in the gall of bitterness but the Lord out of his infinit mercy and rich grace hath healed him afterward It is no question it is the case of some that that very grace which they have so long hypocritically pretended to and abused was that at last which seized upon them Why but you will say this is no priviledge nor mercy to be members of Christ his visible Church if we therein enjoy not Christ and for our Children to be owned as those separated to Christ and yet though Children of the kingdom and be cast out for none are like to sink so low into hell as those which are cast out of the kingdom such as so often abuse mercies and Gospel-grace tendered to them I answer It is true the name of the Lord our God is great and fearful as in that place of Deuteronomy And the nearer a people have been drawn to Christ within the
as our end we grasp no-thing but sin and emptiness wind and misery to eternity 2. Then for the means which you see what they are immediately Jesus Christ closed with mediate the ordinances wherein he is held out Alas herein they do fearfully miss it though they profess him As will appear in many particulars 1. They do not choose the right means for the attaining the end wherein a great part of their wisdom lies this is life eternal to know Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent this is the means and the way to it and indeed a part of it the suburbs of heaven Now alas brethren there are so many things which are so like to Jesus Christ and so many acts like to the embracing of him that they are deceived and so they miss of the main means and fall short of the end simile mater erroris A man misseth his way and takes another way lay near it and was like it and he runs and takes pains to come to the journeys end but alas it never will bring him thither he is out of the way Jesus Christ is the way as wel as the life now there are false Christs which men make to themselves there is much bad like to good and much error like to truth one man he thinketh a drunken Christ will serve his turn a covetuous man he thinketh Christ and his secret lusts will stand together though his profession and open sinning will not stand together he thinketh he may have Christ in his heart and sin regarded there though he cannot have holiness in his profession an appearance of it an open prophaness there as if sin would better agree with Christ then his profession Some think they have a Christ made up all of pardons no matter for holiness at all let them live as they list no matter for walking in him yet he is so merciful if they can but cry have mercy it will do the deed though they wallow in their uncleanness all their lives some they are on the other hand that make to themselves a holy Christ not minding his pardoning mercy O if they can but do this and that they walk uprightly with men they serve God none more constant at the ordinances then they private and publike and therefore surely Christ is theirs not remembring with Nehemiah the Lord spare me according to thy great mercy or multitude of mercy even when he had done so eminently for God Alas brethren what pitiful mistakes are these Many are ready to think if they have but now and then a little affections stirring at a Sermon O sure they have Christ if they have but a little velleity sometimes a wishing and woulding this must go for Christ how prone are we to substitute any thing in the room of Christ Now a man that would live and shall eat dirt or coles instead of bread you would think that man a fool or a man that would be rich professeth that is his end and he bags up indeed but what is it dung and dross stones and trash would you not count this man a fool this is the condition of every formal professor of Jesus Christ they do indeed fix upon something but it is trash it or if any thing better their duties their holiness it is trash it is dung instead of Christ this is the first Now for the secondary means the means of getting Christ which is the more immediate means and way to his enjoyment of God which is the happiness of the Creature herein indeed most ordinarily the folly doth appear and therefore I shall here consider several particulars 1. To use means to get any thing and not seasonably is folly to use them too late for a man that is deadly sick he will not be perswaded to take Physick untill he be past recovery such a man is a fool that so long will lean to his own understanding and so for meat a man that will fast so long until he cannot eat at all this is the very case in this place you see they did not ever neglect to get oyl in their lamps in their vessels they were very inquisitive sought it of the wise virgins and went to buy it of them that sold but alas it was too late Would you not count that man a fool that hath provisions to make for his family the week following at the Market and he goeth but it is when all is done and shops shut up and there is no more place to buy any thing So here and so the Manna if they went to seek Manna upon the Seveath day there was none to be had yea if daily they went not to seek it in the morning but staid until the Sun were hot there was none to be had it was gone there is a season for every thing the wise man saith and every thing is beautiful in its season he that gathereth in Summer is a wise man saith Solomon he that maketh hay while the Sun shineth It is a sad piece of folly that a man should have his grace and his Christ to get when he should use them when we come to dye and have five times as much need of Christ as in our life-time for the most part that then we should be to get Christ and have triâ—led away the day of grace in flourishes and shews in taking of Christ and had him not in our hearts 2. To have means for the getting of Christ and never make use of them there is folly indeed wherefore is there a prize in the hand of a fool and he hath no heart to it he is a fool that hath an opportunity to make himself for ever and hath no heart to it to improve it redeeming the time saith the Apostle that is to walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise what would many a poor Creature in hell give for such an opportunity of grace as we have Yea if the Gospel were preached to Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago saith our Saviour but you have the opportunity in your hands but you have no heart to it at all this is sad To see a man feed upon husks and dirt and so perish when he hath no bread to eat is a pitiful sight but this is necessity not folly but here is bread to eat that we might live and yet we neglect to gather it or to eat it content our selves with husks and trash is not tl is folly and this is the condition of every formal professâ—r 3. They rest in the means short of the end and that is grievous folly the means of grace whereby Christ is to be gotten and Christ in us revealed to grow and increase if we rest in these means whether we have Christ yea or no it is great folly what man is there that would so do But there is more in this for this preferring and prizing and lifting them up above Christ will be our condemnation setting
in the Gospel who put off the day of death so long thou hast goods laid up for many years Eat drink and be merry I but what was there laid up for eternity was there any Grace laid up to carry him through death no not a jot thou fool this night shall thy soul be taken from thee and then whose shall these things be these are things which in themselves are not either they take wings and are gone as a flock of Birds in a mans ground or else they are taken from them and leave them to they know not whom for naked must they return thither to the grave which Job had in his mind and happily pointed at it in that speech he was a fool that put off the thoughts of death for many days upon the greatness of his riches which could not profit him in the day of wrath nor day of death neither but now this wisdom if the heart be applyed to it will provide somewhat that will carry them through they will provide some oyl in the vessel that shall not fail somewhat to follow them when they are dead to enter with them into the Marriage of the Lamb A man may number his days and think of his death and wish it much yet if God teach him not to make this use of it it will not be O therefore beg of him such a heart so to number them as that you may apply your hearts to this wisdom if death be so near eternity at hand there is entering with him into the Marriage or being shut out for ever O what need had we then to bestir our selves get this oyl this grace in the heart for indeed we shall find brethren though we may live by a form we cannot dye by a form of Godliness but it must be the Power of it that must carry us through death It may be a further Instruction to us then surely there must be a great change in us to this true wisdom for alas we are born like wild Asses Colts none more stupid An Ass a wild Ass a wilde Asses Colt what more brutish now this must be a wonderful change to make such a man wise to salvation but what is too hard for the grace of the Almighty we are fools by nature and yet we have a conceit we are wise affect wisdom and because we would be wise we easily believe we are so self-love bribing our judgements also but now when God cometh to work in us he emptieth us of our own wisdom first and our conceit of wisdom rather for indeed the wisdom of the flesh and the world is foolishness with God but the conceit of wisdom is much this must be captivated those high thoughts and we must become fools that we may be wise there must he a great change indeed which alas many a Professor never had experience of Be not satisfied nor contented then to use the Ordinances of God which are the means more remote from the end until you find and feel that the Lord Jesus doth in them embrace your souls and your souls embrace him until you feel this oyl poured into your hearts until you find your selves changed into his image your hearts coming in to a better frame thereby and kept in a holy frame thereby in some measure is it not better to try now then he tried by his hand at death when there is no place to get it c Alas you will say how shall we know we have this oyl of grace in our hearts It is a notable way Brethren to know it by the overflowing of it when it abounds you shall see it as it is set forth the presses burst out with new wine then it discovers it self the reason why we see it not nor cannot see it is because we have yet so little of it thought it be a Well springing up to eternal life yet while it is low and much mud it is hard to discern it but doth it spring up when the vessel is filled with oyl you shall see it is there and have the comfort of it O but this is little comfort to them that are weak you will say Why press forward forget the things which are behind Slothfulness and Ease are not the way of comfort and peace but the diligent hand which maketh rich Again ye know grace is set forth by oyl as it softens and sweetens so we shall find that operation of it in the soul doth it change thy nature from harsh and crooked and perverse to sweet and gentle this is a fruit of this spirit a consequent of this annointing And so it will be uppermost what it is that lies highest in thy soul which thou liftest up Is it this Hast thou ever been upon serious examination and dost thou make God thine end thy happiness Canst thou say Whom have I in heaven but thee c the world is not thy end And then for Jesus Christ dost thou close with him hast thou ever believed rouled thy self upon him by faith receiving him and the spirit by faith this is the oyl here is a fountain a cruse that will never fail a spring springing up to eternal life Verse 5. While the Bridegroom tarryed they all slumbered and slept THe Coming of Christ is compared to the coming of a Bride-groom to take his Bride who cometh with the Virgins her Companions to meet him Now these solemnities used to be performed at the beginning of the night but here in the Prothesis of the similitude it seemeth which was more then usuall he delayed until midnight he came not at the time expected and they were ready for his coming and going out to meet him but he came at a time they looked not for him when their waiting was at an end they fell asleep and then the Cry goeth before him behold he cometh You have heard already who is the Bridegroom Jesus Christ Here we have his coming the delay of it and the occasion which the wickedness of some and the weakness of others took from hence to fall asleep It was abused for an occasion to the flesh A double Note from the words but of the first only at this time The Lord Jesus doth delay his coming 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I shall a little prove it by some Scriptures parallel and then open the terms confirm it by Arguments and apply it by use to our selves 1. Then for the Scripture-proof take that place where our Saviour stirreth up his disciples to watch they knew not what hour their Lord cometh of which hereafter if the Lord will Blessed is that servant which being set over the houshold to give meat in due season shall be found so doing but now if the wicked servant say in his heart my Lord delayeth his coming 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and begin to beat his Fellow-servants and eat and drink with the drunken here you see there is a delay and from hence this wicked servant
tardiness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who reckon it according to Days and Months and Years and Ages no saith the Apostle alas a thousand years are but as one day to the Lord to eternity eternity doth not bid us with the unjust Steward sit down and write 50 for an 100 but a thousand for one 366000 for one for it is to one day that a thousand years are compared to in eternity and so one day as a thousand years it is as long as a thousand years with him which we cannot conceive of because we are not able to reach to eternity Now if Sentence against an evil doer be deferred but a day we count this a swift witness against such a mans sin as in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death but if it be a thousand years it is all one with God So that though to us poor finite Creatures who number actions according to days and months it may seem a delay yet to God it is not for all times past present and to come are present to him it is but one eternal nunc or now and therefore there is no delay in that respect 2. Yet further there is no delay but he cometh quickly suddenly very speedily in another respect Because he doth not stay longer then the appointed time Hab. 2. 3. the vision is for an appointed time it will not tarry then we are said to delay properly when there is a time prefixed for such a thing and we keep not touch but stay longer this is properly delaying Now you know there is a day appointed wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained there is a a day an hour which no man knoweth indeed and therefore men but do proclaim their vanity in guessing at it the times and seasons it is not meet for us to know which the Father hath kept in his own power Well then this day now he will not out-stay not a day longer will he stay but come quickly very speedily the very self same day as the very self same day he came to deliver Israel and to judge their Enemies The people might indeed think it long whiles they were in bondage groaning that he delayed his comin yet he did not for if the day appointed before had come sooner he had delivered them sooner he keeps touch to a day 3. He doth not delay his coming that is to say so as to omit the season of it for every thing is beautiful in its season there is a season to suffer the enemies of his Church to ride over their heads and there is a season to bring them under their feet again and give them their necks to trample upon there is a season to permit them to eat up his people as they eat bread and to make themselves drunk with the blood of the Saints and there is a season to give them blood to drink for they are worthy You know if a man omit his season for any thing he may never have another he is lookt upon as a slack negligent person as now he that puts off his gathering of harvest from Summer to winter so to day if you will hear his voice there is a time limited a season of getting grace which if omitted and put off by delays we shew much hardness of heart and little wisdom to think we shall do that to morrow which we have not heart to to day men think God is slack when indeed he is onely patient and they are ignorant and see it not but for the season he doth it most opportunely for his own glory and the good and salvation of souls as will appeare in the Arguments of the Doctrine But I will not anticipate my self 4. He doth not delay as some men may count delays or slackness as if he would never come they are ready to think because judgement is not speedily executed â—ush the Lord seeth not he regardeth not what they do he watcheth not over their sin he will not bring them into judgement for these things and so think he is just such a one as themselves Why because when they are offended happily except they take revenge when they are moved at the first they forget it afterwards and never set themselves in cold blood to it though many mens malice is much more durable a little tract of time will not do it out though we should go to school as children in this respect but I say If it be not presently we judge the Lord and measure him by our own thoughts if he hold his hands for any while our hearts are fully set in us to do wickedly we are ready to think he will not come at all to witness against our wickedness or formality and luke-warmness in his ways but thus he will not delay And so much for the Negative Secondly then for the Affirmative In what sense he is said to delay his coming and 1. In respect of the long time between his first and second coming his appearing it is long enduring many ages and generations many believers dying in faith and not receiving this promise of his second coming as those did who were before his first coming they lookt for him from age to age and the Prophets searched what and what manner of sins those were which they spake of they did a little pierce into them as much as they could they might think it long that the promise made to Adam so many ages before should yet be unfulfilled And so the coming of Christ the second time it is long between 1600 years already but this is not so properly a delaying but surely his delaying of his coming is to be understood according to our apprehensions of it and not according to his determinations who hath appointed the time and staies not a jot longer and hath appointed it according to the Counsel of his own will with admirable wisdom in the best season 2. Then he is said or may be said to delay his coming because our daies are short and we are ready to reckon upon it according to our daies it is many daies indeed and many years before he cometh to take a poor weary soul to himself and because he is poring upon the daies and upon the years and moneths therefore he thinketh it is very long and tedious the delay and therefore the Apostle doth meet with this covertly in that of Peter be not ignorant of this one thing saith he that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day Alas if we number by daies which are short and nothing it will seem a delay indeed but if we look upon eternity wherein a thousand years are but as a day then it is but short but this is understood by the opposition it hath to that which went before therefore the less of it here 3. Because of the
a carelesness in us for if he came more speedily what is the language Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye whether he be a swift witness against men or whether he tarry all is one if he do not speedily execute the Sentence which is past upon men evil doers their hearts are fully set in them to do wickedly and if he do threaten to come speedily and avenge himself upon them let us eat and drink for to morrow c. forgetting the after-clap that after death cometh judgement do not then pretend brethren this for your selves and lay the fault upon God as Adam did and all the sons of Adam are ready to do Say not then If God had threatened as he did Niniveh Yet forty days and Niniveh shall be overthrown yet forty days and thou shalt come to judgement sinner thou wouldst have repented as well as they did no but as Abraham speaks to the rich man in the parable if they will not believe Moses and the Prophets they will not believe though one rose from the dead So in this case if thou wilt not repent and believe though the coming of Christ do tarry a while I will be bold to say thou wouldst not repent if thou shouldest know that within forty days or forty hours thy soul should be taken from thee the fool in the Gospel when he thought he had many years before him and goods laid up for them he nourished his heart as in a day of slaughter and when it was told him that this night his soul should be taken from him do you think the fool had so much wisdom to repent we read it not nor do I see any cause to think it A second sort which are to be reproved or convinced of sin are such as mock at the coming of Christ It is a prophecy of the last days in the last days there shall come scoffers walking after their own lusts saying where is the promise of his coming for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were since the beginning of the world That these are the last days if we had no o her Argument the impudence of many now adays denyinng resur ection and judgement and any such things as these are are too clear a proof of it Observe Where is the promise of his coming a promise to the people of Christ for he cometh to give them the Crown of righteousness having fought their fight and finished their course c. but a threatning to the sinners of the world as that the seed of the woman shall break the Serpents head Well you tell us of a glorious appearing of Christ but where is it we see no alteration all things continue as they were there is no sign of such a coming O what wretched Athiesm is in the heart brethren that because the hand of God doth not presently seize upon us therefore we make a mock at it thinking there is no such thing O this unbelief is the ground of all departing from God do not your actions proclaim this that you expect not his coming you rather make a mock at it you make so light a matter of sin of the most horrid sins Yea some that seem not to Question his coming though I think that is the ground of it their secret unbelief that there will be any such or no they do even provoke the Lord and pluck him out of his place they challenge the God of heaven that say Let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it and let the counsel of the holy one draw nigh and come that we may know it that we may feel it for we fear it not this is the language of the men that declare their sin like Sodom heed it not stout-hearted sinners that set God at defyance bid him do his worst they will abide all that cometh rather then they will part with their lusts wherein they walk as the Apostle hath it they would fain see who shall controul them who should cut their Cart-ropes and Cords of vanity wherewith they draw iniquity and toyl and tear themselves like horses in the drudgery of sin Well I will speak a word or two to all these it is a terrible one indeed the Lord give us trembling hearts at it First However long it seems to stay it will come before thou art ready for it and for all this gallantry of spirit that sinners cloath themselvs with the stoutest-hearted sinner that heareth this word when that cometh shall quake and tremble What cared Belshazzar for the God of Israel he thought it was nothing to carouse in the vessels of the Sanctuary but you see with two or three words writing what an Agony it wrought him into Amos 5. 18. You desire the day of the Lord poor creatures you do not know the day of the Lord is darkness and not light your hearts will dye within you like stones when it cometh upon you Observe it brethren usually those that are the most stout-hearted in setting the Lord at defiance are most dejected when it cometh I will the Atheist say if this were true that this day would ever come it were something but we see no appearance of it Why Brethren are you such Atheists I hope there is none such here but will own the Scriptures to be the word of the living God and how often have you it there written he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world by Jesus Christ and God is not slack as men count slackness as some count it as if he would never come believe it believe it Sinners your judgement lingers not and your damnation slumbereth not but travels as fast as you do and it will meet you one day and seize upon you O if God should send such a hand to write upon the wall of the Taverns where men are carouzing c. mene mene thou art weighed c. this night shall thy soul c. Deut. 5. 5. He that believeth not these things is an Atheist indeed worse then the Devil himself who believeth and trembleth James 2. 19. But me thinks reason it self should evince it and teach us that the first Principle of all things made himself the end of all things He that is first must also be the last and therefore such as would not serve that end and honour God here he will honour himself upon them he must needs be righteous and give every one according to his works Now Sinners do not receive according to their works many times here but they are lively and grow old and are mighty in power their seed are established before them c As it is in that place of Job their houses are safe from fear neither is the rod of God upon them they have no changes and therefore they fear not God they spend their days in wealth and in a moment go down to the grave
proceedings with me Though he did well to retain his integrity and justifie that before men yet it was too much boldness to offer to enter into judgement with God and so earnestly to desire that day Alas brethren when he shall bring to light the depths of our hearts that we never saw who shall stand before him at his coming thus to lay us open if he enter into judgement with us indeed 5. It reproveth another sort and those are they that when their Consciences are a little galled happily by the Word or some other way they are ready to cry out for the day of the Lord they think mans judgement and mans day is very hard and harsh and hope to be relieved by this day of Jesus Christ doth the Lord make his Ministers sometimes sons of thunder and is not he the Father the God of thunders then is your day brethren so dreadful that you cannot bear it if while he sitteth to purge as a refiners fire you be scorched with that so that you cannot abide the day of his coming do you think to help your selves by putting yourselves upon the everlasting burnings It is true the word of God is a fire and if it get into a sinners Conscience it will scorch and burn and make the soul even fâ—y again but what is this to the flaming vengeance wherewith the Lord Jesus shall be clothed when he appeareth and his coming is you think we handle you roughly sometimes and you shall find more tender usage from the Lord Jesus O he is more merciful full of bowels indeed he is so infinitely more merciful but you will find him to be infinitely just as well as merciful Sinners he hath a Go ye Cursed as well as Come ye blessed to pronounce he will handle you more weightily then Creatures can if you be not ready for his appearing If you cannot bear the smoke of the bottomless pit over which you are held it may be sometimes will it be a mending your condition to leap out of the smoke into the fire It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God therefore it may serve to reprove such as would hasten this day of the Lord and yet can have no hope the Lord knoweth in the Evil day The next Vse shall be then to stir us up every one to wait for this day this coming of Jesus Christ specially the people of God You that hope for mercy in that day as he prayeth for the house of Onesiphorus what should we do but wait for it Yet indeed it may reach the Condition of all whether good or bad If he delay his coming then wait for his coming Onely the waiting of the people of God is somewhat of a different nature And therefore let me speak a little distinctly to the waiting of the Saints of God for that day wrerein there are two or three things included as several branches of this duty 1. There must be a love and desire to this coming of Jesus Christ and this presupposeth that that day and the coming of it will be good to the people of God for we cannot love or desire or will any thing evil under the formality of evil be a good day a day of transcendent gladness of heart when the Bride shall be taken by the Bridegroom presented to his father without spot or wrinkle or any such thing when there shall never be any estrangement between the Lord Jesus and the soul any more never any withdrawing any clouding any disturbance of peace any more will not this be a good day when our grace shall be all glory then shall we appear with him in glory And therefore Job speaks after this manner I know that my redeemer liveth c. in my flesh I shall see God whom I shall see for my self and mine eyes shall behold and not another therefore it is the same body by the which and not a new one which never had union with the soul before though my reins be consumed within me so we read it that is to say though inwards as well as outwards are consumed in the grave yet I shall see him but though is not in the Original and therefore it may be read without my reins are consum'd within me the reins are the s 〈…〉 of the desires therefore I have such desires after that day that even my reins are spent in them and consumed by them this is going forth to meet him indeed It is not every Christian that can desire this but such as are ready for his appearing whereof afterwards But then Secondly 2. In this waiting there is an Act of faith also to be put forth cast not away your confidence that believe there will be such a day it is certain though it be future though we see it not yet because he hath said it therefore believe it and if we so believe we shall not make hast that is to say more hast then is meet press hard forward toward the Mark Phil. 3. 13. 14. we ought to do but we should not take any indirect course to bring our selves to it so much the sooner as some by a dispatching themselves under a temptation when faith is overwhelmed or else by such cruel macerating of the body to beat it down that the frame of it should be quickly be dissolved though we should be weary of the body of sin and we cannot well be weary of it yet faith now should eye that glorious liberty of the sons of God and it maketh it present It is the substance of things hoped for it giveth it a being already and therefore this also is implied in this waiting And then 3. In this waiting brethren for his appearing which is proper to the Saints there is a patient continuance in the waiting a patient continuance in well-doing the Apostle mentioneth there should be desires not a fit and start but a Continuance in them and so a drawing out the acting of faith believing that day will come which shall put an end to all our fightings without and terrors within when we have need of patience when we have done all that we might receive the recompence the promise of temptation whether inward or outward our patience is put to it very sore yea and in a fit of ravishment with Christ then we would have no delay but in heaven we would be even that very moment and those holy flames are sweet but yet if the Lord see it good for Paul to continue in the Body and he must yet undergo more for Christ before he come to raign with him why he is satisfied and so ought we to wait patiently for this his appearing The Virgins waited it should seem and were forward and ready but their patience held not out as it should therefore labour for this But then Secondly For the waiting of Sinners Wait for this day for it will it come
to pass that your Churches your Families your hearts are so choakt with tares and weeds What could we answer him should we have a word to say for our selves well the Lord affect our hearts with it so much for this Vse The next use of the point shall be a distinguishing word between the sleep of Formalists sinners and the sleep which is incident to the Saints the people of God the wise Virgins slept their sleep and the foolish theirs and however in the expression there seems to be no difference yet there is a difference sure between them to be found for it may be this may trouble some poor souls who may think because they sleep therefore they are surely of the foolish Virgins And others may be emboldned and their hands strengthened What the best sleep as well as others therefore though this be my Condition yet all shall be well I would therefore add a word or two to this First Then remember this Sinners at the best and Hypocrites at the best their hearts are asleep and the Saints at the worst their hearts are awake indeed in naturals we use to say when a person is ready to drop asleep his heart is asleep already but it is not so in Spirituals with the people of God Judas when he was at the best that ever he was before he discovered his covetousness in the business of the poor he was unsound at the heart his heart was dead indeed it is a dead sleep that is upon their hearts and yet he walkt up and down as men in a deep sleep sometimes will do in a strange manner but his heart was asleep Now Peter he he fell asleep too in the matter of his denial of Christ but his heart was awake though the senses were closed up for a time yet when the Son of righteousness broke forth upon him lookt upon him you see he presently waked so the Church I sleep but my heart wakes in the deepest sleep of the Church of Christ the heart is awake there are divers apprehensions of this Some understand it thus I sleep but my heart wakes that is to say Christ who is as the heart to the Church the seal of life and vital spirits he wakes or else taking the Church Collectively she sleepeth but the heart waketh that is to say she may miscarry in some lesser matters as External but in the main the fundamentals the heart of religion in that she never fals altogether But we shall speak to it as it respects particular persons as wel as the general as doubtless it doth I sleep but my heart waketh the Church was Lazy and drousie slumbred and slept but yet not so but that the heart was awake it was not a dead sleep and this will appear if we consider two or three things 1. The Church then hath a Conscience not altogether past feeling but in fome measure awakened and then 2. The will and affections not altogether lost and gone in such a Condition 1. Then the Conscience that hath yet some stirring and that will appear because 1. The Church here knew the voice of her beloved even when she was asleep when he came and called to her my love my dove my undefiled open to me She now knew the voice of Christ so many a drousie soul that is slumbering and sleeping knoweth the hints and motions of the Spirit which he hath but alas hath not power to obey for sleep hath so overcome them security hath so seized upon them that though they hear yet they do not as me thinks in that very business of Jehoshai which I have thought strange of when his Conscience was awake he would hear the voice of the Lord in Micah he thought all the rest of the Prophets of Baal were false he would have the Word of the Lord from the mouth of a true Prophet a man would have thought now he should have done it presently being an upright hearted man also no yet if you read the text you shall find he went with Ahab notwistanding here he had a Conscience awake plainly but yet he did not obey he was so far engaged now to Ahab not only in affinity but his word was out and his honour at stake and though Conscience likely might check him for the thing as well as put him on to enquire of a true Prophet yet those Lusts now love to his own honour and carnal interest and affection laid him asleep he went up notwithstanding well this is the case in this place Can we not many of us set our seals to this truth how often in a fit of security have we had Convictions and Checks we have heard the voice of Christ open to me my love let my word have rooâ— in thee this thou dost is not pleasing to me O why wilt thou shut me out deal so unkindly with me yet your persons asleep though we hear many things we heed them not much but turn upon our beds as the door upon the hinges and cannot get off 2. Conscience is so awake usually in the people of God as to tell them they are asleep they have somewhat secretly whispering them in the ears that they are not in the right way they are slothful or sluggish David I think was in a deep a sleep as any that we read of yet I can hardly think but David had this within him some grudgings and misgivings that all was not well with him at that time But because happily this may be common to them with Hopocrites except they be very fast asleep indeed therefore I will rather insist upon the third 3. I say usually the People of God as they know they are asleep when they are asleep so they complain of it they rest not so questionless sinners do usually there is nothing disturbeth them so far as to complain of it I sleep saith the Church but my heart is awake it appeared the heart was awake indeed because she complained of it as a man that is droufre and cannot keep his eyes open he naps and nods it may be and wakeneth again or if he apprehend himself in danger to have any pressing business upon him if he sleep longer it is unquietly his mind is troubled with the thing and it wakes him often and he wouldshake it off but cannot laboriosius dormiunt quam vigilant saith one â—o our Annot. So the Conscience might then when asleep lash them stir them up many times tel them they do amiss prick them for it Nowan Hypocrite will hardly complain of his sleepiness not in reality â—f it be a practice that may â—et him off with men to be whining and complaining he will complain happily more to men then to the Lord but this poor Creature that sears the Lord his sleep O it lieth like lead at his heart he groans under it But then for the Will that also is awake in part when a Child of God sleepeth It was so with Paul
do which may advantage himself or others how can a man pray when he cannot act his faith nor act his love nor his zeal and fervency of Spirit but all are a sleep Ah what weak service hath the Lord from many of us upon this account 4. Another Consideration shall be this the unseasonableness of the thing Every thing is beautified by the season and if it be out of season it is uncomely It is not a walking honestly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honestly or comely to sleep now brethren it is enough for â—inners that are of the night that never â—aw the day-star appear nor the Sun of righteousness arise upon them for them to lie sleeping now it is something suitable for they that sleep saith the Apostle sleep in the night and they that are drunk are drunk in the night the night was for sleep naturally and therefore man goeth forth to labour and to his work until the evening So in spirituals it is most unsuitable to sleep in the day-time brethren if you believe you are of the day and not of the night as the Apostle saith We count him a Drone a Lusk or Lurden that shall sleep in the day-time It was David his fault to be upon the bed in the day-time And so likely Isâ—bosheth except the Custom of the place being hot might excuse it Well then hath the Lord in in finite riches of grace brought thee out of the dark night made it day with thee when it is night with many families and poor souls about thee and wilt thou make it â—ight by sleeping it is unseasonable it is enough for them that are in darkness to sleep Again 2. Consider It is the time wherein you are called upon to act for God and for your own souls It is not only the day but the time for work It is our harvest brethren wherein should lay up not for many years as the fool in the Gospel said but for eternity treasure up grace for eternity lay up a good foundation for the time to come O how richly laden are some of the Saints over others are that have made a profession of Christ as long as they live what is the reason why they have slept while they should have gathered he that gathereth in Summer is a wise son but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame there the one is opposed to the other that soul will cloth himself with shame and Confusion one day that sleepeth in harvest in the time of labour wherefore doth the Bridegroom tarry but to give you space to repent to work out your salvation in and instead of working shall we sleep out this time and will it be Comfortable in the end will it be comfortable if instead of labouring in the vineyard we sleep all the heat of the day what account shall we make when we come to receive the recompence 3. Yet more unseasonable it is also If you consider that usually the time of this falling asleep is after a good while converse and walking with God then men fall a napping the wise virgins they had their oyl and their Lamps burning it is true they had provided for the main and it is likely went forth to meet him but in the way the nearer they came to their journeys end for there must be some good competent time sure before they would conclude that the Bridegroom tarried and then they lay aside all and fall asleep Remember that of the Apostle knowing the season saith he that now it is high time for you to awake for now is your salvation nearer then when you believed Now is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to awake out of sleep now is salvation nearer What is the meaning of this the meaning is now is the most unseasonable time of all other for you to be asleep now you should press hard forward now just at your journies end as a Traveller or a man in a race holds up his head all the way and maketh speed and when he is near the journies end and should lay hold upon the goal that then he should sit down and sleep this is unseasonable and utterly unsafe if he expect to obtain by his running Ah brethren sure you would obtain else why did you run if you expected not a reward Now may I not say with the Apostle you did many of you run well but who hindred you how came it to pass you dropt asleep or are you inclining to it O take heed it is not safe at the end of your race the night is past the day is come or the night the time of this ignorance for our life is compared to the vision of God in heaven may well be compared to a night and that to day well this day is at hand it is nearer then when you began to believe for that is the meaning of that Phrase as such a King reigned that is to say began to raign ordinarily in Scripture Well then it is utterly unseasonable therefore let me beg of you brethren and the Lord prevail with our hearts to take heed of it Fifthly Another Consideration shal be this that while you lay your selves to sleco you lose God and Christ you lose their presence when the soul open to Jesus Christ he cometh in and the father and Holy Spirit with him and they bring their dainties with them and abundantly refresh the soul with his love which is better then wine and as long as the soul doth give him entertainment and followeth to improve its Communion with him he will sâ—ay but truly brethren if we sleep he will not then tarry but he takes his leave and leaveth us sleeping and alas before we are aware we have lost him and know not where to find him It was Sampsons case alas his strength was in the presence of God with him when he departed he was as as another man he lies down upon Dalilahs lap and then he fals asleep and at last he was robbed of his strength God was departed from him he he had many forewarnings but he was bewitched with a Lust it did so imprison his reason that he could not see what he was to do at last he wist not that God was departed from him he went thinking to shake himself as at other times but alas his strength was gone Ah brethren if a man have a Dalilah it is sive to one but sooner or later it will lull him asleep and if it can but get him asleep it is easie to get away the Lords presence from him and he know it not untill afterward Sixtly Another Argument shal be not only that not only when we fall asleep we not only lose the Lord Jesus and the presence of his Spirit but we then shall keep him out also the senses are locke up A Servant fast asleep when his Master cometh home he may knock long enough before he open to him why alas
a Mariner near his port rowleth up his sails or as a piece of cloth rowled up one turn more and we are turned into the grave What then It remaineth that they that buy be as if they possessed not and they that have inheritances by Lot also be as if they enjoyed them not they that have wives as if they had none for the fashion of this world the Scheme the Mathematick figure of this world passeth away Was it not this which cast Solomon into such a sleep He offended by women though the wisest King So Mat. 24. 37. They eat they they drank 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as some observe It is a word used most properly of beasts living sensually in the delights of the slesh they feed themselves without fear as the Apostle Jude hath it out of measure and so in time there is a season for all things c. make not provision for the slesh c. O that there were more sobriety brethren and moderation among us appearing among us there would not be so much sleeping 6. Take heed of any sin unrepented of of continuing in it for surely that will damp the soul and cast it into a sleepe as you see in the cafe of Jonas David the brethren of Joseph O specially of such sins as stupifie and seal and harden sins of a high hand and against light against mercy with a high hand these are dangerous 7. Be often stirring up your selves as the Apostle speaks to Timothy stir up the grace of God that is in thee the gift in thee as fire under the ashes A man that is drousie had need to shake himself as Sampson did Ah brethren there is a carnal mind in us all which is death it deadens all that is good within us And except we do often stir up our selves labour to keep upon our hearts some quickning Considerations to press them home to hold them to the soul we shall do what we can we shall sleep or at least slumber And beg with David O quicken me according to thy word Alas life is his and all quickning and renewing grace is his therefore we should lye much before him for this mercy if we would not sleep indeed So much for this Use The next Vse of the Doctrine shall be an awakening word It may be brethren many of us that have this word alas are asleep and had need to be shaken and O that the Lord would even do it for us Alas It is not our word will do it it dyeth in the Ear and goeth no further as a bullet whose force is spent dyeth reacheth not the mark except the Lord add an Almighty force to it it will do nothing But I shall endeavour alittle this work by offering some considerations to you You that lye upon your beds 1. Remember in the first place that if Jesus Christ come while you are in this sleep you will be found unready what do you think that a sleeping will put your hearts into frame to meet the Lord Jesus with Surely no One of these two things will befal you either your works will be quite undone you will have your grace to get when you should enter into glory or never Or else if you have it not to get you will not have it in its brightness and lustre as Ornaments upon you ready to open to him to enter with him either your Lamps will be out or else they will be to trim when you should enter O that the Lord would inforce this Argument and his own exhortation Luke 12. 35. Stand ready therefore with your loyns girded and your Lamps burning wayting for his coming that you may be ready Do you think this can be comfortable to you 2. Do but consider seriously what danger we are in when we sleep when we give sleep to our eys and settle our selves to it when we strive not against it First The Philistims will be upon us as they were upon poor Sampson If Satan and our hearts can but sing us asleep then the Philistims are upon us as they were upon him and at last you see how sadly they destroyed him you see what danger Saul was in when he was asleep David might have taken his life from him And Sisera by a poor woman perished when asleep And so Ishboshâ—th when asleep Surely brethren the devil never lulls us asleep believe it but he hath some desperate design upon us which he cannot do when we are awake What danger were the Disciples in when they were sleeping when they should have prayed they were just entring upon the pikes and they were asleep and see what fearful work there was they were all scattered from him and Peter how fearfully he denyed him Could Satan think you ever have brought Lot to that wickedness if he had not been fast in a deep sleep It was strange sleepiness in him to drink so much of the wine Excess overthrew him Surely brethren if ever there were an hour of temptation this is one If it might be tolerable at any other time yet not at this for hell is broke loose the devil is come down and hath great wrath because his time is short O how he hunts after poor souls and who are so like to be drowned as poor creatures asleep Secondly Then God usually doth for sake a soul if he fall asleep As you see in the Canticles her beloved was gone he wayted upon her a great while she would not awake when she got up he was gone O what a sad case was Saul in When God had forsaken him answered him not by Vrim or Thummim and the Philistims were upon him it made him out of his wits almost Ah dear friends If the Lord being provoked by our unkindness giving our selves to sleep do let loose sin this or that lust upon us to worry us And himself depart and stand and see what the latter end will be this will be sad thou cryest to him he will not hear but is as one asleep to thee because thou wast as one asleep to him O what will you do in this day Thirdly Then he is least able to act grace when he hath most need of it because the spirit is withdrawn from him Jesus Christ is departed from him he cannot resist a sleeping he hath no strength A weak woman may drive a nayl through the Temples of a most valiant General then O what advantage hath Satan against us and sin against us The least temptation then 〈◊〉 too hard for us we have no strength to resist come what will come we are naked to receive the thrust And but that the Lord stays the hand of Satan that it shall not reach the heart how quickly would he give such sleeping souls their deadly wound 3 Consider yet further how we put the Lord Jesus to it to prick us and stir us up lest we should lye sleeping and sleep the sleep of death They say the Eagle will
there may be a sleeping habit of grace though it be not in act the soul is not able to act it for the present As the wise Virgins though it was a part of folly for the wise Virgins to sleep yet we may not without great wrong to them and the grace of Christ in them call them foolish Virgins there is a vast difference between them If a man should have made a judgment of David in his backsliding what would he have thought of him or of the Disciples when they were so heavy at such a time as that was and that after they had been reproved for it and stirred up again and again we would have judged likely O sure it would prove a deadly Lethargy or there were scarce any hope concerning them O no saith our Saviour though he reproved them sharply yet some sugar he mixed with the vinegar the Spirit indeed is willing but the Flesh is weak he did not unsaint them because of their sleepiness no more should we And indeed brethren the difficulty is so great to distinguish between a sleep and death in sin sometimes that we had need to suspend and be exceeding tender in judging Physicians themselves have much ado sometimes to discern whether there be life in the body they are much put to it and yet it appears there is life therefore let us be tender in judging leave it to him who can discern whether the life be within them yea or no. Lastly A word of Comfort to the poor people of God that alas find themselves very apt to fall asleep and shake themselves with Sampson again and again and yet are apt to lie down upon the lap of a Dalilah again they know not what to think of themselves whether they can be alive to God having hearts so desperately sleepy Yea it may be though they have lost the sweet smelling presence of Jesus Christ many times by their sleeping yet they have slept again and cannot keep themselves awake his smiles have been many times turned into sharp rebukes their honey into gall and sometimes by terrible things in righteousness they have been awaked and yet they are sleeping again sometimes they have been confounded and ashamed and have had nothing to say when the Lord hath rebuked them and yet they are asleep again O what can I think of such a Condition as this I do believe the Closets of some poor Creatures can bear witness to many a sad complaint of this kind Well I answer to this Far be it from me brethren to sow pillows under any mans Arm-holes or to make a bed for any to sleep upon the Lord forbid there should be a heart so wicked as to make such an use of what is to be said to such poor discouraged souls We are in a strait indeed we cannot give a Saint their portion but the wicked are snatching at that nor the wicked their portion but the Saints are catching at that specially discouraged hearts and many times applying all to themselves that never was intended for them But if any dare abuse it be it upon them I must speak a word of refreshing to poor souls that are even wearâ—ed with a lazy sleepy heart 1. Then remember this That it is possible for a man or woman that is truly in the state of grace yet to be overtaken with sleep therefore it is a Conclusion without any good premises that sure thou art no Child of God no wise Virgin because thou art so often slumbering and sometimes fast asleep As carnally secure Creatures do deceive themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concluding because the wise Virgins slept therefore they are wise Virgins though they sleep so on the other hand do the people of God deceive themselves by a like false reasoning concluding they are foolish Virgins certainly because they sleep All are not wise that were asleep for some were foolish and therefore the carnal creature may sleep the sleep of the foolish all were not foolish that were asleep and therefore thou mayst be a wise Virgin and yet overtaken with sleep they both agree in sleeping or slumbering it is common both to wise and foolish therefore thou canst not make it a distinguishing or differencing note of thy Condition which is common to both sorts Only the degrees and circumstances the antecedents and concomitants of this sleep are those which distinguish as you have heard and I hope remember the wise if they sleep usually get oyl into their vessels first they sleep but they sleep by candle-light they suffer not their Lamps to go out they sleep but their hearts weak c. Well it is possible though thou sleep thou maist be a wise virgin 2. How knowest thou thou sleepest and how cometh it to pass that it is a burthen to thee Thou complainest of it and to such onely we speak brethren I must tell you such as yield not up to it such as love not sleep but it is tedious to them but whence is this Surely it is because thy heart is awake as the spouse saith this is not a total sleep O thou hast cause to bless the Lord that he hath kept so much as thy heart awake that sleep hath not seized upon all If once the heart be asleep all is gone therefore be thankful for that that there is any thing kept awake thy Will thy Affections 3. I you will say if I could see my heart is awake it were something but my hear sure is asleep my confidence doth not much trouble me for it my will hath been to blame for I have even setled my self to sleep thrown my self upon my bed of security shut the windows winked with my eys put off my cloaths I have slighted and neglected those acts of holiness from time to time of worship or which should have been as my garments upon me therefore sure I am willing to sleep yea more he hath often stirred and moved by his spirit to awake me and I have drowsed and turned like a door upon the hinges with the sluggard ready to cry a little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands to sleep O sure my heart is asleep as well as my self I I cannot say with the Church I sleep but my heart waketh O what shall I say or what shall I do I answer however it may be thy Will hath been in fault and asleep in part if it be not awaken in a good part how comest thou to be thus sensible of thy sleeping and slugg shness of it what mean all those sad and lamentable moanes thou makest to the Lord in secret if thou be not sensible of it I hope it is so with some of us Are we not then sensible O sure the Will is not altogether asleep yea the prevailing part is awake 4. Remember this for thy comfort If thou canst not see clearly as happily under distemper thou canst not neither thy heart be asleep or awake yet the Lord
apt to sleep the Text it self proveth it beyond contradiction for it is spoken of the wise virgins which is comprehensive of all the Church of Christ except the foolish the foolish they slept and no marvel but all the question would be of the wise specially at such a time as this but the Parable plainly holds it out they all slumbred and slept and if they did it actually sure there was an aptitude a disposition to it I know none can plead exemption except they can be of the Church of Christ and yet not come under the notion of foolish or wise Virgins But the difficulty and indeed all that will be worth the time to prove will be the universality of the Predicate they are apt to sleep when they had most need to wake that is to say whensoever they had more need to awake then at another time then they are apt to sleep This I know not how to prove better then by an Induction of particulars here is one in the Text and there is the like aptitude found of their sleeping at all other times of need therefore we conclude it so general that they are apt to sleep when they had most need to awake For this time in the Text I think hardly any will question it for men to be sleeping when they should be making ready and stand ready for the appearing of their Lord Jesus Christ Is to be sleeping when they have greatest need to be awake the carnal mind indeed will be ready to sing a requiem to it self and say it is no matter so we have but a warning a little before he come that we may have time to trim our Lamps before he come though we be found sleeping but surely brethren the spiritual part will judge otherwise that there is great need to be waking at the latter end of the race when they should lay hold on eternal life Now is high time saith the Apostle to awake your salvation is nearer If ever there be need to have our ornaments on our graces in a lively frame and much in act then is the time if ever men would run in a race towards the latter end of it is the time to spur hardest it is a needful time then it is a time of acting grace of spending grace of using all you have you shall have exercise enough likely for it and therefore then to have our graces to trim and fuâ—bish up as it will be if we sleep surely this is to sleep in a most needful time and yet this the Saints are yet apt to brethren how many do we see growing more heavy and dull less life and vigour and power to act their graces then before 2. Again another time of greatest need to be awake is when there are the choicest communications of Christ to the soul to be had that is awake and ready to receive them every one sure will conclude this is a time of greatest need for if we sleep out such a season as that what may we lose It may be that which we shall never have opportunity to have again while we live So the Disciples when they should have beheld Christ in his glory he was praying and took up his Disciples those three favourites to pray with him well he was praying and as he prayed the fashion of his countenance was altered and his rayment was white and glistering and two men Elias and Moses talked with him but Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep and when they were awake they saw his glory c. But how much of this fight did they lose before they were awake O Prayer is a special duty and how doth the heart drowse for the most part when it should come to it and when doth the Lord usually reveal more of his glory when doth he usually make more of it to pass by a poor soul or company of his people then in their praying therefore if at any time they had need to be awake this is the time but you see brethren they themselves were asleep that were the choice of the Disciples and what they lost they were not like to recover they were not like to see such a sight again so much of his glory again And truly brethren ordinary experience teacheth us some of us I believe that in the special Ordinances of grace wherein Jesus Christ is held out Crucifyed held out in his loveliness and glory there our hearts are most apt to he asleep and drowsie and much ado to keep them up to any thing How many are we sometimes in Prayer get but off the legs and we are lively enough for any thing else when there is most need we are apt to sleep 3. After the greatest discoveries of grace and of Christ to a soul after the most melting warming Communion and fellowship with Christ As now after this tranfiguration when they had seen this glory passing by them a man would have thought this should have ravished them so as to have kept them awake Yea after they had the Supper in the iustitution and no question brethren but there was a presence answerable to the Institution and for the honour of the Institutor as when himself was baptized the Spirit came upon him O sure if the bodily presence were there the spiritual would not be wanting he would exalt that New Testament-Ordinance or seal above the other and not likely but he would do so that the Disciples might even take notice that he was leaving the one and taking up the other instead of it At the Dedication of the Tabernacle and of the Temple the glory of God filled them and I cannot believe but there was a wonderful glorious presence at the Dedication of this Ordinance if I may call it so well then after such discoveries of Christ brethren such warnings to lie down and sleep how dangerous is it to catch cold after such a heat how will it grieve the Lord to see so much grace laid out in vain upon us in a great part if we be sleeping so quickly again And it appears that Peter he had his Love and faith much heigthned but here was the mistake he rested too much upon it upon what he had received O saith he though all men forsake thee I will not deny thee c Yet alas you see when he should have prayed with Christ and so the rest there in his agony in the Garden he fals asleep again and again and again so dead asleep nothing would keep him waking O how prone are the best of men to sleep when we had most need to wake after the richest discoveries of Christ when we had most need to be most lively to improve the grace we have received to return love for love even then we fall asleep the Disciples as eminent as any did it sure then they were apt to it And if they then surely then any of the Saints are apt to it now 4. Another
ears haply ere long some sad blow or affliction as there in Job Elihu saith God speaks once yea twice but man regardeth it not often but to no purpose what then Why then he chasteneth him with pain and the multitude of his bones with strong pain and openeth his ear and seals instruction to 〈…〉 â—oring of his ear costs him something Why will you put the Lord to it to speak lowder and more terribly to you for if you belong to him awaked you must be or if you do not awaked you shall be some way or other and if this will not do it 3. Death shall do it and O how sad will it be for a man to go on securely and not to behold his unfitness for the appearing of Christ until just he be upon him but if that will not do it Sure I am the everlasting burnings will awake you sinners if you never wake until then O the Lord forbid you should have hearts so desperately hardened from his fear as never to awake until there be no remedy no providing for your eternal state O therefore arise arise as those Virgins did here in the Text yea though they were but formal professors yet they arose their Consciences were awaked and somewhat they did though they fell short what will become of you then that never rise but will sleep let the Lord Cry and though the trumpet sound lowder and lowder you look at the terrors of God as the horse that rusheth into the battail looketh at fear that which is a fear to others Ah dear friends it is no mocking at these things your precious souls lye at the stake therefore as you love them beg of God a heart to tremble at this his Cry which is going out before him how did all the Congregation tremble when the Lord sounded upon Mount-Sinai at the giving of the Law do but think how terrible the coming of Jesus Christ will be to avenge himself upon sinners that violated this Law and are not found in him O this will surely awaken you when you shall have little list to sleep or rest any more for ever But the Lord give you rather to hear this Cry to have it sounding in your ears continually that you may recover strength before you go hence and be no more seen that with the wise Virgins having your Lamps trimmed you may go in with the Bridegroom into the Marriage FOR THE SEASON of this coming of Christ its preparation to it It is at Midnight a time later then they thought of and sooner then they expected it is spoken by way of accommodation to the Parable as the other was before they fell asleep the Virgins did and in the deepest of their sleep the Bridegroom cometh they are raised up to meet him Note from hence That Jesus Christ his coming to many poor souls will be at Midnight Or his coming ordinarily is at Midnight What this coming is you have heard before All the difficulty here is to understand what is meant by Midnight Some have taken it properly for the Midnight that part of the natural day when the Sun is farthest off us and when it is darkest in the night and Jerom is said to report it for an A. â—radition that Christ should come at Midnight and because it is first in the order of nature to know the day before the hour therefore the day was pitched upon and that was the even of the Passover when it is said that the Primitive Churches did watch constantly yearly that night expecting it whereby it should seem they knew not the year but every year stood upon the watch at the same time but methinks the year is first in order to be known before the day and the day before the hour but surely this was vain and a mistake of theirs for our Saviour saith that of that day and hour knoweth no man Therefore we shall understand it here by way of Accommodation to the Parable and first then at Midnight siguratively may import in the first place an unknown time it was not revealed before hand at what time he would come our Saviour saith If the good man had known when the thief would have come he would have kept his house from being broken of that day and hour knoweth no man saith our Saviour speaking of his coming in general it is a secret thing belonging to God he keepeth it in his own power as he saith there in the first of the Acts. And for the particular day of his coming to us it is not known to men for the most part indeed Hezekiah his case was extraordinary to have his limits set him so long before to know the number of his days so long before hand else ordinarily the people of God know not the time or very little before they depart or be called for As these Virgins here when they were asleep alas they knew not what time it was that the Alarm came the Midnight is usually the most unknown time or at least a time wherein the coming of Christ is most unknown for to that indeed the ignorance is rather to be referred though persons asleep at midnight know not the time of the night nor any evil which is ready to surprize them at that time 2. The midst of a mans life is such a time as the coming of Christ is not looked for Now this is more then the former for though they had not known the time yet they might have waited and expected every hour when he would have come but they because it was uncertain looked not for it in a day he looked not for him Luke 12. 46. It is likely they had looked for it but their waiting was wearyed they went forth to meet him at first with their oyl and Lamps the wise Virgins until they thought it long for it is in respect of their opinions that he is said to delay his coming as you have heard Well now their watchful eys were sealed up with sleep so that he came later then their expectations and he came sooner then their expectations also for they were surprized by the Cry before they were aware just as a servant that hath in the beginning of the night expected his Masters coming home and a good while waited for it now he giveth over looking for him so his Master cometh after his waiting and yet before it too for when he is at his rest and before he awakes again to return to his waiting for his Master he cometh upon him this is the very case a child of God it may be at the beginning when the impressions of God upon the heart are strong and fresh he expecteth the day of Christ his coming hath it much in his eye but after awhile when he seeth he cometh not he letteth down the watch and groweth more remiss by far and when he is in the depth of that sleep before he renew his watching likely the Lord
2 Tim. 4. 14. And have we not too much sad testimony of it in our days such as indured much affliction and persecution from the opposers of Gods people yet now have turned their backs upon that truth for which they suffered 2. Consider yet further they may continue so long as though they fall asleep with the wise Virgins yet to rise again with them they may be deeply seized on by security and a man would think that then an hypocrites profession should come altogether to an end he should never open his eye more and yet you see the foolish Virgins after this the Cry awaketh them as well as the wise Virgins and they bestir themselves as well as the wise to trim their Lamps their Consciences had been awaked before though their hearts were never throughly awaked Some Will and Affections they â—ad but never through and prevailing against the â—lesh well that which was awake fals asleep and yet it holds out to be awaking again and trimming up their Lamps again as if none were more likely nor fairer for heaven then they until they find upon the tryal alas they were going out Well then brethren we may continue through changes of times through changes of our own hearts we may have sleeping fits and rise again out of them and sâ—ir up our selves trim our Lamps and yet prove but foolish Virgins Eighthly a foolish Virgin or an Hypocrite may carry it so as that the Saints have a good esteem of them yea the most searching of Gods people as some have a more piercing eye and can see further into an Hypocrite then others can as the case may stand but indeed some hypocrisie is of so fine a thread that it doth eâ— fingere aciem oculorum some Hypocrites are double and treble guilt so that they are not so easily discerned to be copper until it come to wear off and it holds long the Disciples of our Saviour even he that lay in his bosom could not discern who was the Traitor by any thing that appeared they had as good thoughts of Judas as they had of themselves there was their simplicity and love and yet he proved but a Judas he walked with them ate the Passover with them if not the Supper with them Thus we may have a name to be alive among the people of God and yet be but dead as it is said of that Church in the Revelations And so the wise Virgins you see walked hand in hand with the foolish they pass for all alike and no marvel when a man hath so much knowledge such good and stirring affections so full of action for Christ walks so unblamably suffer for Christ hold out so long no marvel if the people of God in love which thinketh no evil do judge well of such persons Ninthly and lastly they may also upon all these grounds foregoing have a very great confidence of the goodness of their own condition the foolish Virgins had admittance into the fellowship of the wise walked with them with their Lamps burning and shining we find not that they suspect themselves at all until at last they awake out of this sleepy condition of theirs and then they see their Lamps are gone or going out I deny not but an hypocrite may sometimes be self-condemned as the Apostle speaks of Hereticks after the first and second admonition reject for fundamentals are so clear that if he â—earken not to the first and second admonition according to the Rule of Christ in clearness and meekness held forth then he must needs be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 condemned of himself If our own hearts condemn us saith the Apostle God is greater then our hearts But yet others may go on and not suspect themselves There is a Generation saith Solomon that are pure in their own eyes as they judge of themselves yet are not washed from their filthyness It is worth the noting that all the Disciples were more forward to doubt their conditions then Judas for they all asked Is it I Lord is it I and our Saviour was fain to set it on with a terrible threatning It were better for that man that he had not been born and then he cometh out with it Master is it I thou hast said it saith Christ if he suspected himself before yet he kept it close however The hypocrite may hold fast his duties gifts and performances as his house when it beginneth to totter he may hold them by his teeth as it were as the godly man holds the practise of them and will not let them go so a hypocrite holds his confidence in them and will not let it go The world giveth him a good testimony the Saints they bear witness to him Satan he applauds him his own heart flatters him no marvel if he build a confidence upon all this and therefore the foolish Virgins here how confident were they not only not suspecting their condition all this while but when they saw that their Lamps were out yet they go and cry for mercy with what confidence Lord Lord open to us though now they saw they had been hypocrites all their daies yet so high were their hopes and confidence You see then Brethren a hypocrite may go very far So much for the Doctrinal part For the Application then of this Doctrine How sad is their condition if a man reach to all this and yet fall short of heaven What shall we say of many of us that have nothing almost of all this to say for our selves have not so much as Lamps so much as a profession of Christ It is true we have the name of Christ upon us but what have we else If a man may have so much knowledge and fall short what shall we say to such as have no knowledge of God in Jesus Christ as sottish and ignorant as if they never had heard of Christ of heaven or hell almost It is true a less measure of knowledge for the quantity may prevail more upon a mans heart then a greater sometimes but where there is no knowledge of God Jesus Christ will come in a terrible manner against such as know him not as well as those that obey not his Gospel It may be you have some knowledge yet alas where is your affection you fall short of hypocrites in that how many in this Congregation that never knew what one heart-pang for sâ—n meant do not dissemble before the Lord didst thou ever mourn either Legally or Evangellically And so for desire have you thus desires toward the Lord and his waies are they such a delight to you thou hast heard his word many a hundred times and didst never taste any sweetness any savour or relish in it at all Say are not many of us so far from delighting to draw nigh him it is the most burthensom day in all the week the Sabbath is we care not how seldom it cometh but I hope better things of you in
this particular for the most part If you have such affections do you not many of you wallow in your filthyness Indeed it is strange to see how some men have a tongue to speak for Christ seem to be wonderfully affected with any dishonour put upon him and to be great disputers for his Ordinances and Sabbaths ready to flie in the faces of them that speak against these things and yet themselves are very Sinks and Puddles of uncleanness will be drunk will be filthy will swear and lie and come and stand before the Lord as if they were delivered to do all these things what will become of thee if a foolish hypocrite shall perish where wilt thou appear It may be if thou avoid these gross sins thou makest nothing of a secret lust so be thou canst hide it from the eyes of men thou despisest the presence of the Lord with thee in thy secret place Again it may be thou hast done something for Christ but thou couldst not suffer for him but turn and shift and deny him before men O far before thee have many gone and yet perished never reached heaven It may be thou art so gross that even the people of God themselves can discern thy hypocrisie and thy own heart may condemn thee Well if others that have out-stript thee in these things fall short where wilt thou appear thou comest behind the Pharisees far enough and they enter not they fall short what will become of thee If the Virgins because foolish Virgins are not thought meet to enter into the Marriage-Supper the door is shut against them What wil become of thee that art an arrant strumpet-soul that hast thy gods thy Idols to worship thy gold and thy belly thy sport and pastimes to which thou devotest thy self so that thou canst not come under the notion of a Virgin O that the Lord would make men sensible If such as take all this pains for heaven fall short what is like to befall them that never set foot forward towards it Then It may serve to stir up every one of us that heareth this word this day to take heed be not high-minded but fear as the Apostle saith You see how far a hypocrite may go It may be further then many of us have gone what need then had we to look to it that that we have and that we do be in sincerity and uprightness for then it will hold out with the wise virgins To you that make a profession of Jesus Christ and of his waies I direct this Exhortation to you especially And I shall back it with these two or three arguments and then propound some few considerations to be made use of here in the tryal 1. Then consider brethren What ever men judge of you or you judge of your selves through mistakes sometimes yet God he seeth through all It may be the cobweb is so thick woven that the piercing eyes of the most judicious child of God cannot see through it but God can see through it And so the foundation of the house he seeth to be upon Sand when it may be the people of God cannot discern it We are exceeding apt secretly to bless our selves when the people of God think well of us and if we may be but admitted into their fellow ship we are well it is a thing to be eyed in its place but to make this our rest is desperate alas they have so much to do at home with their own hearts they cannot have so much time to pry into the actions of others nor if they do to enter into the heart of any and charity binds them to think the best where there is no discovery to the contrary but what if all the Saints should admire thee and look upon thee as a most precious glorious creature Yet the Lord sees thee to be but dung and dross and rottenness Men look upon the out-side of the Sepulchre God pierceth to the rottenness within his eyes behold the evil and the good let it lie never so deep the ends God discovers them Did you at all fast unto me saith the Lord no but to your selves So the Pharisees they had covering upon covering to hide their rottenness with but all would not do they had their long garments long prayers and many good actions which they did and much zeal which they seemed to have and yet God seeth through all this and calls them wretched hypocrites when all is done and tels them for what end they did it to devour widows houses and to be seen of men So God saw the Idols of their hearts though the Prophet could not Our Saviour knew their hearts and would not trust himself unto them Would it not be a confusion to you if the people of God should see your hypocrisie how would you hold up your heads before them Ah brethren how will you lift up your faces before the Lord then who searcheth the hearts If you be found with no oyl in the heart in the vessel only a Lamp a shew he can he will search it out and that your souls shall one day know And therefore it concerneth us now to search 2. The great danger of hypocrisie in profession in these daies now the times smile upon it for indeed let hypocrites pretend what they will they are sensual and it is their belly they serve and not the Lord Jesus and therefore as the times sway you shall have them bow where the loaves were there those hypocrites would be they followed not the Ordinance the bread of life for it self but for the loaves they subjected it unto their bellies the Bull-rush will not grow except it have much mire and water no more will an hypocrite except he hath his advantages ordinarily though sometimes they may go through persecution yet that is somewhat more then ordinary O how Judas loveth the bag more then the Master it was that that kept him so close to Jesus Christ he had a sweet place of it while he had the bag WelL If ever mens souls were in danger of being undone by hypocrisie now is the time Brethren And now it is the more hard to discern whether we follow Christ for the leaves yea â—r no therefore upon that account also we had the more need to search and try our hearts whether we be sound at the bottom or no. 3. The danger of the cure if we be pocrites Indeed in this respect the condition of a prophane man is better then a close hypocrite his distemper is more apparent and his own conscience cannot but judge him of many things but now many times a hypocrite seeth not his hypocrisie though sometimes he do it may be at the first if he had hearkened to the voice of his conscience charging him with hypocrisie in this and that he might have kept it tender but smothering it at last it groweth silent and harder seared and the eyes by degrees are blinded so that he
God as the Apostle did not by sense nor what we feeâ— though never so much yet that must not be our life or if never so little that must not be our death but still live by faith in the son of God who liveth for ever and therefore his people shall not dye nor their Lamps be put out in obscure darkness 3. Consider then have we not declined have not our Lamps burned much clearer then now they do hath not our light been clearer then now it is and our warmth been more then now it is this is matter of humbling to us Have we not received much mixture of error in these erting times we cannot imagine how much darkness it brings upon our Lamps to have one error mixed with much truth Besides may not the Lord Jesus say to us all I have somewhat against you all in that you have left your first love Time was when you were zealous for the house of God and it did even eat you up now you are grown to a Gallio's spirit care not for these things Now we seek our own things and nest our selves in security it is well with us and therefore we consider not the danger poor souls are in by such as go up and down with the power of delusion few mourners in Zion for these things If the Church were under persecution it is likely we should lament truly I look upon its present state as more destructive to it so many Vipers â—ating at the very heart and bowels of Religion where is our burning of zeal for God against these things sure it should humble us 4. We see that Believers may decline and these times do give an abundant proof of it how many that have been as burning and shining lights have been benighted and inveloped in the most Egyptian darkness entertaning the most desperate opinions walking after their own Lusts and yet afterwards have been restored O how should this make us fear before him be not high-minded but fear here thou seest one and there another their lamps next to a being quite extinct yet thou hast light and heat maintained O boast not thy self lift not up thy self but fear before the Lord humility indeed is a kind of a nurse of the graces conservatrix virtutum as Bernard saith If he spared not the Angels in their pride will he spare thee A Novise is in danger of falling into the condemnation of the Devil in danger of being puffed up He giveth grace to the lowly but resisteth the proud Some do observe that word be ye cloathed with humility 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be ye cloathed the word cometh from a word signifying a knot because it ties all together as I may say and so knitteth the graces together as pearls upon a Braslet if the knot be broken they are quickly lost It is indeed brethren the thief in the candle the great waster the Moth in the cloath consumeth it and spoyleth the beauty and strength of it It is the worm at the root of the Guord it will smite it and we see it by sad experience when men grow so proud and pretend to Angelical perfection in our days they fall as low as hell and brutish bestiality in their lusts O therefore let us labour to walk humbly with God be not high-minded though at present we stand and flourish and shine and burn we are liable to declinings 5. If we be so liable to declinings then it should teach us so much the more to be diligent in improving I am sure the Apostle giveth it as a preservative against declining and apostatizing But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ grow in grace and in knowledge knowledge is that whereby the Lord doth reveal himself to his people from grace to grace as you have it in that place of the Apostle whom beholding as in a glass c. But observe here keep your selves that is fall not from your own stedfastness and how should this be One means is to grow in grace If we would not have our Lamps burn dim and low we must labour to supply them so as they may increase the path of the just is as a shining light which shineth more and more to the perfect day and the wind of that Spirit which bloweth where it listeth it riseth higher and higher as some note O see to it then ordinarily while the fruit is in growth the leaves wither not nor the fruit fals except in some great storm or wind Labour to grow then first in bigness then in sweetness grow more mellow sweet full of love humility and self-denial 6. If we be so liable to decline it should teach us to avoid all those things which tend to a declining else we shall never avoid the thing it self we must take heed of sleeping then for though our Lamps be never so bright when we begin to sleep when we awake they will burn low if not extinct and will have great need of trimming up Security is the undoing evil in all things where was the joy of Davids faith when he began to be secure Psal 30. 7. Take heed of putting off the day of his appearing that will gender to security and that security will bring a neglect of our Lamps and then they will grow low and decline 2. Take we heed of false Teachers try the Spirits whether they be of God or no they have a strange influence upon the life and liveliness of mens profession were they not these that hindered the Galathians Ye did run well who hath hindered you who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth Ye did run well in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the rase wherein they had Lamps or Torches but who hath hindered you The Apostle Peter maketh it the immediate cause of the backsliding and declining at least if not utter apostacy Beware saith he lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked and fall from your own stedfastness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be carried out of his way to go with another the power of error is greater then we are aware of The Apostle speaks thus This I say lest any man deceive you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with enticing words beguile you They have cunning craftiness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cogging with the die Satan changing himself into an Angel of light and his Ministers into Ministers of light and cogging with the die like cunning and deceitful Gamsters how easie is it to deceive the hearts of the simple yea the hearts of his but that they are kept by that power But a great way they may prevail and so we may lose our stedfastness and therefore take heed what spirits we give ear to Alas do we not see in our days what fearful work Satan hath made among Professors how many have their Lamps quite put out that went for zealous
know not what it is to be almost gone and blown out at the brink of obscure darkness know not what that mercy is but such as have been made to believe that God would cast them into the bottomless pit that he would utterly destroy them and forsake them O how sweet a truth must this needs be that though their flesh and heart fail them yet God will never fail them whatever he may seem to do for a season but so much for this Doctrine The second Doctrine is this When a Believers profession groweth so low and he is declined specially at such a time it is his duty to trim his Lamp to renew his profession to look after a restoring So here they arose and trimmed their Lamps when the Cry came and this did the wise Virgins as well as the foolish Concerning the foolish Virgins I have nothing here to say nor shall I trouble my self or you with what haply might be spoken of the Hypocrites trimming his Lamp wherein it differs from the Believers The wise Virgins trimming I have spoke the last-day to that purpose shewing how far they might go But I will speak here to the wise Virgins because I would not dwell too long upon these things So you find Solomon his declinings were great and that at his latter end but he arose again and repented as appears by his Book of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs c. written after this his backsliding as is generally conceived And so the Church of the Philippians their love and care of the Apostle suffered a nipping a winter and had ceased to flourish as formerly but they renewed it again It hath flourished it again saith the Apostle Eurychus may fall down and almost beat his life out of him but it is still in him and there must be means used to draw it forth as there is pains taken with Trees that have a fit of barreness come upon them Spiritual life runs to the heart and there appears little or nothing without sometimes as conquered men do from their outworks to the Tower but it must be brought forth again we have a command for it to those two Churches in the Revelations Sardis had a name to live and was dead likely the most of them were dead and yet there were some things remaining which were ready to die and these must be strengthened the things which remain which were ready to die for their works were not perfect before God O it was hypocrisie that did eat them out of their life of Godliness it s a consuming thing indeed And so the Church of the Laodiceans their love was waxed Luke-warm neither hot nor cold neither dead altogether nor lively now saith the Lord be zealous therefore and repent But you will ask me here What it is to trim these Lamps that is here required I will speak but to two or three particulars First then In the trimming of the Lamp there is usually a supply of the Oyl if it wanted as when it hath burned long if it be not supplyed the oyl being spent it will not live except it be supplied And it was high time for these Virgins now to be awaked hereunto they might else have slept until all had been spent and the Lamp had gone out as well as the foolish grace being but a Creature it liveth by a continual supply of the Spirit of grace the first cause of it So then in the trimming of the Lamp there must be a fetching in of more grace a recourse to the fulness that is in Jesus Christ for the Lamp is ready to languish or dye else for want of oyl 2. There is a stirring up also of the grace which doth remain some oyl remaineth that must be made ready the ready passage between the Vessel and the Lamp the heart and the conversation it must indeed be cherished for being little haply it is ready to dye like a spark among much ashes stir up the gift that is in thee there is none that stirreth up himself to lay hold upon God The wick in the Lamp must be raised it being burned low so it is in this case It may be in such a declining condition of a poor soul there is more grace lying deep and low lying asleep in the habit more then the soul is aware of this must be stirred up faith stirred up and love to Jesus Christ and his people stirred up 3. In the trimming of the Lamp there is a taking away the filth and the dross that it gathers and snuffing the wick which would hinder the light and burning of it that it would be very dull and dim Now what is this brethren but the putting away those iniquities repenting of those evils whatever they have been that have thus far prevailed against their profession that security that carnality that self-confidence those things which laid them asleep which choaked the Lamp that it could not burn Whenever we are under any declining do but search and see commune with your own hearts and you will find there is some evil which lies close some soil we have gathered and hereby the spirit of grace hath been grieved and he is departed from us Now this snuff must be taken off deal not gently with it this filth and dross must be removed if we would trim up our Lamps For the Application then of this briefly in a word It may serve to stir us up every one to this duty If our Lamps be at present or shall hereafter come under any declining Alas brethren do we not slumber and sleep often and neglect all this while the trimming of our Lamps and will they not quickly burn low and dim and need a serious trimming of them I doubt this duty will be incumbert upon us and required of us oftner then we are aware of Do we know how soon the Bridegroom will come his voice goeth before him we have often heard but have we trimmed our Lamps to this day are our professions more glorious then formerly And for Motives hereunto consider First Such a restoring is a thing feizable hough the duty be thine yet the work is Gods he engageth to help yea to do it indeed he restoreth my soul saith David and it is for his own name sake for the glory of his Grace David had many decays and backslidings witherings and faintings but God restored his soul still and he is as ready to do it for his people now as ever he was therefore do not say alas this is a work too difficult or hard or there is no recovery my Lamp is so near extinct as there is no hope for me he that kindled it at first is able to restore it It is indeed a work of some difficulty and will cost you something but yet it is feizable Peter was at as low an ebb as ever poor Believer was what was become of his profession and yet Peter is recovered and after the recovery
endure every profession will not abide but it overcometh them But haply they may go down quietly and go away with confidence in their conscience a strange confidence have many poor blinded hypocrites whose consciences are seared Yet Thirdly Be sure brethren It will not carry them through the Judgement after the death the Judgement we may make a shift to pass through this world and haply delude our selves and think all is well and through death and yet never dream of our misery but if we be hypocrites be sure that a form will not endure to appear in Judgement before the ever lasting burnings the consuming fire There the Lord will examine mens hands what ever their professions have been and their hearts as it is said of Tiberius when he examined a fellow that pretended to the Crown he was so confident and cunning he could not trap him in his words at last he examined his hands and finding them hard with labour he found him to be but a servile mechanick fellow he was then so startled saith Mr. Caryl that he had no more to say So the Lord will examine mens works then and the principles of their works from which they acted and they shall be forced to confess they are hypocrites and their mouthes shall he everlastingly stopt depart from me ye workers of iniquity you tell me ye have preached in my name or prophesied c. let me see your hands you are workers of iniquity For the Application then What a terrible word to all formal professors who have only a Lamp a form of godliness but deny the power of it in heart and in their conversations Let all such if any such be here present know First Your profession will fail you sooner or later You think when you have done so many duties you have acquired such gifts and such supposed graces of the spirit and 〈…〉 w all is well these are enough to lift you up to heaven a Tower a Ladder that will reach to heaven But alas it is not so it is but a Castle builded in the air they are lying words you trust in who cry The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord are these You are his people and have his Ordinances a fine web a spider weaves takes great pains spins it out of her bowels but alas it never cometh to any thing it will not make a garment to cover their nakedness from the Lord Jesus Hypocrites rest in a formality and some observances of the Law as if it were their hope that should secure them from all storms and injuries whatsoever but alas it will not these things will fail Secondly Is it not worthy observation also that an hypocrite if he go to decay in this life his hypocrisie be discovered he decaies quickly suddenly more suddenly then another man ordinarily therefore he is compared to a Bull-rush that withers before any other plant when they are once blasted cursed as God doth curs them many times alas the next day they are gone and withered as the tree that was dryed up by the root which the Disciples wondered at a sad thing to-have leaves without fruit a form without power the withering curse doth light upon them soonest sooner then prophane persons and how quickly are they withered they are like the grass upon the house top that withereth before it groweth up Thirdly It will be sure to sail a man when he hath most need of it as in the hour of temptation the hour of affliction the hour of death and the hour of judgement in all these usually it fails as a man standing him in no stead◠as the brooks run in the winter when there is no need of them but in Summer when the traveller is ready to perish for thirst then are they dryed up in that place of Job Like the Apples of Sodom if a man come to touch them would be refreshed by them they turn to dust poor creatures think they have faith until an hour of temptation or affliction when they should act it then they have none So they think they have love and bowels but when an opportunity is offered and they have most need of them then they fail like the house there in Matth. 7. It was builded as fair to see to as another as the wise mans house and served him while it shone upon his Tabernacle but when once the storms arose the winds came and the waves beat against it alas it fell and great was the fall thereof Fourthly that which will set an edge upon all the former is the sad disappointment of the hypocrite or formalist in all this for his hope is cut off like a spiders web there are two Pillars he leans upon as Sampson upon the Pillars in the house the Jachin and Boaz What are they but the good things of this world and life eternal and alas both fail him For the good things of this life they many times leave him the mire and the water which made the Bull-rush to grow they are dryed up what is become of his hope then he leans laies hold on his house and is loath to let it go but let him hold it as fast as he can yet down it must go when the Lord cometh to manifest his displeasure against him Secondly For things eternal those he expecteth and is as high until he be discovered to himself in his expectation of heaven as any other but alas he is but in a golden dream all this while as an hungry man dreameth he eateth c. but it is nothing but a fancy when he awakes he is never the fuller but rather vexed so much the more being disappointed for a man to have his hope cut off is the greatest cut in the world nothing breaks the creatures heart more then this O how great hope may a Minister be raised to being an instrument in the hand of God to save others that he also shall be saved they themselves have means to castout the Devil and shall they go to the Devil It is indeed the very emphasis of damnation to be cast down from such a height of hope to be so near to heaven in their hopes and yet miscarry O how should this make us afraid of hypocrisie and formality which is ready to creep upon us how bitter a thing is it in the end to hypocrites yea to the people of God in their way when God opens their eyes to behold it in its colours therefore let us be exhorted every one of us to take heed of it lest it be found in such prevalency among us as to denominate us hypocrites believe it brethren If we be hypocrites our duties will not commend us to God be they never so many never so plausible because our hearts are not changed which is a notable sign of an hypocrite he doth much duty but never reacheth to a better heart is not changed
from glory to glory but he prayeth and sinneth and weepeth and sinneth getteth no strength against corruption Again an hypocrite he will rest and lean to his duties he leans to his house which is of his own building Now truly Brethren true grace where it is if we should lean to it instead of Christ it would not stand much less a counterfeit the believer he rests upon God alone his presence in the Valley of the shadow of death not upon his house upon the web of his own weaving but would be found in Christ And lastly how much comfort is here to a poor child of God though it may be he flourish not so and have not such a glorious shew and formality such a compleat form of godliness as another yea his own conscience beareth him witness before the Lord that his heart is right before him and he hath a power of grace upon his heart to subdue that to the Lord. Surely brethren it is much rather to be chose a little spring then a great swelling torrent for there is a living principle it will continue and hold out it will not dry up in the day of drought and disappoint our hopes but as great Rivers in their heads are small streams many times so here it will increase and grow from one degree to another to a place of broad Rivers until it empty it self into that fulness and so of glory to all eternity Look to the truth of it Brethren if there be oyl in the vessels you see the wise Virgins though they had their Lamps to trim yet they were not gone out but so much shall serve for this Doctrine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Having considered already that a form of godliness without the power will not carry the hypocrite through all conditions it will fail him sooner or later I am now to consider of their reflection upon this failing of their Lamps They were out and they saw that they were out and thence it is that they go a begging for oyl the note I will raise from hence shall be as comprehensive as may be we will hasten It is this Though an hypocrite may long be hiding himself yet at last when it is too late he shall be discovered to himself this is the very case of the foolish Virgins in this place There will be two or three things considerable if we take the Observation asunder As first That an hypocrite may long lie hid from himself 2. That at last he shall be discovered to himself 3. That ordinarily this is when it is too late For the first That they may long lie hid from themselves this is plain from the Parable for how long did the foolish Virgins walk with the wise and thought their penny as good silver as theirs all this while but they were asleep they had good thoughts of their condition else they would have had little lift to sleep the wise Virgins would hardly have slept if they had not had some assurance their mountain had not been made strong by the favour of God and the foolish as foolish as they are would hardly have slept if they had not had a good opinion of their conditions If their consciences had been awaked and their worm gnawing could they have slept if they had seen their danger now to have their portions with hypocrites being such themselves In that place formerly mentioned you have seen the hypocrite hath a hope until it be cut off and his confidence is great he leans upon his house as the foolish builder in the Gospel he thought his house a good security against all storms whatsoever And so doth many a poor Formalist think his form of godliness the green gourd shaddow enough from the everlasting burnings Did Judas suspect himself he was not so jealous of himself as it should appear by the story as the rest of the Disciples were but was last in the enquiry And it is likely enough Jehu when he proclaimed his zeal for God spake as he thought poor man what was under those broad leaves of that profession yet appeared not As Hazael Is thy servant a dog It may be if one had told Jehu how afterward he would play the wretch and the carnal Polititian and build the things he now destroyed or do Gods work to the halves no farther then his own interest led him he would have thought as strange as Hazael did Now the grounds of this may be such as these in a word or two 1. The depth of our own hearts hypocrisie of all other works of darkness hateth the light and therefore if there be any more deep and remote corner of the heart then another there it lurks O saith the Holy-Ghost the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it the most sharp and strong sight the most eagle-eyed creature in the world cannot find it out to the bottom indeed Brethren there is darkness and depth enough in every one of our hearts to deceive all the world the most piercing discerning spirits are blinded and deluded as Juglers they say can cast mists and make a man believe strange things when it is nothing so but that is not so much but the depth of the cunning of the heart is such that they can deceive themselves It is great cunning to deceive others but if that cunning be yet out-witted and be deceived by it self this is more Yea I will say it Brethren with a holy reverence that if any thing in the world could lie hid from God himself it would be the cunning heart of a sinner If there be more difficulty or could be in Gods discerning one thing then another here it would be and therefore his knowledge of the heart is set forth by a searching of it indeed he knoweth all things but after the manner of men he speaks if men cannot easily find a thing it lies hid in the darkness in some corner then they must search as searching for the lost groat or else if they would find out any thing to perfection then they search So here it noteth the perfection of Gods knowledge of the heart and withall the difficulty of the finding out the heart though not to himself yet after the manner of men if any thing were difficult to God this would be If any man seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue his Religion is in vain he deceiveth his own heart he is a cunning Jugler indeed that can juggle himself into a belief of his own juglings c. 2. From the subtilty of Satan All his care is to keep a poor soul in ignorance of its condition and how doth he be 〈…〉 ir himself he knoweth if once the disease be discovered it is in a way to be healed and therefore it is said of sinners altogether in darkness that they are under the power of Satan to turn them from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan to God while they are under darkness they are under the power of Satan he can lead them whither he pleaseth for they know not whether they go as the wise man speaks And that is the reason surely that Antichrist that first-born of the Devil by might and main keepeth his Proselytes in the dark takes away the Key of knowledge from them he knoweth if once the light should break in upon them it is very great hazard but they would break out from him from that bondage and slaverie that they are in to him therefore Satan will be exceeding industrious and how will he fill a poor creatures heart with false reasonings concerning his Condition O if there be any stirring or conviction at any time how doth he labour to lick them whole again to make up the breach the Word hath made in their consciences himself will turn Preacher and pretend to the tongue of the Learned to speak a word in due season and put on the garb of an Angel of light and preach peace peace O he is a cunning dauber specially having our hearts on his side and therefore as ready to be beguiled as he is to deceive us 3. From the similitude of a form of godliness to the godliness it self It is true life cannot be pictured but yet a man may be drawn so to the life as by a dim sight or by the help of a mist cast before the eyes and wires whereby such poppets may move we can scarce discern it from a man Similitude is the mother of mistakes therefore the Romans made their Ancilia so like to that which they say fell from heaven that if any might steal it he might seem to one to be mistaken how like brethren is gilded brass to gold how like may a Bristoll-stone be to a pearl how like to a Saint was Judas the Devil is Gods Ap◠and he will imitate his work And therefore for sincerity it self he hath a◠counterfeit which looks as like it as can be As when men shall seem most self-denying for Christ or forgo all and give away all they have to the poor as if they would become mendicants indeed this is very much and yet they might do this give all to the poor and give their body to be burned and yet not have love to Jesus Christ can there possibly be more love shewn then in this and yet you see there may be counterfeits in that also This is the third Argument And they do from hence deceive themselves Such as will run from Sermon to Sermon and with much seeming delight hear the word of God are affected moved but they do it not deceiving themselves with a paralogism a false reasoning for they are ready to conclude O surel should not have such a desire to be up early and seeking after Christ as they think though indeed they seek him not nor his face but somewhat else in the Word they should not delight in approaching to God as you have heard if there were not theroot of the matter in us but they look not at the doing of the Word the main thing and therefore they delude themselves with this self-reasoning So the fool building his house upon the sand from the foundation upward they are as like one another as can be and as likely to stand out a storm and therefore they reason from hence surely they shall hold out if the wise mans hope will shelter him theirs will shelter them But alas here is a paralogism they look not at the different foundations the one upon the rock the other upon the sands the one receiving Jesus Christ but as Jesus it may be the other as Jesus and Lord the event sheweth that a deceived heart was their undoing Fourthly Because alas the hypocrite usually is not much in searching of himself Surely if Gods knowledge of the heart be set forth to us as a searching of it it will imply so much we should search our hearts else we shall never know them for he speaks after the manner of men with a special respect to the heart-knowledge there they search as men do for hid treasures for what they would find and lyeth secret A cunning cheat looks like an honest man until he be searched into and throughly 〈…〉 ed a slight examination will not find him out and so truly will many a rotten heart go for an honest and good heart until there be a search Hypocrites are like Sepulchres which appear not they are fair and beautiful being painted without but it appears not what they are within if you would see what a Sepulchre is indeed you must break it up and down into it with a Candle search it out there you shall find loathsom rottenness dead mens bones Now I say an hypoerite oridinarily is not diligent in this work and therefore his heart deceiveth himself and this ariseth from several grounds Haply 1. He is too sloathful he is not one of the diligent laborious Christians that will take pains in this work If an overly view of mens hearts would do every one would search but to rifle every corner of their hearts and when the heart turns the back tergiversatur is loath to answer to the Queries which are put to it but flings an hundred waies up and down and no hold of it at all now in such a case he is a diligent Christian indeed that will not be bastled but will urge it home upon the heart and will have an answer better or worse and thus from time to time an hypocrite will hardly take pains in this great work and therefore no marvel if his heart deceive him and he be hid form himself 2. Haply he is confident of himself as in the place of Job and who almost are men of more flourishing hopes then the hypocrites were there any deadly doubt of their condition then the Pharisees and yet were there any more rotten then they were they thought if there were any men should go to heaven they were the men men of such knowledge as they were and such duties and strict lives as they were was it possible they should miscarry and you see how bold they are to plead it at the last day as in that 7. of Matth. Now that which a man thinketh he hath already or thinketh he is sure of he will not trouble himself to enquire after it it is but needless labour If a man be sure as he thinketh he hath his groat he will not light a Candle and seek it 3. Because haply they have sometimes some of them misgivings of heart sometimes hypocrites may and therefore they may be loath to come to search they suspect themselves some do and yet not so strongly but that they have a false hope to ballance their fear and to prevail A Bankrupt he that suspects it hath no mind to cast up his accounts he had rather do any thing they may I
say some of them lave such misgivings which though they be not so clear as to amount to a knowledge condition and to put them on to a recovery out of it yet they may be enough to make them loath to search A man is loath to search his coyn he suspects he shall find many bad pieces there and haply thereby prove himself but a beggar finding all brass instead of gold A man is loath to take up the grave-stone he may suspect what he shall find within which he is not very willing to see it may be nor to endure the stench of it and therefore pleaseth himself with the paint and outward beauty of it and therefore no marvel if it be hid from his eyes Fifthly It is a righteous hand of God upon hypocrites they are even paid in their own coyn that since they have deceived others with fair shews and pretences and endeavoured as I may say to deceive the Lord himself that they should deceive their own souls and should be hid from themselves that they may go on the more securely until they see by woful experience that they are tumbled into the pit And surely this was one of the things which were hid from Jerusalems eyes the things which belonged to her peace the first iâ— not the chief thing was the knowledge of her self Luke 19. 42. is a choice place of saving as well as moral knowledge now they had neglected their time implyed the hypocrites drew near God with their mouths when their hearts were far from him thinking to put off God with such Idol-worship as if he had not been a God which searched the heart and could find it out therefore the Lord tels them well saith he now the things which concern your peace are hid from your eyes and this is one of them among the rest the knowledge of Christ the remedy is the other main thing O it is a fearful hand of God brethren when he giveth them up to blindness of mind so that they shall discern nothing which concerneth them and so not know their own conditions if the Lord hide who can find as if he search who can be concealed But so much for this first thing Secondly At last he shall be discovered to himself He shall see himself to be but an hypocrite this is many times so I mean not only in hell mens eyes shall be opened but at death or before death many times the hypocrites eyes are opened to see himself what he is It is true sometimes he may go down in peace to the grave such a peace as Satan and an hard heart and seared conscience gives but yet you see here in this Parable that before the coming of the Bridegroom they saw their Lamps were gone out and that they wanted oyl the great work the grace in the heart which before they cared not for I will not press it too far and say that because all the foolish Virgins here see that their Lamps were gone out therefore all hypocrites and formal professors before their death are discovered to themselves as well as to others that they are but hypocrites but it is so many times and ordinarily surely else I know not what can be the meaning of this part of the Parable was it not so with Judas was it not discovered to him when he was detected and his conscience so wounded that he could not but go and proclaim himself a wretch a traytor to his Master before all the Court if he were so blinded before by lust by covetousness as not to see what he did yet now his eyes were opened he saw what his condition was and the terrour of it was such that he went and hanged himself But how and when doth the Lord discover hypocrites to themselves Why truly brethren haply in the hour of affliction then the Alchymie gold being not able to endure the seventh fire discovers it self what it is so the hypocrite will he pray alway Or in the general by any other means whereby the Lord blasts their profession and maketh it wither then they come to see it was but a gourd under whose shadow they delighted themselves so you see God doth blast their profession Here it was not until their Lamps were gone out that they saw it that they wanted oyl while they could sparkle walk in the light of their own sparks think all is well with them while they can maintain their profession and keep up duties c. haply they see not the hypocrisie lies hid under those broad leaves but when they wither they become as trees twice dead then haply they come to see it Not that alway those whose professions wither do see theÌ„selvs to be hypocrites neither for they may turn down right prophane as many poor creatures have done and returned with the swine washed to the wallowing in the mirâ— and grow past feeling the conscience much seared and hardened but yet many times this is a means whereby God doth discover hypocrites to themselves sometimes they have had somewhat of a presence of God and now they have none now their leaf fals now as Saul they have no answer from God neither by Vision nor Prophet and now they see the woful case they are in now they are pluckt as I may say of their plumes their nakedness appears Not that a child of God may not want his presence and a great while too but there is then a sickness of love for him a mourning after him ordinarily or a sad complaint that they cannot mourn after him but an hypocrite he findeth a want of the former presence and his heart is little or nothing troubled for it he is contented to let it go Secondly It may be sometimes without any such affliction yet the Lord may discover to an hypocrite that he is no better that he is rotten at the heart though the guilt wear not away yet he can shew the soul that it is but Alchymie though the paint of the Sepulchre continue and be not washed away he can shew a man that he is an Hypocrite not but that a Child of God may think himself an Hypocrite sometimes under temptation but he is not so but when God revealeth it to the soul he setteth it on with an evidence indeed that it is so But why doth the Lord then discover Hypocrites before the day of the discovery of all things why truly it is First That they might have a taste of that bitter Cup which they are to drink the dregs of to all eternity the Hypocrites Cup if any be more deep then other this is it and if any more deadly dregs in it this is it Now God will kindle a beginning of hell in their consciences that as the Saints have some fore-tasâ—s of heaven and the joyes to be revealed to sweeten their Cup of affliction so Hypocrites might have some of the gall and worm-wood to imbitter all their delights in this
world What comfort had Judas of his thirty pieces of silver when God opened his conscience and let him see his condition what an hypocritical dissembling wretch he had been to betray the Lord of life and glory with a kiss a sign of love and a bloody traiterous heart to sell his Saviour whom he had followed so long and acted by commission from him so long and his Master that had never done him hurt but good to sell him the Lord of life and glory for thirty pieces of Silver O this could not but gall and cut him to the heart the Devil helped him to a booty indeed but God added this sorrow with it Indeed of all sins God hath not revealed himself so terribly against any in Scripture as this and therefore when the soul cometh to see it that hath any knowledge of the terrors of the Lord displayed against it he must needs be for the present in a hell above ground this shall they have of my hand saith the Lord they shall lie down in sorrow Yea and sometimes he anticipates their death and they live in sorrow and wo and misery God doth as I may say set a mark upon them as upon Cain Secondly That they might be warnings to others for ever to take heed of Hypocrisie for when men that regard the work of the Lord and consider the operation of his hand shall behold a Judas hanged up in Gibbets being made a Magor Missabeb to himself doth it not preach aloud this Caution to take heed and beware of hypocrisie these things saith the Apostle were written for our ensamples that we might not do as they did so are these things acted for our ensamples that we might take heed or if they have not such terrors but their professions are blasted only and wither and they prove fearful creatures their latter end worse then their beginning is not this a warning written in Capital Letters that he that runs may read O take heed of rottenness at the root for all our fruit will give up as the dust as the Apples of Sodom we shall wither and come to nothing and go out like a snuff as well as them if we be not sound at the heart Thirdly It may be a stumbling block to some others who are ready to receive any prejudice against the ways of Christ and therefore they shall have a block to stumble upon O here you see what becometh of this preciseness and flourishing profession of Religion it is all but rotteness at the root it is better to take on fair and softly a soft pace in religion saith the Moralist or civil honest Man as good continue in a meer wallowing as being washed to enter into it again yea better saith the profane man and therefore he satisfieth himself in his carnal state which is wosul for suppose some professors wither yet do all Some they keep their leaf it shall never fail some lose their verdour but recover it again and what if some wither will you therefore offend against the generation of the upright saying they are all of the same stamp God forbid It is a sad thing to consider how many poor hearts are hardened in sin upon this very account which addeth to the Hypocrites doom but what if a discovered Hypocrite be so vile the condition so dangerous is not their own as dangerous if thou be prophane and a worker of iniquity there is no more entrance into glory for a Dog or Swine then for a Goat no more for workers of iniquity that professedly commit iniquity then for them who profess longer do much in his name and yet when all cometh to all they are found but workers of iniquity though secretly but so much for the second The third and last thing considerable in the Observation is That many times it is too late when Hypocrites are discovered to themselves this is plain in the Parable for the foolish Virgins all the time of the getting oyl in their vessels they complain not not see their want of it nor the going out of their Lamps but only when it was too late for before they could get it the gates were shut We must not here understand it generally of all Hypocrites as if none might be discovered to themselves while there is hope and so as to recover themselves for then it would follow they should none of them be pardoned for the Lord Jesus is the Prince exalted to give repentance and remission of sins Now if they never come to know themselves to be guilty of this great evil even their hypocrisie how should they repent of it and if they repent not of it how should it be pardoned It is true indeed there may be hypocrisie in a Child of God which he may acknowledge only in the general among his secret sins which he knoweth not of but I think where hypocrisie is so raigning a sin as to denominate a man an Hypocrite he must surely come to the knowledge of it and acknowledge it before the Lord or else how can he hope of pardon for it now I say there is pardon for all manner of sins only that against the Holy Ghost excepted and therefore sure some Hypocrites God doth uncase and unmask and rip up and shew them the abominations of their hearts that they may mourn over them and mourn after Jesus Christ and loath themselves for it and so be pardoned therefore remember this lest if God should come now and open any painted sepulchre any rotten-hearted Hypocrite among us when we see our wound we should faint away for though many times it is so that God discovers it not to Hypocrites until it be too late yet sometimes he doth and the sin in it self is pardonable therefore there is hope concerning this thing in Israel But for the making good this assertion consider either they are discovered not until judgement or else not until death or else not until their day of grace â—e expired many times though it be before death 1. If they be not discovered to themselves until judgement God never reproveth them of their hypocrisie and sets it in order with all its circumstances and aggravations until the day of judgement when the secrets of all hearts shall be displayed and all the nasty corners of sinners souls all the hidden things of darkness then surely you will all acknowledge there is no remedy it is past help there remaineth nothing then but a fearful looking for of their doom and some may go down in peace to the grave that is to say not a peace of God but of Satan a security and stupidity of conscience knowing nothing of their fearful condition which others also which are not so much as Hypocrites may do 2. If it be not discovered until the day of death or the time of deaths approach then though not alway yet ordinarily I believe it is too late and that is not a time that ordinarily God is
conform to Gods Ordinances you have some knowledge and there is the light of the Lamp though it may be but little a Glow-worm or the Moon no heat in it no affections to Jesu Christ you never felt your hearts burn within you when he conversed with you never knew what it was to be sâ—ck of love for him to delight in him and yet you are secure and think all is well with you because you hear and read and keep the external part of Sabbaths though you know not what it is to sanctifie it in your hearts you think all is well Alas brethren I pray you consider did not Judas follow Christ up and down and did more then many of us have done yet at last appeared to others and himself to be but an hypocrite though I discommend not but encourage you to do these things and to abound in him yet let me tell you and O that God would speak it to your hearts you may do it and much more and yet be but Hypocrites God looks not so much at the multitude of your sacrifices as he doth at the frame of the heart the truth in the inward parts at the sacrifice of a broken and contrite spirit that is to say a heart made truly sensible of its own vileness and emptiness so that it expecteth nothing for it self but lies at Christs foot for healing and mercy and mourns after him Now I pray you brethren you that are so confident of the goodness of your condition in the midst of all your Sabbaths you keep and duties you perform have you ever found such a heart yea or no O that the Lord would awaken you yea are there not some that ground their confidence upon their own security because they never doubted never suspected themselves they can bless God for it they have alway had a good heart towards God and they never had cause to suspect their hearts and affections towards him and shall they begin now Brethren let me tell you this is a truth in Jesus that a notorious Hypocrite may go on long and never question his condition yea it is rather the sign of an Hypocrite that he never did question his condition Was Judas ever the better for his backwardness to question his condition because he was the last that we read put the question Lord Is it I Surely no he was a Judas the Lord pitty you for you know not the danger you are in poor confident secure Creatures You may take your selves to be sweet Christians and yet be in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity your Lamps may burn long and yet no oyl in the vessel and at last go out and then you will cry out with the foolish Virgins alas our Lamps are gone out our profession is gone it will stand us in no stead now 2. Another word shall be an Exhortation to us all then If it be thus that an Hypocrite may thus long lie hid from himself and yet at last be discovered and that when it is too late O how should this quicken us Brethren to work out our salvation with fear and trembling O be not high-minded but-fear You see these foolish Virgins they had a glorious profession and we may in our dayes come to the like pass and when discovered be made a Magor Missabeb O fear and tremble before the Lord lest this prove our own condition how should we be much in the great duty of self-exanimation and searching whether we have misgiving hearts or no yet let us search if we have misgiving of heart that it is not right with us O how inexcusable shall we be that we were so lazy we would rather venture our immortal precious souls then take a little pains to search and secure their condition Is there any man that suspects his estate that will think much of his pains to spend day after day and time after time to search into it and if it be possible to secure it Why what account do we make of our souls brethren that we can be so wretchedly careless of them do you believe you have souls do you believe they are immortal do you believe it brethren that they shall live for ever in the enjoyment of God or else in unexpressible misery do you believe brethren that hypocrites shall have the deepest damnation And do you suspect your selves to be hypocrites and yet will not be perswaded to be at a little pains with your deceitful hearts yea much pains and often to secure the eternal welfare of your poor and yet precious souls 2. Suppose you do supect your selves to be hypocrites how do you make a shift to quiet your consciences do they not trouble you are your hearts so desperately heardned that you have no disquietness seizing upon you can you enjoy your selves I believe you must needs then sometimes have a terrible apprehension of wrath approaching why will you not search It may be you may find your condition better then you expected and so may live more comfortably and sweetly then now you can while you have such a suspition of your selves your condition may be safe but cannot be comfortable and you cannot be satisfied without this comfort in respect of your outward condition Is that so great in your eyes and this so little O for sin and shame let us set a higher value upon these things be more afraid of losing our souls then of losing the world But then see if thou be confident of thy condition either this confidence is well grounded or groundless and whether soever it be there is great need of searching still If well grounded Brethren yet we must know that the renewed searching and discovery of the soundness of our confidence and the truth of our condition is that which will renew our joy in the Lord our thankfulness to him for the impressions of these things upon our hearts they are apt to wear away with time and therefore if we would keep them fresh upon our hearts the sweetness and safety of our condition that our hearts may be more enlarged toward the Lord then we must be often perusing our evidences and the grounds of our confidence Besides alas Brethren how much doth daily intervene which is enough to darken and cloud all if we do neglect this great work of searching it may be within a while our hearts will be so over-grown with weeds that we shall not discern the root of the matter within us so much ashes that we shall scarce find the fire O therefore keep up this inward difficult differencing duty of a diligent impartial search and trial of our selves And then if we be confident upon no good ground we had most need of all to search yea and how shall we come to know the grounds whereupon we are confident to discern them clearly except we search it may be thou maist upon the search find that thy condition is dangerous thou art but a
Formalist is it not better then that thou shouldst know it then be ignorant of it is not the knowledge of the disease half the cure if it be curable is it not better to disease thy self a little now then to go to hell in a golden dream Again the time must come that thou must know it when it is remediless if thou know it not there is nothing hid that shall not be revealed do not think your Figleaves will always hold before the everlasting burnings they will quickly scorch and burn and then your nakedness and shame and confusion shall swallow you up s 〈…〉 it not better for a man to know his wound before it prove incurable surely it is Again consider yet further the higher your confidence is now the lower will your hearts sink when you come to see your disappointment a fools Paradise the Proverb hath it is the wise mans hell you are foolish Virgins and please your selves with a light of your Lamp and can take as much delight as any other upon the best grounds remember Brethren it will be the cutting of your souls asunder when you shall find too late that you were so befooled out of your immortal souls You have had heretofore many of you the signs and marks whereby you may judge in some measure of your condition make use of them and the Lord give you to understand wisdom in the hidden part But when you have done all this is the result that you cannot find but your hearts are right with him Bâ—g of God to search you for indeed he only can search the deep things of a mans heart as it is in that 17. of Ier. and so the Psalmist tells him Lord for ought I can discern thou hast made me willing to part with all iniquity for Christ to receive him as my Lord but my heart is too deep for me O do thou search me and try me that if I be not willing thou wouldest discover it to me If I be that thou wouldst seal it up to my soul that which I know not shew thou me c. Lest any poor soul should gather discouragement from hence whose portion discouragement is not I wil speak a word to such to stay their hearts Some will be ready to say alas If this be so then sad may be my condion for ought I know I may long be hid from mine own iniquities and yet at last come to see I am an hypocrite and rotten 1. Consider it may be so indeed oftentimes and it may not be so look not only upon the black and terrible part of the cloud but upon that which may prove a door of hope to thy poor soul therefore be up and doing searching that thou maist find out the uprightness of thy heart and then be sure though thou maist see afterward much hypocrisie in thy heart thou shalt never see thy self to be an hypocrite truly I deny not but a child of God may come in an hour of temptation to misjudge his condition and mistake himself for an hypocrite when his heart may be sound towards God but if once sound for ever sound thou never wilt lose it again only be sure thou run not away with mistakes concerning thy self 2. If thou do now or hereafter see thy self an hypocrite yet there is hope concerning this thing to recover and restore thee out of this condition though hypocrisie be a dangerous sin yet it is not desperate 3. For the discovery of it when it is too late which some may catch at and say I here is a word indeed a killing word to my soul for I cannot but suspect or judge my self an hypocrite now I see my condition though I have been led by a deceived heart all this while therefore sure now it is past time for God ordinarily discovers hypocrites to themselves when it is too late First be sure thou make not a false judgement of thy self that thou be not now under an hour and power of darkness when thou canst not judge aright of thy condition thou maist upon the search be able to approve thy heart upright to the Lord though now thou take thy self for an hypocrite be not rash in so serious and everlasting a concernment as this is 2. Thou bewailest it mournest under it and this is no sign of the time being past usually then God seals up men under hardness if they sink not into dispair Why but did not Esau that sold his Birthright when the Blessing was gone seek it with many tears yea he sought the Blessing but he sought not Repentance they were not tears of repentance for his wickedness and prophanness in selling his Birthright if they had likely he had not miscarried thou mournest and what is the matter It is for thy hypocrisie O thou wouldst fain have a chanâ—ged heart a right spirit renewed in thee this thou breathest after this thy soul breaks for longing for be not discouraged brethren this is no sign the time is past But blessed be the Lord and magnifie his grace towards thee that he hath not let thee go on any further untill the time might have been expâ—red and the door of hope shut against thy soul thus of this Doctrine The next thing is the Question or Request that the foolish made to the wise Give us of your oyl for our Lamps are gone out c. Give us of your oyl This short Question is a double demonstration of their folly First that they had their oyl their grace to get at such a time as this when they should have been ready to have entred in with the Bridegroom Secondly that they sought to the creature and not to Christ for it Give us of your oyl From the first we may note thus much It is very great folly to put off the getting of grace untill the last Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof and these things shall be added saith Christ the Wisdom of the Father Say our own hearts seek first the world and the pleasures of sin and afterwards the Kingdom of God when there is no more content to be taken in these things thus we walk contrary to God to Christ and therefore surely that is folly They are foolish Virgins indeed that had their oyl to get when if ever they should use it I will not stay upon it to give you more Scripture But a few Considerations by way of Arguments which if not singly yet put together I doubt not will amount to a demonstration of this folly First then this shall be first It may be had though it be difficult yet it is not impossible you see many daily some at least do obtain it Labour in vain we count him a fool that will take it upon him to wash an Ethiopian to wash a Boyl it will never be white or clean so if this were in vain it would speak men to be wise that do neglect it delay it
was not long after the Israelites came in out of Egypt before the Lord denounced against them Said in his wrath they should not enter into his rest though he bore their manners indeed afterward yet they had quickly lost their hope of Canaan Believe it brethren God is now more swift and more peremptory in his determination against souls in these days of Gospel-light then heretofore O how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation saith the Apostle your judgement is nearer then when you had no profession no name If a man continue a wild Olive or prove an empty branch he will not be long endured now if men did believe this sure they would count it gross folly to trifle away the season specially being so short a season and so uncertain a season who can tell if he putoff Christ how soon his heart shall be sealed up and the everlasting doors of his soul have locks and bolts to clap upon them that they shall never lift them up to receive the King of glory and then they are undone for ever First Use then will be to reprove us all of this folly as many as are guilty how many poor graceless souls hear this Word this day you think you are the wise men who by your wits can live and by your industry increase your selves for the world but if you will believe God rather than your own deceitful hearts or Satan you are fools was he not a fool that provided so industriously for many years when he had not a day to live This night shall thy soul be taken away from thee and not one thought nor act of care for eternity nor for his precious soul though he might be sure he must live to eternity Psal 49 1â— and 13. you hope that your selves or else your houses shall continue for ever which maketh you so industrious to build inlarge and beautifie them and fill them with treasures Ah poor creatures that spin their bowels out to make a Cobweb one stroke with a Wing sweeps it quite away Psal 39 6. In vain do men trouble themselves geting goods and know not who shall enjoy them whether themselves shall enjoy them one day or whether any of theirs shall enjoy them a day but you are sure that you must indure an eternity your souls must last whether your houses do or not either with God or separated from him and yet you generally neglect them are we not fools are not the most part of us such fools many deal with God thu so youth they must take their pleasure in old age they will not take so much pains as Diong when he took the golden cloak from Apollo said This garment neither agreeth with Summer nor Winter in Summer it is heavy in Winter it hath no warmth c but because men have some secret reserves of others that they think will bear them out they can ward off many such blows as these they never reach their hearts because they have a privy coat of Male some carnal reasonings or other wherewith they oyl their spirits that this Ink will not stick will not take impression therefore I will inforce this Use with some Considerations which I intend as to cut off the very sinews and strength of a Formalists security First We have not one day at command this is that which men do not believe they think they have much time before them specially those that are young and indeed old sinners dote in this point as well as others they always think they may live a year longer still if they were never so old yea they promise themselves long life and then they cannot but believe themselves they have so good an opinion of the faithfulness and wisdom of their hearts but alas do you not know the number of your moneths is determined and have you one day at command Guido Bituricens reports that one inviting Menodamus to a Banquet to morrow he asked him why he did invite him to morrow he durst never promise himself to morrow expecting death every hour we are but a breaths distance from eternity who can say he hath such an interest in the dispensation of God as to say he shall live unt ll to morrow who can say that is in unbelief but he shall be in hell before the morning light before another Sabbath do you not believe this wherefore was that written Thou fool this night c. but for our learning that sinners might hear and fear Men have not leisure to provide for their souls untill they have filled such a bagg compassed such an estate then they shall be at leisure They must go to such a City and buy and sell get gain but what if in the midst of all that thou be cut off and have not grace what will become of thee then you cannot command a day Can you say with Ioshua Sun stand still and hasten not or Sun go backward will the Lord hearken to your voyce as he did to theirs that so you may have a little time when your glass is run to work out your salvation with O that ever we should be so vain to believe our own hearts without the least ground in the world and not to believe God where there is all the reason and arguments and all the experience in the world to confirm it Secondly Remember this brethren We have not God at command the Spirit bloweth not where we but were it self listeth therefore Millers and Marâ—iners will not lose the wind they have it not in their fist This is a deep deceit in the opinion that lays men to sleep they are so secure putting off the main Work they dream they have God and grace at command as if he were bound to give them grace and heaven when ever they shall think they have enough of sin O no brethren he will not be commanded by us no sure will he be alway intreated by us there is a time when he will not be found It is not your Lord Lord open to us that will move him if once the door be shut against you Then shall they call but I will not answer they shall seek me early but shall not find me and what reason is there you should expect God should be at your beck when you have so long resisted his Spirit in his Word and his Spirit stirring and moving upon your hearts whereby he hath striven and taken pains with you when the Lord had his bosome opeâ— his wing spread his hands stretched out his voyce lifted up his Embassadors sent to woo you you would not know when the grave and hell shall swallow you up or open for you and you think you can have God at your call believe it believe it He will not be found He is not at your command Thirdly Remember this That you have not your hearts at command neither you cannot alway move towards God this is usually a
reserve to sinners against the fear of the other though God be not at our beck yet he hath promised if we return and repent he will accept be it when it will I but what comfort is this except men believe thatthey can return when they please they can receive Christ and close with him at any time Can you so Surely brethren if this were so no man would hardly go to hell that is convinced there is a Christ to be had and salvation through him and him alone O be not mistaken you know not your selves how many resolutions of reformation have many of you broken you see you cannot command your hearts Epâ—r im was sensible of it O turn thou me and I shal be turned can you think a good thought of your selves what solly is it then for men presuming upon their own strength which is none to neglect the season when the Lord offers his Spirit and grace yea and striveth with us by his Spirit many times and yet we will not but put it off Then it may serve to stir us up every one to cut off all delaies whatsoever and now brethren while it is called to day to get this oyl in your Vessels that you may not have it to do when you should in the greatest extremity use it Alas brethren I am a child and cannot speak and O that the Lord would perswade by his Spirit this day now since he hath given you another Sabbath and another opportunity to be called upon what doth the Lord yet say unto thee Seek his face will you not be clean will you not close with Iesus Christ O when shall it once be O answer the Lord and say to day Lord Jesus to day will we close with thee we will put it off no longer blessed be the Lord that hath not taken the advantage against us and put an end to our day of grace long since O admire that mercy and now improve it lay hold upon the opportunity Shall I a little stir you up to this 1. Consider I pray you and believe that it is the greatest design of Satan to fool us out of our salvation to draw away from us day after day untill we have not one day more to live when God cries to day to day to day If you will hear his voyce harden not your hearts who is it think you that crieth to morrow to morrow that Corvina vox as Augustine calls it Cras cras Surely it is Satan that Lier that will not stick to contradict the Lord and what is the devills intent in this think you doth he mean you shall repent to morrow as he saith no I warrant you but when to morrow is come it will be to morrow still and the next day it will be to morrow still and O how this pleaseth him to steal away our precious time and rob us of our lives our day of grace and our souls at once If you be ignorant of this device of Satan know it this day for a truth The devil careth not if all the world were such Christians in the future tense Semper vic 〈…〉 as Seneca saith but never live indeed they will and they will but never do it the Lord make you wise to discern this cunning craftiness of the wicked one 2. Do but consider How long a day of grace you have had many of you already you have even grown old under the means of grace and yet are to begin to get grace me thinketh this should shame us and warn young ones for it is likely many that are older thought they would repent and believe and close with Christ long enough before this but that to Morrow never came if we had any shame in us it might wound us and shame us that Jesus Christ should waite so long upon us and we never had a heart to give him any entertainment yet to this day If many a poor soul had had but half the patient waiting upon them what would they have been long before this 3. Though you delay the getting your grace remember that your Judgement lingers not nor Condemnation slumbreth not it cometh on apace whether you go towards heaven or no there is a set time to every poor soul wherein he shall get grace or else not for ever and how doth this hasten upon you do you know how near it is and there is a set time for â—udgement to seize upon you if you be found without grace O therefore be exhorted now while it is called to day there will be no Manna found upon the seventh day if you get it not before you are undone they found it so by experience 4. Do not expect brethren to have a second day of grace if you trifle away one if once the Apostles shaked the dust off their feet against a people sad was their condition when the Apostles turned away to the Gentiles and the Sun set among the Jews did it ever rise again surely no. Though we have a day yet remember it is but a day and one day and no more if we let it slip we are und one because we shall never have a second day Foelix put off Paul when he was so far wrought upon as to tremble he put him off untill a fitter opportunity but it never came for ought we read well if the Spirit do move and stir and strive with thee take the opportunity strike while the Iron is hot thou dost not know but this may be the last hour of the day with thee and that thou shalt never feel any such breathings more but thy heart shall ever be like a dead Sea and seared and past feeling any more 5. Untill then all our services are abomination to God let our professions be what they will and let us think as well of our conditions as we can believe it breth en our Prayers our Hearings our Receivings are abomination what do we do here to receive the Supper if we have no grace no faith no love no repentance can we be prepared do we not imbrew our hands in the blood of Jesus Christ and is not this an abomination were not the Sacrifices of the Jews abomination as if they slew a man as if they cut off a dogs neck was or could this be acceptable did not his soul hate these things and what are our sacrifices but the slaying and crucifying Jesus Christ Ah while we come with ungratious hearts to those Ordinances O how often hath many an hypocrite had his hand in the blood of Jesus Christ every such service and duty he performeth to God and is not this sad is it not high time to look about us 6. Lastly If at last you do come to get Christ and God will waite upon you so to the last as to overcome you at the last and you shall not mifcarry Suppose it be so though this is not ordinary that men should so desperately presume upon it yet it cannot
but be a grief and wound to you then to remember how you have spent your strength in sin and upon your lusts now have little or no time remaining little strength to lay out upon his service to testifie your love to the Lord Jesus surely this will be a burthen And therefore brethren as you tender your souls welfare as you would not be cheated out of your souls and held in a sools Paradise until it be too late or at least untill you lose your comfort much of it which otherwise you might have O now while it is called to day will you hearken to the voyce of him that speaks from heaven even Jesus Christ hast thou not as much need to make haste as David had I made hâ—ste and delayed not to keep thy righteous iudgements haste not thou as much need as Paul he went presently consulted not with flesh and blood but â—orthwith went to preach the Gospel the Disciples forthwith saith the Text Left their Nets and followed Jesus Christ if they had lingered who can tell whether c. O therefore let me bespeak to you in those words of the Prophet If you will inquire inquire return come those that either mockingly or else fearfully asked Watchman what of the night what of the night c. when will this burthen come upon us we see it not yet your morning cometh and also the night though you have a morning of flourishing and light yet the night as surely followeth it as the night doth the day therefore if you will inquire inquire return come how many expressions here are to shew the vehemecy of the call O come now now now away come away come away the dulness of them to whom it was made if you will inquire inquire every man will pretend a willingness to have Christ and grace and they will inquire after heaven if you will inquire inquire then saith he now or never if you mean to escape lay hold upon salvation before it be past and no recalling of it the word Inquiring signifieth an earnestness this inquiring like the bubling up of a Pot through heat so then it may be that God puts fire under thy conscience and it beginneth to bubble thou art restless now if thou wilt ever inquire inquire after Christ and grace for this is the expected time this is the day of salvation while he thus moveth by his Spirit there is hope he will be found therefore as you love your souls trifle not away such a precious season There are three or four Considerations that I would propound to you at tending to the furtherance of this work First That you labour with God and your hearts to shake off your â—loathfulness men would have grace and heaven but they would have it drop into their mouths they would have Christ but they will not follow him nor follow hard after him you see many of the Israelites when they were on the other side Jordan could have been contented for their ease sake to have continued where they were if God would have let them alone they had so many enemies to encounter and such a Jordan swelling to pass through they had little mind to it and when they were on the other side gotten over Jordan what did they do Up saith Joshuah Many years after they came over Jordan some say seven years after Judah had their lot as long as the whole Land was in conquering and had conquered a great part of the Land why are ye slack to go up and possess the Land they were contented now to have sitten still and taken their ease and truly I doubt it is so with many they are afraid if once they begin to stir and to close with Christ O they shall have their lusts their sins about their ears temptations thick and threefold it may be some have found some such thing when they have begun to stir and therefore they are willing to take their ease Secondly Be sure you miss not an opportunity you might enjoy do you know where or when the Spirit of Christ will breath Lie at the house of mercy thou knowest not when it may come to thy turn to be put into the water O hear and hear as for your lives and think with thy self when thou hearest that this voice of God sounds in thy ears O to day to day if you will hear his voice Thirdly Take heed of hardening your hearts as the Psalmist speaks harden not your hearts It is said of the people to whom that Evangelical Prophet was sent that they made their ears heavy God said make their ears heavy because they themselves had â—hut their own eyes clapt to the windows and would not admit the light like the deaf Adder which they say stoppeth one ear with her tayl and closeth the other to the ground lest they should hear the Charmer and so be taken Ah Brethren are we not guilty in this kind we stop our ears if we come to hear we fill them full of prejudice or else we resolve what we will do before we come we resolve not to be taught by any Minister of them all we are at a period concerning our souls and some are so desperate as to speak such words as these are haply or think so if they speak them not all the arguments in the world shall not perswade them to leave their profitable sins or their pleasant lust they will put it to the venture O Brethren how just is it with God when men harden thir own hearts especially if they have any stirrings and convictions within how just is it with God to say Amen to such resolutions you will not hearken to my voice well you shall never hearken to my voice you will have your lusts well you shall have them and judgement and damnation to boot Acts 7. 51. they alway resisted the Holy-Ghost and Ezek. 7. and 9. and 12. they hardened their hearts like an Adamant 4. Cast away from you Brethren those nets and snares which intangle you and hinder you in this great work as the Disciples did their nets when Christ called them they left all and followed him I mean not that every Christian is called to leave his imployment but such as are called to be Ministers of the Gospel I think are called to cast away worldly incumbrances altogether but thou must take heed they hang not so fast upon thee as to hinder thee be sure thou sit loose to the world it will else sooner or later be a pull-back to thee O for such a resolution as Jerom had If his Father were weeping upon his knees his mother hanging about his neck his Brethren sisters and kindred all with lamentation intreating him to forbear he would cast down his Mother and trample upon his Father run over them all to go to Christ Do as Bartim then Doth he call thee off with the Cloak away with that which hinders thy running
they come to see to it in some measure 2. Others are ready and know it but are not so thankful for it have not the sweetness of their condition so fresh upon their spirits because they do not oftentimes review their condition 3. There are many that are unready and think themselves ready and O how is it likely it should be better with them until they come to know how the case stands with them will any go to buy Gold that they might be rich or white Rayment that they might be cloathed untill they see they are poor and naked surely no. 4. Others are unready and though their hearts misgive them they are unready yet they care not much for it or else they know not how it is with them and they are contented to be ignorant Now except the Lord perswade us all brethren to look into our state it is never like to be better with us such as we are such shall we be found at the appearing of Christ yea every day farther and farther off Therefore shall I beg of you brethren that you would consider it set some time apart it is the weightiest business you have to do in the world you will have a time for all other necessary things your eating drinking managing your civil affairs and is the soul-concernment the least that you should so slight it Well then wil you this day retire your selves deal effectually with your hearts what if this night you should be taken away or you should never see Sabbath more are you ready for the coming of Jesus Christ I doubt our hearts would answer no alas our work is to do alas how many poor souls that have not a week a moneth haply to live yet have not one dram of Grace O put that question have you this oyl have you the Spirit of Grace and Supplication given to you have you Christ dwelling in you and transforming and changing you into his image from Glory to Glory Ah dear friends what mean our loathsom conversations then what mean the vileness of our hearts the fulness and rottenness and sin that is there are you mortified in any good measure or no It may be you have forsaken the pollutions of the world but is the heart of sin killed hath it its deaths wound out of which continually the life and spirits of sin are emptying are you weary of it do you loath it and your selves for its vileness O do not deceive your selves Again Are your Graces lively It may be thou hast a spark but it is buried in the ashes Indeed I doubt brethren these times of prosperity to the Church bury more Christians alive then any days that ever we saw why now are we ready are our Lamps burning our loins girded O how active and stirring and lively are the Graces of the Spirit in some over they are in others you are so far unready for the coming of Jesus Christ and so far it will be uncomfortable to you besides do ye live by faith above all this for righteousness else we are not ready Is this the top of all that we might be found in him saith the Apostle search and see take heed you have to do with desperately wicked and deceitful hearts Again Are we ready for the abundant entrance how few of us have this perswasion our calling and election is not made sure we do not know what would become of us if God should call for us how can his coming be comfortable to us we are so far from waiting for his coming that every thought of it goeth cold to our hearts that which should most warm us refresh us O brethren let me beg of you for Jesus sake no longer to slight this great and necessary work give your hearts no rest until you see whether you be ready or no. Suppose you shall find your selves unready it is better to know it in time then when it is too late now there is hope if you be not ready you may obtain mercy you may make the more haste to get ready that that day may be a blessed a comfortable day to your souls 3. Then brethren If we be not ready for his appearing shall I beg of you brethren for Jesus sake and for your poor souls sake that you would now resolve whatever business be done you would not leave this at six and sevens It is the one thing necessary you have to do nothing will yield you a dram of comfort nor arm your hearts against the fears of death but this nothing will give you entrance into Glory but this Indeed if riches would be an entrance or he that keeps the doors and openeth and no man shutteth could be bribed with the multitude of gold it were somewhat for men to heap it up as the dust and raiment as the clay if men were admitted according to their glorious apparrel or if the riches of the head and treasuries of humane knowledge would do it Scholars might do well to spend all their time in searching after that and none or little or none to make ready for the appearing of Jesus Christ but surely brethren surely you will find nothing will find an entrance but readiness for his coming The Lord give you believing hearts this day how unwearied are men for other things which are trifles and will not profit and not one hour in an hundred spent seriously with their own souls And though some men have more time then others yet surely brethren he that is most busie must find time for this great work or misearry O therefore labour press hard after it use all means possible you must take pains brethren such unready hearts as we have will not be had in readiness without much and constant pains-taking As a Garden that is quickly overgrown with weeds it must be taken pains with again and again so here c. And so in keeping an house clean and ready there must be pains taken with it Ah brethren except your souls follow hard after Christ you will never find him to your comfort The Lord touch your hearts and then you shall find him Again you will say Why I hope I am ready Well then labour to maintain this readiness Alas how soon is the sweetest frame lost think not I have now done the main work therefore you may take more liberty then other men now you may indulge your selves take more ease more liberty about the world then other men Alas brethren how soon will the world and cares of it overcharge you how hard a thing is it to buy as if you possessed not to use it as if you used it not and if you be overcharged with the cares of the world this day will overtake you at unawares Yea I tell you brethren if that day take you at unawares as I doubt if it should come at any day upon us it would take many of us when we are overcharged O ease your selves of some of your burthen have
Table as his Spouse for ever as the poor man in the Parable his wife is compared to an Ewe Lamb which did lie in his bosome and eat and drink with him so shall the Saints surely because of this relation of theirs to the Lord Jesus Ah blessed are ye Believers ye that are ready for the appearing of the Lord Jesus Again Now the Saints are made ready for this glory now we are not able to bear it old Bottels will not hold this new Wine that he will drink with them in his Fathers Kingdom strong Duties were too strong for the Disciples then in their minority as I may say how much more the Duties of heaven everlasting Hallelujahs and admiring of God in Christ therefore they must be changed before they can be fit for that feast a little joy now would swallow us up so as to unfit us for any thing Alas the Apostle like a wise Nursing Father would not give strong meat to babes they could not bear it and so our Saviour when upon the earth they could not bear many things therefore he fed them with milk if you should give strong meats to children and wine what would sooner ruine them therefore saith the Apostle I speak the Wisdom of God in a Mâ—sterie among them that are perfect yet he had some things which he saw in his Vision that he could not or might not utter to them likely they could not bear them You see Israel could not indure to behold Moses face when it had but a beam of the divine glory within the cloud reflected upon him and the glory of the Angel astonished Iohn so eminent a man in saith and love and holiness therefore I say we shall then be fitted for this Communion the old Bottles be made new the capacities of soul inlarged the mouth opened wider then we can conceive and the body raised in power It must be an extraordinary stomack brethren that can continually sit at a Feast and dâ—gest it and never be satiated therefore it is that the Marriage feast the fulness of it is reserved for heaven and heaven is so compared in Scripture For the Uses of the Doctrine First then Behold what maner of love the Father hath loved us with that we should be made the Favorites a people so near to him that he will take any of us with him into the Marriage The Apostle admireth the condition of the Saints for what they have in hand already What manner of love is this that we should be called the Sons of God that is to say made such his Word is operative he cals things that were not as if they were but saith he this is not all it doth not yet appear what we shall be until Christ who is our life appear then shall we appear with him in glory the Saints in heaven though their apprehensions as well as the rest of their capacities shall be inlarged heightened perfected yet shall not be able to comprehend the depth of the river of pleasures at the right hand of God no more then a Vessel that is put into the Sea can comprehend the Ocean and therefore they shall admire it then the Lord Jesus shall come to be admired in all the Saints their fulness will be unspeakable greater then that of the Saints here though sometimes they are filled with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory yet alas in both conditions far short of comprehending it therefore we should admire it Such things as eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor can enter into the heart of man God hath prepared Do you not see how Haman glorieth in it though he had little cause if he knew all that he among all the Courtiers was invited to the feast of Wine to the Queen he accounted it an high favour a significative testimony of his especial love to him above others Ah brethren you that are Saints indeed let me speak to you all in the words of the Angel to Mary you are highly favoured of God you shall all be admitted to this Marriage Feast be thou as poor in outward condition as may be and as poor in Spirit as may be never so low in thine own thoughts thou shalt enter into this Marriage Feast thou thinkest with the poor Publican Thou art not worthy to come near the place where his honour dwels nor lift up thy eys towards heaven nor be reckoned among his people nor come to his Table here below Well be thou as vile as thou canst in thine own eys thou shalt enter with the Lord Jesus into the Marriage Feast if thou be ready for his coming O admire this Love the Lord help poor weak creatures unbelief in this point that they may admire it what will he admit such a one as I such a vile creature such a grieving creature to his holy Spirit yea such as he hath once pitched his heart upon to love them they shall enter with him into this feast Saith Mephihosheth What is thy servant thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I c. 2. If this be so that the state of Glory or Kingdom of glory into which the Saints enter with Christ is such a Marriage-feast it shall be an invitation then to poor sinners to this Feast this Marriage Wisdom hath builded her house hewn out seven Pillars killed her beast mingled her wine made it ready a cup of mixture that is to say a cup made ready and now sends forth her Maidens to cry turn in ye simple ones c. O that the uncircumsicion of our hearts that are the Messngers may not hinder but the Lord Jesus by us brethren doth invite you sinners to this feast he would fain have his Table full of guests how welcome would he make man woman and child if they would but come he would cast out none that cometh to him no no in any wise whatsoever as I have told you sometime from the Text. But for the better understanding of this Exhortation I will note two things and then a little further press it upon us First then That we do not invite you to this Feast this Marriage in heaven to enter in with Christ continuing such as you are in your blood and uncleanness but we do first invite you to come to Jesus Christ here on earth that so you may enter in with him into the Marriage your union with Christ and your communion with him must begin upon earth though it end in heaven and this communion here is two-fold though both spiritual it is internal and external internal a fellowship with the Father in the Son a fellowship with Christ in his death the power of it that we may dye to sin and be free from the condemnation God will not have this Marriage-Feast for his Son in heaven filled with Goal Birds condemned creatures such as have their bolts and fetters upon them the nastiness of the prison upon them
now the time of our working and Gods waiting is at an end God hath long waited to be gracious to us but now there is an end of waiting he seeth it would do no good as long as sinners could for sorrow or pain or death hold their vanities keep their sins their sweet morsels they would never spit them out therefore now he will wait no more though men were unready when Christ cometh yet if he would stay a while longer wait a year longer O if it might be but a Sabbath but a day what new creatures would men become they will promise fair No no the time of waiting is done he will not stay a jot they have had warning enough the cry hath past before him often enough Behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye forth to meet him but you have not taken the warning now when he cometh and receiveth his own which were ready for him no more waiting the door is shut Though here in the Kingdom of grace God may be intreated to spare a barren tree or Vineyard a year or two longer yet when the time of waiting is at an end and he seeth nothing will do he will down with them by the roots into the fire with them so it is no time for us to work then to think of puting on Christ then if we would gather Manna it must be upon the six daies there was none to be found upon the seventh If we understand this of the day of the resurrection from the dead then it is clear as the tree falleth so it lyoth either hell-ward or heaven-ward But if of the time of death truly Brethren how ever this may sometimes through the exceeding riches of his grace be a time of repentance and faith to some yet ordinarily it is not so Alas they have enough to do to bear the weakness upon them they can mind little else or if they do return it is but feignedly for the most part with Judas and usually when a sinner hath so long trampled under foot the blood of Jesus Christ the Lord giveth them up to hardness of heart that they shall never repent or believe seeing they shall see and not perceive c. least they should be converted and he should heal them as it is there in the Revelations Let him that is filthy be filthy still let him that is an hypocrite be an hypocrite still this is fearful indeed So much for the Arguments For the Application Then Brethren What have we all of us to bless the Lord for that yet the door is not shut against us as we may hope indeed if God have sealed up any heart under hardness because of its long resisting the Holy-Ghost woful is his condition but doth he not breath now and then and stir and strive that is a good sign he hath not done with thee yet his waiting and striving time is not over he hath not given thee over yet c. What have we to bless the Lord for what are our lives Brethren good to us for in any respect besides but that we might work out our salvation make sure of God and Christ and heaven get our wedding-garment on put on the Lord Jesus for righteousness and holiness that our nakedness may not appear for heaven will not bear the nakedness of a sinner now though sinners have neglected this opportunity alas how many of us have we are exceeding busie making provision for our lusts our pride our luxury our backs our bellies provision for our wives our children but none for our poor souls and yet notwithstanding this he waiteth the door standeth open If you had many of you been cut off a year or a moneth ago and the grave had shut her mouth upon you would you not have found heaven shut against you and hell opening her mouth wide for to swallow you up Yea Brethren if this day he should come Ah I fear I fear Brethren as secure as many of us are now and sure of our conditions we should find the gate clapt against our souls O therefore Brethren bless the Lord admire his patience and long-suffering that yet draweth out our day of grace that yet holdeth his bowels open his arms open to receive us This is the first Secondly Then it may serve to lay before us the doleful condition of poor trifling creatures trifling professors that notwithstanding all the ado they make with their Lamps trimming of them and going up and down to buy they are found unready the door is clapt against them the Lord grant that none of your poor souls may ever see that woful day Brethren you will then know to your bitterness and sorrow what it is to sin away a day of grace an opportunity while the door stood open to receive you Ah surely there will nothing wound poor sinners more then this the time was I might have been happy I might have had heaven the bowels of the Lord Jesus stood open to me as well as to others but now alas it is past did it make the Lord Jesus weep for Jerusalem and was not her condition sad then and will it not make your hearts bleed O sure it cannot be but every such thought to Esau prophane Esau poor Esau when the blessing was gone he sought it with tears every thought sure of this time was I might have had the blessing but wretch that I was I sinned it away I despised it preferred a mess of pottage before it and therefore now there is no recovery of it Every thought sure in hell that heaven gate did stand open to you sinners you had as fair offers of grace and as long a season and opportunity to close with Christ as others but now they are gone will fetch blood from your very hearts and souls O the condition is sad and doleful Thirdly It shall be a word of Exhortation to us all that we would lay these things to heart It may be we have not so much minded them If this be true Brethren What need had we to look to it that we be found ready to enter which is an Exhortation I have already prest upon you there is a promise left of entering a threatning also that some shall not enter even as many as are not ready you see it here by the wise Virgins who enter and the foolish against whom the door is shut and the Apostle to the Hebrews Take heed lest any of you fall short through unbelief as those fell short the Apostle maketh that use of it to warn the Hebrews though Disciples in profession and many of them doubtless in reality such so here from this example I desire Brethren both mine own and your hearts may be quickned to look about us lest when all comes to all we have the gate of heaven clapt upon us 1. Then you that are yet in the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity have yet your filthy garments upon you your rotten
filthy rags of your own services duties prayers alms as if those were a wedding-garment you that are more profane it may be and cloath your selves with violence as with a Cloak and with cursing as with a garment and so for all manner of prophane persons I would beg of you for Jesus Christ sake this day you would consider this doleful word the gate will be shut against you if you be found unready for the appearing of Christ Now there is none of you but your consciences will tell you that you are not ready for it can a drunkard a swearer a blasphemer be ready for the coming of Christ can you hold up your heads sinners when he appears and look him in the face with comfort Ah no. Either men believe not this coming of Christ to them or else because it is not present they put it far from them therefore they are not affected with it O that I could preach this day Brethren as if hell were at sinners backs as if the Lord Jesus were at your backs now ready to call for you out of this world that you may be a little startled That I would beg of you shall be this that you would without any more ifs and ands without any more delaies set about this work to make ready for his appearing lest the gate be clapt upon you you have too long delayed it already therefore now if ever set about the work What would you have us to do you will say I answer Brethren without any more delay to consider your waies and turn to the Lord to repent that you may believe and believe that you may repent O that you might have hearts to believe this terrible threatning that so your hearts might be shaken sinners out of your security for this is the reason you make nothing of all these things you do not believe that there will be a shutting out or you do not consider it and that your selves are as likely to be the men that have the door shut upon you as any others O therefore learn this day a necessity of believing if you would not be shut out a necessity of repenting you see they were shut out by reason of unbelief I know what answer your hearts will make to this If believing will do it you will never be shut out for you do believe and will believe and have believed alway you have had a good heart and a good faith towards God and Christ Brethren I tell you that you never lookt upon the Brazen Serpent for healing if you were never wounded It is for them thatare wounded You that are all faith now before God have touched your hearts and set your sins in order before you if ever God come and shew you your guilt there will be nothing but doubting and fears and terrors It is an evident sign to me that a sinner never did believe because he maketh so light a matter of it No no Brethren you do not come to him indeed the door stands open now and you are invited to come and enter in by the door by Jesus Christ into the Marriage-feast but you do not come to him O therefore be exhorted sinners now while the door stands open to come and enter in take heed you fall not short by your unbelief and then upon this faith in Jesus Christ will follow a Gospel-repentance a melting and mourning over the Lord Jesus whose love and bowels you have abused and the love of Jesus Christ will constrain you to another course of life then you have led quite contrary you will not be the same men O break off your sins by righteousness be abrupt in your repentance in greatest haste men think it is hard to break off in the midst of such a design for the world or suddenly to leave their companions in sin but by degrees they will do it O break off c. Again Secondly For you that have somewhat more then ordinary of a profession of Jesus Christ I beg of you to look to it Brethren that you have the main thing lest when all comes to all the door be shut upon you as upon those foolish Virgins me thinks if we did but consider how many poor souls of great hope have gone out and sunk under such a sad disappointment as this is it were enough to startle us all O look to your footing Brethren for Jesus sake look to your Evidences the day is coming that if we be not ready there will be no entrance for us let us pass for what we will here among men I cannot stand to press these things I have already spoken much to the same purpose before 1. I pray you consider that upon this moment of time for our lives in comparison of eternity are no more a hand breadth a shadow a vapor nothing you that have lived thirty sixty years in sin now it is past the season you have had in your pleasures what is it but like a dream when it is past but as short as this time is upon it depends eternity he hangeth the heavyest weights upon the weakest wires O Brethren me thinks if men did but believe this and it were present now and then upon their thoughts there is an eternity to be enjoyed or lost an eternity to be endured or avoided an endless happiness or endless misery this should make you see to it to make sure you be ready lest this gate be shut upon you Brethren you live to eternity and you dye to eternity how careful was that Painter of every line very exact took much time to draw a piece O saith he Eternitati pingo As you live here so shall you live to eternity If in sin Brethren you shall lye down in an eternal bed of sorrow in everlasting burnings shall your souls be rouled up together if you make it your work to make ready to be found ready for his appearing there is an entrance into everlasting joyes a feast which never shall have end 2. Though time be short whereupon eternity depends yet you have time Brethren though it is true none but the present time be yours that which is past is gone that which is to come you know not what it may produce whether you shall see it or no but you have a time now while it is called to day Ah Brethren some of us have had a long day our day of grace hath had already some six some seven some eleven hours and yet it is day with us we have not wanted time but we have wasted it trifled it away but since yet there is time let this stir us up O the long-suffering of God should lead you to repentance Ah blessed are your ears for they hear and your eyes for they see Brethren they see a crucified Christ held out before you with his arms stretched out all the day long ready to receive you they see the door open stand open for poor
Gospel to make manifest the savour thereof Now there is no other name but the name oâ— Jesus Christ whereby men can be saved 2. Because alas there is not any of them but they hold the truth in unrighteousness though they do much yet they have a light more abundant in them then they walk up to It is imprisoned in their understandings not shed abroad upon their hearts so that they could see nothing but folly and that which is worse And so every one must needs be condemned of his own heart Secondly Common grace and gifts of grace that will carry a man very far there is a taste of the heavenly gift and the powers of the world to come and this will seem to enliven and warm the affections and carry out a man to do great things as those foolish Virgins had and so Ananias and others Thirdly with all these a mans secret false ends concurring help to carry on a man far Judas had the bag which he loved more then Christ and as long as he had the bag he was well enough he could follow on so long as there were loaves to be had by following Christ what multitudes follow him and throng upon him Our Saviour knew their deepest ends though haply they saw them not their hearts were too deep for themselves but not for him So many ends so many springs and weights there are upon a man which will add somewhat of strength to him in his course they are indeed the marrow of the bones that moysten them and give life and vigor to his actions So it may be a man cannot keep his conscience quiet it is roused a little and is dogged and snarls and it will not be quiet except he stop the mouth of it with some duty and service and following the waies of God as to the externals And so a mans glory and honour specially when Religion is in repute it is a dishonour to be esteemed otherwise mens reputations will carry them further then we are aware of Yea if the waies of God were discountenanced yet a man may go far in them upon this end to have his name much set by as a couragious heroical spirit he may suffer much and yet not love Jesus Christ It is then love to himself to his honour or somewhat else that is the ground of it but alas Brethren when all this is done it may carry a man near the Kingdom of heaven but he shall fall short And that upon these two considerations First because though they may come near Christ and haply delude themselves and think they have him yet they never were ingraâ—ted into him and historical faith and temporarie that will comply with the times a man may have and miraculous too and yet never implanted into Christ and then though a man may come near the Kingdom of heaven yet if be he Christless he is undone he must needs be shut out The Lord will in giving those gifts those common gifts of the Spirit to men honour himself by them he will have glory but they may never have the comfort of them they may tend to their further sinking and condemnation Secondly because that all those things though precious in themselves yet they never change a mans heart it remaineth the same still so they never do him real spiritual good Judas a traytor a Devil though it appeared not to men because cloathed over with so many common gifts and graces And so Ananias his heart was not throughly changed Alas Brethren the giving of these gifts to men whereby they do much as a gift of prayer or a gift of prophecying or preaching whereby they do much and pass for eminent persons with men they are but like flowers laid in a window as Doctor Preston compareth them they grow not Or else as outlandish plants removed into another Countrey they grow not they prosper not because the soil is not changed the grace they have doth not redundare in personam make their persons good no more then a pearl in a swines snouâ— changeth the nature of the swine the pearl is a pearl and precious but the swine is a swine and filthy in her disposition And so beauty in a whorish woman it is beautiful and lovely but she is nevertheless whorish and abominable and therefore notwithstanding all the Attainments of a man by nature by common grace by his own ends which will carry him very far put a great lustre upon him seem to bid fair for heaven carry a man after the things of God to the very last it may be yet it will not change a man and therefore no admittance for him he is shut out when all is done First then Brethren If a man may go so far and yet fall short What will become of them that never set foot forward toward heaven to this day It is true many come to hear the word now and then or constantly I make account this is but little when it cometh to the doing the practising What have you done to this day many of you the young man in the Gospel did all those things he thought and that from his youth and yet you see he fell short Thou never didst any of those things thou never didst love the Lord thy God worship him as thou oughtest makest nothing of renting his name in pieces of prophaning his day what else meaneth so many idling so many sporting themselves so many walking up and down so many drinking upon the Sabbath-day thy parents thou never didst honour them thou hast been an unclean wretch injurious thy tongue taught to tell lyes and speak folly a covetous wretch Brethren what do you mean sure you will never come so much as near the Kingdom of heaven If any perish you are the sinners are sure to perish They fell short that came to Canaan what will become of you that never came out of Egypt if you are yet by your flesh-pots your Garlick and Onions of Egypt and will not be beaten off your loathsom delights of the flesh your mirth and company and gaming and dicing and drabbing and drinking Must a mans righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees or he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Do you believe this Brethren What will become of thee then that art so far from what they did they prayed often much and long they fasted often they gave much alms paid tythe of all they were no extortioners nor unjust but thou art such a one they were no drunkards but thou art a drunkard they were no unclean adulterers but thou art one and yet they fell short and where wilt thou appear the Lord shew you how unlikely you are for heaven Secondly this sheweth also the woful condition of hypocrites they carry a sair sail and seem it may be to be driven with as fair a gale as any only there is a Leak sprâ—ng in the bottom and they sink or rock themselves
just in the very harbour this is the saddest of all the rest many a storm they have ridden out they have indured many a wave and to split themselves in the very harbour within sight of the land as a man miscarrying just at the gate of the City of Refuge O how high must such mens hopes have been and how low will their hearts sink now when so â—adly disappointed hope so disappointed maketh ashamed confoundeth the soul as Esau his hopes were at the highest when he came with his Venison to his â—ather this will kill the heart O Brethren above all others hypocrites will be cloathed with the deepest confusion because they have been men of the fairest hopes for heaven Therefore it is said he went away sorrowful for it must needs be so for he was a man of more light then others and surely had a conviction that Jesus was the Messiah that it would be advantagious to have him and therefore coming so near to him and yet put back he went away sorrowful another man would have made nothing of such a repulse hypocrites have great enlightnings and they have had a taste of the heavenly gift as I may say as Israel had a bunch of grapes to taste the sweetness of Canaan and encourage them to go in to possess it O this when God turned them back into the wilderness for their rebellion that they should perish there was a great aggravation of their misery if they had never come so near it and never tasted of it they had not known what they had lost what they had deprived themselves of So here surely Brethren hypocrites have many a taste they have some glimmerings of heavens light and glory somewhat they have to draw them on to the very borders therefore for them to be turned off here and shut out O sure it will much aggravate their misery Ah wretch that I was to come so near take so much pains for heaven and yet that I should miss it will be the doleful ditty of hypocrites to eternity Thirdly It may teach all young beginners that are now as I may say starting in the race that is set before us that you look to it Brethren you be so furnished as to be able to run so as to obtain you are now launching into the deep O look to it there be not a privy leak somewhere though it be but small yet it may make a shift to sink you even at the very haven of heaven Ah dear friends it will be worth your pains to look into the truth of your condition though it cost you many an hour many a hot and cold fit yet give it not over be sure of this one thing that you be bottomed on Jesus Christ and have his Spirit to dwell in you his fear put in you according to the Covenant of grace and then you shall never depart from him you shall never fall short If once you be but in him you shall enter in with him the reason why these foolish Virgins entred not they were not in Christ they had nothing but their own account their own profession and what they could rap and rend and get from the creature alas this was nothing though it might carry them thus far it would not make way for their entrance into glory therefore let me beg of you to make this one thing necessary sure neglect this and all is nothing Fourthly It may teach all of us even such as have not only begun but gone far taken much pains for heaven to tremble and fear lest for want of a little more we fall short Ah dear friends if we would offer violence to heaven it must be while we are here when the door is shut it is too late therefore now let us press and spare no pains and look to these two things 1. That what we do we do it in Christ and for Christ else what do we differ in our work from the glistering Sinners among the heathens And 2. That our hearts be changed and made better and growing liker heaven every day then other else they will nothing avail us at all we shall be shut out notwithstanding all our prayers preaching gifts performances priviledges nothing but an interest in Christ and an heart sanctified by him will give entrance into heaven but so much for this Doctrine Another Note I will take up from the Virgins crying to God now when they saw the Gate of heaven shut against them That the hearts of sinners are full of self-confidence and presumption That they could have an heart to cry to Jesus Christ to open the door to them when it was shut it is strange presumption and boldness indeed for they had not one word to say for themselves why they should have entrance but only Lord Lord open c. in respect of any pleadings of Faith or the Covenant of Grace they were dumb not a word of this but if they had any thing to say it was such as those in Mat. 7. had to say for themselves he had preached in their streets and they had eat and drunk in his presence so here Lord Lord open to us why we had Lamps burning until a little before thy appearing we walked in fellowship with them that are truly admitted now into thy presence we have endeavoured to get some oyl to renew our Lamps though alas they found none but however they would have heaven this is very strong impudence and confident presumption that is in the hearts of Sinners the Lord Jesus turns them off and they will not be turned oâ—f now they will offer violence to the kingdom of heaven when it is too late Whence ariseth this Haply out of the ignorance whereupon heaven is to be had upon what conditions or else out of the presence of their eternal misery now they see they are sinking to hell they begin to cry out for opening of heaven Gate to them now the Gate is shut upon them they never cried before but I will not insist upon this Only a word or two of Application First then it is no marvel brethren if sinners are so full of boldness and presumption now let us tell them that we will set life and death before them as you have had it set before you many a time every Sabbath every opportunity almost alas they care not for it they hang out a flag of defiance against God they have made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell and this they make account shall stand let the Lord say what he will though he tell them he will break that Covenant he disanulleth it in the day he heareth it for both they and death are under his command and therefore he may disanull their Covenant he is Soveraign over them all yet they believe it not they rage and are confident for when the very overflowing scourge cometh upon them they are so confident to go and cry to God
when they see the very gate of mercy shut against them O say sinners here we shall have peace though we walk after the imaginations of our own hearts to add drunkenness to thirst thoâ—gh God have told such men His anger shall smoke against that man yet they are confident nothing will drive them to seek a Christ to make their peace with him to accept of deliverance and no marvel for when they see the mouth of hell opened for them and the belly of hell moved for them and the gates of heaven shut against them and they have no Christ to appear in yet they have the face and boldness as to cry Lord Lord open to us Secondly It may teach us to have an holy jealousie and an holy pitty over poor creatures that can be and are upon their death-beds so confident so presumptuous they can come to God without a Christ having all their life long trampled his precious blood under their feet rested in their formalities and yet can cry out then to God to open to them as if thy were the only Saints upon earth and were the only men of faith Ah brethren so they may do and yet be but foolish Virgins how have they carried it in their lives they would never be perswaded to call upon God morning and evening to pray in closet in family to make sure of Christ and yet now they will not stick to appear and cry for heaven without him O this presumption will not prosper though believing alway prosper you may have the Gate of heaven shut upon you your souls shut out for ever and yet in your extremity have a Lord Lord in your mouths therefore look to it betimes before hand but enough of this The third Note of Doctrine is this Though men will not come to Christ for Grace yet they will come to him for Glory While Jesus Christ is dispensing the Grace of the Kingdom they neglect him and his Grace they are busied about somewhat else but when he is to dispense the Glory of his Kingdom then every one will come to him Luke 14. 18. They cannot come but now they will come This is clear in the present case These foolish Virgins they would not come to Christ for Grace for you see how many times they were beaten off from the Creature and yet they fastned again when their Lamps failed which were sparks of their own kindling or else some common work at most then they went to the wise Virgins not to Christ when they repulsed them sent them away empty they went to them that sold they would by no means come to Jesus Christ not a word of that and yet now the Glory of the Kingdom is to be dispensed you see n ow they cry Lord Lord open to us if they had taken this course before and cryed Lord Lord when their Lamps were gone out O Lord now we see our own sparks dye before they reach heaven O pardon this our Hypocrisie and O give us of thine oyl thou art the Olive-tree pour out of thy oyl into our vessels as they went to the wise Virgins and this in truth of heart they had had oyl they had been ready and entred with Christ no but they would not and see now when the Gate was shut upon them now they cry Lord Lord open to us they would not come to him for the wedding Garment but they would be beholding to him to let them in to the Feast without one though heaven would have held them but a little while if they had entred in that condition So the Jews They would not come to Christ that they might have life that they might have the life of Grace and then the life of Glory but they would come to him to have the life of Glory Ye shall seek me and ye shall not find me but shall die in your sins This is Esau's case prophane Esau he would not keep his birth-right when he had it nor seek it again when he had lost it but the blessing he would have without the birth-right he could part with the birth-right for a mess of pottage for his lust rather then extreme hunger as some think but the blessing he could seek it with tears The grounds of this are such as these First Because it is a principle indelebly written in nature to will happiness the end in general that is to say happiness is not that which cometh under deliberation and matter of choice at all but only the means that tend to that end no man living can possibly prevail with himself to be willing to be miserable it is as natural as for the fire to fly upward or the stone to decline downward A Balaam would die the death of the rigteous he would go to heaven when all is done notwithstanding his Sorceries and Enchantments against Jacob and Divinations against Israel A man would think such a wretch as he that would have cursed Israel fain if God would have hearkened to him a deadly enemy he was to them that he should scarce have desired to come where they should be As I have heard of some whose spleen hath been so great against the people of God that if they came to heaven they would never come thither such are worse then Balaam yet he would die the death of the righteous Secondly Because of the woful ataxie and disorder that is in all our souls whereby we are in all things preposterous in all things that are supernatural in things purely natural and civil we do not expect the end without the means none but fools and mad men do it A man would live and have his health this he desireth therefore he will eat you cannot perswade him to starve himself with hunger he will take physick though never so loathsom never so bitter to him what ever it cost him skin for skin and all he hath he will give for his life this is the highest end he hath in these things but now in spirituals there is nothing but confusion the end we do confusedly aim at we would have it doubtless there is not the veriest unbeliever that heareth this this day but would have heaven and you cannot with all the arguments you can bring make him willing to perish in an everlasting separation from God if he understand any thing what he saith yet he would have this without the means without this union and fellowship with the Lord Jesus whereby he may be made meet for it 3. Because of mens unbelief and unacquaintance with the mysterie of salvation the mysterie of free Grace in Jesus Christ they do not believe that a man must come to Christ for Grace or else they can have no Glory from him That he is the way the truth and the life they think he will save them upon any terms he came to be a Saviour of sinners and sinners they are and a Saviour he is and therefore let Ministers say what
they will they think if they have but time to cry Lord Lord though it be when the Gate is shut as these foolish Virgins it will do Ah brethren if the foolish Virgins had been acquainted with this that they must have their oyl from Christ or else they should never hold out nor enter with him would they not instead of those trifling impertinent endeavours made some application to him all that while but they saw it not it was hid from their eyes The Lord will give Grace and Glory and never will he give Glory sure if he give not Grace O for hearts to believe this it would be a cure of this disorder Fourthly Because of the enmity that is in our hearts against Grace nothing is more contrary wherevever Grace cometh there is a continuall quarrel between it and sin the holy Ghost when he cometh to dwell in a heart he knoweth he must have no peace there but continually lust against the flesh and endure the lustings of the flesh against it self O brethren then where a heart is altogether in sin what an enemy is it to Grace and to Christ as the Author of Grace so saith the Apostle you while you were enemies in your minds through wicked works hath he reconciled now a man will hardly come to an enemy to help him except he be in very great straits indeed as when men are sinking into hell then they will come to Christ for entrance into heaven for then their misery is present and imminent they see there is no avoiding of it hell is at their backs the avengers of blood are now upon them ready to hurry them away to destruction therefore now it is high time for them to cry Lord Lord open to us but while they can but keep these things at a distance put off the thoughts of heaven and hell they care not for coming to Christ at all yet as great as their enmity is it may be overlaid by the present apprehensions of their necessity and danger they are in if they come not to him and this is that brings in any soul to Christ for Grace here while he is dispensing Grace until the Lord let the Sinner see his sins in order before him see the hand-writing upon the wall against him Mene Mene until God write his condemnation upon his Conscience in bloody Characters and visible that he that runs may read it he careth not for coming to Christ for Grace and so for heaven if a man neglect all this yet when God sheweth him the rivers of burning brimstone sheweth the teeth of the worm which is ready to fasten upon him opens a mans ears to hear Satan come jingling with his chain to fetch his soul to tear it away whether he will or no O then though he hath no mind to go to Christ now he will go and cry Lord Lord open to me Why But you will say If he be such an enemy to Grace and to Christ as dispensing Grace is he not much more an enemy to Christ as glorious and receiving sinners to Glory Yea brethren I believe for my part that they are such enemies to an heavenly work a glorious state that if they were admitted with such hearts as they have it would be a weary place to them they cannot endure the reflection of the sun upon a burnish'd soul how will they endure the face of the Son of righteousness himself but the sence of their danger and looking upon heaven as a place of freedom from the torments of the condemned not as upon an holy place wherein Grace is made glorious therefore they desire to enter alas what would these foolish Virgins have done there if they had entred in this unready condition heaven would have been too hot to hold them but freed they would be from misery happy they would be poor creatures though they mind not that the happiness of heaven is such as if they had not had Grace first to make them meet for it it would have been no happiness to them What is more tedious to them then the Glory of Holiness upon the Saints then spiritual communion with God they cannot bear this All delight ariseth from suittableness between the object and faculty and all grief and trouble from the unsuitableness of the object and faculty and truly Grace glorified is so much the more unsuitable but yet I say they apprehending that misery is approaching would go any wihther for shelter Fifthly and lastly Because now they can keep their lusts no longer therefore now they would have heaven as long as the sinner can keep his lust he will be for no other Master nor Lord he cares for no other pleasure the pleasures of sin are the fools paradise to the wanton and so is sport and pastime to the young gallant they care not for any thing serious If men could keep the world for ever they would never desire to come to heaven they could be contented to have their heaven upon earth their inward thought is they shall continue for ever they call their houses after their own names and they think as they would have it now when they see they can hold the world no longer now they would have heaven therefore they care not for Grace so long as they can have their fill of these delights if men be Hypocrites close Hypocrites have no open prophaness or lust yet some secret Dalilah they have that they delight themselves with but when the pangs of hell begin to catch hold upon men when their consciences do catch of the fire of hell and this to flame they see they are going and there is no other way with them but one and being at the brink as I may say the flame catcheth upon them as it did those Executioners in Daniel then O for heaven Lord Lord deliver us save us For the Application This may serve then in the first place to justifie the Lord Jesus let him be for ever clear when he judgeth and justified when he speaks though he speaks condemnation and everlasting separation from himself to many men at the last day or at his coming to Summon if you call then and he answer you not if you cry Lord Lord open to us and he give you this answer I know you not blame your selves you cannot but justifie him why because you might have had heaven and salvation in his ways If you had sought early you should have found but you never seek him until the Gate be shut against you as long as you can keep the world and your lusts you will not come unto him that you might have Pardon might have grace that you might live for ever now your sins leave you the world leaves you or you must leave the world they are ready to take away your souls from you now you will come and cry Lord Lord open to us is it not just and righteous if he cast you out Secondly It
he hath had no experience of them they never came to him to touch him that vertue might go forth from him to heal them and pardon them and therefore he knoweth them not that is to say he never had a touch of faith from them whereby they are said to know him for then he should have known them and have known that vertue went forth from him to heal them he had no acquaintance with them they never acquainted themselves with him but their hearts were alway estranged and far from Jesus Christ though they drew near with their lips their hearts never touched one with another they rested in somewhat else as gifts and miracles and therefore he knoweth them not by experience of communion with him and letting out his healing power upon them Seventhly and lastly He knoweth them not that is to say he careth not for them nor their souls to defend them save them let them do what they will be regardeth them not As in that first Psalm The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly shall perish by the opposite there it appeareth that Gods knowing the way of the righteous is to keep it from perishing the antecedent including the consequent many times in the Hebrew and so the perishing of the way of the ungodly the Consequent including the Antecedent his not knowing of their way or else it is all onâ— Thou hast known my soul in adversity this is one part of the meaning thou hast had a care of me in six and seven troubles to see that no more were laid on then I could bear to keep me that the Spirit that thou hast made did not fail c. so the righteous man knoweth the life of his beast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he knoweth it he is tender of it to keep it and so some understand that my sheep hear my voyce and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life I will know them to eternal life now many professors he knoweth not that is to say he regardeth them not what becometh of them let them sink or or swim shift for themselves take their own course he regardeth them not Now who these are among professors that the Lord knoweth not I believe you easily understand they are such as are meerly formal have a Lamp and no Oyl a form and no power But so much for this first Secondly The next Note from the words you may remember was That such as he knoweth not shall never enter into this Marriage-Feast the door is shut upon them and thâ—s is given as a reason wherefore our Saviour would not open it to them upon their crying Lord Lord but he answered and said I know you not there is no reason you should expect to have the door opened for I know you not and so in that of Matthew if he know them not he sends them away from him Depart from me for I know you not First Because many that profess Jesus Christ yet are very strangers to him and he to them and therefore they shall not have the door opened to them they never knew him nor he never knew them there was never any acquaintance now strangers that we never saw who useth to admit to a Marriage-feast they are the familiars and favorites if Jesus Christ knew them not surely they are strangers for he knoweth all his own children his own sheep let their condition be what it will under never such desertions and cloudings and questionings of his love he knoweth them A woman may forget her children but God cannot forget his people if once acquainted with them he writes their names before him yea upon his very heart they are written whither nothing can come to blot them out now many a professor is a meer stranger to Jesus Christ though he throng upon him yet never toucheth him he never had a sight of Christ a touch of him is a stranger to the righteousness of Christ to the holiness of Christ to the joy and peace Kingdom of grace and therefore surely he will not admit them he knoweth them not it is no place â—or strangers but â—or favourites they must be friends of the Bridegroom that must hear his voyce behold his beaâ—ty rejoyce in it for ever which every professor alas is not Secondly Because of the pride of heart which indeed is the great root of the former estrangedness of many a professor from Christ and Christ from them what was the reason the Prodigal would feed upon husks rather then go to his Father O his stomack was too big to acknowledge his failing to his father as long as ever he could hold out and you see it plainly in the poor woman that had spent all she had upon the Physitian a stout heart would not down while she had a peny And surely you see you see here these foolish Virgins they never went to Christ for oyl but up and down where they could beg or buy of any body they were too stomachful and slout so the Apostle They submitted not to the righteousness of Christ as if it were an act of submission and self-emptying indeed as it is to close with the righteousness of another to be righteous and stand before the Lord in this they would not do they would have heaven by their own works or never have it so the foolish Virgins would have oyl sowewhere short of Christ or they would go without and so they do Ah we are proud beggers proud of rags filthy rags and the Lord knoweth the proud indeed but it is afar off he will never admit them to the nearest commâ—nion with himself for ever therefore he will not open to them This is the case of many a professor who will spin his own web and 〈…〉 lk by sparks of his own kindling and not by the light of God they will to their Herb to heal them and not to Christ the Physitian of their souls and therefore if they be so stout let them take what followeth he will not regard them he knoweth them not near as his friends but afar off Thirdly They are all of them workers of iniquity and therefore he will not know them he approveth them not he careth not for them he will not admit them David that had but a spark of the holiness that is in Jesus Christ the holy one of God and God equal with his Father he would not know a wicked person Depart from me ye workers of iniquity away with you I am not company for you I am a companion to all that fear God both small as well as great though he were a King and a vile person he contemned be he as great as he would away with him from me what communion can light darkness have can they dwell together surely no Depart from me I know you not ye workers of iniquity into that holy place none that defileth can enter now
though he profess never so much love to Israel And O if he would give me a house full of gold and silver I cannot go beyond the Word of the Lord And O that my latter end might be as his Yet the Lord can see he is but a wretch for all this therefore Brethren I beg of you that it may be a searching word to us all Whether ever we have known him or be known of him have you ever touched him with the touch of faith for the pardon of your sins for the healing of your corruptions and have you found healing come from him yea or no have you known him the power of his death the power of his life and Spirit yea or no If you have not the Spirit of Christ you are none of his whose ever you be and he will not own you be sure Brethren for his sons for his friends to admit you to the feast except you be his indeed Ah dear friends I doubt many of us will be found with the foolish Virgins following after the creature resting in somewhat else beside the Lord Jesus Do not think your crying Lord Lord will do it this you may do and fall short did not Judas come with his hail Master and kiss him and yet his heart full of treason against him was this his kindness to Jesus Christ and do not many of us kiss him salute him with a kiss of love and homage or obedience in shew and yet in our lives deliver him up to be scourged by our loosness of carriage that there is no difference between us and other men open the mouths of the wicked and this constantly and without a returning to him will he own such a soul think you O how can we be contented to be uncertain in our conditions lest when all is done we should be disowned shut out at that day Thirdly Then Brethren let us all labour and be exhorted to it to study to approve our hearts to God more then to men a needful lesson to us all and it will be our wisdom surely for alas what if men know us and own us and favour us as Saints and precious people and Jesus Christ will not know our souls will this countervail O Brethren see to it that your praise be not of men but of God! O how apt we are to be lifted up and cheared if men think well of us and dejected if we suffer in their breasts if they disown us to be cast out of their hearts would go to our hearts it may be and we could not be quiet Alas what is this to that fearful sentence I know you not If Christ disown us what is it if all the Saints should own us and if he own us what should it discourage us though they none of them own us O labour to be more inward Christians and build your comforts upon the sure mercies of David in Jesus Christ No matter what is the rising way in the world which is the rising Sun Look to the mind of Christ keep a conscience void of offence toward him and make this your work to be found in him when all is done not in your gifts not in your duties not in your graces but in Christ O such a soul knoweth the Lord Jesus and such a soul is known of him and shall be known to all eternity Fourthly Here is an encouraging word to poor doubting souls It may be they are ready to pass this fearful sentence upon themselves sooner then many a wretched hard-hearted hypocrite to whom it properly belongs No matter man though thy gifts be not so great as another mans thou canst do little or hast not those sweet refreshings and enlargements which another hath Is thy heart approved to Jesus Christ canst thou approve thy soul to him that thou lovest him as Peter Lord thou knowest that I love thee though it may be not so much as other Saints do nor so much as the great things he hath done for thee call for yet thou lovest him and wouldst fain love him more be of good 〈◊〉 for thou art known of him If any man love God he is known of God A Judas may be an open professor of Christ and come to him in the day And a poor Nicodemus at the first dare but come in the night it may be and was a very shallow Scholar in Christ's School which is the discouragement of many a poor soul And Judas in the mean time a renowned Teacher of others and yet behold how the one betrayes the Lord Jesus and the other sticks to him when he was dead and professeth him openly at such a time as that when there was most discouragement against it O therefore Brethren though your grace be weak and little at the first if there be the root of the matter in thee if thou canst approve thy heart thou lovest him there is nothing in heaven nor in earth thou wouldest have in comparison of him though thy infirmities be many temptations be many thou art a poor wearied creature it may be with thine own heart be of good comfort the Lord Jesus hath already owned thee and he will own thee in that day And me thinks Brethren as on the one hand when such bold confident souls that make no other reckoning but of salvation but they reckon without Jesus Christ when they meet with so sad a disappointment in stead of an admittance they meet with I know you not O how will their hearts dye within them So on the other hand when a poor trembling doubting Thomas that it may be knoweth not what to think of himself nor his condition he is searching and trying and praying and fasting and humbling running and pressing hard forward and can get little ground of his corruptions which much discourageth him O he walks tremblingly lest he should receive this fearful sentence at the last that the Lord Jesus knoweth him not hath never had any thing to do with him notwithstanding all his profession sin is in strength corruption prevails though it is the bitterness of his soul O when such a poor doubting creature that haply many times looks for nothing but a fearful sentence depart from me shall have this pronounced O come thou poor soul I know thee I have known thee from the beginning of the world though thou hast been doubting of my love yet I know thee though thou hast been made black with affliction and thy visage so marr'd as others knew thee not refuge failed thee no man cared for thee for thy soul yet I know thee though thou hast been wounded with many sins many temptations and walked under many a discouraged heart yet I know thee O how will this be as everlasting life from eternal death to such a soul So that the soul shall now have now more place for doubting the satisfaction shall come with a mandamus he will speak salvation to the heart that it cannot
Prophet But on Zion shall the Glory of the Lord arise Look into what families brethren you put your selves no man would content himself to live in a dungeon continually that family is worse where Jesus Christ hath never come Fourthly Then take notice how sweet a condition it must needs be to have an union and fellowship with Jesus Christ especially where that fellowship is constant truly light is sweet And it is a pleasant thing to behold the Sun saith Solomon but alas that is nothing to a sight of Christ poor sinners in a dark condition when they become sensible of it will tell you what its worth to have a glimpse of Christ of the light of his countenance poor creatures that for half an year together are without the Sun will tell you how sweet a condition it is to have the Sun shining on them Mary Magdalen will tell you when she wanted her Saviour her Lord with many tears what a want it is and what a joy to have his presence O what light is there in that soul what joy what peace what comfort what warmth what melting over the Lord Jesus it is a little heaven on earth indeed this enjoyment of the Lord Jesus Fifthly We may hence learn then brethren whence cometh all our light and all our warmth and all our fruitful influences whereby we spring forth and bring forth abundantly it is from the Lord Jesus Thy heart was as very a dungeon as any full of darkness and bugs frogs and serpents and how came it to be lightned but that the Sun of God was pleased to shine on thee yea into thy heart more then another and freely with his presence to scatter those lusts thy soul was full of before Art thou enabled so much as to bud to think a good thought its from hence because that the Sun of righteousness hath arisen on thee thou hast received some influence from him doth it come to a blossom a good word holy communication its from the same principle doth the fruit knit and grow up into a ripeness increase into an holy action an holy walking with God whence is it but from the Sun of righteousness doth the Marigold open its according to the heat of the Sun do our hearts open are our hearts enlarged hence it is Brethren forget not the fountain we are apt to think the sparks are of our own kindling c. Sixthly Then Brethren we should hence learn to whom to your all give the Praise the Glory of all Let the Moon and Stars then fall down before this Sun as it was in Josephs dream they shine but with a borrowed light and the borrower is servant to the lender How do the Birds each morning chant and chirp when their little spirits are revived by the Sun rising on them and shall our mouths be sealed up when the Sun of righteousness hath visited our hearts quickned them enlightned them The Stars you know appear not when the Sun ariseth in his Glory O dear friends so should we when the Name of Christ cometh in competition with our names not appear be content to be nothing to decrease so he may increase Let him have the Glory of all Seventhly Then Brethren learn to prize the Lord Jesus set a true esteem on him should we want the Sun for one moneth what a value should we set on it it is true worth indeed brethren to value things by their enjoyment rather then by their 〈…〉 an t now thou hast the Sun-shine it may be many a sweet refreshing warming from the Lord Jesus O prize it every one is looking at and admiring a Comet but who considereth the Sun who admireth that prizeth that how much ado hath the Lord Jesus with us to bring us to this he is fain to put us in a dungeon to make us bear the iniquities of our youth to hide his face to make us walk in darkness before we will prize it what a grief is this to him is it not a trouble to our selves and what a folly is it Brethren to grieve the Lord Jesus and grieve our own souls when we might save all this O labour then to do it beg such a heart of Jesus Christ Eighthly Then Brethren shut not the windows against the shinings of this Sun of righteousness sometimes the Lord Jesus getteth within a sinner for all his fence and guard light cometh in at some chink beginneth to discover the condition in which he is sheweth him the filthy vermine that are ready to run away with his soul that the heart swarms withal that he saw not before and yet alas he maketh a shift to clap to the window to smother the light with both hands puts it away he desires not the presence of it this is a sad condition when men are ignorant and will be ignorant when the Lord Jesus would have healed them and they would not be healed O how canst thou tell whether ever thou shalt be healed till thou die O take heed Brethren of this it is the way to bring the blackness of darkness on you to provoke God to clap the everlasting chains of darkness on you wherein you may be reserved to the last day Oh it is a sad saying that Let him that is ignorant be ignorant still the time may come when the hour of darkness shall fall on your souls at the day of death that you would give a world then but for a glimpse of that light you now shut out and fence your selves against when your works of darkness and secret pleasures of sin for whose sake you have done it do fly in your face buffet you ready to tear your throat out hale you before the judgement-seat of Christ O then for a sight of Christ but he is far from you no he would have enlightned you but you would not Therefore now the things which belong to your peace are hid from your eyes He might pitty Jerusalem and weep over her but alas her condition was past cure I would the condition of many a poor soul here were not such yea Brethren the people of God themselves take heed of sh 〈…〉 ing out the light of this Sun of righteousness for what will become of the light in the room when its fullest of light if the windows be clapt too will it not be cut off will it not become a dungeon we complain many times of a dark and sad and dead condition the truth is Brethren we have shut him out we have thought Oh now we are full now we have knowledge and heat enough we have been so warmed with the influence of Christ on us now it matters not for altogether so strict a walking now we have gotten the light of his countenance this is a secret frowardness of our hearts and then he is provoked to withdraw and alas we are in darkness again Therefore take we heed Brethren how we hide the face of God in
in Winter the earth seemeth to be languishing and all things withered and dead when the Sun returneth how doth it heal it To it s here Beloved it is the Word and Spirit that opens the earth moistens the earth sweetly refresheth it calls forth the fruits thereof The fruits of the Spirit they are called as the fruits of the earth are called the precious fruits put forth by the Sun and by the Moon which shines by a derived influence from the Sun how precious are the fruits of the Spirit Brethren love meekness joy in the Holy-Ghost humility self-denyal these are the precious fruits put forth by the Sun the Lord Jesus by his Word and Spirit beating upon our barren hearts indeed he maketh the barren Wilderness to become a garden of God Again he healeth he reviveth the spirits which languish and are ready to go out as the poor Birds that in the Winter are hard put to it and some lye you hardly know where as if they were dead or dying when the Sun returneth how doth it refresh and revive their little spirits that were left before The night brings a heaviness and burthen along with it to the body but the morning when the Sun ariseth how doth it enliven and lighten Oh! so it s in this case many a poor soul can say by experience that when darkness hath been long on them they have no light no comfort no refreshing no breathing of the Spirit to their apprehensions in his Ordinances on their hearts O how have hands hanged down and their knees feeble and knock one against another for feebleness and that which was within them was ready to dye But now no sooner hath the Lord Jesus the Sun of righteousness looked on them but they have had their ankle-bones strengthened the joy of the Lord is their strength as Neh. 8. but I intend not here much to expatiate only these two or three things First then the first thing in this healing which is brought under the wings of the Sun of righteousness is pardon for our sins who forgiveth all-thy iniquities and healeth all-thy diseases these are exegetical one of another or may so be looked on Sin Brethren cuts off a creature from God and so maketh a wound which now is healed and made up when they are pardoned Make the heart of this people fat and let their ears be heavy their eyes closed lest at any time they should see with their eyes or hear with their ears or understand with their hearts lest they should be converted and I should heal them which Mark reads thus lest they should be converted and their sins be forgiven them So then forgiveness and healing are all one and its one thing surely included in that of the Prophet Hosea I will heal their back-slidings I will love them freely the justification freely by his grace as the Apostle calls it Poor sinner thou that ever knewest what sin was what a wound it was to thy soul knewest that thy pardon is a healing to thee So then this arising with healing in his wings is by his Spirit in his Word he conveyeth the blood of Jesus Christ the merit thereof maketh it over to the poor soul that believeth to the doing away of all the guilt So as a Sun of righteousness properly he healeth and this is the first Secondly He taketh away also the anguish and trouble that did arise from sin to the soul as when a wound is healed you know the anguish and smart is taken away though while it is healing it may be when searched and tented there will be smart and sore yet afterward it s taken away by degrees I know some of you have felt and haply some at present may feel the grief of your wounds O! how they will throb and beat and burn and smart sometimes broken bones are nothing to a broken heart nor the broken flesh any thing to a broken bone the Lord heals the broken in heart he bindeth up their wounds I have seen his waies and will heal him saith the Lord he speaks to the condition of a poor disconsolate soul under the wrath of God He was wrath and smote him yea he hid him and was wrath O how this troubles a poor soul he cannot but have his heart full of darkness and terrour and trouble that hath the face of God hidden from him well saith the Lord though he did walk frowardly before me gave me not my ends in smiting him yet I will heal him and wherein doth this healing consist Alas in restoring joy and comfort to him the poor soul now was over-whelmed with sorrow his heart now was ready to sink and fail within him and lest it should so do he will heal him and how is this but by his Word and Spirit therein which is the comforting Spitit he will create the fruit of the lips peace peace to him Here is a healing indeed the healing of broken hearts and broken bones it s the work that the Father sent the Lord Jesus for into the world in an especial manner that he annointed him for poured out the Spirit upon him annointed him with the oyl of gladness above his fellows that he might speak in due season that he might bind up the broken spirits Now the Lord Jesus Brethren our dear Saviour he delighteth to do this will and work of his Father O! he loveth to be doing with broken hearts And O that we had some work for the Lord Jesus this day he is among us now to see if there be any heart in this condition that he may heal us it s his delight to do it Well this is a second he hath his cordials as well as his purgatives his lenitives as well as his corrosives Thirdly he cometh with healing under his wings as to take away the anguish so also to purge away the filth of it to heal the running putrifying sore that it may not run and defile and pollute all that a man taketh in hand How much more saith the Apostle shall the blood of Christ purge our consciences from dead works that we may serve the living God With corrosives he eats down the proud flesh and the dead flesh he dryeth up the bloody issues then the person was healed when she touched Christ but the hem of his garment This is that which troubles many a heart more then the guilt of their sins and indeed the returning and recoyling of sin on them again and again occasioneth the questioning of their peace and comfort that they have had O how one cryeth out of this sin and another of that sin and walks heavily and sadly Well the Lord Jesus he will arise with healing under his wings for all these distempers Fourthly and lastly another healing is the taking away his anger manifested in outward calamities or diseases in a people or person I will heal their back-slidings and love them freely for mine anger is
turned away either to turn away the affliction or at least the anger which is the sting the inflamation of any affliction whatsoever if it be but an itch a scab if it be fired with the anger of God it shall be enough to consume and destroy the Lord challengeth it as a priviledge See now that I even I am he and there is no God with me I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal I wound their comforts wound their peace lay them a gasping a dying art thou not he that kelled'st Rah and wounded the Dragon So Job he maketh sore and bindeth up he woundeth and his hands make whole Come say they let us return to the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up after two daies will he revive us and the third day we shall live in his sight Healing upon the returning of poor sinners is a choice mercy indeed and all from him their returning in order to healing and the healing unto returning Behold I will bring it health and cure I will cure them and return to them abundance of peace after be had threatened to destroy them in his anger by the Caldeans So then it may be Beloved that the trouble of spirit thou hast had for sin God hath laid his hand on thy family on thy person and all little enough to bring down the pride of thy heart and to take away the iniquity of thy covetousness and wean thee from the creature Well he will return if thou return to him he will return he will heal thee or at least take away the anger that inflameth the Visitation which is a kind of healing Brethren though we are kept under it But thus much for these particulars touching healing You see then what it is that is held forth in this Doctrine That Jesus Christ will arise unto them that fear his name with healing under his wings that is to say by his Word and Spirit and other Ordinances conveigh to them pardon and cleansing and peace and comfort and freedom from calamities or the evil of them and I hope it is sufficiently proved by the several particulars there have been many Scriptures produced to prove it in each particular therefore we will not any longer insist on that part but come to the Application which will be divers First we may take notice Brethren hence what a comprehensive evil sin is for if we speak of healing which is the main thing in this Doctrine it must needs lead us being a relative to some distemper or other that is to be healed whether it be a disease or whether it be a wound or both for diseases many times are caused by wounds that its a disease a wound might easily be proved in the first place as by that of the Prophet The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint from the Crown of the head to the sole of the foot nothing but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores O! how loathsom are these sores do we not read of the plague of the heart a hard heart the stone in the heart in that place of Ezekiel where he speaks of his people under the notion of a flock to be fed and guided the diseased have ye not strengthened neither have ye healed that which was sick neither have you bound up that which was brokon diseased and sick I might here by an enumeration of particulars shew that every sin almost according to Scripture analogy is a disease To begin with the head Brethren is not blindness a disease and is not ignorance a blindness of the mind whereby we are alienated from the life of God Dear friends consider it how many among us poor creatures are groping at noon-day the light that is in them is darkness and O how great is that darkness and is there not also a self-conceipt and pride whereby we think of our selves above what we ought and from hence it is that we grow more in the head than in other parts a dangerous disease there is much knowledge among many of us but little heat little warmth on the heart little holy walking according unto it Obstructions between the head and the heart is none of the least diseases among us Is there not corruption of Judgement and is it not a dangerous disease if we had never thought so before our times would have taught us this the leprosie in the head a man of unsound principles is leprous and one of the worst kinds also O what a vertigo hath taken many they run round until they be giddy and fall and break themselves Beloved there are strong carnal reasonings in our heads whereby almost we will make any thing good that we would have forward we shall make it seem reasonable that we may cum rations insanire Go from the head to the heart and see is there not a stone there and that is none of the least diseases is there not a plague there O what hardness of heart and what stubborness and what frowardness of heart there is we might instance in many Brethren are there not eyes full of adultry like fleams grown over them which do blind are there not pearls in the eyes when the world is dear to us what is our covetousness else and what is envy but a blood-shotten eye which proceedeth from a heart full of vexing and is not lust a feavour yea an ulcer on the liver or a dart thrust through it and what is rotten communication which men make no more of and vain and foolish discoursing but the rottenness of a grave but the rottenness of lungs breathing forth continually O how some mens tongues are set on fire of hell can utter nothing but blasphemies and oaths at every word But we might be endless if we should go to particulars How many of us have a dead palsie past feeling commit all uncleanness with greediness saith the Apostle Sinners you little think what you are doing while you are going on in a way of sin as alas are not many of you this day in this condition you are either contracting or strengthening the diseases of your souls making fresh wounds in your consciences Ah! how lamentable were his condition that were wounded head and heart full of sores putrifying that the very sight of him and savour of his wounds were enough to make all others ubhor him yea he is so far from seeking remedy he wounds himself more and more maketh them deeper and deeper increaseth his diseases he careth not how much he inflameth them this is the condition of every poor sinner you see O! what sad creatures are we that have so many sicknesses on us and each of them deadly and how much more many then together and if we feel nothing at all he that is in the most deadly palsie or lethargie feels nothing at all would be let alone cannot endure to
it When we were without strength Christ died for the ungodly and while we were yet Sinners Christ dyed for us they are convertible terms a sick man a lame man a wounded man we cannot expect they should walk or work or run in a race it utterly unbefits us for any thing that is good this is a sad evil that is in sin as a disease or wound Thirdly There is filthiness and deformity in sin also O what a sight it were to see a poor creature full of running sores from head to foot all running and rotting what filthiness is here and and deformity So when a poor soul hath a lust a sore running and never ceasing how sad a condition is this Brethren how strangely will a fit of sickness change a person that the rarest piece of beauty in the world quickly becometh a gastly sight every part contracting its deformity from the sickness all withered and shrivelled joynts loosed the eye dead and dull the face thin the knees feeble the hand trembling and what not Brethren if the Lord open our eyes to behold in the glass of the word the deformities of sin and filthiness as we may see the lothsomness and ugliness of a disease we should for ever be haters of it but I will say no more to this head That sin is a disease a wound Vse 2. May be then to put us on to be more serious in viewing our selves in the glass of the Word the Law of God that we may see what creatures we are and loth our selves our wounds are so many that we are all one wound and all one disease there is no sound part in us how pale and lean do our souls sometimes look with envy at others how are we swelled with pride how great and unweildy are our bellies with this O how do some of our bellies cleave to the very dust we are bowed down as the woman in the Gospel O how lamely do we walk in the ways of God halting between two have a double object and one foot in the wayes of God and another in the way of sin alas how many wounds have many of us that we never searched to this day if we did but know them it would pluck down our feathers the proudest of us and for some of us we have great need of this admonition because alas until we see our selves wounded see our deformities we shall never care for healing for having his comeliness put upon us no nor can the people of God put a rate upon the mercy nor the rich exceeding rich Grace of God in Christ whereby they are healed except they have before their eyes the many wounds and running sores they are healed of When Paul saw that he was the chief of the Sinners then he advanceth the free Grace of God that it had abounded yea superabounded which a soul cannot admire the Lord for except he see and behold how sin hath abounded O then let us be all perswaded to this duty to eye our selves more often more seriously in the glass of the Law of liberty the Law of Christ and therein see how often how grievously we offend him see what deformities are upon us that it may be admired how the Lord can love such as we are and Sinners that are yet in sin that they may be willing to accept of pardon and deliverance in and through Christ for truly we are not any of us willing until we be reduced to extremity then the Marriner or Merchant will cast out his goods when there is necessity for it but not before Therefore let all of us be perswaded to this duty in the second place Thirdly Let us be instructed in this truth that healing is not in us I am the Lord that healeth thee saith God to Israel and therefore the Lord promiseth the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings which were needless if healing were in our selves some creatures if wounded healing is in themselves as some fish are said if wounded to heal themselves with their own slime a Dog licks himself with his tongue Brethren sins are not such wounds as will heal themselves of their own accord neither as if a man have a slight cut it may be he heedeth it not it heals of it self believe it the least sin the least wound thou makest in thy conscience in thy soul it will not heal it self nor will a lust heal it self and wear away of its own accord as some diseases will though no physick be administred It is a deadly disease it seizeth upon the vitals and then you know it is a matter of great difficulty and skill to cure it no nor can a man cure himself if he could to what end did the Lord Jesus undergo all why he was smitten for our transgressâ—â—ns if we could have been healed by any strength of our own no we were without strength when Christ dyed for us as the Apostle bath it and as to other things so to this great work did the Lord do any thing in vain much less then would he do the greatest thing that ever be wrought in vain alas who can pardon sins but he who can bind up the broken in spirit but he who was sent into the world for this very end who can pour wine and oyl into the wounds but the good Samaritan who can give rest for the anguish of the wounds but he we cannot heal our selves if the very marrow of our bones were distilled into continual tears and all our moysture it would not make a balm to cure a wound of sin nor a cordial to support in one swooning fit there are many considerations wherefore we cannot do it and therefore the Lord in pity and bowels toward us sent us his Son to be our Physitian because we poor sick creatures need the Physitian which we should not if we could heal our selves our wound is incurable and refuseth to be healed by us First alas We know not our diseases our distempers you know a disease is half cured if curable when it is known in the cause if a Physitian mistake the disease and mis-applications according to his mistake quite contrary to the disease this is the ruin of the Patient such Physitians are of no value and such should we all be and are For we cannot know our sins nor the plague of the heart who knows his errors if we discover one lust that it breaks out in such a manner that it cannot be hid yet there is ten for one that we never saw and how can we then heal them now the Lord Jesus seeth our hearts through and through and knoweth all the malig 〈…〉 y and poysonous humours that lye there and therefore knoweth how to purge them out we know them not Secondly We have no desire to have them healed at all we 〈…〉 w not what healing means being not sensible naturally of our distempers and sores that are
that is our nature as soon as we are born yet alas the Lord Jesus would not have such as we to perish but rather then it should be so he himself would become our Physitian O here is rich grace Secondly In that the Lord Jesus like a Son of righteousness indeed doth not stay until the poor sinner the patient do send for him do come to him but he is the first in the motion you know Physitians of eminency and worth do not use to go up and down to bespeak their patients to proclaim it up and down who hath any work for them no they are too hi 〈…〉 that if any will have to do with them let them find the 〈…〉 out let them waite upon them Mountebanks use to do so they must hang out a bush else it will not be known that they profess they can do any thing pardon the comparison for our Saviour compareth his coming to the coming of a Thief and if a Mountebank be no better yet the comparison is tollerable by that of our Saviour himself I say he will rather come to sinners then that they shall misc 〈…〉 he came to seek and to save that which was lost for alas the lost creature never will seek him but wander and loseth it self more and more therefore we are compared to wandring sheep we all like sheep have gone astray yea the very Saints themselves when once they have been found yet will lose themselves again as David I have gone astray like a lost sheep seek thy servant else we should never find the way to Christ again dogs and such kind of creatures if lost will find the way home again but a sheep will not so when we are utterly lost Repent for the Kingdom of God is come unto you saith our Saviour O repent and turn for the Gospel and the grace of the Gospel is come to you the Kingdom of heaven goeth a begging as I may say cometh and knocketh at this door and that door at this family and that to see if they will give entertainment to Jesus Christ whether they will be healed this day is Salvation come to thine house saith the Lord to Zacheus it came to him before he came to Christ though he did indeed run a little for curiosity sake before Christ to see his person yea our Saviour inviteth himselâ— to him he invited himself to come to his house so did not the Lord Jesus come to seek Paul and where did he find him but in blood up to the ears even the blood of the Saints may we not set to our seals to the truth of this That he is found of such as never sought him may we not say truly that alas our own souls and our own families were poor dark ignorant hard-hearted creatures that never thought of Jesus Christ until he first came and brought healing to us the Son doth not stay until he be called up but he riseth of his own accord upon the world Brethren the Lord Jesus this day though by the mouth of a Babe and uncircumcised creature in heart and lips doth invite you all is ready and then he cals this is a part of the message I have from Christ this day and it is a sweet one to invite every poor wounded Sinner ev 〈…〉 poor diseased creature to come to Jesus Christ for healing and O that I could bespeak you as he himself would bespeak you were he upon earth with such a melting heart and sence of your condition O why will ye die is the expostulation of the Lord Jesus why will you die of your wounds of your plague-sores here is balm for you here is healing for you if you will but accept of it O do not slight it do not run away from the Physitian Hath the Lord Jesus been at all this pains to procure a medicine and shall we cast it away and slight it Thirdly Here is the riches of the Grace of God toward poor Sinners that though we cannot tell our Physitian what we ail yet he knoweth our diseases and from him it is that we are convinced of our condition in this respect Physitians are not able to see into the inward parts into the veins the arteries the liver the heart but they judge according to outward symptoms or according to the Patients relation of his disease and how often do they miscarry and mistake but here is such a Physitian he so heals as that he knoweth all our diseases he needs not feel our pulse to see how they beat he can tell where there is a poor burthened soul or a sin-guilty soul knoweth all the guilt and taâ—es notice of it first and from his own notice of it takes occasion to heal it I have seen his ways though he was walking on in the stubborness of his heart though he were smitten he saw not his own ways how froward they were nor his own heart how hard it was but saith the Lord I have seen his wayes and I will heal him Alas how long might Paul have been before he had known his disease except the Lord Jesus had opened it to him come and convinced him of it and so in the case of David and Peter Fourthly Yet further consider the riches of Grace Sinners herein to you herein held forth in that notwithstanding all our unkind dealing with him yet he giveth not over the work would not an able Physitian take it ill that his Patient should go away from him and run to a cheating Mountebank and prefer him before him were not this enough to lose a Physitian Alas do we not all do so He stretched on t his hands all the day long to a gainsaying and rebellious people one runs to one thing another to another The Prodigal to his husks rather then to his Father and the poor woman to her Physitian of no 〈…〉 lue rather then to Christ if Sinners can make a shift to lick over their sores with a good tongue a smooth tongue crying peace peace where there is no peace a sad condition when Conscience is quieted upon mistaken grounds if they can quiet it with a little duty they are well if they can skin over their wounds they are well enough they will stick any where rather then come to Jesus Christ and yet for all this he is ready to heal them O how do Persons beside themselves abuse their Physitian many times fly in their face and so do Sinners now the Lord Jesus cometh with his cordials in one hand his purgatives in the other hand ready to purge to cleanse to heal us and we fly in his face use him most unkindly and yet for all this he is not overcome giveth us not over until he hath healed us of this and all the rest of the distempers of our souls O how do you think the Lord Jesus can endure to be kicked in the very bowels to have his blood trampled under foot
by poor Sinners that he cometh to heal and yet he doth endure it and for all this healeth them Is not all this unkindness what can move him to give us over surely many of us are able to say it that if his bowels had not been unsearchable we have so often grieved him and kicked against him even since he had to do with our souls in a way of healing mercy that we had been undone for ever Oh here is unsearchable mercy we wound him and grieve him and yet he heals us we sleightly esteem of him of his blood of his mercy of his love even while he is pouring it out upon us and he so dearly loveth us that his blood is not too dear for us no nor his Spirit nor his bowels nor any thing O here is rich Grace indeed to poor froward-hearted Sinners 5. Herein the riches of Grace doth appear to poor Sinners that it is not the multitude nor the depth nor the loathsomness of our wounds or deadliness of our diseases that discourageth him to make him turn his back upon the work and let us alone O saith the Physitian when he cometh to such a Patient he hath the plague it is seized upon his heart upon his vitals it is past my ski 〈…〉 it is but labour in vain if the spots appear there is no hope no healing but now the Lord Jesus he never mâ—dleth with a Sinner but he hath the plague in his very heart not only the sores running upon their tongues and upon their hands but in their very hearts and all the blood and spirits poysoned and yet he is not discouraged he takes it in hand truly some of us if we consider how deeply rooted our â—nsts were in our very hearts it is matter of admiration that ever we were healed and though for the present there are it may be grudgings of the old disease whereby we are a grief to him and a grief to our selves yet that the plague is cured at the heart or curing rather alas do you think the Lord Jesus did not know what a weary hand he should have with us before he began with us he knew what ulcerations would be continually breaking out that must be lanced and searched and yet never turned his back upon his work upon this account when the Chyrurgion meeteth with a poor creature that is full of wounds and bruises and putrifying sores that have never been opened nor mollified but a long time have festered and rotted O saith he I am not able to endure to have to do with such a Patient the very stench of his wounds and â—ores is such I am not able to bear it Brethren this is nothing to sin the most loathsom running sores are nothing to the rottenness of sin O it is the superfluity of naughtiness it is the very scum of scums the very excrement of the Devil now how can we think that Jesus Christ should endure the stench of our loathsom souls full of running sores and yet he doth it when he cometh to heal us he never yet gave over any that he undertook to heal because of the greatness the multitude the loathsomness of his diseases I know poor misgiving hearts will be ready to sit down and mourn as poor creatures without hope when they consider how many their sores are their diseases are O what loathsom running sores bloody issues and they are loathsom to our selves that see little or nothing of them and that have a stinking nostril their minds whereby they conceive of things are impure themselves and so cannot apprehend them as so loathsom but the Lord Jesus that seeth them to the bottom knoweth the venom of them the loathsomness of them to the full O sure they are much more to him sure he will never have to do with such a rotten soul as mine saith one such a rotten heart such a wretch so besotted with the world as I have been so unclean a wretch as I have been this is a mistake the riches of Grace in Jesus Christ would never be so made manifest the exceeding abundance of Grace if he had not to do with such sinners as thou art in thine own apprehension with a Paul a Manasses a Magdalen with the chief of Sinners O say not your cases are desperate there is no healing for your wounds nothing maketh a Sinners case desperate but his own despairing his final unbelief his despair of the mercy of Christ the faithfulness of Christ in this great undertaking of poor Sinners Sixthly O what tenderness is manifested in the manner of the cure and it must needs be so when bowels themselves are the constitution of the Physitian where love it self and compassion it â—elf setteth the Physitian awork Brethren can you imagine when a Father is a Physitian and hath a poor diseased child or wounded cryeth out for healing can you imagine with what an heart he goeth about it if it would do the cure he could be content to endure all the lancings take down all bitter potions O every grone and out-cry of his Patient goes to his heart he is so tender by these affections the Lord is pleased darkly to shadow out to us his heart toward us Even as a Father pittieth his children so the Lord Jesus pittieth them that fear him that are wonnded in any kind either in their peace or in their holiness But this will appear if we consider but a few particulars First In that he himself hath taken the bitterest part of the physick O the wormwood and the gall they went into his bowels the Lord Jesus doth not delight to cure by lancings by searings and canterizings no but he took down himself the purge that set him upon such a sweat as you know alas it would have drunk up every drop of our blood and moysture and marrow that we should never have seen through it this he takes himself himself is lanced you know by the Soldiers and from thence came water and blood the ingredients of the healing medicine for poor Sinners for ever being rightly tempered like a tender Mother if the child be sick it must be purged she her self takes the purge endures the wrings of it in its working that the effect may be suckt by the child who lies at the breast this is but a resemblance of this rich Grace in Jesus Christ Brethren we see if men were our Physitians what they would prescribe us their purgations and pilgrims whippings macerating our flesh until they bleed and die but the Lord Jesus doth not so if either the Physitian or the Patient must die in this case rather then the poor diseased wounded Patient shall die the Physit 〈…〉 himself dieth that we might live that his blood might be our cordial his flesh our dyet and his blood our dyet-drink that continually by little and little might heal us O what manner of love is this Brethren who would do so let a Father but examine his
heart and see could he do so for his child though a Mother may take down much bitterness for her child yet would she be content to open a vein to bleed to death to redeem its life when ready to perish I know David in his passion said Would God I had dyed for thee but if Absalom had been alive and in cold bood he had been put to it I question though his affections were strong to his Son but they would have been as strong to himself Self is a mans nearest friend but now the Lord Jesus you see did it for his poor sinful people yea for strangers for enemies Brethren consider of it If any of us were Physitians here is a poor wounded creature lies in the way as the poor man in the Gospel fell among thieves left wounded and half-dead which of us now could find in our hearts to open our own veins and be emptied of all our blood and liâ—e that such a poor wretch might be supplied now this the Lord Jesus doth for such Sinners as we are Brethren if there must be pouncing and pricking he endures it lancing he endures it contusion he endures it For he was wounded for our transgressions bruised for our iniquites the chastisement of our peace was upon him and through his stripes we are healed his stripes are not the bodily buffetings his crown of thorns and such things were nothing in comparison no it is the lashing of his spirit the wounding of his soul the travel of his soul the agonies wrestlings with his Fathers displeasure to an agony when God laid on him so heavily that he was ready to faint and sink and his soul almost fetched at every blow O dear Saviour that ever the cure of such sinfull dust and ashes should cost thee so dear and we so little prize it But 2. That which he prescribes to us though there be some bitterness in it yet no more then must needs it may be a sprinkling from the top of the cup of trembling which may put us into a fear and trembling so much as he seeth needfull to imbitter sin to us it is true if love were perfect here below while graces are imperfect and our ingenuity perfect the looking upon a crucified Christ for us would be the greatest imbittering of sin to us in the world but we are very dull an 〈…〉 ow of heart and therefore a little taste we must our selves that we may gather from thence what the Lord Jesus indured for us we that never felt what a wounded Spirit meant and what the clouding of the face of God from us meant though we may hear of the sufferings of Christ we are not able to be sensible of them and so not to prize that love as strong as death but when a poor creature hath had a drop or two of scalding wrath fall upon his conscience a lash or two though gently upon his spirit that maketh him roar in the disquietness of his â—oul O thinketh he then if a drop or two be so full of terror and amazement what then was the whole Cup what was the dregs how should I have born that if my blessed Saviour had not taken it off for me That which did so parch him who was the Green Tree that he said he thirsted surely would have consumed the dry If he were as a Bottle dryed in the smoak it would have consumed us to ashes If it made Him sweat in such a manner it would have altogether dissolved our frame that we should have perished for ever O if a little wrath when God hideth his face be such a Hell in many souls What a Hell then had Jesus Christ in his soul when wrath was poured out to the utmost for he was not spared a jot And then to make us out of love with sin wherein doth lie the very heart of the core and of the cure surely such are the bowels of God in Christ that as he delighteth not in the death of a sinner so neither doth he delight in bringing the creature to life through so much bitterness and grief if any other means would so effectually work us out of love with sin as this for the Wise God surely would take the most effectual course it is all needfull else he would never do it Why but you will say that hatred of sin is never kindly except the love to Jesus Christ be the ground of it ye that love the Lord hate evil this takes the ingenuous spirit off from Omissions and Commissions It is true but yet consider brethren wherefore do we love Him but because he loved us when his love is revealed and manifested this warmeth melteth the heart indeareth the soul to him until the Lord Jesus be pleased to open and unfold his bowels of love to a sinner he will never love him now whereby should we estimate the love of Jesus Christ to poor sinners but by the unsearchably rich 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he paid for them O the price of every drop of that blessed blood that run trickling down to the earth especially if it be considered by what means it was squeezed out of him this setteth a rate upon his love it is not love in word but in deed and in truth if nothing else will be a price to redeem them but his blood it shall go he is not dear of it to the last drop yea not to part with it by opening a vein but to have it extract out of the veins by the pores of his body O by the unspeakable weight of wrath upon his Spirit Now how can we judge of this except we have had a little taste of it our selves when we are put into a little sweat in our own wrestlings with the displeasure of God O then we see what our Saviour indured for us If a man would set the highest estimate upon love among men this should be the rate of it would they willingly have the face of God in Christ hidden from them for a year or two for the dearest friend they have in the world you that have felt what this lashing of your Spirit is that your breath was even gone at every blow and you were ready to perish and you had fainted except you had believed some secret undiscerned support Tell me would you redeem the life yea the souls of your dearest friends that you had in this world by lying under a wounded Spirit having a Hell kindled in your souls that should burn all your days I cannot tell I know dear Friends will do much one for another O saith one I could lay my hands under their feet to do them good O I could redeem their lives with my own Would God I had died for thee and haply because he saw he was in such a sad condition for his soul but David wouldst thou have been content to roar all thy days in the disquietness of thy soul to have his waves and billows to
go over thee not to wade in the shallows but to be in the depths to be overwhelmed with the displeasure of the Lord and that for Absolom if so it is much but it is nothing to this of Christ therefore this is the truest estimate we can take of his love and surely the higher our thoughts are and deeper of the love of Christ and the larger the greater will be our hatred of sin our loathing of sin which when it is wrought the cure is wrought what shall I play with the knife that hath pierced the heart of my Saviour Shall I harbour that in my bosom that was the sting of my blessed Saviour the poyson whereof-drank up his Spirits surely no. And then Secondly This will heighten our love to him and we shall be loth to grieve him when we love him O he hath indured enough already for me he haâ—h been wounded yea so wounded as to be all over gore for my-sins and so much as to be but all one wound and shall I grieve him more I am perswaded that the experiences of all our hearts that ever tasted of his love will subscribe to this that this is the great reason of our so often grieving of Jesus Christ because we have so little impression upon our hearts of his love to us and consequently so little love to him either we never had a strong impression or else by degrees it doth wear out and should be renewed by a serious contemplation of these things which we neglect and that is the reason else we should be very tender and fearful of grieving him after the manner we do daily But then Thirdly our own smart under the sence of his displeasure will do something do you think that the remembrance of the wormwood and gall will not do something make sinners afraid to meddle with sin and all little enough too so the Father when the childe walks frowardly takes him up I le make you remember my fingers a good while saith he so the Lord deals with his people but this is nothing to what the Lord Jesus indured for us he had the brunt he broke the waves of the displeasure of his Father who is the rock of our salvation though we that are lifted up upon that rock may be under water sometimes by those waves yet the force of them is broken upon Jesus Christ else they would dash us to pieces having not co-assistance enough to break them If ever Peter were solicited to deny Jesus Christ again do you think that the remembrance of this O how dear it cost me was not an awe upon him and so for David after those dolefull complaints from him while under the sense of his fathers displeasure do you think he was not more afraid of stollen waters though sweet and bread eaten in secret though pleasant after God had kept him awhile shut him up as I may say in the Chambers of death made him walk there awhile to make him know what he had done in sinning away the light of his countenance But Thirdly That which he himself prescribeth even the bitterest of it it is no more then he enables the creature to bear if he do lance our wounds and put us to some grief withall he giveth a Cordial that stays us from sinking it is true a right hand cannot be cut off nor a right foot a man cannot be dismembred but there will be some anguish and trouble nor a lust mortified but it will cost us some heart-aking but then he quickly stanches the bleeding keepeth the heart from sinking fainting he will not suffer us to be tryed above what we are able but maketh a way to escape he doth not leave us altogether without his presence when we are in the dark though we see him not I say if it were not for this I know the lot of Judas and Cain would fall upon every such sinner nor will he keep it a jot longer upon us then he will lengthen out our patience But what is all this Brethren to what our blessed Saviour hath taken down for us If darkness be so sad to us who never had but a glimpse of the light of his countenance what was it that the Lord Jesus felt then that had it in that fulness the creature was capable of and proportionably greater by how much the more iniquity was laid to his charge So that in a word it is our blessed Saviour that was wounded and we healed all that is done to us is but as a scratch with a pin to those wounds of his he felt all those wrings and pangs and we have the effects of the working of the Physick is not this unsearchable riches of Grace that we should be healed after such a manner as this Seventhly He doth all this most freely expecteth no reward as Physicians you know do the poor woman in the Gospel spent all that she had upon the Physicians but when she came to Christ he asked her nothing only willingness to accept of deliverance to believe his power his willingness to save and this is nothing to a reward yea and it is he himself that giveth the willingness to be healed he went up and down throughout the Synagogues and the villages healing all their diseases was it not the freest gift that ever was given to give himself his life his blood a ransom for poor sinners alas he knew we had nothing to give him and yet he cometh nevertheless freely for all he aimeth at is that his grace may have the glory and be made glorious and the poorsinner may be saved and therefore whether they have any thing or nothing it is all one yea if there be any thing that the creature looks upon as his money the Lord Jesus is so far from taking it as a reward that there is nothing hinders him more then this it is one of the great diseases indeed of the soul this holy self that Jesus Christ cometh to heal poor sinners are full of sores wounds and bruises and putrifying sores full of corruption every one hath his bloody issue now our duties or holiness which sinners sometimes so much stand upon the Apostle thought them gain once they are but as the filthy clouts upon our sores that are â—ull of the runnings of our sores as menstruous cloaths defiled with our bloody issues we think to plaister our wounds with them to salve our consciences with a few duties but alas they come off like filthy clouts from running sores and are these a reward for the Lord Jesus When a Physician cometh to heal a person of the Plague O saith he I will reward you you shall not take all this pains with me for nothing you shall have the rags that come off my sores for your pains Is not the Physician much beholding to him think you So it is here we have nothing but such rags to give the Lord Jesus and alas they must be washed clean in
his blood our services healed as well as our souls before they be worth any thing therefore I say he himself freely prepareth the Lances to open the wounds convinceth the poor creature of his condition he himself takes the pains to open the vein to empty the creature of himself to cure him of that Plethory He it is tempereth the Physick is at the charge of it O the richest Cordials in the world tempered of his own blood and water by his own Spirit to support the poor creature when ready to faint he sitteth over his people even as a tender Father over a weak wounded childe and with what a heart you may imagine he provideth Messengers of his own to be with them to minister to them to watch over them and himself is alway at hand Ah dear Friends that ever the Lord Jesus should set so high esteem upon poor sinners when we were in such a loathsom condition as that he would dwell in flesh and take part of flesh and blood that so he might have somewhat to make a restorative of a healing medicine of that we might not perish one drop every drop of his most precious blood with respect to the value which the God-head put upon it is more then if a world of pearl could be decocted into a cordial and yet he spared it not that he should visit sinners with this salvation with his corrosives his cordials with his healing vertue and power and his heart so ready to put it forth from time to time this is unsearchable riches of grace to do all this freely Yea Eighthly and lastly it will appear in this that the Lord Jesus brings his heart full and his hands full of reward with him to a poor sinner so that he will be but healed you see foolish children when they have fallen and wounded themselves they must be hired to let the Father or the Chyrurgion heal it put a plaister upon it but cryeth out as undone had rather do any thing then be healed but alas who would do it to a stranger it may be thou seest a poor leprous creature lie languishing at thy gates and thou canst heal him but he is not willing either he is in love with his disease or distrusts your good will or faithfulness or something but he is not willing to be healed now where is there a heart so full of tenderness as to be willing to offer him a reward I will give thee thus much or thus much if thou wilt but let me heal thee for I pitty thy condition Brethren a King and his subjects fall out they rebel against the King in the war the subject is wounded even to the death except there be more then ordinary care taken of him now the King his heart relents he cometh to him in the prison and doth not upbraid him with his unkindness nor pride nor stubbornness but intreateth him he will give him leave to heal him that he will but suffer his wounds to be searched to be healed to be closed so that he may not perish he will pardon all that he hath done amiss begs of him to accept of him he will make him the second man in the Kingdom he shall be near to him if he will but suffer himself to be healed Is not this rich mercy indeed is there any such Paragon to be found Surely no but lo this is in Jesus Christ and more for he not only promiseth a reward upon our healing but maketh the poor creature willing also willing to part with his lusts and to speak the truth I take this to be the greatest part of our healing when a poor sinner that was in love with sin before loved his lusts as much as his life O his merry companions were as dear to him as his very eye or his right hand he could no more part with one then the other and so his gain of unrighteousness Now when the Lord by proposing of objects which have a great force but that is not all but by a sweet and yet powerful bowing of the heart maketh the poor creature willing to be healed so that now he cryeth out with Augustine How long Lord how long this man is in a great measure healed and this is the work and yet he rewardeth for this promiseth a Crown giveth grace and glory glory with himself fellowship with him to lye in his bosom to all eternity O here is unsearchable riches of grace Brethren I have only if so much brought you to the vein where these riches lie O that you would dig a little by serious contemplating upon it You will find more then I am able to speak Sixthly Another Use shall be this to warn us that we do not upon this score because that Jesus Christ will arise with healing under his wings upon poor sinners therefore to make bold with sin it is no great matter the healing vertue of Christ will be so much the more magnified O how desperate is this would you not think that man were out of his wits that upon presumption upon the skill and tenderness of the Physitian should without any care how or where wound himself and gash himself he hath a Physitian that will heal him you that dare be so bold to sin that grace may abound and make work for Jesus Christ know this this day you know not what the grace of Christ meaneth that make such a use of it how did this stir the Apostles spirit God forbid he doth as I may say recoil as a man startled at some horrid sight O the Lord forbid you should suck such poyson out of so sweet a flower This concerneth two sorts of persons First such as yet never knew what this healing vertue of Christ is only by the hearing of the ear they hear the Lord Jesus is able to heal the most desperate wounds and that he is willing and therefore they make bold to continue in sin they may go on to inflame the reckoning a little higher yet it is all one with Christ to pardon millions as mites to swallow up mountains as mole 〈…〉 it is true if thou respect his power but how dost thou know that he will do it for thee sinner or what hope hast thou or canst thou have while it is thus with thoe It s true if sinners do not sin away the day of grace he is willing but did ever Jesus Christ tell thee that thou shouldest be healed particularly though thou go on rebelling against him wound upon wound upon thy poor soul Surely no be not deceived sinners these are the insinuations of the wicked one this is such Gospel as the Devil preacheth when he preacheth Christ as an Angel of light but in the close you will find the Law instead of the Gospel such presumption and security usually endeth in dispair the time may come that you that make so little a matter of it may cry out and roar O your wounds you refused to be
sins pardoned and healed were back-slidings only thou must be content to endure something for the healing of those fearful wounds thou hast made in upon thy soul for there is no wound cured in a moment nor without any anguish and all that he laies upon thee is nothing the smart is nothing though the plaister lie long upon thee before it be healed to draw the sore to a head to break it to draw it to heal it there will be some time but he will heal thee poor sinner if he have made thee weary of this sin desirous of healing indeed And for you that are crying out of broken bones it may be there are some whose condition this is that do fear the Lord and obey the voice of his servants it is the greatest fear of thy soul to displease the Lord to grieve him happy soul with whom it is thus but thou art over-cast thou art clouded thou seest no light thy bones are broken thy spirit is wounded O who can bear a wounded spirit Be of good chear man remember this hath he not promised it that he will arise upon them that fear the Lord with healing in his wings he will heal those broken bones and the flesh wherein there is no soundness by reason of thy sins he will heal it and he is doing of it though thou art not sensible of it he pittyeth thee and knoweth how to pitty thee for himself was ecclipsed though the Son of righteousness that he might know how to pitty them that suffer in the like kind for the time to come he knoweth thy frame what thou canst bear and he will not let thee sink O thou of little faithâ— though he may fright thee as he did his Disciples the cloud will be over again only thou must wait for him he knoweth what it is to be without the light of his Fathers countenance as well as thou and he knoweth what thou canst bear therefore be not discouraged man and beside thou hast his promise for it only look to it that thou fear him that thou put not forth thy hand to iniquity that thou say not with that wicked King Why should I wait for the Lord any longer he that shall come will come in the best season When the mercy will be most sweet and seasonable himself may have most glory by it and thy soul most refreshing O but saith another I am not healed I doubt then for alas I find though haply I break not out as before to uncleanness actually yet I have eyes full of adultery still I find the dispositions and inclinations and yieldings of my heart strong to mine own iniquity still some to one and some to another â—or answer to this Is this thy burthen thy grief that it is so dost thou loath thy â—elf for it dost thou hate it wouldst thou fain have it rooted up thou art healed in the greatest part there is the core fetched up from the bottom though the wound be not altogether healed up it is the work of longer time then haply God hath been dealing with thy soul but be of good chear man lay thy self under the Sun of righteousness labour to improve the Covenant of grace wherein he shines most gloriously he hath promised he will circumcise thine heart and thou shalt be able to love the Lord with all thine heart and that he will subdue all iniquity for thee and see if he be not as good as his word in his own time which is the best time We have already endeavoured to open the main promise in this bundle and apply it with what advantage the Lord and your own hearts can tell you have heard at large that Jesus Christ is a Sun of righteousness and that he will ariâ—e with healing in his wings upon them that fear him So that there is Christ promised light and heat and healing reviving and quickning promised and through him And now we are come to speak to the liberty which is promised with Christ which is none of the least considerable Appendices of our justification through his blood and though you have not long since heard somewhat upon this subject however if you hear but the same things the Spirit of the Lord may breath where and when it pleaseth we may meet with him sometimes in hearing the same things that at another time he hath not been found in And ye shall go forth This is principally as I told you spoken to the Jew to the Jew first but also to the Gentile as all the Gospel promises they were first preached to the children of the Kingdom when the Gentiles were strangers from the Covenant of promises but now the Lord hath made them nigh in the blood of his Son that were afar off in Christ all the promises are Yea and Amen to them as well as to the Jews I told you at the first that we are not to confine promises made to times and persons except by unavoidable neceâ—sity where the matter promised is such and the promise such as can agree to no other time or person no persons or peoples condition can become like to theirs to whom the promise is made or are not capable of the thing promised as the promise of the Messiah to come of David and that in Abrahams seed all the Nations of the earth should be blessed c. therefore this is a promise concerning all the people of God as their conditions become alike yea all that fear the Lord in any of these senses we have already spoken to By going forth here some understand a going forth of this life or a going out of the grave which is a prison indeed to some though not properly so to the Saints but a place of repose until the appearing of Jesus Christ So Alap citing Tert. and Jer. the reason is because they took that which is spoken of the day of the Lord in the foregoing verse of the day of Judgement That day which should burn as an Oven but I do rather conceive that it is not meant of the day of the last Judgement but the day of the fearfull desolations of Jerusalem out of which yet the Lord did deliver and save his own people and the rather I conceive so because of the growing up like Calves of the Stall promised afterward now if that be the day there is no room then to grow any higher to spread any further but as the tree is cut down so it lies there is then in the words a promise of an inlargement from under restraint wherewith their spirits were bound up as I may say and were imprisoned and this we shall see I hope is very great only take here the note of observation from the words The Lord Jesus rising upon a soul brings inlargement to that soul or people ye shall go forth For the prosecution of this I shall propose this Method First give you the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the quod that it
of us free-born if any by nature should have been free-born surely the seed of Abrahâ—m according to the flesh but our Saviour tells them their liberty was but imaginary if the Son did make them free they should be free indeed this is the third Fourthly by tenure and usurpation there is a bondage also as we see it in the case of Israel in Egypt they were bond-men in Egypt and they made them serve a hard bondage it is called the house of bondage they made them serve with rigour so saith the text in all manner of service the design of the King being to weary them out by degrees and yet to advantage himself by their service while they were wearying out this was their wise dealing with them lest they should be too hard for them and truly of this nature is the bondage wherein the people of God themselves are in part though the Devil have no title to them the price being paid for them to the justice of the Father yet he as a tyrannical â—aylor loath to let them go and therefore he loads them with chains laies heavy temptations upon them and sin rageth to lose its servant and therefore tyrannizeth and the Law in the members carryeth captive to the Law of sin and this is one great grief to the poor child of God that though sin do not raign in their mortal bodies yet it tyrannizeth over them and with a strong hand many times holds them down so as that they are not able to stir hand nor foot but more of this afterwards Now for the parts of this bondage with which the parts of that liberty or freedom we are to speak of will run parallel We shall devide this bondage into these two general parts it is either to sin or else to the black concomitants which are very many we shall particularize some of them and thereby our liberty will the more plainly appear First then for sin it is clear we are in bondage to sin either totally or in part all of us by nature altogether in bondage for we are sold under sin and though it be true that sin is only a privation of good and disposition to evil and so properly cannot be said to rule over us yet by a prosopopeia we are said to be in bondage to it therefore we are said to be sold under sin sold under it and therefore in Scripture it is that sin is called an old man corrupt according to deceitful lusts and this old man it is that hath the poor sinner under his power and ruleth him with subtilty O they are deceitful lusts â—he counsels of sin the fetches and tricks and devices depths and methods of a sinful heart who knoweth Brethren he carryeth it so slily that many think themselves at liberty as free-men as any the world hath yea so free as to promise to others liberty and yet themselves in the mean time are the servants of sin and not only so but theâ—â— are Laws of sin which carry a strength with them and the poor creature under them must obey them and these Laws are nothing else but the wills of the flesh as the Apostle calls them an arbitray government here beginneth and takes it rise Hoc volo sic jubeo c. saith the imperious person If a sinner begin to question what reason there is in such an act he is prompted to sin bloweth out the candle hoc volo c. let my will be a reason I will have it so So many lusts so many wills and is it not a bondage to be under these Ye were saith the Apostle the servants of sin but now ye have obeyed from the heart the form of Doctrine delivered unto you and so in several other places whosoever committeth sin saith our Saviour is the servant of sin You talk of being Abrahams seed and never being in bondage this is nothing to my purpose I speak of a bondage to sin and he that commits it is the servant of it he that works it industriously is a drudge to his lusts as alas how many of us are and he that curiously works it is an Artist O with what art can some mon lye and cheat and cozen and play the hypocrites these are the servants of sin O when one fulfills the lusts of the flesh and of the mind maketh provision for the flesh to satisfie the lusts thereof This man is a servant of sin the lusts of the flesh the lust of the eye the pride of life the love of profits the love of pleasures and the love of pride when men give themselves up to satisfie these study their lusts how to fulfill them this is a bondage under sin with a witness Now blessed be the Lord the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath delivered us as many as believe from this bondage so the Apostle breaks out pathetically Thanks be to God that ye were the servants of sin but ye have obeyed from the heart the form of Doctrine delivered unto you now saith he being made free from sin ye became the servants of righteousness and this is set forth by our death to sin ye are dead saith the Apostle to the Col. and your life is hid with Christ in God now death puts an end to all bondage 〈◊〉 as Job speaking of it the small and great are there in the grave and the servant is free from his Master A woman saith the Apostle speaking of sin of the Law with respect to sin as afterward we shall speak somewhat she is bound to her husband as long as he liveth but if he be dead then she is free So it is in this case death breaks all the iron yoaks and brazen gates therefore saith the Apostle he that is dead is freed from sin not as the vulgar and some read is justified as if our justification and sanctification were confounded for here the Apostle is speaking of our Sanctification or the death of sin crucifying the old man of being buried with Christ in body and so dead to sin now saith he he that is dead is free from sin the Con. is comprehended in the Antecedent he is freed actually from sin Sin shall not have dominion over you saith the Apostle no iniquity shall have dominion over you Thus believers are freed from sin whereas before we were under a cruel bondage you that have experience of this liberty what it is to be freed from your former lusts which you served foolish and hurtful lusts the Lord teach you to prize it But secondly now for the Con. of this bondage to sin there are many and very dreadful which every poor sinner is under which are also as parts of this bondage First then hence it is that we are in bondage unto Satan that we are under his power that we are in bondage by nature to him as the Jaylor it is clear the Spirit that now
sin but it prevails not to for sake it O no if any of all this would have done it what need the Lord Jesus then be annointed for that work to preach deliverance to the captives and the opening of the prison doors to them that are bound surely the Lord would do no nothing in vain but so much for this Application Then it may teach us the vanity of all conceit of liberty or freedom or going forth before the Lord Jesus come and shine upon a mans soul then they shall go forth not before what is the reason that the most of men can satisfie themselves with their condition as they do but they have some conceit they are at liberty were sinners perswaded that they are under the dominion of sin and Satan c. could they eat or drink or sleep what a fearful thing would we think it if the Devil had but power over our bodies to carry them whither he pleased to shatter and shake them at his pleasure but what is this to the having power over the soul over the will the affections the mind by keeping them in blindness and yet sinners do not believe they are in such a bondage but think they are free nor do I think there is any one thing doth keep more poor creatures in bondage then this they think they are free but let us see a little the vanity of such conceits First Some are so gross as to think they are born free when as you heard before We are born the children of wrath we are all born in the house of bondage in the Prison House and therefore we as well as our Parents are under bondage Can a slave bring forth any other then a slave If many of us look to the Rock whence we are hewen as the Prophet speaks we shall find that our very Parents were the servants of sin and it may be lived and died so and what then were they the slaves to Satan and can we be Christ his Free-men by Birth It cannot be surely It is very strange that men that know their Parents to be loose wicked prophane earthly carnal crearuâ—es that yet should bear up themselves with this priviledge they are born free they are Christians by birth such men little know what goeth to make a Christian can the bond-woman bring forth children that are free Secondly Others have a fairer pretence for it then this they think they are free by birth because they had faithful believing parents we have Abraham to our Father and we being his seed how can we be in bondage I must confefs Brethren this is something to me for as Satan hath servants born in his house in his kingdom so the Lord Jesus hath in his if bond-men were born bond-men and servants were born in the house then God hath servants also born to him and his servants are free in that sense that they are his servants and therefore it is remarkable in that of Leviticus they must let their servants go free and their children also for they are my servants saith the Lord whom I brought out of Egypt which was a Type of our spiritual bondage mind you the Lord calls them his servants his children as well as others only note here two or three things for the clearing of it First that this is by grace and not by nature for by nature and natural generation no man can beget nor woman bring forth any child that is free no though they themselves through the riches of grace are made free yet their children by nature are the children of wrath as well as others yea though they belong to the Election of grace and be saved whether they die in infancy or come to the acknowledgment of the truth and believe as the Apostle did yet by nature they are the children of wrath a sad condition our poor children are in by nature if parents did but well lay it to heart but what then doth this hinder but that by grace they may be free though by nature they are bound as the Apostle himself by nature was a child of wrath under the curse of the Law that is to say and in bondage but by grace he was free and why might not the Lord by grace make him free sooner if he pleased as well as later is it not all one with him can he not make children free as well as men if he please are not men purely receptives in the first grace and are not children as passive and receptive as any But secondly there is a freedom invisible and saving and a freedom visible and both by grace the freedom invisible when a soul is actually set at liberty from the power of sin and the bondage of his corruptions or else visible when there is ground for our judging they are so freed now many are visibly free that are not invisibly free at all so there is many an hypocritical professor that carries it so like a free-man of Christ that it would puzzle the most discernable spirit to discover that he is under the bondage of sin or Satan and yet he is so invisibly haply but visibly he is free that is to say appears to be so appears to be in Covenant with God for that is the freedom therefore where-ever Christ is spoken of as to preach liberty it is said still he is given as a Covenant to the people so many appear to be in Covenant and so visibly are such that invisibly are not and so the children of such holy parents who are in Covenant with God are visibly free though invisibly they may be in bondage that is to say they are in visibly in Covenant with God that is to say we have ground to judge charitably and hopefully of them that they are in Covenant with God and if they so die that they are â—aved by vertue of that Covenant there which for my own part I know no other revealed way of salvation and therefore if we deny them this we must either say there is no grounded hope of their salvation and I would be loath to be such a durus pater infanâ—um to deny all visibility of salvation to them Or else we must say the Lord hath left nothing upon record whereby we might have any comfort concerning little ones that die in that condition which what an impeachment it were to the wisdom grace of God in Christ I wish men would impartially consider And if they will say they may be saved can it be without the invisible grace have they not corrupt natures and the seeds of all sin in them and can any unclean thing enter into heaven and therefore sure they must be freed from sin and will we grant them the invisible grace that they come under that which is narrower and shall we deny them that which is larger would you think that man himself that should yield that a man may be in the Kings bed-Chamber but he may
use of indifferent things they scruple not any thing as clean or unclean in meats or clothes or days make no difference at all and hereupon they make account they are free whereas this may stand with a bondage unto sin notwithstanding O how may such men in the very use of this part of their liberty enslave themselves to sin to their lusts it is but a pretence many times their liberty is they wil use the creatures liberally and without scruplicity and nicety will nor suffer their consciences to be coy or tickle in such smal things wherein they have a liberâ—y whereas the very truth is they have no command of their Lusts nor Appetites and then liberty is the cloak of it they are so impotent they cannot forbear meat or drinks or such such rich apparel as is a question whether it become them or no they are brought under the power of these things and yet liberty is the pretence Surely brethren this is not to be free neither so much for this second Use whereby we may perceive how many of us that it may be think we were â—ree are yet in bondage to this day these mis-conceits of freedom set us not free a Prisoner dreams his chains are fallen off and he walks up and down at liberty but when he awakes alas his bonds are upon him still Seventhly No nor yet is every one that doth endeavour to fulfill the Law of God yet set free there is many a diligent soul very industrious and laborious it may be and as they think for heaven that would put the most of us to shame in this point and yet all this while alas they are working in their fetters in their bonds yea they do twist and work bonds they are held in the cords of their own services stick there and never go further these are not free neither it is not Moses any more then Abraham that can make free it must be the Son must do it yea truly for my own part I take it that these poor souls that are under the Law as a Covenant of life are in the most dangerous condition for alas they are in love with their bondage and so much the more because they take it for freedom A man is in love with his Fetters because they are gold he maketh account they will buy his freedom when he pleaseth when any offers to take them away what would you have me to part with my gold O no And so many a poor creature is in love with a Sepulchre full of rottenness and dead mens bones because it is painted and garnished how hard a matter is it to perswade many a Justitiary among us that he is in such a bondage and stands in need of this great power of Christ to make them free c. Well then do we move as heartless Christians do like Watches with outward motion come duties from us like fire from a Flint alas do we what we do by constraint or of a willing mind are we a free people is love our constraint as the Apostle 2 Cor. 5. c. 3. Vse Shall be then to take notice what an incomparable benefit the Gospel is that brings such glad tidings unto poor souls in bondage in prison Brethren do but imagine how welcom tidings it would be to a company of poor Gally slaves to tell them your Prince hath laid down your ransom for you and hath sent to proclaim Liberty to you if you will go forth O how their hearts would leap within them for joy they could hardly believe it at first but would be like them that dreamed there in the Psalms but when they come to themselves surely they would rejoyce more in it then if they had found great spoils you have heard it is the Gospel preached whereby this Liberty is held out yea and conveyed for the truth shall make you free and now to a man that is in love with the prison and not willing to come out the tenderings of Liberty is not so much but he that is weary of the nastiness of the Prison of the weight of his chains he whose spirit is overwhelmed with the pre-apprehensions of his condemnation and it may be never expected to come out of his prison except to be led to Sentence or to the Execution now for Liberty to be proclaimed to such and freely too O what a benefit is here Brethren if it were not for this Gospel of glorious Liberty what were the world but a prison a dungeon full of poor miserable Caitiffs shut up under sin to the revelation of the righteous judgement of God at the great Day it were better for us to die assoon as we are born were it not for this Gospel What miserable comforts were our Riches our Honours our Friends and Relations were it not for this Gospel A man in prison liable to condemnation under Bolts and Shakels tell him of wearing soft rayment or Royal dainties faring deliciously every day alas it goeth not down with him he is a prisoner in bondage nothing can be pleasing to him it deadens his heart his rellish to all things else liberty would be a sweet welcom message to him Brethren this is the tidings of the Gospel 4. Vse See here and admire the riches of this Grace of the Gospel in Jesus Christ that he should proclaim Liberty to the Captives notwithstanding their wilfulness in throwing themselves into these chains their willingness to continue in them and unwillingness to go forth to go out of them notwithstanding their being worn out as I may say and spent in this bondage so that they can very little be serviceable to him For the first of the aggravations of the bondage which tends to heighten the freedom and deliverance from it that we wilfully plunged our selves into it if a man be taken captive by the Turk against his will we pitty him much but if he wilfully throw himself upon them this takes away much of the compassion yet this is our case did not Adam sell us in the first transgression in which respect we are all to this day sold under sin yea more then so alas what sinner is there almost that liveth to any years but he sells himself with prophane Esau sells his soul and his hope of heaven and all for a Mess of pottage for a little moments satisfaction to his lusts Nay do we not all subscribe to that act of selling us under sin when we so willingly imbrace our chains In so much that some do even wear their chains as their ornaments glorying in their shame that is to say making their boast of their wickedness And that yet notwithstanding when no eye pittied poor sinners in this condition they themselves were so far from pittying themselves that they were pleased with the prison all men in the like condition with themselves cannot pity them the Saints alas want bowels to such as willingly are in bondage that yet
trifle away one Sabbath wherein this grace is offered for fear that it never be offered more to us If the Servant did neglect to take the opportunity of the Jubilee he must be in bondage he and his until another Jubilee and so he himself was like to perish in that service There were only three things that did hinder their going free in that acceptable year 1. Either they were strangers and of the cursed Canaanites who were doomed to bondage now there was no going forth for them Or else 2. The Matters would not let them go free Or else 3. They themselves had no minde to go free and so bound themselves for ever to their Masters First I say The Strangers alas the Jubilee was not proclaimed to them and therefore though they might he willing to go free yet they could not they were as good never think of it it concerneth them not and the Masters knowing this would never let them go free surely this is not our case though the time was when we were sinners of the Gentiles and afar off and the year of Jubilee was not proclaimed to us yea the Lord Jesus forbid his disciples to go into the way of the Gentiles If this were our case then there were some excuse for our continuing in bondage and thus it is with many a poor people under the Sun this day the Lord Christ hath never said to them that sit in darkness go forth else haply Tyre and Zidon would have done it sooner then Coraz and Bethsaida Secondly then the unwillingness of him to whom we are in bondage to let us go free it is true sin is unwilling to let the sinner go alas how shall lust be satisfied and served then And so is Satan as long as ever he can he will hold his hold but doth not the Lord threaten the hard hearted Jews since they would not let his people go out of bondage that he would proclaim a Liberty to them to the sword and to the famine and to the pestilence Pharaoh was very loth to let Israel go as long as he had a being therefore he was destroyed And so sin and Satan they will not let the sinner go O how a mans lusts do cling about him then when he should go free what will ye forsake me now have I not brought you in so much content so many sweet hours you have had of repose in my lap so much gain and advantage have you not lived by me and will you now leave me these will stratle the soul and then for Satan either he multiplyeth his baits maketh the best of every thing in the way of sin that now beginneth to be laid open to find colours and glosses to put upon them or else he rageth and tells the soul thou go free dost thou think that now thou hast served sin so long Jesus Christ will accept of thee and indeed all that his wit or power can do he bestirreth himself now he seeth his kingdom going down and his yoak breaking I but remember this that the Lord will break him to pieces tread him under-feet if he refuse to let you go the Lord will pluck you out of his hands destroy his power Thirdly Our own unwillingness for if the servant said he loved his Master and his Masters service and he would not go free then the Jubilee served him in no stead he must have his ear bored to the door-post by the Magistrate and so be his servant for ever either this might be as a punishment of his contempt of liberty now he might have liberty which is rather to be chosen as the Apostle saith and the Lord out of a tender respect to them as his people that he hath bought out of bondage would not have them kept in bondage by their Brethren Now if he would not go free but loved his Master so well that he preferred his service before freedom he should have this torment and publike shame to be bored through the ear And I tell you Brethren it will not be the piercing of the ear that shall be the recompence of your refusing of this liberty but the piercing of your hearts as with a sword when you come to see what your bondage will bring you unto or else secondly That now they must never go out of their Masters doors without his leave the servitude must be stricter then ever it was and so truly I do believe Brethren that now where the acceptable year of the Lord is preached to sinners they have liberty offered and they will not accept of it that now they are more fully under the command of Satâ—n and sin then they were before Thirdly that hereby might be signified the willingness of their service for the time to come that they had as I may say their ears opened now to what ever their Master should command them and so in that Psalm Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not but mine ear hast thou bored or digged so the words may be read that is to say thou hast made me willingly obedient to thee to the death that obedience is better then sacrifice and truly this is the saddest of all the rest when men shall give up themselves with a fuller will to serve Sin and Satan then ever they did before in steaâ— of going forth O let us fear and tremble before the Lord lest while liberty is proclaimed we in stead of going forth be bored in the ear and become Satans servants for ever never go forth from our bondage Again Consider yet further that the day if liberty is proclaimed it is the day of the vengeance of our God also as the Prophet hath it as if he had said if it be not a day of liberty and of going forth to you it will be a day of vengeance to you as well as to the enemies of Christ for what desperate love is this to sin against Christ that when he hath been at so much pains and cost to purchase a liberty for us and we refuse and reject it will not part with our chains will rather rot in prison then come forth what can be expected but wrath to the utmost to come upon such a soul O surely the Gospel will be the savour of death to death to such a soul a savour of bondage to bondage and everlastâ—ng chains of darkness will be their bonds for ever Brethren think of this before the prison doors be shut and barred before you be sealed up unto this destruction Lastly Consider how sweet and precious Liberty is even civel libetty how sweet a thing it is else men would never expend so much treasure and blood as we have done for it Ah this is nothing to a freedom from sin and from other bondages which arise upon sin unto the soul Ask but any poor creature that is newly come out of the dungeon out of the horrible pit where there was no standing will they not
tell you that liberty is sweet it is not to be expressed If Paul had not been free he had had many a lash by those cruel tyrants If the soul be not free it is liable to perish to be whipped to death to eternal death with Scorpions ask but any of the people of God who have been wearied and almost worried with their lusts O the iron entered into their soul they did sit in darkness in the dungeon many a sad day and hour and at last Out of the depths they have called to the Lord he hath set them free O what an Heaven upon Earth they found it when they have been delivered in any measure from this bondage what would they take to be in the same condition again specially under the command of their lusts not all the world brethren the Lord perswade your hearts now now while it is to be had before you be called for out of prison to the judgement that you may go forth and enjoy this glorious liberty O but you would say Alas what should we do in this case we are convinced it may be some poor soul maâ— say of himself that this is a miserable bondage we are in even by sin and the consequents of it and we would fain be set free but we know not which way to go about it we are in a maze a wilderness a labyrinth a duâ—geon we grope and grope and cannot find the way out O what shall we do it may be this may be the case of some of our souls I will tell you what you shall do First Deny your own policy and wisdom know they will not set you free Judas had much knowledge and yet he hanged himself you will rather by depth of reasonings plunge your selves deeper the Gospel is foolishness to them through the pride in their carnal knowledge Secondly Labour to know the Gospel in its tenor and to close with it to believe it you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free truth truly known will set a soul free this truth is the truth of the Gospel for Grace and Truth come by Jesus Christ and it is observable that they are both put together Sanctifie them with thy Truth saith our Saviour thy Word is Truth There are three things here considerable First That there must be a through acquaintance with the bondage that we are under and the better condition of service how much the service of Christ is to be preferred before that of Satan for the truth is while a man knoweth no better he will be content to serve the worse there is never a sinner under the dominion of sin but thinketh he is the freest man and the people of God that are bound up in their Spirits to such a strict way of walking with God he thinketh they are the men in bondage but alas it is because he understandeth not his own condition nor is it a slight hint of such a thing that will usually prevail to a freedom from all sin therefore you must labour to study what this bondage is see what thou art exposed to by reason of it and see what a prfect freedom the service of Christ is O what great reward there is in the very keeping of his Commandments joy is such an inseparable attendant upon obedience that some measure of it followeth every good action as the very heathens themselves acknowledged much more then when the Lord Jesus is the Master and his service the work Secondly Thou must be acquainted with the commands of Christ his precepts are pure and they have an influence upon the heart that believeth them to bring him out of that bondage to set him free I do believe nothing more keepeth many a soul in bondage he knoweth not what the will of Christ is in such or such a particular else he would do it Be acquainted with Christ the summe of the Gospel you shall know the truth that is to say what he hath done to set poor creatures free became a servant obedient to the death was in bondage in prison in the horrible pit how he was put to it to overcome c. Thirdly and principally thou must be acquainted with the promises of the Gospel that are made to this end it is their excellency to help forward our freedom this part of the truth well known so known as to be closed with will make every poor creature free ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free and so this in the text the Sun of righteousness shall arise upon you with healing in his wings and ye shall go forth and so many other places sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under Grace It is the very tenure of the Covenant and of the promises in Scripture that he will deliver his people save them from all their uncleannesses and subdue all iniquities for them yea though they work iniquity with both hands Vers 3. Either we know not these things or else we make not use of them we act not faith upon them the Lord doth love to have his people use the importunity of faith for nothing is so importunate as faith nor offers as I may say such violence to heaven as that doth O Brethren the Lord help our unbelief and forgive our neglect of our faith in this point if thou canst act it but weakly yet put forth some act of faith hang upon these promises tell the Lord he hath caused thee to hope upon this his Word else thou couldest not hope and thou dost hope in this Word else thy heart would altogether sink within thee and will he now make thee ashamed of his hope hath his promise ever failed a poor creature and will it now fail thee But beside this dost thou find thy heart moved made willing indeed to part with sin Art thou in good earnest in this business O yes saith the poor soul I would rather then my life be set at liberty for what good will my life do me if I must continually serve sin and grieve such bowels of love towards me in Jesus Christ have you searched do you know your hearts in this point it may be thou hast not that heed of trusting thy heart further then thou seest it it will deceive thee then but if thou hast searched it and beg'd of God to search it and thou dost not find but he hath through infinite riches of grace made thee willing to come out if thou couldst tell how I tell you Brethren if this be so the chains are fallen off from your hands and the bolts from your legs your freedom is in a great part accomplished only thou canst not find the way out of the prison O then follow Christ follow his Spirit when he moveth thy heart at any time to search and try maketh thee tender puts thee into a frame to bewail the evils of thy heart take
more that spirit then dwells in the heart which is his contrary principle lusting against the flesh the more the flesh must needs go down in a soul But the end is that will make up all O the reward will be according to our works when a man is rich towards God hath been faithful in a little faithful in a great deal hath laid up a good foundation against the time to come O how shall such shine in glory Me thinks our eyes should be a little forward the eye of faith as well as altogether backward to Christ and what he hath done for us to what he hath prepared for us and therefore he himself proposeth himself as a pattern to us in this very respect looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith having laid aside every weight being set free from this bondage then run looking to Jesus the Author of our Faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despised the shame endured the clouding of his Fathers face from him that was the weight that made him hang the head it is the proposing of the end that sweetens the means health that is aimed at how it sugars many a bitter potion a man will endure any thing in such a case Well though we may have much ado with our froward and backsliding hearts and be many times wearied with them yet give not over but run work and so work as men set at liberty not in chains chearfully and strongly upon all the former considerations and this will be a right use of our liberty indeed Fifthly Then be not brought under bondage unto men that is to say to have our consciences inslaved either through the fear of men or favour of men surely if the Spirit of Christ be in us as it is if we be his it will free and make us go forth from this bondage You have seen it in all experiences when they threatned the Apostles commanded them they should not preach in that name the Spirit that was in them did break all those bonds though it taught them 〈…〉 ot to rebell to be tumultuous for it is pure and then peaceable the wisdom that is from this Spirit yet it taught them not to regard it whether it be fit to obey God or man judge ye they rejoyced the more that they were accounted worthy to suffer for Christ this wind that bloweth where it listeth it bears down all opposition there is no resisting of that Spirit that speaks and acts in them See the Martyrs how it did triumph over their adversaries they overcame their cruelty by the invincible patience and yielding their bodies to a torment rather then their consciences to the cruel commands of sinners which tend to their wounding Was there ever such a slave as Canaan a servant of servants shall he be when another man a great person is a servant to sin and thou for advantage or fear art a slave to him is not this to be a servant of servants to have this curse upon thy soul in the highest degree to be a slave to a slave is the deepest slavery that can be imagined Therefore take heed lest such a bondage creep upon us at unawares for our hearts are deceitful take heed of sinful compliances with the prevailing evils of the times for advantage this is to be a slave to men and to humours and not to be free-men to Jesus Christ But if you would stand fast in this liberty in all these respects then truly we must see to it that we do not grieve the holy Spirit of Jesus Christ for this is the principle of our liberty where the Spirit of Christ is there is liberty and according to the proportion of his presence with and working in any heart is the liberty and freedom of that soul he first works liberty knocks off the bolts of the soul pulls out of the horrible pit he only answers our doubts satisfieth the soul that is in bondage by witnessing love to the soul by applying the blood of Jesus Christ to the soul this the Spirit doth and he only establisheth the soul in this liberty establish me with thy free Spirit indeed somewhat else may loosen a man as to the outward practise from sin but the Spirit only can loosen the heart from sin and only can dissolve the sodering of corrupt affections whereby our hearts and their sinful objects are sodered and glued together and then the heart is broken from sin as well as for sin nor can any thing else keep up the soul in the enjoyment of that liberty by this Spirit and therefore if we would keep up and maintain our spiritual liberty we must be sure to keep in with the Spirit if we grieve him he will grieve us and leave us to fight with our own strength and fall under sin and so come to bondage again in part to the grief and wounding of our spirits some of us alas it may be thought once we had been free but have been brought into bondage again and held under the power of sin in terrours we are ready to wonder when the lusts we thought had been dead and buried do rise up again captive us to them but wonder not at it for how often is this holy Spirit grieved by us which is the principle of our liberty if we consider this well it will put an end to our admiration if we would keep our liberty not return to bondage grieve not the Spirit First he is grieved when he is neglected and slighted his motions to put us on to such a duty we shift and shuffle and make one excuse or another and will not do it either to set upon a duty we never performed or to do it in another manner then we have done at another time this grieveth him as for instance he puts us on to reprove our Brother for a sin not to suffer sin to lie upon him and we smother it we think it more offendeth another then us or else it is an unthankful office it is the way to lose a friend to be accounted a busie-body we see that men for the most part cannot bear a reproof but they will snarl at least if they do not turn and rent us and bear us upon their backs And therefore we neglect our duty and so for any other now alas how often are we guilty in this kind Secondly Take heed of all impurity uncleanness for he is a pure holy Spirit and will lie clean he cannot endure a nasty place this will grieve him if it be pollution of the flesh or pollution of the spirit if harboured in the heart it will grieve the Spirit and then as a man grieved he departeth that is his grieving indeed properly he is not grieved God is not subject to any passion or fears or sorrows c. because all things are alway present with him he seeth what we would be before he had to do
worse as the Apostle saith evil men and seducers grow worse and indeed we must know this Brethren we do grow either better or worse as haply afterward we shall have occasion to speak to at large either the house of David groweth stronger or the house of Saul either the flesh or the spirit prevails in the hearts of the people of God there are two sorts of persons whose condition is under this consideration First Such as have profest the name of Jesus Christ and yet alas though they were green for a while now their leaf is fallen their light is gone out they are fallen from their place of standing among the Saints in appearance never was there an age more fruitful in such barrenness then this is alas like a Fir-tree shaken with the wind they lose their fruit yea are turned up by the roots and now are become as a dry stick fit for nothing but to burn the latter end of such men is worse then their beginning they are trees twice dead not only dead by nature but have lost their profession which was a visible life whereby they did appear to men to be alive and is there any hope of such a tree living again truly Brethren very little I have oberved it and I wish I could look upon it with a more trembling heart that such men as these grow worse fall off and decline they are the saddest hard-hearted desperate prophane wretches afterward or the most besotted worldlings and seldom are they recovered I know not whether I may speak to any such at this time I hope the best things of you if there be any such let me tell thee thou art in a more dangerous condition then those that never knew God to this day Secondly Such as never yet had appearance of being planted into Jesus Christ and so no growth in them but are yet in their naturals know this day you are growing worse and worse the Gospel doth not return in vain you are worse every day then other every Sermon then other the Gospel is a savour of death to death to you as there is nothing doth condemn sinners like to the Gospel rejected so nothing doth harden sinners more then the Gospel and those precious promises which men give the hearing to day by day but alas that is all Isaiah the most Evangelical Prophet he cometh with a make you the ears of this people heavy that hearing they might hear and not perceive If the Son be not kissed when he is offered to sinners but they turn their backs upon him he will be angry if the more worthy person be suitor and be denyed and slighted and the heel lift up against him will not this provoke him think you surely it will therefore God doth usually give up such to a reprobate mind yea even for despising the light of nature much more the Gospel and giveth them up to hardness of heart you shall ordinarily see where the Gospel cometh at the first among a people it works more mightily then afterward at first though men are prophane yet they have not had the Sun-shine to harden the Clay into a Brick the Word of God this Gospel and means of growth it is as fire the coals of love and either they do melt or else burn sinners into stones and bricks and sear their consciences that they are even past feeling hence it is we have so many desperately wicked persons among us O how sad a condition is this Brethren to be growing worse and worse under the greatest mercy and love that the Lord manifesteth to any Sinners in good earnest do you think it is the way to heaven to grow worse and worse or the way to the Chambers of death Thou knowest thy self to be a more desperate prophane wretch then formerly making no conscience of that which heretofore thy soul it may be hath trembled at now it goeth down without regret or else if not in open prophaneness if thou meltest away in secret wickedness that no eye takes notice of and art worse and worse what will the end of these things be the Saints that grow they grow up into the likeness and image and glory of Christ they grow up into him and thou growest up into the likeness of the Devil up in t 〈…〉 im What will become of you O that sinners would but lay these things to heart if heretofore thou wast overtaken with a sin it may be it was some trouble to thee now thou wilt work the works of the Devil thy will is ingaged and so much the more haynous the sin is what can you expect Brethren O that God would open sinners eyes that they might but see whether they are going what they are doing and they could but consider what bitterness this will be in the latter end to grow worse and worse The next Vse shall be then Brethren to take an account of our selves whether we grow or go backward yea or no this is not the work of every day Brethren for it will hardly be discernable if we daily should put our selves to the tryal we should do nothing else it would eat up that time and those endeavours to grow which ought to be laid out upon it that so it may afterward appear a man that should spend every day in casting up his whole Books to see how he groweth in his estate would hâ—nder himself of those endeavours to thrive that must be used else he cannot thrive besides this growth is not the work of a day usually though sometimes it may be so but of moneths or a year or so if a man should sit by his tree or set his eye upon his child to behold his motion or growth he would lose his labour it is better seen afterward as in another place afterward shall be spoken besides if we should daily judge of our growth and try it alas what inconstant judgements should we make of our condition for some daies we are up and some daies down it may be some daies under the power of a temptation and other daies set at liberty from them sometimes the Merchant maketh a losing bargain sometimes a winning sometimes his cash cometh in and sometimes he is all in disbursments therefore he must not he cannot judge of his estate whether he prosper or thrive by this or that day but after a while he should look to it cast up his Books see how it standeth Brethren it is impossible to perswade a Merchant except he be Bankrupt and knoweth it is so and therefore hath no mind to look upon his misery else I say you cannot perswade a Merchant but he will take his set times for perusing his Books casting up his accounts and not let it run too long neither for fear of the worst and if any should advise him to the contrary he would take him to be his enemy suspect him for one that would undo him and yet alas how easie
thee yet wave all come clearly off it and alone cast thy self upon the waters commit thy self to the deep where no bottom is to be felt this is growing in the root indeed Thirdly In humility this is another which indeed doth follow upon the other and must needs do so for nothing emptyeth more then faith nothing layeth the soul lower and indeed this is the prospering grace of the soul that soul that is lifted up as the Prophet saith is not right within him Learn of me saith our Saviour for I am meek and lowly O when the soul is thus low then it is hungry and thirsty and poor in Spirit and then it sucks from the Lord Jesus then a taste of his love is sweet to the soul then the Spirit being ready to yield to God in every thing to do all his will God is ready to yield to the soul in every thing that he requireth agreeable to his will how do we grow in humility Brethren examine this it is the first and second and third and every step of Jacobs Ladder dost thou find that whereas thou wast wont to over-look and undervalue in comparison of thy self now rather thou thinkest in good earnest that every one fearing God is better then thy self because of the vileness of thine own heart thou seest before thou couldst not bear a reproof but if thou didst not turn and all to rent him that reproved thee though with never so much mildness yet thou wouldst snarl and quarrel and be ready to cast as much as that came to into his own teeth that reproved thee now if thou be reproved thou hast nothing to say but fearest thy heart it may be too true of thee now it is welcome thou lovest them that reprove thee so much the more Brethren it may be heretofore you would be apt to complain of your selves and of your own vileness and make sad mone and yet if another speak but an ill word of you yea if they speak no more of you then you deserve you could not bear it now if they speak ill of you art thou ready to lay thy hand upon thy mouth sure the Lord hath bid them speak evil and there is cause enough for it and they cannot say worse of me then I am O here is a growth in humility before thou wert ready to envy every one that had more gifts or more grace more of the hearts of Gods people then thy self now thou art ready to say with Moses enviest thou for my sake thou canst sweetly submit to his disposal of thee the least thou hast is more then thou deservest O this is that which obtains much of the Lord when thy heart is in such a frame it is fit to receive so Jacob he was less then the least of his mercies it was an argument wherewith he pleaded with the Lord thou art content to be any thing though in never so mean a degree of service to him so be he will be but thy Father and own thee if thou mayst not be with him in the transfiguration upon the mount if thou mayst be but a Disciple if thou mayst not get within the cloud with Moses nor be a Benjamin yet if thou mayst be a Son and a Subject though no Favourite this is that thou art contented with O here is a growth Brethren search and try are we come to this pitch or how far are we gone herein is it better with us then it hath been in this respect But then secondly we must try whether we grow upward yea or no as well as downward and this I shall consider according to the chief faculties of the soul the mind and the will and speak somewhat to each of them And first for the mind the understanding 1. Do you find Brethren that you grow and increase in the knowledge of his will that the darkness that is upon your hearts naturally doth vanish by any degrees do you find the vail doth wear thinner that was upon your hearts that you begin to behold the Lord Jesus with a more open face then before time was when you were babes in understanding are you new men and women or are you past the state of babes Alas I doubt if the treasuries of our hearts were laid open we should find them very empty of this heavenly knowledge how few can bring out of their treasuries both new and old This will appear in these two things specially First if you be apt to be tossed up and down with every wind of Doctrine and are not-stablished in the present truth but your minds are floating and hovering and ready to settle upon any thing that is presented to you though contrary to what you have received it is a sign that you are but children in understanding how easie is it to deceive children to put upon them Counters instead of Gold to make them part with the one for the other and how easie is it to lead captive silly-women as the Apostle calls them that are ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth a weak eye that cannot discern between things that differ hath not his senses exercised to discern it is very easie to put one thing upon them for another truly Brethren these times have the name for times of great light and greater knowledge then there was before and I do believe that knowledge shall encrease by going too and fro but yet for all that mens eyes are very weak they cannot discern between light and darkness but put darkness for light for what is the ground of all errour is it not the ignorance of the Scripture and the power of God and was there ever any times more fruitful in errour then these are Alas Brethren what strangers are many of us to the very principles of Religion if examined in them that pretend to such high discoveries and revelations of Christ in our times such have need of milk and not of strong meat the wisdom of God in a mysterie is a riddle to them the Apostle spake it to them that were perfect that is to say grown men and women in opposition to babes Well then look to it if you find your selves easie to be shaken to turn with every wind of Doctrine like a weather-cock it argues you are but children but babes you may perswade a child to any thing to be of twenty minds in an hour because alas he hath no sound well-grounded knowledge of any thing you may perswade him to part with his meat his drink for a toy or by some pretended loathsomness in it that is not and so it is with poor weak ignorant souls how do we see many cheated out of Ordinances out of duties out of close walkings with God as things of no moment by the cunning craftiness of them who lie in wait to deceive It is a sad thing to see persons that should be of greater knowledge then
our selves with a hope-well which we ought not to do we should strive to this of Thomas My Lord my God my beloved is mine and I am his canst thou say so upon good grounds thou mayst be a justified and a sanctified person which is done by the direct act of faith which is acted upon the Word of Promise and Christ in that Promise which the poor soul doth close with taking Christ for better for worse but now this is by the reflect act of faith and is grounded upon experience of our own condition ordinarily I see I feel that I do believe that I have chosen the Lord Jesus for my portion and therefore he is mine and I am his I have many sealings of his love to me many kisses of his lips it is given to me to believe to be upright with him I can approve my soul to him as Peter Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee thus the soul by laying up those experiences that it hath of God and laying them together doth from all come through grace to be able to conclude that the Lord Jesus is his to a full assurance of hope and faith and what an heaven upon earth is this Well labour after it though your conditions may be safe without it yet not so comfortable to your selves nor so honourable to him nor so profitable likely to others all which considerations if well weighed and improved I presume are motives enough to it You have the first thing in this general Exhortation and that is wherein we are to labour to grow and increase Now for the Motives in a few particulars and truly the first shall be that in the very Text we must labour for it because he hath promised it therefore we must pray for it and use all other means for prayer is one as afterward we shall speak God had promised he would bring Israel into Canaan but they must fight for it first to dispossess the Canaanites and so he promiseth health and strength to his people as choice mercies but they must eat and drink and use Physick as often as occasion serveth and it is an encouragement so to do because God hath promised us those things so far as good for us therefore use the means he promiseth fruitfulness to the earth what shall the plough-man therefore cast the plough in the hedge and never strike stroak it is true if God bid them stand still and only see the salvation of God it is somewhat else they must work and serve providence in the use of means so here it is promised O saith the Apostle work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is he that worketh Labour to be more spiritual in prayer to grow therein for it is his Spirit that beareth the heavier end of the burthen he helpeth our infirmities let this be an encouragement to stir up our souls to it because it is promised think not Brethren it is enough to sit still and wait when this will fall into your mouths or that an idle complaining will do it no no you must be up and doing and labouring to use the means and the more because he hath promised Secondly Every man would grow and come on in other things therefore we should much more labour to grow in the best things you would your selves and have your children come on and thrive in body you think their meat is not well bestowed as we use to say if they should not prosper at all but should devour like Pharaohs lean kine and be never the fatter you would grow in your names and in your estates and every man would be adding bag to bag house to house land to land and here they never think they are come to a full growth O that the Lord would but make you half so dilgent in taking half the pains to grow in grace as they do that grow in the world how should we prosper It is observable that the Apostle saith of Gaius that good man he wisheth he may prosper even as his soul prospereth it seemeth the good man his inward man was renewed though haply his estate or his body might wax old and decay yet his soul prospered and he maketh that a pattern of the prosperity of his outward man may we not say on the other hand O that your souls did prosper even as your bodies prosper You are fat and flourishing and feed your selves without fear much pampering of the flesh but the poor soul O how lean and thin and consumpsit it is what fat purses and lean souls Brethren whatever you profess while it is thus I must tell you there is much preposterousness in your endeavours that all this ado should be made for a lump of clay and the soul the precious soul the price of the blood of Jesus Christ neglected men can rise at midnight and with endâ— to follow their business set it forward if need so require and other occasions c. O if we could be perswaded to use but the like diligence for the soul upon the like occasion Thirdly Consider if you grow not you decline either you increase or decrease either you ebb or flow wax or wain for it is like a man that rows against the stream if he go not forward he is carried backward So it is here we have a stream of lusts to row against and if we go not forward be sure we go backward and therefore if you observe it the Apostle doth threaten the Hebrews upon this account because they went not forward with Apostacy they were in danger of falling away quite from God that go not forward therefore consider this seriously and surely it will put us on to look to our growth there is not an Ordinance wherein we appear before the Lord but either we soften or harden we get something or lose something by it it returneth not in vain not the Word nor any other appointment of his Fourthly Another shall be this we cannot else withstand enemies bear crosses alas a child is over-born by a touch he cannot withstand a potent enemy therefore we must labour to be strong men whom resist saith the Apostle stedfast in the faith there is no stedfastness but by faith nor any resisting but by this stedfastness if we give ground the Devil will pursue the victory if we turn our backs upon him now we cannot keep our ground except there be some strength It s true every child of God is born with his armour on him as is fabled of the race of those Giants so the Saints have their breast-plate of faith to keep the heart and the shield to preserve the body but as they grow in strength so are they able to weild their shield yea it groweth stronger and more able to bear off a blow Alas our Saviour saw his Disciples were not able to bear a temptation at that time John 18. 8. therefore let them go
lower thoughts of thy self to see the necessity of an high-Priest the more feelingly this humbleth this emptyeth of self more and is not this a growth in grace Yea and no small improvement But thirdly If thou be put to wait for an answer know it is the excellency of faith to wait upon him to hold out as the woman of Canaan And Jacob wrestled all night with God So Daniel his answer cometh not as soon as he began to pray but he must wait a while he must go through with his duty and afterwards the answer cometh if the Lord give thee a heart to wait upon him to hang upon him not to give him over Brethren you are growing and you are not aware of it it is no easie matter to wait upon God Alas a poor sinner in a mood sometimes and in a flash under a stirring Sermon O he will go and pray and if an answer come not presently there is an end it dyeth but a child of God he waiteth upon God he will have no nay if he will not answer at one time he will to it again and again as Paul sought God thrice for the removing the Thorn before he had an answer And so Elias seven times his servant was sent and brought an answer of nothing appearing and at last but a little cloud and his prayer was fervent too as appears by the story Fourthly You must grow upon God knock harder if he come not at the first cry louder cry out so much the more importunity will overcome him at the last yea if by the delay of an answer as thou thinkest thou be kept praying and more and more fervently there is nothing Brethren wherein we more grow then in prayer it self where the Lord exerciseth us with such occasions as put us on to stir up all our strength to wrestle with him Well the Lord perswade our hearts to a diligence in this duty for we are as averse from it as from any O how our hearts do hang back and if the Lord perswade us not and by the invincible bonds of the Spirit bind us close to it we shall see by woful experience how quickly our slippery hearts will either shift themselves out of it or else into a formality in the service Fifthly Observe your answers also take heed of being alway complaining as if we had received nothing or were nothing grown whereby God loseth the glory of what he hath done for us already this is not the way to procure more this is the way indeed to grieve Gods Spirit which is the Spirit of prayer and then if he be grieved we shall find a woful declining in prayer and then our growth will go on but very slowly I beseech you pardon me for standing so much upon this point to press it upon you I know many of you cannot but see the necessity of it and truly observe it since these times of outward prosperity of the people of God mind it in your own cases lookers on may easily observe it and since our hands have been so full of the world if there be not a declining and indeed I think If I am mistaken I should be glad to be mistaken that this is the main thing wherein we are hurt we are so upon hurries and so thronged our hearts and heads and hands so full of the world that we cannot have those times and seasons to work our hearts up in this duty it is sad when our hearts have most need of pains-taking with them as in such cases they have that we should find least time to do it in What can become of this think you Fourthly Another help to this growth in grace will be this Conscientiously and diligently to use the Ordinances all of them as well as that of prayer I speak to that particular because it is of so general concernment running along with all the rest for sanctification of them to us You heard before that knowledge is the great means whereby our grace doth grow it is conveyed through the understanding the consent of the will to close with Christ it is greater or lesser according to the apprehensions which the mind hath of Christ of his goodness his loveliness the necessity of him c. therefore grace and truth came by Jesus Christ and whom beholding as in a glass we are changed into his image this glass what is it but the Ordinances of God O how fat do men grow that fare deliciously every day is there not great difference between feeding upon husks when the kernel is gone and feeding upon the finest of the wheat how quickly will the weakest man grow strong feeding upon the one and the strongest weak when he feedeth upon the other Alas when it came to that the Prodigal was almost beaten off his leggs Why the Ordinances of God they are a feast a feast of fat things marrow and wines upon the less well-refined in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make to all people a feast of fat things a feast of wines on the lees of fat things full of marrow of wines on the lees well-refined What are these but the Ordinances of God these are the green pastures and still waters with these he promiseth to satiate the soul of the Priest with fatness and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness saith the Lord And my soul shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house there it is and in the 63. Psalm the Psalmist longs after the enjoyment of God in his Ordinances in his Sanctuary O saith he my soul shall be satisfied with marrow and fatness What can be said more Brethren Is not this the way to grow fat to increase and did not God give therefore Pastors and Teachers to dispence the Ordinances for the edifying of the body in that place to the Ephesians Well but all this will not do except we make use of these Ordinances mind you they are the fat things of the house of God we must have them in the stall in the coop in the fold in the house of God that is to say the Church of God if we would flourish indeed as the Psalmist speaks they that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the Courts of our God and therefore the Spouse in the Canticles was so earnest Shew me where thou feedest thy flocks where thou makest them rest at noon Alas many poor Believers may be to seek where the Lord Jesus feedeth his flocks specially in these daies wherein there are so many pretences to the way of Christianity which is but one but at least me thinks this will follow from those Scriptures that the house of the Lord the Courts of his house is the Church of God therefore we should inquire where the flocks are fed that we may walk with them and among them it is the way where the Lord Jesus is found
then ordinarily and indeed I do desire to pitty such as yet cannot see this but this is not all Secondly There is the use and improvement of the Ordinances which is much more necessary then the other desire the sincere milk of the Word milk for sweetness and nourishing and sincere without mixture of errour or humane wisdom Alas Brethren if we come not to it with desires get our affections up when we come to it and look not to it that we digest it when we have heard it we are not likely to grow by it Alas alas no marvel we are so lean in our souls some of us as if God bad in heavy displeasure sent the curse upon us what is the matter we come to hear the Word but with what affections come reeking out of the World into it with our heads and hearts full of it the stomack is full already there is no room for the Word to take place in our hearts and we are much for hearing but digest but little Ah Brethren this meditation upon what we hear we are all of us short in that is the man that groweth indeed as in the first Psalm he shall flourish that meditates day and night For my own part I am perswaded that upon a Sabbath-day it is not so much how much we hear to spend our whole time in it that there is no time left for chewing upon it for working it upon the heart by meditation No plough-man would do so think he never plougheth and soweth enough and never maketh use of the harrowing Alas much of it is stoln away he hath little increase we go â—ow out of the presence of God and into the world again over head and ears without any care to work the Word upon our souls how can you expect to prosper in your souls you may have fat purses but you are like to have but lean souls you digest not your meat a Physitian will tell you it is not how much you eat but how much you digest that tends to health and growth And so for the other Ordinances of the Supper there is meat indeed and drink indeed but do we look to it to improve that Ordinance for strengtheuing of faith to get our graces up our appetites up our faith our love upon the wing when we come to act faith and love in the Ordinance to draw from the Lord Jesus to drink and drink abundantly Alas wisdom hath killed her beasts and mixed her wine and furnished her table among us and we come indeed but without wedding-garments many times and without appetites and so we are cast out and instead of receiving Christ more and more of him we are more hardened Satan entereth into some poor souls Ah no marvel then if they grow not in grace If we had not the fat things of the house of God Brethren it were something but the Lord hath not denyed them to us his table is richly furnished the dainties are the same though the Maidens that are sent forth now to call you are weak and unworthy that should not derogate from the esteem of the feast now what can we say for our selves if we will play with our meat if we will not fall on when we come to it if we matter not for digesting it where Brethren will the guilt lie O be humbled for that we have neglected this salvation so much as we have done though it may be we have not mist an opportunity yet that we make no better use of them then we have done that is the first step to a reformation of it Do you think this vvere a pleasing carriage of a child vvhen he is poor and lean and ill-favoured his Father provideth a rich banquet royal dainties for him setteth them before him intreateth him to fall on he complains of his vveakness and faintness and yet vvill not eat this is frovvardness it is not pleasing to God vvho hath so richly provided for us to hear his people complaining alvvay of their vveakness in faith and vveakness in love and all graces of the Spirit and though he hath provided such dainties for them in his Ordinances as never eye savv nor any tasted but a Believer and they might be fat and flourishing if they vvere not vvretchedly vvanting to themselves they complain and complain but never mind it to eat to feed to improve the Ordinances for this their grovvth I have spoken the more largely here because I knovv Brethren I knovv it is our ovvn vvretched neglect of our selves in this case that is the great cause of our vvant of grovvth Fifthly Another help shall be this labour to get the distempers of your souls healed that hinder your grovvth it is impossible vvhile a man hath a Woolf in his flesh or a greedy vven that sucks all the nourishment from the body that he should grovv Alas every one of us can best tell vvhere our diseases are Some have obstructions betvveen the head and the heart the passages are not opened and so they grovv indeed in the head but the heart is poor and dry and vvithered all notion and no affection hovv little affection have vve the most of us nothing ansvverable to vvhat vve apprehend of the riches of grace in Jesus Christ all is not vvell vvith us Brethren Alas hovv many of us have surfeited of the vvorld and the comforts thereoâ— and so our appetites are lost to these dainties and fat things of the house of God vvhereby we should grovv up like Calves of the stall O for Christs sake and as you love your souls take heed of the vvorld and love of it Ah vve little knovv hovv close it sticks to us and hovv indiscernably it insinuates it self upon us It may be we consume all upon our lusts make all we have received but a stepping-stone to raise our proud spirits upon how apt we are to be admiring our selves this was well done and that was well done by us instead of admiring rich grace to such poor dust and ashes as we are this dammeth up the fountain Brethren this provokes God to withdraw his Spirit and presence and alas what can vve do then then vve see vvhat vve are Well if we would grow we must begin at the right end we must labour to get these lusts that do prevail down if a child have such a disease as the Rickets or some other disease upon it you may give it all the nursing and tending and feeding that can be it will never grow uniformly but all runs into the head It is in vain to complain of the want of growth the way is to go to the Physitian get some prescription for the healing of the disease and so we must look to it Brethren if any object come between the Lord Jesus and your hearts and so interrupt the sweet and saving influences of Christ from you you cannot grow you see that shrubs in the Wilderness that never see where good cometh or
have not heard saith the Apostle And Faith cometh by hearing and therefore it is called the word of Faith and therein the righteousness of God is revealed from Faith to Faith thereby wherein even in the Gospel preached of which the Apostle was not ashamed by the preaching thereof poor creatures were brought to believe in the Lord Jesus and so the righteousness of Christ was revealed therein to them and conveighed to them by Faith I know not what course the Lord holds with the Heathen to whom the Gospel is not preached by men like themselves nor hath the Lord given us a positive account of his dealing with them and therefore I meddle not with it but this is the ordinary way of Gods working of Faith in them who come to be capable of hearing the Word and understanding of it therefore usually if God intend to bring on such a soul or such a soul he will bring them under the Word either to dwell under it or the Word accidentally to be among them It is observable that in Pauls conversion only he himself heard the voice of him that talked with him not the men that were with him because God intended this vision for Paul and not for them they are said in another place to hear a voice but not the voice of God but the voice of Paul and wondered to hear him speak and heard no body speaking to him hearing then of God is hearing him speak in his Word for it is he that speaks therein Secondly By the hearing may also be understood yet further some whisperings and motions and secret workings of his Spirit which many a man hath many times in hearing of the Word the Spirit passeth by and breatheth in the Word upon one soul and upon another putting on the soul to fasten upon such a a truth or such a truth as sweet and precious inwardly speaking to their understandings that they are sure the men concerned in such a threatning in such a promise and this is a part of Gods striving by his Spirit with rebellious sinners that do not believe nor obey Now this is a more inward hearing then the former some sit under the same Sermon and the Sword of the Spirit maketh no more entrance upon them then upon a brazen wall and it must be a sharp sword indeed that must divide an heart of stone many a blow is laid at a sturdy Oak an old grown sinner before his heart beginneth so much as to shake and this is the second Thirdly Then for the learning which is the main thing which goeth before the coming to Jesus Christ this I take to to be when the Lord not only by his Messengers maketh his word plain before us lays it to our Consciences as the Ax to the root of the Tree but when he opens our understandings plucks open our eyes to behold the light teacheth us indeed he teacheth a poor soul in special these two or three things 1. That he is lost a son of perdition for ought he knoweth many a poor Creature in the Ship like Jonas though ready to sink he was asleep if the Ship had sunk it had been all one to him they come and awake him up thou sleeper dost thou not see thou art sinking thou art dying thou art perishing so the Spirit of the Lord Jesus takes a poor sleepy dead sinner by the understanding tels him thou art the man condemned wrath abideth upon thee particularly what dost thou mean wilt thou have the flames of hell about thy ears before thou wilt stir a foot what wilt thou bring the blood of Jesus upon thy head thus the Spirit cometh and shaketh a poor soul out of his sleep in sin he never dreamed what his condition was before this is the Spirits convincing a man of sin setteth his sins in order before him setteth a man upon the search into his condition then represents all his sins in their bloody guilt and condemning nature every one of them with a mouth like hell ready to swallow him up this is a part of the cords of a mans convictions 2. It teacheth him yet further now no longer to lie securely in that condition if he continue here he must perish therefore now he beginneth to look about him O what shall I do to whom shall I turn my self is there no hope of pardon no mercy for me O what shall we do said they in Acts 2. to be saved if the Ship be sinking now it is time to look about for a Plank a Mast something to lay hold upon something to stop the leak if now Brethren granadoes be cast into the soul and be broken and tearing all to pieces the very flames of hell have caught hold upon such a poor creature there is no delay now the Spirit of the Lord working with a mans natural principle for self-preservation puts him on to enquire for somewhat to quench it now he beginneth to cry out fire fire in his soul O he cannot hold it 3. It teacheth yet further and the poor soul learneth this also effectually that there is no help for him in the creature neither in himself nor in any other if he take the quintescence of all his works which we usually before have a high esteem of and temper them together alas they will not make a balsom for this wound now all the Spirits in all the Creatures in the world if they could be extracted I mean the comforts that might arise from the enjoyment of them would not keep the poor languishing soul from fainting and dying waters of the fullest cup let them overflow never so much if a man have rivers of pleasures in the enjoyment of creature-comforts honours relations parts learning gifts whatsoever they be alas the poor creature is now taught they will not quench this spark that is gotten into the conscience I mean they will not allay the trouble of his spirit will not heal the wounds of his spirit so that now he knoweth not what to do the Hart they say if smitten with an arrow goeth to her herb to cause the arrow to fall out and other creatures being poysoned stung sick distempered run to their cure by a natural instinct but now when God hath shot this arrow into a poor soul it wounds too deep sticks too fast for the teeth of any creature to pluck it out or for the vertue of any creature yea they are so far from healing that rather the consideration of them are as oyl to the flame to vex and wound so much the more well this is much to be taught he that learneth this effectually and not in the notion only goeth far there are many convinced of their wounds their bleeding dying condition but they imagine there is help to be had in something else they run to a duty of their own as if a day of fasting would make amends for all run to this or that unfaithful Shepherds that will
love in drawing thee bringing thee to come to him and will he now change his mind It is true if he were as man he might repent but the Lord is not as man O what comfort is here what encouragement is this Secondly He will not cast them out of his Church that is his Kingdom his Family his School his Vineyard he will not cast them out for if there be this coming to Jesus Christ there is faith and by that faith as we are made one with Jesus Christ so also with all his members so saith the Apostle we are members one of another ye are come saith the Apostle to Mount-Sion and to the assembly of the first-born that is to say you are gathered into the flock of Christ and out of this ye shall not be cast it may come to pass that through the ignorance of men they may be cast out of the visible Church or Churches of Christ and have little fellowship and communion with them and it cannot but be a burthen to a gracious spirit and oh that the Lord would so clear up his mind that we might not thus by mis-apprehension be a burden each to other but here is the comfort if we thus come to Jesus we are of the invisible Church and he that knoweth the heart knoweth his own image there his own hand-writing there every spark of his own kindling there and cannot be deceived and therefore there is no fear he will not cast away out of this Church the assembly of the first-born not out of this his family will a Parent cast out his child that he hath begotten in his own image because of some deformity it may be and imperfection that it doth not resemble the father in or because of its weakness in those parts which it hath even grace for grace we have from the Lord Jesus though weak and imperfect and will he cast out surely no. Thirdly He will not cast out that is to say he will not send away empty cast them out of his presence when they come to him neither at our first coming no nor our after-coming unto him Not at our first coming where is the soul that can say that he did thus come to Jesus Christ and was refused was sent away it may be thou camest full full of thy self not with such an empty hand to take him it may be thou camest with a false heart and then well might he cast thee cut for he knoweth how the heart stands towards him it may be thou wast troubled only with the smart of sin and not the filthiness the putrifaction of the wound and loathsom nature of it and wouldst have Christ only to have served thy turn and then wouldst have turned thy back upon him alas he knoweth this and therefore he resisteth the proud a man of a Pharisaical spirit a man of a Laodicean temper that is rich and needeth nothing cometh to Christ for a complement thou comest to him whole not sick nor wounded if thou didst and with such a heart as we have said I cannot believe that the Lord Jesus would have cast thee out no more then I can believe that be can lie who is truth it self O who would not venture upon this Jesus Christ be his condition never so sad he will not refuse if we come to him we perish for our not coming Secondly Even in our after-comings to him he will not cast out tell me when didst thou ever come before the Lord with a heart sensible of thy want of him with a renewing of the acts of self-denyal being nothing in thy self that thou weâ—test away empty did ever any hungering soul come to this Ordinance where we have the most royal dainties that ever it self affords in some degree even the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus the strong wines of consolation and didst thou go away empty surely no he that cometh full goeth away empty but he that cometh empty goeth away filled with some refreshing Haply thou mayst be put to it to wait a little while for it but have it thou shalt If either the Lord Jesus wanted a fulness of mercy there were not room enough in his heart for us all it were something or if he wanted propensity and bowels it were something if he were not a merciful pittiful high-Priest or if he did not know our meanings by our very looks or if he did not know our hearts where they are upright it were something indeed there were some ground to be discouraged but who can suppose any of these O that we could more strongly close with these with what confidence should we then come to him and how full a recompence of reward should we find even in the first fruits here â—f there were no more Fourthly He will not cast them out of heaven for every child of God as I may say hath one foot in heaven already as an unbeliever hath one foot in hell already where our hope is there our hearts are O that I could â—ay they are there they should be there there is our Anchor in heaven there the Lord Jesus is our head is who hath taken possession for us and went to prepare a place for us and therefore the works of grace in the soul are called things that have salvation he will not cast them out no by no means two negatives do deny more veâ—emently some shall be cast out at the last day yea the Kingdoms children Members of the Church and such as have lived under the Ordinances as the Jews did strangers others any that hear and believe and obey the Lord Jesus shall be received in Now Brethren our hearts are so vain we can scarce settle upon it to think of the woful condition that will be to be cast out from the Lord Jesus but no man that cometh to Christ shall be cast out O then it is not greatness shall enter in nor riches nor beauty nor learning nor gifts nor any of all these but meerly the coming unto Jesus Christ he will never cast out such a soul You have seen already what it is to come to Jesus Christ in many particulars and what is necessarily presupposed and such he will not cast out no in no wise or sort whatsoever but alas the difficulty is to perswade poor creatures of this that are upon the turning pin many can say Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean but the willingness of Christ to accept of poor sinners is that we many times doubt very much of and it is not the tongue of men nor Angels that can perswade a man to this and well it is for us that it is so for then the Faith of poor creatures would consist in the wisdom of men and not in the power of God only let me lay before your hearts and my own a few considerations from Scripture which if the Lord be pleased to breath in them may be a support
there are in the heart of Jesus Christ towards a poor sinner as a Father that for a time to humble his child will make it strange to him O how full is his heart how much ado hath he to hold as Joseph to his Brethren O it is the rejoycing of Jesus Christ when poor sinners do come to him to see his seed to see his blood that was sowed and his Semen Ecclesiae to come up it is his rejoycing and will any Husband man in the world that sows precious seed when it puts forth beat it down again nip off the buds the tops of it it cannot be he is grieved when poor creatures will not be perswaded to come through hardness of heart and unbelief and waywardness we will not come to the fountain but sit down it may be some of us with Hagar weeping over our empty bottles and making sad moan and complaints for want of righteousness because of sin and yet come not to him this is a grief to him as it was among the Jews O did he ever in the daies of his flesh refuse any poor creature that came to him either for healing of soul or body which is the lesser yea when they came some of them for the healing of the body did he not heal the soul and all out of the abundant riches of his love to poor creatures O surely then now he is in heaven at the right hand of the Father being no less tender of his poor people if any come now he will in no wise cast them out Well the Lord write these arguments upon our hearts it may be some of us may have occasion or have at present need of them to perswade us of this truth We now come to the Application Vse 1. And first in the first Vse It may serve for a lamentation to lament the backwardness of our hearts to come to Jesus Christ for if our hearts were not backward to come to him what need all this ado to make poor creatures willing to come to Jesus Christ O what is the reason what a strange enmity is in our hearts against the Lord Jesus that we run away from him instead of coming yea though he follow with a Pardon in his hand purchased with his blood O I am Jesus who dyed for you turn unto me my heart is toward you turn unto me I delight not in your death turn unto me O why will ye die and yet poor creatures will not be perswaded to come to Jesus Christ O what is it what is it Brethren that can keep us off thus from Jesus Christ in our unwillingness to close with him to come unto him have not many of us many times clearly been convinced that our condition hath been slark naught that we stand guilty before God and he will by no means clear the guilty and convinced that in Jesus Christ there is a doing away of this guilt a bloting out of the hand-writings that are against us and contrary to us if we will but come to him No we are like sullen creatures will rather perish then come to Jesus Christ I do not believe but many of us are convinced and what shift can we make to smother our convictions I know not but it appears we come not to Jesus Christ As long as the Prodigal could have husks to fill his belly with he would not come home to his Father as long as ever the poor woman in the Gospel had any thing to spend upon the Physitians she came not to Jesus Christ as long as ever poor sinners can make a shift to daub over the breaches that sometimes the Word maketh upon their consciences they will not come O the fault lies in the Will Brethren Ye will not come unto me saith our Saviour that ye might have life how often would I have gathered you as a Hen doth her Chickens and ye would not they would rather perish then be healed by such an hand even the hand of Jesus Christ O the deadly enmity that is in every one of us by nature What we are not willing to part with sins and therefore we come not to Jesus Christ we are not willing to be healed wilt thou be made whole we are prophane and we would be so still proud and would be so still unclean and would be so still We know if we come to him put on Christ we must put off the lusts of our former conversation O wretched love to sin that preferreth it before the Lord Jesus before the salvation of our poor souls What are we loth through the pride of our hearts to take the shame of our iniquities Haply something of this nature kept off the Prodigal Is it not more shame to do sin then to acknowledge it when it is done what is it Brethren how strange a thing is it that men should take such pains to hew out broken Cisterns to themselves that will hold no water dig deep into the world to find some rest there exhaust their strength in duties in prayers and tears as many self-Saviours do specially the Papists and I wish there be none among us rather then they will come to Jesus Christ to accept of that righteousness that pardon which shall cost us nothing but acceptance O the pride of our hearts O the enmity of our hearts against the Lord Jesus and is there such an heart in every one of us Brethren Yea even in the best until he overcome us with his loving-kindness and is not this a thing worthy to be bewailed Yea if it were possible with tears of blood being such an aversion from the blood of Jesus Christ and the dearest love of our Saviour to poor creatures Or what is it Brethren is it the more love we find from Jesus Christ are our hearts the more averse from him if he did profess himself an enemy to us to destroy and slay us if we came near him to scatter us with the streams of flaming indignation issuing from his throne and presence we could do no more then run away from him as many of us now do O that we could lay it to heart The second Vse shall be to shew us the grievous nature of the sin of unbelief and haply this may make poor creatures afraid of straining curtesie with Christ and afraid to come to him because of their vileness c. to complement with him First Consider but the unreasonableness of the sin of unbelief above other sins indeed though all sin be unreasonable other sins they have some pretence of profit or pleasure but this hath nothing but wo and misery attending it condemnation But that I shall not insist upon for there is hardly any thing but Satan and a mans carnal reason will put a specious pretence upon it Therefore consider this unreasonableness First in respect of our selves that being plunged into such a depth of distraction and misery of sin and guilt and wrath that
heart puts his fear there yea and that Peace of God also placeth he as a pregnable garrison there that they shall never depart from him except the Lord could deny his Covenant for my part I see not how any soul that in truth is come on to Christ can finally apostatize though from some common grace they may withdraw which is true Grace though not of this kind which is saving But what then doth the Lord Jesus hold us to himself whether we will or no No Brethren But he maketh us willing in the day of his power so that we shall not any more be willing to leave him to depart from him nor is it an infringement of our liberty at all to be determined to one party either of the contradiction of contrariety as they use to distinguish them for God himself is determined to one part he cannot will any thing that is evil as evil nor the Angels in heaven established and confirmed and yet their liberty sure is much greater then ours well then the Lord Jesus he will never cast them out therefore they shall persevere when once they are in him in Covenant God hath put that principle into them that they shall never depart themselves he will not let loose any lust any temptation upon them that shall ruin them that were in effect in a moral sense a casting of them out in no wise whatsoever will he do it Vse 6. Sixthly Yet here let me put in a double Caution First Let sinners impenitent sinners that yet stand it out protract the time of their coming to Jesus Christ as Aug. O modo Domine take a warning word this day that is do not so abuse this sweet and pretious truth as to encourage themselves thereby in an evil way tush saith the drunkard the unclean person to morrow shall be as this day and much more abundant it is time enough to repent Jesus Christ is so tender and so merciful to poor sinners that when ever we come to him he will not cast us out and though we do treasure up many bags and fill up the measure of sin fuller then others he hath made no limitation if we come to him he will not cast us out what a lamentable condition is that man in whose stomack turns an honey-comb into poyson to him here is the most precious cordial the very Spirits of the Gospel in this our Doctrine and see how sinners do turn it into a deadly potion to their souls what Spiders are we that can suck venom out of the sweetest flowers but suppose this be true that when ever thou comest to Jesus Christ thou shalt be received and not cast out in any wise is there any truth in the Hypothesis that lies hid which is either this that thou hast power to come of thy self at any time thy will at command if it be proper to say so of that which is the commanding faculty in the soul or else this that God will draw thee hereafter and give thee a will to come to Jesus Christ when thou hast lived a while longer in the pleasures of sin Ah poor soul thou little knowest the deceitfulness of sin and of thy own heart what is the reason that thou art not now willing to receive the Lord Jesus Christ is it not because thou art held so fast in the embraces of thy darling lusts O that sin that kils with its embraces poisons with its kisses and tell me is that the way to get looser from thy lusts and so more ready to come to Jesus Christ to go on in sin to satisfie and fulfill the lusts of the flesh surely no thou knowest not the deceitfulness of sin whereby the heart is more hardened every act then before It may please him out of the abundant riches of his Grace to draw such a presumptuous sinner to Christ but it is to be admired me thinks thou shouldst rather tremble when thou thinkest I now put off my coming to Christ untill a more convenient opportunity and what if this never come what if my soul be taken from me this night now the Arrows of God are scattered among our dwellings and what if I never have a heart nor some time to come and repent but go on still and grow more and more hard and desperate and sinning and so perish O that sinners would consider this that forget God that they abuse not this Grace of Jesus Christ When did Jesus Christ tell thee how long he would wait upon thee to be gracious doth he not say to day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts you may possibly out-live your day of grace aâ—d Christ is waiting upon you and striving with you and then it had been better for you you had never been born Secondly Another caution shall be to them that have come to Jesus Christ and are found in him that they take heed they abuse not this grace to wantonness If we shall not in any wise be cast out of Christ what need so much ado O what viperous natures have we that are ready to turn all to poyson this principle is in every heart among us therefore watch over it The Doctrine is Christs a truth in Jesus and therefore in its own nature hath no tendency to such a froward walking before God there is nothing in its own nature doth more tend to kil sin then grace the abundance of grace in Jesus Christ truly if grace love will not do it nothing will do it nothing runs the old man to the heart so home as this unsearchable love of God in Christ that if we come to him he will in no wise cast us out It is a wretched graceless conclusion to say no more of it to continue in sin that grace might abound the Apostle was well taught in Christs School and both by Revelation from Christ and personal experience in his own case he knew the power of the love of God in Christ the exceeding abundance of his grace and how doth he argue from mercy to duty So our Saviour himself who best knoweth the end of his grace of which he is the Author and Finisher come to me c. and I will give you rest And what then may they sit still and take their ease never trouble themselves more concerning their souls never care how to walk in well-pleasing to Christ No the next words are take my yoak upon you for it is easie and it is light It is no great matter he expecteth of us in comparison of what he might expect and in respect of the recompence of reward a Belial is a Monster in the Church of Christ a man without yoak like a wild-Ass snuffing up the wind and doing according to his own hearts lust I will be bold to say let men pretend to what they will that man that hath drunk deepest of the love of God in Christ and is most firmly rooted
Jesus knoweth it and he will acknowledge it O he is strict to mark what is good if but a little spark in much smoak or under much ashes when to all mens thinking the life is gone he seeth there is somewhat alive and awake within a Seed of God within and he will take notice of it for the comfort of his poor people If ever in any example we would have thought men had slept will and all we would have thought so of the Disciples that notable example that being so often shakt with such sharp and shameful rebukes yet they should forth with be asleep again as if they had not 〈…〉 heeded Jesus Christ at all yet at last when they came to themselves and could sleep no longer for the enemies were upon them Now sleep if you can lest this should too sorely assail them that they had slept so soundly under such awaking means as they had and be swallowed up of to much grief O saith our Saviour the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak he knew their Consciences would be ready to load them and Satan would help forward their overwhelming grief they wist not what to say to him nor for themselves and therefore our Saviour himself letteth them know that there was some willingness within them the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak and that he took notice of it and accepted according to what they had and not according to what they had not where there is a willing mind O here is comfort indeed to have to do with such a Master such a father such a Bridegroom as both knoweth and that little willingness that is in sincerity in his peoples hearts not to sleep though they themselves could not say so he puts an answer into their mouths to Satans accusing and the smitings of their own hearts and a plea in their mouths to himself to prevail with him for pity and sparing of them Remember this that though sleep and slumber and many woful interruptions are in thy service of God yet remember Jesus Christ he hath served without any such slumbrings and such imperfections and this is thine he will render unto man if he do acknowledge to God he hath sinned that is to say freely feelingly faithfully acknowledge it Ah brethren it was a time of prayer and a duty for the Disciples to pray when our Saviour prayed but they were all asleep if now their righteousness peace and salvation had depended upon themselves where had it been or if Jesus Christ had slept as well as they where had it been but he was wrestling and praying for himself and for them in himself at that time he never was heavy in his prayers he never fell asleep nor slumbred neither with this spiritual slumber he fulfilled all righteousness to a tittle O then remember this brethren this must be the ground of our grace and comfort you must have it in another and not in your selves And magnifie this rich grace of God in Jesus Christ that hath laid up for such poor sleeping sinners such a watchful Ordinance 6. Another word may be this though it be true in thy sleep thou art in great danger as you heard before which indeed is enough to alarm us continually yet if we do strive and stir up our selves aâ—d yet are overcome though sore against our wills and so are in danger of some deadly blow are weak and feeble and the least temptation may smite us to the ground much more then dreadful temptations and without all question Satan never lulls us asleep but he hath a design upon us to take away our life our God our Christ our peace our comfort our strength from us Yea to smite us to the ground at once and smite us no more As Abishai said to David and as he begged he might have leave so doth the Devil even beg O how fain he would have leave to smite us then as he moved the Lord against Job so continually this accuser and enemy whose work it is to devour O when he findeth such a prey how edged is his appetite but remember this for thy comfort and say not surely Satan will smite me to the heart at one time or another poor trembling soul the Lord that keepeth Israel and watcheth them he never slumbreth nor sleepeth Indeed if the Lord had slept as we are apt to think he doth when he with-holds from us his quickening or comforting presence for a time and were apt to cry out as I may say to awake him yet he never sleepeth he watcheth and wards many a secret thrust and blow that when we are asleep poor creatures we cannot be aware of and though thou mayest grieve him by a sloathful spirit and he may make thee smart other ways for it yet surely he wiâ—l not give up the life of dear Saints the price of this life of his dear dear Son to the will of Satan No they were bought at too dear a rate 7. Again O what a comfort it is to a child of God that he hath to do with such a Christ such a Bridegroom the wise Virgins belong to are espoused to as when they do sleep is willing to take so much pains to awaken them This indeed it should grieve us so much the more that we should put him to it yet it is a comfort and no weak one neither that he is willing to be at suh pains with us to awake us How long doth he stand at the door and knock before they will open they lye asleep still he cals them with the sweetest compellations My love my dove my undefiled O thou dear and precious soul it is I thy dear Saviour It is I whom thy soul loveth wilt thou rise and open to me I am wet with the dew of the night canst thou finde in thy heart to put me to stand without and induâ—e the cold and the injuries of the night and weather and keep me out of thy heart the place which I have chosen for my habitation and wherein is all my delight O what workings of his bowels are here one would think this were enough to awaken No yet she shifts and maketh excuses and very frivolous ones as people will when they are not very willing of a thing Well now a man would have thought the Lord Jesus might have been justly grieved so as to depart and leave her sleeping No saith the Text He came nearer and put his hand in at the hole of the door Poor souls he s 〈…〉 eth that the spirit is willing the flesh is weak that is to say So far as carnal we are weak the strength of the flesh maketh us weak and nothing else will do therefore he is fain to come and take her by the heart to touch her heart to begin to unbolt the door himself he cometh in some nearer sweeter powerful breathings of his spirit within that now she is overcome and
upon us no man desires that he knoweth not We think we are in health and strength of soul in as good a condition as any need nothing and yet are poor and miserable and blind and naked just like a poor man the strength of his disease works him off his senses as we say he thinkeeh he is well as ever in his life when alas he is drawiâ—g nigh the chambers of death his disease is so much the more dangerous Brethren sin 〈…〉 s our heads with such fumes of pride and self-confidence and carnal reasonings that we are ready to conclude all is well with us and I doubt many of us whom this concerneth will put it away from us upon this very account We are whole need not the Physitian so we have no desire to be healed the tender of a plaister by another to a man that thinketh he hath no wounds it is ridiculous they are more ready to mock at it then receive it so far are Sinners from providing an healing for themselves because they are not sensible of their need of it they desire it not Depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thy ways we are well enough without it yea more we have no desire to be healed because we are in love with our diseases not as a man that hath an issue he knoweth doth him good would not have it stopt but we have many bloody issues of sin and because of the pleasure and delight or proâ—t or humour or some things we please our selves with them for we are loath to part with them Augustine himself was loath to be healed so soon of his lust not yet Lord not yet said his heart when he prayed for healing the disease hath seized upon the will it self so that it is pleased and taken with the sickness the ill savour of our wounds the stench of them is sweet to us while we have a stinking nostril and therefore no marvel if we can never heal our selves there is need of this Lord Jesus to come with healing under his wings Thirdly We do reject healing and the Physitian When he would have healed us we would not be healed therefore much less can we do it our selves I would have purged thee and thou wast not purged c. Brethren how often hath the Lord Jesus called upon us all and have we not many of us as often refused Hath he not stretched out his hands all the day long all the day of Grace which hath continued long with us and we have been a rebellious a disobedient people we would none of his counsel either it is too mean as Naaman said when he was bid to go and wash in Jordan seven times and he should be cleansed What are not Abana and Pharâ—ar Rivers of Damascus better then all the waters of Israel so proud dust and ashes the Lord opens a fountain for sin and uncleanness proclaimeth to every poor sinner who ever will let him come let his disease be what it will bathe in this Fountain he shall be healed what saith the proud sinner are there not waters of our own will not our own repentance do it we are very backward through the pride of heart to receive even gratis as that proud Papist said He would not have heaven gratis this Pope is in all our bellies therefore the Apostle calls it a submission they would not submit to the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ So we look upon the blood of Jesus Christ as an unholy a contemptible thing will not trust wholly to this grace or else if not too mean yet the way that God goeth to work with a sinner to heal him it is too severe a bitter potion they must take down what must we so much bewail our selves must we search and try our ways rake in our wounds this we cannot indure this will cost us much smart and anguish as it did David and Peter and Ephraim poor foolish creatures we had rather dye of our wounds then to have them searched far from that temper of David we are Search me and try me though some of us I hope have been so exercised in the work of searching and mortification that we can many times say with the Psalmist Lord search us but alas many of us it is otherwise with we come not to the light lest our deeds should be discovered it would shame us you know Ahab could not indure to hear of his sins he hated Mâ—caiah and that cursed principle is in all our hearts we would be humored and daubed and have the hurt of our souls healed slightly because we cannot digest the severity and sharpness of the medicines we are afraid of the wrings and gripes the Prayers the Fastings it will cost us and therefore we are enemies to it 4. If we were never such friends to it if we would never so fain be healed it is not in our power it is above the sphere of our activity if the stripes had been laid upon us which were laid upon Christ when he was whipped with Scorpions alas every blow would have cut us in sunder and given us our portion in that lake that burns with fire and brimstone for ever You see brethren that they fetched blood at every blow of our blessed Saviour who was equal with his Father having an infinite Power and Spirit to uphold him and yet O how he ran down with blood dropping upon the ground when the world was to be drowned and overwhelmed all the veins of the earth were as I may say opened so now the Lord Jesus when his Spirit was overwhelmed and amazed as I may say and the Lord in a manner would now swallow him up My God why hast thou forsaken me all the voins the channels of his body were opened O how the blows did even almost fetch away the soul of our Saviour witness that Out-cry what had become of poor man iâ— this had been laid upon him Beside who can pardon our sins is there any but God that can pardon sins and is not this a great part of healing who can speak peace but he He will speak peace to his people he can do it with one word of his mouth he createth the fruit of the lips peace peace assuredly he createth it peace who can subdue a lust all the maceration of the body that the frame of Nature will bear will not do it as it is said of Hierom though his hair did even stand upright with fasting and lying upon the ground yet all would not do to subdue concupilcence he should have taken Gods way and then his help would have come in no no I will subdue their iniquities they are too stiff-hearted for any but the Lord Jesus none could break the heart of sin but he by being broken himself for our iniquities nor can any do it to death though wounded and bleeding and the heart be broken but he himself
it is above the creatures power therefore we see what poor helpless creature we are there is need of the Sun of rightcousness to arise with healing all our influences upon our own hearts will not heal the least distemper The third Use shall be then to shew us the great necessity that we all of us have of Jesus Christ The whole need not the Physitian but they that are sick but the sick need it now alas what is the world but a great Hospital full of diseased creatures here lies one sick of the Stone another of the Palsie a third of a Dropsie some Lunatick out of their senses some of the Gangrene of Error which is dangerous for in a few hours it creepeth to the heart men sleight the Physitian while they are in health but once sick and wounded then how welcome is he what need had the poor Traveller that fell among theeves that left him wounded and half dead of the Samaritan that came and poured in wine and oyl alas what had become of him if God had not so ordered it for him when a poor Israelite was wounded with the fiery Serpent though he might not so much heed the Brazen Serpent before yet now he seeth his necessity oâ— looking to him that he might be healed his necesâ—â—y would promp him to it if the poor blind man do but hear of Christ passing O how sensible he is of his necessity and cryeth out to him Jesus thou son of David have mercy upon me but here is the misery of it the diseases and sicknesses of the soul are stupifying they seize upon the vitals and spirits in such a violent manner that if not at first yet after a little while they are past feeling and therefore our great work is to bring poor creatures to aâ—sence of their condition until then they will not accept of the glad tidings of life and salvation by Jesus Christ how ever this argues our necessity of Christ to be so much the greater thou feelest not that thy hearti stony and hard and therefore thinkest that when the sad condition of such a sinner is displayed it belongs not to thee at all alas thou art so much the harder tell such stony creatures they have need of the blood of Jesus Christ to dissolve this Adamant he being the â—oat slain for us as well as the Lamb for the Passover might be either a Goat or a Lamb and the Lord Jesus is our Passover thou thinkest this concerneth thee not alas poor sinner thou hast so much the more need of the blood of Jesus Christ How doth a tender-hearted Physitian pitty his patient that he seeth desperately sick and yet so stupified as that he will not be perswaded of his condition and O that we could look upon you and speak to you sinners with such hearts when we tell you of the plague of the heart a most deadly disease you know when the infection getteth to the heart in that disease there is scarce any remedy for it so it is with sinners and yet alas how hard is it to perswade them of this they are in as good condition as any they have no more plague sore upon them then another dear friends remember it the plague is in all our families these diseases are in all our families and in many of our own souls and whether we see it or see it not there it is and our necessity of Christ is so much the greater by how much the less sensible we are of it he that saith he seeth when he is blind had the most need of a care of all others he had first need of a cure of his e 〈…〉 or his mis-judging of his condition and then a cure of his disease what sad moan would Parents make if they had all their children lying of the sickness what out-cries would there be as in Egypt when one in a house was dead and yet alas poor sinners see not that their children are born leprous all over leprous filthy and yet they see it not O brethren what need there is of Christ to come to all our houses for Salvation to come to all our families to heal and cure our souls our children our servants that are all desperately sic of some disease or another Fourthly â—hen such as to this day have never been healed the Sun of Righteousness hath never arisen with healing in his wings there is no healing to be had from under the wings of Christ know men will be apt either to play the Empericks upon themselves or else to go to some Mountebank or another but alas they are Physitians of no value healing is not in them the poor creature may spend all upon such Physicians and yet be never the near when he hath done the poor woman in the Gospel since her bloody issue continued so long it argued she never came to Christ all this while if she had she had been healed long ago thy sores run as violently as ever and that continually polluting all thy ways truly â—his is an argument that â—hrist hath not arisen upon thee for when he ariseth upon a sâ—ul he doth it with healing in his wings brethren it may be you have lain at the waters a great while but you have never been put into them you maâ— have lived where Christ hath been preached but it is the Spirit that is the main thing that carrieth the healing vertue from the Lord Jesus and until he come and breathe in the Ordinances they are nothing brethren what shall I say to you is it not the condition of the most of us are not our lusts as strong and lively as ever they were are we not as blind wretches groping at noon day some of us as ever we were are not our hearts as hard as ever yea harder for the stone increaseth and groweth day by day are we not as licentious as loose as proud as ever why should this be ifyou had any thing to do with Christ it is a sign that such a sinner hath never touched Christ to this day for no sooner did the woman touch him but vertue came from him the least touch of faith doth it O what a faithless generation are we then O how many of us are in this condition what a sad thing is it that we should thus throng upon Christ and so few touch him but one poor woman in a whole throng come and steal a touch of Christ O if she might but touch him she should be healed and so haply now in a Congregation there cometh in one poor trembling sinner with his affections stirred his desires are up O if I may but touch him I shall be well when for the most part that is not our error Now dear friends what have you been doing all this while have you eat and drank in the presence of Christ have you heard his Word and Gospel wherein he is lifted up as the healing Serpent
all the worst when they have gotten a little peace and therefore though before they walked mournfully before God and were diligent in following hard after him now they slack their pace grow remiss they have their consolations the loaves they would have and now they may take their ease O this is a horrible abuse of this liberty for therefore the Lord speaks peace that we might not return to folly and we quite cross because he hath spoken peace to us therefore give up our selves to folly is not this to walk contrary to him and will he not walk contrary to you is not this to make our liberty a cloak an occasion to the flesh a handle for the flesh to take hold of and so to bring you into bondage again and so make more work for Christ to set you at liberty again Brethren can we make our liberty a cloak to the flesh and do you think the Lord will not pluck that cloak over our ears and shew us our nakedness again and make us know how we come by it again before we have it and therefore take heed of this I beseech you lest your liberty degenerate into licentiousness Maxima libertate minima licentia said that Antient. But yet more particularly take heed of abusing of your liberty in the use of things lawful in themselves and indifferent it is a sign of a heart that hath little fear of offending God that dare walk just at the very brink upon the very line of destruction between sin and lawful liberty if it can be assigned You find the Apostle of another Spirit rather then offend his weak Brother he would never eat meat while he lived why how would he live rather upon herbs and fruits and such things then to eat flesh as long as he lived too I tell you Brethren in our daies though there is much discourse of liberty there is little true use of it when a man will offend all the people of God and his Brethren rather then he will part with an excrement and a woman rather then sorbear her spotting and painting and bedlam nakedness If the things be lawful in themselves which I think they are not or a man will rather grieve all the people of God then cross his humor this is sad Again Brethren one man may have a greater liberty then another in this case and another greater then he in another case as for instance now Abraham might look upon Sodom when it was flaming but Lot might not because there he had his desirable things lest it should draw back his heart from the journey now commanded him and so if a man do but observe when temptations and lusts meet together where his corruption lies what is the scum of his heart and what doth use to fire his lusts there he may not give himself such a liberty as another may whose temptation lies in another thing as if a mans temptation lie to excess in eating in drinking it is not lawsul for such a man now to look upon the wine when red c. to come in the danger of such a temptation and so if a man have eyes full of adultery that cannot cease to sin he may not behold an object that another may whose temptation lies not there In a word look to it Brethren that we serve one another in love this is opposed to using our liberty as a Cloak to the flesh to bear one anothers burdens Brethren we are not at liberty one from another we may not say with Cain Am I my Brothers keeper we ought not to despise the infirmities of the weak because they see not as we see and therefore are grieved and offended at many things that we make nothing of here we ought to bear their infirmities to cover them to labour to inform them and forbear them not despise them become all things to them that we may lawfully as the Apostle became all things but a sinner to gain them this is serving one another in love and the labour of love either to God or men is a free service indeed we are rather ready to serve our selves one of another for ought I perceive generally it is so then serve one another in love Brethren I doubt there is little love for Christ sake though there may be some for our own and then all the liberty we talk of it is but bondage the Law of love is a Law of liberty indeed but enough of this Fourthly Then look to it that we being free from sin we become the servants of righteousness that is to say that you give up your selves yield your selves unto God unto Christ as instruments for the holy Spirit to play upon as instruments tools weapons of righteousness for the Lord to make use of even as he pleaseth this is the end of all that liberty held out in the Covenant of grace that we being delivered from the hands of all our enemies might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness all the daies of our lives Now hath the Lord then set thee free brought thee out of the horrible pit broken off the shakles knockt them off set open the prison what can we do less then this spend our selves now in his service O if men would but consider how much of their strength and spirits sin hath had while we were under that bondage Me thinks it should put us on so much the more earnestly specially considering how our service addeth nothing to him it is for our own good as you heard before and it is all he expecteth for delivering of us What poor Gally-slave would not most willingly yield to a Noble-man to be his servant where his service is honourable and pleasant and delightful so be he would redeem him why this is the very case Beside if we consider the fruit here and the reward hereafter the Apostle puts both together and I will not put them asunder the first-fruits and the harvest they have their fruit unto holiness the more we serve the Lord Christ the more easie pleasant and delightful will his service be the more our souls will shine with the beauty of holiness as the bondage groweth by continuance so doth the freedom by this service I dare say the more acquaintance any poor heart hath with a diligent close humble upright walking with God the more pleasant the waies of God are to him yea and the more holy that man groweth it must needs be so because he hath more communion with the Fountain of holiness even God in Jesus Christ and the Spirit also would you be holy Brethren would you be more and more freed from the remainders of bondage which are upon you Believe it the only way is to lay out your selves more in the service of Christ the Spirit of Christ will delight to be where he is entertained where his motions are received every hint is taken and followed and improved and the
others that still they begin with bewailing their iniquities expressing their sorrow for them because no man was to appear before God but with pure hands and pure feet and therefore since we gather soil continually there is need of acknowledging our iniquities and then he is faithful and just to forgive them there is the exercise of Faith if any where else that is it whereby we wrestle with God in Prayer Prayer is indeed a wrestling with God as Jacob it was his faith whereby he overcame and got the blessing a man must pray in Faith else it is nothing worth at all God accepteth no service but where there is Faith mixed there is Love exercised toward God and to his people we go to him it is an acting of our desire toward him our delight in his presence and love to his Saints when we can pray feelingly for them And so Humility O saith Abraham Who am I dust and ashes And Jacob I am less then the least of thy mercies In a word all the Graces are set awork in prayer that is a working prayer indeed our thankfulness and all our supplications in all things are to be made known c. Every wheel is set a going in the soul if it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an effectual prayer and therefore by the exercises of the Graces they are increased do you think that by acting Faith upon the Promises pleading them as Jacob did Thou saidst thou wouldst do me good c. and so in many other places Remember thy Word to thy Servant whereupon thou hast caused me to hope saith the Psalmist That this doth not increase Faith and so the acting of Love increase it therefore Luther a man of much Prayer was a man of much Grace of much Courage and Zeal and Faith and Diligence in the Service of God And that famous Servant of God Mr. Bolton It is said of him that six times a day he prayed and so others observe it when you will where you see a growing Christian indeed follow him to his Closet you shall find that man a man of much prayer So David and Daniel c. But Secondly There is another reason for it Because Prayer doth carry the soul to a nearer communion with God O it is the gaining acquaintance with God acquaint thy self with God that thou mayst have peace with him and thou shalt have prosperity and therefore when Job discovered such weakness in his impatiency saith that friend of his Surely thou restrainect prayer from the Almighty if thou didst maintain communion with God it would not be thus with thee Now whither should we go with empty vessels but to the fountain whither should poor weak wounded lame feeble creatures go but to him that hath all power to heal and strengthen them God hath treasures of grace it is true and he is not streight-hearted he giveth liberally but the treasury is lockt and prayer is the key and faith the hand that turns it we must to the treasury if we would be rich in grace rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which of us would be poor if we had a warrant to go to the Treasury to fetch what we please O what pains would there be the Treasurer should have imployment enough if God would but perswade us it is so in this case we should visit him more the great Treasurer of heaven the Lord Jesus in whom all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid yea and of faith and all grace for of his fulness we receive grace for grace O how would we ply him give him no rest he would have much more of our company but that we have slight perswasions of these things and make use of prayer as a duty and a task many of us and not a singular means of improving our graces Brethren were we but as much in Communion with God as David we might have the strength of David it is but ask and have knock and it shall be opened the Spirit which works all this will not be denyed if you ask and ask not amiss as you heard lately God will expend willingly his treasures of grace upon us and pour out the fulness of his Spirit upon us but he will be enquired of for these things Well then if we would grow in grace we must be much in prayer I do believe some of us can speak it but too experimentally that when we have found corruptions prevail and our selves foyled and brought under this hath been the reason we have restrained prayer from the Almighty either we have neglected this duty or else we have been slight and slubbering shuffled it if not out of doors yet to the very door and generally observe it we can more easily find time for any thing then for prayer every other business hath its hours to attend upon but if any thing be neglected it must be prayer or else posted over Whereas alas it would no more hinder our business then our meal-times do which must be had and I know Brethren that some of us are able to say it that we have seen when the prospering presence of the Lord hath been with us we have come on more and done more in a short time then at another time in many times as long a time and yet so wretched hearts we have that we content our selves with any thing in this duty if we appear before the Lord we think it is enough we do not strive unto prayer and watch unto prayer and labour by blowing the green wood that will hardly kindle to get it on a flame before we go out of his presence O Jacob would not let him go without a blessing Brethren in what a sad manner do we many times rise off our knees with our hearts further off from God then we came is this to obtain a blessing no no we must take pains in this work if we would grow the Lord perswade our hearts Alas you will say you have prayed and prayed and yet for ought you can perceive you grow not To this I might answer many things First Dost thou find that hereby thou never gettest thy heart in a better frame art thou never wrought up to some sweet frame of heart in respect of faith and love and humility Why here is an improving this is the main thing in prayer when we can find our hearts wrought up to such a frame it is the very growth it self in a great part therefore thou art mistaken Secondly If thou do not find it may be sometimes such warnings and notwithstanding all the pains thon hast sometimes been blowing at the coal until thy arm ake with holding the bellows and thy heart akes and yet thou canst not get thy faith and thy affections into a frame but thou art as dead and dull as before Now in such a case observe it dost thou not gain thus much by it to have viler
plant a Tree or Plant in such a dark place where the Sun never cometh but is kept off by this or that hinderance it will not grow and so under trees that shade the Sun and keep the rain from the seed most herbs will not grow and so it is in this case therefore look to this Brethren in the name of Jesus Christ as ever you hope to recover your selves and to grow indeed Sixthly Labour to make special use of the promises of God that particularly concern this matter I know this is reducible to that former head of exercising-grace and particularly the grace of faith because this is a special object whereupon the act is to be exercised but for orders sake we shall put it distinctly by it self in this place is this the grievance of thy soul indeed that thou growest not Why here is a rich Treasury in the promises which if it were drawn out cannot but much further our growth First then search out these promises they are many I cannot give you them all a taste I will to help the weak What a sweet promise is that in the first Psalm look upon it as such they shall be like the tree planted by the rivers of water Brethren nothing ordinarily kills trees more then drought I think and thus to have moisture with heat they must needs grow and flourish therefore in that place of Job a tree though cut down yet through the scent of water it will sprout again Now there is a sweet promise to that end and so they that are planted in the house of the Lord they shall flourish this in the Text they shall go forth it is a promise they shall grow up as Calves of the stall And that in Hos 14. 5. God will be as the dew unto Israel and he shall grow up as the Lilly and spread his roots as Lebanon grow in rootedness and grow quickly and grow in beauty and sweetness the smell shall be as Lebanon here the growth is set forth under that metaphor of a tree or plant the dew you know upon the mown grass maketh it spring again else it would wither and the corn for a time as dead under the clod yet the dew maketh it grow up or as the corn that seemed to wither away the dew refresheth it and maketh it revive indeed I will not burthen your memories take but one more and that is in the Prophet Isaiah to them that have no might he increaseth strength and he giveth power to them that faint to them that have no mights the original is very emphatical the plural with the Hebrews as some note when it is affirmative setteth forth the abundancy the eminency or excellency of any quaility or vertue as wisdoms for wisdom in many places in the Proverbs that is to say the most excellent wisdom or abundance So in the negative it often signifieth the great want in an eminent degree of such or such a qualification as here such as have no strength that is to say very little none at all such as faint and languish then you know strength is very little So again they are a people of no understandings in the plural number and again there is no safety or salvation or deliverance wrought in the earth there is no deliverance at all the meaning is not there are not many deliverances but there is not any at all and so here such as have no mights it is in the Original and we read such as have no might Alas they have no strength to those he will increase might Now I say gather together such promises as these Secondly Not only so but dwell upon them in your thoughts it may be at the first or second sight of them there will be little arising to the soul from them but you must dwell upon them as the Bee doth that will not off the flower until she hath gotten some sweetness from it So do you make these promises the object of your meditation can you have any thing sweeter to meditate upon then a promise in such a condition as this is Sure David when he meditated upon the Word of God and his meditations were sweet to him were not only the commands but the promises these indeed are the honey-suckles to dwell upon these you shall find much refreshing in break the bones if you would have the marrow in them You will not be able at first to find the depth of these promises to apprehend the fulness of them except you dwell upon them and then you can never further improve them to your comfort Thirdly More then this you must â—ay your mouths to them these are the breasts of consolations if the child will have any thing he must draw and draw hard sometimes and the mother is fain to help in some cases to press it down too all little enough the child is pleased and taken to see the breast but this will not feed nor nourish no more will our beholding the promises except we suck and suck strongly and the Spirit of Jesus Christ is ready Brethren to press those breasts to make them give down their milk their sweetness and fatness to us specially in prayer before the Lord take the promises that concern this condition of yours tell him he hath been pleased to make such gracious promises he was free and might have been so still if he had pleased but now he hath ingaged himself to give strength to them that have no might and Lord here is a poor soul that hath no might no strength I am in a poor lean faint languishing condition wilt thou not make good thy Word to thy poor creature thou hast caused me to hope upon this Word thou hast put the breast into my mouth or at least thou hast shewed it thy poor creature and wilt thou not make it give down its sweetness to me O make good thy Word to thy poor creature Lord I am in a declining condition I am even withering and lose of my greenness growing yellow or that which thou hast done for me lies under the clods thou hast promised to be as the dew unto Israel wilt thou not make good thy Word unto me and so thou hast planted me in thy house and promised I shall grow and flourish c. Press the Lord thus with his Word O he loveth to have his bond sued in the Court of heaven I dare undertake that such a soul that is thus stirred up to act faith upon the promises of God that soul is in a growing condition Brethren these are the wells in the valley of Baacha the wells of salvation you must draw from them and then you grow from strength to strength Seventhly another I shall name but this The greatness of the object whereupon your hearts are to dwell much and that is God himself for there is nothing doth greaten the mind more then the greatness of the Object whereupon it is conversant you