time but what you are in a constant way those that are the vilest of all yet they have some good moods and fits sometimes stirred by the word and when they are above some good motions and yet be vile and abominable for all this but you must judg what the frame of your Spirits are in reference to God and especially what you are in time of temptation how you find your hearts work ordinarily in times of temptation when you are put to it There is many a man when there is no temptation he seems to be as fair and as humble a man as lowly a man as can be but when temptation comes then he flies out And so many men and women think they trust in God and have Faith in God but when temptation comes then they find such distrust and such shifting unto unlawfull means to help themselves Thus you must see what you are in an ordinary way I do not say that a man should judg his condition or his heart for any particular but what he is in an ordinary way as thus you may know you have a froward Spirit if you are froward in an ordinary way When a temptation comes you may know you are unclean and sensuall though you are not unclean and drunk every week but when a temptation comes in an ordinary way and when a temptation comes you fal upon that which is evil and it is not the trouble of your spirit but you say it is the strength of temptation and we are all sinners and you can pass it over so Take these two Considerations with you First If that in an ordinary way when temptation comes you find your heart taken And Secondly If that you can pass over a sin without any trouble in Spirit I say then what you are in your temptation that you are in the sight of God and not what you are in some good mood and some good fit but there is the guise and the frame of your heart that that doth appear then were you otherwise in your temptation then you would complain of your heart and you would say O! here is a temptation that makes me see that corruption I never saw before and Oh! how doth this trouble you but if you vent your corruption in a temptation then you are to judg of your selves according to what you find your selves in a temptation and God will so judg you if there be not an alteration and if men must come to judg of themselves this way Oh! what abundance of filth and vileness and matter is there that men may come to know themselves by that they may loath themselves in their own eyes for ever Oh! it is a wonder that we should have any high thoughts of our selves at all when we consider what we are in our selves CHAP. CXXXII The knowledg of our selves further prosecuted with Six Means to get it 1. Consider what once we were 2. What we might have been 3. What it cost God to bring us out of that condition 4. What we are 5. What we would be if God should leave us a little to our selves 6. In what case we shall certainly be in one day FIrst Consider what ye were once I speak to those that are best of all of the Disciples of Christ consider what once you were Secondly What you might have been Thirdly What great cost God was at in bringing you out of that condition Fourthly What now you are Fifthly What you would be if God should but leave you a little to your selves Sixthly In what case ye all one day shall certainly be in These are the Heads to meditate upon to know your own vileness and so to humble your selves before God these are the meditations that may serve to prick the bladders of Pride and beat down the heart when it is lifted up As First Meditate what once you were consider that there is never a one of you whatever your condition is now but you were a Child of wrath and that as wel as others as well as the vilest basest wretch in the world as you were by nature you you were such as lost God had departed from him were deprived of the Image of God your excellency was departed from you you were under the curse of the Law you were enemies unto God your life was a continuall enmity unto God all your daies you did nothing else but fight against him you were guilty condemned Creatures you were ful of sin of the Seeds of all kinds of sin there is no sin in Hell it self but the Seeds of it were in your hearts your hearts and lives were full of sin all the faculties of your Souls were full of sin and all the members of your bodies instruments of sin all the good things you had was defiled Soul and Body was polluted and al loathsome you were even cast out in your blood and even lived in filthiness for al the time of your natural condition al the Creatures that you had use of you defiled with sin and all Ordinances were polluted all things were unclean to you Now these are some certain Heads to meditate upon to work upon us the knowledg of our selves what we were in that naturall state Besides add to this you were succorless helpless shiftless in your selves you could never deliver your selves you were wandring from God and would have wandred eternally if God had not looked upon you in mercy you were in such a condition that all the Angels in Heaven and all the Creatures in the world could not have helped you there was such a dreadfull breach between God and your Souls that if all the Angels in Heaven and men on earth would have been content to have died to have made up our breach it could not have been this is your condition Is there not cause then you should be low in your own eyes look back to this condition you see many vile Creatures going on in waies of wickedness provoking the infinite wrath of God against them and hanging over the pit of Hell by a twined Thred and every moment are ready to be plunged into the bottomless Gulf you were once thus you were in as vile a condition as they And consider further What you might have been you that are now in such a condition that have perhaps excellent parts I have spoken now only of our condition in regard of our spirituall Estate you may consider of your condition in your rise and beginning that what you find your selves made of was but Dust what poor matter you were made of at first and so many of you have great estates that now you are proud of but you were low enough look back to what you were So the Holy Ghost in Ezek. 16. when he would humble the People he bids them look back to what they were Your Father an Amorite and your Mother an Hitite and you were cast out into the Streets These things if we intended to speak of them
than another you have more honor and esteem than another What great difference makes this between man and man But now Grace makes a great difference between man man one hath Grace another hath not this makes a mighty difference one hath Humility another not this makes a very great difference there is not so much difference between the natural excellency of an Angell of Heaven and a Worm upon the earth as between an humble Soul and the greatest Prince in the world that hath not the Grace of Humility Were we but throughly principled in this one thing we may hear it and confes it I suppose but none of you when you go away will say this is true that Grace makes the great difference except you be principled in this thing that it is not the having much and little that makes any great difference between man and man Thirdly Seriously work upon your hearts the meditation of the vanity of all these things how quickly all the beauty and excellency of these things will be gone what is become of all the great pomp and excellency of the world when death comes what is the difference between one that was poor and contemptible and one that was rich and honorable Death makes all even The Glory of the world passeth away and the lustre of of it every thing here is but as flesh and grass that withereth by looking upon all these things that puff up the heart to be but as wind is the main thing to make the soul humble But the main thing is the setting God before us and Christ before us and the right understanding of our selves these are the three principall things that are helps for the Lowliness of the heart 3. The knowledg of God and the setting God before us is a principal thing to make us humble you know how it was with him in Prov. 30. and the beginning The man spake unto Ithiel and Ucal I have opened the meaning of this to you at another time he spake to Ithiel God with me Surely I am more brutish than any man and have not the understanding of a man Oh! how low was he in his own eyes when he had to deal with God the sight of God is that that humbles one more than any thing in the world And so that of Job that famous place in Job 42. after God had made himself known to Job at verse 3 4. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear saith he but now mine eye seeth thee wherefore I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes What an humble heart and a broken heart had he I set alwaies God before me And so Isay when he had the vision of God and the Seraphims cry Holy Holy Holy the whol earth is full of thy Glory wo to me saith he I am undone because he had seen God Thus al the Servants of God that did converse much with God were very humble Jesus Christ himself that had a lowly heart he conversing much with God and knowing so much of the divine nature having such interest in him therefore there was never such an example of a Lowly Spirit as Christs example was whenas we come to know God the infinite distance that is between God and us then what is all the excellencies in the world when thou comest to know the infinite excellency of God What is the glimerings of a Glo-worm when we come to see all the Glory of Heaven And then also we come to see the infinite dependance we have upon God I wonder not to see men in the world that do not know God to have bold and presumptuous Spirits and see men that have knowledg that they are humble though the others have their spirits lifted up in vanity But for the soul that ever had any sight of God it is a wonder that such a Soul should have any rising of Spirit that any sinfull height of Spirit should be in that Soul that knows what an infinite God it hath to deal with Oh converse much with God and then you will have humble Souls that Soul that never goes from Duty but hath much converse with God that Soul is very humble As Bernard said Lord I never go from thee without thee I carry thee out in my heart when I am in thy presence Now an Hypocrite converseth not with God you that converse with men you would be higher than your Neighbors and live better than your Neighbors O! this is the fruit of converse with men but now true Humility comes from converse with God nothing hath that excellency in it as that which comes from conversing with God and upon the sight of his excellency May be God laies affliction upon you takes away a Child or some of your Estate and this may be may humble you but true humility comes from conversing with God and the sight of his excellency 4. Another is from the right knowledg of Jesus Christ saith he Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart There is no such means of Humility as conversing much with Christ for there was never such an example of Humility as Christ and it was one of Gods ends to send his Son for an example into the world to honor this Grace of Humility and therefore they that know Christ much and the way of Salvation cannot but have empty hearts It is a speech of Austin saith he It may be thou wilt be ashamed to imitate an humble man such a one as is humble to make him thy pattern thou thinkest thou hast more excellency in thee than him I but be not ashamed to imitate an humble God Do but consider how willing Christ was to have that Glory and excellency of his to be eclipsed and darkned for so many yeers though he was one that the Angels adored and he might have let out that Glory to have filled all the whol world and have made the world astonished with his Lustre yet he was content for thirty two or thirty three yeers together to go up and down in the world as a man without form and comeliness to be despised contemned and spit upon If you have a little excellency you shew it presently in Cloaths in Speeches and the like Christ shewes you by this what vanity this is what an excellency and Glory was upon him and yet he was up and down in the world without form and comliness And when we look upon Christ Consider that he was not only humble but humble for us to fatisfie for thy sin without which thou must have gone to Hell eternally to be humble for thy sin there lies the power and efficacy of Christs example in Christs example thou seest what a mean thing any outward excellency of the world is What did he care for any outward excellency When they would have made him a King he cared not for it look up higher God hath made mankind for higher things than these below I that had
live amongst but now because in some things thou art bound up having a tender Conscience that you must go according to the Rule therefore it should be thy wisdom in all things wherein thou canst condescend and suit thy self with other men lawfully to do it because hereby thou shalt convince the world that when thou dost differ from them it is not out of proud singularity but out of Conscience they will think that if thou couldest in thy Conscience suit with them thou wouldest because in all things wherein thou canst thou suitest with them and indeed those that are Christians should in as much as they can be Servants to every one that is yeild to every one and suit themselves with every one upon this ground that they may by this convince al the world that where they are different from other men it is not out of honor and pride but meerly out of obedience to Jesus Christ Thus you have seen the behavior of an humble Spirit in reference to God in reference to himself and in reference to other men CHAP. CXXIX The excellency of Humility in thirteen particulars 1. God prizeth it 2. It is a convincing Grace 3. By it we walk worthy of the Gospel 4. It is an Evidence of election 5. Better than Sacrifices 6. It serveth for the prevailing of Prayer 7. It is a tryed heart 8. It is fit for great Services 9. It is the ornament of all Graces 10. It preseves all Graces 11. It makes all Duties and Crosses easie 12. It makes the life comfortable 13. It is most usefull to give God the Glory of the new Covenant THe excellency of this Grace of Humilty Learn of me for I am meek and Lowly in heart This Grace is above all Graces next to Faith it self and mightily extolled in Scripture and it is proper indeed to Christianity if you read in Phylosophers that speak of moral vertues you shall find high commendations of Justice Vertue and the like and little or nothing said of Humility No it is the Christian that counts Humility to have an Excellency in it it is Christ that is come from the Bosom of his father into the world to be an example and a pattern to hold forth the excellency and glory of this Grace before the world and that was one Reason why Christ came into the world Namely to hold forth the Glory and excellency of his Grace Humility may say but little of its own praise God takes care for the Glory of it it will discover it self by the fragrancy of it self as violets discover themselves by the sweetness of them though they be covered with Leaves so the excellency of humility will discover it self by its sweetness and no man or Woman needs to take care for the discovery of its excellency and therefore it is abundant folly for a man or woman to be proud of their humility or to shew themselves humble that others may take notice of it and so commend them for it but true humility shews forth it self and it must not be forced but let it alone and let it appear in it self in a genuine way and its excellency of its self wil be best discovered Let us see theâ— wherein the true excellency of a Lowly heart appears that we may be in Love with this Grace First There is no grace in Scripture that God speaks more honorably of that the Lord hath a more honorable esteem of In Prov. 16. 19. See what the Testimony of God is of an humble spirit Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the Spoile with the proude .. Here is Gods Testimony here is two sortes of people compared one with another the humble spirit and he that divides the Spoile with the proude there is no time wherein the heart of man is more lifted up than when a man hath overcome his enemy and is triumphing and dividing the spoil Oh Now his spirit is above Now saith God you poor creatures when you can get victory and make a prey of your enemies then your hearts are lifted up and you think such a man hath a brave conquest over his enemy and now he is triumphing Well saith God there is a poor humble contrite heart that the world takes no notice of and I count it better for one to be of an Humble Spirit with the Lowly than to divide the Spoil with the proud Take men in their greatest jollity and height and glory and lustre that ever men were in the world yet the poor humble Lowly spirited men are more glorious in mine Eyes I count a poor Sâ—ul a Child a Servant that hath gotten into a hole humbling their Souls before me I look upon these as a more glorious object for me to behold than great Alexander and Caesar and the greatest conqueror in the world We cal the proud happy but the Lord cals the humble happy And so in Isa 66. That Famous place The Lord that dwels on high be looks on him that iâ— of an humble and contrite spirit As if there were no object for the Eye of God to feed upon to be pleased withal but the humble spirit whereas the proud he looks afar off upon them Psalm 138. 6. Though the Lord be high yet he hath respect unto the Lowly but the proud he knoweth afar off The humble he looks upon as if God should say there is nothing in all the world that is worth my looking upon but an humble spirit yea and God loves to be neer to them in Psal 34. 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite Spirit He loves to be neer one that is of an humble spirit Yea and he loves to dwel with them In Isai 57. 15. Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I dwel in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and an humble spirit God lifts up himself and saith twice first that he is high and lofty in himself and then that he dwels in the high and lofty place and yet faith he I dwel in an humble spirit it may be an humble spirit is such a one as proud men scorn their company cannot indure their company Well but God loves to dwel in the House where thou art let it be never so poor a cottage he loves to dwel there God hath but two Houses he hath the highest Heavens and the lowest heart those are the two Houses God dwels in the Heavens above and the heart that is low and the lower the heart is the more the Lord loves to dwel there Secondly The excellency of an humble spirit appears in this that it is a grace that most convinceth men even a proud man sees a lustre of humility in others one proud man hates another proud man whereas one humble man loves another humble man humility is that that glaires in
further sence in it God gives a Grace to that God puts a Beauty and Ornament upon the Humble for Humility doth so beautifie a Christian that whatever they do they do it with a Grace there is no Christian that doth things with such a Grace as the Humble and it is that that doth adorn all Graces Humility Graceth all Graces whatsoever Tenthly And then it is that that preserves all Graces too and so some take the word there to come from a word that signifies a knot because it ties all Graces as it were with fast knots together as I find some Interpreters carry the word it unites and knits and strengthens all Graces Paul walked humbly with God walked constantly with him whatever fell out it did not hinder them from serving God As in Acts 20 the place I named before when he called together the Elders of Ephesus at verse 19. when they were come he speaks to them thus Serving the Lord with all Humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews whatever temptations did befall Paul yet he was able to go through them for he served the Lord with all Humility it is the proud swollen heart that is the backsliding heart but the humble heart is the heart that keeps constant with God it preserves all the Graces of the Spirit of God in vigor and in strength uniting of them together and uniting the Soul to the Fountain of all Grace it is the preservative of all Grace Eleventhly And again Humility it is that that makes all Duties and all Afflictions to be easie therefore this follows that I shall speak to afterwards Learn of me and be lowly in heart and then My Yoak is easie and my Burden is light it is an easie thing for a man to do any thing that God sets him about if he be once humble there is no difficulty that a man finds in the service of God but it is through pride of heart And so there is an ease in all Afflictions in being humble that that yeilds you know can bear opposition without any great noise indeed the tall Cedars are broken with winds but the poor shrubs below they do not suffer so much but these two will fall more seasonably in when we come to shew how humility gives quiet and rest unto the Soul Twelfthly Again There is nothing that makes the life of a man and woman more joyful and more comfortable than Humility You think the proud have the jolly lives and the comfortable lives No but the humble have most comfortableness because it makes them to prize the least mercy Chrisostome upon Acts 7. hath this expression None saith he live so comfortably as the humble and he gives the reason for it Because the least thing he enjoyes he sets such a price upon the mercy and therefore rejoyceth in it you shall observe it come to a poor Godly Family and you hear nothing but blessing and praising of Gods mercy and wondring at Gods mercy you that have great Houses and great Tables furnished you are wrangling and snarling at this and the other thing but an humble heart is praising and blessing God for his mercy and enjoy more of the mercies of Gods that they have than you do in all your abundance If a man have his flesh swollen he will not be able to bear it but it will be mighty toublesome to him So when the heart is swollen it will bring trouble to thee but this likewise will come more fully in when we come to speak of the Promise I will give you rest But now there is only one thing more for opening the excellency of this Grace and that is the many gracious Promises in Scripture that are made to humble hearts as now to name a few That God will guide the humble in their way Psal 25. 9. I confess your Books have it Meek and so I made use of it in opening Meekness but the word in the Hebrew is Humble and you may take it both waies and therefore in Prov. 11. 2. you have an excellent Scripture there With the Lowly there is Wisdom No man or woman hath that Wisdom for the guiding and governing of their waies as the Lowly Proud men will run on upon their own heads rashly because they be conceited of their own waies but the Lowly will examin and wait and suspect themselves they wil try and examin their waies and go in an humble way With the Lowly there is Wisdom Oh! into what Labyrinths straits aed extremities do proud people hurry themselves but now the Lowly they have the guidance of the Spirit of God carrying them on in their way and therefore they can quiet their hearts and listen to know what the mind of God is And another Promise is That God will revive the Humble the humble is ready to be trod under foot but in Isay 57. 15. The Lord saith he will revive the humble And another is that in Peter He will give Grace to the Humble And that same Promise that you have in Prov. 3. That he will give Grace to the Lowly Thou wouldest have more Grace it is taken for the Graces of Gods Spirit you would fain have more Grace to subdue your corruptions Are you thankful for what you have An humble heart will take notice of every little it hath wait upon God for more Make use of this Promise true Lord I have not such Grace as I would have but I have my heart subdued to this condition then here is the Promise The Lord will give Grace to the Humble And then there is the Promise of Exaltation in Prov. 15. 33. and Math. 23. 12. Those that do most abase themselves shall be most exalted by God It was an Answer that a Phylosopher gave to one that asked him What God did in Heaven he gives this Answer He is beating down the Proud and lifting up the Humble that is the thing that he is doing in Heaven and therefore those in Scripture that have been lowest you see how afterwards God hath exalted them Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God and he shall exalt you in due time in 1 Pet. 5. 6. speaking there of Humility there is but one word in the Greek there for due time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the opportunity of time God will exalt you when a fit opportunity comes And then there is the Promise of safety also to the humble in Job 22. 29. God makes a Promise there to keep those that are humble in a safe condition whatever danger is abroad the Lord will preserve them When men are cast down then thou shalt say there is a lifting up and he shall save the humble Person the Lord wil save the humble Person in time of trouble He shall find mercy frrom God in troublesom times And so in Zeph. 3. 12. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor People and
know no other way that is urged than this but to manifest the Grace of God upon theâ—r hearts the work of God upon them And for the matter of Covenant only to profess a willingness to joyn with such a Society of People in all the Ordinances of Jesus Christ so far as they know suppose I should not be convinced of this particular Ordinance or the other particular Ordinance if there be a willingness to walk in the Ordinances of Christ so far as I know this is the uttermost that is required and for the other it is only for edification but for necessity I know none that do require it Now what an easie Yoke is this that one should come to be partaker of al the priviledges of the Gospel and all the Ordinances that Jesus Christ hath be trusted his Church with and this is al that we must come and profess our willingness to walk with all the People of God in all the Ordinances of Jesus Christ so far as is revealed to them is there not an easiness in this to a Gracious heart Certainly this that is complained of hath no great difficulty in it Object I but you wil say There is more difficulty than this It is required that every one should watch over another a narrow watching over one another in their waies and observing one another and this is true a carnal heart cannot do it we were wont to have a loose kind of way that we lived in a Church communion one with another and never knew one another perhaps never saw one anothers face in all your lives but when you came to the Sacrament and whatever evil you had heard of one another you never minded their reformation Answ Now it is true That in the way of the Gospel when the Saints are joyned together in that way they must and ought to watch over one another And what great burden is this to a Gracious heart to a carnal heart it is true all the waies of God are burdensome but to a Gracious heart it is an ease that there shal not only be my own care and the Grace of God in me to watch over me but I shal have the use of al the Graces in the al Saints of God to watch over me And is here any hurt in this It is an honor that God puts upon thee that he gives not only his Angels charge over thee but all his Saints a charge over thee likewise A Prince hath a great Guard for the safety of his Person and that is the honor of a Prince he cannot go alone so as others do but must go with a Guard Now as the Prince in an outward way so the Saints in a spirituall way they are dear to Jesus Christ and therefore they shall never go up and down but they shall have their Angels to have charge over them But what have they charge over them for it is as the Scripture saith that they should not dash their foot against a stone they have charge over your Bodies in a more peculiar way and the Saints have charge over you in a more spiritual way now that you shall have Angels to watch over your Bodies and I make no question but they keep Satan off from hurting of you and then you shall have the Saints of God with whom you shall live eternally in Heaven and they shall watch over you for your spiritual good and so they shal communicate all their Graces and Gifts and they are bound in Conscience so to do and this is a great ease to a Gracious heart Object I but you wil say there is another difficulty if so be we fall at any time then we must give publick Satisfaction if we fall into that which gives publick offence there must be publick Satisfaction given for private offence we must give private Satisfaction and Oh! this is a heavy Iron yoke to a carnal heart if we should come to such a reformation as we desire Oh! what a burdensom thing would every carnal heart think it let me look now to my walking I cannot do as I was wont before time let me be never so vile do what I will I could give a Proctor a little mony or an Archdeacon or a Commissary or the like and then let the Minister and the Congregation do what they dare Oh! this is fine and easy to a wicked and corrupt heart But now to come to this that whatever you are Rich or Poor if you fall into scandalous sins it is not making freinds this way or that way or to a Minister no but you must come and make publick confession give publick Satisfaction and this is a yoke that is hard to a carnal heart but to a gracious heart it is easie What difficulty to a gracious heart is this I have publickly dishonoured the name of God and now I come publickly to repaire the name of God that I by my sins have darkned and done hurt unto I come now to repaire it openly nay what ease canst thou have till that be done certainly if thy heart be throughly humbled for the sins of thy soul wherein thou hast sinned publickly against God if thou hast sinned secretly then Christ requires not publick Satisfaction but if thou hast sinned publickly what more suitable to thy heart if Gracious then this Oh! that I might publickly repaire the honor of God that hath publickly been dishonored by my sin how canst thou sleep or die before thou hast done this I cannot possibly see how such a man or woman can die quietly and go out of the world quietly except they have had some opportunity to repair the honor of God publickly as they have sinned publickly and therefore this is not a way of punishment and pâ—nnance for thy sin but a restorring of the honor of God that thou hast impaired and this is that that is no burden unâ—o a Gracious heart the sin indeed is a burden the sin is a shame it is a shame to me that I should ever dishonor the blessed God that hope to receive such great satisfaction from God it is fit that I should come and repaire the honor of this God Oh! this is the honor of a Christian and therefore I beseech you have no hard thoughts of the waies of Jesus Christ in his Church And consider yet further for the easiness of it that Christ gives a charge to all his Saints that if thou be humbled and givest Satisfaction that they should restore thee with all meekness and Gentleness and if there should be any one that should insult over thee and any way deride and scorne thee certainly Jesus Christ will reckon with such a one for that and there is no sin that goes more against the Spirit of Jesus Christ then For any one to insult over those that come in the trouble of their spirits to repaire the honor of God that they have impaired by their sins Christ requires that every one should mourn
the yoke of the Devil and under the yoke of Antichrist then under the Yoke of Jesus Christ whereas the truth is Jesus Christ is come into the world to bring such a way of Sweetness and Love and Mercy and Ease unto us as if all the Angels in Heaven and men in the world had set all their Wisdomes on work from the beginning of the world to find out a way to bring us to Heaven they could not have found out such a way as this and yet this way to be refused Oh the aggravation of men at that day And the truth is that which I have delivered to you out of this Text if you shall yet continue under the yoke of your sins and be bond-slaves to the Devil in your wicked courses these things shall another day rise up in Judgment to stop your Mouths when this shal be brought against you did not you live in such a Town And such a place And where you heard such a Text opened to you that if you would come to Jesus Christ his yoke was easie and his burden was light and that the way of Jesus Christ brought such sweetness and love and mercy And yet you refused it and you would chuse rather to be a bondslaves to my enemy the Devil then come under the yoke of my son Oh How will this aggravate your sin another day I beseech you let not what we speak unto you be an aggravation of your sin the Reason why I have been so long upon this Text was to take away the stumbling blocks that men laid in the waies of Christ and to draw your hearts to the Love of the waies of Jesus Christ But now if you should reject the waies of Christ and continue under the yoke and bondage of sin after all this will be the fruit of the Sermons that they will be called over again at the day of judgment to make your yoke and burden heavier when you are under the wrath of God to all eternity And that may be a second use of this Point Consequence 3. Thirdly If the Yoke of Christ be thus easie and his Burden light then you that are the people of God that are come under this yoke and have felt the easiness of this yoke bless the Lord for it and bless your selves for what ease you find in the waies of Jesus Christ Think but thus with your selfe there are others indeed they have a strange conceit of the waies of Jesus Christ and think them hard and indeed if their natures be not changed they wil be hard unto them but blessed be God I find them otherwise when I began to turn my face to Jesus Christ my Father or Mother called me Fool and said you will have no comfort and my Uncle and kindred they told me that my comfort would all be gone but blessed be God I did not harken to them but I find them otherwise I do not find that these things bring me into any such bondage but blessed be God I never had that comfort that now I have Nay I have that sweetness ease and comfort that I cannot but think that if al the men in the world did seek now and feel that comfort that I feel they would be in Love with the waies of God I hope there are many that can think with themselves did but all my kindred and my friends Yea did but all the world feel that sweetness ease and comfort that I feel in the waies of Christ they would be in love with them If you can speak so Oh blessed be God for this easie yoke of Christ There might have been required a hard yoke if Christ should say Well I endured a hard yoke for you I came from the Bosome of my Father and came under the curse of the Law for you and if you will be delivered you must have a heavy yoke upon you too if Christ should have required that we should have been tied unto a Stake and endured the fire and have been held unto it and saved at last yet we had cause to fal down and bless God for ever for this but Christ requires no such thing Christ reveals not only Salvation at last but he reveals a fair way he paves our way with Gold so that we go through Canaan unto Canaan not through the wilderness It is true before we came under the yoke of Christ fully there was some trouble but take it in respect of the inward man I say their way to a Heavenly Canaan is through Canaan here in this world they have a Canaan that flows with Milk and Honey It is true the Jews were in a servile way and God would not bring them into Canaan but through the Wilderness and it is true in outward view there is a great deal of trouble to come to you but in regard of the inward man there is a spiritual Canaan to bring us to the Heavenly Canaan and the Saints they may suck Milk and Honey continually if they do not hinder themselves all the way they are going to the Land of Canaan the Lord hath appointed them to suck sweetness and honey out of the Promise of the Gospel all the way they go while the wicked have nothing but Swill and Dogs meat â—o suck and to feed upon And here is the difference between a Godly man and a wicked man an ungodly man or woman is appointed for execution and he lives upon the basket in the mean time he hath nothing to maintain him as a Prisoner he lives upon the basket this is his life in comparison of a Godly mans life he is going on to execution even in this world now between the greatest Prince that is and what the Saints have in this world there is this difference the one is appointed to execution and lives upon the basket to maintain him till the day of execution and the other is going to immortality to receive a Kingdom to live upon the greatest dainties that Jesus Christ brought from the bosom of his Father from the Riches and Glory of his Father here in this world he hath that that sweetens his life and hath his food in some respects better than the food of the Angels he feeds upon Manna that comes from Heaven though he be in the Wilderness of this world Oh bless God and Jesus Christ that hath made such a way for thee to Heaven and love these waies of Christ and speak well of them and labor to promote them and all that ever you can and live so as you may not bring an â—ill report upon the waies of Christ that others may not be deterred from the waies of Jesus Christ by your lives Consequence 4. And that may be another Use if the waies of Christ be so easie then do not bring an ill report upon them Do not lead such discontented sullen dejected lives especially you that have carnal Husbands carnal Wives carnal Parents carnal Masters and Mistresses they look upon you