once found out she quickly spoil'd him of it and delivered him a captive to his enemies find out the strength of the World what it is and wherein it lyes and then you will understand your way to the conquering of it But where lyes this strength of the World I answer In The Spirit of the World within us In the God of the World without us 1. In the spirit of the world within the world hath a strong party within man which sides with it 1 Cor. 2. 12. We have received not the spirit of the world but the spirit which is of God we have not we who have that spirit of God in us have not received the spirit of this world but all others have no other spirit In the whole generation of worldly men there is the same spirit as in the whole generation of the Saints there is the same divine spirit the same spirit of grace the same spirit of faith the same spirit of love the same holy spirit So in all the men of this world there is the same worldly spirit The spirit of this world is an earthly Spirit 1 Cor. 15. 47. the first man is of the earth earthy in his creation he had an earthy body and by sin he is come to have an earthy Soul Sin was his fall from Heaven to Earth as in his choice he made for himself he chose an earthly inheritance so in his temper and disposition and tendency his very nature now inclines and bends towards earthly things his Soul as well as his Body lusts after and feeds upon dust The spirit of the World is a short sighted spirit it cannot see afarr off 2 Pet. 19. Heavenly things are too far distant to be discerned by it it loves and gapes for and grasps things present things to come are far out of its sight The spirit of the world is a low and narrow spirit these poor and beggerly things that this earth affords are the highest of its ambition Seekest thou great things for thy self Yes I do what worldly greatness are these the great things thou seekest a great name a great estate great possessions thou mistakest thy self man these great things are but small things below the spirit of a man below a divine and immortal Soul meat and drink and mirth and money are these the best things thou findest for thy heart to be set upon for thy soul to take pleasure in sure thou hast changed Souls with the bruits that canst take up with such things as these The Spirit of the World is an homebred spirit it hath never been abroad but hath been born and bred in this worldly region it hath never set foot nor been acquainted in a better land the spirit which is of God carries up to the upper regions the regions of light and life and glory and immortality where it hath made discoveries of other manner of treasures and joyes and glories then are here to be found but the spirit of the world hath ever dwelt at home the souls of worldlings dwell in their houses of clay and never travail farther then they can with the snail carry their houses upon their heads their Souls travail no farther then their carkases This Spirit of the World by what hath been hinted of the make and temper of it you see hath a suitableness to worldly things and this is the great advantage the World hath upon us it tempts us to that we love and like all that the World perswades us to is to seek what we have a mind to to do what we have a mind to to follow our natures and dispositions to find out what will best please us and there to take our fill The difficulty of Christs victory over Souls lyes in this that he calls and commands them to things and to wayes contrary to their natures not to please but to deny themselves to kill their Flesh to cross their appetites to contradict their own mind to pursue an happiness which is so sublime and spiritual and so unsuitable to their carnal natures that it is altogether unsavory to them and hereupon he hath hard work to prevail and t is but here and there one amongst many that will be prevailed upon to hearken to him to how many houses may we come to how many souls may we bring the everlasting Gospel ere one will open and accept how many are call'd to Christ to one that comes O brethren you are witness how hardly any of your souls were perswaded to come along with Christ and may be some of you stand off and hang back and will not be perswaded to come fully in to this day What 's the reason of this Oh carnal men think that Christ calls them to their loss perswades them to their hurt that they have a better being whilest they are wallowing in their riches and their pleasures then ever they should find in following of Christ But now the advantage that the world hath on Souls is that it tempts them to things pleasing to them their natures joyn with the world and draw them the same way Whilest Christ calls if any man will be my disciple let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me this is all the world requires if any man will be my servant let him seek himself and shift for himself and please himself and shun the cross and follow his own heart and what great difficulty is there to perswade men to follow their own minds when worldly temptations meet with worldly spirits when temptations to pride meet with proud hearts when temptations to pleasure meet with flesh-pleasing hearts when temptations to vanity meet with vain hearts when temptations to covetousness meet with covetous hearts how mightily must they needs prevail From this suitableness of the spirit to worldly things it doth Readily take in of the World Greedily make out after the World 1. It doth readily take in of the World the world never knocks but the heart opens the world never offers but the hand is ready to receive yea though the terms upon which we must have it be never so unreasonable though for every draught of pleasure they must after drink the double in wormwood though with the gains of the world they must drink in a curse yet like men in a dropsie though to drink will be death their thirst must be quenched It may be when the world is a tempting the Soul conscience stands by and gives it warning take heed of these pleasures ther 's poyson in that cup or ther 's wormwood at the bottome take heed of these deceitful riches ther 's a snare lies under there 's a curse cleaves to them look to thy self Soul the world is but a playing the Devil with thee these pleasures and these riches it hath sent to fetch away thy Soul it holds thee so busy about thine earthly affairs that thou mayest the mean while loose the opportunity of making Christ thine of making the
withholding us from Christ Christ comes to bring us back unto the Father 1 Pet. 3. 18. to reduce us to our duty and restore us to our happiness The world that withdraws us from God withholds us from Christ Particularly It holds us back from coming to Christ It holds us in from following of Christ 1. It holds us back from coming to Christ And this it doth by these four means By Darkning our sight Deadning our sense Hanging upon our hearts and about our necks Furnishing us with excuses 1. By darkning the sight that we cannot see either the excellency or the necessity of Christ Christ draws on Souls to him by love and fear First he frights us in by presenting the danger and misery that is falling upon us and we cannot escape if we stand out Look to thy self Sinner this world will betray thee to thy ruine thy pleasures are thy traitors thy carnal friends are thy traitors thy estate is thy traitor they are feasting thee and feeding thee but t is for the day of slaughter the butcher the butcher of souls is near thee into whose hands they are betraying thee they seek thy life thou art but a dead man death is already feeding upon thee the curse of God doth already cleave to thee and is ready to fall upon thee in its full weight thou wilt be devoured thou wilt be swallowed up ere thou art aware come away come to me and thou shalt be safe this house is falling on thine head escape for thy life the avenger of blood is at thy heels flee to the City of refuge I am thy City of refuge come unto me Thus he provokes by fear And this is such an argument to drive Souls into Christ as a clap of thunder or a storm of hail is to the Traviler to hasten him to shelter Then Christ draws by love presents himself and his salvation to the Soul displayes all his beautie and excellencies before it opens the Gospel wherein his grace and his glory appear and shine forth the Gospel is sent down full of Christ there are all the treasures and unsearchable riches of Christ and all held forth in open sight to invite sinners unto him Now the world dashes all this that it workes nothing on the Soul by blinding the eye that it cannot see what Christ sets before it what is either beauty or blackness to the blind soul 2 Cor. 4. 4. The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which beleive not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them We are naturally born blind and if our eyes begin a little to be opened this earth is thrown as dust in our eyes that we may not see what 's before us The things of this world as the Moon interposed causeth an eclipse in our souls that we cannot see the Sun we cannot discern either light or darkness either the light of the glorious Gospel or the darkness of the Pitt either our hopes or our dangers this earth keeps both Heaven and Hell out of sight The things of the world should be a glass wherein we may behold the glory of the Lord we may see God in every creature The Heavens declare the glory of God Psal 19. 1. And so doth the earth also and all that is therein but that which God made a glass in which we might see his glory the Divel makes a cloud to take God out of sight what God made a window to let in the light the Divel makes a shut to keep it out Worldly men fix and terminate their eyes in worldly things they can neither look besides them nor through them It is not with them according to the course of nature The Sun dazles mens eyes that they cannot see the Earth but the quite contrary The Earth dazles their eyes that they cannot see the Sun Men usually carry their eyes in their hearts they will not look but where they love or if they should look heavenward yet they could not see the earth hath dazled their eyes Sinners take heed of these riches take heed of these pleasures these substances and these shadowes which your hearts are set upon they will not only be as clogs to keep you down from ascending heavenward but as clouds to hinder you from looking thither It may be they appear as bright clouds but a bright cloud will hide the Sun out of sight as well as a black 2. By deadning the sense they can neither see nor feel they see not the excellency nor can feel their need of Christ who are drunken with these worldly vanities they who altogether live by sense are without sense of any but the present things they can make a shift to live without Christ the less of Christ the better for their turns Christ and the things of Christ are the only things that stand in their way are their way to poverty not to wealth to reproach and shame not to honour they can well enough want Christ while they live but what need they may have of him after this life that enters not into their hearts they are so busy with what they find here that they look not so far as the grave much less beyond it 'T is hard dealing with such hearts but when you find them alone retired and withdrawn from the world and how long may we wait ere we meet with such a season find them in a croud among their carnal friends and companions find them among their Sheep or Oxen or at their pleasures and the noise of these will so drown all that can be said that its like to make as deep impression as a showre upon a stone cry out in their eares fire fire throw Death and Hell in their faces it moves them not so much as to draw forth such a question What may I do to escape We never will come to Christ till we see we need him and we never see our need of Christ till being withdrawn from the hurries of this World we have leisure to sit down and consider How seldom do carnal hearts ask What use is there of Christ wherefore is he come what want would there be of him if there were no Christ If God that spared not his Son but gave him a ransome for the world had spared all this cost it had been all one to them they could have liv'd as merrily and as plentifully here however and that 's all they mind or regard Or if they have any sense of their need of Christ at all it is so little that it will do nothing to the perswading them after him the wound is not so deep but the name of a Saviour will skin it over Seldome does it rise so high as to wring out such a serious question What may I do that Christ may be mine How many Houses and Markets and Shops and Companies may we come into ere we hear any such question Go into the
filth and stench of Hell in their vile affections the smoke and flames of Hell in their reeking and burning lusts the darkness of Hell in their darkned and blinded minds and sometimes the torments of Hell in the anguish of their guilty and self revenging consciences And as sinners may find an hell so believers an heaven in the heart an heaven of light an heaven of love and joy and praise Thus it is with some and thus it might be with all were we stronger in Faith Oh what do we lose by living thus by Sense when we mighâ— live by Faith how have our carnal hearts by consuming and spinning out our daies in sloth and idleness sticking at the labour of duty whining under difficulties shrinking from sufferings indulging to our ease and our pleasure and liberties how have our carnal hearts robb'd us of the life of God the pleasures of Angels the joys of the Upper Region and left us little more of Christianity then its wounds and bruises its mournings and complainings its sighs and sorrows Oh foolish hearts that consult so unwisely for our selves that choose rather to live in Brakes among these bryars and thorns then among the Beds of Spices that will rather laze it in a Wilderness then get us up to the Garden of the Lord The life of Faith is an heavenly life The life of God Ephes 4. 18. though Faith shall never come into heaven it self yet thither it translates our hearts It came down from heaven it is the gift of God and though it must not return thither 't is love not Faith that shall dwell before the Throne of God yet thither it raises those hearts in which it lives Though it may not dwell there hereafter Faith shall then be lost in sight yet now its travelling thither going and returning every day and hour Phil. 3. 20. Our conversation is in heaven there 's all our business where should a Christian be where does he live but where his business lies A Believer that had heretofore so many things to do dividing his heart and time hath now cast all his business into one hath brought all his business near his home he hath nothing to do abroad in the Tents of wickedness in the Camps of the Uncircumcised he hath done with serving flesh and lusts and times and tables and carkasses here his whole work did lye but no more of these now they must be all laid aside or at least made to come and serve with him in his higher business God and glory the loving and praising and serving and securing God to his soul is all he hath to do Phil. 3. 13. This one thing I do forgetting that which is behind and reaching forth to that which is before I press to the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. These lower things his outward priviledges hopes and advantages were once the things before him but he 's now gotten beyond and hath left them all behind him not only his Jewish priviledge whereof he had boasted but much more all earthly things he hath cast off these weights and is now flying upon the wing of Faith ascending in flames of love winding up his soul by constant labour above this dung and darkness to the Regions of light and glory This is his business And hence is his blessedness heaven is his work and his meat his labour and his hire he will know nothing for a blessing or a comfort but what his Faith brings him down from above Why art thou cast down O my soul why art thou so disquieted within me Bid him Hope in God tell him thou shalt yet praise him who is the light of thy countenance and thy God and this will comfort him Say to him while you will Man be of good comfort the fig-tree blossoms the labour of the Olive will not fail there is fruit in the Vines there are Flocks in the Folds there are Herds in the Stalls comfort thine heart what wouldst thou have more And how little will this ease him Oh where is my God how is it with my soul what tidings from above have I a treasure there doth God smile what tidings from within Is it peace there doth my soul prosper Is there grace there is truth in my inward parts this is good news Come in thou blessed of the Lord thou comest with good tidings this shall comfort me This is the life of Faith a conversation in heaven Thus we should and thus we might live more then we do but I doubt I have been here in telling you a Mystery whereof the most of us have but little experimental understanding Christians what acquaintance have you with this life of God Is this your business heavenly work are these your comforts heavenly supports we are yet carnal and walk as men Oh this earth earth how doth it hang on our spirits we live as if there were a middle Region betwixt heaven and earth a middle state betwixt Faith and unbelief Some little we have attain'd of this heavenly life and blessed be the Lord for any thing but oh how little is it Friends wonder not that you see no more of the Divine Glory conclude not that there is no more to be seen put it to the proof live more with God more purely more closely more constantly with him live in the daily exercise of Faith and you will get the sight of other manner of glorious things then can be told you What 's the reason that unbelievers are so wholly in the dark and can see nothing of God no more then they can despise and laugh to scorn O 't is because they come not near where God is they are alienated from the life of God their whole business is in the heart of the earth here they dwell and here is their whole converse Speak ye unbelievers where dwell ye what is your Occupation where is your Conversation far enough from heaven sure where ever it be Speak ye proud and haughty ones where is your Conversation our Conversation is in the air we feed on wind live upon breath honor and applause is all we work for and live upon Speak ye Covetous where is your Conversation our Conversation is in the earth we feed upon dust and ashes and in these our business lies Speak ye contentious quarrelsome ones where is your Conversation our Conversation is in the fire in storms and tempests Speak ye voluptuous Sensualists where is your Conversation our Conversation is in the mud and mire in lasciviousness wantonness and all manner of filthy lusts Speak ye Ranters Ruffians Swearers Cursers Blasphemers where is your Conversation our Conversation is in Hell in the Alehouse the Tavern the Brothel-house we live where Satans Throne is in the very Suburbs of Hell Oh what a difference hath Faith put betwixt Believers and all others in the world whilst they only live the life of God all others live the life of Bruits
or Devils Oh bless God for Faith even ye of little Faith at its first entrance it gives your soul a lift from heaven to earth There it lists your names no longer men of this world but henceforth Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God there it hath laid you up an Inheritance and thence it brings you your maintenance thither it turns your eyes and all your streams it shews you what you have there and by those beams it draws you up thither Those to whom it shews the least of that glory it shews enough to disgrace the glory of the world and as this Sun-light grows so doth all the beauty of the world fade and vanish out of sight By Faith our conversation is in heaven Now by how much the more our conversation is in heaven by so much the more our hearts are there by how much the more our hearts are in heaven by so much the less on earth and when once the world hath lost our love it hath lost its power over us 1. By how much the more our conversation is in heaven by so much the more our hearts and affections are there we ordinarily love to be where we use to be No such damp grows upon affection as by distance and estrangement when we loose our acquaintance we loose our delight in God Acquaint thy self with him and be at peace Joh 22. 21. Acquaint thy self with him and be in love there wants nothing to fix our affections on heaven but being better acquainted there Intimacy begets dearness Do you not love God t is a sign you have had little to do with him Is not your delight in Heaven t is a sign you are seldome there Is prayer and holy meditation and exercising your selves in the Scriptures and attendance on ordinances a weariness and altogether unpleasant to you sure you have little known what the spirit of Prayer and Communion with God in his word and ordinances mean those whose Souls dwell by the wells of salvation and often let down the bucket do taste that the waters thereof are sweet they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thine house and thou shalt make them drink of the rivers of thy pleasures for with thee is the fountain of life Psal 36. Those that walking closely with God do dwell in the secret of his presence under the sweet dewes and influences of his grace the business of whose life is to behold and love and serve the Lord their hearts have found such rest there that they can find no rest elswhere 2. By how much the more our hearts are in Heaven by so much the less are they on earth worldly professours have all their religion in their mouths there 's little within whatever they talk If any man love the world the love of the father is not in aim If any man love the Father the love of the world ceases Heaven and Hell may meet as well as Heaven and Earth in the same heart Set your affections on things above and not on the earth on both you cannot your bodies as easily as your Souls may dwell in Heaven and Earth together You use to say I cannot be here and there too no sure enough you cannot whilest your Souls are the inhabitants of this they are exiles from the other world and when they have their dwelling in Heaven they are but strangers and Pilgrims on the Earth this world hath lost your hearts when God hath gain'd them 3. When once the world hath lost our hearts it hath lost its power over us who will be entic'd by what he hates or slights God and the world rule both by love If God hath our love he hath the command of all that ever we have if we love the world what can it not do with us whither can it not lead us If the world hath lost our love it were even as good lay down its weapons and let us alone let them follow God let them be holy let them to Heaven their hearts are gone and there 's no holding them back It may still hang in their heels and retard their motion Heaven-ward but their hearts being gone thither their main course will bend it self 6. Faith gives assurance of this better inheritance Heb. 11. 1. Faith is the subsistence of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen It is an evidence not only that there is another world and a better world then this and that this better state may be obbtaind that there is an entrance into the everlasting Kingdom possible that these mortals may be clothed with immortality that these corruptibles may put on incorruption and these poor worms that creep on the dust may get them wings and fly away hence into everlasting bliss but it is also an evidence that all this shall be that there shall be a performance of all those glorious things which God hath spoken concerning his Saints Blessed is he that hath believed for there shall be a performance of all that hath been told him Luk. 1. 45. Faith hath taken bond for performance The Almighty God hath bound himself to us and lest through unbelief we should stick at taking his single bond he hath given security hath brought in his Son and heir the Lord Jesus Christ to stand bound with him Faith hath taken this bond and having it self sealed to the Articles or conditions on our parts upon the performance whereof the inheritance stands sure to us upon the greatest security that Heaven and Earth can give it keeps it by it and hath it ready to produce upon all occasions to stop the clamours of unbelief The Covenant of God that 's our security The Almighties bond and articles wherein he hath made over all that ever he hath by an immutable and irrevocable deed to his Saints Heb. 6. 17 18. Nay more Faith will shew a believer his own name in this deed If it can but shew it self to us can make it evident that it is what it is the Faith of Gods elect if it does but once appear that we do sincerely believe it therein shews us our names in the promise of God To say to any one that knows he believes to say to him He that believeth shall be saved is fully as much as if it had been said to him by name Thou O man even thou shalt be saved thy name is written in the book of life Unbelief will be staggering at the promise and will call in question all that the Lord God hath said And when this world comes upon us and tempts us opens its pack and shews us its wares and offers us our choice of whatsoever will please us Take it saies unbelief make sure of something let not go such penniworths they may be the best thou art ever like to have Mayst thou be rich mayst thou live in pleasure and in honour here Be not such a fool as to neglect thy self for a conceit of some strange
other world sure to thee look to it thou wilt never have any part in Christ thou wilt never have any hope towards God if thou be tampering thus and trading thus greedily for this present world it may be Conscience doth thus stand by and give warning to the worldly heart but all 's one for that come what will come the heart is so set upon it that it will not be warned 2. Hence it is that they so greedily make out after the world Oh what hast doe they make to be rich how doe their Souls hunger after worldly greatness they covet greedily all the day long Prov. 21. 26. They enlarge their desire as Hell and are as death and cannot be satisfied as it was said of the Caldean Hâ—b 2. 5. they enlarge their desire as Hell of which t is said he hath made it deep and large they have deep desires the bottom of their Soul comes up they have large desires they never have enough Ezek. 33. 31. Their heart goeth after their covetousness that is either after those earthly things which are the objects of their covetousness or after the ductus or leading of their covetousness their covetousness leads on and their heart follows their heart goes yea it runs after it their heart out runs their feet their heart out works their hands when I awake I am still with thee saith the Psalmist and when the worlding awakes where is his heart presently in the field in the shop in the market his heart is there before his body can get there it may be that must stay a time in the house after he awakes and put on his clothes or take his breakfast or may be to make a short prayer for a fashion but his heart goes presently abroad as soon as ever he awakes and leaves only his tongue behind to pray But whence is this eagerness this hungring and riding post after the world why t is his love to the world that makes him gape so wide after it he loves to be rich he loves give ye Christ is propos'd and set before his eyes the bread of life the water of life the windows of Heaven are opened the fountains above are broken up the durable riches the everlasting pleasures life and peace and rest and joy and glory are sett forth in open sight before the world and as Psal 14. 2. God looks down to see if any would understand and seek God to see who amongst all the world had a mind to his riches to his treasures who was for Christ who was for Grace who was for Heaven but behold they are all running another way there 's none that understands none that will seek God every door is shut every heart 's asleep when God passeth by If he should never give till many ask if he should stay till they seek him how long might he stay he must come and call and knock and break open their doors and pour into their mouths and t is well if Heaven will down with any at last whilest full tables and full draughts of this world will down and never stick now and then a crumb now and then a drop from above is all that will be taken in Oh this agrees not with our stomack t is the world that is our favoury meat Oh what abundant proof is there brethren of this difference of our appetites to things spiritual and things carnal Oh what thriving and what grown Christians had we been had we been as hungry after grace as after greatness in this world had there been so much craving and catching after God as after Mammon had there been such good husbandry among us for things to come as for things presen What 's the reason that our Souls are such dwarfs and babes and starvlings Are they not so is it not very poor and very low with us what treasures have you gotten how little knowledge or Faith or love or power or vigour of spirit have you attain'd how is death still feeding upon us Death in our understandings Death in our affections Death in our Consciences Death in our duties we walk up and down more like the Ghosts of Christians then like living Christians pale and wan and weak and cold mere carkases of Christianity when the Soul and Spirit of religion is not Look about enquire among you and see how many such dead carkases there are to one living lively Soul how many empty caskes that make a little sound to one full vessel The Lord be merciful to us though the name and shell of Religion be among us and upon us yet the spirit and kernel of it seems to be almost quite vanished out of the earth It was once said Revel 3. 4. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis that have not defiled their garments But oh may it not be said thou hast but a few names neither in Sardis not Thiatira nor Philadelphia nor any where among all the Churches thou hast but a few names any where that have any more then a name that they live Brethren how is it with us who are here before the Lord turn in every one his eye upon his heart goe down and ask every one of you Soul how fares it with thee how art thou fed oh my Soul how art thou clothed what hast thou by thee what what grace what peace what hope to comfort thee who is there within thee is Christ there is the holy spirit there quickning thee and cleansing thee or is not the world there preying upon thee and consuming thee Ask your Souls art thou in health O my Soul dost thou live and thrive and hold up thy head and hold on thy way and thy work or art thou not sick head sick and heart sick and weak and poor and blind and naked look in each one of you step down and take an account of your state If you would do so I doubt there are few of us but would find all within in a very pitiful and lamentable case What 's the reason of all this the Lord God hath offered to feed us and nourish us and nurse up these languishing Souls the Lord God hath stood among us with his baskets of bread and his bottles of wine hath put such meat to our mouths that would have nourished us up from babes to be men from such weaklings to be strong in the Lord but there is such an unsuitableness betwixt the things of God and our carnal hearts that we have no appetite to them and so they will not down whereas the things of the world do find such a Spirit of the world in us that of any thing that it hath to offer us nothing comes amiss we not only readily take it in but greedily hunger and make out after it By the way Christians learn that if ever you would get victory over the world you must first get you another spirit in vain do you think to live other then a worldly life whilest the spirit
seldom does us more good than by his srowns and the Devil never does us more hurt than by his kindnesses It never fares better with Gods Children than when they are crost nor ever fares it worse with the Devils Children than when they are cocker'd never suspect the Devil more than when he pretends to do you a courtesie what ever it be by which he usually pleasures you dread that as Death and Hell Mistake not Gods chastisements nor the Devils complements be content that God should displease you and be afraid when the Devil pleases you be convinc'd that Gods smitings are a precious Balm and the Devils stroakings are stabs at your heart fear not his Thunder and Storms so much as his warm Sun Beware of this folly Whatever pleases me is good for me Beware of this madness I must be pleased what ever comes of it mine eye must be pleased my humour must be pleased mine appetite must be pleased I must be pleased what ever it costs me If you be for that the Devil knows where to have you though God does not please you though holiness does not please you though Heaven does not please you the Devil that knows your palate will find something that will If Mony will do it if Mirth will do it if Meat and Drink and fine Cloathes or merry Company will do it this he offers you and by this he holds you captive at his will III. Wherein the strength of faith lies whereby it overcomes the world What a mighty enemy is here who can stand before it What is little David to Goliah what is a sling and a pebble to a sword and a spear to an helmet and greaves and a target of brasse The mighty Philistim comes blustring and boasting and fuming and chafing so that he made an earthquake in the Camp of Israel and what could a poor stripling do to undertake this mighty Champion what hope is there of victory over him little David tells us 1 Sam. 17. 45. Thou comest to me with a Sword and a Spear but I come unto thee in the Name of the Lord of Hosts this day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand and all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with Sword and Spear the battel is the Lords and he will give you into our hands The strength of Israel is this David the strength of David is his Faith the strength of Faith is the Name of the Lord Prov. 18. 10. the Name of the Lord is a strong Tower the righteous runneth into it and is safe But to come closer to the matter in hand this general I shall dispatch in these two Particulars 1. The strength of a Christian is his Faith 2. The strength of Faith is Christ 1. The strength of a Christian is his Faith Mark 9. 23. to him that believeth all things are possible there 's nothing impossible to Faith because there 's nothing impossible to God The 11th chapter to the Hebrews is a short Chroniele of the mighty Acts and Atchievements of Faith It spoiled Death of its prey as in the case of Enoch verse 5. his Faith carried him to Heaven another way he was translated and did not see death It made an Ark to save from a Flood as in the case of Noah verse 7. It caus'd a living issue to spring out of dead bodies as in the case of Abraham and Sarah verse 12. It received a living Child from the dead by offering it up to death as in the case of Abraham offering up his Son Isaac v. 17. 19. It foretold things to come and conveyed down the Fathers blessing on his posterity as in the case of Isaac Jacob and Joseph v. 20. But more fully to our purpose It overcame the world 1. It despised and rejected the prosperity of the world v. 15. They were not mindful of their earthly countrey they had a better an Heavenly countrey in their eye and were content to be Pilgrims in this in hope to be possessours of that better inheritance v. 24. Moses by faith forsook the glory of Egypt the Court of Pharaoh the bosome of Pharaohs daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season 2. It triumph'd over the power and wrath of the world v. 33. It subdued Kingdoms wrought righteousness quenched the violence of fire escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness it made strong turned to flight the Armies of the Aliens endured cruel mockings and scourgings yea moreover bonds and imprisonments endured stoning sawing asunder wandrings about in sheep-skins and goat-skins destitute afflicted and tormented In all these things the servants of God were more then conquerours through Faith in him that loved them Christians where is your faith how is it that the world is still on horseback riding on conquering and to conquer not only riding over our backs but riding over our Faith crowing over our consciences triumphing over religion and righteousness as if Christ had lost the day and conscience had run the field Oh how many Captives hath it taken from the mighty what multitudes of prisoners hath it gotten Some it hath in golden chains fettered in riches and worldly gains in honours and dignities Some it holds with a Spiders web which yet they cannot break the fashions and fooleries of the world its pomps pleasures and humours others it hath laid fast in iron chains manacled with fears and dread of its fury and violence they dare not be Saints any longer their faith and their love and their zeal are all thrown away they dare not appear in their Armour lest they should be known for Christs disciples How many renegadoes and Apostates hath the world made that have run from their colours and have listed themselves under the Devil under whose conduct they are fighting against that faith and holiness which once they professed and those that are left behind how weak and faint-hearted are they most become afraid not only of sufferings but of their duty O how are we lost in our conflicts with temptations whither are our hearts run some into our fields some into our shops some into our gardens some into our beds of ease where we may sleep in a whole skin Some are gotten into sanctuary turn'd aside to iniquity to escape affliction Oh how few hearts are there left behind with Christ and those that are how cold and spiritless are they become t is woful to observe with what a pale face Christianity looks at this day May we not sadly invert the words of the Text This is the victory that hath overcome our Faith even this present world whilest the Apostle boasts that the believers of old by their faith subdued Kingdomes wrought righteousness obteined promises stopd the mouths of Lions quenched the violence of Fire c. May we not now hear the world triumphing that it hath shaken the Kingdom of Christ wrought wickedness vacated promises
Ballances may be said to be ballances of deceit in a double sense There are ballances where by men deceive others as those false ballances which unrighteous men use for their own advantage to buy or sell by which may be those there meant and there are false ballances whereby men deceive themselves Ungodly men as they weigh their commodities they sell in false ballances thereby to deceive others so they weigh their gains that they get to themselves in false ballances and thereby deceive themselves their bargains that they make they could never count them such good bargains unless they weighed them on their deceitful ballances If sense may be Judge the world is a good bargain when dearest bought though if faith may be Judge when the world may be had cheapest it is not over safe dealing for it Now when the worth of the world is understood the Divels market is spoiled No man will care to deal with such a pedlar whilest the Merchant stands by who will sell his inheritance for counters or his patrimony for dirt and dung who will spend his money for that which he knows is not bread or his labour for that which profiteth not the strength of the temptation is broken when once we understand of how little valew the things are we are tempted by Christians study the world more search the Scriptures and what these testifie of it believe the Scriptures which have written upon all under the Sun Vanity and vexation of spirit understand what an insignificant cypher this figure of the world is Believe your own words you can sometimes speak contemptibly of the world your selves Who of you will not say this world is but a shadow and the fashion of it passeth away do ye think as you speak do not dissemble either speak your minds plainly that this earth is your substance your treasure your portion and that its worth the venturing your Souls for it or if you go on to say this is not your rest you have here no continuing City ther 's no building on this sand here 's no contentment nor continuance here if ye go on to speak thus believe your own words and then Judg how wisely you deal for your selves in venturing your eternity for such empty perishing things 2. By Faith the soul pitches upon an eternal inheritance It s our choosing the good part Luke 10. 42. our laying hold on eternal life 1 Tim. 6. 12. those believers Heb. 11. 14. are said to seek a countrey they were not mindful of this they confest themselves and were content to be strangers and pilgrims here their countrey was on the other side Jordan and thither they sent their hearts Faith descries a better countrey it sees into the invisible world Heb. 11 27. its the good spy that 's sent out to search the land of Canaan and finding it to be a good land there the Soul pitches It saies unto the Lord thou art my God thou art my portion for ever this is my rest here will I dwell If I can bear through this weary land and at last enter into that rest however matters go with me here I am not careful about that if I can but attain to the resurrection of the dead if I can but get to Heaven that 's all my desire and design Meet a believer where you will and ask him whether art thou bound Oh for the Holy Land whom seekest thou thou Jesus of Nazareth what runnest thou for what waitest thou for The incorruptible Crown Ask him again will nothing less content thee Look about through all the earth canst thou find nothing worthy thy love what is silver and gold and houses and lands and honours and pleasures are these nothing with thee may not these satisfie thee No no these are not God this is not Heaven there 's no rest here for the sole of my foot my house and my home is above my hope and my treasure is above and my Soul is above and cannot be content to dwell in the dust Ask him yet again But how wilt thou get into that good Land there are difficulties and dangers in the way thou hast a wilderness to go through a red Sea and a Jordan to pass over there are Lions in thy way there are Giants in thy way thou mayest be a prey to thine enemies torn in pieces of wild Beasts or swallowed up in the waters or at least thou mayst wander in the wilderness and loose thy way and never come into thy rest at last Well but however I must venture I am resolv'd for heaven how difficult or dangerous soever the way may prove I 'le venture all here Heaven or nothing Christ or nothing Henceforth let no man trouble me with other business for I bear in my heart the prints of the Lord Jesus he is gotten within me he is engraven upon my breast and on my soul and this heart can never be at rest till I be with him where he is Lord be thou my God and bring me into thine holy habitation lift up the light of thy countenance upon me and shew me thy salvation this one thing I desire let this be granted me and then my heart shall be glad and my glory shall rejoyce my flesh also shall rest in hope I have enough thou wilt shew me the path of life In thy presence is fulness of joy and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore And now world where art thou with all thy glory this earth is trodden to dirt when the heart is once in earnest for heaven Christians come pitch your Tents here where will you that your lot shall fall you have two worlds before you which will you chuse hang not betwixt both Will you get up to the Mountains or will you dwell in this Plain Come to a resolution you will never get clear of this world till you climb up to the other 'T is only the milk and honey of Canaan that will wean your souls from the Onions and Garlick of Egypt The flowers of the field will be beautiful till you see the Roses of the Garden The fatness of the earth will be your delight till you understand the sweetness of heaven you 'l never be content to loose from this shore till you see the banks of a better Land you will not part with your present purchases till you see where you may have a better bargain It s to no purpose to think to get off your hearts by common arguments This world is vain this world is troublesome uncertain fading a barren Land if that be all you can say 't will never do your hearts will answer A barren Land is better than none an house of Clay is better then no habitation If my soul may not dwell here where shall I be better Where mayst thou be better Come and see lift up your eyes to the hills look you towards Sion the City of the great King mark all her Bulwarks tell all her Towers behold
so loose from God and the things of God Carnal men can want the presence and favour of God can spare Religion and the duties and comforts thereof and never find any miss of them why so why because these things do not at all serve their design they can be as rich and as great and as merry without minding God or holiness or any such thing And upon a like ground a Believer can want his ease or his pleasure or any of his outward comforts why so why because these if he had them would as little serve his design as Religion will the Worldlings Hearken to me saith Satan and whatever the world doth afford shall be thine Why will this world stand me instead in reference to the world to come Can my soul feed upon this earth and ashes Shall I be ever the better man for being a rich man Will these earthly things commend me to God Is he a respecter of the rich above the poor of the honorable above the despised Is this following after riches or pleasures thou perswadest me to Is this my way to life Avoid Satan thou comest but to mock me and beguile me 4. By Faith we understand that the design of temptations is to deprive us of our Inheritance A Believer knows that the Devil owes him no good will how fair soever he treats him he sees that all his promises are cheats that all his gifts are bribes to corrupt us first and then to destroy us he marks him for his mortal Enemy whose drift is to keep him out of the Paradise of God he hath learn'd from the Scriptures who 't was that at first thrust him out thence This Serpent was he Gen. 3. and now he has him out that his work is to keep him from ever recovering in And he observes how his particular temptations do serve his general design to destroy souls whatever the voice is this is the meaning of every temptation Thou shalt never see God thou shalt never get to heaven if I can help it Faith understands what use the Devil hath made of the world whither did the rich mans Purple and fine linnen and delicious fare lead him Luk. 16. 19. 23. If you had seen him in the state he was in v. 19. in his gorgeous apparrel at his voluptuous Table what carnal heart but would have bless'd him O this is an happy man but where do you find him v. 23. Oh how sadly is the Scene changed Behold this brave Gallant in hell torments A Believer would have seen him in hell in his first view whilst in the midst of all his Gallantry and Gluttony Psa 73. 17. When I went into the Sanctuary I saw the end of these men How was it with them when he saw their end where were they why in the midst of all their prosperity in the heighth of their pride in the heat of their lust in the heaps of their wealth fat and flourishing as full of mirth and jollity as their hearts could wish and out of all fear of a fall even then he sees their end in their very noon-tide he espied their night Where shall we have you a few hours hence But what end was it he saw these men would come to v. 18. Thou hâ—st set them in slippery places thou castest them down to destruction how are they brought to desolation in a moment that 's the end he saw was hastening upon them Desolation and Destruction But how came he so soon to see their end I went into the Sanctuary there I understood their end When I consulted with God about it when I left consulting with Sense and consulted with Faith about it then I understood how matters were like to go with them Believers while they consult with flesh and bloud are to apt to be envious at the foolish to fret themselves at the ungodly whose way doth prosper and to call the proud happy yea and to murmure and think hardly of the Lord who suffers his enemies to eat up the fat and drink the sweet and feeds his people with hunger and thirst I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked But when they come to understand themselves what the meaning of all this plenty and prosperity of the ungodly is and where it layes them at last no more envy then much good may doe them with all their glory and greatness by that the fruit of all their doings comes up they 'le pay for all their pleasure dearly enough Christians do ye see the proud insulting oppressing ruffling world do you see the vile of the earth scrambling for wealth climbing up to honour dividing the spoils and sharing among themselves the preferments and pleasures of the world beware you envy them not Look a little farther and you will see no matter of envy but of pity and praise Pity over them who are but fatting for the slaughter and praise on the behalf of your selves that you Souls are not gathered with them But this by the way Faith understands from those many instances it finds in Scripture what use the Divel hath made of the world what mischiefs and ruines he hath hereby brought on Souls and when this is understood then sure its bewitching face notwithstanding all its paint will not look so beautiful and amiable 5. Faith makes experimental and fuller discoveries of the glory of that inheritance the Soul hath pitchd upon As I said before there 's no way possible to divide the heart from this world till you can shew it a better that 's the voice of every heart which is said Psal 4. 6. to be the voice of the worldlings heart Who will shew us any good and whatsoever it finds and apprehends to be good that it graspes and will hold till an higher good come in sight This world is apprehended to be the worldlings good and t is the best he knows and he must be bought out of it ere he will let it go he must be bought out of his house bought out of his livings and pleasures by something that is or is apprehended to be a valuable price at least ere he will quit what he has It s vain to perswade the rich to voluntary poverty unless you can present him with a reward that will compensate his loss All the arguments in the world from the unsufficiency instability vanity vexation in these earthly things will be easily answered But where shall I have better better half a loaf then no bread a short meal is better then starving the heart will not let go this world but upon the discovery of a better And according to the degree of the manifestation of those better things above so will there be more or less an abatement of our affection to things below A little light from Heaven will make the world look dimme and as the Sun rises higher all our stars creep into darkness at the first entrance of God upon the Soul the world looses the
things thou knowest not what thou mayst find hereafter Who can tell what there is in another world whether there be any other state of blessedness then what our eyes do see But grant there be such an happy state what may this be to thee God knows whether ever thou mayst be the better for 't when thou hast done all thou canst and lost all thou hast and left thy self a poor and miserable and forlorn wretch an abject an exile from all thy comforts and contentments after all this thou mayst never come to Heaven at last foolish man loose not a certainty for an uncertainty know when thou art well and keep what thou hast what thou hast thou art sure of thine house is thine own thy estate is thine own thy friends and thy pleasures and thy liberties do not thine eyes see them dost thou not tast that they are good here thou hast something but what thou mayst have heareafter who can tell And what can a poor Soul answer to such temptations that 's held under unbelief I confess there 's no great wisdom in losing certainties for uncertainties I see I have something here and if I were sure it should be so well with me hereafter I could be content to venture all I have to follow Christ naked to follow holiness even to bonds imprisonment and death But what if there should be no such thing as Heaven or I should never come there But now Faith will reply what are thy good things thou countest so sure to thee what but vanity and vexation but were they better then they are and worth what thou countest them what is the assurance thou hast of them for how long are they thine for how many years for how many dayes what thine eye sees to day where may it all be by to morrow or suppose the most thou canst thou canst have but a lease of life in them when thou diest thy estate dies thy pleasures die thy friends dye to thee and here 's the assurance thou boastest of at present thou hast something that pleases thee and may be they may last for an hour or two longer or for a few dayes more but to be sure after a few years at utmost they will be gone and thou must know them no more This is thy assurance But is Heaven no more sure then this Is that enduring substance like these transient shadows can stability be removed or eternity expire or if the doubt be whether ever thou shalt obtain this blessed state what hath God said He that beleiveth shall be saved Is it uncertain whether God be true Hath God help'd me to beleive and therein told me I shall be saved and shall I yet question whether I shall or no At least this is sure beyond all contradiction Heaven may be had thou shalt certainly be saved if it be not thine own fault if thou wilt thou mayst The Gospel is a mockery if this be not true it apparently offers life to all that will and therefore to thee amongst the rest Rev. 22. 17. The Spirit and the bride say come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely there is this only uncertainty now remaining It s a question whether thou wilt or not If thou wilt thou mayst Now when a Soul is brought to this much more when a beleiver understanding that he beleives can read his own name in the book of life then let the world try its skill what an hard task will it have before it Come change thy God and thy glory for that which profiteth not forsake the fountain of living waters for these broken Cisterns purchase the pleasures of time with the loss of Eternity Come let the other world go what wilt thou give me then why what ever thine heart desires of all that thine eyes do see No no deceitful world I have better things then these and I will now use thine own words I will not loose a certainty for uncertainties God is mine but after a few dayes whose shall these things be that thou offerest me I mean not to be so put off as to take mine Heaven on Earth Let this earth be my prison my purgatory my Hell rather then my Heaven my life is bought into that eternal inheritance reserved in Heaven for me and I will not sell mine inheritance V. The Conquest of Faith over this conflicting world this I shall dispatch in shewing 1. How far forth or in what sence every believer hath overcome the world 2. Wherein the victory stands 1. How far forth or in what sence every believer hath overcome the world this in 4 particulars 1. He is actually interess'd in Christs victory 2. He is radically indued with Christs conquering power 3. He hath actually broken the head design of the world 4. He is effectually marching on in the pursuit of the victory 1. He is actually interess'd in Christs victory he hath overcome in capite a believer is in Christ and as such whatsoever Christ hath done as redeemer of the world is his and for him Joh. 16. 33. aforementioned Be ye of good comfort I have overcome the world Christs victory is a believers security I have overcome be ye of good comfort why what comfort is that to us If an unbeliever had ask'd what comfort is that to me it must have been answer'd none at all whilest thou continuest in unbelief thou hast no part in Christ nor art like to reap any profit by him while he is a conquerour thou art a captive still its lusts fetter thee its thorns choke thee its pollutions cleave to thee thou art at present and thou mayst dye a worldling and from this temporal it may carry thee down to an eternal bondage But if it be ask'd what comfort is it to a believer that Christ hath overcome its great comfort In him thou hast overcome his victory is thy victory Christ saies to thee not only as Joh. 14. 19. because I live ye shall live also because I have overcome ye shall overcome but because I have overcome ye have overcome 1 Joh. 4. 4. ye are of God little children and have overcome 2. He is radically endued with Christs conquering power he hath overcome in causa he hath that within him which will be the death of his enemies he is not only interess'd in Christ and what he hath done but Christ is in him the spirit of Christ which is the power of the living God is in him He that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his Rom. 8. 9. The same power by which Christ overcame is already communicated to the Soul of a believer and thence may he be said to have already conquered because he hath received that spirit of power which will certainly work for him the victory What can a living child new born do He is as weak as water he cannot speak he cannot stand he cannot conquer a flea but what may not this child do when he
mark is this they mind earthly things of them that are saved or of them that perish and is not this the most proper character that can be given of thee see and take more perfect knowledge of thy self canst thou not see hast thou received the Spirit and yet not so much light as to discern betwixt earth and Heaven Is the Lord divided and become contrary to himself do not his hand and his seal agree does his word write this man no child and is that his Spirit that calls thee a child of God once again see and compare the writings that in the word and that in thy heart and if the voice within thee be not according call it not the witness of the Spirit but the false witness of the Devil If thou wilt yet understand thy self no better it 's much to be feared thou wilt not there 's too much dust in thine eye for thee to see it If thou wilt not see it yet there it stands written upon thee in most legible characters a minder of earthly things whose end is destruction But beloved I am perswaded better things of you to whom I am now speaking even you of little faith though it may be of a great name yet with you also must I plead a while and tell you from the Lord that I have somewhat against you and oh were it but a little somewhat that I have to speak even against you but sure there is very much to be spoken unless you will save me the labour and speak against your selves So much may be said as if it be duly considered may take you down many rounds lower then you imagine your selves to have ascended how few of you that are risen with Christ but are too often letting your affections run down again to this earth who though you have really counted this earth but dung yet are too greedily gathering up this dung into your bosomes that have your hands full and your mouths full of this dung and much more then you are aware of it is still in your hearts that are not able to loose what you have accounted loss In whom though Christ may be really formed yet there appears little conformity to his life or death To whom though it hath been long since said Lazarus come forth yet to this day you have scarce gotten your heads above ground whose bellies creep upon the dust whilest your eyes and your hopes are in Heaven in whom there is such a mixture of flesh and Spirit that it 's hard to discern which hath the predominance whose hearts seem still so divided betwixt Christ and the world that no body that knows you can tell which hath the better part whose time and whose care and whose labour run out so much on things below that without some great charity it may be judg'd your hearts are there also And yet by some clearer insight into the mysteries of the Gospel by some affectionate intercourses with God in your secret recesses and retirements from the world by your serious heats and inlargements in your duties with others by some tastes and relishes of the pleasure of ordinances by some raptures of joy and the seeming serenity and uncloudiness of your spirits by not considering what abatement the carnality and earthliness of your course must necessarily make upon you are grown to an hope and opinion that you are the highly favoured of the Lord and his greatly beloved But do you not blush then at your unworthiness are you not ashamed that such love and such hopes should no more wean your hearts from these breasts of vanity from which you suck nothing but filth or froth that you should defile such an heavenly treasure by lodging it in such earthen vessels that you should so disgrace that divine portion which you count is yours as that it should not be enough for you but leave you as hungry as if you had no God nor hope in him that you should so disgrace your Fathers table by your unnatural appetite after coals and dirt Is your profession that God is your happiness your treasure your all Is your none but Christ come to more then this Hath your covenanting with God for renouncing the world mortifying your flesh denying your self brought forth no better fruits then these Oh the impudence and disingenuity of our hearts that can carry the conscience of such treachery before the Throne of Grace without shame and consternation how can you lift up your face before the Lord without hanging down the head Nay do you not fear that your hearts also have deceived you and that matters may not be so well with you as you sometimes conclude that your hopes are but delusory that your joys are but dreams and all your comforts are but the lying divinations and prophesies of your own deceived heart Is it out of question with you that you are risen with Christ and ascended with Christ when these hearts are gotten no further up out of their graves Believe it Christians the severities of Religion will be a surer testimony to you then all its suavities an humble patient contented self-denying mortified Christian under all his doubts and fears under all his complaints of darkness and deadness is fairer for heaven then you all Those are the joys of faith which spring up out of the ruines of carnal joys those are the genuine comforts and delights of the Saints that arise up out of the ashes of earthly delights those are the confidences of true believers which grow out of their contempt of the world then will the world think better of our Religion and then may we hope better of our selves when the joy of the Lord is our strength and the joys of the earth are strangers to us and despised by us Oh Brethren let us no longer dishonour our God nor delude our selves let not the world any longer say in our reproach these men are even as we Let them see that our ways are not as their ways that our joys are not as their joys and then they will know our hope is not as their hope our Rock is not as their Rock Children of the Kingdome if I may be bold to call you so where is the proof of your heavenly extract where is your fathers spirit how can you be patient with your selves whilest you are such degenerate plants how can you satisfie your selves that you are the genuine off-spring of God when so unlike your father how can you without weeping behold the glory of these later Temples to fall so far short of those that were in the Ages before us where is the primitive spirituality the mortification and self-denial of the primitive Christians how have the stars chang'd their Orbs from moving in the Celestial Spheres how seem they now to be fixed in the earth how can you count your selves Stars and not Comets when your highest elevation is seldome above the middle Region you hang betwixt heaven and earth We take
immarcessible to which we are redeemed we have a survey of them all in this price that was paid for them The love of Christ his kindnesses and compassions do all look forth upon us His sweat his stripes his grief his groans his bloud do all speak Behold how he loved us behold what he hath laid up for those that love him Brethren will not this price buy off your Souls from this Earth which hath bought them from Hell will neither the price nor the purchase do it will not Heaven be taken in exchange for clay you have been at the table of the Lord but sure you do not use to see Jesus there if your Souls yet dwell in the dust Look ye to that tree the cross of your Lord that instrument of death behold how it is become a tree of life a tree of life hung with all manner of precious fruits there are all the curses naild and witherd there are all the flowers and fruits of the Paradise of God growing up and flourishing there is joy and glory there is life and peace Sursum Corda What are these Souls what moles and batts what no eyes to see this glory what see it and not desire it what still feeding with the worms Let these moles get them eyes let these worms get them wings look till you can see and see till you can love and then ascend and be satisfied When I am lifted up I will draw all men after me Joh. 12. 32. Is not the Son of Man lifted up dost thou not see him before thee what is thine heart that doth not yet begin to ascend O what is Christ what not worth the thirty pieces wilt thou again sell thy Lord for money once more look on him whom thou hast pierced and then say O my Soul whom wilt thou Jesus or Barabbas this World is a robber what do I here am I come to crucifie the Son of God afresh to set him at nought again to sell him the second time my mony perish from me rather then it should again become the price of bloud 2. The Sacrament is the New Testament sealed the use of a Seal is to secure and confirm therefore Seals are affix'd to writings bonds or covenants to give them their full force and ratification The writing to which this Seal is set is the Gospel the great and precious promises which are full of life and immortality and all the riches of the promised land The Lord in giving us the Sacramental Elements his Bread and his Cup doth therein deliver us the Covenant of Grace sealed to assure us of the truth and certainty thereof as if he should say This shall be a sign betwixt me and thee that if thou accept of my Gospel treasures upon Gospel terms if thou wilt have no other God but wiâ—t forsake all and follow me this shall be to assure thee that I will be thy God and all that I have is thine And as the Lord seals on his part so we set our seal to our part of the Covenant as the Covenant is mutual so is the sealing Gods giving is his sealing and our receiving is ours our receiving the Elements from the hand of the Lord our eating and drinking is our seal to witness our acceptance of God upon Gods terms let this be a sign betwixt me and thee that I accept Lord I accept of thee according to the tenor and terms of thy Covenant Our acceptance of these Elements is as a Servants taking Covenant money or a Souldiers taking Press money which binds the one to his Master the other to his Captain and our sealing in this manner doth in a sense ratifie Gods Seal as to our particular interest in the promise as upon a servants receiving his Covenant money the Covenant is confirmed not only on his own part but also on his Masters His Master is now engaged to own him provide for him protect him and reward him as his servant It s true Gods Seal alone fully confirms the truth of the Covenant in general but upon my sealing to the condition on my part provided it be sincere and unfeigned hereupon Gods Seal doth not only confirm the Covenant in general that he which believeth and obeyeth the Gospel shall certainly be saved but it now makes it sure to me and gives me a certain propriety in all the promises of God There 's not a man in the world that thus accepts and sets to his Seal but the Seal of God stands good to him he hath it under Gods hand and seal that he shall be pardoned he hath it under Gods hand and seal that grace and peace and all things necessary unto life and salvation are his Only it must be understood and remembred as before our acceptance is not to be only of what God promises a willingness to be pardoned and saved but of what God requires a willingness to serve him and forsaking all others to cleave only unto him as a Souldier takes his Press money not only in token that he accepts of his pay or a servant his Covenant money in token that he accepts of his wages but it is their taking pay upon terms to fight and taking wages on terms to work Now hence arises a double advantage in our war against the world an Encouragement Engagement 1. Gods Seal encourages us on The Covenant of God assures not only a Crown to the Conqueror but assistance to the Combatant He will be not only the rewarder but the helper of all those that diligently seek him He hath said Heb. 13. 5. I will never fail thee nor forsake thee And hereupon thou mayst boldly say The Lord is my helper He hath said Ezek. 36. 27. I will put my spirit within you and ver 26. I will give you a new heart This flesh will never prevail but what cannot the Spirit of the Lord do this old heart and the world will never part they were ever friends and ever will be but he will take away this and give you another heart Fright not thy self with the difficulties thou seest before thee from the strong party the world has within thee thy carnal nature with all thine earthly members from the Allies and Confederates it hath without thee Satan with all his instruments and temptations thou wilt be like to say How can I turn this stream of nature how can I stand against this floud of temptations Can I create me a new spirit or can I conquer whilest this old spirit lives can I command my love and my fear and my hatred as I please can I love what I will and hate what I will and fear what I will can I fly from what my heart follows after or fight against what I so love and desire How can I endure such hardness as not only the fight but the victory will bring upon me Can I be poor can I be hungry be naked be destitute can I be in reproach in disgrace and contempt will this