Lord way in the whole abilitie of it that God in all things may rule in it it doth not give God place in some things onely and say God shall rule in mine eye but not in my hand God shall rule in my hand but not in my tongue God shall rule in my tongue but not in my heart but the soule giveth way to Christ in all things whatsoever Simile A great man that is to entertaine his Prince and Soveraigne doth not put him into a corner of his house but hee giveth him all the roome and shifts out all his servants and puts out every one both friend and foe every place he sheweth him and giveth him all the keyes and lets him dispose of all things So a soule that is prepared for the Lord Iesus doth not crowd him into a corner and say I must have one corner for a covetous heart another corner for a proud heart no no but a prepared heart giveth up all to God it reserveth no privie corner in this kind but ability faculty and whatsoever it is the soule giveth up all to God that he may dispose of all A sinfull soule that is prepared is not perfectly able of it selfe thus to over-rule his heart but as it is with a man when he gives up his house for the entertainment of the King doe what he can there will be some base fellowes peeping in but he is not pleased with it it is against his mind that they should so doe and he would with all his heart have his Majesty use some meanes for the restraining of them so it is with a soule prepared for the Lord it resignes all unto him hand eye and tongue and heart and practice but yet there will bee some base lusts and sinfull corruptions there will be hypocrisie and pride and selfe-love peeping into his heart but it is against the mind of a prepared sinner it is his mind that God should root out all those and order all to his owne glory And this is the third passage so that the soule which hath broken the league with all corruptions and reserveth it selfe for Christ the soule that is willing to give way to Christ and let him overthrow all whatsoever opposeth him and do whatsoever pleaseth him that soule I say which doth not thrust Christ into a corner but gives up all unto him that soule is prepared for the Lord Iesus Christ The next thing to be considered for the opening of the point 2. Reason why the heart must be so prepared for Christ is the reason why Christ requires this preparation of the heart and this will cut the throat of abundance of carnall conceits and imaginations Men thinke that Christ will come suddenly from heaven into their hearts at a beck they think that Lord have mercy upon me will fecth him No no Christ will have the soule prepared before he wil come take possession of it and the reason is because it cannot stand with the all-soveraigne holinesse of Christ to come there It 's so in common sense there cannot be two Kings in one Throne Non capit regnum duos there cannot be two Suns in one Firmament there cannot be two Gods in one heart we cannot serve God and Mammon Some would have their soules divided and have God to be King and raigne therein to day and their sinnes and lusts to morrow or else they will have Christ raigne in one corner of their hearts and their sinnes and lusts in another but God will have all or none at all in this case either no God or one God in thy heart Our Saviour Christ Math. 12.29 disputeth How can one enter into a strong mans house and spoile his goods unlesse he first bind the strong man and then spoile his goods The strong man is sinne and Satan and the house is the heart now Christ cannot goe into the heart and exercise authority there untill he hath wrought a separation betweene the soule and these and hath throwne out this god and then the God of heaven and earth takes possession of the heart First sin and Satan must be throwne out of the soule before the Lord will take possession He that takes possession of a house if there bee any in the house besides himselfe it is not good in law if there be any take possession of the heart and beare sway there Christ will beare no rule for it cannot stand with the holinesse of Christ to have any competitor to have another beare rule with himselfe and Christ himselfe plainly determines this Matth. 6.24 Yee cannot serve God and Mammon You thinke you may have the Divell rule in you one fit and God another but you cannot serve God and Mammon one Master must be renounced before another can be received This is the argument You cannot have two Gods in the heart therefore the soule must bee severed from sinne and Satan and the lusts of the flesh before it can bee prepared for the Lord Iesus Christ before he will come in and take place in it The Use of the point is threefold Vse 1 Those reproved who thinke to have mercy and heaven all on the sudden The truth being granted and the doctrine cleered the first Use is a Use of reproofe Wee may here discover and also condemne the fond dreames and vaine imaginations of many poore sinfull ignorant creatures who have invented a new way a backe doore to carry themselves to heaven more than ever the Word revealed and it is this Men thinke that they may have Christ and mercy at command and that they may catch at and obtaine blessednesse and happinesse at unawares and on the sudden and yet notwithstanding live in sinne and continue in sinne and approve of sinne and addict themselves thereunto and then when sicknesse comes if they can but say Lord have mercy on me they must goe to heaven all on the sudden Be perswaded at length to see the folly and sottishnesse of this conceit this is not the way which the Word reveales Christ by it makes no such agreement with us unlesse a poore sinner thinke that Christ will carry him to heaven with his uncleannesse and abominable sinnes when as he hath said that no uncleane thing shall enter into the kingdome of heaven No no if the harbenger goeth not before the King will not come where there goeth no preparation before there can bee no receiving of Christ He that will receive Christ and benefit by him and comfort and salvation from him must receive him at those termes wherupon he hath offered himselfe or else he shall never receive him 2 Cor. 6.17 the text there saith Come out from among them and bee separate saith the Lord and touch no uncleane thing and I will receive you Marke here the agreement that God maketh thou must first come out from among them yea come out from thy sinnes thou must come out of thy lusts and corruptions before the Lord will
except it be humbled and broken so those knotty proud hearts of yours must be planed and hewed before you will rest upon God for mercy or yeeld obedience to him How farre God breaketh and humbleth we will shew afterward 2. Those reproved who dislike brokennesse of heart in others 2. This may fall heavie upon the brave Spirits and boone Gallants of the world that are not able to see and approve this brokennesse of heart in others they count it a womanish and weake kinde of disposition and make a mocke of this humility of heart and when God hath wounded and humbled a poore sinner they tread upon him and follow him with desperate disgraces reproaches and discouragements I need not mention their language in this case I wish wee were freed from them What say they And are you one of these broken hearts and tender consciences Take heed how you sinne for if you doe you must weepe out your eyes and mope out your dayes in a corner even for ever Good Lord is it possible that ever there should rest such inhumane desperate divellish prophannesse in the heart of any man upon earth Let mee presse a passage or two to this end that such as are guiltie of this sinne may take notice of it as there are too many of them in this age This argues a man almost forsaken of God and I had almost said reserved to everlasting destruction There is no greater token that God never purposeth any good to that man Consider that place in Psal 69.23 24 25 26 27 28. The holy Prophet makes many fearful imprecations as though he would pluck justice from heaven Let their eyes be darkened that they see not and make their loynes continually to shake Poure out thine indignation upon them and let thy wrathfull anger take hold upon them Oh what a strange passage is this that a man that was inward with God should rend the heavens to pull downe vengeance thence for such men Who are all these Surely they were some Divels incarnate and no men that Gods Prophet would pray against Let their habitation bee desolate and no man to dwell in their tents Why what 's the matter For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten and they talke to the griefe of those whom thou hast wounded Lord saith he adde iniquitie to their iniquity and let them not come into thy righteousnesse You that are guilty of this consider it Me-thinkes it might make the soule of a sinful man to shake at the hearing of it When God hath wounded the heart and awakened the conscience and the Lord hath spoken bitter things to his heart wilt thou grieve those that God hath smitten It is an argument of a man whom God hath devoted to destruction Were a mans eyes opened and his conscience awakened it would make him tremble Thou that hast bin an enemy to the Saints of God and because the Saints of God cry mightily and dare not doe as they have done to joyne with thee in thy wicked courses wilt thou I say reproach them and lay more burthen upon them and say What you have had Sermons enow Now you are wounded and you must mourne and you must be holy The God of heaven hath spoken this by his holy Prophet David who knew those wicked wretches Though I know none such it may be for the while yet no question there be such in the Congregation He that now makes a mocke of contrition shall breake for ever and he that will not now be broken shall have the wrath of God to burne in his heart for ever in hell The Lord in mercy breake the hearts of such men and make them to say Good Lord is this the brand of a reprobate and what shall my name be blotted out of the booke of life I have persecuted such and such a man and such a woman the Lord grieved him and I grieved him too His was the sorrow but mine was the sin and shall bee my shame for ever for ought I know Another passage is Deu. 25.17 18 19. When the people of Israel came from Egypt Amalek tooke advantage against them when they were weake Remember saith the Text what Amalek did unto thee by the way when you came forth of Egypt How hee smote thee when thou wert faint and weary Therefore it shall be when the Lord thy God shall give thee rest from all thine enemies that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven And 1 Sam. 15.2.3 seventy yeares after the Lord remembred that For the Text saith I remember what Amalek did to Israel how hee laid wait for him in the way when he came out of Egypt Now therefore goe and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have both infants and sucklings and oxen and the like What this Amalek did even so doe these wicked men When a poore soule is humbled and will forsake his sinnes and his wicked wayes and he groweth faint and feeble-hearted and wonderfull heavie burthened wilt thou now turne Amalek Wilt thou kill him that is now burthened under the heavie wrath of God and wilt thou now raile upon him Curse Amalek I will remember him saith God Take heed lest God remember thee and root out thee and thy posteritie from under heaven Nay the Lord himselfe and all the Saints doe rejoyce in the ruine and destruction of an ungodly wretch as in the example of Doeg Psalme 52.3 4 5. Thou lovest evill more than good and lying rather then to speake righteousnesse Selah Thou lovest all devouring words O thou false tongue God shall likewise destroy thee for ever hee shall take thee away and plucke thee out of thy dwelling place Selah Thou lovest grieving words Well God will serve thee in thy kind and when thou art in hell the righteous shall rejoyce over thee and say Lord this is he that grieved the hearts of such as were humbled this is he that had a proud herrt and scorned to be humbled and therefore shall everlastingly de damned The Divels themselves will rejoyce in thy torments and say What are you become like to us This is the man that scorned to bee humbled and to have his heart broken what is hee come downe to hell now The hearts of the damned shall be enlarged to glory in thy confusion Indeed if a poore soule feele any weight of sin upon him then all the Towne is up in armes against him Oh see your sinne and goe and breake your hearts for this sinne Dislike not in others what yourselves are bound to be and to doe This of the first Use 2. Vse 2 To get comfort begin in sorrow It is a word of direction and instruction how to get this grace at the hands of God goe Gods way and goe the ready way If ever thou wilt receive grace from God doe that which God doth as Hosea 2.14 Behold I will allure her and bring her into the wildernesse and speake comfortably
cares not what become of Christ though the word be opposed though he takes rebellious courses and throwes out Christ he cares not Is this to make preparation for Christ or to make opposition against Christ Nay when men come to faires and markets oh what preparation is there then for covetousnesse on every side Some prepare false weights others false measures The seller saith It is exceeding good when it is starke naught The buyer saith It is naught it is naught when it is good and so both dishonour God Nay which is most lamentable men prepare for drunkennesse Oh say they at such a faire we will be merry then every Ale-house is full of bad company they resolue to sit at the pot from morning till night untill they goe reeling about the streets There is great preparation in this kind Nay men will remove some sins that others may come in their roomes and they wil perform some good duties to make them free for sin this is a very cunning tricke You shall see a man that will read and pray and heare Sermons and make a great profession and what is his purpose herein namely that he may have praise or profit thereby that he may get the better custome to his shop that hee may cheat without controlment that he may cousen without division or distraction I beseech you thinke of these things If it bee so that Christ must be thus prepared for before he will come then examine your owne soules and reason with your selves thus what have I done have I sold my soule to doe evill I have dreamed that I might have Christ at a becke and not bee prepared for him and therefore it is I that have not received him Will any man sow his seed before the ground be plowed Will any man build before the foundation bee laid Doe we thinke that the Lord wil reare up the building of grace in our hearts before the foundation be laid Will he sow the seed of grace in our hearts before our fallow grounds be plowed up Doe we thinke that Christ will come and take possession of our hearts before our sinnes and lusts be removed and abandoned Doe we thinke our soules can receive and entertaine the Lord Iesus before they bee prepared for him Impossible Vse 3 The third Use is to exhort you and to in treat you in the bowels of the Lord Iesus Prepare for Christ or thinke not to enjoy him Mat. 3.3 that you would suffer the voice of exhortation even the voice of Iohn Baptist to sound in your eares Prepare yee the way of the Lord make his paths straight If ever you thinke to share in the salvation that Christ hath purchased with his owne blood if ever you thinke to partake of any thing that Christ hath wrought if you would have him dwell with with you and doe good to you either prepare for him or else never expect him And here that you may deale wisely consider the hinderances and obstacles that keepe Christ from comming Are your hearts prepared Christ is marvellous ready to come onely he watcheth the time till your hearts be ready to receive and entertaine him Marke that phrase Mal. 3.1 it is marvellous comfortable there the Text saith The Lord whom yee seeke will suddenly come to his Temple Doe but get hearts fitted and souls prepared for Christ doth but wait for a message If the soule bee but broken and humbled he will come presently and not breake an haire with you Truely this preparation is the very entrance into salvation and therefore take notice of it Men are loath to leave all for Christ in this case they are loath to lose their profits and pleasures their lusts and corruptions they are like Inne-keepers they are loath to thrust their profitable guests out of their houses they would bee loath to hinder themselves that way yea and though the King were to come thither they would secretly wish that his Maiesty would turne another way so it is a hard matter for men to dis-lodge all profits and pleasures and to vomit up those sweet morsels and beloved corruptions that Christ might come into their soules Some poore soule may speak to me as the Devill did to Christ Why art thou come to torment mee before my time so many men will be ready to say Why doth the Lord Iesus come to torment us before our times What must we now abandon all our profits and pleasures if we will receive Christ They could secretly wish that Christ would goe another way It is a very hard thing to bring the soule thus to be divorced from corruptions it is very hard when a man must give a bill of divorcement and never see the face of his corruptions more this is very hard with a poore sinner Motives to prepare for Christ And therefore the Arguments to move us hereunto had need be forcible and maybe taken from two grounds first from the consideration who we are that must receive Christ secondly who Christ is that is to be received First let us consider our selves 1. We are unworthy to receive such a guest a company of poore sinfull wretched miserable and damned creatures sinfull dust and ashes dead dogs Consider this and thinke with thy selfe Will the Lord of heaven come downe Will Christ dwell in my heart Will hee vouchsafe to looke in yea to call as hee goeth by the soule of mee such a sinfull creature And let this move thee to prepare for his comming If a King will but call at a poore mans window as he rideth by hee will count it a great favour much more it is for the great God of heaven and earth but to looke in and reveale himselfe unto the heart of a poore sinfull creature Wee are not worthy that the Lord should come under our roofe 1 Kings 8.27 there Solomon saith Will God indeed dwell on the earth will he dwell in a house made with hands As if he should say Is it possible can it bee imagined that thou Lord being the great God of heaven whom the heaven of heavens cannot containe shouldst once vouchsafe to dwell in a house made with hands in the Temple which I have builded And what may we say Is it so can it be shall it be that God will come and dwell under our roofe that hee will come and dwell in our rotten and sinfull hearts that hee will dwell in our wretched and sinfull soules Why he will he hath said it he hath promised it he will performe it and therefore let us consider our owne unworthinesse to receive Christ as a motive to stirre us up to make preparation for him For the baser the place is that should entertaine him the greater the preparation ought to be Wee ought to wonder that the Lord will vouchsafe to come into our sinfull soules and therefore we had need to prepare the more for his comming The Lord hath promised to come into our soules if wee humble
naughty spirit who endure not broken spirits Doth Christ come suddenly into the heart truely humbled and prepared Let us trie then and take a taste of the spirits of such men that are not able to beare nor endure the presence of poore broken hearted sinners If the servant will not lie for the masters advantage and if the child leaue his base courses and will not give a carnall father content according to his mind marke how their spirits rise against such men their hearts rise with marvellous desperate indignation against such men they cannot thinke of them with any quiet they cannot brook the sight of them if it be a servant never so loose and vile hee is regarded but the humble child is trampled upon and they say to him You had best goe to your holy brethren and to the company of such and such precise ones This is the undoubted argument of a gracelesse spirit either Christ erres or else thou art out of the way either Christ is to be blamed for his practice or thou Doth he come to such as are humbled and art thou weary of them Thou art a gracelesse soule and an enemy to the Lord of life When the people of Israel began to speake of going into the wildernesse to sacrifice to the Lord their God they did stinke and were abominable in the eyes of Pharaoh and the Egyptians indeed the Egyptians did alwayes dislike them Exod. 5.21 but now they were an abomination to them This was nothing else but a type Pharaoh is the Devill and this Egyptian servitude is our spirituall bondage under sinne How doth thy heart stand towards these poore soules Art thou carried with indignation against them It is an argument of a heart void of grace and that thou art an Egyptian to this day therefore the Lord will requite thee in thy owne kind and that thou art now weary of their society and art not able to live with them and art loath to be seene amongst them and darest not shew thy selfe to come within the compasse of a broken heart lest thy drunkken companions revile thee for the same and say art turned a Puritan now will you bee of their company and then thou swearest thou knowest them not This is a shrewd signe thou shalt never enioy the company of those poore Saints in glory Vse 3 The third use is a ground of instruction and we hence learne how to make choice of our companions Chuse the broken-hearted for companions Learne of our Saviour the broken hearted sinners are the best for society in the world and therefore reioyce thou in their company Let us not thinke much to come to such as Christ comes to let us not thinke that the basenesse of their persons or the meannesse of their estates will be any cause for us why we should discard or disdaine their company Be sure that thy soule bee farre from this carnall distemper Happily thy carnall friend will say Thou wilt disgrace thy person to keepe company with such as those are Make answer for thy selfe and against their face and say They are my betters yea the Lord Iesus Christ blessed for ever keeps company with them and shall not I doe it too The Lord Iesus desires no better company and shall I goe any further If he bee a sound broken hearted sinner it s no matter what his condition be As the Apostle Saint Iohn saith That you also may have fellowship with us 1 Iohn 1.3 Why may some say what great matter is that The Apostle saith our fellowship is no small matter for it is with God the Father and with Iesus Christ There is never a poore soule though hee goe barely and fare meanely but if his heart bee truely humbled his fellowship is with Iesus Christ which is no little matter Zech. 8.23 when the Lord had honoured the Iewes there came many citizens to them and took hold of the skirt of a Iew and said We will go with you for we have heard that God is with you So doe thou Dost thou see a broken hearted man lay hold on his skirts dwell in that house if thou canst and say I will liue with thee for ever God is with thee nay the Lord is in thee yea the company of an humbled soule is even a corner of heaven here upon earth It is so in truth and therefore let it be so in your judgements What is it to be in heaven Wee shall be ever with the Lord this is to be in heaven 1 Thes 4.17 Is this to be in heaven Then wheresoever thou art thou art with Christ thou art in heaven Whensoever thou art in the company of a broken hearted sinner thou art with Christ and therefore in heaven and whensoever thou commest into their company Christ Iesus will give thee the meeting Your fashionmungers count it a matter of credit to have Court fashions this is the Court fashion and the Court is where Christ our Lord and King is Christ dwels in such a house and in such a heart and therefore as thou dost hope to be with Christ for ever rejoyce to be with such persons this is the onely way that a man must take to chuse his company Doe good to all neighbours and all Christians and hope well of all but reioyce especially in those whose hearts are truely broken in the sight and presence of the Lord. Vse 4 4. It is a ground of thankfulnesse to all that are truely humbled before God Be thankfull for this great respect of Christ to thy poore soule Thus you ought to have your hearts stored with thankfulnesse nay to stand and wonder at the goodnesse and kindnesse of God I would have a man spend all his time this way When the Lord Iesus hath gone through many Countries and passed by many rich and honourable and great ones of the world and that he should looke in at a poore family and knocke at a poore mans doore and that hee should looke in at a poore wretched heart of a wife or of a child this is marvellous mercy If a great person especially a Prince or Monarch did looke into a poore mans house or come to visit a man in prison what would the world say Oh the like was never heard of the King himselfe in his owne person lighted there and staid there and went into the dungeon and conferred with him a great while Men would bee besides themselves if they had this favour from the King In Luke 1.43 when Mary was with child of the Lord and came to visit Elizabeth shee said to Mary Whence is this to mee that the mother of my Lord should come to mee I see no ground nor reason for this there is no worth on my part that I should looke for such favour Now if shee were so ravished with the presence of Mary the mother of Christ what maist thou bee then in regard of the presence of Christ himselfe that is come to lodge in thy
heart Thou hast cause to be ravished with admiration and to say Whence is it that not onely the mother of my Saviour but even my Saviour himselfe should come to me What to visit mee that opposed him and to visit me that have preferred my base lusts before the bloud of the Lord Iesus Christ Whence comes this It was that which Solomon tooke notice of in the first of Kings c. 8. v. 28. for when he had built the Temple and the Lord had engaged himselfe by promise to come and dwell in the same he said Is it true that the Lord will come to dwell upon the earth Behold the heaven of heavens is not able to containe him much lesse this House that I have made As it was in the materiall Temple so much more in the spirituall Temple for thy heart is his Temple Therefore thou maist reason thus with thy selfe and say Is it true will the Lord dwell upon the earth the heaven of heavens cannot containe him and shall this earth-then mud wall this earthly Tabernacle and this sinfull wretched heart Oh that the Lord should come to dwell in such a soul this is a mirrour of mercy Doe you humble soules as the Centurion did when Christ was come into his house I am not worthy saith he that thou shouldest come under my roofe but speake the word onely and my servant shall be whole So say thou Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under the roofe of this sinful wretched heart only send thy Angels to visit me and thy word to comfort me but for to come in thy owne person from heaven to such a poore creature as I am the Angels must come from heaven to wonder at this mercy and to magnifie the Lord for it therfore as you haue received Christ walke worthy of him and be thankfull to the Lord for the same Vse 5 The last use of this Doctrine is for exhortation You see the meanes that God appointed for the conveyance of grace They that would haue Christ dwell in them must be willing to be humbled and mercy to you nay that Christ himselfe may take possession of you and it is the way and meanes that will never deceiue you Would you have Christ to dwell in you then be humbled and bee not wanting to your selues and then Christ will never bee wanting to you labour to get this humiliation and Christ will come immediately into your soules Have a heart but rightly disposed and without all question Christ will come to comfort and refresh thee upon all occasions You see the way to get a Saviour to come and dwell in you then walk in that way and give no rest to thine eyes or any quiet to thy heart before thou hast gotten this frame of heart Take heed of all distempers doe not thinke the time long and say I haue waited long and many a yeere and I have looked many a wishly long look and yet I cannot heare of the Lord Iesus to visit this poore perplexed heart of mine If the Lord seeme to delay in the performance of his promise say as David did Ah when wilt thou comfort me Psal 119.82 Nay lay the blame where the blame is and consider thy owne sturdinesse and vilenesse it is thy owne fault why Christ comes not thou wilt not open and therefore Christ is not come thou dost not prepare for him and for this cause it is that thou dost not enjoy the company of such a blessed Saviour at St. Peter saith 2 Pet. 3. â— The Lord is noâ— slacke as some men count slacknesse but the Lord takes the beâ—… season and is long suffering towards us When the season is wee shall have it for it is not his slacknesse The time is not long doe not thinke so hee hath not forgotten to be gracious to a poore humbled soule but lâ—oke into thy owne heart and way and see thy owne folly there Hast thou pâ—epared often and waited long and yet thou hearest no newes of a Christ and of mercy Ah goe to thine owne heart and say Surely I am in fault the wound is in my self others have received a Christ and he would have come into my heart too for ought know Nay he is as willing to come to thee as to any but thy owne hasty heart shuts the doore against him therefore be a based kindly and the Lord will come and not tarry Did you ever account of the comming of â—hrists presence to you Was the presence of Christ ever worth the having and would you not have him to come into your hearts that will bring grace and glory and mercy when he comes as Lâ—ke 19.9 when Christ was come inâ—o the house of Zacheus he said This daâ— is salvation come to thy house So that when Christ comes mercy and all comfort comes Is not Christ and salvation by him worth the having If ever you hope for Christ whip out all buyers and sellers out of the Temple and then you shall heare newes of a Saviour to take possession of you I have spoken of the meanes how to get an humble heart now let me giue you two motiues to provoke you to it Motiues 1 First consider what an vnreasonable thing it is that thou shouldest rather keepe out the Lord Iesus Christ than cast out a company of base lusts It will stick one day hard upon that mans heart when he shall see the marvellous excellency of that redemption which Christ hath wrought and the beauty of that grace which Christ workes in the hearts of his and the glory and happinesse which hee hath prepared for and will bestow upon his servants when I say in the houre of death or in the day of judgement he shall see himselfe utterly deprived of this grace in Christ he will then gnaw his owne flesh that hee hath lost heaven and happinesse it may be for one base lust The covetous man will say If I had cast away the world I might haue had Christ and mercy and the Adulterer will say If I would have cast away my base lusts and corruptions Christ would haue dwelt in my heart and would have purged my heart and the proud hipocrite will say If I had laid away my owne vanity and my owne pride the Lord would haue taken possession of my soule and hee would have brought glory and salvation and comfort Ah woe to me that ever I was borne that I would not part with base lusts and with wealth but that I was content rather to part with Christ Iesus than to forgoe these corruptions What an unreasonable thing is this he will curse himselfe one day for it 2 As it is unreasonable so in the second place what an vncomfortable thing will it bee Ah think of it in time for the time will come at the great day of account when we shall need a Saviour and crave his presence and be forced to desire Christ to come to us What a cut to our
sutes best with the hearts of wayward sinners onely hee lets in some incklings of his favour and grace and upholds the heart with so much mercy as may beare it up and yet but with so much Thus the Lord deales with us as a wise father doth with his child Simile hee seeth if he had his portion in his hands he would be riotous and carelesse and therefore it is wisedome not to trust him with his estate but to keepe him low and to keepe him upon dependance that hee may have better subjection from his hands So it is with the Lord he seeth that wee have unruly hearts and that if wee had that evidence of Gods mercy made knowne to us that wee would have we would be so proud and so haughty and so full of contempt and so censorious that there were no living with us therfore the Lord keepes us short and holds such soules low and keepes us only in some hope to hold up our soules and the more dependance the soule hath the more observance hath the Lord from us Experience proveth it true I have many things to write unto you but you are not able to beare them now you are not capable of them yet As it is with a little barke Simile if it should have a great maine mast and broad saile cloathes then in stead of carrying it it would bee overthrowne by them therefore men proportion their mast according to their shippe or barke and if it have skilfull Mariners they strike saile when they come into the shallow or narrow Seas This is the reason why the Lord deales so with us the soule is like the ship and the sense of Gods love and mercy is like the saile that carries us on in a Christian course and if we get but a little saile of mercy and favour we goe on sweetly and comfortably but if God give us aboundance of assurance our cursed rotten hearts would overturne and in stead of quickning of us it would ouerthrow us so that though God doth it the fault is in our selues That I take to bee the ground why many a poore Saint of God hath smoaked out his dayes in doubting and making question of Gods mercy and goodnes and at the houre of death God hath given them a full assurance of mercy Note and so carried them full saile to heaven they were not able to beare this before As a faithfull Minister of God once said to a poore woman that had beene long time questioning her selfe and doubting of her salvation when at last the Lord made it good unto her soule that Christ was her owne then the Minister sayd to her The Lord will not alwayes giue his children a cordiall but he hath it ready for them when they are fainting The comfort of Gods spirit is better then wine Cant 1.2 Now when a man hath a proud haughty selfe-conceited heart if he had much of this cordiall hee would forget himselfe and trample upon every one and therefore the Lord reserues this great mercy to the last this deprives a Christian of abundance of sweetnesse that otherwise God would bestow upon him Let every man therefore goe to his owne heart and examine it if while God is pleased to keepe us under hatches and to knock off our wheeles and leaue us in the dust if yet in the meanest degree we can snarle with Gods providence and say Why do I pray and God answers not others crie and God heareth them and why doth hee not heare me If when we are under wee doe thus then what would we doe if we might haue what we would we would say as the people in Ieremies time Wee will come no more at thee we are Lords Ieremy 2.31 Therefore that the Lord may prevent this proud spirit of ours and that we may walke in humility before him it is just with God to withdraw his Spirit from us if you haue not comfort thanke your selues for it So then gather up all and the summe is this If wee have not the apprehension of Christs presence with us though hee is there then either it is because of our owne ignorance or carelesnesse wee know him not or attend not when hee comes or else we mis-judge the presence of Christ and onely esteeme of his favour and presence according to the extraordinary sweetnesse that we would haue and that wee imagine should accompany the presence of Christ or else because our eyes are held with the hurry of some temptation and some worldly inconvenience that wee cannot see the Lord Christ though hee bee within us or else the Lord justly hideth himselfe from us because we are fallen into some grosse sinne or else parly with some private infirmities and doe not labour to humble our selues mightily for them and strive against them or else we doe abuse the favour of God or else wee have proud hearts that wee are not able to beaâ—e that comfort that we would have therefore I say the Lord hides himselfe from us to prevent evill in us This I take to be the answer to the question in hand Come into his Temple Here is a word that giues us foot-hold for the second Doctrine into his Temple This is a word of propriety as in that place when Christ came into the Temple and saw those that bought and sold in it He made a scourge of small cords and drave them all out of the Temple and the sheepe and the oxen and cast out the changers of money and overthrew the Tables Iohn 2.15 and he claimed the house for his owne saying My house shall be called a house of prayer Mat. 21 13. This word I say is a word of propriety Hee comes not like a stranger or like a forreiner but like a King to his Palace to take possession of it So the Doctrine is this Doct. 2 Doct. 2. Christ takes possession of every humbled soule When the Lord Iesus comes to a soule truely humbled hee taketh possession of it as his owne he comes into his Temple This is the scope of the comparison he comes as a King to his Throne where hee sits and to the Kingdome where hee rules I told you before that the ingraffing of the soule into Christ is nothing else but when the Lord by his Spirit comes to take possession of the humbled soule so that the soule stands possessed of Christ and is made partaker of all those spirituall good things that are in Christ This is generall to all the workes of application of Christ and the footsteps are to be seene in all the workes of of vocation justification adoption sanctification and the like the Lord Iesus gets ground in the heart by all these As in vocation the Lord drawes the soule to himselfe and the soule followes him in justification the Lord undertakes for the sinner and unites the soule to himselfe and makes it one with himselfe in adoption the Lord makes him a sonne and in sanctification
thing so there must be a beam of Gods love to fall upon the soule before it can love God againe as in Hosea 11.4 I drew them with the cords of a man even with the bands of love God lets in the cords of love into the soule and that drawes love againe to God But above all that place Cant. 2.4 marke the manner how Gods Spirit expresseth himselfe to the soule He brought me into the banquetting house Cant. 2.4 opened and his banner over me was love stay me with flaggons and comfort me with apples for I am sicke of love And so when the banner of Christs love is spread over the soule the soule comes to be sicke in love to Christ As it is in war when the Commander displayes the banner these three things are signified by it First that there is the presence of the Commander Secondly the displaying of the banner commands all to come to it Thirdly while it is held out all keepe to it Now see the excellencie of the Spirit of God in the Scripture The Church was then in some trouble but the Lord Christ brings the Spouse into his chamber nay into the wine-celler and the banner that was displayed over her was love and first Christ came as a Commander to redeeme her and to save her from all troubles and afflictions Secondly it commands the soule to come to the banner Thirdly when God displayes his love in the beautie of it in any measure then all the company of poore sinners come in unto it and so they love the Lord because the Lord hath loved them This love of God doth beget our loves in three particulars First Gods love to us begets love in us towards him and how there is a sweetnesse and a relish which Gods love le ts into the soule and warmes the heart with you shall see how the fire is kindled by and by As when a man is fainting we give him Aqua-vitae so a fainting sinner is cold at the heart and therefore the lets in a drop of his loving kindnesse and this warmes the heart and the soule is even filled with the sappinesse of the mercy of God as Cant. 1.1 2. where the Spouse saith Let him kisse me with the kisses of his mouth for his love is better than wine The poore soule though hee drinke water yet he drinkes better wine than any carnall man under Heaven the kisses of his mouth are the comforts of his Word and Spirit The soule saith Oh let the Lord refresh me with the kisses of his mouth that is of his Word and Spirit let the Lord speak comfort to the heart and this is better than wine For the Lord must doe it before hee can be apprehensive of his love yea let the Lord expresse the comfort of his precious promises in Iesus Christ to me And againe in the second verse Because of the savour of thy garments thy name is as an ointment poured forth therefore the virgins love thee Christ was the oyntment Christs oyntment is his graces and the savour or the communication of this is the expression of his love to the soule the virgins are the soules truly humbled that love the Lord. Secondly as this warmes the heart so the freenesse of the love of God thus let in and thus intimated begins even to kindle this love in the soule that it sparkles againe Rom. 5 8. see how God sets out his love to us Seeing saith the Apostle that while wee were sinners Christ died for us This commends the love of God the Lord sends to poore miserable sinfull broken-hearted sinners and saith Commend my mercie to such a one and tell him that though hee hath beene an enemy to me yet I am a friend to him and though hee have beene rebellious against me yet I am a God and a Father to him and let him not thinke that because he hath offended me therefore hee shall not receive mercie from me but here is my love and it is worth the commendation Christ died for poore sinners when they were enemies therefore if God so loved us as to dye for us when wee were sinners and enemies how ought we then to love one another But much more how ought wee to love the Lord What was it that kindled that frozen and vile and stubborne and wicked heart of wretched Saul who had a heart as hard as ice 1 Sam. 24.19 when David had him upon the hippe and might have slaine him but would not even this wrought upon the heart of Saul and kindled a fire of affections of love towards him and made him say Come againe my son David Thou art more righteous than I for thou hast rewarded me good whereas I have rewarded thee evill And thou hast shewed mee this day how that thou hast dealt well with mee forasmuch as when the Lord hath delivered me into thine hand thou killedst me not For who ever slew not his enemie when he found him at such an advantage wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that which thou hast done unto mee this day Sauls heart is all on fire with this kindnesse So when the poore sinner considers this with himselfe and saith Is the Lord so mercifull to mee who ever thus found his enemie and slew him not I that loved my sins and continued in them had it not beene just that I should have perished in them But will the Lord not only not slay his enemie but give his Sonne for mee Oh let my soule for ever rejoyce in this unconceivable goodnesse of God! Bee thy heart neuer so hard if it have but the sense of this it cannot but stirre thee to humiliation Lastly the greatnesse of the freenesse of this mercie of God being setled upon the heart enflames it This sweetnesse warmes the heart this freenesse kindles the fire and when the greatnesse of the sweetnesse comes to be valued this sets the heart all upon a fire In Eph. 3.17 18. the Apostle desires that Christ might dwell in their hearts and that they might be rooted in love but how shall we come to this that we may bee able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of God in Christ As if the Apostle had said If I once come to see the unmeasurablenesse of Gods mercy this will blow up the soule and enflame the heart with admirable love againe to the Lord and make the soule say I that have done all that I could against the good God it breakes my heart to thinke it there was no name under Heaven that I did more blaspheme and teare in peeces more than this I have despised no command so much as the command of God and of Christ and I have grieved no spirit so much as the good Spirit of the Lord against those sweet motions that God hath let into my soule and struggled with me to plucke me from my company and to contend with me
When a man entertaines the King he is content though the King put him out of his owne house to bee his servant for the while and if his Majesty may be contented he cares not so it is with a gracious humble heart if the Lord will blast a mans parts and comforts and take all from him and give him Christ naked and onely that honour that is in him hee is contented This heart is right and hee will say It is Gods will to take away these parts honours credit c. and if the Lord Jesus say I will not assist nor comfort thy soule he lyes downe and saith not a word but this Let the Lord be honoured though I be as the dung in the streets whatsoever become of me though I be damned so the Lords glory may be advanced I am content Suppose this should be which indeed cannot be that a man were left destitute of al comfort friends and meanes and all that he hath loved heretofore and in stead of honour were to have shame and imprisonment for liberty and want and dishonour in stead of friends the soule saith It is Gods will to doe so and to take away honour and parts who must order the businesse but he onely Doth it please the Lord Jesus to doe so blessed bee his name for it I shall now be contented let me lye at his feet though I goe downe to hell let me wait on him and let him doe what he will Now all you that are of any of these sorts to you is the Word of the Lord spoken this day and I beseech you in the name of Christ take it in love and as spoken out of indignation to your sinnes to you I say the Minister and the Word saith The Lord bee mercifull to you you are haters of the Lord Jesus there is none of the love of God in the hearts of any of this generation to this day Now do not goe away and say Let the Minister say what he will for hee must say something to hold out the houre What wilt thou shew thy selfe to bee a most notorious wrangling hypocrite Conscience speake is not thy heart met withall as in all the former particulars Conscience saith so and the Lord saith so Oh be perswaded therefore and yeeld the bucklers and say Now I see it is not in truth all that I have done is wrong and false Oh that I could once at last fall upon the right way The Lord perswade your hearts to conceive of it and to say I am still a hater of Christ I am yet an enemy Do I yet live to be saved by Christ and do I hate him think of thy sin and consider thy sorrow 1. Thinke thus much with thy selfe This sinne of all other is most unconceivable and not to bee named much lesse to bee practised and retained Oh that ever any wretch that hath received so much from Christ should still hate him Good Lord that ever there should bee such a wretch upon the earth and yet Lord I am the man I am hee that have approved of the practises of the wicked thou art an open enemy to the Lord Jesus and therefore thinke what thou hast done all this while Rom. 1.19 20. That which may be known of God is manifest in the creatures But in the meane time thinke but what thy sinne is that thou hast not onely the creatures to preach to thee but the Lord Jesus who came downe from heaven It is a wonder that ever he came for such wretches as we are hee hath torne his bowels in pieces for thee and entreated thee to bathe thy soule in his death and bee saved for ever Luke 19.42 yea hee hath wept over thee and said Oh that thou hadst knowne even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace yet thou regardest not Oh thou poore ignorant profane carnall wretch nay the blood of Christ and his teares and the offer of his mercies and his spirit speake to thee and intreat thee to beleeve in him and live for ever and yet thou continuest an infidell You know the spirit of love hath met you in your Churches and in your houses and walked with you in your journeies and said Now open the Lord Jesus calls tenders mercy and you have snubbed it Good Lord is it possible that the blood of Jesus Christ should speake to us and that a company of wretched creatures should trample upon that blood and grieve that spirit rather then forsake their lusts and corruptions You children tell your fathers of this and you wives your husbands and say Is it possible that we have done this and yet live still it is a wonder Therefore reason thus with your selves and say If a heathen shall be condemned that had but trees preaching to him and his conscience open then what shall become of me that have had Christ and his blood to preach to me what will become of me what sin is mine it is a scarlet sin it hath in it all abominations 2. Secondly thinke of thy sorrow how will the Lord Jesus be revenged on thee Doest thou say Oh he is mercifull and will forgive all What wil the Lord suffer his sonne to be trampled upon will God the Father suffer this thinke what will be the end of it Oh thy judgement is intolerable and unrecoverable continuing as thou art Consider the heavinesse of thy plagues 1 Cor. 16.22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be had in execration or bee accursed or bee made Maranatha that is All the curses of heaven and earth and all the curses of the world to the highest straine of cursing as if he should say All you Churches on earth and all you Angels in heaven curse ye that man and all ye Divels in hell torment that man nay let him be accursed for ever and then blessed Redeemer take this man into thy owne hands and let him be accursed for ever As in Jude 14. And Enoch also the seventh from Adam prohecied of these saying Behold the Lord commeth with tenne thousands of his Saints to execute judgement upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him You thinke it is nothing to speake against the Lord Jesus thousands of Angels shall minister to him and ten thousands shall goe before him and say The Lord is comming to execute judgement upon all that work wickednesse and upon those that have spoken against him So that when the Church of Christ and the Angels in heaven and the Divels in hell have conspired to torment a man then also the Lord Jesus will come to torment him Oh that my heart could bleed and if it were possible breake in sunder for the misery in which you are in that day the Lord Jesus will say to such as hee
THE SOULES IMPLANTATION INTO THE NATURALL OLIVE By T.H. Carefully corrected and much enlarged with a Table of the Contents prefixed JAMES 1.21 Receive with meeknesse the ingraffed Word which is able to save your soules LONDON Printed by R. Young and are to be sold by Fulke Clifton on New-Fish-street-hill 1640. THE CONTENTS TWo wayes God prepareth the heart for Christ Pag. 1 It is also prepared by contrition and humiliation 2 Doct. None but a broken heart is an house for Christ 3 Two lets of faith removed by brokennesse of heart 6 By faith the soule goeth out to another for all-sufficiencie 11 Use 1. Reproofe to them that would have comfort without brokennesse of heart 15. and them that dislike broken-heartednesse in others 18 Use 2 To get comfort begin in sorrow 22 Use 3 Comfort to the broken-hearted in two respects 25 Doct. The heart must first be prepared for Christ 31 Preparation for Christ standeth in three things 35 Use 1. Those reproved who thinke to have mercie and heaven upon a sudden 40 Use 2 A miserable estate to live in the old sinnes 47 Use 3 Prepare for Christ or thinke not to enjoy him 55 Motives to prepare for Christ 56 Doct. The Ministery a speciall meanes to prepare us for Christ 68 A powerfull ministery consisteth in three things 71 How a powerfull Ministery workes upon the heart to prepare it for Christ 79 Affliction prepares the heart for the Word the Word for God 88 Use 1. Much fault in Ministers that their peoples hearts are not fitted for Christ 84 Use 2 Fearfull is their estate whom a powerfull Ministerie workes not upon 88 Use 3 Let the Word be powerfull to prepare thy heart for Christ 90 Two things keep from Christ 95 What ingraffing into Christ is 99 Doct. Christ delayes not to come into an humbled heart 106 Use 1. Great comfort to each humbled soule 114 Use 2 They are of a naughtie spirit who endure not broken spirits 118 Use 3 Chuse the broken-hearted for companions 120 Use 4 Be thankefull for this great respect of Christ to thy poore soule 122 Use 5 They that would have Christ dwell in them must be willing to be humbled 125 Christ neare the soule yet not discerned for foure reasons in us 133. and for three reasons in Christ 147 Doct. Christ takes possession of every humbled soule 157 Three wayes he disposeth the heart to himselfe 168 Use 1. Reproofe of them that keepe Christ out of possession 171 Use 2 Give all to Christ whose it is 176 Doct. Love and joy by the Spirit wrought in a broken heart for embracing mercie as it deserves 180 The reason of Gods order in working these graces 187 Gods promise the ground of our love and how 195 His love to us begets love in us toward him and how 201 Use 1. Nature breeds no love to Christ 206 Saints love not duly because they rely not on the promise 211 Use 2 Comfort to them that love Christ 213. and blessednesse 216 Notes of true love to Christ 217 Use 3 Reproofe of them that love not Christ in truth 231. sorts of them 238 Enmitie against Christ shewed three wayes 240 Glozing neuters described and shamed 243 Hypocrites enemies to Christ foure sorts of them 246 247 c. Discoveries of not loving Christ 250 Hee thas wrangles against truth never loved Christ 2. arg 254 Expression of sorrow for sin limited 258 Continuall sorrow as needfull as continuall beleeving 261 Use 4 Love the Lord Jesus in sinceritie 272. meanes 273 Three hinderances of loving Christ ibid. 274 Three things in Christ to make us love him 282 Three things done by Christ for a sinner though as yet hee want assurance 286 Two meanes to bring our hearts and the promises together 291 Doct. In greatest wants true Christians have cause enough to rejoyce in God 300 Use 1. Reteine comfort in God whatsoever thou wantest 302 Use 2 Reproof to them that grow uncomfortable for crosses 304 Use 3 Make this sure God is the God of my salvation 305 Six meanes to rejoyce in evill times ibid. Doct. The sorrowful seed-time of true Christians in the exercises of humiliation and mortification yeelds them a rich and joyfull harvest 312. 313 Causes of true joy assured by mourning 314 Use 1. Sharpe Preachers make you gainers ibid. 315 Use 2 Enemies helpe the joy of Christians 315 Use 3 Esteeme none by present grievances 316 Use 4 Sow still though in teares ibid. Use 5 Be patient in suffering for God 317 Use 6 Comfort in death our owne or friends 318 Use 7 Be painfull in thy calling ibid. Use 8 Encouragement to repent of sinne and renew our repentance 319 THE BROKEN HEART ESAY 57.15 For thus saith the high and loftie One that inhabiteth eternity whose Name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place that is in heaven which is his throne and I will dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the heart of the humble and the heart of the contrite ones THere are two maine parts of the preparative worke for Christ First the manner of the worke on Gods part and this discovers it selfe in these two particulars 1. In proposing Christ in the Ministerie of the Gospell as the most beautifull object which the soule can view or affect Psal 2.12 Cant. 5.9 with 6.1 2. That God doth by an holy kind of violence plucke the sinner from sinne to himselfe as in that place Iohn 6.44 No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him The second is on our part a frame and temper of the heart that God workes upon us by this holy kind of violent drawing This discovers it selfe in these two particulars 1 Contrition 2 Humiliation For the handling of these two wee have chosen this place of Scripture And I intend not to trade with every particular in the Verse but so much in it as fitteth my intendment in hand Expos That which I aime at is in the middle of the Verse I dwell with him that is of a broken heart Give me leave to open the words The great God of heaven that inhabiteth eternity in glory for the comfort of every poore broken-hearted sinner Gods two houses saith hee will dwell with him The Lord hath but two standing houses the one is in heaven in glorie the other is every broken heart and every shivered soule How he dwels in the heart Now how doth God dwell in the heart of a poore sinner The Apostle Ephes 3.17 tells us Christ dwells in our hearts by faith and it implies the constant abode of Christ by his Spirit in the soule being received and entertained by faith So that first there must bee a broken heart before there can bee faith or before Christ will dwell in our hearts to our comfort Consider what a kind of heart it must be wherein God will dwell It must bee an humble and a shivered spirit
Though there is malice neere to pursue thee yet there is mercy neere to comfort thee and God will dwell in thee though it may bee thy neighbours will not dwell by thee Psal 51.17 The sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise There the Prophet David saith that the Lord preferres this Sacrifice before others What though men distast thee if the Lord accept and regard thee What if men refuse and despise thee if the Lord love thee and delight in thee Therefore all you broken-hearted sinners take this word of comfort goe on and goe cheerily and the God of heaven bee with you Though you bee poore in the world and live in a smoakie cottage yet the Lord will dwell with you in that poore cottage and in that poore family of yours and hee will revive that poore heart of yours Where the King is the Court must be prepared for and when the Lord Iesus Christ comes to dwell in the heart of a poore sinner he will comfort him He that sitteth in heaven and hath ten thousand thousand of Angels to minister unto him hath but two Thrones the highest heavens and the lowest heart What a consolation is this to thee Goe your way therefore and cheere up your hearts with this and say I thanke God I have now an humble and broken heart I hope comfort is comming THE PREPARING OF THE HEART FOR TO RECEIVE CHRIST Luke 1.17 To make ready a people prepared for the Lord. BEfore the soule of a man can share in the merits of Christ Iesus and receive benefit thereby and comfort therefrom before it can bee made partaker of those spirituall benefits which God hath promised to bestow upon his owne two things are required first there must be a preparation of the soule to receive and entertaine the Lord Iesus Christ and secondly there must be an implantation of the soule into Christ and then being thus ingrafted into Christ it hath a title to all those good things which he hath purchased for his Elect. For the conclusion of Saint Iohn is peremptory in this kind Iohn 3.36 He that hath the Sonne saith he hath life and he that hath not the Sonne hath not life As if hee should say There is no hope of receiving any good from the stocke unlesse the graft bee implanted into the stocke before the foule be cut off from the rebellion of Adam it cannot be implanted into Christ and unlesse it bee ingrafted into Christ it can have no comfort from him But if we can once get into Christ we shall have the participation of all spiritual things which he hath prepared for his chosen But it is impossible for flesh and bloud thus to enter into Christ and be implanted into him and therefore that wee maybe implanted into him we must be prepared First there must be a preparation of the soule to be in Christ before it can bee made partaker of Christ and his benefits This preparation is the fitting of a sinner for his being in Christ The Lord Christ being to come in person and to take upon him the ministery of the Gospell he sent Iohn the Baptist as his Harbinger to prepare his wayes and therefore he was indued with all gifts this way He had the spirit of thunder hee was indued with the spirit and power of Elias to make the way plaine for the Lord Christ Iesus and in that spirit hee came and preached to ungodly men and taught them repentance he came to levell mountaines and make crookked things straight to turne the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisedome of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. This was Saint Iohns taske to prepare mens hearts for the receiving and entertaining of Christ when he should come The point of Doctrine to bee observed from hence is this Doct. That the soule of a poore sinner must be prepared for Christ The heart must first be prepared for Christ before he can have any heart to entertaine him This is the maine scope of the Text the maine drift of Iohn Baptist his ministery The hearts of men were not fitted for Christ and therefore he was sent before Christ Iesus to make way for him and to make peoples hearts fit to receive Christ that when the Lord Iesus came he might take place in his and worke effectually in the soules of his to their everlasting peace For the proofe of the Doctrine it is that which was prophesied before Mal. 3.1 for this Prophet was the last of the Prophets for Iohn the Baptists was a kind of intermingled ministerie it was neither Propheticall nor Apostolicall properly Marke what Malachy speakes there of him Mal. 3.1 Behold saith he I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seeke shall suddenly come to his Temple It is plaine to bee observed that Iohn the Baptist is there prophesied of The Iewes sought for a Messias and for comfort through Christ now Iohn the Baptist was to make way for Christ and when the way was prepared then the Lord would stay no longer Mal. 3.1 but would suddenly come into his Temple saith the Text that is into the soules of his children that were willing to receive him upon such termes as hee offered himselfe And as this was prophesied of Iohn the Baptist so it was also performed by the ministerie of Iohn Luke 3.4 The voyce of one crying in the wildernesse Prepare yee the way of the Lord make his paths straite That which Malachy foretold of Iohn is done he comes according to the Prophecie and fulfills what God intended hee should doe and what he was sent for to doe Simile Kings when they goe to any place send messengers and harbingers before them to make all things ready for their entertainement when they come Now Christ is a great King Christ is at King spiritually not temporally to be considered but he is a spirituall King and rules in the hearts of all those that belong to his election of grace and for his enemies if they will not bee ruled by his golden rod with his iron rod hee will breake them in pieces Now as with great Kings there must bee a preparation that all things may bee ready to receive them so it must be with our Saviour Christ he never commeth into the soule of any unawares or on the sudden but he sends his messengers before him his Ministers to prepare them for the receiving of him to humble mens soules to make mountaines low to make crooked things straite to pull downe every thing that exalts it selfe against God and when the heart is thus fitted and prepared then Christ sends his Spirit to take possession of it and rule in it and be a direction of it in the way of life and happinesse And the preparation for him is spirituall That this preparation is spiritually to
a great way for you and have had a very hard journey I have suffered many crosses and afflictions many mockes and scoffes many buffets yea even death it selfe for you will you now suffer the Lord Iesus wearied and perplexed to stand knocking and calling and weeping and saying as he said to Ierusalem Luke 19.42 Oh that thou hadst knowne even thou at least in this thy day the things belonging to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes Will you suffer Christ in this plight thus saying unto you as hee did to Ierusalem to stand knocking at the doore of your hearts and your soules Take heed of this Christ knocketh this day at your hearts if you now give him his last answer and shut the doore against him it may prove to bee the last knocking you may hap never to see him more The Church in the place before named Cant. 5. ver 3. shifted off Christ and would not let him in when she heard him knocke I have put off my coate how shall I put it on I have washed my feet how shall I defile them But after shee rose to open to her beloved and her hands dropped myrrhe and her fingers sweet smelling myrrhe upon the handles of the locke ver 5. And then she opened to her beloved but he had withdrawne himselfe and was gone and then shee sought him with many troubles and knockes before she found him The watchmen found her and wounded her the keepers of the walls tooke her vaile from her If you put of Christ and give him delayes when he knocks at the doores of your hearts then perhaps hee may never knocke more and then you may seeke him and desire him earnestly and perhaps never find him more or receive comfort from him and salvation by him Oh therefore take heed how you drive away your crucified Saviour but even now make all preparations for his entertainment and for receiving of him that you may receive everlasting life and salvation from him In Ier. 2.12 the Prophet saith Be astonished O yee heavens be yee horribly afraid be yee desolate saith the Lord. What is the reason of this It is in the 11. and 13. verses The Heathen have not changed their gods which are no gods but my people have forsaken me the fountain of living waters hewen out to themselves cisternes even broken cisterns that can hold no water they have changed their glory for that which profiteth not Be astonished at this O yee heavens Turkes have their gods and Infidels have their gods and what care have they to obey them when as yet their gods are no gods And shall a Christian have a Saviour to save him and to redeeme him and shew mercy upon him and then shut him out in this kind Remember what the Prophet David saith Psal 132.4 5. I will give no sleepe to mine eyes nor slumber to mine eye-lids untill I have prepared a place an habitation for the God of Iacob and if hee had said I have houses and I have palaces and Gods honour lieth in the dust no more sleepe no more rest no more content untill I have prepared an habitation for the God of Iacob What David did that doe you There is no materiall Temple to bee prepared but we are the Temple and the Church of God prepare therefore an habitation an heart for the Lord Iesus Christ And every soule that hath heretofore cast out the Lord Iesus Christ and given him no entertainment let him now resolve to doe it and let every one say to their husbands and friends We have this and wee have that this blessing that benefit but the Lord hath come often and asked a roome for himselfe O let us not sleepe nor give rest unto our hearts nor contentation to our soules untill wee have prepared an habitation untill wee have prepared an heart fit for the entertainment of the mighty God of Iacob If thou dost not now prepare for him as a Saviour to save thee hereafter thou must receive him as a Iudge to condemne thee and therefore delay no longer but every night and every morning call upon one another to prepare for the Lord Iesus Obiect And now what can hinder but Christ may bee prepared for of us Why alas many friends must away wee must turne out many profits and pleasures before we can prepare for the entertainment of Christ Iesus all these must be abandoned Answ Why imagine these earthly things were gone the time will come that all these must goe and then God will make them base and vile in the sight of men and Angels at the day of judgement when the last trumpe shall blow Nay goe but to the time of death what shall your honours doe then What shall your profits doe then what wil they then doe for you And then after death when you that for love of your profits and pleasures could not nor would not prepare for Christ come into hell What profit then will those things doe you Rom 9.21 whereof you are now ashamed What will you now sweare and profane Gods name Oh then you shall see the basenesse and vilenesse of those things then the drunkard will wish hee had never taken cup in his hand then the swearer will wish he had never swore oath nor ever tooke Gods name in vaine then the covetous wretch will wish he had never beene so greedy of his gaine and in the mean while neglected his salvation Consider this that God one day will make those things seeme vile in our eyes one day it shall come to passe that we would give a world for a Saviour one day Christ will be welcome unto us if he would come When you come to the last period of your lives then in your last wills and testaments you commit your bodie to the ground and your soule into the hands of God Yea but it is a question whether Christ will then take it therfore prepare to entertaine and receive him now that hee may receiue you then at that day Hath he prepared heaven for thee and wilt thou not prepare a heart to receive him Therfore remoue renounce abandon all profits all pleasures sins lusts corruptions that you may be fitted to entertain welcom the Lord Iesus that Christ may dwell in your soules and give you the consolation of his spirit But you will say Quest How may we prepare for Christ that there may bee an hopefull expectation of his comming This is a hard taske How then may we prepare for him by what meanes may our hearts bee fitted and disposed to receiue Christ Iesus Answ I answer that a powerfull ministery is the onely ordinary meanes which GOD hath appointed soundly to prepare the heart of a poore sinner for the receiving of the Lord Iesus Doct. The Ministery a speciall meanes to prepare us for Christ which is the second doctrine which ariseth out of the Text and it is a point worth the while Object But you
treat of First that the humbled sinner stands possessed of Christ for he that is not humbled and broken hearted hath nothing to doe with Christ nor comfort comming from him I use this phrase He stands possessed of Christ rather then that Hee possesseth Christ because the worke lies on Christs part The Spirit of the Lord Iesus takes possession of and humbled sinner and makes him part of his care and hee comes by that meanes to bee interessed into the care of Christ Christ possesseth him and by this meanes he comes to be possessed of Christ so that all he hath is meerely the worke of the Spirit of God upon him as the Apostle saith Gal. 4.9 But now that you haue known God or rather are known of God It is not what wee conceive or what wee know but what hee knows and conceives and in Phil. 3.14 Saint Paul strove hard If that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of him He doth not say that hee is able to apprehend God but that God comprehends him As it is with a little child that is not able to goe of it selfe the father takes the child in his hand and then it is able to go The child holds the father not because it hath any power of it selfe but because the father holds him so we hold the Lord Iesus Christ because we are holden of him for the humbled soule stands possessed of Christ because Christ maketh him his care and his charge and takes possession of him and therefore he comes to have an interest in Christ Secondly as he stands possessed of Christ so he is made partaker of all the spirituall good things that are in Christ still the action lies chiefly upon Christ and we so move as we are first moued by him and we so worke as we are wrought upon by him He is made partaker of all the good in Christ not because hee can challenge it but because the Lord will convey and communicate it to him These two things you shall obserue to be general operations and to go through all the works of application of Christ as in vocation the Lord by his Spirit doth draw the soule after him there is the possession of Christ and then the soule follows Christ and comes to him and in justification Christ undertakes for the sinner and layes downe the payment of the debt for him and then he freeth the sinner from the debt thus the soul is neerer still and in adoption God the Father taketh him in the roome and right of a son and then he stands further possessed of grace and withall the Lord estates him in all the priviledges of grace in meeknesse and holinesse and he sets his seale to him and gives him his marke and withall he is free from the power and dominion of his corruptions So that these two are generall things and have a kind of conveyance of themselves over all the whole worke of application of Christ Thirdly the last thing in the description is this All this is done by the worke of Gods Spirit For the graft cannot be planted till it be cut off and pared It must have the same hand that cut it off and pared it by contrition and humiliation for the same hand of the same Spirit must ingraft the soule into Christ Now for the following discourse we haue chosen these words of the Prophet Malachy from which we will take onely so much as will serue our turne for that wee have to speake These words are nothing else but a Prophecy of the ministerie of Iohn Baptist and in them two things principally considerable First the worke of the ministery of Iohn Baptist Mal. 3.1 Behold I send my messenger to prepare my way before mee Secondly The consequent good that flowes from this And the Lord whom ye seeke shall suddenly come into his Temple As great men have their harbingers to make ready their way before them and to make preparation for them before they come to any place so it is with the Lord of life hee is the great Commander of the world it is he that takes possession of the hearts of all that belong to life and happinesse but before he comes to take possession he sends Iohn Baptist to prepare the heart and when it is fitted then he comes suddenly into his Temple Here consider First What the Temple is Secondly What it is to come into his Temple and how Christ commeth into it This word Temple besides the natural and literall sense of it wherein it aimes at the materiall Temple of Ierusalem which we will not meddle with Christs temple is spirituall is taken spiritually and so it is to be conceived here and then it implies the Church of Christ in the number of the faithfull You shall see the phrase of Scripture to intimate so much 1 Pet. 4.17 If judgment begin at the house of God what shall the end of the ungodly be that obey not the Gospell of God There the house of God is opposed to them that obey not the truth of God so that they that obey the truth that are willing to bee at the dispose of God and reforme their lives after his will and word they are the house and temple of Christ As in generall all the people of God thus obeying the word of God so in particular euery Christian man and woman is the Temple of Christ As the Apostle saith You are the Temples of the living God 2 Cor. 6 16 As it was in the materiall Temple in Ierusalem the glory of the Lord filled it and the Lord said he would dwell in it for ever so the heart truely prepared is the Temple of the Lord and the Lord Christ takes possession and rules in it and fils it with all grace This is the meaning of the first word It is plaine by force of argument The word Temple is to bee taken in the same sense in which the way to the temple is taken As also the way to the Temple but the way to the Temple is the fitting of the soule and the heart for Christ for so all the Evangelists expresse it Iohn saith Repent yee for the kingdome of heaven is at hand Mat. 3.2 Isa 40.3 Also Isaiah saith Prepare ye the way of the Lord make his paths straight So that the preparation of the way to the Lord is nothing else but for people to repent of their sins Repenting and preparing are both one But more especially that place of Saint Luke ch 1. ver 15.17 where speaking of Iohn Baptist he saith He shall bee full of the holy Ghost nay Hee shall come in the spirit and power of Elias to turne the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisedome of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord The way is in the heart of a man and this preparation is the turning of their hearts to the way of the just men
overtaken with some grosse sin this builds up the partition wall that Christ cannot be discerned as it was with David Psal 51.10 where hee saith Create in mee a cleane heart O God and renew a right spirit within me hee was even to begin the world new againe And it is Gods wise dealing with his owne servants for God will not brooke sinne in his owne servants and they must know if they will have him to dwell in them they must not give way to any base sinne if they doe hee will withdraw himselfe from them not that God forsakes finally whom hee loved once but hee will take away the sense and apprehension of his presence that though he is there yet the soule shall not see it And also when they give way to some secret distemper and are at truce with some infirmitie and they will be parlying with it and meddle too much with it it is just with the Lord and ordinary to withdraw the presence of his grace from such a mans soule If a Christian be overtaken somewhat more than ordinary with a peevish spirit or if he be something too eager for the world so that hee grow cold in holy duties and is in danger to lie and dissemble for his gaine it is just with God that this man should scramble for his comfort and welter up and downe without any evidence of Gods love And also though a Christian commit not sinne outwardly yet if hee give leave to any sinne and beat truce with it though they seeme to hate it and yet let their meditations runne upon it and parley with some secret imagination c. it is just with God to hide himselfe from them And others there are that live with men and see their evils and yet will not reprove them I have knowne many of those to have gone out all their dayes without any comfort And it is no marvell though they cannot see Christ because they themselves build up the partition-wall betweene Christ and them the Lord Iesus Christ is not able to brooke it that hee is thus sleighted and neglected and that any sinfull base distemper should bee attended to to keepe company with it rather than with Christ Christ Iesus distastes it infinitely and therefore withdrawes the apprehension of his presence from such a person The second cause why the Lord hides himselfe is when the faithfull servants of God begin to grow carelesse and luskish to holy duties and because God hath made knowne his good will to them therefore they begin to grow carelesse and secure When the Lord seeth this that they doe abuse his favour so that now they begin to grow secure and heartlesse and to slag and to grow sluggish it is just with the Lord to eâ—strange himselfe from that soule and it is just that that soule should find himselfe lost that hee may quicken up himselfe When Christians grow cold in prayer and carelesse in holy duties the Lord taketh away the light of his favour and hee leaves those sluggish hearts to themselves nay God is forced even against his will and mind even for the good of those Christians to take away the comfort of his presence so that now they begin to thinke they never had grace If the Lord did not thus they would never mend their pace nor quicken up themselves to any holy duties And this is the reason why many lie downe in sorrow and thinke they never had any grace at all the Lord seeth it and perceives it that unlesse he should bring them to this extreme hazzard they would never be drawne out from that desperate securitie but by this meanes in the end God makes them find their hearts and tongues againe and makes them consider from whence they are fallen Oh saith the Lord mercy is as good when you have it as when you want it the time was when you filled heaven and earth with your prayers and you could pray earnestly and you could give the Lord no rest you prized opportunities and now you have many opportunities and slight them It is just with God when we begin to be thus tongue-tied and to be secure and to thinke all is wel now the Lord hath humbled our soules and pardoned our sinnes and shewed us his favour for a time to leave those soules of yours though he save you in the end to send you a hell upon earth that so you may strive to receive that mercy and comfort which formerly you had and now have sleighted Thus hee dealt with the Church in Cant. 5.2 3. when Christ knocked at the doore and said Open to mee my sister my love my dove my undefiled for my head is filled with dew and my lockes with the drops of the night she made answer in this manner I have put off my coat how shall I put it on I have washed my feet how shall I defile them Now when Christ withdrew himselfe then shee found her feet againe and followed Christ with much labour from place to place and could not be content till she had found him And so it was with the holy Prophet Psal 30.6 I said in my prosperitie I shal never be removed but when he saw God going away from him see how he bestirres himselfe 2 Sam. 22.7 Oh saith hee I cried to thee O Lord in the time of my trouble Then he could pray and heare againe and recount Gods former goodnesse and performe his former duties Simile I have seene the father deale so with the child when the father is going on in his journey if the child will not go on but stands gaping upon vanitie and when the father calls he comes not the onely way is this the father steps aside behind a bush and then the child runnes and cries and if he gets his father againe hee forsakes all his trifles and walkes on faster and more cheerefully with his father than ever So when the Lord Iesus Christ sometimes makes knowne himselfe to us and would carry us on in a Christian course cheerefully we are playing with trifles and grow carelesse and cold and worldly and remisse in prayer and dead-hearted the onely way to quicken us up is to hide himselfe and to make us give our selves for lost and then they that could scarcely pray once a weeke now will pray three or foure times aday Thirdly and lastly the Lord doth hide himselfe in his infinite wisedome and fatherly care by way of prevention that his servants and children might not fall into some evill Hee will not bestow the sense and sweetnesse of his favour upon them lest they should bee proud thereof and pranke up themselves in regard of their priviledges and bee carried with contempt of the weaknesse of their fellow brethren nay if they had that which they desired there were no living with them therefore the Lord in his care and goodnesse is faine to hold them to hard-meat and to keepe them to a spare diet Hee seeth it
thou the hope of Israel why dost thou depart In Gen. 19.2 when the two Angels came to Lot in Sodome the one was Christ Lot compelled them to go in Christ is not now unwilling but hee knockes and calls and saith Open to me my love my dove my undefiled he entreats the loose person to forsake his base practises and the covetous person to leave his oppression and to receive mercy but you suffer Christ to lye in the street and despise that word of his and will bee at your owne carving This especially falls foule upon two sorts of persons The first sort is all carnal profane opposers of the Lord Iesus The carnall Gospeller is content that Christ should undertake for him and bee his Protectort to defend him from the plague of sin but he is not content that Christ should rule in him He doth as the Inne-keeeper that receives a guest into his house to make an advantage of him for as the Inne-keeper will come to his guest and pretend great matters to him not because he would have his guest to possesse him but because hee would bee possessor of his money so the carnall Gospeller would have Christ for his owne turne hee would dispose of Christ and mercy for his owne purpose and hence come all those speeches God is mercifull and Hath the Lord Christ created men to damne them Oh but mercy is sweet and pardon is good This is thus much you would have Christ to pardon sinne that you might commit it with lesse feare and more freedome If you did see no Saviour but that you must needs be damned for it you would startle at it But you would have Christ to stand by you that you might sinne the more freely Oh be not deceived doe you thinke that Christ will come to be an underling to your lusts and a drudge to your base distempers whose condemnation is iust saith the Apostle No you are deceived you shall not have Christ a servant to carry your lusts and pleasures to heaven with you The truth is the Lord Iesus will never bring comfort nor consolation to thee that wilt not bee possessed of him either haue both or neither chuse whether you will The second sort to be reproved are a company of slie hypocrites that would part stakes with Christ and part houses with him they could bee content that hee should have some roome in the house but they will dispose of all themselues as a man that lets some roomes in his house Simile upon this condition that he may have them when he lists You willl pray against sinne provided that now and then Christ will give you leaue to practise it and you will cry out against it provided that you may have a privy seale or some secret licence for it and you will professe bitterly against base courses so you may haue some backe doore and inward lust still The Lord Iesus doth not share with any man can he have a part and the Divell a part nay hee will have either all or none It was the tricke of an adulterous heart for when there was contention for the children the harlot said 1 King 3.26 Let it be neither thine nor mine but divide it Nay saith the mother let her have all Shee was the harlot that would have the child devided So it is with an adulterous and dissembling heart that saith Let Christ have a part and the world a part let lusts and pompe have a part and Christ a part this is dissimulation with GOD and shall receive condemnation there must bee no sharing If your hearts be guilty of this I charge you in the name of the Lord Iesus consider it the Lord never came into your soules you must resigne all to him and then he will saue all he will pardon all sin and give power against it What a fearfull thing were it if the Lord should deale with you as you deale with him Suppose thou couldst be halfe damned wouldst thou be content to have thy heart go to hell and thine eye to heaven or thy body to hell and thy soule to heaven therefore that thy body and soule may both be saved resigne up up all into the hands of thy Saviour and let him dispose of all here in the kingdome of grace and then he will take all to himselfe in glory for ever Vse 2. If the Lord Iesus be the possessor of all the house then let every one haue his owne Give all to Christ whose it is doe not with draw from Christ that which is his Whose image and superscription hath the soule Christ Iesus hath the protection of it therefore let him have all Let thine eye see his works and wonder and admire at them let thy minde know Iesus Christ whom to know is eternal life but do not withdraw any thing from the true owner therof that hath purchased it full deare 1 Cor. 5.15 Shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid Thine eye and thy tongue and thy hand and thy heart they are all Christs members he hath bought all with his blood and thou hast nothing to do with that which Christ hath bought therefore whensoever thy corruptions stirre and Satan tempts and begges for the use of thy mind or heart make answer and say Shall I take that heart that is Christs and thinke basely God forbid Shall I take the hand of Christ and worke wickednesse with it The holy Apostle is marvellous peremptory in this case as 1 Cor. 6.19 Glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods and hee hath bought you with a price your bodies and soules are the Lords hee undertakes for both therefore glorifie God in both If a man did come to your house and take the meat and drinke that you have provided and rob you of your money you would take it very hardly and say It is my owne So you are not your owne Therefore if the Divell or the world would prevaile with you and enter into the use of your heart or minde tell him they are not thy owne they are the Lords IESVS CHRIST hath come into thy heart and minde in mercy and therefore say it is the Lords let him doe what hee will with it â‚ SPIRITVALL LOVE AND IOY Gal. 5.22 The fruit of the Spirit is love ioy goodnes faith c. THE sure mercies of David which faith beleeveth love embraceth And who so getteth this field and treasure must needs go away rejoycing in so good a bargain All this and all other graces and comforts worketh one and the same Spirit directing the heart to God uniting it unto Christ and thereby comforting it abundantly All is his fruit in us At this time of loue and joy The point of Doctrine is this Love and joy by the spirit wrought in a broken heart for embracing mercy as it deserves Doct. The Spirit of the Father kindles in the soule of
a sinner truly humbled and inlightned love and joy to entertaine and rejoyce in the riches of his mercy so as beseemes the worth of it There are three passages considerable that wee may know the meaning of this Doctrine First this love and joy is no where to be found nor seene but onely in a heart humbled and inlightned For unlesse the heart be humbled it seeth no need of this grace and mercy and therefore despiseth it and is rather carried with a hatred against that grace and mercy that would purge him and troubled with a kind of wearinesse of the power of that grace that would reforme his life and conversation And though hee were humbled yet if he were not enlightned to see this mercy and goodnesse of God he cannot delight in it I know there is wilde love and joy enough in the world as there is wilde Thyme and other herbes but wee would have garden-love and garden-joy of Gods owne planting for such hypocriticall love and joy we will not meddle with here Secondly this love and joy is kindled by the Spirit of the Father for the Father learnes us the lecture and as I told you before of the mind inlightned kindles this holy fire which is rightly compared to the fire of the Sanctuary as in Lev. 9.24 There came a fire from before the Lord and consumed upon the Altar the burnt offering even those sparkes of the pillar of fire which did typifie Christ to them But whether this bee so or no I will not now dispute for as the Lord provided the sacrifice so the Lord caused the fire to come downe from heaven and hence it was that when Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire the Lord consumed them Lev. 10.1 2. so it is in this holy fire of love and joy wee may strike and endevour but our steele and our flint will not worke this indevour nor strike this fire of love and joy It is Iesus Christ from whence all spirituall sparkes of grace doe come and amongst the rest these of love and joy all other love and joy that is not wrought by the Spirit of the Father must be casheered and abandoned it cannot reach to God nor be pleasing unto him It is that which the Apostle inferres in the generall Rom. 8.8 They that are in the flesh cannot please God but it must be joy of the spirit which must please him Now though the soule truely humbled and broken that heretofore hath felt the weight and burden of his sinnes and is now separated from them so that hee dares not meddle with them hee dares as well take a Beare by the tooth and fall quicke into hell as take up those courses againe yet hee hath not power of himselfe to bee enlarged in any love to entertaine Christ or spiritually to joy in him further than the power of the Lord Iesus in the promise shall inable him thereto Suffer me to inlarge my selfe thus The soule is like an empty vessell it stands not at the dispose of sinne or it selfe but it is at the Lords disposition if the Lord will kindle any love and joy so it is for of himselfe hee cannot doe it As it is with some Gentleman in the Countrey Simile he will be content to let the King have the use of his house for a while but he is not able to provide necessaries for him because hee is a meane man therefore the King sends his provision before and then comes himselfe Iust so it is here with a poore humble broken-hearted sinner the poore soule is marvellous well content that the Lord should come and dwell in him and dispose of him but hee is not able to give him any entertainment he hath not any heat of holy affections or love or desire to welcome the Lord as becomes so great a Majestie therefore the Lord is faine to infuse love and joy that by them he may bee welcommed into the soule of the humbled sinner Now when the soule is come to this degree of sanctification then it can worke by it selfe Or thus Simile It is with a broken-hearted sinner as with a burning glasse take such a glasse it will burne any thing by the heat of the Sunne yet it hath no heat in it selfe but receives it from the Sun-beames by vertue whereof it burnes whatsoever is before it Iust so it is with a broken-hearted sinner But all stubborne sinners are like water that will not burne at all I will goe no further than the worke of preparation It is neither sinne nor selfe shall have power over mee sinne shall not and selfe cannot rule me therefore I will wait till the Sunne of righteousnesse will shine forth from heaven from the beavtie of his sanctuary and having received the beames of Gods love and favour effectually upon my soule and being warmed by the Sunne of righteousnesse I shall be able to returne the heat of love to God againe Thus the Spirit of the Father kindles love and joy in a heart humbled and inlightned Thirdly the Doctrine saith that loue and joy are kindled that they may entertaine and rejoyce in the riches of Gods mercy in the worth of it This last clause is added to discover the distinct nature of this love and joy from all the fained love and joy that all carnall and hypocriticall wretches pretend to have to Iesus Christ there is a kind of loving and joying in the hearts of hypocrites as afterward you shall heare So sayes Iudas Haile Master so the Pharisees and the people cut downe branches of the trees to welcome Christ and crid Hosanna Blessed is hee that commeth in the name of the Lord. And in Matth. 8.19 A certaine Scribe came and said unto him Master I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest And so the stony ground Matth. 13.20 did heare the Word with joy and so love and joy goe together But it is not that kind of love which came downe from Heaven nor that which will ever carrie your selves as beseeming the mercie of God in Christ for hee that said Haile Master betrayed his Master with a kisse and Christ might have said Is this thy love and joy wherewith thou welcommest me And the Scribes and Pharisees follow Christ a while and then forsake him and so they that before cried Hosanna Blessed is he that commeth in the name of the Lord within a while after they cry Crucifie crucifie him and the stony ground received the Word with joy and a while after came to nothing This is wild-fire and foolish fire as the Philosopher saith it is bred and hammered out by our owne ends and aimes but they doe not carrie themselves beseeming the riches of Gods free grace in Iesus Christ that is thus An heart thus kindled bestowes the best love and joy upon the Lord Iesus Christ because hee is the best good This is the meaning of that phrase so often intimated Whosoever loveth father or mother more than mee is
and come to the Court and importune him for pardon it is likely that he may be pardoned nay it shall be so Marry saith he that I will with all my heart and so hee sets forward and comes to the Court his desire carries him thither Thus it is I say with a poore sinner hee is brought home to the Court and about the Court hee attends and askes for every man that comes forth Did you not heare the King speake of me and What doe you thinke of my case At last some of the bed-chamber say to him The King heareth that you are mightily humbled and earnestly desire his favour you shall heare more from him ere long At last the King himselfe lookes out at a window and saith Is this the Traytor Yes this is he that hath beene humbled and lyes at your mercy Then the King calls out and saith His pardon is drawing and it is comming by and by and so the King smiles on him Oh then his heart leapes in his breast and hee saith The Lord preserve your Grace I thinke there was never such a mercifull Prince knowne in the world This is the love and delight that is stirred up Now when the Pardon is sealed and granted then you shall see the worke of faith A poore humbled sinner is this malefactor that hath committed high Treason against the God of heaven for every sinner hath rebelled against the God of grace The stubborne rebellious heart hath stood out against the Lord God which is high Treason though you little thinke it when you goe on wilfully and say This man shall not rule over me Well bee humbled now in time while you have mercy offered for if you bee not humbled the Lord shall send a â—aylor to take and throw you downe to Hell and therefore you had better heare of it now than hereafter when there is no remedie Perhaps the Lord now pursueth a man with his heavie indignation and le ts flye at him and sets conscience on worke to follow him and to dogge him saying This is thy sinne and hell is thy portion to hell thou must Now the soule being beset with Gods wrath in conclusion seeth hee cannot escape the Lords hands and how to purchase mercy he knowes not nor is it possible otherwise for him to escape and yet hee hath nothing to purchase mercy withall therefore hee is content to lye downe before God saying I confesse I have sinned Oh Lord bee thou glorified though I be damned for ever my sinnes are so many and so vile I cannot almost desire mercy but if the Lord will who can let him Now when the heart is thus humbled then there comes a noise a great way off in the Ministery of the Gospell and that saith Thy sinnes are all pardonable so he lookes up and hope saith Lord it may bee a damned creature may bee recovered a dead dogge may be restored to life and a Traytor may be pardoned receiued Then the Lord sends another comfortable message namely That if thou canst but see a need of mercy and looke out and waite for him thou shalt be pardoned hereupon the penitent goes to the Court gate that is hee comes mourning to the Word and saith Oh yee faithfull Ministers of God you are of the bed-chamber and you know Gods minde I pray what doth God intend towards me Hereupon we that are the Ministers of God we tell him your case is right and happely if you attend upon God you may heare more of him hereafter for the Lord heares that you lye at the Court gate and that you are exceedingly humbled and thus farre desire goes At last the Lord Iesus Christ shewes and presents himselfe to the sinner and speakes with him in the Ministery of the Word and saith That fainting weary loaden heart of thine shall bee refreshed and then giveth him a looke of mercy so that his heart danceth within him Still you must understand that the Lord alwayes speaketh by the Ministery of the Word and therefore looke for no strange dreames and visions while the Lord saith Thou art hee that longs for my salvation goe thy way I have heard thy prayers thy pardon is granted and drawne it shall be delivered to thee afterward Now when a poore sinner findes some chearing of heart he may say The Lord spake to me it s done in heaven mercie is comming towards mee the pardon is now granted and is in drawing and shall be delivered to me in due time now againe his heart leapeth within him and hee saith Blesse the Lord O my soule who ever heard of such mercy what my sinnes be pardoned and is the pardon granted and drawne if I never heare more of it and if I goe downe to hell it is enough that God hath once smiled upon mee in his love it is enough though I have the paines of hell upon me for ever for it Esa 40.12 Comfort yee comfort yee my people saith your God Speake yee comfortably to Ierusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned So the Lord saith to poore sinners after they have waited long enough and God hath seene their desires to be sound the Lord I say saith Tell that poore man from heaven and from the Lord Christ and under the hand of the Spirit that his sinnes are pardoned and he shall bee received to mercy Esa 66.1 2 3. The Lord lookes to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit and trembles at his word The poore creature comes and trembles at every truth and when hee heares of mercy hee saith Oh that is sweet mercy indeed but it is not mine and he shakes in the consideration of mercy that he should heare of it and not receive it The Lord lookes to him that is he casts a sweet looke upon him and lets in some sweet intimation of mercy and saith to the poore creature I have an eye to thee and my love is unto thee in the Lord Iesus Christ and with that his heart leapes in his bosome Of this kind I take that to be Ier. 31.18 19 20. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning and lamenting himselfe thus there is a heart humbled broken and thirsting thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a bullocke unaccustomed to the yoke turne thou me and I shall bee turned thou art the Lord my God Surely after that I was turned I repented and after that I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did beare the reproach of my youth Here you see Ephraim bemoaning himselfe as if hee had said I am the man that have enjoyed all the meanes in abundant plenty and yet never profited the Lord hath corrected mee and I was not humbled Oh turne thou me then O Lord for there is no abilitie in mee Now I see the sinnes that before I could not see and the basenesse of my evill courses and I am even
ashamed of the former abuse of Gods graces and the many abominations harboured and liked Now marke what God answers in that place Verse 20. Is Ephraim my deare sonne is hee a pleasant child as if the Lord had said Since I spake to him I still remember him all the while that the Lord let in the fiercenesse of his wrath into his soule he earnestly remembred him I saw all his desires and I observed all his teares and my bowels are towards that poore hungry and longing sinner that longs for my goodnes in Iesus Christ and I will shew mercy to him This is the behaviour of the Lord to the soule and of the soule to the Lord again Thus you see the reason of the order of Gods worke love is like the Host that welcomes the guest and delight and joy is like the Chamberlaine that waites upon the guest This is the very guise of the heart Now in the second place I come to the Motiues or that spirituall good Gods promise the ground of our love and how whereby the promise comes to worke this First what is it in the promise Secondly how comes the promise to work this in the hear◠and then we have the whole frame of the worke opened I answer for the opening of the point and the discovery of the truth in hand consider thus much It is when the spirit of God in the promise lets in some intimation of Gods love into the soule The weight lyes upon these two words Le ts in le ts in I say and conveyes some rellish of the loue of God into the heart when the Lord doth expresse any love and favour and goodnesse in that powerfull manner to the heart humbled and longing for his favour so that it doth prevaile with the soule and makes the soule to be affected with that rellish of his favour This is the ground of loue the certainty of a good stirreth up hope and the excellency of that good quickens up desire and the presence of this good kindles love there is a fulnesse that takes up all the whole frame of the work upon all the affections of the soule In Psal 42.8 it is said Psal 42.8 expounded The Lord will command his loving kindnesse in the day time what is that it is a phrase taken from kings and princes and great Commanders in the field whose words of command stand for lawes so the Lord shall send out his loving kindnesse and say Goe out my everlasting love and and kindnesse take a commission from me and goe to that humble thirsty and hunger-bitten sinner and goe and prosper and prevaile and settle my love effectually upon him and fasten my mercy upon him I command my loving kindnesse to doe it The Lord doth put a Commission into the hands of his loving kindnesse that it shall do good to the poore soule yea though he withdraw his soule saying what I mercy will Iesus Christ accept of me No no there is no hope of mcrcy for me Indeed if I could pray thus and heare thus and performe duties with that enlargement and had those parts and abilities then there were some comfort but now there is no hope of mercy for me We demand Is this your case is it thus and thus Yes you are thus humbled and have thus longed for the riches of his mercy in Christ haue you not Yes Then say we grace and mercy is yours I cannot thinke it saith he what such a wretch as I goe to Heaven no no Heaven would rather fall then such a sinner as I should come to be received there Thus he puts off mercy and shuts the door against it and at the last cast when carnall reason builds up forts against mercy and sets up strong holds against comfort consolation and neither Word nor Minister can comfort them then the Lord I say is faine to put a commission into the hands of his loving kindnesse when the poore sinner hath bin sighing and longing and nothing will content him but Christ thē then the Lord gives out the commission and saith Goe home to that poore soule and breake open the doores upon that weary weltering heart and knocke off all those bolts and rend off that veile of ignorance and carnall reason and all base arguments goe I say to that soule and cheare it and warme it and tell him from mee that his sinnes are pardoned and his soule shall be saved and his sighes and his prayers are heard in Heaven and I charge you doe the worke before you come againe Here is the goodnesse of God to expresse himselfe thus mercifully in his Word to the soule if it were in mans power no comfort should ever come to the soule but the Lord blessed be his Name for it he commands his loving kindnesse to breake in upon him As it is with an High Sheriffe when a man will not deliver up quiet possession to the owner he comes with his men and breakes open all before him and will estate the man into his possession so this loving kindnesse is the Lords High Sheriffe and when a company of Rake-shames of carnall reason would keepe out mercy the Lord is faine to send his loving kindnesse with a commission to seaze upon the heart Now take notice of this the ground of a mans love is any good which expresseth his presence to him as a good to come was the ground of hope and the necessitie and excellencie of that good makes the soule to long after it so now when a good is not onely present but expresseth his presence and leaues a kind of remembrance upon the soule that stirres up love continually but this must be done before love will come As it is with the naturall body if that which lyes upon a man carries some weight with it then it is easily felt but if it bee marvellous light it may lye upon us and wee not perceive it as a feather a flye or the like and if there comes any weight that affects the hand either wet or cold or warmth then hee feeles it but if it be light hee perceives it not as a mote may bee on the face and not be felt nor seene so love in the soule is like this touching of the body Now when loving kindnesse is not set on upon the soule and when it leaves no expression in the soule the heart cannot be affected with it nor returne that joy and delight that otherwise it would doe so that there must be a present good and a good expressing it selfe to the heart and affecting the heart therewith and then this love comes to God againe Gods love affecting the heart and setled upon it it breeds a love to God againe that is the ground which S. Iohn speaketh of 1 Ioh. 4 19. Wee love him because he loved us first As I told you in the example of the burning-glasse it must receive the heat of the beames of the Sunne before it can burne any
I have taken up armes against Almightie God If I had but gone to the top of Hell it had beene infinite mercy and if I had been in a dungeon all my dayes and had another world to live and lived it all in miserie it had beene infinite mercie for the Lord to send downe Christ to looke upon me a poore wretch in the dungeon and to speake to me out of the gates of hell and to tell me of this mercie oh it had beene an infinite mercie but to send a Sonne to save me it is incomparable I could not conceive to doe so much evill against him as he hath done good to me oh the breadth of that mercy beyond all limits oh the length of that mercie beyond all time oh the depth of that mercie below a mans miserie oh the height of that mercy above the height of mine understanding If mine hands were all of love that I could worke nothing but love and if mine eyes were able to see nothing but love and my mind thinke of nothing but love and if I had a thousand bodies it were all too little to love that God that hath unmeasurably loved mee a poore sinfull hel-hound Psal 18.1 I will love thee dearely O Lord my strength Oh have I gotten the Lord Iesus Christ to bee my comfort my buckler my shield If I have any good he gives it and if any good bee continued it is he that doth it and if I have any comfort in it it is hee that blesseth it to me therefore I will love thee dearely Oh Lord my strength Thus the point is cleare and stands upon his right bottome Now I come to the Application of it that wee may reape some good and comfort to our owne soules And the use of the point is fourefold for Instruction for Consolation Nature breeds no love to Christ for Reprehension for Exhortation Vse 1. First for Instruction which I desire a little to commend to you because it is seasonable Is it so that the Spirit of the Father kindles this love in the heart truly humbled and enlightned c then conclude this undeniably That there is no power in nature or in a naturall heart I say there is no sufficiencie in the power of nature to bee carried to any love towards Christ we have not this before God gives it nay wee cannot move our selves in love to God before the Lord let in the sparkes of love into our soules True it is we find it by wofull experience it is in our power to love the world and to delight in base lusts and being but naturall men it cannot be but that we should love our selves and the things of this world there is enough of these wilde fires and of this base worldly lust in every naturall soule to expresse it selfe but to love the Lord Iesus Christ and to have a heart inlarged towards him it is a worke of grace that growes not in our hearts I say there is not one sparke of holy love and of this holy fire of love in our hearts at any time neither can we buy or borrow it at the hands of any under heaven further than the Spirit of the Lord is pleased to kindle it and to inflame this grace of love to the Lord Iesus and further than the Lord by the power of his merits is pleased to feed this in our soules It is an unconceiveable misery that any man should bee so farre deluded as to thinke that he can do it by his owne strength and power Saint Paul expresseth it in discovering the vilenesse of himselfe by nature and the freenesse of Gods grace 1 Tim. 1.13 14. I was before a blasphemer and a persecutor but I obtained mercy I wronged Iesus Christ and was malicious against him and opposed against his children Paul could doe this of himselfe so thou canst be malicious against the Lord and against the power of his grace and truth this a naturall man can doe but for him to love the Lord Iesus Christ and to beleeve in him how came Saint Paul by that Why the grace of God was exceeding abundant towards mee with faith and love which is in Iesus Christ As if he had said it was abundant grace that over-powred my unfaithfull heart and made me beleeve and it was abundant grace that over-powred my injurious heart and made me love Christ But how was this it was by the grace of Christ from Christ this faith was wrought and in Christ this love was kindled As if hee had said I thought to cast off the Lord and his grace I was a persecuter and a villaine indeed but that I should beleeve the Lord and love him this was from Christ it was in grace and not in Paul The ball must first fall to the ground before it can rebound backe againe so the Lord Iesus must first dart in his love into the soule before the soule can rebound in love and joy to him againe wee must receive from grace before wee can rebound backe any love to God as 1 Tim. 1.7 God hath not given us the spirit of bondage but of power of love and of a sound minde See what the Lord spake in some case of the Iewes Iohn 5.40 42. speaking home to their hearts hee saith I know you that yee have not the love of God in you Verse 40. he saith Yee will not come to mee and in the 42. verse I know you that yee have not the love of God in you As if hee had said I know it you know it not your selves and though you thinke you have this love to mee yet you are deceived you know not what you are nor what you know but I know and it is as true of every corrupt heart under heaven the love of God cannot bee in the heart of any naturall man whatsoever The reason why I presse this point so much is this it is for these two ends you shall see a double benefit by it Carnall men conceive no difficulty to love Christ First this confutes and overthrowes the conceits of a company of carnal Gospellers that say they fast not nor pray not nor professe not so much as such and such but for the truth of their love to Christ they defie all the world they find no difficulty in the matter and they make no doubt therof and therefore if any Christian man or any faithfull Minister of God shall begin to challenge them with the want of love to Christ and grace they will answer What not loue the Lord Iesus it is pitty that euer that man should live they have loved him and will loue him for ever and all the world shall not perswade them to the contrary Oh poore deluded creatures it is an undoubted argument that thou never hadst the loue of God in thee because thou thinkest it such an easie matter to love him Many men make nothing of it they make it but an holy-day taske and say Who cannot
love Christ I say neither thou nor I can doe it by any power or vertue in our selues nay I say thou art as able to save thy owne soule and to redeeme thy selfe without Christ as thou art able to love Christ unlesse he by the power of his spiritenable thee to doe it Nay you that make nothing of it to loue Christ marke what I say If a man might have happinesse in hand and heaven laid downe upon the nayle if he could love the Lord Iesus of himselfe I say if he had no more but nature he would never goe to heaven nor never bee happy Nay it will cost more than so it will cost time and paines and many teares and prayers you must have the Father come downe from heaven to teach you and you must goe to another schoole than ever you were at yet before you can learne it and unlesse the Father make you able to loue Christ you can never doe it It is true if it were nothing but pratling and professing and yet to stand in open opposition to the power of grace and the spirit this cannot bee for to welcome a Saviour to receive Christ answerable to the worth of him a man cannot doe it by the meere power of nature it is the worke of the Lord as the Apostle Saint Iohn saith 1 Ioh. 1.5 God is light and in him is no darknesse and Ephes 5.8 You were darknesse God is nothing but holines and you are nothing but darknesse Now you know darknesse can oppose light and wickednesse can oppose holinesse but never give way to it nor receive it This is thy nature and condition thou hast an ignorant darke heart of thine owne but the Lord is altogether holines and light and thou canst not receive it nor wilt thou receiue him As 2 Thess 2.10 they would not receive the truth of God in the loue of it the truth of God makes love to thy carnall heart and would plucke thee from thy base lusts and corruptions and would woo and winne thy soule that it might take place in thy heart the world will not receive it Iesus Christ came into the world to save sinners but the world would not receive him so farre were they from seeking to a Saviour that they would not receiue him though he came to offer himselfe to them thou hast a heart that hatest Iesus Christ and cannot loue him and thou hast a heart that can oppose him and his grace but canst not take contentment in that grace and rich mercy of his if thou hast not grace and mercy thou hast but what thou wouldst haue and therefore it is just thou shouldest never haue it The second cause Saints Iove not as they might and should because they rely not on the promise why I presse this instruction is this To shew the disorderly proceedings of many poore Saints that labour extremely to worke their owne soules and to bring their hearts to love Christ that they even fall out with themselues and curse their base hearts that can loue the world and cannot loue Iesus Christ they labour much and would bring their hearts to loue him but they cannot doe it because they goe to worke the contrary way they would bring loue to the promise and not receive love from the promise as if a man should bring water to the sea or light to the sunne It is as if he would have a sun of his owne and yet there is but one sunne of righteousnesse that can kindle this loue of Iesus Christ to carry it selfe worthy of him Therefore be wise herein and thinke not to bring love to the promise but come to the promise for it and goe to the sea for water and looke up to the sunne of Gods loue and be under the beames of Gods mercy and looke not down into that dead frozen heart of thine own for if thou wouldst never so faine thou canst not receive one sparkle of this love from thy owne abilities See his love therein and bee thereby drawne to love him againe and see the fulnesse of those pleasures at his right hand which endure for ever Ioh. 16.14 the Lord Christ saith He shall send the Spirit the Comforter and he shall take of mine that is take of Christs All spirituall graces are Christs therefore goe thou thy way and tell the Lord thus much saying In truth Lord I have not a heart to love thee it is thine owne worke and thou hast sayd that thy spirit shall take of thine and give it to thy servants that thy servants may also give thee of thine owne againe that love and that delight is thine to give that wee may giue thee of thine owne as David spoke of the building of the Temple Thus much of the use of instruction Vse 2. Comfort to them that love Christ In the second place here is a strong consolation to sustaine and refresh the hearts of those that have received this gracious worke though they haue some small weaknesses it skills not be the worke sound it is enough thy soule may bee comforted that the Lord hath enlarged himselfe to thee in this gracious worke I say it is a ground of admirable sweet refreshing of soule to any that finde this gracious love unto Christ A man by nature cannot have this therefore hast thou this by grace Goe thy way as he that hath found a treasury and make much of it and say and know thou hast something more than all carnall wretches can have and thou hast more than all the cunning close-hearted hypocrites under heaven can have let them pretend and fain and flatter what they will Me thinks this should wonderfully refresh the hope of you poore ones for though many times other things goe not well with you yet this is enough to cheare up your hearts for ever You know a childe will loue his father though hee can doe little for him he is a child and therefore though he can doe little for his father yet if he love his father hee is contented so they that haue little meanes and small sufficiencies towards any servants of God and it may be their understandings are not so deepe as others be and their tongues runne not so glib as such and such and they cannot talke so freely of the things of grace and salvation and thou hast meaner parts and canst not enlarge thy self in holy duties and holy services though this is commendable where it is and thou canst not dispute for a Saviour and perform such duties as others can doe yet thou canst loue Iesus Christ and reioyce in him Methinkes there is many a poore soule would say I blesse the name of the Lord that 's all that I haue the Lord knowes that all the friends I have and parts and meanes and abilities in the world they are but as dung and drosse in comparison of Christ Oh it were the comfort of my soule if I might be euer with him Goe thy
way and the God of heaven goe with thee this is a worke of God that will never leaue thee and it is a badge and a proper livery that the Lord Iesus gives onely to his Saints never a meere professor under heauen ever wore it nay there was never any hipocrite under heauen to whom God did intend it but onely those whom he hath effectually called and whom hee will save therefore though thou wantest all thou hast all to comfort thee in the want of all and thou maist say I can say little for Christ my tongue falters and my memory is weake yet the Lord knowes I loue the Lord Iesus 1 Ioh. 4.7 it is the incouragement that the Apostle gives saying Love one another for love commeth of God and every one that loveth is borne of God Indeed he presseth it in regard of the love to the brethren but the arguments serve for our purpose for if the loue of the brethren come from God then the loue of God is a more speciall worke of God Therefore can you plead thus with your hearts and say The time was Lord that this wretched sinfull carnall heart of mine could find no relish in the promises of grace and I could not bring this base heart to love the Lord Iesus Christ and the promise was wearisome to me but now I thanke God I can doe that which before I could not doe I thanke God that the promise of life and the light of Gods countenance is more to me now than all the contentments of the world surely I loue the Lord Iesus Christ And is not this of God Yes I warrant theee it is not of thy selfe thou hast beene taught from heaven it was not the schoole of the flesh and the world that taught thee this lecture it is from heaven and the Spirit of the Father hath over-shadowed thee in his promise and hath kindled this sparkle of loue in thee and thou hast that which is sound and true therefore bee comforted and reioyce in it thou canst say more than any man under heaven can say that hath not this sound love in his heart And likewise blessednesse And as this is a ground of comfort so also it is a ground of blessednesse Rom. 8.28 All things worke for the bâ—st to those that loue God Me-thinkes the Apostle speakes of such a love as is wrought by the Spirit of the Father in our vocation they worke for the best to those that are called according to his purpose he minded well towards them and called them from the love of the world And therefore since nothing can harme thee goe thy way and let nothing dismay thee nor discourage thee nay goe away ever cheered I charge you David desired no more but what God was wont to doe to his children that loved his name Doe to mee saith the Text as thou usest to doe to those that loue and feare thy Name Psal 119.132 I know thou lovest them that love thee and wilt save and glorifie them in the end I desire no more but this Doe as thou usest to doe to those that love thy Name Be quieted with thy childs part thy lot is fallen into a marvellous faire ground David a King desired no more and if thou hast so much as hee had it is enough Ob. Oh but some will say this is all the difficulty if a man had this love which came from God effectually calling him it were enough and a man might have comfort in it but there is a great deale of false love and false ioy in the world therefore how shall I know whether mine be any otherwise than theirs that I may not bee deceived as they are How may I know if this be of the right stamp For if it be right love God will owne it Answ Notes of true love to Christ Now for the answer to this question let every man put his love vpon the triall and wee will say no more then that which we have ground for from the doctrine delivered Therefore examine thy loue and thy joy thus Whether dost thou welcome Christ and grace according to the worth of them Now marke this if I prove I love God then there will be joy there too for they both grow upon one root onely this joy hath a little more of the sweetnesse of Gods love in it Now whether we welcome Christ according to the worth of it it will appeare by these five particulars First observe the roote and rise from whence thy love came 1. Triall consider this and weigh it sadly for it is of great difficulty yet it is never failing and it is the narrowest search that I know of therefore looke well to it if it come from the right mint it is currant You know it is the priviledge of Kings and Princes Simile that all the coine that comes from his Mint and is coined with his stamp is warrantable but if there bee any other Mint the King will not allow of it but rather punish him that did it lust so it is with this love it is the priviledge of the Lord Iesus Christ the Sonne of Gods love to mint and to coine love that may bee currant love indeed that hee may take for good payment Therefore doth thy love come from the Spirit of the Father then it is onely fit to close with a Saviour with the Father and the Spirit and so consequently the Father allowes it Great men must bee entertained answerable to their persons Another for such a man to have poore and leane diet it is not meet for him the greatest delicates that can be doe beseeme such men of place So this leane and earthly and naturall love that growes onely out of thy owne parts and abilities or whatsoever it is it is but leane love and poore provision and suites not with God the Father nor Iesus Christ Base love and base things for base men and meane love for meane things and naturall love for naturall things but would you entertaine the Father from heaven and a spirituall Saviour then you must let your love be spirituall to welcome a blessed Saviour This besuits him Simile and otherwise he will not be entertained As it is with flowers the flowers that are of speciall planting as Ieremy speaks of the Iewes and the flowers that are inoculated by the hand of the cunning Gardiner as the Provice Rose or the like there is much care and paines about them but your ordinary hedge row Roses there is no care taken for them Iust so it is with the worke of Gods grace and all other common graces in the world there is a provice love and joy that is a love that comes from the planting and a joy that comes from the inoculating of the spirit This provice love and joy is wrought by the Spirit of God and this makes a sweet savour in the nostrils of Almighty God and of the Lord Iesus Christ and the Lord
Christ will say Oh that love pleaseth me They cannot welcome the Lord better than with this love but the other love and joy pleaseth him not Canst thou say I love the Lord because hee hath loved mee then thy love is of a right mettall and know it for ever that that God which cannot but love himselfe hee cannot but like that love which came from himselfe who is the God of all love and which comes from his owne divine nature Is thy soule affected and enlarged in love to the Lord because thou hast felt and received the rellish and sweetnesse of his grace Dost thou love and joy in God upon this ground namely upon a grounded affection of Gods loue to thee setled and sealed to thy selfe so that thou canst say The Lord hath let in the glimpse of his favour and the Lord hath said it in his truth hee lookes to him that trembles at his word the Minister said it and the Spirit saith it that my mercy is registred in heaven and my desires are received and granted Oh how shall I love the Lord My sinnes are many which I have bewailed and my sighes and sobs I have put up to heaven and at last the Lord hath given mee a gracious answer O how may I love the Lord my strength dearly Lord thou hast looked downe from heaven in love and mercy upon me and therefore my soule shall ever looke up to heaven to thee in love If it be thus with thee thy love is sound and will never faile thee but if any mans love comes from himselfe and therefore loves God that love will onely bring all to himselfe and there is the end of it A man hath a love to his parts and abilities and prayer and preaching and reading and conference and understanding and policy hee loveth these and therefore he would fain be beholden to Iesus Christ to helpe him to honour and to glorifie these parts of his This love was from his parts and brought to his parts and in the meane time the Lord Iesus lay in the dust and his glory was not regarded whereas the love that is wrought by God it alwayes doth draw the love of the soule againe to God and so love from him draws love to him This is the excellencie of this love and this is love of the right kind But if the love of parts and profits draw me to honour and glorifie parts and profits then I love my profits and not Christ Thinke of this often this is certaine this will bee the mainest difference betweene all the love of carnall hypocrites and of the Saints of God I would expresse my selfe to you thus As it is with meat which a man takes downe inwardly and digests it this breeds good bloud but that meate which a man eates and spits out againe and tarries not long with him this breeds no bloud at all So it is in the heart of a poore humbled sinner truely wrought upon to receive Christ in the worth of him and with the hypocrite A heart truely wrought upon by Gods Spirit it takes downe the promise and feeds upon it and it breeds good bloud and complexion True love is like this good bloud and true joy is like this complexion Marke this the promise of God settled upon the heart nourisheth and feedeth the heart and it breeds good bloud but the foolish hypocrite that hath a kind of flattering sweetnes this tickles the heart with vaine conceits but they never goe downe And hence it is that that love which comes from hence it is but a fading love and there is no good bloud nor no good complexion comes from it but rather corruptions and overture Secondly 2. Triall as the root of this love must be from the kindling of the Spirit so if thou entertaine thy Saviour as it beseemes him True love of Christ entertains him as a King thou must entertaine him as a King and that is thus give up all to him and entertaine none with him upon termes of honour but such as retaine to him or be attendants unto him this is the manner of receiving great Princes Love all in a Christ and for a Christ but expresse thy love and thy joy to a Christ above all he is as the King and all the rest are but as retainers and all his servants are as servants to him He that loves any thing equall with a Christ it is certaine he did never love a Christ but he that sets up any thing cheeke by joll with Christ he despiseth him and never receives him It is all one as if a man did put a slave into the same chamber with the King which is all one as to drive him away So if thou dost set up any thing with Christ thou dost drive him away with such base behaviour As in Iames 4.4 O yee adulterers and adulteresses know yee not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God A man cannot retaine fellowship with Christ Iesus and with the world too upon point of honour Simile As the woman that loves her husband she loveth other men as friends and neighbours and will give them very courteous entertainment and welcome them kindly but if they come to claime the love of a wife she abhorres and detests them So a loving heart that loves Iesus Christ as the Bridegroome he loves Christ onely and all for Christ and the rest as friends c. The soule wil love honors or profits or credit or parts and priviledges that they may be friends to speake for a man and to give a man occasion to speake with a Saviour as the wife loves the husband firstly and all the rest she regards onely as they may further the match this way so the Lord Christ and his grace is chiefe to the soule but the world and ease and credit these are meerely as friends to leade him to a Saviour and make him acquainted with a Saviour The soule loves the word and prayer and all Gods ordinances to speake a good word to a Saviour for him but all the rest are despised by him and if any of them come to claime the love of a soule from a Christ it hates them deadly as Luke 14.26 If any man come to mee and hate not father and mother in comparison of me he is not worthy of mee that is if father and mother stand betweene thee and Christ and would have thy soule married to them again the soule hates them This is a plaine difference betweene a sound heart and a false heart in the receiving of Christ the sound heart receives him as a favorite receives a Prince he gives up all to him Simile and lets him have the command of all but now an Inne-keeper entertains him that comes next to him he will take any mans money and will give welcome to any man if it bee the best man
Most in the Church love not Christ First most that are in the world yea that live in the bosome of the Church have not their hearts carried in love to God but in a hatred and desperate opposition to the Lord Jesus as in Joh. 1.3 4. In him was life and the life was the light of the world The Lord Jesus was the life and light of the promise and that promise of life was a way to lead men on to eternall happinesse this light shineth to the dark world but they comprehend it not as it is in vers 11. Hee came unto his owne and his owne received him not His owne by reason of their priviledges and the badge of the ordinances his owne because they by profession took his name upon them as the Churches of the Gentiles are Gods owne by the outward not the inward covenant of Sanctification or in the aime of Election We take up the profession of his Gospel and yet we will not take up the Lord Jesus Christ that he may make us Christians His owne received him not those that were baptized and had received the Sacrament The Lord Jesus comes and knockes at each mans doore but few entertaine him Nay I would not outspeake the truth for they are the words of sobriety and it grieveth me to speake it The most men upon earth hate Christ more than sinne I had almost said it and yet I had almost thought it unfit to be spoken though they are the words of our Saviour Wicked men hate the Lord Jesus more than either sinne or the Divel himselfe Good Lord be mercifull to us what a misery is this that ever any man should be created by him and receive mercy from him and yet love the Divel and sinne more than him But some will say as Hazael did to the Prophet 2 King 8.12 Doe you thinke we are such dogges that having received such mercy from the Lord Jesus we should doe so Yes for so saith Elisha to him I know the evill that thou wilt doe to the children of Israel their strong holds wilt thou set on fire and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword and wilt dash their children and rip up their women with child So I say and the Spirit knowes it is so in the hearts of most men this day You know it not you thinke it not but your hearts are more vile than you can imagine Wee know the greatest evill of all is sinne for the Divell himselfe is not to be loathed but for sinne and for it onely This is the condemnation saith our Saviour in John 3.19 that light is come into the world and men loved darknesse rather than light because their deeds were evill That men loved darknesse more than light and more than Christ nay more than mercy and grace that was tendered the case is cleare it was so and is so will be so I say it is most certaine that they love their lusts and corruptions more then Christ and the temptations and delusions of Satan more than the good motions of the Spirit Now we have laid the indictment therefore in the second place let us plead it And the severall sorts of them 2. Secondly who are they that hate Christ We must name the men therfore we refer them to three rankes First all open enemies to Christ Secondly all glozing Neuters of the world Thirdly all fawning hypocrites 1. First the open enemies of Christ and they are many such as Saint Steven spake of Act. 7.51 saying Yee stiffe-necked and uncircumcised in heart and cares ye doe alwaies resist the holy Ghost as your fathers did so doe yee They that set their mouthes against heaven and stand in open defiance against the Lord Jesus and the power of his grace may be referred to two heads First those whom our Saviour mentions Mat. 21.34 speaking of the Vineyard Open enemies of Christs two sorts When the time of the fruit drew neere he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruits of it And the husbandmen tooke his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another But last of all he sent unto them his son saying They will reverence my sonne But when the husbandmen saw the sonne they said among themselves This is the heire come let us kill him This is an intimation of the Scribes and Pharisees The Church was the vineyard the servants sent out were the Ministers and Prophets and the Sonne is Christ Jesus now when Christ came they said with one consent and voice This is the heire come let us kill him Doe you thinke that these kind of men are all dead that have such a kind of spirit Surely no there are many Leaders of the Divels camp aswell Ministers as others But if you aske me what entertainement their lusts have I say they have all the welcome that can be occasions come not corruptions within their hearts stirre not and the Divels temptations allure not so soone but these miserable sinfull wretches give all the kinde welcome that can be unto them nay they invite their villanies they provide for them yea and seeke for all occasions that they may sinne the Adulterer loves the twilight and the coveteous man his money their mindes are ever puffing and their affections labouring to contrive all occasions that may give all possible contentment to their vile corruptions and it is no marvell though they have so long continued in their sins seeing they give such good entertainment to them But if you aske mee how they entertaine Christ Enmity against Christ shewed three wayes let me shew it by two things you shall see them up in armes and at deadly hate with him For first they oppose the word of God the ministry of the word is the ministery of the truth it would open the eyes and come home to the conscience and take away their sinnes but they contemne it and marke upon this what an uproare there is they take up armes striving to put out the light that would shew them their sinnes beating backe the truth and labouring that it may not rule their lives They are such as our Saviour speaks of Luk. 19.27 Bring hither those mine enemies that would not have me rule over them and slay them before my face They oppose themselves against that truth that would plucke the cup from the Drunkards mouth and the whore from the Adulterers armes their hearts swell for anger and they scorne to bee under the power thereof Nay they not onely withdraw themselves from yeelding obedience to the holinesse of the word but they will not so much as acknowledge the truth of it which the Divels themselves did Act. 16.16 17. when Paul and Silas were preaching the word of truth the Divels sayd These men are the servants of the most high God which shew unto us the way of salvation The Divels could doe all this yet these men will neither be informed
the soule more ready and fit to receive the evidence of Gods love to be exprest to the soule which thou canst not have so exprest to thee except thou have this godly sorrow 1 Joh. 1.9 If wee confesse our sinnes he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sinnes and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnesse he speaks there of them that now had faith yet shewes that before the Lord would seale to the man that hath faith the assurance of the pardon of his sinnes hee will make him humble and cry and sorrow for them and as to live comfortably so sorrowfully too as 1 King 8.38 2 Chron. 6.36 If the people returne to thee in the land of their captivitie and pray unto thee saying We have sinned we have done amisse and have dealt wickedly then heare thou in heaven c. When the Lord seeth their hearts humbled for their sinnes and sorrowfull for them then hee seales up the pardon of them So then the way to have this assurance is to have this frame of spirit here spoken of Thirdly this godly sorrow ought to bee continually in such as have this love of Christ that so our hearts may be carried with a more deadly hatred of sinne These are the benefits of godly sorrow and if a man sorrow not for sinne he will not sorrow for the wrong and dishonour done to God by other sinfull men as David Psal 119.136 Rivers of waters runne downe mine eyes because they keepe not thy law EZech. 9.4 The Lord sayd to the Angel Goe and set a marke upon the foreheads of all the men that sigh and that cry for all the abhominations that be done in the midst thereof Now how can a man mourn for the abhominations of others when he hath not the heart to mourne for it in his owne soule Ob. But some will say Must we never rejoyce in the Lord Ans I answer Yes I say sorrow daily for thy sinnes and yet daily rejoyce in thy Saviour and the more thy heart is broken for the one the more thou wilt be comforted by the other Thou that makest no matter of being sensible of the body of death that hangs upon thee and hast no care to bee sensible of thy owne failings take heed that the Lord give thee not up for ever to thy owne basenesse to be rushed headlong into some vile scandalous courses and so thou perish for ever as wee finde by experience many by this meanes have growne the most profane creatures that ever lived And this is the damnable heresie of the Familists The fourth sort is the vain-glorious hypocrite and hee is marvellous zealous for God and his truth in outward appearance That God may bee honoured and his Gospel advanced it is admirable what he will do he will hazzard himselfe his life his estate and all nay be content not to live if he may but leave a little vaine breath after him Wee know what vaine-glory doth amongst the Papists who that they may be canonized for Saints will endure any thing and suffer death it selfe this vain-glory is above life and all Simile As some great Courtiers will doe by a man that they meane to make a booty of they make him their onely favorite and expresse a great deale of kindnesse to him that hee may helpe them to more honour and glory So this wretch doth lift up the Gospel that the Gospel may advance him and fill his sailes full of winde therefore he will doe great matters for this end that hee may receive glory from it Even as the Stage-player that sets up a great stage that he may be above the people Another so it is with a vain-glorious wretch prayer is a good stage and fasting and hearing and preaching are very fine stages for him upon which he acts his part that others may see him that glory may come to him and not that the glory and grace of Christ may bee extolled hee would lift up himselfe to heaven and cast downe Christ to hell Such an one was Saul when Samuel gave him the left hand and would not go with him into the Citie 1 Sam. 15.30 He said I have sinned yet honour me I pray thee before the people and turne again with me that I may worship the Lord thy God Walke with me and then the people will say Oh what good friends they bee surely hee is a good man the Prophet goes with him It is a great honour to those that are wise because they are willing to joyne side with those that are holy and gracious so Saul will honour Samuel that Samuel may honour him and that he may stand upon his shoulders as it were that the people may say See how inward they are and what a good man hee is the Prophet goes on with him but the turne and the issue of the hypocrite is this it is meerly for himselfe which will appeare thus If once the winde begin to turne and the gale of honour grow somewhat cold and other men are a little lifted up so that he may not bee in the fore-front or if his profession will not carry him out with honour but his credit is laid in the dust and hee sees hee cannot get honour his heart dies in him and he saith It is as good to leave off all and if he cannot get glory from the Gospel either hee will grow desperately wicked and oppose the Gospell and joyne side with the wicked and helpe them or else he will flagge and die in a base carnall course and come to nothing and that 's the best of him This hath been the bane of many men who when they have missed of the glory that they lookt for from the Gospel they have become persecuters These men deal with Christ as the Inne-keeper doth with his guests If a man will pay the Ordinarie Simile he is welcome but if once his money faile hee turnes him out of doores so if Christ will pay his Ordinary and if hee may have credit and honour so as men may say he hath good parts and that he fasts more than the world knowes I say if the Gospel will give him this Ordinary it is welcome and he is carried on cheerfully but if Christ and the Gospel will not give him that which hee would have hee turnes his backe upon it The Lord Jesus convince your hearts of it I take this to be the state of a great many but a gracious heart is of another straine or temper Happely God hath given a man parts and gifts and credit and yet if the Lord withdraw himselfe a good soule saith as John did Joh. 3.40 Hee must encrease I must decrease so a good heart saith If another man deserve and have more than I yet let this proud heart licke the dust and never lift up it selfe if the Lord Jesus may encrease and have his honour and glory let me be trodden in the dust this is a heart worth gold
doth Luke 19.27 Those mine enemies which would not that I should raigne over them bring hither and slay them before me He will say Bring hither that enemy of mine he hath opposed mee and grieved my spirit and sleighted my mercy bring my enemies hither not the Heathens or Pagans I regard not them so much but him that hath beene a hater of me and of my Gospel and then shalt thou see the intolerablenesse and unavoydablenesse of thy punishment Oh poore soule what wilt thou say or doe when thou art put to such a plunge as Josephs bowels did earne within him when hee talked with his brethren that he could forbeare no longer I wish that I had a heart to mourne in secret for thee I say what will become of thee poore wretch Happely thou wilt say there is mercy It 's true but thou hast hated that mercy which should save thee or wilt thou thinke that the blood and merits of the Lord Jesus will save thee thou hast trodden upon them Wilt thou say The good spirit of the Lord will prevaile with this wretched heart of mine with what heart canst thou crave aide from the spirit when thy owne conscience can say I have hated that good spirit of the Lord and that mercy which should save mee And when all is done and thou art come to the period goe your way home to your husbands and wives and mourn for them for there is neither mercy nor Christ for them for they also have hated him And when this is done imagine thou didst see the heavens opened and the fire melting round about thee and the Lord Christ coming in flaming fire rendering vengeance to all that obey not the Gospel lay thy hand upon thy breast say that 's I Lord that 's my husband or my childe he is come against us to render vengeance to them that have lived with mee and have opposed the Gospel and the riches of grace and of mercy in Jesus Christ Thinke of these in Gods name and labour to prevent them here that thou mayest bee freed from the punishment of them hereafter Love the Lord Jesus in sinceritie Use 4. The last use is for Exhortation Oh that God would please to worke our soules to this duty which the Saints take up and all of us ought to labour after You heare how the Lord works in the hearts of his and how they which are truely called of God have this love kindled in their hearts Oh therefore what remaines but onely this bee exhorted since you see the way to walke in it and since we see what the Saints of God have and doe let us labour to expresse this frame of heart that so the Lord Jesus may make us partakers of their hapnesse I say let us labour after it and when we have it expresse our loves to the Lord Jesus Christ as wee ought It was that which tooke up the heart of David Psal 18.1 when hee saith I will love thee deerely O Lord my strength As it is with a woman with child though the infant in the wombe have life yet the mothers love is not so great towards it till it bee borne but then she clasps her armes about it with much tendernesse so hee saith I will embrace the Lord with much love I will love him as if hee had said All the world shall not hinder mee but I will love him though I love not my selfe and hee perswades all the Saints of God to do the like Psa 31. 23. saying Love the Lord all ye his Saints who will you love if you love not him Oh you poore ones love you the Lord for you have need of him and all you rich ones love you the Lord for you have cause to doe it and you little ones too if there be any such in the congregation he knockes at every mans doore and perswades every mans heart and he deales faithfully with his Saints therefore if you have but this grace it is an undoubted argument that you are the Saints of God nay though out of thy blindnesse thou couldst never know the way to Christ and out of thy weakenesse thou couldst never close with Christ yet if thou wilt but love him thou shalt know him and be with him for ever 1 Joh. 4 12.16 No man hath seene God at any time God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him If thy heart be perswaded to continue in God and to be with God for ever then love him and he will dwell in thee for he is love it selfe for so saith the Apostle Love is of God Ob. Oh but some will say it is true we know it is fitting and we ought to doe it but it is a difficult thing and we are unable to doe it though we know it is requisite to be done To love the Lord Jesus we find is a difficult worke and hard although the world thinke it not so Ans I would to God you did finde it difficult and marke what I say that man never loved Christ aright who found it not difficult He that saith Oh such an one as will not love the Lord Jesus it is pitty he should live it is to be feared he did never love Jesus Christ aright Poore silly deluded creature it will cost thee hot water before that day yet when thou hast it it will quit all thy cost and labour Oh but some will say Means to love Christ what are the meanes to prevaile with us and how may wee draw our sturdy rebellious waiward hearts to this love of Jesus Christ I referre the meanes to these three heads 1. First there are some hinderances to be removed 2. Secondly labour to see the beauty and excellencie of Jesus Christ in the promise 3. Thirdly when the promise is come neere and the heart made empty then learne the skill to make the soule and the promise meet Meanes 1. First that you may love the Lord Christ there are some hinderances which lye upon the heart which are marvellous causes of dissention between Jesus Christ and the soule and these must be taken away Now the hinderances of this sort are these three Hinderance 1. The first is this To take off the soule from the love of these base things here below I beseech you observe it be marvellous wise that you lavish not out your soules upon these lying vanities for as it is with a streame Simile if the banke be cut and all the streame run that way then the proper chanell must needs lie dry because all the streame runs another way so is it with the streame of a mans affections if the stream of love joy be let out upon profits or pleasures or honours you cannot have spend you cannot have your affections still when you have spent them upon other things therefore bee sure to knocke them off from the world that you may give them wholly to the Lord.
1 Joh. 2 15. Little children love not the world What if we doe may some say If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him You must not think to have heaven and hell too to have Christ and the world too It is impossible in reason that a wise should have a true affection of love to her husband and an adulterous affection to her filthy mates too the mate must be abandoned before the husband can be loved as he ought to be Jam. 4.4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God This is meant of spirituall adulterers and adulteresses those that withdraw their hearts from the Lord and have their back-doores for the world O yee adulterers saith he know ye not that he that loves the world cannot love God These two cannot stand together either make these two at ods or else there can be no love to Jesus Christ Another As it is with the body of a man when the heart is hot the heat of the sunne drawes all the heat outwards and leaves the stomack cold insomuch that many times he swelters away so when the profits pleasures of the world come marvellous strongly in a good booty or bargaine and shine hotly upon your fouls and drawes out your hearts to that then they are cold to grace and Christ and the promise as if you were dead men nay many a man hath died and perished everlastingly by this way and meanes When a Gentleman hath stockt his man with money Simile and sent him to the market for such things as hee hath need of hee will not lay out his money upon bables and rattles because the more he layes out the lesse hee hath for his market but he will keep his money together so when the Lord hath stockt your souls with strength of grace so that now you have very violent affections of love and joy if you lay out these affections upon profits and honours when you come to provide for Christ all is already spent One man layes out his love upon his lusts and another upon his chambering and when they come to Christ and grace then their hearts are dead and loose adulterous and have spent all Therefore in a word when the world and profits and honors come say Let us have so much love and keepe so much for Christ tell the world thus and say Nay we must keepe our choyce affections for the best things we must love Christ and therefore let the world stay and let its better be served first This is the first hinderance Hinderance 2. 2 Secondly take heed and cast off those vaine and groundlesse surmises and suspitions which either Satan casts in or thy own heart breeds against the Lord Jesus and his goodnesse There is a cavilling jealousie which is in every mans heart by nature whereby we are subject to thinke hardly or at least to surmise sinfully against the Lord and his dealings with us look how thou doest suspect God to be unto thee Simile so art thou unto him As it is with two friends if they once begin to be jealous of one anothers love and if I once surmise in my heart that he hath some ill will towards me this is the next way to breed in my heart an ill-will towards him therefore be sure to quit thy heart of these A loving conceit makes the thing lovely that wee meddle withall but a groundlesse suspition turnes all another way and also makes us thinke ill of the Lord it takes all with the wrong hand for if a man have the blessings of this world then the soule saith It is true indeed God hath given me these but it is as a hook the Lord makes my table my snare and onely fits me for the slaughter For when the Lord lets in the horror of his wrath into the soule all those blessings come to nothing and are forgotten because the heart hath God in a jealousie and thinkes that God onely fats him to the slaughter and to ruinate him for ever whereas the Lord could as well destroy him presently as beare ill-will towards him Againe on the other side if the Lord gives but a small pittance and allowance then the soule saith The Lord loves not me how straight-handed is he towards me if he did love me it would be otherwise As the naughty stomacke turnes the best diet into ill humours and as the greene glasse makes all seeme greene to him that hath it so it is with the heart that is uncharitably conceited toward the Lord for we notwithstanding all his loving kindnesse still think we have him upon the worst hand and are provoked in our hearts against him Therefore take heed of harbouring any ill thoughts or groundlesse suspitious jealousies against the God of heaven this is ordinary yea too ordinary with our base hearts a vile heart is a breed-bate between the Lord and us for it accuseth God to the soule and then the soule to God and therefore when haply wee labour to bring a poore sinner to looke towards God and to consider of Gods goodnesse to him No no saith he It is true I confesse God is very gracious and it is his goodnesse that I have the meanes of salvation but I shall one day perish and God onely serves his turne of me the Lord never gave me that assurance of his love that such and such have God will one day leave me in the lurch And then the heart is transported with a secret dislike of the Lord Jesus Wretches that we are whereas a good and a charitable conceit of God would make a good construction of his dealings as the wife of Manoah did Judg. 13.22 23. when Manoah offered a sacrifice and an Angel appeared which Angel was the Lord Jesus Christ he said Wee shall surely dye for we have seene an Angel for this was their opinion in ancient times that if a man did see an Angel he should dye the Angel received the sacrifice and did wonderfully accept it and yet hee saith Wee shall surely dye Here was a groundlesse suspition but marke how she reasons If the Lord were pleased to kill us he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands as if she had said Oh doe not you thinke so hardly and uncharitably of the Lord as that he will kill us why did he thus and thus we may rather expect good from God becuse hee hath done good to us before So I say and so I would have thee to say to thy soule The Lord doth mee no harme and therefore why should I think that he intends any unto me I have received nothing but good from the Lord and therefore why should I thinke so ill of God Oh take heed of this 3. The third hinderance is this Hinderance 3. Judging the goodnesse and kindnesse of the Lord according to thy owne desires
to a poore cottage and enlighten a blind minde and a sottish spirit in this manner Oh this is love Oh love him againe for it he deserves it Thirdly Christ seeks thy love here is the admimiration of mercy that our Saviour that hath been rejected by a company of sinfull creatures should seeke their love for shame refuse him not but let him have love before he goe Had the Lord received us when we had come unto him and humbled our hearts before him with deepe importunity and had he heard us when we had cryed unto him nay when we had spent all our daies and all our strength in begging and craving one good looke from heaven and at the day of our departure taken compassion upon us it had beene an infinite mercy but when the Lord Jesus Christ shall seeke to us by his messengers as all the Ministers are his messengers to accept of his love this is beyond all expression I say if he had onely sent a love letter from heaven and said that he was willing to match with us and had left us to finde out the way and the means it had beene beyond all wonder but that the Lord Jesus Christ should come and wait upon us and seek our love it is the wonder of mercies When a company of base lusts and sinfull desires have found acceptance with us and the doore hath been open upon all occasions to talke with them though the Lord Jesus Christ hath often come and said Oh muse upon my name and not upon the world and these lusts and we would not heare him when I say you and your adulteresses have beene upon the bed of dalliance and Christ hath beene at the doore and could get no audience nor acceptance yet after all this he hath not onely call'd but seriously besought us to be reconciled to him that is to love him and to be beloved of him and blessed by him for ever these are the tearmes of his love What shall I answer the Lord will the Lord seek our love then returne him this answer and say Shall he seeke love and not have it shall he crave it and I not give it Oh God forbid Can the Lord Jesus Christ be in love with me In truth Lord I am out of love with my selfe by reason of my base heart and filthy thoughts I have abused thy Majesty from time to time by following my base lusts adulteries and abominations I have not only loved the world but filled my selfe therewith and thus my adulterous heart hath gone away from thee to them But will the Lord Jesus love such a wretch as I am Yes he will for the Lord saith Hosea 14.5 I will heale their backe-sliding I will love them freely He lookes for no portion no he will take thee with all thy wants Is not the Lord worthy of thy love he desires no more and sure hee deserves no lesse Deut. 10.12 when the Lord had recorded all his kindnesse towards the children of Israel mark how he inferres this saying And now Israel what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to feare the Lord thy God to walk in all his wayes and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soule So I say to thee after all the sinfull abominations of thy heart and all thy sinfull practices committed what is it that the Lord doth require of thee when all thy sinnes are pardoned onely that thou love the Lord thy God with all thy heart Let me therefore tell you what to doe get you home and every one in secret labour to deale honestly and truely with your owne hearts and make up a match in this manner and say Is it possible that the Lord should looke so low that the great Prince should send for the poore peasant that Majesty should stoope to meannesse and heaven to earth and God to man Hath the Lord offered mercy to me and doth he require nothing of me but to love him again call upon your owne hearts I charge you and say thus Lord if all the sight of mine eyes were love and all the speeches of my tongue were love it were all too little to love thee Oh let me love thee dearely O Lord my strength Say you had a faire offer and that a poore Minister of God did wish you well bee not coy and squeamish the Lord may have better than you every day lye downe therefore and admire at the mercy of the Lord that should take a company of poore dead dogges I say be sure that you bee not coy and squeamish say as the Prophet did Lift up your heads yee gates and bee yee lift up yee everlasting doores and the King of glory shall come in Psal 24. Now the hindrances are removed and the promises are brought home wee will come to see if the match bee liked of Meanes 3. Lastly it is our skill and cunning to draw these two together Yee see what wee have said the hindrances are removed and the promises are brought home now if wee can but affect a Saviour hee is our owne hee that will not now be beloved of the Lord JESUS CHRIST let him bee ever accursed There are two particulars considerable to fasten these two together First Two meanes to bring our hearts and the promises together labour to give attendance daily to the promise of grace and Christ drive all other suiters away from the soule let nothing come betweene the promise and it and forbid all other banes that is let the promise conferre daily with thy heart and bee expressing and telling of that good that is in Christ daily to thy heart Simile You know if all things bee done and agreed upon betweene the parents of two parties to be marrried and there wants nothing but the fixing of their affections one upon another the onely way to draw their affections to one another is to keepe company together and daily to meete and see one another so let thy soule daily keepe company with the promise and let not thy heart onely see the promise once in a weeke but daily shut out all others besides and keepe company onely with that and see what beauty and strength and grace there is in the same and say Oh wretch that I am if I had had either wit or grace I might have been made happy long agoe Thus keepe company with the promise that thy soule and it may dwell together Secondly labour by undeniable reason as to discover so to conclude the unconceivable good that will come to thy soule by this many men will promise that such and such things shall be done if the match may but go forward and doe not onely talke of it but make it good too so doe thou by undeniable arguments make good to thy owne soule the unconceivable good that will come to thy soule nay God hath pawned his truth to thee for it As it was
reproach losse paine persecution for righteousnesse sake shall be abundantly recompenced with joy in the holy Ghost and the joy of heaven Mat. 5.10 11 12. The like of suffering by the hand of God or men in common affaires They that are well exercised by afflictions shall one day bee comforted as Lazarus all will end as a Comedie in mirth and felicitie All this is metaphorically compirsed in the Text by a figure of sowing and reaping usuall in the Scripture Sow to the flesh or spirit sow liberally Gal. 6.8 2 Cor. 9.6 Psal 97.11 and reap liberally the Lord gives bread to the sower light is sowen for the righteous c. A wet and cold seed-time brings the husbandman afterward a plenteous and ioyfull harvest so the sad times and occasions that goe over Gods people will first or last bring them a great measure of joy comfort blessednesse Heare the limitations a little 1. Not the teares themselves considered in themselves bring forth the joyfull crop but the sowing in teares Esau his teares were shed to no purpose and in hell there will be weeping and wailing but because there is no sowing no good comes of it It is onely the pretious seed in vers 6. that affoords the good sheaves and it is required it be godly sorrow 2 Cor. 7.9 that we mourn for the absence of the Bridegroome and that we faint not when we sow Gal. 6.9 neither in faith nor obedience In due time yee shall reap if yee faint not It were unreasonable to sow in September and look to reap in October No stay till the moneth of harvest and then see what blessing God will give The husband-man hath patience c. Jam. 5.7 2. Of the joy that is to be reaped here put for the whole happinesse of a Christian as a Christian both here hereafter according the Grecian salutation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They joy before thee Isai 9.3 according to the joy of harvest In this life a Christian hath the beginning first fruits of the Spirit peace joy quietnesse assurance for ever In Christ he shall have peace by the Ordinances comfort is to be had and the afflictions would be too sharp and heavie if there were not some mixture of joy But in the world to come we shall have joy to the full what is wanting now shall he supplied then to the uttermost This rich harvest will pay for all the cost and labour and patience good measure pressed downe and running over 3. Of the reaping of that joy first it shall be certaine which no husband-man can promise to himselfe a Christian is sure to reape if he sow All the promises of God are Yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 Secondly it shall be abundant not an hundred for one but a thousand yea millions of degrees beyond our expences a farre more exceeding 4.17 and eternall weight of glory But many a poore husband-man reapes sparingly scarce can pay his rent and live c. Thirdly it shall be in joy onely all teares for ever wiped from our eyes no chaffe among our wheat no darnell nor weeds of any kinde The joy of this harvest is never done the barns never emptied the provisions never spent the labours no more repeated It is no proverb for these husband-men Their worke is never at an end No they rest from their labours and their workes follow them henceforth they are blessed Rev. 14.13 Sorrowfull seed-time breeds Christians a joyfull harvest Doctr. The sorrowfull seed-time of true Christians in the exercises of humiliation and mortification yeelds them a rich ioyful harvest They shall be paid for all sooner or later They sow in righteousnesse and reape in mercy Hos 10.12 they have their fruit unto holinesse and the end everlasting life Rom. 6.22 Reas 1. Because of the promise of God And why This in the Text is uttered by way of promise and there be many the like promises in Scripture which for the matter of them are precious for the manner free for the extent universall and for certainty most faithfull confirmed divers wayes by oath c. 2. Because they are heires of blessing the Israel of God partakers of the heavenly calling and promise Destroy not the cluster for there is a blessing in it Esa 65.8 9. They are as an Oke whose substance is in them though the leaves be cast Chap. 6.13 namely in and by Christ who makes them honourable before God and capable of a sound and lasting joy 3. Because of the precious seed which they beare forth and must bring home againe in the harvest The seed of God abideth in them 1 Joh. 3.9 and they sinne not as the wicked doe that is Rom. 11.29 the gifts and graces of the holy Ghost which are without repentance of an immortall being and immortall in the effect 1 Pet. 1.23 24 25. 4. The very field wherein they sow is ioyous and wholsome I meane the duties they performe and ordinances they frequent Prayer yeelds a comfortable answer of God to the soule The Lords Supper affords much ioy and peace of conscience hearing receives the glad tydings of the Gospel c. In the field lyeth a treasure he that buyes it goes away rejoycing 5. The shedding of these teares preventeth the matter of future sorrow namely the curse of sinne the wrath of God the deadnesse of heart the reigne of lusts the sting and feare of death the bitternesse of persecution Having mourned before and kept even with God from time to time there is the lesse sorrow now to be taken Is not the guiltinesse gone and a sure foundation laid for comfort 6. As the causes of sorrow are removed so the Christian by mourning makes sure to his soule all the causes of true joy Causes of true joy assured by mourning which are the love of God a part in Christ inhabitation of the Spirit the great Comforter the white stone and new name the image of God in the soule the testimony of a good conscience interest in the prayers of all Gods people a sanctified and safe use of all mercies and afflictions joyfull and assured expectation of the glory of heaven Rom. 5.1 2 3. Grant the full and the immediate cause and the effect will follow Objection What say you to the case of desertion Answ It is one day of the sorrowfull seed-time the harvest comes afterward and the Eclipse will soone be over in darkenesse the Lord shall bee a light unto me Mic. 7.8 Some lightsome passages there are in the meane time Sharpe Preachers make you gainers Use 1. If so then by our sharpest preaching you receive damage by us in nothing we make some weepe and take on for their sinnes we wring teares from them wee take them off from their pleasures of sinne which are for a moment But while you are set a sowing in teares you are set into the right way of reaping in joy We give