there will be some of Gallio's disposition here to day that will care for none of these things Yea there are many here who will not give a fig for this rich offer of the Great Salvation But I say cursed be that person who puts on Gallio's temper to day that will care for none of these things 2. I fear there will be many of Pilat's humor here to day who will say they find nothing against the man yet will cry forth Take him and crucifie him They find no fault with Christ and yet will be conâ—ent that he be crucified Now can ye say any thing against Christ who is the Author of this Great Salvation Produce your strong arguments are there any here who have any thing to say against Him I am here to answer in His Name I hope there â—s not one here who hath any thing to say against the Author of this Great Salvation And why then do ye not take Him See unto your selves that there be none of Pilats humor here to day that will cry out Yee find nothing in Christ why he should not be received and yet will bee content that hee bee crucified 3. There will bee many of the Jews humor here to day who cry forth Away with Christ away with Christ and give me Barrabas But oh what a hellish word is that Away with spotlesse Christ away with transcendenâ— Christ and give us the world Now are there any here who will be so gross slighters of this Great Salvation Will ye slight this Great Salvation and imbrace your idols which shalâ— once prove a crown of thorns unto you 4. There will bee some of Felix humor found here to day that will say O Christ gâ— away at this time and I will hear thee at a mosâ— convenient season But I say unto you whâ— will not hear mee to day nor imbrace thâ—â— Great Salvation I shall defy all the Ministeâ—â— in Scotland to assure you that ye shall get another offer if ye send me away to day Therâ— is not one that can or dare engage that thâ— Great Salvation shall bee in your offer and more Therefore I say let none of Felâ—â— temper be here to day that will say They wiâ—â— hear Christ at a more convenient season 5. There will bee some of Balaams temper to day who will desire To die the deatâ— of the righteous and to have their last 〈◊〉 like his yet they desire not to live the liâ—â— of the righteous But I say unto you ye shaâ—â— never die the death of the righteous if ye live not the life of the righteous 6. There will bee some of you here to day who I hope at least will bee of Agripa's humour that will say Thou hast almost perswaded me to be a Christian I say unto thee O wilt thou quickly out with that word almost and put in that word altogether and say O precious Christ Thou hast altogether perswaded me to be a Christian However if thou come no greater length I intreat thee come this length that so thou may cry out I am almost perswaded to imbrace Christ the Great Salvation and may be ere long ye will come further 7. There will bee some of Iudas temper here to day Who will betray Christ for thirty pieces of silver Yea some would sell Christ Heaven their idols and all for lesse then thirty pieces of silver 8. I think there will be many of Esaus proâ—ane temper here to day Who will sell their birth-right for a messe of pottage Now will ye enquire at your selves am I the person that will give my birth-right for a messe of pottage Doth my heart say I will sell my birth-right because I am hungered and ready to die what will it profit me Give mee a messe of pottage and I will quite my birth-right I know it there are not a few such here to â—ay Therefore I intreat you enquire at your selves what is your humour Oh shall the Great Salvation that yee have slighted â—o long bee slighted this day also and shall there bee none to imbrace it Oh inquire and stand inlaw lest the wrath of the most High pursue you Now I shall give you these seven considerations which may provoke you not to slight but imbrace this Great Salvation 1. The first Consideration That the not imbracing of this Great Salvation is one of the greatest acts of folly that can be Ier. 8 9. They have rejected the word of the Lord and immediatly is subjoyned And what wisedom is in them And so Solomon doth assure you they cannot be wise who neglect this Great Salvation Prov. 1. 7. Fools despise wisedom and instruction Therefore may not I say unto you be who ye will though ye were the greatest heads of wit in all this place ye are but stark fools as long as ye neglect this But would ye be wise indeed and wise unto eternal life then I intreat you come and imbrace this Great Salvation II. The second Consideration to provoke you not to slight the Great Salvation is this that the ruine and destruction of the slighters of it is most certain and infallible Ier. 11. 11. Where speaking of slighting the Covenant which is indeed this same Great Salvation there is a therefore put to the threatning Therefore thus saith the Lord I will bring evil upon them which they shall not be able to escape I defy you all who are the slighters of this Great Salvation to finde a back door when justice shall pursue you For there is nâ— door to escape if ye imbrace not this Great Salvation But the earth will disclose your iniquity and heaven will declare your sin III. Thirdly Let this Consideration provoke you not to slight this Great Salvation that Christ is exceeding serious and earnest that ye would imbrace it And I think that Isa. 28. 23. speaketh out his exceeding seriousnesse where four times hee beggeth of his hearers that they would give ear and hear his voice saying Give ear and hear my voice â—earken and hear my speech What needeth all these exhortations But that Christ is most serious that they would imbrace the Great Salvation And O that there were a person here to day as serious to the bargain as Christ is But be who yee will that slight this Great Salvation believe me the day is coming wherein ye shall cry out alas for my slighting of it Wilt thou therefore think presently with thy self O thou slighter of this Great Salvation what wilt thou say of thy slighting of it when the devil shall be leading thee in thorow these dark gates of hell O slighter of the Gospel how many alaces wilt thou cry when thou shalt be passing thorow these dark gates into thy everlasting prison Wilt thou not then cry out O me slighter of the everlasting Salvation whither am I now going Alas now for my slighting the Gospel And as thou passest thorow thou shalt meet with numbers of miserable comforters There is not one
in that prison who can comfort thee But many dreadfull alaces shalt thou then both cry and hear if thou imbrace not this Great Salvation IV. Fourthly Let this provoke you noâ— to slight the Great Salvation that ye will get it for a very look O ye within this house to day ye will get this Great Salvation for one look Isa. 45. 22. Look unto me and bâ— saved all the ends of the earth For a very look ye will get this Great salvation and do yâ—â— ever think to get Heaven at a lower rate V. The fifth Consideration to provoke you not to slight this Great Salvation and more is this There is not one of you whâ— is a slighter of it but your slighting it shall increase your immortall bonds Man or Woman be who thou wilt when thou art slighting this Great Salvation thou art but plaâ—ing a cord wherewith to bind thy soul eternally in these unquenchable flames Isa. 2â— 22. Be ye not mockers lest your bonds be maâ— strong I say therefore unto you old meâ— mock not lest your bonds be made strong oâ— women near unto your graves mock not lâ—â— your bonds be made strong Young men be 〈◊〉 not mockers lest your bonds be made strongâ— Young women who are in the flower of yoâ—â— time mock not lest your bonds be made strong But now alas will there for all this â—eâ— person here to day who will be a mockers this Great Salvation VI. The sixth Consideration to provoke you not to slight this Great Salvation aâ—â— more is this Ye know not but that yoâ—â— dayes may be near a close I say ye knoâ— not but the day of the preaching of this Great Salvation may be near unto a close Whâ— knowest thou O man or woman but tâ—â— shall be the last Sermon that ever thou shalt â—ear concerning this Great Salvation And yet for all this shall we be sent away without one consent to imbrace or receive it O will ye be perswaded to look to Christ and so to take him VII The seventh consideration to provoke you not to slight the Great Salvation is this that there is a five fold Salvation comprehended under this Great Salvation I. The first is this come and partake of this Great Salvation and thou shalt have Salvation from thy idols and hereby I do proclaim liberty this day unto captives I am sent forth this day with the keyes of your prison house to open your prison doors unto you if ye will imbrace this Great Salvation I say unto you O ye prisoners come forth and shew your selves for the keyes of your prison house are with us to open your prison doors unto you therefore O come forth and embrace this Great Salvation Will there be any shall I think here that will refuse to come forth O go forth and slee from the land of your captivity and from the house of your bondage II. Thou shalt have Salvation from thy darknesse and from thy ignorance I say unto you who understand no more of God then the stones in the wall I command you to come forth and partake yet of this Great Salvation and unto you shall light arise even the Day Spring from on high shall visit you III. If ye will come and partake of this Great Salvation ye shall have deliverance from all your fears Dost thou fear that thou shalt be poor Come and partake of this Great Salvation and thou shalt be delivered from it Art thou afraid of hell Come and partake of this Great Salvation and thou shalt be delivered from that fear Art thou afraid at the wrath of God Then come â— say and partake of this Great Salvation and thou shalt have redemption from that and alâ— thy fears With him is plenteous redemption and hee can make thee quiet from the fear oâ— evil IV. If thou wilt come and partake of this Salvation thou shalt have deliverance from all thy anxieties and from all thy cares yâ—â— are now carefull and anxious about many things Come and partake of this Great Salvation and it will make you carefull but only for the one thing necessary V. If yee will come and embrace the Great Salvation offered unto you this day yee shall be helped before yee go hence to sing that song O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Now O will ye come and imbrace this Great Salvation And yee shall bâ— more then conquerours thorow Christ who loveâ—â— you Are there therefore any here to day that would have victory over the devil and over their own hearts Then come and embrace this Great Salvation and then your victory iâ— certain But now to presse home this Great Salvation upon you a little further there are ninâ— sorts of persons who are invited to come and partake of this Great Salvation offered this day And I charge you answer to your names when ye are called and delay not to come I. First I invite and call here to day all who are willing to come and embrace this Great Salvation Now are there any of â—ou here to day who are called willing â—hen I invite you to come and imbrace this Great Salvation Rev. 22. 17. Whosoever will â—et him come But oh are there none here 〈◊〉 day who are named willing I intreat â—on if there be any do not deny your name â—â—t come when you are called and embrace this Great Salvation II. Secondly These persons who thirst â—â—r it are invited to come and partake of â—â—â—s Great Salvation Rev. 22. 17. Let him â—â—t is a thirst come Now if there be any â—ere who are named thirsty let them come and partake of this Salvation and they shall â—e satisfied III. Thirdly Are there any money-lesse â—â—lk here to day Let them come and partake of this Great Salvation Are there no money-lesse folk here to day I mean not that money or coin in your purses but want â—â—e money That is want ye righteousnesse â—hen I pray you come and partake of this Great Salvation I say are ye so poor that â—e have nothing but the fear of hell Then I â—ay you come If there be any here who have nothing to commend them to Christ but necessity I say unto all such O come come â—â—me and partake of this Great Salvation IV. Fourthly These persons are invited â—o come and I wish there were many such who are weary But Oh! are there none here to day who are called weary Are yâ—â— not weary in pursuit of yours If there be any such here to day I say unto you O weary folk come come come and partake of this Great Salvation and of this excellent Gospel Redemption that was purchased at so dear 〈◊〉 rate V. Fifthly These who are heavy loadened are invited to come and I think all of you may answer to this name are ye heavy loadenâ—â— O then come But are there none here who are heavy loaden with sin with misery and estrangement from God If there be any
all people which â—o man could number of all people nations and languages stood before the throne and before the Lamb cloathed with white robes and palms in their hands and they cried And how cryed they They cryed with a loud voice They would not mutter the song noâ— sing silently but cryed with a loud voice And what did they cry They cryed with a loud voice Salvation unto our God who sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb. I would onely ask at you that are partakers of the Great Salvation what songs shall be put into thy mouth when the waters of Iordan shall divide themselves that the ransomed of the Lord must passe thorow when thou shalt sing that song Psal 115. ver 1. Not unto us not unto us but unto thee belongs the glory of our salvation O what a day shall that be when that excellent song shall be put in thy mouth yea what a day shall it be when thou shal the cloathed with these excellent garments that are made mention of Isa. 6. ver 10. for hee hath cloathed thee with the garments of Salvation and hee hath covered thee with the robe of righteousnesse O what robes are these Did yee ever see such excellent robes at these must bee I think wee will misken our selves O do yee not think wee will misken our selves when wee shall put on these excellent robes Now therefore is the bargain closed Or will yee go away before yee take this Great Salvation Dare yee go out at these doors and neglect â—he Great Salvation I would ask this at you Think yee it will not be most sad that Christ should tell this in heaven of you to night I was preached to a pack of stones that none of them would love me Will yee not bee feared that this report shall be carried back to heaven of you For what report can Christ carry back but this Now is the cord of this Great Salvation let down unto you Is there none of you that will take a grip of it O will ye flighter after it Will yee make this a rejoycing day in heaven that is a fasting day unto you and the way to make it so is to imbrace the Great Salvation Now what say yee to it old men let mee speak to you and ask your thoughts of the Great Salvation gray hairs should bee a Crown of Glory if it bee found in the way of Righteousnesse old men speak your minds that young men may not have your bad example What say ye of this Salvation Is it not a most glorious Salvation is it not a most excellent Salvation that is in your offer I intreat you speak your minds tell Christ ye are content to take the Great Salvation otherwise who ever he be that will not partake of this Gospel Salvation I in the Name and Authority of Christ our Master denounce eternal and irrevockable war against him put on your harnesse ye shall not boast when you put it off again the wrath and fury of God shall come upon thee to the uttermost if ye imbrace not this Great Salvation Other Wars are but for a time the greatest Captains that ever the earth did carry are now laid down in the sides of the pit and their swords broken under their heads Armies of ten hundreth thousand a hundreth years time have laid them all in their graves and ended all their contests but there is no discharge of his war that shall be concluded betwixt Christ and you it shall become an eternal and most terrible War which shall be but beginning when time is ended Now Peace or War which of them will ye choise Dare ye send a charge to Christ and say ye will defy him I am afraid there shall be two things that many of us shall report to day First I am afraid there will be many that will give Pharaohs report to the offer of the Great Salvation and say Who is the Lord that I should obey him I tell you who he is He is glorious in Holinesse fearfull in Praises doing wonders O imbrace him before he go hence and give not Pharaohs report lest yee bee drowned in the sea of His wrath whence there shall be no recovery Secondly I fear there will be many here to day that will give Demas report to this precious offer I will go and for sake Christ and â—mbrace this present world O bad exchange â—ursed be he that shall make it will ye be of Demas humor I fear there hath been many of that humor of a long time but I intreat you once be wise before you die I confesse that proverb old fools are twice fools I think old men that will not imbrace the Great Salvation I think ye are triple fools What wait ye for is there any thing can afford you any satisfaction but this Great Salvation Now are ye convinced old men that Christ is waiting for your answer I intreat you before ye go henâ—e speak your minds what ye think of the Great Salvation â—s it not a lovely Salvation Is it not lovely â—ow What say ye to it I am to go away and the offer is to be taken up at this time and it is hard to say if ever ye shall have an offer again I would only say this to you and be sure of it though I should never be â— partaker of this Great Salvation yet I shall be a witnesse against you that are not partakers of it I tell and declare unto yon shall be a witnesse against you if ye imbrace not the Great Salvation Now old â—en are ye perswaded to imbrace it Let â—e obâ—est you by the beauty of Christ come and partake of the Great Salvation ye that â—â—e travelling upon the borders of erernity â—ow if ye will give no more give this will ye go home and think upon it I shall not bee uncharitable nor enter to judge your thoughts I fear there shall bee many declared and found guilty among us that we have declared unto heaven wee will not imbrace the Great Salvation but have trod the bloud of the Son of God under foot Now I intreat you every one of you ask at your selves if yee be the persons that will presume in your hearts to do so Now I shall leave it with you let it not bee a witnesse against you I shall leave it with this O come away Old men Young men Old women and Maids come and imbrace this precious Gospel Salvation Yee may say Ye bid us come but we cannot come I desite no more of youâ— but to come with this Lord I am content to come but I cannot come Come once to that for if once yee bee content to receive it it will not bee long befor yee bee able to receive it Now shall Christ depart and will none of you say yet are content to take him Will yee charge your own Consciences with this Am I content to take Christ and the Great Salvation O blest blest
out that word in Isa. 65. 1. Behold me behold me O may wee not summond Angels and these twenty four Elders about the Throne to help us to wonder that ever such a command as this came forth that wee should believe on the Name of the Son of God after that wee had broken that first and primitive command That we should not eat of the forbidden tree Was not this indeed to make mercy rejoyce over judgement And O may wee not wonder at the precious oath of the everlasting Covenant whereby he hath sworn That hee delighteth not in the death of sinners What suppose yee were poor Adams thoughts when at first the Doctrine of Free-grace and of a crucified Christ Jesus a Saviour was preached unto him in Paradise What a divine surprisal was this that heaven should have preached peace to earth after that earth had proclaimed war against heaven Was not this a low step of condescendency to behold an offended God preaching peace and good will to a guilty sinner What could self-destroying Adam think of these morning and first discoveries of this everlasting Covenant Christ as it were in the morning of time giving vent to that infinite love which was resting in his bosome and precious heart before the foundation of the world was laid Wee know not whether the infinitenesse of his love the eternity of his love or the freedom of it maketh up the greatest wonder But sure these three joyned together make up a matchlesse and everlasting wonder Would any of you ask the Question What is Christ worth Wee could give no answer so suitable as this it is above all the Arithmetick of all the Angels in heaven and all the men on earth to calculate his worth all men here must be put to a divine non plus This was Iobs divinity Iob 28. 13. Man knoweth not the price of wisedome And must not Jesus Christ who is the precious object of Faith and wisedome of the Father bee a supereminent and excellent One who hath that Name of King of kings and Lord of lords not onely ingraven on his vesture which pointeth out the conspicuousnesse of his Majesty but even also upon his thigh to point out that in all his goings and motions hee proveth himself to bee higher then the Kings of the earth And howbeit the naked proposing of the object doth not convert yet if once our souls were admitted to behold such a sight as Christ in his Beauty and Majesty and to bee satisfied with the divine rayes of his transcendent glory then certainly wee should finde a blessed necessity laid upon us of closing with him for Christ hath a sword proceeding out of his precious moâ—â—h by which hee doth subject and subjugate his own to himself as well as hee hath a sword girded upon his thigh by which hee judgeth and maketh war with his enemies Wee confesse it is not only hard but simply impossible to commit a Hyperbole in commending of him His worth being alwayes so far above our expressions and our expressions alwayes so far beneath his worth therefore wee may be put to propose that desire unto him Exalt thy self O Lord above the Heavens But now to our purpose being at this time to begin our discourse upon that radicall and precious grace of Faith wee intend to speak of it under this twofold notion and consideration First We shall speak of it as it is justifying or as it doth lay hold upon the righteousnesse of a crucified Saviour makeing application of the precious promises in the Covenant of free grace which wee call justifying Faith And in the second place we shall speak a little-unto Faith as it doth lay hold upon Christs strength for advancing the work of mortification and doth discover the personal excellencies of Iesus Christ by which wee advance in the work of holinesse and divine consormity with God which wee call sanctifying Faith However it is not to bee supposed that these are different habits of Faith but different acts flowing from the same saving habit laying hold and exercising themselves upon Christ in different respects and for diverse ends Now to speak upon the first we have made choice of these words The Apostle Iohn in the former verse hath been pointing out the precious advantages of the grace of obedience and of keeping of his commands that such a one hath as it were an arbitrary power with God and doth receive many precious returns of prayer As likewise that one who is exercised in the grace of repentance is Gods delight which is included in this that he doth these things that are well pleasing in his sight And now in these words hee doth as it were answer an objection that might bee proposed about the impossibility of attaining these precious advantages seeing his commands were so large and that hardly could they bee remembered This hee doth sweetly answer by setting down in this one verse a short compend or breviary both of Law and Gospel viz. That wee should love one another which is the compend of the Law and The we should believe on the Name of His Son which is the compend of the Gospel And by this he sheweth the Christian that there are not many things required of him for attaining these excellent advantages but if he exercise himself in the obedience of these two comprehensive commandments he shall find favour both with God and man And as concerning this precious grace of Faith Wee have 1. the advantages of it implied in the words and clear also from the scope as no doubt all the commands have infinit advantages infolded in their bosome which redounds to a Believer by his practising of them And 2. the excellency of it holden forth in the words in that it is called His command as if hee had no other command but this And the Greek particle is here prefixed which hath a great deal of emphasis and force in it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But 3. There is this also the absolute necessity of this grace holden forth here in this word His Commandment as if he would have said by proposing of this command I do set life and death before you and that ye would not conceive that it is an arbitrary and indifferent thing for you to believe or not But be perswaded of this that as an infinite advantage may constrain you to the obedience of it so absolute necessity must perswade you to act that which is of your everlasting concernment And lastly Yee have the precious Object upon which Faith which is justifying doth exercise it self and that is upon the Name of the Son of God And no doubt Faith is that excellent grace which doth elevate the soul unto a sweet and inseparable union with Christ and is that golden and precious knot that doth eternally knit the hearts of these precious friends together Faith is that grace that draweth the first draughts of Christs precious Image on our hearts and by love doth accomplish
of sin which is death and be constrained to cry out Wo is me for I am undone And with the other eye to ascend and look to that help that is laid upon One that iâ— mighty and to make use of the righteousnesse of a crucified Saviour that so what we want in our selves we may get it abundantly made up in him III. There is this likewise that obstructeth our closing with Christ our too much addictednesse to the pleasures and carnal delights of a passing world which is cleaâ— from Luk. 14. 18 19 20 21 22. Matth. 22 5 6. where these that were invited to comâ— to the feast of this Gospel they do makâ— their apologie and with one consent do refuse it some pretending an impossibility tâ— come and some pretending an unavoidable inconveniency in coming And O! What a rediculous thing is that poor complement that these deluded sinners used to Christ I pray you have us excused And is it not the world the great plea and argoment that they make use of When they will not come and make use of Christ IV. There is this lastly which doth obstruct ones coming to Christ their unwillingness to be denyed to their own righteousness Which is clear from Rom. 10. 23. And wee conceive if once these two were believed which are the great Tropicks out of which all these arguments may be brought to perswade you to imbrace Christ to wit the infinite excellency of His person on whom we are to believe and the infinite losse that these do sustain who shall be eternally rejected of him We might be persuaded to entertain a divine abstractednesse and holy retirement from all things that are here below and to pitch our desires alone upon him who is the everlasting wonder of Angels and the glory of the higher House O did we once suppose the unspeakable happinesse of these whose Faith is now advanced unto everlasting felicity and fruition and hath entered into that eternal possession of the promises might we not he constrained to cry out It is good for us once to be there Christ weepeth to us in the Law but we do not lament and he pypeth to us in the Gospel but we do not dance He is willing to draw us with the cords of men and with the bonds of love and yet we will not have him to reign over us May not Angels laugh at our folly that wee should so undervalue this Prince of love and should contemn him who is holden in so high esteem and reverence in these two great Assemblies that are above of Angels and of the spirits of just men made perfect Christ hath now given us the first and second Summonds the day is approaching when the sad and wofull summonds shall be sent against us of departing from him into these everlasting flames out of which there is no redemption and this shall be the capestone of our misery that we had once life in offer but did refuse it And though there were four gates standing open toward the north by which we might have entered into that everlasting rest yet we choosed rather to walk in the paths that lead down to death and take hold of the chambers of hell O but there are many that think the Gospel cunningly devised fables and foolishnesse they being unwilling to believe that which sense cannot comprehend nor reason reach and this is the reason why the Gospel is not imbraced but is rejected as a humane invention and as a morning dream c. SERMON II. 1 Joh. 3. 23. This is his Commandment that ye should believe on the Name of his Son Iesus Christ c. THere are three great and cardinall mysteries in the unfolding of which all a Christians time ought to be spent First There is that precious and everlasting mystery of Christs love and condiscendency which those intellectual spirits the Angels are not able fully to comprehend Secondly There is that woefull mystery of the desperate deceitfulnesse and wickednesse of the heart which no man was ever yet able fully to fathom and comprehend And thirdly there is that precious mystery of that eternal felicity and blessednesse that is purchased unto the Saints that once they shall reign with Christ not a thousand years only but throughout all the ages of everlasting and endless eternity so that there is this difference betwixt the Garden of everlasting delights that Christ hath purchased to the Saints and that first Paradise and Eden wherein man was placed There was a secret gate in the first thorow which a man that had once entered in might go out again But in this second and precious Eden there is no accesse for going out And all that is to be known of these three mysteries is much comprehended in this to know that they cannot fully be known Paul was a blessed proficient in the study of the first mystery and had almost attained to the highest Classe of knowledge and yet he is constrained to professe himself to bee ignorant of this Hence is that word Eph. 3. 19. That ye may know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge And is it not a mysterious command to desire people to know that which cannot be known The meaning whereof we conceive to be this in part that Paul pressed this upon them that they should study to know that this mystery of Christs love could not be known Ieremiah was a blessed proficient in the knowledge and study of the second mystery he had some morning and twilight discoveries of that and yet though in some measure he had fat homed that deep yet he is constrained to cry out chap. 17. vers 9. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it And indeed that which Solomon saith of Kings Prov. 25. 3. may well be said of all men in this respect The heavens for heighth and the earth for depth and the heart of man is unsearchable The Apostle Paul also was a blessed proficient in the study of the third mystery having some morning and twilight discoveries of that promised rest and was once caught up to the third heavens and yet when he is beginning to speak of it 1 Cor. 2. 9. he declareth all men to be ignorant of the knowledge of this profound mystery of mans blessednesse and cryeth out Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him And if there bee any thing further to bee known of these mysteries the grace of Faith is found worthy among all the graces of the Spirit To open the seven seals of these great deeps of God Is not the grace of Faith that whereby a Christian doth take up the invisible excellency and vertue of a dying Christ Is not Faith that precious grace by which a Christian must take up the sports and blemishes that are within himself And is not the grace of Faith that precious grace that
were most discerning And there is this that we would say that among all these that shall be eternally excommunicate from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power Hypocrites in Sion shall have the bitterest cup of Divine indignation presented unto them Hence it is that Christ when he would tell the worst company that one shall have in hell it is alwayes this ye shall go to that place where hypocrites and sinners are and so it would be of your concernment that by the candle of the Lord ye would search the inward parts of the belly before ye go down to the grave with a lie in your right hand a deceiving heart having turned you aside We confesse it is sad to consider these anxious disappointments that many in those dayes shall once meet with IV. But there is this last difference betwixt justifying Faith and temporary Faith That there are three precious effects of justifying Faith which a temporary believer cannot win to 1. To be denyed to all his enjoyments and attainments and walk humbly under them for we may say that it is impossible for an hypocrite to be denyed to his enjoyments he maketh such a deity of them and worships them or rather he worshippeth himself in them There are three great graces that a hypocrite doth pursue after though he rather seeketh them as gifts than as graces Knowledge Prayer and Humility And though it be but little that he can attain of any of the three or rather nothing in a saving way yet least of all can he attain to the last yea we may judge that there is alwayes within his bosome a standing conviction that he could never win unto that gracious grace of humility O could ye never win to this to count your own righteousnesse as filthy rags and to rejoice alone in the righteousnesse of a crucified Saviour I would press this upon you by the way O Christians of this generation forget your perfections and remember your imperfections have a holy oblivion of your attainments but have a Divine remembrance of your short comings look more to what is before unperfected nor to what is behind and thus shall you evidence true justifying Faith 2. It is an effect of justifying Faith to be under some constant and Divine impression of the preciousnesse of Jesus Christ according to that word 1 Pet. 2. 7. To you who believe Christ is precious It is not said that Christ was precious or shall be precious but it is said He is precious which doth import as we use to speak a continued act Did ye never know what it was to dwell twenty four hours under the impression of the matchlesse excellency and precious worth of a crucified Saviour I will pose you with this Are there not some here and elsewhere that passe under the notion of Saints that never knew what it was to dwell half an hour under these high and elevaring thoughts of the preciousnesse of Jesus Christ So that wee professe we cannot tell whether we shall call him precious or undervalued but wee may conjoyn these two names together that he is precious and yet undervalued Christ. 3 By true justifying Faith a Christian winneth to mortification of his invisible and predominant lusts which is impossible for a temporary Believer to win to And is there not a great difference betwixt an Idol when it is cast out and an Idol when it goeth out I will tell you the great mortification of hypocrites the devil was living in them as one that was a black one and now hee cometh again and transformeth himself into an Angel of light He was living in them before by his spirit of prosanity and now hee liveth in them by the spirit of hypocrisie and counterfeiting of these things that were never clear attainments while it is the noble dignity of Faith Act. 15. 9. To purifie the heart But are there not many here who never knew what it was to mortifie one lust for Christ Can such a delusion overtake you Oâ—athiests That ye shall reign with Christ if ye die not with him There is an opinion vented in these dayes that there may be repentance in heaven and I think it would seem that the Christians of this age have much of that opinion we are so little in repentance while we are here below but know that Faith and Sanctification are two inseparable companions And let me tell you if ye would know the compend of the precious exercise of Faith It is this Faith hath three great things that it perpetually contemplates and views 1. Faith looketh to the promise and there it doth rejoyce and rest upon it 2. Faith looketh to the duties that are commanded and there it cryeth out Here am I I will obey and hearken unto the voice of the word And 3. Faith looketh to the crown and there it doth exult and sweetly rejoyce in divine expectation And O what a sight is that to behold that everlasting Prince standing at the end of our race having a crown in his right hand with this Motto ingraven on it Hee that persevereth to the end shall be saved And what a Faith suppose yee shall it be thought when wee shall get on that immortal Crown of blessednesse What think ye is the exercise of these that are above O heaven heaven if we did know it would we not be in a holy extasie of desire till we were there And blessed be he eternally that hath purchased that precious felicity to us Now we shall at this time shut up our discourse by speaking a little to these things in which a Christian doth ordinarily meet with assurance of his interest in God and is put to the divine actings of the grace of Faith for there are some sealing times to a Christian. I. The first time of the sealing is after the mortification of some predominante lust and idol then they are admitted to read their names in these precious and ancient records of heaven and to see in these Books their unworthy names written by the hand of that everlasting Prince This is clear Rev. 2. 17. To him that overcometh will I give a white stone and in the stone a new name written that no man knows saving he that receiveth it And from that 2 Tim. 4. 8. Believe mee more mortification would make more believing but would ye know the original of misbelief It is the want of exercise of spiritual mortification of our lusts I know not where the most part of us intendeth to lodge at night but this is certain that wee live with much contentment with our lusts and these predominant idols that doth so much possesse us II. It is readily a sealing time to a Christian when hee is admitted to the divine enjoyment of these satisfying delights that are to be found in Christ When was it that the Spouse cryed out so often My beloved is mine and I am his Was it not when she was brought to the banqueting
he please It is this be much in the grace of Faith this is clear from Eph. 3. 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith By the exercise of all other graces Christ is but a sojourner That turneth aside to tarry but for a night but by the exercise of this grace he cometh to take up house with us I will tell you what faith is It is a ladder that reacheth betwixt heaven and earth by the steps of which a Christian doth daily go up to heaven and converse with the higher House Faith is that grace as the Apostle speaketh by which wee have accesse to the Throne of his grace Faith ushers in the Believer to the Throne and without it hee cannot have accesse there nor joy when he is there V. Here is this advantage that attendeth the exercise of Faith A believing Christian is a praying Christian according to that word in Mark 9. 24. where these two are conjoyned together Lord I believe and then hee falleth to his prayer presently after that confession Help thou my unbelief And it is clear from Psal. 63. 1. O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my soul thirsteth for thee And sometimes Faith is a most impatient grace but we may alwayes say of it that it is a most diligent grace Oh is it not the neglect of this precious exercise of faith and of the duty of secret Prayer that makes our leannesse testisie to our Face and maketh our souls as a barren wildernesse I am perswaded of this that since Christ had any followers and since ever this everlasting Goâ—pel was preached in Paradise the exercise of secret prayer was never so much neglected Wee have turned over all our prayers into complements with God We know not what â—t is to rise at mid-night and call upon God and to inquire after our Maker under the silent watches of the night O but it is a sweet diâ—ersion from sleep to retire our selves in the â—ilent seasons of the night from all thoughts â—bout worldly matters and to converse with â—hat invisible Majesty VI. There is this sixth consideration to â—oint out the advantage of Faith That Faith â—s that grace that doth facilitate a Christians obedience and maketh it most pleasant and â—asie This is clear from Heb. 11. 8. By faith Abraham when commanded to go to a strange land obeyed and went out not knowing whether â—e went The word may be rendered He did â—hearfully obey And ver 17. By faith he ofâ—ered up his only Son Would ye know the reaâ—on why his commands are your burden and why his precepts are your crosses It is beâ—ause of this Yee do not believe And so it is most certain that it is impossible for a Chriâ—tian to attain to a pleasant way of obedience â—ithout the exercise of Faith Faith holdeth â—p the Crown to a Christian and this crown â—aketh him to obey Faith gathereth strength â—rom Christ and that strength maketh obeâ—ience very easie Faith â—aketh up the excellency of Christ and this maketh a Christian to look upon his duty more as his dignity then his duty And we are perswaded of this that our chariot wheel should move more swiftly like the chariots of Aminadab if we were more in the exercise of the grace of Faith Would ye know an answer to that question What is the first most requisit for a Christian while here below Faith And what secondly is most requisit Faith And what thirdly is most requisit for a Christian even Faith Faith above all things and above all things Faith VII There is another advantage of it that by Faith our service and prayers are accepted of God Would ye know what is the prayer of a Christian that is not in Faith Iâ— is a smoak in his nostrils and a fire that burneth all the day The unbelievers sacrifice is an abomination to the Lord. This is clear from Heb. 11. 4. By faith Abel offered up unto God a more acceptable sacrifice then Cain and we conceive that there are many unanswered prayers which we do put up because we want that noble exercise of Faith VIII And lastly we shall likewise addâ— this that Faith is the graâ—e by which a Christian hath that perfect and immediate sight as it were of great things that are promised to him Faith bringeth a Christian withiâ— sight of Heaven and Faith bringeth a Christian within sight of God according to thaâ— word Heb. 11. 1. Faith is the evidence â— things not seen and that noble paâ—adox thâ—â— is said of Faith Heb. 11. 27 By faith Mosâ—â— saw him that is invisible Is it not an impossible thing to see that which cannot be seen But the meaning of it is this That Faiths discoveries of God are as certain and sure as the discoveries of our bodily eyes are Faith is an intelligent grace yea it is a most sure and infallible grace What will Faith not do And what can yee do who want Faith Now to enforce the advantages and excellencies of Faith a little more wee shall propose to you the disadvantages of that wofull sin of unbelief I. There is this disadvantage of the sin of unbelief that all the actions that proceed from an unbeliever they are impure and defiled according to that in Tit. 1. 15. But unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure but even their mind and conscience is defiled Their prayer is unclean yea as Solomon speaketh their plowing is sin yea their going about the most excellent duties for matter is an abomination to God according to that word Rom. 14. 23. What ever is not of faith is sin So the want of Faith is the great polluter of all our actions and of all our performances II. There is this second disadvantage of misbelief that it is impossible for one in the exercise of unbelief to moâ—tifie a lust or idol and wee may allude unto these words in Matth. 17. 20. When his disciples came to him and asked this question Why could wee not cast out this devil That was given as an answer because of your unbelief Unbelief is that which taketh up arms for our idols and doth most strongly defend them for there is nothing that will kill corruption so much as the exercise of faith and when that is laid aside we have laid by our weapons and have in a manner concluded â— treaty of peace with our idols that we shall not offend them if they offend not us III. There is this disadvantage that waiteth upon the sin of unbelief that such an one cannot win nor attain to the grace of establishment but is alwayes as the waves of the sea tossed to and fro untill once hee win to the exercise of Faith as is clear from Isa. 7. 9 Except ye believe ye shall not be established IV. There is this disadvantage that waiteth on it it is the mother of hardnesse and stupidity of heart according to that word in Mark 16. 14. Where he
your closing with Christ and of your coming out of Egypt and we may allude unto that command if not more then allude unto it in Dent. 16. 1. Observe the month of Abib and keep the passeover unto the Lord thy God For in the moneth of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee out of the land of Egypt And secondly We would have you much in marking these experiences which have increased your Faith and which have strengthned your love and which have made you mortifie your idols These are experiences especially to be marked 2. Faith is keeped in exercise and we win to the lively assurance of our interest in God which we would presse upon you by being much in the exercise of secret prayer O but many loveth much to pray when abroad who never loved to pray when alone And that is a desperate sign of hypocrisie according to that Matth. 6. 5. It is said of hypocrites They love to pray standing in the Synagogues and in the corner of the street s that they might be seen of men But it is never said of these persons that they love to pray alone onely they loved to pray in Synagogues but it is secret and retired prayer by which Faith must be keeped in exercise 3. And there is this likewise that we would presse upon you that ye would be much in studying communion and fellowship with God that so your Faith may be keeped in life And O what a blessed life were it each day to be taken up to the top of the mount Pisga and there to behold that promised land to get a refreshfull sight of the Crown every morning which might make us walk with joy all alongs that day The heart oâ— a Christian ought to be in heaven his conversation ought to be there his eyes ought to be there And I know not what of a Christian ought to be out of heaven even before his going there save his lumpish â—abernacle of clay which cannot inherite incorruption till he be made incorruptible And I shall say no more but this many of us are readiâ—â— to betray him with a kisse and crucifie him afresh then to keep communion with him but wo eternally be to him by whom the Son oâ— man is betrayed and that doth crucifie Christ afresh it were better that a milstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into thâ— depth of the sea I remember an expressioâ— of a man not two dayes ago who upoâ— his death bed being asked by one what hâ— was doing did most stupidly though mosâ— truly reply That he was fighting with Christ and I think that the most part of us if he prevent us not shall die fighting with Christ. But know and be perswaded that he is too sore a party for us to fight with He will once tread you in the wine presse of his fury and he shall return with dyed garments from treading such of you as would not imbrace him He shall destroy you with all his heart Therefore be instructed lest his soul be disjoynted from you as that word in Ier. 6. 8. And lest your soul eternally be separted from him Be instructed I say to close with him by â—aith Now to him who can make you to do so we desire to give praise In the two Sermons next following you have the rest of these sweet Purposes which the worthy Author Preached upon the same Text Never before Printed SERMON V. 1 Joh. 3. 23. This is his Commandment that ye should believe on the Name of his Son Iesus Christ c. THere are two great rocks upon which a Christian doth ordinarily dash iâ— his way and motion toward his rest 1. The rock of presumption and carnal confidence so that when Christ dandleth them upon his knees and satisfieth them with the breasts of his consolations and maketh their cup to overflow then they cry out My mountain standeth strong I shall never be moved And 2. The rock of misbelief and discouragement So that when he hideth his face and turneth back the face of his Throne theâ— they cry out Our hope and our strength is perished from the Lord we know not what iâ— is to bear our enjoyments by humility noâ— our crosses by patience and submission â—â— but misbelief and jealousie are bad interpre ters of dark dispensations they know noâ— what it is to read these mysterious character of divine Providence except they be writâ—â—â— in the legible characters of sense misbelieâ—â— is big with childe of twins and is travelliâ—â— till it bring forth apostacy and security anâ— no doubt he is a blessed Christian that haâ—â— overcome that woful idol of miâ—belief anâ— doth walk by that Royal Law of the Worâ— and not by that changeable rule of dispensatâ— on s We conceive that there are three greâ—â— Idols and Dagons of a Christian that hindereâ—â— him from putting a blank in Christs hand concerning his guiding to heaven there is pride self-indulgence and security Do we not covet to be more excellent then our neighbour Do we not love to travell to heaven through a valley of Roses And doe we not ambitiously desire to walk toward Sion sleeping rather then weeping as we go Are there not some words that we would have taken out of the Bible That is sad divinity to flesh and bloud Through many tribulations must we enter into the Kingdome of Heaven we love not to be changed from vessel to vessel that so our scent may be taken from us There are three great enemies of Christ Misbelief Hypocrisie and Profanity Misbelief is a bloudy sin hypocrisie is a silent sin profanity is a crying sin Those are mother evils and I shall give you these differences betwixt them Misbelief crucifieth Christ under the vail of humility hypocrisie crucifieth Christ under the vail of love and profanity putteth him to open shame Misbelief denyeth the love and power of God hypocrisie denieth the omnisciency of God â—nd profanity denyeth the justice of God Misbelief is a sin that looketh after inherent â—ighteousnesse hypocrisie is a sin that lookâ—th after external holinesse onely and proâ—anity is a sin that looketh after heaven without holinesse making connexion between â—hese things that God hath alwayes sepaâ—ate and separating these things which he â—ath alwayes put together So that their faith shall once prove a delusion and flie away as a dream in the night But let us study this excellent grace of true and saving Faith which shall be a precious remedy against all those Christ-destroying and soul-destroying evils But now to come to that which we did propose thirdly to be spoken of from the words which was the sweetnesse of this grace of Faith no doubt it is a pleasant command and it maketh all commands pleasant it is that which casteth a divine lustre upon the most hard sayings of Christ and maketh the Christian to cry forth God hath spoken in his holinesse I will rejoyce Wee need not stand long to clear that Faith
made them white in the blood of the Lamb are admitted to stand before the Throne of God and serve him day and night Now there is that fourthly which weâ— promised to speak of concerning this grace of Faith from these words and it is the absolute necessity that is of the exercise of this grace which is holden forth in that word his Commandment which doth import these three things 1. That all the Commands that wee can obey without this Commandement of Faith it is but a polluting of our selves and a plunging of our selves in the ditch till our own cloaâ—hs abhor us 2. That God taketh greater delight in the exercise of that grace of Faith then in the exercise of any other And lastly that as to the many imperfections which wee have in our obedience there is a sweet act of oblivion past of them all if we make conscience seriously to obey this command of Faith which is indeed the sweet compend of the Gospel all these things do most clearly appear in that believing here is called His Commandement by way of excellency as if this were his only Commandement But that we may yet a little more particularly point out the absolute necessity of Faith there are these things that speaketh it forth to the full 1. That though rivers of tears should run down our eyes because we keep not his Law though we should never rise off our knees from prayer and should all our life time speak to God with the tongue of Angels and though we should constantly obey his Commands yet without Faith we should never escape that eternal sentence of excommunication from the presence of the Lord there being no action that doth proceed from us which can please the majesty of the Lord unlesse it hath its rise from this principle of Faith as is clear from Heb. 11. 6. Without Faith it is impossible to please God And though we should offer unto him ten thousand rivers of oyl and thousands of rams and should offer up in a burnt sacrifice all the beasts that are upon the mountains and the trees that are upon hills this should be the answer that God should return to us Who hath required these things at your hands I take no pleasure in these solemn sacrifices Because there is no way of attaining peace with God but through the exercise of Faith making use of the spotlesse righteousnesse of â—esus Christ. 2. Let us do ouâ— outmost by all the inventions we can to bring down our body and let us separate our selves from all the pleasures of the flesh yet all our idols shall reign without much contradiction except once we do attain unto this grace of Faith which is that victory whereby we must overcome the world and the hand that maketh use of infinite strength for subduing of corruption making the Christian sweetly to take up that song Stronger is he that is with us than he that is in the world From all this that we have said both of the sweetnesse of Faith and the necessity thereof we would propose these few considerations to two or three sorts of persons 1. There are some who live in that vain imaginary delusion of attaining heaven through a Covenant of Works and do neglect to seek salvation by Faith in the righteousnesse of Christ. And to these who build upon this sandy foundation I shall say but these two words First How long shall ye labour in the fire of very vanity do ye ever think to put on the capestone know ye not that the day is approaching when your house shall fall about your ears your confidence shall be rejected and your hope shall evanish as a dream and flee away as a vision of the night Secondly What a monstrous blindnesse and what an unspeakable act of folly must it â—eâ—â— to say that Christ was crucified in vain which yet ye do practically assert when ye go about to purchase a righteousnesse through the works of the Law 2. There are some who are secure in their own thoughts concerning their â—aith they never questioned the realty of it they never examined it O ye whose faith is as old as your selves ye say ye never knew what it was to dispute and I may say ye never knew what it was to believe Thou profane hypocrite let me tell thee a strong faith and yeâ— strong idols must needs be â— strong delusion Thou wilt not obey the Lord thou wilt not pray thou wilt not believe a threatning in all the Word thou wilt count all Religion madnesse and foolishnesse and yet thou wilt perswade thy self thou Believest in Christ. O be not deceived God is not mocked and why will ye mock your selves Shall I tell you that reprobates have a saâ— Religion one day they must believe and obey and pray and give a testimony to Godlinesse but alas too late and little to their advantage Shall not he whom all the Ministers on earth could scarce ever perswade to believe so much as a heaven oâ— hell or one threatning in all the Book oâ— God at last be forced to believe their owâ— sense when they shall see the Ancient of Days upon the Throne and shall hear the cryes of so many thousand living witnesses come ouâ— both from heaven and hell bearing testimony to the truth of threatnings and promises that not one jot of them is fallen to the ground and he who would never be perswaded to bow a knee to God in earnest all his life shall he not then pray with greatest fervency that hills and mountains might fall upon him to cover him from the face of the Lamb And hâ— that would never submit to a Command of God must he not at last obey that dreadfull Command Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting torment c. Yea he who was the greatest mocker in the world shall then confesse that they are blest who put their trust in the Lord as they are excellently brought in though in an Apocriphal Book Wisd. c. 5. 4 Crying out with great terror while they behold that unexpected sight of the glorious condition of the Godly O here is the meâ— say they whom we mocked whose life wâ— accounted madnesse and their end dishonourable Be wise therefore in time and do that willingly which ye must do by constrainâ— and do that with sweetnesse and advantage that ye must do at length with losse and sorrow Thirdly There are some who certainly have some hope of eternal life but contenteth themselves with a small measure of assurance and these I would beseech that ye would be more endeavouring to make your calling and election sure and would be endeavouring to see your names written in the ancient Records of Heaven And this we shall presse upon you by several Arguments 1. Those strong and subtil and soul destroying delusions that are amongst many who conceive they do believe as we were saying and are pure in their own eyes who yet are not purged from their iniquities
at â—eath and destruction when assailing him â—here is that fifth property of Faith That â—â—s the grace that bringeth satisfaction unâ—â— the spirituall senses of a Christian by a â—ose and particular application of Christ 〈◊〉 the nouâ—â—ishment of the soul. Hence it is â—lled an eating of the flâ—sh of Christ. There are â—ree senses that Faith satisfieth Faith satisfieth the sense of sight it satisfieth the sense of taste and it satisfieth the sense of touch Faith will make a Christian handle that eternall word of life Faith will make a Christian see that noble plant of renown And Faith will make a Christian taste and see how gracious the Lord is And no doubt these thaâ— have once satisfied their sight they will bâ— longing to satisfie their taste There is thaâ— sixth property of Faith It is that grace which giveth rest unto a Christian Hence iâ— is called a casting of our burden upon him Iâ— is as it were the soul giving unto Christ thaâ— unsupportable yoke of our iniquities anâ— taking from Christ that easie and portablâ— yoke of his Commandements And seventhly There is that last property of Faith Iâ— is that grace by which Sanctification is pro moved Hence it is called a coming to Christ It is the soul in a divine motion and travelling from the land of Egypt unto the land oâ— Canaan Faith it is the soul in a pleasant motion from the land of the north the land oâ— our captivity unto that land of perfect liberty all along going out by the footsteps of tâ—â— flock and walking in that new and living waâ— even in Him who is the Way the Truth and tâ—â— Life And now for a more full application 〈◊〉 this we shall speak but to two things further 1. We would have it considered thâ— there are some that come unto the Covenaâ— of Promise with lesse difficulty and after more divine and evangelick way and theâ— are some that close with Christ in a moâ—â— difficult and legall way there are some that before they can come to mount Sion they must dwell fourty dayes at mount Sinai There are some before the decreet of heaven shall be given to them they must roaâ— as an ox and must cover themselvs with sackcloath having ashes upon their heads we must be a Benoni before we be Benjamin that is we must be a son of sorrow before we can be a son of consolation But this is certain that Christ leadeth sometimes some to himself through a valley of roses And I would only have you taking notice of these two which though we conceive they bâ— not infallible in the rule yet oftentimes experience maketh them out to be truth 1. That there are three sorts of persons who are most ordinarily brought under great terrour â—ere they close with Christ. First These who have committed some grosse and abominable sin that is most contradicting unto the light of nature Secondly That person that sinneth much against light before conversion Hence it is observed in all the Books of the Gospel and in the book of the Acts there was a more Gospel and love way of converting the Gentiles then was of converting the Jews see Act. 2. 37. there is a sharp Law exercise among them who had crucified the Lord of Life and Act. 9. Paul that had been a grievous persecuter at his conversion he is first stricken dead to the ground before he be made a captive of the love of Christ and constrained to cry out What wilt thou have me to do but look to Act. 8. and chap. 19. and there ye will find a more fair and smooth way of begetting sons to Christ. And thirdly that person that is much in conceit of his own righteousnesse he useth to be brought to Christ through much terrour and exercise of the Law that is clear in Paul his condition also Phil. 3. and Act. 9. compared and certainly who ever thinketh to come that length in self abasement and will count as the Apostle doth in that Chapter must dwell many dayes at mount Sinai and learn his Arithmethick there 2. We would have you taking notice of this that though the person that is brought in to Christ in a more smooth and evangelick way may have the preheminency of the person that is brought to Christ after a more legall and terrible way in some things Yet we conceive that a Christian that is brought to Christ through much of the exercise of the Law and through many of the thunderings of mount Sinai after he hath wone to see his right of Christ he is more constant in the exercise of Faith and the reason of it is because that an ordinary ground of misbelief is our not distinct uptaking either of the time of our conversion which is oftentimes hid from these persons that are converted in a more evangelick way as likewise this that those persons that are brought to Christ in a more Gospelchariot are sometimes put to debates whether ever they were under the exercise of the Law and this maketh them often as it were to raze the foundation and to cry forth My hope and my strength is perished from the Lord. And now to shut up our discourse we shall adde this one word of exhortation that ye would carefully lay hold upon that noble object and exercise your faith upon him and I shall say but this that all these that have this noble grace of Faith and that are heâ—â—s of that everlasting inheritance There is a fourfold Crown prepared for you There is a Crown of life that is prepared for him that shall sight the good fight of Faith â—ut what may you say is a Crown of Life except we have joy waiting upon that life â—or what is life without joy but a bitternesse and a burthen to it self Therefore â—e shall have a crown of joy but what were â— crown of Life and a crown of â—oy except we had the grace of Holinesse and were compleat in that Therefore ye shall have â—lso a crown of Righteousnesse But what were Life Joy and Righteousnesse without Glory Therefore ye â—hall have likewise a â—â—own of Glory But what of all these if that Crown should once fall from our head 〈◊〉 we should be deprived of our Kingâ—om Therefore take this to make up all â—he rest it is an eternal crown of Glory â—hat word in Prov. 27. nâ—aâ— the close The â—â—own saith Solomon doth not endure for ever â—ut this precious Crown that the hands of â—hrist shall fix upon the head of an overâ—oming Christian this is the motâ—o that is â—â—gravâ—n upon it Unchangeable and Eterâ—all Eternal and unchangeable and O what a day suppose ye shall that be when thaâ— precious Crown shall be put upon our heads What think you will be the difference betwixâ— Christ and the Believers in heaven They shall have these four crowns which are indeed one but Christ shall have upon hiâ— head many Crowns according to that word Rev. 19. 12. But let me
labour shall end but their works shall not be forgotten as is clear from that forecited place Revel 14. 13. They rest from their labours and their works follow them and is not that a glorious advantage VI. The sixth consideration to presse you to prepare for death is this viz. That death may come upon you ere ye be awar ye know not but death may surprise you this night before you go home to your houses and therefore let that presse you to study a constant preparation for death VII The seventh Consideration to presse you to prepare for death is this viz. That as death leaveth you so will judgement find you If death shall leave you strangers to Christ ye shall appear before his judgement seat strangers unto him Therefore I intreat you all to prepare for it I think that noble practice of Paul exceeding worthy of imitation 1 Cor. 15. 13. I die dayly which I think doth comprehend these three things 1. That Paul had death alwayes in his sight 2. It comprehendeth this that he endeavoured to keep such a frame as that every moment he should be ready to die so that whensoever death should put the summonds in his hand he should be content to answer 3. It comprehendeth this that he laboured to lay aside and remove all things out of the way that might detain him from laying down his tabernacle O saith Paul I labour so to clear my self of all hinderances as that when ever I shall be summoned to remove out of time I may willingly lay down my life Thus Paul desired alwayes to have his Latter Will clear Therefore I would ask you this question viz. when did you make your last testament I think it were suitable for us to be renewing our latter will every day for in so doing Paul made an excellent testament the better of which none that died since have made 2 Tim. 4. 7 8. I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have keeped the faith These are very sweet articles and then he addeth Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Iudge shall give me at that day And think ye not that very sweet And he would leave some thing unto you in Christs Name viz. And not for me only but for all them that wait for his appearance Now I come to the third thing proposed viz. To give you some directions for helping you to prepare for death Direct 1. I intreat you be much in preparation for death every day for it is even a preparation for heaven to be taking a sight of your grave and latter end every day Direct 2. I intreat you he much in these duties First In Self examination that your compts may be clear with God for many a ragged compt will we have when death and we shall meet Secondly Be much in the exercise of Repentance that so ye may have every fault of corruption in you mourned for before death and you meet Thirdly Be much in the exercise of Faith making your calling and election sure Fourthly Be much in the exercise of Mortification and that will help you to keep a loose grip not only of the world but also of your other idols And if ye be much in these ye shall undoubtedly be prepared for death Direct 3. Be much in minding the excellent things of heaven A Christian that would be prepared for death would have all his thoughts and conversation there I think it would be an excellent help in preparation for death to take a sight of the Crown every day Direct 4. Labour alwayes to keep a good conscience void of offence towards God and men 〈◊〉 I say labour to keep thy conscience clear and that shall be a continual feast unto thee Direct 5. Slight not thy known duty do not crucify any conviction neither break any resolution put these three together and that will exceedingly help you to prepare for death I say see that ye adventure not to slight any known duty see that ye adventure not to crucifie any conviction and see that ye adventure not to break your resolutions Now we come to the second thing which we observed from the words viz. That this truth that we shall once see death is not much believed by many of us And to make this appear we shall only give some Evidences unto you to prove that we are not as yet prepared for death I. Evidence Doth not the unspeakable stupidity that have overtaken many say that we are not a people prepared for death Alas many of us would find our selves in a most stupid temper if we were presently to die for many of us are no more moved with the threatnings and terrouts of God then if they did not belong unto us and this saith we are not as yet prepared for death II. Evidence That we are not prepared for death is our pursuing so much after the vain and passing delights of a present world Many of us Rise up early and go late to bed at night and eateth the bread of sorrow all the day and loading themselves with thick clay And I am sure that such a person being night and day taken up with the world is not prepared for death I remember a word recorded of such a wretched one who was exceedingly rich said he I would give so many thousands of money if death would give me but one day yet he got it not And O how suddenly will death surprise many of you as it did him III. Evidence which speaketh forth our unpreparednesse for death is our impatience under every petty crosse that we meet with for the prepared Christian will be patient under very sharp crosses IV. Evidence That we are not prepared is our not endeavouring to live within sight of our interest in God Oh if wee were prepared for death durst we live in so much uncertainty of our interest in God and of our assurance of heaven V. Evidence Some of us can let our Idols ly in our brest six years without repentance and will never study to mortifie them nor to repent for them and surely such are not prepared for death Now I intreat you seriously to minde what hath been said And that yee may the more seriously think upon it I will tell you some materiall challenges that your consciences at death will present unto you therefore take heed that yee may know how yee will answer I. Challenge Is the slighting of much precious Time and sinning away the precious offers of Grace O what will yee answer to that Challenge when Death shall present it to you Death will say or rather thine own Conscience at Death what ailed thee to sin away so many hours without either Praying Reading or Meditatingâ— Now have yee any thing to answer when Death shall present this Challenge to you I intreat you premeditaâ—e what ye will say I intreat you prevent death by presenting it first seriously to
upbraideth then because of their unbelief and then that danger followeth to wit hardnesse of heart this is clear also from Act. 19. 9. Where these two sister devils are conjoyned and locked together unbelief and hardnesse of heart because it is unbelief indeed that hindereth all the graces by which the grace of tendernesse must be maintained V. There is this disadvantage in the sin of unbelief that it is big with childe of apostacy from God and of defection from him according to that word Heb. 3. 12. Beware lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and there the fruit of it to depart from the living God And certainly it is no wonder that unbelief travel in birth till that cursed childe of Apostacy be brought forth not onely because of this that an unbelieveâ— loseth the thoughts of the excellency of Christ but also because he increaseth in his thoughts of love towards his idols for Christ doth decrease in those who misbelieve and their idols do increase in their love and in their desires and in their estimation VI. There is this sixth disadvantage in the sin of unbelief it hindereth the communication of many signall workings and tokens of the love and favour of the most High according to that sad word that is in Mat. 13. 58. at the close He could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief Unbelief as it were laid a restraint on Christ that he could not effectuaâ—e these things which he was willing to perform And to shut up our discourse at this time I would only adde these two aggravations which may somewhat enforce what we have spoken I say there are these two aggravations in the sin of unbelief even in his own who have a right and also his call to believe 1. That after Christ hath given most sensible discoveries of himself Wherein yee have seen him as it were face to face yet wee will not believe this is clear from Ioh. 6. 36. Though ye have seen me saith Christ yet yee do not believe in me There is not a manifestation of Christs presence but it is a witnesse against you because of your unbelief Would ye heat the voice of sense that is rectified It is this believe on the Son of God Secondly That notwithstanding of the signal demonstrations of the power of Christ yet though it were the mortifying of some lust and idol within them yet they will not believe but upon new temptations will doubt of his love to them Christ preacheth faith by his Word He preacheth faith by His fufferings He preacheth faith by his dispensations He preacheth faith by his promises he preacheth faith by his rods and if these five instruments will not ingage your hearts to believe what can move them Do not his two wounds in his precious hands preach out this point of Faith believe him Doth not that hole opened in his side preach this Doctrine That we should believe in him And these two wounds that he received in his precious feet do they not preach this That we should believe on a crucified Saviour And we would only say this that sometime it is the case of his own that after the convictions of this that it is their duty to believe and also after some desires to close with Christ yet they find inability to close with him Is it not certain that to will to believe is sometime present with you but how to perform ye know not And I would have a Christian making this foursold use of such a dispensation as that which is most ordinarily when convictions of our duty to believe and some desires to close with Christ is not followed with actual performances 1. To study to have your convictions more deeply rooted within you for it doth sometimes follow that resolutions and minâ—s to believe are not blest with actual believing because the conviction of our duty to believe is not deeply imprinted upon your conscience 2. Be convinced of that desperate enimity and that mystery of iniquity that is within you that yee can have some will to do without ability to perform Wee confesse it is not an ordinary disease in these days to have such a contrariety betwixt a Christians will and his practice our will for the most part being no better then our practice But sometime it is which may make you cry forth O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death 3. That ye would be much in the imploying of Christ that as hee hath given you to will so also hee might make you to do Christ is about to convince his own in such a dispensation as that That faith is the gift of God Faith is so noble a grace that it cannot be spinned out from our resolutions nor from our endeavours Faith is such a divine plant as the Fathers right hand must plant in our souls 4. Let it convince you of the excellency of the grace of Faith for the difficulty of attaining to any thing may speak out the excellency of that thing there is no sin but it may be easily win at There is an easinesse and facility to overtake the paths of our idols but the graces of the Spirit are so excellent things that wee must fight before we attain them And you who are strangers to Christ Iesus and have never known what â—t is to close with him wee would request you in Christs Name to be reconciled to him What know ye O men or rather Atheists but this shall bee the last summonds that yee shall get to believe And that because yee disobey this precious summonds there shall be one presented to you that yee cannot sit I remember of one man who looking upon many thousands that were under his command weeped over them when he considered how that within a few years all these should be laid in their graves and should be in eternity O but it were much of our concernment to bee trying our selves how it is with us We are not afraid that it is a breach of charity to wish that but one of each ten that are within these doors were heirs of the grace of life and had the solide and spiritual expectation of heaven I think if Christ were to come presently to speak to us hee might not onely say to each twelve that are here One of you shall betray me but wee are afraid that hee would say to each twelve that are here Eleven of you shall betray mee and but one only shall passe free O doth it not concern you to enquire where ye shall rest at night when the long shadows of the everlasting evening shall be stretched out upon you I think there are some that are so settled upon their lies that if they were one day in hell and saw all the torments that are there and were brought from it the next day to live on earth they would not repent And more there are some that take them up
one day to see the joyes of heaven and bring them back again they would â—ot pursue after these blessed and everlasting â—njoyments O is not Christ much undervaâ—ued by us But I must tell you this One wo â— past but behold another wo is fast coming O â—he sâ—reighing of these spirits that are enterâ—d into their everlasting prison-house out of which there is no redemption What shall â—e your choise when Christ shall come in the â—louds I am perswaded there are many â—o whom at that day this Doctrine would be â—avishing viz. That there were not a death â—hat there were not a God and that there were â—ot an eternity Oh! will yee believe That â—he sword of the Iustice of God is bathed in heaâ—en and shall come down to make a sacrifice â—ot in the land of Idumea nor in the land of Bozra but hee is to make a sacrifice among his â—eople who seemed to make a Covenant with â—im by sacrifice Ah ah shall we say that â—f that argument were used to many that within fourty dayes they should bee at their â—ong and everlasting home they would yet â—pend thirty nine of these days in taking pleaâ—ure upon their lusts I am perswaded of â—his that there are many who think that the â—ay betwixt heaven and earth is but one days â—ourney they think they can believe in one day and triumph at night But O! it shall â—e a short triumphing that such believers as â—hese shall have Therefore O study to close with a crucified Saviour rest on him by faith delight your selves in him with love and let your souls be longing for the day when your â—oice shall bee heard in heaven and O how â—weet shall it be sung Arise arise arise my love my dove my fair one and come away foâ— behold your winter is past your everlasting summer is come and the time of the singing of birds is near When Christ shall come over these mountains of Bether hee shall cry Behold I come and the soul shall sweetly answer Come Blessed Lord Iesus Come O what a life shall it be that with these two arms yee should eternally incircle Christ and hold him in your arms or rather be incircled by him Wait fâ—â— him for he shall come and his reward is with him and he shall once take home the wearied travellers of hope SERMON IV. 1 Joh. 3. 23. This is his Commandment that ye should believe on the Name of his Son Iesus Christ c. THere are two great and excellent gifts which God in the depth of his boundlesse love hath bestowed on his own First There is that infinit gift and royal donation his own beloved Son Jesus Christ which is called The gift of God Ioh. 4 10. And secondly There is that excellent gift of the grace of Faith which God hath bestowed upon his own which is also called The gift of God Ephes. 2. 8. Faith is the gift of God And is it not certain that these two gracious gifts ought to ingage ouâ— souls and hearts much unto him Infiniâ—e Majesty could give no gift greater nor his Sâ—â— and infinite poverty could receive no â—â—her gift so suitable as Christ It was the most noble gift that heaven could give and it is the greatest advantage for earth to receive it And wee could wish that the most part of the study and practice of men that is spent in pursuit after these low and transient vanities might bee once taken up in that precious pursuit after Christ. We could wish that all the questions and debates of the time were turned over into that soul concerning question What shall we do to be saved And that all the questions controversies and contentions of the time were turned over into that divine contention and heavenly debate Who should be most for Christ who should be most for exalting of the noble and excellent plant of â—enown and that all our judgings and searchings of other mens practices and estate might â—e turned over into that useful search â—ro â—rove and examine our selves whether we be in â—he faith or not And I would ask you this question what are your thoughts concernâ—ng precious Christ seeing he is that noble â—bject of Faith We would only have you â—aking along these things by which Christ may be much commended to your hearts First There was never any that with the â—yes of Faith did behold the maâ—ehlesse beauâ—y and transcendent worth of that crucified â—aviour that returned his enemy There is â—oul conquering vertue in the face of Christ â—nd there is a heart captivating and overâ—oming power in the beauâ—y of Jesus Christ. â—his first sight that ever persecuting Saul got of Christ it brought him unto an endlessâ— captivity of love Secondly There is thâ— that we would say of precious Christ whicâ— may engage our souls unto Him that for alâ— the wrongs Believers do to Christ yet hatâ— He never an evil word of them to His Fattheâ— but commends them which is clear froâ— that of Ioh. 17. 6. where Christ doth conâ—mend the Disciples to the Father for thâ— grace of obedience They have keeped thâ— Word and for the grace of Faith verse 8 They have believed that thou didst send me and yet were not the Disciples most defectiâ—â— in obedience both in this That they did noâ—â— take up their crosse and follow Christ and alâ—â— in that they did not adhere to Him in thâ— day that He was brought to Cajaphas hall and were they not most defective in the graâ—â— of Faith as is clear from Matth. 17. 17. aâ—â— likewise from Ioh. 14. 1. He is pressing theâ— to believe in Him and yet He doth commeâ—â— them to the Father as most perfect in thâ— things Thirdly There is this that wâ— would lastly say of Him who is the noble oâ— ject of Faith look to the eminent depthâ— Christs condescendency and then ye will provoked to love Him Was it not infiâ—â—â—â— love that made Christ to ly three dayes in tâ—â— grave that we might be through all the agâ— of Eternity with Him Was it not in fâ—â—â—â— condescendency that made His precious he wear a crown of thorns that we migâ—â— eternally wear a crown of Glory Was not infinite condescendency that made Chrâ—â—â— wear a purple robe that so we might wâ—â— that precious robe of the righteousnesse of â—he Saints And was it not matchlesse condescendency that Christ who knew no sin was made sin for us and like unto us that so we might become like unto him and be made the righteousnesse of God in Him But to come to that which we intend mainâ—y to speak upon at this time which is that â—econd thing that we proposed to speak of â—rom these words and that is concerning the excellency of this grace of Faith which we cleared was holden out in that that faith was called his commandment which is so â—alled by way of eminency and excellency There are many things in Scripture which may sweetly point out the