ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Or if invitation will not fit without proclamation hear him proclaim Joh. 7.37 Jesus stood and cryed saying If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink he that believeth on me out of his belly shall flow rivers of water Or least thou shouldest think thou must come to thy cost and bring somewhat in thy hand hear how he doubles and trebbles his cry to the contrary Isa 55.1 Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price And yet lest thou say I am so far from bringing any thing in my hand that I bring a world of wickedness in my heart and my sins I fear will hinder my acceptation no saith he again Isa 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and this is thy desire thy case and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Or if all this will not do without a more solemn invitation see then how the Lord of heaven sends forth his Embassadors to move thee and entreat thee to come in 2 Cor. 5.20 Now then we are Embassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled unto God Or if he cannot woo thee lo he commands thee 1 Ioh. 3.23 And this is the Commandment that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ Or yet to drive thee to Christ he not onely commands but threatens Heb. 3.18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest but to them that believed not And what can he do more unto his Vineyard First to bid thee welcom he keeps open house secondly he invites thirdly he proclaims fourthly he calls thee sans-fee without money or moneyworth fifthly he apologizeth sixthly he sendeth seventhly he commandeth eighthly he threatneth Hear what mine Author concludes from these premises How cruel then is that man to his own wounded conscience who in his extreme spiritual thirst will not be drawn by this eight-fold merciful cord to drink his fill of the fountain of the water of life to cast himself with confidence and comfort into the arms of the Lord Iesus Yea how is it possible but that all or some of these should bring in every broken heart to believe and every one that is weary of his sins to relye upon the Lord of life for everlasting welfare Sect. 5. The promises procuring obedience to Christ ANd yet thou mayest say I have cast my self on Christ is this all I must do no there is yet another step he is not onely to be thy Savior but thy husband thou must love him and serve him and honor him and obey him thou must endeavor not onely for pardon of sin and salvation from hell but for purity new obedience ability to do or suffer any thing for Christ And to provoke thee to this duty consider of these texts Matth. 7.21 Not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven Matth. 11.29 Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall finde rest unto your souls Matth. 16.24 If any man will follow me let him take up his cross and follow me 2 Cor. 5.15 He dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselvs but unto him which dyed for them 2 Cor. 5.17 If any man be in Christ let him be a new creature old things are passed behold all things are become new 1 Joh. 1.6 7. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lye and do not the truth But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin 1 Joh. 2.5 6. He that keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God perfected hereby know we that we are in him He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked 1 Joh. 3.6 9. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God 1 Joh. 3.24 He that keepeth his Commandments dwelleth in him and hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us 1 Joh. 5.18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself and that wicked one toucheth him not All these may invite thee to enter into the holy path and to fight under Christs banner against the world the flesh and the Devil unto thy lives end Sect. 6. The promises procuring comfort in Christ ONce more thou mayest say I have been truly humbled with the sense of sin and sense of misery and sorrow for sin yea I have seen and thirsted and relyed and purposed universal obedience to my Savior and yet no comfort comes it may be so but hast thou praised God for this work of wonder the new birth wrought in thee If so then is there another duty expected from thee right precious and pleasing unto God and that is waiting yet I could wish thee address thy self to these precious promises settle thy soul on them with fixed meditation and fervent prayer and where thou perceivest the condition of the promises to be by Gods grace formed in thee thou mayest safely assure thy soul of so much favor as is expresly contained in the promises Levit. 26.40 41 42 44. If they shall confess their iniquity If their uncircumcised hearts be humbled Then will I remember my Covenant that I might be their God I am the Lord the condition is to confess and be humbled and this if thou dost the Covenant is sure the Lord is thy God Job 33.27 28. If any say I have sinned and perverted that which is right and it profited me not he will deliver his soul from going into the pit and his life shall see the light The condition is If any say I have sinned if thy heart say thus in sincerity and truth the promise is sure God will deliver thy soul from hell and thou shalt see the light of heaven Psal 51.17 A broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise The condition is a broken and a contrite heart for sin and if thy heart be thus be sure God will not despise it Prov. 28.13 Whosoever confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy The condition is to confess and forsake sin and this if thou dost as sure as God is God thou shalt have mercy Isa 57.17 I dwell in the
of sins and led an holy and religious life that so thou mayest enter into that rest of heaven Heb. 4.11 Thirdly hast thou always prepared thy heart before thou wentest into the house of the Lord by meditation of Gods Word and Works by examination and reformation of thy ways by prayer thanksgiving and holy resolution to carry thy self as in Gods presence and to hear and obey whatsoever thou shouldst learn out of the pure Word of God Fourthly hast thou repaired to Gods house in due time and stayed the whole time of Prayer reading preaching of the Word singing of Psalms receiving of the Sacraments Fifthly hast thou performed private religious offices upon the Lords day to wit In private prayer and thanksgiving in acknowledging thy offences to God in reconciling thy self to those thou hast offended or with whom thou art at variance in visiting the sick comforting the afflicted contributing to the necessity of the poor instructing thy Children and servants and the rest of thy family in the fear and nurture of the Lord Or for the sins here forbidden Say first hast thou not sometime spent the Lords day in idleness Ezek. 46.10 or in wordly business in vanities or in sin Secondly hast thou not omitted publique duties or comest in too late or wentest out too soon Nehem. 10.31 and 13.15 Thirdly hast thou not on those days sold wares carried burthens brought in sheaves or wrought in the harvest Fourthly hast thou not employed thy cattel or servants or children or any other though thou workest not thy self Fifthly hast thou not profaned the Lords day by needless works words or thoughts about thy calling or about thy recreation Sixthly have not the strict observance of the duties of that day been tedious unto thee saying in thine heart When will the day be gone Amos 8.5 If in any of these thou hast transgressed then hast thou broken this Commandment Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day Sect. 6. Sins against the fifth Commandment IT is the fifth Commandment Honor thy father and thy mother For the duties here required they are either in Family Common-weal Church First Ephes 5.25 1 Pet. 3.7 for the Family Say if thou art an husband 1. Hast thou ever loved thy wife and dealt with her according to knowledge giving honor to her as to the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers were not hindred If thou art a wife Eph 5.22 24. 1 Pet. 3.4 2. Hast thou submitted to thine own husband as unto the Lord in every thing 3. Hast thou put on the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price If thou art a parent 4. Ephes 6.4 Hast thou brought up thy children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord 5. Hast thou corrected them yet not provoked them by immoderate correction 6. Hast thou provided for them in their callings 2 Tim. 5.8 Rom. 1.30 or outward estates If thou art a childe 7. Hast thou obeyed thy parents and received correction with submission and reverence 8. Heb. 12.9 Hast thou relieved them in their wants 9. Hast thou observed their instructions and covered their infirmities If thou art a master 10. Hast thou entertained Gods servants Prov. 15.15 Gen. 9.22 Col. 4.1 Tit. 2.9 10. and given unto thy servant that which is just and equal If thou art a servant 11. Hast thou been obedient to thy master according to the flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of heart as unto Christ Not answering again not purloyning but shewing all good fidelity Secondly for the Common-weal if thou art a Magistrate 12. Hast thou executed just laws 13. Hast thou reformed others abuses according to the power that is in thee If thou art a Subject 14. Hast thou obeyed the higher Powers in all just commands 15. Hast thou been subject unto them Rom. 13.5 not onely for wrath but also for conscience sake Thirdly for the Church If thou art a Minister 16. Hast thou taught in season and out of season 17. Hath thy light shined before men that they might see thy good works Matth. 5.16 Gal. 6.6 Heb 13 7 17 18. If thou art a hearer 18. Hast thou communicated to them that teach thee in all good things 19. Hast thou obeyed them and prayed for them and loved them and followed them considering the end of their conversation Or for the sins here forbidden And first for the Family Say if thou art an husband 1. Prov. 21.19 Hast thou not sometimes abused thy wife or smitten her or injured her in thought word or deed If thou art a wife 2. Hast thou not been wasteful or froward or idle If thou art a childe 3. Hast thou not despised thy fathers or mothers instructions Prov. 15.5 Prov. 30.17 and 20.20 4. Hast thou not mocked them or despised them or cursed them or smitten them or shamed them or grieved them If thou art a master 5. Hast thou not governed thy family negligently 6. Hast thou not with-held that which is just and equal in diet wages encouragement If thou art a servant 7. Hast thou not been idle and slothful 8. Hast thou not served grudgingly and not from the heart Secondly for the Common-weal If thou art a Magistrate 9. Hast thou not been as a Lyon or a Bear roaring and ranging over the poor people Prov. 28.15 Esa 10.1 10. Hast thou not decreed unrighteous decrees respecting the persons of the poor or honoring the persons of the mighty If thou art a Subject 11. Hast thou not reviled the Gods Levit. 19.15 Exod. 12.28 Rom. 13.1 7. or cursed the Ruler of thy people 12. Hast thou not disobeyed the higher Powers or not denied tribute or custom or honor or fear to whom they are due Thirdly for the Church if thou art a Minister 13. Hast thou not been prophane and wicked in thy life and conversation Ierem. 23.11 14. Hast thou not run before thou wast sent or being sent hast thou not been negligent in the gift that is in thee 1 Tim. 4.14 Ierem. 23.13 16. Hast thou not prophesied in Baal and caused Gods people to erre 17. Hast thou not committed simony or sought indirectly for the fleece not regarding respectively the flock 18. Hast thou not strengthened the hands of evil doers Ierem. 23.14 in preaching peace to wicked men 19. Hast thou not given heed to fables or to some unprofitable matter rather than to godly edifying 1 Tim. 1.4 which is in faith If thou art an hearer 20 Hast thou not resisted the Minister and the Word preached by him Gal. 6.6 Heb. 13.7 17 18. whatsoever thou art husband or wife or parent or childe or master or servant or Magistrate or Subject or Minister or hearer if in any of these thou hast transgressed then hast thou broke this Commandment Honor thy father and thy mother Sect.
all men the most unlikely is a Jew of all Jews a Ruler of all Rulers a Pharisee Have any of the Rulers or the Pharisees believed on him But howsoever it seem thus unlikely unto us the Spirit of God bloweth where it listeth here is amongst many believers one Nicodemus and he is a man of the Pharisees a Ruler of the Jews vers 1 a Jew a Ruler a Pharisee Luk. 3.8 God is able even of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham yea we see here be they never so stony our Saviour melts one of them with a miracle and by a new birth he will make him a son of Abraham indeed A miracle brings him to Christ and Christ brings him to a new birth The first Nicodemus confesseth vers 2 Rabbi faith he to our Savior we know that thou art a Teacher come from God for no man can do these miracles that thou dost except God be with him The second our Savior affirmeth as if he had answered to say I am sent from God and not to be born again will never help thee to Heaven thy confession is right that I am sent from God but thy conversation is wrong that art not born again thou comest to me with confession of thy faith but here is a further Catechism another lesson and therefore as thou callest me Rabbi if thou wilt be a Scholar in my School thou must learn these principles these rudiments these first things this text this A B C of Christian an Religion Except a man be born again he cannst see the Kingdom of God In prosecution of which words all tending to this one point of the new birth we shall follow the order set down by the Holy Ghost where is 1. The necessity of it no going to heaven without it Except 2. The generality of it every man is bound to it a man 3. The maner of it how a man is wrought in it he must be born again 4. The issue of it what effects are annext to it the Kingdom of God and sight of that Kingdom a man that is born again shall see the Kingdom of God and Except a man be born again he shall not see the Kingdom of God These be the branches and of every of them by Gods assistance we shall gather some fruit for the food of your souls The first branch is the first word Except Except THis Except is without exception for unless we are new born there is no going to Heaven before we live here we are born and before we live there we are new born as no man comes into this world but by the first birth so impossible it is that any should go to Heaven in another world but by the second birth And this gives us the necessity of Regeneration Except a man be new born Doct. he can never be saved It is our Saviors speech and he confirms it with a double asseveration Verily verily I say unto thee Twice verily which we finde not any where but in S. Johns Gospel Rupert in loc and no where in the Gospel so oft as on this argument how then should we disbelieve this truth where we have such a witness as Christ such a testimony as his Verily verily I say unto thee Again God the Father thus counsels not onely Nicodemus but all the Jews of the old Church Ezek. 18.31 saying Make you a new heart and a new spirit for why will you dye O house of Israel Ezek. 18.31 Notwithstanding all their priviledges for they are Israelites Rom. 9.4 to whom pertains the adoption and the glory and the Covenants and the giving of the Law and the service of God and the promises Rom. 9.4 Yet here is one thing necessary Vuum necessarium that must crown all the rest they must have a new heart and a new spirit that is to say they must be new born or there is no way but death from which death see how the Lord pulls them with his cords of love alluring wooing questioning Why will ye dye O house of Israel And yet again not onely the Son and the Father Revel 2.17 but the Holy Ghost too will avouch this truth He that hath an ear Rev. 3.12.13 let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches Mos erat antiquis niveis atrisque lapillis his damnare reos illis absolvere paena Metamorphos l. 15. Hunc macrine diem numera meliore lapillo Pers Sat sâ—cunda Aretius in loc 1 Cor. 5.17 And what 's that To him that overcometh will I give a white stone and in the stone a new name written yea I will write upon him New Jerusalem and I will write upon him my new name Revel 2.17 and 3.12 The meaning is he that is new born and so overcomes sin Gods Spirit will give him his grace the white stone and his Kingdom the new Jerusalem and a new name the name of filiation saith a Modern whereby truly he is called the new born Son of God See here how old things being done away all things are become new by a new birth man hath got a new name a new inheritance and therefore as the Spirit so the new birth is called a fire that purgeth away dross and makes souls bright and new so that we must pass thorow this fire or no passage into Paradise Nor is this Doctrine without reason or ground For Except by the second birth man is first unholy Heb. 12.14 and therefore most unfit to enter into Heaven Without holiness no man shall see God Heb. 12.14 And what is man before he is new born if we look upon his soul we may see it deformed with sin defiled with lust outraged with passions overcarried with affections pining with envy burthened with gluttony boyling with revenge transported with rage and thus is that Image of God transformed to the ugly shape of the Devil Or should we take a more particular view every faculty of the soul is full of iniquity the understanding understands nothing of the things of God 1 Cor. 2.14 the will wills nothing that is good 1 Cor. 2.14 Rom. 6.20 Gal. 5.17 Rom. 6.20 the affections affect nothing of the Spirit Gal. 5.17 In a word the understanding is darkned the will enthralled the affections disordered the memory defiled the conscience benummed all the inner man is full of sin and there is no part that is good no not one But what say we of the body sure that is nothing better it is a rotten carrion altogether unprofitable and good for nothing should we view it in every part and member of it the head contrives mischief the eyes behold vanity the ears let in sin the tongue sends out oaths Come we lower the heart lodgeth lusts the hands commit murther the feet run to evil all the senses are but so many matches to give fire to lusts deceits envies and what not How needful now is a new birth to a man in
this case Can he enter into heaven that savours all of earth Will those precious gates of gold and pearls open to a sinner No he must first be new moulded and sanctified or he is excepted Except a man be new born Secondly Except This and man is Gods enemy no greater opposition than betwixt God and a sinner Consider we him in his essence or in his attributes in his essence he is called Jehovah both in respect of his being and of his promises in respect of his being and so God is contrary to sin for sin is ataxy disorder confusion a not-being and God is order perfection holiness an absolute and a simple being in respect likewise of his promises wherein there is a main opposition to sin for howsoever he promiseth a reward to the regenerate and so the name Jehovah is a golden pledge unto us Psal 11.6 that if we repent he will forgive us yet withal he promiseth storms and tempest fire and perdition to the unregenerate and thus his name and nature is altogether opposite to sin and sinners But view we those attributes of God I mean his Justice truth patience holiness anger power his Justice in punishing the impenitent according to his deserts his truth effecting those plagues which he hath spoken in his time his patience forbearing sins destruction till they are grown full ripe his holiness abhorring all impurities He cannot behold iniquity his anger stirring up revenge against all offered injuries his power mustring up his forces yea all his creatures against his enemies and what can we say but if all these attributes are at enmity with sinful man woe worth to man because of offences better he had never been born then not to be new born alas what shall become of him Can he that is Gods enemy see God in his glory no there is no way but one Except he repent Except he be born again Thirdly Ephes 2.12 1 Cor. 5.17 Except by a new birth man is without Christ for If any man be in Christ he is a new creature And if he be not in Christ what hopes of that man It is onely Christ that opens Heaven it is onely Christ that is the Way to Heaven besides him there is no Way no Truth no Life and if we be in him as the branch in the vine it is of necessity that we bring forth good fruit Upon these terms his death is effectual if we become new creatures or otherwise all his Merits his blood that was shed his body that was crucified his soul that was agonized they are nothing unto us we nothing bettered by them he dyed for all but his death is not applyed his Kingdom is not opened save onely unto them that have learned and practised this rule of Exception Except a man be born again Fourthly Except before Excepted a man is a very limb of Satan a childe of darkness and one of the Family of Hell Consider this ye that are out of the state of Grace in what miserable thraldom is your souls Should any call you servants or slaves of Satan you would take it highly in disdain but take it as you please if you are not regenerate you are in no better case Paul appeals to your own knowledge Rom. 6.16 23. Know you not that to whomsoever you give your selves as servants to obey his servants ye are to whom ye obey Rom. 6.16 23. If then ye obey the Devils suggestions which you do being unborn what are you but the Devils servants And if he be your Master what is you wages You may see it in the last verse The wages of sin is death death of the body and death of the soul death here and death hereafter in Hell fire Alas that Satan should have this power on man that he who is the enemy and means nothing to a sinner but death and damnation should be his Lord and Tyrannize it over him at his own will and pleasure Would any man be hired to serve Lyons and Tygers 1 Pet. 5.8 And is not the Devil a roaring Lyon walking about and seeking whom he may devour To serve him that would devour his servant is a most miserable bondage and what pay can one expect from Devils but roaring and devouring and tearing souls In this plight are the servants of Corruption slaves of Satan so I rightly call them for Of whomsoever a man is overcome 2 Pet. 2.19 even unto the same is he in bondage 2 Peter 2.19 To winde up this point Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle who shall rest in thy Holy Mountain If we believe David Not he that slandereth with his tongue or doth evil to his Neighbor Psa 15.1 3 5. Or giveth his money upon Vsury or taketh a reward against the innocent No such are servants of Satan and here is matter of Exception against them Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God The sum of all Without Regeneration no Kingdom for whether we consider man in regard of himself or of God or of Christ or of Satan he is Except he be new born unholy Gods enemy out of Christ in Satan And if the New Birth be thus necessary Vse how should we (a) Thus is the language of God I said Behold me to a nation that was not called by my Name Isa 65.1 labor to be born again I mean not as Nicodemus to enter into our mothers womb again and be born It is not the seed of man in the womb of our Mother but the seed of Grace in the womb of the Church that makes us blessed and if we are thus born by Grace then are we sanctified made Sons of God Heirs with Christ over whom Satan can have no power at all Now then as you tender your souls and desire Heaven at your ends (b) Thus whilest the Minister speaks its Christ comes with power in the word Eze. 18.31 endeavor to attain this one thing necessary (c) Pray because God bids you pray it may be he will come in when you pray When Simon Magus was in the gall of bitterness Peter bid him pray Actâ— 8 22. Lift up your hearts unto God that you may be washed justified sanctified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and that by the Spirit of God you may walk in new ways talk with new tongues as being new creatures created unto good works Thus would you (d) Not that we can wait by a power of our own but he that saith Therefore will the Lord wait that be may be gracious to you Isa 30.18 He draws and gives a power to wait on him and he comes in when he hath waited the fittest time wait on God in his way I trust the Lord in mercy would remember you and his Spirit would blow upon you and then you would finde and feel such a change within you as that you would bless God for ever that you were thus born again Otherwise how
nature in diverse respects to their several causalities Thus a man must have repentance before he have saving and justifying faith and yet a man must have faith before the work of repentance be perfect in the soul As we maintain repentance to be a precedent work so we deny it not to be a subsequent effect Sorrow is before the birth too as the Apostle intimates 2 Cor. 2 Cor. 7.10 7.10 Godly sorrow works repentance that is sorrow prepares a man for repentance it goes afore it and prepares for it And now it is that Gods spirit begins to renew his heart as God himself proclaimeth I will put a new spirit within them and I will take the stony heart out of their bodies and will give them an heart of flesh Ezek. 11.19 Ezek. 11.19 his heart that before was hard as flint now begins to relent and soften and break in pieces Acts 2.37 How so it is Gods Spirit that pricks the heart and this pricking softens it Dum pungit ungit saith Jorom Hieronym Compunction softens and supples the heart so that be it never so stony presently it becomes an heart of flesh you know those that are apt to weep or yern or sorrow we call them tender-hearted you may be sure then he that is prickt till his heart bleed inwardly he that weeps blood which every heart doth that is prickt on this maner sure his heart is tender indeed I say tender for as the very word imports 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his heart weeps why his heart is broken David joyns these together A broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Psalm 51.17 Psal 51.17 And no wonder if an heart that is broken and rent and wounded and prickt falls a weeping blood well might David say when he was broken Psal 38.8 I have wept Psal 38.8 nay more I have roared for the very grief or disquietness of my heart and again My soul or my heart melteth or droppeth for very heaviness Not that his heart dropt indeed Psal 119.28 but because the tears which he shed were not drops of water running onely from his eyes an onion may cause so much but issuing from his heart which heart being grieved and sore grieved it is said to be wounded and so his tears coming from it they may be called no less then very blood drops of blood issuing from a wounded heart Thus it is with the man now laboring in his new birth his heart grieves his eye weeps whence the Proverb The way to heaven is by weeping cross the way to Gods kingdom is to cry like children coming into the world the way to be new born is to feel throws as a woman laboring of childe and so is Christ formed in us Can a man be born again without bitterness of soul no if ever he come to a sight of sin and that Gods sanctifying Spirit work in him sorrow for sin his soul will mourn till he may say with Jeremy Mine eye droppeth without stay mine eye breaketh my heart because of all the daughters of my City because of all the sins of my soul Lament 3.51 True it is Lam. 3.49 51. as some infants are born with more pain to the mother and some with less so may the new man be regenerated in some with more in some with less anxiety of travel but more or less it cannot be so little but the man that labors in these pangs shall mourn and mourn There shall be a great mourning as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon Zach. 12.11 What else Zach. 12.11 He cannot look on a Saint that sailed not first through the Ocean of tears and therefore he falls on his face with Abraham Gen. 17.17 Gen. 32.24 Iob 3. 1 Sam. 1.15 Psal 119.136 Isa 38.14 he wrestles with God like Jacob he roars out his grief with Job he pours out his soul with Hanna he weeps rivers of tears with David he mourns as a dove with Hezekiah yea like a crane or a swallow so doth he chatter Isa 38.14 O the bitter pangs and sore travel of a man when he must be born again The fourth step is Seeking rightly for comfort He runs not to the world or flesh or Divel miserable comforters all but to Scripture to Prayer or to the Ministery of Gods word if he finde comfort in Scriptures he meets with it in the * Lex ostendit peccatum at Solum Evangelium peccati remedium Aug. tract 17. in Joh. Gospel not the Law but the Gospel saith the Apostle is the power of God to salvation to every one that believeth Rom. 1.16 The Law is indeed the ministery of death and damnation 2 Cor. 3.7 but the Gospel is the glad tidings of salvation Luk. 2.10 The Law shews a man his wretched estate but shews him no remedy and yet we abolish not the Law in ascribing this comfort to the Gospel onely Rom. 1.16 2 Cor. 3.7 Luk. 2.10 though it be no cause of it yet is it the occasion of it those doleful terrors and fears of conscience begotten by the Law may be in their own nature the very gates and downfal to the pit of hell yet I cannot deny but they are certain occasions of receiving grace and if it please God that the man now laboring in his pangs of the new birth do but rightly settle his thoughts on the Gospel of Christ no doubt but thence he may suck the sweetest comforts and delights that ever were revealed to man Or if he finde comfort in prayer to which he ever and anon repairs in every of these steps then is it by Christ in whose name onely he approacheth to that heavenly throne of grace no sooner had the King of Niniveh humbled himself but his proclamation runs Ionah 3.8 9. Let man and beast be covered with sack cloth and cry mightily unto God Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not and thus the man now wrestling with the grievous afflictions and terrors of his conscience Who can tell saith he if God will turn away his fierce anger let me then cry mightily unto the Lord of heaven let me cry and continue crying until the Lord of mercy do in mercy look upon me and if for all this God give him a repulse for reasons best known to himself if at the first second third fourth or at many more times he seem to have cryed in vain at last he flyes to the ministery of the Word and if he may have his will he would hit upon the most skilful experienced searching and sound-dealing man amongst all Gods Messengers thus was it with Peters hearers whose hearts being pricked and rent with legal terrors then could they begin to cry it out Men and brethren what shall we do Act. 2.37 Act. 2.37 Thus was it with the Jaylor who after his trembling and falling down to
the ground in an humble abasement could then begin to say Sirs what must I do to be saved Act. 16.30 Act. 16.30 And thus the man now ready to be born again if he finde no means to asswage the rage and terrors of his guilty conscience at last he comes to Gods Minister with a What shall I do what must I do to be saved Alas now I feel the wounded conscience the broken heart the spiritual blindness the captivity and poverty of which often you have told me if then there be any instruction direction or duty which may tend to my good or free me from this evil now open those lips that should preserve knowledge now direct me in Gods fear and I will willingly follow it with my utmost endeavors And now and not till now hath Gods Minister a strong and seasonable calling to amplifie and magnifie the soul-saving sufficiency of Christs death and passion were the blood of Christ and promise of Salvation proffered to an unwounded conscience what were it but like the pouring of a most soveraign balsam upon a sound member of man It is the onely right everlasting method first to wound by the Law and then to heal by the Gospel first to cause smart for sin and then to lay to a plaister of Christs blood and therefore when the heart is broken then hath the man of God his warrant to binde it up again then may he magnifie Gods mercy then may he set out to the height the heavenly beauty of Christs passion and person and thus playing the Midwife by his high and holy art of comforting the afflicted at last the childe of God prepared for his birth becomes a man born again The fifth step is a clear I say not a general sight which he had before but The clear sight of Christ laid open to the eye of Faith no sooner is the poor wounded soul informed throughly in the mystery and mercy of the Gospel but he then looks on his Savior as the Jews on the brazen serpent and seeing him lifted up on the cross he cannot but see in him an infinite treasury of mercy and love a boundless and bottomless sea of tender-heartedness and pity a whole heaven of sweetness happiness peace and pleasures After the spirit of bondage enters the Spirit of adoption the terrors of the Law leads him to the comforts of the Gospel his sorrow for sin brings him to the clear light of his Savior and then as a man in deaths-pangs that lifts up his eyes to heaven whence cometh his help so he in births-pangs lifts up his eyes to Christ who must either help him or he sinks under his sin to the bottomless bottom of hell And I must tell you this sight of Christ Jesus to an humbled sinner together with those glorious priviledges which he brings with him as Reconciliation to God forgiveness of sins adoption justification righteousness wisdom sanctification Matth. 6.29 redemption it is a most pleasant ravishing heavenly sight Not Solomon in all his royalty no nor the lillies of the field arrayed better then Solomon not all the curious sights on earth nor all those glittering spangles in heaven can possibly afford such pleasure or delight to the eye of man as doth this one object Christ bleeding on the cross to the soul of a sinner Imagine that you saw some malefactor whose tryal and doom were past to be led to the doleful place of execution imagine that you heard him wail and weep for his mis-spent time for his bloody acts for his heynous crimes yea imagine his wailings and weepings so bitter that they were able to force tears from others and to make all eyes shoot and water that but lookt upon him if this man in this case should suddenly see his King running and riding towards him with his pardon in his hand what a sight would this be sure there is none to this Thus thus it is with the man sorrowing for sin whilest he is weeping his case and confessing what a little step there is betwixt him and damnation as if he were now at hells mouth the very place of execution in a maze he looks upon Christ whom he sees with a spear in his side with thorns in his head with nails in his feet with a pardon in his hands offering it to all men that will but receive it by faith O here 's a sight indeed able to revive the wickedst man upon earth dead in sins and trespasses And now there is hopes of the birth if it once come to this there is more then probability of an happy delivery we may call it the stirrings of Gods childe or the first feelings of life before he is born again The sixth step is An hungring desire after Christ and his merits and to this step blessed are they that arrive Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled Matth. Matth. 5.6 5.6 Filled how I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely Revel 21.6 Rev. 21.6 this is the step as if it were in Jacobs ladder that raiseth him on high towards heaven it is such a token of true faith that he who hath it needs no more doubt that he believeth then he that breatheth needs to doubt that he liveth and why his thirst of worldly things is cooled his thirst of heavenly things inflamed Object But Christ saith He that drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst Sol. Non siti miserae indigentiae sed siti copiosioris fruitionis No hungry man did ever with more appetite wish for meat nor thirsty man for drink nor covetous man for money nor ambitious man for glory then he now longeth to be reconciled unto God in Christ in this case had he the pleasures and profits of a thousand worlds willingly would he part with all for the application of Christs sufferings it is that soveraign blood that can onely heal his soul it is that bitter passion which can onely quench his thirst give him but the merits of Christs death whereby God and he may be at one and he cares not though he suffer death and hell again yea he will venture goods life all or if that be not it which the Lord requires he will do whatever behoves him even sell all all that he hath part with all sin that he loveth yea were it his right hand or his right eye nothing shall be dear to him so that he may injoy his Savior O here 's a thirst above all thirsts it breeds ardent desires vehement longings unutterable groans mighty gaspings just like the dry and thirsty ground that gasps and cleaves and opens for drops of rain David though in the desert of Ziph a barren and dry land without water yet he complains most because of his thirst My soul thirsteth for thee O God Psal 63.1 Psal 63.1 This is that violent affection that
these manifold sins O that by these sins I should break so holy a law provoke so good and great a Majesty What shall I do but remembring my evil ways Ezek. 36.31 even loath my self in my own sight yea abhor my self in dust and ashes for my iniquities and my abominations c. For conclusion thou mayst imitate the Publican who not daring to lift up his eyes smote his brest so do thou and sigh Luke 18.13 and say with him O God be merciful to me a sinner CHAP. IV. Sect. 1. The third means to get into the new birth AFter Confession which may well serve thee for another days work the next duty thou must labor for is to seek for true sorrow and mourning for thy sins Seek thou must and never leave seeking till thou feel thy heart melt within thee To this purpose reade some tracts of death of judgement of hell of Christs passion of the joys of heaven Last of all and I take it best of all resolve to set every day some time apart to beg it of the Lord When Daniel set himself to pray the Lord came in to him Dan. 9.3 When Peter had gone apart to pray and when Paul had prayed in the Temple then the Lord came in to them Act. 10.6 and 22.17 And why may not I bid thee pray as well as Peter bid Simon Magus yet being in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity Act. 8.22 23. and at the time appointed fall down on thy knees spread thy Catalogue confess accuse judge condemn thy self again which done beg beg of the Lord to give thee that soft heart he promised Ezek. 36.26 Ezek. 36.26 A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh Say then to thy self Is this the Lords promise O Lord perform it to my heart take away my stony heart give me an heart of flesh a new heart a new spirit c. here make thine own prayer be not careful of words onely let the words be the true voice of thy heart and the more to work softning thou mayest sob and sigh and beat thy brest above all thou must pray and call and cry with vehemency and fervency not to be uttered When thou hast done if the Lord do not yet hear thee pray again the next day and the next day yea put on this resolution that thou wilt never leave praying till the Lord hear thee in mercy till he make thee to feel thy heart melt within thee yea if it may be till thou seest thy * Ut hoc modo confring as capita draconum tuorum in aquis tears trickling down thy cheeks because of thy offences The Lord will perhaps hear thee at the first time or at the second time or if he do not persist thou thy suit is just and importunity will prevail yea I can say thy desire to sorrow being resolute it is a degree of godly sorrow it self and no doubt the Lord will increase it if thou begst hard a while Sect. 2. The first reason for this sorrow THis must be done first because without pangs no birth Quid sunt dolores parturientis nisi dolores poenitentis saith Saint Austin the pangs of a penitent man are as the pangs of a woman Aug. in Psal 48. Now as there can be no birth without pains of travel going before so neither true repentance without some terrors of the law and straits of conscience Rom. 8.15 Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear saith the Apostle to the Romans and what is that but to shew us they once did receive it when but in the very first preparation to conversion then it was that the Spirit of God in the law did so bear witness unto them of their bondage that it made them to fear And certainly thus it is with every man in his first conversion his contrition must be compungent and vehement bruising breaking renting the heart and feeling the throws as a woman laboring of childe before there can be a new birth or the new creature be brought forth Sect. 3. The second reason for this sorrow AGain without contrition no Christ therefore it was that God first opened the eyes of our first parents to make them see and be sensible of their sin and misery Gen. 3.7 15. Chrysost in c. 3 Matth. hom 11. Gen. 3.7 before he promised Christ vers 15. therefore it was that John Baptist saith Chrysostome first throughly frighted the mindes of his hearers with the terror of judgement and expectation of torment and with the name of an axe and their rejection and entertainment of other children and by doubling the punishment to wit of being hewn down and cast into the fire and when he had thus every way tamed and taken down their stubbornness then at length he makes mention of Christ Why then is Christ seasonably revealed saith Musculus when the hearts of men being soundly pierced by preaching repentance Musc in Mat. c. 3. Sect. Tunc accedit Iesus Calvin in Esay 61. are possessed with a desire of his gracious righteousness Or if you will hear Calvin To whom is Christ promised but to them alone who are humbled and confounded with the sense of their own sins Certainly the first thing that draws to Christ is to consider our miserable estate without him No man will come to Christ except he be hungry no man will take Christs yoke upon him till he come to know and feel the weight of Satans yoke to this end therefore must every man be broken with threats and scourges and lashes of conscience that so despairing of himself he may flye unto Christ Sect. 4. The third reason for this sorrow AGain Iam. 4.10 without hearty sorrow no spiritual comfort We must first be humbled before the Lord and then he will lift us up Christ indeed was anointed to preach good tidings but to whom to the poor to the broken-hearted to the captives to them that are bound Esay 61.11 to the bruised Esay 61.11 God pours not the oyl of his mercy save into a broken vessel God never comforts throughly save where he findes humiliation and repentance for sin Forbes on Revel c. 14. The word of God saith one hath three degrees of operation in the hearts of his chosen First it falleth to mens ears as the sound of many waters a mighty great and confused sound and which commonly bringeth neither terror nor joy but yet a wondring and acknowledgement of a strange force and more then humane power this is that effect which many felt hearing Christ when they were astonished at his doctrine as teaching with authority Mar. 1.22 27. Luke 4.32 Iohn 7.46 what maner doctrine is this never man spake like this man The next effect is the voice of thunder which bringeth