nothing to have the Gospel taken from them yet when that is taken from you know that the Kingdom of God is taken from you that place in Mat. 21. 43. is very remarkable O this is one of the dreadfullest Threats therefore say I unto you The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a Nation bringing forth the fruits thereof When you have the preaching of the Gospel in the clearness if it among you know that you have the Kingdom of God among you Now God doth require that you should bring forth the fruits thereof therefore examine your own Hearts what fruits of the Kingdom of God are in my Life in my Family Why the Kingdom of God is among us that 's the meaning of Christ's and Johns preaching Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand that is now comes the Revelation of Jesus Christ in the Gospel and he calls people to Repent upon this Ground O Repent and Turn from your sins Why for the Revelation of Jesus Christ is come among you I say to you in this place therefore Repent Repent now for the Lord is coming to Open the Kingdom of Heaven and to Reveal the Grace of Christ and the Glorious things of Eternal Life to you and therefore if you should please your selves rather in sporting upon the Lords Day and going to Ale-Houses and Wicked places rather than Attending upon the Word why the Lord may take away this Gospel and so take away the Kingdom of Heaven from you and the taking that from you it is but a fore-runner to the depriving of you from the Everlasting Kingdom that the Saints shall have to all Eternity And know there is no Dallying with God for when thou comest to the Offer of Mercy in Christ saith Christ either come in or not Christ calls for your Answer quickly Though the Lord be very patient towards men that never yet understood the Offering of the Gospel of Christ but if they come once to have Christ preached to them they must not expect the like patience When John began to preach Christ you know what he said Now is the Axe lay'd to the root of the Tree And why now more than before Because now the Kingdom of Heaven is to be preached to them and now Every Tree that bringeth not forth good Fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the Fire Perhaps they have gone this Thirty or Forty Years and there was no Hewing of them down but now the Axe is lay'd to the root of the Tree You know that of Christ to his Apostles go your wayes and preach saith he He that Believes shall be Saved and he that Believes not shall be damned there is no more ado either Believe and be Saved or Believe not and be Damned there is quick work and indeed that 's a Point that I would very gladly have been upon even the Consideration of the Quick Work of God upon those Souls that shall reject the Ministry of the Gospel Sermon VI. Luke 10. 6. If not it shall return to you again THere are Two Points more remaining which is to be the Subject of this Excercise The First is this That those that are not the Sons of Peace what is means you have had already opened that do not imbrace the Ministry of the Gospel they shall have no Blessing from the peace of the Gospel they shall not be partakers of the good of the Gospel Secondly That God is very quick with those that do not embrace his Gospel Go and say peace if there be a Son of peace well and good they shall have peace if not It shall return saith Christ From the manner of the phrase that note was raised That God doth use to be very quick with those that do not embrace the Gospel I shall be very short in the Former of these two because I would gladly have a little more time in the Latter Those who entertain not the Gospel they shall not have the Blessing of it I shall not need to go far for another Scripture which is indeed a very dreadful one to this purpose Luke 14. 14. For I say unto you that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my Cup. We have there a Parable A certain man made a great Supper and bade many The meaning is this It is to set out God the Fathers preparing of his Son and of these Blessed Dainties at the Marriage of his Son The scope of it is to shew the excellent things of the Gospel that they are no other but the Dainties that are prepared by the great King of Heaven at the Marriage of his Son The Scope of it is to shew the excellent things of the Gospel that they are no other but the Dainties that are prepared by the great King of Heaven at the Marriage of his Son unto Souls unto Believers Well there are sent his Ministers they are the Servants of this King they are sent to Invite to this Marriage to Invite men to partake of the Blessed things of the Gospel Upon this Invitation we see that generally it was rejected One saith he hath bought a Farm another a Yoak of Oxen and another hath Marryed a Wife c. and the Ministers they come in and give this account to God Lord we have according to thy Command invited them to come in to partake take of the good things of the Gospel but these are their Excuses their hearts are set upon other things Now mark their doom in ver 24. For I say unto you that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my Supper That is do they thus reject it and slight it and disregard it I say to you I profess it that there 's not one of them shall make such a slight account of that Blessed Gospel of mine and the glorious things contained therein not one of them that shall taste of my Supper Only one Text more in Rom. 2. 8. But unto them which are contentious and do not obey the truth that must needs be meant of the truth of the Gospel but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every Soul of man that doth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile Those who are set upon their evil wayes and will not obey the truth you see what their Doom is The first is privative That they shall not taste of the Supper the other is Positive Wrath and indignation and anguish shall be upon them You will say That this shall return What then What great Evil wil follow upon this what most dreadful Evils Why first The very want and privation of the Infinite good that the Gospel tenders to thee is evil enough and the remaining under all those Evils that the Gospel would have delivered thee from that 's evil enough as thus What doth the Gospel return and the Blessing from you why then you remain under the guilt of all your Sins and stand charged
from it without the rending of our hearts It is with many mens Spirits as it is with the Bee when it comes to sting it thrusts its sting so far in that it cannot get it out but leaves it there So our hearts are so riveted into the Creature that we cannot part with the Creature and when God would take away the Creature from us it is as dear unto us c. And that 's the reason that people do so cry out and complain that they are undone and wring their hands if they have but lost any part of their Estates though they have a great part still remaining Oh how they wring their hands as if they were undone Oh thou didst not learn when thou wert full how to be full That man or woman that is immoderately sorrowful when God takes away the Creature from them did never learn how to be full that is to know how to be full when we can tell how to enjoy them and how to be without them O think of this when you are at your full Tables Now I have al things about me but can I now if God should call me to suffer poverty could I be content to be laid in a Prison for his Name sake Paul he could when he was at the fullest readily come off O Lord if thou wilt honour thy self by me in a Prison or Poverty or Disgrace why Lord here I am He was ready prepared And know that you have not learned how to be full except you can find your hearts in the midst of your fulness to be ready prepared to part with all your fulness for Jesus Christ Now in the very naming of these things I suppose you all think this is hard lesson you think it 's hard for poor people to know how to want that 's hard but the truth is it 's rather the harder of the two to know how to be full That 's the fifth thing when a man knows how to be full Sixthly Then doth a man know how to be full when he can make all his fulness to be furtherance of his graces to act his graces to exercise his graces to draw forth his graces As now when he can make the fulness that he hath to be a means to act and draw forth the grace of Love to love God in all his fulness Not so much to love the Creature as to love God in the Creature When he can make his fulness to be a means to help his faith Thus Lord thou hast said That godliness hath the promise of this life and the life that is to come why Lord thou hast made thy promise good unto me and so it strengthens my faith When a mans fulness can exercise the grace of Charity to others When a mans fulness can exercise his grace of heavenly mindedness as in this manner O Lord These comforts that thou givest me in thy creatures O they are sweet but how sweet is thy self how sweet is Jesus Christ that is the fulness of all this fulness And if so be that this life be so sweet here in this world what hast thou then in the heavens to make me to long after heaven Then a man hath learned how to be full when he knows how to exercise his graces by his fulness that that which deads the graces of other men shall be a means to exercise his graces Seventhly And so I might make that another consideration When this fulness doth lead him to the fountain of his fulness that is when his grace leads him to God to acknowledge him in all and to be thankful to God in all when it stirs up his thankfulness to God and when it encourages him in the duties that God doth require of him O I receive much wages saith a gracious heart I receive much from God then surely there must needs be much work required at my hands I receive more than others do and therefore it is fit that I should do more work than others do Thus a Christian learns to be full when it can further his graces and carry him to God that is the fountain of all his fulness Eighthly Then a Christian learns to be full when he can improve and lay out all his fulness for God I use it I but I do not use it for my self so much as for God When I can consider what are the opportunities of service that God grants unto me in this my fulness Doth not God give unto me a larger opportunity of service than unto others O then let me improve it for publick work Perhaps I am made a publick man whereas others that are poor that are fit for publick service as well as I in regard of their gifts and graces but because of their Estate they cannot be employed in publick work as I. Now I will improve my fulness in publick work that I may be a useful man in the place where God hath set me that I may be as full of good works as possibly I can that I may be a publick blessing to the place where the Lord hath cast me Why then doth a man learn to be full And then Ninthly When a man doth so use the world as if he used it not When a man enjoys his fulness of outward things but as things by the by that is so as his comforts doth not depend upon them I have comfort in them but it doth not depend upon them Most people do so enjoy their fulness that the truth is they have it as all their fulness they do not use them as things by the by but as their end Not as means to the end but as their end Then a man learns to know how to be full I say when he can use his fulness not as his end but means to the end Not as things that he doth depend upon for his happiness but as things by the by Put all these together now and here 's the man that learns to be full And thus St. Paul I am instructed as well to be full and rich as to need O I beseech you before this can come to be applied in the whole apply these particulars to your hearts In the mean time I appeal this day in the Name of God to your Conscience Have you learned to be full You are full many of you as to outward things but have you been in Christs School to learn to enjoy your fulness in such a manner as this is I am verily perswaded that many of your Consciences will cause mis-giving thoughts to be in you this day about this thing if you do believe that these are the truths of God as I cannot imagine but any man may be convinc'd of this and therefore I do not stand to enlarge and bring proofs for them but every mans conscience will tell him certainly I have not learned these things I have not learned to be full that is I have not learned to sanctifie the Name of God by my fulness Now give
and to do or Suffer any thing in the World though but upon this Supposition That if God shall be pleased but to Bless my Ministry then the Lord shall make me an Instrument to bring Peace to that place even Peace between God and their Souls to be the Means to Convey all the good unto them that Jesus Christ hath Purchased by His Blood This seem'd to be the Encouragement that God gave to Jeremiah in Chap. 36. And that was in another kind Jeremiah was to go and reveal the Threats of God but Mark what his Encouragement was in ver 3. It may be that the House of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them that they may return every man from his evil way that I may forgive their Iniquity and their Sin Saith the Lord to Jeremiah Go about this Work though it be a hard Work and let this be your Encouragement It may be Though but upon a may be The House of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them that they may return every man from his evil way that I may forgive their Iniquity and their Sin Now if this were Jeremiah's Encouragement surely a greater Encouragement it is for a Minister to go and Preach the Gospel upon a meer May be that there are some that shall Entertain the Gospel And we find it was Paul's Encouragement in divers Scriptures as I might shew you but that 's most Notable in 2 Tim. 1. 10. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ who hath Abolished Death and hath brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gospel Whereunto I am appointed a Preacher and an Apostle and a Teacher of the Gentiles Mark saith He The Gospel reveals Jesus Christ who hath Abolished Death and hath brought Life and Immortality to light And saith he God hath appointed me to be a Teacher of this For the which Cause I also suffer these things I am content to go on in this Work of the Gospel whatsoever I suffer What Is this the Errand that I am sent about to go and Preach the Gospel that brings Life and Immortality to light Let me Suffer what can be I am content to go on in this Work O It is a glorious Errand that I am sent about If it please God I speed but upon one Soul O it were worth my Life So the excellent Fruit that should come upon the Entertainment of the Gospel is here given to these Disciples for their Encouragement in the Ministry Now what is it that should Encourage the Heart of a Minister in his Work more than these Three things First That he shall be an Instrument to glorifie God Secondly An Instrument to do good to Souls Thirdly He shall have a Crown of Glory so much the more These Three things are the greatest Encouragements in the World to any gracious Heart First That he shall be an Instrument of the Glory of God For one to live to be Instrumental of the Glory of God must needs make his Life comfortable whatsoever he suffer Now there can be no such Glory that any Creature can be made a greater Instrument of than the Glory that God hath from Souls that are Sav'd by Jesus Christ It is the highest Glory that God hath from all His Creatures that there should be some Souls that should understand Jesus Christ that should admire at Him should glorifie God in Jesus Christ It is the highest Glory that God doth Injoy in Heaven next unto the Glory that He hath in Himself and in His Son that is in the Trinity But for the Glory that He hath Ab extra from His Creatures that is the highest Glory that ever God had or shall have Now for the Lord to make a Man to be an Instrument of this To bring some Souls to be Eternally Glorifying God for Jesus Christ O It is worth all a Mans Strength though he should shorten his Life Seven Years yet if there be but One or Two Souls brought by his Ministry that shall Injoy the good things in Christ this is well worth the Labour and Pains For indeed in this the Lord doth honour Men more than Angels The Lord hath not put the Angels in Heaven upon such an Honourable work as this to be the Embassadors of God and Christ for Reconciliation The Lord hath not committed the Word of Reconciliation to Angels to go and Preach that in an Ordinary way They are not Deputed by Christ to be as His Officers We never read of any such thing in the Word of God though they be sometimes Appointed to be Ministring Spirits for the good of Gods Elect to Help them to Comfort them to Avenge them of their Enemies but we never read that the Word of Reconciliation was Committed to them and to the Ministers of the Gospel And therefore there is no such Glory that they can bring to God as the Lord is Pleased to make Man to be an Instrument of In this the Lord doth Honour Man more than the Angels that he shall be Appointed to be the great Ordinance under Jesus Christ for the bringing of Souls unto Jesus Christ and so the bringing of them to Magnifie the Infinite Riches of the Grace of God in Christ to all Eternity Now Is not this worth any ones Labour and Life O what Encouragement is this whatsoever one suffers in it Secondly Can there be next unto this a greater Encouragement than to be an Instrument of good to our Brethren of good to Mankind Those are the most happy Men in the World that are the most Useful for Mankind that the Lord shall be Pleased to make Use of for the good of Mankind and therefore it should Teach all to be as Serviceable as they can to others For the Happiness and the true Comfort of a Mans Life it doth not depend in this That he can get an Estate and go Brave and Fine and Eat and Drink of the best but it is in this That the Lord will make him useful in his place an Instrument of good to others It is a very Comfortable thing for any that are Chief in a place where they Live that the Lord makes them Instruments of the Civil good of the places where they are Of the good of the People for their Bodies to keep them in Peace and Order But to be Appointed by God to be an Instrument of Soul-good of Eternal good this is a higher Priviledge that God doth grant in His Mercy to some And it might be a mighty Encouragement the Considering of this What saith Saint James speaking to Christians to Encourage them to Labour to do good to their Brethren Brethren If any of you do erre from the Truth and one Convert him Let him know that he which Converteth a sinner from the Errour of his Way shall save a Soul from Death and shall hide a multitude of sins Let him know saith he that he
hear it my Soul shall weep in secret places for your Pride and mine Eyes shall weep sore and run down with Tears because the Lords Flock is carried away Captive If ye will not hear That indeed should be the work of the Ministers of the Gospel when they are Rejected Not to be Careless and say I have done my Work and what need I care But they should take it to Heart and Lament it as the greatest Affliction that can befal them yea more than any Affliction whatsoever That the Blessed Message that they are sent withal is Rejected by Wretched and Sinful Men. Secondly If God in Christ be sometimes Rejected all the Mercy of God in His Son we should not think much though our love and kindness towards others be many times Slighted and Disregarded Indeed there 's nothing goes more to any Ingenuous Heart than to have his love and kindness to be Disregarded But when we find our Hearts troubled at this O that such a one that I have done so much for and yet that he should deal thus with me Lay thine hand upon thy Heart and consider what God hath done for thee in Christ and how ill thou hast requited Him Is it so much for thee a poor Worm not to have thy Love and Kindness imbrac'd What is it then for the Infinite God not to have that Infinite Love and Mercy of His to the Children of Men not Imbraced but Rejected Thirdly Let 's learn from hence never to trust our own Hearts We think often had we such means as others have then we should not do as they do surely we should do better Men are very ready to trust their own Hearts and in the use of Means But let us learn from hence never to trust in our own Hearts or in the use of any Means God may send you Means and Reveal glorious Truths unto you yet it may so fall out that you may never come to be partakers of the good of those things It hath been so with many and you must look to your own Hearts Do not Bless your selves in this Through Gods Mercy the Lord hath sent us His Word plentifully and the Gospel comes to be Opened clearly among us That 's not enough what God hath done but look you into your own Hearts how you Imbrace it otherwise the Gospel may come among you and yet you never come to be Saved by it But this indeed is a sad Condition wheresoever it is Fourthly Further Gods Ministers are to Learn from hence not to be Discouraged They come and Preach and with an Expectation to prevail with the Hearts of People to draw them to Christ When they have been in their Studies labouring to find out some Truths of the Gospel and to sit it to the Hearts of their Auditors and have been Praying over it They come now with Expectation that some good may be done that some Soul may be drawn in to Christ yet perhaps find it quite otherwise and the People to sit Dead under it it may be Slight it Contemn it Scorn it Disobey it But they must not be I say Discouraged in this as if so be a strange thing had befallen them What art thou more than Jesus Christ thy Master What art thou more than Paul and other of the Apostles They have been rejected all in their Ministry and what art thou that thou canst not bear any Rejection Indeed it is the hardest thing to be Born by a Minister of the Gospel that possibly may be But consider That it is not a new thing for the Gospel to be Rejected I remember I have read of Melancthon he had such thoughts that when he began to Preach he should Convert all that heard him He thought there was so much Reason in what he Spake and so much Evidence and Power to prevail with the Hearts of People that he thought he should prevail with every one but he found it otherwise by Experience And though indeed when any Minister that is acquainted with the Glorious things of God and Christ come to open them to People they are ready to think such things will surely prevail with the Hearts of People but the Lord teaches him to know that the Blessing depends upon Himself That though the things be never so Excellent and Moving yet all will not do except the Lord comes in by His Almighty Power Fifthly Let all those with whom the Ministry of the Gospel doth prevail in any measure Bless God that makes such a difference between them and any others It is Preached unto many but doth them no good But the Lord hath Called thee out and it hath struck thy Heart converted thy Spirit Thou seest cause to stand and admire at the Glory of God in Christ and thou wonderest perhaps that all People are not taken with the Riches of the Glory of Gods Grace in Christ Well Bless God that hath made a difference between thee and others It may be in the same Family another Scorns it and Contemns it perhaps one that came out of the same Womb despises it and God hath taken thee and revealed Himself to thee it may be thy rich Neighbour Contemns it but God looks upon thee a poor Creature and makes Himself known to thee It may be a Learned Man he slights it and makes nothing of it and thou who art but a Babe hast those things Revealed Thou hast cause to thank God for it For Christ doth He thanks His Father for this thing That He should be pleased to pass by the Wise and great ones of the World and chuse Babes Mat. 11. 25. At that time Jesus Answered and said I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent and hist revealed them unto Babes Now this Scripture that I bring not only to shew you that God doth sometimes Reveal the great Mysteries of the Gospel to Babes and hide them from the Wise but as a Text to stir up your Hearts to Bless God if He hath done so for any of you Upon this ground Jesus Christ doth thank His Father for it then surely thou hast cause to thank God the Father for this great Mercy of His to put such a difference between thee and others For indeed it is one of the most glorious Works of God This Work of the Lord making known the Great and High Mysteries of the Gospel to poor weak ones when as the Great and Rich and Mighty and Learned of the World do not come to understand it It is one of the great Miracles by which the Lord doth Confirm the Gospel to be His own as great a Miracle as other Miracles that were Wrought by Christ And for that this is very observable that we have in the place where John sends to Christ to know whether He were the Messias or no. Now mark the Answer that Christ gives unto John's Messengers Jesus Answered and said unto them Go and
to it Why lest he be angry lest the Son of God be angry The anger of the Son of God is a dreadful anger the Anger of God the Father is dreadful and yet the Anger of the Son of God in some respect is more dreadful as the Anger of the Holy Ghost is most dreadful of all because the Scripture saith The sin against him can never be forgiven And next Kiss the Son and that because there is so much Mercy in the Son therefore if he be rejected his anger is so much the more dreadful And lest you perish in the mid-way that is when you hope to live many years to have many more Merry-meetings with your Companions and do not think your selves to be nigh to perishing saith the Text In the mid way the Lord comes upon such when they least think of it The Lord comes upon many and cuts them off in the middle of their years This Consideration no question it was in part that caused Saint Paul when the Lord Christ was Revealed to him that he dared not put off a day no saith the Text Gal. 1. 15 16. When it pleased God who seperated me from my Mothers Womb and called me by his Grace to reveal his Son in me that I might Preach him among the Heathen immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood immediately as soon as ever God was pleased to reveal Christ to me or in me I did not confer with flesh and blood that is I dar'd not so much as Reason about the difficulty of the way or what I should suffer if I took this course I dar'd not go to my Company and take their Advice and Counsel No saith he but as soon as ever the Lord was pleased to reveal Christ in me I presently went about the Work and so in the 26th of the Acts where he tells the story of his Conversion speaking of Gods revealing himself to him in that glorious way of a Vision Whereupon O King Agrippa I was not disobedient to the Heavenly Vision the very first Vision I presently submitted to Paul he fell down and said Lord what wilt thou have me to do upon the first manifestation of Christ unto him O do you take heed that you be not disobedient to the Heavenly Vision perhaps together with the Ministry of the Word the Lord may grant to some of your Souls a Vision that is he may come with his Spirit and shew some of the Glory of his Son to you O be not disobedient to the Heavenly Vision but immediately yield to it and confer not with flesh and blood O but you will say this is hard you come at first and say Peace to us but this is very severe to tell us how quick the Lord is But Observe it It is but severity to those that put off Mercy then if you love Mercy so well what need you fear this Severity But further Know that upon your receiving of the Gospel the Lord will be as quick with you in wayes of Mercy as he is in Judgments to those that do reject it You will say How quick will the Lord be in the wayes of his Mercy Thus quick that upon thy receiving the Gospel and Believing the very first instant of thy receiving it thou shalt be delivered from all thy sin the guilt of all thy sin thou shalt be made as clear from the guilt of sin as the Child that is new born and more clear a great deal How quick is God now Yea thou shalt be made as clear from the guilt of all thy great sins that thou hast committed I say as clear from the guilt of them as the Saints are in Heaven and this at the first moment of thy Entertaining of Jesus Christ thou shalt be as clear as Abraham Isaac and Jacob thou shalt be equal with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the point of thy Justification yea in regard of any guilt of sin thou shalt be as unspotted before the Lord as the Saints are in Heaven O the Lord is willing to be quick with you in wayes of Mercy Now then consider of both Here we set Life and Death before you we know it is not in Mens power indeed but we know God doth use to Bless his Ministry so as to convey power by his Ministry God is quick both wayes upon Entertaining he is quick in wayes of Mercy presently to clear the Soul from all those horrible Wicked Sins that thou hast been guilty of and if thou shalt reject it then thou may'st fear that the Lord will be quick with thee another way O consider what hath been said in this Point and in this Text and the Lord give you understanding FINIS Doct. Appl. Obs Exhort His house being visited it was thought he was Dead Doctr. Doctr. Appl. Vse Doct. 2. Doct. 3. Reas 1. Appl. Doct. 2 Doct. Appl. Doct. 2 Appl. Doct. 3. Reas Doct. Doct. Doct. 1 2. 3. Appl. Doct. Appl.
Church in the Book of the Lamentations as if she should say Well the temptation saith that God hath left me the Devil saith thus I but thou art my portion saith my Soul That was comfortable If so be that God speaks peace it 's more than if our own Souls speaks peace Thou shalt choose our inheritance Thy choice is better then our own If we had alwayes what 's good in our own Eyes wo were to us we were undone You would not think it but certainly it is as heavy a judgment as can befal one in this world that God should say You shall do and you shall have what is good in your own eyes Suppose that God should say but this morning concerning every one of you Well you shall hencforward have whatsoever is good in your own Eyes why you would think that you might go away and be glad of this Glad you had cause of going away with ringing of Hands and howling and crying if God should say thus concerning any of you O no it 's better that our Lives Liberties Estates Comforts Happiness and all be in Gods Hands than our own to be disposed of so as seemeth good in Gods Eyes rather than to be disposed of so as seemeth good in our own Eyes I verily believe that many of you may be able to look back to the providences of God towards you and to say That suppose God had Twenty years ago said to me I 'll give you leave to dispose of your selves as you would O many may be able to say They certainly could never have disposed so well of themselves as God hath And they would be loath to go back again to the Twenty years past though they should begin and have liberty to dispose of themselves as they please In Heb. 12. 11. saith the Apostle there No Affliction for the present seemeth Joyous to us but Grievous but afterwards saith the Text it works thus and thus I but things do seem to God as they are present alwayes but they do not seem so to us till afterwards After the Affliction is over then they seem good to us but they seem good to God at the very present We judge things by the outward appearance but God judges things according to what they are Things seem to us according as they either make for or against our outward good we are led so much by sense But they seem to God according as they are for or against his Glory and the last good of all They seem good or ill to us according as they are for or against some particular good if they strike at such a particular we judge by particulars But now God he judges things by the proportion they have to the general to all things at once It 's that that makes us to give very wrong Judgment of things when we look but to particulars and do not compare one with another and raise a Judgment upon things all things considered So God doth God doth not so much look at things how they are in reference to this or the other good but how things are in reference to all together in the general We know some things may cross some particular but they may be useful to another Now that that 's good in the general doth seem good to God though it may go cross to some particular And then further We look at things but just as they appear present to us but now God looks upon things as they shall be a great while hence God is working that that we shall not understand perhaps in our lives or working in his Administrations towards us some thing that he intends shall come to pass a great while hence so that if they come to pass in our Lives yet we shall not have the fruit of them for many years God He looks a great way off Wherefore learn by this Not to be too Sudden nor so Peremptory in the judging of Gods Administrations Why Why because whatever they may seem to you they may seem otherwise to God stay till you know Gods Judgment about them As you if you have any Wisdom when you hear of strange Rumours if you know that there be any that knows the thing better than you you will not give a judgment upon it till you have the judgment of such and such that you know may understand it better than your self So in the Wayes of God towards us Let not us presently give a Judgment upon those things but let us stay first till we have the Mind of God O let 's learn to resign up our Judgments to Gods and let Him Judge Neither let us trouble our selves about other mens Judgments As things seem otherwise to God than to us so they seem otherwise to God than to other men As we should not trust too much to the judgments of our own hearts so we should not be so much troubled at other mens Judgments For whatever they think still it is otherwise in Gods account Men they will say 't is for this Cause and the other Cause and the like but it 's otherwise concluded in Heaven And that 's the Third Point The last should have been this That 't is not enough for Christians after a great deal of ado to submit to God that is after the Affliction hath been upon them a great while and when they see they cannot help themselves then to begin to have thoughts of yielding to God It 's well that they do it at last O but it 's more commendable a great deal if we do it at first At what instant God strikes presently for the heart to come in and yield As it is a most excellent thing to yield to Gods Word when God first speaks upon the least intimation of Gods Will O this is acceptable unto God For those that are young ones the first time they come to hear the Word or if not the first time they come to hear it yet the first time God speaks to their hearts the very first word that speaks presently for them to yield it 's a most excellent thing So in the time of Affliction for the heart to bow and submit presently to God O this is an Argument of much cleanness that there is in the heart that the heart is very clean that there is not much Corruption there for then there would be a standing out against God and it would manifest it self in time of Affliction As we know where there is Corruption in the Body it will manifest it self if it come to endure Hardship so it is with the Soul c. And it argues much Grace as little Corruption So there is strength of Grace that can make the Heart bow presently to God When Grace reigns in the Heart when Grace can say Come and the Soul comes Go and it goes when Grace can say This is the Administration of God towards you and now you must work thus and presently the Soul doth it It should not
come with their hearts filled with hope that there are Sons of Peace in that place and there is nothing that can incourage a faithful Minister of the Gospel to spend his time in Studying and Opening of the Mysteries of Grace more then this that he comes with his Heart filled with hope that there are some Sons of Peace in that place O do not frustrate this expectation It is a vile thing for the Ministers of the Gospel to come to any place but to gain Sons of Peace And indeed upon this expectation the heart of a faithful Minister who understands what the meaning of Peace with God is cannot but be drawn forth towards a People why he comes with this expectation and he looks after his Ministery to see what becomes of it O therefore do not frustrate the Expectations of your Ministers in this Do not give them occasion to make their Complaint that they have spent their Strength in vain Yea and further As it is the Expectation of the Ministers that Preach so it is the Expectation of all the Saints of God None of Gods People that know a place that hath Liv'd in Darkness and Blindness before but if they see the Lord by His Providence carrying the Ministry of the Gospel with Power in that place they think thus with themselves Whom is it that the Lord intends good unto Surely the Lord hath a Mercy to such a People And they will wait to see who it is that God will pitch upon O likewise Do not frustrate the Expectation that the Angels themselves in 1 Cor. 11. a place I suppose you know where the Women are to be Covered because of the Angels It doth appear by that Text that the Angels are in Congregations when a Congregation is met together to hear the Word of God Preached and for other Accounts there the Angels are Met And I make no question but this place is as full of Angels as of Men and they are here present and do look upon our Behaviour and wait for the time when God will be pleased to Work upon the Hearts of some or other O to what Family to what particular Soul doth God intend good unto O that we might know it that we might have Joy in Heaven For so the Scripture tells us That at the Conversion of sinners there is Joy in Heaven and surely they wait for it O that we might see the Ministry of the Gospel work effectually upon Souls that so we might joy for it And now let every particular Soul reason thus with it self What is it so that there is hope that there may be some Sons of Peace why may it not be I though vile though a very wretched Creature Yet I hear that the time of Ignorance God winks at only now He calls to Repent If I feel God beginning to jogg my Heart now I may be the Man or Woman that the Lord intended from all Eternity For we are to know that which God doth now in time is no other than He did determine from Eternity And I say if you feel your Hearts stirred and wrought upon by the Ministry of the Gospel you may know that God did intend you in particular And Christ when He did Pray to God the Father for this acceptable time that you were particularly intended in that Prayer of His and you are not excluded to be saved any more than any and therefore it may fall upon you Perhaps in a Family it may fall upon the poor Servant or Child and the others may be left But some or other it is like it will fall upon And my Brethren If this be so if there be hopes when the Gospel comes to be Preached that there are Sons of Peace in that place it is a most Cursed thing for any to stand to oppose the Gospel when it comes to any place It is very seldom but some or other will be Railing and Crying out against it But take heed what thou dost Wilt thou stand against God to cross God in such a blessed End as this is It may be the Lord hath some Souls in that place He intends Eternal good unto And wilt thou stand out against that and cross God But especially take heed you do not oppose the Gospel in any place where there is not only a remote hopes but it comes to be Nearer and Fuller than it was before and there is some real Manifestation that God intends Good unto some O take heed of thy Opposition of it there This was the Reason that Paul was so mightily provok'd when Elimas came to resist his Ministry of which you may read in Acts 13. There was one Sergius Paulus which sent for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the Word of God Now this Sergius Paulus was a Chief Man in the place where Paul Preached he was the Deputy and there was good hopes that God would Convert his Soul And Elimas the Sorcerer he stood and opposed and sought to turn away the Deputy from the Faith Now when Paul was in so good a hope that he should gain not only a Soul but a publick Man that might do a great deal of good O the Spirit of Paul was mightily provok'd He looks upon Elimas and sets his Eyes upon him the Text saith and and said O full of all Subtilty and all Mischief thou Child of the Devil thou Enemy of all Righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the Right Wayes of God c. Paul was a Man of a very Quiet and Meek Spirit and yet mark how full of Passion he was at this time O this provok'd the Spirit of Paul he was not able to bear it We never read that Paul was so troubled when they Persecuted him when they put him into Prison But as if Paul should say Do with me what you will put me into Prison do what you will with my Carcass but do not frustrate my Expectation in Gaining a Chief Man that may do a great deal of Service for God When he was but in fear that he should be frustrated of his hope he was not able to bear it And certainly nothing can go so near to the Heart of any Faithful Minister as that there should be any to stand to frustrate his hope of Gaining of Souls Perhaps in a Family if one or two doth but go to hear the Word the others will be Scorning and Jeering and one Neighbour will be Scorning at another and all to frustrate the Hopes of God of His Ministers and of the Saints and Angels But know when thou do'st any thing to oppose the Ministry of the Gospel thou do'st set thy self what in thee lies both to frustrate the Hopes of God and His Ministers and His Saints and Angels and thou wilt find this to be a hard work thou do'st but Kick against the Pricks And thus much for this Point we come now unto the next That good Hearers of the Gospel are called the Sons of Peace
there was a certain Woman one poor Woman called Lydia and it pleased God to open her Heart Certainly If God had opened the Hearts of any other they would have been mentioned as well And you shall find that Paul had very ill Entertainment among the rest of the Multitude ver 22. And the Multitude rose up together against them see what Entertainment he had and the Magistrates Rent off their Clothes and Commanded to Beat them And when they had laid many Stripes upon them they cast them into Prison charging the Jayler to keep them safely Who having received such a charge thrust them into the Inner Prison and made their Feet fast in the Stocks Here 's the Man that had such a mighty Call of God by a Vision from Heaven and yet you see how his Ministry doth prevail Thus you see that the Gospel may be sent to Places and that by a strange Work of Gods Providence and yet a very few Imbrace it yea it may be Rejected by the greatest part I might shew unto you Examples of the same kind And just as it was with the Apostles so it was with the Prophets As those Three Famous Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah and Ezekiel See the working of Isaiah's Ministry in Isa 53. Who hath believed our Report and to whom is the Arm of the Lord Revealed We come and Preach things to the People and they come and hear us and think they are very strange things that they hear the Minister say but they do not believe it Who doth believe it Yea you know that the Lord doth Complain that He did streach out His Hands even all the Day Isa 65. 2. I have spread out my Hands all the Day unto a Rebellious People which Walketh in a Way that is not good after their own Thoughts I spread out my Hands That is I come in my Ministry saith God by His Prophet and I there open the Arms of my Mercy and open the Riches of my Grace to their Souls but they Walk in Wayes that are not good And what Wayes were they According to their own Thoughts Look what their own Thoughts are and what is most pleasing to them They more regard their own Thoughts than all those Blessed and Glorious Truths that are made known unto them in the Ministry of the Word And as for Jeremiah you have it in Chap. 20. ver 8. you have very strange kind of Expressions about him Since I spake I cried out I cried Violence and Spoil because the Word of the Lord was made a Reproach unto me and a Derision daily O the Word of the Lord was made a Reproach and a Derision to Jeremiah And for Ezekiel do but read Chap. 2. of that Prophesie and there you shall find that God tells him before-hand that He did send him to a Rebellious House yea God told him that he should Live among Bryars and Thorns And yet it is observable That this Prophet Ezekiel did Prophesie in the time of their Captivity was sent unto the People of Israel when they were in Captivity One would have thought that in the time of their Affliction that if ever they would have attended to the Word of the Lord then they would No But in the time when they were in Captivity when God had fulfilled the words that were Threatned by the former Prophets though they saw how God had made good His Words by the former Prophets yet they continued a Rebellious People O this was an extream thing It was not so much for them to reject Jeremiah that did Prophesie of their Captivity I he tells us of nothing but Judgments but we hope God is a more Merciful God and upon that perhaps they rejected Him I but surely when they were in Captivity now they should one would have thought acknowledged that to the Lord belongs Glory but to us nothing but Shame and Confusion No But yet their Hearts continued hard as a Brick in the Fire it is harder for the Fire and so were their Hearts in the time of their Affliction I shall not need to Instance in any further particulars it is clear that God sends the Ministry of the Gospel to places sometimes where it may be it will be rejected Now for the Opening of the Point there are these Two things I intended First How it comes to pass that it is Rejected or why Men do Reject the Gospel Secondly What 's the Reason that God will send it to those places that He knows before-hand that it will not be Entertain'd The Lord sends the Ministry of Peace the Offer of Peace by Jesus Christ to Souls and yet they do not regard it but cast it off Because indeed First The generallity of People they do not know God they do not know that they have to deal with an Infinite and Glorious God in all their wayes they do not know whom it is that they have sinned against and therefore do not understand their danger and upon this the Ministry of the Gospel is but a dry thing unto them Whereas did but the Souls of Men and Women understand what an Infinite and a Glorious Majesty they had to deal withal and thereby what a dreadful thing it is to have the Wrath of God to be revealed to their Souls they would hearken to the Ministry of the Word That this is the Reason it appears in John 15. 20 21. Saith Christ to his Disciples Remember the Word that I said unto you The Servant is not greater than the Lord If they have Persecuted me they will also Pesecute you If they have kept my saying they will keep yours also But now Mark ver 21. But all these things will they do unto you for my Names sake because they know not Him that sent me Here 's the Reason why they will do thus unto you they will be far from entertaining of you but will rather oppose you Why Because they know not Him that sent me As if He should say Did they but know Him that sent me did they but know what a God the Lord is what the Father is what an Infinite Majesty and dreadful Deity they have to deal withal did they but understand that certainly they would not cast you out But they will not entertain you Because they know not Him that sent me Secondly There is nothing that doth discover more the Vileness of sin than the Gospel O the Gospel being Preached aright I say nothing in the World can discover the hainousness of sin the Vileness the Abominable Nature of sin more than the Gospel All the Terrors of the Law and the Curses of the Law cannot discover so much of the dreadfulness of the Evil of sin as the Gospel And we know that Men that love their sin cannot endure that which doth discover the Evil of it But you will say How doth the Gospel discover so much of the Evil of sin Certainly You may see more of the evil of sin by the Ministry of the Gospel
before the great God to answer for all unto the Infinite Justice and this the Gospel would have delivered you from had you entertained it Doth it return from you Why then you stand before the Lord under the sentence of Condemnation a Condemned Creature even to Eternal Death and this the Gospel would have freed you from Doth the Gospel return again Why then you stand a Child of Wrath before the great God under all the Viols of his Infinite Wrath ready every moment for ought thou knowest to be poured out upon thee and this the Gospel would have freed thee from Doth the Gospel go away from thee Why then thou standest under the Curse of the Law and all those dreadful Threatnings that are Written in the Book of God they are all thy Portion and this the Gospel would have freed thee from Is the Gospel returned from thee Then thou standest before God as an Enemy unto him he looks upon thee as one that is an Enemy to him and thou canst expect no other but to be dealt withal as an Enemy to have God in all his Attributes to come out against thee to have all his Creatures to come out against thee to Avenge Gods Quarrel upon thee and this the Gospel would have freed thee from And so we might further name Infinite Evils no peace to the wicked no peace to those who are so Wicked as to reject the glorious Gospel and therefore thy Case is Dreadful Secondly If the Blessing of the Gospel be returned from thee then know thou hast lost the most Happy opportunity of good that ever Creature had Never can a Creature be made capable of a Happier opportunity of good than the Creature hath when Jesus Christ comes to be preached to it Here 's the most Blessed opportunity of good I say that a Creature can have to have Jesus Christ come to be offered to him Now when the Gospel is returned thou hast lost this opportunity of Mercy the tender of Salvation that 's worth ten thousand thousand Worlds such an opportunity as the Devils and Damned in Hell would give 10000 Worlds to have it and yet that is come to thee and is gone and lost and therefore it is a sad thing for the Blessing of the Gospel to return Thirdly If it doth Return from thee thou dost not know whether it will ever return back again upon thee whether ever it will come any more When God offers Grace and it is rejected many times he doth cause the Offer to pass away and it never comes more again Thou mayest perhaps lye hereafter in the distress of thy Conscience and think of former dayes that thou hadst and cry out O that I had such dayes again O that I had Jesus Christ preached to me again as I had at such a time O that I had such stirrings of the Spirit of God as I had at such a time but now no Friend Time was when thou hadst them and thou didst reject them and therefore they are gone and thousands of Worlds will not purchase them again I do not now speak only of taking away the Ministery of it but of the Blessing of the Gospel perhaps thou mayst live under the Ministery of it and yet the Blessing of the Gospel may be returned Fourthly If the Gospel come and return with the Blessing of it thou art now in a far worse condition than any Heathen whatsoever a Heathen is not in so sad a condition Some times you will speak in way of Indignation What do you think me a Heathen a Turk Thou art in a worse case than any Heathen whatsoever because they never had the offer of Jesus Christ and the course of Mercy hath never come to them but to thee and left thee there 's hope before God makes a tryal as it were before Mercy hath as it were her turn upon the Creature that it may belong to Gods Election but now when Mercy hath had her turn and left the Soul then it is a sad condition it hath not done so to the Heathens and therefore it is worse with thee than with the Heathens in that regard Yea Fifthly Hence follows that there is the greatest Judgment except being sent to Hell it self immediatly as a punishment of the greatest Sin that ever Creature committed but only the unpardonable Sin the Sin against the Holy Ghost For God to take away the Gospel from us the Blessing of it to return it is the greatest Judgment that can befall a man in this World except God should send him quick to Hell presently A greater Judgment than if thy House were fired or thy Body diseased and tormented that were no such Judgment as this and this is the fruit of the greatest sin the sin of the rejection of the Gospel except the sin against the Holy Ghost Now that Man or Woman is in a sad condition that hath the greatest Judgment that God can inflict in this World but only that one Excepted I say this is an exceeding sad condition Fifthly Yea further Then it is to be feared lest Christ should dye in vain as for thee though Christ hath come into the World and shed his Blood to save Souls yet all should be in vain as for thee O this Thought will pierce thy heart one day if it doth not now for the present the very thought that there should be so great Salvation and I not be made partaker of it it is a Soul-wounding Thought Yea and Lastly Hereafter it shall be to thy extream Torment when thou shalt see others that have embrac'd the Gospel and Sav'd Eternally and thou thy self cast out I heard the same Sermon that Converted such and such a one and they are now Saved in Heaven for ever O I was at the same Sermon and rejecting of it am now cast down here to be sweltering under the wrath of God Will not these be sad thoughts another day If not your peace shall return and you see the dreadful Fruit of the returning of Peace Wherefore then a word by way of Application For indeed the Point it self is enough to strike our Consciences The very naming of these things and the opening of them hath power to stir and awaken the Heart and therefore I will only say thus much Learn to know that when you come to hear the preaching of the Gospel you do not come to a matter of Indifferency it being no great matter whether you received it or received it not Many people they come to hear Sermons and look upon them as a very indifferent matter whether their Hearts be taken with what they hear or no whether they yield and submit to what they hear or not but learn to know that it is not a matter of Indifferency I may well make use of that Speech of Moses to the people in Deut. 32. 46 47. And he said unto them set your hearts unto all the words which I testifie among you this day which ye