treat of First that the humbled sinner stands possessed of Christ for he that is not humbled and broken hearted hath nothing to doe with Christ nor comfort comming from him I use this phrase He stands possessed of Christ rather then that Hee possesseth Christ because the worke lies on Christs part The Spirit of the Lord Iesus takes possession of and humbled sinner and makes him part of his care and hee comes by that meanes to bee interessed into the care of Christ Christ possesseth him and by this meanes he comes to be possessed of Christ so that all he hath is meerely the worke of the Spirit of God upon him as the Apostle saith Gal. 4.9 But now that you haue known God or rather are known of God It is not what wee conceive or what wee know but what hee knows and conceives and in Phil. 3.14 Saint Paul strove hard If that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of him He doth not say that hee is able to apprehend God but that God comprehends him As it is with a little child that is not able to goe of it selfe the father takes the child in his hand and then it is able to go The child holds the father not because it hath any power of it selfe but because the father holds him so we hold the Lord Iesus Christ because we are holden of him for the humbled soule stands possessed of Christ because Christ maketh him his care and his charge and takes possession of him and therefore he comes to have an interest in Christ Secondly as he stands possessed of Christ so he is made partaker of all the spirituall good things that are in Christ still the action lies chiefly upon Christ and we so move as we are first moued by him and we so worke as we are wrought upon by him He is made partaker of all the good in Christ not because hee can challenge it but because the Lord will convey and communicate it to him These two things you shall obserue to be general operations and to go through all the works of application of Christ as in vocation the Lord by his Spirit doth draw the soule after him there is the possession of Christ and then the soule follows Christ and comes to him and in justification Christ undertakes for the sinner and layes downe the payment of the debt for him and then he freeth the sinner from the debt thus the soul is neerer still and in adoption God the Father taketh him in the roome and right of a son and then he stands further possessed of grace and withall the Lord estates him in all the priviledges of grace in meeknesse and holinesse and he sets his seale to him and gives him his marke and withall he is free from the power and dominion of his corruptions So that these two are generall things and have a kind of conveyance of themselves over all the whole worke of application of Christ Thirdly the last thing in the description is this All this is done by the worke of Gods Spirit For the graft cannot be planted till it be cut off and pared It must have the same hand that cut it off and pared it by contrition and humiliation for the same hand of the same Spirit must ingraft the soule into Christ Now for the following discourse we haue chosen these words of the Prophet Malachy from which we will take onely so much as will serue our turne for that wee have to speake These words are nothing else but a Prophecy of the ministerie of Iohn Baptist and in them two things principally considerable First the worke of the ministery of Iohn Baptist Mal. 3.1 Behold I send my messenger to prepare my way before mee Secondly The consequent good that flowes from this And the Lord whom ye seeke shall suddenly come into his Temple As great men have their harbingers to make ready their way before them and to make preparation for them before they come to any place so it is with the Lord of life hee is the great Commander of the world it is he that takes possession of the hearts of all that belong to life and happinesse but before he comes to take possession he sends Iohn Baptist to prepare the heart and when it is fitted then he comes suddenly into his Temple Here consider First What the Temple is Secondly What it is to come into his Temple and how Christ commeth into it This word Temple besides the natural and literall sense of it wherein it aimes at the materiall Temple of Ierusalem which we will not meddle with Christs temple is spirituall is taken spiritually and so it is to be conceived here and then it implies the Church of Christ in the number of the faithfull You shall see the phrase of Scripture to intimate so much 1 Pet. 4.17 If judgment begin at the house of God what shall the end of the ungodly be that obey not the Gospell of God There the house of God is opposed to them that obey not the truth of God so that they that obey the truth that are willing to bee at the dispose of God and reforme their lives after his will and word they are the house and temple of Christ As in generall all the people of God thus obeying the word of God so in particular euery Christian man and woman is the Temple of Christ As the Apostle saith You are the Temples of the living God 2 Cor. 6 16 As it was in the materiall Temple in Ierusalem the glory of the Lord filled it and the Lord said he would dwell in it for ever so the heart truely prepared is the Temple of the Lord and the Lord Christ takes possession and rules in it and fils it with all grace This is the meaning of the first word It is plaine by force of argument The word Temple is to bee taken in the same sense in which the way to the temple is taken As also the way to the Temple but the way to the Temple is the fitting of the soule and the heart for Christ for so all the Evangelists expresse it Iohn saith Repent yee for the kingdome of heaven is at hand Mat. 3.2 Isa 40.3 Also Isaiah saith Prepare ye the way of the Lord make his paths straight So that the preparation of the way to the Lord is nothing else but for people to repent of their sins Repenting and preparing are both one But more especially that place of Saint Luke ch 1. ver 15.17 where speaking of Iohn Baptist he saith He shall bee full of the holy Ghost nay Hee shall come in the spirit and power of Elias to turne the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisedome of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord The way is in the heart of a man and this preparation is the turning of their hearts to the way of the just men
thou the hope of Israel why dost thou depart In Gen. 19.2 when the two Angels came to Lot in Sodome the one was Christ Lot compelled them to go in Christ is not now unwilling but hee knockes and calls and saith Open to me my love my dove my undefiled he entreats the loose person to forsake his base practises and the covetous person to leave his oppression and to receive mercy but you suffer Christ to lye in the street and despise that word of his and will bee at your owne carving This especially falls foule upon two sorts of persons The first sort is all carnal profane opposers of the Lord Iesus The carnall Gospeller is content that Christ should undertake for him and bee his Protectort to defend him from the plague of sin but he is not content that Christ should rule in him He doth as the Inne-keeeper that receives a guest into his house to make an advantage of him for as the Inne-keeper will come to his guest and pretend great matters to him not because he would have his guest to possesse him but because hee would bee possessor of his money so the carnall Gospeller would have Christ for his owne turne hee would dispose of Christ and mercy for his owne purpose and hence come all those speeches God is mercifull and Hath the Lord Christ created men to damne them Oh but mercy is sweet and pardon is good This is thus much you would have Christ to pardon sinne that you might commit it with lesse feare and more freedome If you did see no Saviour but that you must needs be damned for it you would startle at it But you would have Christ to stand by you that you might sinne the more freely Oh be not deceived doe you thinke that Christ will come to be an underling to your lusts and a drudge to your base distempers whose condemnation is iust saith the Apostle No you are deceived you shall not have Christ a servant to carry your lusts and pleasures to heaven with you The truth is the Lord Iesus will never bring comfort nor consolation to thee that wilt not bee possessed of him either haue both or neither chuse whether you will The second sort to be reproved are a company of slie hypocrites that would part stakes with Christ and part houses with him they could bee content that hee should have some roome in the house but they will dispose of all themselues as a man that lets some roomes in his house Simile upon this condition that he may have them when he lists You willl pray against sinne provided that now and then Christ will give you leaue to practise it and you will cry out against it provided that you may have a privy seale or some secret licence for it and you will professe bitterly against base courses so you may haue some backe doore and inward lust still The Lord Iesus doth not share with any man can he have a part and the Divell a part nay hee will have either all or none It was the tricke of an adulterous heart for when there was contention for the children the harlot said 1 King 3.26 Let it be neither thine nor mine but divide it Nay saith the mother let her have all Shee was the harlot that would have the child devided So it is with an adulterous and dissembling heart that saith Let Christ have a part and the world a part let lusts and pompe have a part and Christ a part this is dissimulation with GOD and shall receive condemnation there must bee no sharing If your hearts be guilty of this I charge you in the name of the Lord Iesus consider it the Lord never came into your soules you must resigne all to him and then he will saue all he will pardon all sin and give power against it What a fearfull thing were it if the Lord should deale with you as you deale with him Suppose thou couldst be halfe damned wouldst thou be content to have thy heart go to hell and thine eye to heaven or thy body to hell and thy soule to heaven therefore that thy body and soule may both be saved resigne up up all into the hands of thy Saviour and let him dispose of all here in the kingdome of grace and then he will take all to himselfe in glory for ever Vse 2. If the Lord Iesus be the possessor of all the house then let every one haue his owne Give all to Christ whose it is doe not with draw from Christ that which is his Whose image and superscription hath the soule Christ Iesus hath the protection of it therefore let him have all Let thine eye see his works and wonder and admire at them let thy minde know Iesus Christ whom to know is eternal life but do not withdraw any thing from the true owner therof that hath purchased it full deare 1 Cor. 5.15 Shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid Thine eye and thy tongue and thy hand and thy heart they are all Christs members he hath bought all with his blood and thou hast nothing to do with that which Christ hath bought therefore whensoever thy corruptions stirre and Satan tempts and begges for the use of thy mind or heart make answer and say Shall I take that heart that is Christs and thinke basely God forbid Shall I take the hand of Christ and worke wickednesse with it The holy Apostle is marvellous peremptory in this case as 1 Cor. 6.19 Glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods and hee hath bought you with a price your bodies and soules are the Lords hee undertakes for both therefore glorifie God in both If a man did come to your house and take the meat and drinke that you have provided and rob you of your money you would take it very hardly and say It is my owne So you are not your owne Therefore if the Divell or the world would prevaile with you and enter into the use of your heart or minde tell him they are not thy owne they are the Lords IESVS CHRIST hath come into thy heart and minde in mercy and therefore say it is the Lords let him doe what hee will with it â‚ SPIRITVALL LOVE AND IOY Gal. 5.22 The fruit of the Spirit is love ioy goodnes faith c. THE sure mercies of David which faith beleeveth love embraceth And who so getteth this field and treasure must needs go away rejoycing in so good a bargain All this and all other graces and comforts worketh one and the same Spirit directing the heart to God uniting it unto Christ and thereby comforting it abundantly All is his fruit in us At this time of loue and joy The point of Doctrine is this Love and joy by the spirit wrought in a broken heart for embracing mercy as it deserves Doct. The Spirit of the Father kindles in the soule of
Hee dwells in heaven by his glory yet though thou wert as low as hell in thy selfe God will come and take possession of thy heart marvellous graciously In the words so farre as they concerne my purpose the thing mainly observable is the necessitie and excellencie of this broken and humble soule It is the only receptacle of the Lord Iesus Christ If you will have Christ and grace to dwell in you you must get humble spirits Doct. So the Doctrine in generall from hence is this The soule must bee broken and humbled None but the broken heart is an house for Christ before the Lord Iesus Christ can or will dwell therein and before faith can be wrought therein There must bee contrition before there will bee an inhabitation of Christ in the soule As men specially great men will have their houses ayred before they come to lie there so this contrition is the ayring or sweeping of the soule that so it may be inhabited Foretold This was typified and foretold in the old law When the people of Israel were to goe into the Land of Canaan which shadowed the kingdome of grace here and of glory hereafter they must goe through the vast terrible troublesome and roaring wildernesse and through those streights and extreme hazzards before God brought them to the Land of Promise Whereby the Lord typified thus much unto us that before the soule can bee truely possessed of Christ it must goe through these rockie wayes of contrition and humiliation Hos 2.14 Therefore behold I will allure her and bring her into the wildernesse Ad aperiendam spem Hieron and speake comfortably to her And in vers 15. I will give her the valley of Achor for the dore of hope and shee shall sing there as in the dayes of her youth and as in the dayes when she came out of Egypt Compare that 15. verse with Ioshua 7.25 The sloodgate of sorow a dore of hope The doore of hope is nothing else but the expectation of all good things from God which hee hath promised And here remember the story of Achor Achan had stollen the wedge of gold and the Babylonish garment and therefore God departed away from the Campe. Now the Lord pursued him and caused the people to stone him with stones and they called the place The Valley of Achor to this day .i. The Valley of trouble and affliction The Lord hath reference to his former dealing As he did before in the time of Ioshua hee first subdued Achan and then hee gave them successe against all their adversaries As if he had said I will give them the Valley of contrition and humiliation for the Gate to all comfort and sweet refreshing here and hereafter So you must goe through the wildernesse to this Valley of Achor before you can come to this doore of hope to this Land of Canaan you must stone these corruptions of yours which have troubled the Spirit of God and then there is a doore of hope set open for you And as it was foretold so it was the end why the Lord Iesus Christ was sent as Isa 61.12 The Spirit of the Lord is upon mee saith Isaiah in the stead of Christ because the Lord hath annointed mee to preach glad tydings unto the meeke hee hath sent mee to bind up the broken-hearted to proclaime libertie to the captives and to comfort all that mourne Nay 2. Accomplished the Lord hath not onely sent Christ to this end and promised this but he hath done as hee did promise And this is the condition upon which he hath promised and given all comfort to his people as in Psal 34.18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit Hee is neere them to comfort them and to assist them and deliver them and thus the Saints of God have found it as 2 Chron. 33.12 where the Text saith that Manasses humbled himselfe mightily before the Lord and hee found peace to his soule and the Lord pardoned his sinne Hee was a mighty sinner and had mighty rebellions and mighty pride of heart and therefore the Lord laid him as low as the dust though hee were a King As hee had beene a mighty sinner so hee was now a mighty patterne of humiliation and the Lord had mercy on him Two reasons of the point The reasons and grounds of Gods dispensation this way are these two especially 1 Whether we consider the receiving of faith and Christ with it or 2 The keeping and maintaining of faith being received In both these it is plaine that God will breake our hearts before hee gives us Christ or faith I say it is necessary in the way of his providence Reas 1 1 It is an especiall meanes to make way for faith and for Christ because all the lets and impediments which hinder the entrance of faith into the soule are removed by humiliation and brokennesse of spirit Two let ts of faith removed by brokennesse of heart Now besides many other bolts and springs as in a locke there are many springs and little bolts besides the maine bolt so I say there are two maine bolts which make the soule uncapable of faith which being removed faith will come into the soule The first let which is an hinderance to the worke of faith is this 1 Lett. To seek contentment in the naturall condition there is a settled kind of contentment which the soule taketh up in its owne estate and the heart of a sinfull creature sitteth downe well apaid in that sinfull miserable condition wherein he is and hee desireth no other nay hee would have no change in this kind This is one maine bolt which stoppeth the way and keepeth faith from comming into the heart This is the frame of every mans heart naturally So we see in Deut. 29.19 And if it come to passe that when hee heareth the words of this curse that he blesse himselfe in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walke in the imagination of mine owne heart or adde drunkennesse to thirst The Lord will not spare him but the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoake against that man and all the curses that are written in this booke shall fall upon him and the Lord shall blot his name from under heaven People blesse themselves in their condition notwithstanding all the promises of blessing and threatning of judgement If any man have such a root of bitternesse in him and shall blesse himselfe in this condition and say I will promise my felfe an happy end let Moses threaten what he can I tell thee the wrath of the Lord shall smoake against that man See that notable place in Iob 21.14 It imports so much For they said to God Depart from us for wee desire not the knowledge of thy wayes that is wee are as we would be When wholsome counsels and exhortations are ministred namely that
sutes best with the hearts of wayward sinners onely hee lets in some incklings of his favour and grace and upholds the heart with so much mercy as may beare it up and yet but with so much Thus the Lord deales with us as a wise father doth with his child Simile hee seeth if he had his portion in his hands he would be riotous and carelesse and therefore it is wisedome not to trust him with his estate but to keepe him low and to keepe him upon dependance that hee may have better subjection from his hands So it is with the Lord he seeth that wee have unruly hearts and that if wee had that evidence of Gods mercy made knowne to us that wee would have we would be so proud and so haughty and so full of contempt and so censorious that there were no living with us therfore the Lord keepes us short and holds such soules low and keepes us only in some hope to hold up our soules and the more dependance the soule hath the more observance hath the Lord from us Experience proveth it true I have many things to write unto you but you are not able to beare them now you are not capable of them yet As it is with a little barke Simile if it should have a great maine mast and broad saile cloathes then in stead of carrying it it would bee overthrowne by them therefore men proportion their mast according to their shippe or barke and if it have skilfull Mariners they strike saile when they come into the shallow or narrow Seas This is the reason why the Lord deales so with us the soule is like the ship and the sense of Gods love and mercy is like the saile that carries us on in a Christian course and if we get but a little saile of mercy and favour we goe on sweetly and comfortably but if God give us aboundance of assurance our cursed rotten hearts would overturne and in stead of quickning of us it would ouerthrow us so that though God doth it the fault is in our selues That I take to bee the ground why many a poore Saint of God hath smoaked out his dayes in doubting and making question of Gods mercy and goodnes and at the houre of death God hath given them a full assurance of mercy Note and so carried them full saile to heaven they were not able to beare this before As a faithfull Minister of God once said to a poore woman that had beene long time questioning her selfe and doubting of her salvation when at last the Lord made it good unto her soule that Christ was her owne then the Minister sayd to her The Lord will not alwayes giue his children a cordiall but he hath it ready for them when they are fainting The comfort of Gods spirit is better then wine Cant 1.2 Now when a man hath a proud haughty selfe-conceited heart if he had much of this cordiall hee would forget himselfe and trample upon every one and therefore the Lord reserues this great mercy to the last this deprives a Christian of abundance of sweetnesse that otherwise God would bestow upon him Let every man therefore goe to his owne heart and examine it if while God is pleased to keepe us under hatches and to knock off our wheeles and leaue us in the dust if yet in the meanest degree we can snarle with Gods providence and say Why do I pray and God answers not others crie and God heareth them and why doth hee not heare me If when we are under wee doe thus then what would we doe if we might haue what we would we would say as the people in Ieremies time Wee will come no more at thee we are Lords Ieremy 2.31 Therefore that the Lord may prevent this proud spirit of ours and that we may walke in humility before him it is just with God to withdraw his Spirit from us if you haue not comfort thanke your selues for it So then gather up all and the summe is this If wee have not the apprehension of Christs presence with us though hee is there then either it is because of our owne ignorance or carelesnesse wee know him not or attend not when hee comes or else we mis-judge the presence of Christ and onely esteeme of his favour and presence according to the extraordinary sweetnesse that we would haue and that wee imagine should accompany the presence of Christ or else because our eyes are held with the hurry of some temptation and some worldly inconvenience that wee cannot see the Lord Christ though hee bee within us or else the Lord justly hideth himselfe from us because we are fallen into some grosse sinne or else parly with some private infirmities and doe not labour to humble our selues mightily for them and strive against them or else we doe abuse the favour of God or else wee have proud hearts that wee are not able to beaâ—e that comfort that we would have therefore I say the Lord hides himselfe from us to prevent evill in us This I take to be the answer to the question in hand Come into his Temple Here is a word that giues us foot-hold for the second Doctrine into his Temple This is a word of propriety as in that place when Christ came into the Temple and saw those that bought and sold in it He made a scourge of small cords and drave them all out of the Temple and the sheepe and the oxen and cast out the changers of money and overthrew the Tables Iohn 2.15 and he claimed the house for his owne saying My house shall be called a house of prayer Mat. 21 13. This word I say is a word of propriety Hee comes not like a stranger or like a forreiner but like a King to his Palace to take possession of it So the Doctrine is this Doct. 2 Doct. 2. Christ takes possession of every humbled soule When the Lord Iesus comes to a soule truely humbled hee taketh possession of it as his owne he comes into his Temple This is the scope of the comparison he comes as a King to his Throne where hee sits and to the Kingdome where hee rules I told you before that the ingraffing of the soule into Christ is nothing else but when the Lord by his Spirit comes to take possession of the humbled soule so that the soule stands possessed of Christ and is made partaker of all those spirituall good things that are in Christ This is generall to all the workes of application of Christ and the footsteps are to be seene in all the workes of of vocation justification adoption sanctification and the like the Lord Iesus gets ground in the heart by all these As in vocation the Lord drawes the soule to himselfe and the soule followes him in justification the Lord undertakes for the sinner and unites the soule to himselfe and makes it one with himselfe in adoption the Lord makes him a sonne and in sanctification