Word nor his rod neither his speaking nor his smiting will make any signe on such hearts 'T is the heart of flesh that hears and yields And with such hearts the Lord delights to bee dealing Acts 28. The heart of this people is waxed gross they will not hear they will not understand and the next word is away to the Gentiles they will hear Hee will no more write his Law on tables of stone hee 'l write in flesh there the impression will take and go the deeper and therefore where-ever hee intends to write hee prepares his table makes this stone flesh and then engraves upon it Particularly this tenderness admits of a double distinction 1. Respecting the object of it so there is a tenderness 1. Of Sin 2. Of Duty 3. Of Suffering 1. Of Sin and tha't 's twofold such as discovers it self ante factum post factum 1. Ante factum Or before the commissiion Whilest it is under a temptation or feels the first motion to sin A tender heart startles starts back at the sight of a sin as at the sight of a devil Gen. 39.9 How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God the manner of the speech presents Joseph as a man in a fright startled at the ugliness of the motion So David when hee had an opportunity and a temptation to slay Saul 1 Sam. 26.11 rejects it with an absit God forbid The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lords anointed And that not onely at the higher and greater but it resists the little ones the smallest of sins Is it not a little one is no plea with it Little or great 't is a sin and that 's enough 2. Post factum After the Commission if it hath been brought on upon sin yet it cannot go out with it The skirt of Saul's garment was too heavy for David's heart to bear His heart smote him ptesently 1 Sam. 24.5 Sin in the review looks dreadfully It s pleasant flowers quickly turn to thorns it pricks the heart how much soever it pleas'd the eye It ordinarily enters by the eye and often runs out the same way it came in runs out in tears When hee thought thereon hee wept At least it warns and makes more watchful after Thou seest what 't is take heed take it for a warning and do no more The pain of sin if it do not force a tear 't will set a watch 2. Of duty A tender heart will neither slight a sin nor neglect a duty It 's loth to grieve and offend and careful to serve and please the Lord. It would not that he should suffer by it nor so much as lose his due It watches against sin and unto duty It cares how to please the Lord and its care is tender It would not displease by its neglects or performances all must bee done that ought and as it ought to be done It will neither stand out with its offering nor will it offer an unclean thing It considers not onely what but how Both matter and manner substance and circumstance all must bee right or 't is not at ease It will keep time and as much as may bee keep touch with the Lord in every point It is not satisfied that it prayes sometimes it would not lose a praying time God will not and it cannot lose a duty It would neither lose by non-performance nor lose what is performed It would neither leave undone nor do amiss any failing not onely in the matter but in the principle end affection intention any failing pains 3. In point of suffering A soft heart will not bee careful what or how much but why and upon what account hee suffers Will neither sinfully shun the cross nor run upon it unwarrantably He waits for a call and then follows Hee is patient under the hand of the Lord but not insensible can be touched with an affliction though not offended at it The hand of the Lord hath touched mee Hee suffers more than his own his brethrens sufferings His brethrens burthens all lie on his shoulders Hee weeps in their sorrows bleeds in their wounds his heart is bound in their chains As the care so the trouble of all the Churches come daily upon him Who is weak and I am not weak who is offended and I burn not hee espouses all the sufferings of Christ as his own In all his afflictions hee is afflicted 2. Tenderness may bee distinguished in respect of the subject of it and so there is a tenderness of the conscience the will the affections 1. Tenderness of conscience stands in these three things 1. Clearness of Judgment 2. Quickness of sight 3. Uprightness or faithfulness 1. Clearness of judgment When it s well instructed and understands the rule and can thence discern betwixt good and evil Heb. 5.14 There is a tenderness that proceeds from cloudiness scrupulosity that fears every thing stumbles at straws starts at shaddows makes sins picks quarrels at duties and so sometimes dare not please for fear of offending God This is the sickness or soreness of conscience not its soundness 'T is the sound conscience that is truly tender 2. Quickness of sight and watchfulness I sleep but my heart waketh It can espie the least sins and smallest duties It can see sin in the very temptation it can discover the least sin under the fairest face and the least duty under the foulest vizor Call it singularity nicety cloud it with reproaches yet conscience can discover light shining through all the clouds duty within whatsoever unhandsom face it bee presented in the former stands in consciences understanding the rule as was said this in strait applying the rule to cases and distinguishing of them by it The truly tender hath his eyes in his head and his eyes open to discover and discern all that comes bee it good or evil little or great If but a thought comes in what comes there saies conscience what art thou a friend or an enemy whence art thou from God or from beneath 't will examine whatever knocks before any free admission O what a croud of evils do thrust into loose and careless hearts the devil comes in in the croud and is never discovered If the eye bee either dim or asleep there 's entrance for any thing Little do wee think oft-times who hath been with us what losses and mischiefs wee have sustained while our hearts have been asleep which had they been wakeful and watchful might have been prevented 3. Uprightness and faithfulness Which discovers it self 1. In giving charge concerning duty 2. In giving warning of sin 3. In giving check for sin when committed 1. In giving charge concerning duty look to it soul there 's a duty before thee which God calls thee to do not say 't is no great hurt to let it alone 't is no great hurt to do it it is questionable whether it bee a duty or no Many wiser than I think otherwise do not say
the latter dayes But how can goodness be the Object of fear We fear evill and not good The meaning is they shall fear to wrong or abuse goodness They shall fear to wrong the Lord because he is good in the latter dayes These latter dayes that this Promise refers to shall be dayes of more grace wherein there shall be not onely a more clear revelation of the goodness of God they shall know the Lord and his goodness But a more plentifull communication and diffusion of the goodness of God they shall love the Lord and his goodness They shall see themselves both more obliged by goodness and shall feel themselves more seasoned with goodness By grace they shall be better natured Religion doth not make morose but more generous free and ingenuous There 's nothing more abhorrent to an ingenuous spirit then to be base and unworthy Abuse of goodness is an unworthiness which an ingenuous nature abhors as death to be guilty of 't is its destruction 't is disingenuity The abuse of the goodness of God is great unthankfulness and unthankfulness is great disingenuity Ingratum si dixeris omnia dixeris Call me unthankfull and you call me all that 's naught Call me any thing else but unthankfull Indeed were I all thanks I should still be unthankfull I should still be behind-hand with the goodness of the Lord my debt is greater then I can pay yea greater then I can acknowledge but shall I return evil for his good If I cannot pay should I deny my Debt He that is unthankfull whatever God requires of him saies wickedly this is more then I owe thee God I owe thee nothing I care not for thee Oh this is dreadfull to a gratious heart If this be in sin for all sin is unthankfulness if this be in sin if this be the signification of all my neglects of God and my duty to him then the Lord forbid what ever I suffer that I should yeeld to sin How shall I do this wickedness How shall I neglect this duty and sin against God How should I look my God or my own soul in the face should I be so unworthy For thy sake Lord let me not sin against thee thou art good thou art kind thou art gracious thou art holy O let me not be a Devil what heart where a Devill is not but such goodness will charm it into love Shall I sin Shall I rebell For thy sake Lord I will not do it I will not for mine own sake for where then shall I appear In sinning against God I sin against mine own soul I dare not for my life sin and Death sin and Hell are link'd together but were it not so might I sin and escape sin and not die yet for thy sake Lord I will not do it Thou art good good in thy self good to me thou att my God thou art my Father love care tenderness compassion kindness is all that is in thine heart towards me what I am what I have what I hope for that I breathe that I live all is thy goodness thy bounty to me Oh let me not rise up against the Womb that bare me and the Paps that give me suck I would not to my childe to my servant to my friend but Oh let me never to my Father to my God return evill for good and hatred for his good will Let not this evill which I fear ever come upon me put thy fear into mine heart O Lord that I may not sin against thee CHAP. XV. Obedience in the Covenant 7. OBedience Ezek. 36.27 I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them Obedience is either of the Heart or of the Life In this Scripture God undertakes for both 1. For the obedience of the Heart he undertakes in the former words I will put my Spirit in your heart where the Spirit dwells be rules Where Satan dwells he rules and where the Spirit of the Lord dwells there God rules the Spirit in the heart is the Law in the heart Those two Promises I will put my Spirit in your hearts and I will write my Law in your hearts signifie the same thing The Law in the heart is the will of man melted into the will of God The Law of God may be in the mouth and the heart a Rebel its reception into the heart notes the hearts subjection to it The Obedience of the heart includes two things 1. The opening of the heart to the Word 2. The resolution of the heart for the Work of the Lord. 1. The opening of the heart to the Word What wilt thou have me to do Lord That 's the voice of an obedient heart Veniat verbum submittemus Speak Lord command Lord what wilt thou And when he speaks whatever it be the word is embraced and accepted of the heart Dan. 4.27 Let my counsel be acceptable to thee The acceptance of the word in the heart is signified by its hearkening to it To hearken is more then to hear though they sometimes note the same thing yet ordinarily hearing is of the ear hearkening of the heart Psal 81.11 Israel would not hearken my people would none of me They heard what the Lord spake but they would not hearken that is as t is there interpreted they would none of the Lord. They rejected the word of the Lord which he spake unto them When the word is let come in with Authority suffered to rule in the soul when the heart gives up it self unto it then it is accepted there 's its hearkening to it 2 The resolution of the heart for the work of the Lord Psal 110.106 I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments I have vowed and I will perform I have covenanted and I am determined to keep thy statutes The word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord we will not do that 's the rebellious Whatsoever the Lord shall speak we will do that 's the obedient heart Where the heart is thus resolved to obey this is that obedience which shall be accepted unto salvation Where this resolution is as there is opportunity there will be practice and where there 's not opportunity in Gods account this is it This is Praying this is Hearing this is giving and feeding and cloathing and visiting this is walking circumspectly working righteousness shewing mercy exercising Faith and Patience and Repentance this is our keeping the Commandments of God and walking in his Statutes an heart to obey is our obeying an heart to do is our doing an heart to suffer in Gods account is our suffering for his Name But here it must be carefully noted that though sincere resolution for Obedience be Obedience yet every resolution is not that resolution Resolution for Obedience is then sincere where 1. It flowes from an inward and rooted inclination 2. It 's bottomed on a
I know thou hast prescribed for the Death and utter Destruction of all my Corruptions And whereas I have formerly inordinately and idolatrously let out my affections upon the World I do here resign my Heart to thee that madest it humbly protesting before thy Glorious Majesty that it is the firm resolution of my heart and that I do unfeignedly desire Grace from thee that when thou shalt call me hereunto I may practice this my resolution through thy Assistance to forsake all that is dear unto me in this World rather then to turn from thee to the wayes of sin and that I will watch against all its Temptations whether of Prosperity or Adversity least they should withdraw my Heart from thee beseeching thee also to help me against the Temptations of Satan to whose wicked Suggestions I resolve by thy Grace never to yield my self a Servant And because my own righteousness is but menstruous Rags I renounce all confidence therein and acknowledge that I am of my self a hopeless helpless undone creature without righteousness or strength The Terms to which we must turn are either ultimate or mediate And forasmuch as thou hast of thy bottomless Mercy offered most Graciously to me wretched sinner to be again my God through Christ if I would accept of thee I call Heaven and Earth to record this day that The ultimate is God the Father Son and Holy Ghost who must be thus accepted I do here solemnly avouch thee for the Lord my God and with all possible veneration bowing the neck or my Soul under the feet of thy most sacred Majesty I do here take thee the Lord Jehovah Father Son and Holy Ghost for my portion and chief good and do give up my self body and soul for thy servant promising and vowing to serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life The mediate terms are either principal or less principal The Principal is Christ the Mediator who must thus be embraced And since thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the onely means of coming unto thee I do here upon the bended knees of my Soul accept of him as the onely New and Living Way by which Sinners may have access to thee and do here solemnly joyn my self in a marriage covenant to him O blessed Jesus I come to thee hungry and hardly bestead poor and wretched and miserable and blinde and naked a most loathsome polluted wretch a guilty condemned Malefactor unworthy for ever to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord much more to be solemnly married to the King of Glory But sith such is thine unparallel'd love I do here with all my power accept thee and do take thee for my Head and Husband for better for worse for richer for poorer for all times and conditions to love honour and obey thee before all others and this to the death I embrace thee in all thine Offices I renounce mine own unworthiness and do here avow thee to be the Lord my Righteousness I renounce mine own wisdome and do here take thee for mine onely Guide I renounce mine own will and take thy Will for my Law And since thou hast told me that I must suffer if I will reign I do here covenant with thee to take my lot as it falls with thee and by thy grace assisting to run all hazards with thee verily supposing that neither life nor death shall part between thee and me The less Principles are the Laws of Christ which must be thus accepted And because thou hast been pleased to give me thy holy Laws as the Rule of my life and the way in which I should walk to thy Kingdome I do here willingly put my Neck under thy Yoke and set my Shoulder to thy Burden and subscribing to all thy Laws as holy just and good I solemnly take them as the rule of my words thoughts and actions promising that though my flesh contradict and rebel yet I will endeavour to order and govern my whole life according to thy direction and will not allow my self in the neglect of any thing that I know to be my duty Onely because through the frailty of my flesh I am subject to many failings I am bold humbly to protest That unallowed miscarriages contrary to the setled bent and resolution of my heart shall not make void this Covenant for so thou hast said Now Almighty God searcher of hearts thou knowest that I make this Covenant with thee this day without any known guile or reservation bebeseeching thee that if thou espiest any flaw or falshood therein thou wouldest discover it to me and help me to do it aright And now glory be to thee O God the Father whom I shall be bold from this day forward to look upon as my God and Father That ever thou shouldest find out such a way for the recovery of undone sinners Glory be to thee O God the Son who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in thine own blood and art now become my Saviour and Redeemer Glory be to thee O God the holy Ghost who by the finger of thine Almighty Power hast turned about my heart from sin to God O dreadful Jehovah the Lord God Omnipotent Father Son and Holy Ghost thou art now become my Covenant-friend and I through thine infinite Grace am become thy Covenant-servant Amen So be it And the Covenant which I have made on earth let it be ratified in Heaven CHAP. XX and Last An exhortation to the Saints COme ye People beloved you that are highly favoured The Lord is with you Blessed are you amongst men and women The Likes are fallen to you in a pleasant place yea you have a goodly heritage Come and enter upon your Lot let your hearts be glad let your glory rejoyce but that your joy may be full hearken to these following counsels Make sure your interest in the Covenant Rejoyce not in that that 's none of thine Make sure all lies upon this Your life all the comforts and concernments of it both your eternal safety hereafter and your success in all the parts of your Christian course here depend on your interest in the Covenant VVhat have you if Christ be not yours and what have you in Christ if you be not in Covenant whence are your hopes either of mercy at last or of prospering in any thing at present but from the Covenant of Promise And what have you thence if your name be not in it Oh give not rest to your selves till this be put out of doubt what ever duties you perform what ever ease or hope you finde hereupon what ever transportation of affection you feel in your hearts in the midst of all enquiry But am I in Covenant How shall I know that you 'll say why make a strict and narrow enquiry whether those special graces already mentioned be wrought upon you Common mercies though even these be Covenant mercies to the Saints yet