terme or object to another that is from sinne to righteousnesse from Sathan to God And because there are many false turnings and many men that wheele about and never turne truly who yet suppose that they are converted therefore we will endeavour to open to you this true turning Now it may be found out foure wayes First by the causes of it or motives upon which Secondly by the termes from which and to which we turne Thirdly by the manner Fourthly by the effects First for the causes of this solid true turning and the motives which worke upon a mans heart to turne him you must know that there are many things may cause a man to leave his evill ways for a while As it may be some present affliction for the avoyding of which a man may seeme to turne unto God Therefore God still complaines of the Iewes that they turned but fainedly unto him and not with the whole heart because when hee slew them then they sought to him and then they would turne from their evill wayes but when they were delivered they turned to their old Bias againe So Pharaoh when as he was plagued with any new Iudgement then hee would let the Israelites goe but as soone as that was off hee hardened his heart and would not let them goe As also a second cause to move men to turne may be some present commodity This doth appeare in many of those that applied themselves to Christ some did it for the loaves and some for their convenient living some for the hope of an earthly Kingdome which they thought hee would have brought but these all left him afterwards There bee many such false motives but the onely true motives are taken from the apprehension of eternall life and eternall death the conversion is not right till then and the reason is because all other motives may be over ballanced But the motives of life and death cannot be over topped by any thing If preferment be offered or what ever the world can offer but these exceed all that Sathan or the world or the flesh can suggest Therefore a man is then turned when the Lord shall enlarge his thoughts to see the greatnesse and the vastnesse of these two for then all those other things appeare but as Candles in the Sunshine So that if Sathan come with earthly honours and pleasures in his hand the answer will be easie but what are these to eternall death and everlasting life and these are not thought of nor considered by carnall men though they talke of heaven and hell yet they see not the immense vastnesse and latitude of them and therefore goe on so confidently hence Christ in Marke 16. when he sends forth his Disciples to convert men he bids them use these two arguments Tell every man if hee beleeve hee shall bee saved if not hee shall bee damned Where wee see the motives that Ministers are to use by Christs direction are eternall life and death And Saint Paul endeavouring to convert Felix told him of the Iudgement to come which made him to tremble And Christ told the woman of Samaria of that water and spring that flowes up to eternall life Consider therefore whether ever thou hadst a true apprehension of these without which a man cannot be throughly wrought upon which apprehension if true hath these conditions in it First it must be an apprehension of them as present for happily a man may have a slight thought of eternall life and death he may looke upon them as things absent and afarre off but when they are set on by God a man is pursued and brought into streights by the apprehensions of them so as he hath no rest till he be translated into another condition A carnall man on his death bed having an actuall apprehension of hell as present is strangely affected Now at conversion the apprehension of these seizeth upon a man by a work of the Spirit and compasses him about so as he cannot shake it off till he turnes to God The wise man sees the plague before hand even as present and therfore stayes not till it comes but turnes in the time of youth health and strength Secondly it must be a deepe fix'd and setled apprehension for sometimes a man that shall never be saved may be moved with the present apprehension of eternall death and life but it is as a storme soone blowne over but in him that shall be saved it is set on by the spirit of bondage and such an impression made as will never out but he still remembers it and this is that true apprehension which moves to repentance But some will say can a man be wrought upon by the meere apprehensions of eternall life and death to turne from his evill wayes without an apprehension of sin and grace When a man hath a true apprehension of eternall life and death he comes to know what sin and Grace is and never before till a man knowes eternall death he looks on sin as a trifle as a thing of nought therefore the wise man saith they despise their waies but this apprehension is it which helpes to present sin in its lâ—vely colours and so also the price of grace is then understood when it is apprehended as drawing with it everlasting happinesse as the needle drawes the threed The second thing is the consideration of the termes for there is no turning without going from one terme to another and there is no true turning except it be from Sathan and the creature and your owne selves to God Of this you reade in Acts 26. 18. that Saint Paul was sent to open their eyes and to turne them from darkenesse to light and from the power of Sathan unto God c. You see these the termes of true turning and this is especially to be marked for if there be no more then a turning from misery to happinesse it is not sound for if you look upon sinne and misery grace and happinesse as in themselves without respect to God you doe but turne upon your owne hinges as axle-trees you goe but different wayes to the same center that o ther wicked men goe unto so long as you looke only at the misery and the happinesse of your selves alone which is the center of all mankinde Therefore in a true conversion these motives are lookt upon in relation to God as thus if I follow my selfe and the creature they are never able to save me but if I apply my selfe to him that hath the keyes of life and death I shall be happy in him for ever therefore henceforth I will forsake Satan and every creature and apply my selfe onely to the Lord. And upon this ground a man makes this resolution with himselfe I will forsake Sathan and subject my selfe to God for he only is the author of true happinesse so that now God is made a tearme to which thou turnest and appliest
the fruit of Sanctification which is meant here and unto which the promise is made These goe both together in the godly and hee that hath the second never wants the first in some measure more or lesse though many have the first that have not the second Now the first is nothing else but a sence of sin and Gods wrath for it expressed to us in those former examples by being prickt in the heart it being a wounding of the heart and spirit Vnto which is joyned trembling feare with considering and comming to a mans selfe aswee have it in the Parable And this passive Legal humiliation stands in these particulars A sensiblenesse of sinne before a man is as one that is in a dead sleep what is done to him he feeles not nor what is said he heares not is sensible of nothing But this is the awakening of a man to be sensible of sinne so as now hee is wounded now he is smitten with it now he feeles it So the Goaler as the foundation of the prison was shaken so was his heart also and had an earth-quake within as well as one without and his awaking out of sleepe was a resemblance of his awakened heart This humiliation makes a man fearefull of his estate whereas before he was bold and others that are not humbled goe on boldly and are punisht as it is said of the foole in the Proverbs It makes a man consider his estate which he never did before as the Prodigall came to himselfe that is entered into a serious consideration of his estate before a man thought himselfe in a good estate little imagined hee was in the gall of bitternesse but this worke shewes him his poverty and that he is altogether naked and that hee hath nothing to sustaine him as the Prodigall saw he had not no worth at all in him And this first worke of humiliation is wrought by the Law and the curse thereof which sayes in his hearing Cursed be he that abides not in all things to doe them By the Law I say which is the rule of righteousnesse whereof all particular rules are branches and by the threatnings thereof which are all branches of that great curse The one being as the lightning to discover sinne the other like the thunder-bolt that strikes the heart with feare of Gods Iudgements the one is like the Inditement the other as the Sentence of the Judge I put both these together because both goe to humble a man The Law is like the Task-masters of Egypt that commanded the Israelites to do the worke but gave them no straw so the Law tells us this and this is to bee done and binds us to doe it but gives us no strength and so thereby discovers our sinfulnesse and unability to any good and then as the task-masters did beate them that failed of their tale so comes the curse and strikes them dead that continue not in all things to do the Law and these two put together worke this Legall humiliation neither by the Law is meant only those ten words spoken in Horeb but together with the explanation of them as wee finde them expounded in the Prophets and the whole Scriptures so that by the Law is meant that rectitude which the whole Scripture doth require Now therefore when the Scriptures are laid to our hearts the rectitude of the Scriptures is compared with the crookednes of our hearts and lives and thereby we come to see how that the least sinne is forbidden and that the least dutie must not be omitted and that we must give an account for every idle word and every lustfull thought and motion in the heart as S. Paul when humbled saw lust to be sinne and then we come to see withall the curse due to the lease This humbleth a man And unto this is further required the help of the Spirit joyning therewith without which the Law doth not humble a man who is therefore called the spirit of bondage because he enlightneth a man to see his bondage and slavery to sin and Sathan and his subjection to Gods wrath not that hee makes him such or brings bondage with it but discovers it and this not onely by shewing a man his bondage but he makes him believe it For there must be a faith to humble as well as to comfort whereas wee set light by the threatnings and believe them not for would the swearer sweare if he believed that threatning the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine When therefore the Spirit enlighteneth a man to see his sinnes and makes him believe the threatnings denounced against them then a man is humbled and not before And yet though these threatnings are propounded by the Word and made effectuall by the Spirit yet usually some affliction puts life into them as wee see in Manasses and also in S. Paul who was first struck off his horse to the ground and in the laylor who thought verily all his prisoners gone for whom his owne life must have beene answerable so as hee would have killed himselfe sometimes a reall affliction sometimes an imaginary one an apprehension of Judgement shame poverty misery doth God use to put life into the threatnings and they put life into the Law and then the Law is brought home to the conscience and so sinne is brought to light for when men are sensible of miseries then they are often brought to to inquiry into the Law of God to find what should bee the cause of it and when the Law is brought home to the conscience then sinne is made alive Saint Paul saies Romans 7. Sinne appeares to bee sin which before was as colours in the darke and sin being made alive then I dyed saies Paul there that is he apprehended himselfe a dead man in which is a discovery of sinne and our subjection to death for it wherein doe consist those two parts of this former humiliation which makes way for the second humiliation Thus you see what to be humbled is Now wee come to the second what it is to humble a mans selfe which begins when the other ends for then a man lookes out for the remedy as those who cryed out what shall we doe to be saved which is the second thing to be observed in those examples after the wounding of their hearts they made an enquiry what to doe to be saved For those that belong to Gods Election goe yet further there is another kinde of Evangelicall humiliation wrought in them which is a fruit of sanctification for in one whom GOD meanes to save when hee is come to this the LORD sends the spirit of adoption into his heart the spirit of grace as Zaâ—hary calls him which gives him some secret hope hee shall bee received to mercy if hee will come in which is a worke of faith in some degree begun and then says the soule with it selfe I will
owne eyes But then some will say that it is not necessary that the preaching of the Law should goe before if the Gospell doth it Yes the preaching of the Law is notwithstanding as a preparative In all that are brought up in the Church there is some knowledge in the Law that praecedes but it is the Gospell that softneth the heart first as ice is broken in peeces with hot water as well as with hammers so is the heart with the Gospel as well as with the hammer of the Law and indeed maketh that knowledge of the Law that proceeded to bee operative and sets it a worke so as the Law in its true working cannot bee without the Gospell nor the Gospell without the Law so as to a perfect worke of the Gospell the knowledge of the Law must precede Whatsoever a mans sinnes are if hee be truly humbled for them and forsake them they shall bee forgiven him This is the maine point you may observe by the way that the Gospell was as fully preached to the Iewes as to us So you see it was here they had the same way of being saved that we have as great mercy promised and dispensed Onely these great mysteries of the Gospell wherin grace and mercy is displayed were not opened so to them as unto us they had the promises of forgivenesse as fully and clearely but knew not the grounds of them as Christs incarnation death and resurrection as wee doe nor those glorious priviledges in particular w ch wee have by Christ. For the proofe of the maine point take that one place to make it good to you Esay 1. 18. Come now and let us reason together saith the LORD though your sinnes bee as scarlet they shall be white as snow though they be red as crimson â—hey shall bee as wooll The Prophet had exhorted them to learne to doe well c. But the people might object What shall wee bee the nearer for all this if wee be such great sinners as you have even now declared us to bee to prevent this the Prophet tells them what though their sinnes bee great and bloudie sins of the deepest dye of guilt there are many kinds of red but crimson and scarlet are the highest yet you shall be as perfectly cleansed from all your sinnes as if you should see scarlet turned as white as snow or crimson as white as wooll and none of the former dy remaining and when he tells this to them marke his expression Come let us reason together as if he had said this is a point requires strong reasonings to perswade you to believe it and indeed it is a hard thing truly to believe the pardon of their sinnes and the time will come when you will finde it to be so Wee will therefore set the Lord and your consciences together and you shall see how the Lord reasoneth for himselfe and how he will make this goâ—d Wee will first prove it to you from all his attributes 1 From his truth the Lord hath said it and this is argument enough to perswade you And therfore having made this promise of forgivenesse in the verse before that hee would subdue their iniquities and cast their sinnes into the depths of the Sea he addes thou wilt performe the truth to Iacob and the mercy to Abraham which thou hast sworne unto our fathers from the dayes of old As if he had said you must rest persw Gâ—d of this for he hath not onely promised it but hath sworne it and that oath not taken lately but of old there is an oth to it and an old one an oath that hath many witnesses Abraham and Iacob and all the fathers that have beene since and will he not thinke you bee as good as his word and that Acts 10. 43. To him give all the Prophets witnesse that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sinnes It is Saint Peters speech to Cornelius sayes Peter we deliver this from God to you and not only we that are the Apostles say this but to this truth doe all the Prophets Isay Ieremy and all the rest beare witnesse Now when the Lord hath said such things and made an absolute promise he expects you should believe it It is a greater sin then you imagine not to lay hold upon such promises See how the Lord reasons it 1 Iohn 5. 9. 10 11. If we receive the witnesse of men the witnesse of God is greater for this is the witnesse of God c. He that believeth not God hath made him a lyar As if he should say will you not believe If a man that is of an honest disposition should promise you a thing you would believe him and will you not believe me As if a man had more truth in him then I have yea further you make the Lord a lyar if you believe not this his record of his Son what is this record why saith the Apostle I will repeate it againe The Lord hath given us eternall life and this life is in his Sonne that is whosoever believes and takes CHRIST his sinnes shall be forgiven and he shall have life It is the pardon that brings life to the condemned traytor 2 But though he hath said this is ingaged sufficiently and this is much to helpe our faith yet when wee shall further heare and know him to bee one of a mercifull nature and gracious disposition wee will goe the more willingly to him Therefore add to this how the Lord expresseth his nature to us Exodus 34. 6 7. The Lord God mercifull gracious and long suffering and abundant in goodnesse and truth forgiving iniquity transgression and sinne As if he should have said to Moses wouldest thou know the very inward disposition and frame of my soule this is my nature to be mercifull and gracious c. this is the Lords Idea for his end here was to expresse himselfe unto us know that this is his nature and this will strengthen our faith in the promises for all his promises doe but flow from this nature of his and receive their strength therefrom and hee is rich in mercy because it is his nature 3 Adde to this the attribute of his wisdome and that will also helpe us to believe his mercies GOD that hath made these promises is exceeding wise and knowes with whom hee hath to doe hee knowes that originall corruption that is in us and is the mother of all sinne hee knowes our infirmities and what is in our hearts as hee that made us knowes what wee are as hee that makes any thing knowes the inward frame of it It is no strange thing for him to see us fall into sinne Therefore Psal. 78. 38 39. after he had spoken of those strange rebellions of the people of Israel into which they fell after their comming out of Egypt yet saith hee Hee being full of compassion destroyed them not but forgave
Iohns ministery who came to humble men and prepare men for Christ. They differ in their continuance the former a lone proves but a passion and it comes but from flesh so as all the fruites of flesh are it is but as the flower of the grasse of the same fading nature the roote is from whence it comes though it comes like a violent torrent into the heart and swells above the bankes yet it is but as a land-floud but this latter is as a constant river that hath a spring which though it keepes within the bankes and doth not overflow so much as the other yet it runnes constantly and the further it runnes the greater it growes I will give you also some properties of that humiliation to which the promise is made here by which it may bee yet further knowne and differenced We will take those fruites of it wee finde in the text 1 It will make a man pray and 2. Seeke Gods face and turne from his evill wayes it hath alwayes these as the consequences of it To pray Iudas was humbled but hee had no minde to pray nor an ability to pray the spirit of prayer went not with it but hee that hath that true humiliation is able to poure forth his soule to God and indeed prayer is not the worke of the memory and wit but the proper worke of a broken heart Againe secondly to seeke Gods face this true humiliation cuts a man off from his owne roote and bottome and causeth him to seeke the Lord alone which seeking useth to be expressed in prayer that other will cause a man to seeke mercy but this to seeke Gods face that is if they have his favour it is enough they seeke God as sequestred from all things else though such a soule had assurance of being freed from hell it would not content him unlesse he saw Gods face That which Absalom counterfeited as knowing it to be a true straine of a loving and humbled child to a Father when he had his life given him though banished from the Court Let mee see my Fathers face though hee kill mee it is an humbled soule in truth towards God others as God sayes in Hosea Seeke mercy but they turned not to mee they sought not me True humiliation causeth a man to turne from his evill wayes the other makes a man but give them over for a time whilst he is sicke of them and then returnes againe as a Dog to his vomit 2 Chron. 33. 23. It is said Amon humbled not himselfe as Manasses his father had humbled himselfe but transgressed more and more which implies that when a man is humbled as hee should he transgresseth no more as hee had done and so Manasses did so humble himselfe as he transgressed no more It will make him become stronger against that sin he hath transgressed in as a bone that hath been broken is stronger when it is right set againe hee especially humbleth himselfe for and turnes from his beloved sin and with that from all the rest 2 Property is it makes a man to cleave fast to Christ and so draw nigh to him in all the duties of obedience to obey him constantly generally and throughly Men may have light wounds made in their hearts which do not drive them to the Physitian which awakeneth men a little but they fall asleepe againe but when God humbleth so as to save he so fastens the apprehension of his misery upon him as to bring him home to Christ he sets on the avenger of bloud to pursue him to the utmost and not for a mile or two but to follow him till he be driven into the Citty of refuge There is an humiliation which hath not this effect and consequent of it and therefore I mention it as a property of the true and this because of a defect that is in it in which respect though it come neare the true yet differs from it which is in the event seene in this that the true causeth to come to Christ and to cleave to him without separation That you may therefore see the difference betweene this and the other and wherein that other is defective marke how that which is true workes this in one who yet is not quite cut off but hangs by a thread as it were there being some secret Fibrae some veines and strings that are not cut in peeces which keepe life in the old man and a man remaineth still upon his old stocke and so long CHRIST comes not into the heart not untill a man be unbottomed of himselfe and sees he can no way be happy in himselfe or within his owne compasse but sees all is to bee had in and from the LORD JESUS untill then he will not goe out of himself nor cleave to or follow the LORD JESUS CHRIST fully Now then the other humiliation is defective in this in that it is not in this manner enough bottomed it cuts not a man wholly off from himselfe the foundation is not laid low enough there is wanting depth of earth there is indeed so much earth as shall bring forth a greene blade of profession and such a foundation as there may bee erected a slight building upon but it is not low enough to beare a substantiall building that shall stand out all windes and weathers This true humiliation hath these two things goe with it A man sees no bottome in himselfe Seeth a bottome out of himselfe to stand upon and so hee casts himselfe upon that clasps about CHRIST and wholly adhereth unto him and so draws all sap and life from him as the branch doth from the roote and thence comes that resolution and ability to cleave to the Lord and to please him in all things As the resolution to doe it so all his ability to goe through with it for being joyned to CHRIST there comes the spirit of grace cal'd the vertue of CHRISTS death because it workes a vertue like unto his death into the heart But when the heart is not yet in this manner broken many take up purposes and good desires but are not able to keepe them because they were bottomed on their owne strength whereas if the heart were broken from it selfe and engrafted into CHRIST such purposes made in his strength would thrive and grow there For if the soile bee made good and fit plants bee planted in it it is certaine they will thrive Now in a good heart those desires that bee planted there doe thrive and wither no more and though there may now and then waves arise and so they may be tossed to and fro yet substantially they doe not wither nor fall from the foundation Those therefore who have begun a good course for a yeare or a moneth and go not on in it it is a signe they want humbling Hee that is truly humbled falles backe no more Manasses did not nor Saint Paul Lord what wilt thou have
it serves to make thee willing to match with Christ Wee are Christs spokes-men and woo you every Sabbath day but wee finde all the world like them who thinke themselves beautifull and rich and that they have matches enow who though they are contented to have Christ for their husband in Heaven yet not on the earth with all those crosses they must take him with Now humiliation comes and makes men willing when a man comes to see and say I have no such thing in mee as I imagined no riches c. but I am in debt and shall be arrested and laid in prison and my life must goe for it unlesse Christ will marry mee in that a man sees hee shall be kept from all arrests by him this makes a man willing to match with Christ yea glad though he have many crosses follow in this life upon the marriage Now therefore if thou findest this wrought that thou canst sincerely say I am willing to take Christ and to bee subject to him in all things to follow him in all conditions to give a full consent to take him as I finde that hee in the word hath a full consent to take mee then certainely thou art humbled else not if thou hadst taken him onely in a fit and not out of Judgement thou wouldest have repented thee ere now The second end which humiliation serves to is for Sanctification as the other helpt him in his Justification that every unruly lust may bee broken and mortified in thee that thou mightest feare to offend and bee plyable to the Lord in every thing whereas another that is unbroken quarrells with every thing thinkes his worke too much and his wages too little and knowes not why he should goe a contrary way to the world but an humbled man will doe all this chearefully like a broken Horse that turnes at every check of the bridle when another casts his Rider Doest thou finde that thou tremblest at the word and fearest sinne and darest not venture in it and so for duties thou darest not neglect them and this thou hast experience of in the whole course of thy life then surely this worke of humiliation hath beene in thy heart Though thou seest not the fire yet if thou findst the heate it hath beene there for these are the effects of it and as I speake this for the comfort of those that have not felt such violent sorrows so let mee on the contrary say to others who it may bee have had such fits of sorrow yet if thou find an unwillingnes to submit thus to Christ findest thy necke stiffe to the Lords yoke and such an unbrokennesse in thee that thou canst not live without satisfying this or that lust but canst sin and beare it out well enough let thy sorrow have beene never so great and now they are past and gone and were not right let men therefore examine themselves by the effects for men are deceived on both sides and then 1 Vse is for exhortation to stirre up to the dutie This exhortation I direct to two sorts of men first to those who are already truly humbled and secondly to strangers to it First you that are already humbled and have obtained the assurance of the forgivenesse of your sins you must be humbled more for if the Lord suspend his promise at this then the duty is to be done daily When God requires a dutie of Sanctification and his promises are made onely to such there can bee none excuse there may bee a let in preparative humiliation a man may bee swallowed of two much sorrow but not in this which is a duty of sanctification and know this that all degrees of grace arise from the degrees of this true Humiliation which I make good to you thus Faith and Love are the great radicall graces all elseare but branches springing out of them Now they are strengthened by this humiliation and graces the more they grow there is an addition still made to them as there is an addition made to our humiliation First for Faith know that the more strongly a man layes hold on CHRIST and prizeth him the more he goes on to apprehend his sinne and is emptied of himselfe and though a man tooke CHRIST truly at his first conversion yet there are degrees of prizing him when a husband takes a wife though at their feast marriage there was such love betweene them as they would have chosen each other before any other in the world yet so as this their love may admit degrees after marriage they may see more grounds of loving each other more so that though the match is made yet they may be more confirmed in their choice which may be made more full and absolute So towards Christ the will and affections may be wound up to a higher peg which is done by a further degree of humiliation What is faith but a laying hold of Christ Now the emptier the hand is the further hold it takes and the more we are taken off our own bottome the further we will cleave to Christ. A man in a river that is like to be drowned and hath a rope cast to him he wil be sure to catch as fast hold as hee can you shall not need to bid him And to this end it is that Christians are still taught more and more by the spirit to see the vanity of the creature the vilenesse of their natures and they are led through this wildernesse to humble them that so Christ may have the higher place in their hearts Againe the greater the thirst is the greater will a mans draught be and the more you adde to your humiliation the more will your thirst bee after Christ and you will drinke deeper of the fountaine of life and draw more sap from him And secondly it increaseth your love for thereby wee come to see our selves more beholding to God as having a greater debt forgiven us What made Mary love much but because shee was sensible much was forgiven her Therefore labour more and more to bee humbled especially as you fall into new sinnes which the Lord oft lets him to doe that they might bee humbled more and the more light a Christian gets to discover his owne vilenesse and the vanity of the creature the stronger he will grow in grace and the more established in well doing Now secondly for those that are strangers to this grace of Humiliation that they may come to be humbled let them observe these two rules First labour to see the greatnesse of sin Secondly to see your owne weaknesse and unability to helpe your selves for the first doe not weigh sin by common opinion but in a right ballance doe not doe with your soules as some doe with their bodies when their beautie is decayed they desire to hide it from themselves by false glasses and from others by painting so do we for the most part
not in so great a point turne it every way and mould it for your use and to your apprehensions as also that you may not thinke it harder then it is by which the Divell keeps many off Now you may know what it is by the expressions of those who have humbled themselves David having numbred the people when he humbled himselfe he said Lord I have sinned and done exceeding foolishly Iosiah his heart melted before the Lord. And Dan. 9. Lord we have done very wickedly c. and shame belongs to us hee was ashamed And Ioâ— when he humbled himselfe said Lord I abhor my selfe in dust and ashes And the Prodigall I have sinned against heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to bee called thy sonne And so they are said to bee weary and heavy laden Many other expressions there are but I will digest all into two heads to humble a mans selfe is but to bring his heart and minde unto these two acts Is out of a sence of a mans unworthinesse to say thus unto the Lord Oh Lord I haâ—e done exceeding wickedly and am worthy to be destroyed I have beene in the wrong way and done exceeding foolishly but thy wayes are righteous and thou art just yea I have dealt unthankfully and unequally with thee who hast beene so good to me That was it melted the heart of Iosiah and made Iob abhorre himselfe as vile as the dust I tread upon as ashes that are good for nothing or but as sackloth in which they used to humble themselves the worst of garments I am ashamed and confounded This is the first act which is a sence and an acknowledgement of our owne unworthinesse and vilenesse And the second a sight of a mans worthinesse to be destroyed unability to helpe himselfe and of the vanity of all things else A man must further say that I am not onely unworthy but guilty of death my sinnes will breake my backe I am not able to stand under them and I am utterly undone and when I looke upon all the props of my life my health and riches c. I see they are but vaine things reeds and feathers and as hollow ground whereon I can set no footing Therefore LORD bee thou a rocke to mee on whom I may pitch and build my selfe And that this sight of our owne unability is also necessary we see by that 1 Tim. 6. 17. Charge them that are rich that they bee not high minded nor trust in uncertaine riches they are both joyned together For so farre as a man doth trust in them he is high minded and the soule of man doth trust in them so long as it apprehends substance in them and that they are not vanity so farre the heart beares it selfe upon them and so is carelesse of the LORD and why else do afflictions humble men as Manasses but because a man then sees the emptinesse of all things it brings him to say with the Prodigall I die for hunger and these cannot feed mee and so to hold fast to the LORD which a man must needs doe when he hath but one thing to hold to Now when thou art wrought on so as to expresse this unfainedly this is it to humble thy selfe We should hence learne to strengthen our faith if we have done this if thou hast thus humbled thy selfe confessed thy sinnes taken up a full resolution to forsake them thou shalt have mercy according to that promise Prov. 28. 13. He that confesseth and for saketh shall have mercy But here we find those who have humbled themselves come in with two objections that hinder their comfort 1. That they cannot mourne for their sins 2 That they fall into the same sinnes againe and againe and that therefore they have not humbled themselves Now as we would not have the false deceived with false evidences so nor the true discomforted and therefore wee will answer these objections To the first If thou beest so farre convinced in thy Judgement of thy sin and misery and unability to helpe thy selfe as it hath turned the bent and rudder of thy will so as thou sayest I will goe and humble my selfe to my Father change my course confesse and forsake my sins though thy affections seeme to thee not stirred yet this is enough to translate thee into the estate of grace for I aske to what end is mourning and weeping required but to awaken a man to come home to God in this manner mentioned when therefore thou findest these effects thou maiest be sure thou hast the end of these and that is enough to save thee Suppose a man carries about him a deadly disease so as upon the discovery and knowledge of it he is content to part with all he hath to the Physicians and is wary of medling with any meate that will hurt him and increase it if he know this that it is deadly though he hath no sence of paine it is all one and there are some diseases you know wherein a man feeles not so much paine that yet are mortall it may make him as carefull to use the meanes and so is it here if the conviction of the sinfulnesse and deadlinesse of sinne worke those dispositions mentioned in thee then thou hast the end which mourning tends to and that is all one Though thy affections be not so stirred consider the promises are made to ones comming in and taking Christ and beleeving in him they are not made to the commotion of the affections and here in the words the promise is made to humbling thy selfe out of a solidity of Iudgement It is no matter by what meanes you are brought to take hold on Christ so you come to him It is all one whether I come to my journeys end by land or by water on horse backe or on foote so I bee come thither If thou findest thou doest the things that an humble man should doe then though thy affections seeme not to be moved yet in very deed they are moved and changed as if thou art fearefull to returne to thy sinnes art resolved to please God in all things to thy power For what are affections but divers positions and scituations of the will and the feete it walkes upon they are but the divers motions and inclinations whereby the will shoots it selfe into the objects of it Now looke which way thy will is resolved and set that way are thy affections set also if thou seest one ro rise up soone and goe to bed late to avoyde poverty and to get riches a wise man will assure himselfe that his ayme is such and his heart set upon riches his actions shew that his affections doe move strongly that way though he sayes he feeles no such stirradge Therefore though thou findest this stilnesse of affections yet if thou doest the same things that they use to do who mourne and weepe more thou mayest assure thy selfe thy
say sit up higher all the world cannot hold downe an humble man because the Lord setteth to his hand to raise him up neither keepe up a proud man because the Lord setteth himselfe to depresse and debase them when the wall swells it is not like to stand long when a joynt is luxated and swelled till the swelling abate it cannot be saved and set he hath respect to the low estate of his handmaiden so saith Mary the blessed Virgin Luke 1. 48. So he dealt with Naomi hee was long in humbling her and then raised her up so with Iob when hee was humbled then God doubled his estate thus God deales with the humble and that constantly he never does any great things for any men till hee hath first humbled him how much was Ioseph humbled ere he made that promise to him that the Sunne Moone and Stars should bow to him that is his father and mother and brethren should obey him and yet againe before God made good these promises to him what a doe there was to humble him further which doubtlesse made him more to prize these mercies and so more thankfull to God for them So also in his glorious appearance to Abraham Isaac and Iacob he would still before hand humble them and make them low by some affliction or other still before hee would make any gracious promises to them When Iacob was flying from the face of his brother and was in great streights and so made low in his owne eyes then did God first appeare to him when a man is humbled it is the next doore to preferment one way or other Therefore it should be our wisedome to humble our selves more and more since there is so much benefit to be gotten by it Prov. 22. 4. By humility and the feare of the Lord are riches and honours and life the rule holds constant the Lord makes it good let a man be humble and feare God too that is allow himselfe in no sinne and the Lord will make it good one way or other in his time But you will say we see the contrary proud men are advanced and humble men deprest they have riches when as the humble man is poore and as we use to say where the hedg is lowest there all the beasts goe over and tread it downe every man will be ready to trample upon the humble man I answer first The Lord gives outward gaudy things to proud men but hee gives his Iewels to those that are humble hee reveales his secret to them these are Princes though they goe on foote and the other are servants though they ride on horsebacke But this is not all my answer but secondly I say that even for the things of this life the Lord doth exalt the humble and bring downe the proud onely with this caution hee doth both in season when things are brought to maturity as the Apostle Saint Peter saith 1 Pet. 5. 6. humble your selves under the mighty hand of God that hee may exalt you in due time God doth it not on a suddaine When the proud like the corne are ripe then he puts in the sickle and cuts them downe and casts them into the fire The wall which is sweld must have a time to moulder and fall and so on the contrary there is a due time for the exaltation of the humble And therefore if thou sayest I have humbled my selfe and have not beene healed I have not beene freed from such a temptation for all my humiliation if this bee thy case then assure thy selfe thou art not humbled enough but goe thou and yet bring thy heart lower and then bee confident that this rule will hold the Lord will take off the smarting plaister as soone as it hath eaten out the proud flesh so soone as thy heart is truly humbled the Lord will helpe thee he will either remove the crosse or give thee that which is equivalent and thus the Lord hath alwayes done So he dealt with Ioseph You happily may thinke and hee might thinke it was long before he was exalted but yet that time was not too long for as soone as the LORD had truly humbled him then hee presently exalted him as you may see in Psal. 105. 18 19 20. Whose feet they hurt with fetters he was laid in iron until the time that his word came the word of the Lord tryed him then the King sent and loosed him c. And so he dealt with Iob. All that time that his friends were reasoning with him his heart would not bee brought downe but the Lord himselfe must come and reason with him and then he began to abhorh mselfe in dust and ashes and how soone after was hee restored and al he lost restored double also This being as you see Gods constant course if thou humbling thy selfe yet lyest long under a calamity thou mayest assure thy selfe there is somthing wanting in thy heart and therefore bee content with Gods dealing 2 Cor. 12. lest Saint Paul should be exalted there was given him a thorne in the flesh if Saint Paul needed humility who doth not Remember this rule that if Gods people humble themselves then he will certainely helpe them onely it will bee in due season But you will say how shall wee get downe our stubborne hearts Pride is very naturall and the hardest thing in the world to overcome Let every man consider whether he be released or no from the plague of his heart if that there be not some calamity which hangs continually on him if there be then know thou art not humbled enough the meaning is not that thou shouldest be brought to an apprehension and feare of hell but thy heart is to be brought down more thou maiest be humbled truly so as to be within the covenant and yet not enough to have thy heart wrought to this or that frame God would bring it unto And to bring your hearts lower use these meanes First consider your hearts often consider what unruly lusts you find hid there make it your daily custome to search into this We goe not a daies journey in this life but there is somewhat discovered in our hearts which may serve to humble us further as it was with them in the wildernesse Deut. 8. 2. Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty yeares in the wildernesse to humble thee to prove thee and to know what was in thy heart c. There is not one day but a godly-wise man may discerne something in his heart which may be matter of humiliation to him which he saw not before vaineglorious speeches unlawfull silence cowardize in good causes thy worldly mindednesse thy unruly affections that will be still stirring and something will be discovered without in thy actions also which when thou seest such sparkes ascending remember to looke to the fire the furnace within these are but the buds
you had lost Thou mayest seeke salvation and deliverance from hel out of the strenght of naturall wisedome because it is for thy good and also being convinced of the necessity of faith and repentance to escape hell and obtain salvation Men may thereupon go farre in the performance of many duties and be constant a while in them and yet not seeke the Lords face in all these and then the Lord regards them not Take a thiefe that is arraigned at the bar he will cry earnestly for his life but yet he seeketh not the face of the Iudge i. e. he doth it without love to the Iudge but onely out of the love of life So we may do much to escape hel and to attain the life opposite to it and yet all this while not seeke the presence of God and then GOD regards it not You find this disposition in your selves and see it in others if a man bee never so observant of any of you and performe never so many offices of friendship to you yet if a man can say he loves me not for all this hee doth not prize mee nor desire my love and favour so much for it selfe but for his owne ends in this case you care not for what hee doth So the LORD hee knowes the heart and the reines and what thine end is whether it bee communion with his person immediately or thine own welfare meerely and if so regards not thy humbling thy selfe nor thy prayers The promise you see is suspended upon it it is a distinguishing point and will separate betweene the precious and the vile it is a marke set upon Gods people alone To seeke Gods face Wee will therefore further and more particularly consider what it is to seeke Gods face or presence And there are three wayes to finde it out First by what is here joyned with it If they humble themselves and seeke my face and so by considering the connexion that these two have together find out what seeking of Gods face is Now there is a twofold humiliation wrought in men The one is for that bitternesse and punishment that sin brings with it and this never brings forth either faithfull prayers or seeking Gods face But there is another kind of humiliation which hath a further ingredient in it and that is the sight of the foulenesse of sinne when God openeth a crevise of light to looke upon sin not onely as that which brings bitternesse with it but as that which in it selfe is most filthy and abominable and by that light it is made such in his account for it is one thing to flee from the sting of the Serpent an other thing to hate the Serpent it selfe and so to take heed of the Wolfe because of his cruelty and to hate the Wolfe it selfe are differing things Other creatures may hate the properties and conditions of a Wolfe but a Lambe only hates the Wolfe it selfe Now with this latter kind of humiliation there goes and is conjunct with it an enlightning whereby God shewes to a man his owne glorious face the lustre whereof helpes him further to see the foulnesse of sinne God by the same light of the Spirit whereby he shewes a men the uglinesse of sinne discovers withal his own excellencies which makes the sinner thus humbled to seeke his face to seeke grace as well as mercy But other men either see not Gods face at all or onely see his angry countenance onely those whom the Lord calleth effectually see his gracious face Now hee to whom it is hid and sees it not seekes not Gods face for none can seeke it unlesse they have seene it and hee who sees it onely as angry flies from God but he discovers himselfe to the truly humble the secrets of the Lord are with such Psal. 25. and so Ioh. 15. 15. I call you not servants for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth but I have call'd you friends for all things I have heard of my Father I have made knowne to you Hee reveales himselfe to those who are already his friends or to those he is about to make his friends one of the first things he doth is to reveale his face to them With men indeed men are first made friends and then secrets are revealed but contrarily with God he reveales his secrets to us and his face that we may be made friends with him and then wee grow into further acquaintance with him and they are therefore cal'd the secrets of the Lord because only revealed to the Saints Servants indeed see what is done in the house but there are many things which their masters reveale not to them and so many come here to the house of God and heare what is spoken of GOD and CHRIST but yet there are some certaine secrets that are hid from them that are told only to the children the sonnes and daughters of God The other heare as much and see as much for the outside as Gods children do yet the secrets of things are hid from them and among others Gods face and the excellencies thereof are hid from them This he reveales as his other secrets onely to those that feare him and this revealing it is a speciall worke of the Spirit If a man would see the Sunne all the starres in heaven and torches in the earth could not helpe him to see it or shew it to him unlesse the Sunne it selfe shines and ariseth and there come a light from the Sunne it selfe you cannot come to see it and so all the Angels of heaven and wits of men on earth cannot shew you Gods face unlesse hee opens the clouds and reveales himselfe by his owne Spirit it will not bee done which is therefore called the Spirit of Revelation Ephes. 1. 17. by which God reveales his secrets to his children when he begins to call them effectually they see him and none else wee make knowne the Doctrines about GOD and CHRIST c. to all alike but the Lord makes the difference by revealing himselfe to one and not unto another that which is said especially of the Iewes 2 Cor. 3. 15 16. verses and so on is in like manner applicable to us all The Lords face shines as Moses face did verse 15. and hee gives the knowledge of his glory in the face of Iesus Christ in the ministery of the word every day but there is a vaile lies upon all mens hearts upon all but those whom the Lord calls and upon theirs also till hee calleth them as upon the Iewes hearts verse 16. Neverthelesse when they shall turne unto the Lord the vaile shall be taken away and untill then Gods face cannot bee seene as Moses face was not and who shall take away that vaile The Spirit of the Lord where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty vers 17. and when hee doth free us of that vaile then we behold the Glory of the Lord as in a
So then as ciphers added to figures they helpe to make the number greater though if they stand alone they are nothing so these and though they be not good leaders yet they are good followers They are as a good wind that fills the sailes and sets the Ship forward with the greater speed when the rudder is once set right to steere to God alone The third thing whereby I explaine what is meant by seeking GODS face is to seeke the LORDS presence in opposition to a mans selfe when a man doth it with deniall of himselfe not serving his owne ends in seeking the Lord but gives up himselfe to the LORD alone In all things an unregenerate man doth not know the Lord is not acquainted with him and therefore will not preferre the Lord to himselfe but a regenerate man that knowes him reckoneth all things as life liberty riches c. but as drosse and dung so he may enjoy the LORD hee hath set up the Lord for his God in his heart and desires not to stand upon his owne bottome and therefore when the Lord comes into competition with himselfe and the matter is betwixt God and his credit c. he is willing to deny himselfe But here the great objection is how it is possible for a man not to seeke his owne happinesse safety and advantage This troubles many and makes them think their sincerity but hypocrisie and may put a scruple into the best I will therefore cleare this for their sakes whose hearts are upright as also to exclude those whose hearts are not sound The answer stands upon these two points First it is true that a man may seeke and love himselfe and desire his owne happinesse yea and all his actions may take their rise from thence so as to be moved in seeking the LORD in doing what he doth with a respect to his own good and safety and that this is so take these reasons Because GOD hath commanded it for hee bids us love our neighbour as our selves where it is taken for granted that we must love our selves because loving our selves is made the prima mensura the rule of loving our neighbour Now to love a mans selfe what is it but to seeke a mans owne good A man is commanded not to kill himselfe or to hurt himselfe and by the rule of contraries hee is thereby commanded to seeke the preservation of himselfe and his owne good For as when we expound the commandement Thou shalt not kill as suppose thy neighbour wee say it includes this affirmative command thou shalt seeke the good of thy neighbour so when wee expound it of our selves we are to understand it as not onely forbidding us to destroy our selves but as commanding to preserve our selves and to seeke our owne safety It is impossible for the creature not to will its owne happinesse the Lord doth not command that which is simply impossible even to pure nature but it is the nature of every thing that hath an appetite appetere bonum sibi to desire that which is good for it selfe Selfe-love is a plant of Gods owne planting and therefore not to bee rooted up God did put it into us all for it is the nature of every thing to do so and opus naturae est opus author is naturae Many motives which the Scripture useth are taken from selfe-love as that of CHRIST feare him that can cast both body and soule into hell And so when it promiseth us a Kingdome The Scripture deales with men by working upon this principle and by arguments taken from our selves This is the eare which the Holy Ghost takes hold of and leades a man into the wayes of peace by and wee must not pluck off this eare The second part of the answer is that yet notwithstanding wee may and ought to seeke the Lord in opposition to our selves that is when God and our selves come into competition the commandement comes in opposition with our selves the case being such as if we obey God wee hurt our selves then wee must preferre God and his commandements to our selves But you will aske how can this stand with the former that a man should make his owne good the rise of his actions and yet in his actions oppose himselfe When once a man is perswaded that even to destroy himselfe is the best way to provide for himselfe and that to let himselfe goe and his credit and life and give up all to God is that whereby he shall put himselfe into a better condition when a man is perswaded of this then you see both doe stand together And wee never doe exhort a man to seeke God in opposition to himselfe but when it is best for him so to doe not to give himselfe up to any thing that shall bee an immediate hurt to him but when otherwise it would be worse for him and when letting himselfe goe is the next way to happinesse and then a man may bee exhorted to it when hee shall bee perswaded that his good is contained in God more than in himselfe as we say the being of an accident is more in the subject than it selfe so as take away the subject and the very separation is a destruction to it So it is with the creature which hath no bottome of it selfe so as the separation of it from God is the destruction of it as on the contrary the keeping of it close unto God though in a case that seemes to bee the ruine of it is its happinesse and perfection As for example when Abraham should have destroyed his sonne by offering him up he thought he should not lose by it nor Isaac neither he thought with himselfe God hath commanded me to do it and I never yet lost by keeping any commandement he gave mee God is able to raise him up againe I never yet was a loser by him and on the contrary I shall be sure to be a loser and my sonne also if I doe it not It is indeed impossible that if a man should simply be a loser that hee should doe thus but when he considers that though hee bee destroyed at present yet hee believes it will be for his good and so it will bee indeed As take a beame of the Sunne the way to preserve it is not to keepe it by it selfe the being of it depends upon the Sunne take the Sun away and it perisheth for ever but yet though it should come to be obseured and so cut off for a while yet because the Sun remaines still therefore when the Sun shines forth againe it will be renewed againe Such a thing is the creature being compared with God If you would preserve the creature in it selfe it is impossible for it to stand like a glasse without a bottome it must fall and breake When therefore this is considered by a man then he will say I will be content to deny my selfe and seeke
this hardnesse and tendernesse Hee dares as well venter upon a Canons mouth as commit a sin and though he may sometimes bee transported for a time yet conscience fights against it Then for the will that fights against sin also whilst with David he hath sworne to keepe those righteous judgements that is hath fixedly resolved against it Lastly he resists sin in his affâ—ctions 2 Cor. 12. S. Paul prayed and prayed earnestly and could not be content nor make a denyall he was so troubled So in David Psal 119. 20. My soule breaketh for the longing it hath to thy Iudgements When a man hungers and thirsts after righteousnesse and weepes bitterly for sin as Peter did it is a signe that his affections are stirred Now on the contrary in an evill man all the faculties fight in their courses for sin As Ephes. 4. 18. 19. Having their understandings darkened being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the hardnesse of their heart who being past feeling have given themselves over to worke all uncleannesse with greedinesse here you may see all the foure faculties in an ungodly man fighting for sinne Their cogitations are darkened c. their understandings are for sinne being estranged from the wayes of God Then secondly followes the conscience because of the hardnesse of their heart so the word signifies their conscience being insensible of sinne admi sir. And then thirdly for the will they have given themselves up to it they have taken to themselves a resolution to betray their soules to it Then fourthly for the affections they are said to commit it with greedinesse that is with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of affections such as is in a covetous man who is greedy and can never have enough his affections are so large This is the first difference in regard of the subject The second difference is in respect of the object the things they fight against a carnall man against grosse evills as wee see in Herod when hee beheaded Iohn what a contention was there in him he was troubled about what report the people would give of it and about the murder of one he knew to be so holy and good a man but a man truly regenerate as he is enabled to see more than another so also he fights against more Another man sees no more but the morall evill and good and so fights against no more but besides this a regenerate man sees the spirituall holinesse that is in a dutie and lookes to the manner as well as the matter and hee fights against those smaller motes in the Sunne All the carnall men in the world finde fault with strictnesse c. but another mans chiefe trouble is that hee cannot bee strict enough S. Paul was a learned man and understood the Law of Moses exactly and was not ignorant of the ten Commandements and yet when he came to be regenerate he saw and understood it in another manner I was alive once without the Law but when the Commandement came sin revived and appeared as a monster which before seemed but a small thing to him above measure sinfull so for good when a man is changed in his mind he discernes the whole will of God that perfect will Rom. 12. 2. before hee saw the maine duties it may bee and the grosser evills onely This is a second difference in the Object The third difference is in the successe the issue of a carnall mans resistance is still deteriora sequor the godly in the issue still followes the best and in the end is a conqueror and though much assaulted yet he walkes after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. and in the end mortifies the deeds of the flesh but a wicked man though hee may have many good intentions yet walkes as it is Ephes. 4. 17. after the vanity of his mind and in the end fulfills the lusts of the flesh This is Saint Paul his estate being compared in the seventh to the Romans with 2 Cor. 12. though hee complaines much in both yet Grace sufficient was given him to keepe him from the Act. But some of Gods children have had the worst in the issue of the combat as David who fell into Adultery Saint Peter into denyall of his Master In some particular actions they may bee foiled but the combat is with the lust which in the end is overcome though the actions give him a blow Saint Peters lust was feare which made him to deny his Master but in the end it was overcome Acts 4. 8. whereby his boldnesse it appeares there So David had the victory over that lust Psal. 51. how doth he hate it and was fenced against it 4 Difference is in respect of the continuance of the combat In the wicked it lasts but for a time because that in him which causeth this combat hath no bottome like a flower though beautifull yet it growes but upon a stalke of grasse and therefore soone withers and the combatants failing the combat ends Saul held out a while and carried it faire but in the end persecuted David and followed his lusts without any bridle Iudas was long restrained and kept himselfe in CHRISTS family but at last his covetousnesse overcame him and he resolves to give up his Master to the Pharisees Ioash restrained himself the greatest part of his life whilst his Vncle lived but two yeares before his death he gave himselfe up to doe evill the Princes came and did reverence unto him and he yielded So Amaziah after he had overcome the Edomites In a regenerate man the combatants always continue it is an immortall seed which cannot be eradicated therefore the combate lasteth and increaseth There was a strife of feare in Nicodemus and hee comes by night but hee got the mastery and spake boldly for Christ. And so againe we see it in Peter there was a combat in him to his death as appeares by that which Christ tells him they shall carry thee whither thou wouldest not this was a strife in him which never ended till he had an end himselfe in this world Thus you have seene the differences betweene the relapses of the godly and the wicked by which examine your selves If no promise belongs to any but to those that turne then this followes that if any have provoked the eyes of Gods glory by any sinne let him not thinke to take up the matter by offering sacrifice that is by prayers and confessions for God requires this absolutely Except yee turne I will not be mercifull do what you wil humble your selves fast pray seeke my face c. GOD will bee satisfied with nothing unlesse there be a real turning Therfore let no man say I have sinned and I am sorry and confesse it c. but I am not able to leave it and yet I hope GOD will pardon me No know that stoppage is no
their iniquity and why because hee remembred they were but flesh And indeed one would wonder how the LORD could forgive so obstinate a people that had such experience of his power and mercy by those great workes which he wrought afore them in bringing them out of Egypt yet he did because he remmebred and wisely considered what ingredients went to make up their natures hee remembred they were but flesh So Psalme 103. 13 14. the former part of that Psalme is nothing else but an expression of promises of forgivenesse and in the 14. verse he gives this as the reason of all for hee knowes our frame hee remembereth that wee are dust hee knowes whereof we are made and therefore is exceeding mercifull 4 Whereas there is one Attribute from which you object against the pardon of their sinnes that the Lord notwithstanding is just and this terrifies you and puts you off even from this we may fetch an argument to strengthen our faith herein for know that the Lord is therefore ready and willing to forgive because hee is just 1 Iohn 1. 9. If wee confesse our sinnes hee is faithfull and just to forgive us This is the ground of all our comfort that he eis just and faithfull for is he not engaged by promise and is hee not faithfull to keepe his promise Againe hath hee not beene satisfied and paid for our sinnes by CHRIST and his justice will not suffer him to require a second payment It is just now with him to forgive faithfulnesse hath reference to his promises justice to that bloud of CHRIST the ransome received which cleanseth us from all our sinnes 5 If all these will not serve to perswade our hearts to believe the Lord descends a little lower and helpes us out with an argument of his readinesse to pardon from the consideration of what is in our selves consider how you would deale with your children Psal. 103. 13. Like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord them that feare him If a child that is yours offend you an hundred times yet if he come in and humble himselfe you will pardon him And will not God when his people humble themselves Wee use but such arguments as God himselfe doth and doe but set him and your consciences together to reason the case But you will object againe and say it is possible for a child so to offend as that a father will not nor cannot forgive him True but the Psalmists meaning is not as if GOD would pardon no more then an earthly father but on the contrary if you that are earthly fathers can doe so much I that am an infinite Lord God and not man can doe much more who is Omnipotent and can doe whatsoever he will and shews his omnipotency in pardoning I compare with this Esay 55. 9. My thoughts are not as your thoughts What though your sinnes bee great and in their owne thoughts unpardonable and you thinke them greater then can bee forgiven but my thoughts sayes GOD are not as your thoughts he speakes this of pardoning but as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my thoughts above your thoughts and my waies above yours in multiplying to pardon Though you could not forgive nay though you cannot think or imagine how such transgressions should be forgiven yet I can forgive them A second sort of arguments is taken from the meanes and instrument by which forgivenesse is conveyed Wee are come to IESUS the Mediator of the new covenant and to the bloud of sprinkling which speakes better things then the bloud of Abel Hebrewes 12. 24. Hee speakes this as an encouragement to their faith and it is as if hee had said consider how the bloud of Abel though but the bloud of a poore man cryed so loud that it came up to heaven that it brought down vengeance upon Cain how loud then shall CHRISTS bloud speake What is it able to procure for us which speakes better things that is for mercy which God is more ready to heare the cry for then for vengeance and this cry is not of the bloud of an ordinary man as Abel was but of the bloud of his owne Sonne to which purpose compare with this that place Heb. 9. 14. How much more shall the bloud of Christ who through the eternall Spirit offered up himselfe without spot to God purge your conscience from dead workes As in the other place hee compares it with Abels bloud so here with the blood of Buls and Goates which in the old law served by Gods appointment for the outward purification of the flesh how much more how infinitely transcendently more above our thoughts or imaginations shall the bloud of the Sonne of God bee able to purge your consciences wee not able to conceive nor he to expresse hee onely sayes how much more c. and hee backeth it with two Reasons which put together shew the transcendency of that sufficiency in Christs bloud to cleanse us the first from the eternall Spirit whereby hee offered up himselfe it was not the bloud or sacrifice of a meere man but of God which sacrifice was in it selfe without spot There are three objections wee usually make against our selves by reason of our sins 1. That they are so many 2. So great 3. That they are reiterated and often fallen into Now the sprinkling of the bloud of Christ thus offered is sufficient to cleanse your consciences from and to take away all these Ezek. 36. 25. then will I sprinkle cleane water upon you and yee shall bee cleane from all your filthinesse and from all your idols will I cleanse you The bloud of Christ is the water there meant which cleanseth from sinne and filthinesse and from all though never so many and from filthinesse and idols from such sinnes though never so great Ah! but I have also fallen often into them Zach. 13. 1. His bloud is therefore compared to a fountaine set open for sinne and for uncleannesse not a cisterne but a fountaine a continuall spring perpetually running to cleanse us so that as there is a spring of sinne in us so as wee are defiled againe and againe so there is a spring of vertue in his bloud to cleanse us never to be dried up The last reason is taken from the freenesse of the covenant which God hath made with mankind if any man bee a thirst yea if any man will come let him come and drinke of the waters of life freely See the manner how it is set downe Iohn 7. 37. In the last day a great day of the feast Iesus stood and cryed saying if any man thirst let him come to me and drinke hee makes a proclamation for all to come as also Rev. 21. 6. and 22. 17. where he makes the like generall invitation and adds that they shall have it freely so the tenour of the covenant runnes that if any thirst those indeed
in Paradise But you will object and say can sinnes that have been committed cease to have beene committed or cease to have been sins Answer t is true that which is once done can never bee undone All the acts remaine as things once done so as it may be said they were committed and were thus hainous when therefore it is said there shall be none the meaning is they shall be of no efficacy they shall never bee able to doe you hurt as our Saviour said to his Disciples Luk. 10. 19 You shall tread upon Serpents and Scorpions and they shall not hurt you so I may say of sin it shal not hurt you because the sting is taken away in and by Christ or as that fire in Nebuchadnezzars furnace it had power enough to burne others but not so much as to singe an haire of the three children because Christ was with them so those sinnes which would sting and shall sting others to death because of their impenitence yet shall doe thee no hurt but fall off like the Viper off from Saint Pauls hands but not hurt thee It is an opinion of some that GOD can see no sinne in his children because they say there are none when a man is once in Christ son to bee seene But that is not the meaning of that saying God sees no iniquity in Iacob they are there but as in a debt-booke crossed and cancell'd though the lines be drawne over yet the summes may be read yet so as they cannot bee enacted or sued for because they are crossed and cancell'd A falling starre loseth its light by little and little and when it comes to the earth it goes quite out so when sinnes begin to fall from their proper element and Sphere that is an unregenerate heart where they had dominion and raigned and moved as in their Orbe the light and influence of it decayes and shall at length both in the guilt and power of it wholly vanish I will also adde to this this caution the Saints must know that for all this their sinnes are retained till they actually repent againe the Lords wrath is kindled against them and they may feele such effects of it as may make their hearts ake Thus the Lord met Moses and would have slayne him in the Inne for neglecting that ordinance of circumcision the sinne was not forgiven till he had humbled himselfe and amended his fault so GOD was angry with the Israelites that fled before their enemies till the accursed thing was taken away So when David sinned in the matter of Vriah it is said in the end of that Chapter 2 Sam. 11. 27. The thing that David had done displeased the Lord and there was the wrath of a father against him though not of an enemie and when was it that GOD was well pleased with him againe but when hee had humbled himselfe and repented Therefore that you may have strong consolation search and examine your hearts and lives see that there bee no way of wickednesse unrepented of in you before you apply all these promises which then you may doe to your comfort Somewhat is now to bee said even to those whom before wee excluded for the end of our preaching is not to shut them for ever out If the LORD will bee mercyfull to our sinnes if wee be humbled there is an open dore for those that are without a ground to exhort them to come in Come and welcome God is exceeding mercifull and ready to forgive and receive you If any thing will draw men in they are the promises of mercy the Hue and Cry makes the Thiefe to flye away the faster The Proclamation of pardon brings the Rebels in and what greater motive can wee use than this that whatever your sinnes are or have beene never so great in themselves and aggravated with never so many circumstances yet if you will come in and humble your selves and turne to God God will bee mercifull to you No matter what thy sinnes have beene all the matter is what thy humility is what thy resolutions to confesse and forsake thy sinnes are thy have not gone beyond that price which hath beene paid for them And God will not only pardon their sins but also leave a blessing behind If you indeed should come thus to any man whom you have offended hee would say what are you not ashamed to come to mee having wronged mee thus to looke mee in the face not to aske forgivenesse onely but to aske such a kindnesse such a favour at my hands also how could you have the face to doe it But the Lord he never gives that answer for he is not as man Ier. 3. 11. Though if a man put away his wife and shee becomes another mans hee will not receive her againe yet returne to me sayes God It is possible for men to commit such sins that men cannot forgive but God can pardon any You know the pernicious counsell which Achitophel gave to Absolon to goe in to his fathers wives to make an irrecoverable breach betweene his father and him judgeing it such an injury as David would never put up yet returne to mee sayes God God can pardon any I will scatter thy sinnes as a myst and thine iniquity as a cloud Some sinnes are small as mysts some more great and grosser as a cloud Gods mercy is able to scatter both Doe not say oh I had beene a happy man if I had not fallen into this or that sinne I had then beene pardoned T is true that in respect of Gods dishonour it had beene better thou hadst not committed it but yet this I will say that in respect of obtaining pardon thou mayest bee happy notwithstanding if thou humble thy selfe this sinne will not barre thee from happinesse but thou maist be in as good a condition after thou art come home as any other whose sinnes have beene smaller and know that when thou art once come home God looking upon thee in Christ all thy sinnes displease him not so much as thy repentance in and through Christ pleaseth him But how shall a man be perswaded of this Gods readinesse to forgive Consider that place As I live saith the Lord I will not the death of a sinner but rather that hee turne from his wickednesse and live Hee hath taken an oath for it that hee delights more in saving than in destroying and you may believe him Consider also what Christ was wont to doe in the dayes of his flesh and hee is still as mercifull an high Priest as ever None were more welcome to him than Publicans and Harlots that came with repentance to him and he is as ready to receive us now as them then I doubt not but that Christ is willing but what will God the Father do It is certaine that hee is not willing to have his Sonnes bloud spilt in vaine which should bee of none effect if such sinners
that if you would remove the crosse you must remove the sinne first You may observe it in diseases that twenty medicines may bee used and yet if you hit not right upon the cause of the disease the patient is never the better but if that be removed the symptomes presently vanish so when some crosse is upon us wee set our heads and hands and friends aworke to remove it but all in vaine whilst wee hit not the cause and that is sinne which whilst it continues the crosse will continue The reason why our peace and prosperity is entertained with so many crosses and troubles is because our lives are interwoven with so many sinnes The cause of Gods unevennesse in his dispensations of his mercy towards thee is the unevennesse of thy carriage towards him Hast thou a healthfull body a sure estate many friends Thinke not that these shall secure thee see Adam in paradise Salomon in his glory David on his mountaine which hee thought made strong and you shall see Adam when sinne had made a breach upon him once quickly made miserable and sinne bringing in upon Salomon an army of troubles after it and upon David in the height sin bringing in upon him the hazzard of his kingdome the rebellion of his sonne sinne in a mans best estate makes him miserable and grace in the worst estate makes a man happy Saint Paul with a good conscience was happy in prison David through faith was happy at Ziglag But you will say how is it that calamities thus follow upon sinne wee feele no such thing and thus because it is deferred the hearts of men are set to doe evill All this is to bee understood with this caution that sinne when it is perfected brings forth death and not till then God stayed till Ahab had oppressed Naboth and gotten possession and then when he was seene God sends the message of death to him What hast thou killed and also taken possession Thus Iudas he was a thiefe whilst he kept the bag and went on in many sinnes in Christs family and Chri stlets him alone and he goes on till hee had betrayed his Master and then when his sinne was perfected and come to its full ripenesse then at last CHRIST comes with judgement upon him There is a certaine period of judgement and if the Lord stay execution till then thou hast little cause to comfort thy selfe Eccles. 8. 11 12. Because sentence against an evill worke is not speedily executed therefore the hearts of men are set to doe evill As if the wise man should have said Goe to you you that have peace and comfort your selves in this that whatsoever the Word and the Ministers threatten yet you feel nothing yet remember that as soon as the sin is committed the sentence goeth forth therefore he useth the word sentence to expresse this though it bee not so speedily executed yet it goes forth at the same time with the commission of the sinne The sentence you know is one thing the execution another and many times there is and so may be here a long distance betwixt the sentence of the Iudge and the execution of it So as his meaning is that execution is deferred Therefore flatter not your selves sentence is gone forth and execution will follow For the amplification of this that vision of Zachary seemes to make it good Zach. 5. When swearing and theft had beene committed Verse 3. Hee saw a flying roule Verse 2. Which Verse the 3. is interpreted to be the curse that goeth over all the earth for him that stealeth and sweareth Verse 3. which curse may bee upon the wing long ere it seizeth on the prey but it goes forth as soone as those sinnes were committed that is the execution may be deferred which is there further shewed in the parable of the Ephah which sets out as there the measure of the peoples iniquities for so Verse 8. he sayes this is wickednesse which untill it be filled hath not the weight of leade laid upon the mouth of it it being a long while ere God comes to execution and not till their sinnes are full the plummet of leade being laid as it signifies that then their sins are sealed up with the waight of leade rolled upon them that none might be lost or forgotten but God remembers them all and then hee saw two women come and the wind was in their wings Verse 9. that is when their sinnes are thus full and their measure sealed up their judgement comes swiftly like the winde and carries it into Shinar and there this wickednesse is set upon its owne base that is in its proper place a place of misery as hell is said to bee Iudas his owne place Sinne may sleepe a long time like a sleeping debt which is not call'd for and demanded for many yeares but if a man hath not an acquaintance the creditor may call for it in the end and lay the debtor in prison It was forty yeares after Sauls slaying of the Gibeonites ere execution went forth and vengeance was call'd for it So Ioabs sin which he committed in slaying Abner which was slaying innocent bloud slept all Davids time til Salomon came to the crowne Doe not therefore as ill husbands in debt that suffer the suite to runne on from tearme to tearme till they bee out-law'd and pay both debts and charges and all Thy sinnes are a bringing swift damnation and it slumbers not it is on foote already and will overtake thee and meete at thy journeyes end the end of thy dayes Let it therefore be thy wisedome to take up the suite and compound the matter with God betimes else thou shalt not onely pay the debt and smart for the sin it selfe but for all the time of Gods patience towards thee the riches of Gods patience spent and beare all the arrerages Rev. 2. I gave her space to repent but shee repented not God meant to make her pay for all the time he gave her to repent in The next point from these words is That if the calamity bee removed and the sinne bee not healed it is never removed in mercy but in judgement Hee doth here promise first to forgive the sinne and then to heale the Land so as if hee should have healed the Land without forgivenesse it had beene no mercy Because sinne is worse than any crosse whatsoever If therefore hee takes away the crosse and leaves the sinne behinde it is a signe thou art a man whom the Lord hates When a Physician takes away the medicine and leaves the disease uncured it is a signe the parties case is desperate or that the Physician meanes to let him perish Because the Lord doth nothing in vaine if therfore an affliction doth a man no good it must needes doe him hurt for that which doth neither good nor hurt must needes be in vaine That was a property of the Idols of the Heathens which are