hath for his sake Faith doth work but it is by the hand of love But now look on Faith in it self And so it s a receiving I say it is a receiving It s a having and craving grace which will alwaies be getting and wil never have enough When it is filled it is hungry and like the barren Womb and the earth and the grave it stil cries Give Give And for this you shall find the Scripture very cleer John 1.11 He came to his own and his own received him not that is they did not apply him unto themselves as the author of their salvation as the Messiah which was promised In 2 Cor. 6.1 the Apostle cals beleeving the receiving of the Grace of God When he would set forth the unbelief that is in men naturally he saith the naturall man receives not the things of God in 1 Cor. 2.14 As you have received Christ Jesus so walk in him Col. 2.6 that is answer your Faith with works let your life be answerable to your hopes and to the state you are brought into by beleeving I may quote many other expressions to shew that Faith is a receiving But these shall serve I wil only give a three fold Argument or Demonstration of it Frist All that have Faith in any degree have desires and longings after Jesus Christ and the things of him Faith it s an appetite in the new Creature whereby it craves and hungers after Jesus Christ and his benefits and therefore you shall find expresly that Faith and praying unto God or desiring after him are made all one Rom. 10.11 12 13. In verse 11. the Scripture saith Whoever beleeveth on him shall not be ashamed For marke it There is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him For whosoever shal call upon the name of the Lord shall besaved I say if you compare verse 11. with ver 12 and 13. Faith and calling on the name of the Lord are al one For the Apostle proves that there is no man that doth beleeve but he shal be saved by this That there is no man that cals on the name of the Lord but he shall be saved Those that have attained unto the greatest degrees of Faith their mouths are fullest of complaints their Souls fullest of sighings because of their wants Their praiers are Lord increase out Faith And not only so Luke 17.5 but when they have prayed they cannot be quiet until such time as they find it encreased and the fruits of it in them In Acts 26.7 it 's said that the Patriarchs hoping to come to Heaven did instantly serve God That word translated Instantly is in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is they did as one doth who stretches out himself to get a thing which he hath much ado to lay hold on but had rather have than any thing that he hath in his hands Such a kind of desire was in the Patriarchs after Glory In Rom. 8.19 the Apostle tells you of an earnest expectation that is in the Creation for the manifestation of the Sons of God that they may be freed from their imperfections and be like their Head Jesus Christ Paul professeth that he desires to be with Christ Jesus that is he professeth it as one that must either have his mind or must die Those that have the least degree of Faith are alwaies craving after Jesus Christ they are never well but when they are receiving Paul in Acts 9.11 is said to pray Go saith God to Ananias unto Paul Behold he prayes He did other things besides prayer he was sensible of his sin and afflicted in his conscience for going against Jesus Christ but the Text mentions nothing but this That he praies because that was it that al the bitterness of sin was a means unto and that which he was eminent in And all that Paul desired was That God would give him Christ although he had done what he could to crucifie him again in his members As the love of the world makes a man to be scraping and gathering together by any means although it be never so vile It 's no matter what the thing be so it brings in gain to a worldly man So it is the proper work of Faith to make a man look for Jesus Christ in all Ordinances and Duties That is the penny which it sweeps the house for and searcheth every duty for Now this desire it comes from Faith For what makes any man desire but hope and the knowledge of the excellency of the things hoped for Both which comes through believing That is the first thing All that have Faith desire to receive Jesus Christ and his benefits and therefore the Act of receiving is the principal act of Faith Secondly All other Acts of Faith are subordinate to this Act of receiving and done in reference to receiying You have heard that Faith hath divers Acts. It takes Gods word and receives his Testimony even when it fees no reason to expound the thing that is spoken of but the End is that it may receive I know whom I have trusted and that he is able at that day to give unto me what I have committed to him As a man takes the word of a man to this end that he may be sure not to miss what is due to him So this man takes the word of God and the Testimony of God only in order to be made a receiver of the things promised Faith that doth unite Christ dwels in our hearts by faith but that very act of union is to this end that so all Christ may be ours Eph. 3.17 We do but touch him that so vertue may come out from him into us Faith makes a man dependant and hanging upon God but it is only that so a man may ingage the Lord to give and he may receive As a man comes to one and saith I will trust to you for such a debt at such a time that so he may see that he doth not only expect it but that he doth him double injury if he doth not give it him Faith attracts and draws but that is only that the soul may receive That is the second Reason Faith is a receiving Grace because al the Acts and Operations of it are in order to receiving Thirdly Until this act of Faith be done Faith can do nothing Nothing can be done by Faith untill such time as it doth receive Faith purifies the heart Acts 15.9 It makes the whol conversation lively We do live by the Faith of the Son of God Gal. 2.20 It makes a man overcome the world and all the corruptions that are in the world and the evill one to boot 1 John 5.4 This is the victory wherby ye overcome the world even your faith He that is born of God overcomes the wicked one But mark it As water is first put into the Cistern before it flows forth
And as the earth first receives the seed before it brings forth meat for him by whom it is dressed Heb. 6.7 And as the Disciplesare first bid to attend the Passover and then to receive the Holy Ghost and then to go abroad and to distribute unto the Nations the knowledge of Christ So Faith first receives from Christ and according as it receives from him So it stirs up every Grace and Faculty to its work I say Faith receives first In Col. 2.6 As ye have received the Lord Jesus Christ so walk in him As 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is suitably to our receiving of Christ We beleeve therefore have we spoken 2 Cor. 4.13 Now that which is said concerning faiths opening the mouths of the Apostles to declare for certain the truth of that Doctrine which they were experienced in So I may say concerning any other Duty When as Faith hath received the certainty of the word of God then it cals upon the understanding not to dispute When as Faith hath received Jesus Christ then it cals upon the will and saith forsake all other things and cleave unto him for you have enough in him He is a Mine and a Field wherein there is a Treasure and you shal need nothing while you have him And from this three-fold Demonstration I suppose it will appear that Faith is a receiving And beloved think not much that I stand long upon this for it is not rivited in our thoughts We live not as if it were so CHAP. II. Application Beleeve that to Receive is the principal Vse of Faith USE BEleeve then this is the principal use of Faith To Receive to be like a Bucket to draw water of life and salvation out of the Well A spunge as I may expressit to suck in and draw of the fulness of Jesus Christ That Faith is best which is most receptive That is the thing I do intend That is best us'd which is us'd to this end to receive The excelency of Faith doth not lie in it self but in its object In what it doth bring in For there is more vertue in the Act of any Grace whatever He that knows a thing doth it because of the evidence of reason But he that beleeveth knows it not Only he believs because he thinks that he that speaks speaks true Faith degrades a man from the use of his reason and makes him although far more excellent in his knowledg yet to see in the light of God It is so because he saith so As a man that hath but little stock but hath goods coming in by his trade Such a trade is Faith It 's a weak and a feeble Grace as I may call it of it self but it is that which doth receive and fetch in much from Jesus Christ As the way of some mans living is not upon any thing he hath of his own but he is a Receiver to some noble and great man and all his rents and Estate passeth through his hands and so he comes to have a feeling of it and to be inriched Through the hand of Faith al the Treasury of grace and mercy cometh Do not therefore my beloved think it enough that you do by Faith secure your selves from the fear of Hell and say I do beleeve and therefore I shall not perish but have everlasting life Do not think it enough that by Faith you order your conversation aright for although it be true that no grace makes cleaner work in a mans conversation than Faith doth it purifies even as God is pure of all that Niter and Soap which God hath given to wash in there is none so scouring as Faith is if I may use that expression it will fetch out any spot and any defilement But although Faith be of excellent use to order a mans conversation yet do not think you have made sufficient use of your Faith when you have used it to that end but use it to receive As the use of a purse is to put money in And the use of an Iron Chest is to lodge money in So the end of Faith is to receive You are often times checking your selves that you are not contented with what you have for you have more than you deserve And that is true But it is not more than you ought to receive For Faith must have its perfect work and its perfect work is this that it doth look upon all Ordinances as bags that are filled out of which it 's to receive according as Jesus Christ hath laid up and treasured up of himself in them After every duty enquire therfore what thy Faith hath gotten how thy talent of Faith hath gained Be not contented that thou hast the same confidence that thou hadst thou must either have more confidence or further of the spirit of Christ by that confidence Before thou dost go to any Duty or to any Ordinance charge thy self as the Master or Merchant doth charge his Servant that goes out to receive money Go to such a place and receive and return not else Importune and be not satisfied with any answer untill you have received such a sum As men are lost in the world and are of little use they are in vain but ciphers because they are not put to that work to which their Genius and disposition tends One man is made a Preacher that is much fitter for another calling And another goes into the world that is fitter for another politick imployment The World is out of order because men are not put to that use which God hath fitted men for So the Grace of Faith is out of order and of little use because it is not put to its proper work viz. to receive Put your Faith to that and you will thrive and not otherwise They profited not because they did not mix the word with Faith Heb. 4.2 And what is said of hearing the word may be said of Praying or receiving the Lords Supper Meditation or any other Ordinance whatsoever They profited not That is they got no more because it was not mixed with Faith Things are said to be mixed not when they are one in another in a common vessel but when they are beaten together that they make but one body and substance So Faith is mingled with the word when there is not only a believing in the Gross and a taking for granted that that is true which is received but when unto every word there goes an assent and a closing of heart unto every word That is true saith the soul in such a case When as it hears the heart is desperately wicked and that none can go to the bottom of it And when it hears by and by that concerning such an heart that there is hope the Soul saith that is true When every thing is mingled with Faith then it profits Let me I beseech you my beloved speak a little to you freely Why do you suffer your Faith to be Idle Why do you busie it about
works beneath you about that which is not most excellent and profitable Do not think you have gotten enough when by your Faith you have gotten into Christ and Grace from him by Faith for you are alwaies to be receiving Many a man is apt to think it were well if he could keep what he hath gotten if he can but hold his hold and keep his union and continue it under temptations if he can but maintain his practice and hope not backslide But I beseech you beloved consider that al this is not enough for you are to be receiving not withstanding that which you have received And let me tel you this too that if you are not receiving you are never able to hold that which you have As the waters in the stream would fail if there were not a continuall flowing from the Wel-head and Fountain So there must be a continual efflux and flowing and influence from Jesus Christ that so the Grace you have may hold In a Trade he cannot keep open a Shop long that hath no comings in And so it is certainly in the matters of Religion If you pay use for so you must do for all the opportunities and grace you have they must be imployed and you have no gain it will undo you although you began with the greatest stock of resolutions and purposes and desires and what you wil else And therefore as you enquire into your selves whether you have faith or not to prove whether you are a Beleever So examine especially thy Book and see what thou canst get by beleeving Imploy thy faith therefore to this end That you seek out what is promised what God hath said he will give for he will give Grace and Glory and with-hold no good thing from them that walk uprightly Psal 84.11 And send out Faith to get in all these Promises and challenge God upon his word continually and say Lord thou hast said this and that and a third thing I have it under thy hand it is written Thou hast spoken it and hast made me to beleeve in thee and shall thy Word be as flesh that shall fail and come to nothing Imbolden thy heart and strengthen the hand of thy Faith to receive enlarge thy hand and open thy mouth to take in much and if thy Faith brings in any thing less than Jesus Christ it brings in nothing For as it is in my Text As many as received Him Joh. 1.16 were the Sons of God and of His fulness we received Grace for Grace If thou hast any thing but Christ thou hast nothing And if thou hast any thing but from his heap and fountain and fulness thou wilt not be enriched by it thou hast received but straws and leaves for Gold and Jewels I beseech you my beloved know That as God hath given the eye to see and the ear for hearing so he hath given Faith to receive on purpose to this end That you may be continually taking in from his fulness Faith is of a having and a craving nature and unsatisfied til a man hath obtained the fulness he is ordained to in Christ when it 's filled it is hungry the more it hath the more it would have Faith doth not only serve to keep you in a state of Grace for by Faith you stand but to receive all Christs fulness which is laid up in him for you Oh that we could beloved beleeve this and live such a kind of life Such a kind of life of Faith is indeed Heaven upon Earth when as a man is alwaies telling over treasures for his own use and purpose How joyful is the Merchant when the Ship comes home and he is unlading the rich commodities which it is come fraighted with How joyfull is the Husbandman when the harvest comes and renders an hundred fold for every corn Such is the joy of God in the heart and would be so if we did continually receive CHAP. III. Use 2. Put forth this act of Faith 1. Neglect not this for any other act of Faith whatsoever 2. Put it upon receiving much Jhon 1.16 opened 3. Let nothing hinder this act of Faith I. Not your sins II. Let nothing discourage you Neither 1. Gods delaies Nor 2. The smalness of your receits Nor 3. The greatness of your wants Nor 4. The greatness of your receits III. Epecially take heed of refusing what is offered USE II. IN the second place If Faith be a receiving then put out this Act. Excercise your Faith thus As our Lord saith John 16.24 Ask and receive That is not only desire and pray but take what you desire and pray for from God So I say Believe and Receive Beleeve not only that Faith is a receiving but actually receive and be ever getting Every Grace is to have its perfect work as the Apostle James speaks concerning patience Let patience have its perfect work James 1.4 A Grace doth its perfect work when it serves all the turns for which it is given when as it doth all the acts to which it hath power Faith as you heard in the explication hath many other acts besides receiving Receiving is an act and work which Faith is as good at and as good for as any other the perfect and compleat work of Faith is to receive Christ Set it therefore about it Set it to reap al the Fruit of Jesus Christ and of the promises Set it as your Atturney as I may so speak to cal in the debts you have and the good you hope for Make Faith to be not only the evidence of what is promised as Moses did the Mountain that he stood upon to behold Canaan but make it the substance of things hoped for Heb. 11.1 That is possesse your selves of the things beleeved and hoped for Therefore as out of the Ark the Dove was sent and when she returned she was sent out again untill she brought an Olive branch in her mouth So send out your Faith again and again and never rest till it hath received and gotten more from Christ than it had before yea received according to the large gifts that are made through the promises Plainly thus As a man is to enquire of his Faith whether it be opeative or not whatit doth What work and fruit his Faith hath So he is to enquire what his Faith receives what receipts it makes It 's not a good Faith which works not and it 's not a true Faith which receives not Ask what the Lord hath done for thy Soul What promises are come in What they have yeilded unto thee What word is made good What thou hast gotten every day more than other What thou hast gotten by prayer or any other duty And if thou dost find that there is no coming in blame thy Faith and send it out to its work send it out to receive from Jesus Christ That I may a little set you on upon this or that you may understand what you are to do 1. Neglect not
say we do beleeve because we find a deniall of our selves and a loathing of our righteousness and a prizing of Jesus Christ yet because this that we find in our selves doth arise from comparing of our selves with the word of God therefore it is ascribed unto Faith My meaning is this It is as well an act of divine faith for a man to conclude that he shall be saved as it is an act of divine faith for to assert that he that beleeves shal be saved This That I shal be saved Matth. 16.16 ariseth as wel from that word which opens the nature of faith which I find to be in my heart As this doth arise from the word that there is none that beleeves shal perish but have everlasting life 1 Cor. 2.12 The Spirit of God is given us that we may know the things freely given us And this Spirit of God is the spirit of faith as the Apostle cals it in another place The sum of the point is this That the spirit of God doth by this Grace or this act of the understanding make a man to see that he hath already in possession that a great deal is paid down that he hath received before hand There is a pledg in his bosom The Staff and the Jewels are left with him which Jesus Christ will own It tels him thus much when he stands saying in himself Alas saith he Why should I go Or why should I if I do go to Christ think I should receive much from him It tels him you have received somthing and he will give more that which you have is but as the morning Star which ariseth before Sun shines You shall be sure you shall have these things because when you knew not he put such and such things under your pillow when you thought not and sought not yet these things are done Making known to a man that he hath received doth strengthen him to receive more For what he hath received is given as a pawn and pledg by God on his part and it 's a Motive and ingagement on our part to go unto him for more As God will not leave his work imperfect so we are bound to seek the perfection of it There is a marvellous boldness and freeness Nay that I may use the word of the Scripture the Mouth is opened exceeding wide upon this in asking things at the hand of God It will go unto him and say Lord thou hast given me a penny therefore give me a pound Thou hast given me a little and therefore give me much And this is strong perswasion with God for he cannot deny himself He will never begin but make an end As a man that hath received somthing in part of payment doth not only live upon what he received but he pleads his receits in Law And he is inabled to follow the law by what he hath received He urgeth the debt the stronger upon the Debtor by shewing him what he hath received Thus when the Soul knows what it hath received by Faith it goes and saith unto God after this manner Didst thou not do this for me Didst thou not when thou didst for me at my first conversion tell me that these were but some of the Grapes of the vintage that I should have That they were but only to satisfie my longing and were not all my portion Hast thou not by these things allured me to follow thee Thou requirest of me not to leave the things I have put my hand unto The Lord will not do so much more What is this little to thy fulness What is my little but only a pawn of more There is a great straitness in the Soul till it comes to have this act of faith The Soul doth take sparingly like one that steals rather than one that doth receive his own untill it comes to have this act of Faith There is a kind of modesty and sparingness It thinks it much to have a little Although that assurance keeps the Soul modest and humble because God gives it all in the name of Christ It 's not for us but for his sake that any thing is given us Yet assurance knows no bounds and acknowledgeth no limits in receiving but binds a man to take as much as he can or as his present state doth require The least degree of Faith doth give a man a capacity to receive somewhat from Christ and this degree of faith doth give a man a capacity to receive it as his own I beseech you by the way think of this you that nourish your doubts and that make much of your fears that raise up this spirit continually in your hearts You know not what you should get if you were quiet and what you loose by your doubts The assurance of your heart by faith is the inlarging of your heart to receive and it is the key to Gods treasure where al his good things lie Consider therefore and try whether you have faith and if there be in your understanding an indeavor to know more of the Mysteries of Christ If you are going every day into a fuller and larger knowledg of the things he hath done for you you are every day looking into the Ark into the richest promises that you may see their extent You have your Conscience continually telling you that these and these things are to be had in Jesus Christ and you sit mourning for want of them and therefore go and receive them Do you find a Jealousie least you build upon the sand When you see a sign the straighter it is the better it is the more narrow it is the sweeter it is and you put your selves upon the triall because you would not be deceived in your selves Therefore because your understanding is so praying and craving and prying into the deep things of God you may know your understanding is true or your faith is true There is one thing more which indeed should have been the first in regard of order of nature but I place it here because it is last known And that is this CHAP. IX A sixt work of Faith as it is an act of the Vnderstanding is a receiving of Jesus Christ and his benefits An Objection answered Application SIxtly That the very being wrought upon is a receiving of Jesus Christ and his benefits Or thus the first impression and infusion of the light of Faith before ever we have by the power of that faith made any of the aforenamed acts is an instituting of us into all that we have and all that Jesus Christ hath We are first made to beleeve and know We have an eye of faith given to us and then we see with that eye Then faith becomes an Intelligencer as you have heard and a perswader and makes a man give his firm assent This very power to beleeve this making the Soul to take the testimony of God by Christ that is that which gives us all A man may be said to receive when he
and if you wil have things cleare to you that you are a child of God before you beleeve you wil have the matter put to such an issue as God brings a man never into God never gives his love to a man but by beleeving because beleeving is a receiving OBJECT You wil say unto me This is hard quarter and hard termes that we can have nothing but only upon trust and upon beleeving To this I answer the commandment of faith is nothing so hard as the commandements of sin are They that sow to the flesh shal saith the Apostle in Gal. 6.8 of the flesh reape Corruption They shal never have any thing in hand or to receive after this life but tribulation sorrow and anguish Thy faith assures thee Or thou mayest be assured that faith wil give thee a good title somthing while thou livest and be sure to give thee honor and glory and immortality hereafter Thou art saved by faith saith he It is the gift of God This is true indeed It is a hard matter to beleeve But the hardness doth not arise from it self but from us As it is hard for a sick man to get down either meat or medicine But it is not because there is neither a passage open and free or not because the meat is not good but because he is sick So thou shalt find the reason of all this difficulty to be in thy pride Thou advancest thy reason and sence against the commandment and law of the Gospel And therefore it is hard unto thee It is hard but it is but so in the beginning Like meat when it is first eaten doth bring a kind of duliness heaviness but afterwards breeds spirits and strength It is certain my beloved it is the smallest thing that can be required for the receiving any thing at the hand of God for you are passive in it you are made to receive As a bal that is thrown against the ground is made to rebound upwards There cannot be less required then faith to the receiving of any thing For Take it as it is in the understanding The receiving a testimony doth not so much require the use of reason as a good report and esteem of him that speaks I say the receiving a testimony is an artificial argument and requires not so much the knowledg of the things as of the person speaking And Take it as it is in the Wil and it is a leaning and that rather imports weakness then strength rather debility then ability And lastly Whereas thou complainest it is hard to beleeve yet if faith be a hard thing yet it is a receiving Though it be a toyl and a difficulty It is but in taking of things that are precious and good which wil inrich thee What man ever complained of the hardness of telling Gold and receiving Jewels and things of worth which were given him out of the treasure of him that is rich Men take great toyl and run great hazards into far countrys to receive Thy receiving is better and more certaine Thou shalt receive strength by the receiving of Christ to receive more Faith doth not only give a man the things promised But as walking makes a man able to walk so beleeving makes a man more able to beleeve Having once received somthing from the hand of God thou hast thereby security given to thee that thou hast nothing behind but what shal be accomplished As he that hath received but part of a Sum hath an evidence there by that the rest is due And therefore I beseech thee because that faith is a receiving incourage thy self unto beleeving Incourage your selves unto it And that you may do so 1. Lay open and keep before the eye of your Soul the many and glorious things which are to be received Meditate upon the excellencyes of Christ the portion that he brings His portion Both in regard of relation ye shal be the sons of God And his portion in regard of estate or inheritance for al things are yours The presence you know of an object doth stirr up the faculty and the power in it which lay as it were before dead and stirred not Joshua 7.21 I saw said Achan the Babilonish garment and I lusted after it and took it As Sin prevails by its presence So the way for Jesus Christ to prevaile is to stand continually before thee When thou hast therefore looked unto the promises and looked into the story of what is said concerning Jesus Christ and what he wil do for those that are united to him Then come and aske thy own foul whether it wil have none of these Then come and tel it that al these are to be had and it may take of them freely though it can do nothing for them nor returne suitably to them The Apostle to get men unto faith spreads abroad the Gospel and the things of Jesus Christ Thou must preach unto thy self the self same doctrine if ever thou wilt beleeve Thy sins be before thee and death is before thee and hel is before thee And thou seest by experience that that takes up thy thoughts and thou canst do nothing else but only lament and bemone thy condition If thou set'st Jesus Christ before thee also thou wilt be as much taken with him For certainly there is more Taking in his excellencies then there is cause of terrour in the other 2. And again Since faith is a receiving convince thy soul that it cannot live nor be unless it hath these things which faith helps unto Pardon must be had Justice wil not be satisfyed though thou shouldest fulsil al the commandments of God to the utmost and never breakest them in the least Al that is due for the present and there stil remains an old score for the time past that God wil reckon with thee for Thou art not able to make God amends of thy self Live of thy self thou canst not therefore thou must receive Acts 4.12 There is no other name given under heaven whereby a man can be saved but only the name of Jesus Christ And if a man peradventure wil be loth to take of others as long as he hath wherewith in his own hands or his friends hands But when he sees he must either take of alms or starve and go on begging or die Then he wil go That is thy case Thou must receive from Jesus Christ or Starve And thou canst not receive the things of Jesus Christ but by beleeving As a Parent saith to a Child that is peevish and untoward and that will not eat his meat Fast saith he So there is nothing to be looked for from Jesus Christ if thou beleevest not but fiery Indignation And if thy heart would go to take contentment in the things in the World Say to it Now take Jesus Christ or nothing What good will they do thee unless thou takest Jesus Christ For they will not abide in the latter end but then thou wilt have sorrow
that he should stand him in stead than any other This is that which the Scripture saith he will accept and take from our hands Go through all the several acts of Faith take them at the lowest observe when as your hearts beat Christ-ward but they beat flowest and feeblest and most uncertainly yet know that though there be much cause of humbling thee and being ashamed that where a man may receive so much good and where he hath so much reason to be good yet then he ought not to cast off his confidence for ever this shall receive this Dignity to be the Son of God And so much shall suffice to have spoken of the Second Reason why Beleeving is called Receiving CHAP. XVIII Receiving denotes a meanness and lowness of Condition in the Receiver And in this sense Faith is a Receiving whether you consider it acting in the Vnderstanding or the Will Thirdly There is a meanness in Receiving Receiving doth imply a meaness and lowness of condition a want or emptiness or being beholden to another God therefore makes it his Glory that he can challenge al the world to say that they have given unto him any thing Who hath given unto him and instructed him and it shall be recompenced It is an honor only belonging unto God not to receive In Acts 20.35 the Apostle doth advise them rather than they would hinder the Course of the Gospel who were Ministers to preach for nothing from the People for saith he Remember the words of our Lord Jesus how he said It is more blessed to give than to receive There is at least-wise a less blessedness in Receiving than there is in giving if I say not that there is an unhappiness in it Let that thing be never so excellent that a man hath yet if he hath received it he hath no cause to be proud or boast the praise must not be given to him that receives but to him that gives 1 Cor. 4.7 If thou hast received it why dost thou boast These several Instances proves that there is a meanness in receiving that receiving supposeth a meanness of condition A Condition that a man is not able to subsist of himself without taking in supplies from others without him And thus Faith is called Receiving because where ever Faith is who ever did or doth or shall receive Jesus Christ he doth receive him with the sence of his own vile condition There is not only such an apprehension in him as this that his state is low That apprehension is true and hath a real foundation and there is no error in such an imagination therefore I am poor and therefore I am unable to do my self good or to do good because there is no way of Salvation to be had but only by receiving is a most certain and good way of Reasoning As he is a poor man that hath no way to live but by taking the charitable Alms and good will of others So he is in a poor condition and in a lost condition that hath no means to save him but what he can get by receiving Neither is a Beleevers condition vile only because of sin and of punishment wherof he is guilty before he doth beleeve but this very act of Faith whereby a man doth receive doth make a mans condition mean though not miserable Through sin and punishment a mans condition is mean and miserable through beleeving a mans condition is not miserable but it is mean It is a mean and low condition you know to live upon another to go on trust for every thing to be beholden and to beg Credit for whatever a man stands in need of Consider the state of Faith with the certain Glory that comes by it for therefore it is of Faith that the Promise may be sure consider Faith as it is a relation Rom. 4.16 and a receiving from so glorious and excellent ones as God and Christ are and so it is the most excellent condition in the World A man lives better that way than if he had all that in Innocency continued to him wherein he was made But now consider this Receiving in and by its self and so it is a mean condition because it is a dependant one he lives at the will of another To eat ones own Bread we use to say is better a great deal and far more honorable than to live upon the Dainties of another mans Table In the verse before my Text it is said John 1.11 That Christ came to his own that is to the Jews and they received him not Now therefore they did not receive him because of tht meaness of the life of Faith He trusted in God said they to deliver him Matth. 27.43 Let him deliver him if he will have him As if they should have said He is not a fit way for a man to trust his Soul in or he is not a fit person for a man to beleeve on for the saving of his Soul who cannot save himself In Rom. 10.3 They went about to establish their own righteousness and submitted not to the righteousness of Faith They submitted not that is they thought the way of beleeving to obtain Salvation by to be too poor and mean a condition Now the Evangelist takes away this offence To as many as received him to them he gave this dignity to become the Sons of God His meaning is Though the life of Faith be mean in it self yet its glorious in its relation for it makes you to be the Sons of God Though the life be such as is beneath and lower than you could or would imagine should make you happy yet there is a greater freedom in it of converse and communion with God than can be imagined You shall live with God as if you were in Glory already That therefore which I would insist upon in this is this Where ever true Faith is there is a sence of meaness The heart is humbled and brought into the accompt of it self as nothing And as Faith grows so doth this accompt of it self grow also Take Faith now as it acts on the Understanding and there it makes a man to lay aside what Reason saith As Paul you know saith He did not consult with flesh and blood but immediately follows the voyce he had received from Jesus Christ Prov. 3.5 Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not to thy own Vnderstanding 2 Cor. 10.5 Every thought and imagination must be captivated he saith to the obedience of Faith Take Faith as it acts in the Will And so it takes away all Glory in a mans self How can ye beleeve seeing ye receive Honor one of another saith Christ and seek the praise of men more than the prase of God Iohn 5.44 By what Law is boasting taken away saith the Apostle in Rom. 3.27 but by the Law of Faith And therefore you shall find that when ever any of the Saints of Jesus Christ have through Faith attained unto any
mainly make the life of faith to be meane 1. Because its a life of dependance A man lives not of himself nor on his own but he lives upon another He eates not his own bread as I may so speak nor wears his own cloaths but what is given him And not only so but. 2. In the second place A man receives not only by faith but from hand to mouth Suppose al a man had was given him but he did receive it at once and so became master of it himself for his use and dispose of it then there were some honour in it you know The Prodigal you know prays that he may live no longer at his fathers hand but that he may have his portion and live like a man of honor upon his own But through faith we receive no more then we have need of and we have no more then we need We are fain to go to God for every penny and morsel The life of faith is often seen in prayer It is al one as I often shewed you in the scripture for a man to beleeve upon God and for a man to pray to God and for a man to live upon begging and to have no more then every day he can get as an alms or as a favor That is such a kind of life as takes away al glory and al confidence in a mans self Object But you wil say unto me That this is enough to discourage a man from any way looking after that life of faith because it is so meane Answ I answer to that in a word That there is no reason it should discourage For it is better for us a great deal considering what we are to have in this way then any other For First God wil look better to us then we can look to our selves As a bird in the Cage is more tendered and better provided for then she could be if she had her liberty in the wild waste flying up and down in the vast wilderness We live upon God but we live upon one that is bountiful and liberal and one that hath enough and one that thinks nothing too much to give to us Were our estate in our own hands we would quickly spend it or ingage and morgage it and bring our selves under wrath which now the Lord prevents Such a kind of living upon God by faith is exceeding Glorious unto God For upon this account he hath Glory that he doth provide for us al things that do belong unto life and Godliness Yea. Secondly There is a great deal of sweetness in this life As a bit you know from a Princes hand at his table hath more sweetness in it then a whole dish What ever provision we could make for our selves could not carry that refreshing to the heart which the least thing doth which we receive from God by Christ through faith For it carrys this with it The love of God in Christ the favor and loving kindness of God his wisdom which cuts out this portion for me who knows what is better for us then we can chose for our selves Lastly to say no more Though the life of faith be meane in it self yet this should encourage to it because it is so meane therefore pride is hid from your eyes There is nothing that hinders a man more from receiving from God then pride doth Jam. 4.6 He gives grace to the humble but he resists the proud There is nothing more burdensom to a Beleever than pride of heart is Pride of heart is unto the Soul of a Beleever like the swelling of a Joynt which puts to extream pain Saith the Soul in it self I have nothing and can do nothing and am nothing and yet notwithstanding I am lifted up as if I wanted in no kind As you know it is said concerning the Church of Laodicea To be poor and yet proud To borrow and yet to carry it as if we were beholden to none is as great wickedness as possibly can be before the Lord. Because all this is hindred by Faith therefore it is a great encouragement to the Life of Faith though it be a mean Life in comparison CHAP. XX. Application The Reason why Beleevers are tempted to Pride Where there is true Faith there is humility of Spirit And that is manifested in four Particulars 1 In Modesty 2 In a Sense of its own Condition before Grace 3 In an acknowledgment of all that is in a man to be from God 4 In making a man wary and faithful in the use of what he hath received USE ALL that I shall say by way of Use and so pass on unto the next is this First You may from hence see the Reason why Beleevers are so much tempted unto Pride unto Pride in thinking of themselves otherwise than is meet as the Apostle speaks unto Pride in neglecting good works as necessary unto the attaining and perfecting of Eternal Life As some that are well born and descended cannot endure to fal unto mean imployment So doth the Devil labor to put it into the hearts of Beleevers that they need not be so careful in Duty nor so strict and exact in the performance of the Law for they are the Sons of God and born unto Eternal Life as their Inheritance Now the Reason why the Devil doth labor to stir the Saints to this is Because that Pride is the most contrary unto the Life of Faith and the condition we are put into through beleeving For to see as I said now a Beggar Proud or a Servant Reign to see an Alms man who is cloathed of meer Mercy to jet and strut as if he were cloathed in Gold of his own is the most uncomly sight in the World And so uncomly do we behave our selves in the sight of God when because of the state we are in we grow proud For what have you to be proud of For there is nothing that you have but what you have received And again Hence it doth appear that where ever there is true Faith there wil be humbleness of Spirit For the Spirit is suited to the condition and life which Faith brings in from Christ but it empties the Soul of it self according as it doth bring in So much a meaner opinion a man grows into of himself as he grows more into the enjoyment of Christ There is this temper of heart in a Beleever that as he rejoyceth in this that he hath much in Gods hands to receive so also he doth walk humbly As the Apostle speaks in Phil. 2.12 13. He works out his Salvation with fear and trembling Why Because it is God that worketh in him both to will and to do And if a man would make a Judgment of himself whether he be in the Faith or not if he would discern whether he hath received Jesus Christ unto the Salvation of his Soul or not he may know it by this as soon as by any thing Doth thy Spirit grow more humble Art thou more vile
concernment only but as the things which cannot be otherwise And therefore it works a firm assent in the soul so as nothing can make it think otherwise Nothing can make it question whether these things be not to be had in Christ which it doth reveal And so you have it in John 3.33 He that doth beleeve sets to his Seal that God is true He sets to his Seal It 's a further confirmation you know in Law for a man to set to his seal before witness than it is for a man to pass his promise When the Seal is set there is no plea as wel as no going back That is the fullest confirmation such a confirmation as Amen and such a ful assent doth faith work in the Soul concerning what it knows of Jesus Christ So that Faith wil say It 's true and it cannot be questioned and it is undoubted It is worthy of all acceptation as the Apostle saith in another case And let the cunning and subtilty of Satan be what it will be yet he holds that sure which is spoken concerning the promises And hence in all the troubles in the minds of the Saints their trouble is not so much for any thing as this that there being such things to be had that they have no share nor portion in them as they fear For the setting forth of this firm assent In Bsay 53.1 Who saith the Text hath beleeved our report and that word there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beleeved is of such a conjugation in the Hebrew Tongue as maketh a thing out to be true It gives it a being that is it makes the thing as reall as if the thing revealed were revealed unto sense and to be taken notice of by the eye or ear or the like And in Rom. 4.21 it is said that Abraham because he had the promise of God was fully perswaded that what God had promised he was able to perform He was fully perswaded Where true faith is there is not alwaies such a ful perswasion that a man shal be saved but where true faith is there is a fulness of perswasion that the things revealed shall be accomplished But yet not such a fulness as no further degree can be added to it but such a fulness as there is no doubt nor fear of the contrary As full assurance is opposite to an opinion whereas an opinion is nothing else but an assenting to a thing with fear that it may be otherwise than it seems to be In opposition to an opinion Faith is a full perswasion though it 's not a ful assurance as it notes perfection As for example He that sees a color may be so certain as he cannot be deceived and yet he may see it more cleerly than he doth So a man may have more of the Grace of the faith of assent yet that further degree doth not adde any further certainty of the object but only of the degree of beleeving Joh. 10.3 Isa 55.3 And therefore in the Scripture Faith is somtimes called seeing and somtimes tasting Tast and see how good the Lord is And somtimes hearing My sheep hear my voice And hear and your Souls shall live As reason perswades the understanding in ordinary and natuarll things and that Reason most which is demonstrative So Faith perswades the Soul in things that are revealed and though that the things themselves do not appear yet because God saith they are so it doth as verily beleeve them as if they saw them with their eyes or felt them with their hands or were partakers of them by any sense And herein lies a very great difference between the people of God Beleevers and others To others the great things of the Gospel seem to be as a strange thing yea as foolishness as the Apostle saith And as the Apostle doth intimate in another place when he useth this phrase Why should it seem strange and incredible to you that God should raise up the dead All that the Gospell saith till faith hath this work is not only counted as a fable that is the Phrase of the Apostle when he speaks of them that preach Fables such things as are devices for some further end and because there are such things but only used as a piece of Rhetorick to perswade men to another thing As there is no disputing against sense A man feels it to be hot and nothing can make him say it is cold when he tasts the thing that is sweet nothing can make him say it is bitter So nothing can make a man that beleeves beleeve the things that are revealed to be otherwise That is the meaning of the Apostle 1 Cor. 2.15 That the spiritual man is judged of none He may be censured of men for to be a fool and by his own heart and by Satan What do you beleeve that God wil part with such things unto such a one as you are Is it reason that the Lord of life should die be made a curse for you But though he may be judged yet he cannot be cast in his judgment he cannot be perswaded to the contrary from what he receives from the judgment of Faith in the Word of God The spirituall man judgeth all things and he himself is judged of none There is a Judgment of censure and a Judgment of conviction By a Judgment of censure a Beleever may be condemned of others and condemned and checkt by his own carnall heart As Sarah laughed when she heard the news of having a child in her old age in whom all the generations of the World should be blessed So a man is ready to laugh at himself for beleeving things which the Gospell requires which are so much above reason I say a man may censure himself and be censured by others But with the Judgment of Conviction he cannon be Judged The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Apostle useth signifies such a kind of Judgment which a man makes of a thing when he hath tri'd it in al the most exquisite waies that possibly may be used Such a kind of knowledg as a man hath of the matter which he hath gotten out of the confession of another by torments and tortures Do what you wil unto a Godly man and a Beleever yet still he holds that God is good and that there are such things in Jesus Christ which the Gospell reveals Do what you will Torture him with temptations yet when he is himself he holds that You may see this to be the nature of common Faith Men that have but a common historical faith yet they beleeve so firmly as nothing can make them denie Christ As we see by experience of many among the Turks who have nothing but this Faith yet when they have liberty offered them from those torments upon refusing to own Jesus Christ to be God yet they refuse that liberty Specially you shall sind those that have strong faith they will hold the conclusion when they cannot answer the
Thirdly Consider that nothing is required of you but meerly beleeving I reason thus If Faith receives al then you must not look to have Grace without Faith but to have Grace by Faith In order of nature Faith is before them and your eye must be most upon that and your care of that As the Text saith in Math. 6.33 that if a man seeks the Kingdom of God all other things shall be added together with it So I say if you look after Faith your heart will be humble and stoop to the condition which Faith reveals to you and you will part from all sins which have so great a place and interest in your affections And Lastly Lay the Commandment of God upon thy self This is the Commandment of God that you beleeve 1 John 3.23 This is the charge of God that you take and receive and drink of the Water of life freely Be thou what thou wilt be Thou art under his Commandment If thou art not what needest thou fear his threatnings He wil do nothing unjustly He will punish none but his Subjects If thou art his Subject then thou art bound to obey Object Thou wilt say thou art sinfull and vile above measure Answ But will thy sinfulness exempt thee from Obedience This is his Commandment that you Beleeve 1 John 3.23 Therefore come in the authority of the great God and speak unto thy Conscience and say Conscience I charge thee in the name of the great God whose wrath thou tremblest at I charge thee in his name to go to Jesus Christ and beleeve What wicked hearts have we which needs so much perswasion to receive when we die if we do not receive How much ado is there with our hearts How much are men encouraged by their hopes to receive Saith Christ unto his Disciples and Apostles Go and stay at Jerusalem and you shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost Acts 1.4 And yet for them to go to Jerusalem was to go into the Lyons Mouth and into the fire as it were where their greatest Adversaries were But they will go that they may receive That was but the Gift of the Holy Ghost And this is the Grace and fellowship of the Holy Ghost Know when thou art once a Beleever thou art put into the Paradice of God wherein all the Trees of God are full of Fruit and thou maist pluck where thou wilt Faith is a Receiving Know that when thou beleevest God turns thee loose into his Treasury and bids thee take where and what thou wilt Take the Covering or Righteousness of Jesus Christ to cover thee Take his Spirit for guiding and directing thee The Lords Supper runs by way of Commandment Take and Eat As if he should have said If there be any thing in Jesus Christ better than another As a man saith at a Feast If there be any thing you have a mind unto you have leave to take forbear it not So the Lord commands you to take and eat This is your Condition A man encourageth himself in the World with this That though he spends many hours and much time yet he shall get that with which he shall do good at last Many a man is drawn by this That when he hath gotten this then he may attend and do good Let the same argument perswade you to beleeve That if you beleeve you shall receive Object But you will say unto me I have beleeved and yet not received but I am barren and empty Answ 1. Thou saist thou hast not received God saith otherwise Every one that asks receives Matth. 5.42 And Faith will not spare for asking For in the Scripture in one place it is said He that beleeveth shall not be confounded 1 Pet. 2.6 And in another place it is said He that calls on the Name of the Lord shall not be confounded Rom. 10.13 Because Faith will be crying and asking As soon as it is in the heart it will cry as a new born Babe in 1 Pet. 2.2 Every one that asks receives saith God and thou wilt be judged by thy own heart and mouth As he said to his Disciples You have been with me so long and have you wanted any thing No say they So let me ask thee this question When didst thou ever beleeve and hadst not hope in him When didst thou ever trust in him for any thing and that he did not make it good Did he ever disappoint thee But Secondly There are divers waies of Receiving A man may receive an Estate by receiving Security of that Estate when he hath good Bond and Persons bound unto him for it Hath not God given thee his Son And hath not God spoken unto thee through a promise and past his word that thy Heart hath been inlightned inlivened and cheered in the Meditations of it A man may receive you know by way of equivalency As for example If a man doth not receive so much in species in money yet he may in worth in Jewels or other things that wil amount there unto Do but look over all thy smal Sums all the many mercies which thou hast received And see if they amount not to what thou hopedst for It may be thou hast asked comfort and God hath given thee Grace This was but a bill of exchange Thou hast asked that God will fill thee with joy and God fills thee with humbleness Here is but an Exchange Thou hast received all this while It may be thou wouldst fain have Gloried in him and it may be God gloried concerning thee As God said concerning Job There is not such a man in the whole Earth God may say of such a one though he hath nothing but Tears to Eat and nothing but Bitterness and Anguish and Sorrows Yet he loves my waies Here is a receiving Know that Faith is such a receiving as a man that receives an infection which he doth not feel for the present but it may be he feels afterwards And the Reason is this Because that Faith principally receives as it is an act of the will And if it did receive principally as it is an act of the understanding then a man could not have any thing but he should know it or be near the knowledg of it But since that receiving is by the will he must have the spirit of God to make known to him the things that are freely given him of God As the Apostle speaks in 1 Cor. 2.12 Now having answered this I beseech you Lay both hands understanding and will upon the Lord Jesus Christ Gather in with both faculties Rest not til your understanding be filled and your will be satisfied What ever it is which you want Christ hath What ever you would have from him you must either have from him upon price or merit And you have none Or you must have it upon gift Either you must receive it as an almes or as a debt A debt it is not to you but only as you beleeve When you do receive
in thy own eyes Seest thou less worth nay no worth in thy self Doth the manifestation or communication of Grace from Christ make thee to abhor and loath thy self But I shall speak a little more to this particular by shewing you That where ever indeed there is true Faith there is humbleness of Spirit manifested in these four Particulars There are four Particulars I say wherein humbleness of Spirit doth alwaies shew it self in a Beleever First In modesty or sobriety Not assuming unto its self the doing of any thing or being the motive unto God or the Reason why God should do any thing to him Not unto us O Lord not unto us but to thy Name be the praise is the voyce of Faith according to that of the Psalmist Psal 115.1 I live saith Paul yet not I but Christ that liveth in me Gal. 2 20. I have done more than they all yet not I but the Grace of God in me 1 Cor. 15.10 And as the Psalmist saith in another case We got not the Victory by our own strength and sword but it was thy hand and power that gave us the Victory Psal 44.3 So the Soul saith That it is not its praying or hearing or any thing whereby it doth attain unto any favor with God or any degree of Grace but only because the Lord so pleaseth As there can be no reason given why the Rain should fall upon one ground and not upon another but only because the Lord Reigns and Rules in Heaven So there can be no reason given saith the Soul why I that am a barren desert should have any life rained on me but only because it seems good unto him That is the first thing Secondly The humbleness of Faith shews it self in a sense and apprehension of that condition which a man was in before he did receive Grace As a man unto whom a prosperous estate is sanctified he remembers his poor estate and low condition So doth a man now that hath received by Faith from Christ remember what state he was in when Christ first came and gave him somwhat and bestowed himself upon him Here the Apostle Paul speaking of it in 1 Tim. 1.13 I was a Blasphemer and injurious and a Persecutor and the chief of all sinners And Eph. 2.3 We were by Nature that is we that are now quickned and who are now raised up together with Jesus Christ Children of Wrath as well as others and under the Prince of the Air even the Devil who Ruleth in the hearts of such Children of disobedience as we were And therefore upon all occasions you know he is up with his conversion telling what an ill course he was in and what wickedness he was practising when the Lord lighted on him as you may see in divers places in the Acts. It is true indeed that there is a passionate sense of a mans misery which doth cease when a man hath received mercy that is a man cannot so mourn nor a man cannot so weep and lament as he did do yet there is an understanding sense A sense that lies upon the heart as sure though it works not after the same way and as cleer though it hath not the self same passions that were before Though the wound be healed yet there is a scar that puts in mind And though the Lord hath been pleased to take away the danger yet the Soul cannot but stand and wonder at that condition wherein it was when the Lord delivered it That is the Second Thirdly The humbleness which Faith works in the heart of a man is this The acknowledgment and owning of al that is in a man unto God As we are wont to write in the Books that are given us The Gift of such a Friend or such a Friend Or as Jacob said he came over that Brook with a staff in his hand and now he had so many bands But the Lord hath given them to him Behold I and the Children which the Lord hath given me Or as Jacob said at another time when his father asked him how he came by Venison so soon said he The Lord brought it to hand So the Soul acknowledgeth whatever he hath received to be of meer Grace 2 Cor. 5.5 He that hath wrought us hereunto is God who hath also given unto us the Spirit Mark the word We are wrought hereunto That is as if he should have said if there had not been more done by another than was by our selves if we had been left to do for our selves we had never come to this state of Grace wherein we are We were but like Clay and He fashioned us into this Mould He Who is that Even God He that hath wrought us hereunto is God that is Infinite Power and Wisdom was imployed in those things and no less would have done the thing And so the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 2.12 It is given to us to know the things that are freely given us of God Ask a Beleever how it came to pass when he and others sate under the same ministry and in the same seat and it may be had the same convictions that one turned his back upon God and the other came in that one held up weapons of rebellion against God and the other laid them down Or thus That the one is more wrought upon and the other is less that the one hath perfect Peace and the other stand disputing being filled with fears and jealousies and suspitions The Soul will answer that it was not for any thing that I did more than any other it was not because I was better than another but because the Lord put forth his Power upon me and hath more effectually called and wrought in me than he hath been pleased to do upon others That is the Third Thing Fourthly The Humbleness which Faith works in the Soul is this that it makes a man to be marvelously wary and faithful in the use of all that which he hath received by beleeving If he hath gotten peace he keeps it warily and charily If he hath gotten Grace he maintains it watchfully and he is faithful not because he doth not look upon himself as a Lord over it but he looks upon it as a Gift meerly given him If a man you know hath any gift given him by a Friend though it be very useful yet he is very chary of the use of it and will not use it but upon great occasions There is you know a great deal of difference between a mans receiving his life by Grace and pardon from the Prince and a mans receiving his life upon tearms of Justice He that hath his life upon Pardon is afraid if he ever comes again within the breach of the Law any more Whereas he that hath his life upon Justice thinks not of any such danger nor of any such evil that he needs to beware of So much carefulness so much Wisdom and Wariness as there is in the Soul to use what it hath received
so much doth it argue Faith in a man CHAP. XXI Receiving denotes taking a thing with joy and gladness of heart and so Faith is receiving An Object answered Faith is called receiving because the soul that doth beleeve doth beleeve willingly and cheerefully Receiving in the scripture is used for such entertainment as freinds give one unto another Or guests or strangers have of their freinds As in Math. 10.14 And Luke 20.10 Christ sends his disciples abroad without any thing to live upon and faith If they wil receive them that is if they wil be glad of the Gospel at such a charge and at the cost they must be at In Heb. 13.2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for in so doing saith he some have received Angels As it is in that place of the Gospel Math. 10.41 He that receives a Prophet in the name of a Prophet that is that makes him welcome as the Messenger of God In the third Epist of John and vers 9. Diotrephes that loves the preheminency received us not nor would have suffered the Saints to receive us As the Text tells us in the Book of Genesis that Abraham stood at the door of the Tent that he might entertain strangers that passed by And Stephen saw Christ in Heaven and therefore used the word of the Text Lord Jesus Receive my spirit Acts 7.59 My meaning is this Though I cannot look upon Heaven as my own house and home Though I be a stranger and cannot demand the glory thereof as due unto me yet receive me kindly Bid me be of good cheer and give me what is laid up in store there Al this I have spoken to shew that this word Receiving is proper to a kindly entertainment Now faith is such a kind of receiving and entertaining Jesus Christ in some measure I say in some measure As Jesus Christ doth receive the soul into Heaven so doth the soul receive Jesus Christ into it by beleeving That self same love which Christ shews that kindness which he expresseth to the soul in entertaining it into Glory that in some measure doth the soul express in its laying hold upon Jesus christ It is said in Luke 19.5 6. That Christ bad himself to Zacheus his house to dinner Zacheus come down and make hast for this day I must abide at thy house And Zacheus came down made hast received him joyfully Thus is it in effectual calling in conversion Christ comes unto a soul and saith Turne unto me live Beleeve you shal be saved why wil you dye in the way wherein you are Though there be nothing belong unto you but shame and confusion of face for ever yet by and in me you shal find happiness As Christ doth first offer unto the soul himself So doth the soul receive this offer of Jesus Christ In Acts 8.37 Though that the Eunuch was but a young convert yet notwithstanding of him as of a young convert Philip requires he should beleeve with al his heart If thou beleevest with al thy heart Al the heart is not there taken extensively or gradually that is al one with perfection As it is in the Commandement Thou shalt love the Lord with al thy heart that is love him and love nothing else But al the heart there is opposed unto a divided heart and unto an unwilling spirit If thou beleevest with al thy heart that is if thou be glad of Jesus Christ to undertake for thee If thou dost willingly give up thy self unto him for salvation I say there is a great deal of difference between a mans doing of a thing willingly and doing a thing electively and out of choice A thing is said to be done willingly when it is done out of a principle suitable to it though that in the doing of it there be no thought of taking contentment or pleasure in it As a man sins willingly when the corruption that is in his heart doth break into act As for example A man that hath a prophane and wicked spirit he sweares willingly though he doth not think of swearing when he doth it So al actual corruptions are voluntary though that we do not consider what we do As the wise man speaks that they know not that they do evil because it comes from a corrupt heart within To do a thing voluntarily and willingly it is enough that a man doth it of himself moved thereunto of his own disposition and quality of mind A thing is said to be done electively or by choice when a man having weighed arguments on both sides doth choose one rather then another He puts a difference between the reasons that are urged on either part and chooseth to follow one before the other In Heb. 11.25.26 Moses is said to choose afflictions with the people of God because he judged or esteemed saith the Text. Doing things out of choice is a manner of doing things willingly and the highest sort of so doing And So there is a difference between a mans beleeving willingly and cheerefully and a mans beleeving electively and out of choice A man beleeves willingly when he is carried unto Jesus Christ by the spirit of faith in a sense of his own nothingness and a knowledg of the tenderness and sufficiency that is in Jesus Christ to save him A man beleeves out of choice when he chooseth rather to adventure his soul in that way of beleeving upon Christ then in any other course As for example Conceive you a man like him that came to our Lord Jesus Christ willing to do any thing to obtain eternall life And as a meanes thereunto there is advice given him to repent of what he hath done and to mortify his lusts that he should take up the practise of al dutyes and ordinances heare much and pray often and deny himself opportunities of sin and give that which he hath unto the poor And al this advice is urged upon him with al that can be said from the scripture and reason that if he doth thus he shal be saved But he is also advised to beleeve upon Jesus Christ who Justifies the ungodly who cures a man for nothing who saves them that are not able to returne him any thing again suitable to what they receive from him And he chooseth this way of faith rather then that other way This now is a beleeving out of choice when I say al other wayes are laid before a man for salvation in their greatest probability and yet a man can see faith to be the best way and can answer the reasons that are brought to the contrary Unto this election faith wil grow in time and by experience So that it can say Whom have I in Heaven but thee and I have none on earth in comparison of thee Psal 73.25 Therefore it is compared to a Marriage which cannot be without union to Christ and willingness to be so A woman after Marriage comes to say if she were unmarried again she would have none
and did beleeve that then God would bless them How many then would give that precious time strength and Spirit which now runs out to the world unto the service of God USE III. If every one that would attain to eternall life must take heed of Covetousness Then let all your care be for eternall life to be rich in God as Christ saith in verse 21. Be rich in God that is in the things of God and in the things that are for Gods Glory God doth not call you from the world to put you upon a loss but to turn your affections upon the right Object It 's not to undo you but to make you in better things As Parents when they would wean the Child from the Nurse unto themselves they make the nurses breast black and they fear the Child So saith Christ take heed and look to your selves when he hath no other end in it but that he may have your love and you have his at length Many will say saith David in Psal 4.7.8 Who will shew us any good but saith he Thou hast put more gladness into my heart than when Corn and Wine increase As if he should have said when the Devill sees men inquiring after happiness and salvation he does shew them good he presently meets them as Abraham did the Gibeonites wih Corn and Wine the things of this life and takes off their hearts from happiness And it is so prevailing a means Math. 4.9 that he betook himself to that alone when he tempted Christ All this will I give thee When he had shewed him all the Glory of the world that is when he had made the world as glorious as possible it could be to the mind of Christ He did not do unto Christ as unto us deceive our fancies but he put the greatest Glory upon Riches that could be and then he thought that Jesus Christ would bow down to him If the Devil cannot make a man as prophane and as loose as he desires then he will make a man Religious but mingle Covetousness with it He will stir up a man as it is reported by one that writes of the walkings and apparisions of the Devill The Devil came to many a man in Luthers time and provoked them to stand for Justication and lay aside popish Religion but he told them also they should get so much by the bargain And when he mingled this Poyson with that Wine he did bring them to as much formality as they were in before in their ignorance They were as bad as before because of only their Covetousness When he hath once got a man under his power he wil make him to grind at this mil as they did Sampson Therefore the Love of the world is called in 1. Tim. 6.9 The Devils snare and bond And it is the sin of the Jews by which they were and are kept from embracing Christ They did look after an earthly Kingdom Be not hindred of true happiness by those things Barter not away your souls for an abundance of the things of this life Let not your minds run out after what you see or what is to be had besides grace and holiness and communion with God Our Lord Jesus Christ is moved to see one got into good Company here in this Chapter at the 13. verse seeming to have an inheritance here to neglect to get Salvation and Grace Grace and the favor of God are true riches and al other things are not so They are but shadows of riches and therefore called a fancy Agrippa his poâ—… and Glory is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 25. Acts 23. Though a man seem to be blessed of God when he hath this world yet it is but seemingly so And therefore the scripture calls it a fashion 1. Cor. 7.31 Rom. 12.2 The fashion of this world But there is no true goodness in riches In Luke 2.21 Saith Christ a man that treasures up for himself is not rich in God That treasures up for himself That is Riches are but a particular good that may serve a mans self but that is all it can do It makes a man leave God who is a universal good That only is true Riches which doth procure to a man all good and that nothing can do but what comes from God which is Grace USE IV. You shal have al the things of this life if you wil look after Grace Al that is needful Godliness hath the promise of this life It gives content 1 Tim. 6.6 That is as much as a man doth either need or desire if his desires be rational and spiritual It gives content The word that the Apostleuseth for content is a word that is used among Common wealths that have al things in themselves and need not other Countries Religion needs not be beholden to any estate and condition or any thing in this world for any thing that belongs to this life Godly men do never want but when they cannot be content to be at Gods dispose He wants not that is content He hath content whose wil is conformable unto God There are at the least twenty several sences of that in Psal 37.25 I never saw the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread But that which is most probable from the Context and scope of the Psalme is I never saw A righteous man 〈◊〉 it is a righteous man that doth not fret at thâ—… prosperity of wicked men Not begging bread that is in want Let any be of a liberal spirit willing to part with what God gives him when God doth cal and that man never wants Men that have dogs appetites are never satisfied When meat feeds humors then parents deny their children meat So doth God when he sees what he gives doth not work conformity to his wil. Do you mind your work and God wil care for your maintenance And you shal have spiritual things at a better rate and on easier terms then you have earthly things The paines you take for heaven shal bring you in communion with God which cannot be got by your indeavors God wil not put you to more nor so much in working for him as you put your selves to in getting the world Wicked men have been at death convinced of this Had I saith one been as good a servant to God as to the King I had been happy Yea those that know better what it is to prepare for Heaven than others do complain that they are not so carefull for spirituall things as they are for the things of this life When they go about Riches or the things that concerns Riches they are buried in the business and there their thoughts are intent but at prayer and Hearing their Thoughts are divided and their Hearts are wandering and yet still they grow in Grace Psal 127.2 It 's in vain to go to bed late or rise up early so he gives his Beloved sleep that is without this carking care he gives them sleep that sleep is a Lying in