Kingdom and by their wickedness and unbelief deserved that a bill of Divorce should be given to them and cast Mat. 8. 12. out of the Kingdom To them that are without i. e. Who only hear with the outward Guilliandus Ear who hear with the outward Ear as well as you but want Faith and care not for the Truth seeking rather their own than Gods glory their earthly rather than heavenly Treasures For whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have more abundance c. 1. To him that hath Faith shall be given the knowledg of Hilarius sic Exponit qâ—d Habens fidem mysteria fidei percipiet at Judaei fidem non habentes Legem quoque quam habue rant Perdiderunt the mysteries of the Kingdom of God for these cannot be known without Faith As if he should say To you Apostles who believe in me as in the Messias to you it is given daily to hear and clearly to understand of me the mysteries of Heaven But from the Scribes and Pharisees that have not i. e. Faith will not believe in me as the Messias God will take from them That which they have i. e. That slender knowledg of God and sense of Heaven which they have their Church Kingdom Priest-hood Temple Sacrifices Country he will take from them and make them no people no Church no not in outward Profession 2. To him that hath i. e. That hath an hearing ear Mat. 13. 9 12. and Mark 4. 24. That is that bring with them an humble and sincere affection namely a pure desire of Faith and Truth which the Apostles by the gift of God have to them shall be given i. e. I will Explain and clearly open to them The mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven I will increase their knowledg and add beams to their Light but they that have not i. e. this pure desire of truth but are indulgent to their lusts and to the pride of their own understanding as the Scribes and Pharisees from them the little knowledg which they have shall be taken away and they shall be made blind and therefore it is that I speak not clearly to them but obscurely in Parables Dub. But doth not this prove a power in man to do something naturally that he may gain something that is supernatural To do something morally to attain the gift of Grace that is spiritual And are not these words a promise Faecienti quod in se est Deus non denegat gratiam Res I answer no It argues no such thing it doth not speak a passage out of Morality through the use of natural gifts into the state of Grace As it appears 1. From the 11th Ver. To you it is given to know the mysteries Mat. 13. 11. of the Kingdom of Heaven to you i. e. To you my Apostles and Disciples who have more than good nature in you who have blossoms of heaven already in you to you it is given To know i. e. to know further to know more of the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven to you that have the buddings of knowledg in you to you shall be given the ripeness of knowledg in the mysteries of Heaven And then he adds in the 12th Ver. For whosoever hath to him shall be given i. e. Whosoever hath the infant and young workings of grace and knowledg as you have to him shall be given that is an higher stature of grace and knowledg shall be given him 2. From Ver. the 10th The Disciples when they heard the Parable said to Christ Why speakest thou unto them in Parables i. e. Why dost thou preach so Obscurely and Aenigmatically to them Why dost thou not open thy self more plainly to them They are never the better for what thou saiest neither they nor we understand thy meaning And therefore they without doubt Mar. 4 10-13 asked Christ in private to unlock the Cabinet of the Parable to them and shew them the Jewel or meaning of it Now saith Christ to you i. e. Who desire of me spiritual knowledg it shall be given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven For whosoever hath i. e. Such holy desires as you have to inquire and move after the knowledg of Heavenly-mysteries to him it shall be given as it is to you and he shall have more abundance 3. Jesus Christ in the 13th Ver. gives his Disciples an account why he spake to the Pharisees in Parables Because they seeing see not i. e. They are wilfully blind they see the wood and yet will not see the trees they see my Works and yet will not see me to be Christ In seeing they see not i. e. They have seen me and believe not Joh. 6. 36. They see me and my Miracles with the eye of sense and yet will not see me with the eye of faith And hearing they hear not i. e. They hear with the sense of Audientes corporis sensu non audiunt cordis assensu August the ear but hear not with the assent of the heart they hear and are convinced but will not be converted as you have it in the 15th Ver. They perceive but will not receive the knowledg of the truth For to hear is to receive and submit to what we hear It implies the affection with the Organ Now in opposition to them saith the Lord Christ to his Disciples Ver. 16 Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear Your eyes see me and are taken with the sight of me your eyes see me and your hearts are in love with me your sight of me hath wounded you with the love of espousals to me And your ears hear and suck in the truths you hear from me You hear and submit to the Authority of the Word you hear from me You see with an amorous eye and you hear with a believing ear And therefore to you saith Christ it shall be given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven but to them it is not given i. e. It shall not be given For whosoever hath that is whosoever hath a Believing eye and an Obediential ear to him shall be given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven And he shall have more abundance of knowledg and grace added to him 4. So that the sense and mind of the Text is this Whosoever hath by the gift of God any true beams of Light to him shall be given further Revelations God will give him higher degrees Whosoever hath to him shall be given i. e. He gives after he hath given as a Spring runs when it hath run So that the words speak not a word of the Improvement of Nature but of the gifts of Grace both in the beginning and in the increase Whosoever hath it is by gift and whosoever hath more it is by further gift So that this phrase whosoever hath speaks a gift in that he hath For what hath any man 1 Cor. 4. 7. which
shalt have content in nothing and now grace thrives exceedingly when the soul saith All the world all my dearest comforts in the world are but vanity and vexation now the Lord is magnified and his comforts are prized and his presence is desired Oh saith the soul none but Christ none but Christ It is good for me to draw nigh to God And therefore 14. In the next place You shall find God increasing his peoples graces by taking away comforts from them It may be their discontents and crosses in their creature-comforts is too weak physick for them they can digest the cross if they may enjoy the comfort still and therefore God is fain to part them and their comforts Nothing will divorce their heart but the death of the comfort Their heart is wrapt up in such a comfort and their delights and desires go out from God to it now the comfort must be gone that the soul be not lost their affections which God should have they put them into such a creature-comfort such a glass bottle now the Vessels must be broken that all those affections may be spilt the object must be removed that their affections may again be recalled home to God and now when nothing is left them to love but God oh the soul seeth and repents of its folly looks upward and spies a beauty in Heaven worth all 15. God increaseth his peoples graces by denying them peace in the world This alienates the Saints from the world and makes them weary of it and now grace thrives and gets upward Did the world entertain us with smiles and bid us weclcome how fond would we be of it How would it bewitch us Our houses would be our Heaven and our possessions would be our paradise The worse the world useth us the less we love the world Saints you that complain that your conditions are no more quiet in the world Do you not remember that of Paul The world is crucified unto me and I unto the world Truly well Gal. 6. 14. met The world cares not a pin for me saith Paul and I care as little for the world Sirs This is that which crucifieth you to the world the worlds unkindness to you The Lord hedgeth up his peoples way with thorns that while they are saluting these worldly Dalilah's being pricked and wounded they may fall back again into the embraces of their first Husband They go away with a thorn sticking in their sides and then they cry out I will return to my Hos 2. 7. first husband for then was it better with me than now Oh happy prickings now grace is revived and increased They cry Oh something hurts me the world will not let me alone and O happy Oh! now is Christ prized and his embraces valued Kiss thou me saith the soul with the kisses of Cant. 1. thy mouth I went to kiss the world I wooed it and went to kiss it and it pricked my lips Oh Lord Jesus kiss thou me there are no thorns in thy kisses thy lips hath honey not thorns in them When the Saint finds no rest in the world then he cryeth out Return unto thy rest O my soul The Billows and Tossings of the Sea makes men desire dry land the restlesness of the Waves makes them love the stableness of the shore 1. Sirs your want of peace in the world doth it not make you keep peace within Let me have some peace saith the soul If I cannot have peace abroad let me have peace at home if I cannot have peace without let me have peace within if not in the world yet in my conscience Oh this makes the upright Saint nourish a tender Conscience in himself that having no rest nor quiet in the world he may yet enjoy a sweet serenity in his own soul 2. Want of peace in the world doth it not make you prize your peace with God Would you ever have prized your peace with God so much had you had no distractions and interruptions in the world I doubt of it Sixteenthly Another method whereby God advances grace in his people is by reproaches from men Oh! this is a great Mercy of God to his People that men revile them and wicked men hate them Did wicked men hug you in their arms you would catch the plague of them Their affection would be your infection The more the Tares embrace the Corn the more they kill it Necat hedera vinciens saith Pliny the Ivy by clipping Lib. 17. c. 24. and clasping the Trees binds them too hard and hastens their death The hissing of the Adder prevents your being stung by her When wicked men hiss at you and spit their enmity upon you the more you run from them And now grace grows the Saints shun their company and thereby their corruption The hatred of the wicked makes the Saints flock together it increaseth their love to one another There would not be such Communion among the Saints did not the hatred of the world drive them closer together and now they grow stronger their love to one another and their prayers for one another grow stronger Aelian tells us that the Chii had a great Sedition among them Var. Hist l. 14. c. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some of the one side would have had their Adversaries wholly expelled out of the City no saith a wise man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by no means but when we have got the victory saith he let us leave some among us least having no adversaries we war among our selves So God in his Wisdom leaves wicked men among us least the Saints should fall out among themselves But the misery is you know not how to improve the reproaches of men to the advantage of your graces They slander you to be hypocrites and proud and covetous and self-conceited and that you are secretly as bad as others You will say How should we improve grace upon this If they judg you to be Hypocrites and base do you judg your selves It may be there is some special cause that you should judg your selves God suffers other men to judg you to awake you to self-judging however make this use of it and you are sure to be no losers by the reproach If they say I am an hypocrite I will try my self whether I am an hypocrite If they call me covetous or proud I will call my self to an account Would you not be gainers by this Oh! then get within your hearts and search them throughly before the Lord and see if there be any way of wickedness in you which you have not yet discovered and never be quiet till you have found out your sin or be sure that you are clear And would not this be an exceeding gain to you 2. And then when you have upon deep search clear'd up your Consciences then consider that though you are not what they censure you to be yet you are sinners I say Sinners before God You know your
to profess and acknowledg their Ignorance Non Pudor est Nescire aliquid sed Discere Nolle Et Pudor Scelus est 4. The Saints are very desirous to know the Reason of Christs Actions Why speakest thou unto them in Parables 5. Beginnings of Grace and Knowledg are very earnest after more Good hearts are very Inquisitive and diligent to ask and understand the Mysteries of Heaven Dub. 1. And indeed it is a wonder that Christ who loved souls so dearly and thirsted after their Salvation who was sent into the world by his Father to Vnmask the way to Heaven and who had before Explained the Law and taken the Vizor off from the face of it and convinced the Proud and Preached so home to the heart that he Preacht with Authority He Preached plainly when he said Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand He preached plainly when he said Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven c. and now to cloathe his Sermons with such dark Parables it is a wonder Resp To this the Lord Jesus Answers That he therefore preached in Parables i. e. darkly and obscurely Because he preached in Judgment unto some that were present He preacht that they might not understand him Dub. 2. But why should his Disciples admire that he preached now in Parables seeing it was always his custom to do so And Parables do illustrate and clear things more to the understanding than plain phrases Resp Christ was wont to preach in Parables and therefore that is not the Disciples Query at least not the meaning of it why he did now use Parables for he did ordinarily use them but when he did use them he did Explain them Luk. 15. 4-7 and 16. 1-8 9. But now Christ did preach in Parables and not Explain them as he was wont to do And before we leave this Query of the Disciples Why speakest thou unto them in Parables Observe further First Their Charity Secondly Their Modesty 1. Their Charity and love to the souls of others Why speakest thou to them in Parables They understand thee not they first ask Christ why he spake to them in Parables before they ask him to Explain the Parables to them Obs Good hearts desire the Salvation of others as well as their own aeque though not aequaliter 2. Their Modesty towards Christ They do not question Christ's Doctrine or manner of Teaching in publick but ask him in private to Explain himself When he was alone Mar. 4. 10. and Mat. 13. 36. Obs People ought not to question and move doubts against their Ministers Doctrine in publick but in private lest they should by their importunity create stirs and tumult and give to others occasion of doing any thing unseasonably and out of due time Therefore his Disciples move questions in private We shall now descend to the words of our Text To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven but to them it is not given For whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have more abundance To you The word to you hath Emphasis in it Vobis vestri similibus To you and such as you 1. To you Elect for Christ speaks of the Elect under the Apostles Persons To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven 2. Vobis amantibus videlicet Sicientibusque veritatem To you Guilliandi who love and thirst after Truth to you that are godly and gracious the Spirit gives to you not only to hear and see these things but to know them and believe and feel them in your hearts And therefore these are no mysteries to you but Salvation and truth Revealed 'T is given that is it comes to pass 1. Not Casu by chance 2. Nor Necessitate by necessity 3. Nor Natura by nature or natural industry That you know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven But 't is given He discovers the gift and Grace of God For O man What hast thou which thou hast not received Obs The knowledg of the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven is a Supernatural gift a gift from above None can understand the mysteries of Heaven but they to whom it is given The gifts of God are two-fold 1. The gifts of Nature 2. The gifts of Grace It was given them by Nature that they could hear or see But it was given them by Grace that they should hear the Gospel and see the Miracles and Face of Jesus Christ but more Grace yet that they could Receive the Gospel and Believe in Christ and know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven It was outward Grace to have the Gospel given them to hear it and Christ given them to see him It was inward Grace to have knowledg to see into the Mysteries of the Gospel and to have Faith to distinguish and apprehend Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory There 's the Gospel of Grace and the Grace of the Gospel To have the Gospel of Grace preached to them and to have Grace to receive the Gospel is a double Grace The mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven Is a Periphrasis of the Gospel and of those things which lye hid in the Gospel Obs The Gospel is a mystery The Doctrines of the Gospel are mysteries Mysterium significat secretum aliquod quod remotum est ab oculis atque absconditum praecipuè vero in verbis ut cùm aliquid dicitur quod obscurum est intellectu difficile Solemus dicere hoc mysterium est Subest his verbis tectum aliquid abstrusum Mysterium sic enim consuevit appellare Scriptura quae praeter spem praeter humanam fiunt Opinionem Ecce mysterium vobis dico Omnes quidem c. Guilliandus in Loc. 1 Cor. 15. The mysteries of God therefore are Faith and the Gospel concerning Christ nay Christ himself is called a mystery because he is a Spiritual thing and remains hid and covered till the Spirit unvail him For whatever the Gospel preacheth they Mat. 11. 25. 1 Cor. 2. 6 7 8. are remote from sense and reason that the whole world cannot apprehend them till they are Revealed by the Spirit You shall see many preach and many hear that Christ was delivered for us to Redeem us but these words are only in ore in the mouth not in corde in the heart For 1. Neque ipsi suis verbis credunt neither do they themselves believe their own words 2. Neque gratiam hanc aliquatenus sentiunt neither do they feel the Grace of the Gospel But to them it is not given Luke hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark hath Luke 8. 10. Mark 4. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui for is sunt sive exteris To them that are without By which he understands not only them that are strangers all their time from the Kingdom of God as the Gentiles but also all those that have been for a time the children of the
is to you is laid down as an Argument to believe as a Motive to believe and therefore did belong to them before they did believe for the Cause is before the Effect Yes you will say to them to the Jews but not to us mark the next words And to all that are afar of even to as many as the Lord our God shall call Object But God gives not Grace to all and that 's the thing that fears me Answ What is that to thee As Christ said unto Peter Peter asked Christ such a question Lord what shall this man do Joh. 21. 21 22. saith Christ to him What is that to thee follow thou me So God gives not grace to all What is that to thee follow thou me believe thou in me saith Christ Object Oh! but I am a great sinner and will he pardon me and give grace to me Answ 1. The Covenant of grace is a free Covenant from the Lord 's free favour without any respect to any thing in thee it looks at nothing in thee no worth in thee can procure it The Covenant is not only a Covenant to grace but a Covenant of grace not only a Covenant to grace to give more grace where it is but a Covenant of grace to give grace where is none 2. The greatness of thy sinfulness will manifest and set out the greatness of his mercy For his names sake he pardons iniquity Isa 43. Now the greater and the more thy sins have been the greater will be the name of his mercy Quest But how may we attain the Knowledg of the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven Answ 1. Let not sin stand between you and the glorious light of the Mysteries of Heaven Cease love to sin if you would have an Heaven upon Earth a glorious Presence of God in you Render your spirits free to God let them not be ensnared with any lust such entanglement spoils your Glory pure hearts shall see the face of God Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God You poor souls who are purging your selves will you believe your Saviour then you shall see God Purity makes capacity of Heaven The holyest men ever had the most glorious visions as Daniel and John A man may see Hell in his sin but shall never see Heaven 2. Would you have the Knowledg of these Mysteries Then get upon some hill the air of the lower region is thick and misty I mean live above abstract your selves as much as may be from the world God chuseth his place to make Heaven he makes Heaven above in Jerusalem that is above in souls that are above above the vanities of this World he makes an Heaven and there the Mysteries of the Kingdom like so many stars shine Moses is led up to a mount to see Canaan Christ upon a mount had his glorious Transfiguration he had his Heaven upon a mount Love must mount above all these low things ere the soul can see Heaven enjoy glorious Presence It falls out unhappily still with man when he goes about to make an Heaven here when he sets love at work to take her fortune to make her Glory and Felicity here below as she can This checks the working of a glorious light in any heart it sets a Divine Power a working another way to whip the man with vexation of spirit for seeking Heaven in Earth in glorious vanities No man shall have two Heavens or but very few 3. Let thy heart be Crystal The Mysteries of Heaven shining upon such an heart reflect gloriously I mean an heart that is a pure glass clear from all hypocrisie God descended like a Dove upon a Dove sweetly and gloriously upon him In whose mouth there was no guile It was upon Jesus Christ there came a voice from Heaven This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased God never proclaims himself well-pleased in that heart which makes not him his pleasure A heart and a heart hath none of Gods heart Divine Power works not gloriously where the heart works basely An hypocrite hath least of Heaven of any man and most of Hell 4. As men draw near to God so they see him near to him in Quality and near to him in Duty Sirs We see Heaven best upon out knees At the Throne of grace we find grace Heaven at Gods feet When most in his Presence most in Heaven A man must live in Heaven to have Heaven live in him much going to Heaven brings Heaven at last down along with one Vse last Then Oh ye Saints bless the Lord Admire the Lord that hath revealed his Mysteries to you not to others that ye know those things which others do not Oh! fall admiring God and Free-grace The fourth and last Doctrine Doct. 4. That where there are beginnings of true grace though never so weak God makes rich Additions of more grace Whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have more abundance Now to evince this I will give you the Testimony of Scripture And 1. In Phil. 1. 6 Paul cheers up their hearts by telling them that he was confident i. e. assured That God who Phil. 1. 6. had begun a good work in them would perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ The Apostle writing to the Thessalonians praiseth God for them Because saith he your faith grows exceedingly and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth 2 Thes 1. 3. Where God plants he makes to grow and where he sows he watereth into an increase 2dly John 10. 10 I came saith Christ that they might have John 10. 10. life and that they might have it more abundantly or that they might have abundance So Musculus reads it Et abundantiam habeant For it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Abundantius but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word signifieth Abundantiam copiam affluentiam i. e. Qui vivere dedit dabit reliqua ad vitam hanc caelestem necessaria Nec dabit parce sed liberaliter opulente Musculus in Johan Quid dat formam dat consequentia formam He that gives life will give all things necessary to this Divine life to maintain it richly an abundance and affluence of spiritual and heavenly Additions to the least grace 3dly Isa 42. 3 A bruised reed shall he not break and the Isa 42. 3. smoaking flax shall he not quench The Negative here implieth an Affirmative A bruised reed shall he not break i. e. he shall strengthen it and the smoaking flax shall he not quench i. e. he shall be so far from quenching that he shall make it flame and blow it up into a blaze He shall bring forth judgment unto truth which Matthew following the Septuagint Matth. 12. 20. saith He shall bring forth judgment unto victory And this is the meaning of that Text Of his fulness have John 1. 16. we all received 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
refreshing and he will sit there and rest himself under it Men that have their feet or their arms scalded will put them into cold water which gives them ease though it gives them no cure yet because it gives them ease there they keep them So men whose Consciences are scalded with wrath Oh! now the Gospel and Justification by Faith in Christ is very sweet And so they are eased by it never cured by it and therefore you shall find them disclaim all works and cry up grace only when Christ is offered and general notice given them that there is Mercy and Hope for great Sinners this fills them with joy and peace But wherein doth these mens hypocrisie appear They receive Jesus Christ only for ease I say a false heart receives Christ only to ease him to ease him of the terrour of Conscience and to ease him of the work of Obedience And here prophane Sinners find great ease The weight of their guilty Consciences would press and sink them down but that they bear up upon the Righteousness of Jesus Christ Oh! he dyed for Sinners and paid our debt and now they are cheerful and easie they can sin and be easie follow their drunkenness and be easie swim in their uncleanness and be easie for they make the Righteousness of Christ their Bladder to swim upon and say what you will to them they will not sink If you ask one of these drunkards and haters of the Saints and railers at godliness I say if you ask them Do you believe in Christ yes say they Believe yea we believe exceedingly and so they do the truth is they believe beyond measure but they believe and rest upon Jesus Christ to ease themselves of sanctification they cannot but see the want of it and they cannot ease themselves but by pleading that Christ is holy and that though they have it not yet Christ hath it This is a great ease to their thoughts at the present and thus they receive Christ Oh Sirs that you would consider the sad condition of this man whose plagues shall be made wonderful whose Conscience suits him still for sin and then looks up to Christ and rests there and hears Sermons but then salves up all with the Righteousness of Christ and considers often that his ways are evil but never suspects his faith to be evil Then he is taken with Death and then looks up to Christ at last the snuff dyes and his Sun sets and darkness approacheth and then instead of heaven embraceth flames and what is it that hath deceived these men Oh! their Faith hath deceived them they believed they might have had Christ and Sin too and then in Hell they wish Oh! that I had considered and feared this before and will you not fear now I charge you then think not your Estates good because you rest on Christ and look for salvation by him only 2. There are others who receive Jesus Christ not only into their belief but into their bosoms not only into their heads but also into their hearts They have a great work upon them the Gospel doth not only Irradiate their minds but also in a great measure Captivate their Wills they have affections to Christ and sweet motions to holy things kindled in their hearts They receive the word with joy and delight Matth. 13. they fall into raptures of love to and admiration of Jesus Christ they do not only assent to the Doctrine of Justification by Christ but are made partakers of the Holy Ghost There is a change wrought in them they seem to be washed 2 Pet. 2 20. and sanctified in the blood of Christ having escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledg of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And so they shine in the surface of their outward lives The hypocrisie of the heart springs from defect of light in the mind The want of saving Illumination in the understanding is the reason of the hypocrisie of the heart These two faculties the Vnderstanding and the Will live very near one another if they be not really the same some say they are but one and the same power or faculty of the soul and so there is a real Identity of the Will and Understanding saying that the Will is Intellectus extensus others affirm that they are faculties really distinct However it is by all concluded that there must in order of nature be light before choice knowledg before election the Intellectual creature must see before it can determine or resolve upon Now I say the imperfect and unsound resolution of the soul flows from defect of light The hypocrisie of the heart springs from the want of a saving Illumination in the Understanding This appears in the Parable of the Virgins of whom the Lord Christ saith That five were wise and five were foolish The vanity of the one sprang from their folly the provision of Oyl the others made sprang from their Wisdom You know it 's frequent in Solomons Proverbs to call the upright and godly man the wise man the sinner and hypocrite the fool the power of sin lyeth in the power of darkness The strength of a State in the Wisdom of its Council 1. The Understanding is the first inlet of Sin and Grace this is that which opens and shuts to all life and sin When Satan laid his Train and Powder-plot to blow up all the World by the sin of one man he first enters into dispute with Eve and as the Apostle saith deceived her The woman was deceived and so darkned her mind with a mist 1 Tim. 2. 14. the serpent crept into her heart through the door of her Vnderstanding There could no sin get into the Will were there not an error first in the Vnderstanding 2. And as the mind is the first inlet into sin so it is the first door that lets in grace Sanctifie them through thy truth thy John 17. 17. John 12. 35. word is truth Walk while you have the light lest darkness come upon you Satan knew if light came in Christ would come in Matth. 13. 15. 3. Divine light is very powerful it hath a mighty influence to change and renew the heart We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the spirit of the Lord All Divine light of glory works strongly if hypocrites had it their hearts would be sincere Not that bare light can change the will but the Lord works by it When the Lord comes with life he comes with light Awake thou that sleepest Ephes 5. 14. arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light When the spirit comes all his work is expressed by conviction of sin of righteousness and of judgment convince one effectually and you convert him You shall know the truth John 8. 32. saith Christ and it shall make you free that is from your bondage
yet Heb. 4. 15. without sin But in our infirmity of the flesh we are seldom tempted by afflictions without sin Although affliction doth not quite vanquish and overcome us yet always almost at the very first on-set it doth like a great blow dizzy the brain and makes us give back If we be not thrown down yet we reel and stagger and sometimes it lays us flat and our faith lyes sprawling upon the ground In affliction there are two things 1. Sensation And 2. Temptation 1. In affliction there is Sensation doloris sensus the sense of pain and grief and this Christ felt as well as we we cannot and he could not taste affliction without pain as we are affected with Dolour when evils lye upon us so was Christ he felt sharp and keen pain and thus Christ was tempted in all things and in the same manner as we are as to sense of pain and grief yet without sin But 2. In affliction there is also temptation to sin and because it is so true that great temptations arise out of afflictions therefore are afflictions Antonomastice called temptations they tempt sadly to murmuring and impatience to wrangling and expostulation with God to unbelief and doubting of his love nay to cast off God Doth God himself tempt me thus and afflict me thus and shall I serve such a Master Ah! look how ye are under your daily afflictions Vse 8. Doth God tempt Abraham Abraham his friend Then you may be the tempted and yet the beloved of the Lord God tempts and tries his dear ones all 's in love 1. He tempts his dear ones he tempts those whom he loves dearly Abraham was high in Gods Books one of his intimate and bosom-acquaintance and yet God tempts Abraham Nay to give you a greater instance than Abraham Jesus Christ was tempted I say Jesus Christ was Heb. 4. 15. in all points tempted like as we are and yet the beloved of the Lord he was the tempted and yet the beloved of the Lord he was tempted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eminently superlatively more than us all and yet he was beloved of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eminently and superlatively above us all So that ye may be the tempted and yet the beloved of the Lord nay Jesus Christ was tempted of God himself he was not only tempted by the tempter but by his dear Father God himself My God my God why hast thou forsaken me 2. All is in love he tempts in love he not only tempts his beloved but he tempts them in love that he may love them the more and they in the Issue love him the better How much more did God love Abraham when he saw him forget himself to be a Father and his own child to be his Son for his sake By my self have I sworn saith the Lord for because thou Gen. 22. 16 17. hast done this thing and hast not withheld thy Son thine only Son That in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the Sea-shore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies And did not this message from heaven think you kindle a greater flame of love in Abrahams bosom toward God without doubt it did God loves Abraham more Abraham loves God more than ever he did When Abraham saw Gods design and had his Son delivered safe to him again How was his heart filled with a spiritual torrent of joy He gained the experience of Gods love to him and of his love to God and would not have unwished the temptation again upon any terms 3. God tempts and all is in wisdom God tempts his Beloved in wisdom he corrects his Children as well as his Enemies but when he corrects them it is in much prudence and wisdom Quest But how shall I know that God tempts me for my good How shall I know that God afflicts me and tempts me in love 1. Why first because he loves thee whom he loves he tempts and proves them in love you imagine he loves you but you do not feel that he loves you the sense of Gods love would put all these out of doubt 2. You may know he tempts you in love if ye be faithful unto him in temptations if you depart not from God in the day of temptation God is trying and tempting his people at this day and it may be it will be a sad day and a dark day of temptation it may be it will be a strong day of temptation and of long temptation and you would know whether he tempts you at this day in love then make choice of suffering rather than sin of affliction rather than defection The Heb. 10. 38. just shall live by faith saith the Apostle that is shall hold out by faith in the day of temptation But if any man draw back my soul saith God shall have no pleasure in him Would ye know whether God proves you at this day and tries you in love then put on the whole armour of God that ye Eph. 6. 11 14. may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth c. Watch ye 1 Cor. 16. 13. stand fast in the faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quit your selves like men be strong Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ Gal. 5. 1. hath made us free and be not intangled again with the yoke of bondage Stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together Phil. 1. 27 28. for the faith of the Gospel And in nothing terrified by your adversaries which is to them an evident token of perdition but to you of salvation and that of God So stand fast in the Phil. 4. 1. Lord my dearly beloved 3. Cleanse your hearts from hypocrisie see that your souls are right before the Lord and then Gods Temptations are all in love all goeth right with upright hearts The upright Prov. 11. 20. in their way are his delight 4. You may know whether God tempts you in love by the issue and fruits of your temptations Abraham sin'd in temptation and Saints may sin in temptation In a temptation you would know whether you shall hold out I will not prophesie but I will give you a sign have you held out through former temptations thou mayst hold out through others Vse 9. You beloved of the Lord bear Gods Temptations with willingness and patience The Apostle stirs up the Hebrews to learn practically this lesson Despise not thou the chastening Heb. 12. 5 9. of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him Furthermore saith he we have had Fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live Gods Temptations are your gain not your loss but your Gods Temptations are your gain
discovers are no other for substance but those very things which are in Scripture only he gives a clearer light to discern them by To Instance That God is Every man saith he knows this and believes it as well as the godly doth But I must tell him That the godly man seeth a great deal further into it he seeth that God is as truly as he seeth that the Sun is when it shines upon him And therefore God is in all his thoughts The wicked man will tell you he knows that God is present in all places and yet he will be drunk in God Presence swear and lye in Gods Presence cheat and deal unjustly in Gods Presence How can this man say he believes that God is present where he is But now the godly Man seeth that God is present in all places as clearly as if God appeared visibly to him Secondly They know feelingly they feel what they know what they know in the head they feel in the heart And they count themselves to know no more than they feel as Melancthon makes mention of a godly Woman who having strong conflicts upon her Death-bed and was afterwards much comforted brake out into these words Now and not till now I understand the meaning of those words Thy sins are forgiven thee The Knowledg of Divine Mysteries is rather a spiritual sensation than speculation It lyeth more in sense and feeling than in understanding of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the soul it self hath its sense as well as the body And therefore when David would teach us how to know what the Divine goodness is he calls not for speculation but sensation Taste and see how good the Lord is Know God as thou wouldest have God know thee know Christ as thou wouldest have Christ know thee Thou wouldest have God know thee and take care of thee so must thou know him and take care of his Glory Thou wouldest have God know thee and succour thee in dangers as the Disciples when the Waves covered the ship said to Christ Master carest thou not that we perish So must thou Mark 4. 38. know God and his Cause so as to prop it up in difficult times lest it perish Thou wouldest have Christ know thee so as to dye for thee Lord if thou dye not for me I must be damned so must thou know Christ so as to dye for him and his Truth I am ready Acts 21. 13. not only to be bound but to dye at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus Thou wouldest have Christ know thee so as to love thee and put thee in his bosom Who loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2. 20. So must thou know Christ so as to love him and put him into thy bosom Lord thou knowest that I love thee John 21. 16. Charity or love is the most eminent of all the Graces inasmuch as Faith shall fail when there shall be nothing to believe nor to have confidence in and Hope shall fail when Christ returning and the resurrection of the just being made there shall be nothing more to hope for Only Love shall never fail for there shall be always what to love and what to taste For in eternal life we shall love God and Christ and we shall find a perpetual relish and savour in the contemplation of God and of Jesus Christ Know the things that are prepared and given thee of God Therefore is the spirit given us that me may know the things 1 Cor. 2. 12. that God hath given us What is it to know Heaven unless thou knowest that Heaven is given thee of God What is it to know Christ unless thou knowest that Christ is given thee of God What is it to know God himself unless thou knowest him to be thy God What is it to know the Scriptures unless Valdesso Consid 70. thou believest and holdest for certain all that is contained in the Scriptures and hast confidence in the Divine promises as if to thee properly and principally they had bin made Forgiveness of sin is a blotting out of iniquity as a cloud Isa 44. 22. A Cloud is by the Power of the Heavens nullified neither form nor matter to be found not any circumstances like it to note that ever such a thing was Forgiveness notes Remission which is the Term in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Remission Remittere quasi Remittere to send a thing back again the unravelling and undoing of a thing misdone the nullifying of an unlawful Action As sin makes void the Law and nullifies it so doth forgiveness nullifie and make void sin When we are remitted we are retromissi sent back again to our first Condition as when we were in Paradise no more mentioned and no more thought of than of Adam before his fall Know thy self what need thou hast of them a Damned man and therefore need of eternal life a guilty man and therefore need of Justification a lost man and therefore need of a Saviour A man under Satans power and therefore need of Redemption Thirdly They know powerfully Their Knowledg comes like an Armed man upon them and carrieth them Captive into the Tents of those things they know 2 Cor. 10. 5. And therefore Christ is said To ascend up on high and to lead Psal 68. 18. captivity captive It binds the soul up in chains Lord I am thy Prisoner I yield to thee and will be no more a Rebel It layeth a soul flat at the feet of Christ as it did Paul he fell to the Earth Lord what wilt thou have me to do I 'le swear no more only pardon me Lord and I 'le be drunk no more I 'le persecute the Saints no more pardon me only and I 'le deal unjestly no more I 'le serve thee upon thine own terms and do what ever thou bidst me Fourthly They know delightfully Their Knowledg stamps upon their hearts Impressions of delight in the things they know because true Knowledg presents the Mysteries of Heaven lovely to them and layeth a Net to catch their souls in love with them Spiritual Science is steeped in affection taking delight in the things known not barely apprehending but relishing and savouring what it apprehends with abundance of love and complacency Fifthly They know admiringly Their Knowledg catcheth them up into the third Heaven of admiration They that know aright the Mystery of Redemption know and admire the Wisdom of God in contriving such a curious piece of reconciling Justice and Mercy to save a poor sinner As Paul calls it The manifold wisdom of God For consider Gospel-Mysteries Eph. 3. 10. are the Mysteries of a Kingdom and fit for admiration For 1. Kingdoms have Majesty Solomon had Lyons about his Throne to set forth the Majesty of it to make Transaction between that and all other people with Awe So Christ manageth his way in this World with Majesty Heaven and Earth tremble at his Presence he utters
be given to them that have grace be it never so small Then Saints see what your work is What 's that to receive How may we receive more grace First Open thy soul to receive grace For to receive a thing is sometimes a motion of the subject or faculty opening it self to receive it As the hand doth open it self to receive a gift and a vessel must be opened to receive oyl or cordial pour'd into it The earht opened her mouth and swallowed up Corah And Numb 16. 32. Gen. 4 11. the earth as God said to Cain opened her mouth to receive thy brothers blood from thy hand Now the opening of the soul to receive Grace consists in these three Things 1. In believing the Promise when the soul believes its door stands open to receive the golden Treasures of Grace that are brought into it out of the store-house of the Promise And therefore saith the Text They rehearsed all that God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith unto Acts 14. 27. the gentiles 2. In love to grace promised for love is an opening grace When a man loves a friend dearly he opens his Arms to embrace and receive him so when a man loves grace he opens his heart to welcom grace into it And therefore ye shall find this passage between Christ and his Spouse saith Christ Open to me my love And saith the Spouse I rose up to open to Cant. 5. 2. Vers 5. my beloved He that loves Christ will open the two-leav'd gates of his soul to let in Christ with all his train 3. In desire after grace promised for the desire of grace is an opening of the soul to receive grace As the Lord saith Psal 81. 10. Open thy mouth wide i. e. ask freely open thy mouth in Prayer as wide as thou wilt And I will fill it 2dly Lye low The valleys that receive all the showres and floods into their bosom lye low under all the high hills and proud mountains so the humble Saints that lye in the bottom of self-abhorrence under all the rest receive the showres of grace the floods stay upon them and they drink them in they are overflown like your low grounds with abundance of grace 3dly Accept of grace to receive grace is to accept of grace As Jacob said to his brother Esau Nay I pray thee if now I Gen 33. 10. have found grace in thy sight then receive my present at my hand i. e. accept of my present at my hand Vse 5. What shall I do that have no grace To him that hath shall be given But what shall I do that have not Consider grace is a gift and therefore 1. God can give grace where it is not he gives grace where is none he doth good to them that are not good A gift is bestowed where it is not See Isa 44. 3 I will pour water upon Isa 44. 3. him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine off-spring i. e. as I pour Water and Floods upon the dry and thirsty ground that hath none so will I pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine off-spring Where observe God gives showres of grace where there 's not a drop before 2. He can give grace to whom he will he can love whom he will and he can give grace to whom he will this is the Prerogative of Gods Love he can love any one Man being a narrow creature cannot love any one one that is fowl and ugly and crooked but God can love any one he can love unhandsom and deformed Creatures and marry them and make them lovely Naaman the Syrian was a Leper and therefore wondrous ugly he was a Leper in Body and Mind too The beauty of the mind presents a crooked person comely to us but Naaman had beauty in neither part he was a Leper in body and an Idolater in mind and yet God loved him and by a poor maid in his house sent him to the Prophet of Israel and healed his outside and healed his inside made his Body comely and made his Soul comely 3. He makes notorious sinners noteable Saints he makes Persecutors Preachers As he did Paul and all the Church admired it But they had heard only that he who persecuted us Gal. 1. 23. in times past now PREACHETH the faith which once he DESTROYED See the Work and Free-grace of God! Would God shew mercy to him that destroyed the Faith Yes he gave Faith to him that destroyed the Faith Paul if he could would have kil'd Christ and yet God gives him Christ The Gentiles were the greatest Sinners in the World and they were at the height of sin when the Gospel began to be Preached to them they were counted unclean the unclean Act 10. 14 15. beasts swine and other Beasts which the Jews under the Law might not eat did signifie the Gentiles and the Jews not eating the unclean beasts did signifie that they should have no communion with the unclean Gentiles yet on the GENTILES Vers 45. Acts 11. 17. also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost And forasmuch as God gave them i. e. the Gentiles the like gift as he did unto us 4. Sometimes God makes his greatest Act of Love to pass upon the greatest sinner Paul you know was a Saul indeed chief of sinners he saith it of himself and yet notwithstanding Acts 9. 3 4. Christ Preached from Heaven to him he sent men to Preach to others as Philip to the Eunuch but Jesus Chrrist doth himself Preach to Paul Jesus Christ when he was on Earth in the form of a servant called the other Apostles as Matthew at the receipt of custom and Peter when he was fishing follow me but when he was on his Throne in Majesty he Preacht from Heaven to Paul Wondrous love to a wondrous sinner 5. He bids thee pray and he 'l give Ask and it shall be Matth. 7. 7. Luk. 11. 13. given you But you 'l say he saith this to Saints Sol. See what our Lord Christ saith to the Woman of Samaria If thou knew'st the gift of God and who it is that saith John 4. 10. to thee Give me to drink thou would'st have asked of him and he would have given thee living water Dub. But I ask and yet 't is not given Resp Questionless he that bids us ask means to give As we bid our Children say I pray you father give me such a thing we do it not but when we mean to give it them Object But I cannot pray I cannot pray for grace Answ 1. He that will give thee grace when thou prayest will give thee grace that thou mayest pray As God first formed Adams body and it lay dead before him on the ground without breath or life or soul in it and God breathed into his nostrils the breath
and the power and goodness of the promiser Love lives upon Faith we can love God no longer than we believe When the imaginary Faith of wicked men like a candle dyeth within them their supposed love to God goeth out with it also They hate him in Hell and can do no other we love God no longer than we have a good opinion of his love to us 't is Faith that seeds this Lamp with Oyl We love him because he first loved us And therefore when the spring of Faith is low the stream of Love is very ebb Prayer lives upon Faith we pray no longer than we believe Prayer shall be heard We knock no longer at Gods door than Faith seeth we are welcom When a man feels guilt of sin yet Faith seeth the Lord will pardon it for his own name-sake Who is a God like unto Mica 7. 18. thee that pardons iniquity and passeth by the transgressions of the remnant of his heritage He will turn again he will have compassion on us he will subdue i. e. pardon our iniquities so the word signifies and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea When a man feels the strength of sin yet Faith seeth that the Lord will waste and subdue it and doth not this bear up grace from sinking With what courage doth grace fight against sin when Faith tells her God is on your side and you shall overcome Faith finds and feels rest in trouble Vnto the upright there Psal 112. 4. ariseth light in the darkness The life of a Christian is a life of Faith which is a life contrary to sense and reason when the Lord kills what Doth he intend then to save me yes that he doth saith Faith and therefore Though he kill me yet will I trust in him and thus is grace inlivened When the Lord binds me in Cords of misery doth he intend me any good Yes saith Faith he intends to teach thee and instruct thee Blessed is he whom thou chastenest O Lord Psal 94. 12. Vers 13. and teachest him out of thy law that thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity WHILE the pit is digged for the wicked Faith informs the Soul that God is upon a good work whilst he is binding and breaking his people Oh! he is teaching them some high and holy lesson his corrections are their instructions He is preparing them for a day of prosperity As 't is in the next verse That thou mayst give him rest from the days of adversity while the pit is digged for the wicked Where take notice of these two Things 1. While God is chastising his People he is preparing them for a day of smiles and felicities When he was breaking Job upon the wheel of Affliction he was but preparing him for a greater day of Honour and Prosperity 2. While God by chastisements is preparing his people for some greater happiness at that very time he is preparing a Gallows for the wicked he is digging their pit to bury them in That thou mayst give him rest from the day of adversity while the pit is digged for the wicked While the Jews were under a Cloud and God preparing deliverance for them he was at that very time preparing Hamans Gallows The wicked like condemned men are suffered to live till their Gallows and Grave be made ready Now Faith is well read in Divine Mysteries in Gods proceedings she acquaints the soul that God by chastising and touching the Body is teaching her that his strokes are not huntful Nocumenta sunt Documenta Secondly The Lord increaseth grace in his People by preserving a tenderness upon their Consciences 't is grace that makes the Conscience tender and that tenderness nurseth up grace with exquisite care in the soul The most tender hearted nurse is not more chary of her dear Babe to give it suck keep it clean preserve it from harms and see it come on and prosper than the tender Conscience is of her grace the sweet Babe of the Holy Ghost within her Blessed yea thrice blessed are they to whom God hath given a tender conscience As grace withers and shrinks up by an hardness coming upon the heart so grace improves mightily in a soft and tender soyl 1. The tender Conscience startles at secret sins as well as open sins to sin in the dark as well as in the light his Memento or if you please his Motto is Shall not God search this out Psal 44. 21. He fears Gods Eye more than all the Worlds eye The tender Conscience trembleth at your cunning arts and ways of sinning whereby in your bargains you can bring about your covetous desires under hand and no man discern you You call only those sins secret that are done in a corner but if in your publick dealings you can by your subtilties come over another Are not these secret sins too Tender conscience cannot swallow them And is not grace growing now 2. Tender conscience is quick and sensitive of small sins vain thoughts idle words lesser oaths wanton glances wishes and motions to sin He knows no duty small because there 's no Commandment small he calls no sin little because there 's no poyson little no death little no hell little and doth not this give strength to grace 3. The tender conscience smites the Saint after he hath sinned as oft as he sinneth After sin committed his heart gives him no rest till he hath made his peace with God If corrupt nature cannot but sin yet renewed conscience cannot but repent of sin it cannot but rise again if God be offended it cannot but meet him with humiliation if Man be wronged it cannot but make restitution or satisfaction as Zacheus did When David had sinned in numbring the people his heart smote him I have sinned greatly in that I have done Surely 2 Sam. 24. 10. grace gets ground by this 4. Tender conscience trembles at the appearance of evil as some eyes cannot abide to look on the Picture or Image of a Toad that which looks like sin he abhors it it scares a holy soul from any enterprize if it be but male coloratum an ill aspect Every thing that might any way redound to the wounding of Religion or at which any offence might be taken he entertains it not and doth not this give nutriment to grace 5. Tender conscience is jealous of the appearance of good as it hates the appearance of evil so it dares not always trust every appearance of good The tender conscience as far as it hath light will try all things and hold fast only what is good not what seems so Satan deceives more easily and destroys more dangerously when he assumes the shape of an Angel of light That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination Luk. 16. 15. in the sight of God 6. Tender conscience takes heed of what he knows lawful He doth not only fly what appears evil and try what appears good but
it of Gods Approbation for Verba notitiae words of knowledg with the Hebrews accipiuntur cum affectu effectu signifie affection Now I know that thou fearest God that is I approve this work of thy Obedience as an eminent testimony of thy filial fear and sincere love Hilarius scientia Dei dupliciter consideratur vel ut notitia futuri vel ut approbatio facti illo modo Deus omnia novit ab aeterno hoc quaedam in tempore dum rem quam cognoscit aperte approbat eamque sibi probari luculenter declarat 3. Others understand it of a practical or experimental Knowledg God perfectly knew Abrahams mind before but now he sees and beholds it in the work it self If we take it in this sense it is but a making God to speak here more hominum who when they have made tryal of a thing say then that they perfectly know it 4. I conceive that God speaks here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Lord speaks with man after the manner of men so that when he saith Now I know that thou fearest God the plain meaning is Thou hast done that thing at my Command by which had thine affection been hid from me it would have been made evident how dearly thou fearest and lovest me God is sometimes pleased to tempt and try his people Or Doctrine thus The Lord God thinks it good to tempt or make tryal of his Children You must take notice in Scripture you shall find First That God is said to tempt man Secondly And Camero pag. 185. col 1. man is said to tempt God But we read not in Scripture that the good angels or devils are tempted The reason whereof may without absurdity be enquired if it can be found out because they are also intellectual and rational creatures and it is the rational nature that is subject to Temptation And the reason seems to be this because The holy angels such is their condition that they indissolubly adhere to God the evil angels or devils such is their condition that they immutably adhere to evil and therefore Temptation here hath no place But now it is otherwise with man his condition is mutable and his state is a state of Temptation he hath yet heaven to lose and hell to fall into if he takes not care as long as he is in this life he is in the way of winning or losing and therefore here he is upon the stage of Temptation But the Devils are in their center out of which they cannot be moved The devils cannot be changed and the holy angels cannot be altered Quest But upon this account you will say there is no ground at all why God should be tempted for he is unchangeable Answ God in himself is such that he cannot be tempted yet by the ignorance of man it comes to pass that God is tempted But I say in Scripture you shall find that 1. God is said to tempt man And 2. Man is said to tempt God 1. Man is said to tempt God and this is when a man makes a tryal of God whether he be wise or powerful just or true and good To tempt or try God may be sometimes good and sometimes bad 1. Sometimes there is a good and lawful tryal and tempting of God When we humbly and submissively put him to do something to confirm our faith Thus Gideon tried and proved Judg. 6. 37 38 39 40. the Lord Gideon tempted or proved God but 't was acceptable to God because he did it simply with an humble heart But 2. To tempt God is for the most part taken in an ill sense I say there is a sinful tempting of God and it ariseth either out of distrust or impatience or rash presumption or pride or too much confidence of this you may read in Exod. 17. 2 7 When the people wanted water 't is said They did chide with Moses and Moses said unto them Why chide you with me Wherefore do you tempt the Lord At the seventh verse And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the chiding of the children of Israel and because they tempted the Lord c. 2. God is said in Scripture to tempt man which is the business of my Text and the subject of this present Discourse And herein I shall God willing shew you four things 1. That God doth tempt man 2. It stands with Gods Holiness to tempt man his Holiness and Righteousness to tempt man 3. Why God tempts man 4. How God doth tempt man 1. God he doth tempt man he doth tempt and try men He makes experience and tryeth what they are and what is in them When the children of Israel came to Marah the Exod. 15. 25. waters were bitter and the people murmured saying What shall we drink And God shewed Moses a tree which when he had cast into the waters the waters were made sweet and saith the Text there he proved them So in Exod. 16. 4 they murmur for want of bread And the Lord said unto Moses Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day that I may prove them whether they will walk in my law or no. God tempts his people and it is to try them and prove them whether they will serve him and his designs And in Deut. 8. 2 Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness to humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thy heart whether thou wouldst keep his Commandments or no. So that to prove is no more than to tempt and to tempt is no more than to prove God led Israel through the wilderness through many difficulties it was to prove and tempt them to know what was in their hearts Object But it is said in James 1. 13 14 that God tempts no man Let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man But every man when he is tempted is drawn away of his own lust and enticed Here it is said that God tempts not any man yet it is said in my Text That God tempted Abraham How can these stand together Answ There is a two-fold way of Temptation 1. There is Tentatio probationis 2. There is Tentatio seductionis 1. There is a tempting by way of Tryal or Probation and thus God as ye heard tempted Abraham to try his Obedience and he tempts his people to prove their graces he presents them with Trials that their graces may be known or their pride discovered and brought low There is a tempting by way of seducement and thus is James to be understood that God tempts not any man that is he seduceth and enticeth no man to sin he suggests no evil nor instilleth any impure thoughts nor casts any sinful insusions into the heart Thus be sure of it
What time the Prophet whoever he was penned this Psalm is uncertain yet because he gives us the History of the Rebellion of the Israelites in the wilderness and in the land of Canaan down to David when he was King it therefore seems probable that it was written either in the later days of David or else in the days of Solomon The Psalm contains a long series and concatenation of Gods kindnesses to Israel and Israels ingratitude towards God and then the Divine punishments upon that ungrateful people Gods free love drops benefits and wonders upon them and then their ingratitude extorts punishments from him Thus it pourtrayes Gods dealings of mercy with his people and never in justice but when mercy was abused The Method and Contexture of the Psalm is to set out one while Gods benefits to Israel another while their ungratefulness to God and then his just punishments upon them thus it looks like Hangings of Arras pictured with interchanged Rows of various Colours The benefits of God to Israel are stupendious and therefore their sins against such a God are prodigious to enumerate both as they lye in order would fill up too much time among their sins you may cast an eye upon one or two of them in my Text Yea they turned back and tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel In the words there are two sins mentioned 1. They tempted God 2. They limited the Holy One of Israel As for that expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we translate and they turned back that is say some to go back again into Egypt or as others returned back to their old wont of Rebellion I say it hath no such meaning here it is an Hebraism and should be rendred they returned and tempted that is saepius tentaverunt they often times tempted him or they tempted him again as in Gen. 26. 18. In the Hebrew it is and Isaac returned and digged for he digged again and so we translate it there and in Dan. 9. 25. 't is in the Hebrew The street shall return and be built for it shall be built again So here and they returned and tempted God that is they tempted God again And as they tempted God so they limited God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and they limited the Holy One of Israel that is they put bounds to his power thinking thus with themselves Illud potest hoc non potest that he could do this he cannot do as it is in the twentieth verse He smote the rock and the waters gushed out but can he give bread also can he provide flesh for his people He is called here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Holy of Israel a defect of the substantive and is to be supplied as Isa 5. 16. that is the Holy God of Israel 1. He that is holy in himself and sanctifieth those that are Lev. 20. 8. Ezek. 20. 12. his I am the Lord which sanctifie you 2. And the holy of Israel who was in Covenant with them and was to be worshipped and served by them and separated them from all other Nations to be a holy people to himself But the other expression or sin of Israel is the subject of my discourse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and they tempted God Where you have 1. The subject or agent they that is the people of Israel 2. Their action or sin they tempted 3. The object God they tempted God nay they returned and tempted God that is they tempted him again and again as it is in Numb 14. 22. And have tempted me now these ten times In our last discourse you heard that God tempts man And it came to pass that God did tempt Abraham Now Gen. 22. 1. you shall hear that Man tempts God and that is the Observation Sinful man is so bold and impudent as to tempt the Lord God Doctrine Isa 7. 13. And herein as Isaiah said Hear ye now O house of David Is it a small thing for you to weary me but will ye weary my God also So may I say unto you Hear ye now Is it a small thing unto you to tempt men to tempt one another but will ye tempt God also In the handling of this point I must shew you First What it is to tempt God To tempt one in the General is to make a tryal of one 1. Either concerning his Qualities whether he be good or bad whether he be real or counterfeit 2. Or concerning his good will and affections to you Thus you will make a tryal of a friend that professeth love to you it may be you will go to him and ask to borrow a sum of money of him only to try him and his good-will to you and this is to tempt him 3. Or concerning his abilities What a man can do Thus we try Scholars in the University for their degrees and thus persons learning and parts are or ought to be tryed when they enter into the sacred function of the Ministry whether they are fit for that great work of the Lord thus we set men to preach or expound Scripture to try them how they can preach or expound the Scripture And this is to tempt them And thus the Sons of men tempt God and try him To tempt God is to make a tryal of him whether God be amnipotent or faithful and true in his word I say to make a tryal whether God knows and sees our actions or whether God can do such a thing or will do such a thing for you and this is to tempt God and thus men tempt the Knowledg of God and the Power of God and the Will of God And thus you may tempt God verbis vel factis in words or in deeds To tempt in Scripture hath a threefold acceptation 1. Sometimes it signifies to try to make a tryal of one and thus men tempt God as you have heard 2. To provoke and irritate and thus some take it in the 1 Cor. 10. 9. Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted Let us not tempt that is provoke Christ as it is in vers 22. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousie are we stronger than he They that provoke God do as it were challenge him into the field and try what he can do or what he will do 3. To tempt in Scripture is to sollicite to evil as when Satan tempted Christ and tempts men and when one sinner tempts another to sin and thus also men tempt God sinful men will tempt God to sin they will try whether they can draw God in to sin with them Secondly The Schools distinguish mans Temptation of God first into a direct and secondly interpretative tempting of God 1. A direct tempting of God is when a man by word or deed intends to tempt God and try him whether he be wise or good or can or will do such a thing when we intend to tempt God then it is a direct and intentional Temptation of God 2. There is an
received it granting him all the right that he had to dispose thereof to order it as he pleaseth that being so resigned to Jesus she may not have any thing more nor be any thing more but that he may be all have all and operate all in her This act puts the soul into a perfect denudation and makes her entirely dependent upon Christ to be led according to his will 1. Let us then acknowledg the Soveraignty of Jesus over all creatures and over us in particular Confessing that he is our King and Soveraign let us adore his Supream Authority it is life and happiness to know and to serve Jesus Christ 2. Let us submit actually to his Power not out of constraint or necessity as rebels or slaves but out of choice love and fidelity as our Prince and Jesus A Christian in this state looks upon himself only as a servant to Jesus and acts in all things only in the spirit of humility and subjection to him This state of service is proper and essential to the creature in regard of God the creature is essentially dependent and subject to the Creator It is an indispensable estate the creature may as soon cease to be as cease to depend on and be subject to the Creator It is essential also unto all Christians the first step of our entry into the Church and into Faith the first operation of grace upon our souls is to become servants to Jesus Christ This subjection is the first promise we make to God by a solemn publick profession in the Church by baptism there we devote our selves to Jesus Christ to belong to him to depend on him and we enter our selves into the state of servants and vow our selves to Jesus Christ as such So that by one and the same sacrament we are made the Children of God and received his servants and consequently we are in the house of God both as Sons and Servants yet so as that we are his Children by grace his Servants by nature The state of subjection is essential to the Creature and to the Christian so the same state is essential to the Piety of Christians and a godly life and therefore they who would establish themselves in Piety or Godliness must begin their establishment in this subjection for we must bear a relation of love and inclination to Jesus Christ as we do of purchase and necessity we are so much the more Gods and consequently the more perfect by how much we are the more abased and devested of our selves entirely depending and faithfully operating under the Power and Will of him who makes himself ours that we may be his and hath purchased us to himself at an inestimable rate In three points the soul of solid Piety and the perfection of Christianity consists 1. That we are united to Christ as our head and we his members 2. That in this Union we live by his Spirit 3. And follow his motions The soul then must resign and offer up to Christ her heart and will her understanding and power to the wisdom will and power of Jesus Christ in all matters of eternal salvation This resignation is the root and ground of all obedience and service by it we renounce all other Powers Lords Masters Teachers Redeemers and especially the Devil World and Flesh so as to account them our Enemies And seeing the person submitting is a guilty person this resignation cannot be performed without an inward acknowledgment of his own sin guilt baseness misery with godly sorrow a detestation of sin and a returning to obedience again And being guilty persons impotent and unable to help our selves in this resignation we renounce all confidence in our selves and all other things so as wholly to relye upon Gods mercy and Christs merit as without which we must perish everlastingly which so works upon us that by subjection we do gladly and willingly bind our selves to be his perpetual servants and vassals And therefore as according to law the slave is no more his own nor hath any right over any thing but is wholly left to the power and pleasure of his master so by this Obligation the Christian puts himself as nothing before Jesus Christ he gives place to all his rights of Nature and Grace to be only the subject of Christs Power and Divine Will And though we are all servants to Jesus Christ by right and purchase as we said before yet we will be such also out of good will and affection giving him a new power over us i. e. by our own voluntary consent and free choice to be so that we may be Captives to his love as well as to his Power and submit to the designs of the eternal Father who Col. 1. 13. did so graciously deliver us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear son This this it is to be in Christ to be in Christ is to be in this subjection to Jesus Christ And now My Beloved we who say we have taken Christ and are in subjection to him let us weigh well what we say and consider with what sincerity and faithfulness we deal with the Son of God For seeing that we avouch that we leave our selves wholly to him in the quality of servants and make profession to have nothing which is not his and of him and that we yield up all to him even to the use of our own life and natural liberty What have we more to think of but sincerely and faithfully to accomplish what we profess What have we more to do but to make our life conformable to what we say i. e. to subject our selves in will and deed to the Greatness and Soveraignty of Jesus Christ I say in will and deed for it would avail but little to say it only with the mouth and have it in the thought if all our actions be full of our own will I say it were to little purpose to subject our selves by words to the Soveraignty of Jesus Christ to the conduct of his Spirit and motions if in the management of our life we follow the Spirit of the World and live in a continual desire to satisfie our selves and our own inclinations Let us mind this because so many deceive themselves in the godly life which they so easily profess contenting themselves with the superficies and eglect the rest Remember that he who says we must adore God in Spirit said also we must adore him in Truth 5. This expression in Christ Jesus All that will live godly in Christ Jesus speaks the end of a godly life Christ Jesus is the end of a godly life they that live in Christ Jesus do live to Christ Jesus to live in Christ Jesus is not only to live by the virtue of Jesus Christ but also to the glory of Jesus Christ to seek his praise and to have his honour in our eye the godly life is not only from Christ but for Christ And therefore they that