it yours Beloved there be many that are and will be undone for ever because they went no further than the hearing of a Christ at a distance Now those that shall be saved by him he and their souls have been brought nigh together and they make such an application of him to themselves that the relation they have to him is like that of the Members to the Head or of the Wife to the Husband they are so joined to him by Faith that they become one with him now the general offers of Grace never make us one with Christ till he is my Christ I am never united to him Now this is the great thing that you should look after to have Union with Christ and 't is application that makes the Union and you have nothing of him in a saving manner till you are in him and he in you Col. 1. 27. Christ in you the hope of glory Obj. It may be some will say that have but small cause for it Oh if it be Faith that makes Christ mine why then I have a part in him for I do believe I thank God in my Saviour Jesus Christ I put my whole trust in him with all my heart Ans Those that have the true Faith have been made to see that there is a false Faith a counterfeit Faith yea and to fear and question and examine whether their Faith were not a counterfeit Faith Beloved there is a counterfeit of every Grace and certainly there be many that think they believe and don 't As I would have no child of God to think he doth not believe when he doth so I would have no Christless person to think he doth believe when he doth not The way to find out the truth of our Faith is to put our Faith to the proof have you not taken it for granted that you have Faith without trying it I 'll give you but two Notes of the true Faith and I am sure they 'll be enough to prove divers to be Unbelievers that think themselves to be Believers The true Faith is always accompanied with love to Christ with a high prizing love to him they that believe with their hearts they set their hearts upon Christ he hath their dearest and choicest affections placed upon himself they have discerned such a Beauty in Christ that they cannot but love him best 1 Pet. 2. 7. Vnto you that believe he is precious Now there be many of you that think you have Faith and yet let one listen never so much to you one cannot hear you talk of Christ nor utter any longings or breathings of Soul after him and when the beauty and sweetness and fulness and freeness of Grace that is in Christ is spoken of you have no delight to be upon such a Discourse And pray now what do your thoughts and desires run out most upon Are not your minds and affections taken up with the present and perishing things of this World more than with Christ Is there not something that sits nearer to your hearts than he doth Surely here 's a discovery of a false Faith to say one believes in him and yet not love him Ask thy soul Hast not gone many a day many a week many a year nay all the days of thy life and had never one raised desire towards him Thou dost not know what 't is to be unsatisfied without his presence and without communion with him thou dost not know what 't is to be sick of love for him he may stay never so long from thy Soul and thou never grieve nor groan thou canst do well enough with the Creature though thou hast not Christ I tell thee if it be so thou hast thy Faith to seek thou never madest any particular application of him yet to thy self for if thou hadst application of him would beget affection to him A true Believer is greatly in love with the Lord Jesus he had rather be without any thing than him he accounts all loss in comparison of him Phil. 3. 8. 2. The true Faith is always accompanied with likeness to Christ A Believer in him is a Conformer to him and a Follower of him he bears about Christ's Image in the World he lives according to Christ's Life and according to Christ's Law and according to Christ's Example he partakes with him in his crucified and in his quickned State As Paul in Gal. 2. 20. when he speaks that the life of faith was in him in the beginning of the verse saith he I am crucified with Christ he died to sin and walked in newness of life But now how many be there of you that think you have Faith and yet are as much for sin as ever you were and as contrary to goodness as ever you were you can be as vain and as vile and as carnal and as covetous and as proud and passionate and lukewarm as ever you were If it be thus with thee I tell thee if there were no better Believers than thou art there would not be one true Believer in the World A Faith that doth not change thee into a new Creature is a false Faith 2 Pet. 1. 1. To them that have obtained like precious faith with us How doth he make out that they had this precious faith why vers 4. they had escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust True Faith is of a sanctifying purifying nature It is at peace with no sin nor at war with any duty Reas 3. We should every one look after this Freedom because a diligent looking out for it is the way to obtain it You know how much diligence hath done sometimes in other cases how it hath by the blessing of God upon his Labours raised a man to great Riches that before had nothing yea it may be was worse than nothing So if you would be diligent how can you tell but that you may be rich tho you are now so very poor and that you may be made free tho for the present you are in Bondage Why may not a man get a spiritual Estate by taking pains as well as many have gotten an earthly one Obj. Oh but you 'll say there are some discouraging places that I meet with in the Scripture Ans Well What are they let us hear And before thou goest any further let me tell thee it is a great mistake to think that there is any place of Scripture rightly understood that doth discourage any Soul from taking pains to look after his own Salvation Doth not God every where almost call upon People to do it Is not the Word full of Precepts to that purpose and full of Promises to that purpose Take but one place among many Matth. 7. 7 8. Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you For every one that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened Well I pray thee let 's hear thy
thing that ever was Never did any creature so stoop to another as God stoops to sinners He comes and knocks at their door before ever they knock at his 2 Cor. 5. 12. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself Mark the World was not reconciling it self to God nor God to it self but God reconciling the World to himself God's love is always the first love 'T is the Fountain and the Cause of our love to him 1 John 4. 19. We loved him because he first loved us 'T is true that the Lord is sought unto for mercy by them to whom he intends to shew it but 't is the Lord that stirs up their hearts to do it He sets them a crying and then they cry They come to Christ but 't is the Father that draws them There could be no desires or breathings in us after God if they were not begotten of his Spirit Alas our corrupt nature wont afford one good desire till God give it It will go further from God but it wont come nearer to him of it self And therefore the mercy of God towards poor souls is a very wonderful thing not only in that it is so large but in that it is so early It is up before the soul is up Isa 65. 1. I am sought of them that asked not for me I am found of them that sought me not I said Behold me behold me unto a nation that was not called by my name Oh how much are we beholding to Christ for coming to us first 4. If the Son shall make you free If he shall Observe this next That 't is much to be feared whether some that have the Offers of Grace will ever close with them Here you see they had an Offer of Freedom but Christ puts a doubtful word upon it as to their acceptance If he shall c. As if he should say It may be some of you will hear of this and yet never partake in it but live and die in the bondage that you are in In this very Chapter where Christ is offering this Freedom he tells some of them in ver 21. that they would die in their sins Now beloved oh what a joyful thing would it be if you would all accept of this Freedom and close with this Grace that is offered to you Why truly it would be such a joyful thing if but one amongst you should accept of it that it would be enough to set all Heaven a rejoycing Luke 15. 7. 10. And why should I not hope but that it may be thus with some or other of you yea perhaps with many of you The Lord grant that there may not be one amongst you that shall turn his back upon Christ Whoever that man or woman shall be wo be to them And yet now 't is much to be feared that Christ will be rejected by some to whom he hath been offered The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that he was with them in weakness and in fear and in much trembling 1 Cor. 2. 3. Why what made Paul fear and tremble so that while he was a preaching he was as 't were all of a trembling What was it because he was afraid to preach No but he was afraid what his preaching would come to in respect of some of them whether ever it would profit them whether ever it would prevail with them Now give me leave to acquaint you a little what things as to some persons may be grounds of fear whether ever they will close with Christ's gracious offer of Freedom 1. In that there be so few in comparison in all Ages of the World that have done it Beloved Christ's flock will be but little when he hath gathered all his sheep Heaven would hold a thousand times more than ever will come there No doubt but there be some that seem now as if they had closed with Christ and yet will be found at last not to have done it They have mistaken their whole work and their hearts have deceived them from the beginning to the end A right closing with Christ is a very exact thing 'T is not every one can hit on it Mat. 7. 14. Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life and few there be that find it And therefore may it not be feared that this present Generation yea and this present Assembly may have some amongst them that will never close with Gospel Offers 2. The little good news that there is up and down where the Gospel comes of the conversion of souls People flock to Meetings but who believes our report or to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed Sinners abiding in an unconverted condition is a great ground of fear what will become of their souls If you have not yet closed with Christ as unregenerate persons have not we cannot but fear you may lose him If a man be in a very dangerous sickness is there not cause to fear he will die So if a man be still out of Christ why certainly this is something to question whether ever he will be in him Acts 8. 22. Peter puts it as a doubtful case whether ever Simon Magus would be pardoned his sins because he was still in an unrepenting condition 3. When men do set light by Christ and the Offers of Grace There 's great hopes of those souls that tho they have not closed with Christ yet they begin to have good thoughts of him and his mercy and love and salvation is somewhat commended if they acknowledg yea truly this is the rich goodness of God that ever such Offers should be made to me I confess I do look upon Christ and the Freedom that he holds forth to poor sinners as an excellent thing God forbid that I should say to the contrary I know the pardon of sin and the love of God are great Priviledges happy is that soul that hath them and I would I might be one of them Ay why this is something Methinks 't is a kind of Language that would give one some hope concerning such a soul as the young man in the Gospel when he did approve and commend of what Christ said in Mark 12. 32 33. Well master thou hast said the truth c. is answered by Christ v. 34. Thou art not far from the kingdom of God But now when a man shall look upon all that Christ offers to him as nothing and set himself to despise and disgrace his invitations as if Christ had done him no kindness in sending all his messages of love to him and let Christ go where he will and his salvation go where it will for his part he does not care for them This is a great ground of fear that such a person will never close with the Offers of Grace See Mat. 22. 3. Those who in the Parable were called to the Marriage-Supper it 's said first they would not come then ver 4. being invited again ver 5. they fell a slighting of
they do what they can to make good their Fortifications against him to keep out such a Word from entring and such a Conviction from fastning and it sets up its own carnal plea's and excuses and delaies and self-righteousness c. and all to keep out Christ from setting up his Throne but all before he hath done tumbles like a Babel and crumbles into dust before him 'T is true there is a great deal of strength put out against him the sinner calls all his shifts together and the devil calls all his devices together to resist but Christ is resolved to have the day And therefore mark how he is described as one that goes forth with invincible Power in this Work Psal 45. 3 4 5. So Rev. 6. 2. He went forth conquering and to conquer Beloved we must offer this Freedom to you tho we of our selves have no power to prevail with you but he in whose Name we come he can break your gates of Brass and cut in sunder your bars of Iron Vse And now doth the Lord Jesus Christ offer this Libâ—â—â—â— you Oh then I beseech you let 〈…〉 â—â—cepted of you Oh Beloved 't is offâ—◠〈◊〉 to this end that it should be accepted 〈◊〉 â—ot that it should be made light of as if tâ—â—â—e were no great matter in it whether you had it or had it not I therefore urge that Scripture upon you now Heb. 12. 25. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven What shall Christ make such an offer to you and will you not close with it Will you that are in Bondage perish in your Bondage when you might be set free Is it such a good condition that you are in that you should desire to stay in it The prison and bondage of the Body tho it be nothing to this that your souls are in yet how glad are poor Creatures to hear that there is any hope or way for deliverance out of that Oh sirs let not Christ lose his love let him not lose his labour let him not lose his longing fain he would have you set at liberty And therefore don't hug your chains as if you were loth to part with them Lay this to your heart that Freedom is offered you how can you shift it but you must close with it now If it had not been offered there had been some excuse but will you put it off now it hath been offered yea when it hath been offered particularly to every one of you that there is none of you have been excluded from this gracious Invitation and when it hath been offered with a notwithstanding notwithstanding all the great and grievous sins which you have lived in as it was said to Judah Jer 3. 1 2. Thou hast played with many lovers yet return to me saith the Lord And when it hath been offered frequently not once or twice but often How often would I have gathered you saith Christ to Jerusalem God hath seen you neglect this Salvation such a Sermon and such a Sermon and yet he hath sent again and again and again to you And when it hath been offered with so much importunity and earnestness that you have never been pleaded with about any thing in this World as you have about getting this Freedom And when it hath been offered to you so freely that you shall be redeemed at anothers cost and not at your own you have sold your selves for nought and ye shall be redeemed without price I say when it hath been offered and thus offered why what 's your duty from all this but to close with it 1. Close with it thankfully What Is there yet Freedom for me for such a one as I Oh blessed be God! admired be his Mercy adored be his Name 2. Close with it throughly Take heed of doing it by halves take heed of parting with your sins but as Pharaoh would part with the children of Israel he would yield to this and that upon force but he never came up to Gods terms 3. Close with it quickly before your day of Grace be at an end before it be too late to look out for it Oh sirs stir stir for your souls for the Lords sake quickly quickly you may else be undone to all eternity Opportunities of grace are not long liv'd and when they are over you will wish you had improved them and then there will be no fetching them back I commend that awakening Scripture to you Heb. 12. 15 16 17. Look diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat fold his birth-right For ye know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected for he found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears That may be lost in a little time that can never be recovered But because this closing with Christ is a great Subject and of so great importance and because I know there is a great deal of backwardness in the heart of man to close with Christ and for fear lest you should not have as mueh said to you as can well be spoken by man to perswade you to accept of this soul-delivering Jesus whom I preach unto you this day give me leave to carry on the Vse somewhat further by way of motive And tho many things might be insisted on to stir you up yet I will single out this one thing especially namely to beseech you to consider how guilty you will be if you don 't close with Christ and what grievous sinners you are and will be found to be at the great day of his appearing 1. You are guilty of Ignorance You 'll shew your ignorance of Christ that his worth and excellency was never seen by you that you never took him to be a Pearl of great Price for if you had to be sure the next thing would have been to make him yours Matth. 13. 45 46. Beloved there is none that ever refused Christ that knew him I don't mean that knew him after the flesh or that saw him with the eye of the body there were many that beheld him so and had no desire to him Joh. 1. 10 11. but none that ever knew him in a spiritual manner but fell in love with him He draws all the hearts and all the affections of them to whom he hath been revealed by the Holy Ghost It is therefore certain that you dwell in darkness to this day if you have no mind to close with Christ for if you were brought into the light you would follow him 2. You are guily of unthankfulness What! to make such a sad requital to Christ for all his kindness towards you as to prepare
well come in here Psal 87. 3. Glorious things are spoken of thee O thou City of God Beloved I would fain engage your most serious attention to what shall be delivered upon this Subject and to prepare you for it I beseech you to know that I hope you shall hear some glorious things spoken to you of this City of God in the opening of the excellent Priviledges which this Freedom by Christ brings with it which when you have heard I am sure you will have cause to say of these redeemed ones as Moses once did of the Children of Israel Deut. 33. 29. Happy art thou O Israel who is like unto thee O people saved by the Lord. I shall not spend time in things that are but of a general consideration otherwise I might shew you that there must needs be very precious Priviledges attending this Freedom 1. From the great difficulty that there is to get into this Freedom As you know those places and conditions that have great Priviledges what a hard thing 't is to get into them there must be a great deal of seeking and waiting and much cost and pains laid out and such and such a great person must be made ones friend so 't is no easie matter to get into this Freedom to be made one of the Company If ever you be admitted into it you must strive to enter you must think no pains or labour too much and you must patiently wait upon the Lord till he have mercy on you and you must be sure to get God and Christ to be your friends for they have the power and the disposing of this Freedom they give it to whom they will Now what 's the Reason that there is so much ado amongst men to procure such a Place and to be one of such a Society as many times there is Why 't is because if they were once admitted into it there be such Priviledges to be enjoyed and such profits to be received as will abundantly recompence all their pains So here the difficulty of becoming one of these that are made free by Christ speaks that this Freedom is full of excellent Priviledges 2. From the high esteem that they have of this Freedom who are admitted into it through Grace Say what you will to them you can never bring them out of love with it again they 'l like their Christ and like their Condition tho all the world should set themselves to turn away their hearts from it They 'l part with if for no good They like it so well that they set an higher value upon the worst of Christ than they do upon the best of the World as Moses did Heb. 11. 25 26. Now certainly this is because their condition is full of Priviledges They know they are better here than they can be any where else in the World 3. From the consideration of the Saints being so often called upon in Scripture to praise the Lord. They who observe may frequently find how much they are stirred up to this duty How many Psalms doth David begin and end with this Praise ye the Lord And he says that the People of God should be a singing to him blessing of him rejoycing and giving thanks extolling of the Name of God declaring his wonderful Works towards them Now you shall see that one main thing that he drove at why they should do this was upon the account of the Freedom which God had brought them into Psal 107. 1 2. and 136. 1 2 3. compared with ver 10 11 12 23 24. And in Rev. 5. you read that the Saints were at this work of more than ordinary thanksgivings to God They sung a Song What is it for Oh! for the Freedom they had received Certainly then if God hath such great praises for it there are great Priviledges in it But I shall not go on thus but will bring in a List of the Priviledges so far as I can in particular And here as the Prophet said Isa 63. 7. I will mention the loving kindness of the Lord c. They are a priviledged people For Priviledg 1. Being made free by Christ they are translated out of the Kingdom of the Devil His Prison-doors are now opened that were shut so fast upon them as that none could open them but he that hath the key of David Now their bondage under that great Tyrant over Souls is at an end He shall no more have them captive at his will The yoke of their oppression is broken See Col. 1. 13. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son They are redeemed from the hand of the terrible Satan hath been forced to yield them up and now he can lay no more claim to them This Priviledg you read of further in Heb. 2. 14 15. That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil and deliver them who all their life-time were subject to bondage Mark he hath delivered them from the Devil by destroying of him not as to his Being for the Devil is not dead 't is not the Nature of a Spirit to die but as to his power over them So he is destroyed he is quite routed as to any slavery that he now keeps them in He may Lord it over his Vassals whose God he is but with these he hath nothing to do but in a way of molestation so indeed he will vex them all that he can and he won't be wanting to follow them with his Temptations and his siery Darts In this kind these redeemed ones must expect a War with him Eph. 6. 11 12 13 c. Christ will have them fight tho he hath made them free and tho the Devil doth cease to be their Owner yet he doth not cease to be their Enemy and he designs all the hurt and mischief to them that possibly he can for they went out of his Kingdom against his will and consent If he could have staid them they should never have gone And therefore his wrath is the more kindled against them and that to such a degree that he is not only compared to an Adversary but to a Lion and this Lion is in the siercest posture of all he is a roaring Lion But notwithstanding all his rage his Dominion is gone Now beloved this is an excellent Priviledg Oh to be loosed from the Chains of Darkness to be turned from the power of Satan to God! In this sense they that are made free by Christ are past the Devil's Quarters And therefore tho they should diligently watch against him yet they should not be slavishly afraid of him Do but keep Gods way and what hurt can he do you See John 5. 18. 'T is a very unbecoming thing for a child of God to be afraid of the Devil What have all the Devils in Hell to do with you for whom Christ shed his precious Blood He himself knows that you
merry Oh! this sets their hearts a bleeding Now take some Scriptures where you shall see that this Freedom is good for this excellent use and purpose see Psal 119. 158. also ver 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy law Obj. But you 'l say this is the Old Testament Ans What tho it be the Freedom was in force then and David was a partaker of it But would you have something out of the New Testament for it see then Phil. 3. 18. Rom. 9. 1 2 c. where you find that Paul who was in this Freedom had tears in his eyes and heart-breaking grief within him for those that went Christless And beloved this Freedom will teach Ministers that have it to pity their Christless Hearers and Parents that have it to pity their Christless Children and Masters that have it to pity their Christless Servants c. And is not this an excellent use now I dare say you can't be in this Freedom any of you but your bowels and compassion will work in some measure insad be moaning the wretched condition of persons in a state of Nature 2. It is good to make us understand the Gospel This Freedom sets up a light to shew us what that is Friends this word Gospel is a Mysterious word and carries such things in at as no natural man can receive or percieve 1 Cor. 2. 14. Now oh what an excellent thing would it be to understand those things which all the wisdom of the men of this World who understand abundance upon other accounts is not able to tell what to make of Why now come into this Freedom and the mind and the Mysteries of God will be unfolded to you you will be brought out of darkness into the marvellous light Christ and the Covenant of Grace will be revealed to you you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free vers 32. of this 8th of John As Luther said when he was brought to the knowledg of Christ and of justification by faith that the whole Scripture seemed to be a new thing to him he saw that in it which he never saw before so 't will be with you What 's the reason that persons are so ignorant of heavenly things as they are of the new Birth of the Life of Faith of Communion with Christ but because they are not brought into this Freedom Certainly this would make the Bible another manner of thing to many of you than ever 't was yet Oh the insight that those get into the Wisdom and Grace of God who are brought into this liberty of that they had before Now they can speak of Salvation by the Son of God and the things which belong to it like knowing men this Freedom hath opened the eyes of their understanding Beloved what Sampson said to the Philistines when he had propounded a riddle to them the meaning of which they were not able to pick out but by the help of his Wife Judg. 14. 18. If saith he ye had not plowed with my heifer ye had not found out my riddle the same I may say of the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God you 'l never discern them if you don't make use of Christs Freedom for they are like the Book Rev. 5. which was sealed with seven seals and none was able to open it or to look thereon with any understanding till Christ had opened the Seals thereof In Eph. 1. 7. the Apostle-speaks that they had gotten this Freedom by Christ and then in vers 9. he brings in this Having made known to us the Mystery of his will then they came to know it 3. Another excellent use of this Freedom is this It is good to endear Christ to the Soul Alas what is Christ to those who remain in the Bondage of sin What beauty do they see in him What breathings have they after him You were even as good tell them of a chip as tell them of Christ for any regard they have to him there 's nothing that is of less account or esteem with them than he is He is called there in Isa 49. 7. one whom man despiseth and whom the nation i. e. of the Jews did abhor What two greater words for undervaluing of Christ can you meet with than to despise him and abhor him But now the having of this Freedom oh 't will make Christ a precious Christ to the Soul 1 Pet. 2. 7. they can't but prize him who have been redeemed by him when they consider what he hath done for them that he came down from Heaven for them and became poor for their sakes and that he was mocked and scourged and spit upon for them and upon the Cross for them and bear the Wrath and Curse of God for them Oh how doth this make them to be highly in love with him and to wish that they had a thousand times more love for him then they have And certainly you that believe in Christ this is one great means to raise up your love to him when you do find or fear that your Affection to him begins to be chilled to set your selves to meditate upon the Freedom that he hath given you and how abundantly he hath shewed his dear Love to you in dying for you and in washing of you in his own Blood ply your hearts a while as hard as you can with deep and serious thought about this I am perswaded 't will prove a love-kindling and a love inflaming consideration to you you will find that you have affections and dear affections for Christ again 4. It is good to make all ones life comfortable As the being without this Freedom is the way to make all ones life miserable so the having of it and the knowing that one hath it laies in matter of daily consolation Let whatever will befall a man this will be always at hand to cheer him there is no cordial to the heart like it when a man can look upon his troubles and say Notwithstanding 't is thus and thus with me yet blessed be God he hath had mercy on me I belong to Christ and what can hurt me You would not much fear living comfortably if you had but two things in your comfort 1. That it were so strong that nothing could overcome it And 2. That it should be so lasting that it would never have an end Why now such comfort this Freedom brings Heb. 6. 18. and 2 Thess 2. 1. in the one place 't is called strong Consolation and in the other everlasting Consolation And therefore away with that vile reproach which some are apt to cast upon the condition of Gods people that 't is a melancholy life as if persons must never look to be merry more in this World after they are once turned Godly the Devil hath always something or other to blind and befool sinners and to make them think that their condition is the merry condition and the Saints condition the mopish
and he can dye he can love his Enemies he can gain by losses he can prevail with God c. 10. That a poor creature should come to know what thoughts God had of him before the World began and what he intends to do with him to all eternity Why many will be ready to say how is it ever possible that such a thing should be Why now 't is one of the Wonders of this Freedom that by the having of it a man may come to know this if you look backward from all eternity he may be sure that God hath chosen him if you look forward to all eternity he may be sure that God will receive him into Glory See how Paul speaks about this 1 Thes 5. 9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ Many there be who are in this Freedom that are assured of this and such as are in it tho they be not sure as yet of it yet they are in the way to it You see something of the Wonders of this Freedom and now is it not an excellent Freedom also upon this account I will only add this That the Scripture holds forth to us that Gods wonderful works must have five Duties performed about them and so must this wonderful Freedom 1. They must be talked of Psal 105. 2. So now oh speak of this wonderful Freedom one to another as you sit in the house and as you walk by the way declare what God hath done for his people by Jesus Christ 2. They must be considered pondered upon Joh. 37. 13. So this wonderful Freedom you must observe the Wonders in it have deep and serious thoughts of it Search into it by Meditation Mysteries cannot be understood by a superficial looking upon them but they must be dived into 3. They must be remembred Psal 105. 4 6. So take heed of forgetting this wonderful Freedom 't is a mercy never to be forgotten 4. God must be praised for them yea praised and praised again Psal 136. 1 2 3 4. So highly bless God for this wonderful Freedom see in two Psalms which are made about it Psal 72. and he closes up all with this vers 18. 19. Blessed be the Lord God the God of Israel who only doth wondrous things And blessed be his glorious name for ever and let the whole earth be filled with his glory Amen and amen And Psal 98. read the whole Psalm 5. They must be believed Psal 78. 32. So you must believe this report about this wonderful Freedom you must close with it by faith you must not continue in your sins as if all this were a lye that we tell about Salvation by Christ I will end this Seventh thing of the Wonders of this Freedom with that Scripture Acts 13. 38 to 42. Be it known unto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you the forgivness of sins And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses Beware therefore lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish for I work a work in your days a work which you shall in no wise believe tho a man declare it unto you Do you Wonder at the things you have heard Oh! take heed that you don't Wonder and perish for want of believing of them CHAP. XII The Application of this fifth Branch of the Doctrine AND now is this Freedom of Christ such an excellent Freedom as you have heard it is Then I shall finish this fifth Branch and so this whole Text with seven Uses 1. Of Information 2. of Admiration 3. of Lamentation 4. of Examination 5. of Expostulation 6. of Exhortation 7. of Consolation Use I. Of Information It informs of four things 1. That the remedy that is prepared for sinners misery is beyond all exception their misery is their Bondage by sin their remedy is Freedom by Christ and 't is beyond all exception for 't is excellent Freedom The Lord Jesus cares not who looks upon his redeeming-work 't is done so well it wants nothing to make it sufficient and all-sufficient for the ends and purposes to which it was intended we are sure therefore that if we can but use this soveraign Plaister as we ought it will without question heal our wound There is that in Christ that will do our work do but make trial and you 'l find 't is true for in this case trial is all in all Christ desires to be put to the proof whether he cannot do all things for a poor Soul that it hath need should be done for it If you 'l but venture your Souls he will venture his Salvation what would you desire more to manifest that a receit for a disease is the best that can be got than that every one that hath made use of it should give their approving-testimony that they have been cured by it Now this is the witness that all believers will give of Christ If you should go up and down for their hands they will be all ready to sign and seal to the great cures that they have by him Isa 53. 5. 't is as it were the general voice of all that have made use of Christ We are healed Again it informs us 2. That there is something that is much better than that which the men of the World do spend their time and thoughts about The truth is they follow this World as if it were the best thing that ever was or ever shall be But ah Sirs you whose life and labour is thus laid out are mistaken There is an excellent Freedom by Christ that is better than all that you cark and care and rap and rend for Would I could but tell what to say to you to bring you out of love with this World you that are so much in love with it What do you see or find in it that you should set your hearts upon it you run after that and that runs from you and that so fast that some of you cannot overtake it for your lives I may say that the World looks upon some persons as if it were afraid to come near them they would fain lay hands upon it and God wont let them he bids the things of this World run away from them and this surely is in much mercy to some for God sees that if they should gain the World they would lose their Souls and if he bears a love to them he had rather they should miss of Earth than Heaven Well but it may be God suffers some of you to overtake this World you make such haste after it and when you have got it what have you got I don't speak to lessen thankfulness for any of these outward mercies but my drift is to set the World in its place and this Freedom in its place but what have you gotten
such good things for you and now to have none of them Why hath he not deserved better at your hands then this Was there no love nor no mercy to your souls in what Christ hath done for poor sinners Nay did you ever hear of the like love or the like mercy Is it not beyond all comparison and beyond all expression Did you ever hear of a Saviour that delivered from so great danger Did you ever hear of a Surety that undertook to pay such great Debts Did you ever hear of a Physician that healed such great Diseases What and shall this be all the thanks he shall have now to be rejected If God will take it ill at your hands to pass by those mercies that are but for the comfort of your bodies without thankfulness how much more will he be displeased with you for passing by the offers of those mercies that are for the salvation of your Souls Why Sirs you that refuse Christ where is your sense of God's goodness where is that acknowledgement that he should have from you Hath he done you no courtesie in sending his Son Is the very hopes and possibility of being recovered out of your lost condition a thing not to be at all affected with If a man doth but offer you his help in your need you 'll thank him and you 'll shew that you are taken with his kindness by accepting of it and you 'll tell him how much you are beholding to him and that you shall own him for your Friend as long as you live Why where is your thankfulness to Christ then why don't you own him for your Friend Obj. Why you 'll say perhaps We are thankful to Christ for his kindness to poor sinners Ans What and not close with him how can that be 't is the closing with him that is the thankfulness to him If you do not this you may say you are thankful but who will believe it shew it by your acceptance Col. 1. 1 2. Giving thanks unto the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light They give thanks but see vers 14. they had closed with it We have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins 3. You are guilty of Willfulness It may be you 'll put it upon your weakness that you don't close with Christ and I grant indeed that you are without strength and that you must have a power beyond your own to inable you Joh. 6. 44. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him and if ever you come to him it must be by grace from above But yet I pray consider that it is such a weakness as is joined with wilfulness Joh. 5. 40. Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life The great thing that hinders your closing with Christ is your will is against it I am certain that if you were but willing you would do it only you must know what a willingness I mean Such a willingness as is spoken of in Psal 110. 3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power Oh if the power of Christ were but once come upon your wills to turn them and bring them in you would run to him with strong and swift desires If sinners were not willful in refusing of Christ do you think that God would ever charge them with willfulness How oft would I have gathered you c. and ye would not saith our Saviour of the Jews Matth. 23. 37. A wicked man carries it so to Christ as that 't is plain he is unwilling to have him He laies it upon his weakness and he thinks thereby to come off the better I cannot repent saith he and 't is true God saith so too and I cannot please God and God saith so too Rom. 8. 8. and yet this shall not excuse him for there is a will not with his cannot If he were only weak and desirous to come and did not oppose and resist the motions and strivings of the Spirit and the calls of Grace 't were something if he were faithfull in the use of that natural Power that he hath though indeed he wants a spiritual Power 't were something But alas he doth not like Christs terms and Christs yoke his will is against them 4. You are guilty of the love of sin not only of sinning but of loving of sin By your not closing with Christ you declare that you have some beloved Lust or other which you cannot indure to part with and that takes up those affections and that delight which should be set upon Christ Sirs tho I cannot see nor search your hearts yet thus much I know of that which is within you that you who stand out against Christ have something in the Throne that should not be there There is as sure as can be some darling-reigning sin if there were not Christ and you would quickly make up a Match Obj. But how can you tell this since you don't know our hearts Answ Why we know it because God hath told us so in his Word that 't is by reason of some unmortified sin that people don't close with Christ they have bosom'd up some dear corruption or other I ground it upon that Scripture in Gal. 5. 24. They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Mark if this be a sign that persons are come to Christ That the flesh with the affections and lusts are crucified in them then the reason why they don't come to Christ is because there are uncrucified affections and lusts in them they have some Idol in their hearts to which they bow down and worship And therefore let me allude to that Scripture Act. 3. 14. where Peter is dealing with the Jews about their standing out against Christ But ye denied the holy One and the Just and desired a murderer to be granted unto you Beloved every unmortified reigning lust is a murderer a murderer of your souls and now what 's the reason that you don't own and close with this holy and just One the Lord Jesus Christ Why 't is because you desire that this murderer should be granted unto you As the People there in Matth. 8. 32. with 34. that they might keep their Swine they besought Christ that he would depart out of their coasts So you would keep your swinish Lusts 5. You will be guilty of Pride Oh in what pride of heart do you walk that reject the Grace of GOD You have high thoughts of your selves certainly you take your selves to be what you are not as Christ saith to them of Laodicea Rev. 3. 17. Thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked Pray give me leave to be free with you Why Sirs you that stand out against those Calls of Grace why are you so proud