that they might see that salvation was of grace and not of works Had this effect appeared in multitudes of the Scribes and Pharisees some would have attributed it to their learning others to their strict and holy walking and austere conversation people would have thought they had merited this at Gods hands And therefore God passed by them and made choice of others far more unholy and profane to knock them off from their own righteousnesse and from dependance upon it 2 It was to magnifie the riches freeness and greatnesse of Gods grace that was brought in and manifested by the Gospel God would hereby give to understand that the doctrine of the Gospel was a doctrine of grace not that men might live as they list for these vile people were not incouraged in but redeemed from a vain conversation but Johns work â— as a tough and hard work to pull down those that were as high as mountains in pride as hard as the rocks of those mountains to make rough and crooked things smooth and straight And yet all this John was to do all this John did in the preparation of the people for Christ Isa 40. 4. The greater the wound is the more is the skill and care of the Physician seen and commended The more and greater the sins are that are pardoned the more is the grace of God advanced So much for the second particular The third particular is this Why are such vile and sinfull persons most eager and violent after their conversion Answ 1 Answ 1. This proceeds from an holy indignation against themselves which is a fruit of repentance or conversion as you read 2 Cor. 7. 11. For this self-same thing that ye sorrowed after a godly sort what carefulnesse did it work in you yea what clearing of your selves yea what indignation yea what fear yea what desire yea what zeal yea what revenge There ariseth in such a desire to be revenged upon themselves Isa 30. 22. Ye shall defile also the covering of the graven images of silver and the ornament of thy molten images of gold thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth thou shalt say unto them Get thee hence Isa 2. 20. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold which they have made each one for himself to worship to the moles and to the bats Cranmer burned his right hand first because it had subscribed his recantation and oftentimes repeated in the flame Oh this unworthy right hand An holy indignation makes him to reason thus within himself Could I sin worse then others and shall I now be contented with lesse grace then others Could I be as swift as a Dromedary in the wayes of sin and shall I creep like a snail in the wayes of God Have I been zealous for the committing of sin and shall I be cold in my motions after Christ Such persons are ashamed of their former wayes and therefore they now labour to take off that reproach by making some reparations 2 This proceeds from that sense that is in such persons of an utter and absolute necessity of getting into Christ You know a man that hath but cut his finger will not make much ado but he that hath got a great and dangerous wound sees a necessity of the cure and that he is a dead man if he do not get help So a man that lives in a common way of sinning he thinks his sins are inconsiderable he sees no necessity of closing with Christ for cure But a man that hath been much in sin and notorious in wickednesse when God comes and opens his eyes by effectuall calling he sees a necessity of getting help by Jesus Christ and that if he have not Christ he is undone for ever he shall perish eternally And thus I have finished the doctrinal part I proceed now to make application And this doctrine is eminently usefull to three sorts of men 1 To those that have been formerly very vile and great sinners but are now converted 2 To meer civill and honest men 3 To those that yet remain and go on in a sinfull course 1 To those that have been formerly very great sinners but are now converted To them I have two things to say 1 Labour to follow this pattern that is here propounded in the Gospel and in this doctrine Labour to proportion your graces now that you are converted to the number and greatnesse of your sins before conversion As you have been violent in sin formerly so see that now you be as violent after the things of heaven So did Manasses he was a great sinner he filled Jerusasalem with blood he was a grosse Idolater a destroyer of Gods worship 2 Chron. 33. 12. And therefore he humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers So Paul because he was a greater sinner then the rest of the Apostles therefore he laboured more abundantly then they all If therefore sin hath abounded see that grace doth abound also As you have formerly added iniquity unto iniquity so now see that you adde grace to grace As you have with much eagernesse given up the members of your bodies as instruments of unrighteousnesse unto sin and uncleannesse so see that you give them up as instruments of righteousnesse unto holinesse Particularly see that you do abound 1 In the grace of humiliation 2 In the grace of love 1 In the grace of humiliation little humiliation is not suitable to great sins That garment that hath most spots in it must have most rinsing that which hath most dust in it needs the most beating There must be a sicut not onely qualitatis but aequalitatis also if possibly it can be There should be some equality between the strength that was put forth in the service of sin and that we now put forth in the service of God It is very observable Levit. 11. 24 25. He that toucheth an unclean thing shall be unclean till even but he that beareth an unclean thing shall wash his cloathes and be unclean till even Though a man be but defiled a little with sin if he doth but touch a sin as it were commit a little sin he had need be humbled but those that wallow in sinfull courses and bear sin about them they must look to be more humbled then otherswere 2 See that you proportion your love to Christ to your sinfulnesse against Christ in times past Hast thou been a great and a vile sinner before conversion know that a little love to Christ is not answerable to thy great sins Luke 7. 17. Her sins which are many are forgiven her therefore she loved much Jesus Christ expects and requires more love of such to whom he hath pardoned much then he doth of those to whom little is forgiven We read in John 21. 15. Jesus said unto Peter Simon son of Jonaâ— Lovest thou me more then these Jesus Christ did not ask him Lovest
thou me at all nor Lovest thou me as these but Lovest thou me more then these Thou hast sinned more then these doest thou love me more then these Christ expected more love from Peter then from the rest of the Disciples And so Peter did return more love to Christ then the rest did And though the book of the Acts be called the Acts of the Apostles yet there is more spoken of Peter then of all the rest of the Apostles that had seen Christ in the flesh Peter after his fall did shew more love then the rest 1 Peter preached the first Sermon after Christs resurrection and ascension Act 1. 15. 2 Peter was the first that went into the Sepulchre after Christs death and resurrection Although Peter and John did run to the Sepulchre John out-ran Peter and came first thither yet Peter first went down into the Sepulchre to see where Christ was laid John 20. 6. 3 When Christ after his resurrection was walking upon the waters Peter cast himself into the Sea to go to meet Jesus he had no patience to stay till he came at him Joh. 21. 7. 4 Peter converted more souls to Christ then all the rest of the Apostles did 3000 souls at one Sermon 5 Peter died for Christ he was crucified for Christ and he desired that he might be crucified with his head downward because he thought it was too much honour for him to die as his Master So you see that as Peter had been more treacherous to his master then the rest so Peter was more ardent in his love to Christ then the rest And so you must all learn to see that as your sins have been more and greater then the sins of other men so your humiliation must be more your love must be stronger That is the first branch of the first Use 2 This may teach you to magnifie the riches and freenesse of Gods grace that God should cast an eye of grace and love upon such a wretch as thou wast that God should passe by such men as the strict Pharisee and pitch upon thee that God should not make thee as exemplary in punishment as thou wast in sin that thou shouldest be made a monument of his mercy who deserved to be a spectacle of wrath that God should make his mercy to rest upon thee that might cause his justice to take hold upon thee So much for the first Use 2 This Doctrine is usefull to men of a civil carriage of an honest and in-offensive behaviour in the world that have been religiously educated lived ingenuously that never broke out into such grosse and exorbitant courses as other men have done To you I would say three things 1 Whereas you say that you are of a more civill life then others and so you are apt to perswade your selves your case is better then others Consider others are more easily and ordinarily converted then you are Publicans go to heaven before you You read in Luke 18. 14. the Publican went away justified rather then the Pharisee Luther hath a notable glosse upon these words It is far more easie for harlots and notorious sinners to be saved then for proud titular Saints because the former are easily brought to a sense of their sins but the latter are like to perish in the conceit of their own righteousnesse except they be converted in an extraordinary manner This I speak not that I would disswade you from a civill course of life or draw you to in open profanenesse but that you may not rest upon your moral accomplishments upon your good meanings and think that you are sermon-proof that the Minister can hardly meet with your corruptions and consciences 2 If God doth convert such men usually they are not so eminent in grace then others This is expressed Luke 7. 43 c. He to whom most is forgiven loves most and doth most service Usually such content themselves with smaller measures of grace then they whose transgressions have exceeded 3 What thy sins want in bulk and magnitude thou makest up in number Your transgressions are many your back-slidings are increased Jerem. 5. 6. Thy continuance in sins makes thy sins equivalent to greater sins if your sins fall short of others in nature it may be they exceed in aggravations it may be thou sinnest against more mercy more knowledge it may be thou maiest have more sin in thine heart though anothers sins do more break out in his life So much for the second Use 3 This Doctrine is usefull to profane men to the looser sort 1 Let this be an invitation and incouragement to you to come in to Christ and to imbrace the Gospel 1 Though your sins be great yet they are not so great as the mercies of God The mercy of God is compared to a sea the sea you know is a very great deep A great Leviathan may be covered in the sea as well as a little fish a great rock as well as a little pebble A remarkable place you have Isa 44. 22. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins return unto me for I have redeemed thee The Sun can scatter both thick and thin clouds 2 Though thou hast been very sinfull yet thy conversion taketh away all infamy from thee Paul was once a blasphemer c. but that reproach was rolled away when through the grace of God he found mercy It is very observable that in the genealogy of Christ there are but four women mentioned it is not usuall to mention women in genealogies and the Scripture sets a mark of infamy upon them all The first is Thamar Matth 1. 3. she was an incestuous woman for she lay with her father in law as it is recorded Gen. 38. 38. The second is Rahab verse 5. she was an harlot Heb. 11. 31. The third is Ruth verse 5. she came of Moab the son of Lot by incest begotten of his own daughter Gen. 19. 37. The fourth is Bathsheb 1 vers 6. she was guilty of adultery This is done for the comfort and incouragement of the most infamous sinners to come in to Christ 3 If God call you you are likely to be greater instruments of his glory then others A persecuting Saul became a preaching Paul a wanton Mary became a weeping Mary she whose whoredomes had been spoken of in all the places where she dwelt afterward her grace came to be spoken of wheresoever the Gospel was preached So much for the first branch of that use 2 Because Doctrines of comfort many men suck poyson from and so get their ruine therefore I shall lay down a Caution or two Take heed you do not abuse this doctrine 1 Do not make the conversion of any scandolous sinner to be any stumbling block in your way to heaven It was the great stumbling block in the way of the Pharisees when they saw that Christ would eat
thy tempest Job was in a fit of impatiency and unbelief And though God did give him returns of prayer yet hee would not did not observe them 5. God may deny thee the mercy not that he is unable or unwilling to hear thee or relieve thee but to make thee the more desirous of and so the more fit for mercy It may be yet thou art not fit for an answer The Philosopher beg'd some mony of Antigonus he gave him a Drachme He said It is not for a King to give so little a Talent had been a more sutable gift The King replied Though a Talent is fit for me to give yet thou art not fit to receive So though God is alwaies fit and ready to give an answer to our prayers yet we are not alwaies fit and ready to receive it God bids us open our mouths wide and I will fill it God denies us that we may open our mouths the wider and enlarge our desires the more after mercy The Lord doth by his people as a father by his child a father may seem to withdraw and hide himself from his child to try its love to him and the child begins to mourn and cry yet the father comes not to the child but when he hears the child cry aloud then he comes to it and takes it up in his arms So the Lord many times sees his people pray but he seems to withdraw from them to hide himself from the prayers of his people and goes as it were out of their sight until they begin to cry aloug to be very earnest and importunate in their prayers till their desires be enlarged towards God and then God graciously returns their prayers into their bosom Now this is a very good reason why God denies the prayers of his people Desires defer'd grow the stronger but if the mercies be soon given the desires grow cold and the mercy growes contemptible Mannah lightly come is lightly set by God doth by us as a Fisher-man doth he drawes back the bait that so the Fish may come after it the more eagerly and bite the harder God seemes to draw back a mercy that wee may more earnestly pursue it 6. Consider this that Gods people have prayed and waited a long time before God hath given them the mercy they have asked before God hath given them an answer of their prayers God promised Abraham a son that from him should proceed such an one in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed that his seed should be multiplyed as the starres in the firmament and yet it was fifteene yeares betweene the time of Gods making him that promise and the accomplishment of it So likewise you finde it in Zacbariab and Elizabeth they prayed for a Childe at the first beginning of their marriage now God did heare their cryes and prayers yet he did not give them a returne till they were old and stricken in yeares So likewise it was with the Church Lament 3. vers 8. Also when I cry and shout be shutteth out my prayer And ver 44. Thou hast covered thy selfe with a cloud that our prayers should not passe through So also it was Hab. 1. 2. O Lord how long shall I cry and thou wilt not heare It was also the complaint of holy David Psal 22. 1 2. My God my God why hast thou for saken me why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring O my God I cry in the day time and thou hearest not and in the night season and am not silent 7. God may not onely deferre or deny to heare his peoples prayers but in some times and cases be angry with the prayers of his people Psal 80. 4. O Lord God of hosts how long wilt thou be angry against the prayers of thy people So Job 30. 20 21. I cry unto thee and thou doest not heare me I stand up and thou regardest me not thou art become cruell to me with thy strong hand thou opposest thy selfe against me 8. Consider this for thy comfort that thy person may be accepted and thy prayers heard and yet the thing thou prayest for not granted to thee An instance of this you have in Christ himselfe he prayed Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me Mat. 26. yet this cup did not passe from him but he did drink of it and yet it is said that Christ was heard in all that he prayed for Heb. 5. 7. Deut. 3. ver 23. I be sought the Lord at that time saith Moses and ver 26. But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes and would not heare me and the Lord said unto me let it suffice thee speake no more to me of this matter Moses did importunately desire that hee might see the Land and goe over Jordan to possesse it Moses was a godly man and here he prayes for this mercy but yet God was angry with him bad him pray no more God bad him goe up into the Mount and see the Land but told him he should not goe over So when thou askest a particular mercy at the hand of God God may deny them that mercy and yet heare their prayers and accept their persons 9. God may deny thee the mercy thou askest and give thee a better in the roome of it he makes you to open your mouthes the wider that he may give you the greater mercies Abraham prayed that Ishmael might live Now God did not heare his prayer in that as Abraham did desire it but he gave him Isaac and with him he established the Covenant which was a better mercy Moses was denied in his request to go into Canaan but he was translated into a better place into the true Canaan the Kingdome of heaven 10. God may denie what we pray for in mercy which should he grant it would be a token of his wrath as if a man should aske that which was sinfull or that which would be an unavoydable occasion of sin or if he should aske it for sinfull ends or in case a man ask that that would be a monument of his shame all which cases I have spoken to before and therefore shall now say no more 11. God may heare another mans prayers for thee though he will not heare thine owne This is a great comfort to every poore weake Christian in the world they have a stock of prayers going for them to the throne of grace You reade in Job chap. 42. that God forbad his three friends to pray but bad Job pray for them and told him that he would heare him for them ver 8 9. goe to my 〈…〉 and offer up for your selves a burnt offering and my servant Job shall pray for you for him will I accept least I deale with you after your folly in that you have not spoken of me the thing that is right like my servant Job And they did as God