at If you mean to shine as Angels do the Work of God with Angels if you would be where Christ is be at the work that Christ was And let me tell you your time is but short and you have done but little work none at all to purpose and 't is not long till your Crown shall be put upon your head and will you not be ashamed then to wear so rich a Crown for so poor a Service To have God pay you so great wages for so little work done Certainly if ever it come to your share to be saved you will when the Crown is putting upon your head blush for shame to think of your cowardise and your laziness that you should wear a Crown that have done so little work Fifthly The Lord will do thy work do thou but his work and he will do thine The Lord will take the care and charge of thee to bring about thy ends for thee many of you are sparing in Christs work because of so many distractions of your own others of you wave Christs work out of love to your own I mean the World What will become of my Family Wife and Children Oh unbelieving wretches set your hearts to do Gods Work and he 'l take the care of your Families and Children upon himself set thy face to the Sun and these shadows will follow you The Lord is a sun and a shield the Psal 84. 11. Lord will give grace and glory the Lord will give grace i. e. honour and esteem among men the favour of men and glory too in the World No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly Set thy face then toward this glorious Sun serve him and these shadows will follow thee Solomon you know askt for Wisdom that he might discern between good and bad and judg the people and God tells him because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked riohes and honours therefore I will give thee riches and honours Solomon his great care and work was to rule a State well and the Lord gave him all the rest he set his face to the Sun and the shadows followed him Oh then Sirs Act for God up and be doing do his work and he 'l do yours There are these three Things attend the man that gives himself to do work for God 1. There shall not any evil hurt thee The three children were in the fire and yet the fire did not could not hurt them In the fire and in the water saith God I will be with thee there shall not any evil hurt thee Whereas if thou dost not thy good things shall they shall hurt thee Thy riches and thine honours they shall lift thee up and there make thy head giddy upon the top of thy glory and then thou comest tumbling down like a drunken fool into shame and hell it self Tolluntur in altum ut lapsa graviore ruant 2. All creatures in Heaven and Earth shall serve the man that serves his God The Whale shall serve Jonah to carry him to the shore Indeed the poor man at that time ran from Gods work yet because he was his Servant the fish shall swallow him that it might save him The Ravens shall feed Elijah I will hear the heavens saith God and they shall Hos 2. 21. 22 hear the earth and the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oyl and they shall hear Jezreel Thus all creatures in Heaven and Earth shall serve that man that serves his God Whereas else they all groan under thee and above thee The Heavens above groan over the sinner and cry out How long Lord how long shall we bestow our influence upon this Enemy of thine The Earth groans under the unprofitable servant and crys out How long Lord how long shall I bear this useless burden Nay Christ himself is weary of this fruitless Tree how long shall we stand Cut it down why cumbers it the ground 3. Thou that art at thy Lords work the Angels shall come out of Heaven to guard thee thou art a greater man than the greatest General under the Sun thou hast the Angels to be thy Life-guard Are they not all ministring spirits Heb. 1. 14. sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation And therefore let 's see who dare touch thee Take heed Matth. 18. 10. saith Christ that ye despise or hurt not one of these little ones For I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven Jacob saw a ladder reaching from Earth to Heaven and Angels descending and ascending Vse 10. The last Vse shall shew you how God makes Additions to his Saints graces And herein his Methods are various if not unsearchable yet by fathoming we may sound some of them though not the bottom As grace it self is a Mystery so the increase of grace especially being carried on by such Mysteries And therefore the contrivement whereby God increaseth grace is excellent worth the knowing that we may know what he is doing with us in his Providences and may read the Mind of God in many of his proceedings In a word how shall we help on the work if we know not Gods Method in working 1. The Lord increaseth grace in his People by their Faith Faith is one of the Graces and therefore needs support her self but she is the mouth of all the rest that speaks for them to God in Prayer and sucks nutriment for them out of the Breasts of the Promises Sirs The case is this Faith lives upon Christ and all the Graces live upon Faith When there is a famine in the Land of the soul Faith goeth up to our Brother Joseph in Egypt and brngs home Corn Faith is the Mother-grace and as the old bird the Dam flyeth abroad and fetcheth in food to her young ones and distributes it to them all in the nest So Faith takes Wing when the graces sit hungry and in want at home I say then Faith takes Wing and flyeth to Christ in the promise she comes home with her mouth full and serves all the graces they are fed by her And therefore the Scripture saith That the just lives by faith Which expression the Apostle Paul makes use of in two of his Epistles First in Rom. 1. 17 The just shall live by faith that is in respect of forgiveness of sin and in respect of Righteousness or Justification before God But in Heb. 10. 38 where he useth this same phrase The just shall live by faith The Apostle speaks of the Saints perseverance and standing fast in all their troubles and temptations Now Faith is the prime grace that helps and succours all the rest Hope lives upon Faith for the hope of a Christian is but poor in fruition we can hope no longer than we believe He that hopes and expects the things promised must by Faith live upon the certainty of the promise
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
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
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
his voice to the great World and the Rocks rend Thunder is the voice of God to the great World and in what Majesty doth he express himself to all Creatures below in that voice As there be Thundrings without so there be Thundrings within In great Majesty doth Christ speak to the soul sometimes Ask your Consciences else ask Faelix the Jaylour and Cain else yea ask your Father Adam else what a case were all these in when Christ did but reason with them Yea I ask you Hypocrites if any here is not the way of Christ full of Majesty What means those loads that gather about your hearts and that fearfulness which surpriseth you Thou dost but touch the mountains and they smoke saith the Psalmist so God doth but touch your Consciences and they smoke he doth but whisper within and your spirits fly about every where into the fingers into the face and up into the head and the heart within beats for want of them ready to swoon away Ask wounded spirits whether Gods Word be not full of Majesty Twenty years time not enough to heal the wound of a word of Gods mouth Oh the Majesty of that word Look upon the whole Creation upon the Earth upon the Sea upon the Heavens do they not all-speak the Majesty of Christ God is mightier than the noise of many waters yea than the Mighty waves of the Sea The tossings rollings and roarings of the Sea Do they not speak loudly the Majesty of Christ But ah sinner The tossings rollings and roarings of a troubled soul speak the Majesty of Christs word much more Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord we perswade men 2. Kingdoms have Supremacy This is Basis Majestatis Christ is a great King over all as the Psalmist titles him Psal 29. God hath set Christ over all so should we as God hath set him so do you over all in all things Now self-denyal is an excellent means that Christ may Reign Thou must deny thy Kingdom that Christ may have his you must lay down your Crowns at his feet that he may wear his Crown upon his Head And this is a sweet Testimony of Grace in the heart if the heart can endure Tribulation that Christ may Reign If it can suffer all things that Christ may do all things if it can lye low that Christ may be exalted when we are most annihilated our Lord and his Mysteries are most admired Sixthly They know thankfully The beams of Knowledg that shine into them melt them into pangs of Thankfulness that they should have the Honour and Happiness to know those things that they know They would not be without Christ whom they know not for a thousand Worlds They would not be without the miracles of love and peace and pardon in Christ which they have and know for all the Worth of India They count themselves to have been no better than brutes and beasts all the time they were without the Knowledg of those Divine Rarities which now they lay up so close in their hearts They adore God that they should know and see those saving secrets which are hid from the eyes of so many round about them Seventhly The true Knowledg of spiritual things doth spiritualize True Knowledg of Religion makes a man Religious Religion in Scripture is called Godliness Without controversie great is the Mystcry of godliness that is The principles of 1 Tim. 3. 15. Christian Religion Godliness is great gain i. e. Christianity The Christian Religion is great gain Thus the Truths themselves are called Godliness Why so Because the true Knowledg of them begets an inward godliness As Religion it self is called Faith and the grace in the soul is also called Faith Why so To shew that Faith begets Faith that is the Truth revealed begets Faith and must be received by Faith Therefore one word includes both the Object the thing believed and likewise the Disposition of the soul to that Object So Religion is called Godliness because the true Knowledg of it begets Godliness Oh! See then what makes a true Christian What when a man nakedly believes Divine Truths When he knows the Principles of Faith doth that make him a true Christian No But when Religion makes him Religious when these Tit. 1. 1. Truths work Godliness for Religion is a truth according to godliness Where the Truths of Religion are embraced there is Godliness with them A man cannot embrace Religion in Truth but he must be godly because Religion is Godliness so it is called for that it tends to beget all Piety and Virtue and Godliness in the heart And therefore if the Mysteries of Heaven work not Godliness a man hath but an Humane Knowledg of Divine things When Lucius a bloody Persecutor offered to confess his Faith hoping thereby to gain an opinion that he was Orthodox Russin Hist Eccles l. 2. c. 6. Moses a Religious Monk refused to hear him saying The eye might sometimes judg of one's Faith as well as the Ear and that whosoever lived as Lucius did could not believe as a Christian ought A man knows no more of Christ than he is sanctified he knows no more of Divine things than he esteems and affects he knows no more of the Mysteries of Heaven than he brings the whole inward frame to be like the things He that saith 1 John 2. 4. I know God and keepeth not his Commandments is a lyar and the truth is not in him No doubt but Hophni and Phineas being Priests had a literal Knowledg of God yet being prophane they are said expresly not to have known him They were sons of Belial they knew 1 Sam. 2. 12. not the Lord. Eighthly If we know God aright we know God in us for we come to know God savingly by Regeneration and so by little and little we come to know God in us knowing in our selves those Divine perfections which the Holy Ghost attributes to God We know the Holiness of God by the Beam of Holiness which he hath irradicated into our hearts We know the love of God by the working of love in us towards him and towards his Saints We know hatred of sin in God by knowing in our selves an hatred of sin we know the Mercy of God by finding in our selves an Image of his Mercy towards our Enemies As Christ saith Be ye merciful as your heavenly Fathers is merciful Luk 6. 36. And it is a clear case We could never know in God Truth Justice Goodness were we not in some measure true just and good it being natural for Man to judg of others according to that which he knows in himself The spirit makes me to know Omnipotency in God through the great Power which he shews in me mortifying me and making me alive The spirit makes me know Wisdom in God by the Wisdom which I get through his Holy Spirit he makes me know Justice in God because he justifieth me in Christ he makes me know Truth
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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
he is not weary or remiss in any of his Acts. He takes more pleasure in giving than thou canst in receiving such is his Noble and Princely spirit To give is as it were an Act connatural to him an eternal Act he gave his Essence to his Son from all eternity and John 5. 26. John 3. 16. Rom. 8. 32. in time gave his Son to lost Sinners see he loves to give and with his Son will give us all things Reas 3. To him that hath grace God gives more because he knows there he shall not bestow his grace in vain he shall have fruit from his Plantation the grace he sows there will return him a crop Oh how happy a thing is it to have a soul seasoned with true grace The person gains and God himself is a gainer by such an one the poor soul gains by it for he that hath true grace shall have more and God gains by it for the more grace God gives such an one the more fruit shall God have from such an one and that 's the Lords delight it is the vine-dressers delight to see his Vines which he plants and prunes deckt with grapes It is the Husbandmans delight to walk and see his Field which he tilled cloathed with stately Corn Now God is an Husbandman as Christ saith I am John 15. 1. 1 Cor. 3. 9. the true vine and my Father is the husbandman And ye are Gods husbandry Saints it doth delight God to see his Vines full of grapes and to see his Field clad with fruit ye are his Field ye are his Vines ye must be always bearing because he is always watering The gardener delights to Water those herbs that will grow and yield him profit he bestows no drops upon the Flowers that are dead and wither'd 'T is so with God Every branch that beareth fruit saith John 15. 2. Christ he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit here 's the reason of it he that hath grace and bears some fruit God will give him more grace that so God may have more fruit Reas 4. Because it is his design to perfect his Saints and the work of grace in his Saints he means to make every one of them as Holy as Adam was in Paradise God doth not mean that we should come short in Christ of what we were in Adam Christ Jesus came in place to repair us up all that we lost in Adam and more than that all only Adam was made perfect at once and we are perfected by degrees but this is no disadvantage to us for Adam was made perfect at once but he lost it as soon he lost it at once and we are not made perfect at once but by degrees but we shall never lose it As a Limner that intends a curious picture at first makes but a rude Draught and lays his dark Colours but then by degrees he comes over with his beauteous and bright Colours and draws out the perfect proportion of a curious piece So God that glorious Artist in repairing man intends some stately piece he hath in his thoughts the Idaea of some glorious piece Indeed 't is Jesus Christ that stands by him after whom he means to draw man's picture As a Limner that seeth a beauteus person draws his picture whilst he is in the room with him and takes it wondrous lively because he hath him before him So God the Father hath Jesus Christ the beauty of Heaven and Earth before him and looking upon Christ draws every Saints picture and will make his Saints exactly like to Christ every Saint shall be Christs perfect picture And therefoe he that hath grace be it never so small shall have more nay shall have all because God intends to make his Saints perfect in Christ Jesus We shall now make some Improvement of this Point And in the first place Vse 1. This shines with excellent comfort upon the weak Saints upon you that complain you are but weak Christians and you cannot match others in performances you cannot do as others can and if we do believe we believe but little and if we do love Jesus Christ we love him but little To you to you I say if you have the least drop of true grace God will give you more and you shall have abundance Do you believe but a little Be of good comfort you shall believe a great deal Do you repent but a little you shall have given you a greater store of repentance Canst thou pray but a little canst thou but scarce pray It shall be given thee to pray mightily to pray down mountains and strong sins I pray you consider these things 1. Though thou hast but little grace yet thy little may be true grace Thou art suspicious of thy self and art wont to say Surely if my grace were true it would be more than it is it is so little that I cannot think it is true grace But I say unto thee though thou hast but little yet thy little may be true grace as a little piece of gold is true gold Object 1. Oh! But I enjoy rich means of grace I lye down in the fatting pastures of the Gospel which would in a short time plump up the weakest grace if it were true I sit daily under the nourishing showres of the Word and yet my grace is but little and therefore I fear me is not true Answ The Disciples sate under the most powerful Ministry that ever was under the droppings and the honey-dews that fell from Christs lips Never man spake as the spake He was the Prince of Preachers that had the tongue of the learned To be with him was to be in Heaven upon Earth They saw his wondrous miracles every day and conversed with Christ himself his lips did drop the choicest fatness and yet under all these golden shrowres they had but a little Faith For the Lord Christ upon an occasion saith unto them Why are Matth. 8. 26. ye fearful oh ye of little faith Object 2. But I cannot trust God for the smallest matters Food and Raiment are the smallest matters and he that cannot trust God in the least matters I fear me hath a faith less than nothing Answ The Disciples of Jesus Christ had many experiences of God Providence and Provision for them they went about with Christ from place to place and though they had no victuals yet they found victuals every where they saw so many thousands sed with so few loaves and yet they were Mat. 6. 30 31. troubled What shall we eat what shall we drink and wherewith shall we be cloathed Thus thou seest thy little grace may be true grace 2. God will own thy little grace thy grace though it be never so little yet he will own it As you may see in Rev. 3. 8 where writing to the Church of Philadelphia saith Christ Thou hast a little strength and hast ept my word She had but a little strength and Christ takes
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
sins Because the Pharisees were not Adulterers Extortioners nor such gross sinners as publicans therefore they were proud and despised salvation by Christ The Devil will not tempt some men to gross sins he seeth which way their vein goeth and will make use of their own righteousness to exalt them and then break their necks with it How strongly doth he tempt civil men by not tempting them By not tempting them to be drunkards and adulterers he tempts them to be Justitiaries not to see their need of Jesus Christ He makes them think themselves better than Saints because he tempts them not to do such gross sins as some Saints have done so he tempts thee to security and quietness in a sinful estate by not tempting thee with thy sins nor troubling thee with the fears of Hell Know my Beloved that God loves us as well when he doth us evil as when he doth us good in this world Satan will go about to perswade thee in afflictions as thou must look for them that God hates thee and cares not for thee if he loved thee he would not use thee thus as he doth Be not deceived make God thine and then be cheerful in every state It becomes a gracious man to rejoyce in afflictions in sickness in poverty in weakness in reproach in persecution Satan in all afflictions would befool thee and make thee believe any thing as if thou wert no body with God because thou art sick or poor and no body in the world it is his delight to fill thee with sorrow But I say it becomes a gracious man to rejoyce in afflictions Oh that you would or could digest this principle and believe Note it and act it namely outward evils are to be received in the same manner and with the same mind that good things are received with you receive health with joy and riches and peace with joy oh you should receive sickness and weakness and poverty in the same manner saith Paul We glory in tribulation Rom. 5. 3. And again As sorrowful yet alway rejoycing 2 Cor. 6. 10. The sorrow of the Saints should be like the joy of the wicked only in appearance Paul had only a shadow of sorrow as sorrowful but his joy was substantial and lasting always rejoycing though his outward estate cast up amounted but to this poor and having nothing yet he was always rejoycing Why so Because God is the same in all varieties God loves us as well when we are poor as when we are rich as well when himself smites as when he heals he is as good to us when we receive evil as when we receive good And therefore if God be the same surely we ought to be the same too and our faith the same Now thou mournest heretofore thou didst rejoyce now it may be thou art in want but thou hast had abundance and therefore thou art dejected and sad and canst scarce lead one comfortable day for disquiets and castings in thy thoughts We have a saying Faelicem fuisse miserrimum it is a miserable thing to have been happy But 't is vain a godly man is happy in the midst of all his misery he may say with Luther Let him be miserable that can be miserable I cannot He that hath not a God to lose nor a soul to lose cannot be miserable whatsoever he loses while Christ is safe a believer hath no reason to be unsatisfied And this will discover the truth of grace to you your joy in God When we have outward mercies we think we rejoyce in them only as pledges of Gods love when indeed we rejoyce more in the benefits themselves than in the benefactor The discovery is by our drooping and dejection under the Cross If it had been Gods favour only we had rejoyced in in our prosperity why then is the copy of our countenance changed for Gods favour is still the same to his in affliction as it is in prosperity haply greater So again observe thy self in a sickness thou wilt say oh I am hindred from doing God service by sickness as if thou desiredst health meerly to do God service this is thy hearts deceitfulness Satan would make thee believe that thou desirest health to do God service when it is out of love to health it self For 1. Every state that God puts us into is the best service to him When God puts us into sickness to serve him there is the best service A master takes that service best from a Servants hands which he commands him to do so if God commands thee to be sick and commands thee to serve him on a sick bed this is the best service thy master would have thee employed there 2. God may yea hath as much use of our lives in our troubles as in our comforts We may do much business for God on a sick bed we may do God as much work when we are bound hand and foot in a prison as when we are at liberty Passive obedience brings as much glory to God as active doth Afflictions are the highest services and employments of grace Oh! but my graces are weak 1. God will put weak grace to no more work than it can do 1 Cor. 10. 13. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it He shall feed his flock like Isa 40. 11. a shepherd he shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young 2. God will raise up little grace sometimes to act above its strength though the babe be but weak the nurse is strong so though grace be weak the spirit is strong And he said 2 Cor. 12. 9. unto me my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness 3. God will not leave his works imperfect when he begins a work he compleats and carries it through He is a rock Deut. 32. 4. saith Moses his work is perfect What he said concerning the house of Eli I may apply hither when I begin I will also 1 Sam. 3. 12. make an end that is I will do it fully I will do it perfectly for the end of a work is its perfection 't is so in spirituals when he begins a work of grace he will make an end Bring my sons from Isa 43. 6 7. far and my daughters from the end of the earth even every one that is called by my name for I have created him for my glory I have formed him yea I have made him God doth his work exquisitely or as we say artificially yea those works that we look upon as full of confusion are full of order and those works in which we see no form or nothing but deformity even these will one day
by God concerning the multiplication of his seed by Isaac or after so many temptations he had passed through already God brings up this in the Reer and tempts him again The Hebrews as Paulus Fagius relates say that Abraham was tempted ten times by God 1. When he was commanded to leave his Countrey and his Kindred 2. When he was driven by the famine to go and sojourn in Egypt 3. When Sarah was taken off him by Pharaoh and he in danger of his life and she of her honour 4. When he fought against the four Kings of whom Lot was taken prisoner 5. When he married his maid Hagar because he seemed in vain to expect Issue from Sarah 6. When Hagar had conceived by him being used hardly by Sarah she fled away 7. When he was commanded to be circumcised being now an old man 8. When Sarah was taken from him again by King Abimelech 9. When he was commanded to banish Hagar and his Son Ishmael out of his Family for ever 10. When he was commanded to sacrifice Isaac here was a long series or chain of Temptations and the last link was the heaviest We come now to the Explanation of the words the Text saith That God tempted Abraham It will be necessary to understand the meaning of it for to tempt is a shrewd word Satan is called the temptex and it is ascribed here to God I answer to tempt in the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and this is the word in my Text here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And God did tempt Abraham In the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to which the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a-kin it is the same properly with Experiri or periculum facere to try one to make tryal of to take the experience of And so the Schools describe it Tentare est proprie Aquinas 22. ae q. 97. art 1. experimentum sumere de eo qui tentatur to Tempt is to make a tryal or experience of him who is tempted And so Hesychius saith that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is properly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Experimentum capere to take an experiment or tryal of And thus God tempted Abraham that is made a tryal of he tryed Abraham what he would do whether he were good mettal or no whether his dependance on God and love to him were true gold or counterseit And for God to make tryal of a servant cannot carry so much as a shadow of evil in it and therefore it might well have been translated thus It came to pass that God tryed Abraham 2. Again you must know that to tempt or try another is the effect of ignorance For as Aquinas saith Nullus 22 ae â—â— 97. ar 2. experimentum sumit de eo de quo est certus no man makes a tryal of him of whom he is certain what or who he is or what he can do The end of tryal is to know I say we therefore try another that we may inform our knowledg and therefore all proper temptation springs from ignorance or doubting When we try a man by some experience whether he loves us or no it is because we know not but would know whether he loves us when we are assured of his love to us we try him no longer Quest You will say then How could God try Abraham Did not God who made the heart know the heart of Abraham Did not God who knows all things know that Abraham feared God Certainly God who knows the thoughts a-far of knew Abraham and all that was in Abraham and what Abraham would do he knew before-hand Abrahams affections to him and therefore how is it said that God tempted Abraham Answ There is a two-fold tryal First A proper And Secondly A metaphorical tryal 1. To try properly is actio nescientis an action of him who knows not the heart of him whom he trys and tempts for as you heard he trys that he may know Tentatio propria est latentis animi alicujus exploratio A proper tempting is the trying of a mans mind or disposition that lyeth latent and out of our sight We know not what is in him and therefore we try him And thus God tempted not tryed not Abraham he needed not this tryal that he might know Abraham Neither did Abrahams sacrificing his Son add any thing to Gods Knowledg But 2. There is a metaphorical tryal or a temptation by similitude when God doth a thing like unto those who try that they may know men make tryal that they may know and God acted in this thing like to men and therefore he is said to tempt or try Abraham though he knew all before he tryed him I conclude with that excellent expression of Cassiodorus Tentat Deus ut erudiat homo ut scâ—at Diabolus ut seducat Psal 26. The Devil tempts that he may seduce man tempts that he may know or learn but God tempts that he may teach or instruct So then God tempted Abraham that is he commanded that work whereby Abraham was tempted or tryed but he did not try or tempt Abraham to gain any further Knowledg to himself Object But you will say It seems the contrary for when Abraham would have really slain his son Isaac saith God Now I know that thou fearest God seeing thou hast not withheld thy Son thine only Son from me Answ I might here cumulate the Answers both of the ancients and moderns 1. Some understand it me tanimice that God should be then said to know when he makes others know Significando per efficientem causam id quod efficitur by the efficient cause signifying the effect as we say Dies laetus a joyful day because it makes men joyful and Frigus pigrum dull or slow cold because it makes men slow and dull Tristis lupinus saith Virgil sad Lupine a kind of pulse Pliny because it makes men sad And according to this Hypothesis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Kal should be put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Hiphil and thus Saint Augustine lib. 4. de Genes ad liter chap. 9. Nunc cognovi id Tom 4. in quest super Genes quest 57 58. Et sermone Domini in monte lib. 2. cap. 14. So Tom 9. in Johannem tract 43. Tom. 10. sermone 72. est nunc feci ut cognos ceretur Now I know that is now I have made that it may he known and Tom. 5. de Civitate Dei Lib. 16. Cap. 32. Nunc scivi id est nunc sciri feci Psal 78. Nunc cognovi id est nunc feci te cognoscere ignotus enim sibi quilibet est ante interrogationem Tentationis probatus autem Abraham factus est cognitus sibi After the same manner doth Chrysostom expound it writing upon the place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now I have made known to all men how thou worshippest God with a sincere love 2. Others understand
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
Christ Jesus Christ doth all in us acting and referring all our actions to the glory of his Father as Christ did so must the Christian his center must be the bosom of God all his actions and sufferings must be pure and referred to the glory of God his intentions must look only upon God his desires must be only to please God his care only to follow God his contentment wholly in God Thus I say his thoughts his designs his works must bear the Image of Jesus Christ he must do all of God all to God and all for God 3. We must imitate Jesus Christ in self-denial 4. We must imitate Jesus Christ in accepting humiliations and sufferings If any man will be my disciple let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me The Apostle also who is but the eccho of Christ resounds the same lesson when he saith That Jesus Christ suffered for us and that 1 Pet. 2. 21. we must imitate him leaving us an example that we should follow his steps After this surely we cannot in reason find any thing hard for if Christ from his birth to his death hath espoused sufferings and embraced the cross Wherefore should we refuse being his Children to live and dye as he did For as the Christian must be the Image of Christ so he must bear with Jesus Christ all sorts of commotions and pains humiliations and sufferings that our life may be an express Image of his life which appeared always in desertions lowness and sufferings so ours must be but the same state of sufferings when he calls us thereunto 5. Imitate Jesus Christ in love the love of a Christian must be the same with that of Jesus Herein appears the great difference between Christian vertues and Moral or Humane For instance The love that God requires of a Christian must not be 1. That of a Pagan who loves them that love him 2. Nor that of a Politician who loves according to his humour or interest 3. Nor that of a Jew who loves not but out of an hope of reward promised or a fear of judgments The love of a Christian must be the same with that of Jesus Christ that is he must love with the same love wherewith Jesus loves he must love with the love of Jesus as he must live the life of Jesus Walk in love as Jesus Christ hath John 13. 34. loved you I give you saith Christ a new Commandment that ye love one another AS I HAVE LOVED YOV To love is no new Commandment this law was imprinted in our hearts from the beginning of the world but the manner of loving is new that is to love by the same love wherewith Jesus loved us Now thus must we love we must love with a new love the new love of Jesus hath made it a new Commandment Oh! how great is this love how pure how free from all self-interest how strong and powerful since it is the same love that made Jesus to be born and dye for us even then when we were his enemies and sin reigning in us And therefore we must love our enemies with the love of Jesus Christ we must love our enemies with the same love wherewith Christ loved us when we were his enemies And therefore we must pray for enemies for so did Christ for his Father forgive them so did Steven Lord lay not this sin to their charge 3. Christians are in Christ Jesus as in the conserving and supporting cause of their graces The Saint is in Christ much like as the accident is in its subject for as Accidentis esse est inesse the Being of an accident consists in its being in the Subject so the very being of a Christian lyeth in his being in Christ he lives and his graces live while he is in Christ he is lost and all his graces are lost if he be once separated from Christ Abide in me and I in you as the branch John 15. 4. cannot bear fruit of it self except it abide in the vine no more can ye except ye abide in me Sirs Are ye in Christ be sure you keep in him then for out of him ye dye and give up the ghost as the fish dyes out of the water and the coal dyes out of the fire so grace dyes and expires out of Jesus Christ 4. This expression In Christ Jesus All that will live godly in Christ Jesus speaks subjection to Christ We cannot be in Christ but we must be in him as our Head and Sovereign we are in him as Regnum in Rege as the Commonwealth is in a King that is in the Power of a King and as the members are in the head under its Regency to be ruled by its Influence and Authority so are we in Christ we are in him that we may be under him to be ruled and guided by him The Son of God hath infinite rights to VS and we have infinite obligations to him which the shortness of our days will not give us leave sufficiently to admire nor the weakness of our spirits to comprehend The law of subjection to Christ is fundamental and belongs to the constitution of Gods spiritual Kingdom for government in the very essence of it is an order of superiority and subjection the constitution of government lyes in determining the person that shall govern and the parties that shall be governed so the constitution of this Divine and Spiritual Kingdom of God is in his appointment of the Soveraignty of Christ and the Subjection of Man to him Soveraign and Subjects are the essential or integral parts which give essence to government and constitute its being and existence to obey is the essence of Subjects this subjection is the very essence of the Church and so of the Christian Our subjection to Christ consists 1. In an act of Honour and Adoration 2. In an act of Oblation 1. In an act of honour and adoration The Lord Christ the Son of God is infinitely adorable and we are obliged to honour and adore him with so much necessity that the very Devils and Damned are forced in some way to do it To form this Act we must acknowledg Jesus Christ the Son of God both God and Man we must regard him as our Soveraign and Redeemer as the cause and principle of all our happiness we must annihilate our selves before him and humble our selves even to the bottom of our souls we must accept him as our God King and All. 2. Another act of subjection to Jesus Christ is an act of Oblation whereby the soul offers her self wholly to Jesus Christ and renouncing her self resigns into his hand all that she is all the power that she hath over her self over all her actions over all things and to make her self more the servant to Jesus in a perfect condition she renounceth her own liberty and all the use she can make thereof giving it up into the hands of the Son of God of whom she
live godly in Christ Jesus they derive it from him and direct it to him they breath for him and bring forth all their actions for him for this is essential to an Evangelical life to do all in the strength of Christ as their root and to do all for Christ as their end And if this be a godly life to live to Christ then let us so think of him and so do that from henceforth our hearts and mouths may neither speak nor think but of him that all things else may be of no savour to us that nothing enter our spirit which resenteth not the Spirit and Odour of Jesus Christ and respires not his honour and glory I say let us be vigilant and faithful to do and desire nothing but the honour of Christ to regard nothing but his pleasure and glory so as to have no eyes but for Jesus no more life but what is consecrated to the honour of his Soveraignty and Greatness Vse We have shewed you what a godly life is and how you may attain a godly life Let us now stir you up to attain this godly life 1. Let me take St. Pauls word to Timothy that which he recommends to him is Piety Exercise thy self unto godliness 1 Tim. 4. 7. Truly all virtues are good and all suitable to the state of a Christian the acquisition and practise of them all useful and necessary but he would have his prime and chief care be To exercise thy self unto godliness for godliness is the Ornament and Mistress of all other virtues it leads us to God and makes use of all virtues to conduct us thither and having no Object but God teaches us the worship and honour that we must render to him and like a good mistress puts us into a ready and easie practise of virtues and entertains us in the exercise of actions that honour God and are acceptable to him 2. Godliness is profitable as Paul saith in the same place Bodily exercise profiteth little but godliness is profitable to all 1 Tim. 4. 8. things having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come True godliness is one of the principal foundations on which Christian perfection stands and is supported In the conduct of men all actions and exercises of their life are ruled according to the Piety and as we commonly say according to the Devotion they have If their Piety be not well-laid the rest of the Christian life will be unconstant and its exercises very uncertain and superficial as we see in the devotion of many which is only in the exterior Who as the Apostle saith having the form of godliness deny and despise the power thereof In such souls we see nothing solid nothing but inconstancy in their lives imperfection in their actions disquiet disturbance and adherence to several creatures in their spirits a small blast of adversity over-turns them Object But it is an hard thing to be godly we have Satan opposing us and he is too hard for us besides our own corruptions and strong temptations Answ While we strive to be godly we may safely expect the Presence of God he is never wanting to those that seek after him and never fails those that engage in his quarrels As he who plots sin shall be sure to find Satan standing at his right hand so he that pursues after God and Holiness shall find God nearer to him than he is to himself God hath not forsaken the earth but as he sustains the whole universe much more those who are seeking grace and participation of himself Are you then striving to be godly and aiming at a Divine life His almighty arms will bear you up and he 'l cherish you with his own goodness Wheresoever God beholds any breathings after himself he gives life to them as those which are his own breath in them where there is any serious and sober resolution against sin any real motion towards God there 's the blessing of heaven in it He that planted it will also water it and make it to bud and blossom and bring forth fruit Object But a godly life is an afflicted life Answ You have heard that grace in us is the life of Jesus in us We ought then to know what his life was The life of Jesus is Divinely Humane and Humanely Divine he is God and Man and therefore lives a life Divine and a life Humane As God he lives the life of God in the bosom of his Father a life of Glory Power and Majesty As Man he lived the life of Man in lowness humiliation in impotence in sufferings so that at the same he is living in the bosom of his Father and dying on the arms of the Cross There he reigns and governs and judges all the world here he is accused and accursed condemned and crucified at the same instant he is in the exaltation and greatness of his Majesty and in the lowness and humiliation of our Humanity Such also ought the Christian life to be on the one side it is great seeing grace makes us the Children of God elevates and unites us to God On the other side the same life is obscured dejected wholly in the spirit of humiliations and privations for grace cannot reign in the soul without operating therein annihilation death and humility Again The Saint by his Union to the Son of God is raised Eph. 2. 6. up and made to sit in heavenly places in Jesus Christ And at the same time the life of a Christian is exposed here to Temptations derided by men and condemned by the world at the same time it is in the greatest cherishing of God and under the fiercest agitation of the Cross So that an afflicted godly life should be no wonder being compared with the life of Christ Besides God enlightens the soul by grace 't is granted but 't is in annihilation he upholds her but 't is in confounding her he unites her to him but it is in separating her sometimes from himself and she remains separated from God as long as she remains upon earth While we are in the body we are absent from the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 6. so she is at once united and separated Again This is the Conduct of God over his Church If we reflect upon the highest works we shall find he puts not on the Ornament of Grace he lays not the foundation of her estate but in lowness his grace his gifts his spirit and his communications When did he come down from heaven and give her his law with such appearance of glorious Majesty as never the like was but when he had brought her into a wilderness When the Lord Christ instituted the Sacraments which are Conduit-pipes to convey his graces to his Church he chose bread water such things as are mean little or nothing esteemed among men In the Birth of the Church he took the Cross for the Throne of his Empire a Calvary for his Seat-Royal he rejected an estate by Poverty Sufferings and Martyrdom and at this day he doth the same in the Regency of his Church And according to Gods proceedings in the Conduct of his Church is likewise his carriage in the sanctification and government of our souls he leads them by the Cross he retires from them he hides himself he leaves them in privations he humbles them annihilates them smites them overthrows them Whereby is discovered how they are as I think deceived who in their devotions and religious exercises seek resentments enjoyments content and satisfaction and would know and feel the excellency and elevations of grace I call it a deceit as I suppose for Christian grace consists chiefly in privations in lowness in rigours and that is it they stand most in fear of and avoid But as the life of Jesus began in poverty and ended on the Cross so a perfect Christian who would live a life of grace must resolve to walk among Thorns to bear privations and sustain desertions for the Cross and Thorns are things proper to Christian-grace and to the love of Jesus Let us not so much seek after assurance of heaven as a thing to come as after heaven it self present in us For where Heaven comes into a heart it will bring its own light comfort and assurance along with it Get Heaven into your soul and you will easily have the assurance of Heaven Let us have a fire in a room and we shall quickly have the light and warmth of it there also Men seek the assurance of Heaven as a thing to come but neglect the present power and possession of Heaven it self in their souls Oh! let us get the Sun it self into us and then we shall not be without its shine and smiles within us FINIS Books Printed for and are to be Sold by Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers-Chappel PResent State of New-England Burges's Husbandmans Companion Burges's Englands Bond. Adams's Catechism Survey of Quakerism A view of Antiquity by J. Honner Abyssus Mali or Man's Corruption by Nature by W. G. England's present and most great incumbent Duty by Robert Perrott The Ark of the Covenant opened or a Treatise of the Covenant of Redemption Janewayes Life Meads Almost Christian Mr. Cawtons Funeral Sermon Preached by Mr. Vincent and Mr. Hurst Phelpes Caveat against Drunkenness Wadsworths last Warning unto secure Sinners Kidder on the Sacrament Wells Funeral Sermon by Mr. Tho. Watson Mr. Wadsworths Funeral Sermon Preached by Mr. Bragg Bishop Reynholds Meditations on the Fall and Rising of St. Peter Practical Divinity of the Papists proved to be destructive unto Christianity and Mens souls Burroughs's four Treatises Dr. Collins on the Canticles