poured upon Aarons head run down to the skirts of his cloathing so from that fulness of Grace which is in Jesus Christ Believers receive and grace for grace a continual supply of grace from him he is the Author of all their graces he is the Author of their Faith he is called The Author and Finisher of their Faith Heb. 12.2 He is the Author of their Love Christ first warms their hearts with a sense of his Love before they can love him We love him because he first loved us 1 John 4.19 He is the Author of their Repentance God hath exalted him to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance and remission of sins to his people Acts 5.31 Thirdly And then they receive spiritual comforts by him too My peace I give unto you my peace I leave with you not as the world giveth give I unto yon let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid John 14.27 He gives Believers that peace that the World can neither give nor take away from them that peace and comfort that can hold up their heads in all outward storms In the world says he you shall have tribulation but in me you shall have peace John 16. ult At the same time when they have tribulation in the world they may have peace in Christ at the same time when there is ratling upon the Tiles there may be Musick in the Chamber outward tribulations and inward consolations they may stand together at the very same time In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy Comforts delight my Soul Psalm 94.19 So though there may be multitude of troubles within yet there may be comforts to refresh the Soul This is the third Reason why Jesus Christ is so precious to Believers Because they have much in hand from Christ they have Temporal Mercies and Spiritual Mercies Spiritual Priviledges Justification Sanctification and Adoption and Spiritual Graces and Spiritual Comforts Reas 4. Jesus Christ is very precious to Believers because they expect much from him As they have much in hand by him so they have more in hope from him they have much for the present but more for the future for what do they expect from him but an Inheritance incorrupted undefiled reserved in Heaven for them an everlasting Kingdom a Kingdom that cannot be shaken everlasting Communion with himself bosom-Communion with himself in Glory to have their Souls bathed in those Rivers of pleasure that are at his right hand for evermore yea the following the Lamb. wheresoever he goes to be triumphing in his Praises to be sounding forth those Hallelujahs to him that sits upon the Throne for ever to live and lie in his continual embraces Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive what God hath laid up for them that love him Now because with the eye of Faith they look upon these things and they fully expect to enjoy them therefore hence it is they do so highly prize Jesus Christ Reas 5. Jesus Christ is very precious to Believers they do most highly prize him Because Faith you must know is a uniting grace an espousing grace it is the Wedding-Ring as I have sometimes told you that makes up the Match between Jesus Christ and the poor Soul as soon as ever a man comes to be a Believer to take Jesus Christ to be his Head his Husband his Portion then is the Match made up between them Christ dwells in our hearts by Faith Ephes 3.17 Now then Believers being thus espoused to him thus united to him they cannot but dearly love him As a Wife that hath pitcht her affections upon a Husband and forsaken all others and hath vowed to cleave to him and him only while they both shall live therefore she does prize him above all the men in the World so when the Soul is once united to Christ marryed to him Thy Maker is thy Husband when the Soul is espoused to Christ it cannot but dearly love him and forsake all others in comparison of him Reas 6. Jesus Christ is very precious to Believers Because true Faith ever works by Love Gal. 5.6 For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Vncircumcision but Faith which worketh by Love True Faith will make a man dearly love the Lord Jesus Christ now if we love him we cannot but prize him whom we love so dearly The Use I shall make of this Point briefly First For Examination And O that you and I could engage our own hearts a while and call our selves to account in sad and serious thoughts whether Jesus Christ be precious to us yea or no Is he highly prized by you even by you that hear me this day Can you say with the Church My Beloved is white and ruddy the chiefest of ten thousand And with St. Paul I esteem all things but dross and dung in comparison of Jesus Christ the whole World the glory the beauty and treasures and pleasures of it but as a heap of dung in comparison of him this pitch and frame you must come unto or else you can never have any assurance that Christ is yours and that you are his for as our Saviour saith in the like case He that loveth Father or Mother more than me is not worthy of me c. Matth. 10.37 So here if any thing be more prized than Jesus Christ you can have no assurance that Christ is your portion if any thing be preferred before him or prized more highly than he is there not great need then that you should enquire whether Jesus-Christ be precious to you yea or no That I may press you to this enquiry consider but this one Motive this is one of the surest Characters to distingnish between a sincere-hearted Christian and an Hypocrite For he that is sincere and upright-hearted does lay Jesus Christ the nearest to his heart and says None but Christ nothing but Christ whereas ever observe it and you shall see a Hypocrite hath always something that lies nearer to his heart than Jesus Christ does however he may shew much love to Christ with his mouth yet his heart goes after his covetousness or after some base lust or other as God told the Prophet Ezek. 33.31 And they come unto thee as my People and they sit before thee as my People and they hear thy words but they will not do them for with their mouth they shew much love but their heart goeth after their covetousness So that Jesus Christ hath not the heart of a Hypocrite he may have the mouth of a Hypocrite a shew of love but there is something still that doth lie nearer his heart than Christ does Look into the parable of the Sower and you will find that Seed that was sown in the stony-ground it sprung up and made a fair shew for a while but there was something that lay between the seed and the Soil so there is something that lies between
Tryals that are to be endured You have often heard and you will know it at one time or other you will not believe us but you will believe one day your own experience That through many Afflictions you must enter into the kingdom of God And 2 Tim. 3.12 Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution They must look for persecution in one kind or other And in the world you shall have tribulation saith our Saviour You must look for it says he if you be my disciples John 16.33 And says Luther If thou beest not a Cross-bearing Christian thou art no Christian indeed How is it possible now for a man to climb this rocky way if he hath not strength for the way to Heaven is like the way that Jonathan and his Armour-bearer had in climbing up a great Rock a sharp rock was on the one side and a sharp rock was on the other side 1 Sam. 14.4 How is it possible for a man to climb up this rocky way if he have not some considerable strength If Stephen for example had not had a great measure of strength how could he have lookt upon his persecutors so chearfully in the midst of all their threatnings when they were ready to stone him yet then they beheld his face as if it had been the face of an Angel Acts 6.15 And if Saint Paul had not had considerable strength how could he have have said True the holy Ghost witnesseth that bonds and afflictions wait for me in every place in every City where ever I go but none of these things move me neither count I my life dear unto my self so that I might finish my course with joy and the Ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testifie the Gospel of the grace of God Acts 20.23 24. What a gallant answer was that which one made to Valentinian the Arrian Emperour that threatned him with Bonds Imprisonment Banishment and death Tush says he Let him scare children with such Bug-bears as these he cannot scare me with them he may take away my life but he cannot take away my love to the truth Here was a strong Christian Now I say if a man have not a considerable strength how can he be able to bear all the afflictions that he may meet with Can you drink of the cup says our Saviour that I shall drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with Matth. 20.22 He speaks there of the baptism of blood Can you be baptized with this bloody baptism can you be content to suffer for my sake Thirdly You have need of a great deal of strength in your souls in regard of the enemies that are to be encountred with spiritual enemies dangerous enemies deadly implacable enemies For example now One of the greatest Enemies you have to encounter with is an invisible enemy namely that Judas which you and I have in our hearts the cursed corruption in our Natures that works us more mischief than either the World or the Devil nay then all the Devils in Hell can do You see the whole world in a manner is subdued by this cursed enemy called Sin the whole World almost is brought into bondage to it and it is an enemy that you and I can never be rid of until our bodies drop down into the dust Then you have a flattering and bewitching World and the lusts and pleasures of it are its baits those baits and allurements of it do so Lime-twigg the soul it is not able to mount up oh how many are bewitched by it to their own destruction Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present World and he loves it because it is present What is the reason of all the Apostacy and Back-sliding and falling from the Profession and Principles and Practice of Godliness but only the love of this present world Men love the world because it is present they prefer a present possession before a future expectation Christs promise is for the future You shall be happy hereafter but say they the world pays down upon the nail You shall have it in hand not in hope says the world If you can but lye swear and cog and flatter and temporize and turn with every wind saith the world you shall have this preserment Now this is that which takes with many men the World is such an enemy while it kisses it kills the World like Dalilah while it dandles you upon its lap it betrays you to Satan How many are there at this day that will sacrifice the peace of a good conscience they will forsake and lose God and Christ and heaven and happiness and all rather than they will part with their present enjoyments Oh that such would consider the pleasures of sin are but for a season but the punishments for sin are for ever Again You have Satan to encounter with who is an implacable enemy a roaring Lion that walks about seeking whom he may devour and the dint of all his malice is against those that desire to walk most strictly most uprightly before God for the greater part of the world I mean them that are unregenerate those that are rockt asleep in the Cradle of security he never troubles them When the strong man armed keeps his Palace all his goods are in peace Satan never molests them these are his own houshold under his own power but the dint of all his malice is against those that have given up their names to Jesus Christ and the more holy and heavenly-minded and unblameable you desire to be in your Conversations the greater will be his rage and enmity against you Fourthly Another Enemy you have to encounter with and that is Death the last enemy that shall be destroyed which is called the King of fears and the fear of Kings of all terribles the most terrible as the Philosopher calls it Now you have all these enemies to conquer and how can you look the King of terrors in the face if you have not this spiritual strength Fifthly You have need of a great deal of strength in regard of the danger of Apostacy that must be prevented Oh great exceeding great greater than I am able to tell you is the danger of Apostacy Oh that I could speak it with all earnestness that if it might be you might take heed of it Those that turn aside to their crooked ways the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity Oh they are lost and undone for ever Psalm 125.5 And if any man draws back saith God my soul shall have no pleasure in him A dreadful Scripture which may make Apostates quake and tremble God takes no pleasure in such as draw back and it had been better for a man never to have known the ways of God than having known them to turn aside from the holy commandment It s better to be an Atheist a Pagan a Turk an Insidel any thing rather than an Apostate
and they that shall put their hands to the Plow and look back are not fit for the Kingdom of God Oh great is the danger of Apostacy but now without some considerable strength you will not be kept from failing and those failings will turn to fallings and those fallings to fallings away and at last falling into everlasting destruction Now these fallings and fallings away do usually follow this want of spiritual strength not being strengthened with strength in our souls But may be you will say to me What course must we take that we may get this spiritual strength in our souls I answer briefly make use of these rules and helps First Be very sensible of your weakness and infirmity be humble be base in your own eyes be nothing in your selves that you may be able to say In Jesus Christ have I righteousness and strength Isa 45.24 It was a sweet Meditation of Saint Augustin Lord I will be weak in my self that I may be strong in thee And the Apostle hath such a phrase For when I am weak then am I strong 2 Cor. 12.10 that is when I am most weak in my self then am I most strong in a Saviour Secondly If you would have this strength in your souls be acting the Grace which you have received already for action increaseth strength and strength will help action forwards the more you are doing duty the more will you gather strength to do duty It was the Motto of an eminent Divine in this Nation now with God The way to Holiness lyes in the works of Holiness so the way to get spiritual strength lyes in doing the work you have to do with that strength you have use strength and you shall have more strength Thirdly If you would have strength in your souls grow especially in corroborating and strengthening Graces What are those strengthning Graces 1. Faith that is a very strengthning Grace you read of the strength of Faith Abraham was strong in Faith and that made him do great things that he could against hope believe in hope that is against hope of sense believe in hope of a promise Rom. 4.18 so be strong in Love Love to Jesus Christ Love is a very strengthening Grace Love is strong as death Cant. 8.6 7 Death you know is so strong that it hath conquered all men that ever were in the World never was there any Gyant so strong but could be conquered by Death there is no discharge in that War the meaning is this never any man encountred with Death that came off but Love is stronger than Death If thy heart be fired with Love to Jesus Christ it will carry you with a great deal of strength through all difficulties and sufferings with patience and perseverance 3. Again Get more sincerity Job 17.9 The righteous also shall hold on his way and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger Oh the more sincere you are the more strong you are For example Wherein consists the strenth of a Pillar it is in the uprightness of it if it begins to bow and bend and be crooked then it falls but the uprightness of it is the strength of it 4. Joy Joy that is another strengthening Grace Nehem. 8.10 Neither be ye sorry for the joy of the Lord shall be your strength Oh the more inward joy in the Holy Ghost you have the more chearful you are the more strong you are grow in these strengthening Graces Fourthly Would you have this strength in your souls then take heed of rushing into any known sin for sin as it wounds the conscience it weakens the soul also sins against conscience are like a thief in the Candle which weakens our strength and wasts our joy Nothing weakned Sampson so much as his sporting with his Dalilah Never had he lost his strength had it not been for his running into that sin take heed therefore of sins against conscience Fifthly If you would have strength in your souls take heed of evil company shun them as a Pest-house for many times evil company weakens the soul more than any outward temptation Psal 119.115 Depart from me ye wicked for I will keep the Commandements of my God It is as if he should say he could never set about the work of Obedience so long as he kept company with the wicked Sixthly If you would have strength in your souls then get more intimate and bosom-communion with Jesus Christ every day for the truth is all our strength is from him I am able to do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me Phil. 4.13 The more you are acquainted with Christ the more will you have of this strength which David here in the Text speaks of Lastly If you would have this strength be much in prayer that is an excellent Scripture Psal 119.28 My soul melteth away for heaviness strengthen thou me according to thy word Oh the more we are in Prayer and Care and Watchfulness and Humility and Self-denial and in the exercise of Grace the more we shall find our spiritual strength increased then we shall experimentally say with David Thou hast strengthened me with strength in my soul LIGHT DISCOVERED AND MAN RECOVERED A SERMON Preach'd Augst 17. 1656. 2 Tim. 1.10 the latter part of the Verse And hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel THE Apostle in the beginning of this Chapter exhorting Timothy to a faithful discharge of his Ministerial Calling puts in this weighty caution in the 8 verse Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God that is be not ashamed of the Gospel that he calls there the Testimony of our Lord Jesus Though it may be thou maist meet with afflictions and oppositions in the profession of it yet seeing these afflictions are but sufferings for the Gospel-sake therefore bear them patiently it is better that thou shouldest suffer than that the Gospel should suffer This Caution or Exhortation the Apostle presses from an Argument drawn from the unspeakable benefit and advantage that comes streaming to us by the Gospel namely Eternal life and that the Apostle might be rightly understood he lays down the three causes of this Eternal life or Salvation First The principal and moving cause of this Salvation that is the Grace of God in the foregoing verse ver 9. Who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began Secondly He lays down the meritorious cause of our salvation that is the Lord Jesus Christ who hath merited this salvation by dying for us in the middle part of the 10th verse who hath abolished death that is who hath taken away the sting and curse of Death Thirdly He lays down the instrumental cause of our salvation that is the
carries them in his Bosom and gently Leads them and accordingly there are these two Points of Doctrine that are most eminently and clearly held forth in the Text. Doct. 1. That Jesus Christ is that Blessed Shepherd that is able both to feed and protect his People here and to give them eternal Life hereafter Doct. 2. That the Lord Jesus Christ in his carriage towards his People hath a tender respect to their Infirmities I begin with the first Doctrine The Lord Jesus Christ is that blessed Shepherd that is abundantly able to feed and protect his People here and to give them eternal life hereafter For the proof of this Doctrine take two or three Scriptures in Joh. 10.11 I am the good Shepherd the good Shepherd giveth his life for the Sheep and in Heb. 13.20 He is called the great Shepherd of the Sheep Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant c. And he is called the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls in 1 Pet. 2.20 For ye were as sheep going astray but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls so that doubtless Jesus Christ is the most blessed the best the greatest the sweetest Shepherd that ever was as will appear by these four reasons First Because he hath the greatest care over them Secondly Because he hath the greatest love to his Sheep Thirdly Beeause he hath the greatest power that ever Shepherd had Fourthly Because he hath the greatest reward for them that can possibly be bestowed First Jesus Christ hath the greatest care over his Sheep for he seeks them when they are lost I come says he to seek and to save those which were lost Luk. 1.9 20 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost And he gathers them from the ends of the world he fetches them from all corners of the earth there is not one of his sheep that is not one that belongs to the election of grace but in what place soever he be though among Pagans Heathens and Infidels of what condition soever he be whether high or low rich or poor noble or ignoble of what calling or employment soever As some will be ready to complain and say I am lockt up under a Calling I would be better if my Calling would let me I but there is not one of Christs sheep that belongs to the election of Grace though he be lockt up under a Calling but the Lord Jesus Christ will seek him out in what condition or Calling soever he be That 's the first reason He hath the greatest care over his sheep to gather them into his Fold 2dly Because he hath the greatest love to his sheep such love as the like was never heard of Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friend John 15.13 There cannot be greater love manifested than this but such love hath the Lord Jesus Christ he hath laid down his life that good Shepherd laid down his life for his sheep as in the forenamed place John 10.11 I am the good Shepherd the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep You know Jacob sheweth a great deal of love to his sheep in that as he tells you he was in the day-time parched with heat the drought consumed him and in the night-time pinched with frost and he broke his sleep many times to watch his sheep Gen. 31.40 My sleep says he departed from mine eyes That was great love but David shewed greater love to his Flocks Psal 78.70 he followed the Ewes great with young when God took him from the Sheepfolds to wield the Scepter And he shewed yet greater love to his Flock as he tells you in 1 Sam. 17.34 35 And David said unto Saul Thy servant kept his Fathers sheep and there came a Lion and a Bear and took a Lamb out of the stock and I went out after him smote him delivered it out of his mouth and when he arose against me I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him thy servant slew both the Lion and the Bear David ventured very far he ventured his life for one Lamb of the Flock but Jesus Christ that blessed Shepherd did not only venture his life but he laid down his life for his sheep and he did not venture to grapple with an ordinary Lion but with that roaring Lion that walks about seeking whom he may devour Nay he did not only wrestle with that roaring Lion but with all the powers of darkness he wrestled with principalities and powers Nay he wrestled with the wrath of a sin-revenging God and all that he might save his poor sheep therefore never was there such a loving Shepherd as the Lord Jesus Christ That 's the second reason Thirdly He hath the greatest power and ability that ever Shepherd had for this is extraordinary that he makes all the sheep he hath all his sheep are the workmanship of his hands Psalm 100.3 Know ye that the Lord he is God it is he that hath made us and not we our selves we are his people and the sheep of his pasture He hath that power that he can do whatsoever pleaseth him in heaven and in earth All power in heaven and carth is given to him Matth. 26.18 He hath that power that he is able to deliver his sheep from the gates of hell He hath said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against them Matth. 16.18 He hath that power that he can do that for his sheep that all the world and all the Princes in the world cannot do for them and therefore he must needs be the best Shepherd That 's the third reason Fourthly He hath the greatest reward also to bestow upon every one of his sheep Alas his sheep give nothing to him My goodness does not extend to thee Psalm 16.2 We can bestow nothing upon this blessed Shepherd he hath no need of any thing we have I but he bestows a very rich portion upon his sheep a glorious reward he feeds them he cloaths them he protects them here in this world and gives them eternal life hereafter First This blessed Shepherd feeds all his sheep he feeds them first by his Word and then by his Sacraments He feeds them by his Word by sending his Messengers as under-Shepherds to feed his Flock It is a Gospel-promise that in Jer. 3.15 I will give you Pastors according to my own heart which shall feed you with knowledg and understanding And it was one end of our Saviours ascention into Heaven and a great blessing we have by it he ascended into heaven that he might give gists unto men Ephes 4.8 11 12 13 verses Wherefore he saith when he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men and he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and
of grapes if there be but one cluster If there be but one Cherry on a tree it shews there is some life in the tree one Cherry upon a tree it shews there is life as well as if there was twenty Pounds upon it one Cherry shews that it is a living tree and a man will not cut down that tree The Lord Christ will cherish the least beginnings of grace if there be but a spark of grace in the soul he will not quench it but blow it up into a flame Look as Physicians deal with diseased Patients they do not administer purging Potions according to the greatness of their distempers but according to the strength of their Patients So the Lord Jesus Christ deals with his own children not according to the diseases and distempers that are in them not according to the distempers of their sins but according to the measure of their strength he will not lay on them more than he will give them strength to bear These are the reasons of the point Before I come to the Application of the point Because this is Childrens bread and Dogs are ready to snatch at it that yet have no right to it therefore for the explication of the point there are these three Quaeries that would be satisfied First What an Infirmity is Secondly What are the causes of those Infirmities Thirdly What are the signs and symptoms of those Infirmities First What an Infirmity is An infirmity briefly in the soul is this Some sickness or indisposition of the soul that arises from the weakness of grace Or an Infirmity is this When the purpose and inclination of the heart is upright but a man wants strength to perform that purpose when the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak Matth. 26.41 when a man can say with the Apostle To will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not Rom. 7.18 When the bent and inclination of the soul is right but either through some violence of corruption or strength of temptation a man is diverted and turned out of the way As the needle in the Seamans Compass you know if it be right it will stand always Northward and the bent of it will be towards the North-Pole being jogged and troubled it may sometimes be put out of frame and order yet the bent and inclination of it is still Northward This is an infirmity That 's the first Secondly What are the causes of these Infirmities there are divers causes you must know of our infirmities as First An infirmity may arise from want of age for want of time to gather strength The Lord Christ you must know hath Lambs in his Fold as well as Sheep and he hath plants in his Orchard as well as stronger Trees and Babes as well as strong Men. Now says the Apostle I write to you Babes and little Children because your sins are pardoned for his name-sake 1 John 2.12 Observe there that remission of sin is bestowed not only upon young men that are strong to resist temptations not only upon aged men that are well experienced in the ways of grace but it is bestowed even upon Babes I write unto you little Children because your sins are pardoned for his name-sake Secondly Our infirmities may arise also from a want of the means of grace either when men want milk or the sincere milk of the word 1 Pet. 2.2 or have but little of it Thirdly Infirmities may arise from some secret corruption that was undiscovered in our first conversion This may be an occasion of an infirmity for that may both weaken the soul and exceedingly distemper and disquiet it Fourthly Our infirmities may arise from forsaking sound and solid truths and disquieting our thoughts with doubtful disputations as the Apostle calls them Rom. 14.1 when men trouble their heads with trifles or with matters of less moment and in the mean while neglect the marrow of Religion even as little Children that forsake wholsome food and feed on green apples and so put their bodies into distempers Fifthly Our infirmities may arise from this when our affections are too much carried out after the World and the things of the World for certain it is look how much the soul is carried out after the world so much the weaker it is the stronger our love to the world is the weaker is our love to Jesus Christ and to grace and spiritual things Sixthly Our infirmities may arise from the not right ordering of our company dead company dead and barren company many times make dead and barren hearts Seventhly Our infirmities may arise from our losing our first love remitting of the zeal and intention and forwardness that once we had in the ways of grace when we grow loose and slothful in the service of our God and do not stir up the grace of God that is in us 2 Tim. 1.6 Exercise you know encreaseth strength but want of exercise many times occasions weakness When a man prays coldly hears the word of God coldly communicates at the Lords Table coldly The more coldness there is in the performance of the Duties of Religion the more weakness there will be in the soul These are the causes of our infirmities Thirdly It may be demanded What are the signs and symptoms of an Infirmity briefly I shall give you these four First Where there are infirmities there is spiritual life though there be want of spiritual strength this is a certain sign of an infirmity You know there is a great deal of difference between a dead man and a weak man a dead man that hath not life and a weak man that hath life and wants strength It cannot be said of any wicked man that he is a weak man but he is a dead man neither can it be said that he does any thing weakly but he does it wickedly Observe what our Saviour speaks of a bruised reed he speaks of it as a thing that yet hath some life in it for a reed though it be exceeding weak that it is shaken with every wind yet by the side of the water it grows it hath life in it Make this sure to thy self that thou hast life in thee or else the comfort of this Doctrine cannot belong to thee if so be thou hast life in thee though thy Grace be weak yet if thou hast life it is but an infirmity But you will say How may I know I have life in me I answer You may know it thus First Thou mayst know it by thy spiritual feeling thou wilt feel what hurts thee thou wilt feel sin to be a great burthen and thou wilt groan under it and thou wilt bemoan thy self like Ephraim Jer. 31.18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a Bullock unaccustomed to the yoak turn thou me and I shall be turned for thou art the Lord my God surely after that I was turned I repented and after that
General it is a dishonour to him 2. Then it is damnable in the effects of it because it puts Religion to open shame it makes the Name of God to be blasphemed Rom. 2.24 It is a scandal to the weak it staves men off from the profession of Religion and it opens the mouth of Adversaries to speak evil of the ways of God thus it is damnable in the effects Thirdly It is destructive in the end and issue of it for First God will reckon Apostates amongst Reprobates God will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity those that turn aside to their crooked ways Psal 125. ult Lead them forth that is put them in the same condition with the most profligate and scandalous sinner that is 2. Their latter end shall be worse than their beginning as our Saviour shews in the Parable Mat. 12.43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man and returns again he brings seven Devils more and the end of that man is worse than his beginning The Apostle tells us in 2 Pet. 2 and the two last Verses It had been better men had never known the way of holiness than having known it to turn aside from the holy commandment it fares with them according to the Proverb the Dog is turned to his vomit again and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire Before I come to make Application of this truth there is one doubt to be resolved You say Christians must hold fast the grace they have received Why may some say Can a man that hath received saving grace lose that grace he hath received To this I answer No He cannot lose saving-grace totally or finally this is Mary's part which cannot be taken away Mary hath chose that good part which cannot be taken away Luke 10.42 The Apostle saith he that is born of God sins not cannot sin to death because the seed of God as a principle of spiritual life abideth in him 1 John 3.9 therefore he cannot sin unto death the righteous are said to be built on an everlasting foundation Prov. 10.25 that is he abides unmovable in grace till grace be turned into glory and the reason of this is saving-grace bestowed upon the Elect is built on four immutable and unmovable Pillars 1. The love that God bares to his people it is an everlasting love Jer. 31.3 I have loved thee with an everlasting love we are very fickle and unconstant in our love to God but God is not fickle or unconstant in his love to us 2. The Covenant of grace is a stedfast Covenant so saith David in the last words of that sweet Singer of Israel when he was to leave the world He hath made with me an everlasting Covenant sure and stedfast and ordered in all things 2 Sam. 23.5 It is a Covenant sealed with the blood of Christ therefore it is called the blood of the everlasting Covenant Heb. 13.20 this everlasting Covenant cannot be broken True indeed sin may break the peace of the Covenant but it cannot break the bond of the Covenant of Grace it may break the peace of the Covenant Psal 89.31 If thy children break my statutes and keep not my commandments then will I visit their transgressions with a red and their iniquities with stripes but I will not suffer my faithfulness to fail my covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my mouth 3. The third Pillar is this the Power of God which is irresistible and unconquerable on this Pillar our blessed Saviour builds the salvation of his Elect John 10.29 My father that gave me these sheep is greater than all and none can take them out of my fathers hand and on this Pillar St. Paul built his hope of Salvation He is able to keep that I have committed to him he is able to keep my depositum 2 Tim. 1.12 4. The fourth Pillar is the Intercession of Christ and his intercession is a prevailing intercession Heb. 7.25 Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost those that come to God by him seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them Whence was it that Peter though he fell fearfully yet he did not fall finally because our Saviour prayed for Peter I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not Luke 22.31 But mark though this be true That saving grace once wrought in the heart cannot be lost for it is built on these four immutable Pillars the Love of God the Covenant of Grace the Power of God and the intercession of Christ yet it is possible for a man in the state of grace to have his declinings as I shewed you not long ago he may have his declinings in regard of the measure of grace and the comfortable feeling of grace and in the operations and vigour of his grace First A child of God may lose the former heat and fervency that he had The Church of Ephesus fell from her first love Secondly He may lose the comfortable feeling of Grace David prays Restore to me the joy of thy salvation 3. Grace may be as a spark of fire covered over with a heap of ashes that yields neither light nor heat and so he may lose the vigour of his grace therefore Christians should take heed of these declinings and should hold fast the grace they have received Now to make some Application 1. By way of Reproof How justly taxable and reprovable are they that do not hold fast the grace they have received but fall from their first love Oh how many back-sliders are there many that did begin well but they are weary of well-doing the Lord awaken them out of their drowsiness know you not it will be bitterness in the latter end will you lose all you have and all you hope for God forbid Therefore to close up this Point with a word of Exhortation I beseech and exhort you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ That you will hold fast the grace you have received the savour of Religion that you have got the principles of Religion and the practice of a holy Conversation hold fast these Take heed of Apostacy as you love your God as you love your Souls as you tender your own everlasting Salvation be not found in the number of those that draw back to perdition but be stedfast and immoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15. ult That you may persevere and not be weary Let me give you these three or four helps 1. Be not content with a notional and traditional Faith for such a Faith will change as the time changes but labour for a divine well-grounded lively working effectual Faith experimental Faith such as the Samaritans had Now do we believe say they not because thou toldst us this is the Christ but because we have heard him our selves and we know indeed this is the
that pleasant Land this was a grievous provocation indeed so the Doctrine I shall give you from the words considered in this notion or sense is this Doct. That despising or undervaluing that Heavenly Inheritance that God hath prepared for the Saints in light is a very grievous God-provoking sin it is a sin of the first magnitude For the proof of this Point that one place of Scriptue will be sufficient Heb. 2.2 3 For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation By Salvation there he means the Gospel which is the cause of our Salvation for it is observable that both the Gospel of Grace and Grace wrought by the Gospel and Glory which is the perfection of Grace they all come under one name The Kingdom of God in Scripture because those whom God by the Gospel brings to Grace he will by Grace bring to Glory now says the Apostle How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation It is a marvelous strong Negation he does not say We shall not escape or hardly escape if we neglect so great salvation but How shall we escape It includes the strongest Negation that can be as if he should say It is impossible for us to escape eternal Condemnation if we do neglect so great Salvation not only if we do despise this eternal Salvation but if we neglect it Salvation it self will not save that man that despises or neglects it But for the clearing of this Point that you may a little better understand it there are these three Queries I will endeavour to speak to in opening of the Doctrine First When may a man be said to despise or undervalue that Heavenly Inheritance that is prepared for the Saints in light Secondly How comes it to pafs that men so lightly regard and undervalue that eternal Salvation Thirdly How may it appear that this despising or undervaluing of this Heavenly Inheritance is such a God-provoking sin First When may a man be said to despise or undervalue the Heavenly Inheritance that is prepared for the Saints in light I shall answer this Query and shew it you in these four Particulars First Then doth a man despise and undervalue this Heavenly Inheritance when he is an Earthly-minded man when he does over-value earthly things and under-value Heavenly things when he does set his affections so much on things below that he cannot set his affections on things above for these two are inconsistent they cannot stand together as appears by that in 1 John 2.15 Love not the world neither the things that are in the world If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him As if he should say The love of God and the love of the world are inconsistent So in Col. 3.2 Set your affections on things above and not on things on the Earth as if he had said If you set your affections on things below you cannot set them on things above Now when a man prefers a present possession before a future expectation when he says Give me a Bird in hand rather than two in the Bush give me the pleasures and profits and honours and contentments of this life let me have prefent pay but as for that glorious Inheritance you speak of for the time to come let them look after it that will as he said Let me have my part in Paris let who will look after a part in Paradice This is an undervaluing of this Heavenly Inheritance Secondly Then may a man be said to despise and undervalue this Heavenly Inheritance when he is sluggish and sloathful and will not stir up himself to take hold of God when he will not set about those means that God hath appointed for the attaining of those glorious hopes that are laid up in Heeven True nothing is to be done by us in a way of merit but much is to be done in the use of means for the attaining of this Eternal Happiness Phil. 2.12 Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling Mark it is not said Work out your salvation Christ hath wrought out our salvation for us by way of merit but we must work out our salvation in the use of means Orig 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Work it out as it were out of the fire Now when a man will not be contented to take that pains that the Lord requires in this working out of his salvation when he sits still and is idle or when he is sloathful or negligent in Duty when he does either neglect Duty or sleepily and carelesly perform every Duty this is a despising and undervaluing this Salvation For you must know the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a Race 1 Cor. 9.24 and he that would win the Crown by first coming to the Goal must run for it It is compared to a Kingdom Luke 13.24 and he that would win it must strive for it Strive to enter in at the strait gate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strive as in an Agony And it 's compared to a Crown 1 Cor. 9.25 and he that would obtain it must fight for it I have fought a good fight saith the Apostle I have finished my course I have kept the Faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judg shall give me at that day 2 Tim. 4.8 The Crown of Glory there is called a Crown of Righteousness not because it was merited by Pauls righteousness you must not understand it so but it is called a Crown of Righteousness because it was promised and because it was purchased it was freely promised by the Father and it was fully purchased by the precious blood of Jesus Christ says he Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judg shall give me at that day But says he I have fought a good fight first and I have finished my course Now when men will neither so run as that they may obtain nor so strive as that they may gain a Kingdom nor so fight that they may get a Crown that is laid up in Heaven for the Saints then they may be said to despise and undervalue the Heavenly Inheritance That is the second Thirdly Then may a man be said to despise this Heavenly Inheritance when he is a self-seeking Christian or rather a pelting Chapman as I may so call him that will not come up to the price of Salvation that will not be contented to take the pains that must be taken if so be he may be the master of his own desires then he would be content to enjoy those glorious hopes But when a man will not with the wise Merchant sell
of the Lord Jesus Christ deny that he is God when this is one of the Titles wherewith he is called The Mighty God The Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace What glorious Titles are here So you shall read he is called his Fathers delight Isa 42.1 Behold my servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my sul delighteth And the Fathers bosom-friend John 1.18 No man hath seen God at any time save the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him If the love of all the Parents in the World were concentred in one it were but as a drop of that infinite Ocean of Love that is between the Father and the Son Nay more he is called the Fathers Fellow Zech. 13.7 Awake O Sword against my Shepherd and against the man that is my Fellow saith the Lord of Hosts So likewise he is called The Head of the Church Eph. 5.23 and the Judg both of quick and dead Acts 10.42 In a word such is the Dignity of his Person such is the Excellency of his Merits such is the sweetness of his Graces such is the fulness of his Perfection that the Scripture does abundantly put those terms of honour upon the Lord Christ as sometimes comparing him to a Corner-stone because he does support us Ephes 2.20 Sometimes to A Vine because he does refresh us John 15.1 Sometimes unto a Physician because he does heal us Matth. 9.12 Sometimes to a Day-star because he does enlighten us Rev. 22.16 Sometimes to A Shepherd because he does lead us John 10. Sometimes to Manna or the Bread of life because he does feed us What glorious Titles are these that are given to Christ therefore he is precious in his Titles Thirdly As he is precious in his Titles so he is precious in his Offices in his Kingly Office in his Priestly Office and in his Prophetical Office First He is precious in his Kingly Office he calls himself The King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev 19.16 The King of Kings He is such a King that conquers the enemies of our Salvation as Sin and Satan and Death and Hell and the World other Kings Rule over us but this King can only Rule in us My Kingdom is not of this world saith he The Kingdom of God is within you Lnke 17.21 This King can make Laws that can bind the Conscience he is such a King as hath all Power in Heaven and Earth committed to him Matth. 28.18 Again He is such a Priest as hath reconeiled us to God the Father and ever lives to make intercession for us who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities Col. 1.21 Heb. 7.25 Heb. 4.15 And he is such a Prophet as can perfectly instruct his Church others may preach to the ear but he hath his Pulpit in Heaven only that can preach to the heart other Preachers can open the Scriptures but it is Jesus Christ only that can open our understandings that we may understand the Scriptures Luke 24.45 Then opened he their underderstandings that they might understand the Scriptures O what glorious Offices are these Fourthly He is precious in his Ordinances For Example His Word is exceeding precious to all those that have tasted the sweetness of it how precious was it to David Psalm 119.72 The Law of thy Mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver How precious are Sabbaths to those that know how much of Heaven is wrapt up in the Sabbath Certainly these Sabbath-days are Market-days for our Souls wherein we may make provision for Eternity days wherein the Lord Jesus Christ many times communicates himself and much of his sweetness to those that wait upon him in holy Duties And how precious is the Ordinance of the Lords Supper wherein the Lord Christ makes us a feast of fat things a feast of Wines on the Lees of fat things full of Marrow Wines on the Lees well refined Isa 25. Wherein he gives his own flesh to eat his flesh that was crucified to satisfie Divine Justice and his own blood to drink that blood which only can quench the fire of Hell quench the fire of Gods anger which otherwise would have been burning and burning against us to all Eternity Fifthly As he is precious in his Ordinances so he is precious in his Prerogatives for he and he only is the Saviour of the World and besides him there was no other Saviour Acts 4.12 Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other Name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved That is there is nothing can be named for it is but a Hebraism there is nothing can be named under Heaven whereby we can be saved but only the Name of Jesus Christ he had no Coadjutor or Helper in the work of our Redemption Isa 63.3 I have trodden the Wine-press alone and of the People there was none with me for I will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments and I will stain all my rayment And as he is the only Saviour so he is the only Mediator too For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 So he is the only Head of his Church Eph. 1.22 And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church He only hath the Supremacy and Authority as being Omnipotent and Omnipresent one that is able to protect his people from all injuries one that is able to prevent all the plots and projects that are hatcht and invented against them he hath these Prerogatives that cannot be given to any Creature in Heaven or Earth but only unto him therefore he is precious in his Prerogatives Sixthly The Lord Christ is precious also in the purchase of his blood the purchase he made for us by his blood is a very precious purchase and the portion that he bestows on his Elect that he hath purchased for them is a precious portion so he is precious not only in regard of his Person but in regard of his Portion For Example the Redemption that he hath wrought for us by his blood is a precious Redemption a Redemption from Sin and Satan and Death and Hell In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins Ephes 1.7 Secondly The donation or bestowing of his Spirit it is a very precious gift that the Spirit of God should in his Name that is for his Merit be bestowed upon all those that do believe But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you John 14.26 O what a precious invaluable gift is it to have the Spirit of God given us to quicken us to draw us to Jesus Christ and to carry on the
work of Grace in us Thirdly The Graces of the Spirit which likewise are purchased by him are precious Graces Faith is a precious Grace as it is called 2 Pet. 1.2 Simon Peter a Servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained like precious Faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ that the tryal of your Faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth The tryal of Gold is the worst thing that belongs to Gold and the tryal of Faith is the worst thing that belongs to Faith yet saith the Apostle The tryal of your Faith is much more precious than that of Gold 1 Pet. 1.7 So Repentance that is a precious Grace because it is Repentance unto life as the Apostle calls it Acts 11.18 When they heard these things they held their peace and glorified God saying Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted Repentance unto life And Hope that is a stedfast Grace it is the Anchor of the Soul And Love that is a lovely Grace it brings the Soul into nearer Communion with God Then Wisdom that is a precious Grace a shining Grace A mans wisdom maketh his face to shine saith Solomon Eccles 8.1 And Job speaking of Wisdom saith he Job 28.12 13 But where shall Wisdom be sound and where is the place of Vnderstanding Man knoweth not the price thereof neither is it found in the Land of the Living it is of more price than Rubies it is of an invaluable price And Humility that is an honourable Grace And Fear that is a preserving Grace And Patience that is a supporting Grace And Perseverance that is a Crowning Grace All these Graces are precious Graces and they are all of them bestowed upon us meerly upon the account of Christs merits Fourthly The Priviledges that we have by Jesus Christ they are precious Priviledges U-union with him and Communion in his Life and Death and Resurrection and Comforts access to God the Father and that with boldness Fifthly The Promises that are sealed by his blood they are precious Promises promises for this life and promises for the life to come that Promise That all shall work together fer good to them that love God a big-bellied promise as I may so say All things work together for good and our prayers and our persons shall be accepted Lastly The Inheritance that he hath purchased for us is a precious Inheritance An incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven In brief Such is the preciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ that compare him with the most precious things that can be named and you shall see they are but vile and base in comparison of him For Example 1. The Souls of men and women they are said to be precious but Oh how infinitely precious is Jesus Christ whose blood is a valuable and equivalent price for the Souls of all the men and women in the world 2. Light is said to be precious Christ said of himself I am the light of the world John 8.12 Light is precious to those that are in a Dungeon of darkness Now says Jesus Christ I am the light of the world 3. Truth is precious so precious that we are to buy it at any rate and sell it at no rate Jesus Christ says of himself I am the Truth John 14.6 4. Fountains and Springs of water are precious in hot and dry Countreys Oh the Lord Jesus Christ he is the Well of Salvation Isa 12.3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the Wells of Salvation 5. Bread is precious to those that are ready to perish a man will venture the getting of bread with the hazard of his life Lam. 5.9 We get our bread with the peril of our lives Now Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life John 6.48 6. Balm and Balsom is precious His blood is the only Balm that can cure wounded Souls so precious is the Lord Jesus Christ that all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth are but a picture of that beauty and preciousness that is in him he is the Abstract and Epitome of all perfections how precious must he needs be to whom all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth do contribute all their Excellencies to make him excellent and glorious Thus you see the Point opened Now for the Uses of it First By way of Information Is the Lord Jesus Christ so infinitely precious you may see then why the Souls of men and women are so precious because they are purchased by a precious Saviour purchased by his precious blood Hearken O sons of men why are you tumbling up and down in dirt and clay why do you not raise your hearts and thoughts higher and higher seeing that you have such precious Souls that are capable of a precious Inheritance why do you not look after a precious Covenant of Grace â—ealed to you and precious Promises confirmed to you by the blood of Christ why do you not look after that precious Pearl the Lord Jesus Christ who is worth more than ten thousand worlds Oh the baseness of the heart of man that should prefer dirt and dross and dung before him who is so infinitely precious that they should so undervalue their precious Souls that cost such an invaluable rate for their Redemption Secondly By way of Information see the horrible greatness of the sin of Unbelief that makes the Sinner undervalue this precious Redeemer Says Jesus Christ You will not come to me that you might have life John 5.40 Oh bewail your Unbelief that keeps Christ and your Souls a precious Christ and your poor Souls at such a distance Thirdly By way of Information take notice what a blessed condition they are in that have gotten the Lord Jesus Christ into their Souls If the Lord bestows this gift of all gifts this precious Christ upon you Oh it is more than if he had given thee the World nay then if he had given thee ten thousand Worlds for thy portion O rejoyce in thy portion for as soon as ever thou art a Believer thy heart is made a Cabinet for this precious Pearl the Lord Christ for He dwells in our hearts by faith Ephes 3.17 Oh manifest to the World the brightness of this Pearl let some lustre of Jesus Christ shine in thy Conversation shine through this Cabinet as Light shines through a Lanthorn The second Use is by way of Exhortation And here I must but name some few particulars answerable to the Explication of the Doctrine I insisted on more largely and there are several Duties I would briefly commend to you and the Lord give you hearts and me a heart and every one a heart to close with this precious Truth tendred to you in reference to this precious Redeemer First If Jesus Christ be so precious in his person as being God and Man then learn to honour him admire and adore him for This is the will of God the Father that all should
honour Jesus Christ even as they honour the Father See it exprefly commanded in John 5.23 That all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him Why should they honour the Son as they honour the Father because he is so precious in his person being God and Man united together in one person therefore see that you honour him therefore kiss the Son with a kiss of Reverence of Love and of Obidience lest his anger be kindled against you Secondly Is the Lord Jesus Christ so precious in his Titles as being the Delight of the Father the Fathers Fellow the Judg of the World the Judg of quick and dead O then never give rest to your eyes nor slumber to your eye-lids never rest satisfied with any condition with any portion with any parts priviledges whatsoever here below till you have got an interest in him that is every way so precious get him and get all want him and want all A man that catches at the shadow you know loses the substance but get the substance and you get the shadow with it So long as you look after other things besides Christ you lose him but if you get him you get the shadow of all you get life and peace and comfort and all that your hearts can desire be content to lose all to get him who when you have got you shall be sure never to lose Thirdly Is Jesus Christ so precious in his Offices as King Priest and Prophet then do you labour to be experimentally partakers of all those Offices that you also may be Kings And hath made us to be Kings and Priests to God and his Father Rev. 1.6 Labour to be Kings in Ruling over your own lusts over your own distempers and passions as he said excellently Do but conquer thy self and the world is conquered to thy hand A greater victory it is for a man to conquer himself than to conquer a Kingdom Labour in this sense to be Kings that your iniquities may not have dominion over you but that you may at length get victory over your lusts which fight against your Souls Again labour to be spiritual Priests to offer up spiritual Sacrifices to God acceptable through Jesus Christ and do you labour to be Prophets that is endued with such wisdom and spiritual knowledg that you may be able to admonish and instruct one another This is that which the Apostle speaks of to the great commendation of the Romans in Rom. 15.14 And I my self also am perswaded of you my Brethren that ye also are full of goodness filled with all knowledg able to admonish one another Do you my Brethren labour to be like Jesus Christ in all his Offices Fourthly Is Jesus Christ so precious in his Ordinances O then do you labour to taste the sweetness of every Ordinance taste the sweetness of the Word of God that you may say How sweet is thy Word to my taste yea sweeter than Honey to my mouth Psalm 119.103 Taste the sweetness of Jesus Christ in the precious Ordinance of the Lords Supper that you may say I sate down under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste Cant. 2.3 And in Cant. 5. ult His mouth is most sweet His mouth is sweetnesses as the Hebrew phrase carries it and he is altogether lovely He is most sweet fn his Ordinances O say one hours Communion with him is better than all the pleasures of the World one taste of that spiced Wine and of the juice of the Pomgranate spoken of in Cant. 8.2 I would lead thee and bring thee into my mothers house who would instruct me I would cause thee to drink of spiced Wine of the juice of my Pomgranate One draught of that generous Wine that spiced Wine how pleasant and delightful would it be to my Soul Is Jesus Christ so sweet in his Ordinances Oh then labour to taste the sweetness of Jesus Christ in his Ordinances Fifthly Is Jesus Christ so precious in his Prerogatives he is the only Saviour the only Mediator then subject your selves to him and to none but him be subject to him as your only Prince and Saviour and say O Lord our God other Lords besides thee have had Dominion over us but by thee only will we make mention of thy Name Isa 26.13 Lastly Is the Lord Jesus Christ so exceeding precious in the purchase of his blood then do you labour to have an interest in his purchase what is it for you to hear of the purchase of Christs blood if this purchase be not yours if you have not a share and part in it What is Christ if he be not my Christ What is his purchase if it be not my purchase For Example If he hath purchased an Eternal Redemption by his own blood O do you labour every day to get an assurance that you are in the number of his Redeemed ones But how may we know that I answer If you be the Redeemed of Jesus Christ then you will walk in the way of the Redeemed of Christ and that way is called Holy Isa 35.8 And an high-way shall be there and a way and it shall be called the way of holiness the unclean shall not pass over it but it shall be for those the wayfaring men though fools shall not err therein Hath he purchased not only Redemption but the Donation of his Spirit Oh do you beg the Spirit of God that that Gift that great Gift may be bestowed on you according to that Promise a Text I opened to you in many Sermons And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Judgments and do them Ezek. 36.27 If any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 And do you put the Lord in mind of all those gracious Promises that he hath made I will pour water upon 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 Isa 44.3 Again Hath he purchased such precious Graces to be bestowed upon all his Children upon all those that have an interest in him O then do you labour to be truly gracious not only to have restraining grace but renewing grace not only common grace but sanctifying grace sound faith sincere love unfeigned obedience that you may have the graces of Humility meekness patience that you may have the Image of Jesus Christ stamped upon your Souls that you may receive of his fulness grace for grace that you may in every grace of Christ have a part that by his Wisdom you may be made wise by his Holiness we may be made holy Again Hath he purchased likewise such precious Priviledges for his Children O then do you labour to be made partakers of those precious Priviledges to be united to Christ and to have
first work of his Conversion and it is called A Passive Humiliation because the Sinner is wholly Passive and doth nothing at all conducing to his Conversion and of this the Text speaks of Secondly There is An Active Humiliation and this is that whereby a Sinner humbles himself before God of this you read 2 Chron. 12.7 They have humbled themselves therefore I will not destroy them Now it is not this latter I am to speak of this to speak properly is nothing but the act of renewed Repentance but I am to speak of the first namely that whereby God in the first work of Conversion lets a man see the need that he hath of Jesus Christ and it may be thus described Passive humiliation is a work of the Spirit of God whereby a poor Sinner being stricken with a sense of his sin and fear of wrath doth fly out of himself and closeth with Jesus Christ I say It is a work of the Spirit of God because it is the Spirit that convinceth of sin and by convincing of sin he humbles the Soul and hence it is the Spirit of God in the first work of Conversion is called the spirit of bondage Rom. 8.15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Why is it called the spirit of bondage not because the Spirit of God brings the Soul into bondage for the Spirit of God is a free Spirit Psalm 51.12 Vphold me with thy free Spirit and where the Spirit of God is there is liberty But he is called a Spirit of bondage because he discovers to us our bondage and lets the Sinner see the bondage and slavery wherein he is miserably captivated under sin and Satan A man before the work of Conversion is wrought thinks himself a Free-man We are Abrahams Seed and were never in bondage to any how sayest thou we shall be made free John 8.33 But now the Spirit of God comes and lets a man see himself in the glass of Gods Law whereby he discovers sin to be out of measure sinful and it lets him see himself in the glass of Conscience and so comes to the Sinner and says to him just as Nathan did to David Thou art the man thou art he that lieth under the guilt of sin and under the wrath of God and under the condemnation of the second death therefore look to it When the Spirit of God lets a man see himself and his bondage and that state of wo and misery in which he is then he confesseth he is in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity Again I say in the description of it that the poor Sinner is stricken with the sense of his sin and with the fear of wrath Before a man is humbled he is just like a man in a dead sleep in a drunken sleep he hears not he fears not he feels not like the Drunkard that Solomon speaks of Prov. 23.34 35 Yea thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the Sea or as he that lieth upon the top of a Mast they have stricken me shalt thou say and I was not sick they have beaten me and I felt it not when I shall awake I will seek it yet again But when once the Spirit of God comes to strike the Sinner to the purpose now sin is revived and Conscience awakened and convicted as the Apostle Paul saith I was alive once without the Law alive in my own apprehension alive without the spiritual knowledg of the Law but sin revived and I died Rom. 7.9 Then the Law shewed me I was but a dead man O Conscience now began to be awakened and convicted Sense of sin brings with it a fear of wrath and hence it is that the spirit of bondage is called a Spirit of fear 2 Tim. 1.7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of Power of Love and of a sound mind And this fear doth awaken a man and leave some kind of impression upon the spirit of a man so that he is awakened and looks out for help out of himself Again I say A Sinner thus stricken with the sense of his sin flyes out of himself and flyes to Jesus Christ That is he despairs of all hope and help in himself I dare say he was never a true Believing Sinner that was not a despairing Sinner understand me thus There is a Religious desperation as well as a damning-desperation I say a Sinner that is stricken with the sense of his sins despairs of help in himself this is an holy despair whereby a man renounceth all hope of help in himself and flyes to Jesus Christ This is a certain Rule The less a man trusts in himself the more he trusts in a Saviour That 's the first thing What this Humiliation is A second Question to be satisfied is this Whether the like measure of humiliation be wrought in all those that are brought home to Jesus Christ I answer No some have more and some have less according to the different tempers of mens spirits some men are more froward and some are more ingenious those that are openly prophane stout stubborn Sinners they usually have a great measure of humiliation but now those that are more flexible have a less measure of humiliation to the first God comes like a mighty rushing wind to the second sort he comes like a still wind in a more mild and melting way sometimes God breaks in upon the Sinners heart with open violence as he did upon St. Paul when he was smitten down to the ground Acts 9. Sometimes again God opens the heart without any noise as he did the heart of Lydia Acts 16. Sometimes God suffers a Sinner to lie long under the spirit of bondage those especially that he hath appointed for some special use and service to himself as the Timber that is appointed for some special service lies long a soaking before it be made use of Sometimes again Sinners are set free from Legal terrors suddenly now this is the least measure of Humiliation wrought in those that are brought home to Jesus Christ to make sin odious and loathsome to a man and to make a man fly out of himself to Jesus Christ There is a twofold Passive humiliation 1. A Legal Humiliation 2. An Evangelical Humiliation The Legal humiliation is that which consists in Legal terror and fear of wrath and the sense of Gods wrath and horror of Conscience and fear of Hell-fire Secondly There is an Evangelical humiliation and that consists in the operation of Gods blessed Spirit convincing a man of sin when the Spirit of God convinceth the Sinner and by convincing him empties him of himself and by emptying him fits him for a Saviour Legal humiliation Pray mark though it makes a greater noise yet it is not always absolutely needful for all persons which I prove thus It is not a grace