first Rule for your drawing neer Be much in the use of all Ordinances But yet observe the spiritual presence or absence of God in them Secondly if you will draw neer to God Walk in a continual fear that God should withdraw himself from you That is another Rule of Communion Truly all people that know what belongeth to walking with God and drawing neer to him know they must be acquainted with such spiritual truths walk in a continual fear of Gods withdrawing of himself from you It was the Churches misery in Cant. 5. I opened and my Beloved had withdrawn himself my Beloved had withdrawn himself August Augustine I remember speaks of a chast and of whorish fear a sinful fear and he expresseth it by the disposition of a Wife and a Harlot both stand in awe of the Husband of the man but saith he Haec virum timet ne veniat illa ne descedat one fears least the Hushand will come the other fears least the Husband will depart these are the dispositions certainly of a soul that knows what belongs to Communion with God a man that hath once obtained Communion with God to approach but afterwards the Lord departs it is uncertain whether ever he shall obtain that approach of Communion again or no. Bernard I remember it was Bernards observation and truly it is a sad one speaking of those that did fall from their Communion saith he Perpaucos invenimus qui unquam redeunt ad gradum pristinum we shall find very few of those that ever obtained their former approach of fellowship again make this your business walk in continual fears least the Lord withdraw himself In the third place If you would grow in Communion and draw neer to God you must grow in conformity unto him for I have told you already that according as our Conformity is so shall our Communion be so I beseech you observe it in Iohn 15.10 Christ saith to his Disciples Keep my Commandments saith he and abide in my love as I have kept my Fathers Commandments and abide in his love abide in his love doth our abiding in the love of Christ stand upon our keeping his Commandments it is spoken here of abiding in the sense and the apprehension of his love walking in the light of his countenance there is a double love of Christ unto the Saints there is amor benevolentiae amor complacentiae there is a love of benovelence and that is the ground indeed it is free grace is the ground of all grace whatsoever this is not grounded upon our conformity to Christ for he loved us when we were enemies But there is a love of delight and that is grounded upon the image of God in us and our conformity unto his and the Lord so much the more delighteth in the creature as he sees the more of his image in it So then if you would draw neer to God grow into conformity and your communion shall grow In the fourth place Observe the times of fellowship I beseech you remember this There are peculiar times when God draws neer to you mollissima tempora sandi do you then draw neer to God call upon him while he is neer that is the expression the Spirit of God Tertullian observes Tertullian res delicata spiritus Christi is a delicate thing a delicate Spirit easily provoked to depart when the Lord knocketh and offers love and men will not entertain it Courtiers have their peculiar times of speaking when they may have Communion in all their requests with grace Observe these times the Lord thus draws neer you cherish as your life these seasons of times and these sweet warblings of the Spirit of grace observe when God draws neer to you That is a fourth Direction And in the last place Take heed of all those sins that may interrupt your fellowship it is true indeed every sin separateth between us and God and the smallest sin the smallest body hath its shaddow but yet notwithstanding there are some sins that in a more peculiar manner break a mans Communion and hinder a mans comfort And here let me give you to understand there is a sin that the Scripture calls a mans iniquity the sweet morsel that a man hides under his tongue and will not forsake a mans darling his minion lust for as in the new man though there be all grace wrought in a mans heart yet there be some graces that are a mans peculiar excellency that art more then others Abrams peculiar excellency was his faith in Ioseph his chastity in Iob his patience in David his spirituality Now so it is in the old man though there be all sins yet notwithstanding some lusts act more then others and the uprightness of a mans heart as David observes lies in this in Psal 18.23 I was upright before thee and I kept my self from mine iniquity Now there is no sin that ingrosseth the heart like to this therefore there is no sin keeps the heart so much from Communion with God as this therefore above all evils as you do desire to draw neer to God so take heed above all sins keep down the darling corruption for there is no sin I say that ingrosseth the heart so much there is no sin that casteth so much shame in the face and takes off the Spirit in all his approaches to God as this Then these be the Rules that I commend to your consideration if you would keep close Communion with God Be much in the use of all Ordinances walk in a continual fear least God should withdraw himself from them Grow in your conformity and you shall grow in your Communion Observe especially those times when God draweth neer to you And in a special manner take care to keep your selves from your own iniquity To enforce this exhortation take these few considerations First you may draw neer to God by reason of the neer Relations in which you stand to him the great promises of the Gospel be personal promises I will be thy God and give thee my Son and my Spirit Now when God makes over himself by Covenant unto the creature it s a great ground of our coming to him had he said I will be to thee a Father or a Husband c. it would have but carried with it all the comforts that could have been in such a relation but when he saith I will be thy God that is tant us quantus est what ever there is in God shall be as truly thine for thy good as it is his for his own glory my mercy to pardon thee my power to perfect thee my wisdom to direct thee my grace to heal thee my glory to crown thee and therefore David called him the God of my mercy and the God of my life and your interest in him may be a great encouragement to you to draw neer to him Secondly the more a man draws neer to God the more communion he hath with him
exceeding great and precious promises of which by their holy calling they did partake in ver 16.17,18 having therefore these he exhorts them to look upon them either as meâ—… of holiness or as motives to perfecting holiness 〈◊〉 the fear of God First as means of holiness the whole word of God is operative and doth produce real effects I speak the word saith Christ but my Father in heaven doth the works Ioh. 14.10 therefore not a word spoken but the word written Heb. 3.8,9 leaving upon the soul answerable dispositions not barely an informing but a transforming word 2 Cor. 3.13 a word ingrafted the change of the stock into its own nature not a transient Iames 1.21 but an abiding word 1 Pet. 1.25 if you receive these promises aright they will thus make you partakers of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 4.4 Holiness here as Cameron hath interpreted Cameron ad modum creaturae c. in blessedness hereafter having such promises that will transform you Matth. 11.5 the blind receive their sight c. and the Gospel is preached to the poor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the poor are Evangelized that is both to the poor is the Gospelpreached and the poor receive the Gospel and be transformed thereinto the poor are Evangelized therefore cleanse your selves perfecting holiness Secondly As motives to holiness and that considered three waies either First As an honour put upon a man and dignity should engage a man to duty monstrosa res est gradus summus animus Infimus Nehem. 6.11 Dan. 4.17 therefore having such promises let us cleanse our selves and stand upon our dignitie as they did Secondly as an assurance that whatsoever God promised he will also accomplish for omne promissum cadit in debitum therefore Matth. 10.7 it is said there he will perform his truth to Jacob and his mercy to Abraham The promises it is true their ground is now in fieri but it is truth in facto â—sse surely therefore faithful is he that hath promised and will also do it Having therefore such promises let us cleanse our selves c. Thirdly as rewards for so it is true most of the promises are rewards for services going before and as the Lord in his punishments doth usually punish sin with sin so in the waies of mercy he doth usually reward grace with grace to him that hath shall given for recte fecisse merce est and knowing that a godly man desires no greater reward but even that which comes in keeping the Commandment and the Lord doth proportion the reward unto the work he will reward every one according to the works here For as hereafter in glory so he doth it in the life that now is answerable to a mans service in reference to the promises such shall the reward from the promise be For he will not forget any of the works and labour of Love it shall not be in vain in the Lord. Having therefore such promises let us cleanse our selves c. Here then is first a duty pressed which is perfect sanctification which consists of two parts 1. Perfect cleansing 2. Perfect holiness Secondly here is the means and motive unto both sanctifying truths Having such promises secondly sanctifying graces in the fear of God The Observations that might be gathered are divers as Observ 1. First Sin is filthyness that is First it includeth in it all loathsom evil there is malum turpe as well as malum triste Secondly it is so in its essence for it is in the abstract abstractum denot at essentiam Observ 2. Secondly it is an universal defilement both of life and spirit it is an over-spreading leprosie so that men have not only fleshly members but also fleshly minds 2 Col 18. Vainly puft up by his fleshly mind Observ 3. Thirdly this universal defilement remains in a great measure even in those that have believed through grace they must cleanse themselves also they have not already attained neither are they also perfect Phil. 3.12 the Apostle saith Not as though I had already attained neither was already perfect c. But I shall pass these by and pitch only on those things which the Apostle doth in these words mainly intend which is to press them to perfect sanctification having promises made unto them of the great perfection the Doctrine which we shall therefore speak is this Doctrine As perfect holiness hereafter shall be the Christians Crown so striving to perfection here is the Christians duty perfecting holiness in the fear of God Here I will shew you two things First what holiness is Secondly what perfection of holiness is and so come to prove this point First to begin with the first What holiness is The holiness of God being absolute and independent as all his other Excellencies are cannot as I conceive consist in relation but must be an absolute and positive thing which I conceive to be nothing else but the purity of the divine nature but now holiness in the creature being a dependent excellency having its principle from another and its pattern in another that is in God and in the Law it must consist in conformity unto another as the truth and goodness of the creature doth so that the holiness of the creature is nothing else but a conformity of the creature unto the purity of God manifested in his Law I do not say the holiness of God as in himself but the holiness of God as in the Law in conformity whereto the holiness of the creature doth consist Before the fall the holiness required was only positive consisting in a conformity to the duty commanded but since sin there must be a cleansing from the sins forbid it was before only a conformity to the precept but since it is a conformity to the holiness of God in the prohibition also so that as in the Justification of a sinner there is more required then was required to justifie the Angels or Adam in innocency not only a doing the duty but a suffering the curse so in the sanctification of a sinner also there is more required to make us holy then there was to make Adam holy It is not now barely a creation of the new man but also a mortification of the old and a destroying of the body of sin not only sanctification and dedication to what is holy but a purification and separation from what is unclean therefore here the Apostle sets down both parts of holiness purification and dedication a cleansing of a mans self from all filthyness and then a perfecting holiness in the fear of God Secondly the perfection of holiness therefore consists in three things 1. Perfectio gradus when corruption is perfectly cleansed and all filthiness and in all degrees and in all faculties both of the flesh and of the spirit 2. Perfectio essentin when grace hath attained its full pitch unto which it is appointed the measure of the age of the stature of Christs fulness to all might in every grace
fallen upon all the Nations round about because they saw that God did fight for them the Lord hath gone before them and the God of Israel was their rereward and therefore he hath given them the necks of their enemies and no weapon formed against them hath prospered every tongue that did rise up in judgement against them hath he condemned but if this state shall now fall in love with her own beauty and greatness and shall say this is Babel that I have built and my hands have gathered the riches of the Nations if this state shall now trust in an arm of flesh and say wee 'l have no more care of the truths of God and the Ordinances of God they are upon Civil and Politick respects that we stand the Lord will surely depart from them if they shall say we are Lords we will come no more at thee their Rock will sell them their wonted presence will depart from them and the Lord will take pleasure to bring them down whom he hath before exalted and to destroy them after he hath done them good 3 Yet for the further opening of this point it is necessary that we discover what it is for a person or people to forsake the Lord and what it is for God to forsake them and when he is said in Scripture so to do First What it is to forsake God and when the Lord is said to be forsaken First they that forsake the Law and truths of God forsake God wicked men that live without God are described by Psa 119 5â— forsaking the Law of God the wicked that forsake thy Law Jer. 9.13 they have forsaken my Law which I set before them and have walked after the imaginations of their own hearts and after Baalim which their fathers taught them c. For it is God that we have to do with in the word the word is mighty Heb. 9.12 13. and all things are open and naked before him with whom we have to do therefore the word hath as it were the properties of God attributed unto it it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a discerner of the secret thoughts and intents of the heart which belong unto God onely but it is not from the power of the word alone but from the presence of God therein for in the word it is him with whom we have to do therefore if in the word we have to do with God then they that do forsake the word of God forsake God and men do forsake the Law of God first when they depart from the foundation there is a twofold foundation that the Sâ—ripture holds forth fundamentum doctrinae personae its true a personal foundation can no man lay any other then what is laid Jesus Christ but there is also a doctrinal foundation which is called the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Eph. 2.20 and this is that pattern of wholsome words that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that form of Doctrine and that which the Apostle mentions of the foundation which he himself hath laid Heb. 6.1 and this the Church of Christ in the purest times shall not depart from for Rev. 21.14 the walls of the City shall have twelve foundations and upon them written the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb c. that Antient standing of Truth let it be preserved and all superstructures let them tend to the cleering and establishment and not to the subverting of them let men build as high as they can so as they hold the foundation sit verè profectus fidei non permutatio Lyren And in this the people of God have been always fearful quo quis sanctior eo promtior novellis adinventionibus contraire c. we are now quite contrary the more holy any man seems to be the more open hâ—s ears are and the more ready he is to close with every novelty or call all into question Satans great design in this age is to keep all men in uncertainties two ways Satan hath one way in the time of peace and another in the time of persecution in the one cogit homines negare Christum in the other docet Austin he doth force them in the one he doth teach them in the other but his great aym is at fundamentals for there is such a connexion of these that a man cannot deny one but he overthrows all the rest It was the rule that Luther gave Spiritus Sanctus scepticus non est and therefore it is to be feared that under these great pretences of the Spirit there is very little of the Spirit of Christ in men when it tends to Scepticism not to Christianity Secondly Men forsake the Law by putting false interpretations for he that hath not the spiritual and true sense of the Law is without the Law Rom. 7.9 Psal 11â—… and so men are said to make void the Law of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is not Palam ex professo but it is fecretly under hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye have unlorded the Law by your traditions and they that take away the mind of the Law they do destroy the Law and this is the greatest sacriledge in the world men are called by Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They that do steale away the sense of the Scripture from the words of the Scripture and take them not according to the scope of the place or the intention of the spirit of God in them but in Allegories and mystical senses now this way and then another as it chimes into their fancies We blame the Papists for making of the Scripture a nose of wax if ever it were so it is so made by many of our Teachers at this day and by this means it shall serve to usher in and to patronage any invention that our own hearts can present unto us there are great pretences of love now held forth that men should love one another though they differ in opinion upon the point of saintship c. the same thing we also say and press that we love one another but let it be with the Apostles assertion 2 Ioh. 6. This is love that we walk after his Commandments and let it be also with the Apostles Injunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 truth it in love Eph. 4.15 steal not away Truth from us under the shews and pretences of love in vain have the endeavours of Conciliators been that have sought to unite men whose principles in respect of Truth were contrary It is a great honor to be as Nazian of Athanasius he was dissentientibus magnes c. but yet so as we are to consider that Truth is primo-primum in Religione without which all motives unto union though in a moral construction good and coming from a good intention will never prove in any measure effectual it is speaking Truth in love that will onely make men grow up into one body in the Lord and it was the dishonor of that great
with Christ for the term of vocation is union they were never cut off from their old root and never had experience of an ingrafting work never knew what it was to be translated Col. 1.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verbum deductum ab iis qui colonias transferunt e natali solo Its a Metaphor taken from transplanting of Colonies They are in him by profession only without any real implantation for Christ as he is a vine upon earth has in him many unfruitfull branches though as he is a head in Heaven so he hath no dead members and this is the great ground of all barrenness and so all that a man doth is but building upon the sand when it flows not from Christ through the union of faith which is the ground of all fruitfulness Non semper ore non semper meditor sed vestio dormio bibo comedo c. Haec omnia si in fide fiant tanquam recte facta divino judicio approbantur As are my prayers so my eating drinking sleeping and clothing my self they are all Luther fruit abounding to my account in Christ Luther Gen. 33. Secondly he gives them up unto a heedless spirit in the things of God so much of Religion as shall uphold a form they take up but they regard not the keeping of their hearts and the approving of themselves unto God in secret there is a cultus conscientiae that is wholly neglected 2 Kin. 10.31 But Jehn took no heed to walk in the Law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart what shew so ever they make of Religion and how great so ever their pretences are yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 2.3 They neglect or they care not for the salvation that is offered therein Bernard Vita uniuscujusque non cognoscitur nisi in conscientia Bernard A mans life may seem as fair in a hypocrite and as fruitful as in a godly man but it is the inward frame of the heart and the constant care of that in which Religion doth consist and if a man do duties with a Spirit of inadvertency they are none of them fruits but leaves and make way for a judicial barrenness Thirdly he gives them up unto new opinions and these do ingross the heart and take up the strength of the man by contests of this nature whereas the kingdom of God consists not in meat and drink Rom. 14.17 and when men are given up to this then Hylar quas volumus doctrinas coaptamus Hylar That must go for true doctrine which is agreeable to their apprehensions and there is more pains taken in contending for and in maintaining of such opinions and things which we have made our own then there is about knowing or practising all the Truths of Christ and the duties of godliness besides and so the whole practice of godliness is neglected while the man is sinfully busied in novelties and unpractical curiosities and so urbem produnt dum castella defendunt when as in absoluto facili stat aternitas The things necessary to salvation are easie and as for lesser disputes be not much in them say Elias cum veniet Let us leave this unto the day of Resurrection which will declare of what sort every mans work is whither it be gold or silver hay or stubble and the truth is this is a grave in which Satan hath buried many a soul causing men to fall in love with their own births and apprehensions and thereby to take them off from the things which are of eternal concernment in the things of God which turn men commonly from Idolatry to Heresie Fourthly the Lord gives them up to have their thoughts set much upon other things as it was with the thorny ground the thorns sucking in the strength of the soil choaked the seed Matth. 13. One is taken up about getting an estate and another about raising a building of honor and another he is busied in the great affairs of a Commonwealth and he talks of making of Laws defeating of enemies saving of Kingdoms c. and in the mean while he himself is lost Matth. 7 22. There is a man busie preaching to others whilst he himself is a castaway and casting out devils out of other mens bodies when he himself is all the while in his inward man possessed of the devil and so while he is made a keeper of the vineyard he neglect to keep his own vine Cant. 1.6 And so many a great Statesman gives the same accompt at his death as Luther brings in Cicero complaining Luther Olim frustra me sapientem putatum vocem indignationis desperationis plenissâ—mam c. So that men never consider by their gifts and places and powers they bear fruit among men and be usefull to a Civil State they never think of being useful to the people of God and saving of their own souls but it s one thing to live fruitful towards God and another to be thought so by men as it s said of Jeroboams son There was found some good thing in him towards the Lord God of Israel Therefore consider that may be good among men which is not good towards the Lord God of Israel Fifthly After this the oath of God passes on the man there is a swearing in his wrath against men now as there was against Israel of old Hebrews 3. and therefore we also must take heed for this is the most dreadfull Judgement can come among men and this oath though it be secret yet it hath this effect that the Spirit of God in the common works and gifts is by degrees withdrawn for though there be a decree that passeth upon every mans eternal estate as an act of the Soveraignty of God Iacob have I loved and Esau have I hated and the foundation of God remains sure the Lord knows who are his yet there are many strivings of the spirit of God about a mans eternal estate before the Lord swear in his wrath he shall never enter into his rest for my spirit shall strive with that man no more Gen. 6.3 for as the Lord will not always suffer his Ministers to speak in vain therefore sometimes he saith they shall be a reprover unto such a people no more and therefore he will change the orb in which the stars sometimes shine he that hath them in his right hand so he will not always suffer his spirit to strive in vain and therefore he doth call home this Spirit as his extraordinary Embassador when he prepares open war against that man and all Treaties of peace are at an end the Lord will treat with him about the matter of reconciliation no more Sixthly after this there comes upon a man from the Lord as a fruit of this oath a spirit of slumber and a heart that cannot repent Isa 29.10 the word in the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same that 's used of Adam when the Lord took out his rib
bosom to mourn with them and have compassion over them and this he is to do not only for some of the great ones but he is to do it impartially over all the flock For God makes no difference in respect of any mans title or place but he that hath the best heart is the best man in Gods account and in Church members those should be esteemed by us that have the greatest graces not the greatest places Fourthly it is the Pastors duty if any man in the Church walk disorderly or inordinately he is to mourn for them Jer. 13.17 My soul shall weep in secret for your pride and Phil. 3.18 Now I tell you weeping c. Their miscarriage should be to him as the errors of a child unto a tender Father he should bewail them with bitterness to consider how they thereby go about to destroy themselves should exceedingly affect the Pastor as Christ when he beheld Ierusalems sins he wept over it and many times there is nothing left for a minister to do for a person but to shed tears Secondly he is to admonish them and that authoritatively â— Thes 5.12 Know them which labour amongst you and are over you and admonish you in the Lord that is by vertue of the authority that is commited unto me by Christ I do admonish you in the Lord and this is to do a thing in the name of the Lord Iesus Christ 1 Cor. 5.4 Yea reprove them sharply and so Paul doth propose it unto the Corinthians Whither he should come to them with the rod or in the spirit of meckness Thirdly if nothing else will do they must together with the Church in which they are have the main hand they are to stir them up to cast out such a person and to represent it to the Church according to the power that is committed unto them by Christ for the Churches edification Rev. 2.3 they must not bear them that be evil they must be cast out they should look upon it as their Burthen that any amongst them should deserve to be cast out from the Church yet they must do their duty this is the rule that they have over you in the Lord Heb. 13.17 Fifthly they must walk as examples to the flock 1 Pet. 5.3 Go before them in a holy life 2 John 10. it is said Christ is the Shepherd and he goes before the sheep and his sheep do follow him the meaning is he went before them in a holy conversation for he hath in all things given us an example a Copy to write after that we should walk as he hath walked Pastors should be a living Scripture and walking Bibles more then any other men and yet ye are to take this as a rule be you followers of us as we are of Christ and mark them who so walketh as they have us for an example Philip. 3.17 Secondly for the dispositions with which all these duties are to be done which I will lay down in six particulars First from a tender love and care God doth put this care of the flock unto those whom he calls to be their Over-seers in mercy and he doth give them graces sutable Pastors graces 2 Cor. 8.16 God did put the same care into the heart of Titus Phil. 2.26 Epaphroditus that was their Pastor he doth long for them exceedingly and his love was so great that he would not have them so much as grieved and therefore he was sorry that they had heard that he had been sick there was in the heart of our Lord Christ a Law of love written thy Law is in the middle of my bowels as there should be a love amongst the members so in a special manner in those that are Pastors and Fathers to a people their bowels should yern over them Secondly all this is to be done with the spirit of meekness in a way of Ministry and not in a way of Majesty For we are but your servants for Christs sake and we are not to rule as Lords over Gods heritage 1 Pet. 5.3 and therefore pride and imperiousness must be avoided for all that we have to do is by the word and we can rule no other way Thirdly all things must be done without self-respects and to make a gain of the people we must feed the flock not for filthy lucres sake that though the Pastor is to eat of the milk of the flocks and though it be the peoples duty 1 Cor. 9.14 God hath ordained that they should yet this is not to be the end propounded by the Minister or Pastor unto themselves for them to have such a low end as this put me into the Priests office that I may eat a piece of bread no we are to seek you and not yours and to expect our crown of glory at the appearing of the great Shepherd of the sheep 1 Pet. 5.9 Fourthly it must be with faith and an expectation that God will in a special manner bless their endeavours and labours unto that people over which God hath put them over which the holy Ghost hath made them overseers for with the call of God there doth go the blessing of God and if God do put a man into any office he may expect a blessing upon him in that imployment he doth call Christ and he doth promise him the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand and Christ sends forth the Apostles and he promises to be with them to the end of the world Math. 28.19 the people are to expect a greater blessing by them because God hath put them over them Heb. 13.17 they watch for your souls So the Ministers also that go forth with faith to preach the Gospel the Lord will make them a blessing to the people where he sends them Fifthly it must be done as those that give an account for your souls that are the people committed to his care Heb. 13.17 there are great accounts that men have to give for talents and opportunities of doing good and of Riches that God hath entrusted them with and Honours and the day of grace but the greatest account is that of souls which are precious unto all those to whom their own souls are precious and as the Lord Jesus himself comes in at the last day before the Father Here am I and the children that thou hast given me Heb. 2.13 So also this will be the work of the Ministry at the last day they will give an account of your souls O what a great thing is it for a Minister to be able to say I prayed for such a soul I instructed such a soul he was blind before and God used me as an Instrument to convey light to him I watched over such a soul for it is your souls only that we have to do with all and its only with reference to your souls that we watch over you Sixthly the Pastors of a people do their duty as those whose crown of glory it will be at the last day
for us to deliver our flock well into the hands of the great Shepherd at the last day that he hath betrusted them with 1 Thes 2.19.20 This is our glory and Crown of rejoycing yea in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming c. to see their graces thrive their souls prosper Christ gloried in it he sees the Travel of his soul and is satisfied and it is a great satisfaction unto poor Ministers in this particular also and having given their charge safe into the hands of Christ they shall then lay down the burden of their office and they and their flock shall be made happy together and though the particular relation shall cease between them yet shall they take more special comfort and communion one with another as Saints in glory for ever their relation that they had to each other here will sweeten their glory hereafter Secondly Now to make up this Order of the Gospel also there is a duty that the Members do owe unto their Pastors that are in this manner chosen by them and they are these First it is the peoples duty to pray for them as those that God sets in authority over them if your Pastor prays for you as being over you you should also pray for him as being over you First pray for their gifts and abilities to go through their duty the whole compass of it Eph. 6.10 and for me saies the Apostle that utterance may be given unto me Secondly for their preservation Rom. 15.30 That you strive together in prayers that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea Thirdly pray that they may have a sanctified use of all their afflictions and of all Gods dispensations Phil. 1.19 I know that this also shall turn to my salvation through your prayers when the prayers of Pastor and people meet together at the Throne of grace each for other it is exceeding acceptable to God Secondly honour them in your hearts let it be answerable to the honour Christ hath given them in the Congregation 1 Thes 5.13 Know them and esteem them highly in love for their works sake they are to look upon themselves as your servants and to look upon you as the Lords heritage and that they are not Lords of the flock they are not to know in that respect their own honour as Moses his face did shine it was seen of others but not of himself but yet there is an honour that is due from you unto them also Thirdly submit unto them or be perswaded by them Heb. 13.17 Attend upon their ministrie as those from whom you may expect a special blessing though it may be they may not have such great parts and gifts as others yet they are those that God hath set over you and do you submit to them though they be in outward respects far inferiour unto you yet as they are Pastors so they stand in Christs stead for remember they are so by an Institution and so disobedience unto them speaking in the name of Christ is a disobedience unto Christ he that hears you hears me and he that despiseth you despiseth me it is a very dangerous thing for a people to have their Minister go to God against them and bewail the contempt that is put upon them and say Lord thou hast sent me to a rebellious and gain saying people Christ says to such a one Thou shalt kick the dust of thy feet against them it will be easier for Sodom then it will be for that man in the day of Judgement Fourthly encourage his labours strengthen his hands stand by him look upon your selves as concerned in all things that befall him Phil. 2.26 Epaphroditus was sick and they were very sensible of it though he were absent from them and he was willing to venture his life for the Churches service and indeed the labour is burdensom and continual do what you may to make it easie to him that he may undergo it with cheerfulness For if he give up his account with grief it will be unprofitable for you Heb. 13.17 So if he do his work with grief also it will be as unprofitable to you as uncomfortable to him Fifthly admonish him of what evil so ever you see in him if he do not walk with a right foot towards the Gospel or be negligent in the performing of his office say to him Take heed to thy Ministry Col. 4.17 It were a misery for the greatest officer to be exempted from that ordinance of admonition which is a mercy to the meanest member and yet be careful do not take up every flying report against him for there are no men so subject to the scourge of the Tongue as they are but God as he will wipe all tears from their eyes will also wipe off all blots from their name Sixthly there is a supply which you are to make to their wants and it is your duty to administer unto them of your substance according to your ability Gal. 6.6 You must make him partaker of all good things First you must do it in obedience as an Ordinance of God Secondly it must be given proportionably to a mans ability for it must be in all good things Thirdly not to think much of what you give them if the ministers of the Gospel sow spiritual things why should we count it a great matter if we let them reap of our carnal things these things which are the truths that the Gospel holds forth as the Lord hath enabled me I have endeavoured to give every one their portion both Pastor and people what remains further in relation to both as God gives opportunity I shall by his assistance set before you I shall now beg your prayers that the Lord would teach me how to go in and out before you that so I may be given you in mercy and not in Judgement Church-Officers According to Institution Preached at the Churches choosing of Officers HEB. 13.17 Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your souls as they that must give an account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you THE Church of Christ is sometimes called The Tabernacle Rev. 11.1 c. And as in the Tabernacle all was by Institution done according to a pattern both Ordinances and Officers so it must be in the Church of God the spiritual Tabernacle of God amongst men 1 Cor. 12.4,5,6 There are three things that are by the Lord exceedingly differenced in the Church first there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all have not the same gifts but the Lord divideth them according as he will Secondly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there are diversities of Offices all the members in a Church have not one and the same office or ministery or labour Thirdly there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 different effects of those offices and gifts men labour in them with a different fruit and
come to Application First I desire to shew you what it is for a man to draw neer to God by sin every man he is departed from God the first design of sin is to draw a man away 1 Iam. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the further a man goes in a way of sinning the further he doth depart from God Inde 18. and all the lustings of their heart are ungodly lusts In this respect it is said the Prodigal went into a far Country Eph. 2.17 Now there is by reason of sin a double distance of enmity and estrangement The Apostle in Col. 1.21 puts them both together VVe are strangers and enemies in our minds through evil works now answerable to this double distance so must our returning to God be there must be a returning by reconciliation to take away your enmity and by Communion to take away your estrangement for Christs business is to bring us back unto God again 1 Pet. 3.18 First for Reconciliation that is not in Scripture called drawing neer so much as being made neer Eph. 2.17 You are made neer that were a far off by the blood of Christ so that by Reconciliation a man is put into a state of neerness and proquinquity That is the first thing whereby the creature returns to God but now being made neer being put into a state of union then Secondly The soul comes to draw neer that is the estrangement must be removed which is done by communion to exercise acts of communion observe it I pray I say a man must first be put into a state of neerness and made neer before ever he can exercise acts of communion and then draw neer Now this drawing neer is for a soul to come to God from day to day to improve his interest in him grow into more and more acquaintance and familiarity with him and you shall find that when a man is once brought into a state of union then the Lord calls him alwaies unto fellowship Open unto me my Love my Sister and my Spouse there are continual knocking 's of the Lord as for a further entrance there is a principle in us alwaies drawing back to perdition and you shall find that there is a Spirit within alwaies calling to draw neer unto God the Bride saith come and the Spirit saith come the Spirit in the Bride There is a great deal of distance between God and the best of the Saints for 2 Cor. 5. while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. So Ignatius of old he saith Aqua viva in me intrinsecus dicit veni ad Patrem that there was a living voice within him that alwaies called upon him And I beseech you consider a soul that is once put into a state of communion and hath tasted what it is to draw neer to God he desires a daily communion he is never neer enough he doth continually set it as a seal upon the heart When a man is once by reconciliation put into a state of neerness then in all Ordinances in all waies of obedience in his exercise of all graces the soul is said to draw neer that is to act and increase his fellowship and communion with God This I conceive to be the meaning of that expression Ioh 22.21 Acquaint thy self with God and be at peace so goodness shall come unto thee acquaint thy self with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assuesce te cum illo it is in the Hebrew and is rendred by some accustom thy self to be with him a daily commerce with God and an accustoming of a mans self with fellowship and communion with him this is properly to draw neer So that as Reconciliation taketh away your enmity so communion takes away your estrangement But you will say to me Can a creature draw neer to God if you look upon man in his natural distance God is in heaven you are upon earth can there be a drawing neer between finite and infinite cna finite and infinite have fellowship nay look upon man in his moral distance as a sinner and so can there be agreement between light and darkness can righteousness and unrighteousness have fellowship Surely God is a consuming fire and who can dwell who can engage his heart to draw neer to him Now give me leave I beseech you to clear this to you by proposing to you this consideration There is a two-fold state of a sinner There are some sinners that are in a state of estrangement unto God and whosoever you be that are here present the enmity of whose nature is not yet taken away and destroyed by a work of Reconciliation I say to you whatsoever you be you cannot draw neer to God you may have communion with duties you may pray you may hear but you can never have fellowship with God in those duties and that upon a double ground First because the enmity of your nature remains and two cannot walk together unless they be agreed and surely the neerer such a soul comes to God in any duty wherein Gods people approach to him the more God is provoked against him and the more he is estranged from him a strange expression that of the Prophet I saw him in Gilgal there I held my peace Gilgal was the place of worship the neerer any man comes the more a mans heart riseth against him and the more enmity doth encrease I saw him in Gilgal and there I held my peace you cannot draw neer to God the enmity of your natures still remains You cannot draw neer to God also Secondly because you have another society your fellowship is with unfruitful works of darkness and the fellowship the amity and love of the world is enmity unto God I remember Augustine complains concerning himself in the daies of his unregenerate condition speaking of the pride of the lusts of his Spirit Ecce hi sunt amici quibus consului quibus credidi these were the companions that I conversed with these were my friends and these were my Counsellors Now my Beloved whosoever he be that hath Communion with the unfruitful works of darkness it is no wonder if that man cannot draw neer to God I have told you already and I desire you would lay it to heart you must be made neer or else you can never draw neer you must be in a state of communion or else you can never have fellowship with God That is the first thing But there are a second sort of sinners that are made neer by the blood of Christ and these though God be in heaven and they are upon earth though they be sinners and the Lord be holiness it self nay though they in their own apprehensions shall say as Hooper once did Lord thou art Heaven I am Hell yet they may draw neer to him and that upon these six grounds I beseech you observe them A sinner put into a state of communion may upon these grounds draw neer to God The first is Gods
electing love the Lord hath separated unto himself the man that is Godly Psal 4.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is in the Hebrew he hath gloriously and miraculously wonderfully separated to himself into fellowship not only to himself for service but to himself for communion and what is the ground because you are predestinated unto followship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My Beloved when you all fell from God as well as the Apostate Angels might not the Lord have left you in the same condition with them and your doom should have been cursed and therefore cursed because you must depart but if the Lord had been pleased to have been reconciled if he had said to you as David did concerning Absolom bring the young man home but let him returne to his own house and let him never see my face if the Lord should have said I will not remember their evil against them to destroy them but they shall never see my face more they shall be estranged to me for ever you would have said this had been a mercie even your preservation but this doth not satisfie Electing love there is a double end that electing-love aims at 2 Luke 14. it is peace and good will not only Reconciliation but Communion that God may take the creature into fellowship with himself and empty himself as I may so speak with reverence into the bosom of the creature Be pleased now to consider you may then draw neer to God upon this ground of Gods electing love Secondly you may draw neer to God grounded upon the nature of the Covenant of grace under which you stand My Beloved God deals with all mankind in a Covenant-way and according unto the Covenant under which he standeth so are all Gods dispensations towards him and to that end the Lord hath made a double Covenant with a double head The first Covenant was made with the first Adam the second Covenant with the second Adam and therefore God looks upon all mankind as if there were but two men in the world 1 Cor. 15.47 The first man was of the earth earthly the second man is the Lord from Heaven Heavenly God looks upon all mankind as coming under these two heads the first Adam and the second Adam Now the Covenant of grace which the Lord hath established it hath a double propertie First it is faedus amicitiae a Covenant of friendship the Lord doth take Abram as his friend Abram my friend James 2.23 Now the School-men tell us of two sorts of relations relatio disquiparantiae connotat dominium that notes subjection and dominion as between a King and a subject a master and a servant there is not so properly communion and relatio aequiparantiae quae denotat Communionem now the proper end of friendship is fellowship for a mans friend is as his own soul and the Covenant of grace is a Covenant of fellowship therefore they may draw neer unto him being taken by God into a Covenant of friendship 2ly the Covenant of grace is a matrimonial Covenant faedus Conjugale I betrothed her in Hos 2.9 you knowin this is the neerest Communion the surest oneness in this relation beyond al other in the world the greatest friendship by vertue of an Ordinance two made one One that was heretofore a stranger shall be dearer then Father or Mother and this voluntary relation by consent shall by vertue of the Ordinance of God be more powerful then a natural relation and a man shall leave Father and Mother and cleave to his wife and if there be this power in an Ordinance of God that is but civil what efficacy shall divine Ordinances and this spiritual Covenant have Surely thou shall lie in his bosom and have the more intimate and full communion with him for ever Now when the Lord will set forth the neer Communion that his people may have with him by this Covenant this he calls a Matrimonial Covenant Thirdly you may draw neer to God grounded upon your union with the Lord Jesus Christ The Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 6.17 that he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit and by that Spriit we have access to the Father Eph. 3.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Apostle tells that our way to God is through him we have by Jesus Christ our manuduction he is the great Favourite that leads us in by the hand into the presence of the Father Eph. 2.18 through him we have an entrance to the Father by one Spirit Christ is not only medium reconciliationis but he is medium communionis also by his satisfaction the one by his intercession the other Jesus Christ my Beloved hath a double reference to us in the work of satisfaction he is the means of Reconciliation but in all our approaches unto God being reconciled Christ is the medium he it is by whom we have Communion with the Lord. Besides In the fourth place you may draw neer to God because of your conformity to him for we are made partakers of the divine nature 1 Pet. 1.4 and we live the life of God Eph. 4.18 and we have his Image restored 1 Cor. 15.49 Conformity is the ground of communion wheresoever it is Joh. 3.6 and the more Conformity the more Communion we have and when your Conformity shall be perfected so shall your communion be Take that place and it is a choice Scripture in that Zach. 3.7 If thou wilt obey my words keep my charge I will give thee places to walk in among those that stand by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inter stantes illos who are these Those interpreters conceive to be Angels So Drusius Post mortem anima tua in chorum recipietur c. the Angels and the Saints they are taken into neerest communion So Calvin so that the more Conformity there is the more a man obeyeth God and the more he keepeth Gods charges the more the Lord will delight to give him places to walk in amongst those that stand by Nay In the fifth place you may draw neer to God for though God be in Heaven you may ascend and the soul may be above in Heaven when the body is walking here below there is a double way of the souls assent either in contemplation or affection In contemplation the soul may ascend John in Rev. 4. said I saw a door opened in Heaven and a voice said Come up hither John in his body ascended not but John in contemplation of his heart was above Col. 3 4. A man is worth as much as his love is worth Ezekiel when he was in Babylon by the River Chebar yet he saith the Spirit of God carried him in the visions of God to Ierusalem Ezek. 8.3 in his contemplation at Ierusalem and yet notwithstanding in his body in Babylon by the River Chebar And the soul may ascend in its affection Mat. 6.21 Where a mans treasure is there will his heart be and surely where a mans heart is there is his happiness
Alamoth pro occultis for Gods hidden ones Psal 46.1 If the Saints are in the pit in which there is nowater now turn to your strong holds ye prisoners of hope satis praesidii in uno Deo Secondly Satan being the God of this world he doth alwaies rule the present world which God hath redeemed the Saints from Gal. 1.4 And the children of disobedience walk in the course of the present world The world is cast into variety of shapes but into what form soever the present evil world is cast into Satan is the god of the world and he doth apply himself to rule the world under all the forms into which the Lord doth cast it And therefore Hier om saith wel Erras mi frater erras si putas unquam Christum persecutione non pati c. If the world be Pagan Satan rules in the great Red Dragon and so brings the Saints into their time of straits If the face of the world change and it turn Christian then Satan rules also in that and casts out a flood after the woman If that Flood be dryed up then Anti-christ doth arise and he rules in him as a false Prophet and afterwards 2 Tim. 3.1,2 If a form of godliness be brought in under that he will rule and men be lovers of their own selves proud boasters treacherous high minded and despisers of those that are good and therefore there must needs be straits in all estates that shall await the Saints of God Thirdly the more spiritual light grows the greater are the straits that the people of God are brought into First because the more are their consciences seared 1 Tim. 4.2 It is not a cold Iron that will seare the Conscience but when there is evident clear convincing light and men be told of it and yet wil go against it their Consciences are seared by it and in Judgement they are given over unto a reprobate mind Secondly the more they are exasperated against the Truths of God because they do come nearer unto the sin against the Holy Ghost which is the Devils sin and it doth consist in malice upon a high and a rais'd light No men were so cruel as the Pharisees that did sin against the Holy Ghost and therefore if prophecying in sackcloth and ashes would satisfie the lusts of men in times past now killing is not sufficient but their dead bodies shall not be buried to express their former malice and rage against them and therefore in the latter times the straits of the people of God must needs be greater then ever they have been in times past Fourthly God wil by this make way for an utter ruin of the Churches Enemies the greater straits they do bring the Saints into the nearer is their destruction and the sooner will God arise I have seen the affliction of my people that are in Aegypt and I have heard their cry For the Churches Enemies must perish by the Churches hand and therefore they are said to be a cup of trembling and a burthe some stone The Church brought that mighty people into a condition fit to be consumed Jerusalem was to them a cup of trembling now they think to drink it off and it proves their poyson and when they have brought them to extremity that they thought all had been sure then they themselves perish It 's by the Churches straits that the Enemies are ruinâ—d When the ploughers plowd upon their backs and made long their furrows then will the Lord cut the cords of the wicked Psal 129.3 The Use is for Consolation to all the people of God and this I will reduce unto three Questions First with what mind God doth bring his people into straits What the thoughts of God are towards them when he doth it And here we shall see that God thinks thoughts of peace to them all the while and not of evil Jer. 29.11 Secondly in what measure will the Lord do it Thirdly unto what end For the first With what mind does the Lord bring his people into straits What are the thoughts of God towards them when he doth it First he doth it from a principle of Love and their Afflictions are grounded on the Second Covenant as their Mercies are other mens afflictions are from the First Covenant as a fruit of the Curse Mich. 7.9 the Church saies there I will bear the indignation of the Lord c. Why is God in indignation with his own people indeed he is angry with the wicked every day There is a double anger of God simplex redundans in personam he is angry at his peoples sins but yet he loves their persons and he afflicts them from a principle of faithfulness Psal 119.75 For he hath covenanted to keep them from the evil of the world he is to preserve them unto his heavenly Kingdom and he does as I may say sometimetimes preserve them in Salt and somtimes in Sugar as we use to doe with some things that we would preserve Secondly God looks upon your suffering as the suffering of Christ the Saints being one with him their services are Christs and their sufferings are Christs they bear fruit in him they live in him Col. 1.24 So they fill up what is behind of the sufferings of Christ Thirdly whilst he doth smite them he is afflicted with them in all their afflictions he is afflicted though Christ be in heaven yet he has the same nature there that he had here and he stands in the same relation to us now he is in glory that he did here he is not ashamed to call us brethren and therefore his compassion still remains Jer. 31.22 Since I spake against him I remembred him still my bowels are troubled for him The heart of God goes out unto all the Saints in their afflictions Fourthly whilst he doth afflict them he doth wait to be gracious Isa 30.18 He doth not defer deliverance because he is not willing to bestow it but because his people are not prepared for it that 's the reason they are so long out of glory Col. 1.12 because they are not yet meet to be partakers of the Inheritance with the Saints in life and to make them so he doth sit by as a Refiner and he will only purge away their dross by their afflictions Fifthly all the while they are in straits he doth take special notice of their sufferings and he is deeply displeas'd with the Instruments that afflict his people and he is preparing for their ruin all the while for he takes special notice of their wrong Rev. 2.2 I know thy work and thy labour and thy patience c. Exo. 3.7 I know their sorrows He hath a bottle for their tears Secondly he is deeply displeased with the Instruments Zach. 1.15 He sent his people into Babylon but yet I am sore displeased with the heathen I was but a little displeased and they helped forward the affliction So that whilst God doth use them as the rod of his anger
power Rev. 9. that though they had faces like men and the teeth of Lyons a great shew of meekness and yet abundance of stoutness and courage joyned with success in all their undertakings for they were crowned Locusts yet they had a sting in their tails diabolicam pseudo-Propheticam propaginem denotat all the power of their Conquest was used to no other end but to leaven and poyson all places where they came and conquered with their corrupt opinions whoever they be that use their power in this manner be their success what it will be they are in judgement and for the Torment of all where they come and such Locusts proceed out of the smoke of the bottomless pit Secondly They forsake God that forsake his worship ye are they that forsake the Lord that forget his holy Mountain to prepare a Table for that host c. Isa 65.11 Some expound it of the host of heaven and there is a great number of them for they that forsake the way of the Lord they do find out many inventions in Gods worship There is a double worship of God natural and instituted the one following upon the nature of God and the other flowing from the will of God and the latter the Lord did see necessary in all ages as medium cultus naturalis it was necessary unto Adam when he was in Paradise the Sabboth and the tree of life and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil were then instituted it was so for the honor of God that the Lord Jesus himself observed it in the days of the flesh and did thereby fulfil all righteousness and worshipped God according unto the institution of the Jewish Church and he hath left such Institutions to be observed in his Church to the end of the world the Saints continued in the Apostles Dectrine and fellowship in breaking of bread and prayer and now men are grown so Religious as they cry down instituted worship and say that they are but forms it is true that rested in they are no more as the Ceremonies of the Jews were not but as they are Forms so they are Duties therefore to say men may use them or not use them and that Christians are sometimes for seeking under Formes but there is yet a higher way some that are unwedded unto any Forme that reserve themselves single for the immediâ—te embraces of their love What is this but to forsake the Lord because it is to forget his holy Mountain to worship God in any other way then he hath appoynted that is Idolatry and to neglect that way of Worship that he hath appoynted his people to walk with Him in that is prophaneness We complain of the prophaneness of the people throughout the Nation they are such Principles as these that are the great Grounds of prophaneness and from hence it goes forth into all the Land for how ready will all they that were weary of Ordinances and lookt upon them as a burden long agoe how greedily will they imbrace such a Doctrine as this is that may be a bribe unto their Consciences in their prophaneness and utter neglect of God surely it is a good rule qui non est Religiosus Christianus non est that man doth very much forfeit his Christianity that doth either in Doctrine or Practice in this manner decry the instituted Worship of Christ I am not willing to speak much of Officers now which is an Institution as well as that of Ordinances for the Lord hath set them in the Church 1 Cor. 12.28 and he hath appointed their term of continuance till we all come unto the unity of the Faith unto a perfect man till the whole body of Christ be gathered and perfected and the end Ephes 12.14 why he hath appoynted them is that we may not be carryed away with every wind of Doctrine that was the end why God appoynted them and this is the main reason why men oppose them because they cannot carry men away as they would by this means and theresore it is a true observation that never any man did begin to overthrow and corrupt Religion but he began with the Ministery first It is that which Adam Contzen directs to the Ministers and those that give their Testimony to the Truths of God specially suppress them error cui patrocinium deerit sine pugna concidet so calls he Truth and there is a promise made to them that God will be present with them to the end of the world and a provision is made for them to the end of the world for the Lord hath ordered that they that serve of the Altar should live at the Altar Cor. 1.9,14 though now a great part of the Religion of the times is to cry down a Ministery and so as Luther hath observed Satan hath had two ways to put out the light of the Gospel mendaciis Inopia And he saith men do profess Ministris nihil opus est they were things not much to be regarded though there is a justice to be exercised unto them as men how much soever they are despised as Ministers but it were not much to be regarded though you look upon them as men of all others the least considerable if God were not forsaken in it but to forsake Gods Worship is in the Scriptures account to forsake God Thirdly we forsake God by carnal confidence The Lord saies Jer. 2.13 they have forsaken me and they have digged to themselves broken Cisterns Jer. 17.5 Cursed is he that trusts in man and makes flesh his arm and his heart departeth from the Lord if the Lord be not exalted alone in the soul either sub ratione boni aut auxilii the heart of man forsakes him and leans on something else that is not God Now if it be Counsels of men the power of Armies the Assistances of Confederates so far a man forsakes the Lord therefore the Lord doth way lay all humane succours that they shall prove vain and unsuccessful and men shall be ashamed of their Confederacies thou shalt be ashamed of Assyria as thou hast been ashamed of Egypt thy considence yea destruction comes out of it they that sit down under the shadow of a creature it is but under the shelter of a bramble fire will surely come out of it to consume the Câ—dars of Lebanen when men turn to God they are taken off from carnal confidence they shall then say Ashur shall not save us therefore men turn to the creature when they do forsake and depart from God Fourthly men forsake God in their conversation when they neither walk with God or worthy of God the waies of sin are departing from God going into a far Countrey it is communion with Belial and walking in waies of pride oppression and uncleanness it is living without God and therefore surely it is a forsaking of him a departing from him and forsaking of his Truth and Worship is the only and special means thereunto our Saviour says
a labourer in Gods Vine-yard shall not go away without his penny Mat. 20. God will say Call the labourers and give them their hire yea to shew that he loves righteousness the unholy services of unsanctified men shall not go unrewarded only indeed as their heart is not perfect with God in the service so neither is his perfect with them in his reward for with the perfect only he will shew himself perfect Psa 18. but the reward shall hold proportion to the service the service unsanctified seemingly a service but really a sin so the reward shall be in it self a blessing but unto them a curse the service temporal only so shall the reward be Thirdly the person censured by the Lord though God approve and reward that which is good yet he doth not justifie that which is evil neither can his love to the one blind his eyes towards the other his eyes behold and his eye-lids try the children of men And therefore though he had done this great service yet in all that he had done the Lord saith to him he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord but not with a perfect heart he took no heed c. Grace is the Law written in the heart Jer. 3.33 the Table fleshly the heart the Ministers the pen the Spirit the Ink and Christ the Scribe which is the Apostles Metaphor 2 Cor. 3.2,3 the word is a mould Rom. 6.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or into which you were delivered therefore answerable to the cutts in the mould such must be the impression of the thing moulded by it Now in the Law the mould there are two things Precepts enjoyning duty and Prohibitions forbidding sin now Jehu had not the Law written in his heart and therefore his heart was not right with God in either of these First for the Precept his heart was not right for he took no heed c. Secondly for the Prohibition his heart was not right for he departed not from the sins of c. The first part of the censure is upon the unsoundness of Jehu in respect of the Precept but Jehu took no heed and therein are four things setting forth his unsoundness First his inadvertency and inconsideracy he took no heed Secondly his partiality he took no heed to walk in the Law of the Lord integritas objecti Thirdly his inconstancy some steps he did set in this way but it was not his walk Fourthly his insincerity he took no heed to walk with his whole heart Many duties that his conscience was convinced of he neglected there was his partiality The duties which he did were perfunctorily performed therein he was heedless in the best duties that he did he had self-ends his whole heart was not in them there was his insincerity and the duties that he did set up he did take them up and lay them down as might stand with his own worldly and by respects he did not walk in them therein is his inconstancy and in them all his hypocrisie Before I come to these particulars I will speak a word to the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It may be rendered And Iehu but because it sets forth the unsuitableness between Gods dealing with Iehu and his towards God therefore our Translators have fitly made choice to render it here by the discretive particle but God had of an obscure Captain taken Iehu from amongst his brethren and set him upon the Throne of Israel admitted him to the highest earthly honour neither was this honour personal barely as some of the Kings of Israel was but hereditary God had as it were intailed it to his posterity and spake of his house for a long time to come to the fourth Generation for which David was so thankful but yet Iehu took no heed Doctrine All the outward blessings in the world will never allure an unsanctified heart to serve God in sincerity unless Gods grace and Almighty Power go with them Doctrine Not to serve God with a perfect heart after a man hath had experience of the Profitableness of the service is a wonderful aggravation of his sin Who would not have reasoned God hath for one service raised me from a meer man to be the head of all the Tribes of Israel what will he do for me if I go on to serve him if a temporal reward be so sweet what is an eternal if he so far rewards an unsound what will he do a sincere service wherein my heart should be perfect with him surely the Holy-Ghost hath not said in vain the merchandize of wisdom is better then silver c. Prov. 3.15 and all thou canst desire cannot be compared to it and what cannot a man desire Mountains of Gold Alps of Gold sholes of pearl but yet the trading in it and the returns by it are more profitable then any temporal thing a man can imploy himself in yet so blind is the heart of a natural man that he cannot deduce out of such premises such a plain inference such an easie connexion Behold first a great engagement we hold our selves bound to all services that are lawful unto our benefactors God had set Iehu in the Throne and then he took no heed c. Secondly behold a great encouragement he that hath found one way gainful will be encouraged to the same again and he that hath found a service profitable will afterward in the same service be more abundant and though he had found one service so gainful to him as a Kingdom yet he took no heed either he took no care at all to do the service or else which is more probable he took no heed to do it acceptably to serve him acceptably with a reverent and godly fear as the Apostle speaks Heb. 12.28 But I come to the words themselves and in them to the first part of Iehus censure his inadvertency he took no heed in the original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word signifies to keep or observe with exactness or the greatest diligence that may be Iosh 6.18 and ye in any wise keep your selves from the cursed thing Psal 30.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If thou shouldest observe or straightly mark what is done amiss who shall stand and the Septuagent puts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is commonly used by Christ in the New Testament for all manner of heedfulness diligence and exact observation Iehu did not take heed he did not observe he did not strictly and carefully mark what he did in the service of God that so he might walk before him with a perfect heart Here is therefore First an evil thing he di◠take no heed and that was his sin Secondly an evil sign he took no heed and therein did manifest his hypocrisie and unsoundness of his heart First it is an evil thing he took no heed and that was his sin now because omnis negatio fundatur in affirmatione therefore here is the neglected duty supposed also And so we have