Gospel observe to every creature He that believeth shall be saved Ho every one that thirsteth Isa 55.1 If any man let him be poor or rich high or low thirst let him come to me and drink John 7.37 'T is a great encouragement that in the offers of pardon and life none are excluded why then shouldst thou exclude thy self Come to me all ye that are weary and heavy-laden Matth. 11.28 Mark poor sinner all ye Art not thou one of that all Is not thy wickedness thy weight and thy corruption thy burden then thou art called particularly as well as generally Jesus Christ taketh thee aside from the crowd and whispereth thee in the ear O poor sinner that art weary of the work and heavy laden with the weight of sin be intreated to come to me I will give thee rest Why doth thy heart suggest that he doth not intend thee in that call Doth he not by that qualification as good as name thee Ah 't is an unworthy a base jealousie to mistrust a loving Christ without the least cause Once more meditate how willing he is to heal thy wounded spirit and be not faithless but believing He is willing to accept of thee if thou art willing to accept him What mean his affectionate invitations He seeketh to draw thee with cords of love cords that are woven and spun out of Christs heart and bowels Cant. 4.8 Come away from Lebanon my sister my Spouse from the lyons dens Mr. Mantor on Jude p. 75. from the mountains of Leopards Christs love is hot and burning he thinketh thou tarriest too long from his embraces Open to me my sister my Love my Dove my undefiled Cant. 5.2 Christ stands begging for entrance Lost man do but suffer me to save thee Poor sinner suffer me to love thee These are the charms of Gospel Rhetorick None singeth so sweetly as the Bird of Paradise the Turtle that chirpeth upon the Churches hedges that he may cluck sinners to himself What mean his pathetical expostulations Why will ye die Ezek. 33.11 What reason hast thou thus to run upon thy death and ruine What iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone far from me Jer. 2.5 what harm have I ever done them what evil do they know by me that they walk so contrary to me but one place for all Micah 6.3 4. O my people what have I done unto thee and wherein have I wearied thee testifie against me For I brought thee out of the Land of Egypt and redeemed thee out of the house of servants O my people remember now what bowels of love are here sounding in every line what fiery affection is there in such sweet expostulations O admirable condescention What meaneth his sorrow for them that refuse him for their Saviour He is grieved because of the hardness of mens hearts Mark 3.5 He shed tears for them that shed his blood When he came nigh that City which was the slaughter-house of the Prophets of the Lord and of the Lord of the Prophets he wept Luke 19.41 If thou hadst known even thou in this thy day The brokennesse of his speech sheweth the brokennesse of his spirit He is pitiful towards their souls that are so cruel to themselves and weepeth for them that go laughing to hell What meaneth his joy at the birth-day of the new creature when he is received with wel-come into the sinners heart The mother is as much pleased that her full breasts are drawn as the child can be The day of thy cordal acceptation of him will be the day of the gladness of his heart At such an hour he rejoyced in spirit saith the Evangelist Luke 10.22 He wept twice and he bled as some affirm seven times but we never read of his rejoycing if I mistake not but in this place And surely it was something that did extraordinarily take the heart of Christ which could in the time of his humiliation tune his spirit into a merry note and cause this man of sorrows to rejoyce Ah sinner believe it he would never so willingly have died such a cursed painful death if he had not been willing that sinners should live a spiritual and eternal life What mean I say his invitations expostulations grief upon refusal joy upon acceptance his commands intreaties promises threatnings his woing thee by the Ministers of his Word by the motions of his Spirit by his daily nightly hourly mercies by his gracious providence by his unwearied patience but to assure thee that he is heartily willing to accept thee for his servant for his son if thou art heartily willing to accept him for thy Saviour and for thy Soveraign He would never present thee with such costly gifts if his offer of marriage were not in earnest Besides broken-hearted sinner for 't is to thee that all this while I have been speaking how darest thou any longer entertain such a Traytour against the King of Saints in thy breast as a thought that the Lord Jesus can be guilty in any of the fore-mentioned particulars of the least insincerity Do not therefore like the silly Hart go ever up and down moaning and bleeding with the arrow in thy side thy sinnes sticking in thy heart but desire his helping hand to pluck them out and without question thou shalt have it He had a special command and commission from his Father to remember and redeem thee to bind up the broken-hearted Isa 61.1 2 3. to proclaim liberty to the captive and the opening of the prison to them that are bound to comfort them that mourn and dost thou think it possible for him to be unfaithful in his Office or to his Father No certainly he keepeth all his Fathers Commandments and continueth in his love John 15. When he was upon earth like a Physician he was in his Element when among sick and diseased persons so much did he love to heal and cure And now he is in heaven though he be free from passion yet not from compassion his heart pitieth thee most tenderly and his hand will help thee effectually Cheer up at last O drooping soul and look up with an eye of faith to this Lord of life to this brazen Serpent I may say to thee as Martha to Mary The Master is come and he calleth for thee Heark how loudly he proclaimeth his general tender of grace * Vocations and interjections speak very affection are bowels toward the distressed God layes his mouth as it were to the deaf eare of the unbeliever and cryeth aloud Ho every one that thirsteth Ho every one that thirsteth come to the waters Isa 55.1 how lovingly he beseecheth As though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God 2 Cor. 5.20 See how chearfully he looks out of hope that thou wilt by believing receive him into thy heart His countenance is as Lebanon excellent as the Cedars His mouth is most sweet yea he is altogether
robes of glory Mr. Thomas Wilson Minister of Maidstone in Kâ—nt an eminent servant of the Lord Jesus I remember I have sometimes heard an able holy Minister now with Christ say that that sight of five hundred Saints and Jesus Christ among them 1 Cor. 15.6 was one of the bravest goodliest sights that ever eyes beheld on earth Sure I am they that are in heaven see a far better beholding Jesus Christ in the midst of many thousands Secondly A Christian shall gain by death the neerest communion with the Lord Jesus Christ and O what happinessâ— is included in this Head The presence of Christ on earth can make a mean cottage a most delightful court to the three children it turned the fiery furnace into a delectable palace what will it do then in Heaven Bernard saith he had rather be in his chimny-corner with Christ Mallem in camino meo cum Christo quam in coelo sine Christo Bern. than in heaven without Christ Luther saith he had rather be in hell with Christ than in heaven without Christ communion with Christ can sweeten the bitterest condition Christ alone is the salt which seasons all the Saints comforts without which nothing is savoury to the spiritual taste A duty without Christ is like a body without a soul which hath neither loveliness nor life in it Communion with Christ is one great motive which inciteth the Saint to and encourageth him in the Ordinances of God He attendeth on Scriptures because they are they that testifie of Christ the pearl of price is hid in that field Cant. 5.1 In them the lips of Christ like lillies drop sweet-smelling myrrhe and O how his heart burneth within him with love to Christ whilst Christ is opening to him the Scriptures He frequenteth prayer because therein Christ and his soul converse together in that Ordinance he enjoyeth much of Ch ists quickning presence he speaketh to Christ by holy supplications and Christ to him by heavenly consolations He mindeth fasting because therein his soul may with Jesus Christ have a spiritual feast or the greatest cause of his weeping is with Mary They have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him The means of grace are therefore so desirable and delightful because rhey are the Galleries wherein he walketh talketh feedeth and feasteth with the Lord of glory The highest duty without Christ is as a dish without meat from which he goeth as empty and unsatisfied as he came to it It is to him as Tullies Hortens to Austine of little worth if the Name of Jesus be not there If he love the Saints with a love of complacency 't is because they are Christs seed if he love the sinner with a love of pity 't is for Christs sake his affections are contracted or enlarged towards any thing as it hath lesse or more relation to Christ and nothing is of true value or worth in his esteem which hath not aliquid Christi something of Christ in it Now consider Reader if the presence of Christ be so precious so pleasant to the Christian here when he can see so little of his excellent beauty and receive so little of his infinite bounty what will it be when he shall appear to the soul in all his royalty and fill the water-pots of the soul up to the brim with the riches of grace and glory Demorrhathus of Corinth saith they lost the chief part of their lives happinesse that did not see Alexander sit on the throne of Darius if that were such an happy sight what a sight shall the Saints have to see Christ on his Fathers Throne O how much is included in those few words To be with Christ which is the description of the Saints gain by death Philip. 1.23 This was the great Legacy and portion which Christ bequeathed his in his last Will and Testament John 17.24 This was the great promise and sweet meats which the tender father provided to comfort his fainting children with at his own Funeral John 16.22 This was the great prayer which Paul maketh for his beloved Timothy 2 Tim. 4.22 This was the enlivening cordial which the good Physician administred to the dying patient Luke 23.43 This is the great reason for which the godly long for death Philip. 1.23 I desire death saith Melancthon that I may enjoy the desirable fight of Christ Ut desiderato fruar conspectu Christi and O when will that blessed hour come when shall I be dissolved when shall I be with Christ said holy Mr. Robert Bolton on his Death-bed Surely then this gain is great which the Saint shall have by death He that hath Christ with him by grace may say with Peter Master it is good to be here but he that is with Christ in glory may say with Paul To be with Christ is far better without doubt best of all They were blessed which saw him in his estate of debasement Luke 10.23 but much more blessed will they be that shall see him in his estate of advancement Thirdly the Saint by death shall gain the full and immediate fruition of God The former were excellent but this as the Sun among the Planets surpasseth them all The other were as Rivers this is the Ocean they were as branches bearing goodly fruit but this is the root upon which they grow they all as lines meet in this center this is the top-stone of the celestial building this is the highest stair the apex of the Saints happinesse This is the greatest gift which the creature can possibly ask or the infinite God bestow The boundlesse God cannot well give a greater mercy than this Is any thing yea are all things in heaven and earth equal to God God alone is the highest object of faith 1 Pet. 1.21 and therefore the greatest ground of joy and satisfaction to the soul Psalm 17. ult The Vision of God is the beatifical vision 1 John 3.3 and therefore the fruition of God will cause perfection in the soul The enjoyment of God is the great desire and delight of the Saints on earth Psalm 42.1 2. nay it is the happinesse of the humane nature of the Lord Jesus Psalm 16.5 6. without question then it will be the Heaven of Heaven That excellent description of Heaven mentioned by the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.28 That God may be all in all 1 Thess 4. ult is a being ever with the Lord. This is all the most fluent tongue must be here silent and the most capacious understanding will be soon at a stand in the consideration of the felicity which floweth from the fruition of God The presence of this King will make the Court indeed For the Lord to be with us is our chiefest security though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death I will feare no evil for thou art with me Psal 23.4 but for us to be with the Lord will be our choicest felicity In his presence is fulnesse of
thou therefore meditate much on the love of God and Christ to thy unworthy soul Think what love is it that still spareth thee notwithstanding all thy God-daring and soul-damning provocations and that when others probably better than thy self are every day and night sent to that place where God hath large interest for his long patience What love is it not only to forbear thee but also to doe thee good thou his enemy art hungry he feedeth thee thou art thirsty he giveth thee drink If a man find his enemy will he let him goe 1 Sam. 24.19 but lo God findeth thee every moment as all thy sins are within the reach of his eye so thou thy self art continually within the reach of his arm he can as easily turn thee into hell as tell thee of hell And yet he letteth thee goe and more than that doth thee good Thou spendeth every hour upon the stock of mercy God is at great charge and much cost in continuing meat and drink and health and strength and time which thou dost ravel out and wanton away unprofitably What love was that in the Father which sent his own Son to die that thou mightst live Well might the beloved Disciple say God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him might not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 3.16 In this the bowels of divine love are naked as in an Anatomy In other things the love of God is as the beames of the Sun scattered which are warm and comfortable but in this it is as the beames of the Sun united in a burning-glasse hot fiery burning love God so loved the world so dearly so intirely so incomparably so infinitely It is a sic without a sicut as one observeth a pattern which can never be parallel'd In this God commended his love towards us in that when we were sinners Christ died for us Rom. 5.8 when God sent his Son into the world he did as it were say to him My dear Son thou Son of my chiefest love and choicest delight go to the wicked unworthy world commend me to them and tell them that in thee I have sent them such a love-token such an unquestionable testimony of my favour and good-will towards them that hereafter they shall never have the least colour of reason to suspect my love or to say Wherein hast thou loved us Malachi 1.2 What love was that in the Son of God which moved him to become the son of man that thou mightst become the son of God What love was that which made him so willingly undergo the scorns and flouts and derisions of wretched men the rage and malice and assaults of ravenous devils the wrath and fury of a righteous God such pangs and tortures in his body as no mouth can expresse such sorrows and horror in his soul as no minde can conceive and all that thou mightest escape such misery and obtain everlasting mercy Greater love than this hath no man that a man lay down his life for his friend John 15.13 The passion of Christ was the greatest evidence of his affection The laying down of life did abundantly proclaim his love His love before was like wine in a cask hardly seen but O how did it sparkle and cast its colour in the glass of his sufferings This Diamond before hid in the shell doth shine radiantly in the ring of his death If his tears did so much speak his love to Lazarus that the Jews who saw him weeeping cryed out Lo how he loved him surely his heart-blood doth far more demonstrate his love to his members They that beheld him bleeding in the garden had far more reason to say Look lo how he loved his What love is that which did all this for such a worm as thou art such a sinner such a rebel what would God lose if thou wert eternally lost the least tittle of his happinesse would not be diminished this Sun is no loser when men shut their eyes and will not behold its light what gaineth God if he gain thee to himself to his service thou canst not adde the least cubit to the stature of his perfections the refreshment is to men not to the Spring when the weary passengers drink of it He doth not command thee to repent from any need he hath of thee but from the pity he hath to thee He entreateth thee to return not that he may be blessed and happy but that he may be bountiful liberal in bestowing on thee those blessings which accompany salvation Methinks the apprehension of Gods great love and goodnesse should have such an impression on thee as to make thee little and low in thine own thoughts Is it not a wonder that God should vouchsafe a gracious look upon such a clod of earth a piece of clay as thou art but what admiration can answer this love and condescension that God should wait and intreat to lift thee up who wouldst cast him down That an Emperour should sue to a traitour that Majesty should thus stoop to misery that the Lord of life and glory should prepare for thee exceeding rich and precious promises a crown of life a purchased possession and beseech thee to accept of them Were thy heart never such hard metal one would think that such an hot fire of burning love should melt it I hsve in two or three Authors read of five men that met together and asked each other what means they used to abstain from sin The first said The thoughts of the certainty of death and uncertainty of the time moved him to live every day as if it were his last day The second said He meditated of the day of of judgment and the torments of hell and they frighted him from medling with his dangerous enemy sin The third considered of the deformity of sin and beauty of holinesse The fourth of the abundant happinesse provided in heaven for holy ones The last continually thought of the Lord Jesus Christ and his love and this made him ashamed to sin against God Reader if thou hast but any ingenuity the abuse of such love and kindnesse should work upon thee Some say the blood of a goat will soften an Adamant shall not then the blood of this true goat dissolve thy adamantine heart Beasts themselves have been won by kindnesse and wilt thou be worse than a beast that such Philanthrophy and kindnesse of God shall no whit stir thee or humble thee There is a twofold necessity of a deep serious humiliation for which cause I have been the more large upon it though indeed I have added very much more than I first intended in order to the two next directions which I shall prescribe thee First in order to thy hearty acceptation of Jesus Christ Humiliation is like John Baptist to prepare the way of Christ before him Christ will not be a Saviour to them that do not set an high valuation upon him now
men come to be prickt at the heart Acts 2.37 That thou must believe or perish and how shalt thou believe on him of whom thou hast not heard Rom. 10. As ships will ride a long time in a road-steed when they might be in the haven for this end that they may be in the winds way to take the first opportunity that shall be offered for their intended voyage So do thou ride in the road of Gods Ordinances waiting for the gales of the Spirit thou knowst not how soon that wind may blow on the waters of the Sanctuary and drive the vessel of thy soul swiftly and land it safely at the haven of happinesse of Heaven Direction If thou wouldst attain this spiritual life be frequent and fervent at the throne of grace Prayer that the God of all grace would infuse grace into thee and breath into thy soul the breath of this spiritual life As Abram pleaded for Ishmael Gen. 17.18 O that Ishmael might live before thee so do thou for thy soul O that my soul might live before thee And â—s the Ruler for his son Lord come down quickly ere my soul die yea ere it die eternally Go to God with a sense of thy own unworthiness and iniquities that though thou comest to his Majesty for the greatest favours yet thou art lesse than the least of all his mercies acknowledging that thou hast sinned hainously against heaven and before him and art unworthy to be called his son Confesse thy original actual heart life sins with their bloody aggravations and intreat him to pardon and purifie thee O with what humility reverence and self-abhorrency should such a guilty prisoner approach the Judge of the whole earth Arraign accuse and condemn thy self and thy sins if ever thou wouldst have God to acquit thee Pray also with a sense of thy own impotency and weaknesse That though there be a necessity of humiliation if ever thou wouldst escape damnation yet thou canst as soon fetch water out of a rock as teares from thine eyes or sorrow from thine heart for thy sins till the wind of the Spirit bloweth those waters will never flow It is God that must give to thee a poor Gentile repentance unto life Non minus difficile est nobis velle credere quam cadaveri volare Beza Confess p. 22. Acts 11.18 That thou must believe or thou canst not be saved yet thou canst as easily cause iron to swim as thy soul to believe in the Son of God Faith is the gift of God Phil. 1.29 Zeph. 8. It is as hard a work to believe the Gospel as to keep the Law perfectly Nothing lesse than omnipotency can enable the soul to either As thy first birth and generation so is thy second birth and regeneration from the Lord. Men and meanes may be instrumental and subservient but their efficacy and successe dependeth on God As Protogenes when he saw a line curiously drawn in a Painters shop cried out None but Apelles could draw that line so when thou seest the new Creation thou mayst say None but a God could doe that When thou hast through the strength of Christ wrought thy heart to some sense of thy weakness and unworthiness then look into the Scriptures and fetch arguments from Gods own mouth weapons from his own Armory whereby thou mayst prevail with him and overcome him Beseech him to consult his glorious Name and gracious Nature mind him that he is the Lord the Lord God gracious merciful long-suffering abundant in goodness and truth forgiving iniquity transgression and sin Exod. 34.6 Tell him that he delighteth not in the death of sinners that he taketh more pleasure in unbloody conquests in the chearful services than in the painful sufferings of his Creatures That he had much rather have trees for fruit than for the fire Say Have mercy upon me O God according to thy loving kindness and after the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out mine offences Psal 51.1 O thou that art rich in mercy for the great love wherewith thou lovest souls quicken me in Christ that by grace I may be sanctified and saved Since thou delightest in mercy be pleased Lord to delight both thy self and thy servant by extending thine hand of mercy to pluck me out of this bottomlesse depth of misery Intreat God to consult his own Honor as well as his gracious Nature Mind him that if he condescend to convert and save thee he shall have the glory of his patience in waiting thus long to be gracious the glory of his providence in causing all things to work together for thy good the glory of mercy in pitying and pardoning such a greivous sinner the glory of his justice in that noble satisfaction it shall have from the death of his Son the glory of his power in bringing such a rebellious heart into subjection unto Jesus Christ Intreat his Majesty to consider that he may pardon and cleanse thee through Christ without the least diminution to his glory nay that far more revenues will come to his crown from thy salvation then from thy damnation That the forced confessions of them that perish as of Malefactors upon a wrack do not sound forth his praises so much nor so well as the joyful hearty acclamations of his saved ones Say Lord if thou suffer me to continue in my filth and pollution and never wash me by the blood and spirit of thy Son and suffer me to perish eternally thou art righteous but Lord if I perish I shall not praise thee thy glory will rather be forced out of me with blows as fire out of a flint thou delightest to see poor creatures volunteers in thy service The damned do not celebrate thy praise Psal 30.9 they that go into the infernal pit give thee no thanks The living Psal 88.10 11. Isa 38.19 the living they shall praise thee they that live spiritually and they that live with thee eternally O what Hosanna's and Halelujah's what honor and glory and blessing and praise do they give to the Lord and to the Lamb that sitteth upon the throne for ever O let my soul live and it shall praise thee Thine is the kingdom and power do thou work within me by thy grace and thine shall be the glory Desire God to consider his own promise as well as his praise Urge his own word That they that ask shall receive that seek shall find that knock shall have heaven opened That if men know how to give good gifts to them that ask how much more will the Father in heaven give his holy Spirit to them that ask That he will circumcise the hearts of men and women to love him Deut. 30.6 That he will put his fear into their hearts and they shall never depart away from him Jer. 32.40 That he will write his Law in their hearts Ezek. 31.33 Go in to him when thou art full of heaviness as Bathsheba did to David and say 1