affections before all the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them Christ is compared to a Fountain which is beyond compare with any Zech. 13. 1. other for it is a Fountain opened to the House of David and to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness Christ is likewise compared to a Stone and to such a one as excelleth others in admirable Properties Isai 28. 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord God Behold I lay in Zion for a Foundation a Stone a tryed Stone a pretious corner Stone a sure Foundation He that believeth shall not make hast Farther Christ is compared to the Pearle of great Price Matth. 13. 45. 46. Again the Kingdome of heaven is like unto a Merchant man seeking goodly Matt. 13. 45 46. Pearls who when he had found one Pearâ— of great price he went and sold all that hâ— had and bought it Whatever we esteeâ— highly of must go for Christ the Pearl oâ— Price If we possess Christ in our hearts bâ— faith we are enriched with that possession which is infinitely more worth theâ— all the possessions of the Vniverse Mucâ— value is set upon the Eastern and Western treasures of the Indies and greaâ— pains is taken to get them Impiger extremos currit Mercator ad Indos Yeâ— they are not worth the nameing in comparison of the Riches of Christ Thâ— knowledg of Christ is the most inriching knowledge for Col 2. 3. In him are hiâ— O Thesauris omnibus opulentior notitia Christi all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge Whosoever hath a saving Interest iâ— Christ is richer then the greatest Emperour who is ignorant of him Sect. 2 And hereunto Where there iâ— such a high valuation of Christ in thâ— Judgment there will of necessity follow ardency strength of affection toward 2 Cor. 5. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 constringit cohibet i. e. totos possidet ac regit ut ejus afflatu quasi correpti agamus omnia Beza Jesus Christ The apprehension of thâ— exceeding great love of Christ to uâ— should constrain us to love him with a reciprocal love Love is the Loadstone oâ— love and love will never be paid nor bâ— contented and satisfied but with its own coyn I mean love answering love And the greatest love which we can express to Jesus Christ is only the reflection of those Beams which he first darted upon us Whatever love we manifest towards God is only the Return of that love which he first shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us Rom. 5. 5. 1 Joh. 4. 19. We saith the Apostle love him because he first loved us Where Christ is highly prised that soul is inflam'd with ardent love to him Neither is this an ordinary and common but an extraordinary and special love This love is in the highest degree above the apprehension of Philosophers They tell us That there is Calor ad octo and this is in gradu intenso non in gradu remisso Somthing that expression represents but we 'l set forth the vehemency of Love in the Scripture Phrase Love Psal 120. 4. is hotter then the coals of Juniper and to such an extensive heat so that Cant. 8. 7. many waters cannot quench love neither can the floods drown it But as for all those who love not the Lord Jesus they are cursed in this world and in the world to come For saith the Apostle 1 Cor. Read Pynk in Loc. 16. 22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathama Maranatha An Anathama alone is a dreadful Curse but that 's not all there is a Maranathâ— Maran-Domiaus Athan-venit Maranatha extrema ultima species excommunicationis quae Ebraeis Samatha dicitur Drus added to the Anathema and this Maranatha is reserved until the second coming of Christ to judgment and oh how dreadful must their condition be at that great and terrible day who love not the Lord Jesus Christ Against them Christ will pronounce that dreadful sentence of condemnation Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels CHAP III. A heart in love with holiness evidenced in a holy life and conversation is a Character of a sincere Heart A Third Character of Sincerity is a Character Third A heart in love with holiness Heart in love with holiness Sect. 1 For when the Heart is emptied of all self-love and self-confidence and made throughly sensible of its own vileness and wretchedness then Christ is highly valued and entirely loved and cordially embraced and delighted in Every true Believer loves holiness for it self because it is the image of God And as Bucer us'd to say where there is Aliquid Christi i. e. any impression of the image of Christ there we ought to place our love Wherefore the Apostle gives a strict Eph. 4. 23. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Command Be renewed in the spirit of your mind And that ye put on the new man which after the image of God is created in righteousness and true holiness Where this image of God is which consists in righteousness and true holiness Sanctitas veritatis est vera sincera minime fucata Drus. Tali innocentia sanctitate quâ— sint in esse non in videri Grot. it is stampt upon the heart and is visible in the life and there is such a transcendent beauty purity and excellency and amiableness in all the waies of holiness as the least glimpse of them are abundantly sufficient to delight rejoyce and ravish the soul of every true believer What plato said of Moral vertue much more may be said of Theological vertue i. e. Si Virtus humanis ocutis possit cerâ—i admirabile sui desiderium excitaret-Plato Soul-saving grace and holiness that if it could be discerned by Corporal eyes it would raise the heart to a wonderfull desire thereof Oh! how did David love the Law of God! He profest that Gods Law was his Delight and that Psal 119. 77. he loved the commandments above Gold yea above fine gold Psal 119. 127. Thy Testimonies saith he I have taken Psal 119. 111. 〈…〉 n Heritage for ever for they are the rejoycing of my heart O! What sweet ness did David suck out of the Judgments of the Lord for saith he Thâ— Psal 19. 9. 10. Judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether More to be desired arâ— they then Gold yea then much fine Gold sweeter also then honey and the honeâ— comb There is a great reward in thâ— very work of holiness For it follows iâ— the next words Moreover by them iâ— thy Servant warned and in keeping oâ— them there is * Utilitas non mediocris sedingens sequitur etiamsi illi respectum retributionis alicujus non habeant sed simplici ac sincerâ— corde in viâ mandatorum Dei currant unum hoc spectantes ut Domino Deo suo
CHARACTERS OF A SINCERE HEART And the COMFORTS thereof Collected out of the. WORD OF GOD By HEN-WILKINSON D. D. Late Principal of Magdalen Hall in the University of OXFORD 1 Sam. 16. 7. Man looketh on the outward appearance but Lord looketh on the heart Psal 51. 6. Behold thou desirest truth in the inward partsâ— and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdome OXFORD Printed by L. LICHFIELD Printer 〈…〉 e University for RIC. DAVIS Anno Domini 1674. To the much Honoured and virtuous Lady HESTER HONYWOOD of Marks-Hall in the County of of Essex Grace Mercy and Peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Honoured Madame DEDICATIONS of Books to Persons of great rank and Quality are of great antiquity for St. Luke Dedicates Luke 1. 3. Act. 1. 1. two Treatises To the most excellent Theophilus And now a daies it 's usual to dedicate Books to such Personages who are probably ready to approve them by their Patronage and practice As to my own concernment I the rather prefix your name to this little Treatise not only to acknowledge with all thankfulness the many great Favours which I have received from you but especiallâ— I am encouraged to present those things to your view whereof you have had so large experience as you can give Testimony to the truth of them both as to your judgement and affections I therefore am your remembrancer of those things whereof as I doubt not you have experimental knowledge and my design is to comfort you with those comforts wherewith I my self have been comforted It 's the charge which the Angel gives unto the Church of Thyatira But that which you have already hold Rev. 2. 25. fast And the Apostle's charge is sutable unto that Let us hold fast Heb. 10. 23. the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised Likewise for self examination and tryal of our evidences for heaven we are frequently commanded More particularly St. Paul chargeth the Corinthians and us as well as them Examine your 2 Cor. 13. 5. selves know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates So likewise the Church after she had undergone great afflictions and sufferings makes this serious deliberate resolution Let us search and try Lam. 3. 40. our waies and turn again to the Lord. You being Madam an old Disciple and an experienced Christian cannot but know that it 's a duty of great concernment and in an especial manner incumbent upon all faithful Ministers to endeavour in their Preaching to distinguish the pretious from the vile for so saith the Lord to the Prophet Jeremiah If thou Ier. 15. 19. take forth the pretiouâ— from the vile thou shalt be as my mouth let them return unto thee but return thou not to them Our blessed Lord and Saviour the best Example and the exactest Pattern for our imitation in that incomparable Sermon which he Preached in the Mount makes mention of seven Beatitudes each of them being a rare discriminatiâ—g character whereby good and bad blessed and cursed are distinguished one from another For if the poor in spirit be blessed then the rich proud in spirit are cursed if the pure in heart be blessed then the impuâ—e in heart must be cursed c. Because of Contrarieties there are contrary consequences And Christ himself is the best Interpreter of himself for when he pronounced blessings upon such as Luke 6. 20. 21. 22. were poor and hungred and wept v. 24 25 26. he pronounced woes against such as were rich and full and of whom all men speak well Likewise our Saviour shewes the absolute and indispensible necessity of Regeneration and being born from above as may appear by Christs answer to Nichodemus Jesus answered and said unto him Verily verily Ioh. 3. 3. I say unto thee except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdome of God And Regeneration is a Characteristick note of distinction between the old and new birth Farther Christ puts a vast difference between a good and a bad tree For saith he A good tree cannot Matt. 7. 18 19 20. bring forth evil fruit neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit Every tree that bringeth not good fruit is hewen down and cast into the fier wherefore by their fruits you shall know them And Christ makes Love one to another a mark Ioh. 13. 35. af his Disciples And after Christs Example his Apostles lay down marks and signes to distinguish the good from the bad For instance How frequently doth St. John press the grace of love and lays it down as an infallible sign of one that is translated from death to life We know that we have passed 1 Ioh. 3. 14. from death to life because we love the Brethren He that loveth not his Brother abideth in death Saint Peter expresly manifests what we should avoid Wherefore laying 1 Pâ—t 2. 1 2 3. aside all malice and guile and hypocusies and envies and all evil speakings c and he injoynes what we should reduce unto practice As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby And it follows by way of Character representing such who are new born babes in these words If so be that ye have tasted that the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 17. is gracious Saint Paul gives an evident sign of such who are in Christ by the new Creature wrought in them Thefore if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature old things are past away behold all things are become new And to mention only one more scripture to this purpose The Apostle discovers a great difference between the old man and the new and Eph. 4. 21. 22 23 24. thus Presseth our duty upon us If so be that ye have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus That ye put of concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts And be renewed in the spirit of your minde and that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Now having such abundant warrant from the example of Christ and his Apostles I question not in the least but that in the exercise of our Ministry we obliged according to the Rule of the word of Gods to lay down Characters of a Regenerate estate and to distinguish sincere and real Professors from such who are only Nominal and Hypocritical Many there are who name the name of Christ but depart not from iniquity But it 's the express command of the word And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity Many there are that content themselves with the Angel of the Church of Sardis to have only a bare name to live But he is reproved by Christ Rev. 3 1 2. And unto the Angel of the Church in
as many as be perfect be thus minded Phil. 3. 12 13 14 15. This progressive motion David laies dowor is a sign of such who are blessed Psal 84. 6 7. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well the rain also filleth the pool They go from strength to strength every one of them in Zion appeareth before God Their indeavors are indefatigable and their motions are continued and progressive in the service of God Hence judicious Calvin observes upon the place That the faithful recollect Ae si dicerunt fideles collectis subiade viribus ascendere ad moatem Zion nec lassitudiae ullâ tardari donec conspicia at Dei faciem Calv in Psal 84. vers 7. their strength and ascend unto the mount of Zion and are not hindred by any weariness till they behold the face of God Our grand indeavor should be to get grace and truth of grace and to be diligent in searching whether we have got special and more than common grace and whether we mistake not parts for graces We must still be sitting examining and trying whether our grace be true and genuine sincere and saving grace And our indeavor must be continued to get growth in grace and more accessions thereunto If we would be preserved from apostacy and back-sliding we must grow in grace for growth in grace is a special preservative to keep us from falling from our stedfastness For so saith the Apostle 2 Pet. 3. 17 18. Ye therefore beloved seeing ye know these things before beware lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own stedfastness A sovereign remedy to prevent the danger of Apostacy is prescribed in the following words vers 18. But grow in grace and in the knowledg of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ A growing Believer is a new born Christian As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2. 2. Likewise augmentation of every particular grace is required We must labour for true grace as to the quality of it and as to the quantity of it we must still be adding thereunto So saith the same Apostle 2 Pet. 1. 5 6 7 8. Add to your faith virtue and to virtue Est insignis hic locus si quis alius verae Christianae vitae summam descriptis illius veris tum crusis tum effectis spectandam praebens Beza knowledg and to knowledg temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity For if those things be in you and abound they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the the knowledg of our Lord Jesus Christ We have need of every grace and the more we have of any grace in sincerity and in truth the more we shall value it and the more we shall beg supplies of God and increase from him The Apostles pray'd Lord increase our Faith If we have any grace already really wrought in us we shall be sensible what need we have of and shall pray for a continual augmentation Sect. 2 To instance in particulars Have we faith let 's fift narrowly and examine thorowly whether our faith be a saving faith whether it be a justifying faith Rom. 5. 1. such as works by love Gal. 5. 6. and purifies the heart Acts 15. 9. for this only is of the right stamp or whether our faith be only historical dogmatical and only temporary If we search exactly upon mature and deliberate reflections upon our selves we shall find some failings and deficiencies in our faith For though questionless the Thessalonians had true faith yet they had something lacking in their faith And yet they were such for whom the Apostle gave thanks to God in an especial 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. omnibus 〈◊〉 ris fidem vestram aa huc imperfectam absolvamus Beze in Loc. manner 1 Thes 3. 9 10. For saith he what thanks can we render again to God for you for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God night and and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face and perfect that which is lacking in your faith And as we should labour for more faith so should we labour for more love more meekness more humility and more self-denial If then through the pride of our own hearts we should flatter our selves as if we had grace enough already it 's evident that we never had any grace at all in sincerity and in truth for where-ever true grace is planted in the heart it fructifies in the life and conversation Grace is no withered dead plant but a living and growing plant where the seed of grace is sound in the heart it takes root downward and brings forth fruit upward throughout the practice of our whole lives He then who labours Qui desinit prosicere incipit deficere Bern. not to grow better begins to grow worse as a Father saith Though covetousness and a greedy carking care after the World are unlawful yet here is a lawful covetousness for to desire more grace is a holy covetousness To be rapax tenax i. e. to get get and grasp all that one get and not to be willing to part with any thing are characters of covetous Earth-worms but to be eager 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stadium exigit majorem quandam in comparaâ—dis soiritualibus cupiditale Theoph. and greedy after increase of every grace and when we have got grace to be careful to the utmost to keep it this is the only lawful kind of covetousness recommended by the Apostle 2 Cor. 12. 13. Covet earnestly the best gifts And grace is the best gift Christ himself only excepted Gifts of Tongues and gifts of Wisdom and Understanding c. are highly to be valued but this gift of Grace is of far greater value Grace is Quid constitutivum i. e. that which constitutes a true Christian Though Tongues and Arts and Sciences are precious in their kind yet many bad men may have them and many good men may want them but Grace is of absolute necessity for without it we cannot come to Heaven and without holiness we shall never see the Lord. Wherefore let us cry out for Grace as Solomon makes mention of the Horsleeches two Daughters Give give Prov. 30. 15. Wherefore we should not rest satisfied contented with these measures of Grace whereunto we have at present attained but we should make it our great business study and indeavor to grow from one degree of grace unto another We must noâ— only follow holiness Heb. 12. 14. but perfect holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7. 1. We must strive after perfection of grace though we are incompassed with many imperfections in this World yet we must not allow our selves in them but mourn for them and still go on in adding grace to grace here till at length grace be