little it will pass for currant with God and therefore he is free to venture upon the clossest search of God A false evidence is the fruit of a slight and superficial search Now look as Bankrupts care not for casting up their accounts because they know all is naught very naught yea stark naught with them So hypocrites they care not to come to the tryal to the test because they know all is naught yea worse than naught with them they have no mind to cast up their spiritual estates because at the foot of the account they must be put to read their neck verse undone undone And therefore as old deformed women cannot endure to look into the looking-glass lest their wrinckles and deformity should be discovered so hypocrites cannot endure to look into the glass of the Gospel lest their deformities impieties and wickednesses should be discovered and detected I have read of the Elephant how unwilling he is to go into the water but when he is forced into it he puddles it lest by the cleerness of the stream he should discern his own deformity So hypocrites they are very unwilling to look into their own hearts or into the cleer streams of Scriptures lest their souls deformity and ugliness should appear to their own terror and amazement O Sirs look as it is a hopeful evidence that the Clyents cause is good when he is ready and willing to enter upon a tryal and as it is a hopeful sign that a man's gold is true gold when he is willing to bring it to the touchstone and that a man thrives when he is willing to cast up his Books So it is a hopeful evidence that a Christian is sincere with God when he is ready and willing to venture upon the tryal of God Gal. 6.4 5. when he is willing to cast up his Books his accounts that he may see what he is worth for another world Augustin Aug. in Psal 33. Concl. 2. speaks of an acute person who was wont to say that he prized that little time which he constantly set apart every dâ—y for the examination of his conscience far more than all the other part of the day which he spent in his voluminous controversies Of all the duties of Religion an hypocrite dreads most that of self-examination and that of venturing himself upon the search and tryal of God Well for a close Though an hypocrite mâ—y deceive all the world Job 34.21 22. 2 Chron. 16 9. Prov. 5.21 15.3 Ambros offic l. 1 c. 14. like that counterfeit Alexander in Josephus his story yet Augustus will not be deceived the great God will not be deceived for his eyes are quick and piercing into all things persons and places Look as the eyes of a well drawn picture are fastned on thee which way soever thou turnest so are the eyes of the Lord fastned on thee O hypocrite which way soever thou turnest 'T was a worthy saying of one If thou canst not hide thy self from the Sun which is God's Minister of light how impossible will it be to hide thy self from him whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter than the Sun The eye of God many times is very terrible to an hypocrite which makes him very shie of venturing upon the tryal of God No hypocrite since the world stood did ever love or delight to be searcht and tried by God And thus I have shewed you the several rounds or steps in Jacob's Ladder which no hypocrite under heaven can whilst he remains an hypocrite climb up to And so much for this Chapter CHAP. V. Now in this fifth and last Chapter I shall lay down some Propositions and Directions that so you may see what a sober use and improvement Christians ought to make of their evidences for Heaven and how in the use of gracious evidences they ought to live above their gracious evidences and how to exalt and lift up Christ above all their graces evidences and performances FIrst Proposition 'T is the wisdom and ought to be the work of every Christian to own the least measure of grace that is in him Though our graces like Gideon's Army are but a handful in comparison of our sins which like the Midianites are innumerable yet a handful of grace is to be owned in the midst of an Host of sins though it be mixed and mingled with many weaknesses and infirmities Sin is Satan's work and grace is Christ's work and therefore Christ's work ought to be eyed and owned though it be mingled with much of Satan's work That Christian is much clouded and benighted who hath two eyes to behold his sins but never an eye to see his graces Christ gets no glory nor the soul gets no good when a Christian is still a poring upon his sins How can that Christian prize a little grace and bless God for a little grace and improve a little grace who won't own a little grace because it is mingled with many weaknesses Shall the Husbandman own a little wheat when mingled with a great deal of chaff 1 Sam. 21.13 14. shall the Goldsmith own a little filings of gold when mingled with a great deal of dust and shall not a Christian own a little grace when mingled with a great many failings David had a great many infirmities yet he owns his uprightness Psal 18.23 I was upright before him And Job Job 3. had a great many weaknesses yet he owns his integrity Job 27.5 Till I die I will not remove my integrity from me Ver. 6. My righteousness I hold fast and will not let it go my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live The Spouse was sensible of her blackness yet owns her comeliness Cant. 1.5 I am black but comely So Cant. 5.2 I sleep but my heart waketh Jeremiah was a man of many failings yet he owns his hope in God Jer. 17.17 Jer. 20.14 ult Thou art my hope in the day of evil The poor man in the Gospel was very sensible of the sad reliques and remains of unbelief that was in him and yet with a holy boldness and confidence he pleads his faith Mark 9.24 Lord I believe help my unbelief Peter miscarried sadly Mat. 26.69 ult and yet he owns his love to Christ Joh. 21.15 Lord thou knowest that I love thee Ver. 16. Lord thou knowest that I love thee Ver. 17. Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee Paul had his infirmities and weaknesses hanging upon him witness that 7th of the Romans and yet how frequently and boldly does he own the grace of God that was in him throughout his Epistles Nothing keeps grace more at an under than mens not owning of a little grace because it is mingled with many infirmities The best way to be greatly good is to own a little little good though in the midst of much evil But The second Proposition is this It is your wisdom and should be your work to look
poor The safest chest is the poor mans Box. God will never forget your charity to his Heb. 6.10 Cicero could say that to be rich is not to possess much but to use much And Seneca could rebuke them that so studied to encrease their wealth that they forget to use it being perswaded that God doth bless their increase the more for they have among them a very elegant Proverb to that purpose Decima ut dives fias Pay thy tythes that thou mayest be rich The poor mans hand is Christs Treasury and he shall not lose his reward that casts his mites into that Treasury It is fabled of Midas that what ever he touched he turned it into gold But this is most sure that whatever the hand of charity toucheth it turneth it into gâ—ld be it but a cup of cold water nay into heaven it self Mat. 10.42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a Disciple verily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his reward Cold water having not fuel to heat it cold water which cost not the charge of fire to warm it A Sea of pleasures a heaven of blessings attends men of charitable minds though their charity can extend no further than to a cup of cold water for God measures mens deeds by their minds and not their minds by their deeds The Kenites in Sauls time that were born many Ages after Jethro's death received life from his dust and favour from his hospitality nay the very Egyptians for harbouring and at first dealing kindly with the Israelites though without any respect to their righteousness were preserved by Joseph in that sore famine and kindly dealt with ever after by Gods special command I have read a story of one Evagâ—i a rich man who lying upon his death-bed and being importuned by Sinesius a pious Bishop to give something to charitable uses he yielded at last to give three hundred pounds but first took bond of the Bishop that it should be repaid him in another world but before he had been one day dead he is said to have appeared to the Bishop delivering in the bond cancelled as thereby acknowledging that what was promised was made good Whether the Relation be fabulous or not I shall not now stand to determine but this is certain that all acts of charity shall be certainly and signatly rewarded Several Writers observe that the ground is most barren nearest the golden Mines and experience tells us that many who are enriched with fair estates are most barren in good works but this will be bitterness in the end He that shall consult two Scriptures among many others will conclude that he that hath a withered hand has no honest heart 2 Chron. 31.10 1 John 3.17 The wealth that such men have is but as Aristotle calls it Arist Rhetor. l. 2. c. 6. Foelix amentia a happy madness because they are so taken up with their wealth that they neither know what they are nor what they do Josephus writing of the waters of Egypt saith That they were blood in the hands of an Aegyptian but water in the hand of an Israelite Wealth in the hand of a worldling is like blood in the hand which is good for nothing Josephus but wealth in the hand of a charitable Christian is like water in the hand which may be of use both to a mans self and others By what has been said there is nothing more evident than this viz. That men of publick spirits and men of charitable spirits of all men on earth are 1. To be most highly prized 2. Most cordially loved And 3. Most greatly honoured c. Gentlemen those that shall read what I have writ in this Epistle concerning publick spiritedness and charitableness and know you well they know how to make the Application without any further direction from me Sir John I must crave leave to say that it is and will be your honour and comfort both in life and death and in the day of your account that in all the great Places Offices and Employments unto which divine Providence has called you for divers years together you have laid out your time your strength your estate for the publick good when others have been serving themselves upon the publick you have been a serving of the publick Sir 't is your great mercy and happiness that you can stand forth and say as once Samuel did Behold here I am witness against me 1 Sam. 12.3 whose Ox have I taken or whose Ass have I taken or whom have I defrauded whom have I oppressed or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith Your prudence and moderation before your Mayoralty and in it when you had many a narrow bridge to go over and after it to this day will never be forgotten by all sober Citizens Sir the French History tells us that when an old Courtier would needs depart from the Court and retire himself to a private life the King desired him to leave his advice in some general Rules about the Government of his Kingdom Upon this motion of the King the old Courtier took a sheet of white paper and writ upon the top of the leaf Moderation and in the middle of the leaf Moderation and at the bottom of the leaf Moderation intimating to the King that the only way to keep his Kingdom in Peace and Prosperity was to manage his Government throughout with a spirit of Moderation When Vespasian asked Apollonius what was the cause of Nero's ruin he answered That Nero could tune the Harp well but in Government he did alwayes wind up the strings too high or let them down too low Both of your staying in London in the time of the last great Plague when death peep'd in at every window and when most Magistrates Ministers and People were fled from their Habitations the terror of the Lord and of his judgments being very great in that day upon all sorts and ranks of men and that chiefly mainly if not only upon the account of publick service and that nothing might be wanting on your side to preserve poor creatures from perishing The old Romans for lesser services than you did in these dismal dayes have set up many a statue of brass but the Lord is faithful and will not forget to reward your work your great work your hazardous work and that matchless love and bowels that you shew'd to very many that were impoverished for want of Trade and to very many that lay in a sick languishing and dying condition How free how full how seasonable how sutable how impartial how constant and well regulated your charity then was and since hath been is very well known to God above and to some faithful friends still alive but all will out in the great day Mat. 25. I know you don't love that your left hand should know what your
then his desire Luke 17.5 are most for faith you shall then find him with the Disciples crying out Lord increase our faith But now though a wicked mans heart rise against every grace yet it rises most strongly against those particular graces which are most opposite and contrary to those particular lusts which are a wicked mans bosom lusts Mat. 26.8 9. his darling sins c. Hence the covetous heart rises and swells most against liberality as you see in Judas Rev. 3.15 16 17. Luke 19. What need this waste Flesh and bloud looks upon all as lost that is laid out upon Christ his servants and services And the luke-warm Christians heart rises and swells most against zeal and fervency and the griping Userers heart rises and swells most against restitution Job 21.14 15. and the adulterers heart rises and swells most against purity chastity continency and the ignorant mans heart rises and swells most against light and knowledge Eccles 7.10 the ignorant man is willing to go to hell in the dark and ready and bold enough to conclude that we never had such sad and bad times as we have had since there hath been so much preaching and so much hearing and so much fasting and so much praying and so much light and knowledge in the world But now it is quite otherwise with a true child of God Rom. 7.22 23. for his heart rises and swells most against the Toad or Toads that are in his own bosom and the daily and earnest desires of his soul are that God would make him eminent in every grace yea that God would make him most eminent in those particular graces which are most opposite and contrary to those particular lusts and corruptions which more peculiarly more especially he hath cause to call his iniquity Psal 49.5 or the iniquities of his heart and of his heels Look as we have some dirt more or less that will still cleave to our heels whilst we are in a dirty world so there is some defilements and pollutions that will still be cleaving to all our duties services wayes and walkings in this world which we may well call the iniquity of our heels Now a gracious heart rises most against these c. Thirteenthly No man can truly love grace in another but he that has true grace in his own soul 1 John 3.10 No man can love a Saint as a Saint but he that is a real Saint no man can love holiness in another but he that has holiness in his own soul no man can love a good man for goodness sake but he that is really good We know that we have passed from death to life 1 John 3.14 This Text you have opened in the first Maxim of this Book because we love the brethren Sincere love to the brethren is a most evident sign of a Christians being already passed or translated from death to life that is from a state of nature into a state of grace such a poor soul that dares not say that he has grace in his own heart yet dares say before the Lord that he loves delights and takes pleasure to see the holy graces of the Spirit sparkling and shining in the hearts lives and lips of other Saints secretly wishing in himself that his soul were but in their case and that dares say before the Lord Psal 15.1 4. Psal 16.3 He that loves his brother saith Augustine better knows his love wherewith he loves than his brother whom he loves that there are no men in all the world that are so precious so lovely so comely so excellent and so honourable in his account in his eye as those that have the Image of God of Christ of grace of holiness most clearly most fairly and most fully stampt upon them When a poor Christian can rejoyce in every light in every Sun that out-shines his own when he sees wisdom and knowledge shining in one Saint and faith and love shining in another Saint and humility and lowliness shining in another Saint and meekness and uprightness shining in another Saint and zeal and courage shining in another Saint and patience and constancy shining in another and then can make his retreat to his closet admiring blessing of the Lord for the various graces of his Spirit shining in his children and be frequent and earnest with God that those very graces might shine as so many Suns in his soul doubtless such a poor soul has true grace and is happy and will be happy to all eternity In Tertullian's time the Heathen would point out the Christians by this mark See how they love one another Now to prevent mistakes I shall shew you the several properties of sincere love to the Saints First True love to the Saints is spiritual it is a love for the Image of God that is stampt upon the soul 1 John 5.1 Every one that loveth him that begat 1 John 4.7 loveth him also that is begotten of him A soul that truly loves loves the father for his own sake and the children for the fathers sake If the Image of God be the load-stone that drawes out our love to the Saints then our love is real to them he that does not love the Saints as Saints he that does not love them under a spiritual notion he hath no true affection to them Naturally we hate God Gen. 3.15 1 John 3.12 because he is a holy God and his Law because it is an holy Law and his people because they are a holy people 'T is only the Spirit of God that can inable a man to love a Saint for the image of God that is in him many there are which love Christians for their goods not for their good they love them for the money that is in their purses but not for the grace that is in their hearts many like the Bohemian Cur fawn upon a good suit Love to the Saints for the Image of God stampt upon them is a flower that does not grow in natures garden No man can love grace in another mans heart but he that hath grace in his own men do not more naturally love their parents Prov. 29.10 Ezek. 25.15 and love their children and love themselves than they do naturally hate the image of God upon his people and wayes I have read of one who was so lusty and quarrelsom that he was ready to fight with his own image so often as he saw it in a glass O! how many are there in these dayes that are still a quarrelling and fighting with the image of God wherever they see it True love is for what of the divine nature for what of Christ and grace shines in a man it is one thing to love a godly man and anther thing to love him for godliness Many love godly men as they are Politicians or Potent or Learned or of a sweet nature or affable or related or as they have been kind to them
in their day have laid down such things for evidences or characters of grace which being weighed in the ballance of the Sanctuary will be found too light But here a mantle of love may be of more use than a lamp and therefore Secondly Many yea very many there are whose graces are very weak and much buried under the earth and ashes of many fears doubts scruples strong passions prevailing corruptions and diabolical suggestions who would give as many worlds as there be men in the world had they so many in their hands to give to know that they have grace and that their spiritual estate is good and that they shall be happy for ever Now this Treatise is fitted up for the service of these poor hearts for the weakest Christians may turn to many clear and well-bottomed evidences in this Treatise and throw the Gantlet to Satan and bid him prove if he can that ever any prophane person or cunning hypocrite under heaven had such evidences or such fair certificates to shew for heaven which he has to shew The generality of Christians are weak they are rather Dwarfs than Gyants 1 Pet. 2.2 3. 1 John 2.12 13 14. Isa 40.11 they are rather bruised Reeds than tall Cedars they are rather Babes than men Lambs than sheep c. Now for the service of their souls I have been willing to send this Treatise into the world for this Treatise may speak to them when I may not yea when I cannot yea which is more when I am not Famous Mr. Dod would frequently say He cared not where he was if he could but answer these two Questions 1. Who am I And 2. What do I hear am I a child of God and am I in my way But Thirdly Some there are who are so excessively and immoderately taken up with their Signs Marks and Evidences of grace and of their gracious state c. that Christ is too much neglected Where Christ was born they were all so taken up with their guests that he was not minded nor regarded when others lay in stately rooms he must be laid in a manger Luke 2.7 and more rarely minded by them their hearts don't run out so freely so fully so strongly so frequently so delightfully towards Christ as they should do nor as they would do if they were not too inordinately taken up with their Marks and Signs Now for the rectifying of these mistakes and the cure of these spiritual maladies this Treatise is sent into the world we may and ought to make a sober use of characters and evidences of our gracious estates to support comfort and encourage us in our way to heaven but still in subordination to Christ and to the fresh and frequent exercises of faith upon the person blood and righteousness of Jesus But O! how few Christians are there that are skil'd in this Work of Works this Art of Arts this Mystery of Mysteries But Fourthly Some there are who in these dayes are given up to Enthusiastical Fancies strange Raptures Revelations and to the sad delusions of their own hearts crying down with all their might all discoveries of Believers spiritual estates by Scripture Characters 2 Thes 2.9 10 11. Marks and Signs of Sanctification as carnal and low and all this under fair pretences of exalting Christ and maintaining the honour of his Righteousness and Free-grace and of denying our selves and our own righteousness Though sanctification be a branch of the Covenant of grace as well as Justification Jer. 33.8 Ezek. 36.25 26 27. yet there are a sort of men in the world that would not have Christians to rejoyce in their sanctification under a pretence of reflecting dishonour upon their free justification by Christ. There are many who place all their Religion in opinions in brain-sick notions in airy speculations in quaint disputations in immediate Revelations and in their warm zeal for this or that form of worship Now that these may be recovered and healed and prevented from doing further mischief in the world I have at this time put to a helping hand But Fifthly No man can tell what is in the breasts in the womb of divine Providence The Brathmanni had their graves before their doors The Sybarites at Banquets had a deaths head delivered from hand to hand by every guest at the Table The Egyptians in the midst of their Feasts used to have the Anatomy of a dead man set before them as a memorandum to the guests of their mortality The poor Heathen could say that the whole life of man should be meditatio mortis a meditation of death Dwell upon that Deut. 32.29 Prov. 27 1. no man can tell what a a day a night an hour may bring forth Who can sum up the many possible deaths that are still lurking in his own bowels or the innumerable hosts of external dangers which beleaguer him on every side or how many invisible arrows flie about his ears continually and how soon he may have his mortal wound given him by one of them who can tell Now how sad would it be for a man to have a summons to appear before God in that other world before his heart and life is changed and his evidences for heaven cleared up to him The life of man is but a shadow a post a span a vapour a flower c. Though there is but one way to come into the world yet there are many thousand wayes to be sent out of the world and this should bespeak every Christian to have his evidences for heaven alwayes ready and at hand yea in his hand as well as in his heart and then he will find it an easie thing to die The King of terrors will then be the King of desires to him and he will then travel to glory under a spirit of joy and triumph We carry about in our bodies the matter of a thousand deaths and may die a thousand several wayes several hours As many senses as many members nay as many pores as there are in the body so many windows there are for death to enter in at Death needs not spend all his arrows upon us a Worm a Gnat a Fly a Hair a stone of a Raisin a kernel of a Grape the fall of a Horse the stumble of a Foot the prick of a Pin the pairing of a Nail the cutting one of a Corn all these have been to others and any of them may be to us the means of our death within the space of a few dayes nay of a few hours Don't it therefore highly concern us to have our evidences for heaven cleared sealed shining and at hand Naturalists tell us That if a man sees a Cockatrice first the Cockatrice dieth but if the Cockatrice sees a man first the man dies Certainly if we so see death first as to prepare for it as to get our evidences for heaven ready we shall kill it but if death sees us first and arrests us first before we are prepared
Oppressor no Defrauder c. A formal Professors obedience to Divine Commands does principally lye in negatives he considers not so much what the Command requires as what it prohibits and he pleases himself rather in abstaining from evil than in doing of good in being outwardly reformed than in being inwardly renewed he thinks it enough that he turns from sin though he makes no Conscience of turning to God If you ask him concerning affirmative Commands there you will find him speechless Ask him art thou holy art thou humble art thou heavenly art thou sincere art thou a Believer dost thou set up God as the great object o thy fear dost thou love God with a superlative love is the Sabbath of the Lord a delight unto thee c. Now here you strike him dumb he looks upon the neglect of these things as no sins Isa 8.13 Psal 18.1 Isa 58 1â— because they are not such scandalous sins as the others are Remember Sirs sinful omissions many times leads to sinful commissions as you may see in the Angels thaâ— fell from Heaven to Hell and as you may see in Adam who fell from his highest glory into a woful gulf of sin and misery But Fourthly If your obedience spring from Faith then you will endeavour to obey God in the Spirit of the Command as well as in the letter of the Command In every Command of God there is an intra and an extra one part of Christs Law binds the Flesh and another part binds the Spirit Thou shalt do no Murther Matth. 5.21.22 Verse 27 28. there is the letter of the Command Thou shalt not be angry with thy Brother without a cause there is the Spirit of the Command Thou shalt not commit Adultery there is the letter of the Command Thou shalt not look upon a Woman to lust after her there is the Spirit of the Command The Pharisees of old did not look to the Spiritâ—ality of the Law but only to the Letter of the Law they rested wholly upon an outward conformity to the Law when their hearts were full of Hellish lusts they were all for the outside of the Law they regarded not the inside of the Law they were all for washing of Platters and Cups and for beautifying of Tombs like an Adulteress Matth. 23.23 Phil. 3.6 Rom. 7.9 Could a man come up to all affirmative and negative Precepts in his outward conversation yet if he were not spiritual in all these his obedience would be but as a body without a Soul The Pharisees rise high in their outward obedience and yet Christ clearly and fully convinces them that they were wretched Adulterers and Murderers though they were not guilty of any such outward crimes c. whose care is to paint and set a fair face upon a foul matter they were all for paying Tythe of Mint and Annise and Cummin but they regarded not the inside of the Law they omitted the weightier matters of the Law viz. Judgment Mercy and Faith While Paul walked by the letter of the Command he was blameless in his own account but when he came to walk by the Spirit of the Command then sin revived and he dyed Friends there are the more general duties of Religion as Hearing Praying Reading Receiving Fasting Repeating Discoursing c. Now these all lye in the very letter of the Command and there are the more inward and spiritual duties of Religion as the exercise of Faith fear love hope joy patience contentation humble submission and chusing of God and cleaving to God and delighting in God and admiring of God and exalting of God and following hard after God and holy Meditation and Self-examination c. Now all these lye in the very spirit of the Command Now in the exercise of these more spiritual duties our fellowship and communion with God mainly lyes In the more general duties of Religion an hypocrite may manifest the excellency of his gifts but in the more spiritual duties of Religion a sincere Christian doth manifest both the excellency and efficacy of grace Mark an unsound heart looks no further than to the bare letter of the command to bare hearing and bare praying and bare preaching and bare fasting and bare giving and bare receiving and bare suffering he looks no further than to that part of the command which only binds the flesh or outward man and if he does but observe that in the gross he thinks he hath done marvellous well like a melancholy man that matters not what melody and harmony he makes so he does but touch the strings of the instrument But now a found a sincere Christian he looks to the Spirit of the command and if he does not come up to that in sincere desires in gracious purposes in fixed resolutions and in cordial endeavours he can have no peace no rest no quiet no comfort O Sirs as ever you would see God and enjoy God another day you must labour not only to obey the letter of the command but also to bring your hearts to the sincere obedience of the Spirit of the command This is a very close piercing distinguishing and discovering sign But Fifthly If your obedience springs from faith then you will labour not only to obey God in the matter but also in the manner of the command not only in the substance of the command but also in the circumstance of the command God requires the manner as well as the matter and God looks upon that work as not done that is not done in a right manner Did not the Lord command sacrifice and did not Cain offer sacrifice Gen. 4.5 and yet God had no respect to him nor to his offering because his sacrifice was not offered up in a right manner his offering was not offered up by a hand of faith he offered his offering but because he did not offer himself as an offering to God his offering was rejected by God A work may be materially good Luther that is not formally and eventually good and this was Cain's curse How frequently did God command the Jews to pray Isa 1.15 and yet he plainly tells them When you spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you yea when you make many prayers I will not hear He commanded them to sacrifice and yet he saith To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices Verse 11. and all because they did not manage their prayers nor sacrifices in a right manner their hands were full of bloud and their hearts were full of sins and their lives were full of lewdness and therefore all their services were vain oblations yea an abomination to God An unfound heart looks no further than to the substance of the command if he has heard and prayed and fasted and read and repeated and given alms and received the Lord's Supper he strokes himself and blesses himself and hugs himself and thinks all is well and so he looks no further But now a sound
3.22 Return ye back-sliding children and I will heal your back-slidings behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God Every gracious soul hath the duplicate of God's Law in his heart and is willingly cast into the mould of his Word Rom. 6.17 Ye have obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine that hath been delivered to you or whereto you were delivered as the words may be read They did not only obey but they obeyed from the heart their hearts were in their obedience Psal 40.8 I delight to do thy will O my God! yea thy Law is within my heart Col. 1.12 Phil. 1.8 Jer. 31.33 or in the midst of my bowels as the Hebrew runs these note the tenderest affections There is the counterpane of the Law written yea printed upon every gracious heart a godly man will live and dye with the Law of God stampt upon his heart O â—eata Apocalypsis said that Martyr catching up the Revelation that was cast into the same fire with him to be burnt O Blessed Revelation how happy am I to be burned with thee in my hands It was Christ's meat and drink to do his Father's will and the same mind is in all the Saints John 4. Phil 2.5 Rom. 7.22 as was in Christ Jesus They delight in the Law of God after the inward man True obedience flows from principles of heartiness and love within and not from by and base respects and ends that are carnal and worldly It is observable that John's obedience was as ample and as large as God's command 2 King 10.30 And the Lord said unto Jehu because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel And yet because his heart was not in his obedience and because he did not purely act for God but for himself that he might bring about his own designs he met with a revenge instead of a reward as you may see in that Hos 1.4 And the Lord said unto him call his name Jezreel for yet a little while and I will avenge the bloud of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu Jehu's heart was not in his obedience he had a dispensatory conscience for though he rooted out Baals worship yet the golden Calves must still continue He destroyed Idolaters but not Idolatry and this carnal policy brought down vengeance and misery upon him and his posterity Artaxerxes goes far Ezra 7.23 Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven let it be diligently done To what a highth doth this Heathen Prince rise He will do anything for God he will do every thing for God that he requires But mark what is that which moves him to it Is it love to God is it delight in God O no! all his obedience proceeded from nothing but fear of wrath and vengeance as is evident in the latter part of the verse For why should there be wrath upon the Realm of the King and of his Sons Or as the Hebrew runs Why should there be boyling or foaming anger great indignation As it is rendred and made the utmost degree of divine displeasure in that Deut. 29.28 Some read these words Against the Realm of the King and his Sons as distinct one from another and not depending one upon another thus Against the Realm the King and his Sons and this reading the Original will bear And this reading shews That as the King feared God's wrath against himself so also against his Realm and Children and accordingly he was the more studious and careful to escape it blind nature was afraid of divine wrath â—zek 26.25 26 27. and therefore was the more sedulous to prevent it O but now a true child of God he has the Law of God written not only in his understanding but also in his heart and affections and this is that which makes his obedience to be pleasing and delightful to him so that if he might be free from the injunctions and directions of the Word with the servant in the Law he would not value such a liberty Exod. 21.4 5 6 c. he would not swear nor lye nor be drunk nor whore nor dissemble nor cheat nor run into all excess of riot if he might because in his soul he has a principle of grace and an inward contrariety and antipathy against it Eccl. 9.2 he would not cease to hear to read to pray to meditate if he might because his soul takes a delight sweet complacency in these things there is a principle within him agreeable to the precept without him which makes all religious performances to be easie and pleasurable to him Look as the eye delights in seeing and the ear in hearing so a gracious heart except when 't is under a cloud of dissertion or in the School of temptation or under some grievous tormenting afflictions or sadly worsted by some prevalent corruption delights in obeying Actions of nature you know are actions of delight and so are all those actions that spring from a new nature a divine nature c. Fifthly That obedience that springs from faith is a transforming obedience it mightily alters and changes a man from impurity to purity from sin to sanctity 2 Cor. 3.18 Rom. 12.1 2. from unrighteousness to righteousness from earthly-mindedness to heavenly-mindedness from pride to humility from hypocrisie to sincerity c. Such as please themselves with this That they are no changlings and that they are whatever they were Acts 8.13 these are still in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity That obedience of the Romans Rom. 16.19 which was said to have come abroad unto all men was an exemplary obedience and a transforming obedience Certainly Gospel-obedience is a grace of much worth and of great force upon the whole man for when it is once wrought in the heart it worketh a conformity to all God's holy will But having spoken more largely of this in my other writings let this touch here suffice c. Sixthly That obedience that springs from faith is a constant obedience 't is a fixed and resolved obedience not in respect of practise and continued acts for in many things we offend all Jaâ— 3.2 Eccl. 7.20 Prov. 20 9. 1 Kings 8.46 1 Joh. 1.8 Psal 17.3 There is not a just man upon the earth that doth good and sinneth not Who can say I have made my heart clean I am pure from my sin There is no man that sinneth not If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us c. But in respect of a Christians sincere desires bent of will purpose of heart resolution of soul and faithful endeavours Psal 119.20 My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times Ver. 112. I have enclined my heart to keep thy
but all this is but natural love but to love them because they are spiritually lovely because of the seed of God in them because they are all glorious within John 1.3.9 Psal 45.13 is to love them as becometh Saints it is to love them at a higher and nobler rate than any hypocrite in the world can reach too The Wasps flie about the Tradesman's shop not out of love to him but the honey and fruit that is there But Secondly True love to the Saints is appretiating a gracious soul sets the highest price and the greatest value and esteem upon those that are gracious Psal 15.4 He honours them that fear the Lord Psal 119.119 Psal 1.4 he looks upon the wicked as lumber but upon the Saints as jewels he looks upon the wicked as dross but upon the Saints as the gold of Ophir he looks upon the wicked as chaff but upon the Saints as wheat 1 John 12. he looks upon the Saints as sons but upon the wicked as slaves Heb. 1. ult he looks upon the Saints as heirs of salvation but upon the wicked as heirs of damnation Gracious souls do not value persons by their great Places Offices Names Professions Arts Parts Gifts gay Cloaths gold Chains Honours Riches but by what they are worth for another world As the great God so gracious souls look not how rational men are but how religious not how great but how gracious not how high but how holy Psal 16.3 and accordingly they value them My goodness extends not to thee but to the Saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight Prov. 12.26 The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour 'T is grace that differences one man from another that exalts one man above another A gracious man though never so poor and low and contemptible in the world is a better man than his wicked neighbour though he be never so great or rich in the world in the eye account and esteem of God Angels and Saints there is no man to the gracious man The Sun doth not more excel and out-shine the Stars than a righteous man doth excel and out-shine his unrighteous neighbour Prov. 28.6 Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness than he that is perverse in his wayes though he be rich A gracious man prefers a holy Job upon the dunghil before a wicked Ahab upon the Throne he sets a higher price upon a gracious Lazarus though cloathed with rags and full of sores Luke 16. than upon a rich and wretched Dives though he be cloathed gloriously and fares sumptiously every day This is and this must be for a lamentation Psal 45.13 Wicked men may highly prize and admire a the common gifts of the Saints as Pharaoh admired at the wisdom of Joseph and Nebuchadnezzar admired at the wisdom of Daniel but they never prize nor admire at their graces Every one that doth evil hateth the light Joh. 3.20 that this poor blind mad besotted world rates and values men according to their worldly interest greatness glory and grandure but gracious souls they rate and value men by their graces by their inward excellencies and by what they are worth for eternity in the eye of a gracious man there is no wife to a gracious wife no child to a gracious child no friend to a gracious friend no neighbour to a gracious neighbour no Magistrate to a gracious Magistrate no Minister to a gracious Minister no Master to a gracious Master nor no servant to a gracious servant internal excellencies carries it with a gracious man before all external glories The Jews say that those seventy souls that went with Jacob into Egypt were as much worth as all the seventy Nations in the world Doubtless seventy gracious persons in the esteem and judgment of those that are gracious are more worth than a whole world yea than seventy worlds of graceless persons Well Sirs remember this No man can truly prize and highly value grace in another but he that hath grace in his own heart Some prize Christians for their wit others prize them for their wealth some prize them for their birth and breeding others prize them for their beauty and worldly glory some prize them for the great things that have been done by them others prize them for the good things that they have received from them some prize them for their Eagles eyes others prize them for their silver tongues and others prize them for their golden parts but he that is truly gracious he prizes them for the grace of God that is in them he sets the highest value upon them for their holiness No unregenerate person hath a love to all the Saints for though he seems to love some yet he loaths others he is guilty of sinful partiality having the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ in respect of persons They seem to love the rich and despise the poor James 2. c. But Thirdly True love to the Saints is universal to one Christian as well as another to all as well as any to poor Lazarus as well as to rich Alraham to a despised Job as well as to an admired David to an afflicted Joseph as well as to a raised Iacob to a despised Disciple as well as to an exalted Apostle Eph. 1.15 Wherefore I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Iesus and love unto all the Saints Col. 1.4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Iesus and of the love which ye have to all the Saints Faith in Christ Jesus maketh love to all the Saints therefore they go commonly coupled in Pauls Epistles It was the glory of the Ephesians and Colossians that their faith and love reached to all the Saints their love was not a narrow love a love confined to some particular Saints but it was universal to all Saints Phil. 4.21 Salute every Saint in Christ Iesus the meanest as well as the â—ichest the weakest as well as the strongest the lowest as well as the highest and those that have many infirmities as well as those that have fewer infirmities Eph. 1.21 22 23 1 Pet. 2.17 and those that have but mean parts and gifts as well as those that have the strongest parts and the most raised gifts All Saints have the same Spirit the same Jesus the same Faith c. they are all fellow-members fellow-travellers fellow-soldiers fellow-Citizens fellow-heirs and therefore must they all be loved with a sincere and cordial love Love is set upon the brotherhood upon the whole fraternity of Believers and not here and there upon one Divine love casts an eye of favour upon grace in rags upon a dunghil in a dungeon a den a prison a fiery-furnace Psal 16.3 grace is as lovely in the illiterate as in the greatest Scholar in the servant as in the Master in the maid as in the Mistris in the child as in the Father in the
subject as in the Prince in the buyer as in the seller c. Look as all our delight must be in the Saints so our delight must be in all the Saints 'T is sad sinful to contemn our poor brethren and yet this was the very case of the Corinthians 1 Cor. 11.21 22. for they in their love-feasts carried it so unequally that one was hungry to wit the poor and another was drunken to wit the rich And this made the Apostle put that question to them What have ye not houses to eat and drink in or despise ye the Church of God and shame them that have not or put them to shame that have nothing And the Apostle Iames doth very roundly reprove and condemn that partial love that was generally among the Jews in his dayes Iam 2.1 2 3 4. My brethren have not the faith of our Lord Iesus Christ the Lord of glory with respect of persons for if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring in goodly apparel and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay cloathing and say unto him sit thou here in a good place and say to the poor stand thou there or sit here under my footstool are ye not then partial in your selves and are become judges of evil thoughts Not that the Apostle doth simply or absolutely prohibit a civil differencing of men in place from others for it cannot be denied but that there is a holy and warrantable respect of persons in respect of their age callings gifts graces and greatness in the world but when the rich mans wealth is more regarded than the poor mans godliness and when men carry it so to the rich as to cast scorn contempt disgrace and discouragement upon the godly poor They that respect a rich man that has but a little grace before a poor man that is rich in grace are worthy of blame All true born sons love to see the image and picture of their father though hung in never so poor a frame and in never so mean a cottage So the true born sons of God they love to see the image of God the picture of God upon the poorest Saints 'T is sad to prefer a worldly lustre before heavenly grace a gold ring before a rich faith a chain of gold before a chain of grace Non ex personis fidem sed ex fide personas Tertul. Ver. 5. Hearken my beloved brethren hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom It is a vile thing saith one of the Ancients to have the faith of Christ in respect of persons We do not judge of faith by persons but of persons by faith 'T is the great wisdom of a Christian not to judge of men by their outwards but by their inwards not by their externals but by their internals not by what they are worth for this world but by what they are worth for that other world The poorest Saints are God's portion Deut. 32.9 They are his pleasant portion Jer. 12.10 They are his peculiar treasure Exod. 19.5 They are his jewels Mal. 3.17 They are the apple of his eye Zech. 2.8 They are his glory Isa 4.5 They are the crown of his glory and royal diadem Isa 62.3 and therefore 't is a dangerous thing to flight them to disown them to look frowningly upon them or to carry it unworthily towards them Pompey told his Cornelia It is no praise to thee to have loved Pompeium Magnum Pompey the Great but if thou lovest Pompeium miserum Pompey the miserable thou shalt be a pattern for imitation to all posterity So I say it is no great matter to love those that are rich and pious great and gracious high and holy but to love the poor Saints of God in their lowest and most miserable condition when they have not a rag to cover them nor a crust to refresh them nor a fire to warm them nor a friend to stand by them nor a penny to help them this is praise-worthy this speaks our much of God of Christ of grace within Romanus the Martyr who was born of noble Parentage intreated his persecutors that they would not favour him for his Nobility For it is not said he the bloud of my Ancecestors but my Christian faith that makes me Noble 'T is not race nor place but grace that makes a man truly noble without a peradventure he that loves one Saint for the image of God that is upon him he cannot but fall in love with every Saint that bears the lovely image of the Father upon him he cannot but love a Saint in rags as well as a Saint in robes a Saint upon the dunghil as well as a Saint upon the throne usually those Christians that have least of the world have most of Christ commonly those Christians that have least of the world have most of heaven in their hearts houses and lives But Fourthly True love to the Saints will extend to those that are most remote in respect of place Rom. 5.26 as well as to those that are near They of Macedonia and Achaia made a contribution for the poor Saints at Jerusalem 3 John 5. The Saints of Macedonia and Achaia did freely and cheerfully contribute to the poor Saints at Jerusalem whose faces probably they had never seen And Gaius is commended for his love to strangers A gracious man that has an estate a treasury an inheritance he is like a common fountain that freely gives out to strangers as well as to near neighbors A great fire will warm those that sit far from it as wel as those that sit neer unto it So sincere love will extend and stretch out it self to those Saints that are most remote gracious souls do dearly love and highly value those Saints whose faces they have never seen nor are like to see in this world and from whose hands they have not received the least civility and all upon the serious reports that they have had of the grace of God that has been sparkling and shining in them Rom. 12.9 1 Pet. 1.22 1 John 3.18 whose habitations are at a great distance from them A sincere love an unfeigned love a hearty love will be running out towards those that live most remote from us if we do but understand that God is in them and with them of truth But Fifthly Our love to the Saints is right when we love them best and most in whom the spiritual and supernatural causes of love are most sparkling and shining where grace draws the affections there the more grace we see the more we shall love Psal 16.3 My goodness extendeth not to thee but to the Saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight Psal 45.19 There are Saints and there are excellent Saints The Hebrew word that is here rendred excellent signifies
known in prosperity nor hid in adversity True love is like that of Ruth's to Naomi that of Jonathan's to David permanent and constant Job 6.15 16. Many there be whose love to the Saints is like Job's brooks which in the Winter when men have no need of them overflows with tenders of service and shews of love but when the season is hot and dry the poor thirsty traveller stands in most need of water to refresh him then the brooks are quite dried up They are like the Swallow that will stay by you in the Summer of prosperity but flie from you in the Winter of adversity It is observed by Josephus of the Samaritans Joseph Anti. lib. 11. p. 286. that when ever the Jews affairs prospered they would be their friends and profess much love to them yea they would vaunt of their alliance saying That they were near akin and of the race of Ephraim and Manasses the sons of Joseph But when the Jews were in trouble and affliction and brought to an under then they would not own them Lib. 11. p. 272. Lib. 12. p. 304. Lib. 13. p. 322 323. c. nor have any thing to do with them yea then they would set themselves with all their â—ight against them as the same Historian tells us This age is full of such Samaritans yet certainly such as truly love they will alwayes love such as truly love the people of God they will love them to the end In the primitive times it was very much taken notice of by the very Heathen that in the depth of misery when fathers and mothers forsook their children Christians otherwise strangers stuck closs one to another their love of Religion and one of another proved firmer than that of nature They seem to take away the Sun out of the world said the Orator who take away friendship from the life of man for we do not more need fire and water than constant friendship Though wicked men may pretend great love to the Saints yet their love is not constant Gen. 31.24 29. 33 1 2 3 4 5. Dan. 6. God sometimes indeed over-rules their spirits with a very strong hand as he did Laban's and Esau's or as he over-ruled the spirits of the Lions to preserve Daniel and of the Ravens to feed Elijah but so soon as that over-ruling providence is over they are as they were befoâ—e God for a time gave the Israelites favour in the eyes of the Egyptians but before and after they were their utter enemies But now a gracious soul he loves the Saints at all times his love to them is constant But Fourteenthly That soul that dares not say that he has grace yet can truly say before the Lord that he prizes the least dram of grace above ten thousand thousand worlds certainly that soul has true grace in him Doubtless there are none that can prize grace in their understandings and judgments above all the world Mic. 6.6 7. Phil. 3.18 19. Mat. 19.16 to 25. Psal 2.21 but such as are first taken out of the world by grace There is no man on earth whose heart is void and empty of grace but sets a higher value and price upon his lusts or upon his relations or upon his honours or riches or pleasures or upon this or that worldly enjoyment than he does upon grace or the fountain of grace yea how many thousands are there that set a higher price or value upon a Hound a Hawk a Horse a Harlot a good Trade a fair Estate a rich inheritance yea upon the very toyes and trifles of this world than they do upon God or Christ or grace 'T was never yet known in the world that ever God sent such a man to hell who prized grace above heaven it self who had rather have grace and holiness without heaven than heaven it self without grace and holiness Fifteenthly That soul that dares not say that his condition is good yet can say in truth of heart before the Lord that he would not change his condition with the vain carnal formal and prophane men of the world for ten thousand worlds that man is certainly for heaven and heaven is certainly for that man we may be very highly and groundedly confident that God will never cast that man to hell among devils and damned spirits at the great day who in his day of life would not chuse to be in the condition of the men of the world for as many worlds as there be men in the world Look as none meet in heaven but such as are like to like in their renewed natures principles and practises so none meet in hell but such as are like to like in their old natures Deut. 22.10 2 Cor. 6.14 15 16 17 18. principles and practises That God that would not suffer an Ox to be yoked with an Ass in this world nor a Believer with an Infidel will never suffer such to be yoked with devils and damned reprobates in that lower world who would not to gain many worlds be willingly yoked with wicked men in this world certainly they shall never be a Christians companions in that other world whose society and company and whose wickedness and baseness have been a grief a torment a hell to him in this world Psal 119.53 136. Jer. 9.1 2. Ezek. 9.4 6. 2 Pet. 2.7 8. When Mrs. Katherine Brettergh was upon her dying bed and most grievously assaulted by temptations in the midst of her sore conflicts this was no small support and comfort to her That surely God would not send her to hell to live for ever among such wicked persons whose company and whose sin was a burden to her in this world c. But Sixteenthly James 3.2 Eccles 7.20 Prov. 20.7 Joh. 1.1 8. That soul that dares not say that he does not sin For in many things we offend all and there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not and who can say I have made my heart clean I am pure from my sin And if we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us yet can say in uprightness before the Lord that he would not willingly resolutely maliciously wilfully wickedly and hab tually sin against the Lord to gain a world that soul that don 't nor won't through grace assisting Psal 119.1 3. 1 John 3.9 allow himself or indulge himself in a course of sin or in a trade of 〈◊〉 in the common practise of any known sin that soul is certainly a gracious soul Rom. 7.15 The evil that I do I allow not 'T is one thing for a man to sin 't is an other thing for a man to allow himself in sin 't is one thing for a godly man to step into a sin Psal 139 24. and 't is another thing to keep the road of sin Search me and try me and see if there be any way of wickedness in me or as the
tells you of some that speak evil of the things that they understood not they did reprehend that which they could not comprehend Ignorance is a breeding sin a mother sin all sins are seminally in ignorance ignorance is the mother of all the mistakes and of all the misrule in the world Christ told the Sadduces Mat. 22.29 That they did err not knowing the Scriptures and so I may say many err in crying down such signs and evidences of grace which are bottomed upon Scripture because they are ignorant of what the Scripture saith in the case But Fifthly The generality of Christians are but Lambs Babes and Children in grace Isa 40.11 2 Pet. 2.2 3. 1 John 2.1 the springs of grace runs low in them their fears frequently over-top their faith and their strong passions and corruptions do often raise such a dust and smoak in their souls that 〈◊〉 they might have all the world yea if their salvation lay upon it they were not able to discern the least measure of grace in their own souls A little grace is next to none small things are hardly discerned he had need to have a clear light and good eyes that is to discern a hair a mote or an atome A little grace is not discoverable but by a shining light from above There are none so full of fears and doubts and questions and disputes about the truth of their faith in Christ and the sincerity of their love to Christ as those that least believe and least love The Kingdom of God in most Christians Mark 4.30 31 32. is but as a grain of mustard-seed which is the least of all seeds and therefore 't is no wonder they see it not The root of the matter in most Christians is but small and that small root is often covered over with many sinful infirmities and weaknesses and therefore we are not to look upon it as a strange thing if we see such Christians not sensible of the root of the matter that is in them Weak habits put forth such faint actions and with so much interruption that it is not an easie thing to discern whether they are the products of special or of common grace Now most Christians having but small measures of grace holiness and sanctification in them and these small measures being much obscured and buried under the prevalency of fears doubts and unmortified lusts can speak but weakly and darkly for them upon this ground they are not fond of bringing in this witness of sanctification to speak for them In civil Courts men are not ambitious to bring such witnesses to the Bar as can witnes but weakly faintly in their case T is so here Sixthly Satan is a grand enemy to the peace joy comfort assurance settlement and satisfaction of every poor Christian and therefore he will leave no stone unturn'd nor no means unattempted Psal 77. Psal 88. whereby he may keep them in a low dark unsettled and uncomfortable condition When once a poor soul is brought over to Christ how does the Devil bestir himself to keep such a soul so under fears doubts and bondage as that it may not in the least have an eye to any thing that may have a proper tendency to its comfort joy assurance peace or quiet The Devil will do all he can to furnish such as arâ—â—egotten again by the resurrection of Christ from the dead with all sorts of deadly weapons one of his Armoury to fight against those Arguments and evidences which make for the peace and comfort of their own souls He that shall look seriously and impartially upon the subtile close strong 2 Sam. 2.19 and rhetorical arguings of many distressed Christians above their own natural parts against the peace rest comfort and settlement of their own souls may safely conclude that a hand of Joab a hand of Satan yea a strong hand of Satan has been with them He that shall please to read the life of Francis Spira though he be no great Philosopher yet he may easily discern with what subtilty and wonderful 2 Cor. 11.14 Sophistry Satan helpâ— him to argue against the pardonableness of his sins and the possibility of his salvation Satan knows how to transform himself into an Angel of light Satan does not alwayes appear in one and the same fashion but he appears in as many several shapes fashions and changes as Proteus did among the Poets To deceive some he has assumed a lightsom body as if he were an Angel of heaven as if he had been a holy one cloathed with the brightness of celestial glory To deceive others he has appeared as an Angel of light suggesting such things to them and injecting such things into them under fair and specious shews and pretences of Religion Piety Zeal and Holiness which have had a direct tendency to the dishonour of God the wounding of Christ the grieving of the Spirit the clouding or denying their evidences for heaven the strangling of their hopes and the death of all their comforts and joy But Seventhly and lastly Some Christians live under high enjoyments and singular manifestations of God's love to them they have God every day a shedding abroad of his love into their hearts by the holy Ghost Rom. 5.5 Psal 63.2 3 4. God is every day a filling their souls with life light love glory and liberty Mat. 17.4 Christ every day takes them up into the Mount and makes such discoveries of himself and his glory to them that they are ready frequently to cry out Bonum est esse hic Dan. 9.22 23 Cant. 2.6 It is good to be here Christ often whispers them in the ear with an O man O woman greatly beloved Christ's left hand is every day under their heads and his right hand doth embrace them they sit down every day under his shadow with great delight and his fruit is sweet unto their taste he makes out every day such sweet and clear manifestations of his admirable favour to their hearts Psal 63.2 3 4 5. that their souls are daily satisfied as with marrow and fatness There are some precious Christians I say not all Cant. 8. I say not most who live daily under singular glances of divine glory and who are daily under the sensible embracements of God and who daily lye in the bosom of the Father Cant. 1.13 and who every night have Christ as a bundle of myrrh lying betwixt their breasts Now these choice souls who live daily in the glorious manifestations of the Spirit and enjoy a little heaven on this side heaven these many times are so taken up with their high communion with God with their spiritual enjoyments and with their tastes of the glory of that other world that they do not much mind such evidences as we have had under our consideration And thus much for the Reasons why some cry down Scripture marks signs and evidences of grace of holiness of sanctification and
You know in time of War there are the outworks and there are the royal Forts Now when the Soldiers are beaten out of their out-works they retire to the royal Forts and there they are safe and then they cast up their caps and bid defiance to their proudest enemies Now our graces and our gracious evidences they are our out-works and from these we may be beaten in a day of desertion and temptation c. Now if we make our retreat to the five following royal Forts we may in a holy sence cast up our caps and bid defiance to an host of Devils yea to all the powers of darkness Qu. But Sir Pray let us know which are these Royal Forts Ans They are these three that follow The first is the free rich infinite soveraign and glorious grace of God Gen. 6.8 Exod. 19.5 Eph 1.5 6 7. 1 Tim. 1.13 14 15 16. The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant The original word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was over full redundant more than enough more than might serve the turn for him who was the greatest of sinners By free-grace you are to understand the gracious good will or favour of God whereby he is pleased of his own free love to chuse and accept of some in Christ for his own This we call first grace because it is the fountain of all other grace and the springs from whence they flow and it 's therefore called grace because it makes a man gracious with God Now mark there have been many Christians who have had no assurance of the love of God no sight of their interest in Christ no sealing of the spirit nor no one clear evidence of grace that they durst rest the weight of their souls upon nor no one promise in the whole Book of God that they durst apply or rest upon who yet daily casting or rowling themselves their souls and their everlasting concernments upon the infinite free rich and soveraign grace of God in Christ have found some tolerable peace comfort and refreshment in such a practise all their dayes A Christian may lose the sight of his graces and the evidences of his gracious estate he may be so much in the dark he may be so much benighted and bewildered in his spirit that there may be no way under heaven left to him to enjoy peace comfort rest quiet settlement or contentment but by casting or rowling of his soul upon the free rich infinite and soveraign grace of God in Christ and here casting anchor the poor bewildered deserted tempted Isa 50.10 tossed soul may be safe and at rest The free love and favour of God will be a lamp to the soul in the darkest night Psal 4.6 Socrates prized the Kings countenance above his coyn What is then the countenance of a God to a gracious soul it will be a sweet lump that will sweeten the bitterest cup it will be a singular cordial against all faintings it will be armour of proof against all temptations it will be an everlasting arm to you under all afflictions it will be a Sun and a shield to you in every condition Psal 80.3 Cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved Divine favour is that pearl of price that is most desirable Dan. 9.17 The Lord make his face to shine upon his sanctuary that is desolate for the Lords sake Numb 6.24 The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you Psal 67.1 God be merciful to you and bless you and cause his face to shine upon you Job 2.4 Life is a very desirable thing skin for skin yea all that a man hath will he give for his life and yet the loving kindness of God is better than life Psal 63. Thy loving kindness is better than life The Hebrew word is Chajim lives to note that the loving kindness of God is better than many lives yea than all lives and the revenues of life put many lives together put all lives together and yet there is more excellency in the least discovery of divine love than in them all Many a man has been weary of his life but who have ever been weary of divine love Dear Christians are your graces or gracious evidences shining and sparkling O then solace your selves mostly in the free love and favour of God for in his free favour lyes the life of your souls the life of your graces the life of your comforts yea in his free favour your all is bound up If your graces or evidences are so clouded and darkned that you are in a stormy day beat out of your out-works O now run to the free grace and favour of God as to your Royal Fort as to your strong Tower as to your City of Refuge where you may be safe and happy for ever In such a day ponder much upon these Scriptures Hos 14.4 I will heal their back-sliding I will love them freely God's love is a free love having no motive or foundation but within it self all the links of the golden chain of salvation are made up of free-grace The people of God are freely loved Deut. 7.6 7 8. and freely chosen John 15.16 19. Eph. 1.4 and freely accepted Eph. 1.6 and freely adopted Eph. 1.5 Gal. 4.5 6. and freely reconciled 2 Cor. 5.18 19 20. and freely justified Rom. 3.24 Being justified freely by his grace and freely saved Eph. 2.5 By grace ye are saved Ver. 8. For by grace are ye saved Tit. 3.5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us Thus you see that all the golden rounds in Jacob's Ladder that reaches from heaven to earth are all made up of free-grace Free-grace is the foundation of all spiritual and eternal mercies free-grace is the solid bottom and foundation of all a Christians comfort in this world Were we to measure the love of God to us by our fruitfulness holiness humbleness spiritualness heavenly-mindedness or gracious carriages towards him how would our hope our confidence every hour Rom. 4.16 yea every moment in every hour be staggered if not vanquished Bâ—t all is of grace of free-grace that the promise might be sure and that our salvation might be safe O Sirs it is free-grace that will strengthen you in all your duties and that will sweeten all your mercieâ— Rom. 8.33 34 35 36. and that will support you under all your changes and that will arm you against all temptations answer all objections and take off all Satans accusations that may be cast in to disturb the peace and quiet of your souls and therefore whether your graces or gracious evidences do shine or are clouded yet still have your recourse to the free-grace of God as to your first Royal Fort your first City of Refuge and still cry out Grace grace When your gracious evidences are clearest and fullest it then concerns you to look upon free grace as your choicest and safest City