consider well of those speeches God is onely wise and onely good and onely excellent consider well of them We think that he is wise that he is good but not onely wise and onely good the more you do this the more godly you grow the more you are out of conceit with your selves the more you grow into a high opinion of God to set up him the more the Lord dwells in your hearts for you must know there are degrees of Gods dwelling in a mans heart As a vessel the more it is emptied of that which was in it the more it admits of other liquor that is poured into it As it is in a house another man may dwell in it but I may keep a room in it but when there is no In-mate in the house then a man is said to dwell in it plentifully to be altogether in it to be the Lord of every room So it is when God comes to dwell in the heart of a man so far as a man bears rule in his own heart keeps possession there himself so much less is God there And so much less as he is in himself so much less as he rules in himself so much more plentifully doth God dwell there because God rules most when a man doth subject himself to him altogether that is when he doth nothing but his work when he considers what it is that the Lord would have him to do in every thing When a man resigns up himself to God he resigns up his affections and all to be ruled and regulated according to his will to act according to his pleasure When a man is to speak any thing he will be still looking what warrant he hath from the Lord and so when he is to do any thing Oh my Brethren that we could do but this As men when they serve great Kings and Princes when they see that their making or marring depends upon them whatsoever may displease them that they will curiously and carefully look to avoid and what may please them they will exactly observe Is not the Lord the great King of heaven and earth should we not look on him altogether This is without exception no man shall erre in this In following a man a man may hurt himself he may be led into by-wayes that may turn to his disadvantage but in following God it is not so Take the wisest man that is yet he is subject to some error but the Lord he is righteous altogether his wayes are perfect Therefore if a man would take that resolution to himself Well I will look upon my self no more nor to any creature but I will deny my self altogether and look to God and see what he will have me to do whether I sink or swim whatsoever becomes of me this is the wisest man and the happiest man and this is the property of godliness And as you do this the more so the more you are godly men And the root of all this is when a man makes no account of himself and sees God in all for a man will have a ground for what he doth And if you could bring your hearts to this to see all your happiness in God and all your safety there you would soon deny your selves in every thing else and seek him altogether And now onely we will add by reason of the Sacrament which is to be administred You that are now to receive have occasion especially to make use of this though it be a work that we have all to do as at all other times so especially at this time But you will say what is this to the Sacrament You must know what the Sacrament is and then you shall see how close this will come to it Mark 16 we find these words He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved he that will not believe shall be damned What is the meaning of that He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved The meaning is this saith he if you will believe in Jesus Christ if you will take him for your Lord and Husband and if you will be baptized What is Baptism When you are baptized you are baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost that is you shall give up your selves to God altogether You shall bear his Name you shall be no more your own for you are baptized into his Name and you are called after his Name as the Wife is called after the Name of her Husband so you shall be called Christians Now when you take this Sacrament you must do this really for doth the Lord care for the title no but you must give over your selves to him really So that when you are to be called by his Name the meaning is you must do it in the substance you must give up your selves to his service indeed That is you must do two things in the Sacrament First you profess this to all the world that whereas before you served other gods or served your selves now you profess to all the world that you are the servants of God So that we say when you come to receive the Sacrament you not onely profess that you are Christians but you bind your selves to be so really I say in the receiving of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper there are these two things done First the Lord engageth himself to you I will be your Master I will be your General I will be your Husband And again you engage your selves to him that he shall be your Lord and you his people that he shall be your Master your General and you will be his servants and his followers This is done every time you receive the Sacrament the Lord renews his Covenant with you it is done at your first coming in at your first ingrafting into the Church by Baptism but the Lords Covenant is renewed in this Sacrament therefore that you may not forget it he saith Take this is my body that is take this as a sign of it that I have given my self for you and when you take it it is a sign that you give your selves up unto the Lord. So that think with your selves therefore when you come to the Sacrament you profess your selves to be Christians godly men that is men that will serve God and serve Christ altogether This Sacrament I say it is but a renewing of the Covenant for that is the end of it it is but the celebrating of the nuptials anew As sometimes you know men will keep their marriage-marriage-day a Festival yearly So we do in receiving the Sacrament of the Lords Supper as Ionathan and David they had made an oath together before but they renewed it again and again that they might be strengthened and confirmed in one anothers love So this is your worthy receiving of this Sacrament to strengthen your former Covenant with God Therefore it is good when you are to receive to think how much since the last time
I have declared to you what it is to win your hearts to a more full assent to this that nothing but godliness is accepted we will shew you some reasons for it For a man will ask this What is the reason that God delights not in nature or natural vertues or in moral habits Why doth he not delight in these Why will he accept of nothing but godliness First there is this reason for it because the Lord loves nothing but that which is like himself as indeed no man doth nor no creature No man loves any thing but that which hath a likeness a consimilitude with something within himself For all love you know comes from similitude all delight comes from likeness Therefore the things that have no similitude with us we neither love nor delight in them Now therefore when God looks upon man and sees his own Image upon him when he sees that stamp upon a man he loves it and delights in it for it is like himself But now whatsoever is from nature whatsoever is but moral vertues it is but from the earth and is earthly it is but from the flesh and it is fleshly But that which is supernatural that which is infused into us from God that Image of his which is stamped upon us is from Heaven and is heavenly it is from the Spirit and it is spiritual Now God that is a Spirit and is holy he loves that which is spiritual and holy he loves his own Image wheresoever he finds it Now godliness is onely heavenly for all other beauties that seem so gaudy to us are but from the earth and are the beauty of the flesh therefore the Lord delights not in them the Lord loves it not with the love of complacency so as to be well pleased with it That is one reason Secondly the reason why the Lord doth love nothing but godliness that he loveth none of the rest so as to delight in them for there is a kind of love that he gives them as you know our Saviour Christ looked on the young man in the Gospel and loved him but I say he doth not delight in them he loves them not with that special and peculiar love because all these ornaments they do but beautifie the creature in it self Now no creature may rejoyce in it self or boast in it self no creature may magnifie it self which it would do if it might find an excellency in it self Therefore the Lord will have the creature to find no excellency in it self and therefore he doth not magnifie these things he sets no price upon them And the Lord would have the creature to know so much he onely magnifies and esteems that which draws the creature from it self makes the creature his therefore he prizeth and esteemeth onely the emptying graces You shall see the Scripture doth not magnifie those moral vertues that Aristotle and Plutarch and Seneca and the rest of those Heathens magnified For the scope of the Scripture looks another way and magnifieth those emptying graces most As faith for instance which emptyeth the creature of it self and makes a man to see nothing in himself not to trust in himself but teacheth a man to look for all from God therefore the Scripture magnifieth faith O woman great is thy faith that is this is the thing that onely makes thee amiable this is it that makes me set a high price upon thee And so in that speech to the Centurion I have not found so great faith no not in Israel It was that which set Iacob in that high esteem with God that which got him that title of honour to be called Israel it was his faith And why is it but because the Lord regards that onely in the creature which makes a man his which draws a man nearer to him and more out of himself Now this godliness doth for it makes a man to see nothing in himself but all in God and therefore to follow God altogether to seek God altogether Now all other ornaments all natural and moral vertues do beautifie and adorn the creature within himself they make a man to see something within himself now no creature is to do this no not the creature when it was in the flower of all its bravery When Adam and the Angels would begin to look on something in themselves and forget God and to think that they were some body and would stand upon their own bottom then they fell For the creature of it self is as a glass without a bottom if you set it down it breaks for it hath nothing to sustain it but as long as a man holds it in his hand so long it is safe Such a thing is every creature in it self Angels and men they are without a bottom when the Lord doth not hold them in his own hand when they will go about to stand of themselves they fall and break and that was the cause of the fall of the Angels and the fall of Adam and of all of us in him viz. self-dependance Our repairing again the restoring of the creature must be by learning to be altogether Gods to magnifie God to look to God and to look to him altogether for that is indeed onely prized and magnified by him And this is the second reason wherefore godliness is only accepted by God because it teacheth a man onely to mind him to look to him to draw near to him it makes a man altogether his and not his own We will add one more the Lord regards onely godliness and nothing else because it gives him all the glory Now onely the Lord may seek his own glory because he hath no other end beyond himself Every creature you know is made for a further end and therefore is bound to seek something above it self even as it stands subordinate to that Every man is subordinate a man in the Common-wealth must seek the good of that Every man is subordinate to God therefore he must seek the glory of God for the subordination will so carry it But now the Lord he hath none above himself therefore he may and doth seek his own glory now nothing gives glory to God but godliness In 1 Cor. 11. The man is the glory of God and the woman is the glory of the man The meaning of it is this look how the woman is the glory of the man so is the man the glory of God that is a man must have nothing in himself for then he would have some glory to himself but he must be wholly the Lords he must be wholly fashioned and accommodated to him as the woman to the Husband for then he is the Lords glory Even as a picture you know it hath nothing of it self but all from the Painter therefore the picture is the glory of the Painter we use to phrase it so because it hath all from him we call it the glory of the Painter because it shews his glory And so a
a sign There is another asking of a sign when it is to confirm our faith when the intention is good and the heart is upright Thus Hezekiah asked a sign and the Lord gave him a sign hence observe that The Lord tenders a weak faith He will not quench the smoaking flax nor break the bruised reed but he is ready to supply it when it is but as a grain of mustard-seed When Hezekiah had not faith enough to believe what the Prophet had told him from the mouth of the Lord the Lord added a sign But I come to the next words And Hezekiah did not render according to the mercies the Lord bestowed upon him Whence this is the observation I will deliver to you that When the Lord bestowes a mercy he looks for praise and thankfulness and that it should bear a proportion to the blessing received For so the words are brought in Hezekiah prayed and the Lord answered him and gave him the thing he desired but Hezekiah rendered not to the Lord according to the Mercies bestowed upon him implying that the Lord looked for something at his hands he expected that he should be thankful Hezekiah was ready to glorifie himself when the Amhassadors came from the King of Babylon and he did not render according to the mercies received This the Lord observed and it is set down noting that when the Lord bestowes a mercy he looks that we should be thankful and that our thankfulness should be according to the mercies This is a point that needeth no proof that the Lord looketh for thankfulness Onely I will shew you why this is a thing that the Lord makes so great account of You must consider that this duty of thankfulness of all other that we can offer to the Lord it is the most free it is the greatest testimony of sincerity and ingenuity in us for when we pray to the Lord it may proceed out of self love but when we are thankful that comes out of love to the Lord prayer may tend to our own profit but thankfulness tends to Gods Glory therefore we should be the more abundant in this duty because the nature of this duty is such as is more commendable it is more free it is a testimony of more sincerity and ingenuity in us Besides it is a duty that stirs us up more to think well of the Lord and to speak well of him for when we come to give thanks for mercies it pitcheth our thoughts upon his goodness and upon the great works he hath done for us and this causeth us to think better of the Lord and makes us the more willing to obey him and therefore it is an acceptable duty Again it is a commendable thing Psal. 33. 1. Rejoyce ye righteous for it is a comely thing to praise the Lord. That is it is a duty of that nature that it is not onely comly at some times as things are comely commonly with reference for nothing in it self is comely but in reference to such and such things but now thankfulness is of that nature that it is alway beautiful and comely at all times because it iâ— simply so and therefore it continues for ever You know it is the commendation of love that it shall continue when prophesie and faith and other graces shall faile so it is the commendation of thankfulness that even in heaven it is comely for there we shall praise the Lord for ever But now you must know that the Lord doth not onely look for thankfulness but that we should render according to the mercies we have received so that in our thankfulness there must be these four conditions First you must consider that when you come to give thanks for any mercy to the Lord it is not such a free-will offering as that you may chuse whether you will do it or no but you must know that you are bound to it therefore this word yielding here it shewes that it was such a debt as Hezekiah did owe to the Lord. When you are to give thanks therefore you must not go about this duty as if you might do it or not do it and it is no great matter but that it is such a thing as the Lord requires For when the Lord bestowes any mercy upon us he keeps this property still in his own hands to have thanks rendred to him Sutable praise and thanksgiving is the rent and fine as I may say which the Lord would have us give him for all the things we enjoy Now when we do not give him praise we with hold that from him which is his due As when a rent is due to a Land-lord and is not paid him you detain that from him which is his right And you see in this verse that when Hezekiah did not render according to the mercies received wrath came upon him When wrath shall come upon a man for neglecting of a duty it is an argument that it is not so free as that he might neglect it if he please but that he must do it of necessity This is the first thing that you are to consider that the Lord requires it exactly at your hands it is a thing that you owe to the Lord. Secondly you must render according to the mercies received that is there must be a suitableness and proportion between your thankfulness and the mercies bestowed Wherein two things are to be observed One is when you have many mercies you must be much in thankfulness when all that you have are mercies you must alway be giving thanks You shall see it 1 Thes. 5. In all things give thanks for that is the will of God towards you that is it is not enough to be thankful to God for some mercies no nor for mercies in general to say God be thanked for all his benefits and so to name them in the gross but in all things give thanks that is for every particular thing for every mercy received And this is a special thing and a thing that we are exceedingly apt to fail in that we do not give thanks for all things If we could come once to take notice and to particularize the variety of mercies that we have received they would be as so many sparks to kindle a flame of love and to knit us to the Lord when as it may be mercies in the general will not so much affectus And besides when we give thanks so in the general onely we are apt to forget them but when we give thanks in particular for things this quickens us and keeps us near to the Lord. Therefore you must remember this that in your giving thanks you are to remember every thing in particular to render to the Lord according to the mercies bestowed Again Thirdly according to the mercies received This is another condition that the extent of your thankfulnesse be according to the greatnesse of the mercies For you shall observe in the
wayes of God It is one thing to approve the wayes of God and another thing to delight in them Other men that are but civil men may approve the wayes of God but they cannot delight in them this is more then a natural man can reach unto If therefore thou find this in thee be assured the strength of grace is there So to love God we find that peculiar to the Saints that is more then any hypocrite in the world can do if any man therefore find that grace so strong in him that it makes his heart cleave to the Lord wholly and long after him that he loves him and seekes his face that he loves him not for other respects but beholding him in his person in his attributes and in all his excellencies he can love him above all things this no man by nature can attain to And so to hate sin no man by nature can hate sin but by the power of grace for all hatred ariseth from contrary and onely grace is contrary to sin it is grace that makes a man a sin hater It is possible for another man sometimes to fall out with sin and to abstain from some particular acts of sin but to hate sin no man can do it naturally For there is no man that hates any thing but he hates the whole kind thereof as the sheep hates the wolf therefore it hates every wolf And again hatred we know is implacable when a man is angry he is reconciled again sometimes but when a man hates a thing he would have it quite taken away Now no man is able to do this but by the power of grace to hate all sin every where in himself as well as in others to hate it so as to desire to have it utterly destroyed and to be implacably out with it so as never again to be reconciled to it This is the property of grace This thou hast that thou hatest the works of the Nicholaitans We are deceived in that when we think we hate sinne because we abstain from some acts of sinne if thou didst hate it thou wouldest hate it every where and every kind of sin Thou wouldest not onely fall out with it when it doth thee a shrewd turn but thou wouldest be out with it for ever When a man finds that he can hate sin that he can love God and delight in his Commandements and love the Saints c. these are things that no man can do by nature therefore if thou find these things there is more in thee then nature herein is the strength of grace seen Now it is true there are other things which a man may do which hath not this saving grace but grace hath this efficacy that it makes thee do more then any man will or can do by common nature As for example wheresoever the power of grace is it makes a man deny himself whereas another man would not it will make a man refuse gain and profit and advantage to himself when another man would not it makes a man able to forgive his enemies which before he could not do But you will say other men may do this that have no grace But they never do it in sincerity here is the difference grace makes a man do it ordinarily in his common course another man may have some fits in these things but to do it when a man is himself to do it upon deliberation this is the strength of grace therefore you may try your selves by that Am I able to do more then common nature can do if thou canst not be sure that grace is not there for is there not an efficacy and power in grace and why should we say there is a power in it if we see not the effects of that power if thou do no more then another man can do thou givest just cause to those that are Atheists to think that this power of grace is but a meer notion but a fancy Is it thinkest thou for the honour of God that thou shouldest be reckoned a man within the Covenant and to be such a one as hath grace wrought in thy heart and have no power of grace in thy life Therefore examine thy self by that canst thou do more then a man can do by the strength of natural abilities or by the accession of moral vertues or good education or humane wisdom c This is the first thing wherein the power of grace is seen I named three to you We told you one is that it heals corrupt nature and raiseth common nature above its own sphear Now secondly that whereby you may examine whether you have this property of grace whether you have this strength of grace in you or no it is this Consider what you are able to do in the acts of new obedience the power of grace is seen that it enableth you to do them when another man cannot do them In the first we had to do with the nature and then I told you that grace heals corrupt nature and puts more into you then common nature This second thing is distinct from that and is seen in the actions And the third is seen in the intententions In these three the strength of grace is seen There is scarce any man but hath some good intentions some good purposes but when they come to the birth there is no strength to bring forth men are not able to perform them Now grace wheresoever it is hath so much strength as not onely to beget good motions but it is powerful and effectuall to bring them forth into act Grace is an effectual Mid-wife to bring purposes and conceptions to performances enabling us to do them Therefore by that you may try it whether grace strengthen you to performance and practice that which you purpose and desire to do It is observed that your fennish and rotten ground suddenly shootes out a broad blade of grass but we know it is unprofitable to any man whereas good ground that brings forth good grass brings it not forth so suddenly nor so broad so those that have unsoundness of heart they may go so far as to have some sudden good purposes and desires and motions and conceptions but yâ—t they come to nothing they are but foggy purposes as it wâ—re they do not last they vanish away and what is the reason of that they want true rooting they want this grace that should strengthen them and make the soyl good There wants that depth of earth that is there wants that depth of sincerity and there wants that sound and convincing knowledge to carry them through all objections and that is the reason that men have good desires and yet so little performance Let his desires be never so good when he meets with stronger reasons and arguments from the flesh or the world or the devil he gives over because he hath no strength to answer them So that when we come to perform our desires it is grace that must give
add further that as all grace is from him so in him there is enough grace to be had We all of his fulness receive grace for grace that is we receive the variety of graces that he had grace for grace As the child receives limb for limb or as the wax receives of the seal character for character print for print so we receive the quantity of grace that we have from that fulness that is in him But how is this grace received from Christ We take it not immediately out of the fountain but it is derived to us by certain conduit-pipes therefore take heed of that of expecting to receive grace from Christ without these means Again we must not think that these means will do it without him we must not break off the conduit-pipes from the Well-head as we must not go to the Well-head without them Now the means whereby we receive grace is by the Word and Sacraments we are not born of him by carnal generation as Adam but instead of that generation when we have taken him there is a spiritual relation instead of it in Gods sight and by vertue of that we receive grace and strength from him Therefore if ye would receive more grace increase of grace labour to draw near him and then you drawn near him when your will is brought to a greater degree of willingness to have him for your husband But yet in general we must know that grace is received from Christ as we receive corruption from Adam the old man he doth not more powerfully communicate corruption and sin to us then the new man is powerful to communicate grace and life So that when we are once in Christ as we are in Adam we are sure to have grace from him and then we are in Christ when we have taken him and are matched with him and united to him As a man may be matched to his wife after the match is past in a greater degree of will when there is a greater degree to have such a woman for his wife or a women to have such a man for her husband The will may be wound to a higher degree and peg of willingness Therefore our business is when we come to receive the Sacrament to labour to increase that willingness to labour to add to that resoluâ—ion of taking Christ. Now that is done by a distinct and clear apprehension of Christs willingness to match with us we must know that the gift of righteousnes is freely offered there is nothing required but that we be willing to take it there is nothing required but sincerity on our part Now this false opinion that there is more then that required is that which keeps us asunder Now to bring our hearts nearer to Christ for when we are near him then we receive most grace from him first I say the apprehension of that must be clear Then secondly we must labour to be divorced from all other husbands when the mind is weaned from all earthly things to which they are too much wedded to have those lingrings cut off when we affect riches or pleasures too much or whatsoever the heart is taken up aboâ—t in what measure a man is earthly minded in that measure his heart is disjoyned from Christ. Now the way to bring our hearts nearer is to be divorced from these But when is this love inordinate Then you may know it is inordinate and adulterous love when it is a let of your love to your Husband God gives you leave to take and to use outward comforts you may rejoyce in them he commands you so to do onely this you must take care of that your love to your Husband be not lessened If a man be so busie in his calling and business that he find himself more indisposed to draw near to his Husband the Lord that he is more unfit to pray and to holy conference it is an adulterous occupying of himself about the works of his calling So when he loves his children or friends his sports and recreations whatsoever his mind is occupyed about look how far it lessens his love to God and daunts and hinders and interrupts that in the same measure it is adulterous Therefore if you would draw near to Christ consider how your affections run out for he looks on you with a jealous eye And you must take pains with your hearts to labour to have those lusts mortified you must reason out the mattâ—r with your selves for there is no man that loves any thing inordinately but it ariseth from deceit and there is nothing so good but we must let it go and cleave to Christ and if we cannot do it with ordinary pains we must do more then ordinary There are some lusts as some Devils that will not be cast out without fasting and prayer Now when we loose our hearts from these things that is a means to draw near the Lord. Lastly to add to this consider the need we stand in of Christ and to that add the vertues of our Husband what need we have of him and what benefit we have by him Consider thy need of him thou art in such a case that when thou art out of him thou art subject to an extent and to be laid in prison but when thou hast him for thy Husband thou art under cover But you will say I hope I am past this Thou must know that thou hast continual need of it thou hast need of him every day thou hast need of him to redeem thee from every evil that thou escapest from day to day thou hast need of him to help thee to every comfort thou hast need of him to assist thee to every duty thou performest And withal consider when thou feest thy need for therfore we do not prize Christ because we know him not and we know him not because we know not our selves how impotent and weak we are without him we are able to do nothing without him I say when we have considered what our need is of him then let us consider the vertues of our Husband and the portion we have with him Consider the vertues of our Husband we are all too short in this consider the excellency that is in Christ the beauty that is in him to draw us near to him Thou must look on him as one full of beauty the fairest of ten thousand as we do with men that we converse with if it be a man that hath worth in him that you daily converse with now you see one excellency and then another now one spark appears and then another so learn to know Christ by experience continually And then as we must know him by the description of himself in his Word so to know him by his actions by all his carriage to see what a one he is There is no Husband so kind as he there is no master so bountiful as he there is no friend so loving as he
your hearts are estranged from God how much you have forgotten God He is your Lord your Master you must be his servants therefore renew it now and bring your hearts back again This is indeed the very renewing of the Covenant and a drawing near to God and it giveth strength unto you and makes the union more firm that is the more that we are perswaded that he is our Husband and that we have married our selves to him the greater is the strength of affection And you shall find it by experience every grace is strengthened and enlarged by this and every sin is abated and mortified and subdued This is done in the eating of his flesh and the drinking of his blood So that every Sacrament day a man renews his assurance he reneweth his union with God in Christ this is properly feeding upon Christ you are strengthened by it your hearts are more established in well doing there is more joy and more peace your faith is increased which encreaseth every grace you are more weaned from the world As when the heart of the wife draweth near to the Husband it is more weaned and alienated from strangers This I say is to eat the flesh of Christ and to drink his blood when withal you add a right application of all that Christ hath done for the enabling of you to the duties of godliness A FORM of GODLINESS NO GODLINESS VVithout the POWER 2 Tim. 3. 5. Having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away YOu know the point that we delivered to you in the morning out of these words That It is Godliness that is required of every man that is only acceptable to the Lord. We gave you the reasons of it and made some Use of it And before we come to the other point or to some further Use that we should make of this we will add a word or two to that which we prest in the morning that we should not content our selves with any thing but godliness For we are apt to be deceived in this case to mistake and to think that our common care of serving God and that moral vertues and civility are godliness But it is enough for you to know that the Lord accepts nothing but that which is more then nature that which himself hath wrought in us by his holy Spirit Aristotle himself though a Heathen man was able to say that natural vertues are very like the true they come so near it that there is nothing more like As natural meekness will do as much as the best moral meekness nay as much as any spiritual meekness stupidity will do as much as Christian courage and natural temperance and ability in a man to rule and govern himself There are many of these natural vertues which for the outside for I speak of that and for the shew for some kind of performance may go as far as those that are spiritual But there is a great difference between them because the one sort proceed but from nature and they look but to a mans self And you shall find they alway have this property they are done without difficulty without resistance without any reluctancy therefore they are not praise-worthy there is no thanks for any man to do such an action Indeed they are beautiful things as I told you then the flowers of the grasse the flower of the flesh is beautiful they are the works of Gods own hand for he hath wrought them in us but he himself must have the glory and not we That which we must look for is spiritual vertues spiritual graces which the Apostle exhorts us unto Add to your patience vertue to vertue temperance and brotherly kindness and then to all add godliness Godliness which makes a man look to God it hath alway the flesh to resist it it doth what it doth with some difficulty and reluctancy For the stream of nature is still running a contrary way This is that you must labour for therefore remember this rule that godliness is something alwayes above nature If therefore there be no more in you then what you have by nature or by education or practice be assured it is not right As you see it in the earth the earth is able to bring forth grass and some kind of flowers of it self but if you will have it bear corn and wine things of a more pretious nature there must be plowing and sowing and planting there must be some other seed cast into it then is found in the earth there must be some work of man upon it So it is with our hearts by reason of those engravings of the moral Law and the work of nature in us we are able to do much we are able to bring forth many excellent flowers we are able to do many things that are very good and beautiful though they be not spiritually so But that which is godliness that is it which must be wrought by a supernatural power there must to follow the metaphor be plowing and sowing that is no man living hath this thing which we call godliness in him but it must be wrought after this manner First there must be a plowing of the heart he must be humbled he must be taught to know that he is a child of wrath a man that never hath had any of this plowing that hath never been thus humbled in the sence of sin and the apprehension of Gods wrath he may be assured that he hath nothing in him but nature he hath nothing in him that is of a supernatural work that is the work of the sanctifying Spirit he hath nothing of that yet wrought in him for that is never done without plowing Again this is not all for a man may be plowed he may have quick and sharp terrors of conscience and yet have no feed sown there may be harrowing you know where there is no fowing It was the case of Iudas and Achitophel and so it is the case of divers others and therefore we must go further there must be seed thown into the heart by the hand of God by the sanctifying spirit that is after a manâ— heart hath been thus hurried he must come home to God by Christ and have his heart calmed by the assurance of Gods love When he is thus united to Christ by faith after he hath been humbled then the Lord soweth seed what seed The immortal seed of his Word which by the operation of the sanctifying Spirit of God works that in the heart which is above all natural principles Now when this is done there is a crop which God is delighted in a crop pleasing and acceptable to him For we shall never bring forth fruit to the spirit till the same spirit hath sown our hearts with these spiritual and supernatural graces This onely I add that when I have exhorted you not to content your selves with moral vertues that you may know in a word what this
spirit That when any man doth a business of the Lords the word discernes it because it is the word that cometh from the spirit So here when we do any business the Lord seeth how far the spirit hath a hand in it and how far the flâ—sh and he discerneth exactly between them though it be as near as the bone and the marrow As if he should say even as the bones and the marrow even as the joynts and the sinnews the eye of man cannot see into them yet the Lord searcheth the reins to the bottom he discerneth what of the flesh and what of the spirit is in every action And my brethren you should learn to do thus to your selves to judge your selves after this manner to consider in all the actions you do whether you do them in sincerity to the Lord for it is godliness no further it is something it may be which is good some moral vertues it may be or else an act of Religion and publick worship but it is not godliness except it be done for the Lord. Therefore you must do thâ—se two things 〈◊〉 him for God in your hearts look for all from him care for no comfort but what comes from him it is no matter what you loose so you have him you reckon him the main you reckon him essential to your happiness Other things if they be better or worse so it is it is no no great matter And again to do it in sincerity as to God Last of all if this be the thing that the Lord looks for from you then labour to excel in it because it is the best excellency you have for that in a man which is onely acceptable to God is certainly the best thing in him and the more he excels in such a thing the more acceptable Every man seeks after excellency why should we not labor to excel in this that is labour to be very godly to do very much for the Lord. Every man is ready to do something for some body he will do something for his friend for his Wife for his Children for his Prince for his countrey and it is well you should do all this but now look upon the Lord and see in how many respects you are bound to him more then to all these And think if I ought to do for all these how much more ought I to do for the Lord And therefore consider what you have to do and how much you are bound to him and labour to excel in godliness that is to do much for God A man will do much for himself he will devise what is for his own good he will project it and study it with solicitousness now a man is bound to love God above himself and therefore to do more for God then for himself This is a thing that is much forgotten among us and by those whom we call godly men they forget it they think not what they have to do for the Lord. You have many opportunities afforded to you remember that to be a godly man is as you have opportunities as to do much for God so to do much to him God observes what talents every man hath what occasions what hints every man hath to do him service what advantages what power he hath in his hand and he looks that all these should be improved for his advantage It is no better then thievery and robbery to take these from God and to bestow them upon your selves As you reckon it in a steward to be the greatest theft to turn his masters good and benefit to his own profit so when a man shall have an eye to himself in all these things it is an extream robbery of God for you knew you should use them all for God And the more you do for him for he sees it and observes it will recompence every man a hundred fold No man payes wages so as he doth but we will not stand to urge this because I would not be kept from handling that which is the main scope of this text Having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof The second point that we would deliver to you it lies so plain that there needs no further opening of the text for the gathering of it it is this that Most men have but a form of Godliness though the Lord require the power of it We will even deliver it plainly as it lies It is a point that needs no proof and I wish it did I wish that it were not written in Capital letters in the fore-heads of most men that he that runs may read it For if we look about us we shall see a form of Godliness every where but the power and life of it is exceeding rare Our business will be rather to consider the cause of this disease What the reason is that the form of godliness is to be found frequently enough and the power and life of godliness is so rare and so seldom to be seen And we shall find these reasons of it First Men will have a form of godliness because there must be something to satisfie that conscience which every man hath For there is a natural conscience which the Apostle speaketh of Rom. 2. 16. speaking of the Gentiles he saith this of them their thoughts accusing or excusing one another So that there is a natural conscience even in men that yet know not God aright Now that natural conscience must have something to satisfie it it will not be at rest else Now because men are unable to judge and discern aright therefore a form of godliness is enough for them they are quieted and satisfied and contented with that although they have not the power thereof it self Even as children you know are contented with counters because they do not know their worth Satan deals with us in this case as we do with them when they cry and are unquiet such flight things of no moment contents us though they be as empty and as beggarly as counters and rattles because men are not able to judge what the conscience will have something it must have to satisfie it he gives us that which is but a form which is but counterfeit that hath not the power and life of godliness and hence it is that men are contented with it Secondly Another cause why the form is found every where but not the power it is because the form of godliness is very easie but the power and life of it is very hard and difficult It is an easie thing to do the things wherein the shew and the form consists It is an easie thing to come to Church to hear the word to here prayers it is an easie thing to read a prayer every day in private it is an easie thing to have such a formality in serving of God these are things that are done with facility But come now to the power and life of godliness that mortifieth thy lusts that subdueth
Christ said to his Disciples Let these sayings c. that is these works mark what I have done what you see you have an experiment of my power and then he gives the reason For the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men c. but they understood not these sayings You will say how could this be understood it seemeth hard Let those sayings sink down into your ears for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men As if he should have said remember now you have an experiment of my power and Godhead let it be a means to strengthen you for the dayes will come when your faith will be put to the tryal when I shall be delivered into the hands of men when you shall see me crucified and then you will be ready to stagger and waver in your hearts Therefore now when you see an experiment of my power and ability lay it up in your hearts that you may be stablished in that day So in divers places in the Psalms David took that course when he was in trouble and fear and perplexity he brings out of his Treasury ancient things pledges of Gods love and so he recovered himself So if a man can but get hold of a promise of God he may work himself and wind himself into the Armes of God for this is like a rope or a line taken out from him if a man take hold of it by Faith and depend upon it That is the power of the Word of Truth Isay 50. 9. I said not to Iacob seek my face in vain but I the Lord declare faithful things I declare faithful words So when God I say hath given a man a promise that he will not leave him nor forsake him First there is in every promise of that nature there is a spiritual truth in it and in the heart of a man that is a believer there is a spirit of Faith likewise and these two know one another Now the spirit of Faith in the man meets there with the spirit of truth and power in the Word in regard it comes from God these joyn together and draw a man close to God So though a man see not God yet he rests his soul and stayes upon him because he leans on that promise As as a Mariner at Sea that casts an Anchor that holds the Ship he sees not the Anchor that falls to the bottom yet he knows the Cable will hold it safe the Ship may tosse the length of it but no further So the Anchor that the soul hath in the promises of God it is fixed now though a man see him not stand by and strengthen him in the tryal yet he hath the Word of truth for it And these promises though it be a long time ere they speak yet at such times as these then they speak Before then they are sealed up and it is not known perfectly what treasure is in them whether they be empty or any thing worth but when there comes a day of tryal now is the the time the Lord hath made such promises for such a day And here I must give you a caveat concerning this means If you will be strong in the Lord make not haste that is the phrase that is used he that believeth maketh not haste That is he gives the Lord liberty he lets him move round in his sphere he is not ready to snatch deliverence out of his hand but let the Lord take his own leisure for then he will do things best And this is an item that must be understood The Lord notwithstanding those promises that are plentifully made for the safety and preservation of his yet many times he deferres the fulfilling of them to the last cast Many times he will use all that liberty that he hath left himself for indeed therefore it is left he may use it when it seems good in his eyes I mean a liberty in regard of the means how he will help and of the time when he will help us but further we know he hath left himself no liberty but hath bound himself and it is impossible he should deceive us if we rest and rely on him for this and cast our selves in the armes of God Nay we make no question as long as we have the promise of God and keep our hearts and our faith close cleaving to that we are sure the Lord in his own time will remember us and come to us to deliver us Remember that which is said Psal. 9. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Therefore if it belong to him let us take heed that we ascribe it to him not to be strong in any other Even as the making of any thing in Art belongs to such and such a Trade shoos to a shoo-maker there are none makes them but those of that trade and so for other things so Salvation belongs to the Lord there is nothing in heaven or earth that can work salvation but he all the help that is done in the earth he doth it himself Now the onely way for a man to make him his friend that is able to work it is to ascribe it to him to acknowledge it belongs to him that he hath been the doâ—r of it from the foundation of the World and so will continue this blessed trade and gracious manner of working and doing for his So much now for the fift means be strong in the Lord. A sixth means is this Wee must likewise compell and work our hearts to take this cordial you have it Rom. 8. 28. We know saith Saint Paul that all things work together for the best to those that love God I say let us have this perswasion in our hearts ready that all things shall work together for the best therefore they shall not hurt thee Now he saith they work together that is to be marked the Apostle saith not that this or that thing alone worketh for good to the servants of God As now there are divers ingredients in a receipt if a man take one or two or three they may poyson and kill and be deadly but altogether being tempered by the Physician are a preservative and save life So if a man stay Gods leisure as before I said to adde one thing to another to do that he hath to do as well as that he hath done when you put all together and make the up shot of all you shall see and acknowledge it for the best David saith It was good for him to have been in adversity Now certainly whatsoever hath been true in regard of the time past hath been true for the present then as now It was as true for David when he was in adversity to say it is good for me to be afflicted as well as after when he was come out of it to say it was good that he had been for if it were not good then it was never good Therefore in regard of this the assurance
Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 5. he gives this reason why he sought the things of Christ with the neglect of himself The Love of Christ constraineth me saith he As if he should say though I undergoe much scorn and discredit and losse in the world yea I am content to be thought to be out of my wits to be accounted any thing for the love of Christ constraineth me that is it makes me ready to do any thing seeing it is for Christ and his advantage I am willing to be so accounted of Now how came he to this love of Christ why thus we judge saith he that if Christ died for us c. So that if you would bring your hearts not to seek your own things but the things of Jesus Christ you must labour to have your hearts enflamed with the love of Christ and that you may do so use the means that Saint Paul layeth down he died for me he is worthy of it he deserves it of me he hath done this and this for me therefore there is reason I should no longer live to my selâ— therefore there is reason I should seek his things that I should do his work Thus to stir up our hearts to love the Lord Jesus is the means â—o prepare us to seek him And so you see the business we have to do we are to seek the things of the Lord Jesus willingly diligently and faithfully And also what it is that prepares and disposeth the heart so to do First to give up our selves to Christ. Secondly to labor to have it kept in the purpose of our hearts Thirdly to have faith in the promises and providence of God Lastly to have Love to the Lord Jesus And so much for this point and for this time PRAYERS PREVALENCY 2 CHRON. 32. 24 25. And in those dayes Hezekias was sick unto the death and he prayed to the Lord who spake to him and gave him a sign but Hezekias did not render according to the mercies bestowed upon him but his heart was lifted up and wrath came upon Israel WE made some entrance into these words in the morning In those dayes Hezekiah was sick to the death Those words we have done withall And he prayed to the Lord hence we observed this That Prayer is the chief means to obtain any thing at Gods hands It was the means whereby Hezekiah obtained his recovery when he was sick to the death So it is a general rule that prayer is the chiefest means of all other to obtain any thing at Gods hands The reasons of it we gave in the morning we came to apply it And the first Use was this If it be the chiefest means of all other therefore we should learn to esteem of our prayers more then we do to set them at a higher rate to know what the efficacy of prayer is When prayers are performed in a customary negligent manner when men think it may be they will be answered and it may be they will not it may be they will do them good it may be not no marvel if they misse of the effect If men did believe that prayer were so effectual to bring their enterprizes to passe they would surely be more frequent and fervent in this duty We shewed you in the morning what the efficacy of prayer was we purpose to repeat nothing Onely there is an objection or two that we will answer and so passe from this point First This may be objected how can prayer be so effectual a means to obtain any thing at Gods hands when the Lord is purposed to do what he will do and how can the intreaty of a weak man change the purpose of God or altar his mind he knows what we have need of before-hand before we ask and God is subject to no alteration To this I answer It is true when we seek to the Lord by prayer he is not changed by any of our petitions that we make to him but the change is wrought upon us because we are made more fit to receive mercy from him then before we were As for example When a patient desires his Physician to give him a cordial to give him some restoring physick something that is pleasant to him The Physician delayes and defers he will not for the present hearken to his request at length he doth it Why is it not because the Physician is altered but because there is an alteration in the patient he is now purged and vomitted his body is cleansed and so made fit to receive the cordial therefore the Physician yields to his request there is some suitablenesse now between him and the physick which he requires there is no alteration in the Physician but in the patient So when we seek any thing at Gods hands we do not cause him to alter his mind but there is a change wrought in us so that when we think we bring God to us by our prayers we rather bring our selves to God That is when we contend with God in prayer and use arguments to perswade him those arguments perswade our selves to repentance to faith to more obedience and willingnesse to serve him and so our hearts are drawn more near to him when we think we draw God near to us in this action we draw our selves near to him and when our hearts are drawn near to him when our faith is strengthened by the arguments that we use then the Lord is moved to do that which before he was not moved to do Not because he is altered or any way changed but because the change is in us we are more fit to receive the mercy that we beg for then before Again Secondly it may be objected many obtain mercies and blessings at Gods hands without prayer therefore it seemes that prayer is not so great a means to obtain mercies because they are ours sometimes without prayer I answer it is true men may have and have usually many great mercies bestowed upon them without prayer but there is a great deal of difference because that mercy which is obtained by prayer it comes with a blessing and it comes by vertue of the promise that the Lord hath made And it is one thing to receive the same mercy in a way of blessing and another thing to receive it iâ—…n ordinary course The same comfort may come to one man with a blessing and may be conveyed to another man with a curse There is a two-fold way of Gods bestowing of mercies One is when he conveyes them to a man by vertue of a promise Another is when he bestowes them by a common providence When God dispenseth mercies by a common providence thou must not think thy self to be such a gainer in the receiving of such a mercy when thou hast not sought the Lord for it it may be thou hast more cause to judge thy self better in the want of that mercy Ahab had been better to have wanted a vineyard Ieroboam
to beseige Ierusalem upon the Covenant that they made with the Lord though it were feigned the Lord drew him back and set them at liberty but afterward because they did not keep their promise and observe the Covenant that they had made the Lord sent him the second time and destroyed them utterly Do we know what the Lord will do yet further The Lord hath removed this sickness but who knows whether he may not send a greater then this if we do not render according to the mercies received although the sickness be removed yet be assured that there is wrath out and it will seize upon us Indeed it is possible to defer it and to stay it yet if we do not render to the Lord if we do not humble our selves we have cause to fear that there is not an end In 2 Chron. 7. 14. See what conditions the Lord requires when he will heale a land indeed If my people humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turne from their evill wayes then I will hear in heaven c. Marke it The Lord never heals a land to purpose he never heals the wound to the bottom but when their sins are healed and forgiven when the disease is taken away till men turne from their evill wayes till they seek the Lords face and his presence till men be humbled aright till they do thus their healing is but a skinning of the wound it will break out again Therefore we must not think that all is past because the Lord hath removed it for the present he may send the sword and a greater plague and therefore we are to consider this and no man is to put it off God observes how every man is affected with these works of his he that doth not consider but neglect it he takes the name of God in vain In a special manner I say the Lord observes this how men behave themselves at such times whether they do more for him then they were used to do These great actions of the Lord ought not to be passed by negligently but he expects great answering of such great mercies But you will say wherein doth this rendring to the Lord according to the mercies received consist What is this thankfulnesse I answer as it is said of love so it may be said of thankfulness it must not be in word onely but in deed and in truth Not but that it must be in word Psal. 107. It is required that we confesse the loving kindnesse of the Lord before men we should be ready to speak of it but that is not all it must be indeed and in truth And that consists in two things One is that our hearts be affected with the mercies and loving kindness of the Lord that the heart be enlarged towards the Lord with love and fear of his holy Name For when a man doth kindness to another that which winneth love is to consider the bountifulness of the mans disposition When we observe the Lords patience and long-suffering this should teach us the knowledge of the Lord and this should make us consider what a God he is that so his mercies may cause us to love him and that thereby our hearts may be enlarged towards him So David in Psal. 18. I love the Lord for he hath done thus and thus c. This is to be thankful indeed when our hearts are affected towards God when we think the better of the Lord for therein Davids affections were right that he was still speaking good of the Lord more and more he is worthy saith he to be praised So when we learn to trust the Lord he hath done thus and thus therefore we will trust him And when our hearts remember the Lord when we think of him continually And secondly as one part stands in this in the affection of the heart so likewise in our actions then we are thankful to the Lord indeed when we do something for him when our thankfulness is not a thing consisting onely in fancy and notion and imagination but when it produceth action and when we do the works of the Lord more abundantly When a man will set his thoughts on work to study what he may do or what he can do for the Lord. And when he shall do this not onely for the reward to come for that gives not a lustre to the action but it proceeds from thankfulnesse indeed when a man doth that which he doth because the Lord hath done thus and thus for him therefore he will serve him Herein our thankfulnesse is seen when we do something really because it is for the Lord. Saint Paul as he abounded in thankfulnesse so he abounded in labour Iacob because the Lord had heard him he would give him the Tenth of his goods and the Lord should be his God So when we have received special mercies we should do some special thing for God some extraordinary thing to pray more to be more frequent and fervent to be at more cost for the Lord upon such occasions to be more exact in reforming our lives and more fearful of offending God In a word as the Lord enlargeth himself in mercies to us so our hearts should be enlarged to him to do as much as may be And thus our thankfulnesse is exprest when we have opportunity when ever men come in place and occasions wherein they have opportunity to do service to God now to venture more to be more zealous for his sake to be more solicitous to do something to be more intent for the glory of God this is to be thankful according to the mercies received a man must set his thoughts on work to do something extraordinary when there is an extraordinary mercy bestowed To help us now to do this is to remove that which hinders it You shall see what hindred Hezekiah His heart was lifted up he did not render according to the mercies received from the Lord for his heart was lifted up In this there are three things First his heart was lifted up to other things to minde them and it was not lift up to the Lord to think of him and to serve him So that there was forgetfulnesse in him that is one thing intended when a man shall lift up his heart to other things to minde other things to do other things his heart forgets the Lord. Therefore the Lord when he would have his mercies remembered he appoints something to keep them in mind He hath appoynted the Sacrament of the Lords Supper do this in remembrance of me The passeover was appoynted to be taught to their Children that when they should ask them what they did meane by such a thing they should tell them that the Lord had delivered them out of the land of Egypt Forgetfulness is the cause of unthankfulness therefore to remember the mercies of the Lord is one thing that helps us to be thankful that is to observe the passages of his providence towards us