Nature spoil the Reputation of the Works of Art Psalm 4.7 Thou hast put gladness in my Heart more than in the Time when their Corn and Wine increased If we had more spiritual Delight in God carnal Fruitions must needs be a less powerful bait 'T is in vain for the Devil to entice that Soul with a few drops of Pleasure that run through broken Cisterns which partakes of satisfying Refreshments from the Fountain of Life these Things are only suited to the Palates of those that never know the Joy of the Lord. Heaven's Favourites cannot fall in Love with Earths 't is natural for a Believer that 's cloathed with the Sun to have the Moon under his Feet Rev. 12.1 2. The Frowns of the World too often scare Men from their Obedience but a due Apprehension of the Love of God is a good Security against this Temptation also The belief of God's reconciled Heart and view of his pleased Countenance is enough to make us Triumph over the fiercest malignity of Men and Devils It Matters not who they be that are against us nor what they can do against us so long as we know that God is for us This will make us Glory in Infirmities Necessities Distresses and Afflictions of all sorts For he that can encourage himself with David 1 Sam. 30.6 In the Lord his God will not be dismayed by any of these Things Bitter Herbs will go down very well when a Man hath such delicious Meats which the World knows not of The Sense of our Father's Love is like Honey at the end of every Rod it turns Stones into bread and Water into Wine and the Valley 〈◊〉 Trouble into a Door of Hope it makes the biggest Evils seem as if they were none or better than none for it makes our Desarts like the Garden of the Lord and when we are upon the Cross for Christ as if we were in Paradice with Christ Who would quit his Duty for the sake of Suffering that hath such relief under it Who would not rather walk in Truth when he hath such a Cordial to support him than by the Conduct of fleshly Wisdom to take any indirect or irregular Methods for his own Deliverance 3. The Love of Life is a very frequent and pernicious Snare which a Sense of God's Love must deliver us from being entangled by What so desirable as Life if a Man have no Place in the Heart of God This is the greatest Temporal Blessing and nothing can out do it but the Favour of the God of our Life And this excels indeed Psalm 63.3 Thy Loving Kindness is better than Life What Comparison is there between the Breath in our Nostrils and the Favour of an Eternal God Any more than there is between an Everlasting Light and a poor vanishing Vapour compare Isa 60.19 with Jam. 4.14 Who would not therefore hate his own Life which hangs in doubt continually before him and of which he can have no Assurance when he knows that the Living God is his certain Portion Who would not freely yield up and part with Ten Thousand such Lives one after another if he had so many rather than the Wrath of God should be kindled but a little 4. The Fear of Death is a very usual and hurtful Snare too which can hardly be broken without a Sense of the Love of God Death which will rend and tear the Soul from the Body is the Lion in the way which discourages and affrights many from hazardous Duties thousands through sinful Cowardize have rather chosen to shipwrack their Faith and prostitute their Conscience then mingle their Blood with their Sacrifices But now they that have the Comforts of God to delight their Souls are more willingly brought to this King of Terrors if God cause his Face to shine what should hinder our chearful descent into the Valley of the shadow of Death Love is strong as Death and a great deal stronger one would dare to Dye for a good Man whose Love and Friendship hath endear'd him to us how much more for a God whose kindness hath been so exceeding This hath made so many Martyrs glorifie God in the midst of the Fires when they have been kill'd for Christ's sake all the day long and counted as Sheep for the slaughter they have been more than Conquerours through him that lov'd them and through the lively Impression of that Love upon them Rom. 8.36 37. 7. The New Nature is ingenuous and therefore will be wrought up to Obedience by the Love of God After we have tasted that the Lord is gracious we readily savour all the Things of God Humaue Nature indeed in our lapsed depraved State may Reward Evil for Good and Hatred for Love as David's Enemies did to him Psalm 109.5 before a saving Change is accomplish'd on the Soul but it neither is nor can be so when God gives Men another Heart as he does at their New-birth Then nothing eies us so fast to our Duty as those bands of Love nothing is so sweetly and yet so strongly attractive Jer. 31.3 With Loving Kindness have I drawn thee they that are only haled and drag'd by legal Terror will be striving to break away again and loose themselves from the Yoke of Christ but Love subdues all Things to it self it constrains to such Acts of Duty as make the mad World think us beside our selves 2 Cor. 5.13 14. The Soul is compell'd to come in to Christ and yet it walks at Liberty 't is so swayed by a Principle of Holy Gratitude as that it is always studying that Point What shall I render For this is a Principle that never fails to operate where the Root of thankfulness is the Fruit of Service cannot be wanting Therefore the Apostle beseeches by the Mercies of God that we present our Bodies c. Rom. 12.1 Love hath a mighty prevalency in the obtaining of all that is desir'd Herod would do any Thing at the Request of his beloved Herodias Esther chose that Time to perfer her Petition when she was expressing her Love to the King in a Banquet so when Christ is feasting a Believer with his Fat Things with his Love which is better than Wine the ravisht Believer can deny or grudge him nothing 8. That Love to God which a due Sense of the Love of God does produce in us is virtually all Obedience This Consideration consists of two Branches which to give it the greater Evidence and Force may be distincty open'd 1. A due Sense of the Love of God to us produces Love in us to God 1 John 4.19 We Love him because he first loved us Sic res accendunt lumina rebus Sanctified Affections are blown up in us by the believing Persuasions of Divine good Will towards us As there is something like an exchange of Souls between Bosom Friends so there are returns and reboundings of Love betwixt God and those whose Hearts are knit to him The Spouse of Christ proclaims their mutural
done Can we think that our Services would be so well recompenc'd by a perpetual stay here 't is impossible to think so When the Master is come and calleth for us as John 11.28 we cannot but know it is in order to our unspeakable Promotion and Advancement The Arrows which Death shoots though they kill yet they are directed and design'd in greater Love than Jonathan's to David which were to prevent him from being killed Death may seem formidable at a distance as one says like Esau to Jacob but is very friendly when it comes nigher to us and does us the kindest Office which to have undone would be our greatest loss Though it did no more than case us of the grievous weight of indwelling Sin that 's a matchless Benefit for if we had not mortal Bodies we must have immortal Corruptions 6. This is the concluding and crowning Act of our Obedience to God in this World 'T is the compleat finishing of our whole Work here when we have done this we have no more to do on Earth Now how incongruous and unseemly how reproachful and dishonourable would it be for a Man to live many Years in a course of Duty and then spoil all by Disobedience in the last Act Undoubtedly the Man whose Heart is perfect and upright with God shall never be left to do so If we have been truly Faithful to the Death we shall not be Rebellious in it But however Exhortations and Arguments are of use to the best through the efficacious Concurrence of the Spirit with them He that lives to the Will of God cannot be said to persevere finally unless he dies according to that Will also We do not follow God fully if we start and fly back just at the end of our Race when we should lay hold upon the Prize I know thy works and the last to be more than the first was Thyatiras's Commendation Rev. 2.19 God expects that at the last we should outdo all which we have done before If we have run well 't is pity that the last step should be the slowest 7. This being the last Act of our Obedience here in this World will have the greatest Influence on those whom we leave behind us As the last words of dying Persons are apt to make the deepest Impression upon surviving Friends so their last Acts are most likely to encourage Imitation When we forget most of the Passages of their Lives we remember their Deaths and are ready to take our measures from thence And indeed the Holy Ghost calls upon us especially to mark the End of the perfect and upright Man Psalm 37.37 and to consider the End of their Conversation whose Faith we are to follow Hebr. 13.7 The End here signifies the close the issue of their Conversation Now where this is unimitable it will obstruct our following of all that went before how good soever it were This will still stick most upon their Minds that should take Pattern from our Faith and Obedience and tend to dishearten them from walking with God if after a Life of service we should flinch and faulter in the last Extremity it may tempt some to believe that God is an hard Master and that we too late begin to think him so Whereas an holy submissive Death will have all the contrary Effects 8. This is an Act of Obedience from which God 's chiefest Favourites on Earth are not exempted If this were a Cup which passed from every one else and were only filled out to us it might be more bitter to drink of it and sinful Flesh might have the more to say against it but God lays no other Burden upon us herein than what all his Saints excepting two have born from the beginning of the World yea even those two underwent a Change in their Translation in some respects we are sure equivolent to Death Are we so much better than our Fathers than the many Thousands which have gone to Heaven the same way that we should expect any peculiar Privilege Are we greater than Abraham who is dead and the Prophets who are dead whom do we make our selves as the Jews said to Christ John 8.53 Does God deal worse with us or require more from us than from all the Excellent of the Earth Why must not we give place to others when God thinks meet as others have made way for us that successive Generations may still go and come That Life which we are prone to complain of as too short 't is probable hath been longer than many and the shortest is certainly longer than we deserve that it should be 9. 'T is an Act wherein God's Saints on Earth out-do the Obedience of Angels in Heaven This is a mighty Honour to us that we are capable of honouring God by dying according to his will which is out of their Power for they die not 'T is their bright and glorious Character that they do his Commandments Psalm 103.20 but this is a command which they cannot do and which they were never tried with They have no such Bodies as we have to be separated from and by the Settlement which God hath made meer spiritual Beings cannot taste of Death Now this is a thing worthy of our Ambition to bring more Glory to God than the highest Angel can for a Saint of God would seek to excel all Creatures 'T is no Tryal to Angels to execute the orders which they receive in comparison of what Moses did here in the Text and yet 't is astonishing to read how familiarly he hears of his own Departure there was no noise no striving no trouble in the case God only says to him Go up and die and he does it as when the Prophet Elijah had Food set before him and was invited to arise and eat to which an hungry Man in a barren Wilderness would need very little perswasion To which of the Angels did God say thus at any time Our Mortality gives us an opportunity of obeying which they want 10. All the Obedience which we have to yield after this to God in Heaven will be like that of the Angels most easie and delightful Glorified Saints are doing endless Service but there is nothing of Labour or Difficulty in it nor can there be the least degree of aversion or unwillingness to perform it When we have once poured out our Souls into the Bosom of God we shall launch into the pleasant Enjoyment of Eternal Praise and so far as we understand the Worship of the Church above this will be the whole business that we shall be exercised in A business which will contribute greatly to our Blessedness There is a great deal of weight and force in this Argument if we think seriously upon it how hard and painful soever the work of dying be all our work afterwards will be entire and perfect like crowding through a strait Gate into a spacious Mansion where we are to walk at Liberty for ever How desirous soever the Flesh
Consideration Thou art Christ the Son of the Living God The same good Confession was made once before by Peter John 6.69 And now repeated to evidence his firm Establishment in this grand Article of Faith In which our Lord is describ'd two Ways both by his Office and his Essence 1. Christ is a Name of Office of the same Signification with the Messiah as the Holy Ghost himself Interprets it John 1.41 The anointed of the Lord he to whom the Prophets witness't he that should come into the World as John 11.27 He whose Work and Business was to be a Saviour not a Temporal but an Eternal one a Saviour from Sin and Wrath from the drudgery of the Devil and the Prison of Hell 2. The Son of God is a Name which respects his Essence and Being a Son not by Adoption and Grace as the Baptist and Elias and Jeremy and the other Prophets were but a Son by Nature a Son whose Generation is ineffable for he is infinitely Equal with the Father for he is true God as well as Son of God the Father hath that Title of the Living God in Opposition to false Gods Jer. 10.10 Acts 14.15 And the very same Title is likewise given to the Son Heb. 3.12 Jesus is true Jehovah and according to the true Import of that Word he hath Life in himself as the Father hath John 5.26 Well Christ's Commendation of this Confession is set down in the Text Jesus answered and said unto him c. Where we may take Notice of three Things 1. The Name which Christ calls this Apostle by Simon Bar-jonai or Simon Son of Jona as the Word signifies Peter was the Name that Christ gave to him ver 18. As God gave the Name of Israel to Jacob Gen. 32.28 But here Christ puts him in Mind of the meanness of his Extraction and of what he was originally as he does again after his fall no less than three Times over John 21.15 16 17 What change soever is made upon us by the Favour and Mercy of God 't is good to reflect sometimes upon our Primitive Vileness and Wretchedness to look to the Rock whence we are hewen and the hole of the Pit whence we are digged 2. The Happy State which Christ pronounc't him to be in Blessed art thou Christ had Authority to pronounce Persons blessed for he had Power to make them so Acts 3.26 God having raised up his Son Jesus sent him to bless you He can really and effectually do it what Palak said falsly of Balaam is true of Christ The Man whom he blesses is blessed Numb 22.6 If he blesses we shall be blessed for ever as David said to God 1 Chron. 17.27 Such is the Blessedness which Christ speaks of here both Perfect and Perpetual without Defect and without Decay 3. The Reason assign'd to back this comfortable Sentence which refers to the Way and Means of the discovery of that Truth which Peter had now confest and this is laid down both Negatively and Affirmatively 1. Negatively For Flesh and Blood hath not revealed it unto Thee Flesh and Blood are variously taken in Scripture 1. Sometimes for the humane Nature consisting of Soul and Body so Heb. 2.14 2. Sometimes for the natural Body accompanied with its present Infirmities in Opposition to a spiritual glorified Body So 1 Cor. 15.50 3. Sometimes for humane Instruction so Gal. 1.16 Paul says that he conferred not with Flesh and Blood which is the same Thing with not receiving the Gospel which he Preacht of Man ver 12. 4. Sometimes for humane Opposition so Eph. 6.12 We wrestle not with Flesh and Blood c. i. e. we have not only to do with persecuting Men but raging Devils 5. Sometimes for natural Reason our own Judgments and Understanding And this I take to be the principal Sense of the Phrase here q. d. Thou dost not owe this Revelation to thy self or to any discerning Faculty in thee above other Men. 2. Affirmatively But my Father which is in Heaven Four Things seem to be intimated by this 1. That there is a mysterious Order in all Divine Operations according to which God the Father is to be lookt upon as the Fountain The Father Works and the Son and Spirit Works conjunctly there is no Inequality or Subordination among the Persons and yet we are led by the Gospel to Eye the first Person as the spring of all When our Lord speaks of sending the Comforter 't is from the Father John 15.26 And when the Spirit of the Son is sent forth into our Hearts God is said to do it which is plainly meant of God the Father Gal. 4.6 2. That in all the Works of Grace towards lost Creatures God acts as the Father of Christ Eph. 1.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual Blessings in him Out of Christ we can expect only the Curse of God as a revenging Judge but we can expect nothing from him as a Father in a way of Love and Mercy 3. Acquaintance with the only begotten Son of God must flow from him that begat him No Man knoweth the Son but the Father as no Man knoweth the Father but the Son Mat. 11.27 Therefore they mutually manifest and declare each other which none else is capable of doing Who should lay open the Secrets of one Man to another but himself And who should reveal the glorious Persons in the Godhead but themselves See 1 Cor. 2.11 4. If therefore we look for Light we must look upwards As the Sun over our Heads is the visible Cause of natural Illumination so spiritual Illumination is from an Infinite Being above the Sun 'T is one of the gracious Issues which belong to our Father in Heaven The dark Places of the Earth unanimously say it is not in us Every good and perfect Gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights James 1.17 The Words thus open'd come to this Point Obs There is a certain Blessedness annext to the Knowledge of those Truths which humane Reason does not discover but God himself Here 1. Shew That there are some Truths necessary to be believ'd which humane Reason neither does nor can discover 2. How such Truths are discovered by God 3. What kind of Knowledge is the Effect of this discovery 4. Wherein lyes the Blessedness annext to that Knowledge 5. Why it is so 6. Use 1. To shew That there are some Truths necessary to be believ'd which humane Reason cannot discover The peculiar Doctrines of the Gospel are as deep as the Commands of the Law are broad But I will confine my self to the instance mention'd in the Context the Godhead of Jesus Christ Every one is bound to believe this and every Man that calls himself a Christian professes the Belief of it without such a Profession his Christianity is void and without such a Belief his Profession is vain To take upon us the Christian Name and
to take hold of hsi gracious Covenant and thereby fortifie us against turning from the Holy Commandment This is plainly set forth as the Way and Method in which he first Works upon us and enables us to Work 2 Cor. 7.1 Having therefore these Promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit c. The Promise of God's being a Father to us which is mention'd in the last verse of the foregoing Chapter is a stronger Inducement to purifie our selves and be Followers of him than any threatening of God's being a Revenger So 2 Pet. 1.4 Exceeding great and precious Promises are given unto us that by these you might be Partakers of the Dikvine Nature c. As the chief Thing communicated from God is the Divine Nature whereby we are made to resemble him so the Promises of God set home upon the Soul are the means of Communication they are to Milk and Honey of the Scripture which do not cherish the Old Man but support the New they are not Pillows for sinful Sloth but spurs to Holy Diligence The Promises of Grace animate the Soul to Duty and when we thus see the goodness of the Lord it encourages our Subjection to his Government 4. A Sense of the Love of God will create in us a more perfect hatred of Sin Divine Reconciliation to our Persons breeds the most implacable Enmity against our Lusts when we know that God is pacified towards us it makes us loath and abhor our selves the more in remembrance of the Evils we have done If he passes by Transgression the pardoned Transgressor sixes his Eye upon it with greater Indignation as David's Sin was ever before him though Nathan had told him from God that his Sin was put away Psalm 51.3 compar'd with 2 Sam. 12.13 For the Title of that Psalm informs us that it was penn'd after Nathan the Prophet had come to David A Sinner is never so odious in his own sight as when he is persuaded of his being precious in the sight of God How does Paul repeat and aggravate the foul Abominations of his natural Pharisaical State when he knew himself to be belov'd of God and establi shed in Christ he speaks of his persecuting and wasting the Church of God beyond measure Gal. 1.13 So with Holy Confusikon he bewails what he once was after he had obtained Mercy and after the Grace of our Lord Jesus had exceedingly abounded towards him 1 Tim. 1.13 14. Though God had made him whiter than Snow in the Lamb's Blood yet he still sets out himself in his own black and filthy Colours We do not lose the Prospect of our own vileness by having the Kindness and Love of God before our Fyes but we see it the better His gracious Absolution kindles the most flaming Zeal and Revenge in us against the Sins from which we are absolved consequently is a mighty furtherance of our Obedience 5. A Sense of the Love of God is most apt to beget an awful fear of Falling under his displeasure That I may not be mistaken let it be consider'd 1. That this awful Fear is not only distinct from dreadful Horrour but opposite unto it The trembling of a Devil and the trembling of a Child are real Contraries Godly jealousie of our selves and sinful Distrust of God are two things of most different Kinds The fear of Caution which I would recommend keeps us walking closely with God the fear of Desperation which I would warn against hurries us violently away from God 2. That this displeasure of God which Believers are lyable to fall under is exercis'd only in this World and not in the next That Wrath which God occasionally lets out against his own is not the same with that which comes upon the Children of disobedience Eph. 5.6 We must not confound the temporary hidings of God's Face with Everlasting Destruction from God's Presence He that believes is secur'd from sinal Condemnation but nevertheless he is still incident to sad Desertion Now for the Soul to be kept under the awe of this is a great help to our Obedience and where the Love of God is perceived by the Soul this awe will certainly prevail God's sanctified ones can say it from Experience Psalm 130.4 There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feared Not only a readiness to forgive but actual forgiveness is with God and as our Fear of God is the end of his granting it so 't is the effect and issue of our receiving it Two Things will make this more evident 1. This joyful Sense of the Love of God supposes a sorrowful Sense of his displeasure going before it Ordinarily God does not thus set Men up on high till he hath first brought them into the Depths the does not make them glad with his Countenance till he had laid them more or less in the lowest Pit Psalm 88.6 How few are admitted to take the Cup of Salvation without Drinking for some time of the Cup of God's Fury How few are call'd into this pleasant Light without passing through a scorching Fire Sore Conflicts prepare the way for the most part to ravishing Comforts and the Heart knows a great deal of bitterness before it comes to taste how good the Lord is 2. They that have been sensible of God's displeasure and are sensible of his Love will take Care to avoid the one and continue in the other Who so likely to be afraid of receiving a Spirit of Bondage again as they that have felt it Who so far from provoking God to carry them back into an howling Wilderness as they who have been there before Who so cautious of interrupting their sweet Communion with God as they that have enjoy'd it Who so capable of rightly valuing that Priviledge as they that are possest of it and therefore who so ready to endeavour the preserving of it by a circumspect Walk Souls that are thus favoured of God are most seriously convinc't That in his Favour is Life Psalm 30.5 Therefore when the Spirit of God hath carried them up to this Pinnacle this heighth of Consolation they are the more afraid of doing any Thing to occasion their casting down 6. The commonest and strongest Temptations to departing from God are best overcome by a Sense of his Love viz. The Temptations which arise both from the flatteries and frowns of the World the Love of Life and Fears of Death He that hath the Loving Kindness of God before his Eyes is most able to make a resolute and successful Resistance to all these As particularly 1. The Flatteries of the World do too often allure Men from their Obedience to God but they that have a Sense of God's Love upon their Hearts are best armed against this Temptation Hereby the World with all its gaudy Vanities is Crucified to us and we unto the World hereby all these Things are stript of their seeming Glory as the Sun puts out the lesser Lights and as the Works of
Endearments in one Breath and also in the right Order Song 2.16 My Beloved is mine and I am his God is the Ocean from which Love first flows out and to which it always streams back Love when it hath descended from Heaven to Earth hath finished but half its Course but when it ascends from Earth to Heaven the Circle is compleated 2. This Love which is the Product of God's is virtually all Obedience both as it inclines and disposes unto all and as it comprehends all in it 1. It disposes and inclines to all Obedience When the Heart is melted by his Fire within 't is easily cast into the mould of any Precept whatsoever As it puts us upon keeping the Commandments of God so it keeps them from being grievous 1 John 5.3 Obedience can neither be partial nor burdensome where-ever this Love of God dwells but it fulsils the Charge which David gave to Solomon of serving God with a perfect Heart and a willing Mind 1 Chron. 28.9 2. It comprehends all Obedience in it self The end of the Commandment is Charity c. 1 Tim. 1.5 Both Tables are reduc'd by Christ to two Commandments and Love is the grand Inscription of them both Therefore Love is styled the fulfilling of the Law Rom. 13.10 All the Duty which we owe to God and to our Neighbour is included in Love to each And indeed we cannot walk in God's Truth unless we walk in Love to one another as well as to him Our Alienations from our Brethren speak our distance from Christ the Center of our Union The nearer any Lines in a Circle come to the Center the nearer they are one to another but the further they go from the Center the more they run out one from another III. To Apply this What are we to be inform'd of and exhorted to I. Vse Information 1. If our Obedience be excited by the Love of God then the Love of God prevents our Obedinence If we did first give to God he is able infinitely to recompence it again above what we can think but who is it that hath first given unto him Rom. 11.35 There is not one whose Heart God hath touched that will dare to pretend it We do not commend our selves to God but God manifests himself to us The Love of God was not purchas'd even by the Obedience of Christ much less by ours 1 John 4.10 Herein is Love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our Sins The sending of the Son was the Effect of the Father's Love and therefore the Son 's coming could not be the Cause of it How then can we procure what Christ did not His Love is not bestow'd upon us for our Service but is the incentive to it 2. 'T is blasphemy against the Love of God to reproach is with being the Parent or Nurse of carnal Security They that have the Kingdness of God in their Eye can take no Encouragement from thence to set any wicked Thing before them for Sin tends to Cloud that Light wherein we rejoyce If God be well pleased with us it lays the greater Engagement upon us to walk worthy of him How absurd is it to say that when God communicates his Thoughts of Peace the Soul is embolden'd to new Acts of Treason As if Men should lay aside the Fear of God because the Secret of the Lord is with them that fear him Psalm 25.14 Or as if the Spirit of Adoption took Men off from Obedience to God when they are call'd to be Followers of him as dear Children Eph. 5.1 3. They that by loose and disorderly Practices give any occasion to such Blasphemers have a great deal of Sin to answer for besides their own If any of us Cause this way of Truth to be evil spoken of we bring the guilt of those Calumnies upon our selves It will be an heavy load to a tender Conscience if sound Doctrine is arraign'd through our unmortified Corruption How do we wrong the Purity of the Gospel when we turn the Grace of our God into lasciviousness For the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation teacheth us the contrary Tis. 2.11 12. What is this but to change the Glory of God into an Image made like to unclean Spirits Wo to those Libertines by whom this offence cometh What Jealousie and Rage does that Adulteress deserve who impudently abuses her Husband's Love 4. The Grace of God in us is a comforting Evidence of his Love to us Though Holy Walking is no Foundation for Trust we may reflect upon it as a Token for good 'T is said of the way of Holiness that the redeemed shall walk there Isa 35.8 9. as Mary Magdalen's Pardon is concluded from her Affection so if God enables us to make straight Paths for our Feet 't is a sign that he hath set his Heart upon us As all Obedience issues from the Spirit so the Gift of that Spirit is a Testimony of peculiar Favour Ezek. 39.29 Neither will I hide my Face any more from them for I have poured out my Spirit c. 5. A denial of the possibility of Assurance is injurious to Holiness The first and best Christians were such as could say we have known and believed the Love which God hath to us 1 John 4.16 And they that have had the same Spirit of Faith have always approved themselves the greatest Saints in all succeeding Times but to say that this their belief was a Delusion is in effect to say that all their Religion was a Cheat too which in this more degenerate Age is hardly to be matcht To stake Men down to uncertain suspended waverings about their Interest in the Love of God is to destroy the most quickening Motive to Obedience 6. The Christian Life is as far from being uncomfortable as from being irregular What greater Pleasure can there be than to be constantly influenc'd by the Love of God to the Service of God A dull and sowre Complexion does not belong to real Christianity Psalm 97.11 Light is sown for the Righteous and Gladness for the upright in Heart Though Cain's Countenance fall Abel's Race may lift up their Heads If there be any Consolation in Christ they that are his have reason to rejoyce and what more sure than that there is all in him and none out of him He hath a Chariet of Gold paved with Love for the Daughters of Jerusalem Song 3.10 What so delightful as to go up and fit with him in that Chariot II. Exhortation 1. Think not only on the Love of God in general but on the most affecting Properties of it in Particular Such as 1. It s Antiquity God loved us from Eternity before we were and before the World was and there have been Early discoveries of it there is the Love of God to us in our Childhood Hos 11.1 And his Kindness in our Youth Jer. 2.2 Which are both Seasons of Vanity The Loving Kindnesses of God
1.8 And no Prohibitions or Threatenings must stop their Mouths or tempt them to neglect their Duty But this is not all that which follows in the last Clause of the Verse is yet more considerable And so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him q.d. Though you quarrel with us and oppose our Testimony there is a witness above all Exception who may not only silence but Cure your lnfidelity we are not alone in this Work we have one to back us who is greater than all even the Spirit of God himself This agrees with what Christ had said John 15.26 27. When the Comforter is come he shall testifie of me and ye also shall bear witness The Words are the Conclusion of Peter's Reply to the Jewish Sanhedrim in which we have a brief Abridgement of his Sermon or larger Discourse upon the Day of Pentecost though that and this had very different Effects they who heard that were pricked to the Heart and it issued in their saving Conversion Chap. 2.37 They who heard this were cut to the Heart and consulted about slaving the Apostles ver 33. of this Chapter The same Expression is us'd concerning Stephen's Murderers Chap. 7.54 And signifies the galling of their Consciences Which provoke them to a more furious Resistance of the Truth when they have been persuaded to embrace it Thus that very Word in substance the same which is the savour of Life unto one becomes the savour of Death unto another Obs The Holy Spirit whom God hath given to them that obey him is a Witness to Jesus Christ The Text is not a direct Assertion of the Doctrine of the Trinity but we have here all the Three Divine Persons brought in and mentioned together Our Lord Christ is the Person witness'd to the Holy Ghost is the Person witnesssin and God the Father is the Person whom this Witness proceeds from and is sent by These are the Three that are siad to bear Record or witness in Heaven 1 John 5.7 And indeed they all Testifie to each other The Father bore Witness of Christ John 5.37 Christ also was given to be a Witness to him Isa 55.4 And in this Place the Holy Ghost is named as a Witness to Christ In handling this I. Shew in what Sense the Holy Spirit is given II. Whom he is given to III. How he performs the Work and Office of a Witness to our Lord Jesus IV. Use I. In what Sense is the Holy Spirit given by God In many Places which 't is needless to repeat the same Phrase occurs to us especially in the New Testament To prevent misunderstanding in so fuudamental a Point I shall endeavour with an humble regard to the greatness of the Mystery to open it Negatively and Positiverly 1. Negatively The giving of the Spirit by God the Father does not import the Spirits being Inferiour to the Father nor does it exclude the Purchase and Gift of Christ 1. This does not import the Spirit 's being Inferiour to the Father How difficult soever it be to conceive the Order which is among the Persons in the Godhead we are sure 't is impossible that there should be any inequality The Blessed Spirit is one with the Father and to him belong all the glorious Perfections of the Supream Being he is the most High God as the Father is All the Three Persons have the same Infinite Essence and Nature the same Understanding Will and boundless Power If any one Person be put beneath another his Deity is thereby destroy'd and therefore we must take heed of any such unscriptural Imagination concerning the Spirit of God The Holy Ghost is given indeed but not as by a Superiour who hath a command over another whether he will or not for he is given with his own Consent and one equal may give another if they agreee to do so as in like manner Jesus Christ whom the Scripture calls God's Fellow is also said to be given of God 2. This does not exclude either the Purchase or the Gift of Christ The Holy Spirit is given by the Father and yet Purchased and given by the Son too 1. Purchased by Christ the Son of God He hath obtained the Spirit for us or else we should never have partaken of him Hence it is that he is said to be shed on us through Jesus Christ our Saviour Tit. 3.5 6. His Bloud was the Price of this Priviledge his Intercession procures our actual Enjoyment of it John 14.16 I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforther c. After the finishing of his Work on Earth and Exaltation to Glory the Apostle tells us That he receiv'd of the Father the Promise of the Holy Ghost Acts 2.33 The Promise of the Holy Ghost here is put for the Holy Ghost promised to speak strictly Christ receiv'd the Promise of the Holy Ghost in the Everlasting Covenant of Redemption upon such and such Conditions which he was to perform in the fulness of Time but now those Conditions being perform'd he receiv'd an abundant Accomplishment of this Promise not for himself but for those that belong to him 2. The Spirit is given by Christ He is said to shed him forth in the last cited Place So he engag'd to send him John 15.26 Chap. 16.7 The same Act may very well be attributed both to the Father and Son as concurring in external Operations My Father worketh hitherto and I work Chap. 5.17 The Father is represented as the Maker of all Things very frequently and so is the Son In the Beginning God Created the Heaven and the Earth and in that beginning Jesus Christ was with God not as an unactive Spectator but as a Co-worker Believers are sanctified by God the Father Jude 1. And they are also sanctified in or by Christ Jessu 1 Cor. 1.2 The Greek Particle is the same in both Places 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore 't is manifest that the giving of the Holy Ghost by God the Father is not at all inconsistent with the dispensing of the same Gife by our Lord Christ 2. Positively There are Four Things which seem to be signified to us by the Father's giving of the Holy Ghost 1. That the Grace and Love of the Father is the spring of all Divine Communications Here is the first Rise and Original of all the good that we receive 't is all resolv'd into the Father's good Pleasure as the Primary moving Cause John 3.16 God so laved the World that he gave his only begotten Son c. 'T is from the same Fountain of Eternal Love in the Bosom of God the Father that this Gift of the Holy Ghost does issue also 'T is very remarkable therefore that our Lord directs the Faith of his Disciples to fasten chiefly hereupon Chap. 15.26 27. I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you The meaning is not that Christ
the very top and uttermost point the head Stone and the full blown Flower of a Creature 's Felicity when you have said this you can go no higher now to assure us the more comfortably of our arrival to this at last we have the pledges and beginnings of it here but the way of our receiving them is to be consider'd 'T is by eating the Flesh and drinking the Blood of Christ by Faith in the Lamb slain in our Passover Sacrific'd for his Flesh could not have been eaten nor his Blood drunk if he had not died 'T is the death of Christ which we must lay hold upon for Life and Salvation the Kingdom which he appoints to us is founded here for as one says Christ hath purchased by his Death all the Legacies bequeath'd in his Testament which no other Testator does IV. Why did Jesus Christ make it his Work to restore what he took not away 1. It was a necessary work a work which must be done in order to his being a Saviour God will have restitution made one way or another his injur'd Name and Honour must be vindicated It became him c. in bringing many Sons unto glory yea it would have become him if he had brought but one to make the Captain of our Salvation perfect through sufferings Hebr. 2.10 It was agreeable to his Wisdom Purity Truth and Righteousness that Jesus Christ should make compensation by his Blood for the Iniquity of Mâ—â— It was not fit nor consistent with the Perfections of Gods Nature that such Indignities 〈…〉 had offer'd should be passed by 〈…〉 without any notice taken or 〈…〉 Mercy cannot be exercis'd to the dispuragement of any other Attribute he cannot exile one to the depressing of the rest In the business of Salvation there was something else to be done besides the magnifying of Grace God had said that be would magnisie the Law and make it honourable Isa 42.21 This Law had been trampled on by every Child of Disobedience and therefore to assert and recover the Reputation of it Christ must be made under it perform what it enjoin'd and suffer what it threatned 2. It was a work impossible for any meer Creature to do so that if Christ did not it could not have been done by any Person besides him The Scripture speaks of the wicked Oppressor that he shall vomit up what he swallows down and according to his substance shall the restitution be Job 20.18 He shall refund to those whom he hath drained by rapine and Violence as far as his Estate will go But what restitution can there be when all the substance is wasted This is our case we are wretchedly poor and insolvent and have nothing to pay being reduc'd by Sin to absolute Beggary we have stoln away as far as was in our power the Crown from God and we have â—ined and plander'd our selves encroach'd upon the Rights of Heaven and wrong'd our own Souls and are utterly uncapable of making the least attonement for all this We can take away but we cannot restore When the Servant that owed Ten thousand Talents to his Lord was brought before him and could not pay his Debt his Lord commanded him to be sold Matth. 18.25 but alas we are not worth so much as our Debt amounts to If Justice should seize us it must detain us for ever we must not only be cast into Prison but kept there and our lying in Hell for ever would not satisfy God as Christ's suffering once upon the Cross SERMON XVI December 15. 1696. PSALM LXIX iv last Clause Then I restored that which I took not away 3. JEsus Christ was ordained of God to this work and in that respect there was a necessity of his accomplishing it John 9.4 I must work the work of him that sent me c. This was the work of him that sent him and therefore he could not decline it Christ could not resist the Will of the Father any more than he could cease to love him John 14.31 That the World may know that I love the Father as the Father gave me commandment even so I do His Obedience was an Evidence of his Love to God as it is of ours though there be no proportion between his and ours for no Creatures love to God was ever so strong or ever so tried Cyrus was styled the Man that executed God's Counsel Isa 46.11 but he did it ignorantly for he knew not God but the Man Christ Jesus understood his Work and who gave it him to do and design'd the Execution of God's Counsel in it as an Expression of his matchless Affection to him It became our Lord Jesus in the quality of God's Commissioner To be faithful to him that appointed him Heb. 3.2 He was put in trust with this Business and he must shew his Fidelity in performing it There is such an exact Agreement between his and the Father's Will that when God pleas'd to require his Service he could not but say Lo I come 4. Christ had engag'd to take this Work upon him which is a sort of Engagement that the Scripture more than once expresses by striking Hands Job 17.3 Prov. 22.26 So our Lord Jesus had covenanted with the Father before all Time to do that which in the fulness of Time he actually came to do Now this Agreement which bears an Eternal Date could not be disanulled or made void again as God the Father had sworn with respect to Christ and could not repent Psalm 110.4 So Jesus Christ having enter'd into such a Bond it stood firm as the Ordinances of Heaven and he could not go back from the Execution or Performance of it If the Covenant of Redemption might have been broken the whole Design might have miscarried the Counsel of Peace had been overthrown and all the Thoughts of God to us-ward had come to nothing It was upon this unmoveable Foundation that the Salvation of all the Believers under the Old Testament was built as well as those under the New so that if Christ had not made good what he undertook they that were let into Heaven must have been cast out But the Considence that God reposed in his Son could not be so defeated He that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not is the Character of a Citizen of Sion Psalm 15.4 But most eminently true of Christ 5. The Infinite Love of Christ to Sinners did sweetly incline him to this Work His Delights who was the Wisdom of God were with the Sons of Men Prov. 8.31 He delighted in Mercy and in them as the needy Objects of it who otherwise were altogether undelightful The Bowels of Jesus Christ were troubled for us he could not bear to see his whole reasonable Creation in this lower World made a Prey to the Devil without interposing for the effectual Rescue of a chosen peculiar Number Our Misery was the Motive to his Compassion that swayed him to Acts of Pity when our guilt would have provokt him to
the utmost Revenge This is that Love of Christ which passeth Knowledge Eph. 3.19 A Love which is and will be the Matter of endless Admiration which the saints in Heaven are always magnifying but can never fully comprehend 'T is sometimes called the Grace of our Lord Yesus 2 Cor. 8.9 1 Tim. 1.14 Which is not meant of the Grace communicated to us but that Grace in him which is the Fountain and Spring of all such Communications We are not only to consider the Love and Good-will of the Father in sending but the exceeding Kindness of the Son in coming which his Desire of and Zeal for our Salvation promoted him to 6. Jesus Christ was willing not only to purchase a new Title for us to our forfeited Blessings but to purchase a new Title to us for himself This is expresly said to be one Part of his Intention and Design Rom. 14 9. To this end he both dyed and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the Dead and Living He was Lord of all upon the old Account of Creation for he could not lose his Propriety and Dominion when Ahaz Reign'd so wickedly and committed all manner of Abominations and for that Reason was delivered into the Hand of the King of Syria the Lord his God is said to do it 2 Chron. 28.5 The Lord was his God by right still though he sinfully renounc't and disown'd him But now Jesus Christ was resolv'd to be our Lord upon a new Account of Redemption that he might lay claim to us not only as the Lord that made us but as the Lord that bought us We are now the ransomed of the Lord Isa 35.10 His purchased Possession Eph. 1.14 By the Payment of the same inestimable Price he hath regain'd all that Sin and Satan had snatcht and torn from us and likewise acquir'd a further Interest and Right in us such as will be acknowledg'd by all his saved ones to his Eternal Praise 7. The Powers of Darkness would have been Triumphant if Christ had not baffled and defeated them by this glorious Persormance It was a great Satisfaction to their Malice and Rage after they were banisht out of Heaven and cast down to Hell to involve all Mankind by one successful Temptation in the same Ruine with themselves and so prevent God from rejoycing in any of his Works on Earth When Judgment was executed upon them never to be revers't they thought it made some amends that they had drawn the whole Posterity of Adam at once into the fatal Snare The Devil gloried over poor miserable Man as his Conquer'd Vassal and lawful Captive having subdued this undone World to himself as a kind of Tributary Province where he might Drink his fill of the Blood of Souls But this Performance of Christ hath disappointed him of the Fruits of that Victory For he hath divided the spoil with the Strong Isa 53.12 And destroyed him that had the Power of Death Heb. 2.14 Jesus Christ hath pluckt his Sheep out of the Teeth of the Devourer and pull'd down the Banners which he had set up and made him give up his Slaves as the Fish that had swallowed Jonah vomited him alive upon dry Land 8. Christ knew that his blessed Performance would not only be a Benefit to Man but turn to the Advantage of Elect Angels also At the same Time that he came about restoring Work for us he might also do confirming Work for them And this their Case requir'd Angels wanted an Head of stability as well as Men a Mediator of recovery they stood in need of his Support as well as we of his Salvation his Blood was necessary for us as actually fallen his Strength necessary to them because naturally mutable All Things in Heaven and Earth were to be gather'd together in one even in Christ Eph. 1.10 They could not safely meet in any other Center but so as to be in danger of being shaken off again We that had left our first Estate were to be reduc'd and brought back to it they that had kept their first Estate were to be fixt and establisht in it Here was a double Work to be done by the same Hand and the same Hand hath done both Christ hath interpos'd for our Restauration and for their Security for the remedying of our Apostacy and the Prevention of theirs The Heart of our dear Lord is set upon the multiplying of Acts of Grace from the Throne to the Footstool that high and low may be taken in V. Vse I. Information Many Things to be learnt from hence As 1. If it were Christs Work to restore what he took not away we may see a vast difference between him and the best of those that were Types of him Some of the greatest Types of Christ were in some Things contrary to him as well as in all Things Inferiour There was not a more eminent Type of Christ in the Old Testament than David the Person speaking in the Text insomuch that Christ is frequently set forth under his Name Isa 55.3 and in many other Places Now this David was so far from doing as Christ did i. e Restoring what he took not away that he confesses the contrary of himself in the Case of his numbring the People for which seventy Thousand of them dyed by the Pestilence 2 Sam. 24.17 He spake unto the Lord when he saw the Angel that smote the People and said Lo I have sinned and done wickedly but these Sheep what have they done Let thy Hand I pray thee be against me c. Our Lord Jesus might have inverted these Words these Sheep have gone Astray indeed and turned every one to his own Way but what have I done Let not thy Sword be awaken'd against me but them They have deserv'd to suffer but wherein have I offended David's Sin punisht upon the People and the Sins of the People upon Christ 2. The unspotted Holiness of our Lord Jesus is not in the least blemisht by the Imputation of our Sins to him He is not at all the less guiltless in himself because our Iniquities are laid upon him We may with sufficient tenderness preserve the Honour of our great Redeemer as one undesiled and separate from Sinners without departing from this important Truth of his being made Sin for us for the Holy Ghost affirms both this and that he knew no Sin in the same Breath 2 Cor. 5. ult He was far from being personally conscious of Sin yet so far charg'd with it as to be accountable in our stead for it When the Scape-goat which had all the Iniquities of the People put upon his Head was sent away by the Hand of a sit Man into the Wilderness He that let him go was to wash his Cloaths and bath his Flesh in Water and afterwards to return into the Camp Lov. 16.26 And so the Priest was to do after the sprinkling of the Blood of the Heifer Numb 19.7 And the man that burnt her ver 8. To
Superiour and honour'd accordingly and the more Kind and Indulgent he is the more Honour is due Any behaviour that betrays a slight esteem or a presumptuous Contempt of God is offensive to him and they that carry themselves so have Reason to try and condemn the Spirit which they are acted by He is our Father in Heaven and we his Children on Earth Eccles 5.2 He sits upon a Throne and we must remember that we Worship at his Footstool 7. The Spirit stirs up filial Affection to God in Prayer This makes it a delightful Exercise as indeed it should be Do Children count it a burdensome Task to go to a Father or are they not rather glad of the Opportunity of Converse with those that are so dear to them A Slave indeed hath an Aversion to the Presence of his Lord as the Bond-woman When Sarah dealt hardly with her fled from her Face Gen. 16.6 But when a Child hath to do with a tender Parent 't is quite contrary 't is sweet Employment to pour out the Soul into a Father's Bosom We set about it with Pleasure and a Pleasure which exceeds the Fruition of any Creatures whatsoever The Spirit of Adoption is a Spirit of Love and this Love breaths out it self in Holy Desires to him The Soul loves to commune with him for his own sake even though we could suppose that there were no pressing occasion for it it loves to visit him not only in Trouble when Necessity drives but at all other Times being drawn by internal Motives 8. The Spirit helps us to Pray with unwearied Fervency It behoves us so to do when we are dealing with a Father who will certainly be won and prevail'd upon how deaf or regardless soever he may seem to be for a Time Dull and stupid formality does not suit with the Relation wherein we stand where we look for cold Entertainment 't is apt to cool our Requests but Esau's Opinion of his Fathers Favour made him the more earnest for his Blessing Gen. 27.34 38. The Children of God are baptized with Fire their Hearts burn within them and it would be strange if their Words should freeze Theirs is not an Artificial Zeal which is quickly spent but a Zeal which holds out till the desire comes and by this means they are always Conquerors and as 't is said of I uther Iste vir potuit apud Deum quicquid voluit they can do what they will with God they will take no denial but wrestle and strive till they have obtain'd All this is done by the Assistance of the Spirit of our Father V. Vse I Information 1. The Love of God is to be seen and admir'd in our Adoption as much as in any Thing besides The Love of the Father in predestinating us to it the Love of the Son in procuring it for us and the Love of the Spirit in testifying it to us 'T is God's loving us as Children which is the Foundation and Root of all our Love to him as a Father for his Love descends before ours ascends 'T is marvellous that God should answer to any such Name when we call him by it and that he should give us any such Name himself the Apostle breaks forth into a kind of Ecstasie and Ravishment of Spirit when he consider'd it 1 John 3.1 Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God That in the Place where it was said to us Gentiles Ye are not my People it should be now said You are the Sons of the Living God Hos 1.10 Rom. 9.26 Are such vile Prodigals as we Worthy to be call'd his Sons Luke 15.21 That cannot be suppos'd nor is it for want of other Objects that he bestows this Favour upon us He hath an Eternal Son in whom his Soul delighteth whom he possest with Infinite Joy before all his Works of Old or this Favour might have been directed to fallen Angels but God hath preferr'd us Inferiour Creatures to that which they are excluded from 2. The Dignity of Believers excels all the Titles of Honour in the World 't is of a more glorious Nature and confirm'd by a greater Testimony By Faith Moses refused to be call'd the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter though Pharaoh was a mighty Prince Heb. 11.24 It pleased David to be Son-in-law to the King before he was so but he found little Comfort in it afterwards 1 Sam. 18.26 These Relations to the greatest of Men are poor trifling mean and empty Things in Comparison of Believer's Relation to God Magistrates are called Children of the most High because they bear some little faint Representation of God's Authority Psalm 82.6 But the least of Christ's little ones are God's Children in a sublimer Sense 'T is Ten Thousand Times more honourable to be a Child of God then Lord of the whole Earth 3. Walking after the Commandments of Men is a very ungrateful requital of God Certainly we owe most Duty where we receive the greatest Priviledge and what can Men do for us to be compar'd with what God hath done that we should pay any Homage to them in Opposition to him 'T is basely disingenuous for Children to regard what others say more than the Injunctions of their own Parents The Sense of this unspeakable Benefit of God's adopting us to himself is enough to restrain us from yielding Obedience to Men that is inconsistent with our Obedience to God This is the meaning and scope of that Caution given by Christ Mat. 23.9 Call no Man your Father upon Earth for one is your Father which is in Heaven That one God whose Children we are hath the only Supream Title to our Allegiance 4. The possibility of Assurance one would think should be without all Controversie To call it in Question is to give the lye to this very Text and to cast a blasphemous Reproach upon the Witness of the Spirit 'T is matter of rejoicing to have the single Testimony of our own Conscience for us 2 Cor. 1.12 For Conscience as one says is like a kind of Eccho which makes our spiritual Actions resound after they are past and gone from us but when we have the concurrent Testimony of the Spirit of God this makes our Joy a great deal more full Rom. 8.16 The Spirit it self beareth Witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God The Spirit is more present and conversant with the Soul than the Soul with it self and is better acquainted with its State He knows every Child of God by Name and therefore is best able to make us know if we are such if an Angel from Heaven were sent to tell us it would not be so sure The Spirit that beareth Witness of those things is Truth in the abstract 1 John 5.6 Some may be deluded by a lying Spirit instead of him but does it follow that there must be no Persuasion which comes of him that call us Because there are Counterfeits in