he comes to get an inkling of it that he was then minded what me Lord Didst thou then think of me and dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one Iob. 14.3 Fourthyly Was it not He who then picked and chose out of Angels and men whom he would have confirmed amongst the Angels called called therefore the Elect Angels 1 Tim. 5.21 and though they were never out of favour yet they are said to be reconciled Col. 1.20 confirmation being that to them which Reconciliation is to us and they had it by renouncing their standing upon their own single bottom and running under the wing of Christ accepting and owning him as their Head Col. 2.10 God would not keep an Angel in Heaven that would not be beholding to his Son for it And amongst men he chose whom he would have recovered Rom. 9.11 13. Ask how thou mayest make thy calling and election sure and never turn this Grace into wantonness for to abuse this Doctrine is one of the blackest badges and saddest signs of Reprobation Iude v. 4. Fifthly Was it not He who ratified his choyse by a solemn Decree called the Purpose of God according to Election Rom. 9.11 The Mystery of his Will according to the good pleasure which he had purposed in himself Ephes. 1.9 the Eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord Eph. 3.11 And yet there is no unrighteousness with God which Paul foresaw some would charge him with Rom. 9. 14. No cruelty no Dissimulation no Tyranny and if the Lord hath purposed who shall dissanul its Isa. 14.24 ver. 27. Sixthly Was it not He who called for the Books and caused all the Resolves to be entered Heb. 10.5 even to the very names written in the Lambs Book of Life Rev. 13.8 21.27 with the Golden Letters of Love with indellible Characters in his blood we read of no black Book of Death and therefore I meddle not with it but hadst thou ever any help to read thy name written in Heaven this is matter of more joy then if thou coldst cast our Devils and work wonders Luke 10.20 if not yet all in good time go to the Father and he will help thee to spell thy name there by his Spirit of Adoption who was and is a member of this Councel and well acquainted with all that passed there Seventhly Was it not He who then ordered all other things in a way of subordination and subserviency to the Sanctification and Salvation of the Elect good works then received his Seal Ephes. 2.10 Evil ones by a just Analogy a Brand He then drew up the Ordinances of Heaven Passed a Decree for the Sea and for the Rain and for the opening of the Eye-lids of the morning to cause the day-spring to know its place and the Sun his going down unless forbidden as in the dayes of Joshua He then appointed natural Agents to act necessarily the Sun to shine the fire to burn the Sea to run in its course yet be set them not a going with such an irresistable swing but that be can stop them at his pleasure Free Agents to act freely the will of man to be alwayes free in all its acts if not Quoad speeificationem to do good or evil at his pleasure yet quoad exercitium he need never do evil unless he pleaseth so that he is lest without excuse And all other things were ordered as scaffolds to this building now who but a mad man would lay his bed on the scaffold and say that 's accommodation good enough and so take up with that no matter for the building beg that he would never leave thee to that mandness but lead thee to things spiritual and eternal by all externals and that all things may work together for thy good according to this ancient appointment Eighthly Was it not by an Agreement between his Son and him that he should sit as Creditor in heaven and the Son come down to be responsible to Justice otherwise there was love enough in his heart to have let the Son sit Creditor in Heaven and to have come down himself as Debtor and dyed for thee and therefore saith Christ though I should not pray for you the Father himself loveth you Iohn 16.27 Nay he loves you so well that he doth therefore love me because I lay down my life for you Iohn 10.17 what a strange expression of love is this Ninthly Did not He draw up all the Sons Articles and Instructions as 1. That he must begin his work in deepest humiliation and abasement 2. That he must pawn his Glory to go through-stich with it which he Redeems and Redemands upon his performance Ioh. 17.4 5. 3. That he must run the Gauntlop in that nature he would Redeem and be content that every one should have a fling at him 't is Hillaries allusion nature nostra contumelias transcurrit 4. That his Godhead must be eclipsed and vail'd and he made like unto his Brethren in their natural necessities sinless infirmities live by faith get every thing by prayer not do his own will but his that sent him and so fulfill all Righteousness and why was he thus conformed unto us but that we might be made conformable unto him Fifthly That he must in they days of his flesh orally and personally declare his Fathers Name and love unto his Brethren and afterwards depute and substitute some to do it to the end of the world and so long as his Leiger Embassadors reside in any place uncalled home not sent for away the Treaty of Peace holds and continues and their work is not only to declare Christ but the Father also and this was the sweetest promise that Christ could chear up his Disciples with Ioh. 16.25 The time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in Proverbs but I shall shew you plainly of the Father and that 's a most sweet and satisfying object Iohn 14.8 Lord shew us the Father and it sufficeth us Sixthly That he must dye a bloody painful shameful accuresed death to pay the debts of his people and then rise again from the dead and bring up his blood with him into the Holiest of Holies and there exercise and execute the office of his everlasting I riesthood if he would have his death which was of infinite value in it self to be of infinite vertue efficacy unto others and is not all this performed exactly and hath he not herein commended his love unto us with a witness Rom. 58 c. Seventhly That whatever was given him he must presently give of the same to his members to fit them for that glorious fellowship whereunto they are ordained what he receives with one hand he must give with the other and we see what David cals receiving Psalm 68.18 Paul cals Giving Eph. 4.12 as if these were one and the same thing with Christ and thou desirest no more of Christ then what the Father hath ordered
out by him Tenthly After the Father whose motion and project this was had wrought of the Son to undertake it did not he then engage to stand by him and to supply him with all necessaries a body to suffer in and a spirit to that body without measure and to bring those into him in time by retail whom he had given to him in the Lump before time was he doth more then invite as saith Arminius he doth effectually draw by an omnipotent sweetness Christ must not scruple to entertain the most Leprous loathsome sinner whom the Father is pleased to bring unto him Ay and the Father must help to keep them also whom he hath brought in Ioh. 10.28 29. a pretious Cordial in Apostatizing times and all this being done according to an antient complot and agreement Socinus cannot from these supplies or dependencies infer the Sons inferiority to the Father and the poor believing sinner may press him with all these engagements 11. Over and aboye all this Did he not put forth his paternal Authority and lay his Commands upon his Son to engage in this great service John 10.18 and 12.9 20. as Pharoah to express a Pleonasm of Love commands Joseph to be kind to his nearest and dearest Relations which one would think little needed Gen. 45.19 Go look God in the face and say as David doth Psal. 71.3 Thou hast given Commandment to save me And to whom To Man or Angels No to me says Christ This Commandment have I received of my Father If Christ fail there is not only breach of Articles but Disobedience too Thou canst not believe that Christ loves thee so well as to lay down his Life for thee But canst thou believe he loves the Father tha 's easie there 's no doubt of that Why says Christ when he was going to die that the world may know how I love the Father as the Father hath given me Commandment even so do I John 14.31 12. Yet again to make all sure least the humane nature of Christ upon its affumption should shrink at the approach of sufferings Doth not the Father engage to reward him plentifully to give him a Royal and an Everlasting Priesthood a name above every Name appoints unto him a Kingdom Luke 22.29 and above all assures him of the Salvation of those he died for according to this agrement Isa. 53. 11. without which nothing could ever have satisfied him so that as the assumption of the humane nature is the highest instance of free mercy so is the rewarding thereof in its state of exaltation the highest instance of remunerative Justice All this needed not to engage Christ to the work so much as to engage us to believe that the Father was first in willing as he is in subsisting the Son second to him therein but not in heartiness of good Will for therein they are both equal they must needs be one in Will who are so in Nature and Being but still the Father is first in Love Joh. 3.16 For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life and 1 John 4. 9 10. In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him here in is Love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our sins and therefore love is laid at his door by the Apostle 2 Cor. ult. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all The Grace of christ makes way for our enjoying the love of God but we had never known the Grace of Christ had it not been first for the love of God who therefore is called our Saviour 1 Tim. 1.1 13. And as ifas all this were not enough Did not the Father seal his Son a Comission to give life to lost sinners John 6.27 and therefore Christ so often mentions the Father as sending him and furnishing him with miracles his letters Credential where ever he came 14. Nay more If suffering for our sakes be a sign of Love as who can deny or doubt it to speak after the manner of men Had not the Father his share of sufferings as well as the Son Was it nothing for him to part with his Son such a Son an only Son the delight of his heart and eyes and that not amongst friends but enemies Who would seek and suck his blood in this sense to spare him and yet in another not to spare him but to bruise him an take pleasure in so doing Is all this nothing He may seem indeed to have an easie part to sit in Heaven and receive satis faction but you see it cost him something too nay more He denies himself and disappears and gives up the immediate management of all affairs into the hands of his Son That part the Son took was sharper but shorter lasted not much above three and thirty years but from the time of Christs resurrection 'T is along aevum before that God come again to be all in all 1 Cor. 15.24 and 28. and he in a manner remains hid till the day of Judgement now Christ is all in all Col. 3.12 The Son transacts all by the Spirit till the last day and the Father worketh now only in and through the Son Thus you see the Father veiling and eclipsing his Glory to make it shine the more hereafter and in the mean time his love that shines forth herein gloriously 15. Hath not the Father as well as Christ an hand in sending the Holy Ghost to make a discovery and application of all these things yea he is called the Promise of the Father which Christ had often hinted to his Disciples as the best news he could bring them from heaven Act. 1.4 which saith he ye have heard of me 16. Lastly Was it not he that wrapt up all this in a glorious Covenant a Covenant of Grace Life and Peace of which I may say as John of the Commandment of Love 1 Ioh. 2.7 8. 'T is both the New and Old Covenant the first and last and everlasting Covenant cal'd a Promise lest the word Covenant should scare us and make us think there 's more required of us by way of restipulation then we can reach unto Tit. 1.2 1 Ioh. 2.25 Covenants of Promise Eph. 2.12 and while we are altogether strangers thereunto we are without Hope The other Covenant was contrived and given forth chiefly to make way and welcome for this and 't is this Covennant the precious things whereof are sealed up unto us in the Sacraments This is that secret of the Lord which is with them that fear him Psal. 25.13 to make them know the Covenant he is ever mindfull of it and therefore sent
believest he never yet cast out any one soul that came unto him according to that blessed Word of his Joh. 6.37 All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me and him that cometh come I will in no wise cast out A text that hath been a Sanctuary to many a troubled soul Ask him now if he mean to begin with thee if thou shalt be the first that ever was refused by him Fourthly Tell him he knows all things he knows that thou dost not come unto him for fashion sake because 't is the custom and they are in no request with whom Christ is in none at least in pretence and semblance Fifthly He knows thou dost not follow him for loaves for outward advantage and accommodations because preferment waits upon profession Sixthly Tell him 't is true indeed 't is necessity inforceth thee to come unto him because otherwise thou art lost and ruin'd to all Eternity and yet he knows what a value thy soul has for him that thou lookest on an interest in him as thy great conernment the one thing needfull the more excellent way that all thy treasures pleasures honors yea thy very Relations which are as so many parts and pieces of thy self are as if they were not in comparison to him are to thee as all Nations are to him as a drop of the Bucket neither here nor there if in competition or comparison with Him Seventhly Lastly thou canst say to him that though 't is out of Necessity 't is out of choyce too that thou comest to him were it possible for thee to be saved any other way thou wouldst chuse this rather there was a time indeed when thy heart gadded about strangely so oft to change thy way thou wouldst have gone to any door for relief rather then his but since thou hast had some little glances and glimmerings of Him though but in a transient way though but in a Glass or at a Window or thorow the Latice since thou hast tasted some small drops of his sweetness he knows thy heart is so taken there with yea with that glorious and most gracious contrivance of His undertaking for thee the wicked being delivered and the Righteous coming in his stead yea with the love and lovely person of a Savious that these are now become more with thee then Salvation it self if that were only deliverance from wrath to come canst thou plead thus Surely a full Reward shall be given thee of the Lord God of Israel under whose wings thou art come to trust though thou art but a stranger and thy soul in her own eyes not like to one of his hand-maindens Ruth 2.10 12 13. to allude thereunto But it may be thou art pretty well satisfied concerning the freeness and forwardness of Christ to help thee He hath done and suffered enough in all conscience to convince thee and thou hast very soft and sweet thou hts of him but terrible ones concerning the Father thou lookest upon him as an Angry God an incensed Judge and enraged enemy with his Hand alwayes up and ready to strike but that Christ steps in and wards the blow or at least thou suspectest him to be no such hearty friend to thee as Christ is that the whole Treaty of Peace tendered to thee by him through his Son is but an Ambushment layd to catch thee and to conclude thee under the greater condemnation because the Father stands much out of play and thou knowest not what to think of him is this thy sad case now and then upon misgivings and tremblings of thy heart about the great business of Eternity Go order thy cause before him and fill thy mouth with Arguments First Ask him if that sweet Son of his whom the World once was so happy as to see though so unhappy as not to know him if he be not just such another for all the world as himself the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his person Heb. 1.3 And sure Christ the sinners friend as some sinners censured him was affable enough kind enough compassionate enough shewed love enough to poor sinners in his carriage and Conversation in his abasements and condescentions in his Life in his Death if not where and who is he that will come and shew more Why but saith Christ my Father is Just such another as I am to an hairs breadth his heart as full of love and tenderness as mine every whit know one know both John 10.30 I and my Father are one and John 12.44.45 Jesus cryed and said He that believeth on me believeth not on me but on him that sent me and he that seeth me seeth him that sent me and John 14.9 Jesus saith unto him Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me Philip he that hath seen me hath seen the Father and how sayest thou then shew us the Father and I came out of his bosome on purpose to declare him John 1.18 to be his Exegesis that 's the word to expound him as a clear Comment tells us what 's in a dark text and if this be confirmed to thee by the Father if he will own it as certainly he will thou art well enough but thou mayest go further and ask him Secondly If he had not the first hand in the whole Design of Love and Life to poor sinners for there is a priority of Order and origination though not of time And to believe this there are grounds sufficient to induce thee for First Was it not He who first summoned that great Council held by all the Persons in Elohim when neither man nor Angel existed nor had been worthy to have been admitted there if they had then existed there he sat in consultation with his Wisdom and Love his Word and Spirit de arduis regni de arcanis imperii and especially about mans Salvation and can that blessed womb miscarry with any of its conceptions Surely no Secondly Was it not He who first pitched upon the Son and laid him as the foundation to the whole Fabrick one able to bear up the weight of all the work though thy Load alone be enough to crack the Axeltree of Heaven and earth to break the back of the whole Creation to bear down any other foundation before it into Hell yet here 's help laid upon one that is mighty mighty to save And if the Angels shouted for Joy to see the corner-stone of the earth laid Iob 38.7 shall not the Saints with delight see the corner stone of their Salvation laid by the hand of the Father and ask of this be nothing unto thee if thou art to have no place in this building however bless him for laying such a foundation Thirdly Was it not He who then took particular cognisance of things and persons which is called in Scripture Gods foreknowledge Rom. 8. 29. and 11.1.2 c. Enough to overwhelm a poor sinner when
Egyptian Task-masters no cruel Bondage that makesthy life bitter to thee no Enemy coming in as a flood to oppress and do thee wrong no Iron-yoak that gals thy shoulders no Violence and Spoil to cry out and complain of Sure thou hast not studied thine own case thou hast not ordered thy cause aright if this fountain fail thee But will this be admitted nay the poor soul say all Complaints are troublesom men cannot endure them I Answer God will Out of the abundance of my Complaint and Grief have I spoken hitherto says Hannah 1 Sam. 1.16 and you know how she sped Nay the word rendred Arguments I find by the Latin Interpreters rendred Redargutionibus Increpationibus lob in some case is Defendant as to the charges drawn up against him by his friends but here he is Plaintiffe also could I come near the Bar sayes he I would make my moan the whole Court of heaven should Ring out and be made sensible of my sufferings But we are well enough with our English translation of the word and it is warranted by the best Criticks the word signifying all proceedings all arguments and reasons used in a cause by either party and contains all that can be alledged or urged by a poor creature any way in his own defence or for his advantage 4. There are some Arguments yet in Archivis in the Rolls and Records of heaven which were never yet imbezled they lie in the Ark of the Covenant hid wth Christ in God under double lock and key where neither moth nor rust can come to corrupt nor thief break through to steal yea they lie many of them in the very heart and bosome and being God of himself I hope we shall meet with some of them anon and that they may meet with the very case of thy soul and that thy soul may meet with God in the making use of them Object 3 But what will Arguments work upon God that King Eternal is not swayed but by eternal considerations He knows no motives but his own bowels and the Merits and Mediation on of his Son and Spirit Answ 1 T is true and well for thee and me that t is so otherwise Time-accidents and Time-exacerbations had long ere this hurried us into a woful Eternity past all relief by way of Argumentation hell not Heaven had been filled with our complainings 2. Hath he not given thee those two great friends of his for thine Advocates the one at his own right hand in Heaven moving and negotiating and alwayes appearing for thee the other seated in thy breast though once a Cage for every unclean and hatefull Birds the Dove alights and abides upon that dunghil and will not be frayed away and the voyce of that Turtle is heard in our Land yea the Fathers own heart is full of love brim full and running over upon thee and this continually pleads for thee and makes all thine arrows which fly upwards inevitable not one is shot in vain 3. Good arguments in prayer do shew the necesity of prayer and great equity for the obtaining of the things prayed for and so do very much confirm our Faith and fire our affections and enable a man to break through many Discouragements which Satan or his own heart may cast in to hinder Prayer and certainly though there be no need of Arguments to work upon God there is to work upon us though not to move his love yet to remove our unbelief though not to prevail upon him to give yet to perpare our selves to receive Mercy Vse The only use I shall make of the Point shall be to press all to make use of it to put it in practice daily it will please your Heavenly Father very well he loves to hear his children Reason it out with him and he doth of set purpose delay to grant their Requests sometimes because he loves to hear often from them to hear their Voyces and see their Faces he loves to hear what they can say for themselves so he dealt with the woman of Canaan he first seemed not to hear her then did deny her suit and then gave a very sharp and cutting Reason of his denial because she was but a Dog she was none of the Israelites who were his Children but when Christ hears her wise answer to his objection Truth Lord but the dogs eat of the crums that fall from their Masters table which was a strong piece of Logick she received an high commendation of her faith and A Grant that would be sure to please her Her will O woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt Mat. 15.21 22 c She Retorts his own weapon upon him and he yields and gives her what 's dangerous if not good her own Will My purpose is leaving all other wayes of application or enlargement to speak to some principal cases of greatest concernment and most frequent occurrency in our lives and I shall only break the ice in each case for facile est inventis addere to set your wits a work which men which Christians makes least use of in their greatest occasions we trifle in serious things and are serious only in trifles or rather to rouz up your Graces in the holy Apostles phrase {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} to stir up the fire which lyes raked up and buried under the ashes of sloth and supine oscitancy or rather indeed to Jog the spirit of Prayer which lies dormant in many bosomes and doth them little service I would but set that Plough a going which too many cast in the hegdge as almost useless which yet if well managed would fill your Garners with all manner of store and to which whosoever puts his hand without too often looking back shall be fit for the Kingdom of God First then Is unacquaintedness with God thy Misery the matter of thy moan and mourning is this thy complaint as t is of the most knowing that so little a portion is heard of Him that neither the Thunder of his power nor the Charms of his Love are sufficiently understood by thee we rather are known of him then that we can say we know him Gal. 4.9 and where or who is he hath no need to plead in this particular some make this to be Jobs case in this very text for thus they render it Vtinam nossem Deum invenirem eum O that I knew God then I should find him He that knows God hath found him and he shall never find him who never knows him His friend that spake last had advised him Chap. 22. v. 21 Acquaint now thy self with him and be peace c. and it may be 't is thereunto that he answers O that I knew him O that I knew where I might find him to be better acquainted with him is this thy case go order thy cause before Him and fill thy mouth with Arguments Ask him with an humble and
prisoners of the earth and will he crush either with his foot or his hand the free born Citizens of Heaven those whom the Son hath made free and so are free indeed and if thou art a prisoner thou art a prisoner of hope thou hast sometimes thought that he hath loosed thy bands and said unto thy soul go forth and thou canst not yet cast away thy confidence Fourthly Ask Him Why did he take peasure in the pains of his deare Sonne in crushing and bruising of him as in a wine presse sure that work in it self was no such pleasing work unto Him but only as it made way and gave vent to that which is his pleasure the exercise of love and mercy that was but a medium to this end and in it self a bitter one to God Himself save only as this sweetned it Now why did he put him to grief if he received no satisfaction thereby were not his head and heart and hands and feet and sides tormented that thine might be spared surely the sinnes of all believers were punished and paid for to the full in and by their Surety and are only corrected in themselves though therefore thou hast cause to bewaile and to be amazed at the naughtinesse of that heart which calls for such rods yet it cannot but be a chearing to thee that God is not reckoning with thee as if he meant to fetch his peny-worths his compensations to his Justice out of thy smartings Lastly Ask Him if He Himself smart not in thy sufferings if Christ Himself do not suffer and bleed afresh if his compassion do not almost renew and repeat His Passion has lost his old wont else In all the afflictions of His People He was wont to be afflicted even before His Incarnation when He had not those Bowels of a Man that now He hath Isa. 63.9 And though no pain can have any place in Heaven yet love in its perfection feels something by way of Simpathy not only analogous and proportionable but infinitely more high and generous then we can think of Though therefore there be a farre greater height of love expressed in his afflicting then in his cockering and carking yet beg he would either moderate or withdraw His hand considering whereof thou art made and remembring thou art but dust and thou shalt either have ease and deliverance or that which is farre better an ample participation in his holiness and a farre more exceeding and eternall weight of Glory But may some poore soul say 't were well if I might escape with the smartings and sufferings of the outward man with the pain of the body which is but the body of pain the sorrow of the soul is the soul of sorrow and either I feele or feare desertion having found Him whom my soul loveth I would faine have held him and not have let him go I would not let him go without a blessing nay I would have the blessing and keep him too his presence being the best of blessings but woe unto me when he departs from me Now though this be the most darksome and dolesome condition that can befall thee yet 't is neither desperate nor unusuall go therefore even in this case and order thy cause before him and fill thy mouth with Arguments 1. Tell Him 't is but fit indeed that he should assert his own soveraignty by coming or going when he pleaseth but why should he take a pleasure to be a hiding God where he is a Saviour to be a stranger in his own land in Immanuels land and to be at his own house as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night seeing he alone is the hope thereof and the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble yet thou O Lord art in the midst of us and we are called by thy name leave us not thus Jeremiah pleads chap. 14.8 9. 2. Make bold to minde his blessed Majesty of those many engagements made by Himself and Sonne never to leave thee nor forsake thee Shew him those promises Joh. 14.21 he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self unto him and ver. 23. my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him judge Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee Joh. 21.17 Nay hath He not said that He will not cast off his People no not for all that they have done against Him Jer. 31.37 and if not for what they have done what is there else that they need feare 1 Sam. 12.20 c. Fear not ye have done all this wickednesse yet turn not aside from following the Lord for the Lord will not forsake His People seeing it bath pleased the Lord to make you His People He can neither be inconstant in His Love nor so mistaken in His Choice as to repent thereof 3. Tell the Sonne of Righteousnesse 't is true thou canst neither beare His Shinings nor Eclipses but much lesse these then those thou hadst much rather chuse to be burnt up by his flames and imbraceings then to be frozne up and starv'd in the shadow of his absence and withdrawings thou hadst rather gaze out thine own eyes then weep them out wouldst rather chuse to dye with Mases at the mouth of the Lord have thy soul suckt out by a kisse as some say his was then to pine away from day to day through the hidings of his face and withholdings of his favour 4. Tell Him If thou hadst never known Him thou couldst have been without Him at least without any present sence of sorrow for his absence but now having tasted that he is gracious in his favour is thy life and his loving kindnesse is better then life and thou canst not make a shift to be one day without him 5 Tell Him If the losse were totall and finall 't were perfect Hell and the worst of Hell the punishment of losse being concluded to be far greater then that of sence and if it be but partiall and for a time for a moment as he calls it Isa. 54.7 8. a small moment though thou thinkest it an age yet who can be content to be in Hell in an Hell above ground though but for a moment 6. Tell Him He had as good return at first as at last for as till then thou art sure to have no rest thy self so he is likely to have but little Heaven is like to Ring out and thou hast a warrant under His own hand to beare thee out in such a restlesse importunity not only watchmen set upon the Walls of Jerusalem are never to hold their peace day nor night but all ye that make mention of the Lord keep not silence and give him no rest till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth Isaiah 62. 6 7. 7. Ask him Why was Christ forsaken by him
come it will be so and who then shall be able to abide it but this is not thy case yet mind him that the wisdom which is from above is gentle and easie to be intreated Jam. 3.17 and shalt thou not find the essentiall wisdom of the Father to be so is it so where there is but a drop not so where there is the whole Ocean 't is the sickly child that most need of being dandled upon the knee Isa. 66.12 The heart of Christ is as fit a receptacle for our sorrows of all sorts as the eye is of colours as one saith and is it shut up in endlesse displeasure against thee only can any dregs of wrath settle there unlesse towards the vessels of wrath but Zeph. 3.17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save he will rejoyce over thee with joy he will rest in his love he will joy over thee with singing And what more can be said to assure thee of his delighting in the thee 2. Doth not the sweet savour of Christs sacrifice the odour of his intercession so diffuse it self and fill Heaven that the stench of thy sins cannot enter surely were it not for that perfume God could never indure the stinking dunghill of this world so near him to be as a smoak in his nostrils all the day 3. Plead what Christ himself puts into thy mouth Matth. 18.13 that the owner of the flock looks with more joy and pleasure and delight upon a poor stray sheep that is recovered then upon the whole flock that never ran that hazard and hath not Christ a long time had thee in his armes in his bosome upon his shoulder to bring thee back to his fold and favour 'T is a recovering Church and people which Christ is so taken with and terms alone for delights Cant. 7.6 one that had been forsaken and desolate whom the Lord is said to delight in Isa. 62.4 Thou shalt no more be termed forsaken and desolate but thou shalt be called Hephzibah for the Lord delighteth in thee 'T is to a reforming people that the Lord engageth that all Nations shall call them blessed for ye shall be a delightsome land saith the Lord Mal. 3.12 And is not reformation that which thy soul laboureth and longeth after 'T is a repaired a re-edified Temple that the Lord promiseth to take pleasure in Hag. 1.8 And is not this the work which his Spirit is about in thee to raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen down 'T is certain he taketh no pleasure in the death of him that dieth surely then he taketh pleasure in the life of him who through his abundant rich grace in Christ Jesus recovereth Ezek. 33.10 11. Therefore O thou Son of Man speak unto the house of Israel Thus ye spake saying If our transgressions and our sinnes be upon us and we pine away in them how should we then live Say unto them As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Turn ye Turn ye from your evill wayes for why will ye dye O house of Israel 4. Ask whether thou art looked on as in thy self or as in Christ in thy surety thy second self thy head thy husband and a faire face gives the denomination of beautifull to the whole person and so makes it a delightsome Object 'T is only his comelinesse put upon thee must make thee lovely 5. Ask whether he look on thee as in thy present state and station or as he shall see thee after a little while to all eternity for to him who sits in that hight Tower of Eternity there 's nothing past nor to come but all things are alike in one perpetuall now present before him now within a while Christ will present to Himself that he may take a full view of her and then to His Father a glorius Church not having spot or wrinkle nor any such thing but holy and without blemish Eph. 5.27 and if now he view thee in that eternall glasse he may well say thou art all fair my love there is no spot in thee 6. A Supper a feast is for delight and cheerfulnesse and even till Supper time doth Christ wait to be gracious till the shadowes of the evening be stretched out till his head be wet with the dew and his locks with the drops of night Rev. 3.20 Behold I stand at the doore and knock if any man heare my voyce and open the doore I will come in to him and will suppe with him and he with me Now wouldest thou not fain have such a guest who alwayes brings his cost with him who is both guest and entertainment Doth not thy soul cry out to him Come in thou blessed of the Lord wherefore standest thou without Yea if thou canst not get open the doore art thou not unfeignedly desirous that he who hath the key of David would open it nay rather then fail break it open that so the King of Glory might come in and Supp with him 7. Tell Him 't is infinite mercy that now and then thou feelest his quickning though thou shouldst never enjoy his comforting his ravishing presence any more while thou livest in the world Nay there 's alwayes some comfort in the sence of his quickning presence Nay he knowes the posture of thy soul to be in some measure the same with that of Davids 2 Sam. 15.26 If he thus say I have no delight in thee though that word break thy heart yet here am I absolutly at his dispose he can do me no wrong let him do with me as seemeth good unto him God must be weary of delighting in himself Son and Spirit when he delights not in this frame which is the work thereof If the Heaven above were brass sure the earth below would be iron if there were no yieldings in his heart towards thee sure there would be none in thy heart towards him thou couldst never delight thy self in the Almighty if he took no delight in thee they draw back unto perdition in whom his soul takes no pleasure Heb. 10.38 39. my soul saith he loathed them and their soul abhorred me Zech. 11.8 And yet a generous a noble minded Christian may be ready to say all this cannot ought not fully to satisfie me though the Lord admit me to much sweet secret communion with him for which I can never be sufficiently thankfull yet if he will not honour me so as to use me and make me some way serviceable in my generation this is for a lamentation and ought to be so unto me and this is that I fear that I shall prove but a dry tree an empty vine bring forth no fruit do no good neither find God working with me nor be admitted to work with God as 't is said of Jonathan there shall not one hair of his