relieved you it was Jesus Christ Oh therefore love him deal equally with him and as he deserves so enlarge your hearts to him for ever 3. Christ seeks our love Here is the admiration of mercy That our Savior who hath been rejected by a company of sinful creatures should seek their love for shame refuse him not but let him have love ere he go Had the Lord received us when we had come to him and humbled our hearts before him Had he heard when we had spent our days and all our strength in begging and craving it had been an infinite mercy But when the Lord Jesus Christ shall seek to us by his Messengers it is all the work we have to do to woo you and speak a good word for the Lord Jesus Christ yea and if we speak for our selves it is pity but our tongue should cleave to the roof of our mouth when the Lord Jesus shall come and wait upon us and seek our love O this is the wonder of mercies think of this O ye Saints The Lord now by us offers love to all you that are weary and have need What answer shall I return to him in the evening shall I say Lord I have tendred thy mercy and it was refused Brethren it would grieve my heart to return this answer O rather let every soul of you say Can the Lord Jesus love me In truth Lord I am out of love with my self I have abused thy Majesty I have loved the world I have followed base lusts and can the Lord Jesus love such a wretch as I am yet saith the Lord I will heal their back-slidings I will love them freely He looks for no portion he will take thee and all thy wants get you home then and every one in secret labor to deal truly with your own hearts make up a match in this maner and say Is it possible that the Lord should look so low that a great Prince should send to a poor Peasant that Majesty should stoop to means Heaven to Earth God to man Hath the Lord offered mercy to me and doth he require nothing of me but to love him again call upon your hearts I charge you and say thus Lord if all the light of mine eyes were love and all the speeches of my tongue were love it were all too little to love thee O let me love thee dearly If you will not say thus then say hereafter You had a fair offer and that a poor Minister of God did wish you well Alas be not coy and squemish the Lord may have better then you lie down therefore and admire at the mercy of the Lord that should take a company of dead dogs and now at the last say as the Prophet did Lift up your heads O ye gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the King of Glory shall come in SECT. 6. A relying on Christ VVE are now come to the work of the Will which is the great wheel and Commander of the soul The former affections were but as hand-maids to usher in Christ and the Promises the minde saith I have seen Christ Hope saith I have waited Desire saith I have longed Love saith I am kindled then saith the Will I will have Christ it shall be so and this makes up the match the spawn and seeds of faith went before now faith is come to some perfection now the soul reposeth it self upon the Lord Jesus And this reposing or resting it self discovers a fivefold act First it implyes A going out of the soul to Christ When the soul seeth this that the Lord Jesus is his ayd and must ease him and pardon his sins then let us go to that Christ saith he it is the Lords call Come to me all ye that are weary now this voyce coming home to the heart and the prevailing sweetness of the call over-powering the heart the soul goes out and falls and flings it self upon the riches of Gods grace Secondly It lays fast hold upon Christ when the Lord saith Come my Love my Dove O come away Behold I come saith she and when she is come she fasteneth upon Christ saying My beloved is mine and I am his Faith lays hold on the Lord and will not let Mercy go but cleaves unto it though it conflict with the Lord Should he slay me saith Job yet will I trust in him The case is like Benhadads who being overcome by Ahab his Servants thus advise him We have heard that the Kings of Israel are merciful Kings we pray thee let us put ropes about our necks and sackcloth on our loyns and go out to the King peradventure he will save thy life Thus the Servants go and coming to Ahab they deliver the Message Thy Servant Benhadad saith I pray thee let me live and he said Is he yet alive he is my brother Now the men diligently observed whether any thing would come from him and did hastily catch at it and they said Thy brother Benhadad and they went away rejoycing This is the lively Picture of a broken-hearted sinner after he hath taken up arms against the Almighty and that the Lord hath let in Justice and he seeth or hath seen the anger of God bent against him then the soul reasons thus I have heard though I am a rebellious sinner that none but sinners are pardoned and God is a gracious God and therefore unto him let me go with this he falls down at the footstool of the Lord and cryes O what shall I do what shall I say unto thee O thou preserver of men O let me live I pray thee in the sight of my Lord The soul thus humbled the Lord then lets in his sweet voyce of mercy and saith Thou art my Son my Love and thy sins are pardoned These words no sooner uttered but he catcheth thereat saying Mercy Lord and a Son Lord and love Lord and a pardon Lord The heart holds it self here and will never away Thirdly it flings the weight of all its occasions and troubles guilt and corruptions upon the Lord Jesus Christ He that walks in darkness and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God that is if a man be in extremity hopeless in misery and walks in desperate discouragements yea and hath no light of comfort Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God As when a man cannot go of himself he lays all the weight of his body upon another so the soul goes to a Christ and lays all the weight of it self upon Christ and saith I have no comfort O Lord all my discomforts I lay upon Christ and I relye upon the Lord for comfort and consolation Who is this saith Solomon that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved Cant. 8. 5. The party coming is the Church the wilderness is the troubles and vexations the Church meets withal and the beloved is
the secrets of Nature to know the motions of the Stars to speak with the tongues of men and Angels and yet know nothing belonging to his peace what avails it Why do we value a Mine but because of the gold in it or a Cabinet but because of the Pearl in it O this is that pearl we sell all for Wouldst thou know whether thou art carnal or spiritual observe then if thou hast the Spirit it ever came with the Gospel See then how the soul stands affected with the Gospel and so it stands affected to the Spirit Is it so may every soul reason with it self that I will not suffer the word to prevail with me then shall I miss of the Spirit then will Christ none of me O remember the time will come when you must dye as well as your neighbors and then you will say Lord Jesus forgive my sins Lord Jesus receive my soul But Christ will answer Away be gone you are none of mine I know you not Any man whether noble or ignoble let him be what he will be if he hath not the Spirit he is none of Christs His you are to whom you obey but Pride and Covetousness you obey Pride therefore will say This heart is mine Lord I have domineered over it and I will torment it Corruptions will say We have owned this soul and we will damn it You therefore that have made a tush at the Word This wind shakes no corn and these words break no bones little do you think that you have opposed the Spirit What resist the Spirit me-thinks it is enough to sink any soul under heaven Hereafter therefore think this with thy self Were he but a man that speaks yet would I not despise him but that is not all there goeth Gods Spirit with the Word and shall I despise it There is but one step between this and that unpardonable sin against the holy Ghost onely adding Malice to my Rage I oppose the Father perhaps the Son mediates for me I despise the Son perhaps the holy Ghost pleads for me but if I oppose the Spirit none can succor me CHAP. VI SECT. 1. The Answer on mans part for the Soul to close with and to relye on Christ HItherto of the Call on Gods part now we are come to the Answer on mans part No sooner hath the Gospel and Gods Spirit clearly revealed the fulness of Gods mercy in Christ but then the whole soul both the Minde that discovers mercy and Hope that expects it and Desire that pursues it and Love that entertains it and the Will that rests on it gives answer to the Call of God therein Mercy is a proper object of all these of the Minde to be illightned of Hope to be sustained of Desire to be supported of Love to be cheared Nay there is a full satisfactory sufficiency of all good in Christ that so the will of man may take full repose and rest in him therefore the Lord saith Come unto me all that are weary and heavy laden Come Minde and Hope and Desire and Love and Will and Heart they all answer We come The Minde saith Let me know this Mercy above all and desire to know nothing but Christ and him crucified Let me expect this Mercy saith Hope that belongs to me and will befal me Desire saith Let me long after it O saith Love let me embrace and welcome it O saith the Heart let me lay hold on the handle of Salvation here we will live and here we will dye at the footstool of Gods Mercy Thus all go Minde Hope Desire Love Joy the Will and all lay hold upon the Promise and say Let us make the Promise a prey let us prey upon mercy as the wilde Beasts do upon their provision Thus the faculties of the soul hunt and pursue this mercy and lay hold thereupon and satisfie themselves herein SECT. 2. A sight of Christ or of mercy in Christ BUt for a further discovery of these works of the soul we shall now enter into particulars And for their order First the Lord lets a light into the minde for what the eye never seeth the heart never desireth hope never expecteth the soul never imbraceth If the soul then seems to hang afar off and dares not believe that Christ will have mercy on him in this case the Spirit lets in a light into his heart and discovers unto him that God will deal graciously with him It is with a sinner as with a man that sits in darkness haply he seeth a light in the street out of a window but he sits still in darkness and is in the dungeon all the while and he thinks How good were it if a man might enjoy that light So many a poor humble-hearted broken sinner seeth and hath an inckling of Gods mercies he heareth the Saints speak of Gods love and his goodness and compassion Ah thinks he how happy are they blessed are they what an excellent condition are they in but I am in darkness still and never had a drop of mercy vouchsafed unto me At last the Lord sets a light in his house and puts the candle into his own hand and makes him see by particular evidence Thou shalt be pardoned and thou shalt be saved The maner how the Spirit works this is discovered in three passages First the Spirit of the Lord meeting with an humble broken lowly self-denying sinner he that is a proud stout-hearted wretch knows nothing of this matter it opens the eye and now the humbled sinner begins to see like the man in the Gospel some light and glimmering about his understanding that he can look into and discern the spiritual things of God 2. Then the Lord says before him all the riches of the treasure of his grace no sooner hath he given him an eye but then he lays colours before him the unsearchable riches of Christ that he may see and look and fall in love with those sweet treasures and then saith the soul O that mercy and grace and pardon were mine O that my sins were done away the Lord saith I will refresh them that are heavy laden then saith the soul O that I had that refreshing you shall have rest saith God O that I had rest too saith the soul And now the soul begins to look after the mercy and compassion which is laid afore it 3. The Spirit of the Lord doth witness or certifie throughly and effectually to the soul that this mercy in Christ belongs unto him and without this the soul of an humble broken-hearted sinner hath no ground to go unto Christ what good doth it an hungry stomack to hear that there is a great deal of cheer and dainties provided for such and such men and he have no part therein Take a Beggar that hath a thousand pounds told before him he may apprehend the sum of so much gold and so much silver but what is all that to me saith he if in the
step one step towards Heaven then go to him who is able to work this desire in thy soul It is the complaint of a Christian O they are troubled because they cannot fetch a good desire from their own souls and one falls another sinks a third shakes and they are overwhelmed with discouragement What a wretched heart have I faith one I grace No no the world I can desire the life of my childe I long for and I say with Rachel Let me have honor or else I dye but I cannot long for the unconceivable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ and will the Lord shew any mercy upon me Is it thus remember now desires grow not in thy garden they spring not from the root of thy abilities O seek unto God and confess In truth Lord it is thou from whom come all our desires it is thou must work them in us as thou hast promised them to us and therefore Lord quicken thou this soul and inlarge this heart of mine for thou onely art the God of this desire Thus hale down a desire from the Lord and from the Promise for there onely must thou have it The smoaking flax God will not quench flax will not smoak but a spark must come into it and that will make it catch fire and smoak thus lay your hearts before the Lord and say Good Lord here is onely flax here is onely a stubborn heart but strike thou by thy Promise one spark from heaven that I may have a smoaking desire after Christ and after grace SECT. 5. A Love of Christ VVE have run through two affections Hope Desire and the next is Love A possible good stirs up Hope a necessary excellency in that good setleth Desire and a rellish in that good setled kindles Love Thus is the order of Gods work If the good be absent the understanding saith It is to be desired O that I had it then it sends out Hope and that waits for that good and stays till it can see it and yet if that good cannot come then Desire hath another proper work and it goes up and down wandring and seeketh and sueth for Christ Jesus After this if the Lord Jesus be pleased to come himself into the view of the heart which longeth thus after him then Love leads him into the soul and tells the Will of him saying Lo here is Jesus Christ the Messiah that hath ordered these great things for his Saints and people The Motive or ground of this Love is Gods Spirit in the Promise letting in some intimation of Gods love into the soul thus Psal. 42. 8. The Lord will command his loving kindeness in the day time This is a phrase taken from Kings and Princes and great Commanders in the field whose words of Command stand for Laws so the Lord sends out his loving kindeness and saith Go out my everlasting love and kindeness take a Commission from me and to go that humble thirsty and hunger-bitten sinner and go and prosper and prevail and settle my love effectually upon him and fasten my mercy upon him I command my loving kindeness to do it Thus the Lord doth put a Commission into the hands of his loving kindeness that it shall do good to the poor soul yea though it withdraw it self saying What I mercy will Christ Jesus accept of me No no there is no hope of mercy for me indeed if I could pray thus hear thus and perform Duties with that enlargement and had those parts and abilities then there were some comfort but now there is no hope of mercy for me We demand Is this your case is it thus and thus are you thus humbled and have you thus longed for the riches of his Mercy in Christ Lo then the Lord hath put a Commission into the hands of his loving kindeness saying Go to that poor soul and break open the doors upon that weary weltering heart and break off all those bolts and rend off that veil of ignorance and carnal Reason and all those Arguments Go I say to that soul and chear it and warm it and tell it from me That his sins are pardoned and his soul shall be saved and his sighs and prayers are heard in heaven and I charge you do the work before you come again Here is the ground of Love Gods love affecting the heart and setled upon it it breeds a love to God again We love him because he loved us first The burning-glass must receive heat of the beams of the Sun before it burn any thing so there must be a beam of Gods love to fall upon the soul before it can love God again I drew them with the cords of a man even with the bands of love God lets in the cords of love into the soul and that draws love again to God He brought me into the banqueting-house and his banner over me was love stay me with flaggons comfort me with apples for I am sick of love When the banner of Christs love is spread over the soul the soul comes to be sick in love with Christ Now this love of God doth beget our love in three particulars First there is a sweetness and a rellish which Gods love lets into the soul and warms the heart with you shall see how the fire is kindled by and by As when a man is fainting we give him Aqua-vitae so a fainting sinner is cold at the heart and therefore the Lord lets in a drop of his loving kindeness and this warms the heart and the soul is even filled with the happiness of the mercy of God Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth saith the Spouse in the Canticles for his love is better then wine The kisses of his mouth are the comforts of his Word and Spirit the soul saith O let the Lord refresh me with the kisses of his mouth let the Lord speak comfort to my heart and this is better then wine Secondly as that sweetness warms the heart so the freeness of the love of God let in and intimated begins even to kindle this love in the soul that it sparkles again God setteth out his love towards us seeing that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us This commends the love of God the Lord sends to poor and miserable sinful broken-hearted sinners and saith Commend my mercy to such a one and tell him That though he hath been an enemy to me yet I am a friend to him and though he hath been rebellious against me yet I am a God and Father to him When the poor sinner considers this with himself he saith Is the Lord so merciful to me I that loved my sins and continued in them had it not been just that I should have perished in them but will the Lord not onely spare his enemy but give his Son for him O let my soul for ever rejoyce in this unconceiveable goodness of God! Be thy heart never so hard
Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ doth thus he gives a peremptory charge to keep watch and ward and gives a charge to hope and desire and love and joy and the minde and all not to grieve and molest the good Spirit of God Let there be no motion but to entertain it no advise but to receive it and do nothing that may work the least kinde of dislike unto it 4. He that truly entertains Christ rejoyceth in the good and glory of Christ When Mephibosheth had been wrongfully accused to David and when David who had taken away all the inheritance from him was returned in safety Then said David to comfort him Thou and Ziba divide the land nay said Mephibosheth Let him take all forasmuch as my Lord the King is come again in peace it matters not for inheritance and for my self and my life I pass not sith the King is returned in peace it is enough that I enjoy thy presence which is better to me then goods life or liberty So it is with a kinde loving heart which cannot endure to see Christs honor and glory layed in the dust but if his praise be advanced then is he glad Lord I have enough saith the soul that Christ is mine and that his honor and glory is magnified whatsoever becomes of me it matters not let the world take all if I may have Christ and see him praised and magnified Let this try any mans spirit under heaven and labor to bring the soul to this pitch A Minister in his place and a Master in his place and every Christian in his place let it be our care to honor God not our selves and let it be our comfort if God may be better honored by others then by our selves This is our baseness of spirit we can be content to lift up Christ upon our shoulders that we may lift up our selves by it but we should be content to lie in the dust that the Lord may be praised and if any of Gods people thrive and prosper more then thou let that be thy joy 5. He that welcomes Christ truly covets a neerer union with Christ Love is of a linking and gluing nature and will carry the soul with some kinde of strength and earnestness to enjoy full possession and fellowship of the thing that is loved it cannot have enough of it Nothing saith the soul but Christ still I desire more of that mercy and holiness and grace and love in Christ Jesus As it is with parties that have lived long together in one house and their affections are linkt together in way of marriage they will ever desire to be talking together and to be drawing on the marriage so the soul that loves Christ Jesus and hath his holy affection kindled and his spirit enlarged therein when the Lord hath let in some glimpse of his love he thinks the hour sweet when he prayed to the Lord Christ he thinks the Lords-day sweet wherein God revealed by the power of his holy Ordinances any of that rich grace and mercy of his it is admirable to see how the heart will be delighted to recover the time and place and means when and where the Lord did reveal it Oh this is good saith the soul Oh that I might ever be thus cleared and refreshed Or as the spouse contracted thinks every day a year till she enjoy her beloved and take satisfaction to her soul in him So the soul that hath been truly humbled and enlightened and is now contracted to Christ Jesus Oh when will that day be saith it that I shall ever be with my Jesus he takes hold of every word he hears every promise that reveals any thing of Christ But oh when will that day be that I shall ever be with Christ and be full of his fulness for ever And now let me prevail with your hearts and work your souls to this duty Love the Lord all ye his Saints whom will you love if you love not him Oh you poor ones love you the Lord for you have need and all you rich ones love you the Lord for you have cause and you little ones too if there be any such in the Congregation he knocks at every mans heart and perswades every mans soul Love ye the Lord The means are these 1. Labor to give attendance daily to the promise of grace and Christ drive away all other suitors from the soul and let nothing come between the promise and it forbid all other bands that is let the promise confer daily with thy heart and be expressing and telling of that good that is in Christ to thy own soul If all things be agreed between parties to be married and there wants nothing but mutual affection the only way to fix their affections upon one another is to keep company together so as they meet wisely and holily So let the soul daily keep company with the promise and this is the first way 2. Labor to be throughly acquainted with the beauty and sweetness of Christ in the promise Now there are three things in the promise we must eye and apprehend that our hearts may be kindled with love in the Lord 1. The worth of the party in himself Christ is worthy of it 2. The desert of the party in regard Christ deserves it 3. The readiness of the party in himself to seek our good Christ seeks it 1. Christ is worthy in himself if we had a thousand hearts to bestow upon him we were never able to love him sufficiently as Nehemiah said The name of the Lord is above all praise will you let out your love and affections you may lay them out here with good advantage what would you love wouldst thou have beauty then thy Savior is beautiful Thou art fairer then the children of men Psal. 45. 2. Wouldst thou have strength then is thy Savior strong Gird thy sword upon thy thigh O most mighty Psal. 45. 3. Wouldst thou have riches thy Savior is more rich if it be possible then he is strong He is heir of all things Heb. 1. 2. Wouldst thou have wisdom then thy Savior is wise yea wisdom it self In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge Col. 2. 3. Wouldst thou have life eternal Christ is the Author of life and happiness to all that have him and he hath not onely these in himself but he will infeoff thee in them if thou wilt but match with him 2. Christ deserves our love in regard of benefits to us be man never so worthy in himself yet if he have wronged or exprest the part of an Enemy a woman saith I will not have him though he had all the world this takes off the affections it is not so with the Lord Jesus as he is worthy of all love in himself so he hath dealt mercifully and graciously with you In your sickness who helped you in wants who supplied you in anguish of heart who
am afraid therefore to approach near unto the Lords presence Is it so hear what the Lord saith Come unto me ye rebellious people and I will heal your rebellions You that never prayed never came to hear all Rebels come unto me and then the people answer Behold we come unto thee for thou art our God This is great encouragement to a poor sinner he begins now to wonder and say Lord shall all my sins be pardoned shall all my oathes and abominations be forgiven I that slighted so many mercies and committed so many follies shall I be entertained Yes saith the Lord come unto me and thou shalt be forgiven come I command you come 3. The Lord doth not onely command a poor sinner to come in but when he is nice in this case saying There is mercy with God but not for me the Lord then followeth him still and sends another cord after him that if it be possible he may win him and woo him to receive mercy of him If command therefore prevail not he intreats and beseeches him to come and receive mercy and this me thinks should move the hardest heart under heaven We saith the Apostle are embassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be reconciled unto God rather then you should go away from Christ even Mercy it self will come and kneel down before you and beseech you and intreat you for the Lord Jesus sake to pity your poor souls and to receive pardon for your sins A sinner is not able to comprehend this but he begins to be at a stand and at amazement What that the Lord should beseech him O that thou wouldst receive pardon for thy sins and be blessed for ever Good Lord saith the Soul is this possible that the great King of Heaven should come and beseech such a Traytor such a Rebel as I am to take pardon That a King on Earth should proclaim a pardon to some notorious Traytor this were much but that the King of Heaven should lay down his Crown and come creeping to me and beseech me on his knee as it were to take mercy this is a thing beyond all expectation What shall Heaven stoop to earth shall Majesty stoop to misery shall the great God of Heaven and Earth that might have condemned my soul and if I had perished and been damned might have took glory by my destruction Is it possible is it credible that this God should not onely entertain me when I come and command me for to come but intreat and beseech me to come and receive mercy from him O the depth of the incomprehensible love of God! Imagine you saw God the Father intreating you and God the Son beseeching you as he doth this day Come now and forsake your sins and take mercy which is prepared for you and shall be bestowed upon you Would not this make a soul think thus with it self What for a Rebel not onely to have mercy offered but to be intreated to receive mercy it were pity if I will not take it but I should go to Hell and be damned for ever The Lord he complains Why will ye dye as I live saith the Lord I desire not the death of a sinner Turn ye turn ye why will ye dye ye sinful Sons of men Mercy is offered you the Lord Jesus reacheth out his hand to you fain would he pluck the Drunkard out of the Alehouse and the Adulterer from his Whore O if you break this cord I know not what to say to you this is able to break a Mountain in pieces Shake O Mountains saith the Prophet Why because God hath redeemed Jacob The Redemption of Jacob was enough to break a Mountain let his Mercy break our hearts it is God that begs the blessing is our own 4. If yet all this prevail nothing at all the Lord will then wait and stay in long patience and suffering to see if any time a sinner will turn unto him Our Savior follows poor sinners from Alehouse to Alehouse and says I beseech you Drunkards take mercy and have your sins pardoned The Lord as we may say tires himself and wearieth himself with waiting one day after another and one week after another It may be saith Christ this week this Sabbath this Sermon a sinner will turn unto me what will it never be Are you not ashamed my friends that the Lord Jesus should thus wait your leisure and follow you from house to house and from place to place nay that Christ should every morning appear to your understanding and every night come to your bed-side saying Let this be the last night of sinning and the next day the first day of your repentance O when will you be humbled when will you receive mercy that it may go well with you and with yours for ever If none of the other will move you yet for shame let this cord draw you to the Lord Hear hear his doleful pangs O Jerusalem Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean O when will it once be A woman that is in travel O how she expects and longs for her delivery I now a throb comes and then she cryes anon comes a second throb and then she cryes again O when comes deliverance Thus God the Father takes on him the person of a travelling woman he travels and travels until he bring forth a son until some soul be converted and brought home unto him O Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean when will it once be I have waited one ten twenty thirty forty years long have I waited on this generation when will it once be The Lord thus travels in patience looking when we will receive mercy will never our proud hearts be humbled will never our stubborn hearts be softned will never our prophane hearts be sanctified when will it once be Christ hath waited this day this week this moneth this quarter this year these ten twenty thirty forty years on us You old sinners that are gray-headed in your wickedness how long hath the Lord waited on you O for shame let him wait no longer but turn turn ye unto him that ye may receive mercy from him Thirdly if bonds of love move not the Lord hath iron cords that will pluck in pieces to wit the cords of Conscience which thus disputes He that being often reproved doth still harden his heart shall perish everlastingly But thou being often reproved dost still harden thy heart therefore thou shalt perish everlastingly In this Syllogism are contained the Monition Accusation Condemnation of Conscience In the first Proposition Conscience gives the sinner a Monition to come from sin upon pain of the heaviest Judgement that can be inflicted It is the Lord that sends the Conscience on this errand Go to such a man and tell him You have blasphemed Gods Name and you have spoken against Gods Saints and you have broken Gods Sabbaths and you have contemned
through his heart and he is breathing out his sorrow as though he were going down to hell and he saith If there be any mercy any love any fellowship of the Spirit have mercy upon me a poor creature that am under the burthen of the Almighty O pray and pity these wounds and vexations of Spirit which no man findes nor feels but he that hath been thus wounded It is a sign of a soul wholly devoted to destruction that hath a desperate disdain against poor wounded creatures Is it possible there should harbor such a Spirit in any man if the Devil himself were incarnate I cannot conceive what he could do worse 2. If ever thou wouldst be comforted and receive mercy from God labor never to be quiet till thou dost bring thy heart to a right pitch of sorrow thou hast a little slight sorrow but Oh! labor to have thy heart truly touched that at last it may break in regard of thy many distempers remember the longer seed-time the greater harvest Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted but wo to you that are at ease in Zion Thou hadst better now be wounded then everlastingly tormented and therefore if thou desirest to see Gods face with comfort if thou wouldst hear Christ say Come thou poor heavy-hearted sinner I will ease thee Labor to lay load on thy heart with sorrow for thy sin O what a comfort shall a poor broken heart finde in that day SECT. 5. The extent of this Sorrow HItherto of Contrition the next work is Humiliation which differs from the other not in substance but circumstance For Humiliation as I take it is onely the extent of Sorrow for Sin of which we have spoken and it contains these two Duties 1. Submission 2. Contentedness to be at the Lords disposal The first part of Humiliation is Submission which is wrought thus The sinner having now had a Sight of his Sins and a Sorrow in some measure for Sin he seeks far and wide improves all means and takes up all Duties that if it were possible he might heal his wounded soul Thus seeking and seeking but finding no succor in what he hath or doth he is forced at last in his despairing condition to make tryal of the Lord It is true for the present he apprehends God to be just and to be incensed against him he hath no experience of Gods favor for the while no certainty how he shall speed if he go to the Lord yet because he sees he cannot be worse then he is and that none can help him but God if it would please him therefore he falls at the footstool of Mercy and he lies grovelling at the gate of Grace and submits himself to the Lord to do with him as pleaseth himself or as it seemeth good in his eyes This was the Ninevites case when Jonah had denounced that heavy Judgement and as it were thrown wilde fire about the streets saying Within forty days Niniveh shall be destroyed See what they resolved upon They fasted and prayed and put on sackcloth and ashes who can tell said they but God may turn and repent him of his fierce wrath that we perish not as if they had said We know not what God will do but this we know that we cannot oppose his Judgements nor succor our selves Thus it is with a sinner when he seeth hell fire to flash in his face and that he cannot succor himself then he saith This I know that all the means in the world cannot save me yet who can tell but the Lord may have mercy on me and cure his tdistressed Conscience and heal all these wounds that sin hath made in my soul This is the lively picture of the soul in this case Or for a further light this Subjection discovers it self in four particulars First he seeth and confesseth that the Lord for ought he knows will proceed in Justice against him and execute upon him those Plagues that God hath threatned and his Sins have deserved he seeth that Justice is not yet satisfied and those reckonings between God and him are not yet made up and therefore he cannot apprehend but that God will take vengeance on him What else when he hath done all he can he is unprofitable still Justice remains unsatisfied and saith Thou hast sinned and I am wronged and therefore thou shalt dye Secondly he conceives that what God will do that he will do and he cannot avoid it if the Lord will come and require the glory of his Justice against him there is no way to avoid it nor to bear it and this crusheth the heart and makes the soul to be beyond all shifts and evasions whereby it may seem to avoid the dint of the Lords blow Thirdly he casts away his weapons and falls down before the Lord and resigns himself into the soveraign power and command of God Thus David when the Lord cast him out of his Kingdom he said to Zadock Carry back the Ark of God into the City if I shall finde favor in the eyes of the Lord he will bring me back again and shew me both it and his Habitation But if he thus say to me I have no delight in thee behold here I am let him do with me as seemeth good in his eyes This is the frame of a poor soul when a poor sinner will stand upon his priviledges the Lord saith Bear my Justice and defend thy self by all thou hast or canst do and the soul answereth I am thy Servant Lord do what is good in thine eyes I cannot succor my self Fourthly the soul freely acknowledgeth That it is in Gods power to do with him and dispose of him as he will and therefore he lies and licks the dust and cryes Mercy mercy Lord he thinks not to purchase Mercy at the Lords hands but onely saith It is in Gods good pleasure to do with him as he will onely he looks for favor and cryes Mercy Lord mercy to this poor distressed soul of mine O replies the Lord dost thou need mercy Cannot thy Hearing and Praying and Fasting carry thee to heaven without hazard Gird up now thy loyns and make thy ferventest Prayers and let them meet my Justice and see if they can bear my Wrath or purchase any Mercy No no saith the sinner I know it by lamentable experience that all my prayers and performances will never procure peace to my soul nor give my satisfaction to thy Justice I onely pray for Mercy and I desire onely to hear some News of Mercy to relieve this miserable wretched soul of mine it is onely Mercy that must help me O Mercy if it be possible to this poor distressed soul of mine Me thinks the picture of those poor famished Lepers may â—itly resemble this poor sinner when the Famine was great in Samaria There were four leprous men sate in the gate of the City and they said Why sit we here until we dye if we enter into
most hardly converted what is Humiliation but the emptying of the soul from whatsoever makes it swell the heart must not joy in any thing nor rest upon any thing but onely yield to the Lord to be at his disposing and carving now these parts and gifts and abilities and means are great props and pillars for the heart of a carnal man to rest upon and to quiet it self withal whence the Apostle Not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty men not many noble men are called Indeed blessed be God some are but not many few that have so much of themselves are brought to renounce themselves and no wonder for a rich man to become poor and a noble man to be abased and a wife man to be nothing in himself this will cost hot water and yet this must be in all that belong to the Lord not that God will take away all these outward things and parts but that they must loosen their affection from these if they will have Christ 2. That an humble heart makes all a mans life quiet and marvellously sweetneth whatsoever estate he is in indeed sometimes he may be tossed and troubled yet he is not distracted because he is contented as it is with a Ship on the Sea when the billows begin to roar and the waves are violent if the Anchor be fastened deep it stays the Ship so this work of Humiliation is the Anchor of the soul and the deeper it is fastened the more quiet is the heart when Job in time of his extremity gave way to his proud heart he quarrell'd with the Almighty his friends and all but when the Lord had humbled him then Behold I am vile and base once have I spoken yea twice but now no more And this Humiliation quiets a man both in Fiercest Temptations Heaviest Oppositions 1. In fiercest Temptations when Satan begins to besiege the heart of a poor sinner and lays battery against him see how the humbled heart runs him out of breath at his own weapons Dost thou think says Satan to get mercy from the Lord when thy own conscience dogs thee nay go to the place where thou livest to the chamber where thou liest and consider thy fearful abominations sure God will not respect the prayers of any such vile sinners True saith the poor soul I have often denyed the Lord when he called upon me and therefore he may justly deny me all the prayers I make yet thus he hath commanded that seek to him for mercy I must and if the Lord will cast me away and reject my prayers I am contented therewith What then Satan What then saith the Devil I thought this would have made thee to dispair but this is not all for God will give thee over and leave thee to thy self to thy lusts and corruptions and thy latter end shall be worse then thy beginning thou mayest call and cry and when thou hast done be overthrown God will leave thee to thy self and suffer thy corruptions to prevail against thee and thou shalt fall fearfully to the wounding of thy conscience to the grieving of Gods people to the scandal of the Gospel to the reproach of thy own person To this answers the humbled soul If the Lord will give me up to my base lusts which I have given my self so much liberty in and if the Lord will leave me to my sins because I have left his gracious commands and if I shall fall one day and be disgraced and dishonored yet let the Lord be honored and let not God lose the praise of his Power and Justice and I am contented therewith what then Satan What then saith the Devil I sure thought now thou wouldst have despaired but this is not all for when God hath left thee to thy sins then will he break out in vengeance against thee and make thee an example of his heavy vengeance to all ages to come and therefore it is best for thee to prevent this untimely Judgement by some untimely death To this replies the Soul Whatsoever God can do or will do I know not yet so great are my sins that he cannot or at least will not do so much against me as I have justly deserved Come what will come I am contented still to be at the Lords disposal what then Satan and thus he runs Satan out of breath The want of this Humiliation many times brings a man to desperate stands and sometimes to untimely deaths Alas why will you not bear the wrath of the Lord it is true indeed your sins are great and the wrath of God is heavy yet God will do you good by it and therefore be quiet In time of war when the great Canons fly off the onely way to avoid them is to lie down in a furrow and so the bullets fly over So in all Temptations of Satan lie low and be contented to be at Gods disposing and all these fiery Temptations shall not be able to hurt you 2. In heaviest oppositions when Satan is gone then come Troubles and Oppositions of the world in all which Humiliation will quiet the Soul A man is sometimes Sea-sick not because of the Tempest but because of his full stomack and therefore when he hath emptied his stomack he is well again So it is with his Humiliation of heart if the heart were emptied truly though a man were in a sea of oppositions if he have no more trouble in his stomack and in his proud heart then in the oppositions of the world he might be very well quieted Cast disgrace upon the humble heart causlesly and he cures it thus He thinks worse of himself then any man else can do and if they would make him vile and loathsom he is more vile in his own eyes then they can make him O that I could bring your hearts to be in love with this blessed grace of God! Is there any Soul here that hath been vexed with the Temptations of Satan oppositions of men or with his own distempers and would he now arm and fence himself that nothing should disquiet him or trouble him but in all to be above all and to rejoyce in all O then be humbled and then be above all the Devils in hell Certainly they shall not so disquiet you as to cause you to be misled or uncomforted if you would but be humbled What remains then Be exhorted as you desire mercy and favor at Gods hands to this Humiliation And for Motives consider the good things that God hath promised and which he will bestow upon all that are truly humbled I shall reduce all to these three following Benefits First by Humiliation we are made capable of all those treasures of Wisdom Grace and Mercy that are in Christ Secondly Humiliation gives a man the comfort of all that good in Christ Many have a right to Christ and are dear to God yet they want much sweet refreshing because they want this Humiliation
if it have but the sense of this it cannot but stir thee to Humiliation Thirdly the greatness of the freeness of this mercy of God being setled upon the heart enflames it the sweetness warms the heart this freeness kindles the fire and when the greatness of the sweetness comes to be valued this sets the heart all on a flame the Apostle desires that the Ephesians being rooted and grounded in love might be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and height of the love of God in Christ as if he had said The unmeasureablenes of Gods mercy will blow up the soul and enflame the heart with admirable love of God again and will make the soul say What I that have done all that I could against this good God O it breaks my heart to think of it there was no Name under heaven that I did blaspheme and tear in pieces more then this Name no Command under heaven I so much despised as the Command of God and of Christ no Spirit that I grieved so much as the good Spirit of God and therefore had the Lord onely given me a look or spoken a word to me it had been an infinite Mercy but to send a Son to save me it is incomparable I could not conceive to do so much evil against him as he hath done good to me O the breadth of that Mercy beyond all limits O the length of that Mercy beyond all time O the depth of that Mercy below a mans misery O the height of that Mercy above the height of my understanding If my hands were all love that I could work nothing but love if mine eyes were able to see nothing but love and my minde to think of nothing but love and if I had a thousand bodies they were all too little to love that God that hath thus unmeasureably loved me a poor sinful Hell-hound I will love the Lord dearly saith David O Lord my strength Have I gotten the Lord Jesus to be my comfort my buckler and my shield if I have any good he begins it if I have any comfort he blesseth it Therefore I will love thee dearly O Lord my strength O how should I but love thee Me thinks there is a poor sincere soul that saith My understanding are not so deep as others my tongue runs not so glib as such and such I cannot talk so freely of the things of grace and salvation I have meaner parts and cannot inlarge my self in holy Duties and holy Services I cannot dispute for a Savior or perform such Duties as others can do yet sweet soul canst thou love Christ Jesus and rejoyce in him O yes I bless the Name of the Lord that all I have all my friends and parts and means and abilities are but as dung and dross in comparison of Christ Jesus it were the comfort of my soul if I might be ever with him Say you so Go thy way and the God of heaven go with thee This is a work of God that will never leave thee it is a badge and proper livery that the Lord Jesus gives onely to his Saints never a meer Professor under heaven ever wore it never any Hypocrite under heaven to whom God did intend it but onely to those whom he hath effectually called and whom he will save therefore though thou wantst all thou hast this to comfort thee in the want of all and thou mayest say I can say little for Christ my tongue faulters and my memory is weak yet the Lord knows I love the Lord Jesus This is enough David desired no more but what God was wont to do to his children that loved his name Do to me saith the text as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name I know thou lovest them that love thee and wilt save and glorifie them in the end I desire no more but this do as thou usest to do to those that love thy name And doth David a King desire no more sure then if thou poor soul hast so much as he had it is enough be quiet with thy childes part Thy lot is faln into a marvellous fair ground Some may say this is all the difficult How may I know whether my love be a true love or a false love How may I know that my love is of the right stamp Let every man put his love upon the trial and examine thus Whether doest thou welcome Christ and grace according to the worth of them if thou doest it will appear in these particulars 1. Observe the root and rise from whence thy love came canst thou say I love the Lord because he hath loved me then thy love is of the right mettle and know it for ever that that God which cannot but love himself he cannot but like that love which came from himself is thy soul affected and enlarged in love to the Lord because thou hast felt and retained the relish and sweetness of his grace canst thou say The Lord hath let in a glimpse of his favor and the Lord hath said in his truth he looks to him that trembles at his word the Minister said it and the Spirit saith it that my mercy is registred in heaven Oh how should I love the Lord my sins are many which I have bewailed my sighs and sobs I have put up to heaven and at the last the Lord hath given me a gracious answer Oh how should I love the Lord my strength dearly If it be thus with thee thy love is sound and will never fail 2. If thou entertain thy Savior as it beseems him thou must entertain him as a King and that is thus give up all to him and entertain none with him upon terms of honor but such as retain to him or be attendants upon him love all in Christ and for Christ but express thy love and joy to Christ above all He is as a King and all the rest are but as retainers he that loves any thing equal with a Christ it is certain he did never love Christ to set up any thing cheek by jole with Christ it is all one as if a man did put a slave into the same Chamber with the King which is upon the point to drive him away 3. The soul that rightly entertains Christ and studies wholly to give him contentment he is marvellous wary and watchful that he may not sad that good Spirit of God to grieve him and cause him to go away as displeased See this Cant. 3. 4 5. the Spouse sought long for her beloved and at last brought him home and when she had welcomed him she gives a charge to all the house not to stir nor awaken her love till he please When a Prince comes unto the house of a great man what charge is there given to make no noise in the night lest such and such a man be awakened before his time the soul when it hath received the
the Lord Almighty and to resist the work of his Grace now it may be there comes this fear and hand-writing against him and then he cryes These are my sins and these are the Plagues and Judgements threatned against them and therefore why may not I be damned why may not I be plagued Secondly the Lord pursues the soul and discharges that evil upon him which was formerly feared and now his Conscience is all on a flame and he saith to himself O I have sinned and offended a just God and therefore I must be damned and to Hell I must go Now the soul shakes and is driven beyond it self and would utterly faint but that the Lord upholds it with one hand as he beats it down with the other he thinks every thing is against him he thinks the fire burns to consume him and that the ayr will poyson him and that Hell-mouth gapes under him and that Gods wrath hangs over him and if now the Lord should but take away his life that he should tumble down headlong into the bottomless Hell Should any man or Minister perswade the soul in this case to go to Heaven for Mercy it replies in this maner Shall I repair to God O that 's my trouble Is not he that great God whose Justice and Mercy and Patience I have abused And is not he the great God of Heaven and Earth that hath been incensed against me Oh with what a face can I appear before him and with what heart can I look for any mercy from him I have wronged his Justice and can his Justice pardon me I have abused his Mercy and can his Mercy pity me What such a wretch as I am If I had never enjoyed the means of mercy I might have had some plea for my self but Oh I have refused that mercy and have trampled the Blood of Christ under my feet and can I look for any mercy No no I see the wrath of the Lord incensed against me and that 's all I look for SECT. 4. Sorrow for Sin THe next step is Sorrow for Sin concerning which are two questions 1. Whether it be a work of saving grace 2. Whether God work it in all alike To the first I answer There is a double Sorrow one in Preparation the other in Sanctification They differ thus Sorrow in Preparation is when the word of God leaves an impression upon the heart of a man so that the heart of it self is as it were a Patient and onely bears the blow of the Spirit and hence come all those phrases of Scripture as wounded pierced pricked in the passive voyce So that this Sorrow is rather a Sorrow wrought on me then any work coming from any Spiritual ability in me But Sorrow in Sanctification flows from a Spiritual principle of Grace and from that power which the heart hath formerly received from Gods Spirit so that in this a man is a free worker Now both these are saving Sorrows but they differ marvellously many think that every saving work is a sanctifying work which is false Those whom he calleth saith the Apostle them he also justifies and whom he justifies he glorifies You may observe That Glorification in this place implyes Sanctification here and glory hereafter now before Glorification you see there is Justification and Vocation and both these are saving To the second I answer Howsoever this work is the same in all for substance yet in a different maner it is wrought in most Two men are pricked the one with a pin the other with a spear two men are cut the one with a pen-knife the other with a sword so the Lord deals kindely and gently with one soul and roughly with another There is the melting of a thing and the breaking of it with hammers so there is a difference in persons for instance if the person be a scandalous liver and an opposer of God and his Grace Secondly if a man have harbored a filthy heart and continues long in Sin Thirdly if a man have been confident in a formal civil course Fourthly if God purpose by some man to do some extraordinary great work In all these four cases he lays an heavy blow on the heart the Lord will bruise them and rend the kall of their hearts and make them seek to a faithful Minister for direction and to a poor Christian for counsel whom before they despised But if the soul be trained up among godly Parents and live under a soul-saving Ministery the Lord may reform this man and cut him off from his corruptions kindely and break his heart secretly in the apprehension of his Sins and yet the world never see it In both these we have an example in Lydia and the Jaylor Lydia was a sinful woman and God opened her eyes and melted her heart kindely and brought her to a taste of his goodness here and glory hereafter But the Jaylor was an outragious rebellious wretch for when the Apostles were committed to prison he laid them up in stocks and whipped them sore now there was much work to bring this man home when the Apostles were singing Psalms there came an Earthquake which made the prison doors flie open and the prisoners fetters to fall off but yet the Jaylors heart would not shake at last the Lord did shake his heart too and he came trembling and was ready to lay violent hands upon himself because he thought the prisoners had been fled but the Apostles cryed to him Do thy self no harm for we are all here with that he fell down before them and said Men and brethren what shall I do to be saved For Conclusion give me a Christian that God doth please to work upon in this extraordinary maner and to break his heart soundly and to throw him down to purpose though it cost him full dear this man walks ordinarily with more care and conscience and hath more comfort coming to himself and gives more glory unto God Is it so that the soul of a man is thus pierced to the quick and run through by the wrath of the Almighty then let this teach all how to carry themselves towards such as God hath thus dealt withal Are they pierced men O pity them let our souls O let the bowels of commiseration and compassion be let out towards them let us never cease to do good to them to the very uttermost of our powers And to the performance of this Reason and Religion and pity me-thinks should move us Hear the cry Oh saith the poor soul will these and these sins never be pardoned Will this proud heart never be humbled Thus the soul sighs and mourns and says O Lord I see this sin and feel the burthen of it and yet I have not an heart to be humbled for it nor to be freed from it O when will it once be Did you but know this it would make your hearts bleed to hear him Oh! the sword of the Almighty hath pierced