love and free grace by a Covenant of grace sealed with the Bloud of Jesus Christ Guilt cannot looke on Majesty and Majesty is most terrible in an Enemy and a Judge but when Christ enterposes God is a reconciled God and tender Father in Jesus Christ In Christ Gods nature is lovely to us and our persons lovely to God God doth beseech you and Christ intreates you to be reconciled God shewes mercy to them that deserve no mercy There is an Heart-breaking and yet an Encouraging Secret a Gospell Secret these Secrets are usually the first ground of faith and hope Now faith and hope doe kindle in us a love to God and love doth most sweetely breake the heart and humble the soule My froward soule is now willing to abase it selfe before so good a God a God so willing to shew mercy to such a wretch as I am who deserve no mercy I see nothing in my selfe to encourage me to goe to God but I see enough in my selfe to drive me to him and I see enough in God for to encourage me to runne unto him I see mercy enough in God merit enough in Christ holinesse enough in the Spirit of holinesse to perswade me to runne to God for grace as well as mercy for faith and repentance as well as any other graces for pardon of sinne and power against it Come then be convinced of thine owne naughtinesse in spirituall respects humbly and yet chearefully cast thy selfe upon Gods free grace for pardon depend upon Christs obedience alone for righteousnesse upon his holy Spirit the Comforter for holinesse and comfort and say as Bradford did I am Hell but God is Heaven I am sinne but Christ is righteousnesse Blesse God for providing thee a Surety a Saviour who is able to pay all thy debts and to supply all thy wants I hope by this time thou art encouraged to trust Christ stedfastly and love him heartily and if thou findest thy heart overcome by the love of God in Christ then thou mayest goe to Christ not out of pure neede but pure love and Christ will give thee such liberall entertainement and hearty welcome that thou wilt prize and love Christ for himselfe and for his holinesse and all his excellencies as well as benefits and the more thou dost prize him the faster will thy devoute soule by a lively faith cleave unto him and the more thou dost cleave to him by faith the faster wilt thou adhere to him by love and the more thou dost love Christ the more wilt thou hate sin abhorre thy self for â—inne and deny thy selfe for Christ And the more thou art convinced of thy sinfulnesse and abased for thy sinne the more wilt thou prize Christ and love him and runne to him for grace and mercy and draw new vertue and fresh supplies from him that thou mayest every way expresse thy love unto him And beleeve it there will be no love lost between thee and Christ thou shalt be delighted with his presence satisfied with his love and acquainted with those other Secrets which God imparts to men after they are made Saints and freinds Not onely the wisedome of God hid in a Mystery of faith and godlinesse but the deepe things of God the Secrets of the Spirit of Adoption those Love-Secrets which Christ imparts to us when he comes in to suppe with us even Miracles of love and Treasures of glory And when Christ doth thus feast you with his love you will theâ— demonstrate your Spouse-like love to Jesus Christ you will be able to say that you love Christ for 〈…〉 for what you have from him or by him but you 〈…〉 in your love to him though you lose all you have for him When God doth bestow these loveâ—tokens and impart these Love-Secrets to his elect by a Spirit of Revelation Regeneration Adoption and hath taugh◠〈…〉 to know him love him and crie Abba Father to him the◠〈◊〉 ownes them for his sonnes and daughters and saith of them as he 〈◊〉 here of Abraham I know them I love them approve them because I chose them from all eternity Ob. But you will say the Secret imparted to Abraham seemes to be a Secular-Secret rather then a Religious-Secret Sol. I answer this Secret was imparted at least in Ordine ad Spiritualia for religious purposes and there are many edifying Secrets contained in it Abraham was not to repeate it as a story but as a Sermon to his Posterity that they might behold the Majesty of Jehovah in this great example of Divine vengeance and be perswaded to walke in the way of Jehovah as it is in my text This Secret was communicated before hand that the burning of Sodom might not be imputed to chance fortune or a violent tempest raised by the common course of nature but to the immediate hand of God That the sin-revenging Justice of God might be magnified and Posterity deterred from the sinnes of Sodom Pride fulnesse of bread abundance of Idlenesse unnaturall lust and base fornication Ezek. 16. 49. 2 Pet. 2. 6. Secondly This Secret was imparted to Abraham by way of Prolepsis for the preventing of an Objection which might have staggered his faith for God had given that Land to Abraham Lot had made choise of Sodom and Abrahams Portion bordered upon Lots and therefore Abraham would have beene exceedingly staggered at the Overthrow of Sodom if God had not acquainted him with this Secret before hand And therefore I have so freely discoursed of Encouraging Secrets that I might remove those blocks at which our faith is most apt to stumble Thirdly By the imparting of this Secret Lots policy is confuted and Abrahams selfe-denying faith commended Lot chooses the richer soyle but the fouler seate because of worldly accommodations but on a sudden the wickednesse of the place calls for a devouring fire which licks up all the wealth and buries all the glory of Sodom in dust andashes this Secret is not secular which takes off the heart from all secular accommodations and teaches men to choose their seate or dwelling not for secular advantages but for Spirituall Accommodations Fourthly It was requisite to shew you when a man is in an approved condition and how a man may be brought to lay hold upon the Covenant because when God speaking of Abraham saith I know him the meaning is I approve him as a man in Covenant with me he is a sincere upright man and will be true to me in the most declining times God takes notice of his Saints and Servants with a Knowledge of Approbation a sweete loving knowledge which implyes a deare and tender respect but God takes notice of every particular person with a Knowledge of Observation for God observes all our dispositions habits and inclinations all our thoughts plots designes all our desires intentions resolutions words and actions and will call us to an account for all in the presence of Saints and Angels before the Tribunall of Christ when Hypocrites and
Apostates scandalous and impenitent persons who lived and died in sinne appeare at that terrible day of accounts Christ will protest unto them that he never knew them that is He never approved them Math. 7. 23. Nay for the present Christ doth usually set a brand upon all false-hearted men though they are highly conceited of themselves and cried up by others for prudence and piety yet Christ saith I know such and such but I will never trust them because I know them and I will lay them open to my people that they may know them for they will deceive all that trust them Some mens sinnes goe afore to judgement and some mens follow after for they that are otherwise cannot be hid 1 Tim. 5. 24 25. When Christ wrought miracles many beleeved in his name but Christ did not trust them for he knew what was in man in every man for he knew all men John 2. 23 24 25. Christ workes miracles in our dayes and there are many that seeme to beleeve in his name but if they be not sincere Christ will lay them open for it is impossible to deceive the Searcher of hearts and Judge of Secrets our Omniscient and Impartiall God Lastly We may learne from hence That what ever God doth approve in man hee doth worke in man for this knowledge is not a Notionall but a Practicall effectuall knowledge * whatsoever God knowes to be future he doth will if it be evill he doth willingly permitte it or else he would certainely hinder it For even sinne which is against his will cannot come to passe without his will but if that which is to come to passe be good then God doth not onely know or permit it but worke it also for God is the Author of every thing that is good and therefore God foresees no good in the best of men but such as he from all eternity decrees and in time doth according to his decree worke in them Socinus makes quick worke in this point for rather then he will deny the liberty of mans will he like an Atheist denyes the foreknowledge of God I shall not here launch into the deepe and discourse of Scientia simplicis intelligentiae scientia visionis nor trouble you with the confutation of that Jesuiticall nay Arian Semipelagian invention of Scientia Media nor will I wrangle with Pererius about Abrahams foreseene merits which in his conceite moved God to make nay to decree to make Abraham so great and glorious I can with one light touch crush these Apples of Sodom and make them vanish into smoake or fall into ashes * God knowes all things that are possible because he knowes his owne Power God knowes all things future because he knowes his owne Will for nothing can passe out of the ranke of things meerely possible into the ranke and order of things Future before some Act or Decree of Gods Will hath passed for its Futurition A thing must be Future before God can know it to be future and therefore the futurition of a thing is not knowable no not in Signo Rationis before God hath passed a decree for its futurition If God should foresee any good habit or action proceeding from mans will before he hath decreed to worke both in man and for him Mans will would be the first and Independent cause of something which is good We must speake Scripture reason God sets his love upon us because he loves us Deut. 7. 7 8. And out of free grace and undeserved love decrees to make us holy and so foresees and approves our holinesse The Knowledge then in the text being a Knowledge of Approbation supposes the free grace undeserved love Immutable and Effectuall Decree of God which is the fountaine of grace and glory In bad actions we can hardly take enough to our selves for the divell cannot make me sinne unlesse he aske me leave and gaine my consent but in good actions I can never ascribe too much to God who saves me out of free grace without any contributions of helpe or attributions of worth seene or foreseene in my fraile and sinfull selfe True it is God doth bestow his saving benefits in a certaine Order so that one of his Favours doth make way for another But his second favours cannot be deserved by his first because his first favours make way for his second and both proceede from his free grace The Decree of God is a sure foundation the Fore-knowledge of God is a certaine Seale The Foundation of God standeth sure having this Seale The Lord knoweth them that are his There is the Privy-Seale the Broade-Seale is stamped upon them In the next words And let every one that names the Name of Christ depart from iniquity 2 Tim. 2. 19. The Lord doth bring all that are his not onely to name the Name of Christ to professe his Name call upon his Name and beleeve in his Name but to depart from iniquity live holily and persevere in faith and holinesse Faith by fetching strength from Christ doth strengthen all patience beares all love sweetens all and perseverance crownes all thus then in a word I know him saith God that is I love him and cannot but approve him because I have chosen him for mine owne and am resolved to stand to my choise I have bestowed effectuall grace upon him which hath moved him to choose me for his God as I have chosen him for my friend and my grace shall be further effectuall to make him stand to his choise and therefore I know both what he is and what he will be he is right for the present and I know he will be upright for the future because I know him thence it will come to passe that hee will command his children faith an acute and learned Expositour upon the place Doct. It is our duty to endeavour to bring all that are under our command to be at Gods Command Abraham did not leave his children and servants to their owne Genius their owne counsels their owne lusts though it is certaine that divers of them would have thanked him for such a liberty for they had beene nursed up in superstition and Idolatry as Abraham was and might have pretended that they were not satisfied in point of conscience but Abraham knew how to distinguish betweene Phantasy and Conscience betweene Liberty of Conscience and Liberty of Lust and therefore would not allow them such a Liberty as would have enticed them into the worst kinde of Bondage Abraham did command I know saith God that he will command he will make his children know that he is their Father and his servants know that he is their Master Abraham shewed his Authority Prudence Love Diligence and Faithfulnesse by laying a strict and speciall Command upon his Houshold for the eternall welfare of their pretious soules First His Authority he was a King a Priest a Prophet in his owne Family and therefore did command them to subject
and governe our families untill we have learned how to rule our selves we are not fit to command till we have put our spirits under an higher and better spirit then our owne He that rules his owne spirit is a better man then he that takes or rules a City Prov. 16. 32. If I my selfe doe not walke in the way of Jehovah I shall never get my family into it or keepe them in it Personall holinesse doth fit us for Houshold godlinesse Zacheus did not endeavour to bring his family into the way of faithfull Abraham till he himselfe became a Sonne of Abraham Luke 19. 9. Salvation comes to our hearts before we are seriously Instrumentall to bring it into our houses Christ said to Zacheus upon the day of his conversion This day is salvation come to this house for so much as he also is the Sonne of Abraham if you will be members of Christ you must be sonnes of Abraham Doe not say that I perswade you to be men of an Old Testament spirit sure the Old Testament and the New were written by the selfe same spirit and the selfe same Covenant of grace is propounded in both though under very different administrations Abraham was a man of an Evangelicall Spirit under the Old Testament nothing could satisfie his raised spirit and enlarged heart but Jesus Christ God made him a gracious promise Gen. 15. 1. but Lord God saith he what wilt thou give me since I goe childlesse ver. 2. as if he had said how shall I have thee for my God and Father reward and Saviour if the promised Seed who is to breake the head of the Serpent all the power and policy of the divell doe not spring from my loynes It is cleare and evident that Abrahams heart was not set upon any common seed but that promised seed in which all the Nations of the earth were to be blâ—ssed For the Apostle shewes that the promise Gen. 13. 15. is meant of Christ To thy Seed which is Christ Gal. 3. 16. Abraham was not justified by beleeving that he should have a numerous of spring but by beleeving in Christ he saw the day of Christ by faith reioyced in hope and beleeved against hope and if we will be his sonnes the Apostle shewes what we must beleeve in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans and the three last verses That by the way but if you will fully prove your selves to be sonnes of Abraham you must have the same minde and heart the same faith that Abraham had and walke in the same way and steps that Abraham did as farre as Evangelicall administrations will permit for you must observe that difference be pleased then sadly to consider these few Observations First Abraham was a man much given to Heavenly meditation a fundamentall duty of Religion which layes the ground-worke and contrives the Plat-forme of Houshold-godlinesse Abraham had his minde fixed and his heart warmed with meditation that he might be raised and enlarged for the highest strains of spirituall devotion when God gave him a promise that Sarah should have a son Abraham meditates upon the promise till his heart was even enravished with love and ioy The good man is pleased in his minde and laughes in his heart and breaketh forth into Soliloquies upon this occasion and when his heart is by these contemplations and solitary discourses put into a praying frame put into tune as it were O then he prayes Gen. 17. 17 18. Prayer is not the childe of wit and phantasie it is the rapture of an elevated spirit the heavenly dew of a broken heart I meane a spirit elevated by a spirit of faith and a heart broken with the spirit of love Would you be sons of Abraham learne this divine Logique this sacred Eloquence Let meditation fit you for Soliloquies and Soliloquies for Prayer Meditation helpes the memory purges the conscience purifies the heart reformes the life It makes all our knowledge to become practicall because it affects the heart with those truthes which we beleeve it kindles love inflames zeale and when our love burnes and our zeale flames we shall warme others by speaking from our owne hearts to the hearts of our family the convincing and quickning truth of God Secondly Abraham was an humble and mortified man When he received a gracious message from God in pretious promises he falls downe upon his face not out of a superstitious phantasie but out of a sweet selfe-abhorrency in adoration of Gods Maiesty and thankefulnesse for his mercy You may read of this Son-like reverence twice in one chapter Gen. 17. 3. 17. O let us consider Gods Maiesty and our basenesse Gods purity and our sinfulnesse Gods free-grace and our unworthynesse Gods rich bounty and our unthankfulnesse that we may learne to abase our selves and exalt our God Abraham his thoughts did assuredly dwell upon humbling and mortifying considerations he laid out his money upon a buryiâ—g place as if it had beene the most necessary purchase and when he was at prayer O saith he I am but dust and ashes Gen 18. 27. as if he had said what am I that I should approach into the presence of so great a Majesty Alas I am but dust and ashes and yet I take upon me to speake to Jehovah the God of glory Our blessed Saviour did more then once at the feast breake out into a discourse of his buriall once at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper Math. 26. 6. and another time in the city at the house of a Pharisee Luke 7. 36 37. Our deare Lord would teach us to be of such a composed spirit that the dainties of a feast or the fragrant smell of costly Oyntments may not tempt us to take off our thoughts from humbling and mortifying considerations Whilest we are feasting we may be dying Jobs children were strucke dead whilest they were feasting and drinking wine Consider it all you that sit in the Congregation of the mighty though you sit there as Gods you must dye like men Thirdly Abraham was a selfe-denying man at the Command of God he left his father forsook his country renounced his idols circumcised himselfe and his houshold though it was painefull to the flesh and seemed immodest nay ridiculous to carnall men and cost him his bloud he turned Hagar and Ismael out of doors and was ready to sacrifice his dearest Isaack though the Command seemed contrary to nature and religion to Gods promise and his owne salvation You may suppose him disputing with himselfe much after this manner What shall I sacrifice my sonne Isaack the sonne of my age and love my heart my bowels tell me that it is unnaturall what will my Sarah my servants the Heathens say who will ever live within my walls or be of my religion when I have cut the throat of my dearest sonne Lord where is my blessing where is thy promise nay where is my faith How shall the promised Seed spring from my loynes
of godlinesse and parents teach their children the first Elements of Religion as well as Learning the first letters of the verses of certain Psalms the 25. 34. 37. 119. are set down according to the order of the Alphabet and they are all of them choice Psalms full of sweet streins and raptures of devotion Timâ—thy learnt the Scriptures of a childe {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} 2 Tim. 3. 15. a word of a very young signification Childhood and youth are ages of Fancy and therefore certainly parents should set heavenly truths in fresh and lively colours that the phantasie of their children may be taken with the sensible representation of spirituall things God doth reveal heavenly truths in certain apt similitudes which do exceedingly please the phantasie because whilest our soul is joyned to our body nothing can come into the understanding but by the sences and so through the phantasie and therefore a similitude doth exceedingly help the understanding God descends to our weak capacity when he clothes an heavenly truth with an earthly representation Joh. 3. 12. I have told you of earthly things saith our Saviour that is I have represented heavenly truths by comparisons taken from earthly things I have brought down the bough which was out of your reach and put it into your hand and helped you up so that you may now climbe from Earth to Heaven by these similitudes I have used similitudes saith God Hos. 12. 10. and therefore it is an higher aggravation of our unbelief and disobedience if when we have such helps we do not profit by instruction you know the Sacraments help our faithly our sences and so by our phantasie and phantasie will return a quick message to the affections and the affections will sway the will and consequently the whole man and therefore if we can please the phantasie of a childe by representing the joyes of Heaven to him under the notion of a Banquet or a crown of Gold and so invite him to Heaven and sweeten all the exercises of Religion to him and on the other side terrifie him from sin by representing the torments of Hell to him under the notion of fire and brimstone and then shew him that there 's ground for these representations in the Word of God you 'l at once help his understanding and work upon his affections and withall lay a firm ground for his faith that his faith laying hold on the Divine revelation in the Word and his fancie fastening on the sensible representation of that divine truth his understanding may be enlightned his faith strengthned his fancie pleased his affections ordered his will turned 2. Children have very good memories if you make use of them betimes and our memory doth work strongly upon our affections 2. Corinth 7. 15. His inward affection or bowels are more abundant towards you whilest he remembreth the obedience of you all God did empart an history to Abraham to communicate to his children children are excellent at the remembring of stories relate the story of drowning the World and the burning of Sodome to your children such stories will work upon them 3. Children are full of affection and Aristotle saith that the first thing that you should teach children is somewhat that concerns the ordering of their affections what they ought to delight in and what they ought to grieve for and consequently what they ought to love and what they ought to hate Pray for your children as well as instruct them Si nil curarem nil orarem saith Melancthon if you do not pray for your children you do not care for them pray for your children {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} continually that is as some expound it daily the daily sacrifice was called the continuall sacrifice or as others expound it pray for them seasonably upon all occasions Do not onely pray for your children in generall but pray as Job sacrificed for every particular childe according to the number of them all Job 1. 5. As you provide a distinct portion and a distinct suit of clothes for every childe so provide I mean Sue cut a speciall blessing by a distinct prayer for every particular childe You must be jealous over your children with a godly jealousie as Job was If you suspect that they have sinned let that suspition bring you upon your knees and cause you to lift up a prayer for them with all your strength if you do but fear that they may sin labour by good counsell to prevent their sin Finally give good example to your children and take care of them when they are grown up and married from you when Jobs children had houses of their own to feast in yet Job took care of their souls and sent to them to sanctifie themselves which was to prepare themselves for holy service Job 1. 4 5. Do not forget your beloved wife the choicest part of your self and family she will never be at your command unlesse you teach her to be at Christs command The Phylosopher will tell you that souls have no sexes thy wives soul is as manly and as precious as thine own and therefore take care of her precious soul instruct her pray with her dwell with her as a man of knowledge that you may walk together hand in hand to heaven like heirs of grace till you come to be coheirs in glory Command your servants to walk in the way of Jehovah and instruct them in that way Oh do not use your servants as you use your Beasts you work and feed your beasts but never instruct them and you make as very beasts of your servants if you do not instruct them in the way of Jehovah for you do onely find them work and food Tell your family what considerations did at first move your heart and work upon your spirits that the same considerations may by Gods blessing melt and turn their hearts a religious Servant may improve thy zeal and bring a blessing on thy posteritie and estate when thou art dead and gone Set up Houshold-godlinesse in order not in opposition to Congregationall godlinesse Labour to make thy wife the spouse of Christ thy children the children of God thy servants the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ and the blessing of Heaven rest upon thee and thine I have not done for I have a farther journey to go the Lord give me the strength and spirit of Elijah that I may not faint by the way I consider that I am bound to speak to that Honourable House which called me hither and never was man called to speak in a more Criticall Juncture of time I have put up many prayers and powred forth many tears for direction to the God of Heaven that I may speak the words of sobernesse and truth my heart tels me that I speak out of love and respect to you and my conscience tels me I speak in obedience to God all the Housholds of the Commons of England are represented