at the Goodness of God whereas He might have Curst thee and sent thee long since down to thine own place yet He doth give His Ministers charge to offer peace to thy Soul Think thus The Lord in this hath done more to me than He hath done to all those Thousand Millions of Angels that sinn'd against Him Those that were once glorious Angels and did sin against God the Lord took Advantage against them for their first sin and upon that cast them down into Chains of eternal Darkness and did resolve that He would never so much as enter into a Plea about any Condition of Peace with them to all Eternity This was the Way of God towards the Angels that did sin against Him that are now Devils O you that think the Lord to be a God of Mercy altogether do but consider of this and consider to Tremble before Him that God should take Advantage against Millions of Angels for so they were For we read in Scripture that Legions of Devils were in one man and they were once Angels and they did but commit one sin against God and the Lord would not Plea with them about Terms of Peace But mark now The same God that was so severe against Angels that were His own Creatures as well as thou and were more glorious Creatures and committed but one sin yet would never enter into any Terms of peace with them this God is not only willing to Treat with thy Soul to be at peace with thee but He sends forth His Messengers unto thee to Treat in His Name and doth give them command that when they come to thee they should offer Terms of peace to thy Soul Admire at this thou that hast not been guilty of one sin but of Thousands thou that hast Liv'd like a Monster in the place where thou hast Liv'd and hast liv'd in Rebellion against the Lord yet He doth give Command to His Ministers to offer peace to thee I say stand and admire at this when thou goest Home lay it to thy Heart O that the Great God should so Condescend to me rather than to Angels He doth so this day and in His Name I say according to the Text Peace be to every Soul that shall yet come in and return yet come and repent whatsoever they have been whether thou mayst live to have any further offer of peace or no the Lord knows It is an Offer that thou hast this day Look to thy self come in for there are many things in the Text that might put you on For if there be not a Son of Peace this Peace will turn back again Observ 5. But the last Point of all is this That Ministers of the Gospel are when they come to a place to say First Peace be to this place It should be the first Message that they should declare they should begin with this And there is a great deal of Emphasis in this word First say First So we read of John Baptist his first Sermon was this Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand And likewise the First Sermon of Christ in Mat. 4. 16 17. And again the Apostles you shall read of them Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand The First Sermon of John Baptist of Christ and of the Apostles was this Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand And the First Sermon that the Seventy Disciples was to Preach was Peace And in this the Lord deals with sinners according to the Order He gave in Deut. 20. 10. The Lord required that the First thing the Children of Israel should do when they came against a City it was to proclaim peace And we read of Alexander the First thing that he did was to set up a Lamp and his White Colours and to Proclaim That whosoever did come in before that Lamp was out should have his Life and Peace So when the Lord sends Ministers of the Gospel to any place he sets up a Lamp in that place and the First thing that He would have done it is to Proclaim to all People to come in that so they might have Peace And it is to be done in the First place First Because the Bowels of Gods Compassions are very strong and Gods Mercy lies at His Heart uppermost and therefore that is most ready and He is most ready to vent it That 's the most proper Work of God that He doth delight to Vent His Mercy Jer. 9. 24. Secondly Because that when the Offer of Peace is that hath a great deal of power to work upon the hearts of People Now the Lord therefore would have that done at First that is like most to prevail We know that People at First when a Minister comes amongst them they are set upon Novelties now it is good to take advantage of that their Humour and when they are hearkning after Novelty that they should come to have some principal Doctrine of Salvation to be secretly Instill'd into them that they should Drink in that before they are aware So the Lord uses to work upon Mens self-Self-love Every Creature loves it self and therefore the Lord sees that it is a good advantage to work upon Mens self-self-love to offer terms of Peace And the truth is that is it that gains the Heart of a Sinner And God will out-bid the World and Devil and Flesh What do they offer any thing that may delight you saith God I will out-bid them all Christ out-bids the World and Devil in offering unto sinners a greater Good than World or Devil can possibly bring unto them And indeed this offer of Peace doth out-bid the World that is doth proffer a greater Good to a sinner than World or Devil can possibly proffer to them Nay then saith the Soul if I see that I may have a greater good by Repenting and Believing than by going on in my sin I will go that way I will rather attend upon the Word for I hear of great things that are there about Reconciliation between God and man Now this is the way to take the Hearts of men and it is the way to break them of their stoutness and stubbornness For certainly every man naturally hath a very stout and stubborn Heart against God Therefore if First he be opposed he will be ready to rise against God and against His Truths and against His Servants Therefore it is good to come First with those things that their Hearts may close with all that so they may be in a more preparation that they may hearken to what the Lord shall reveal after as necessary unto them But you will say If it be thus Why is it then that Ministers do Preach so much of our miserable Condition in which we are The answer is It 's true at First there should be a tender of peace and I make no question but you have had it so here But now it 's true before the full Doctrine of Reconciliation with God is to be opened
if you read the Scripture from this place till you come to Chap. 42. you shall find that God is Manifesting himself there and Revealing himself in his Glory and Righteousness to Job Now in the 3d. verse Job takes up the very words to himself that God had before spoken Saith Job Who is he that hideth Counsel without Knowledge Therefore have I uttered that I understood not things too wonderful for me which I knew not God he saith Who is this that uttereth words without knowledge And then he shews himself Look upon me is it not I that have done it Then Job saw that it was God that did it I have meddled with things that I understood not I have troubled my self like a Fool in things that I did not understand O foolish wretched heart that I have And then afterwards he saith I have heard of thee by the hearing of the Ear but now mine Eye seeth thee wherefore I abhor my self and repent in Dust and Ashes As if he should say I 'll never be Impatient more I 'll never have any risings of heart more against any of thy dealings towards me For Lord now I see that I heard of thee before I could have said All things come by the Providence of God I could have said so I but now mine Eyes see thee I have the sight of that Glorious Infinite Majesty of thine that art so infinitely Great Blessed and Holy and therefore now I abhor my self in Dust and Ashes Let become of me what will I have learned for ever to sanctifie that Holy Name of thine It is the Lord let Him do what seemeth Him good And therefore by way of Exhortation O my Brethren I beseech you apply these things unto your selves In some of your Thoughts it seems I have been as Dead hear then somewhat that I am this day to say to you as you know Dives said If one come from the Dead they will hear him Here what I have to say to you from this Point First O let this sinck into your hearts as if one should come from the Dead to speak it to you namely this That God is so infinitely worthy of Honour from you that you should be at a point whether you Honour him either in the enjoyment of Mercy or suffering of Affliction it 's no great matter The Honour of God should be so dear to you and you should so much love him your hearts should be so much with God as you should leave it wholly to himself which way he would be Honoured by you Surely though we think we have a Love to God and we would Honour him yet our Love to God and desire to Honour him is very little If so be that we do not wholly resign up our selves to him to do in us and by us as he will then indeed is the heart right And this is Honouring God as a God when there is a full yielding up of the heart and when it is in a manner indifferent what way God will take Then your hearts are come to a right frame Secondly The second thing that I would say to you is this That there is so great evil in sin and O that God would make it take as great an Impression upon you as if one from the Dead spake it as the least stopping one in the way of sin the least abating the power of sin hath so much good in it as it 's enough to countervail the greatest evil in the greatest Afflictions in the World O this Principle would be of mighty use in the hearts of People when any Affliction doth befal them or their Family but doth God by this at least stop me in any way of sin Doth not God by this some way or other help me against some sin O then the Affliction is well paid for I have now a greater good abundantly than the evil of the Affliction comes to There was a little bitter but here 's a great deal more sweet Thirdly There is more good in any Exercise of any Grace than there is evil in the bearing of any Affliction If God doth bring an Affliction but for the Exercise of any Grace or for the stirring up thy heart but to look towards him there may be more good in that then there is evil in any Affliction Perhaps thou art going up and down muddling in the World and thy Thoughts were but little upon him before why if by Afflictions thou comest but to look after God his is a greater good than the evil of the Affliction comes to But if God Blesses thee so as thou comest to Exercise Grace in it Humility Patience Self-denial Faith O here thine Affliction is abundantly made up Oh! labour therefore upon the Consideration of this that It is the Lord to submit humbly to him this is acceptable to God Suppose you have two Children that were sick it may be one he riggles and keeps a stir and will take nothing that you give him but now you have another Child lies and he is sick too and he saith Father Mother I 'll do what you will have me I 'll take what you will give me do but tell me what you would have done I 'll presently do it though it be never so grievous and bitter I 'll take it Now would it not make your hearts relent towards such a Child that should be so yieldable will lie this way or that way take this thing or that thing and all because it comes from a Father If the Child should say to you It 's true I am Sick and Ill but I know you love me and know what 's better for me than I do and therefore I 'll take it Would not this be very acceptable O this it is which the Lord accepts when his Children do behave themselves so under his Afcting Hand And my Brethren This further helps against a great many Temptations When Job did but say this The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away let Him do what seemeth Him good The Devil saw his hopes gone then his hopes of doing that hurt and mischief that he intended was gone O the heart is in a safe condition that is thus submissive unto God Others that have Fretting Impatient hearts are subject to abundance of Temptations but the danger of Temptation is over when thy heart comes to this And this will make the Affliction very easie unto thee when thou bringest thy heart to this It may be others may think that 's very sore and hard with thee I but thou findest it very easie abundance of sweetness comes in with this Yea I appeal to the Experience of the Saints that knows but what this means Whether ever had you more Comfort in all your Lives than at that time when you have been most Afflicted and yet brought your hearts to this Temper and Disposition O therefore learn to work these things upon your hearts It 's an easie matter for Men and Women to speak
threaten sometimes in the Name of God Now therefore That they might convince people that they aim onely at good unto them in this therefore they must be of as loving and gentle and quiet and patient Spirits as possible may be especially in their own cause and that 's the tryal You sometimes prehaps hear a Minister preach hard things and you think they come with much harshness to you and your hearts are ready to rise against them But examine whether in all their dealings else and in things concerning themselves whether they be not of loving and gentle Spirits and full of Bowels of Compassion And they must be of such dispositions that they might win upon people and draw their hearts as in Hos 11. 4. I drew them with Cords of a Man and with the Bands of love And indeed this is one special reason why God sends Men to be the Ministers of the Gospel rather then Angels that there might not be any terror strook into the hearts of people If Angels should appear they would be exceeding dreadful and terrible but God doth rather choose Man to be a Minister that so he might sute himself to the dispositions of Men and draw with the Cords of Man And what 's that That 's with the Bands of love Mans Nature will rather be drawn then driven And my Brethren As it ought to be in Ministers to be of such dispositions so you that are the people should shew your selves to be of the like dispositions towards them again of Sweet and Loving and Gentle and Fair Dispositions towards them not of rugged and ridged tempers We read of the building of the Temple that there was not one whit of Iron us'd in it which is observable We do not read I say of Iron that was brought to the Building they made their Pinns of Wood and other things and Plates of Gold and Silver but brought no Iron God when he is about to build a Church and call a People home to himself he will call such as are of gentle Spirits or make them such God doth either refuse such ridged Spirits or else he doth change their natures that 's the First Note Say Peace be to this House The Second is this That Ministers ought to bless their People for so these words are to be considered not onely as to manifest their dispositions to give them a taste of their Spirits but as a Benediction to them Peace be to this place We in the Name of the Lord Bless you with Peace And this is more than to pray for them Ministers are to pray for People God forbâ—d saith Samuel That I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you But Ministers should do more They are in the Name of the Lord to Bless them Prayer it is a Speaking unto God but Blessing it is to Speak from God to Man and that with some kind of Authority Therefore we find in Scripture that The Lesser is Blessed of the Greater And That the Ministers were appointed to Bless the People in the Old Law Numb 6. 23. Speak unto Aaron and to his Sons saying On this wise ye shall bless the Children of Israel saying unto them The Lord bless thee and keep thee the Lord make His Face to shine upon thee and be Gracious unto thee the Lord lift up His Countenance upon thee and give thee Peace Here was Blessing in the Old Law And they retain'd some part of it in coming to any place when they said Peace be to this Place We read of Men of great Esteem among the People of the Jews that were wont to Bless those that they came unto As you find that of Boaz in Ruth 2. 4. He Prays for them and they Bless him Here was a sweet Salutation of a Man that did set other Men on work Boaz came into the Field and said unto the Keepers The Lord be with you And they answered him The Lord bless thee Many Men when they go among their Work-men they go with Raging and Cursing if things be not done according to their Mind Now what an unseemly thing is this among those who profess themselves Christians But on the other side this is Gracious-like to come among their Servants and Work-men and thus to Bless them The Lord be with you And they to pray for them And the Lord bless thee And so we read of pure Parents to Bless their Children And it hath been the Use of the Church to Bless the People Therefore in all Congregations where you meet with the Exercises of Religion you use to have a Blessing before you go and you are not to flight it And except God call you out by extraordinary Occasion you are to abide and stay the Blessing We read of some that were appointed by God to stand upon Mount Gerisim in Deut. 27. and their work was only to bless to Bless the People and there were some who stood upon Mount Ebal and they were to Curse But now Mark If we search who they are that are appointed to Bless you shall find them to be more Honourable than those that were appointed to Curse For those that were appointed to Curse there was Reuben he had lost his Birth-right and Gad and Ashur and Dan and Napthali they were Children of the Hand-Maid they were not begotten in the way of Marriage but only by the Hand-Maid or by a Concubine Most of these that were to stand upon Mount Ebal for Cursing they were of the meaner sort of the Tribes This notes thus much That Blessing is the chief work that Ministers should Rejoyce and Delight in Therefore though they do sometimes pronounce the Threats of God against you to awaken Secure Drowsie Sinners which is their work likewise yet certainly there is nothing more sutable unto the Heart of a Godly Minister than to be alwayes Blessing of his People and to be bringing of the Message of Blessing unto them And if this be so then certainly the Ministers of the Gospel they are a great Blessing in the World And you that are People you should Encourage your Ministers to Bless you and to Bless God for you your Carriage towards them should be such as they may with Chearfulness in the Name of God Bless you and they may in secret when they are between God and themselves Bless God for you O when as the Minister shall first look upon the People and Bless them in the Name of God and Bless God for them and the People shall look again upon the Minister and pray to God for a Blessing upon him and Bless God that ever they knew him I say happy is the Minister that thus Blesses and Blesses God for a People and happy likewise the People that do thus pray for a Blessing upon and Bless God for a Minister But more Blessed is that God that shall joyn such Ministers and People together And that 's the Second Note That Ministers are to bless People when they
than Paul did and yet death was Gain to him he should get much by it Why many things might make the death of Paul Gainful I remember the last time I spake to you I spoke about an Argument of the Victory over Death that we have by Christ I will not speak now of what then I spake to but meerly Confine my self for otherwise the Argument might be very large to shew the Gain of death to Believers But I 'll confine my self to the very thing that the Apostle speaks of here in this Chapter That he should be present with Christ Therefore now I 'll speak of the Gain of being with Christ Now I confess there are many things that might be opened The Communion of the Soul departed with Jesus Christ As First It shall be immediate the Souls of the Saints while they are in the Body they have Communion with Christ but it is Mediately by other things by Ordinances and Means whereby Christ conveys Himself to them but there they shall have Communion with Christ Immediately only Christ and the Soul together Now the more Immediate the Communion is with Christ it is the more pure Here we have some Communion with Christ but a great deal of Sin mixt together with it That that is immediately from the Fountain is more pure that that comes in the Streams hath Dirt mixed with it So that that we shall have with Christ immediately shall be pure we shall have Communion with Him and nothing else We shall have no mixtures at all of any evil in our own Spirits And then Secondly Immediate communion with Christ it is more Sweet As the more Pure so the more Sweet As now the Wine that comes immediately from the Grape it hath more Spirits and is more delightful than that that is poured from Vessel to Vessel That which we have here from Christ it is that that is poured from Vessel to Vessel but that which Souls departed have from Christ is immediate and so comes more Sweet As if the Child suck Milk from the Breast it is more sweet to the Child than the Milk in a Spoon That that we have from Christ here is Milk as it were from the Spoon but that that Souls have that are departed they suck from Christ immediately and so comes to be more sweet Thirdly And more especially we account that that comes Immediately to have more Love in it As that that a Friend gives by his own hand is better and more comfortable to us So that that comes from God Immediately it 's a great deal more sweet As now here while we Live in the World the more immediate a Mercy is the more sweet it is to a gracious Heart Indeed a Mercy that comes by second Causes it 's comfortable because God Over-rules all the Causes but when it can see God immediately in a Mercy the more immediate the Hand of God is here Though God doth not work so Immediately here as He will do afterwards but the more Immediate God is here the more sweet it is And therefore in a Judgment the more Immediate the Hand of God is the more Terrible as in the Plague So in a Mercy though every Mercy is sweet yet the more Immediate God is in a Mercy the more sweet it is And then O how sweet is all the Good that the Saints have immediately from Christ therefore it 's Gain to them And then Fourthly It 's more strong The first Rebound is more Powerfull than a second and the first Gushings out are more strong The Beams of the Sun when they are first Reflected than if you take a Glass and Reflect them again and again And so that that comes Gushing out as it were of the very Heart of God it 's more strong a great deal and there is greater Impressions upon the Heart by it than that that comes by second Causes Fifthly That that comes Immediate it comes without Labour The Soul draws it from Christ and is not put to so much Pain and Labour as now we are put to If we would have Communion with Jesus Christ we must stir up our selves to the Humbling of our Hearts to the Acting of our Faith to Exercise our Graces and put the Body to it If you would have any communion with Christ in Prayer it must put you to some Labour And so in the Word and Sacraments And the Labour of a Christian is very great But when we come to have Immediate communion with Christ it will be the flowings in of Christ to the Soul without any Labour at all Sixthly It shall be more full when we come to be United to the very Fountain it self there it will be more full than the Stream Certainly there is that Good and Excellency in Christ that is too much for any Creature in the World to convey Yea take all the Creatures in the World and Ordinances they are too scant to be able to convey the Good that is in Christ yea that Good that Christ takes delight to communicate to the Souls of His People And that 's the Reason that here we have but a little Why Because the Conduits are so Narrow and Small that there can be but a little let out through those Conduits but when the Soul is with Christ immediately then it hath the Fulness of the Lettings out of Gods Mercy There will be an Eminency of every sort of Good to every poor Christian I remember Jerom speaking of that Text Christ being All in all He makes this Interpretation of it saith he Christ is here but some to some but not all to all As for Instance saith he Here some Men have some Eminency of some particular Grace conveid to them and some other Eminency of some particular Grace As Moses had an Eminency of Meekness Abraham an Eminency of Faith Job an Eminency of Patience and Solomon an Eminency of Wisdom but saith he Where was there ever a Man Eminent in all Graces But then saith he Christ shall be All in all That is Christ shall convey all Grace to all His Saints that all the Saints shall have an Eminency and Fulness in all Grace whatsoever This will be an Excellent thing Surely it 's Gain then to Die for a gracious Heart where Christ shall be thus All in all to them to convey this Fulness of Good in all things unto them Those Saints that are the Meanest now whose Souls have the least degree of true Grace they shall have an Eminency of all Grace Wouldst not thou think thy self happy if thou hadst as much Faith as Abraham as much Meekness as Moses and as much Patience as Job and as much Insight into the Misteries of the Gospel as Paul Now hadst thou as much as all the Saints ever had were not that Gain Why now as soon as thy Soul is departed from the Body thou shalt have an Eminency in all Graces as much as all the Saints ever had since the beginning of the World
hear it my Soul shall weep in secret places for your Pride and mine Eyes shall weep sore and run down with Tears because the Lords Flock is carried away Captive If ye will not hear That indeed should be the work of the Ministers of the Gospel when they are Rejected Not to be Careless and say I have done my Work and what need I care But they should take it to Heart and Lament it as the greatest Affliction that can befal them yea more than any Affliction whatsoever That the Blessed Message that they are sent withal is Rejected by Wretched and Sinful Men. Secondly If God in Christ be sometimes Rejected all the Mercy of God in His Son we should not think much though our love and kindness towards others be many times Slighted and Disregarded Indeed there 's nothing goes more to any Ingenuous Heart than to have his love and kindness to be Disregarded But when we find our Hearts troubled at this O that such a one that I have done so much for and yet that he should deal thus with me Lay thine hand upon thy Heart and consider what God hath done for thee in Christ and how ill thou hast requited Him Is it so much for thee a poor Worm not to have thy Love and Kindness imbrac'd What is it then for the Infinite God not to have that Infinite Love and Mercy of His to the Children of Men not Imbraced but Rejected Thirdly Let 's learn from hence never to trust our own Hearts We think often had we such means as others have then we should not do as they do surely we should do better Men are very ready to trust their own Hearts and in the use of Means But let us learn from hence never to trust in our own Hearts or in the use of any Means God may send you Means and Reveal glorious Truths unto you yet it may so fall out that you may never come to be partakers of the good of those things It hath been so with many and you must look to your own Hearts Do not Bless your selves in this Through Gods Mercy the Lord hath sent us His Word plentifully and the Gospel comes to be Opened clearly among us That 's not enough what God hath done but look you into your own Hearts how you Imbrace it otherwise the Gospel may come among you and yet you never come to be Saved by it But this indeed is a sad Condition wheresoever it is Fourthly Further Gods Ministers are to Learn from hence not to be Discouraged They come and Preach and with an Expectation to prevail with the Hearts of People to draw them to Christ When they have been in their Studies labouring to find out some Truths of the Gospel and to sit it to the Hearts of their Auditors and have been Praying over it They come now with Expectation that some good may be done that some Soul may be drawn in to Christ yet perhaps find it quite otherwise and the People to sit Dead under it it may be Slight it Contemn it Scorn it Disobey it But they must not be I say Discouraged in this as if so be a strange thing had befallen them What art thou more than Jesus Christ thy Master What art thou more than Paul and other of the Apostles They have been rejected all in their Ministry and what art thou that thou canst not bear any Rejection Indeed it is the hardest thing to be Born by a Minister of the Gospel that possibly may be But consider That it is not a new thing for the Gospel to be Rejected I remember I have read of Melancthon he had such thoughts that when he began to Preach he should Convert all that heard him He thought there was so much Reason in what he Spake and so much Evidence and Power to prevail with the Hearts of People that he thought he should prevail with every one but he found it otherwise by Experience And though indeed when any Minister that is acquainted with the Glorious things of God and Christ come to open them to People they are ready to think such things will surely prevail with the Hearts of People but the Lord teaches him to know that the Blessing depends upon Himself That though the things be never so Excellent and Moving yet all will not do except the Lord comes in by His Almighty Power Fifthly Let all those with whom the Ministry of the Gospel doth prevail in any measure Bless God that makes such a difference between them and any others It is Preached unto many but doth them no good But the Lord hath Called thee out and it hath struck thy Heart converted thy Spirit Thou seest cause to stand and admire at the Glory of God in Christ and thou wonderest perhaps that all People are not taken with the Riches of the Glory of Gods Grace in Christ Well Bless God that hath made a difference between thee and others It may be in the same Family another Scorns it and Contemns it perhaps one that came out of the same Womb despises it and God hath taken thee and revealed Himself to thee it may be thy rich Neighbour Contemns it but God looks upon thee a poor Creature and makes Himself known to thee It may be a Learned Man he slights it and makes nothing of it and thou who art but a Babe hast those things Revealed Thou hast cause to thank God for it For Christ doth He thanks His Father for this thing That He should be pleased to pass by the Wise and great ones of the World and chuse Babes Mat. 11. 25. At that time Jesus Answered and said I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent and hist revealed them unto Babes Now this Scripture that I bring not only to shew you that God doth sometimes Reveal the great Mysteries of the Gospel to Babes and hide them from the Wise but as a Text to stir up your Hearts to Bless God if He hath done so for any of you Upon this ground Jesus Christ doth thank His Father for it then surely thou hast cause to thank God the Father for this great Mercy of His to put such a difference between thee and others For indeed it is one of the most glorious Works of God This Work of the Lord making known the Great and High Mysteries of the Gospel to poor weak ones when as the Great and Rich and Mighty and Learned of the World do not come to understand it It is one of the great Miracles by which the Lord doth Confirm the Gospel to be His own as great a Miracle as other Miracles that were Wrought by Christ And for that this is very observable that we have in the place where John sends to Christ to know whether He were the Messias or no. Now mark the Answer that Christ gives unto John's Messengers Jesus Answered and said unto them Go and