effected The convincing the soule of sinne which selfe-conceited man is not easily brought unto The making of sin out of measure sinfull in the soules apprehension which blinde man is not easily brought to see The making of man to loathe himselfe for the evils which hee hath committed against God which man full of self-selfe-love is not easily wrought unto The making of man to long for peace and reconciliation with God as the greatest happinesse in the world and to beg this blessing with teares as a soule that sees hee shall dye and perish eternally without it which man that naturally hates God is not easily wonne unto Yet all these difficult workes doth Christ doe in the soule of man before he comes as a Comforter to him Which Christ confirmes where he saith Blessed are they that mourne for they shall be comforted Now would'st thou know whether he that is come to thy soule bee hee that should come or not why then tell me What did precede thy comfort which now thou hast Did Christ leade thee to the Wels of Consolation by the waters of Marah Did hee bring thee to sowe in teares ere he gave thee to reape thy great harvest of joy Wast thou ever in the house of mourning Did the spirit of heavinesse for sin ever take hold on thee Was thy hard heart first broken and after this bound up First wounded and after this healed Didst thou goe mourning for dishonouring God all the day long and after many dolorous dayes thus spent did thy Comforter come to thee Surely then he that is come is he that should come and do not looke for another but if otherwise thou hast just cause to bee jealous of thy joy Againe Christ as hee doth great workes in the soule before he comforts it so he doth great workes in the soule after hee hath comforted it That soule which Christ comforts he makes a very fruitfull soule in all grace to his glory No waters make the soule of a Christian grow in grace like the waters of consolation The comforting Spirit of Christ is to a Christian in the wayes of obedience as winde and tide to a Ship that which makes him runne the wayes of Gods Commandements That Christian which is comforted by Christ prayes fervently and prayes frequently Consolation gives winges to supplication That Christian which is comforted by Christ prayseth God with strong affection A soule comforted by Christ is as an instrument well tuned by a skilfull Musitian hee will upon every occasion make sweet me lody in the eares of the Almighty True consolation is from Heaven and it carries that soule strongly to Heaven in which it is True consolation is from Christ and it will make a Christian live wholly to Christ To whom much is forgiven they love much and this love constraines them to deny themselves and to follow Christ unto death Would'st thou know then for certaine O strong man in Christ that hee which is come to thy soule is he which should come Why then look what activity is in thy soule to duty Is thy soule as a Gyant refreshed after wine strong and vigorous to the practise of all good duties Art thou abundant in the worke of the Lord Art thou a sweet Singer in Israel of the prayses of the Lord Is thy heart at thy mouth leaping within thee like the Babe in Elizabeths wombe when thou art telling what God hath done for thy soule Art thou in a word a holy heavenly man as one comforted by a holy and heavenly God Doth thy joy transcend the joyes that this world affords in sweetnesse Doth it raise thy spirit to admire the love of God and doth it make thee dead to secular delights and to account naked carnall mirth madnesse empty huskes for brutes to feed on Then mayest thou comfortably conclude that he which is come to thy soule is he which should come and do not look for another but if thou art merry and cheerfull but not holy and heavenly hee that is come to thy soul is not he that should come wherefore I beseech thee to look for another A second instruction which I would commend to strong men in Christ is this after thou hast made it sure to thy soule that Christ as a Comforter is indeed come to thee then strive so to walke that he may never depart from thee So a man may walk that Christ as a Comforter may forsake his soule David had wofull experience of this truth and so doubtlesse have many else of the godly So a man may walke that Christ as a Comforter never depart frō him But how should I thus walk saith the comforted soule that I might enjoy this heaven below till I come to that above and so go from joy to joy from joy unspeakable and full of glory to joy that cannot enter into any mortall heart to conceive of To this I thus answer Do not grieve Christ that is come to thee Secondly do all that thou canst to delight him if thou would'st have him continually abide with thee Doe not sit downe and rest as one that hath a licence to be lazie and as if all thy work were done now thy Comforter is come to thee this will grieve him and quickly make him leave thee Thou hast obtained Christ to come a Comforter to thee well yet let mee tell thee as Moses did the Israelites You are not said he as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you So say I to thee O comforted soule thou art not yet come to those degrees of consolation which thou mayest attaine unto in this life if thou continue to be thrifty The joy of the Holy Ghost is a bottomelesse Well which thou canst never draw dry and the more thou drawest the fresher and sweeter still shalt thou finde it The joy of the Holy Ghost is no surfeting thing as some earthly sweets are and therefore thou mayest safely say Lord ever more give me of this bread fill my soule with Flagons of this precious liquour let thy love bee shead abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost let my soule delight her selfe in this fatnesse Secondly now Christ as a Comforter is come to thee doe not wax wanton against him this also will grieve him and make him quickly forsake thy soule as a Comforter Let all the manifestations of thy comfort be suitable to thy Comforter holy as he is holy spirituall and heavenly as he is When yee are come into the good land take heed that ye doe not forget the Lord said Moses to Israel So say I to you that finde Christ with you as a Comforter which are come to the fellowship of the Spirit and to the participation of that transcendant comfort which is by him take heed that you grow not giddy headed and forget God and your selves The waters of consolation are strong waters and mans weake head and heart cannot beare much of them steadily but
in a vision as you may read Then spake the Lord to Paul by night in a vision Be not afraid but speak and hold not thy peace for I am with thee and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee for I have much people in this City Acts 18.9 Thus at another time Christ came to Paul that he might not be left comfortlesse when he was pleading his cause before Anomias and like to be pull'd in pieces And the night following saith the Text the Lord stood by him and said bee of good cheere Paul for as thou hast testified of me in Ierusalem so must thou also beare witnesse at Rome Acts 23.11 At another time Paul and Silas together had experience of this truth that Christ comes to his Church Militant As they were powring out their soules together in prayer Christ wonderfully came to them he came in an Earthquake and made the foundations of the prison shake and so opened all the prison doores and loosed every prisoners bonds Comfortable was Christs comming to Paul and Silas but terrible to the Goaler for he seeing in what manner Christ broke in and rescued his servant would have killed himselfe but Christ came graciously to his soule also and rescu'd it out of the hands of the Devill Happy was it for this man that Christ did finish two workes in one journey to wit come to Paul and Silas and deliver their bodies out of Prison and withall come to their Goaler and deliver his soule out of Prison too In an Earthquake Christ came both to Prisoners Goaler for the Goaler came trembling to the Prisoners of hope as a man in despaire and fell downe saith the Text before Paul and Silas 'T is no matter how Christ come to us so he comfort us before hee leave us Thus I have shewed to you that Christ doth come to his Church Militant The second thing that I am to shew you for the opening of the point is how Christ doth come to his Church Militant To this I will answer First more generally and briefly Secondly more particularly and fully More generally and briefly I answer thus Christ visits his Church Militant as David visited comforted Hanun to wit mediately by his spirit as David did mediately by his servants And I wil pray the Father he shal give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth c. Iohn 14.16,17 Peter found the truth of this that Christ by his Spirit comes now to his Church Militant While Peter thought on the vision the Spirit said unto him behold three men seek thee But in the second place that I may more particularly and fully answer to this question to wit how Christ doth come to his Church Militant to comfort her in all conditions I will lay before you the generall conditions of mankinde and shew you how Christ by his Spirit as a Comforter comes to us in them The general conditions of mankinde are two prosperity and adversity Prosperity would soon bring the soules of Gods people to a comfortlesse condition did not Christ by his Spirit come to them Satan that evill Spirit is so busie comming to the children of God when in prosperity that did not Christ also come to them by his Almighty Spirit to quench all his fiery darts their soules would soone be comfortlesse the Lord knowes When Peter was warme in the High Priests Hall then the Devill by a Damosell came to him and so far he prevail'd on him that had not Christ lookt back upon him and by his Spirit come to him he had beene in a comfortlesse condition indeed And thus would the condition of good men now be which are warme in their nests with outward things did not Christ come to them when the sons of God be honourable and great amongst the sons of men as David and Solomon Iob Iacob and Abraham were then the Devill in point of polity though not out of love visits them often and by often comming to them then drawes their precious soules into many sins as pride ambition malice sensuality and the like which like Cankers quickly fret and eat out all divine consolation in the soule and leave it like the Prodigall feeding upon husks solacing it selfe with no other joy content then what the bare creature dipt in sin will afford the sense which you must needs say is of all comfortlesse conditions the most and worst comfortlesse Now that these may not be left in this comfortlesse state to perish eternally Christ by his Spirit thus comes to them First in a sweet still voice behinde them as the Prophet speaks saying sometimes in the midst of their sensuality this is not the way to eternall joy no this is the way O sensuall soule walk in it This still voice strikes a damp in the merry sensuall foule of a Christian makes his heart in the midst of vaine laughter sad If this be not prevalent enough to turne him but on againe he will in his sinfull way then Christ comes with a witnesse in thundering and lightning to convince and sting the conscience as he did to the Israelites to bring them to see their wickednesse in chusing a King Untill God thunder'd and lighten'd from Heaven fearfully they layd not to heart their rejecting God as their King but went on strongly and unaffectedly in their way And just thus oft times it is with many of the Sonnes of God in prosperity the still voice of Christ sweetly suggesting and mildely checking for fin is not strong enough to stop and turne them untill the Angell of the Covenant come downe into the conscience and stand with a flaming Sword threatning nothing but Hell and Death if they make on a steppe further they stop nor turne not which though not Christs naturall carriage to his children yet he will in tender love deny himselfe thus farre as to put on an affrighting Vizard upon his smiling countenance and come terribly and save violently by plucking his children out of the fire rather then hee will leave any of his so comfortlesse as to perish remedilesse Christ will speak out and speak plaine as he did to David by Nathan when a still voice and secret silent hints and becks will not do He will come and lay his mouth to a mans eare and cry aloud when he perceives that the pleasure or profit of sin hath made him very deafe he will never leave crying and calling striking and knocking till he hath made the deafe soule heare and humble himselfe with Peter and David and then he puls off the terrible Vizard from his countenance and lookes upon the mourning penitent with a countenance like Lebanon and his lips drop sweet smelling myrrh into his broken spirit and so is not left cōfortlesse according to Christs promise I will not leave you comfortlesse I will come to you But suppose Satan should not be busie comming to the sons of
finde Christ as a comforter come to thee is this observe how Christ comes and do not put him off Christ comes to comfortlesse soules with comfort in a promise as I have at large shewed you T is with many Christians in their minority as t was with Samuel theâ— doe not know the voyce of the Lord speaking â—n a promise therefore I thought good to note this last instruction The promise Christ opens before the soule that hee may see the blessing wrapt up in it which he needes and then often repeates it to the soule that he may rely upon it instances to illustrate this way of Christ I have given you things must not bee here againe repeated That which here I would presse by way of application is that you which are comfortlesse soules would observe this secret way of the comforter and meet him Art thou tempted and dost thou now heare a sweet still voyce as it were behind thee saying My grace shall bee sufficient for thee Why this is the voyce of thy beloved that is come to thee embrace what hee saith rest upon it turne not thy comforter away now by unbeliefe and peevish pettish humours Hast thou fallen into sinne by the strength of temptation and thine owne corruption and dost thou heare such a sweete voyce behind thee as this The bloud of Iesus Christ cleanseth us from all sinne 1 Ioh 1.7 Why this is the language of thy beloved hee is come to comfort thee O mourning soule doe not thrust him away by unkinde language of unbeliefe and passion Heare what he saith for it is sweete strive to believe what he saith for it is sure As Isaac said unto Jacob his Sonne after hee had had some discourse at a distance with him Come neere now and kisse mee my Sonne Gen. 27.26 So should such comfortlesse soules say to Christ when they heare Christ speaking as it were at a distance softly and coldly to them the sweet promises of his word come heere now O my beloved and kisse mee with these kisses of thy lippes for thy love is better then Wine what thou sayest to my soule say it with such life that my heart may no longer be faithlesse but believe and give glory to thee I have now done speaking to you who never yet had the comforter come to you I come now in the last place to speake a word or two particularly to such of GODS people who can tell mee that they have found Christ as a comforter come to them but now have lost Him Three things I have to say to these First labour to bee sensible of thy losse Secondly blame not Christ for departing from thee Thirdly use all holy meanes to get him to returne to thee againe First I would have thee O deserted soule to labour to bee truly sensible of thy losse Though it bee that some are deeply sensible of this great losse yet others are as deeply stupid which moves mee to note this instruction For a man to bee stupid and senselesse under corporall afflictions argues a very ill temper of spirit but for a man to bee stupid and senselesse under spirituall affliction under such a spirituall affliction as this the losse of the Sunne the losse of Christ as a comforter argues a very ill temper of spirit indeed Strive therefore O deserted stupid soule to affect thine heart throughly with thy losse Thou hast lost more then Iob when hee had lost Children substance health honours and friends nay thou hast lost more then if thou hadst lost this World nay thou hast lost more then if thou hadst lost thy life which is of more worth then the World thou hast lost Christ which is richer then this World and sweeter then thy life What an infinite losse were it to this World to lose the Sunne 't were at once to loose all Pereunte solep ereunt omnia for all things serviceable for the use of man depend upon the motion and influence of that glorious Body What a losse then is it to the lesser World to loose Christ the Sunne of Righteousnesse 'T is to loose all good at once for soule and body All graces close and wither when Christ departs as all fragrant flowers when the Sunne withdrawes his influence And when these flowers wither in the soul a man is a moving Dung-hill that stinkes in the Nostrils of God and man where ever hee comes A man that hath lost Christ may truely say as shee when the Arke was lost that his glory is departed As the Sunne is the glory of the greater World so Christ the Sunne of righteousnesse is the glory of the lesser World to wit man Thou hast lost that in the world that is more worth then the world and which all the world can never helpe thee to Thou hast lost that which would have made the worst condition in this life a Heaven whereas the best without it is but a hell Thou hast lost that which would have beene to thy soule a continuall feast whereas now thy soul is in a continual famine and leannesse Thou hast lost thy spirits and thy soule is in a dead Palsie so that thou art a living dead man fit for no spirituall service Thou hast lost thy head thou hast lost thy eyes thou hast lost thy hands thou hast lost thy feet thou hast lost thy bread thou hast lost thy cloathing nay thou hast lost thy best father thy best husband thy best friend all this and much more comfort is Christ to man Thou hast great reason then O deserted soule to lay to heart thy losse 2. Lay to heart thy losse this is comely but do not blame Christ for departing from thee this is uncomely and unrighteous Uncomely for it doth not suit with wisdomes children to lay folly to their Maker Unrighteous for thou constrainst him to depart from thee otherwise he had never left thee thou didst sin again and again of weaknesse and yet Christ as a Comforter did not depart from thee untill thou beganst to take pleasure in unrighteousnesse and to make sin a custome a right eye a very serviceable thing unto thee Christ did not leave thee Thou beganst to wax wanton against Christ and then Christ cast thee off Thou beganst to play the Apostate and to backslide in heart from Christ and then he fell off from thee and filled thee with thine owne wayes Now these things seriously considered hast thou any cause to blame Christ for departing from thee It is a comely and a very righteous thing for Wisdomes children to justifie wisdome in all his waies as to others so to our selves Wherefore thus do O deserted soule say righteous art thou O Christ in departing from me and righteous mayst thou be if thou never returne to me so unkindly have I dealt with thee 3. Then set thy selfe seriously to the use of all holy meanes whereby thou maist get thy Comforter to returne to thee Examine thy soule
throughly thou must to finde out what evill deprived thee of so great a good and in serious soule searching God will speak to thy conscience and conscience will speak plainly to thee and tell thee wherein thou didst give distaste to thy Comforter and what was the cause he forsook thy soule And when thou hast found out that evill which conscience tels thee deprived thee of so great a good thou must fall very foule with it how sweet soever it hath been unto thee Thy great worke must be to bring thy heart to a holy revenge upon this sin to abhorre it and thy selfe because of it and to become very vile as Iob saith and very low in thine owne eyes Bring thy heart to admire the infinite patience and mercy of God that things are no worse with thy soule That God had not cut thee off in the acting of that sinne for which he deserted thee that he hath left any place for repentance and given the least desire to set about this work And when thou art come thus farre possibly the light of Gods countenance may begin now and then to glance into thy soul as at some little cranny or at least some more then ordinary lightsomnesse may appear in thy dark dull soul as there doth in the dark morning some space of time before the Sun appears that had left this Horizon Now this beame of light or this little lightsomenesse of soule thou must much admire and acknowledge an unfathomed depth of love in it that God should so much as once stoope to cast an eye after thee more to give thy soule the least refreshing that did abuse flagons of love By this glimpse of light or glimmering light you are to strengthen your faith in the beliefe of this that light will more and more appeare as the light of the morning unto the perfect day and so consequently to follow God with so much the more fervency of prayer for the returne of his wonted kindnesse Toseph you know carried himselfe very roughly to his brethren which had abused him for some space of time and put them in great feare of the losse of their lives told them they were Spies and many harsh words he gave them and harsh looks but at last when his Brethren had brought to him Benjamin and discoursed a while Iosephs bowels began to work and he could no longer with-hold his brotherly love Come neare to me I pray you I am Ioseph your brother c. Gen. 45.4 Thus Christ our elder Brother deales with us who do unkindly unbrotherly use him he will handle us very roughly and put us in fear of the losse of our best lives he will make our consciences speake bitter things against us and let loose the Devill to tell us that we are Spies hypocrites and false friends to Christ in this distracted affrighted perplexed state hee may hold us many dayes many weeks many moneths but hee cannot hold in his brotherly love alwayes if wee patiently beare his frownes and kindly intreat him and bring Benjamin to him his own blood and merits this will make his bowels worke and make him unmask himselfe and say come neare to me O mourning soules tossed and not comforted I am Christ your elder brother whom yee unkindly used in a little wrath I hid my face from you but now with everlasting kindnesse will I embrace you Trinuni Deo gloria FINIS CHRISTS COMMUNION with his Church Militant 2. Tim. 4. verse 22. The Lord Iesus Christ bee with thy spirit THis Text is Pauls sweet affectionate farwell to Timothy Many grave and gracious instructions Paul had given Timothy but 't is not so much what man saith to the eare as as what Christ saith to the heart that workes effectually to set man about his duty and therefore doth Paul in the conclusion of all his Christian counsell to Timothy pathetically pray That the Lord Iesus Christ would be with his Spirit The best teaching of man is but as water spilt on the ground unlesse Christ inwardly teach the spirit If I am taught my duty by a Paul one in gifts not inferiour to the chiefest Apostles yet unlesse Christ bee with my spirit to make things take roote there all will die and wither like good seed cast into bad ground And therefore Paul saw it but needfull as to teach the eare so to intreate the Lord to teach and strengthen the spirit The Lord Iesus Christ bee with thy Spirit There is a great distance you know betweene the eare and the heart it is an easie thing for man to bring home things unto the one but no lesse then the Al-mighty power of Christ will bring home things unto the other There is an incomparable hardnesse upon the heart of man naturally it is harder then an Adamant now though a child with his little finger may make a dint upon dow yet a Gyant with all his strength cannot make dints upon an Adamant much lesse can all created strength make divine impressions upon the spirit of man and therefore it is that Paul doth implore an Almighty strength to doe this The Lord Iesus Christ bee with thy Spirit Why doth not Paul here wish riches and honours pleasures unto Timothy Is the bare presence of Christ with a mans spirit such a blessing To this I answer riches and honours c. they are bona but not optima good things but not the best things Earthly things though good in themselves yet are no further forth good to mee then as the Lord Jesus Christ is with my spirit to guide it to use them and therefore Paul as one truly wise prayed for the prime good for Timothy for that good which makes all other things worke together for good to wit That the Lord Iesus Christ would bee with his Spirit The point I intend to stand on is this That to have the Lord Iesus Christ with our spirits is a prime and principall blessing Paul here wisheth it to Timothy as a cardinall blessing The Lord Iesus Christ bee with thy spirit Enucleatio propositionis To have Christ with our spirits c. How can Christ bee present with man upon Earth who is now ascended and sitteth at the right Hand of his Father in Heaven The Apostle doth hint an answer to this question in the forme of his Prayer if you observe it The Lord Iesus Christ saith hee be with thy spirit Hee speakes of such a presence as will fitly yeeld Communion and fellowship to the spirit of man There is a double presence of Christ with man corporall and spirituall joyntly or meerly spirituall With just men made perfect in glory Christ is corporally present they behold his wounded Body made a glorious Body as a continuall assurance of the Resurrection of their owne vile bodies unto the same similitude And with them Christ is present spiritually filling them with those joyes the tast of which upon Earth is called unspeakable and full of
yeares end to yeares end they tell you that you are so leane and feeble that you need the benefit of all the spirits that every dish at wisdoms table can yeeld to strengthen you and recover you and yet every dish almost goes against your stomacks and that you doe eat is without savour or any other vertue and so you languish with al dainties before you and thus you will goe on languishing untill you quite consume perish eternally unlesse Christ be with your spirits You see I suppose plainly by this time that as it is a prime and principall happinesse to have Christ with our spirits so it is a prime and principall evill and unhappines not to have Christ with our spirits Wherefore having laid open both before you let mee entreat you all to looke in upon your spirits and see who keeps company with them Christ or the divell one of these two is with all our spirits If Christ bee not with our spirits the divellis and wil be If Christ be with your spirits according to the sense and meaning of the Apostle in my text you shall find it by these two things the body is dead because of sin and the spirit is life because of righteousnes 'T is Pauls Character of Christs speciall presence in the soule of man upon earth and therefore of strong authority And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sinne but the spirit is life because of Righteousnesse Rom. 8.10 The body is dead because of sinne that is the body of corruption is destroyed as in respect of the guilt of it so in respect of the dominion of it And the spirit is life because of righteousnesse that is the regenerate part is vigerous in reference to all righteous wayes And if therefore you would know whether Christ bee with your spirits see whether your bodies bee dead because of sin whether you labour to bring every thought into subjection to Christ or whether you doe not allow your selves liberty to some evill out of love to some pleasure or profit which is that principally wherein the dominion of sinne consisteth as Paul hints unto us where he saith the evill which I doe I allow not That is I doe not approve of it in my heart nor plead for it with my tongue but strive against it with all my strength and it would be more joy to me to be rid of it then if I had a Kingdome conferred on me This is the language right of one that hath Christ with his spirit Secondly see whether your spirits be alive because of righteousnesse if you would know whether Christ be with your spirits or not See whether holy wayes doe heartily affect you I rejoyced when they said come let us goe to the house of the Lord saith the Psalmist He spake like a man having Christ indeed with his spirit his spirit leapt within him like the Babe in Elizabeths Wombe when they spake of drawing neere to God in the duties of his worship A Christian that hath Christ with his spirit sees a taking transcendant beauty in all wisedomes wayes they are all wayes of pleasure and pathes of peace which is spoken in reference to such as have Christ with their spirits for others finde no such thing in them And his spirit opens in them like flowers in the Sunne and smelles fragrantly he bends and cleaves to them in love to that soule sweetnesse which he findes in them And if you finde these things in you I thinke I may safely tell you to your comfort that Christ is with your spirits I may turne this Character into another forme as Paul doth and tell you in his words that hee which is joyned to the Lord is one spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 They that have Christ with their spirits are one spirit with Christ This expression I conceive is something explained by these following words And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soule 4 Acts v. 32. or as the originall hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heart and soule one They that have Christ with their spirits are heart and soule one with Christ They doe idem velle idem nolle What Christ loves they love and what Christ hates they hate Christ loves righteousnesse and hates iniquity Thou hast loved righteousnesse and hated iniquity c. Psal 45.7 They that have Christ with their spirits are heart and soule one with Christ in this They love righteousnesse that is all righteous wayes and hate iniquity that is all that Gods Word condemnes 'T was Christs meate and drinke to doe his Fathers Will they that have Christ with their spirits are one spirit with Christ in this 'T is joy to the just to doe judgement saith Salomon Christ was tender about keeping the least Commandement as well as about keeping the greatest Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandements and teach men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdome of Heaven Mat. 5.19 They that have Christ with their spirits are heart and soule one with Christ in this they are tender to keepe all Gods Commandements least as well as greatest So shall I not be confounded whil'st I have refpect unto all thy Commandements saith David I doe conceive the place forecited so as if Christ did account of one part of his Fathers wil above another I rather thinke that hee there speakes Pharisaeorum more in the Pharises dialect who would make the world believe that they mightily laboured to keepe some precepts but others they thought as many of us now doe that they need not to bee so strict about Now Christs tender Spirit for his Fathers honour could not brooke this halting in religion and they that have Christ with their spirits are heart and soule one with Christ in this That Commandement which the most say is one of the least and may be dispensed with all or at least need not bee so strictly look't unto that as well as any other whil'st a precious part of Christs will a man that hath Christ with his spirit will bee tender to observe Davids spirit smote him for cutting off the lap of Sauls garment as wel as for cutting off the life of Vrijah which plainly shewes that men which have Christ with their spirits are tender about the avoiding of small sins as well as great Now possibly some of you by what hath beene said may see that as yet you have not Christ with your spirits I shall addresse my selfe in the first place particularly to speake to you and then in the second place I shall addresse my selfe particularly to speake to such of you as have by what hath beene said discerned that Christ is indeed with your spirits To you which by what hath been said see that as yet Christ is not with your spirits I have only these two things to say labour to bewaile your great want as persons deeply sensible of it and
imparting divine mysteries if thou follow on to know as the Prophet speaks if thou humbly forget look over all thou hast presse hard after more the things thou knowest not Christ will teach thy spirit morning by morning as by the learned Christ hath taught thy spirit many truths why he will leade thy spirit into all truth if thou urge his promise and beleeve He will fill thee with the knowledge of his will in all wisdome and spirituall understanding If thou pray for it as Paul did for the Colossians Thou findest Christ with thy spirit as a Comforter why thou maist have yet much more consolation from him if thou study to be more pliable to him Thou hast Christ distilling drops of consolation into thy spirit now and then why thou maist have Christ powring in flagons of love into thy soule filling thee with joy unspeakable and full of glory if thou bring thy spirit to bee more lowly and meek for such find most rest to their soules if thou carefully keep comming to Christ still in every pressure of spirit for such finde most ease that is renewing faith still as thou renewest thy sins Thou findest Christ with thy spirit as a quickner strengthner to duty why thou maist find him yet more mighty with thy spirit this way if thou powre out thy spirit often with David for quickning grace and if thou more deny thine own strength and cast thy self more upon his Could we but attain Pauls height in selfe-denyall to bee nothing in our selvs though I am nothing saith he 2 Cor. 12.11 we should finde Christ gloriously present still with our spirits and be more constant in zeale strength to every good work then we are I conclude this thus bee so tractable to Christ that thou maist with Mary winne upon Christ still and think that thou canst never bee neere enough to him nor intimate enough with him and this is the ready way to have a heaven upon earth for the more we get Christ to be with our spirits the more truly may wee bee said to be in Heaven The last thing that I have to say to you that find Christ with your spirits is matter of consolation Here is comfort for you against famine When thy body wants food Christ that is with thy spirit will give that meat to eat which the world knowes not off so that when others repine and curse God and their King in their extremity as the Prophet speaks thou shalt bee patient in this tribulation and instant in prayer to him who can command Ravens to bring thee bread and flesh to feed on and will rather then thou shalt starve if thy life may bee more to his glory then thy death Here 's comfort for you against the sword In the midst of all troubles and fears Christ that is with thy spirit will beare thee up admirably What is the face of an enemy to terrifie if Christ be with thy spirit What is the spoiling of thy goods nay what is the spoiling of thy body if Christ bee with thy soule A Mountaine of misery is but as a Mole-hill if Christ support the spirit To think of the Sword is a naked reference to flesh and blood and so nothing is more terrible but let us that feare the Loro think of it in reference to Christ that is with our spirits then wee shall not be troubled though we heare of warres and rumours of warres no more then at the rumours of any other calamity Here is coÌ„fort for you against the Plague which is here and there scatterd in the Kingdome What is any disease to the body if Christ bee with thy soule As the outward man decayeth the inward man shall be renewed daily because Christ is with thy spirit When thy body is full of paine thy soule shall be full of comfort because Christ is with thy spirit When thy body is sealed with spots for death thy soule shall be sealed with the Holy Ghost unto eternall life because Christ is with thy spirit The plague of the body is nothing if this plague of plagues bee not upon the spirit to wit destitute of Christ Here is comfort for you against persecution When men frowne upon thee without Christ will smile upon thy spirit within when men lade thy outward man w th reproaches Christ will fill thy inward man with comforts when men shut up thy body from the communion of Saints Christ will give thy spirit a large freedome of communion with himself When men strike thy body Christ will stroke thy soule when men kill thy body Christ will save thy soule In a word as the afflictions of Christ abound in thy body so the consolations of Christ shall abound in thy soule because Christ is with thy spirit Name any misery that is incident to man and here 's comfort to be suckt out of this point to oppose unto it Finally in life in death eternally after death Christ that is with thy spirit will be gaine unto thee Thy life he will make comfortable thy death hopefull and thy being after death eternally joyfull Wherefore I will conclude my Sermon for the good of you as S. Paul doth his Epistle for the good of Timothy The Lord Iesus Christ bee with your spirits Trinuni Deo gloria Errata Pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 leg 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 7. For say read saw p. 39. l. 6. pro pereunte solep eâ—…nt omnia lege pereunte sole pereunt omnia p. 114. Marg. For I do conceive r. I do not conceive p. 169. l. 7. FINIS