I look upon as a Saint I should love him though he love not mee I should not only love him when hee loves mee honours mee speaks well of mee but when hee doth the contrary that so should his love quite dye towards mee yet mine might bee as hot and lively towards him as ever now to do this consider 1 That I shall give an account not of my Brothers love to mee but of my love to my Brother Christ will not ask mee did your Brother love you but did you love your Brother if hee love not mee let him look to that hee shall answer for that but if I love not him let mee look to that I shall answer for that if hee will walk so as to give his account with sadnesse shall I do so too It is said 1 John 4.17 That love gives us boldness in the day of Judgement how so which will absolve or condemn as I said before as men have behaved themselves towards his Saints in loving or not loving them and therefore such as have been more full of love shall more boldly appear at that day 2 That my spiritual comfort lies not in my Brothers love to mee but in my love to my Brother What comfort were it though all the men in the world should love a Saint if this were all it were poor comfort But now if I can love a Saint because it is my Fathers will I should when yet hee loves not mee what comfort is here when the heart can as'twere say I love thee Brother because thou art a Saint hate mee as much as thou wilt I care not for it for I am resolved to love thee because thou art a Saint whether thou wilt or no. 3 That the excellency of love lies in this in loving my brother when he loves not mee to love when I am loved is no excellent love this is only to do as Publicans do as wicked men may there is no singular thing in this Mat. 5.46 47. 4 My love comes nearest to Gods love when I love but am not loved God loved us when hee was not loved of us before we loved him 1 Joh. 4.19 We love him because he first loved us Now that we may do this take this rule for in truthes of this nature we must have precept upon precept and line upon line as the Prophet speaks ever make this the ground of thy love to thy brother that thou art beloved of God and because thou art beloved of God therefore thou wilt love thy brother say soul when thy Brother hates thee I am beloved of God my Brother hates me but I am beloved of God he speaks evil of me but I am beloved of God and because I am beloved of God and that God that loves mee commands me to love my brother therefore I will love him though he love not me This John lays down as the ground of our love to our brethren 1 Epist 4.11 If God so loved us we ought also to love one another 3 Account thy self least of Saints and judge every one better than thy self Thus did Paul Ephes 3. and this rule Paul lays down to maintaine love amongst the Philippians Let each one esteeme others better than themselves Phil. 2.3 My Brethren you know it for it is an evil that at one time or other we shall all of us finde in our own hearts that it I do but see a little more love expressed to another than my self I am presently ready to think that another hath all the love and that I am not loved at all and so am ready to hate both the party that loves and the party that is loved Now whence comes this but only hence I am of a proud and filthy Self-conceit think my self better than another and that therefore I deserve more love than he whereas did I account every one better than my self then when the case is thus I should reason thus What though such a one be loved better than I and such a Brother love him better yet is there no reason that I should be offended either with him that loves or him that is loved because he that is loved is better than I and so deserves more love than me I will not therefore be angry with my Brother because he loves him better than I nor envie him because he is so loved but I will ever honour love and prize both the one and the other Now that thou maist come to look upon thy self as the least of Saints consider 1 The opportunities and means thou hast had above others Say yonder is a poor Saint suppose I have more than he yet if I consider the opportunities and means I have had which hee hath wanted in this respect I have less I have had the Word plentifully in the power and purity of it taught been in Church fellowship so many years he poor soul hath wanted all this and yet how lively is he had he had my opportunities he would have been ten times better than I. 2 The time thou hast had say I have been ten twenty thirty forty years in Christs Schoole and yet what a Sot am I what a dead heart have I yonder is one but of yesterday a year two year old in grace and yet how farre is he got and fair on the way to get before mee already 3 The several ways God hath taken to make thee grow one while I have been afflicted in my body another while in my estate I have lost such a ship c. another while in my Children such a Childe lost c. yet after all I am as carnal as ever O had God taken so many ways with such and such there would have been other fruit of it in them 4 Rule Get a heart taken up with Spiritual things you shall seldome see a Saint whose heart is taken up with Spirituals to bee of a wrangling or quarrelsome spirit but ordinarily those that are lowest in Spirituals are highest in strife and contention A Spiritual heart hath so many admirable objects to employ its self and time about that hee findes no leasure to brawl with or to buffet his Brother as take a man that hath his head taken up with high things a noble spirited man let him pass the streets and one laughs at him another miscalls him hee takes no notice of it but now take a low spirited man and if they grin at him hee 'l grin at them miscall him hee 'l miscall them this comes from the lowness and baseness of his spirit so here-hence comes our divisions hence our strife Christians are of low and childish spirits and we know it is a very ordinary thing for Children to wrangle and fall together by the ears in their Fathers house but grown men wont do so Would you maintain love get your hearts exercised with spiritual things if thou art one who art of a wrangling and contentious spirit it is a sign thou hast an idle heart thou dost
as thou hast done what say you to Paul and others Object 5. But Christ doth not belong to me Answ 1. Thou shouldest not hearken to an objection which tends to drive thee from Christ when he commands to come to him 2 If God gives thee a heart to come then is the matter out of doubt Christ belongs to thee for beleeving gives thee a right Gal. 3.22 That the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might bee given to them that beleeve 3 Whether Christ belong to thee or no it s better to cast thy self upon him and dye in obedience than to run from him and dye in disobedience 4 Whatsoever makes against faith is assuredly from the Devil and not to bee beleeved this doth so Object 6. But I am not elected Answ 1. Election is a secret secrets belong to God I am not to question Gods secret will whether or no I am elected but to obey his revealed will which commands to beleeve 2 The way to know election being a secret is not to question the same but beleeve in hope against hope Heb. 11.1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen 3 Upon this ground thou shalt never beleeve for if thou canst not know thine election but by beleeving and wilt not beleeve till thou knowest thou art elected thou shalt never beleeve 4 By this thou wrongest Gods intention in revealing it who never revealed it to keep souls from coming to Christ but to strengthen their faith being come 5 Thou hereby settest one part of Gods will against another that which discovers election against that which requires beleeving 6 Thy questioning thou art not elected proves not the thing if any thing the contrary because Satan the father of lies tells thee so Object 7. But I have no power to come to Christ Ans Seek a power of God see a Promise for encouragement Isa 40.29 30 31. He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increaseth strength vers 30. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall vers 31. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint Obj. 8. But I have not a heart to seek Ans Hast no tongue neither seek though with thy lips God may give a heart whilst thou art speaking Hos 14.1 2 Take words and turn to the Lord say unto him take away all iniquity and receive us graciously Obj. 9. But alas I have a long time sought a power and finde none which hath made me weary and to give over seeking Ans 1. God is a free Agent and therefore will not be limited to time or ways in working but will work when and how he pleaseth and likewise an infinite being and therefore a Creature may not comprehend him in time which destroys his infiniteness but leave him all time to work in his own It was Israels fault to limit God Psal 78.41 Yea they turned back and tempted God and limited the holy one of Israel 2 Thou hast not sought perhaps in faith therefore not found what thou seekest for Jam. 4.3 Yee ask and receive not because yee ask amiss Israel sought righteousness yet obtained not why Rom. 9.31 32 with Chap. 11.7 Israel which followed after the Law of righteousness hath not attained to the Law of righteousness vers 32. Wherefore because they sought it not by faith So 3 Wilt thou say because thou hast not thou never shalt this conclusion follows not 4 God works all for the glory of his grace which as yet may be more magnified in denying than giving when a soul can live no longer without a mercy it comes with a welcome and grace is exalted hence God oft seems to deny a mercy not because hee wil not give but because the extreamity is not so great as may stand with the advancement of his grace in giving Isa 30.18 And therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you and therefore will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you Isa 33.10 Now will I rise saith the Lord now will I be exalted now will I lift up my self Isa 63.12 13 14 Where is he that put his holy Spirit within him that led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm dividing the water before them to make himself an everlasting name vers 13. That led them thorow the deep as an horse in the wilderness that they should not stumble vers 14. As a beast goeth down into the valley the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest so didst thou lead thy people to make thy self a glorious name 5 The longer a thing hath been sought the more sweet and satisfying when found long seeking will make Christ sweeter Mercy sweeter 6 Thou faintest and art weary see what God saith to one in this condition Isa 40.28 to the end Hast thou not known hast thou not heard that the everlasting God the Lord the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not neither is weary There is no searching of his understanding 7 Adde to thy seeking waiting if inferiors wait on Superiors much more should creatures on the Creator seeking shews want and desire this may have self-self-love in it waiting shews subjection to God and submission to his will this is true Self-denial to such a blessing is pronounced Isa 30.18 Blessed are all they that wait for him Object 10. But I am filled with fears as I think none that I am a rejected person a cast-away and therefore in vain to come Answ This ariseth onely from Israels mistake Isa 40.27 My way is hid from the Lord and my judgement is passed over from my God Yet see her folly vers 28 29 c. Hast thou not known Yea Sion from the same mistake saith as much yet false Isa 49.14 15 16. But Zion said The Lord hath forsaken mee and my Lord hath forgotten mee vers 15. Can a woman forget her sucking childe that she should not have compassion on the Son of her womb yea they may forget yet will not I forget thee vers 16. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands thy walls are continually before mee It can be nothing but sin can make thee think thus See what God saith to it Jer. 51.5 For Israel hath not been forsaken nor Judah of his God of the Lord of hosts though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel Object 11. But I have been with Christ and since am a notorious backslider and dare not come again Answ Though it hath been thy sin to run from him yet now it is thy duty to come again to him thou hast not been so ready to run away but hee is as ready to receive thee Consider but one example of God to Israel Jer. 2.3 both Chapters 1
and its fruit both in the soul together and though every soul which lives by faith hath not the other i.e. a perswasion that Christs righteousnesse is certainly its own yet every soul which lives by faith so far as it lives by faith hath this that possibly it may bee mine so far at least as that it dares not conclude the contrary as the Ninevites Jona 3. v. 8 9. Repent from such a consideration Who can tell if God will turn and repent And as Job offered sacrifice for this children from an It may bee my Sons have sinned And the four Lepers ventured into the host of Assyria from an It may bee they will save us alive So a poor soul which lives by faith goes to the promise and takes hold thereof and though it cannot say this is certainly mine or shall certainly be mine yet it saith It may bee mine however I will not conclude the contrary 5 Faith in the point of Justification causeth the soul that lives by it to shun all disputes either with the Devil or a mans own carnal reason as to the question whether it bee justified or no Satan comes and layes heavy charges upon the soul thou art such a sinner hast so often been proud unbeleeving worldly minded so many sins thou hast committed against the love and free grace of God against thy own light and conscience so many duties thou hast neglected so many been formal hypocritical in and therefore thou art not justified Carnal reason that comes in and sayes its Amen to the Devils arguments saith Carnal reason the Promises are true I know them to bee so and therefore surely the conclusion must bee thus I am no childe of God I am an unjustified person Faith now that comes forth and encounters the furious charge of both these raging Lions who would at once swallow up the peace and happiness of the poor soul and saith Faith you enemies Satan and my own reason if from all your charges you had concluded against my Sanctification reason would that I should bear with you but if the question bee about my Justification I will bee no disputer in that matter because it is not for mee to meddle with that business or to take the work out of anothers hands who is intrusted with it I grant I am as vile as you have made mee and viler too yet were I ten times viler than I am yet would not all this touch my Justification because that is wholly without mee and in the hands of another so as that no good or evill within mee or done by mee comes at that Yea O yee my enemies saith the soule you are much beside the question which fain you would affirm and prove when from these charges you would assaile my Justification for Sanctification and Justification are two things and all you charge mee with in your premises is some defect in the matter of Sanctification and in the conclusion you run into Justification which is to raise another question and therefore saith the soul had you concluded thus thou art not sanctified I would freely without dispute have concluded with you for this I do acknowledge that I am a poor sinner a wretched man in my self often captivated with a body of death I am not indeed so sanctified as I should bee but I see something in my self which I desire to mourn for and to walk humbly underâ—â— and which I see daily need to go to my Father about which also I do beseeching him and waiting upon him for the healing this filthy puddle of my nature but because of this that I am not justified that I will not conclude neither are you my enemies untill you have proved that there is a defect or want of righteousnesse in Christ as in mee till you have proved that there is not righteousnesse enough in Christ upon whom my justification lyes as it is my duty I shall still desire notwithstanding all my weaknesses and imperfections to beleeve my Justification Sixtly and lastly Faith looks strictly and narrowly to the conscience Conscience is the strong hold and castle of the soul whilst that is quiet free from tumults the whole man is at peace let there be a tumult there and the whole man is at war and put into distraction therefore faith in the business of Justification makes the soul to use all diligence of secure that hold out of the hands of the enemy by securing which the whole man injoyes peace and truly this looking too and securing of conscience is a business of greatest concernment in living by faith for justification For the Devill and Sin do the soul more mischief when these get into conscience than they do or can do any where else Now there are three wayes by which Faith secures Conscience 1 By putting a strong garrison into Conscience and keeping it there This strong Garrison is the Righteousnesse of Christ which faith brings into conscience and keeps there Faith knows that nothing else can defend conscience when Sin and Satan storm it but Christ Righteousnesse Hence 1 Pet. 3.21 wee are said to have the answer of a good conscience towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ for the Resurrection being the time wherein Christ did appear in all his Righteousnesse and shew forth himself as one that had now fulfilled all Righteousnesse and upon the very same account was now risen from the dead when hee had been acting the last part of that sad Tragedy as to himself but glorious work of Righteousnesse as to us is put for the whole Righteousnesse of Christ both active and passive and so it is as if the Apostle should say The Righteousnesse of Jesus Christ being put into our Consciences is that whereby they are secured and kept peaceable so that instead of tumults and insurrections in conscience our consciences are in peace instead of accusing us wee have the answer of a good conscience towards God 2 By clearing the conscience of all those enemies who formerly have done or do disturb the peace thereof As faith brings a strong garrison into conscience so it ejects all malignants or disturbers of consciences peace these are those dead works Heb 9.14 which creep into conscience i. e. the guilt of all sin whether of omission or commission which get into conscience and disturb its peace Now faith garrisoning conscience with Christs righteousnesse ejects all these the first thing this garrison doth being entred is the clensing of the place where it is from all such as are enemies to the peace of it Whatsoever guilt of sin past or present which lyes in the conscience and wrangles all is cast out the Righteousnesse of Christ being made governor of conscience and the conscience injoyes abundance of peace whereas before it had not quiet an hour in a day many times for a month together now it is full of peace Sin which before lay gnawing and tormenting it is now cast out and everlasting righteousnesse
not cast Anchor within the Vail O bee more in the exercise of this Grace of hope It is one thing I have observed of all the three great Graces Faith Hope and Charity wee are least in the exercise of the grace of Hope wee look to exercise Faith to goe out to the Promises and to exercise Charity but Hope which is the middle grace wee are apt to neglect if hope bee not exercised in some measure faith will bee dead and charity dead Now the work of hope is to look to the glorious Inheritance to the reward which one day wee shall enjoy be much in the exercise of the grace of hope look upon the reward God would have us look to it hath left one grace to bee exercised about it look at the mark of the price of the high Calling I do not say you should work altogether for it but look on it for incouragement what a glorious Inheritance you shall possess one day after you have done the will of God here for you shall receive the Promise and what is this Promise the promise of an eternal Inheritance O how doth this incourage a poor soul it is but a little while and I shall receive the Promise that glorious Inheritance Exercise this Grace of Hope which lyes in Expectation let us not lay by our Hope and thinke it enough to exercise Faith and Love and let Hope lye by that should help on both It is the Anchor that holds us fast and makes us steady it grasps the Inheritance before hand and holds us to it Labour that this Hope may bee cast within the Vail take heed it bee not pitched upon this or the other thing upon any thing without the Vaile But let your Hope bee grounded upon the Covenant of God therefore hope because God hath made a Covenant therefore I lay hold upon this Covenant because Jesus Christ was given out to dye for poor sinners his Blood was powred out for ungodly ones I come to him as a poor ungodly one to him that justifieth the ungodly therefore hope O ground thy hope upon Jesus Christ therefore I hope because the Lord hath been pleased to make free Promises of Grace to mee to blot out my sinnes for his Names sake Doe not ground your hope upon any thing besides for that is to ground your hope upon something without the Vaile and then such hope as this cast within the Vaile will make you blessed for ever The Lord give you and I to pitch our Anchors of Hope there Christ's New Commandement Joh. 13.34 A New Commandement I give unto you That yee love one another THE words read unto you are a part of and indeed the very beginning of that sweet and heavenly Sermon which our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ made to his Disciples when hee was taking his farewell of them to go to his Father Two things there are which Jesus Christ seems now upon his departure to have a deep sense of 1 Lest his Disciples in the time of his absence should bee bereaved of their inward peace and consolation to prevent which hee layes them in in this his last Sermon many sweet and precious soul-strengthning Cordials 2 Lest through their weakness they being as yet but little children as hee terms them in the foregoing verse amongst whom wrangling and jarring is not onely natural but a custome should in the time of his absence fall at oddes and variance within themselves For prevention of which he no sooner minds them of his departure but hee layes a streight charge upon them that as they did love him or regard his honour before men they would be especially carefull that there might be no division or want of affection among them when he should be gone Which charge of his that it might sinke deep into their memories he gives it over and over as in our Text and again Chap. 15.12 and again vers 17. Yea that they might see how exceedingly his minde did run upon this and how the fear of their failing herein did as it were stick in his heart considering they were as yet but little children and therefore very liable to fall together by the ears he layes down this as the first and great thing of all that he would have them to minde in his absence A New Commandement first Commands as in the Commands of the Moral Law are greatest as if he should say Little children a little while I am with you and then I am to leave you and O it fears mee exceedingly that no sooner shall I be gone but you will be together by the ears and therefore as the first thing of all and one main thing that I would have you alwaies to remember I beseech you yea I command you minde this to love one another I am extreamly afraid of the contrary and therefore I charge you Love one another Love one another A NEW The onely Query necessary for the explication of the words is this why the Command of Love is here called A New Commandement seeing it is ancient as ancient as the Law of God the whole Law being comprehended in this word LOVE To omit the various reasons which are given of the thing that which I conceive to bee most consonant to Truth and most agreeable to Scripture-language is this because This duty of love is more clearly revealed more fully discovered and more frequently pressed in the New Testament than ever it was in the Old Though it be certain the Law in the second Table thereof required love to the Brethren yet did it not so clearly and particularly reveal and presse the same as wee have it revealed and pressed under the Gospel And thus in respect of more clear revelation it may be called A New Commandement as the Covenant of Grace which from first to last is one and the same in respect of the more cleare administration thereof is in Scripture called A New Covenant Doct. It is the Command one of the great Commands of Jesus Christ that Saints should love one another None I suppose will question the truth of this if they doe let them read over the place fore-quoted together with Heb. 13.1 and the Epistles of John where this is plentifully urged One place for all may serve 1 Joh. 3 23. where the Apostle summes up the Gospel into two Great Commands whereof the first is faith in the Son God the second is love to the Brethren In prosecution of this I shall shew 1 What great ground and reason there is why Saints should love one another 2 How Saints may have their hearts brought up to the practice of this duty to love one another 3 Answer some Objections which lye in the way of many as obstacles and impediments whereby they are hindred from the exercise of this precious grace and so great and necessary a duty of love For the first I may say That there is all the reason in the world why Saints should love one another