care or respect towards it This is an errour of Gods benevolence and the latitude of his mercy and heighth of his thoughts towards sinners Hee hath declared himselfe willing that all men should be saved he hath set forth examples of the compasse of his long-suffering his invitations run in generall termes that no man may dare to preoccupate damnation but looke unto God as to one that careth for his soule Let a mans sinnes be never so crimson and his continuance therein never so obdurate I speake this for the prevention of despaire not for the encouragement of security or hardnesse yet as soone as he is willing to turne God is willing to save as soone as he hath an heart to attend God hath a tongue to speake salvation unto him Wee see then the way to trust in Christ is to looke upon him as the Bishop of our soules as the Officer of our peace as one that careth and provideth for us as one that hath promised to save to the uttermost to give supplies of his Spirit and Grace in time of need to give us daily bread and life in abundance to bee with us alwayes to the end of the world never to faile us nor forsake us And we may hereby learne our dutie one to another to put on the affections of members and the minde of Christ in compassionating considering and seeking the good of one another in bearing one anothers burthens in pleasing not our selves but our neighbour for his edification for even Christ pleased not himselfe that man cannot live in honour nor dye in comfort who liveth only to himselfe and doth not by his praiers compassions and supplies imitate Christ and interest himselfe in the good of his brethren Now the ground of all this power majestie and mercie of the Gospell is here set forth unto us in two words First it is the strength of Christ Secondly it is sent by God himselfe The Lord shall send the Rod of Thy strength out of Sion Here then we may first note That the Gospel is Christs owne Power and strength and the Power of God his Father by whom it is sent abroad So the Apostle cals it The Power of God unto Salvation and the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power that our faith should not stand in the wisedome of men but in the Power of God Therefore in one place we are said to be taught of God and in another to be taught of Christ in one place it is called the Gospell of the blessed God and in another the Gospell of Christ to note that whatsoever things the Father doth in his Church the same the Sonne doth also and that the Father doth not make knowne his will of mercie but by his Sonne that as in the Sonne he did reconcile the world unto himselfe so in the Son hee did reveale himselfe unto the world No man hath seene the Father at any time but the Sonne and he to whom the Sonne shall reveale him Christ is both the Matter and the Authour of the Gospell As in the worke of our Redemption he was both the sacrifice and the Priest to offer and the Altar to sanctifie it So in the dispensation of the Gospell Christ is both the Sermon and the Preacher and the Power which giveth blessing unto all He is the Sermon Wee preach Christ crucified saith the Apostle wee preach not our selves but Christ Iesus the Lord. And he is the Preacher See that yee refuse not him that speaketh Hee came and preached peace to those afarre off and to those that were nigh And lastly he is the Power which enliveneth his owne word The dead shall heare the voice of the Sonne of man and they that heare shall live for as the Father hath life in himselfe so hath he given to the Sonne to have life in himselfe My sheepe heare my voyce and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternall life c. He is the Lord of your faith we are but the Helpers of your joy He is the Master in the Church wee are but your servants for Iesus sake He is the chiefe Shepheard the Lord of the sheepe the sheepe are his owne we are but his Depositaries entrusted with the ministerie of reconciliation unto us is committed the dispensation of the Grace of God So then the Word is his but the service ours From whence both the Ministers of the Word and they which heare it may learne their severall duties First we should learne to speake as the Oracles of God as the Servants and Stewards of a higher Master whose Word it is which wee preach and whose Church it is which we serve We should therefore doe his worke as men that are set in his stead preach him and not our selves There can bee no greater sacrilege in the world than to put our owne image upon the Ordinances of Christ than to make another Gospell than we have received Saint Paul durst not please men because hee was the servant of Christ neither durst he preach himselfe because hee was the servant of the Church For hereby men doe even justle Christ out of his owne throne and as it were snatch the Scepter of his kingdome out of his owne hand boldly intruding upon that sacred and uncommunicable dignitie which the Father hath given to his Sonne onely which is to bee the Authour of his Gospell and the totall and adequate Object of all Evangelicall Preaching This sacrilege of selfe-preaching is committed three manner of wayes First when men make themselves the Authors of their owne preaching when they preach their owne inventions and make their owne braines the seminaries and forges of a new faith when they so glosse the pure Word of God as that withall they poison and pervert it This is that which the Prophet calleth lying visions and dreames of mens owne hearts which Saint Peter cals perverting or maketh crooked the rule of faith and Saint Paul the huckstering adulterating and using the Word of God deceitfully Which putteth mee in minde of a speech in the Prophet The Prophet is the snare of a fowler in all his wayes Birds wee know use to be caught with the same corne wherewith they are usually fed but then it is either adulterated with some venemous mixture which may intoxicate the bird or else put into a ginne which shall imprison it and such were the carnall Preachers in the Prophets and in Saint Pauls time who turned the truth of Christ into a snare that by that meanes they might bring the Church into bondage The occasions and originals of this perverse humour are first without men the seducements of Satan unto which by the just severity of God they are sometimes given over for the punishment of their owne and others sinnes Secondly within them upon which the other is grounded as Pride
in dying rising and reviving he became Lord both of the dead and living Rom. 14.9 Revel 5.12 And thus he is Lord in two respects First A Lord in Power and strength Power to forgive sinnes Power to quicken whom hee will Power to cleanse justifie and sanctifie Power to succor in temptations Power to raise from the dead Power to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him Power to hold fast his sheepe Power to cast out the accuser of the brethren Power to put downe all his enemies and to subdue all things unto himselfe Secondly A Lord in Authoritie To judge to anoint to imploy to command whom and what hee will He onely is Lord over our persons over our faith over our consciences To him onely we must say Lord save us lest wee perish to him onely wee must say Lord what will thou have me to doe And such a Lord Christ was to his owne fore-fathers They all did eate of the same Spirituall meate and all dranke of the same Spirituall drinke even of that rock which was Christ 1 Cor. 10.3 4. He was the substance of the Ceremonies the Doctrine of the Prophets the accomplishment of the Promises the joy and salvation of Patriarchs and Princes the desire and expectation of all flesh The Gospell to us a History and narration and therefore delivered by the hand of witnesses to them a promise and prediction and therefore delivered by the hand of Prophets The Apostles entered into the Prophets Labours and were servants in the same common salvation these as sowers and they as reapers these as preachers of the seed hoped and they as preachers of the same seed exhibited The ancient Iewes then were not saved by bare temporall promises neither was their faith ultimately fixed upon Ceremonies or earthly things but as their preachers had the same Spirit of Christ with ours so the Doctrine which they preached the faith and obedience which they required the salvation which they foretold was the same with ours As the same Sun illightens the starres above and the earth beneath so the same Christ was the Righteousnesse and salvation both of his fore-fathers and of his seed They without us could not be made perfect that is as I conceive their faith had nothing actually extant amongst themselves to perfect it but received all its forme and accomplishment from that better thing which was provided for and exhibited unto us For the Law that is the carnall Commandement and outward Ceremonies therein prescribed made nothing no grace no person perfect but the bringing in of a better hope that is of Christ who as hee is unto us the hope of glory so hee was unto them the hope of deliverance for he alone it is by whom wee draw nigh unto God doth perfect for ever those that are sanctified Heb. 7.19 Heb. 10.14 If Christ then be our Lord wee must trust in him and depend upon him for all our present subsistence and our future expectations For he never faileth those that wait upon him He that beleeveth in him shall not bee ashamed And indeed faith is necessary to call Christ Lord. No man can call Iesus Lord but by the Spirit Because other Lords are present with us they doe with their own eye oversee and by their owne visible power order and direct us in their service But Christ is absent from our senses Though I have knowne Christ after the flesh yet henceforth saith the Apostle know I him no more Therefore to feare and honor and serve him with all fidelity to yeeld more absolute and universall obedience to his commands though absent though tenderd unto us by the Ministerie of meane and despicable persons than to the threates and Scepters of the greatest Princes to labour that not only present but absent we may bee accepted of him to doe his hardest workes of selfe-deniall of overcomming and rejecting the assaults of the World of standing out against principalities powers and spirituall wickednes of suffering and dying in his service needs must there bee faith in the hart to see him present by his Spirit to set to our seale to the truth authoritie and Majesty of all his commands to heare the Lord speaking from heaven and to finde by the secret and powerfull revelations of his Spirit out of the word to the soule evident and invincible proofes of his living by the power of God and speaking mightily in the Ministery of his Word to our consciences Therefore when the Apostle had said Wee are absent from the Lord hee presently addes We walk by faith That is we labor to yeeld all service and obedience to this our Lord though absent because by faith which giveth presence to things unseen and subsistence to things that are yet but hoped wee know that hee is and that hee is a rewarder of those that diligently seeke him And indeed though every man call him Lord yet no man doth in truth and sincerity of heart so esteeme him but those who doe in this manner serve him and by faith walke after him If I be a Master saith the Lord where is my feare Malach. 1.6 It is not every one that saith Lord Lord but hee that doth my will that trembleth at my word that laboureth in my service who declares himselfe to be mine indeed For the heart of man cannot have two Masters because which way ever it goes it goes whole and undivided Wee cannot serve Christ and any thing else which stands in Competition with him First because they are Contrary Masters one cannot bee pleased or served without the disallowance of the other The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy that is grudgeth and cannot endure that any service should be done to the Lord. For the Friendship of the World is enmitie against God Iam. 4.4 5. And therefore saith the Apostle If any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him and the reason is because they are contrarie principles and have contrary Spirits and lusts and therefore must needs over-rule unto contrary services Secondly because both Masters have employments enough to take up a whole man Satan and the World have lusts to fill the whole head and heart of their most active and industrious servants for the Apostle saith that all which is in the World is lusts And the heart of man is wholy or most greedily set in him to doe that evill which it is tasked withall Eccle. 8.11 The all that is in man all his faculties all his affections the whole Compasse of his created abilities are all gone aside or turned backward there is no man no part in man that doth any good no not one Psal. 14.3.53.3 Christ likewise is a great Lord hath much more businesse than all the time or strength of his Servants can bring about Hee requireth the obedience of every thought of the heart 2 Cor. 10.5 Grace and edification and profit in all the words
an escape from himselfe the priviledge wherof hee did afterwards in vaine lay hold on And thus will Christ deale with his enemies at the last day Here they trample upon Christ in his word in his wayes in his members They make the Saints bow downe for them to goe over and make them as the pavements on the ground They tread under foote the bloud of the covenant and the Sanctuary of the Lord and put Christ to shame here and there their owne measure shall bee returned into their owne bosome they shall bee constrained to confesse as Adonibezek as I have done so God hath requited mee Yea this they shall suffer from the meanest of Christs members whom they here insulted over They shall then as witnesses and as it were co-assessors with Christ judge the very wicked Angels and tread them under their feet They shall take them captives whose captives they were and shall rule over their oppressors All they that despised them shall bow themselves at the soles of their feete They who gathered themselves against Sion and said let her bee defiled and let our eye see it shall themselves bee gathered as sheaves into the floore and the Daughter of Sion shall arise and thresh them with hornes of iron and with hooves of brasse Then saith the Church shee that is mine enemies shall see it shame shall cover her which said unto mee Where is the Lord thy God Mine eyes shall behold her Now shall shee bee troden downe as the mire of the streetes Even so let all thine enemies perish O Lord but let them which love thee bee as the Sunne when he goeth forth in his might Lastly herin wee may note the great Power and wisedome of Christ in turning the malice and mischiefe of his enemies into his owne use and advantage and in so ordering wicked men that though they intend nothing but extirpation and ruine to his Kingdome yet they shall bee usefull unto him and against their owne wills serviceable to those glorious ends in the accomplishing wherof hee shall bee admired by all those that beleeve As in a great house there is necessary use of vessels of dishonour destinated unto fordid and meane but yet dayly services so in the great house of God wicked men are his utensils and houshold instruments as footstooles and staves and vessels wherin there is no pleasure though of them there may bee good use The Assyrian was the Rod of his anger his axe wherwith hee pruned and his Saw wherwith hee threatned his people Pharoah was a vessell fitted to shew the glory and power of his name It is necessary saith our Savior that offences come and there must bee heresâ—es saith the Apostle Because as a skilfull Physitian ordereth poysonfull and destructive ingredients unto usefull services So the Lord by his wisedome doth make use of wicked mens persons and purposes to his owne most righteous and wonderfull ends secretly and mightily directing their wicked designes to the magnifying of his owne power and providence and to the furthering of his people in faith and godlinesse VERSE 2. The Lord shall send the Rod of thy strength out of Sion Rule thou in the mids of thine enemies THis Verse is a continuation of the former touching the Kingdome of Christ and it containes the forme of its spirituall administration Wherin is secretly couched another of the Offices of Christ namely his Propheticall Office For that is as it were the dispensation and execution of his regall Office in the militant Church The summe of this Administration consists in two principall things First in matters military for the subduing of enemies and for the defence and protection of his people Secondly in matters civill and judiciall for the government preservation and honor of his Kingdome And both these are in this Psalme The former in the latter part of this verse Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies The other in the third verse Thy people shall bee willing c. and the way of compassing and effecting in the former words of this verse The Lord shall send forth the Rod of thy strength out of Sion Every King hath his jura Regalia certaine roiall prerogatives and peculiar honors proper to his owne person which no man can use but with subordination unto him And if wee observe them wee shall finde many of them as exactly belong unto Christ in his Kingdome as to any secular prince in his First unto Kings doe belong Armamentaria publica the Magazins for military provision and the power and disposition of publike armes Therefore hee is said by the Apostle to Beare the sword because armes properly belong unto him and unto others under his allowance and protection So to Christ alone doth belong and in him onely is to bee found the publike armorie of a Christian man The weapons of our warfare are mighty onely through him Nay hee is himselfe the armour and panoply of a Christian and therefore wee are commanded to put on the Lord Iesus Againe via publica is via regia the high way is the Kingâ— way wherin every man walketh freely under the protection of his Soveraigne So that Law of faith and obedience under which wee are to walke which S. Paul calleth the Law of Christ is by S. Iames called Lex Regia a roiall Law and a Law of Libertie in which while any man continueth hee is under the protection of the promises and of the Angels of Christ. Againe Bona adespota seu incerti Domini Lands that are concealed and under the evident claime of no other person or Lord doe belong unto the Prince as hee that hath the supreme and universall dominion in his countries And this is most certainly true of Christ in his Kingdome if any man can once truly say Lord I am not the servant of any other Master no other King hath the rightfull dominion or peaceable possession of my heart hee may most truly from thence inferre Therefore Lord I am thy servant and therefore Lord my heart is thine True it is Lord our God that other Lords besides thee have had dominion over us but now by thee onely will wee make mention of thy name Againe Vectigaliae and Census Tributes and Customes and Testifications of homage and fidelity are personall prerogatives belonging unto Princes and as the Apostle saith Due unto them for that Ministerie and Office which under God they attend upon So in Christs Kingdome there is a worship which the Psalmist saith is Due unto his name They which came unto the Temple which was a type of Christ were not to come empty handed but to bring Testimonies of their reverence and willing subjection unto that worship When Abraham met Melchisedek a figure of Christ as from him hee received a blessing so unto him hee gave an expression of a loyall heart the tenth of the spoiles When the people of Israel entred into
constant to any rules Now this division of the minde stands thus The heart on the one side is taken up with the pleasures of sinne for the present and on the other with the desires of salvation for the future and now according as the workings and representations of the one or other are at the time more fresh and predominant in like maner is sinne for that time either cherished or suppressed Many men at a good Sermon when the matter is fresh and newly presented while they are looking on their face in the glasse or in any extremitie of sicknesse when the provisions of lust doe not relish for the present when they have none but thoughts of salvation to depend upon are very resolute to make promises vowes and professions of better living but when the pleasures of sin grow strong to present themselves again they returne like a man recover'd of an ague with more stomacke and greedinesse to their lusts againe As water which hath been stop'd for a while rusheth with the more violence when its passages are opened A double heart is like the boles of a Scale according as more weight is put into one or other so are they indifferently over-rul'd unto either motion up or downe When I see a vapour ascend out of the earth into the aire why should I not thinke that it will never leave rising till it get up to heaven and yet because the motion is not naturall but caused either by expulsion from a heat within or by attraction from a heat without when the cause of that ascent is abated and the matter gathers together into a thicker consistence it growes heavie and fals downe againe Even such is the affection of those faint unresolved desires of men who like Agrippa are but halfe-perswaded to believe in Christ. But now lastly wee must observe that in the day of Christs power when he by his word and Spirit worketh effectually in the hearts of men they are then made free-will offerings Totally willing to obey and serve him in all conditions The heart of every one stirreth him up and his Spirit maketh him willing for the worke and service of the Lord Exod. 35.21 They yeeld themselves unto the Lord and their members as weapons of righteousnesse unto him 2 Chron. 30.8 Rom. 6.19 They offer and present themselves to God as a living Sacrifice and therefore they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an oblation sanctified by the Holy Ghost Rom. 12.1 Rom. 15.16 Therefore they are said to come unto Christ by the vertue of his Fathers teaching Ioh. 6.45 To runne unto him Esai 55.5 To gather themselves together under him as a common head and to flow or flock together with much mutuall encouragement unto the mountaine of the Lord Hos. 1.11 Esai 2.2 3. To waite upon him in his Law Esai 42.4 To enter into a sure covenant and to write and seale it Nehem. 9.38 In one word To serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing minde 1 Chron. 28.9 when the heart is perfect undivided and goeth all together the minde will bee willing to serve the Lord. This willingnesse of Christs people sheweth it selfe in two things First in begetting most cordiall and constant Enmitie against all the enemies of Christ never holding any league or intelligence with them but being alwayes ready to answere the Lord as David did Saul Thy servant will goe and fight with this Philistime Hee that is a voluntary in Christs armies is not disheartned with the potencie policie malice subtlety or prevailing faction of any of his adversaries Hee is contented to deny himselfe to renounce the friendship of the world to bid defiance to the allurements of Satan to smile upon the face of danger to hate father and mother and land and life to be cruel to himselfe and regardlesse of others for his masters service Through honor and dishonor through evill report and good report through a Sea and a wildernesse through the hottest services and strongest oppositions will hee follow the Lambe whither soever he goeth though he receive the word in much affliction yet hee will receive it with joy too Secondly in begetting most loving constant and deare affections to the mercy grace glory and wayes of God an universall conformity unto Christ our head who was contented to take upon him the forme of a servant to have his eare bored and his will subjected unto the will of his Father I delight to doe thy will ô my God yea thy Law is within my heart Psal. 40.8 And as hee was so are all his in this world of the same minde judgement Spirit conversation and therefore of the same will too Now this deare and melting affection of the heart toward Christ and his wayes whereby the soule longeth after him and hasteth unto him is wrought by severall principles First by the Conviction of our naturall Estate and a through humiliation for the same Pride is ever the principle of disobedience They were the proud men who said unto Ieremie thou speakest falsly the Lord hath not sent thee Ier. 43.2 And they were the proud men who hardned their necks and withdrew the shoulder and would not heare and refused to obey Nehem. 9.16 17 29. A man must bee first brought to denie himselfe before hee will bee willing to follow Christ and to lug a crosse after him A man must first humble himselfe before he will walke with God Mic. 6.8 The poore onely receive the Gospell The hungrie onely finde sweetnesse in bitter things Extremities will make any man not onely willing but thankfull to take any course wherin hee may recover himselfe and subsist againe when the soule findes it selfe in darknesse and hath no light and begins to consider whither darknesse leads it that it is even now in the mouth of Hell under the paw of the roaring lion under the guilt of sinne the curse of the Law and the hatred and wrath of God it cannot chuse but most willingly pursue any probability and with most inlarged affections meete any tender of deliverance Suppose wee that a Prince should cause some bloudy malefactor to bee brought forth should set before his eyes all the racks and tortures which the wit of man can invent to punish prodigions offenders withall and should cause him to tast some of those extremities and then in the middest of his howling and anguish should not onely reach out a hand of mercy to deliver him but should further promise him upon his submission to advance him like Ioseph from the iron which enters into his soule unto publike honor and service in the state would not the heart of such a man bee melted into thankfulnesse and with all submission resigne it selfe unto the mercy and service of so gracious a Prince Now the Lord doth not onely deale thus with sinners doth not onely cause them by the report of his word and by the experience of their own guilty hearts to feel the weight fruitlesnesse
temptation and infirmitie and so may be either in part the sin of another that tempteth us or at least not the sinne of our whole selves but of those remainders of corruption which dwel within us But our love is all our owne Satan can but offer a temptation the heart it selfe must love it and love is strong as death it worketh by the strength of the whole man and therefore ever such as the will is which is the seat of love such is the service too And the reason is First because the will is the first mover and the master-wheele in spirituall workes that which regulateth all the rest and keepeth them right and constant that which holdeth together all the faculties of the soule and bodie in the execution of Gods will In which sense amongst others I understand that of the Apostle That love is the bond of perfection because when love resideth in the heart it will put together every facultie to doe that worke of God perfectly which it goes about And therefore by a like expression it is called The fulfilling of the Law because love aimes still at the highest and at the best in that thing which it loves it is ever an enemie to defects He that loves learning will never stop and say I have enough in this likewise love is as death And he that loves grace will be still Ambitious to abound in the worke of the Lord and to presse forward unto perfection to make up that which is wanting to his faith to be sanctified throughout to bring forth more fruit to walke in all pleasing to be holy and unblameable and unreproveable without spot or wrinkle It is an absurd thing in religion to dote upon mediocrities of grace in eo non potest esse nimium quod esse maximum debet Hee that with all the exactnesse and rigour of his heart can never gather together all grace can surely never have too much In false religions no man so much magnified as he that is strictest that Papist which is most cruel to his flesh most assiduous at his beads most canonicall in his houres most macerated with superstitious penance most frequently prostrated before his idols is of all other most admired for the greatest Saint O why should not an holy strictnesse be as much honoured as a superstitious why should not exactnesse purity and a contending unto perfection be as much pursued in a true as in a false religion Why should not every man strive to be filled with grace since he can never have enough till hee have it all till he is brimme-full Hee that truely loves wealth would be the richest and he that loves honour would be the highest of any other certainly grace is in it selfe more lovely than any of these things Why then should not every man strive to be most unlike the evill world and to be more excellent than his neighbour to be holy as God is holy to be as Christ himselfe was in this world to grow up in unity of faith and in the knowledge of him unto a perfect man Certainely if a man once set his will and his heart upon grace he will never rest in mediocrities he will labour to abound more and more he will never think himselfe to have apprehended but forgetting the things which are behinde hee will reach forth to those things which are before him for all the desires of the heart are strong and will over-rule any other naturall desire The griefe of Davids heart made him forget to eat his bread The desire of Christs heart to convert the Samaritan woman made him carelesse of his owne hunger It is my meate to doe the will of him that sent me and to finish his worke A true heart will goe on to finish the worke which it hath begunne The wicked sâ—eepe not saith Salomon except they have done mischiefe And the enemies of Saint Paul provided to to stop the clamors and demands of an empty stomack with a solemne vow that they would neither eate nor drinke till they had slaine Paul Lust never gives over till it finish sin and therefore the Love of Christ should never give over till it finish Grace Secondly because God is more honoured in the obedience of the will than of the outward man Humane restraints may rule this but nothing but Grace can rule the other for herein we acknowledge God to bee the searcher of hearts the discerner of secret thoughts the Iudge and Lord over our consciences Whatsoever ye doe saith the Apostle doe it heartily as to the Lord and not to men Noting unto us that a man doth never respect the Lord in any service which commeth not willingly and from the inner man Now he worketh in vaine and loseth all that he hath wrought who doth not worke for him who is master of the businesse he goes about and who onely doth reward it Therefore saith the Apostle Doe it heartily as to the Lord knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the Reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. He onely is the pay-master of such kinde of worke and therefore doe it onely as to him so that he may approve and reward it Before I leave this point touching the willingnesse of Christs people here is a great case and of frequent occurrence to be resolved Whether those who are truely of Christs people may not have feares torments uncomfortablenesse wearinesse unwillingnesse in the wayes of God Saint Iohn in generall states the case There is no feare in love but perfect love casteth out feare Because feare hath torment 1 Ioh. 4.18 so that it seemes where there is torment and wearinesse there is no love for the cleering of this case I shall set downe some few positions First in generall where there is true obedience there is ever a willing and a free spirit in this degree at the least a most deepe desire of the heart and serious endevour of the spirit of a man to walke in all well-pleasing towards God a longing for such fulnesse of Grace and enlargement of soule as may make a man fit to runne the way of Gods Commandements Secondly where there is this will yet there may upon other reasons be such a feare as hath paine and torment in it and that in two respects First there may be a feare of Gods wrath the soule of a righteous man may be surpriz'd with some glimpses and apprehensions of his most heavie displeasure he may conceive himselfe set up as Gods mark to shoot at Iob 7.20 that the poisoned arrowes and terrors of the wrath of God doe sticke fast upon him Iob 6.4 that his transgressions are sealed up and reserv'd against him Iob 14.17 The hot displeasure of the Lord may even vexe his bones and make his soule sore within him Psal. 6.1 2 3. Hee may conceive himselfe forgotten and cast out by God surprized with fearefulnesse trembling and the horrour of death Psal. 13.1 Psal. 55.4 5.
to the wayes of grace as there is in any The consideration whereof may justly humble us in our reflexion upon our selves whom neither the promises of heaven can allure nor the bloud and passions of Christ perswade nor the flames of hell affright from our sinnes till the Lord by the sweet and gracious power of his holy â—â—irit subdue and conquer the soule unto himselfe If a man should rise from the dead and truly relate unto the conscience the woefull and everlasting horrors of hell if a mans naturall capacity were made as wide to apprehend the wrath fury and vengeance of a provoked God the foulenesse guilt and venome of a soule fuller of sins than the heavens of stars as the most intelligent divels of hell doe conceive them If an Archangell or Seraphim should be sent from heaven to reveale unto the soule of a naturall man the infinite glory of Gods presence the full pleasures of his right hand the admirable beauty of his wayes the intimate conformity and resemblance between his divine nature in himselfe the Image of his holinesse in the creature the unsearchable and bottomlesse love of Christ in his Incarnation and sufferings the endlesse incomprehensible vertue pretiousnesse of his bloud and prayers yet so desperately evill is the heart of man that if after all this God should not afford the blessed operation and concurrence of his owne gratious Spirit the revelation of his own arme and power upon the soule to set on those instrumentall causes it would be invincible by any evidence which all the cries and flames of hell which all the armies and hosts of heaven were able to beget There is no might or power able to snatch a man out of the hands of his sin but onely Gods Spirit Notable are the expressions which the holy Ghost every where useth to set forth this wretched condition of the heart by nature wilfulnesse and selfe-willednesse We will not hearken we will not have this man to raigne over us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 many wils in one Rebellion and stubbornenesse stoutnesse of heart contestation with God and gain-saying his Word Impudence stiffenesse and hard-heartednesse mischievous profoundnes and deepe reasonings against the Law of God pertinacie resolvednesse and abiding in mischiefe they hold fast deceit obstinacie and selfe-obduration They have hardned their neckes that they might not heare Impotencie immoveablenesse and undocilenesse their heart is uncircumcised they cannot heare there is none that understandeth or seeketh after God scorne and slighting of the messages of the Lord where is his Word Where is the promise of his comming Incredulity and belying the Lord in his Word saying it is not he Who hath beleeved our report and to whom is the arme of the Lord revealed Wrestling resisting and fighting with the Word rejecting the counsell of God vexing and striving with his holy Spirit ye have alwayes resisted the holy Ghost Rage and fiercenesse of disordred affections despising of goodnesse trayterous heady and high-minded thoughts Brutishnes of immoderate lust the untamed madnesse of an enraged beast without any restraint of reason or moderation In one word a hell and gulfe of unsearchable mischiefe which is never satisfied It is impossible that any reasonable man duly considering all these difficulties should conceive such an heart as this to be overcome with meere morall perswasions or by any thing lesse than the mightie power of Gods owne grace To him therefore we should willingly acknowledge all our conversion and salvation So extremely impotent are we O Lord unto any good so utterly unprofitable and unmeet for our Masters use and yet so strongly hurried by the impulsion of our owne lust towards hell that no precipice nor danger no hope nor reward no man or Angell is able to stop us without thine owne immediate power and therefore Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy name onely be attributed the glory of our conversion Againe by this consideration we should be provoked to stirre up and call together all our strength in the Lords service to recover our mispent time to use the more contention and violence for the kingdome of heaven when wee consider how abundant wee have beene in the workes of sinne in the pursuing of vast desires which had neither end nor hope in them O how happie a thing would it be if men could serve God with the same proportion of vigour and willingnesse of mind as they served Satan and themselves before I was never tired in that way I went on indefatigably towards hell like a swift Dromedary or an untamed heifer I pursued those evill desires which had vanity for their object and misery for their end no fruit but shame and no wages but death But in the service of Christ I have a price before mee an abiding Citie an enduring substance an immarcescible crowne to fix the highest of my thoughts upon I have the promises of Christ to strengthen me his Angels to guard his Spirit to lead his Word to illighten me In one word I have a soule to save and a God to honour And why should not I apply my power to serve him who did reach forth his owne power to convert me A long way I have to goe and I must doe it in a spanne of time so many temptations to overcome so many corruptions to shake off so many promises to beleeve so many precepts to obey so many mysteries to study so many workes to finish and so little time for all my weaknesses on one side my businesses on another mine enemies and my sinnes round about me take away so much that I have scarce any left to give to God And yet alas if I could serve God on earth as he is served in heaven if I had the strength of Angels and glorified Saints to doe his will it would come infinitely short of that good will of God in my redemption or of his power in my conversion If God should have said to all the Angels in heaven there is such a poore wretch posting with full strength towards hell goe stand in his way and drive him back againe all those glorious armies would have beene too few to blocke up the passageâ— betweene sin and heâ— without the concurrence of Gods owne Spirit and power they could have returned none other answer but this we have done all we can to perswade and turne him but he will not be turned If then the Lord did put to his owne power to save me great reason there is that I should set my weake and impotent faculties to honour him especially since hee hath beene pleased both to mingle with his service great joy liberty and tranquillity here and also to set before it a full a sure and a great reward for my further animation and encouragement thereunto The fourth thing observed in this Verse was the attire wherein Christs people should attend
mans whole selfe to be consecrated as a kinde of first fruit unto God being sanctified by the Holy Ghost There is no man actually belonging unto the Kingdome of Christ who hath not all these holy affections wrought in him and maketh conscience of them as of his calling and the duties of his life Wee see then that Holinesse is the badge of Christs subjects they are called The people of his Holinesse Israel was holinesse unto the Lord and the first fruits of his increase consecrated unto him and his service as a kinde of first fruits The livery of Christs servants is a parcell of the same holy Spirit with which his owne humane nature was clothed All the vessels and ministeriall instruments of the Tabernacle were anointed with the holy oyle and the house of the Lord was an house of holinesse to signifie that every Christian should bee by the Spirit of God sanctified because he is a Temple and every member because it is a vessell and instrument for the Masters use The Spirit of holinesse is that which distinguisheth and as it were marketh the sheepe of Christ from the wicked of the world yee are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise yee have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God Holinesse setteth us apart for Gods service for his presence and fruition protecteth and priviledgeth us from the wrath to come in the day when he shall separate betweene the pretious and the vile and make up his jewels without this no man can either serve or see or escape God either doe his will enjoy his favour or decline his fury All our services without this are but Dung and who would thanke that man for his service who with wonderfull officiousnesse should bring nothing but heapes of dung into his house If a man could powre out of his veines rivers of bloud and offer up every day as many prayers as thoughts unto God if his eyes were melted into teares and his knees hardned into horne with devotion yet all this if it be not the fruit of holinesse but of will-worship or superstition or opinion of merit and righteousnesse it is but as dung in Gods sight Wherefore lyest thou upon thy face there is an accursed thing in the campe What-ever sinne thy conscience tels thee lyeth next thy heart and warmes it so that thou art unwilling to part from it take heed of bringing it into Gods presence or provoking him with thy services for he will throw them backe like dung into thy face What hath my beloved to doe in mine house seeing shee hath wrought lewdnesse with many What hast thou to doe to take my Covenant in thy mouth seeing thou hatest instruction Who hath required this at your hands to tread in my Courts Bring no more vaine oblations incense is an abomination unto mee c. Till a man put away the evill of his doings and cleanse himselfe all his worship of God is but mocking of him and prophaning his ordinances In vaine did the Marriners pray while Ionah was in the ship in vaine did Ioshua intercede while the accursed thing was in the campe A man shall lose all which he hath wrought in Gods worship and have neither thankes nor reward for it so long as he harboureth any uncleane affection in his heart and will not yeeld to part from it Any sinne which wasteth the conscience as every great and presumptuous sinne doth in whomsoever it is unqualifieth that person for the kingdome of heaven Grace maketh a beleever sure of salvation but it doth not make him wretchlesse or secure in living though there be not an extinguishment yet there is a suspension of his right upon any black and notorious fall that man must not dare to lay claime to heaven that hath dared in a presumptuous manner to provoke the Lord. Our holinesse is not the cause of our salvation but yet it is the way thereunto he which by any wasting and presumptuous sin putteth himselfe out of that way must by repentance turne into it againe before hee can hope to finde out heaven for without holinesse no man shall see the Lord. He that is an hundred miles from his owne house notwithstanding his proprietie thereunto shall yet never actually enter therein till he have travelled over the right way which leads unto it There is an Order à primo ad ultimum in the salvation of men many intermediate passages betweene their vocation and their glory Justification repentance sanctification as a scale or ladder betwixt earth and heaven he that fals from his holinesse and purity of conscience though hee be not quite downe the ladder and hath the whole worke to begin againe as much as ever yet doubtlesse he shall never get to the top till he recover the step from which he fell And if in this case it be true that the righteous shall scarcely be saved O then where shall that man appeare whom God at the last shall finde without this garment and seale upon him When there was a tempest he who slept and least thought of it was throwne into the sea and when the day of wrath shall come those that have neglected their estate most shall doubtlesse be in the greatest danger And therefore we should labour to goe to Gods throne with our garments and our marke upon us for all other endowments our learning our honours our parts our preferments our earthly hopes and dependencies will none follow us but wee shall live to see either them or the comforts of them depart Achitophel had wisdome like an oracle of God but he liv'd to see it bid him quite farewell for hee died like a very foole or childe who when he may not have his owne will will be reveng'd upon himselfe Haman had more honour than the ambition of a subject usually aspires unto and yet he liv'd to see it bid him farewell and died the basest death which himselfe could devise for his most hated and despised enemie Iehoiakim a King liv'd to see his Crowne take its leave and was buried with the buriall of an Asse and drag'd like carrion out of the gates of the Citie There will be nothing at last left for any man to cast his trust upon but God or Angels or our fellowes and if then God be against us though all which remains were on our side alas what is an handfull of stubble to a world full of fire but yet there will not be that advantage but the combate must be single betweene God and a sinner The good Angels rejoyce to doe Gods will and the wicked will rejoyce to doe man any mischiefe these will be only readie to accuse and those to gather the wicked together unto the wrath of him that sitteth on the Throne O what would a man give then for that holinesse which hee now despiseth what covenants would such a man be content to
it It cannot be that a creature should of it selfe and out of the corruption of its owne reason and judgement choose to relinquish the service of him to whom it is naturally and unavoidably subject and by that meanes become altogether unprofitable abominable and unfit for the Masters use and for those holy ends to which it was originally ordered but it must withall incurre the displeasure and thereupon provoke the revenge of that righteous Creator who out of great reasons had put it under such a service Fifthly By all this which hath hitherto beene spoken it appeares that God is not unjust but most holy and righteous First in making a Law for man to observe when hee forbade the eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evill to shew that man had nothing by personall immediate and underived right but all by donation and indulgence Any Law God might justly make the obedience whereof hee gave the creature an originall power to performe by reason of the naturall and necessary subjection of the creature unto him Secondly in annexing a curse and penalty to the violation of that Law which for the declaration of his glorious justice hee might most righteously doe because of the inevitable demerit or liablenesse unto censure from the disobedience of that Law resulting Thirdly in making man in such a mutable condition as in the which he might stand or fall by his owne election because hee would be obeyed by judgement and free choice not by fatall necessitie or absolute determination Sixthly here then comes in the fall of man being a wilfull or chosen transgression of a Law under the precepts whereof he was most justly created and unto the malediction wherof he was as necessarily righteously subject if hee transgressed for as by being Gods creature he was subject to his will so by being his prisoner he was as justly subject unto his wrath and that so much the more by how much the precept was more just the obedience more easie the transgression more unreasonable and the punishment more certaine Now by this fall of man there came great mischiefe into the world and intolerable injury was done by the Creature to him that made him First his dominion and authoritie in his holy command was violated Secondly his justice truth and power in his most righteous threatnings were despised Thirdly his most pure and perfect Image wherein man was created in righteousnesse and true holinesse was utterly defaced Fourthly his glory which by an active service the creature should have brought unto him was lost and despoiled So that now things will not returne to their primitive order and perfection againe till these two things be first effected First a Satisfaction of Gods justice And secondly a Reparation of mans nature which two must needs be effected by such a middle and common person as hath both zeale towards God that he may be satisfied and compassion toward man that he may be repaired such a person as having mans guilt and punishment on him translated may satisfie the justice of God and as having a fulnesse of Gods Spirit and holinesse in him may sanctifie and repaire the nature of man And this person is the Priest here spoken of by David Here the learned frame a kinde of conflict in Gods holy Attributes and by a libertie which the Holy Ghost from the language of holy Scripture alloweth them they speake of God after the manner of men as if he were reduced unto some straits and difficulties by the crosse demands of his severall attributes Justice called upon him for the condemnation of a sinfull and therefore worthily accursed creature which demand was seconded by his truth to make good that threatning In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death Mercy on the other side pleaded for favour and compassion towards man wofully seduced and overthrowne by Satan and peace for reconcilement and pacification betweene an offended Judge and an undone creature Hereupon the infinite wisdome and counsell of the blessed Trinitie found out a way which the Angels of heaven gaze on with admiration and astonishment how to reconcile these different pleas of his attributes together A Priest then is resolv'd upon one of the same blessed Trinitie who by his Fathers ordination his owne voluntary susception and the holy Spirits sanctification should be fitted for the businesse He was to be both a Surety and a Head over sinfull men to suffer their punishments and to sanctifie their natures in the relation of a surety to pay mans debt unto God and in the relation of an Head to restore Gods Image unto man and thus in him mercie and truth have met together righteousnesse and peace have kissed each other Psal. 85.10 So then the necessitie which man fallen hath of this Priest here spoken of is grounded upon the sweet harmony and mutuall kisses of Gods Mercy Truth Righteousnesse and Peace which will more distinctly appeare by considering three things First God did purpose not utterly to destroy his creature and that principally for these two reasons as we may observe out of the Scriptures First his owne free and everlasting love and that infinite delight which he hath in mercy which disposeth him abundantly to pardon and to exercise loving kindnesse in the earth Mic. 7.18 Exod. 34.6 7. Psalm 103.8 Esay 55.7 Ier. 9.24 Secondly his delight to be actively glorified by his creatures voluntary service and subjection Herein is my Father glorified that you beare much fruit Iohn 15.8 I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that hee turne from his way and live Ezek. 33.11 He delighteth most in unbloudy conquests when by his patience goodnesse and forbearance he subdueth the hearts affections and consciences of men unto himselfe so leading them unto repentance and bringing downe their thoughts unto the obedience of Christ he loveth to see things in their primitive rectitude and beautie and therefore esteemeth himselfe more glorified in the services than in the sufferings of men Hee loveth to have a Church and generation of men which shall serve him in the middest of all his enemies The Lord loveth the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Iacob Psalm 87.2 namely because hee was there more solemnely worshipped and served And therefore he resolved not to destroy all men lest there should be no Religion upon the earth When the Angels fell they fell not all many were still left to glorifie him actively in their service of him but when Adam fell all mankinde fell in him so that there was no tree of this Paradise left to bring forth any fruit unto God and this is most certaine God had rather have his trees for fruit than for fuell and for this reason he was pleased to restore mankinde againe These are the causes why the Lord would not utterly destroy man but these alone shew not the necessitie of a Priest to come betweene God and man