be burned 1 Cor. 3.12 15. There are many that were of differing opinions when here on Earth who are all of one mind now in Heaven Therefore he that condemns Religion because of the differences of them that fear God shall be condemned to Hell as abiding in the estate of them that fear him not Fifthly If differences in Religion be the cause why you owne not Religion then why do you not owne it so far as all good men are agreed in it though there is difference in some things yet there are many and they the greatest things wherein they are all agreed All are agreed that he that believes not shall be damned Mark 16.16 and why then do you not close with Jesus Christ all are agreed that without sincere repentance and a sound conversion there can be no Salvation why then do ye not shake off your lusts and turn from sin to God all are agreed of the necessity of fearing God Eccles 12.13 Tit. 2.12 Heb. 12.14 and keeping his Commandments of living soberly righteously and godly in this present world and that without holiness no man shall ever see the Lord and therefore why are not these things practised which have an universal consent if some lesser matters are accounted doubtful and disputable yet these are things without all controversie Sin must be forsaken self must be denyed lust must be mortified the world must be renounced Christ must be your King and Lord he must have his throne in your hearts his commands must be obeyed or you can never be saved This is the plain way to Heaven and there is no other but what runs into this And to this you have the consent of all good men that ever heard of the Gospel Now if differing opinions about lesser matters have kept you off from medling with them why should not universal consent ingage you to mind these great and necessary things whereon your Peace your Life your Souls your Eternal Salvation and Happiness do depend especially considering this that if you neglect the great things of Salvation Heb. 2.3 you can never hope to escape nor find shelter from the wrath of God under so vain a plea as the differences about Religion Obj. 7. Another thing that hinders young ones from taking up the Yoke of Christ is the easiness of repenting and turning to God hereafter God is full of mercy and will not refuse or reject a penitent sinner at any time no though at the last hour witness the thief upon the cross how little time had he for repentance and yet he obtained mercy and why may not I Answ This Thief may in a sense be said to be a greater thief dead than living The example of his repentance and conversion in a dying hour hath stole away many a purpose many a season of grace many a resolution nay many a Soul which hath taken incouragement from his late conversion to put off the great business of Salvation to the last Now to prevent this undoing and Soul-destroying mischief I would say six things concerning this example 1. This is an example without a parallel and therefore not to be urged in this case God did this once as one says that none might despair and but once that none might presume You have not such another instance in all the Scripture which is a story of five thousand Years and yet in all that time we have but one instance of a man that repented when he came to dye and will any man dare to adventure his Soul upon such an instance as that you read Acts 27.44 that the Ship wherein Paul failed was ran aground and yet not one man lost some by swimming and some on boards and some on broken pieces of the Ship they all escaped safe to land Now would not that man be accounted a mad man that should run his Vessel a ground upon the incouragement of this success 2. It is a pattern without a precept Where is any command that incourages the dedicating our youth to sin and lust and our old age to repentance is there any precept of God that indulges to a youthful remisness in the great business of Religion no not one but the quite contrary I dare not deny but God may be found in the last hour but no man ought therefore to put off seeking him till then because the rule is Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth before the evil days come and the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them Ec. 12.1 3. It is a precedent without a promise shew me one promise that ever God made to accept such a repentance as this And therefore it is a very hopeless attempt nay a down-right presumption to expect mercy without a promise of mercy or in a way not promised is presumption 4. It was a miraculous work upon a peculiar reason to wit to shew forth his Godhead even when his humane nature was dying There was never such a concurrence of works of wonder in any age of the world as at that time the Sun losing his light the Air darkened the Earth quaking the Rocks rent the Graves opened many Dead raised and among the rest this was one a Thief while hanging upon the Cross converted this was to manifest his deity under his greatest suffering and to take away the ignominy of his cross so that we may as one says almost as well expect a second crucifying of Christ as a second conversion of this nature 5. Was there not another Thief at the same time upon the Cross and yet he repented not though he had much means to help him in the work his fellow recanting of his sin becoming a true convert reproving his sin calling him to repent owning the Lord Christ praying for mercy yet notwithstanding all this he repented not but as he lived so he dyed in his sins and lusts And therefore thou hast greater cause to fear being cast off with the impenitent Thief than to be received to mercy with this signal Convert especially considering that there is but this one instance in all the Bible and for this one that was received to mercy thousands and thousands have been cast off 6. This Thief upon the Cross is an example pleaded but not imitated and so we make that a dangerous temptation which would otherwise be an incouraging instance You that urge this for an example do but imitate it and then you 'l make a right use of it For we don't find that this Thief was ever called to believe till then and therefore so soon as he heard of Christ he believes in him and ventures his Soul upon his righteousness And God requires no more than that we would answer his call and accept the first tenders of Grace If God calls when it is late he will accept late conversion and therefore Christ takes that for an answer in Matt. 20. Matt. 20.6 when he asks them why stand ye
to the Divine Will Holiness is the being of the Spiritual Life in us Obedience is the operation of that Life according to the degrees of it in the Soul For there is a great difference in the degrees of Spiritual Life in Believers it is variously Communicated to one more to another less All Believers have it but some have it more abundantly Joh. 10.10 and according to the measure of the life of holiness in us such is our strength to obey and according to the strength of our obedience such will the evidence of our subjection to Christ and his Yoke be 2. What greater evidence can there be of our subjection to Christ then that which is the proper and essential act of the new creature and that obedience is It is not more essential to the eye to see nor to the ear to hear then it is for a renewed heart to obey God A Believer doth but act his nature in obeying and that appears from that pleasure and delight which so far as renewed he takes in it Acts of nature are acts of delight hence that of the Apostle Rom. 7.22 I delight in the law of God after the inner man And that of David I delight to do thy will O my God And whence this delight arises the next words tell you Thy Law is within my heart Psal 40.8 The principle of grace within makes obedience to the law of God a delight and delight in obedience to the law of God proves the truth of that Principle within All delight in doing arises from a suitableness between the Principle and the Precept the heart and the work If there are precepts injoyned us and a defect of Principles in us much may be done but there can be no delight in doing the commands will be grievous But it is not every kind of Obedience that can prove the truth of our subjection to Christ A hypocrite may go far in the outward part of obedience he may have a form of Godliness 2 Tim. 3.5 and what is that but a resemblance of a Christian in all the outward lineaments of Godliness He may be able to do all external acts of obedience in common with Believers But there are some things essential to Believers as such the goodness whereof doth adhere intrinsecally to this work done as to love God to fear God to trust in God to delight in God These mingled with our outward duties make them to be obedience of the right kind and these no hypocrite can attain to and therefore cannot perform any one act of true obedience For obedience consists in a full conformity to the will of God as revealed in his word from a Principle of holiness within Many profess subjection to Christ in word but deny it in works calling him Lord Lord but not doing the things which he sayes Luk. 6.46 And many have flexible knees but stiff necks bowing the former to the name Jesus but will not bow the latter to the Yoke of Jesus being abominable disobedient and to every good work reprobate Tit. 1.16 There is no such Testimony of your being under the Yoke of Christ as conformity to the will of Christ By this then you may make a judgment in this matter When the spies returned from searching the Land of Canaan they brought with them a cluster of Grapes and Pomegranates and Figs Numbers 13.23 and when they came to give an account of their search they shewed them the fruit of the Land and said surely it flowes with milk and hony and this is the fruit of it ver 27. q. d. the Land that yields such good fruit must needs be a good Land The fruit of being under Christs yoke is dying to sin and living to God in a Holy Obedience And by these two Characters your State may certainly be known The heart that yields such fruit is surely a good heart Pray observe that of the Apostle Rom. 6.16 Know ye not that to whom ye yield your selves servants to obey his servants ye are whom ye obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness It is not being Baptized into the name of Christ nor taking up the outward profession of Christ and Religion that can distinguish between the servants of Christ and Satan Here is a surer rule He that obeys sin is the servant of sin and he that obeys Christ is the servant of Christ CHAP. XV. Exhorts to thankfulness to God who inclined the heart to this Yoke The wisdom of taking up this Yoke manifested THE last use shall be of Exhortation and I shall direct it to two sorts of persons 1. To them that have taken up the yoke of Christ in their youth 2. To such as have never yet taken up the yoke of Christ to this day Exhortat 1. To them that have taken up the yoke of Christ in their youth that have made it their work to mind Religion betimes to remember their Creator in the dayes of their youth There are three duties I would commend to such by way of direction Duty 1. The first is thankfulness Though this contributes nothing to God yet it is that which he is delighted with It shews the honesty and integrity of the heart in ascribing effects to their proper causes Thankfulness diminishes the creature to himself and magnifies God It shews a man looks upon himself as nothing and God as all Therefore bless God and be thankful for this great mercy Is there not a cause For 1. How came you to take up Christs yoke Rom. 6.17 Isa 26.13 Time was when ye were the servants of sin other Lords had dominion over you Time was when you were slaves to lust How came you to take up the yoke of Christ It was not natural for by nature we are enemies to grace and holiness It was the fruit of the wisdom of God impressed upon the Soul it was he that gave thee counsel to make this choice and therefore bless him So David sayes in the like case I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel Psa 16.7 Counsel for what to take the Lord for his Lord and that implies taking up his yoke O my soul thou hast said to the Lord thou art my Lord ver â— thou art my Lord that implies subjection Thou hast said thou art my Lord that implyes a Covenant resignation So that here he chooses God for his portion and chief good and for his highest Lord and how he came to make this choice he tells you ver 7. It was the Lord that counselled him to this and therefore he resolves the praise and glory shall be to him I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel Go you and do likewise bless the Lord who hath perswaded and over power'd your hearts to close with Christ For no man comes to Christ except the Father draw him Joh. 6.44 2. It is the wisest choice that ever you made to choose Christ for your Lord and
our chief good is in the enjoyment of him and therefore whatever tends to the promoting of our enjoyment of God that is to be reckoned as good be it in it self pleasant or ungrateful sweet or bitter For as nothing is good but what is from the chief good so nothing is so but what conduces to the fruition of him and therefore That may be good in its use which is not Concl. 4 good in its nature Afflictions may be regretful to the flesh because of present smart but they may be very conducing to the soul because of after benefit No affliction at the present seems to be joyous but grievous nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby Heb. 12.11 The end puts a loveliness into those means which otherwise have no loveliness in them Thus you launch a part to ease the whole and cut off a limb to preserve life We are not so much to consider what things are in themselves as what they are in their tendency and end Physick must have time to work Quest 2. For whom are afflictions good Answ The Text answers the Question indefinitely and an indefinite is of the nature of an universal It is good for a man that is for every man all men come under one of these denominations they are either good or evil now afflictions are good for both First They are good for a good man or else God would never lay good men under them but we see them that lye nearest to his heart to be most under this Yoke God gave to Esau Mount Seir to possess it but Jacob and his Children went down into Egypt Josh 24.4 and yet Jacob was loved and Esau hated Mal. 1.2 3. The good Figs were sent into the Land of Chaldea for their good Jer. 24.5 He for our profit Heb. 12.10 This Yoke is not only profitable but necessary and it is the wisdom of God to suit his Providence to our necessities For a season ye are in heaveness if need be 1 Pet. 1.6 Not else A tender Father doth not use the Rod but when there is need he provides with delight but he punishes with regret God hath a treasure of mercy and a treasure of wrath the treasure of mercy is of his own filling but the treasure of wrath is of our filling and therefore we are said to treasure up to our selves wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2.5 that is by our sinning against God There is more or less of all sin where yet the work of conversion is really wrought There is much lust to be mortified pride to be subdued the World to be crucified the will to be made more docile and resigned the affections to be weaned many remains of sin to be purged out and this God doth by afflictions By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin Isai 27.9 He brings them into deep waters not to drown them but to cleanse them Gold is not cast into the fire to be consumed but to be refined so that the fire takes nothing from it but the dross Nor doth affliction take any thing from a good man but his sin And as it is necessary for the purging out of sin so it is for the exercising and improving of Grace it is a Fining-Pot to faith 1 Pet. 1.7 The Promoter of humility 2 Cor. 12.17 The incentive to godly fear Psal 55.19 The Worker of patience Rom. 5.8 A Rack for confession of sin Psal 32.4 5. A Goad to repentance Jer. 31.18 A School of obedience Heb. 5.8 An improvement of all holiness Heb. 12.10 Thus what the outward man loses the inward man gets if he be straitned in the Flesh he is enlarged in the Spirit It is said of the Children of Israel that the more they were afflicted the more they multiplied and grew Exod. 1.12 And so doth Grace in every good man it grows by affliction When the North Wind blows upon the Garden of the Spouse then her Spices flow forth Cant. 4.16 The biggest Fish are in the salt Waters and they are the most growing Christians that are most in the salt Waters of affliction Secondly Afflictions are good for carnal and unconverted men and that many ways First They many times obviate those evils which through the corruption of our natures are occasioned by worldly prosperity Good men are many times made worse by outward successes and therefore no wonder if evil men are so much more Let favour be shewed to the wicked yet will he not learn righteousness Isai 26.10 Outward prosperity causes great indulgence to the Flesh which is an utter enemy to Vertue The beginning of all obedience is the mortifying the Flesh which no natural man can endure especially when nourished by ease and prosperity for then reason is most commonly drowned in sense and judgment extinguished in appetite It tempts a man to take up his rest in present comforts like the Children of Reuben and Gad who when they found the Land of Gilead was a place for Cattel Numb 32.1 they sue to Moses that that may be their portion This Land is a Land for Cattel and thy Servants have Cattel wherefore say they if we have found Grace in thy sight let this Land be given to thy Servants for a possession and bring us not over Jordan ver 4 5. Though Canaan was the promised Land and the Blessing lay in a Portion there yet they desire to take up on this side Jordan without seeking ought in the Land of promise It hinders our enquiries after God and becomes a temptation to set light by him and his Precepts Job speaking of the prosperity of the wicked makes this the sad effect of it Therefore they say unto God Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways what is the Almighty that we should serve him and what profit should we have if we pray unto him Job 21.14 15. Nay it provokes to down right Atheism And this is the reason of Agars prayer against riches Lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord Prov. 30.9 Thus the prosperity of fools destroys them Prov. 1.32 It puffs up the heart with pride and scorn They are not in trouble as other men neither are they plagued like other men therefore pride compasseth them about as a Chain Psal 73.5 6. Now these and such like mischiefs are often remedied by early affliction By being inured to wants and abatements we are made to see the emptiness of the Creatures what lying vanities they are The soul is hereby put upon seeking after God In their afflictions they will seek me early Hos 5.15 By this means the soul is debased and laid low And this the Holy Ghost makes to be one fruit of early bearing the Yoke in the next Verses to the Text He sitteth alone and keepeth silence because he hath born it upon him He putteth his mouth
conversion resting in them and so perishing in the place of the breaking forth of children Hos 13.13 Now that others should eternally miscarry under those means that have been blessed to thy conversion that they should perish under the same convictions which have been to thee the pangs of the new birth O what mercy is this While some despair and others presume thou art brought by a sight of sin to close with Christ upon Gospel terms And hast thou not cause to be thankful 3. This Yoke of the Spirit being once taken off shall never be put on again thou shalt never come under it more Doth not the Scripture say as much Rom. 8.15 Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear In whomsoever the spirit of bondage once becomes a spirit of adoption he is never a spirit of bondage more in that soul If after he hath once sealed our adoption to us he should again impress fears of eternal wrath upon us he would herein be contrary to himself Object But are not many of the Children of God after Grace wrought full of fears and apprehensions of Hell and wrath Answ We must distinguish between bondage by desertion and bondage by the Spirit in conviction A Believer under desertion may be in bondage by his own spirit but not by the spirit of God When God doth suspend the wonted influences of Grace and comfort a mans own conscience may fill him with fears of Hell and dread of wrath but this is not from the suggestions of Gods spirit but from the mistake of his own He can never be a spirit of bondage more And is not this cause of thankfulness 4. How great the advantage is that comes by complying with and yielding to the spirit in convincing work For where he is complyed with in the beginning he carries it on to perfection If he convinces of sin and the soul fall under it by humiliation and repentance he will convince of righteousness too and so raise it up again by faith and dependance Nay by an early compliance with the strivings of the spirit when he first comes to discover to thee thy lost estate thou hast secured his presence for ever and he shall carry on this work of conviction so long as there is any one lust remaining A Believer hath need of the convictions of the spirit so long as he lives It is a mistake to think the convincing work of the Spirit is over when it hath discovered to a man his lost estate and so brought him to a close with Christ there is a great deal of convincing work yet to be done as there is a sinful estate so there is a sinful frame of heart Now though the Believer can no more need the convictions of the Spirit as to the former for his estate is changed yet he always needs them as to the latter Though he was convinced of the filthy nature and damning consequences of sin to prepare him for Christ and conversion yet there are convictions of necessary use to the carrying on and compleating the work of sanctification There is a great deceitfulness in sin more than the Believer ever yet saw and therefore he wants conviction of that There is a great power in remaining lusts to draw the heart from Christ he wants further conviction of that There is a gradual secret hardening of heart which in-dwelling sin works to even in the regenerate he wants further conviction of that Nay how many secret spiritual lusts hidden and close corruptions are there in the heart which at first entrance into a state of Grace the Believer never saw they lye in the heart undiscerned till the Spirit comes in with further light So that a Believer always needs the convincing work of the Spirit it is essentially necessary to the perfecting of Grace and holiness Now he that yields to the convictions of the Spirit at first doth thereby secure them to the last He shall never cease enlightening striving counselling so long as there is any one lust remaining His influences shall abide till he hath got the mastery of every sin and judgment be sent forth to victory over every corruption He dwelleth with you Matth. 12.20 and shall be in you John 14.17 O what cause of thankfulness have such as have born the Spirits Yoke with success Secondly Your Duty is to be humble Remember your Bonds so doth the Church Lam. 3.19 20. Remembring mine affliction and my misery the Wormwood and the Gall my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me One excellent means to cure spiritual pride is to look often back to the days of your soul distresses therefore God when his people were settled in the promised Land often remembers them of their wilderness state that they might not pride themselves in their present possessions Deut. 8.2 Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee in the Wilderness to humble thee And ver 3. He humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger And ver 14 15. Beware lest thine heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness wherein were fiery Serpents and Scorpions and drought where there was no water that he might humble thee No man will be lifted up under his present mercies that doth but seriously and frequently reflect upon his lost estate and the means and manner of his deliverance O think often of the sighs and sorrows the tears and terrours the griefs and groans of thy sinking Spirit in the Day when the Arrows of God stuck there How long thou hast formerly lain at God's foot begging for one Drop of the bloud of Christ to pardon sin one Dram of Grace to secure thy Estate one glympse of comfort to refresh thy wearied and heavy laden spirit and then be proud if thou canst Thirdly Labour to be fruitful This is the great end of the Spirit in all his convictions He convinceth of sin to break off the Sinner from it he convinceth of righteousness that the Sinner may seek after it and he convinces of the necessity of holiness that he may get it and grow up in it so that ye sin against and frustrate the whole design of the Holy Ghost in his work in the heart without this For ye are therefore made free from sin and become servants to God that ye might have your fruit unto holiness Rom. 6.22 And the same Apostle tells you cap. 7.4 Ye are become dead to the Law by the Body of Christ that ye should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that ye should bring forth fruit to God Labour therefore to be fruitful for this is that which secures the Spirits influences to your great advantage Every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit John 15.2 Secondly This Doctrine affords matter of counsel to such as never were under the
they be thus sinfully sleighted Thirdly It is a Duty to pray over what we hear and to beg success upon the Word for the ends whereto God sends it And is not this in the power of every natural man There is no man of reason but hath praying abilities many indeed have their excuses they cannot pray but this is but to shift off Duty and to excuse one sin by another You never saw a hungry Beggar but could pray nor a Child of five years old but when the Rod is at his Back can pray and cannot the Sinner cry to God When you go to hear can you not pray that God would open your eyes to see the wonders of his Law Psal 119.18 Cannot you beg of God that the Word may take hold of your heart and pull down all the strong Holds there Can you not plead with him that he would send his Spirit to accompany the Word to your heart that sin may be discovered and your hard heart broken and that you may be made to see the need of Christ and so brought to believe in him for pardon and salvation These are no other than what every natural man hath power to perform by the same assistance with which he lives and moves and who knows what God may do in a way of Grace and mercy when the Sinner is found thus doing I do not dare not say with the Papists and Arminians That if we use our natural power to do our utmost God is bound ex congruo to give Grace but yet this I may say That such is the goodness of God that he seldom if ever fails to give Grace to that man that doth to the utmost of his abilities in the use of means endeavour to obtain it nor had ever any cause to complain upon this account And therefore let young ones hearken to this counsel and as you love your souls do what in you lyes in the use of all Gods appointed means to come under the Spirits Yoke For consider First You can never be brought from under the Yoke of sin and lust but by coming under this Yoke Till you are weary of sin you will never forsake it and you will never be weary of sin till the Spirit of bondage hath made it a burthen to you Secondly You can never see the need you have of Jesus Christ till you are brought under the Yoke of the Spirit and till you do see your need of him you will never hunger nor thirst after him and so you will be excluded from all benefit by his righteousness and then you must perish For the Scripture discovers no way of escaping wrath to come but by being convinced by the Holy Ghost first of sin and then of righteousness Thirdly You can never take upon you Christ's Yoke which is the great command of the Gospel Matth. 11.29 unless you have been first under this There is as I said before the Yoke of the Spirit and the Yoke of Christ the Yoke of the Spirit is in conviction of sin the Yoke of Christ is in obedience and the one is preparatory to the other you can never submit to Christs Yoke until the Spirits Yoke have fitted the neck to it and so it becomes easie My Yoke is easie Matth. 11.30 It is not easie to the sinner that is at ease but to the weary soul it is Then any Yoke but the Yoke of lust any burthen to be delivered from the burthen of sin and guilt But who will walk in the narrow way that never entred in at the strait Gate Who will account subjection to Christ freedom until he hath first been wearied under the slavery of sins Dominion And this is a fruit of the convincing work of the Spirit And will you not come under his Yoke But when It must be done out of hand delay in this matter is very dangerous 1. In regard of the indisposition it works unto The longer sin hath possession the more it will strengthen it self and harden the heart against conviction and the harder the heart the greater the danger for growing hardness improves it self into a judgment Hardness persisted in provokes to hardening 2. In regard of the uncertainty of our duration Who knows how few hours there are between him and eternity You that refuse the Yoke of the Spirit as a work fit for riper years 'pray what security have you for the number of your years Hath God said you shall not dye next sickness or next Voyage to Sea or the next time you go to Bed or walk abroad An hundred dye young to one that lives long and is it not then an hundred to one but you may And how if you should dye in an unconvinced and unconverted state Consider what your eternal condition must then be O be willing therefore to come under this Yoke of the Spirit betimes 3. Here 's matter of instruction to such as are at present under the Spirits Yoke made sensible of sin and of their lost state and cry out of Hell and wrath c. First Take heed of discouragement To mourn under this condition that is a duty but to be discouraged and despond that is a sin For it obstructs the soul in that which is its duty it benumns and weakens the workking hand The Spirit of the Lord hath no hand in this he sets sin home upon the heart to humble us and break us and lay us low but not to bring us to discouragement and despair unless it be in our selves and therefore that is the print of the Devils foot It is one of his subtilties to rivet his temptations into our convictions When the Spirit of the Lord discovers sin in its guilt and filth to out us of our selves and shew us our need of mercy then he labours to sink us down under the despair of mercy therefore let not thy sense of sin cause thee to draw false Conclusions which in this Case is too common For though thy Case be dark it is not desperate though it is uncomfortable it is not incurable though it is sad yet it is not singular For First This is the way of God with all Sinners to whom he hath a purpose to shew mercy The Wilderness is the way to the Land of promise I will allure her and bring her into the Wilderness and there speak comfortably to her Hos 2.14 Secondly This lays thee under the Promise For that promises are not made to Sinners in their sins but to Sinners made sensible of their sins so that though thou art a Prisoner in a Pit where there is no water Ezek. 9.11 yet thou art a Prisoner of hope ver 12. God invites such as thou art the tenders of Christ and Grace have a peculiar respect to thy condition Thirdly This is that which prepares the way of the Lord into the heart He comes not till the mountains be laid low Luke 3.4 5. and the way prepared for him and nothing doth this
like sense of sin and sight of a lost estate So that there is mercy even in being under the Spirits Yoke And therefore Secondly Do not be unsensible of the mercy of being under the bondage of the Spirit though it is not a Case that hath comfort in it yet it is a Case that hath mercy in it And no present misery of any condition should make us to overlook the mercy of that condition You see sin in its filthy nature and damning guilt and thereupon are filled with dread and fear and is not this a mercy Though to do sin is the most unprofitable work yet to see sin is the most profitable sight For so long as sin is unseen Christ will be unsought The remedy is never desired till our misery be discerned and felt Your conscience is full of trouble and you are weary and cry out under the burthen of your soul-troubles and is not this a mercy How shall the burthen of sin be removed if conscience be not troubled under it The more the Sinners conscience is at peace the more sin is in power The strong man armed keeps that house Luke 11.12 Besides it is the design of God that sin shall be the trouble of every Sinners conscience sooner or later here or in Hell Hell is full of troubled consciences there is not one soul there but lyes under terrour of conscience for sin for that is the worm that never dies Mark 9.44 And is it not a mercy to be troubled for sin here rather than in Hell Here the trouble is but for a season there it will be for ever Here the end of your trouble for sin is peace and comfort Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning Psal 30.5 But in Hell your trouble will end in desperation and everlasting horrour Whatever therefore your troubles are yet reckon it for a mercy that God hath brought you to a real sense of your sin and misery for that this is the only way to drive you out of your selves to Christ You had been undone but for this undoing Thirdly Do not be weary of the Spirits operation in his carrying on the work of conviction lest by growing weary of his work you make him weary of working There are two things Sinners express a great weariness under viz. the Word and the Rod. To sit long under the Word or to lye long under the Rod O what a weariness is it Now to be weary of these is to be weary of the Spirits work for by these he calls and knocks and strives to make his voice to be heard and therefore they often go together and hence you read of chastising and teaching Psal 94.12 The Rod prepares us for hearkening to the Word and the Word teaches us to understand the Rod and therefore the Spirit sometimes uses them together He binds them in Fetters and holds them in Cords of affliction and then shews their work and their transgressions that they have exceeded Job 36.8.9 10. and so opens their ear to discipline and commands that they return from iniquity Why then should any be weary of the Spirits work And yet that it is so is most evident For why do Sinners so many ways stifle the motions of the Spirit in the soul sometimes looking on spiritual troubles as mere melancholy sancies and as such shake them off Sometimes they are stifled by shame lest others should think them mad and distracted Sometimes they are stifled by declining that Ministry that deals most with the conscience and will not let them alone in sin Sometimes by running into idle debauched company that scoff away the troubles of a convinced conscience Sometimes by over business in worldly matters The cares of this World choke the Seed and it becomes unfruitful Matth. 13.22 And is not this a great sin it is murder to destroy a Child in the womb I charge you young ones with this sin this day before the Lord. And I will prove you guilty of it For what is the reason that the Word preached hath so little success that so few of you are converted from your sins and lusts to Christ I tell you this is the reason You have stifled the motions of the Spirit of God in your souls you have resisted and quenched him you have broken his Yoke from off your neck and do ye understand what ye do Do ye know the mischief of this sin It drives the Holy Spirit out of the heart You say to him depart Job 21.14 you are weary of his striving to make you weary of sinning It greatly gratifies Satan For his design is to harden the heart against the impressions of the Spirit and so lead Sinners to a Hell through a Fools Paradise It provokes the Lord to give you up to your own hearts lusts and vile affections Rom. 2.24 26. And I am perswaded that it is the Judgment that many of the young Generation of this day lye under It provokes him to take away the Gospel And I am afraid that this Judgment is at the door for why should God continue it to a Generation that slight and reject it And wo to such as shall be found to have had a hand in sinning away the Gospel It is this sin that makes Hell hot indeed It will be one of the saddest reflections in that state for a damned Sinner to recal the many sweet motions of the Spirit which in his day of Grace he had In such a Sermon how was my heart touched and my conscience awakened But all came to nothing In such a sickness how did the Spirit of God deal with me and set sin home and made it a burthen What promises and resolutions did I then make to shake off sins to leave my former wicked courses but it came to nothing Had I then yielded to the strivings of the Spirit and hearkened to his calls and counsels I had never felt these flames But my slighting God breaking the Spirits Yoke by resisting and quenching his motions this is that which hath brought this endless misery upon me O what a dreadful thing is it to be weary of the Spirits work when he comes to convince of sin Quest But when may a man be said to be weary of the Spirits work Answ First When he cannot endure an awakening convincing Ministry nor searching truths but declines those Doctrines that interrupt him in the way of his lusts and disturb the quiet of his conscience as Felix did Paul's Sermon of righteousness and judgment to come because it made him tremble the Doctrine came too close to his conscience and therefore he dismisses the Preacher to a fitter season Acts 24.25 Secondly When he is over-hasty for peace and comfort then he is weary of the Spirits Yoke This is the Case of most they are no sooner under the sense of sin but they must have comfort The Arrows of the Almighty are sharp and when they go deep do cause an unspeakable
not to God and some labour to keep conscience void of offence to God but not to man but the yoke of Christ extends to both it lies equally on both shoulders and teaches how to keep a conscience void of offence both towards God and man Acts 24.16 Secondly This Yoke is extensive in regard of the subject It reaches to every man and to every thing in man First To every man to every age of man young and old children and fathers tender years and gray hairs it doth not only lay duty upon young shoulders Eccles 12.1 Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth but upon old ones too They shall bring forth fruit in old age Psal 92.14 To every Sex male and female young men and maidens as David says Psal 148.12 and therefore the fourth Commandment is Exod. 20.10 Thou nor thy son nor thy daughter thy man-servant nor thy maid-servant To every Estate this Yoke of Christ reaches duty to them that are out of the Yoke and under the Yoke to the unmarried and to them who are married As the unmarried are to care for the things of the Lord 1 Cor. 7.32 34. so are the married also 1 Cor. 7.29 And therefore it is charged as a great sin upon him who when he was invited to the Wedding-supper refused the Call of Christ upon that pretence I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come Luke 14.20 To every degree and rank of men high and low rich and poor great and small Psal 148.11 Kings of the earth and all people The Law of Christ lays the same Yoke upon all There are none below it because of their meanness none above it because of their greatness Some plead priviledge and exemption from humane Laws and therefore they are compared as Solons Laws were to Spiders webs wherein the lesser flies are intangled and held but the great ones break through But there are none can plead priviledge or pretend immunity from the Law of Christ for it extends to every man Secondly It extends to every thing in man To the outward Members and inward Faculties To the Eye He that looks on a woman to lust after her committeth adultery in his heart Mat. 5.28 To the Ear Incline your ear and come to me hear and your souls shall live Isai 55.3 To the Tongue Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth Ephes 4.29 Let your speech be alway with grace seasoned with salt Coloss 4.6 To the Hands Let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labour working with his hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needeth Ephes 4.28 To the Feet Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path Psal 119.105 And to the inward Parts also To the Vnderstanding Through thy precepts I get understanding Psal 119.104 To the Will. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power Psal 110.3 To the Conscience for that is guided by the Word and accuses or excuses according to the Word Conscience is a rule ruled but it is the Law of God that is the rule ruling To the Affections It teaches us what to love and what to hate what to desire and what to eschew How to rejoyce and how to mourn what to hope after and what to fear God is to be the object of some affections as love Col. 3.2 desire hope joy and delight And sin of others as anger hatred sorrow and fear and both sorts are under the directions of the Word Nay it extends to the very Thoughts To worldâ—y thoughts carking thoughts Matt. 6.25 28 31 34. To vain thoughts Jer. 4.14 To evil thoughts Matt. 9 4. And so brings every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.5 Thus every thing in man comes under the Yoke of Christ Thirdly This Yoke of Christ is extensive as to the Commands it reaches to every Command First To relative Precepts as well as absolute It doth not only teach us to hear and pray and repent and believe and love God and serve him but it extends to every relative Duty It teaches men subjection to Rulers and Rulers their duty to their Subjects It teaches Parents how to govern and Children how to obey it teaches Masters how to command and Servants how to submit It instructs the Husband how to love and the Wife how to be subject It teaches Ministers how to guide and watch and their People how to obey and submit It lays a special Law upon every person to fill up his relation with all becomingness it allows no churlish sour morose carriage in Superiors to them that are beneath them nor any unfaithfulness or disobedience in Inferiors to them that are above them Secondly It reaches to positive Precepts as well as negative and so provides against our sinful omissions as well as against our carnal practices Negatives in Religion are not sufficient though few go farther like the Pharisee Luke 18.11 not oppressive not unjust not unclean But alas this will not serve turn the barren tree that bears no fruit is as well cut down Luke 13.7 as the tree that bears evil fruit Matt. 3.10 The rich man was cast into Hell not for oppressing Lazarus but for not relieving him he did not exercise cruelty but he shewed no mercy Not only the evil servant is cast into Hell for persecuting his fellow-servant Mat. 24.49 as many now a-days do but the slothful servant hath the same doom that hid his talent in a napkin Mat. 25.30 Our obedience should carry a correspondency with Gods mercies which are not only privative but positive He hath not only delivered us from Hell 1 Thess 2.12 but called us to his Kingdom and Glory And Christ is not come only to save us from death Joh. 3.16 Joh. 10.10 but come that we might have life God promiseth Abraham to be his shield and his exceeding great reward Gen. 15 1. A shield to keep off all evil an exceeding great reward in the communication of all good Thus Grace is intirely dispensed in positive mercies as well as privative and our obedience should be proportionable We should not only abstain from sin but exercise our selves to godliness 1 Tim. 4.7 Amos 5.15 Rom. 12.9 Therefore every command of God is positive as well as negative it hath a Precept as well as a Prohibition if not in express terms yet in sense and meaning When he forbids sin he doth therein command all contrary duties that we may as well owne God as abandon lust and keep up a fellowship with him as well as break our confederacy with corruption Thirdly It reaches to commands for suffering as well as commands for doing For you must know that the Cross of Christ is a part of the Yoke of Christ If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me Matt. 16.24 We
mercy impotent He could do no mighty work Mark 6.5 you make the Lamb turn Lion you lay your selves under a necessity of damnation for all wilful refusers of Christ must perish Thirdly It is necessary to preserve the rectitude of Nature if a man would be under the government of mind and understanding and keep reason in the Throne and be able to subdue the inordinacy of appetite he must come under the Yoke of Christ nothing else can do it Philosophy may give rules but it is Religion that gives power How like a brute is man that is led by sense and governed by appetite the glory of his Being is lost A beast in the shape and figure of a reasonable Creature man without but brute within There is no middle thing every man is either a Saint or a Beast If he don't conform to Christ which is the truest improvement of mind and will he is under the government of sense and swayed by appetite and what makes a man more a beast than this Fourthly It is necessary to prove your right to and interest in Christ The pretence and claim to this is very common but right and interest is very rare therefore it is good to put things out of doubt Let every man prove his own work Gal. 6.4 Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye be reprobates 2 Cor. 13.5 How may this be known why the Apostle tells you 1 Joh. 2.3 Hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments And v. 5. Whoso keepeth his word in him is the love of God perfected hereby know we that we are in him Your obedience is the best test of your interest nothing proves your relation to his Person like your subjection to his Precepts Hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him 1 Joh. 3.19 Many boast great things about their interest in Christ and have great joys and transports flowing from it and yet all may be but the birth of a dream the fruit of fancy and fond opinion and it is no other where subjection to Christ is left out He that saith I know him and keeps not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him 1 Joh. 1.4 That is a sharp rebuke of Christ to those false Disciples Luke 6.46 Why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say Christ hates their pretences of relation to him while they slight his Precepts and disown his Government Fifthly It is necessary to shew our gratitude to a Redeemer which can no way be expressed as it ought but by a dutiful subjection to his precepts Let us not love in word and in tongue says the Apostle but in deed and in truth 1 Joh. 3.18 We never express our thankful sense of redeeming love to the life till we make his Laws the rule of our life And thus doth David Psal 116.8 9. Thou hast delivered my soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living The greatest love that ever God shewed was to give Jesus Christ And the greatest grace that ever Christ manifested was the grace of Redemption when he gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity Tit. 2.14 And the highest obedience the Creature can act is when it springs from a grateful sense of the Fathers love in giving Christ and of Christs grace in giving himself When we lay the foundation of our obedience where God hath laid it in the Blood of his Son when we love God from a sense of his love to us in Christ 1 Joh. 4.19 When mercy melts and wins us Rom. 12.1 When the grace of God appearing teacheth us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts Tit. 2.11 12. and to live soberly righteously and godly in the world this is excellent The Apostle says That faith worketh by love Gal. 5.6 And it doth so two ways by way of gratitude and by way of instrumentality It first apprehendeth love and leaves the impression of it upon the Soul and so begets such a love in the Soul to God as works a dutiful subjection to all his Precepts This is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous 1 Joh. 5.3 The end of Redemption is duty Christ had no design to diminish the Soveraignty of God or lessen mans duty in any of his undertakings but to make us more capable of service and to render duty more easie There is mercy provided for our failings but no relaxation of obedience the Gospel requires as perfect holiness as ever the Law did yet we have a double relief provided by sincerity on our part and mercy on God's Though there be no indulgence by Christ to the least sin yet there is pardon provided for the greatest Christ came not to be a minister of sin to deliver us from obedience but he came to deliver us from the slavery of obedience not that we might not serve God but that we might serve him without fear Luk. 1.74 that is with peace of Conscience and joy of heart And therefore great is the gratitude we owe to Christ and it can no way be expressed but by a voluntary resignation to his will and subjection to his Yoke Sixthly It is necessary for the confirming our Faith in the promises of God There is an inseparable connexion between the Precepts and Promises the one is as essential a part of the Covenant of Grace as the other there is you shall as well as I will I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people Heb. 8.10 I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them Ezek. 36.27 There is obedience injoyned as well as mercy promised The Covenant is of Gods contriving not ours he prescribes the conditions and propounds the rewards not we Our work is intire submission and hearty consent we are neither to alter nor debate And in this Covenant our eternal happiness is secured by an unfeigned consent of will to take Christ upon the conditions God hath prescribed and what are they Christ and his Yoke that is Christ to rule as well as to save for he came not only to be a Saviour but a Law-giver The Lord is our Judge the Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King he will save us Isai 33.22 As Law-giver he prescribes the rule of obedience as King he rules by the Law he prescribes as Judge he will try us by the Law of his Government and save those that have sought his precepts Psal 119.94 and therefore our faith in the promise of eternal rewards must be supported by our faithfulness to the commands the greater our obedience the higher is our hope of acceptance I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept
the faith 2 Tim. 4.7 8. there is his obedience henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness there is his confidence Remisness in obedience makes a waste upon our Faith let duty be omitted or lust indulged and Faith languishes and needs it must for sin in the conversation breeds doubts in the condition and it is as natural to do so as it is for a wound to cause pain Could a man obey without swerving he might believe without doubting the strictest holiness is usually attended with the sweetest peace and the highest assurance Isai 32.17 The work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever And therefore when any pretend to strong hope in God and talk of their comfort in the Promises and great assurance and yet are careless and remiss in their walking with God and slack in their obedience those pretences are much to be suspected and the state of that man to be questioned For sin doth as naturally breed fear and distrust as obedience doth hope and peace How can a man hope in God when he doth not observe him or expect mercy when he provokes him to wrath by neglect of duty Therefore Satan doth two works at once when he tempts us to the practice of sin he stains our Souls and he weakens our trust He makes us fail in duty and doubt of mercy for sin leaves a guilt and guilt causes fear and the more our fear the less our faith as the one strengthens the other weakens they are like the two Buckets of a Well as one goes up the other goes down That sin that lessens our respect to the precept will proportionably weaken our faith in the Promise a man can never be much in dependance that is little in obedience Therefore duty is necessary for the maintaining our trust in God the Soul never attains to true rest but by taking up Christs Yoke Mat. 11.29 That is one branch of the reason why it is the concernment of every one to take up the Yoke of Christ in his youth because it is good It is a necessary good I have shewed you in six particulars the necessity of it It is necessary by virtue of the Precept Necessary as a means to the great End Necessary to preserve the rectitude of Nature Necessary to adjust our interest in Christ Necessary to manifest our gratitude to a Redeemer Necessary for the stablishing our Faith in the Promises of God Now that which is a good of so great necessity ought to be our greatest concernment we should mind it more than what is not so there are many things that are not necessary it is not necessary we should be rich or great in the world or that we should be gay and gawdy in our dresses or that we should have the cap and knee of by-standers or that we should wallow in pleasures and delights it will not be a pin to chuse e're long what part we have acted here when the Scepter and the Spade shall have one common grave and Royal dust shall be blended with the beggars ashes but it is necessary we should be born again it is necessary we should be acquainted with God and make him our portion it is necessary we should submit to the Yoke of Christ and owne his commands and live to the Lord there is nothing necessary but this Therefore we ought to make it our business to come under this Yoke betimes Secondly Subjection to the Yoke of Christ is a profitable good And there is no argument of greater prevalency than that which is taken ab utili A man will do any thing that he is convinced is for his benefit therefore God quickens us to a holy life by the consideration of our own benefit 1 Tim. 6.6 Godliness is great gain Though God by virtue of his Soveraignty over us might have imposed what commands he pleased without the least injustice yet so gracious he is that he hath not acted by Soveraignty but with a respect to our advantage Not one command of God but the interest of the Creature is greatly promoted by it The most thrifty course a man can take in this world is to come under the Yoke of Christ betimes Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding for the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof than fine gold she is more precious than rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her Length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour Prov. 3.13 14 15 16. Religion is looked on by many with an evil eye upon this very account as standing in the way of their profit and as being an enemy to their particular advantages What profit shall we have if we pray to the Almighty Job 21.15 Most men follow Christ for the Loaves Joh. 6.26 no penny no Pater noster no profit no prayer Ye have said it is in vain to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances Mal. 3.14 They look upon the service of Christ as a very poor trade and thriftless imployment whereas it is a business of the greatest benefit Nothing tends so much to our advantage as a life of godliness and obedience As for instance 1. Is that profitable which sanctifieth every condition to a man This Religion doth To the pure all things are pure Tit. 1.15 Religion sanctifies the heart and affections and all things are sanctified to a sanctified heart 2. Is that profitable which is beneficial to a man in all his circumstances So is Religion If a man abound with the good things of the present life Religion is of admirable advantage to direct the uses and injoyment to guard the heart from its snares by keeping the mind humble under it and setting the affections above it Phil. 4.12 It teaches how to be full and abound how to do good how to make friends of Mammon It makes outward prosperity to forward and promote our eternal interest by applying it to serve the honour of God and others necessities as well as our own If a man be poor Religion is no less useful to befriend a man in this case by teaching contentment with a little Phil. 4.11 by working the heart to a full resignedness to the will of God Phil. 4.12 by teaching how to want and suffer need by setting the heart upon things of a nobler nature and more necessary concernment upon God and heavenly things by fixing the Souls dependance upon those promises made to godliness which do as surely intitle a man to present sufficiencies 1 Tim. 4.8 as to eternal rewards So that when the needy sinner carks and cares murmurs and repines robs and deceives for a supply of his wants the good man having a sure interest in God rests confidently upon the never failing supplies
he gives peace who can make trouble Job 34.29 All the world cannot give peace to a troubled Conscience Eccles 10.19 Solomon says Money answers all things But it can never answer the doubts and distresses of Conscience It is God that speaks peace there Psal 85.8 Thirdly To distinguish it from the worlds peace which is a carnal peace an outward peace a false peace but the peace God gives is a true peace an inward and spiritual peace John 14.27 2. It fills a man with the most lasting peace Therefore Solomon calls it a continual feast Prov. 15.15 Not a feast for a day as Nabals was Judg. 14.12 nor for seven days as Samsons was nor for an hundred and eighty days as that of Ahasuerus was Esth 1.4 but a continual feast without intermission and without end A Heathen could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A good man is always feasting he hath the continual entertainment and delight of a quiet Conscīence He may meet with many troubles and sorrows and afflictions but his peace and joy shall out-live them all His estate may be wasted his name reproached his body burned but his peace and joy cannot be touched It lyes out of the world's reach It is from Heaven and will abide in the Soul till it be consummated by the testimony of Christ in that heart-ravishing Sentence Well done good and faithful servant Mat. 25.21 enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Thus subjection and obedience to the Yoke of Christ appears to be a pleasant good whether ye look to the matter of his service or to the state in which this service is commanded or to the sweetness with which it is attended And thus you have the truth of it made out positively Secondly That the Yoke of Christ is matter of pleasure and delight may be made out comparatively 1. Compare it with the Yoke of the Law either Ceremonial or Moral First Compare it with the Yoke of the Ceremonial Law and Christs Yoke is much easier than that And this will appear If you look to the observances and impositions of one and the other How numerous and chargeable were the observances of that Law how many and how costly were their Sacrifices Some were gratulatory appointed to express their grateful sense of mercies received these you read of Lev. 7.12 c. Some were expiatory these were appointed to atone for sin to pacifie Gods anger to remove guilt and divert judgment and how many and various were they Some were to be of the herd as oxen and heisers some of the flock as sheep and lambs goats and kids Some of fowl as turtle-doves and pigeons Some were to be of what grew out of the earth as corn and wine oyl and spices And of these some were burnt-offerings some meat-offerings some sin-offerings some trespass-offerings And some of them were to be offered but once a year Levit. 16. Exod. 12. Levit. 23.16 Numb 29.12 Numb 28.11 Num. 28.9 Num. 28.3 4 5. some at their solemn Feasts as the Passover Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles Some every New-moon some every Sabbath day some were to be offered every day and that both morning and evening as the daily Sacrifice and some according to special occasions which were very many for if any man did but touch an unclean thing he must come and offer a Sacrifice From all which numerous observances that Yoke of Moses must needs be very burdensom if we now were for every sin to offer a Bullock or a Lamb what a burden should we account it if Conscience did not make sin a burden the charge and expence would and so it did to the Jews therefore it is called a Yoke and that a heavy one Acts 15.10 A yoke which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear In calling these things a yoke too heavy to be born it shews their observance of them was more because God commanded them than because of any intrinsecal good that was in them They bore the Yoke till God took it off but it was a very heavy Yoke But the Yoke of Christ is easie on this account his commands are few and facil not burdensom but beneficial as really our priviledge as our duty And therefore the Apostle Paul comparing the state of the Church then with what it is under the Gospel calls it Bondage Gal. 4.3 when we were children we were in bondage under the elements of the world By the Elements of the world the carnal Sacrifices and Ceremonies of the Law are intended by which as by first rudiments God did then instruct the Church in its minority And accordingly he calls the state of the Gospel-Church a state of freedom Gal. 5.1 Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not intangled again with the yoke of bondage O how sweet and easie is the service of the Gospel The Covenant of Grace is made with us without those burdens and bonds which became their bondage what a motive should this be to a willing and chearful obedience Christ hath therefore made us free that we should serve him freely Our freedom from bondage by the liberty of the Gospel should strengthen our bonds to all Gospel-obedience Secondly Compare the Yoke of Christ with the Yoke of the Moral Law as a Covenant of Works and it will appear far more easie if you consider five things First The Law requires very difficult service but contributes no assistance so that a mans work is above his strength and where duty is great and strength little it becomes a burden intolerable If a man should be set to remove a mountain to fetch a Star from Heaven to keep out the Tide of the Sea how impossible would this be So is obedience to the Law in our present state of impotency and hence it becomes a bondage and burden Why is the Land of Egypt called the house of bondage to Israel but because they were required to make the same tale of brick without straw as before they did when straw was provided for them So the Law requires the same obedience of fallen man in a state of weakness as it did of innocent Adam in his full strength But in the Gospel-Covenant there is no duty injoyned but there is a power of performance vouchsafed and no commandment can be grievous where the assistance is suitable to the service That one command of believing is in it self more difficult than any precept of the Law Eph. 2.8 but if faith be the gift of God then how easie is it to believe whatever God wills is easie to be done when he himself works in us to will and to do Phil. 2.13 This makes the Yoke of Christ easie that there is power conveyed with the precept jubet juvat It is with us as with the man that lay at the gate of the Temple who had been lame from the womb Peter commands him in the name of Jesus to rise
many times the sinner out-lives all his joys and delights they tarry not till he dies from them but they die from him sometimes pining diseases sometimes continued crosses sometimes a worm in the conscience extinguish these joys and they are never kindled more But if none of these do to be sure death doth for when that once comes then farewel the pleasures of sin for ever Hell is too hot a Climate for wanton delights to live in sin shall be so far from affording delight there that the remembrance of it shall greaten their torment And therefore if the pleasures of sin do not die from us yet we are sure to die from them as Pope Adrian said to his Soul when expiring Quae nunc abibis in loca Nec ut soles dabis jocos Thou art now going where there is no pleasure to be found But now the pleasure of godliness is durable pleasure it is not transient and fading It is not water from a fading brook but from a river whose springs fail not Therefore the Holy Ghost had no sooner said Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures Psal 36.8 but he presently adds in the next verse For with thee is the fountain of life A fountain is always running and yet is never exhausted The river of pleasures which godliness affords is fed from a fountain that is overflowing and ever flowing Fourteenthly The pleasures of sin have a sad end There is a sting in the tail of them they are like the wine Solomon speaks of that though it looketh pleasantly in the cup yet at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder Prov. 23.31 32. The stollen waters of sin how sweet soever they seem to be in the mouth will be gall and wormwood in the belly even bitterness in the latter end So says Zophar Job 20. 12 13 14. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth though he hide it under his tongue Though he forsake it not but keep it still within his mouth yet his meat in his bowels is turned it is the gall of asps within him O that sinners would consider the end of sin As Abner said to Joab Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end 2 Sam. 2.26 Sensual pleasure goes out like a candle and leaves a stink behind it great damps and sore griefs in the conscience Wo to you that laugh now for ye shall mourn and weep Luke 6.25 In Isai 5.14 it is said Hell hath inlarged her self and opened her mouth without measure and he that rejoyceth shall descend into it That is he that lives in the pleasures of sin his present pleasure shall end in Hell where there is punishment without pity misery without mercy sorrow without succour mischief without measure and torments without end This is all you shall ever get by sin a little pleasure and eternal torment But the pleasure of godliness as it is sweet in the way so it is sweeter in the end Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace Psal 37.37 Christ keeps the best wine till the last The pleasures of godliness that good men injoy in the way are not to be compared to the pleasures that they shall injoy in the end When the pleasures of sin shall end in the wrath of God and eternal misery the pleasures of godliness shall be so far from being extinguished that they shall be perfected * Si quid male feceriâ— voluptas transit dolor manet si quid benefeceris labor transit voluptas manet For holiness brings us into the full fruition of God at last In whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 So that we may say of the pleasures of holiness and the pleasures of sin as Solomon says of wisdom and folly Eccles 2.13 Wisdom excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness So do the pleasures of holiness excel the pleasures of sin And thus you have the pleasure of Christs Yoke made out comparatively viz. by comparing it 1 with the Yoke of the Law 2 with the Yoke of Sin 3 I shall make it out by a collation of instances And I will instance in the most difficult duties of Religion If the most difficult and severe duties of Religion have a real pleasantness in them then it must needs be good to come under the Yoke of Christ but the most difficult duties of Religion have a real pleasantness in them I will instance in three which I take to be the most difficult Repentance Mortification of Sin Bearing the Cross 1. Repentance This seems to be one of the most difficult and unpleasant duties which the Yoke of Christ lays us under It is an afflicting the Soul Ezra 8.21 And what pleasure can there be in affliction It is a being ashamed and confounded for sin Jer. 22.22 And what pleasure is there in shame and confusion It is a renting and breaking the heart Joel 2.13 Psal 51.17 And what pleasure can a man take to have his heart rent and broken It is an exercising indignation and revenge upon our selves 2 Cor. 7.11 And what pleasure is it for a man to be angry with and take revenge upon himself It seems therefore upon all these accounts to be a very difficult duty and yet notwithstanding it is a duty full of pleasure and sweetness And this will be manifest First If you consider it in its spring and rise The work of repentance if it be right hath for the spring of it the efficacy of the grace of the Gospel upon the Soul melting it down at the foot of God The sweet sense of the goodness and mercy of God in Christ thaws the heart and causes it to melt into tears of godly sorrow for all sin done against such infinite love and tender bowels That thou mayst remember and be confounded because of thy shame when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord Ezek. 16.63 The reconciled face of God shining upon a sinner makes him more ashamed of sin than any argument in the world can do And there cannot but be pleasure in the exercise of this grace when it flows from so sweet a spring Secondly If you consider how great a hand it hath in removing the burden of sin Sin is such a burden as will sink the Soul down to Hell if it be not removed And if any man feel it not to be a burden it is because he is dead in sin but where there is any life the burden is very great Mine iniquities are gone over my head as a burden they are too heavy for me Psal 38.4 Now repentance helps to remove the burden of sin for when the Soul repents God forgives and so the burden is took away The pardon of sin is that which takes away the burden of sin this Job intimates in that his expostulation with God
here all the day idle and they answer because no man hath hired us but as soon as he calls they come Do you come in and believe in Christ at the first call as the Thief here did if God calls not till the eleventh hour he that comes in at the eleventh hour comes in good time but he that is called at the first or third hour may come too late if he puts it off till the eleventh if thou darest sinfully say it is too soon to day it may be God may judicially say it is too late to morrow And therefore this instance of the Thief on the Cross is most ignorantly and impertinently urged which doth no way reach the case of impenitent sinners under Gospel Grace and the daily and loud calls of God The Thief never put off the work of repentance and conversion that we find to the last hour this thou dost The Thief never purposed to repent hereafter that he might thereby the better enjoy his lusts at present this thou dost The Thief came into Christ at the first call but thou hast been often called and yet hast refused to come and therefore what is this instance to thee it doth not at all concern thy case it is falsly urged and vainly pleaded And therefore instead of incouraging thy self from this single instance of the Thiefs being at last hour received to mercy thou shouldst consider and tremble at that dreadful threatning of God against such as slight and stand out against the calls and offers of mercy Prov. 1. from the 24. verse to the last Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh And vers 28. They shall call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me And vers 32. The turning away of the simple shall slay them that is their turning away from the calls of God and offers of Grace will be their Condemnation at the last And therefore remember this it is seldome if ever that any adventure so near the brink of Hell as to put off repentance and closing with Christ to the last hour thinking to come off safe but that they drop in at the last CHAP. X. Wherein the reasons of slighting Christ are inquired into and the evil of it aggravated USE of reproof to such as delay and put off the putting on Christs Yoke O what folly is this and yet there is nothing more natural Few there are that do downright refuse Christ but many there are that put him off till hereafter from one time to another from childhood to youth from youth to manhood from manhood to old age from old age to the death bed till there is no room left for this great work They while away one season after another till the season of Grace is past and gone In the managing this use I will do three things 1. Inquire into the causes why men deal thus with Christ 2. Charge the sinner with such aggravations of this evil as may set home the reproof 3. Propound some Considerations for a thorough conviction First Let us inquire into the causes why men deal thus with Christ whence is it that any do refuse his Yoke break his bonds and cast his cords from him It may be reduced to these five heads chiefly First Ignorance This is one cause of all the slights that are put upon Christ this our Lord Christ intimates in that passage to the Samaritan woman John 4.10 If thou knewest the gift of God A Soul that hath a right knowledge of Christ cannot but owne him and bow to him They that know thy name will trust in thee Psal 9.10 Knowledge begets love and love begets obedience If you did but know Christ his undertakings for you his relation to you his dominion over you you would not thus reject his Yoke and despise his Command It is your blindness that is the reason of your disobedience What is thy beloved more than another beloved Cant. 5.9 In 1 Cor. 2.8 the Apostle charges all their contemptuous carriage to Christ upon their ignorance whom none of the Princes of this world knew for had they known it they would not have crucifyed the Lord of glory Did you know Christ you would not refuse his call nor reject his Yoke Oh how many that are accounted men of understanding and parts and esteemed the wits of the age yet are grosly ignorant of the mystery of Christ and the Gospel and so Rom. 1.22 professing themselves wise they become fools The God of this world hath blinded their minds left the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine into them 2 Cor. 4.4 Secondly It is from that root of unbelief that grows in every carnal heart men don't believe the things of the invisible world the Glory to be revealed or the Misery threatned and the necessity of Faith and Holiness for the securing the one and avoiding the other and that is the reason The Apostle says 2 Cor. 5.7 we walk by faith and not by sight but the generality of men walk by sight not by faith their hearts are fixed upon present things 2 Pet. 1.9 they cannot see afar off Did men believe that sinful pleasures will end in eternal torments that the lusts of the flesh cannot be indulged at any easier rate than the loss of the Soul that there is no relief from the bondage and burden of sin but by a Saviour and that he is a Saviour to none whom he does not rule Heb. 5.9 to none but them that obey him you would hearken to his call and come under his Yoke Psal 17.14 2 Tim. 4.10 Most men are men of this world as David calls them they are for a portion in this life Demas hath imbraced this present world and there is no greater token of a carnal unbelieving heart than for a man to fix upon a present happiness when God hath propounded an eternal felicity in another world The good man is for the Yoke of Christ here and a Crown hereafter the unbeliever is for present ease and satisfaction and therefore takes up with the pleasures of sin that are but for a season Heb. 11.25 3. It is from that general unconcernedness that is in men about the matters of the world to come Amos. 6.3 They put far from them the evil day and things at a distance don't affect us they are like the discharging a gun a great way off we hear the report without concernedness but the same set to our breasts and discharg'd would make us tremble A clap of thunder in a remote part of the Heavens doth not startle us so much as when it is just over our heads Next to the want of a
sound belief the want of a serious consideration is the great cause why men dally with God For as Faith makes invisible things evident Heb. 11.1 and future things present so consideration makes them great and gives them their due weight Consideration is an intimate view of things it ponders matters fully their natures events and tendencies It compares one thing with another kind with kind cause with cause circumstance with circumstance issue with issue how they begin and how they end Sin and lust are indeliberate and sudden they must have a present compliance they allow of no consideration they consider not that they do evil Eccles 5.1 He considers not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell says Solomon of the simple sinner Prov. 9.18 Consideration would break the force of lust and spoil Satans design Would men but seriously ponder what sin is and what the Soul is how deceitful how vain how unsatisfying how brutish the one and how noble how precious how immortal the other they would not stake and pawn them to every base lust as they do Would they but consider of the nearness of death and eternity that within a few days or hours they must be in Heaven or Hell that there is nothing between but a little breath which the next morsel he eats may stop all hangs upon a small thred of life which the next disease may fret in sunder they could not dally with duty and slight conversion and a life of holiness as they do What is the reason that men are better upon a sick bed than at another time that Jesus Christ is then prized and repentance sought and holiness desired which in health were slighted and put off the reason is the sense of their condition their case makes them considerate and consideration gives death and eternity a near approach and than they do make other kind of impressions than when we look on them at a distance Had we but the same thoughts of these things in health as we shall have in sickness we should labour for Grace and Holiness as much now as we shall then wish we had I tell you you don't consider enough of the nearness of death and eternity and he that puts the evil day far off will put the Yoke of Christ off too and so he is undone by his own security 4. It is from the unsuitableness that is betwixt the things of Christ and the temper of a sinner Christs Yoke doth no way fit a carnal heart and where there is unsutableness there will be dislike Matt. 16.23 They savour not the things that be of God A carnal heart is satisfyed with carnal contentments and delights a rattle will please a child and a toy be more welcome to a fool than a Crown Every nature delights in things sutable to it self and therefore it is that the carnal mind is enmity against God Rom. 8.7 that it neither is nor can be subject to the law of God for how can spiritual things be sutable and relishing to a carnal heart If Christ should come to the ambitious man and say follow me and I will give thee all the honour and grandeur of this world or to the voluptuous man and say follow me and I will give thee all the pleasures of sense and flesh or to the covetous man and say follow me and I will fill thy Bags and thy Barns I will bless the Ship and the Shop I will give thee the treasures of the Earth and the Sea this would do more than all the motives of the Gospel The young man had never left Christ as he did had he but urged such an argument as this for his heart to close with It is the base love of this present world that makes the call of the Gospel so unsuccessful and ineffectual you may see it in that parable Matt. 22.5 They make light of the tenders of Christ and what is the reason why the Farm and the Oxen and the Merchandise were in the case these must not be left for Christ where lust hath the casting voice O how sad is this if Christ should offer you riches and honours you would come and yet for Heaven and Glory you will not 5. It is because they are deceived and beguiled partly by the cunning of Satan who puts a false varnish upon things Partly by the deceitfulness of their own hearts which turns them aside that they cannot see and say it is a lye which they have in their right hand Isai 44.20 Partly from the delusive appearances of things which by reason of both the former seem other than they are Bernard distinguishes of four sorts of things 1. Some things are good and pleasant so is communion with God for there is the chiefest goodness and the highest sweetness 2. Some things are good but not pleasant as repentance and mortification and self-denial 3. Some things are neither good nor pleasant as utter despair in the present State it is a thing full of sin and sorrow 4. Some things are pleasant but not good and such are the delights of sin they are sweet but not safe they please but they deceive It is the sweetness of sin that gives it countenance it would never be committed if there were no pleasure in it And herein the deceitfulness of sin consists Heb. 3.13 it allures by fair baits and kills by a sharp hook it tempts by its sweets and destroys by its snares Sin is like poyson very luscious but very dangerous the pleasant taste invites and the sinner can't refrain though that which is sweet in the mouth be in the belly bitter as wormwood Many are so bewitched to their lust that though they know it will cost them their Souls yet they can't renounce its pleasures Now these five things put together namely Ignorance Unbelief Security Unsutableness of spiritual things and the deceitfulness of Sin are the causes why so many slight the Yoke of Christ Secondly Let me in the next place having shewed you the causes of it lay before you the aggravations of it for it is a sin of a very hainous nature to put off and slight coming under Christs Yoke First it is base disingenuity for we don't deal with God as we would have him deal with us When we want any mercy we must be heard at first call but God calls for duty again and again and we hear him not We are impatient if God delays us and yet we make no scruple to delay him When we have any thing for God to do that must be done speedily In the day when I call answer me speedily Psal 102.2 But when God hath any thing for us to do there we take leisure If we would have mercy that must be to day but if God calls for duty we put him off till the morrow Now this is basely disingenuous that when we can't bear Gods delays yet we make him bear ours although
concealed it is out of the reach of those means that should give check to it It is the most rational way to cure Soul troubles and settle our comfort Sin is like an impostume while it is gathering it is painful but when it is broke or lanced and runs then there is ease Or like a wind lockt up in the Earth which causes great Earthquakes till it finds a vent and then the Earth is quiet It commends the vertue of Christ's Blood when we open to him those mortal wounds which none but he can cure It puts an edge upon prayer he that hath no sin to acknowledge hath but little mercy to beg It is the next way to forgiveness If any say I have sinned and it profited me not he will deliver his Soul from going into the pit Job 33.27 28. In the first Covenant it was He that commits sin shall dye But in the second Covenant he that confesses sin shall be forgiven 1 Joh. 1.9 Confession speakes out such a sensibleness of sin as works the Soul to a ready compliance with any terms of deliverance And a heart brought over to submit to Gods remedies is in a fair way to a cure Though sin be a desperate Disease yet it is never deadly where the Patient is ready to use Gods Medicines This confession leaves such a dread of sin upon the heart that it dare not return to it as it was wont I do not say but that possibly a Believer may through the prevalency of lust and temptation fall into the same sin he hath confessed to God yet it shall not prevail as formerly But it is not every kind of Confession that speaks out an enmity to sin It is possible a man may often confess sin and yet ne-ver forsake it but persist in it all his days and perish in it at last Saul confessed and yet perished Judas confessed his sin and yet lost his Soul Therefore It must be free and voluntary not forced and extorted It must be in sincerity and uprightness of heart Psal 38.18 It must be with brokenness of heart I will declare mine iniquity I will be sorry for my sin It must be with a hearty resolution against sin This is another thing the Hypocrite comes short in he cannot thus confess sin he flatters himself in his own eyes till his iniquity be found to be hateful Psal 36.2 He covers his Transgression as Adam by hiding his iniquity in his bosom Job 31.33 3. This odds in Believers against sin appears in the hating of sin There is odium abominationis and odium inimicitiae One is a hatred that causes aversation the other is a hatred that causes opposition Both ways the Believer hates sin 1. He turns from it as being a thing offensive and loathsome to the Spiritual Appetite and Renewed Will. No natural man can thus hate sin because there is a sutableness between the Heart and Lust He may possibly hate that which is sin but he cannot hate it as it is sin for then he would hate all sin One of a tenacious gripple humour may hate pride and prodigality One that is prodigal and profuse may hate Covetousness And yet he may not hate sin formally considered though he hates that which materially considered is sin This kind of hatred of sin is usually for the sake of some other sin it is only a reserving the affections for some Lust that suits him better So that it may be said of Lust in this case as is said of the Sea what ground it loses in one place it gains in another Whilst he hates one sin he loves another whilst he turns from one he cleaves to another He cannot hate sin as sin this is peculiar to Believers There is no Hypocrite in the World that can unfeignedly hate every sin he cannot say with David Psalm 119.128 I hate every false way but the Believer can and doth I don't say that he ceaseth from all acts of sin that is impossible so long as Grace is imperfect and he carries a body of death about him but he hates all sin and darling sins above all as being the worst of sins for these are they whereby God hath been most dishonoured the Mind most blinded the Heart most bewitched Satan most gratified and the Soul most wounded To dislike some sins and not others is not hatred If the heart be right with God the same reasons that induce us to hate one sin will induce us to hate all God hates all and wherever the Divine Nature is wrought it shews it self in suitable dispositions It is a Universal Principle which as it inclines the heart to all good so it sets it against all sin And it must needs be so or else how can a man be said to be in subjection to Jesus Christ for one sin keeps possession for Satan as well as a thousand And this discovers many that would prove their subjection to Christ by their hating sin when as they do not hate all sin There is ever some lust in reserve of which they say as Jacob of his beloved Benjamin Gen. 42.38 He shall not go Or as Naaman of his bowing to Rimmon when I bow my self in the house of Rimmon 2 Kings 5.18 the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing Now suppose a Woman should love her Husband better than a thousand and a thousand men yet if there be any one that she loves and embraces and desires more than him would ye not say she was a harlot yes as really as she that prostitutes her self to all that pass by He that indulges to any one sin was never yet truly under the Yoke of Christ Though a Believer may possibly fall into many sins yet there is no Believer but hates every sin And let me tell you I know not a surer sign of a mans being under the power of Grace than this For what else is it that can make a man loath that sin that he loved as himself Many a man may be angry with sin but that is consistent with love Many a man may forbear sin for fear of shame or punishment But this is not to hate sin as sin When sin is loathed as being a violation of Gods Law a contempt of his Authority contrary to his Nature an Enemy to his Service and Honour a grief to the Spirit this is to hate sin as sin and he that thus hates sin must necessarily hate all sin for all sin violates his Law is contrary to his nature opposes his Service and grieves his Spirit Secondly as he hates it with a hatred of abomination so he hates it with a hatred of enmity and this appears in a vigorous activity against sin 1. He prays against it Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me Psal 119.133 Prayers and Tears are the Christians Weapons not only against the malice of enemies without but also against the mischief of sin within He don't
your box of oyntment be never so precious Eccles 10.1 yet this dead fly will spoil it all If once judgment be sent forth to victory over every thing of self then art thou prepared for a full subjection to the Yoke of Christ Nothing a man doth can be called gospel obedience unless it be done from a principle of self-denial for till then all his duties are but a sacrificing to his own net Hab. 1.16 or as the Prophet Hosea calls it a bringing forth fruit to himself Hos 10.1 Our Lord Christ himself acted from this principle for as he did not his own will so he sought not his own glory Joh. 8.50 I seek not mine own glory but the glory of him that sent me A man can never carry it becomingly under the Yoke of Christ nor keep his commandments unless he be acted by a principle of self-denial That is the first thing therefore that you are to look to that the principles of your obedience be right 2. If you would order your conversation aright under this Yoke of Christ see that your obedience be in proper acts and exercises All that is done in Religion is not obedience all that is done with reference to God is not obedience to God There is a building wood and hay 1 Cor. 3.12 and stubble upon the foundation this work must be all burnt It is the vanity of Popery and the wickedness of its teachers to prefer the precepts of men before the commands of Jesus Christ Matt. 15. ◠and so to take up the Yoke of Antichrist instead of the Yoke of Christ This obedience tho done in the name of Christ yet is down right rebellion against Christ Nothing can be obedience to Christ but what is done with respect to the authority of the commands of Christ Not this or that single command but all Many obey Christ in one command and neglect another zealous in some things but must he dispensed with in others The Yoke of Christ doth not consist of any one single observance but is made up of many duties it is as extensive as the preceptive part of the gospel which comprehends in it whatever is in any sense the matter of our duty The whole government of heart and life with respect to God to our selves to others is fully taught by the precepts delivered in the gospel And therefore obedience lies not in some particular observances as to this or that command but it is an intire and full resignation of our selves to the laws of Christ as they are a rule of guidance and government to the whole man We must have respect to all That obedience that is not universal is not real Quod propter Deum fit aequaliter fit I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right Psal 119.128 Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these things Phil. 4.8 But yet there is a preference in the commands of Christ some are greater then others there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the weightier matters of the law Matt. 23.23 Some commands are more essential to piety others are more circumstantial Some wherein the glory of God and the salvation of the soul are more immediately concerned in others more remotely Some precepts there are wherein the vitals and main parts of religion are contained there are others that are but as fences about these And therefore though every command is to be obeyed yet some are to be preferred Though it is a duty to respect all yet not with the same degree of respect Though the commands are all equal in regard of the authority of the law-giver yet in respect of the things commanded there is a difference and disproportion To love God is a greater duty than to love my neighbour To obey is better then sacrifice and to hearken then the fat of rams 1 Sam. 15 22. I will have mercy and not sacrifice Matt. 9.13 Now then if you would have your obedience manifested in proper acts and exercises then observe these six rules 1. Neglect no duty in its season several seasons have their several duties annexed to them by God which makes them more a duty then any other duty That which is the duty in season is greater than any other duty 2. Where God layes most weight there we are to express most care As for instance I. Where any commandment is called great there God layes great weight Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind this is the first and great commandment Matt. 22.37 38. Therefore this ought to have our first and greatest observance II. Where God gives forth commands with the greatest sanctions and severest penalties there he layes great weight and there we should express great care So in the second commandment there you have a sanction consisting of a sore threat and a sweet promise Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and shewing mercy to thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments Therefore of all sins we should take heed of false worship and idolatry for this God abhors and keep close to divine institution in all religious performances III. Where two duties come together there the greater is to take place of the less Agendum est id quod est major obligatio In this case that which is the lesser duty ceases for that time to be a duty and the greater duty becomes the only duty Thus positive precepts are to give place to moral precepts Though I am commanded to keep the Sabbath and do no work yet for preserving my neighbours life or house when on fire I may as lawfully work on that day as any other And in moral precepts the less is to give place to the greater Thus when the first and the fifth command meet obey God and obey your rulers the first is to take place The power of a delegate is not to be own'd in competition with the authority of God In praesentia majoris cessat potestas minoris In this case superiours are not to be obeyed For no command of superiours can bind against the command of God who is higher then the highest Again when my own temporal good and the spiritual good of another meet in competition I am to prefer his spiritual good before my own temporal good Therefore Paul would rather never eat meat then offend his Brothers conscience This is the meaning of that in 1 Joh. 3.16 We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren That is our corporal lives for their spiritual As in time of persecution when the death of the strong may confirm the saith of the weak and so be a service to the
to a right end CHAP. XVII Exhorts to perseverance under the yoke of Christ with arguments to press it and directions to guide in it HAving put on the Yoke of Christ Duty third never cast it off again Having begun in the spirit do not end in the flesh He that puts his hand to the plough and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God Luk. 9.62 Art thou bound as the Apostle saies in another case seek not to be loosed The Yoke of Christ is to be put on betimes but never to be put off again The gospel that puts this yoke upon us is the everlasting gospel not temporary or cessant Rev. 14.6 but a fixed rule for the whole life and therefore we are to serve God in righteousness and holiness all our dayes Luk 1.74 75. Let me propound some arguments to press this duty and then some directions to help in it and I shall dismiss this branch of the use 1. Consider the great advantage of a persevering obedience whether you look at the honour that attends it or the peace that comes by it or the safety that is in it or the reward that is intailed upon it the advantage is great on all these accounts 1. It is your honour to persevere in your obedience to Christ to the end This is clearly intimated in that counsel of Christ to the Church of Philadelphia Revel 2.11 Hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown The Crown here some take for the crown of glory in heaven Others take it for that honour God had put upon her ver 9. I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee But I take her crown here to be her perseverance in faith and obedience to Christ for perseverance is a Christians crown it crowns all grace therefore saith our Lord Christ hold fast that which thou hast That profession thou hast made that grace thou hast received that obedience which thou hast wrought For I know thy works thou hast a little strength and hast kept my word and hast not denyed my name Hold fast that which thou hast there is the counsel of Christ and the argument he urgeth it upon is least she should lose her Crown Perseverance in the wayes of Christ is the crown and honour of a Christian 2. If you respect the peace and comfort of your state nothing secures and promotes it more then your constancy in obedience As there is a peace which flows from justification Rom. 5.1 so there is a peace resulting from persevering obedience Great peace have they that love thy Law Psal 119.165 He don't say only that do it but that love it for he that loves it will do it and never depart from it Gal. 6.16 As many as walk according to this rule peace shall be upon them and mercy Constant obedience brings in constant peace and comfort 3. It is of great advantage in point of safety Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way but wickedness overthroweth the sinner Prov. 13.6 Ah what fools are sinners who run into sin to avoid suffering it is as if a man should venture his head to save his hat or sink the Ship to avoid the storm It is He that keepeth the commandment that keepeth his own soul Prov. 19.16 There is no safty but in the way of duty We are sure of Gods protection so long as we make conscience of Gods precepts So sayes the Prophet Isa 33.15 16. He that walketh uprightly he shall dwell on high his place of defence shall be the munitions of Rocks And Prov. 1.33 Whoso hearkneth to me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil 4. It is your advantage in point of reward The promises are made to perseverance To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal life Rom 2.7 The date of your service is short but eternity is the date of your recompence So that great is the advantage of your keeping close to Christ in the way of obedience and therefore he that is righteous let him be righteous still and he that is holy let him be holy still Rev. 22.11 2. Consider on the other hand the danger and mischief of Apostacy from Christ As perseverance in his service is attended with great advantages so casting off his yoke hath in it very mischievous effects and that both with respect to Jesus Christ and to our selves 1. With respect to Christ It is the greatest reproach that can be laid upon Christ for any one that hath taken up his yoke to cast it off again For it is a leaving and rejecting him after choice profession and experience 1. Subjection to Christs yoke is an act of choice for Christ forceth none into his service Now choice is of the best things Of evils a man chooseth the least but of good things a man chooseth that which is best So that he that chooseth the service of Christ doth therein acknowledge the goodness and beauty of his ways And therefore for a man to cast off his yoke is to repent of his choice And this is a great reproach to Jesus Christ for a man to choose his precepts and afterwards to reject them 2. Casting off the yoke is a forsaking Christ after an open Profession for there can be no Apostacy but by such as have first owned Christ and made a profession of him the drunkard the unclean wretch c. that hath been vile all his days living in a course of sin from his youth up he can't be said properly to be an Apostate if he lives and dyes in his sins and lusts he may be said to live and dye a Reprobate but no Apostate But he is an Apostate that hath known and owned the wayes of Christ and afterward turned the back upon them that hath given his neck to the Yoke of Christ and then cast it off again that hath vomited up his filthiness and then turned to his own vomit again 2 Pet. 2.22 Such an Apostate was Judas Demas c. Now for a man to take up a professed subjection to Christ and then forsake him must needs be a great reproach for he seems to say that he is not a good Master it is no profit to serve him 3. It is a leaving Christ after experience for there is no man that hath taken up Christs Yoke but hath seen an equity and goodness in his Precepts he hath found some peace of Conscience in so doing he hath tasted somewhat of the Heavenly gift and been made partaker of some operations of the Spirit and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the World to come Heb. 6.4 5. Now for a man to have experience of Christ and then cast him off is the greatest reproach that can be cast upon him The Apostle calls