of life or spirit of lives 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 2. 7. and man became a living soul So when thou lyest dead before the Lord without any life or breath of Prayer in thee thou canst not so much as breathe before him he 'l breathe a Soul of Prayer into thee he 'l put breath into thee as he did into Acts 9. 11. Saul Behold he prayeth saith God 2. Sometimes a man sends a gift to one that never asked him for it so doth God sometimes send his gifts of grace to them that never ask for it he gives them before they ask it Opposers and Persecutors are said to be the greatest Sinners yet saith Christ upon the Cross Father forgive them they know not what they do he spake it of those that put him to Death Some might have said Lord they are opposers of thee even to the Death be it so saith Christ I have mercy for opposers too and for persecutors too Father forgive them they know not what they do But Lord they do not beg for pardon wilt thou give such a kindness to them that ask not for it They do not acknowledg their fault if thou wilt shew mercy to them stay till they acknowledg their fault and be humbled and ask pardon nay saith Christ I will prevent poor sinners with my love Though they do not ask forgiveness yet I beg forgiveness Father forgive them But Lord these are great sinners and less mercy would serve the turn forgiveness is a great mercy no saith Christ no mercy less than forgiveness will serve the turn they 'l be never the better for any mercy without forgiveness therefore they shall have it Father forgive them but forgiveness is a great mercy be it so saith Christ I know what I do I have great mercy the greatest mercy for the greatest sinners and because they cannot ask it I will ask it for them Father forgive them Vse 6. Wo to you Professors that have not true grace from Matth 13. 12. Luk. 8. 18. them shall be taken away even that which they have Luke saith From them shall be taken that which they seem to have For if we speak of true grace they have not grace only seem to have it They seem to be holy and their seeming holiness shall be taken from them They seem to believe and their seeming Faith shall be taken from them They seem to repent and their seeming Repentance shall be taken from them They Matth. 13. 20. seem to joy in Christ and in Mercy and the Promises but their seeming joy shall be taken from them The spirit doth but assume them he doth not inform them nor enliven them As the dead bodies which Angels assume for a time they seem to live and talk and eat and drink but when the Angel leaves them because they were not the Angels proper bodies they vanish away and lose that life they did seem to have So the Spirit of God doth assume and act the souls of many men in the Church for a time to do service for God by them and all that while they pray and preach and hear and walk up and down in Duty out of one Duty into another and the Spirit leaves them because he did but assume them and then they drop down dead as indeed they are and always were Thus the Spirit did assume Judas for a time Judas was but a dead man in soul all the time he was with Christ only the Spirit of God assumed him and acted him and he followed Christ and went about Preaching the Gospel with the other Disciples but when the Spirit left him he betrayed Christ for thirty pieces of silver that was his proper work and despaired and dyed Vse 7. This should put the Saints upon a serious Tryal of their graces The Point tells you that where there are beginnings of true grace God will make rich Additions of more grace Oh then try what grace yours is if it be true grace God will give more grace As the Apostle saith He that hath begun a good work in you will perfect it If it be a good work God will perfect it he will cherish his own work Sirs God will not nurse up a spurious seed Bastard grace whereof he is not the Father Oh! then all you that would taste comfort from this Point try your graces The Evangelical Hypocrite is he I aim at There is Gospel-Hypocrisie so I call it for where the Gospel comes there are two sorts of Persons that walk beside it 1. Some directly oppose the Doctrine of it and those are Justitiaries that set up their own Righteousness as the Jews Rom. 9. 31 32. did And therefore it is said That Christ came to his own and his John 1. 11. own received him not And such are the Papists at this day who are justly by our Divines said to answer to the Jewish Pharisees These are Christian Pharisees they receive Christ in Name but set up their own Righteousness and will be justified by their own Works and saved by their own Merits 2. Others there are that receive the Gospel and so decry all their own Righteousness and cry up Christ they see nothing in themselves and look for all from Christ renouncing their own Righteousness and resting upon Christ alone for salvation These are of divers sorts 1. Some receive Christ with an Historical lifeless Faith they believe in Christ but will not part with their sins they gladly embrace Christ as a Saviour but oppose Holiness and will not change their lives and because Christ came into the World to save sinners they take liberty to sin and hope to be saved as well as any These are those we call our large Protestants who are as great Enemies to Christ as Papists are The Papists persecute the true Christians in the Point of Doctrine and these Enemies within us persecute the true Christians in Point of Holiness The Papists they will be saved by works without Faith these will be saved by Faith without works These are spots in our feasts The Epistles of James and John were written as Antidotes against this kind of poyson And Jude writes against these men ungodly men turning the Vers 4. grace of God into lasciviousness Arguing from mercy to liberty which is the Divils Logick Continuing in sin that grace may abound And my Beloved in this lyeth the very form of an Evangelical Hypocrite in denying his own Righteousness to establish his sin he will advance Christ to advance his lust Dub. But how can open sinners keep their lusts live in visible prophaneness and yet believe in Christ Sol. Because the Gospel brings the sweetest and highest Consolations along with it And therefore every man under sense of sin will fly thither for Sanctuary and hide himself under the Canopy of the Gospels mercy A man that travels under the fiery Beams of the Sun in an hot day the cool shadow of a Tree is very
can create a soul in the Womb but the Lord Who can form the shape and structure of a man in the Womb but the Lord So though thou labour and travel in birth of Service for the Lord though thy Service for God may cost thee many a pang yet count it a gift As Jesus Christ did The works which the Father hath Joh. 5. 36. John 17. 4. GIVEN me And I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do Lo Our Saviour counts his work a gift so should we take it for a favour that he employs us that we may do him any service or have any office about him Nay to suffer for Christ and lose all for Christ count it a gift As Paul tells the Philippians Vnto you it is given in Phil. 1. 29. the behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake To suffer for Christ was given them as a great favour sufferings are a gift as well as Faith As Latimer said The greatest promotion that God gives in this world is to be such Philippians to whom it is given not only to believe but also to suffer And Ignatius professed he had rather be a Martyr than a Monarch And the Apostles rejoyced that they were graced Acts 5. 41. so as to be disgraced for Jesus Christ Vse 4. Make sure of Heaven then since the Knowledg of the Mysteries of Heaven is a gift to some not to all How should we make our calling and election sure since many are called and but few chosen Give diligence to make thy calling sure seeing he gives grace but to some not to all since he sends pardons but to some not to all We need not doubt the attaining of that which none at all miss nor any are ever put by it But when a thing of price and worth is given only to some not to all there we should make sure work You that hope for Heaven make sure of Heaven for hopes disappointed will break the heart If hope deferred makes the heart sick surely hopes disappointed will make the heart break Oh do not hang upon rotten hopes as a man that hangs over a deep River by a Rope or Cord there he hangs and hopes and hopes and hangs but if his Cord break and snap asunder there he falls and never riseth more so many hang over Hell by the Cord of hope and if thy Cord of hope breaks as it will if it be but rotten thou art gone Man thou art gone if thou hadst a thousand souls And therefore do not hang upon a weak Cord of uncertain hope but upon the golden Cord of Faith and Assurance If you say How may we attain Assurance I answer you First God gives assurance in Gods way if God gives assurance certainly he will give it in God's way Therefore Sirs never expect it in a way of sin for sin is not God's way I am told by a most learned man That Assurance by our Divines Mr. Woolbridge of Hustification Pag. 292. is wont to be made a part of Sanctification and may very well be included in the sanctification of the spirit 1 Thes 5. 23. as distinct-from Soul and Body Secondly Seek not assurance in the way of the World the World is a stranger to assurance this is such a flower as grows not in the Worlds garden the world and assurance are Antipodes And therefore if ever you would meet with assurance do not as the world doth For do ye not know That narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that find it And therefore you run from assurance if you follow the world Oh tremble then to go in the way of the world If thou wilt follow the most I tell thee the most will be damned Assurance lyeth East and the world goeth West if thou follow the world the Sun of assurance will set upon thee The Apostle saith That the Devil is the God of the world who 2 Cor. 4. 4. hath blinded their minds And he tells you That the Saints are chastened of the Lord 1 Cor. 11. 32. that they may not be CONDEMNED with the world Where then can the world or her Children meet with assurance They may be assured of Hell but not of Heaven Our Lord Christ saith I pray not for the world but for John 17. 9. them which thou hast given me for they are thine The Lord Jesus doth not spend one breath to pray for the world and where then is the assurance of the world Thirdly It is but a few special ones that wear the golden chain of assurance about their necks and therefore you must be choice Christians if you would have this white stone and the new name written in it It is not every measure of true grace that affords assurance ordinary Saints have it not and therefore advance Sirs you must advance higher you must be peculiar ones if you would enjoy assurance All the Children know not their Fathers secrets but the choicest of them Fourthly Assurance is a work of the greatest diligence And therefore saith Peter Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure Lazy souls will never arrive at it he that would have it must be familiar and intimate with God Enoch who was translated was one that walked with God and you that would be translated into the Heaven of assurance must be persons walking with God You must take many a turn with him you must dwell in his Presence you must pray hard and lay fast hold upon him As it is said of Thetys that when she came to ask a request of Jupiter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. Iliad A. v. 512. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 She laid fast hold upon his knees and held him as if she had been ingrafted into him and would not leave him So vigorously must you pursue God in Prayer that would have assurance you must wrestle with him and lay hold on him as if you were incorporated into him Vse 5. Tremble at the severity of God in his spiritual administrations His judicial punishments upon the souls of men are very dreadful To you it is given to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven here is exceeding mercy But to others it is not given here is exceeding severity The Lord knows how to meet with sinners in their own way to shape his judgments to their deservings Ignorance is their sin and Ignorance shall be their punishment He will speak in parables to them and he will act in parables to them his Word shall be parables and his Works shall be parables to them They shall understand nothing that he saith and nothing that he doth he will walk every step in the dark towards them all his paths shall be covered with Clouds in all his teachings and in all his walkings there shall be a mist before their eyes though he saith This is the way to heaven walk in it yet they shall
discovers are no other for substance but those very things which are in Scripture only he gives a clearer light to discern them by To Instance That God is Every man saith he knows this and believes it as well as the godly doth But I must tell him That the godly man seeth a great deal further into it he seeth that God is as truly as he seeth that the Sun is when it shines upon him And therefore God is in all his thoughts The wicked man will tell you he knows that God is present in all places and yet he will be drunk in God Presence swear and lye in Gods Presence cheat and deal unjustly in Gods Presence How can this man say he believes that God is present where he is But now the godly Man seeth that God is present in all places as clearly as if God appeared visibly to him Secondly They know feelingly they feel what they know what they know in the head they feel in the heart And they count themselves to know no more than they feel as Melancthon makes mention of a godly Woman who having strong conflicts upon her Death-bed and was afterwards much comforted brake out into these words Now and not till now I understand the meaning of those words Thy sins are forgiven thee The Knowledg of Divine Mysteries is rather a spiritual sensation than speculation It lyeth more in sense and feeling than in understanding of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the soul it self hath its sense as well as the body And therefore when David would teach us how to know what the Divine goodness is he calls not for speculation but sensation Taste and see how good the Lord is Know God as thou wouldest have God know thee know Christ as thou wouldest have Christ know thee Thou wouldest have God know thee and take care of thee so must thou know him and take care of his Glory Thou wouldest have God know thee and succour thee in dangers as the Disciples when the Waves covered the ship said to Christ Master carest thou not that we perish So must thou Mark 4. 38. know God and his Cause so as to prop it up in difficult times lest it perish Thou wouldest have Christ know thee so as to dye for thee Lord if thou dye not for me I must be damned so must thou know Christ so as to dye for him and his Truth I am ready Acts 21. 13. not only to be bound but to dye at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus Thou wouldest have Christ know thee so as to love thee and put thee in his bosom Who loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2. 20. So must thou know Christ so as to love him and put him into thy bosom Lord thou knowest that I love thee John 21. 16. Charity or love is the most eminent of all the Graces inasmuch as Faith shall fail when there shall be nothing to believe nor to have confidence in and Hope shall fail when Christ returning and the resurrection of the just being made there shall be nothing more to hope for Only Love shall never fail for there shall be always what to love and what to taste For in eternal life we shall love God and Christ and we shall find a perpetual relish and savour in the contemplation of God and of Jesus Christ Know the things that are prepared and given thee of God Therefore is the spirit given us that me may know the things 1 Cor. 2. 12. that God hath given us What is it to know Heaven unless thou knowest that Heaven is given thee of God What is it to know Christ unless thou knowest that Christ is given thee of God What is it to know God himself unless thou knowest him to be thy God What is it to know the Scriptures unless Valdesso Consid 70. thou believest and holdest for certain all that is contained in the Scriptures and hast confidence in the Divine promises as if to thee properly and principally they had bin made Forgiveness of sin is a blotting out of iniquity as a cloud Isa 44. 22. A Cloud is by the Power of the Heavens nullified neither form nor matter to be found not any circumstances like it to note that ever such a thing was Forgiveness notes Remission which is the Term in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Remission Remittere quasi Remittere to send a thing back again the unravelling and undoing of a thing misdone the nullifying of an unlawful Action As sin makes void the Law and nullifies it so doth forgiveness nullifie and make void sin When we are remitted we are retromissi sent back again to our first Condition as when we were in Paradise no more mentioned and no more thought of than of Adam before his fall Know thy self what need thou hast of them a Damned man and therefore need of eternal life a guilty man and therefore need of Justification a lost man and therefore need of a Saviour A man under Satans power and therefore need of Redemption Thirdly They know powerfully Their Knowledg comes like an Armed man upon them and carrieth them Captive into the Tents of those things they know 2 Cor. 10. 5. And therefore Christ is said To ascend up on high and to lead Psal 68. 18. captivity captive It binds the soul up in chains Lord I am thy Prisoner I yield to thee and will be no more a Rebel It layeth a soul flat at the feet of Christ as it did Paul he fell to the Earth Lord what wilt thou have me to do I 'le swear no more only pardon me Lord and I 'le be drunk no more I 'le persecute the Saints no more pardon me only and I 'le deal unjestly no more I 'le serve thee upon thine own terms and do what ever thou bidst me Fourthly They know delightfully Their Knowledg stamps upon their hearts Impressions of delight in the things they know because true Knowledg presents the Mysteries of Heaven lovely to them and layeth a Net to catch their souls in love with them Spiritual Science is steeped in affection taking delight in the things known not barely apprehending but relishing and savouring what it apprehends with abundance of love and complacency Fifthly They know admiringly Their Knowledg catcheth them up into the third Heaven of admiration They that know aright the Mystery of Redemption know and admire the Wisdom of God in contriving such a curious piece of reconciling Justice and Mercy to save a poor sinner As Paul calls it The manifold wisdom of God For consider Gospel-Mysteries Eph. 3. 10. are the Mysteries of a Kingdom and fit for admiration For 1. Kingdoms have Majesty Solomon had Lyons about his Throne to set forth the Majesty of it to make Transaction between that and all other people with Awe So Christ manageth his way in this World with Majesty Heaven and Earth tremble at his Presence he utters
greatnotice of her little strength Christ makes much of a little grace As the Father dandles his little child so Jesus Christ dandles a little grace upon the lap of his Commendation Though thy grace be but low yet he hath an high esteem of it 3. God's giving some grace engages him to give more Hath God given thee a little grace His giving thee that little puts an engagement upon him to give thee more one of his gifts bind him to give another When God went about to destroy Sodom saith God Shall I Gen. 18. 17 18. Hide from Abraham that thing which I do seeing I mean to make him a great and mighty nation As though one kindness did bind him to give another with God the bestowing of one favour binds him to add another If God begin to give thee grace he is engaged to go on and give thee more grace not for thy sake but because 't is his own work and therefore if he should not carry it on he should lose what he had begun If God hath pardon'd thee some sins and should not pardon thee all the rest all his former Pardons would be thrown away like precious water spilt upon the ground If God hath begun to give thee some grace he is engaged to give thee more for the sake of the former I say he is engaged to give thee more for the sake of the former and to give thee more yet nay more yet for the sake of that grace that went before As man that ploughs a piece of Land counts himself engaged to sow it and if he sow it he counts himself engaged to fence it and make it thrive because one work is for another the former for the latter plowing is for sowing and sowing is for growing and growing is for reaping and therefore one labour calls for the help of another So when God puts a little grace into thee it is for another to bring on another and that the former grace may not be in vain one gift calls for the help of another 4. A little grace is a pledg of more I say the little grace thou hast is a sure pledg of more as a little piece of money is an earnest of the whole sum God speaking of the effusion of his gifts and graces saith I will pour out my spirit God gives his spirit as freely as he gives rain now you know first it rains small drops and after greater and the small are the signs of the great 5. Jesus Christ makes intercession for a little grace Peter saith Christ I have pray'd that thy faith fail not thou hast but a little faith and I have prayed for thy little faith for thy weak faith that it fail not if any man sin we have an 1 John 2. 2. advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Vse 2. What saith this Principle to Sinners that are without grace Surely Sirs it should much deject you and make you smite upon your hearts When Christ saith It is given to you to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven but to others it is not given should it not make those tremble that have not the gift that have not this special gift To know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven When our Lord saith To him that hath shall be given should it not shake the heart of the man that hath not so much as the first gift of grace yet bestowed upon him Sinner thou hast not so much as the Foundation the first stone of the building yet laid in thee Lord what a sad case am I in whilst thou art promising the addition of grace to others thou hast not planted so much as the beginnings of grace in me 1. While the saving-work in others is going on it is not yet begun in thee While others are upon their growth thou art not yet born I say not born again Sinner thou hast not yet so much as the first preparation of Heaven in thee while others are upon their Progress thou art not as yet in the Race while others are running to the Gole thou lyest dead while others are raised and enlivened thou hast not yet set out toward Heaven while others are a great way upon their Journey to Glory thou art left sleeping in Sodom till the sparks of fire and brimstone fall down from Heaven and fly about thine ears while the Lots are carried out by the Angel of the Lord Oh Sirs see your misery 2. Sinners you are ugly and mis-shapen Creatures without grace you want the Image of God upon you Holiness is our comeliness and Grace is the only handsom garment What are thy sins but thy deformities and thy lusts but thy leprosies Thou carest not what thou art in the eye of the godly but carest thou not what thou art in the eye of God Thou feest no unhandsomness in sin thou seest not thy self ugly but art thou therefore the less ugly A Toad or a Snake hath no odious apprehensions of it self it is above their reach to apprehend what they are so Sinners cannot discern their own deformities their Judgments follow their Natures and Dispositions 3. If Jesus Christ doth not conquer you he 'l slay you In Rev. 6. 2 there saith John I saw and behold a white horse Rev. 6. 2. and he that sate on him had a bow and a crown was given to him and he went forth conquering and to conquer 1. Here John saw an horse which is mystically the Gospel because of its swiftness The Apostles and Apostolical Preachers of the Primitive times were Horses for their nimble and swift Preaching of the Gospel through the World 2. This is a white horse to signifie 1. The Purity of the Gospel or Divinity of its Doctrine 2. to signifie the joy and peace it offers to the Sons of Men it is called glad tidings and the Gospel of peace A white Flag is an Ensign of Peace 3. To signifie the Glory of Christ white robes are Emblems of Glory Princes and Nobles did go in white 4. To signifie the Triumph of Christ white horse in sign of victory and Triumph The Romans when they rid in Triumph had white Horses to ride on or to draw their Chariots The Lord Christ will get the day he will triumph over souls either in their submission or destruction And therefore it is said 3. That he that sate on the white horse had a bow given him This Horse-man or Prince the Lord Christ had a bow in his hand and a Bow presupposeth arrows that is terrors and threatnings against his Enemies that will not submit to his mercy he hath his Arrow prepared upon the string and will shoot at the rebellious Sinner It may be thou hast some of Christ's Arrows sticking in the ribs of thy Conscience and art wounded for some sins thy very heart is galled with the threatnings that fly like Arrows out of the Bow of the Ministry but thou frettest instead of being converted
be given to them that have grace be it never so small Then Saints see what your work is What 's that to receive How may we receive more grace First Open thy soul to receive grace For to receive a thing is sometimes a motion of the subject or faculty opening it self to receive it As the hand doth open it self to receive a gift and a vessel must be opened to receive oyl or cordial pour'd into it The earht opened her mouth and swallowed up Corah And Numb 16. 32. Gen. 4 11. the earth as God said to Cain opened her mouth to receive thy brothers blood from thy hand Now the opening of the soul to receive Grace consists in these three Things 1. In believing the Promise when the soul believes its door stands open to receive the golden Treasures of Grace that are brought into it out of the store-house of the Promise And therefore saith the Text They rehearsed all that God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith unto Acts 14. 27. the gentiles 2. In love to grace promised for love is an opening grace When a man loves a friend dearly he opens his Arms to embrace and receive him so when a man loves grace he opens his heart to welcom grace into it And therefore ye shall find this passage between Christ and his Spouse saith Christ Open to me my love And saith the Spouse I rose up to open to Cant. 5. 2. Vers 5. my beloved He that loves Christ will open the two-leav'd gates of his soul to let in Christ with all his train 3. In desire after grace promised for the desire of grace is an opening of the soul to receive grace As the Lord saith Psal 81. 10. Open thy mouth wide i. e. ask freely open thy mouth in Prayer as wide as thou wilt And I will fill it 2dly Lye low The valleys that receive all the showres and floods into their bosom lye low under all the high hills and proud mountains so the humble Saints that lye in the bottom of self-abhorrence under all the rest receive the showres of grace the floods stay upon them and they drink them in they are overflown like your low grounds with abundance of grace 3dly Accept of grace to receive grace is to accept of grace As Jacob said to his brother Esau Nay I pray thee if now I Gen 33. 10. have found grace in thy sight then receive my present at my hand i. e. accept of my present at my hand Vse 5. What shall I do that have no grace To him that hath shall be given But what shall I do that have not Consider grace is a gift and therefore 1. God can give grace where it is not he gives grace where is none he doth good to them that are not good A gift is bestowed where it is not See Isa 44. 3 I will pour water upon Isa 44. 3. him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine off-spring i. e. as I pour Water and Floods upon the dry and thirsty ground that hath none so will I pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine off-spring Where observe God gives showres of grace where there 's not a drop before 2. He can give grace to whom he will he can love whom he will and he can give grace to whom he will this is the Prerogative of Gods Love he can love any one Man being a narrow creature cannot love any one one that is fowl and ugly and crooked but God can love any one he can love unhandsom and deformed Creatures and marry them and make them lovely Naaman the Syrian was a Leper and therefore wondrous ugly he was a Leper in Body and Mind too The beauty of the mind presents a crooked person comely to us but Naaman had beauty in neither part he was a Leper in body and an Idolater in mind and yet God loved him and by a poor maid in his house sent him to the Prophet of Israel and healed his outside and healed his inside made his Body comely and made his Soul comely 3. He makes notorious sinners noteable Saints he makes Persecutors Preachers As he did Paul and all the Church admired it But they had heard only that he who persecuted us Gal. 1. 23. in times past now PREACHETH the faith which once he DESTROYED See the Work and Free-grace of God! Would God shew mercy to him that destroyed the Faith Yes he gave Faith to him that destroyed the Faith Paul if he could would have kil'd Christ and yet God gives him Christ The Gentiles were the greatest Sinners in the World and they were at the height of sin when the Gospel began to be Preached to them they were counted unclean the unclean Act 10. 14 15. beasts swine and other Beasts which the Jews under the Law might not eat did signifie the Gentiles and the Jews not eating the unclean beasts did signifie that they should have no communion with the unclean Gentiles yet on the GENTILES Vers 45. Acts 11. 17. also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost And forasmuch as God gave them i. e. the Gentiles the like gift as he did unto us 4. Sometimes God makes his greatest Act of Love to pass upon the greatest sinner Paul you know was a Saul indeed chief of sinners he saith it of himself and yet notwithstanding Acts 9. 3 4. Christ Preached from Heaven to him he sent men to Preach to others as Philip to the Eunuch but Jesus Chrrist doth himself Preach to Paul Jesus Christ when he was on Earth in the form of a servant called the other Apostles as Matthew at the receipt of custom and Peter when he was fishing follow me but when he was on his Throne in Majesty he Preacht from Heaven to Paul Wondrous love to a wondrous sinner 5. He bids thee pray and he 'l give Ask and it shall be Matth. 7. 7. Luk. 11. 13. given you But you 'l say he saith this to Saints Sol. See what our Lord Christ saith to the Woman of Samaria If thou knew'st the gift of God and who it is that saith John 4. 10. to thee Give me to drink thou would'st have asked of him and he would have given thee living water Dub. But I ask and yet 't is not given Resp Questionless he that bids us ask means to give As we bid our Children say I pray you father give me such a thing we do it not but when we mean to give it them Object But I cannot pray I cannot pray for grace Answ 1. He that will give thee grace when thou prayest will give thee grace that thou mayest pray As God first formed Adams body and it lay dead before him on the ground without breath or life or soul in it and God breathed into his nostrils the breath
refreshing and he will sit there and rest himself under it Men that have their feet or their arms scalded will put them into cold water which gives them ease though it gives them no cure yet because it gives them ease there they keep them So men whose Consciences are scalded with wrath Oh! now the Gospel and Justification by Faith in Christ is very sweet And so they are eased by it never cured by it and therefore you shall find them disclaim all works and cry up grace only when Christ is offered and general notice given them that there is Mercy and Hope for great Sinners this fills them with joy and peace But wherein doth these mens hypocrisie appear They receive Jesus Christ only for ease I say a false heart receives Christ only to ease him to ease him of the terrour of Conscience and to ease him of the work of Obedience And here prophane Sinners find great ease The weight of their guilty Consciences would press and sink them down but that they bear up upon the Righteousness of Jesus Christ Oh! he dyed for Sinners and paid our debt and now they are cheerful and easie they can sin and be easie follow their drunkenness and be easie swim in their uncleanness and be easie for they make the Righteousness of Christ their Bladder to swim upon and say what you will to them they will not sink If you ask one of these drunkards and haters of the Saints and railers at godliness I say if you ask them Do you believe in Christ yes say they Believe yea we believe exceedingly and so they do the truth is they believe beyond measure but they believe and rest upon Jesus Christ to ease themselves of sanctification they cannot but see the want of it and they cannot ease themselves but by pleading that Christ is holy and that though they have it not yet Christ hath it This is a great ease to their thoughts at the present and thus they receive Christ Oh Sirs that you would consider the sad condition of this man whose plagues shall be made wonderful whose Conscience suits him still for sin and then looks up to Christ and rests there and hears Sermons but then salves up all with the Righteousness of Christ and considers often that his ways are evil but never suspects his faith to be evil Then he is taken with Death and then looks up to Christ at last the snuff dyes and his Sun sets and darkness approacheth and then instead of heaven embraceth flames and what is it that hath deceived these men Oh! their Faith hath deceived them they believed they might have had Christ and Sin too and then in Hell they wish Oh! that I had considered and feared this before and will you not fear now I charge you then think not your Estates good because you rest on Christ and look for salvation by him only 2. There are others who receive Jesus Christ not only into their belief but into their bosoms not only into their heads but also into their hearts They have a great work upon them the Gospel doth not only Irradiate their minds but also in a great measure Captivate their Wills they have affections to Christ and sweet motions to holy things kindled in their hearts They receive the word with joy and delight Matth. 13. they fall into raptures of love to and admiration of Jesus Christ they do not only assent to the Doctrine of Justification by Christ but are made partakers of the Holy Ghost There is a change wrought in them they seem to be washed 2 Pet. 2 20. and sanctified in the blood of Christ having escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledg of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And so they shine in the surface of their outward lives The hypocrisie of the heart springs from defect of light in the mind The want of saving Illumination in the understanding is the reason of the hypocrisie of the heart These two faculties the Vnderstanding and the Will live very near one another if they be not really the same some say they are but one and the same power or faculty of the soul and so there is a real Identity of the Will and Understanding saying that the Will is Intellectus extensus others affirm that they are faculties really distinct However it is by all concluded that there must in order of nature be light before choice knowledg before election the Intellectual creature must see before it can determine or resolve upon Now I say the imperfect and unsound resolution of the soul flows from defect of light The hypocrisie of the heart springs from the want of a saving Illumination in the Understanding This appears in the Parable of the Virgins of whom the Lord Christ saith That five were wise and five were foolish The vanity of the one sprang from their folly the provision of Oyl the others made sprang from their Wisdom You know it 's frequent in Solomons Proverbs to call the upright and godly man the wise man the sinner and hypocrite the fool the power of sin lyeth in the power of darkness The strength of a State in the Wisdom of its Council 1. The Understanding is the first inlet of Sin and Grace this is that which opens and shuts to all life and sin When Satan laid his Train and Powder-plot to blow up all the World by the sin of one man he first enters into dispute with Eve and as the Apostle saith deceived her The woman was deceived and so darkned her mind with a mist 1 Tim. 2. 14. the serpent crept into her heart through the door of her Vnderstanding There could no sin get into the Will were there not an error first in the Vnderstanding 2. And as the mind is the first inlet into sin so it is the first door that lets in grace Sanctifie them through thy truth thy John 17. 17. John 12. 35. word is truth Walk while you have the light lest darkness come upon you Satan knew if light came in Christ would come in Matth. 13. 15. 3. Divine light is very powerful it hath a mighty influence to change and renew the heart We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the spirit of the Lord All Divine light of glory works strongly if hypocrites had it their hearts would be sincere Not that bare light can change the will but the Lord works by it When the Lord comes with life he comes with light Awake thou that sleepest Ephes 5. 14. arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light When the spirit comes all his work is expressed by conviction of sin of righteousness and of judgment convince one effectually and you convert him You shall know the truth John 8. 32. saith Christ and it shall make you free that is from your bondage
interpretative tempting of God when though we intend not to tempt him yet we do the same thing which he doth who hath a design and desire to tempt God So that this sin may be committed when you do not intend it you may tempt God when you have no express purpose to do it when you do that which is ordinable to nothing else but to make a tryal or experience of God and to prove his Power or Goodness or Knowledg As when a man goes on in a wretched course of life and yet hopes to find mercy at the hour of death he intends not it may be to try Gods mercy yet he doth that which is good for nothing but to make an experience of his mercy 3. You must know that 1. There is a good or lawful tempting of God 2. There is a sinful tempting of God There is a commendable and there is an unwarrantable tempting of God 1. There is a good and commendable temptation of God which is lawful which is so when it springs 1. A bono principio from a good principle or an holy heart and purpose 2. When it is done in a lawful way or by a good action 3. When it is bottomed upon a good ground that is 1. When we have a call from God to it his command and promise to bear us out 2. When we have a just necessity to do it 4. It is a lawful tempting of God when it tends to a good end This is a lawful tempting of God when it proceeds from a good principle and is done by good means and tends Tentatio bons est quae ex principio bono seu animo sancto ac bono medio seu modeâ—â—â— bonum finem tendit to a good end and as you heard also is bottomed upon a good ground a lawful call and a just necessity to tempt and try God 1. To make our tempting and trying of God lawful and good it must spring from a good principle or an holy heart that is a love of knowing the Truth or Power or Justice of God When we make a Tryal of God out of love to God and his glorious Attributes that we may be ravished with the beauty and splendour of them 2. It is a lawful tempting of God when we have a command to try him and then we sin in not tempting God Isa 7. When the Lord had promised what he would do for Judah and the house of David and what he would do against Syria and Ephraim saith he to encourage Abaz faith in ver 11. Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God ask it either in the depth or in the height above As if he had said For the confirmation of thy faith and the assurance of the truth of Gods word ask a sign that is try God by asking somewhat to be done some unusual and extraordinary thing to be done by him thus make a tryal and experience of him whether he means as he saith whether his heart agrees with his word to know this ask a sign make a tryal put him to it No saith Ahaz I will not ask neither will I tempt the Lord. You Vers 12. would think this was Religiously but it was Hypocritically spoken he pretended he would not sin that if he ask't a sign he should go against the Command in Deut. 6. 16. Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God as ye tempted him in Massah As if a man should tempt God by doing that which he is invited by God himself to do Ahaz here had a Command to try God it was Gods gracious indulgence and kind condescent to Ahaz to bid him ask a sign that is if thou art hard to believe me ask a sign and try me I give thee this offer but he would not it was his rebellion not to tempt or try God when he had a Command to tempt and try him And herein was his sin also the greater because God would have given King Ahaz a sign not for himself only but for the edification and instruction of the whole people and therefore he is reproved as an hinderer of the common good and publick salvation in that he would not ask a sign 3. It is a lawful tempting or tryal of God when there is a just necessity when we really stand in need of his extraordinary appearance when ordinary means fail then to trust in him and expect his unusual presence it is not unlawful Thus when Pharaoh pursued Israel and his Army was in the Rear of them and the Red-sea before them Moses said unto them Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which Exod. 14. 13. he will shew to you to day And when the children of Israel were in the wilderness and could have no bread nor could meet with water then they were to try what God could do for them and to expect relief from him out of the ordinary course they were called by God into the wilderness and therefore had a call to try God and seek experiments of his mercy and power for them 4. It is a lawful tempting of God when it is to a good end 1. As for confirmation of our faith thus Gideon tempted or proved God Judg. 6. 36 37 38 39 40 verses And Gideon said unto God If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand as thou hast said Behold I will put a fleece of wool in the floor and if the dew be on the fleece only and it be dry on all the the earth beside then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand as thou hast said And it was so for he rose up early on the morrow and thrust the fleece together and wringed the dew out of the fleece a bowl full of water Where faith he at the 39th verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let me tempt or prove I pray thee but this once with the fleece Gideon being conscious of his own infirmity and weakness and out of a desire to obey God and for the confirmation of his faith and his more cheerful obedience in a most dangerous design which God had set him upon asked and obtained a sign I suppose he ask'd this sign by an instinct and impulse from God himself 2. When it is for Gods glory and the publick good for the salvation of souls and the progress of the Gospel and the splendour of Christs name And thus the Apostles prayed that God would be with them in their Ministry by stretching forth his hand to heal and that signs and wonders might Acts 4. 29 30. be done by them 2. There is a sinful tempting of God A sinful tempting of God is which wants those conditions or ingredients spoken of before Briefly thus Quae principio medio aut fine peccat a sinful tempting of God is that which fails in principle means or end You shall see an instance of this sinful tempting of God in Matth. 22. 15. to 22. Then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they
uncertain Acts 15. 7. When some Teachers would have imposed Circumcision upon the believing Gentiles Peter argued against it 1. Because God sent him to Preach the Gospel to Cornelius and his Family and others his Kinsmen and Friends whom he had called together all of them uncircumcised Gentiles God would have the Gospel Preached to them and they accordingly had and received the faith and yet were not circumcised this was one argument why they should not be circumcised 2. God also saith Peter gave them the Holy Ghost even Vers 8. as he did unto us and by this God which knoweth the hearts bare them witness that is by giving them the Holy Ghost testified from heaven that they were accepted of him though they were not circumcised and therefore saith he Why tempt Vers 10. ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples Ye tempt God by urging Circumcision upon them that is your laying that yoke on the Gentile-Christians after such evidences of Gods will to the contrary is a tempting of God Sinners you thus tempt God you tempt God who believe not his clear dictates but call into question his certain commands God commands ye to be holy and to walk strictly and exactly yet you doubt of it whether it be so or no you think you need not be so holy though the Command revealed is clear as the Sun yet you doubt whether God himself be so strict or whether his will is that you should walk by so strict a rule now you tempt God and try him whether he made such Commands seriously or in jest whether he be in earnest or in sport when he saith Be ye holy for I am holy 7. They tempt God that lay unnecessary yokes upon the necks of the disciples As Peter saith Why tempt ye God to Act. 15. 10. put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples c. Deodate gives this gloss upon it Why do ye make a rash tryal without any necessity or command even with danger of sinister success whether God will give them the will to submit themselves to a burthen so odious to them and the power of bearing it without being moved to impatience and revolt arguing that such a course was to make the poor Gentile-Christians to revolt from the Gospel of Christ 8. Doubting hearts tempt the Lord Can the Lord forgive or will the Lord forgive such a sinner as I am This comes to that pass in the 78th Psalm v. 18 19. They tempted God in their heart they said Can God furnish a table in the wilderness Poor souls let us pity one another our doubting is a tempting of God let us then throw our selves upon his free promise and fear nothing 9. Men may tempt God in holy duties 1. When we perform holy duties in our sins and here we tempt God in excessu in the excess with too much confidence men will pray to God in their sins they will approach his Presence face him in duties call him father be bold with him in their addresses come every day before him and yet keep their sins Call him father and yet hate the Saints what an impudent tempting of God is this they challenge him to be their God and yet hate holiness they will perform religious duties and yet scorn at Religion 2. We tempt God in holy duties by cold and indifferent performance Sirs consider oh consider seriously you pray it may be but you pray with slightness of heart there is a certain wantonness and trifling disposition in the heart that you are wont to be superficial and imperfect in your ways perhaps you will not leave off duties but you do them as if you did them not without heart in a loose lazy formal lifeless manner now ye tempt God both the majesty and the mercy of God is despised and can God be well-pleased with such things If ye offer the blind for sacrifice is it not evil Mal. 1. 8. and if ye offer the lame and sick is it not evil offer it now unto thy governour that is try him with such a gift and will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person No he will not shewing that when you offer such gifts to God you do but tempt him and try his patience It is an high presumption and temptation of God to offer that to God which we durst not do to a superiour mortal man to perform duties to God with a slight heart it is a slighting of God 3. A man tempts God in holy duties when we do them to try God what he will do for us in things of which we have no promise as when men have tryed all ways and means of their own to be rich and all will not do now they will become religious and set up duties in their families to try this way also if God will prosper them in the world and give them of the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of corn and wine and here is a double sin 1. In that they make Religion to serve the world and subordinate Divine duties to carnal and earthly ends here Religion is the means and the world set up as the end the end is always in the intention of the agent nobler than the means they that worship God for the world have an higher esteem of the world than they have of God or his worship They tempt God to give them outward things which it may be he will not thus Balaam tempted God 10. They tempt God who dare God and try his patience 1 Cor. 10. 9. Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents Neither let us tempt Christ that is let us not by our provoking sins dare Christ and try his patience whether he will make good upon us his threats against sin when we go on in sin we make as it were undue tryals of his mercy and patience to tempt God Grotius in locum is to make an experiment how far his patience will go and how long it will endure and hold out 11. They tempt God who try him whether he will not be better than his word Sinners cannot deny but the Word of God saith Neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers 1 Cor. 6. 8 9. nor thieves nor drunkards nor covetous nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God They see this they that are guilty of these sins see this and cannot deny it yet they hope that though this be Gods word yet he will be better than his word We hope God will not be so strict and so severe as he saith we trust he will give a relaxation and will not do all he saith in his word if God will be as precise as his word we are undone if God will be no better than his word wo to us O ye tempters of God! how can ye be saved I say this is to tempt God whether he be firm to