paid her all in counterfeit Coin The best wages that the Devil gives for his work is but deceit Rev. 12. 9. He is said to deceive the World and the whole World There is not one that works for him that is not deceived by him What a cruel Bondage is this to be working so hard and to be put off with a cheat But yet further there are two things more that make this Bondage to be more cruel than any other Bondage And they are 1. That tho the Devil's Servants do their Tasks yet they shall be beaten You read of that cruel Bondage in Egypt That when they did not do their Tasks they were beaten Exod. 5. 14. but here they are beaten tho they do them 'T is a fruit and effect of the Devils Service that the more one serves him the more one is beaten the more lashes and the more stings of Conscience one shall have To serve the Devil 't is the way to be beaten black and blew see Mat. 27. 3 4 5. Judas had done his work the Devil set him about he had done out his Task and then is the time that Judas must be beaten Then Conscience fell upon him so that he hangs himself 2. This also makes this Bondage more cruel than any other Bondage that in this Bondage the Souls of sinners are in Bondage Other Bondages are upon the Body and the outward Man but this is upon the Soul chiefly Indeed the Members of the Body are under this Bondage too The eye that is an Instrument of sin and the ear that 's another and the tongue and the hands and the feet and all the Members are imployed about evil Rom. 6. 19. But above all the Soul and the Faculties of that are in this spiritual thraldom The Vnderstanding bondage is upon that by reason of darkness and ignorance the Will bondage is upon that by reason of that stubbornness and disobedience that is in sinners against God the Affections Bondage is upon them by reason of their disorder the Mind and Heart Bondage is upon them by reason of their being defiled and hardened the Conscience bondage is upon that by reason of its searedness So that the very Seat and Throne of the Devil is within them 2 Cor. 4. 4. In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not c. The Bondage is within them Eph. 2. 2. He worketh in the children of disobedience Now what a cruel Bondage is this to have the precious Soul in the hand of the Devil to be a Slave inwardly to all unrighteousness This is the Fourth thing in the Description of this Bondage 'T is a cruel Bondage that sinners are in And then 5. As 't is a cruel Bondage so 't is a cursed Bondage The wrath and curse of God belongs to this Condition When the Children of Israel were in their cruel Bondage in Egypt yet notwithstanding they were beloved of God The Scripture says That God had respect to them Exod. 2. 25. He cast an affectionate look upon them But he hath annexed his high displeasure and threatned his vengeance against all that shall abide in this Bondage He threatens to cast them off for ever This you have implied in that Gal. 4. 30. out with them A little while hence if they don't now get their Freedom God will send them to their own place from their Prison of Sin to the Prison of Hell And therefore amongst other parts of their Bondage they are said to be in Bondage to the Law or to be under the Law which because they have broken and have no surety to stand up for them denounceth all its Plagues and all its Curses against them let them live never so much in the outward Righteousness of the Law Gal. 3. 10. As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse 6. Yet tho this is a cruel and a cursed bondage that sinners are in it is not a bondage without hope We don't know what a merciful purpose the Lord may have concerning some of you that are yet shut up in this house of bondage whether he may not deal with you as he did with Israel Pray read that precious place Exod. 6. 5 to 9. I saith God to Moses have heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage and I have remembred my covenant Wherefore say unto the children of Israel I am the Lord and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will rid you out of their bondage and I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm and with great judgments And I will take you to me for a people and I will be to you a God and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians And I will bring you in unto the land concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob and I will give it you for an heritage I am the Lord. If it may but be thus with you now why who can tell There is a way of deliverance out of this bondage if you will but hearken after it as I shall shew upon the second branch of this Doctrine That Jesus Christ doth offer Freedom to poor sinners that are in the house of bondage But before I come to that I will make a little Application of this That sinners are in bondage Vse 1. And are they so Then 1. This may serve to cast an everlasting contempt and reproach upon all the ways of sin in that it brings into and keeps all that walk in them in bondage Oh what a thing is sin now What do you think of sin Sirs upon this account Is not this an Enemy that you should all rise up against and never be quiet till you have got it rooted up out of your hearts Is this a thing to be loved and pleaded for and to be let alone as if there were no hurt in it Oh! now methinks I might hope that there is none of you that would speak one word on sins side Why behold what it hath done It hath brought the whole World into slavery As soon as ever we began to have any thing to do with it it took us Prisoners It made our first Father and all his Children miserable creatures It set up the Kingdom of the Devil in every one of us Yea beloved there is not a sin that any of you commit but would undo you to all eternity if infinite mercy do not come between you and the mischief that would follow upon it I cannot express the evil that is in sin to you 'T is a thing of a dreadful nature and of dreadful effects As for the nature of it 't is the transgression of the holy Law of God 't is opposition to his Will 't is emnity against his blessed and holy Majesty 't is that which doth as
There 's nothing doth more harden the heart than despair doth the more this is is increased the more sin is strengthned A despairing sinner will grow a desperate sinner he will not care how much he sins They that think they have sinned themselves past mercy will fill up their sins apace 'T is the hope of finding mercy that must bring us back to the fear of God without that a man will cast off all at once and think that he cannot sin too much And no doubt this is that which makes some in the world to be so exceedingly prophane as they are and to be the wonders of the Age they live in for monstrous iniquity that they carry themselves as if they were turned into devils and would even dare God to damn them Why 't is like if one could see how 't is within them that they have through God's just Judgment upon them a secret mis-giving of heart that they shall never be saved they have taken up that desperate Conclusion and thereupon they harden themselves to excessive ungodliness and live as tho they had bid defiance to all sober Conversation That person blocks up his own way to repentance for sin that casts off the hope of being forgiven See Psal 130. 4. There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared That which brings us to the fear of God is the hope of finding forgiveness with him And therefore 't is a very sad thing and much to be prayed against to be delivered up to a hopeless heart and they that have provoked God by sinning much already do provoke him more by despairing of mercy 3. 'T is all one to Free Grace whether thou art a great sinner or a little one God can pardon abundantly tho thou hast sined abundantly do but forsake thy sins and then need as much pardon as thou wilt thou shalt have it Isa 55. 7. The infinite mercy of God knows well enough what to do with a great sinner that 's a notable place Rom. 5. 20. Where sin abounded grace did much more abound Mark what words are here he doth not say barely where there was sin committed but where sin abounded nor only there grace was manifested but there it abounded yea and abounded more than sin abounded yea and much more 'T is much that a sinner can sin but 't is more that God can pardon Isa 1. 18. Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool He makes but a though of scarlet and crimson sins he brings it in twice with that word though and though as if he should say My mercy is not posed for all this Whatever Mercy will do it doth it without difficulty You know there be some things that you can do with ease small matters you make nothing of them but then there be some other things that though you can do them yet 't is difficulty you must put out all that is in you all your skill and all your strength but so needs not God to pardon the greatest sinner that is he can do it with ease In some sense it is harder to God to punish than it is to pardon When he comes to punish he speaks as if 't were hard to him Hos 11. 8. How shall I give thee up O Ephraim c. But when he comes to pardon 't is spoken of him as if that were easie Mic. 7. 18. who delighteth in mercy and what we delight in we do with ease 4. Tho thou art a great sinner yet thou art not a sinner in hell thou art a sinner upon earth still And there is this difference betwixt sinners upon earth and sinners in hell that the first are yet under hope while the others are past it It is thy great misery that thou art yet among the unconverted but 't is great mercy that thou art not among the damned The place in which thou yet art is the place of repentance and not of punishment We must look upon no sinners as past hope that are not past this life Why thou livest yet Christ hath not denounced the final sentence against thee thou hast not yet stood before his Judgment-seat and heard him say to thee Depart thou cursed into everlasting fire What is the patience and long-suffering of God towards thee for but to shew thee that thy condition is yet recoverable 2 Pet. 3. 9. It is enough to answer thy despairing thoughts to tell thee that yet the Lord waits to be gracious Dost thou not see how God doth lengthen out the thread of thy life day after day He could snatch thee away in an instant but yet he continues thee where thou hast Calls and Means and Opportunities for the good of thy Soul Why 't is not thus with those that are in Hell they are beyond all help and beyond all hope but thou art not through the riches of the goodness of God The great thing that thou wantest is but a heart to know the things of thy Peace in the day of thy Visitation 5. The closing with this Freedom which Christ offers thee may make thee as great a Saint as now thou art a great Sinner As it did Paul what a Sinner was he before he closed with Christ and what a Saint did he become afterwards This Freedom will make a strange alteration in thee if thou gettest but a share in that Such is the power and excellency of God's Grace that where that comes in truth it turns things upside down it makes an enemy to God a friend of God a hater of Goodness to be a lover of Goodness 2 Cor. 5. 17. Art thou a great Sinner now ay but don't be out of hope for all that for if thou once come in to Jesus Christ thou wilt be a new man If now thou hast an hard heart this Freedom will break it if now thou hast a stubborn will against God this Freedom will make thee obedient there is help in Christ against all this It is very observable that many times those who have been the most forward for sin when the Lord hath wrought savingly in them they have proved to be the most forward and the most famous for Goodness and God hath had no greater Instruments of his Glory in all the World than some who before they were converted brought him most Dishonour Well all this now is spoken to take away your hopelessness that I may not have this stumbling-block in my way while I would be calling upon you to look out for a share in this Freedom that any of you should be under despairing thoughts about the getting of it and so lye still and let all be as ' t is You know that man will hardly be brought to do much in a thing concerning which he despairs that it will never come to pass I would have you think that the business of your Salvation as great Sinners as any of you are is
imperfections you can't say yet I am well my heart is clean enough No I know 't is your grief that you are no better Yea but go on to touch Christ still keep the finger of Faith upon him and you shall find by that time he hath done that you shall be made perfectly whole he hath begun to cure you already and he will finish what he hath begun 5. Observe how quickly Christ healed them Luke 13. 13. immediately which shews what a speedy Alteration the Lord Jesus can make in your condition 'T is it may be very sad with thy Soul now but how soon if he please can he bring you to a better pass If he speak but a word 't will be done therefore wait with patience for a recovery and a reviving in thy Soul think of this it may be done immediately for ought I know Why then should I be out of hope 6. Observe again That Christ healed them of whatsoever Diseases they had Matth. 4. 23 24. 't is that which lies many times very heavy upon the Souls of some What such a sinner as I be received I find mercy one in my condition why my case is an extraordinary case for Sin and Guilt and Misery But mind here he healed all manner of Sicknesses as if the Evangelist should have said he healed all manner of sinners that come to him for that is the spiritual meaning of it see Matth. 12 31 7. Observe that he healed those who could not be healed of any other Luke 8. 43. the poor Womans case was desperate as to any other Physician she could not be healed Very like the words may be delivered in the same language that her Physicians had spoken to her they might tell her when they had tried all means Now you cannot be healed and yet Christ healed her Beloved a sinner may be given up for Desperate and a Soul may give up its case for Desperate and yet healing may come from Christ for all that And therefore take heed both to others tho they be very wicked and as to your selves too tho your condition be very sinful and very sad that you do not cast away all hope tho it looks never so much like a condition that cannot be healed take heed don't undervalue Christs skill when thou sayest this sinner cannot be turned this condition cannot be got out of thou forgettest how thou undervaluest Christs skill 8. Observe again You find that when Christ had healed them they had an inward perceiving of it See Mark 5. 29 33. she felt in her she knew what was done in her Oh! how ignorant are many of this who profess that they have come to Christ and have touched him and some of them I believe have done so Ah! but how many be there even of Gods own Children that have not that feeling that knowledg of it as to say Sure enough I have been healed by Christ otherwise it could not be thus and thus with me as it is blessed be God I feel the healings of Christ within me I know there is some feeling some sense of it in those who are healed and therefore examine you that think you are in this healed condition What do you feel What Knowledg have you of any such thing done in you I observe in mine own experience that when it comes to this close question If a Minister of Christ ask some who are too ready to look upon themselves as converted when they are not Well pray what have you inwardly found or felt of such a change They have nothing to say 9. Again observe what a running and striving and crowding there was by them to come to this healer See Mark 3. 9 10. and chap. 6. 54 55 56. Oh! that we could see this forwardness and diligence in people to get spiritual healing from Christ Oh Friends did they do thus for their bodies and will you not do it for your Souls Christ suffered it to be thus when he was upon Earth that they that came for healing should throng in upon him to teach us how earnestly we should make out to him for our precious Souls 10. One thing more observe That Jesus Christ would certainly have us to look after this healing by him in a special manner on the Lords dayes and while we are gathered in religious Assemblies for you shall find how he went into their Synagogues and healed on the Sabbath-days See Luke 13. 10 c. Mark 1. 21 c. Beloved I beseech you mind this well for I bring it to you that you may be very careful to improve your Lords days opportunities of meeting together in Gods Worship and Ordinances that you may get healing from Christ on these days Beloved these are such kind of days as you read of Luke 5. 17. Wherein the power of the Lord is present to heal persons Oh! that this day in this Assembly you may have healing from Christ 6. Another excellent name by which this Freedom is called is Light Isa 9. 2. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great Light they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them hath the light shined This Scripture is a Prophecy that Freedom by Christ should be made known unto us blind and ignorant Gentiles and the Apostle tells them there in 1 Pet. 2 9. who were now partakers of this Freedom that God had called them out of darkness into his marvellous Light What a marvellous Light this is we shall speak some thing to it when we come to shew the many wonders that are to be observed in this Freedom but for the present let us consider a little the name it self Light what an excellent thing is that Eccl 11. 7. Truly the Light is sweet The excellency of Light will appear by comparing it with it's contrary and by considering it in it self what 's the contrary to Light Why Darkness Now you know that this is a thing in which there is neither Beauty nor Order nor Safety nor Comfort 't was one of Egypts Plagues and the last but one of all the Plagues they had which shews what a dreadful thing 't is the saddest Afflictions outward or inward are compared to Darkness The Devil is called the Prince of Darkness Hell it self is called the place of Darkness And then if you consider Light as it is in it self why 't is one of the desirablest things that is in the World You have not a house but they will have Windows in it to let in Light this was the first thing which God made and as soon as he had made it he commended it Gen. 1. 3 4. God saw the Light that it was good God himself is said to dwell in Light 1 Tim. 6. 16. Heaven it self is compared to Light Col. 1. 12. 't is called the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Now this Freedom by Christ is Light and therefore sure 't is an excellent Freedom To make out this let us consider a
that one that hath this Freedom were to walk in the flames of Hell they would not hurt him they would all part and give way as who should say this is one that we must not fasten upon as the Children of Israel past through the Red-Sea that dreadful gulf and all the waters fell back as if they were frighted at them why they were the people who were under Gods redeeming love therefore they were not drowned no not so much as wetted So if those who have obtained through faith a part in this Freedom were to pass to Heaven through Hell it would be with them as it were with the three Children when they were cast into the burning fiery furnance Dan. 3. 28 29. 3. That the highest mercy should be reconciled to the strictest justice It would have posed any but a God to tell what to say to this which way to shew the greatest severity against sin and yet to shew the greatest mercy to the sinner but by this Freedom this is done Mercy doth not fall out with Justice for being so terrible and Justice doth not fall out with Mercy for being so favourable but both are well pleased in what is done and so well pleased with one another that as Davids expression is they can kiss each other as most intimate loving Friends Gods Attributes as I may speak with reverence did never seem to be so near a falling out as when the Covenant of Works was broken by our first Parents Mercy lookt as if it would fain have pittied us but Justice looked as if it would by no means let it these two they were only by way of allusion to it like the Twins in Rebekahs Womb that strugled together Gen. 25. 22. And one did not prevail over the other like two Armies when they fight and one puts the other to the worst and so gets the Victory but a sweet peace and harmony was kept between them by the intended Freedom that should be by Christ Take notice by the way what a dreadful breach sin made in our first Apostacy in that it did not only make us to fall out with God but also as much as lay in us to give an occasion if it had been possible for God to fall out with himself to set Attribute against Attribute Mercy against Justice and Justice against Mercy but now by this Freedom all is quiet and well enough on both sides as the Apostle saith when he is speaking of it in Gal. 3. 21. Is the law then against the promise God forbid 4. That one that hath but a little grace should be looked upon as one that hath no sin What a Wonder is this you have not one Child of God but is very ready to confess that he hath but a little grace yea you 'l say that 's their holy modesty and humilty it may be 't is not so indeed I grant it is so in some that they have much more of God and Christ in them then they desire to speak of and the more grace any one hath the more apt I think they are to bewail their own vileness and in this case we must not take every Child of God just at their word but we may tell some of them Come blessed be God you are better than you will acknowledg But really beloved there be some in Christ that have but a very little Grace some I know they have and they must have It is inconsistent with being truly in Christ to have no grace at all but there are some of them that are but new-born Babes their Grace is but like the bruised reed and the smoaking flax they be for their Souls as Zacheus was for his Body of whom 't is said that he was little of stature Luk. 19. 3. Now you may think that certainly they who have so little Grace must needs be counted by God to be persons that have a great deal of sin but in respect of their justification by Christ who hath made them free it is not so Observe 2 Cor. 7. 1. Let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God As if he should say Oh Friends you have a deal of filthiness yet to be got out of you both as to your outward conversation and as to your inward frame and you are very imperfect and short in point of holiness and grace and yet he had told them before cap. 5. 21. that being in Christ they were made or reckoned and counted such as had no less a righteousness than the righteousness of God 5. That the eyes of one should be opened that was born blind this is such a Wonder that you read in Joh. 9. 32. that since the World began 't was not heard that ever any man did it but this is done in this Freedom they who have it were born blind as blind as Moles and so continued in respect of spiritual sight till Christ had made them free and then as it is said of Saul immediately there fell from their eyes as it had been scales and they received sight forthwith This same Freedom by Christ is that eye salve which you read of Rev. 3. 18. If any hath but the eyes of his understanding anointed with it it will make him see that he never saw 't will make him behold wondrous things out of Gods law things that he past by and took no more notice of than a blind man doth of the beautifullest sight that ever was seen 6. That a man that is possessed by the Devil should have the Devil cast out of him Would you not count it a wonderful thing to see a man that had been possessed with the Devil and he his now cast out If any should tell you when you are in the streets There goes a man that a little while ago the Devil spoke in him and dwelt in him as a man doth in his own house where he counts himself at home how would you look upon and marvel to see such a man Well this Freedom is such a thing that it casts out Devils Mary Magdalen that was brought into it had seven Devils cast out of her what is the heart of men by nature but an habition of Devils 't is not an expression that at all deserves to be thought much on to say concerning wicked men That the Devil is in them the Scripture it self saies so Eph. 2. 2. and the Devil was in Judas Satan entred into him and where the Devil is there he will be he will keep his hold till this Freedom comes and then let him look to himself he shall be cast out tho he hath legions with him 'T is observable there in Luk. 10. how the seventy Disciples whom Christ had sent out to Preach this Freedom returned with joy to see what work the Gospel made with the powers of darkness Lord say they even the Devils are subject to us through thy name vers 17. And mark what Christ
thing that ever was Never did any creature so stoop to another as God stoops to sinners He comes and knocks at their door before ever they knock at his 2 Cor. 5. 12. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself Mark the World was not reconciling it self to God nor God to it self but God reconciling the World to himself God's love is always the first love 'T is the Fountain and the Cause of our love to him 1 John 4. 19. We loved him because he first loved us 'T is true that the Lord is sought unto for mercy by them to whom he intends to shew it but 't is the Lord that stirs up their hearts to do it He sets them a crying and then they cry They come to Christ but 't is the Father that draws them There could be no desires or breathings in us after God if they were not begotten of his Spirit Alas our corrupt nature wont afford one good desire till God give it It will go further from God but it wont come nearer to him of it self And therefore the mercy of God towards poor souls is a very wonderful thing not only in that it is so large but in that it is so early It is up before the soul is up Isa 65. 1. I am sought of them that asked not for me I am found of them that sought me not I said Behold me behold me unto a nation that was not called by my name Oh how much are we beholding to Christ for coming to us first 4. If the Son shall make you free If he shall Observe this next That 't is much to be feared whether some that have the Offers of Grace will ever close with them Here you see they had an Offer of Freedom but Christ puts a doubtful word upon it as to their acceptance If he shall c. As if he should say It may be some of you will hear of this and yet never partake in it but live and die in the bondage that you are in In this very Chapter where Christ is offering this Freedom he tells some of them in ver 21. that they would die in their sins Now beloved oh what a joyful thing would it be if you would all accept of this Freedom and close with this Grace that is offered to you Why truly it would be such a joyful thing if but one amongst you should accept of it that it would be enough to set all Heaven a rejoycing Luke 15. 7. 10. And why should I not hope but that it may be thus with some or other of you yea perhaps with many of you The Lord grant that there may not be one amongst you that shall turn his back upon Christ Whoever that man or woman shall be wo be to them And yet now 't is much to be feared that Christ will be rejected by some to whom he hath been offered The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that he was with them in weakness and in fear and in much trembling 1 Cor. 2. 3. Why what made Paul fear and tremble so that while he was a preaching he was as 't were all of a trembling What was it because he was afraid to preach No but he was afraid what his preaching would come to in respect of some of them whether ever it would profit them whether ever it would prevail with them Now give me leave to acquaint you a little what things as to some persons may be grounds of fear whether ever they will close with Christ's gracious offer of Freedom 1. In that there be so few in comparison in all Ages of the World that have done it Beloved Christ's flock will be but little when he hath gathered all his sheep Heaven would hold a thousand times more than ever will come there No doubt but there be some that seem now as if they had closed with Christ and yet will be found at last not to have done it They have mistaken their whole work and their hearts have deceived them from the beginning to the end A right closing with Christ is a very exact thing 'T is not every one can hit on it Mat. 7. 14. Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life and few there be that find it And therefore may it not be feared that this present Generation yea and this present Assembly may have some amongst them that will never close with Gospel Offers 2. The little good news that there is up and down where the Gospel comes of the conversion of souls People flock to Meetings but who believes our report or to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed Sinners abiding in an unconverted condition is a great ground of fear what will become of their souls If you have not yet closed with Christ as unregenerate persons have not we cannot but fear you may lose him If a man be in a very dangerous sickness is there not cause to fear he will die So if a man be still out of Christ why certainly this is something to question whether ever he will be in him Acts 8. 22. Peter puts it as a doubtful case whether ever Simon Magus would be pardoned his sins because he was still in an unrepenting condition 3. When men do set light by Christ and the Offers of Grace There 's great hopes of those souls that tho they have not closed with Christ yet they begin to have good thoughts of him and his mercy and love and salvation is somewhat commended if they acknowledg yea truly this is the rich goodness of God that ever such Offers should be made to me I confess I do look upon Christ and the Freedom that he holds forth to poor sinners as an excellent thing God forbid that I should say to the contrary I know the pardon of sin and the love of God are great Priviledges happy is that soul that hath them and I would I might be one of them Ay why this is something Methinks 't is a kind of Language that would give one some hope concerning such a soul as the young man in the Gospel when he did approve and commend of what Christ said in Mark 12. 32 33. Well master thou hast said the truth c. is answered by Christ v. 34. Thou art not far from the kingdom of God But now when a man shall look upon all that Christ offers to him as nothing and set himself to despise and disgrace his invitations as if Christ had done him no kindness in sending all his messages of love to him and let Christ go where he will and his salvation go where it will for his part he does not care for them This is a great ground of fear that such a person will never close with the Offers of Grace See Mat. 22. 3. Those who in the Parable were called to the Marriage-Supper it 's said first they would not come then ver 4. being invited again ver 5. they fell a slighting of
and help them to Heaven He hath given them Gifts and graces for it and a Scripture call to the Work and he hath put a willingness in their hearts to do good to souls and he hath and doth give success and blessing to the word of his grace by them and by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe 1 Cor. 1. 21. So that Christ is here still by his Embassadors But 2. Which is more than this He is here by his Spirit and as long as that is here there is no fear but Freedom may be gotten This is the great Successor to Jesus Christ in that work of doing good to souls Joh. 16. 7 8 9 c. I beseech you consider that the Spirit doth attend the preaching of the Gospel and therefore 't is called the Ministration of the Spirit and what that can do in our preaching you may see 2 Cor. 3. 6. the Spirit giveth life And were it not for the presence of this Spirit of Christ in his Ordinances both our preaching and your hearing would be in vain But now because Christ hath sent his Embassadors and sends his Spirit also with them I tell you Beloved you are under a glorious Ministration 2 Cor. 3. 7 8 9 c. because whatever veil is upon peoples hearts and whatever bondage they are in this Spirit can take it away and bring them into liberty vers 16 17. But I must hasten The 3d Inquiry is Vpon what account Christ doth offer this freedom in respect of himself I will give you an answer to this in three things 1. Upon the account of his Purchase he hath purchased Freedom and therefore he may offer it 't is his own to dispose of as a thing that a man hath bought is his own the Lord Jesus was willing to buy Freedom for you that he might give it to you And here it may be you may desire to be resolved in two Questions Qu. 1. Of whom did Christ buy it Qu. 2. And what did Christ pay for it Ans to the 1. He bought this Freedom at the hand of his Fathers Justice for by sin we were all fallen into the hand of Justice and out of that hand we could not be taken but by Christs making full Satisfaction to it therefore he had to deal with a just and an angry God in this business This is the meaning of that in Gal. 4. 4 5. God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law To redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons Mark here how 't was with us and how it must be with Christ that he might redeem us We were under the Law i. e. we lay liable to all that the Law could threaten to us or inflict upon us And therefore Christ he must be and he was made under the Law i. e. in what he was to do for our Deliverance he must give the Law or the Justice of God its full demand and he must not expect to have any thing abated of it by any such thing as mercy for he had not at all to deal with that in this work he was not made under Mercy but under the Law Now from hence we may quickly give an answer to the 2d Question What did Christ pay for this Freedom Ans Why to be sure some great price since he had to do with the offended and inraged Justice of God For you must know and believe that for our sins the wrath of God was dreadfully kindled against us and if Christ would put himself in our place and be our Redeemer all this wrath must dreadfully burn against him he must suffer so as that he must be made a curse for us and he must be so bruised and broken and marred by the heavy weight of Punishment that lay upon him that people might even be astonished to see him and so as to make him that he could not even be known who he was he looked so ghastly See Isa 52. 14. and therefore his precious Life and Blood must go for it Body Soul and all must be filled with the tokens of God's displeasure And therefore you shall find the Lord as it were stirring up of his Justice as if that it self were too slow against him when his sufferings are spoken of Zech. 13. 7. Awake O sword against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow Oh Beloved the great worth that there is in one drop of Christs Blood but in this Work he must pour it out like water See Psal 22. 14 15. And therefore I pray observe this that generally when you have this Redemption of Christ spoken of his Blood is mentioned with it to shew what an inestimable price he paid for it See Zech. 9. 11. As for thee also by the blood of thy covenant Eph. 1. 7. In whom we have redemption through his blood Heb. 9. 11 12. By his own bloud 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things but with the precious blood of Christ 2. Upon the account of his Pity The Pity and tender Compassion that was in the heart of Christ towards poor sinners as he saw them lie in their lost condition he saw they needed Deliverance and he could not pass him by as this and that man did the man that lay among thieves but as the good Samaritan he would go to them to pour in Wine and Oil into their Wounds and bind them up Do you think Beloved that ever Christ would have indured that such cruelty from his Enemies and such severity from his Fathers Justice should have been exercised upon him if he had not had his heart full of pity towards poor sinners as it could hold Certainly 't was his mercy that made him undergo all that misery See Heb. 5. 1 2. Tit. 3. 4. Beloved Jesus Christ saw that we were pitiful creatures by sin and by reason of what was due to us for sin and he did pity us Isa 63. 9. In his pity he redeemed them Yea and he doth pity us still and he hath compassion for poor sinful creatures still Heb. 4. 15. We have not an high Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities Therefore his pity to you makes him that he cannot but offer this Liberty to you 3. Upon the account of his Power He offers this Freedom to sinners because he can set them free how fast soever they are bound he can loose them Hence 't is said Psal 89. 19. I have laid help upon one that is mighty As the Lord when he came to redeem Israel out of their Bondage in Egypt he came with a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm So doth Christ when he comes to redeem a soul let him meet with what as wâ—ll in his way he carries all before him where he will deliver he will deliver 〈◊〉 goes all that stands against him The sinner at first and Satan with him
such good things for you and now to have none of them Why hath he not deserved better at your hands then this Was there no love nor no mercy to your souls in what Christ hath done for poor sinners Nay did you ever hear of the like love or the like mercy Is it not beyond all comparison and beyond all expression Did you ever hear of a Saviour that delivered from so great danger Did you ever hear of a Surety that undertook to pay such great Debts Did you ever hear of a Physician that healed such great Diseases What and shall this be all the thanks he shall have now to be rejected If God will take it ill at your hands to pass by those mercies that are but for the comfort of your bodies without thankfulness how much more will he be displeased with you for passing by the offers of those mercies that are for the salvation of your Souls Why Sirs you that refuse Christ where is your sense of God's goodness where is that acknowledgement that he should have from you Hath he done you no courtesie in sending his Son Is the very hopes and possibility of being recovered out of your lost condition a thing not to be at all affected with If a man doth but offer you his help in your need you 'll thank him and you 'll shew that you are taken with his kindness by accepting of it and you 'll tell him how much you are beholding to him and that you shall own him for your Friend as long as you live Why where is your thankfulness to Christ then why don't you own him for your Friend Obj. Why you 'll say perhaps We are thankful to Christ for his kindness to poor sinners Ans What and not close with him how can that be 't is the closing with him that is the thankfulness to him If you do not this you may say you are thankful but who will believe it shew it by your acceptance Col. 1. 1 2. Giving thanks unto the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light They give thanks but see vers 14. they had closed with it We have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins 3. You are guilty of Willfulness It may be you 'll put it upon your weakness that you don't close with Christ and I grant indeed that you are without strength and that you must have a power beyond your own to inable you Joh. 6. 44. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him and if ever you come to him it must be by grace from above But yet I pray consider that it is such a weakness as is joined with wilfulness Joh. 5. 40. Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life The great thing that hinders your closing with Christ is your will is against it I am certain that if you were but willing you would do it only you must know what a willingness I mean Such a willingness as is spoken of in Psal 110. 3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power Oh if the power of Christ were but once come upon your wills to turn them and bring them in you would run to him with strong and swift desires If sinners were not willful in refusing of Christ do you think that God would ever charge them with willfulness How oft would I have gathered you c. and ye would not saith our Saviour of the Jews Matth. 23. 37. A wicked man carries it so to Christ as that 't is plain he is unwilling to have him He laies it upon his weakness and he thinks thereby to come off the better I cannot repent saith he and 't is true God saith so too and I cannot please God and God saith so too Rom. 8. 8. and yet this shall not excuse him for there is a will not with his cannot If he were only weak and desirous to come and did not oppose and resist the motions and strivings of the Spirit and the calls of Grace 't were something if he were faithfull in the use of that natural Power that he hath though indeed he wants a spiritual Power 't were something But alas he doth not like Christs terms and Christs yoke his will is against them 4. You are guilty of the love of sin not only of sinning but of loving of sin By your not closing with Christ you declare that you have some beloved Lust or other which you cannot indure to part with and that takes up those affections and that delight which should be set upon Christ Sirs tho I cannot see nor search your hearts yet thus much I know of that which is within you that you who stand out against Christ have something in the Throne that should not be there There is as sure as can be some darling-reigning sin if there were not Christ and you would quickly make up a Match Obj. But how can you tell this since you don't know our hearts Answ Why we know it because God hath told us so in his Word that 't is by reason of some unmortified sin that people don't close with Christ they have bosom'd up some dear corruption or other I ground it upon that Scripture in Gal. 5. 24. They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Mark if this be a sign that persons are come to Christ That the flesh with the affections and lusts are crucified in them then the reason why they don't come to Christ is because there are uncrucified affections and lusts in them they have some Idol in their hearts to which they bow down and worship And therefore let me allude to that Scripture Act. 3. 14. where Peter is dealing with the Jews about their standing out against Christ But ye denied the holy One and the Just and desired a murderer to be granted unto you Beloved every unmortified reigning lust is a murderer a murderer of your souls and now what 's the reason that you don't own and close with this holy and just One the Lord Jesus Christ Why 't is because you desire that this murderer should be granted unto you As the People there in Matth. 8. 32. with 34. that they might keep their Swine they besought Christ that he would depart out of their coasts So you would keep your swinish Lusts 5. You will be guilty of Pride Oh in what pride of heart do you walk that reject the Grace of GOD You have high thoughts of your selves certainly you take your selves to be what you are not as Christ saith to them of Laodicea Rev. 3. 17. Thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked Pray give me leave to be free with you Why Sirs you that stand out against those Calls of Grace why are you so proud
is that People get no good under Ordinances do no good upon a spiritual account in their Places and Generation why they are out of Christ yet from whom they should draw virtue and strength to bring forth fruit unto God And so I have done with the second Branch of the Doctrine That Christ offers Freedom to poor sinners that are in the house of Bondage CHAP. III. Wherein is handled the third Branch of the Doctrine viz. That it is every ones duty to look after a share in this Freedom THe third Branch of the Doctrine which I now come to is That it is every ones duty to look after a share in this Freedom by getting a particular and personal Interest in it that so we may be of the Corporation or Society of those whom the Son hath made free And before I go any further I would shew a little that this is our duty though we be never so great sinners The greatness of your sins must not hinder or discourage any of you from looking after it you must not say It is in vain for me to think or hope that ever I shall have it who am such a grievous sinner The Lord humble thee that art such a grievous sinner and make thee as sensible of it as thou hast need to be My work is not to go about to perswade thee to the contrary but rather to assure thee that it is so indeed And if thou speakest so from thy heart and from an inward sense and feeling of the burden of sin 't is well There be many grievous sinners that are not grieved with their sins great sinfulness and great insensibleness is the general condition of the World but as great a sinner as thou art thou must look after this Freedom The greater ones Sickness is the more need to send for the Physician Do not thou conclude thou shalt never be free because thou art so much in bondage whatever comes of it look out for Deliverance Pray mark There be two things that we are greatly to take heed of about the grace of God by Christ 1. That we don't despise it Oh! how many be there that make no more of Christ and Salvation by him than they do of a straw 'T is wonderful to see how the most do cast all the things of God behind their backs and the reason why they do so is not because there is no worth in the things but because they do not see the worth of them But I do but name this 2. That we don't despair of it whatever our sins have been The truth is amongst those whom we preach to there be nothing near so many of this latter sort â—â— there be of the first Oh! there 's a multitude of despisers and slighters of Christ and his Freedom these may go where they will for any thing that many care for them But because sometimes we may meet with one here and there that will be ready to speak in a very discouraged way as if it were to no purpose at all for them to look out for this Freedom by reason of the greatness of their sins therefore I would say a little to take away this hopelessness that some may have in them As 1. That this Freedom was intended for sinners and grievous sinners Rom. 5. 6. In due time Christ died for the ungodly Ver. 8. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us 1 Tim. 1. 15. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners Luk. 19. 10. The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost You see 't was intended for them that were ungodly for sinners for them that were lost God sent Christ to be Saviour to such and Christ meant such in what he did in the work of Redemption If we had been without sin we should not have needed that Christ should have died for us why then should our sins hinder us from looking out for this Freedom since the aim and thoughts and heart of Christ was towards us to do us good upon this very consideration that we were those that lay in a sinful and lost estate and that there were divers of us to whom God did bear an everlasting love and so such of us were given by the Father to Christ to be redeemed out of that miserable condition Obj. But you 'll say Christ intended all this for Believers and they are none but Believers that shall have the good of what Christ hath done Ans That 's very sure He that believes shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned in respect of what they were to be afterwards So 't is none but Believers that shall reap the saving benefit of his Redemption but at first and in respect of Christs dying for them they were Sinners before they were Believers and so Christ dyed for them not as Believers but as they were Sinners tho 't is true 't was as they were chosen Sinners and so to be made Believers I know that what I am now hinting would give me a very fair opportunity to shew you that therefore Christ did not intentionally die for all Sinners and that the Doctrine of universal Grace or Redemption is to be taken heed of But if any desire it I had rather give them satisfaction in private if they please to bring their Objections than needlessly to spend time about it now since I do not know whether any of you that hear me are of that Perswasion That which I now drive at is that your sins must not discourage you from labouring after a share in this Freedom since Christ was intended for Sinners tho not for all Sinners Thou that art a great Sinner art in the very case for which Christ was sent to give Salvation to and thy Misery should not make thee despair of a Remedy but stir thee up to look out for it 2. If thou art a great sinner already then thou shouldst not make thy self a greater sinner which hopelessness will do It is the fruit of despair that it makes him that is very sinful to be always growing worse There is less and less hope of one that casts away hope and many would sooner be recovered if they did not conclude they should never be recovered A despairing soul is going on to further wickedness I will give you two notable Scriptures for it Jer. 2. 25. Thou saidst there is no hope No for I have loved strangers and after them will I go And chap. 18. 20. And they said there is no hope but we will walk after our own devices and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart What was their strong resolution to go on in their sins grounded upon What made them that as bad as they were they would still be worse Why they said there is no hope Oh! however thou hast sinned don't shut up the door of Mercy against thy self for then thou openest the door wide to more sin still
17. 4. I have finished the work he means this Work of our Redemption And in Joh. 19. 30. you read that these words It is finished were the last words that Christ spake before he died as if he should have said Though I am a dying yet the work of my Life is done I do not go off the World like a Bungler that went about what he was not able to effect All that believe in me will find that I have not been a half but a whole Saviour to them the business hath not miscarried in my hands that they should wish I had never medled with it You know the Apostle tells the Colossians chap. 2. 10. that they were compleat in him and in Heb. 9. 12. 't is said that Christ hath obtained eternal Redemption for us he did not only endeavour to obtain it but he hath obtained it The Greek word is he hath found it he did not do as a man doth sometimes when a thing is lost he seeks it but then he comes back again and saith he cannot find it Isa 53. 10. The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand that is he shall be sure to carry it through 'T is true he met with many difficulties in his way as it was the highest Work that ever was gone about so 't was the hardest Work if it had not been Christ that had been about it it would never have been brought to pass but because 't was he that had it in his hand therefore he brought it to a blessed period And in this Christ is an Example to us not only to begin good things but to hold out to the finishing of them whatever hardship we must undergo Beloved difficulty doth attend all Duty and great difficulties do attend some Duties but for all that we must see the end of them God loves such a frame of spirit as to have Christians to be crowding and pressing to Heaven through many things that stand in their way 'T is no great matter you know to get to a place when one hath Elbow room enough but when the way is thronged up and there is this to hinder him and that to hinder him and yet the man will not give over till he comes where he should it speaks that he was resolved to get thither And remember this Note That the going on in our Duty notwithstanding difficulty is an evident sign of our Sincerity There was a great deal of difficulty in Abraham's way when he was to offer up his only Son at the Command of God but because he would not stick at that see what is said to him Gen. 22. 12. Now I know that thou fearest God seeing thou hast not with-held thy son thine only son from me As if he should have said Now thou hast given a proof it to purpose You may judge of the Sincerity or Hypocrisie of your Hearts in this case You begin many things that are good it may be ay but do you carry them on to perfection Don't you fly back again when you find 't is hard It may be thou beginnest to deny thy self in this and that Sin or Lust yea but as thou art a doing of it thou findest that Self-denial is a very hard thing and so thou returnest with the dog to his vomit and with the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire Oh! this is a bad sign that thy heart is not right in the sight of God One that is sincere will desire to stir himself up the more now because he finds 't is hard and he will be thinking What shall I be worsted and let alone because my way is not smooth and easie for the Flesh to walk in And tho he finds it difficult yet he doth not think it impossible he believes through Grace such a strong Corruption may be subdued and such a Temptation may be overcome and such a great Affliction may be born with a patient spirit and therefore he will go to God for power tho he hath none of his own and go to God to make things easie tho they are so hard to him and then he finds he can go on Col. 4. 13. To the Third How doth it appear that this Freedom comes by Christ Ans For this I shall give you two sorts of Arguments 1. Some that prove it more directly 2. Others that prove it more remotely being drawn from such considerations as are not immediately about Christ himself Those Arguments that prove it more directly which do more nearly relate to Christ himself are these 1. This Freedom was to come by one that was the only begotten Son of God who could call God Father and whom God could call his Son after such a manner as none else could they must have such a Relation one to another as could not upon some accounts be communicated to any other For tho 't is true God doth in his rich mercy enter into the Relation of a Father with Believers and gives them power to become the Sons of God Joh. 1. 12. Yet as I have formerly hinted to them God is a Father by Grace Covenant and Promise and they are children to him by Faith see 2 Cor. 6. ult Gal. 3. 26. But this was not enough for him that was to bring in this Freedom he must not be one that was made the Son of God so as to be none before but he was to have this Relation to him from all eternity We cannot express the manner of it it is such a glorious Mystery Well now who can this be but Christ The Saints they do not claim their Sonship this way tho they are called Sons and wonder at it that they should 1 Joh. 3. 1. Yet they acknowledge that they were not the Sons of God by nature no but children of wrath Eph. 2. 3. They 'll quickly tell you 't was not their natural due to be the Children of God but to be fire-brands in Hell for so this Scripture last quoted doth intimate And the glorious Angels in Heaven they don't claim their Sonship this way neither they acknowledge that they are Sons by Creation and they all of them praise and bless the Lord for this and shout as it were for joy in singing together to his Name Job 38. 7. But Christ he hath this Sonship by eternal Generation this is the only begotten of the Father as he is often called and therefore Freedom must come by him And in my Text you may observe that when Christ speaks of this Freedom he puts in this Relation of his to God he useth the word Son If the Son c. To teach them that it must needs come by him since he was the eternal Son of God for such a one he must be who was to give this Freedom There is one Objection before I can go on that I would take notice of Obj. But it is said in Scripture that this Freedom and the Works about it were to be by a Servant
time separated to this Work before he went about it even by the everlasting Decree and Purpose of his Father 1 Tim. 1. 9 10. Oh! what ancient Mercy this Mercy by Christ is It hath been laid up for the Saints of old before the World began 'T is from everlasting and as 't is from everlasting so 't is to everlasting Psal 103. 17. 2. The Father did fit his Son and fit him with all that was needful to go about such a Work As God never sends or calls any to an Imployment but he furnishes them with what is necessary for the discharging of it So he did this in a singular and eminent manner to Christ the work that he had to do would require a deal to be laid out upon it he had need bring enough with him and so he did See Col. 1. 19. It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell And in Joh. 3. 34. you read that the Father gave him the Spirit without measure he dealt otherwise with him than he doth with the rest of his Children 'T is true be bestows his Spirit and the Gifts and Graces of it upon them but to them he measures it Rom. 12. 3. He doth divide and distribute to them 1 Cor. 12. 11. and he gives it so to them that they cannot say one to another I have no need of thee But in his giving to Christ he observed no number no weight no measure he gave him all all Power all Riches all Righteousness he dealt with us by retail as I may so say but he dealt with Christ by whole-sale he makes us to be as the Streams or small Rivers but he made him the Sea he hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge in him See that one place more how Christ was fitted Is 11. 2. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. He made him able to speak so as never man spake he made him able to comfort a wounded Spirit so as never man comforted Isa 50. 4. he made him able to suffer so as never man suffered he made him able to live so as never man lived 3. The Father did assist and stand by him in the doing of all that he did in the Work of our Redemption he did not set him to work and then forsake him but his Presence and Power went along with him 'T is true he cried out upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and at that time he had an eclipse and withdrawment of the Presence of his Father but this was not a total and a final desertion for even then he could look upon God as his God and act his Faith in him which shews that even then he was supported and inabled to go through with his most bitter Sufferings Now for the Assistance that he had from his Father you have divers places as Is 42. 1. Behold my servant whom I uphold that is I will go along with him in his work with my upholding-power God the Father lookt after him to carry him through what he sent him about and see what he undertakes for him in ver 4. He shall not fail c. As if he had said Tho 't is a very hard Work that he hath to do yet I 'll keep him from fainting in it and so he promises in ver 6. that he would hold his hand for him as it were to keep it from being weak or shaking And in the confidence and full assurance of this that he should have his Fathers help you shall see how resolvedly and couragiously he goes to the Work Isa 58. 5 to 10. 4. The Father did accept this redeeming-work at the hands of his Son as that in which he was satisfied as who should say I have enough I demand no more he took great content in what he had don and so he doth still There be two excellent places for this one in Joh. 10. 17. Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life c. And another in Eph. 5. 2. Christ hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Christ could not have pleased his Father better than by performing this Work Oh what a lovely delightful thing 't is to his Soul to see what his Son hath done for poor sinners 5. He did reward him for his pains You find Christ when he had done his Work he calls for his Reward Joh. 17. 4 5. And if you look into Rev. 3. 21. you shall see Christ saith he hath it As I also overcame and am set down with my Father on his throne In this place he tells John in his Revelation to him from Heaven and he bids John to tell it from him to the Church to whom he was to write That he was well paid for all the good and great Service that he had performed in the work of our Redemption God the Father had of old promised to him that he should have a large Recompence for it as you may read Isa 53. 12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto death And if you bring this to the New Testament you shall see what this Recompence was and how fully 't was paid in to him and how many ways God honoured him how he raised him from the dead again and took him into Heaven and set him down at his own right Hand on the Throne of the Majesty on high and made him the Head of his Body the Church and placed him far above all Principalities and Powers c. Eph. 2. 20 21 22. and appointed him to be the Judge of all and he to whom all must bow and all this was by way of Reward to him for what he had done and suffered in the great Work of bringing this Freedom to us See Phil. 2. 7 8. there you have an account of the great Service that he did about it and then he brings in ver 9 10 11. with a wherefore Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name i. e. He considered how greatly his Son had been humbled for our sakes and upon that account he promoted him to this high degree of Exaltation Thus you see the Father had a hand also in this Freedom And then for the Holy Ghost he doth much about it too For it is the Spirit that doth awaken and convince the Soul that is to be saved to see its lost and undone condition by nature and shews it by its own illumination Why thou art one that art in bondage That proves this by undeniable Evidence What! live so as thou hast and dost and not be in this spiritual Bondage Oh! it cannot be Why thou hast the
that accursed death upon the Cross for our sins and 't was he and not they that rose again the third day and that afterwards ascended into Heaven and 't is he and not they that is the Mediator betwixt God and man 1 Tim. 2. 5. and divers such things must be appropriated to the Person of Christ 'T was he that was put into the Offices of a Prophet Priest and King and these things are everywhere in the Scripture kept so distinct from the other Persons as that Christ is the Doer and Executor of them So that our Freedom comes by him as I have already shewed upon this Fourth Branch of the Doctrine in a more eminent way than by the Father or the Holy Ghost tho they have all of them as I have said in some respects a very great hand in it And from that I would now desire you to take three Considerations All the three Persons are concerned in the Freedom that comes by Christ why then consider 1. That there was not a word spoken in Heaven against the recovering of poor Sinners out of their lost condition not a word against shewing Mercy to them You know there be many great things upon Earth that come to a Proposition but then they meet with an Opposition and such an Opposition that the thing propounded is dash'd all to pieces But it was not so in Heaven there every one was for it the Father was for it the Son was for it and the Holy Ghost was for it and yet every one might have been against it And Oh how much might have been said to have spoiled all there was enough might have been alledged to have turned all their hearts against us but every one was willing that the business of our Redemption should go forward all went on our side You may therefore be fully assured that tho there was none but the second Person that did visibly appear in the Work of our Redemption yet that they are all well-wishers to it Here 's no place left for doubting whether their hearts be as inclinable towards your Salvation as Christ did express by word of mouth that his heart was in the days of his Flesh for they do all by mutual consent unite together in this Design of doing your Souls good and the voice of one is the voice of all And when Christ did invite and call poor Sinners to come unto him and declared so much readiness to receive and imbrace all that were weary and heavy laden you must know that he did not only do this to show his own kindness and good-will to the Children of Men but also to shew what kindness and good will the other Persons had in their hearts towards them too And if you look into 1 Joh. 5. 7. you shall find them all joined together in this matter of Salvation by Christ compared with ver 11. What an ingagement then is it to us to accept of this Salvation when we have as I may say three such great Suitors seeking to us the Father sending his Son and the Son coming from the Father and now Christ by his Spirit knocking at the door of our Hearts for an entrance Oh that as they are all willing that we should be saved we were all willing to close with this Salvation 2. Since they all have a hand in it then in our labouring to get the benefit of Christ's Redemption we must look to all the three Persons 't is not only Christ in particular that we must have an eye to but also to the Father and to the Holy Ghost And we must look to them all two ways 1. In the way of Prayer 2. In the way of Thanksgiving As for Prayer why we must pray to the Father that he would draw us to his Son as Christ saith Joh. 6. 44. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him We must pray to the Son that he would have mercy upon us and heal us and that he would help our Unbelief as you read they did in the Gospel when he was here in his bodily Presence We must pray to the Holy Ghost to inlighten our Minds in the saving understanding of Christ and the Gospel to sanctifie us and make us obedient to the word of Grace and effectually to apply to us the Redemption that comes by Christ and all the benefits of it But here we must take heed that when we do thus express our selves as sometimes we may in such kind of Petitions as are directed more particularly to one Person we don't think that the other Persons are at that time excluded And then we must look to all the three Persons in a way of Thanksgiving For if every one hath a hand in our Redemption then we are beholding to every one of them and so we may not only make an Acknowledgment of it to the whole Godhead jointly but also to each of the Persons particularly and so you shall see the People of God have sometimes done As for Thanksgiving to the Father see Eph. 1. 3. and for Thanksgiving to the Son Rev. 1. 5 6. And tho we have not as I remember any Scripture in which the Holy Ghost is given thanks to in this particular way of naming of him yet you must know that in those places in which Praise is rendred unto God he is there to be understood Well then as I said we should be admiring and praising every one of them for this Work and saying Oh blessed be the Father that sent his only begotten Son out of his Bosom to be a Saviour to Mankind And Oh blessed be Jesus Christ the Son of God who laid down his Life to be a Ransom for us And Oh blessed be the Holy Ghost which hath given to any of our Souls the application comfort and sealing up of this Redemption Blessed be that one God in three Persons for ever and ever Amen 3. If there be such a Three that join together to further the Saints Salvation then another Three that join together to hinder their Salvation shall not be able to do it There is a Three that would fain keep every Child of God out of Heaven the World the Flesh and the Devil and 't is true they are three great and mighty Enemies howbeit they attain not to the first Three 1 Chron. 11. 21. Oh! you that fear God when you think what Three there are against you and thereupon are ready to be disheartned why think what Three there are for you and then be comforted What are the Three below to the Three above The Saints do too little mind what great Friends and Helps are ingaged on their side It daunted all the Children of Israel to see that great Goliath coming against them because they looked no higher than themselves but little David went forth with Courage and Resolution to meet him because he knew that he had God on his side 1 Sam. 17. 45. Thou comest to me with
There were Two great Attributes amongst all the rest which God did intend to glorifie and that is his Mercy and his Justice His Mercy would have been pleased well enough if sinners had been set free without the purchasing of their Freedom But then his Justice would have been offended still How should that have been quieted and satisfied Therefore this must be so done as that mercy and truth might meet together and that righteousness and peace might kiss one another Justice would have made a loud cry that Heaven would have rung of it again if all should have been swallowed up in mercy and in giving away all without any consideration had to it For Law and Justice could say We have a curse against these sinners and they are as legally condemned as ever were any Traitors And therefore pray let us be heard for they shall not nor cannot go free if the Debt be not paid And therefore if they be not able to redeem themselves where 's the Surety that must do it for them that we may come upon him for all This now makes it necessary that Christ must purchase this Freedom Acts 17. 3. He must needs have suffered Why needs Because here was Justice to be glorified as well as Mercy Quest 3. But if we are thus purchased by Christ may believers say Then it may seem that God the Father hath quitted his interest in us for so 't is in the manner of purchasing amongst men he that sells to the purchaser quits all his right and title to that which is bought and we are very sorry for that we would be Christs but we would be the Fathers too Ans And so you are for all this See John 17. and compare ver 6. and 10. together In ver 6. saith Christ Thine they were and thou gavest them me This looks now as if the Father had quitted all his interest in them But 't is not so for in ver 10. and all mine are thine Still they are thine and thine are mine too saith he As if he should say We have a mutual interest in them their being mine doth not hinder them from being thine as well as their being thine doth not hinder them from being mine God had an interest in you upon the account of Creation and that he keeps still and which is more upon the account of Election or of everlasting love to you and that he keeps still and Christ he hath a right to you upon the account of Redemption And tho that doth enter you into a new relation to him yet it doth not break off your former relation to God the Father He loves you and delights in you as much as ever he did and your happiness by Christs buying of you is no way diminished but increased For both have an interest in you and both love you John 14. 21. Now for the Second thing That this Freedom was purchased with an excellent price Here I shall do Two things 1. I shall labour to make the truth of this appear to you That 't was an excellent most excellent price that Christ paid for it 2. I shall draw some profitable Considerations from it First For the truth of it Beloved Jesus Christ paidwell for this Freedom God did not deal with Christ in this case as you read Ephron the Hittite would have dealt with Abraham if he would have let him when he would purchase his Field and the Cave that was in it for a Burying-place Gen. 23. he would have given it him ver 11. He tells him indeed the Land was so much worth Four hundred Shekels of Silver if it should be sold to the full value of it but saith he what is that botwixt me and thee bury therefore thy dead ver 15. And thus he would even have forced it upon him for nothing But Abraham notwithstanding he stood upon it that if he had it he would lay down as much money as it was worth ver 9. and so he did in ver 16. Nor did the Father say to Christ as Ornan the Jebusite did to David when he would purchase the place of his Threshing-floor that he might there build an Altar to the Lord that the Plague might be stayed Take it to thee says he I give thee all 1 Chron. 21. 22 23. tho David would not accept of it So ver 24. Nay verily I will buy it for the full price So he did ver 25. But God stood upon his price his full price with Jesus Christ He held him up without any abatement of what this Freedom was worth He paid to the worth of it 'T is true 't is a worthy precious Freedom but yet I may safely say Christ gave enough and enough for it Oh the price that he paid for it He did not buy of his Father as we may buy of him without price Isa 55. 1. but he came as I may say to a dear Market when he came to make his purchase Quest Well then you will say pray what was the Price which Christ paid for this Freedom Ans Here I shall speak that which may make you wonder and that is this Truly beloved he did not pay one farthing for it there did not go a penny out of his Purse Now it may be that which will be next in you thoughts will be this truly then 't was even cheap enough of conscience here 's a Price indeed we expected that you would have named some vast sum of Silver and Gold that would have been so great as to have beggar'd any man in the World to give it No I have not one such word to speak to you but this I have to speak to you about it that Christ had been as good to have brought a company of Pebblestones to his Father for this Freedom as all the Gold and Silver in the World and one would have done as much as the other but he and his Son must drive another manner of trade than this to make poor sinners Free there must be anotherghess Price Why what was it Oh that which was infinitely beyond all the treasures of this World If these would have served Christ by his power could have rained them down from Heaven for a thousand years together But beloved there must be as I may so express it another rain it must rain Blood and Blood from the side and heart of Jesus Christ i. e. he must come down from Heaven and shed his Blood to make a Ransome for us see Acts 20. 28. Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood there 's the Price that he paid Now mark a little while I shew you in a few things that this was a Price indeed an excellent Price The Blood of Christ to be sure is precious as you find it called in 1 Pet. 1. 19. For this weigh but these four things well and you 'l say 't is precious Blood 1. This Blood of Christ is the great Seal of the Covenant of
mankind to perish and if he would have saved any he might have bid his Son go take the nature of Angels and redeem the Devils but that it would not consist with his everlasting purpose and have left Adam and all his posterity under the curse but that he should pitch upon us to be the subjects that should be capable of this Freedom how is free Grace to be admired that God should overlook those that stood nearer to him by their creation then we did to look upon us The spirits of darkness are left in dispair while we are under hope they and we were all miserable creatures by the fall first of one and then of the other but their misery was irrecoverable ours is a recoverable misery 2 Tim. 2. 26. God hath an Election amongst us but he hath none among the Devils and therefore the door of mercy is shut against them never to be opened 2 Pet. 2. 4. Jude vers 6. Oh how are we beholding to God that he would reserve Mercy for us when he reserves Wrath for the fallen Angels there he made quick work they fell into Condemnation and God sealed up their Condemnation there is not so much as a possibility that God will ever be reconciled to them but with us he was willing to renew a better Covenant than that was which we brake there is pity and pardon and peace for us in Christ Now have not we cause to admire this and to say as Heb. 2. 6. What is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him 2. That not only men but some of the worst of men should have the benefit of this Freedom I mean not only a temporal benefit for so all have but the saving everlasting benefit of it You read in the Scripture of some of the very worst of men that have been made free by Christ When this Freedom came to them at first it found some of them amongst the Thieves and others amongst the Drunkards and others amongst the Whoremongers and others amongst the Idolaters as it did the Corinthians and others amongst the Persecutors and the Blasphemers as it did Paul and others amongst the Crucifiers of Christ as it did the Jews and have you not heard sometimes of some notorious sinner or other that became a new man and through grace was afterwards as much for God as before he was the for Devil that to ones thinking was come even to the height of wickedness and yet brought home Beloved God will have this Freedom by Christ and the exceeding riches of it glorified even in this World and therefore he gives it sometimes to the very dregs of sinners And who indeed is there of those that have obtained a fellowship in this great Salvation but hath cause to admire that ever it should be given to him And to say Oh! God had mercy upon a grievous sinner when he had mercy upon me It is certain that the loving-kindness of God in Jesus Christ will be admired by every Soul upon whom it lights and such a one is ready to think That never was there any sinner that did more need mercy or less deserve it and the Reason of this is because where this Freedom comes it works such a sense of ones vileness upon the heart that tho indeed there may in some respects be greater sinners than ones self yet one cannot but look upon ones self as one of the greatest Wonders of Mercy that ever was as Paul did 1 Tim. 1. 15 16. And when God shall have gathered all his Children to glory Oh beloved what a wonderful company there will be I don't mean so much for multitude tho that will be innumerable as to think what sinners these were and especially some of them Oh! the stories that might be told of them in Heaven to raise matter of everlasting Admiration that one who had been formerly such a grievous sinner on Earth should prove notwithstanding a glorious Saint in Heaven Oh wonderful Vse 3. Is this Freedom by Christ such an excellent Freedom then here is something for Lamentation and Mourning Beloved we have often through Gods Mercy met together Oh! that we could now mourn together And you that cannot weep with your eyes oh that you would mourn in your hearts Why but you may say What is there here to mouth for This excellent Freedom is cause of rejoycing Yea indeed so 't is â—is glad tidings of great joy if all things about it were well with us but alas the Lord knows they are not I pray therefore consider four things for the piercing of your hearts in this Use of Lamentation 1. That ever we should be the cause of putting the Lord Jesus Christ who purchased this Freedom for us to so much pain and grief as he underwent in the doing of it Oh! what bitter mourning should we make for our sins that laid such a load upon Christ that we could never have had this excellent Freedom if he had not suffered beyond expression We may say those of us that are made free by Christ he hath put us into a good condition but oh into what a bad condition did our sins put him he hath brought us joy but we brought him sorrow he hath brought us rest but we brought him travel of Soul he hath brought us life but we brought him death he hath brought us blessing but we brought him a curse he helped us to a great deal of Mercy but we helped him to a great deal of misery in respect of his sufferings he was the miserablest man that ever lived Now friends this was your sins and my sins that brought him to this that made Jesus Christ to have a very Hell upon Earth and shall we not mourn for this Oh! that the Lord would perform that promise to us this day Zech. 12. 10. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of supplications and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first born 2. That God hath no more Glory from us for all this grace that he hath bestowed upon us This Freedom is actually given to some of us and those Scriptures through the tender Mercy of God may be applied I doubt not to some of you Col. 1. 21. Gal. 4. 13. Eph. 2. 13 19. But will you not say your selves I know you will that you do fall exceeding short of such a walking as this excellent Freedom engages you to Beloved I am glad to see any of you that are in Christ so good but truly the best of us have cause to mourn that we are no better Oh what a people should we be for whom the Lord Jesus Christ laid down his precious Life and shed his precious Blood You do God some
and watch against being defiled by new sins CHAP. II. Wherein is handled the second branch of the Doctrine namely That Jesas Christ doth offer freedom to poor sinners that are in the house of bondage I Come now to the second Branch of the Doctrine which is Thht Jesus Christ doth offer freedom to poor sinners that are in the house of bondage If the Son shall make you free It carries an offer of Freedom in it I shall shew 1. What is to be observed in this offer from this kind of Expression If the Son shall make you free 2. Where Christ doth offer this Freedom 3. Upon what accounts he doth offer it in respect of himself To the 1. From this kind of Expression If the Son shall make you free observe Two Things 1. That this Offer is real Christ doth not deceive or dissemble with sinners but really he doth desire they should have Liberty Men sometimes make offers of good things to one another but they are not sincere in them But it is not so with Christ He is a real well-wisher to sinners souls He hath exprest it all the ways that can be desired Would you believe his reality if he does wooe sinners Why so he does Luke 14. 23. compel them to come in viz. by importunate entreaty Would you believe his reality if he does wait for sinners Why so he does Rev. 3. 20. Behold I stand at the door and knock c. Would you believe his reality if he does weep for sinners Why so he does He wept over Jerusalem Luke 19. 41 42. Would you believe his reality if he does dye for sinners Why so he did Rom. 5. 8. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us Nay would you believe his reality if he should be damned for sinners Why so he was tho not in respect of the place yet in respect of the pains of Hell He was made a curse for us Gal. 3. 13. What would you have Christ to say or do more than he hath said and done to convince you that he would have sinners to be partakers of this Freedom Hath he not said so in his word Hath he not sealed it with his blood Hath he not accepted and embraced from time to time whoever came unto him Doth he not engage himself by his faithful promise to do so still to the end of the World That he will in no wise cast out such as come to him John 6. 37. And yet what a wonder is it that the World is so unbelieving still and so hard to be perswaded that Christ hath any loving thoughts or purposes towards them Oh this cursed unbelief and hardness of heart that is in men and women that makes them that they will not come to Christ that they might have life 2. If the Son shall make you free Observe from it That this Freedom is needed by sinners Spiritual Freedom is one of their greatest wants This is implied in Christs offer There is a Two fold need that we have of things 1. There is a need for conveniency That tho one could make a shift to be without such a thing yet it would be more convenient a great deal to have it They could do better with it than without it Now 't is true That sinners have this need of Christ and the benefits of his Redemption it would be highly convenient for them Christ is so fit and suitable to their condition that the least that can be said of it is That to be sure they can do better with him than without him If they had Christ and had the Freedom that he offers them it would not at all be inconvenient for them He would be no hindrance to them It would be more for their profit and more for their good than it can be now If they had him he would be no clog nor burden Let them look to it how they can do well without him I am sure they might do better with him No soul receives him to his loss It will be to our loss to refuse him but it cannot be to our loss to receive him Can it be to ones loss to become a child of God See John 1. 12. As many as received him to them gave he power right or priviledg to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his name Why therefore I warrant thee poor sinner if thou hadst Christ he would not hurt thee he would be convenient enough for thee But alas this is too low This is not worthy of Christ to speak meerly in this kind of way Therefore 2. There is a need for necessity for absolute necessity That if one hath not such a thing there is no shift can be made in the world without it You may bring this and that and try whether 't will serve instead of it but all wont do If you had but that that would do alone but nothing will do without it Now such need there is of Christ nothing will do without him There 's not salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved Acts 4. 12. There be many that have tryed to get their freedom and pardon and salvation in another way but all in vain Some have gone to an outward Profession for it some have gone to this and that Opinion for it and some have gone to Duties and to the Righteousness of the Law for it but all would not do No why 't is Christ that is the one thing needful Oh beloved labour to press and urge this upon your souls You must have Christ and therefore ask thy soul Soul why dost stand a dallying and a trifling and why art so hard to be perswaded to close with him Why have him I must and therefore have him I will I know there 's this and that in my way to hinder me but through Gods help nothing shall hinder me I 'le break through all difficulties I poor soul the Lord grant thou maist and I am confident that if thou once comest to this the Lord will give him thee He never denies Christ to them that will take no denial If they will have him they shall have him 'T is a very observable and encouraging Scripture in that discourse of our Saviour with the woman of Samaria John 4. 10. Jesus answered and said unto her If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith to thee Give me to drink thou wouldest have asked of him The Greek word signifies thou would'st have asked like an importunate beggar that must have what he came for And what follows and he would have given thee living water 3. If the Son shall make you free Observe again in this Offer That Christ prevents sinners with his mercy He is aforehand with them They do not say to Christ Pray will you make us free but he makes the first mention of Freedom to them Free Grace is the most condescending