and Earth upon the Frame or keeping it in being the Lord doth not appear more to be an almighty God in keeping Heaven and Earth in being then he doth appeare to be an Almighty God in keeping grace alive in the heart notwithstanding al the remainder of Corruption so that in this God hath Glory in another way then he hath from the Angels in heaven the power of God appeares in upholding of the Angels for if he did not uphold them they would fal into evil as Adam and the other Angels did but therein appeares Gods glorious power to uphold the Angels but the glorious power in upholding the Angels doth not so much appeare as the glorious power of God in upholding the hearts of the Saints in the midst of their corruptions this shal be a special argument that the Saints shal praise God for to al eternity when they shal look back and see what a condition they were in before their conversion yea in their conversion that though God granted them some grace yet what abundance of Corruption was in their hearts al that time and what a deal of stir they had to maintain that little grace they wil stand and admire to consider that it should be kept alive in the midst of sin that a little sparke should be kept alive in the midst of the Sea not only in the midst of the Sea but when the sea is tempestuous you yil say it is no great wonder that the fire be kept burning when the sea is calme but when al is in a storme and yet a spark of fire shal be kept alive in the midst of al the tossings of the waves you wil grant here is a mighty power now the keeping alive of grace in thy heart in the midst of so much corruption doth argue as mighty a power in God 2. The Lord doth so order it that stil his own people shal be under the burden of much coruption in this regard because that hereby the Lord draweth forth the exercise of faith in his son in which his soul takes infinite delight the soule of God takes infinite delight in beholding the working of the glorious grace of faith in Jesus Christ But you wil say wherein doth it appeare to be so glorious in regard of our corruption Thus for the Angels in heaven to believe in God that he wil be eternally good to them it is not so much as for a poor soul in the midst of al his corruptions yet to be able to Triumph in the free grace of God in Jesus Christ notwithstanding I am so vild filthy loathsome and abominable to myself and justly God and his Saints may count me a burden to them and cast me off for ever yet for al this my soul shal cling to him I wil cast my self upon him and look upon him as a gracious father a merciful God a God that loves me a God that rejoyceth in doing Good to me for the soul to exercise faith in the Grace of God in Christ it is a glorious thing only take heed you do not mistake it for presumption Object You wil say For men notwithstanding al their sin to beleeve in Gods mercy this is rather presumption then faith Answ True it is presumpion in many they mistake themselves but in others it is true faith and God delights in it and you shal know it by this it doth draw the heart to God and the soul never finds such a prevalent way to overcome those corruptions that are in it as to exercise their faith in the grace of God in Christ I beseech you mark the difference between presumption and faith in Christ presumption wil trust in Gods mercy notwithstanding their sin but that doth indeed foment their sin and makes them secure in their sin makes them the more secure in their sin but now when the soul shal by the true geminine act of faith rest in the free grace of God notwithstanding corruption if it be right such a soul feels no means in the world of greater efficacy to cure and prevail against corruption then this to trust in the free grace of God notwithstanding corruption and if thou findest it thus thou hast no cause to feare trust in Gods grace with confidence for it is that which is wel pleasing unto God and that which the Lord delights in and that which gives as much content to Gods heart as the exercise of any grace whatsoever and in that regard because the Saints shal never exercise such an act of Faith in Heaven â—s this God wil have this in this world 3. This is that that God sees doth drive his own people to him in prayer nothing drives the Saints to God with more earnestness in prayer then the feeling of the weight of Corruption upon them then they goe to God above al God never heares such strong cryes come up to heaven in regard of any affliction as this and by the way you may find by this how your hearts are when the hand of God is upon you in afflictions then you wil cry to God but I put this to you hath there not come as strong cryes to heaven upon the sence of your Corruptions as upon the sence of any Affliction whatsoever 4. The Lord hath glory in this in the exercise of the work of repentance and humility the keeping the Souls of his people in humility and the contrition of their Spirits that is exceeding pleasing to God the Lord is neer to a broken contrite heart a melting mourning spirit the Lord doth delight in the evangelical workings of repentance this pleaseth the Lord the work of humiliation mourning and sorrow for sin in an evangelical way is a grace that is acceptable to God God shal have none of that in heaven and he hath it therefore here 5. God hereby exerciseth his wisdome exceedingly in bringing light out of darkeness God doth many times turne not only the afflictions of his people to their good but he workes good many times out of sin not that hereby we should be bold and presumptuous in our sins we must take head of tempting God yet know this that God doth many times work exceeding much good unto the Saints even out of their sins by occasion of sin though their sin hath no efficacy in this but God takes occasion in this in otherwaies of his providences and workings of his grace to work good unto them 6. There is Gods justice in it also to lay a stumbling block before wicked and ungodly men for when they shal see that the godly that have the most grace they have much corruption in them stil they rejoyce perhaps in it and they little think that God aimes at the execution of his just judgment upon them that it should harden their hearts many wicked men they think their condition to be very good because they see so much corruption in the hearts of the godly and they are hardened therby but they little think
It implieth an unsetledness upon the Creature 3 A stirring of the heart after Christ 4 A laying of all our burdens upon Christ 5 A leaving of the Soul with Christ for life NOW then we come to the Invitation it self Come to me saith Christ Come to me that is Beleeve in me For among many other expressions of beleeving in Christ or of accepting of the Condition of the Covenant of Grace the Holy Ghost doth express this beleeving and acceptation of the Covenant of Grace by coming to Christ Beleeving in Christ is exprest very often by coming to Christ In John 5.40 You will not come to me that ye might have life They did come to Christ in his outward presence Christ conferred with them and they with him but yet saith Christ ye will not come to me that ye might have life And so in John 6.37 Those that the Father hath given to me come to me and I will in no wise cast them out All that the Father hath from Eternity given me to redeem they come to me that is they beleeve in me And in verse 44. None can come to me except God the Father draw him That is none beleeves in me except my Father draw them and so He that hath heard and learned of the Father comes to me That is beleeves in me And that is the meaning of the 55. of Isai Ho every one that thirsteth come to the waters buy wine and milk without money and without price that is beleeve in me that is the meaning All you that labor under al these several Burdens come to me beleeve in me and I wil give you rest But this must be opened more largely And in this Invitation there are these Five things that I desire to open unto you and to work them upon you First What Christ would have us do more particularly when he bids us Come to him Secondly What kind of Invitation it is that Christ doth make to those that the Father gives to him that shal indeed come to be saved by him what kind of invitation they have from Christ how Christ calls them to him for this is a calling and an inviting Thirdly That all that Christ requires as a Condition of the Covenant of Grace for rest unto our souls is to come to him nothing else is the Condition of the Gospel by which we come to have Christ to be ours but this to come to him Come to me saith Christ that is the great Condition of the Gospel only to come to Christ Fourthly There are some Rules to be propounded and observed for our Coming unto Christ Fiftly The Laboring to draw your Souls unto Christ For the first Come to me what is that what would Christ have you to do For the opening of that in particular it is this When Christ calls you to come to him you are to know this notes a motion from Christ to come to him First It implies a beholding a looking unto Jesus Christ as being the All-sufficient Savior to save our souls from al the evils that are upon us and to supply unto us al good we stand in need of As if Christ should say when he saith Come to me That is O! poor troubled sinners that are under these burdens Do you behold me to be the great Mediator that is come into the world to stand between all the wrath of my Father and your souls and to bring life and salvation to you that is imployed when I would go I must know whither I must go to whom I must go so saith Christ I am the greaâ— redeemer sent into the world by my father to that very end that I may ease poor soules of their burdens and such soules as you are look unto Christ therefore as the great reconciler of God and man the great mediator between God and man having the fulness of al mercy and goodness in him the great meanes of conveyance of al the grace and riches of God the father to sinful souls that is the first work of beleeving in Christ for to look unto him to be such a one as God the Father hath tendred unto us that is imployed but yet the soul comes not Secondly But then the second is this which goes further To come to Christ implies an unsetledness when we come to a thing there is the Terminus a quo and the terminus ad quem we come from something so saith Christ you have setled your hearts upon creature comforts and you have looked upon them heretofore as those things wherein your good and happiness doth consist but now your hearts must be taken off from those you must come to me that is there must be a removing from that station you were in from that kind of settlement you were before in I cannot go to another place and stay in the place where I was too and so the heart cannot come to Christ and stay in the state it was in before therefore that implies that whereas you poor creatures have settled your hearts upon creature comforts and setled your hearts upon sinful things heretofore O! now let your hearts be taken off from al those things know that your good your happiness your peace is not here if you abide here and settle here you are lost and undone creatures for ever Let it not grieve your souls to part with the comforts that are here below in the creatures for certainly you mistake here doth not lie your good and happiness so that when the soul is beginning to stir after Christ it is taken off from the creature taken off from al creature comforts looks upon every thing as vanity O! Saith the soul I am cleerly convinced that my happiness lies higher then the things here below these are the reasonings of the heart that is in motion to go to Christ And not onely to be unsetled from the creature but I must be taken off from my self too from al my righteousness and duties I must not think to satisfie God by any thing that I can do no but I must be convinced that there is a greater thing required to make up my satisfaction with God then any thing that I can do and therefore my heart must be taken off from these things Heretofore I rested in duties that I was not so bad as others but now I see there is another manner of righteousness that I must have in a mediator these though they be good in themselves yet they are not the things that can ever save my soul but if ever I have peace with God and stand before him at the great day it must be through another meanes then ever yet I have had if I had gon on and had thought to make up my satisfaction with God by what I have done I had been an undone creature yea my heart must be taken off from mine one bottome not to rest in any thing that is in my self but I must go out and deny my self and so look
it not the word of the Lord hast thou not now a gracious offer Is it not a mercy that thou art out of hel this day and is it not a mercy that thou art not drowned in the sea that thou art brought to land to heare one more offer to come to Christ Wilt thou yet go on in thy sins Wilt thou yet prize thy lusts before al that infinite good that is in Jesus Christ dost thou think this wil be peace in the end How wilt thou be able to look God in the face another day It s mercy thou needest and Mercy thou must have or else thou art for ever miserable and wilt thou reject this mercy Oh! that the Lord would cal in your consciences to help on this work There hath been I hope by al that hath been said some Illumination about Christ yea and some cords of Mercy have been fastened upon your hearts Now if God would but stir up conscience give a command to conscience and say never suffer this man or this woman to be at quiet til they come to my son til their hearts be taken off from al things that hinder them from coming to my son let them never be at quiet til then it were a happy thing if God would give this command to conscience that so many might answer to this invitation of Christ that when Christ saith come to me ye that are laden the soul answers Lord I come Quest I but you wil say Suppose God hath been calling me and I have rejected him I have been in some forwardness to come to Christ and my lusts have drawn my heart back again for you tel us that the Lord useth to be quick with sinners when they have rejected his grace now have you any word of comfort for such if these shal come that have abused Gods grace and mercy and turned back upon him have you any comfort for such Ans I wil onely give you one scripture for those and that is in Jeremiah 3. and the 22. verse and Oh! that the Lord would fasten this scripture upon your hearts Returne ye back-sliding children and I wil heale your back-slidings Mark here is the answer Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God This scripture in the name of God do I present to you that have drawn back from the grace of God that once were in a good frame and now are back-sliders once more in the name of God do I cal to you Oh! returne thou back-slider the Lord Jesus Christ is ready now to healthy back-slidings now then secretly say Lord I come and when thou comest into thy closet in a more solemn manner and art al alone resigne up thy soul to Jesus Christ and say Lord thou hast invited me this day to come to Christ now Lord I give up my self and all that I have and am to thee my estate my Body my honor and all that I have to come to thee and then not only those good things shall be made good but the promise likewise then Christ shall give you Rest These times are times of distress and therefore seasonable to hear of Rest whatever troubles fal out yet if thou come to Christ thou shalt be safe thy self Christ doth ingage himself to give Rest unto thy Soul And so much for the Invitation it self CHAP. XXIII The Doctrine arising from the dependance of the promise upon the Invitation That God will have us when we are coming to Christ to have respect to our selves NOw the next thing that follows is the promise that Christ makes to poor Laden sinners that do come unto him He will give them Rest And I will give you Rest It is too much for any creature to say thus Yea it were too much boldness and presumption for all the Angels in Heaven to make these words as their own for them all to say thus Come unto us all ye that Labor and are heavy Laden and we will give you Rest Yet here in this text there is not only one that is greater than Solomon but one that is greater than all the Angels in Heaven and men that ever lived upon the Earth that saith Come unto me all ye that Labor and are heavy Laden and I will give you Rest They are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the Father that is equal with the Father God blessed for ever He saith Come unto me ye that Labor and are heavy Laden and I will give you Rest This is that that now we are come unto The gracious promise that Christ makes to draw Souls unto himself he will give them Rest And I will give you Rest And what more fit Argument and seasonable can there be at this time this time we know is a time of trouble a time of disturbance there is much perplexity and distress in our Nation and what will be more acceptable unto us than this to hear of Rest this is that that Christ doth promise to al them that come to him that beleeve in him he saith he will give them Rest Before I come to open this gracious promise which is exceeding ful of marrow and fatness as we shall find when we come to the opening of it I shall first give you one note briefly from the connexion of these words with the former Come to me ye that Labor and I will give you Rest You see Christ that he might draw sinners to himself makes a gracious promise of that that he knows will do good to sinners at the Heart he will give them Rest From hence the note is this in the general That God would have us even when we are coming to Christ have some respect to our selves and Christ encourageth us in coming to him even to have some aime at our own good That is the note cleerly from the Connexion of the words Before we open the promise I will give you Rest saith he if you come to me in that Christ doth propound that which he knows will take the Hearts of sinners as a great good unto them to draw them to himself hence I say the note it cleer That in our coming to Jesus Christ it is lawful for us to have some aime at our own good Yea not only lawful for us but we ought so to do for we are to look upon Christ so as Christ propounds himself unto us not only lawful I say to look upon Christ so as he propounds himself to us but it is our duty so to look upon him Now when Christ propounds himself unto us as an object to draw our Hearts to him he doth propound himself as one wherein our souls shal gaine abundance of good one that we shall get much by Now though it is true we should Labor to be above our selves as much as may be we should Labor to deny our selves in some sence yet not so but that we are to look at our own good even in our coming unto Jesus Christ
Law a bondage unto those that are Godly being the law of God Ans It is a bondage not in it self but in regard of our inabilâ—ty for it requires of us now considering what estate we are in such things as we cannot do and that is a bondage to be put upon more than we are able to do as the Israelites were by their taskmasters but yet stil God is righteous in this because it is not more than God did at first inable us unto in our first Creation but in regard of that estate that now we are in it is a bondage in that it puts upon us what we cannot do and that upon pain of eternal death too Thirdly we are delivered from the binding over power as I may so say the power of binding over the soul to the justice of God upon every breach of the Law Now the binding-over power the power of binding them over to answer to Gods justice upon the breach of it that beleevers are delivered from in Christ as a man that is bound over to the assize and sessions to answer afterwards when he comes to take out his bond he thinks himself at much ease and at quiet when the bond is taken out by which he was bound to answer so Christ comes and takes out the bond by which beleevers were bound to answer to Gods justice for al their sins Fourthly They are delivered from the condemning power of the law that the law hath not now power to bring a beleever that sins through frailty unto condemnation this is cleere from scripture as I might shew several texts as we go along You are not under the law saith the Apostle And there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Lastly we are delivered from the Law as the covenant for life the law at first was given as the covenant that God made with mankind for life for God deales with the rational creature according to the nature of it because it is capable of a covenant with God therefore God deals with it in the way of a covenant and as soon as man was made the Lord entered into a covenant with mankind now the covenant was no other than the law Do and live that was the covenant that God did enter into with mankind and made our first parents Adam the head of that Covenant Do and live upon thy doing shal thy life depend saith God thy present and thy eternal life Now we are delivered from the law by Christ that is that now it doth remain no more unto beleevers to be the covenant of life unto them they being once in Christ but they are brought under another Covenant a better Covenant So that in these five respects we may be said to be delivered from the Law by Christ from the rigor of it from the bondage of it from the binding-over power that is in it from the condemning power and from it as the Covenant of life Now here is enough one would think if so be that the spirits of Men were not very wild and wanton for the quieting of the soul in the deliverance of it from the law CHAP. XXX The Rest that beleevers have from the Burden of the Law by coming to Christ laid out in Ten particulars 1. They do not stand or fall for life by the Law 2. The Law-giver is the Redeemer 3. The least spark of Grace is accepted 4. Their wil shal be accepted as the deed 5. Obedience is required in a sweet and gentle way 6. The Grace of God in Christ doth melt the heart 7. Their sins make them an object of Gods pity 8. They have Christ to undertake for them as a surety 9. They are delivered and yet satisfaction is made to the law 10. They have assurance that they shal never forfeit the covenant of Grace they are under by Christ NOW then from al these we shal lay downe several propositions wherein you may see what is the ease and rest that beleevers have in Christ in being delivered thus from the law Take the ease that comes by Christ from hence in these several particulars O! thou beleever that art under the load of the law and come to Christ First Know That thou dost not stand and fal for thy eternal estate by the law that is the first Ease and Rest the law indeed may threaten thee and dreadful things may be revealed by it against thee but be of good comfort in this thy eternal estate shal not be cast by it it is ful of severity but thou art so far free that whereas before thou didst depend and rely upon that for thy eternal condition now thou art out of the power out of the reach of it so far that it hath not to do with thee to cast thy soul for thy eternal estate we would not be at the dispose of any man that we look upon as ful of severity and rigor in matters of great consequence but we do desire rather to be in such cases at the dispose of men who are ful of pitty and compassion know O! thou beleever who art in Christ that thou art not at the dispose of the Law that is ful of severity for thy everlasting condition but thou art at the dispose of the Gospel of the covenant of grace that is fild as ful with mercy and compassion as an infinite wisdom could devise it hath that fulness of compassion more then possibly al the wisdom of the angels in heaven and men upon earth could ever have devised or thought on beyond their imagination Now for one to be at the dispose of a man in matters of the greatest concernment that hath as much mercy in him as ever man had in this world yea as much mercy in him as were in al the men in the world If al the mercy that were in al the men in the world were put into one the heart of one man and you were to be at his dispose in a matter of the greatest concernment you would think your selves wel whereas before you lay at the mercy of a man that is very rigorous and ful of severity now you come to ly at the mercy of a man that hath al the bowels and tender compassions of al the men in the world would you not think this a good change this is the change and the rest that thou hast when thou comest to Christ wheras thy soul thy eternal estate lay at the dispose of the Law that is ful of rigor and severity now thy eternal estate doth depend upon a Covenant that is as ful of grace and mercy as thy soul could desire thy soul cannot desire a covenant to be fuller of grace and mercy then that covenant that thy everlasting estate depends upon and must be cast by and is not here rest now for a beleever if he doth understand this aright that is the first thing wherein the rest of a beleever consists by Christ as being freed from the Law 2
the world sin is very light Well know That as Christ himself felt sin to be a heavy burden so one way or other they must feel it either here or hereafter but blessed is that man or woman that feels the weight of sin while he may be delivered from it that he be not hereafter prest under the weight of it We read of Pharoah when the people of Israel came for ease he bids them go to their burdens that that he did unjustly Christ might do to many righteously hereafter when you upon your sick beds or death beds hereafter shal cry for mercy Christ may say to you go to your burdens when any thing of the Word came to press sin upon your souls you cast it off O! 't is a dangerous Condition when men and women cannot only sin enough but now when any truth of God should lay sin upon their hearts they cast it out and they think hardly of those Truths of God that would come and â—ind their sins to their Consciences and so burden them with their sins but it should be otherwise with us If those that be thus laden with their sins be those that Christ doth call to him we should not think so hardly of those Truths of God that doth reveal the evil of sin unto us but rather let us joyn with those Truths of God and labor to burden our own hearts for you see that those that are burdened Christ cals them to him that they might have rest there is no other burdens that we are to bring upon our selves but rather seek to avoid them but as for the burden of sin we are to burden our hearts with that and to labor to lay our sins to our hearts and to press them there and to charge them upon our own Spirits with all the aggravations we can and to joyn with the work of Gods Spirit when the Spirit of God comes to lay sin upon the soul to joyn with it and to say Lord I begin to be more sensible of my sins than I was before Lord humble me through it let me be under thy hand as long as thou pleasest only work thy good work upon me Object But you wil say We may sink under the burden of Sin Answ O no those that cast off the burden of sin they are most like to sink under it now can you think that the Lord wil Suffer such a soul to sink under the burden that doth burden it self that God might have glory But those that are unwilling and are forced to be burdened that never are sensible of the burden of sin til al the props and Comforts of the creature are taken away Upon their sick beds and death beds then men are burdened with Sin and why because the props are taken away before they had comforts and estates and such things which are as so many props but now God comes and takes the props and down they fâ—l upon us That is the reason that many upon their death beds lie Roâ—ring and Crying out so bitterly for their sins and why because the Lord hath cut asunder the props and now it lies heavy upon their hearts Now Christ cals come to me you that are weary and heavy laden come to me saith Christ Know that you are in a faâ— better condition than you were when you went on with delight in sin you are now in the way that God doth use to bring them in that he hath a purpose to do good unto I remember in the Gospel where the poor blind man cryed to Christ O Son of David have mercy upon me and stil cryed at length Christ heard the cry of the blind man and asked what it was Now those that were by him they go to the poor blind man and say to him be of good comfort he calls he might say I but my eyes be not opened I but be of good comfort he calls So I say to al burdened Sinners be of good comfort troubled soul Christ calls thee he saith come to me al ye that are weary and heavy laden he doth not say thou that art so much laden Christ cals thee to him Object I but thou wilt say I have no ease if I were sure that my sins were pardoned I should be saved then I should have ease and comfort Answ I but poor soul be of good comfort thou art called he doth not say thou art a wretched wicked creature and depart from me thou cursed as he wil say to sinners hereafter that might have been thy condition but thou didst not heare the voice from Christ this day depart from me but thou doest heare this voice this day from Christ Come to me al you that are weary and heavy laden Christ is neer to you the Lord is neer to the broken heart he is neere to the contrite spirit And know this the longer thou art under the burden of thy sin there wil come the more comfort hereafter Now there is a burden of sin upon thee and there wil be a weight of glory hereafter So the Scripture speakes of a weight of glory as wel as of a weight of Sin be willing to beare the weight of sin quietly say with the Prophet I wil be willing to beare the indignation of the lord because I have sinned against him So say thou 't is fit my soul should beare a burden be content to wait now do you the same thing that Christ did when he was under his burden mark what he did in Heb. 5.7 See how the heart of Christ was affected when he felt the weight of our sins upon him In the dayes of his flesh he offered up prayers and supplications with strong Cryes and teares unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he Feared Goe thy way O Soul and get into the presence of God and tel God of thy burdens that thou feelest make thy moan unto him and let it be with praiers and supplications and strong Cryes and tel him Lord I fear least my soul should be prest down to eternal death under this burden tel him of thy feares this way and it is very probable that thy soul shal be heard and according to this invitation here surely there is rest for thee as wel as for any while thou art crying out under thy burden for ought thou knowest or any Angel in heaven the pardon of thy sins may be sealling in heaven and therefore do not make any desperate Conclusion against thy own Soul for thy pardon may be a sealing and then the Lord wil send a messenger to tel thee of this Nay do I tel thee that theâ—e wil a messenger come Behold here in this text the Lord Jesus Christ comes the Angel of the Covenant cryes to thee Come O Come come freely though thou hast no good at al in thee there is enough in me to give rest unto that soul that doth most labor under the greatest burden of sin that ever
yet all this will not satisfie for what is past many when they have sinned and their Consciences are a little awakned for it then they think to live better and to do otherwise afterwards as if they would make amends for what is done before but you must know that this is a meer deceit and wil not satisfie you must come to me saith Christ you must come to Christ and beleeve in him or otherwise all that you can do wil never make amends you wil say If we cannot make amends what shal become of us it is true if there were not a Savior a Christ our condition were sad Certainly amends must be made but it is impossible that ever you can make amends and this you must think of you must not only think of what you are bound to do for the time that is to come but how the breach of the law shal be made up for that which is past when the sinner comes to think of these two together I have thus sinned Lord what shal I do for time to come I what shal I do to make up the breach of the law for that which is past this wil burden the soul and the soul wil feel upon this such a burden that nothing in the world can give it rest tel it come to Christ If we did apprehend this we would see that our Condition out of Christ were a restless condition and this invitation of Christ would be very acceptable Now because I was loth to tel you of rest before I had opened a little this burden for otherwise you might say as those Jewes did to Christ in an other case when Christ told them If the Son made them free they should be free indeed why Say they are we bound to any man it is in John 8.32 why do you talk of freedom to us If I should have gone on in the invitation Come to me and I wil give you rest come to Christ Why what restless Condition are we in you might have said But now when you see your restless condition then I suppose you wil be willing to harken to the invitation Come to me and I wil give you rest those things wil make you to know what it is to beleeve and to come to Christ when you come to understand what you are in being out of Christ 8. An eighth particular is this That the Law accepts of no repentance as it wil not be made amends for so it wil not accept of repentance Let the Sinner be never so sorrowful for what he hath done and lament his sin never so much if he could bewail his sin with teares of blood the Law would not accept of this You wil say this is a strange doctrine that our repentance should not be accepted of I do not say absolutely that God wil accept of no Repentance but I say that the Law wil accept of no Repentance Repentance is the doctrine of the Gospel the Law preacheth no such doctrine as the doctrin of Repentance it is an evangelical doctrine but now repentance that is merely trouble of Conscience that I see my self in such danger of the Law this may be a natural repentance and not evangelical that is I see I have undone my self by reason of my sin and now am troubled and so go no further I say this is a natural repentance and not evangelical When you do think of repenting of your sins this is a saving meditation for you to think of your Repentance thus I am now sorry and Repent and am humbled for my sin I but this is through a second Covenant through a covenant of grace that this can be accepted it is infinit mercy in God and that in Christ it is purchased by the blood of Christ that any Sorrow for any sin shal ever be accepted of God you must thank Christ for that and therefore when you come to the work of mourning for sin you should come to it as a work of the Gospel as an evangelical work and so come freely to it for that which is a work of the Gospel is a fruit of the blood of Christ and it is a great mercy of God unto you that you may be admitted to come before him to sorrow for your sins in such a way as you may be saved al your tears and trouble for sin except it be through the grace of the gospel it is not accepted and yet how many thousands of poor souls never think of this in the work of their repentance perhaps when they lie upon their sick or death beds their consciences tels them that there is a hel and misery for sinners and there they lie roaring and Crying out but the truth is they never understand the way of God in the Covenant of grace and how the Lord hath looked upon the Children of men under the Covenant of works and now hath entred into a second Covenant through his Son and there hath provided a way for their salvation which could not be in the other covenant we are to know that the law doth accept of no repentance now O! what a bondage is this that when I am sorrowful for my sins and think that God wil pardon me then I am curst by such a Law that wil accept of no repentance but when we come to Christ there Godly sorrow is accepted of and it is said to be Sorrow unto life but that is the priviledg of those that are under the covenant of grace in Christ therefore consider seriously of this point that you may make a difference between a covenant of works and a covenant of grace I know nothing in al divinity that is greater for you to understand then these two things and those people that are not acquainted with these two covenants they understand but little in those misteries of religion that may bring Salvation I say little or nothing of true divinity is understood by people that do not understand the difference between the first and the second covenant between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace and the right understanding of the difference between these two would let in abundance of knowledg I dare undertake that after people come to have the understanding of these two and to know the difference of them in one quarter of a year they wil come to have let into their hearts more knowledg in the main principles of religion then they had in many years before and for want of knowing this one thing people do most grosly mistake in abundance of points of Religion and never come to understand and to know christ at al in that way that is propounded in the Gospel And that is the eighth thing Ninthly In the Ninth place the burden of the Law appears in this that it only opens to man his misery and there leaves him as if a Chyrurgeon should open a wound and there leave it as it were in the open aire The Law tels not
Pharoah did increase their bondage the Scripture tels us that the people saw that they were in an ill case so when we understand what a condition we are in under this bondage we may conclude that verily man is in an ill case by nature Secondly And a second Conclusion may be drawn hence That it is a mighty work to save a Soul it is not a slight thing for a Soul to come to be saved there must be great things done by God to save a soul Many people they confess it is true they are sinners but they cry to God to have mercy on them and so they think it is presently done but did you consider of the condition that you are in naturally and of the Righteousness of God you would then conclude it is a mighty work of God to save any soul and that you had need fal upon the seeking of your Salvation betimes And then Thirdly Hence wil follow this Conclusion also That those vain thoughts of men that they have had for pacifying their Consciences and the quieting of their hearts wil stand them in no stead As thus Many they reason thus I am not so bad as others What if you be not if you be under the Law you are cast a thousand thousand times over You wil say that you do some good thing and somtimes come to Church and pray to God but what is this to the keeping of the Law if thou beest in thy natural estate thy reasoning after this manner does argue that thou dost look after Salvation by what thou hast done and for men to say I do what I can and I am sorry with all my heart that I can do no better these are not reasonings that wil inable thee to stand with comfort before the infinite Righteous God thou must know in what state thou art in under the Law and how thou art cast by the Law these are not arguings that can bring rest to thy soul if it could Christ would never have called in this manner But you must know that such is your condition that all the Angels in Heaven and men in the world cannot give rest to your souls and if you did understand this you would thereby go away convinced of this truth wel I see that there is a burden upon me howsoever I have not been sensible of it and it is such a burden as wil press me down to eternal misery and I see now by this that I have need of a Christ Certainly if congregations were sensible of this burden of the Law Oh! How would their souls rejoyce in this and praise the Lord that their eares are blessed to hear such a sound of the Gospel as this Come to me and I wil give you Rest I appeal to you whether the opening of the Law be not of use to make you come to Christ there are a great many wanton spirits that cal those Ministers of God that seek out of Conscience to do good to Souls and to draw them out of their natural estates Legal men Legal preachers and the like I appeal to your consciences upon the knowledg of these things whether you wil not come to know the way of coming to Christ better then you did before if I should have named the name of Christ five hundred times over and over again would you have come to understand the mistery of God in Christ so much as by hearing what the difference is between the first covenant of works and being under the Law and to tel you that Christ came into the world to deliver us from this first covenant he comes and takes our Nature upon him and puts himself under the Law that he might free us from such a heavy yoak and bondage and in this blessed Scripture he calls all souls that do feel this yoak and burden to come to him that so they might have rest And thus much for this first Particular what the bondage is that the soul is under that is under the Law are you sensible of this Christ cals you perhaps some of you may say we have not been sensible of this do you begin to understand it Doth God begin to let in some light to you Do you begin to feel it somthing weighty upon your Hearts Blessed be God for it you are so much the fitter to hear of the covenant of Grace Now when you come home let the Husband say to the wife we hear of two covenants as you have it in the 4. of the Galla. 22. Here are two covenants and these two are set out in this Allegory of the bond-woman and the free-Woman now til we come to understand what the other covenant is we are under the former covenant the covenant of works this is that you should labor to understand the Husband and wife to aske one another of the difference between the two covenants ask but what the covenant of works is and upon what tearms that runs and the covenant of Grace and upon what tearms that runs and so you will come especially to understand that that follows in this text with more profit and advantage to your Souls CHAP. IX Of the Burden of Legal Performances What it is With the burdensomness thereof laid open in twelve Particulars 1. There is no inward principle of doing 2. In men that are only under the Law there 's a principle contrary to the performance thereof 3. Such are wearied with doing getting no supply of strength to perform duty 4. By their performances they stil contract more Guilt upon their Souls 5. What they do in Obedience unto the Law is only out of fear 6. And with much straitness of Spirit 7. Nothing comes of such Performances 8. They that perform Duty in a meer Legal way never attain their end which is peace with God 9. They know not whether God accepts of them or rejects them 10. They are forced unto Duties instantly presently and upon the sudden though to the hinderance of other Duties of greater concernment which God requireth of them at the same time 11. Though they go on ioyling yet know they not whether they shal bold out unto the end 12. Their Humiliation and trouble for not doing what they ought to do binders them from doing what God requires NOw there is one thing more that is as an Appendix unto the Burden of the Law flowes indeed from and is tyed unto the burden of the Law and that is the burden of Legal performances not only the burden of the Law in regard of what the Law requires the perfect obedience that the Law requires that burden comes from the Law it self but now there is a burden that many are under a very heavy and grievous burden and that is the burden of Legal performances and this is that that is to be the subject of this Chapter I intend to go no further then to speak of that burden to open it a little to you and that as I told you at the
the hearts of the godly that it is ready to cast them into the fire and into the water to do those things that are against their own inclination against their prayers against their resolutions against their vowes against their covenants though they see such a thing to be evil are convinced of it though they find a strong inclination against the evil though they have been at prayer to God to help them against it though they resolve with the strongest resolutions against it yea though they vow and Covenant yea they come to the sacrament and set to their seale so violent is their corruption that it carries and hurries them on in wayes of evil notwithstanding 4. Again the motions and stirring of Corruption are very burdensome unto the Saints in regard of the confused disorder that there is in the motions of their corruptions there is much disorder and confusion in the heart when corruption doth stir which causeth much disturbance what causeth more disturbance in a State in a Family in a Town then confusion and disorder nothing is more disorderly and confused then the corruption in our hearts and therefore burdensome it causes much perplexity in the hearts of the Saints because they find their corruptions working and stirring in such a confused way they find sometimes when they are in duty such strange confused working of their hearts that it is an extream burden upon them 5. Further the corruption of the heart works very maliciously and therefore the more burdensome that is it watcheth especially those times wherein it may do us most mischief then it wil be most stirring as a malicious enemy wil not only be troublesome to one that he is an enemy unto at sometimes but he watcheth if there be any time wherein he may do him more mischief then another I wil take that time saith an enemy so the corruptions of the hearts of men they watch when they may do the soul the greatest mischeif now many a christian may think though I find much corruption stirring many times yet if I could but be free when I get alone to have communion with God O! that it would let me alone at that time and so though I find it stirring at other times yet if it would let me alone at the hearing of the word but it comes at that time especially you wil have evil thoughts at prayer more then ever you had and at the hearing of the word light workings of spirit more then at other times and not only at the word but if there be but one truth that doth more neerly concerne the good of your soules then another you shal find your corruptions to hinder you then more then at another time and so at the sacrament and fasting there it wil be more working then at another time 6. yea and further if there be any time that through Gods mercy in a day of prayer fasting and the like if you can get your hearts to any comfortable frame brokenness of heart renewed resolutions to walk in the waies of God more strictly then before as many times it is in dayes of fasting and prayer above al times wil your corruptions be stirring after that more then any time thus maliciously when it may do you the greatest michief then it wil be most working Now what a burden is this to the soule as it is said of Christ in Matth. the latter end There you have the story of Christs baptisme and when he was baptised then came the holy Ghost upon him in the likeness of a dove and this manfestation of God from heaven This is my beloved sonn in whom I am wel pleased wel presently saith the text he was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the divel God was in the worke but the devil was malicious against him presently after a glorious manifestation of God the father to him As it was with Christ your savior so you must expect it wil be with you Christ when he had such a glorious manifestation of God the father from heaven to him then he was led aside then the divel presently came upon him so it wil many times be with you when at any time you have got your hearts up to God in a day of fasting prayer or the like and have got some sense of Gods love take heed of security at that time more then at al times and that is the reason that you shal find if you observe it that very often after a day of fasting after such a day that you have got most in if not the very night yet the next day you wil find strong workings of the corruptions of your herets to keep them down immediately after that time for the stirring of corruptions they are very malicious and watch for the time that they may do us the greatest mischief of al. 7. Further the stirring of the Corruptions that remain in us are very burdensome in regard of their unseasonableness by that I meane this to speak plainly to your hearts the stirrings of our corruptions if we shal gratifie them many times yeild to them as it were for peace sake as sometimes the heart of a man or woman is so troubled with the workings of corruption that they think they must needs yield that they might be quiet wel if thou shalt yeild to them to quiet them they wil come upon thee more and more with greater strength they wil come upon thee then before as now if any one that is troublesome to us in seeking to get such and such a thing of us and at length because of trouble to us we yield to them then afterwards they grow more and more upon us incroach more and more upon us and are very troublesome and burdensome to us it is so in the stirring of corruption if you yield to your corruption for one thing it comes more and more upon you so that the only quiet you can have is by being at open defiance with them now this is another thing wherby the corruptions of the hearts of Gods people are very burdensome to them 8. Lastly The Corruptions in the hearts of Gods people are very burdensome because they are very prevailing this is an higher degree they are burdensome in the root and then in the working they are more burdensome but then in the prevailing they are yet more burdensome If so be a Child of God that looks into his hearâ— and finds what a root of bitternese there is that makes him go heavily al his dayes but now when he finds such working and stirring of corruption this troubles him more he thinks though I have such a cursed nature though I cannot keep down the motions and stirrings of my corruption yet if I could keep them from working yea though I cannot keep them from working yet if I could but keep them from prevailing but alas they overcome me many times and this is the greatest burden of al that they prevail in our hearts
not only say in general Come to me but cals them in particular 3. You will say How shall we know it is the voyce of Christ that is the third particular Christ doth by the Spirit secretly perswade the soul that it is his voyce and not the voyce of delusion according to that in Cant. 2 8. The voyce of my beloved As it is when the Soul is departed from God and comes again to him the Lord Christ makes the Soul to know his voyce So when he was in this world after his Resurrection he confers with Mary a while and she thought it had been the Gardiner and Christ he speaks but a word speaks to her and saies Mary Rabboni saith she Master presently Christ did not tell her he was the Christ but he said Mary and presently Mary knew it was the voyce of Christ And so when the Spirit of Christ speaks to the soul there is such a secret instinct a perswasion and manifestation of God to it that it doth know indeed that it is the voyce of God I have been often at a Sermon and heard many good men preach Christ but I hear the voyce of Christ this day in my soul and I know it is the voyce of Christ Thus doth the soul that comes to Christ effectually 4. And further The invitation of Christ when it is indeed effectual as I know it is Christs voyce Christ comes and knocks at the door and the soul knows who it is that is to be applyed to his particular Call As Christ saith I stand at the door and knock that is to be referred to the second particular I stand and knock at the door and if any man will open to me I will come in to him and sup with him God doth not only proclaim pardon but comes to the door of the soul and stands at thy door particularly you cannot but find this by experience you that have the work of Grace upon you you have lived under the means a long time but God comes and knocks at your doors also which is a mighty condescention of a Prince that doth not only send sorth a Proclamation but knocks at the poor Traitors door and so doth Christ and when that is done before the soul doth indeed come and cast himself so upon Christ and commit himself to Christ there are some secret items and intimations that God doth intend love to it in particular that he hath thoughts of love and mercy to the soul though I have been very vile and very wretched yet partly I gather it by the way of God towards me that there is thoughts of mercy to me Quest You will say How doth that appear that there is any such intimation of Gods goâ—ness to a soul in particular when it is called to come to Christ Answ I will give you this Ground When the soul comes to Christ and casts it self upon Christ it doth it not at a meer venture and knows not whether he shall have mercy or no. It is true I come to Christ and there is no other help but I know not whether I shall have mercy or no or whether there be any mercy or no for me this is not the work of faith this way is neer to faith indeed when the soul can say thus It is true in the way I have been there is no mercy to me and I know not whether there be mercy for me but I wil try it it hath not the reflect act of faith but some secret perswasion of the soul whereby it doth cast it self upon God though not by a reflect act it can certainly say God intends mercy for me but though it be very weak yet some intimation the soul hath that there is mercy from God towards it because Faith is not a bare venture but Faith hath some kind of certainty though very weak for to say I will cast my soul upon God but I may perish I have no ground to think why God should save me this is unbelief the work of Faith according to the degree of it hath some kind of certainty in it though the soul for the present be not able to discern it 5. The invitation of Christ when it comes to be effectual hath together with the voyce of Christ an inward effectual power that goes along with it a prevailing power to draw the heart to him Christ doth not only speak to the heart and say to it Come but with the voyce he lets out a power upon the heart to come to him I express it thus When Christ was in the flesh he goes and calls Disciples to him comes to Matthew that sate at the receit of Custom saith he Come and follow me presently Matthew leaves his sitting at the Custom House leaves all his Friends and leaves all he had and comes to him presently And so when Christ comes to Peter and Andrew his Brother that were a fishing and saith to them Come to me they leave their old Father leave their Nets leave their Ship leave all and follow Christ Certainly we cannot but apprehend that there was a secret vertue went out from Christ with this his Word that did thus prevail upon their hearts As the poor woman in the Gospel that had the bloody issue she did but touch the hem of Christs Garment and she finds a secret vertue to cure her so where ever Christs invitation comes to be effectual it comes with a mighty power a secret vertue that goes together with his word to the soul to prevail upon it Come to me say many Why doth Christ call me am I able to come to him Christ saith Come to them as he did to Matthew Peter and others Christ did not call them and say Come only but he put vertue into his word and look what vertue was then the same is now in the ministry of the word when he speaks and saith come to Christ together with this word there goes a secret power to prevaile upon the Soul that they must come Now it may be the Father or Mother or friend of a poor yong man perswades him not to come but he must come to Chirst for all that the truth is it 's as strong a work of God to come to Christ now as it was then to cal Matthew and Peter to come to Christ Lastly He not only calls them but he reacheth out his hand before he comes to be joyned with Christ to have union with him Christ when he sees the Soul making after him he reacheth forth his hand to draw the Heart You will say what is that for Christ to reach forth his hand and invite that way By that I mean those gracious incouragements that Christ gives to all the beginnings of the working of the Soul after him the Lord Christ not only invites such but gives forth his hand to reach forth strength unto them he will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the Smoaking Flax. Thus you see what the second
to Christ First For the Rules that we may observe them aright in coming to Christ and come to Christ in a right way I speak to those whose Hearts are about coming to Jesus Christ their hearts are stirring after Christ and they are setting upon all the means to come to him RULE I. First Though God requires that thou shouldest seek Christ in all his ordinances in the performance of all Duties yet it must be thy great care not to rest in the means that lead to Christ before thou comest to enjoy Christ himself This is the great mistake in the world that those things that are the means to lead to Christ they rest in though indeed they have not Christ As now for instance to come to hear the word I suppose if I aske you why you come you will say you come that you might find Christ there yet how many people rest in this meerly that they do hear the word they hear Sermons and scarce ever cal this into question have I met with Jesus Christ in the word to day have I found Jesus Christ there this their Hearts are not so much troubled about but they come meerly to hear the word it 's a good thing But now they Rest in the means that lead to Christ before they are got thither As if a man were a going a journey to such a place about such business and he satisfies himself in this I am going on my way but have I got the thing I go for We are to know that Prayer the word the Sacraments are all but as means to bring us to Christ now what a foolish thing is this to satisfie our selves that we are in the way going to the thing but have we the thing that we journey for Jesus Christ is the thing that we seek for have we him The wise Merchant had the Field I but he saw that there was a Pearl in the field and then he went and sold all that he might have the Pearl The field is the Preaching of the word and other ordinances in these ordinances is the Pearl now that which we should look for in the ordinances is the pearl and so use the field but only for the Pearls sake So that this is the way that we should take to come to Christ that is in the use of all duties and all ordinances to look at Christ that we would have by them and be sure to pass through the ordinances til we get hold on him whom our Soul loveth most people in the world they stick in the ordinances themselves and have got no hold on Christ but meerly spend all in duties and ordinances that they wil do God requires of them to pray and they wil pray and God requires of them to hear the word and they will hear the word I but they do not consider that there is somthing beyond Prayer and beyond the word Have I got to Jesus Christ in Prayer have I got to Jesus Christ in the word And that is a good signe when the hearts of sinners are satisfied with nothing with no ordinances except they find Jesus Christ in those ordinances be sure to go through the ordinances unto Christ RULE II. Secondly In your seeking after Christ be sure that you rather pitch your eye and your heart upon the person of Christ himself then upon the good things that come from Christ that is the way to pitch your eye and your heart upon Christ himself rather then upon the good things that come from Christ for coming to Christ and being in him is only as being married to him Now the party that marries he looks more upon the person then upon the portion he looks upon the excellency of the person so should the Soul in coming to Christ look upon him as the only great mediatour of the Covenant as the only reconciler of God and man as the only person in whom all our good happiness and glory lies Labor to see an excellency in Christ himself as wel as to come to Christ There are many souls that would come to Christ why because they think there is no mercy but in Christ and they would be loath to go to Hel and therefore they cry to God for mercy in Christ I but they see not any excellency in Christ but thou must look upon the excellencies of Christ and look through the ordinances unto union with Christ look after union with the person of Christ himself and see an excellency and beauty in the very person of Jesus Christ to be able to say I see the glory of the Father in him and my Soul makes after him to have union with him RULE III. Thirdly In thy coming be sure of this to come with thy whole soule that is do not come to Christ only as one meanes of help for you and thinking it is Good to make use of al means we can and Christ I see to be as likely a means as any other No but come to Christ as the only means so as to cast thy whole soul upon him not to hang upon any thing else and so to give out as it were an arme to him and yet to have somewhat else to rest upon if that fail As we come to a friend sometimes and desire somewhat of him but how so as we would make a friend other where that if that fail we may have two strings to our bow but we must come to Christ and lay the ful weight upon him alone the ful soul upon him We must come to Christ not as if we were over some deep pit and here is one thing to rest upon that is strong enough that if we would lay weight upon that is alone we might be safe Wel but there is another thing that is a rotten thing now we are loth to venture upon the strong the sound not knowing it to be so but we lay a part upon the rotten and part upon the sound by this perhaps we may come to fal and perish because the ful weight was not laid upon that that was sound So here the Lord propounds his son as an alsufficient redeemer for us in whom there is righteousness and salvation and requires of those that come to his Son that they shal come with their whol souls and lay the whol weight of their soules upon him for life and salvation and al their good and happiness Now if they think to have two strings to their bow they would have Christ but they would have the world too and their own wayes too upon this a Thousand to one but they miscarry It was an excellent speech of Joseph sending for his father Jacob in Genesis 45.20 Joseph sent to have his father Jacob brought to him now there was many things that Jacob had regard to before but now saith he regard not the stuff for the good of all the Land of Egypt is yours So when the Lord doth cal any poor sinner to come to him the Lord
as it were from the Bosome of the Father and for a time was willing to have his glory Eclipsed to come into this world to be in the forme of a Servant to be in a mean condition here in this world Christ hath suffered more in coming to you than you can possibly suffer in going to him Christ is content to come from the Father to you what is it that you can go from to come to him He is said in the Book of the Canticles to come leaping over the Mountaines he comes leaping over all difficulties to you if you think there are some difficulties in your going to Christ know that there was far greater difficulties that lay in the way in his coming to you but whatsoever there was in the way he was resolved to go through them all and did come and was here in the world in the flesh that he might save you and he that is thus come to you cals you to come to him ARG. III. Thirdly You must know That Christ is the great Mediator that is set between God and the Children of men it is he that hath undertaken the great work the greatest work that ever was in the World to Mediate between the infinite offended God and your sinful wretched Souls for through your sins there was such an infinite distance made between God and you that it was impossible you should ever have gone without this Mediator It is an argument of mighty use if rightly understood and throughly considered of the vast distance that sin hath made between God and sinful creatures that they can never come to God but through the glorious Mediator that is come into the world the Lord Jesus Christ God and man that was made by God the Father the Head of the second covenant and hath undertaken to make up all the wrongs that our sins have done unto God to pacifie the wrath of God and to satisfie the justice of God it is he that hath undertaken to make peace between the Father and you and it is he that cals unto you to come to him If there were a company of Prisoners in danger of Death and one should come to the Prince to mediate for them to make peace between the Prince and them one that the prisoners should know to be the only Son of the prince the delight of his Soul and he is sent by the Prince himself to come to make peace and undertake it for them and he comes unto the Prison doors and cals to the Prisoners lying in their dungeon and saies arise and come to me hearken what I shal bring to you observe my direction and peace shall be made between the Prince and you you shall have pardon you shall have your lives would not this stir them up to hearken unto him and greedily to come unto the grate Christ is come for this very end this was the work that God the Father sent him into the world about to be a Mediator between himself and poor wretched sinful creatures and now he comes unto them cals unto them and saies come to me If you did but know what Christ was and what his work was in coming into the world it could not but mightily draw your hearts to come to him when he cals ARG. IV. Fourthly Come to me saith Christ for if ever there were any that deserved to be hearkened unto and to come unto when he cals certainly I deserve it For I have not only come to be a Mediator but the truth is it hath cost me my blood I have manifested such Love unto you that I have laid down my Life for you I have shed my most precious blood I have been willing to be made a curse and all for the saving of your souls my Love hath been more to you then to mine own life for that was laid down for you I have undertaken indeed to mediate between my Father and you but it hath cost me much yet in Love to you I have thus done all my blood is shed the work is done the price is paid Come to me that you may have Life And this is the meaning of that forementioned place The Servant is bidden to go and invite the Guests for all is ready so here the work is done Christ hath done the work there could not be that argument to our fore Fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob they could not have such an argument to draw them Christ could not say to them Come to me for I have not only undertaken to Mediate between the Father and your Souls but I have laid down my life for you shed my blood for you I have paid the price already for you I have purchased your Souls I have done the whol work it is finished But now there is this Argument to draw your Hearts to Christ for the work is finished the greatest work that ever was or shal be undertaken in the World the greatest work of all is finished and upon the finishing of this work Christ cals you to himself and saith Come to me ARG. V. Fifthly Consider the infinite good that your Souls shall have by Christ in your coming to him this draweth the Heart indeed not only to see who it is that calls you for commonly when we hear one cal we wil ask who cals and if it be one that we expect good from we come to him This we shewed already But this argument is from the infinite good that your Souls shall have when you come to him the very first moment you come to him you will be blessed creatures there will be an infinite change of your condition for consider First If there be any good to be had in all the mercy that there is in God himself if there be any good to be had in God the Father in the divine essence in the infinite eternal first-being of all things it is to be had by coming unto Christ for Christ saith in John 14.6 No man comes unto the Father but by me You cannot come to God but by Christ as was intimated before in regard of the distance between God and us through sin you cannot come to God til you understand Christ to be the great means of conveyance of all good from God to his creature Christ is the great means of conveyance of all good unto the creature All are yours you are Christs and Christ is Gods saith the Apostle in 1 Cor. 3. and the Last verse All things are Gods that you will acknowledg but how come they to be ours all things are yours that is the happiness of those that are come to Christ He doth not say all things are Gods and you are Gods No but all things are yours and you are Christs and Christ is Gods Whereas other people in seeking after mercy from God go this way to work they go immediatly to God and think that if ever they receive any mercy or good it must come from God they must have it from
God but there is somthing comes between God and you all things are yours and you are Christs and Christ is Gods so that God himself is the infinite Fountain of all good Christ is as it were the Cisterne into which all the mercy and goodness of God is to be conveyed and beleevers by Faith have every one a Pipe as it were put into this Cisterne so they come to have conveyed all good the fullness of the divine Nature they are united unto Christ and so have all Mercy conveyed from God unto them here is a strong argument to draw the heart to come to Christ because Christ is the great conveyance of all good from the â—her unto the Soul is not the mercy of God sweet unto a Soul that is Laden with the Burden of Sin This mercy you must have in me saith Christ or else you shall never have a drop of it We are to know therefore that by our sins the conduit Pipe of all the Mercy in God is stopt so as not one drop of saving mercy for eternity can be let into the Soul and though we should cry for mercy never so much and shreeke out yet we are to know that the Pipe is stopt by sin and there is no other way to open this pipe but only by Jesus Christ he is the opener of the pipe of Gods infinite Grace let out to the Children of men Now if we look upon the Grace of God we are first to consider that by our sins we have stopt the current of al the Grace of God and it is only Christ that lets out this current and now Christ saith come to me all you that would have mercy Would you have Mercy O yes it is true we would have mercy but we find this Mercy of God is stopt by our sins Now saith Christ come to me and by me all the sluces of the Grace and mercy of God are opened to poor Souls we know God is a God of mercy the God of all consolation in himself the Father of mercies he is infinitly merciful so that when we come to God we come to the God of mercy the God of all consolation we come to the Father of mercies we come to him who is infinite in mercy whose Nature is mercy to him that is imfinitely above all creatures in mercy All the merciful creatures in Heaven and Earth in comparison of him are nothing Yea take all the merciful Saints in the world the most merciful dispositions that were in all the creatures in the world and put them into one man you would say this were a merciful man If all the mercies in all the bowels of all the Saints that ever were from the beginning of the world were put into one man would not you think him to be a merciful man if he called you to come to him for mercy would you not come Such a man that hath all mercies of all the Saints that ever were in the world put into him yet this man would be a most cruel man in comparison of the infinite mercy that is in God If we were in cruel straites and had to deal with such a man that had the bowels of the mercy of all the men in the world those that are in misery they go to their friends and say Oh! it is wel I did fal into such a merciful mans hand But now thou that art a poor troubled sinner if thou comest to Christ thou comest into the Arms into the bowels of the infinite God that is infinitely above the bowels of all mercies that are either in Heaven or Earth and therefore come to him Secondly Further not only come unto the bowels of mercy but by coming to Christ thou comest to God as a Father Come to me saith Christ thou shalt not only come to the Father but the first moment you come to me I shall present you to God as a Child and God to you as a Father the infinite God is a deadly enemy to all out of Christ but by coming to Christ there is peace with him you come to have union with him and you come to be made one with God into the neerest union with God next unto the Hypostatical union There is divers sortes of union with God there is the Hypostatical union but next unto that is a Mistical union and such a union have the Saints the Soul that was before an enemy unto God and cast out from him the first moment that such a Soul comes to Christ it hath such a union with God that is the neerest union that any creature can have next unto the human Nature of Jesus Christ Thirdly Yea Not only to be united to him but thou shalt come presently to have his Image stamped upon thee his Spirit put into thee to live the Life of God to have communion with him here and thou shalt be saved the very moment thou comest to him thou shalt have Righteousness to stand in the presence of the infinite Holy God I You will say if we come to God we come by Christ but God is a Holy and a Righteous God and how shall we be able to stand before him being a Righteous God and we such sinners Therefore this is answered by this that the first moment thou comest to Christ he will put the holy Robes of his Righteousness upon thee that shall make thee able to stand before the infinite God so that whatever thou art in thy self it is impossible but God should be wel pleased with thee and should take delight in thee as his own thou may'st walk up and down in the presence of God and all because He sees thee in the Robes of Christs Righteousness Fourthly And further The first moment thou comest to Christ thou shalt be safe to eternity for all the hazard of miscarrying to eternity is over at the first moment thou comest to Christ this thou shalt have in the first moment of thy coming to Jesus Christ this is for the comfort of those that come to Christ More of these Particulars we shall have when we come to the promise that is here made in the Text And you shall have Rest ARG. VI. Sixtly For a further argument of drawing the Heart unto Jesus Christ when he cals to come to him consider what a poor wretch thou art in thy self a vile base forlorne Deformed Miserable Succourless Helpless Shiftless Creature a Beggar If a Prince as he goes along in the Streets seeing a poor Beggar lying upon the ground in the durt should be pleased to call to such a creature and say to him come to me would it not reviue his Spirit If one should tel him the King the Prince cals how would he stir himself Now thou art the poorest Creature in the world never any poor creature that lay groveling in the durt ful of Sores and wounds was in a worse condition then thou art when thou seest such a one think that thy condition is far