that he should act freely and entertain us as a King not as an Host Merit taketh off something of his Royalty and supream Majesty Touching the Mercy of God give me leave to give you a few Observations 1. 'T is the aim of the whole Scripture to represent God merciful 'T is true God is infinitely just as well as infinitely merciful but he delighteth in gracious discoveries of himself to the creature he counteth it his glory Moses was earnest with God to shew him his Glory and then God proclaimeth his Name Exod. 34. 5 6. The Lord the Lord merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin c. In this description there is more spoken of his Mercy then of his Justice and first his Mercy is described and then his Justice for Justice is only added to invite men to take hold of his Mercy and to shew that Justice is never exercised but in avenging the quarrel of abused Mercy So he is called a God of pardon Nehem. 9. 17. as if wholly made up of sweetness So 2 Cor. 1. 3. he is called Father of mercies and God of all consolations He is a just God but he is not called the Father of Justice Mercy is natural to him he counteth it as the proper fruit and product of the divine Essence 2. Mercy is represented as his delight and pleasure So Micah 7. 18. Mercy pleaseth him 'T is an act exercised with complacency Judgment is called his strange work Isai 28. 21. God loveth to bless and protect to destroy is not suitable to his disposition 't is a thing that he is forced to Punitive acts in the representations of the Word are more against his bowels drawn and extorted from him as Jer. 44. 22. The Lord could no longer bear because of your doings their sins were so clamorous that they would not let God be quiet he would bear no longer unless they would make an Idol of him But now all acts of grace and favour are exercised with delight I will rejoyce over them to do them good Jer. 32. 41. 'T is as pleasing to God to do it as 't is to us to receive it The Scripture after the manner of men doth often represent a Conflict in the Attributes about sinners and if Mercy get the upper-hand 't is always with joy and triumph Jam. 2. 13. Mercy rejoyceth over Judgment but if he be compelled to strike and Justice must be exercised the Scriptures represent a reluctation in his bowels Lam. 3. 33. He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men in the original from his heart but is like a Father with a rod in his hand and tears in his eyes 3. The Scripture representeth God as exercising mercy though with some present disadvantage to his Glory As mercy to the Ninivites though the credit of his Message lay at stake Niniveh shall be destroyed in forty days yet God spared it and therefore Jonah in a pet challengeth him for it Jon. 4. 2. Lord was not this my saying when I was in my Country â—or I knew that thou wert a gracious God As if he said I knew 't would come to this that the Prophets of Israel should be disgraced before the men of Niniveh and to threaten Judgments in his Name is to expose our selves to derision when we have done our errand free-grace will make us all lyars To this effect did he expostulate with God God might easily destroy sinners with much honour to himself but he is long-suffering even then when his patience for a while seemeth to impair the revenues of Heaven The World suspects his Being the Saints quarrel his Justice and question his Love and all because the wicked are prosperous and God keepeth silence The great stumbling block at which most have dashed the foot of their faith is the suspension of due Judgments What was the effects of his patience to them of Aslyria and Babylon The Lord himself telleth you Isai 52. 5. My Name every day is blasphemed that was all he got by it his people suffered in person and God himself in his reputation all that he got was blasphemies and reproaches and injuries So Psal 50. 21. I kept silence and thou thoughtst that I was every way like thy self that was the effect gross conceits of his Glory and Essence When Judgments are quick and speedy the World is under greater awe the confidence of the Saints is strengthened and supported and Gods honour is more clear and unstained yet with all these disadvantages to his Glory if we may speak so God forbeareth Certainly his heart is much set upon the honour of his Mercy that God will glorifie it though other Attributes seem to suffer loss 4. The Scriptures speak much of his readiness to receive returning sinners Though they have done infinite wrong to his Holiness yet upon repentance and as soon as they begin to submit Mercy embraceth and huggeth them as if there had been no breach Luk. 15. 20. I will go to my Father and the Father ran to meet him So Isai 56. 20. Before they call c. So Psal 32. 5. I said and thou forgavest c. So Jer. 31. 17 with 20. I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself c. and presently Oh my dear and pleasant child The first relentings of the creature work upon the bowels of Mercy Love's pace is very swift it runneth to meet a returning sinner Christ cometh skipping over the Mountains Cant. 2. 8. He thinketh that he can never be soon enough with us He would fain have the company of sinners and therefore meeteth them more then half way When we but conceive a purpose we presently receive the fruit of his early mercies 5. God doth not only admit them to come but of his own accord inviteth them that are slack and backward The Scriptures do every where record the intreaties of God he draweth us with coards of Love coards that are woven and spun out of Christs heart and bowels In one place thus Cant. 4. 8. Come away from Lebanon my Sister my Spouse from the Lions dens from the mountains of Leopards Christs love is hot and burning he thinketh we tarry too long from his embraces So Cant. 5. 2. Open to me my Sister my Spouse c. Christ stands begging for entrance Lost man do but suffer me to save thee poor sinner suffer me to love thee These are the charms of Gospel Rhetorick So Isai 49. Harken to me and attend to the words of my mouth c. Oh sinners you will not harken to me for the good of your Souls You see none singeth so sweetly as the Bird of Paradise the Turtle that chirpeth upon the Churches hedges that he may cluck sinners to himself The Scripture is full of such an holy witchcraft such passionate charms to entise Souls to their happiness 6. They that constantly refuse the offers of his grace are
hath many Names a distinct consideration of them yeildeth an advantage in beleeving for though they express the same thing yet every notion begetteth a fresh thought by vvhich Mercy is more taken abroad in the vievv of Conscience This is that pouring out of Gods Name spoken of Cant. 1. 3. Ointment in the Box doth not yeild such a fragrancy as vvhen 't is poured out and Spices do not give forth their smell till they are chafed Nothing is more conducible to beget a trust then distinct thoughts and conceptions of Gods Mercy Let us take notice of some places vvhere 't is set forth See Psal 103. 8. The Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and plenteous in mercy The expression is diversified and I note it the rather because in other places the same notions of Mercy are punctually expressed see Nehem. 9. 17. so Psal 14. 5. 8. and in divers other places chiefly see that Exod. 34. 7. and you vvill find that this is the very description vvhich God hath given of himself Novv vvhat doth the Spirit of God aim at in this express enumeration and accumulation of names of Mercy but to give us an help in meditation and that our thoughts may be more distinct 1. The first notion is Mercy which is an Attribute whereby God inclineth to succour them that are in misery 'T is an Attribute that meerly respecteth the creature The Love and knovvledg of God first falleth upon himself but Mercy is only transient and passeth out to the creatures God knoweth himself loveth himself but he is not merciful to himself And then it respecteth the creatures in misery for misery is Mercy 's only motive Justice seeketh a â—it object but Mercy a â—it occasion Justice requireth desert but Mercy only want and need 2. The next notion is Grace vvhich noteth the free bounty of God and excludeth all merit of the creature Grace doth all gratis freely though there be no precedent obligation or debt or hope of recompence vvhereby any thing may accrue to himself only that it may be vvell vvith the creature Gods external motive is our misery his internal motive is his ovvn Grace and elective Love Am I in want there is mercy Am I unworthy there is grace Mercy respects us as we are in our selves vvorthy of condemnation Grace as compared with others not elected The ultimate Reason of the choyce is Gods grace The Angels that never sinned are saved meerly out of grace but men that vvere once miserable are saved not only out of grace but also out of mercy 3. The next notion is long-suffering or slowness to anger The Lord is not easily overcome by the wrongs or sins of the creature but easily overcometh them by his own patience and goodness He doth not only pity our misery that 's mercy and do us good for nothing that 's grace but beareth long with our infirmities Alas if God were as short and swift in the executions of revenge as men are God must create another World to raise up seed to Christ If he did not wait upon sinners there would be none made Saints We provoked him to cut us off long since but wrath is not easily heightened into rage and therefore he waiteth that he may be gracious Isai 30. 18. 4. Kindness or bounty plenteous in goodness BERAB CHESID Gods communications of his grace to the creature are every way rich and full You may say God is merciful gracious patient But will he be thus to me Yes he is plenteous in goodness kind and communicative Psal 119. 68. Thou art good and dost good therefore David goeth to him for grace Well then study Gods Name and answer all your discouragements out of the descriptions of his Mercy 9. Consider your own experiences We have not only heard that God is merciful but we have known it All men may speak of patience and common mercy and outward deliverances but few improve them to a spiritual use and purpose 1. Consider Gods patience How long hath he waited for your Conversion and he that hath spared you can save you 'T is said The wages of sin is death Rom. 6. 23. the word implyeth that God is bound to pay it by virtue of an implicite bargain and agreement between him and the creature But as yet the hand of God hath not found you out you are indebted to Justice but Mercy stoppeth the arrest of Vengeance Many others have been taken away in their sins by a sudden arrow and dart from Heaven Vengeance hath trodden upon the heel of sin As Zimri and Cosbi unloaded their lusts and their lives together The Angels for an aspiring thought were turned out of Heaven Gehazi was blasted with Leprosie just upon his lye and Lots wife turned into a stone for a look a glance upon Sodom and Herâ—d smitten with lice in the midst of his pomp and vain-glory and some have perished in the mid way Psal 2. in the very heat of some carnal and wicked pursuit God can do the like to you therefore reason thus If Mercy would not save me why hath Mercy spared me God might have sued out the Bond long since what is the meaning of the dispensation Is God weak or unjust or hath he a mind to be gracious Surely he would not have spared me all this while if he had not a mind to save my Soul Such reasonings as these many times give us the first encouragement to apply our selves to God Wicked men like Spiders draw other conclusions Psal 50. 21. But should not his patience c. Rom. 2. 4. 2. Consider Gods goodness in giving thee food and clothing and honour and gladness of heart and all this without thy desert say Certainly all these benefits are but so many baits to catch my Soul I see the Sun riseth every day with a fresh countenance and shineth upon the fields of just and unjust to what purpose but to shew that God is gracious without hire This bodily Sun is but an obscure type of the Sun of Righteousness that is willing to display his beams and wings over a poor languishing Soul Common mercies are the tastes of Gods love while you are sinners and the common fruits of Christs death that you may be invited to come for more Why hath he given me the unrighteous Mammon but that I may look after the true Riches What a vile unthankful heart should I have if I should be contented with Mammon without Christ and be like Judas with the bag in my hand and the Devil in my heart Gods children are wont to make these gifts a step to higher dispensations they know God like the good housholder bringeth forth the best at last therefore they must have something above and beyond all these things Common hearts are contented with common mercies but they are still waiting when the Master of the feast will bid them sit higher I may have this and be damned Where are the arguments of
Christ is set forth praise and blessing praise hath respect to his excellency and blessing to his benefits Eph 1. 3. We may praise a man for his worth though we have no benefit by him and so we are bound to praise God for the excellency of his nature though he had never done us good but now when he is our God and our Saviour and hath shewed us so much of his goodness and mercy in Christ we should be ever praising him Phil. 4. 20. Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever Amen Glory is due to him as God much more as our Father his worth and excellency though he were a stranger to us doth deserve an acknowledgment but when we consider what he is to us and what he hath done for us then we can hold no longer the heart being affected with a sense of his kindness breaketh out to our Father to our Saviour be glory for ever and ever Well then consider the Lords excellencies more and observe his benefits and work them upon the heart till you be filled with a deep sense of his love and find such an impulsion in your Spirits as you cannot hold from breaking out into his praise I come now from the description to the ascription to him be glory c. Can we bestow any thing upon God or wish any real worth and excellency to be super-added to him I answer no the meaning is that those which are in God already may be first more sensibly manifested Isa 64. 2. Make thy name known among the nations 'T is a great satisfaction to Gods people when any thing of God is discovered they value it above their own benefit and safety see Psal 115. 1. they preferre the glory of mercy and truth before their deliverance 2. More seriously and frequently acknowledged 't is a great pleasure to the Saints to see others praise God Psal 107. 8. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men 3. More deeply esteemed that God may be more in request more in the hearts of men and Angels Gods children no not count it enough that God is glorified by themselves but they desire also that God may be glorified by others as fire turneth all things near it into its own nature so is grace diffusive good men are loath to go to Heaven alone they would travel thither by troops and in company But let us more particularly take a view of this ascription and so first what is ascribed glory majesty dominion and power Let us open these words Glory is clara cum laude notitia excellency discovered with praise and approbation and notech that high honour and esteem that is due to Christ Majesty is the next word which implieth such greatness excellency as maketh one honoured preferr'd above all therefore a stile usually given to Kings but none so due as unto Christ who is King of Kings and Lord of our Lords The third term is dominion which implieth the foveraignty of Christ over all things especially over the people whom he hath purchased with his blood The last word is power which signifieth that all sufficiency in God whereby he is able to do all things according to the good pleasure of his will From hence observe 1. A gracious heart hath such a sense of Gods worth and perfection that it would have all things that are honourable and glorious ascribed to him therefore are divers words here used When we have done our utmost we come short for Gods name is exalted above all blessing and above all praise Nehem. 9. 5. Yet 't is good to do as much as we can Love to God will not be satisfied with a little praise I will praise him yet more and more love inlargeth the heart towards God if there be any thing more excellent he shall have it well then 't is a sign of a dead heart to be a niggard in praises to be sparing careless or cold this way 2. When we think of God 't is a relief to the Soul to consider of his glory majesty dominion and power for this is that which the Apostle would have to be manifested acknowledged and esteemed in God as the ground of our respect to him it incourageth us in our service we need not think shame of his service to whom glory and power and majesty and dominion belongeth It hearteneth us against dangers surely the great and glorious God will bear us out in his work it increaseth our awe and reverence shall we serve God in such slight fashion as we would not serve the Governour Mal. 1. 8. 't is a lessening of Gods majesty you do not treat him as a great and glorious Potentate Mal. 1. 14. It inviteth our Prayers to whom should we go in our necessities but to him that hath Dominion over all things and power to dispose of them for the glory of his majesty It increaseth our Dependance God is glorious and will maintain the honour of his name and truth of his promises When we are daunted by earthly Potentates 't is a relief to think of the majesty of God in comparison of which all earthly Grandure is but the dream of a shadow Again God that hath a soveraignty over all things and such an almighty power to back it will not be wanting to do that which shall make for his glory 2. The next consideration in this Ascription is the duration now and ever Thence note The Saints have such large desires for Gods glory that they would have him glorified everlastingly and without ceasing they desire the pre sent age may not only glorifie God but the future when they are dead and gone the Lord remaineth and they would not have him remain without honour they do not take death so bitterly if there be any hopes that God will have a people to praise him and their great comfort now is the expectation of a great Congregation gathered from the four winds united to Christ presented to God that they may remain with him and glorifie him for evermore 't is the comfort of their hearts to see this Congregation a making up every day that there are Saints and Angels to praise God whilest others grieve and dishonour him they prize their own salvation upon this ground that they shall live for ever to glorifie God for ever see Eph. 3. 21. Ps 41. 13 Psal 106 48. Now this they do partly from their love to Gods glory which they prize above their own salvation Rom. 9. 3. Partly in thankfulness to God for his everlasting love to them God is from everlasting to everlasting and his love is from everlasting to everlasting Psal 10â— 17. he was their God and will be their God for ever and ever and therefore they purpose to be his people and to praise him for ever and ever Well then get these large desires for Gods glory that he may be
the reliques of grace yet left Psal 119. 176. I have gone astray like a sheep seek thy servant for I do not forget thy Commandments as if he had said Lord I have sinned through weakness but I hope there is some grace left some bent of heart towards thee So the Church Isai 64. 8 9. Now O Lord thou art our Father c. Yea God is angry when we do not plead So Jer. 3. 4. Wilt thou not cry Thou art my Father c. You have an interest though you have been disobedient Thus do and your falls will be an advantage as you have seen men go back to fetch their leaps more commodiously When you stand let it excite you to love and thankfulness Nothing maketh the Saints love God more then the unchangeableness of his Love When they see themselves safe in the midst of weaknesses and Satans dayly assaults it doth much indear God to their Souls Certainly Daniel was much affected with his preservation in the Lions den when he saw the Lions ramping and roaring about him and yet restrained with the chains of Providence that they could do him no harm So the children of God must needs love their Preserver when they consider what dangers are round about them how little they subsist by their own strength and how much they have done a thousand times to cause God to withdraw his Spirit from them and therefore the great argument why the Saints do love and praise him is not only the freedom of his grace but the unchangeableness and constancy of it His mercy endureth for ever 't is several times repeated Psal 136. So Psal 106. 1. Praise ye the Lord O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever No form is more frequent in the mouths of the Saints and good reason for alas if we were left to our selves we should damn our selves every hour we have a revolting heart we are like glasses without a bottom as soon as they are out of hand they are broken we cannot stand of our selves and we have a restless enemy that desireth to toss us and vex us as wheat is tossed from sieve to sieve Luke 22. 31. and we have often forfeited Gods protection and grieved him day by day were it not for everlasting Mercy what would become of us Certainly they that do not love God for their preservation they are not sensible of their condition in the world what a naughty heart they carry about with them 'T is a miracle that ever grace should be preserved there where there is so much pride love of pleasures worldly cares brutish lusts that such an heavenly plant can thrive in the midst of so many weeds Nor what a busie Devil they have to do withall who watcheth all advantages as a dog that standeth waving his tail 't is Chrysostom's comparison and expecting a bit and his envy and malice is most bent against them that have most grace Finally they do not consider that the world is full of snares and dangerous allurements for if they did they could not chuse but fall a blessing of God for Jesus Christ who yet fasteneth them as a nail in the holy place I remember one of the Fathers bringeth in the Flesh saying Ego deficiam I will surely fail and miscarry and the World Ego decipia◠I will deceive them and entice them and Satan Ego eripiam I will snatch them and carry them away and God saith Ego custodiam I will keep them I will never fail them nor forsake them and there lieth our safety and security It informeth us that if any fall often constantly frequently easily they have no interest in grace 1 John 3. 9. He that is born of God sinneth not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he makes not a trade of sin that 's the force of the phrase Gods children slip often but not with such a frequent constant readiness into the same sin As fair Meadows may be overflown but Marish ground is drowned with the return of every Tyde so are wicked men carryed away with every return of the temptation therefore he that liveth in a course of prophaness worldliness drunkenness his spot is not as the spot of Gods children You are tryed by your constant course and walk Rom. 8. 1. What 's your road what do you do constantly easily frequently I except only those sins which are of usual incidence and suden surrection as sudden stirrings of passion in a cholerick temper and vanity of thoughts and distractions in duties c. and yet for these a man should be the more humble and watchful if they be not felt and striven against and mourned for 't is a bad sign It provoketh us to get an interest in such a sure condition Be not contented 1. With outward happiness things are worthy according to their duration Nature hath such a sense of Gods Eternity that the more lasting things are it accounteth them the better An immortal Soul must have an eternal Good Now all things in the world are frail and pass away therefore called uncertain riches 1 Tim. 6. 18. 't is uncertain whether we shall get them and uncertain whether we shall keep them and uncertain whether we shall live to enjoy them if they stay with us All of this side grace is uncertain these things are usually blasted in their flower and beauty as Herod was stricken in the midst of all his Royalty so that a man may out-live his happiness which is the greatest misery or at least it must terminate with death there is no use of wealth in the other world But now the better part can never be taken from us Luke 10. 42. and by seeking that we may have other things with a blessing Mat. 6. 33. 2. Rest not in gifts they are for the body rather then the person that hath them as many are carnal and yet come behind in no gift God useth them like Negroes to dig in the mynes of knowledg that others may have the gold Judas could cast out Devils and yet afterward was cast out among Devils See 1 Cor. 12 ult the Apostle had discoursed largely of gifts and then concludeth thus But yet I shew you a more excellent way and what 's that Grace that abideth and endureth for ever as in the next Chapter Many that have great abilities to pray preach discourse yet fall away According to the place which they sustain in the body so they have great gifts of knowledg utterance abilities to comfort direct and instruct others to answer doubts to reason and argue for God for conference and holy discourse and yet fall foully as those Heb. 6. 4. are said to be partakers of the Holy Ghost that is to have a great share of Church gifts Nay this is not all Gifts themselves wither and vanish when the bodily vigor is spent The glory of a man is as the flower of the grass 1 Pet. 1. 24. By
measure of faith loose hopes weaken endeavors 1 Cor. 9. 26. Irun not as one uncertain Those that ran a race gave over when one had far out-gone them as being discouraged and without hope When hope is broken the edg of endeavors is blunted Go on with confidence you are assured of the issue God will bless you and keep you to his everlasting Kingdom 5. In the hour of death when all things else fail you God will not fail you this is the last brunt do but wait a little while and you will find more behind then ever you enjoyed death shall not separate as Olevian comforted himself with that Isai 54. 10. The hills and mountains may depart but my loving-kindness shall not depart from you being in the agonies of death he said Sight is gone speech and hearing is departing feeling is almost gone but the loving-kindness of God will never depart The Lord give us such a confidence in that day that we may dye glorying in the Preservation of our Redeemer VERSE II. Mercy unto you and Peace and Love be multiplyed WE are now come to the third thing in the Inscription and that is the form of salutation delivered as all Apostolical salutations are in the way of a prayer In which we may observe 1. The matter of the prayer or blessings prayed for which are three Mercy Peace and Love 2. The manner or degree of enjoyment be multiplyed I begin with the matter or blessings prayed for It will not be altogether unuseful to observe that diversity which is used in salutations In the Old Testament peace was usually wished without any mention of grace as Psal 122. 8. For my brethrens and companions sake I will say Peace be within thee and â—an 6. 25. Peace be multiplyed unto you But in the times of the Gospel grace being more fully delivered that was also added and expressed in the forms of salutation but yet in the times of the Gospel there is some variety and difference Sometimes you shall meet with a salutation meerly civil as James 1. 1. To the twelve Tribes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 greeting so Acts 15. 23. which was the usual salutation among the Heathen but most usually 't is grace and peace and in other places grace mercy and peace as 2 John 3. and 1 Tim. 1. 2. and here it differeth from them all for 't is mercy peace and love And Causaubon observeth that the Greek Fathers if they wrote to a earnal man they would wish him grace but not peace if to a godly man they would wish him grace and peace too To touch upon these things is sufficient From these Blessings mentioned in this place I shall observe something in general and then handle them particularly and apart First In the general Consideration you may observe 1. That spiritual blessings are the best blessings that we can wish to our selves and others The Apostles in their salutations do not wish temporal felicity but spiritual grace Gods people pray for one another out of the communion of the Spirit and for themselves out of a principle of the divine Nature and therefore they do not seek wealth and honour for themselves or one another but increase of Gods favour and Image 'T is true Nature is allowed to speak in prayer but grace must be heard first our first and chiefest requests must be for mercy peace and love and then other things shall be added to us the way to be heard in other things is first to beg for grace Psal 21. 4. He asked life of thee and thou gavest him length of days for ever Solomon sought wisdom and together with it found riches and honour in great abundance Well then if thou prayest for thy self make a wise choyce beg for spiritual blessings so David prayeth Psal 106. 4. Remember me O Lord with the favour that thou bearest unto thine own people nothing less would content him then Favorites mercy other blessings are dispensed out of common pity to the generality of men but these are mercies privilegiate and given to Favorites now saith David of this mercy Lord no common blessing would serve his turn So Psal 119. 132. Look upon me and be merciful to me as thou usest to do to those that love thy Name Surely that which God giveth to his people that 's a better mercy then that which God giveth to his enemies Again these are mercies that cost God dearer they flow to you in the Blood of his own Son yea they are mercies that are better in themselves wealth and honour may become a burden yea life it self may become a burden but not mercy not grace not peace of Conscience and therefore they are better then life Psal 63. 3. then wealth then honour none ever complained of too much mercy of too much love of God These are blessings that swallow up other miseries yea the loss of other blessings grace with poverty 't is a preferment peace of Conscience with outward troubles is an happy condition if there be a flowing of spiritual comforts as there is an ebbing of outward comforts we are not much wronged therefore first seek these bleseings Again If you pray for others pray for grace in the first place that 's an evidence of spiritual affection Carnal men wish such things to others as they prize and affect themselves so also do gracious men and therefore their thoughts run more upon mercy peace and grace then wealth and honour and greatness When a man sendeth a token to a friend he would send the best of the kind These are the best mercies if you were to deal with God for your own Souls you can ask no better You may ask temporal things for God loveth the prosperity of his Saints but these special blessings should have the preferment in your wishes and desires of good to them and then you are most likely to speed Our Lord Christ in the 17 of John commendeth the Colledg of the Apostles to the Father and what doth he ask for him dominion and worldly respect Surely no nothing but preservation from evil and sanctification by the Truth these are the chiefest Blessings we should look after as Christians Observe again the aptness of the requests to the persons for whom he prayeth Those that are sanctified and called have still need of mercy peace and love They need mercy because we merit nothing of God neither before grace received nor afterward the very continuance of our glory in Heaven is a fruit of mercy not of merit our obligation to free-grace never ceaseth We need also more peace there are degrees in assurance as well as faith there is a temperate confidence and there are ravishing delights so that peace needs to be multiplyed also And then love that being a grace in us 't is always in progress in Heaven only 't is compleat Take it for love to God there we cleave to him without distraction and weariness or satiety
born with for a long time Rom. 9. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He endured with much long-suffering c. All may bless God for patience they owe an heavy debt to divine Justice yet 't is a long time ere God putteth the Bond in suit though they dare him to his face yet they walk up and down without the arrest of Vengeance He beareth with them years and years after a thousand and a thousand affronts from their cradles to their graves When they were green wood they were fuel fit enough for divine wrath Oh consider there can be no cause of this but his mercy to his worst creatures 'T is not out of any delight in sin for he is holy and cannot endure to look upon it Hab. 2. 13. Of purer eyes c. 't is not out of any stupid neglect He is just and will not clear the guilty Exod. 34. 7. 't is not out of any ignorance He telleth man his thoughts nor for want of power so men forbear The sons of Zerviah may be too hard for them but 1 Sam. 24. 19. If a man findeth his enemy will he let him go well away When they are in our power we satisfie our wrath and revenge to the full But now God upholdeth all things by the word of his Power He can in a minute speak us into nothing As the impression of a Seal upon the water dependeth upon the Seal if the Seal be taken away the impression vanisheth So do our beings depend upon Providential influence and supportation If God should withdraw the word of his Power we should soon vanish and disappear Therefore 't is not for want of Power but meerly out of Mercy that we are forborn How may we wonder at this We are of eager and tart spirits sharp-set upon revenge Could we have put up so many refusals of Love such despights done to Mercy such wrongs such grievings of Spirit and yet have contained The Disciples themselves though holy men when they were sensible of being slighted in the Village of Samaria called for fire from Heaven Luk. 9. 54. Certainly we could not endure such a contradiction of sinners If thunderbolts were in our power we should soon kindle a burning and turn the World into smoak and desolation 7. 'T is not only the aim of the Word but of Providence and of all the Dispensations of God to the Creature to represent him merciful The whole World is a great Volume written within and without with characters and lines of Mercy Psal 145. 7. His mercy is over all his works Every creature beareth the marks and prints of divine Goodness and Bounty Once more The World is a great Theatre and Stage whereon Mercy hath been acting its part for these six thousand years Justice is to have a solemn triumph at the last day Now and then God hath kept a petty Sessions and given us occasion to say Verily there is a God that judgeth the world as well as preserveth the world But the greatest part that hath been acted upon the Theatre of the World is Mercy as you will easily see if you consider 1. The black lines of Providence If God threaten 't is that he may not punish if he punish 't is that he may not punish for ever In the sadder Providences though there be misery at the top yet there is mercy at the bottom Many times God threateneth but 't is to reclaim though he doth not change his counsel yet he doth often change his sentence Jer. 18. 7 8. When the message is nothing but plucking up and pulling down Free-grace cometh in with a sudden rescue and prevents the execution Mercy you see is forced to use all methods and to speak in the language of Justice that men may be more capable to receive it Sometimes God punisheth but with vvhat aim that he may not for ever punish 'T is vve that make punishment to be a pledg of eternal damnation it its ovvn aim 't is a prevention and so it proveth to the Elect We are judged of the Lord that we may not be condemned of the world 1 Cor. 11. 32. So Hosea 2. 6. I will hedg up her way with thorns c. We should soon grovv vvorldly and drovvned in carnal businesses and projects if God did not come novv and then and blast our enterprizes and make us see our folly We are puffed up and God pricketh the bladder 2 Cor 12. 7. Hovv svveet is this vvhen in the midst of Judgment God remembereth Mercy Yea the very executions of Justice are found to be one of the methods of Mercy In the middle of the first Curse God dropped out a promise of the blessed Seed So often Mercy overtaketh a Judgment and maketh it cease in the mid way Look as there vvas a conflict betvveen the tvvins in Tamars Womb Zarah did put out the hand but Pharez broke out first So is there betvveen Gods Mercy and Justice Justice puts out the hand in a threatening or some beginnings of a Judgment but Mercy gets the start and breaketh out first 2. Consider the white lines of Providence He intreateth that he may do us good and doth us good that he may do us good for ever For his intreaties 'T is not duty so much that is in the bottom of the Exhortation as Mercy To glorifie Mercy is the last aim of God and his eternal Purpose He hath accepted us in the Beloved to the praise of his glorious grace Ephes 1. 6. God receiveth no profit he intreateth us not that he may be happy but that he may be liberal See Prov. 9. 12. If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thy self but if thou scornest thou alone shalt bear it God dealeth vvith us as earnestly as effectually as if the profit vvere his own but it vvholly redoundeth to us Again He doth us good that he may do us good for ever He trusteth us vvith Mammon to prepare us for the true riches and vvith the riches of grace to prepare us for glory Look as men vvhen they vvould put precious liquor into a vessel first try it vvith water to see vvhether it leaketh or no so doth God try us vvith common mercies he giveth us an estate in the world that being moved vvith his goodness vve may look after an estate in the Covenant and an interest in Christ and so fit us for Heaven 'T is our vvretchedness to make our table a snare and our welfare a trap As the Sea turneth all that it receiveth into salt water the fresh streams the influences of the Heavens c. so do carnal men assimulate and corrupt their comforts and by little and little all their blessings are cursed for Mercy can bear any thing but a constant abuse and neglect of it self Certainly Gods revealed Will is othervvise that vvhich cometh from God should lead us to God see Rom. 2. 4 5. 8. Consider in how many notions Mercy is represented to us Gods Mercy
his special Love 3. Consider deliverances from imminent dangers Then the Curse began to seize upon you but God snatched you out of the fire like brands out of the burning Amos 4. 11. or like a debtor that escapeth out of the Sergeants hands Every deliverance is a temporary pardon See Psal 78. 38. Then he being full of compassion forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not the meaning is respited Vengeance as appeareth by the Context So Mat. 18. 32. He forgave them the debt yet 't was after required the meaning is spared them for the present Thus when God taketh you out of the teeth and jaws of Wrath when you are delivered out of sickness and apparent danger you have a reprieve or a temporary pardon Oh if you had dyed you had dyed in your sins and so been eternally miserable If the Lord had taken the present advantage you had been howling a sad note among the screech-owls of darkness For ever blessed be that Mercy that made a rescue 10. Consider Gods invitations Mercy pointeth and beckneth to thee to come and be saved How many means hath God used to call thee to himself Every good motion is a call every Preacher a messenger sent from Heaven to invite thee to Christ every Sermon a new summons Plead with thy self Though God hath not drawn me yet he hath warned me The Elect have no more favour in the general means then thou hast Though Gods grace be limitted by the pleasure of his Wisdom yet thou hast a fair warrant and encouragement and every way as good a ground to come to Christ as others have Whosoever c. John 6. 37. When the Gospel doth not exclude me why should I exclude my self Doubts that God will not accept me if I come are but foolish jealousies without a cause But 't is time to leave off this meditation upon Gods mercy which hath carryed me out so far and to come to the Uses It informeth us that those that would apply themselves to God must make mercy their only plea and claim Returning sinners have this form put into their mouths Hosea 14. 2. Take away all iniquity receive us graciously Lord we desire to be entertained by Mercy to have our suits dispatched by Mercy So David professeth that he had no other claim Psal 13. 5. I have trusted in thy Mercy Upon which Chrysostom sweetly glosseth If any others have any thing to alledg let them plead it Lord I have but one thing to say one thing to plead one thing upon which I cast all my hopes and that is thy Mercy So must you come to the Throne of Grace Lord my plea is mercy all the comfort I expect to receive is from mercy The Apostle I remember maketh a challenge Rom. 11. 35. Who hath first given him and it shall be recompenced to him again Is there any man that can enter this plea This is due to me Lord give me what thou owest I desire no more let me have no blessing till I do deserve it Merit-mongers are best confuted by experience Let them use the same plea in their prayers which they do in their disputes let them say Give me not eternal life till I deserve it at thy hand let them dispute thus with God or with their own Consciences when they are in the agonies of death or under the horrors of the Lords wrath Surely men that cry up the merit of Works are men of little spiritual experience and seldom look into their own Consciences Dare they plead thus with God in their agonies and horrors The best claim Gods dearest servants can make is mercy Possidius in the life of Austin reporteth of Ambrose when he was about to dye he said thus Though I have not lived so that I should be ashamed to live among you yet I am not afraid to dye not that I have lived well but because I have a good and gracious Master This hath still been the ground of the Saints confidence It exhorteth us to use this encouragement to bring our Souls into the presence of God Think of the mercies of God The vile abuse of this doctrine hath brought a suspition and prejudice upon it but children must not refuse their bread because dogs catch at it When Bâ—nâ—adad was dejected and in danger not only of losing his Kingdom but his life his servants comforted him with this fame 1 Kings 20. 31. We have heard that the Kings of Israel are merciful Kings You have heard how the God of Israel delighteth in mercy When you come for mercy you speak to his very bowels You shall read in 2 Sam. 14. 1. that when Joab perceived the Kings heart was to Absalom then he setteth the woman of Tecâ—ah a begging The Kings heart is to shew mercy he hath sworn that he hath no pleasure in his destruction therefore take courage and come to him He hath sent Christ to you as a pledg of his good-will and mercy why will you not come to him He that had Love enough to give us Christ hath Bowels enough to give us Pardon and Bounty enough to give us Heaven and what ever we stand in need of Fear not his Justice Justice and Mercy are made friends Christ hath taken up the quarrel between them so that nothing hindereth but that God may act according to the natural inclination of his own grace And let not the multitude of your sins discourage you The free gift is of many offences to Justification Rom. 5. 16. Take it for the offences of many persons as the Context seemeth to carry it and 't is an encouragement to think of the multiplyed instances of Mercy and how many monuments of free-grace we shall see when we come to Heaven and that all this while Mercy is not tyred Or take it for the many offences of the same person and still 't is an encouragement that Mercy can so often bear with our vanity and folly and not only pardon several sorts of sin but frequent relapses into the same sin He will multiply to pardin Isai 55. 7. If the Soul still draw back and be under discouragement consider your own need If the Lord were never so tenacious and hard to be intreated yet such is your need that you should follow him with uncessant complaints 'T is blasphemy to wrong his mercy by lessening thoughts But grant the sinner his supposition yet you should be instant and try what he will do for importunities sake See Luk. 11. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Luk. 18. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. In those Parables there is a kind of condescention and yeilding to our unbelief as if the Lord had said If you will not beleeve all this that is said concerning my Mercy yet your want is great that is enough to make you earnest and frequent in your addresses to me come and see what I will do for your importunity the unjust Judg was moved
their pretences and illusions this Christ whom they denied is described by his relation in the World the onely Master or Ruler this word is opposed to their doting conceit of many Rulers between whom the Regiment of the World was divided the next Title is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God so Christ is called because of his divine nature and then our Lord he saith our partly to shew that this was the Title that he bore in relation to the Church they being his peculiar people by his fathers gift and his own perchase partly to awaken their zeal by a consideration of the interest which they had in this Lord thus denied and then the other word Lord is proper to Christs Mediator-ship see 1 Cor. 8. 5. there remaineth but Christs name Jesus Christ the word Jesus is opened Math. 1. 21. Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins and it implieth here that Christs Lordship shal be administred for the salvation of the Church the other word Christ signifieth anointed which noteth his designation from God to be King Priest and Prophet I do thus particularly open the terms because I suppose the Apostles scope is to give us a sum of the Christian Doctrine concerning the person natures and Offices of Jesus Christ all which were one way or other impugned by the seducers of that age The points that might be drawn hence are many for a tast take these That Jesus Christ is Mâ—ster and Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 King of nations Jer. 10. 7. and King of Saints Rev. 15. 3. or as the Apostle in one place Head over all things to the Church Eph. 1. 22. he is over all things Supream and absolute but the Churches head from whom they receive all manner of influence he hath a rod of Iron to rule the Nations and a golden Scepter to guide the Church in the World he ruleth by his Providences in the Church by his Testimonies Psal 93. per totum In the World the attribute manifested is Power in the Church Grace well then here is comfort to Gods people your Lord is the Worlds Master let the waves wave the Lord reigneth Psal 93. You need not fear he is not onely Lord to protect you but Master of them that rise up against you Again who would not chuse him to be a Lord when whether we will or no he is our Master and bow the knee to him that will else break the back and touch his gâ—lden Scepter least we be broken with his Rod of Iron and take hold of his strength by faith least we feel it in displeasure Lord let me feel the efficacy of thy grace rather then the power of thine anger Observe again That Christ is Lord and Jesus he came to rule and he came to save I shall handle these two Titles 1. Conjunctly and then 2. Singly and apart 1. Conjunctly Let all Israel know that God hath made this Jesus whom ye have crucified Lord and Christ Acts 2. 36. 'T is usual to observe in Christs stile and Title a mixture of words of power and words of goodness and mercy See Isa 9. 6. a tibi passim now for what end partly to shew that he is a desireable friend and a dreadful adversary partly to set forth the mystery of his person in whom the two Natures did meet partly to shew that he is not good out of impotency and weakness if we pardon and do good 't is out of need God is strong enough to revenge but gracious enough to save and pardon Power maketh us cruel Who findeth his enemy and slayeth him not if we forbear 't is out of policy not out of pitty the sonnes of Zerviah may be too hard for us but Christ who is the great Lord he is also Jesus he hath the greatest power and the greatest mercy mighty but yet a Saviour Partly to shew how we should receive him we should not onely come to him for ease but take his yoke Mat. 11. 28 29. Give him your hearts as well as your consciences if Christ save let not sin Lord it What a pittifull thing is it when men would have Christ to redeem them and Sathan to rule and govâ—rn them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we will not have this man to reign over us Luke 19. 14. There the businesse sticks the carnal mind is enmity to the Law Rom. 8. Lusts cannot endure to hear of a restraint and therefore we oppose most Christs Nomothetick power like angry Dogs we gnaw the chain the language of every cardal heart is our lips are our own who is Lord over us Psal 12. 4. To be controled for every word every thought every action we cannot endure it Oh consider Christ hath many enemies but they are his chief enemies that doe withstand his reigning Luke 14. 29. Those mine enemies that would not that I should reign over them c. Secondly Let us handle these two titles singly and apart 1. He is Lord Acts 10. 36. Jesus Christ he is Lord of all As he is God he hath the same glory with the Father as Mediatour there is a dominion that results from his Office for so he is the heir of all things the head of all creatures and King of the Church and at the last day the Judge of all men But he is chiefly a Lord because of his heritage in the Church a Lord over his own people who are given to him for a possession by God the Father Psal 2. 8. and bought with his own blood Acts 20. 28. and taken into a Marriage-covenant with him Eph. 5. 25 26 27. And as Sarah called her husband Lord so must the Church own Christ for Lord and Husband Well then let us acknowledge the dominion of Christ let him be Lord alone in his own house let us yeeld subjection and obedience to him let us beware of depriving him of that honour to which he hath so good a right You will say who are those that deny Christ his Lordship I answer 1. They that will not hear his voice that slight his calls he inviteth them and prayeth them that they will look into their hearts consider their eternal condition but they quench the Spirit smother light resist all these motions these will not hear Christs voyce he intreateth prayeth that we will come and put our souls under his Government and we in effect say we are Lords and will not come at thee Jer. 2. 31. We are well enough and shall doe well enough without any such care and strictness 2. They that cannot endure his restraints Jer. 31. 18 Thou art as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke They cannot endure to hear of denying their fashions their lusts their pleasures their vain thoughts when every thought and every desire must be under a Law so much time spent in duties such gravity in the conversation such awe in their speechs they break off like a wanton heifer vain and
great judgements if great sins come between as after their deliverance out of Aegypt they were destroyed for Vnbelief This may be proved from Christ's advice to the man cured on the Sabbath dâ—y John 5. 14. Thou art made whole sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thâ—e There is the mercy the duty thence inferred and the judgmâ—nt that doth avenge the quarrel of the abused mercy Often it cometh to pass that many mens preservation is but a reservation to a worse thing to a greater judgement So see Joshua 24. 20. He will turn again and do you hurt after he hath done you good So Isa 63. 10. He bâ—re them in the arms of his Providence but they rebelled and vexed his spirit and he was turned to be their enemy None usually have greater judgements then such as formerly have had sweet experience of mercy Why There is no hatred so great as that which ariseth out of the corruption of love Disappointed love abused love groweth outragious When Amnon hated Tamar 't is said The hatred wherewith he hated her was greater then the love where with he loved her As 't is thus with men such a proportionable severity we may observe in the Dispensations of God after a taste of his mercies Joshua 23. 15. It shall come to pass as all good things are come upon you which the Lord your God promised you so the Lord shall bring all evil things upon you until he hath destroyed you when ye have transgressed the Covenant of the Lord your God No evils like those evils which come after mercy No sins are so great as those sins which are committed against mercies there is not only filthiness in them but unkindness Psal 106. 7. They provoked him at the Sea even at the red Sea Mark 't is ingeminated for the more vehemency that at the Sea even at the red Sea where they had seen the miracles of the Lord and had experirience of his glorious deliverance that there they durst break out against God See the contrary in Judges 2. 7. Certainly the more restraints the greater the offence when we sin not only against the laws of God but the loves of God c. Well then 1 It informeth us that there may be danger after deliverance there are strange changes in providence Man in his best estate is altogether vanity Psal 39. When you are at your best as the Sun at the highest there may be a Declension 2. 'T is a warning to those that enjoy mercies Sin no more lest a worse thing come unto you The next judgement will be more violent There are some special sins which you should beware of even those which testifie our unthankfulness after the receipt of mercies As 1. Forgetting the vows of our Misery Jacob voweth Gen. 28. 22. but he forgets his vow and what followed Horrible disorders and confusions in his Family Dinah deflowred Reuben goeth into his Fathers Bed a murder committed upon the Sichemites under a pretence of Religion and then Jacob remembreth his Vow We promise much when we want deliverance and when we have it God is neglected but he will not put it up so by sad and disastrous accidents he puts us in mind of our old promises 2. When you kiss your own hand bless your dragge ascribe it to your merit and power Habb 1. 16. Deut. 9. 4. for these things are our mercies blasted 3. When we grow proud self confident If you were never so high God will bring you low enough 't is a great skill to know how to abound She remembred not her last end therefore she came down wonderfully Lam. 1. 4. when we forget the changes and mutations to which all outward things are obnoxious God will give us an experience of them 4. When you continue in your sins the judgement is but gone cum animo revertendi to come again in a worse manner See Psal 106. 43. 2. The next observation is taken from the cause of their destruction intimated in those words that believed not Many were the peoples sins in the wilderness murmuring fornication rebellion c. But the Apostle comprehendeth all under this they believed not Vnbelief is charged upon them as the root of all their miscarriages elsewhere as Numb 14. 11. and Deut. 1. 32. Whence observe That unbelief bringeth destruction or is the cause of all the evil which we do or suffer In handling this point I shall open 1. The hainousness of Vnbelief 2. The Nature of it 3. The Cure of it 1. The hainousness of the sin that we will consider in general or more particularly The general considerations are these 1. No sin doth dishonour God so much as unbelief doth 't is an interpretative blasphemy a calling into question of his mercy power justice but especially of his truth 1 John 5. 10. He that believeth not God hath made him a lyar You judge him a person not fit to be credited the giving of the lye is accounted the greatest injury and disgrace amongst men for truth is the ground of commerce and humane society So that to say a man is a lyar is as much as to say a man is unfit to keep company with men But especially is this a great injury to God because he standeth more upon his word then upon any other part of his name Psal 138. 2. He hath magnifyed his word above all his Name We have more experience of God in making good his word then in any other thing As faith honoureth God so doth unbelief dishonour him what God doth to the creature that doth faith to God God justifieth sanctifieth glorifieth the creature and faith is said to justifie God Luke 7. 29. To justifie is to acquit from accusation So doth faith acquit Gods truth in the word from all the jealousies which the carnal world and our carnal hearts do cast upon him Faith is said to sanctifie God Numb 20. 12. To sanctifie is to set a part from common use and God is sanctified when we set God aloof above all ordinary and common causes and can believe that he will make good his word when the course of all things seems to contradict it Faith is said to glorifie God Rom. 4. 20. We glorifie him declaratively when we give him all that excellency which the word giveth him Now because unbelief accuseth God limiteth him to the course of second causes and denyeth him his glory therefore is it so hainous and hateful to God 2. 'T is a sin against which God hath declared most of his displeasure Search the Annals surveigh all the monuments of time see if ever God spared an Unbeliever Hence in the wilderness the Apostle saith they were destroyed for Vnbelief Many were their sins in the Wilderness Murmurings Lustings Idolatry but the main reason of their punishment was they believed not look to their final excision and cutting off why was it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for unbelief were they broken off Rom. 11.
God in communion is always fresh and new to the blessed spirits And take it for love to the Saints it 's only perfect in Heaven where there is no ignorance pride partialities and factions where Luther and Zuinglius Hooper and Ridley joyn in perfect consort Again Observe the aptness of these requests to the times wherein he prayed when Religion was scandalized by loose Christians and carnal doctrines were obtruded upon the Church In times of defection from God and wrong to the Truth there is great need of mercy peace and love Of mercy that we may be kept from the snares of Satan Christians whence is it that any of us stand that we are found faithful 'T is because we have obtained mercy They would deceive if it were possible the very Elect Mat. 24. 24. Why is it not possible to deceive the Elect as well as others of what mould are they made wherein do they differ from other men I answer Elective grace and mercy interposeth 't is not for any power in themselves but because Mercy hath singled them out and chosen them for a distinct people unto God And we need peace and inward consolations that we may the better digest the misery of the times and love that we may be of one mind and stand together in the defence of the Truth Again Note the aptness of the blessings to the persons for whom he prayeth Here are three blessings that do more eminently and distinctly suit with every person of the Trinity and I do the rather note it because I find the Apostle elsewhere distinguishing these blessings by their proper fountains as Rom. 1. 7. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ Sort the blessings right there is grace from the Father and peace from Christ So here is mercy from God the Father who is called the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort 2 Cor. 1. 3. and peace from the Son for he is our peace Ephes 2. 14. and love from the Spirit Rom. 5. 5. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us Thus you see every Person concureth to our happiness with his distinct blessing In the next place how aptly these blessings are suited among themselves first mercy then peace and then love mercy doth not differ much from that which is called grace in Pauls Epistles only grace doth more respect the bounty of God as mercy doth our want and need By mercy then is meant the favour and good-will of God to miserable creatures and peace signifieth all blessings inward and outward as the fruits and effects of that favour and good-will more especially calmness and serenity of Conscience or a secure enjoying of the love of God which is the top of spiritual prosperity And then love sometimes signifieth Gods love to us here I should rather take it for our love to God and to the Brethren for Gods sake So that mercy is the rise and spring of all peace is the effect and fruit and love is the return He beginneth with mercy for that is the fountain and beginning of all the good things which we enjoy higher then love and mercy we cannot go for Gods Love is the reason of it self Deut. 7. 7 8. Rom. 9. 15. Isai 45. 15. and we can deserve nothing at Gods hands but wrath and misery and therefore we should still honour Mercy and set the Crown upon Mercy 's head as further anon that which you give to Merit you take from Mercy Now the next thing is peace mark the order still without mercy and grace there can be no true peace Isai 57. 21. There is no peace saith my God to the wicked they say Peace peace but my God doth not say so Christ left his peace with his own Disciples John 14. 27. and not as worldly and external peace is left in the happiness of which both good and bad are concerned that is general but this is proper confined within the Conscience of him that enjoyeth it and given to the godly 'T is the Lords method to pour in first the oyl of grace and then the oyl of gladness Alas the peace of a wicked man 't is but a frisk or fit of joy whilest Conscience Gods watchman is naping stoln waters and bread eaten in secret Prov. 9. 17. The way to true peace is to apply your selves to God for mercy to be accepted in Christ to be renewed according to the Image of Christ otherwise sin and guilt will create fears and troubles Again the last thing is love great priviledges require answerable duty Mercy and peace need another grace and that 's love 'T is Gods gift as well as the rest we have graces from God as well as priviledges and therefore he beggeth love as well as mercy and peace but it must be our act though we have the grace from above We would all have mercy and peace but we are not so zealous to have love kindled in our hearts Mercy peace all this runneth downward and respects our interest but love that mounteth upward and respects God himself Certainly they have no interest in mercy and were never acquainted with true peace that do not find their hearts inflamed with love to God and a zeal for his glory that as he hath ordered all things for our profit so we may order and refer all things to his glory and honour Mercy runneth down from God and begets peace of Conscience for peace of Conscience is nothing else but a solid taste of Gods mercy and peace of Conscience begets love by which we clasp about God again for love is nothing else but a reverberation or beating back of Gods beam upon himself or a return of duty in the sense of mercy so that God is at the beginning and ending and either way is the utmost boundary of the Soul all things are from him and to him Secondly Let me handle them particularly and apart and first Mercy which is the rise and cause of all the good we have from God The Lord would dispense blessings in such a way as might beat down despair and carnal confâ—â—ence Man hath need of mercy but deserveth none Despair would keep us from God and carnal confidence robbeth him of his glory therefore as the Lord would not have flesh to glory so neither to be cut off from all hope Mercy salveth both we need not fly the sight of God there is mercy with him why he should be feared Psal 130. 7. False worships are supported by terror but God that hath the best title to the heart will gain it by love and offers of mercy And we have no reason to ascribe any thing to our selves since Mercy doth all in the Court of Heaven and not Justice If you reckon upon a debt you are sure to miss 'T is a part of Gods Supremacy that all his blessings should come as a gift
with the widows clamour be it as you imagine that I have no bowels for creatures miseries nor ears for their requests which yet is a blasphemy confuted by every object in the world the young Ravens will tell you otherwise but be it so you are undone if I be not merciful see what I will do for constant asking Upon all these encouragements be perswaded to make an essay faith at first standeth but upon one weak foot Who knoweth but that God will be gracious There is encouragement enough to venture though we do not know what will come of it Take up a resolution to make tryal you will find better welcome then you can expect God desires to exercise mercy as much as you desire to feel it It presseth us in all our enjoyments to acknowledg Mercy The Saints are wont to do so 'T is good to refer all things to their head and proper fountain Every thing that we enjoy is the fruit of Mercy especially saving grace 'T is a sure sign a man hath received no benefit by grace if his heart be not stirred up to praise it We have cause to praise God for his mercy above the Angels I mean not only the bad Angels with whom God entered not into a treaty he dealt with them in justice and not in mercy but even the good Angels in some respects we have more cause to bless God then they have Gratitude respecteth the freeness and graciousness in giving rather then the greatness of the benefit God was bountiful to the Angels in making them such excellent creatures out of nothing but he is merciful to us notwithstanding the demerit of our sins There was no let in his doing good to the Angels Goodness floweth out freely from an holy God to righteous creatures but wronged Justice interposed and put in a bar against us so that his Justice must be satisfied before Mercy can have a free course We are a generation of sinful men the wretched off-spring of fallen Adam we had forsaken God and cast him off which the Angels had not and therefore though they have a large experience of Gods goodness yet they wonder at the grace shewed to us 1 Pet. 1. 12. But now much more is this mercy to be acknowledged if we consider the difference between us and other men who it may be excelled us in moral accomplishments but God hath passed them by choosing us poor things of nought poor base creatures that the glory might entirely redound to his own grace But especially should this Mercy affect us when it hath made a distinction between us and others that were involved in the same guilt when one is taken and another left as the bad thief went to his own place when the good thief was taken to Paradise and many of Gods Elect were as deep in sin as those in Hell I say in all such cases we should still be crying out Mercy mercy for certainly Justice could make no such distinction it awardeth a like punishment to all that are found in a like crime but Gods infinite and eternal Mercy only maketh the difference 'T is Caution Do not wrong Grace and Mercy if it be the cause of all the good which we enjoy this is to close up the Fountain and to make Mercy our Enemy and if Mercy be our Enemy who shall plead for us If Mercy be an Accuser where shall we get an Advocate But how do we wrong Grace I answer Partly by neglecting the offers of it when you make God speak in vain 2 Cor. 6. 2. 'T is a great affront we put upon God to despise him when he speaketh to us in the still voyce and all the woiâ—gs and pleading of Mercy do not move to look after our Salvation though you do not despise there is danger in bare neglect Heb. 2. 3. When all the charms of Mercy do no more work with you then a story of golden mountains or Rubies and Diamonds faln from Heaven in a night dream this neglect argueth a greater suspition and distrust of Gods mercy then doubts and troubles of Conscience do Mercy speaketh to them and they do not think the message worth the hearing or regarding Again You wrong Grace by refusing it out of legal dejection for by this means you straiten the riches and darken the glory of it as if there were not more in Grace then there is in sin or as if an Emperors Revenue could not discharge a beggars debt The Prodigal could say there was bread enough in his fathers house If we perish 't is not for want of mercy but for want of faith Grace is Gods treasure he is rich in mercy Ephes 2. 4. As far as we straiten grace we make him a poorer God Again We wrong Grace and Mercy by intercepting the glory of it 'T is the greatest sacriledg that can be to rob God of his Glory especially of the glory of his Grace for that 's his great aim in all his transactions with man to make his Grace and Mercy glorious see Ephes 1. 6. Now when you think God accepteth you rather then others for some worth and good qualities that he seeth in you more then others it may be in this light of the Gospel which we now enjoy such thoughts are not expressed but if they lurk secretly in the heart you think God foresaw you would bring him more glory you take the Crown from Grace's head and put it upon your own So also you wrong Grace when you ascribe any thing to your power and strength as Joab sent for David to take the honour of winning Rabbath 2 Sam. 12. 28. Lest I take the City and it be called after my own name So send for God to take the honour Not I but grace 1 Cor. 15. 10. Throw the Crown at Grace's feet The industrious servant said Thy pound hath gained ten pounds Luke 19. 16. not my industry but thy pound Once more We wrong Grace by turning it into wantonness see Vers 4. 't is made there to be an heavy charge and black note when men presume on Grace and use it only as a dung-cart to carry away their filth Grace must bear all and pardon all as riotous children that have a rich father care not how they spend his estate shall pay for all 'T is a mighty wrong to Grace this when you make it pliable to such vile purposes and father the bastards of your own carnal hearts upon Gospel encouragements 'T is the Devils Covenant not Gods when you think that you may live as you list be at your own dispose and mercy shall be at your beck and you shall have comfort when you please and that you may sin freely because God pardoneth freely as if Mercy gave you a priviledg and liberty to sin In short If a man slackens any part of his duty for Mercy 's sake or le ts loose the reins to vile affections with more freedom upon the
fore-head 4. Because we all naturally desire liberty carnall liberty to be left to our own sway and bent and therefore we catch at any thing that tendeth that way we would be as Gods Lords of our own actions and so are very apt to dream of an exemption from all kind of Law but our own lusts the Seducers bait was a promise of liberty 2 Pet. 2. 19. We would all be above check and controle and have scope and roomth from our lusts Psal 12. 4. Our lips are our own who is Lord over us We would fain bring it to that to be at our own dispose to be answerable to none that should call us to an account The tumult of the Nation against Christ was about bonds and yokes Psal 2. 3. The pale or the yoke is grievous to us see Job 11. 12. Jer. 31. 18. Now being so resolved to be free we are willing to hear of liberty and apt to abuse whatever sounds to that purpose But now let us see how many wayes the grace of God may be turned into wantonness a right knowledge of the evil may be a means to prevent it There is a Grace dispensed in the way of Gods providence which may be called the Grace of God and is very lyable to abuse a word of that before I come to the main thing here intended Thus we finde the patience of God often abused when the Lord keepeth silence in heaven and doth not presently thunder down vengeance on the heads of sinners we wallow in ease and fleshly delights and dream of a perpetual happiness and think we shall doe as well as the precisest of them all Eccles 8. 11. Because vengeance is not executed speedily therefore the heart is set in them to do evil Thus doth mans venemous nature suck poyson out of so sweet an Attribute as Gods patience And as Gods patience is abused so is also his goodness and Bounty When we are full and enjoy plenty we grow wanton and either despise our mercies Mal. 1. 2. Wherein hast thou loved us or which is worse despise God himself turn back upon the Mercie-seat grow very negligent cold and careless in the Worship of God nay many times the minde is efferated and grown bruitish and insolent both towards God and man Hos 13. 6. According to their Pasture so were they filled they were filled and their heart was exalted they have forgotten me Men have large Pastures and strong lusts and then God is forgotten there is not that care of God that sense of duty that meeknesse of spirit this is growing wanton with Gods goodness Once more there is another Grace of Providence which is apt to be abused and that is the vouchsafement of Ordinances or the meanes of Grace in great plenty a Mercy prized when it first cometh among a people but within a little while they grow wanton 1 Sam 3. 11. The Word of God was precious in those dayes for there was no open vision whilst Visions are scarce they are higly prized but when they are open aud publick men begin to grow giddy cannot be contented with the simplicity of Gods Ordinances but must be fed with ungrounded subtleties and quintessential extracts when spiritual appetite groweth wanton it is an ill sign when plain truths will not down and all things must be carried in an airie subtile and notional way God will have a scourge for such a wanton people But let us come closer to the matter in hand This Text speaketh of Doctrinal discoveries of grace of the abuse of the Gospel and the principles thereof now 't were an hard task to give you an account of all the paralogisms and corrupt inferences which men draw from the Gospel there is no Doctrine but one way or another a carnal heart is apt to abuse it the most usual abuses are these 1. The Doctrine of Election is abused men say they may live as they list If God hath elected them they shall be saved and so allow themselves in their careless neglect of the means of salvation be not deceived God that decreeth the end decreeth the means God hath predestinated us to be conformed to the Image of his Son Rom. 8. 29. in grace here as well as in glory hereafter 2. The Doctrine of the Attribut's of Gods mercy and long suffering Men will say they are sinners and so are others but God is merciful and so poor ignorant drunkards Adulterers and swearers as they are they dye with this principle in their mouths God is merciful but be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Adulterers c. shall enter into the Kingdome of God 1 Cor. 6. 9. So Eph. 5. 6. Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things commeth the wrath of God Both these places shew there were divers which had such deceitful thoughts as if living and dying drunkards Adulterres c. they should go to Heaven others abuse the long suffering of God to their delaying and putting off their repentance as if after a long vitious life provided they could be devote at the last gasp they should at length be saved and of a suddain from Swine become Saints as many delayed their Baptism heretofore because they would have longer time to sin in and to walk after their own lusts and when they were warned of their licentious course their answer was Tunc demum a peccatis deâ—stam cum baptizatus ero When I am baptized I will live otherwise Thou fool besides the uncertainty of thy having time or grace to repent this is a manifest abuse of Gods patience and will turn to thy greater ruine Romans 2. 4. 5. 3. The Doctrine of Gospel grace is abused many wayes Sometimes to exclude the fear and reverence of God as if fear were an antiquated grace suiting onely with a legal dispensation whereas the children of God think the more grace the more fear Psal 130. 4. There is mercy with thee therefore thou shouldst be feared and Hos 3. 5. They shall fear the Lord and his goodness the goodness of God doth not make them presumptious but is the greater matter of reverence and holy trembling fear is so far from being abolished in the Gospel that it continueth in Heaven it being an essential and necessary respect from the Creature to the Creator Again 't is abused to deny all humiliation and sorrow for sins yea all confession of sins as if to be humbled for sins were legal whereas repentance and all the acts of it is a meer Gospel duty the Law knew no such thing and the truest and most genuine sorrow ariseth from a sense of pardon Zek. 12. 10. They shall look upon him whom they have pierced and mourn So Luk. 7. 47. that Christian Niobi loved much and wept much and all because much was forgiven John speaketh to beleevers to them that walked in the light to confess their sins 1 Joh 1 9. we cannot have pardon in Gods way till this be done if
of Christ How durst thou that art a sinner look him in the face lay hold of Christ hope for glory Still the Call is our Warrant and Title If it should be asked of the guests that came in a wedding garment Friends how durst ye come hither and approach the presence chamber of the Kings son they might answer We were bidden to the wedding Mat. 22. So in Mat. 20. Why do not you go into the Vineyard their answer was No man hath hired us they had no calling Partly to give us encouragement We need not only leave to come to God by Christ but also quickening and encouragement for we are backward In other preferments there needeth nothing but leave for there men are forward enough but here guilt maketh us shy of God and God is forced to call and hollow after us By nature we are not only exiles but fugitives Before God banished Adam he first ran away from him he ran to the bushes and then God called him Adam where art thou Gen. 3. 9. How often doth God hollow after us in the Word before we return and come out of the bushes He maketh proclamation Isa 55. 1. Ho every one that thirsteth c. We are under spiritual bondage as the Israelites were in Egypt under corporal bondage and God sendeth again and again and out of very anguish of heart we will not beleeve him therefore he calleth and cryeth Sinners where are you why will you not return unto me Gods outward Call is managed by men and therefore it is very hard to perswade them to discern the voyce of God as Samuel would not be perswaded but that it was Eli called him when it was the Lord We think it to be the charity of the Minister and will not easily acknowledg a call from God and therefore do not only need leave but encouragement Partly because God will work in a way suitable to his own nature and ours fortiter suaviter strongly like himself and sweetly with respect to us and therefore he doth not only draw but call not only put forth the power of his Spirit but exhort and invite by the Word the efficacy of divine grace is conveyed this way more suitably to the nature of man There is grace offered in the Gospel and the Spirit compelleth to come in In all the Works of God there is some word by which his Power is educed and exercised In the Creation Let there be light c. At the Resurrection there is a Trump and the voyce of an Archangel Arise ye dead and come to Judgment In all Christs miraculous cures there are some words used Be thou clean and Be thou whole and Be thou opened and to Lazarus in the grave Christ useth words of ministerial excitation Lazarus come forth So in converting a sinner there is not only a secret power but a sweet call and invitation some word by which this power is conveyed and represented in a way suitable to our capacity For all these Reasons doth God work grace by calling Again Gods people are well stiled a called people because they are so many ways called from self to Christ from sin to holiness from misery to happiness and glory They are called from self to Christ Mat. 11. 28. Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden The main end of a call is to bring Christ and the Soul together every dispensation of God hath a voyce and God speaketh to us by Conscience by his Works by benefits by crosses but chiefly by his Word the application of which by the Spirit is as it were an awakening call but the chief call of God is by the voyce of the Gospel wherein the offers of grace are discovered to us Câ—me poor wearied Soul come to Christ and thou shalt find ease and comfort Again they are called from sin to holiness 1 Thes 4. 7. God hath not called us to uncleanness but to holiness though the immediate end of divine calling be faith yet the intermediate end is holiness as the ultimate end is glory Thus we are called out of Babylon into Sion from the Tents of Kedar into the Tents of Shem from nature to grace and the power of Satan into the Kingdom of God in short this call is a separation from uncleanness and all common and vile uses Again they are called from misery to happiness and glory from aliens to be friends from darkness to light 1 Pet. 2. 9. from being enemies to be reconciled from bastards to become sons from vessels of wrath to be heirs of Glory With respect to all these sorts of calling it is termed sometimes an high calling Phil. 3. 14. sometimes an holy calling 2 Tim. 1. 9. and sometimes an heavenly calling Heb. 3. 1. It is an high calling because of the honour and dignity of it it is no small matter to be children of God coheirs with Christ Kings and Priests to God Many are lifted up because they have born Offices and are called to high places in the world a Christian hath a calling more excellent he is called to be a Saint a spiritual King an holy Priest to God It is an holy calling because of the effect and purpose of it Mans calling may put dignity and honour upon us but it cannot infuse grace it may change our condition but not our hearts It is an heavenly calling because of the Author of it God by his Spirit and because of the aym of it the grace whereby we are called came from Heaven and its aym and tendency is to bring us thither see 1 Thes 2. 14. 2 Pet. 1. 3. Called us to glory and virtue c. We are first called to grace and then to Heaven first the sweet voyce saith Come unto me and then the great voyce Come up hither from self sin and the world we are called off that we may enjoy God in Christ for evermore You see the Reasons let us apply it now First It serveth to press us to harken to the Lords call Many are kept off by vanity and pleasures others by their own fears To the first sort I shall only represent the danger of neglecting Gods invitation and slighting a call Prov. 1. 25 26. Ye have set at nought my counsel therefore I will laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear cometh Gods wrath is never more terrible then when it is stirred up to avenge the quarrel of abused Mercy Men cannot endure that two things should be despised their anger or their kindness Nebuchadnezzar when he thought his anger despised he biddeth them heat the furnace seven times hotter and David when he thought his kindness despised threatened to cut off from Nabal every one that pissed against the wall Certainly the Lord taketh it ill when the renewed messages of his love are not regarded and that is the reason why where mercy is most free God is most quick and severe upon the refusal of it The Lambs wrath is most
terrible Psal 2. 10. No fire so hot as that which is inkindled by the breath of the despised Gospel What a terrible threatening is there in the place alledged I will laugh at their calamity It is the greatest happiness when the Lord rejoyceth to do us good and the greatest misery when he rejoyceth to do us evil Gods laughing will certainly be the creatures mourning Consider then what an affront you put upon grace when every vile thing is preferred before it When the Lord offered Canaan to the Israelites and they preferred Egypt before it he swore They should not enter into his Rest And those that preferred a yoke of Oxen a farm or marriage before the Kings feast the King protesteth against them Luk. 14. 24. None of those that were bidden shall taste of my Supper Who ever have glory and grace by Christ they shall have none For the other sort that are kept off by their own fears they are wont to alledg It is true there is mercy in Christ for sinners but Christ doth not call them My Brethren what do you look for an audible voyce to speak to you Thou John thou Thomas c. In the tenders of the Gospel you are included as well as others and why will you exclude your selves If God say Sinners you should subsume and reply I am chief I remember it is said Joh. 10. 3. Christ calleth his sheep by name and leadeth them forth How doth Christ call them by name By speaking expresly to their case as if he did strike them upon the shoulders and say Here is comfort for thee As at a feast when there is a dish that we affect set upon the table though all the company be free to make use of it yet we say Here is a dish for me So should you apply and take to your selves your own portion though it be propounded generally yet when God directeth the tongue of his Messengers to speak so expresly to your case that is all the calling by name which you can look for since Oracles are ceased and therefore you should say This was a dish provided for my hungry Conscience intended to me c. But they will reply Sure there is no mercy for me I am so unworthy I answer The invitation taketh no notice of worth but of thirst Rev. 22. 17. Let him that is athirst come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely Thou art not worthy but thou art thirsty or else whence come these groans And by the way take notice of the pride that is in legal dejection men are loth to be beholding to Christ they would be worthy before they will come to him and therefore the Apostle useth that expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 10. 3. They have not SUBMITTED to the righteousness of God A proud creature would fain establish a righteousness in himself and is loth to submit to take all from another As an outward proud man preferreth a russet coat of his own before a silken garment that is barrowed or given him by another But they are such sinners c. Ans The more need to come to Christ he came to call sinners Mat. 9. 13. It is no matter what thou hast been but what thou wouldst be Christ doth not call us because we are holy but that we may be holy Is it a rational plea in outward cases I am too poor to take alms I am too filthy to go to the water to be washed But they have stood out against so many calls already and scorned Gods counsel Ans Wisdom calleth scorners Prov. 1. 22. Turn ye scorners how long will ye delight in scorning It is a mercy that thou hast one call more do not increase the guilt that thou complainest of But I know not how to come to Christ Ans The blind and the lame are invited to the wedding Mat. 22. and Wisdom calleth fools Prov. 9. 5. Whoso is simple c. The stray Lamb is brought home upon the Shepherds shoulders Luke 15. Oh that these words might be spirit and life to you Again It presseth us to make our calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1. 10. that is to evidence our election by our calling for calling it is but election put in act Election is nothing but Gods love and intention to bestow saving grace upon such and such persons and calling is nothing but the actual manifestation of Gods love or the application of saving grace Rom. 8. 30. Whom he hath predestinated them he called Calling is the first and immediate fruit of Election by which it springeth forth and is exercised on the vessels of mercy So 2 Thes 2. 13 14. God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the Truth to the obtaining of the glory of God whereunto he hath called you by my Gospel Here is the whole method of Salvation the first rise and spring of mercy was at Election which breaketh out by effectual calling and so floweth down in the channels of faith and holiness till it lose it self in the Ocean of everlasting Glory So that by calling God executeth in time what he decreed before all time and he that is called may look backward upon eternal purposes of grace and forward upon an eternal possession of glory Well then if we would get any assurance of Gods favour or of our interest in everlasting glory the great business we should labour in is to clear up our calling it is the freest and surest discovery of Gods love and so fittest to bottom a confidence or assurance In elective love we have the best view of mercy and a call is the first discovery and copy of it for it is an act of God which ariseth meerly from his choyce preventing and anteceding not only the merit but the acts and industry of the creature see 2 Tim. 1. 9. Other acts of Gods bounty follow the acts of the creature but this is the first motion God maketh to the Soul he accepts us when we come but he called us when we did not think of coming In short Calling it is the key of the Gospel the plank that is cast out to save a sinking sinner a sure pledg of glory which is therefore called the high price of our calling Phil. 3. 14. Once more here we have the clearest and most sensible experience of the work of grace After conversion the work may be carryed on tacitly and with more silence but in calling and conversion as in all changes the operations of grace are more sensible we may grow insensible as a plant doth The step from sin to grace is a work of greater difficulty and power then to go on from grace to grace as the Apostle maketh it a matter of more ease to save a Saint then to gain a sinner Rom. 5. 8 9 10. and therefore degrees cannot be alike sensible as change of state The Apostle speaking of