him both at the Foot-stool and at the Throne but wherewithal to come or what to bring that I may be accepted in his sight I find not my own unrighteousness I see now to be abominable and my own righteousness I am convlnced is not justifiable wherewithal then shall I come In this distress the Gospel discovers Christ and his righteousness and when the Sinner accepts receives lays hold and rests upon it It has encouragement to say Isa. xlv 22. In the Lord have I righteousness In the Lord shall all the seed of Jacob be justified and shall glory Here then shines out the glory of the Gospel-Doctrine it never designs a more perfect Cure than when it makes the Sinner sick at Heart Thus the Spirits Method is first to convince of Sin and then of Righteousness Joh. xvi 8. Of sin that the Sinner may be abased and made willing to accept a Pardon upon Christ's Terms and of righteousness that the wounded Soul may not die of its Wounds for thus was the brazen Serpent lifted up that they who were mortally stung by the fiery ones might look and live John iii. 14 15. Secondly Another Strong Hold which Man would build up and God will demolish is Man 's own strength 'T is unaccountable that Man should thus Idolize his own often baffled often foiled strength which was never yet able to make him stand against his own Corruptions the Worlds Allurements or the Assaults and Wiles of the Tempter It is the Grace of God alone that must take us off our own and place us upon a stronger bottom and teach us how to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might Eph. vi 10. And now whereas the late difficulty was Wherewithal shall I appear before the Lord Another difficulty appears And I find that I can no more appear against the Devil in my own Strength than I could appear before the Lord in my own Righteousness he is subtle and strong I am foolish and weak yet the Gospel has relieved me Isa. xlv 24. Surely shall one say in the Lord have I strength 3. A third Peculiar Glory of the Doctrine of the Gospel is that as it lays the Creature low it exalts and lifts up God on high When the Sinner lies prostrate at Gods Foot it sees the Lord most gloriously exalted upon his Throne Isa. vi 1. There 's no Doctrine that so vilifies Man none that so much glorifies God in all other Systemes which Philosophers had fram'd to themselves they provided well to advance the Creature they furnished him out with his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a Free-will and put him into the hand of his own wisdom to carve himself out a happiness they made a God of their own Moral Virtues and those Virtues were at their own disposal so that upon the matter they were Creators of their Gods Nullum Numen abest si sit prudentia That thou art happy owe to thy self was one of their highly celebrated Maxims But the Doctrine of the Gospel gives a clear other Scheme of things that Man is nothing knows nothing can do nothing cannot think a good thought nor pursue it to any gooâ—… Resolution nor manage the good nor bear the evil by his own Wisdom or Strength This Doctrine teaches us to think meanly of our selves highly of God to look upon our selves as Worms as Moths à s nothing and less than nothing and worse than nothing but how honourably does it teach us to think to speak of God how reverently to Worship him how holily to walk before him with what confidence to trust him with what fervor of Soul to love him and in short to make him the first and last of all 4. The fourth and last Peculiar Glory of the Doctrine of the Gospel which I shall name at present is that it never exalts one of the Divine Attributes to the derogation of another Here is Mercy exalted but withal Justice satisfied and while the Free Grace of God is upon the Throne Holiness is enthroned with it God can no more Pardon without security to his Justice than he can punish with inconsistency to his Mercy The minds of Men are strangely deluded in this matter for looking only upon Mercy they forget the severity of his Justice and if an imaginary Mercy would but answer thâ—… ends of their Presumptions they take no further thought what becomes of the essential Holiness of God But infinite Wisdom has secured and sweetly adjustâ—…d the Interests of these two great Attributes Rom. iii. 2â—… That hâ—… mâ—… be just and thâ—… juâ—…r of 〈◊〉 that believeth in Jesus God will justifie there 's Mercy but he will be just in justifying there 's provision made for his Justicâ—… The Justice of God satisfied on Chrisâ—… The Mercy of God magnified on the believing Sinner Thus God will not lose his Glory and the believing â—…inner shall not lose his Soul There seems to be a difficulty in Exod. xxxiv 6 7. A God pardoning iniquity transgression and sin and not a God that will by no means clear the guilty A perplexing Riddle If God will by no means clear the Guilty how does he pardon transgression But his Justice is as peremptory as his Mercy is free he will no more pardon Transgression without due compensation to his Justice than he will condemn the Sinner that by Faith lays hold on that Compensation which his Wisdom has provided and his Grace offered in the Gospel Here then Mercy and Truth are met together Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other And all the Attributes of God do sweetly embrace and harmoniously agree when the Satisfaction of one makes way for the exerting and exercising of the other Psal. lxxxv 10. 2. That we are so earnestly pressed to Adorn the Doctrine of God our Saviour presupposes that however beautiful this Doctrine is in it self it has been miserably blackened defaced defiled and much dirt thrown in the Face of it which is done various ways 1. First when from the Doctrine of Divine Grace Mercy Forbearance and Forgiveness Corrupt Heads and Rotten Hearts draw Conclusions of Licentiousness that is when thay interpret Grace into Presumption which is evidently to subvert the End and Design to invert the Order and whole Method of the Gospel Doctrine for though the Gospel proclaims Pardon of all Sin to the Repenting it Indulges none to the impenitent Sinner He that by sinning presumes to find Work for Mercy shall find to his cost that he was making Work for Vengeance The Corruption of depraved Nature has discovered it self in many instances these especially evidence its malignity 1. When Men will be evil because God has been good The design of his goodness patience and long-suffering is to lead them to repentance Rom. ii 4. But if this goodness be despised and because God is long-suffering they will be the longer in sinning and because Mercy is still striving with them they will out-strive that Mercy they will
and forgiving one another if any man have a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye And we have added to that Scandal which we have brought upon our Holy Religion that we have intitled Christ to all our reproachful Disorders and the Argument runs now to divide to quarrel for Christ's sake when 't is for Christ's sake that we should Unite and be at Peace And yet farther have we aggravated our Guilt in a foolish thought to exonerate and justify our selves by burdening and loading others when the impartial can easily judge that all are wrong but never determine who is in the Right Thus are we blindly falling upon one another when every Man should strike his hand upon his own heart and cry out What have I done Wherein have I contributed to that Reproach and Scorn that has been thrown upon our Religion We are sharp-sighted to espy the slips of our Brethren but blind to observe our own scandalour Falls And as the Rain that falls upon the Hills is discharged upon the Valleys the Valleys again empty themselves into the Rivers the Rivers throw all into the Sea Thus are we discharging our selves charging our Brethren who with equal Zeal and Passion and perhaps with equal Justice and Reason are retorting the same Crimes upon us In the mean time we are mutually throwing Dirt in one anothers Faces tossing of Firebrands at one anothers Heads and thereby setting all in a Flame that may â—…nvolve us all our Liberty and Churches in the saâ—…ne common Desolation I cannot comfortably yet know not how to forbear enlarging a while upon this ungrateful Subject First Let us bitterly Lament that any of the Precious Doctrines of the Gospel have been so miserably abused their Gracious Designs frustrated upon us and perverted by us For Instance 1. What more endearing Truth than that of the Patience of God waiting upon and striving with Sinners to lead them to Repentance Rom. ii 4. And yet what Doctrine more impiously abused God is long-suffering and Men will be long sinning God waits and they will find Work for his Patience Thus he gave Jezâ—…bel space to repent and she repented not Rev. ii 21. He affords Day after Day to repent in and they turn them into Days to be repented of Like zealous Gamesters that have but an Inch of Candle left and they will play it out and if the Light had laâ—…ted longer they would have drawn out their Sports longer and go to Bed in the Dark Such are all impenitent Sinners who having a Day of Grace an Hour of Mercy a Moment of Life wherein to turn to God sport away those precious Hours and Moments not lent them for those Ends and if Life were prorogued a thousand Years they would sin those thousand Years if their Days were Eternal their Provocations would be Eternal And thus that Goodness of God which should mollify hardens their Hearts and they will be worse and therefore worse because God is better As if it were not enough to be Evil tho' God be Good but they will be therefore Evil because God is Good But this Treatment of the Divine Patience has been foretold 2 Pet. iii. 4. There shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying Where is the promise of his coming For sincâ—… the Fathers fell asleep all things continuâ—… as they were from the beginning of the creation Where is the promise A Promise indeed it is a most Gracious one to them that wait and prepare for his coming but a Threatning a most dreadful Threatning to them that harden their Hearts by it Impenitency turns a Promise into a Threatning But upon what Presumptions do they thus harden their Hearts Because all things continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation O most perverse Gloss upon the Text of Divine Forbearance for ver 9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but is long-suffering to us ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance 2. And what more comfortable Doctrine than that of the Free Pardon of Sin and Justification through Faith in the Righteousness of Christ. Rom iii. 24. Bâ—…ing justifiâ—…d freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. We cannot mention this without bitter Tears that Men will therefore freely sin because God will freely pardon If his Grace abound they will abound in Ungraciousness His Mercies are Great and they will therefore provide great Sins to employ and exercise his great Mercy What a poisonous Heart must that be that converts or rather perverts so sweet a Doctrine into Mortal Poyson 3. Nor has it fared better with the Doctrine of the Perseverance of Saints which has not been cried down only by such as deny it but Reproached by those that own it The Gospel would teach us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling because it 's God that works in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure Phil. ii 12. Not to be slothful because God works but to work more diligently because we have the Divine Assistance The same Gospel would engage us 2 Pet. i. 5. To make our calling and election sure To make it out that we are effectually brought home to God and from thence to infer our Election and not to delude our Souls with the Sophistry of Hell If I be elected I shall be saved tho' I wallow in all manner of abominable Filthiness Secondly Let us renew our Lamentations that the Lives of Professors express no more of the Power of the Truths and Precepts of that Gospel which they do Profess The Temper of Religion as described in the Scripâ—…are is Meekness Humility Compassion Beneficence Charity Heavenly-mindedness but these are so ill Copied out by them that we may seek for Religion among those that are Religious and not find it And by this means Christ himself is represented unlovely undesirable and the inward Enmity in the Hearts of Men is provoked exasperated and inflamed in Persecution And from hence it is that wicked Men think they have got sufficient Matter to justify all their Revilings their Blasphemies against our Saviour and his Doctrine and think they do God Service while they are endeavouring to root out of the Earth a Religion which is rendred Odious by the unsuitable Conversations of those that seem to glory in it The Offences that are given will not justify those that take them There is a Woe denounced against the World because of Offences and there is a Woe denounced against those that give them Matth. xviii 7. Wo be to the world because of offences for it must needs be that offences come but woe unto them by whom the offence cometh Thus they that take the Offence fall into Hell and Justice sends him thither that gave it II. Improvement by way of Exhortation I Must conclude with one word of Exhortation To all
World know to its shame that we have a God whom we can securely trust 2. In pursuance of this let us walk chearfully before the World upon the Credit and Security of the Promises There was a time when Holy Job could walk in darknâ—…ss by the light of God Job xxix 3. When the Light of the Promises guided and comforted him in the Darkness of Providences when tho' all was gloomy without yet all was clear within It 's a great Blemish that Professors give the Face of their Religion that we hear much and often of their Complaints seldom of their Praises always mourning never rejoycing This represents Religion as a melancholy cloudy thing and affrights Strangers from all acquaintance with it whereas did we live up to the height of what our Religion would justify us We might glory in tribulations Rom. v. 3. Rejoyce evermore 1 Thes. v. 16. And give thanks to God who always causeth us to rejoyce and triumph in Christ. 2 Cor. ii 14. Nor would this be any Triumphing before the Victory seeing we are already more than conquerours in him that loved us Rom. viii 37. For what could all our outward Afflictions Tribulations Crosses Losses Disappointments that we meet withal in the World do to the extinguishing our Joy did we as we might urge the Promises upon our own Hearts plead them with God and object them to the Tempter 1. We might urge them upon our own dejected Souls Psal. xliii 5. Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope in God for I shall yet praise him We are apt to be cast down and disquieted when we are not able to assign a good Reason of the Dejection and Disquiet We have a God to trust in a Word from that God by which to lay hold on him and why then cast down And this Psalmist at other times has been able to relieve himself from such a word Psal. cxix 50. This is my comfort in my affliction for thy word hath quickned me 2. We might plead the Word of Promise with God and humbly press his own Truth upon himself Psal. cxix 49. Remember thy word unto thy servant on which thou hast caused me to hope as if he had said Holy Lord Thou hast encouraged me to Hope and I have thy word for the ground of that encouragement and I am thy Servant to whom this Promise is made and have therefore Reason to apply the Word to my own Case and wilt thou forget thy Word and fail a Servant of thine who hopes upon thy Security If thou hadst never promised I had never hoped but since thou hast caused me to Hope answer my Hope If I could not say in Sincerity Lord I serve thee I could not say in Faith Lord Save me If I had forgot thy Precepts I could not plead with thee to remember thy Promises It was therefore excellent Counsel that Chrysostom gave 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hear thy God in his Precepts that he may hear thy Prayers for although the truth of God is the security of our believing yet sincere Obedience is the ground of our applying to our selves the Promises 3. We have the word of Promise to answer and refel all the Objections of the Tempter His great design is to undermine and blow up that great Fundamental Principle that God is good and faithful that he is good and gracious in all his Ways and Works faithful and true in all his Words and great advantage he has got this way over many holy Ones David was ready to conclude Psal. lxxvii 8. That God's Mercy was clean gone for ever That there was a Total and final failure of the Divine goodness and that his Promise failed for eâ—…rmore Now when the wicked One prevails thus we are driven from our Anchor and he â—…loating and hulling upon the Waters exposed to the next Storm to be dasht in pieces against the Rocks To all these Suggestions and Injections we have this one Answer 1 Cor. x. 13. God is faithful who will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able 3. Make all that observe you confess that you dare venture and if the Will of God be so lay down and lose all your outward concerns upon the sole ensurance and counter-security of the Promises God does try us sometimes how much we dare ensure upon his Word Matth. xix 29. Every one that has forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my names sake shall receive a hundred fold and shall inherit everlasting life where you easily observe that the Promise is large enough and the Title unquestionably good the only Question is whether we dare venture our All upon this Security He that lends Mony will be satisfied in two Points First Whether the Mortgage ossered will bear and answer the sum he lends upon it Secondly Whether the Title of the Estate be good What Warranty will be given Now in both these we have the clearest satisfaction imaginable There can be no dispute whether the matter of this Promise will answer whatever we can possibly venture upon it for a hundred fold and everlasting life is far more than we can lay down nor can there be any question about the clearness of the Title since Christ himself undertakes to make it good If therefore we believe how freely how cheerfully shall we lay down our All at his Feet with them Hebr. x. 34. Who not only patiently but joyfully took the spoiling of their goods knowing in themselves that they have in heaven a better and enduring substance 4. Lastly Live the life of Faith and despise this poor beggerly life of Sense in Comparison of it The life of Sense has its proper Food its Comforts Supports and Supplies it has its Employments its Hopes its Trade and Gains but they are all low and mean all within the road and reach of Sense The life of Faith has its Food too its Joys its Hopes Business and Designs but these lie out of the road and way of the Flesh. Now if we could through the Grace of God make future invisible things our All and conform our Hearts our Ways our Course of Life to the great End we should effectually persuade Men that the Doctrine of the Gospel is a most glorious Doctrine Our Blessed Saviour tells his Disciples Joh. iv 3-1 That he had meat to eat which they knew not of As a Believer has a hidden Life so he has hidden Meat to support it He has a hidden Life Col. iii 3. Tour life is hid with Christ in God and he has hidden Food Rev. ii 17. To him that overcomes I will give to eat of the hidden Manna As he has secret Sorrows which the World knows nothing of so has he hidden Joys Prov. xiv 10. The heart knows its own bitterness and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy And hence it is that the World knows little or
faster when it was watered with the Blood of the Martyrs Proâ—…perity and that Loosness which commonly attends it was the Poyson poured out into the Church The frequent mowing down of Christ's Field makes it come up the thicker and greener Plures efficimur quoties metimur was Tertullians Observation Debauching Prosperity has been the greatest Enemy that ever Religion had in the World Isa. v. 4. when God looked as after all his Cost and Pains he might well look that his Vineyard should bring forth grapes and it brought forth wild grapes Go to now saith he I 'll tell you what I will do to my vineyard I will take away the hedge thereof and it shall be eaten up and break down the wall thereof and it shall be trodden down and I will lay it waste The Politicks of Earth are vastly different from those of Heaven both in the Securing and the Adorning Religion The Methods of humane Wisdom to secure Religion proceed thus They hedge it about with strict Laws and severe Penalties which sometimes are as cruel as the Crimes they would restrain are Enormous and whilst by these Artifices they would entail Religion upon Posterity corruption of Doctrine defiling of Worship and loosness of Manners provokes God to cut off the Entail And thus when we have lost the Power of Religion upon our Hearts and the Purity of it in our Lives our Care is to supply the Defect by trimming and tricking it up with gaudy ceremonial Ornaments How much more beautiful were our first Parents in their Original Nakedness than when the Sense of Sin and Shame taught them to patch together a few Fig-leaves to cover it but Religion is its own Strength it s own Beauty 'T is its own Ornament and Muniment nothing adorns nothing secures Religion but Religion Let us therefore shew an Exemplary Conversation and this will Beautify this will Fortify it better than all our politick Contrivances and fruitful Inventions It was a Glorious Promise which God gave to the Gospel-Church under the Notion of Jerusalem Zech. ii 4 5. Jerusalem shall be inhabited as Towns without walls and bulwarks For I saith the Lord will be a wall of fire round about her and will be the glory in the midst of her Holiness engages God's special Presence and that Presence is our Protection Secure God's Glory in the Center and we shall have a Wall of Fire in the Circumference A parallel Promise we have Isa. iv 5. Upon all the Glory there shall be a Defence If therefore we are careless of that Glory let us make what Walls we can our Walls of Water and of Wood will deceive us nothing but such a Holiness as will engage the Divine Presence and Protection can secure us and the Gospel of God our Saviour unto us 3. Cansideration Nothing but a holy exemplary Conversation can possibly propagate the Gospel abroad our Lives speak louder than our Words and we may with more ease live Men over than dispute them over to Christ. Let us be never so Zealous in our Arguings they will readily retort it upon us Why do you persuade to go to Zion when you your selves are running to Babylon In vain did we plead with others to Turn and look towards Heaven if we are treading the broad way that leads towards Hell Do we then indeed wish well to the Kingdom of Christ Should we rejoyce to see the heathen given him for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possessions First remove the stumbling Blocks we have laid in the way of their Conversion then win them over by an Heavenly Holy Sober Righteous Conversation speak so that Men may see that what you speak you believe to be Truth There were more brought in and converted in the first Twenty Years of the â—…eformation than in the last Century and of our few Modern Converts it's to be fear'd some of them need Conversion This was the Glory of the early Days of Christianity Act. 2. 46. They continued daily with one accord in the Temple and breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising God And the Lord added daily to the Church such as should be saved And the same Success the Gospel had upon the same reason Act. ix 31. Then had the Churches rest and were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and the comforts of the Holy Ghost were multiplied 4. Consideration The Adorning of the Gospel by a holy practical Conversation would contribute much to the healing of our present deplorable Divisions our scandalous Separations and that Spirit of frowardness and perverseness which has possess'd this present Generation The Differences amongst us are not so great as are imagined nor yet so small as not to be lamented Wisdom Humility and a temper of Moderation might have managed as great Matters as these came to without any notable Scandal but a Spirit of Pride Hatred uncharitable Censoriousness has inflamed these little things to a prodigious height Now the process was thus Some Professors had given Offence by their remiss or perhaps some irregular Walking there began the Offence first at the Person then at the Profession The Disgust at one grew up to a Disgust against all of the same Denomination from an Ossence at the Persons it grew up into a Distaste of their Worship and Administrations and when this dividing Zeal had usurpt the Title of Divine Fervour then Heaven and Earth Church and State must be involved in unquenchable Flames This was therefore the generous Spirit of the Apostle 2 Cor. xi 12. What I do that I will do that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion that wherein they glory they may be found even as we But I must shut up this Discourse which a sincere desire to restore our Holy Religion to its due Honour and Repute has made to grow under my hands to a bulk far greater than at first designed Give me leave to reassume my Exhortation I beseech you Brethren by the Mercies of God and the Bowels of our Lord and Saviour that you would consider and pity the sad Case of his blessed Gospel which has been wounded either by our hands or through our sides and make it your great Business to Adorn it in All things I deny not but though you should walk like Angels there are a Generation of Men would reproach you as Devils but yet there are many Curable Souls whose Reconciliation to the Ways of God wants nothing waits for nothing so much as that you should shew them the way to Heaven by your Heavenly Example And that our Endeavours may be successful let us all join with the Prophet in his Pious Prayer Hab. iii. 2. O Lord I have heard thy speech and was afraid O Lord revive thy work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make known in wrath remember mercy Amen FINIS