lame in thy body yet if thou canst walk in the wayes of Gods Commandements and run there thou art a happy creature It may be thou wantest food I but if God feed thy soul with spiritual Manna feed thee every day with food from heaven and take care for the feeding of thy soul thou art not so miserable as thou thoughtst thy self thou hast tattered cloaths I but if God hath provided the righteousness of his Son to bee a garment to cloach thy soul every time thou appearest before him thou art a happy creature in that therefore when thy heart is ready to murmure that God hath denied thee bodily mercies that hee hath granted to others think with thy self I but hath not God recompenced mee in soul mercies I make no question but there are many souls that bless God that ever they have lived to this time though they have suffered hard things for their bodies many that have lost and been plundered of all yet bless God that they have lived to the time wherein there was so much plenty of the food of souls Oh those truths of God that have been revealed unto us since those times but had those that had the power before had the power still continued wee had never had such truths made known unto us they account all recompenced in soul-mercies in Eph. 1.3 Blessed bee the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Mark what the Apostle saith there his heart is filled with this Blessed bee God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Wherefore that hee hath given us good trading and good incomes that hath given us food and rayment wee are to bless God for this I but the Apostles heart was above this therefore saith hee Blessed bee the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ they are the blessings indeed that wee have cause to bless him for spiritual blessings soul-soul-mercies as for bodily-bodily-mercies wee know that the Heathens and Reprobates have had as great a share in as any in the world but blessed bee God though wee bee denied these outward bodily favours yet wee have spiritual blessings Oh thanks bee to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ And this now would bee a good argument that you do know the worth of your souls if you can be blessing of God for spiritual blessings in Jesus Christ above all blessings and account your selves rich enough if you have the riches of spiritual blessings And then further Oh if the soul of man bee so precious What great pitty is it that God should not have the honour of mens souls of such a noble and excellent creature it is great pitty that there should bee any creature under the Sun that God should not have the honour of that God should not have honour from every pile of grass from every bit of bread that is eaten from every stone in the street But now that God should give to mankinde such an excellent spirit a soul more precious than all the world and yet that God should not have the glory of this Oh this is an evil thing under the Sun indeed this must needs go to the heart of God for the truth is God hath his glory from all other creatures by the soul of man As for other creatures hee hath his glory but passively from them but for mans soul hee doth expect to have his glory actively from that that man by his soul should come to know this God the infinite first-being of all things should fear him and worship him and serve him and have communion with him and praise him and therefore David in Psal 103. My soul praise thou the Lord and all that is within mee praise his holy name And again hee concludes My soul praise thou the Lord. And so in Psal 104. Now upon the consideration of what hath been said of the excellency of our souls wee should lay a charge upon them that they do honour God and serve God What a sad charge will this bee to many a man at the great day when God shall say Haddest thou been made a Dog I never had had so much dishonour as I have had I should have had more honour if I had made thee a Dog there I should have had my honour passively and no dishonour from thee But now thou being made an immortal soul as it was capable of honouring mee so of sinning against mee the more excellent a thing is the more capable of evil it is as well as of good no creatures but Angels and men are able to sin against God Oh it is pitty that God should not have the honour of thy immortal soul God had more honour from Nebuchadnezzar when hee was driven out among the beasts than when hee sat upon the Throne as a King And then further that should have been another Use to have laboured to perswade you to take heed of dishonouring these souls of yours God hath put a great deal of glory and excellency upon them do not you dishonour them and many wayes should have been said how men do put dishonour upon their souls only for the conclusion Oh that you would but learn to love your own souls To love them It is a strange exhortation you will say to exhort men to love their souls Oh that you would but do it Psal 22. David calls his soul his Darling the souls of men should bee indeed their Darlings not their bodies It was a speech of a Courtier to his friend saith hee I love you as mine own soul Oh saith hee then you love mee not at all if you had said you had loved mee as your body then I should have thought you had loved mee but I see no love you have to your soul It was the prayer of the Apostle St. John in the Epistle that hee writ to his host Gaius I suppose you that know Scripture are not unacquainted with it in his third Epistle Beloved I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and bee in health even as thy soul prospereth I shall close all I intend for the present with this Scripture it seems that Gaius was a holy man but a man of a weakly and sick body and therefore St. John writing to him hee prayes thus Above all things I desire that thy body may but prosper as thy soul prospereth As if hee should say O Gaius thou hast an excellent gracious soul indued with admirable graces of the Spirit of God full of God thy soul is though thy body bee weakly Oh that thou hadst but as good a body as thou hast a soul It seems Gaius had more care of his soul a great deal than of his body but now my brethren consider this Would not this bee a curse to
give all the respect that may bee to him because hee is the onely Saviour of souls And for the blood of the Covenant take heed you sin not against that let it not bee accounted as a common thing Oh do not prize the satisfying of your own lusts rather than the blood of the Covenant and all the good that was purchased by that blood when any wretched sinner shall hear the Gospel preached to him and yet shall prize the living in any base wicked way of sin I say such a one doth trample the blood of the everlasting Covenant under his feet and the language of his heart and actions is nothing but this whatsoever is spoken concerning the blood of the everlasting Covenant revealed in the Gospel I do prize the satisfying the lusts of mine own heart more than all the good that is in the Covenant now do you think can such a soul as this bee saved now you sin against the blood of the Covenant when you come hand over head to the Sacrament and thereby you come to bee guilty of the body and blood of Jesus Christ People are mighty earnest about coming to Sacraments now do but read 1 Cor. 11. It is a Scripture which I know you that are acquainted with Scripture are not unacquainted with vers 27. Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall bee guilty of the body and blood of the Lord And what then vers 29. Hee eateth and drinketh his own damnation When you would have the Sacrament as the seal of the blood of Christ and yet come in your sin and filthiness and do not discern the Lords body you come to bee guilty of the blood of Christ and so to bee guilty of your own damnation and so many think to seal their souls by eating and drinking the damnation of their souls for there is nothing set out in Scripture that furthers more the damnation of a soul than to sin against the blood of the Covenant I know some make that Scripture their damnation to themselves that is that they are onely to bee reproved and condemned for doing so but wee are to inlarge Scripture to the uttermost that may bee and seeing the Scripture hath made the sin against the blood of Christ in other places so dreadful wee may very well understand that place in the most dreadful sense that may bee Now if in case you come unworthily you hear what the Scripture speaks it is guiltiness of the blood of Christ and eating and drinking your own souls damnation And then take heed of sinning against the mercy of God let not mercy harden you but let it soften your hearts Oh that soul is in a good forwardness to bee saved that every time it thinks of the mercy of God it findes it self to melt before the Lord and mourn bitterly for sin when as it applies the mercy of God to it self I that is a good evidence but now when you think or speak of Gods mercy you finde your hearts the more hardened in sin Oh this is dreadful for how can such a soul be saved that sins against the mercy and love of Jesus Christ for who shall hear and plead for thy soul before God when as thou art guilty of the blood of Jesus Christ and what is it that shall bee thine attonement before the Father It must bee blood Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin And what blood must bee for the remission of thy sin when as thou tramplest the blood of the Covenant under thy feet and when thou sinnest against mercy what is it that must recover thee but the mercy of God when thou comest to God in the anguish of thy soul Now if thy case bee thus that Jesus Christ shall plead against thee and say Oh Father Father avenge thy self upon this wretch that hath not onely sinned against thy work of Creation but against the work of Redemption that I went into the world to work Father let this soul perish eternally that hath rejected mee and received every base wretched lust before mee now shall that soul bee saved that shall have the blood of the Covenant cry against it and mercy it self cry to the Lord against it Lord avenge my cause for I have been most abominably and cursedly abused by this wretch when not onely the Law of Gods Justice and Satan accuses thee but Christ and his blood and the Gospel it self how shall such a soul bee saved now then if you would have your souls saved take heed of sinning against Jesus Christ against the Gospel and against the blood of God and against the mercy of God Eleventhly If thou wouldest have thy soul saved take heed of sinning against the Spirit of Grace the good Spirit of God that must draw thee to Christ and guide thee in the way of salvation if ever thou beest saved Now take heed of sleighting the motions of Gods Spirit oh do not sleight any motion of the Spirit of God how dost thou know but when there comes in any motion of Gods Spirit it comes in to save thee at this time thou canst not tell but that at any time when Gods Spirit doth assist his Word thy soul may depend upon that time so as God may say had this soul followed on the work at this time it might have been saved but upon it s not following it on it shall not bee saved doth Gods Spirit begin to move thy soul when thou art hearing the Word Oh do not go into wicked company and so lose all again but get alone in thy closet and fall down even upon thy face and cry to God that hee would follow on the work of his Spirit that hee hath begun in thee Oh Lord I lived a long time in a dead-hearted condition never minding the good of my soul but thou hast begun to stir mee and Lord I hope it is the beginning of thy saving work upon my soul Oh that thou wouldest go on with it How many upon their sick-beds and death-beds would give a thousand worlds if they had them that they could have such stirrings of the Spirit of God as sometimes they have felt Oh now when the Spirit stirs and temptation stirs take heed of listening to temptation and rejecting the motions of Gods Spirit but think of that that wee read on of the people of Israel when they were going to Canaan they were very near Canaan and when they were upon the borders of it they refused to go into the Land when God would have them and upon that The Lord did swear in his wrath Psal 95.10 that they should never enter into his rest So when the Spirit of God begins to bring thee near to salvation that it may bee said of thee as Christ to the young man Thou art not far from the Kingdome of Heaven O take heed of hearkening to temptation lest the Lord swear that thou shalt never enter into
added for decency and order in the Church Answered 72 73 Christ is such a King whose soveraignty is absolute 74 Hee hath power to binde conscience ib Christs Kingly power reaches to mens hearts ib. Christ is wonderful in his Kingly office in this hee hath A perfect knowledge of all his subâ—ects 75 Is present with them in all administrations hee over-rules all the plots and counsels of his enemies hee is the King of righteousness and peace 76 14 Christ is wonderful in his Kingly office other Kings are born to bee Kings but Christ died that hee might bee King 77 15 Christ is a King from everlasting to everlasting 78 16 Hee sits at his Fathers Throne now at this time ib. 17 Christ will not onely subject all enemies but hee will put down all rule and all authority 79 18 Wonderful is Christ in his Kingly office for hee makes all his subjects Kings with him in a spiritual sense 80 Exercise of Faith aright is upon Christ as King 81 Christ wonderful in his Priestâ—y office 83 1 Christs Priesthood joyned with Kingly power ib. 2 All Priests in the Law did typifie Christ and cease in him 3 Hee needed not to offer for himself 4 Christ offered the blood of God 83 5 Christ offered a Sacrifice that was sufficient to satisfie God 84 6 Hee is wonderful in that hee offered himself ib. 7 Christ was not onely a Sacrifice but an Altar 85 8 Christ offered but one sacrifice at one time 86 9 His Priesthood indures for ever 87 Christs Priesthood preferred before Aarons Priesthood 88 89 Christ wonderful in his Prophetical office 90 Hee knows all the mind of God perfectly therefore must bee a wonderful Teacher 91 2 Dulness of understanding weakness of parts cannot hinder his teaching 92 How wee shall know whether Christ teach us 93 3 Christ is wonderful in his Priestly office in that hee is sent to reveal high and supernatural things 94 95 4 These high things are not revealed to the wisest and great ones of the world 96 97 5 Hee reveals these things many times suddenly 98 6 Jesus Christ teaches the heart so hee is wonderful 7 Christ teaches immediately himself 100 8 Christ teaches infallibly so hee is wonderful 101 Christ wonderful in his Miracles 102 In the wonders that hee wrought while hee lived 103 Christ wonderful in his endowments and excellency of his person ib. Fairer than the children of men ib. All the fulness of the God-head in Christ 104 This an Argument to us to take heed of abusing the humane nature of our bodies ib. Christ the brightness of Gods glory 105 Christ hath his excellency by virtue of the personal union 106 Christ wonderful in this that all his personal excellencies depend upon himself 107 Christ becomes worthy of divine honour ib. Christ wonderful in this that hee is an infinite object of the delight of his Father 107 108 109 Christ wonderful in his endowments in this that his excellencies are in him to bee conveyed unto his people 110 This should bee a strong Argument to draw our hearts to Christ 111 Christ is wonderful in regard of the glory of the Father that shines in him 112 113 First The glory of Gods Attributes shines in Christ as for iâ—stance Power 11â— Wisdome ib. Holiness 115 Justice 115. Mercy 116. Truth 117 2 The glory of thâ— great counsel and works of God appears in Christ 118 3 All the good from God in order to Eternal Life is from Christ 119 4 The glory of the Father is wonderful in Christ in this that by him hee attains unto his greatest design in making the world and preserving the world 120 What design ib. 5 All the services and praises of Gods Elect come to him through Christ 121 Christ wonderful in his Humiliation 122 The first wonder in his humiliation is that all the sins of the Elect should bee laid upon Christ 122 A second That hee that was so high should bee brought so low for the sin of man 123 A third Christ is wonderful in his humiliation in that hee suffered in his soul 124 A fourth wonder in Christs humiliation is that hee should suffer so much from his Father 126 A fifth In that God doth not spare him at all but is the executioner himself 127 A sixth wonder of Christs humiliation is that God should leave him 128 A seventh Though Christ sore-saw his suffering yet that hee should willingly undergo it 128 An eighth That this should bee the way of saving men 129 Use of Trial whether Christ bee revealed to us 131 A ninth wonder in Christs humiliation is this that God the Father should bee pleased with all this 132 A tenth is the efficacy of his humiliation is a wonder 133 An eleventh Christs humiliation takes away the venom of all the Saints sufferings ib. A twelfth Christ suffered as a common person ib. A thirteenth another wonder is that by such a way of humiliation Christ entred into his glory 134 A fourteenth Christs humiliation was a most wonderful argument of Gods hatred of sin 135 Christs suffering a pattern of Self-denial ib. Christ wonderful in his Conquests what did hee conquer answered 136 Christ conquered death by dying 137 Christ conquered in his own power ib. Christ conquered as a common person 138 Christ wonderful in his resurrection 139 to 144 Christ wonderful in his ascension 145 And sitting at the righâ— hand of his Father 144 Christ wonderful in his coming to judgement 145 Christ wonderful in his working towards his Saints and in their high esteem of him 146 In Heaven Christ shall bee wondred at for ever 147 Application 1 Christ but little known in the world 150 2 How vile a thing is it to prefer a filthy lust before Christ 151 3 It discovers the misery of mankinde to bee exceeding great 154 4 Hence then all beleevers have exceeding cause of rejoycing in hearing of what Christ is what a wonderful Saviour they have 156 God hath exceedingly honoured Beleevers ib. Jesus Christ a full Object for their souls rest 156 157 God doth intend wonderful things for the Saints 158 to 163 The reason that Christians are so empty in their spirits and conversations is because they know so little of the Mystery of the Gospel 164 Duty of Christians to hold out the wonderful glory of Christ in their conversations 166 If Christ bee wonderful here every one that hears of Christ should think it a dreadful thing to miss of Christ 167 Lastly Let us long for the time when Jesus Christ shall appear in all his glory 168 to the end The First SERMON ON The Nature of God THE last day you may remember wee opened that Point of the condition that men are in that live without a God in the world It is evil to bee without bread without friends without outward comforts how great an evil then to bee without a God in the world and who they were that did live without a God in the
come out from them and this was a great incouragement unto them to expect mercy from God because they were a people that the Lord would bring the great Saviour of the world out of And then thirdly That by the propounding of so great a mercy as Jesus Christ should bee to the world they might hereby have a help to their faith that surely God would not deny them lesser mercies what great matter was it for them to expect from God deliverance from some outward affliction when as God makes known unto them that love and that infinite compassion those tender bowels of his even to send his own Son into the world for them And then fourthly It was to teach them this that the way of deliverance from any outward affliction it was to exercise their faith upon Christ the Messia that was to come the Lord would teach his Church when it was in afflictions not so much to bee looking at the present affliction that was upon them and so to seek for outward help and means of deliverance but would have them exercise their faith upon the Messia that was to come though many hundred years after and this exercise of faith was so pleasing to God as it was the onely means or the chief means of deliverance from all outward afflictions Nay saith God if so be that they will relye upon mee and exercise their faith upon that great promise of mine to send my Son into the world as for their deliverance out of these outward troubles and afflictions it shall bee but a little matter for mee to do that for them ordinarily when wee are exercised with outward afflictions wee onely think of some natural helps and comforts contrary to those particular afflictions that are upon us whereas the way indeed for us to sanctifie Gods Name to do that that is acceptable to God when any outward affliction befalls us it is presently to exercise our faith upon the great promise of God in Jesus Christ upon the great Covenant of Grace that God hath made with us in him upon that great mercy of God in sending his Son into the world my condition is very sad and I am grievously afflicted I but surely that mercy that would send Jesus Christ into the world that mercy is enough to deliver mee out of any affliction or at least to bless it to mee therefore do not onely cry to God when you are sick or in trouble to deliver you from it but labour to exercise faith upon the Covenant of Grace in Christ upon that glorious mercy of God in his Son that is the way that God would have us to sanctifie his Name in And that is the reason why in times of great affliction there were such clear Prophesies of Jesus Christ as here in my Text For unto us a childe is born unto us a Son is given and his Name shall bee called Wonderful Counseller c. Now in this latter part of this verse wee have Christ set out unto us in five notable and famous Titles of his His Name is 1. Wonderful 2. Counseller 3. The Mighty God 4. The Everlasting Father 5. The Prince of Peace I intend onely to speak of the first His Name shall bee called Wonderful because I would have some kinde of proportion between what I have presented to you about God and what I shall about Christ And as for other things more largely about God or Christ it may bee afterwards but onely now I shall desire to present Christ unto you in this one Title of his His Name shall bee called Wonderful From whence the Point is this Doct Jesus Christ is the great Wonder of the world That is our point of Doctrine God himself above seven hundred years before hee was born gives him this Name Wonderful in the 19. of this Prophecie vers 20. wee read of a Saviour Isa 19.20 a Great one saith the Text surely Jesus Christ hee is a Saviour and a Great one hee is the Wonder of the world Judg. 13.17 18. The story of the Angels appearing unto Manoah Manoah would fain know his name And Manoah said unto the Angel of the Lord What is thy Name vers 18. the Angel of the Lord said unto him Why askest thou after my name seeing it is secret Now the word that is translated in your books Secret it is a word that signifies Wonderful And Austin in his Questions upon this Book of Judges hee is consident that this Angel was Jesus Christ and that his ascending up in the sacrifice that Manoah offered it was to fore-signifie Jesus Christ to bee the onely Sacrifice that should ascend up to the Father for a sweet savour in the nostrils of the Father it was Jesus Christ that did appear here to Manoah and his Name is Wonderful Luther hath such a speech I remember of Christ saith hee the most famous and wonderful and glorious Miracle of all Miracles is Jesus Christ hee is the Wonder of the world God is very wonderful in all his works in the works of Creation Psal 8.1 Oh Lord our Lord how excellent is thy name and in the end of the Psalm Oh Lord our Lord how excellent is thy Name in all the earth yea in that one work of his in making of our bodies Psal 139.14 I am fearfully and wonderfully made saith the Psalmist God hath made our very bodies fearfully and wonderfully it is a wonderful work of God the framing of our bodies in the womb It was a means of the conversion of Gallen from Atheism hee saw the Anatomy of a mans body and beholding the wonderful work of a mans body it did force him to acknowledge the God of Nature that there was a being above Nature Now though God bee wonderful in all his works yet all his wonderful works in the Heavens and in the Earth and in the Seas they must all stand by and give way to this great Wonder as the Stars though they be glorious creatures in themselves yet when the Sun arises all their light is eclipsed you see nothing of them so though God hath many wonders in the world and hath done many wonderful works yet when the Son of Righteousness doâ—h arise when Jesus Christ comes to appear all the other works of God are darkned with the glory of this great Wonder other things are wonderful unto us because of our ignorance because wee are not able to understand the reason of things things are wonderful to children that are little regarded by wise men and understanding men Ignorance makes men to wonder at many things that have nothing in them but Christ hee is a Wondeâ— so as God himself the Father accounted him a Wonder God himself gives unto Jesus Christ this Name Wonderful and no marvel though hee bee a wonder to the Angels themselves in Heaven 1 Pet. 1.12 The Angels are said to desire to look into the things of the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To pry into them They
thing as should bee called God-Man and is really and verily God and man together in one I say this is the greatest wonder that ever was in the world that the Divine and humane Nature should bee joyned together that wee should have a Saviour that is as verily man as God and as verily God as man that those two Natures the Nature of God and the nature of man should come together in one that were so distant before one from another this is a wonder beyond all sense and reason and wee had need have a Prospective-glass of God to bee able to see indeed any thing into it wee can easily beleeve wee think that Christ was God and man every childe can do so when you ask your children what Christ was you teach them that hee was both God and man I but I appeal to you when were your hearts taken with this as the geatest wonder in the world that there should bee ever such a thing as God and man in one and that to be the Savior of mankinde That man that is miserable should look up to God to save him look up to the mercy of God this were not so wonderful but that miserable man must bee saved by one that is God-Man Man and God this is that that except the Spirit of God that searches the deep things of God as you had it before reveal it unto a man it were impossible for man ever to have such a thought as this is and indeed the setting out of this so great a mystery is one great argument that the Scriptures are Divine for it is too high a thing to have entred into the thought of a creature I say too high a thing that ever a creature should have such a thought that the saving of man must bee by Gods being man it cannot bee imagined how such a thought could have come into a creature to bee verily man I say this argues the Scripture to bee from God it is too great a mystery for any creature ever to have imagined or thought of it is that that is the stumbling-block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles but the power and glory of God to those that shall bee saved If God should have put this unto us and said Well I am inclined to do good to you and willing to save you but know your estate is such as you can never bee saved except there bee such a Saviour such a Mediator for you as must bee God and man both why certainly both Angels and Men would have stood amazed at this and have concluded that the estate of Man-kinde is desperate then if so bee that the estate of man that is fallen from God and hath sinned against him bee such as there is no way to deliver one soul from eternal condemnation and eternal wrath but by such a Saviour as must bee both God and man I say All Angels and Men would have even concluded then man must perish for ever but it is God the Wonder-woâ—king God that hath wrought thus for Mankinde which hath sent us such a Saviour as is both God and Man Surely then his Name may bee called Wonderful Christ is wonderful in his Person But Secondly Here is a greater wonder than that God is God and man God and man you will say that may bee hee hath come in the similitude of flesh and hath taken the shape of man some kinde of union there may bee between the Divine and humane Nature but consider this second Wonder hee is not onely God but a second Person in Trinity Consider these two things in the Person of Christ First He is to be looked at not meerly as God but as God the second Person of the Trinity and this is a great wonder in Christian Religion for it was little known before Wee read but little in the Old Testament about the Trinity onely in Christ the Trinity comes to bee known when wee are in streights wee will cry to God that made the heavens and earth to bee a Saviour but for us to know that wee must bee saved by God in the Second Person that is the character and ingraven form of his Image the Son of God and yet so the Son of God as hee is Co-eternal with his Father equal with his Father as the Scripture speaks and so God the Second Person in Trinity as yet hee is of the same Nature that his Father is of the same God and yet the Son of God the consideration of the mystery of the Trinity that appears in Christ is a great wonder above reason that wee may adore it but search into it wee are not able And then the second thing to bee considered in his Person is this That hee is not only God and man but God and man hypostatically united the union of the Natures that these Natures should bee united both in one Person this is the great wonder in Christian Religion There are two principal Wonders in Christian Religion I beseech you consider aright of them The first is divers Persons in one Nature 2 Wonders in Christian Religion The second is divers Natures in one Person These are the two Wonders in Christian Religion First divers Persons in one Nature and that is the wonder of the Trinity for there you have but one Nature the Divine Nature but three Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost and that is a Wonder that the Heathens knew nothing of and was little known till Christ came And the second Wonder in Christian Religion is divers Natures in one Person that is in Christ Christ is God-man but one Person united hypostatically now to search into this that the same Person that is God is man and how the humane nature subsists in the Deity and hath no subsistence at all in its self but in the Deity how this is onely the Scripture reveals it to bee so but how it is I say is too deep a sea for any creature to wade into wee must stand and admire it and adore God in it that hath revealed this as the object of our faith but to bee able to search how such a thing can bee that that union can bee in one person this is that that is a wonder above all admiration Indeed it is one of the most wonderful works that ever God did in the world to unite two such creatures that seemed to bee of such distant Natures as the body of man and the Soul of man in one Person to unite a peece of earth and a peece of flesh to such a glorious thing as a rational immortal soul is the union of these two together in one person is the greatest work for the works of Nature that ever God did in the world David saw his body wonderfully and fearfully made but certainly the union of the body and soul the soul being of the same nature with the Angels that it should bee united with the body to make but one Person this is a
that do belong to my Son and all those works by which my Son will come to have his honor eternally are done let there be an end of the world and the end of the world is like to be the sooner now because that we see God is doing so much for the setting up of Jesus Christ in this latter age as when a mans time is almost at an end for his work then hee doth work more speedily than hee did before now saith God I have made the world for the honour of my Son but yet to this day how little honour hath my Son had from the world and there is a time saith God that I will manifest to all the world that I did make it for Jesus Christ hee did not make it for a company of Tyrants to do what they would in nor for a company of prophane people to eat and drink and follow their lusts in but the end at which God aimed at in making the world saith hee I will set up my Son in the world and all the works that ever have been done in the world shall at length come in to conduce to the honour of my Son And this shall bee the great work that shall bee done at the Day of Judgement hee will shew to all the world how all those works that did seem to go most against Jesus Christ how they were brought about for the honour of Jesus Christ Oh blessed are those souls that come to see that all things were made for the honour of Jesus Christ and so give glory to him accordingly Thus you see what a wonderful Saviour wee have that God hath made all things for him Surely our Saviour is glorious and wonderfull 6 There is one thing more hee is wonderful in his Indowments and Excellencies in this that his Excellencies are in him to bee conveyed to his people Joh. 1.16 Out of his fulness do all we receive and grace for grace Out of the fulness of all Excellency that is put into him The Saints of God and elect ones they draw all the excellency they have here or shall have to all eternity For you must know this Though the Divine Nature bee the fountain of all Excellency yet it is not to bee conveyed but onely through Jesus Christ this is the great mystery of godliness and this is the wonder in the Gospel that is so much above nature that though God bee the fountain of all in himself yet hee hath determined that this goodness of his shall bee first let out to his Son and so shall bee conveyed through him to the Saints so that all the gifts and graces wee have wee must not look upon them onely as coming from â—od the Creator of all things but as coming from God through him that is God and man in this mystical way therefore if you say you look at God and beleeve in Gods mercy without understanding the way of Gods communicating himself you may utterly mistake it must bee in Christ that wee must receive grace for grace Now that there should bee such a thing revealed that God should say I will set up my Son the second Person in Trinity to take your nature and to bee God and man and hee shall bee as a Conduit to bee filled with all things whatsoever and you shall have as it were your pipes joyned to him and through him you shall come to partake of what good I intend for you This is the wonder of the world And hence it is that Christ is compared to all things that have any excellency in them Is there an excellency in light Christ is called a Joh. 1.9 Light Christ is called b Mat. 13.46 Pearl and c Rev. 3.18 Gold and Rayment and the d Psal 84.11 Sun and e Joh. 7.38 Living water any thing that hath any excellency in it f Joh. 6.50 Bread g Isa 15.1 Wine Milk whatsoever in the creature hath any excellency in it Christ is called by that Name to shew that all Excellencies are in him as one As I told you that Gods Excellency was such an excellency as the very quintessence of all excellencies was united in one in him so Christ hath the quintessence of all excellencies in him and in him as in a conduit to bee conveyed to all that God intends eternal good unto Oh what a Saviour have wee my Brethren now mee thinks this should bee a very strong argument to draw your hearts to Jesus Christ or at least to say as Philip said Let us see but Jesus Christ this wonder of the world and wee will never wonder at any thing more in the world Oh let us understand what Jesus Christ our Saviour is here you may see what a full object of your faith Jesus Christ is and how you may venture your souls upon him and your eternal estates here is enough to draw faith and incourage faith and inlarge faith and oh that God would bee pleased by presenting what Christ is to work faith in some soul that hath not had it before but now where faith is before this look beyond your own worth and your own inlargements And thus in these things you see how wonderful Christ is There remains two things more The Fourth SERMON ON The Excellency of Christ Isaiah 9.6 And his Name shall bee called Wonderful Christ is Wonderful in regard of the glory of the Father that shines in him WEE proceed The Name of Christ is Wonderful in regard of the wonderful glory of the Father that shines in him It is in Jesus Christ that God reveals himself and appears both to men and Angels It is true somewhat wee might know of the invisible things of God by the things that are seen as the Apostle speaks in Rom. 1.20 by his great Works of Creation and Providence but there is as much difference between the Glory of God that shines in all his Works of Creation and Providence and the Glory of God that shines in the face of Christ as between the glittering of a Glow-worm in a dark night and the glory of the Sun in the full strength of it Now onely take this along with you that God expects that those that do see his glory in Christ should glorifie him in another manner than those that see his glory onely shining in the Works of Creation and Providence that as there is much difference between the shining of the Sun in its full strength and a Glow-worm even so there should bee as much difference between beleevers glorifying God and heathens as there is between the Glow-worm and the glory of the Sun you should not satisfie your self except you finde that there is some such proportionable difference for certainly if you have seen God in Christ you have seen him wonderfully indeed therefore in 2 Cor. 3.18 saith the Apostle But wee all with open face bebolding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image
would see them to bee plunged into the bottomless gulf of eternal misery hee would put himself into it to keep them out hee did it willingly When hee did fir stundertake this great work with his Father hee knew what hee should suffer A body hast thou prepared mee it is written in the volume of thy book I should do thy will Heb. 10 5 7. and lo I come I delight to do thy will And what was it It was the suffering of all these things that I have named unto you and I have but even named them unto you Eighthly And yet further the wonder of Christs humiliation my scope is now to present as briefly as may bee as much of Christ as I can unto you that you may have some help for your more clear apprehensions of Christ and how to make him the object of your faith The wonder of Christ appears in this that there should bee such a way to save men as this is that the Son of God should bee thus humbled and this wee finde clearly in Scripture set out to us but that God would have such a way to save sinners and no other this is as great a wonder as any thing it is certainly the astonishment of the Angels and the admiration of the Saints to all eternity that the Lord should look upon base man and that hee should have thoughts to save him that was nothing but when God saw that if hee bee saved hee must bee saved after this way that God should as it were trouble heaven and earth for the saving of a poor wretched sinful creature and though God saw that it would cost him so dear to save a soul yet that hee should go on with his work to save him here is the wonder but this is the way of salvation and this is that that is infinitely above reason not onely above sense but above reason which of the Heathens could have imagined that there should have been such a way to save man by as this Why how wilt thou bee saved I will cry to God for mercy and break off my sin and bee sorry with all my heart why if this were the way there was no wonder in that but know oh thou sinner whosoever thou art that if ever thou bee saved that thou must bee saved by a wonderful way and the truth is considering that this is the way of saving sinners wee may stand and wonder that any are saved when you hear of but few that go to heaven and that most people in the world perish and when you come to hear the way of saving man and what it cost and the great difficulty of it you may then stand and wonder that any should bee saved Oh when ever you think of salvation think wisely of this it is a wonderful work of God to save a sinner and the most wonderful work that ever God did do why because the way of saving a sinner is so strange and truly my Brethren then doth God begin to work savingly upon the heart of a sinner when the sinner begins to stand and wonder at the way of saving and till that time it cannot bee conceived that God is beginning savingly to work upon your hearts I appeal to your consciences you that have gone on in a secure dead-hearted way when was ever your hearts taken up in admiring at the way of Gods saving sinners why if it hath done so that is a good evidence that God is beginning to shew himself unto you in a saving way But now if you go on and have but low thoughts about the way of salvation if your hearts do not sanctifie Gods Name in admiring at the wonderful way of salvation know that yet the Gospel is hidden to you certainly you yet do not understand the counsels of God about the way of salvation when your hearts are not taken up with admiring at the glory of God in it A note of Trial. I will but leave this note of Trial with you whether Christ bee revealed to you have your souls wondred at him My Brethen there are divers things that men wonder at in the world and their hearts are taken with them and all because they understand not Christ the great Wonder of the world Wee read in Rev. 17. that when Antichrist had gotten a great deal of power that the world did wonder at him vers 6. When I saw her I wondred with great admiration c. Antichrist having a great deal of power makes men to wonder much at him Now in vers 8. The Beast which thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they behold the Beast that was and is not and yet is saith hee those whose names are not written the book of life that was written from the foundation of the world they shall make a wonder at Antichrist and at his great power and at the way of his falling too So in Rev. 13.2 3. And the Dragon gave him his power and his seat and great Authority c. When the Dragon had given his power to the Beast that is the Civil state and power had given its power unto Antichrist unto their Church-state so that they had the Civil sword in their own hands and were able by that Civil power to force all to come in to their Dictates now the Text saith That they all wondred at it but who are they in Chap. 17. v. 8. those whose names were not written in the book of life so that carnal hearts now may bee taken with the wondring after the pomp and glory of the word and after the power of Antichrist because Antichrist prevails in the world but they are those whose mames are not written in the book of life those whose names are written in the book of life they will never stand wondring at the excellency of Antichrist because of his outward glory no Those whose names are written in the book of life they have learned to wonder at Jesus Christ not at Antichrist let Jesus Christ bee never so mean and humbled and low and persecuted in his members in his Ordinances yet they see that excellency in Jesus Christ as makes them wonder and it is such a wonder as it doth darken all the wonders in the world besides The Fifth SERMON ON The Excellency of Christ Isaiah 9.6 And his Name shall bee called Wonderful THe point that wee are upon you may remember is this That Jesus Christ is the great Wonder of the world As is his Name so is hee Wonderful 9 Therâ— is yet more wonder in it if wee consider that God the Father was well pleased with all this it pleased him so you may finde in Isa 53.10 It pleased him to bruise him It pleased the Father For God the Father taking such delight
offering there and what was that but for the saving of souls wee may therefore concerning Christ well say as the Elders in Rev. 5.9 They sang a new song saying Thou art worthy c. for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood Oh thou art worthy O blessed Saviour Hee doth not say what but onely thus Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou wert slain and hast redeemed us to God There is infinite worthiness in Christ and worthy hee is of all the honour that wee are able possibly to bring to him had wee ten thousand times more strength than wee have to do it For hee was slain and hath redeemed us to God by his blood If there were a company of poor people upon the Sea and in danger to be lost their own ship through stress of weather fallen to peeces and they upon a plank and ready to bee swallowed up of every wave and there comes a ship by and saves their lives Oh how would they bee affected with such a mercy as this and bless God for his goodness that such a ship should come by at such a time wee had all been lost if this ship had not come by just at this time So when wee read the Gospel wee read of Jesus Christ God-Man coming into the world and standing between the wrath of the Infinite God and sinful souls let us then consider how infinitely wee are bound to bless God for Jesus Christ for we were ready even all of us to bee swallowed up into the bottomless gulf of the wrath of the infinite God the waves of Gods infinite wrath were ready to have covered over all man-kinde onely the Lord Jesus Christ comes and even leaps as it were into the very Ocean of Gods wrath into the very flames of the wrath and justice of God to pluck out our souls and to save them Bless wee God then for Jesus Christ considering that the loss of souls is such a dreadful loss and onely saved by that great Saviour that is come into the world And then thirdly If the loss of the soul bee so dreadful then it must needs bee a dreadful evil for any to have any hand in this loss or to bee any furtherance of it Take heed that thou hast no hand at all in so great an evil as this is Oh how much better thou hadst never been born than to have a hand in so great an evil wee account those miserable creatures that have a hand in the loss of Kingdomes to have a hand in the undoing of one soul is a greater mischief than to be the cause of the undoing of a whole Kingdome for their outward estate If one should bee the cause of the ruine of a whole Kingdome for their outward estate you would say that certainly it had been better that that man had never been born Certainly thou that hast a hand in the undoing of any soul thou wert born to do a greater mischief than such a one if any friend of yours take a course whereby hee undoes himself and when the evil consequence of his unwise courses appears you are ready to say Blessed bee God I had no hand in it If people will damn their souls eternally take heed you have no hand in it and if any of your children friends servants acquaintance neighbours should perish eternally yet it will bee a great mercy if you have no hand in it People may have a hand in the loss of other mens souls many waies As by carelesness of the souls of those committed to their charge they may come to bee lost by thy carelesness by thy neglect their souls may perish and especially it concerns those that take the charge of souls they had need look to it that those do not cry out against them in Hell that it was through their neglect that they are here now and must lye here for ever Oh the cry of a soul against a man is a dreadful thing perhaps the souls of some of your children may bee in Hell crying out against you for the neglect of them that you regarded them not you let them prophane Sabbaths you could hear them swear and rebuke them not or but very slightly you never instructed them in the waies of God and eternal life you were the cause of the destruction of their souls by your wicked example they saw their Parents do thus and thus hate goodness and good men they saw them scorn at the Word or neglect it and contemn it and upon that they did so too and now they are in Hell for it and cursing the time that ever they were born of such Parents And many souls no question there are in Hell cursing the time that ever they came into such a wicked family wherein they saw so much wickedness wherein there was no worshipping of God nor no means to come to know God and upon that they went on securely in wickedness and now are sunk down to eternal misery You may bee the cause of the destruction of others souls by drawing of them to sin when you shall be active to draw any one to the commission of any sin thou dost what in thee liest to cast away that precious immortal soul And have never any of you had a hand in this have you never been instruments to draw others to some sin or other now if you have either these that you have tempted are yet alive or they are dead if they bee alive know that you are bound in conscience to do now to the uttermost for the good of their souls to make it your great work if it bee possible to do them as much good as ever you did them hurt for certainly Soul-satisfaction is required of men as well as Bodily-satisfaction If you have wronged a man in his estate any way although it were seven twenty years ago if God comes to awaken your consciences it will not serve your turn to return and repent that is to bee very sorry that you have done it and ask God forgiveness but before you can have peace you must make satisfaction where you have wronged if God inable you Now doth God stand so much upon that that if one hath but wronged a man in his estate that all the sorrow and repenting in the world will never bring peace of conscience without restitution where there is ability then certainly if one hath wronged another in his soul and hath indangered the damnation of that by drawing of him to sin It is not enough for thee that thou seest this thy sin and thou art sorry for it and thou wilt never seek to draw others any more no but thou art bound if such bee alive to go to them if thou canst and to seek now to do them as much good for their souls as thou wert a cause of evil what if this soul should perish at last by this sin that thou wert a cause to draw
any more that doth it but it is a satisfaction to justice a price paid for the soul no soul is ever saved but it is saved in the way of a price that is paid for it and this thou must acquaint thy soul with which thousands of people are ignorant of yet they hope to bee saved but how they will pray to God that they may bee saved and that God would have mercy upon them and is here all certainly this is not the way of the Gospel but the way of the Gospel it is that that reveals unto the soul the price that is paid for a soul even the blood of Christ That in Christ the great Mediatour of the second Covenant there is a perfect satisfaction to Gods Infinite Justice this indeed is a great part of the Mystery of the Gospel this is the saving truth of the Gospel and thou must acquaint thy soul with this truth if thou bee saved And when thou hearest of this truth perhaps thou canst not understand it for the present Oh then thou hadst need go to God in secret and bee crying to him that hee would reveal this truth unto thee But you will say it is not our crying It is true it is not meerly our crying but there is something of God further But God hath made many gracious promises of answering our cries and now that so hee may make good his promises hee will further reveal this Mystery of the Gospel to thee that there is a necessity of satisfaction to divine Justice for thy sin that hath brought thy soul into a lost condition Secondly And further A necessity of a perfect Righteousness wee will not speak of any thing controversal about it which way it comes to bee applied but this all will grant that there is a perfect Righteousness that wee have need of the way of salvation is a perfect Righteousness thou must have a surety that must have a perfect Righteousness for thee Thirdly And then the way of salvation is this it reveals an absolute necessity of the Application of the satisfaction and Righteousness of Jesus Christ the Application of that that it must bee made thine some way that thou must have thy part and share in it by thy union unto Christ and by being made one mystically with him through Faith so that the soul is not meerly saved through mercy Nor thus that Christ hee hath come and done such and such things and therefore saith God the Father for the sake of Jesus Christ I will save thee for hee hath satisfied mee by what hee hath done No but there is somewhat more I confess it is true in the conclusion wee are saved for the sake of Christ but it is by our union with Christ wee are united to Christ and made one with him and so what Christ hath done for our salvation is tendred up to the Father as ours wee being one with Jesus Christ so that now if thou shouldest know thy miserable estate by nature and thereupon inquire after salvation and cry to God that hee would bee merciful unto thee that is not enough but the Gospel reveals further Suppose thou comest to know more than thou canst understand by the light of nature but yet the Gospel doth reveal to thee that not onely thou must bee saved by Christ but thou must bee united to Christ by Faith there must bee a spiritual marriage between the Son of God and thy soul thou must have Christ to bee a head and thou a member hee thy husband and thou his Spouse thou must inquire after this union and that is the way of beleeving and the substance of the Apostles words to the Jaylor when hee cryed what hee should do to bee saved why saith hee Beleeve in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt bee saved It must bee through Jesus Christ the great Mediatour of the second Covenant by thy beleeving in him and being made one with him that thou must come to bee saved Fourthly And then the Gospel it reveals further as necessary to salvation a necessity of Regeneration of being born again of having the Image of God renewed in the soul by the Spirit of Jesus Christ of being a new Creature the want of which if the soul should now depart it must certainly perish under but now if it come to bee saved it must have this revealed to it for in the Gospel there is held forth the great work of God in begetting that soul anew to himself that hee doth intend to save in putting a new life into it in sending the Spirt of Jesus Christ into it whereby it lives and acts and works being now carried on not by its own spirit but by the Spirit of the Son of God this is necessary to salvation to do acts of Regeneration so Christ tells Nicodomus hee must bee born again and this onely the Gospel reveals and thus our souls should labour to acquaint themselves with the great things of the Gospel and as the wise man saith concerning instruction in Prov. 4.13 Take fast hold of instruction let her not go keep her for shee is thy life So I say of these instructions that are revealed in the Gospel keep them for they are your lives do not think that God though hee is infinitely merciful yet that hee will save souls any other way for God hath set this way and it is an infinite mercy that wee are to admire at and adore and praise his Name for that there may bee salvation any way and if there may be salvation any way oh you poor wretched children of men know that you should be restless till you come to understand further that one way Oh that wee could make it to bee the great business of our lives to search into the Gospel and finde out these things for it is through this that we come to have eternal life Fifthly A fifth rule for the salvation of your souls If God hath put it into your hearts to seek to have them saved you must walk with fear and trembling before the Lord all the daies of your lives the fear of God must bee mighty and strong upon your spirits if you would bee saved and you must labour to keep the fear of the great God upon your spirits that place is famous for this in Phil. 2.12 Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure As if the Holy Ghost should say you had need walk with fear before the Lord for the truth is hee hath you at such infinite advantage as you are not able to stir one foot to do any thing for the deliverance of your souls from eternal wrath without the work of God upon you you had need take heed what you do that you do not provoke this infinite God that hath you under his feet that you are able to do nothing towards your salvation if hee withdraw
brute creature Bless God I say for this for by this means First You are looked upon by the Angels themselves with honour and with respect till such time as the Angels certainly know your Reprobation and that you bee sent down to hell Though you bee wicked for the present and your souls bee defiled yet the Angels know nothing but that these souls though now much fallen from God may bee such as may live with them to injoy eternal communion with God together with them and therefore they look upon you with honour And the providence of God it is more towards you than towards any other creature in the world Doth God take care for Oxen saith the Scripture True the providence of God it is over all his works there is not the least worm that stirs without his providence I but doth God take care for Oxen that is as if the Holy Ghost there should say the providence of God over other creatures it is nothing in comparison of that it is over the spirits of men over those that have immortal souls When God looks upon the creature that hee hath given an immortal soul too why saith God My Providence shall in a special manner bee over this soul And certainly the thoughts of God have been from all eternity working towards those that have immortal souls in a more special manner than towards any of his other creatures how ever you think of God yet that is certain God hath had his thoughts towards you one way or other from all eternity and intends to fetch out a great deal of honor to his name from you one way or other and therefore his Providence is towards you God observes you and marks you what way you take his eye is upon you for hee intends to bring some great glory out of you God will not lose his creature fully you may lose your own souls but God will not lose the glory that hee might have from you but hee will have glory from you one way or other And if God hath given you immortal souls you have cause to bless him because whatsoever you are now yet you are such as are capable of all the good that ever Jesus Christ hath purchased and therefore it is a happy thing for one to have an immortal soul because they are not out of capacity of receiving that good that the Lord Christ hath purchased for his people the brute beasts are not capable they are capable of no higher good but to eat and drink and live here a while and have their senses to bee pleased and there is an end of them but know whatsoever thou art thou art capable of all the good that ever Christ hath purchased and therefore thy condition is a great deal better in that respect than the condition of all other creatures in the world And thou having a soul within thee God hath made thee for eternity one way or other and hee intends for to have thee to live to all eternity in one condition or other Now it is I say a happiness to bee made such a creature as that God should have thoughts about from all eternity It may bee you will say It were better that it were otherwise with us I confess such is the condition of some through their sin living and dying in it that it were better ten thousand times that they had been Dogs or Toads and Serpents I but that is but through thy wickedness but it cannot bee said of the vildest alive for there is none of you but for ought Angels or men know may live eternally to the praise of Gods grace in Christ you have such kinde of natures as are capable of it Now it is true if you should dye in your sins then it might bee said at that instance when you dye in your sins that it had been better that you had been Toads or Serpents or any thing in the world But were not this a sad thing for a man that hath such an excellent nature to live and dye so that they may wish hereafter that they had been Toads or Dogs how many are there that are willing so they may live like a beast to dye like a beast I but that thou canst not bring thy self to dye like a beast thou must be infinitly worse or infinitly better than the brute beasts But bless God that thou hast a nature capable of so much good whatsoever thou art in other respects though God hath made a great difference between thee and others that are of the same kinde in thy outward estate God hath made a great deal of difference between poor and rich between a poor Alms-body that lives in so mean a condition and between a Noble-man a Prince an Emperour I but this difference is made in the outward estate and body but there is no such difference made in their souls thou hast as precious a soul within thee that is naturally as good as ever any Emperour had in the world so Philosophers say of the souls of men mens souls are equal and one is not better than another by nature what they are better by is afterwards by education or by common gifts of the graces of God but by nature all men are equal And therefore that wherein mans excellency is is in his soul thou art as high as any Emperour in the world and therefore it is that the Scripture would have no difference made between the souls of men in Exod. 30.15 you shall finde there by that Scripture that God would not have difference made of the souls of men it is said in the 14. verse Every one that passeth among you that are numbred from twenty years old and above shall give an offering unto the Lord God would have an offering from every one of them Now mark what hee saith in the 15. verse The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel when they give an offering unto the Lord to make an attonement for their souls There must bee the same attonement made for souls both for the rich and for the poor And as wee spake the last day in opening the excellency of the soul it appears by the price that was paid for it so here they are equal in this that the poor mans soul must have as great a price paid to save it as the richest man in the world And therefore bless God for thy soul in this that hee hath made thee equal with the Kings and Princes of the world in that that is thy more noble and more excellent part And bless God for soul-mercies above all mercies If the soul bee so excellent then I say bless God that hath granted thee soul-mercies though hee hath denied thee bodily-bodily-mercies it is no great matter as suppose If so bee that God should take away the sight of thine eyes yet if hee opens the eyes of thine understanding of thy soul thou art happy Suppose that thou art
to the contrary which was required in the spiritual meaning of the Law that forbids covetousness and requires that wee should bee willing to part with all for God when hee calls for it Go and sell all that thou hast and follow mee and take up thy cross and follow mee saith Christ I but the young man hee had great possessions but because â—â—e was no swearer nor stealer nor murderer nor lyar hee thought hee had fulfilled the Law but Christ by putting that to him did as much as if hee should say poor young man thou art deceived thou thinkest that thou are able to do what God requires in his Law but didst thou but understand the spiritual part of the Law thou wouldest see that thou art so cast by it that all that thou art able to do in thy obedience to the Law cannot bee sufficient through the sinfulness of thy heart and nature but thou must perish if thou takest such a course as that is to think to bee saved by the Law certainly this it is upon which thousands of souls do perish they think indeed they are sinners but they hope they shall do better and they are able they think though not without God God must help them to do that that the Word of God requires of them whereby they may come to bee saved now certainly thou knowest not thy fallen condition and how far off thou art from God and what thy sinful estate is naturally that hast such thoughts as these But secondly If thou wouldest have thy soul saved break off the acts of thy sin at least you will say why do we speak to men to break off the acts of their sin why certainly wee may well speak for God doth give men power for outward acts very far thou canst not do it of thy self that is true but there is a common work of Gods Spirit that doth inable men and women for outward acts very far Let him that stole steal no more A man now at the day of judgement cannot say Lord I continued in theft because I was not able to forbear it though thou canst not change thy heart indeed yet forbear the outward act thou canst one that is dumb might say if hee could speak Lord I was no swearer because I could not speak otherwise thou art ready to say I cannot help it but God will finde it otherwise at the great day Certainly if thou wouldest but put thy self upon what strength God gives thee thou mayest as well go to a Sermon as to an Ale-house It is a very false reasoning of people that because they have not true grace therefore God inables them to do no outward acts therefore do what in thee lies to break off the outward acts of thy sin Thou that art a company-keeper a Sabbath-breaker a swearer an unclean person take heed of continuing in the outward way of sinning against God resolve this day against those outward acts of thy sin do but do thus much because thou thinkest thou canst do nothing do but profess thus to God in his presence when thou art gone get alone and say Lord it is true I can do nothing-without thee but here I do ingage my self to joyn with whatsoever thou hast given mee or shalt give mee to abstain from those acts of sin which I have lived in and this Lord I ingage my self to do as ever I expect to bee saved in the day of Jesus Christ canst thou not say these words express thy self but thus to God and certainly these things thou mayest say and that is somewhat That man and woman that shall wilfully go on in those vile gross acts of sin that are against the very light of nature and the light of their consciences for them to come and say What shall I do to bee saved and yet still continue in their sins it is but a trifling with God and taking Gods Name in vain except it bee with a resolution to go thus far Thirdly Thou must labour to take off thine heart as much as thou canst from the things of the world from these outward contentments here from seeking after them as thy greatest good that that was thy chief desire heretofore thou must labour to take off thy heart from and possess thy soul vvith the one thing necessary to conclude thus with thy self it is not necessary that I should be rich that I should bee honourable that I should have these and these outward comforts in the world but it is necessary that I should look to the salvation of my soul when God hath a purpose to save hee doth take the heart off very much from creature-comforts Oh if peoples hearts were but taken off from the world to seek after salvation in a constant way as they are at some flashes when they hear some truths that come near to their hearts or when they are upon their sick-beds Oh how far might they have been gone in the way of salvation but the thoughts of the world hath taken their hearts and all other things have vanisht and come to nothing Fourthly If thou wouldest have thy soul saved thy great care and indeavour must bee to acquaint thy self with the knowledge of the Mysteries of the Gospel of the covenant of grace of the way that God hath chalkt out for salvation let a man or woman have never so good meanings never such good desires and affections live never so fairly and civilly in the world yet if they bee not acquainted with the way that God in the Gospel and in the Covenant of Grace hath revealed for the salvation of souls they may perish for all that God hath appointed but one way to save souls and hee is set upon it and determined that whosoever misses that way must perish whatsoever good thoughts and desires they have otherwise The Eighth SERMON ON The Excellency of the Soul Matthew 16.26 For what is a man profited if hee shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul Quest NOw you will say What is it in the Gospel and in the Covenant of Grace that wee must labour to inform our selves in that wee may bee saved Answ First Thou must labour to inform thy self of the absolute necessity of satisfaction to divine Justice that is revealed in the Gospel and that thou must come to know I am a sinful wretched creature my soul is in a damnable condition now that that must save mee must satisfie Gods infinite Justice I may not bee saved meerly by my crying to God for mercy no if there were nothing else but my crying to God for mercy yea put all my good deeds into the scale put what I have done what I can do what I can bee inabled to do all my prayers my cries this will not do It is true there is not enough in mee but will not Gods mercy eke it out No it is neither what thou doest or canst do or canst be inabled to do and put Gods mercy meerly without
of the Scripture how doth the hopes of those that shall bee saved arise Why they rise thus either by reading or hearing something out of the Word of God and God darting some light some truths into their souls through his Word they come to receive it and there it lies working in them till at length their souls relish it and they taste the sweetness of the Word and come to have comfort in it and so through patience and comfort of the Scriptures their hope comes to bee raised the Scripture in raising hopes first it works patience it usually beats down the soul first and speaks hard things to it and the soul that God over-powers to himself it is willing to lye under the power of the Scripture and bee patient notwithstanding the Scripture doth reveal such hard things and puts it upon never such hard duties the heart I say yeelds to it and at length the soul comes to finde sweetness out of the Scripture and so hopes comes to bee raised that is the soul sees some eternal truth out of the Word of God the truth of God himself that is eternal a divine truth that it dares venture its eternal estate upon and upon this it doth raise its hope it is able to give an account from some place of the Scripture upon what grounds it doth hope I hope that God will shew mercy to mee and save my soul in the day of Christ will some say I but what ground have you for your hopes Now if your hopes bee right then there is somewhat in this Book of God to bee shewed as the ground of this and indeed you can have but little comfort of your hopes except you bee able to hold forth some Scripture of other upon which you build your hopes for when you say you hope you may not mean that you think and aâ—e perswaded that it is so but what Scripture have you for iâ—â—â— you will say what Scriptures have any to ground their hopâ—s of salvation upon what Scriptures a great many I will give you but this one that many have to ground their hopeâ— upon Rom. 8.1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit Upon this now saith a soul that God brings to himself What doâ—h God say in his Word that word upon which my soul stands and must bee cast one day for eternity that those that are in Christ Jesus shall never bee condemned I but who are they such as walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit such as the bent of whose hearts and the indeavours of whose souls are not after fleshly things the comforts of this world but after spiritual things such whom the Lord hath made to be sensible of spiritual things and such as the Lord doth act and guide by his holy Spirit in their waies and conversations God saith such shall never be condemned then upon this I will build my hopes for I feel that the Lord hath been pleased to work so on mee as to bring mee to Jesus Christ to see him to close with him and to relye upon him and I feel the fruit of the Spirit of Christ in mee that whereas before I walked after the flesh and spiritual things I did not savour now I finde that the lusts of the flesh are mortified and I should wrong the grace of God if I should deny the actings and the guidings of the Spirit in my soul and therefore I will build my hopes and rest upon this Scripture And the more any soul rests upon any Scripture if it rests truly the more shall it finde the power of that Scripture upon it Therefore you shall know the difference between an hypocrites resting upon Scripture and one that rests through the work of Gods Grace an Hypocrite rests upon such a Scripture and conceits that his heart is according to the Scripture but now hee doth not finde that the more hee rests the more his heart is wrought upon by the Scripture and daily grows to bee liker and liker to the Scripture to come nearer and nearer to what is required in the Scripture but now when a gracious heart doth rest upon Scripture it findes that daily it doth grow nearer and nearer to the Scripture and that works daily more and more upon it and indeed this is the way to grow in sanctification and to make our hearts like to the Scriptures Fall upon several places and let your souls rest upon them for eternity and so you will finde your hearts to grow more and more like to those Scriptures and the power of those Scriptures will appear more and more in your hearts and conversations This is the way of the Saints that have hopes to bee saved Secondly Again those hopes that are to be rased are hopes that are not wrought in the soul by the power of the Holy Ghost in the forenamed Chapter The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in beleeving that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost That hope that is right for salvation is such a hope as is wrought through the power of the Holy Ghost Now then that hope that is in men and women which is born with them and hath lived with them all their daies that springs from the root of nature for so that that is born with us and grows up with us all the daies of our lives I say it springs from a root of nature and so the hopes of most people they are no other but such as springs from a root of nature come from one to another and ask them do you think to bee saved I I hope so how long have you hoped so ever since I can remember I thank God I I thought so it is a hope that springs out of the root of nature and therefore you have had it alwaies whereas the true hope of the godly for salvation it is a hope wrought in their hearts by the Almighty power of the Holy Ghost And I appeal to you now what Almighty power of the Holy Ghost have you felt in your hearts to raise up those hopes that you have in you For certainly the grace of hope hath a difficulty in it as well as any grace whatsoever now all people almost finde an easiness in that but here the Scripture makes it to bee the glory of the Holy Ghost to raise hopes in any creature therefore those hopes that arise from a root of nature that are not wrought by an Almighty power of the Holy Ghost in the heart must bee rased down Do but put your souls to this question I have hopes to bee saved but Lord how are they wrought what power of the Holy Ghost hath been in my heart to raise these hopes Suppose there were no Holy Ghost as they said in the Acts that they had not so much as heard whether there were any Holy Ghost or no
yet might not I have such a hope as I have in Gods mercy Oh the hope that will bring to salvation is such a hope as is raised by the power of the Holy Ghost Now if our hopes bee raised by the power of the Holy Ghost then they will have much of the Holy Ghost in them and sutable to your hopes so doth the Holy Ghost come into your hearts and dwell in your hearts and if it comes in and dwells in your hearts then it doth inlighten your hearts it doth act and guide you you are lead by the Holy Ghost in your way Now can you say that in the course of your lives it is the Holy Ghost that guides you that you are carried on by the Holy Ghost and not by your own spirits It is true the best of all may bee acted by their own spirits in some time of temptation but for the course of their lives they are acted and guided by the Holy Ghost their lives are such as those that live by them may say here is one that is acted and guided by the Holy Ghost Now can you say so certainly if you have true hopes for salvation it is raised by the Holy Ghost and if it bee raised by the Holy Ghost it doth act your lives in the waies of holiness Thirdly Those hopes must bee rased down that are not lively hopes and purging hopes I will put them both together That are not lively that you have in 1 Pet. 1.3 Blessed bee the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead Here is a great deal in this Scripture First that the hopes of the Saints are lively hopes that is a hope as is mightily working in them it will not suffer their hearts to lye dead in any way of wickedness Indeed it may bee with the hearts of the Saints as it is with a fountain of living water that may have some dirt cast into it but it being a living spring it works out that dirt so the children of God that have some lively hopes may have some dirt cast in by temptation some sin I but if their hopes bee lively it will work it all out And mark you are begotten therefore you see that the hopes of life and salvation it is that that is not bred with us as I spake before but it is that that follows from our new birth And this is by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead The power and the virtue of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead being in the soul and putting a new life into the soul begets it to this lively hope And then it is a purging hope 1 John 3.3 And every man that hath this hope purifieth himself even as hee is pure Mark you think what need men bee so pure and strict are there none of you that ever have scorn'd at purity and preciseness and holiness if you have consider of this text upon which your souls lies every man that hath this hope that is to see Jesus Christ and bee made like unto him hee doth here in this world purifie himself as Jesus Christ is pure that is hee doth make Jesus Christ to bee his pattern in all that hee doth and aims at no less purity than the very purity of the Son of God hee doth aim at it hee makes it his work though hee cannot come fully to it and that very hope that is in him doth work him to this Now what hopes you have had that are not such must bee rased down to the ground if ever you would bee saved at last The Ninth SERMON ON The Excellency of the Soul Matthew 16.26 For what is a man profited if hee shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul Question YOu will say Rased down to the ground what is that Answ By that I mean this First You should bee willing to seek to God and that earnestly that hee would never let you bee at quiet in any false hope be earnest with God in prayer O Lord I see that the matter of my salvation is a matter of infinite consequence if I should mistake if I should miscarry in it it had been better for mee never to have been born O Lord therefore help mee in this thing above all that I may never rest my salvation upon any false hopes that so I may not at the last bee disappointed of my last hopes bee earnest thus with God and bee willing to know the worst of your selves Lord if thou seest the work bee not yet done let mee know it let mee know it now before it is too late It is better to know that yet the work is to begin while you have time to work than to know it after when the time is gone And then bee willing to examine your hopes to lay them to the rule of the Scripture and that very narrowly And if you finde your hopes cannot stand with the Word then resolve thus with your selves the work is yet to bee done the very laying of the foundation of that great work of the saving of my soul it is to begin I but you will say God forbid this wee have not lived all this while to begin to lay the work for the saving of our souls now that were an ill thing indeed O I would to God it were not so but this very thought that some have that they are not now to begin the â—aying of the foundation in saving their souls is that that doth destroy them whereas though a man or woman have lived many years yea though they have been Professours of Religion yet if upon examination they can finde that the saving work of God is not wrought in their hearts and upon that can conclude Lord it is to begin for ought I know I must begin the work again and better it is to begin twice than bee damned once therefore whatsoever becomes of mee I will begin again this were a good sign Suppose you should begin again and it may bee you thought too ill of your selves for it may bee there was some truth in your hopes or hearts that you could not see yet there is no great danger in this that that was good will hold though you do not see it it is the safest way for men and women therefore to bee willing to begin often yea and sometimes it is the best and the readiest course for people that have lost their evidences for salvation and they can see no clear evidences out of Gods Word to settle their hearts upon for the great matter of their salvation I say it is the readiest way for them to do as if they were to begin again rather than to spend time in looking out their old evidences as a man perhaps that hath lost his evidences may have them renewed with less charge and cost than hee can