Grace 2. That God will remove this corruption The first general circumstance of the souls Preparation is on Gods part wherein is The offer of Christ Jesus The condition of this offer and The easiness of this condition we may have all in this one Comparison As with a Malefactor convicted of High Treason for plotting some wicked practice against his Prince if after the discovery of all passages the King make a Proclamation That upon the surceasing of his Enterprises he shall be pardoned nay if the King shall continue to send Message after Message secretly to tell him that would he yet lay down his arms and take a pardon he shall freely be remitted and graciously accepted into favor again if this Traytor now should rather fling away his Pardon then his Weapons then should the King raise an Army and overcome him and take him and execute him without any pity or mercy I appeal to your own Consciences is he not justly rewarded What will the world say he had a fair offer of Pardon and the King sent Messenger after Messenger unto him seeing therefore he refused and neglected such offers it is pity but condemnation should befal him thus would all say Why this is the condition of every poor soul under heaven we are all Rebels and Traytors by our Oathes and Blasphemies we set our mouth against heaven and yet after all our pride and stubbornness and loosness and prophaneness and contempt of Gods Word and Ordinances the Lord is pleased to proclaim Mercy still to every one that will receive it All you that have dishonored my Name All you that have prophaned my Sabbaths and contemned my Ordinances All you cursed wretches Come Come who will and take Pardon therein is the Offer onely let them lay aside all their weapons therein is the Condition and then have Christ for the taking therein is the Easiness of the condition Blessed God may every Soul say if I will not do this for Christ I will do nothing had the Lord required a great matter of me to have attained salvation had he required Thousands of Rams and Ten thousand Rivers of Oyl had he required the first-born of my body for the sins of my soul had he required me to have kneeled and prayed until mine eyes had failed until my hands had been wearied until my tongue had been hoarse and until my heart had fainted one drop of mercy at the last gasp would have quit all this cost But what goodness is this that the Lord should require nothing of me but to lay down my weapons and to receive Christ offered Lo the Lord this day hath sent from heaven and offered Salvation unto you Sons of men the Lord Jesus is become a suitor to you and I am Christs spokesman to speak a good word for him O that we may have our errand from you O that there were such an heart in my people saith God to fear me and keep my Commandments always Shall the Lord and his Messengers thus woo and intreat and will any yet stand out against God and say I will none of Christ I will try it out to the last O then if the great God of Heaven and Earth shall come with Ten thousand thousand of Judgements and execute them upon that man if he shall bring a whole Legion of Devils and say Take him Devils and torment him Devils in Hell for ever because he would not have mercy when it was offered he shall not have mercy because he would not have salvation when it was tendred let him be condemned If God should thus deal with that man the Lord should be just in so doing and he justly miserable SECT. 2. The general Circumstances of Preparation on Mans part THe second general circumstance of the souls Preparation is on Mans part and herein is observable 1. That Corruption opposeth Grace 2. That God will remove this Corruption First The first is clear 1 Cor. 2. 14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God neither can he know them and Acts 7. 51. Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ye do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did so do ye Give us a man in the state of Nature and though all the Mininisters under heaven should preach mercy unto him though all the Angels in heaven should exhort and intreat him though all glory and happiness were laid before him and he were wished onely to believe and take it and it should be his for ever yet in his natural condition he could have no power to receive so blessed an offer howsoever this hinders not but he is to wait upon God in the means And then Secondly God may remove this Corruption which he himself cannot do Herein observe we The Author Time of this Grace First The Author is God I will take away their stony hearts saith God and give them an heart of flesh I will remove that sturdy heart which is in them and will give them a frameable teachable heart which shall ply and yield to whatsoever I shall teach them The taking away of the indisposition of the soul to any duty and the fitting framing and disposing of a soul to perform any Spiritual service is the alone work of God Quiet then thy soul and content thy heart thou mayst say I have an hard heart within and it will receive no good from without the Word prevails not the Sacraments have no power over me all the means and cost and charges that God hath bestowed upon me is lost and my heart is not yet humbled my corruptions are not yet weakned But in this be thou comforted though means cannot do it which God useth at his pleasure yet the Lord can do it there is nothing difficult to him that hath hardness it self at command Be then Exhorted you that have stony hearts to have recourse unto this great God of heaven Should a Physician set up a Bill That he would cure all that were troubled with the Stone in the Reins and that we should hear of many healed by him this would stir up all to repair to him that labored of this Disease Why the Lord this day hath set up a Bill That he will cure all stony hearts that will but come to him and all the children of God have found to the proof hereof to the comfort of their souls You wives therefore that have husbands with stony hearts and you parents that have children with stony hearts tell them You have heard this day of a Physician that will cure them and exhort them to repair unto him Secondly the Time of this Grace is either in regard of the Means Men 1. In regard of the Means and that is when the Sons of men have the Gospel shining in their faces if ever good work upon their hearts it will be then This should teach us how thankful we ought to be unto the Lord that enjoy
these liberties in the Land of the living That a man was born in such a time in the last Age of the World in such a place in this Kingdom wherein the way of life and salvation is so fully so plainly and so powerfully made known that the Sun of the Gospel shines full in his face and is not yet set O how thankful should he be And for those that neglect the Means of their Salvation how should we pity them Me thinks I see a poor creature that slighted mercy and Salvation when it was offered him me thinks I see that soul lying upon his deaths-bed light is departing from his eyes and his soul is departing from his body O the name of a Minister of a Church they are as Bills of Indictments against coming the Soul of this man me thinks I hear such a man say at his last gasp The day is gone the gate is shut and now it is too late to enter And thus the soul departs from his body the body to the grave and the soul to hell O what bitter lamentations will that soul make in hell O the golden time that I have seen and not regarded O the gracious opportunities of Salvation that my eyes have beheld and yet I neglected O the mercy and grace and goodness of God that have been offered unto me All these I have contemned and trampled under my feet and therefore now must I be tormented with the Devil and his Angels from everlasting to everlasting Now the Lord give us hearts to take notice of these things If I were now breathing out my last breath I would breathe out this Legacy to all surviving Christians This is the accepted time this is the day of Salvation Do you hear This day is Grace offered and if any here would entertain it O what comfort might he have I was never humbled afore might he say but this day I was humbled I could never before receive mercy but this day have I received it O this was a good day to me now blessed am I for ever 2. In regard of men on whom God works that is to say on some in their tender age on some in their ripe age on some in their old age But however the Lord doth at several times convert several of his servants yet most and most usually before their old age and that some Interpreters wittily observe out of the Parable of the Vineyard Mat. 20. 3 4 5. The master of the vineyard saith the Text went out at the third sixth and ninth hour and saw some standing idle and he sent them into his vineyard He went then say Interpreters on purpose to see and hire and to send in laborers to work in his Vineyard but he went out at the eleventh hour not to hire any he expected not then to have seen any idle he went out upon some other occasion and therefore seeing them standing he wondred at it saying Why stand ye here all the day idle as if he should say No man will hire you now it is but an hour to night and therefore rather a time to leave working then to begin to work O let this provoke us that while the flower is in prime we would use all means for our good let us now in the heat and summer of our days improve our selves in good works that so when the harvest comes we may be gathered into Gods Barn O would we be exhorted to take the best time and opportunity of salvation then might we receive the fruits of our labors the salvation of our souls CHAP. III. The substantial parts of Preparation on Gods part or his dispensations of his work on the Soul HItherto of the general Circumstances of the souls preparing for Christ Now the Substantial parts of this Preparation are generally two The Dispensation of Gods work on the soul Disposition of the soul by Gods work The Dispensation of Gods work discovers it self in drawing the soul From sin To himself But because these two are made up by one action and motion we shall therefore handle them together and the sum is this That God by an holy kinde of violence which is called Drawing Joh. 6. 44. doth pluck the soul from those sins that harbor in it unto himself wherein we may consider two things 1. What the nature of this drawing is 2. The means whereby God draws First for the nature of this drawing it is of a double kinde 1. There is a Moral drawing when by Reasons propounded and good things offered to the Understanding and Will a man comes thereby to have his minde illightened and his will moved to embrace things offered Thus was it with Paul when he was constrained by Lydia to abide in her house Acts 16. 15. 2. There is a Physical drawing when the Lord is pleased to put a new power into the soul of a sinner and withal to carry the will to the object propounded that it may embrace it when the Lord not onely offers good things to the soul but enables the soul to lay hold upon the things offered And thus the Lord draws a sinner from sin unto himself Secondly for the means whereby he draws they are these four First the Lord lets in a light into the soul of a poor sinner and discovers unto him that he is in a wrong way This the soul marvels at because usually it comes on a sudden the sinner perceiving nothing less Isa. 66. 1. Secondly though a man would defeat the power of this light yet God still follows it with forcible Arguments and draws with the cord of his Mercy I taught Ephraim to go saith God taking them by the arms I drew them by the cords of love and with the bonds of a man This mercy consists in these bonds or this love is made up of four cords 1. The Lord reveals himself to be ready to receive and willing and easie to entertain poor sinners when they come unto him Let the wicked saith the Prophet forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and be will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon the word in the Original is He will multiply pardons Hast thou multiplied rebellions the Lord will also multiply pardons The bowels of compassion are still open and the arms of mercy are still spread abroad he pardoned Manasses and Paul and Peter and so will he thee his pardons are multiplied there is yet mercy for thee also and for a thousand thousand more 2. The Lord is not onely ready to forgive when men come to to him but that they may come he also calls and commands them O but may I saith a poor sinner shall I dare I go unto the Lord God for mercy may I be so bold to press in for favor at the hands of the Lord I have been a grievous sinner and have heaped abomination upon abomination I
am afraid therefore to approach near unto the Lords presence Is it so hear what the Lord saith Come unto me ye rebellious people and I will heal your rebellions You that never prayed never came to hear all Rebels come unto me and then the people answer Behold we come unto thee for thou art our God This is great encouragement to a poor sinner he begins now to wonder and say Lord shall all my sins be pardoned shall all my oathes and abominations be forgiven I that slighted so many mercies and committed so many follies shall I be entertained Yes saith the Lord come unto me and thou shalt be forgiven come I command you come 3. The Lord doth not onely command a poor sinner to come in but when he is nice in this case saying There is mercy with God but not for me the Lord then followeth him still and sends another cord after him that if it be possible he may win him and woo him to receive mercy of him If command therefore prevail not he intreats and beseeches him to come and receive mercy and this me thinks should move the hardest heart under heaven We saith the Apostle are embassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be reconciled unto God rather then you should go away from Christ even Mercy it self will come and kneel down before you and beseech you and intreat you for the Lord Jesus sake to pity your poor souls and to receive pardon for your sins A sinner is not able to comprehend this but he begins to be at a stand and at amazement What that the Lord should beseech him O that thou wouldst receive pardon for thy sins and be blessed for ever Good Lord saith the Soul is this possible that the great King of Heaven should come and beseech such a Traytor such a Rebel as I am to take pardon That a King on Earth should proclaim a pardon to some notorious Traytor this were much but that the King of Heaven should lay down his Crown and come creeping to me and beseech me on his knee as it were to take mercy this is a thing beyond all expectation What shall Heaven stoop to earth shall Majesty stoop to misery shall the great God of Heaven and Earth that might have condemned my soul and if I had perished and been damned might have took glory by my destruction Is it possible is it credible that this God should not onely entertain me when I come and command me for to come but intreat and beseech me to come and receive mercy from him O the depth of the incomprehensible love of God! Imagine you saw God the Father intreating you and God the Son beseeching you as he doth this day Come now and forsake your sins and take mercy which is prepared for you and shall be bestowed upon you Would not this make a soul think thus with it self What for a Rebel not onely to have mercy offered but to be intreated to receive mercy it were pity if I will not take it but I should go to Hell and be damned for ever The Lord he complains Why will ye dye as I live saith the Lord I desire not the death of a sinner Turn ye turn ye why will ye dye ye sinful Sons of men Mercy is offered you the Lord Jesus reacheth out his hand to you fain would he pluck the Drunkard out of the Alehouse and the Adulterer from his Whore O if you break this cord I know not what to say to you this is able to break a Mountain in pieces Shake O Mountains saith the Prophet Why because God hath redeemed Jacob The Redemption of Jacob was enough to break a Mountain let his Mercy break our hearts it is God that begs the blessing is our own 4. If yet all this prevail nothing at all the Lord will then wait and stay in long patience and suffering to see if any time a sinner will turn unto him Our Savior follows poor sinners from Alehouse to Alehouse and says I beseech you Drunkards take mercy and have your sins pardoned The Lord as we may say tires himself and wearieth himself with waiting one day after another and one week after another It may be saith Christ this week this Sabbath this Sermon a sinner will turn unto me what will it never be Are you not ashamed my friends that the Lord Jesus should thus wait your leisure and follow you from house to house and from place to place nay that Christ should every morning appear to your understanding and every night come to your bed-side saying Let this be the last night of sinning and the next day the first day of your repentance O when will you be humbled when will you receive mercy that it may go well with you and with yours for ever If none of the other will move you yet for shame let this cord draw you to the Lord Hear hear his doleful pangs O Jerusalem Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean O when will it once be A woman that is in travel O how she expects and longs for her delivery I now a throb comes and then she cryes anon comes a second throb and then she cryes again O when comes deliverance Thus God the Father takes on him the person of a travelling woman he travels and travels until he bring forth a son until some soul be converted and brought home unto him O Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean when will it once be I have waited one ten twenty thirty forty years long have I waited on this generation when will it once be The Lord thus travels in patience looking when we will receive mercy will never our proud hearts be humbled will never our stubborn hearts be softned will never our prophane hearts be sanctified when will it once be Christ hath waited this day this week this moneth this quarter this year these ten twenty thirty forty years on us You old sinners that are gray-headed in your wickedness how long hath the Lord waited on you O for shame let him wait no longer but turn turn ye unto him that ye may receive mercy from him Thirdly if bonds of love move not the Lord hath iron cords that will pluck in pieces to wit the cords of Conscience which thus disputes He that being often reproved doth still harden his heart shall perish everlastingly But thou being often reproved dost still harden thy heart therefore thou shalt perish everlastingly In this Syllogism are contained the Monition Accusation Condemnation of Conscience In the first Proposition Conscience gives the sinner a Monition to come from sin upon pain of the heaviest Judgement that can be inflicted It is the Lord that sends the Conscience on this errand Go to such a man and tell him You have blasphemed Gods Name and you have spoken against Gods Saints and you have broken Gods Sabbaths and you have contemned
Gods Ordinances Be it known then unto thee saith Conscience when it delivers the Message That I have a command from Heaven and from God I charge you as you will answer it at the dreadful day of Judgement take heed of those evils and sinful practises that heretofore you have committed lest you damn your souls for ever Will you question his Commission see Prov. 29. 1. He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed if you be often reproved and will not be bettered then the Lord says and Conscience from the Lord tells you Be it at your own peril ye shall suddenly be destroyed No sooner Conscience thus perks upon the crown but the sinner hangs the wing and withdraws himself from his former lewd courses But now when wicked persons see their companion is gone they make after him amain and then Conscience plucks one way and they pluck another way at last by carnal company and cursed perswasions the soul is drawn back again to his former wicked courses and so perhaps this twist is broken and the sinner is gone 2. If so then Conscience that was a Monitor now turns Accuser in the minor Proposition before it was onely Gods Herald to forewarn him but now it is become a Pursevant and Sergeant to Arrest him it follows him to the Alehouse and pursues him home then takes him in his bed and Arrests him in his sleep there by a Meditation it hales the soul before the Tribunal seat of God saying Lo Lord this is the man this is the Drunkard Adulterer Blasphemer this is he Lord an enemy to thy Servants an hater of thy Truth a despiser of thy Ordinances at such a time in such a place with such a company this man despised thy Truth this is he Lord this is the man And when Conscience hath thus dragged him before God and accused him then Take him Jaylor take him Devil saith the Lord and imprison him let vexation and horror and trouble and anguish lie upon his soul until he confess his sins and resolve to forsake them In this case was David when he was forced to say My bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me my moisture is turned into the drought of summer What then O then saith David I acknowledged my sin unto thee I confessed my transgressions unto thee O Lord and so thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin David he folded up his sins at the first and therefore his bones were consumed and he roared continually when the Lord had him on the Rack he made him roar again and would never leave tormenting till David came to confessing but when he confessed this sin and the other sin then the Lord forgave him the iniquity of his sin Thus Conscience brings the soul of a sinner on the Rack as Traytors are used that will not confess otherwise and makes him to confess his sins and then he cryes O the abominations I have committed which the Sun never saw in such a place at such a time O then I railed on Gods servants blasphemed Gods Name I prophaned Gods Sabbaths and contemned his Ordinances what then Conscience will make him confess more yet to the Rack again with him and then he cryes and roars for anguish of spirit then he confesses all and resolves to amend then he will pray and hear and sanctifie Gods Sabbaths and lead a new life Thus Conscience receives some satisfaction and begins to be quiet and now having got some quiet his cursed Companions set upon him again Refresh say they your soul with some of your ancient dalliance c. To this and the like Temptations of Satan he listens again and then he begins to follow his old sins perhaps with more violence and eagerness then ever he did before and now is another twist broken likewise 3. If so then Conscience that was a Monitor and Accuser now turns Executioner The first Proposition admonished the second accused if neither of these prevail then Conscience concludes Thou must to execution thou shalt perish everlastingly And now Conscience cryes Monitions or Accusations could not prevail with this man Come come ye damned ghosts and take away this Drunkard this Blasphemer this Adulterer and throw him headlong into the pit of Hell he would not be amended let him be condemned he would not be humbled therefore let him be damned The man hearing this then he is amazed and thinks himself past hope past help past cure Did you ever see or hear a tormented Conscience in these pangs Now he calls then he cryes Lo where Devils stand the Heavens frown God is incensed Hell-mouth is open And now a Minister is sent for who displays to this despairing soul the Mercy and Grace of God in Christ Jesus O replies he this is my bane my damnation if I had never heard of Mercy if I had never lived under the Gospel and the means of Salvation then had I been an happy man Alas it is Mercy I have neglected it is Salvation I have contemned how then should I be saved O the perswasions of the Lord that I have had the Lord hath even wept over me as he did over Jerusalem O that thou hadst known the things belonging to thy peace yet all these perswasions have I contemned and therefore certainly to Hell I must go The Minister replyes Truth it is you have done thus but would you do so still is it good now to be drunk or to blaspheme or to rail on Gods Saints or contemn Gods Ordinances O no no saith he I now finde what the end of those wicked courses will be Gods Word could not prevail with me the Minister could not perswade me O the good Sermons that I have heard the very flames of Hell have even flashed in my face the Minister hath spent his pains and would have spent his blood for the good of my poor soul But alas I despised the Word and mocked the Minister Wo wo unto me for ever now my Conscience gnaws and tears and terrifies my soul here and I shall to Hell hereafter and perish for ever and ever The Minister replyes again The truth is you have done thus but would you do so now would you still blaspheme and curse and be drunk and riotous or rather would you not now part with all these and take mercy in stead of them Then the poor soul cryes out Now the Lord for his mercies sake remove these sins from me O I had never so much delight in my sins heretofore as now I have wo misery and vexation for them but alas it is not in my power to help my soul if the Lord would do this let him do what he will with it What saith the Minister you are then willing and content to part with your sins O yes saith the soul I would rather offend all the world then God I had rather go to hell then
through his heart and he is breathing out his sorrow as though he were going down to hell and he saith If there be any mercy any love any fellowship of the Spirit have mercy upon me a poor creature that am under the burthen of the Almighty O pray and pity these wounds and vexations of Spirit which no man findes nor feels but he that hath been thus wounded It is a sign of a soul wholly devoted to destruction that hath a desperate disdain against poor wounded creatures Is it possible there should harbor such a Spirit in any man if the Devil himself were incarnate I cannot conceive what he could do worse 2. If ever thou wouldst be comforted and receive mercy from God labor never to be quiet till thou dost bring thy heart to a right pitch of sorrow thou hast a little slight sorrow but Oh! labor to have thy heart truly touched that at last it may break in regard of thy many distempers remember the longer seed-time the greater harvest Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted but wo to you that are at ease in Zion Thou hadst better now be wounded then everlastingly tormented and therefore if thou desirest to see Gods face with comfort if thou wouldst hear Christ say Come thou poor heavy-hearted sinner I will ease thee Labor to lay load on thy heart with sorrow for thy sin O what a comfort shall a poor broken heart finde in that day SECT. 5. The extent of this Sorrow HItherto of Contrition the next work is Humiliation which differs from the other not in substance but circumstance For Humiliation as I take it is onely the extent of Sorrow for Sin of which we have spoken and it contains these two Duties 1. Submission 2. Contentedness to be at the Lords disposal The first part of Humiliation is Submission which is wrought thus The sinner having now had a Sight of his Sins and a Sorrow in some measure for Sin he seeks far and wide improves all means and takes up all Duties that if it were possible he might heal his wounded soul Thus seeking and seeking but finding no succor in what he hath or doth he is forced at last in his despairing condition to make tryal of the Lord It is true for the present he apprehends God to be just and to be incensed against him he hath no experience of Gods favor for the while no certainty how he shall speed if he go to the Lord yet because he sees he cannot be worse then he is and that none can help him but God if it would please him therefore he falls at the footstool of Mercy and he lies grovelling at the gate of Grace and submits himself to the Lord to do with him as pleaseth himself or as it seemeth good in his eyes This was the Ninevites case when Jonah had denounced that heavy Judgement and as it were thrown wilde fire about the streets saying Within forty days Niniveh shall be destroyed See what they resolved upon They fasted and prayed and put on sackcloth and ashes who can tell said they but God may turn and repent him of his fierce wrath that we perish not as if they had said We know not what God will do but this we know that we cannot oppose his Judgements nor succor our selves Thus it is with a sinner when he seeth hell fire to flash in his face and that he cannot succor himself then he saith This I know that all the means in the world cannot save me yet who can tell but the Lord may have mercy on me and cure his tdistressed Conscience and heal all these wounds that sin hath made in my soul This is the lively picture of the soul in this case Or for a further light this Subjection discovers it self in four particulars First he seeth and confesseth that the Lord for ought he knows will proceed in Justice against him and execute upon him those Plagues that God hath threatned and his Sins have deserved he seeth that Justice is not yet satisfied and those reckonings between God and him are not yet made up and therefore he cannot apprehend but that God will take vengeance on him What else when he hath done all he can he is unprofitable still Justice remains unsatisfied and saith Thou hast sinned and I am wronged and therefore thou shalt dye Secondly he conceives that what God will do that he will do and he cannot avoid it if the Lord will come and require the glory of his Justice against him there is no way to avoid it nor to bear it and this crusheth the heart and makes the soul to be beyond all shifts and evasions whereby it may seem to avoid the dint of the Lords blow Thirdly he casts away his weapons and falls down before the Lord and resigns himself into the soveraign power and command of God Thus David when the Lord cast him out of his Kingdom he said to Zadock Carry back the Ark of God into the City if I shall finde favor in the eyes of the Lord he will bring me back again and shew me both it and his Habitation But if he thus say to me I have no delight in thee behold here I am let him do with me as seemeth good in his eyes This is the frame of a poor soul when a poor sinner will stand upon his priviledges the Lord saith Bear my Justice and defend thy self by all thou hast or canst do and the soul answereth I am thy Servant Lord do what is good in thine eyes I cannot succor my self Fourthly the soul freely acknowledgeth That it is in Gods power to do with him and dispose of him as he will and therefore he lies and licks the dust and cryes Mercy mercy Lord he thinks not to purchase Mercy at the Lords hands but onely saith It is in Gods good pleasure to do with him as he will onely he looks for favor and cryes Mercy Lord mercy to this poor distressed soul of mine O replies the Lord dost thou need mercy Cannot thy Hearing and Praying and Fasting carry thee to heaven without hazard Gird up now thy loyns and make thy ferventest Prayers and let them meet my Justice and see if they can bear my Wrath or purchase any Mercy No no saith the sinner I know it by lamentable experience that all my prayers and performances will never procure peace to my soul nor give my satisfaction to thy Justice I onely pray for Mercy and I desire onely to hear some News of Mercy to relieve this miserable wretched soul of mine it is onely Mercy that must help me O Mercy if it be possible to this poor distressed soul of mine Me thinks the picture of those poor famished Lepers may â—itly resemble this poor sinner when the Famine was great in Samaria There were four leprous men sate in the gate of the City and they said Why sit we here until we dye if we enter into
the heart of a Drunkard or Adulterer he begins thus to think with himself The Lord saw all the evils I committed and what then O then the Soul admires that ever Gods Justice was able to bear with such a monster and that God did not confound him in his drunkenness or burning lusts and cast him down into hell Oh saith he it is because his mercies fail not that my life and all have not failed long ago Hence it is that the Soul will not maintain any kinde of murmuring or heart-rising against the Lords dealings or if Nature and Corruption will be striving sometimes and say Why are not my prayers answered I know such a soul humbled and I see such a foul comforted and why not I as well as he then the Soul stifles and crusheth and choaks these wretched distempers and doth also abase it self before the Lord saying What if God will not hear my prayers What if God will not pacifie my Conscience doth the Lord do me any wrong Vile Hell-hound that I am I have my sin and my shame Wrath is my portion and Hell is my place thither may I go when I will it is mercy that God thus deals with me And now the Soul clears God in his Justice and saith It is just with God that all the prayers which comes from this filthy heart of mine should be abhorred and that all my labors in holy Duties should never be blessed It is I that have sinned against checks of Conscience against Knowledge against Heaven and therefore it is just that I should carry this horror of heart with me to the Grave it is I that have abused Mercy and therefore it is just that I should go with a tormenting Conscience down into hell And O that if I be in hell I might have a spirit to glorifie and justifie thy Name there and say Now I am come down to hell amongst you damned creatures but the Lord is righteous and blessed for ever in all his doings and dealings and I am justly condemned Thirdly hence the Soul comes to be quiet and frameable under the heavy hand of God in that helpless condition wherein he is it takes the blow and lies under the burthen and goes away quietly and patiently O this is an heart worth gold O saith he it is fit that God should glorifie himself though I be damned for ever for I deserve the worst Whatsoever I have it is the reward of my own works and the end of my own ways if I be damned I may thank my pride and my stubbornness and my peevishness of spirit What shall I repine against the Lord because his wrath and his displeasure lies heavy upon me Oh no! let me repine against my sin the cause of all let me grudge against my base heart that hath nourished these Adders in my bosom but let me bless the Lord and not speak one word against him Thus David I held my tongue saith he and spake nothing because thou Lord hast done it So the Soul when the Sentence of condemnation is even seizing upon him and God seems to cast him out of his favor then he cryes I confess God is just and therefore I bless his Name and yield unto him but sin sin is the worker of all this misery on me Jeremiah pleading the case of the Church now going to Captivity Wo is me for my hurt saith he my wound is grievous but I said Truly this is my grief and I must bear it Such is the frame of an heart truly humbled it is content to take all to it self and so to be quiet saying This is my wound and I must bear it this is my sorrow and I will suffer it Thus you see what is the behavior of the Soul in this Contentedness to be at the Lords disposal Object But some may object Must the soul or ought the soul to be thus content to be left in this damnable condition Ans. For answer This Contentedness implyes two things First a carnal security and a regardlesness of a mans estate and and this is a most cursed sin Secondly a calmness of Soul not murmuring against the Lords dispensation towards him and this Contentedness is ever accompanyed with the Sight of a mans sin and Suing for Mercy It ever improves all means and helps that may bring him nearer to God but if Mercy shall deny it the Soul is satisfied and rests well apaid And this Contentedness opposed against quarrelling with the Almighty every humbled Soul doth attain to although in every one it is not so plainly seen To give it in a Comparison A Thief taken for Robbery on whom the Sentence of Death hath passed he should not neglect the means to get a Pardon and yet if he cannot procure it he must not murmure against the Judge for condemning him to death because he hath done nothing but Law So we should not be careless in using all means for our good but still seek to God for Mercy yet thus we must be and thus we ought to be contented with whatsoever Mercy shall deny because we are not worthy of any favor The Soul in a depth of Humiliation it first stoops to the condition that the Lord will appoint he dares not fly away from God nor repine against the Lord but he lies down meekly 2. As he is content with the hardest measure so he is content with the longest time he will stay for mercy be it never so long I will wait upon the Lord saith Isaiah that hath hid his face from Jacob and I will look for him so the humbled sinner Although the Lord hide his face and turn away his loving countenance from me yet I will look towards Heaven so long as I have an eye to see and a hand to lift up the Lord may take his own time it is maners for me to wait nay the poor broken heart resolves thus If I lie and lick the dust all my days and cry for mercy all my life long if my last words might be Mercy mercy it were well I might get mercy at my last gasp Thirdly as he is content to stay the longest time so is he content with the least pittance of mercy Let my condition be never so hard saith the soul do Lord what thou wilt for me let the fire of thy wrath consume me here onely recover me hereafter if I finde mercy at the last I am content and whatsoever thou givest I bless thy name for it he quarrels not saying Why are not my graces increased and why am I not thus and thus comforted No he looks for mercy and if he have but a crum of mercy he is comforted and quieted for ever And now you may suppose the heart is brought very low Hence we collect 1. That they which have the greatest parts and gifts and ability and honor are for the most part hardly brought home to the Lord Jesus Christ they that are most hardly humbled are
in some measure To be truly humbled is the next way to be truly comforted The Lord will look to him that hath an humble contrite heart and trembles at his word The Lord will not onely know him he knows the wicked too in a general maner but he will give him such a gracious look as shall make his heart dance in his breast Thou poor humbled Soul the Lord will give thee a glimpse of his favor when thou art tired in thy trouble when thou lookest up to heaven the Lord will look down upon thee and will refresh thee with Mercy God hath prepared a sweet morfel for his childe he will revive the humble O be humbled then every one of you and the Lord Jesus who comes with healing under his wings will comfort you and you shall see the Salvation of our God Thirdly Humiliation ushers glory Whosoever humbles himself as a little childe shall be greatest in the kingdom of heaven He shall be in the highest degree of grace here and of glory hereafter for as thy Humiliation so shall be thy Faith and Sanctification and Obedience and Glory And now me-thinks your hearts begin to stir and say Hath the Lord engaged himself to this O then Lord make me humble Now the Lord make me and thee and all of us humble that we may have this mercy See how Everlasting happiness and blessedness looks and waits for every humbled Soul Come saith Happiness thou that hast been vile and base and mean in thy own eyes Come and be greatest in the Kingdom of heaven Brethren though I cannot prevail with your hearts yet let Happiness that kneels down and prays you to take mercy let that I say prevail with you If any man be so regardless of his own good I have something to say to him that may make his heart shake within him But Oh! Who would not have the Lord Jesus to dwell with him who would not have the Lord Christ by the glory of his Grace to honor and refresh him Me thinks your hearts should yearn for it and say O Lord break my heart and humble me that Mercy may be my portion for ever nay me thinks every man should say as St. Paul did I would to God that not onely I but all my children and servants were not onely thus as I am but also if it were Gods will much more humbled that they might be much more comforted and refreshed Then might you say with comfort on your deaths-bed Though I go away and leave wife and children behinde me poor and mean in the world yet I leave Christ with them when you are gone this will be better for them then all the beaten gold or honors in the world What can I say but since the Lord offers so kindely now Kiss the Son be humble yield to all Gods Commands take home all Truths and be at Gods disposing Let all the evil that is threatned and all the good that is offered prevail with your hearts or if means cannot yet the Lord prevail with you the Lord empty you that Christ may fill you the Lord humble you that you may enjoy happiness and peace and be lifted up to the highest pinacle of Glory there to raign for ever and ever CHAP. V. The Call on Gods part for the Soul to close with and to relye on Christ HItherto of our first general to wit The Preparation of the Soul for Christ The next is The Implantation of the Soul into Christ and that hath two parts 1. The putting of the Soul into Christ 2. The growing of the Soul with Christ As a graft is first put into the stock and then it grows together with the stock These two things are answerable in the Soul and when it is brought into this then a sinner comes to be partaker of all spiritual benefits The first part is The putting in of the Soul when the Soul is brought out of the world of sin to lie upon and to close with the Lord Jesus Christ and this hath two particular passages The Call on Gods part The Answer on mans part The Call on Gods part is this When the Lord by the Call of his Gospel and work of his Spirit doth so clearly reveal the fulness of Mercy that the Soul humbled returns Answer In which observe the Means Cause whereby God doth Call 1. The Means is onely the Ministery of the Gospel the sum whereof is this That There is fulness of Mercy and Grace and Salvation brought unto us through the Lord Jesus Christ Hence the phrase of Scripture calls this Gospel or this mercy A treasury All the treasures of wisdom and holiness are in Christ not One treasure but All treasures not Some treasures but All treasures where the Gospel comes there is joy for the sorrowful peace for the troubled strength for the weak relief seasonable and suitable to all wants miseries and necessities both present and future If then sorrow assail thee when thou art come thus far look not on thy sins to pore upon them neither look into thy own sufficiency to procure any good there It is true thou must see thy sins and sorrow for them but this is for the lower Form and thou must get this lesson before-hand and when thou hast gotten this lesson of Contrition and Humiliation look then onely to Gods Mercy and the riches of his Grace in Christ 2. For the Cause The Lord doth not onely appoint the Means but by the work of the Spirit he doth bring all the riches of his grace into the soul truly humbled if you ask How First with strength of evidence the Spirit presents to the broken-hearted sinner the right of the freeness of Gods grace to the soul And secondly the Spirit doth forcibly soak in the rellish of that grace and by an over-piercing work doth leave some dint of supernatural and spiritual vertue on the heart Now the word of the Gospel and the work of the Spirit always go together not that God is tyed to any means but that he tyeth himself to the means Hence the Gospel is called The power of God to Salvation because the power of God ordinarily and in common course appears therein The waters of life and salvation run onely in the channel of the Gospel there are golden mines of grace but they are onely to be found in the Climates of the Gospel nay observe this when all arguments prevail not with corruption to perswade the heart to go to God one Text of Scripture will stand a man in stead above all humane learning and inventions because the Spirit goes forth in this and none else This may teach us the worth of the Gospel above all other things in the world for it is accompanied with the Spirit and brings salvation with it What if a man had all the wealth and policy in the world and wanted this he were a fool What if one were able to dive deep into
the secrets of Nature to know the motions of the Stars to speak with the tongues of men and Angels and yet know nothing belonging to his peace what avails it Why do we value a Mine but because of the gold in it or a Cabinet but because of the Pearl in it O this is that pearl we sell all for Wouldst thou know whether thou art carnal or spiritual observe then if thou hast the Spirit it ever came with the Gospel See then how the soul stands affected with the Gospel and so it stands affected to the Spirit Is it so may every soul reason with it self that I will not suffer the word to prevail with me then shall I miss of the Spirit then will Christ none of me O remember the time will come when you must dye as well as your neighbors and then you will say Lord Jesus forgive my sins Lord Jesus receive my soul But Christ will answer Away be gone you are none of mine I know you not Any man whether noble or ignoble let him be what he will be if he hath not the Spirit he is none of Christs His you are to whom you obey but Pride and Covetousness you obey Pride therefore will say This heart is mine Lord I have domineered over it and I will torment it Corruptions will say We have owned this soul and we will damn it You therefore that have made a tush at the Word This wind shakes no corn and these words break no bones little do you think that you have opposed the Spirit What resist the Spirit me-thinks it is enough to sink any soul under heaven Hereafter therefore think this with thy self Were he but a man that speaks yet would I not despise him but that is not all there goeth Gods Spirit with the Word and shall I despise it There is but one step between this and that unpardonable sin against the holy Ghost onely adding Malice to my Rage I oppose the Father perhaps the Son mediates for me I despise the Son perhaps the holy Ghost pleads for me but if I oppose the Spirit none can succor me CHAP. VI SECT. 1. The Answer on mans part for the Soul to close with and to relye on Christ HItherto of the Call on Gods part now we are come to the Answer on mans part No sooner hath the Gospel and Gods Spirit clearly revealed the fulness of Gods mercy in Christ but then the whole soul both the Minde that discovers mercy and Hope that expects it and Desire that pursues it and Love that entertains it and the Will that rests on it gives answer to the Call of God therein Mercy is a proper object of all these of the Minde to be illightned of Hope to be sustained of Desire to be supported of Love to be cheared Nay there is a full satisfactory sufficiency of all good in Christ that so the will of man may take full repose and rest in him therefore the Lord saith Come unto me all that are weary and heavy laden Come Minde and Hope and Desire and Love and Will and Heart they all answer We come The Minde saith Let me know this Mercy above all and desire to know nothing but Christ and him crucified Let me expect this Mercy saith Hope that belongs to me and will befal me Desire saith Let me long after it O saith Love let me embrace and welcome it O saith the Heart let me lay hold on the handle of Salvation here we will live and here we will dye at the footstool of Gods Mercy Thus all go Minde Hope Desire Love Joy the Will and all lay hold upon the Promise and say Let us make the Promise a prey let us prey upon mercy as the wilde Beasts do upon their provision Thus the faculties of the soul hunt and pursue this mercy and lay hold thereupon and satisfie themselves herein SECT. 2. A sight of Christ or of mercy in Christ BUt for a further discovery of these works of the soul we shall now enter into particulars And for their order First the Lord lets a light into the minde for what the eye never seeth the heart never desireth hope never expecteth the soul never imbraceth If the soul then seems to hang afar off and dares not believe that Christ will have mercy on him in this case the Spirit lets in a light into his heart and discovers unto him that God will deal graciously with him It is with a sinner as with a man that sits in darkness haply he seeth a light in the street out of a window but he sits still in darkness and is in the dungeon all the while and he thinks How good were it if a man might enjoy that light So many a poor humble-hearted broken sinner seeth and hath an inckling of Gods mercies he heareth the Saints speak of Gods love and his goodness and compassion Ah thinks he how happy are they blessed are they what an excellent condition are they in but I am in darkness still and never had a drop of mercy vouchsafed unto me At last the Lord sets a light in his house and puts the candle into his own hand and makes him see by particular evidence Thou shalt be pardoned and thou shalt be saved The maner how the Spirit works this is discovered in three passages First the Spirit of the Lord meeting with an humble broken lowly self-denying sinner he that is a proud stout-hearted wretch knows nothing of this matter it opens the eye and now the humbled sinner begins to see like the man in the Gospel some light and glimmering about his understanding that he can look into and discern the spiritual things of God 2. Then the Lord says before him all the riches of the treasure of his grace no sooner hath he given him an eye but then he lays colours before him the unsearchable riches of Christ that he may see and look and fall in love with those sweet treasures and then saith the soul O that mercy and grace and pardon were mine O that my sins were done away the Lord saith I will refresh them that are heavy laden then saith the soul O that I had that refreshing you shall have rest saith God O that I had rest too saith the soul And now the soul begins to look after the mercy and compassion which is laid afore it 3. The Spirit of the Lord doth witness or certifie throughly and effectually to the soul that this mercy in Christ belongs unto him and without this the soul of an humble broken-hearted sinner hath no ground to go unto Christ what good doth it an hungry stomack to hear that there is a great deal of cheer and dainties provided for such and such men and he have no part therein Take a Beggar that hath a thousand pounds told before him he may apprehend the sum of so much gold and so much silver but what is all that to me saith he if in the
mean time I dye and starve It falls out in this case with a broken-hearted sinner as with a prodigal childe The Prodigal he hath spent his means and abused his Father and now is there a Famine in the Land and poverty is befallen him he knows indeed there is meat and cloaths enough in his Fathers House but alas what can he expect thence but his Fathers heavy displeasure if a man should say Go to your Father he will give you a portion again would he think you believe this No would he say it is my Father I have offended and will he now receive me yet should a man come and tell him that he heard his Father say so and then shew him a Certificate under his Fathers hand that it was so this would sure draw him into some hope that his Father meant well towards him So it is with a sinner when he is apprehensive of all his rebellions if a man should tell such a soul Go to God and he will give you abundance of mercy and compassion the soul cannot believe it but thinks What I mercy no no Blessed are they that walk humbly before God and conform their lives to his word let them take it but for me it is mercy I have opposed it is grace I have rejected no mercy no grace for me But now if God send a Messenger from Heaven or if it come under the hand of his Spirit that he will accept of him and pass by all his sins this makes the soul grow into some hopes and upon this ground it goes unto the Lord But here observe me that none either in heaven or in earth but onely Gods Spirit can make this Certificate when it is night all the candles in the world cannot take away the darkness so all the means of grace and salvation all the candle-light of the Ministry they are all good helps but the darkness of the night will not be gone before the Sun of Righteousness arise in our hearts Hence it is that it proves so difficult a matter to comfort a distressed soul I shall one day perish saith David I shall one day go down to hell saith the soul Let all the Ministers under heaven cry Comfort ye comfort ye still he replyes I mercy and I comfort will the Lord pardon me It is mercy I have despised and trampled under my feet and I mercy no no Thus we Ministers observe by experience Some that in their own apprehensions are gone to the bottom of hell we make known to them Reasons and Arguments and Promises but nothing takes place what 's the Reason O none but Gods Spirit can do it he must either come from Heaven and say Comfort ye comfort ye my people or it will never prevail let me speak therefore to you that are Ministers you do well to labor to give comfort to a poor fainting soul but always say Comfort Lord O Lord say unto this poor soul that thou art his salvation SECT. 3. Hope in Christ THe minde being thus illightned the Lord calls on the affections Come desire Come love but the first voice is to Hope now Hope is a faculty of the soul that looks out for mercy and waits for the same So the Apostle Phil. 1. 20. According to my earnest expectation It is a similitude taken from a man that looks after another and lifts up himself as high as he may to see if any be coming after him so here the soul stands as it were a tip toe expecting when the Lord comes he hath heard the Lord say Mercy is coming towards thee mercy is provided for thee now this affection is set out to meet mercy afar off it is the looking out of the soul O when will it be Lord Thou sayest mercy is prepared thou sayest mercy is approaching the soul standeth a tip-toe O when will it come Lord here is the voyce of Hope This sinful soul of mine it may through Gods mercy be sanctified this troubled perplexed soul of mine it may through Gods mercy be pacified this evil and corruption which harbors in me and hath taken possession of me it may through Gods mercy be removed and when will it be Lord The maner how Gods Spirit works this is discerned in three particulars 1. The Lord doth sweetly stay the heart and fully perswade the soul that a mans sins are pardonable and that all his sins may be pardoned and that all the good things he wanteth they may be bestowed this is a great sustainer of the soul when a poor sinner seeth his sins in their number nature when he seeth no rest in the creature nor in himself though all means all help all men all Angels should joyn together yet they cannot pardon one sin of his then the Lord lifteth up his voyce and saith from Heaven Thy sins are pardonable in the Lord Jesus Christ 2. The Lord doth sweetly perswade the soul that all his sins shall be pardoned the Lord makes this appear and perswades his heart that he intendeth mercy that Christ hath procured pardon for the soul of a broken-hearted sinner in special and that he cannot but come unto it by this means Hope comes to be assured and certainly perswaded to look out knowing the Promise shall be at the last accomplished the former onely sustained the heart and provoked it to look for mercy but this comforts the soul that undoubtedly it shall have mercy The Lord Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost now saith the broken and humble sinner I am lost Did Christ come to save sinners Christ must fail of his end or I of my comfort God saith Come unto me all you that are weary and heavy laden I am weary and unless the Lord intend good unto me why should he invite me and bid me come surely he means to shew me mercy nay he promiseth to relieve me when I come therefore he will do good unto me 3. The Lord lets in some relish and taste of the sweetness of his love some scent and savor of it so that the soul is deeply affected with it and carryed mightily unto it that it cannot be severed it is the letting in the riches of his love that turneth the expectation of the soul another way yea it turneth the whole stream of the soul thitherward This Reproves 1. Those that cast off all Hope 2. Those that without ground will do nothing but Hope 1. If the Lord stir up the heart of his to hope for his Mercy then take heed of that fearful sin of Despair Despair we must in our selves and that is good but this Despair we speak of is hainous in the eyes of God and hurtful to thee 1. Injurious to God thou goest to the deep dungeon of thy Corruption and there thou sayest These sins can never be pardoned I am still proud and more stubborn this distress God seeth not God succors not his hand cannot reach his Mercy cannot save Now mark
what the Prophet saith to such a perplexed soul Why sayest thou thy way is hid from the Lord the Lord saith Why sayest thou is any thing too hard for the Lord O you wrong God exceedingly you think it a matter of humility when you account so vilely of your selves Can God pardon sin to such unworthy creatures It is true saith the soul Manasses was pardoned Paul was converted Gods Saints have been received to mercy But can my sins be pardoned can my soul be quickned No no my sins are greater then can be forgiven Why then poor soul Satan is stronger to overthrow thee then God to save thee and thus you make God to be no God nay you make him to be weaker then Sin then Hell then the Devil 2. This sin is dangerous to thy own soul it is that which taketh up the bridge and cutteth off all passages nay it plucks up a mans Endeavors as it were quite by the roots Alas saith he what skilleth for a man to pray what profits it a man to read what benefit in all the means of grace The stone is rolled upon me and my Condemnation sealed for ever I will never look after Christ Grace Salvation any more the time of grace is past the day is gone And thus the soul sinketh in it self Will the Lord cast me off for ever and will he shew no favor I said saith David this is my infirmity the word in the Original is This is my sickness as who should say What is mercy gone for ever this will be my death then is life gone 2. This Reproves and Condemns that great sin of Presumption a sin more frequent and if possibly may be more dangerous as they said Saul had slain his thousands and David his ten thousands So hath Despair slain his thousands but Presumption his ten thousands It is the counsel of Peter That every man should be ready to give an account of his faith and hope that is in him Let us see the Reasons that perswade you to these groundless foolish Hopes you say You hope to be saved and you hope to go to heaven and you hope to see Gods face with comfort and have you no grounds it is a foolish hope an unreasonable hope But comfort ye comfort ye poor drooping spirits They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength you say You cannot do this and you cannot do that I say If you can but hope and wait for the Mercy of the Lord you are rich Christians If a man have many Reversions they that judge of his Estate will not judge him for his present Estate but for the Reversions he shall have Haply thou hast not for the present the sense and feeling of Gods love and assurance away with that feeling do not dote upon it thou hast Reversions of old Leases ancient Mercies old Compassions such as have been reserved from the beginning of the world and know thou hast a fair Inheritance You will say Were my hopes of the right stamp then might I comfort my self but there are many false flashy hopes and how should I know that my hope is sound and good I answer you may know it by these particulars 1. A grounded hope hath a peculiar certainty in it it doth bring home unto the soul in special maner the goodness of God and the riches of his love in Christ Jesus It stands not on Is's and And's but saith It must undoubtedly it must certainly be mine and good Reason for this hope hath a Word to hang and hold upon What is that I will wait upon the Lord and I hope in his Word it is a Scripture-hope a Word hope the Word saith The Lord came to save those that were lost why I finde my self to be lost saith the soul and therefore I hope The Lord will seek me though I cannot seek him I hope the Lord will finde me though I cannot finde my self I hope the Lord will save me though I cannot save my self So the Word saith He appointeth them that mourn in Sion to give unto them beauty for ashes will you have a Legacy of Joy Mercy and Pity here it is the Lord Christ left it you I bequeath and leave this to all broken-hearted sinners to all you humble mourning sinners this is your Legacy sue for it in the Court and you shall have it for ever 2. A grounded hope is ever of great power and strength to hold the soul to the truth of the Promise hence take a poor sinner when he is at the weakest under water when all Temptations Oppositions Corruptions grow strong against him and he saith I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul this proud foolish filthy heart of mine will be my bane I shall never get power strength and grace against these sins Here is the lowest under of a poor soul If a man should now reply Then cast off all hope and confidence reject the means and turn to your sins Mark how Hope steppeth in and saith Nay whatsoever I am and do whatsoever my condition is I will use the means I am sure all my help is in Christ all my hope is in the Lord Jesus and if I must perish I will perish seeking him and waiting upon him Why this is Hope and I warrant that soul shall never go to hell I will wait for the Lord yea though he hath hid himself from the house of Jacob The last Use is of Exhortation I desire you I intreat you I will not say I command you though this may be enjoyned if you have any hope of Heaven if you have any treasure in Christ labor to quicken this affection above all The means are these 1. Labor to be much acquainted with the precious Promises of God to have them at hand and upon all occasions These are thy comforts and will support thy soul as the body without comfort is unfit for any thing so it is here unless a man hath that provision of Gods Promises and have them at hand daily and have them dished out and fitted for him his heart will fail 2. Maintain in thy heart a deep and serious acknowledgement of that supreme Authority of the Lord to do what he will and how he will according to his pleasure Alas we think too often to bring God to our bow We have hoped thus long and God hath not answered and shall we wait still Wait Ah wait and bless God that you may wait If you may lie at Gods feet and put your mouthes in the dust and at the end of your days have one crum of Mercy it is enough therefore check those distempers Shall I wait still It is a most admirable strange thing that a poor worm worthy of hell should take up state and stand upon terms with God He will not wait upon God Who must wait then must God wait or man wait It was the Apostles question Wilt
step one step towards Heaven then go to him who is able to work this desire in thy soul It is the complaint of a Christian O they are troubled because they cannot fetch a good desire from their own souls and one falls another sinks a third shakes and they are overwhelmed with discouragement What a wretched heart have I faith one I grace No no the world I can desire the life of my childe I long for and I say with Rachel Let me have honor or else I dye but I cannot long for the unconceivable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ and will the Lord shew any mercy upon me Is it thus remember now desires grow not in thy garden they spring not from the root of thy abilities O seek unto God and confess In truth Lord it is thou from whom come all our desires it is thou must work them in us as thou hast promised them to us and therefore Lord quicken thou this soul and inlarge this heart of mine for thou onely art the God of this desire Thus hale down a desire from the Lord and from the Promise for there onely must thou have it The smoaking flax God will not quench flax will not smoak but a spark must come into it and that will make it catch fire and smoak thus lay your hearts before the Lord and say Good Lord here is onely flax here is onely a stubborn heart but strike thou by thy Promise one spark from heaven that I may have a smoaking desire after Christ and after grace SECT. 5. A Love of Christ VVE have run through two affections Hope Desire and the next is Love A possible good stirs up Hope a necessary excellency in that good setleth Desire and a rellish in that good setled kindles Love Thus is the order of Gods work If the good be absent the understanding saith It is to be desired O that I had it then it sends out Hope and that waits for that good and stays till it can see it and yet if that good cannot come then Desire hath another proper work and it goes up and down wandring and seeketh and sueth for Christ Jesus After this if the Lord Jesus be pleased to come himself into the view of the heart which longeth thus after him then Love leads him into the soul and tells the Will of him saying Lo here is Jesus Christ the Messiah that hath ordered these great things for his Saints and people The Motive or ground of this Love is Gods Spirit in the Promise letting in some intimation of Gods love into the soul thus Psal. 42. 8. The Lord will command his loving kindeness in the day time This is a phrase taken from Kings and Princes and great Commanders in the field whose words of Command stand for Laws so the Lord sends out his loving kindeness and saith Go out my everlasting love and kindeness take a Commission from me and to go that humble thirsty and hunger-bitten sinner and go and prosper and prevail and settle my love effectually upon him and fasten my mercy upon him I command my loving kindeness to do it Thus the Lord doth put a Commission into the hands of his loving kindeness that it shall do good to the poor soul yea though it withdraw it self saying What I mercy will Christ Jesus accept of me No no there is no hope of mercy for me indeed if I could pray thus hear thus and perform Duties with that enlargement and had those parts and abilities then there were some comfort but now there is no hope of mercy for me We demand Is this your case is it thus and thus are you thus humbled and have you thus longed for the riches of his Mercy in Christ Lo then the Lord hath put a Commission into the hands of his loving kindeness saying Go to that poor soul and break open the doors upon that weary weltering heart and break off all those bolts and rend off that veil of ignorance and carnal Reason and all those Arguments Go I say to that soul and chear it and warm it and tell it from me That his sins are pardoned and his soul shall be saved and his sighs and prayers are heard in heaven and I charge you do the work before you come again Here is the ground of Love Gods love affecting the heart and setled upon it it breeds a love to God again We love him because he loved us first The burning-glass must receive heat of the beams of the Sun before it burn any thing so there must be a beam of Gods love to fall upon the soul before it can love God again I drew them with the cords of a man even with the bands of love God lets in the cords of love into the soul and that draws love again to God He brought me into the banqueting-house and his banner over me was love stay me with flaggons comfort me with apples for I am sick of love When the banner of Christs love is spread over the soul the soul comes to be sick in love with Christ Now this love of God doth beget our love in three particulars First there is a sweetness and a rellish which Gods love lets into the soul and warms the heart with you shall see how the fire is kindled by and by As when a man is fainting we give him Aqua-vitae so a fainting sinner is cold at the heart and therefore the Lord lets in a drop of his loving kindeness and this warms the heart and the soul is even filled with the happiness of the mercy of God Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth saith the Spouse in the Canticles for his love is better then wine The kisses of his mouth are the comforts of his Word and Spirit the soul saith O let the Lord refresh me with the kisses of his mouth let the Lord speak comfort to my heart and this is better then wine Secondly as that sweetness warms the heart so the freeness of the love of God let in and intimated begins even to kindle this love in the soul that it sparkles again God setteth out his love towards us seeing that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us This commends the love of God the Lord sends to poor and miserable sinful broken-hearted sinners and saith Commend my mercy to such a one and tell him That though he hath been an enemy to me yet I am a friend to him and though he hath been rebellious against me yet I am a God and Father to him When the poor sinner considers this with himself he saith Is the Lord so merciful to me I that loved my sins and continued in them had it not been just that I should have perished in them but will the Lord not onely spare his enemy but give his Son for him O let my soul for ever rejoyce in this unconceiveable goodness of God! Be thy heart never so hard
if it have but the sense of this it cannot but stir thee to Humiliation Thirdly the greatness of the freeness of this mercy of God being setled upon the heart enflames it the sweetness warms the heart this freeness kindles the fire and when the greatness of the sweetness comes to be valued this sets the heart all on a flame the Apostle desires that the Ephesians being rooted and grounded in love might be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and height of the love of God in Christ as if he had said The unmeasureablenes of Gods mercy will blow up the soul and enflame the heart with admirable love of God again and will make the soul say What I that have done all that I could against this good God O it breaks my heart to think of it there was no Name under heaven that I did blaspheme and tear in pieces more then this Name no Command under heaven I so much despised as the Command of God and of Christ no Spirit that I grieved so much as the good Spirit of God and therefore had the Lord onely given me a look or spoken a word to me it had been an infinite Mercy but to send a Son to save me it is incomparable I could not conceive to do so much evil against him as he hath done good to me O the breadth of that Mercy beyond all limits O the length of that Mercy beyond all time O the depth of that Mercy below a mans misery O the height of that Mercy above the height of my understanding If my hands were all love that I could work nothing but love if mine eyes were able to see nothing but love and my minde to think of nothing but love and if I had a thousand bodies they were all too little to love that God that hath thus unmeasureably loved me a poor sinful Hell-hound I will love the Lord dearly saith David O Lord my strength Have I gotten the Lord Jesus to be my comfort my buckler and my shield if I have any good he begins it if I have any comfort he blesseth it Therefore I will love thee dearly O Lord my strength O how should I but love thee Me thinks there is a poor sincere soul that saith My understanding are not so deep as others my tongue runs not so glib as such and such I cannot talk so freely of the things of grace and salvation I have meaner parts and cannot inlarge my self in holy Duties and holy Services I cannot dispute for a Savior or perform such Duties as others can do yet sweet soul canst thou love Christ Jesus and rejoyce in him O yes I bless the Name of the Lord that all I have all my friends and parts and means and abilities are but as dung and dross in comparison of Christ Jesus it were the comfort of my soul if I might be ever with him Say you so Go thy way and the God of heaven go with thee This is a work of God that will never leave thee it is a badge and proper livery that the Lord Jesus gives onely to his Saints never a meer Professor under heaven ever wore it never any Hypocrite under heaven to whom God did intend it but onely to those whom he hath effectually called and whom he will save therefore though thou wantst all thou hast this to comfort thee in the want of all and thou mayest say I can say little for Christ my tongue faulters and my memory is weak yet the Lord knows I love the Lord Jesus This is enough David desired no more but what God was wont to do to his children that loved his name Do to me saith the text as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name I know thou lovest them that love thee and wilt save and glorifie them in the end I desire no more but this do as thou usest to do to those that love thy name And doth David a King desire no more sure then if thou poor soul hast so much as he had it is enough be quiet with thy childes part Thy lot is faln into a marvellous fair ground Some may say this is all the difficult How may I know whether my love be a true love or a false love How may I know that my love is of the right stamp Let every man put his love upon the trial and examine thus Whether doest thou welcome Christ and grace according to the worth of them if thou doest it will appear in these particulars 1. Observe the root and rise from whence thy love came canst thou say I love the Lord because he hath loved me then thy love is of the right mettle and know it for ever that that God which cannot but love himself he cannot but like that love which came from himself is thy soul affected and enlarged in love to the Lord because thou hast felt and retained the relish and sweetness of his grace canst thou say The Lord hath let in a glimpse of his favor and the Lord hath said in his truth he looks to him that trembles at his word the Minister said it and the Spirit saith it that my mercy is registred in heaven Oh how should I love the Lord my sins are many which I have bewailed my sighs and sobs I have put up to heaven and at the last the Lord hath given me a gracious answer Oh how should I love the Lord my strength dearly If it be thus with thee thy love is sound and will never fail 2. If thou entertain thy Savior as it beseems him thou must entertain him as a King and that is thus give up all to him and entertain none with him upon terms of honor but such as retain to him or be attendants upon him love all in Christ and for Christ but express thy love and joy to Christ above all He is as a King and all the rest are but as retainers he that loves any thing equal with a Christ it is certain he did never love Christ to set up any thing cheek by jole with Christ it is all one as if a man did put a slave into the same Chamber with the King which is upon the point to drive him away 3. The soul that rightly entertains Christ and studies wholly to give him contentment he is marvellous wary and watchful that he may not sad that good Spirit of God to grieve him and cause him to go away as displeased See this Cant. 3. 4 5. the Spouse sought long for her beloved and at last brought him home and when she had welcomed him she gives a charge to all the house not to stir nor awaken her love till he please When a Prince comes unto the house of a great man what charge is there given to make no noise in the night lest such and such a man be awakened before his time the soul when it hath received the
Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ doth thus he gives a peremptory charge to keep watch and ward and gives a charge to hope and desire and love and joy and the minde and all not to grieve and molest the good Spirit of God Let there be no motion but to entertain it no advise but to receive it and do nothing that may work the least kinde of dislike unto it 4. He that truly entertains Christ rejoyceth in the good and glory of Christ When Mephibosheth had been wrongfully accused to David and when David who had taken away all the inheritance from him was returned in safety Then said David to comfort him Thou and Ziba divide the land nay said Mephibosheth Let him take all forasmuch as my Lord the King is come again in peace it matters not for inheritance and for my self and my life I pass not sith the King is returned in peace it is enough that I enjoy thy presence which is better to me then goods life or liberty So it is with a kinde loving heart which cannot endure to see Christs honor and glory layed in the dust but if his praise be advanced then is he glad Lord I have enough saith the soul that Christ is mine and that his honor and glory is magnified whatsoever becomes of me it matters not let the world take all if I may have Christ and see him praised and magnified Let this try any mans spirit under heaven and labor to bring the soul to this pitch A Minister in his place and a Master in his place and every Christian in his place let it be our care to honor God not our selves and let it be our comfort if God may be better honored by others then by our selves This is our baseness of spirit we can be content to lift up Christ upon our shoulders that we may lift up our selves by it but we should be content to lie in the dust that the Lord may be praised and if any of Gods people thrive and prosper more then thou let that be thy joy 5. He that welcomes Christ truly covets a neerer union with Christ Love is of a linking and gluing nature and will carry the soul with some kinde of strength and earnestness to enjoy full possession and fellowship of the thing that is loved it cannot have enough of it Nothing saith the soul but Christ still I desire more of that mercy and holiness and grace and love in Christ Jesus As it is with parties that have lived long together in one house and their affections are linkt together in way of marriage they will ever desire to be talking together and to be drawing on the marriage so the soul that loves Christ Jesus and hath his holy affection kindled and his spirit enlarged therein when the Lord hath let in some glimpse of his love he thinks the hour sweet when he prayed to the Lord Christ he thinks the Lords-day sweet wherein God revealed by the power of his holy Ordinances any of that rich grace and mercy of his it is admirable to see how the heart will be delighted to recover the time and place and means when and where the Lord did reveal it Oh this is good saith the soul Oh that I might ever be thus cleared and refreshed Or as the spouse contracted thinks every day a year till she enjoy her beloved and take satisfaction to her soul in him So the soul that hath been truly humbled and enlightened and is now contracted to Christ Jesus Oh when will that day be saith it that I shall ever be with my Jesus he takes hold of every word he hears every promise that reveals any thing of Christ But oh when will that day be that I shall ever be with Christ and be full of his fulness for ever And now let me prevail with your hearts and work your souls to this duty Love the Lord all ye his Saints whom will you love if you love not him Oh you poor ones love you the Lord for you have need and all you rich ones love you the Lord for you have cause and you little ones too if there be any such in the Congregation he knocks at every mans heart and perswades every mans soul Love ye the Lord The means are these 1. Labor to give attendance daily to the promise of grace and Christ drive away all other suitors from the soul and let nothing come between the promise and it forbid all other bands that is let the promise confer daily with thy heart and be expressing and telling of that good that is in Christ to thy own soul If all things be agreed between parties to be married and there wants nothing but mutual affection the only way to fix their affections upon one another is to keep company together so as they meet wisely and holily So let the soul daily keep company with the promise and this is the first way 2. Labor to be throughly acquainted with the beauty and sweetness of Christ in the promise Now there are three things in the promise we must eye and apprehend that our hearts may be kindled with love in the Lord 1. The worth of the party in himself Christ is worthy of it 2. The desert of the party in regard Christ deserves it 3. The readiness of the party in himself to seek our good Christ seeks it 1. Christ is worthy in himself if we had a thousand hearts to bestow upon him we were never able to love him sufficiently as Nehemiah said The name of the Lord is above all praise will you let out your love and affections you may lay them out here with good advantage what would you love wouldst thou have beauty then thy Savior is beautiful Thou art fairer then the children of men Psal. 45. 2. Wouldst thou have strength then is thy Savior strong Gird thy sword upon thy thigh O most mighty Psal. 45. 3. Wouldst thou have riches thy Savior is more rich if it be possible then he is strong He is heir of all things Heb. 1. 2. Wouldst thou have wisdom then thy Savior is wise yea wisdom it self In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge Col. 2. 3. Wouldst thou have life eternal Christ is the Author of life and happiness to all that have him and he hath not onely these in himself but he will infeoff thee in them if thou wilt but match with him 2. Christ deserves our love in regard of benefits to us be man never so worthy in himself yet if he have wronged or exprest the part of an Enemy a woman saith I will not have him though he had all the world this takes off the affections it is not so with the Lord Jesus as he is worthy of all love in himself so he hath dealt mercifully and graciously with you In your sickness who helped you in wants who supplied you in anguish of heart who
relieved you it was Jesus Christ Oh therefore love him deal equally with him and as he deserves so enlarge your hearts to him for ever 3. Christ seeks our love Here is the admiration of mercy That our Savior who hath been rejected by a company of sinful creatures should seek their love for shame refuse him not but let him have love ere he go Had the Lord received us when we had come to him and humbled our hearts before him Had he heard when we had spent our days and all our strength in begging and craving it had been an infinite mercy But when the Lord Jesus Christ shall seek to us by his Messengers it is all the work we have to do to woo you and speak a good word for the Lord Jesus Christ yea and if we speak for our selves it is pity but our tongue should cleave to the roof of our mouth when the Lord Jesus shall come and wait upon us and seek our love O this is the wonder of mercies think of this O ye Saints The Lord now by us offers love to all you that are weary and have need What answer shall I return to him in the evening shall I say Lord I have tendred thy mercy and it was refused Brethren it would grieve my heart to return this answer O rather let every soul of you say Can the Lord Jesus love me In truth Lord I am out of love with my self I have abused thy Majesty I have loved the world I have followed base lusts and can the Lord Jesus love such a wretch as I am yet saith the Lord I will heal their back-slidings I will love them freely He looks for no portion he will take thee and all thy wants get you home then and every one in secret labor to deal truly with your own hearts make up a match in this maner and say Is it possible that the Lord should look so low that a great Prince should send to a poor Peasant that Majesty should stoop to means Heaven to Earth God to man Hath the Lord offered mercy to me and doth he require nothing of me but to love him again call upon your hearts I charge you and say thus Lord if all the light of mine eyes were love and all the speeches of my tongue were love it were all too little to love thee O let me love thee dearly If you will not say thus then say hereafter You had a fair offer and that a poor Minister of God did wish you well Alas be not coy and squemish the Lord may have better then you lie down therefore and admire at the mercy of the Lord that should take a company of dead dogs and now at the last say as the Prophet did Lift up your heads O ye gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the King of Glory shall come in SECT. 6. A relying on Christ VVE are now come to the work of the Will which is the great wheel and Commander of the soul The former affections were but as hand-maids to usher in Christ and the Promises the minde saith I have seen Christ Hope saith I have waited Desire saith I have longed Love saith I am kindled then saith the Will I will have Christ it shall be so and this makes up the match the spawn and seeds of faith went before now faith is come to some perfection now the soul reposeth it self upon the Lord Jesus And this reposing or resting it self discovers a fivefold act First it implyes A going out of the soul to Christ When the soul seeth this that the Lord Jesus is his ayd and must ease him and pardon his sins then let us go to that Christ saith he it is the Lords call Come to me all ye that are weary now this voyce coming home to the heart and the prevailing sweetness of the call over-powering the heart the soul goes out and falls and flings it self upon the riches of Gods grace Secondly It lays fast hold upon Christ when the Lord saith Come my Love my Dove O come away Behold I come saith she and when she is come she fasteneth upon Christ saying My beloved is mine and I am his Faith lays hold on the Lord and will not let Mercy go but cleaves unto it though it conflict with the Lord Should he slay me saith Job yet will I trust in him The case is like Benhadads who being overcome by Ahab his Servants thus advise him We have heard that the Kings of Israel are merciful Kings we pray thee let us put ropes about our necks and sackcloth on our loyns and go out to the King peradventure he will save thy life Thus the Servants go and coming to Ahab they deliver the Message Thy Servant Benhadad saith I pray thee let me live and he said Is he yet alive he is my brother Now the men diligently observed whether any thing would come from him and did hastily catch at it and they said Thy brother Benhadad and they went away rejoycing This is the lively Picture of a broken-hearted sinner after he hath taken up arms against the Almighty and that the Lord hath let in Justice and he seeth or hath seen the anger of God bent against him then the soul reasons thus I have heard though I am a rebellious sinner that none but sinners are pardoned and God is a gracious God and therefore unto him let me go with this he falls down at the footstool of the Lord and cryes O what shall I do what shall I say unto thee O thou preserver of men O let me live I pray thee in the sight of my Lord The soul thus humbled the Lord then lets in his sweet voyce of mercy and saith Thou art my Son my Love and thy sins are pardoned These words no sooner uttered but he catcheth thereat saying Mercy Lord and a Son Lord and love Lord and a pardon Lord The heart holds it self here and will never away Thirdly it flings the weight of all its occasions and troubles guilt and corruptions upon the Lord Jesus Christ He that walks in darkness and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God that is if a man be in extremity hopeless in misery and walks in desperate discouragements yea and hath no light of comfort Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God As when a man cannot go of himself he lays all the weight of his body upon another so the soul goes to a Christ and lays all the weight of it self upon Christ and saith I have no comfort O Lord all my discomforts I lay upon Christ and I relye upon the Lord for comfort and consolation Who is this saith Solomon that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved Cant. 8. 5. The party coming is the Church the wilderness is the troubles and vexations the Church meets withal and the beloved is
the Lord Jesus Christ now the Church leans her self all upon her Husband she walked along with him but he bare all the burthen Cast all your care upon him saith Peter for he careth for you 1 Pet. 5. 7. the Original is Hurl your care upon the Lord The Lord will not thank you for carrying your cares and troubles about you he requires that you Hurl them upon him for he careth for you Fourthly it draws vertue and derives power from the Lord Jesus Christ for succor and supplies and here is the especial life of Faith it goes for mercy and grace and comfort in Christ he knows 't is to be had from him and therefore he fetcheth all from him With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation Isa. 12. 3. The fountain of Salvation is Christ and all the waters of life of grace and mercy are in Christ Jesus Now it is not enough to let down the bucket into the well but it must be drawn out also it is not enough to come to Christ but we must draw the water of grace from Christ to our selves They shall suck and be satisfied saith Isaiah with the breasts of her consolations that they may milk out and be delighted with the abundance of her glory The Church is compared to a childe and the breasts are the Promises of the Gospel now the Elect must suck out and be satisfied with it the word in the Original is Exact upon the Promise and oppress the Promise as the Oppressor grindes the face of a poor man so with an holy kinde of oppression you should exact from the Promise and get what good you may from it Fifthly Faith leaves the soul with the Promise yea notwithstanding all delays denyals discouragements from God faith brings on the heart still it will be sure to lie at the gate and keep the soul with the promise whatever befalls it Excellent is that passage Gen. 32. 26. when the Lord and Jacob were wrestling Let me go saith the Lord I will leave thee to thy self I care not what becomes of thee No I will not let thee go until thou hast blessed me saith Jacob So the faithful soul lays hold upon the Lord for Mercy Pardon Power and Grace and though the Lord seem to give him up to the torment of Sin and Corruption yet the soul saith Though my soul go down to hell I will hold here for Mercy till the Lord comfort and pardon and subdue graciously these cursed corruptions which I am not able to master my self As it is with a Sun-dyal the needle is ever moving and a man may jog it this way and that way yet it will never stand still till it come to the North-point So when the Lord leaves off a believing heart with frowns and with the expression of displeasure and the soul turns to the Lord Christ and will never leave till it go God-ward and Christ-ward and Graceward and saith Let the Lord do what he please I will go no further till he be pleased to shew Mercy Thus the soul once come to Christ it will never away but ever cleaves to the Promise and is towards God and Christ whatsoever befalls it But poor soul art thou yet shut up in Unbelief do then as the Prisoners in New-gate what lamentable cryes do they utter to every Passenger by So do thou look out from the gates of Hell and from under the bars of Infidelity and cry that God would look on thee in mercy and say Spare Lord a poor unbelieving wretch lockt up under the bars of Vnbelief good Lord succor and deliver in thy due time David could say Let the sighing of prisoners come up before thee that indeed was meant of bodily imprisonment yet the argument prevails much in regard of the Spiritual Good Lord let the sighing of prisoners come up before thee let the sighing of poor distrustful souls come up before thy Majesty O send help from heaven and deliver the soul of thy servant from these wretched distempers of heart Is there no cause thus to pray He that believeth not saith our Savior is condemned already He is cast in heaven and earth by the Law and Gospel there is no relief for him abiding in this condition lay this under thy pillow and say How can I sleep and be a condemned man What if God should take away my life this night Alas I never knew what it was to be illightned or wounded for sin I can commit sin and play with sin but I never knew what it was to be wounded for sin I never knew what it was to be zealous in a good cause O I confess I have no faith at all Beloved would you yield this then were there some hopes that you might get out of this condition and state to have a sense of its want to go to the Lord by prayer and to ask hearty counsel of some faithful Minister are the first steps to obtain it And to help a poor wretch in this case O you that are gracious go your ways home and pray for him Brethren let us leave preaching and hearing and all of us fall to praying and mourning In truth I condemn my own soul because I have not an heart to mourn for him we reprove his sin and condemn him of his sin and we must do so but where are the heart-blood petitions that we put up for such a one Where are the tears that we make for the slain of our people You tender-hearted Mothers and you tender-hearted Wives if your children or husbands be in this woful case O mourn for them let your hearts break over them and say O wo is me for my children O wo is me for that poor husband of mine Or secondly hast thou gotten faith then labor to husband this grace well and to improve it for thy best good It is a marvellous shame to see those that are born to fair means I mean the poor Saints of God that have a Right and Title to Grace and Christ and yet to live at such an under-rate I would have you to live above the world for the Lord doth not grudge his people of comfort but would have them live chearfully and have strong consolations and mighty assurance of Gods love Is there not cause why faith if it be right will make the life of a Christian most easie most comfortable Unfaithful souls sink in their sorrows upon every occasion but faith gives ease to a man in all his conversation 1. Because faith hath a skill and a kinde of flight to put over all cares to another We take up the Cross but faith hurls all the care on Christ an easie matter it is to lie under the burthen when another bears all the weight of it Look how it is with two Ferry-men the one hales his Boat about the shore and cannot get off but tugs and pulls and never puts her forth to
the City the famine is there and if we sit here we dye also now therefore let us fall into the hands of our enemies and if they save us alive we shall live and if they kill us we shall but dye They had but one means to succor themselves withal and that was to go into the Camp of the enemies and there as it hapned they were relieved Thus is the lively picture of a poor sinner in this despairing condition when he seeth the wrath of God pursuing him and that the Lord hath beset him on every side at last he resolves thus with himself If I go and rest on my priviledges there is nothing but emptiness and if I rest in my natural condition I perish there also let me therefore fall into the hands of the Lord of Hosts I confess he hath been provoked by me and for ought I see he is mine enemy I am now a damned man and if the Lord cast me out of his presence I can be but damned And then he comes to the Lord and he falls down before the footstool of a consuming God and saith as Job did What shall I say unto thee O thou Preserver of men I have no reason to plead for my self and I have no power to succor my self my accusations are my best excuse all the priviledges in the world cannot justific me and all my Duties cannot save me if there be any mercy left O succor a poor distressed sinner in the very gall of bitterness This is the behavior of the soul in this work of Subjection The second part of Humiliation is Contentedness to be at the Lords disposal and this point is of an higher pitch then the former For example Take a debtor who hath used all means to avoid the creditor in the end he seeth he cannot avoid the Suit and to bear it he is not able therefore the onely way is to come in and to yield himself into his creditors hands but suppose the creditor should exact the utmost and throw him into prison to be content now to undergo the hardest dealing it is an hard matter and a further degree So when the soul hath offered himself and he seeth that Gods Writs are out against him and he is not able whensoever the Judgement comes to avoid it nor to bear it therefore he submits himself and saith Lord whether shall I go thy anger is heavy and unavoidable nay whatsoever God requires the soul lays his hand on his mouth and goes away contented and well satisfied and hath nothing at all to say against the Lord This is the nature of Contentedness Or for a further light this Contentedness discovers it self in these three following particulars First the Soul reflects on Gods Mercy which though he begg'd when he submitted yet now he seeth so much corruption and unworthiness in himself that he acknowledgeth himself unfit for Mercy O Mercy mercy Lord What saith the Lord I had thought your own Duties would have purchased mercy O no saith the Soul it is onely Mercy that must relieve and succor me but such is my vileness that I am not fit for the least mercy and favor and such is the wickedness of this wretched heart of mine that whatsoever are the greatest plagues I am worthy of them all though never so insupportable All the Judgements that God hath threatned and prepared for the Devil and his Angels they are all due to my wretched soul O saith the Soul had the Devils the like hopes and means and patience that I have enjoyed for ought I know they would have been better then I am It is that which shames the Soul in all his sorrows and makes him say Had they the like Mercy O those sweet Comforts and those precious Promises that I have had How many heavy journeys hath the Lord Jesus made to me How often hath he knock'd at my heart and said Come to me ye rebellious children turn ye turn ye why will ye dye O that Mercy that hath followed me from my house to my walk and from thence to my closet here Mercy hath conferred with me and there Mercy hath wooed me yea in my night-thoughts when I awaked Mercy kneeled down before me and besought me to renounce my bad courses yet I refused Mercy and would needs have mine own will had the Devil but such hopes and such offers of Mercy they that tremble now for want of Mercy they would for ought I know have given entertainment to it and what do I seek for Mercy shall I talk of Mercy What I Mercy the least of Gods Mercies are too good for me and the heaviest of Gods Plagues are too little for me I suppose for so is my opinion that God cannot do more against me then I have justly deserved but be sure God will not lay more upon me then I am justly worthy of Nay sure it is the Soul cannot bear nor suffer so much as he hath deserved if God should proceed in rigor with him therefore it reasons thus I onely for one sin deserve eternal condemnation for the wages of all sin is death being committed against Divine Justice and against an Infinite Majesty and then what do all these my sins deserve committed and continued in against all checks of Conscience and Corrections and the light of Gods Word Hell is too good and ten thousand hells too little to torment such a wretch as I am What I mercy I am ashamed to expect it With what heart I pray you can I beg this Mercy which I have trodden under my feet The Lord hath often wooed me and when his wounds were bleeding and his side gored and his hideous cryes coming into mine ears My God my God why hast thou forsaken me then even then this Christ have I slighted and made nothing of his Blood and can this blood of Christ do me now any service Indeed I crave grace but how do I think to receive any All the Pillars of the Church can testifie how often Grace and Mercy have been offered and offered but I have ever refused How then can I beg any grace O this stubbornness and villany and this wretchedness of mine What I mercy it is more then I can expect I am not worthy of any Oh no I am onely worthy to be cast out for ever Secondly the Soul reflects on Justice and now it acknowledgeth the Equity of Gods dealings be they never so harsh he confesseth that he is as clay in the hands of the Potter and the Lord may deal with him as he will yea the Soul is driven to an amazement at the Lords patience and that he hath been pleased to reprieve him so long that God hath not cast him out of his presence and sent him down to hell long ago It is the frame of the Spirit which the poor lamenting Church had It is the Lords mercy that we are not confounded because his compassions fail not When the Lord hath humbled
most hardly converted what is Humiliation but the emptying of the soul from whatsoever makes it swell the heart must not joy in any thing nor rest upon any thing but onely yield to the Lord to be at his disposing and carving now these parts and gifts and abilities and means are great props and pillars for the heart of a carnal man to rest upon and to quiet it self withal whence the Apostle Not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty men not many noble men are called Indeed blessed be God some are but not many few that have so much of themselves are brought to renounce themselves and no wonder for a rich man to become poor and a noble man to be abased and a wife man to be nothing in himself this will cost hot water and yet this must be in all that belong to the Lord not that God will take away all these outward things and parts but that they must loosen their affection from these if they will have Christ 2. That an humble heart makes all a mans life quiet and marvellously sweetneth whatsoever estate he is in indeed sometimes he may be tossed and troubled yet he is not distracted because he is contented as it is with a Ship on the Sea when the billows begin to roar and the waves are violent if the Anchor be fastened deep it stays the Ship so this work of Humiliation is the Anchor of the soul and the deeper it is fastened the more quiet is the heart when Job in time of his extremity gave way to his proud heart he quarrell'd with the Almighty his friends and all but when the Lord had humbled him then Behold I am vile and base once have I spoken yea twice but now no more And this Humiliation quiets a man both in Fiercest Temptations Heaviest Oppositions 1. In fiercest Temptations when Satan begins to besiege the heart of a poor sinner and lays battery against him see how the humbled heart runs him out of breath at his own weapons Dost thou think says Satan to get mercy from the Lord when thy own conscience dogs thee nay go to the place where thou livest to the chamber where thou liest and consider thy fearful abominations sure God will not respect the prayers of any such vile sinners True saith the poor soul I have often denyed the Lord when he called upon me and therefore he may justly deny me all the prayers I make yet thus he hath commanded that seek to him for mercy I must and if the Lord will cast me away and reject my prayers I am contented therewith What then Satan What then saith the Devil I thought this would have made thee to dispair but this is not all for God will give thee over and leave thee to thy self to thy lusts and corruptions and thy latter end shall be worse then thy beginning thou mayest call and cry and when thou hast done be overthrown God will leave thee to thy self and suffer thy corruptions to prevail against thee and thou shalt fall fearfully to the wounding of thy conscience to the grieving of Gods people to the scandal of the Gospel to the reproach of thy own person To this answers the humbled soul If the Lord will give me up to my base lusts which I have given my self so much liberty in and if the Lord will leave me to my sins because I have left his gracious commands and if I shall fall one day and be disgraced and dishonored yet let the Lord be honored and let not God lose the praise of his Power and Justice and I am contented therewith what then Satan What then saith the Devil I sure thought now thou wouldst have despaired but this is not all for when God hath left thee to thy sins then will he break out in vengeance against thee and make thee an example of his heavy vengeance to all ages to come and therefore it is best for thee to prevent this untimely Judgement by some untimely death To this replies the Soul Whatsoever God can do or will do I know not yet so great are my sins that he cannot or at least will not do so much against me as I have justly deserved Come what will come I am contented still to be at the Lords disposal what then Satan and thus he runs Satan out of breath The want of this Humiliation many times brings a man to desperate stands and sometimes to untimely deaths Alas why will you not bear the wrath of the Lord it is true indeed your sins are great and the wrath of God is heavy yet God will do you good by it and therefore be quiet In time of war when the great Canons fly off the onely way to avoid them is to lie down in a furrow and so the bullets fly over So in all Temptations of Satan lie low and be contented to be at Gods disposing and all these fiery Temptations shall not be able to hurt you 2. In heaviest oppositions when Satan is gone then come Troubles and Oppositions of the world in all which Humiliation will quiet the Soul A man is sometimes Sea-sick not because of the Tempest but because of his full stomack and therefore when he hath emptied his stomack he is well again So it is with his Humiliation of heart if the heart were emptied truly though a man were in a sea of oppositions if he have no more trouble in his stomack and in his proud heart then in the oppositions of the world he might be very well quieted Cast disgrace upon the humble heart causlesly and he cures it thus He thinks worse of himself then any man else can do and if they would make him vile and loathsom he is more vile in his own eyes then they can make him O that I could bring your hearts to be in love with this blessed grace of God! Is there any Soul here that hath been vexed with the Temptations of Satan oppositions of men or with his own distempers and would he now arm and fence himself that nothing should disquiet him or trouble him but in all to be above all and to rejoyce in all O then be humbled and then be above all the Devils in hell Certainly they shall not so disquiet you as to cause you to be misled or uncomforted if you would but be humbled What remains then Be exhorted as you desire mercy and favor at Gods hands to this Humiliation And for Motives consider the good things that God hath promised and which he will bestow upon all that are truly humbled I shall reduce all to these three following Benefits First by Humiliation we are made capable of all those treasures of Wisdom Grace and Mercy that are in Christ Secondly Humiliation gives a man the comfort of all that good in Christ Many have a right to Christ and are dear to God yet they want much sweet refreshing because they want this Humiliation
thou now restore the Kingdom of Israel to whom our Savior answered It is not for you to know the times and seasons as who should say Hands off it is for you to wait and to expect mercy it is not for you to know If you begin to wrangle and say How long Lord When Lord And why not now Lord Why not I Lord now check thy own heart and say It is not for me to know it is for me to be humble abased and to wait for mercy SECT. 4. A desire after Christ VVHen the soul is humbled and the eye opened then he begins thus to reason O happy I that see mercy but miserable I if I come to see this and never have a share in it O why not I Lord why not my sins pardoned and why not my eorruptions subdued my soul now thirsteth after thee as a thirsty Land my affections now hunger after righteousness both infused and imputed Now this desire is begotten thus When the soul is come so far that after a through conviction of sin and sound humiliation under Gods mighty hand it hath a timely and seasonable revelation of the glorious mysteries of Christ of his excellencies invitations truth tender-heartedness c. of the heavenly splendor and riches of the pearl of great price then doth the soul conceive by the help of the Holy Ghost this desire and vehement longing And least any couzen themselves by any misconceits about it as the notorious sinner the meer civil man and the formal Professor it is then known to be saving 1. When it is joyned with an hearty willingness and unfeigned resolution to sell all to part with all sin to bid adieu for ever to our darling-delight it is not an effect of self-love not an ordinary wish of natural appetite like Balaams Numb. 23. 10. of those who desire to be happy but are unwilling to be holy who would gladly be saved but are loth to be sanctified no if thou desirest earnestly thou wilt work accordingly for as the desire is so will the endeavor be 2. When it is earnest eager vehement extreamly thirsting after Christ as the parched earth for refreshing showers or the hunted Hart for the Water-brooks We read of a Scotish Penitent who a little before his confession freely confessed his fault to the shame as he said of himself and to the shame of the Devil but to the glory of God he acknowledged it to be so heynous and horrible that had he a thousand lives and could he dye Ten thousand deaths he could not make satisfaction Notwithstanding said he Lord thou hast left me this comfort in thy word that thou hast said Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will refresh you Lord I am weary Lord I am heavy laden with my sins which are innumerable I am ready to sink Lord even into hell unless thou in thy mercy put to thine hand and deliver me Lord thou hast promised by thine own word out of thy own mouth that thou wilt refresh the weary soul And with that he thrust out one of his hands and reaching as high as he could towards Heaven with a louder voyce and a streined he cryed I challenge thee Lord by that word and by that promise which thou hast made that thou perform and make it good to me that call for ease and mercy at thy hands c. Proportionably when heavy-heartedness for sin hath so dryed up the bones and the angry countenance of God so parched the heart that the poor soul begins now to gasp for grace as the thirsty Land for drops of rain then the poor sinner though dust and ashes with an holy humility thus speaks unto Christ O merciful Lord God Thou art Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end Thou sayest it is done of things that are yet to come so faithful and true are thy Decrees and Promises That thou hast promised by thine own word out of thy own mouth that unto him that is a thirst thou wilt give him of the fountain of the water of life freely O Lord I thirst I faint I languish I long for one drop of mercy As the Hart panteth for the water-brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God and after the yearning bowels of thy wonted compassions Had I now in possession the glory the wealth and pleasures of the whole world nay had I Ten thousand lives joyfully would I lay them all down and part with them to have this poor trembling soul of mine received into the bleeding arms of my blessed Redeemer O Lord my spirit within me is melted into tears of blood my heart is shivered into pieces out of the very place of Dragons and shadow of death do I lift up my thoughts heavy and sad before thee the remembrance of my former vanities and pollutions is a very vomit to my soul and it is sorely wounded with the grievous representation thereof The very flames of Hell Lord the fury of thy just wrath the scorchings of my own conscience have so wasted and parched mine heart that my thirst is insatiable my bowels are hot within me my desire after Jesus Christ pardon and grace is greedy as the grave the coals thereof are coals of fire which hath a most vehement flame And Lord in thy blessed Book thou callest and cryest Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters In that great day of the feast thou stoodest and cryed'st with thine own mouth If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink and these are thine own words Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled I challenge thee Lord in this my extreamest thirst after thine own blessed self and spiritual life in thee by that Word and by that Promise which thou hast made that thou perform and make it good to me that lie grovelling in the dust and trembling at thy feet Oh! open now that promised well of life for I must drink or else I dye The means to obtain this desire are these three 1. Be acquainted throughly with thine own necessities and wants with that nothingness and emptiness that is in thy self a groundless presumption makes a man careless see into thine own necessities confess the want of this desire after the Lord Jesus Christ 2. Labor to spread forth the excellency of all the beauty and surpassing glory that is in the Promises of God Couldst thou but view them in their proper colours they would even ravish thee and quicken thy desires 3. After all this know it is not in thy power to bring thy heart to desire Christ thou canst not hammer out a desire upon thine own Anvil dig thy own pit and hew thy own rock as long as thou wilt nay let all the Angels in Heaven and all the Ministers on Earth provoke thee yet if the hand of the Lord be wanting thou shalt not lift up thine heart nor
the Tide the other puts his Boat upon the stream and sets up his sail and then he may sit still in his Boat and the wind will carry him whither he is to go Just thus it is with a faithful soul and an unbeliever all the care of the faithful soul is to put himself upon the stream of Gods Provividence and to set up the sail of Faith and to take the gale of Gods Mercy and Providence and so he goes on chearfully because it is not he that carries him but the Lord Jesus Christ whereas every unfaithful soul tugs and pulls at the business and can finde neither ease nor success Alas he thinks by his own wits and power to do what he would 2. Because faith sweetens all other afflictions even those that are most hard and full of tediousness and howsoever it apprehends all troubles and afflictions yet withal it apprehends the faithfulness of God ordering all for our good and that 's the reason why all our troubles are digested comfortably without any harshness at all When the Patient takes better Pills if they be well sugered they go down the easier and the bitterness never troubles him So it is with Faith it takes away the harshness of all inconveniencies which are bitter Pills in themselves but they are sweetned and sugered over by the faithfulness of God for the good of the soul and therefore it goes on cheerfully You will say if faith bring such ease how may a man that hath faith improve it to have such comfort by it I answer the rules are four 1. Labor to gain some evidence to thy own soul that thou hast a title to the promise The reason why poor Christians go drooping and are overwhelmed with their sins and miseries is because they see not their title to mercy nor their evidence of Gods love To the word and to the Testimonies Take one evidence from the word 't is as good as a thousand if thou hast but one promise for thee thou hast all in truth though all be not so fully and cleerly perceived 2. Labor to set an high price on the promises of God One promise and the sweetness of Gods mercy in Christ is better then all the honors or riches in the world Prize these at this rate and thou canst not choose but finde ease and be contented therewith 3. Labor to keep thy promises ever at hand what is it to me if I have a thing in the house if I have it not at my need If a man ready to sound and dye say I have as good cordial water as any in the world but I know not where it is he may sound and dye before he can finde it So when misery comes and thy heart is surcharged O then some promise some comfort to bear up a poor fainting drooping soul my troubles are many and I cannot bear them Why now Christ and a promise would have done it but thou hast thrown them in a corner and they are not to be found Now for the Lords sake let me intreat thee be wise for thy poor soul there is many a fainting and aguish fit and qualm comes over the heart of many a poor Christian persecutions without and sorrows and corruptions within therefore keep thy cordials about thee and be sure that thou hast them within reach take one and bring another and be refreshed by another and go singing to thy grave and to heaven for ever 4. Labor to drink in hearty draught of the promise bestow thy self upon the promise every hour whensoever thou dost finde the fit coming and this is the way to finde comfort Eat O friends and drink ye abundantly O welbeloved The Original is in drinking drink ye cannot be drunken with the Spirit as you may with wine drink abundantly were dainties prepared If an hunger-starved man comes in and takes onely a bit and away he must needs go away an hungred Think of it sadly you faithful Saints of God you may come now and then and take a snatch of the promise and then comes fear and temptation and persecution and all quiet is gone again it is your own fault brethren you come thirsty and go away thirsty you come discomforted and so you go away Many times it thus befals us Ministers when we preach of consolation and when we pray and confer we think we are beyond all trouble but by and by we are full of fears and troubles and sorrows because we take not full contentment in the promise we drink not a deep draught of it of this take heed too 1. Of Cavilling and Quarelling with carnal reason 2. Of attending to the parlies of Satans temptations if we listen to this chat he will make us forget all our comfort CHAP. VII The growing of the soul with Christ HItherto of the first part of the souls implantation to wit of the putting of the soul into Christ We are now come to the second which is The growing of the soul with Christ These two take up the nature of ingrafting a sinner into the stock Christ Jesus Now this growing together is accomplished by two means 1. By an union of the soul with Christ 2. By a conveyance of sap or sweetness all the treasures of grace and happiness that is in Christ to the soul First Every believer is joyned unto Christ and so joyned or knit that he becomes one spirit 1. He is joyned as a friend to a friend as a father to a childe as an husband to a wife as a graft to a tree as the soul to a body So is Christ to a believer I live not I but the Lord Jesus liveth in me Hence the body of the faithful is called Christ 1 Cor. 12. 12. 2. So joyned that the believer comes to be one spirit with Christ this mystery is great and beyond the reach of that little light I injoy Onely I shall communicate what I conceive in these three following Conclusions 1. That the Spirit of God the third person in the Trinity doth really accompany the whole Word but more especially the precious promises of the Gospel 2. The Spirit accompanying the promise of grace and salvation it doth therein and thereby leave a supernatural dint and power a spiritual and over-powering vertue upon the soul and thereby carries it and brings it unto Christ it is not so much any thing in the soul as a spiritual assisting and moving and working upon the soul by vertue whereof it is moved and carried to the Lord Jesus Christ 3. The Spirit of grace in the promise working thus upon the heart it causeth the heart to close with the promise and with it self in the promise and this is to be one spirit As it is with the Moon the Philosopher observes That the ebbing and flowing of the Sea is by vertue of the Moon she flings her beams into the sea and not being able to exhale as the Sun doth she leaves them
his Sin in regard of the profit of it you that are such the time will come when you must dye and then consider what good these sinful courses will do you How will you judge of Sin then when it shall leave a blot on your Souls and a guilt on your Consciences 2. A man must look on Sin in the venom of it and that you may do partly if you compare it with other things and partly if you look at it in regard of it self 1. Compare Sin with those things that are most fearful and horrible as suppose any soul here present were to behold the damned in Hell if the Lord should give any one of you a little peep-hole into Hell that you saw the horror of the damned then propound this to your heart What are those pains which the damned endure and your heart will shake and quake at it yet the least Sin that ever you did commit is a greater evil in its own nature then the greatest pains of the damned in Hell 2. Look at Sin simply as it is in it self what is it but a profest opposing of God himself A sinful creature joyns side with the Devil and comes in battel Array against the Lord and flies in the face of the Lord God of Hosts I pray you in cold blood consider this and say Good Lord what a sinful wretch am I that a poor damned wretch of the earth should stand in defiance against God! that I should submit my self to the Devil and oppose the Lord God of Hosts Secondly Convictingly that Sin may be so to us as it is in it self and that discovers it self in these two particulars 1. When we have a particular apprehension in our own person that whatsoever Sin is in general we confess it the same in our own souls It is the cursed distemper of our hearts howsoever we hold the Truth in general yet when we come to our own Sins to deny the particulars The Adulterer confesseth the danger and filthiness of that Sin in gross but he will not apply it to himself The Rule therefore is Arrest thy soul whosoever thou art of those sins particularly whereof thou standest guilty To this purpose say Is Murther and Pride and Drunkenness and Vncleanness such horrible sins O Lord it was my Heart that was proud and vain it was my Tongue that did speak filthily and blasphemously my Hand that wrought wickedness my Eye that was wanton and my Heart that was unclean and filthy Lord here they are Thus bring thy Heart before God 2. When the soul sits down with the audience of Truth and seeks no shift to oppose Truth revealed when the Lord comes to make racks in the hearts of such as he means to do good to the Text saith He will reprove the world of sin that is He will convince the world of wickedness he will set the soul in such a stand that it shall have nothing to say for it self he cannot shift it off The Minister saith God hates such and such a sinner And the Lord hates me too saith the soul for I am guilty of that sin Thus many time when a sinner comes into the Congregation if the Lord please to work on him the minde is illightned and the Minister meets with his corruptions as if he were in his bosom and he answers all his cavils and takes away all his objections with that the soul begins to be in a maze and saith If this be so as it is for ought I know and if all be true that the Minister saith then the Lord be merciful unto my soul I am the most miserable sinner that ever was born You that know not your sins that you may see them Convictingly get you home to the Law and look into the glass thereof and then bundle up all your sins thus So many sins against God himself in the first Commandment against his Worship in the second against his Name in the third against his Sabbath in the fourth Nay all our Thoughts Words and Actions all of them have been sins able to sink our souls to the bottom of Hell And secondly that you may see them clearly consider of their effect both in their Doom and in the Execution Onely to instance in their Doom Me thinks I see the Lord of heaven and earth and the Attributes of God appearing before him The Mercy of God the Goodness of God and the Wisdom of God the Power of God the Patience and Long-suffering of God and they come all to a sinner an hypocrite or to a carnal professor and say Mercy hath relieved you Goodness hath succored you Wisdom hath instructed you Power hath defended you Patience hath born with you Long-suffering hath indured you now all these comfortable Attributes will bid you adieu and say Farewel damned souls you must go hence to Hell to have your fellowship with damned ghosts Mercy shall never more relieve you Goodness shall never more succor you Wisdom shall no more instruct you Power shall never more defend you Patience shall never more bear with you Long-suffering shall never more indure you and then shall you to endless easeless and remediless torments where you will ever remember your sins and say My Covetousness and Pride was the cause of this I may thank my sins for this Think of these things I beseech you seriously and see your sins here to prevent this sight hereafter SECT. 3. Sense of Divine Wrath. THe sinner by this time having his eyes so far opened that he beholds his Sins he begins then to consider That God hath him in chase And this sense of Divine Wrath discovers it self in these two particulars 1. It works a fear of some evil to come 2. It possesseth the soul with a feeling of this evil First the soul considers That the punishment which God hath threatned shall be executed on him sooner or later he cryes therefore What if God should damn me God may do it And what if God should execute his vengeance upon me Thus the soul fears that the evil discovered will fall upon him This is the reason of those phrases of Scripture We have not received the spirit of bondage to fear again the Spirit shews our bondage and thence comes this fear Again God hath not given us the spirit of fear that is the spirit of bondage that works fear It is with a soul in this fear as it was with Belshazzar when he commanded the Cups to be brought out of the House of the Lord An hand-writing came against him on the wall and when he saw it his thoughts troubled him and his face began to gather paleness and his knees knocked against one another as if he should say Surely there is some strange evil appointed for me and with that his heart began to tremble and shake just so it is with this fear he that runs ryot in the way of wickedness and thinks to despise Gods Spirit and to hate