much sustained What is there yet hope that my offence may bee pardoned will the King receive mee to mercy So when the Lord humbleth the soule discovereth his sinnes maketh knowne his judgements these are thy sinnes that thou hast committed and for them thou shalt be plagued the great judgement of the great God shall come upon thee and the great God whom thou hast dishonoured will come against thee and to hell thou must Now the poore soule seeth no hope no helpe no means of supply now the poore soule heareth a voyce from heaven there is no hope in thy selfe nor in meanes yet in the Lord Jesus Christ thy sinnes are pardonable thy soule may be saved thy heart may be quickned that place in the Psalmist Let Israel hope in the Lord for with him is plenteous redemption this upholdeth and sustaineth the heart of Gods servant yet there is plentifull redemption and this may discover it selfe in three particulars The infinitenesse of Gods power though thy sinnes are many though the guilt of sinne is mighty and powerfull to condemne the soule yet when the soule apprehendeth an infinitenesse in the power of the Lord to over-power all his sins all the guilt of corruption this lifteth up the heart in some expectation that the Lord will shew favour unto a man though it is a hard thing to hope when the soule is thus troubled can this hard heart be broken can these sinnes bee pardoned can this soule bee saved now commeth in the power of God God can pardon them never measure the power of God to that shallow conceit of thine as Christ when he had told his Disciples it is hard for a rich man to be saved they said how can any man be saved the Lord Christ saith all things are possible to God though not to men and it is said of Abraham hee hoped above hope he looked to the Lord that was able to doe what he promised to supply what he wanted he considered not that he had a dead body but he considered he had a living God not Sarahs barren wombe but the gracious goodnesse of God able to make it fruitfull nay hee beleeved in the God that can make things that are not thy soule is not humbled the Lord can humble it thy sinnes are not pardoned the Lord can pardon them thy soule is not converted the Lord can convert it though I cannot see it though man cannot imagine it yet the Lord can doe it As the infinitenesse of Gods power so the freenesse of his grace and promise that is a thing that marvellously taketh up the heart and maketh it hope for wee are ready naturally to expect no kindnesse from God the Lord is able to doe it that is true but I am unworthy the Lord will not bee wanting to them that can desire it but I am wanting now here is comfort the Lord will not sell his mercy his mercy is not to be merited it is not to bee discovered it is to bee given and to bee bestowed Malach. 7.18 Who is a god like unto our God we say Oh if I could please God if I could walke with God nay but God saith mercy pleaseth him and that place in Esay I for my owne Name sake will doe this not for thy workes sake I for my owne sake not for thy obedience sake this is certaine as there is no worke in any poore creature can discover any mercy from God so there is no wickednesse in the heart of a sinner that can hinder the Lord when hee will bestow grace and mercy in Jesus Christ Object But the world will say Then a man may live as he list and doe what he will if grace be free Answ No no the Lord will pull downe thy proud heart and lay thee in the dust the Lord will abase thee and humble thee before thou shalt receive any mercy from him hee can as well sit thee for mercy as bestow it upon thee The abundance of the riches of Gods goodnesse that exceedeth all the basenesse and vilenesse of man though thou hast sinned against heaven and the Lord in heaven yet there is mercy above the heaven bee thy sinnes and rebellions for the nature of them for the number of them for the continuance of them never so hainous yet they may bee pardoned Here the soule saith My sins are so many so great of such a nature what shall I beg mercy and oppose it shall I desire grace and resist it as that place clearly sheweth Rom. 5.20 Where sinne abounded grace superabounded hee is the Father of mercy and the God of all consolation Iam. 2.13 there the holy Ghost saith mercy triumph above justice justice cannot bee so severe to revenge thee as mercy is gratious to doe good unto thee if thy sinnes be never so many Gods justice never so great yet mercy is above all thy sinnes above all thy rebellions this may support the soule So then you have the first ground to stirre up hope thy sinnes are pardonable this is possible what thy sinnes be it skilleth not what thy iniquities be it mattereth not there is more mercy in God than sin in thee to pardon more power in God to shew mercy to thee than power in sin to destroy thee The Lord doth sweetly perswade the soule that all his sinnes shall be pardoned the Lord maketh this appeare and perswadeth the heart of his that he intendeth mercy that Christ hath procured pardon for the soule of a broken hearted sinner in speciall and that it cannot but come unto it So that hope commeth to bee assured and certainly perswaded to looke out knowing it shall bee accomplished the former only sustained the heart and provoked it to looke for mercy but this comforteth the soule that undoubtedly it shall have mercy The Lord Jesus Christ came to seeke and to save that which was lost he came for this purpose it was the scope of his comming now saith the broken and humble sinner I am lost did Christ come to save sinners Christ must faile of his end or I of my comfort God saith Come unto me all you that are weary and heavy laden I am weary unlesse the Lord intended good unto me why should he invite me and bid me for to come surely he meaneth to shew mercy to me nay hee promiseth to releeve me when I come therefore he will doe good unto me The Lord letteth in some rellish and taste of the sweetnesse of his love some sent and savour of it so that the soule is deeply affected with it marke this there is yet a further dint a setling and an assured kinde of fastning of the good unto the soule so that the heart is deeply affected with it and carried mightily unto it that it cannot bee severed It is the letting in the riches of his love that turneth the expectation of the soule another way it overshadoweth all outward good Looke as the covetous man is up early to contrive his riches
my furtherance why doe you not labour then and if you desire to doe my message faithfully why doe you not goe about it then O suffer not your selves to be deluded and cozened in those things which concerne your everlasting comfort it is no true desire when a man will not labour in the use of the meanes God hath appointed it is a delusion that will cozen you not a desire that will helpe you at the great day of accounts would any have a harvest and yet neither plough nor sow this is the practice of many in this point of desire they thinke they desire Christ and grace and mercie and yet never endevour after it It is observable Prov. 13.14 the sluggard desireth and hath nothing he desires meat and yet he starves he desires clothes and yet is not covered he desires riches and yet dyes a beggar his desire never accomplisheth any thing he could be content to have this and that but hee will doe nothing for it therefore he hath nothing this is the picture of a lazie professour he desires mercy and he desires that God would pardon his sinnes and he desires that God would give him grace against his corruptions but alas the desire of the slothfull is all in talking and because he doth nothing therefore hee hath nothing at the time of his death and day of his departure hee hath neither mercy nor favour nor grace nor assurance but perisheth everlastingly hence it is that the Lord dealeth with the sluggard answerable to his desire The desire of the sluggard killeth him Prov. 21.25 saith the text because he cannot get his hands to labour some Interpreters holy and judicious doe marvellous fitly expresse a sluggard by this place of Scripture it is not said because hee cannot get his heart to labour but because he cannot get his hands to labour as if he should say it is good for a man to labour it is good to heare and pray but I cannot get my hands to it the sluggard saith prayer in his family is good and commendable and the Lord requires it but thy tongue will not speake his knees will not buckle the fault is not in thy tongue and knees but in thy heart therefore the text saith his desire will kill him and that will be his bane for when the sluggard shall thinke he hath desired grace and mercy and pardon and salvation and shall misse of that hee thought hee truly desired when hee lyes on his death-bed and seeth that his desire vanisheth and comes to nothing this will slay him because his labour was not answerable his desire was not profitable his labour was nothing therefore his desire brought him nothing These lazie professours you would thinke there were but few of them in the world but these lazie droanes swarme every where and are the very plague-sores of our families and townes they could be content to be as they ought and doe as they should but they never labour to doe that which God requires therefore let me enter into some particulars and I will ranke these lazie hypocrites into foure formes that every one may see of which sort he is 4 Sorts of lazie Hypocrites The first sort are those who when they enjoy the meanes of salvation marvellous profitable and plentifull when wisedome hath killed her fat things and refined her wines and furnished her tables every one may come and eat of my meat and drinke of my wine now these lazie professours esteeme not receive not any benefit by these blessings which God offers and wisedome tenders to them but complaine of too much bread and too much wine and too much manna they will not take that mercy which is offered a Minister cannot force a power of grace upon their soules or any of Gods precious promises upon their hearts these are lazie droanes indeed Doth that man desire a commoditie that will beat the Carrier that brings it to him and cast it away from him No all the world will say he prized it not hee desired it not otherwise hee would have received it gladly and given much money for it too If a soule were hunger-starved would hee not receive bread if it were offered him or would he not call the man to him that sold bread and buy it of him to supply his wants with the soonest and say let me be served first So had these professours any longing desire after the precious meanes of grace and salvation when mercie and salvation hath beene set upon the stall and the Lord crieth Ho every one that will let him take of the well of the water of life and live for ever freely and Ho every one that thirsts let him come and buy wine and milke without money nay many a poore Minister would faine leave his commodity behinde him and saith You must have it and shall have it and I will give you the buying of it wee are faine to force Gods favours upon the soule we beseech you to beleeve and wee intreat you for the Lord Jesus Christs sake to receive mercie and humble your soules wee would force Gods favours upon your hearts But will any man take these favours now No beloved these lazie hypocrites will not prize this grace they will not receive this mercie many sweet promises and many admirable precious things of grace and salvation are revealed but they neither passe nor care to receive any benefit thereby this argueth that such men have no true desire after Christ Jesus For a poore hungry sinner that is apprehensive of his owne weaknesse and feeblenesse hee longs when will the feast day bee and when will the Lords day come And when hee comes into the congregation to heare the word how carefully will he listen and how diligently will he attend and if the word comes home to his conscience or if hee receive not comfort hee cries out Oh when will the dish come to the end of the table I am full of doubts good Lord resolve me I am in trouble good Lord comfort me I have a proud stout stubborne heart good Lord humble mee thus the hungry soule longs after these meanes of salvation and is willing to receive benefit by them and a longing heart is at best ease when the word works most Note But a lazy Hypocrite is at best ease when the word workes least upon him And therefore when he thinkes the Minister will come to his soule hee will not bee at home that day he will be sure to be out of towne he knowes the Word would have awakened him and affrighted him and he cannot beare the blow therefore he keeps away and shunnes the hearing of Gods Word which would awaken and humble him Sort of lazy Hypocrites 2 Secondly of this crew are those who when God hath taken away and deprived them of the ordinary meanes of grace and salvation whereby he doth good unto the soule they are well content to be without the same they sit
of God and the powerfull worke thereof may marvellously snub and wound sinne but infidelitie will heale it againe and will restore life to it againe I compare reformation to the retreat of an army when one side is weake and the other side is too strong and they are not able to make their parts good then they make a retreat and goe home againe to their trenches and hee that wisely retreats himselfe though he may lose the day yet he loseth not a man and the Commander saith such a man was wounded and such a man was hurt a little but we came all well home they retreat into the trenches and get more strength and then they levy our their forces againe So it is with outward reformation haply a man lives under a powerfull Minister under a good master and in a good family and all these make sin retreat and hee dares not sweare and he cannot walke in his wicked wayes his master curbs him all this while his sinnes make a retreat but there is none of them gone the life of never a one of them is gone so long as he hath an unbeleeving heart let the unbeleever enjoy never such means and live in never so good a family yet he hath not one sinne killed they are onely retreated and so unbeleefe nurseth them and makes them grow out with greater violence This I take to be the reason why many a man that hath professed the Gospell and hath had much horror of heart and many good resolutions and much care expressed outwardly after many yeers his corruptions breake out againe and get ground and they are armed afresh and they run violently and for any thing a man knowes they goe downe to hell how many professours have turned to be uncleane persons and to be drunkards because their old sinnes were but onely snubbed by good company and the word c. But they never had their hearts throughly broken the root that nursed all was still the same and therefore they breake out notoriously to the dishonour of God the scandall of the Gospell and the confusion of their owne soules if God be not mercifull Fourthly as unbeleefe keepes God from the soule and makes all meanes unprofitable and maintaines all sinne in the strength and life of it So lastly it makes the soule of a poor sinner to be in a desperate estate and a man continuing in this condition is past hope help recovery beleeving is the last covenant that ever God hath exprest a man may be saved and not doe the law but a man cannot be saved if he doe not beleeve that 's the last covenant and condition of all and if hee stick here he is past all recovery without a wonderfull worke from Heaven Heb. 3.18 There the Lord takes a solemne oath that they that would not beleeve should never enter into his rest to whom did he sweare thus to them that beleeved not God never takes an oath that hee that keeps not the law shall not bee saved or that hee that cannot performe to keepe all the Commandements shall not be saved and never see happinesse no but he takes an oath that they that beleeve not shall never see happinesse and when God once sweares the thing is unchangeable God never swore that if Adam did not doe hee should not live but if he had not beleeved in that Christ that was promised hee had never beene saved but though we cannot live by exact doing yet we may live by beleeving and we may goe to another to doe what God requires of us and this is the reason of that peremptory curse which God sealâ—s downe upon the hearts of unbeleevers Iohn 3.18 He that beleeveth is not condemned but he that beleeveth not is condemned already hee hath one foot in hell but why is it so I answer looke as it is with a man that hath a case to be tried if it be tried in all the courts of England and he cast in them all there is no more trouble to bee made nor no more hope of recovery So it is in this hee that beleeveth not is cast in all Courts in Heaven and earth Law and Gospell both condemne him justice will not save him for it must bee satisfied and mercy will not save him for he is an unbeleever so that there is no trial to be lookt for the sentence is passed upon him in heaven and earth onely there wants a Jaylor to bring him to the gibbit that is death and the devill who is the hangman to turne him off into hell for ever there to plague him nay unbeleefe bindes Gods hand and hinders the power of God as may be said with reverence he may justifie a sinner but he will not justifie an unbeleever in his estate of unbeleefe Marke 6.5 He could doe no miracle there because of their unbeleefe the text doth not say hee did not great workes there So S. Matthew hath it but he could doe no great workes there so the Lord hee can doe mighty workes he can justifie a sinner and comfort the discomforted and cleanse the polluted and save the polluted but he will not save the unbeleever hee cannot worke this mighty worke upon him and therefore doe not trouble thy selfe so much for mercy towards thee if thou bee an unbeleever never dreame of comfort for God cannot save thee will God goe against his owne words then he should not bee truth hee hath sworne that an unbeleever shall not enter into his rest this word and oath shall stand for ever Therefore goe to God that hee may give thee a beleeving heart and then mercy will come and pardon and glory will come to the soule but remaining in unbeleefe hee cannot save thee hee will not deny his Word nor his oath for never an unbeleeving wretch under Heaven Now if you doe conceive the nature of your sinne and your misery thereby then for the Lords sake you that heare the Word this day all you unbeleevers that never had this worke of faith in your soules hie you out of this miserable condition goe your wayes and give no quiet to your soules nor no comfort to your consciences before the Lord shew mercy to you in removing this corruption from your soules and shew mercy to you Now whether you have true faith or no I shall shew afterwards when I shall come to trie every mans evidence and that yee may come out of this unbeleeving condition labour to see the danger of it in three particulars and establish thy heart with these considerations that thou maist never bee in quiet till thou have some power against them and grace to come out of them First know and consider seriously that whatsoever thou dost so long as thou art an unbeleever it is all unprofitable and to no purpose at al couldst thou heare with attention and remember sufficiently whatsoever is revealed and pray with abilitie and understanding beseeming a Christian man in that case didst thou reforme
THE SOVLES VOCATION OR EFFECTVAL Calling to CHRIST By T. H. 2 PETER 1.3 Through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glorie and vertue LONDON Printed by Iohn Haviland for Andrew Crooke and are to be sold at the Black Beare in S. Pauls Church-yard 1638. A TABLE OF THE Contents out of JOHN Doctrine I. THe soule humbled and inlightened must learne the fulnesse of the mercie of God that there is fulnesse of sufficiencie of mercie with him p. 37 Use I. Looke only to Gods mercie after that thou hast learned the lesson of contrition and humiliation p. 43 Doctrine II. That the teaching of the heart effectually is the proper taske and worke of God p. 49 Reason Because the worke is an almightie worke p. 50 Use I. It is of admirable comfort to all weake silly feeble minded creatures p. 51 Use II. If it be the worke of God then goe to him p. 52 Use III. Doth the Father teach then acknowledge you have it as from God p. 57 Doctrine III. That the word of the Gospell and the worke 〈◊〉 â—â—irit goe both together p. 62 The manner how the Word and Spirit goe together p. 63 Reason I. Because the Lord would have all use the meanes p. 65 Reason II. Because the Lord would not have men be couzened by their owne fancies p. 65 Reason III. Because the Lord would have all to bee watchfull and carefull in not losing their comfort p. 60 Use I. Instruction to teach us the worth of the Gospell above all other things in the world for it is accompâ—nied with the Spirit and it brings salvation with it p. 65 Use II. For triall hence a man may know whether wee have a spirituall heart or no. p. 67 Use III. Direction hence we may observe the ground why many of Gods faithfull people understand not that they have the Spirit of God p. 68 Use IIII. Terrour wee may see the hopelesse condition of those men that live under the Gospell c. p. 69 Use V. Exhortation you are to submit to the Word of the Lord. p. 70 The meanes to submit are three p. 71 Doctrine IIII. 〈…〉 Spiâ—â—â— of the Lord gives speciall notice of Gods acceptance to the soule truly humbled p. 72 The manner how the Spirit doth it is in three passages p. 74 Reason I. Because onely the Spirit of the Lord knowes the Lords minde p. 88 Reason II. Because the Spirit onely can breake thorow all those â—â—â—sts and clouds of ignorance and blindnesse that are in the mindes to oppose this worke p. 90 Those hindrances are of two sorts p. 91 Use I. Is of triall to examine your selves whether Gods Spirit hath given you speciall notice of Gods acceptance p. 94 The speciall notice of the Spirit from all other is to be tried and differenced by foure particulars p. 95 Use II. It is an use of direction to teach you what meanes you must use to get the notice and evidence of Gods love to your owne soules p. 101 The meanes to get the witnesse of the Spirit are foure Ibid. 1. You must labour to bee such a one to whom the Spirit doth belong p. 102 2. You must not hearken to carnall reason of your owne hearts p. 103 3. You must labour to understand the language of the Spirit p. 105 4. You must labour to keepe the promise by you for ever p. 107 The Motives to this are two Ibid. Use III. Instruction to teach you that the humbled sinner of meanest capacitie doth know more of grace and salvation and Gods love in Christ than the most wise and learned in the world that are not humbled p. 108 Use IIII. It is to shew the certaintie of the assurance of faith p. 109 Now we come next in order to shew how that the Lord must teach all the affections to come unto the promise and the first affection is the affection of hope p. 110 Doctrine V. The holy Spirit of the Father doth stir the heart of an humbled and inlightened sinner to hope for the goodnesse of the Lord. Ibid. Reason I. Why the Lord doth in the next place proceed to stir up hope is because it is the fittest facultie of the soule to wait upon mercy p. 112 The manner how God doth stirre up the heart of an humble broken hearted sinner to hope is in three passages p. 113 1 The Lord doth sweetly perswade the heart that a mans sinnes are pardonable p. 113 2 The Lord doth sweetly perswade the soule that all his sinnes shall be pardoned p. 118 3 The Lord letteth in some rellish into the soule of the sweetnesse of his love ibid. Use I. Reproofe of two sorts of persons first of those that despaire secondly of those that presume p. 119 The hainousnesse of the sin of desperation is set forth in two particulars 1 As io is most injurious to God p. 120 2 As it is most dangerous to the soule p. 121 The sinne of presumption of carnall Hypocrites is set forth p. 123 The grounds of the unreasonable hopes of carnall Hypocrites are five 1 The ignorants hope that the Lord that made him will not damne him p. 125 2 Another hopeth that God is his God because of his prospertie in outward things ibid. 3 Another hopes he shall be saved because he hath had an hell of affliction in this life ibid. 4 Another hopes for salvation in regard they enjoy the means of salvation p. 127 5 Another hopes he shall be saved because there is mercy enough in God to save him p. 129 Use II. An use of consolation to every poore broken hearted sinner canst thou but looke to God and hope I say thy condition is good p. 133 There are foure signes to know the true grounded hope of the Saints from all false and flashy hopes of Hypocrites The first signe of true hope is that true hope hath a peculiar certainty in it p. 135 The second signe is this that a true grounded hope is of great power and strength to hold the soule to the truth of the promise p. 137 The third signe is this that the excellency of this hope doth overshadow all the hopes in the world that can be offered propounded desired p. 139 The fourth signe is this a true grounded hope alwayes lendeth supply and succour when all the rest of a mans abilities doe faile in his owne sense and apprehension p. 140 Use III. Of exhortation to beseech every one to labour for this true and grounded hope p. 143. The Motives to stirre you up to seeke this hope are these three 1 Because there is nothing more usefull than this grace of hope p. 143 2 Because nothing is more needfull to the soule than this true hope p. 144 3 Because by this true hope the hearts of the Saints are kept both in love to God and in obedience unto him p. 145 The Meanes to attaine this true grounded Hope are these three 1 You must labour to cast out all carnall sensualitie p.
145 2 You must labour to be much acquainted with the precious promises of God p. 146 3 You must maintaine in the heart a deepe and serious acknowledgement of that supreme authoritie of the Lord to doe what hee will and how hee will according unto his owne good pleasure p. 148 Doctrine VI. The Spirit of the Lord quickneth the desire of an humble and enlightned sinner to long for the riches of his mercy in Christ p. 150 The reason why desire commeth next in order and the manner how God the Father doth quicken up the desires of the soule to long for mercy are p. 152 Use I. It is an use of strong consolation to stay the hearts of poore sinners in the midst of their infirmities canst thou but finde thy smoking desire thy condition is then good p. 156. The signes of sound desires are these three 1 Signe of a sound desire is this that as the desire is so the endevour will be p. 157 2 Signe of a sound desire is this he that truly desires mercy and grace desireth Christ for himselfe 158. 3 Signe of a sound desire is this the soule that truly desires mercy is ready to receive it with thankfulnesse and will entertaine the meanes and messenger that may bring home Christ and mercy to his soule p. 159 Use II. It is of reproofe to all them that yet have not these true and sincere desires after grace and salvation wrought in them p. 160 There are three sorts and rankes of professours and hypocrites whose desires are unsound the Lazy Hypocrite Stage Hypocrite Terrified Hypocrite p. 161 There are foure sorts of lazy professors and lazy Hypocrites that are void of these sound and sincere hopes 1 Sort of lazy Hypocrites are such who when they enjoy the means of salvation yet they esteeme not thy blessing they prize not the meanes p. 164 2 Sort of lazy Hypocrites are such who when God hath taken away and deprived them of the ordinary meanes of grace and salvation they are well contented to be without the same they sit downe very well satisfied p. 166 3 Sort of lazy Hypocrites are such who when they have the meanes of grace and salvation are content to use them and if they want the meanes will seeke out for them but yet are not carefull to prevent those inconveniences which hinder them by receiving benefit from the meanes p. 168 4 Sort of lazy Hypocrites are those who though they heare the duties commanded yet they neglect all duties commands p. 169 There are two sorts of stage Hypocrites that are void of these sound and sincere desires p. 172 The first sort of stage Hypocrites are such as will take up so much of Christ and the Gospell as may stand with their credit and with their estate p. 173 The second sort of stage Hypocrites are such that will use all Gods ordinances but will part with nothing and will suffer nothing for the Lord Iesus p. 175 The third sort that are void of sound and sincere desires are the terrified Hypocrites p. 177 The signes of a terrified Hypocrite are two 1 He will be lingering and hankering after some corruption p. 178 2 The terrified Hypocrite he will slight and slubber over small sinnes and small corruptions p. 178 How farre this terrified Hypocrite will goe and what he may doe vid. p. 179 Use III. Is of Exhortation wherein you are intreated in the bowels of the Lord Iesus to long and desire after the Lord Iesus Christ p. 191 Means I. The Means are foure the first is this be acquainted thorowly with thy owne necessities and wants with that nothingnesse and emptinesse in thy selfe p. 192 Means II. The second is consider the necessitie after grace and goodnesse it is no matter of complement and indifferencie p. 197 Means III. The third is labour to spread forth the excellencie of all the beautie and surpassing glory that is in the promises of God p. 198 Means IV. The fourth is thou must know that it is not in thy power to bring thy heart to desire grace p. 199 Doctrine VII The Spirit of the Lord kindles in an humbled heart and inlightned sinner love and joy to entertaine and rejoyce in the riches of his mercy p. 205 The opening of the Doctrine consists in 3. passages Passage I. Is this that this love and joy is no where else to be found but in an heart humbled and inlightned p. 205 Passage II. Is this that the love and joy is enkindled by the Spirit of the Father p. 206. Passage III. Is this that the love and joy being kindled they may entertaine and rejoyce in the riches of Gods mercy p. 207 Reason I. Of the point is this because that love and joy doe follow desire p. 209 The Spirit of the Father doth enkindle the love and joy in these three particulars p. 217 Particular I. Is this God the Father by the Spirit doth let in some sweetnesse and rellish of his love into the soule that doth warme the heart p. 221 Particular II. Is this that the freenesse of Gods love doth enkindle a love in the soule p. 222 Particular III. Is this that as the sweetnesse did warme it the freenesse kindles it so the greatnesse of the sweetnesse of this love doth set the soule in a flame p. 224 Use I. It is an use of instruction to enforme you that there is no sufficiencie in a naturall heart to be carried to the Lord Iesus Christ or to the worke of grace p. 226 Use II. Iâ— is an use of consolation to stay and refresh the hearts of those that have received the gracious worke p. 233 Use III. It is an use of triall to examine your selves whether your love and joy be sound true and sincere and how it doth differ from the fained wilde and hypocriticall love in the world p. 237 The soundnesse of true love from counterfeit Hypocriticall love appeareth in these five trialls Triall I. Is this observe the root and rise of thy love ibid. Triall II. Is this observe if thou entertainest thy Saviour as a Saviour that is as a King p. 242 Triall III. Is this thou must observe if thou labourest to give contentment to Christ p. 244 Triall IV. Observe whether thy heart doth rejoyce to see the happinesse of the thing you love p. 251 Triall V. Is this it is the nature of true love to covet nearer union with the thing beloved p. 254 Use IV. It is of repose to all those upon whom this worke of love and joy in Christ was never wrought p. 261 Most men have not this love to God but hatred against him p. 263 The persons that doe not love the Lord Iesus Christ they are referred to three ranks p. 266 Sort I. Are such as are open enemeis to Christ and who these are are largely described in p. 267 Sort II. Are those glozing Neuters that halt betweene two opinions p. 273 Sort III. Are those fawning Hypocrites that are faire
538 The second sort of hinderances are the resting upon duties endevours and performances p. 546 The third sort of hinderances is the want of sense and feeling p. 549 The meanes or cures against these hinderances are especially three Cure I. A distressed soule is not to looke too long nor too much continually upon the sight and consideration of his owne sinnes p. 552 Cure II. Is this make conscience either not to attend to or not to judge thy selfe or thy estate by any carnall reason without a warrant p. 560 Cure III. Is this enter not into contention with Sathan concerning those things which belong not unto you p. 566 Cure IV. Is this in thy proceedings with thy selfe and in the judgement of thy selfe repaire unto the word of the Lord and passe no sentence but according to the evidence of the word p. 573 There are foure rules of direction to shew the soule how to repaire to the word Rule I. Is this thou art to looke into the uprightnesse and sinceritie of thine owne soule p. 577 Rule II. Is this labour to have thy conscience setled in the truth of grace which the word doth informe to be in thee p. 580 Rule III. Is this that we should strive mightily to have our hearts overpowred to entertaine that wee have that grace which the Word of truth doth manifest to bee in us Rule IIII. Is this maintaine in the last place the truth which upon these grounds thou hast received p. 592 The means to get faith are foure p. 598 Meanes I. Is this wee must labour to plucke away all props that the soule leanes upon p. 598 Means II. Is this labour to have your hearts established of the fulnesse of content that is in the promise p. 601 Means III. Is this expect all the good which thou needst and canst desire from that sufficiency of the promise p. 607 Means IIII. Is this labour to yeeld to the equall condition of the promise p. 608 The motives to stirre up the heart to seeke after faith are three Motive I. Is this because if you once get this grace you get all other graces with it p. 610 Motive II. Is this because by faith wee are delivered and made conquerours over all corruptions p. 611 Motive III. Is this because faith doth bring a blessing to all our blessings and graces p. 614 Use The second branch of the use of exhortation it is to those that have faith to live by their faith and to improve it for their best good p. 618 There are three particulars for to learne the heart how to live by faith 622 Partic. I. We must provide matter for our faith ibid. Partic. II. In providing matter of faith three rules are to bee observed Rule I. All the good promises are to bee stored up seasonably p. 623 Rule II. All the promises of all kindes and that abundantly are to be laid in p. 625 Rule III. All the promises are to bee laid up in the heart that we may have them at hand for our use p. 628 Particular II. We must labour to fit faith for the worke p. 630 Rule I. To maintaine the evidence of this grace of faith p. 630 Rule II. To labour to bring our hearts to a stilnesse or calmnesse that faith may have its full scope p. 634 Rule III. Not to looke first unto the means but to the promise for succour p. 637 Particular III. We must order faith in the worke p. 640 Rule I. To renounce all power and abilitie in our selves ibid. Rule II. To bring the promise home to our hearts p. 642 Rule III. We must be carried by the promise unto God p. 644 Passage II. How we may take and improve the good of the promise p. 645 Severall Treatises of this AUTHOUR 1 THE unbeleevers preparing for Christ out of Revelations 22.17 1 Corinth 2.14 Ezekiel 11.19 Luke 19.42 Matthew 20.3 4 5 6. Iohn 6.44 2 The soules preparation for Christ or a Treatise of Contrition on Acts 2.37 3 The Soules humiliation on Luke 15. verses 15 16 17 18. 4 The Soules vocation or effectuall calling to Christ on Iohn 6.45 5 The Soules union with Christ 1 Corin. 6.17 6 The Soules benefit from union with Christ on 1 Cor. 1.30 7 The Soules justification eleven Sermons on 2 Corin. 5.21 8 Sermons on Iudges 10.23 on Psalme 119.29 on Proverbs 1.28 29. on 2 Tim. 3.5 THE SOVLES EFFECTVALL CALLING TO CHRIST By T. H. LONDON Printed by J. H. for Andrew Crooke at the signe of the Beare in Pauls Church-yard 1637. The Soules effectuall calling to CHRIST JOHN 6.45 Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father commeth unto me THE ingrafting of the humble and broken hearted sinner into Christ as we have heard consists of two particular passages The first was being put into the stock Secondly the ingrafting into the some As in ingrafting naturally so of implanting spiritually of the soule into Christ When the soul is brought unto this then a sinner comes to be partaker of all the spiritual benefits all shall be communicated to us Now the point at this present to be handled is called by the streame of Divines Vocation and I tearme it the putting in of the soule when the soule is brought out of the world of sinne to lye upon and to close with the Lord Jesus Christ and this hath two particular passages in it partly the call on Gods part partly the answer on ours The call on Gods part is this when the Lord by the cal of his Gospell doth so cleerly reveale the fulnesse of mercy and certifies to the soule by the work of his spâ—rit that the soule humbled returnes answer to Gods call In the first observe two passages First the meanes whereby God will call the sinner unto him the sinner is afraid to appeare before God whom he hath offended and may therefore proceed in justice against him for those sinnes which have beene committed by him Now besides the Law which discovers a mans sinne unto him hee now prepares another meanes the voice of his Gospell hee lets in many sweet inklings into the soule of his love and kindnesse to allure him to call him and draw him to himselfe Secondly the Lord doth not onely appoint the meanes namely the ministery of his Gospel whereby the soule may be brought unto him and receive communion with him but by the worke of his Spirit hee doth bring all the riches of his grace into the soule truly humbled so that the heart cannot but receive the same and give answer thereto and give an eccho of the subjection of it selfe to be governed thereby that wee have finished already There must bee hearing before comming not of the Law to terrifie a man but of the Gospell to perswade and allure a man to come unto the Lord and receive mercy and kindnesse from him The Gospell is the meanes ordained by God to call home the soule unto him But this will not doe the
deed there must be something else or the sinner will be at a stand and cannot come on cheerfully and receive the grace offered him therefore besides the meanes wee have the speciall cause expressed which is the Lord. For when a man hath heard that is one thing but that is not all for the principall cause is the Lord. God the Father alone can buckle the heart to receive the grace appointed and the mercy offered to the soule and without the principall cause all other meanes I meane the Ministers of the Gospell although it be a savour of life unto life yet it may be a savour of death unto death unlesse the Spirit of the Lord goes with it For when the Gospell is onely revealed to the understanding and that onely conceives of the letter thereof and it soakes not and sinkes not into the heart this we call an outward calling that is the phrase of Divines when some light flash is imparted and communicated unto the soule and is not set on sufficiently that is an outward calling But when God the Father doth accompany the dispensation of the Gospell with the powerfull operation of the Spirit and it puts its hand to the key of the Gospell and unlockes a blinde minde and a hard heart there the soule learnes throughly and effectually the way of salvation The Text saith there must not onely be hearing but learning of the Father else the soule will not nor cannot come Now before I can collect the severall passages out of the words there is some difficulty and obscurity in the phrase therefore give me leave as I am able to discover the meaning and sense of the words and then the collection will be cleere First for the explication of the phrase and I will discourse four questions unto you which will be usefull for the cleere explication of the Text. 4. Questions First what the lesson is that a man must learne before he come Secondly why the Father is said to teach and not the Sonne nor the holy Ghost Thirdly what is the manner how the Father doth teach the soule when he will call it home to himselfe Fourthly what is the frame and disposition of the soule how doth the heart behave it selfe when it hath in truth learned the lesson When the Lord will propound unto and learne the soules of his that belong to him you must not thinke the truth tedious because they will give us light into all the truth that shall bee hereafter discussed out of the word Quest 1 He that hath heard and learned of the Father what is the lesson that he must learne before hee can come that after he hath learned this lesson he may be able to see the path of salvation as propounded to him so also neere at hand that hee might walk therein and receive comfort thereby Answ For answer hereunto the lesson that the soule must learne is this namely the fulnesse of the mercy and grace and salvation that God the Father hath provided and also offered to the poore humbled sinner in and through the Lord Jesus Christ which in deed is able to doe that for a poore sinner which all the meanes and things in the world could not doe and yet notwithstanding he needs I have heretofore discussed the poore miserable plight which a sinner hath brought himselfe into by his manifold rebellions There is no helpe no hope of himselfe in what hee hath or doth to releeve and succour himselfe and therefore he fals flat at the footstoole of the Almighty and is content to be at his disposing Now the lesson that the soule must learne is the fulnesse greatnesse and freenesse of the perfect salvation which is brought unto us through the Lord Jesus Christ And that we may not learne this lesson by halfes but fully and perfectly and that your minds may conceive of the same give me leave to lay it out fully because it will be profitable for our ensuing discourse and this lesson discovers it selfe in three things as in three lines as I may so terme it The first is this that the soule may learne there is enough sufficiency in the mercy of God to fill up all the empty chinkes of the soule and supply all the wants that a sinner hath and releeve him in all those necessities that either doe or can befall him this is the condition of every sonne of man since the fall of Adam that there is not onely a great deale of weaknesse in the soule but there is a great deale of wants and emptinesse in the soule Now this is the fulnesse of the mercy of God that whatsoever our weaknesses wants or necessities bee there is full sufficiency enough in that masse to fill up all and to give the soule full content in every particular Hence the phrase of Scripture runnes thus when God propounds the fulnesse of mercy in Jesus Christ he calls it a treasury and all the treasures of wisedome and holinesse are in Christ not one treasure but all treasures not some treasures but all treasures Esay 61. When the Gospell was professed there was a fulnesse of mercy and there wee shall see a kinde of meeting and concurrency of all blessings together So that where the Gospell comes there is joy for the sorrowfull peace for the troubled strength for the weake be your miseries what they can be here is releefe seasonable and sutable to all your wants miseries and necessities Nay this is not onely for the present necessity Mercy is not only able to releeve your present necessity but your future also It is not with mercy as with the widow of Sarepta who thought when the meale in the barrell and the oyle in the cruse was spent she should then surely perish No it is not so in the fulnesse and sufficiency of this mercy it hath not onely enough to doe you good for the present and to succour you in all present wants but what miseries soever shall befall thee or what troubles shall betide thee for future times the fulnesse of Gods mercy laies in provision against such necessities and times of miseries and vexations For a poore sinner may be driven to a stand after this manner It is true saith the sinner I have heretofore committed many sinnes God hath sealed up the pardon of them unto me and those sins which have heretofore pleased me God hath given me a sight of them in some power and measure against them But what if more sins if more temptations if more corruptions if more guilt if more horror seize upon my heart how then shall I succour my selfe But now this is the fulnesse and sufficiency of mercy it doth not onely case a man in regard of present necessity but layes provision for all future wants and calamities that can befall the soule Psal 130.7 The text saith Let Israel hope in the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption The word in the originall is there is multiplying
redemption or redemption encreasing if misery sorrow and anguish be multiplyed there is multiplyed redemption also Then know it if you know your owne soules you see it if you see your owne lives that it is new sinnes new corruptions prevailing with you But here is the comfort of the soule as sinne increaseth so mercy increaseth as corruption multiplyes so redemption multiplyes therefore he is called the Father of mercy as who should say he begets mercy even a generation of mercies from day to day and it is a large generation of new mercies framed and made to incourage poore soules therefore it is said with the Lord there is a fountaine of life Looke as it is with a fountaine there is not onely water in it for the present but it feeds severall cocks and conduits and though it runnes out daily it enlargeth it selfe daily So with the Lord there is a fountaine of life If there be a fountaine of death in thy soule in regard of thy sinnes to kill thee so a fountaine in God to quicken thee Hence it comes to passe that the Lord speaking of his mercy calls it the exceeding riches of his mercy Ephes 2.7 I say the Lord hath not onely fulnesse of mercy but he is rich in all his fulnesse nay he exceeds in all the riches of the fulnesse of his mercy So that be we never so poore and beggerly these sins increase and those miseries increase why yet though thou bee a bankrupt in grace yet the Lord is full of goodnesse full of mercy yea he exceeds in his fulnesse to succour thy heart in all necessities nay our miseries and wants bee great yet haply thy feare is greater than all the rest thy soule is troubled many times more with the feare of what will be than with the feeling of what is already befalne thee But now how ever thy miseries be great and thy feare exceeds all misery that can betide yet mercy will remove and prevent those feares and Christ will doe more for thee than thou canst feare will fall upon thee Nay a man doth not feare what misery can befall upon him but his heart may imagine more than he doth feare But here is the fulnesse of mercy mercy full to the brim and running over mercy is able to doe more for thee than thou canst feare or conceive shall come upon thee Ephes 3.20 then saith the Lord exceeding excesse abundantly above that we can aske or thinke So then the words runne thus then winde up the point Thou seest thou findest thou feelest many sorrowes now assailing thee thou expectest more trouble to befall thee and thou dost conceive more than thou dost feare thy sorrowes out-bid thy heart thy feares out-bid thy sorrowes and thy thoughts goe beyond thy feares and yet here is the comfort of a poore soule in all his misery and wretchednesse the mercy of the Lord out-bids all these whatsoever may can or shall befall thee Gather then up briefly and shut up this first passage Many are the sorrowes of the righteous guilt of sinne perplexing the sinner and filthinesse of sinnes tyrannizing and domineering over the soule nay many feares and cares for future times for a sinner saith Sometimes my condition is marvellous poore my estate marvellous miserable what if small temptations what if small corruptions what if such a fall should betide me what then shall become of my soule Nay a mans imagination exceeds all feares The soule that thinks with it self Should the Lord deale in justice and should my sinnes get the victory over me which I hope will never be for what shall I then do for succour yet this is the comfort of a poore soule let it read this lesson The Lord is able and mercy can doe excessive exceeding abundantly above all thy sorrowes are abundant thy feares are very abundant thy imaginations are excessive exceeding abundant exceeding above all present sorrowes above all future feare and above the course of all imaginations This discourse shall serve for the first passage We will now adde the second The soule is not yet fully satisfied but replyes It is true there is bread enough in my Fathers house that I yeeld and that I confesse there is abundance of mercy in God a world of mercy that pardoned Manasses and saved Saul but what is that to me if there be bread enough in my Fathers house and I starve for hunger and get no benefit by this mercy of God But how shall a man starve in this mercy if a way can be conceived and a meanes can be propounded for another supply to the soule to fill up the necessity of it this will be seene in the next particular I say herein appeares more fulnesse of mercy It is not onely sufficient to releeve a man in all the miseries that can befall him but this is another thing considered mercy is able to make thee partake in the same mercy God doth not leave thee to thy selfe that thou shouldest buy it and purchase it and buy it and procure it but mercy is able to suffice thy soule that thou maist be refreshed thereby This is the tenor of mercy God requires of a man that he should beleeve now mercy doth helpe to performe the duty commanded The Lord as he requires the condition of thee so he worketh the condition in thee hee makes thee beleeve that thou shalt be saved as there is fulnesse of grace in himselfe to doe thee good if thou dost receive the same this is the difference betweene the two Covenants the Covenant of workes and the Covenant of grace The first covenant runnes Adam shall doe and live now it stood upon the use and abuse of his free will either to doe the will of God and be blessed or to breake the law and be cursed it was in his power to receive the life and thus either by breach or not doing the condition required Adam must performe But it is not so here the Lord in deed requires a condition no man can be saved but he must beleeve but here is the privilege that the Lord as he makes this condition with the soule so also he keepeth us in performing the condition for the Lord he requires that the soule should rest upon him and he make him also to doe it he requires the soule to cleave unto him Ezek. 36.26 27. There is the tenor of this covenant A new heart will I give you and a new spirit I will put within you and I will take away your stony heart and give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes Or if they will walke in my wayes out of thine owne power then I will vouchsafe this mercy and favour Now the Lord requires this condition and workes it also in his children he requires this of them and he workes this in them for their everlasting good as Heb. 8.9 the Lord saith This is the covenant I
will make with the house of Israel I write my lawes in their hearts and they shall not need to be taught Men must know God and beleeve in the Lord. Now as the Lord requires this as the condition of the covenant so the Lord will work this in them as he requires this of them Iohn 1.12 the text saith To them that beleeve he gave them power to be the sonnes of God Now if a man will beleeve he shall be saved Now then hee makes a man beleeve that he may be a sonne This is the second passage whereby the soule of a sinner comes to be cheered or that there is not onely abundance of sufficiency in the Lord Jesus Christ but that mercy as it is able to doe him good so it will make him partaker of the good The third particular is this That as mercy hath all good and will make us partakers of what it hath so also it will dispose of us and of that it bestoweth upon us Mercy will not onely have a sinner but it will rule and order that grace it hath bestowed upon the soule For if mercy purchase a soule at so high a rate as the blood of the Lord Jesus it is right that the soule purchased by grace and supplyed with grace that mercy should dispose it for the honour of God You are not your owne saith the Apostle but bought with a price therefore you must glorifie the Lord in body and soule Nay it is not onely right that mercy should doe it but reason and beneficiall to the soule that mercy should doe thus Nay I say unlesse that mercy should rule a man he had not beene able to give full content to the soule If the Lord should leave any poore soule to the destiny of his owne heart and the malice of Satan hee would runne to ruine presently he is not able to supply his owne wants and to dispose of his owne spirit and employ aright his owne soule For if Adam in his innocency had a stocke in his owne hands fell and perished then if mercy should put a man into the same estate that Adam was a man should bring himselfe into the same misery that Adam was brought into but there is that fulnesse of that mercy that is in Christ that it wil bestow all good needfull for me so also it will dispose of that good in me so that Satan shall never prevaile the world shall never overcome nor my corruptions beare sway in me but the Lord shall rule me for ever and this is the fulnesse of Gods mercy Gather up the point then that we may see what wee must learne There is sufficiency in mercy to supply all wants nay there is ability in mercy to communicate that it hath and we stand in need of Nay mercy will preserve us and that it giveth to us against all oppositions that can befall thee This is the lesson that the soule must learne that it may be able in some measure to see the way and learne the path that leadeth to everlasting happinesse This is the first lesson that the soule must learne of God the Father Vset For the use of this Is this the lesson the soule must learne then looke wisely upon it and when this comes upon thee and sorrow assailes thee heavily doe not looke into the blacke booke of conscience and thinke there to finde supply neither looke into the booke of the privileges and performances and thinke to finde power out of thy owne sufficiency Looke not on thy sinnes to pore upon them whereby thou shalt be discouraged neither look into thy owne sufficiency thinking thereby to procure any thing to thy selfe These are but lessons of the lower forme It is true thou must see thy sinnes and sorrow for them but this is for the lower forme and thou must get this lesson beforehand and when thou hast gotten this lesson of contrition and humiliation looke onely to Gods mercy and the riches of his grace and be sure as you take out this lesson take it not out by halves for then you wrong mercy and your selves too if you thinke that bare workes will serve and that is all No no mercy will rule you therefore take all the lesson out and then the heart will be cheered and thy soule in some measure enabled to come on to the Lord and will see some glimpses of consolation from the Spirit Quest 2 We see the lesson what must be learned now we must see the reason why the Lord must teach this lesson Answ I answer It is not appropriated to the Father alone for the Father teaches not alone but the Sonne and the holy Ghost teach too But why then doth the Text give it to the Father Here I answer directly because the Father was directly offended with the sinne of man 1 Iohn 1.7 If wee sinne wee have an advocate with the Father namely the Lord Jesus Christ to plead for us with the Father He doth not say wee take an advocate with an advocate that doth not plead with himselfe the reason is God the Father was directly offended though all the persons in the Trinity were offended yet the Father more directly Now he that is directly offended favour and mercy must come from him to the party that doth offend and that is the reason why Christ especially cast this upon the Father Take a creditor that hath money or creditors that are bankrupts now this is no meanes to helpe and succour these men but it lyeth upon the creditor that oweth the debt for he onely it is must come to forgive the debts for it is here God the Father being directly offended by the sonne of man therefore from him in the first place must proceed the pardon and mercy to the sonne of man Hence it comes to passe that the text saith the Father must teach this lesson Quest 3 The third question is this After what manner doth the Lord teach the soule Christ speakes now of the worke of the Spirit and that you may not be mistaken know this that the worke of the Spirit doth alwayes goe with and is communicated by the word therefore if the question be After what manner doth God teach the soule to spell out this lecture of mercy and pardon Answ I answer brieflâ— The Lord teacheth the soule by his Spirit I told you that before that not only the Father but the Sonne and holy Ghost also teacheth the Father from himselfe the Son from the Father and the holy Ghost from both Therefore understand what I say the Spirit of the Lord doth not onely in the generall make known Gods mercy but doth in particular with strength of evidence present to the broken hearted sinner the right of the freenesse of Gods grace to the soule nay it holds those speciall considerations to the heart and prefenâ—eth the heart with them not onely so but in the second place the Spirit doth forcibly soke in the reâ—â—ish of that grace
into the heart and by the over-piercing worke doth leave some dint of supernaturall and spirituall vertue on the heart The Spirit doth not onely with truth bring home the evidence to the heart but it iâ— stâ—ll whispering and calling and making knowne the same and forcibly soketh in the rellish of the freenesse of Gods grace and leaveth a dint of supernaturall vertue upon the soule We will expresse the points because it is somewhat difficult and is the scope of that place 2 Tim. 1.7 The Lord hath not given you the spirit of feare but of a sound minde The spirit of feare is the spirit of bondage in humiliation contrition When the Spirit sheweth a man his sinnes and sheweth him that he is in bondage and in fetters le ts him get out how he can this is the spirit of feare and of bondage In the second place there is the spirit of power But what is this spirit of power You must imagine this spirit of power doth not intimate any particular grace but as it were the sinewes and strength of the worke of the Spirit conveying it selfe through the frame of the heart and this I terme to bee the effectuall worke of the Spirit of God When the soule is humbled the Lord sweetly communicates into the soule a supernaturall and spirituall vertue Lastly as it is in nature take a knife if it be rubbed on a Loadstone it will draw iron unto it now it cannot doe that because it is a knife but because it is rubbed on a stone and receives vertue there from So it is with a heart humbled it is a fit subject for the grace of God to worke upon the love of God is like the loadstone and if the heart he rubbed thereupon and affected with the sweetnesse thereof it will bee able to close with that mercy and come to that mercy and goe to God from whence that mercy comes Quest 4 What is the behaviour of the soule when it hath learned this lesson from the Lord Answ I answer When these two things meet together in the soule then it hath learned this lesson The first is this when the soule having heard of that plentifull redemption that is in Christ as also having apprehended the revelation thereof it commeth to close with the worke of the Spirit revealing presenting and offering grace to the heart nay it comes to give entertainment to he riches of that mercy revealed to the soule There is in the mercy of God and in the blessed truth of the promises a great excellency Now when this is so plentifully brought home to the heart that it breakes through all oppositions which may hinder the worke of the Spirit upon the soule when it is brought home by the spirit of God and the heart gives way and closes with it so that there is nothing betweene that and the soule this I take to be the first frame of the soule that beginnes to learne this lesson it beginnes to close to the truth to give way to the sweetnesse that is in it and bids adieu to all delight and sinnes and whatsoever may be a hindrance unto it from receiving of this grace into the soule This is the first passage The second with which I will conclude is this that as the soule closeth with that mercy and welcommeth it and the heart is content to take up mercy upon those termes so in the second place there is an impression and disposition left upon the soule that it is framed and disposed there is a kinde of print which the soule hath with it so that as the mercy of God is revealed to the soule and communicated to the soule so there is a kind of impression frame and print which the heart retaineth and hath wrought upon it by this grace and free favour of God made knowne therefore that phrase Rom. 6.17 is a marvellous patterne to our purpose the Text saith they were delivered to this forme of doctrine Looke as it is with a seale if the seale be set to the wax and leave an impression just so many letters upon the wax as in the seale then it is wholly sealed So the Spirit of God through Christ in the promises doth reveale al the freenesse and grace of mercy in Christ Now when the Spirit doth leave an impression on the soule that man is delivered into the truth I conclude all in Acts 26.18 when Saul was sent to preach to the Gentiles the Text saith he was but to bring them out of darknesse into light mark when the Lord doth come to worke effectually upon the soule he brings men from under the power of darknesse whereas the understanding was darke and blinded when the Spirit comes it turnes it from the darknesse and power of sinne unto the power of light and grace Lastly the power of the heart doth these two things for not onely some of the heart must bee brought to God but the whole heart therefore in the precious promises of grace and savation there is fulnesse of all good to draw all the faculties of the soule unto the Lord and therefore the faithfulnesse and the truth of God is mainly revealed in the promises now that fits the understanding and makes it looke to God for pardon for power and mercy As the promise is a true word so it is a good word this answers all the will and affections there is a possibility in mercy to save a man hope expects it but then the soule must looke onely to Christ for mercy desire long for it for that there is a certainty that a man shall have mercy if he can desire it love doth welcome and delight in it nay the soule doth say The Lord hath said thou must be saved nay thou must looke to Christ for mercy it is no where else to be had nay if thou dost desire it thou shalt have it and then the Lord determines the point it is done mercy is thine and then the will addes full consent and sayes Amen Lord let it be as thou hast said Gather them up briefly When the Spirit of God doth so cleerly present mercy to the soule and doth leave by the over-powring worke thereof a supernaturall worke upon the soule that the spirit closeth therewith and receives the print and impression thereof now the lesson is fully learned this may suffice for the opening of the severall things now therefore we will addresse our selves to gather the doctrines out of the Text. And first for the generall in that the Father is said to teach Doct. That the teaching of the heart effectually is the proper taske and worke of God It is not you that can teach your selves neither can all the meanes and friends under heaven doe it no it is the work onely of the Father All these meanes and ministers are usefull but God is the chiefe master and all these are but underling ushers to convey the minde of God unto us but the master is God himselfe
canst lay down all thy owne conceits and captivate all thy carnall reasons then thou art like to be taught of the Lord But before these hinder the Lord from informing thee in the way of truth He that sets up his owne wit above the wisedome of the Lord he shall never be exalted by the Lord of heaven This I take to bee the reason why some men of deepe reaches and of great understandings are marvellously besotted in a christian course in the way of life salvation The reason is because they trust to their owne wisedome and rely upon the arme of flesh and upon their owne policy and upon the depth of their owne understandings and that is the reason why the Lord leaves them to their foolish imaginations and as the Text saith to the Romanes when they thought themselves wise they became fooles Iames 5. at the beginning If any man want wisedome let him aske of the Lord. The word in the Originall is if any man be like a begger that beggeth up and downe for bread when he is hungry for if thou beest empty of thy selfe and a begger in thine owne apprehension if thou dost lay down all they conceit of thy owne wisedome then the Lord will give thee wisedome abundantly Reason 2 Secondly doe what thou knowest and then the Lord will informe thee much more in what thou shouldest doe improve that little sparke and knowledge thou hast and then the Lord will increase that knowledge of thine Gen. 18.19 when God was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah Why saith he shall I hide this thing from my servant Abraham The end God teaches a man is to improve his knowledge and when God hath taught him one lesson perfectly then the Lord will teach him another presently When thou hearest the word doe that duty which God commands reforme that sinne and amend that course which God forbids and he will teach thee abundantly Iob 7.12 he that doth Gods will the Lord will instruct that man The master of a family will not give a man fire and candle to sit up and doe no worke by it it will not quit cost Wisedome and knowledge is the candle of God if thou wilt walk by this light and walke by this candle the Lord will increase thy knowledge till thou art become a perfect Christian Reason 3 Thirdly we must not onely doe what we know but must be marvellous painfull and study and indeavour to the uttermost of our power to get knowledge doe not make it onely a holy day taske but labour continually in the use of all meanes for to get knowledge You come here to the congregation and attend to the word you doe well but very few that will make this your taske and study at home to furnish his heart with spirituall understanding It is a shame that a man should alwayes be fed with a spoon and hold the spoone in his mouth as children use to doe that is to goe and come to the congregation and get little or nothing Hos 2.3 When you labour more and more pray more heartily study more diligently bee thinking men and meditating men and chewing men setting themselves upon the truth till this I never look that they should come to any saving or judicious knowledge of life and salvation Reason 4 Last meanes take heed of bearing any secret grudge against any word and truth of God bee it never so crosse to thy corruptions if you doe the Lord in stead of directing you will delude you and in stead of informing you will besot you and give you over to blind minds and hard hearts This we know by experience men of great knowledge great parts and abilities are taken aside with dotage and fall into those errours which a man would wonder how a man of judgement should fall into The reason is they will not entertaine the truth of the Lord Rom. 1.28 as who should say Oh this strict way and this teaching preaching and the thundring of judgements wee cannot beare them we cannot undergoe them we have no delight to these take heed lest the Lord say Blindnesse take him hardnesse take him reprobate sense let him never entertaine the word of God to informe him let him never know the wisedome of God to his comfort here and everlasting happinesse hereafter Vse 3 In the third place doth the Father teach you acknowledge you have it as from God labour so to improve this wisedome that God may get something by it you are but stewards of it and therefore you must improve it for his advantage as the steward that receives money from his master c. so hath the Lord given thee a stocke of wisedome and hath cleered that eye and that judgement of thine use it to his glory Therefore doe not lift up thy selfe in regard of thine owne parts and sufficiency but if you finde your hearts to swell and rise within you for knowledge is a very airy metall as the Apostle saith it puffes up a man therefore when thou findest thy heart thus bubling with those cursed distempers reason thus Why should I be proud of a borrowed suit my minde was as blinde as any under heaven therefore let basenesse bee mine let wisedome be the Lords Gal. 5. The apprentice that is taught by his master must not presently trade for himselfe but he workes for his master and gives him the commodity so let us doe we are Gods schollers and prentices we are now come into his schoole Hath the Lord taught thee any skill in prayer any wisedome to conceive doe not worke now for your selves doe not set up presently but labour to returne all to him and to make the Lord partaker of the good he hath bestowed upon thee Thus much in generall that the Lord is the author of this teaching but now we come to particulars to see how the Spirit in speciall manner doth this This I tell you that the whole soule must come to God For as the whole soule in this gracious call of God both the minde that discovers that mercy and hope and desire and love and joy have bad entertaining thereof and the wil which is the great wheele of the soule that falls on that mercy and rests thereupon and gives answer to the call of God therein Give mee leave to propound two things by way of preface for the cleering of the following truths they will be as a key to open the doore to all the following discourse Thing 1 First those faculties of the soule which especially goe out to God and carry the soule thereunto are especially to be considered in this great worke of going unto God and beleeving in him Now there are two things in the worke some evill and some good the evill to be refused the good to be embraced Now answerably to these 2. things the Lord hath placed in the soule of a man two sorts of feet some feet carry the soule from evill some feet againe carry the soule
towards good Now the affections of the soule that doe respect evill are especially three if any evill be comming first feare is a watchman and the heart trembles and shakes and gives in Hence comes palenesse in the face because feare goes downe into the very castle of a man which is the heart and then sorrow greeves and mournes and laments under the weight of that evill wee feare evill to come but we sorrow for evill that is come Thirdly hatred that carries it selfe with a kinde of indignation and takes up armes against that evill feare is preventing sorrow feeling hatred opposing any evil that comes Now these three affections that goe from evill have been wrought upon in contrition and humiliation namely when the Lord the eye of a poore sinner discovers unto him that hell is gaping for him and the God of justice preparing vengeance for him the soule staggers and shrinks in the apprehension of it then the Lord lets in the fire of indignation into the soule and makes the soule feele that before he threatned and then the soule grieves and because his sinnes have beene so tedious unto him his heart is brought to a hatred and indignation against those evils So that if any evill or provocation or temptation come to a soule broken if the old loose companions old corruptions old swearing old blaspheming old dalliances come to call upon the soule let us have our fill of love untill the morning let us take up our old delights when these call the soule and would plucke the soule home againe unto them then these foure fence the soule against all those inchantments in so much that when the drunkard seeth his company comming towards him hee thinkes that is my plague that is the man and his perswasions and counsels hee remembers his old corruptions and his old horrors and his old burthens and heavie loads that lay upon his heart and the soule hates the drunkard and will not yeeld to his perswasions they so fence the way that the voice of sinne cannot be heard it may call and call but the doore is shut they stop the currant that no streame of distempers may prevaile any more this now is done before so that now wee come to the second worke So there are other affections that carry the soule unto good if there be any good propounded or offered then there are foure other affections that the will sends out to entertaine that good hope and desire looke for the good that is absent hope saith I marvell it comes not desire saith I long after it when the goodnesse is neere then love welcomes it and delights in it and joy rejoyceth and all these hope desire love and joy all bring carry and convey all the good to the will which is the great commander of the soule Love and joy tell the will We have found much goodnesse and taken great delight and much content in the goodnesse and mercy of the Lord. The truth is wee have taken delight in sinne and base courses but oh the comfort but oh the consolation and goodnesse of mercy you cannot have a better good than mercy Then saith the will We will have grace mercy wee will rest here Thus wee see how the head and the foot of the affections doe come on to embrace that good now the understanding doth stand sentinell all the while and discovers all the good and musters up hope and desire and love and joy and these foure are the maine wee must meddle with all the other went from evill and they have their proper worke before we doe not hate and sorrow for mercy wee doe not feare to receive mercy but wee feare and withdraw our selves from sinne and corruptions that we may entertaine the call of mercy Thing 2 There is the promise of grace and mercy in Christ a fulnesse of mercy which doth so powerfully and effectually draw the soule by this good that it brings all these affections after it Therefore in this fulnesse of mercy and goodnesse of God there are these particulars that like so many claspes draw all these faculties to God to follow and close with God for their good The promise is a true one and truth is that which marvellously pleaseth the understanding as a mans palate tastes meat so the understanding tastes words There is nothing so pleasing to the understanding as the truth of God Now of all truth there is none like the truth of a promise therefore the evidence of it doth cleere the judgement and the certainty of it doth establish the judgement of a poore sinner Eph. 1.13 The promise of God is a good word Heb. 6.5 therefore as the truth of the Gospell fils the understanding so there is a goodnesse in the promise of grace and mercy which will answer all and satisfie all the faculties of the soule as in the good word of the Lord mercy is a proper object of hope that it may be sustained a proper object of desire that it may be supported there is a proper object for a mans love and delight that they may be cheered nay there is a full satisfactory sufficiency of all good in the Gospell that so the will of a man may take full repose and rest therein Therefore the Lord saith Come unto me all that are weary and heavy laden come hope and desire and love and will and heart they answer We come all the mind saith Let me know this mercy above all and desire to know nothing but Christ and him crucified let mee expect this mercy saith hope that belongs to me and will befall me desire saith Let me long after it nay saith love let me embrace and welcome it let me delight in it saith joy nay saith the heart let me lay hold on the handle of salvation here we will live and here we will dye at the footstoole of Gods mercy thus all goe 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 doe upon their provision Thus the faculties of the soule hunt and pursue this mercy and lay hold thereupon and satisfie themselves herein Hence wee will raise these two points Doct. 1 That the word of the Gospell and the word of the Spirit goe both together this is grounded in the Text they must first heare then learne heare the Gospell and learne by the Spirit Doct. 2 That Gods Spirit gives speciall notice of Gods acceptance to an enlightned soule and that is the first voice of the Spirit to the understanding Now to the first doctrine Doct. 1 The word of the Gospell and the worke of the Spirit alwayes goe together the point is grounded in the Text after this manner they must first heare then learne heare by the word and learne by the Spirit The hearing of the Gospell without the Spirit is nothing else but a beating of the ayre and a
of the Spirit of God for as we apprehend the Spirit of the Lord to be in the word so much the word will worke upon thee as it was with the Israelites 1 Sam. 8.19 compared with 1 Sam. 12.18 What is the reason they do so at the one and not at the other why did they feare the one more than the other because they apprehended God to be in the one and not in the other Confesse and know that not one word of God shall fall to the ground there thou hast heard if a man did heare thunder and knew it would fall upon him it would awe him The word of the Lord is as thunder from heaven it is not the word of man but of God then consider shall not the word faile then the word that God hath spoken shall fall upon me Consider that when judgement hits it is irrecoverable If a man knew that although judgement came it would not hit him if it did hit him he might recover this would comfort him a little but if thou dost not stoope it will hit and that irrecoverably therefore labour to tremble at Gods word We come now to see how the Lord workes upon the soule First he lets a light into the minde for what the eye never seeth the heart never desireth hope never expects that joy never delights in that the soule never embraceth but the soule hangs a farre off and dares not beleeve that Christ will have mercy upon him God is a just God and he a vile sinner therefore God will never cast the eye of pitie and compassion upon him therefore the Spirit lets in a light into his heart and discovers unto him that God will deale graciously with him and doe good unto him Doct. 1 Hence That the Spirit of the Lord gives speciall notice of Gods acceptance to the soule truly humbled Mercie is generally propounded to the soule in the Gospell but there is a speciall bringing home of mercy to the soule by the Spirit that hee strikes through the bargaine There is many a chapman passeth by the stall and seeth the meat and the commodity lye that is tendred him and followes him home to his house if he purpose to sell so it is not enough to tender mercy and offer grace and salvation by the Gospell for this wee often doe and you will not once looke at them but cast them away and no man buyeth them but if the Spirit of God takes them in hand he will strike the bargaine through hee will follow thee home to thy house to thy closet to thy heart hee will wooe thee be thou never so coy be thou never so stubborne be thou never so wayward the Lord will bring thee to give entertainment to the Lord Jesus and to Gods mercy in and through him 1 Iohn 5.20 as if he had said A man of himselfe hath no minde no understanding to conceive of the Lord Jesus and of the freenesse of Gods mercy in Christ but Christ hath given us this minde he hath given an eye to the soule of a sinner so that hee cannot but take notice of the councell holden in the high Court of Parliament concerning his salvation It is with a sinner as it is with a man that sits in darknesse haply he seeth a light in the street out of a window but he sits still in darknesse and is in the dungeon all the while and thinkes how good were it if a man might enjoy that light So many a poore humble-hearted broken sinner seeth and hath an inkling of Gods mercies he heareth the Saints speake of Gods love and his goodnesse and compassion ah thinkes he how happy are they blessed are they what an excellent condition are they in but he is in darknesse still and never had a drop of mercy vouchsafed unto him at last the Lord sets a light in his house and puts the candle into his owne hand and makes him see by particular evidence thou shalt bee pardoned and thou shalt be saved this is particular notice For the opening of the point observe two things 1. The manner how the Spirit doth it 2. The reasons why the Spirit onely can do it For the first the manner of the Spirits worke how the Lord doth give this notice and how the candle comes to bee lighted and the glimpse of Gods mercy comes in as by so many cranies into the soule it is discerned in three passages Passage 1 The Spirit of the Lord meeting with an humble broken lowly selfe-denying sinner for of him I speake hee that is a proud stout hearted wretch God give him notice of his mercy no God will give him notice of something else he shall have notice of judgements hell fire let him have that which belongs unto him Iudgement to whom judgement belongeth but I speake of an humbled sinner through which he may be enabled and by which he may be fitted to entertaine the things of God The naturall man perceiveth not the things of God neither can he why because they are spiritually discerned So that there must be a spirituall light in him before the soule can see spirituall things without 1 Cor. 2.12 Wee have not received the spirit of the world which is the spirit of ignorance and darknesse that possesseth all the world the world lyeth in darknesse and in sinne there is the spirit of the Devill and terrour in the mindes of wicked men but you have not received the spirit of the world to delude you and blinde you but you have received the Spirit of the Lord as who should say No man doth no man can know the things of Gods free grace rich mercy boundlesse compassion in the Lord. No man can see these colours unlesse he hath a spirituall eye Revel 3.18 No saith God ye are blinde c. but I counsell thee to buy of me eye-salve that thou maist see and now the humbled sinner begins to see like the man in the Gospell some light and glimmering about his understanding that he can look into and discerne the spirituall things of God Passage 2 Then the Lord layes before him all the riches of the treasures of his grace the Spirit brings out of the store house out of the bosome of God the Father those tender mercies and compassions which never yet saw the Sunne which neither men nor Angels ever dreamed of and the Spirit doth communicate them to those that God hath let the spirituall light into Ephes 3.9 there they are called the unsearchable riches of God and it is a very significant phrase and the word implies such riches as a man can never see a foot-step of them God now doth as some Trades-men doe he hath a deale of wares in his store-house but the buyer and passenger seeth not those but only them that are set out upon the stall so it is with the Lord Jesus hee doth present unto the view of the understanding of the mind enlightned all those conceivable incomprehensible
treasures of his mercy in the Lord Jesus If a man have no eye hee cannot see if hee have an eye and have no object nor colours before him hee cannot see first therefore the Lord gives an eye to the humbled heart and when hee hath given him an eye then hee layes colours before him that hee may see and looke and fall in love with the treasures of mercy and compassion 2 Cor. 3. the foure last verses the Text saith The vaile of blindnesse is taken from our minds and then the faithfull Soule beholds as in a glasse all the grace and mercy and compassion that God layeth before him in Christ the humbled sinner hath now gotten an eye and some spirituall eye-sight that the Lord hath brought within his view all the riches and treasures of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Soule saith oh that mercy and grace and pardon were mine Oh that my sinnes were done away The Lord saith I will refresh them that are heavy laden Oh that I had that refreshing saith the Soule You shall have rest saith God Oh that I had rest too saith the soule Now the Soule beginneth to looke after the mercie and compassion which is laid before it Passage 3 The Spirit of the Lord doth witnesse or certifie throughly and effectually to the Soule that this mercy belongs to him that is the upshot of the notice God gives to the Soule The third stroke of the Spirit strikes through the bargaine and makes the understanding close with that grace and mercy set forth unto it and without this the Soule of an humble broken hearted sinner hath no ground to goe upon Beleeving in Scripture is called comming Now no man can goe without some ground now this is the ground without which the Soule hath no bottome to beare it up either to come to Christ or perswade it selfe of mercy in Christ What good doth it doe any hungry stomacke to heare that there is a great deale of cheere and dainties provided for such and such men what is it to him if he have them not Take a begger that hath a thousand pound told before him hee may apprehend the summe of so much gold and so much silver but what is that all to mee saith he if in the meane time I die and starve It falls out in this case with a broken hearted sinner as with a prodigall childe the prodigall he hath spent his meanes and abused his Father the prodigall hath now much need the famine is in the land and poverty is befalne him and hee knowes there was meat enough and cloaths enough in his Fathers house but alas hee can expect no kindnesse from his Father but only his heavy displeasure if any man should say goe to your Father hee will give you a portion of a hundred pounds againe doe you thinke the prodigall would beleeve this no no he would answer thus haply my Father will imprison mee or send a Sergeant to arrest mee or an executioner to take away my life it is my Father that I have offended my portion I have spent and his anger I have incensed and what will hee receive mee no I will never beleeve it Indeed had I beene a good husband I might have had his favour and increased my estate but I have lost his favour my owne estate patrimony and all but if a man should come and tell him now that he heard his Father say so and bring a certificate under his Fathers hand that it was so this would draw him into some hope that his Father meant well towards him so it is with the sinner when he is apprehensive of all his rebellions that hee hath heaped up against Gods mercy and spirit and grace by his declining from the truth If a man should tell such a soule goe to God he will give you a pension of a hundred thousand pounds a yeere that is hee will give you abundance of mercy and compassion the Soule cannot beleeve it but thinkes what I mercy no no blessed are they that walke humbly before God and conforme their lives answerable to Gods word let them take it but the truth is it is mercy I have opposed it is grace that I have rejected no mercy no grace for mee you cannot wooe the soule to be perswaded for to thinke that there is mercy for him But if God send a messenger from heaven or if under the hand of his spirit that hee doth accept of him and will doe good to him and passe by all former sinnes and shew favour to him this makes the soule grow into some hope this is the ground whereupon the soule goeth to the Lord. This the Lord performeth to the soule That which David prayes for Psalm 35.3 the Prophet was not contented that there was salvation in Gods hand hee knew that God had a world of mercy and salvation and pardon lying by him but David prayes to God Say unto my soule thou art my salvation testifie it speake it home Lord once more plainly effectually and sensibly there is salvation with thee Paul was saved and Abraham was saved but what is that to mee say unto my soule thy sinnes shall be pardoned thine iniquities shall be forgiven thy person accepted Quest But now the question growes on But how shall a man discover this testification and this witnessing of the spirit to the heart of a humble broken hearted sinner that these things are so Answ This third worke of the spirit makes knowne it selfe in three particulars Partic. 1 The spirit doth evidence to the soule broken and humbled That the soule hath an interest in this mercy that it was appointed for it and he hath to meddle with it in reason we may observe that a witnesse in a cause doth marvellously cleare it if he be wise and judicious and the thing that before was doubtfull comes now to be apparant as now in a point of Law two men contend for land now if an ancient wise man of some place is called before the Judge at the Assises and hee beares witnesse upon his knowledge that such Lands have beene in the possession of such a generation or family for the space of many yeares this is a speciall testification that this man being of that generation he hath interest to these lands So it is with the witnesse of Gods Spirit there is a controversie betweene Satan and the soule the soule saith oh that grace and compassion might be bestowed on mee why saith Satan dost thou conceive of any mercy or grace and Salvation marke thy rebellions against thy Saviour marke the wretched distempers of thy heart and the filthy abhominations of thy life dost thou thinke of mercy Here is the controversie whether an humble sinner hath title to or interest in the mercy of God Now the Spirit of God comming in that casts the cause and makes it evident if such a poore heart have interest and may meddle and make challenge to mercy and salvation because
it hath beene prepared for them from the beginning of the world to this very day Now this gives a light into the businesse the evidence is sure that this man hath title to all the riches and compassion of the Lord Jesus Acts. 2.39 Every poore creature thinkes that God thinkes so of him as hee thinkes of himselfe and hee thinkes God intends marvellous grievous things against him and if there be any judgement denounced or any plague revealed the soule sits and sincks and thinkes with himselfe thus I wretch the Lord spake to mee and intended mee the Lord threatned mee and denounced judgement against mee and one day he will bring all these plagues upon mee all shall be made good upon this wretched heart of mine one day whereas the Spirit of the Lord judgeth otherwise and God meanes well towards him and intends good to all you that have beene broken for your sins and there is witnesse of it in heaven and it shall be made good to your owne consciences Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners broken abased vile wretched carnall sinners doe not thinke hee will keepe any old reckonings in minde Christ came into the world only to succour sinfull humbled wretches hee only came to call sinners not your proud haughty justiciaries that trust in their owne performances no but miserable vile broken abased sinners therefore now here is some ground and light come in that wee have to doe with mercy Psalm 80.3 Cause thy face to shine upon mee If a man be in a deepe darke dungeon he cannot tell when it is light hee may aske is it light but else hee cannot tell But an humbled sinner is like a man standing full upon the Sunne rising this face of Gods mercy shines full upon him the Lord lets in the inclination of his kindnesse and makes knowne the surenesse of his favour in the Lord Jesus Christ now the soule hath some apprehension that he hath to doe with mercy Partic. 2 The Spirit doth ratifie that interest as the soule now hath as intended towards him and prepared for him hee makes it good to the heart and establisheth it and makes it sure to the soule This is the nature of a witnesse if it be sufficient as the Lord provides That in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall bee established so it is with the testimony or testification of Gods Spirit for the Spirit doth not beare witnesse alone but the Father from heaven and the Sonne in heaven doth joyne witnesse with the Spirit and the court is in heaven where this controversie must be scanned and now the Spirit doth by witnesse promise that all this mercy shall be made good and given the humbled heart shall be made possessor thereof hence it is that the soule comes to be deeply setled herein for God cannot deny himselfe nor his promise this is the maine ground and tenour whereupon wee hold everlasting happinesse you know in men of great estate if their lease had beene naught and their tenour false this staggers them deeply therfore every man labours to make his tenour as good as hee can thinke on it the maintainer of all this good that a Saint of God hath all his hope of life and salvation hangs upon the maine hold the free promise of the Lord the certaine faithfull promise of the Lord in through Jesus Christ by the testimony of the Spirit you that are sanctified by Christ know nothing unlesse you know how to live by a promise in some measure Now this promise is not only a bare word of God and a bare intimation of some will and intendment of good but it is a kind of ingagement when the Lord doth lay his truth to pawne here is good surety for a poore humbled soule it shall undoubtedly be bestowed upon him he doth not only intend well unto him hee doth not only prepare mercy for him but now he ties binds himselfe so that he cannot goe back you see now this is the bottome to beare up the truth when the Lord doth please to ingage himselfe to a broken hearted sinner that hee shall be made to beleeve and made to live by his beleeving I beseech you take notice of it this is the tenour and covenant of God with a broken sinner hee calls him graciously and then promises to bestow mercy upon him 2. Cor. 6.18 Come out from among them what then what shall I forsake all my old companions shall I renounce all commodities that I have coveted all the honour in the world which I have affected Yes saith the Lord come out from them all abandon them lose all riches and be impoverished lose all honour and be abased ah but what shall wee get by it why then I will be your God that is I will ingage my selfe and passe over the title of all my mercy and goodnesse and compassion and all that I have you shall have all is yours and what then You shall bee my people marke that hee is obliged to a poore humbled heart as if he had said I will be your God and supply your wants and work graciously for you as it was with Abraham the Father of the faithfull so it must be with the faithfull servants of God Gen. 12.3 Now what there is promised to Abraham he promiseth to all his children to all the faithfull it is thus with thee that is thou must bid adue to thy country and friends and though thou livest with thy Father yet thou hatest his base courses and though thou livest with thy friends yet thou hatest their wicked practices and thou hast forsaken thy god pride and thy god covetousnesse and thy god drunkennesse and the like thou knowest God will blesse thee he hath bound himselfe and cannot goe backe this is the ground of the speech 1 Iohn 2.25 Eternall life is the thing there promised but how can wee intitle ourselves in this the text saith this is the promise he hath promised that is he did freely and frankly and of himselfe and out of his owne good will ingage himselfe to give and bestow this promise upon us here is the root and ground of all his promise This is the difference betweene the first and second covenant God did covenant with Adam that he should live upon the ground that he should doe Now because the covenant of eternall life depended upon doing it was not certaine to him and his posterity but lost it but our eternall life dependeth upon the promise of God and therefore it is sure because God cannot faile cannot change his promise cannot be altred if we observe the conditions eternall life is sure unto a broken hearted sinner hence come all those phrases in this kind Wee are called children of the promise what is that why the very promise of God makes us children wee are begotten and made the Sonnes of God he is called in Esay The everlasting Father hee hath begotten us by
the word and the seed of the promise which is sowne in our hearts by the vertue of the seed and the Spirit of grace accompanying that seed wee have power to receive Christ and the Spirit of Christ and so to become the Sonnes of God This is the reason of that phrase in Scripture We are not children of the flesh but of the promise also of this in Gal. 3. last verse We are made heires by the promise it makes us heires that is looke whatever ground or hope or hold of eternall life and glory blessednesse you hold it by the vertue of the promise all is by a promise grace and goodnesse is communicated to us by a promise this is our life and all our hold therefore the Gospell is made to be the testament of Jesus Christ as by ones last will and testament a man leaves his goods and lands to his posteritie so the Lord Jesus Christ out of his free good will leaveth one legacie of mercie and grace and pardon and strength to all humble broken hearted spirits Galath 3.15 though it be but a mans covenant saith hee when it is confirmed no man doth abrogate it but if a man seale it and confirme it with his bloud then it is fully established no man will no man can disanull it So Christ leaves a Legacie of mercie to you and of favour and compassion to all broken hearted sinners by promise and therefore it is established nay it is the last promise the last Legacie and Testament therefore the promise no man can alter Ioh. 1.14 He doth not leave peace then as the world doth they wish it but cannot give it they wish it but cannot bestow it but Christ leaves a legacie of mercie and peace behind him nay he hath ratified it by his bloud and he will make it good to the soule for ever Partic. 3 The witnesse makes the soule yeeld unto what the spirit hath witnessed As the witnesses in open court in a matter of law they make the case cleare and evident the Jury they take it the Judge observes it you all know how the case goes the witnesse sufficient c. So when the witnesse of Gods Spirit comes bringing the hand of God the Father and the hand of the Sonne touching Gods acceptance it casts the cause clearely Now this judgement of the sinner yeelds and cannot but close and submit it selfe unto the truth this is the meaning of that phrase before the text they shall be taught of God they shall not only learne but they shall be taught they shall have their lesson without booke they shall be made to learne and therefore the tenor of the covenant is this I will write my Law in their inward parts and they shall all know mee from the highest to the least observe the 2 Pet. 1.3 it is a place of marvellous difficultie this I take to be the meaning there is enough to satisfie any man according to his divine power he hath given unto us all things that is the Lord by his almighty divine power hath given unto us all things either appertaining to this present life here or eternall life hereafter But how comes this to passe that God doth this the Text saith It is through knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and vertue the word in the originall is through their acknowledgement of him that hath called us The soule doth not onely barely know that this is grace and mercy in Christ the eye of the understanding is not only opened but hee now comes to acknowledge the same and subscribeth thereby thereunto God saith I will save thy soule I will be thy God the soule saith It is true Lord I will deny it no more I will gain-say it no longer In a word then gather up the point if it be so that the Spirit by the witnesse thereof doth discover the interest we have in grace if it doth ratifie the interest which it doth discover nay if it makes the judgement yeeld to what it hath ratified it certifies effectually and undeniably the truths of grace and mercy thus prepared and ratified to the soule and the soule saith I confesse it Lord and closeth therewith Quest Why may some say if this bee so how then comes it to passe that many of Gods deare children how comes it that many humble hearted creatures never knew they were called never had any speciall intimation of Gods favour they cannot say in truth they are the Lords Answ I speake of him that hath had the work of preparation fully and substantially upon his soule I speake this that no scrambling hypocrite nor sinfull wretch may come and scramble for comfort and so goe away and deceive himselfe in this kind know therefore for answer thereunto There is a double knowledge the first is this A naked simple apprehension of a truth a meere closure of a mans minde with a naked plaine truth revealed so that the judgement saith it is so Secondly there is a reflecting act when a man lookes over his understanding and labours to discerne the worke thereof not only apprehending what was laid before him but when he doth apprehend that he doth apprehend when he knowes that he doth know it marke that place for wee will carry Scripture with us 1 Ioh. 2.3 Hereby we know that we know him saith the Text if wee keepe his Commandements A man may know a thing and yet not know that he doth know so then it is cleare every Saint of God hath the first knowledge that is every man that is truly called in truth doth apprehend and undoubtedly close with the worke of the Spirit making knowne unto him the mercie of Christ many may worke and most men doe the second worke they doe not know that they know the Scripture saith that the Devill himselfe rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience that is he casts in a seed of errour and delusion and corruption into the hearts of wicked men and by his delusions they entertaine those errours embrace base courses Now not one among a thousand can say that the Devill doth thus this is done by vertue of Satan and yet he doth not see it nay there is a veile of Satan upon the soule there is a seed of Satan in the soule and the soule closeth with it and yet hee apprehends it not so every faithfull soule is ruled by Gods Spirit and the seed of Gods Spirit is flung into his minde and closeth therewith but hee cannot discerne the worke of the Spirit working upon him the one governed by Satan the other enlightned by the Spirit but neither can apprehend nor know what they doe know in this kinde Reas 1 Because onely the Spirit of the Lord knowes the Lords minde it is only privie to Gods counsels and it only understands the secrets of Gods love and therefore it only can reveale them and communicate them Matth. 11.27 Now because the holy Spirit proceedeth from
the Father and the Sonne he can nay he doth make knowne the Counsels of both and so removes all objections and cleares all cavils it is a point of consideration to you that are weake ones satisfaction is by the meanes of Christ the Sonne layeth downe the price and doth satisfie the Spirit doth certifie it unto the soule that the Son hath satisfied for the neglect of what God ever required at our hands and for the committing of what ever God hath forbidden now the soule is fully satisfied As for example Take a creditor to whom the debtor oweth money haply the debtor is arrested for his not paying the debt the surety he comes and layes downe the debt now the debtor is unacquainted with this unlesse there be a messenger that brings a certificat under the hand of the creditour that he is paid and the surety hath discharged the debt and hee is quitted when he heares this his heart is fully quieted So here the Lord Jesus is the Surety the Father is the Creditour our soules are the debt now the Spirit of God he is the Messenger and he brings under the hand of God of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ an acquittance to our soules that what ever sinnes wee have committed are pardoned through Christ and this fully contents the soule Marke 1 Cor. 2.10 yea the deepe things of God as who should say how can you tell that Gods minde is towards us and that hee will pardon why these are secrets aye but the Spirit of the Lord knowes and searcheth the deepe things of God that which eye never saw that which the Angels in heaven cannot tell you that which all the men in the world cannot reveale unto you without God be with them that your names are written in the Booke of Life you shall bee accepted these are deepe things but the Spirit reveales them This is the first Reason the Spirit onely knowes the minde therefore it only can give notice thereof unto the soule Reas 2 The Spirit only can break thorow al those mists and clouds of ignorance and blindnesse that are in our minds which oppose this worke nay it can beare downe all those distempers and discouragements which make us unfit and unable to receive the evidence of Gods love and goodnesse in the Lord Jesus Christ for these two things are in the heart of a sinner that marvellously oppose the evidence of Gods favour unto the soule Hindr. 1 That every man hath a veile of ignorance over his heart 2 Cor. 3.15 Now the veile of ignorance no hand can rend it none can remove it but only the Spirit of God The god of the world blindes the eyes of the wicked why then it must be the Spirit of God the Spirit of another world I meane the Spirit of Christ that must open the eyes and take away the veiles and clouds and mists that the god of the world casts before the eye Hindr. 2 Are desperate discouragements when a poore sinner is plunged in the apprehension of all the evill which he hath committed and in the aggravation of all those sins whereby God hath beene dishonoured when the soule observes this hee thinkes and sayes This proud heart will never be humbled this unregenerate heart will never be sanctified the Lord never intends good to my soule it is impossible that so many corrections so long continued should ever be pardoned here the soule sinkes downe in desperate discouragements now there is none but the Spirit of God that can let a light into the soule there is none but the hand of the Lord that can rend and pluck and pull a poore fainting despairing dying sinking heart under the burthen of his manifold abominations none but the Almighty hand of an Almighty God can doe this when it is night all the candles in the world cannot take away the darknesse so all the meanes of grace and salvation all the candle-light of the Ministery they are all good helps but the darknesse of the night will not be gone before the Sun of Righteousnesse arise in our hearts Hence it comes to passe that it is a very difficult matter to give comfort to a poore distressed soule Psal 40.1 Marke what a coâ—le there is to give comfort all the world cannot comfort them and perswade them I shall one day perish say they I shall one day goe downe to hell let all the Ministers under heaven say what they will Comfort yee comfort yee saith the Lord as who should say they will not be comforted they will not thinke nor be resolved of it I mercy and I comfort it is a likely matter it will never be it never can be I shall never see that day will the Lord pardon me I doe not thinke it I cannot beleeve it God is a just God and a righteous God and I am a vile wicked wretch it is mercy that I have despised and trampled under my feet and I mercy no certainly there is no such matter this makes the Lord have such a doe Comfort yee comfort yee the third time and yet they will receive none We Ministers of the Gospell observe by experience that we meet with some soules that are gone to the bottome of hell sometimes by their distempers and wee make knowne the promises propound arguments lay downe reasons but nothing takes place nothing prevailes all is presently forgotten and you had as good say nothing all is forgotten therefore none but Gods Spirit can doe it hee must come from heaven and say Comfort yee comfort yee my people let me therefore speake to you that are Ministers you doe well to labour to give comfort to a poore fainting soule but alwayes say Comfort Lord say unto this poore soule thou art his salvation Lord speake comfort and say to such a one his sinnes shall be pardoned mercy shall bee bestowed upon him his iniquities are forgiven it is that wee observe in the policie of Satan Satan hath two Policies Policie 1 First if he can hee will keepe a man that hee shall never see his sins therefore hee labours to doe away all plagues and judgements from the apprehension of the soule and therefore when the Minister comes home to the conscience and saith What you have heaven what proud and profane and oppose God and his ordinances and you goe to heaven No no such matter marke what the Devill suggests take thy pleasure it is but halfe an houres work when you lie upon your death-bed if you can but then cry to God for mercy and for forgivenes it is enough this is the first Policie to keepe a man from seeing his sins and thus the soule is content to carry hel-gates on his backe and a thousand abominations and is never troubled Well haply the Lord enlightens the soule of such a sinner and sets his sinnes before him and saith here are thy sins and for these thy sins thou shalt be sent packing to hell now he cannot look off
towards you will you know how your case shall goe at the last day would you know if your name is written in the Book of life if you would why then know the way to obtaine it seeke it of the Spirit of the Lord for he searcheth the chiefe things of God consider what our Saviour tels you Luke 11.12 Why then must this Spirit only certifie the pardon of sin Why looke up to heaven then and plead thus with him Lord I am a father and give my childe what hee wants and if I see him in need I releeve him why I need thy Spirit Lord I beg it thou hast promised it Lord give that Spirit to the soule of thy servant and let it restifie to my conscience that thou art reconciled to me Object But how shall we get the Spirit home to a man in this case Answ The meanes are two Meanes 1 Thou must labour to be such a one to whom the Spirit belongs Labour to be an humble hearted sinner and then the Lord will send his Spirit and give notice to thee of his acceptance for the Lord doth not passe over his comfort or mercie or compassion to any soule in the world but onely to those that are broken hearted before God there is no mercy for thee that art stubborne no compassion for thee that art stout hearted wouldest thou have the Spirit make a lye for thee and come from Heaven to make a new Scripture to bring a loose stubborne drunkard or adulterer to heaven it will not bee so it cannot bee so never thinke to bring the Spirit of the Lord and make him speake mercy to thee when it belongs not to thee 1 King 14.1 2 c. Doe not thinke to complain it with the Lord Jesus and put the finger in the eye weep a few teares and say I confesse my rebellions are sinful I am sory for my sins and will repent me of my sins the Spirit wil say Come out thou proud wretched hypocrite doest thou feigne thy selfe to be an humble broken hearted sinner doe not I know thy reservations doe not I know thy by-wayes and back-doores Come out thou proud wretch and sturdy hypocrite I am sent to thee with heavie tidings you may cozen man but you cannot deceive God therefore never thinke he will give grace and mercy unto thee unlesse thou be fitted for it Meanes 2 Be sure you harken not to your carnall cavils of reason nor to the clamours of a corrupt heart nor to the bawlings of Satan all which stop and hinder the testimony of the Spirit and with their loud cries drowne the voyce of the Spirit that it cannot be heard It is a fashion amongst Lawyers at Assises or Sessions when in their Courts there comes in a wise judicious witnesse and the Lawyers plead a base cause they feare him and therefore before he can speak out his tale one speaks and another speakes and so hinders this that hee cannot bee understood then the man saith hee came for a witnesse and not thus to be disturbed then the Judge commands silence and then hee hath liberty to discover what he knowes and then the case is cleare so it is with the soule and carnall reason and the Devill The triall is whether a man hath any interest in Christ or no. Now the Spirit of the Lord working graciously upon the heart would bring in a faire testimony of Gods grace to the soule but when the soule commeth to a faithfull Minister to tell him how God hath wrought upon him and met with him and how he was burthened with his sins Oh saith Satan you were burthened with your sins but you returned to them againe then the soule saith he was humbled for his sinnes yet the goodnesse of God was never sealed to him aye saith Satan but you continue in your sins still aye saith the soule I am weary of these sins aye and you are weary of labouring against them too saith Satan Thus the soule is tyred by carnall reasons temptations of Satan now let the evidence of the Spirit bee never so plaine he cannot perceive it be watchfull therefore in this case if you heare what feare or feeling or suspition saith feeling saith I find nothing feare saith it will never be suspition imagineth I shall never see that day but now command silence to every one to feare suspition feeling and unworthinesse and say now speake blessed Spirit then you will see the case cast presently It is said of Abraham he considered not Sarahs barren wombe for imagine Abraham had thus reasoned I never had childe for mee to beare a childe it is against nature shall a man that never begat beget a childe in his old age I will never beleeve it If hee had done thus for ought I know though hee had lived unto this time hee should never have had a childe but he never considered of any of these things and therefore the Promise was accomplished Therefore be sure not to hearken what failings feare and doubt and corruption saith for they will be ever against thee there is no mercy from corruption no grace from feare and suspition but consider not your dead barren wretched hearts but attend upon Gods promise and you shall finde Gods Spirit witnesse unto you the acceptance of your persons before God Object But you will say may not a man consider of his sins and attend to the corruptions of our owne hearts Answ I answer a man may nay must in a fit time after a right manner to a good end for he that never seeth his sins can never be humbled for them but this consideration only fits us for mercie and can never get assurance of any interest in mercie The consideration of our sins will give us notice of these three particulars 1. It gives us notice of our owne vilenesse and basenesse the laying these upon the soule it is a maine meanes to breake the heart and bruife a filthy stubborne soule It gives us notice of the emptinesse and infirmity of all outward parts and gifts and meanes and helpes to doe us any good It will make us see the absolute necessity of a Saviour and of the great worke of redemption which Christ hath wrought for us nay it will drive us out of our selves and force us to fall at the foot-stoole of Gods mercy that so wee may gaine Gods favour to us but it is impossible that the consideration of my sins should certifie mee of my interest in Gods mercy Meanes 3 Labour to bee informed and to understand aright the language of the Spirit Looke as it is with a poore man in the Court a wise witnesse comes in and speakes plainly but it will doe the poore man no good to heare the witnesse unlesse he understand it so though we heare the Spirit and doe not understand the language of the Spirit it is as if we never heard it Now the language of the Spirit is nothing else but the tenour
of those gracious promises which God hath made to poore humbled sinners Now if we be not able to cast the sense and meaning of the promise it is like an uncertaine sound though the witnesse bee good and plaine yet I cannot be comforted thereby 2 Cor. 6.16 17. This is the language of the Spirit Now let a poore humble hearted soule come and lay his heart levell to the promise one saith it is true if it were so with mee then God would be my God that promise is made to them that touch no uncleane thing but I am defiled with sins and abominations and carried aside by them therefore no share in this promise Now the meaning of the testimony is mistaken the witnesse is as good as can be and will cast the cause on your side but you understand not the meaning of the witnesse therefore we will spell the words what is it to touch no uncleane thing it is not to bee lightly acquainted with it therefore art thou content to sue out a bill of divorce to all thy sins how ever heretofore thou wert married to them yet now thou art resolved to bed with them no more art thou contented God should make knowne what ever is amisse in thy soule and subdue every distemper that is the meaning of the promise and if it be thus with thee the promise belongs to thee Meanes 4 Labour to keepe the promise by you for ever and have a readie recourse thereunto upon all occasions forget not the promise be not a stranger to it be not unacquainted be not unaccustomed to have daily trading with the promise which is so profitable to us Prov. 3.3 marke what counsell God gives by wisdome Let not mercy and truth forsake thee mercy and truth will forsake a man Satan would plucke them away but suffer them not saith the Text to depart from thy soule Iob 22.21 so the originall hath it have a daily intercourse to the promise meditate therein and muse thereupon see thou looke a ready way and have recourse to the Lord upon all occasions Motive 1 To perswade us to use these meanes is this because this most concernes our good if a man had all the good things the world could afford and his hearts desire if he had friends to respect him wealth to enrich him and honour to promote him yet if the Lord should send this heavie Message into his conscience God will curse those blessings and dam thy soule and person that newes from heaven of Gods indignation would take away the sweetnesse of all the comforts of this life but had a man good tidings from heaven were the Lord pleased to give notice of his love and mercie in Jesus Christ it would support us in whatsoever miseries or troubles should befall us nay when our owne hearts and consciences tell us hard tidings these evils thou hast committed and they will be thy plague and for this thou shalt be damned and frie in hell this is ill newes but this will beare up a mans heart if hee can but looke up to heaven and take good tidings and notice of Gods favour this will joy and refresh a mans soule Motive 2 As this most concernes us so Satan is most cunning to deprive us of the same if hee can stop any intelligence and take away any evidence of Gods love and mercie to the soule this is that Satan labours for for if the heart gets evidence this way and have notice under the hand of the Spirit what love what joy what power and vertue will be in the soule what courage and undauntednesse will be in the heart to walke in the wayes of godlinesse then learne from the Devill himselfe he labours to keepe from you what will doe you most good therefore be you as carefull to get this notice of Gods love to your soules from the Spirit in the promise as Satan is to hinder you from the same Vse 3 Instruction Hence I conclude that the poorest humbled sinner of the meanâ—st capacity doth know more of spirituall truths concerning grace and salvation and Gods love in Christ than the most wise and learned in the world that are not humbled In a word take the meanest Saint that ever breathed on the earth and the greatest scholler for outward parts and learning and reach and policie the meanest ignorant soule that is almost a naturall foole that soule knowes and understands more of grace and mercy in Christ than all the wisest and learnedst in the world than all the greatest schollers and most pompous Cardinals these were never humbled How doe I conclude this why thus if Gods spirit onely give notice of this favor to the humble then all other bee their parts what they will bee God doth not informe them the humble are informed they not instructed therefore the other know not what they cannot conceive As suppose one dull blocke and a quicke wit are both set to one trade yet if the dullard had an expert master and did beat into him the skill of the trade and the quicke spirit was with a master that could not teach him his trade wee see that the dull blocke is more wise in his trade than the other so it is here they have the Lord for their master Vse 4 To shew us the certainty of the assurance of faith if the spirit of God gives notice and certifie a thing it must needs be certaine and hence it is that the assurance of faith must needs bee infallible and undeniable in those that have it I ground it thus That which commeth from the notice of the spirit is most undeniable but the assurance thereof commeth from the notice of the spirit that faith is most undeniable hence commeth those triumphs I know my Redeemer liveth I am perswaded that neither height nor depth c. shall be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ The worke of God upon the understanding we have spoken of at large now wee come to the worke of God upon the affections as the understanding apprehendeth the truth of the promise so the heart looketh at the goodnesse of the promise Now therefore the Lord he must teach all the affections to come unto the promise and the first affection that commeth next in order is the affection of hope Doctrine The Doctrine is this The holy Spirit of the Father doth stir the heart of an humbled and inlightned sinner to hope for the goodnesse of the Lord The Lord calleth all the affections come joy come desire come love but the first voyce is to hope only observe this passage it must come from a heart humbled and inlightned for nothing commeth to the heart to be affected but onely by the head and understanding therefore before the soule can hope the heart must bee humbled and inlightned humbled in regard of preparation and inlightned in regard of the certification of Gods goodnesse Secondly it must be stirred up to doe it the spirit
must stir up the heart unto it when a poore sinner is truly abased and cut off from every thing in himselfe and is content to be at Gods dispose yet the soule cannot dispose of it selfe it cannot carry it selfe to the affecting imbracing of any supernaturall grace or good by the power of nature looke as it is with a wind-mill it is fitted for to goe and if the winde blow it will goe but now the saile will not stirre the mill unlesse the winde stirre the saile So here though the soule bee humbled and content to bee at Gods dispose yet I say an humble broken selfe-denying heart is not able to stirre of it selfe Thirdly To hope groundedly it is not a flashy hope a vaine hope an idle hope as the wicked men they hope for grace they hope for mercy but they have no ground to beare them up but the hope of such men will perish but this hope is upon good ground the Lord calleth the soule to wait upon him to expect him this is hope which will not make a man ashamed Rom. 5.5 We have a hope as an anchor of the soule more sure and stedfast Hebr. 6.19 this is the nature of hope to stand still and wait for mercy and salvation of God and to looke when the Lord will have mercy upon the soule and this grounded hope the spirit of God must stirre and worke or else there will never be any hope the proofe of the point Lament 3.24 The Lord is my portion saith my soule that is all the good and all the comfort I have in heaven and earth he is my portion life gone and health gone and friends gone yet the Lord is my portion for ever and ever therefore will I hope in him therefore the soule expecteth that mercy looketh after it waiteth for it Hos 2.15 I will allure her in the wildernesse and speake comfortably unto her and give her the valley of Achor for the doore of hope therefore the Lord will allure her in the worke of humiliation and did speake comfortably unto her in vocation thou wantest mercy mercy is prepared for thee thou wantest grace grace is provided for thee that staggering soule of thine shall be strengthned that troubled soule of thine shall be pacified and then the soule commeth to hope when the heart is throughly humbled and abased then followeth hope Now for the further discovery and explication of the point wee will shew two things First the reason why after a soule humbled and the minde enlightned the Lord worketh upon this affection of hope Secondly the manner how the Lord stirreth up the heart to hope what breedeth it what feedeth it and upon what it groweth and what maintaineth it in the soule and then the Doctrine will be very cleare First the order why the Lord doth proceed in the next place to stirre up hope I answer the reason is this because when the Spirit of God hath enlightned the understanding and given evidence that mercy is prepared for an humbled soule why brethren the fittest faculty of the soule that ought to bee imployed to lay hold upon this it is the facultie of hope it is the maine office of this affection in the heart to looke and expect for a good to come for hope is nothing else but that extent of the soule whereby it earnestly affecteth a good to come it must be a knowne good and to come that hope expecteth if the good be present wee love it and joy in it but if it be absent the soule looketh out for it and waiteth for the same it is a fine passage of hope 1 Phil. 20. according to my earnest expectation of hope hope is a faculty of the soule to looke out for mercy it is a similitude taken from a man that looketh after another and lifteth up it selfe as high as he may to see if any man bee comming neare him looking wishly about him so here the soule standeth as it were a tiptoe expecting when the soule will come as the man that is to meet another in such a place they doe set the time appointed and then goeth up to a high hill and looketh very earnestly round about him wondreth he commeth not and yet he hopeth he will come so an humbled sinner when the Lord saith mercy is comming towards thee mercy is provided for thee now this affection is set out to meet mercy a farre off namely hope this is the stretching out of the soule O when will it be Lord thou saist mercy is prepared thou saist mercy is approaching the soule standeth a tiptoe O when will it come Lord. As now something that hath a strong sent a man that hath a good nose can smel a good way off though it findeth it not though it feeleth it not yet it may and saith hope this sinful soule of mine it may through Gods mercy bee sanctified this troubled perplexed soule of mine it may through Gods mercy be pacified this evill and corruption which harbour in me and hath taken possession of me it may through Gods mercy be removed Now for the second thing how doth God stir up the heart of an humbled broken hearted sinner to hope this is worth a while a little to consider of the ground to get and maintaine this hope may be referred to these three heads First the Lord doth sweetly stay the heart and fully perswade the soule that a mans sins are pardonable and that all his sinnes may be pardoned and that all the good things he wanteth they may be bestowed this is a great sustainer of the soule hope is alwayes of a good to come now when a poore sinner seeth his sinnes the number of them the nature of them the vilenesse of them the cursednesse of his soule that he can take no rest he seeth no rest in the creature nor in himselfe though he pray all day yet he cannot get the pardon of one sinne the soule is out of any expectation of pardon or power of mercy in any thing he hath or doth though all meanes all helpes though all men and angels should joyne together yet they cannot pardon one sinne of his yet the Lord lifteth up his voyce and he saith from heaven thy sinnes are pardonable this is a voyce a great way off thy sinnes may be pardoned in the Lord Jesus Christ Looke as a traitour that doth apprehend the anger of the King against him and that he is sent for to be attached hee and cry is made after him the Pursevant pursueth him the poore creature flieth from court to countrey from countrey to city and so to the sea coast seeking for some shelter the Pursevant besetteth the sea coast for him the poore soule is now almost in despaire of mercy from the Prince hee seeth no hope of pardon from him but when he overheareth a man that saith in truth you had better open the doore and yeeld your selfe to the King there is hope the poore soule is
the ambitious man his honour now Gods letting into the soule the sweetnesse of his grace doth turne the whole streame of the soule thitherward It is a reproofe and meeteth with two things in wicked carnall persons First those that will cast off all hope in point of desperation Secondly against those that will doe nothing but hope without ground and that is presumption both are here to be reproved and condemned If the Lord stirreth up the heart of his to hope groundedly for his mercy Oh then take heed of that fearefull and unconceiveable sinne of despaire despaire wee must in our selves and that is good but this despaire which wee now speake of is marvellous hainous in the eyes of God and marvellous hurtfull to thy owne soule therefore take heed of it for ever I say this sin of despaire when a man casteth away all hope casteth away all carnall confidence This thou must doe and yet thou must hope let Israel hope in the Lord for in the Lord c. O the Lord taketh this very ill at our hands thou goest to the deepe dungeon of thy corruption and there thou saist these sins can never be pardoned I am still proud and more stubborne this distresse God seeth not God succoureth not his hand cannot reach his mercy cannot save now marke what the Prophet Esay saith to such a perplexed soule Esay 40.27 Why saist thou thy way is hid from the Lord The Lord saith why saist thou so the young man shall faint and bee weary but they that wait upon the Lord shall renue their strength is any thing too hard for the Lord nay I say you wrong God exceedingly you thinke it is a matter of humility you count so vilely of your selves can God pardon sinne to such unworthy creatures marke that place of the Psalmist they spake against the Lord Can the Lord prepare a table in the wildernesse They spake not against themselves but against God so wee speake against God and charge God himselfe it is true saith the soule Manasses was pardoned it is true Paul was converted it is true Gods saints have beene received to mercy but can my sinne be pardoned can my soule be quickned No no my sinnes are greater than can be forgiven saith the despairing soule then mee thinketh Satan is stronger to overthrow thee than God to save thee then it seemeth sinne is stronger to condemne thee than God to doe good unto thee and thus you make God to be no God upon point nay you make him to be weaker than sinne than hell than the devill And this is most injurious to God to make the power of sinne greater to condemne thee than the power of God to save thee to make the power of Satan stronger to ruinate thee than the mercy of God to releeve and succour thee and what can you say more and what can you doe more against the Lord Is not this to make God an underling to Satan and to sinne this is to say the Almightinesse of God is weaker than the weaknesse of sinne the Sufficiency of God is weaker than the malice of Satan It is true a poore humble sinner many times will make bitter complaints this way and they thinke they speake against themselves No no they speake against the Lord they spake against God when they said Can the Lord prepare a table in the wildernesse So you that speake in this desperate manner why truth Lord this proud heart will never bee humbled if any thing would have wrought it would have beene done before this day How many sermons how many mercies how many judgements how many prayers and yet this proud heart this stubborne heart will not be reformed you thinke you speake against your selves now no no you speake against the Lord and brethren thinke much of this thou that thinkst so that saist so that concludest so this is one of the greatest sinnes thou committest to say thy sinnes cannot be forgiven thee Secondly This sinne of desperation as it is most injurious to God so in the second place it is extraordinary dangerous to thy owne soule It is that which taketh up the bridge and cutteth off all passages and there can no spirituall comfort and consolation come into the poore soule of a poore sinner Luk. 3.15 Luk. 3.15 Every ditch must be filled and then all flesh shall see the salvation of the Lord what are these ditches why nothing else but those deepe gulfs and ditches of despaire and unlesse these bee filled no man can see the Lord Jesus Christ In a word my brethren suffer me to open my selfe the truth is this despaire of the soule is that which cutteth the sinewes of all mans comfort and taketh off the power and edge of all the meanes of grace it daunteth all a mans endevours nay it plucketh up a mans endevours as it were quite by the rootes for that which a man despaireth off hee will never labour after It is here as with a man in pangs of death unto such a man all means are unavailable for his good his bed will not ease him meat will not refresh him chasing will not revive at the last we say he is gone he is a dead man friends leave him Physitians leave him they may goe and pray for him and mourne for him but they cannot recover him So this despaire of soule maketh a man cast off all hope and lie downe in a forlorne condition expecting no good to come alas saith a man what skilleth for a man to pray what profiteth a man to read what benefit in all the means of grace the truth of it is the stone is rolled upon me and my condemnation sealed for ever it is sure in heaven and therefore I will never looke after Christ grace and salvation any more and presse the means to him let him come to heare the Word marke how he casteth off all the benefit it was marvellous seasonable and profitable it was the good Word of the Lord very comfortable unto such as have any share therein Why may not you expect good why may not you receive benefit there from why no saith the soule the time of grace is past the day is gone and thus the soule sinketh in it selfe if Christians would pray for him and Ministers would labour to doe him good why hee biddeth them spare their labour for hell is his portion and his condemnation is sealed in heaven see now and consider what desperate danger of despaire bringeth to a poore heart and maketh him to be beyond the reach of mercie that no meanes can come at him It is a pretty passage of David Psal 77.7 Will the Lord cast me off ever and will he shew no favor I said this is my infirmitie saith the text the word in the original this is my sicknes as who should say this would be my death what is mercie gone for ever then my life is gone then is all my comfort and all my hope gone
therefore take heed of this it taketh off the edge of our endevours Gods ordinances that might do us good Secondly it reproveth and marvellously condemneth that great sinne of presumption a sinne more frequent and if possible may be more dangerous the presumption of carnall hypocrites that boulster up themselves with marvellous boldnesse in their course I beseech you observe it it is true here as they said Saul hath slaine his thousands but David his ten thousands despaire hath slaine his thousands but presumption his ten thousands that men may sweare and lye and cousen and breake all commands and yet hope to be saved yet they hope grace will save them they resist grace yet hope Jesus Christ will shew mercie unto them they oppose Christ this is that which I say hath slaine many thousand soules amongst us and they are few that have not split at this rocke therefore I say this serveth to reprove the basenesse the vilenesse of such Hypocrites that boast themselves and compare their hopes with the hopes of the Saints it is true say they I cannot walke so freely I cannot repeat a Sermon I want those parts that they have I walke not so curiously yet I hope to be saved as well as they this is that which hath slaine many thousands of soules that now are roaring in hell and they may thanke presumption for it Now this hope is not the hope of the Saints the hope of the Saints is a grounded hope but these hopes meerely hang upon some idle pleas and foolish pretences and some carnall reasons but I tell you they will fall and their hopes will sinke and they into the bottomelesse pit before they bee aware it is the command and counsell of Peter That every man should be ready to give a reason of his faith and hope that is in him therefore let us see the reasons that carry you the arguments that perswade you to these groundlesse and foolish hopes you hope to be saved and you hope to go to heaven and you hope to see the face of God with comfort let us see the ground for these hopes of yours good hope hath good reasons grounded hope grounded reasons you say you hope to be saved and have no reason for it it is a foolish hope an unreasonable hope the grounds therefore of Hypocrites are mainly five The ignorant poore silly man he pleadeth he can thinke it hee cannot conceive it that God hath created any man for to damne him sure the Lord is more mercifull than so and therefore though we be sinfull and base and untoward yet the Lord will not damne us I answer therefore it is true indeed God did never preserve men for this same end that he might damne them though it is as true hee that made men hee will damne most of men in hell for their sinnes committed against him Narrow is the gate and strait is the way that leadeth unto life few there be that finde it is this the argument of thy hope marke the folly and observe the weaknesse of it if creation bee a good argument then all the damned should come out of hell and be delivered nay by this reason the Devill himselfe should be saved they are now in hell they were created as well as you ignorant silly creatures thinke of these things how your hope will shatter and breake under you and you with them will fall together into the bottomlesse pit Esa 57.11 See how the Lord bringeth this argument and confuteth it it is a people that hath no understanding therefore he that made them will not save them he that created them will shew them no mercy the text saith the Lord saith from heaven though hee made thee he will not shew thee mercie if thou continue to be wicked and rebellious Another groweth in hope that God will shew mercie unto him in regard of Gods favourable dealing with him in things of this life and hee saith and pretendeth great thankfulnesse for Gods goodnesse and hee praiseth the Lord hee never wanted any thing his lot is fallen into a good ground and therefore he doubteth not but that God who hath beene his God from his youth will save him and shew mercie unto his soule this is the second ground and it is a poore feeble ground to support the soule in such a case as this I answer therefore thou art deceived thou takest that for an argument of Gods love and mercy which rather may bee an argument of Gods hatred and indignation Psal 92.12 The wicked flourish saith the text then a man may say they will all to heaven they will all be saved if they so prosper here no saith the text they flourish that they may be destroyed and perish for ever the oxe is fatted for the slaughter so it is here thou art fatted here thou hast more than heart can desire thy cups are full and thy table well spread thy breasts full of milke and thy bones full of marrow it is that thou mightest bee destroyed Psal 1.5 Prosperitie destroyeth the soule it is like poison like ratsbane now would any man say thus such a man is most like to live because he eareth most poison nay rather the contrarie so prosperitie meeting with a sinfull with a naughtie heart it is poison to him the text telleth you when Haman was invited it was that hee might be accused the truth is these men of the greatest hope in this life I meane for honour and pompe and respect and preferment many of them are men of the least hope for heaven Others because they have felt the heavie hand of God many sorrowes many weaknesses many troubles in their course many losses in their estate these stayeth up their comforts and upon these grounds they build their hopes I have had my hell in this life and I hope to have heaven in the world to come I hope the worst is over now I have beene troubled in this world I hope I shall be comforted in another world and here is the ground of your hopes I beseech you consider what I answer I say this all the grievances trouble sorrow sicknesses be they what they will be unlesse thy heart be humbled by them unlesse thou bee brought unto the Lord Jesus Christ by them they are so farre from being an argument of grace and salvation unto thee that they are harbingers of those everlasting torments you shall endure in hell Sodome and Gomorrah they burnt in brimstone and they shall burne in hell a man would have said they had their hell here and therefore they should not have it hereafter why the text saith they suffered vengeance of eternall fire why brethren I beseech you observe it will any man reason thus such a man hath had the earnest of the bargaine and therefore he shall not have the bargaine will any man say thus hee that is attached arraigned condemned shall not be hanged nay rather he that hath the earnest shall have the bargaine
he that now is accused condemned shall now be hanged so here Others beare their hopes and sustaine their hearts upon the privileges that God bestoweth upon them and the meanes they have and in regard of the duties they doe discharge and though they thinke they have faire hopes and great hopes of heaven why say they God will powre downe his wrath upon those that know not God and that call not upon his name but what doe you make of us are we heathen are not we Christians have not wee beene baptized and the Lord hath inabled us to doe something wee call upon his name and seeke him by fasting and prayer and therefore he that hath done so much for us and hath done so much to us sure hee will give us heaven I answer that this bottome is not sufficient to beare up this hope all the privileges thou hast all the meanes ordinances thou enjoyest unlesse thy heart be humbled and thy soule brought to Christ all these will fall under thee and thou wilt goe to hell Rom. 2.28 He is not a Jew that is a Jew outwardly the Jewes they bragged of this they were circumcised and the Heathen were not circumcised they were the seed of Abraham but the Heathen were not Paul vilifieth all this he is not a Jew that is a Jew outwardly thy baptisme thy praying and thy hearing there is no profit by them no comfort in them if thou maintaine a wicked life and a naughty heart therefore this will not serve the turne you know it and the Scripture speaketh it Iudas an Apostle Iudas called by Christ he sat with our Saviour and dipped his hand in the dish he was a Devill then and is with the Devils now the foolish virgins had a trim profession as well as the others thou professest and hearest and prayest thou wilt lye too and cousen too and sweare too thou art naught and this bottome will never beare thee up When they see all this will come to nothing then they make a shift to plead mercy and they hope that will stand then in stead and doe them good when nothing else will and therefore you shall heare carnall wicked men confesse themselves naught their sinnes many and they vile but there is mercie enough in God to releeve them and they hope that will save them Brethren I confesse mercie is able to save thee and if thy hope can lay hold upon it it will save thee if thou be so within the reach of mercie mercie is able to save thee and will save many other besides but thou art not capable of this mercie thou art not within the roome and compasse of mercie what availeth it to talke and speake and hope for mercie and to see a great deale of mercie in Christ a great deale of merit in Christ a great deale of vertue in Christ able to save thee and a thousand more and yet thou not in the compasse of mercie not capable of mercie but sinkest in thy owne sinnes before thou gettest any mercie from God Isa 27.11 hee that made them will have no mercie upon them as who should say it is true here is abundance of mercie mercie enough mercie that saved a poore company of poore Jewes that crucified the Lord Jesus Christ mercie that saved Paul a persecutour Manasses an Idolater but I will shew no mercie unto thee he that confesseth and forsaketh his sinnes shall finde mercie mercie owneth those mercie doth good unto those but unto thee that lovest thy sinnes that embracest thy sinnes that hidâ—st thy sinnes the text saith it thou shalt never finde mercie delude thy selfe thou mayst but thou never shalt have mercie Luke 14.24 there was a marriage made and a rich marriage feast enough to have fed many thousands but those that were bidden did not come they shall not so much as taste of them they shall have none of them so there are sweet comforts strong consolations admirable refreshings able to sustaine a thousand soules but you that would keepe your sinnes and have the pride of your hearts but you that stand it out with the world and will not yeeld to the authoritie of the truth heare what the Lord saith from heaven he that is the God of comfort thou shalt never be comforted he that is the Authour of salvation saith it thou shalt never be saved thou shalt never have a crum of these dainties nor a drop of these sweet wines of spirituall consolation what a world now of men are shut out by these trials that are found guilty of these particulars you poore ignorant creatures doe not many of you lift up your heads full high and many a poore presumptuous hypocrite beare up themselves upon rotten hopes Object but I tell you when you come to the day of judgement all this will faile you but you will say in the former use you laboured us from despaire and incouraged us to hope and yet now you take away all our hopes why if neither creation may comfort us nor the experience of Gods kinde dealing with us may incourage us nor the afflictions that wee have endured in this world nor the privileges that we have enjoyed nor the mercie of themselves may give us any hope to receive mercie why then it seemeth you would have us despaire and cast away all hope of any good Answer The truth is as I must not make the way broader than it is so I must not make it narrower than I ought therefore know these two things As long as thou retainest and keepest a proud stubborne unconverted heart there is no hope in heaven or earth that God should ever shew mercy unto thee and save that hard stonie impenitent unbeleeving heart of thine unlesse thou thinkest that God will bring all thy pride all thy loosenesse and sinfull delights unto heaven God cannot shew thee mercie unlesse he will deny himselfe and crosse his holinesse follow peace and holinesse without which no man shall see God God taketh a corporall oath of it an unbeleeving man that liveth under grace despising it and contemning it God taketh an oath he shall never be saved now the oath of God shall ever stand there be two immutable things namely himselfe and his oath himselfe cannot be changed his oath cannot be broken now the Lord sweareth such a man shall not enter into his rest a man may be saved that cannot keepe the law fully of himselfe but a man cannot be saved that will not humble his soule before the Lord and receive mercy from him and hence Ephes 2.12 Without God without Christ without hope the Lord hath said the Lord hath sworne it that an unbeleeving an unrepenting sinner shall never come unto heaven he cannot save thy soule untill he hath humbled thy soule hee cannot save thy soule as long as thou retainest an unbeleeving soule This is that which you must take notice of that I may let in a little crevise of comfort to every naturall man that I
may set open a peepe-hole of mercy know therefore this that though the Lord will not nay the Lord according to his oath cannot save a continuing unbeleever yet here is all the hope thou hast and blesse God for it and bee thankfull that thou hast it though whilest thou art an unbeleeving creature thou canst have no mercy from God yet God can make thee a beleever he can breake that heart he can make thee good therefore I say blesse God that thou art yet in the land of the living and say good Lord this is mercy that I am on this side hell if I had died I had as certainly gone to hell as the coat upon my backe hath not the Lord said it did not the Minister speake it and the Word reveale it that as long as I had a proud naughty stubborne wretched heart I should never finde mercy unlesse I should thinke that God would make new Scriptures turne the course of his providence to save a company of base wretched creatures Oh my brethren you that are yet in the gall of bitternesse and bond of iniquity proud before and proud still that live and lie in your sinnes I say every morning and every evening that yet you live thinke with your selves Hath God given me this hope this liberty and that my life is continued why now bestirre your selves to get mercy I beseech you thinke oâ— it if you be not wrought upon by the Word if Heaven and Earth should meet together to save thee and an Angell from Heaven would speake comfort unto thee all would faile therefore you see by this time in what case these are goe aside and mourn for your selves and neighbours this say if you will continue proud and wicked there is no hope for you all the hope is this you are yet alive the Lord may humble that heart hee may enlighten your eyes he may worke upon thy soule else there is no mercy for thee Vse 2 It is an use of consolation and I hope you will be content to heare that I beseech you therefore to observe what I say take notice here that every poore broken hearted sinner may take some ground here to stay his soule though much disquieted though exceedingly perplexed when the soule seemeth to be aloofe off from the Lord when the Lord doth not shine abroad the sweetnesse of his mercy upon the soule when the Lord withdraweth himselfe and his grace in assisting and comforting his Saints when thou hast no sense no feeling thou canst not bee perswaded of it or thy heart beleeve it canst thou but looke up to God and hope I say thy condition is good thou art a good scholler in the Kingdome of the Lord Jesus Esay 40.18 The Lord waiteth upon his Saints to doe them good but marke what the Text saith Blessed is every man that waiteth upon the Lord he doth not say blessed is the man that hath sense of Gods favour blessed is the man that hath assurance of Gods mercy but blessed is that man that waiteth upon the Lord thou saist thou canst not doe this and thou canst not doe that I say if thou canst but wait and hope for the mercy of the Lord I say thou art a rich Christian if a man hath many reversions though he hath them not for the present men that judge of his estate will not judge him for his present estate but for his reversions which hee shall have haply thou hast not for the present the sense and feeling of the assurance of Gods love away with that feeling doe not dote upon it thou hast reversions of old leases ancient mercies old compassions such as have beene reserved from the beginning of the world and know thou hast a faire inheritance this is observable Rom. 8 28. We are saved by hope now hope that is seene is no hope for why should a man hope for that which a man hath wee are saved through hope now if you would have hope to be seene you have no hope in conclusion though thou hast it not in thy eye yet if thou dost hope it is enough that hope will save thy soule It is the folly of our sinfull proud hearts that sometimes in the sense of our owne sinnes and sight of our owne unworthinesse we almost disdaine to looke upon what God hath done for us and we consider not the kindnesse of the Lord. That place in the Psalmist The eye of the Lord is upon them that feare him and wait for him it is the wretched distemper of the soule we can fall out with heaven and our selves because we cannot have what we would nay we quarrell against the means of grace what availe meanes and helpes as long as I have such a stubborne naughty heart Psal 174 1â—1 The Lord taketh pleasure in those that feare him and wait for his mercy alas brethren out of the pride of your owne spirits you fall out with God and your selves and so deprive your selves of this comfort Object But you will say were my hopes of the right stampe and of the right coyne then a man might comfort himselfe therein though he wanted the sense of Gods love and the assurance of his mercy but there are many false hopes flashy hopes leane hopes how shall a man know that his hope is sound and good and will comfort him Ans You may know it by these foure particulars The first is this a grounded hope it hath a peculiar certainty in it it doth bring home unto the soule in speciall manner the goodnesse of God and the riches of his love in Jesus Christ this same grounded hope doth not stand upon Ifs and And 's but it saith it must be undoubtedly it must certainly bee mine and this you must know it is the nature of hope to make a thing to be certaine Hope maketh things infallible and undoubted and withall there is a kinde of speciality a bringing home of Gods goodnesse unto the soule in a peculiar manner hope alwayes if sound it hath something to say for it selfe alwaies it hath a ward to hang and hold upon Psal 130.5 I wait upon the Lord and I hope in his Word and so Rom. 15.4 All things are written for our instruction that through the comfort of the Scriptures wee might have hope here is hope not through your conceits imaginations and dreames but through the Scripture we might have hope a grounded hope is a Scripture hope it is a word hope and therefore those that cannot bring a word and give a reason for their hope I would not give a rush nor a farthing token for a hundred cart load of such hopes No it is Law hope it is Gospell hope Scripture hope Word hope so that the soule can say the Word saith the Lord came to save those that are lost why I finde my selfe to be lost and therefore I hope the Lord will seeke mee though I cannot seeke him I hope the Lord will finde me though I cannot
finde my selfe I hope the Lord will save me though I cannot save my selfe But the hopes of the wicked hang like a cloud they are not grounded upon the evidence of the Scripture they crowd all in the generall I hope to fare as well as others and other had mercy and why not I And hence the hopes of the wicked are unstedfast and wavering but a man might here demand are not the hopes of the Saints so too Doe they not waver and stagger many a time Answer It is true but with this difference the hopes of Gods servants are like an anchor which though sometimes it is shaken yet it holdeth the faster but the hopes of the hypocrites are like the waves of the seas and they come to nothing Prov. 8.28 The hope of the righteous shall be glad but the expectation of the wicked shall perish as who should say though the waves be great and the stormes violent yet the anchor shall bee fast and the ship shall come safe to haven but it is otherwise with the wicked their hopes doe perish What is become of your hopes now you thought you should bee saved and that you should doe as well as others but when the day of judgement commeth and the last great day of account shall be what then shall become of all your hopes You shall see it is as if a man should plead for a mans inheritance because he did dwell in the same towne and were of the same name But now the Saints of God when they come to lay claime to mercy they bring a hold a word Isay 61.3 He appointeth them that mourne in Sion will you have a legacy of joy mercy and pitty here it is the Lord Christ left it you I bequeath this and leave it to all you broken hearted sinners to all you humble mourning sinners in Sion this is your legacy sue for it in the Court and you shall have it for ever Hence David ventureth all for this hope hee taketh this as a childs part Psal 33. the last verse Let thy mercy come unto us as our hope is in thee not according to our sense and assurance but according to our hope thy desires may faile and endevours faile and the means faile yet let thy mercy come unto me according to my hope The second is this a grounded hope is ever of great power and strength to hold the soule to the truth of the promise the Spirit you know wee shewed stirreth the heart to hope now hee turneth hope so to God that the eye of the soule goeth that way and cannot bee taken from it but it will goe promise-ward and God-ward Hence take a poore sinner when hee is at the weakest under water when all temptations oppositions corruptions grow strong against them the Lord letteth them loose against the soule nay letteth the poore soule come to joyne side with Satan against himselfe and the goodnesse of the Lord and hee saith the truth of it is I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul this proud foolish filthy heart of mine it will be my bane it had better for me never to have beene I shall never get power strength and grace against these sinnes here is the lowest under of a poore soule If a man should now reply why then cast off all hope and confidence reject the meanes and turne to your sins Marke how hope steppeth in and saith it is true what ever I am and doe what ever my condition is I will use the means I am sure all my helpe 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 now and I warrant that soule shall never goe to hell Psal 119.81 My heart fainted and my hope was in thy salvation Isay 8.7 I will wait for the Lord who hath hid himselfe from the house of Iacob the Lord hideth himselfe he doth not shew himselfe he hath not manifested himselfe yet I will hope in the Lord that hideth his face Psal 69.3 But the hope of the wicked is not so 2 King 6. and the last verse this evill commeth of the Lord and why should I wait any longer Prov. 14.32 The hope of the wicked is driven away that though a man stood upon his bottome and all the world could not perswade him to the contrary but that he should be saved and hee should goe to heaven though proud still though vaine still but his hope shall bee driven away but the righteous shall have hope in his death friends faile life faile and wealth faile but yet he hath hope in his death Signe 3 As the strength of this hope is great in regard of all opposition that commeth to the contrary so also the excellency and surpassing worth of this hope which overshadoweth all the hopes in the world that can be offered propounded desired all seeme nothing to this hope which the soule hath to God that when the soule commeth to be drawne to God and to hope in him all other hopes hold no weight hopeth not for honour for profit nor liberty nor delight it discovereth the basenesse of these so that the soule careth not for any thing else in comparison It is in this case with the soule as with the hound the hound haply followeth the game untill hee bee spent and tyred yet if there come a fresh hare yet the very sent of a fresh one will make him leave all so it is here though heretofore hee hath had many games in the world he hoped for honour and profit and his soule run all amaine upon them but when the soule hath beene brought to know the riches of Gods mercy in Christ it leaveth the old profits the old contents the old delights that he had Heb. 11.13 All these died in the faith when they had saluted the promises And observe here a carnall hearted Hypocrite his hopes be vaine idle and uncertaine the truth is if the world giveth other hopes of honour and profits and delights he leaveth his hope and with Demas he embraceth the present world but the Saints of God are not so Heb. 11.25 Moses might have had great honour but he forsooke his honour and had an eye to the recompence of reward Signe 4 The last is taken from the vertue of hope and the speciall fruit and effect that it worketh in the soule A grounded hope it alwayes lendeth supply and succour when all the rest of a mans abilities faile and are not able to sustaine and support his soule when desire faileth and love faileth I meane in his owne sense and apprehension I say then hope supporteth the soule Psal 16.9 My flesh shall rest in hope that is hope will give a man rest in the most miserable forlorne condition that may be that when the heart is ready to say where is the meanes that I have had and the good dayes that I have seene this dead heart cannot
or the creature wait Acts 1.9 wilt thou now restore the kingdome to Israel it is not for you to know the times and the seasons as who should say hands off meddle with that you have to doe withall it is for you to wait it is for you to expect mercie it is not for you to know so I would have you to doe when you begin to wrangle and to say how long Lord when Lord and why not now Lord and why not I Lord why checke thy owne heart and say it is not for me to know it is for me to be humble and to be abased and to wait for mercy but it is not for me to know the time Thus much concerning Hope Now followeth next Desire JOHN 6.45 Every one that hath heard and learned of the Father commeth unto me c. IN this great worke of vocation there are two things considerable First the call on Gods part by the preaching of the Gospell Secondly the gracious answer to Gods call Now as all the soule departed from God so it must bee all brought backe againe to God Therefore first the understanding is enlightned and that gives notice to the soule that mercy is intended towards it then hope expects that mercy and then desire wanders about from ordinance to ordinance and longs for that mercy Doctrine The Doctrine then which ariseth hence is this that The Spirit of the Lord quickens the desire of an humble and inlightned sinner to long for the riches of his mercy in Christ For the right conceiving of this Doctrine three passages are to be understood First that this desire is in the heart humbled and inlightned if either of these two be wanting this desire cannot grow there Secondly this desire is quickned by the Spirit for though the soule bee humbled and made nothing and be content to be at Gods disposall yet it is not able through any principle of life which it hath of it selfe to bee carried to any such supernaturall worke as this desire is therefore the Spirit must quicken and move the heart thus humbled and inlightned to long for the riches of Gods mercy and this desire is called the lifting up of the heart after the good it wants As the Infant cannot go without the hand of the Father so a poore sinner in himselfe considered is as an Infant and not able to lift up himselfe to this desire any further than the Lord inables him by his grace and spirit The bowle is fit to runne yet it can runne no longer than the strength of the hand sticks upon it So the humble in lightned soule is fit to come to Christ yet it will not nay it cannot stir further than the hand of the Spirit moves it Note Let every poore broken hearted sinner take notice of it for this will informe you of a strange kinde of truth remember this you must not thinke to bring desire with you to the promise but receive desire from the promise It is a vaine thing to thinke that if the oares be in the boat the boat must needs goe indeed the oare will move the boat but the hand of the Ferri-man must first move the oare The soule is like the oare and unlesse the hand of the Spirit moves our desire it cannot move towards the Lord. Lastly the Doctrine saith the spirit quickens up the heart to long for the riches of Gods mercy the desires of the wicked are flashy lazy and feeble and come to nothing But even as the longing desire of a woman with childe will not leave her till her life doth leave her so the desires which the promise workes will never leave the soule till it be possessed of the thing it desires Our Saviour saith Matth. 12.20 A bruised reed shall he not breake and that smoaking flax shall hee not quench Now wee all know that flax will not smoake unlesse the sparkles come to it but when the sparkles have taken the flax then it doth smoake and will not leave till it come to a flame The soule is like the flax and it will never smoake in desire towards the Lord till the Lord by his Spirit in the promise doth strike fire upon it the Lord must first strike fire by the promise upon the soule before it can ever flame in a desire towards the Lord and when it doth once smoake in a holy desire the Lord will not let it faile before he brings it to a perfect flame and before it bee possessed of Christ and mercy which it longs for Reason The reason of this order of Gods worke why desire comes next after hope is this because desire is that other affection which serves the great commandresse of the soule the will for these affections are as hand-maids to serve the will The will saith I will have this or that good and therefore hope wait you for it and desire long you after it Hope is the furthest and greatest reach of the soule for when the soule is doubting and quarrelling and saith will the Lord doe good to such an unworthy wretch as I am yes saith the mind inlightned mercy is intended towards thee then hope goeth out to wait and looke for this mercy Now when the soule hath waited a long time and yet this mercy comes not and he marvels at it and saith the Lord hath said the weary soule shall bee refreshed Oh where are all those precious promises then the will sends out desire to meet with that good which will not yet come and so desire goeth wandring from one ordinance to another till it bring Christ home to the soule As a gentleman doth when he expects some noble personage hee sends out a man to wait in such a place and bring him word whether he seeth him or no afterwards when he returnes and saith he seeth him not the gentleman sends out another messenger to meet him afarre off and so likewise to bring him and give him entertainment So it is with the soule of a poore sinner in this case Quest. Now how doth the Lord by that promise quicken up this desire Ans I answer the cordials that God lets in and the motives that make the soule wander towards God are three or thus There are three speciall considerations of good in the promise that doe effectually worke upon the heart to bring desires after Motive 1 First there is a peculiar good in the promise that is sutable to all the wants of the soule there is a salve for every sore Esay 61.1.2 Art thou a dead soule goe to the promise there is quickning for thee Art thou a weake soule goe to the promise there is grace to make thee strong Art thou a damned lost soule goe to the promise there is salvation to save thee Art thou a polluted soule goe to the promise there is grace to purge thee Doe you see your sinnes and feele the burthen of them Oh away to the promise there is abundance of comfort in
downe very well satisfied if they have a Minister they doe not greatly care and if they want one they are not greatly troubled but they fit and are blinde and never saw any need of a Saviour All they can say is this in a good mood they marvellously extoll the goodnesse of God to such a place and say Oh the Gospell is a precious Jewell but they will not goe out a mile or two to receive that mercy they doe so commend and want I beseech you observe it the childe that is almost famished goes first to his father because hee hopes he will provide for him but if the father bee carelesse and will not provide for him hee will either beg or buy or borrow starve he will not So it is with the poore people of God when they are famished for the bread of life they repaire to their owne Minister and they ought to doe so and they should comfort and encourage them in the way of well doing in the preaching of the Gospell of the Lord Jesus It is said Amos 8.11 God will send a famine not of bread but a famine of the word and they shall goe from one sea to another from one coast to another and seeke bread but shall finde none how farre will men goe to seeke out bread in times of famine rather than they will starve then they will find their hands and legs and goe though it be never so far for comfort So it will be with thy soule if thou hast a sound desire after the Word of God were it so as it is sometimes in time of drought that a company of cattell for want of water were like to bee spoiled will not a man drive them a mile or two to water that they may bee refreshed Goe thou then downe into thine owne conscience and condemne thy owne soule hadst thou as much care for the good of thy soule as thou hast for the good of thy cattell thou wouldst goe as farre to heare the Word preached that thy soule might receive comfort and refreshment thereby When the famine was sore in the Land of Canaan Iacob did not say to his sonnes let us fit still here till the Egyptians send us food but get you up thither and buy some that wee may live and not die That which was in Iacob would be in thy soule if thou hadst a sincere desire after the riches of Gods mercy in Jesus Christ Sort of lazie Hypocrites 3 Thirdly those who when they have the means of grace and salvation are content to use them and if they want the meanes will seeke out for them but yet are not carefull and watchfull to prevent those inconveniences and to remove those hinderances which prejudice and hinder them from receiving that benefit by the meanes which they want and desire these never had any true and sound desire after Christ and therefore never shall receive sound grace so continuing Of this sort are your tipling Gospellers for there are such a generation in the world a man may have the name of a professor and yet bee a secret drunkard First hee seeth his evill and confesseth it to God and prayeth against it in the morning yet he will venture into that company and seeke after those occasions whereby he may be brought to commit the same sinne againe And he saith alas it is my fault and it is my infirmitie my desire is to abandon it but all flesh is fraile and alas what would you have me do I pray against it it is not I but sinne and therefore if I be overtaken and drawne aside with it pitty is to be tendered and you must pardon me thus hee heals himselfe No no let such men take notice of this It was not a true desire as wrought in thee it was onely a deceit Is that man desirous to keep his mony that will go into such company as he is sure will couzen him of it or goe in that way where hee is sure to meet with theeves that will rob him No experience teacheth us how tender men are to goe in such company or to travell that way where they may be assaulted So I say of these had the Lord ever wrought effectually upon thy soule and had thy heart beene enlarged with desire after the mercy which God offers when thou hadst good exhortations admonitions and many sweet promises made knowne unto thee thou wouldst not goe amongst theeves and robbers that should deprive thee of the comfort which thy soule hath received from the Word Sort of lazie Hypocrites 4 The fourth sort are those who though some duty bee prescribed and some particular service revealed to them and exacted from them by the Minister yet they will not set upon any duty but carelesly cast it off and not attend thereunto these never attained any sound desire in their soules I doe not say hee that omits a duty upon occasion either out of temptation surprising him or occasion prevailing But when a man is informed and convinced in his conscience that hee ought to doe what the Word requires and yet will not set upon it but carelesly neglect the same this argueth his soule was never quickned with any sound desire after the thing because he would not labour for the thing hee desired Hee that is desirous to speake with a man is not content to goe to one place onely and aske for him but hee will seeke from place to place from man to man and never rest till hee findes him So it is with a heart that is soundly desirous after grace it will not only take up some duty which God requires but if there bee any service which the Word reveales or any duty the Lord commands hee will take it up and as hee is able set upon the dutie Sometimes a man may neglect a dutie he knowes not of but if hee be informed and convinced thereof hee cannot but set about it if hee desires to gaine good thereby Therefore if any man hath wronged any by false dealing theeving or pilfering the servant the master the childe the father the chapman the buyer c. let that soule know it is his duty and God requires it if ever he will have peace of conscience and the evidence of Gods love made knowne to him in the pardon of his sinnes that he must make restitution We see Zacheus when God had opened his eyes and given him a thorow desire to come home and receive Christ made an open proclamation If I have wronged any man Luke 19.8 let him come and I will restore him fourefold If there be any that I have cozened by my false weights and faire pretences If I have wronged any man not of foure pounds but of forty a hundred pounds not some man but any man I will restore c. Beloved this is a duty which God requires of every soule and this is a way whereby thou mayest get some comfort to thy selfe if thou art content to
rather bee banished than terrified rather imprisoned than tormented yet onely seekes his owne ease not a Christ all this while And therefore experience hath taught us this that many after a great deale of terrour and horrour of heart when the pang is over have returned and beene as vile and as base and as sinfull nay haply worse than ever they were before the reason is they have gotten their desire now and they care for no more they have gotten their ease and quiet now and as for Christ and grace and holinesse they care no more for them because they have no more use of them Nay to goe further observe it this poore creature may in his owne sense and feeling apprehend and thinke that he doth renounce all sinne truly and that he puts the highest esteeme and greatest account upon the Lord Jesus Christ above all things in the world if hee looke into his owne apprehension he may thinke he doth thus and yet the union and league betweene sinne and his soule was never broken all this may bee in sense and feeling and an honest Minister if he be not very wise in charitie will judge so as shall appeare by this instance Take water seething hot though in nature it is the coldest of all elements yet while it continueth on the fire it growes so hot that a man shall feele no cold at all in it but yet there is a principle of cold remaining in it as the Philosopher conceives for plucke the fire from the water or the water from the fire and it will returne to coldnesse againe and freeze the sooner because when it is taken from the fire it beats out the heat with the more violence Now the reason why the cold was there and yet not perceived was because the fiercenesse of the heat did over-master it and made it retire and not expresse it selfe in outward appearance So it is with this terrified hypocrite in these pangs of extremitie and horrours of conscience when the soule is possessed with the fierce indignation of the Almightie when the flashes of everlasting vengeance seize upon the heart of a sinner this takes off the pleasure delight and content which the heart had in sinne though the soule love it and the heart embrace it and the spirit close with it yet he can find and feele in his owne apprehension no pleasure at all in sinne nor no sweetnesse in his lusts by reason of the domineering vengeance of the Lord which takes off all the pleasantnesse that was in it before And therefore the adulterer that hath his dalliances every morning if God let the flames of his vengeance once into his soule as hee hath flamed in lust all his sweetnesse and delight in sin will vanish away in his owne apprehension but yet his soule cleaves to his base lusts still and his heart is knit to them and the league and combination betweene sinne and his soule was never broken and parted So that by this we may see why a sinner in his owne apprehension may thinke hee hath no delight in sinne and yet there is a league betweene sinne and the soule still and this Hypocrite may thus continue all the while the sound of the stroke is upon him If haply his affections be stirring after some sinne then saith conscience You remember what was done before you remember what you did such and such a time would you fain be in hell againe I will arrest you for this one day saith conscience and so his soule flieth off from his cursed distempers not that the union between sinne and his soule is broken but onely his corruptions for the present are abated for acting By this time you see the reason why I entred upon this point which was this to undermine the bottome that beares up the soules of many carnall men in the world and to cut off all pleas and to raze the foundation of all carnall confidence under heaven therefore I beseech you marke it you will say this is marvellous hard these truths are marvellous terrible Quest. But some may say What doe you thinke that all those which will not come under the power of the Gospell that enjoy it Doe you thinke that all that will not seeke out for the Gospell that want it Do you think that all those who are not carefull to prevent those inconveniences which may hinder them from the benefit of the Gospell Doe you thinke that every man that is informed and convinced of a duty and will not take it up hath no desire after godlinesse Doe you thinke if a man will not part with all and be content to bee vile and base for Christ that hee hath no desire after Christ Doe you thinke a man may take up all duties for his owne ease and seeke Christ in them Ans Beloved I speake not my owne thoughts but it is cleare out of the Word of God that none of all these sorts of persons ever yet attained a true longing desire after the Lord Jesus Christ You told mee in the beginning if I could prove this you would yeeld the day therefore take these truths home to your soules and reason and parly soundly and thoroughly with your owne hearts after this manner Why how farre am I from heaven If the Lord hath not yet opened mine eyes and humbled my heart and enlarged my soule If I never yet had a longing after a Saviour what not desire heaven how then can I dreame or thinke that God will shew mercie to my soule in the pardon of my sinnes If no desire no Christ no desire no Heaven but I have no desire therefore no Heaven no Christ no happinesse The Lord settle these things upon your soules that you may never give quiet to your hearts nor rest to your soules till you finde this sound desire wrought in you Beloved what will you doe for heaven if you cannot so much as desire to come to Heaven and Happinesse Quest But here some will say this is a very strict course this is a very narrow passage indeed let us see how we may not bee couzened in our condition nor deceived by resting in our performances c. Ans I referre my answer to these three conclusions Conclusion 1 First thou must know that the remainders of those distempers that a man should rest upon the merit of duties performed are such remainders of sinne as will sticke to us and remaine with us so long as we live on the face of the earth But when once the Spirit of the Lord takes possession of the soule it counterworkes and digs deeper than these distempers for the good Spirit of the Lord that seizeth upon the heart truly humbled goeth betweene sinne and home it goeth betweene sin and the soule continually and makes a greater evill appeare in the soule than is the evill of punishment and makes knowne a greater good to the heart than ease and the removall of the outward plague and horrour The
a matter of complement and indifferencie No no I may call it the very wheeles of faith upon which faith is carried for all this while faith is a sowing into the soule Looke as it is with a waggon knocke off the wheeles and all lyes in the dust so take away this desire and faith is in the dust the tenour of all the promises run upon this the thirstie they are invited the hungrie they shall be satisfied nay not onely so but observe further the necessity of this when desire comes all good workes goe forward and our hearts are not only set upon the dutie but the dutie is crowned and credited by this desire It is like the mill damme the fuller the damme is the faster the mill goes so get but desire and all will goe forward the more desire the more paines in seeking after grace this gives a crowne and a credit to all our actions thou prayest haply halfe an houre it is not thy tongue that the Lord accepts but thy desire thou performest many duties outwardly God cares not for that he lookes only at thy desire to approve thy selfe to God in those duties this is the thing that gives credit to all our actions Meanes 3 The third meanes is this labour to spread forth the excellencie of all the beautie and surpassing glorie that is in the promises of God Looke wisely daily and judiciously upon them as occasion serves and when thou seest that admirable and incomparable vertue and beautie that is in Christ and in the precious promises and canst but view them in their proper colours Oh they will even ravish thee and quicken up thy desire If a man carry a packe of never so rich commodities and never opens them no man will have a desire to buy Or if a man have a cabinet full of never so precious jewels if he doe not unlocke it no man will be stirred with a desire after them Even so it is with the promises all those unsearchable riches that are in the Lord Jesus and all the comforts both of this life and that which is to come they are all shut up in the promises Now set open the Gospell and unlock the cabbinet of the promises and then the soule will earnestly desire the same I tell you God is a God of comfort and all the promises are yea and Amen in the Lord Jesus Christ read them daily and examine the excellencie and beautie therein that so thy heart may be brought to prize them and the comfort arising thence Thy soule is discouraged there is mercie to comfort thou wantest grace there is grace to quicken thee See the worth thereof more fully Luke 24. When Christ came and walked with the two disciples that were travelling towards Emaus Luke 24.32 opened Did not our hearts burne within us say they while he opened the Scriptures the Latine word signifieth to burne with desire But how came this they did not talke a word and away but the Lord Jesus Christ opened the Scriptures to them the riches of grace and salvation were unlocked and by Christ opened and then their hearts burned againe with desire Oh that Christ and that mercie and that pardon c. So view thou the promises of Christ and grace and salvation you doe not see the value and riches that are therein but if you will but talke and conferre about them your hearts will burne with desire doe not cast an eye and be gone doe not looke over a promise and away no wonder though your hearts are not affected because the excellent things therein contained are not opened and propounded to you Meanes 4 In the fourth and last place after all this thou must know that it is not in thy power to bring thy heart to desire grace thou canst not hammer out a desire upon thine owne anvill digge thy owne pit and hew thy owne rock as long as thou wilt that is a worke out of thy abilitie and strength 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 thy heart nor step one step towards heaven therefore I beseech you marke and acknowledge this and goe to him who is onely able to worke this desire in thy soule It is the complaint of Christians and they mourne under it and it is a great miserie Oh they are troubled because they cannot fetch a good desire from their owne soules and one falls another sinkes and a third shakes and they are overwhelmed with discouragement And their complaint is this What a wretched heart have I Object Grace No no the world I can desire the life of my childe I long for that nay every trifling profit and pleasure my soule covets it and I say with Rachel Let me have honour or else I dye But I cannot buckle my heart nor worke this vile nature of mine to bee carried after and long for the unconceivable unsearchable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ And will the Lord shew mercie to me Shall I attaine any favour either here or hereafter Answ Marke the deceit in this case desires grow not in your garden they spring not from the root of your abilities you cannot frame your soules nor order your spirits to desire Christ no struggle while thy eyes sinke in thy head and thy tongue falters when thou prayest and yet thou shalt not procure any longing desire after Christ whiles the world stands desire comes from the quickning vertue of the spirit Therefore seeke to God and confesse In truth Lord I cannot it is not in my power I have not any sufficiencie to frame my heart to this desire I expect it not from my selfe it is not this vile and sinfull soule it is not this wicked base wayward heart of mine that can lift up it selfe it is earthly and heavie but it is thou O Lord from whom come all our desires it is thou that must worke it it is thou that hast promised it good Lord quicken thou this soule and inlarge this heart of mine thou only art the God of this desire none of thy Saints that ever panted after and longed for thy mercie David himselfe had it not in his owne power and sufficiencie it must come from thy power and thy promise and thy grace and blessing Now good Lord worke this in the heart of thy poore servant I would faine have a desire Lord from heaven thus hale downe a desire from the Lord and from the promise for there only you must have it this is the course whereby you may partake of this desire from the hand of the Lord. When the Church was lazie and sluggish and would not rise Cant. 5.4 the hands of her beloved dropped mirrhe upon the handle of the doore and this raised and pulled up the heart of the spouse and she lingred after him and followed him and pursued him and her heart was quickned and inlarged to
seeke after him whom her soule loved and prized and from whom she expected that good she needed It ought to bee so with our desires they must proceed only from the sparke of the spirit The smoking flax God will not quench Matth. 12.20 all flax of it selfe will not smoke but a sparke must come into it and that will make it catch fire and smoke thus lay your hearts before the Lord and say Good Lord here is only flax here is only a stubborne heart but strike thou by thy promise one sparke from heaven that I may have a smoking desire after Christ and a longing desire after grace that I may walke with more care and more conscience with thee hereafter using the meanes thou hast appointed for my good that they may at the last worke unto my good this take notice of above all the rest for he that thinkes to get a desire from himselfe will not labour to obtaine from the hands of the Lord. Therefore labour to use all meanes and labour to see a weaknes in all means and expect this desire onely from the hands of the Lord. Thus we see the means how we may get this desire Thus we see how the Lord learnes every faculty his lecture the mind hath beene inlightned we have done with that hope hath beene stirred and desire quickned these we have likewise finished We come now in the fourth place to treat of two other faculties of the soule Love and Ioy which because they are so neerly combined together both in nature and forme as we shall heare hereafter therefore with your patience handle them together and read one Lecture to them both But before I proceed to meddle with the particulars let me premise something in the generall that wee take all rubs out of the way and that none may stumble at that which shall be delivered Therefore let no man thinke it strange that I come here to meddle with Love and Joy as though I would make sanctification to goe before justification for wheresoever we finde love and joy they seeme rather the effects that follow faith than to be the seeds and spawne to bring in faith Methinkes these doubts should not trouble any if they did but consider what wee have spoken already in the worke of preparation But a little to take away these rubs take notice of three ensuing passages which will cleare the way to that which afterward shall be spoken Passage 1 Know in the first place it is not mine intendment to perswade any to thinke that sanctification is before justification for the truth is I conceive the thing is not agreeable to truth taking sanctification in a narrow strict sense as it must be so conceived in this place neither can the Doctrines which I have delivered if they bee understood aright according to the explication thereof shew so much this is the first Passage 2 Secondly looke by what right and reason many judicious Divines of late yeares having by experience observed in their owne spirits and judiciously scanned and delivered it that there is a saving desire by which God brings in and breeds faith in the soule It is the speech of judicious Perkins Nay the Spirit seemes to me to intimate as much when it saith Ho every one that thirsteth Iohn 7.37 come and drinke there must be first thirsting then comming and beleeving which thirsting is nothing else but a saving desire Therefore as there is a saving desire by which God causeth both grace to breed and faith to spring in the soule by the same reason there may bee a kinde of Love and Joy by which as spawnes and seeds of faith faith may bee communicated and stamped upon the soule for the same ground that is for the one is also for the other and it is a thing to me incredible that the soule of a man should fall and rest upon the promise and yet never desire it nor hope for it being absent and imbrace it love and delight in it with joy when it is comming For looke with what authority and right there is thirsting before comming and a desire before faith for faith is all this while a hatching and breeding by the same right and authority there is a saving kinde of love and joy before faith whatsoever wee speake of the one wee must necessarily speake of the other Passage 3 The third thing is this wee must understand that all these saving workes of the affections are no sanctifying I call them saving that is such workes as doe accompany salvation for there is a difference betweene a saving worke and a sanctifying taken in the proper narrow sense of it Know therefore that desires and loves are of a double nature some in vocation are observed some in sanctification are considered as there was a sorrow in preparation a sorrow in sanctification so there is one desire and love and joy in vocation stirred another in sanctification expressed both joyne one with another but they are not the same The frame of the heart and the worke upon the soule in vocation is not the same which is in sanctification Briefly in vocation in this call which I speake of the Lord worketh this worke upon me I have no power of my selfe but onely receive it from the Lord. At the first conveying in of the power of hope and desire and love and joy God communicates them unto me but in sanctification I worke from a principle which I have received from the power of grace which Christ hath communicated to me being called and sanctified and having received the Spirit of Adoption So that the graces I now speake of usher in and lead the way for the comming in of faith when faith comes into the soul it is there as the King in his privy chamber it rules and commands all his servants Now the way being cleare if you meet with hope and faith love and faith put for one another understand that they are not literally to bee conceived but in a figurative sense So then to proceed to the Doctrine I meane to stand upon which is this Doctrine The Spirit of the Lord kindles in an humbled heart and inlightned sinner love and joy to entertaine and rejoyce in the riches of his mercy there are three passages to be considered that so we may see the compasse of the point in hand Passage 1 First this love and joy is no where to be found but in a heart humbled and inlightned for unlesse the soule bee humbled before God it seeth no need of grace or mercy and therefore despiseth it and disclaimes it and is carried with a hatred against that grace that would master his corruptions and purge them Nay the soule is carried with a kinde of wearisomnesse and is pestered with the power of grace that would frame his heart anew his corrupt heart is rather troubled with it than any way delighted in it and if humbled and not inlightned be could not be
newes of a Lord Jesus Christ and of mercie and the soule thus continues wandring and seeking till at last the Lord Jesus Christ comes into the soule when the soule hath hungred and longed for him At length the Lord is pleased to shew himselfe in view behold thy King commeth so the Lord saith Behold the Lambe of God that taketh away thy sinnes Oh thou poore broken hearted sinner here is thy Saviour hee is come downe from heaven to speake peace to thy soule in the pardon of thy sinnes thou that hungrest for a Christ here he is to satisfie thee thou that thirstest for a Christ hee is now come to refresh thee thou that hast long sought him hee saith here I am and all my merits are thine Now when the Lord Jesus is pleased to present himselfe to the soule now desire hath met with the Lord there are two other affections sent out by the Spirit to entertaine Christ and they are love and joy Suffer me I beseech you to expresse my selfe after this manner that I may discover the frame and guise of Gods Spirit in this gracious worke It is in this case with a sinner as it is with a malefactour or traitour observe what I say who is pursued with a Pursevant and is fled to the sea coasts and hath taken a hold and he is there besieged And now hee seeth there is no hope of favour nor no hope of escape therefore hee is even content to submit to the Kings pleasure Simile and yeelds his neck to the block that hee may receive punishment for his offence Now comming to execution he heares an inckling from the messengers there is yet hope that this man may be pardoned with that the poore malefactour in the tower his heart is stirred up to hope Nay then he heares another messenger from the King himselfe say if he will come unto the Court and seek unto his Majesty and importune his Grace for mercy and favour it is like he shall be pardoned this is the second voyce one saith thou mayest be pardoned the other saith nay if thou wilt submit thy selfe thou shalt be pardoned Then hee makes haste and desire carries him to the Court to sue for favour from the King So that he will bee continually there listning and enquiring of every one saying did you heare the King speake nothing of mee how stands the Kings minde towards mee I pray how goes my case then some tells him the truth is the King heares you are humbled and you sory for it you are like to heare more newes hereafter At last the King lookes out of the window and seeth the malefactour and saith is this the traitour they say yes this is the man thar is humbled and intreats for mercy and desires nothing so much as favour The King tells him the truth is his pardon is drawing and comming towards him with that his heart leaps in his belly and his heart is inlarged to his Majesty and he saith God blesse your Majesty never was there such a favourable Prince to a poore traitour His heart leaps with joy because his pardon is comming towards him haply it is not sealed yet Now when it is sealed and all the King calls him in and delivers it and that is the last stroke of faith So it is with a poore sinner hee is this malefactor you that have committed high treason you thinke not of it but take heed God will pursue you one day haply the Lord lets you alone for the present but he will surprize you on the sudden and conscience will pluck thee by the throat and carry thee downe to Hell And now the Lord pursueth him with heavie and terrible indignation and le ts flie at his face and sets conscience a worke as Pursevant and that saith these are thy sinnes and to hell thou must goe God hath set me to execute thy soule Now the poore soule seeth hee can by no means escape from the Lord and to purchase any favour he sees it is impossible therefore he is resolved to lie downe at Gods feet and saith I confesse Lord there is but one way let me be damned so thou maist be glorified If the Lord will shew favour so it is but he cannot desire it almost because he hath so sinned against him Now comes the great voyce he heares a noyse afarre off by the ministery of the Gospell thy sinnes are pardonable with this the soule lookes up and hope stirres the heart and saith then it may be a damned creature may bee saved then it may be a dead dogge may live and a traytor may be pardoned Then the soule heares another voyce if thou canst see the excellency of mercy and long for it and seeke after it thou shalt be pardoned Why goe then saith Desire and he fills heaven and earth with his cries and his closet with his prayers and the congregation with his teares and will enquire of the Minister of God and other good Christians Sirs you are of the bed-chamber you are acquainted with God I pray how goes my case will the Lord thinke you pardon me did you heare the Lord say nothing of me how stands it with me Now the Ministers of God that understand the frame of the heart aright will say The Lord heares you are an humble sinner and that you long for mercie and lye at the court gate and will not away without mercie wee heare God intends well towards you you shall heare more hereafter thus farre now desire goeth At last Christ presents himselfe to the sinner and speakes to his soule by the ministerie of the Word he lookes downe from heaven and gives him a sweet looke of mercie and that makes his heart leape againe and that is done in this manner for still understand that God doth it by the ministerie of the Word doe not now looke for any strange dreames or miraculous imaginations the Lord speakes by his Word and saith thou hast a broken heart thou hast longed for my salvation goe thy wayes I have heard those prayers of thine and observed those endevours of thine and thy pardon is granted bee it to thee as thou hast desired and thy pardon shall afterward bee sealed and delivered Now when the Lord tels the soule It is done it wants only sealing and delivering the heart of a poore sinner when it findes some comfort and refreshment from the Lord in the word he saith The Minister said I was the sinner and God intends good to me and that my sinnes are pardoned as the Prince saith Fiat let it be done so the Lord saith Mercie is comming towards thee and mercie is granted to thee Now the heart leapes with joy and blesseth the Lord let my soule blesse him for ever How ought I to blesse that God that hath done so great things for my poore soule What I pardoned and what my sinnes forgiven what is the pardon granted and now sealing onely it wants delivering why then
if I never see more of it but goe downe to hell yet this is my comfort that I have seene a smile from God this makes my heart leape within me though I burne in hell for ever this is the next voice Now that brings in love and joy See a passage this way Esay 40.2 opened Esay 40.2 Comfort yee comfort yee my people saith the Lord speake comfortably to Jerusalem and crie unto her that her warfare is accomplished and her iniquitie is pardoned tell Ierusalem shee is accepted tell her so saith the Lord. So the Lord speakes to poore hungrie broken sinners after he hath seene their desires to be sound and thorow the Lord saith to his Ministers Speake to the heart of a poore sinner tell him from mee tell him from heaven tell him from the Lord Jesus Christ tell from under the hand of the Spirit his person is accepted and his sinnes are done away and he shall be looked upon in mercie So Esay 66. Esay 66.2 opened the text saith The Lord lookes to him that is of an humble and contrite heart and that trembles at his word The poore creature cannot but observe every word and tremble at every truth Here is salvation indeed saith he but it is not mine here is mercie but that is not mine and so he shakes at the apprehension of it that he should heare of it and not enjoy it The text saith The Lord lookes at such a trembling soule that is he casts sweet intimations of his goodnesse and kindnesse upon him and saith Thou poore trembling sinner to thee bee it spoken I have an eye towards thee in the Lord Jesus Christ this as I take it is the meaning of the place Ephraim is the picture of a soule truly humbled we may see his behaviour towards God and Gods dealing towards him the text saith Surely I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himselfe here is the heart broken and thirsting and what more thou hast chastized mee Ier. 31.18 19 20. and I was chastized as a bullocke unaccustomed to the yoake turne thou me and I shall be turned thou art the Lord my God surely after that I was turned I repented and after that I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did beare the reproach of my youth Here wee see Ephraim lamenting himselfe as if the sinner should say I am the wretch that have seene all the meanes of grace in abundant measure and beautie and yet never profited under the same the Lord hath corrected me but I would not be tamed the Lord hee hath instructed mee but I would not learne Lord turne mee thou art my God I have nothing in my selfe Nay now I see the evils which before I never perceived and I observe the basenesse of my course now which before I never considered and I am ashamed of my former abuse of Gods grace revealed I am even confounded in regard of the abominations which my soule hath harboured this is the mourning of a poore sinner Now marke Gods answer Ephraim is my deare sonne hee is a pleasant childe for since I spake against him I doe earnestly remember him still therefore my bowels are troubled for him I will surely have mercie upon him The Lord kindled the fire of his indignation in his heart and spake bitter things against his conscience yet hee remembred him all the while as who should say I observed all those desires and considered all those teares and heard all those prayers and tooke notice of all those complaints and my bowels earne towards a poore sinner that desires my mercie in Christ and the truth is I will shew mercie to him thus wee see the behaviour of God to the soule as also the behaviour of the soule to God and thus you see the order of the affections when God is absent hope waits for it and desire longs after it when the good is in view love entertaines it and joy delights and sports and playeth with it love is like the Host that welcomes the guest and joy is like the chamberlaine that attends upon him and is very ready and pleasing to entertaine the promise and the Lord Jesus Christ this is the very guise of the heart as I conceive The second thing observable is the motives whereby the promise comes to inflame these two affections and to worke this frame in the heart namely by the Spirit of the Father which kindles in an humble and inlightned soule love and joy to entertaine and reioyce in the riches of his mercie as beseemes the worth thereof Quest But how doth the Spirit kindle this love and joy Answ I answer thus it is when the Spirit of the Lord in the promise lets in some intimation of Gods love into the soule the weight lieth upon these two words le ts in some inckling conveyeth some rellish of the love of God into the soule I beseech you marke it when the Lord doth expresse his favour and goodnesse in that same powerfull manner unto a heart humbled longing for his favour that it doth force the soule to bee affected with it and doth prevaile with the soule and by a holy kinde of might prevaileth and makes the soule to be affected with the rellish of his favour this is the ground A possible good stirres up hope a necessarie excellencie in that good setleth desire and a rellish in that good setled kindles love So that in the promise there is a fulnesse to take up the whole frame of the heart The phrase is admirable in the Psalmes The Lord shall command his loving kindnesse in the morning Psal 42.18 a strange passage it is a phrase taken from Kings and Princes and great Commanders whose word is a law So that the Lord shall send forth his loving kindnesse with a command as if he should say Goe love and everlasting kindnesse take thy commission and I charge thee goe to the poore humble sinner goe to the poore hungry and thirstie sinner goe and prosper and prevaile and settle my love upon his heart whether he will or no and let my kindnesse be setled upon his soule that hath longed for it Experience tels us this the Lord doth by an Almightinesse give a charge and put a commission into loving kindnesse hands that hee shall doe good to a poore soule even then when hee sinkes under the burthen of his sinnes and under the apprehension of his weaknesse What shall I have mercie No no. Will the Lord Jesus Christ accept me No surely Could I pray so and had I those parts and could I performe duties after this and this manner then there were some hope but alas there is no mercie for me But hearken I beseech you what the word discovers your estate to be is it thus and thus with you yes then I speake from the Lord mercie is yours and heaven is yours No no saith the soule I cannot beleeeve it such a wretch as I
a poore miserable creature commend my love commend my mercy to such a poore soule and tell him though hee hath beene an enemy to me yet I am a friend to him tell him though he hath beene a traitor to mee I have beene a good King to him he hath beene a rebell to mee but tell him I have beene a good God to him commend my love to him and let him know that all his sinnes are done away for the Lord Jesus died for sinners when they were sinners This is the argument of Saint Iohn If God so loved us as that he gave his onely begotten Sonne for us how ought wee to love one another I collect from hence But how then ought we to love God himselfe It was this that kindled the frozen heart of Saul he had a heart almost as cold as ice and yet this did worke upon him Marke what the text saith When David had taken Saul on the hip 1 Sam. 24.19 and had him at advantage and might have taken away his life and yet would not when hee saw that David was so kinde and would doe him no hurt David knew Saul persecuted him and desired to kill him hee was the most profest enemy he had and was the onely man that stood betweene him and the kingdome Now when David had him in his hands and spared him this kindnesse of David wrought even upon the heart of a Saul and kindled a kinde of love in him as the text saith Thou art more righteous than I for thou hast rewarded mee good and I have rewarded thee evill and thou hast shewed this day that thou hast dealt well with me forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered mee into thine hands thou killedst me not for if a man finde an enemy will hee let him goe well away wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day So that wee see a Saul is warned and his love is kindled towards David for his kindnesse So when the soule considers what is the Lord thus gracious to me who ever found an enemy and slew him not Had it not beene just with the Lord to take advantage against me Had it not beene just that I which lived in sinne should have perished for my sinne Had it not beene just that I which loved my corruption should have perished for my corruptions But that the Lord should finde an enemy and not slay him nay that the Lord should finde an enemy and send his Sonne to save him is wonderfull Let my soule for ever love that God and rejoyce in that mercy this would work almost upon a Devill If the soule had but the sap and sweetnesse of this it could not but warme the heart of an humbled sinner and kindle in him an abundant love to God who hath beene so loving to him Particular 3 Lastly the greatnesse of the sweetnesse of the mercy of God this inflames the soule the sweetnesse warmes it the freenesse kindles it and when the greatnesse meets with these it sets the soule all in a burning flame This is the ground the Apostle presseth to the Ephesians he desireth that they may be rooted in love that is stablished with mighty strong love how shall that be Why the text saith comprehending with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of Christ which passeth knowledge as who should say can you but once comprehend the unmeasurable dimensions of Gods love and goodnesse this will kindle and inflame your hearts with admirable love to the Lord Jesus When the sinner thinkes thus with himselfe I that have done all that I could against so good a God that my heart even bleeds to thinke of it there was no name under Heaven I tore in peeces but Gods Name his wounds and heart and life I have torne all nay there was no command in the world that my soule so much despised as the command of the Lord Jesus There was no spirit that ever spake to me which I so much resisted as the Spirit of the Lord. Oh how many sweet motions hath the Lord let into my soule that he might plucke mee from my base courses and sinfull practices but I have flowen in the face of his blessed Spirit If I had lien in a dungeon and had beene plagued with torments all my life time yea though I had another world of misery to live in it is infinite mercy so the Lord would passe by these base dealings and pardon these rebellions of mine But that God should send his Sonne to love mee so incomparably so unconceivably that I could not hate him so much as he loved me I could not so exceed in unkindnesse towards him as he hath exceeded in kindnesse towards mee Oh the height of this mercy beyond my desire Oh the breadth of this mercy without all bounds Oh the length of this mercy beyond all times Oh the depth of this mercy beneath all miseries Were my eyes made of love I could nothing but weepe love were my tongue made of love I could nothing but talke love were my hands made of love I could nothing but worke love and all too little for that God that hath loved mee so admirably so unmeasurably What shall I love if I love not the Lord I love all things but I love God above all things Psal 18.1 I love thee dearly O Lord my strength saith David this is the last particular whereby the soule comes to bee all on a flame and hath a burning affection towards the Lord Almighty Vse 1 We come now to the application of the point that so wee may reape some good to our soules thereby First then it is a ground of instruction which I desire to presse unto you because it is both seasonable and profitable From the former Doctrine therefore wee collect and conclude undeniably that there is no sufficiency in a naturall heart to be carried to the Lord Jesus Christ or to the worke of grace wee have not this before God doth give it unto us nay we cannot move towards God or be carried in the least kind to love or delight in him further than the Lord will carry us himselfe and beare up our hearts by the hand of his Spirit It is true and wee finde it by wofull experience it is in our power to love the world it is in our power to delight in our lusts Nay being but naturall men it cannot be but that we should love our selves and love our honour and our ease and profit and applause in the world There is enough of this foolish wild-fire there is enough of this carnall selfe-love in every mans heart But to love the Lord Jesus Christ and to have a heart inlarged with joy to him this is a worke of grace which groweth not in our gardens there is not one sparke of this holy fire and spiritual delight in our hearts Nay we cannot buy it nor borrow it
this root namely upon a grounded application as I may so say in speciall manner of Gods favour to thy soule settled and sealed and made knowne in this kinde if thy love doe grow upon this ground upon the particular application of Gods mercie to thy soule so that thy soule can say the Lord hath looked downe from heaven hee hath said in his word that hee will looke at them that tremble at his name I looked for mercie and I sought for grace and blessed bee God I have found that mercie and grace I looked and sought for the Minister spake it and his Spirit spake it that my name was registred in heaven and that my prayers were heard my desires satisfied and therefore how shall I love the Lord that hath done all this for mee my sinnes I have bewailed my complaints I have powred forth and the Lord hath looked from heaven and given me a gracious answer therefore I will love the Lord for it even for ever I love thee dearly O Lord my strength thou art my support that hast strengthned me thou art my Saviour that hast saved me therefore my soule shall for ever love thee for that mercie of thine this is a love now that comes from a right mint it is currant and good pay Difference betwixt the love and joy of an hypocrite and of Gods childe But if a man love God from himselfe this love will bring a man to himselfe and there leave him as if a man have a love to his parts or to his hearing or reading or praying or preaching or conferences if a man have a love to his understanding wisedome and policie he loves his wisedome and policie well therefore hee would faine be beholding to Christ to helpe him to glorifie this wisedome and policie and these parts of his that he might receive honour to them now the love of his parts brought all to his parts and Christs honour in the meane time lay in the dust and so I might instance in a thousand examples of the like nature Whereas now marke what I say that love which is wrought from God alwayes drawes the soule unto Gods love againe the Lord lets downe the cords of his love into the soule and thereby breeds love and kindles love in the soule to that goodnesse and kindnesse of his and this is the excellencie of a Christian and this love is of a right coine and of a right stampe but love of my parts that Christ may glorifie my parts and love of profit that Christ might promote my profit I love my parts and profit only now and not Christ in this case and this is the greatest difference betweene the love and delight which the cunningst hypocrite under heaven can have and the Saints of God I expresse it thus Meat that a man takes downe inwardly Simile and digests breeds good bloud and good complexion but that which a man takes and digests not but vomits out againe presently breeds neither good bloud nor good complexion So it is with the love of the heart that is rightly wrought upon to entertaine and love a Saviour and delight in him and welcome him as beseemes his worth a heart that is foundly wrought upon by the Spirit feeds heartily upon the promise and that feeding and taking downe of the promise and that closing with the promise breeds good bloud and good complexion true love that breeds good bloud and true joy that breeds good complexion because the promise is fed upon it is the worke of Gods Spirit which seize upon and worke effectually upon the heart that bred this sound love and true joy But a carnall hypocrite that only hath a taste of the promise and a flattering apprehension of the promise in general Christ came to save sinners c. these are prettie things to tickle their conceits but they never goe downe they digest not the promise of Christ and therefore that love which comes from hence is but a fained love and that joy which ariseth from hence is but a false joy it breeds no good bloud it breeds no good complexion but meere vanities and overtures in a Christians course here is the difference betweene the love and joy of an hypocrite and of a Saint of God this is the first triall Triall 2 Secondly if thou entertaine thy Saviour as beseemes a Saviour thou must entertaine him as a King for he is a King that is give up all to him and entertaine none but those that attend upon him and appertaine to him in a word love all in Christ love all for Christ but expresse thy affection and joy to him above all he is the King all the rest are but retainers and therefore entertaine him in the first place hee that loves any thing equall with Christ hee never loved Christ truly he that sets up any thing cheeke by jowle with his Saviour he despiseth he renounceth his Saviour It is all one in plaine termes as if a man should put a slave into the chamber where the King is and say he hath entertained the King this base behaviour of his will drive the King away as well as if he did openly and profesly bid him be gone So if thou settest up any thing with thy Saviour thou dost drive him away as well by thy base behaviour as by open profession a man cannot receive friendship with Christ and the world upon the same termes Iames 4.4 a wife that loves her husband loves him only as a husband hee only hath her heart and she loves none but him in that manner she loves others as friends and neighbours and gives them respect so farre as they keepe themselves there but if they come to claime the love of a husband she abhorres them so a loving heart loves Jesus Christ onely as a bridegroome and all things else only as friends and neighbours the soule that loves Christ loves him onely as a Christ and all the rest as friends the soule will love riches that may credit it and parts that may advance it as friends to speake for a man and to give occasion to a man to come to a Saviour as the wife loves her husband firstly and the rest as friends and neighbours that must further the match so the soule loves the Lord Iesus Christ in the first place and all things else as profit and riches and parts as friends and neighbours that may make up the match with a Saviour and bring it into acquaintance with a Saviour the soule loves prayer and hearing and Gods ordinances as friends to speake a good word to Christ for it but if any thing come to steale away the heart and challenge the affection of a spouse it abhorres it it hates honour and riches and all things in the world that will challenge any spouse-like love Christ only shall have that Luke 14.16 opened Our Saviour saith Hee that hates not father and mother for my sake is not worthie of mee
signifies as much and the same word is used in the Corinthians 1 Cor. 7.1 opened It is good for a man not to touch a woman that is to cleave and to cling unto her and it is taken from those peeces of buildings which are let one into another her affection was such that she would not part with her Saviour when she had met him This is a lively picture of that love which many a poore soule possesseth when the Lord lets in the glimpse of his love into the heart when the soule hath waited long for mercie and comfort and the Lord is pleased at last to refresh it and cheare it therewith and to let in some sweet incklings and intimations thereof many of Gods Saints begin to bee light headed because they are so ravished therewith they are alwayes cleaving thereunto insomuch that many times they are almost besides themselves Looke as it is with parties that live in the same family Simile and their affections are drawing on one towards another in marriage they will cast their occasions so that if it be possible they will be together and have one anothers company and they will talke together and worke together and the time goeth on marvellous suddenly all the while their affections are drawing on so it is with the soule that loves Jesus Christ and hath this holy affection kindled it thinkes every place happy where it hath heard of Christ and thinkes that houre sweet wherein it put up its prayers to the Lord and enjoyed love-chat with him hee thinkes the Sabbath marvellous sweet wherein God is revealed in the power of his ordinances any glimpse of Gods goodnesse and notice of his mercie in Christ is marvellous comfortable to the soule And it is the desire of the soule to fit by it as the drunkard doth in another kinde so the loving soule would fit by this mercie and love of God that he may be more acquainted with it and more quickned and cheared by it the soule is ravished therewith and overcome as it were with the apprehension thereof Psal 84. David envyed the porter that kept the doore of Gods temple where Gods presence was and the very birds that built their nests there as if hee had said You have liberty to see the sacrifices offered and you may heare the voices of Gods people and you may build your nests in the temple of my God and my Lord and Lord am not I as good as birds therefore his heart was inflamed with the want of these ordinances of God Nay old Simeon when hee had seene our Saviour incarnate his heart was so inlarged therewith that he would have beene content to have left his body that he might have had his full of his Saviour Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seene thy salvation as if he had said stand by body let me come to my Saviour let mee bee for ever with him I have beene long enough in this sinfull world already A spouse that is contracted thinkes every day a yeare and every yeare twenty till that day comes shee blesseth the very place where the bridegroome is and she thinkes the parties happy that talke with him and she takes every token that comes from him marvellous kindly but yet shee thinkes if that day would once come wherein she might possesse him and be possessed of him that she and she alone might enjoy her husband Oh this would bee a happy day her heart would bee cheared and exceedingly refreshed therewith so a loving soule that hath beene truly humbled and inlightened in the apprehension of Gods love and mercie and is contracted as I may so say unto Christ hath many thoughts when will it once be that I may be married to Christ and possesse him and bee possessed of him to bee with Christ is best for me such a one thinkes every token marvellous welcome and every promise and every word that reveals any intimation of Gods kindnesse but yet oh when will the day come that I shall be forever with the Lord Jesus this is the highest pitch that Saint Paul speakes of 1 Thess 4. We that are alive and remaine saith he shall bee caught up together with them in the clouds and meet the Lord in the aire and so shall wee bee ever with the Lord thus the soule thinkes when will that day come that I may never be with sinne more never with the world more never with corruptions more never with base company more but with that mercie and that Spirit and that grace and with that Christ for ever and ever this is the guise of the soule and the frame of the heart that is kindled in sound love to the Lord Jesus nay such is the strong and gluing nature of true love that it will make a man bee with the thing beloved though hee bee in never so great misery When Iacobs sonnes came and told him that Ioseph was slaine Iacob was grievously distressed because he loved him deerely now marke what the text saith All his sonnes and daughters rose up to comfort him but he refused to be comforted and said I will goe downe into the grave to my sonne Ioseph he would rather be in the grave than not to be with Ioseph and hee will goe downe into the grave that he may be with him so the wife that loves her husband when hee is in prison shee will bee there with him shee is sorry that it should bee so with her husband but shee will rather bee in the prison with him than want his company so an humble soule that hath his heart kindled in earnest and sound affection to Christ is content even to goe into the grave with the Lord Jesus yea into prison with the Lord Jesus let mee bee with Christ saith he though I be in persecution let me be with the Lord Jesus though I be in dishonour it is a griefe to the soule if Christ bee so but a greater griefe if he may not be with him where hee is Cant. 2.6 when the spouse had wanted her bridegroome a great while and at last the Lord was pleased to reveale himselfe unto her she fastens upon him and rests contented with him and desires no more my beloved is mine and I am his as who should say thou art mine and I am thine let the world thinke what it will I am thy wife and thou art my husband so saith the soule Christ is mine and I am his and if I may have more of that grace and holinesse which is in Christ I have enough I desire no more but without that I cannot be contented I cannot be satisfied Secondly there is a holy restlesnesse and impatience in the soule till it can attaine this it will take no nay at the hand of the Lord but sues for the match though Christ seeme to forbid the banes and it were worth the while to observe how restlesse the soule is and how
than God doth convey this and communicate to the soule a man naturally is as well able to keepe the law which is doe and live as hee is of himselfe in himselfe so considered to beleeve in the Gospell and to keepe the second covenant of grace which is beleeve and live but the difference is here the Gospell requires abilitie and gives it the Lord cals us to come and inables us to come whereas the law reveales a mans corruptions but never gives him power against them but as the Lord called Lazarus so the Lord gave Lazarus power to rise so when the Lord cals a poore sinner he gives strength and spirituall ability to come according to the call which the Lord reveales that he may come by that saving and precious faith as S. Peter cals it therefore it is of necessity required that as the soule beleeves the Lord must give strength that it may beleeve and therefore it is effectually perswaded Now that I might meet with that erronious opinion of Pelagians consider what I say they say it is of necessity required that a poore sinner have his minde inlightened but the will of man is unaltered and left free to refuse or chuse grace if it please so that they put a kinde of ability in the will to take or refuse Christ and grace when it is offered but here is a deepe mistake because the will of man is as farre averse from God as the minde is blinde nay it is more averse from God than the minde is blinde and it is more hard to be framed therefore there must be this effectuall perswading as the understanding must have the truth cleered to see a Christ so the will must be perswaded that it may receive power from him as it is with the sea and the thames there is ebbing and flowing now the natutall Philosophers observe that the ebbing and flowing comes not from any inward proper principle of it selfe but the light and heat of the moone leaves its beames upon the water and drawes the water after it this makes it to flow and when the moone is gone the water returnes backe againe and this is ebbing just so it is with the soule of a man humbled and enlightened there is no power in the soule to goe any further than it selfe to flow unto a Christ and to goe towards the promises further than the Lord lets in by the power of his Spirit the beames of his mercie upon the soule and sheds in the freenesse of his grace into the heart and that makes the soule flow againe so that as it ebbed and went away from God by sinne so it now flowes and comes to God againe but it is by the power and Spirit of God Quest. Now if you aske mee what it is to have the heart thus perswaded of Gods goodnesse in Christ Answ It is nothing else but this first as it is undeniably inlightened to see this mercie of God so there comes in a streame of the freenesse and riches of Gods grace and doth affect the heart with the sweetnesse and rellish of Gods grace that it findes a marvellous sweetnesse in it Quest Secondly what is it to be effectually perswaded Ans It is thus much not a touch and away and a little sip and begone nor a hourly kinde of tasting but take notice of these two things in it First when the prevailing sweetnesse in the promise and that goodnesse in the promise is let in by the Spirit of the Lord that it sinkes into the heart roots and it comes to take possession of the soule of an humble sinner and is next the soule there is nothing next the soule but that the world and pleasure c. are without the heart but the goodnesse of the promise and the freenesse of Gods grace hath its privie chamber in the heart of a man this I take to be the meaning of that phrase of rooting the promise in the heart and this was the fault of the stony ground-hearers Matth. 13.21 The seed grew up suddenly and perished suddenly why because it had not depth of earth the seed of the promise had not the depth of his heart but there was a stone in the heart and the world lay next the heart and a stone of lust and pride was betweene the word of the Lord and the heart so that the promise had not root and hence it was slightly affected with the truth but never thus powerfully to have it goe downe to the roots of the heart the good word of the Lord in this case comes to the heart not as an owner but as a travellour this is the meaning of that place Hosea 2.14 I will allure her and draw her into the wildernesse that is by preparation and then I will speake comfortably to her that is I will speake to her heart so it is in the originall there is a kinde of prevailing sweetnesse of the grace of God in Christ that will be at the roots of the heart that it may give allowance unto it now marke what followes from hence and this is the first part of the effectuall perswading of the heart when the heart saith away with profit and the world and all let me have the Lord and his grace Oh that goes to the bottome of the heart hence it is that the soule thus prevailingly is sweetned with the goodnesse of the promise can taste nothing in the world without this it is now out of love with all other things it had loved and doted on before most immoderatly the sweetnesse of the promise hath stolne away the heart of a poore sinner and gotten the good will of the soule to be only for Christ and to have his heart to close with Christ and to be nothing in the world without him this effectuall perswading it is the meaning of that place Act. 3.19 Amend your lives repent and turne that your sinnes may be done away repent and be converted that is be truly prepared in the worke of humiliation and be converted that is have a through heat of the heart for grace in vocation that your sinnes may be done away in justification so then when the soule is first humbled in preparation and the heart now all for the Lord Jesus Christ and can taste nothing but Christ and nothing in regard of him and God hath gotten his good will then followes justification that your sinnes may be blotted out this was the practice of the repenting Church when the Lord had hedged her way and built a wall that she could not finde her old lovers Hos 2.7 at last the Church saith I will returne to my first husband for then it was better with me than now as if the Church had said Oh the mercies of God and the consolation of Christ are better than all my delights in sinne the soule comes now to see a bettering in Christ Oh to have my heart purged and my sinnes remitted it were better than to wallow
in my lusts still now the heart is going out of the world to the Lord Jesus Christ when there is an overpowering vertue of the sweetnesse of the promise that prevailes with the soule above all and affects the heart with the good thereof more than all the rest this is then to be effectually perswaded Now the will and the heart is gone that way let all the temptation and the darling delights of sinne come in never so fast yet the prevailing power of the promise out bids and goes beyond all these and affects the heart more than all these I would have you retaine those things that ye may trie whose hearts are sound many pretend to have a lingering desire after Christ and to seeme to bee for Christ and yet the worke was never sound they were never perswaded powerfully as I now speake and as there is a strong and effectuall perswading so there is a kinde of hourly and feeble perswading and a slight motion of it the heart may seem to make out toward Christ yet never get â—ut because it was never effectually perswaded â—hese slight motions and hourly perswasions are â—ike the untimely birth of a woman that vanishâ—th away and comes to nothing in the end Many a man hath had his eyes opened and the sweetnesse of the promise revealed and the soule â—ad begun to purpose and to be at a hay now â—ay and then he will goe to Christ and yet sinks â—owne againe and falls back and perisheth everâ—stingly As it is with a waggon that passeth by a â—angerous pit being well loaden which if it passe â—ot by hee is undone he is at a set well they will use their skill they pull with might maine â—nd now it is going and then it is comming it 〈◊〉 ever at a hay now hay at last the traces breake â—nd it falls downe irrecoverably So it is with a â—arnall false hearted Hypocrite that hath had maâ—y of these feeble perswasions to pluck a base â—ile heart from his corruptions the Lord hath â—id some hand upon him by the terrours of the â—aw and let in some intimation of mercy and â—t him see what good he might have if he would â—art from his sinnes and he hath many good reâ—lutions the drunkard will be drunke no more â—e adulterer will bee uncleane no more and the â—roud person will never be proud any more it is â—et at a hay now hay but because hee is not â—fectually perswaded hee falls off from his halfe â—odging with God and is wholly overcome with â—nne never to be recovered more this was the practice of Agrippa Act. 26.27 where Paul shewing his conversation and what God had done for him when Agrippa heard this he was even at a dead lift and said Thou hast almost perswaded me to become a Christian almost holy almost humble and almost to forsake my sinnes I will never be more malicious against God and as the originall word saith Thou hast almost perswaded mee in a few things but hee never came to any good at all This is the guise of many that come to some outward reformation and get some knowledge and some parts and some duties performed so that a man would thinke they were making forward toward Christ and yet they recoyle and fall back againe to their old base courses most fearfully Of this generation was this spoke Heb. 6.4 that had a taste of the Heavenly gift that is saving faith they liked the promise but it was never at the heart roots Oh said they comfort ease and salvation is good to be had but they did not take downe the promise and disgest it and make it good blood they wanted this sound perswasion somewhat was neerer to the heart than the promise and therefore it came to nothing An Hypocrite that is tickled and hath some flashy desires as the stony ground was is a little affected with the Word of God This man may entertaine iâ— some kinde of hourely perswasion somewhat of the promise for some respect the promise is this that God will pardon the iniquity of his poore children and ease them of all their miseries and glorifie them for ever The Hypocrite heares this that there is salvation to be had and grace is now offered Oh it is pretty saith the soule then I hope it is possible for something to come to my share in conclusion hee entertaines the promise to pardon him but the promise and the prevailing power of it goe not deepe enough to loose him from his corruptions and to purge him hee would sip of the promises but make a meale of his lusts But a good heart doth the contrary the promise is the standing dish and the Lord â—esus Christ to be loved and embraced that is his meale onely he may sip now and then at his lusts â—nd corruptions The Hypocrite will have his â—ase haunts and his corruptions still but in the meane time hee could bee content to thinke on Christ to pardon him and that these evils might â—ot befall him Part. 2 Now you see what it is to bee effectually perswaded nothing but God can doe this and in his lies the excellency of faith to rest it selfe upon the freenesse of Gods grace that it may have â—n interest in the good thereof that is the end â—f faith there lies the marrow of faith that is the â—ertue and spirituall efficacy of faith that as hope â—aited for mercy and desire longed for it and â—â—ve and joy welcomed it and they all bring the â—romise home to the soule so then the will â—ith Amen Lord let it be so I will goe no furâ—her It is in this case as it was with the woman â—f Samaria Iohn 4.29 When Christ had opened â—er eyes and shewed her the vilenes of her heart â—nd also told her that shee had seven Husbands saying thou art an adulterous woman now when she had heard this away shee goes to the Citie and said Behold a man that hath told mee all that ever I did is not he the Christ Just so all the affections come to the will the great commander and plead in this case and thus begin to strive with the heart Oh saith hope I have waited for this goodnesse of the Lord and my eyes have failed with looking for it And desire saith I have longed for this goodnesse and saith love I have received it and joy saith I have felt the sweetnesse of it is not this mercy worth the receiving Then the will saith is it so indeed hast thou waited for it hope and hast thou longed for it desire and hast thou felt the sweetnesse of it joy then we will all goe to that mercy and seeke no further Let base corruptions and lusts doe what they will wee will goe to that mercy Foure things or Acts. and repose our selves therein Now this resting of it selfe discovers a foure-fold act Act 1 First it implyes a going out of the soule to Christ that the soule
what shall I doe What shall I doe unto thee Oh thou preserver of men and the broken hearted and terrified sinner craves that he may yet live in the sight of the Lord. And at last when the soule hath beene sufficiently humbled the Lord lets in his sweet voice of mercy and saith Thou art my sonne and thy sinnes are pardoned with that the soule catcheth at that mercy and saith mercy Lord and a sonne Lord pardon Lord and love Lord the soule is marvellous willing to heare of that consideration But it will not away from the Lord againe as they catched at the words of Ahab and said thy brother liveth so the soule saith beleevingly and â—eccho-like pardoned Lord accepted Lord love and mercy in Christ Lord the heart holds it selfe there It is the fashion of a drowning man when hee seeth himselfe going and sinking if any man come to helpe him when he hath taken hold hee will rather die than leave him hee holds for his life Just so it is with a drowning sinner that is tossed up and downe with the floods of Gods indignation He that formerly made nothing of all and a mock of Christ and thought hee might goe to heaven with all his lusts now the Lord opens his eyes and sets upon him and tosses him up and downe that the heart smites with it and hee seeth himselfe lost and going downe to the pit â—nd hee expects nothing but damnation and at â—ast the Lord lets in a record of mercie and the promise of grace and salvation when the soule â—eares hereof hee catcheth it greedily and knowes if that faile his soule must needs faile â—nd therefore he will never let it goe Act 3 The third act of resting is this it flings the waight of all its occasions and troubles upon Christ as the porter that is weary of his waight and hath no way to helpe himselfe but to be eased of his burden so when the soule hath fastned upon Christ it layes all the waight of all its guilt and power of corruptions upon the Lord Jesus Christ Christ hath promised to give ease and power to pardon and the soule now layes all upon him as Psal 35.7 Commit thy way to the Lord and trust in him commit thy way that is the waight of all thy occasions roule thy way upon the Lord as it is with a barrell that is tumbled up and downe the earth beares the waight of the barrell but some body moves it so the soule casts the waight of all its disgrace dishonour temptation and all upon Christ Esay 50 10. Hee that walkes in darknesse and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon hiâ— God that is if any man be in extremes hopelesse in misery and seeth no helpe for himselfe neither in himselfe nor the creature and walkes in desperate discouragement and hath no light of comfort let him trust upon the name of the Lord and stay upon his God as when a man cannot goe of himselfe hee layes the waight of all his body on another so the soule goes to a Christ and layes all the waight of it selfe upon Christ and saith I have no comfort all my discomforts I lay upon Christ and I relie upon the Lord for comfort and consolation and when the soule hath thus leaned upon Christ it leaves it selfe there and sucks and drawes all the good that it needs from Christ Cant. 8.5 Who is this that commeth up from the wildernesse leaning upon her beloved the party comming is the Church the wildernesse is the troubles and vexations the Church meets withall and the beloved is the Lord Jesus Christ now the Church comes out of trouble and out of her selfe and leanes her selfe all upon her husband the Lord Jesus Christ she only walked with him but he bare all the burden for her and as the Jewes after their Passeover had their feet shod with sandals and staves in their hands the promise to the soule is like that staffe which did testifie the promise when we are going to the land of Canaan the promise of grace and mercy is the staffe which wee leane upon and it is not a broken staffe that will faile us but a strong staffe which a man may trust to and lay all the waight of life and happinesse upon it and the subduing of his sinnes also 1 Pet. â— 7 Cast all your care on him for he careth for you the originall is hurle your care upon the Lord as â—f a man should say suffer not your care to rebound backe againe but hurle it upon the Lord as a man doth with a ball when it rebounds hee beats it backe againe the Lord will not thanke you for carrying your cares and troubles about you but he requires you should hurle it upon the Lord for he careth for you All that faith would have the soule doe is this First that the soule should labour to finde out the meanes of grace Secondly that it should practice what it knowes Thirdly that it improve all meanes when it hath gotten them now that it may bee able to doe this faith layes all the weight of the worke and burden of the day upon the Lord Jesus Christ so that I shall know what I should doe or the Lord will pardon what I doe not know and either I shall be able to doe what I know or else God will accept of my poore endevours and either I shall finde successe in that I doe or else God will make me contented so that all the burden is gone therefore what if thou doest not know what thou shouldst doe seeing God will pardon thy ignorance and what if thou dost not that which thou knowest if God will pardon thee in it and what if thou hast not that successe thou desirest if God will accept of thee without it and therefore David chides his owne heart and rocks his owne soule asleepe where it was golling Psal 42. Why art thou cast downe O my soule c. I am banished from my house and from my friends and especially from the house of my God and have not I cause to be disquieted no hee had not but how shall I amend my selfe in all these troubles still trust in God for he is yet the helpe of my countenance and my God and I will yet give him praise as if he had said thou shalt not need to be distracted discouraged nor vexed inordinately still trust in God and cast all thy care upon him the faithfull soule viewes all his sinnes that he hath committed and all the miseries that are intended and inflicted and when it hath done all it conclude thus with it selfe and saith It is not in my power nay it is not my duty to determine of all these troubles I lay all the weight of my sinnes upon Christ to pardon them and all the weight of my corruptions to subdue them and then I know he will care for me that hath undertaken mercifully for
me all my care is to leane upon my Saviour and this is my comfort he will looke to me though I cannot doe it for my selfe Act 4 The fourth act of reposing the Spirit which makes it up is this and this indeed is the nature of faith it drawes vertue and derives power from the Lord Jesus Christ for succour and supply here is the especiall life of faith and it is the very words of Scripture or else I durst not speake so much of it but that the Scripture sayes it open in this manner faith findes all in the promise and fetcheth all from the promise that it needs as when a man hath provision of meat and money in his house if any man say to him where shall we have such and such things Oh saith he I will goe fetch them so it is with the nature of faith it goes for mercy and grace and comfort in Christ it knowes t is to bee had from him and therefore fetcheth all from him it drawes and suckes the sweetnesse of the promise as it was with the woman that had the bloudy issue Mat. 9.21 22. Oh saith she could I but touch the hem of his garment I should be whole and so she did and vertue came from him and shee was healed of all her grievances that lay upon her so it is with a faithfull soule that toucheth the Lord Jesus Christ it layes hold but a little on the promise and there is sap and vertue communicated to the beleeving heart whereby it comes to be helped and comforted in the way of God Esay 12.3 it is said With joy ye shall draw water out of the wells of salvation the fountaine of salvation and all the waters of life and grace and mercy are in Christ now it is not enough to let downe the bucket into the well but it must bee drawen out also the waters of life are in Christ now it is not enough to come to and to looke to Christ but wee must draw the water of grace from Christ to our soule as Esay 66.11 They shall sucke and be satisfied with the brests of the consolation that they may milke out and be delighted with the abundance of her glorie the Church is compared to a childe and the brests are the promises of the Gospell now the elect must suck out and be satisfied with it and milke it out the word in the originall is exact upon the promise and oppresse the promise as the oppressoâ—â— grinds the face of a poore man and will have his goods what ever become of his wife and children so a man must wrest the promise for grace and power from the Lord Jesus Christ Ah beloved this is our misery we suffer abundance of milke to be in the promise and we are like wainly children that lye at the brest and will neither sucke nor be quiet so we suffer this to be in the promise and yet imploy not our selves to get it out and to sucke it out therefore brethren suffer not your faith to come to the promise and to lye at it but hale mercy from thence and with aâ— holy kinde of oppression exact upon it and get what good you may from it the Lord allowes it Quest But here it may bee asked how this is done how doth faith draw vertue from Christ Answ I answer It is an heavenly skill and yet marvellous hard and difficult Threefold Act. faith drawes vertue by a threefold act or faith improves the promise three wayes First faith doth appropriate the promise to it selfe and applies all that good and grace that is revealed offered in the Lord Jesus Christ home to it selfe the voices of faith in the Scripture are these my Lord and my God so Paul saith Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chiefe he would be sure to have a share in the mercy as if a man should say I will cut something before the dish goe away Psal 48.14 when the Lord had so much care of his Church and how terrible he was to the enemies and how mercifull to his people c. in the end the Church saith This God is our God and he will be our God even till death she doth appropriate God to her selfe and engrosseth God and saith our God is not as the Heathens god and there David would have God all his owne and saith whatsoever God hath done for any of his people how terrible for them and how mercifull to them the same God hee is to my soule and he will bee my God for ever and hence the Scripture saith Esay 55.1 Come buy and eat c. all these places are nothing else but the act of faith to come is to repaire to the promise and to buy is to take possession of it and to eat is nothing else but to embrace it for our good and comfort it is not enough for mee to goe to the market and stand looking on the commodity there but I must lay downe my money buy it and take possession of it and beare it home so the Lord saith Come to the waters buy wine and milke c. the Lord sets open the shop of grace and salvation every day where the Gospell is preached and therefore not only cheapen but come to the agreement and buy offer like chapmen and stand not hagling but say I will lay downe all my lusts and part with all for Christ and when yee have done thus take mercy and comfort it is yours you have bought it so that now the faithfull soule enters upon the promise as his owne as a man that comes to take possession of house and land as his owne so the faithfull soule reads of all that mercie in pardoning of sinne and all that God effects to save and all that mercy offered to the poore man out of whom the Lord cast seven Devils then the soule saith all that mercie is mine Manasses was an idolater and a monster yet the Lord humbled saved him and all that mercy is mine Paul a persecutour and an oppressour and yet the Lord opened his eyes pardoned his sinne and hee is now a glorified Saint in heaven c. all that mercie is mine hence I take that phrase to be Iohn 3.33 where faith is said to set its seale to the promise He that beleeveth hath set to his seale that God is true now observe that as it is amongst men in their agreements it is not enough that the articles are drawne and made but they must be sealed if they are only made wee use to say they want nothing but sealing now when they are sealed every than takes his owne and the bargaine is thorow Just so it is betweene the Lord and the soule the Articles of agreement whereby God passeth over his promise to a poore sinner are these If wee will part from our selves and our sinnes the Lord Jesus saith all this grace and mercy is yours you that are thus
burthened Christ will ease you and you that are thus lost Christ will finde you But now if a man will not set to his seale and if the soule doe not take all this to it selfe and enter possession of it in this kinde and seale and deliver as wee use to say it will never prove authenticall but when it is sealed and delivered then it is authenticall So when the soule makes an application of the promises to it selfe then it is authenticall and the soule feeds upon it and refresheth it selfe therewith for ever Secondly faith jogs the hand of God and sets Gods power on worke and makes way for the streame of Gods promise and providence that it may take place I say it makes ay for the worke of the promise that so whatsoever is good may flow in amaine upon the heart and be communicated to it as it is in other courses of providence When God sets up a course of providence in the â—se of means then in the use of those means as â—â—e ordinarily workes Now God will nourish a man if he will eat his meat and use the means appointed for his nourishment and hee that will take up the course that God hath appointed may expect a blessing so faith is the condition that God requires and the means that he hath appointed whereby he will convey all good to the soule and as all grace and mercy is conveyed from God through the promise so if wee will beleeve and lay our hearts to the promise wee are under the power of the promise to convey all grace and mercy to us As it is with a Pump or Well there is water enough in the Well but yet a man must draw and pump it up before hee can have any and when hee drawes then the water doth come So the Fountaine of all grace and goodnesse in Christ and the promise is the pump now faith must jog the promise before any grace can come this I take to be the reason of all those passages in Scripture where the Lord is said to give away himselfe to beleeving soules as Matth. 15.28 Oh woman great is thy faith bee it unto thee as thou wilt Christ gives her leave to goe to the treasure of mercy and grace and to take what she would he doth not say be it unto thee as I will but as thou wilt looke what health thou wilt have for thy daughter and what comfort for thy conscience goe and take it the Lord denies her nothing This is the meaning of that place Math. 9.29 Bee it unto you according to your faith not according to your wit or pride or strength or sturdy spirits as if a man would goe to Heaven and bee proud and stout hearted too no no there is no such matter not according to your parts and gifts but according to your faith Gen. 17.7 God makes a deed of gift to Abraham saying I will be a God to thee and thy seed after thee take all Abraham so that beleeving sets Gods grace a going and puts Gods power and providence forth for the good of the soule Now imagine the Lord did yet deny that soule that mercy which it seekes and begs and doth not answer the desire of the heart and let in that good and sweetnesse the beleeving soule expects from him what will faith doe then This is the third Act of faith in drawing vertue from Christ faith urgeth God with his owne word and presseth Gods promise and challengeth God on his faithfulnesse and truth not to be wanting unto him for the acceptation of his person and the pardon of his sinnes Faith enters into suit with God Psal 143.1 Heare my prayer Lord and in thy faithfulnesse answer me as if he had said I confesse I am base vile and sinfull and deserve â—o mercy therefore not in my worthinesse but in thy faithfulnesse answer me I cannot bee but â—ile and thou canst not bee but faithfull and if thou canst cease to be faithfull I am content to be miserable and so you may for he can as well cease to be faithfull as cease to bee God It is a â—aw-case betweene God and Iacob Gen. 22.10.11 see how he presseth God in a point Oh saith hee I know my brothers maliciousnesse and dogged spirit and I expect hard measure from him O Lord therefore remember thy servant for I feare my brother Esau and thou hast said thou wilt doe good to thy servant c. As a man that hath a good cause at the Assizes or Sessions though hee hath a great enemie one that over-powers him yet being confident that his cause is good will bring it about againe and will not rest till he hath an equall hearing So faith when the Lord frownes upon him yet the heart puts him in suit as it were and doth expostulate the cause with the Lord saying Hath the Lord forgotten to be gracious and will he be no more intreated This expostulation of the soule that the heart presseth in upon God withall when it is upon a good ground it argues the pursuit of God that he will not leave till the Lord give that hee hath engaged himselfe to bestow Thus to gather up all faith goes out to the Lord Jesus Christ and layes hold upon him layes all the weight upon him drawes vertue from him as in all the former particulars The fifth and last thing wherein the great worke of resting consists is this faith leaves the soule with the promise and after all desires haply and all denials and all the discouragements of God and yet the soule seeth not the way of God but that God frownes upon him and though God comes not yet faith leaves the heart with God This is marvellous needfull and it must needs be the worke of faith for it is the maine tenour of the worke of the covenant of grace and the covenant of workes in the covenant of workes made with Adam when he said doe and live If Adam had done that hee should have received constant assistance and God would never have denied to helpe him but now in the covenant of grace because it must bee and is free and that a soule may and must know that it is onely the goodnesse of God to us therefore the Lord reserves this prerogative royall to himselfe that howsoever God will bestow what he hath promised yet hee reserves the time to himselfe and what time he will doe it and after what manner and by what means that is onely of Gods free will and hereupon the soule acknowledgeth that it is of Gods free grace as if the Lord should say it is mercy that I give and therefore it is according to my owne minde and I will take my owne time Now in this dead lift the power of faith is this it leaves the soule with the promise it takes up its standing there and saith I will goe to none other and I will seeke no further Esay 28.16 He that beleeves makes not
haste hee makes haste to use the means but he is content to stay till the Lord please because he knowes the Lord onely must doe it and if the heart bee given to murmure and repine saying I pray and the Lord doth not answer I have grapled with my sinne and the Lord subdues it not now faith saith we must goe to God for mercy that hee may order all our occasions and wee must not order Gods grace according to our humours but the Lord seemes to frowne upon the soule and to reject the prayers of a poore sinner and to beat him away from the doore as the Lord Christ did when hee called the woman a dog yet faith will bring on the heart still and it will be sure to lye at the gate and it keepes the soule with the promise what ever befals it as Psal 119. Mine eyes failed for looking up for thy word Oh when wilt thou comfort me his heart and all failed him and yet he would looke towards heaven Oh saith he when will this sinfull soule be humbled and this distressed conscience pacified hee would looke towards heaven till hee had no heart and therefore excellent is that passage Genes 32.36 when the Lord and Iacob were wrestling and the Lord would have beene gone Iacob said I will not let thee goe untill thou hast blessed mee so the faithfull soule layes hold upon the Lord for mercy pardon power and grace and though the Lord seeme to give him up to the torment of sinne and corruption yet the soule saith though my soule goe downe to hell yet 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 selfe As it is with a sun-diall the nature of the direction is this the needle is ever moving and a man may jog it another way yet it will never stand still till it come to the north-point so when the Lord leaves off a beleeving heart with frownes and with the expression of displeasure yet the soule turnes to the Lord Christ and will never leave till it goe God-ward and Christ-ward and grace-ward and saith let the Lord doe what he please I will goe no further till hee bee pleased to shew mercy then the issue is this faith goes out to Christ it layes hold upon Christ and layes the weight of all upon Christ and drawes vertue from Christ and it leaves the soule with the promise and this is in every faithfull soule under heaven howsoever the sense is taken away if the soule once come to Christ it will never away but ever cleaves to the promise and is towards God and Christ whatsoever befall it Part of the doctr 4 The fourth and last part of the doctrine is this First as the soule must be humbled and enlightened Secondly as it is effectually perswaded by the Spirit of the Father And thirdly as by the power of this perswasion it casts it selfe upon the freenesse of Gods grace so in the last place the soule comes to bee furnished with all spirituall wants and the supply thereof and this containes the finall cause and that discovers the good and benefit which comes from faith First to open it in generall and then to come to some particulars In the generall observe thus much a poore sinner having fallen from God and departed from him he goes away from God and all goodnesse at that one stroake he that goes away from God the God of all strength must needs be weake and he that goes from the God of wisdome folly must needs possesse him because God is the God of all wisdome and all wisdome must be from him and hee that goes from God goes from life and happinesse therefore death and cursednesse must needs seize upon â—im now hee that hath gone from God hath gone from all these and therefore he is full of nothing but wants miseries and troubles and vexaâ—ions that are come in upon him and overwhelme him Now faith is appointed as that only meanes whereby the soule may bee succoured and the heart furnished anew and it is faith that doth all these and this is the excellencie of faith and the good of it and the benefit that belongeth to faith in a peculiar manner above all other graces in the world now that yee may see how faith suits a man with all graces take notice that there are three wayes whereby the heart went away from God and the spirituall wants which by this meanes befell the soule 3. Sorts of spir wants are three all which faith supplies to the soule answerably The first and great want of the soule is this it is gone away from God and the Lord is a stranger to it it was made for God and to have communication with God but now it is gone from God and God from it there are now many controversies betweene the Lord and the soule this is the great want and this brings in all the rest now faith supplies succour and answers to these necessities faith bringeth the soule againe to God and the soule to have a nearer union and more inward fellowship with God than ever it had thus the soule being an enemy to God and God an enemy to it and God being a stranger to the soule and the soule being a stranger to the Lord now faith doth this it pitcheth the soule and makes the soule of a poore sinner to fall upon the very Deity and essence of God firstly and upon all the three whole persons as some Divines that are now with the Lord leaving a remembrance behinde them have interpreted it which phrase the Septuagints never used as they are observed for it is one thing to beleeve that there is a God and another thing to beleeve into God faith fasteâ—â— upon the Godhead firstly as 2 Corin. 6.11 where the Apostle saith Hee that joyneth himselfe to an harlot is one body but hee that joyneth himselfe to the Lord is one spirit the Spirit of God sets a frame of soule upon the poore sinner that it flings it selfe upon God that which firstly must be the object of faith that faith must firstly rest upon as that which is able to give that succour which it wants now because God only is infinite he alone is able to succour a man according to his wants therefore faith must first goe to him we need pardon and therefore faith goes to God who only is able to pardon and we need power and faith goes to God who is able to succour us thus it is an infinite God only that must create this power in us and therefore nothing but God must firstly be beleeved in we beleeve in the promise because God is there and because â—n the promise only wee finde a fulnesse of sufficiencie to supply what ever wee want or need therefore why should faith goe to any thing else now nothing can save a man but God infinit and therefore faith goes to
none but him and makes an end of all controversies betweene God and the â—oule it takes away all divisions and brings the soule into favour againe and makes it acceptable â—o God through the merits of Christ so that now â—he anger of God is appeased Act. 26.17 when God sent Paul among the heathen he gave him this commission saying Goe preach the Gospell and open the eyes of the blinde that they may turne from darknesse to light and from the power of Satan to God every man by nature is gone from God and you goe all sin-ward and hell-ward and away you goe from God now that you may bee for God againe faith goes to God Ioh. 1.12 To as many as received him and beleeved in his name to them hee gave this privilege that they should bee the sonnes of God God will not only bee a friend to them but a carefull loving and tender Father thou by nature art a childe of perdition and destruction but dost thou beleeve and repent now then 〈◊〉 the controversies betweene God and thee are â—â—ded and of a fiend of hell thou art made the soâ—â— of God and the Lord is a tender hearted Father to that poore soule of thine Ioh. 3. He that belâ—veth shall bee saved but hee that beleeveth not tâ—â— wrath of God abides upon him so that an unbeleeving soule hath God up in armes against him Oh that God would perswade your hearts of thâ—â— this is a great misery when thou lyest downe tâ—â— wrath of God hangs over thine head and thy eyâ— may close up and the Lord may send thy soâ—â— downe into the pit and when thou goest frâ—â— home the wrath of God abides upon thee thâ—â— mayst never returne home againe goe what thou wilt and doe what thou canst while thâ—â— abidest in thy sins the wrath of God abides 〈◊〉 thy soule body and what appertaines to thee 〈◊〉 thou art an unbeleever but if thou art a belâ—â—ver the wrath of God is gone and thou art pâ—â—â—â—â— from death unto life Ah what a happy condition is this that a man may say Lord I was a child of wrath I wonder that God cut me not off and I admire at it that God sent mee not downe to hell every night that I went to bed but now the Lord hath made mee to beleeve and hath accepted me I was under the curse of God and now God hath delivered me and now I have beleeved in the promise and now I have a right to the promise and all the mercy and goodnesse in it thus the soule hath a supply of this first want and is brought into favour with God againe Want 2 The second want of the soule is this the soule being now departed from God the God of all wisdome good and life hence it is that the soule is deprived of all good and grace and life for whatsoever life and grace it had it was from God and therefore the soule being departed from God the Lord strips the soule of all that righteousnesse and holinesse it had in Adam the Lord gave him wisdome and righteousnesse in Adam and in him to all his posterity but now being gone from God God hath justly taken all from him so that now the poore sinner is dead and though he lives because he hath a naturall life in him yet he lives not spiritually because he hath no spirituall life in him and therefore can doe no spirituall good he can neither doe well nor live well that thereby hee might please God for his comfort Now faith steps in like a friend at a dead lift and lends helpe this way it not onely brings a sinner to God but it is as a hand to communicate from God to a sinner whatsoever spirituall good it needs and this only faith can doe Marke it I beseech you a man that is dead in sinne and should be brought to some spirituall good and life he must either live by himselfe or by another but by himselfe hee cannot because a dead man cannot live by himselfe but every man is spiritually dead by nature and of himselfe hee cannot live and therefore he must goe to another which is God he must give life and therefore he must beleeve in another and receive the spirituall grace and power from that living gracious God to walke more cleerly in a good course this iâ— the intent of all these phrases in Scripture Gal. 2.20 the text saith I live but how it is by faith in Christ Christ lives in him and he in Christ faith is not so much the soule of a Christian but faith inables a man to live by Christ whom it apprehends therefore Saint Paul to the Hebrewes saith Heb. 11.6 Without faith it is impossible to please God it is said of Enoch that he walked with God and did thereby please God but how came he to doe it by faith hee did it Now no man can yeeld obedience to Gods commandement and thereby please God except he goe to God by faith and receive power from God thereby to please God I take this to be a truth that in proprieties of language and speech faith as wee now speake of it is not any part of the spirituall life and soule of a Christian but a spirituall instrument and engine whereby the soule goes to God to fetch a soule whereby he may live thus it is punctually the soule in vocation goes to God and being come it receives the spirit of adoption brings in the image of sanctification which Adam had lost and now the sinner is inabled to live in obedience unto God so that in vocation we goe to God and in adoption we receive the spirit the image of sanctification from God and by sanctification the spirit brings new spirituall powers from God to the soule and so the soule is inabled to love God above all and his neighbour as himselfe now whether Adam had this faith or no I will not stand to dispute in this popular congregation but onely speake so much as shall be seasonable and profitable Therefore for the thing in hand this I take to be the excellency of faith to goe out to God to fetch a spirituall new principle of life and grace faith saith thou art dead and must have life and thy life is to be had only from God and therefore goe out that thou maist receive spirituall life from God so then when no other can bring it selfe life faith brings all other graces now faith doth all these not so much because it goes to him that hath all life in him faith is the field and the pearle is in it and the hid treasure is in Christ and faith goes to God from whom it received all things from the consolation thereof this is the meaning of that place 2 Cor. 3.18 and to this it is to be referred But we all with open face beholding as in a glasse the glorie of the Lord are changed into the same image from glorie to glorie even
of those that have it for if every man by nature is dead in sinne and hath no good of himselfe and can receive no good but rather oppose it then if hee have any saving worke wrought in him it is Gods free gift therefore first the Lord meets with a poore sinner and reveales himselfe to him before he be aware of it as many a man haply drops into the congregation or fals into a house where there is conference and mercy and grace shines upon him before he is aware of it and doth effectually draw the soule home from sinne to God as Ioh. 6.44 No man comes to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him the Lord bindes the strong man in preparation and humiliation for the Devill will not goe out by intreaty no the Lord Jesus must binde him and then the Lord Jesus is pleased to separate the soule from sinne to himselfe and he takes possession of him and in vocation hee perswades the soule effectually and brings it home and when he is brought home he gives him his good Spirit to sanctifie him Thirdly and this I would have you marke though all grace come from the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of his Spirit yet the Lord workes the worke of his grace and Spirit after a divers manner and the manner especially which is remarkable is this no man hath grace by nature nor any good and all that he hath is the proper worke of God and this God workes though differently some workes God workes upon us to bring us to himselfe and some workes God workes in us to bring us into a nearer communion and 2 Tim. 1.14 That excellent thing which was committed to thee keepe fast how by the Spirit that dwels in us this excellent thing was the doctrine of the Gospell now Saint Paul perswades us to keepe it by the Spirit that dwels in us this is a matter which blindes many a poore ignorant man that otherwise would bestow himselfe upon the free grace of God we truly say that all grace comes from Christ hereupon many a man thinkes that he must first be in Christ before he can have any grace we receive Christ by faith and therefore we must have faith before we can have him and wee come to Christ by faith and therefore we must have faith before wee can come to him now the Lord Jesus is the Authour of all grace in the hearts of his owne the Lord workes some grace upon us to bring us himselfe as the worke of preparation and vocation this is a saving worke of Christ but yet it is the worke of the Lord to bring us home to himselfe but now when we are come by faith then God conveyes another worke to us he doth justifie a sinner and adopt him and sanctifie him as in this similitude the first Adam by way of a naturall generation must beget a childe before he can imprint his image of corruption upon him and he must be the sonne of Adam before he can receive corruption from Adam so that generation is the way to corruption else it is no corruption as in that place Adam begat a sonne in his owne image that is as blinde as stubborne as proud as Adam so that generation is the way by which wee receive corruption from the first Adam so it is in the second Adam he doth by spirituall regeneration and after a speciall manner worke upon the hearts of his to bring them home to him before he will imprint his image upon them which is the image of sanctification the Lord Jesus will by the worke of vocation and preparation as by a spirituall union bring the soule to himselfe before he will imprint his image upon him sanctification now preparation and vocation goe before sanctification and yet they are not sanctification in the strict sense as generation went before the imprinting of the fathers image so vocation to Christ is before the image of Christ can bee imprinted I use to expresse my selfe by this similitude looke as it is with a clocke that hath the wheeles turned the rong way what must a man doe to make these wheeles goe right First he stops the wheeles and the wheeles doe not stop themselves and then he turnes the wheele and the wheele doth not turne it selfe and when hee hath done so then he gives it a poise or plâ—â—â— and by vertue thereof the wheeles run right and the clocke strickes right all these are severall workeâ— upon the wheele the stopping is not the turning and the turning is not the striking so it is with the soule of a poore sinner the heart of man iâ— like this wheele it was made for God to please him and to serve him and was altogether heaven-ward but now it is hell-ward and sin-ward and world-ward and it is quite unjoynted now how must God worke upon this heart to bring it into the right frame againe First the Lord stopâ— the poore sinner and that is by preparation he shewes him his sinne and the punishment of it and when he is posting on to hell the Lord writes bitter things against him and saith friend this is not the way to happinesse friend if you goe that way there is the pit of destruction before you and so with a mighty strong commanding hand he stops the sinner by godly feare and sorrow and hatred and turnes it from wickednesse Secondly the Lord turnes the heart to himselfe in vocation and the Lord saith come hither thou poore sinner doe not goe to thy lusts they will kill thee but goe to the Lord Christ and he will save thee goe not to the world it will delude thee but goe to the Lord Christ and he will inrich thee thou art filthy but goe to Christ and he will purge thee thou art miserable but come to Christ here is happinesse and that will save thee by thiâ— time the wheele is stopped and also turned the right way and every wheele is where it should be and then the Lord justifies a poore sinner and is well pleased with him and is reconciled to him and he giveth his Spirit in adoption and that is as the poise that so he shall no more be ruled by the world nor by his lusts but by the good Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ and the hand of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ doth assist that poore soule for ever Thirdly the soule having received the Spirit by faith as Gal. 4.5 receives hereby the adoption of sonnes Fourthly now the whole frame of the heart runs right and is towards God and for God and loves God and hath the spirituall power and a new principle of it selfe and this is the maine worke of sanctification if you will take sanctification in the stricktest sense all the rest are saving workes but this is the maine worke of all Fiftly as the clocke when it is thus framed strikes right and when it is two it strikes two and when it is
come to the Lord Jesus when he calls you then Hell is to good for you beare witnesse of it many a soule here this day is still resolved to goe on in his sins and sayes I am resolved to have my owne courses and I will be as proud as ever and sweare and drinke as much as ever and I will not goe to Jesus Christ whither will yee goe then Will yee goe to destruction I call the Angels and all the Saints to record you will not come then you must to destruction there is no other way to come to Jesus Christ but by beleeving in him Now further to discover the fearfulnesse of this sinne and the misery of them that continue in it let mee lay it open by foure particulars whereby it shall appeare that howsoever unbeleevers make no great matter of it yet if they have the hearts of men about them they shall see the misery of their owne soules and that in thâ—se foure particulars First it keeps off the riches of mercies that are in Christ from the soule that it cannot enjoy them there is no happinesse but onely by communion with God and now infidelity keeps off God from us and keeps out that goodnesse which God is willing to bestow upon us if we had hearts fitted to receive it Infidelity shuts up a poore sinner that hee cannot looke out nor looke up towards Heaven and that 's the reason why when the Lord chaines ups poore sinner under the power of his chiefe displeasure he gives them up to hardnesse of heart and unbeleefe Rom. 11.32 He hath shut up all in unbeleefe it is a comparison thus to be conceived as it is with a hainous malefactour that hath conspired against the King and when he is taken they put him into little ease or some such close darke dungeon and clap cold irons upon him and if any friend come to bring him any thing hee cannot speake with him nor he cannot receive it because he is close prisoner So the Lord doth in his heavy displeasure hee locks up the soule in unbeleef and holds the heart in the chaines of unbeleef that howsoever judgements passe up and downe the world yet all these judgements cannot awaken him nor all mercies why because the unbeleever is sure enough hee cannot so much as looke to that mercy prepared and offered in Iesus Christ and that 's the reason why when the Lord comes by in all his glory and mercy as he did Exod. 33.6.7 saying the Lord the Lord strong mercifull and glorious When all these passe by the unbeleever fits in his seat but his heart is lockt up that hee cannot looke up and that 's the reason why the Apostle saith Rom. 11.8 He hath given them the spirit of slumber eyes that they should not see and eares that they should not heare to this very day that though he hath all the calls of mercy yet he hath eyes and sees not and all is still and nothing stirring in the soule nay it is not onely shut up and cannot come to God but unbeleefe barres the doores that Jesus Christ cannot come to it therefore Iohn 1.11 He came to his owne and his owne received him not but in the 12. verse to as many as received him to them he gave power to be the Sonnes of God this unbeleefe barres the doores and raiseth Forts against him and closeth every crevis of the heart that not a beame of mercy not a glimpse of pitty can be let into the soule so long as it is in this condition I beseech you observe it unbeleefe is a fin not so much of one faculty of the soule but it is that as carries the whole man with it as when a man sets himselfe in any unruly will and will be ruled thereby so that it stops every passage and there is no entrance for mercy for looke as it is with faith the root of it is in the will but the rule of it is over all the whole man and therefore faith carries all the whole soule to God love and hope and joy and all goes towards God and the very same nature unbeleefe hath to carry the soule from God the root of it is in the will but the rule of it is in the whole man and keepes the soule under the power and authority of it as by faith wee goe home to the Lord Jesus Christ and are content that he should doe what he will with us so unbeleefe keepes the soule under command and will dispose of all at his owne pleasure this is the poyson and venome of this corruption it stops all the passages of the soule that Christ cannot come at it nor it at Christ so that if eternall life and happinesse were laid downe upon the naile yet unbeleefe will not suffer the soule to stretch out a little finger to it and saith love and joy I charge you delight not in that mercy and desire looke not out after it nay if the wrath of God bee revealed from Heaven against the soule yet it stops the soule that the wrath of God moves it not because unbeleefe rules and saith feare tremble not at Gods judgements and sorrow mourne not you for sinne come all this way and sorrow for the losse of profits and pleasures and because my will is crossed but I will not have you so much as looke after God This is the cursed nature of unbeleefe that there is nothing of God of grace and happinesse can come neere the soule unlesse the iron gate of infidelity bee pluckt off the hinges and the bars be broken asunder this is that which the holy Prophet speakes of Isay 7.9 when the Lord would expresse the power of himselfe in an extraordinary manner he bids Ahaz that he should looke for a miracle and yet he saith If you beleeve not you cannot be established so that though God expressed never such miraculous power of mercy and goodnesse yet so long as the heart is lockt up in unbeleefe there is no mercy can come at him nay which is worse if worse can be unbeleefe not onely shuts the doore against Christ and will not receive him when hee intreats for entrance but it sets open the doore to all base lusts to sinne and Satan than which there can bee no greater indignity offered to the God of heaven and earth as Ier. 2.12.13 Oh ye heavens be astonished at this why what is the matter my people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the fountaine of living waters and digged to themselves broken pits that will hold no water This is not onely unreasonable but unnaturall and the heavens they shake at it it is against the course of nature that a man should depart from the Almighty that would strengthen him and to rest upon his owne folly and goe from the wisedome of God that would direct him in every good way nay it chuseth a mans owne base corruptions and lusts and in the meane time departs away
man well but hath he not given thee a heart to beleeve and to rest upon the riches of Gods free grace in Christ then goe thy way for ever cheared and know that thou hast a marvellous great childs part therefore be thankfull unto him and droope no more nor bee dismaid no more thou saist thou hast not riches nor honours nor parts and thou hast not what others have nor thou canst not doe what others can doe but hast thou a heart to beleeve be cheared then and snarle no more murmure no more thou hast a good part and wilt doe pretty well every day thou risest and every nighâ— thou goest to bed blesse God and downe upon thy knees and prayse him for ever that hath given thee a graine of this precious faith bee for ever thankfull and rejoyce as David saith Psalme 92.1 It becomes upright men to be thankfull Let the wicked those that have no share in these gâ—â—ces let them be discouraged but the Saints of God cannot go away dismaid it becomes the righteous to be thankfull If the soule be inwardly setled and established by faith in the promise there cannot but come some savour of comfort to it 1 Pet. 1.9 In whom though yee see him not yet have ye beleeved and rejoyce with joy unspeakable and glorious therefore observe it beleeving rejoyceth and saith Good Lord is Christ mine that have abased him and is Heaven and the Spirit mine that have so abused it and the heart leaps at the remembrance of it and wonders at it and can scarcely beleeve it to bee true but yet hee is wonderfully thankfull It is a duty to rejoyce for mercy and grace received as well as to be humbled for sinne committed all those phrases of Scripture run thus and those joyes that may make us rejoyce they all belong to that man that is brought home to beleeve Men rejoyce as those that divide the spoyle you know this gives much joy to the souldiers that overcome so when the rich merchant gets a prize what rejoycing is there So there was never any poore soule that beleeves in Christ and comes home to Christ by the promise but he is a great conquerour and hath gotten a rich spoyle one promise is better than all the Rubies and Diamonds of the Indies When the Prodigall had beene pinched with famine and poverty when he was returned from his misery to his father marke what a deale of mirth there was the friends were feasted and the father rejoyced but if they were so comforted what was the Prodigall then surely his joy was incomprehensible and unconceivable if they which were onely the beholders of the Prodigals good did so rejoyce then what was hee that was the gainer of all that good to come from such a deale of misery to such a father nay to come from such a base course not onely to be entertained to the family but to the affections of the father hee must needs bee full of joy for the same Oh then how great is that joy and that consolation which is spirituall and which every faithfull soule which hath beene a Prodigall now receives when hee is come home to God and is come home to him whoÌ„ he hath formerly dishonoured This Prodigall is nothing else but the picture of a poore sinner that runs riot from God and from his truth as 1 Pet. 2.25 We were as sheepe going astray we are the Prodigals naturally and wee follow our owne wayes and the corruption of our owne hearts and we have spent all our patrimony and are gone away from God and grace and life and all but the broken hearted sinner now comes home to God the Father by faith Now if the Prodigall when he found his home was so cheared and if his father rejoyced and the friends feasted much more then when a poore sinner comes home to God the Father there is joy in Heaven for one sinner that repenteth therefore thou maist justly rejoyce in earth God the Father rejoyceth to see thee comming home and God the Son rejoyceth to receive thee poore and meeke and the Spirit of God rejoyceth to welcome a poore sinner that art brought home by true repentance and faith to the Lord The Saints of God rejoyce to see thee and the Angels of Heaven glory in it and it is the greatest comfort that they have the Angels fing Hallelujahâ— when any poore Saint is humbled and brought home to the Lord and they make it holyday in Heaven It is a good day to those glorious Spirits nay all those that were friends and favourers of thy poore soule they all rejoyce wert thou a wife or a childe that went away from God and art thou now brought home to rest upon the Lords free grace in Christ thy tender hearted Father that hath often prayed for thee with many teares hee rejoyceth and thy mother that hath sighed many a groane for thee nay all the people of God with one joynt consent many of whose hearts thou hast sadded by thy ungodly practices they have sought for thee and said Lord breake the heart of that poore creature Lord humble that wife or that childe when they heare that God hath answered their prayers and humbled thy heart their soules leape within them to heare this and they say there was such a Prodigall such a wife such a childe such a vilde wretch but now he hath forsaken his vilde wicked courses and he is now come home to the Father and they all rejoyce at it Now doe all the Saints and all the Angels in Heaven rejoyce and all thy Friends thinke it a happy day tâ—at they live to see this day that thou art humbled and broken and brought home to the Lord Jesus Christ then goe thy wayes for shame and blesse God that ever thou hast lived to bee possest of all this goodnesse and mercy from God If the standers by doe so rejoyce how ought thy heart to be inlarged in thankfulnesse to that good God who hath beene so gracious to thee Let me perswade every faithfull soule who hath found this to humble himselfe before the Lord and to tell the Lord in this manner saying Lord I was vilde and ignorant and rebellious and went away from thee but now I am come from the world and from my lusts and all to a Saviour to a Father to a Spirit of comfort and blessed be this day that ever I came home to thee that I may receive this mercy at thy hands You know in Exodus 15.1 when as Pharaoh had pursued the children of Israel to the red sea and they drowned themselves in the red sea and that the Israelites were come safely upon the shore then the text saith they beleeved the Lord and feared him and hiâ— servant Moyses then Moyses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord and said I will sing unto the Lord for hee hath triumphed gloriously so Revel 15.3 there the same song is recorded againe saying
great and marvellous are thy workes and in the 107. Psalme 8. when the Prophet had shewed the great workes that God had done for his people Israel he saith Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodnesse and declare his wonderfull workes before the sonnes of men This was also a type of our spirituall comming home to Christ wee are all slaves to the Devill and in spirituall bondage under sinne hell and death but faith sets a man upon the shore and brings him home unto Christ as Iohn 5.24 He that doth beleeve is passed from death to life Lord saith the poore soule I confesse I was in the mouth of hell but now I am passed from death to life faith sets a man beyond sinne and death and all therefore the soule should be thankfull and sing a song of praise unto the Lord his God Now there are two bottomes from the former Doctrine which give foot-hold to your comfort First by beleeving all the goodnesse and mercie of God is thine and he cannot nay he will not deny thee therefore thou mayst with boldnesse challenge the good of all that mercie and goodnesse of his When God hath engaged himselfe to be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee he cannot take away his mercy from a faithfull soule because hee cannot deny himselfe hee will not denie his truth and his promise therefore the Saints of God cannot but be partakers of all this mercie and goodnesse the Apostle saith Ephes 3.17 Christ dwels in our hearts by faith so Coloss 2.3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdome and knowledge now gather up all and the summe is thus much and there you may see how the comfort comes by faith I lay hold upon a Saviour in whom dwell all the treasures of wisdome and knowledge and so I lay hold upon these what would you have and what is it that may comfort you thou art beggerly in wisdome and in consolation and in all the graces of Gods Spirit but if thou hast faith thou hast a Christ and in him are all the treasures of wisdome and mercie take your treasure and be inriched for evermore you may doe it it is your owne Secondly all the sinnes that thou standest guilty of and all the temptations of Sathan cannot hinder thee from injoying that light and receiving that good which thou hast need of there is no sinne that hath beene committed can stand betweene thee and eternall life be thy corruptions never so many for number never so vile and strong for nature never so long for continuance in them and all those old bruises and old lusts of youth which make thee say can the Lord pardon me and is it possible for such a wretch as I am to have mercie that have all these corruptions I answer it skils not what thy sinnes be see thy faith and repentance bee sound it matters not what thou hast beene a rebell even against God if now thou canst beleeve and rest upon God and repent thee of thy sinnes Quest But now the point growes on the soule is in some reasonable manner satisfied that if it had faith then it could be satisfied but many seeme to have faith and have it not if my faith were true I could gaine some sound comfort to my selfe that all would goe well with mee but how shall I know that Answ I answer I confesse that the faith of the most men in the world is but a meere delusion as I shall discover in the next use of reproofe but that thou maist be undoubtedly perswaded of the truth of this grace that though thy faith be never so little yet it is saving justifying faith I will therefore lay downe some trials I will not now intrench upon any of the particulars that come afterward but onely lay open such particulars for triall as are in the doctrine I know faith purifies the heart and workes by love c. and faith makes a new creature but these come too farre off I will onely gather somwhat from the point in hand Triall 1 First observe the root and rise of thy faith the cause by which thy faith was wrought and from whence it came and this will be an undoubted evidence whether thy faith be good or not therefore when thou dost begin to brag and say I doe beleeve then aske thy heart this question and say how came I by it prove it have I faith make it good then it is not enough to say so but let mee see that it is so didst thou bring it into the world with thee did thy wits contrive it did thy parts and abilities worke it and because thou hast more wit and learning than others and thou thinkest it as easie a matter to beleeve as to understand a hard writing if it bee thus thy faith is a delusion and no faith at all it is true here of faith which Iob speakes of wisdome nature saith it is not in me and eloquence saith it is not in me I know not the way to it all these say I have heard the newes of faith but I am not acquainted with it God onely knowes the way thereof and is the worker of it the text saith Every man than hath heard and learned of the Father commeth unto me the Father must first teach this lesson or else no man can understand it except the Father give thee a heart to know Jesus Christ there is no power in thee that is able to give this grace to the soule hast thou thy faith from heaven then it is like to bee of the right kinde but it must bee from thence it ariseth not from the earth it comes not from parts and gifts and learning it must come from heaven or else it is not of the right kinde all the coine that is currant is minted in the tower by authoritie of the King if not it is not currant in 1 Pet. 1.7 the Apostle cals it precious faith it must bee stamped by the Lord Jesus Christ by the hand of the Spirit it must come from the tower of Zion or else it is copper faith and not saving justifying faith nor that which will stand in steed in the day of triall here or in the day of judgement hereafter as wee say in nature the Alcumists are growne to that skill that they will make Alcumie appeare to be perfect silver and gold and much of it will beare the touchstone insomuch that a man can hardly discover some of it it is so cunningly made but when the fire and the hammer comes it will beare neither of them but the true gold comes from the gold oare and will endure the fire and hammer the alcumie gold comes not from the right place where the gold is it comes not from the minerals from the golden mines so there is a great deale of this alcumie faith for the world is come to this passe that they have a faith of their owne faining
grace for the Lord gives what he will when he will and after what manner he will therefore stint not God in his giving but wait when and what hee will bestow upon thee Thirdly know that thou restest upon thy owne duties and endevours and goest not out to God that blesseth both the meanes and thy endevours for thy good and that is the reason why thy heart is not enlarged and grace communicated the fault is thy owne because thou restest in thy performances and in the meanes and goest not to God that would have done more than all and wrought more than all these If I thinke and am perswaded I have power to goe out of my selfe in conceiving I have power and staying there I stay in my selfe when I thinke to goe out of my selfe it is a supernaturall worke and the same hand must bring us out of our selves that must bring us to Christ the same hand must pluck us out of our selves and sinnes that must bring us to the Lord Jesus Christ therefore if I thinke and through Satans delusion conceive that I have abilitie to goe out of my selfe I repose upon my owne abilitie when I profesly renounce my owne abilitie I maintaine a repose upon my owne abilitie when I renounce it I say I can doe nothing and yet rest upon that I can doe it is a point very profitable therefore marke what I say this is selfe deniall in truth when the soule knowes it hath nothing and therefore is over-powered by the almightie worke of Gods Spirit and is stopped as it were in so much that the soule of a sinner doth not looke to expect any power or any principle from it selfe or any creature or any dutie the soule of an humble sinner knowes he is a dead man in sinne hee cannot direct his owne wayes therefore when he is brought to deny himselfe it is by the almightie worke of Gods Spirit when the Lord drawes the soule that it lookes not inward it lookes not downward it lookes not to the creature it expects no principle from within no power from the meanes to performe any dutie when then I thinke with my selfe I have power and abilitie to goe out of my selfe then I say I have a power within me to doe something pleasing to God namely I can denie my selfe which is contrarie for to denie a mans selfe is to looke for no power or expect any power or sufficiencie from himselfe or from the creature to performe that God requires therefore wee must listen and looke onely to the voice of Christ he that cals us from darknesse must call us to the glorious light of himselfe we must as well listen to the voice that must pluck us out of our selves and expect power from Christ to pluck us out of our selves as wee must expect power from Christ to goe unto him the conclusion therefore is this I would have a sinner say and thinke with himselfe I expect no power Lord from my selfe I intend to wait upon the Lord that hides himselfe from the house of Israel and I will looke up I will use all meanes and improve all helpes I can but I will not looke to hearing from that to receive any thing I will not looke to the Minister from him to receive any thing but in these meanes of hearing and prayer and in the use of all ordinances I will looke up unto God that hides his face from his servant for the while and will looke up to that wisdome to be informed that is wiser than the wisdome of the meanes and I will looke up to that power to be strengthened that is stronger than the power of the meanes Habak 3.17 when he saw all began to faile though the fig-tree blossome not and the vine flourish not yet will I rejoyce in the Lord and stay my selfe upon the God of my salvation marke this when all meanes under heaven faile when the figge tree blossomes not when the vine flourisheth not when all means faile yet there is mercy with the Lord there is power and strength and sufficiency in the Lord to doe my soule good and say thou though my sinnes be great and exceeding great though my heart be hard and comes not under the power of Gods ordinances and the means of grace work not upon my soule yet I will looke up to the Lord and my eyes shal be towards him my eyes shall not bee inward to looke upon any thing in my selfe but my eyes shall looke upon to the Lord and expect all from him and thus much shall suffice for the second hinderance Object Hinderance 3 The third hinderance which hinders a poore sinner from comming to Christ is the want of sense and feeling and therefore the distressed sinner complaines I never knew what it was to have the assurance of Gods love I never received any sound sensible comfort unto my soule and shall I thinke that I have grace shall I thinke that my heart is fitted to receive that mercie which God hath promised to his Saints the Scripture reveales it not the Saints have found it that they which beleeve rejoyce in the Lord but I am a stranger to that joy and that is a stranger to me how can I thinke then that I have any interest to the promise or any faith whereby I may depend upon the promise Ans I answer this hinders not that thou maist not come unto God by beleeving and receive good from him therfore remember these 3. particulars First thou must not thinke to have joy and refreshment before thou goest to the promise but thinke to expect it when thou doest beleeve when thou doest chew and feed upon the promise and continuest so doing know that joy and sweet refreshment it is a fruit that comes from faith first beleeve and then have joy doe not thinke to have joy and then beleeve the heart is filled with peace and joy not before beleeving but by beleeving and after beleeving then rejoyce with joy unspeakable and glorious when faith is rooted in the heart and hath had many sun-shines of Gods favour upon it then expect those admirable ravishments and sweet consolations which the word speakes of and thou maist obtaine Secondly these joyes and sense and feeling are things which may be separated from faith a man may have a good faith and a strong faith and yet not have that comfort and sweet refreshment a sinner lookes for and desires a man may want sparkes and yet want neither life nor heat a tree may want leaves and yet not want sap so it is with those consolations faith may bee strong when a mans feeling may be nothing Restore to mee the joy of thy salvation saith David hee was justified and sanctified and had faith and yet had not this joy nay Iob had faith and yet he had no sense and feeling of Gods favour Thou makest me a bâ—â—â— to shoot as faith he and thine arrowes have drunke up my spirits and yet
he saith Though he kill me yet will I trust in him his faith was strong though his feeling were nothing trust to the goodnesse of the Lord and not to those shadowes and brittle bottomes that will breake under you Thirdly the Saints of God are deprived of comfort not because God will withhold it but because they will not take it Gods owne servants want the assurance of the freenesse of Gods love not because God will take it away from them but they will not take it when hee would give it them it is not because they may not have it but because they will not receive it Psal 77. My soule refused comfort like a little childe that will not eat his meat because it is not in a golden dish he doth not say God did not offer mee consolation but I refused consolation out of a discontented spirit because you cannot have comfort upon your owne termes and please your owne pallats because you cannot have a dish for your tooth you will have none at all you want comfort not because God will not give it but because you will not take it upon Gods termes these and many more are the hinderances One saith God hath followed mee with crosses in my life and estate another the wrath of the Lord lies heavy upon me I am still doubting and perplexed and I cannot beleeve The upshot of all these is upon one and the same ground these are hinderances which we out of our owne folly and the subtilty of Satan make to hinder us from comming so freely to Christ and beleeving in him as otherwise we might and yet in truth these are no hinderances we onely make them so Therefore we will now come to the cure of all these and shew how wee may take off these hinderances if it bee possible as in truth it is possible and not onely to remove these hinderances but all other of this kinde quality and condition if you will attend to the means that shall be propounded it is possible to cure them and the cures are these whereby the soule may bee fortified against these or passe by and leap over all these hinderances and notwithstanding all goe to Christ in the promise Cure 1 The first cure and helpe that I desire to propound is this namely we must not look too long the soule distressed and troubled should not sticke too long and looke too much and dwell unwarrantably and continually upon the sight and consideration of his owne sinnes upon his weaknesses and distempers so farre as to bee skared and altogether discouraged from comming to and depending upon the riches of Gods free grace The devill keeps us in our sinnes by poring continually upon our sinnes when we thinke to have our hearts carried against our corruptions we are more intangled in our corruptions by dwelling continually upon them This was the course that Abraham tooke that was the Father of all the faithfull Rom. 4.19 when God had promised him a sonne and not onely a naturall sonne but a sonne that should be a Type of Christ whereby he and all the faithfull should be saved Now this promise was made unto him when hee had a dead body and Sarah a barren wombe he unable to get and Sarah unable to beare now what course tooke he to heale this why the text saith He being not weake in faith considered not his owne body which was now dead nor Sarahs wombe which was now barren he knew his deadnesse and Sarahs barrennesse but he considered it not that is hee did not dayly pore thereupon and quarrell with himselfe and say how can Sarah beare a childe her wombe is barren and unable to beare my body is dead and unable to beget there is no ground here to beare up his confidence if hee considers Sarahs barrennesse there is no childe to be looked for if hee looke upon his owne deadnesse there is no childe to bee expected now therefore what doth hee doe hee lookes to the promise only and there rests and stayes himselfe though he had a dead body the promise was living and though Sarahs wombe was barren the promise was fruitfull and though he were weake the Lord was strong and able to performe whatsoever he had promised so we must see our sins and know our infirmities and consider our weaknesses but we must never settle our selves and sit downe in the consideration of our owne distempers and thereby be hindred from comming to the Lord and from receiving that mercy the Lord offers unto us in the Lord Jesus Christ and we may freely take for when a man is continually poring upon his sinnes and dayly meditating upon his corruptions two things follow First wee stop the streame and current of the promise that it cannot run into the soule wee turne the frame of the soule downward and the frame of the heart inward shut down the sluce whereas by beleeving wee open the flood-gates of the promise that the streames of mercy may flow a main in upon our soules when we returne inward and doe settle our hearts upon our owne distempers we shut downe the sluce of the promise and secondly set open the flood and stream of corruptions that they may run violently upon us to the overwhelming of us in conclusion and our distempers will take advantages against us by reason of our dayly consideration and attendance thereupon Meditation in this case I compare to distillation when a woman distils a kind of herbe or flower and when the Alchymist distils some kinde of metall there is an admirable water drawne out by distillation and an excellent oyle by Alchymie and this water and oyle were in the creatures before but they were not seene to be there before but they are of wonderfull force and strength when they are distilled so it is with the dayly poring setling and attending upon a mans distempers a man thereby distils a distemper and a discouragement and an infirmitie and drawes out the very life and sap and spirit of it and drawes out the very quintessence of a corruption and makes it dangerous nay he makes it deadly many times so that after a mans dayly poring upon and attending wholly to his sinnes he multiplies inconveniencies more than else would be so that the soule which before was troubled comes now to bee overwhelmed with the dayly poring and looking and attending to his owne wickednesse Therefore the wisedome of the woman of Canaan is to bee observed and her humiliation is to bee regarded by us observe the humiliation of her heart and the wisedome of her minde Matthew 15.27 she came to him to beseech him to heale her daughter that was possessed with a devill at the first hee would not listen unto her but shee would not be put off so but cried after him then hee answered I am not sent but to the lost sheepe of the house of Israel not to you that are Gentiles yet for all this shee would not leave him but
came and fell downe and worshipped him saying Lord helpe me then at last he compares her to a dog It is not meet to take the childrens bread and cast it unto dogs as who should say you Gentiles are dogs and the glad tidings of the Gospell are bread and therefore belong not unto you Now had shee pored and setled her selfe upon the words of our Saviour she had never beene made partaker of that mercy which Christ bestowed and she stood in need of now marke what shee saith Truth Lord but the dogs eat of the crums which fall from their Masters table Here observe a heart truly humbled and also truly wise to apprehend its owne weaknesse she confessed all that Christ spake Thou saist I am carnall I yeeld it thou saist I am a dog I confesse it my sinnes are more for number they are more hainous for nature than either my tongue can utter or my heart can conceive but though I am a dog Lord yet I will not goe out of doores but lie under the table she yeelded she was as bad as might bee and confessed all that Christ spoke yet shee will not from under the table so wee ought to doe when our corruptions are apprehended by us and our basenesse presented to the view of us when wee see our selves damned creatures and dogs and lost in our selves then let us say Truth Lord wee are worse than can be spoken of us wee are worse than can be conceived of us yet let us not fly out of doors but lie under the table and at the foot of our Saviour and take a crum of mercy at the hands of our Saviour But you will say Object Is it not a thing which is not only allowed but required that we should meditate of our sinnes nay is not this the way that God hath chalked out to sinners is not this the course that God hath commanded that men should see their sinnes that they might bee brought out of their sinnes and be brought to Christ I considered my wayes saith David and turned my feet unto thy testimonies Answ I answer this is true and all I said before was as true it is not onely I say lawfull for us but there is I say a necessitie lying upon us we must see our sinnes and consider our corruptions but stay not too long pore not too much upon thy sinnes expect no comfort nor consolation from thine infirmities and the meditation of them see thy sinnes thou must and oughtst to doe but see them so as thou maist be forced to flye to Christ for help and succour doe not so see them as to be settled in thy infirmities and to have thy soule so discouraged as thereby to bee driven from Christ therefore see thy sinnes thou shouldest that thou maist apprehend them loathsome and finde them burdensome to thy soule see thy sins also thou must till thou see an utter insufficiencie in all things under heaven to helpe thee out of thy sinnes see thy sinnes thou must also till thou see an absolute necessitie of a Saviour and of the mercie that is in the Lord Jesus Christ to recover thee out of thy sinnes and when the soule hath done these three particular passages When it hath seene sinne loathsome odious and ugly When it hath seene the helplesnesse of all naturall meanes and all things under heaven to recover it And when it hath seene the necessitie of mercie to help it out of sinne Away then for thy life to the throne of grace there is pardon enough to remove the guilt that sinne hath brought upon thee there is grace enough to take away all those corruptions that have defiled thy poore soule What madnesse and extreme folly is it for a poore sick man that is overtaken with some grievous disease or some sore wound not to goe to the Physitian before he be whole because hee is ashamed the Physitian should see him so distempered or wounded In reason we should rather goe first to the Physitian that he may heale us than be first healed and then goe to the Physitian and shew our selves so it is the desperate folly of many poore sinners wee would have our sinnes removed from us and our hearts quickned in the way of well doing and when we are healed then we will goe to Christ and when we have things about us then wee will lay hold on the promise and then wee will purchase salvation or at the least be joint purchasers with Christ in the great worke of redemption no let this be thy course see thy sinnes and take notice of thy corruptions and then away to the Physitian to be healed goe first to the Physitian to be healed but be not first healed and then goe to the Physitian 1 Sam. 12.10 this was the advice of the holy man Samuel when the people of Israel had dealt basely with the Lord by casting off his yoake for when they cast off Samuel they rejected the Lord at last the Lord opens their eyes and affects their hearts with those their sinnes now saith Samuel in the tenth verse Stand and see this great thing which the Lord will doe before your eyes is it not now when harvest I will call upon the Lord and hee shall send great thunder and raine that you may perceive that your wickednesse is great that you have done in the sight of the Lord now the Lord accordingly as Samuel had said thundered terribly from heaven now when they heard this and saw Gods anger therein they were driven to a kinde of a maze and were almost at their wits end and said Pray yee unto the Lord for us that we die not for wee have sinned greatly and to all other sinnes wee have added this that wee have asked for us a King now marke what a direction Samuel orders unto them Samuel well saw that this is the nature of all men by reason of their sinfull distempers that when we thinke wee are in a good case we never looke after mercie and when we are apprehensive of our owne basenesse and wretchednesse wee dare not looke towards mercie before they saw their sinnes and Gods anger for them they never cared for mercie but now they heard the thunder and apprehended Gods displeasure therein they durst not goe to God for mercie now marke how Samuel chalkes out a middle way betweene them both in the twentieth verse Feare not saith he you have done all this wickednesse yet depart not from following the Lord but serve the Lord with all your hearts neither turne your backes after vaine things that can profit you nothing as who should say I will not lessen your sinnes you have sinned grievously you have sinned fearfully and hainously I intend not to excuse or extenuate your wickednesse but depart not from the Lord as who should say you will be gone from God now you will looke for no mercie you will expect no favour the Lord you have cast off and therefore you
thinke hee will cast off you take heed of that depart not from the Lord for that is to follow lying vanities and that is to forsake your owne mercies so the soule of a poore sinner should reason thus T is true my sins are many my wants are exceedingly multiplied I have sinned against God and am discouraged and shall I be more discouraged and sinne more against God I am miserable by departing from God and shall I depart more from God and be more miserable thou darest not goe to Christ for mercie why because thou hast sinned and wilt thou depart from God still and be more sinfull that is against all reason Cure 2 The second cure is this all this while I speake to broken hearted sinners those that are obstinate wicked and ungodly men stand you by you must give mee leave to deale the childrens bread to them you had your portion formerly let the children have their bread also and take their share too the second cure therefore is this make conscience either not to attend to or not judge thy selfe or thy estate by any carnall reason without a warrant I will repeat it againe because I would not have you forget it make conscience I say either to attend to or judge thy selfe or thy estate by any carnall reason or carnall plea without reason or warrant as thus it is the fashion of poore distressed spirits to passe heavie doome and to set downe heavie sentences upon themselves upon false or weake or groundlesse arguments as I never found Gods mercie I never felt it I never was perswaded of it I feare it will not be so thus we have these carnall pleas which our mindes invent and Satan suggests and wee judge our selves by these as the witnesses that should warrant our estates as the Judge that should determine of our estates now make conscience of judging thy estate in this manner you that are broken hearted for to you I speake this kinde of course is naught and this sinne is more hainous than you imagine for when thou concludest certainly thy estate is naught and God hath given you no grace upon these grounds mark against how many Commandments thou sinnest first thou dost wrong thine owne honour that God hath put upon thee in giving thee grace thou sinnest also against the third Commandement in wanting that reverence which is due to Gods name and the worke of grace hee hath wrought in thy soule thou dampest thy owne heart and art a spirituall murtherer and so sinnest against the sixt Commandement thou robbest thy selfe of that comfort of heart and refreshment of minde that God hath prepared for thee and offered unto thee and so sinnest against the eighth commandement nay you doe beare false witnesse infinitely you speake against your selves to the overthrowing of your soules and you beare false witnesse against Christ and his Spirit and the worke of his grace whereby you are sealed up to the day of redemption and you joyne sides with the Devill in this case But you will say Object Truly I speake as I thinke and affirme as I am perswaded Answ I answer this hinders not but thou bearest false witnesse if thou affirmest a thing thou hast no ground for thou bearest false witnesse though it be true this is a rule which Divines hold if a man should affirme peremptorily such a man is a drunkard and yet he knowes it not though he be so yet hee beareth false witnesse because a mans witnesse must bee upon ground and knowledge so thou peremptorily affirmest what I grace no will God vouchsafe any good to mee I will never beleeve it now thou certainly affirmest of thy selfe that thou hast no true grace when there is no ground for it but suspition and feare and the like and therefore thou bearest false witnesse against thy soule observe this the rather because of the sinfull distempers that creep into the hearts of many Christians broken and humbled and it is usuall and common this is their guise out of a selfe will of carnall reasonings and out of a base haunt of heart they swell against themselves and their owne soules their hearts come to bee perswaded that they are not in a right course that they walke not in a right way unlesse they bee quarrelling and opposing the worke of Gods grace in their soules and out of a selfe conceit of theirs that they are moulded into by custome they thinke they have libertie to doe so and that they doe well in so doing now thinke of it you that are humble know that you sinne fearfully all this while and it is very remarkable to take notice of the soule in this kinde in a case of conscience when a poore broken hearted sinner hath his judgement informed when reasons are plaine and when the comforts are cleerly evidenced when Scriptures are undeniable these poore creatures now doe not so much attend what you speak and what the Minister saith and the Word delivers but all their care is how they may answer a mans reason and put off the force of an argument and they count it a matter of weaknesse if they cannot answer any thing that is propounded to them for their comfort it is admirable to consider and but that daily experience teacheth us wee would not speake it nor could we beleeve it therefore take notice of it and know that howsoever you give leave to your owne soules to doe this and have invented reasons and arguments to gainsay the power of the truth and to defeat the power of the Word goe aside and wonder that the Lord hath not taken away from thee all the worke of his grace and all the comfort of his Spirit admire at this that when thou hast cast off all grounds of comfort yet God doth vouchsafe it to thy soule the Prophet David prayeth that the Lord would turne away his eyes from beholding of vanitie now if a man must turne away his eyes from beholding of vanitie he must turne away his thoughts from attending to vanitie much more hath God ever given me a minde to consent to Satan hath God ever given me a tongue to parly with Satan I have something else to doe I must attend to the counsels of God I must attend and listen to the voice of God I must not listen to the suggestions of Satan that I have nothing to doe withall I sinne deeply in so doing no man in reason will deale with a cheator if hee know him to be a cheator unlesse he meane to be couzened so it ought to be our wisdome carnall reason is a cheator and an old deceiver let us not therefore attend thereunto nor be ruled thereby unlesse we resolve to be cheated but if the sinne cannot scare you yet let the miserie that will follow thereupon force you and drive your hearts from it in Esa 50.2 last verses the text saith Who is among you that feareth the Lord let him heare the voice of his servant he
that walkes in darknesse and hath no light let him trust in the Lord and stay upon his God there is a comparison made betweene the Saints of God that will listen to the voice of the Lord and the direction of his servants and those that will follow their owne humours and carnall reasonings and stay thereupon he that walketh in darknesse and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord that is though a sinner bee never so perplexed with sorrow of heart though there be nothing but miserie without and horrour of heart within yet if hee will heare the voice of Gods servants you broken hearts that have not stopped your eares to the comfort that God hath revealed let them trust in the Lord but now marke what is said in the last verse Behold all that kindle a fire and are compassed about with sparkes walke you in the light of your fire and in the sparkes that you have kindled this shall you have at my hands you shall lye downe in sorrow I will first open the place and then apply it what is meant by fire and sparkes here in a word in the old law there was alwayes fire kept in the sanctuarie heavenly fire that came downe from heaven and this did shew the wisdome and direction of God in his word but now there was strange fire which Nadab and Abihu offered that is they did not take of the fire of sanctuarie which God sent from heaven but they tooke fire of their owne that is their owne devices and imaginations and disputes the sparkles and pleas of your owne thoughts they are your owne fire every poore creature carries his tinder box about him and is anvilling and forging his owne conceits I thinke it not I conceive it not I am not perswaded of it this is your owne fire that is the first thing then marke what followeth walke in the light of your fire and in the sparkes that you have kindled you shall lie down in sorrow walke in the light of your fire Hee doth not allow this but he takes it as a thing forlorne as who should say You will follow your owne conceits and imaginations you have hammered out sparkes and you will strike fire out of your owne carnall reasonings and you will bee taken aside by them there is no reproving of you there is no removing of you from it so that two things are cleare First the heart will coyne carnall reasons and forge sinfull conceits and then it will persist in them and marke what followeth this is that which you shall have at my hands you shall lie downe in sorrow this will bring sorrow to thy soule when the fire of the sanctuary burnes cleere when comforts are plain and Scriptures are pregnant and reasons undeniable you will kindle your owne fire and compasse your selves about with your owne sparkes and you will attend to them and bee ruled by them well doe so but this I tell you there is no hand shall succour you and bring comfort unto you you shall have this at the hand of the Lord you shall lie downe in sorrow and then you shall repent you happily and fling away your tinder box and your carnall reasonings and imaginations this is the second cure Cure 3 The third cure is this be marvellous wary and exceeding watchfull that you enter not into contention with Satan upon these termes whereupon you cannot determine a controversie I cannot tell how to expresse my selfe better Enter not I say into the lists of dispute with Satan concerning those things which belong not unto you as for example If I bee elected then I shall bee saved but I am not elected I have injoyed Gods ordinances and lived under the precious means of grace and salvation and they have not wrought upon my heart I perceive that God intends to doe no good unto my soule therefore all my labor is in vain when I have done what I can I shall perish Sometimes againe the soule saith the day is past and the time is gone Oh the times of grace and dayes of mercy that I have seene the Lord came kindly to my soule and was pleased gratiously to reveale my sinnes to my soule but then hard hearted I and stubborne wretch I I shut the doore against the Lord Jesus Christ and now mercy is gone the day is over the time is past and the sunne is set there is now no hope of mercy If the devill catch a man upon these lists there is no determination of the point for upon this ground a man shall never gaine answer to himselfe hee shall never gaine ease to his conscience for if I know not the things of this nature and if no man else knowes them how shall any man administer comfort or how shall I be able to receive comfort therefore take heed of it It is in this case with a sinner as it is with a traveller theeves overtake him and pretend to lead him a faire way at last they carry him into a wildernesse and lead him into a desert where no man comes by where no mans voyce can bee heard and there they doe what they list because there is no helpe to bee expected no passenger comes neere So it is with the soule when Satan gets him into these straits and wilders him in the desarts of Gods secret counsels of election and the like there is no passenger comes by this way no man can apprehend these secret things of Gods counsell and therefore no man can administer succour or comfort therefore for your caution and direction in this case I will suggest these three rules Rule 1 The first rule is this let thy soule in this perplexity stay it selfe and its owne staggering upon the power of God Ephes 3.20 the text saith that God is able to doe exceeding abundantly above all that we can aske or thinke Gen. 17.1 I am God All-sufficient attend to Gods sufficiency and rest upon the Almightinesse of his power and support thy heart thereby Object But the soule may say what is this to me I know the Lord is able enough and all-sufficient but how doe I know that God will shew mercy and doe good to my soule Answ I answer and marke what I say if thou beest throughly perswaded indeed of Gods all-sufficiency it will helpe thee this way for if God can doe exceeding abundantly above all that wee can aske or thinke then God can will for ought thou knowest above all that wee can thinke or ask thou canst not know or conceive of Gods power thou canst not desire so much as God is able to doe nor conceive so much as he is able to performe therefore God may be willing to doe thee good though thou conceivest it not for this I take to bee a truth that generally the soule doth never sadly doubt of Gods Will but in some measure it doubts of Gods Power for if God be able to doe more than I can apprehend
and more than I am able to desire then God hath as well power to will to doe me good as hee is able to doe me good he hath power to will to doe mee good above all that I can thinke or desire and hee that doubts of the one doubts of the other Rule 2 The second rule is this checke thy owne soule for prying into Gods secrets blame thy selfe and that deeply for thy curiosity in that thou lookest beyond thy last as it is in the proverbe and soarest too high and medlest with those things thou hast nothing to doe withall you meddle with Gods Election and with Gods Will and secret Counsell I charge you meddle with your owne businesse meddle with that you have to doe withall meddle with your owne duties and occasions and keepe your owne station checke your owne hearts therefore and when Satan would lead you out into a wildernesse and suggest these things unto you How doe you know God hath elected you doe you pray and what if you doe pray doe you heare and what if you doe heare When it is thus with thee checke thine owne heart for prying into Gods secrets and meddle with that thou hast to doe withall Deut. 29.29 Secret things belong to God revealed things belong to us and our children What have you to doe with Gods secrets what hath that proud heart and curious minde of yours with Gods secrets Election belongs to God it is his prerogative 1 Corin. 2.16 Who hath knowne the minde of the Lord You that will be aloft in the skie and mounting up to heaven who ever knew the minde of the Lord Satan and your thoughts tell you so that you were never elected why Satan is a lyar he knowes it not nor thou knowest it not neither who ever knew the minde of the Lord minde you your owne matters doe you what God commands performe those duties God injoynes you keepe your owne station all the Angels in Heaven and all the men upon Earth never knew the minde of the Lord therefore never prie into Gods secrets Ionah 3.9 When God had threatned Ninivie to destroy it and had sent Ionah to speake fire and powder Oh all you drunkards of Ninivie and all you blasphemers of Ninivie and all you prophane wretches of Ninivie vengeance shall come upon you and fire from Heaven shall destroy you they were now at a maze and driven to a stand now marke what the King saith Hee caused a fast to bee proclaimed both for man and beast and commanded all to cry mightily unto the Lord and to turne from their evill wayes for who can tell saith he whether the Lord will turne away his fierce wrath from us that wee perish not who can tell but that the Lord may yet shew mercy and favour in the pardoning of us so say thou when Satan tempts thee and temptation suggests unto thee You seeke to God for pardon in the use of the means that God hath appointed and you injoy the precious means of grace and salvation But it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy but God will never shew any favour to you God will never vouchsafe any mercy to you God will never bestow any grace upon you if you pray till your tongue falters and your eyes sinke in your heads and your heart failes it will doe you no good God will never give you grace why how can Satan tell this all the devils in hell know not this all the Angels in Heaven know it not therefore walke thou in thy owne wayes follow thine owne talke doe that thou oughtst to do and performe what God requires and let God doe what hee please and say let me doe what I should who can tell what God may doe who knowes but God may break my hard heart who knowes but God may pardon my sinnes who knowes but God may give me power over my corruptions nay who knowes but God will too Satan himselfe cannot tell that is the second rule Rule 3 The third rule is this measure not the riches of God nor the freenesse of his mercy according to the scantling of your owne imaginations and according to the fadome of your owne conceits doe not thinke because you cannot doe it therefore God cannot doe it because you cannot conceive it therefore God cannot worke it stint not limit not the Holy one of Israel so as hee must stand at your tribunall in this matter and be within your lists and compasse It is a sweet passage Esay 55.7 Marke there the exhortation of the Prophet Let the wicked forsake his wayes and the unrighteous man his owne thoughts and returne unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon As if he had said all you unrighteous you that have couzened and detained and dealt falsely and unjustly you that have lived wickedly and prophanely let them all forsake their wicked wayes and turne from their vaine imaginations and returne unto the Lord and returne not to themselves and their owne conceits but let them come unto the Lord and hee will abundantly pardon but the soule replies Object Will the Lord pardon all these sinnes Answ Why I he is abundantly able to pardon Object But can he pardon the abundance of my pride will the Lord forgive the abundance of my base distempers of my heart will the Lord remit all my stubbornnesse and rebellion against the Gospell I cannot thinke it I cannot conceive it Answ You cannot conceive it you cannot thinke it but marke what the Prophet ads My thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your wayes my wayes saith the Lord as if hee had said a poore sinner thinkes his sinne unpardonable and conceives that it is impossible to get his sinnes subdued and his soule comforted indeed it is true you are sinfull men you have foolish thoughts But as the Heavens are higher than the earth so are my wayes higher than your wayes and my thoughts higher than your thoughts therefore I can give you mercy though you cannot conceive it I can doe you good though you cannot thinke it but the poore soule will still bee ready to object and say Object There was never any in that case that I am in received to mercy and therefore why should I expect it Answ Why Matthew 9.33 when Christ had there done a miracle the text saith the like was never seene in Israel all the people stood gazing and were taken up in admiration at the power of the Lord and said Never was any such thing done in Israel therefore God can doe things that were never done before Imagine the Lord did pardon never any as bad as thee which is false yet God can doe that which was never yet done nay the place is incomparable Iob 9.10 Hee doth great things past finding out yea marvellous things without number the Lord doth great things which are unsearchable and workes
never wash my feet a man would thinke this was great humilitie Peter was a very lowly man he would not let Christ yeeld to him but he would stoope to him rather this was nothâ—ng but a kinde of refractarinesse and therefore see how Christ tooke him up and this is the only way to cure it If I wash not thy feet thou hast no part in me if you will goe on in your owne humour get you downe to hell and injoy your owne will if I wash you not you shall never see my face with comfort and then his stomack came downe and he said Not onely my feet but my body also Lord when Christ had subdued his pride and brought down his haughty heart That is humilitie of heart to take what God gives and receive what God offers and doe what God commands doe so with thy humble pride when men are complaining and thinke it a great skill to answer arguments and put by the reasons that Ministers propound and then they thinke that they are humble and bewailing their estates and haply they may bee so but here is the wound you have proud hearts therefore labour to dismay that proud heart of thine with the authoritie and command of God and with the threatnings of the Lord and severe judgements of God and tell thy proud heart lay aside your gainsaying humour and take the mercie God offers and blesse God that you may take mercie and that you may take grace upon these termes upon good grounds and reasons and evidences out of the word blesse God I say and take it lest God take away his Spirit from you and his comforts from you and strip you naked of all that favour he now vouchsafeth and make you runne downe in anguish of soule to your grave though hee save your soules hee may make you live in hell here though hee bring you to heaven afterwards I would have every one touch his soule to the quick and deale as Iob did Once have I spoken but I will say no more yea twice but I will proceed no farther so all you broken hearted Christians that have mourned under the burden of your sinnes and cried mightily for mercie and yet receive no comfort to your soules the fault is your owne now see the ground of it and say I am vile when the word revealed and the Minister discovered comfort I would not receive it I have gainsayed it I will gainsay it no more once have I spoken and now I speake it to my shame and sorrow I might have had much comfort and bound up my heart in the assurance of Gods mercie had I had an humble heart to receive that which God offered I thought it humilitie of heart to refuse it but it was pride and doggednesse of spirit for why did I not rather receive reasons that could not be answered than more questions that have beene removed and assoiled from day to day I have beene inlarged in this because it is the maine ground whereupon many humble sinners have beene hindred from a great deale of comfort God would have given and they might have received at his hands Rule 4 The fourth rule is this maintaine in the last place the truth which upon these good grounds thou hast received and thy judgement and conscience and heart have submitted to Looke as it is with a man in law concerning his land or living or patrimonie if he have his adversary upon a good ground upon the hip as we use to say he will be sure to keepe him there he will be sure to keepe him upon that ground still and hold him to that if a man will follow every wrangling lawyer at every digression and bring in this and that no keep to the point saith the Judge let there bee no wavering and extravagant courses hold there where your case is good and the law is on your side so deale with Satan it is the cunning of the enemie to lead you out and hee will have his vagarie and this turning and the other wavering but keepe to the point be sure to hold to that truth that hath established you by the evidence of reason and testimonie of conscience and the evidence of your soules let mee teach you a little that are weake How the soule being tempted may answer Satans accusations Satan when a man hath got a little advantage he will begin to play the lawyer Satan What dost thou not yet see what wants thou hast and how many failings how unfit for service and how weak in service Poore soule Answer It is true but it is written Prov. 28.13 He that confesseth and forsaketh his sinnes shall finde mercie though I be weake and feeble and unfit yet I confesse and forsake my sinnes therefore I shall finde mercie Satan Aye saith Satan that you doe indeed doest thou not apprehend and doth not thy conscience witnesse that thy heart is averse and untoward to dutie unwilling to come thereunto wearie therein and desirous to be free there-from Keep still to the point and answer Poore soule I have may sinnes and many failings it is true but yet it is as true hee that confesseth and c. but I confesse and forsake therefore I shall finde mercie Satan Aye but saith Satan are you tampering with Gods privie counsell doe you know to whom mercie belongs secret things belong to God he must give his mercie to whom he please and his goodnesse to whom he sees fit Keepe still to the point and say Poore soule I know not what Gods secret will is but I know what the word saith and what the Lord saith and what conscience saith I know I confesse and forsake therefore I c. But Satan replies Satan Many couzen themselves mercie is a rare gift few have it and many dreame of it that shall never share therein nor partake thereof and why may not you be one of those Keep still to the point and answer Poore soule It is true I may couzen my selfe and my heart may be deceived but the Lord will not couzen me and the Word cannot deceive mee and the Lord and the Word say He that confesseth c. but I confesse c. Satan How doe you know that you doe apply the Word aright may you not be deceived in that the Word is true and certaine but how doe you know that you doe fitly apply this Word Answer Poore soule I know it not but by the Word and I repaire thither that I may know it and the Lord knowes all and the Word informes mee that whosoever confâ—sseth and forsaketh his sinnes shall have mercie and my conscience knowes that I doe confesse and forsake therefore I c. and Satan if you will shew mee any other text contrarie to this I will yeeld but otherwise I will never yeeld while the world stands Thus you see how you may hold Satan to the Word and keepe him there but if hee lead you into wildernesses and by-paths and take
into foure of five degrees of it and so fits it to be marvellous cordiall so faith makes a sweet extract out of pride and the venome of sinne and corruption without this is the overpowring worke of faith at Phil. 1.14 For this I know that by the supply of the Spirit of Christ this shall turne to my good and salvation through your prayers To winde up the point let us consider all these motives and consider whether wee can move our hearts to labour for this grace would you not be glorious in all the graces of God as humility meeknesse and patience and have conquest over all your enemies and the basenesse of your owne hearts and would you not have a blessing upon what you enjoy and would you not have all worke for your good if these bee worth the having then get this grace of faith that having this you may have all Hee that hath faith let him goe on in it and hee that hath not faith let him know that hee never had any thing To this purpose it will be very seasonable to call upon our hearts upon all occasions when you finde your hearts hunting to settle upon these things here below and when you begin to view all the contentments of this life and to say this is great Babell and I have gotten friends and meanes c. then put the question to thy soule and say hast thou faith too thou hast friends to stand for thee and means to inrich thee but hast thou faith to save thy soule if thou hast not faith thou art a begger whatsoever thou hast nay often startle your secure and carelesse hearts and put this plea to your hearts and parly with them in this manner and say doe not many and most men want faith and why may not I want it and doe not many secke faith and doe not attaine it and what if I should misse it the Lord forbid it for then thou art an undone man for ever thou hast lost all thy labour Iohn 2.8 Looke to your selves saith the Apostle that you â—â—se not the things that you have wrought thy hearing and thy praying and all thy Sacraments and all means and whatsoever thou hast or dost thou hast lost all and thou art gone downe the streame nay misse of faith and all the means under heaven cannot releeve thee I tell thee if thou missest of faith thou missest of heaven and salvation nay I may speake it with reverence mercy it selfe cannot saye thee Christ will not nay Christ cannot save thee without faith for he hath sworne he shall never enter into his rest continuing without faith therefore call home your hearts and stirre up your soules and looke up to the Lord Jesus and reason in this manner and say as Paul to the Philippians saith To you it is given to beleeve Lord it is given to thy poore servants to beleeve thou gavest Manasses Paul and the Iayler power to beleeve I am a vile stubborne prophane wretch Lord give mee power also to beleeve whether thou wilt give me honour wealth riches or no I leave that to thy selfe but Lord deny not thy servant an humble broken and beleeving heart lest I perish and be undone for ever As Rachel said Give mee children or else I die so say thou Lord give mee faith or else I perish Lord I know all my labour cannot worke faith and all meanes under Heaven cannot give it but it is thou Lord that must doe it and as the text saith Many beleeved through grace Lord therefore through that grace of thine draw this heart to thee and keepe it with thee and make thy poore servant blessed for ever Thus much for the use of exhortation namely that we should get faith Now I come to the second part of exhortation and here wee are to endevour if God bee pleased to goe out with us to perswade the heart of those that be faithfull to live by faith the Lord brought thy unfaithfull heart to beleeve now then labour to husband this grace well and to improve it for thy best good and live by it It is a marvellous great shame to see those that are borne to faire meanes I meane the poore 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 though thou hast not a coat to cover thee nor a house to put thy head in yet if thou hast faith thou art a rich man therefore husband thy estate well it is a shame I say to see them that they cannot husband that happy estate which they have they live as if they had it not so full of want so full of care and pride so weake and unable to master their sinnes whereas the fault is not in the power of faith nor the promise nor in the Lord for the Lord doth not grudge his people of comfort but would have them live cheerfully and have strong consolations and mighty assurance of Gods love And therefore the text saith Rejoyce in the Lord alwayes and againe I say rejoyce and make your calling and election sure Heb. 6.18 God hath sworne that by two immutable things wherein it is impossible that God should lie wee might have strong consolations nay the Lord rejoyceth in the prosperity of his servants and therefore he hath provided mercifully and richly for you that you may rejoyce therefore wee doe the Lord and his promises a great deale of wrong and bring an ill report upon that grace and mercy of his when wee open the mouthes of the wicked and make them say Oh these precise people talke of quiet and contentment and joy in the holy Ghost there is great talking of these things but wee could never see it yet Oh brethren it is a great shame are the riches and revenues of faith so great that a christian may live like a man all his dayes Let all the drunkards and malitious wretches against God laugh and bee merry yet they cannot see one of those dayes that a poore Saint canâ— though he should lie in prison all his dayes Matthew 17.20 If a man had but faith as a graine of mustard-seed and should say to this mountaine goe hence it should be done whether this is spoken of justifying faith or no I will not now dispute but this I am sure of if you will resist the Devill he will flee from you and you may trample under all your lusts and corruptions this is the life of faith and this life may wee live and this life wee ought to live If a trades-man have a good estate put into his hand and have a faire stocke and quicke returnes if hee goes downe the winde and begin to decline and decay every man will say he wâ—â— left marvellous well but either he knew nor how to vse it because he wanted skill or else he arâ—â—ded not unto it and was carelesse another man would have lived
soule why should I not have that mercie supply and succour saith justice thou art a sinfull wretch and thou hast wronged me saith anger thou hast deserved to be plagued and thou shalt rather bee corrected by me Now faith layes hold upon the riches of the freenesse of Gods mercie in Christ and in him justice is satisfied and anger appeased for all and now mercie is purchased and mercie triumpheth over justice and faith layes hold upon and overcomes God himselfe as I may say with an holy humble basenesse of heart You know what the Lord did to the woman of Canaan when shee had striven with him a great while and would take no deniall at last he saith O woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt take what thou wilt if thou wilt have life for thy child peace for thine own conscience and joy in the holy Ghost take it for it is all thine he as it were turnes her loose to all her treasury if she had gone away at the first or second deniall she had found no help but because shee held out shee had all her hearts desire God would have us wrastle with his Majestie that hee may be overcome in mercie and goodnes I might here have taken some of the most desperate cases that could be that you might have seen what faith would have done in the midst of the want of all meanes and in the greatest extremity that could have befalne a poore sinner but I will not stand about it now at this time now therefore consider what hath been said lay these things up and have them ever by you and practise them and by often writing learn to write and by often living learn to live many people live poorly and make a poore shift to go to heaven but I would not have a Christian to live so but be the master of his art know and see your way and use the meanes and labour to get good thereby that you may have sap and sweet of the promises and goe singing and rejoycing triumphing up to heaven Now that which I conclude withall is this you see how far the Lord hath brought us how the soule hath beene prepared and cut off from sin and himselfe if fitted for the Lord Jesus by contrition and humiliation and that the soule comes to see that there is no hope in the creatures nor any succour in heaven but the Lord Jesus Christ and so at last the sinner comes and lies at the foot-stoole of the Lord Jesus Christ and knowes that either he must be another man or a damned man now when he sees that prayer and all other meanes will not profit and the power of the meanes yet prevaile not and the power of his corruptions is not yet mastered then he looks up to Christ and is contented that he should doe what he will with him now when the Lord Jesus Christ sees him lie wearied then with his corruptions then the Lord gives speciall notioâ— to his soule that it is his purpose to do him good and there is mercie for that broken heart of him with that hope is stirred and saith is it possible is it credible shall all this wretchednesse of mine he pardoned desire is kindled and longs for that dâ—â—â— O that I might once see the funerall of all my saâ—â— and then love joy are cheared to entertaine this mercie and saith O how is the soule bound to the God that offers free undeserved grace to a 〈◊〉 borne rebellious hearted sinner at last the wilâ— saith Amen to the promise and saith O that mâ—â—cie I will have thus the soule is come home to 〈◊〉 by vocation now the prodigall is come home to his father and the fathers heart leaps within hâ—â— brest when he sees him lie at the doore and as the father rejoyceth so the Angels in heaven reiâ—â—â—â— and all the faithfull should rejoyce and say O my husband O my father or my child is come hoâ—â— againe and my wife that was a sinfull woman 〈◊〉 come home againe to her first and best husband you that have found it thus in your selves be comforted you that know it in others rejoyce the 〈◊〉 have heard how the soul is ingrafted into the sâ—â—â— Christ Now afterward if the Lord lend life and liberty we shall come to shew what the soule â—â—ceives from the stock consider what I have saiâ— and the Lord give you understanding FINIS
in shew but false in heart p. 279 Here are further to bee discovered foure sorts of Hypocrites 1 There is a whining Hypocrite p. 280 2 The wrangling Hypocrite p. 280 3 The glorious Hypocrite p. 280 4 The presumptuous Hypocrite p. 280 We are now come to the worke of the will p. 283 Doctrine VIII The will of a poore sinner humbled and inlightned comes to be effectually perswaded by the Spirit of the Father to rest upon the freenesse of God in Christ that it may be interested therein p. 284 The opening of this Doctrine consisteth in 4 particulars Particular I. That this worke must be in an heart humbled and enlightned p. 285 Particular II. The will must be effectually perswaded by the Spirit of the Father p. 287 Particular III. By the power of this perswasion it casteth it selfe upon the rich grace free mercy of God in Christ p. 295 Now this resting of the soule upon the rich grace of God in Christ discovereth it selfe in a 5. fold Act. Act I. It doth imply a going out of the soule to Christ that the soule runs and reacheth after a Christ p. 296 Act II. Of resting is this it layeth fast hold upon Christ p. 298 Act III. Of resting is this it flings the weight of all his occasions and troubles upon Christ p. 302 Act IV. Of resting and reposing is this it doth draw vertue and derive power from the Lord Iesus Christ for succour and supply p. 305 Faith doth draw vertue from Christ by a three-fold Act. p. 307 Act I. Is this Faith doth appropriate and apply the promise to it selfe in particular ibid. Act II. Faith doth jog the hand of God and sets Gods power on worke p. 309 Act III. Faith urgeth God with his owne Word and presseth Gods promise and challengeth God on his faithfulnesse and truth not to be wanting unto him for the acceptation of his Person and the pardon of his sinnes p. 311 Act V. Of resting is this it doth leave the soule with the promise p. 312 Particular IV. Is the finall cause why it doth rest that it may be interested into all the good that is in the promise and to have supply of all Spirituall wants from the promise p. 315 The Spirituall wants of the soule which faith doth supply are of 3. sorts p. 316 Sort I. Of Spirituall wants are these that the soule is gone away from God and is estranged to God now faith bringeth the soule againe to God ibid. Want II. Is this the soule being departed from God hence the soule is deprived of all good grace and life now faith doth not onely bring a sinner to God but it doth communicate from God to a sinner p. 320 Want III. Is this the heart is fearfull lest it should lose that grace now faith it is that doth keepe a man grace p. 322 Question How doth the soule come to beleeve Answer There are three things in the promise where by the will of man is drawne to beleeve p. 327 Motive I. Is the All-sufficiencie of the freenesse of Gods love p. 328 Motive II. Is this that this mercy is intended for thee p. 329 Motive III. Is this that God doth earnestly desire thee to come and to take this mercy p. 330 Use I. Of information that saving faith is no part of that holinesse which Adam had nor no part of that Image to which wee are restored by Sanctification p. 335 Use II. â—t is an use of terrour to all that still remaine in unbeleefe p. 349 The fearfulnesse of this sinne of unbeleefe is laid open in foure Particulars p. 352 Particular I. Because unbeleefe it doth keepe off the riches of mercies from the soule that are in Christ that it cannot enjoy them p. 352 Particular II. Vnbeleefe it doth make all meanes to be unprofitable p. 356 Particular III. Vnbeleefe all sinne in the strength and power of it in the heart of a sinner p. 361 Particular IV. Vnbeleefe maketh the soule of a sinner to be in a desperate case and condition p. 366 The danger of unbeleefe doth appeare in these three Particulars p. 369 Particular I. Consider it seriously that whatsoever thou dost so long as thou art an unbeleever it is all unprofitable and to no purpose at all p. 369 Particular II. All the good things an unbeleever doth enjoy will prove uncomfortable p. 370 Particular III. Vnbeleefe is the breeder and maintainer of all the rest of the sinnes of an unbeleever p. 371 Use III. It is a collection concerning the difficultie of the worke of faith that the worke of faith is beyond the reach of all created power p. 374 Use IV. It is to shew the benefits that come by faith to the soule p. 390 What these benefits are in particular vid. p. 394. and p. 396 Use V. It is an use of consolation and great comfort to all the servants of God that through his mercy have received this grace p. 416 The knowledge of true saving faith from a false faith appeareth in these three trials p. 423 Triall I. Is this observe the root and rise of thy faith the cause by which thy faith was wrought and from whence it came p. 423 Triall II. Observe whether thy faith doth make choice wholly of Christ and doth resolve to match with Christ only p. 428 Triall III. Observe whether thy faith doth beare it selfe upon the promise in all its extremities and is satisfied with it p. 431 Use VI. It is a word of reproofe against all those that never yeâ— were made partakers of the blessed worke of grace p. 434 Most that live in the bosome of the Church want saving faith p. 437 The reasons of it vid. p. 440 There bee foure sorts in particular that have no faith p. 446 Sort I. The ignorant persons p. 447 Sort II. The carnall Gospellers that doe live scandalously and trade in their wickednesse p. 450 Sort III. The meere civilized or judicious professours that beare up themselves much upon their owne wisdome and judgement p. 455 Sort IV. The counterfeit that have a forged kinde of false faith they have their alcumie faith p. 464 Of these counterfeit beleevers there are three sorts p. 465 Sort I. The first sort of counterfeit beleevers are the temporarie beleevers p. 465 Sort II. The second sort of counterfeit beleevers are the sturdy hypocrites p. 483. Sort III. The third sort of counterfeits are the shifting stately hypocrites p. 500 Use VII It is an use of exhortation to desire you to labour to get this grace of faith p. 515 The hinderances of faith are of two sorts some are reall hinderances that doe hinder the soule from Christ others doe not hinder the soules interest in Christ p. 519 The reall hinderances are foure p. 520 The hinderances that doe not hinder the title to a Christ are three in particular p. 538 Sort I. The first kinde of seeming hinderances are those discouragements which oppresse the soule through carnall reasoning p.
it is the powerfull operation of the Spirit that must doe the soule good all other meanes are but like the cane that conveyeth the voyce but the voyce is the Lord. Iohn 14.26 I wil send the Comforter and he shal teach you all things And who is that that is the Spirit of God We speake to your outward eares but it is the Spirit of God that must give you mindes to discerne and spirits to embrace that is the onely worke of the Spirit We shall observe Matth. 11. towards the latter end I thanke thee Father c. how comes it to passe that the wise are befooled and fooles instructed I thanke thee Father saith hee that thou hast revealed these things to babes and sucklings and hast hid them from the wise How comes this about It is thy good will Father It is a wonder to see a silly creature of weake capacity and almost a foole and yet he knoweth more of sanctification and faith than many great Schollers Take a rush candle and a lampe the lampe is a great deale bigger than the rush candle yet the rush candle giveth light and the lampe none because the rush candle is lighted the lampe is not So it is here a Christian out of a blinde dotage and a meere simplician in other things yet he will talke well of the free mercy of God and the worke of grace in his heart when as many great wise men are novices in these things Reason 1 The reason is because God hath lighted his candle from heaven because the worke is an Almighty worke it is not an easie matter to goe to heaven you must not say What have I lived thus long and are we children still Ah children you are and children you will dye unlesse the Lord from heaven teach you though all men and Angels teach you the work will not goe forward 1 Cor. 4.6 the Text saith The same God that brought light out of darknesse shineth in your hearts Wee know at the beginning of the world when darknesse was upon the deepe the Lord said Let there be light now that Almighty God that brought light out of darknesse which none else could doe why the same God shineth in your hearts saith the text unlesse the Lord say Let there be light the minde can never be enlightned the soule can never bee cheered nor the conscience pacified This is a ground of admirable comfort to all weake silly feeble minded creatures I doubt not but your hearts are grieved when you consider the marvellous ignorance which is in you and how little you know concerning life and salvation when the Lord hath layd line upon line precept upon precept and the heart sometimes covets and desires to entertaine the same the soule commeth to the congregation and saith Good Lord let â—he word worke upon my soule enlighten my minde awaken my conscience and when the word comes thus home to the heart the soule hopes that it shâ—ll retaine and remember it but when it is gone all fals to the ground and the heart in private reasons thus with it selfe What shall I say when my heart approves of the word and my soule closed with it even then so soone as I come out of the Church I forgat all what a blind mind and a hard heart have I can there be any grace or mercy conveyed to such a soule as mine surely I shall one day perish An ignorant heart is a naughty heart a base wicked heart my sinnes are many my conditions fearfull Would you have any comfort why then marke what I say The Lord will teach and if the Lord be the teacher t is no matter what the scholler be Reason thus with your selves My memory is weake my capacity is smal my understanding feeble but yet the Lord is my teacher and if the Lord will informe who can let it but I shall bee informed Prov. 1.23 marke what the Text saith Returne you simple ones you scorners and fooles and follow me and I will learn you wisedome This may move you to depend upon God in the use of the meanes the soule may say I am simple and I have beene a scorner too and that is a great misery and therefore no marvel if God blinde my minde and harden my heart for I have beene a scorner and can any good come unto me can such a soule receive grace and wisedome Why Ah saith Wisedome come unto me and I will poure abundance of wisedome upon you Sec ndly if it be the worke of God then goe to him for it is a comfort to goe to a father when therefore the meanes are received and God gives a heart to improve them then come not to the congregation but to God and when the Minister reproves say Father set home that reproofe to my soule and conscience dost thou reprove father and when the Minister exhorts and informes thee daily the argument from the Scripture plaine when the Minister is thus exhorting and you cannot come off cleerly looke up to heaven exhort Father teach Father the Minister he speakes to thee but Father informe us but Father seale to us the assurance of thy love in Christ All you that heare me this day and come and bringest thine with thee and commest with thy family into the congregation looke up to thy God and say Lord here is a vaine rude servant a silly wife and a weake foolish childe and I am as base and blinde as any of them and all the Ministers under heaven and all the Angels in heaven cannot teach and informe us but doe thou teach us and worke upon our mindes and frame our hearts that wee may know the things belonging to our peace But thou wilt say Alas we have come and looked up to God but we thrive and prosper not for all this we receive not that helpe and instruction from him which he first promised and we stand in need of Why I say the fault is thine owne the Lord is not wanting to his owne word but thou art wanting to thy owne comfort But how then shall wee so carry and order our selves that we may seeke God so as we may partake of that good we desire and stand in need of I answer These foure meanes are very usefull for this purpose First labour to lay thy owne conceitednesse and abilities downe and all thy carnall imaginations that shut out the truth of God and are professedly opposed to the obedience of Christ if thou leanest on thy owne wisedome and bearest up thy selfe on thy owne abilities thou wilt never have direction from God and thou shalt never be taught by him if thou thy selfe can teach thy selfe therefore down with those haughty imaginations in regard of thy owne parts and abilities if thou hopest that God shall guide thee and learne thee in the way of truth Therefore let every one be a foole that he may be wise when thou art a foole in thy selfe then God will inform thee when thou
his sins but the Word reveales them and the Spirit settles them thou maist take thy pleasures and live in thy sins but the end will be bitter for all these sins God will visit thee God will execute judgement upon thee then the soule trieth his heart examines his paths and begins to pore on his corruptions when Satan sees this he labours to draw him away and sends drunken companions unto him that they may take his minde off from his sins Policie 2 But if Satan cannot keepe him from seeing his sins then he shall see nothing but sin before hee was frolicke and braved it out and kickt mercie into the kennell and he would doe what he list Ministers tell mee of grace no no I will follow my course now it is otherwise with him he can see nothing but iudgements and plagues and corruptions and so sinks downe in discouragements as therefore there is nothing that can pursue a sinner and make him see his sins but God so there is none but the Spirit that can let downe a cord of mercy and draw a poore sinner out from the bottome of hell so the Spirit knowes the secrets of God if the Spirit once settles these things upon the soule and takes away all hinderances that doe oppose the evidence of Gods favour then the Spirit must only certifie Gods love and mercy and goodnesse to the soule of an humble broken hearted sinner Vset Triall will you put your selves upon triall will you over-see whether you ever had any notice of Gods acceptance observe then the author of it whence and of whom you had it this will discover the truth of it when we mistrust good newes from a farre Country we use to say it is good indeed but is it certaine whence had you it had you a letter from beyond sea or heard you from some Noble man that heard the letter read then it is certaine So there be glad tidings of peace and mercy there is good newes from heaven God hath pardoned vile sinners God saves millions of men good newes but if your hearts perswade you for certain doe you thinke so or doe others tell you so is it nothing but idle ale-house talke hath Gods Spirit sealed it doth God say to thy soule thou art his servant he thy King thou his son he thy Father if it be so thou maist pawne thy life on it trust to it the notice is good If a malefactor were condemned and a rogue that hath beene burnt in the hand who goes up and downe with a passe suppose the one to forge his pardon the other to counterfeit his passe A wise man he knowes and understands the falsenesse of the partie and he shall never get any good by it hee will stop the rogue with the passe in his hand and hang the traytor with his pardon about his neck So it is here wee are all malefactors and poore rogues running up and downe the face of the earth and we are walking and looking after another Country now what must be our passe the evidence of the Spirit thou that saist thou doubtest not of Gods mercy and the pardon of thy sins under whose seale hast thou this pardon did it come from a right Office and from a right Seale then it is good else the Lord will stop thee with thy passe in thy hand and hang thee with thy pardon about thy necke Quest But then you will say how may wee discerne the notice of the Spirit of the Lord from another notice and how may the Saints of God discerne it Triall 1 Differs in these three particulars First in the specialitie of it it is an evidence that comes home particularly to the soule Looke as it is in the conveyance of lands and leases by joynt inheritance therein haply the lease was made before the man had a childe now if afterwards he have halfe a dozen children every one in particular hath a title to it interest in that land as though they were mentioned in particular So the Gospell propounds grace and mercy to all humbled soules broken hearted sinners are mâ—de joynt heires and inheritors of everlasting mercy you that will come out of your sinfull courses and will touch no uncleane thing thou hast particular interest in Gods mercy as if thou wert called by name Robert or Richard c. Now mark al the notice and evidence that any hypocrite under heaven hath of the freenesse of Gods mercy is this hee hath only some common inkling and heare-say of salvation they are within the hearing of the promises made to others and they either not rightly apprehend or else mis-applying the sense and meaning of the promise to themselves they cosen their soules and never have any particular evidence of the truth of it to their soules by the worke of the Spirit there is haply an expectation among the prisoners in Newgate that there wil be a pardon come cut at the end of the Parliament and some man passeth by and saith there is a pardon for Newgate The prisoners that heare this it makes them rejoyce but when the Parliament comes out there is a pardon only for such persons for such facts of such a quality and nature and so haply he that rejoyced so much in the consideration of a pardon hath nothing to doe with it now the generall heare-say will doe no good but the particulâ—r evidence so it is betweene a cunning Hypocrite and a childe of God when an Hypocrite hath beene driven to extreme horrour for his sins then he lookes out for mercy his heart is terrified and his soule perplexed and he heares there is abundance of mercy in Christ and Christ came to save sinners the Hypocrite is delighted with this in the generall this is only overly and common he over-heares a promise and so quiets himselfe therein but when it comes to the triall God came to save sinners but what sinners humble broken hearted sinners But the Hypocrite is not such an one therefore it belongs not to him Differ 2 The second difference of the Spirit is such that it can hardly be rased out of the soule the testimony of the Spirit brought home to the soule cannot bee taken away for when the Spirit witnesseth to the soule it leaves the light upon the minde of an humbled sinner that will never be plucked off but hee will turne his eye towards it while the world lasts This evidence that is brought home and cast in by the Spirit it is so unexpected and so pleasing and so incomparably strong and wonderfull and withall so unconceiveable excellent that an humbled sinner when once he sees the glimpse and inckling thereof it will ever be prying and looking that way nay in the most desperate discouragements that can befall and in the greatest desertions that can betide the soule nay notwithstanding all those subtilties of temptations that Satan hurries into the soule to make a man at a losse and to make him leave looking
bee quickned I am as dead as the roome where I am and the bed where I lye why hope will give a man rest in this condition my flesh shall rest in hope Looke as in the sea when the stormes arise and the billowes beat and the tempests rage then a little hope yet the anchor holdeth so though the mast the saile and all sinke yet the anchor holdeth nay when all give themselves for lost despaire of all helpe yet the anckor holdeth and here is the excellencie of an anckor in this particular that when a man hath nothing to sustaine him yet commeth in this grace of hope yet it may be better and it will be otherwise this upholdeth when nothing else can it is not but yet hope saith it will be therefore cheare up that fainting soule of thine that love God will enlarge that desire God will quicken that fearfull heart God will establish that dead heart God will quicken thus the anckor holdeth still from day to day hence hope is said to be the nurse of the soule it nourisheth faith and it feedeth faith hope fetcheth the promise from farre Lord thou hast said it and therefore it cannot but be I beseech you observe looke as it is with a man that cannot see a thing a farre off yet with a prospective glasse he may see it so here how ever eye cannot see it the heart cannot feele it yet hope waiteth still expecteth still as a man in a sounding fit he cannot see and heare yet there is some life in the heart and that bringeth him againe so when a mans heart would faile and he is overwhelmed with sorrow and despaire then yet the pulse of hope beateth still there is this life of hope left still in the heart of a Christian but it is not so with the wicked their hopes are not like the hopes of Gods servants It is a fine place Iob 11. last verse The hope of the wicked is like the giving up of the ghost that though a man can lift up his head full high and thinke he shall be saved and goe to heaven though he carrieth a base wrethed heart about with him No no when the Lord shall come to lay thee upon thy death-bed let us then see your hope if your hope can now keepe life and soule together if it can cheare comfort and refresh you let it nay if all the Ministers under heaven and all the Angels in heaven should come and reveale the promises why a man will then tell you Alas I am a wretch I never did any thing never had any thing but that which cursed carnall Hypocrites have had I have prayed and Iudas prayed and he is in hell and so may I be too for ought I know why but the Minister replieth comfort up your owne heart cheare up your owne soule in expectation of some favour from God why alas saith the soule there is no comfort for me why but saith a man there is mercie in Christ it is true there is mercie but alas I have resisted mercie I have despised the offer of grace therefore there is no hope he was gracelesse here and he shall be damned for ever he was stubborne here and he shall be for ever miserable hereafter Looke as a tree that is falling there are some strong sprigs in the root and that beareth it up and it bringeth sometimes a great deale of fruit so it is here though desire endevour be dead unto the word and ordinances yet there is a sprig of hope and that supporteth the soule and the soule saith unto the Lord thou hast said the broken hearted sinner shall have mercie I am so I am wearie and heavie laden therefore refresh me I have a dead heart Lord but wearie of it Lord a prophane heart but wearie of it Lord. Vse 3 The last use it is an use of exhortation since you see the worth of it and the way thereunto Exhortat let every one labour for this hope Heb. 11.6 there saith the Apostle I would desire you to give the same diligence to the full assurance of hope I desire you I intreat you I will not say I command you though this may be enjoyned if you have any hope in heaven if you have any treasure in Christ labour to quicken this affection above all here I am to shew the motives and the meanes Motive 1 The first motive is this in truth wee have no more use of any thing than of hope it is a thing that is most usefull for us in all estates in all conditions what ever we doe brethren there is nothing more usefull than this grace of hope hope is an universall grace I tell you hoping and breathing are all one as breath continueth life and soule together so doth his hope the truth is wee have as much use of hoping for God and waiting for his goodnesse as the body of breathing and preserving of life 1 Corin. 9.10 That hee that ploweth may plow in hope brethren all our actions must have hope goe along with them the man must pray in hope preach in hope and heare in hope what ever thou hast hope still that God may blesse it what ever thou dost hope that God will assist thee in it when a man preacheth hee must preach in hope though hee doth not doe good now this day nor next day yet hope what the Lord may doe yet hope what the Lord will doe so in the time of our pilgrimage here wee cannot live without this hope so in comming to the word of God thou commest one day and yet the word of profiteth not thou commest the second day and yet the word prevaileth not thou commest the third time yet the word humbleth not come still hope still the Lord may be pleased at last to set home some word that may humble thy heart and quicken thy soule and subdue thy corruptions Motive 2 The second motive is this we have most need of it as nothing is more usefull so nothing is more needfull for the benefit of the soule you know in warre those places of the body that are most ready to be assaulted they looke to fence that especially as now the head of every souldier therefore every one getteth a head-peece and will bee sure to get a helmet about him now what a head-peece is to the souldiour in warring that hope is to the Christian in living 1 Thessal 5.8 I beseech you observe it the Devill fighteth at the head continually which is the hope of salvation the assurance of Gods love this is the head-peece of a Christian if once this be gone the soule is gone and a mans heart sinketh within him Sathan intendeth most harme this way and therefore wee should bee most carefull to bestow the more paines for our helpe in this particular take a poore sinner cut off his hope and you cut off his head if a mans armes were gone hee might live if a man want a leg
the Lord Jesus Christ therefore let desire be going and seeking up and down and never returne till it bring the Lord Jesus to me to the soule Motive 2 Secondly as there is a fitnesse in that promise so sutable to all a mans wants and this fitnesse in that promise marvellously stirres up desire after it So the beauty and excellency of that fitnesse gives full satisfaction to the desire as it is with a man that hath an old cankered wound which puts him to dayly trouble and vexation if this man should heare of some speciall salve that would forthwith take away his pain and ease him and withall would take out the dead flesh and heale him perfectly how would this man desire that salve nay nothing would content him but that So it is with the freenes of Gods grace Praier the Word Conference are very good and thou hast had an old cankered soule and a wayward peevish spirit and these sinfull lusts sticke upon thee and are still vexing of thee and these are not quite purged out Oh saith the soule these old recourses of base corruptions are ever dogging of me Now if any bid this poore soule pray and heare and use the means yes saith he these are usefull and good but I may pray and heare and receive the Sacraments and yet goe downe to hell for all these But oh that free grace of God in Christ that would blesse all these means and make all effectuall to mee for my good Oh that I had this grace above all the rest Cant. 5.8 9 10 11. Ioh. 6.34 Motive 3 The last motive in the promise is this the consideration of that fitnesse and excellency in the promise makes the humbled soule more sensible of his wants and makes the necessity of a broken heart more unsufferable so that hee can endure delay no longer I confesse that when the eye is opened and the soule humbled in contrition hee seeth his sinnes and is burthened with his many wants but the sight of this fitnesse of the good in the promise and the intimation of the excellency of it and the hope thereof makes him more impatient of delay and therefore more violent in desire When the soule begins to consider the glory and pretiousnesse of Gods free grace now revealed and made knowne in some measure and when the sparks and beauty of it are kindled in his heart now he begins to reason in this manner What is this the only excellency of the promise that can give content to my soule Oh happy I and blessed be God that I may yet see the goodnesse which many never come to know millions of men never heard the sound of this glorious grace and mercy Oh happy I that know it but miserable I if I come to see this and never have a share in it Many are my wants and the greater are they because I see the good they have deprived me off and it had beene better for mee never to have knowne the excellency of the good in the promises than not to partake thereof and the very consideration of this that hee hath had some hope of receiving the good in the promise makes him say why not I why not my sinnes pardoned and why not my corruptions subdued What shall all my expectations bee void What a fine plucke had I once for heaven Shall I see heaven and never come there this makes him marvellous sensible of his misery and marvellous watchfull in the use of the means to recover himselfe againe Vse 1 The first use is a ground of strong consolation to stay the hearts of many poore sinners in the midst of many infirmities that beset the soule be thy weaknesses never so many and thy temptations never so great yet if thou canst but finde this smoaking desire thy condition is good thy consolation certaine O but saith the soule the sluggard desireth meat and hath it not I am afraid all is naught Why leave thou thy desire with God and the time also and bee not weary of desiring and then thou shalt enjoy the benefit of it if thou faint not doe thou what thou shouldest and let the Lord doe what he will Object Oh but saith the poore soule how can this be my sinnes are more than my miseries a little desire and a little grace will not serve my turne Ans To this I answer see what the Lord saith Esay 44 3. I will powre cleane waâ—er upon the thirsty and floods upon the dry ground thou hast many and great wants and much misery lieth upon thee therefore God will not onely drop a little comfort into thy heart but hee will poure it in and if a little mercy will not serve thy turne then he will poure flouds of mercy upon thee Object Oh but saith the poore soule this is all the difficulty if my desire were sound and sincere then I might have some comfort how shall I therefore know that my desires are sincere Ans I answer the signes of sound desire are these Signe 1 First as the desire is so the endevour will be if thou desirest earnestly thou wilt worke accordingly Now the labour that makes knowne the soundnesse of desire discovers it selfe in foure particulars First he that labours from a longing desire is content to use all meanes which are revealed and made knowne to him because hee knowes not which will speed Secondly hee is carefull of improving all opportunities in the use of the meanes Thirdly hee will hold out in the use of those meanes his wants and desires are constant and therefore his endevours must needs be so too as Lament 3.49 These three former will discover many hypocrites Triall of sound desires though most doe not come thus farre but a terrified hypocrite and a heart that hath beene awed may doe all these and yet bee naught too But there is another triall of sound desires which will justle any Hypocrite under Heaven to the wall and that is this Though the poore sinner uses all meanes and takes all opportunities in the use of those meanes and is constant in the use of them c. yet the soule that is truly desirous of grace and mercy rests not in those labours Alas saith he I labour and use the meanes but what is that to me if I have no Christ and no grace which I pray and heare for the soule must have Christ and mercie and grace which it desires or else it will not be satisfied a man hung up in chaines cries onely for bread so it is with a poore famisht soule he desires nothing but Christ and nothing else will satisfie him this last signe none but a true sincere soule can have Signe 2 Secondly he that truly desires mercy and grace desires Christ for himselfe and now when a man desires Christ for himselfe then his desire is sound as a maid that desires a man in wedlocke she doth not desire the portion but the person of the man if I beg
and die with him saith she if I never see good day with him yet let me have him and I care not so the soule that desires Christ not for profits or by-aymes and ends but for himselfe it saith let me have a Saviour though I goe into prison and banishment with him this is a heart worth gold now when a man desires Christ for himselfe it will appeare in two particulars First hee that desires Christ for himselfe will part with all he hath in the world rather than he will be without Christ If hee cannot have a Saviour with that he hath he will part with all and this an hypocrite will hardly be brought unto an usurer will part with all old gold and his lands and all for a great lordship not for the lordship it selfe but because he shall gaine more gold by parting with his gold So an hypocrite may bee content to hazard riches and honour and all for his profession because he thinks to gaine more credit by that hazard but it is not for Christ himselfe But a gracious good heart will part with all for Christ How to know whether we desire Christ for himselfe or not and he will not part with Christ for all the good in the world only he that desires Christ for himselfe is content to take him upon the hardest conditions in the world if Christ comes let what will be come besides hee is not like those Iewes Marke 15.32 that would have had Christ and his crosse severed there is no such Christ to be had in the world Secondly the soule that desires Christ for himselfe is carefull to avoid all those inconveniences that may hinder him from Christ as Zacheus did Luke 9. this is the second thing Signe 3 Lastly the soule that truly desires grace and mercie is ready to receive it with thankfulnesse and will entertaine whatsoever meanes may reveale and whatsoever messenger may bring home Christ and mercy to his soule an hypocrite may goe a great way here but this is the right stroake a gracious holy soule the more spirituall the meanes are and the more he hath of Christ and the more cleare evidence of the Spirit there is the more they are well-come to that person that truly longs for Christ the soule is willing and unwearie to receive that mercie which God offers you never see a hungry man nice and squeamish when meat is set before him but he falls to and fits at it Vse 2 We come now in the second place to a word of reproofe which falls heavie if this be so that the Lord breeds a thorow and sound desire in the hearts of those he intends good unto not a flashy desire but like the desire of a longing woman that must have her longing or else she dyes so an humble soule must have a Saviour or else he dyes for what she said in regard of children the humbled soule that hath a true desire after Christ saith the same Give me a Saviour or else I die This then is a bill of inditement against a world of men that lift their hands full high and thinke their penny good silver and are termed professours if a man be baptized and comes to Church this is that which upholds him in the time of trouble and time of extremitie he desires to be holy and he desires to please God If the Minister reproves him and tells him his life is naught and his conversation wicked You grace no no you cannot have grace here nor salvation hereafter upon these tearmes your speeches are unsavoury your life is unprofitable and unfruitfull never thinke to have any grace if you thus continue Hee then confesseth hee hath many weaknesses and he cannot talke as he would and words will come sometimes from him before hee is aware but his desire is to please the Lord and his desire is to be holy and this is the businesse that brings most men into a quiet kinde of calme and so they goe hudwinkt downe to hell But what if I now prove that you never had a desire I meane a true sound serious desire what then will you then give up the buckler and yeeld the day and say If this be so then good Lord I am in a miserable condition let your hearts be perswaded and yeeld to the point are you come to the conclusion if it shall appeare by the word and sound arguments that you have no true desire then you will yeeld you are resolved of it that this true desire never as yet came into your hearts Now these men that never had any sound desires I will referre to three rankes Unsound desires discovered the lazy hypocrite the stage hypocrite and the terrified hypocrite All these it shall appeare there was never any true desire in their soules First then it shall appeare that your lazie kinde of professour never came to attaine this saving worke of God to have a desire soundly set on in his soule he will be content to give you the hearing say what you will and injoyne him what you please be the duty never so exact the course never so strict nay if you will reprove him sharply and deale roughly with him hee is made of even mettall his resolution is this he will thanke you for your counsell and blesse God for the meanes and hopes he shall amend he confesseth the evils you discover should be reformed and the duties you command should be discharged and he desires he may and he hopes he shall and when you have him here you have the best of him when he hath brought you hither he can goe no further but stands still where he was hee will fill your eares full of talke but he will not endevour as he should the former doctrine casts him out as one that was never partaker of this sound desire for he that endevours nor desires not his desires are flashy and his labour is answerable it was so in Balaam it was hammered in Balaams forge Oh saith he that I may dye the death of the righteous but wishings and wouldings keepe no house as we use to say this was just Balaams fashion Oh that I might dye the death of the righteous but yet hee would not set one foot forward to walke with care and conscience before God these desires are bred in the braine and understanding of a man out of some terrifyings of conscience because knowledge saith a man should do so therefore he thinkes he doth so but this is not desiring it is lying and dissembling I beseech you bee your owne Judges you that are masters of servants will you say that servant desires the furtherance of your estate when hee will not set his hand to doe your worke will you say that messenger desires to doe your message faithfully that will not stirre one step forward you are so wise you will not be cozened after this fashion you will not be thus deluded the master saith if you desire
renounce thy sinnes and receive mercy in the pardon of them If therefore any here present shall goe away and hide his stollen waters and bee loth to restore that which hee hath gotten by his cheating and false dealing but saith his estate will be impoverished and hee shall bee cast behinde hand and what will the world say I shall quite bee shamed for ever Why if thou beest afraid of shame deliver thy money into the hand of some honest and faithfull Minister and let him make up the matter privately But what dost thou tell me of poverty thou hadst better be cast behinde hand than bee cast into hell Dost thou desire grace and mercy Hearken what the Lord saith this duty must bee performed if ever thou receive mercy set upon that duty then or else thou shalt never get pardon of thy sinnes So now wee may see by these particulars that the world even swarmes with lazy Hypocrites and that there is but little sound desire after grace How many have the meanes and will not use them How many want the meanes and will not seeke out for them How many seeke out for the meanes but yet are not carefull to avoid those hindrances which may hinder them from receiving benefit by Gods Ordinances How many are informed and convinced of many duties that ought to bee done and yet will not set upon the performance of them What can any one say against this truth Prov. 14.27 Salomon saith in all labour there is abundance but the talking of the lips tendeth to penury So say I in all sound labour and sincere endevour there is profit If thou endevourest truly after Christ and if thou dost labour after grace in the use of all meanes constantly and unweariedly there is a great deale of benefit to be gained thereby but all thy talking and wishing tends to penury it will bee thy bane in the end This is the first sort of those that have not a sound desire which I terme lazy Hypocrites The second sort are such as I call stage Hypocrites that act the part of profession curiously as Ahab acted the part of fasting for he humbled himselfe and put on sackcloth c. Now there is the same difference betwixt a Stage Hypocrite and a true sincere professour as is betweene a chapman that buyes for gaine and a chapman that buyes for necessity He that buyes for gaine will have his penny-worth or else he will none of the commodity hee will have it worth his mony or else leave it But a poore famished soule and hunger-bitten creature that buyes for meere necessitie must have it and will have it what ever hee wants beside hee stands not upon Ifs and And 's but give me grace and take all hee cares for nothing else Now of these Stage Hypocrites I will set downe two sorts because I desire to lay them naked Sort of stage hypocrites 1 And first those that will take up so much of Christ and the Gospell as may stand with their credit and with their estate they will embrace all those truths that are not troublesome but profitable that are of honour and credit and will goe off roundly these they are forward to take up But to have all Christ and nothing but Christ by no meanes they will yeeld to Now the Lord be mercifull to us this is the religion of many looke into every mans family consider every mans course so much of the Gospell as will serve our turne so much wee will welcome and trade in But to come to the congregation only for Christ that is a shame and to be strict in ordering ones family we know not what it meanes So a shop-keeper will have so much religion as shall inable him to pray in his family and conferre as occasion serves and to towle in a customer and put off a crackt commoditie thus farre hee likes religion but when he comes to this to have so much religion as shall make him feare to doe any wrong so that if a poore childe or silly woman should lay him downe a groat or a tester more than his commodity is worth he dares not take it but give it backe againe Oh this will doe him no good he can gaine nothing this way doe these men desire religion thinke you Many a maid would faine marry a man because he hath a good estate and can make her a good joynture but that the man should rule her and she be obedient to him this shee will none of all her desire is to have a rich joynture in his estate So many professe the Gospell because it is a matter of credit and great men cannot countenance the Gospell so much as the Gospell credits them but if thou wilt not be content to be ruled by the same thou art an adulterous professour thou never didst desire Christ for himselfe but for thy owne aymes and ends only to make a booty of Christ but now a good heart a gracious soule that hath this desire set on by the Spirit powerfully and effectually will bee content to have all Christ and nothing but him in every thing he enjoyes A covetous man desires wealth and would he have but a little no he cries more more and hath never enough the ambitious man desires honour and is never satisfied So hee that longs for the Lord Jesus will have all Christ and every thing in Christ and Christ in every thing hee will have a Saviour what ever he wants besides A childe that longs for the meat on the table when his father gives him a peece hee eats it his father cuts him another he eats that too then his father bids him goe downe no but more of that father he still begs more of that and is never content So it is with a soule that desires grace for grace sake and Christ for Christs sake he cries still more of that grace and more of that Christ If Christ comes to reprove him he takes that if Christ comes to condemne him well-come if Christ come to reforme his sinnes hee rejoyces and would have more of that still Oh more mercie and oh more grace and more holinesse he can never be contented he can never be glutted with that Sort of stage Hypocrites 2 The second sort of these stage hypocrites are those that goe further than these they will use all Gods ordinances but when it comes to part with any thing for Christ and to suffer any thing for the Lord Jesus then they shake hands this was Peters folly but it was in a temptation when the damsell said Thou also wert with Jesus of Galilee he answered I know not the man he knew not that Christ that was now in trouble So when the Gospell comes to require suffering and contempt and disgrace we know not the Gospell wee have another Christ and another Gospell then Carnall men deale with Christ as Achish King of Gath did with David when hee had remained some yeares with him Achish
which would perswade thy heart and that falsly that thou doest desire the Lord Jesus Christ This is an old rule the soule is never couzened nor never commits a sinne but it hath a pretence for it Therefore abandon all those carnall pleas and foolish imaginations which delude thy soule and perswade thy heart that thou hast desired when indeed thou hast not for this I say a false presumption that a man hath a thing doth hinder him as much from desiring of it as if he possessed it already Wee finde it in nature Simile the stomacke is pinched with hunger because meat is wanting now from this hunger there followes a great endevour to get succour and supply but if there come a cold winde that overpowers the stomacke and takes away the hunger and the winde in a mans stomacke deprives him of his appetite though he hath no meat So it is with the soule there is a great want of mercie and comfort and assurance of Gods love the soule stands in need of holinesse to purge it and mercie to pardon it Yet when a man hath a fond fancie that all is well and all his desires are good he fills his heart with a vaine foolish desire and that takes away all his endevours and the presumption that he doth desire doth make him as well contented as if he desired indeed So that I beseech you be not carelesse doe not groundlesly cast away the word that would informe thee and convince thee When you heard the word of the Lord your lazie hypocrite stage hypocrite and terrified hypocrite applaud themselves and clap themselves on the backe and they know what they know contenting themselves and perswading themselves as they did before they care not for the Word nor Minister c. which comes to passe by cherishing these false pretences that they doe desire Christ miserably deluding their owne soules and utterly taking away the edge of their desire after grace and goodnesse The Laodicaean Church was rich and wanted nothing She wanted nothing Revel 3.18 opened why because she said Shee was rich and yet shee was poore and blinde and miserable and naked Shee presumed shee was rich in grace and therefore wanted nothing shee presumed shee had cloathing and therefore needed not to desire white rayment c. So that a presumption that a man hath a thing makes him carelesse to get the same Therefore now yeeld the day and give up the bucklers I would have every one that hath heard the word to yeeld and give up himselfe to the authoritie of the same And say the truth is I never desired aright say one to another and informe one another and question one another and confesse the truth is my desires were deceits and fancies no sound desires and it is Gods great mercie that I and my flashy desire were not flaming in hell long before this day No no the truth is I am a lazie hypocrite I am one of that nature that will turne with the doore on the hinges I say I hate my base distempers and yet continue in them I pray against sinne and yet live in sinne thus call upon thy heart and conscience and say I am the lazie hypocrite God hath informed and convinced me of many duties telling me what I should doe but yet my heart could never bee brought unto it to pray in private and make satisfaction to those I have wronged God saith I must restore these ill gotten goods and yet the truth is I would never part with them hitherto but retaine them still therefore I never had a true desire Yet agine I beseech you helpe one another goe home and reason with your selves the truth is I am the stage hypocrite I onely make a bootie of Christ even so much religion as will serve my honour and my ease and credit I will take up but when it comes to suffering once that my life or liberty or prosperitie lye at the stake then farewell Christ and grace by this it appeares that I never had any true and sound desire after Christ And if there be any terrified hypocrite here I thinke there are but few come so farre but the time will come you shall have enough to doe that way that conscience of yours whose mouth you have stopped will be awakened one day and rend the kall of your hearts if not here yet hereafter But if there be any terrified hypocrite here present goe home and reason with your selves I am this terrified hypocrite the Minister spake as if hee had beene in my bosome In horrour of heart I can call upon God and seeke to him and pray in my family and humble my soule but when the blow is off I returne with the dog to his former vomit and I thinke to heale all by my services I am the man I am the woman I beseech you plucke one another on and say I lazie and you lazie I terrified and you terrified I deluded and you deluded therefore now labour to get out of this condition if ever you meane to get mercie to your soules but if you will lose your soules who can helpe it goe to the proofe make the word good to your consciences doe I desire Christ for himselfe No there is no such matter therefore yeeld it before heaven and earth I did never yet attaine to this sound desire this is something yet now you see your wants Practice 2 Secondly then observe the difficultie of getting this desire you must not thinke that this desire is an easie matter to attaine the soule should often reason with it selfe how dangerous is it to want this desire without it I am undone for ever as also how hard a matter is it to get this it is beyond all the power that God hath bestowed upon me the thing is wonderfull hard and difficult perswade one another of the thing and say you and I neighbour thought it was an easie matter to get this desire wee thought it was nothing to say so and professe so and resolve so but this is not a desire to talke and wish and promise it is a deceit Desire is another-gesse matter than we imagine it is no easie matter to desire aright who will not say hee doth desire every man can doe that yet no man hath good desire almost a man may have abilitie to know and understand wisely and dispute judiciously of Christ and grace and yet never get a desire after Christ and grace It is a great matter to know what we should doe it is harder to doe what wee know and hardest of all to get a desire to do what we ought Therefore consider of it is the worke so heavie and the duty so weighty and we so unable then how had we need to bestirre our selves and frame our hearts to seeke for and attaine to this blessed desire after Christ Meanes 2 The second meanes is this consider the necessitie of this desire after grace and goodnesse it is not
that is if father and mother stand betweene thee and Christ if they would be married to thy soule hate and abhorre them love them so farre as they lead to a Saviour but when they step into the place of a Saviour abominate and hate them Difference betweene a sound and false heart in the entertainment of Christ This I take to bee the difference betweene a sound and false heart in the entertainment of the Lord Jesus a sound heart entertaines a Saviour as a favourite entertaines a Prince he comes into his house and disposes and orders every thing as he sees fit what he will is done and no more but now an in keeper hee entertaines him that comes next he will take any mans money and give welcome to any man for he loves the gaine of all but loves the person of none so a gracious soule entertaines Christ as a Prince all give attendance to the Lord and all the courtiers are welcome because they are serviceable to his Majestie but if a man be an enemy to his Majesty he will rather imprison him than entertaine him he will rather punish him than welcome him but now an hypocrite entertaines the Lord Jesus as a stranger into an inne if honour or profits or riches come first they are first served all are welcome they and Christ and Christ and they but loves not Christ but he loves himselfe in all Triall 3 Thirdly he that truly loves Christ labours to give contentment to Christ for love alwayes gives contentment to the thing beloved so it must bee with every Christian heart that is truly humbled and hath this affection kindled beseeming our Saviour the soule that thus entertaines him is studiously carefull and marvellous watchfull lest it doe any thing that may grieve the Lord Jesus and discontent his Spirit and send the good Spirit of the Lord sad or in any dislike to Heaven it is carefull lest the Lord Iesus should bee displeased with him and offended at him or goe away in anger and displeasure the heart feares lest hee should doe any thing that may cause this and it would be almost death to him if hee should doe this Marke the guise and behaviour of the Spouse she never left seeking of her beloved till she had found him Cant. 3.7 and when she had found him shee layes hold of him and when she hath done so she brings him home and when hee was there shee gives charge to all the house I charge you O ye daughters of Ierusalem by the Roes and the Hindes of the field that you stirre not up nor awake my love till he please Look as it is when men of great place come into a mans house there is a great charge warning given see there be no noyse about such a place lest such a man be raised before his time What basenesse is this that wee should have our hearts inlarged to any thing but Christ A good heart wil do as the spouse did here when the soul hath received the Spirit of a Saviour found the mercy of a Saviour it keeps watch ward within it selfe and gives peremptory charge to all in the family I charge you profits and pleasure and riches and honour and all the things of this life love and joy and all the faculties of the soule it gives them warning I charge you that you stirre not I charge you that you grieve not I charge you that you disquiet not the Spirit of the Lord let there bee no motion but entertaine it no command but obey it no advice but receive it thus the soule gives peremptory charge not to grieve the Spirit of the Lord or to doe any thing that may distaste it See this in Lot who when he had received the two Angels into his house the cursed Sodomites came to the doore and thought to abuse his strangers Now marke it I beseech you Lot could be content that rather any hurt or distaste should befall himselfe than them therefore observe how he pleads with those base people Lot went out unto them and shut the doores after him and said Gen. 19.8 I pray you brethren doe not so wickedly Behold now I have two daughters which have not knowne man let me bring them out unto you and do to them as is good in your eyes onely to these men doe nothing for therefore came they under the shadow of my roofe This was kinde honorable entertainment As Lot deale with the Angels so a loving heart will deale with the Lord Iesus let my soule bee wounded saith the loving heart but let not Gods Spirit be grieved let my honour bee laid in the dust but let not God be dishonoured let temptations oppositions persecutions and disgrace befall mee but let Gods glory be advanced The soule is willing and content to beare any thing but it will doe nothing against Christ it will doe nothing against the Gospell of the Lord Iesus The soule saith you may doe what you will with me my life and honour and wealth is in your hands but to the Lord doe no harme blaspheme not his Name resist not his Spirit doe no dishonour to his Gospell doe not contemne his grace what ever betides me This is the frame of the soule that truly loves Christ They that entertaine Persons which they highly respect are inquisitive of those that appertaine unto them to know what their minde is what likes your master and what takes he most contentment in this they doe that they may prevent him with a kindnesse though he aske not for it what ever will best content him they seeke for it and what ever will distaste him they labour to avoid it So a gracious loving soule never satisfieth it selfe but labours to give content to the Lord Iesus that hee may have his will onely Therefore such a soule will come to a faithfull Minister and aske him how must I order my family What shall I doe in regard of my selfe and children How may I please the Lord better And how may I entertaine the Lords Spirit better What duty is to be performed What service is to bee discharged What course is to bee taken that I may please Christ You are acquainted with Christ you know what will content him I pray you tell me how I may pray so and performe duties so that nothing may distaste him or be offensive unto him This I take to bee the difference betweene an honest sincere heart which entertaines Christ as beseemes him and a naughty hypocriticall spirit that would fawne upon Christ Iesus this is the difference betweene faithfull true love and joy and dissembling love and joy There is the same ods betweene them which is betweene a man that entertaines a servant and another that entertaines a noble friend or a King into his family A man entertains a servant that he may please him Simile and not that hee may please his servant he seeth he is wise to order his
it be stirres it selfe to attaine neerer union with the Lord Jesus even when he seemes to absent his presence from the soule but we cannot prosecute that so that by this time then it doth appeare what it is to love the Lord trulâ— and wee have laid downe the triall whereby we may know whether wee have this love or no. Vse 3 The third use is a word of reproofe you have heard the ground of consolation already therefore when the pill is sugered I hope it will down the better Here then wee have a just ground of reprehension and it comes marvellous heavy as a witnesse to accuse many nay as a Judge to condemne many in the world this is sufficient to shake their hearts and to make their soules that live in the bosome of the Church almost to sinke in the consideration and sight of their owne miserable and fearfull condition upon whom this worke was never stamped in whose soules this grace of God was never yet kindled certaine it is such never loved the Lord nor ever rejoyced in Christ Woe to their soules therefore and beloved this is the condition of the greatest part of those that live in the Church and are counted professors among us they love not Christ they rejoyce not in him yet they will not bee perswaded of it therefore give a little attendance I beseech you to what I shall say This is the cunning that Satan hath to deceive poore soules withall because these holy affections are inward and retired as hope and desire and love and joy because I say they are secret things in the soule and doe not discover themselves outwardly to the view of the world further than the fruits thereof manifest the same Therefore men not knowing these affections themselves and not conceiving of the nature of them that is the cause that many leane upon the expectation of what they have in frame of heart though they want in the course of their lives this is that which every man almost doth challenge to himselfe as that whereby he will beare up his heart in time of trouble and cheere up his soule in the day of distresse Wicked men when every one cannot but see and behold their base courses and loath their sinfull practices nay when they themselves cannot but confesse their filthy behaviours c. Why they confesse they fall foully and they fall dayly and scandalously but that which heals all helps all is this they say it is true it is so with their lives but yet they love the Lord Jesus with all their hearts every vile varlet will say thus when hee hath sworne by a Saviour and torne his flesh in peeces his blessed body his blood his wounds and all yet when he hath done this he loves a sweet Saviour still Oh poore deluded miserable sinfull wretch that I may apply my selfe particularly to such a one I beseech you give mee leave to doe two things First I will make it good that most men have not this love of God Secondly I will plead the Inditement and then when I have laid out the Inditement and pleaded it and shewed who they are that have not this love of God the point will be cleere First it is sure and most certaine 1 Most in the world have no love to God but hatred against him that most in the world that live in the bosome of the Church have not their hearts carried in any love of God but in a hatred and desperate opposition against the Lord Jesus Christ In him was life and this life was the light of the world and the light shined in darknesse and the darknesse comprehended it not the meaning is this the Lord Jesus Christ was the life of the promise in him was life the promise of life was in Christ and that promise of life was a light to teach men the way to life and salvation but when this light of the promise of grace shined to the world the darke world comprehended it not they knew it not Christ came unto his owne Iohn 1.11 and his owne received him not There the Lord speakes of the Jewes that were his chosen people and his owne by covenant His owne by reason of the privileges and benefits and ordinances which he bestowed upon them His owne by profession they tooke the Name of Christ upon them Christ came not to heathens and pagans but to his owne and they received him not How many are there amongst us who professe the Name of the Lord Iesus and take up the Gospell of Christ and yet being Christians in profession will not entertaine the love of the Lord Iesus Christ which should make us Christians in dâ—ed Christ comes to many a mans doore and knocks and calls and intreats entrance but few will entertaine him when hee comes nay let mee say more my heart trembles to speake it nay my heart were it as it should be would grieve to thinke it Wicked men are so farre from prising Christ and loving the Lord Iesus that they hate him more than sinne nay I had almost said yet I am loth to speake it my heart shakes to thinke it but that I hope you are willing to heare the worst why then I will speake it and they are the words of the Scripture wicked men hate Christ more than the devill himselfe the Lord be merciful to such poor sinful creatures good Lord that ever men should be created by the Lord and enjoy mercy and meanes from the Lord and yet love sinne and the devill himselfe more than God Object But you will say are there any such is it possible that ever any man that breathed and received mercy from the Lord Iesus should deale so sinfully and unkindly with him why the devill would not doe it Answer I say to you as the Prophet said to Hazael in another case I know saith he the evill thou wilt doe to the children of Israel their strong holds wilt thou set on fire 2 King 8.12.13 and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword and wilt dash their children and rip up their women with childe but Hazael said what am I a dogge that I should doe this the Prophet told him the Lord hath shewed it unto me I know saith the Prophet the cruelty and venome of thy spirit though thou knowest it not So when I speake of these things men will bee ready to say what are there any such dogs to deale thus with the Lord Jesus I tell you the Lord knowes this and the Word seeth all thy venome and spight and hatred against Christ the Lord seeth and knoweth it Most men in their hearts doe hate Christ though they see it not beloved your hearts are more vile than you can conceive and more base than you can imagine the Word will make it cleere The greatest evill of all wee know is sinne the Devill is not to be loathed but for his sinne and the reason why he is
so loathsome is because hee is so sinfull Now marke what the text saith this is the condemnation Iohn 3.19 that light is come into the world and men loved darknesse more than the light the Lord revealed light that is Christ to the world but the world loved sin and the temptations of Satan and the corruptions of their owne hearts more than Christ and more than mercy that was tendered to them in the Lord Jesus it is cleere therefore it was so it will be so and it is so to this day Men love their base lusts and sinfull corruptions more than the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of his grace which he expresseth to their soules and consequently they love the delusions and suggestions of Satan more than the motions of Gods Spirit and the comfort thereof Thus now we have laid downe the Inditement let us also plead it a little wee see there be many in the Church that doe not loâ—e the Lord Jesus Christ but who are they of that we will now speake for when we lay the charge we must name the man the Inditement in generall is nothing we will therefore referre these men that love not Christ to three rankes The first are open enemies to Christ The second are the glozing newters of the world The third are the fawning Hypocrites that are faire in shew but false in heart all these are guilty of this Inditement wee will therefore plead it against them desiring the Lord to convince their consciences thereof Ranke 1 First for the former and they are open enemies to the Lord Jesus we will not spend much time here but stand longest there where is most need First therefore there are open enemies to Christ and they are many such as Isaiah speakes of ye stiffe necked and hardhearted ye have resisted the Spirit of the Lord Those which set their mouthes against Heaven and stand in open defiance against the Lord Iesus and against the power of his Grace and the worke of his Spirit in the hearts of his and in the ministery of the Word and these we referre to two heads Sort. 1 First such as are profest opposers of the evidence of the truth those whereof Christ spake the Housholder let out his Vineyard to Husbandmen Matth. 21.33 and when the time of the fruits drew neere hee sent his servants to the Husbandmen that he might receive the fruits of it and the Husbandmen tooke his servants and beat one and killed another and stoâ—â—â— another at last he sent his sonne and said surely they will reverence my sonne nay when hee came they all combined and conspired together and said this is the Heire come let us kill him and the inheritance shall be ours this was an intimation of the Scribes and Pharisees the Chuch was the Vineyard and it was let out to them and God sent his Prophets among them they persecuted them then hee sent his Disciples they stoned them and when his Sonne came they conspired against the Lord Iesus with one open mouth with one joynt endevour Come said they this is the Heire let us kill him and the inheritance shall be ours And doe you thinke that the Scribes and Pharisees are dead and have left none of their cursed brood and generation behinde them I tell you beloved there are many persecutors of Christ and his Gospell to this day which are the leaders of the campe which stand in open defiance of the God of Heaven but if you aske mee what entertainment their lusts have among these men they find all welcome possible temptations whisper not occasions come not corruptions stirre not so soone be the company never so base the course never so vile the practice never so wicked but these miserable sinfull creatures give audience and attendance and acceptance and entertainment to these base courses nay they invite them and provide for them nay they bestow a great deale of cost for the entertainment of their lusts they seeke out occasions to commit their sinnes the adulterer goeth in the twi-light to meet his queanes and the drunkard goes to the Ale-house to meet with his base companions thus they invite their lusts and provide for their lusts this is that the Apostle disswades us from Rom. 13.14 make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof yet these men make provision for their base lusts their mindes are plotting and their endevours labouring to provide all courses that may give entertainment to their lusts therefore no marvell they finde such long continuance in their sinnes because they make such provision for them but now if you will observe how these men entertaine Christ you may discover it by these two passages Passage 1 First observe how they entertaine the power of Christs Spirit in the ministerie of the word and secondly how they entertaine the presence of our Saviour in the graces of his children First concerning the ministerie of the word if it be so that the ministery of the word comes powerfully home to the conscience and would open the eyes and awaken the heart of ungodly men and would plucke them from their sinnes Oh what an uproare there is and how doe men take up armes against the truth and beat off the power of the word that it may not prevaile with the heart and awaken them and that it may not rule in their lives Christ notes such as these for opposers of goodnesse Luke 19.27 Bring hither mine enemies that would not that I should reigne over them and slay them before my face the word would plucke the cup from the drunkards mouth and the adulterer from enjoying his dalliances with his mate but their hearts swell and they groane to be under that truth and under the rule thereof and to be swayed thereby nay they doe not only withdraw themselves from yeelding obedience to the holinesse of the word but they will not so much â—s acknowledge the truth of the word which the Devill himselfe did when Paul was preaching the grace of life and salvation the text saith Acts 16.17 The damsell that had the spirit of divination met him and the Devill said These men are the servants of the most high God which shew unto us the way of salvation the Devill acknowledged that this was the word and the very truth the Devill acknowledged these were the services which God commands and these were the duties which ought to be discharged but wicked men will not be perswaded of this they will not beleeve that they must be holy as he is holy neither will they beleeve that they must be pure as he is pure these men doe not give God so much honour as the Devill did but die out and say I will never be of that opinion all the world shall not perswade mee to it five hundred Ministers shall not make me thinke so Beâ—oved this is profest opposition and desperate hatred against the Lord not onely to withdraw â—he
will overcome all corruptions that mercy that will pardon all our sinnes then saith the will content it shall be so and this makes up the match for now the match commeth to bee made when the will saith Amen to the businesse and this is that great worke of the will the spawn and the seeds of faith went before now faith is come to some perfection now the soule reposeth it selfe upon the Lord and Divines say that here commeth in faith what the minde hath knowne and hope expected and desire longed for and love embraced then commeth in the great wheel the great commander the will which saith I will have it Goe no further it is the best match wee can make you saw the seeds of faith before in the affections but now you shall see the root of faith and the full growth of faith in the will So from hence the point of Doctrine is this Doctrine The will of a poore sinner humbled and enlightned comes to bee effectually perswaded by the Spirit of the Father to rest upon the free grace of God in Christ that it may bee interested therein and have supply of all Spirituall wants from thence For the better clearing of this Doctrine consider these foure particulars First the worke must be in an heart humbled and enlightned Secondly the will must be effectually perswaded by the Spirit of the Father Thirdly by the power of this perswasion it casts it selfe upon the rich grace and free mercy of God in Christ Fourthly the end of it that it may bee interested into all the good that is in the promise For by faith wee come to have a title to all that ever Christ purchased and God hath prepared for his people and as by infidelity wee went from God so now by faith we come again to God Particul in the doctr 1 For the first passage this grace of faith the root whereof is seated in the will it is in an heart humbled and enlightened if either of these two bee wanting it is not possible that ever sound saving faith should be in the soule I doe not now dispute of the measure of these how farre a man must bee humbled and how much enlightened these I have handled before I abate a man of the measure and leave that to the good pleasure of God but the heart must bee truly humbled and soundly enlightened First The heart must be humbled that is loosed from sinne and from selfe if the soule be not thus truly humbled there is no roome for faith for the worke of humiliation cleeres the coast â—nd clenseth the roome for if the soule of a poore sinner be not loosened from sinne and made weaâ—y of it but takes fast hold of it as Ieremie saith Ierem. 8.5 They hold fast to deceit and would not returne so when a man will hold his pride and his corruptions that man is carelesse of Christ and not onely so but also opposit from going to Christ he will not goe to Christ that he may receive power for â—he subduing of his corruptions because he is resolved to keepe his sinne still and therefore know â—hat it is not possible to receive Christ and to â—leave to sinne too Secondly suppose the soule be truly burdened â—nd the heart be surcharged with sinne and the â—eart seeth an absolute necessity of a change and â—e saith if this be certaine then I am a miserable â—an and either I must reforme my way or else perish in my way now when the soule is come to this if the heart will yet shift for it selfe and thinke to recover it selfe seeing it must needâ— change it will change it selfe it will hinder faith for whatsoever it is that keepes a man in himselfe that alwayes hinders the worke of faith for faith ever goes out to another for grace and power to ease him of corruption and for strength to subdue his sinnes if the soule say either I need not change or if I must change I will change my selfe and save my selfe what need have I of a Saviour these hinder faith therefore if ever faith be there the heart must have thiâ— wrought he must see himselfe in a lost condition that is that by all the meanes under heaven heâ— cannot succour himselfe this is the meaning of that phrase Luke 19.10 The Lord Iesus came 〈◊〉 seeke and to save that which was lost a lost man indeed every man is lost under the power of sinne and dominion of Satan but he must see himselfe lost how the guilt of sinne is condemning him and therefore lost in regard of pardon to save him and also how he is polluted and therefore lost in regard of power to subdue corruptions and when he seeth this indeed that nothing can helpe him but a Christ then the soule makes out for a Christ this is the meaning of that place Iohn 1.12 To as many as received him he gave c. so that we must receive a Christ when we are gone oâ—â— of our selves by humiliation then are we fit to goe to God by vocation Quest But may not a man beleeve and is it not lâ—â—full to beleeve unlesse a man be thus humbled Answ It is lawfull at any time if thou canst but I say it is impossible for thee to beleeve untill thou be thus humbled as Iohn 4.44 the Lord Christ comes to the Pharisees and saith I know you will not come to mee that you may beleeve nay in the next place he saith How can ye beleeve that receive honour one of another how canst thou beleeve in the Lord Jesus Christ to subdue thy lusts and yet wouldst bee uncleane still and live in thy lusts still how canst thou beleeve in Christ to master thy rebellious heart and yet wouldest be rebellious still it is impossible heaven and earth cannot meet together no more can these two stand together therefore set your hearts at rest a man must be truly humbled and broken hearted â—f ever he beleeve Secondly the soule must be enlightened I â—oyne these two together in this clause for though faith be above reason yet it is with reason it is not that colliers faith of the Papists â—hat put out his owne eyes to see by another mans this is a delusion and an implicite faith â—herefore I say a man must be inlightened to see â—he grace and mercie and freenesse of Gods love â—n Christ as Psal 119.10 They that know thy name â—hall put their trust in thee it is against common sense that the soule of a man that is reasonable â—hould fall upon any thing and rest it selfe there â—nd yet never seeth whether it bee a sufficient helpe or no this is by the way of preparation Particul in the doctr 2 It is effectually perswaded by the Spirit of the Father to rest it selfe c. this I adde in the second place upon the same ground because a man hath no legs of himselfe to bee carried to the Lord Jesus Christ to beleeve in him further
runnes and reacheth after a Christ for a man can never rest on a thing before he come to lay hold on it and to deliver all his strength and lay all his weight upon it This is implied necessarily and it is one maine proper act of faith when the soule seeth this that the Lord Jesus is his aid and must ease him and pardon his sinnes then let us goe to that Christ saith he see what our Saviour saith Iohn 6.35 He that commeth to me shall never hunger and hee that beleeveth in mee shall never thirst the phrase of comming and beleeving they are both one Ier. 3.22 there the Prophet makes the answer of the humble sinner the Lord calls upon by his Spirit and sets on his mercy effectually and saith Come to me yee rebellious sinners and I will heale your rebellions Though a poore Minister speake the word yet the Lord from heaven saith come to me ye loose hearted c. Now this voyce comming home to the heart and the prevailing sweetnesse of the call overpowring the heart the soule answers Behold we come for thou art the Lord our God The soule goes out and falls and flings it selfe upon the riches of Gods grace thus setled and revealed Come to mee all yee that are weary saith Christ when the Lord saith come I have mercy though thou hast none and I have comfort though thou hast none nay I not only have it but am ready to bestow it and come to me thou poore burthened sinner I have undertaken for thee and I will ease and helpe thee Now as for you that were never humbled nor brought low God will pull downe your proud hearts and make you stoope but you that have beene burthened and have seene your sinnes and mourned under the loathsome burthen of them to all such the Lord saith Come to mee thou poore broken hearted sinner I will heale thee and I have undertaken for thee we goe then saith the will to that Christ and that promise and that mercy and that grace that will pardon all and subdue all whatsoever is amisse It is with a sinner as it is with a Sea-faring man that is tossed with the windes and driven to a hard set with the tempest hee labours to betake himselfe to a shelter and to land at some Haven This is the nature of beleeving in the Hebrew phrase as Esa 25.4 Thou hast beene a strength to the poor and needy in trouble a refuge against the tempest a shadow against the heat c. Now when a poor sinner is weather-beaten and can see no comfort and finde no evidence for the pardon of his sinnes the Lord is pleased to make knowne the goodnesse of Christ through the promise then the soule shrowds it selfe under that shâ—dow and that goodnesse thus offered and revealed Psal 118.11 Davids soule had gotten away from God and he began to quarrell with Gods providence saying I said in my haste all men are liars see what an hasty spirit is hee hoysed up saile upon the maine Ocean and he had imaginations and conclusions of feare and despaire At last he got the Haven againe and said where art thou Oh my soule thou hast gone from God and from his promise Returne to thy rest O my soule let us goe to the promise and keepe us there to see land and make haste to it and labour to hold the heart close to the Lord Jesus Christ now the soule is come to Christ The next Act of resting is this it layes fast hold upon Christ and when the Lord saith Come my Love my Dove and come away behold I come saith she and when she is come she fastneth upon Christ and saith my Beloved is mine and I am his When she is come to Christ shee will not away againe In the Hebrew phrase to beleeve is nothing else but Amen the Heathen say that the answer of a man is this let it be done which thou hast promised that 's faith So after the soule hath walked a great while in horrour and vexation and the soule sinks in the apprehension of it the Lord lets in the comfort of his promise and saith thou poore burdned heart thy person is accepted thou art unworthy but Christ is worthy thou art sinfull but hee is mercifull Now when the soule heares this voyce it saith even Amen Lord let it be so Lord. This is the hold of the heart hope and desire love and joy have discerned a world of mercy and the will saith so be it let us stay and hold here and goe no further Esay 64.7 There is none that calleth on thy Name neither that stirreth up himselfe to take hold of thee Faith layes hold on the Lord and will not let mercy goe but cleaves unto it it is sweet to see faith in conflict with the Lord. When a man hath it as in Iob see how faith holds its owne God makes him even the Butt of his wrath as it were but Iob saith though he slay mee yet will I trust in him Me thinkes I see how the Lord makes his hand all goare blood and yet faith holds his owne it is able to fasten it selfe upon the promise of God in Christ 1 King 20.32 33. when Ahab was deeply provoked with a drunken Benhadad who said take him alive c. they entred the combat now when the day went against Benhadad for hee had dealt basely with Ahab and hee could not with any face looke for any favour from him yet when hee was driven to a stand his servants being worse than their master came to him and said Wee have heard that the Kings of Israel are mercifull Kings we pray thee let us put ropes about our neckes and sackcloth on our loynes c. Because the poore servants were like to come into danger as well as their master they went to Ahab and said thy servant Benhadad saith I pray thee let me live and Ahab said is he yet alive he is my brother and the servants catched at that word and said he is yet alive and they went away rejoycing This is a lively picture of a broken hearted sinner after he hath taken up armes against the Almighty saying shall he be at Gods command he will never doe it whilest the world stands but he will have his lusts his profit and ease c. and the Lord and hee are at open warres and now the Lord lets in justice and hee seeth the anger of God bent against him and even frowning upon him and the wrath of the Lord dogging him from day to day saying thou art an enemy to me saith the Lord and I will be an enemy to thee Now the soule seeth that he cannot avoid justice neither can he beare it and therefore the soule reasons thus I have heard that though I am a rebellious sinner yet none but sinners are pardoned he is a gracious God and therefore the soule falls downe at the footstoole of the Lord and saith Oh
and peevishnesse but the Lord Christ will not cast thee away if thou come to him he will never doe it Object 4 Let me adde a fourth motive I confesse saith the soule there is no want of willingnesse on Gods part but I have a heart which cannot beleeve what is that to me to see provision of mercy and have no heart to receive it Oh this unwilling and distrustfull heart it cannot beleeve Answ If I finde a cure in the promise for this then I hope you will yeeld therefore know that the Lord hath provided in the promise a meanes whereby thou mayst bee made to beleeve and thou shalt be able to beleeve first that sufficiencie which is in the promise and which God intends for thee Now the Lord strikes up the match 2. Things and that the Lord doth this it shall appeare if you consider the manner of Gods worke in two things First God the Father in the promise gives an humble broken hearted sinner into the hands of â—esus Christ that hee may make him able to beâ—eeve Secondly he gives Jesus Christ into the hands of a poore sinner that hee may take him and receive mercy from him Now though thou canst not beleeve yet if Jesus Christ take that heart of thine in hand he can and will make thee beleeve This was the end of his office and comming Iohn 6.44 No man commeth unto me except the Father draw him and I will raise him up at the last day I will make him beleeve and in the grave I will love his poore body and not lose so much as his â—shes but will preserve them there and raise him up from thence and at last I will bring both body and soule to honour and make both happy in Heaven for ever for Christ his sake thinke on this earnestly that every broken hearted sinner is given to Christ as if God the Father had said Oh my Sonne looke well to such a man he lives in a base world and hath many corruptions in his heart but looke thou to him Iohn 10.16 Other sheâ—pe I have which are not of this fold and these I must bring home saith Christ there are many of Gods people called and converted but there are many yet which are in the gall of bitternesse and I know such a drunkard and though hee bee a woolfe now yet he is one of my sheepe and him I must bring home It doth my heart good to thinke that there is many an enemy of Jesus Christ and many that hates grace and goodnesse many a wretched drunkard many a covetous and uncleane wretch that shall bee brought home One goes up and downe this way and another that way as a company of poore sheepe that wander up and downe one falls into this ditch another into that and another in such a grove so there is many a poore sheepe that goes away from God and all goodnesse the Lord give us hearts to pitty them howsoever God hath opened your eyes and brought your hearts and my heart home to himselfe yet there are many other sheepe that as yet goe from God Oh what a blessed mercy is this If Christ hath once undertaken for you hee will seeke you out wheresoever you are The Lord seekes you out many times in the congregation you might come home then if you would well the Lord will make the fire of hell to flash upon the conscience of a man and drag him home but it is no matter which way the Lord brings him home so he come to heaven at last Iohn 17. Thou gavest them to me and I have given them eternall life There is no more difference than this the Father gives the sheep to Christ and saith looke to him and Christ saith you are given to me take you everlasting life betweene you and take eternall glory I give it to you as freely as ever God the Father gave your soules to me Secondly God the Father gives Jesus Christ to the poore soule and saith I give thee him freely with his bloud and all his merits his grace and goodnesse Oh saith the poore sinner blessed be God that Jesus Christ hath undertaken for me and that God the Father hath given mee Christ but alas I cannot pay the price I am notable to purchase the pearle as in a marriage when the parties are both agreed if there bee a quarrell about the feffment all breakes off so it is in this case the soule is now inabled to rest upon Christ but what will the Lord require for I am base and poore well saith God the Father I will not sell my Sonne but I give him to thee and thou must not thinke to purchase him Ioh. 19.26 27. when Christ would commend Marie to the care of Iohn hee saith Woman behold thy sonne and to Iohn he saith Behold thy mother so God the Father saith to Jesus Christ My blessed Sonne behold that poore broken humbled sighing sinner behold thy sonne take him for thy owne and thou poore sinner behold thy Saviour take him to thy selfe and the soule receives that gift at the hand of God the Father Ioh. 10. So God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Sonne c. that is God so set his heart upon those whom he would save that hee gave Jesus Christ to bee received from him and to doe all good for them according to all their necessities thus I hope the heart hath no starting holes the promise is sufficient saith the soule if I had it and God sadly intended it therefore I may take him and God hath given Christ the care of me to make me to beleeve now the will is fully perswaded and saith to hope and desire and all the other affections here is good enough and come hope expect it for ever and come desire here is mercy enough that thou hast desired and come love and joy here is that mercy whereof you have felt the sweetnesse nay saith the will let us rest here and settle our selves upon the freenesse and favour of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ as our Saviour said to the Disciples Ioh. 6.27.28 Will you also goe away oh saith Peter whither shall we goe thou hast then words of eternall life the world cals and our lusts call and pleasures call and the more they call for our hearts the more wee cry after thee out Christ whither shall we goe if not to thee for there is none so gracious none so mercifull to sinners none so ready to doe all good for us and as there is sufficient in the promise and as here is sufficient in thee and enough for sinners so upon thy mercie we will hang upon thee our Saviour wee will live and dye and upon the promises will we put our selves to receive all the comfort and good they will affoord and upon this will we feed for ever Thus much for the opening of the point Vse 1 The first use is for information to rectifie our
Adam could not seeke to another for a principle of life for hee had it in himselfe neither was â—t sinne in him for the Angels themselves doe not beleeve in Christ neither is it required of them Againe Adam had a kinde of trust and confidence in God but not this trust nor this faith but it was this so farre as the creature beâ—ng a second cause should stay and move it selfe according to the first cause and to concurre with the first cause unto any worke This Adam had â—nd the Angels have it in Heaven which beleeve not in Christ The blessed Angels have a power spirituall in themselves and they say that all power is firstly in God and that he doth governe them and all the Heavens too and stay themselves upon God firstly and so co-worke with God but this is farre different from saying thus the Angels stay themselves first upon God as being the first cause of all created substances and to goe to God to fetch a principle of life from God these are contraries Object 3 The maine objection of all is this If say they Adam never had power to beleeve and so beleeving in Christ was not in the state of his innocency then why doth God condemne 〈◊〉 for not beleeving seeing they have not this power and Adam had it not It is all the difficulty that lies upon the point The answer is plaine open and naked and therefore I answer it by distinction thus Answ 3 Infidelity and not beleeving doth imply two things thus the first is the meer want of the power of faith and the absence of ability to rest upon another and to fetch the principle of grace from another neither the Law nor the Gospell nor God himselfe doth condemne thee for this nay the Gospell doth not require this that a man should have power of himselfe to beleeve not God doth not require it but the promise breeds faith and feeds faith it begets faith and continues faith in the soules of all those that have it and this is all that God would have that the soule of a poore sinner should be contented to taked from him and bee under the Spirit that would inable him to beleeve and to goe to him for the which may make him beleeve that hee might be made strong in the power of the might of Jesus Christ as in that place of the Ephesians the Gospell saith thou art a poore miserable sinner her is mercy only be contented that I should worke upon thee for thy good and convey mercie to thee so that the bare want is not the cause why God doth condemne a man the Angels in heaven this day have not this saving faith and yet there is no sinne in them againe besides 〈◊〉 are want of this confidence there is an aversnes â—f heart and a crossenesse of soule to the meanes of grace and the Gospell and against the Spirit â—f grace that would worke faith and draw my â—â—ule out of my sinne and plucke my soule to my â—aviour 〈◊〉 sinfull soule is fastned to his folly and â—ettled upon his base corruptions and hee rests here with a kinde of resolution not to goe off â—om his distempers and he will hold his corrupâ—ons and maintaine his lusts so that when merâ—e is offered he saith I will not have mercie but â—y sinne and the Spirit of God shall not plucke â—y corruptions from mee but I will have my â—nne rather than a Christ thought I perish for it â—is resisting against the meanes of grace the proâ—ise and mercie and the most blessed Spirit of â—â—ace this flowes from originall corruption and â—â—refore Adam never had this and comming â—om sinne and being a fruit of sinne a man shall â—nd must justly bee condemned for it though â—dam had not faith yet he would not have oppoâ—d the Spirit of grace it would have wrought â—pon him this is the infidelitie which the Scripâ—ure so often makes mention of because the â—eart is proud and sturdy and setled upon his â—es and saith What shall Jesus Christ come to â—fer me grace and to plucke away my sinnes and â—rruptions and to give mee grace I will none 〈◊〉 this Christ not I if thou doest want grace beâ—use thou hast resisted grace thou art justly to â—e condemned as a sinner this is the whole â—urse of Scripture Ioh. 3.19 This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darknesse better than light because their wayes are evil that is they love their sinne lusts and corruptions and chuse them and fasten to them and will have them and will not have a Christ this is the ruine of a sinner and this is the infidelity which the Lord speakes of and this is nothing else but the resisting the grace and mercie which would worke grace in him and this is properly unbeleefe to see how unbeleefe bankes the way to heaven a man that is a covetous wretch close hearted the word reveales this and condemnes this and saith hee I will not forsake the world and the adulterer saith I will not forsake my lusts and the drunkard faith I will not forsake my companions hee is staked downe to his corruptions so that all the Angels in heaven and all the promisses of the Gospell cannot perswade him to forsake his corruptions but he is staked downe to his corruptions and hugs them and saith I will hug my sinne in despire of all the world and God himselfe this is a cursed fruit of originall corruption this is sinfull and fearfull and a man is justly condemned for it so then no man is condemned for want of power to beleeve but because he resists grace and mercie and will not receive power to beleeve Thirdly now I come to show how the Lord workes upon the heart this is easie for all of you to apprehend and you may the better see the order of Gods worke if yee observe these foure rules the maine weight lies upon the third and the fourth therefore we will onely propound the two former to make way for the rest First when God comes to worke upon a poore sinner hee findes him dead in sinne and hee hath no good at all in him no saving supernaturall good and hee is not able to worke any good in himselfe by all the meanes in the world and he is not able to receive any spirituall good in the use of those meanes so the Apostle saith I know that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing and our Saviour Iohn 3.6 Whatsoever is borne of the flesh is flesh whatsoever comes from man from corrupted flesh is uncleane so Rom. 8.7 The carnall or the fleshly wisdome is not subject to the law of God so that a man not only hath no good in himselfe but he is not able to receive any good but rather oppose it Secondly hence it is cleare that all saving workes are the proper gifts of God and the peculiar operations of his good Spirit in the hearts
from the Lord and his grace and his mercy and it preferres sinne and the Devill before the Lord and all that sufficiency of good that is in him and therefore the Prophet wisheth the Heavens to bee astonished at this weake things naturally incline to that which may strengthen them and heavy things will not rest untill they come to the earth because that will sustaine them Oh what a basenesse is this the Heavens are weary of a base wretch that will trust to his owne corrupt heart and renounce grace and Christ and happinesse and all this is the first passage Secondly unbeleefe it makes all means to bee unprofitable that is when a man is setled upon his folly and is resolved to rest upon his rebellious will and to bee ruled by that hee will not looke out nor attend nor give entertainment to whatsoever is revealed to the contrary This makes all meanes unprofitable bee the meanes never so precious and powerfull and though they have done never so much good in quickning the hearts of others yet they never doe these men good this unbeleefe makes all meanes to be spilt upon the ground and they never doe good to an unbeleeving heart as Heb. 4.12 let us feare therefore lest at any time by forsaking the promise of entring into his rest any of you should seeme to be deprived of the grace and mercy of God for the word was preached first to us as also unto them but it did not profit them that heard it because it was not mixed with faith there is the cause be the reproofes and threatnings never so fierce that it would almost affright the heart of a Devill and the comforts never so sweet and the heart of a poore Minister never so enlarged to worke upon the hard-hearted yet infidelity is as the buckler that beares off all and he saith I will never beleeve it all his words fall to the ground and enter not unto the heart no reproofe terrifies no exhortation prevailes the heart is unbeleeving it beats backe and shuts out all this is the reason why the Devill labours to make up this fortresse above all the rest because he knowes if any man have an unbeleeving heart it will make all meanes unprofitable the Devill is content that men have parts and gifts and these will carry a man to hell that hath an unbeleeving heart and therefore many wicked men that are the Devils factours and schoolmasters the first lecture they read to a poore soule that is comming on because they feare that hee will bee wrought upon by the word and the light of the word is come into his minde and his eyes are inlightned and hee saith If this bee true that the word saith then hee saith I am a miserable man the Lord be mercifull to me now see what the carnall wretch that is the Devils familiar saith to him I hope you have more wit than to bee perswaded of whatsoever he saith he speakes out of passion and he must say something and threatned men live long c. thus nothing workes upon him and the Minister had as good speake to the pillars for all comes to nothing and we finde it in nature thus that the not beleeving of any thing keepes the heart from being affected with it as for example thus let there bee never so many threatnings as that the Spanyard hath an invincible navie of so many ships set out the merchant that understands any thing knowes that the Spanyard cannot make such a navie and therefore they beleeve it not but in eighty eight every mans heart begins to shake and every man begins to bestirre himselfe nay let the promise be never so faire and sweet yet if wee are not perswaded of it we never care for his kindenesse and we looke not after it and say these are good words and faire words make fooles faine but wee beleeve it not just thus it is with an unbeleever when hee comes to receive all the meanes of grace from the Lords hands and when all judgements are denounced from heaven and the wrath of God against sinne and the word saith Be not deceived God is not mocked if you soâ— to the flesh and walke after it you shall reape everlasting perdition and againe No adulterer nor drunkard shall enter into the kingdome of heaven they heare these and consider of them and make a small mater of it and will not beleeve it and therefore they tremble not at it and are not affected with that cursed condition in which they are Deut. 29.18 19. when the Lord had denounced all the judgements that could be expressed all the mercies that could bee revealed in the end he saith Take heed lest there be in any of you any root of bitternesse so then when yee heare the words of this curse yee blesse your selves in this estate and say I shall have peace though I walke in mine owne wayes as if he had said if any man come to this that hee can heare all the flashes that come from hell and see hell gaping for him and here the thundering of Gods judgements and beleeves nothing but blesseth himselfe and saith the Prophets and Ministers must say something and they must have leave to speake but yet I shall bee blessed for all this this wipes of all the authority of the truth of God looke as it is in nature that physick which the stomack is not able to retaine though it bee never so good it will never purge and the meat though never so comfortable yet if the stomack cannot take it downe and digest it it will never nourish a man so be the word never so physicall and cordiall yet if a man have 〈◊〉 unbeleeving hâ—â—â—t that he will not take downe the truth it is marvellous certaine that that word cannot profit an unbeleeving heart and thatâ— the cause of that curse which Ieremiah speakes of chap. 17.5 Cursed bee the man that trusts in man and hee that maketh flesh his arme and withdraweth his heart from the Lord for hee shall bee like the barren heath in the wildernesse that it shall not see when good commeth as it is with a barren heath though the seed bee never so good and the seasons never so comfortable and though the sunne shine never so fairly upon it and though the dewes come from heaven never so sweetly yet there will not be a graine of good corne because it is a barren heath so it is with that unbeleeving heart of thine thy heart shall be like a barren heath and thou shalt never see when good commeth much good will come to thy family it may be there will one childe be humbled and it will come to the same chamber one servant is hardened and another saved the wife converted and the husband is hardned and the husband is converted and the wife is wayward and froward still now though the dewes of heaven bee never so comfortable so that one poore soule is strengthened and
another poore heart cheared yet thy unfaithfull heart is like a barren heath no good shall come to thee in it there is no mercy nor consolation for that soule in all the meanes that God continues and vouchsafes this is the maine cause of all the inconveniences that come upon us that after all the meanes continued and multiplied there is almost no good at all done every family is 〈◊〉 a barren heath there is no good comes to such a childe nor to such a servant they are all infidels I doe not meane Pagans but unbeleevers and they receive not that mercy which Christ offers nay it is just that it should bee so that thou shouldst never get good though all the Angels from heaven should come and reveale Gods minde and though all the Devils should come from hell to terrifie thee because unbeleefe drawes away thy heart and pluckes away the soule and makes the power of the truth not to prevaile with it so that when the Lord would come in upon the heart unbeleefe pulls away the heart from the truth of God Rom. 11.20 The Iewes were broken off because of unbeleefe they were cut off from bâ—ing Gods people and from enjoying the meanes of grace that when the Lord would lay hold upon a poore soule unbeleefe plucks the soule from the word that it may turne from it Quest But some will say if unbeleefe makes all meanes unprofitable then an unbeleever should use no meanes at all Answ I answer Yes use all the meanes as may be because the word may take away thy unbeleefe and as thou usest all meanes so labour to have thy heart subdued and overmastered the word tampers thy tongue and thy fingers but looke thou up to the Lord and say Good Lord let thy word be powerfull to come in upon my heart and to take away my unbeleefe Thirdly it is unbeleefe that maintaines all sinne in the heart of a sinner in the strength and power of it so much as may be in this case unbeleefe is the mother of all corruptions and breeds many it nurseth and nourisheth them so that they are fat and well liking and they come up marvellous well that 's the meaning of the Apostles phrase 2 Thess 3.2 That we may be delivered from the hands of unreasonable and absurd men how came they to bee so because all men have not faith that is he that wants faith will never want him and he that wants faith will ever be unreasonable and absurd drunkennesse stares men in the face and out-faces the officers and contempt of God and prophanation of the Lords day and the world carries all before them as if they were the only commanders of the world what 's the reason of it all men have not faith they doe not beleeve the word of God that condemneth those sinnes and which would direct them to cast away those sinnes and therefore they goe on with marvellous violence let the word of God come in publike or private they make nothing of all these but they will have their owne wayes I use to call unbeleefe the protectour of the estate of corruption as it is with some lower states and princes as in the Low-countries and in Germany they are not able to subsist of themselves and therefore they are in league with some other that they may be protected by them and receive succour from them and if they defend them they hope to make their parts good with any so this unbeleefe maintaines any sinne good in its rank and state indeed restraining grace may curbe corruption and keepe in the distempers of the heart but there is nothing that can kill corruption but onely the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of his grace Rom. 8.2 The law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ Iesus hath freed mee from the law of sinne and of death sinne sets up a law and rules in the heart as you shall finde it in your owne hearts pride saith you shall bee proud there is a soveraigne rule and a tyranicall authority which pride expresseth in the heart now the Spirit of the Lord Iesus sets up another law and there is more commanding power in that than in the corruption of the soule and the law of the Spirit taketh away the power of sinne that would prevaile against a poore sinner the law of meeknesse in Christ takes away the law of anger in the heart and the law of patience in Christ takes away the law of impatience and the law of courage takes away the law of cowardize and the law of chastity takes a way the power of uncleannesse so that there is no sinne can be subdued but by the power of Christ and the work of his Spirit now unbeleefe keepes the heart wholly from Christ therefore it can receive no good from Christ and from hence it is that all sinne is maintained in the soule in the full vigour of it there is no unbeleever in all the world but he hath all sinne strongly in him and not one sinne that ever was slaine it is strange to see when unbeleefe previles but a little in the heart of a poore Saint how all other sinnes put out their heads and shew themselves a maine as Luke 22.32 Simon Simon Satan hath desired to sift thee as wheat but I have prayed that thy faith faile thee not Sathan laboured to shake the hold of Peters faith and thereupon many corruptions were expressed in his life because Peter did faile and did not beleeve that which Christ had said to him so soone as unbeleefe prevailes then false-heartednesse exprest it selfe and he presently denied his master and then base cowardlinesse sayes I know not the man and his want of reverence to the name of God discovers it selfe for hee fals to sweare that he knew him not and there was self-love in all these thus you see when a man will not beleeve every corruption breakes forth and that amaine and this unbeleefe will fat all corruptions in the soule and all cursed distempers and makes them fat and well-liking as it is of faith in the spirituall man so it is of flesh in the corrupt man 1 Pet. 2.11 The flesh lusteth against the soule there is a kinde of armour of the flesh and of corruption as well as the armour of the Spirit which procures comfort to the soule sinne hath its armour as well as grace now looke as it is in the spirituall armour of a Christian faith is a shield a shield defends not only the body but all the armour of the body so faith it defends not onely the body but the soule and all the graces of the soule so it is also with this infidelity in regard of a mans corrupt nature corruption it is maintained by infidelity as by a shield it is the shield of a mans corruptions as faith is the shield of the spirituall man I confesse that reformation and the meanes thereof out of the ordinances
your selves the Lord Jesus came into the world in an acceptable time and hee had this covenant made with him that he should draw poore soules out of darknesse and say to the prisoners come forth God the Father hath sent him for this end and hath promised to heare him when he calls for mercy in the behalfe of poore sinners you poore creatures remember this for I doubt not but here are some that have faith though no question there are many of you in this place that are yet unbeleevers and marke this if you were never yet sensible of your unbeleefe in some measure I say you never tooke one step towards grace nor Christ wee cannot helpe our selves wee cannot goe to Christ and Christ cannot come to us so long as this iron barre is betweene us therefore intreat him for his covenants sake to accomplish that he hath said and tell him that thou art a poore prisoner and that Christ came for this very end plead hard with him and say Blessed Redeemer it is but one word of thy mouth say to a poore prisoner and an unbeleeving heart rest thy selfe upon the promise plead thus with the Lord and this is the only way to obtaine this mercy of the Lord it is a sinne that undermines all our comforts and makes all meanes unprofitable whatsoever we have and yet we never looke after it nor care for it Oh hate all sinnes but hate this infidelitie above all other sinnes Vse 3 In the next place is it so that the Spirit of the Father must perswade the heart before it can rest upon the free riches of Gods mercie in Christ then here we collect the difficulty of the worke of faith the conclusion not onely followes apparantly but undeniably that the worke of faith is of marvellous difficulty and beyond the reach of all created power and beyond all the power of man to have power of himselfe to beleeve the promises of God the point followes thus if we cannot come to God further than God carrieâ— as and if we have not legs to goe to the Lord Jesus Christ no further than the Lord gives us legs I meane spirituall power then let us all know it and conclude it that it is not only hard and difficult but also impossible for man from any power of his owne to rest upon Gods promises by the worke of faith it is true indeed we can doe thus much wee can settle our selves upon our owne bottomes and rest our selves upon our owne sufficiencie and if a man have parts and gifts wee can wee doe naturally stay our selves upon these broken props and our soules goe that way naturally as heavie things naturally goe downward this we can doe out of the power of corrupt nature thus we are our selves and we rest upon our selves in a word when a man findes parts and gifts and meanes and then to rest upon God and to cast away all carnall confidence and to cast our selves upon the free grace of God it will cost us much worke to doe it nay it is beyond all our power it is the worke of God to doe it I speake this the rather for these two ends First to crush that vaine conceit of a company of poore ignorant creatures that make it a matter of nothing to beleeve in the Lord Jesus Christ and thinke it is all one to beleeve as to say they beleeve Oh they beleeve in their sweet Saviour and man nor Devils shall not perswade them to the contrarie hence is that speech of a poore creature standing by a man ready to dye when a Minister of God who was there did exhort him to rest upon the promise and urging him to many things that way and the poore creature complaining much that hee could not beleeve here upon his carnall friend standing by said Beleeve thou foole canst thou not beleeve A man would not imagine it almost but that experience hath made it good and others have informed us of it that many wise judicious men are not ashamed to speake it that if people knew the current of the Scriptures and were able to understand the texts of Scripture it were not so hard a matter to beleeve as men would make it but men are not able to dive into the nature of Scriptures and to conceive of the mysteries thereof which if they did it were an easie matter to beleeve this is the conceit of a company of poore deluded creatures though otherwise learned and judicious follow these men home and you shall finde this true that either they are carelesse in their families or else they have some tang of some strong corruption now to overthrow these two let mee doe it upon these two grounds First see the difficulty of the worke of faith in regard of the feeblenesse of all that a man hath or doth to make him beleeve Secondly in regard of the extraordinary greatnesse of the worke that may hinder a man from doing what he may for the first that which may dis-inable all those things that a man expects comfort from there are but foure things that a man can put any confidence in first the excellencie of his parts or secondly the height of his privileges or thirdly the performance of his duties or fourthly the powerfulnesse of those meanes that he hath to summe up these briefly and to overthrow them first hadst thou that strength of judgement sharpnesse of wit and quicknesse of memorie and all naturall abilities none of all these can make thee able to worke faith in thy selfe Matth. 11.25 26 27. when Christ had considered the hardnesse and difficultie of the worke of faith and had upbraided the Pharisees because they beleeved not at last hee saith I thanke thee heavenly Father Lord because thou hast hid these things from the great and wise of the world and hast revealed them unto the babes it is so Oh Father because it seemed good in thy sight if wisedome and prudence and skill in arts and sciences would have carried men to Jesus Christ the Scribes and Pharisees would then have gone to him but God hath hid these things from the wise and prudent so it will be in every man bee his parts and abilities never so great for the worke of faith it is not in thy parts and gifts but in the Lords revealing it is not thy selfe but the Lord that must worke it babes themselves shall have these things revealed and shall be made able to beleeve when thou with all thy parts and gifts and wisdome shalt be cashiered and thrown downe to hell and then he shewes the reason of it All things are delivered to me of my Father and no man knoweth the Son but the Father and he to whom the Sonne will reveale him so then it is not what we have or doe but what the Lord Christ can and will doe for us all the wit in thy head and all thy skill and parts will never make thee able to know the Father
of a Christian most easie if faith makes the life of a Christian so easie then the soule must needs bee contented but the nature of faith is this to cause the soule to rest upon God and his promise and therefore it makes the life easie Secondly it furnisheth the soule with all necessaries and therefore it gives the soule full content First of the former the life of the beleever is the life that hath most ease with it and brings most delight with it there is no life under heaven more free from tediousnesse and hath more ease and liberty than a Christian course let a mans condition bee what it will bee faith makes a mans life most easie I use to compare the conditions of them that want faith to the cart that is from his wheeles they draw heavily and they are in great extremitie and they tug and toile but it will not be drawne with any ease or good successe so unfaithfull soules sinck in their sorrowes upon every occasion and their lives are tedious and wearisome but faith sets the cart upon the wheeles and carries all away easily and comfortably you must know thus much it is the hardest matter in the world to get faith when we want it but it is the most easiest life in all the world and hath the most delight in all the world if wee have but skill to use it wisely when we have it and it gives most ease and quiet to a man in all his conversation and this faith doth two wayes First because faith hath a skill and a kinde of slight to put over all cares to another that whereas the unfaithfull heart beares all the cares in himselfe and so he sinckes under them this is the cunning of faith to put over all to another wee take up the crosse but faith hurls all the care on Christ as Matth. 11.29 Take my yoke upon you and you shall finde rest to your soules faith makes a man rest and goe on easily in a Christian course and all his troubles are removed and therefore he may goe on easily in a Christian course all his troubles are removed therefore he may goe on with ease whereas the unfaithfull heart is as Saint Iames speakes Chap. 1. 15. Like a wave of the sea tossed to and fro and Esa 57.20 There is no peace to the wicked but they are as a raging sea which cannot rest faith sets us to the worke but it layes all the weight of the worke upon another it is an easie matter to lye under the burthen when another beares all the weight of it this is the difference betweene a faithfull soule and a man that lives by his wits and shifts looke as it is with two ferry men the one of them hals his boat about the shoare and cannot get off but tugs and puls and never puts her forth to the tide but the other puts his boat upon the streame and sets up his saile and then hee may sit still in his boat the winde will carry him whither he is to goe Just thus it is with a faithfull soule and an unbeleever all the care of the faithfull soule is to put himselfe upon the streame of Gods providence and to set up the saile of faith and to take the gale of Gods mercie and providence and so he goes on cheerfully because it is not he that carries him but the Lord Jesus Christ whereas every unfaithfull soule tugs and puls at the businesse like the ferryman with his boat upon the shoare and can finde neither ease nor cheare nor successe because hee thinkes by his owne wits and power to doe what he would but faith will keepe a man upon the streame of Gods providence and labours for the blessing of God to carrie him along and so he rests himselfe upon the free grace of God this makes the life of faith marvellous easie and free from trouble and makes the soule goe on wonderfull cheerfully though the childe were naked yet if the father would buy cloth and see the garment fitted for him hee only to take it and put it on were not this easie and though the childe were even hungerstarved yet if the father would provide meat and drinke and set it before him hee only to eat it were not this easie when the Lord had made a marriage for his Sonne Luke 14. the text saith He hath killed his fatlings and drawne out his wines all things are ready come therefore to the marriage this is all that God lookes for at our hands all the dainties of life and salvation peace pardon power against corruption whatsoever we can want they are all prepared onely come unto the marriage take this mercie and feed upon these precious comforts that the Lord Jesus Christ offereth unto us if you want grace and if you want wisdome and power and holinesse and patience you may goe to Jesus Christ and take it it is bought and paid for already onely take it and put it on is not this an easie life what would you have brethren nay yet more if more may be added all that the Lord requires in this case is in a manner to stand still and see what the Lord will doe for him as in the 2 Chron. 20.15 to the 20. when Iehoshaphat was in a great straight and knew not what to doe the Lord saith to him The battle is not yours but Gods stand ye still and see the salvation of God it is easie conquering when a man may stand still and overcome by looking on the adversaries then in the 19. verse the Levites the Sonnes of the Kohathites fell to singing and to praising of God when as yet they had not strucke one stroke in the battle but the truth is they had the victorie by faith they beleeved the Prophets of God the Prophets had spoken it and therefore the King did beleeve it that it should be done and it was not only so in that extraordinary case of his wherein the power and life of faith was expressed but it is that which appertaines to all the Saints of God in their spirituall combats and what God did for the King in that case the same hee doth for all the Saints therefore Rom. 8.38 The beleevers are more than conquerers and why so there is no man can conquer before hee come into the field and contend with his enemies but wee overcome before wee fight how through him that loved us if wee looke upon the Lord Jesus Christ and keepe our hearts by a holy bent to the promises of life and salvation we shall overcome our enemies this is the first ground Secondly faith makes the life easie this way because it sweetens all our afflictions even those that are most hard and full of tediousnesse and withall faith apprehends all troubles and afflictions and faith apprehends the faithfulnesse of God ordering all for his good and that 's the reason why all troubles are digested comfortably without any harshnesse at all
how David makes the conclusion David was almost disquieted and his heart disquieted with the prosperitie of the wicked therefore hee said if this bee so then have I cleansed my hands in innocencie and washed my hands in vaine yet marke how hee recovers himselfe againe saying Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none in earth that I desire in comparison of thee therefore it is good for me to draw neere to God Let the wicked take the world and their profits and their pleasures yet there is nothing in the world that I desire in comparison of the Lord Jesus Christ and his grace and goodnesse Consider it sadly the wicked have much wealth and friends and means Oh thou beloved faithfull soule thou hast the rich treasury of grace and mercy to inrich thee all this whole world is nothing to that rich treasury of mercy which faith brings in as Salomon saith in Ecclesiastes Money answers all if a man have money he may buy meat to feed him and cloth to apparell him and cover him If money will doe so much what will mercy doe then thou hast not wealth nor friends nor meanes but thou hast mercy from God in Christ and this will answer all it is better than friends and meanes and all therefore if thou hast this let thy heart be contented and know that thou hast a childs part and thy lot is fallen into a marvellous faire ground Secondly as faith takes off all miseries and supplies the want of them so in the second place faith takes away all feares for the time to come alas saith the soule friends and means and wealth are good but they continue not ever What if sicknesse come and if povertie come what shall I doe then and so the heart shakes at the feare of evill Now pray marke how faith cures all feares and takes off the edge of all those inconveniences that may bee brought upon a man as in the 112. Psalme 7. He shall not bee afraid of any evill tidings why for his heart is fixed and he beleeveth in the Lord for although heaven and earth may shake yet God and Christ and the promise will never faile and hee casting his heart there by faith he must needs hold What is it that a man may feare we feare the power and policy and malice of the devill and his wicked instruments now faith outbids these and faith rests upon the precious promises of God in Jesus Christ and faith perswades the heart that they have no power but from God and they cannot use that power further than God gives leave and they cannot have successe further than God goes with them they can goe no further than God gives a Commission Now sayes faith that God which orders the power of all these he is my God hee is the God of Hosts and none of all the armies can either command peace neither can they hinder peace therefore I adde a little more faith levies new forces from heaven against all the sorces of earth are the wicked politique then sayes faith the Lord is much more wise and is able to dash all their enterprises and are the wicked fierce and violent then faith lookes to God where there is more power to defend him than they can have to hurt him doe wee see the wicked maliciously bent and full of spleene to wrong the people of God faith sees mercy and goodnesse in the Lord that is more able to releeve us than all the wicked can bee to hurt us faith sayes if hell gates were open and all the devills were about thy eares they can doe nothing further than God gives them power and gives a Commission to them therefore I may bee quieted because God is more able to keepe me than they are to hurt me Thirdly faith it is that inables a man to all duties for imagine a man had all the power in his owne hands and had no wants present nor feared no wants nor troubles to come if yet hee were not able to doe what God required this would disquiet his heart therefore by faith the Lord inables a man to doe every duty that the Lord commends to him or expects from him It is the ground that Paul contents his heart withall Phil. 4.13 I can doe all things through the power of Christ which strengtheneth me I can bee poore and beare it and I can be rich and yet not surfet of the world I can doe all but how through the power of Christ inabling me therefore famous is that of Abraham Rom. 4.18 God had promised Abraham a childe and yet his body was dead and his wife barren and it was even against nature for him to beget a childe or for her to beare any Now how doth God provide for this Abraham under hope beleeved above hope and in the 21. verse because he was fully perswaded that he that had promised it was able to make it good there was no hope in nature that Abraham should beget a child his body being dead and no hope that she should beare any therefore faith goes to God that was able to quicken them hast thou a barren a dead heart as theirs was and therefore thy soule complaines and thou saist I shall never be able to goe through the worke required I know it is the complaint of many poore soules Oh send faith up to Heaven and beleeve in him that is able to succour you and to quicken you to whatsoever he requires content thy heart in this manner and say when thou findest thy heart dead I am ignorant but the Lord is able to inlighten my blinde minde and I have a dead barren heart but the Lord who is the God of power hee is able to quicken me and to releeve a poore dead blockish sinner Hee beleeved in him saith the Text which calleth things that are not as if they were Abraham is not lively and Sarah is not fruitfull but the Lord can make them so and therefore faith goes to God so thou shalt be wise and have thy heart quickned to whatsoever duty concernes Gods prayse and thy owne comfort so then hee that hath what hee will or can desire or stand in need of and he that hath all his feares removed and is inabled to doe all duties commanded nothing more can bee added to this man therefore why should not hee be contented what would you have you poore beleevers Quest Then the question here growes namely if it be so that faith makes a mans life easie and gives him full contentment in every condition then why is it thus as Gedeon said so if faith thus contents the soule then how comes it to passe that those poore silly creatures are so troubled with discouragements and discontentments and none so cast downe with their owne basenesse and vilenesse as they they hang downe their heads and goe drooping all the day long either saith one I have not faith or else if I have faith then why
is it thus with me Ans I answer the fault is not in faith that it doth not or cannot lend supply and succour to thee but the fault is in thy selfe either in thy carelesnesse and ignorance that knowest not when thou hast faith or else in thy unskilfulnesse that thou dost not imply that faith which thou hast faithfully for thine owne good I speake only of the beleever I goe not about to prove that he which hath not faith can be contented no hee hath a worme in his bosome a conscience which will plague him and torment him for ever Quest But to speake of one that hath faith if it be so that it bringeth such contentment how may a man that hath faith improve it to have this contentment from it Ans For answer hereunto the rules are foure which a man must use to have this contentment whereby he may be carried on in his course and goe on singing to Heaven remember still that I speake of a man that hath faith Rule 1 First labour to gaine some evidence to thy owne soule that thou hast a title to the promise make thy title good It is not enough for a malefactour in prison to have a pardon granted him but he must know that the pardon is granted before he can bee contented therewith haply the King hath granted it and the Prince hath begd it but the malefactour is not contented untill hee know it It is not enough that a poore begger hath a friend or a rich unkle that will doe much for him or that he hath setled a great estate upon him and his heires after him but hee must know it before he can be contented with it it may be he is not neere by a hundred miles and he is troubled with misery and poverty because hee knowes not of it just so it is with a faithfull soule there is never a poore beleever but hee is rich in faith though hee live in a smoaky cottage and lives meanly and goes barely yet all these revenues of faith are his Heaven and Earth and all is thine thou poore beleever But what is all this to the matter if thou hast no evidence that all this iâ— thine this is the fault why poore Christians goe drooping and are overburthened with their sins and their miseries because they see not their title to mercie nor their evidence of Gods love in 2 King 6.16 17. when Elisha was beset with an armie of his enemies the servant of the Prophet said good Master what shall we doe they are many and wee are few they are armed and wee are naked then said the Prophet Lord open his eyes that he may see and God did it and then hee saw those hils full of fierie charets and then hee saw that there were more with them than were against them and then hee was quiet now the armies and the chariots were there before but hee saw them not and therefore he could not be quieted so it is with every faithfull soule the Lord hath caused his Angels to pitch their tents about the elect wee have God on our side and Christ and the Angels but wee see not our privileges and the interest that wee have in the mercie and goodnesse of the Lord we crie out as he did good Master what shall we doe so many sinnes and so many corruptions how shall we be succoured the Lord open our eyes that we may see the free riches of his grace and the fulnesse of his mercie this is all ours that we may see his love to us and his Angels waiting upon us and his blessing going with us this would quiet our hearts I will not now adde how you may doe this and how you may make your evidence cleere that you have a title to mercie this were to multiply a division upon a division only judge your estate by the word and take one evidence from the word as good as ten thousand this is the fault of people it may bee some evidence fits them marvellous well but because they have not all they will have none at all in truth but throw away all and therefore I say judge your estates by the word and not by carnall reason and if you have but one promise for you you have all in truth though all be not so fully and cleerly perceived this is the first rule Rule 2 Secondly labour to set a high prize and a wonderfull great account of the precious promises of the Lord thus estated upon thee for thy good and make account of the least promise of grace above a thousand worlds looke what account you make of the sufficiencie of a thing so much content you have in that thing whose sufficiencie you see and doe esteeme of now because the promises of God and the riches of Gods love in Christ are most worthy of our love and most sufficient for us let us therefore be contented with them above all and then wee shall bee contented though wee want all Luke 12.32 when the Disciples were in great trouble and expected more and further miserie after the death of Christ the Lord Christ saith to them Feare not little flocke it is your fathers pleasure to give you a kingdome if you finde hand measures and feare troubles and expect persecutions on every side yet feare ye not you shall have a kingdome and that will carry you through all occasions are you imprisoned and persecuted and disquieted feare not you shall have a kingdome and then you shall bee comforted and quieted for ever you little ones that are poore and meane in the world and you lye as stepping stones for every base wretch to tread on you are persecuted and despised and scorned but feare not you shall have a kingdome the want of this is the cause of all that discontentment that is in the hearts of Gods owne people which are beloved of him and respected by him Take a poore man in misery his children crie for meat and the mother saith goe to bed poore babes you shall have meat when the Lord sends it brethren this is hard I confesse but now if a friend should come and give him two hundred pounds a yeare for ever this would make him goe away contented because this would provide for him and his now I propound a promise to this man the Lord hath said he will never faile thee nor forsake thee what is this worth of your money one man offers him two hundred pounds a yeare and I offer him a promise now couldst thou thou poore miserable creature bee content to take this two hundred pounds a yeare and leave the promise and bee content that the Lord should not pardon nor comfort nor save thee I presume thou wouldst not doe thus now will a thousand pounds content thee and will not the promise the reason is thou prisest the money because it is temporall and thou seest it and thou prisest not the promise because it is spirituall and thou seest
it not take a man in contempt and disgrace and scorne and no man lookes after him if this man were regarded and honoured of men all were well and the man were healed and fully contented now the Lord accepts of thee thou faithfull soule he hath honoured thee so farre as to make thee his sonne and to give thee a kingdome why should honours comfort thee when the honour of Gods love and favour in Christ will not doe it the reason is because wee are carnall and see not these if a man could but see his privileges and say the world shames mee but God accepts mee this would quiet his heart for ever therefore take speciall heed of those earthly and carnall affections that take off the price of the promise an earthly heart would have more than it ought I say take heed of these affections and know that thou hast a title to the promise and know that one promise and the sweetnesse of Gods mercie in Christ is better than all the honours in the world to advance thee better than all the riches in the world or than all the parts that ever any scholler had prize these at this rate and then thou canst not but be contented with it Rule 3 Thirdly labour to keepe the promises ever at hand that you may have a ready recourse to the promise at a trice and at a turne and that you may not have the promises to seeke when need is what is it to mee though I have a thing in house if I have it not at my need if a man should say I have as good cordiall water as any is in the world but I know not where it is what folly were this to set his bottle he knowes not where haply the man is ready to swound and dye and he saith I have as good cordiall water as any is in the world but I know not where it is hee may swound and dye because hee knowes not where his waters are so thou hast a title to rhe promises of grace and thou settest not a high price upon the promise but out of thy carelesnesse leavest one promise here and another there and thou hast taken up thy heart with the world and when miserie comes and thy heart is surcharged thou saist Oh some comfort to beare up a poore fainting drooping soule my troubles are many and I cannot beare them Christ and a promise would have done it but you throw them in a corner it is your owne carelesnesse and that breeds all your miserie keepe the promises at hand and let them be within your reach he that is ready to faint often will bee sure to carry his bottle in his pocket and will set it at his beds head every night that whensoever hee should faint hee may finde it presently now for the Lords sake let me intreat you to be wise for your poore soules there is many a fainting and aguish fit and qualme comes over the heart of many a poore Christian persecutions without and sorrowes and corruptions within therefore keepe your cordiall about you and bee sure that you have it within your reach and have it not to seeke when you have need to use it I would have a poore Christian acquainted with the promise in the darke that so at midnight when God frowns and the Devill threatens and corruptions boile within you you may have it ready at hand set the promise ever at your beds head take one and bring another and be refreshed by another and goe singing to your graves and to heaven for ever in the 63. Psalme 5 6. verses marke the connexion of those two verses My soule shall bee satisfied as with marrow and fatnesse but when shall this bee looke the 6. verse When I remember thee upon my bed and meditate upon thee in the night watches he was now in the wildernesse but when he left his house he tooke the promises with him he would not leave his cordiall behinde him my soule shall be satisfied enough Lord enough I am satisfied as with marrow but when is all this when I remember thee upon my bed hee remembred well where hee had set the promise when I remember the mercie of the Lord that though all my friends be gone yet I remember thy mercie that doth all and thy faithfulnesse and goodnesse that satisfieth all fully I le warrant you that the promise will fetch you againe though you were fainting and going away Rule 4 Well I have now a title to the promise and though I have not wealth nor honours nor friends yet I have a Christ and though I cannot doe this and that yet I hope to goe to heaven in spight of all the Devils in hell Now lastly be sure to drinke a heartie draught of the promise if a man drinke a little and spet it out againe it will never doe him good therefore stand by the promise feed and drinke heartily of the promise and as Eliphaz said Iob 22.21 Acquaint thy selfe with God bestow thy selfe upon the promise every houre whensoever thou dost finde the fit comming this is the only way to finde comfort it is the counsell that the Lord Christ gives to his spouse Cant. 5.1 the Lord hath fitted all things to refresh his poore children and marke what the manner of feasting is â—nd what every man that comes to this feast must doe Eat Oh friends and drinke yea drinke abundantly Oh well beloved the word in the originall â—s in drinking drinke ye cannot be drunken with â—he Spirit as ye may with wine therefore drinke â—bundantly looke as it is in nature were the greatest dainties in the world prepared and the tables furnished send a hungar-starved man to the place if he only take a bit and away hee must needs goe away an hungred the fault was not in the meat for there was enough for him but the fault was here hee did not feed heartily hee did not drinke it downe thinke of it sadly you faithfull Saints of God they come now and then and take a snatch of the promise and then comes feare and temptation and persecution and all is gone there is enough in the promise for thee and all thy posteritie but to take a snatch and begone and to thinke of the promise and flye off againe presently this is the cause why you come â—hirstie and goe away thirstie you come discomforted and so you goe away it is your owne fault brethren experience tels us thus much take a poore distressed soule much burthened and pinched and he wants the sense of Gods love and is not worthy the ground hee goes upon bring this man to the word of God and to holy confeâ—ence and the like and hee will say I blesse God my heart is very well quieted now and hâ—s trouble is over and his temptation is gone yet hee is no sooner gone from the congregation or from the place of conference but hee is the same man that he was before still doubting of
Gods love and quarrelling with himselfe and his owne comfort and the fault was here hee onely tooke a snatch and away but remember this the same promise that you heard in the publike keepe it and be ever sipping of it I confesse saith he my heart was cheered and when I heard such a Minister preach and such a Christian pray I was exceedingly comforted and had sweet assurance of Gods love but now all is gone the fault is your owne for if you would cleave to the promise it would doe you as much good in the private as in the publike it would comfort you at one time as well as at another many times it thus befals us Ministers when we preach of consolation and when wee pray and conferre wee thinke that wee are beyond all trouble but by and by we are full of feares and troubles and sorrowes because wee take not full contentment in the promise wee drinke not a deepe draught of it therefore take heed of these two things whereby poore Christians are marvellously couzened First take heed of attending to the parlies of temptations and of making a pursuit of every temptation of the Devill if you will listen to his chat he will make you forget all your comfort for the Devill casts in a bone of dissention and we snarle at it and parly with him about it and so lose the comfort of the promise therefore talke not with Satan at all but hold your hearts to the truth of the promise that is revealed to be yours Secondly be not alwayes quarrelling and cavilling with carnall reason but when you have any evidence keepe it and let it not be taken out of your hands for it is certaine that there are many poore Christians that cannot but confesse that they have faith and are wonderfully comforted but when they are gone from the Minister their old carnall reason comes againe and they attend not to the promise but to their carnall reason and from hence the devill gets marvellous ground against a poore soule therefore when you have the promise cleared from the Word heare nothing from Satan against that but from the Scripture but throw away all cursed carnall suggestions hold you close to the truth and if the devill can say any thing against the truth so t is if not then hold to it Now is it so that faith makes the life and soule of a beleever full of comfort and contentment then you faithfull soules take heed of ever repining and murmuring against the Lord and when you finde these distempers rising in your hearts still them and suffer not your hearts to murmure against God nor to bee discontented with his good providence Oh saith one I have no sense nor feeling of his love nor I cannot doe this nor that and would you have a man contented in this condition how now soule why did God never give thee any grace nor stir up thy heart to beleeve yes t is true I have a little faith if it were not for that what should I doe it is all I have I have nothing but that Oh for shame hold your peace nothing but that is it all come to nothing is Christ and Grace and Heaven and mercy and all come to but a so much hath God given thee faith and wilt thou not bee content with it seeme the consolations of God small unto thee is it nothing to thee that Christ and Heaven is thine is it nothing that God hath given you his Sonne and that Christ hath shed his heart-bloud for you and made you able to rest upon him is all this nothing It is as much as if a poore man had a thousand pounds given him and hee were angry with his friend for his kindnesse Oh gâ—e your wayes cheered and comforted and murmure no more but say as good Iacob did I have not this nor that but I have a Ioseph in Egypt my sonne iâ— alive I will goe and see him ere I die He is better to me than friends and means and all so goe your way and take heed how you offend the riches of Gods free grace nothing but a heart to beleeve Oh for shame bite thy tongue when it saith so and say Lord I have not friends nor means nor this nor that but I have a heart to beleeve and to rest upon thee Lord cause mee to rest upon thee more and more it is enough that I have a beleeving heart though I never see a good day besides It is enough that I have seene Christ my Saviour and my Redeemer c. It is a mâ—rvellous folly and shame and trouble we dishonour God and Christ and all and make the wicked peoplâ— say that swearers and drunkards goe on merily laughing and rejoycing and these Christians they goe drooping If this bee grace saith one God blesse me from it there is a strugling a striving to get a little grace assurance and power against corruption and yet for ought I see they have no more comfort than I have Oh walke humbly yet cheerfully and comfortably hast thou any wants faith will supply them hast thou any feare of trouble for the time to come faith will cure all feares art thou weake and unable to doe this or that duty faith will inable thee to every duty required doe but beleeve and rest upon Christ and grace and strength will come and thou shalt bee able to doe all things through Christ that strengthens thee Oh saith one this is a lesson for a Paul and for the great standers the Cedars in grace I answer Paul doth not say hee did it of himselfe but by the power and grace of Christ strengthning him and Christ hath as much strength and grace for thee as hee had for Paul if thou beleeve in him and rest in him therefore goe thou thy way and let us all be comforted thou and I and every poore Saint of God may doe well through the grace of Christ that strengthens us Thus much of the fourth use Vse 5 Hence in the next place wee conclude that as the difficulty is great in getting faith so the benefit of it when it is gotten is every way as great therefore it is a ground of admirable comfort to all the servants of God that through his mercy have received this grace at his Majesties hand they ought to be wonderfully comforted because they have it and so to bee thankfull to him that hath wrought it you see the difficulty of faith and the benefit of it Now hath the Lord wrought this in thy soule then goe thy way comforted for what thou hast and be thankfull to him who hath given it thee The Lord gives one man riches and another man advancements and another hath great parts and another large revenues thou seest all these and thy teeth begin to water at them and thy heart begins to bubble and repine at this and thou saist the Lord hath given riches to this man and honours to that
and it is ready to cousen the touch I meane of able judicious Christians but now this faith never came from the right place for if it were right it must come from the mine of mercie and from God and the worke of his Spirit from thence thou hast it if thy faith bee sound Rom. 10.17 Faith comes by hearing the word faith is not in us it comes to us it is not wrought or purchased by our owne worthinesse or power the word is the conduit to convey it but the Spirit of the Lord Jesus is as the fountaine that sends it into the soule so that you must not thinke to have faith here first but hast thou found faith here first then it is not of the right but if the good Spirit of the Lord hath wrought upon thee if it be so then thy faith is right but some will say we heare the word diligently and we doe attend upon God in his ordinances and have wee not faith I answer hearing is the meanes to convey it but it is the Spirit of the Father that conveyes it by the meanes and that Spirit thou must receive by the meanes if ever thou have it there is the pitch of the point Object But how shall we know when the Spirit of God is pleased to worke this in our soules and to put it into our soules by hearing Ans There is all the difficultie and it is worth the while to consider sadly of it for I know the worke of Gods Spirit by the word in the soule by these particulars First the Spirit sheweth to the soule of a poore sinner that hee hath no faith nor no abilities 〈◊〉 worke it of himselfe this the word workes first but we are not yet at the bottome Secondly when the Spirit hath shewed thee that thou art an unfaithfull soule and that thou hast to power to worke it of thy selfe then the Spirit of the Lord by the word breathes upon the soule of a poore sinner and by the sweetnesse thereof overmasters and breakes downe all those secret cursed distempers of heart that brought under the soule and kept him in himselfe every man is brought in bed with his corruptions as Iob speakes namely thus The Spirit of God in the word drives the soule to a restlesse disquiet and makes him see that hâ—e must not stay here but hee must seeke out and goe from hence and seeke for another condition or else hee must perish for ever rest not here saith the Spirit you must bee gone and the soule saith If I rest here I am an undone man therefore hee will out and seeke for another condition Thirdly as the Spirit of God doth overpower those distempers and drives the soule to a restlesse condition till it looke out for a better condition so lastly the Spirit of God shewes that poore soule an impossibilitie of finding mercie but from God and therefore turnes the face and sets the frame of the heart that way to looke God-ward and to be for God and this is the meaning of that place Iohn 16.9 when the Spirit of God comes to bring faith and peace to the conscience the text saith Hee shall convince the world of sinne because they beleeved not on him this place implies two things First the Spirit of God sets downe all sinfull carnall pleas and pretences that the heart can make and perswades the heart that he is in a sinfull and most lamentable estate and condition and must change Secondly it convinceth the heart that there is good to be found in another and with that the heart is turned that way to looke towards a Saviour and to wait for him till mercie come from thence and then if thou canst say this to thy soule The truth is Lord I was an unbeleever and an unfaithfull creature and the Lord made mee see it and left me not there but by the power of his Spirit and the ministery of the word he drew me from thence and laid fast hold on me and left some remembrance of his indignation upon my soule and made me restlesse in myselfe and opened mine eyes to see a better way and said thou must goe on in another way and in a better way and so opened to me a glimpse of his mercie and goodnesse so that the foule is now comming on to God where this is it will never end but the Spirit of God will worke faith and faith is now comming home to the soule and the soule will come home to the flood oâ— conversion is nothing else but a setting of the soule for God as it is plaine in all the phrases of the Scripture this is the first triall Triall 2 Secondly if thou wilt judge thy faith whether it is true or noe doe thus faith makes choice wholly of Christ and resolves to match with Christ onely the meaning is this it chuseth Christ wholly for now the match is made up when once the soule comes to beleeve the preparation to the match was before in desire c. but now the match is made up and now the soule makes choice of Christ as he on whom he will bestow himselfe he chuseth Christ wholly and that you shall perceive thus when he is thus cald home by faith whatsoever it is that Christ brings the soule chuseth all of that whatsoever belongs to a Christ and is of Christ and in Christ he chuseth all Christ Christ is not only the Saviour of all his but hee is the God of all grace and hath grace to bestow upon the soules of all those that beleeve in him now faith chuseth the holinesse of a Christ and whatsoever grace is in Christ the soule chuseth that as much if not more than pâ—â—don of sinne and removing the guilt of sinnes there is the authority and rule of Christ and faith chuseth that and had rather to be under the government of Christ than under any other Scâ—pâ— in the world and faith chuseth the life of Christ whatsoever life Christ lives that life faith will chuse the woman is now content to conforme her selfe to the estate and condition of her husband she must not thinke to live as she list and to be in this place and that place and that fashion therefore thinke of it that thou didst never as yeâ— beleeve in a Christ except thou didst chuse the patience and holinesse and meeknesse of a Christ and the rule and life of Christ many Lords have ruled over us saith the text when thy cursed corruptions come and would rule thee if then thou art content to bee ruled by a Christ and to live and converse as he did this is an undoubted argument that thou chusest Christ aright nay thou must chuse the shame and disgraces and the crosse of Christ and the crowne of thornes too that is that whatsoever it is that comes with a Christ thou must make choice of it and say I will have Christ and all that comes with Christ as it is with a
cannot but confesse it Sort. 2 The second sort to be reproved are the carnall Gospellers which live scandalously and live and trade in their wickednesse they come and heare sometimes and they thinke that God is much beholden to them for it one man will sweare and another will be tipsee in a corner and beare some good will to the truth but fall off grosly another cheats and cousens and keeps false balances and yet professeth the Gospel and thinks it a high dishonour if hee be not respected now though these will come to the meanes of grace yet if the word of God doe but reveale these mens sinnes and sharpen a reproofe against them and come somewhat keenly upon their conscience they are all up in armes and make defiance for their sinnes and their great Diana of Ephesus is like to fall and they will rather part with Christ and Gospell and all than with their lusts these men thinke they have mercie in a string and Christ at command and power to beleeve and you cannot perswade them that they doe not beleeve What a swearing faith and a cheating faith and a drunken faith the Lord keepe mee and all Gods people from it you cannot perswade them but that they beleeve in a Saviour and Christ must save them this Doctrine will dash all their vaine hopes they that beleeve will submit to the Spirit of grace they that beleeve are effectually perswaded by the Spirit of the Father in the promise and they are pluckt away from their lusts and corruptions but these take up armes and are in open defiance for their sins they that beleeve are humbled for faith will not grow but in a heart that is humbled and contented to part with sinne and selfe and all but these keepe both sinne and selfe and all they that have faith rest upon the freenesse of Gods grace and depart from their corruptions and only cleave unto and rest upon Christ but these rest upon their corruptions and goe from God and Christ and grace few of these people come into the congregation but if there be such a fellow here this day Oh that God would meet with him and let him see that he hath no faith What thou faith faith comes by hearing and not by resisting faith comes by yeelding and submitting to the Spirit in the word and not by opposing it therefore know that faith never came in that wretched heart of thine 1 Iohn 3.6 Whosoever sinneth hath not knowne him nor seene him and in the 8. verse Hee that committeth sinne is of the Devill that is hee that makes a daily trade of sinne and whose occupation is nothing else but rebellion he that committeth drunkennesse and adultery and makes a trade of them shall never see God nay he is the childe of the Devill but he that beleeves is not the childe of the Devill all the world knowes that now if thou trade thus in sinne thou art the childe of the Devill and therefore never hadst faith and continuing thus thou shalt never have it Iohn 5.44 How can you beleeve saith our Saviour which seeke honour one of another and seeke not the honour that commeth of God so say thou to thy owne soule how can I beleeve and yet harbour my lusts and attend to them and doe not yeeld to the truth of God revealed and made knowne to mee mee thinkes these owles should not abide the light of the sunne brethren all that we intend towards you it is that you may see sinne and what mercie wee desire for our owne soules the same wee desire for you but you must see your want of faith before you can know the way to get faith therefore suffer us to trade freely with you Oh get you home and howle you drunkards and swearers and enemies of God and of his grace get you apart as the leper did and cry I am uncleane I am uncleane Oh that the Lord would worke upon thy conscience and make this truth good to thy soule this day get you now into your corners and there cry and say I have an unbeleeving husband you wives joyne with your husbands and cry with your children and say we are all unbeleevers and he that beleeveth not is condemned already Now if any cavill be cast in upon thee and if the devill would make thee presume and if some carnall friends come to thee and say if you beleeve the Minister he will make you goe out of your wits and no man must have faith but they that are of his sect therefore say as it is spoken of Esau Hebr. 12.16 He sold his birth-right for a few pottage and so Iudas he sold Christ for thirty peeces of silver so when the devill would cast in some temptations and make you to presume reason thus with thy owne heart and say Esau sold Christ and Heaven and Grace and all for a few pottage and Iudas was a wretch and is now in Hell this day and as his heart was full of covetousnesse here so it is full of horrour in hell but I have sold Christ for a base lust and for my pride and envy and abominable lusts and drunkennesse which I get nothing by What I faith nay the devils have as much faith as I have When Pilate said to the Jewes whether will you that 〈◊〉 let loose to you Barrabas or Iesus which is called Christ they said not Christ but Barrabas did they beleeve in Christ which would have a wretch and a murtherer before Christ let your consciences speak◠plainly nay they loathed and crucified Christ and did not beleeve in him thou saist true thou that dost refuse the Lord Christ and chusest thy murther and pride and spleene and envy and all dost thou embrace a Christ and rest upon him the Lord perswade your hearts and make you know that you are these carnall Gospellers and such as have no faith You that have beene brethren in iniquity and you that have beene drunke together and adulterous together if any of you have hearts to pray goe and pray together and if you cannot pray then cry together and say wee are these carnall Gospellers and these ignorant persons that have no faith If any of you have more gifts than others goe and pray for poore drunkards and say Good Lord we have beene led by our lusts and have made a trade of sinne and to this day we have no faith Oh goe home and as you have beene sinfull together so howle together who knowes but the Lord may be gracious to you If the Lord would but give you one dramme of faith it would save you from all that drunkennesse and adultery of yours is it not worthy the having Oh stirre stirre for the Lords sake and as you have provoked one another to sinne and wickednesse so now provoke one another to goodnesse and goe seeke God one for another and every morning and evening pray for those sinfull soules of yours that have beene polluted by others
Matth. 2.1 2. verses the Scribes and Pharisees could tell you where Christ was to bee borne and bid the wise men goe to Bethlem but they would not goe themselves so these men have wisedome enough to say here is the way to Heaven but their owne hearts are not humbled nor framed to walke in that way and to goe home to Christ nor to receive mercy from him Know therefore you that are weake that beleeving carries two things with it in the phrase of Scripture First the assent of a mans judgement to the truth when a man is so farre convinced that hee sits downe and acknowledgeth that whatsoever the Word hath revealed his judgement saith it is all true and yeelds fully with the whole streame of his minde this is that which the Scripture sometimes calls beleeving and it is nothing but the bare assent to the truth saying it is so Secondly when the will embraceth that good in the promise formerly revealed when the will of a man claimes Gods Statutes and casts his heart and hope upon the goodnesse of the promise Now the judicious professour hath faith in the first sense hee assents to all the truths of the Scriptures and acknowledgeth that they are true the devills in hell have this faith too and all that have no more than this faith shall goe to the devill too as Iames 2.19 in the 14. verse the Apostle saith if a man say hee hath faith and hath not workes will that profit him and in the 19. verse thou beleevest there is one God thou dost well the devils also beleeve and tremble that is they assent to all the truths of Scripture that God reveals and this is the beleeving of this great man which wee have discovered in his fashion when a man can dive deepe into the Scriptures and understand all the texts and unty every knot and dispute all questions and is able to judge of the reasons of them is this thy faith the devill himselfe will outbid this faith If cunning and judgement and knowledge be thy faith the devils have this faith they know the Lord Jesus Christ is the Sonne of the most high God they know that the mercy of the Lord Christ is great and that they shall never taste of it they know that the Lord Jesus shall bee the Judge of all the world and that hee shall condemne them they assent to it and tremble at it Marke 5.8 when our Saviour came amongst the devils they said We know thee who thou art even the holy one of God and Acts 16.17 there was a Devill in a woman which was a Diviner and a Witch and she said These men are the servants of the living God which shew unto us the way of salvation it was the Devill in the woman therefore the Apostle bad him goe out of her because he hindered their worke I wish that the Devils in hell might not rise up in judgement against many of our unbeleevers which will not yeeld to the truth of God this is the bottome which beares up that kinde of boldnesse which many carnall creatures have upon their death-beds which never had the power of grace in their soules Come to a carnall man that knowes nothing savingly and sanctifyingly and he will say I beleeve in the Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart I have admired at it and sought to know the bottome of it and it is this they thinke this is beleeving to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is come into the world and that they are not infidels they assent unto the truth and yeeld unto it in their judgements they thinke this is faith and that it is sufficient too Oh you poore creatures that have your friends or parents or husbands that thus lay hold upon Christ and are perswaded that this is faith understand what the meaning is they only assent to the truth but never make application to their owne soules What 's that to thee that thou knowest the way to life and salvation and never walkest in it and what 's that to thee to heare that the Lord Christ came to save sinners and to know that there is mercie enough in him and yet never partake of it Thirdly I come to the evidences which make it cleare to us that he hath no more than this and those evidences are two First you shall finde this man past feare and almost carelesse but he is without doubt of the difficultie either of getting or maintaining his faith hee never comes to question whether hee hath faith or no and he accounts them silly Christians that are so daily troubled and disquieted for their estates whereas he carries the matter very confidently and scarcely lookes after it but beares it out with marvellous boldnesse and confidence which in truth is an undoubted argument that this man never knew what this faith was our Saviour saith Strive to enter in at the straight gate for the gate is narrow that leadeth to life and few there are that finde it and so the Apostle 2 Pet. 1.5 Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure yet this man makes it a matter of nothing nay when many seeke and labour and take much paines and never attaine it by reason of their former strength of it as Prov. 1.28 They shall call upon me but I will not answer they shall seeke mee early but they shall not finde mee yet this man thinks to have it with a wet finger that faith which is wrought by the Spirit of God in the soule and is thereby kept it hath daily opposition in the soule so that every godly man that hath faith he must fight against the Devill and all enemies and oppositions yet this man never comes to blowes the Lord Christ found it thus by experience and thus the Apostles and the Saints of God found it yet this man hath found out a shorter cut and an easier way to heaven and he is not ashamed to confesse it and say If a man were exercised in the word and if men had but his skill and were but trained up in his schoole it were not such a hard matter to get faith and so it is true for they may easily get that faith which thou hast Secondly follow this man home and close with him in his private chamber and attend upon him in his other occasions and there he hath no power of godlinesse in his life he hath practice without any pith and a course without any kernell and hee performes superficiall duties without any strength all his duties are as dry as a chip only he carries all out with this he is wise and learned and judicious and this answers all if hee doe omit or neglect duties and doe them carelesly this comforts him that hee is a judicious man it is certaine this man wants that grace which he seemes to have hee that hath so much faith without wavering must needs have his conversation answerable he that hath so much faith in
I have heard of much comfort and peace and that the Lord would be good to his and would save and deliver those that trust in him you told me so did you not Had you told me of shame and disgrace and miseries which I now finde I could have told how to answer you and how to order all my occasions when the Sunne riseth hot upon him and troubles and afflictions befall him then hee leaves Christ Jesus and all rather than hee will part with his comforts and ease and the like thus it is in Matthew 8.19 A certaine Scribe seeing Christ like to prove a great man and thinking to have a good booty out of him he said I will follow thee whither soever thou goest he thought Christ would bee preferred and if I can but get under his wings I shall be a made man for ever Take heed what thou dost saith our Saviour if thou wilt follow mee thou must take all miseries that come I have not a bed for my selfe and therefore if thou want one thou must be content The Foxes have holes and the Fowles of the aire have nests but the Sonne of man hath not whereon to lay his head so hee was gone and wee heare no more of him The second ground upon which he commonly departs is this when the good Word of the Lord comes home close to his heart and reads the blacke side as well as the white side when the Word of God pursues him home to his conscience and shewes his sinnes and discovers his base practices and tells him thus it is true there is mercy and salvation enough to be had in Christ but there is none for such as will not part with all for Christ nor for those that will not lose all to finde and entertaine Christ Now when the Minister comes to shake this mans hold and to tell him you follow after Christ for the loaves your profession is faire but your heart is naught there is no sound worke nor saving grace wrought all that you have done is lost and come to nothing then hee is profesly at daggers drawing with the truth of Christ and saith what is it all come to this This man doth not preach as hee was wont to doe what mercy was he wont to discover and what consolations would hee reveale to all the poore servants of God he preacheth now as if he would vex men and not comfort them as Iohn 6.34 The Disciples were very desirous to have their meat drest for them and Christ saith to them I will doe it for you the bread of God is he which commeth downe from Heaven and giveth life unto the world Oh said they Lord evermore give us of this bread well saith Christ you shall have enough of it I am that bread of life hee that commeth to me shall never hunger and he that beleeveth in me shall never thirst he that eateth my flesh shall never hunger the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speake they are Spirit and they are Life this must be done by faith spiritually now marke these men in the 60. verse they fall to open quarrelling and opposing this is an hard saying who can beare it as if hee had said you desired evermore to have of this bread but you must bee humble and feed upon me by faith and lay downe all confidence in parts and gifts Oh then they loathed this bread and care not for it it will not downe this is bread that no man can digest what thus holy and thus heavenly minded to man can endure it So from that day forward they went away So Gal. 4.15 16. the Galathians there did entertaine the Word of the Lord marvellous contentedly and their hearts were ravished therewith insomuch that they could have beene even content to pluck out their eyes to doe the Apostle good and yet presently after they would have pluckt the soule from his body and all this was because hee would not dally with them nor nourish them in their sinnes but spoke the truth which would have pluckt away their corruptions from them When the Prophet came to the widowes house and bade her take meale out of the barrell and draw oyle out of the cruise all the while that this lasted he was welcome but when the childe died she saith Oh thou man of God art thou come to call my sinnes to remembrance by slaying my sonne when shee conceived that he had seene her sinnes shee falls out with him so it is with this temporary beleever all the while the meale and the oyle continue and while a Minister will tell them of ease and liberty and prosperity and preach smooth things and fawne upon them in their base distempers and daube them up all this while the Ministers are welcome but if a man come to shake their hypocrisie and when they begin to say what a dissembler and a cheater and yet a professor then they say Oh thou man of God art thou come to shake the hold of all the hope we have wee are not able to endure it it is knowne by experience that commonly such persons turne the most bitter enemies against that truth which formerly they have professed and seemed to love Thirdly how comes it to passe that hee falls short and what wanted he you see he had something like unto faith the Saints of God were affected so was he the Saints of God had some taste of the sweetnesse of the Word so had hee where is the fault then I answer the failing was in three particulars and they are very faire and open First this was the wound of the temporary in his course he received the Word suddenly and with joy and so hee came not to the promise aright but came to just nothing for in Gods ordinary course of proceeding this is the course whereas he did receive the Word suddenly with joy he should have received it leasurely and with sorrow as Ier. 50.4 at that time saith the Lord The Chilren of Israel shall come they and the children of Iudah together going and weeping shall they goe and seeke the Lord their God and they shall aske the way to Zion with their faces thitherward If ever you would seeke the Lord and have your faces towards him you must goe weeping and mourning and this was the way that God led them and that wisely too as Ier. 31.9 They shall come weeping and mourning and with mercy will I bring them Againe I will lead them by the rivers of waters c. There are even rivers of supplications in their mouthes they powred out their hearts there and what came afterwards their hearts were filled with comfort and consolation it is that which you shall observe the Lord appoints this and it is the portion which God the great Housholder of heaven and earth prepares for his hee prepares it for them and therefore all you proud and stubborne wretches and unbroken hearts meddle not you with comfort first he discomforted
before ever you can bee comforted as for this temporary beleever his eyes were never opened convictingly to see his sinnes and his heart was never burthened with them nor loosned from them that so the Lord Christ and his comforts might be setled upon therefore in Hosea 2.14 I will allure her and bring her into the wildernesse and speake friendly to her and I will give her vineyards from thence and the valley of Achor for the doore of hope first in the wildernesse and then in Canaan first in sorrow then in comfort the valley of Achor is the valley of consternation and then the doore of hope this is the way toward Zion but this temporary hath invented a new way to Zion he doth as Ruffians doe they will goe in the â—oad way so farre as they finde good way but when they come into bad way they breake over hedges and finde a new way whether lawfull or unlawfull they care not so doth this man he takes his comfort as soone as ever it comes hee snatches at all the comforts of the Gospell and thinks they are all his owne and all on the sudden he is a forward professour at three or foure dayes warning and his heart snatcheth at every Sermon of mercie and he is as good a Christian by and by as many a poore soule which hath tugged hard for it many a yeare but his conscience was never awakened he never felt the burthen of his sinnes nor the wrath of God against him for his sinnes this temporary promises to himselfe nothing but ease and peace and prosperity therefore when sorrowes and troubles and miseries come he goes away with as much speed as he came like Ionahs gourd that came up suddenly and withered as suddenly so in the beginning of the yeare hee is a hot professour and before the fall of the leafe he is gone againe the wound of this man was this he wanted the worke of the law not onely that through-worke of the law which none shall have but such as have faith but also that legall worke of the law which should breake and hammer his heart this is the stonie ground-hearer he wanted depth of earth what that was wee shall dispute anon when occasion serves the meaning is thus much in the generall the plow which should have given earth and mould enough it was the sharp law which should have torne up his proud sturdy rebellious heart all in peeces but this man never had this worke and therefore his proud heart beat backe the worke of the promise that it never had roome in his heart comfort and consolation will never sticke nor abide upon a proud heart nor upon a stubborne and unbroken heart which was yet never broken for sinne plaisters may be made but they shall never finde ease and comfort by them as they desire you may goe away comforted and say God is mercifull and Christ is gracious and he came to save sinners and though our workes will not justifie us yet the Lord Jesus Christ will save us your plaister will not sticke thus he failes in the entrance to the promise Secondly he failes in his application of the promise for the ground upon which he goes or the cause and reason which carries him to roame after the promise it is onely the generall notice of mercie and of the salvation that God offers the glimpse and the shine whereof being let in upon the heart and passing by jogs the soule and so the heart snatcheth at it he comes to heare the abundance of mercie and the rich redemption and plentifull goodnesse of Christ to pardon all sinnes the sinne against the holy Ghost onely excepted and the freenesse of mercy to all sorts of sinners be they never so many for number never so vile for nature yea he heareth that there is a fountaine set open for all to wash in when he heares this hee saith that 's well then I may come to heaven too and there is some hope that I may receive mercie never considereth the condicions upon which God promiseth and bestoweth mercie whereas the man that is a true beleever hath not only a common kinde of apprehension of the mercie of God in Christ but he hath a particular application of it I will open it thus that every man may take something the temporarie hath a common hear-say of mercie and the common hear-say of mercie in the bare letter of them as that Jesus Christ came to save sinners it is in the bruit of it onely but the humbled soule hath it under the hand of the Spirit and the Spirit seales it and makes it good to him the promise of life slides and passeth by the temporary beleever but now the Spirit of God settles it and it takes a deep and a through impression in the heart of a beleever by application the Spirit of God only as it were jogs the heart of a temporarie beleever but he sets it on deeply upon the heart that is humbled and fitted for it as the Angell said unto Gideon The Lord is with thee thou valiant man so the Lord faith to every humbled soule not onely that the Lord is gracious and mercifull for thus he saith to the temporarie beleever but he is gracious and mercifull to thee and hee will speake peace and comfort to thee which hast spoken trouble and terrour to thine owne heart as in the 1 Cor. 2.12 Wee have not received the Spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are given to us of God God not only gives us good things but he hath given his Spirit that we may know that it is he which hath given us these good things Thirdly and lastly this temporary beleever failes and fals shott upon this ground also I told you the soule is effectually perswaded to rest upon the free grace of God and to fall into the armes of his mercie now the temporary failes also in the worke of relying that which feeds his hope and stayes his heart is nothing else but the taste and present sweetnesse which he had in the promise he relyes upon the taste and sense which hee had by the sip of the promise and hence it is that when the taste is gone the sweetnesse of the present push is gone that then there comes trouble and sorrow more heavie and more able to vex him than all the other was to comfort him then hee begins to repent him of his match and thinkes that all his profession will not quit cost now when that taste and that comfort which he had failes him and sorrow and afflictions come and overpowers his sweetnesse and comfort then hee fals away but a man that hath true saving faith rests himselfe not upon the taste and sense of this good but upon the goodnesse of God in the promise and upon the all-sufficiency of God in the promise he seeth more good in the promise than in all the
contents of the world and hee seeth more certainty in the good of the promise than in all the good things here below and therefore he will rather lose all than the promise and will rather trust to the goodnesse of God in the promise than to any thing else besides though riches bee never so great and honours never so glorious yet the faithfull soule knowes that the world promiseth much and performes little and it cousens us but the Lord is true in all his promises and what he hath promised the soule beleeves therefore saith he though my sense and taste and all faile and if many sorrowes and miseries come yet I will rest upon the promise for there is a greater good in the promise than in all the world besides to this I may adde the other which I call the discouraged hypocrite as there are too many of them in these dayes such as heretofore have carried a faire sayle in the wayes of godlinesse but when his honour and credit dies hee goes away some have died for griefe they are all to be referred to this ground so long as the winde lasted he stayed it out but now hee is not able to hold up his head unlesse he be lifted up by the chinne and by the comfort of his profession but he that is a gracious man though all the frame of Heaven and Earth stagger yet he is supported and beares up himselfe upon the promise if it bee a saving worke I know he may stagger yet hee recovers himselfe and at last lifts up himselfe upon the promise A skilfull swimmer useth his bladders but yet if they faile hee recovers himselfe upon the streame and beares up himselfe upon that so the gracious heart is content to use comforts and contentments and whatsoever hee hath to beare him up with more ease yet if all these bladders breake and if all friends and meanes and honours goe and if heaven and eaâ—th meet together yet hee is able to cast himselfe upon the streame of the promise and so to goe on cheerily as Psalme 73. the Prophet saith I am thus and thus the bread of affliction is my meat and teares are my drinke and I am buffeted every morning if the wicked rout and revell it and have more than their hearts can desire then have I washed mine hands in vaine it is better for me to be as they are than to be as I am he began to staggar and he was at a stand yet hee saith God is good to Israel though persecuted and afflicted yet God is good to Israel nay in the 26. verse he saith My heart had failed but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever as if hee had said the heavens and the earth may haply shake and shrinke yet so long as God is strong my heart is strong and so long as he remaines my comfort will continue even for ever though a man especially if he be ingenuous may shrinke under disgrace yet hee beares up himselfe upon the promise and though he lose his life yet hee shall not lose a Saviour therefore he stayes himselfe upon him thus you see where this temporary failes there is no great matter in him but that it is stange to see what a man will doe for a push we leave him and only intreat the Lord to be mercifull to him and let him see himselfe if there be any of this kinde here this day doe not goe away and say to heaven I must all on the sudden because I have a little taste of the word no no that 's not the way it will cost you dearer than so rather goe and see thy sinnes and breake thy heart for them and then there may bee comfort and consolation for thee God hath the garment of gladnesse but you must be in heavinesse first you may goe on as you are but then you shall never come to happinesse Sort. 2 The second sort of counterfeits is the sturdy hypocrite let us shew you first what wee conceive of him and how we tearme him I call the former a faint-hearted hypocrite he must have his Aqua vitae and his cordials of comfort ever with him and God must provide a dish of comfort for him or else hee shall never have his custome but this is a sturdy hypocrite and one that will not out of the pit for a small matter but he will stand his ground as a man doth in warre and will undergoe much trouble and stand stoutly in the profession of religion and yet though he be somewhat stout in his way yet his heart is naught too and that you may know him and that hee may know himselfe let us doe three things First let us see what he can say for himselfe Secondly wherein his falsenesse appeares and the evidences of it Thirdly the difference betweene him and a beleever indeed First what this man is and how farre he goes I cannot better plead for him than he can plead for himselfe and what he saith you may beleeve him he professeth t is true indeed the temporary did meerly cousen himselfe because he was cheared before he was humbled and abased but for his part he knowes how he came by his faith it cost him hot water before he had it he had his evidence with much labour and therefore this is his comfort hee hopes it is good and of the right kinde for saith he the Lord hath opened mine eyes to see my selfe and to discover my sinne unto my selfe and made knowne the vilenesse of my sinne and my misery by reason of the same the word of the Lord was as a hammer to this stubborne heart of mine I had almost the heart of a Devill but the Lord met with me and broke me in sunder nay it was a fire to let in the flames of hell into my conscience thus I came by my faith so that seeing my sinne and my vilenesse I see a need of a Christ and I see such a worth in a Christ in so much that he hopes and professeth that all the shame and disgrace that can befall him in a good course shall never daunt him from that good way which hee sees chalked out before him nay and that which is the pinch of him hee hopeth hee shall rather dye than renounce that fruit of the Gospell which he hath received and which hath comforted his soule thus now hee hath beene humbled and hath seene a need of Christ and he may dye in the defence of the religion hee professeth and yet never savingly beleeve in the Lord Jesus Christ nor partake of the mercie and goodnesse in him 1 Cor. 13.3 there the Apostle saith though I give my body to be burned and have not love it profiteth me nothing it is a rule in Logicke those disjunct propositions both parts whereof are true the whole must needs bee true if either part be false then the proposition must needs bee false if the position bee true then
of God you that travell up and downe mourne in secret and say Here is every man busie in the world one makes haste this way another that way so many chapmen and clothiers going up and downe every weeke and yet how few goe home to Christ by faith and receive mercy from him in truth I condemne my owne soule because I have not a heart to mourne for them we reprove their sinnes and condemne them for their sinne and wee must doe so but where are the heart bloud petitions that wee put up for them and where are the teares that wee make for the slaine of our people if they will needs goe to hell let us bury them with bitter lamentations and not only should we doe this but also you tender hearted mothers and you that live one with another you tender hearted wives you have husbands and you prize them and love them and some good you have from them consider this when you see your husbands take lewd courses let your hearts breake over them and say Oh woe is mee for that poore husband of mine Iohn 3.18 He that beleeveth not is condemned already hee is cast in heaven and in earth both by law and Gospell there is no releefe for him can you sit by a condemned husband and eat and drinke and lye by a condemned husband and never mourne for him haply you follow him from one taphouse to another and still a condemned man doe you love your husbands if they were poore you would mourne for them if they were dead you would mourne for them and say alas I am left a poore widow but he is a condemned husband and hath not a dram of faith and yet you cannot mourne for him mee thinkes the sight of this should make you sinke againe but alas our hearts are flinty and we cannot mourne and the like I may say of you mothers there are many of you whom God hath given children beautifull obedient and wise Oh mourne for them that so many come into the world and so few come home to Christ by faith the Lord be mercifull to us in this last age of the world wee meerly scramble for our owne comfort and regard not our salvation therefore get you home and mourne for them and say Oh these poore children which I have brought up and had much comfort from they are poore condemned children this were enough to sinke us Secondly it should bee a ground to make us search into our selves and thinke that the staffe stands at our doore imagine the hand-writing comes upon every man then let every man take his portion and say No faith no Christ and so consequently no salvation by Christ looke to thy owne soule and say Have I found faith in the Lord Jesus Christ if there be not then I can tell my owne doome the sentence is past already shall we thinke of these and yet live quietly lay this under your pillow and say How can I sleep a condemned man and sleep what if God should take away my life ere morning hell is prepared and I fall into it let every man take account of his owne heart and say Have I any faith husband wife childe hast thou any faith It may be saith one I have it as well as another but how doe you prove it and how will you doe if you have it not no ignorant person no carnall Gospeller none of all these hath faith what so many men that have so much knowledge and yet fall short of faith and salvation Lord what shall become of mee is there any faith here make it good then or else yeeld the day and confesse that there is no faith and then there is some hope say I am a thousand miles off from faith I never knew what it was to be thus inlightened and to bee wounded for sinne I can commit sinne and play with sinne but I never knew what it was to be wounded for sinne I never knew what it was to be zealous in a good course there are many strict truths that I have not a heart to receive I confesse I have no faith now if you yeeld this then there is some hope that you may get out therefore take this advice goe to some faithfull humble experienced Christian and to some faithfull Minister and intreat them to advise you how to get faith but doe not goe to a faithlesse heart that hath no savour of grace nor godnesse in him how can he tell that which he never had experience of make privie search whether ever you had grace or no and if not then labour to know the way how to come to it if a mans state did lye at hazzard he would have every mans opinion and hee would inquire of this man and that man whether his evidences were sound and his title good and he would spare for no paines not cost much more should we doe it for the title of eternall life there is much conterfeit faith in the world and thousands perish upon this ground like motes in the sunne and never know where they are till they are in hell therefore goe to the Lord by prayer aske the counsell of some faithfull Minister and never rest till thy heart is perswaded of it Vse last It is of exhortation you that see the way walke in it you that know the way I should set an edge on your desires and endevours labour I say hard for this blessed grace as for you that have beene labourers you are to be encouraged continue your prayers and quicken those endevours every day more and more you that never did yet you are to be provoked to the performance of the dutie and give no sleep unto your eyes nor rest unto your selfe untill you have this and here are two things to be done First you must labour to get it Secondly you must labour to use it when you have it First you must labour to get faith we ought to make it our daily taske and study the aime of a mans desire the maine white and marke that we should shoot at in all our labours I would not have men account this as a matter of course a dutie reserved for a rainy day as sometime I have observed here in the countrie they will delay their base services their lesser necessities for a rainy day when they can do nothing else but O let us count it the most necessary duty and not to reserve faith for a sick bed an old age a crazy body only to get faith to goe unto Christ when weare going out of the world no this is unseasonable this is unreasonable and therefore take this home to you and make it the maine businesse of thy life to get faith I would have a Christian count all the endevours that he did besides his duties and performances to count them all losse wherein he hath not made some step in this glorious grace why alas your hearing your sacrifices will never profit you unlesse
doe this though they can doe nothing else they cannot pray they cannot understand they cannot remember they cannot subdue their corruptions but they shall be taken away with company and fall into that sinne but they can beleeve in Christ with all their hearts thus we see that every man thinkes it in his power and within the compasse of his abilitie naturally to rest upon Christ Now marke what followeth why should a man desire that hee hath why should he seeke for that he hath attained why should he labour to be possessed of that which is in his owne power and he is possessed of already if I can beleeve naturally if it be in my power to goe to Christ when I list why shall I use all meanes and receive abilitie to doe that which I can doe by my owne power and this I take to be one maine ground why the endevours of men are taken off from attending and why the labours of Christians are taken off from seeking often this blessed precious grace of faith there are many grounds why men are driven to this kinde of conceit there are many reasons that make way for this conceit As first to beleeve is a spirituall thing betweene God and thy owne soule to pray and reforme belongs to the outward practice but to beleeve is a closure of the heart with an entertaining of the Lord and his truth and the giving way of our soules thereunto now because men cannot see their faith therefore no man will yeeld but he doth beleeve Secondly men conceive that it is an easie matter to take of mercie from Christ and say they is there any man that will not have mercie is it such a hard matter to receive favour offered or to take a gift when it is tendered unto us Thirdly these doe apprehend that the assenting to the Gospell of Christ wherein is revealed the riches of Gods mercie is all that is required in faith when the Lord saith He hath sent his Sonne into the world that he hath prepared salvation in him and wrougt redemption through him they acknowledge and assent to the truth and conceive this is whole to beleeve upon this ground poore creatures thinke it is in their power to beleeve and take grace and helpe from Christ though they cannot helpe themselves therefore they labour not to get grace from God to doe this worke because they thinke they can performe this worke by their owne abilitie and power The cure of this hindrance is this and it lieth specially in these three meditations First see thy selfe and convince thy owne heart how thou art cozened and thy conscience how thou art deceived in common sense when such thoughts creepe into thy minde and reason thus were it in my power alone to beleeve or in any mans power else would any man goe to hell for want of beleeving if it were in my power or any mans power else to get faith would any man perish for want of faith Take a little experience from those that lie on their death beds A riotous wretch that hath run headlong against the Lord and his truth a man that hath lived stubbornly and stoutly under the means of grace and hath taken up armes against God and his grace he lieth gasping and then hee lookes to Heaven and considers what shall become of him The Minister saith he must renounce himselfe and apply Christ and his promises to his soule Oh saith he I cannot beleeve the Lord will save mee and pardon me and comfort me I cannot rest upon the promises of God What I such a sinner and saved what I such a sinner and comforted I cannot beleeve it if all the Angels in Heaven tell it me is it in this mans power to beleeve now when he sees Hell open before him and the devils ready to receive him doe you thinke hee would rush into Hell if hee could beleeve and escape it Secondly looke into the depth of thine owne heart and weigh seriously thine owne weaknesse by the ballance of the Sanctuary and thine owne infirmities by the blessed Word of the Lord and see that thou must not onely have a gift from God to take it God must not onely give a man a gift but power to receive it Ioh. 3.27 No man can receive any thing unlesse it be given him from above therefore judge your owne abilities not according to your owne conceits and overweening imaginations but judge by the Word and judge righteous judgement that a man can receive no good thing unlesse God give him power The gift must come from above and the power must come from above whereby hee must receive it Thirdly consider and settle thine owne heart in this same determination and resolution that there must be a supernaturall power put forth to make thee beleeve or else all the power under Heaven cannot furnish thee with sufficiency thereunto a man is able to doe the condition of the first covenant as to observe the condition of the second covenant he is as well able to keepe the Law as to beleeve the Gospell unlesse there be a power to inable him Iames 1.18 Her hath begotten us according to his owne will by the Word of truth a childe cannot beget himselfe So it is here spiritually as there naturally the Lord doth beget us according to his owne will it is not in our owne will to beget our selves as the Pelagians dreamed it is not in our will to dispose of our hearts to take Christ when we will to let him stand at doore so long as we see fit and take him in when we see fit but it is the Will of the Lord that must beget us and not our will that can beget our selves Therefore that faith that groweth upon the ground of thy owne naturall abilitie it is a fancy it is no sound faith God must come down from heaven to thy soule before thou canst goe up to heaven againe faith must be first wrought in thy soule before thou canst be carried to God by faith there must bee a power in all means above all means there must be a spirit in all endevours above all endevours to helpe us to beleeve or else wee shall never beleeve while the world standeth therefore avoid those proud imaginations of heart when men thinke they may refuse grace take grace when they list shut Christ out of doores over night and take him in the morning it is against sense and there is nothing more crosse and contrary to the power of grace No goe secretly betweene God and thine owne soule and confute it what I Lord and my parts Lord what in my will Lord to beleeve and in my power and so forth no if all men and Angels should conspire together and all the Ministers under Heaven joyne together to work faith in my soule it will never bee the power of Angell Men or Word will never worke it but it must bee the power of the Lord that must worke it
as we may see Ephes 1.18 The same power that brought Christ out of the grave must bring the soule to Christ or else it will never come while the world stands be perswaded of these things they are true chuse whether you will beleeve them but the Lord make you beleeve them that you may receive comfort to your soules We come now in the second place to those second kinde of hinderances which doe not deprive a man of the title to Christ but through our own folly and weaknesse they stop us from comming so readily to Christ wee have interest in a promise but through our owne ignorance and Satans subtilty wee goe not so readily to a promise wee have title to The ground of all these hinderances is one and that is this namely when men out of carnall reason contrive another way to come to Christ than ever God ordained than ever the Word revealed when wee set up a standard by Gods standard when out of the heady haughty imaginations of our mindes wee make other termes and conditions of beleeving than ever God made then ever Christ required we lay bars in the way and lay boults upon our feet and manacles upon our hands and then wee complaine wee cannot goe the fault is your owne and the impediments are many because carnall reason is fruitfull to devise and Satan followes and fires these imaginations I will onely mention three hinderances which are mainly observable by which many a gracious heart is wonderfully damped from comming to and receiving benefit from the Lord Jesus Christ Hinderance 1 The first hinderance is a desperate kinde of despaire and discouragement which sometimes oppresseth the soule of a distressed sinner the distressed soule lookes upon his owne corruptionâ— and worthinesse and sinfullnesse and then hee dares not come to Christ hee viewes the number of his sinnes so many the nature of his abominations so hainous the continuance of them so long the soule of a distressed man sends his thoughts affarre off and viewes all both the abominations of his life and the distempers of his soule and seeth his iniquities mustering up themselves and Satan helps him forward for this is his policy First hee will keepe a sinner if hee can that hee shall not see sinne and then all will be whole and the sinner thinkes there is mercy enough in a Saviour and why should I trouble my selfe but when hee sees the sinner will pore upon his sinnes then hee shall see nothing else but sinne so that he dares not goe to God for mercy this is that I desire to trade in and follow Satan as far as I can Now the sinner that is in this case tell him that mercy is in Christ and redemption offered in a Saviour hee dares not heare of it hee dares not thinke of it what saith he shall I once imagine or thinke that there is any mercy for me that I have any title to or interest in Christ that were strange and the soule is here foyled and fastned upon his owne misery and never goeth to the Physitian he stares in the wound and never goes to a Saviour for a man is as well kept from going to Christ by poring continually upon his distempers by despaire as by resting upon his owne sufficiency by presumption hee that seeth not his sinnes he thinkes he hath sufficiency and therefore will not goe to Christ and when a sinner seeth and feeleth the burden of his iniquities he dares not goe to a Saviour this is the course of Satan and here in hee is marvellous cunning but this should not be any discouragement to our hearts from comming to the Lord Iesus Christ for I beseech you observe it for whom did Christ come into the world for whom did Christ die when he came it was not for the righteous that needed him not but for the sinners that had condemned themselves and hee came to save those that could not save themselves 1 Tim. 1.15 It is a faihfull saying Christ came to save sinners whereof I am the chiefe Zachary 13.1 There is a Fountaine set open for all people to wash in all sorts of sinnes and all sorts of sinners there is a fountaine set open for them bee they what they will be be they what they can be their sins never so great the time never so long and the hainousnesse never so vilde come they that will come come and welcome There was a fiery Serpent in the wildernesse and there was a brasen Serpent to cure them that were stung so if thou beest stung with the fiery Serpent of sinne Christ is the brasen Serpent that will heale thee Esay 43.24 When the Iewes had tyred God with their wickednesse and wearied him with their distempers yet the Lord for his owne Name sake pardoned all their iniquities and remembred their sins no more I say this though our sinnes bee never so hainous never so vile and abominable in themselves if the soule can see these and be burthened with these they doe not hinder the worke of faith and the worke of mercy I would faine have you thinke of that which I now say it is not our sinfulnesse properly I meane our unworthinesse but our haughtinesse that hinders us from comming to a Saviour it is not a mans basenesse and sinne that hinders him but his owne haughtinesse that lets him from comming to a Saviour we would have somewhat in our selves and not all from Christ therefore when we have nothing in our selves we are loth to goe to Christ were your sinnes lesser and your holinesse greater then you would goe then marke what followeth thou goest to Christ not because of the freenesse of his grace but because thou hast something in thy selfe to incourage thee to goe to Christ thou wilt have something before thou wilt goe to Christ and therefore wilt not have all from Christ therefore it is not thy basenesse and thy sinnes that hinder thee from Christ but it is thy haughtinesse and pride Object But Satan suggests and the soule replies I dare not come to Christ not onely because of my sins but because it is the freenesse of the offer of grace that I have rejected Answ Why this will not hinder thee neither provided thou canst be humbled for this though thou hast cast off the kindnesse of the Lord he will not reject thee and cast off thee if thou wilt come unto him Esay 57.18 the text saith for his wickednesse I have smitten him and was angry with him yet he turned after the way of his owne heart by this means Iudah should never be recalled but marke what the Lord addes I will heale him and restore comfort unto him as if he had said poore soule I have striven with him but he scorned me I offered him grace he received it not but went after the stubbornnesse of his owne heart hee seeth not his misery but I see it and I will pardon it Ierem. 3.2 Yet returne to mee saith
the Lord there is no time to late if a man have a heart to returne Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers that is thou hast followed many sinnes and addicted thy selfe to many distempers yet returne unto mee If a man put away his wife for fornication will he receive her againe no he will not doe it yet you have had many base haunts and backdoores yet returne unto me after all that stubbornnesse whereby you have opposed my grace and slighted my mercy yet returne unto me and receive grace offered There is no limit of the pardon and free grace of God offered to a poore sinner except the sinne against the Holy Ghost the Lord stands and waits and knocks if any man will open though he call till hee bee hoarce and knock till he be weary yet if any man will open bee the drunkard never so base the adulterer never so vile if hee will open the Lord will come and will bring his comforts with him and will sâ—p with him and restore consolation to him Object But you will say Aye that 's true if I had but a heart to mourne for them see my sinnes I doe and I cannot but acknowledge my corruptions but I am not sensible of the load that lyes upon me I cannot be burthened with the evils that oppresse me I have a heart not only that doth not but that cannot mourne Answ I answer this hinders not neither provided thou beest troubled because thou canst not bee troubled provided thy heart be weary of it selfe because it cannot be weary of its sinnes if this be thy temper and frame this hinders thee not from the mercie of God which is offered and thou needest for that Christ that freely pardons sinne can and will and that easily breake thy heart and fit it for pardon Micah 7.18 The Lord pardons sinnes and subdues iniquities not because thou pleasest him but because mercie pleaseth him wherefore did the Lord shew most mercie to Saul when he shewed most hatred against him Saul is posting to Damascus and breathing out threatnings against Christ the Lord is opposed by Saul and the Lord in the meane time pities and shewes mercie to Saul Saul persecutes him and he makes his moane to Saul Saul Saul why persecutest thou mee the bloudy jaylour that opposed the meanes of grace the Lord overcame him by the meanes of grace he that resisted the meanes of grace was brought home by the power of the meanes to the Lord Jesus Christ Object But the soule saith this is that which overthrowes mee you are now come to the quicke this very word is like a milstone about my neck that will sinke my soule into discouragement for ever for this is my misery the meanes doth not better me though Saul and the jaylour were bad enough yet they were bettered by the meanes but this is the hopelesse condition of my heart prayer will not worke the meanes of grace will not prevaile sometimes I thinke Lord this Lords day will doe and this sermon will worke it but to this very day the word of the Lord profits not nor workes upon mee for my good and is there such a heart in hell is there any hope that I shall ever have grace when the meanes which should worke grace will doe mee no good this is the last plea of the soule and indeed of Sathan whereby hee holds many a distressed foule in hand that God intends no good towards him Answ I answer yet this hinders not but at least thou maist have a hope of mercie to support thy heart in the expectation of good and that I may speake cleerely observe three passages First the word and meanes doe worke if it doe make thee more sensible and more apprehensive of thy owne hardnesse and deadnesse though indeed it workes not that good and after that manner thou wouldst and desirest and expectest yet if it make thee see thy owne basenesse and observe thy owne wretchednesse in regard of that body of death that hangs upon thee it workes marvellous well after the best manner because it is after Gods manner though not after that manner which thou desirest and seest best in thy owne apprehension observe it that physick workes most kindly that makes the patient sicke that salve that drawes before it heales cures most safely so it is with the word it workes kindly when it makes thee sicke of these distempers when it shewes thee the stubbornnesse and deadnesse of thy owne heart and makes thee apprehend that a broken spirit is the gift of God and not of man and meanes therefore the Lord will make thee looke to him to worke it and continue it therefore know that this is a worke of God for to see deadnesse is life and to feele hardnesse is softnesse onely beware that there bee not a haunt of heart and distemper that thy soule cleaves to and pants after and thou art loth to part withall for then the word will harden thee because thou hardenest thy selfe but if thou art content that the word should lay open the bowels of thy heart and discover what ever is amisse and reveale what ever is crosse to Gods command and plucke away every corruption and distemper then if the word reveales any hardnesse in thee know that the word workes comfortably that reveales hardnesse and basenesse and doth drive thee out of thy selfe to God for succour Secondly thou art the cause why thy heart is not softned thou art the fault why the word prevailes not because the distemper of thy heart hinders the worke of the word and the dispensation of Gods providence and the tenor of the covenant of grace when a man will stint the Lord and limit the holy One of Israel just this sermon and this quarter and this season this hinders the nature of the covenant and crosses the worke of the covenant of grace the Lord doth not stand bent to thy bow the Lord is not at thy call he will not give thee grace when thou wilt but when he pleases no it is not for us to know the times and the seasons that God hath appointed what if thou goest upon thy hands and knees begging of mercie to the last gaspe and if then the Lord be pleased to shine in a drop of goodnesse and mercie it is more than the Lord owes therefore heare to day and attend to morrow thou knowest not whether God will blesse this sermon or that meanes or the other ordinance and doe not complaine upon the meanes but attend Gods leisure and remember the Lord hath waited long for thee in the time of your rebellion in the day of your ignorance before you looked towards the Lord and therefore if the Lord now make you wait for mercie and assurance of his love know that the Lord deals equally and kindly and lovingly with you and so as all shall be best for you and know that this distemper of heart opposeth the tenor of the covenant of
all this debate here lies the root of this bitternesse and the ground of this wretched estate wee will expresse our selves by practice hence it is 〈◊〉 when the Word hath beene cleerely discovered to the soule all objections are blowne away and reason is satisfied and conscience convinced yet aske the soule are you perswaded that God hath accepted of you in Christ and intended good unto you no all the world cannot make me beleeve it I cannot bee perswaded of it Ministers are mercifull and Christians are compassionate and they speake charitably and will not discourage me but did they see that which I see did they but know those weaknesses and take notice of those distempers that are in my heart they would never thinke it what I grace it is a thing I could never perswade my heart of nay I doubt I shall never bee perswaded of it I cannot thinke it all the world cannot make mee beleeve it reason is answered and the conscience is satisfied but the heart will not yeeld it is out of stubbornnes of soule that you will not take that mercy that God offers and that grace God propounds for your good and it is horrible it is hellish it is devillish pride If there be any such spirit in the congregation let them know it and take this home with them it is infinite pride But you will say Object How can that be I cannot thinke that they are broken hearted Christians and are overwhelmed with sorrow they are ever mourning and sinke downe in sorrow in this nature and therefore it cannot bee pride in this case what ever it bee Answ I say it is devillish pride against the Majestie of Heaven and that I will shew in two particulars For a man to follow his owne conceit and selfe wildnesse of spirit against the light of the truth against the force of reason against the testimony of conscience against the judgement of all faithfull Ministers out of the Word to bee above the Word and reason and conscience and to bee above the judgement of all Gods faithfull servants is not this infinite pride this is your condition just the Word hath cast you and reason and conscience have cast you and yet you will maintaine your owne conceits of that proud heart of yours I say againe this pride appeares in this That because we have not what we would and because we have it not in that measure we desire because we finde not that sweetnesse in grace that others have and we covet therefore we cast away all this is infinite pride to fling Gods favour in his face you have not this and that and God hath done nothing for you and never vouchsafed any good unto you it is wonderfull mercy that God hath not cast off that soule of thine because God will not follow your conceits and goe your way you will have no grace at all As it is with a Client that hath a suit in law hee hath the cause determined and the conveyance made and his estate setled by the verdict of the Judge but because his evidences and conveyances are not written in great Roman letters as he would have them he flings all away and saith they will not stand in law will not all the world count him a miserable foole this is your case you have no grace because you have not so much grace you have no zeale because you have not so hor zeale you have no humiliation because not so great humiliation this is nothing but pride and a world of pride therefore marke what I shall say labour to bring thy soule to this passe and to this humble submission and subjection to the truth of God take it as well a duty to receive comfort when God gives it as to entertaine duty of love when God requires it Answerably know it is a sinne to refuse mercy when God offers it and thou hast title thereunto It is as well a sinne though not so much a sin perswade thy heart of this and bring thy soule to yeeld to this And therefore learne this lesson you poore Saints of God that have beene pestered marvellously in this kinde and have beene enemies to your owne comfort labour to eye your owne soules when they begin to slide away from the authority of the truth when reasons are sound arguments cleere and conscience satisfied and yet the heart slides off from the Lord and from under the covert of Gods wings Reason thus This is the proud surly dogged way-ward disposition of my heart what would I have what can I desire is not the Word cleere are not reasons sound and is not conscience satisfied and shall I deny this and so wrong the glory of God and the worke of his blessed Spirit in my heart the Lord forbid but the heart pleads Must I eat my owne words and never cavill more and never complaine more and must I confesse I have grace when I never thought I had grace Answ Must you say so aye and blesse God you may say so and be thankfull for ever that thou mayest upon good grounds say thus and bring under these distempers of your soule and make them yeeld and submit to the blessed truth of God you had better a great deale crosse your owne humours than crosse the good Spirit of the Lord and grieve it Esay 7.13 when the Lord offered a great offer to Ahaz to aske a signe in heaven or in earth the text saith he cast off Gods kindnesse God bids him aske a signe hee saith I will not tempt God hee refused Gods kindnesse with marvellous stubbornnesse now marke what God answers Is it a small thing for thee not onely to grieve man but the good Spirit of the Lord so thinke you with your selves when the Lord bids you take comfort comfort yee comfort yee saith my God You that have beene wearied come and bee refreshed you that have beene lost shall be found the soule faith I dare not take it I will not entertaine it doe you thinke it a small thing not only to grieve man and the heart of a poore Minister but to grieve the Lord and his Spirit Iob 15.11 Seemes the consolation of the Lord a small thing unto you that God stoopes to your meannesse and condescends to your weaknesse and supports your hearts and restores comfort to your soules that you trample his kindnesse under your feet and make nothing of it take heed of it lest that stubborne soule of thine that now refuseth consolation when God offers it thou shalt creep upon thy hands and knees and eat thy flesh and beg one offer of grace which thou hast denied often Iohn 13.8 see how Christ doth schoole the humble pride of Peter for so I terme it our Saviour Christ rose from supper and bound himselfe with a towell and went to wash his Disciples feet but when he came to Peter he was very squamish he was loth Christ should stoope so low what wash my feet thou shalt
must as much as in us lies labour to plucke away all those props that the soule leans upon and all those outward succours and whatsoever outward contentment it is which a poore sinner doth repaire and betake himselfe to for releefe and helpe that when all these are taken from us wee may bee forced to goe for succour there where it is to be had Marke 5.26.27 when the poore woman in the Gospell had spent all her goods upon the Physitians and if she had had but a little means left yea but one farthing token for any thing I know shee would never have gone to Christ but when all these failed then shee was forced to seeke to Christ that was ready and willing to doe any thing for her distressed nature so our soules must have something to support themselves upon for they cannot live without some support Now therefore when all our carnall hopes are taken away wee must needs stay upon the promise because we have nothing else yet I say it is not requisite that a man should cast away those outward comforts that God affords him but take them when God gives them but onely this that though you have all yet labour to get your hearts to see the vanitie and acknowledge the emptinesse of all these and let not the heart seeke too much content in them for these are all but lying vanities and broken staves which will not onely cozen a man but pierce him too Now when the soule seeth these things cannot succour him but lay him in the dust then he will be content to have his heart severed from them It is with the soule as it was with Noahs Dove When the Arke began to rest upon the mountaine Arraret Noah sent out the Dove but the Dove found no rest for the sole of her foot no question there were many dead darkasses but the Dove found no rest till shee came to the Arke againe So when a man findes no rest in any thing the creature affords and can get no footing for the soule to to stay it selfe upon them then it betakes it selfe to Christ and goes home to the promise and rests there and expects from thence what is needfull as in the Art of swimming hee that will swimme must plucke his feet from the bottome and commit himselfe to the streame to beare him up so we must plucke our hearts from these things here below and them from us and though wee have honour and preferments yet wee must not put any confidence in them but learne by our beleeving to commit our selves wholly to the power of the promise and receive comfort from thence onely as Rabshakeh said sinfully Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad c. Rely not upon them for the gods cannot helpe you so should wee reason when wee finde our hearts hankering after honour riches pleasure c. why say let not the gods of this world honour and profit and pleasure deceive thee did the pride of Pharaohs heart deliver him did the riches of Dives save him did Herods applause that he had deliver him did these gods secure them nay have they not left them in the lurch therefore let us take our hearts off from these things and have a base esteeme of them and see a vanitie and emptinesse and insufficiency in them that wee may bee forced to seeke to Christ and say as David said Helpe Lord for vaine is the helpe of man vaine is the helpe of all other things Means 2 Now when this is done there is a little way made that the promise may come to the soule and therefore labour in the second place to have your hearts possessed throughly and perswaded effectually of the fulnesse of that good which is in the promise and of that satisfactory mercy and freenesse of the grace of God in Christ that so the soule may bee establisht with that full content which is to bee had in the riches of the promise but marke what I say perswade your hearts of it and content not your selves that you are able to speake of it and talke and dispute somewhat fully of the excellency of the promise and of the riches of Gods free grace what is this to the purpose that the heart knowes this and yet is sore-stalled that it comes not to the promise therefore leave not thy heart till it come to make that account of the promise as the word saith it is worth I say leave not thy heart till thou see the promise of grace most beautifull in thy eye and that thy heart may gain some earnest touching of the goodnesse of God and the riches of his grace towards thee and bring thy heart to know and see that the promise is better than all the riches and honours that thou canst have or the world can bestow David saith Psalme 9.10 They that know thee will trust in thee for thou Lord hast never failed them that seeke thee this kinde of knowledge ever breeds confidence and resolution and perswades the heart Wee dare trust a friend whose faithfullnesse wee have tried and rest upon that which we know by experience the promises are of a tried truth seeke from one end of the Heavens to the other turne all the Bible over and see if ever any man leaned on the promise and the Lord did not performe that which he had promised for the good of his soule Psal 119.92 Except the Lord had beene my delight I should have perished in my troubles Psalme 73.26 David saith my flesh faileth me and my heart also but thou art the strength of my heart and my portion for ever againe I had perished in my affliction but that thy Word vpheld me the promises are worth trusting to leaning upon though David in the midst of his affliction was ready to sinke yet then the promise upheld him Esay 26.4 Trust in God for in Iehovah is everlasting strength now there is not strength in these things below or not everlasting strength but in Christ in the promises is everlasting strength here lies a great weight and it is a worke of marvellous difficulty and great necessity and therefore that thy heart may sit downe satisfied in the sufficiency of the promise I will propound three rules how you may improve the promise for your uttermost benefit Rule 1 First labour dayly to present to thy soule a greater good in the promise than thou canst see any where else it is a mans skill and it should be his endevour daily to watch his heart and to look what it is that the heart desires most and present a greater good to thy soule therein than in al things thou canst have elsewhere doe honours or riches or the applause of men or any earthly pleasures offer thee content and satisfaction then perswade thy heart there is a greater worth and excellency in the promise than can be had in all the world outbid the world and tell thy heart and say heart wouldst
man doth use to say I durst not have thought it nor expected if you had not promised it so the promise of God made to the soule makes the soule to rest upon it to expect faith without a promise is all one as if a man should expect a crop without seed for the promise is the immortall seed of Gods word whereby the Spirit breeds this faith in the hearts of all that are his Iohn 5.25 The houre is comming and now is when the dead shall heare the voice of the Sonne of God and they that heare it shall live it is spoken of raising of a dead man from the grave of sinne First there is the voice of Christ to the soule before there can bee an eccho againe of the soule to Christ so the power of the promise must come to the soule and wee must heare the voice of God in the promise before we can returne an eccho againe to the Lord the Lord saith Come to me and the soule saith I come Lord when thou seest much deadnesse and unfitnesse of heart doe not thou goe away and looke off from the promise and say Thus I am and so it is with mee but rather goe to the promise and say Whatsoever frailties I finde in my selfe yet I will looke to the Lord and to his promise for if I want faith the promise must settle mee more and more therein I must not bring faith to the promise but receive faith from thence and therefore I will wait till the Lord please to worke it Meanes 4 Lastly labour to yeeld to the equall condition of the promise and make no more conditions than God makes now the promise requires no more of a man but that he should come and lay hold on mercie therefore doe thou require no more than God in the promise requires there is enough in the promise to doe thee good therefore expect all good from it and be content to goe to the promise and take of God whatsoever he hath therein offered Esay 55.1 2. Bâ—y without money this is the condition that God offers mercy upon Buy wine and milke that is grace and salvation without money that is without sufficiencie of your owne for wee must not looke for sanctification till we come to the Lord in vocation for this is all the Lord requires of thee to see thy sinnes and be weary of them and be content that the Lord Jesus shall reveale what is amisse and take it away and that the Lord should give thee grace then the Lord will bring thee to himselfe and thou shalt receive mercy from him and then all thy corruptions shall fall to the ground To summe up the point briefly thus First when wee have pluckt away all carnall props there is way made for the promise to come to us Secondly when our hearts are possessed thorowly of the sufficiencie of Gods promise and grace then the promise drawes neere to the soule Thirdly when we expect all from the promise even power to come to the promise then the promise layes hold upon us Fourthly when we are content to yeeld to the equall conditions of the promise then the promise carries us quite away Thus we have seene the hinderances removed and the meanes propounded and now that wee may be moved and perswaded importunately to seeke after this blessed grace of God I le propound three motives Motive 1 The first motive is this because if you once get this grace you get all other graces with it in this you have all the rest attending and you have all the rest overplus it is a ground of comfort to set a man aworke when in the doing of one he may doe many things so it is in the worke of faith men that are wise to provide for themselves and to lay out their money for their best advantage for a purchase if they see it is well wooded and all the stocke goes into the bargaine especially if there be some golden mynes all their mindes will be upon that purchase because if they have that they have all in that so it is here get this grace and get all strengthen this and strengthen all nourish this and nourish all want this and want all once get this and then you need not seeke for wisdome for faith will make you wise it will bring holinesse with it to purge you Ah the golden mynes of mercy and salvation doe all attend upon the purchase of faith it is in this case with faith as it is in a mans body a man hath an especiall care of his stomack and liver because the stomack disgests his meat and the liver makes bloud and bloud is in all and now if all be maintained all is for health so what ever a man lookes to â—et him looke to this for by faith we lay hold on Christ and from Christ wee receive all good whereby our hearts may bee cheared and refreshed faith brings all grace and workes with all grace get faith and get all 2 Corin. 3.18 Wee all with open face behold as in a glasse the glorie of the Lord and are changed into the same image from glorie to glorie I have opened the place before to have the glorious grace of God his meâ—knesse and patience that the soule may be transformed and of an impatient man be made meeke and patient and to have the glorious grace of God imprinted upon the soule how will all this come we all by faith looke upon the riches of Gods grace in Jesus Christ Christ is the glasse and the glorious grace of God Christ is compared to the glory of the Lord therefore first we must behold grace before wee can receive it first see humility in Christ and then fetch it and there see courage to put mettall into the heart that is cowardly Secondly as all grace comes by faith for it is faith that closeth with Christ and from Christ receiveth grace for grace as the seale leaves the same impression upon the wax that is upon it selfe so secondly by faith wee are delivered from all and made conquerours over all either enemies that can assault us or miseries that can trouble us wee have many enemies the Devill and the world but especially a vile base and corrupt heart if you know and feele these miseries here is one speciall privilege of faith it will rid all these and make you conquerours over all these enemies this only faith can doe every man labours for mastery and victory this is the white that every man shoots at as it is in a pitched field though it be but for one victory how every sâ—de drawes on the forces and use all the meanes and skill that can be to get the day but if there were an engine or instrument that would overcome all enemies and breake all forts and trenches if there were any such engines no man would sticke at any price or spare any meanes and endevours to get the engine because if they have this
that you may but step aside and have it Now you have the matter for your faith to work upon Secondly we are to fit faith for the service that it may succeed with more comfort and better speed for though a man be a beleever yet there is a great deale of dulnesse and bluntnesse comes upon this grace though he have it Luke 24.25 see how our Saviour chides his Disciples saying O fooles slow and dull of heart to beleeve c. so wee ought to whet our faith that it may line and square the promises as it is in the Hebrew that it may pierce through the vale of all the riches of the freenesse of Gods grace and so bring comfort to us It is with the hand of faith as it is with the hand of the body sometimes though the thing be neare one that he may reach it and the hand hath life yet if it bee nummed and stiffe and frozen a man must warme it and rub it before hee can lay hold upon and take the thing and doe the worke in hand so it is with the hand of faith for faith is the hand of the soule it takes hold of that mercy and comfort which God hath prepared for us in Christ Jesus now that faith is nummed and stiffe through carelesnesse and loosenesse therefore it is not enough for a man to have faith but he must supple and oile the finewes of faith that he may catch more speedily at the promise of life and receive comfort from thence Particul 2 Now for the setting of our faith to be limber and quick there are three rules to be observed Rule 1 First wee must maintaine the evidence of this grace of faith once gotten without question How to make faith limber undeniable without controlement I say a faith once gotten marke it I speak not now of those that have not faith it is in vaine to bid a man live by faith who hath no faith but it is for those in whose hearts God hath beene pleased to worke this blessed grace of faith this must be the care of every man that hath gotten faith hee must know the nature of faith in generall and of his faith in particular whither his faith bee of the right stamp and will stand him in stead in the day of accompt and whither it be of that faith which Peter speaks of for there is a great deale of copper faith in the world as that Iesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and the like now when thou hast gained evidence that thou hast faith then fill it up and keep it by thee and labour to have the demonstration of this worke so plaine in thy soule that it may be past deniall What a marvellous folly is it for a man to question when hee should use it the worke must needs be marvellously hindred though he have never so much faith when hee begins to cavill with it and to question whither it bee good or no it is a proverbiall speech hee that doubts of his way â—â—sisseth of his way for while he is doubting hee goes no way in conclusion so hee that doth question whether he hath faith or no and therefore gets little good by it tell a poore sinner of living by faith and he saith it is good newes if I had it it is poore comfort to bid a man to goe warme him when hee hath no fire to warme him by and so it is a poore comfort to bid a man live by faith when hee never had any faith the quarrelling and doubting when a man hath it it wholy hinders the use and benefit of faith that would come to us as it is with a man that hath a faire estate and hath land worth so many hundreds a yeare all the while his lands are in question and controversie hee lives exceeding poore and scarce makes so many scores a yeare whereas if his lands were settled to him hee might so many hundreds so it is here every poore faithfull soule is borne to a faire estate and hath rich promises and while he is yet in the law and makes question of his faith the truth is the promises lye by and hee dares not meddle with them and hee suspects whether hee may venture upon them or no and the reason is hee is quarrelling with and doubting of his faith when hee should live by it Matth. 24.29 30 31. when the Disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea they thought it was a Spirit but Jesus said unto them Be of good comfort it is I now when Peter knew it was our Saviour â—e being somewhat too venterous he said If it be thou Lord bid mee come unto thee on the water and Christ said Come and Peter going the waters beâ—â—â— to be something boâ—sterous his heart began to sâ—ck c. and Christ said unto him O thou of â—it the faith why doest thou doubt as if he had said â—â—t is now no time of doubting but a time of beleeving the Lord bad him to come and hee had ground enough to come and strength of faith to come but when he saw the waves great trouble some he began to doubt whereas he should have improved the promise and not have doubted of it so we doubt and sit afraid quarell with the promise improve not the grace that God bestowes it is with the soule in this case as it is with a gun or peece that is rusty and not well scoured or not well stockt he that goes to use the gun in stead of hitting the marke it recoils and hurts him because that either it was not well stockt or else it was rustie so it is with a poore faithfull soule though the heart doth beleeve and his heart is of a right stamp and is able to lay hold on the promise if that faith grow rusty with our doubting and is unstable or unsettled it recoils againe upon us and wee sit downe dismaied whereas we might have gone to Christ and received mercy from him and therefore our Saviour saith of the wise Virgins Matth. 25.7 They trimmed their lamps and when the Bridegroome came they entred with him into the chamber so it should be with our soules it is not enough for a gracious heart to have true faith and true oile but if there growes any snuffe of doubting that dims the light of our links throw it away and quarrell not and then we shall be fitted to see the way and to enter into eternall happinesse by the power thereof and I beseech you to observe this the very questioning and quarelling against the worke of faith it many times as much dis-inables a man to put forth the power of his faith as if he had no faith at all as some that are melancholy they thinke they cannot speake nor goe this hath made men not to speake for many yeares together though they can and doe speake to this day therefore for the conclusion of this first rule goe
our hearts we onely looke to bring in this or that for our comfort and releefe as for instance that every man may take his portion in the time of poverty how doth the soule behave it selfe and unfit it selfe for the promise When a man sees that his estate is low and he is like to come to misery he saith I have some good friends that will not see mee want and I have so much means yet left and I have my health and strength and I hope I shall get a poore living and there is not one word of the promise all this while but haply death takes away all friends and sicknesse takes away thy health and strength and the fire or theeves takes away all thy goods whither wilt thou goe now then at a dead lift he is faine to goe to that mercy which endureth for ever hee might have gone thither first Therefore now reason thus I am like to be poore and my friends may die and the theeves may rob me of all my goods but the mercy of the Lord endureth for ever Againe the Minister that is faithfull desires to preach fruitfully and to benefit the congregation and then wee catch at the helps that are neere at hand and goe to our books and studies our wit and pains and thinke that these will doe the deed we doe well in thus doing but the fault is in the order of them haply God knocks off mans wheeles and a man is not able to come to the bottome of the point and if he be able to compasse the truth in some measure yet God blasts all that hee doth and there is no good comes to the soules of his people at last he is faine to goe to the promise and then the poore Minister saith Lord thou hast said thou wilt bee with thy faithfull Ministers to the end of the world little strength is in us but be thou with us Lord now the worke goes on againe the tradesman is honest and painfull and he hopes to compasse a good estate by his calling his stocke is good and great and his skill is sufficient and his penny worth shall be as reasonable as any others and his acquaintance are many then God blasteth all these and at last hee comes home to the promise and saith as it is in Psal 1.3 Whatsoever the righteous doth it shall prosper hold here and say I expect all from the promise goe first to the promise and expect mercy and succour from the promise This was the course that Iacob tooke Gen. 32.9 First hee wrestled with God and overcame him and then he wrestled with his brother Esau and saith O God of my Father Abraham and God of my Father Isacke Lord which saidst unto me returne unto thy Countrie and I will doe thee good I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies Lord deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau for I feare him Thus he wrestled with the Lord and by vertue of a promise overcame him and then overcame Esau Heb. 13.45 Marriage is honourable among all men and the bed undefiled but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge let your conversation be without covetousnesse be content with those things you have But how will you have helpe against this covetousnesse a man would have said thus you have gotten a good portion and but little charge and many friends but this course God takes for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee He doth not say thou hast much means and many friends but I say I will not leave thee nor forsake thee Now faith is fitted for the worke when I have chased away doubting then faith is ready and the shield is scoured Secondly when my heart is calme and quiet then faith may goe on there is a free passage Particular 3 Thirdly when the soule lookes out first to the promise and then to the means this is the right way that faith should goe now you may set on your journey faith is cleered and that is the right and best way to everlasting happinesse Now I come to shew how wee must come to order faith in the worke How to order faith in the worke and here two things are to be attended unto First how the soule should get to the promises Secondly how the soule should take receive and improve this sufficiency and excellency of God that is in the promise For the first how to get the soule to the promise you see all is ready and the way open and faith is fitted Now there are three rules to bee observed to shew how the soule may get to the promise or there are acts of the soule wherein this truth may bee discovered that the soule which doth beleeve may have the ready way to goe to the promise Rule 1 Renounce all power and ability in thy selfe for to beleeve and goe unto God it is a point of marvellous use though a man would not imagine it thou maist not expect faith in thy selfe or of thy selfe or from thy selfe any ability to goe to the promise though thou hast faith as it is Gal. 2.20 Neverthelesse I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me It is not I that lives by any power of my selfe but Christ liveth in me It was Christ quickning and reviving and inabling him though he had faith Ier. 10.23 O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himselfe neither is it in a man to direct his owne steps so doe thou say if ever thou wouldst have thy heart fitted to goe to the promise it is not here Lord it is not in this vaine minde it is not in the power of this dead heart or any passage that ever I received whereby I am able to beleeve in thee I meane the principall of life is not here the root of faith is in the promise and from thence it comes into the soule As it is with a mariner when the ship is upon the ground in the ebbe and low water hee doth not expect to tugge his ship to the shore by any power of himselfe it is not in my wisedome that can direct mee and it is not in my weapon that can defend mee it is not this humility that can bring my soule downe it is not here it is not I Lord that can rest or goe to a promise even all our abillities are at an ebbe all that we have or can doe is to empty our selves and fit our selves and to get up the maine mast that is let the soule bee ready for the promise by vertue of that to be carried heaven ward and Christ ward take notice of this in your owne soules that the heart would begin at home if a temptation come the heart of it selfe would overcome it and if a duty to be done the heart of it selfe would performe it and if opposition come the heart of it selfe would resist it O remember that it is I a man offers an injury
against reason sense and religion and all Now thy faith begins to wrastle with him and his dealings and conscience checks and thou wilt teare thine owne heart out of thine owne bosome brethren this will not doe it When a ship of a hundred tuns is upon ground the mariners may pull and tug their hearts out before they can get it goe O goe then and say it is not I that can be patient and put up a wrong be quiet and expect it not from hence let the heart lie still till the winde and tide and promise come and that will carry thee Rule 2 Bring the promise home to thy heart that the promise may bring thy heart to it I meane thus I told you before that the heart renounceth all abilities of it selfe as the first principle and saith it is in an impatient heart it is not here Lord downe be quiet and still goe thou to the promise and bring that first to thy soule and when the promise comes it will bring thy heart home to it I will tell you how you must goe to the promise and say thus It is not in mine owne power to quicken my selfe yet Lord this I know that there is sufficiencie in the promise to supply all my wants and there is authoritie in the promise to rule and order mee in all my courses therefore take the promise and reason thus I conclude that the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of his Spirit is in the promise undeniably and undoubtedly and unspeakably accompanying in his manner as hee shall see fit This I say that the almighty Spirit of Christ doth really and continually accompany the promise for the good of his hence it is called the spirit of promise for there is an Almighty creating worke goes along with the promise and I reason thus that word that discernes the thoughts of the hearts of men that word must needs have the Almighty worke of Gods Spirit accompanying of it so far as God hath promised it not haply when thou seest fit but when God sees fit Hee doth it as a voluntary workman therefore thou considerest that there is an Almighty power and a fulnesse in the promise then lay that promise upon thine heart and know it and conclude it and looke for vertue from thence to draw thy soule to it again I have severall passages to expresse my selfe by it you may understand it Iacob would not beleeve that Ioseph was alive or if he were alive he had but little means was poore Gen. 45.26 27 28 29. but when he saw the Chariots that Ioseph had sent him then he beleeved and said I have enough Ioseph my son liveth the Chariots sent from Ioseph to Iacob brought Iacob to Ioseph so every beleeving soule is poore and feeble and dis-nabled to goe to God and to beleeve in the Lord Jesus Christ therefore looke thou unto the Chariots of Israel first and that will convey thee to the promise As it is with the miller first he pares the mill fitly and orders all the occasions thereof and when the stones are fit and laid to goe yet it will not goe till the sluce be pulled up and the water runs that drives the mill so the soule is humbled and lies levell with the Lord and his truth and is content to yeeld to his conditions but the soule of it selfe in it selfe cannot goe It hath not the principle of going but let downe the sluce of the promise and let that come to thy heart and it will bring thy soule home to the Lord. The promise must come to thee and make thee come to it It is not here Lord but in the promise bring that promise and set open the sluce and let the wind blow and it will convey thee comfortably as Luke 19.9 This day salvation is come to thy house not to the wals of thy house but to the men that are in the house they did not come to salvation but salvation came to them the Lord sent salvation to salute the house of Zacheus and that brought him to salvation this is the foiling of many poore beleevers O say they if I could beleeve then the promise did belong unto me but I dare not venture upon it but I say unto thee whomsoever thou art thou shalt never live by faith upon these termes thou must first let the promise come to thee and then it will carry thee unto it Rule 3 When the promise is thus come home and thou seest the sufficiency and authority of it then all thou hast to doe is this in the streame of that promise be carried and in the vertue thereof be conveyed home to the Father Luke 15.4 The Prodigall is said to be like a lost sheepe marke this for it concerneth you poore creatures The poore sheepe is wildered up and downe now in the mouth of the Lion and then in the briars and sometimes in the pit The text saith He leaveth the ninety nine to seeke that that is in comparison of what care he expresseth to the lost sheepe hee leaveth a man regenerate not carelesly but hee will not expresse so great love as to a poore lost man and though thou canst not find the way to Heaven yet hee will finde thee lie thou upon the shoulders of Christ as in the 5. verse of this Chapter when thou findest thy heart feeble and weake and thy selfe unable to beleeve then the Lord Jesus Christ brings the spirit of grace and that comes to seeke and Jesus Christ will lay that soule of thine upon his shoulders that is upon the riches of the freenesse of his grace therefore let thy heart bee transported by the power of that grace and by the vertue of that mercie that God hath made knowne unto thee for thy everlasting good when the chariots are come get thee up into them the Lord Jesus Christ is gone up to heaven and hee hath sent his chariots for thee therefore get thee up and say Lord take mee up with thee let the Lord convey thee by the power of his grace when the mariner hath sea roome enough hee cares for no more if hee can but observe the channell hee lookes not so much at his oare or any thing so he can observe the channell this channell is the full tide of the promise therefore lay thy selfe upon the promise and say Lord in the vertue of that grace and in the power of that Spirit carry mee and in the riches of that mercie of thine Lord convey the heart of this poore sinner and make mee happy with thy selfe for ever Passage 2 It is presumed that thy faith now is come to the promise now the skill is how hee may take and improve the good of the promise and receive all the incomes thereof There are two things especially observable First labour to husband the promises and to mannage them wisely when wee have them for our best advantage Secondly labour to live by the sweetnesse of the promises
good man desperately poore but his heart was desperately proud therefore the Lord will make him good and make his proud heart yeeld and then bestow these things looke for that first and not for the other againe another Christian labours much for the assurance of Gods love and cannot attaine it and seekes to God in the use of the promises and yet he cannot finde it setled God will give thee comfort and consolation but in his owne order and know this that commonly the Lord never debars the soule of comfort but he sees that the heart is not fit for it thy heart would bee proud and carelesse and God should heare no more of thee and thy saile would overturne the boat therefore when God hath abased thy heart and made thee content to want what he shall deny then hee will give thee assurance but it must be in his order and this is the reason why the most smoak out their dayes in discontent the reason is there is a proud heart and a sturdy disposition of spirit that will not come unto Gods termes as it is with a Physitian he will not give a cordiall to his patient when hee will for if he were in a burning fever it were the next way to send him going first he purgeth and makes him fit and then gives him a cordiall so it is in these things which thou cravest the Lord will then give thee thē when thou shalt not surfet of comfort and assurance and prosperity when thy heart is emptied and purged and able to digest these things then the Lord will give them Rule 2 Secondly the Lord will give temporall blessings and that measure of spirituall in his owne due time not when thou and I would but when he sees most fit As Iohn 2.3 4. The mother of Iesus comes to our Saviour they have no wine saith shee she thought shee had Christ at command but hee answers her Woman what have I to doe with thee my houre is not yet come So it is with our soules wee want comfort and strength against corruptions and assurance and assistance What have I to doe with that proud heart of thine saith our Saviour My time is not yet come you would have it now as they said Wilt thou now restore the Kingdome to Israel God will doe it in his owne time and wee must wait his leisure This is one thing that doth necessarily accompany the covenant of grace as I have shewed before that the Lord should dispence of his Kingdome when he pleaseth and not when we will when the Lord seeth these blessings of spirituall mercies and temporall favours are ripe and most seasonable to thy necessities then thou shalt have them but the time is in Gods hand Rule 3 The Lord doth not promise in such a manner and measure and such a peculiar thing to give that temporall blessing and that spirituall assistance that we desire but the Lord will doe that which he knoweth is most fit And the text saith Feed me with food convenient for me there was faith he refers himselfe to God When a man comes to the taylers to have a garment made hee doth not cut out the garment himselfe but refers it to the judgement of the workman so we must doe refer our selves to God and know God promiseth nothing but as he seeth it fit for thy good It may bee thou shalt not have this blessing or that grace As it is with a Potter hee is minded to make so many vessels of honour but it is reserved in the minde of the Potter how big he will make every vessell of honour so if the Lord make thee a vessell of honour goe away contented whether thou hast so much prosperity and so much good and grace or no it skils not it is enough that thou art elected to eternall happinesse Now you see how to mannage and improve the promise aright for your best advantage and to expect from the promise that which it will yeeld The second particular in this third rule of living by faith is this how to take and how to enjoy the sap and sweet of the promise and to live by it when the Husbandman hath sowen his ground and his fruit is ripe and he hath reaped it then he must gather in his come that hee may live upon it So let us gather in the promises when we see the best advantage now let us take the gaine and live by it and that comfortably too in the proofe of Gods goodnesse therein For this end let me suggest these five rules or directions Direction 1 First thou seest what God is in the promise and thou expectest no more than God is there then eye that particular good in the promise which thou standest in most need of eye that good in Christ and in the promise and then set Gods power and faithfulnesse aworke to bring that good and his wisedome to contrive it As for instance I am in persecution and either I would have deliverance and safety that I might not be imprisoned or else comfort and refreshment if the Lord carry me thither therefore I would see all this in the promise still reserving the conditions before mentioned If thou art in prison eye liberty and preservation in Christ he that is the great deliverer of his people and carrieth his people in his hands and then set Gods power and faithfulnesse aworke that can doe it and his wisedome that can contrive it for thy good that which thou seest and needest in the promise that the power wisedome of God may comunicate to thy soule this is the meaning of that place Psalme 37.5 Commit thy wayes unto the Lord trust in him and he shall bring it to passe root thy selfe and lay all thy weight of all thy occasions upon the Lord. Therefore the Apostle saith 1 Pet. 5.7 Hurle your care upon the Lord for hee careth for you It is Gods proper office and worke He careth for thy soule therefore lay it all upon him and put over all thy care into his hands and set his power and faithfulnesse a worke only this is here a little to be scanned I speake not this that we should take no care at all but I say hang all thy weight and burthen of thy care upon the Lord. The Brewer he tumbles the barrell of beere and roules it but the earth that bears it so whatsoever trouble is in thy eare roule it upon the Lord That is thus the weight of a mans occasions lies especially in three things which a man must hurle off himselfe and lay upon the Lord either a man shall not bee able to know what hee shall doe or what hee is commanded or else secondly he shall not be able to doe what God commands and he knowes or else thirdly he shall not finde successe in what he doth It is not a trouble to doe what we can or to imploy our selves as we are able but this is the trouble when the
Isaac againe So I would have a poore Saint of God to conclude when thou findest thy comforts like Isaacks in the ashes and thy estate hopelesse and helplesse yet even then set Gods power on worke and wait upon him in the use of the meanes that hee hath appointed and then conclude it and bring patience power and deliverance and so in every kinde according to all thy necessities yet remember this expect no more from the promise than God will give in the promise but say my sinnes shall bee mastered one day and these temptations shall be one day overthrowne that have so long annoyed the soule of thy poore servant I have begged succour against these corruptions within and these temptations without and yet it is not but I know it is done in heaven it wants nothing but the taking out thou wilt bestow upon thy servant what thou seest fit 1 Sam. 1.18 Hannah wept sore and prayed to the Lord and went away and was no more sorrowfull and she said Lord I beleeve that I shall either have a childe or that which is as good or better now the businesse was done but imagine the Lord delayes and doth not suddenly accomplish what hee intends and thou hast used meanes to receive he gives not and grants not and sends not succour according to thy desire and the tenure of the covenant as thou conceivest Direct 4 Then faith must take up his stand and stay till it come as thou resolvest that it will be so stay till it be and stay it out here is much worke to doe we prevent Gods kindnesse when wee goe away before hee bee willing to bestow his kindnesse on us but faith will not doe so hee that beleeveth doth not make haste he makes haste to obey but hee stayes and resolves that it will be the vision is for an appointed time therefore wait for it thou art pestered with thy sinnes and hast laboured by faith to subdue them and thy estate is low and thou hast laboured by faith for deliverance and yet it comes not and freedome from temptations comes not therefore stay till God sees fit and it will come Psal 123.2 As the eyes of a servant looke to the hands of his master and the eyes of a maiden to her mistresse so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God untill he have mercie upon us not till I will and till I see fit and according to my minde but untill the Lord have mercie wee suddenly slide away from the covenant which the Lord makes with us because wee have it not when wee will therefore we goe away 1 Sam. 13.13 when Samuel carried long and the people began to murmur Saul went and offered a burnt-offering unto the Lord and therefore Samuel said unto him Thou hast done foolishly and hast not kept the commandement of thy God which he commanded thee for now would the Lord have established thy kingdome upon Israel for ever If Saul had stayed the Lords time hee would have established the kingdome upon Israel for ever but he prevented the Lords kindnesse and offered sacrifice unseasonably and sinfully so it is many times with a proud pettish rash and distempered heart if we have not what we would and just when we would then wee are all amort and murmur and say Why should wee wait any longer thou hast done foolishly hast thou prayed and looked to the promise thus long and wilt thou now give over the Lord would have comforted thee hadst thou gone on but the Lord hath withdrawn himselfe from thee because thou hast withdrawn thy heart from the promise when the carriage is heavie and the way is dead there are many sore puls and the wagon is at a stand and if a man should then goe away then all his worke were lost therefore stay thou till the Lord shew mercy thus long thou hast called and sought and looked to the promise and waited upon the Lord and attended upon the freenesse of his grace once more would have done it thy heart was almost humbled and thy sinne was almost conquered O thou silly foole why didst not thou hold it out it wil come at last my life for thine now take heed of this if the time seeme tedious and thy heart begins to sink and thy spirit is weary take heed of flying off take heed of shifting for thy owne comfort and looking to base ende and aimes no hold thy minde to and keep thy eye of faith upon the promise and stay it out till God see the time fit and know it is the best time for thee to receive it Acts 27 31. Paul saith Except these abide in the ship you cannot be safe every man was shipping over bord to save himselfe but Paul stayed them a man would have thought otherwise but the Apostle knew it was not so for the Lord had revealed it unto him so I say be thy temptations never so strong and thy sinnes never so many and thou beginnest to complaine and saist I have cryed Lord and sought earnestly and yet my condition is worse and my soule more sinfull and I am lesse able to helpe my selfe there is no more succour to bee expected now take heed of going out of the ship and from the use of the meanes keepe in the ship for in the ship you shall be safe keepe in the promise and still your hearts there you shall have a happie arrivall at heaven though it bee upon a broken board it s no matter stay Gods time Direct 5 Yet haply the Lord seemes sometimes not only to delay his poore servants and to withhold his favour but he seemes to frowne and say he will not heare and hee seemes to be angrie with the prayers of his servants and with their importunitie and he seemes as if he would not succour and supply thus he dealt with Iacob Gen. 32.26 there the Lord saith Let me goe I care not what becomes of thee I leave thee to thy selfe but Iacob layes hold upon him and would not let him goe so the last worke of faith is this In an holy humilitie to labour to contend with God and by strong hand to overcome the Lord for the Lord loves to be overcome thus bee not fancie with the Lord but in the sense of thy owne basenesse as it were catch the Lord Jesus and strive with him leave not till thou hast those comforts which he hath promised and thou hast begged this is the glory and victorie of the â—â—iumph of faith that gives the day to and layes downe the weapons and yeelds himselfe as conquered as it was Iacob when God saw he could not prevaile he said in the 28. verse Thy name shall be no more called Iacob but Israel because thou hast prevailed with God God is ready to give what he hath promised but he will have us trie masterie with him God overcomes himselfe and we by faith in God overcome God as Iam. 2.13 Mercie triumphs over justice Lord saith my
goe to heaven No heaven shall rather fall than I come there Thus the discouraged sinner knocks off mercie and shuts the doore against it Now when all carnall reasonings and high imaginations as Paul cals them have raised up strong holds against mercie and comfort when the word cannot doe it for the present God is faine at last to command loving kindnesse and send him with a commission from heaven saying I charge you breake open the doore of the heart of such a sinner rend that veile of ignorance and teare that cursed veile of carnall reasoning And I command thee goe to that soule and cheare it and comfort it goe to that soule and refresh it and fill it tell him his sinnes are pardoned his person accepted and his soule shall be saved tell him his sighs and groanes are heard and his prayers observed in heaven make this good to his soule I charge you before you come backe againe this is the admirable goodnesse of the Lord the soule many times hath so many trickes and shifts and windings and yeeldings to carnall reason that no comfort will come in So that the Lord is faine to send loving kindnesse to cheare the soule As it is with some unruly fellowes who will not give a man possession of his right till the high Sheriffe comes and gives him possession by force whether they will or no So loving kindnesse is Gods high Sheriffe now when a company of base fellowes as carnall reasonings and the like would keepe out mercie and favour that is due to a sinner the Lord commands loving kindnesse to breake open the doore and speake comfort to him and now take notice of what I say as a good to come was the ground of hope and if there be any necessarie excellencie desire longs for it So when the good is not only present but expresseth his presence and leaves some kinde of remembrance as it were and discovers it selfe in some manner effectually to the soule that stirres up love continually and that must be done before any love can be kindled I open it thus Looke as it is with touching which is a facultie of nature if the thing lyes upon a man leaves a strong impression upon him then a mans touch will feele it but if it be marvellous light then it may lye upon a man and be present with him and yet not be perceived as a feather lay it upon a mans finger on the sudden or a mote in a mans face because it leaves no impression hee feeles it not but if there bee any weight laid upon his hand then he feeles so if it be water that moistens him or fire that scorcheth him he is sensible of it so love in the soule is like touching in the body now when loving kindnesse is not set on upon the heart though it be present with the soule yet because it leaves no impression upon the soule hence it comes that the heart cannot be stirred with any love towards it nor be touched and affected with it nor returne that joy and delight as becomes the favour of God So that there must be the love of God letting some sweet intimations into the heart and expressing it selfe to the soule and affecting the heart therewith and then our love comes to bee kindled towards God againe Gods love setling upon the soule drawes and puls our love to God againe This is the ground of that the Apostle speakes We love him 1 Iohn 4.19 because he loved us first It must be the beames of Gods love that must fall upon the soule before the soule can returne love to God againe Hosea 11.4 So in Hosea I drew them saith the text with the cords of love and with the bands of a man as who should say God lets in the cords of his love into our soules and that drawes our loves to him againe But most excellent is that place of the Canticles marke the manner of the guise of the Spirit of God expressing himselfe to the soule He brought me to the Banquetting house Cant. 2.4 and his Banner over me was Love and what followeth Stay mee with flaggons and comfort mee with apples for I am sicke of Love When the Banner of Christs love is displayed over the soule the soule comes to bee sicke of love to Christ againe In warre when the Captaine displayeth the banner three things are done by it First it argueth the presence of the Generall Secondly it commands all the Souldiers to come to it Thirdly all come under it Now observe the excellency of the sweetnesse of the sense of the Spirit of God when God displayeth the banner of his love in the perfect colours and beauty of it to the soule then all the hearts of poore fainting sinners come in as Souldiers and they are sicke of love to him now this love of God begets love in us againe in three particulars Particular 1 First there is a sweetnesse and rellish which Gods love le ts into the soule and that warmes the heart When a man is fainting aqua vitae comforts him Thy loving kindnesse is better than life saith the Prophet David there is aqua vitae indeed the Lord lets in but one glimpse of his love and that warmes the soules This is that observable in the Canticles Cant. 2.3 opened Let him kisse mee with the kisses of his mouth for thy love is better than wine because of the savour of thy good oyntment thy Name is an oyntment powred forth therefore doe the Virgins love thee Every poore sinfull creature thou that drinkest water if thou hast Christs love thou thinkest it better than the best wine under heaven Let him kisse me with the kisses of his lips that is with the comforts of his Word and Spirit so that marke what the soule saith Let the Lord Jesus Christ refresh my soule with the sweet comforts and consolations of his Word and it will be better than wine But first he must kisse him with the kisses of his lippes before his love can be better than wine that is the Lord by the power of his Spirit in the ministery of the Word must expresse his love to the soule and that drawes the love of the soule to God and marke what followeth because of the savour of thy good oyntments therefore the Virgins love thee by Christs oyntments are Christs graces signified Now when the Lord Jesus Christ doth communicate the sweet savour of his grace into the soule then the Virgins which are loosened from sinne love the Lord Jesus but first the savour of the oyntment must be spred abroad before they can love him Particular 2 Secondly as the sweetnesse of Gods love warmes the heart so the freenesse of the same doth even beginne to kindle a love in the soule Herein saith the Apostle God commends his love towards us Rom. 5.8 in that while we were yet enemies unto him Christ died for us The Lord sends from heaven to
bravely upon halfe of that means which he had So there is never a poore Christian Note this which trades in a Christian course but hee hath a faire estate and may live like a man One promise is enough to make a man live comfortably all his dayes though hee were in never so much want but if hee bee cast behinde hand and goes downe the winde with comfort and joy and sinks because of his pride and distempers and vexation the fault is not in the estate for the Lord left him very well he had a childes portion hee had an heart to feare God and love God as David saith O be mercifull unto me as thou usest to 〈◊〉 to those that love and feare thy Name the fault was not in the promises that they could not nor in his faith that it would not helpe him but he let the promises lie by they came into the table but he never cast them up neither did hee husband then aright hee had a world of comforts and consolations that would have given a man liberty in prison and honour in shame and disgrace and comfort in the time of distresse but hee did not husband them Therefore be advised to doe as the trades-man doth hee will not spend of his stocke but live of his trading So I would have every Christian to make a living of his faith whatever strength thou needst fetch it from grace in Christ and what ever comfort thou wantest fetch it from Christ but live by faith and make a good living of it too and then thou dost improve the promise aright bring but an empty beleeving heart with thee and the oyle will never faile and the meale in the barrell will never decay but continually supply thee as it did that poore widow So goe with an humble heart to the promises and husband it well and thou maist draw life and grace from the promises till doomes day And thus in generall Quest But how shall a man be trained up that he may get this skill of living by faith Answ Every man hath his owne shifts and trickes and lives by his owne devices and the devill hath enough of them in the world that lives this life but the best life of all is little looked after Note Now for the answer know thus much that there are three particulars necessary for the training up of the heart to learne this skill of living by faith How to live by faith First wee must labour to get matter for our faith to worke upon Secondly wee must labour to fit faith for the worke Thirdly wee must labour to order our faith aright in the worke Particul 1 First we must provide matter for our faith to worke upon for this wee see ordinarily if a workman want matter to worke upon either a Carpenter or the like hee must needs cease his worke and he can goe no further and if a mans worke failes how can hee provide for his family This is the complaint of poore people now adayes that they have no worke So it is in a Christian course many poore Christians that are newly set up and are not afore-hand in the world they want even matter for their faith I meane some are ignorant and cannot read and some have not meanes and a preaching Minister and others have but small parts and cannot heare and little doe they retaine of what they doe heare Now because they want the promises of God understood and remembred and rightly applied therefore they live marvellously poore though they might live marvellously comfortable in the world and now they have a word of comfort and sometimes the advice of a friend and they have faith but they want matter for their faith to worke upon and therefore they are scarcely able to uphold their soules in trouble Now the matter of our faith is in the whole Word of God Where the matter of faith is as it is with the Bee in gathering hony as the spider gathers poison out of every flower so the Bee gathers hony out of the same flower and out of the sweetest flower there shee suckes most hony and the Word of God the sharpest course and the fearfullest plagues denounced a gracious heart will gather some good by it and a man hath need of these but above all the sweet of the promises of the Gospell and the sap and sweet therein and the bloud of the Lord Jesus Christ that is communicated thereby Oh the faithfull soule sucks most there Now that wee may provide matter for our faith three rules are to bee observed which are commonly observed in all provisions Rule 1 First they provide and lay in in season timely as soone as they can When to provide matter for our faith this is the practice of him that would husband his estate wisely his care is to buy at the best hand So I would have a good Christian to store up all the good promises of God Remember this first in all the good Word of God seasonably I meane when all thy parts and abilities are strong and nature is able to fight it out while the Faire day of Gods favour lasteth and while the Word and Sacraments are dispensed this is the best time to lay in the promises of God that we may not want them when wee have use of them it is a marvellous weake nay a preposterous course when a man is weake his eyes dim and his heart and strength faileth and he is ready to give up the ghost then to lay in grace and provision of mercy and then for him that hath hated a Minister and loathed the meanes of grace and abused the patience and long suffering of God Oh then to have a Minister come to him and have a promise in the day of persecution then for a man to bethink himselfe of the comforts and promises of the Gospell and when a man should spend on the promises then to get it this is but ill husbandry the better way is this now to be buying at every turne and this is the reason why our Saviour saith Oh if thou hadst knowne in this thy day the things that belong unto thy peace while the Word and thy life and the Sabbaths and the ordinances last this is thy day we know not how soone God may take all from us Oh the estate of the poore Palatinates if it be true that we heare of them they have lost all the meanes of grace and they have idolatry now amongst them and there the enemies force them to goe to masse against their consciences and they cannot see a good Minister nor a good Christian but they weepe to consider the times that once they had therefore let us labour to be wise in the Lord now while the Faire is and consider how God deales with his children Psal 48.9 Wee have thought of thy name O Lord in the midst of the table It is spoken there of the goodnesse of God
towards Zion a cup of poison and a stone of stumbling when he had spoken of all the bulwarks that God had made and all the goodnesse and mercy that he had shewed to his people and the malice and wrath of his enemies he saith This God is our God even for ever as if he had said The Lord did provide for his people in Egypt and overthrew proud Pharaoh that set himselfe up against God and this God is our God when thou art in the wildernesse this God is thy God when thou art in persecution this God is thy God and the God of all thus he stores up while the season lasts And as thou must observe what God doth to others Note this so labour to treasure up thine owne experiences 2 Tim. 4.18 He hath delivered us and hee doth and will deliver us saith the Apostle and the Prophet David saith I remember thy judgements of old O well fare a good old store I remember saith he how thou didst rebuke Abimelech and overthrow Nimrod and Nebuchadnezar and Achitophel Oh it is admirable to consider these things I received comfort saith he God will overthrow every enemy and this is store for thy faith to worke upon Psal 89.49 Where are thy former mercies David is afore hand with God now he is not come to buy food just at the time of famine but it is laid up before hand Rule 2 We must lay it in abundantly lay in promises of all kindes you had better leave than lack How to lay in matter for our faith and it is the wisdome of a man to have somewhat to spare and to have an overplus aforehand that a man may not live feebly and poorely and be at his wits end at every turne and knowes not which way to shift for himselfe and have no bread in his house I meane no provision of promises by him Isay 42.23 Whose is wise let him heare for after times as if hee had said You must not only lay in promises just for the present but store them for afterwards as the chapman saith I shall want this at such a time and so the husbandman saith I shall have occasion for this or that at such a time and therefore they get aforehand O that God would give us these hearts it is good as we may so say to keepe promises in pickle that wee may spend them at leasure 1 Kings 17.6 7 8 9. Iezebel had threatned to kill Eliah but shee mist of her worke for shee was slaine her selfe and he went to heaven and never died at all the text saith Hee went and hid himselfe by the brooke Kerith and when all victuals failed the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening and when all that failed too the Lord said unto him Arise get thee to Sareptha I have commanded a widow there to sustaine thee 1 King 18.4 Obadiah hid a hundred of the Prophets of the Lord by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water and in another place the text saith In the dayes of famine thou shalt have enough these precious promises will be good meat in Lent when haply thou shall sit under an hollow tree and creep among the bushes then three or foure of these promises will give a man a good meale of comfort therefore store them up for they will doe you no harme and when you are driven from house and friends and all and God takes away the Gospell from us which God of his mercy prevent Amen and give us hearts to speake to him that he may prevent it onely your wisdome will be this to get all promises for this and a better life for the getting of grace and the preserving in grace and not only to pray by a promise but to live by a promise and trade by it and to enjoy all that you have by a promise if you will have comfort in it therefore be sure that you sort the promises aright every promise is not for every purpose but each promise suits for each occasion and therefore suit them all imagine a man wants comfort and strength against sinne why then that promise will not fit them wherein the Lord saith Hee will be with them in six troubles and deliver them in seven that for a temporall deliverance he doth not want that but power against his corruptions Againe if a man feare that he shall not hold out in perseverance now that promise doth not sit wherein the Lord saith Hee will pardon all his sinnes and cast them all as a milstone into the bottome of the sea this is not for perseverance in grace if thou seekest for succour there thy hand is in the wrong box but that promise is for this purpose wherein God saith I will knit them to mee with an everlasting love and I will write my lawes in their inward parts that they shall never depart from me any more So there are promises for deliverances in trouble and for comfort in affliction and in a word Gods infinite free grace is scattered in so many promises according to so many necessities and severall occasions that is all healing and saving vertue is in God so he dispenseth it to so many drops and severall promises therefore we must doe with the promises as the Apothecarie doth with his drugs he puts Bezar stone into one and Studdine that if the body be weake and low then your Bezar stone is good for him and so for the rest so that as the Apothecary hath all drugs so he hath sorted them all so deale you with the promise and word have the command of God to owne thee and the promise of God to comfort thee and that thou maist sit thine owne soule let it be a suitable promise suppose thou findest thy heart proud and stubborne then thou maist not looke upon mercy and pardon but looke upon the justice of God and how hee lookes upon the proud afarre off hee gives grace to the humble but resisteth the proud here is studdy for thee to pull downe thy proud heart and when thou findest thy heart full of venome and malice against the Ministers of God now that Bezars stone doth not fit thee therefore apply this Hee that hates his brother in his heart is a man-slayer and no man-slayer shall enter into the kingdome of God and he that hates his brother is a childe of the Devill these are vomits that fit thee Rule 3 Lastly we must lay them up that we may have them at hand To lay up the promises bring your provision home and leave it not in the market it is a folly for a man to say I have as good provision as can bee but I have it not here Colos 3.16 Let the Word of God dwell in you plenteously and richly in all wisdome First observe the plenty of our provision it must not be scantie but richly and wisely and it must dwell in you