so many I would I could say Christian soules I cannot say so but they are a company of men that have the Image of God upon them men that live miserable poor such as for ought I know Gods mercie hath purchased with the blood of his Son may belong to Gods Kingdome They have the Image of God upon them yet they live without lawes without Church without Common-wealth irregular persons that have no order taken for them or not executed at the least to repress the sturdie of them and to relieve those that are to be relieved for age or impotencie It is a pittifull thing and a foule blemish to this Common-wealth and will bring some ill upon wealth and plague it from such irregular persons he will plague the Common-wealth for such enormities How do they live As Beasts and worse they submit themselves to no orders of the Church they have none and submit to none Here is an Obiect of mercy to those that it concernes And likewise mercie ought to be shewed to the souls of men as well as to their miserable and wretched estates Is Poperie Antichristian what mercy is it to suffer poysoners what a mercy were it in a common wealth to suffer men that are incendiaries to have liberty to do what mischief they would or men that should poyson fountaines and all that should refresh and nourish men were this any policy for the body And is it any policy to suffer those to poison the judgments of people with heresies to God and treason to their Prince to draw the affections of men from religion and the state where is mercy all the while Oh it is a mercy to them not to restrain them Mercy Is it mercy to the sheep to let the wolves at libertie No if you will be mercifull to shew mercy to the souls of these men is to use them hardly that they may know their error they may now impute the liberty they have to the approbation of their cause and so they are cruel not onely to others but to their own souls I speak this the rather it may be a seasonable speech at this time to enforce good lawes this way It is a great mercy mercy to the soul it is the greatest mercy and so crueltie to the soul is the greatest crueltie that can be What should I speak of mercy to others oh that we would be merciful to our own souls God is merciful to our souls he sent his son to visit us from on high in bowels of compassion he sent Christ as Zacharie saith and yet we are not merciful to our selves How many sinful wretched persons pierce their hearts through with covetousnesse and other wicked courses that are more dangerous to the soul then poyson is to the body They stab their souls with cares and lusts and other such kind of courses What a mockery is this of God to ask him mercy when we will not be merciful to our own souls and to intreat others to pray for us when we will not be merciful to our selves Shall we go to God for mercy when we will not shew mercy to our selves shall we desire him to spare us when we will not spare ourselves It is a mocking of God to come and offer our devotions here and come with an intent yet to live in any sin God will not heare us if we purpose to live in sin If I regard iniquity in my heart God will not hear my prayer As we ought to be merciful to the souls of others and to the estates of others so we should to our own souls How can they reform evills abroad those that are Governours when they do not care to refomr themselves can they be merciful to the souls of others that are cruel to their own they cannot Let mercy begin at home This is that that the scripture aimes at mercy and the right use of it is the way to come to salvation and the abuse of it is that that damnes and they are damned most that abuse mercy Oh the sins against the Gospel will lie upon the conscience another day The sins against the law they help with the Gospel to see mercy but sins against mercy prefer our sins above mercy and in temptations to despaire to extenuate mercy hereafter it will be the very hell of hell that we have sinned against mercy that we have not embraced it with faith that we have not repented to be capable of it But to end the point with that which is the most proper use of all which is an use of comfort in all estates to go to God in all he is the father of mercy And when all is taken from us in losses and crosses to think Well our fathers may die and our mothers may die and our nearest and dearest friends that have most bowels of pittie may die but we have a father of mercy that hath eternal mercy in him his mercies are tender mercies and everlasting mercies as himself is We are everlasting our souls are immortal we have an everlasting father that is the Father of mercies When all are taken away God takes not himself away he is the father of mercy still Now that we may make our selves still capable of mercy still fit for mercy let us take this daily course Let us labour every day to have broken and deep souls as I said before it is the broken heart that is the vessel that containes mercy a deeper heart that holds all the mercy we need therefore to empty our selves by confession of our sins and search our own thoughts and waies and afflict our souls by repentance and when we shall be fit objects for God the father of mercie to shed mercy into misery it is the Load-stone of mercy misery felt and discerned and complained of Let us search and see our misery our spiritual misery especially for God begins mercy to the soul in his children he begins mercy there especially General mercy he shews to beasts to all creatures but speciall mercy begins at the soul. Now I say misery being the Loadstone of mercy let us lay before God by confession and humiliation the sores and sins of our souls And then make use of this mercy every day for God is not only merciful in pardoning mercy at the first in forgiving our sins at the first but every day he is ready to pardon new sins as it is Lament 3. He renewes his mercies every day every morning God renewes his mercies not only for body but for soul there is a throne of grace and mercy every day open to go to and a Scepter of mercie held out every day to lay hold on and a fountain for Judah and Jerusalem to wash in every day it is never stopped up or drawn dry the fountain is ever open the Scepter is ever held forth and the throne is ever kept God keepes not terms Now the Court of Chancerie is open and now it is
he is a God of power the Father of Power the guilty conscience then would reason he is the more able to crush me and to send me to hell Indeed there is no attribute of God but it is matter of terrour being secluded from mercy but considering God the Father of mercies then we may consider sweetly and comfortably of all other attributes He is mercifull and good to me therefore his wisdom that shall serve to do me good to devise good things for me his power shall serve to free me from mine enemies his Justice to revenge my quarrell and so all other attributes shall be serviceable to my comfort they may be thought upon sweetly where mercy is laid claime unto before Therefore here he is called the Father of mercie and not the Father of other attributes Of Mercies To unfold the word a little mercie is here the same with grace to a person in miserie Mercie is but free favour shewed to a miserable person Grace shews the freenesse of it and mercie shews the state of the person to whom it is shown alway where mercy is either there is present or else possible miserie There was mercie shewed to Angels that stood to free them to give them grace to stand they might have fallen as the Devils did when they were Angels none are the Subjects of mercie but such as either are in misery or are possible to fall into miserie now when God keeps and upholds the creature from falling into that which he is subject to fall into he being a creature taken out of nothing and therefore subject to fall to nothing without assistance to hold him from that whereto he would fall without being upheld this makes him the Object of mercy whatsoever the misery be spirituall or outward Thus God is the Father of mercie he upholds his Children from that which else they would fall into continually He is the Father of mercie before conversion offering and injoyning mercie to them that as they will be good to their soules they would receive mercie He joyns his glory and his mercy together that he will be glorified in shewing mercie and he presseth it upon us What a mercie is this that he should press mercie upon us for our own good Why will ye dye O House of Israel And Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden there is mercie before conversion and there is mercie in prolonging his wrath in not punishing and there is mercie in pardoning sinne freely in pardoning all sinne the punishment and the guilt and all and when we are in the state of Grace and have our sins pardoned still it is his mercy to forbeare the punishments due to us in mitigating his corrections and in seasonable corrections for it is a mercy for God to correct his Children seasonably Therefore we are corrected of God that we should not be damned with the world It is a mercy to have seasonable correction it is a mercy to have correction mitigated and sweetned with some comforts It is a mercy after we are in the state of Grace besides this to have the continuance of outword blessings God renews his mercies every day His mercies faile not Lament 3. 22. his mercies are renewed continually upon us So he is father of all kind of mercies privative mercies in freeing us from ill and positive mercies in bestowing good pardoning mercies healing mercies preserving mercies all mercies come from this Father of mercie I will not stand to unfold them in particular for indeed every thing that comes from God to his children it is a mercy it is as it were dipt in mercy before it comes to us it is a mercy that is there is a freedome in it and a pity to his creature For the creature is alway in some necessity and in some dependance we are in a state of necessities in this life in some misery or other and that as I said is the object of mercy Besides we are dependant for the good we have it is at Gods mercy to continue or to take away any comfort that he gives us every thing is a mercie And in every thing we take from God we ought to conceive a mercy in it and to think this is a mercy from God if we have health it is a mercy if we have strength it is a mercy if we have deliverance it is a mercy it comes in the respect and relation of a mercie all that comes from God He is not said to be the father of the thing but the Father of mercies there is a mercy contained in the thing they come from the pity and love of God and that is the sweetest therefore he is said to be the Father of mercies What use may we make of this that God is the Father of Mercies It is a point full of sweet and comfortable uses to those that are not in the state of grace and to those that are in the state of grace To those that are not in the state of grace they should see here a haven to flie to a City of refuge to flie unto do but consider thou wretched soul how God is stiled a Father of mercies to thee a God of bounty all is to allure thee to repentance to allure thee to come in He is not mercifull by accident but he is naturally merciful in himself he hath bowels of mercie in himself Mercy pleaseth him Micah 7. Therefore despair not thou drooping soul whosoever thou art that art under the guilt of sin come to the Father of mercies cast thy self into this Sea of his mercie hide thy self in these bowels be not an enemy to thine own mercie as Jonah saith refufe not thy own mercie that is offered There is mercie pressed upon thee mercie with threatning if thou believe not mercy now thou art called to receive it The wrath of God hangs over thee as a weight or as a sword ready to fall upon thee As Christ sath Joh. 3. The wrath of God hangs over us if we do not receive mercie offered us Alledge not thy sins against mercie thy sins are the sins of a creature God is the Father of mercies he is infinite Christ thy Saviour hath made an infinite satisfaction and thy sins are finite and in that respect there is mercie for thee if thou wilt come in if thou apprehend and receive mercie One deep calls upon another deep the depth of thy sins and misery drawes unto it and calls upon the depth of mercy The mercy of God is above all his works Psal. 147. It is not only above all his works to cover them all and under them to uphold them but it is beyond them all his mercy exceeds all other attributes to the creature It is above his works and upon his works and under his works and it is above thy works too He is more glorious in his mercy then in any other attribute he doth all for the glory of his mercy both
him up blesse God for raising us up Blessed be God who hath raised us up to an immortal hope by the Reserrection of Christ saith St. Peter blesse God for the ascension of Christ that our Head is in heaven Let us blesse God not for personal favours only but go to the spring blesse God for shewing it to Christ and to us in him This point the Apostle had learned well therefore he begins with praise Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. If the Virgin Mary thought her self blessed and all Generations should call her Blessed for bearing our Saviour in her Womb and so being his Mother then all Generations must needs do this duty to call God blessed because he is the Father of Christ. So God the Father is to be blessed as the spring of favours for he gave Christ. All Generations call the Virgin Mary blessed because she was the Mother of Christ but that was in a lower degree then God was his Father This point ought to take up our meditations to think we have all in Christ first to think of our selves in Christ it is comfortable and Christ shall have more glory by it God the Father and the Son shall have glory by it and we shall have comfort The second consideration of God is not only as he is the Father of Christ but as he is The Father of Mercies God is the Father of Christ and our Father and the Father of mercies but as I said before in this method he is first the Father of Christ and then our Father and then the Father of mercies For he could never be the Father of mercies to us except he were the Father of Christ For mercy must see justice contented one attribute in God must not devour another all must have satisfaction his Justice must have no wrong nor it hath not now it is fully satisfied by Christ. Therefore God is the Father of Christ that Christ in our nature might die for us and so he might be our Father notwithstanding our sins having punished our sins in our surety Christ. So being the Father of Christ and our Father he is the Father of mercies his justice hath no losse by it If God had not found out a way out of the bowels of his mercy how he might shew good to us by reconciling mercy and justice in the Mediator Christ in punishing him for our sins to let us free he had never been a Father of mercy if he had not been the Father of Christ first for we being in such contrary terms as God and we were he being holinesse and we nothing but a masse of sin and corruption without sufficient satisfaction of an infinite person there could be no reconciliation therefore he is the Father of Christ who died for us he took our nature upon him to satisfie Gods justice and then Father of us and so Father of mercy to us He may well be the Father of mercies now being the Father of Christ of our nature in Christ for as I said he is the Father of Christ as man as well as he is God being the Father of our nature being taken into the unity with his own Sons Nature for both make one Christ he becomes the Father of mercies he is a Father to him by nature to us by Grace and Adoption The Father of Christ and Father of mercies It is a necessary method for God out of Christ is a fountain indeed but he is a 〈◊〉 sealed up he is a God Merciful and Gracious in his own nature but there is sin that stops the fountain that stops the current of the mercy there must be therefore satifaction to his justice and wrath before there can be reconciliation before there can any mercy flow from him He is first the Father of Christ and then the Father of mercies we have all from Christ. If he were not the Father of Christ he should be the Father of no body for immediatly no man is able to appear before God without a mediator Father of Mercies By Father which is a kind of Hebraisme is meant he is the Original the spring of mercies he is the Father of mercies He doth not say the Father of one mercy but the Father of mercies His mercy is one it is his Nature it is Himself as he is one so mercy in him is one it is one in the fountain but many in the streames it is one in him one nature and one mercy but because we have not one sin but many sins we have not one misery but many that lies upon this fraile nature of ours therefore according to the exigences of us wretched Creatures according to our sins and miseries his mercies stream out they are derived and run out to all kind of sin and misery whatsoever The Father of mercies If all mercies were lost they must be found in him he is the Father of mercies they are his bowels as it were and mercy pleaseth him as a man is pleased with his own natural Child The Father of mercies he doth not say the Author of mercies but the Father of them he gives them the sweetest name that can be he doth not say the Father of revenge or of judgement though he be the father of them too but to his Children the father of mercies A sweet name under which none should despair But to shew some reasons why he is so stiled There is good reason being the Father of Christ his justice being fully contented sin being taken away that stopped the current of his mercies he being naturally merciful his mercies run freely Father of Christ and Father of mercies it followes well he is the father of mercies because he is the Father of Christ and because his justice is satisfied in him and he being naturally merciful what hinders but that mercy may run amain freely and abundantly upon those that are in covenant with him in Christ that are members of Christ that is one reason because his justice is satisfied And because he is naturally merciful therefore he is the Father of mercies The Sea doth not more naturally flow and is moist and the Sun doth not more naturally shine the fire doth not more naturally burn heavy bodies do not more naturally sink to the center then God doth naturally shew pitty and mercy where his justice is satisfied for it is his nature it is himself The Apostle doth not name other attributes for alas other attributes would scare us As for example if the guilty conscience consider him as a God of justice it will reason thus what is this to me I am a sinner and he will be just in punishing if he consider he is a God of Wisedome the conscience considers he is the more wise to find out my windings and turnings from him and my covering of my sins he is the more wise to find me out in my courses and to shame me he doth not say
from us he takes occasion from our sins but he is merciful from his own bowels he is good from himself we provoke him to be severe and just therefore be we never so miserable in regard of sin and the fruits of sin yet he is the Father of mercy of free mercy mercy from himself mercy pleaseth him Micah 7. he is delighted in it Now that which is natural comes easily as water from the fountain comes without violence and heat from the fire comes without any violence because it is natural A Mother pitties her child because it is natural there is a sweet instinct of nature that moves and pricks forward nature to that affection of love that she bears to her child So it is with God it is nature in him to be merciful to his because they are his Mercy is his nature we are his we being his his nature being merciful he will be merciful to all that are his to such as repent of their sins and lay hold of his mercy by a true faith His word shewes likewise his mercy there is not one attribute set down more in Scripture then mercy it is the name whereby he will be known Exod. 34. where he describes it and tells us his name what is the name of God his long suffering and mercy c. there is a long description of of God in that place David in Psal. 3. besides that which is in every Prophet almost hath the fame description of God to comfort Gods people in his time in Psal. 86. 103. 145. there is the same description of God as there is in Moses he is merciful and long suffering c. he describes himself to be so and his promises are promises of mercy At what time soever a sinner repents and without limitation of sins all sins shall be forgiven the blood of Christ purgeth us from all sin If there be no limitation of persons whomsoever of sins whatsoever or of time whensoever here is a ground that we should never despair God is the Father of mercies It is excellent that the Prophet hath in Isai. 55. 7. to prevent the thoughts of a dejected soul Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and return to the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon I but I have abused mercy a long time I have lived in sin and committed great sins well notwithstanding that see how he answers it My thoughts are not your thoughts you are vindictive if a man offend you you are ready to aggravate the fault and to take revenge c. But my thoughts are not as your thoughts nor my wayes as your wayes saith the Lord for as far as the heaven is above the earth so are my thoughts above your thoughts and my wayes above your wayes We have narrow poor thoughts of mercy because we our selves are given to revenge and we are ready when we think of our sins to say can God forgive them can God be merciful to such c. My thoughts are not as your thoughts nor my wayes as your wayes It is good to consider this and it is a sweet meditation for the time undoubtedly will come that unlesse Gods mercy and Gods thoughts should be as him self is infinite unlesse his wayes should be infinitly above our wayes and his thoughts infinitly above ours in mercy certainly the soul would receive no comfort The soul of a Christian acquainted with the word of God knows that Gods mercy is as himself is infinite and his thoughts this way are as himself is infinite Therefore the Scripture sets down the mercies of God by all dimensions There is the depth of Wisedom but when he comes to speak of love and mercy as it is in Ephes. 3. Oh the depth and bredth and height of this Indeed for height it is higher then the heavens for depth it fetcheth the soul from the nether most-deep we have deep miserie out of the deep Icryed to thee yet notwithstanding his mercy is deeper then our misery O the depth of his mercy there is a depth of mercy deeper then any misery or rebellion of ours though we have sunk deep in rebellion And for the extent ofthem as I said before his mercy is over all his workes it extends to the utmost parts of the earth The scripture doth wonderfully enlarge his mercie beyond all dimensions whatsoever These things are to good purpose and it is a mercy to us that he sets forth himself in mercy in his word because the soul sometime or other when it is awakned as every one that God delights in is awakened first or last it needs all this it is all little enough God is merciful to those that are heavy laden that feel the burden of their sins upon their souls such as are touched with the sence of their sins God still meets them half way he is more ready to pardon then they are to ask mercy As we see in the prodigall when he had wasted all when he was as low as a man could be when he was come to huskes and when he had despised his fathers admonition yet upon resolution to return when he was stung with the sence of his sins his father meets him and entertains him he upbraids him not with his sin Take sin with all the aggravations we can yet if we repent and resolve uppon new courses there is comfort though we relapse into sin again and again if we must pardon 10. times 7. times as Christ saith certainly there cannot be more mercy in the Cistern then there is in the fountain there cannot be more mercy in us then there is in the Father of mercies as God is Take sin in the aggravations in the greatnesse of it Manasses sin Peters denying of his Master the thief on the crosse and Pauls persecution take sin as great as you will he is the father of mercies If we consider that God is infinite in mercy and that the scripture reveals him as the Father of mercies there is no question but there is abundance a world of comfort to any distressed soul that is ready to cast it self on Gods mercy For those that are converted that are in the state of Grace Is God the father of mercies Let this stir us up to imbrace mercy every day to live by mercy to plead mercy with God in our daily breaches to love and fear God because there is mercy with him that he might be feared It is a harder matter to make a daily sweet use of this then it is taken for Those that are the fittest subjects for mercy they think themselves furthest off from mercy Come to a broken soul who is catched in the snare whose conscience is on the rack he thinks alas there is no mercy for me I have been such a sinner God hath shewed me mercy before and now I have offended him again and again those that are the
thee comfort that thou art much humbled in thy sicknesse and at the hour of death for it is hard for thee to determine whether it be true Repentance or meer sorrow for sin as it brings judgement Fear of damnation is not sufficient to bring a man to heaven thy nature must be changed before thou come to heaven thou must love Righteousnesse because it is Righteousnesse thou must love God because he is good thou must hate sin because it is sin How canst thou tell when thou hast been naught before affliction whether affliction have wrought this that thou repentest only out of hatred of judgement to shun that or out of hatred of sin because it is sin Therefore now a little repentance in thy health and in the enjoying of thy prosperity a little hatred of ill wayes now will more comfort thee then a thousand times more prayer and striving will then Although if thou canst do it truly then yet the gate of mercy is open but thy heart will scarce say it is truly done because it is forced Then again perhaps thou shalt not have the honour of it thou shalt not have the mercy thou that hast refused mercy and lived in a loose prophane course thou that hast despised mercy all the while God will not honour thee so much as to have a good word or a sorrowful word that even very grief shall not extort it from thee but as thou hast forgotten God in thy life and wouldest not own his admonitions thou shalt forget thy self in death and be taken away suddenly or else with some violent disease that shal take away the use of the parts that God hath given thee as inflammation of the Spirits or the like that shall take away the use of sound reason It is madnesse and no better to live as the most live to cry God is merciful c. thou mayest go to hell for all that repentance must be from a true hatred of sin and that that must comfort thee must be a disposition for the present for then it is unforced Therefore all these sweet comforts are to you that come in and leave your wicked courses if you have been swearers to swear no more if you have been deceivers to deceive no more if you have been licentious to be so no more but to break off the course of your sins as God shall enable you or else this one thing think of it that you now dawbe your conscience withall and go on in sin with that will be the most terror to you even Mercy nothing will vex you so much as mercy afterward Then thon shalt think with thy self I have heard comfortable of the promises and of the nature of God but I put off and despised all I regarded my sinful courses more then the mercy of God in Christ they were sweeter to me then mercy I lived in sins out of the abundance of prophanenesse that did me no good I lived in sins out of the superfluity of prophanenesse that I had neither profit nor pleasure by and neglected mercy The consideration of mercy neglected with the continuing in a wretched course it will more aggravate the souls torment Let us be incouraged to come in such as intend to leave their sinfull courses let them remember that then they come to a Father of mercy that is more ready to pardon then you are to ask it As you see in the prodigal Son which I instanced in before it is a notable sweet Story I have a Father saith he when he had spent all and was come to Huskes Affliction is a notable means to make us to taste and relish mercy I have a father and there is plenty in his house and he comes and confesseth his sin he had no sooner resolved but his Father he doth not stay for him but he meets him and kisseth him Let us consider of this description of God the Father of mercy it should move any that are in ill and lewd courses before In my Fathers house there are good things and in his heart there are bowels of mercy I have a Father and a Father of mercy I will go home and submit my self to him and say to him I have been thus and thus but I will be so no more you shall find that God by his Spirit will be readier to meet you then you are to cast your selves at the feet of his mercy and into the armes of his mercie he will come and meet you and kisse you you shall find much comfort upon your resolution to come in if it be a sound resolution The son fears his Fathers displeasure but saith the Father My thoughts are not as your thoughts Oh! I fear he will not receive me yes yes he is willing to imbrace you mercy pleaseth him and why will you perish O house of Israel Againe God is the Father of mercies This should stirre us up to an imitation of this our gratious Father for every Father begets to his owne likeness and all the sons of this Father are like the Father they are mercifull The Kings of Israel are merciful Kings saith the Heathen King Benhadad and the God of Israel is a mercifull God and all that are under God are mercifull his sons are mercifull as their heavenly father is mercifull Therefore if we would make it good to our own hearts and the opinion and judgement of others of us that we are children of this mercifull Father we must put on bowels of mercie our selves as in Colos. 3. 2. Now therefore as the Elect of God as you will make it good that God hath elected you put on the bowels of mercie Whatsoever we have from God it comes in the respect of a mercie and so it should doe from Gods Children every thing that comes from them to them that are in miserie it should be a mercy they should not only bestow the thing but a sweet mercy with the thing a child of God he poures out his bowels to his Brother as Esay saith Poure out thy bowels c. There is some bowels that is there is an affection in Gods Children they give not onely the thing the reliefe but mercie with it that hath a sweet report to the soule there is pittie that more comforts a sanctified soule then the thing it selfe We must not doe workes of mercie proudly it is not the thing that God stands on but the affection in the thing his benefits are with a fatherly pittie so should ours be with a pittifull respect with a tender heart The very mercies of the wicked are cruell If they be mercifull there is some pride of spirit there is some tast of a hard heart of an hypocriticall spirit somewhat is not as it should be their mercies are not mercies we must in our mercie imitate the Father of mercies Alas it is the fault of our time there is little mercie to those that are in miserie What a cruell thing is it that
see our interest in his humiliation and exaltation in glory because he is the second Adam These things should raise up our thoughts wondrously to think of his humiliation and his exaltation and of the love and mercy of God in him And then think of what you will nothing is discouraging think of death of hell of the day of Judgment think of Satan of the curse of the Law they are terrible things I but think of the Son of God of Christ anointed of God the Father to satisfie the Law to satisfie his Justice to overcome Satan to crush his head to be our Saviour as well as our Judge at the day of Judgment these things will make all vanish Things that are most tetrible to the nature of man without the consideration of Jesus Christ the Son of God all are most comfortable when we think of him Now when we think of Satan we think of one crushed and trod under foot as he shall be ere long When we think of Judgment we think of a Saviour that shall be our Judge when we think of God we think of God reconciled in Christ. We have accesse by Christ to the Throne of grace he is now in heaven and makes intercession for us When we think of death we think of a passage to life where we shall be with him I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. So the things that are most uncomfortable yet bring the consideration of them to Christ exalted in heaven having triumphed over all these in our nature and sits at Gods right hand The thoughts of these things are comfortable meditations Nay think of that which is the most terrible of all the Justice of God his anger for sin it is a matter of comfort above all other God is just to punish and revenge sin what then because he is just he will not punish â—…hing twice but his justice is fully satisfied aad contented in his Son Christ Jesus whom he hath anointed and predestinate and sent himself and he must needs acknowledge that satisfaction that is done by him that he hath sent himself hereupon we come to think comfortably of Gods Justice God out of Christ is a consuming fire there is nothing more terrible then God without Christ but now in Christ we can think of the most terrible thing in God with comfort Therefore S. Paul makes it the main scope of his preaching and so should we of ours and you should make it your main desire in hearing and the main subject matter of your meditating something concerning Christ. Let us often think of our nature in him now exalted in heaven and that we shall follow him ere long our head is gone before and he will not suffer his body alwayes to rot in the earth let us think of his natures and his offices and all the blessed prerogatives that we have by him and all the enemies that are conquered by him that in him we have God reconciled and the Devil vanquished we have heaven opened and hell shut we have our sins pardoned and our imperfections by little and little cured in him we have all in all There are four things that the Apostle speaks of which includes all 1 Cor. 1. 30. Of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made to us wisdome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption Christ Jesus is all in all if we be ignorant he is our wisdome if we want righteousnesse and holinesse to stand before God he is ouâ—… righteousnesse we stand righteous being cloathed with his righteousnesse If we want Grace Of his fulnesse we receive Grace for Grace he is sanctification to us If we be miserable as we shall be to our sense our bodies shall be turned to rottennesse he is our redemption not onely of the soul but of the body he shall make our bodies like his glorious body as he makes our soules glorious by his Spirit conforming them to his own Image here he means here redemption of our bodies from corruption as well as of our soules from sin He is all in all in sin he is sanctification in death he is life in ignorance he is wisdome there is nothing ill in us but there is abundant satisfaction and remedy in Christ. I speak this the rather to shew what reason S. Paul had to stand on this That all his preaching was to bring Christ Jesus among them I go on The Son of God Jesus Christ preached among you All the good we have by Christ is conveyed by the Ministery Despise that and despise Christ himself Therefore whatsoever benefits we have by Christ they are attributed to preaching they are attributed to the Gospel as it is preached and unfolded therefore it is called the Gospel of the Kingdome The Word of reconciliation The Word of life The Word of faith all these are by Christ but it is no matter whatsoever we have by Christ we must have it by Jesus Christ unfolded in the Ministery of the Word despise the Ministery that is contemptible to flesh and blood and despise Christ himself despise the Kingdome and life and all for Christ preached is that we must relie on Christ unfolded the bread of life must be broken the sacrifice must be anatomized and laid open Christ Jesus the Son of God must be preached he profits not but as he is preached his riches must be unfolded The unsearchable riches of Christ. Therefore God that hath appointed us to be saved by Christ hath appointed and ordained preaching to lay open Jesus Christ among us But to come to the third Point why doth he bring in consent to help By me and Silvanus and Timotheus would not his own authority serve the turn I answer no it would not sometimes In it self it will but in regard of the weaknesse of men it is necessary to joyn the consent of others S. Paul was an Apostle of Christ but he knew that they were so weak that they would regard his testimony the more for the joynt testimony of Timotheus and Silvanus and the rest God considers not so much what is true in it self as how to stablish our faith in it As in the Sacrament would not God give Christ and his benefits is he not true of his Word Yes but he gives the Sacrament for us his promises are sure enough yet he condescends to our weaknesse to adde Sacrament and oath and all the props that may be So the men of God that are led by the Spirit of God though their own authority were sufficient yet they condescend to the weaknesse of others Therefore S. Paul alledgeth with himself Silvanus and Timotheus to strengthen them the better Then again consent is a lovely thing and proceeds from love how sweet a thing is it for brethren to dwell together in unity therefore we ought to stand much upon consent if it may perswade us But as Cyprian saith well it must be consent in the truth Consent that is not
had at the first as Gods mending is ever for the better The state of grace and glory is better then ever the state of nature was spiritual is better then natural Therefore it is much for the glory of the wisdome of God that he can in Christ reconcile justice and mercy and shew more mercy then ever he did in making man out of the dust of the earth and all is to the glory of God These attributes especially are glorious in the promises in Christ. His Justice is glorious in punishing sin in Christ there sin is odious in the punishing of Christ God-man if we speak of justice there is justice If of Mercy to put it upon our surety for God to give his Son for us there is transcendent mercy and transcendent justice in the punishing of our sin how could it be punished greater And then the glory of his Wisdom to bring these together infinite mercy and infinite justice in Christ. Infinite Power for God to become man and without sin to be so farre abased a humble omnipotency to descend so low that God could be mortal and then to raise himself again And then the glory of his Truth that whatsoever was promised to Abraham to David to the Prophets all was performed in Christ all the Types here is glory by Christ of Mercy Justice Wisdome Truth for all are Yea and Amen in Christ. Therefore he may well say all this is To the glory of God Therefore consider how the glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ as the Apostle saith If you would see God see him shining in the face of Jesus Christ see his Mercy shining in Christ and his Justice in the punishing our sin in Christ see his Truth his Power his Wisdome shineing in Christ and shining more then in the Creation or in any thing in the world besides Can you honour God more then in believing the Gospel Can you dishonour him more then to call his truth into question that is Yea and Amen If you believe the Gospel you set to your seal that God is true 1 Joh. 3. What an honour is this that God will be honoured by you in setting to your seal that he is true you give him the glory of all his attributes In not believing what a dishonour do you do to God you deny his Mercy his Wisdome his Justice his Truth you deny all his attributes you make God a liar what a horrible sin is unbelief Therefore fortifie your faith The Devil layeth siege to our faith above all other things if he can shake that he shakes all for holy life goes when faith goes Who will love God or obey God when he knowes not whether he be his God or no Let faith flourish and it will quicken life in the heart Let the promises grow in the heart and the Word be graffed in the heart and all will flourish in a Christians life all will come off clearly and freely obedience will be chearful and free when we see God reconciled in Christ. Then love will be full of devices when I see Gods love to me what shall I do to shew love again to shew thanks to God where is there any that for Cods sake I may do good unto How shall I maintain the truth and resist all opposers of the truth Can I do too much for him that hath done so much for me Love quickens The Devil knowes if he can shake faith he shakes all Let us fortifie faith and we glorifie God more then by any thing else He is glorious in the Gospel and how shall he be so by us except we set our hearts to believe him Therefore let us seal Gods truth by our faith and set to our seales that God is true God vouchsafes to be honoured by weak sinful men believing of him and that faith that honours him he will be sure to honour By us By us Ministers How When the Gospel is preached God is carried in triumph as it were and his banner is set up and the Promises displayed and sinners called unto him and God is glorified by the discovery of these things and faith is wrought in people to whom they are discovered and they glorifie God when they believe they blesse God that ever they heard these tydings so every way God is glorified The Ministers they open as it were the box of sweet oyntment that the savour of it may be in the Church and spread far They lay open the tapestry the rich treasures of Gods mercies they dig deep and find out the treasure Therefore these Promises in Scripture being so made and performed in Christ they tend to Gods glory but by us by our Ministery God to knit man and man together will convey the good he means to convey by the despised Ministery The enemies therefore of the Ministery of the Gospel what are they here is a double prejudice against them they are enemies of the glory of God and of the comfort of Gods people for they glorifie God in the sense of his mercy when it is unfolded to them God gets glory and they comfort What do we think then of Popish spirits that feed the people only with dead and dull ceremonies but let them go I go on to the next Verse having dwelt somewhat long on this VERSE XXI Now he that stablisheth us with you in Christ is God who hath anointed us c. AS the riches of a Christian consisteth in the promises of God which as we have heard in Christ are all Yea and Amen so unlesse he be stablished and built upon this strength all is nothing What if a man stand on a rock if he be not built on it what if the foundation be never so strong if he be not stablished thereon It is not sufficient that the Promises be stablished but we must be stablished upon them The Promises of God are indeed Yea and Amen might the soul say but what is that to me Therefore the Apostle addeth He that gives the Promises will stablish us upon the promises Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ is God The first thing that I will observe before we come to the particular handling of the words shall be onely this in the general from the connexion and knitting together of this Verse with the former viz. That there must be a double Amen There is an Amen in the Promises they are in themselves true there must be an Amen likewise in us we must say Amen to them that is we must be stablished upon them There must be an Echo in a Christians heart unto God that as God saith These and these things I promise and they are all Amen so the soul by faith must Echo again These things are for me I believe them For as we say in the Schooles to good purpose there is a double certainty a double firmnesse a certainty of the Object and a
with reasons discovering an absolute necessity of geting into Christ and of having him to be our Husband except we will lye under the wrath of God and be damned and withal discovering the fulnesse and excellency that is in Christ. Again it is God onely that must stablish the soul all the parts of it both judgment and conscience For I beseech you what can any humane creature what can any thing under God work upon the soul I mean so firmly as to stablish it and therefore our controversie with the Papists is just and good We say The reason and ground of our believing the Word of God to be the Word of God must not be the testimony of the Church and the authority thereof for alas what can the judgment of man what can the judgment of the Church do It may incline and move the will by inducing arguments and so cause a humane consent but to establish the soul and conscience and to assure me that the Word of God which is the ground of my faith is the Word of God it must be God by his Spirit that must do it the testimony of the Church will never do it The same Spirit that inspired holy men to write the Word of God works in us a belief that the Word of God is the Word of God The stablishing argument must be by the power of Gods Spirit God joyning with the soul and spirit of a man whom he intends to convert besides that inbred light that is in the soul causeth him to see a Divine Majestie shining forth in the Scriptures so that there must be an infused establishing by the Spirit to settle the heart in this first principle and indeed in all other Divine principles that the Scriptures are the Word of God And to go on a little further this is a fundamental errour in our practice For what is the reason we have so many Apostates what is the reason so many are so fruitlesse in their lives what is the reason that men despair in death but even this because men are not built and stablished aright Gods Spirit never stablished their soules in Divine truths For first concerning Apostasie ask them what is the reason they are of this or that Religion They will say they have been taught so they have been brought up to it the company with whom they have conversed have been devout men and have been alwayes led with this opinion and they see no reason to thwart it Is that all Hath not the Spirit wrought these things in thy heart hath he not given thee a taste of them hath he not convinced thee in thy judgment that it is so hast thou not found the power of the Spirit working upon thy soul changing of thee raising of thee drawing of thee out of the world nearer to God hast thou not I say felt the power of the Spirit this way No but thus I was catechized and thus I have been bred and thus I have heard in the Ministery And no otherwise Alas it will never hold out there will be a falling away for when a man believes not that which he believes from the Spirit of God he will be ready when dangerous times come when there is an onset made by the adversaries to fall and to fall clean away as we see it was in the time of Popery for whatsoever is not spiritual whatsoever knowledge is not Divine and from the Spirit of God never holds out Therefore I beseech you what 's the reason that you have many illiterate men that set upon the truth and hold out to the end and on the contrary many great seeming Scholars that are skilful in school-learning and in other Authours do not The reason is the one hath the truth from the Spirit discovering all the objections that the heart of man can make against it and the strength that is in the truth to answer and silence all those objections The other man hath onely a discoursing knowledge an ability to gather one thing from another and to prove one thing by another by strength of parts But the Spirit of God never discover'd the sleights and the corruptions of his heart never fastned and settled his heart upon the truth he never had experience of the truth For indeed nothing doth stablish so much as the experience of the truth on which we are stablished Again what is the reason of that unfruitfulnesse that is amongst men but because truths were never settled in the soul by the Spirit of God That which men know out of the Word of God concerning Christ and the priviledges by him they were never perswaded of it in their hearts therefore they come not to a fruitful conversation It is impossible but that men should be abundantly fruitful that have spiritual apprehensions of Divine things of Evangelical truths Hence comes all our unthankfulnesse and undervaluing of the Gospel The Gospel of it self is an unprized thing however we esteem of it God values it highly we value it not because our apprehensions of it are customary and formal gotten by breeding and education and discourse and not by the Spirit we feel not the spiritual and heavenly comforts of those truths we think we know How comes likewise Despair in time of temptation and in death but onely because men want this stablishing by the Spirit of God Men go on in evil courses trusting to a formal dead humane knowledge gotten by humane meanes and not settled in them by the Spirit of God that hath not sealed the truth in their hearts and hereupon when sharp tryals come they despair because they have no feeling of the truths of the Gospel and so when conscience is awakened and smarts it clamours and cryes out upon all their formall and humane knowledge For they having not a spiritual sense of the mercies of God in Christ and the perswasions of comfort are not so near to support the soul as the tentations and vexations and torments are how can they but despair Now who can still the conscience but the Spirit of God Why now if the knowledge that men had were spiritual and heavenly in all accusations of conscience it would set conscience down and still it I am a sinner indeed I am this and this but I have felt the sweet mercies of God in Christ God hath said to my soul I am thy salvation he hath intimated to my spirit by a sweet voyce Son thy sinnes are forgiven thee Where there is I say a knowledge and an apprehension of these Evangelical truths wrought by the Spirit it sets down Conscience and stills it though the heart rage at the same time There are thousands in the very bosome of the Church that miscarry because of this resting in a literall outward formall knowledge gotten onely by discourse and by reading and commerce with others and never labour to have their hearts stablished in Christ by Gods Spirit You see here then a