the other If we should say the Will is the subject of Faith because Faith is a Grace and from it a man is denominated good which a man is not from any habit of the understanding yet still we say faith hath a work upon the understanding And if we say Faith is in the understanding yet we say it hath a work upon the Will in making it to delight in that which the understanding presents unto it There is an acurateness in determining which faculty faith is in but we need not stand upon that because there is somthing that this work of faith doth in both And if we look into the Scripture we shall find it speaks as it is an act of the understanding By his knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many Isay 53.11 And they that are taught of God come unto him John 6.45 and somtimes faith is described by a confidence and trust of our selves upon God through Christ But when faith is described by an act of the understanding you are to suppose allwaies that there goes an act of the Will with it And when Faith is described by an act of the Will you must alwaies suppose that there goes an act of the understanding also For they only that know the name of God trust in him Psal 9.10 Whether the Understanding or the Will be first wrought upon I shal not speak to now somthing peradventure may fall in before I have done this point But I shall now fal upon the Understanding because men have suffered their light to be put out and while they cry out against a bare notionall knowledg of the things of God they have lost the knowledg of it Faith I say is an act of receiving And by Faith as it is an understanding act I shall open that in some particulars First Faith doth the office of an Informer or it brings in news tidings into the Soul of what good is to be had in Jesus Christ It is as it were an Invoice or bill of lading or advice of what commodities advantages Jesus Christ is ful of As Merchants you know have their Factors abroad to inform them what wares and commodities are to be had in several Countries and what goes off and bears price Or as there are particulars and surveys given of Land unto purchasers that they may know every thing they deal for So Faith now as it is in the understanding it gives in a particular unto the Soul of what Christ is appointed to do and hath received to give unto poor sinners And hence it is in the Scripture called a teaching Joh. 6.44 45. No man saith the Text can come unto me except the Father draws him as it is written They shâ—ll be all taught of God Every one that hath heard and learned of the Father comes unto me And in Eph. 1.18 It 's called an opening of the Eyes to take in that which is to be received For this cause saith Paul I bow my knees unto the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that the eyes of your mind being enlightned yee may know what is the hope of your calling c. And it is called a revealing and making known of the Mystery Eph. 3.4 5. Who hath beleeved our report and to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed As the Apostle quotes the words of Isaiah in Rom. 10.17 and beloved the things which faith doth reveal cannot be known otherwise 1 Cor. 2.7 Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor is the heart of man able to conceive what God hath laid up for them that love him But we have this mind of Christ whereby we know him we have the knowledg of the deep things of God It is hidden wisdom not to be found out by man in ver 9. and 14. the Natural man cannot discern it As weak eyes cannot look upon the light Or as some small prints cannot be read by some tender eyes There is in all ordinary things which faith believes and receives some extraordinary things As for example By faith a man knows the world was made of nothing Heb. 11.3 But his Faith rests not there but he looks upon all the promises of God as being made by God that hath such power to perform them and rests upon them accordingly He looks upon all as comming through the merits of Jesus Christ Eph. 3.19 He looks upon things as passing knowledg I pray that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that you may comprehend what passeth knowledg And as Faith will reveal and tell a man nothing that is ordinary but wonders so it informs a man certainly It brings nothing that is liable to a falshood or a question It cannot but come to pass which Faith reveals because Faith hath alwaies the Word and Truth of God for its Object It will speak nothing but what it hath from Gods own mouth and the words of his mouth are as pure as Silver seven times tryed in the fire in which there is no dross at all Unto this end that Faith may make the soul to know what is to be had and to be gotten by Jesus Christ It doth particularly set before us the benefits of Jesus Christ or the End of God the Father in giving Christ He is Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption It reveals them as those things that are to be attained unto by us And upon this is speaks unto the Soul as the Patriarch did unto his Son when there was a Famine in the Land There is Corn in Egypt why do you not go thither So Faith tells a man what he should pray for and look for and it saith unto him Thou art troubled because thy heart is barren but is there not fruitfulness in Jesus Christ And though thy Understanding be dim and cannot see the bottom of things yet is there not light shining in him Whatever a Soul needs there is a supply of in Jesus Christ and Faith informs a man of so much It makes known both the power and love of God the Father in his person and the holiness of Christ and his satisfaction and purchase and the state to which he is risen These things are necessary to be known and without them no man can receive any thing at the hand of Christ he must know Jesus Christ to be God 1 John 5.20 This is the true God and eternal Life And until a man doth thus know him he hath no understanding as the Apostle speaks there We know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding to know him that is true and we are in him that is true and this is the true God and eternal Life Faith upon Christ is the greatest Idolatry and Superstition that can be till the soul be cleer in this and the greatest folly for a man to commit himself to Christ if he were not God You must also know the Satisfaction of Christ For this indeed is that which troubles
is this that it is given by such a means and hand as Jesus Christ is We rejoyce in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh As by approving sin a man doth make sin his own and contracts the guilt of it which was done by another So by the Wils approving of the assent which the Understanding hath given unto the truths of the Gospell the Will becomes a partaker together with it Or thus As a man that doth approve evill will soon be full of all unrighteousness So the will approving what the understanding beleevs concerning the truth of the promises will bring the Soul to be filled with the blessings of it Thirdly Faith doth make the Will to give up it self unto Jesus Christ And therefore Faith is called a coming unto him And in 2 Cor. 8.5 They gave themselves unto God and then unto us You shall understand the meaning of it if we first consider the meaning of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they gave He that gives a thing alters the property of it he makes him to be the Lord and master of it to whom he gives it This is yours do with it what you please I call it my own no more So now they gave themselves unto Jesus Christ and resigned themselves unto him and would no more meddle as before they had done in working out meritoriously their own salvation I am not my own saith the Soul I am thine Lord I have no more to do with my self to save my self than I have to do with that which is another mans to use at my pleasure I have given my self to thee And as you may discern the meaning of it by the word Give So you may by that which the Apostle joynes to it They gave themselves first to God and then to us How did they give themselves to the Apostles They did give themselves to them as their Teachers as those by whom God would reveal the things of him and the way of practising of the Will of Jesus Christ Upon this account you shal find that faith is compared to Marriage where parties give over the right of themselves unto another Only let me tel you this by the way That there is an implicite giving As a man is said to give himself to sleep and to idleness who doth indulge his own ease and laies himself softly That is an implicite giving There is an explicite giving and that is by way of express resignation As a man that comes and delivers a possession of goods or a commodity which is bought into the hands of another Here take what is thy own Now in al Faith there is an implicite giving but not an explicite I say there is an implicite giving there is an indulgence of it self and liking what may make it self vile and what may draw it unto Jesus Christ though it cannot say as it is true to say before all things I had rather or do desire to favor and wil no more seek after the love of any other creature The explicite resignation is that which the Saints do come unto But a man may have faith though he cannot say so of himself This explicite Resignation and giving a mans self is necessary but not as this implicite giving a mans self is unto salvation Fourthly Faith as it is in the Will doth make a man to rest and stay himself upon Jesus Christ and to look to no other means besides him for salvation To rest upon him This you have the Scripture oft times speaking Esay 50.10 Let him trust in the Lord and stay upon his God Somtimes therfore it 's called in the Scripture as in Psal 37.1 a not fretting but being quiet This resting brings in abundance from Jesus Christ I say it brings in For if a touch of him be followed with vertue to heal If one touch upon dead bones will make life come into the spirit then what will the continued acts of Faith do This is that indeed which the Scripture cals a life In Gal. 2.20 Because though there be many intermissions and interruptions that a man doth so rest as that he is beaten off yet still he comes unto Jesus Christ again That is his general course and that wherin alone he takes conentment In this case the Soul saith to Jesus Christ in its carriage I say in its carriage just as a man useth to say to one he depends upon I wil look no where else If you disappoint me look to it I have no other friends to supply me I have none to go unto for relief but you So faith the Soul And if it find its self at any time carried to other things and to rest in them then it is displeased with it self and troubled at it self and never hath quiet untill it makes that void and nothing which it hath done before Then Fifthly As Faith is in the Will it takes in what is in Christ it applies it to its self according as its need and necessities are I say it takes in what is in Christ Al the rest of the acts of faith were but as it were carrying the soul to him This now doth make it inriched by him As the Cloath lying in the Fat doth receive the color and dye Or as a man lying in sin is thereby hardened and habituated to do evill So the Soul by its rest and continuance in Jesus Christ comes to be made partaker of all that is in Jesus Christ It makes use of him to pardon and to sanctification When as it is afraid of wrath Joh. 15.1 it looks up to him When it 's besieged with lusts it sends for help to him Without me saith Christ you can do nothing That is Not only without their being in him but without their making use of him Therefore in John 3.21 it 's said that he that comes to Christ hath al his works wrought in God Wrought in God How is that As he goes to God for direction so he goes to God for strength through Jesus Christ Let me add but this Caution That though these five severall acts be done by Faith as it is in the Will yet you are not to think that they are done in that order that I have propounded them or that they must be done to so high and notable pitch and degree before a man can receive But there is somthing of all these wherever faith is and some thing done of all these though it be very weak There is some love though it be but a preferring of him to others And some approving and yielding of its self unto Jesus Christ and some resting on him I shall only say this one word of Application at this time and that is this USE If Faith be a Receiving as you have heard Then the sin of Unbelief is exceeding great and very provoking As our misery is great that we have not only no active power to do good but we want a passive power to receive good We are no
men even concerning the things of the Gospel which is contrary unto their lusts But yet it s not grounded upon any thing but meerly upon demonstration upon demonstration I say or experience and therefore it doth not save There are some therfore that receive Jesus Christ only into their reason Into their reason only I have made these severall steps in the laying open of this truth because that the Devil doth with the Souls of men even as Warriers do when they have a place to hold out against an enemy If so be that they cannot keep one Wal or one part of the Fort they get to another and there strengthen themselves They would keep them out of al. If the Devil can keep Christ out of the fancies of men he wil. If he cannot stay him there by reason of the means that they live under then he staies him in Reason and labors to set him up there You shal know what I mean by it by and by A man may receive Jesus Christ into his reason and yet have no good wil to him which is the Point that I have in hand For as the Eye being opened cannot but see the light so neither can the Understanding but take notice of the truth that is propounded unto it The Will hath a power when the Object is before it to refuse it But the understanding hath no such power But when as a thing is propounded it cannot but observe it A man may not like nor own what is propounded but he cannot but take notice of it And therefore by the way when we say that men will not know or men are wilfully ignorant The meaning is this They wil not be known to know or do wilfully keep themselves from reflecting upon the consideration of what they do know for when the light comes It cannot I say but be received Therfore for the better opening of a mans receiving Jesus Christ into his reason Know that there is a difference between Reason and Reasoning In the Latine tongue they have two words that do aptly express it Ratio and Rationis operatio It is that reasoning which God hath given unto men to joyn truths together which are of one sort and belongs unto one subject And to collect and gather the consequences which follow thereon This is reasoning And by this many men come to be great disputers and contenders as you shal hear by and by for that Faith of Christ which they have not dwelling in their hearts As in the time of the Law The Jews had some who kept their Genealogies who retained the knowledg of every Tribe the heads of the families and the kindred and the alliances which every one had to another by matches and marriages So God hath given Reasoning in the soul this office To keep the foundation or principall heads of truths and to keep also in memory the consequences which are as it were the kindred of those foundation truths the marriages which one common head hath with another the influences which one point hath into another This Reasoning ads nothing unto truth but doth arise from the nature of truth it self and is in the thing in the truth whether or no that it be reached by us or not As for example We reason thus If God made the World then the World was not eternall Whether we collect this or not yet in this saying viz. That God made the World This viz. that it is not eternal is comprised And this kind of Reasoning the Scripture makes use of in the matters of Faith Rom. 3.28 Therefore we conclude that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but by Faith in Jesus Christ And in Matth. 22.32 Upon this Jesus Christ proves the resurrection of the bodies of men viz. God hath said That he will be the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and of those that beleeve upon him If he hath said saith Christ that he will be their God then by consequence They do live unto him and their bodies also shall live together with their Spirits And because the Scripture maketh such use of these consequences or this kind of reasoning therefore we are commanded to attend unto reading because the words of scripture are means whereby things comes thus into our Understanding And we are required to Search the Scriptures John 5.19 which is a Metaphor taken from Hunters whether they be Beasts or Men They look after the foot-steps of their Game As by instinct the Dog taketh the sent here and there and follows the Game as if it were following the conclusion So the mind of a man puts things together and must put the things together that are in the Scripture and conclude from them But besides this Reasoning There is also Reason which is the principles and notions of things that are in us by nature And these are of two sorts Some are common and universally true True in every Matter or Science As for example That the rule is before and more known than that which is ruled by it That the Cause is more excellent than the Effect That the means so far as it is a means is less excellent than the end These and divers others are true not only in humane Sciences but in matters of Faith As for example It is as true that the scripture because it is a rule is before mens Faith and before the Church and of greater authority and efficacy Even as it is true that the Laws of men are in order of nature before any thing can be done lawfully or to have a reward or acceptation And so again The Body of Christ though it be in Heaven and ful of Glory yet notwithstanding is as well contained there and not every where as it was in one place and not in another when it was upon the earth Now besides those generall and universal principles of reason there are in us by nature particular principles or notions which do belong unto particular subjects As Unto the nature of God and unto Righteousness and unto Justice Whether that righteousness be personall and morall or whether it be political or that which a man is to exercise as a Iudg towards others There are notions which are proper unto the beings and kinds of Creatures Now to draw unto the thing that I would speak unto in divers cases Both Reason reasoning may argue an unwillingness to receive Iesus Christ and so a want of true faith The receiving Jesus Christ may be such both into reason and into reasoning as argues a man not to beleeve upon Christ unto the Salvation of his soul Give me but leave to instance but in some of these as breifly as I can As I. When no more is beleeved concerning God and Jesus Christ Mark it when we beleeve no more of God and Jesus Christ then can be deduced out of the principles of the knowledg of God which are in us by nature Take the principles of the knowledg of God which
having made a difference between thy self and others But when all hath been upon receipts thou must be humble Shall one letter bag be counted better than another because it s filled with Gold Or one earthen vessell more precious than another because precious liquor is put into it Pride saith as Nebuchadnezzar This is Babell that I have built but Faith saith quite contrary This thou hast received and if thou hast received it then be not proud Thirdly If thou wouldst carry thy self as one that it is a receiver then be communicative In Mtah. 10.8 Freely ye have received therefore freely give Such ought to be our communication unto men as they are unto us from God Let the Saints have the use of all and be forward to use whatever they have gotten for their good for to this end you have received it He that had a Talent you know received it not to lay up but to lay out Jesus Christ himself hath his gifts to distribute And if any man should say they are so and so and so with whom I do converse The Text tels you that he hath received gifts for the rebellious and to lead captivity captive Psal 68.18 He overcomes the opposition in men by the gifts which he gives and bestows upon men Why should Christians be so reserved and keep their oyl to themselves why should they be so backward to comfort and direct others with the same comforts and directions which they have received For if God hath put these things into you it s but that you may put them into others Why hath he communicated unto you a spirituall gift but that others may be edified by you Even as what one member of the body hath is for the good of the whol and the more you use what you have the more you shall receive There is not only an easiness of exercise of Grace to be gotten hereby but an abundance of Grace God le ts rain fall upon the Mountains that it may run down upon the Valleys The more thou art willing and usefull and communicating the more use thou hast of thy grace the more grace thou shalt have from God As the things of this life are given unto men not for themselves but that they may do publique service so specially is Grace given Thou hast more faith than another It is to this end that thou maiest incourage another Thou canst take freely of Grace It is to this end that thou maiest incourage another to do as thou dost USE V. But in the last place If Faith be a receiving then there is strong Consolation to all them that have this Faith Consolation in this That thou hast a right to all all things are for you and you have a power or an hand given you to take all You are made the great receivers of the estate and riches of Jesus Christ And you are not only receivers in trust but what you do receive you have a right unto And let this comfort you against the weakness and inability that you find to do any service for God You can do nothing but know that the great and main work is not doing but receiving Heb. 6.7 As the ground doth drink in the rain and receive the seed before it can bring forth fruit for him by whom it is drest So must you first get from Jesus Christ before you can bear fruit unto him And it is a Comfort to you in this that though you do lose much and suffer much loss in somthing for the sake of Jesus Christ you shall have it again whatever thou partest with that the Grace of Faith may rule in thee I say whatever thou partest withall thou hast by the Grace of Faith somthing whereby thou maiest receive that in a better kind and much more As men pay money in one Country and take a bill to receive it in another with increase so now when thou partest with thy confidence and with thy understanding that thou mai'st receive from Jesus Christ thou dost it but that thou maist receive ten times more at the hand of Jesus Christ than what thou partedst with and every way as good for thee And so I have now done with the generall poins that Faith is a receiving CHAP. VI. How Faith Receives 1. By an Act of the Vnderstanding 2. By an Act of the Will Faith as it is an act of the Vnderstanding doth severall Works First It doth the office of an Informer and that in severall particulars I now come particularly to open how Faith doth Receive And for that Faith doth receive by the Act of the mind or the Understanding or By the Act of the Will These Two faculties the Understanding and the Will are like hands by which we receive Jesus Christ and his fulness Or they are like severall Vessels and Barns which are filled with his fulness If you look into the Scripture you shall find that To Receive is ascribed unto the understanding I wil mention but one place of many 1 Cor. 2.14 The naturall man cannot receive the things of God He receivs them not neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned When Christ had spoken in parables unto the people he useth this language in Matth. 19.12 He that can receive it let him receive it And Receiving is not only a work of the mind and understanding but a work also of the Will In Rom. 14.1 Him that is weak in Faith Receive Receive what is that He speaks of such a receiving as the Apostle in the Epistle to Philem. ver 12. writes concerning Onesimus which was nothing else but a welcoming and kind entertaining of him with love The Text that I have in hand As many as received him must be understood of both these You must understand this Receiving of an act of the mind For in the verse before the Text he speaks of light and inlightning and bearing witness of the light And therefore the receiving this light is by having the eyes of their mind inlightned and opened And on the contrary those that receive not Christ are faid to be in darkness or without understanding And in Heb. 11.3 By Faith we understand And this receiving also is an act of the Will For it notes the taking of a thing as our own and the near and intimate conjunction unto it As a man you know that doth receive meat or as one that receives an Estate or possession or as I said in the beginning a Friend entertains a Friend So we are said here to entertain Christ In John 10.38 We know and Beleeve Believing being distinct from knowledge must needs argue an act of the other faculty of the Soul the Will It is true faith is but one habit but yet there are divers acts of that habit which are coordinate one unto another An Act in the understanding as well as an Act in the Will Faith is seated but in one faculty but yet that one faculty hath a redundance into
Banks and saith Oh that I were there but knows not how to strike a stroak to swim thither or if he doth his stroak is too weak to withstand the Current and the strong stream of Temptation and Doubts and Fears that he meets withal Thou thinkest thou shalt have nothing because thou canst do nothing Thou canst not beleeve firmly thou canst not lay on any hand but that which is trembling on the Lord Jesus Christ Thou canst not look with any eye but that which is weak and feeble Now know that God looks not for much from thee but he intends much unto thee He hath given thee this Grace of Faith not because it should do great matters in thee but for thee It is only to take thee by the hand and if it can bring thee and Jesus Christ together it hath done enough for thee and as much as can be desired and as it is appointed unto All the rest of its acts are for thy comfort but this is for thy Salvation CHAP. XVII Faith considered in its lowest degree I. As in the Vnderstanding and so it is 1 Attention 2 Inquiry II. As in the Will and so 1 It is accompanied with much fear 2 It is careful and sollicitous for the things of this Life IT will not be amiss a little to consider or at leastwise to set down how little Faith a man may have or how little Faith God bestows upon men when yet he bestows Christ upon men withal 1. Take Faith as it is a Habit and Disposition so the lowest degree of Faith is in an inclination a yielding a laying aside the stoutness of the heart in some measure which he exercised before against God In some measure As the weather we say begins to change when there is some melting of the Snow and some yielding of the Ice though it be very hard still And as we say a man is inclined to peace when he will treat and hear arguments for it and doth not stand out in defiance The least Degree of an Habit is an inclination And you shal find in 2 Chron. 30.8 That Faith is so described to be no more a stiff-neckedness but a yielding themselves unto the Lord. As suppose a man that would not pay Taxes or Rates but wil let another come and take it quietly He will not give such a thing but if another will take it he wil not oppose In Acts 26. it is said of Lydia that her heart was opened to attend that is that whereas before she looked upon what was said by Paul as not worth the hearing and as that which did not concern her and which was not for her good and salvation her heart was set and prejudiced against it yet now she begins to have other thoughts It is as mean an act as possibly can be for one to give God the hearing to listen to the things that are spoken yet this the Scripture counts as a Work of God and as the Fruit of her Faith She attended to the things that were spoken That is one low degree of Faith for a man to be relenting and yielding a little towards Jesus Christ To come and mind and observe the things that are said of him as things that are of concernment and moment Again Secondly It is a low degree of Faith to ask after and enquire about the things which do belong unto Salvation And this you shal find in the Scripture that that enquiry when it is truly and duly made is saving too 1 Pet. 3.21 Baptism saves and the washing of the filth of the flesh But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that word signifies not only an Answer but a Question The questioning of a good Conscience how by the Right of Christs Resurrection it might come unto Salvation It 's one of the smallest acts of the Understanding to enquire and search after the knowledg of things That same act of the Understanding exercised about the things of God by Jesus Christ that is such as shall be accompanied with Salvation Baptisme saves the questioning of a good Conscience If indeed the Question that men ask comes out of curiosity and not out of Conscience If it comes only out of a Conscience that is good thus far Because it is awakened but not good thus far that it is willing to submit to and take the course which the Gospel enjoyns then it is no sign But if the Soul doth but lie before the Lord as the Resurrection of Christ is appointed as the way of Salvation so it saith Lord how shal I take that way which way may I come to be partaker of the power of it This also shal be accepted Look upon faith now as it is in the wil or as it acts there for I told you that faith acts both in the understanding and wil you see how it acts the understanding in attention and Inquiry See how it acts the wil. It acts the wil most weakly when the heart is filled with feare Fear doth distract the Soul and makes it to do al things dully and very imperfectly Why are yee afraid therefore saith Christ in Matth. 8. and 14. Chapters Oh ye of little faith A man through feare doth in beleeving as a man doth in going He takes a step and then withdraws his foot He goes another and then goes back again So a man with one thought is for Christ and in another thought there is no hope for him in Christ with one thought he gives up himself to him and with another it is but to give up a little straw to the flame when thy heart is thus divided it 's as displeasing as can be possibly yet this thought and this faith is not put out by the Lord Though it be distracted yet that faith shal save Again Secondly That faith is exceeding weak which is careful and solicitous for the things of this life What an absurd and weak thing is it for a man when he is dying to take care for cloathes And when his life is going from him to think of purchasing an inheritance For a man when he is ful of dolor and pain to think of increasing his riches and estate So is it a great weakness for a man to be careful for his body and the things of this life In Math. 6.30 Christ saith when they ask what they should eat and drink and put on He calls them people of little saith Yet even that faith also the Lord wil acknowledg I might go through divers other particulars As for example Our relying upon Christ which is the weakest and lowest degree That a man rather desires to be saved by Christ than any other but he finds a hankering after others but I say he had rather have Jesus Christ than any other He is troubled when he hath hopes not by Christ bestowed on him in the use of Ordinances When you know a man relies upon another the weakest confidence and reliance that he can put is this To expect rather
so much doth it argue Faith in a man CHAP. XXI Receiving denotes taking a thing with joy and gladness of heart and so Faith is receiving An Object answered Faith is called receiving because the soul that doth beleeve doth beleeve willingly and cheerefully Receiving in the scripture is used for such entertainment as freinds give one unto another Or guests or strangers have of their freinds As in Math. 10.14 And Luke 20.10 Christ sends his disciples abroad without any thing to live upon and faith If they wil receive them that is if they wil be glad of the Gospel at such a charge and at the cost they must be at In Heb. 13.2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for in so doing saith he some have received Angels As it is in that place of the Gospel Math. 10.41 He that receives a Prophet in the name of a Prophet that is that makes him welcome as the Messenger of God In the third Epist of John and vers 9. Diotrephes that loves the preheminency received us not nor would have suffered the Saints to receive us As the Text tells us in the Book of Genesis that Abraham stood at the door of the Tent that he might entertain strangers that passed by And Stephen saw Christ in Heaven and therefore used the word of the Text Lord Jesus Receive my spirit Acts 7.59 My meaning is this Though I cannot look upon Heaven as my own house and home Though I be a stranger and cannot demand the glory thereof as due unto me yet receive me kindly Bid me be of good cheer and give me what is laid up in store there Al this I have spoken to shew that this word Receiving is proper to a kindly entertainment Now faith is such a kind of receiving and entertaining Jesus Christ in some measure I say in some measure As Jesus Christ doth receive the soul into Heaven so doth the soul receive Jesus Christ into it by beleeving That self same love which Christ shews that kindness which he expresseth to the soul in entertaining it into Glory that in some measure doth the soul express in its laying hold upon Jesus christ It is said in Luke 19.5 6. That Christ bad himself to Zacheus his house to dinner Zacheus come down and make hast for this day I must abide at thy house And Zacheus came down made hast received him joyfully Thus is it in effectual calling in conversion Christ comes unto a soul and saith Turne unto me live Beleeve you shal be saved why wil you dye in the way wherein you are Though there be nothing belong unto you but shame and confusion of face for ever yet by and in me you shal find happiness As Christ doth first offer unto the soul himself So doth the soul receive this offer of Jesus Christ In Acts 8.37 Though that the Eunuch was but a young convert yet notwithstanding of him as of a young convert Philip requires he should beleeve with al his heart If thou beleevest with al thy heart Al the heart is not there taken extensively or gradually that is al one with perfection As it is in the Commandement Thou shalt love the Lord with al thy heart that is love him and love nothing else But al the heart there is opposed unto a divided heart and unto an unwilling spirit If thou beleevest with al thy heart that is if thou be glad of Jesus Christ to undertake for thee If thou dost willingly give up thy self unto him for salvation I say there is a great deal of difference between a mans doing of a thing willingly and doing a thing electively and out of choice A thing is said to be done willingly when it is done out of a principle suitable to it though that in the doing of it there be no thought of taking contentment or pleasure in it As a man sins willingly when the corruption that is in his heart doth break into act As for example A man that hath a prophane and wicked spirit he sweares willingly though he doth not think of swearing when he doth it So al actual corruptions are voluntary though that we do not consider what we do As the wise man speaks that they know not that they do evil because it comes from a corrupt heart within To do a thing voluntarily and willingly it is enough that a man doth it of himself moved thereunto of his own disposition and quality of mind A thing is said to be done electively or by choice when a man having weighed arguments on both sides doth choose one rather then another He puts a difference between the reasons that are urged on either part and chooseth to follow one before the other In Heb. 11.25.26 Moses is said to choose afflictions with the people of God because he judged or esteemed saith the Text. Doing things out of choice is a manner of doing things willingly and the highest sort of so doing And So there is a difference between a mans beleeving willingly and cheerefully and a mans beleeving electively and out of choice A man beleeves willingly when he is carried unto Jesus Christ by the spirit of faith in a sense of his own nothingness and a knowledg of the tenderness and sufficiency that is in Jesus Christ to save him A man beleeves out of choice when he chooseth rather to adventure his soul in that way of beleeving upon Christ then in any other course As for example Conceive you a man like him that came to our Lord Jesus Christ willing to do any thing to obtain eternall life And as a meanes thereunto there is advice given him to repent of what he hath done and to mortify his lusts that he should take up the practise of al dutyes and ordinances heare much and pray often and deny himself opportunities of sin and give that which he hath unto the poor And al this advice is urged upon him with al that can be said from the scripture and reason that if he doth thus he shal be saved But he is also advised to beleeve upon Jesus Christ who Justifies the ungodly who cures a man for nothing who saves them that are not able to returne him any thing again suitable to what they receive from him And he chooseth this way of faith rather then that other way This now is a beleeving out of choice when I say al other wayes are laid before a man for salvation in their greatest probability and yet a man can see faith to be the best way and can answer the reasons that are brought to the contrary Unto this election faith wil grow in time and by experience So that it can say Whom have I in Heaven but thee and I have none on earth in comparison of thee Psal 73.25 Therefore it is compared to a Marriage which cannot be without union to Christ and willingness to be so A woman after Marriage comes to say if she were unmarried again she would have none
that the Mother of my Lord should come unto me Much more doth the Soul say What is this that Jesus Christ should come to be in my Cottage in my understanding so poor and mean a one as mine is Prov. 13.12 The accomplishment of the desire is as a Tree of life It was a sign unto it that it should live So the Soul saith Evil shal depart from me the sins that I have been troubled with shall be mortified Weaknesses shall be repaired I shall no more lie down in sorrow My beloved as the man that watcheth for the morning and as the Child that waits for the full age and as the Joy of the Bride and Bridegroom All these the Scripture useth and much more is the joy of the Soul when it sees and feels and finds Jesus Christ But this I say is that which it comes unto The other five particulars are those which more concerns the Point in hand But at this last they all drive and at this they do all arrive but in their season CHAP. XXIV Reasons why the Soul must be willing to receive Jesus Christ 1. By this true Grace is distinguished from that which is not true but only like to it 2. By this the murmuring and corrupt disputing of the Soul is silenced 3. Faith is not saving till it be willing 4. The Soul must rest in Christ so as to seek help no where else NOW consider that this must be for three or four Reasons I say the Soul must be beleeving and willing to receive Jesus Christ First In this true Grace is distinguished from that which is not true but is like unto it It is that which changeth the nature and becomes a kind of nature In 2 Pet. 1.4 We are made partakers of the divine nature And that acts of it self and that prompts and puts on to do according to it A Stone when it is out of its center and place hath a naturall instinct to move thitherto The Fire would be upward because it is its nature Look how sin is in a man so Grace is in a Saint for it comes in the stead of that Sin is not the essence of a man It is not his soul yet it is so wrought into his soul that he doth as naturally sin as he doth naturally apprehend or think or do a rational act So now Grace is not the soul of a man but it is so infused and created in it as that the soul doth as willingly the things of God according unto its measure as it doth its rational acts or as it did its sinful acts formerly I say according to its measure For there is more sin at first then grace in any man that is converted Jer. 32.40 The scripture therefore speaks after this manner I wil put my fear into your heart And what then This grace shal have the power of a cause and that shal worke you according to it self Fear shal make you fear and faith shal make you beleeve and to beleeve naturally Common grace is not wrought into the nature nor become a nature and therefore hence it comes that men do loose it and sal unto their natural course As the dog unto his vomit and the sow to the wallowing in the Mire as the scripture speakes Secondly By this willingness to beleeve the murmuring and Corrupt disputing of the soul against Jesus Christ comes to be silenced altogether or in a very great measure 2 Cor. 10.5 The Apostle saith that every thought and imagination shal be captivated to the obedience of faith To the obedience of faith Now it is captivated by the love which a man hath unto faith You al know that we cannot indure to have that reasoned against which we love we are presently put into a passion if any one wil go to vilifie or speake against that which we have a mind unto Now when the soul hath a mind to go unto Jesus Christ and a mind to beleeve the nit stops its eare and doth withdraw its sense and apprehension from what ever can be said against it According as its mind is to beleeve so deafness growes upon it to al the reasonings of the flesh for continuance in any other state without Jesus Christ If a man hath a mind to any meat or to do a thing he wil say speak no more I am resolved to do it I wil venture And so doth the soul in this case And it s the best way of confutation of arguments As the Apostle saith God forbid So confute them with this I wil beleeve and I wil go unto Jesus Christ what ever you say I am resolved on that That is the second reason The murmuring and disputing that are against faith wil not be quiet and cease til they come to have such an affection to beleeve Thirdly Until you wil be in beleeving or til you love to beleeve your faith is not saving For faith is an applying of Jesus Christ to a mans self There is a double application of Jesus Christ to a mans self The one is in discourse when a man can conclude himself to be one of Christs And that is faith of assurance And the other is not by discourse but by aime and intention When a man doth go unto Jesus Christ for good unto himself Now mark what I say Al the credit that you give unto the word Al the sence that you subscribe unto the promises of the Gospel These do not apply Christ to you No more you know then for a man to meditate on the treasures of the King of spain do make his treasure his or do give him an interest in it When a man loves faith and loves Christ then he gives up himself to Christ that he may be his A man looks not from Christ for any thing to himself until he doth by an act of the Wil rest upon the Lord Jesus Christ Fourthly and Lastly There must be this affection of love in beleeving because the Soul must acquiesce and rest So in Christ as to seek help no where else Now that he must So acquiesce is evident by this because to go to Jesus Christ or to receive Christ and not as the only Savior is to dishonor him A man cannot rest in him as the only Savior unless that he doth approve and like of and take pleasure in that which the Gospel hath revealed concerning him Or more plainly thus That way which a man doth not approve a man wil not stick unto for the salvation of his Soul That a man may therefore stick unto Christ and never depart from him he must have a good will or liking or approbation of him And so much shal now suffice for the Doctrinal part of this Point CHAP. XXV Application Then there are but few Receivers of Jesus Christ This Vse concerns three sorts of Persons 1. Such as do not receive Jesus Christ as he is USE IS Faith such a kind of Receiving then truly it will cast even all
and did beleeve that then God would bless them How many then would give that precious time strength and Spirit which now runs out to the world unto the service of God USE III. If every one that would attain to eternall life must take heed of Covetousness Then let all your care be for eternall life to be rich in God as Christ saith in verse 21. Be rich in God that is in the things of God and in the things that are for Gods Glory God doth not call you from the world to put you upon a loss but to turn your affections upon the right Object It 's not to undo you but to make you in better things As Parents when they would wean the Child from the Nurse unto themselves they make the nurses breast black and they fear the Child So saith Christ take heed and look to your selves when he hath no other end in it but that he may have your love and you have his at length Many will say saith David in Psal 4.7.8 Who will shew us any good but saith he Thou hast put more gladness into my heart than when Corn and Wine increase As if he should have said when the Devill sees men inquiring after happiness and salvation he does shew them good he presently meets them as Abraham did the Gibeonites wih Corn and Wine the things of this life and takes off their hearts from happiness And it is so prevailing a means Math. 4.9 that he betook himself to that alone when he tempted Christ All this will I give thee When he had shewed him all the Glory of the world that is when he had made the world as glorious as possible it could be to the mind of Christ He did not do unto Christ as unto us deceive our fancies but he put the greatest Glory upon Riches that could be and then he thought that Jesus Christ would bow down to him If the Devil cannot make a man as prophane and as loose as he desires then he will make a man Religious but mingle Covetousness with it He will stir up a man as it is reported by one that writes of the walkings and apparisions of the Devill The Devil came to many a man in Luthers time and provoked them to stand for Justication and lay aside popish Religion but he told them also they should get so much by the bargain And when he mingled this Poyson with that Wine he did bring them to as much formality as they were in before in their ignorance They were as bad as before because of only their Covetousness When he hath once got a man under his power he wil make him to grind at this mil as they did Sampson Therefore the Love of the world is called in 1. Tim. 6.9 The Devils snare and bond And it is the sin of the Jews by which they were and are kept from embracing Christ They did look after an earthly Kingdom Be not hindred of true happiness by those things Barter not away your souls for an abundance of the things of this life Let not your minds run out after what you see or what is to be had besides grace and holiness and communion with God Our Lord Jesus Christ is moved to see one got into good Company here in this Chapter at the 13. verse seeming to have an inheritance here to neglect to get Salvation and Grace Grace and the favor of God are true riches and al other things are not so They are but shadows of riches and therefore called a fancy Agrippa his poâ—… and Glory is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 25. Acts 23. Though a man seem to be blessed of God when he hath this world yet it is but seemingly so And therefore the scripture calls it a fashion 1. Cor. 7.31 Rom. 12.2 The fashion of this world But there is no true goodness in riches In Luke 2.21 Saith Christ a man that treasures up for himself is not rich in God That treasures up for himself That is Riches are but a particular good that may serve a mans self but that is all it can do It makes a man leave God who is a universal good That only is true Riches which doth procure to a man all good and that nothing can do but what comes from God which is Grace USE IV. You shal have al the things of this life if you wil look after Grace Al that is needful Godliness hath the promise of this life It gives content 1 Tim. 6.6 That is as much as a man doth either need or desire if his desires be rational and spiritual It gives content The word that the Apostleuseth for content is a word that is used among Common wealths that have al things in themselves and need not other Countries Religion needs not be beholden to any estate and condition or any thing in this world for any thing that belongs to this life Godly men do never want but when they cannot be content to be at Gods dispose He wants not that is content He hath content whose wil is conformable unto God There are at the least twenty several sences of that in Psal 37.25 I never saw the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread But that which is most probable from the Context and scope of the Psalme is I never saw A righteous man 〈◊〉 it is a righteous man that doth not fret at thâ—… prosperity of wicked men Not begging bread that is in want Let any be of a liberal spirit willing to part with what God gives him when God doth cal and that man never wants Men that have dogs appetites are never satisfied When meat feeds humors then parents deny their children meat So doth God when he sees what he gives doth not work conformity to his wil. Do you mind your work and God wil care for your maintenance And you shal have spiritual things at a better rate and on easier terms then you have earthly things The paines you take for heaven shal bring you in communion with God which cannot be got by your indeavors God wil not put you to more nor so much in working for him as you put your selves to in getting the world Wicked men have been at death convinced of this Had I saith one been as good a servant to God as to the King I had been happy Yea those that know better what it is to prepare for Heaven than others do complain that they are not so carefull for spirituall things as they are for the things of this life When they go about Riches or the things that concerns Riches they are buried in the business and there their thoughts are intent but at prayer and Hearing their Thoughts are divided and their Hearts are wandering and yet still they grow in Grace Psal 127.2 It 's in vain to go to bed late or rise up early so he gives his Beloved sleep that is without this carking care he gives them sleep that sleep is a Lying in